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The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad (Sanskrit: बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद्) is one of the older, "primary" (mukhya) Upanishads. It is contained within the Shatapatha Brahmana, and its status as an independent Upanishad may be considered a secondary extraction of a portion of the Brahmana text. This makes it one of the oldest texts of the Upanishad corpus. It is largely the oldest Upanishad, excluding some parts which were composed after the Chandogya.^[3] and the largely neglected Jaiminiya Upanisad Brahmana.^[4] It is associated with the Shukla Yajurveda. It figures as number 10 in the Muktika canon of 108 Upanishads and was notably commented upon by Adi Shankara.

Content[link]

Brihadaranyaka or the great forest of knowledge

It is widely known for its philosophical statements, and is ascribed to Yajnavalkya. Its name means "great-wilderness-Upaniṣad" or the "great forest of knowledge".^[5] It includes three sections, namely, Madhu Kanda, Muni Kanda (or Yajnavalkya Kanda) and Khila Kanda. The Madhu Kanda explains the teachings of the basic identity of the individual or Atman. Muni Kanda includes the conversations between the sage Yajnavalkya and one of his wives, Maitreyi. Various methods of meditation and some secret rites are dealt in the Khila Kanda. The doctrine of "neti neti" (later on understood as "neither this, nor that") and a often quoted verse, "Asato Maa" is found in this Upanishad.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is a commentary on Purush Sukta of the Vedas. Being an intuitional revelation it is rich in the use of metaphors, symbolism and imagery to describe the nature of Reality. Instead of using deduction to derive the truth Brihadaranyaka Upanishad uses self evident psychological arguments. The Upanishad uses the imagery of Asvamedha sacrifice, described in Purusha Sukta, to depict the creation of the universe. Prajapati, or the creator, is identified with ‘Asva’ or ‘the horse’ and ‘Medhya’ is the sacrifice. Verse 1.1.2 of the Upanishad describes the reason for using ‘the horse’ as a symbol for Prajapati. The horse being a substratum for demons, gods and humans is an apt symbol for Prajapati, the substratum of the whole universe. In verse 1.4.7, name and form are given as reasons for appearance of differentiation in an undifferentiated Absolute. In verse 1.4.15, the truth is described as nothing but one’s own ‘Self’. This is elaborated in the metaphysical statements in the Upanishad.

Ethics[link]

Ethics in the Upanishad revolve around the five Yajnas or sacrifices. These sacrifices are described as a person’s duty towards gods, rishis, ancestors, fellow humans and animals. In section 5.2, three disciplines are described using three ‘da’s’ i.e. damyata(self control), datta(charity), dayadhvam(compassion).

Psychology[link]

The verses in the Upanishad contain numerous statements pertaining to psychology. Verse 1.4.17 describes the desire for progeny as the desire for self assertion and the desire for wealth as the desire for material comfort. Eyes and ears are mentioned as the instruments of wealth because it is through the eyes and ears that we come to know of the names and forms of the objects which are regarded as wealth. Objects of wealth are often symbolically represented as food in the Upanishad. For instance, verse 1.5.2 enunciates that the food stuff is never exhausted because the consumers of the food themselves create food, implying that objects of desire never get exhausted as long as the desire persists in the subject. Eight grahas (sense organs) and atigrahas (object of senses) are conveyed in the Upanishad: nose-odour, speech-name, tongue-taste, eye-colour, ear-sound, mind-desire, hands-work, skin-touch. The purpose of the mind is described as desire with its basis in pleasure. In section 4.3 of the Upanishad an analysis of dreams and deep sleep is presented. Section 4.3 goes on to explore the state of deep sleep where the reason for lack of sensory experience is proposed to be the merger of senses with the perceiver. The Upanishadic psychology concludes when Yajnavalkya explains to Maitreyi that one does not love an object for the sake of the object but for the sake of the Self.

Metaphysics[link]

Verse 1.3.28 acknowledges that metaphysical statements in Upanishads are meant to guide the reader from unreality to reality. The metaphysics of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is non-dualistic. For instance, In verse 2.4.13 Yajnavalkya asserts that everything in the universe is covered with the Self. Section 1.6 implies that the reality is covered with name, form and work. The nature of reality or Self is described as consciousness-bliss in verse 3.9.28. Neti-neti or (not this—not this) is a method of negation described by Yajnavalkya to negate empirical reality. It implies that Absolute reality cannot be understood by the senses, mind or the intellect. The heart of the Upanishadic metaphysics appears in the verse 5.1 which also appears at the invocation and conclusion of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.

puranam adah, purnam idam, purnat purnam udacyate

purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate.

“From infinite or fullness, we can get only fullness or infinite”. The above verse describes the nature of the Absolute or Brahman which is infinite or full i.e. it contains everything. Upanishadic metaphysics is further elucidated in the Madhu Vidya(honey doctrine), where the essence of every object is described to be same to the essence of every other object which is held to be Brahman.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad looks at the reality as being indescribable and its nature to be infinite and consciousness-bliss. Human beings are looked upon as the synthesis of the organ of speech, mind, prana(cosmic energy) and the twin cosmic desires of differentiation and unison. The cosmic energy is thought to integrate in the microcosm various sensations like sound, smell and sight and in the macrocosm integrate the individual to the universe.

Popular Shlokas[link]

<poem> ॐ असतोमा सद्गमय । तमसोमा ज्योतिर्गमय । मृत्योर्मामृतं गमय ।। ॐ शान्ति शान्ति शान्तिः ।। – बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् 1.3.28.

</poem>

IAST: <poem> oṁ asato mā sad gamaya tamaso mā jyotir gamaya mṛtyor mā amṛtaṁ gamaya oṁ śānti śānti śāntiḥ – bṛhadāraṇyaka upaniṣad 1.3.28

</poem>

Translation: <poem> Lead Us From the Unreal To the Real, Lead Us From Darkness To Light, Lead Us From Death To Immortality, Let There Be Peace Peace Peace. – Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.

</poem>

<poem> According as one acts, so does he become. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action. – Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5^[6] </poem>

Editions[link]

• Albrecht Weber, The Çatapatha-Brāhmaṇa in the Mādhyandina-Çākhā, with extracts from the commentaries of Sāyaṇa, Harisvāmin and Dvivedānga, Berlin 1849, reprint Chowkhamba Sanskrit Ser., 96, Varanasi 1964.
• Willem Caland, The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa in the Kāṇvīya Recension, rev. ed. by Raghu Vira, Lahore 1926, repr. Delhi (1983)
• Emile Senart, Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad, Belles Lettres (1967) ISBN 2-251-35301-1
• TITUS online edition (based on both Weber and Caland)
• Sivananda, The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: Sanskrit text, English translation, and commentary. Published by Divine Life Society, 1985.

Translations[link]

• Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East (1879) [1]
• R. E. Hume (1921) [2]
• P. Lal, (1974) ISBN 81-7595-400-0
• Swami Nikhilananda (1987) ISBN 0-911206-14-0
• Swami Madhavananda, Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata 1934, 4th edition 2004 Online
• Swami Krishnananda The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: English translation, and commentary, Published by Divine Life Society.

In literature[link]

Poet T. S. Eliot makes use of the story "The Voice of the Thunder", found in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. Sections of the story appear in his poem The Waste Land under part V What The Thunder Said.

Notes[link]

1. ^ Olivelle, p=xxxvi
2. ^ King, Ācārya, p. 52.
3. ^ Olivelle, Patrick . Upaniṣads. Oxford University Press, 1998, pages 3–4
4. ^ Fujii, M. 1997, “On the Formation and Transmission of the Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa”, Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts: New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas, ed. M. Witzel, [Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora, 2], Cambridge, 89–102
5. ^ "Aranyaka" means "connected with wilderness" but it also refers to a type of Vedic texts associated with the more dangerous sacrifices, such as the Pravargya. Cf. "Aranyaka."
6. ^ Four facts of Hinduism

External links[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Sanskrit)

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