Chandogya Upanishad 4.1.1-4 Lecture 128 on 10 August 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

Oṁ jananīṁ śaradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇam jagad-gurum pāda-padmetayōśritvā praṇamāmi-mohurumō

Oṁ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇas cakṣuḥ śrutra-mathu bala-mindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi sarvam brahmau paṇiṣadam māham brahma nirākuriyām mā mā brahma nirākarot anirākaraṇam astva nirākaraṇam me astu tadātmani nirate yau paṇiṣadsu dharmā te mayi santu te mayi santu

Oṁ śānte śānte śānte

Hāre he Oṁ

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 Samvarga Vidya

We are studying the Samvarga Vidya. One of the greatest contemplations identifying first with Hiranyagarbha and then later on with Brahman itself.

So this Samvagra itself means that which absorbs everything. Just as it is said in the Upanishads umpteen number of times. The whole creation comes out of Brahman.

The creation is sustained by Brahman. And the creation again goes back into Brahman. Absorbed into Brahman by the power of Brahman.

And that last aspect which can also be perhaps equated with liberation in the case of people who know about it, who are conscious about it. That is called Samvarga Vidya. Samvarga Vidya.

All absorbing contemplation. It simply means in the devotee's language. Language of a Bhakta.

Complete self surrender. I surrender myself means I do not exist. I will be absorbed by you.

The Story of King Janashruti and Raikva

The Background of King Janashruti

So we have seen the story. There was a king called Janashruti. He was the great grandson of one great king called Janashruti.

So he got the name Janashruti. And he was a great man. And he had done a lot of charitable goods looking upon his people, his kingdom.

Everyone in the kingdom. Equivalent to his own family, his own children. He opened many charitable houses.

And free distribution of food. And very good food. And everything is done with the greatest humility and with the greatest goodwill.

Not throwing out and saying I am great and you are poor. I am throwing some crumbs to you. No.

With the greatest respect. How do we know? Because unless this person had done a lot of spiritual practise in this way, his mind would not have achieved purification. What is called Chitta Shuddhi.

As a result, he would not be a fit person to receive any of the higher spiritual practises. So we know, we have discussed the point.

The Divine Message Through the Birds

One night while reposing on the roof of his palace, he heard some Devas, some great people, but in the form of the birds awakening the king.

There is a great Rishi and he possesses the greatest happiness. Because spirituality means more spiritual, more happiness. And complete oneness with Brahman, no fear.

Because there is no death, there is no ignorance, there is no suffering. Sat, Chit, Ananda. So the name of this great person was Raikwa.

He used to live in a remote corner of a village and always under a cart.

The King's First Approach

So the king Janashruti came to know about it and he made enquiries about him, found him out and he approached him with the greatest humility and many people approach great monks, Mahatmas with humility but without sacrificing anything. But this person went with quite a lot of money and horses, carts, etc.

But at the first visit, the would-be guru Raikwa rejected him and even insultingly or looking down upon him, called him a Shudra, an unworthy person. And many people, if they are addressed thus, they would become not only discouraged but very angry, vengeful.

But the king must have thought, and that is how we have to interpret this story.

He must have thought, perhaps I have not attained the completeness of Yogyata Sadhana Chatustaya Sampatti. I am not a completely fit person. Let me go.

The Second Approach and Acceptance

And he must have done something else and must have again felt, I am ready now. But this time he approached with more amount of money, more amount of goodies and that included his own daughter and this time Raikwa. He accepted and said, you have brought all these gifts and then very pitiably he exclaims, by making me accept your gifts, you are making me speak out about this most sacred and sacred Vidya.

But then Raikwa was not a fool. We have to understand, the higher we climb in the spiritual realm, our own individual will will become reduced to a great extent and when we become completely surrendering ourselves to God, then there would be no egotism at all. Everything is the Divine Mother's will.

So let us remember, unless the field is ready, the seed will not come. So Raikwa, even though he exclaimed like that, but he meant this. I thought, when I addressed you for the first time as a Shudra and sent you away like Nachiketa, he rejected Yamadharma Raja's gifts.

Let all the things you are offering to me, all these dancing girls, wealth, long life and health, etc. Let that all belong to you. I have not come for that purpose and I am not going to give up my purpose.

So I thought, you might not return, but then you returned with greater humility, greater charity and greater acceptance that I consider now you are a fit person. I will give you that instruction.

Understanding Raikva's True Nature

So only one point was Raikva, because ordinary people when they hear this story, they say, oh, the daughter of the king must have been very beautiful.

So Raikva, all these days he lived alone. Suddenly a desire overcame him. This would be the wrongest impression.

Why is it so? Why would it be so? The answer is, when a person advances in spiritual life, and this Raikwa, there was no doubt that he advanced to the Saguna Brahma level, otherwise called Hiranyagarbha. So his joy, his bliss must have been the greatest. Why does a person who is enjoying a superior happiness, really try to desire something which is far far inferior?

So we have to understand that some of the Rishis, they want to maintain a householder's life, again, I think, by the will of God.

Anyway, it is not because he was overcome by temptation of this woman, unreaches, etc. And the king also said, that the place where you are staying, along with many other villages, let it be known by your name. So that area came to be known as Raikwa Panna.

That means the lands, the place associated with Raikwa. And then he became more or less a kind of a landlord with all those things. But as I said, these things are very trivial things.

They will not tempt a person who has been experiencing uninterruptedly, highest type of bliss.

The Fundamental Human Problem

So that is when the Raikwa Guru started to teach. So again, we have to understand what is our problem.

Why do we want spiritual life? And when do we begin real spiritual life? So anybody's spiritual life begins with highlighting a fundamental human problem or predicament. What is it? We are all slaves to our senses, perpetually pulled towards external objects. And what does it imply? It means I am the subject and the objects are completely different from me.

Everything is a Kshetra. Kshetra means an object. An object means that which can be known, that which can be experienced, that which can be either happiness or unhappiness.

We should not forget anything that can give happiness can also give unhappiness beyond certain limit. If any one of you likes some sweets and when you are poured over, offered too many sweets all the time, then you would not feel like seeing the face of a sweet for life after life. That is the downside of any object.

Up to certain limit, it can give us a little bit of happiness but not really. But the Samvarga Vidya is that why should I continuously, constantly run after this so-called objective happiness.

The Nature of Objects and Happiness

So why do we want to possess things? Because we think they have as their intrinsic quality happiness.

Not understanding the first point that anything that has happiness has also in equal proportion unhappiness. Second, every object it changes its nature depending upon whether our mental condition, external condition. I gave you so many examples but I will give you an example.

Suppose you are sitting in a very beautiful place and you have some very tasty snacks with you and you are anticipating enjoyment of them. Suddenly some what we call gundas or wicked people surround you, want to rob you, want to beat you simply for the pleasure of seeing you suffer. What happens to all those things? That very beautiful place will become an abominable place.

Those very objects which you have carried now became your greatest enemies. So your one prayer would be, how can I escape? In a millisecond things have changed.

The Unpredictability of Life

So if someone is travelling by aeroplane and they are imagining future life, you reach at such and such a time, meet such and such people, accomplish such and such objectives but then you know what happened at many places.

So even one second before people have no clue they are not going to live in this world. And there are also people who cannot imagine I am going to survive this. But some people also survive.

So the future is entirely unpredictable. So far as we are concerned, but God definitely knows what it is. And whatever happens, this is the grandest spiritual teaching that we have been taught by our senior monks.

Whatever happens, after we pray to the Divine Mother and try to surrender as much as possible because only in the last second it is possible and that too only by Her grace, not by our effort. A mother only can lift up the baby and take her in her lap. A baby, however, it wishes, it cannot even express properly.

But the mother understands, takes it, plays with it. Like that the Divine Mother also understands our longing if we are sincere and take us up in Her lap. That is very important.

The Illusion of Object-Based Happiness

So what for we want any object to possess so that we think and it is the greatest mistake that an object possesses happiness and as I pointed out that if we think an object has happiness, it has also equal amount of unhappiness. Let us never forget about it. And it is continuously changing.

We may change, the circumstances may change. Any time, any place, anything can happen to anybody in any way. This is not an ideal philosophical slogan but it is a fact of life.

But we are not even trying to remember it and make it as the highest truth. Yes, yes, what you say is true. Intellectually we understand it but we go on making plans.

We go on behaving in such a way as if death is never going to come to us. So what is our condition? This is called we are controlled by Mahamaya. What does it mean? How does Mahamaya control us? She controls us by the world of objects and she makes us dance to their tune until we die and again are born, again go on doing it for a very, very long time.

The Solution: Reversing the Process

From Being Absorbed to Absorbing

So now the question is whether this process or process that our being pulled by the world, instead of that, can we pull the world into ourselves? Which means by my very thought, I am so happy, I don't need any object. That is called pulling the world into myself. Can this earlier process be reversed? Can we, instead of being absorbed by the world, attracted by the world, ensnared by the world, can we come out of it and on the contrary pull the very net into our own self, absorb the world into ourselves?

How is it done? Very easy, in a way of speaking.

When we consider ourselves completely different, separate from the world, then this tug of war goes on. But when we understand that the world is not separate from me, so I am also Brahman, the world also is Brahman. I was also created by God, the so-called world is also created by God.

Understanding Unity

Very simple psychological fact. I think I am separate, the entire world, including you, he, she, it, everything else is separate from me. But the funny thing is when you become subject in your turn, you also look upon me as part of the world, as part of what is called objects outside yourself.

So everybody thinks, even a mosquito thinks this person is different and is a very sweet person and I will sustain myself by sucking his blood, etc. So this process is going on in the creation. Now what should we do? So everything, the killer and the killed, the friends and the enemies, the good and the evil, it is all a great play and I am the world.

The world is not different from me, but the world is not different from me, not as a world, but as the manifestation of God. That is what the very first mantra of Isavasya Upanishad, Everything that we say is pervaded by God, manifestation of God and it is nothing, none other than God himself. That is what we need to see.

So this is the Samvargarhya, means absorb the entire world. How do we go about it? Step by step. That is what we will see in future.

The Practice of Samvarga Vidya

Technical Understanding

So this text introduces an ancient meditation called Samvarga Vidya, the absorbing technique. Success in this practise means that objects lose their power to attract because they have been integrated into one's own being. They become our servants rather than our masters.

This is very cryptically put forward in some of the Upanishads. Sarve Devaah Balim Avahanti So when a person becomes or identifies himself with Brahman, everything becomes an object of enjoyment, just like a drama which consists of both comedy and tragedy. Everything, somebody is being killed, somebody is undergoing unimaginable suffering.

Everything is nothing but just the imagination of the writer and very well executed. So a good audience, a person who has this knowledge, this is nothing but a play of thoughts as an entertainment. He will enjoy what is called the Dukkha, the unhappiness, the suffering, terrible suffering.

But whereas a person who thinks this is real, he will be affected. When there is a joyous scene, he enjoys. When there is the opposite, he suffers.

So we are swayed by the objects of this world when we think they are separate from us. But when we progress to that extent where we establish our identity with the world, so who is the sufferer? Myself. Who is the creator of the sufferer? Suffering.

Myself only. So the killer and the killed, the good and the evil, the demons and the gods, they are all nothing but my own play. And this is what we are doing every day in our dream world.

And this is what Bhagawan is doing. That's why it is called Leela. Leela means apparently looking absolutely real, seemingly real, but not real at all.

Shifting Perception

So this is the Samvarg Vidya, how it is done. So that will be dealt with. So the practise of Samvarg Vidya, therefore, is about fundamentally shifting our perception.

What does it mean? Nothing is done. No actual action is done. The world will remain as the world.

Our body-minds remain as our body-minds. But we shift that cognitive perception that previously I am separate, everything else is separate. That is called duality.

But now we are all interconnected in one unbreakable whole. So this practise requires us to stop viewing the world as a collection of external objects to be perceived and possessed and experienced. Instead, we must recognise that every entity possesses its own selfhood.

What does it mean? It means there is a table. What is that table? It has its own self. And who is the self of the table? Brahman.

So you see a tree. What is that tree? Brahman in the form of the tree. Brahman in the form of the furniture.

Brahman in the form of both the living and non-living. Both the moving and non-moving. Chara and Achara.

Jada and Chaitanya.

Practical Application

So that is the special result we get if we can practise consciously. And what is the practise? This particular Samvarga Vidya.

Converting this perceived objectivity back into the subjectivity. This is the technical language. Subjectivity means what? Perceiving everything as God.

So look at a tree as the manifestation of Hiranyagarbha. Look at every woman as the Divine Mother. Look at every type of food as Mother Annapurna.

Every drop of water as the Apaha or Jala Devata. Every light, every heat that we get as Tejo Devata or Agni Devata. Every movement of energy called Vayu.

That is the Vayu Devata. And every movement in the space. That is the Akasha Devata.

All these Pancha Bhutas are manifestations of the Atman. Which is none other than Brahman. So this is the act of affirming the universal self-identical nature of everything.

In other words, Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma.

A Living Example: Swami Turiyananda's Experience

So let us recollect one experience of Swami Turiyananda. One day he was sitting.

It was noon. He was terribly hungry. It was extremely hot.

And so many poor people, farmers were tilling the land. Suffering a lot under that almost unbearable heat. And then Swami Turiyananda was cherishing a thought.

Look at this. These people are working so hard day and night. And I have become a vagabond.

I have become a wandering monk. I am sponging on the hard work of these people. I am like a parasite sucking the blood of these hardworking people.

And then he himself was narrating what happened. Suddenly he felt that his soul was growing and growing and growing and growing. Ultimately it became one with those people who are working, with the plants, with the trees, with the animals, with the sky, with the earth, with everything.

Then he understood that this is the divine play. There is no separation. I am the hardworking person.

I am the wandering monk. I am the sponger living on this. I am a sponger only so long as I think that they are separate and I am separate.

So that is what Bhagavad Gita advocates. So we have to change our relationship with our body and mind first and then with the entire world.

Personal Transformation

So there is a personal element involved.

First I must think this is not my body. This is an abode of God. This is a temple.

And then my mind that is the residence of the Divine Lord. Like Gopi is perceived, you are not the mere son of some cowherd woman. So you are the indweller, perceiver of everything that is going on.

You are the eternal witness of this entire world. You are not merely the son of these illiterate milkmaids or Yashodha. So through this contemplative practise, the world is no longer an external force that pulls and controls and enslaves us.

Instead, it rushes into us as we recognise it as a vast manifestation of our own higher self, otherwise called Brahma. Let us keep these few points in mind and let us dwell. As I said, once we understand this background, keep it in mind.

So the story is only a peg to make us remember these important spiritual teachings.

The Scriptural Text (Mantras)

Mantra One

So mantra one, Om Janashruthi. There was a king called Jaanashruthi and he was the great-grandson of a king called Janashruthi.

Janashruthi's great-grandson in Sanskrit like Dasaratha's son becomes Daasarathi. Vasudeva's son becomes Vaasudeva. So Janashruthi's great-grandson became Jaanashruthi.

Pautrayana means great-grandson. There lived Janashruthi Pautrayana who made gifts with respect, who gave liberally and who had much food cooked for others. He built rest houses all around thinking, let people take rest and get refreshed.

Let everywhere people eat of my food. Why? Because they are my people. They are like my children.

So this is how the story starts. And we have already discovered it. One night, maybe it was summer, he was maybe taking rest or enjoying a bit of cool air on the roof of his palace.

Then he heard two birds and that story is coming here. Once at night, swans or flamingos or whatever flew along. Then one swan addressed another swan.

Mantra Two

O Bhalla Aksha. Bhalla Aksha is addressing. O Bhalla Aksha, listen to me.

Bhalla Aksha means there is a meaning. Aksha means eye. Bhalla means a bit short.

Maybe it was an old bird and the eyesight is not as good or the other bird thought so. So what is he telling? Don't you know that the effulgence of this king who is resting on the roof of his palace called Janashruti, Pautrayana, grandson of Janashruti has spread like the daylight. Because of his good deeds.

Because of his looking after his people in every way. He is giving up his life for the welfare of those people. And as a result he had attained great purity of heart.

And simultaneously he had attained tremendous amount of concentration. And his intellect had become extremely sharp. He could understand things.

So that is the purpose of Karma Yoga. Performing actions in such a way that the mind becomes pure. Mind becomes concentrated.

Mind becomes deep. The ability to think very deeply. And mind also expands.

And he attains great punya or virtue. As a result of which a desire for a higher type of life, a higher ideal type of life will be arising in that person. These are the five benefits of the Karma Yoga.

So this one bird is addressing, Oh bird, be careful as if a pillar of flame of the greatness of this Janashruti is rising and it touches the rim of the heaven. And just as if there is a pillar of fire and if anybody, any part of the body happens to be touched by that, it becomes immediately burnt totally. So be careful not to touch that.

What the bird means is that this king is not an ordinary king. He is an extraordinarily great king. But they want to convey some message to this king.

You have achieved so much. That is excellent. That is praiseworthy.

But that's not enough. Move on. Don't stop here.

So go forward. That is the message they want to convey. So, so far whatever you did, it's wonderful.

But if you are satisfied thinking I have achieved a great lot, then your spiritual progress will stop there and you will not move forward until you know that what you achieved is absolutely nothing compared to what you can achieve. If only you are guided by an expert teacher and that is what the message they want to convey. Prasangi.

Do not go anywhere near to that pillar of fire. Be very very careful about it. Do not come in touch with it lest it should scorch you.

So we have to understand that because of the heat, King Janashruti is getting some relief here. So this Bhalla Aksha is supposed to be the name. One bird.

The Nature of Divine Messengers

How can birds really address each other? Do you mean to say birds have got so much of knowledge, they can estimate, they can judge the greatness of this Janashruti and at the same time they want to do good. No ordinary bird could do it. It is only the greatest birds that could do it.

Like the Vahana of Vishnu Deva. It is called Garuda Deva. He is one of the greatest devotees.

What does a great devotee do? He carries the greatness of God or the glory of God with him wherever he goes. He wants to share. Brothers, I am so happy.

And I am happy because of what? Not because of what I possess. Because I am keeping the very source of all bliss in my heart. Remember, these are very most important stories in the Puranas.

Just I wanted to bring to your notice, once I mention to you. Every story in the Purana is a parable. A parable is not a story.

But a parable is one of the greatest spiritual teachings given in the form of a parable so that the listener must make it his own by again and again contemplating it, dwelling upon it, thinking deeply about it until that knowledge becomes his own. When can we say that some knowledge has become our own, not intellectually understanding, but when our knowledge can bring about real changes in our life, in our behaviour, in our reactions, then only we can know that that teaching has become fruitful. That is called real knowledge.

And the knowledge that remains in the brain is only intellectual dry knowledge and that doesn't help us at all. So, one word was addressing like that. Actually, as I said, there must be some gods in the form of the birds and their words have been too well heard and understood and brought about a real change.

So, an ordinary bird talking will not bring a change. It is only a great person whose words can bring about a change in the other person. That, as Sri Ramakrishna says, any ordinary preacher cannot influence anybody else, including himself.

But one who is authorised by God, he can influence a large number of people. So, we can see that these birds have been nothing but God's words in the form of the birds. And in the Upanishads, in the Puranas, we get so many of these stories.

If you want to recollect, the Yakshaprashna, Yaksha came in the form of a peculiar form by the lake where the five Pandavas were what is called about to appear to be dead. Only Yudhishthira was about to drink, but he was stopped. We have discussed that one in that episode called Yaksha Prashna, which occurs in the Mahabharata.

Now, some sages or deities or rishis being pleased with the king's faith and generosity and actions, perceiving he is ready for the higher preaching, took the shape of swans and flew along within the range of the king's vision and they addressed only that king and the change had come only in that king.

Mantra Three

So, now we enter into the third mantra TAMU HA PARAHA PRATYA VACHA KAM U ARE ENAM ETAT SANTAM SA YUGMANAM IVA RAIKVAM ATHA ITI YONU KATHAM SA YUGVA RAIKVAHA ITI So, the other bird who was addressed O Bhallaksha, Bhallaksha, now it is replying to that first bird. Bhallaksha replied to him, How could you so describe this king as if he were that great sage called Raikva with the cart? What sort of is Raikva with the cart? Then, naturally, the other bird asked, What? You are talking about a Raikva? And he is called always Raikva with a cart.

That means wherever the cart is, Raikva will be there, there will be a cart. Maybe a few possessions, maybe it is his fancy, we don't know. So, the bird which was cautioned, that bird is replying, What are you talking about? This king's glory is absolutely nothing compared to the greatness of that great sage called Raikva always to be found underneath a cart or near a cart.

Of course, the first bird, the bird which addressed, as if it was not aware of such a great soul. So, of what sort is this Raikva with the cart? So, it is asking, How is that you are praising the Raikva? Nobody has ever heard of him and everybody has heard of this Jnana Shruti. What are you talking about? So, with a tone of reproach, Bhallaksha said, What is he telling? In other words, Don't talk to me in that tone.

This king is a very ordinary man, but you are praising him as if he is a great man endowed with high-mindedness, as if he were Raikva with the cart. So, how is this ordinary person so high-souled that you speak of him such words as are applicable? The words you have applied are applicable only to that one person, only to one person and that person is called Raikva with the cart. This is the essence of the third.

So, we have to understand, imagine that the king with greatest interest, he sat down with great alertness and he is with complete concentration hearing these words.

Mantra Four

So, we progress to the fourth mantra. A little bit cryptic type of words, but I will explain.

Just as all the lower castes on the dice called Krita go over to the one who has won the Krita caste, so does go over to Raikva whatever good the creatures do. So also to him who knows what Raikva knows. Such is he who has thus been spoken of by me.

This is what I mean by that great sage called Raikva. You see, in olden times there is a special type of dice. It is a game like Yudhishthira played with wanting to play with Duryodhana, but ultimately Shakuni.

You have to play with Shakuni who is a master of deception and lost everything. And we have to understand Yudhishthira's losing everything was also the divine will only, Krishna's will only because he had planned the whole scheme of Kurukshetra. How is it to come about?

So there would be an invitation from Duryodhana of course as the commandment of Dhritarashtra come and spend some enjoyable time. That is enjoyable to my son Duryodhana, but bringing greatest suffering to you. And Yudhishthira, he was what is called a slave, he was an addict to this game. So he came, the first time he lost, then through his wife, he got everything back from Dhritarashtra.

The second time, again he got and he did not learn the lesson, and he went and he played again. He lost everything. Not only that, the condition was, the bet was, for 12 years he had to spend his time not having any relationship with the kingdom, but in the forests.

And 13th year, completely incognito. All the five brothers had to live. What is my point? I am not going to go into that Mahabharata, but Bhagavan Krishna, he has planned, he has written the script like that.

He had to see that this Kurukshetra war is going to come. Even though he himself went to Duryodhana as an ambassador of peace, but he did not want peace to come. How do we know? Because Krishna himself confesses in the 11th chapter, Vishwaroop Sandarshana Yoga Nama Ekadasha Vathyaya wherein he says, I am of the form of time.

Loka Kshaya Krita Pravruddhaha So, I am going to swallow, absorb everybody. Nearly 18 Akshauvinis, excepting few people. So, Vithaya Pitvam Nabhavishyanti Sarve Oh Arjuna, if you are thinking that if you do not participate in this war, you may be thinking that if this war will not take place, then let Duryodhana and others enjoy and we will live an ordinary life.

No, no, no. Because Vithaya Pitvam Nabhavishyanti Sarve None of them will be revived. That is why, as a dead piece, as a puppet, as if you are fighting, as if you are fighting, because I have already killed them, but you get the glory because of your arrows.

The Chariot Story

There is a very interesting story. When the war was over, it was a special chariot sent by Devendra and it came down and the charioteer was Krishna himself. So, it is a custom like the driver gets down and opens the door for his master.

But here in this case, at the last time, Krishna asked Arjuna, you get down and that was, even in those days, it was not a very good idea. As if the servant says, I will be the last, behaving like a master. But Arjuna had faith in Krishna.

So, immediately he jumped down and he was safely away. As soon as Krishna got down, the whole chariot went up in flames because all the weapons that the opposite party, Ashwatthama, etc., were throwing at this Pandava army, Krishna was holding them at the last minute. Only when Arjuna was safe, then the whole chariot's purpose was finished.

Similarly, some people interpreted by God's grace, then we also, our chariot, our body, mind, it will be burnt out because the soul had obtained victory. That means it obtained knowledge that I am Brahman, I am not the body-mind complex.

The Dice Game Analogy

Anyway, so, there is a dice game and in that game, some people can get number 1, some people can get 2, some people can get 3, but the highest number is 4. So, a person who obtains this 4, like your game of cards, some, I don't know about it, some queen or some king, some combination and everybody has to give whatever the bets are there, he will be collecting.

Like that, this person who obtains that number 4, as if he had won everything and whatever everybody has won, ultimately belongs to that person who had won that 4. That number 4 is called Krita. So, this is what they want to convey and we will talk about this interesting subject in our next class, but then what it means is any person who had obtained his identity with Brahman or with God, what happens to him? Like the second chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad tells us So, Brahmana So, Samashnute So, he will be enjoying everything at the same time by being by claiming oneness with Brahman.

That means what? I am eating a sweet as if a realised soul is enjoying what I am enjoying.

Another person is enjoying something as if he is enjoying the same thing. Why? Because he became everybody. So, what everybody enjoys that will be the enjoyment of the realised soul.

Understanding Suffering in Unity

Naturally, a question that comes, many times it came, but everybody is not enjoying. Somebody will be suffering. What about them then? The answer is when a person becomes one then the distinction this is a tormentor, this is the tormented, this is a happy person, this is an unhappy person, this is a killer, this is the killed, this is rich, this is poor, this is man, this is woman, this is with life, this is without life.

All these distinctions completely vanish. What remains? Pure, Sat, Chit and Ananda. Everything becomes enjoyable like a well written and well played out cinema or drama.

So, that is what in this fourth mantra that any person like Raikwa who has obtained that oneness with Saguna Brahma or Irani Garbha in this case he will be whatever anybody else is enjoying he will be enjoying because of his identity with everybody, with everything. He becomes the enjoyer, he becomes the enjoyed both together. These beautiful ideas we will talk about in our next class.

Closing Prayer

Om jananim sharadham deviham

Ramakrishnam jagadgurum

bhaadapadmetayosritva

pranamami mohor mohoho

May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti.

Jai Ramakrishna.