Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
The oldest and largest Upanishad, the 'great forest text' closing the White Yajurveda; home of Yajnavalkya, Maitreyi and Gargi, of neti neti and aham brahmasmi.
A quick reference entry. For the full account, follow the guides below.
Appears in
- The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: the forest of Yajnavalkya Treatise
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, closing the Shatapatha Brahmana of the White Yajur Veda, is the oldest and longest of the ten principal Upanishads. Named the 'great…
- What are the Upanishads? Scriptures
The Upanishads are a body of Sanskrit texts, the latest layer of the Veda, composed across several centuries beginning around the 7th to 6th century BCE. The two…
- The Unwritten Library Treatise
For roughly three thousand years, the most important texts in India were never written down. They were heard, memorized syllable by syllable, and carried across a…
- What is Sanatana Dharma? Essentials
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states it without ornament, in Max Müller's translation: "a man of good acts will become good, a man of bad acts, bad." Karma is not fate handed down from outside.
- The first secret Treatise
One is Yajnavalkya, the sharpest mind in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad , a sage who wins every debate he enters.
- Runanubandha, the debts we are born into Treatise
*Runanubandha*, also spelled *Rinanubandha*, from *rina* (debt) and *anubandha* (binding sequel), is the idea that the people in a person's life are bound to them…
- Devas and Asuras Deities
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad begins its third section like this: द्वया ह प्राजापत्या देवाश्चासुराश्च । ततः कानीयसा एव देवा ज्यायसा असुरास्त एषु लोकेष्वस्पर्धन्त । dvayā ha prājāpatyā devāś cāsurāś ca.