Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: Briguvalli - a new topic

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • October 10, 1995 


Krish wrote:
*  Just o change the topic, I want to introduce for discussion
* Briguvalli form the Upanishads(?). 

The Bhriguvalli is part of the Taittiriya Upanishad and
contains the very heart of Vedanta philosophy.

Varuna poses the question to Bhrigu as to what is Brahman --
what is the Supreme? 

The passage then attempts to define Brahman, as far as words
can do so. 

	yato vA imAni bhUtAni jAyante | yena jAtAni jIvantI |
	yam prayanty abhisamviSanti iti |

	That from which all these beings are born, by which
	those that are born live, and to which they go back.

Can any more fundamental description of the Supreme as It
relates to us be given?

* Brigu, the father answers
*  "Ann-am, Pranam, Chakshuh, srotram, manoh, vachamiti "
* Brahman is responsible for their creation, life and demise.
* Meditate and know Brahman.

Each of these -- anna (food), praaNa (vital air), etc., 
surely is Brahman, but in an incomplete and unsatisfying
way.  After meditating and realizing this, the aspirant
is urged to move on. 

Is there no limit to this discursive meditation? Yes --
the meditation on Brahman as Ananda - Bliss is the ultimate,
because Brahman is the source of all Joy, all happiness.
Meditating on this Blissful Inner Self, the aspirant
also becomes blissful. Need we ask for more?

I should also point out that this Upanishad is explicit
about the nature of Brahman, the Highest Self. It is 
described as "SarIra Atma", the Embodied Self.  This is
the distinctive principle of Vedanta that only Ramanuja
has appreciated and elucidated, it seems.  Brahman is
literally the Self of our self, related to us like life
is to a body, inseperably linked to us and always with
us.  His pervasiveness is not only an ontological verity
but also represents an incredible bond -- the finite is
fundamentally part of the Infinite and is ensouled by
Him. We only need realize His blissful presence within us 
to experience that very same bliss.

Mani