Amrita Bindu Upanishad Lecture 14 on 18 February 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We have been studying the Amrutabindu Upanishad. In our last class, the particular topic that came up is the study of the scriptures necessary. If necessary, how long? Is it really? What is the real meaning of a scripture? Is it a book or is it the knowledge we obtain? And it could be obtained, as we discussed, not only from the scripture. After all, a teacher only squeezes the essence of the scriptures and presents them to his students. But there are literally thousands of saints who are not literate and Shri Ramakrishna himself had refused. Not that he was unintelligent, he was one of the smartest persons on earth. Even Swami Vivekananda was defeated by Shri Ramakrishna. See, many people have this idea that Shri Ramakrishna was an illiterate person. There is a very right understanding we must gain. What is the meaning of an illiterate person? Is it that a person who did not go to schools or colleges and learn it? Or is it somebody who is so dull that nothing is understood by that person? Only in the first sense, a person need not go to any schools or anywhere, but if he can obtain knowledge. And as I mentioned, we discussed it elaborately in some other context. In Bhagavatam, we have the mention of Avadhuta. Avadhuta, he learnt all by himself. And we can also perhaps cite the example of Ekalavya, his own guru, whom Ekalavya had chosen as guru, but the guru rejected the disciple. But Ekalavya had become one of the greatest archers. The knowledge of archery had come or become manifest in him. Of course, all knowledge belongs to God. A teacher, a scripture, an instrument can only help us remove the obstacles so that the manifestation of God in a particular form can come to us. And that is the way we have to understand. Some person, he wants wealth. And there are already he is wealthy, but there are some obstacles. How can we say a person is already wealthy? Because each soul is potentially divine. That means he is a divine. In divinity, there is no such thing called father divinity, mother divinity, baby divinity, adolescent divinity. No, divinity is full. Nobody can divide pure consciousness, small consciousness, left-sided consciousness, fat consciousness, thin consciousness, etc. So, if God is equated with divinity or divinity is equated with God, then God is Sath, Chit, Ananda. Here the word Chit means all knowledge, whether it be secular or spiritual. Here also we have to be careful. Here the knowledge means the manifestation of God in the form of buddhi, right understanding. When the buddhi is a proper instrument and if the knowledge that is obtained is directed towards God, it is called spiritual knowledge. When the same knowledge is directed towards the world, it is called worldly knowledge. There is no difference in the knowledge, but it is only for what purpose or what type of knowledge we are manifesting. Just imagine, there is the formless water. And what is the nature of the water? It doesn't have any particular form. So, if there is a square bottle, it will take the squareness. If it is a round vessel, it will take roundness. But we go a little bit further. If the vessel is called chemistry vessel, knowledge will be called chemistry knowledge. If the vessel is medical knowledge, knowledge will be called medical knowledge. So, a lawyer's knowledge, housewife's knowledge, a fisherman's knowledge, every sort of knowledge is nothing but knowledge shaping itself, taking on the particular form, assuming the particular form of the utensil that is provided. And what is this utensil here? Our mind. Buddhi, when it flows through the mind. See, another example I am giving because we have to be very clear about these concepts. In what is called idiotic person, whose buddhi is not sharp enough, whatever activity he undertakes, he will be failure or third class. If an unintelligent pig pocket wants to rob somebody, he will be caught very quickly. If somebody wants to cook a fine dish, then intelligence is necessary. How much salt is necessary? How much other spices are necessary? How much time to boil something? There is something called over boiling or over cooking or turning it into cinders, many things are there. What am I trying to tell you? That intelligence is one and the same. And what this intelligence is directed to, that makes the difference between one person, another person. So, in this context, scriptures are necessary for some people. Some people like Swami Advaitananda, he can get the same knowledge from teacher, Sri Ramakrishna in this instance. That is why specifically when we study the life of Sri Ramakrishna and especially the life of Swami Advaitananda, do you even dare to think for a single second that Sri Ramakrishna is such a useless teacher. He failed in teaching Swami Advaitananda to make him iterate. No, in a millisecond, like Divine Mother bestowing knowledge on Kalidasa and making him the world's best poet. She can turn anybody into anything. Same way Sri Ramakrishna could turn. But specific reason is there why Sri Ramakrishna came to Lattu Maharaj exactly in the same way. That is the literal or academic education is not a condition. Then what are the books about? Books are not about books, but about knowledge. And this knowledge can be got from a teacher, from somebody saying, from the mouths of babes or from studying nature as in the case of the Avadhuta. That is the point. But as somebody has said that if somebody wants to study all by oneself, it is quite possible. But when there is a guide, it would be less time consuming and more thorough. Because a guide is one who understands the capacity of the pupil and reshapes his teachings so that the student can understand very nicely. So the question comes that illiteracy is not the point, but the intelligence to understand and the willpower to put it into practice. That is what is most important. So I have mentioned some names, Swami Advaitananda, Kanakadasa, Akka Mahadevi and so many saints. Maharashtra and every state in India had produced and you can see thousands and thousands of people. Kabir Das, what books did he read and yet they became saints. To become a spiritual person, it is not necessary to study, but it is necessary to have knowledge. And if our intelligence is open and sharp enough, the teaching will come in many forms. But why is there such emphasis on study? Just now I mentioned, because scriptures are the experiences chronologically arranged and given to us by people who had struggled very hard, who had experienced various stages of spiritual progress and therefore the scriptures are nothing but pure guidelines like maps. Very very important, they can save us a lot of trouble, they can warn of lot of obstacles that can come, like an expert mountaineering guide and they can warn us of the dangers that are there. And they also know shortcuts how to reach our goal, which of course in this case God only. And interestingly everybody's goal is God only. You may be surprised there are so many people say we do not believe in God and we don't want to follow God. But they are only following God, they only believe in God, but they don't use the word God. They use the word I want to live for a long time and I don't want to be a fool. And I want unbroken happiness. If anybody denies these three, I have yet to come across a person who can deny these three. Such a person is only saying instead of God he substituted three words. That is why Asato Maa Sadgamaya, Tamaso Maa Jyotir Gamaya, Mrutyor Maa Amrutan Gamaya. So we have been discussing mantra 18, specifically the Rishi. And the Rishi is one who has realized and to him very intelligent students had come. And since that means they must have studied, they must have observed Brahmacharya Pratha. They must have sat under a competent Guru. They must have learned so many things. But here now after long experience they want to direct all their effort, energy only to realize Brahman. So the Rishi is forced to tell in mantra 18, What does it mean Medhavi? That Medha is very important. And this is what every Hindu practically is taught to pray to the Sun God. That is what he stands for, Medha, Tejas. So Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodaya. And if the prayer is sincere and the person does whatever he could do, whatever opportunity and energy and time and intelligence God has given and it will become better and better. So at first this Medhavi, intelligent person, that means the person who understands, who has enough intelligence to understand what is right knowledge and what is not. Grantham Abhyasya, means what he has learned, the knowledge, what to do, what not to do. Every knowledge has only two parts, what to do and what to avoid. What should he do? First he must go on increasing his faith. This is called Gnanam. That is we have many doubts and there are many ways of removing the doubts. This process in the Gnanam Arga is called Manana. Deep quesitation until the last bit of doubt is completely removed. So after that Nidhidhyasana. Gnana refers to Shravana and Manana. Vijnana specifically refers to now you know what to do and then practice it. Make it your own. Realize God. And to make this point clear, yesterday I quoted Shri Ramakrishna's, a man had received, a man from a village who was working in a city, received a letter from home and he seems to have lost it temporarily. He retrieved it after a lot of searching and he read the contents. When you return home, these are the things we require. So please bring them. Purchase them and bring them. And that is all the essence of that letter. Having read it, having kept it in memory, he himself tore the letter to pieces and threw it in the dustbin. Then what should you do? You should go about collecting the materials that were required at home. This is called Vijnana Tattvara. In this particular context, it means a person how to approach to God nearer and nearer until I become God, you become God, any aspirant knows I am God. This is called Tattvara. This word Paraha is a beautiful word. Paraha means supreme, but here Paraha means intensely, concentratedly devoted only to this one and only one quest. That is how can I become my own self? How can I remove, destroy ignorance? And further, the Rishi gives a beautiful example. And whenever we read these kind of examples, we also get the knowledge. That means it may be thousands of years back these Upanishads had come, but people were familiar that they were growing rice and wheat, so many other things. But it is also said that after growing they have to beat it so that the husk can be separated from the grains. And after this is what is called Palala Meva. Pala means Dhania. Dhania means food material. Food material, Dhania Arthi. That is he who wants these grains so that he can eat nicely. Palala. Palala means the husk. What should he do? He should Tejeth. Similarly, once having understood what the teacher wants to convey, what the Upanishads want to convey, what saintly people and wise people are advising us to obtain, then you don't need them. Now you have to cross the ocean of samsara. So there is no need. You have read the letter, you understood, you remember the contents, now obtain the contents. Grantham aseshataha. Beautiful meaning. So knowledge and realization, that is how we divide. Knowledge is what is my goal, where am I, what is the distance between me and my goal, what could be the possible obstructions, are there any shortcuts, etc., etc. So all that gathering what is called theoretical knowledge, but with complete conviction. That is called knowledge. And then that is what is called Shravana and Manana. Manana means I am completely convinced of the knowledge. I have absolutely no doubt that it is true. And if it is true, I become very anxious to realize that truth. That is called Brahmasakshatkara, realization of Brahman. Of course, the Guru gives the instructions, this is how you progress in life. Then discord. When such a person knows that mere study of the Vedas and the performance of the Karmakanda indicated therein cannot bring on the utter annihilation of samsara and that the end of the Vedas, that is the essence of the Vedas is the realization of the Self. And I also quoted Ramakrishna and a Sadhu who used to worship Rama as the divine being. He used to carry a big book. I hope you remember it. And there are any number of saints, but I just remembered one beautiful incident. This is from a Russian saint, but it is not about a Russian saint. There was a Christian. He was a poor cobbler. He was almost illiterate. He could with great difficulty read only the alphabet. And every day, he with great difficulty, he had a small book of prayer. That is prayer. Oh God in the kingdom of heaven, may it come. May we offer our thanks every day for all that God is doing to us, etc. That is the best prayer in the Bible. Somehow, he used to pray with the help of those alphabets. Painfully, it used to take time. And one morning, he wanted to pray, but he came to his shop without any, that book. And without book, he cannot remember. Then he started praying to God. Lord, you know that I am illiterate. I don't remember the prayer. Let us do one thing. I will utter the alphabet and you make the words and prayer. And that is what he started doing. And God in heaven, he turned to his archangel. And he says, this is the best prayer I have heard in a long time. Because of the earnestness of the person. And that is why Sri Ramakrishna himself remained, what is called, an educated, formal education. But he was the most intelligent person. He used to hear so many scriptures being read. And he never forgot. And he used to, he is what is called, Ek Sandha Nugrahi. So Ek Shruti Dhara. Only once he needed to hear. He remembers everything. So there are many scholars. They know many things. But they don't believe that what they have understood is the real truth. They only use their scholarship for the sake of what Sri Ramakrishna used to call, bundling rice and plantains. So Ramana Maharshi himself, he was not a very learned man. But you know, spontaneously some teachings had come out of his mouth. We simply say, out of his mouth. But actually, God himself was expressing for the sake of the listeners. He was only an instrument. And even the simple compositions of saints like Ramana Maharshi, even like Sourav Dasa, Kabir Dasa, hundreds of commentaries, learned commentaries have come. So, what are we discussing? A sharp intellect is necessary. A deep desire to go to God is necessary. And a sharp intellect which can take out the essence of any saying, whether it is from a book, from the talks of somebody else, and then discard what is unimportant, only accept what is important, and thereafter plunge into Sadhana. That is all that is wanted. And Shankaracharya in his Vivekachudamani brings out this idea very beautifully. avijnate pare tattve shastradhitis tu nishpala avijnate pare tattve shastradhitis tu nishpala There is a lot of play on the word. Nishpala is common. So, if you do not understand the essence of the scriptures, studying the scriptures is absolutely useless. But if you understood the essence of the scriptures, thereafter study of the scriptures is absolutely unnecessary. Because you have understood what is the essence. Both ways it is completely useless. It is very interesting. In the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, there is a similar kind of rhyming verse. If a person has devotion, doing Harinama is completely useless. And if a person doesn't have devotion, doing Harinama is also useless. Meaning what? If you do Harinama, that is not condemned. But the purpose of chanting God's name is to acquire love for God. And once love for God is obtained, you don't need to chant. Because the unconscious chanting will be going on all the time. And then Swamiji himself once made a remarkable statement. He said, the Vedas say, study the Vedas, realize the truth, then give up the Vedas. Exactly the same thing that we are thinking about it. Once you reach, Sri Ramakrishna also used to say, that you cross the river through the help of a boat. Once you reached, you don't take the boat into your house. Just leave it there in the water. Maybe other people can use it. But it served its purpose. That is very important. And Vedas themselves give a marvelous statement. I don't think any other scripture dares to talk about this. Yatra Veda, Aveda Bhavanti. Once God realization is attained, Vedas become, Aveda means completely useless. This is from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. And Sri Ramakrishna has his own beautiful sayings with regard to the usefulness of scriptures. Just a few quotations. That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true knowledge. All else is only a negation of knowledge. Negation of knowledge means ignorance. What is the use of mere book learning? The pundits may be familiar with plenty of sacred texts and couplets. But what is the good of repeating them? One must realize in one's life the truths embodied in the scriptures. Mere reading will not bring knowledge or salvation as long as one is attached to the world, as long as one is fond of women and good. Here Sri Ramakrishna adds a beautiful wise caution. What is it? One must realize the truth of the scriptures. So as long as one is attached even to a cat, to a dog, not to speak of anything else, reading will not bring knowledge. One can go on reading so long as there is attachment. And Sri Ramakrishna had a beautiful story of the Bhagavata Pandit. Once a king engaged a Bhagavata Pandit so that he can explain the Bhagavata scripture to the king. And every night after the reading is over, the king questions, Have you understood? And the Pandit started wondering. King is an intelligent person. Behind his questioning there must be a reason. Did I miss something? So he studied again. And he said yes I studied. But the king persisted in questioning. After 3-4 days the Pandit woke up. He said persistently the king is asking me questions. So there must be some meaning in it. And then he prayed to God. I am missing something. Please make me understand. And then God suddenly bestowed His grace. And the meaning of Bhagavatam became crystal clear. Oh man, the world is unreal. God alone is real. You renounce, give up that world and seek God. And next day the Bhagavata Pandit, see how beautifully Sri Ramakrishna puts it, sent a man saying, oh king, find out some other Bhagavata scholar. I am renouncing the world in search of God. That is called real learning. Scriptures cannot be understood. Even ordinary knowledge cannot be understood unless the mind is to some extent pure. Sri Ramakrishna continues, Can love of God be acquired by reading holy books? And then he gives a beautiful analogy. In the Hindu almanac it is sometimes mentioned that on a particular day there will be 20 measures of rain. But you will not be able to squeeze out of the almanac a single drop. That means almanac is pointing. Do not hold on to the almanac but find out what it is pointing at. So also many good sayings are to be found in holy books but merely reading them will not make one religious. One must practice the virtues taught in such books in order to acquire love of God. Grantha doesn't always mean a holy scripture but often it becomes a granthi, a knot, a bondage. That means it swells one's own ego. I am a learned man. If a man does not read it with an intense desire to know the truth and renouncing all vanity, the mere reading of books only gives rise to pedantry, presumption, egotism etc. which will be an encumbrance on his mind like so many knots. But it doesn't mean it is a discouragement for studying scriptures. In fact, in the Kopinapanchakam which we have gone through, Shankaracharya specifically urges one of the five verses, that is Sadhanapanchakam, not Manishapanchakam, Sadhanapanchakam. Every day scriptures have to be studied. What are our scriptures? The gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the teachings of Holy Mother, Bhagavad Gita of course, of course the writings of Swami Vivekananda, selected writings of Swami Vivekananda. That is why even in Taittiriya Upanishad itself, one should never neglect the study of the scriptures. Swadhyaya Swadhyaya Pravachanabhyama Pramaditavyam and then Vedanta Vakyeshu Sadharamantaha. That is from the Kopinapanchakam. But what happens, scriptures are many, statements are varied and seem sometimes contradictory and there are many sides who propound them are many. Their interpretations are also varied and seem to be contradictory. Thus, will not the study of the scriptures only confuse us further? The Guru now resolves this doubt with a beautiful example. That is what is being given in the 19th mantra. Gavanam anekavarnanam kshirasyapi ekavarnata kshirvat pashyate jnanam linginastu gavam yatha While there are cows of different colours, milk is of the same colour. The wise one sees knowledge like milk, while the many branched scriptures indeed are comparable to cows. It is a beautiful example. So, there can be what is called striped cow. Most of the cows are, some are white, some are black, some are striped. So, if you go to the Holstein cow, it will be like world map. Both sides of the cow and if you go to other cows, different sizes, different shapes. But when you take out the milk, it is white, it is nourishing, it is sweet and it is absolutely useful for all of us. So, what does this mantra specially signify? And let us also say, this is only illustrating Vedic teaching. Ekam sadvipraaha bahudhava dhanti Now the Vedas are only teaching about one reality, about God, about Brahma. But vipraaha means wise people can call it by various names. Some people call him Jesus, some Buddha, some Isha, some Musa, some Kali, Krishna, Rama, etc. And Shri Ramakrishna gives the example. People call the same water as pani, aqua, gel, water, etc. This is most important, we need not quarrel with anybody else. So, how to know people are really differing or they are teaching the same truth? For that purpose, Yasacharya who has classified all the Vedas and then drew the very essence, squeezed the very essence. He has written a specific book to resolve the seemingly, apparently contradictory statements of these Upanishads. It is called Brahma Sutra. The Vedas, especially the Upanishads in some statements clearly reveal the truth. For example, the absolute truth of the nature of existence, consciousness and bliss. The truth is the self and the word that self. These are called by a particular Vedic statement called Spashta Linga Vakyan. Crystal clear statements about Brahman. And another example, we have seen this one. Different theories of creation are there. And then when we study Mandukya Karika, this question has been taken up. There are people who believe, most of the people believe in the creation. And there are various theories of creation. Whether it is what is called Sankhya theory, Sad Vada, Asad Vada, etc. But there are some statements in the same Upanishads. There is no creation. This is what we mainly find in the Mandukya Upanishad, Ajati Vada. So Ajati Vada, that means there is no creation at all. But we see it, yes. If you see it, if you think you are experiencing it, that is absolutely real for you so long as you experience. But go on practicing spiritual disciplines, a time will come when you will not be able to see the creation. Creation means world. In fact, every day, twice it happens. First time is when we go into deep sleep. Second time is between two thoughts. And there are many things, we will talk about it in our next class. Om Jananim Sharadaam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Vada Padme Payos Ritva Pranvam Imvarmoham May Shri Ramakrishna Holy Mantra and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.