UPANISHAD COURSE

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Lesson 2

Adhikārin: Essentials and Gurūpasadana



The questions that a student in the Upaniṣads poses to the Guru give us a
good idea of what brahma-vidyā encompasses. These questions also reveal
the high calibre of the students. A student who is qualified to receive the
wisdom of the Upaniṣads is termed ‘adhikārin’.
Everyone has questions, including children, who have very many. But
the questions of the Upaniṣadic students are of a different type: they do not
spring from mere curiosity or from just academic interest. On the contrary, they
portray a very special and distinct kind of mindset of the Upaniṣadic seeker. To
understand the uniqueness of the questions raised in the Upaniṣads is to recognise
the qualities that make them such qualified aspirants of brahma-vidyā.
Many have strange notions about the path of knowledge or the life of
renunciation (nivṛtti). They think that if one is a failure in life, then alone does
one take to spirituality. But you will find from the questions asked by the
Upaniṣadic students that brahma-vidyā is not meant for students who have
taken to it in a bout of despair, but it is meant for the highly evolved, who
approach it with a positive spirit and seek answers to fundamental questions of
life and living.
Let us take some mantras from the Upaniṣads that highlight the concerns
and queries in the mind of such students.

© Chinmaya International Foundation 2017

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Viveka
The mantra below from Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad (1.2.12) indicates the kind of enquiry
that enables one to become an adhikārin:

परीक्ष्य लोकान‌कर्म् चितान‌ब्राह्मणो

् निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृ तः कृ तेन।
्
ु वाभिगच्छेत‌समित्पाणिः
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गरुमे श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम‌॥्
parīkṣya lokān karmacitān brāhmaṇo nirvedamāyānnāstyakṛtaḥ kṛtena,
tadvijñānārthaṁ sa gurumevābhigacchet samitpāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣṭham.
Let a brāhmaṇa (an aspirant), after he has examined the worlds gained by action,
acquire freedom from all desires, reflecting that nothing that is eternal can be
gained through action. Let him, in order to obtain the knowledge of the eternal,
take sacrificial fuel (samit) in his hands and approach that preceptor alone who
is well-versed in the Vedas and is established in Brahman.

The very first word, ‘parīkṣya’, of the mantra signifies ‘having examined’ or
‘having analysed’.1 The student is one who has examined his life and all that
he has done with it so far. There is a saying that an unexamined life is not
worth living! Most of us tend to live mechanically. However, this student has
reflected on all that he has done and achieved. And he has done so because he
is a ‘brāhmaṇa’. The term ‘brāhmaṇa’ here does not imply a caste but indicates
one who is a thinker, a ‘vivekī’ (one who reflects with discrimination).

Ponder Over
Newton was a ‘brāhmaṇa’ because when he saw an apple falling, he began to
think about why it falls. For centuries apples had fallen but no one had ever asked
such a question and pondered over it. All are satisfied with simply eating the
apple. Thus everyone does not become a thinker or a ‘brāhmaṇa’.

1
‘Parīkṣya’ comes from the root ‘īkṣ’ which means ‘to see.’ ‘Pari’ means ‘all round’. In other
words, to ‘minutely examine’ or ‘analyse something’ is parīkṣā.

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The student, a ‘brāhmaṇa’, a reflective person, realises that all his actions,
good or otherwise, secular or religious, from childhood onwards have brought
him only temporary results. All that he has achieved, earned, enjoyed, or
endured are all the fleeting results of effort. Nothing has produced a permanent
result. Therefore, he understands from his experience that all future actions
too will lead to similar finite results. Nothing achieved is permanent: “nāsti
akṛtaḥ kṛtena.”
This very same idea of reflection, that is ‘viveka’, is also brought out clearly
in the Chāndogya-upaniṣad (8.1.6) thus:

तद्यथेह कर्मजितो लोकः क्षीयत एवमेवामत्रु पण्यजितो

ु लोकः क्षीयते।
tadyatheha karmajito lokaḥ kṣīyata evamevāmutra puṇyajito lokaḥ kṣīyate.
As to that, as in this world the result acquired through action gets exhausted,
in the very same way the result acquired through virtue too gets exhausted in
the other world.

Just as all the results that we acquire in this world by our karmas perish, so also
do the results of those karmas that take us to heaven. The enjoyment of heaven,
too, is temporary.



Parīkṣā: How to Analyse a Topic?

The analysis of any subject or question must be done with the help of a valid
means of knowledge. The valid means of knowledge is termed ‘pramāṇa’.
Through the pramāṇas we will now explore how this viveka, or reflection on
the impermanent nature of worldly achievements, is undertaken.
(1) Pratyakṣa-pramāṇa: The senses such as eyes, ears and so on give us direct
knowledge (pratyakṣa-pramā) and these senses are known as ‘pratyakṣa-
pramāṇa’. Through our senses we can see that everything we have gained
has not remained permanent. All things good and bad came and then faded
away, or simply ended. As children, we had many toys; they broke, balloons

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burst and so on. Similarly, as we grew, we acquired new objects and gained
new experiences. All of them had a beginning and an end. Indeed, such
thinking does not necessitate any knowledge of philosophy or any special
thinking skills but only a careful observation of our life experiences.
(2) Anumāna-pramāṇa: ‘Anumāna’ is inference or logic. What is the
logic applied here? The scriptures state thus: “kṛtena akṛtaḥ nāsti – there
is nothing permanent arising from action.” The inferential logic is this:
Action can only produce a temporary result because their very cause,
action, is impermanent.
(3) Śabda- or Veda-pramāṇa: The Vedas are a valid source of knowledge. The
Vedas declare that even the experience of heaven is not permanent. Even though
it may be for an extended period unlike our worldly sojourn, it will eventually
end and we will return to this world of sorrow.
Thus all these three means of knowledge when used for the analysis of life
point to one common conclusion: Everything is impermanent (anitya). Suddenly
it strikes us that what we are seeking right through numerous and multifarious
activities is happiness. And that desire is for permanent happiness, not just
for fleeting moments of happiness. And now it is evident that actions cannot
deliver that permanent happiness.

Ponder Over
One may go on changing jobs but what one is seeking through all this is a
permanent source of income. Hence the underlying desire of all action is for some
lasting result. There is no getting away from this fact. A person wants to become
a Minister, even though he knows that the post will not be permanent; only the
status of ‘former minister’ will be permanent!
Seeking the permanent is inherent to us but the error is in our seeking the
permanent (nitya) in the impermanent (anitya).

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Vairāgya
An enquiry into life will necessarily lead one to vairāgya or dispassion. As
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya points out in his commentary on the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad (1.2.12)
mantra cited earlier, if all we do leads only to temporary results, then what
is the use of doing more and more of the same thing? Repeating the same
actions will only lead to more and more of similar results. No matter what one
does and how many times one does it, the end score will remain only finite.
And with this realisation the question that arises is this: Will such numerous
finite results bring anything new to me? Will they change me in any way? There
may be outer changes, granted, but the inner emptiness and incompleteness
will continue unchanged.
Such disenchantment with finite actions and results will arise in the heart of
one who has reflected on life (viveka or discrimination). Thus vairāgya is born
from viveka.

Reflect Upon
Often people who read this or listen to talks on this topic say that they have
understood it ‘intellectually’. That implies that they have only understood it
superficially. Understanding, after all, can only take place in the intellect and
in no other aspect of our personality. The question truly is, how deeply has the
topic been understood? With how much alertness or attention has this been
reflected upon? We have seen in the previous lesson the śānti-mantra chanted
by both Guru and disciple where the prayer is that our knowledge be bright
(deeply understood) and that it lead us to transform our life. If we continue with
the same endless pattern of living and are content with it, then, quite evidently,
this knowledge has not been absorbed.
For the person who ignores the permanent and runs after the impermanent,
the permanent is never gained, and the impermanent, being by nature
impermanent, is not gained either! That is why when we enquire of someone,

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“how are you?” the instant response of “well, thank you” is, in many cases,
followed by a contrary story altogether!

The vivekī student, having reflected upon life and having concluded that
everything is impermanent, decides to strive only for the eternal. There is this
famous quotation, “If you always do what you always did, you will always
get what you always got.” A wise student breaks the current pattern of life
and goes in search of the permanent, which is now so ardently sought. Such a
student displays both viveka and vairāgya which together propel him to seek
a teacher.



The Viveka and Vairāgya of Maitreyī

There is a very well-known and beautiful incident that is related in the
Bṛhadāraṇyaka-upaniṣad that highlights the qualities of viveka and vairāgya that
make one fit for the study of the Upaniṣads.
One day, Ṛṣi Yājñavalkya, who was wealthy and presided over a large
gurukula, decided to take sannyāsa (formal renunciation). So he called his two
wives, Maitreyī and Kātyāyanī, and informed them of his decision, telling them
that he would, therefore, distribute all his wealth between the two of them.
Kātyāyanī remained silent but Maitreyī started thinking, trying to understand
what it was that was prompting her husband to renounce wealth, family
and disciples. Obviously, he was aspiring to something more meaningful,
something greater.
So she asked Yājñavalkya (2.4.2), “Will I become immortal by all this wealth
that you are giving me?” His answer was ‘No’: “amṛtatvasya tu na āśā asti vittena
iti – There is no scope of immortality through wealth.” And Yājñavalkya went
on to say that only her standard of living would become higher. Wealth would
make her neither immortal nor fearless. Maitreyī then asked her husband to
give her instead knowledge of the Truth, and rejected the ephemeral saying

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(2.4.3), “yena ahaṁ na amṛtā syāṁ kim ahaṁ tena kuryām – What shall I achieve by
that which will not give me the immortal/permanent?”
Like the student of the Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad (1.2.12) referred to earlier, Maitreyī
too shows viveka and vairāgya in her analysis of her situation. She, too, has
the humility to realise her own limitations and asks her husband and Guru to
instruct her, for this knowledge cannot be gained on one’s own.



Naciketas – An Exemplary Adhikārin

In no other Upaniṣad are the qualifications of an aspirant described as
elaborately as in the Kaṭha-upaniṣad. Here the student is Naciketas, the
youngest and best known of all the students of the Upaniṣads. He is only
about eight or ten years of age.2 Below is the story of Naciketas in brief:
Once a rich man called Vājaśravas performed a yāga (Vedic Fire Ritual)
for reaching heaven that required him to give away everything that belonged
to him. On the completion of the yāga, the brāhmaṇas were offered dakṣiṇā.
In those times, it was customary to offer cows bedecked with costly jewels.
Naciketas observed that the cows being offered by Vājaśravas, his father, were
old and decrepit. Quite clearly, they were as good as dead.3 Naciketas clearly

2
Śrī Śaṅkarācārya seems to have had a very special affection for him. In the beginning of his
commentary on this Upaniṣad, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya offers salutations not only to Lord Vaivasvata
(Yamarājā or Dharmarājā as he is often referred to), who is the teacher of brahma-vidyā in
this Upaniṣad, but also to Naciketas, the disciple (Om namo bhagavate vaivasvatāya mṛtyave
brahmavidyācāryāya naciketase ca). In no other commentary to the Upaniṣads does Śrī Śaṅkarācārya
thus offer his salutations to any disciple separately. He must have obviously looked upon
Naciketas as an ideal. Most likely this was because, like Naciketas, Śrī Śaṅkarācārya himself had
developed intense viveka and vairāgya at a very tender age. Moreover, it is believed that he had
also watched the story of Naciketas in a Kathakali dance performance (a Kerala art form) during
his growing years in his native Kerala.
3 ् गच्छति ता ददत॥्
पीतोदका जग्धतृणा दुग्धदोहा निरिन्द्रियाः। अनन्दा नाम ते लोकास्तान स
pītodakā jagdhatṛṇā dugdhadohā nirindriyāḥ, anandā nāma te lokāstān sa gacchati tā dadat.
These cows have drunk water for the last time, eaten grass for the last time, have yielded all their
milk and are barren. Joyless, verily, are the worlds which he attains who gives these presents in
yāga. (Kaṭha-upaniṣad 1.1.3)
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understood that it was wrong of his father to offer the kind of cows he saw
before him.
Naciketas also realised that if his father wanted to reach heaven he needed
to fulfil all the requirements for the yāga, as enjoined by the scriptures. If not,
he would incur sin. How could he gently prod his father to do the right thing?
He started thinking (so'manyata). The yāga required that everything belonging
to his father be given away. And Naciketas thought that he too should be given
away, for did not a son belong to his father?
An ordinary child of Naciketas' age would hardly dwell on such questions.
Most young children would be content to enjoy the ritual and the feast associated
with it. Or a more avaricious child might feel happy that the best cows were
being retained for him.
Naciketas approached his father and asked, “Father, to whom are you giving
me? You are giving the cows, but what about me?” The father did not reply. So
Naciketas asked a second time, and then a third time. At that his father angrily
retorted, “mṛtyave tvā dadāmi – I give you to Lord Death.”
Instead of being shocked or frightened, Naciketas sat down and wondered:
“Am I such a useless son or student that my father wants me to go to Yamarājā
(death)? I cannot say that I am the best student, but I am not the worst either
(bahūnāmemi prathamo bahūnāmemi madhyamaḥ). Then why does father give me
to Yamarājā?” Naciketas thought about the matter quite objectively.
It is evident that the father had answered his son in a fit of anger and not
because he truly wanted his son to die. Naciketas, however, began to wonder
whether Yamarājā, the Lord of Death, had some special mission to accomplish
through him. He felt that there must be a grand reason guiding the course of
life. So he decided to set off to meet Yamarājā. At that the father tried to stop
him, but the boy was adamant and declared, “Father, this is how noble people
lived in bygone days. Once they gave their word, they remained true to it and
made no compromises.”
Naciketas went to Yamarājā only to find that he was away. The servants

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and the wives of Yamarājā requested him to sit, take water and refreshments
but he refused, for he had been gifted to Yamarājā by his father and he could
do nothing without his permission. So he waited for three nights until he met
Yamarājā and received instruction from him.
Yamarājā was amazed to meet this young boy and received him with great
respect. Extremely pleased by Naciketas, he offered him three boons, one for
each of the three nights he had waited to meet him.
Naciketas first asked for his father to regain his peace of mind, lost because
of anger, and that he sleep peacefully. He further added that when he returned
home, his father should recognise him as his son and not as some ghost. And so
young Naciketas ensured that he would return! The boon was granted.
Naciketas then said that since people are very keen to go to heaven where
there is freedom from all kinds of sorrow, he would like as his second boon
the knowledge of another yāga by which people could reach heaven. Yamarājā
readily gave him an elaborate explanation of such a Vedic ritual and, at the
conclusion, asked Naciketas if he had understood and whether he could repeat
what he had just been taught. To Yamarājā’s complete amazement, Naciketas
repeated every word with clarity and accuracy. Yamarājā was astounded by
the child’s grasping power and memory (medhā-śakti). Instantly, he removed
his necklace and gifted it to Naciketas. He also announced that the ritual he had
just explained would thereafter be named after Naciketas himself.

Naciketas' third boon will be dealt with subsequently. What is noteworthy

are the qualities displayed by Naciketas, which make him fit to receive the
highest knowledge.
(1) Naciketas is a firm Mahāvrata: As per the scriptures, the son has to be
obedient to his father. This is a vrata (a vow). But to take a ‘mahāvrata’, literally
a ‘great or difficult vow’, is to be obedient under all circumstances. Naciketas
ensured that his father’s word was never in vain, even if those words were

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uttered in anger.4
(2) Naciketas is a Vivekin (one with discrimination): He understands that
what his father is doing is not correct and he has the welfare of his father at
heart. He is also astute enough to ensure when asking his first boon that he will
return home.
(3) Naciketas is endowed with Śraddhā (faith): He has faith in the scriptures5
and in the actions prescribed therein. That is why Naciketas wants to ensure
that the ritual done by his father is as per the scriptural injunctions.
(4) Naciketas is capable of Titikṣā (endurance): He waits for Yamarājā without
food and water for three nights, not wanting to do anything without first
knowing directly from Yamarājā what requires to be done.
(5) Naciketas is blessed with Medhā-śakti (extraordinary grasping power and
memory): He could repeat what Yamarājā had told him without faltering or
missing out a word.



Seeking the Guru

The Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad (1.2.12) that has been cited also says that the seeker
of the Absolute must approach a guru or teacher (tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum
evābhigacchet) and must do so with complete humility.
As per custom, one should never go empty-handed to a teacher, to the
temple, or to a king. It is stated that the student should approach the teacher
with sacrificial firewood in his hand (samit-pāṇiḥ). This is a symbolic offering
and implies that one must always carry a gift; it may be anything that one has or

4
Another example of abiding in a mahāvrata is depicted in the Rāmāyaṇa by Prince Rāma. Even
though King Daśaratha had given a boon to Queen Kaikeyī, and Rāma had to be banished to the
forest, many people advised him not to obey his father because it was the King’s attachment to
Kaikeyī that had caused this misfortune to Rāma. But Rāma would not hear of it. There are other
such examples too in the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, such as that of Rājā Hariścandra. The śāstras state
that even the gods come to help and assist such individuals who are firm mahāvratas.
5
Śraddhā āviveśa – Faith took possession of him. (Kaṭha-upaniṣad 1.1.2)

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what the teacher may need. And when such a student with the above-described
qualities of viveka and vairāgya approaches a teacher with humility and a
burning desire to gain knowledge, the teacher must impart that knowledge of
the Self.

Who is a Guru?
The Guru is one who dispels the darkness of ignorance. He is described in the
Upaniṣads as “śrotriyaṁ brahmaniṣṭham.” (Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad 1.2.12)
(1) Śrotriya: Though the literal meaning of this term is ‘one who has got ears’,
it implies a person who is well-learned in the śāstra. It is stated: “śrotrasya
bhūṣaṇaṁ śāstram – the ornament of the ears is knowledge gained from listening
to the śāstras.” The Guru has to be a ‘śrotriya’, that is well-versed in the
knowledge of the śāstras, because when the disciple learns at his feet, the Guru
will have to answer the many questions posed by his student. The student's
intellect, inevitably, will raise doubts and these doubts necessitate a satisfactory
response or explanation.
In the study of the Upaniṣads, the student is never told: “Don’t ask any
question. Just believe whatever I say.” The intellect will not accept such a
response. Questions need to be answered, for only then will the student be
satisfied and move forward in his knowledge. Hence, the importance for a
teacher to be a ‘śrotriya’.
(2) Brahmaniṣṭha: This identifies the Gurus as ‘those who are established in
Brahman’, revealed to them by the śāstras and by their own Guru. Not only
do such teachers know what the śāstras say, but they are also firmly rooted
in the Truth themselves. If they only know the śāstras, but have never done
any sādhana nor had the experience of the Truth that they expound, then they
will not be able to assess the difficulties of their students on the spiritual path
and guide them appropriately. The teacher, having had the actual experience of
sādhana, will be able to understand the practical difficulties of seekers and will
be able to give them practical solutions too.

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Ponder Over
There are teachers and professors or even Heads of the departments of
philosophy who have studied various schools of philosophy and who impart
instruction on the subject without personally believing in any of them! This is
not the case with enlightened teachers of the Upaniṣads.

The Guru's Duty

The Muṇḍaka-upaniṣad (1.2.13) states:
ु
तस् मै स विद्वानपसन्नाय सम्यक‌् प्रशान्तचित्ताय शमान्विताय।
ु वेद सत्यं प्रोवाच तां तत्त्वतो ब्रह्मविद्याम‌॥्
येनाक्षरं परुषं
tasmai sa vidvānupasannāya samyak praśāntacittāya śamānvitāya,
yenākṣaraṁ puruṣaṁ veda satyaṁ provāca tāṁ tattvato brahmavidyām.
To that pupil who has thus approached him in a proper manner, whose mind
is at rest and whose senses are subdued, let the wise teacher truly teach that
brahma-vidyā by which the true immortal Puruṣa is known.

When such a qualified seeker of knowledge (yogya-vidyārthī) has approached

the teacher duly, with all reverence, humility (upasannāya samyak), then that
enlightened Guru provides the knowledge by which the student will come to
realise the absolute Truth (provāca tāṁ tattvato brahmavidyām).
When qualified students come for knowledge, the Guru does not ignore the
request or guide them wrongly, immersing them thus further in saṁsāra, the
realm of plurality. The Guru grants without undue delay the knowledge to
such aspirants who are endowed with viveka and vairāgya, have control over
their minds (śamānvitāya) and whose minds are peaceful (praśānta-cittāya). It
certainly becomes the loving duty of the Guru to bestow this great knowledge
upon such a well-prepared student.

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