Taittiriya Upanishad – Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati. 6th July, 2013 – Chinmaya Mission Delhi. Brahmavid apnoti Param – The knower of Brahman attains the Supreme. The lakshanas of Brahman were indicated satyam, gyanam, ananta. Thereafter the creation was described along with description of panch-koshas, one kosha inside the other. Then anuprashna was asked by the disciple. Is Brahman really there? Also whether avidwan attains Brahman or does not attain. Another question was asked whether vidwan again comes back to samsara or he does not. In order to reply these questions the topic of creation was again taken up. Ishvara desired to become many. He did tapas. After doing the tapas the entire world was projected as it was before the dissolution. In state of dissolution the entire cosmos becomes one with Supreme and then again it comes into manifestation. When the world comes into manifestation, Ishvara alone projects the world from the unmanifest. It is just like the children playing with the wax. They make different objects with the wax and then they merge back all the objects, so all that remain is the lump of wax. Similarly, all the beings goes into laya awastha. This happens when Brahmaji’s life span of 100 years is complete. It is a long period. In one day of Brahmaji, chaturyugas comes for 1000 times. The kaliyuga consist of 4,32,000 years. Dwaparyuga is double the kaliyuga. Treatyuga is three times the kaliyuga and satyayuga is 4 times the kaliyuga. When these chaturyugas come for 1000 times then that is one day of Brahmaji. The same time lapses in one night of Brahmaji. And the year of Brahmaji consists of 360 days. So after such 100 years the entire cosmos goes into laya. It remains in laya for some time and then it comes into manifestation. So after desiring to become many, Ishvara became many and He Himself entered into this world. The real nature of this jiva is Ishvara. Ishvara alone is seeing, tasting, touching. He alone is the witness of this entire world. The very fact that the world is there which means that effect is there so cause must be there. Cause cannot be anything asat. So this Sat is the cause of the world. The world which we experience is asat – changing, jada – inert, simit – parichhinna – limited. The cause is opposite of all these. It is satyam, gyanam and anantam. There is an experience of rasa only because of presence of Brahman. Brahman is of the nature of ananda. Jiva experiences rasa – ananda in this world. That is also the indication of presence of Brahman. Everyone performs their activities out of fear of Brahman. It was said that one experiences ananda in this world. All our actions are done for ananda. The anandamaya kosha has priya, moda and pramoda as limbs. Priya itself is our desire. We want something what is dear. What is dear to us is not known to us. We go from one object to another and from one person to another. But we all seek something that is dear to us. We are doing a beautiful text called Tripura Rahasya. It has a story. The story is about a prince called Hemachuda and his wife Hemalekha. Hemalekha was adopted daughter of a rishi. She was very wise and she got married to Hemachuda. She was not interested much in indulging in pleasures. Hemachuda asked her that why was she so uninterested in pleasures. She says that all the time she thinks about what is most dear to everyone. We want to attain that which is supremely dear to us. Hemachuda said that what was so difficult in that. Even animals know what is dear to them. That which gives us joy is dear to us and that which does not give us joy is not dear to us. Even animals run away from sorrow and go near to the one who gives them joy. She said, ‘that is what I am thinking. What is it that gives me joy so I will know what is dear to me?’ then she does analysis of joy. If we obtain the object that gives us joy but then at one time it gives us joy and it does not give joy at other time. It gives joy to one person but it does not give joy to some other person. So after analyzing she says, ‘What I am seeking is not out there.’ Finally she teaches her husband the knowledge of the Self. In Brihadaranyaka, it is said that everything in this world is dear to us with respect to our Self. The Self is dearest to us. We have great love for the Self. It is the very source of all joy. One does not understand this because of the ignorance and they seek the joy in the world outside. Wherever we can identify, we feel the presence of Self, ‘I’ ‘My’, we feel happy. It is very important that we understand the nature of happiness. What is the very source of happiness? How we can attain the happiness? The analysis of happiness is done in the following verses. सैषाऽऽनन्दस्य मीमाँसा भवति | युवा स्यात्साधुयुवाऽध्यायकः | आशिष्ठो दृढिष्ठो बलिष्ठः | तस्येयं पृथिवी सर्वा वित्तस्य पूर्णा स्यात् | स एको मानुष आनन्दः | ते ये शतं मानुषा आनन्दाः ||१|| स एको मनुष्यगन्धर्वाणामानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | This is mimansa means inquiry into bliss. All the scriptures analyze everything in systematic and logical way. The inquiry into dharma is done – dharma jigyasa. Inquiry into Brahman is done - Brahmajigyasa. Dharmajigyasa is called purva mimansa and Brahmajigyasa si called uttar mimansa. Mimansa is an inquiry. What exactly is ananda? The scriptures first tell us about one unit of ananda of human being – the maximum ananda a human being can attain. We want to measure ananda also. In order to measure, we have to have some unit. The maximum ananda that a human being can attain is taken as one unit. Here that maximum ananda is explained to give us idea about one unit of ananda of human being. Imagine yuva awastha. It is not mentioned here as bala or virddha awastha. There is dependency in bala and vriddha awastha. There is no complete freedom. सर्वं आत्मवशं सुखम्, सर्वं परवशं दुःखम्| There is sorrow wherever there is dependency. Children are dependent on their mothers for food, care. Vriddhas are also dependent on others. So bala and vriddhas are not taken here. Here it is said as youth. And the yuva is sadhu. Sadhu is a person having good values. Good values make us good person. This goodness comes from understanding of life, our wisdom. Goodness should not be out of fear or ulterior motive. Good values like kindness, compassion, honesty makes a person good. Such a person is sadhu. This youth has studied Vedas and is wise. He has wisdom of dharma. He knows his kartavyakarma. Wisdom is when one can take the decision rightly in life. Wisdom comes from the study of scriptures. These qualities are those which help us in attaining joy – laukika ananda in this world. This youth is one who has hope, who is optimistic. That optimism gives enthusiasm. This optimism, enthusiasm makes a person’s life more happy. This youth has perseverance, forbearance, fortitude. This is the ability to stand in front of obstacles. This is the ability to go on. After some time, everything becomes easy. This youth is strong physically and emotionally. There are some people who are physically strong but they are emotionally weak. Also this youth is intellectually strong. We should be able to understand, judge and take decisions. The strength is also spiritual. Such complete strength gives us joy. Many of the sorrows come because of weakness. There are situations in the world which will shake us if we are weak. Just like there are all types of viruses floating in the air. But if our body has a strong immunity system then we will not get affected. Same thing goes for our mind and intellect, if we are strong then nothing can shake us. Strength is very important to gain happiness. This youth is the king of entire prithvi with all facilities for different types of pleasures. He is the master of prosperous earth. This is for our imagination. A good youth, who is wise, optimistic, has fortitude and strong and he is the lord of this world. The worldly happiness that such a person will experience is considered as one unit of happiness of human being. A person performs karma, interacts with the objects and derives happiness. This unit of happiness should be kept in mind when we study further verses. This type of joy is rare. Ananda depends upon our body, mind and the facilities. Even if one factor is not in good condition then the ananda is not there. Everyone who is ignorant strives to attain this manushya ananda. We try to maintain our body. We try to create facilities around us. Imagine this one unit of ananda multiplied by 100 times that is equal to one ananda of manushya-gandharva. They are higher beings. Manushya gandharvas are the human beings before and they attained this gandharva pada because of some upasana and karma. They are the musicians of heavens. They live in gandharva loka. They have greater ananda because they have special powers. They can disappear. They have sukshma sharira. They have greater ability to resist effect of dwandwa – the pairs of opposites like sukha-dukha, hani-labha, jaya-parajaya. That makes their mind more peaceful. In that peaceful mind they feel the joy more. One unit of gandharva manushya ananda is equal to 100 units of manushya ananda. The most important thing is mentioned now which is repeated every time. The same ananda which gandharva experiences which is 100 times more than a human beings annanda can be experienced by a human being. One can experience this joy by acquiring certain qualities. One, who has the knowledge of the scriptures, is shrotriya. This is the knowledge of dharma and Brahman. One who is not killed by kamana – desires is free of craving for sense pleasures. He gains vairagya because of knowledge gained from scriptures. He sees no ananda in the world outside and he knows that the real ananda is the ananda of the Self. The joy is not in the body, it is not in the world of objects. It is not in the mind. But at present we experience it in the mind. Kamana makes the mind restless and the attention goes in the world outside. This person, who has knowledge of Vedas and free of kamanas attains the ananda of manushya gandharva which is 100 times more than the one unit of ananda of manushya. This is not the ultimate ananda. ते ये शतं मनुष्यगन्धर्वाणामानन्दाः | स एको देवगन्धर्वाणामानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं देवगन्धर्वाणामानन्दाः | स एकः पितृणां चिरलोकलोकानामानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं पितृणां चिरलोकलोकानामानन्दाः | स एक आजानजानां देवानामानन्दः ||२|| श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं आजानजानां देवानामानन्दाः | स एकः कर्मदेवानां देवानामानन्दः | ये कर्मणा देवानपियन्ति | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं कर्मदेवानां देवानामानन्दाः | स एको देवानामानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं देवानामानन्दाः | स एक इन्द्रस्याऽऽनन्दः ||३|| श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतमिन्द्रस्याऽऽनन्दाः | स एको बृहस्पतेरानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं बृहस्पतेरानन्दाः | स एकः प्रजापतेरानन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य | ते ये शतं प्रजापतेरानन्दाः | स एको ब्रह्मण आनन्दः | श्रोत्रियस्य चाकामहतस्य ||४|| One unit ananda of manushya gandharva is equal to 100 units of ananda of human being. 100 times the ananda of manushya gandharva is equal to one time ananda of deva gandharva. Deva gandharva are gandharva by birth. Manushya gandharva becomes gandharva because of upasana. This ananda of deva gandharva also can be experienced by the human being if he has the knowledge of Vedas and he is free of kamanas. Shrotriya is one who has gained knowledge of Vedas. It is possible to become shrotriya but the desires for the objects of the world keep increasing. One who has overcome the desires will gain the ananda of deva gandharva. Even while living in this world as human being, if a person becomes free of desires, he can experience maximum ananda possible in this cosmos. The more ananda is experience as the person becomes more and more free of desires. All sorrow is because of trishna. When the cravings are fulfilled the mind becomes calm and we experience happiness from within. One 100 times ananda of deva gandharva is equal to one unit of ananda of pitru nama loka. The Ancestors live in this loka. Those who stay there have greater ananda because they have greater power to withstand the on slot of dwandwa. And they have greater facilities. Their anada also can be attained by a person who is shrotriya and who has great vairagya here and now. Higher than that is the ananda of aajaana deva. Aajaanajana deva is human who is born in deva loka by doing punya karma. 100 times ananda of pitru is equal to one unit of ananda of aajanaja deva loka. This ananda also can be attain by a human, here and now, if he is shrotriya and free of kamanas. They gain more ananda because of more vairagya. The more vairagya we have, we move more towards our own Self. The more desires we have, we as though move away from the Self. The more vairagya we have, the more peaceful and calm we become. In that peaceful mind the joy of our own Self get reflected maximum. Karmadeva are those who perform agnihotra karma and attain the nature of the devata. 100 times ananda of aajanajanadeva is equal to one unit of ananda of karmadeva. In this world our life becomes more comfortable with the facilities that we have. Devaloka has greater facilities and therefore there is more joy. This joy also can be attained by a huma if he is shrotriya and free of desires. 100 times ananda of karmadeva is equal to one unit of ananda of deva. Deva or devata is one who is born in devaloka. He is born as devata. There are 33 main devatas. These devatas get havi whenever we offer in yagya. They are the beneficiaries. Whenever they get havi they also give the desired results to the one who worships. These devatas have greater joy and facilities. Indra is the king of devatas. He gets 100 times more joy of one unit of ananda of devata. Indra has greatest of joy and facilities but he is also not satisfied and he is also scared of other devatas, asuras or a person who does upasana. Whenever people do some special upasana or yagya, Indra gets scared of losing his pada. His joy is greater but this joy can be attained by a human who is shrotriya and free of desires. 100 times of ananda of Indra is one unit of ananda of Brihaspati. Brihaspati is the teacher of all the devatas. He is wise and intelligent. His ananda is 100 times more than Indra. This ananda also can be experienced by us if we have enough vairagya. 100 times Brihaspati’s ananda is one unit of ananda of prajapati. Prajapati is virat, identified with the total gross physical world. He expresses through the gross physical world. Hiranyagarbha becomes virat wielder of gross physical world. 100 times more ananda than virat is te ananda of Brahmaji – Hiranyagarbha. There is maximum power with Brahmaji. The power of maya is also with Brahmaji. He has the maximum power to deal with all the on slots of all the ups and downs of life. The facilities are mazimum. The happiness is maximum without any division of human, devatas. All the ananda becomes one. It is Brahmananda – ananda of the creator. That ananda can be experienced by human if he is shrotriya and akamahata. One who has knowledge of Brahman and has immense vairagya. He is a seeker. He has yet not become one with Brahman. He can experience ananda of Brahmaji. When he gains the total knowledge of Brahman and gains abidance in Brahman then he becomes the nature of ananda. While remaining in this world, having that knowledge of scriptures and having great vairagya he can attain Brahmananda. If one wants to gain maximum happiness of this world then we can attain ananda of Brahmaji. If we perform punya karma then we attain higher lokas and gain outer joy. The scriptures say that by developing proper vairagya, you can attain the joy of Brahmaji. One should gain the knowledge of scriptures, both dharma and Brahman. We should know what is dharma and follow it and then we should gain the knowledge of Brahman. We should practice path of spirituality and gain abidance in Brahman. When we gain full abidance in Brahman we become of the nature of happiness. There is no difference between ananda and me. Then it is not ‘I am happy’. It is ‘I am happiness’.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 19:31:10 +0000
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