Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Bhashyam

प्राणादेरीशितारं परमसुखनिधिं सर्वदोषव्यपेतं 

सर्वान्तस्थं सुपूर्णं प्रकृतिपतिमजं सर्वबाह्यं सुनित्यम् । 

सर्वज्ञं सर्वशक्तिं सुरमुनिमनुजाद्यैः सदा सेव्यमानं

विष्णुं वन्दे सदाहं सकलजगदनाद्यन्तमानन्ददं तम् ।।

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the largest among the ten principal Upanishads. It belongs to Kanva Shaksha of Shukla Yajurveda. Hence it is also known as Kanva Upanishad. This Upanishad is also known as Vajasaneya Upanishad as Lord Surya revealed this assuming the form of a horse (Vaja). It forms a part of Satapatha Brahmana. It consists of eight chapters. The first two chapters dealing with details of Aswamedha Sacrifice were not commented upon by the Bhashyakaras. All commentaries commence from the third chapter onwards.

Presiding Deity and Seers

The Supreme God Vishnu is the presiding deity of this Upanishad. Lord Brahma, Surya, Yagnyavalka and Kanva Rishi are the seers. This Upanishad touches upon all major branches of philosophy such as epistemology, psychology, ethics, theology and mysticism. It contains philosophically rich passages that need careful analysis to bring home the buried intent. It is common to get swayed by apparent meanings. Many a commentator stand proof for this.

Excellencies of Brihadaranyaka Bhashya

It is very heartening to note that each and every idea presented in the Upanishad had a long tradition of commentaries and exegesis. But unfortunately, they are all are lost to posterity. Upanishads are the fountain heads of philosophical thought and their interpretations cannot be subject to the whims and fancies of the exponent. Sri Madhwacharya’s Brihadaranyaka Bhashya is an exception as it is greatly successful in giving a complete account of the esoteric teachings of this Upanishad. This is made possible by the sound interpretive methodology applied by Sri Acharya while harnessing the power of the authentic texts aided by crisp and coherent logic.

One can feel the rich heritage and tradition come alive in Acharya’s works as he profusely draws the support of a plethora of ancillary texts, ancient glosses, Vedic dictionaries, forgotten Vedic hymns, Puranas, Historical treatises and many more such works to ascertain the right intent of the original passages. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Bhashya, we find an exhaustive presentation of almost all important tenets of Tattvavada.

Salient Features

Some of the salient features of Brihadaranyaka Bhashya are as follows

» Details about the presiding deity and the seers of the Upanishad are revealed.

» Lord Brahma extolled Lord Vishnu with these passages during the time of creation. Lord Brahma gave this to Sun God. Yagnyavalka received this from Him. He then passed it on to Sage Kanva.

» Acharya quotes from rare texts such as Pradhyana, Sauparna Shruti and Naradiya Purana to bring home the true purport of this Upanishad.

» The central theme of Ashva Brahmana is to extol Lord Vishnu who assumed the form of a sacrificial horse. This form is the abode of the entire universe. Various deities adorned the limbs of this sacrificial horse.

» Acharya beautifully explains the style of the Upanishad where even repetition of words is done with a specific purpose of generalizing the concept.

» The etymology of the words such as वाजी, हय, अश्व is given. The characteristics of the horses of Devas, Asuras and Manushyas are listed from Skanda Purana.

» Vedic passages seem to say that no one else existed at the time of creation except Lord Brahma. But that is not the right purport of the Upanishad. Goddess Lakshmi, Individual Souls, Time, Space and Vedas existed. The meaning of the Vedic passage should be accordingly understood as nothing else existed except these.

» God chooses to perform suitable actions while the elements are created so that the element so created becomes a tool for that particular action. For eg., he created water while performing worship so that water becomes a tool of worship. That is why it gets the name Arka.

» The Vishnu Kurma and Vayu Kurma are elucidated by profusely quoting from the texts Prabhanjana, Adhyatma, Vaibhava and Prakrushta.

» Acharya quotes Brahma Vaivarta purana to reveal that Vayu will come to the post of Brahma in the next creation.

» Lord Brahma is never inflicted by the spell of the demons in any manner.

» The etymology of the word Saraswati is a great eye-opener. She is named so because she is complete in all female characteristics. She is also addressed by the syllable “Sa” because she is superior to all women.

» The class of souls eligible for the post of Lord Brahma are known as Pavamanas. They are the ones who come to the post of Lord Vayu and then they occupy the highest post of Lord Brahma in the succeeding Kalpa.

» Those eligible for the post of Vayu are complete with 32 physical characteristics. Those souls eligible for the Rudra post have 28 characteristics. Devas have characteristics ranging from 24 to 16. Characteristics of Rishis fall in the range between 16 and 8. Chakravartis have less than 8 characteristcs.

» Knowledge of the Sama form of Lord Vayu would fulfill all desires.

» Etymology of the word Purusha (The one devoid of sins) as applicable to Lord Brahma is revealed.

» Words such as Prana do not convey the completeness with respect to all noble characteristics. Only the word Atma indicates completeness.

» The significance of contemplation of the Lord as Atma is revealed.

» Passages such as Aham Brahmasmi does not covey Non-Difference. This subject is extensively elaborated.

» Everyone does not become one even in the state of liberation. The Supreme God and the liberated souls enjoy distinct identities and experience innate bliss.

» The doctrine of Identity does not have the support of the scriptures.

» A detailed presentation of the Gradation among the souls is given.

» There is Gradation even in the state of liberation.

» Devotion is the path to liberation.

» The purpose of all sentences is to indicate something which is the means to fulfillment of desires “Ishta Sadhana”.

» Superiority of the scriptures over inference is established.

» Classification of Sadagamas and Duragamas.

» Refutation of Buddhist thought.

» Supremacy of Vedas is established with supportive statements.

» There are only three valid sources of knowledge - Pratyaksha, Anumana and Agama.

» Mind is of two types – Sentient (Chetana) and Insentient (Jada).

» The concept of Vishesa is elaborated. (Vishesha is the Specialty of an object – the power of an object to be qualified with its non-different attributes. ).

» Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati govern even the liberated souls.

» Liberation is possible by the Upasana of the Lord dwelling in ones heart.

» Contemplation of the Lord as the controller of the three states Jagrut, Swapna and Shushupti.

» We experience bliss in deep sleep state due to greater proximity to the Lord in that state.

» Control of the senses can be achieved by the grace of Lord Vayu.

» Lord Vishnu, Goddess Mahalakshmi and Lord Vayu are present in the Right Eye.

» Affection towards one’s spouse and everything else is due to the presence of Lord Vishnu in such persons or objects.

» The entire universe is dependent on Lord Vishnu. He is the Supreme Controller.

» All scriptures emanate from the nostrils of Lord Hayagreeva.

» The souls are like the reflections of the Lord (Similar to Him but dependent).

» The different forms of Debate – Vada, Jalpa and Vitanda and their characteristics are elaborated.

» The elucidation of 33 chief devatas. Among them 6 are superior. Among them 3 and among them 2. Lord Vishnu is the most supreme among all devatas.

» The characteristics of a speaker who can be faithfully believed are given in detail.

» Details of Utkranti are given. Archiradi paths are elaborated.

» Liberation is possible only to noble souls.

» Detailed exposition of the importance of Gayatri is made.

» Lord is known by all words because everything is under his control.

Conclusion

Acharya signs off his Upanishad Bhashyam by revealing his identity as the third incarnation of Lord Vayu. Dashapramati is also one of his choicest names which means all-knowing. At the end Acharya prays to his dearest Lord Sri Vishnu who is full of exemplary bliss.

पूर्णागण्यगुणोदारधाम्ने नित्याय वेधसे ।

अमन्दानन्दसान्द्राय प्रेयसे विष्णवे नमः।।