Sutra 1.1.1 - athāto brahma-jijñāsā - It's time to enquire about the Absolute Truth.

Now, therefore [having come to the human form of life and attained education and other facilities], it's time to enquire about Brahman, the Absolute Truth.

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Sutra 1.1.1 - athāto brahma-jijñāsā

athāto brahma-jijñāsā

atha: now, thereafter, thus; ataḥ: therefore, henceforth; brahma: Brahman, the Supreme Personality of Godhead understood in three aspects, the Absolute Truth; jijñāsā: desire to know, inquiry, investigation.

Now, therefore [having come to the human form of life and attained education and other facilities], it's time to enquire about Brahman, the Absolute Truth.

Commentary: Srila Prabhupada comments on this sutra as part of his purport to SB 4.25.26:

"The first aphorism in the Vedānta-sūtra is athāto brahma-jijñāsā. In the human form of life one should put many questions to himself and to his intelligence. In the various forms of life lower than human life, the intelligence does not go beyond the range of life’s primary necessities, namely eating, sleeping, mating and defending. Dogs, cats and tigers are always busy trying to find something to eat or a place to sleep, or trying to defend and have sexual intercourse successfully. In the human form of life, however, one should be intelligent enough to ask what he is, why he has come into the world, what his duty is, who is the supreme controller, what is the difference between dull matter and the living entity, etc. There are so many questions, and the person who is actually intelligent should simply inquire about the supreme source of everything: athāto brahma-jijñāsā. A living entity is always connected with a certain amount of intelligence, but in the human form of life the living entity must inquire about his spiritual identity. This is real human intelligence. It is said that one who is simply conscious of the body is no better than an animal, even though he be in the human form. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: “I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” In the animal form the living entity is completely forgetful of his relationship with God. This is called apohanam, or forgetfulness. In the human form of life, however, consciousness is more greatly developed, and consequently the human being has a chance to understand his relationship with God. In the human form one should utilize his intelligence by asking all these questions."

The whole purpose of material creation is to give a chance to the conditioned souls to revive their eternal nature. The Puranas explain that there are 8,400,000 forms of life in this universe, distributed amongst aquatics, plants, insects, lower animals, humans, and also higher beings, all the way up to Brahma. Before attaining the human form, the soul has to pass through an extremely long evolutionary process, going through millions of different forms of plants and animals. In all these different species, there is some degree of intelligence and something to be learned, but only human beings have the higher intelligence necessary to understand philosophical topics. In all the lower species of life, the soul is fully immersed in the assumption that one is the body, and thus works tirelessly just to maintain it. Only in the human form of life, there is the possibility of understanding our real nature as spiritual sparks transcendental to the body, starting the process of brahma-jijñāsā (inquiry into Brahman).

This understanding of our transcendental nature has two components. The first component is to understand our nature as spiritual beings, transcendental to the body. The second is to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is understood in three aspects: Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavatam (brahmeti paramātmeti, bhagavān iti śabdyate). Even though the Supreme Lord possesses three aspects, He is advayam, non-dual, and therefore the three are one and the same; it just depends on one level of understanding. When Vyāsadeva declares "athāto brahma-jijñāsā", an impersonalist will understand we should inquire about the impersonal Brahman, a yogī that we should inquire about the localized Paramātmā inside the heart, and a devotee will see it as an invitation to inquire about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is both our origin and our destination. The nature of this transcendental Brahman is the main topic of the Vedanta-sutra, which brings the conclusion of the Vedic literature.

However, even when we come to the point of trying to understand Brahman, there are many traps. The Vedas are like a desire tree containing all types of knowledge. Because most are interested only in the four materialistic religious principles of dharma, artha, kama, and mokṣa (mundane religiosity, economic development, material sense gratification, and impersonal liberation), the Vedas extensively explain how to achieve these goals in the karma-kanda section. For spiritually inclined people, there is the jñana-kanda section, which deals with spiritual knowledge, such as the Upaniṣads and the Vedanta-sutra. This search for transcendental knowledge culminates in the Srimad Bhagavatam, which brings the highest knowledge, directly describing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Srimad Bhagavatam is considered thus the essence or the ripened fruit of all Vedic literature.

Light in the darkness from the scriptures

However, not all followers of the Vedas understand that self-realization is the goal of human life. Many think that the performance of material duties and auspicious activities mentioned in the karma-kanda section of the Vedas, with the purpose of elevation to the celestial planets, is the ultimate goal of the Vedas. During their studies, however, they inevitably come across passages that describe something higher, describing a source of ultimate happiness, beyond the actions and reactions of this material world. Take these two passages for example:

a) In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (part 7), it is described how Nārada Muni, eager to hear instructions capable of liberating people from material sorrow, inquires from Sanat-kumāra. Playing the role of a common person, Nārada mentions that he studied all the Vedas, including the itihāsas, grammar, argumentation, worship, the different vedāngas, astronomy, Ayurveda, etc., but he did not know about the Supreme, ātmā, and therefore he could not become free from lamentation.

Sanat-kumāra answers that the knowledge Nārada speaks about is mundane, just describing the names and forms of this world, and therefore insufficient to destroy sorrow. Higher than names and forms, Sanat-kumāra explained, is speech, because through speech, knowledge is transmitted. Mind is higher than speech, because all actions are dependent on mental activity, and will or determination (saṅkalpa) is greater than the mind, because will activates the mind and directs its actions. In fact, will is the cause of all material activity and its subsequent creations and results. Deliberation (as a function of intelligence) is higher than will, because it regulates and directs will, and meditation is still higher, because by meditation we can elevate our consciousness.

What is still higher than meditation? Vijñāna, or realized knowledge, is still greater. Vijñāna means knowledge of the scriptures that is properly understood from the spiritual master. This realized knowledge is the cause of meditation. There is something even higher than realized knowledge, however, which is bala, strength, or the power to act and serve. A spiritual seeker who is practically engaged in devotional service overpowers a hundred who have knowledge but are not engaged. This attitude of service leads one to approach self-realized souls and obtain transcendental knowledge from them.

Is there something greater than this strength? Anna, or food, is still higher, because through food the Lord nourishes all living beings. All animals eat, but human beings are supposed to eat only prasāda, the spiritual food that nourishes them with spiritual strength. Food, however, is the result of a sequence of transformations of material elements, starting from the ether element, which is representative of the Lord. From the element ether, fire is produced, from fire, the element water comes, and by the process of sacrifice, rain comes, nourishing all vegetables and producing food. All of this happens due to the will of the Lord.

What is even greater than ether? Memory (smara) is still greater. Ordinarily, memory helps people to live and perform their material activities, but when properly used, memory allows us to remember the Lord and connect us to our eternal spiritual identity. What is higher than memory? Āśā (right aspiration) is greater than memory, because āśā is the cause of all beneficial activities, such as the chanting of mantras, pious activities, etc. Ultimately, āśā means the desire for achieving liberation and serving the Lord, the yearning for spiritual realization, or mumukṣutva. This longing for liberation should be cultivated through the practice of devotional service, philosophical inquiry, and spiritual understanding. As mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) and Bhagavatam (1.7.10), after the platform of liberation, one can reach the platform of pure devotional service to the Lord.

What is greater than even this right aspiration? The soul is even greater because, without the soul, nothing else has meaning. Without the soul, a body is just a corpse. We relate to people only as long as the soul is there, and when the soul leaves, the body is cremated or buried, and the relationship ends. The soul is thus the real self, and everything else is grouped around the soul. The soul is referred to as prāna in many verses of the Upaniṣads because the soul is invisible to material eyes, and thus the vital air around the soul is the visible part. Just as when we see a plane flying in the sky, we say "there goes a plane!" because we can't see the people inside. Knowledge about the soul is the highest, and one who speaks about this transcendental knowledge is an ativādī, transcending the mundane.

Sanat-kumāra then describes the process for achieving this transcendental realization, which rhymes with the sutra athāto brahma-jijñāsā.

The Lord is Satya, truth, and the cause for speaking about the Lord is realizing the Lord. When one realizes the Lord, one sees the highest truth, and speaking about the Lord, one reveals this truth to others. To achieve this realization, one needs contemplation, or focused thought. By contemplating (mati) transcendental knowledge, a person realizes it, and thus, this process of contemplation should be adopted by all. This process of mati, or focused contemplation, comes from faith. Without faith, it is not be possible to undertake it. Faith, in turn, comes from steadiness in the spiritual process. This steadiness is obtained by striving with effort; this effort in following the spiritual path is thus the beginning of the process of transcendental realization.

What is the result of this transcendental realization that starts with effort on the spiritual path? Realizing the Lord brings sukhaṁ, transcendental happiness. This transcendental happiness is the result of understanding spiritual relationships (there is no real happiness in the Brahman platform). This transcendental happiness is attained when one realizes one's eternal position as a servant of the Lord. One who can't realize it, becoming stuck in the Brahman platform, can't experience it.

This brings to the verse quoted by Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, which confirms that the Supreme Lord is the source of this happiness, and thus the highest of all and the ultimate destination, beyond elevation to the celestial planets and all kinds of fruitive performances. People take the path of fruitive activity because they hope to attain happiness, but the verse makes it clear that true happiness is found only in connection with the Lord:

yo vai bhūma tat sukhaṁ, nānyat sukham asti

bhūmaiva sukhaṁ, bhūmatveva vijijñāsitavyaḥ

"Bhūma, the infinite and absolute Personality of Godhead, is the source of true happiness. Nothing else can bring one genuine bliss. He alone is happiness and He alone should be inquired to and realized in truth." (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.23.1)

b) In the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (part two), we find the dialogue of Yājñavalkya and his wife Maitreyī. Being ready to renounce family life, Yājñavalkya proposed to divide his riches between his two wives, but Maitreyī intelligently questioned if receiving such wealth would grant her eternal life. Yājñavalkya answered no: she would have financial support to live her life the way she wanted, but in the end, she would still have to face death like everyone else. The wealth would not bring her anything eternal. Surprisingly, Maitreyī then refused the inheritance and instead asked her husband to instruct her on whatever he knew about the process to achieve immortality.

Yājñavalkya then explained that all the people and things we consider dear in this world, like the husband, wife, children, wealth, brāhmanas, kings, planets, demigods, and, in fact, all other living entities, and everything that exists are not dear to us by their own sake but because of their connection with the Lord. When we love these persons and objects for their own sake, without realizing their connection with the Lord, we are rejected by them, or in other words, we lose them in due curse of time. In this way, Yājñavalkya made a powerful statement that sent Maitreyī on the path of self-realization, expressing the illusory nature of this world and revealing the Lord as the underlying principle behind everything that exists and the ultimate destination.

The key word in the instructions is kāmāya (desire): na vā are patyuḥ kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati, ātmanas tu kāmāya patiḥ priyo bhavati. It is not for the sake of the husband that the husband is dear, but for the sake of ātma, the Lord, that he becomes dear. The same is repeated for the wife, children, etc.

How does this attraction work? Lord Sri Caitanya Mahāprabhu explains that: jīvera svarūpa haya — kṛṣṇera nitya-dāsa, "It is the living entity’s constitutional position to be an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa". He also says: nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema 'sādhya' kabhu naya, "Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source."

Love for Krsna is the eternal characteristic of the soul and thus can't be separated from it, as much as liquidity can be separated from water, but this love for Krsna can be covered, and when this happens, it manifests as lust, attraction to objects of sense enjoyment. At the same time, however, as Krsna explains in the Gītā, "Know that all opulent, beautiful and glorious creations spring from but a spark of My splendor."

Due to the influence of Maya and our own covering by lust, we look at attractive people and objects and see them as separate from Krsna, and thus as objects of our enjoyment. We think then that the husband, wife, etc. are dear to us for their own sake, but in reality they are attractive to us because of the presence of Krsna, who manifests both externally (in the form of His illusory energy) and inside as Paramātmā. In other words, we love people and things because they carry a spark of His presence. Ultimately, we are all looking for Krsna, but due to the covering of Maya, this longing manifests in the form of material lust.

It is only due to this connection with Krsna that they appear to be attractive to us. When we fully realize this connection, we see beyond the material illusion and become attracted to Krsna, the source of all attractiveness. We then reawaken our eternal nature of love and service to Krsna. When we fail to do that, however, we just live the material experience of attraction, loss, and grief.

The words ātmanas tu kāmāya, thus, mean that what is dear is not the material objects themselves, but the potency and presence of the Lord in them. Another word for "dear" is priya, and this is also used later in the Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (part four) in relation to the Lord: "priyam iti enat upāsīta" (One should worship the Supreme Lord as priya, the dearest). All these points reinforce the idea of cultivating our eternal relationship with the Lord as the most important aspect of our existence and indeed the very purpose of human life.

We come then to the passage quoted by Srila Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, which concludes the passage:

ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo
mantavyo nididhyāsitavyo maitreyi

"O Maitreyī, indeed, the Lord (ātmā) should be perceived, heard, inquired about, and meditated upon." (Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5)

Why is that the Supreme Lord, the Supreme ātmā, should be investigated, heard, contemplated, and meditated upon? Because knowing the Lord is the only path to immortality, to reestablishing our original nature as pure souls in our original relationship with the Lord. Even impersonal liberation doesn't include this goal, since one becomes free from material conditioning, but does not revive one's relationship with the Lord. This dialogue is repeated in part four, later in the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, where extra details about the characteristics of the Lord are added.

The Upaniṣads contain many other philosophical passages included by Vyāsadeva to precisely inspire people lost on the path of fruitive activity to start the process of inquiring about the absolute truth, just as lighthouses guiding lost ships to safety.

Next: Fruitive activity is not the goal of the scriptures »

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