An introduction to the 32 Bramhavidyas:

We have heard of terms like dhyana, upasana and meditation. One requires to clarify the meanings before embarking on

understanding of Vidyas. Dhyana means meditation, while upasana is used to signify a long and continued meditation. 'Upasanas' also stand for 'Brahmavidyas'. As Ramanuja says Upanishad itself describes (for e.g.) Madhu vidya as Brahma vidyā. Vidyas are the practical side of the teachings of upanishads; vidyas are not to be taken as conveying just knowledge, but they are also the exercises in meditation.

Vedanta Sutras deal with vidyas. Upasana here is defined as 'enquiry into Brahman, that is, study, investigation and reasoning,

contemplation and 'meditation'. It is said that the Lord cannot be realised by means of studying limited portions of scripture, meaning that the Supreme Lord is to be

enquired into by a study of all the Vedas (that is, the true meaning of all the Vedas supplemented by a study of Ithihasas, Puranas etc.); the question that arises here is as to whether it is possible for all persons? In Bhavishya purana it is said that: "by Brahma, the four- faced, the supreme Lord is to be meditated upon with complete comprehension of all His qualities; by gods, only to the appropriate

extent, according to their capability; but by men (human beings), only with the comprehension of a few qualities". "For the sake of meditation all the qualities are declared by the scriptures".

Upasana or continued meditation on Lord's qualities like His being 'Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham' leads to God-realisation. The upāsana's nature is best described by the statement: "thailadharavath avicchinna smrithi santhathi roopa" - like 'constant flow of oil through a wick'.

CANDIDATE FOR UPĀSANA:

A Bramhan born in the pure lineage, dikshita by a competent guru, indulged in the nitya aupasana, well versed in the Shrutis and Smritis and who is knowledgeable enough to realise that he should act in this life to put an end to the cycle of births and deaths, becomes

deserving of experiencing the ecstasy of the Lord - it is such a person's sheer love towards the Lord that impels him towards constant meditation.

One might ask: If one gets absorbed in such a meditation, it might affect or obviate his daily kärmic duties and obligations as envisaged in the Gita. The answer to this is a clear 'no' and it is enjoined on everyone to discharge his duties as per his varna. The duties themselves are to be carried out in a spirit of worship to the Lord.

INTO THE VIDYAS:

Details on the various Brahma vidyās are known as 'guhya ädesha' or secret teachings in upanishads. In each vidya one discerns a particular attribute or aspect of the Supreme soul. The source books for vidyās are mainly the three upanishads -

Chandogya, Brihadaranyaka and Taitthireeya. Vedantha Suthras (Chapter III, Pädha III) contain details of the vidyās.

There are on the whole 32 vidyās - there could be one or two more vidyas; there is a slight difference between two acharyas of Advaita Vedanta and Vishishtadvaita Vedanta in the number; Rāmānuja names 32 and Shankara 30. For our purpose

we take the larger number.

NAMES OF THE 32 BRAMHA VIDYAS:

Gayathri

Gärgi-Akshara

Aksi

Akasha

Akshäräkshara

Madhu

Anandhamaya

Angustamāthra

Antharādithya

Bälaki

Bhrigu-Väruni

Bhooma

Dahara

Jyothisām jyothi

Maithreyee

Nachikethägni

Panchägni

Paramjyothi

Prana & Prathardhana

Parampurusha

Purusha

Paryanka

Sadvidya

Samvarga

Sathyakāma

Shandilya

Sriman Nyasa

Uddhalaka

Upakosala

Ushastha Kahola

Udgeetha

Vaishvānara

PLURALITY OF VIDYAS / BRAHMAN'S ATTRIBUTES:

Since the Vidyas talk about qualified attributes of Paramāthman one might get a doubt as to whether one should meditate on all of them or some. It is to be noted that all meditations constitute a single whole, the one and only Paramjyothi. The author of Vedantha Sutras supports this view.

OUTCOME OF THE VIDYĀS, ETC.:

It is natural to query about the phala or the outcome or reward from the Vidyās; desire-oriented meditations being rewards in line with the desire and in consonance with the extent of meditation undertaken (multiple meditations for the purpose included), but for getting the vision of the Paramjyothi, multiple meditations may prove to be disturbing or distracting in regard to the single-minded objective. Upasana affords 'samyak darshana' (repleteness meant) i.e.,

God's proximity over a period of time. All meditations do not confer knowledge and they are not called Vidyās. Vidyā is used in the superlative level of Brahman realisation. While jnāna concerns mental

activity on Aathman (The Absolute), upāsana confines itself to concentrating on a particular aspect.

NIRGUNA & SAGUNA BRAHMAN:

While talking about meditative approaches as per Shankara, S.S. Raghavachar says: 'Shankara raises prima facie the view that

Nirguna Brahman is one and indivisible and does not admit of such diverse meditative approaches. In fact, the knowledge of Nirguna Brahman is object-oriented illumination (vasthu-tanthra) and not willed-contemplation....the study (of this pādha in Vedantha Soothras) concerns the Saguna Brahman permitting several meditations ; not all Vidyās pertain to the Saguna Brahman and they belong to the

ritualistic chase and are frankly (of) non-philosophical interests".

V. Raghavan says: "Strictly speaking upasana could refer only to Saguna Brahman, as the characterisation of them as 'máno-vyäpäras', distinguishes from jnana as such... (since upasanas lead) gradually to Brahman realization: (they) are also referred to as Brahma Vidyas....

Ramanuja shows that the upanishad itself describes Madhu Vidya as a Brahma Vidya. (Chandogya Upanishad)

MEDITATION:

For meditation one could choose a clean and serene place to ensure an undisturbed mental state. One must contemplate on bramhan in order to attain it by identifying as the bramhan itself or by merging one's atman into the bramhan as per one's path of realisation (Advaita/ Vishishtadvaita/ Dvaita). It is generally agreed that it is enough if the aspirant gets into any

one Vidya and keeps practicing it.

🙏 Om tat sat paramatmane namah 🙏

🙏 Namo Narasiṁha 🙏