TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD – 96. Rishi Yajnavalkya.

 

===================================================================================

Saturday 09, Aug 2025, 06:20. 
TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD   Pertaining to the SELF-CREATION of Brahman there is a Shruti Mantram… Upanishad Part-3. 
ABHAYA PRATISHTHAA  
ANANDAM BRAHMANAH VIDVAAN 
Anuvaka 2.9 
The Knower of Brahmic Bliss 
Mantram - 2.9.1: Shruti Quotation on the Mahavakya Experience 
Post-96.

==================================================================================

ANANDAM BRAHMANAH VIDVAAN 

Anuvaka 2.9 

The Knower of Brahmic Bliss 

Mantram - 2.9.1: Shruti Quotation on the Mahavakya Experience:

=======================================================================================

Mantram || 2.9.1 || 

1 

“yatah vaachah nivartante= That – from which words turn back, 

2 

apraapya manasaa saha =along with the mind, failing to reach it -

 3 

aanandam brahmanah vidvaan = That Brahmic Bliss, when it is realised by the sage, 

4 

na bibha iti kutascha na” iti.=  He fears nothing, for whatsoever reason.

=======================================================================================

Comparison with mantram 2.4.1

 The same verse was quoted five Anuvakas ago (mantram 2.4.1) with reference to the 

mental self, Manomaya Kosha, which was being eulogized as Brahman. What is the 

difference between the two contexts? There is one big difference: 

In the first case we were dealing with the mental self, i.e. the mind. Its splendid 

powers and infinite possibilities were so awe-inspiring, that words and speech could not 

reach them and had to return. In that case, Pada 4 had used the adverb ‘Kadaachan’, 

meaning “at any time”. It meant that there was no fear at any time, i.e. fear, only fear, was 

denied in the case of the mental self. 

1-4

 Now, the context has changed. The same verse is applied to the inexpressible 

vision of Brahman Himself. The person we are speaking about is now an enlightened, 

realized sage, not just a ‘mind wizard’. Here again, the mind and speech turn back, failing to 

express what they perceive. This time, in Pada 4 the adverb used is ‘Kutascha’, meaning “for 

whatsoever reason”. It means that there is not even any cause for fear left, i.e. not only fear 

but also, its very cause (Duality) is being denied. This stage of fearlessness is clearly of a 

much higher order than the one referred to in the earlier verse. This is a permanent state in 

Reality: the previous one was a temporary state in the realm of Unreality. 

Words and Speech Turning Back:

 The Bhashya explains this in quite a scientific manner as follows: 

Words are used to a point after which they have to be dropped. Mind and speech 

require names and forms in order for them to do their function. They operate in the realm

of Jaati, Gotra, Kula, etc – any form of differences or groups. Words (speech) and ideas 

(mind) go together always, in each other’s company, as explained here: 

i) Mind Following Speech: When someone says “New York”, our mind immediately 

goes there. That which the word represents immediately gets translated into the 

corresponding idea in our mind.  

ii) Speech Following Mind: Conversely, when the mind has an idea, as soon as that 

idea surfaces in our mental consciousness, the words appropriate to that idea also begin to 

assemble on the tongue. If the mind sees a black bird flying, the words “black bird flying” 

immediately get called to the tongue.  

===========================================================================================

TO THE CLIMAX – WITH ACHARYAJI 

 SPEECH AND MIND ARE inter-related. In the application to the quest for Brahman, 

speech follows behind the mind to record its findings. On not being able to cognize anything 

of that experience (of Brahman), both have to return without any verbal report. It is an 

‘inexpressible’ experience. Mind wants to conceptualise the experience but fails in its 

attempt. Speech catches the mind’s concepts but fails to verbalize them. 

The point this verse brings out is that mind and speech can ‘catch’ only limited 

things, not the unlimited. The mind and speech which take us up to that point of experience, 

leave us (our awareness) alone and go back to where they came from. The rest of the 

experience is a “supra-sensual, supramental” one, beyond expression. The mind is not 

there to witness it, nor is speech there to express it. 

In class, there followed one final inspiring burst from Acharyaji on what could have 

taken place at that moment of turning back. It is best expressed in Acharyaji’s own words: 

“The mind was following, with speech close behind. Awareness kept telling it to go 

away, but mind would not listen. It wanted to know, it was inquisitive. Things started to get 

hazy for it. Then the Consciousness shouted at it, ‘Shut up! You go back; you are not needed 

here. You go and do your job where you belong! Don’t interfere here; this is not your realm! 

Go now, go away!” 

It was the most breathtaking account we heard from Acharyaji’s lips, and it visibly 

lifted the whole class in spirit, which simply gasped in stunned silence at what they had just 

heard from beloved Acharyaji.  

This concludes Bhashya F, the amazing exposition of the Mahavakya and the lofty 

experience which it stands for – the union of the human spirit with the Supreme Spirit!

*****
Next
THE DISCUSSION CONCLUDES
 Verse 2.9.2:
 Beyond Paapa & Punya (Virtue & Sin) 
Continued

Ayyappa Vishnu Temple Powai's post:

Ayyappa Vishnu Temple Powai is with Chinmaya Mission and Chinmaya Mission Jagadeeshwara Zone Mumbai.

August 2 at 927 PM·

Glimpses of a session by Swami Advyananda on Vande Rama Dootam Hanumantam on Saturday 2nd August 2025

====================================================================================================