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Brahma Sutras

Brahma Sutras
For
UNDERSTANDING UPANISHADS

A STUDY BY

RAVADA JAYA

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INTRODUCTION
OM Ganeshayanamaha !
Pranams to the composers of Brahma Sutras,
Sri Vyasa- Sri Krishna Dvaipayana, and
Sri Badarayana .
THE oldest, the most profound, the most universal of all symbols is the
human body. The Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, and Hindus considered a
philosophical analysis of man's triune nature to be an indispensable part
of ethical and religious training. The Mysteries of every nation taught
that the laws, elements, and powers of the universe were epitomized in
the human constitution; that everything which existed outside of man
had its analogue within man. The universe, being immeasurable in its
immensity and inconceivable in its profundity, was beyond mortal
estimation. Even the gods themselves could comprehend but a part of the
inaccessible glory which was their source. When temporarily permeated
with divine enthusiasm, man may transcend for a brief moment the
limitations of his own personality and behold in part that celestial
effulgence in which all creation is bathed. But even in his periods of
greatest illumination man is incapable of imprinting upon the substance
of his rational soul a perfect image of the multiform expression of
celestial activity.

Swami Sivanandaji acclaimed that Vedas consist of three portions viz.,

the Karma Kanda which deals with sacrifices or ceremonial rites, the
Upasana Kanda which treats of Upasana (worship) and the Jnana
Kanda which deals with knowledge of Brahman. Karma Kanda
represents the feet of a man, Upasana Kanda the heart, and the Jnana
Kanda the head. Just as the head is the most important portion of a
man, so also the Upanishads which treat of the knowledge portion of the
Vedas is the head of the Vedas. Hence it is said to be the Siras (head) of
Vedas.

Swami Sivanandaji emphasized that The Vedas are eternal. They were
not written by any individual. They came out from the breath of
Hiranyagarbha (Lord Brahma). Vedanta is the end or gist of the Vedas.
It deals with the knowledge portion. Vedanta is not mere speculation. It
is the authentic record of transcendental experiences or direct and

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actual realisation of the great Hindu Rishis or seers. Brahma Sutras is

the Science of the Soul.
Mimamsa means the investigation or enquiry into the connected
meaning of the sacred texts. Of this Mimamsa two branches have been
recognised, the Purva Mimamsa (earlier) and the Uttara Mimamsa (the
latter). The former systematizes the Karma Kanda - the portion of the
Veda which pertains to action and sacrifices and which comprises
Samhitas and the Brahmanas; the latter systematises the Jnana Kanda
i.e., that part of the Vedas which includes the Aranyaka portion of
the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. Jaimini is the author of the Purva
Mimamsa. Sri Vyasa (Badarayana or Krishna Dvaipayana) the Guru of
Jaimini is the author of the Brahma Sutras otherwise known as Vedanta
Sutras. The study of Brahma Sutras is a synthetic study of the
Upanishads. It treats of the Vedanta philosophy

Sutras are concise aphorisms. They give the essence of the arguments on
a topic. Recognizing the futility of attempting to cope intellectually with
that which transcends the comprehension of the rational faculties, the
early philosophers turned their attention from the inconceivable
Divinity to man himself, with in the narrow confines of whose nature
they found manifested all the mysteries of the external spheres. As the
natural outgrowth of this practice there was fabricated a secret
theological system in which God was considered as the Grand Man and,
conversely, man as the little god.

The erroneous identification of the body with the pure Atman is the root
cause for human sufferings and miseries and for births and deaths. You
identify yourself with the body and say, ‘I am fair, dark, stout or thin. I
am a Brahmin, I am a Kshatriya, I am a doctor’. You identify yourself
with the senses and say, ‘I am blind, I am dumb’. You identify yourself
with the mind and say, ‘I know nothing. I know everything. I became
angry. I enjoyed a good meal. I am suffering from this disease’. The
entire object of the Brahma Sutras is to remove this erroneous
identification of the Soul with the body which is the root cause of
your sufferings and miseries, which is the product of Avidya (ignorance)
and help you in the attainment of the final emancipation through
knowledge of Brahman.

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Head – a Spiritual Plane-The head is considered symbolic of the Spiritual

Plane because all of your thinking is done there. It is the realm of
thought and creativity. It is the dwelling place of the Mind, which is the
Self, both Inner and Outer. Headaches are symbolic of doubt at work.
They represent doubt in your ability to deal with something. Look
around and see what is going on that is causing you to doubt. A very
important consideration to keep in mind is that the opposite of doubt is
confidence. In every situation you will exude one of these two energies:
doubt or confidence.

In nearly all the sacred books of the world can be traced an anatomical
analogy. This is most evident in their creation myths. Anyone familiar
with embryology and obstetrics will have no difficulty in recognizing the
basis of the allegory concerning Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden,
the nine degrees of the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the Brahmanic legend
of Vishnu's incarnations. The story of the Universal Egg, the
Scandinavian myth of Ginnungagap (the dark cleft in space in which the
seed of the world is sown), and the use of the fish as the emblem of the
paternal generative power--all show the true origin of theological
speculation. The philosophers of antiquity realized that man himself was
the key to the riddle of life, for he was the living image of the Divine
Plan, and in future ages humanity also will come to realize more fully
the solemn import of those ancient words: "The proper study of mankind
is man."

The Upanishads seem to be full of contradictions at first. They do not

contain consistent system of thought. Sri Vyasa systematised the
thoughts or philosophy of the Upanishads in his Brahma Sutras. The
Sutras reconcile the conflicting statements of the Upanishads. In reality
there are no conflicts for the thinker. Audulomi and Asmarathya also
did this work in their own way and founded their
own schools of thought.

Both God and man have a twofold constitution, of which the superior
part is invisible and the inferior visible. In both there is also an
intermediary sphere, marking the point where these visible and invisible
natures meet. As the spiritual nature of God controls His objective
universal form-which is actually a crystallized idea--so the spiritual
nature of man is the invisible cause and controlling power of his visible

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material personality. Thus it is evident that the spirit of man bears the
same relationship to his material body that God bears to the objective
universe.

Eyes-Perception-It is through your eyes that you view the world, your
immediate situation, your family, friends and yourself. "For those who
have eyes to see ..." is a Universal Teaching that explains that clear
vision is the goal of true perception. Clear vision simply means to see
yourself and others free of the emotional overtones of your concepts.
How do you see yourself? How do you see your future? What is the
Concept of yourself that you use to view the world? You must ask
yourself about the beam in your eye that you must remove in order to
see the speck in your brother's eye clearly, honestly and unshaded by
your Belief System. Whenever you get something in your eye, you need
to ask yourself these questions:

What is affecting my perception and distorting my ability to see clearly?

What is it that I don't want to look at?
What is the concept that affects my vision?
Why am I nearsighted?
Why am I farsighted?
Why do I have astigmatism?

According to Sri Sankara, there is one Absolute Brahman who is Sat-

chitananda, who is of an absolutely homogeneous nature. The
appearance of this world is due to Maya - the illusory power of Brahman
which is neither Sat nor Asat. This world is unreal. This world is a
Vivarta or apparent modification through Maya. Brahman appears as
this universe through Maya. Brahman is the only reality. The individual
soul has limited himself through Avidya and identification with the
body and other vehicles. Through his selfish actions he enjoys the fruits
of his actions. He becomes the actor and enjoyer. He regards himself as
atomic and as an agent on account of Avidya or the limiting
Antahkarana. The individual soul becomes identical with Brahman
when his Avidya is destroyed. In reality Jiva is all-pervading and
identical with Brahman. Isvara or Saguna Brahman is a product of
Maya. Worship of Isvara leads to Krama Mukti. The pious devotees (the
knowers of Saguna Brahman) go to Brahmaloka and attain final release
through highest knowledge. They do not return to this world. They attain

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the Nirguna Brahman at the end of the cycle. Knowledge of Nirguna

Brahman is the only means of liberation. The knowers of Nirguna
Brahman attain immediate final release or Sadyomukti. They need not
go by the path of gods or the path of Devayana. They merge themselves
in Para Brahman. They do not go to any Loka or world. Sri Sankara’s
Brahman is Nirvisesha Brahman (Impersonal Absolute) without
attributes.

Nose-Spiritual Intake-Through your nose, you draw into the body the
"breath of life". Your nose is another part of your defense system. It can
tell you when something is offensive, unhealthy and when something
should be avoided literally and figuratively. Since everything is a
symbolic reflection of thought, detrimental thoughts often pass through
this defense mechanism. This happens because of the use of "artificial
aromas", which are really manmade. Television is excellent at
portraying misconceptions, in the guise of shows and commercials, as
true and wonderful things to partake of. A great example is the
advertising for certain restaurants. They portray the belief that if you
eat their food, you will be happy, you will have a happy family life, or
you will be successful. All the while, the fat content and salt in the
products work against your health. In this way, television can
circumvent the body's natural defense mechanism.

Some questions you might want to ask yourself are:

"How often do I get a stuffy nose and when?"

"What is going on in my life?"
"What ideas or Concepts are blocking my ability to receive spiritual
sustenance?"

According to the conclusions of philosophy and theology, however, this

belief is erroneous, for spirit first circumscribes an area and then
manifests within it. Philosophically speaking, form, being a part of spirit,
is within spirit; but: spirit is more than the sum of form, As the material
nature of man is therefore within the sum of spirit, so the Universal
Nature, including the entire sidereal system, is within the all-pervading
essence of God--the Universal Spirit.

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According to another concept of the ancient wisdom, all bodies--whether

spiritual or material--have three centers, called by the Greeks
the upper center, the middle center, and the lower center. An apparent
ambiguity will here be noted.

Mouth-Communication & Material Consumption- You use your mouth to

voice your positions and thoughts about particular things or situations,
either by making statements or through expressing your emotions.
Digestion begins in the mouth with the production of enzymes in the
saliva glands. It is here that you begin to break down your food, which is
symbolic of your material thoughts. Generally speaking, problems within
the mouth indicate a difficulty in expressing yourself, or an inability to
digest something that is going on in your life.

Obviously, there are other considerations and interpretations. For

example, if you are missing teeth then image comes into play. If you
have a hair-lip then communication and image are more closely tied
together. If you cannot produce saliva you are dealing with yet another
aspect of the inability to digest new thoughts.

All of these things need to be examined thoroughly to achieve a clear

understanding. Your teeth are used to break down your food.
Symbolically, they grind your thoughts into an acceptable form. If they
are missing or weakened by decay or gum disease, that is symbolic of the
way in which you have been taught to deal with external thoughts. You
can either "chew" the thoughts up properly and gain their full insights,
or you can chew them halfway, swallow the food and cause indigestion
and poor utilization of your thoughts

The views of various Acharyas are all true in respect of the particular
aspect of Brahman dealt with by them each in his own way. Sankara has
taken Brahman in His transcendental aspect, while Sri Ramanuja has
taken Him chiefly in His immanent aspect. People were following
blindly the rituals during the time of Sri Sankara. When he was
preparing his commentary he had in view the purpose of combating the
baneful effects which blind ritualism produced. He never condemned
selfless service or Nishkama Karma Yoga. He condemned the
performance of rituals with selfish motives.

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Tongue -The tongue, with its taste buds, is another one of your defense
mechanisms. It is also a part of your communication system. In terms of
defenses, it is used to alert you to that which is harmful. However, if the
food (thoughts) has been treated in order to mask the real taste or to
convince you of a good taste, then that system has been bypassed. The
overabundance of sugar and salt in foods are there to try to convince
you that they taste good. This is very symbolic of how man tries to
distort the truth of something by "sugar coating" it.

You can understand the Brahma Sutras if you have a knowledge of the
twelve classical Upanishads.

Ears -Ears are our antennae. They pick up thoughts, vibrations and
sounds. Some of these you will use to fulfill your expectations of yourself.
They also allow you to hear what you want to hear in relation to other
people, places and situations. They are part of the guidance system that
allows you to hear the truth from within as well as from without.

Oftentimes, you are in situations where other people are speaking about
you or to you and this affords you an opportunity to hear another side
of your own story. From another perspective you draw people to you, as
well as drawing out of them the things they say. You draw it out of them
so that you can fulfill certain expectations about yourself. There is never
a "thing" done that you do not have a direct influence upon in terms of
its creation. There are no accidents, happenings, fate, or circumstances.

When there are problems with the ears, you should ask yourself:

What is it that I don't want to hear?

Who is it that I don't want to listen to?
Why is this an issue in my life?

A tree with its roots in the heart rises from the Mirror of the Deity
through the Sphere of the Understanding to branch forth in the Sphere of
the Senses. The roots and trunk of this tree represent the divine nature of
man and may be called his spirituality; the branches of the tree are the
separate parts of the divine constitution and may be likened to the
individuality; and the leaves--because of their ephemeral nature--

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correspond to the personality, which partakes of none of the permanence

of its divine source.

Face –Image -Your face is a reflection of how you see yourself and how
you expect others to see you. Oftentimes, a teenager develops acne at the
point in time when they are establishing their own identity. This is a
very difficult time for them, one filled with doubt and uncertainty.
Whenever you have these energies at work in your life, you set up
conditions to cause problems. These problems can take on many different
forms. Acne is only one. Acne is the result of the doubt within you and
the image that you project to the world.

Neck -Balance & Communication-Within the neck lies the voice box for
communication. In addition, it houses the thyroid gland . The larynx, or
voice box, is our main aspect of communication with others. Through the
expression of your thoughts, insights and understandings you are able to
maintain, or disrupt, balance and harmony within your life. Of course,
this is based on the understanding that you are aware of who and what
you are about. Through this level of understanding, you are able to
communicate with others in a non-threatening manner.

Your thyroid helps regulate the metabolism of your body. It keeps

everything running smoothly. Once again, we see how the neck relates to
balance. Balance within as well as without.

Your neck supports your head. It connects the head, which is symbolic of
the spiritual plane, to the body, which is symbolic of the material plane.
Therefore, it represents the need for balance between the two. A "pain in
the neck" usually refers to an individual or situation that upsets your
equilibrium.

Thus brahma Sutras as it is compared to the head of the human body, its
human head and its parts play vital role in understanding the essence of
of all Vedic knowledge and its branches, especially Brahma Sutras.

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The work consists of

4 Adhyayas (chapters), 16 Padas (sections),
223 Adhikaranas (topics) and 555 Sutras (aphorisms).

1. The first chapter (Samanvayadhyaya) unifies Brahman. In the

first chapter the author shows that all the Vedic texts uniformly
refer to Brahman and find their Samanvaya (reconciliation) in
Him

2. The second (Avirodhadhyaya) refutes other philosophies. In the

second chapter, it has been proved that there is no conflict between
Vedanta and other Sastras

3. The third (Sadhanadhyaya) deals with practice (Sadhana) to

attain Brahman . In the third chapter the means of attaining
Brahman are described.

4. The fourth (Phaladhyaya) treats of fruits of Self-realisation. In the

fourth chapter is described the result of attaining Brahman
 Each chapter contains four Padas.
 Each Pada contains Adhikaranas.
 Each Adhikarana has separate question to discuss.
 The first five Adhikaranas of the first chapter are very, very
important.

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