Athato Brahma jignyasaa ! ..
Welcome !
Welcome to Athato Brahma Jignyasa page !!
The title of this page is the first line of Brahma Sutras.
Actually It is the first line of a notes from my mother I had with me. That line sent me in search of the original line. And one look at the original line, which is the very first line in Brahma Sutras , it is clear that it is an ocean and it is the beginning of an intense elaboration ! . The three words of the sentence above were followed by three thousand words of elaboration!!!
Even if we did not know the depths of philosophy , the simple Sanskrit translation is “ Now the great desire to know !” It is also “ Now the desire to know ” about the “ Brahman “. Brahma Sutras are like a series of aphorisms or a brief statements of principle or truth. Actually it is a series of a terse statements of truth inviting discussion or commentary !
The notes ( in Telugu script ) referred above are simpler. You can develop a sense of detachment if you realize that ups and downs are part of life and you move on . Detachment does not mean you ignore your surroundings or your family or your obligations ! It does not require you to move to forest so to say!
Detachment is also letting go of the attitude of ‘ this is mine ‘ or ‘ this is not' . The attitude of “this is mine” this is not and accordingly associating ones likes and dislikes , ‘I care ‘ or ‘I do not care' is the root cause of all conflict .
The passion about things that are mine are to be tempered with a reality that it could be some body else's too . So handle those that are ours without passion but with determination of doing it right . As for those we see as ‘not ours' , if they are to be handled ,we handle them also with a passion as though it is our own and ultimately handling them the way we are supposed to handle our own , that too without passion.
To be without passion yet doing it with passion is what it is all about !!.
We started with the first line of Brahmasutras as the title of our discussions in this domain of Brahman. This is a page on which all articles variously connected with the thoughts of Atman and Brahman are put together : The number of articles put together over the years under this topic resulted in a few special pages
The page on Kathopanishad covered all the articles on Kathopanishad which was the first book we ventured into ! Apart from the six Vallies there were several interesting articles on the "good and pleasant" , "blind leading the blind" etc .
The Sankaracharya's Tatvabhodha is beginners introduction to concepts of Brahman etc
On this page all the relevant links on Brahman are presented. This is virtual site map for Athato Brahma jignyasa
The latest in the series being added is Bhagavadgita which as a part of Athato we started recently. Bhagavadgita was going with one chapter per month and completed in eighteen months. More about Bhagavadgita can be seen on the Bhagavadgita a page.
We hope all this adds to your reading pleasure
Om tat sat !!
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References:
Brahma Sutra Bhashya of Shankaracharya ; Translated by Swami Gambhirananda; Published by Advaitashrama. www.advaitashrama.com