Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 13 on 06 July 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Chandogya Upanishad. We have started the Peace Chant, Shanti Mantra. This Chandogya Upanishad belongs to the Sama Veda. Sama means a Rig Mantra which is set to a very special type of music and sung. Not chanted but sung. That is what is Sama Veda. Most of the mantras, probably 99% of the mantras of the Sama Veda are bodily lifted from the Rig Veda. But they are set to music. How did they do it? Because by their very constitution, nature, some mantras are very pliable to be set to music. Now we have already started this explanation of understanding the Peace Chant. What is the most important point? Shanti, the very word Shanti is a beautiful word. So first of all I must be peaceful. Then the whole world also must be peaceful. Then God also must be peaceful. Me, world and Ishwara, all of us must be vibrating to the same tune. That is the essence of every Peace Chant. Next point is without God's grace. Nowadays hardly people believe in God let alone His grace. But without God's grace it is impossible to achieve anything. Achieve what? There are only three things to be achieved. I want permanent existence, eternal existence. That is I want to go beyond time and space. I want to be all-knowing. Chit, first existence is represented by Sat. And I want to be experiencing unbroken happiness. That is called Ananda. Broken happiness is called happiness. Unbroken happiness is called Ananda. Both of these, whether we want secular welfare or spiritual welfare, beautifully called in Vedanta Prayas and Shrayas. Both of them are possible only by the grace of God. But they are not opposite to each other. This is a point to be taken into account very much. Because I am trying to give the meaning in the light of Sri Ramakrishna's life and teachings. But if you go to the Advaita Vedanta interpretation, which many people do, so Mithya, Mithya means seemingly real. So all these words can create a great deal of confusion, doubt, etc. No, just like a small child. He has to go through the nursery, elementary, then middle school, high school, then pre-university, university. Then only he will be accepted in the higher classes. So Prayas, Dharma, Artha, Kama, represented by learning stage called Brahmacharya Ashrama, experimenting and experiencing state called Grihastha Ashrama, withdrawal state called Vanaprastha Ashrama, all these three are synonymous. Only Shrayas, Sanyasa, that is equal. That is why Moksha. It is called the ultimate value, value of values. It is called intrinsic value. All the other values are called instrumental values. Instrument as you understand, that which leads to something else. So what is the purpose? Second purpose is to obtain the grace of God. Now the question comes, is the grace of God waiting? Does it come only after we surrender ourselves to Him? Or is it always available? As per Shri Ramakrishna, where God means God's grace. There is no difference between the grace of God and God, like the light and the sun, like the fire, heat and the fire. There is no difference at all. Or the wetness and the water, oiliness or the oil. So every object has its own nature and it is not different. So God and God's grace are not two different things. Whereas in our case, me and my body, me and my mind, me and my house, everything can be separated. Now what is the point? I have to be strong. I have to be a fit receptacle. Yogyata. So this is the third purpose. Yogyata prapti. Obtaining the capacity to receive what God wants to give. And God being infinite, He cannot give anything less than infinity. But we being limited, we can only accept what is limited. Now each one of us has got three things. Body, mind and possessions. So my body, which consists of ten organs, five of knowledge, five of activity. The whole physical body, gross body is nothing but these ten sense organs. Nothing else. All the flesh, blood, bones, etc. They are only supporting the Indriyas. Otherwise it is a living corpse. Then there is a mind. And that mind is a harmonizer of everything these sense organs provide through the five sense organs of knowledge. And it will create desires and the fulfillment of desires. For that, the five organs of action are employed. So the mind must be fit condition. That is the exact word that mind should be fit, body must be fit. And what should be fit? External environment, which we call mama. My country, my society, my physical environment and my social circumstances. Everything should be absolutely fit. For example, if war is going on, for such a person to sit and meditate is not very easy. Perhaps Ram Krishna, Swamiji, they can do that. But very rarely people can do that. So this is a prayer. In my last class, I have dealt with some Om. Om is the word. Anything that we start, anything that is auspicious, should be by remembering God. Om and Atha are substitute words for what we call Brahman, God. Auspicious words, auspiciousness always means only God. Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Now Om. We start the Shanti Patha. Not only mama, my limbs. Angani means limbs. What are those limbs? Walk, speech. That means even the thought. Prana, energy. Chakshu, I. Shrotram and the ear and etc. We have to add the word etc. Atho Balam. And I must have the strength, both physical and mental, to use my entire body. And not only they should be strong, but they should grow in their capacity. Most of us probably do not understand that the same sense organ can become extraordinarily strong. That means it can extend its power. Simple example, the famous painter Van Gogh used to paint a haystack from early morning till sunset. From sunrise till sunset. And when we look at the same haystack, we see the same dull yellowish color. But what does he see? He said, with every change of the sun, rising sun and pre-noon sun, noon sun, afternoon sun, evening sun, I see the colors quite different. I can distinguish those colors. French landscape painter Monet, after the operation in one eye, he could get the same vision the honey bees and birds have, the way of looking, ultralight, ultrasonic light or whatever. So that he could see the same objects, flowers, trees etc. in an entirely different light. So his whole style of coloring, painting has changed. So I have witnessed it myself. If I am interested in something, that particular power will increase. For example, if I am interested in music, then my capacity to distinguish between what is called Sa, the note Sa and the note Ni, if you ask a donkey, then Sa and Ni will be absolutely the same. So not only my limbs should be healthy, they must grow in strength and especially the strength of the various limbs aids us in discrimination. So appear, however much a person may try to cover by plastic surgery, by covering with various types of injections etc. but a keen eyed person will always detect it. So let all my limbs grow because what I am going to follow is the greatest of the sciences and the science must have an appropriate instrument. And just an example sprung into my mind, in the ancient times, the pilots of the ship, navigators, they did not have the help of the compass or telescope etc. Through their mere naked eyes, they can follow the course of the stars and crystal clear knowledge which direction, how much they travelled etc. by looking at the stars, formation of the stars. So you look at it and they all look exactly the same. So this is a wonderful prayer not only for spiritual enjoyment even for secular enjoyment. I am just giving one after the other the examples. Suppose there is a very intelligent stock broker and there are some whom many people follow and this fellow had an owl's eye and he could see which stock is going to increase. It is almost a sort of intuition. So you see these things every day we observe here but why not we also apply it but we have to work hard and that working hard brings in or prepares the channel for the reception of God's grace. So what should increase? Indriya nitya sarvani. Whatever limbs I have not mentioned earlier only this path, pranah, chakshuhu, srotram. No, everything else which is the entire body and entire mind also is included. So don't even say mind is more important than the body. If the body is old or decrepit but somebody's mind is extraordinarily keen like Swami Vivekananda or Sri Ramakrishna or Swami Ranganathanji Maharaj. I have seen how his mind worked even in his old age. So the mind, both are important. It is like the body of a car and the engine of a car. Both must be in synchrony otherwise both of them can damage each other. And what is the purpose? So yesterday I have... I will just go through very briefly about it. May all my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears and all the organs let them become by the grace of God healthy and strong. Atho balam. So already we used that word. Apyayantu means let them grow in strength. But what is this balam? Let them all be endowed with strength. And the question comes and the Upanishad answers sarvam brahma upanishadam Everything in the Brahman revealed in these Upanishads. What is the goal? Realization of Brahman. What is this realization? That there is no world, there is no multiplicity and I and everything else does not exist. It is a mistaken notion. I am Brahman and everything is Brahman. There is no everything. Everything is Brahman only. But this knowledge will not come from any secular science. Physics, chemistry, astronomy none of these things. Neither arts nor any sciences can reveal this truth. And this greatest truth my nature, everybody's nature, everything's nature is none other than Brahman. This knowledge that everything is Brahman is obtainable only through the revelation in the Upanishads. That's why we have defined Veda that is what knowledge cannot be obtained through the sense organs or the mind by any available science but available only through Veda. And Veda is a unique type of instrument called, we already had seen it it is called Shabda Pramana the instrument of obtaining supernatural, super sensory knowledge Sarvam Brahma Aupanishadam Upanishadam that means that which is revealed in the Upanishads that is called Aupanishadam Brahma everything is Brahman. And if this is true and I must start my spiritual life with faith Shadda therefore I believe in what my teacher tells me and my teacher doesn't tell anything. Any teacher who opposes the teachings of the scriptures or Vedas or Bible or Quran is no teacher at all. So we have to be very keen about it very intelligent about it. So it is Sarvam Brahma Aupanishadam and I cannot understand it I see only duality I never see non-duality even in deep sleep I do not see non-duality therefore how can this scripture tell me something different that is why it is said even though I do not understand may I not deny Brahman here two Ma's for those who are interested first Ma or second Ma there are two completely different meanings one Ma don't pronounce it Mama Mama means uncle so Ma, one Ma is what is called negative no, not another Ma means me so may I not reject deny, say or lose faith that Brahman doesn't exist God doesn't exist don't say that at best if anybody wants to say I do not know be frank about it and if that is your conviction but you have only that much right don't say God doesn't exist because we use stupid type of arguments if God is really existing then my life should be as if I am living in a heavenly world everybody's life, let them go to dogs but let me be in heaven this is most people even though they may not express it but if others are suffering that is their fate but if God is there the only proof that God's existence for me, He keeps me always in happiness so let me not deny God let God also never deny me one Ma is deny another Ma, me so may not Brahman also deny me naturally can God reject me I may be ignorant how can He reject me no He never rejects it is impossible for Him to reject so it is said that once God got angry and then He said to His devotee don't show me your face the devotee said not that I don't want to I want to show my face to you but do you have the capacity not to see my face because you are everywhere so it is said God has got two inconveniences, limitations He cannot go on a holiday because He is everywhere and if He gets angry with me and doesn't want to look at my face it is impossible for Him I can stop looking at Him I can go on a holiday but unfortunately God has got bigger limitations than me a prayer let me never reject whom? let Brahman not reject me let there be no rejection of Brahman by me so can Brahman reject me? no but what happens is mother wants to feed the baby baby turns away its face and starts weeping doesn't want to many mothers know it she wants to lovingly feed but the baby rejects outright whatever reason so the mother becomes very unhappy, sorrowful my baby doesn't want to eat or to drink milk or whatever, she gets pain God's condition is also like that God will never reject, He cannot reject because He knows He is me I may not know it this is a very peculiar situation so may I not reject means may I be open to receive the grace of God and may God also be out of His grace even if He finds me not really fit but out of His infinite grace what is the example always whenever I can get I will quote some example from the lives of the holy trio that is Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda and also from Ramana Maharshi and many others also now what is God will always be wanting to it is only God's grace so if God wants to bestow His grace and even if we reject, He will not give us up, that is why one of the names of God in Vishnu Sahasranama we get that is Achyuta Achyuta means he who deviates from his position Achyuta means he never deviates one of the meanings attributed to this particular name of Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranama by a great Vaishnava commentator called Parashara Bhatta is he once a devotee says O Lord I belong to you like Vibhishana said to Sri Rama, this we get in the Valmik Ramayana just before the war Yudhkanda, then at that time Rama pronounces a pratigna is a kind of wow that if once a devotee tells me that I belong to you O Rama O God, Rama here means God, then he may try to slip away from me but I will never give him up, like a mother however much the baby is trying to run away from the mother the mother will never give up because she understands this is a child, even though my child but still it is a child, so God will never give up but what is the stages that we go through according to my understanding, according to Sri Ramakrishna's teachings when we are not ready even when we say we don't want God, indirectly we are only talking we only want God, how come the constant prayer let me not die, let me never be ignorant, let me never suffer asato ma sadgamaya tamaso ma jyotirgamaya mrutyor ma amrutangamaya this is a continuous prayer, is there anybody in this world who wants to die including the so called atheists, no, everybody wants, how do we know so let an ant bite him that fellow struggles to get rid of that pain, what does it mean I don't want to suffer I don't want to die and I know that something is giving, obstructing my happiness, so automatically everybody wants to be, to know and to be happy this tendency which is inside which is called teleological urge and which can never be removed, it will not grow it will not become less it will be potentially exactly the same and it is driving all of our lives, what is the point I am driving at, all the stages of denial of what is called not believing in God atheism, skepticism agnosticism etc etc are also stages created by the grace of God, so that once we go through those pathways we know they are not really sufficient for us, they are inadequate they are dangerous, they should be avoided, once we learn the lesson, these are the poisonous pathways then there is only one way, complete belief in Him, complete surrender to Him, so that is why the beautiful song everything is the will of the divine, so most relevant if we can understand it so a person he turns out to be an enemy of God, that is also the will of God only, a person tries to give trouble to all the devotees that is also the will of God how can it be the will of God is it the will of God that His loving devotees should suffer no, it is our karma phala, the result of our actions, but coming through these people and we have to understand that nobody has the power either to give us happiness or unhappiness everything has to be done only comes and goes only depending upon what type of actions we have done, karma phala even though Bhagwan Buddha very rarely spoke about God did He ever speak about God all the time He was speaking about God, what type of God He was speaking about, not the Saguna Brahma but He is talking about the Nirguna Brahma there is something my children which is infinite unoriginated eternal and that is what He called Bodhi the true knowledge or everything else is Nirvana extinguish everything Anatma has to be extinguished non-self has to be extinguished, what remains is only pure self which is what we call Brahma, nothing else so if anybody thinks that God never gives any unhappiness this is called correction, not punishment in the words of a psychologist the word punishment does not arise only correction but it may be a little bit painful there is no other way, punishment or correction or what is called carrot and stick reward and punishment that punishment even when police punish a criminal not that they have got personal vengeance but it is only to correct him your behavior was not good try to modify, correct your behavior so what are we talking about Brahman can never reject us and we also we may say I don't believe in God but we can never reject our natural prayer is let me not have an end of existence end of knowledge end of bliss no, always that is my nature I want it but I might commit because of my ignorance some crimes and the result of that crimes will be only this so called correction, we don't call it punishment now so let there be a prayer, O Lord you bestow on my mind that grace by which I may never reject you and the thought that you are rejecting me may never arise in me so once Ram Krishna asked Girish Chandra Ghor because he was asked how to progress in spiritual life and Ram Krishna asked can you take God's name morning and evening he said I cannot promise you that because Girish Chandra Ghor was a very truthful person like Swami Vivekananda he will never utter a falsehood knowingly so he said I won't be able to keep up my word because I don't know many times when it is morning or when it is afternoon, alright whenever you are taking food just before taking food at least can you remember God he said no because so many times I have eaten food without being aware that I am eating food then after 2-3 choices Ram Krishna asked then give your power of attorney to me and Girish Chandra Ghor thought oh if I say yes then I can do whatever I like and he will take care of my burden then he said yes immediately and this is an illustration do you think that Ram Krishna gave a very easy path oh if I were there at that time and if Ram Krishna asks me will you give me your power of attorney and immediately following Girish Chandra Ghor I will also say yes immediately without Ram Krishna could take back his offer I will say yes but no my dear sir it is not so easy because first of all how much of how many good qualities Girish Chandra Ghor had obtained before obtaining the grace of Ram Krishna you think that a lecherous fellow a drunkard, a worthless fellow just to drift to Dakshineswar meets Ram Krishna and then immediately Ram Krishna ignores everything and gives him Ram Krishna bestowed his grace because he knew Girish Chandra Ghor was capable of receiving and modifying his behavior so our initiation is to say that you belong to God and God belongs to you do we understand it no it will take many many births even to understand that one so this is what we need to understand so the grace of God is most emphasized here and for that purpose so that I can understand even a little bit of the grace of God certain qualities I have to develop and that is what the Upanishad is telling so Dharmas means all the required spiritual qualities spiritual includes social, personal etc qualities which are required for me to pursue my spiritual path and where are these Dharmas or these qualities enumerated in the scriptures we see it in Bhagavad Gita we see it in the Upanishads we see it everywhere so here it is mentioned Upanishads so those Dharmas, spiritual qualities required for me to realize the teaching of the Upanishad that everything is Brahman nothing else exists excepting Brahman so so let them be in me but why should they be in me because I have decided I have promised my Guru my Guru has accepted me acceptance of a Guru should never be taken in a light manner it means I am taking a vow that I will surrender myself to the Guru and I will follow his instructions even if I don't understand I know that he is telling everything for my good and what he is telling is nothing but truth and therefore I have complete faith like a baby having a faith in its mother this word Nirata is a beautiful word I who am completely immersed, there is a world, there are some devotees of Lord Vishnu they are called Alvars what is the meaning of an Alvar an Alvar is one who has gone, dived deep into the very depths of devotion, he is called an Alvar, 12 such Alvars are enumerated, very famous but not only 12, there are so many only 12 are mentioned there, of them one of the greatest is Andal, a woman who is totally dedicated from birth to death only to Lord in the form of Lord Ranganatha so I who am completely engaged in the worship of the Self and I have taken a vow, every initiation is a vow and I will not refrain from self effort until I reach the goal, I may take many lives, doesn't matter there is a beautiful hymn by Kulasekar Alvar so therein he says beautifully, it is called Mukunda Mala, a garland of Shlokas on Mukunda, Mukunda is the name of Bhagavan Krishna or Vishnu so there he says, Oh Lord if I deserve to have many births let there be many births if I deserve to be an insect the lowest of the insects let me be an insect, I am not bothered about it but then your grace should be such that even in that let me never give up your lotus feet, so let me cling to your lotus feet that much assurance you give then you give me whatever birth you like, even the worst of the births you try to give that is absolutely fine there is, I have no problem at all, it is a marvellous hymn and every bhakta feels exactly the same way so I am engaged and there is a beautiful incident I have mentioned earlier I cannot refrain myself from doing it when you know the novices who joined the Ramakrishna Order they have to go to Belur Math to have two years training and there was a very great Swami called Bodhatmananda he was the principal and very great monk, a real monk, so he knew many people and there was a young man one day just before 12 o'clock the young man suddenly came without notice and then made obeisance to the Swami and Swami was a bit surprised and then he said what brings you? and the young man said today I received initiation from my Guru Swami Vireshwarananda then the Swami asked have you offered Guru Dakshina an offering has to be given he said yes, yes there are some formalities, a plate will be supplied and then a few things like flowers, fruits some pieces of cloth if necessary and this has to be offered to the Guru and at that time so after the initiation they go there, offer Guru Dakshina get the blessings of the Guru and then come out so the young man said yes and Swami said that is not real Guru Dakshina the young man was surprised what is real Guru Dakshina? he said the Guru has opened the door for God realization to you on this day and you have taken a vow in front of Ramakrishna, actually there is a mantra like that during the initiation process whatever I have, Oh Lord whatever I have done in the past and what I am going to do in future also, I do not know but I offer everything to you please accept it and catching hold of my hand, you guide me the way you want to guide me so that is a kind of vow that I will always offer my hand to God and God should guide me and until I realize God, I am not going to give up this effort, this spiritual striving and so when a disciple having received the extraordinary pathway and strives and then finally reaches God and that is the real Guru Dakshina because only then the Guru will be free from his responsibility, until that time it is said the Guru responsibility will be there, that means he cannot obtain liberation until his disciple also you or anybody who takes initiation so that is the Guru Dakshina because you are freeing the Guru from your burden and that is done only by realizing God, of course that should be our goal also but slowly slowly we will have to strive so this is a prayer I know I don't have the qualities, not only that I do not have even the desire for those qualities this is a very marvelous truth, the greatest truth there are so many devotees who are listening to my talk and many of them have received initiation probably all of them but many of them, now do they have that understanding that everything that belongs to me actually belongs to God because I am saying that I am surrendering myself to you you guide me so only one or two qualities a devotee should never become discouraged even if he is not making so called not making spiritual progress secondly a selfish devotee is a what is called bad name for a devotee, selfishness and devotion don't go together I am not saying like you Bali, he will give everything to Lord Vishnu, but whatever is there, every religion imposes upon the followers that at least a part of this one you will have to give it to in charity why? because you are not really giving in charity first is if you think you are giving in charity, that is a wrong notion, it is an investment, future investment whatever you give it will come back a thousand fold to you in the form of punya, good karma that is first, secondly when you are, as we progress in spiritual life we remove the distinction between this is me and this is not me, this is also me, that is also me, everybody is none other than God, I belong to God, you belong to God he, she belong to God everything in this world belongs only to God so if anybody doesn't strive to be unselfish and there must be also a rational amount of unselfishness a fellow who has got millions he will just give what is called some peanut contribution that is not acceptable God also will give you only peanut blessing and that's all, you will get more peanuts, so this is a prayer so all those auspicious spiritual, helpful progressive qualities which are mentioned in all the scriptures, especially in the secondary scriptures called Smritis, especially in the Bhagavad Gita, let them slowly come to me, let me meditate, in my last classes, I do not remember either in the Taittiriya or Chandogya, I said Guna Dhyana, but the third step is to meditate on the auspicious qualities why is God imagined to be endowed with infinite number of an ocean of good qualities, not for his sake, that is Saguna Brahma is nothing but an embodiment of good qualities, so if I have any bad quality I have to meditate on God especially in its opposite quality, anybody who is short tempered, let them meditate on Bhagwan Buddha because the very figure of Bhagwan Buddha evokes tremendous peace of mind so this is how slowly slowly I must have the intention, intention must never be given up and for that determination is necessary, for that faith is necessary so slowly let me have those qualities but how are they possible only by the grace of God, that is important but it does not mean I will not do anything but I will depend only on the grace of God no, self effort plus grace of God te mayi santu te mayi santu let them be in me, so this is the Shanti Patha then the third part is Om Shanti Hi Shanti Hi Shanti Hi three times let there be peace let there be peace let peace be unto all why three times? so probably by this time you know what I am going to speak every one of us we are afflicted from three sources our own body, our mind and the external world or technically called Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika and Adhidaivika and that also I had explained so let there be no trouble from within myself body, mind, let there be no trouble from the external world let also be no trouble from Gods we have to be grateful to the Gods that is why the Christians whenever they eat food they have to give thanksgiving they say grace thou hast provided me today's meal this breakfast or lunch or dinner and may you look after me whenever you provide it is your grace in Hindu lore it is called Ma Annapurna is gracious to all that is why we are supposed to do, utter the Pramarpana, whenever we eat whenever we drink, not that it has to be done, many people do that only at noon or in the what is called night time important, what is called no, whenever bed coffee Pramarpana and breakfast Pramarpana, whenever you take lunch something Pramarpana, every time we eat Pramarpana, what is it I am eating Brahman especially Brahman is entering, in what form Anna Roopena, Jala Roopena Agni Roopena Vayu Roopena Akasha Roopena, in the form of food, drink, heat and oxygen and the space for me to expand my energy so there is nothing but only Brahman Panchabhutas, in the form of the Panchadevatas, all the five elements they are not lifeless elements but what we call embodiments of the Ishwara in those particular forms we are the whole universe is the result of this combination of these five elements and their world is sustained, whole universe is sustained by the Divine and ultimately it goes back so this we have to keep in mind whatever is necessary for keeping my body healthy my mind healthy my environment healthy here also we have to understand sometimes inevitably our body will not be the same in old age mind is a different matter and the external world many times there may be many troubles but I must remember everything is reflection of my own karma phala by the will of God so let my gross body, subtle body and causal body be strong and fit let all of them grow and be strong and fit and let them grow in strength and what are they? all the limbs etc and then when my body mind, external environment are favorable that is the time to cultivate all the good qualities and what are those good qualities? that is mentioned in so many places but we have to understand it especially in the Bhagavad Gita chapter 13 called the chapter explaining the subject and object Kshetra, the Kshetragna Kshetra, Kshetragna Kshetragna, Vibhaga, Yogonama, Trayodasho, Adhyaya there Amanitvam, etc 20 spiritual qualities are mentioned there so I am going just to mention as well at the end of the second chapter the characteristics of a Kshetragna, a man of realization and same thing at the end what is called 50% of the 12th chapter is only who is a real, real devotee of God, Bhakta Lakshana similarly the whole 16th chapter practically what are these 26 qualities of a person who is a real devotee of God but here I am especially taking from the 13th chapter and in from verses 13th chapter 7th to 10th 4 verses 20 spiritual qualities starting with Amanitvam, Adhamitvam, Ahimsa, Shantihi, etc. English translation goes like this humility, unpretentiousness, non-injury, forbearance, uprightness, service to the teacher, purity, steadiness, self-control, renunciation of sense objects and also absence of egotism, reflection on the evils of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain, non-attachment, non-identification of self with son, wife, home and the rest and constant even-mindedness in the occurrence of the desirable and the undesirable events, unswerving devotion to me by the yoga of non-separation, resort to solitary places, distaste for the society of men, of especially worldly men, constant striving to obtain spiritual knowledge, understanding the goal of real knowledge. These 20 qualities are declared to be knowledge and what is opposite to it is called ignorance. What is our goal? To get rid of ignorance and how does ignorance disappear? Only through Vidya. Avidya is destroyed by Vidya. Jnanam is destroyed by Jnanam and acquiring all these 20 qualities, not that there are only 20 qualities, there are many many more, but acquiring all these 20 qualities automatically that utensil, that instrument, that body and mind is capable, becomes capable, fit instrument to receive God. God means knowledge just like sun and its light are not separate, so God that is Jnanam. Another name for God is Jnanam. Jnanam means knowledge. Knowledge means as soon as these qualities are there, our body mind becomes a fit instrument to receive this grace of God in the form of these 20 qualities and automatically these qualities reveal. What does it reveal? Sarvam, Brahma, Aupanishadam. Everything is Brahma. It is a beautiful subject which we will talk about in our next class. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.