From individual self to universal Self In chapter 2, section 4 of Brahadaranyaka Upanishad the ‘ Yajnavalkya-Maitreyi dialogue’ follows a strange line of argument that would leave most westerners bewildered -- and that’s because the argument put forward by sage Yajnavalkya would sound outright fallacious to a westerner brought up on western logic and mathematics. ( See my previous post ) The question that a westerner would ask: how can a part be equal to a whole, or in other words, how can an individual self be equal to the universal Self that Yajnavalkya wants his wife Maitreyi to understand. The English readers, especially those who are very particular (or shall I say finicky) about the usage of personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns would say that the guy is putting needless emphasis on pronouns in order to drive his point home. Well, Yajnavalkya has his own style and logic and that’s what we are here to understand. It is so very intrinsic to the Hindu ethos. ...
Self is the key to understanding the Hindu ethos As against the Vedas who teach procedures and means to perpetuate your physical existence the Upanishads harp on metaphysics and teach ways and means to perpetuate your Aatma or the ethereal presence. Strangely, the line of arguments in Upanishads mostly starts from the real and in the process jumps to ethereal in the end, leaving a mumuxu like me rather flabbergasted. I take an example from the most revered of all Upanishads , the Brahadaranyaka Upanishad. As the name of the Upanishad ( Brahad means big or extensive) suggests, it is the biggest amongst the 108 upanishads and it covers an array of topics and ethical issues. In one of the chapters, (pronounced Yagyavalkya) ‘ Yajnavalkya-Maitreyi dialogue’ sage Yajnavalkya talks to his loving and intelligent wife Maitreyi to enlighten her about the quintessence of life. Sage Yajnavalkya , so the story goes, had two wives --- Maitreyi and Katyayani . One day Yajnava...