Vedanta Talks - Swami Sarvapriyananda

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches verses 1-4 from the fifteenth chapter, entitled Purushottama Yoga, the Yoga of the Supreme Being, of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the Bhagavad Gita, 'the Song of God,' unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta.
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Chapter 15, Verse 1

श्रीभगवानुवाच |
ऊर्ध्वमूलमध:शाखमश्वत्थं प्राहुरव्ययम् |
छन्दांसि यस्य पर्णानि यस्तं वेद स वेदवित् || 1||
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
ūrdhva-mūlam adhaḥ-śhākham aśhvatthaṁ prāhur avyayam
chhandānsi yasya parṇāni yas taṁ veda sa veda-vit

⧫ The Blessed Lord said, "They speak of the immutable Ashwatham tree, with its roots above and its branches below, whose leaves are the Vedas." He who knows it is the knower of the Vedas.

Chapter 15, Verse 2

अधश्चोर्ध्वं प्रसृतास्तस्य शाखा
गुणप्रवृद्धा विषयप्रवाला: |
अधश्च मूलान्यनुसन्ततानि
कर्मानुबन्धीनि मनुष्यलोके || 2||
adhaśh chordhvaṁ prasṛitās tasya śhākhā
guṇa-pravṛiddhā viṣhaya-pravālāḥ
adhaśh cha mūlāny anusantatāni
karmānubandhīni manuṣhya-loke

⧫ Its branches, nurtured by the gunas spread below and above, its shoots are the sense objects, and its rootlings are stretched below, producing actions in the world of men.

Verse 3 & 4

न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते
नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा |
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल
मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा || 3||
तत: पदं तत्परिमार्गितव्यं
यस्मिन्गता न निवर्तन्ति भूय: |
तमेव चाद्यं पुरुषं प्रपद्ये
यत: प्रवृत्ति: प्रसृता पुराणी || 4||
na rūpam asyeha tathopalabhyate
nānto na chādir na cha sampratiṣhṭhā
aśhvattham enaṁ su-virūḍha-mūlam
asaṅga-śhastreṇa dṛiḍhena chhittvā
tataḥ padaṁ tat parimārgitavyaṁ
yasmin gatā na nivartanti bhūyaḥ
tam eva chādyaṁ puruṣhaṁ prapadye
yataḥ pravṛittiḥ prasṛitā purāṇī

⧫ Its form as such is not experienced here, nor its end, nor its beginning, nor its continuity. Having severed this deep-rooted Ashwatha tree with the strong weapon of non-attachment, one should next seek that goal, reaching which they do not return, saying 'I seek refuge in that primordial Purusha from whom this eternal process has sprung.'

Swami Sarvapriyananda reads and discusses the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is an English translation of the Bengali spiritual text Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Swami Nikhilananda. The text records conversations of Ramakrishna with his disciples, devotees and visitors, recorded by Mahendranath Gupta, who wrote the book under the pseudonym of "M."

Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches verses 26-27 from the fourteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This series of talks by Swami Sarvapriyananda on the Bhagavad Gita, 'the Song of God,' unfolds the highest truths of Vedanta.

Chapter 14 is devoted to understanding the Gunatreya Vibhaga Yoga, or the three qualities/components (gunas) of Maya. Swami Sarvapriyananda explains that, other than the Atma, everything in nature is the play of the three gunas. This insight, and transcending the play of the three gunas, is the doorway to infinity.
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Chapter 14, verse 26

मां च योऽव्यभिचारेण भक्तियोगेन सेवते |
स गुणान्समतीत्यैतान्ब्रह्मभूयाय कल्पते || 26||
māṁ cha yo ’vyabhichāreṇa bhakti-yogena sevate
sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate

⧫ He who serves me alone through the unswerving yoga of devotion transcends the three gunas and becomes fit for the state of Brahman.

Chapter 14, verse 27

ब्रह्मणो हि प्रतिष्ठाहममृतस्याव्ययस्य च |
शाश्वतस्य च धर्मस्य सुखस्यैकान्तिकस्य च || 27||
brahmaṇo hi pratiṣhṭhāham amṛitasyāvyayasya cha
śhāśhvatasya cha dharmasya sukhasyaikāntikasya cha

⧫ For I am the embodiment of Brahman of immutable immortality, of the eternal religion, and absolute bliss

In this discourse, Swami Sarvapriyananda covers only the part of the Upanishad called "Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi Samvada (Mantras: 2.4.1 to 2.4.14)"
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest and most foundational Principal Upanishads of Hinduism, is being taught in this lecture series by Swami Sarvapriyananda. Belonging to the Śukla Yajurveda and forming the concluding portion of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, its name means “the great forest.” The text comprises six chapters organized into the Madhu, Yājñavalkya (Muni), and Khila kāṇḍas, and is tenth in the traditional canon of 108 Upanishads. Renowned for its profound nondual philosophy, it includes the celebrated dialogue between Yājñavalkya and his wife Maitreyi, where all love is shown to be ultimately directed toward the Self (Ātman), whose realization as identical with Brahman leads to immortality and infinite bliss. For more information, please visit:

https://www.vedantany.org/brihadarany...

In this discourse, Swami Sarvapriyananda covers only the part of the Upanishad called "Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi Samvada (Mantras: 2.4.1 to 2.4.14)"

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest and most foundational Principal Upanishads of Hinduism, is being taught in this lecture series by Swami Sarvapriyananda. Belonging to the Śukla Yajurveda and forming the concluding portion of the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, its name means “the great forest.” The text comprises six chapters organized into the Madhu, Yājñavalkya (Muni), and Khila kāṇḍas, and is tenth in the traditional canon of 108 Upanishads. Renowned for its profound nondual philosophy, it includes the celebrated dialogue between Yājñavalkya and his wife Maitreyi, where all love is shown to be ultimately directed toward the Self (Ātman), whose realization as identical with Brahman leads to immortality and infinite bliss. For more information, please visit:

https://www.vedantany.org/brihadarany...