Chandogya Upanishad 3.12 Summary Lecture 153 on 08 November 2025

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :

Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.

ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः

श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि।

सर्वम् ब्रह्मोपनिषदम् माऽहं ब्रह्म

निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म

निराकरोद निराकरणमस्त्व निराकरणम् मेऽस्तु।

तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते

मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥

oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ

śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi.

sarvam brahmopaniṣadam mā’haṃ brahma

nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma

nirākaroda nirākaraṇamastva nirākaraṇam me’stu.

tadātmani nirate ya upaniṣatsu dharmāste

mayi santu te mayi santu.

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Translation

May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength and all the organs become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman. Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.

Introduction to the Gayatri Mantra

We were discussing the symbolism, significance, and importance of the Gayatri Mantra. Gayatri is also described as Śabda Brahma. The mantra usually goes like this:

Oṃ Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṃ Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt

Structure of the Mantra

We have to separate this mantra into five sentences:

Oṃ is the first sentence
Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ – that is the second sentence (these three are also known as Vyāhṛtis)
Tat Savitur Vareṇyaṃ – the third sentence
Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi – the fourth
Dhiyo Yo Naḥ Pracodayāt – the fifth

In very short summary, what it means is: "We meditate on the glory of that Supreme Being who has produced this universe. May He enlighten our minds."

Names and Origins

This Gayatri Mantra is also known as Sāvitrī Mantra and Sarasvatī Mantra. This Gayatri Mantra occurs in Ṛg Veda, 3rd Maṇḍala, 62nd section, 10th Mantra. Gayatri is considered to be the very essence of all the Vedas.

The Three Aspects of Gayatri

Gayatri is the most ancient, sacred, and most cherished of all the mantras. It is looked upon as the queen of all mantras. This Gayatri Mantra is supposed to be repeated at the sacred three junctions of the day. Actually, a few people do it four times: at dawn, at dusk, at midday, at midnight. But those who do at midnight are far few. A few try to do it at least mentally at midday, but most of the people are supposed to do at least both at dawn and dusk.

Morning: Gayatri

In the morning, this Gayatri is known as Gayatri. It is associated with Ṛg Veda and the creative aspect of the divine corresponding to Lord Brahmā. This is how our Ṛṣis interpret it.

Noon: Sāvitrī

At noon (Mādhyāna Sandhyā, Madhyāndha Sandhyā), she is known as Sāvitrī. This form is the presiding deity of the Prāṇa, associated with Ṛg Veda and the preserving aspect of the divine corresponding to Lord Viṣṇu, also to the Sun God, Savitā. One of the names of Sūrya Deva is Savitā – Sṛjanakartā. He is the giver of Prāṇa, sustainer of Prāṇa in the form of food and heat, digestion, etc.

Evening: Sarasvatī

In the Sāyaṃ Sandhyā, when this same Gayatri Devi is contemplated, she is known as Sarasvatī. In this manifestation as Sarasvatī, she is the presiding deity of speech and wisdom, associated with Sāma Veda and one of the transformative aspects of the divine, also known as Layakartā. Laya means absorbing into oneself, but that is looked upon and understood as the destructive aspect. Rudra or Śiva is also contemplated upon as a destructive God. In fact, the very name Rudra means "he who makes people cry, weep" – that is why he is called Rudra.

But actually, why weeping? Only ignorant people weep when they are being taken, like small children forcibly being carried by servants or somebody to its mother. The child thinks this is destructive, this person is interrupting my joy.

The Three Functions

So Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, Laya – all the three are aspects of the Gayatri Mantra. Why? Because she is Mahāmāyā. She is the Jaganmātā. So she is known as Gayatri, Sāvitrī, Sarasvatī, associated with the three Vedas.

The Unity of the Vedas

Why do we say three Vedas? Because you must remember, earlier all the Vedic knowledge was only one, and Veda Vyāsa divided it. Earlier to that, there were only three Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda. But really speaking, there was only Ṛg Veda – one Veda. When some of the verses, some of the mantras are set to a particular way of chanting like Gregorian music, then it came to be known as Sāma Veda.

Music and the Mind

If you really hear this Vedic chanting from a distance – the intonations, rising and falling – and if you hear Gregorian music... Why is it called Gregorian? Probably there was a Christian saint called Gregory. In those earlier days, they used to raise their voices in Christian hymns, but set to Gregorian music. As people's minds came down, they could not stand, could not tolerate that pure music. Then they have to do like our cinema bhajans, set to various types of musical background music, various types of instruments.

This actually indicates the restlessness of our mind. The more restless our minds are, the more we crave for something short, quick, and mixed with various types of instrumental music along with percussion instruments like tablā, like mṛdaṅgam, etc. But as our mind becomes pure, it has to become steady.

If you observe the Sandhyā Āratī at the Ramakrishna Mission, you will see the very first few hymns – not the bhajans, beginning with Khaṇḍana, Oṃ Amṛtam – it is more like chanting rather than bhajan style. In fact, Swami Vivekananda had constructed it and set it to what we call Cautāl – sixteen number of mātrās is called Cautāl. This Cautāl can be divided into four counts, that is called Tritāl: 1, 2, 3, 4. And if it is even faster, it is called Dadrā.

So the more restless, the more our span of attention is shorter, something has to forcibly draw us. And actually it does a terrible amount of damage, because every bhajan can be a great mahāmantra. And what is a mantra? Oṃkāra, Tajjapaḥ, Tadarthabhāvanam. So one has to really contemplate on the meaning of every word, sometimes every syllable. Because Oṃkāra, Oṃ is consisting of three syllables: A, U, and M.

Anyway, these are just a side note we have to understand.

The Practice and Purpose of Gayatri

Millions of Hindus repeat Gayatri Mantra at least once in a day. It is an obligatory daily ritual performed by all the upper-caste Hindus. Devotees repeat this mantra in order to purify themselves and, of course, to have their desires also fulfilled. But the most important desire is to obtain a sharp, discerning, discriminating intellect – right understanding.

The Importance of Right Understanding

Even in secular affairs, if a person understands rightly, then he can progress even here also. I remember an incident when I was in UK. We have some money in the stock market, and we don't know anything about these things, so we have employed one firm to look after on behalf of us. I think it was in 2008 or 2009, the stock market was extraordinarily high. Naturally, we felt tempted: why not we invest some of this money?

We used to meet once in three months. An officer from that firm would come, and he is a very wise man. So he said, "Swami, if a stock market has gone very high up beyond reason, that is the time to withdraw our stock from that." We were disappointed, but we have to accept because we are paying through our nose. So we accepted, we sold a lot of this one – that means we authorized it, he sold it.

Do you know what happened? After a few days, the whole stock market came crashing down, not only in UK, all over the world. That was in, I think, 2008 or 2009, something like that.

So right understanding – that is the context. Whether a person wants to earn money, wants to choose a partner, wants to accept a job, wants to accept a promotion, right understanding should be there. It looks as if that sometimes we are making the right decisions, but no – pray to God that may God endow us with right understanding.

For Spiritual and Worldly Progress

So not only to fulfill the desires, not only to progress in spiritual life, but even to obtain the right understanding, every scientist, every economist, every musician, every aesthetic person must obtain the grace of Mother Sarasvatī, otherwise known as Gayatri. But what to speak of spiritual aspirants? The repetition of Gayatri takes us to God realization.

What is the ultimate test of right understanding? That which tells: "I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am not the pañcakośas, or three bodies, or I am beyond the three states of experience. I am That, Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi." That is the ultimate right understanding.

Students and Scholars

And of course, for students – remember we are all students only, and we should be students. There is a tremendous difference between readers and students. A reader merely wants to pass his time; it could be curiosity, it could be time pass. But a student is one who strives to understand it, studies the scriptures.

People think only Upaniṣads and Śaṅkara's commentaries, Rāmānuja's commentaries – they alone are the scriptures. Very few people, even today, some of us are shocked to find that some worthless intellectuals in India have been considered deep scholars because they use words which are very difficult to understand in long sentences. Sometimes the sentences run to 7, 8, 9, 10 lines, and by the time you come to the end of the sentence, you may have lost the thread at the beginning where it started. And they are considered highly intellectual, and those books are prescribed for the PhD studies. No wonder permanent head damage is expected from them!

Whereas Ramakrishna tells in simple words: we must become simple-minded. All garbage, all unnecessary understanding should be forgotten. So that is what Mother Sarasvatī, Mother Gayatri bestows upon us, upon the votaries, devotees, aspirants who are sincerely praying: "O Mother, I am your child. I am a fool. I don't know anything. You please tell me what to do, what not to do, how to behave." That was the approach of Sri Ramakrishna, and that should be the approach of every follower of Sri Ramakrishna.

The Meaning of Gayatri

So Gayatri mantra bestows – in fact, the very mantra, the very definition of Gayatri: Gāyantaṃ Trāyati Iti Gāyatrī – "She who saves one who repeats the mantra." Even the very etymological meaning of the mantra is "that which saves one by repetition."

Of course, repetition is not repeating the sound. Most marvelous definition by Patañjali Ṛṣi: Japa means what? Artha Bhāvanā. Only Artha Bhāvanā will transform our lives, not mere parrot-like repetition, which Ramakrishna had ridiculed. A parrot can repeat "Ramakrishna," then it thinks it is safe. But when the cat catches – here cat means death, death comes – its original sound comes out, screeching sound comes out. No.

For Students

So for students it grants Medhā or spiritual intelligence. Bhagavad Gītā also supports it: "I bestow them that understanding by which they come to me, become one with me, merge in me." That is the final purpose.

Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on Gayatri

Ṭhākur Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji had high regard for the Gayatri. Ramakrishna confirms that Gayatri Mantra helps one make spiritual progress and leads one to the Supreme Brahman through the experience of Samādhi.

Sri Ramakrishna's Teaching

He says: "For the Kali Yuga, the path of devotion described by Nārada is best. I tell people not to bother about the elaborate rituals of the Sandhyā as enjoined in the scriptures." Remember, Ramakrishna is the Avatāra. An Avatāra is one who enlightens all of us in the simplest manner possible as suitable for any particular age in which God incarnates.

Ramakrishna continues: "I say that it will be enough for them to repeat Gayatri alone." What a marvelous statement! Ramakrishna says when anybody repeats Gayatri Mantra, that is enough – enough to realize God.

When M first met Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Ramakrishna was teaching: "A Sandhyā merges in the Gayatri, a Gayatri merges in Oṃ, and Oṃ in Samādhi." And what is this Oṃ? It is like the sound of a bell: Ṭom. See, Ramakrishna speaks of that word Ṭom like that. The Yogi, by following the trail of the sound Oṃ, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahma. A man is firmly established in spiritual life when he goes into Samādhi on uttering Oṃ only once.

Sri Ramakrishna is the proof for this statement. These are just a few words, quotations taken from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

Swami Vivekananda's Vision

Now what Swamiji wanted to do: Swamiji, Swami Vivekananda wanted every Hindu to be initiated into the Gayatri Mantra. Remember earlier we read it is the most ancient mantra. How old is Ṛg Veda? Actually Vedas are eternal. Veda means knowledge. Knowledge means God. Since God is eternal, knowledge of God also is eternal. And since God is eternal, Vedas are eternal. They are not creations of somebody. That is why they are called Apauruṣeya – not human productions. Everything else.

Then what about the Ṛṣis? A Ṛṣi is called Satya Draṣṭā or Mantra Draṣṭā. Again, very beautiful definition. Draṣṭā means one who experiences. A person who sees is called a seer. Without seeing, a person should not be called a seer.

So what does this person do? He will be experiencing God in a particular way depending upon where he is born, under what religious and cultural background he has been grown up. Like a Christian saint calls God Christ, and then he has the same knowledge. But at the same time, Hindus have various Gods and Goddesses. Muslims have the concept of Allah. Every Buddhist has the concept of Buddha.

What is Buddha? Ramakrishna's beautiful interpretation, definition of Buddha: an awakened person who understands and becomes one with the truth. That is why Buddha is also called Tathāgataḥ. Tathā means to the ultimate goal. Āgataḥ – one who reached the ultimate goal: Tathāgataḥ. So Buddha is one who understood Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi. That is why he said there is a truth, and that is infinite, unborn, immortal, unchanging, eternal.

Breaking Caste Barriers

So Swamiji wanted every Hindu – and by Hindu, he doesn't mean Brāhmaṇas only: Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, Śūdras. In fact, Swami Vivekananda initiated some non-Hindus, Christians into Saṃnyāsa. Swami Kripananda was one example. Then some women also he initiated into Saṃnyāsa at Thousand Island Park.

Swamiji did not make any distinction. He said one who is pure is a Saṃnyāsī. One who is not pure is a householder, depending upon the degree of purity. Swami Vivekananda said one could be a Śūdra. Who is a Śūdra? Fourth-class man, one who is impure. One who is a little better is Vaiśya. Still better: Kṣatriya. And sattvaguṇa is more – he is called a Brāhmaṇa.

The Holy Thread Ceremony

There is a beautiful incident. It was Sri Ramakrishna's birthday. Swamiji was staying at that time at the rented garden house, popularly known as Neelambara Babu's house. First Maṭh was at Baranagar, second Maṭh was nearby some other place, third Maṭh was near the present Belur Maṭh – Neelambara Babu's garden house. And that is completely under the control of the Ramakrishna order now. At that time Belur Maṭh was not there.

So arrangements had been made for Sri Ramakrishna's nativity on a grand scale. On the morning of the auspicious day, Swamiji asked the disciple Sarachandra Chakravarti, who is a Brāhmaṇa: "Well, you have brought the holy threads I hope?"

Disciple: "Yes sir, I have. Everything is ready. But sir, I can't make out why so many holy threads are needed."

Swamiji: "Whoever comes here on the sacred birthday of Sri Ramakrishna, I shall invest him with the holy thread."

Then Swamiji observes: "These people have fallen from their true status, and the scriptures say that after proper expiation, those fallen in the way earn the right to investiture with the holy thread. This is the great day of Sri Ramakrishna's nativity, and men will be purified by taking his name. So the assembled devotees are to be invested with the holy thread today. Do you now understand?"

Of course the disciple understood. Maybe he has some doubts, we don't know, but for him, "My guru is Śiva," he understood.

Special Gayatris

Then Swamiji was explaining something very beautiful: "To the bhaktas who are not Brāhmins, give this mantra of Gayatri." Here Swamiji communicated to the disciple special Gayatris meant for them. What Gayatri Swamiji had whispered into the ear of his disciple, we do not know. But there are some Gayatris which can be imparted to even the lowest class of the people.

We have to be ashamed today even to call some people "lowest class of people." But you know, everywhere in the world, either people say it is a caste or it is a class. Everybody has got a class. I have yet to see a person who treats everybody as equal, and especially women. No, this is black skin, this is yellow skin, this is a woman's body. How many regimes are oppressing, suppressing even today in this 21st century? We have to be extremely ashamed of what is still happening.

Swamiji says: "By degrees all the people of the land have to be lifted to the position of Brāhmins, not to speak of the bhaktas of Sri Ramakrishna."

The True Caste System

So what Swamiji's idea is: everybody who is born in India should be a Brāhmaṇa – not the caste Brāhmaṇa, but the guṇa Brāhmaṇa. Actually the caste system, as we discussed many times, especially in the Bhagavad Gītā, had come about only because of the guṇa. And there are wonderful stories in the Mahābhārata.

One of the stories, as we know in Karma Yoga, Swami Vivekananda states it beautifully, he describes it: he had to humble himself, sit at the feet of a butcher and learn Brahma Vidyā. So even though professionally he was a butcher, but he was a Brahmajñānī. And he had become a Guru. Even a householder, a wife of a householder had become a Guru. See, that means this Brāhmaṇa was a jāti Brāhmaṇa, but not a guṇa Brāhmaṇa.

So there are some Gayatris. Swamiji could have given the Gayatri we are discussing here, but he did not want to alienate some of these so-called orthodox Brāhmins. And that is why Swamiji had imparted some Gayatris. I mentioned some of these Gayatris also.

So there are some Gayatris which can be imparted to anybody, even what we call Western people, Christian people, Muslims, if they want. So Swamiji's idea is everybody is born a Śūdra only, a fourth class only.

In fact, there is a beautiful Sanskrit verse which I have quoted umpteen number of times: everybody is a Śūdra by birth. So by acquiring some good qualities, by observing best people in the society – as we have seen in the 11th Śikṣāvallī, 11th section – find out the best Brāhmins who are leading a spiritual life, and you imitate them, follow their footsteps. So everybody has to become a Brāhmaṇa, and that is the purpose of this division. It is not to have some social privileges. That is what Swamiji had preached in his talks from Kanyakumari to Almora.

What is a Mantra?

Now what is a mantra? Already I have told you. A mantra is a mystic formula consisting of a prayer. Jesus mantra, for example. What is the Jesus mantra? "Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner, have mercy on me." There are variations: "Lord Christ, have mercy on me," "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." One can shorten it, but the bhāvanā, the feeling behind, the understanding behind, should be: "O Lord, I surrender myself to you."

This Gayatri mantra is a surrender, complete surrender. The very word pracodaya means "You drive my understanding." Just like a charioteer, a driver sits in a vehicle and he drives. And however great the passenger may be, the safety and the very life of the passenger or passengers depend upon the driver. So at that time we should look upon the driver as Bhagavān himself. And that's why we say Durgā, Durgā: "O Mother, you drive the vehicle, you drive the car."

So it could be a wholehearted prayer of śaraṇāgati, complete self-surrender: "So I empty myself, I remove myself from taking decisions. You sit there, you decide, you drive me." That is the meaning of codanā, pracodanā.

Forms of Mantras

So any divine name – Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha – it could be just a syllable, a letter. Usually a few short words is a mantra. A long-worded mantra is very rare. Actually, Gayatri Mantra, as one of the parts of the Rig Mantra, is considered to be 24 letters divided into three lines, each line having eight syllables. So 8 into 3. That's where we will discuss: what is the role of Oṃ (first sentence), then the role of the Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ. Then only real Gayatri will start.

The Need for a Guru

A mantra is used for meditation, japa, and worship or for spiritual practice. But there is a rule regarding the mantra: it must be received from a qualified guru. It must be transmitted by a guru or a spiritually evolved person to an equally qualified disciple. Otherwise, why is it so?

If Einstein tells that this is the formula, then it has an authenticity. For everything there is an authenticity. So a person who knows that this is authentic – how does this person know? Because he practiced the same, like a scientist. Many times he experimented, he got it, and then he knows this will work. If this way it is done...

For a simple example: water. What is water? H₂O – two molecules of hydrogen, one molecule of oxygen. And if these two are mixed, it won't become anything. It won't become oil, it won't become gold. It will become only water. Inevitably, it will become only water. Let anybody repeat it, combine it in this way, and it will be only water.

So a person who experiences, he has the authority, and his words have authenticity. And that is what happens. That is why simply take up a book and read there – one should not repeat. But what to do when a qualified guru is not available, but a person is sincere?

Divine Guidance for the Sincere

Ramakrishna says, and I quoted many times: somebody is very sincere, he wants to have a darśan of Lord Jagannātha. Then Lord Jagannātha will come in some form and guide him. Swami Vivekananda used to say, when the field is ready, the seed must come and fall in that field. And it is an inviolable law. It works every time.

When Sri Ramakrishna was ready, his gurus came. When he was ready for a particular type of sādhanā, that particular guru came at that time. So we have to examine whether we are ready, and the seed must come. That is why we are called Kṣetra, and God is called Kṣetrajña. It is only God who comes in the form of the guru, etc.

So this is the condition usually accepted. But if somebody has got faith and there is nobody, you take up from a book – it doesn't matter, the mantra will work. Even if you read about H₂O and you get these two materials, it will work. But if you go to a lab and a professor is there to guide you, it would be a much easier task, simpler task.

Mantras as Divine Revelations

And then we have to understand: mantras are not human creations. Mantras are divine revelations. They are obtained by the Ṛṣis. A Ṛṣi is called a mantra draṣṭā who uncovers, discovers – not inventors – seers of divine truths. When they have attained a particular state of consciousness in their meditation, then they got this revelation.

These mantras flash in the depths of these Ṛṣis and enable them to progress in spiritual life, to realize God, to have self-knowledge. Therefore, anyone who follows in their footsteps also will obtain the same result, ultimately God realization.

The Potential Divinity of the Soul

According to Vedānta, and we all know that each soul is potentially divine. But to think we are not divine – because of our ignorance which results in wrong identity – that is, "We are not divine" means "We are body and mind." If we can have the right understanding, immediately we realize that we are not human beings with a body-mind complex, but really divine.

The Universal Aspiration

In truth, we all desire to be divine. None of us wish death. None of us wish ignorance. None of us wish unhappiness or misery. Unconsciously, with every breath, we are repeating the mantra So'ham.

When we split this word, So'ham: Saḥ, Aham – "I am He." And with every breath, what are we doing? When we breathe in, then we say So'ham. So, when we breathe out, Ham. So, Ham, Ham. When we breathe in, we cannot utter that, but we can feel it. So that peculiar sound comes: So, Saḥ, Aham.

Saḥ is called Ajapa Japa – without consciously uttering the truth: "I am Brahman." And when this So'ham is reversed, it becomes Haṃsaḥ. And one who realizes, he is called Paramahaṃsa.

The Necessity of Practice

So that is very important. That is why merely taking a mantra from a book by oneself is not enough. The disciple too must receive it with deep faith and devotion and practice with steadfastness, untiringly, until he reaches the goal or God realization.

Śabda Brahma: The Philosophy of Sound

So this Gayatri Mantra is called Śabda Brahma – Brahman in the form of Śabda. Brahman in the form of Rūpa. Śabda and Rūpa – these are the two important things. So Hindu Ṛṣis developed a special school of philosophy called the Śabda Brahmavāda. Popularly, it is known as Sphoṭa.

This Sphoṭa means spontaneous manifestation of Brahman in the form of sound. What is the purpose? When we see something, we have knowledge of that something. Similarly, when we hear something, we have also knowledge. When a dog barks, even at midnight, as soon as we hear, we know a dog is barking. And when we hear somebody singing, most likely we realize who is singing. But there is somebody. Even if we do not know, some person is making a sound, is speaking in a language. So that is how we come to what is called Truth.

The Theory of Vibrations

So this Sphoṭa Vāda, theory of sound – the basic doctrine underlying this theory is that all this hard and tangible universe which we see in front of us is made up of different kinds of vibrations and energies. The things which appear so static, solid, and real are not really so.

This is a very fascinating subject. But before I proceed further, I will give a small example. Just see: supposing somebody is playing a flute, a sound comes. Somebody is speaking to us, sound comes in whatever form. Somebody is scratching with a sandpaper, it is making some sound. And we hear that sound if it is within our capacity to hear. Because if some sound is coming from a long distance, miles, we may not be able to hear until it reaches us.

The Primordial Sound

Scientists say when first from that point of singularity, spontaneously, the universe burst out, at that time it burst out in the form of vibrations. Under that first vibration, the scientists claim that they have captured it. They have been trying to capture it. They didn't have the instruments, but some time back, some years back, they claim that they have captured that sound. Of course, you can also hear what they demonstrate. But then it sounds like air passing. So when the wind passes through, especially like some bamboo trees – bamboo is used, as you know, for flute, etc. – so it makes a peculiar sound, sometimes very frightening. Banshee sound, we call it, so like some ghosts are making some sound.

So how does sound come to us? In the form of vibrations. And Brahman comes to us in the form of vibrations. Whatever be the sound – from a baby, from an animal, from a mosquito – is all nothing but vibrations. And then the whole universe, there is nothing called solid.

The Illusion of Solidity

You look at a piece of stone. Who else can dispute that it is not a solid piece of object? But then, you know, go to the science. What does the science say? This whole piece of rock that you see, so heavy, etc., it is made up of atoms. Not only is it made up of atoms, but every single atom is moving at mind-boggling speed. The speed of light is nothing. And the wonder of wonders is: one single atom to encounter another single atom and have an accidental collision is almost impossible.

So everything is vibrating. Atoms are moving. And a stone is consisting of many, many atoms. For us, it appears to be a solid piece of rock. But for other people, it is vibrations. That is where this Śabda Brahma comes into account. Every Śabda, every piece of sound, is nothing but a solid material. Or every solid material is nothing but a piece of vibration.

States of Consciousness

But when we are in a particular state of the mind, a particular state of consciousness, something appears to be very solid. When the same person is in another state of consciousness, everything becomes vibrations. This is the theory of vibrations. But this is a very simple way of understanding this. That's what Swami Vivekananda wants to say.

The Universe of Thought and Emotion

Furthermore, the Ṛṣis have discovered that the universe of thoughts and emotions – every thought, not only an external object, our thoughts are also nothing but vibrations. And if you have studied the Rāja Yoga, it says: throw a small piece of stone in a lake. Immediately, it creates a wave. That wave creates another wave. Like that, it goes on broadening, widening. And our mind, our thoughts, is like that. And every vibration is also a kind of energy.

Subtle Worlds

Even subtler worlds like Svarga, Naraka, Heaven and Hell are also but a play of different vibrations and energies. Further, all these vibrations are interconnected and can be traced to one primary fundamental reality called Śabda Brahman.

Conclusion

This is a most marvelous subject. I am carried away, really speaking. We will talk about it as much as possible tomorrow.

Closing Prayer