Brihadaranyaka Upanishad - The Tree and Man

Ethics:  The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad includes hymns on virtues and ethics. In verse 5.2.3, for example, it recommends three virtues: self-restraint (Damah), charity (Daanam) and compassion for all life ( Daya).

Learn three cardinal virtues - temperance, charity and compassion for all life.

The first ethical precept of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad became the foundation of Yamas in various schools of Hinduism.

In Yoga school, for example, the yamas as listed by Patañjali in Yogasūtra 2.30 are

1.            Ahimsa: restraint from initiating violence, harm, injury to other living beings by actions, words or in one's thoughts

2.            Satya:  restraint from falsehood

3.            Asteya: restraint from stealing

4.            Brahmacarya: restraint from sex if without a partner, and from cheating on one's partner

5.            Aparigraha: restraint from avarice and possessiveness.

Psychology

The verses in the Upanishad contain theories pertaining to psychology and human motivations.Verse 1.4.17 describes the desire for progeny as the desire to be born again. The Upanishad states a behavioral theory, linking action to nature, suggesting that behavioral habits makes a man,

According as one acts, so does he become; one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action.

Ancient and medieval Indian scholars have referred to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as a foundation to discuss psychological theories, the nature of psyche, and how body, mind and soul interact. For example, Adi Shankara in his commentary on the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad explains the relation between consciousness, the mind and the body.

Mind creates desire, asserts Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, with its basis in pleasure. Eye is the cause of material wealth, because it is through sight that wealth is created states the Upanishad, while ears are spiritual wealth, because it is through listening that knowledge is shared.The Upanishad suggests in the dialogue between Yajnavalkya and Maitreyi, husband and wife, that one does not love an object for the sake of the object but for the sake of the subject, the Self (the soul of the other person).

Metaphysics

Verse 1.3.28 acknowledges that metaphysical statements in Upanishads are meant to guide the reader from unreality to reality. The metaphysics of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is non-dualism (Advaita). For instance, in verse 2.4.13 Yajnavalkya asserts that everything in the universe is the Self. The nature of reality or Self is described as consciousness-bliss in verse 3.9.28. Neti-neti or (not this—not this) is a method of emphasizing the discovery of the right, by excluding the wrong. The verse 5.1 states that the Universe, Reality and Consciousness is infinite.

"From infinite or fullness, we can get only fullness or infinite". The above verse describes the nature of the Absolute or Brahman which is infinite or full, i.e., it contains everything. Upanishadic metaphysics is further elucidated in the Madhu-vidya (honey doctrine), where the essence of every object is described to be same to the essence of every other object. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad looks at reality as being indescribable and its nature to be infinite and consciousness-bliss. The cosmic energy is thought to integrate in the microcosm and in the macrocosm integrate the individual to the universe.

As is a mighty tree, so indeed is a man: this is true. His hairs are the leaves and his skin is the outer bark. 2. From his skin blood flows and from the bark, sap. Therefore when a man is Wounded blood flows, as sap from a tree that is injured. 3. His flesh is its inner bark and his nerves are its innermost layer of bark, which is tough. His bones lie within, as does the wood of the tree. His marrow resembles the pith. 4. A tree, when it is felled, springs again from its root in a new form; from what root, tell me, does a man spring forth after he is cut off by death? 5. Do not say: From the semen, for that is produced from the living man. A tree springs from the seed as well; after it is dead it certainly springs again. 6. If a tree is pulled up with its root, it will not spring again. From what root, tell me, does a mortal spring forth after he is cut off by death? 7. If you think he is indeed born, I say: No, he is born again. Now who should again bring him forth? The Upanishad states: It is Brahman, which is absolute Knowledge and Bliss, the ultimate goal of him who offers wealth and also of him who has realized Brahman and stands firm in It.

Man Compared to a Tree

 Yājñavalkya says: "If any one of you wants to put more questions, let him come forward." Nobody dared to open his mouth afterwards. They all wanted to know whether it could be possible for them to get away from that place, because the head is very dear. Atha hovāca, brāhmaṇā bhagavanto, yo vaḥ kāmayate sa mā pṛcchatu: "Learned men! If any one of you can stand up and ask me any more questions, I am ready to answer. Sarve vā mā pṛcchata, yo vaḥ kāmayate, taṁ vaḥ pṛchāmi, sarvān vā vaḥ pṛcchamīti: Or, all of you can put questions to me at one stroke; I am ready to answer. Or, I may question you, if you like, singly. Or, I may question all of you." When this was told by Yājñavalkya, everyone kept quiet. Te ha brāhmaṇā na dadhṛṣuḥ: Everyone was frightened of this consequence of Śākalya's head falling off, and so they kept their mouths closed and did not put any further questions.

Then Yājñavalkya speaks independently, without being put any question. Yathā vṛkṣo vanaspatiḥ, tathaiva puruṣo'mṛṣā: "Friends! The human being is something like a tree. There is some similarity between a tree and a human being. The hair on the body of a human being may be compared to the leaves on the tree. Just as leaves grow on the tree, hair grows on the body." Tasya lomāni parṇāni, tvag asyotpāṭikā bahiḥ: "The bark of a tree and the skin of the human being may be compared likewise. Just as there is bark outside the tree, there is skin on the outside of the body." Tvaca evāsya rudhiram prasyandi: "From the bark, the juice of the tree exudes. Likewise, blood can exude from the skin of a body." Tvaca utpaṭaḥ; tasmāt, tad ātṛṇṇāt praiti, raso vṛkṣād ivāhatat: "When you cut a tree, its essence exudes. Likewise, an injured person exudes blood from the body." Māṁsāny asya śakarāṇi, kināṭaṁ: "The inner bark of the tree may be compared to the flesh in the body of a human being." Kināṭaṁ snāva, tat sthiram: "The sinews inside the flesh of the human body may be compared to the innermost bark of the tree." Asthīny antarato dārūṇi: "The bones inside the body may be compared to the pith of the wood inside the tree." Majjopamā kṛtā: "The marrow inside the bones may be compared to the marrow inside the pith of the tree."

Yad vṛkṣo vṛkṇo rohati mūlān navataraḥ punaḥ: Now, the question of Yājñavalkya comes. He puts a question. "If a tree is cut, it grows again; it does not perish. A new tree, as it were, grows from the stem which remains even after the tree is cut. Now I ask you a question, my dear friends. What is the thing which enables the human being to grow even after death?" Martyaḥ svin mṛtyunā vṛkṇaḥ kasmān mūlāt prarohati: "If death is to snatch away the body of an individual, from which root does he grow again into new birth?" You know how the tree grows even if it is cut. But, how does the human being grow? He is killed by death, and his body is no more. When there is nothing which can be called remnant of the individual after the death of the body, what is the seed out of which his new body is fashioned? What is the connection between the future birth of an individual and the present state of apparent extinction at the time of death? Retasa iti mā vocata: "Do not tell me that the man is born out of the seed of the human being. No; because the seed can be there only in a living human being. A dead person has no seed. So the man is dead. What is it that becomes the connection between the present annihilation and the future birth? It is not the seed; it is something else." Jīvatas tat prajāyate; dhānāruha iva vai vṛkṣaḥ añjasā pretyasambhavaḥ: "The tree grows out of the seed. If the seed is not there, how can the tree grow? Something vital must be there in the tree in order that the trunk, at least, may grow. But if nothing is there, suppose you pluck out every root of the tree itself, there would be no further growth of the tree." Yat samūlam āvṛheyuḥ vṛkṣam, na punar ābhavet: "If the root of a tree is pulled out, the tree will not grow. So, if the root of a person is pulled out at the time of death, what is it that grows after death?" Martyaḥ svin mṛtyunā vṛkṇaḥ kasmān mūlāt prarohati: "You cannot conceive of any root for the individual being. There is no root if everything is destroyed. The body has gone. He does not leave a seed behind him, nor is there a root left. Even the root has gone. So, what is the answer to this question?"

Jāta eva na jāyate, konvenaṁ janayet punaḥ: "You may say; he is born and he is dead." The matter is over. Where is the question of his rebirth? Who tells you that there is rebirth? So, why do we not say that the matter is very simple. Something has come; something has gone; the matter is over. So, there is no question of there being a connection between the present state of annihilation and the future birth. "No," says Yājñavalkya. "It is not possible because – konvenaṁ janayet punaḥ na jāyate – if there is not to be rebirth, there would be an inexplicability of the variety of experiences in the present individuals." You will find that there is no answer to the question as to why there is variety of constitutions. One can enjoy what one does not deserve, and one can suffer the consequences of actions which one has not done. If there is not going to be any connection between the past and the future, anyone's actions can bear fruit in any other individual. If I do good, you may get the reward, or I may do bad, you may suffer for it. If this is not to take place, there should be some connection between the present condition of the individual and the future condition. The impossibility or the unjustifiability of someone enjoying what he does not deserve, or another suffering that which is not the consequence of his actions, is called Akritābhyasma and Prītināṣa in Sanskrit.

Yājñavalkya says, there is nothing conceivably left of the individual when he perishes in his physical body, but there is something which connects him with even the remotest form of life. He can be born in the most distant regions, not necessarily in this world. After the death of the body, rebirth can take place, not necessarily in this world but in most distant regions. What is it that carries you to that distant region? Vijñānam ānandam brahma, rātir dātuḥ parāyaṇaṁ: "It is the Absolute that is responsible for it, ultimately. He is the bestower of the fruits of all actions." And actions yield fruit only on account of the existence of the Absolute. If it were not to be, actions will not produce any result, and no cause will be connected to any effect. So, ultimately it is the Consciousness-Bliss which is the Supreme Brahman that is the root of the individual. Vijñānam ānandam brahma, rātir dātuḥ parāyaṇaṁ, tiṣṭhamānasya tadvidaḥ: "It is the support of not only the individual in future birth, but also the ultimate support of one who is established in It, by knowing It." So, the Supreme Being, the Absolute, is the support not only of the individuals that transmigrate in the process of Samsāra, but also the ultimate resort of the liberated soul who knows It and becomes It by self-identification. So, it is the goal not only relative to all the Jīvas, but also absolute to the ātman in all the Jīvas. Yājñavalkya closes his discourse and the audience disperses. The Supreme Brahman is the source of all. Every value, visible or perceivable in life, is due to Its Being. It functions not as individuals do. It acts not, but Its very existence is all action. Its very Being is all value, and the goal of the lives of all individuals is the realisation of this Brahman.