Note: Since this Upanishad deals with the entire Vedic education, it is considered to be a complete Upanishad, providing all the necessary tools available to every person for one’s continued spiritual progress towards gaining total fulfillment in life. Probably for this reason, this Upanishad is the most often recited one on all auspicious occasions, bringing the benefit of Vedic knowledge within the reach of ordinary people in daily life.
“The first Book or Chapter of the Upanishad, Shikshavalli, gives the disciplines, rituals, meditations, values, code of conduct for daily life.
To summarize the lessons of Shikshavalli: Shikshavalli consists of twelve anuvakas (sections). The first and the last anuvakas contain prayers to the deities for removing obstacles while pursuing spiritual wisdom.
The second anuvaka deals with the science of pronunciation. Though the meaning of the text of the Upanishad is most important, the text must be chanted correctly in order to obtain its precise meaning.
The third anuvaka teaches how to meditate on the combination of the words. A mere recitation of the text may focus the mind only on the letters of the text. Through meditation the student will understand its symbolic significance. This understanding makes the mind pure and one-pointed.
The fourth anuvaka enumerates the requirements for the attainment of the Knowledge of Brahman – a good memory, sound health, and adequate food and clothing. This section describes the rituals for their attainment.
The fifth anuvaka teaches the technique of meditation on Brahman through the three vyahritis or mystical utterances.
The sixth anuvaka describes the heart as the dwelling-place of Brahman and also the Sushumna Nadi, through which lies the path for the attainment of Saguna Brahman (Brahman with attributes). The result of such attainment is the enjoyment of self-rule and peace.
The seventh anuvaka teaches meditation through the symbol of the panktas or five fold sets of objects. These objects are both in the outside world and in the body. The two should be contemplated as identical with each other. Together they constitute the universe, which is a manifestation of Brahman. This and the previous sections describe meditation on Brahman through concrete symbols for students.
The eighth anuvaka teaches meditation to students through the symbol AUM. This symbol, used in Vedic sacrifices, helps bring about the desired result of the sacrifice.
The ninth anuvaka emphasizes the performance of various duties. A student may attain knowledge of Brahman by meditating on AUM but must not, on that account, neglect the study of the scriptures and his various other social duties.
The tenth anuvaka contains a statement by an illumined sage describing his spiritual experiences. This should be used as a mantra for daily recitation by a seeker of Self-knowledge for acquiring purity, making progress and finally attaining the knowledge of Brahman.
The eleventh anuvaka summarizes the stages of learning. First, a student acquires theoretical knowledge of the scriptures. However, in order to obtain direct knowledge of Brahman, such theoretical knowledge has to be put into practice through the discharge of duties and obligations according to one’s Dharma. This section contains a detailed and unique exhortation by the teacher to the students returning home after the completion of their studies to embrace the householder’s life which is the proper place for the discharge of worldly duties.
The twelfth anuvaka contains the peace chant.
~ Excerpted from Shri. T.N.Sethumadhavan
Brahmananda Valli
In the first book or chapter (Shikshavalli), the students were initiated into different methods of concentration in pursuit of Brahma Vidya. This second Book or Chapter, Brahmananda Valli, provides us with the essence of the entire Taittiriya Upanishad in an extremely analytical manner. The teacher now leads them into the process of Self-discovery.
1st Anuvaka Following the Peace Invocation:
OM. The knower of Brahman obtains the highest. Concerning this, it has been declared: Brahman is truth, knowledge, infinity. He who knows Brahman dwelling in the secret place, In the field of the transcendent, Wins all desires together with Brahman, the all-knowing.
~ Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes translation
Although Brahman is a man’s inmost self, he is not conscious of it, because the Self is hidden by various sheaths (kosas) of matter, each covering the other with varying degrees of grossness. This theory in Vedantic knowledge is known as ‘Pancha kosa’ or ‘the five sheaths’. As the nucleus of the discovery is the individual seeker himself, the different layers surrounding this core (indweller-Atma), in the form of concentric circles, does not affect the indweller. These sheaths are analyzed to make the seeker aware of his real identity. The following anuvakas list the various sheaths from the external moving to the internal and the innermost.
Diagram of Kosas – Sheaths (Pancha – kosas) from Vedanta Treatise by Sri A. Parthasarthy Vedanta Life Institute, Mumbai.
2nd-5th anuvakas: the various sheaths (kosas) are described.
1st sheath: annamaya kosa – food or matter. This is the gross physical sheath, sustained by food. Anna is food and maya is modification, hence it is called annamaya kosa (also called sthula sariram – gross body). For example, we may describe ourselves as young or old, etc.
Food is the first born of beings, And so it is called the healing herb of all. Those who worship Brahman as food, Surely obtain all food.
2nd sheath: pranamaya kosa – vital breath sheath. This is subtler than the food sheath and comprises the five modifications of air, called pranas. They are prana, apana, samana, vyana and udana.
Those devoted to prana as Brahman Attain the full span of life, For prana is the life of beings, And so is called the life of all.
~Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes translation
3rd sheath: manomaya kosa – mental sheath. Differing from and lying within the pranic sheath is the mind which suffuses the other self completely. It is constituted of thoughts in a state of volition. It is the mind that perceives the objects of the world through the senses.
Before they reach it, words turn back, Together with the mind; One who knows that bliss of Brahman, He is never afraid.
~ Patrick Olivelle translation (‘It’ here signifies Brahman)
4th sheath: vijnanamaya kosa – intellectual sheath. This is the embodied self of the preceding mental sheath. It is subtler than the former three sheaths but pervades them as well. It is the quality that discriminates what we value, emulate, pursue or cherish. It is the seat of knowledge as it is the framework of decision making and gives rise to the notion of “I am a doer. Faith, Truth and Yoga are its limbs. Mahas (the power to perceive and reason) gives it stability. The Pranamaya kosa, the manomaya kosa and the vijnanamaya kosa togetherform the subtle body (sukshma sarira).
If one knows Brahman as intelligence, And neglects it not, He leaves behind evils in the body And fulfills all desires.
~ Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes translation
5th sheath: anandamaya kosa – this is the sheath of bliss and is the innermost and subtlest of the five sheaths. It is the karana sarira, or the sheath of the causal body. Through the contemplation of the sheath of bliss, the aspirant ultimately realizes the pure Brahman, which is the support of the five sheaths.
The five sheaths conceal the jewel of the Self. They are modifications of the material elements and are known to be different from the Atman-Brahman. The Self is beyond all modifications, unborn, immortal, and the witness of all. The Self is neither happy nor unhappy, it is always of the nature of pure bliss. We are thus different from the five sheaths. Spiritual joy does not depend on any external factor and we are happy despite external conditions, not because of them. This kind of joy comes from Brahman, which is said to be its support.
6th and 7th Anuvakas
After discussing the sheaths surrounding the indweller (Brahman), the Upanishad now takes up a dialogue about the Brahman itself. The section begins with a doubt regarding the existence versus the non-existence of Brahman. As an answer to the doubt, it says Brahman as the creator projected all creation, both with form and without form. Then he entered the objects created and became the seer, hearer, thinker, doer, etc. The same Brahman dwells in the hearts of all and manifests himself in all acts of cognition. Therefore the conclusion is that Brahman is reality and existence itself.
Brahman created this universe of sentient and insentient beings, and entered into them. In other words, Brahman projected the universe out of its own power of maya, with form and without form, describable and indescribable.
“One is freed from fear only when he finds that fearless ground – invisible, bodiless, unutterable, undefined. But when he makes even the smallest breach within it, then he has fear.………
~Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes translation
So long as the individual being maintains the difference and does not know his own real source of Brahman, he has fear of birth and death and of “other beings”. This fear will be experienced by not only the ignorant, but also the so-called ‘wise’ if they are proud and arrogant in their knowledge.
8th Anuvaka
The sloka hints that all cosmic activity occurs through “fear” of the Brahman as creator. The phenomenal laws control the functions of nature; the wind blows, the sun rises and sets, the fire burns and death functions at the end of the phenomenal life span.
Having transcended phenomenal levels of being, the seeker realizes that his real nature is Brahman and attains infinite bliss.
“Yogis realize that the divine is not more heavenward than inward and it is this final quest….seekers become seers. In this way they experience the divine at the core of their being. Samadhi is usually described as the final freedom, freedom from the wheel of karma, of cause and effect, action and reaction. Samadhi has nothing to do with perpetuating our mortal self. Samadhi is an opportunity to encounter our imperishable Self, before the transient vehicle of the body disappears, as in the cycle of nature, it surely must.”.B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life
Such bliss is described and measured poetically in the form of a mathematical formula given in the slokas that follow. Several categories of joy are given but they are all insignificant in comparison to the bliss attained by realizing Brahman. All the sheaths are left behind when the infinite Atman-Brahman is experienced.
9th Anuvaka
This anuvaka concludes with the final teaching that the knower of the bliss of Brahman is saved from all fear and self-reproach, having transcended both thoughts of good and evil. The second Book ends with the exhortation: Let us be together.
Let us eat together. Let us be vital together. Let us be radiating truth, Radiating the light of life. Never shall we denounce anyone, Never entertain negativity. Om shantih shantih shantih.
Please note: excerpts, commentary and references from the following teachers of Vedanta: Shri T.N. Sethumadhavan Shri B.K.S. Iyengar from Light on Life
Advaita Society lectures and literature Swami Sarvapriyananda, Swami Nikhilananda, Swami Ranganathananda Swami Gambhirananda The Hindu Sound by William Corlett & John Moore
Excerpts from the following Translations of the Upanishads: T.N. Sethumadhavan Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes Patrick Olivelle Valerie Roebuck Robert Ernest Hume Eknath Easwaran
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