Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.10 and Summary Lecture 172 on 11 January 2026

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.

Conclusion of Panchagni Vidya

We have completed the explanation of the Pañcāgni Vidyā. It is one of the most marvelous upāsanās. And what happens? What is the result? What is the benefit the contemplator of this Pañcāgni Vidyā would get at the end?

With that, the tenth mantra in the tenth section of this Chāndogya Upaniṣad, which deals with this Pañcāgni Vidyā, comes to an end. In our last class, we have discussed that point.

The Final Mantra

Atha ha yaḥa etan evam pañca agnīn veda na saha taihi api ācaraṇa pāpmanālupyate śuddhāha putāha puṇyalokāha bhavati yaḥa evam veda yaḥa evam veda.

I mentioned earlier that when certain words are repeated, we have to understand either that section or that chapter or that book is coming to an end. So here, yaḥa evam veda, yaḥa evam veda is Pañcāgni Vidyā, is coming to an end.

Results of Contemplating Panchagni Vidya

What happens? What is the result of a contemplator of this Pañcāgni Vidyā? He who knows and worships—here worship means not external rituals but contemplation. And contemplation has to do something with meditation, not much to do with the external rituals.

Karma and Upasana

External rituals are called karmas. Now this word karma in general gives the meaning "actions." Any action is a karma. But when the Upaniṣads are specifically using this word karma, it means the actions, the rituals prescribed by the first part of the Veda, which is called Karmakāṇḍa.

But that will give one type of result. And we have seen those who go to the not very high lokas, worlds, but much lower worlds—nevertheless, higher worlds, but not very high. They are the people, for example, Sargakāmo Agnihotrāha Agnihotraṁ Juhuyāt—one who is desirous of heaven, he should perform this Agnihotra.

But if the same person only does the rituals, he will go to higher place of experience of happiness. As I said, it is not a geographical location. It is purely a mental state. But if someone combines these very rituals, and the rituals will become only a starting point. But the moment he performs these rituals as prescribed with concentrated mind, then he enters into the very spirit of those rituals, closes his eyes as it were, and then becomes one with the deity or deities of those Agnis.

Protection from Sin

So such a person, what happens to him? His mind becomes pure, etc. But just to be able to understand this, earlier mantra clearly said that those who steal gold and who dishonor guru's bed, etc.—four types of pāpas, four types of people, those who drink liquor and those who do evil deeds—they are the most heinous sins.

But another person is included and anybody who associates with these kind of people intimately, sooner or later, then he will also fall down.

The Power of Association

Very surprising thing. All these things are very well mentioned by both Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and Holy Mother. I will give you two of their teachings.

Sri Ramakrishna's Warning

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to warn one householder devotee, "Sādhu, sāvadhān, be careful, do not mix with such and such a woman very intimately." He perhaps did not understand it, but others were surprised. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to praise this person to the skies, such a high-souled person, and yet he was warning that person. Why? Because you are thinking that it is all a pure relationship, especially between two sexes, male and female. At first, the relationship may be of purer, but you know, basic instincts are very much hidden in a human personality. So, by associating, very, very quickly, Mahāmāyā envelops. Therefore, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had warned.

Holy Mother's Teachings

And Holy Mother also used to warn people not to associate with worldly type of persons. She made a great psychological remark. Supposing such a person, good person, so happens to keep the company of such evil people. And Holy Mother points out what should have been a most obvious fact, but which is not. Supposing you associate this person, what happens? The memories of that person will arise. As soon as the memories of that person arise in our minds, immediately certain thoughts that are expressed by this person, such deeds this person utters, even some of the jokes this person utters, etc., he will remember.

And an evil person, because his consciousness is firmly embedded in that state, he cannot talk higher things. And even if a higher thought subject is brought up, very soon he will bring everybody down to his own level.

Center of Consciousness

A person, for example, who is a foodie, even if Bhagavān's prasādam is mentioned, very soon, you know, that temple, it gives very tasty prasāda. Whereas this wretched temple, they are cheating people, not giving good prasādam, etc., etc. Everything is pulled down to one's own state of consciousness. And that is why Swami—Svāmijī Mahārāj used to warn people—so find out your center of consciousness. That means, whatever object you think most often, that is your center of consciousness. You are conscious about that object too much.

Like Rāmakṛṣṇa says, when the tortoise leaves its eggs on the bank, sea bank, ocean bank, and goes into the tank or river or whatever, but its mind is there on that. So similarly, our minds, they can become very deceptive. Most of us are experts in deceiving our own selves.

Contamination Through Association

So, Holy Mother says, when you remember the deeds of such persons, slowly this person's mind also becomes contaminated. So, that is why five types of evil people—four types of evil people who are already doing evil deeds, but the fifth one who has not started doing, but associating with such people, and sooner or later, but actually sooner, that person will ultimately go through, he becomes like them only.

The Story of the Butcher

And that is why peculiar incidents are there. At once, Holy Mother gave a small type of story. A butcher was dragging a cow to the butcher's place. And then he became tired. And he begged food. And somebody, out of compassion, gave food. And then the sin of killing that cow, a bit of it, had clung even to this person who had given food to this butcher. Because this person helped the other person.

That is why it is said, evil can be done by oneself or it is approved, encouraged by other people indirectly or even bearing silent witness to that—all these are equally guilty of that crime.

The Pure Devotee Remains Unaffected

So these are the five types of people we remember. And in that context, he who is sincerely absorbed in contemplating on this Pañcāgni Vidyā, what happens? Saha taihi api ācaraṇa, even if he is associating himself with these four types of people or even five types of people, pāpmanā na lippyate, he is not going to be contaminated. Nothing will cling to him. Why? Because the very performance of this Pañcāgni Vidyā.

Vidya Means Spiritual Knowledge

Vidyā means knowledge. And here vidyā means spiritual knowledge. I will come to that very soon. A person who is sincerely doing this one, śuddhaḥa, he becomes pure in his heart. Putāha, he will be destroying all the evil saṁskāras. Only spiritual saṁskāras, good saṁskāras, pure saṁskāras will remain. Puṇyalokāha bhavati, as if he had attained to that highest loka even while he was being here.

The Doctrine of Anandamaya

And if you recollect the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, it is going to come. We have not yet come to that. That while describing Ānandamaya Manasa. So if a king is there, he is wonderful person, etc., etc., and the happiness of which he is the master is one unit. But if by any pure deeds, rituals, he goes to what is called, he becomes, attains higher loka above the earthly loka, his happiness will be hundredfold. Like that, nearly, I think, ten times the calculation is there.

Now the point here is, at the end of every description, says ākāmaḥa, śrotriyaḥa, śrotriya syāca, ākāmaḥa. So one who is a real śrotriya, who had faith in the scriptures. How do we know a person has faith in the scriptures? Faith cannot allow the intellect to remain dry. The very faith sits on our head and makes a person follow what we believe. This is a great psychological fact.

The Power of Belief

If you believe that this poison is nectar, you will not hesitate to drink it. But if you believe, on the contrary, this nectar is poison, even God comes and cannot induce you to even touch it, even to look at it. And that is how what we really believe, that dictates our thoughts, our speech, and our actions.

Rāmakṛṣṇa purely believed in God. So, his thoughts are on God, his talks are on God, his deeds are on God—24 hours a day without break. Whereas, we might take initiation, we might do hours of spiritual practice according to the direction of the Gurujī. But what happens? Our mind really doesn't have that much of faith. That means more faith on this world. So, we become frightened, maybe I will die, or maybe I will lose my beloved family members, or I lose my property, bank balance, job, everything. If these things are affecting, then definitely this person doesn't—that doesn't prove, or that proves that his faith is not strong.

The Drama Analogy

Just like a person who is witnessing a drama, if he thinks it is real, then his emotions will be uncontrollable. But he knows this is just a drama. He will thoroughly be enjoying all the miseries, especially the miseries that are being acted upon in the drama.

Attaining Punyaloka

So, this person gradually he becomes pure and his saṁskāras, which are obstructions, what is called three tāpa—ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika, and ādhidaivika—they become slowly purified and on this very earth, puṇyalokāha. That was what we were discussing.

Freedom from Desire (Akamahata)

Not only a real śrotriya, he becomes ākāmahatāha. How can a person become ākāmahatāha? Kāmaḥa means one who is afflicted with unfulfilled desires. A person with fulfilled desires will not be afflicted until the desire arises again. Only a person with unfulfilled desires, he will be afflicted with terrible sorrow. The stronger the desire and the greater the suffering until he attains it.

So, this person, why is he not afflicted by all these things? Because he says—when does a person become free from the effects of sin? Only when—why does a person commit sin? In the hope of getting some happiness. But that getting happiness can be through the right path, wrong path. But there are people who get this happiness, want to try to get, to obtain that happiness through the wrong path. And that karma phala a person has to experience. But temporarily, he will also experience it. And the more he experiences, the greater will be the suffering. Because when he falls from that state, then he will have to suffer very greatly.

The Source of True Happiness

But what happens? He is getting some happiness. So who can become free from all desires? The purpose of any desire is to obtain happiness. And if for a person to become free from desires, he must be getting more joy or at least equivalent joy to what he is getting through the fulfillment of desires.

So how is this person getting? The scripture gives beautiful examples.

The Analogy of Deep Sleep

In suṣupti, deep sleep, we are not coming into contact with any object of enjoyment or object of suffering. And that is why it is a pure bliss. Bliss means uncontaminated by happiness and unhappiness. Because both happiness and unhappiness, they come and they change all the time. Nobody can be happy for more than a moment. But the person in suṣupti is so very happy. How is he so very happy? Because he doesn't have any desires. Then where from is he getting happiness? Because he realizes I am that happiness. He becomes one with that his own nature, which is Sat Cit and Ānanda are in the Taittirīya language, Satyam, Jñānam, Anantam. Anantam means unlimited bliss. Anantam, Ānandam.

Freedom from Fear

So, so long as we are there, we don't fear anything. Fear and Ānanda are opposite sides of the same thing. So, here there is no fear because there is no second. Therefore, he is merged in his own self, which is of the nature of bliss, until it breaks up, then again the rigmarole starts.

Samadhi vs. Deep Sleep

But a person who has identified himself with God, it is the same thing, but knowingly, consciously identified. There is a difference between deep sleep and samādhi. In deep sleep, it is natural, automatic, beyond our control. In samādhi, it is completely in our control. That is what the very definition of yoga, citta vṛtti nirodhaḥa, complete mastery over one's own mind.

So, ākāmahatāha, a person who doesn't have any desire, not afflicted by desires, he experiences the same joy and that refrain goes on till the very end. Even when a person attains Brahmaloka, so śrotriyasyeca ākāmahatasya. That bliss belongs not only to the person who performs rituals and reaches that state, this person who is completely free from desires, he will also experiences it. We have to apply that situation here.

Living Among the Impure

So, what happens? Whoever is knowing—knowing here is not intellectual knowledge, but actual performance. Knowing means to have complete faith, and once we have faith, as we discussed just now, he cannot but help doing it, performing it, and nobody can force him, stop him.

So, such a person, what happens? Let him move with most evil people.

Swami Vivekananda's Example

Svāmī Vivekānanda made a marvelous statement that when I was visiting Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, that I used to avoid all evil places. But now I can sleep in the very houses of the public women. What does he mean? He means that they cannot affect him, they cannot influence him, they cannot produce even the slightest desire in him. The simple reason, when a person is experiencing infinite bliss, he would not care for a shadowy bliss.

So, by the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, even Svāmiyā, Dhūtānanda and other disciples attained to that same state.

Holy Mother's Experience

And Holy Mother used to say, when I, second time, I was with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa at Kāmarpukur when I was 14 years old, as if a huge pot of bliss is continuously kept in my heart. I used to experience that bliss, and that bliss had never come to an end after that.

The Meaning of Punyaloka

So, this person becomes puṇyalokāha means what? He starts experiencing bliss of any other being, including Brahmā's, Brahmājī is happiness, bliss, even wherever he is living. That is the meaning of loka. And then with this, yaḥa evam veda, he has reached that state by the performance of this Pañcāgni Vidyā, yaḥa evam veda. Anybody in future, until the end of creation, he will get, like scientific experiment, the same result. That is what. With this, it has come to an end.

Summary of the Five Questions

Now, five questions have been answered actually. In the very first teaching by this Prabhāhana Jaivali to Gautama Ṛṣi, he said, our birth is not suddenly coming out from non-existence to existence, but it is a great process, the very path by which a puṇyātmā, a meritorious person, because of his merits, has gone up to Brahmaloka. Same way he comes down.

The Process of Rebirth

So first of all, he becomes what is called Somarāja, Ānanda. And then he becomes cloud. He becomes rain. And he becomes food. That rain helps the earth make food. That food is eaten by a male being. And this Jīvātmā, in the form of that food, he enters into that person, becomes a specialized seed, not only in the male, but in the female also. And both of them, when they come together, when they unite, these two halves of this Jīvātmā become mixed up.

The Koshas

Rather, it is not the Jīvātmā, but it is the body of the Jīvātmā. The other four kośas will remain the same. Saṁskāras, mind, will remain the same. Sūkṣma śarīra, kāraṇa śarīra will remain the same. It is only the physical body. That is the outer meaning of the Pañcāgni Vidyā.

Inner Meaning of Panchagni Vidya

Inner meaning of the Pañcāgni Vidyā is that first of all, there is nothing called death. Secondly, until we obtain knowledge, we are ignorant. And ignorance creates a feeling that I am not Brahman. If I am not Brahman, who am I? I am this Pañcakośa. And this fifth kośa comes and goes, but the other kośas remain. They become free or they fall down. They are destroyed. They are burnt out only when a person knows Aham Brahmāsmi. That is called Ātyantika Pralaya. That is, there is no more saṁsāra for such a person. And anybody, everybody will attain to that state.

The Dynamic Nature of the Worlds

Now, essence of this Pañcāgni Vidyā, we have seen that no world is completely filled up because continuous travel is there. Imagine two towns or two cities where people are, some people are going from city A to city B, some people are again coming back from city B to city A. Nobody is remaining permanently there. And so none of the worlds are completely filled up.

The Two Paths

And then two, three paths have been described, even though two have become famous, the path of the light and the path of the darkness.

Classification of Souls

So we have seen that there are three types, rather four types of people, even though description in this Pañcāgni Vidyā is given of three types of people. So let me say, there are first class is one type, second class is one type, third class is one type. And these three contain actually four. How?

First Class First Category

The first class people, they are divided into two categories. Those who do rituals, as a result of these rituals, because they are worshipping gods. Every ritual is a worship to God. Every ritual, there is a beginning of the fire and it becomes bright and brilliant. And then with the name of gods, Indrāya svāhā, Pūrṇāya svāhā, Bṛhaspataye svāhā, etc.

So through pure contemplation on the gods, gods means higher states of consciousness. So they attain whatever they have earned, identified themselves with. So there are people who combine rituals along with contemplation and their concentration is far superior and their faith in scriptures is the best. So such people attain to Brahmaloka.

Krama Mukti

And then there are whom after enjoying in Brahmaloka, whatever desires they had, for most of the people, those desires will be exhausted and they will not return. They will from there attain to their real nature along with the Brahmājī. He takes classes there, like our weekly classes, maybe daily classes, and don't wait for that because you cannot bear even one hour of my talk here. Their Brahmājī will be taking each talk will be more than thousand years. So I don't know how you are going to put up with it. And you cannot sleep because a terrible blow will come at any given time from every corner.

But some people, they return. So the people who along with Brahmājī, the purest of the creature called also Īśvara, along with him, most people, they attain nirvikalpa samādhi. That process is called Krama Mukti.

Then there is some type of people and they come down and they are reborn in wonderful families, spiritual families, which environment will be absolutely very helpful for them to slowly get rid of those desires. Maybe a few times they have to go up and come down, but then they will also attain through Krama Mukti.

Sadyo Mukti

But there are some type of people on this earth itself. They destroyed all their desires. And such people, they said, we have experienced these things. We don't want them imitation of it anymore. So we will solely devote our life to pure spiritual progress. And by realizing that I am Brahman, they become free. This is about the first class first people.

First Class Second Category - Pitryana Path

Then within that category, there is a lower category. They are more devoted to rituals than contemplation. Such people, they also, as a result of their meritorious deeds, attain higher locus and then they come down. And the first class people, they go through the path of light and the second type of people, they go through the path of the Pitṛyāṇa, where the happiness will be less and the duration of the happiness will also be less. But they have done some good jobs only, not too much. As a result, they will be born and they will be given another chance to progress. Slowly, they will also become first class first and then attain either Krama Mukti or Sadyo Mukti.

These are the two classes.

Third Category - Neither Good Nor Evil

Then, the Upaniṣad did not discuss. So, in that first category, there is a third class. These people, they don't do any evil karma. They do not do much of good karma. You know, there are so many decent people in this world and they don't want to give any trouble to any suffering to other people. Of course, they themselves don't want any suffering to themselves, but they will not do consciously, actively, any harm to other people. They are just ordinary people and they think their vision of life is just live a good life, moral life. Don't give trouble anybody. By morality, we will not trouble other people.

Ishta and Purta

But these people, they don't do much good. I forgot to tell you that in the first class, first people, the second category, they also do Iṣṭa and Pūrta. It is mentioned here, we have studied. That is, they become much more unselfish. So, very actively, they will be doing a lot of good to people. They believe that if we do puṇyam, we are not losing anything, but God will keep an account of what we have done, and that result of puṇyam, which is called sukham, will come back to us by the dispensation of God. He knows where, when and how much we have to experience of sukham.

So, Iṣṭa-Pūrta people, that is the second type of the first class first people.

Ordinary Souls

The first class, among the first class first, the third type is, they neither do good nor do evil. What happens to them? They will not go up, they will not go down, they will be born immediately, will be given as many chances as necessary, and slowly they will progress into the second type of the first class first. Then they move up further as first-class first, and after a few experiences, either through Krama Mukti or Sadyo Mukti, they will also be liberated. So, that third type is not actively mentioned here, but we have to understand they are ordinary people. So, accordingly, they will get their result also.

Evil People - Kapuya Charana

But what we call the third type of people, they are evil people, actively, they don't do any good, but they do a lot of evil. Like earlier we have seen they are drinkers of wine, stealers of gold, and dishonoring their elder people's beds. That means the immoral type of people. They don't care for gurus, and every elder person is a guru.

The Three Acharyas

Remember, the ācārya we know is only the third person. First Ācārya is the mother. Second Ācārya is the father. Third Ācārya, when we happen to meet some outside the family who is going to teach us, most often that is what happens.

Consequences for Evil Doers

So, if this person does dishonor to the guru, doing any of the evil actions or drink wine and lose all common sense, power of discrimination, they are likely to do it. But there is a fourth type of, fifth type of person who also is open to become like those evil people just by association. The power of association is marvelous. That is why the very first commandment of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is, first cultivate holy company.

So, this is what we have seen. So, what happens to these people? What is called fourth type of people in our explanation? Third type of people, according to the Upaniṣad, Kāpūya cāraṇaḥa, evil way of living. Then they will be born as stalks and stones.

The Story of Nahusha

Yesterday I narrated the story of Nahuṣa also. You better look up and read in detail what happens, what questions he has put, what answers he has given, etc.

Lower Births

So, we have to come back to this. But they will be either insects, birds, animals, anything but human beings, or they might attain the lowest of the human life, cāṇḍāla yoni. So, they may be reborn into the wombs of a female dog or a female hog or pig or a cāṇḍāla, but not only those three, any number of any, depending upon the varieties.

Universal Redemption

But nobody will remain there. They will be given any number of choices. God, in his infinite grace, will give infinite choices, so they will come up. Slowly, they will become the third type, neither good nor bad, then actively good to some extent, then extremely good, etc. So, that is what we have discussed.

The Two Paths Described

So, these people, how do they go to the higher states? Beautifully described. It is called Uttarāyaṇa, Dakṣiṇāyana. It is also called Śukla Gati, Kṛṣṇa Gati. It is also called Devayāna, Pitṛyāṇa. So, path of the light and the path of the darkness, etc. But everything means one thing only.

These first two types of people, they go there and the first class, first people do, probably, most of them do not return. The second class of people definitely return. That's called Pitṛyāṇa.

But what is called evil type, the people who neither do good nor evil, and most of us are like that. Such people, as soon as they die, they are again born on this earth itself.

But the evil people, they will have to experience the results of their evil, which is suffering, and suffering is a cleanser, purifier. Once they are purified, they will be given another choice.

Bhagavad Gita Reference

So, these two paths is very beautifully described in Bhagavad Gītā, also, eighth chapter we get. So, with this, the Pañcāgni Vidyā is over.

Swami Vivekananda's Interpretation

Now, I would like briefly to discuss what Svāmī Vivekānanda has to say about these two paths. First of all, talking about these two paths, in, you know, there is a book called Swamiji's Talks at the End of Jñāna Yoga called Practical Vedanta. There are four chapters. In the second chapter, Svāmī Vivekānanda mentions these things and that we hear of two paths. I do not much myself understand what these paths means. And then he goes on elaborating them purely in a spiritual light. This is what we will read now. Not in Swamiji's words always, but in our own words.

General Overview

Svāmī Vivekānanda did not extensively discuss the specific terminology of Śuklāyaṇa or Kṛṣṇa Yāna, the path of the light and the path of the darkness as distinct paths in his public lectures or writings. So these terms relate to the path of light and the path of the darkness as described in the Bhagavad Gītā chapter 8 verses 24 and 25.

The Two Paths Signify Spiritual Progress

What are these verses? And then these two paths really signify ascending progress in knowledge and descending progress in ignorance, opposite.

Bhagavad Gita Verse 8.24

So the original verses go like this:

Agnir jyotir āhar śuklāha ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam

Tatra prayātā gacchyanti Brahma Brahma vidho janāḥa

"Fire, daytime, the bright half of the moon and the six months of the northward passage of the sun—taking this path, knowers of Brahma, go to Brahma."

Symbolism of Light and Darkness

So Swamiji's interpretation, symbolism of light and darkness. Swamiji emphasized that jñāna is light and ajñāna is darkness. Very beautiful spiritual interpretation. The references to fire, light, daytime, bright half of the moon, so they are all slow ascent into jñānam and gradually approaching nearer and nearer to God or self-realization. That is the bright state that comes to the knowers of Brahman and the knowers of Brahman are also called spiritual aspirants.

But Swamiji linked the path of light to the state from which there is no return to the cycle of birth and death, which is the ultimate goal of liberation called mokṣa. And the downward look contemplation of the material world is the path of darkness which leads to continued cycles of transmigration.

Emphasis on Oneness

So, what Vaswamiji emphasizing, emphasis on oneness. Swamiji stressed the core message of the Gītā, which is to realize the oneness of the Supreme Lord dwelling in all beings, the imperishable. So, slowly we must have progressing towards that imperishable. Imperishable means changeless. Until we reach Brahman, even Brahma loka is a temporary loka, maybe a long time compared to our ordinary earthly life, but in comparison with infinity, infinite time, what is even if 1000 yugas, you live with Brahman and experience happiness, makes no difference.

Each Soul is Potentially Divine

Swamiji believed that we are all destined for realization. So, repeatedly he said, each soul is potentially divine. So, he believed this realization can be achieved either through jñāna, bhakti, karma yoga or rāja yoga.

Spiritual Journeys, Not Physical

So, Swamiji interpreted these Śuklāyaṇa or the bright path, path of light, Kṛṣṇāyaṇa, the dark path, as symbolic spiritual journeys described in the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā. He viewed these paths not as literal physical journeys through space, but as psychological and spiritual states of the soul.

Shuklyana - Path of Light

Śuklāyaṇa represents the journey of the soul that has attained high spiritual knowledge, and according to the teachings of the Upaniṣad, Swamiji says, those who follow this path reach the higher spheres of Brahmaloka and eventually attain liberation, also called Brahma-mukti.

Krishnayana - Path of Darkness

Whereas, Kṛṣṇāyaṇa, this is the way of those who have performed good deeds and social service, a second type of people in our classification, but have not yet realized the ultimate truth. Souls on this path enjoy the fruits of their actions in heavenly realms, but must eventually return to earth to continue their evolution.

Transcending Both Paths

Swamiji emphasized that the ultimate goal is to transcend both paths. So, Swamiji taught that true realization, the realization of the Ātman, liberates one from the need for any of the paths, from the need for going up and coming down. He says, for the perfected sage whom he calls Jīvan Mukta, there is no journey because the soul is already omnipresent, Sarvagataṁ.

Lokas as Levels of Consciousness

So, these are, Swamiji says, all these lokas, higher lokas, lower lokas are different levels of consciousness. So, the upper seven lokas are more and more manifestation of the consciousness. And the lower seven lokas are the slowly the consciousness becomes more and more covered up.

The Tunnel Analogy

Let me give you a small example. So, first, imagine there is a long underground train railway tunnel and you are there in the light and then it starts. As it goes deeper into the tunnel, a light becomes dim, dimmer, dimmest, and for some time one travels in that absolute dimmer light. And then, slowly, a speck of light starts coming. And then, from darkness, slowly a train, it gets more and more light until it comes into the full light.

Involution and Evolution

What is this analogy for? The first analogy, a train entering into the tunnel into darkness is called involution. And again, going into light is called evolution.

Tantric Interpretation - The Chakras

So, if we take from the tantric viewpoint, Śukla Gati and Kṛṣṇa Gati, Uttarāyaṇa and Dakṣiṇāyana, represent also. So, a person, so long as he is living in the lower three cakras, he will be entering deeper and deeper into this lower levels of consciousness. Sometimes he will come up, but what he comes up is only Iḍā and Piṅgalā are what we call very lowest type of consciousness. He will be traveling.

But once he starts realizing that this is impossible, then he suddenly finds there is another pathway called Suṣumnā. And slowly he starts going up until he attains oneness with Paramātmā in the Sahasrāra. So, the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh are the upper lokas, higher lokas.

Sri Ramakrishna's Vision of Varanasi

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, when he first came to Vārāṇasī, he saw it as a city of light. Then we see, what is that light? That spiritual light. Every person has both these lights. Every place has both these lights. But it is more manifest in holy places and the darkness is more manifest in evil places. That is why, even if you approach near a place where most evil people lived, a vibration can affect us very badly. That is why satsaṅga is very necessary.

Spiritual Movement

So, this interpretation clears a lot of points. So, either a person goes down and at the beginning he will go down, or a person goes up, and that is also slowly from the involution, he is slowly going back to his own abode, mānasacalo Ijāniketan.

Swami Turiyananda's Explanation

And then I came across Svāmī Tūrīyānandajī's, what is called explanation, beautiful explanation. Svāmī Tūrīyānanda says, there is a mention of the Uttarāyaṇa in the Mahābhārata. Bhīṣma was waiting for the Uttarāyaṇa. What does it mean?

No Particular Time is Meant

Svāmī Tūrīyānandajī explains, by this, no particular time is meant, because it is not that, that a evil person dies in Uttarāyaṇa, immediately he will go to Brahmaloka, and a great spiritual sādhaka dies in Dakṣiṇāyana, then he will attain. Many of our direct disciples, etc., he died only at this. In fact, Ṭhākur Mahāsvāmī, if you see the life of any saint, they have gone beyond time.

Power to Choose the Time of Death

So these paths is no particular time is meant, no particular state is meant. It only shows that Bhīṣma had the power to die whenever he chose. So, he had that control. Instead of dying now, I will wait for Uttarāyaṇa means what? I choose when to die.

Deities Representing Time

The scriptures do not mean by the word Uttarāyaṇa any time, the concept of time, no. It only means the Deva or deity identifying himself with that time. So, Kṛṣṇa Gati means Kṛṣṇa Deva. Śukla Gati means Śukla Deva. Kṛṣṇa Deva brings one down, of course, in accordance with the karmas these people have done. Whereas Śukla Deva, he write gods described in various ways with tremendous power of imagination in our Purāṇas, etc.

Karma Phala and Divine Grace

So that also shows only God actually are the result of our own spiritual efforts. I also mentioned earlier how Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa came in a chariot and took away the soul of Balrām Basu. Devī had sent a chariot and took away the soul of Mādhur Bābu. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, I saw it crystal clearly. And then Rāmakṛṣṇa came at the passing of Rāśik, at the passing of Pradāv Cīn Rāhira, at the passing away of Kālī Ghoṣ, Kālipāda Ghoṣa, and so many other people.

No Divine Partiality

So we have to understand it is the deities or it is in the form of our karma phala. That is very important. Otherwise, God can be attributed as having partiality.

The Distinguished Visitor Analogy

So that is why he says we can well understand this. It is like people coming forward to receive a distinguished visitor. I am reminded of an incident in this connection. Tūrīyānandī reminding a beautiful story, incident actually, that happened.

There was a person, we don't know who he was, B got news that his father was ill. Before he reached the place, the gentleman had expired. As soon as B stepped into the room, he saw a shining figure. He wrote to me that first he thought that perhaps it was his father waiting to meet him. But suddenly the idea flashed in his mind that it might be some angel come there to escort the departing soul.

Tūrīyānandī then remarks, B of course won't tell an untruth. He is not the man to do so.

Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother Taking Devotees

Then S. Navāji mentioned also Rāmakṛṣṇa Samādhur and he himself took Balrām Basu and he also taken Rāśik and also Ājara Mahāśaya, Kālipāda Ghoṣa. Even now he is doing it. I know a case, many cases, where Holy Mother had taken her beloved disciples when the last time came.

Conclusion: Many Paths to Divinity

So with this, our study of the Pañcāgni Vidyā topic is over. But in the essence, that there are many ways to manifest our potential divinity, Upāsanās are one such method. So either through bhakti, karma or rāja yoga or jñāna yoga, if we put forth effort, then by God's grace, we will also slowly progress, attain to higher states of happiness, higher states of knowledge, higher states of existence, and finally we become free.

Closing Prayer