The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यकोपनिषद्, IAST: Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad) is one of the Principal Upanishads and one of the first Upanishadic scriptures of Hinduism. A key scripture to various schools of Hinduism, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is tenth in the Muktikā or "canon of 108 Upanishads".

Brihadaranyaka literally means "great wilderness or forest". The Upanishad forms the last part, that is the fourteenth kānda of Śatapatha Brāhmana of "Śhukla Yajurveda". The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad has six adhyayas (chapters) in total. It includes three sections: Madhu kānda (the 4th and 5th chapter of the fourteenth kānda of Satapatha Brahmana), Muni kānda (or Yajnavalkya Kanda, the 6th and 7th chapter of 14th kānda of Satapatha Brahmana) and Khila kānda (the 8th and 9th chapter of the fourteenth kānda of Satapatha Brahmana).

The first and second chapters of the Upanishad's Madhu kānda consists of six brahmanas each, with varying number of hymns per brahmana. The first chapter of the Upanishad's Yajnavalkya kānda consists of nine brahmanams, while the second has six brahmanas. The Khila kānda of the Upanishad has fifteen brahmanas in its first chapter, and five brahmanas in the second chapter.

In the fourth brahmana of the Second chapter of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Yajnavalkya and his wife Maitreyi engage in a dialogue about love and spirituality. Yajnavalkya states that one doesn't connect with and love forms, nor does one connect or love mind, rather one connects with the Self, the Self of one's own and one's beloved. All love is for the sake of one's Self, and the Oneness one realizes in the Self of the beloved. He then asserts that this knowledge of the Self, the Self, and Brahman is what makes one immortal, and the connection is also immortal. All longing is the longing for the Self, as the Self represents the true, the immortal, the real, and infinite bliss.

Reference material:

• Book:

https://a.co/d/iQqKCWM

• PDF of the entire Upanishad can be found https://dn790002.ca.archive.org/0/ite....

Taught by Swami Sarvapriyananda, this episode is part of a series of talks that unfold the highest truths of Vedanta through the study of the Bhagavad Gita, "The Song of God".

Chapter 14 is devoted to an understanding of the Gunatreya Vibhaga Yoga, or the three qualities/components of Maya. The entire universe is created by a projection of the three gunas - satva, rajas, and tamas. Understanding the science of the three gunas and how we can apply it to our lives is the focus of Chapter 14. However, Sri Krishna explains that while the three Gunas comprehensively describe human nature, transcending the three Gunas through knowledge and remaining steadfast in your true nature as Atman in this body, and in this life, is the doorway to infinity and leads to oneness with God.

In this episode, Swami Sarvapriyananda explains verses 21 and 22 of Chapter 14.

-------

Chapter 14, Verse 21

अर्जुन उवाच |

कैर्लिङ्गैस्त्रीन्गुणानेतानतीतो भवति प्रभो |

किमाचार: कथं चैतांस्त्रीन्गुणानतिवर्तते || 21||

arjuna uvācha

kair liṅgais trīn guṇān etān atīto bhavati prabho

kim āchāraḥ kathaṁ chaitāns trīn guṇān ativartate

⧫ Arjuna said, " By what characteristics, Oh Lord, is one who has transcended the three gunas known? What is his conduct? And how does he transcend these three gunas?"

Chapter 14, Verse 22

श्रीभगवानुवाच |

प्रकाशं च प्रवृत्तिं च मोहमेव च पाण्डव |

न द्वेष्टि सम्प्रवृत्तानि न निवृत्तानि काङ् क्षति || 22||

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha

prakāśhaṁ cha pravṛittiṁ cha moham eva cha pāṇḍava

na dveṣhṭi sampravṛittāni na nivṛittāni kāṅkṣhati

⧫ The Blessed Lord said, he who does not hate when the light of knowledge, activity or delusion arise, of son of Pandu, or desires them when they cease.

Swami Sarvapriyananda reads and discusses the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is an English translation of the Bengali spiritual text Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by Mahendranath Gupta, who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."

This session was recorded on Feb 15, 2022.

► To support the Vedanta Society of New York: http://www.vedantany.org/donate

Vedanta NY Archives: / vedantanewyorkarchives

Web: http://vedantany.org

Soundcloud: / vedantany

iTunes Podcast: http://bit.ly/vedanta-talks-itunes

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5IrDmqX...

Facebook: / vedantany

ABOUT VEDANTA

Vedanta is one of the world’s most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions.

ABOUT US

Vedanta Society of New York is affiliated with the Ramakrishna Order of India. In fact, this is the Order's first Center started by Swami Vivekananda, in 1894. It was a historic event, for the seed of the world-wide Ramakrishna Movement was sown here in New York over a century ago. Swami Sarvapriyananda is the present Resident Minister and Spiritual Leader of the Vedanta Society of New York.