The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which belongs to the Yajur Veda, is one of the oldest among the ten principal Upanishads (also known as the Mukhya Upanishads) and serves as a foundational text of Vedanta philosophy.

It contains one of the four Mahavakyas (great statements) of the Upanishads—“Aham Brahmasmi” (I am Brahman)—a direct assertion of the non-dual Self, and therefore holds great significance.

Let’s analyse the verse in the light of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s teachings.

1) “This Universe was indeed Brahman in the beginning. It knew only Itself as ‘I am Brahman’.”

Every day, we move through three states of experience—waking, dream, and deep sleep. While each of these states appears distinct, we tend to give full reality only to the waking state.

Everything we see, hear, and do while awake feels solid and unquestionable. In contrast, dreams are often dismissed as imagination, and deep sleep as a void. This view, however, arises from our deep attachment to the physical body.

Because the body seems active only in the waking state, we assume that this state alone is real, overlooking the continuity of our own presence across all three states.

“This Universe was indeed Brahman in the beginning”.

The ‘Universe’ referred to here is the world we experience in our waking state.

The waking state is created by the ego in its most ‘fully-expressed’ form—the strong belief that “I am the body.” This state is only a projection, and is only as real as the waker is taken to be.

Just as in the waking state, in dreams too we have a body, a world, and experiences—and while dreaming, all of it feels completely real. It is only after waking that we dismiss the dream as unreal; not while we are in it.

The dream state is created by the ego in a subtler or ‘half-expressed’ form, and like the waking state, it is a projection—only as real as the dreamer is believed to be.

In deep sleep, however, the ego is absent. The mind is at rest, and the idea of a body disappears altogether. And yet, something remains—our unshaken sense of being. This is why, upon waking, we are able to say, “I slept well,” even though there was no thought, no world, and no identity in that state.

Vedanta points out that behind all three states—waking, dream, and sleep—is a deeper reality: the Turiya, the fourth, which is not a state but the background Consciousness that underlies and illumines them all.

“This ‘I’-consciousness is present all through the three states. There is no change in it. That is alone real. The three states are false. They are only for the mind. It is the mind which obstructs your vision of your true nature. Your true nature is that of infinite spirit.”

~ Sri Ramana Maharshi (Talk 328) ~

This pure Consciousness—referred to as Brahman—is not touched by the appearances of waking, dreaming, or sleeping. It simply is. It knows itself as “I am Brahman,” and remains ever-present, prior to all experiences. It is this Consciousness that projects itself through the three states and appears as the experiencer in each.

Sri Ramana Maharshi beautifully points to this truth in the very first verse of Ulladu Narpadu:

Because we see the world, it is best to accept that one fundamental, which is ourself, is what appears as all this multiplicity.

This verse gently reminds us that the world we perceive is not separate from us. The moment we see the world, we must recognise that what we are truly seeing is none other than our own Self—Brahman—in diverse forms. That which appears as the universe is, in truth, the Self alone, expressing through the play of names and forms.

In other words, before the appearance of this universe, only Brahman existed—and only Brahman exists even now. The multiplicity we experience is simply the Self appearing as many.

This is the essence of the Upanishadic statement:

“This Universe was indeed Brahman in the beginning. It knew only Itself as ‘I am Brahman’.”

2) “Whoever among the gods knew It, all became That.”

Here, the Sanskrit word “deva” is translated as “god” with a lowercase ‘g’—referring not to the supreme God, but to subtle, mental projections or divine forms experienced in the third person. These ‘gods’ arise only after the ego has arisen, and are therefore part of the ego’s projected world.

But the true God—with a capital ‘G’—is the Self, the pure, formless reality prior to the ego and all mental objects. In this light, the verse may be understood more deeply as:

“Whoever among the egos came to know the Self, all became That.”

In other words, whoever realised the Self became Brahman.

The small ‘g’ god—the ego—is only a dim reflection of the real God, the Self. Only one who has realised the Self has truly seen God.

In Ulladu Narpadu Verse 20, Sri Ramana Maharshi says:

Seeing God without seeing oneself is seeing a mental vision. Only the one who has seen the origin of the ego—oneself—has seen God, for the Self is not other than God.

For one who has seen the Self, there remains no personal ego to perceive objects as separate. What remains is only God—seen everywhere, as everything.

This helps us understand how the enlightened sage Vāmadeva declared, “I was Manu, and the sun,” and recognised himself as the totality. In the Vedic tradition, Manu represents the first human, akin to the figure of Adam in the Abrahamic religions. But what Vāmadeva realised was not identity with a character—but with the Self that shines as all.

This leads naturally to the next verse:

“And to this day, whoever in like manner knows It as, ‘I am Brahman’, becomes all this Universe.”

3) “Even the gods cannot prevail against him, for he becomes their Self.”

What does it mean to prevail? Only that which is real, changeless, and eternal can truly prevail. The transient—the mind, ego, and forms—may appear powerful, but they can never stand against the truth of the Self.

In this light, the verse reveals a profound truth: the gods—understood here as third-person objects or subtle forms arising after the ego—cannot prevail against the knower of the Self, because he has become their very essence. He no longer sees them as other than himself.

How is this possible?

Consciousness is One, but egos are many. From these many egos arise many gods, each shaped by the mind and its projections. But the source of all—Brahman—remains undivided. Therefore, the one who has realised the Self stands as the very source from which all gods arise.

He has not conquered them through power or will—he has simply recognised that there is no ‘other’ to prevail against. He has become the Self of all.

This is the deep meaning behind the verse:

“Even the gods cannot prevail against him, for he becomes their Self.”

4) “He who worships another god thinking, ‘He is one, and I am another,’ does not know. He is like an animal to the gods.”

This is a powerful pointer to the illusion of duality. When the ego—the false first person—worships a god seen as separate, it remains trapped in the idea of “I” and “another.” In doing so, it has not known the true God, which is none other than the Self.

As long as the worshipper sees the divine as something apart, the mind stays in separation, and the gods themselves—being mental projections—remain in a higher position. The Upanishad uses a striking analogy: just as animals are subject to humans, so too is the dualistic worshipper bound to the gods he has imagined.

It continues:

“As many animals serve a human being, so does each man serve the gods.”

This is not a rejection of devotion, but a pointer to a higher understanding. True worship dissolves separation. Only when the ego is surrendered and the Self is seen as the one reality, does worship flower into oneness. Only then is God truly known—not as another—but as the Self.

The Upanishad concludes this sequence with a striking line:

5) “Even if one animal is taken away, it causes anguish—what should one say of many animals? Therefore, it is not liked by them that men should know this.”

At first glance, this verse may seem puzzling or even contradictory. One who hasn’t grasped the depth of non-dual understanding might ask: How can gods be displeased when humans realise the truth? Aren’t gods supposed to be compassionate and benevolent?

This is where a deeper insight into Advaita Vedanta becomes essential. The “gods” referred to here are not the supreme reality, but subtle mental constructs—third-person projections that arise only after the ego has taken form.

Just as a human feels disturbed when even one of their animals goes missing, the gods (mental constructs) are unsettled when even a single ego awakens, because in the light of Self-realization, these constructs dissolve, just as darkness disappears when a lamp is lit.

With every ego awakening to the Supreme Truth, the hold of these imagined powers begins to loosen. The awakened one no more clings to external deities, forms, or ideas. He has merged into the Self—the true God—which is not other than himself.

This is not a denial of devotion or reverence, but a revelation of the highest form of worship—abidance in the Self, where the divine is no longer seen as separate, but recognised as one’s own true nature.

This is why the verse says that such knowledge is “not liked by them.” Not because the divine resists liberation, but because the illusions born of ego cannot survive in the face of truth. What is being pointed to here is the dissolution of duality itself—not a conflict with divinity, but a return to its source, referred to as Self-realization, where the seeker no longer sees God as another, he sees only the Self—one without a second.