TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD – 94. Rishi Yajnavalkya.

 Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF) is with Gauri:

Mahulikar.

July 11 at 8:00 PM.

This Guru Purnima witnessed the release of Tapovana Shatakam – a hymn of a hundred Sanskrit verses composed by Sri Balakrishna Bhatt Shastri dedicated to Sri Swami Tapovanji Maharaj, the Guru of Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. The verses are crafted using a rich variety of metres and figures of speech, reflecting the depth of both literary and spiritual insight. The book holds not just the verses but a detailed Sanskrit commentary by Sri Chandi Prasad Bahuguna, along with a Hindi translation, opening the doors to its wisdom to many. A prelude by Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda himself weaves a personal blessing into these pages. Swami Sharadananda Sarasvati (Acharya, VSC) released the book by offering the first copy to Prof. Gauri Mahulikar (Academic Director, CIF). Swami Shashvatananda, Br. Ved Chaitanya, Br. Sundar Chaitanya and Dr. Pratik Rumde also received copies of this precious hymn from Swamiji.

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Monday 14, July 2025, 06:00. 
TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD   Pertaining to the SELF-CREATION of Brahman there is a Shruti Mantram… Upanishad Part-3. 
ABHAYA PRATISHTHAA  
BRAHMAANANDA MEEMAAMSAA 
Anuvaka 2.8 A Measure of “Relative Joy” 
Bhashya F: 
THE MAHAVAKYA OF THIS UPANISHAD 
Coverage: Mantras From 2.8.13 to 2.9.1.
Post-94.

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Objection 11:  Why do we not experience non-duality? 

11a. Poorvapakshi: Non-Duality is not something that we experience. 

Answer: No, we do – in two states: i) the deep sleep state; and ii) in Samadhi. 

11b. Poorvapakshi: The non-Duality of deep sleep is comparable to that of a person 

who is pre-occupied with something and therefore absorbed in it alone. 

Answer: No, that is not the case. In sleep or Samadhi there is no perception of 

anything, hence, no pre-occupation at all. 

11c. Poorvapakshi: So, Duality exists only in the dream and waking states? 

Answer: Again, no. The dream and waking states are creations of ignorance. The 

duality that we experience in those states is thus also a product of ignorance. When 

ignorance ceases; the Duality also ceases at that same moment. 

11d. Poorvapakshi: Is not the non-Duality in sleep also a product of ignorance? 

Answer: No, it is natural to that state. Something is real when it does not change. 

Mutability implies unreality. A thing only changes due to factors outside it. The fact that a 

thing real implies that there is nothing ‘external’ to it. Another way of saying it is: The 

reality of a thing does not depend on external factors. 

The only difference between the sleep and Samadhi states on one hand, and the 

dream and waking states on the other, is the absence or presence respectively of the mind. 

The mind is a “modal expression” which makes the dream and waking states unreal. In its 

absence, we see the natural state of changelessness in the sleep and Samadhi states. 

To conclude, the non-Duality enjoyed in sleep and Samadhi are not products of 

ignorance, but genuine, natural experiences of non-Duality. 

 

Objection 12:  Dharma & Adharma Can Cause Fear. 

Poorvapakshi: Ishwara is not the cause of fear. It is Dharma and Adharma which 

produce Punya and Paapa as Karmas which cause people to have fear. They are afraid of 

their bad Karmas. 

 Answer: No, that is merely a roundabout way of saying the same thing. After all, it is 

Ishwara who metes out the results of bad (or good) Karma. So the fear is indirectly of 

Ishwara. You have merely compounded the problem by adding one more item of fear. It has 

not solved the problem.  

Regarding the elimination of fear, the basic flaw with Dualism is that it accepts 

difference between Ishwara and the Jeeva. The Dualist therefore can never become truly 

fearless. He will perpetually be afraid, because that is what he believes in! 

Objection 13:  Qualities of the Self? 

 

Poorvapakshi: Are not knowledge and ignorance qualities of the Self?

Answer: No, they are perceived, so they fall under the not-Self category. They are 

the same as discrimination and non-discrimination, colour, form, etc., all of which exist in 

the mind. People say, “I am ignorant” or “My knowledge of that is very clear”. In this sense 

knowledge and ignorance are ranked with name and form and are not attributes of the Self. 

Name and form are mistaken to be properties of Brahman. 

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Next
Objection 14:  Self and Brahman are Same: Defect a).

Continued

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