Knowing Brahman or the Source of creation, experiencing it, and merging in it, is Brahmananda Valli's way. This book gives insights into the path. To make things simple, the subtitle 'The Mind as a Mirror' is perfect. What if the mirror is not showing the right image? Will our perception of reality be distorted? If that happens, can graduating students be called educated?
Education was designed to give positions of responsibility in society to those who clear the examination. What is the examination? They should be able to distinguish the real from the unreal. If the unreal is mistaken as real, there will be conflict within the individual. The decisions, then taken, will lead to problems like social strife, threat of war, crime, and economic crisis.
What is the way to achieve Brahmananda? How can education prepare students for it? For this, the mirror has to be set right. Three problems can arise with the mirror. First, the mirror is covered with dust. This is called Mala. The second problem can arise if the mirror is moving. Can the image be stable, then? This is the problem of Viksepa. The third problem is bigger. What if the mirror is covered with a dark cloth, and it sees the world as darkness? This problem is one relating to the six inner enemies. Apart from desire, greed, anger, attachment, envy, the enemy pride is the most difficult to overcome. This problem is called Avarana. Ancient wisdom recommends regulating food, contemplation/meditation, and the practice of selfless love for conquering all of these, re-spectively. These practices are its real curriculum.
Prof. O. S. K. S. Sastri has brought about the inner research methodology to experience Brahmananda, the ultimate. Only self-transformation leads to the experience of Brahman which leads to, at one glance in any direction, 'knowing that one thing, knowing which, every-thing else can be known'.
Brahmananda Valli is one of the major Upanisads that deals with the knowledge of Brahman. It is said "Ekam Sat viprah bahuda vadanti".
There is only One Truth, and Scholars describe it in a myriad ways.
This book is a comprehension of Brahmananda Valli, the second chapter of the Taittiriya Upanisad. In the book Mantra Puspam', a publication by Sri Ramakrishna Mission [], this Upanisad is broadly divided into three parts.
The first part expands on the first anuvaka (paragraph) of the Upanisad and is titled "Upanisad Sara Sangraha", "The Summary of the Upanisad in a precise form" or "The Essence of the Upanisad in Summary". In contemporary parlance, an Abstract.
The Second part, from 2nd to 7th anuvakas, is titled "Pancha Kośa Vivarnam", the description of the five sheaths which are the subtler layers of human existence.
The third and final part is the 8th anuvaka, which is titled "Ananda Mimamsa", "An Inquiry into the Nature of Bliss", followed by the Conclusion.
Hence, this book has also been divided into three chapters.
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