Brahma Upanishad Lecture 02 on 31 March 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Brahma Upanishad and it is a dialogue between sage Pippalada and his disciple Shaunaka who was a householder called Mahashala and this Brahma Upanishad is dedicated entirely to knowledge and the text opens with question by this disciple a very wealthy householder Mahashala means a person who has a huge mansion with plenty of rooms but by implication it also means a person who was accustomed to perform many pujas what we call in modern language many pujas in those days yajnas yagas etc and that also involves that he was well known as a great householder because he has become famous by feeding many of the people by giving plenty of dakshina gifts to all the rithviks and perhaps also to poor people deserving people because in those days well the householders they believed in the scriptural teachings that swarga ka moha eje tha one who is a desirous of higher happiness swarga simply means higher happiness higher happiness comes because of punya so he was well known and the purpose of his yajnas yagas which is called karma kanda was completely fulfilled what was the fulfillment so we have discussed yesterday his mind has become pure chitta shuddhi and he obtains a lot of punya and his mind becomes absolutely concentrated and he obtains a great faith like we can say Girish Chandra Ghosh five anas five one rupee and four anas faith hundred and twenty five percent faith in Sri Ramakrishna's words that means absolutely having complete faith whatever is written in the scriptures is absolutely true and as a result of all these things he became endowed with buddhi what buddhi in normal language we call it discrimination and that is called viveka we also practice discrimination but this discrimination is between two worldly things whether that dress is better than this dress that house is better than this house that job is better than this job etc etc no here it is what is real what is unreal what is permanent what is impermanent and how do we know that this person is really doing the discrimination because that type of discrimination which after knowing what is real does not automatically without effort give up what is unreal such a person is not ready but if he is a person who knows instantaneously he doesn't need to think and this shaunaka had all these qualifications in other words in shankaracharya's words advaita school of philosophy calls such persons yogya purusha adhikari purusha so then he approaches a teacher and then he wants to know the truth and he will meditate until all the doubts of what the teacher had taught are completely removed and then that is the sign that there are no doubts if our knowledge is doubtful knowledge even one percent doubtful it doesn't goad us into action but that which we are convinced this is 100 percent real then we act and react we think we imagine according to that this shaunaka was such a person he approached how did he approach vidhi vat that is not written here we have to take it because this is a very highly condenser type of upanishad there are quite a number of upanishads yesterday i mentioned that they are called minor upanishads and there are some sannyasa upanishads that is what is sannyasa upanishad an upanishad which exclusively devotes itself only to expounding what is called brahma vidya atma vidya ishwar sakshat kara etc it doesn't deviate here and there there are other upanishads minor upanishads like yoga upanishads and they go into greater details about pranayama asana pratyahara dharana dhyana samadhi etc etc so this is one of the most thoroughly condensed type of brahma upanishad dealing with knowledge of brahman so he wants to realize brahman who shaunaka so he approached because yesterday as we discussed without approaching a teacher can one realize god no our scripture categorically send tells us that it is not possible then what about people like sairam krishna the first phase of sairam krishna sadhana is without any guru any scripture any instruction purely depending upon his pure intuitive mind but he had already had thoroughly surrendered himself to the divine mother and it was the what we call intuition is only the direction of the divine mother there are many descriptions are there when sairam krishna first started puja doing worship in the divine mother's temple and he sairam krishna wholeheartedly prayed mother i know nothing i am a fool please teach me and later on he was reminiscing that mother used to tell now you do achyamana now you do the this nyasa and then after that you do manasika dhyana then offer padya argya achyamana etc etc now you offer naivedya and very soon within a few months his initial bhakti called gauna bhakti or vaidhi bhakti had blossomed into raga bhakti what is raga bhakti that which has gone beyond all rules regulations and controlling factors this comes first that comes next when sairam krishna entered naturally automatically then he he was trying to do step by step and the last item to be offered is called food offering and then one day he was telling that i saw the divine mother so immediately she sat down and started eating food and then sairam krishna said no no no you can't eat food now because i have not yet uttered mantra i have not offered this food for you and very soon thereafterwards he lost the distinction between the inner divinity and the external object once a cat entered oh ma you want to accept my worship in the form of the cat and he had worshipped the cat in the form of offering the cat cannot broke his achyamana padya argya etc instantaneously it wants food and he offered it mother please take it and he had gone even beyond mother do you want me to take food and that is the state most of us are when we sit for puja that we cannot broke such a heavy delay for prasadam to come so this this is the process but here is a person with natural discrimination natural dispassion and the only that he wanted to become one with the reality for that he turned his mind inward inward means towards that divine light about which we are going to talk but important point is you have to approach a teacher according to the sampradaya guru parampara system that's why many of the gurus sadashiva samarambham shankaracharya mathyamam asmadacharya pariyantham kunde guru parampara etc etc they go on chanting it that means i am one of them and as i mentioned also that why did sriram krishna need to take sanyasa he was a born sanyasi born paramahamsa you know we are all born paramahamsas we are all born without any dress that is what most people think paramahamsa but sooner soon we will forget about it but each soul is potentially divine so sriram krishna was a born sanyasi he remained a sanyasi even after his taking the sanyasa was just a formality why formality swami sharadanandji explains in his great master tilaprasanga that it is to establish this sampradaya and then he initiated later on his disciples including swami vivekananda swami pramananda etc etc and that is the ramakrishna sampradaya that is coming there but this ramakrishna sampradaya started long back with brahma and then after the brahma came his disciples then it came to yasa maharishi and his son shukadeva afterwards so many had come but we cannot remember we don't know historically then it came to gaudapada then govinda bhagavata pada then shankaracharya and he had four disciples but from there it comes to totapuri from totapuri to sriram krishna from sriram krishna the direct disciples from the direct disciples the direct disciples means monks monastic disciples and then from there some people had become sannyasins and our gurus usually fall into that category so this is the guru parampara we have to remember just as we remember our what is called family parampara i am coming from vasistha gothra bharadwaja gothra vishwamitra gothra etc etc very interesting vishwamitra was not a brahmana but he became a what is called brahma vidya varishtaha like vasishta brahma jnani and vasishta himself got certified so vishwamitra gothra so many other gothras are there so why do we remember why do we need to remember because our mind whenever it tries to stoop to something which is unworthy of us if we remember my forefathers never have done this so this is what happened and this shohanak also approached vidhi vat means what samit pani shrotriyam brahmanishtam this is what is there in the mundaka upanshat we get samit pani means with firewood on his head what is the symbolism of the firewood i am there to burn anything you want me to burn all my bad qualities all my opinions i formulated earlier everything that is unspiritual i am ready to surrender myself to you surrender is called burning away completely the egotism i and mine so this what is called dispassion is only giving up everything automatically as counterproductive to spirituality that is how he approached so this is how the upanishad starts now and this upanishad brahma upanishad gives a complete and clear idea of the nature of the atman and this atman which we have been studying in the mandukya karika has four states of consciousness jagrath, swapna, sushupti and there is a fourth state which is completely separate it is not a fourth state but for the facility of understanding it is called fourth state which comprises of all the three states and this upanishad tells us that at any given time anybody who is alive he will be in any one of the four states so are we in the fourth state at any given time all the time what we call my consciousness is a reflection of the original chaitanya brahma chaitanya and wherever there is a reflection there must be an object which needs to be reflected so there is brahma and there is jiva jiva just as a snake can never abide in without the real rope so also jivatma can never abide without the paramatma they will always be there but that pure consciousness chaitanya when it is reflected in the mirror of our pure mind that is called jivatma so paramatma jivatma one mind is second body the third combination of body mind and this consciousness that is what is called jivatma so paramatma is always there and there is no way jivatma can be without paramatma there is no way jagat can be without paramatma remember brahman means sat chit and ananda sat means existence the very existence of the snake is the very existence of the rope so the existence of both my body which belongs to the entire world part of the entire world and since it is existing it belongs to brahman it is brahman only brahman mistaken through the three limiting factors through the prism of time space and causation and that is called jivatma so now this disciple had understood all these things and those wrong notions who am i have to be completely burned and the carrying of firewood is a symbolism i am prepared to burn of course physically the guru may be performing some yagnasi yagas but truly speaking a realized soul doesn't need to do any more yagnasi yagas but then he does it not to break the tradition for the sake of what is called people whose minds have not risen to that somebody asked siram krishna why do you need to visit the temple in the divine mother that is dakshineshwar why do you need to bow down and then he said that i must set an example if i don't bow down then your fellows will not even remember the divine mother so there they have to set even as if there they have to visit the temple they have to bow down and saram krishna whenever he used to receive prasadam he used to take off his chappals and then very reverentially take this is what we observed in ramana maharshi's life also once some devotee had brought some prasadam from a divine mother's temple and the devotee informed him bhagwan i have brought this prasadam from others immediately the whole demeanor of ramana maharshi had changed tears started trickling his eyes became wet and he looked at the devotees and said have you noticed mother has come the prasada is not different from divine mother like ganga devi is not different from the gangajala like that so this is the meaning we have to understand then what did he do having approached bhagavad gita gives us a beautiful protocol what is that that have the disciple having approached the guru then he has to put some questions so prashnas have to be put up how that he has to serve him he has to please him and then he has to put the questions to him and then only even though the teacher knows but he wants to know the real intention of the disciple a student so this is how he must have prostrated before him and the details are not here he must have been staying there and then he must have pleased brahma himself because here it is none other than the great realized soul and then people are the eva the rishi and then he must have been given permission now you put a question and this is what he does it people are them approach it so he has he addressed hey bhagavan ramana maharshi also used to be addressed as bhagavan what is the bhagavan he who is endowed with six glorious qualities like gnana bala verya aishwarya viragya etc so he was got these six fold divine qualities in hundred percent quantity he is called bhagavan that means he has become brahman bhagavan pippaladam aprichat prichat means prichami i'm asking so aprichat he asked past tense but whom did he ask pippaladam he is the rishi he is bhagavan pippaladam he is a realized soul what did he ask we will come to the details a little bit later on very soon but what is the essence of the question is i want to know what is my nature that instead of asking i have this body i have this mind and the body has got so many what is called indriyas sense organs of knowledge sense organs of knowledge sense organs of activity and they are run by pranam prana is the most important thing and this is a point we have to keep in mind all the time everywhere so many upanishads there is something called prana upasana prana had to be contemplated as brahman why because brahman is called chaitanyam pure consciousness and pure consciousness is everywhere it is at all times so even in a dead body so where there is sat dead body is there there is sat is there so there must be chit there must be ananda what is lacking in a dead body prana is lacking what is more lacking where there is no prana there are no there is no mind prana represents the energy energy is not there shakti and when they where there is no shakti the body cannot function the mind also cannot function and the prana in its five-fold activity prana apana yana udana samana and that keeps the body and mind completely energized active so what what are we talking about pure consciousness is everywhere is it there in the corpse yes it is there and why can't the the corpse speak etc because there is no prana where there is no prana the mind is not there sense organs are not there karmendriyas are also not there so even though it is there the instrument through which consciousness can be manifested is completely absent and that is why what is what are the sense organs and how are they here this is what divya brahma puri this is divya means divine here divine means each soul is potentially divine is one meaning brahma puri puri means a city or a dwelling place since brahman is most manifest especially in a human body this human body is compared to a great temple in fact all our temples of which the sriranganatha temple in tanjavur is the greatest representation and it has got seven come what is called walls surrounding it there are four doors and there is what we call sanctum sanctorum representing the seven chakras of a human body and the sanctum sanctorum is the heart and in that heart the divine deity so he is there and to realize that we require this we have to give up one after the other that is muladhara etc and ultimately we have to reach the sahasrara chakra and every hindu temple is completely fashioned constructed upon the model of the human being so if that is the case how did they do that because our ancient rishis had found out this human body is the greatest temple because here it is both for bhoga or yoga the body is the dharma includes what we call god realization so whether we want to realize god we want to go to svarga loka brahma loka or we want to suffer also this instrument this ratha that is the body mind complex b and m complex that is why in the kata upanishad those who have studied the body mind complex is compared to a chariot now whereas you can say it is compared to a car there must be a driver and the car must be in fully functional state and there must be beautiful roads and there must be an alert driver and then only the journey becomes very pleasant and in the end very fruitful that is why it is called divya brahmapure sam pratishtita bhavanti who establishes or who is manifesting as the mind as the sense organs because the whole body is nothing but five sense organs and five organs of action karmendriya pancha karmendriya pancha manendriya there is nothing called body other than these 10 of course along with the mind which is called the 11th indriya so who is manifesting in the form of prana who is manifesting in the prana in the form of the sense organs and organs of action etc and katham srijanti how these are what makes these sense organs really make them function the eye is able to see the ear is able to hear etc and the hand is able to grab and the leg is able to cover the distance etc how do they function are they doing it by themselves or is there somebody who is making it kasya esha mahima mahima means glory glory means whose power who is that being whose power and remember every upanishad is reflecting the ideas given by other upanishads especially these minor upanishads they are not independent upanishads that is they take the essence and but they confine themselves to a particular subject matter and here it the subject matter is brahma vidya mahima is the glory glory means who is manifesting and who is functioning for whom is this body mind trying to act to live in this world for what purpose babuva kasya esha esha mahima this glory that we see especially when we see a very great person then we wonder how intelligent he is and how much of knowledge this person possesses and what things he is telling us and it is a wonder that is why as sri ram krishna had a disciple and he was completely illiterate sri ram krishna himself was his guru an illiterate guru trying to teach an illiterate disciple you don't need much of intelligence to understand what would be the result now i'm just making fun what is important is we all believe sri ram krishna is none other than paramatma himself do you think that sri ram krishna was not capable of making so a an ordinary foolish fellow had become the greatest poet in this world i'm talking about kalidasa his name very name kalidasa is because of the grace of mother kali he had become the greatest poet in the whole world even today and mother saraswati is manifest in the form of holy mother and swami adbutananda served holy mother so much how come that this adbutananda was not able to even pronounce properly and etc because sri ram krishna wanted to declare to the world academic formal what we call academic education is not a hindrance for the realization of god and that is the real reason not because sri ram krishna was incapable and latu manas was even more incapable but ram krishna said in course of time veda and vedanta that is to say the highest truths will emerge from your mouth and you truly speaking swami vivekananda had a wonderful conversation i'm just narrating it so some way kananda returned and then he did not go to meet swamiji he was meditating and swamiji himself had to go there latu everybody came to see me why did you not come to see me and latu mara said i don't know you have come from the west you have acquired some western disciples and it must have inflated your ego so let me see anyway i am busy with sri ram krishna you do not count and then some conversation came not perhaps on that day some other day what do you understand what this vivekananda had done that was what vivekananda declared and latu maharaj he said after all what have you done what chantracharya or ramanacharya had not accomplished in such a way immediately swamiji folded his hands and said you are right plato you are right so later word he had he had turned it into plato clearly truly his conversations especially there is a beautiful book that is called in bengali it is translated swami adbhutananda as we saw him it only came a few years back from the what we call the madras mat that is chennai matha it has come beautiful translation of course it had been translated in vedanta kesari from 1966 onwards that is okay absolutely fine so what what are we talking about that formal education is not necessary so here the person fortunately he was well educated person etc so the question that is came there whenever we come across such great people maybe ishwar chandra vidyasagar maybe kalidasa maybe einstein maybe bethoven etc etc we have to wonder that if an ordinary human being like this can manifest so much of knowledge and wisdom then how much potentiality is remaining in a human being this is what is whose glory is that in fact the entire tenth chapter of the bhagavad gita is a devoted bhagwan naming i manifest myself in the form of arjuna in the form of the himalayas in the form of ganga nadi in the form of the spring season in the form of divyasa kapila etc the best that we can remember in our upanishads as well as in the mythologies so that is what mahima bhagwa yogi isha mahima bhagwa and not only he who manifested his glory in the form of this entire universe consisting of jiva and jagat but who himself became so these words are of deep meaning is there so when you see a pot made out of clay then it is not it is what is what is it made up of our facile answer will be made up of clay but the real answer is it is not made up of anything else excepting clay it is clay there is no object called pot clay is one object and pot is another object no clay is pot pot is clay inside outside above below everywhere nothing but clay then what is the difference clay doesn't have any specific form any specific purpose you cannot take a bit of clay and then i want to cook rice and all now you cannot do that you can't much less you can make masala dosha there but if you can make a beautiful plate and you can cook food you can store food you can eat food different forms are there but it is nothing but pure clay in a particular way so what is the glory that is if we comprise this question what it means is that what is my nature because the very this is the advaitic interpretation the very question is if i am able to think and if i am able to do so many things i have so many powers already manifest even a baby manifests so many powers if this is the truth then what is my nature what is my potentiality what can i develop whole life when we go to schools or colleges it is only to develop what is already inherent within us in the form of a seed potentiality so janma janma antara life after life we go on evolving all our potentialities and using those potentialities in the service of god and that way our potential divinity in the form of potential talents being used to serve the divine that is how we approach god this is the meaning so for him the rest of a huge very big paragraph of answer is there so i will just go through it just for the sake of just reciting the mantra such beautiful mantra and then we will take up the individual meanings ekena tantuna jalam vikshipati tena apakashyati tatha eva esha prano yadayati samsrishtam akrishya prana devatahatah sarvahanadyah sushwappe sriyena akashavat yatha kham sriyena mashrityayati swamalayam evam sushupto bhrute yatha eva esha devadatto eshteyapitadyamano na nayatyeva istapottayahi shubhashubhayi nalipyate yatha kumaro nishkamaha anandamupayati tatha eva esha devadattah swapna anandam avyayati veda eva paranjyoti jyotishkamo jyotiranandayate bhuyas tena eva swapnayagachyati jalaukavat yatha jalaukagram jalauka agram agram nayati atmanam nayati param sandhaya et param na param tyajati sa jagrat avidiyate yatha eva esha kapalastakam samnayati tameva stanevalambate veda deva yonaha etra jagrati shubhashubham niruktam asya devasya sa samprasaro yatha karkataka pushkaraha purushaha granaha himsa para aparam brahma atma devata vedayati ya evam veda sabaram brahma kshetragnam upayate so ultimate sentence is ya evam veda he who knows what I am just trying to teach you yatha what does he do sabaram brahma kshetragnam upayate so he becomes brahmagnam and he becomes kshetragna the knower of the entire universe knower of the body mind complex he becomes param brahma none other than that now we will go instead of reading the English translation we will go by word as I said and we will try to enjoy it as clearly as possible om any uparishad will start om this is called mangala suchika that which must begin what is it we have we sat down both the teacher as well as the student and let this journey that is a teacher will be start teaching and the student will be observing both become successful and when the teacher finishes the teaching the student must realize the truth at least he understands what is the truth and he sits down and meditates until the last bit of doubt is completely washed off and then he tries through sadhana and he becomes a realized soul from the beginning of the teaching until the realization of the student the teacher has already a realized soul let everything be without any obstacle that is why we have uttered the shanti mantra but om and these two are called mangalika if you utter om that is the one of the best auspicious way of beginning and atha remember many of the especially the sutra literature brahma sutra yoga sutra etc atha yoga anushasana this word atha means it has many meanings one meaning is it is very auspicious beginning I am praying to god I am remembering god there are other meanings atha brahma jignasa atha atha brahma jignasa atha now atha therefore brahma jignasa has to be done this word atha or om one of these words we have to utter and the best is not to have any doubt utter both the words om tatsa diti mirdesho brahmanaha trividhah smritah these three om tat and sat and in the 17th chapter of the bhagavad gita Bhagavan himself had accepted any defect in the performance in the teaching whatever it is these three words will completely complete the process and remove any obstacles and bestows the grace of god bring us to god and make us become one with brahman that is why om shaunaka shaunaka a householder and he was of mahashalaha of fame so once approached Bhagavan Pippalada a realized soul and Angira's family he belonged to the that's why he is called Angirasaha so he what was the question in this body known as the divine city of brahman and bhagavad gita also those who have studied navadvare pure dehi naiva kurvan akarayan there resides the atman paramatman in every human body which is consisting of nine doors pure naiva kurvan he doesn't do anything he doesn't make anybody else also do anything that means he is paripoorna he is full he is complete by himself so the question was in this body I have this body I have the mind but what is important is I have separated myself because we don't say that I am the body if I am the body then who am I question will not arise whenever I come to know that I am not the body I am not the mind then as a consequence what happens what is called tri avasthas vilakshanaha tri avastha vilakshanaha completely separate there is no relationship at all not even the subject object relationship because they are always together relationship means one cannot remain without the other so if there is object there is subject if there is no object there is no subject if there is no subject there is no object but we are all having that kind of identity I am the subject and I am the also the object but a time will come when we wake up and say I am neither the knower nor the known I am neither the subject nor the object because both are bound so in this body this is called divine city why is it called divine city because potential divinity can be manifested only in this body and especially in the human body and especially in those who have developed certain spiritual qualities so this is the divine city of brahman it is called brahman because it is brahman in the form of jivatma, archida, bhasa manifesting it is established and then what does it do it brings along with him jivatma brings along with it all the karmendriyas jnanendriyas and panchapranas nothing else karmendriyas jnanendriyas and panchapranas that's all, this is called body-mind complex and then how does it bring and how is it made to work what is the power, whose power is that that power is called glory so how do they create, that means how do these sense organs function whose glory does this constitute that the body is functioning the mind is functioning and the everything is because everything is a thought kalpana, that is called the mahima you see you read a wonderful book that is a creation that is the mahima of some great soul because some power is manifesting in the form of that great book and some great scientific knowledge that is also Bhagavan's mahima some person is a great pandit, that is Bhagavan's mahima, some person Sri Ramakrishna very often used to say and that was the reason why he wanted to visit people who are well known in the society recognized in the society by the society as a very great person not only spiritually, he can be a great artist or a great social worker, a great drama writer, a great actor a great singer, a great instrumental player Ramakrishna, those who read or rather those who study the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna they will know this one in whomsoever, whosoever can sing well or play well or many other things etc, etc Ramakrishna did not elaborate remember, it is all the glory of my Divine Mother that is what exactly is being said here, whose glory does this constitute who is he who became all this glory then what type of question is that I know that I am not the body-mind I know that I am but I don't know who I am kasyatvam kuta aayataha tatvam chintaya tadih braataha this marvelous question comes Ramana Maharshi always used to ask, find out who you are so this was the question, this question itself indicates that the disciple was a learned person, he had studied the Vedas, he must have studied the Karmakanda because he was doing how do we know because he was well known as a Mahashala and he must have studied the second portion of the Vedas called Gnanakanda or I call it Gnanabhaga so that also he has studied and then he finds out that the scriptures are mentioning about Paramatma again and again and then ultimately he must have read all the Upanishads, it is not that after coming to Pippalada he has learnt about something called Upanishad and this is one of the Upanishads, no no no he had already studied but he wants to hear it from the mouth of a realized soul and that takes on an entirely different what is called realization, when you hear the same truth from ordinary people but when you hear the same truth from Sairam Krishna or from Swami Vivekananda then it has a different effect because the words are the same but the power through which those words are endowed in the instruments of this great realization it is God only who is speaking through them so the question is that how can I realize I am Brahman I know I am Brahman from the scriptures and I know all the answers to these questions I am not asking you that oh I never knew about it it is the Atma who is manifesting as Prana, it is the Atma who is manifesting as the Prana, as the Karmendriya, as the Gnanendriya as the body mind complex and it is this which is reflecting the Chit in the form of Siddha, Vasa I know all these things many times over, I am not asking you that, I am asking you to confirm that does it mean Brahman, so you help me how I can realize Brahman, that is the crux of the matter, please help me out of your infinite grace how to realize Brahman that is I am Brahman and so he is called Mahashala and then he was called Bhagawan so the disciple is addressing the Guru as Bhagawan many many great people have to be worshipped as Bhagawan what do we say about Thakur we say Thakur, Thakur means Bhagawan, we say Bhagawan Ramakrishna whether we call him Ramakrishna as Thakur or Guru Maharaj what is Guru Maharaj Guru of the Guru, teacher of the teachers he is the supreme Guru who is the supreme Guru he who can tell us so in our mythology especially Vishnu Purana there is a definition of this what is called Bhagawan he who has got six qualities what are they Aishwarya, Dharma, Esha, Sri, Gnana and Vairagya he is called Bhagawan Dhanavan van means one who possesses one who is possessed of Dhana is called Dhanavan one who is possessed of Gnana is called Gnanavan so one who is possessing in 100% very naturally what Aishwarya all the wealth in this world all the glory in this world Dharma is the very embodiment of Dharma Esha, wherever there is a name and fame it belongs to him Sri, as we were studying in the Sri Suktam that Sri means the Divine Mother and he is manifesting in Sri wherever knowledge is there and wherever there is detachment, dispassion there is Vairagya he who has got all the six he is called Bhagawan he is the Lordliness, Dharma, Fame, Prosperity, Wisdom and Renunciation then Divya Brahma Puri it means Divya means shining the Devas Deva is another name for Indriyas because they are the lights they shine the eye lights up an object this is a table this is a human being this is a tree, this is a mosquito etc. so that is why as if somebody is throwing light all the five sense organs are lights similarly our hands etc. also lights and hence this body is called Divya Brahma Puri Upanishads are very fond of using instead of saying Sareera, Brahma Pura why? because God can be realized here in fact God is only manifesting as body and mind and especially in the human body God can be realized if God can be realized then what about other things smaller things all the best things in this world that is why Swami Vivekananda's clarion call so how did the sense organs start functioning how were they installed in man how do they project the sense world how do they function of whom do they perform the manifestation and what this manifestation is in reality remember Kena Upanishad exactly starts with by whom willed and directed that the mind light on its subjects by whom commanded as Prana the first move by whose will do men speak this speech what intelligence the eye and the ear etc. and then also the answer given in the very second mantra of Kena Upanishad this is exactly what the Shaunaka was getting the answer it is the ear of ear mind of the mind, tongue of the tongue and also life of the life and eye of the eye being disabused of the false notion the wise having left this body they become one with Brahman and become immortal this is just for a reference and the answer is same since we have dealt with it I hope you remember it thus my having put this question to that disciple who put this kind of question that is Shaunaka means Vipalada Rishi he said I will teach you that very briefly Atma is manifesting as Prana and it is the glory of the Atman and the Prana is manifesting in the form of all the sense organs etc. so that is the answer it is Brahman pointed out the Brahman you do not exist, everything is Brahman we will discuss it further because as I said it is very enjoyable the very essence of the Brahmavidya we will talk about it in our future classes May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramakrishna