Brihadaranayaka Upanishad – Yajnavalkya Muni Khanda – Chapter 3

Brihadaranayaka Upanishad – Yajnavalkya Muni Khanda – Chapter 3

Brahmana 1 – King Janaka’s Sacrifice and the Arrival of Yajnavalkya

1. King Janaka conducts a grand sacrifice and invites learned Brahmanas to participate.

2. He offers a prize of 1,000 cows with golden horns to the most learned Brahmana.

3. Yajnavalkya instructs his pupil to drive the cows away, claiming he is the wisest.

4. The other Brahmanas feel challenged and prepare to test Yajnavalkya’s knowledge.

5. Asvala, the royal priest, begins a philosophical debate with Yajnavalkya.

6. Asvala asks: “To which deity go the offerings made with mantras during sacrifice?”

7. Yajnavalkya replies: All offerings ultimately reach the deity of praṇa (life-breath).

8. Asvala asks: “To whom do the recitations (mantras) go during rituals?”

9. Yajnavalkya answers: The recitations go to the deity of speech (Vāk).

10. Asvala questions who governs the sacrifices and presides over them.

11. Yajnavalkya says: The mind (manas) governs and directs the sacrifice.

12. Asvala asks what deity causes the cosmic rhythm in the ritual cycle.

13. Yajnavalkya replies: It is the breath (praṇa) that regulates cosmic order.

14. Asvala inquires how the sacrificer attains purification after death.

15. Yajnavalkya explains: By knowing the Self (Atman), the sacrificer is purified.

16. Asvala accepts defeat, unable to question further.

17. King Janaka honors Yajnavalkya, acknowledging his supreme wisdom.

Brahmana 2 – Dialogue Between Yajnavalkya and Artabhaga on the Fate of the Self

1. Artabhaga asks Yajnavalkya: What happens to the Self after death?

2. Yajnavalkya says: I cannot answer that publicly; let’s discuss in private.

3. After private discussion, Artabhaga remains silent, having accepted the truth.

4. Bhujyu asks about the unseen Self in dream and deep sleep states.

5. Yajnavalkya explains that in dream, the Self creates its own reality.

6. He continues: The Self becomes everything — king, god, etc. — in dream.

7. The Self moves in all directions in dreams without limits.

8. In deep sleep, the Self is absorbed into the subtle state, at rest.

9. The Self remains untouched by actions, like a bird returning to its nest.

10. In sleep, senses merge into the mind; the mind into prāṇa.

11. The Self in deep sleep is pure, blissful, free from duality.

12. This Self is the seer, untouched by sorrow, the ultimate knower.

13. Knowing this Self leads to liberation and freedom from rebirth.

Brahmana 3 – The Nature of the Self as Independent and All-Knowing

1. Bhujyu questions Yajnavalkya on the true nature of the Self.

2. Yajnavalkya says: The Self is the seer, though unseen; hearer, though unheard.

3. It is the thinker and knower, yet beyond all objects of thought.

4. Everything else is perishable; the Self alone is eternal.

5. The Self is the substratum of all mental and sensory activity.

6. It remains unaffected even when all faculties shut down.

7. When the body dies, the Self continues untouched.

8. It is not an object of experience, but the subject of all.

9. Knowing this, one attains immortality.

10. All experience arises due to contact with the Self.

11. The knower of Brahman transcends birth and death.

12. Bhujyu is satisfied and acknowledges Yajnavalkya’s wisdom.

Brahmana 4 – Yajnavalkya and Usasta — Direct Teaching of the Self

1. Usasta asks: “Teach me the Self that is immediate and direct, not inferred.”

2. Yajnavalkya replies: “That which you cannot see but by which you see — that is the Self.”

Essence: The Self is the very witness behind all perception — never an object, only the subject.

Brahmana 5 – The Self Beyond the Mind

1. Kahola asks: “What is the Self that is untouched by sin or virtue?”

2. Yajnavalkya replies: “It is the Self that is the inner controller, untouched by action, beyond the intellect.”

Essence: The Self is beyond all dualities — neither affected by good nor bad — it is the pure witness-consciousness.

Brahmana 6 – Yajnavalkya and Gargi – Round 1: On the Subtle Foundations of the Universe

1. Gargi asks: “Upon what is all this world woven, warp and woof?”

2. Yajnavalkya replies: “It is woven on space, which in turn rests on the realm of Brahman.”

3. Gargi declares she will question again later and steps back for now.

Essence: The world is layered upon subtler realities, culminating in the unmanifest — Brahman.

Brahmana 7 – Yajnavalkya and Gargi – Round 2: The Unchanging Brahman

1. Gargi addresses the sages, praising Yajnavalkya but challenges him boldly.

2. She asks: “On what is space woven, and what is beyond the known?”

3. Yajnavalkya answers: Space is woven on the Aksara — the imperishable.

4. He describes Aksara as untouched by decay, motion, or destruction.

5. Brahman is neither gross nor subtle, not shadow nor light — beyond attributes.

6. It is the unseen seer, unheard hearer, unthought thinker, unknown knower.

7. Nothing sees, hears, or knows it — for it is the ultimate witness.

8. Gargi withdraws, declaring none should debate Yajnavalkya further if they value their wisdom.

Essence: The ultimate reality, Brahman, is the imperishable, unchanging, and absolute — beyond even space and time.

Brahmana 8 – Yajnavalkya and Uddalaka – The Independent and Inner Self

1. Uddalaka asks: “What is the Self that is not dependent on anything?”

2. Yajnavalkya replies: “The Self is the inner controller (antaryamin) of all beings.”

3. He explains: It is within earth but not known by earth.

4. It is within water, fire, air, and the sky — yet untouched by them.

5. It dwells within the sun, moon, stars — guiding all from within.

6. It is in all directions, in darkness and light, yet beyond them.

7. It is in all beings — gods, men, animals, and so on.

8. This Self is the unseen inner ruler, never seen, only the seer.

9. It is not grasped, not afflicted, not bound — totally free.

10. Uddalaka acknowledges the truth and accepts defeat in humility.

11. Yajnavalkya affirms: The Self is always free, beyond cause and effect.

12. Realization of this Self leads to liberation from all limitations.

Essence: The Self is the inner controller of all — independent, all-pervading, and unknowable by the senses.

Brahmana 9 – Yajnavalkya and Sakalya – Debating the Many Gods and the One Supreme

1. Sakalya asks: “How many gods are there?” — expecting a precise answer.

2. Yajnavalkya first lists 3,306, then 33, then 6, then 3, then 2, then 1½, finally saying “One.”

3. Sakalya demands explanations for each number; Yajnavalkya explains how all gods are expressions of one.

4. The 33 gods are grouped into eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas, Indra, and Prajapati.

5. He shows that these gods are symbolic of natural forces and inner functions.

6. The reduction continues, culminating in Praṇa (life-force) as the core of all.

7. Sakalya asks about the Supreme Deity, and Yajnavalkya says: it is Praṇa — the sustaining energy.

8. Sakalya shifts to metaphysical questions, asking: “Where is this Self located?”

9. Yajnavalkya answers: It resides in the heart-lotus and is the essence of everything.

10. Sakalya presses on with detailed cosmological inquiries.

11. Yajnavalkya answers each one calmly, dismantling all speculative ideas.

12. Sakalya, unable to counter, falls silent — the debate ends with Yajnavalkya victorious.

Essence: All deities and forms resolve into the One Supreme Reality — the Self or Praṇa — the source and support of everything.

 

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