A human being experiences joy or sorrow by means of his senses, mind and intellect. Looking at the beautiful sunrise or sunset, hearing harmonious music, the twitter of birds or the sound of the ocean waves, or empathising with the depth and range of emotions captured in literary masterpieces are examples of joys that give satisfaction. This aesthetic joy raises one above the mundane plane and exhilarates the mind and heart. But aesthetic satisfaction is at best only a poor substitute to the bliss of Brahmananda which the Upanishads state is far beyond any of the other joys that are accessible to man through his senses. Neither is this joy short-lived as these worldly joys.
The Upanishads also state that this ananda is the right of every jivatma and the ultimate goal as well, pointed out Velukkudi Sri Krishnan in a discourse. But how is this bliss of Brahman attainable to the jivatma?
The famous quote ‘Raso Vai Saha’ in the Taittiriya Upanishad captures the truth that Brahman is the essence of everlasting existence and bliss. He is the source of all creation and all objects of creation exist because of this bliss. Brahman is the support of all that is extraordinary and endless, of all the joys of this world and also of the joys that are beyond human grasp. He who knows and understands Brahman is known as ‘Sat.’ Not knowing Brahman is ‘Asat.’ The bliss of delight or ‘Ananda’ is possible only with association with Brahman. The conscious atma longs to experience the infinite bliss when he understands that the same Brahman is present everywhere and also in the deep recess within himself. So he does ‘Brahmopasana’ to attain this infinite bliss.
