SUTRA VAHINI

Stream of Aphorisms
on Brahman

BHAGAVAN SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

© 2004 Sri Sathya Sai Books & Publications Trust
Prasanthi Nilayam (India)

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 Contents

Forward ................................................................................. iv
Preface...................................................................................... v
Stream of Aphorisms on Brahman.......................................1
1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman
(Athaatho Brahma jijnaasa)..................................................7
2. Brahman is the cosmic power, force, and support
(Janmaadyasya yathah).......................................................17
3. Brahman is the source of all knowledge
(Sastra Yonithwaath).........................................................27
4. All Vedantic axioms posit only Brahman
(Thath thu samanvayaath) .................................................33
5. Consciousness, not matter, is the primal cause
of the cosmos (Eekshather na asabdam).......................37
6. Supreme Self is the primal entity, not primordial
matter (Gounascheth na atma sabdaath)........................43
7. Divine Will is the cause of all causes
(Heyathwa-avachanaath-cha)............................................ 47
8. Individual merges in the Universal Brahman
(Swaapyayaath) ...............................................................51
9. Omniscient Brahman, the cause of the cosmos
(Shruthathwaath cha) ........................................................55
10. Divine “Light” and divine “feet”
(Jyothish charana-abhidhaanaath)......................................61
11. Brahman as cosmic breath or life
(Pranas-thathaa-anugamaath)...........................................65
12. Brahman is the universal teaching
(Sarvathra Prasiddhopadesaath) ........................................75
Glossary..................................................................................77
Index........................................................................................91

iii
 Foreword
This edition of Sutra Vahini improves on the previous
edition. Grammatical errors and typos have been cor-
rected, and some sentences have been rewritten to
smooth and clarify the presentation —of course, without
disturbing the meaning. Long paragraphs have been split
logically in two to provide easier reading.
Sanskrit words have been replaced by English equiva-
lents, to make the text accessible to readers who do not
know Sanskrit. However, since many Sanskrit words
have no exact English equivalent, the accuracy of the text
has been maintained by putting Sanskrit words in paren-
theses, after their English translations.
Several Sanskrit words have made their way into the
English language and can be found in most dictionaries
—e.g. dharma, guru, and yoga. These words have been
used without translation, although their meanings ap-
pear in the glossary at the end of the book.

iv
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman v

Preface

An aphorism (sutra) expresses the genus of its mean-

ing in a few terse words. The Brahma Sutras systemati-
cally explain the basic principles of Vedanta, the science of
Supreme Reality. When contemplated, they reveal the
innermost metaphysical secrets.
Today, harmony is the need of the hour. The ephem-
eral world needs spiritual awareness, and this is what the
Vedantins visualise. Vedic scriptures offer comforting
counsel. They throw a kindly light.
Man has distorted vision (ku-darshan): he dotes on ap-
parently real and also non-real phenomena. True vision
(su-darshan) makes him cognize the universal Being in
nature's creations. Realization of this awareness is libera-
tion (moksha). The be-all and end-all of life of the human
being is the realization of constant integrated awareness
—of Brahman visualized both as the primary, absolute,
supreme, unlimited entity and as its subsidiary cosmic
creative aspect and mergence in Brahman.
In this Stream of Aphorisms (Sutra Vahini) on Brahman,
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba has lighted the universal
lamp of the wisdom (vidya) of Atma/Brahman (Divine
Self). This stream of aphorisms first appeared in serial-
ized form in Sanathana Sarathi. Bhagavan, in His infinite
love, elaborated on the “Essence of Brahma Sutras in
twelve selected aphorisms”. Bhagavan's sublime and
profound words and spiritual wisdom are indeed highly
elevating and illuminating. Bathing in this pellucid Stream
of Aphorisms, a person develops correct or true vision of
Reality, bestowing supreme delight.
In the words of Bhagavan Baba, “Acquisition of the
higher knowledge alone can fulfill the main purpose of
human life. Such knowledge makes one aware that one is
not the inert insentient body, etc., but that one is con-
sciousness itself manifesting as the embodiment of being-
awareness-bliss (satchidananda). When this truth dawns
and is experienced, one becomes a person liberated while
vi Sutra Vahini

alive (jivan-muktha)”. This is the state of realization of the

innate nature of a people —the divinity of humanity.

—Editor

.
 SUTRA VAHINI

Stream of Aphorisms on Brahman

All the scriptures (sastras) derive their value and valid-

ity from their source: the Vedas. They lay down modes
and norms in consonance with the principles and pur-
poses defined in the Vedas. To discriminate between
good and bad, one must resort to the scriptures.

Vedas, the voice of the Divine

The Vedas have no identifiable human authors; they

are not from human beings (a-pourusheya). They
emerged from God Himself and were “heard” by sages
attuned to the voice of the Divine. These sages taught the
words to their pupils, who in turn taught them to their
disciples. This process of imparting the Vedas and the
wisdom enshrined in them has continued through gen-
eration after generation of gurus and disciples up to our
own times.
The Upanishads are the very core of the Vedas, the very
essence of their teachings. The Brahma Sutra and the Bha-
gavad Gita contain the very essence of the teachings of the
Upanishads. Therefore, these three scriptural texts are
designated as the “three fundamental texts (Prasthana
Thraya)” of the science of spirituality. Since they were
learned by listening to the guru, they are, along with the
Vedas, named the “heard (sruthi)”.
Acquisition of the higher knowledge alone can fulfill
the main purpose of human life. Such knowledge makes
one aware that one is not the inert non-sentient body,
etc., but that one is consciousness itself manifesting as the
embodiment of being-awareness-bliss (satchidananda).
When this truth dawns and is experienced, one is liber-
ated; one is freed from the fog of ignorance (a-jnana)
even while life endures till its term ends. One becomes a
person liberated while alive (jivan-muktha).

Renunciation alone confers immortality

The Kaivalya Upanishad declares:

1
2 Sutra Vahini

Not by means of works, not by means of man-

power, not by means of wealth, but by renun-
ciation alone can immortality be attained.
Na Karmanaa na prajayaa dhanena
thyaagena eke amrithathwam-aanasuh
The works referred to are rituals like sacrifices, sacred
fire rites, vows, charities, donations to holy projects, pil-
grimages, and ceremonial baths in sacred rivers and the
ocean. Through such activities, one cannot achieve
liberation (moksha) —that is to say, one cannot get rid of
the veil of ignorance.
Not by means of human power (na prajayaa) means the
following: acquisition of positions of authority and
power, of skill and intelligence, which can manipulate
people and things, of fame and supremacy, of personal
charm, of full health and happiness, or of a large family
with many children —these cannot confer liberation on
people.
Not by means of wealth (na dhanena) means the fol-
lowing: the works and activities mentioned above and
the acquisition referred to can succeed only when one
has wealth at their disposal. If one is not rich, one cannot
venture into sacrifices or ritual acts (karmas) or acquire
authority, power, etc. But the Upanishad announces that
spiritual wisdom (jnana) is not related to riches (dhana).
And spiritual wisdom alone can lead to liberation. So, lib-
eration cannot be earned by means of wealth. Wealth is
not a means to attain liberation.
Then what exactly is the means? The answer is:
Renunciation alone can confer immortality.
(Thyagena eke amrithathwam aanasuh.)
The objective world (jagath) is unreal, non-existent, and
the misunderstanding that it is real has to be renounced.
The understanding that the idea of the objective world is
a superimposition by our mind on the Reality is spiritual
wisdom (jnana). Though the objective world appears real,
one must be aware that it is deluding us. As a result, one
has to give up the yearning for deriving pleasure from
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 3

the objects that appear and attract, both here and hereaf-
ter. That is to say, one is liberated as soon as one re-
nounces all attachment and all desires. The false knowl-
edge (a-jnana) can be destroyed only when one knows
the Atma (the Divine Self) principle. When the false
knowledge disappears, the sorrow produced by one's
involvement in the ups and downs of the world of
change (samsara) also gets destroyed.

Humanity is the embodiment of bliss

Ignorance (a-jnana) and sorrow (dukha) cannot be de-

stroyed by rituals and rites (karma); this is the lesson the
Upanishads teach us. In fact, what is happening now is
that people have forgotten their real nature. They believe
that they are the body, the senses, etc. These crave for
objective pleasures, and the people convince themselves
that this pleasure is wanted by themselves; and under this
mistaken notion, they seek to fulfill the cravings. They
delude themselves that they can secure bliss (ananda) by
catering to the body and senses. However, such attempts
cannot earn bliss. Instead, they are rewarded with disillu-
sionment, defeat, and disaster. They reap sorrow and
joy.
Involvement in objective pleasure leads ultimately to
grief, so one needs to be directed toward the right means
to attain bliss (ananda). Wherefrom can one gain bliss? It
does not inhere in external objects. The pleasure obtain-
able from external objects brings with it grief as well.
The Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra, and the Bhagavad Gita
—the three source texts— clarify the truth that you are
the very embodiment of bliss (ananda). These three
sources help people attain the highest wisdom.

Methods for knowing truth

It is difficult to grasp the meanings of the aphorisms of

the Brahma Sutra. Unless one has acquired the necessary
qualifications, one cannot unravel and master them.
4 Sutra Vahini

What, then, are the qualifications? The scriptures lay

down four spiritual disciplines (sadhanas) that have to be
earned as preliminary for knowing the truth of oneself.
When one is equipped with them, the meanings of the
aphorisms become as patent as a fruit on the palm.
The Brahma Sutra is also known as Saririka Sastra and
Vedanta Darsana. Sarira means the body, and saririka
means all the components of the embodied Atma —ego,
senses, etc. Sastra implies “examining the nature of all
these to the greatest possible degree”. That is to say, the
scripture (sastra) establishes that Brahman (the Cosmic
Self) is the basis on which all else is imposed and that
one's reality is Bliss itself.
Now about the name Vedanta Darsana: Darsana means
“vision”; it promotes the sight or experience of the truth.
The Darsanas are well known. They have been pro-
pounded by vision-blessed sages. Sankhya Darsana was
established by Kapila. The Nyaya Darsana was authored
by Gautama, the Vaiseshika by Kanada, the Purva Mi-
mamsa by Jaimini, and the Uttara Mimamsa by Veda
Vyasa. Among these, Kapila and Vyasa are believed by
the sages to be partial embodiments of Vishnu Himself.
The Brahma Sutra of Veda Vyasa confirmed and consoli-
dated the Uttara Mimamsa or Vedanta Darsana.

The technique of exposition

The Brahma Sutra adopts the technique of objection

(purva paksha) and conclusion (siddhatha) to expound the
truth. The aphorisms discuss contrary points of view in
order to remove all possible doubts about the validity and
meaning of Vedantic or Upanishadic statements. The body
is taken to be the encasement (upadhi) for the “person
(jivatma)”, and the Brahma Sutra explains its Reality.
Hence, the Brahma Sutra is called the Ultimate Vision of
Wisdom (Vedanta Darsana).
The aphorisms (sutras) in the text number 555; some
schools count them as 449. The word sutra means “that
which, through a few words only, reveals vast mean-
ings”.
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 5

The quest for Supreme Reality

The word mimamsa, as used in ancient Indian philoso-

phy, means the conclusion arrived at after inquiry and
investigation, the inference adopted as correct after deep
consideration of possible doubts and alternatives.
The Vedas deal with two concepts: dharma and Brah-
man. The Purva Mimamsa deals with rites and rituals
(karma) as dharma. The Uttara Mimamsa (Concluding Vali-
dation) deals with Brahman and emphasises experiential
wisdom (jnana).
The Purva Mimamsa starts with the aphorism
Thereafter, the inquiry on righteousness (dharma)
(Athhaatho Dharma Jijnasa).
The Uttara Mimamsa starts with,
Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman
(Athhaatho Brahma Jijnasa).
The awareness of Brahman cannot be won by the ac-
cumulation of wealth or even by the giving away of
riches. Nor can it be achieved by reading texts, rising to
power, acquiring degrees and diplomas, or performing
scriptural sacrifices and rituals.
The body is an anthill, with the mind inside the cavity.
The mind has hidden in it the serpent named ignorance
or nescience (a-jnana). The serpent cannot be killed by re-
sorting to satisfaction-oriented works (kamya karma).
Spiritual wisdom (jnana) is the only weapon that can kill
it.
“That person alone who has faith can secure wisdom
(Shraddhaavaan labhathe jnanam).” And faith means steady
faith in the statements laid down in scriptural texts.
 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman
(Athaatho Brahma jijnaasa)

An aphorism (sutra) enshrines, in a few words, vast

expanses of meaning, vast depths of fundamental signifi-
cance. The Brahma Sutras build up the science of Vedanta.
They gather multicoloured flowers from all the Upani-
shads and string them together to form an enchanting
garland. Each aphorism can be elaborated and explained
in a number of learned ways, according to one's under-
standing, faith, preference, experience, and pleasure.

Yearning to know

The first aphorism is atha-athah-Brahma-jijnaasa. The ini-

tial atha has many literal meanings, but in this aphorism,
the most appropriate sense is: “Thereafter”. So, the ques-
tion “after what?” arises. It is obvious that it refers to
“the yearning to understand the nature of Brahman
(Brahma jijnaasa)”. The meaning is: “After such a yearning
has dawned”. How can this yearning emerge? It can
come into the mind only after one acquires proper quali-
fications. “Thereafter” means, “after equipping oneself
with these qualifications”.

Qualifications for inquiring into Brahman

For understanding Brahman, Vedanta has to be stud-

ied. But yearning to know (jijnaasa) cannot yield fruit if
the Vedas are merely studied.
Among the preliminary qualifications for yearning to
know Brahman, the first is discrimination (viveka) be-
tween the transitory and the eternal —in other words,
the discovery that the Atma (divine Self) alone is beyond
time and that all objects perceivable by the senses of
sight, etc., are only transitory. The Atma alone suffers no
change. It alone is timeless truth (nithya sathya). As a re-
sult of prolonged investigation, one has to gain this un-
shakable conviction and be established in it.
The second qualification is: renunciation of the desire
to enjoy, here and hereafter, the fruits of one's actions
(iha-amutra-phala-bhoga-viraagah). This is also known as

7
8 Sutra Vahini

nonattachment (vairagya). One must reason and realise

the transitoriness of joy and grief, which are pollutions
that affect the mind. One will be convinced, then, that all
things are caught in a flux; they are all momentary, they
yield only grief. Next, the feeling of nonattachment will
dawn in the mind. Nonattachment does not involve giv-
ing up hearth and home, wife and children, and taking
refuge in forests. It involves only the awareness of the
world (jagath) as transitory and, as a consequence of this
awareness, discarding the feelings “I” and “mine”.
The third qualification consists of the six virtues: mind
control, body and sense control, withdrawal from sen-
sory objects, forbearance, unwavering faith, and
equanimity (sama, dama, uparathi, thithiksha, sraddha, and
sama-dhana).

Six primary virtues

Mind control (sama): Mind control is very hard to attain.

The mind can cause bondage, but it can also confer lib-
eration. It is an amalgam of the passionate (rajasic) and
ignorant (thamasic) attitudes. It is easily polluted. It rel-
ishes in hiding the real nature of things and casting on
them the forms and values that it desires. So the activities
of the mind have to be regulated.
The mind has two characteristics. First, it runs help-
lessly after the senses. Whichever sense the mind follows,
it is inviting disaster. When a pot of water becomes
empty, we need not infer that it has leaked away
through ten holes; one hole is enough to empty it. So
too, even if one sense is not under control, one will be
thrown into bondage. Therefore, every sense has to be
mastered.
Second, the potency of the mind can be promoted by
good practices like meditation, repetition of the name,
devotional singing, and worship (dhyana, japa, bhajans,
and puja). With the strength and skill thus reinforced, the
mind can help the world or harm it. So, the mental power
gained by such spiritual practice has to be turned away
from wrong paths and controlled by mind control. The
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 9

senses have to be directed by the principle of intelligence

(buddhi). They must be released from the hold that the
mind has on them. Then, spiritual progress can be at-
tained.
The mind (manas) is but a bundle of thoughts, a com-
plex of wants and wishes. As soon as a thought, desire,
or wish raises its head from the mind, the intellect (bud-
dhi) must probe its value and validity —is it good or bad,
will it help or hinder, where will it lead or end. If the
mind does not submit to this probe, it will land itself on
the path of ruin. If it does and obeys the intelligence, it
can move along the right path.
People have three chief instruments for uplifting
themselves: intelligence, mind, and senses. When the
mind gets enslaved by the senses, one gets entangled
and bound. The same mind, when it is regulated by the
intellect, can make one aware of one’s reality, the Atma.
This is why the mind is reputed to cause either bondage
or liberation.

Body and sense control (dama): Now for the second of

the six virtues. Control of the body and senses can be
achieved only by spiritual exercise (sadhana) and not by
any other means. One has to avoid spending precious
time in useless pursuits. One has to be ever vigilant. One
has to engage the senses of perception and of action and
the body in congenial but noble tasks to keep them busy.
There should be no chance for sloth (thamas) to creep in.
And, every act must promote the good of others. While
confining oneself to activities that reflect one's natural
duties (swa-dharma), it is possible to sublimate them into
spiritual practices for the body and the senses.

Withdrawal from sensory objects (uparathi): The third

virtue is withdrawal from sensory objects. This implies a
state of mind that is above and beyond all dualities that
agitate and affect common people, such as joy and grief,
liking and disliking, good and bad, praise and blame. But
these universal experiences can be overcome or negated
by means of spiritual exercises or intellectual inquiry.
10 Sutra Vahini

People can escape from these opposites and dualities and

attain balance and stability.
Withdrawal from sensory objects can be achieved
while engaged in day-to-day living by avoiding entan-
glement with and bondage to differences and distinc-
tions. One should free oneself from identification with
castes like priest (brahmin), protector (kshatriya), busi-
nessman (vaisya), and labourer (sudra); or with family
clans; or with conditions like boyhood, youth, adult, and
old age; or with genders like masculine and feminine.
When one succeeds in discarding these and is firmly es-
tablished in the Atmic Reality alone, one has really
achieved withdrawal from sensory objects.
Do not look at the world with a worldly eye. Look
upon it with the eye of Atma, as the projection of the Su-
preme Self (Paramatma). That can make one cross the ho-
rizon of dualities into the region of the One. The One is
experienced as many, because of the forms and names
people have imposed on it. That is the result of the mind
playing its game. Withdrawal from sensory objects
(uparathi) promotes inner exploration (nivritti), not outer
inquiry and activity (pravritti). Along inner exploration
lies the path of intellectual inquiry (jnana); along outer
exploration lies the path of karma.
The sacred activities like rituals and sacrifices that are
laid down in the Vedas cannot confer liberation (moksha)
from bondage to birth and death. They help only to
cleanse the consciousness. It is said that they raise people
to heaven, but heaven is also only a bond. It does not
promise eternal freedom.
The freedom that makes one aware of the truth, of
one’s own truth, can be gained only through listening to
the guru (sravana), ruminating over what has been lis-
tened to (manana), and meditating on its validity and sig-
nificance (nidi-dhyasana). Only those who have detached
their minds from desire can benefit from the guru. Oth-
ers cannot profit from guidance. Those who expect and
look forward to the fruits of their actions can engage in
them until their consciousness is cleansed. After that,
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 11

their actions are of no value. So, one must be ever con-

scious of the Atma as pervading and penetrating every-
thing, so that attraction and repulsion, the duality com-
plex, have no effect.

Forbearance (thithiksha): The fourth virtue, the attitude

of forbearance, refuses to be affected or pained when af-
flicted with sorrow, loss, and the ingratitude and wicked-
ness of others. In fact, one is happy and calm, for one
knows that these are the results of one's own actions
now recoiling on one, and one views those who caused
the misery as friends and well wishers. One does not re-
taliate or wish them ill. One bears all blows patiently and
gladly.
The natural reactions of people, whoever they may be,
when someone injures them is to injure in return; when
someone causes harm, to do harm; and when someone
insults them, to insult back by some means or other. But
this is the characteristic of the worldly path (pravritti)
—the path of objective involvement. Those who seek the
inner path of sublimation and purification (nivritti) have
to avoid such reaction.
Returning injury for injury, harm for harm, or insult
for insult only adds to the karmic burden, which has to be
endured and eliminated in future lives. This burden is
termed “impending (aagaami)”. One can't escape the task
of undergoing the consequences of one's thought, word,
and deed in due course. Paying evil for evil can never
lighten the weight of karma; it will only become heavier.
It might confer immediate relief and contentment, but it
can only make the person suffer later. Forbearance,
therefore, instructs people to do good to those who in-
jure them.

Unshakable faith (sraddha). The fifth among the virtues

to be cultivated is unshakable, unwavering faith —faith
in the sacred scriptures (sastras) and the moral codes they
contain, as well as in the Atma and the guru. Faith is the
sign of sraddha.
12 Sutra Vahini

The scriptures are designed to ensure the peace and

prosperity of the world and the spiritual perfection of
mankind. They have before them this great aim; they
show the way to its realisation. So, one must place faith
in such holy scriptures, gurus (preceptors), and elders.
Gurus are indeed worth worshiping, for they show us
the path of ultimate fulfillment (the sreyomarga). The gu-
rus, on their part, must instruct people only in “the
knowledge of the one Atma that is immanent in all beings
(sarva jivaatmaikya jnana)”. The one who has unwavering
faith will achieve this wisdom. The gurus themselves
must have full faith in it and live according to that faith
without the slightest deviation.

Equanimity (Sama-dhana): Equanimity is the sixth vir-

tue. One has to be irrefutably convinced that what the
scriptures (sastras) make known and what the guru
teaches are one and the same. One's intellect must rest
upon and draw inspiration from the Atma, at all times
and under all circumstances. The aspirant for spiritual
progress must be attached only to the unchanging uni-
versal Consciousness. All actions should have the joy of
God as their goal. One must place implicit faith in the
scriptural dictum: All living beings are facets and frac-
tions of God. To confirm this faith and strengthen it, one
must look upon all beings as equal. The above sixth vir-
tue is the treasure of spiritual struggle (sadhana sampath).

In summary, the third qualification consists of the six

virtues: mind control, body-sense control, withdrawal
from sensory objects, forbearance, unwavering faith, and
equanimity.

Longing for liberation

The next qualification for inquiry into Brahman to con-

sider is the longing for liberation (moksha). This longing
cannot arise from riches or the scholarship that may be
won at great expense of money. Nor can it emerge from
wealth, progeny, rites, and rituals recommended in the
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 13

scriptures, or acts of charity. Moksha (liberation from grief

and acquisition of spiritual bliss) can come only from the
conquest of ignorance (a-jnana).
A person might master all the scriptures (sastras) along
with all the learned commentaries written on them by
experts; they might propitiate all the gods by performing
the prescribed modes of worship and ceremonies; but
this cannot grant the boon of liberation. These acts are all
performed to earn benefits and boons other than the su-
preme knowledge (jnana). Only success in the path of
knowledge can confer salvation.
A person might have every article needed for cooking
a meal, but if fire is not available, how can the meal be
prepared? So too, if awareness of Atma (Atma-jnana) as
the only reality is not won but liberation (mukthi) can still
be attained by bathing in the waters of sacred rivers,
what shall we say of the fish and other aquatic species
that spend their lives in the rivers! If spending years in
mountain caves will lead to liberation, what do mice and
wild beasts attain? If liberation can be attained by ascetic
practices like eating roots and tubers and chewing leaves
for sustenance of the body, must goats who feed on
leaves and pigs that dig out tubers also attain liberation?
If plastering the entire body with ash is hailed as asceti-
cism, can dogs and donkeys that roll on ash heaps claim
liberation? These beliefs and practices are signs of poor
understanding. One must concentrate on achieving
awareness of the eternal universal Atmic reality (Atma-
jnana).
The word atha with which the very first aphorism be-
gins means “thereafter”. After inquiry into its implica-
tions, it has been found that it involves the acquisition of
these four attainments: discrimination (viveka), renuncia-
tion (vairagya), the six virtues, and the yearning for libera-
tion.

The reason for inquiry: futility of reason

The next word is athah (the tha being soft instead of

stressed, as in the first word). Athah means “for this rea-
14 Sutra Vahini

son”. The inquiry has therefore to be made for which

reason?
For the reason that the awareness of the Su-
preme, the Brahman, can be secured neither by
the examination of the texts of the scriptures
nor by the performance of rites and rituals nor
through the study of material objects nor by
the process of learning from the examples of
other people.
Because objects and individuals, rites and activities are
transitory, they suffer from decay and destruction. They
can at best help the cleansing of the mind, that is all.
Activity (karma) cannot liberate one from the basic igno-
rance or award the awareness of the reality as Brahman.
One has to be conscious of this limitation in order to win
the right of inquiry into the mystery of the Brahman, the
source and core of the cosmos.
This very first aphorism stresses one lesson: The one
who devotes life to earn the knowledge of the Atma that
is their Self must possess holy virtues and must mould
their conduct and contacts sacrosanct. For no knowledge
can be higher than virtuous character. Character is
power, really speaking. For the person who has dedi-
cated their years to the acquisition of higher learning,
ever good character is an indispensable qualification.
Every religion emphasizes the same need, not as a special
credal condition but as the basis of spiritual life and con-
duct itself. Those who lead lives on these lines can never
come to harm. They will be endowed with sacred merit.

The primacy of moral character

Virtues are the most effective means for purifying the

inner consciousness, at all levels, for they prompt the
person to discover what to do and how to do it. Only
those who have earned good destiny can claim their ex-
cellence in discrimination. And, adherence to this deter-
mination is the raft that can take one across the ocean of
flux and fear (bhava sagara). The person of virtues has a
Aphorism 1. Thereafter, the inquiry into Brahman 15

place in the region of the liberated. Whatever the residual

activity a person has perforce to engage themself in, the
impact of that activity will not impinge if the person is
one of virtue. The person can merge in Brahman, the
embodiment of Supreme Bliss.
People may have performed a variety of Vedic rites
and sacrifices; they might even be expounding the con-
tents of a variety of sacred scriptures that they have mas-
tered; they might be endowed with prosperity, owning
vast wealth and heaps of grain; they might teach the Ve-
das and their complementary disciplines with due exposi-
tion of meanings. But without moral character, they have
no place where Brahman is taught or learned. This is the
lesson conveyed by this aphorism.
The stage of equanimity so essential for spiritual pro-
gress can be gained only when the intellect (buddhi) is
cleansed of the blot of deluding attachments and in-
volvements. Without that serenity, the intellect cannot
proceed on the trail of Brahman. Why? “Virtue” is only
another name for the “intelligence” that follows the
promptings of the Atma, the Self that is Reality. Only one
who has such virtue can win awareness of Atma, the
truth. And, once awareness is gained, one can no longer
be caught in delusion or desire: one will no longer be
touched them.

Renouncing “me” and “mine” attachments

Desire and bondage to the objects desired and the

plans to secure them are attributes of the individualized
selves, not of the Self or Atma resident in the body. The
sense of me and mine and the emotions of lust and anger
originate in the body-mind complex. Only when this
complex is conquered and outgrown can true virtue
emanate and manifest.
The sense of “doer” and “enjoyer”, of “agentship”,
might appear to affect the Atma, but they are not part of
the genuine nature of the Atma. Things get mirrored and
produce images, but the mirror is not tarnished or even
affected thereby. It remains as clear as it was. So, too, the
16 Sutra Vahini

person of virtue might be subjected to some contami-

nating activities due to a backlog of acts in previous lives,
but they cannot mar or obstruct the person’s present na-
ture or activities. The individual (jivi) has these as genu-
ine, basic attributes: purity, serenity, and joy. The indi-
vidual is ebullient with these qualities.
A bird in flight in the sky needs two wings; a person
moving on the earth below needs two legs to carry the
person forward; an aspirant eager to attain the mansion
of liberation (moksha), the abode of freedom, needs re-
nunciation and wisdom —renunciation of worldly desires
and wisdom to become aware of the Atma. When a bird
has only one wing, it can’t rise up into the sky, can it? In
the same manner, if one has only renunciation or only
wisdom, one cannot attain the supreme Self, Brahman.
The sense of “mine” is the bond of deluding attachment.
How long can one cling to what one fondles as mine?
Some day, one has to give up everything and leave,
alone and empty handed. This is the inescapable destiny.
One has to give up such assumed relationships and ar-
tificial attachments through rigorous analysis of their na-
ture and —give them up as quickly as possible. This is
what the world teaches as the lesson of renunciation. At-
tachment breeds fear and egotism; only the unwise
would yield to such worldly fancies. The wise can never
bow to the blandishments of objective desire. All is mo-
mentary, only momentary. All is transient, very tran-
sient. So, the wise seek to identify the everlasting truth
and adhere to the immortal virtues that the Atma repre-
sents. These are the real people of virtue, the candidates
worthy of attaining Brahman.
 2. Brahman is the Cosmic Source,
Force, and Support
(Janmaadyasya yathah)

This aphorism means: Brahman is the source from

which the origination, maintenance, and disintegration of
the universe emanates. In the aphorism, “That from
which (yathah)” refers to Brahman; “of this (asya)” refers
to the visible universe (the composite of the five ele-
ments, prapancha); and “birth, etc. (janmaadi)” refers to the
origination, maintenance, and disintegration of the uni-
verse.
One has to know “That” as Brahman, the source of
origination, maintenance, and disintegration (srishti,
sthithi, and laya) of this perceptible cosmos. Brahman is
the entity from whom this creation (jagath), this appar-
ently concrete, ever-changing product of the tendency of
the mind to visualize, has originated. This creation is
maintained as an organization by Brahman, in spite of
the ever-present flux, and it ultimately subsides or
merges in Brahman itself. Shouldn’t there be One who
designs and decides on some sort of control and regula-
tion of this creation? Underlying the three phases of crea-
tion mentioned above, one can cognize not only inter-
penetrating order (niyathi) and comprehensive knowl-
edge but also obscuring or deluding power (a-jnana
avrithi).

Brahman, the one eternal truth

We can know a great deal about the nature of the

cosmos. But our instrument of knowledge is the human
eye, right? Physical sciences have discovered much, but it
has all been discovered by the human mind, right? The
eye and mind describe and analyze things as they are.
But how long do the things exist as now? They are sub-
ject to modification each moment. However, in spite of
the inescapable change that affects all things, one is
aware of a truth or fact that is not affected in the least.
That unchanging principle is the basis on which the three
phases are manifested. That principle is Brahman, the
Eternal Base, the Unmoving, the One, the Truth (Sathya).

17
18 Sutra Vahini

One may hesitate to accept this fact and be involved in

doubt, since the basic Brahman is not perceived —what is
actually perceived are forms with attached names, which
are in perpetual change.
Consider what happens when a person sees the dry
stump of a tree at night: they are afraid it is a ghost or a
bizarre human being. It is neither, though it is perceived
as either. The reason for this misperception is “dark-
ness”. Darkness imposes on something another thing
that is not there. In the same manner, the darkness that is
spread through false perception (maya) veils and renders
unnoticeable the Primal Cause, Brahman, and imposes
the cosmos on It, as a perceptible reality. This deceptive
vision is corrected by the awakened consciousness (jnana)
and transmuted into the vision of universal love (prema).
The cosmos of which the Earth is a part and with which
we are embroiled has Brahman Itself as its basic cause,
just as the stump is the basic cause of the ghost.
Some others declare as the cause or origin of the cos-
mos (prapancha) such factors as innate nature (swa-bhava),
order, accident, time, etc. But none of these alone nor all
of them together can be the cause, for they are inert, in-
capable of will or initiative. Even individual selves are
bound by the manacles of joy-grief, growth-decay, and
birth-death. Each of these alleged origins is dependent
and contingent, so they cannot be accepted as the cause
or origin of the manifest world.

Brahman, the cause of all causes

This aphorism is intended to lead us to the discovery

of the genuine basis for all that “is”, “was”, and “will be”.
It announces the Supreme Principle as the cause of na-
ture, existence, and the orderly behavior of the universe
as well as for its fulfillment. Physics can probe into matter
and explain how it is formed, but it cannot probe and dis-
cover why it is so formed.
Surely, there should be a cause for each effect or hap-
pening. Neither the atom nor the self nor their absence
can be reckoned as that cause. The Being (Sat) must be
Aphorism 2: Brahman is the cosmic source, force, and support 19

beyond both subject and object, cognizer and cognized.

But when we have to delineate the unlimited Being or
Brahman, it becomes necessary to use words in current
usage, such as Creator, Lord, Providence, God, and
Brahman.
When the inquiry into cause and effect is made from
the point of view of the cosmos, we reach the conclusion
that God is the cause and the cosmos (jagath) is the effect.
When the distinction between subject and object is tran-
scended, we become aware that it is all pure Conscious-
ness or Brahman, visualized both as the primary absolute
unlimited entity and as its subsidiary creative aspect. The
word “That” invokes Brahman as well as the cosmos and
the mergence in Brahman. It is illusion (maya) that causes
the delusion that one originates from the other.
Some contend that the two —illusion and Brahman—
are the twin causes of the cosmos. Still others assert that
illusion is solely responsible. Others assert that the uni-
verse is a manifestation of Vishnu and that it has its being
in Vishnu Himself. They declare that the emergence, sub-
sistence, and merging of the universe are all caused by
Vishnu.

Five natural or derived features

Of course, nothing in the universe can be made with-

out a maker. What, then, must be the nature of the
maker of the cosmos? The maker must have limitless
power, unbounded glory, and perfect omniscience. It is
not possible for everyone to visualize such a phenome-
non, though it is the very fulfillment of the purpose of
each one's life! However, it can be conceived and con-
firmed by two characteristics: derivative (thatastha) and
true nature (swa-rupa). The derivative is the temporary
time-bounded indication. It cannot confer a correct pic-
ture or view but can only reveal signs and glimpses, off
and on. True nature means the very reality of the illumi-
nation of intuitive wisdom. It reveals the immanent and
the transcendent, the limitless source of all.
20 Sutra Vahini

Every entity, article, or thing in the universe has five

qualities: Is-ness, luminescence or recognisability,
dearness or utility, form, and name (asthi, bhathi, priya,
rupa, and nama). First, “is-ness” is the feature of all that is.
Second, the thing that is known to us is capable of being
known to us because it shines; it is luminescent; it has the
power to enter our consciousness. Third, everything is
capable of being used or benefitted from and therefore
becomes dear and attractive.
The other two features, name and form, do change
and can be modified. All things seem to undergo some
transformation or other and often assume again the
original form. They are apparent alterations of the basic
entities, which always have the first three features. Name
and form are superimpositions on the basic reality of “is-
ness”, “illumination”, and “joy”.

He who realises Brahman is Brahman Itself

The Divine is the base —and is also the superstructure.

The beads are many, but the interconnecting, integrating
string of the rosary is one. So also for the entire world of
living beings; God, the permanent, omnipresent
Parabrahman, the Supreme Divine Consciousness, is the
base. “I am God (soham)”, “He is I”, “I am that”, all these
axioms indicate that even those that differentiate them-
selves under names and forms are in fact God Himself.
This is why the Vedas proclaim, “He who realises Brah-
man is verily Brahman Itself (Brahmavith Brahmaiva Bha-
vathi)”. This awareness is the awareness of the reality.
The bubble born of water floats in it and bursts to be-
come one with it. All the visible objective worlds are like
the bubbles emanating from the vast ocean of Divinity,
Brahman. They are on the water and are sustained by
water. How else can they arise and exist? Finally, they
merge and disappear in water itself. For their origination,
subsistence, and mergence, they depend only on water.
Water is one; bubbles are plentiful. Water is real; bubbles
are appearances. Water is the basis; bubbles are delusive
forms of the same imposed on it.
Aphorism 2: Brahman is the cosmic source, force, and support 21

The mystery of the universe

One is struck with wonder at this wonderful mani-

festa-tion. In the ancient eras of time and in the far cor-
ners of space, the mystery of life emerged from the inert
unconscious tangle of nature and proliferated into people
and God-people. This fact is known to all and cognizable
by all. But can the low be posited as the cause of the
high? The low can be the cause only of the low. We can
say that the inert can at best be the cause of the mind,
which also is part of the body complex, but only the Di-
vine Will can be the cause of all creation, which has the
five features already mentioned. No one can explain oth-
erwise how the complex mind arose and got established .
The theory is that all events in the universe follow cer-
tain laws and norms. It is not always self-evident, but
physics tends to prove that it is quite feasible.
The first aphorism indicates the Universal Supreme
called Brahman. This second describes the same Brahman
in another form through another facet. The first apho-
rism lays down truth, spiritual wisdom, and freedom
(sathya, jnana, and swa-tantra). The second lays down the
creative aspect of Brahman and declares that the aspect
cannot be limited to this particular cosmos.

The path of righteousness

Each has its own dharma or innate specialty, individual-

ity, or love characteristics. This rule applies equally to
blades of grass and the stars. The cosmos is not one con-
tinuous flux. It progresses persistently toward achieving
a totality in the qualities and circumstances. One can also
transform oneself from the present status through self
effort and discrimination. The moral forces permeating
the cosmos will certainly promote our achievement. But,
people are too immersed in the all-pervasive delusion to
take advantage of these and elevate themselves. They
are not aware of the path of peace and harmony in the
world. They are not able to hold on to the good and
22 Sutra Vahini

avoid the bad. They can’t establish themselves in the

dharmic path.
“That” from which the birth, etc. of “this”; “That”
from which the manifested cosmos emanated, with its
moving and unmoving entities; “That” which prompts,
promotes and fosters their progress; “That” in which
they ultimately merge —know “That” as Brahman.
The Taithiriya Upanishad announces:
From which they are born, by which they live,
and into which they dissolve —that is Brahman.
Yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe, yena
jaathaani jeevanthi, yath prayanthyabhi samvishan-
thi, Thad viji-jnaasasva Thad Brahmethi.

Contending theories of the cosmos

Among the monists (a-dwaithins) who posit Brahman

thus, there are vast differences and deep conflicts of
opinion regarding the causation of the cosmos. Some
hold that Brahman is the cause. Others assert that it is
caused by the play of delusion (maya). Others ascribe it to
the operation of both Brahman and delusion. A few oth-
ers declare that it originated from, merges in, and is pro-
tected by Vishnu alone. Some declare that the statement
about Brahman is only indicative, a clue to realise the
principle behind the cosmos (thatastha lakshana), so to say.
Brahman has endless facets and faculties, and causing
creation, preserving the created, and subsuming it into
Itself are clues to glimpse It.
Others believe that the mind is the cause of creation,
since matter and all the five elements are mere structures
projected by the mind, and that the mind itself is a
transmutation of the inert nature (prakriti). The working
of the mind defies explanation. There is a Supreme Con-
sciousness, and it has caused this creation. These are all
guesses or theories framed through their intellectual
sharpness by various thinkers.
Aphorism 2: Brahman is the cosmic source, force, and support 23

Scientists have investigated in their own ways and

reached diverse conclusions. They explain that time was
the cause of the origin of the cosmos and that time sus-
tains and subsumes it through integration and disintegra-
tion. So, all is the effect and is controlled by time. A few
ascribe the entire process to the inner nature of things
and its urge toward unfolding. Each thing manifests its
genuine nature in its own manner and time. For exam-
ple, a mango seed when planted results only in a mango
tree. From the womb of a tiger, only a tiger cub can
emerge, not a baby goat.
Thus, we find that from very ancient times, varieties of
contending theories were propounded on the origin of
creation. Nevertheless, everyone has failed to define and
declare exactly what the cause is.

God, the Supreme Maker, Master of the Universe

The cosmos is a magnificent wonder, a source of con-

tinuous amazement. It cannot but impress one as a su-
preme marvel, whoever one may be. When an object has
to be made, we know we need someone with the skill,
intelligence, and power (sakthi) to make it. Without a
maker, nothing can be made. Therefore, how could these
visible objects —the sun, moon, stars, and constella-
tions— move and behave as they do without a designer,
a maker, a master? Can they yield to any ordinary
power? No. After observing the objects designed and
made with such mighty capabilities, intelligent people can
easily infer how immeasurable the power of the Maker
Himself must be.
Look at the marvelous variety in creation. No one
thing is the same as another; no one person resembles
another. This can only be the sport (leela) of the phe-
nomenon with limitless glory: God. Anyone can under-
stand that no lesser power could be the source. On the
basis of the mystery that inheres in creation, one can eas-
ily infer the Almighty Power that created it. Those who
are incapable of unraveling the mystery of the created
can never unravel the nature of the Creator.
24 Sutra Vahini

The cosmos, a manifestation of Divine Will

Creation or the cosmos is the manifestation of the will

latent in Brahman. All this is God's will (sankalpa) or plan.
The theorists who frame and propagate the other expla-
nations mentioned above are only wasting their time;
arguments, and counter-arguments are mere barren ex-
ercises. Or they can be pronounced as exhibitions of the
scholarship of pundits or intellectual gymnastics of the
learned. They cannot satisfy the yearnings of those
whose minds are pure and whose consciousness is clari-
fied.
Everything is caused by the Divine Will —this is the
firm belief of theists. Each one decides this issue from
their own level of awareness, and the aphorisms mention
these varied points of view and consider their validity.
Birds fly to heights proportional to the power of their
wings. So too, these thinkers gave their explanations on
the creation, continuance, and collapse of the cosmos on
the basis of their faith and intelligence.

Indicative signs inadequate to describe Godhead

But as evidence or proof in this inquiry, at best, one

can depend only upon indicative characteristics (thatastha
lakshanas), which cannot take us far. Only the genuine
characteristics (swa-rupa lakshanas) can reveal the truth.
They are: truth, spiritual wisdom, unlimitedness (sathya,
jnana, an-antha). The genuine nature of Brahman is truth,
the Eternal IS. It is the Universal Consciousness (jnana). It
is everlasting, beyond time and space. Moreover, these
characteristics are immanent in every entity, living or
non-living, in the universe.
Indicative proofs are temporary signs by which one
can identify some other thing or person one desires to
know. For example, when the moon is just a little arc in
the sky and one desires to see it, a person indicates it by
pointing a finger toward it. Or, when one desires to look
at a particular star, a person says, “There, just above that
branch of this tree.” The moon is far away, and the star is
Aphorism 2: Brahman is the cosmic source, force, and support 25

much farther. At the moment one expressed this yearn-

ing, it could be seen just above the branch, but that is
only a temporary location. Soon, the location changes.
The finger can no longer be correct, for the star or moon
moves across the sky.

Never-changing quality of Godhead

The genuine characteristic never undergoes change. It

abides in all. The form may suffer change; the name may
change; times may change; the space it occupies may
change. But the core of truth (swa-rupa lakshana) will not
change. That core is denoted as existence, luminescence,
attractiveness (asthi, bhathi, priyam) in Vedanta texts. The
thing is, it exists. Existence is the unchanging truth. It
may change its form and name, in time and space, but
the “is-ness” is genuine. It makes itself known as existing,
through the native characteristic of luminosity (prakasa)
or capacity to attract our awareness and confer knowl-
edge. We can know it because it has luminescence; all
things we know have this innate characteristic. Each
thing also has the characteristic of likability, the capacity
to invoke attachment and love as a result of usability.
The above three together are the nature of God. On
these three as the basis, forms are constructed by the
mind, and names for the forms follow. But the forms and
names undergo change. They are therefore designated as
relative realities (maya), temporary superimpositions on
the basic Truth. The Supreme Atma, the one Omniself, is
the basis on which everything with form and name is
imposed. The appearance of form and name on the Real
is due to the operation of the illusion (maya) principle.
Name and form, which are structures raised by the
mind on the basis of Brahman, are to be considered as
indicative proofs for the Truth on which they arise and
disappear. Brahman can be known only when the basic
characteristics are known. Once Brahman is known, the
awareness makes the person who is aware Brahman it-
self (Brahmavid Brahmaiva bhavathi). This assurance is given
by the sacred ancient wisdom (sruthi), the Vedas. In truth,
26 Sutra Vahini

the basis as well as the entities resting on it, the appear-

ance and the Real, are both divine and caused by Brah-
man. So, if this is established in one's knowledge by in-
quiry into Brahman, life fulfills itself.

God is first, humans last

Being, spiritual wisdom, eternity (sathyam, jnanam, an-

antham) —Brahman rests on this is tripod. Awareness of
Brahman is awareness of Truth; knowledge of Brahman
is the supreme knowledge; it is unlimited, endless.
From Brahman emanated space (akasa), the sky; from
sky, air (vayu); from air, fire (agni); from fire, water (jala);
from water, earth (prithvi). From the earth grew life-
giving plants (oushadha); from plants, food (anna); and
from food, people, humans. The process of projection
happened in this sequence. Brahman first, people last. So,
human beings and Brahman are closely related.
 3. Brahman is the source of all knowledge
(Sastra yonithwaath)

The scriptures are expressions of the truth acquired by

sages while delving into the Reality. The words ema-
nated from the inhalations and exhalations of the divine
Breath. They were heard from no embodied entity; they
did not arise out of anyone’s imagination. Hence, they
are described as impersonal (a-pourusheya) and eternal
(saswatha). From whom did they originate? From Brah-
man alone.
Veda means knowledge; it always “is”. It has no be-
ginning, no end. It is referred to as “without end (an-
antha)”, for it is sound —sacred, sustaining, salutary
sound. It is experienceable only; it cannot be limited or
communicated. So, it is a marvel, an unprecedented
phase of personal experience for each one. Since Brah-
man is the source of such knowledge, it is extolled as All-
knowing, All-mighty, and All-pervading.

The Vedas, originating in Brahman, reveal It

“Brahman is the source of the scriptures and is there-

fore all-knowing.” This aphorism conveys the meaning
that the Vedic scriptures have to be resorted to in order
to know Brahman, that only they can reveal Brahman,
and that all Vedas lead people to the same knowledge.
Also, the scriptures derive their validity through Brah-
man and their value from Brahman, for Brahman is the
very source of the illumination they contain and confer.
Only the Omniscient One can be the source of the Vedas.
Only the scriptures can liberate people, through that il-
lumination named knowledge. They regulate one's life
and foster it, guarding it from grief. The Vedas offer com-
forting counsel; they deal with people affectionately and
lead them forward, for they are received through vener-
able personages who attained the highest knowledge,
Brahman.
Brahman can’t be comprehended by means of proofs
or arguments. It is beyond reason and calculation, un-
measurable (a-prameya), indefinable. It can’t be pro-
nounced as being such or so, for this reason or that. It is

27
28 Sutra Vahini

immeasurable by time and space. The scriptures are the

proof.
The usual proofs for truth are direct perception
(pratyaksha) and inferential perception (anumaana). But
Brahman cannot be cognized by these two means. The
sages experienced it and expressed it in the scriptures.
The Word or sabda is the firmest proof.

The Vedas teach constant thought of God

“Sastra (scripture)” means that which brings to mem-

ory what has been forgotten. Brahman is the very self-
ness of every person. The scriptural directives or coun-
selors (sastras) direct and counsel everyone. People yield
to delusion and become one with the darkness caused by
false values and attachment to the unreal, the “me” and
“mine”. But scripture is the mother; she does not give up.
She persists and pursues; she reminds people of their
goal in order to ensure that they will be saved.
Hence, the above aphorism declares that the scriptures
are to be considered as the cause of the awareness of the
incomprehensible, immeasurable, inexpressible Brah-
man. The scriptures are numberless, and a lifetime is too
short. Aspirants are plenty; doubts and hesitations are
numerous; steadfastness is meager. As a result, no one
can claim full mastery.
Of course, one need not drink the entire ocean to
know its taste; one drop on the tongue is enough. Simi-
larly, it is impossible to understand all the contents of the
scriptures. But it is enough to grasp the important lesson
that is elaborated and put it into practice. This lesson is:
constant thought of God.

Prahlada’s unflinching faith in God

When Prahlada’s father, Hiranyakasipu, drew him

near and fondly asked the boy to repeat what he had
learned from his teacher. Prahlada replied, “I learned the
secret essence of all learning.” The father was glad and
asked him, “Tell me the essential thing that you have
Aphorism 3: Brahman is the source of all knowledge 29

mastered.” Prahlada said, “Father! He who illumines

everything, He who finally absorbs everything with
Himself, is the ONE, Narayana. Having Him always in
mind and experiencing the bliss thereof awards fulfill-
ment to all.” The boy uttered the name Narayana, which
the father abhorred! He didn’t stop with that. “Father!
You conquered the entire world, but you failed to con-
quer your senses. How then can you receive grace from
Narayana? These material skills and worldly achieve-
ments are hollow possessions. The knowledge and expe-
rience of the ONE (Brahma-vidya), that alone is to be pur-
sued.”

Bliss is the core of five vital sheaths

It is an arduous process for people to become aware of

the ONE that is their core. People are of the essence of
food (anna). The gross body is the product of the food
consumed. But in people there is a subtler force, an inner
vibration named vital air (prana). The mind (manas)
within is subtler still, and deeper than the mind and sub-
tler is the intellect (vijnana). Beyond the intellect, people
have in them the subtlest sheath of spiritual bliss
(ananda). When people delve into this spiritual bliss re-
gion, they can experience the reality, the Brahman, the
ONE. That awareness is indeed the most desirable.
In the Bhrigu section of the Taithiriya Upanishad, which
comes after the Bliss-of-Brahman section (Brahma-ananda
Valli), is the story of Bhrigu, son of Varuna. While teach-
ing Bhrigu the Brahman phenomenon, Varuna says,
“Son! Brahman cannot be seen through the eyes. Know
that Brahman is that which enables the eyes to see and
the ears to hear. He can be known only through extreme
yearning in a cleansed mind and concentrated thought
(tapas). No other means can help.”
He added, “Dear Bhrigu! Know that everything in the
universe originates from Brahman, exists in Brahman,
unfolds through Brahman, and merges in Brahman
alone. Discover it yourself through concentrated spiritual
practice.” The father gave him only these indications, be-
30 Sutra Vahini

fore directing him to enter upon spiritual exercises that

would ultimately reveal the truth.
With full faith in the words of his father, Bhrigu en-
gaged in concentrated spiritual practice. The process of
self-control and self-inquiry raised his consciousness, and
he believed what he understood at that stage as Brahman
and decided that food (anna) was Brahman! When he de-
clared what he had come to know, his father, Varuna,
told him that his answer was not right.
So, Bhrigu continued the spiritual practices and found
out that vital air (prana) was Brahman, since without vital
air, other things are vain. Vital air causes life, promotes
life, and puts an end to life. But his father also pro-
nounced this inference wrong and sent him again for fur-
ther spiritual practice.
In this manner, Bhrigu had a third period of austerity
when he came upon mind (manas) as Brahman, and later
a fourth, when he revised that conclusion and believed
that it was spiritual wisdom (vijnana). At last, after un-
dergoing a fifth course of spiritual practices, he became
aware that spiritual bliss (ananda) was Brahman. He
stayed in the bliss of that awareness and never more
proceeded to his father. The father sought Bhrigu and
congratulated him, who had cast the world away from
his memory. He said “Son! You have merged in that vi-
sion.”

Spiritual bliss is Brahman signified by Om

One starts life as a creature of food (anna), but one has

to march on to the goal of an embodiment of spiritual
bliss (ananda). Not humanity alone, but every living be-
ing starts on food and yearns to reach the peak of spiri-
tual bliss. All efforts, all undertakings are directed to the
acquisition of spiritual bliss. All are born in spiritual bliss,
will live for it, and will die in order to attain it. The
Taithiriya Upanishad elucidates spiritual bliss as the urge
for birth, growth, decay, and death.
However, how can Brahman be spiritual bliss
(ananda)? It is said, “Om, the one imperishable letter, is
Aphorism 3: Brahman is the source of all knowledge 31

Brahman (Om ithyekaaksharam Brahman).” The cosmos is

composed fully of the Om (pranava). It is also said, “This
Atma is Brahman.” Therefore, Atma, Brahman, and Om
are all indistinguishably the same. Knowledge of Brah-
man teaches that the Self in each living being, the Atma, is
Brahman itself, and no less. The Brahma Sutras reveal that
the outer universe (which has Brahman as the base) and
the inner universe (antar-jagath) are identical and cannot
be differentiated.
 4. All Vedantic axioms posit only Brahman
(Thath thu samanvayaath)

It is clearly demonstrable that all Vedantic axioms posit

only Brahman. The statements in the sacred scriptures
(sruthis), when studied in a spirit of reconciliation, reveal
the Brahman and make known its reality.
There is the question whether the scriptures hold forth
the supremacy of works (karma) or of wisdom. Though
the profound mystery of Brahman is incommunicable to
others, it has to be denoted by some categories of
knowledge, however unsatisfactory they are. Or else, it
might remain beyond perception.

Scriptures are not only world-oriented

One school of thought believes that the Vedas lay

down works as a means of liberation and that the Ve-
danta (the Upanishads) does not. But the scriptures (sas-
tras) are concerned with guidance and counsel, and not
with exclusive adherence to some system or other. Ad-
vocacy of works is not the chief goal of the scriptures.
When one is active through works, one has to do many
merit-yielding tasks, and these promote purity of mind.
Since work cleanses the consciousness, many argue that
the scriptures teach this as the sole path, ignoring the fact
that work is only a means to the end.
In this connection, we have to pay attention to another
fact. One’s desires —one’s wants, longings, resolutions,
and wishes— are multiplied and prompted by works
(karma). And, the initial impulse for desire is unawareness
of the reality (a-jnana). The doubt arises, naturally, how
the consciousness that is unaware can transform itself
into the consciousness that is aware (jnana). Darkness can
never remove darkness, can it? So too, ignorance (a-
jnana) can never destroy ignorance. It can be accom-
plished only by spiritual wisdom (jnana), awareness of
the truth. This is the dictum promulgated by Sankara.
The world needs harmony very much. It also needs
awareness, to an equal extent. How very difficult it may
be to convey the knowledge of Brahman to others!

33
34 Sutra Vahini

It has been said that there is a vast difference between

the impact of knowledge of Brahman (Brahma-vidya) and
the impact of works (karma). Merit and demerit, happi-
ness and misery are the consequences of activity. The
happiness attainable through work ranges from the re-
gion of humans (manushya-loka) up to the highest stage of
the region of the Divine (Brahma-loka). So too, below the
level of the human region there are regions where mis-
ery becomes deeper and deeper, more and more ago-
nizing. They are relatively unreal and not absolutely real.

Awareness, not attachment to works, is the key

Therefore, awareness and bliss is innate, existing in its

own right. It is eternally present. It is the one unchang-
ing, unaffected truth. It cannot be acquired by practicing
prescriptions and exercises. The state of liberation (mok-
sha) transcends the body-mind-ego complex. Therefore,
the transcendence is beyond one's physical, mental, or in-
tellectual effort. When awareness dawns, the darkness of
ignorance (a-jnana) disappears. When the lamp is lit,
darkness is no more.
Some argue that it is not quite fair to declare that
knowledge of Brahman, as the only truth, cannot be
gained by personal effort. Sankara reconciles this point of
view with his main thesis, mentioned already. The spiri-
tual wisdom (jnana) that one is actually Brahman and
nothing else is latent in the consciousness of everyone,
but one cannot recognise it and establish oneself firmly in
it by means of activity (karma), or even by scholastic in-
quiry (vichara). Activity can only bind one further, for it
deals with diversity as if it is real; it cannot loosen bonds
and liberate. It can at best purify the passions and emo-
tions. Inquiry can at best clarify the intellect and indicate
the criteria of spiritual wisdom. Only knowledge of
Brahman (Brahma-vidya) can liberate people from bond-
age. Hence, one is warned not to develop too much attachment
to activity.
Aphorism 4: All Vedantic axioms posit only Brahman 35

Transform work into dedication

However, once in a while, we find the scriptures (sas-

tras) dwelling on the value of activity. The scriptures are
as affectionate to us as a mother. They teach lessons as a
mother to her children, in conformity with the level of in-
telligence and according to the needs of time and circum-
stance. A mother with two children gives the strong and
healthy one every item of food for which it clamours, but
she takes great care not to overfeed the unwell child and
gives it only items that can restore it soon to health. Can
we, on that account, accuse her of being partial to one
and prejudiced against the other in conferring love? The
scriptures also draw the attention of those who know the
secret of work (karma) to the value of work. For work
can improve life and set its ideals aright. Everyone has to
be instructed on how to transform work into beneficial
activity. Yet, work is not all.
Human life lasts but a moment; it is a bubble on the
waters. Upon this ephemeral bubble of life, people build
for themselves a structure of desires and attachments.
Wisdom warns that it might collapse or crumble any
moment.

Spiritual inquiry begins with the physical

sheath and ends in the bliss stage

The supreme Atma (Paramatma), which is unattached

and free from embodiment, has taken up a body and be-
comes a person. Viewed in gross terms, the body is a
material encasement formed out of the food consumed
(anna-maya kosa). Within this sheath, there lies the subtle
sheath of vital airs (prana), the mental sheath, the sheath
of the intellect, and the innermost sheath of all, the
sheath of bliss (ananda-maya kosa).
This aphorism, “Brahman is the main purport of the
Vedanta texts (Thath Thu Samanvayaath)”, makes known
that spiritual inquiry involves the journey from the food
sheath as the basis to the bliss-composed stage. How-
36 Sutra Vahini

ever, the gross has two aspects: the dependent structure

and the independent base.

Harmony of all religions

In the current spiritual beliefs of mankind, one cannot

discern anywhere a harmonizing factor (samanvaya). The
principles of coordination and reconciliation have to be
expanded and expounded. Though religions have sepa-
rate names and the doctrines are distinct from each
other, in essence, all are one. The aphorism endeavors to
emphasize the common core.
Unfortunately, the apparent differences among the re-
ligions have subverted the amity of all men and the feel-
ing of international brotherhood. Today, the experience
and wisdom of great seers who have unveiled the mys-
tery of the cosmos and their feelings of universal love are
not appreciated, accepted, and respected. All religious
dogmas, except a few, can easily be harmonized and rec-
onciled. The same God is extolled and adored under
various names through varied ceremonial rituals in the
many religions. In every age, for every race or commu-
nity of peoples, God has sent prophets to establish peace
and goodwill. Since many separate religions have spread
worldwide, they have lost fraternal feelings and thereby
have suffered in validity.
There is an urgent need for harmony. All great people
are images of God. They form one single caste in the
realm of God; they belong to one nation, the divine Fel-
lowship. Each must interest themself in understanding
the practices and beliefs of the others. Then only can eve-
ryone, with cleansed mind and loving heart, attain the
divine Presence with others. The principle of harmoniz-
ing is the very heart of all religions and faith.
 5. Consciousness, not matter, is
the primal cause of the cosmos
(Eekshather na asabdam)

The Vedas assert that Brahman is the primal cause of

the cosmos (jagath). They do not posit any non-conscious
(a-chetana) entity as the cause. The voice of God (the
Veda) does not support the view of the non-conscious as
being the origin of creation. On the other hand, the Being
(Sat) is asserted to have resolved upon becoming, to
have entertained a decision (sankalpa). Resolution, deci-
sion, design —these are acts of consciousness; non-
conscious entities are incapable of such exercises of will.
Brahman, which is all-conscious, has therefore to be ac-
cepted as the Primal Cause.

The Vedas declare creation to be

the result of God’s will

The non-conscious is called the source of primordial

matter (pradhana). The Vedas do not speak about it. This is
what this aphorism reveals very clearly. Primordial mat-
ter is the designation by which the “name-form-flux”,
namely the cosmos (jagath), is denoted by some schools
of thought. Other schools refer to it as “atom composed”
or “the made (prakriti)”. Others say, in terms of praise,
“You are the Omniwill, the Absolute Self, the highest
Atma (Paramatma). Because of you, all this diversity is
protected.” Others argue that the three qualities (gunas)
are the fundamental constituents that, through the pre-
ponderance of one or the other, cause diversity in nature.
These views are not supported by the Vedic authority.
The Vedas maintain that Brahman willed and creation
emerged. That will is the prologue, the preliminary act.
The sankhya school posits the insentient source of pri-
mordial matter (pradhana) and bases creation on the three
qualities (gunas) of nature: serenity, activity, passivity
(sathwa, rajas, thamas). When these qualities are well bal-
anced and in equipoise, no conscious decision can arise,
the sankhyans said. That state has to receive the impact of
a supreme Lord (Purusha) who is the Witness and who is
awareness or consciousness, in other words, the impact

37
38 Sutra Vahini

of God's will. That makes primordial matter knowing

and knowable.

Cosmos, the body assumed by God

Considering each of these theories, the most correct

conclusion is that Brahman is the Prime Cause. Of course,
the highest accessible truth is not the attributeless, quali-
tyless, intangible, inexplicable Brahman. It is the Brahman
cognizable through the qualities (the sa-guna Brahman)
that It has imposed on Itself. It has assumed this cosmos,
which is composed of consciousness and non-conscious-
ness, as Its body.
Individuals have to be endowed with consciousness
(chaithanya), so that they can either commit or omit, do or
desist from actions that they feel should be carried out.
What has to be done today or put off till tomorrow,
which crops are to be grown in the coming year —such
thoughts, plans, and projects arise only in the field of
consciousness, and not in non-conscious stone and wood,
hill and dale. Willing is the sign of consciousness: that
which does not have it cannot will at all.
When the will emerged, Brahman became God
(Iswara). And by that will alone, God created the cosmos.
From the superficial (sthula) view, God and cosmos strike
one as distinct. But examination with subtle (sukshma) in-
sight finds no fundamental distinction between the mate-
rial (padartha) and the Maker (Paramaartha), the living unit
(praani) and the Life Principle (Prana). The Life Principle
assumes a body on Itself and appears as the living unit,
and the life force emerges from the living unit.

All is Brahman and nothing else

The Vedic scriptures deal with the Brahman principle

and its manifestations. They give the treasure of spiritual
wisdom (jnana) and intuitive experience of that wealth
(vijnana). But with passage of time, the hymns, verses,
and mantras were interpreted ritualistically. They were
extolled as useful for attaining worldly and other-worldly
Aphorism 5: Consciousness is the primal cause of the cosmos 39

objectives. Rites performed with the recital of these were

considered as beneficial karmas. In fact, there is nothing in
the cosmos apart from or distinct from Brahman. All of it
emanated from Brahman, all of it is absorbed (laya) in
Brahman, and all of it moves and has its being only in
Brahman.
This truth is made clear by the following aphorism.
From that [came] birth, absorption, and growth.
(Thajjallaath: From That (Thath) ... born (ja) ... ab-
sorbed (la) ... grows (aath).)
These are the four feet on which the proposition
stands and is established. Birth, growth, and death form a
sacrifice (yajna) of the Divine Person.

Love for the Self is the source of all other love

The cosmos (prapancha, jagath), the five-element com-

posite, emanated from the Omniself, Brahman. There is
no spot anywhere where its manifestation is not. The
cosmos is ever in movement; the Lord of the cosmos (Ja-
gadiswara) is the mover. Worldly love is not genuine love;
love of the Atma is the source of all such love.
The Upanishad announces that this was the teaching
imparted by Yajnavalkya to Maitreyi (in the Brihadaran-
yaka Upanishad):
It is for love of one's Atma that all is dear.
(Atmanastu kaamaaya sarvam priyam bhavati.)
Love for the Self is primary; love for other objects is
secondary. Love for another cannot be termed love. The
self craves spiritual bliss (ananda) and loves because of the
spiritual bliss derivable therefrom. Affection (anuraaga) or
love flows from self toward Self. So, when the Atmic Re-
ality is understood as the source, we can know that eve-
rything happens through the Supreme consciousness
(Brahma-chaithanya).
40 Sutra Vahini

Divine Will, not matter, is the root of everything

The apparently moving (chara) and unmoving (a-

chara), the active and inert, are both willed by the divine.
That will is a conscious (chetana) act; it is not a form of in-
ertness (a-chetana). This truth is revealed by this apho-
rism:
Because of knowing [being attributed to the
first cause by the scriptures], [matter] not being
founded on scripture, [is not the primal cause of
the universe]. (Eekshather na asabdam.)
Whatever arguments and counter-arguments are ad-
vanced by any person, the truth that Divine Will is the
root of everything stands unshakable. People who argue
about this either are deluded by appearances or are only
trying to bolster up their pet fancies, avoiding deeper
probes.

The core of the individual is Atma, or Brahman

The human body is first of all a cover, a receptacle

(aalambana) for the Atma. Elements like water and wind
are intimately bound up with the body. Therefore, the
Atma Principle, the Brahman Principle, which is the core,
is not cognized. People have lost awareness of this Prin-
ciple (Thathwa), which is their Truth. The Atma is in the
body, but not of it. The Atma Principle, though active in
the body, does not belong to the body.
The capacity of the eyes to see and the ears to hear are
given by the Atma. How, then, can the eyes see the Atma
or the ears hear It? The eyes and ears are sustained (ad-
heya); the Omni-Consciousness (Sarva-chaithanya), the
Brahman Principle, the Atma, is the Sustainer. That is the
real “You”, the Will (sankalpa).

All is the ever-conscious Brahman

The elements (space, wind, fire, water, and earth) that

constitute the cosmos operate only as prompted by the
Aphorism 5: Consciousness is the primal cause of the cosmos 41

supreme wisdom (prajnana). The gods (devas) or the

shining ones are luminous only through that wisdom,
which energizes them. The entire world of living beings
is sustained by that same supreme wisdom. The fixed
and the moving (sthaavara and jangama) are both firmly
based on supreme wisdom. The supreme wisdom is
Atma; the supreme wisdom is Brahman. It is also the visi-
ble, objective world (loka). The cosmos is supreme wis-
dom through and through; the supreme wisdom is the
consciousness (chaithanya) that fills the cosmos (pra-
pancha).
The Vedas assert that Brahman is the cause of the cos-
mos by using the word “Being (sat)” to denote it. Being is
the “Ever-Conscious Is”. The Vedas do not speak of any-
thing that is “not-conscious” (a-chetana). All is conscious
(chetana), all is, all is Brahman.
 6. Supreme Self is the Primal Entity,
not primordial matter
(Gounascheth na, Atma sabdaath)

“Since the word (sabda) Atma is used (Atma sabdaath)”,

the “thinking (eekshathe)” or projection mentioned in the
previous aphorism has to be a function of the Atma. Fire
or water is the product, the effect of the will. The words
“projection” and “manifestation” cannot be interpreted
in a secondary or figurative sense (gaunah). The Atma
alone is indicated as the Primal Entity in the revealed
texts (sruthi) or Veda. The urge or resolution is a hap-
pening in the Atma itself, not in any other entity. The en-
tire cognizable cosmos is just Being (sat) or Is. Whatever
form it has assumed in the process of time and in the pe-
rimeter of space, all of it is, in reality, only Being, that is
to say, Atma! This is the lesson of the Veda.
Nothing is inert, inactive (jada). Thus, we find the word
Atma used once in a while to denote even primordial
matter (pradhana or mula prakriti). Primordial matter is the
instrument that fulfills the will of the sovereign Con-
sciousness (Purusha), the Overself. Being operated by the
supreme Self, who is the cause, nature (pradhana or
prakriti) also has consciousness ascribed to it.

Atmic awareness is the key to liberation

The individual (jivi), believing that it is divided from

the whole, the universal, is subject to desire and despair,
love and hate, grief and joy. The person is attracted by
the world of name and form. Such a person is character-
ized as “bound (baddha)”. Hence the need for liberation is
urgent. And to be liberated, the person must give up de-
pendence on and attachment to the creation (prakriti).
The blind cannot be saved by the blind. The destitute
cannot be helped out by the destitute. How can a person
who is destitute and helpless remove the poverty, suf-
fering, and pain of another? The poor must approach the
affluent, the wealthy. The blind must seek the guidance
of a person who can see. One who is bound and blinded
by the dualities of creation has to take refuge in the inex-
haustible treasure of compassion, power, and wisdom,

43
44 Sutra Vahini

namely, the divine Atma. Then, one can get rid of the des-
titution of grief, revel in the wealth of spiritual bliss
(ananda), and attain the goal of human existence. This
consummation is reached and Atmic awareness is won
through the grace of Brahman.
Wherein is the Atma to be sought? Where does the
Atma reside? How can one know the Atma? Adoring the
apparently consciousnessless things as manifestations of
the sovereign Consciousness or Atma helps the process.
The Atma principle can be genuinely understood only by
seekers who are grounded in the formless, attributeless
Brahman. But even the embodiment with form (sa-guna)
has the Atmic reality in full measure. There are many ex-
amples to illustrate this truth. Knowledge of Brahman
(Brahma-vidya) is another name for understanding and
experiencing the Atma as the Brahman, the individual as
the Universal.

The four stages of cognition

Everyone has the right to knowledge of Brahman.

And, everyone passes through four stages in the search
for this knowledge every day of their life. They are, ac-
cording to the Veda, the waking stage, the dream stage,
the deep sleep stage, and the liberated stage (thuriya).
These are demarcated as states, or even steps. In the first
stage, one is awake to the objective world and is oriented
outward. Objects in the universe are seen by the eye;
sounds are heard; the senses are able to smell and taste
and touch. Life is lived to the fullest in contact with soci-
ety. The nineteen means of contact are the five sense or-
gans of perception, the five organs of action, the five vital
airs (prana), and the four internal instruments (anthah-
karana):
(1) The mind (manas),
(2) The faculty of discrimination (buddhi),
(3) The storehouse of memory, of conscious-
ness (chittha), and
(4) The ego-sense (ahamkara).
Aphorism 6: Supreme Self is the primal entity, … 45

During the waking stage, these nineteen means of con-

tact and impact provide man with the experience of grief
and joy, gain and loss, success and failure in their gross
forms. Since one identifies with the gross body complex
at this stage, the experiences are also gross.
The region of dream is different. There, the self is in-
faced (antar-mukha). Reactions, responses, and experi-
ences are all self-contained. They do not belong to the
area outside of oneself. There may be ten others sleeping
in the same room, but each has their own dream. One's
dream experience has no relation to that of anyone else.
Each is disturbed or delighted only by their own dream.
The dreamer is unaffected by outer circumstances. In
fact, the external world is beyond one's consciousness.
During the dream stage, one creates a world out of
one's mind and dwells in the experiences it provides.
Though the objects perceived are imaginary, the feelings
and emotions like joy and grief, love and fear are as real
as in the waking stage. The nineteen instruments of con-
tact and impact are present even during the dream. They
do not act materially or physically; they operate only
through the mind, for the mind has a luminosity that
produces the pictures. This is why it is designated as
light-filled (taijas —from spiritual splendour, tejas). The
light enables one to formulate and design any form,
sound, taste, etc. that one decides upon. The dream state
is the second step or stage in the acquisition by the self of
its own awareness.
Next, deep sleep (sushupti). This stage is free from
even dreams. One is lost in undisturbed sleep. The per-
son will not be conscious of their limbs, or of sounds, the
smells, forms, the tastes and the sensations of touch. All
activity is subsumed by the mind and is latent in it. All
experience is absorbed into the higher levels of con-
sciousness (prajnana). There is no feeling of either separa-
tion or identity, the particular or the universal, the part
or the whole. There is no experiencer or experience.
There is only the Atma, in which one has temporarily
merged.
46 Sutra Vahini

Then, the fourth step (thuriya). Here, the individual

(vyakthi) is no more so. It has attained the basic truth of
life and of creation —the all-pervading, all-inclusive Atma,
the peace and power of the one and only Atmic empire.
Those who have reached this step no longer have con-
cern with the individual self. One cannot assert either that
these people possess knowledge or that they don’t have
it, for they are ever immersed in the Highest Bliss.

All is Atma — Atma is all

The Atma in which they have merged is invisible to the

eye. It cannot be grasped or held by the hand. One can
only know that it exists and that it is Goodness and
nothing else. All urges that draw one toward the objec-
tive world have to be exterminated before faith in the
Atma can take root.
The four steps of Atmic awareness are very much akin
to the four steps in the recital of Om or Aum. The Aum
and the ultimate mantra are on a par with the waking,
dreaming, sleeping, and merging steps already dwelt
upon. The Atma is evident in the mind; in deep sleep, it
reposes in the heart; in the fourth stage, it is all of oneself.
To sum up, it can be laid down that the Atma exists in
all beings in all stages of daily life, in all circumstances
and conditions, and in all activities and experiences. All is
Atma, Atma is All —the cosmos is manifested as One by
the One. This is what the aphorism reveals. Without the
awareness of this unity, there can be no joy and peace.
Without joy and peace, truth is an empty concept. There-
fore, one should know the cosmos as full (purna). It is not
a void or vacuum. It is Atma Itself.
 7. Divine Will is the Cause of all Causes
(Heyathwa-avachanaath-cha)

When the cause is known, one can know all conse-

quences. The entire universe, that is, the moving and the
unmoving, everything formed from the five primordial
elements and hence named composite of the five ele-
ments (prapancha), was projected by the divine Will. It is a
consequence of the will of God (Bhagavath-sankalpa),
which is the cause. No consequence can happen without
a precedent cause. However, the cause has two aspects,
the material cause (upadana karana) and the efficient cause
(nimitta karana).

God, both the material and the efficient cause of cosmos

The material cause is primary, earlier than the product.

It is the entire basis, the total basis on which the product
rests. Consider a silver cup, for example. The cup has no
existence apart from silver. When the silver, which can be
shaped into a cup, is absent, the product is also absent.
Silver is the material cause. In other words, before the
form (rupa) “becomes”, the “Being” is and has to be.
The cup is the form imposed on silver by the efficient
cause. It is the consequence of art, artificial. Silver is the
pre-existent cause. A silversmith prepares the cup. Once
the cup is ready, the smith has no affinity with it, but the
cup and silver have close affinity forever.
God is the material cause of creation, of the cosmos, of
the universe. He is the substance, the basis, the material
cause. God is also the efficient cause. He is both transcen-
dental and phenomenal, both Being and Becoming. Like
silver in the cup, the cosmos is all God. He has been mani-
festing Himself as all this. He has willed to become all
this. In every thing (padartha), He, the highest Truth (Pa-
ram-aartha), is immanent. In the absence of this highest
Truth, no thing can exist. Each one is sustained by the all-
comprehensive Reality.

47
48 Sutra Vahini

Correct vision reveals unity in diversity

This wondrous mystery is beyond one's grasp. The in-

telligence cannot unravel it. With distorted vision (ku-
darshan), one sees only the name-form, the appearance.
One is deluded into confusion. One is tossed by likes and
dislikes, pleasure and pain, elation and depression. One is
aware only of the unreal many, parading diverse names
and forms.
Correct vision (sath-darshan) makes one see the One in
the many. It reveals unity in diversity and confers su-
preme delight, for one becomes aware of the One imma-
nent in the multiplicity, the supreme Truth (Parathathwa).
Liberation is the realisation of this awareness, this
achievement of Brahmahood. Each and every living be-
ing has to attain this consummation, this goal, the Brah-
man. That is its true destination. Some day or other, the
urge to win release from the shackles of grief and joy
and the bonds of “I” and “mine” will awaken and
emerge. The path that is taken then inevitably leads to
freedom (moksha). Seeking that path is the sign of the in-
telligent person.
Instead of this search, when one considers the objec-
tive world as all-important and feels drawn toward its
charm, life is barren and of no consequence. Nature is the
embodiment of matter (padartha swa-rupa). One must be
drawn to the Person who designed the principle that un-
derlies nature, the embodying process. What benefit can
a destitute gain if he seeks another destitute? How can a
bound person be released from bonds by another who is
also bound? The bound person who relies on one who is
not bound can get rid of the bonds and move about
freely.

Gain eternity through divine Grace

The person who is deep in grief must seek refuge in

one who is floating on spiritual bliss (ananda), filled with
joy. Bondage plunges one into sorrow, while the Lord is
total Bliss personified. Therefore, one can be completely
Aphorism 7: Divine Will is the cause of all causes 49

cured of grief only by resorting to the inexhaustible

spring of delight, the Lord. And what exactly is liberation
(moksha)? It is release from grief, the absence of grief, and
attainment of spiritual bliss (ananda-praapti). The supreme
Self, the sovereign Lord, is the embodiment of indivisible
sweetness (rasa), the treasure house of bliss (ananda-
nilaya). Hence, those who seek and secure His grace gain
eternity Itself.
The eternity thus gained has no place for the sense
perceptions of sound, touch, form, taste, and smell. It has
neither beginning nor end. One must gradually and
steadily endeavor to acquire that victory. One must pro-
ceed progressively from the gross to the subtle, from the
subtle to the causal, and, from the causal level, one must
finally merge in the Prime Cause. That is to say, the spiri-
tual journey has to be from gross (sthula) to subtle (suk-
shma) to causal (karana) to mergence in the supreme
Cause (Maha-Karana). This is the regular route.

Look inward, not merely outward

However, ordinary humans struggle to win material

happiness and exterior pleasures. They do not seek the
spiritual bliss (ananda) that the Atma, their inner reality,
can grant. They lose the great opportunity of experienc-
ing it, and they don’t take any steps appropriate for the
purpose. All the time, their attention is directed only to
the external world. It does not turn inward.
Pasu (animal) is so named because it looks out-
ward (pashathi) (Pasyathi ithi pasuh).
Looking outward is the characteristic of animals, not of
people. The important organs of sense perception in the
human body —the eye, the nose, the tongue, etc.— all
open outward in order to contact external objects, so one
has to conclude that the physical urge, the body's vision
(deha-drishti), is all external.
The inner world is not as easily accessible as the outer
world is. Perhaps only one among many, one in a mil-
lion, does contact and win this inner Atmic reality
50 Sutra Vahini

through inward vision. That person is the wise one

(jnani). The person born with a sense of the true mission
of human life has to gain the goal, the goal of spiritual
bliss, the fundamental eternal spiritual bliss. That su-
preme attainment renders life valid, meaningful, and
worthwhile.

Unitary or Atmic vision is both inner and outer

In fact, the external world and the inner world are not
distinct and distant. They are indissolubly knit together.
The belief of the common person is that the body is the
medium through which one sees, hears, experiences, and
delights. No, another force rules and regulates the
senses, mind, and intellect. That force is the Atma. The
aphorism under study directs one to be aware of this
and, with that awareness constant, to contact the world
through the senses, the mind, and the intellect.
The rain falling on the mountain range slides down the
sides into many valleys and flows as turbid streams. The
same rain falling on fresh water lakes or limpid rivers
remains pure and clear. The sages who are cognizant of
their Atmic reality are transformed into the purity, equa-
nimity, and charity that it represents. They are ever in
the full awareness of the Atma, their inner core. In the
purified consciousness of these persons, there is the ex-
perience of identification. Likes and dislikes, sense of “I”
and “mine”, anxiety and calmness, elation when praised
and depression when blamed —these cannot contami-
nate or agitate a person who has attained that state.
These opposites become balanced and are accepted with
equanimity as waves on the Atmic consciousness. This is
the authentic Atmic attitude, the Brahman in-look, the
unitary vision.
8. Individual Merges in the Universal Brahman
(Swaapyayaath)

“Swa” means “in oneself”, that is to say, “in Brahman”.

“Apyayaath” means “since it merges”. The two words tell
us, “since it is said that the individual soul (jivi) merges in
Brahman”, during deep, dreamless sleep, the individual
resumes its real nature, being (sat). Since the self attains
the Self, which is Itself, it is then the Atma and nothing
else. The Atma, which appeared as if enclosed in name
and form, discards the name and form and merges in the
Universal Atma. The wave has merged in the ocean. It
had become, so now it is just being (sat).

Brahman: both eternal Being and total Awareness

The core of all Vedantic texts and teachings is the

truths:
(1) Brahman is both the efficient and material cause
of the cosmos (jagath), which merges and emerges
(ga and ja).
(2) Brahman is one and one only, so there is noth-
ing in the cosmos apart from Brahman without
consciousness.
There is nothing inert (jada) and inactive. Brahman is,
according to the scriptures and the Vedanta texts, not
only Being (sat) but also awareness (chit).

The five vital airs fuel the five fires in the body

Sleep is very necessary for every living being. Without

sleep, people as well as other beings cannot live. Of all
the joys that the world provides, sleep is the most re-
warding. All the rest are arid, dry, trivial, and wasteful.
When a living being sleeps, the five vital airs —life
breath, downward air, diffused air, upward breath,
digestive air (prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana)— do
function, along with the five fires in the body, conferring
warmth.

51
52 Sutra Vahini

During sleep, inhalation and exhalation of the breath

proceed serenely and evenly (samana). The life breath acts
like the consecrated fire (ahavaniya) perpetually burning
in the household of a Vedic rite. It energizes us in the
same steady manner.
The diffused air is as the fire lit on the southern side
(dakshinagni) of the altar in the Vedic rite. The upward
breath helps the mind reach the world of Brahman
(Brahma-loka), which the person has earned the right to at-
tain by their karma. In other words, it enables the person
to experience the taste of mergence with the Supreme.
For the embodied Atma (jivi) rests in sleep, is happy dur-
ing sleep, is refreshed by sleep, and derives bliss while
sleeping.

Body is the temple of Atma (God)

The embodied Atma is the deity enshrined in the body,

its temple. The individual soul experiences all that is seen,
heard, and contacted by the mind in the outer world, as
well as the impact of all that it cannot see, hear, or contact
by the mind. Besides these, the individual soul might
construct and experience in dreams and witness experi-
ences undergone during previous lives. It depends on the
activities stamped on the mind of each one. Or, it might
happen sometimes that the person gives up at one stroke
the association with the body and the senses and gets
immersed and lost in their basic principle: the Omniself
(Paramatma). The bliss that fills the individual soul is the
manifestation of the supreme Self (Paramatma).
During dreamless sleep, the individual soul (jivi) enters
and revels in the region of bliss (ananda-loka), led thereto
by the splendour of the upward breath, the vital air that
elevates. The region of bliss is known also as the region
of Brahma (Brahma-loka). During sleep, one effortlessly
gets this splendid chance to enjoy the proximity of the
supreme Atma, which is the prime source and substance
of the five basic elements, the five senses, and the inner
instrument of awareness (the five bhuthas, the five indri-
Aphorism 8: Individual merges in the universal Brahman 53

yas, and the anthah-karana). But this experience is quite

temporary and doesn't last.

Unchanging Bliss means Supreme Consciousness

The person who has gained awareness through the

purification of the mind and the clarification of the intel-
lect (buddhi) will have the unchanging bliss of mergence
in the supreme Atma. Only that person can become om-
niscient who is ever in the region of the undecaying (ak-
shaya) and merged in the imperishable (akshara) supreme
Vastness (Parabrahma), the highest Atma. When one is
aware that all is He, that there is nothing without or out-
side, one becomes all or Brahman.
In deep sleep, the individual soul (jivi) is in dull igno-
rance (in the thamoguna). To the realised person, how-
ever, even dreams will award as much bliss as does the
consciousness while awake. Even when awake, the real-
ised person gets rid of the impact of the body-sense-
reason complex and is saturated with the bliss of his
authentic reality. The particularized self shares the con-
sciousness (chaithanya) of the Universal, and it can merge
only in that supreme Atma (Paramatma), the supreme
Consciousness. Therefore, this aphorism emphasizes for
us the truth that the “Is-ness (Sat)”, which “becomes”
and “subsumes” all creation, refers only to the highest
Brahman (Parabrahman), the supreme Consciousness, and
not to any entity derived from it and dependent on it.
 9. Omniscient Brahman,
the Cause of the Cosmos
(Sruthathwaath cha)

Since the all-knowing Brahman is declared by the Ve-

das to be the cause of the cosmos, description and under
standing of this sublime phenomenon has been made.
The very expression “Brahman” conveys the meaning
that It has the power of willing, etc. The Vedas that speak
of Brahman as unconditioned and devoid of attributes
also declare that It has, as its very nature, total benefi-
cence. For, from the standpoint of the cosmos, Brahman
is with out qualifications.

Cosmos, the projection of Supreme Consciousness

The Upanishad texts, which form a section of the re-

vealed texts (sruthi) or Vedic scripture, do not convey any
distinction between the Absolute and the Almighty
(Brahman and Iswara). What has to be understood from
all these Vedantic texts is that the cosmos is the manifesta-
tion or projection of supreme Consciousness.
If the cosmos is considered inert and devoid of con-
sciousness, some might ask how it could be so invitingly
attractive —it could not be irresponsive and dull, for it
would then be ever the same. No. This view is incorrect.
God is the efficient cause as well as the material cause of
the cosmos. He has Himself become all this. He is the in-
ner and the outer truth, and therefore He is the Light
that illumines and reveals, that draws and discloses.
“Flour, etc. is mixed with sugar (Pishtaadhi guda sam-
parkaath)” it is said. Pishta means flour —any flour, rice or
wheat or pulse. Mixing the flour with sugar sweetens it
(guda samparkaath). By itself, flour is not welcomed by the
tongue; sugar makes it tasty. Similarly, wherever charm,
attraction, or splendour is manifest in the cosmos, it is the
cosmic Spirit (Paramatma) that is evident and nothing else.
The Vedas make this very clear. As the Veda texts assert,
the cosmic Spirit creates, fondles, fosters, and sustains the
cosmos (jagath) and finally induces it to merge in Him.
The cosmic Spirit is the sole Creator, the sole Enjoyer,

55
56 Sutra Vahini

and the sole Protector and Master. This is the proclama-

tion contained in the Vedas (sruthis).

Brahman is inherently spiritual Bliss

The Vedas declare that Brahman is of the nature of su-

preme Bliss (ananda swa-rupa). Elaborating on the Atma,
they mention the sheaths (kosa) that treasure it: the food
sheath (anna-maya kosa), the vital-air sheath (prana-maya
kosa), the mental sheath (manomaya kosa), and the intellec-
tual sheath (vijnana-maya kosa), in that sequence. After
these four comes the innermost, spiritual-bliss sheath
(ananda-maya kosa). All these are in Brahman, so it is
proper to conclude that Brahman is inherently spiritual
bliss. Each sheath is subtler (sukshma) than the next, the
subtlest being the fifth, the bliss sheath. Therefore, all
these can be taken to be the “body (upadhi)” of Brahman.
The food sheath or coat is a gross covering, which pro-
tects the coating that is less gross, namely, the vital-air
sheath. The vital airs are nurtured and directed by the
less gross mental sheath. The mental sheath controls the
vital airs (pranas), which regulate and operate the physi-
cal and sensory instruments, so the mental sheath is
much more powerful than the breath. Subtler than this
sheath is the intellectual sheath. It is ever engaged in dis-
criminating between the temporary and the permanent
(a-nithya and nithya). It is very close to the experience of
spiritual bliss (ananda). In fact, it helps to evoke that expe-
rience, which is the awareness of Brahman itself.
In order to guard the body against disease, we wear
different varieties of clothes —an undershirt, then a
shirt, then a coat, and over the coat a shawl. When the
heart is to be examined, the shawl, then the coat, shirt,
and finally the undershirt must be removed. Only then
can the heart be examined. Similarly, one has to eliminate
the food, mental, vital air, intellectual, and mental sheaths
in order to be intimately aware of the supreme Atma or
Brahman, which is spiritual bliss (ananda) itself. The jour-
ney known as “life” is but a pilgrimage from the food
plane of matter to the blissful spiritual plane. This is the
Aphorism 9: Omniscient Brahman: the cause of the cosmos 57

goal, the end. The aphorism conveys this truth to us. The
supreme Soul (Paramatma) is essentially of the blissful na-
ture.
Some don’t agree with this conclusion. They posit the
individualized soul (jivatma) not as spiritual bliss (ananda)
but as the discriminating faculty of the intellect (vijnana).
That is to say, Brahman is effulgence in Its own right; It
needs no external source of light. It is established in Its
own splendour. Others declare that supreme energy
(para-sakthi) is the entity known as spiritual bliss, the su-
preme Atma (Paramatma), and also as supreme space
(para-akasa). These theories arise out of different thought
processes of people in different planes.

Atma is also spiritual bliss

Brahman encompasses all, and awareness of every en-

tity is awareness of Brahman Itself. It cannot be differen-
tiated or divided. Spiritual bliss (ananda) is all; Brahman,
the bliss sheath, is also the individual Atma (jivatma), ap-
pearing as individualized. The quality cannot be identi-
fied and considered apart from the thing possessing it.
The Atma is spiritual bliss, whether universalized as the
highest Atma (Paramatma) or particularized as the individ-
ual Atma (jivatma). Spiritual bliss cannot be measured out
as less or more. Full of spiritual bliss (ananda-maya) means
spiritual bliss itself, not something having bliss. So the in-
dividual Atma is not less or the highest Atma is not more
spiritual bliss. They are both the same spiritual bliss.
In the ordinary worldly sense, too, spiritual bliss is the
characteristic of every living being. As a consequence,
every human being seeks to express and develop it. Liv-
ing beings are found renouncing various desires and
lines of conduct in order to attain spiritual bliss. But belief
that spiritual bliss can be secured from external objects is
a sign of ignorance:
From all outside you, grief;
From all within you, happiness.
58 Sutra Vahini

Sarvam para-vasham dukham;

Sarvam Atma vasham sukham
According to this axiom, when one feels that one’s
spiritual bliss (ananda) is dependent on external objects,
one is moving beyond oneself and courting grief. One
plunges into needless grief by the enslavement to objects
that, according to one’s fancy, can make one happy. One
becomes the target for anxiety and worry. One has to
suffer much, just as a person afflicted with thirst running
toward a mirage gets nothing to quench the thirst and
has a miserable end. The attempt to derive spiritual bliss
through external objects and external activities is, there-
fore, not commendable at all. Those who long for genu-
ine spiritual bliss have to turn their attempts inward,
bound to the Atma.
One point at this juncture: When it is said that Rama
made Bhima a wealthy person or a well-informed per-
son, does it not follow that at the beginning Rama was
wealthier or more knowledgeable than Bhima? If Rama
was indigent and ignorant, how could he transform
Bhima into a wealthy or knowledgeable person? Obvi-
ously, it would not be possible.

Supreme Self is Being-Awareness-Bliss

Brahman is the embodiment of bliss (ananda-swarupa)

—is bliss itself. So every living thing receives spiritual
bliss from Brahman. He is All-knowledge, so He awards,
arouses, and advances knowledge in all. God is the gran-
tor, the promoter of spiritual bliss. This is confirmed in
the aphorism “The Blissful One is the Supreme Self, since
the statement is repeated many times (anandamayobhyaa-
saath).”
Moreover, that very [Brahman] that is de-
scribed in mantra is sung.
Mantra Varnikam eva cha.
“Brahman is being, awareness, bliss (sathyajnanamanan-
tham Brahma).” This sacred axiomatic formula (mantra)
Aphorism 9: Omniscient Brahman: the cause of the cosmos 59

also refers to the same Brahman that is spiritual bliss.

Brahman is Truth (sathya); Brahman is Knowledge
(jnana); Brahman is Infinity (an-antha). Truth is a syno-
nym for bliss; it does not mean anything else.
Truth implies indivisible, immeasurable bliss. It cannot
be affected by limitations of space, the passage of time,
or the varying moods of the experiencers. Spiritual bliss
will itself purify time, space, and the individual. These
three are subdued by spiritual bliss; spiritual bliss is not
subservient to or bound to time, space, or the individual.
Therefore, God, who is designated and described by the
mantra, can be known only partially through the mantra:
He does not limit the mantra; the mantra may limit Him.
Spiritual bliss is the bond that binds both.
 10. Divine “Light” and Divine “Feet”
(Jyothish charana-abhidhaanaath)

The word light (jyothi) in the Upanishads does not con-

note the physical light of the material world. When mate-
rial limits or qualifications like feet (charana) are specified,
how can the immanent, all-pervasive entity be indicated?
Such a limited or qualified phenomenon cannot become
the object of adoration and meditation. When the word
light is understood to mean the light having certain natu-
ral characteristics, it cannot signify Brahman, the Univer-
sal Absolute.

Divine light shines everywhere

The hymn in praise of the cosmic Person (Purusha Suk-

tha) declares:
The entire cosmos, with all its component ele-
ments, is but one quarter of His glory.
Paadosya vishwa bhuthaani.
Therefore, the cosmic Person is beyond bounds,
measures, or degrees. The divine light (jyothi) illumines
Heaven and beyond and reveals even Brahman. That
which makes known by its splendour the era preceding
the origin of living beings and the regions beyond even
the farthest and the highest, “That” is indicated by the
word Jyothi. It shines in that supremest among supreme
regions.
Note also that the same divine light (jyothi) shines eve-
rywhere, at all times, and in all beings. It comprises exis-
tence (asthi or sat), illumination-knowledge (bhathi or
chit), and joy-bliss (priya or ananda). All things seen in the
universe have the unseen as their base. All things that
move have the unmoving as their base. So, too, for
every living being, why, for the very cosmos itself, the
invisible Brahman, the Supra-Truth, is the basis. It is this
Parabrah-man, the Omni-Self, that causes the cosmos to
shine. “Divine light (jyothi)” is appropriate only for this
light and not the limited, inferior, physical light. Divine
light has neither beginning nor end. It is the supreme
Light (Param-jyothi), the light without a second (Adwaitha-

61
62 Sutra Vahini

jyothi), the eternal, unbroken Light (Akhanda-jyothi). In

other words, it is the supreme Brahman Itself, for all this
is revealed only in and through It.

Unlimited divine light versus worldly light

The divine light referred to above cannot be inter-

preted otherwise. The Upanishads do speak of Brahman as
having “feet”, but that does not restrict or reduce Its
vastness in any way.
“Divine light (jyothi)”, therefore, conveys “Brahman”
as its meaning. When Brahman is imagined as having
four “feet”, or quarters, all that is projected from Brah-
man comprises but one quarter. The Upanishads assert
that the other three are “undying, undiminishable,
changeless (a-mritham)” in “heaven (divi)”.
A point to be remembered is that such immortal (a-
mritha) light cannot be equated with the common light
we deal with. The Upanishadic light (jyothi) is said to “il-
lumine (deepyathi)”. How can this process be limited and
tied down to the effect of ordinary worldly light? Divine
light is embodied in Brahman; it operates in and through
Brahman only. Brahman is immanent in all, so divine
light reveals and shines in all.

Divine light is total illumination

The base, the root, the cover of the ever-vibrating,

ever-moving cosmos is Brahman, the stable, the fixed,
the im-movable, the ever-steady divine light. When
Brahman also starts to vibrate, change, and move, total
mergence, submergence (pralaya), happens. For example,
when the train moves, if the rails on which it moves also
move along, what about the fate of the passengers?
When we walk, the road is stationary, so we are able to
proceed safely along.
The light that shines individually is called the flame in
the lamp; the light that illumines and reveals all is called
divine light (jyothi). Divine light brings to light the fire
that pervades the regions, that warms the body and re-
Aphorism 10: Divine “light” and divine “feet” 63

sides in the stomach, the gleam in the eye. The moon is lit
by the sun and thereby made bright. All these activities
are prompted and promoted by Brahman, which is di-
vine light itself. Divine light is the principle, the phe-
nomenon of illumination in all its aspects.
 11. Brahman as Cosmic Breath or Life
(Pranas-thathaa-anugamaath)

The vital breath or air (prana) refers not to the ordi-

nary sense of the word but to Brahman only. That word
is also often taken to mean the deities presiding over the
breath and vital airs, like Rudra or Vayu, but even that
meaning is inapplicable.

Subtle meaning of vital air is Brahman only

Once, a seeker named Pratardana approached Indra,

the Lord of the abode of Gods, and prayed to be in-
structed about how he could be endowed with that
which is most beneficial to him. Indra directed him to
know Him as Life and meditate on Him as “vital air”.
Defining vital air (prana) and elaborating on its glory,
Indra told him, “This vital air is identified with conscious-
ness (Sa esha prana-prajnaatma).” It is “bliss, ageless,
deathless (anandha-ajaro-amrithah)”. That is to say, vital air
is the very embodiment of bliss. It has no decline or
diminution (ajara); it is immortal (a-mritha). That is the
teaching. These characteristics belong to Brahman alone,
not to vital air as commonly understood. Vital air is only
a symbol to bring Brahman to mind and not any other
entity.
Pratardana’s question was about the most beneficial,
the most essential entity that one has to know and pos-
sess. Brahman alone is the source, substance, and suste-
nance, so “vital air”, the word used by Indra, can mean
only Brahman and nothing else. The gross meaning of
the word has to be discarded and the subtle meaning ac-
cepted. Generally, people consider wealth, power, and
fame as most essential and pursue them through every
possible means. In this struggle, people waste invaluable
human qualities with which they are endowed. Besides
this waste of allotted years of life, they plunge deeper
and deeper into the darkness of ignorance (a-jnana). They
ignore and lose awareness of their real nature (swa-rupa).
On another occasion, Indra instructed, “Know Me
alone (Maam eva vijaaneehi).” That is to say, “Understand
Me well; be aware of Me in full.” The Indra referred to

65
66 Sutra Vahini

here cannot be a particular deity, with a body and limbs.

We cannot infer that the word “vital air (prana)” indicated
the speaker Indra himself. One may argue that the entity
who has to be meditated upon is either “vital air” or In-
dra, for Indra is vital air and vital air is Indra: it cannot be
Brahman. This inference is not correct. Vital air (prana)
means Brahman and nothing else. Some interpret the
statement “Know Me alone” as a direction to the listener
to “Know the Brahman that is My reality, My truth, My
core”, so Brahman alone is denoted by the word used by
Indra while instructing Pratardana.

Meditate on Brahman alone

In common usage, in worldly parlance, vital air and

Indra are associated with each other. In the vocabulary of
spiritual inquiry, the vast (bhuma) is descriptive of Brah-
man, which also means “the limitless, beyond even the
cosmos”. Commentators have investigated the superfi-
cial and deeper meanings of these expressions and at-
tempted to reconcile them as denoting one principle. Vi-
tal air (prana) and Brahman, they laid down, are two faces
of one coin; they are inextricably interpenetrative (avinaa
bhaava sambandha). Therefore, Brahman and nothing else
has to be meditated upon.

The instruction is in consonance with the point

of view of the scripture, as in the case of
Vamadeva: Sastra drishtyaa thu upadheeha
Vaamadheva thu.

The four great declarations

The sage Vamadeva adhered to the teachings of the

scriptures,

I am Brahman (Aham Brahmasmi);

That thou art (Thathwamasi);
Aphorism 11: Brahman as cosmic breath or life 67

Brahman is Constant Integrated Awareness (Pra-

jnaa-
nam Brahma);
This Self is Brahman (Ayam Atmaa Brahma).
He listened and thereby attained direct awareness of
Brahman. He meditated on the truth “I am Brahman.”
So, when Indra instructs, “Know Me alone” —the real
Me— Brahman is meant, not the vital force (prana).
Before the awareness dawned on him, Vaamadeva could
also well have understood by vital air the deity Indra. His
announcement after realisation was, “I was Manu (Aham
Manurabhavam)”; “I am All (Sarvaatmaa)”. In the same
manner, since the deity Indra possessed total wisdom, he
could declare Brahman as equivalent to the vital force in
all. There is no inconsistency in this.

All entities are only Brahman

In fact, Brahman can be indicated as any entity. All is

Brahman (Sarvam Brahmam). Supreme Truth, Total Wis-
dom, Vast Eternity is Brahman (Sathyam Jnanam Anan-
tham Brahma). In accordance with these expressions of in-
tuitional experience, each and every thing can symbolize
and denote Brahman. All things have emanated from
Brahman, all things are projections of Brahman. Gold
does not lose its nature, however many names and
forms it may assume as jewelry. No one should be mis-
led by the multiplicity of names and forms in the objec-
tive world, the variety of sights and sounds. When the
truth behind the diverse is identified, one is aware of
Brahman as the Prime Cause, the Basis, the Goal. Indra
the deity is none of these.
The aphorism with which the inquiry started —“That
from which the birth of the universe is derived (Janmaadi
yasya yathaha)”— laid down that Brahman is the cause of
the entire cosmos, space, and all the vital forces. So the
word vital air (prana) applies to Brahman Itself.
 12. Brahman is the Universal Teaching
(Sarvathra-prasiddhopadesaath)

In all statements in the Vedantic texts, the Upanishads, the

familiar and easily recognisable expression “Brahman” is the
one that is mentioned and elaborated. In the direction “One
should meditate by becoming serene”, the object of medita-
tion is therefore the entity indicated by “All this is verily
Brahman” and not the individualized I. Commentators also
upheld this interpretation.
“All this is verily Brahman (Sarvam khalvidam Brahma)” is
the axiom with which the Upanishadic exhortation to medi-
tate starts. The Vedic revelation is that the cosmos or crea-
tion is Brahman, for it originates in, is sustained by, and
merges into Brahman. It is not distinct or separable from
Brahman.

Non-dual vision reveals Brahman

When viewed without the twin distortions of like and dis-

like, love and hate, all forms, all effects, all causes are experi-
enced as Brahman only. But when the vision is affected by
love or hate, each form, each effect and cause, appears dif-
ferent from the rest. Hence the advice to medi-tate after at-
taining serenity. When feelings are calm and balanced, the
many are experienced as the one. An agitated mind can
never have a single vision. It runs along contrary lines, so it
experiences the world, nature, and the cosmos as separate
from Brahman. Such vision creates division. Serene vision
reveals unity. As the vision, so the impression, the view of
the world.
The head of the family is only one person, but each mem-
ber of the family views him from a different point of view.
So he is addressed differently, as “father” by the son, “hus-
band” by the wife, “father-in-law” by the daughter-in-law,
“grandfather” by the grandson, and “elder brother” by his
younger brother. The One is thought of in many forms, be-
cause of the variety of relationships assumed.
So too, seekers and thinkers who are in various levels of
awareness and attainment express and experience the One in
different forms and ways. The attitudes of approach and
adoration also cause differences in the experience of the One.

75
76 Sutra Vahini

Some identify and posit the individualized Atma (jivi); some

adore the active, all-knowing almighty God (Iswara); some
concretize the all-pervasive energy (sakthi); and others have
as their goal the cosmic Person (Purusha). But the individual
or embodied Atma cannot claim omniscience and omnipo-
tence. As long as it is bound by its self-imposed ignorance
and egotism, it cannot know and experience the all-
pervasive, all-comprehensive Brahman.
Glossary 77

Glossary

aagaami. Action (karma) in which one is now engaged that is

bound to affect the future; impending; future.
ahavaniya (aahavaneeya). Consecrated fire taken from the perpet-
ual fire and prepared for receiving oblations, esp. the eastern
one of the three fires burning at a sacrifice.
aalambana. Support, receptacle.
a-chara (-chaara). Unmoving.
a-chetana (chethana). Non-intelligent, unconscious, inert.
adheya (aadheya). Being based, contained, sustained.
a-dwaitha (-dhvaitha). Nondualism or monism, the Vedantic doc-
trine that everything is God.
A-dwaitha-jyothi (a-dhvaitha jyothi). The light without a second.
a-dwaithin (a-dhvaithin). One who propounds nondualism.
agni. Fire element.
Aham Brahmasmi (Brahmaasmi). I am Brahman, or I am divine.
aham-kara (-kaara). Ego, self-love, selfish individuality.
ahavaniya (aahavaneeya). Consecrated fire taken from the perpet-
ual fire and prepared for receiving oblations, esp. the eastern
one of the three fires burning at a sacrifice.
a-jara. Decline, diminution.
a-jnana (-jnaana). Ignorance, stupidity.
a-jnana avrithi (a-jnaana-aavritthi). Obscuring or deluding power.
akasa (aakaasha). Sky, space, ether.
akhanda-jyothi. The eternal, unbroken light.
a-kshara. Imperishable, indestructble.
a-kshaya. Undecaying, never-ending.
a-mritha. Divine nectar (literally, no death or immortal).
ananda (aanandha). Supreme bliss, unending joy.
78 Sutra Vahini

ananda-loka (aanandha-loka). Region of heavenly bliss; also Brahma

region.
ananda-maya (aanandha-maya). Spiritual bliss.
ananda-maya kosa (aanandha-maya kosha). Body sheath of supreme
bliss.
ananda-nilaya (aanandha-nilaya). Abode of supreme bliss.
ananda-praapti (aanandha-praapthi). Attainment of spiritual
bliss.
ananda-swarupa (aanandha-svaruupa). The embodiment of su-
preme bliss.
an-antha. Eternal, unending; infinity.
a-nithya. Impermanent, transient.
anna. Food.
anna-maya kosa (kosha). Sheath of the body composed of food.
antar-jagath (anthar-jagath). Inner universe.
antar-mukha (anthar-mukha). Inward focus.
anthah-karana. Inner psycho-somatic fourfold instruments of
mind, intellect, memory, and ego.
anumaana. Inferential perception.
anuraaga. Affection.
apana (apaana). Downward air; goes out through the anus.
a-pourusheya. Non-personal, superhuman.
a-prameya. Unmeasurable.
asthi. Being, existence; is-ness; synonym for sath.
atha (athhaa). Thereafter.
athah. For this reason.
Atma (Aathma). The real Self, one’s divinity, God, the sub-
stance of everything, the unseen basis, the spark of God
within. The Atma is unchanging and immortal; It does not
die.
Atma-jnana (Aathma-jnaana). Knowledge of Self-realization;
awareness of Atma.
Atmic (Aathmik). Of or pertaining to the Atma.
Glossary 79

Aum. Om; Designation of the Universal Brahman; sacred, pri-

mordial sound of the universe.
baddha. Bound.
Bhagavad Gita (Bhagavath Geetha). Literally, Song of God. Por-
tion of the Mahabharatha that is a dialogue between Arjuna
and Krishna. See Mahabharatha.
Bhagavath-sankalpa. Will of God.
bhajan. Devotional song(s) to God; community singing of spiri-
tuals.
bhathi (bhaathi). That which shines, illuminates; chit.
bhava sagara (bhaava saagara). Ocean of worldly existence.
Bhima (Bheema). Second of five Pandava brothers; named for
his size and strength. See Mahabharatha.
Bhrigu. One of 10 great sages created by the first Manu.
bhuma (bhuuma). Vast limitless, the eternal, the changeless.
bhutha (bhuutha). Any of the five elementary constituents of
the universe; spirit, monster.
Brahma. The Creator in the trinity Brahma, Vishnu (the Pre-
server), and Siva (the Destroyer).
Brahma-ananda (-aanandha). Bliss of realising Brahman.
Brahma-chaithanya. Supreme consciousness.
Brahma-loka. Region of Brahma.
Brahman or Brahmam. Impersonal Supreme Being, primal
source and ultimate goal of all beings. Identical to Atma.
Brahma sutra (suuthra). Spiritual text of Vedantic teachings at-
tributed to Badharayana or Vyasa.
Brahma-vidya (-vidhyaa). Spiritual attainment, knowledge of
Brahman.
brahmin (braahmana). First of four castes of social order,
priestly or teacher caste; a person belonging to this caste.
See caste.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (Brihadhaaranyaka Upanishath). The
Upanishad that sets forth teachings maintained by Yajna-
valkya regarding Brahman.
80 Sutra Vahini

buddhi. Intellect.
caste. The four castes of social order are: brahmin (priestly or
teacher), kshatriya (warrior, protector), vaisya (trader, mer-
chant, agriculturist), and sudra (worker, helper).
chaithanya. Consciousness, intelligence, spirit.
chara (chaara). Moving.
charana. Feet.
chetana (chethana). Conscious, intelligent.
chit (chith). Consciousness, knowledge, awareness.
chittha. Mind stuff, memory, subconscious mind.
dakshinagni (dhakshinaagni). Southern fire of altar.
dama (dhama). Control of the outer senses.
darsana (dharshana). Any of the six principal systems of an-
cient Indian philosophy; insight or vision of truth.
darshan (dharshan). Sight of a holy person.
deepyathi (dheepyathi). Illumine.
deha (dheha). Body.
deha-drishti (dheha-dhrishti). Body’s vision.
deva (dheva). Deity, celestial being, god.
dhana. Wealth, possessions.
dharma. Right action, truth in action, righteousness, morality,
virtue, duty, the dictates of God, code of conduct. Dharma
defies a simple translation into English.
dharmic (dhaarmik). According to dharma, righteous.
dhyana (dhyaana). Meditation.
divi (dhivi). Heaven; divine light.
drishti (dhrishti). Vision, seeing, intelligence.
dukha (dhukha). Grief, sorrow, misery, pain.
gauna. Derived, secondary.
Gautama (Gauthama). Author of the Nyaya system of phi-
losophy and logical system.
Gita (Geetha). Literally, song. Bhagavad Gita, the Song of God.
guda. Sugar.
Glossary 81

guna. Quality, characteristic. The qualities of sathwa, rajas,

and thamas (serenity, passion, ignorance) are general uni-
versal characteristics of all kinds of mental tendencies and
actions /thoughts, which are prompted by specific kinds
and mixtures of these three qualities. For example, sathwic
food is health-giving, strength-giving and delightful; rajasic
food is spicy, sour, or salty and brings on diseases; and
thamasic food is impure, old, stale, tasteless, or rotten. See
thamas, rajas, sathwa.
guru. Preceptor, teacher, guide to spiritual liberation.
Hiranyakasipu (Hiranyakashipu). A demonic person who for-
bade mention of Vishnu, wicked father of Prahlada, a
great devotee of God; killed by man-lion Avatar of Vishnu.
Indra (Indhra). Lord of the devas (celestials).
indriyas (indhriyas). Senses.
Iswara (Eeshvara). Lord, God, Supreme Being; name for Siva.
jada. Inert matter.
Jagadiswara (Jagadheeshvara). Lord of the cosmos, world.
jagath. Cosmos, world of change, creation.
Jaimini. Author of Purva Mimamsa or the portion relating to
ritual action.
jala. Water.
jangama. The moving.
janma. Birth, existence.
japa. Soft prayer or repetition of the name of God.
jivan-muktha (jeevan-muktha). One who is liberated in this life.
jivatma (jeeva-aathma). Soul or true Self.
jijnaasa. Yearning to know.
jivi (jeevi). Individual or soul.
jnana (jnaana). Spiritual knowledge, experiential wisdom.
jnani (jnaani). Spiritually wise man, realized soul.
jyothi. Divine light.
Kaivalya Upanishad (Upanishath). A Upanishad; it portrays the
state of consciousness of one’s absolute identity with God.
82 Sutra Vahini

kamya-karma (kaamya-karma). Acts done to gain their fruits.

Kanada (Kanaadha). Founder of the Vaiseshika school of phi-
losophy.
Kapila, Kapilamaharshi. Ancient sage-philosopher; prime ex-
ponent of the one of the six systems of philosophy known
as sankhya, which emphasizes duality of spirit and nature.
karana (kaarana). Causal or cause.
karma. (a) Activity, action, work, duty. (b) Fate; the conse-
quences of acts done in this life and past lives.
karmic (kaarmik). Of or pertaining to karma.
kosa (kosha). Sheath.
kshatriya (kshathriya). Protector, warrior; see Caste.
ku-darshan (dharshan). Distorted vision, false vision.
lakshana. Characteristic, sign, aspect.
laya. Merging, dissolution, absorption.
leela. Divine sport or play.
loka. Region, world. Usually refers to the three worlds of earth,
atmosphere, and sky, but it can mean 7 or even 14 worlds
(7 above and 7 lower).
Mahabharatha (Mahaabhaaratha). Ancient epic in poetic form,
by sage Vyasa; describes conflict between the Pandavas
and their cousins, the 100 Kaurava brothers. It contains the
Bhagavad Gita, the metaphysical teaching of Krishna to
Arjuna.
Maha-karana (Mahaa-karana). Supreme Cause.
Maitreyi (Maithreyee). Female consort of Yajnavalkya; one of
the greatest sage-philosophers in the Upanishads. She was
known for her wisdom. See the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.
manana. Reflection, meditation, understanding.
manomaya-kosa (-kosha). Mental sheath of the body.
mantra (manthra). Sacred syllable or word(s) to be repeated
(often silently) for attaining perfection or self-realization; a
mystic formula for spiritual enlightenment.
Glossary 83

Manu. The first father of mankind; author of the codes of

righteous conduct (Dharma Sastras); son of Surya and fa-
ther of Vaivaswatha Manu, present progenitor of mankind.
manushya-loka. Region or level of humans.
maya (maayaa). Wordly illusion, mistaking the transient for the
real; non-awareness of actuality, appearances masquer-
ading as reality.
Mimamsa (Meemaamsa). Exegetical school of Indian metaphys-
ics, the earlier (purva) concerning itself chiefly with inter-
pretation of Vedic ritual, the later (uttara) with the nature
of Brahman.
moksha. Liberation, devoid of delusion. Freedom from bond-
age.
mukthi. Liberation; final release or emancipation from the cycle
of birth and death.
mula (muula). Primordial matter; root cause, basis, foundation.
nama (naama). Name.
Narayana (Naaraayana). The Primal Person, the Lord,
Vishnu.
nidi-dhyasana (nidhi-dhyaasana). Inner concentration, profound
meditation.
nimitta (nimitta). Efficient.
nithya. Eternal, permanent.
nivritti (nivritthi). Withdrawal, detachment, renunciation.
niyathi. Fixed order of things; detiny; fate.
Nyaya Sastra (Nyaaya Shaasthra). System of logical philosophy
delivered by Gautama, which uses syllogistic inference.
Om. Designation of the Universal Brahman; sacred, primordial
sound of the universe.
oushadha. Plants.
padartha (padhaartha). Word-meaning; thing, object.
para-akasa (aakaasa). Supreme space.
Para-brahman. Universal Absolute Brahman.
84 Sutra Vahini

Para-sakthi (Paraa-shakthi). Supreme Goddess, embodiment of

highest energy.
Param-aartha. Highest good; highest goal beyond and above
this material world, highest Truth.
Param-atma (Paramaathma). Supreme Self, Supreme Atma.
Para-sakthi (Paraa-shakthi). Supreme Goddess, embodiment of
highest energy.
Parathathwa (Parathatthva). Absolute supreme principle.
pasu (pashu). Animal, bull.
pasyathi (pashyathi). Looks outward.
praani. Living unit.
pradhana (pradhaana). Primordial matter; source of material
world according to Sankhya.
Prahlada (Prahlaadha). Son of the demon king Hiranyakasipu.
As a boy, he was beaten, trampled, and cast into fire and
water. But, he saw only God everywhere, and repetition of
the Name of God saved him. Once, Prahlada asserted that
God was everywhere, and Narayana appeared in his man-
lion form from within a pillar to destroy the king.
prajnana (prajnaana). Highest wisdom.
prakasa (prakaasha). Effulgence, luminosity.
prakriti (prakrithi). Causal matter, creation, nature.
pralaya. Dissolution of the world.
prana (praana). Life-breath, life force, vital energy, the five vital
airs.
prana-maya kosa (praana-maya kosha). Body sheath of vital airs.
pranava. Om, the sacred primordial sound principle.
prapancha. Cosmos; created world composed of the five ele-
ments.
Prasthana Thraya (Prasthaana Thrayee). The three supreme
spiritual texts: the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Brahma
Sutra.
pratyaksha (prathyaksha). Direct knowledge, perceptible, before
one’s eyes.
Glossary 85

pravritti (pravritthi). Wordly activity, attachment.

prema. Divine or supreme love.
prithvi (prithvee). Earth, world.
priya, priyam. Love, dearness.
puja (puuja). Worship.
pundit (pandith). Learned scholar, wise man.
purna (puurna). Complete, full.
purusha. Perfect person, supreme lord, soul, indweller.
Purva Mimamsa (Puurva Meemaamsa). A text by Jaimini on the
early school of mimamsa philosophy.
purva paksha. Technique of raising an objection to expound
truth.
rajas. Passion, activity, restlessness, aggressiveness. Associ-
ated with colour red. See guna.
rajasic (raajasik). Adjective form of rajas, passionate, emotional.
rajoguna. See rajas and guna.
Rama (Raama). Avatar of the Thretha era (yuga). Hero of the
Ramayana; killed the wicked Ravana to rescue his wife
Sita, who had been kidnapped. Means “he who pleases”.
rasa. Taste, sweetness, essence of enjoyment.
Rudra (Rudhra). Vedic God of dissolution of the cosmos;
named Siva in his auspicious or benevolent form; one of
the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra/Siva.
rupa (ruupa). Form, figure, appearance.
saaswatha (shaashvatha). Eternal.
sabda (shabdha). Sound.
sadhana (saadhana). Spiritual discipline or exercise; self effort.
sa-guna. With qualities, with form, materialized.
sakthi (shakthi). Great universal power, divine energy, strength.
sama (shama). Control of the senses, peace, equanimity, tran-
quility.
sama-dhana (samaa-dhaana). Mind control by equanimity.
samana (samaana). Digestive air; equal; even breath.
samanvaya. Mutual connection, harmonizing factor.
86 Sutra Vahini

sampath, sampatthi. Wealth, treasure, excellence, virtue.

samsara (samsaara). The objective world; sea of change; cycle of
birth and death; transmigration.
sankalpa. Will, resolve.
Sankara (Shankara). Celebrated philosopher, preceptor of
non-dualistic Vedanta. Defeated all religious opponents in
debates throughout India.
sankhya (saankhya). One of 6 leading systems of spiritual Vedic
philosophy, attributed to sage Kapila. Chief object: eman-
cipation of the soul from the bonds of worldly existence.
sankhyan (saankhyan). One who believes in or propounds the
sankhya system of thought.
sarira (shareera). The body.
saririka (shaareerika). All the components of embodied Atma.
sarva. All, every.
Sarva-chaithanya. Omni-consciousness.
sastra (shaasthra). Holy scripture; sacred text; that which com-
mands, orders, directs with authority.
sat (sath). Existence, being, good.
satchidananda (sath-chith-aanandha). Existence-knowledge-
bliss, or being-awareness-bliss.
sath-darshan (-dharshan). Correct vision.
sathwa (satthva). Purity, calmness, serenity, joy, strength,
goodness. Associated with colour white. See guna.
sathwic (saatthvik). Adjective form of sathwa; serene, pure,
good, balanced.
sathya. Truth.
siddhatha (siddhaatha). Conclusion.
Siva (Shiva). Destroyer in the trinity of Brahma (the Creator),
Vishnu (the Preserver), and Siva. The embodiment of spiri-
tual wisdom and God of Gods, Mahadeva.
soham. I am God.
sraddha (shraddha). Faith.
sravana (shravana). Listening to discourses on the scriptures.
Glossary 87

sreyomarga (shreyomaarga). Path of fulfillment.

srishti (shrishthi). Creation.
sruthi (shruthi). Sacred revelations orally transmitted by brah-
mins from generation to generation, differing from tradi-
tional law codes (smrithi). Divinely sourced scripture;
Veda; divine words known by revelation; that which was
heard or listened to.
sthaavara. The fixed, stationary.
sthithi. Preservation, staying, abiding. Also a state, position,
condition.
sthula (sthuula). Gross, material, superficial.
sudra (shuudhra). Labourer, the fourth caste of workers. See
Caste.
sukshma (suukshma). Subtle; small; that which expands.
suktha. Hymn.
sushupti (sushupthi). Deep sleep state.
sutra (suuthra). Concise rule or aphorism; that which, through a
few words only, reveals vast meanings; text consisting of
aphorisms or maxims; a thread; something, like a thread,
that runs through and holds everything together.
swa-bhava (sva-bhaava). Essential nature, essence, reality, truth.
swa-dharma (sva-dharma). One’s own dharma or duty.
swa-rupa (sva-ruupa). Form, essential nature, true nature of
Being.
swa-tantra (sva-thanthra). Freedom.
taijas (thaijas). Splendid, luminous (from tejas).
Taithiriya Upanishad (Thaitthireeya Upanishath). The philoso-
phical portion of the Black Yajur-veda; the other part is
called the White Yajur-veda.
tapas (thapas). Concentrated spiritual exercises to attain God;
penance, austerities.
tejas (thejas). Spiritual power, splendour.
thamas. Dullness, ignorance, delusion, inactivity, passivity, in-
ertia, sloth. Associated with colour black. See guna.
88 Sutra Vahini

thamasic (thaamasik). Adjective form of thamas, dull, ignorant.

thamoguna. See thamas and guna.
thatastha (thathastha). Derivative.
Thathwa (Thatthva). Principle, truth, essence. That-this entity.
Thathwa is regarded as made up of That (Thath) and you
(thwam).
Thath twam asi (Thatthvamasi). You are That. One of four great
statements expressing the non-difference of individual soul
with Brahman, the supreme absolute Self, in Vedantic phi-
losophy.
thithiksha (thitheeksha). Fortitude, forbearance.
thuriya (thureeya). “Beyond” stage in samadhi; fourth stage be-
yond waking, dream, and deep sleep. Superconscious
state.
udana (udhaana). Breath that moves upward from the throat.
upadana (upaadhaana). Proximate or material basis.
upadhi (upaadhi). Container, disguise, encasement, limitation.
Upanishad (Upanishath). Any of a set of ancient treatises con-
stituting the primary source of Vedanta metaphysics. Prin-
ciple message is nondualism: unity of Brahman and Atma.
Upanishadic (Upanishadhik). Pertaining to the Upanishads.
uparathi. Control of mind by withdrawal from senses.
Uttara Mimamsa (Utthara Meemaamsa). Later Mimamsa Vedan-
tic philosophy, as distinguished from earlier Mimamsa,
which concerned itself with rituals. By Veda Vyasa.
vahini (vaahini). Stream or flow.
vairagya (vairaagya). Detachment, renunciation.
Vaiseshika (Vaisheshika). Later school of Nyaya philosophy
founded by Kanada.
vaisya (vaishya). Business person, trader, merchant. See Caste.
valli. Section, chapter; literally, creeper.
Vamadeva (Vaamadheva). Ancient hermit. Friend of Vasishta
and a priest of Dasaratha; he composed Rig-vedic hymns.
Varuna. Vedic god associated with rain, water, ocean, night.
Glossary 89

vayu (vaayu). Wind, air.

Vayu (Vaayu). God of wind.
Veda (Vedha). See Vedas.
Vedanta (Vedhaantha). The doctrine of either pure non-dualism,
i.e. the identity of Brahman and the Atma, or conditioned
non-dualism; the end or bottom line of the Vedas, which
declares this doctrine.
Vedantic (Vedhaanthik). Of or pertaining to Vedanta.
Vedas (Vedhas). Entire body of ancient sacred revelations of
truth, chief among which are four books: the Rig-veda, Ya-
jur-veda, Sama-veda, and Atharvana-veda.
Veda Vyasa (Vedha Vyaasa). A name for Vyasa.
Vedic (Vedhik). Of or pertaining to the Vedas.
vichara (vichaara). Inquiry, analysis and reflection of the nature
of the Self or truth.
vijnana (vijnaana). Highest intellect; discriminating faculty of
the intellect.
vijnana-maya kosa (vijnaana-maya kosha). Body sheath of intel-
lect.
Vishnu. The Preserver in the trinity Brahma (the Creator),
Vishnu, and Siva (the Destroyer).
viveka. Discrimination.
vyakthi. Individual.
vyana (vyaana). One of five vital airs, that which is diffused
throughout the whole body.
Vyasa (Vyaasa). Compiler of Vedas and author of the Mahab-
haratha, Mahabhagavatham, and Brahma Sutras.
yajna. Holy ritual, sacrifice, or rite. Also, personification of
rite (when capitalized).
Yajnavalkya (Yaajnavalkya). Great Upanishadic person. Priest
and guru of King Janaka. Taught the monistic Adwaithic
doctrine of the identity of Atma and Brahman in the Briha-
daranyaka Upanishad.
90 Sutra Vahini

Yajur-veda (-vedha). Second Veda, consisting of a collection of

sacred texts relating to sacrifices.
yuga. Era or age. There is a cycle of four yugas: Kritha, Thretha,
Dwapara, and Kali. The present age is the Kali yuga.
 Index
Brahma
Activity, 14 Uttara Mimamsa deals with, 5
cannot liberate from basic Brahma Sutra, v, 3, 4, 7, 31
ignorance, 14 called the Ultimate Vision of
don't develop too much Wisdom, 4
attachment to activity, 34 essence of teachings of
happiness and misery are Upanishads, 1
consequences of, 34 Brahma-ananda Valli, 29
Adwaithins. See Monists Brahman, 31
Agni. See Fire and vital air, 30
Air, 26 cause of all causes, 18
Air, vital. See Vital air cause of the cosmos, 37, 41,
Akasa. See Space 51, 55
Ananda. See Bliss core of the individual, 40
Aphorism cosmic source, force, support,
in Brahma Sutra, 3 17
meaning of, v embodiment of bliss, 58
Aphorism, meaning of, v Eternal Being, total awareness,
in Brahma Sutra, 4 51
ub Brahma Sutra, 4 genine nature of is truth, 24
Atma, 31, 46 is all and nothing else, 38
exists in all, 46 is inherently spiritual bliss,
in body but not of it, 40 56
is all, 46 is the Universal Teaching, 75
Atmic awareness meditate on Brahman alone,
four steps of, 46 66
key to liberation, 43 one eternal truth, 17
Aum. See Om qualifications for inquiring
Awareness is key, 43 into, 7
source of all knowledge, 27
Being-awareness-bliss, 1, 58 Bubble, 20, 35
Bhagavad Gita, 1, 3 Buddhi, 44
is essence of teaching of
Upanishads, 1 Character, moral, 14
Bhima, 58 Cognition, four stages of, 44
Bhrigu, 29 Consciousness, the primal cause
Bliss, 1 of cosmos, 37
Brahman is of the nature of, Contact, 19 means of, 44
56 Cosmos
core of five vital sheaths, 29 theories of, 22
is Brahman, 30 Cosmos, body of God, 38
sheath of, 35
unchanging, 53 Darsanas, 4
where to gain from, 3 Declarations, the four great, 66
Bliss of Brahman section, 29 Dharma, 5
Body each has its own, 21
is an anthill, 5 Vedas deal with, 5
is temple of God, 52 Diffused air, 51
Body and sense control, 8 Digestive air, 51
Discrimination, 7, 13, 44

91
92 Sutra Vahini

Divine light, 61, 62 Jaimini, 4

Downward air, 51 Jala. See Water
Dream stage, 44 Jivan-muktha, 1

Earth, 26, 40 Kaivalya Upanishad, 1

Equanimity, 8, 12, 15 Kanada, 4
Ether, 40 Kapila, 4
Karma, 2, 5, 33, 52. See also
Faith, 5, 8, 11 Activity
needed to secure wisdom, 5 beneficial, 39
Prahlada's faith, 28 path of, 10
Features, five natural, 19
Fire, 26, 40, 43 Liberation, 2
five of the body, 51 activities cannot achieve, 2,
Food sheath, 35, 56 10
Forbearance, 8, 11 key to, 43
Form, 18, 20, 25 longing for, 12
Four great declarations, 67 only renunciation can achieve,
Fundamental texts, 1 2
while alive, v
Gautama, 4 Life breath, 51
God first, humans last, 26 Light, divine, 61
Guru, 1, 10, 12 Love, source of, 39
Luminescence, 20, 25
Harmony, 33
need for, 36 Maitreyi, 39
of all religions, 36 Man
Hiranyakasipu, 28 embodiment of bliss, 3
three chief instruments of, 9
I am Brahman, 66 Manas. See Mind
Ignorance cannot be destroyed by Manu, 67
rituals, 3 mental sheath, 35
Indicative signs are inadequate, 24 Mind, 5, 8
Indra, 65, 66 causes bondage or liberation, 8
Inquiry, 5, 7 has two characateristics, 8
qualifications for, 7 Mind control, 8
reason for, 13 Moksha. See Liberation
Intellect, 9, 12, 15, 29, 34, 35, Monists, 22
50, 53, 57 Moral character, primacy of, 14
Intellectual sheath, 35, 56
Is-ness, 20, 53 Narayana, 29
Nonattachment, 8
Index 93

Nyaya Darsana, 4 Sankara, 33

Sankhya Darsana, 4
Om, 30, 46 Sankhya school, 37
Saririka Sastra, 4
Path Sastra, meaning of, 4, 28
dharmic, 22 Satchidananda, v, 1
of intellectual inquiry, 10 Science
of knowledge, 13 of spirituality, 1
of ruin, 9 of Supreme Reality, v
righteousness, 21 of Vedanta, 7
worldly, 11 Scripture, meaning of, 28
Physics, 18, 21 Scriptures
Prahlada, 28 derive value, validity from
Prana, 29, 30, 35, 38, 44, 51, Vedas, 1
56, 65 expressions of truth, 27
Prasthana Thraya, 1 lay down four sadhanas, 4
Pratardana, 65 Sheaths, five vital, 29, 35, 56
Prithvi. See Earth Sky. See Space
Purva Mimamsa, 4 Sleep, 52
deep sleep, 44, 45, 51
Qualifications is necessary, 51
for inquiring into Brahma, 7 Sorrow can't be destroyed by
for knowing truth of oneself, rituals, 3
4 Space, 26, 40, 57
Qualities Sutra. See Aphorism
five, of every thing, 20
three gunas are fundamental Taithiriya Upanishad, 22
constituents, 37 That, 17, 19, 22, 39, 66
That thou art, 66
Rama, 58 Three fundamental texts, 1
Region of the Divine, 34 Three source texts, 3
Religions Truth, methods for knowing, 3
emphasize the same need, 14
harmony of all, 36 Universe
Renunciation manifestation of Vishnu, 19
can achieve liberation, 2 mystery of, 21
confers immortality, 1 Upanishads, 3, 33, 55, 62, 75
of the desire to enjoy, 7 Bhrigu, 29
Righteousness Brihadaranyaka, 39
path of, 21 Kaivalya, 1
Rudra, 65 Taithiriya, 22, 29, 30
Upward breath, 51
94 Sutra Vahini

Uttara Mimamsa, 4 Virtues, six, 8

Vishnu, 4, 19, 22
Vaiseshika, 4 Vision
Vamadeva, 66 Atmic, 50
Varuna, 29 correct, 48
Vayu, 65. See Air inward, 50
Veda Vyasa, 4 non-dual, 75
Vedanta Darsana, 4 Vital air, 26, 29, 30, 35, 44, 51,
Vedanta, science of, 7 56, 65
Vedas, 1 Vyasa. See Veda Vyasa
assert Brahman as the primal
cause, 37 Water, 26, 40, 43
cannot confer liberation, 10 Wealth, not means to liberation,
deal with two concepts, 5 2, 5, 12, 15, 38, 44, 65
declare creation as God's will, Wind, 40
37 Withdrawal from sensory
have no identifiable authors, 1 objects, 8, 9
reveal Brahman, 27
teach constant thought of God, Yajnavalkya, 39
28
Upanishads are core of, 1