Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.2 Introduction Lecture 42 on 14 June 2026

Opening Invocation

ओं जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुं, पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः.

Oṃ jananīṃ śāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadguruṃ, pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

Introduction to the Second Chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad

In our last class, we started the second chapter of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which is a dialogue between a great knower of Brahman called Ajātaśatru and a proud brāhmaṇa called Gārgya or Bālāki. We know the story. This Gārgya was a sincere person but a bit proud—a yose brāhmaṇa (proud brāhmaṇa). So he thought he knew everything about the ultimate Brahman, the Supreme Brahman (Parabrahman). So he approached—strangely, not Janaka, but this Ajātaśatru—and voluntarily said, "I will teach you about Brahman." Ajātaśatru was very happy even just to hear these words: "I am going to give you one thousand cows. Rarely anybody comes to me." And then Ajātaśatru asks him, "Teach me." And Gārgya immediately started teaching.

He did not know the Supreme Brahman. He knew only Saguṇa Brahma, also called Hiraṇyagarbha. Who is Hiraṇyagarbha? The entire creation is called Hiraṇyagarbha or Īśvara, Saguṇa Brahma—where from the living and the non-living, every living creature is manifesting. It is a manifestation of Īśvara. It is not a production of Īśvara like milk is a production of curds, or a pot is the making of a potter, or a baby is given birth by a mother but they remain separate. Unlike that, the clay itself has become a pot. Only in the case of Brahman we have to extend the imagination and say, unlike the making of the pot, Brahman is both the material cause as well as the intelligent cause as well as the instrumental cause. In fact, there is no creation; it is only a manifestation. In fact, according to the highest Advaitic teaching, there is no manifestation of Brahman at all.

If we happen to confront Brahman and ask, "Why did You create this universe?"—instead of "Brahman," we can substitute the word "God." Why did God create this world? Why do we question? We never question if everything is absolutely fine. Only when we find something wrong, especially which is causing me great pain, then only we question. We rarely question even when everyone else is suffering but we are quite satisfied. So, according to Advaita Vedānta, Brahman does not say, "I am going to manifest." This is all an explanation given to ignorant people, people of very small understanding, out of compassion by the scripture, to make us understand. You are absolutely right.

The Three Vādas: Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi, and Ajātavāda

That is why today I am going to very briefly introduce a new concept to you—not, of course, to other Vedāntins. Earlier I have briefly mentioned about three concepts: Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi, and Ajātavāda.

Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda

What is Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi? First, there is a creation; then only I am able to experience that creation. First creation, followed by our experience. That is called Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi. And according to our understanding, dṛṣṭi means seeing, hearing, forming an idea about the object, and acting and reacting, wanting or not wanting, happy or unhappy. This in brief is sṛṣṭi—creation. That means an object is present even before I came across it because there is a creation, and we are able to experience it. But this is for people who think in the waking state that this whole world is real. If you ask them, "Why do you come to this conclusion?"—"It is real because I haven't created it; someone else has created it. I am only experiencing and then reacting to it." Therefore, so long as we cherish the idea that this creation is real, that state in which we think that creation is real is called Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda.

This is the first stage from where everybody is acting and reacting. In course of time, because of certain experiences—and these experiences are not pleasant but sometimes very, very painful—we start questioning, "What is this creation?" And we find out, if we are thoughtful people, that everything in this world changes. And if something is changing, it is not reliable. If something is not reliable, our quest for something reliable starts. So we start questioning, "Is there a real creation, or is it something I created?"

Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda

How does a person transit from the first stage (Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi) to Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi? Because of these unpleasant suffering experiences. So long as everything is going on fine, within certain limitations, of course—if there is not too much pain, then we won't react. We think this world is very real. But death is real, old age is real, disease is real, poverty is real, suffering is real. So we cannot sustain this idea, but it persists for a long time. That state is indicated by Swamiji's uttiṣṭhata—"Start thinking, what is this? Is your view that the world is real?" And that world, that creation, also includes "I," "you," everything. Therefore, I thought I am real. If I think the world is real, I am also real. But if I think the world is changing because I am also changing—simultaneously both are changing—and therefore everything is changing, therefore it is unreliable, then we have to start our quest. And what is real? Is there anything that is really real? The person does not get the answer. The answer he gets is that even the Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi—my thinking, everybody's thinking that this external world, of which I am a part, is real—so long I have been cherishing that idea; but because of these negative experiences, we start questioning.

Then we remember suddenly: practically everyday, every night, we go to bed and have dream experiences. And then we suddenly one day connect: "Oh, when I wake up, this dream vanishes. I never think, nobody ever thinks a dream is an unchanging reality. It is real only so long as it lasts." But when do I recognise that a dream is a dream? A dream is nothing but my own creation. That is an important word you have to remember: it is my creation. I have been interpreting my memories in an intense imaginary form, and that—I created my own thoughts in a concrete form. Actually, there is no such corresponding reality, but they are also changing; nothing is true. So when I wake up, when I remember my dream, you remember, then you start thinking, "This is my creation."

So, before I went to the dream state (that second state), there was no dream. Then I collected the raw material—all my thoughts, etcetera—and I created, taking some of these thoughts, this particular dream. Maybe in a second dream I might create an entirely new type of dream. Then I remember both dreams; both do not correspond, both are changing, and both are my own creations. Therefore, I am the creator. In a sense, this is the summary essence of Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi.

Dṛṣṭi means my thought. So when I look at any object in the sṛṣṭi (so-called creation by God), that is the first time—for a brief momentary experience. Thereafterwards, I start building certain opinions: "I like this, I don't like this, it is sweet, not so sweet, the other one is much sweeter." So like that, I go on forming opinions about every single experience that I have from this world, and thereafterwards I go on reacting according to my own preconceived ideas. "This is a good person, this is an evil person, this is a reliable person, this is a dishonest person, this is daiva and this is āsura"—etc., etc., etc. And in course of time, we are convinced that because of the way I think, even though the other person does not understand, through intuition he understands: "This person is not showing much love towards me, much liking towards me; he does not love me. In fact, he may be thinking of harming me, trying to give me trouble." And he reacts, which absolutely certifies that my intuition is correct about that person, because his behaviour reinforces what I already know about that person.

So in brief, this is called Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda. Both Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi and Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi are combined in our worldly life. But what we need to understand is that we are not talking about worldly life; we are talking about spiritual progress.

Progress through Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi

So when a person first thinks, "This world is real, my body is real, my mind is real. I have some desires. I know what happiness is and what unhappiness is. So I try to fulfill, act in such a way that I try to avoid suffering as much as possible and obtain enjoyment as much as possible." But then he finds that, in spite of his efforts, certain things he cannot avoid, because it is the nature of the world—including his body and mind—to always change. And he slowly, reluctantly accepts, "I am also changeable; my thoughts are changeable." This is the first step in Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda.

Then he realises, suddenly one day, he becomes a bit more wise, and then he says, "If I can develop a particular framework through which I can see the world, then I can make my mind much more calmer and joyous, in spite of what exists as unchangeable fact." So in the midst of, for example, evil people, "Okay, let them do what they like, but I will not be a puppet in their hands. I will not react according to their expectation. I will keep the frame of my mind in a particular way so that I try to prevent what is harmful that is contemplated by others, or I think they are trying to do it, or actually do it. But then I myself will look upon them as the result of my own karmaphala." He becomes more calm. And whenever any event of joy occurs, let him enjoy it to the full, not comparing, "Last time this sweet was much better; this time it is rotten." No—last time was last time, this time is this time.

So when a spiritual aspirant attains what is called insight, then he understands: whatever be the world externally, I can keep my mind to a great extent very peaceful by my changed outlook. This is what psychologists call CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). CBT does not change anything outside; it is not absolutely true. As my behaviour changes, there will be some changes in many people correspondingly—that is very true. So people also react to my action or to my reaction. So if I can go on very calm, joyful, helpful, unselfish, with a positive outlook on life, especially belief in God, then I understand, irrespective of what the world is, I can feel I am living in a higher world. This is, in a sense, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda. This is a great progress in spiritual life.

Then in course of time, that also is not possible because how long am I going to go on dealing with this mind in this way? I want to go beyond the mind. So many commentators (bhāṣyakāras) have compared Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda to the waking state—that is for whom the external world is the only reality. For those who are more advanced, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda is comparable to the dream. Since I am the owner of the dream, I am the creator of this external world—that is my own thoughts, my outlook (dṛṣṭi) is going to change everything in the outside world so far as I am concerned, because it is an individual experience only. How Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to look upon the world, how many priests used to look upon the world, is totally different. I will give some examples also later on.

But even svapna (dream) is changing, and there also some unhappy experiences will be there. No dream will be always very sweet—only dreaming of svargaloka (higher worlds)—no. So how can I want to be always happy? Therefore, taking our three states of experience one after the other: waking first, corresponding to Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda; Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda corresponding to the dream state; and Ajātavāda, which corresponds to deep sleep (dreamless sleep, Suṣupti Avasthā).

Suṣupti and Ajātavāda

Why is it called Suṣupti? Because not even an iota, a trace of body and mind, intrudes there to create any sort of problems. When we forget our body-mind, which is the whole of the external world—so to say—so long as I have one eye, one-fifth of the world is real in the way of forms. So long as I can hear, another one-fifth of the world is present in the form of sound. If anybody is bereft of these five sense organs, the whole external world disappears, but the mind remains. But in Suṣupti, even that mind also disappears. Therefore, when a person says, "I am not aware of anything," we have to understand it correctly: I am not aware of the mind and the body, but I am aware of a particular state where there is no second so long as it lasts, and it is the most peaceful. I am the only one. Since I am the only one, happiness and unhappiness, fear and fearlessness—sukha-duḥkha, bhaya-abhaya, śītoṣṇa—they do not affect me at all. When I am free from these dualities, I am my own self. I remain as my own self.

Even though this is not the highest state, it is the nearest to the higher state. That is why the cosmic aspect of everybody's suṣupti is called Īśvara, and the individual aspect is called very beautifully ājña or prajña. But we should not misunderstand: "I did not know" does not mean "I was unconscious." No, I was very conscious that I am alone; there is no body-mind. The absence of the body-mind I note down. I don't even say—I cannot even say—that the world is absent, because there is no world at all. I am not aware of the world at all. I am not aware of the body and mind. I am aware of only one unbroken cidābhāsa—pure consciousness: "I am, I am." The problem is this also changes, even though it lasts longer. But so long as we are there, so sukham aham asvāpsam. Even if a tiger, one hundred tigers surrounded me and played with me, throwing me like a volleyball from one side to the other—so long as I am in that deep sleep state, I am blissful.

In this connection, I remember the life of Ramana Maharshi. Bhagavān used to say that his sleep was very, very deep, and when he was awake, nobody could wrestle with him, beat him, or become a stronger player than him. He was the best player in everything because he concentrated on his mind. Some of the boys were very resentful, but they knew they could not beat him. Even if they came to fight, he was going to throw them out. He was very strong. But then they soon found out a secret: when this boy called Ramana goes to deep sleep, it is a very peculiar deep sleep—such a deep, deep sleep that they used to carry him, punch him, and do all sorts of things. And he, Ramana Bhagavān, used to narrate: "I did not know a single thing"—that means he was not feeling. And when I used to wake up—because the boys used to bring me back and put me exactly where I was sleeping—happily I would get up and say, "I went to bed on this bed and I woke up on this bed; nothing had ever taken place." Now, sometimes I have these doubts: what about all the punchings he received? Fortunately, Ramana Maharshi does not remember anything because nobody could really give such a punch that it would hurt even after he woke up. That was a very peculiar experience.

Some fortunate people like Swami Vivekananda used to sleep with two types of divine visions for some time. As soon as he laid himself on bed, Narendra used to see a small jyoti (light) growing brighter and brighter, and his personality used to merge in it, and he did not know what happened after that. Second, he used to feel, "I am a wandering monk all the time, totally dependent upon God." But he used to feel, "I am the king of this world. I can do whatever I like. I can get whatever I want. I can attain whatever I set my mind upon. But next second, I rely only upon God." And with that second vision, he used to fall asleep for a long time. Ārindranath thought everybody used to sleep in the same way. Only when Rāmakṛṣṇa questioned him, he came to know that that is not the truth. So these are peculiar experiences of great people (mahāpuruṣas).

Therefore, what we are talking here is that when a person makes progress, he soon realises that even though it is my own outlook on the world, that alone is reality for me because I am acting and reacting according to my opinions—whether they are right or wrong, we are not talking. Therefore, who formed these opinions? Myself. And if I have formed these opinions, I also have the capacity to form them in the way I like, in the way I can experience unbroken happiness, unbroken bliss—meaning only sweet dreams, happy dreams, beautiful dreams. That is a great progress in spiritual life. That is what I think Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to say: when a person's kuṇḍalinī reaches the Anāhata chakra, thereafter progresses until he reaches the Ājñā chakra, higher and higher experiences will be there. There are also different stages, but we are not going to talk about them.

Summary of the Two Stages

So the second one is Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda, where the importance is my action and reaction, my opinion about the world. In the first one (Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi), the world is primary. In the second, I can change my opinion, and if I can change it to a very positive, happy opinion, then I can experience—irrespective of conditions outside and in my body and mind—only positive experiences. This is a great progress in spiritual life. This is called thinking the whole world is a dream. Until that time, any amount of lectures, hearing the lectures, or reading books is not going to help us. We have to identify, and that is a state of experience. Until we experience, we are still in the Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi stage only, not the Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi stage. But slowly we realise about this.

In my last class I have explained how Swami Sharadānandaji had described this so fantastically well. You will do well if you can go through that, because there are more details there than what I have outlined. I only gave you the summary of how a sādhaka can reach the highest realization through both the paths of iti iti and neti neti. But it is not a choice—"I will choose neti neti from the very beginning without going through iti iti." I have to transform the world through this Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda, and this transformation is called controlling the mind (cittavṛtti-nirodha). This transformation is called subduing demonic qualities and developing divine qualities, so beautifully enumerated in the sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā.

But the progress has not been complete, so we have to go still further, and that is called Ajātavāda.

Eka-Jīva Vāda and Ajātavāda

By the way, even this Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda also indicates to us another fantastic idea, about which Swami Vivekananda only remarks very simply, very rarely. It is called Eka-Jīva Vāda, in contrast to Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda. What is the difference? In Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda theory, my opinion about the world is real. There are infinite numbers of beings; everyone is separate from everyone else. If somebody is going and experiencing, that is only that individual's experience; others are not affected by it. That is called Aneka-Jīva Vāda—as many creatures, so many jīvas. In contrast, Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda means that if I become unconscious, the whole world becomes unconscious—all those Aneka-Jīvas, infinite numbers of jīvas, various classes of jīvas having varying qualities. Some are gods, some are semi-demigods, some are rākṣasas.

As I mentioned, there are four types of people. The lowest class want to kill everybody, rob everybody, and try to be happy. The third class say, "Live and let live. We don't believe in God, but we believe that if I let you live, you will also let me live. I scratch your back, you scratch my back." This is the outlook of the third class. But when the same jīva progresses further, he enters into the second class, where he believes in God and in the scriptures. But even though he says he believes in the scriptures and God, he wants only something from God—he does not want God, he wants certain things from God, including not only enjoyment on this earth but higher happiness in the higher worlds. That is what he wants to have. So these are much better; they are more moral, and they do not try to harm. They also understand they must acquire virtue (puṇyam) in order to attain higher happiness both in this world and after death in higher worlds. So they have faith in God, faith in the scriptures, faith in the prescriptions of the scriptures, faith in the Karma-kāṇḍa of the Vedas, and they perform—because the best of faith is its practice. If anybody says, "I have faith," but does not practice, that is merely worthless, useless belief—not faith at all.

So this is how the second-class people have faith: "I want higher happiness." Their minds have not yet evolved further, so they think they will be quite happy if they can get even the highest happiness in this dualistic world, which is termed as Brahmaloka. So they perform agnihotra, pūjā, worship, chanting of mantras, and visiting places of pilgrimage, etcetera. And they get the result. Once they get the result, their faith in the scriptures becomes enormously reinforced, and when it becomes reinforced, an inner eye opens up and says: "The same scripture which is telling me to perform the rituals as prescribed in the Karmakāṇḍa (the action portion of the first part of the Vedas) is also talking about the eternal, unbroken, highest happiness called Brahmananda that can be attained. Why should I go on working like a donkey if once I realise Brahman, then I can be happy for eternity—highest happiness, unbroken happiness, infinite happiness for infinite time?" They belong to the first-class people.

This is what I said about the four types of people. Now, this person who is firmly convinced, trying to control his mind and purify his dṛṣṭi, so that he can view the sṛṣṭi in a much higher light—this is called morality. This is called samadarśitva—seeing the whole world as equal to one's own self—and this corresponds to the Dharma-nanda, the fourth stage of ānanda, and that is only one step lower to Brahmananda. Then the person, by the law of evolution, slowly understands: "Any amount of effort will not do." So he approaches a competent teacher, and he also tries to become a competent student. The teacher understands: "If there is a small defect, I will try to help them remove that defect"—as Prajāpati had done to both Indra and Virocana. But Virocana could not be reformed. Does not Prajāpati know it? He knows it, but "let him experience." But he will also be an Indra-like sometime in the future, because suffering will bring, like no other thing, to the feet of God. So that person had to wait for some time, but he would be evolving—no doubt about it. But Indra slowly was being purged of his impurities.

The Chāndogya Upaniṣad Example

In the same way, we are talking about Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda. So Virocana's followers follow the era of Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi Vāda: "Make everything proper, rest properly, eat properly, enjoy properly, and that is all; nothing else is there." These are called Cārvākas or materialists. But Indra at first thought like that, so he must have gone through this stage. Because the Chāndogya Upaniṣad in the eighth chapter does not tell us, but my interpretation would be: Indra returned home, enjoyed bodily happiness, found his quest was not fulfilled. Then he came back again, and further purification was necessary—another thirty-two years, like that three times. Then he was told the second: "The whole world is like a dream." That corresponds roughly to Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda. But even that Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda is not complete; there also changes will be there. Therefore again Indra came back, and another thirty-two years. Then he thought Prajāpati taught him the third highest stage—that is called Eka-Jīva Vāda: in Suṣupti, I am alone. When I remove my mind, the entire world disappears. I am the only one who is present. I am the only jīva. Why do I call myself as a jīva? Because I have not become really enlightened and not realised my true nature; therefore, I am still a jīva. But fortunately, from infinite numbers of jīvas, I progressed to one jīva in Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda stage.

So this person wants to experience and move further. Then he analyses his deep sleep state, which corresponds to Ajātavāda. So long as we are in deep sleep state, no world exists. I am only conscious of my own pure self without a second. Therefore, when there is no second, there are no dualities like happiness and unhappiness, heat and cold, victory and defeat, profit and loss. All these will totally disappear in deep sleep state, and there is unbroken bliss so long as it lasts. And I am conscious of it—that is why, without being conscious, I cannot say, "I was very happy." So sukham aham asvāpsam—"I slept very happily throughout the deep sleep state." Na kiñcid avediṣam—"I did not know anything about this world." And this utterance comes only after the world comes into view upon waking up. But this analysis makes this sādhaka understand: probably like this deep sleep state, I was never born; the world never existed; maybe I am mistaking it. So there is no creation, there is no jīva, there is no baddha (bound soul), there is no effort for liberation, and there is nobody who becomes liberated. In the second chapter of the Māṇḍūkya Kārikā, I think verse number thirty-two, we get this. So this is called Ajātavāda.

Gauḍapāda, by the way, is a proponent of Ajātavāda. But in order to confirm—because the deep sleep breaks and he wakes up—by the time he surrenders, he takes the shelter at the feet of an enlightened soul, and then he understands slowly. Mahāvākya: "There is no world, there is no sṛṣṭi, there is no dṛṣṭi, there is no Eka-Jīva." What remains is Ajātavāda. Vāda means opinion, but that opinion has to be transformed into a realization. So slowly, through viveka (discrimination), vairāgya (dispassion), ṣaṭ-sampatti (the six-fold wealth), and mumukṣutva (intense desire for liberation)—all the required qualifications to become a fit recipient—he receives the great mantra called Mahāvākya. Either of the Mahāvākyas: Prajñānaṃ Brahma, Ayamātmā Brahma, Tat tvam asi (famous), Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi (not so famous in this Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad; we have seen that one in the very first chapter, fourth section). So then he realises one day, and then he realises: creation is not real.

The Highest Realization

Creation—if I put on black spectacles, then Brahman appears as black. If I remove the black spectacles, Brahman appears as He is. So if I put on the spectacles of nāma-rūpa (name and form), I see the same Brahman with name and form; minus the spectacles of name and form, I see Brahman as He is. So if I am able to see the world but as Brahman, that is called the state of a living free soul (jīvanmukta).

So these are the stages. This highest Ajātavāda is the highest. Now, which one is correct? That is a wrong question. Depending upon at what stage of development we are: if we think Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi, then the Karma Siddhānta will work out. If you want to lessen the suffering, follow the teachings of the scriptures and try to remove selfishness and immorality, and try to treat others with sympathy and unselfishness, and then your life will be as happy as possible. But rebirth cannot be avoided, and the opposite of happiness also cannot be avoided. But the same thing applies to Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda also. Even in dreams, we have both happy and unhappy experiences. So when we wake up, we understand by analysing the dream: maybe the world is like this only.

This is the sum and substance of Swami Sharadānandaji's explanation of how a man attains to the highest through the path of iti iti. So through the path of iti iti, slowly he progresses, and then he enters into Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi Vāda. He creates his own dream of Iṣṭadevatā (chosen deity) and attributes several qualities—each quality is a spiritual quality, and every spiritual quality when it is acquired makes us one step higher than what we have before, or one step subtler, higher, more pervading. So that is how then he comes to analyse the deep sleep state: Eka-Jīva—"I am the only one; I create the entire world. So I am the creator." So when we analyse that, we say: so long as we see that in deep sleep, there is no world at all, there is no one jīva, there are no many jīvas—they all belong to the higher stage of dream state. Then what vāda remains? Ajātavāda—pure Ajātavāda. So there is no creation at all.

At first it is a theory, but later on it becomes an experience by the grace of the Guru, which is really the grace of God, which is really the grace of the scriptures. Guru, scriptures, and grace—they are not separate. This is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa meant: Bhāgavata (scripture), bhakta (true devotee—the Guru), Bhagavān (God)—they become one. That is how we have to understand. Only when a person realises can he say, "I am the bhakta." A real bhakta means a realised soul.

So this analysis of the deep sleep state (Suṣupti) brings us to the intellectual understanding that there is no world, and therefore it is called Ajātavāda—"there was no creation." But that intellectual conviction has to be transformed into actual realization. When one takes shelter at the feet of the Sadguru, slowly he will progress, and one day, like the Guru, he can say, "Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi." The Guru will be rejoiced: "A big burden has gone from me; I don't need to worry about this person."

Conclusion

So we have to keep in mind these three beautiful opinions (vādas—faiths, actually):

1. The world is real—this is meant for believers in the reality of the external world (Sṛṣṭi-Dṛṣṭi).

2. The world is my own construct—this is for believers after analysing the dream state (Dṛṣṭi-Sṛṣṭi).

3. I am the one who creates the whole dream world; therefore, I am the only jīva (Eka-Jīva).

But when the same person progresses further and tries to analyse the deep sleep state, then he understands that there is no creation at all, and when it is transformed into realization, he understands Brahman, and Brahman alone is the only reality.

Closing Prayer

ॐ जननीं शारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः

Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!