Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 66 on 05 January 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAG PRANASCHAKSHUH SHROTRAM ATHO BALAM INDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRA KURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRA KARO ANIRA KARANAM ASTVA NIRA KARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHAD SU DHARMA TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HARE OM OM 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. I am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL We are studying the 7th chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad called Bhumananda otherwise also known as Brahmananda. In our last class, we have been discussing the 14th section known as Asha Brahma Upasana. Even superior, interior to Akasha is this Asha. Asha means that intense yearning to be one's own Self. In this world, if we analyze every desire, small or big, positive or negative, good or evil, everything depends only for the purpose that I want to be myself. This urge in philosophical language is called teleological urge. So Asha Vava Smara Bhoya Sri Sanat Kumara was instructing this Asha is greater than even Akasha, greater than even Smara because Smara means self-awareness. So without self-awareness, without being conscious that this is the world is made up of five elements and Akasha is the highest element, such knowledge will not come. Therefore, Smara means develop that acute self-awareness whether we are in the waking or dream or dreamless states. So this is what in Bhaja Govinda Stotram we have studied. Try to find out who you really are and this is how this particular section, 14th section starts. Asha Vava Smara Bhoya Sri Asha that hope that one day I will know who I am and who am I. The scriptures tell us I am Brahman, Sat Chit Ananda and what does this Brahman mean? Brahman means that largest, biggest, greatest. It is not an adjective, it is not a viseshana, it is a noun. What does it mean? Supposing you find out an ant and very big ant, so this bigness is an adjective to the noun called ant. A big man that is compared to other people, this person has got bigness, that is an adjective but adjectives cannot remain without the object, without the substance, the person, the object. This is the biggest mountain, so among mountains this is the biggest. So a biggest ant, a biggest man, a biggest mountain, there is no comparison. That's why they are called adjectives but this bigness means it includes the whole cosmos, whole Srishti and Akasha itself is considered as infinite but it contains the Akasha because if I am not aware of the Akasha or space, then it doesn't even exist. This is again a very fundamental principle of Vedanta. If I do not know about something, if I am not aware of its existence, so far as I am concerned, it doesn't exist. If somebody doesn't know about God, as far as that person is concerned, God really doesn't exist at all but our scriptures categorically tell us and we all cherish hope because how do we cherish? Through information, especially nowadays, you are not aware of a particular gadget but somewhere suddenly you see YouTube, somewhere, oh this gadget has been invented, this software has been invented and then oh I can do with that, it can help me a lot in my job, in my work or in my hobby, whatever it is. So information is very necessary and the information not only about world, about myself, both about the world and myself comes only from these scriptures. So knowingly or unknowingly and desiring or not desiring, we all come to hear about God etc. and that is why one of the Upanishads categorically declares, if anybody says Brahman doesn't exist, he will not exist. That is not a true statement because it is impossible. Brahman always exists. That means if I exist, Brahman exists. Who comes first, I or Brahman? Always I come first. If I don't think about God, then God doesn't exist for me. That's why Sri Ramakrishna sarcastically puts it in a very beautiful way that even God is smaller than a devotee and he puts it in a very graphical way. The whole universe is so big, we cannot imagine and that universe is always in the stomach of the Divine Lord. That is why Vishnu's whole Brahma represents the whole creation and where is this Brahma? He is there inside but he comes out through the navel and sits on a lotus but actually what it means is he is firmly established in Brahman. That is what it means. So this Narayana or Divine Mother Kali Rudra Brahmanda Bhando Prakandata Jano Kaman. The whole universe is in this Brahma. Brahma is otherwise called Shakti and that Shakti goes by the name Kali. So in that Kali's stomach for the normal people who cannot understand higher concepts. So Divine Mother is like a human being just as we have in our stomachs so many things. Divine Mother has the entire universe. So she must be the biggest? No, because that Divine Mother who contains the whole universe is in the hearts of the devotees. So who is greater? A devotee is greater. His heart contains Divine Mother. Divine Mother contains the whole universe. This is how Sri Ram Krishna tries to put it but simply what it means is first I come then God, Brahman, Yahweh, Kingdom of Heaven, Samadhi everything comes only later on. So this is what we want to realize. What am I? If once we understand even intellectually the whole world depends upon me both for not only its existence but even after the existence is confirmed whether it gives me happiness or unhappiness totally depends upon each one of us. If I don't like something for example then that produces in me a negative feeling but if I like and that like has nothing to do with fact or truth I may like poison. A person who smokes, a person who drinks, a person who goes on eating a lot of things unsuitable they are all just swallowing poison only they don't call it poison but this person says I love this sweet poison and he goes on suffering later on so everything depends upon me and if we can understand comprehend it even intellectually we become great and that is why psychologists call you develop positive thinking everything positive then great things will come out at least the person who develops he will be very happy. So this is the more or less what Sanat Kumara wants to tell to Narada. Asha vava smaratha bhuyasi. Asha is much much superior because it is the cause. Cause is always superior to the effect. Asha iddhaha propelled inspired by asha by smaraha mantra is a very small section only one mantra so he who remembers or has hopes so so the person remembers and he hopes and then he does actions and he studies vedas and he develops faith and all rituals everything is there so his aspiration that is the most important thing why that is why asha iddho vai smaraha a person who has once got asha hope desire for something anything so then matra nadhite he studies the vedic mantras and he develops faith how does he develop faith this is a question we have to ask before proceeding further because it is like exercise so a person is weak he does exercise and as he goes on exercising slowly he develops strength this is the practical result so same way this person does some rituals and he gets the result and then slowly his shraddha is they're all true what the vedas speak is absolute truth so if this is the truth i experimented it then the other things also must be true so he does better rituals he attains higher worlds and he enjoys comes back and then again does it until finally he reaches brahma loka and he enjoys supreme happiness many times and then he realizes that these are all limited effects because i have to do something then only i get the result but what if i get them permanently can i get them permanently that is where upanishad steps in and says definitely what it says is even if you are a spiritual aspirant don't aspire for god realization find out where you are and find out what is the next step and try your best to step on the very next step forget everything else then the third step will open to you then this is how progress is to be done and this is the the methodology adopted in this particular seventh chapter by sanath kumara leading narada step by step so whatever accomplishment we want all depends upon karma but karma depends upon our knowledge obtained from these scriptures and then scriptures also tell if you wish to attain this result this should be the experiment you have to do so very briefly the upanishad remember belongs to the second part of the vedas called nama kanda so it takes for granted the first step which is karma kanda has been accomplished and the person experienced and he understood then he turned his attention inward now he doesn't want any limited result he wants the unlimited result only for such people all these are completely relevant he worships this what is called hope that is gradually unfold the divinity within then he will get everything that has been beautifully described in these scriptures and then what happens whatever desires he has in this world in the other world and in creation only there are two this world and the other world then that is god fulfills beyond our measure so this person not only that this person progresses in how by having nobler and still more nobler desires which is achieved because of the which will be all blessings not only for him for the whole world so not only that amogha so not only that all his desires whatever desire comes remember such a person is far far above a worldly person as he goes on we have discussed it many times in the introduction also so when a person goes on performing rituals certain things happen what things happen first thing is his mind becomes pure and then his mind becomes more and more concentrated he forgets the whole world then his mind becomes more and more identified that is called real growth identification with the larger whole i gave the example person identifies himself a baby always identifies with himself with itself then as the baby grows identifies with the family if it really grows identifies with the village then the city then the state then the country then international then with the whole world with the living as well as with the non-living this is how a person becomes greater and greater so amogha means moga means in vain amogha means absolutely they come true every wish of his becomes fruitful and remember when the person's mind becomes pure his understanding becomes greater then he understands it is the same scripture which is talking about swarga loka indra loka and brahma loka but at the same time same scripture for example in the so all these going to other worlds etc these rituals they are all their broken reeds they drown as forcibly in this world then what should we clung that only the divine lord in the bhaktas language i want only god and nothing else i want only mother nothing else so his understanding becomes deeper then he turns away like nachiketa i don't want praise i want only shreyas but until that time because of the pureness this all his desires become amogha and he experiences it without experience simply i experienced it and i have overcome the desire i will not desire anymore is never going to happen that's why in a lighter vein i always tell that a person cannot renounce what siram krishna calls woman and gold get married and then suffer and then he understands after churasi that i am not getting i am only become a donkey and therefore he turns and we have to go through that's what siram krishna explains a person must go through the experiences of a what is called lavatory cleaner sweeper until the state of an emperor then only that vivek vairagya will come until that time there will be a hiding what is called curiousness oh there may be something i am missing something enter into it now you understand what you are missing really you are missing and then you turn back then narada must have done this he has become completely aware and his only desire will be i want nothing but so he comes back and says so is there something superior to asha or is there a root a cause which produces this asha and then as usual sanat kumara says of course there is then please instruct me remember and narada says please instruct me he must be ready to understand otherwise a school child pupil doesn't approach einstein and say instruct me in the special theory of relativity he must go through so many steps even to be ready so narada becomes what we call in vedantic language adhikari and then he understand not only adhikari he becomes ready for this next step and then sanat kumara instructs so this is the essence of the 14th chapter called asha then what is the superior thing what is it that really makes asha possible so as usual in this is a little bigger section is the 15th section pancha dasha khandaha there are four mantras are there but the meaning is quite easy once we understand so he says yes of course there is something superior than asha please instruct me and then sanat kumara starts his lesson so asha is only an inferior step lower step but prana and it is very true and we can understand we must understand it in two ways prana individual prana so a dead person cannot go on hoping for something because there is no manifestation of consciousness at all but here prana a person who has reached such a high state need not be talking about need not be taught about only individual prana all those things are over long before here prana means hiranyagarbha you have become very subtle you have been capable of concentrating meditating and you have expanded yourself and so far you have expanded but the last step which makes you equivalent to the highest expansion that is called hiranyagarbha sthithi so prana here means hiranyagarbha so that is why many times prana upasana contemplation upon prana is also there so prana must be first then only asha will be there so if i am not inspired by god how do we know because there was a great sage called dattatreya and then he says ishwara anugrahena pumsam advaita vasana here advaita vasana we must translate the desire for god realization is possible only by the grace of god umpteen number of times when we study the gospel of say ramakrishna we say some say ramakrishna tells something and m particularly says did you understand yes i understood say immediately say ramakrishna by god's grace without god's grace one cannot understand it that is why every day our prayer make me understand so narada also had almost reached the last step this in this series of upasanas prana upasana or hiranyagarbha hiranyagarbha brahma upasana is the last and then something curious happens narada thought that he has reached hiranyagarbha but then sanat kumara says that is not the end there are still higher steps but narada doesn't come and say is there anything bhuyaha than pranava bhuyaha asti iti he doesn't ask because he mistook it he was so overcome he did not have the capacity to think there can be something but a guru he says this is nothing this is a lower step there is a still a higher step and that is what we will be talking about but there are still 20 total in 26 sections are there after 15th that means another 11 sections are there but accepting this most of the sections are only consisting of one mantra so here prana is much superior so what is this prana let us have a brief introduction before we delve into this what is called prana so what do we say whenever you see a person acting and then it activity means energy expression without energy there cannot be any activity so this is what we think that a person is great because of his activity a person loves because of this prana activity loving is an activity very interesting you have to understand somebody says i love you and goes on smiling at you and you are suffering because there is no food and you are standing outside it is pouring and then it is extraordinarily cold and you are smiling on uttering like a broken gramophone record i love you i love you i love you what good is that love love must express itself in activity any activity that is not accompanied by love is completely useless so that is where prana comes who can love or who can act only a person who is alive not only that there is a deep connection between prana and consciousness this is one of the most fascinating subjects in the yoga sutras swami vivekananda is a beautiful introduction before delving into raja yoga sutras patanjali yoga sutras he talks about what is called akasha and prana and we have to remember akasha means consciousness prana means the vehicle to manifest that consciousness if there is no prana consciousness is still there it is all-pervading but it cannot be expressed just like a you are in deep sleep sushupti and you maybe you are greater than einstein you have the knowledge but you don't have the medium instrumentality so you cannot tell anything and earlier also we have seen remember maybe you are awake but smarana smara remembrance is not there so so many things unconscious person cannot act at the same time a person who lost his memory power he also cannot express anything this beautiful subject we have been discussing throughout so what is important in this fifth this is the last and 15th upasana a prana upasana prana and here individual prana and collective prana individual prana is the personality collective prana is called hiranyagarbha because a personality consists of both body as well as mind if there is no mind the body doesn't know what it is doing but without the body the mind cannot express itself remember that but both body mind can function only when there is a prana so what does prana do it facilitates the reflection of the consciousness and then it makes the mind function as well as the body function then only we can perceive the world experience the world and remember the world and act and interact with the world everything is possible only because of the prana so even asha hope a dead person do you think he hopes he cannot only a live person can hope but a person far advanced in spiritual life he can hope he can think deeply i know god exists but for our purpose hiranyagarbha collectively entire universe can be called hiranyagarbha until certain level so this hiranyagarbha upasana is at the collective level but this prana brahma upasana is at the individual level what does it mean it means first of all you realize that without prana i am nobody i am a dead person therefore prana is the greatest manifestation and to prove this there are several stories in the upanishads both chandogya as well as brahdharinika some other upanishads you know the story if i remind you so they once there was a a debate between all the sense organs and by the way sense organs are also called pranas because we discussed survey prana aha balim avahanti all these sense organs they bring the best experiences to a person who has become master of the all the sense organs master of his own prana so there was a debate who is the greatest and then all the five sense organs they debated how to determine then they found out that let us each one of us go out for an year and see whether the person surveys or not so first the eyes went out and then the person uh was continuing one year passed prana returns how did you manage to live i'm surprised you are still alive face like any blind person because so long as prana is there the person will not die he may he may have to suffer a little bit there will be handicap and sometimes blind persons are far superior to so-called seeing persons also anyway the next organ went all the five sense organs went but there was no danger only a little bit of handicap that particular sense organ is not available for giving us information then prana it said now let me go out it did not go out it just made an attempt to get up and as it as it were a huge banyan tree was being uprooted by the roots and then it affected all the five sense organs then they came to their senses and then they bow down they did prana you are the greatest we are dependent upon you without you we cannot live and that is the prana superior manifestation of brahman at the level of this personality at individual level that is called prana brahma and one should recognize we hardly recognize it but at the same time a spiritual person he identifies with somebody with the whole world living as well as non-living but especially with the living even any animal any plant that's why a sensitive person that is a highly developed pranic person cannot harm anybody because he understands that every living creature is nothing but prana manifestation of prana body is a manifestation of prana mind is a manifestation of prana without prana the person will be dead nothing is going to work out so therefore prana and that is how narada was also being taught but a greater a person more spiritual a person what does he do he attains vishalita gradually as this person identifying with family then his village his district his state his country etc this person gradually that's why so much of sympathy are there and other creatures also come to know about it you love a dog the dog loves you very beautiful stories are there if you want to adopt a dog you go you visit a place where they sell the dogs and go up and down and there will be many puppies and then one of the puppies it follows you with soulful eyes and then you understand this puppy loves me this is for me and some will be snarling at you so don't ever take it because it may turn one day and tear you to pieces no no sorry it may make you food material so this is how you love a horse horse loves you you love anything even a machine i have seen it with my own eyes there was one driver who loved the vehicles we employed him of course and that vehicle gives a lot of trouble any other driver comes but as soon as this person comes oh as if it is a new car it moves so fast without any trouble try to explain in whatever you want but love works because scientists have proved even metals have fatigue that's why huge factories machines have to be given rest now and then so that is god slowly here this person as he grows up in spiritual life progresses he gradually identifies himself more and more and more with prana and that prana is manifest everywhere until this person reaches or identifies himself with here and here which means everything in this world both living and non-living and here also i go on pointing out the same points again and again because we do not think properly recollect properly there is absolutely no difference between living and non-living for example when you eat any vegetable any food material it is the moment you put even a juicy mango it becomes a dead mango but when it goes inside it becomes identified with you and it comes out alive so non-material is becoming living and material living becomes non-material like that it it goes on exchanging things and this permanent distinction living and non-living is a nonsense so this is how hiranyagarbha upasana at the samasthi level prana is called hiranyagarbha at the individual level it is called life this is what we understand and then another important point we have to understand is so we respect our mother father friends acharya everybody great people so nobody should hurt them but then when we are hurting their bodies or their minds then what what do we say oh we are hurting father and mother but what is father really speaking father is prana prana manifesting in a particular form that is called father same mother same acharya same pramana and sister and brother everything this is the important point so what happens that we think i am the body mind but really truly speaking we are we should identify with our prana so that is why the this upanishad in this particular section gives certain examples so what happens that hiranyagarbha when he enters into this individual body and mind complex so it is called this person is of this living person this is called the entry of the universal into the particular and that is what we call our personality and when death comes what happens this prana individual prana again goes back into the universal prana from where it has come in fact whatever has come because of whatever cause it goes back to its cause only so whatever there is in this world worthwhile meaningful is only nothing but prana so minus prana life itself everything is meaningless so when we say this is my father this is my mother my brother my sister and my acharya etc what do we mean by that we are not referring to the body as father mother sister and because again remember the point these are finer points if you say father is the body which body are you referring yesterday's body or today morning's body or one year's back body or when he was a small child baby which body are you referring okay no no i don't mean the body i mean the mind oh then what about the mind is it baby's mind only is he so stupid your father looks so stupid your mother looks so stupid they have grown in mind also so which mind are you referring it is neither father nor all this body mind are kept together because of what prana that is the point in reality we are all prana what is prana manifestation of consciousness therefore we are all nothing but consciousness because what happens when prana departs consciousness also becomes invisible inaccessible and therefore we don't mind burning them beating them etc that example we will come when we discuss this one so we are not referring to the bodies of anybody whether we call father mother sister brother acharya ramana we extend it the same example to everybody so even a dog even a mosquito even a fly even an ant so when the life principle is withdrawn where is our importance there is no importance at all so with regard to ourselves even in worldly parlour worldly sense the body mind complex is not our real personality prana is our real personality that is the crux the essence of this 15th upasana and then the upasana is the same section upanishad it illustrates what does it say dhik astitva enam ahuhu if anybody insults or tells harsh words to one's father mother brother sister acharya or any respectable person in the society other people when they observe this behavior of ours they say dhik means fie upon you shame upon you so why do we say because that is we are hurting them what hurts them when we speak harshly criticizes them disrespect them their prana some people can have heart attack also if you insult them enough pain then they will commit suicide so we see so many people foolishly doing that thing also therefore prana is superior to everything and minus prana everything is completely opposite valueless so that is why if anybody speaks irreverently to all the men people mentioned earlier they say you are saying them you are killing them that's why we also say do not hurt people what does it mean surely it doesn't mean body body gets hurt whether we hurt it or not the mind also can get worried and that is the greatest hurt but insulting criticizing shouting at them and disrespecting them all these things reduce their life even animals will also suffer when it is not loved so when a person is alive and if he is criticized or insulted we say that it is a murder a person is not killing but it is equivalent to killing but observe so beautifully even if the most dearest our father our mother who is so near and then father brother sister acharya any respected person what happens once life departs from them what are we going to do we completely we take them we don't want even to touch them lest we become impure and then we take a stick and then push them onto the blazing fire so you see even if you pierce them with cut guy etc for for some purpose people will say will not criticize us people will say he has done very well that shows that we are nothing but prana that's why we should love them loving means not hurting and doing much good this is what upanishad itself observes it and then concludes prana everything is rooted founded only in prana even the existence of a mountain it has its own prana according to hindu view himalayan mountains any mountain is not a dead inert thing but it is a devata that is how kalidasa goes into ecstasies describing the beauty of the himalayas so a person who has this knowledge that the whole universe is nothing but manifestation of prana which is nothing but a manifestation of consciousness which is nothing but the manifestation of brahman itself god itself then he is called ativadi ativada means he was it obtained a knowledge as a experienced realized soul a realized knowledge god realization is becoming one with god and such a person if anybody says oh you speak very very high thing and if we tell that to somebody who doesn't know about it then he feels honored sometimes but we know it is pure unadulterated flattery but if the same person is a realized soul he simply accepts yes i am an ativadi because i am speaking nothing but truth ram krishna is his own way of saying i am telling in truth the thing is so when this prana brahma description briefly was given and narada could understand even though it is given only very briefly he becomes mute numb he is unable to speak and then he doesn't know but then he must have done it and then he doesn't ask anything greater is there but then any sadguru will not keep quiet because there are higher things than hiranyagarbha also so he himself calls and says listen to me i want to teach you so he did not ask is there something superior and then the sanat kumara he he doesn't ask but now sanat kumara himself calls him and says there is something more you will have to know about which we will talk in our next class may sri ram krishna holy mother and swami vekananda bless us all with bhakti jai ramakrishna