Taittriya Upanishad – 13

Chapter 3, Anuvakas 1 to 3 

Mantra 3-1-1

bhrgurvai varunih | varunam pitaramupasasara |

adhihi bhagavo brahmeti | tasma etatprovacha |

annam pranam caksuh srotram mano vachamiti |

tagmhovacha | yato va imani bhutani jayante |

yena jatani jivanti | yatprayantyabhisamvisanti |

tadvijijnasasva | tadbrahmeti | sa tapo'tapyata |

sa tapastaptva || 1|| iti prathamo'nuvakah ||

Bhrigu, the well-known son of Varuna, approached his father Varuna and requested: "Venerable Sir, teach me about Brahman." To him, the son, Varuna said this: "Food, Prana, the eyes, the ears, the mind and speech are Brahman."  He said further: "That from which these beings are born, That by which, having been born, they live, That into which, when departing they enter; seek to know That. That is Brahman." He performed penance and having performed penance ---. Anuvaka 1 ends.

            The third chapter also is in prose form only, because this is a brahmanopanishad.  Every brahmanopanishad will be in prose form whereas mantropanishad will be in metrical from. The entire chapter is divided into several paragraphs and each paragraph is called anuvaka or section. This third chapter has got ten anuvakas. This is the first anuvaka.  Since the first word is Bhrigu, the chapter itself is named Bhriguvalli.  The Upanishad begins with an introduction of a guru and sishya.  Here the guru and sishya happen to be father and son, Varuna and Bhrighu.  Bhriguvalli opens with Bhrigu approaching his father and teacher, Varuna, seeking knowledge about the Brahman. Initially, Varuna replied that the food or body, the world of matter, the vital force (prana), the eyes, ears, the mind and the speech all arise from the Brahman and that all these together constitute the Brahman. Then he added that Brahman is the one from whom all these were born, due to which all these are sustained and unto which all these get merged and he should try to know It through deep reflection and meditation on this definition.  Varuna’s description is equivalent to the indicative or Tatastha definition of Brahman, using the world to point the way to Brahman and lead one to Him. Bhrighu retired to a quiet place, withdrew his mind and sense from all the outer objects and concentrated it on what his father told, which is called tapas in the Mantra. This is the end of anuvaka 1.

Mantra 3-2-1

annam brahmeti vyajanat |

annaddhyeva khalvimani bhutani jayante |

annena jatani jivanti |

annam prayantyabhisamvisantiti |

tadvijnaya | punareva varunam pitaramupasasara |

adhihi bhagavo brahmeti | tagmhovacha |

tapasa brahma vijijnasasva | tapo brahmeti |

sa tapo'tapyata | sa tapastaptva || 1||iti dvitiyo'nuvakah ||

He realised that food is Brahman; for from food, verily, are these beings born; by food, when born, do they live; into food on departing do they enter.  Having realized this, he approached his father again and said: "Venerable Sir, teach me Brahman."  To him, the son, he said this: "Seek to know Brahman by means of tapas. For tapas is the means of knowing Brahman." He performed tapas and having performed tapas---.  Anuvaka 2 ends.

            Bhrigu on deep reflection is able to realize food as Brahman because he understood that it is from food that all beings are born, again it is with the help of food that living beings subsist and ultimately it is again food into which all beings are merged.  But still his mind was not satisfied with this conclusion because food or matter has both origin and end and is ever-changing and so it cannot be Brahman which is eternal and without change.  So Bhrigu returned to his father and asked him, to tell more about the Supreme Being. His father advised him to continue the concentrated thinking on the definition and said that will take him towards the knowledge of the Brahman.  Bhrighu retired to a quiet place, withdrew his mind and sense from all the outer objects and concentrated it on what his father told and continued his tapas.  It is to be noted that Bhrigu achieves satisfaction initially for some time while contemplating with one answer but contemplation of the mind sharpening his intellect his mind is again filled with doubts and he returns to his teacher, Varuna and this happens again and again until doubtless satisfaction is attained. This is the end of anuvaka 2.

Mantra 3-3-1

prano brahmeti vyajanat |

pranaddhyeva khalvimani bhutani jayante |

pranena jatani jivanti |

pranam prayantyabhisamvisantiti |

tadvijnaya | punareva varunam pitaramupasasara |

adhihi bhagavo brahmeti | tagmhovacha |

tapasa brahma vijijnasasva | tapo brahmeti |

sa tapo'tapyata | sa tapastaptva || 1|| iti tṛtiyo'nuvakah ||

He realized that the Prana is Brahman; for from the Prana, verily, are these beings born; by the Prana, when born, do they live; into the Prana on departing do they enter. Having known this, he approached his father again and said: "Venerable Sir, teach me Brahman." To him, the son, he said this: "Seek to know Brahman by means of tapas (austerities). For tapas is the means of knowing Brahman." He performed tapas and having practiced tapas----.  Anuvaka 3 ends.

            In this third section Bhrigu’s reflection takes him up to the next level, “Prana is Brahman”.  Bhrigu understood Prana as Brahman with the help of concentrated thinking because he had realized that from Prana that keeps them alive, living beings could be born and being born they could survive with the help of the Prana and ultimately they get unified with the Prana. However, there is something which still makes Bhrigu very uneasy about his choice of Prana as Brahman.  He thinks carefully again and rejects Prana as Prana is non-sentient and therefore cannot be Brahman. He felt that he had still to learn about the Brahman. So he approached his father once again and Varuna advised him again to think more deeply on the subject. Bhrigu goes back to continue his reflection.  This is the end of anuvaka 3.

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