Brihadaranyaka Upanishad

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is one of the principal Upanishads.

Quotes

Olivelle, Patrick (1998). The Early Upanishads. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-512435-9. 

• You can't see the seer who does the seeing;

you can't hear the hearer who does the hearing;

you can't think of the thinker who does the thinking;

and you can't perceive the perceiver who does the perceiving.

The self within all is this self of yours.

All else besides this is grief!

• 3.5.4

• He sees, but he can't be seen;

he hears, but he can't be heard;

he thinks, but he can't be thought of;

he perceives, but he can't be perceived.

Besides him, there is no one who sees,

no one who hears,

no one who thinks,

and no one who perceives.

It is this self of yours who is the inner controller, the immortal.

All besides this is grief.

• 3.7.23

• It is like this.

As a caterpillar, when it comes to the tip of a blade of grass,

reaches out to a new foothold and draws itself onto it,

so the self (ātman), after it has knocked down this body and rendered it unconscious,

reaches out to a new foothold and draws itself onto it.

• 4.3

• Thunder, that divine voice, repeats the very same syllable:

"Da! Da! Da!"—

Demonstrate restraint (dāmyata)!

Demonstrate bounty (datta)!

Demonstrate compassion (dayadhvam)!

One should observe the same triad—restraint, bounty, and compassion.

• 5.2