Dakshinamurti Stotram Part 26 on 25 March 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHUHU OM YO BRAHMANAM VIDADHATI PURVAM YO VAI VEDAMSYA PRAHINOTI TASMAI THAMMA DEVAM ATMA BUDDHI PRAKASHAM MUMOKSHUR VAI SHARANAMAHAM PRAPADYE We have been discussing this beautiful sixth verse where there is a most marvelous analysis of that much neglected state called the deep sleep or Sushupti. We have been discussing for the last I think two classes and yet we have not come to the end. How many lessons we must learn and we can learn from the analysis of the deep sleep state. That's why in the Mandukya Karika Gaudapada devotes so much of time, the very third part of this Mandukya Karika, Mandukya Upanishad rather it is Advaita Prakarana. Everything is pure Advaita and how do we know because everyday we are experiencing though for a very short time a temporary state called this Advaita. Of course it is not pure Advaita but it points out what can be an Advaita state and what result we can get if we can make it permanent. So what does this sixth shloka say? RAHU GRASTA DIVAKARA INDU SADRUSHO MAYA SAMACHHA DANAAT SANMATRAH KARNA UPASAMHARANATO YO ABHUT SUSHUPTAH PUMAN PRAG ASVAPSAM YATI PRABODHA SAMAYE YAH PRATYA BHIGNAYATE TASMAI SHRI GURUMURTAYE NAMAIDAM SHRI DAKSHINAMURTAYE The most important part of this particular sixth shloka is the same person, he withdraws all the sense organs but as soon as he wakes up, Pratyabhigna will come. PRAG ASVAPSAM YATI PRABODHA SAMAYE YAH PRATYA BHIGNAYATE He upon waking up cognizes, recognizes I am of the nature of the supreme reality but by the grace of my Guru who is being used as an instrument by God himself who goes by the name of Dakshinamurthy, TASMAI SHRI GURUMURTAYE, my salutations, my sharanagati to him so that I can receive what he is out of his boundless grace is going to grant me. Here we can take in two ways, study of the deep sleep but at the same time since the mention of Gurumurthy has come in the form of Dakshinamurthy manifesting of course, so who is this Dakshinamurthy? He is the embodiment manifesting through every Guru by his grace, earlier I have been sleeping a long time according to Hindu conditions, descriptions CHURASI LAK JANAM. I have been sleeping, I forgot who I was but I wake up by the grace of God, by the grace of the, through the grace of the Guru and then I RATYA BHIGNAYATE, I recognize all this time I was thinking I was somebody else, now I know who I am. So we can take this third line of this sixth shloka in two ways, when an ordinary person wakes up from the condition of the deep sleep called Sushupti into the so called normal waking state and then he organizes it was I who slept well and I was very happy but we are talking here, the Guru is not necessary for waking up from ordinary sleep, even nature itself will wake us up but we are talking here about the ultimate remembrance of who I am really. See it is very interesting, Sri Ramakrishna once foretold of Swami Vekananda, he will give up his body once Narain comes to know who he is, so also he predicted of Swami Brahmananda, once Rakhal comes to know who he is, he will refuse to live here a minute longer and then when before the passing away of Swami Brahmananda, he had wonderful visions which he was vocally expressing I am a friend of Krishna, I am Rakhal, so tie anklets around my legs, Krishna is calling me, come and dance and after some time he expressed my Krishna is calling me and very interesting statement there, Krishna, Krishna, my Krishna, my Ramakrishna is calling me and then everybody understood he was going. Sister Nivedita came to know from others, the moment Swami Vekananda comes to know who he is, he refuses to stay a moment longer, so just a few days before she came on an Ekadashi day and Swamiji poured the water to wash their hands by himself after they finished the prasada and then Sister Nivedita asked Swamiji do you know who you are now, immediately with a grave face Swamiji said yes I know and Sister Nivedita was stunned because that means he was not going to live any longer and within few days Swami Vekananda passed away in a most marvellous manner nobody could imagine he was going to willingly give up the body, that particular day when he gave up the body, his health was much improved, he ate wholeheartedly, he took up all the things Sanskrit grammar for three hours after food and then he went out for a long walk with Swami Premananda, he came back and just gave up the body within half an hour or so, nobody could believe, they all were deluded that today he is much better, I think gradually he will recover like that but Swami Vekananda himself knew the time has come for me to go away and then once somebody might have asked, I do not remember the occasion then he said I have to go, someone counter questioned why do you need to go, your work has just started then Swamiji said that if there is a huge banyan tree, other trees find it very difficult to grow up unless I remove myself, others means his brother disciples like Swami Brahmananda, Swami Premananda, Swami Sharadananda etc., anyway that is not the main reason that he had fulfilled his mission when you complete my mother's mission then the key to your Samadhi will be given to you because Ramakrishna had given Swami Vekananda, granted Nirvikalpa Samadhi at Kasipur garden house and Swamiji wanted it again and again, he said no I will keep it locked in a box when you have completed my mother's work then only you will get open but curiously he was pestering for it in America at least we know on two occasions where he went into deep Samadhi and the watchman saw Swami Vekananda under that condition under a pine tree and then he came and running, the guest Swami is dead of course they all ran away and then found after some time slowly Swami Vekananda came back so these are all divine lives, this waking up to our real state that is the real purpose of studying the deep sleep it gives though a remote glimpse into what we really are that's what we are studying here several points we have at least 14 points we have covered until now we are coming into the 15th point many people think I was not there why do they think because they think I am not conscious if I were there I would have been conscious of something happening there but the same logic is applied to counter that statement saying whether you want to witness what something present or something absent you have to be there because you are telling I slept first of all and you witnessed that state and that state was a very happy state that is the one of the important points suppose you were absent in the sleep how did you know you were absent you can never issue such a statement if you are not there it is like saying that I do not exist even to make a statement that I exist you have to exist without knowledge as the underlying reality no one can make that kind of statement 16th in sleep there are two things one is Agnana means I do not know who I am but there is a nearer state pure consciousness without any distraction or object but it is there in the seed form body mind are there in the seed form that is why the very name of that deep sleep is Karana Sharira Karana Manas second the person is happy in that state and he himself tells I was very happy how did he understand he was happy unless he was experiencing happiness so happiness was there but here is the point that in the waking state as well as dream state we need the help of some object some event some experience to have the knowledge that I am either happy or unhappy but here no object is available and yet this gives the greatest happiness because you just compare every objective happiness lasts only momentary even the greatest happiness doesn't last more than a billy second if at all why do I make such kind of statement because if supposing you say during the waking state or the dream state let us say you have one minute complete 60 seconds of unbroken happiness and you must be a great yogi because for one minute 60 seconds your mind did not have any other thought accepting that experience I am happy but during the comparative to the deep sleep several hours from the waking point of you of course that as if the whole thing had passed away within a very short time you went to bed and you woke up in between what happened as if time did not exist space did not exist was to did not exist that's why it is nearest to Samadhi and that indicates even if you do not have any object you can be extremely happy in fact an object obstructs our happiness that's what we have to learn the lesson in waking state that agnana or ignorance manifests as an individual in the world of plurality this is a beautiful idea as soon as we wake up my body your body every object in this world subject object division time space causation division every division comes so I say I am an individual and this word is most interesting word individual means that which can never be divided here you are divided into a small atomic proportion if at all and yet you dare to call yourself an individual Swami Vivekananda used to make fun indeed you have not become an individual is what how does it split in individuality undivisible in the waking state agnana manifests as an individual now how do we know that there is agnana and sukha in the sleep remember the special two manifestations of deep sleep is one is agnana means I do not know anything second is I was very happy nobody will ever say upon waking up I am happy everybody will say I was very happy so these things when a person wakes up how do we cognize there was agnana and there was sukha or happiness because we have experienced it not only the presence of a specific experience but absence of any experience is also an experience just as we cannot say that the Sun is absent during an eclipse just as when there is an eclipse night Shri Ramakrishna uses this analogy very much oh man during your state of sleep or agnana just like at night if any fool makes a statement any man makes a statement there is no Sun because I do not see the Sun he like that in your state of ignorance you deny God but the very fact from a intelligent point of view to say whether I am a jnani or I am a jnani requires tremendous amount of wisdom for example how do you know this is night time unless you experience daytime you can never say it is night time what illumines the night ask yourself that question how do I cognize this is night to even to say that this is night you require a background knowledge there was a time when Sun was there now Sun is not there etc okay so the Sun is there we know the Sun illumines the night that means you don't see the Sun the experiencing absence of the sunlight is called darkness or that is what we call night but here during the all the three states waking sleep as well as dream states the Sun of the Atman is shining forever but what happens in the deep sleep only the windows of the sense organs are closed karana upasamharana so the sunyavadis arguments do not work at all now an important point point number 18 during waking state we identify ourselves with this body mind and we attribute many conditions as I am the doer I am the enjoyer I am the knower I am earning bread for my family these notions of me and mine and the abhimana abhimana means identity that I am doing all these things are very fundamental to the ignorant person this I'm sorry what are those things body is me this is called deha abhimana body is mine is also deha abhimana this house griha abhimana this is my wife jaya abhimana this is my daughter duhida abhimana this is my husband pati abhimana all these are identities so during waking and dream every individual is nothing but a bundle of such notions this is my body this is my property this is my prana these are my sense organs this is my knowledge etc etc but during the sleep state in where the sleep state inevitably proves that every one of these identities is completely false if my real nature is doer or knower or experiencer or enjoyer since all these are absent I should have been dead in the deep sleep but my experience proves not only I am not dead without these without depending upon these I am one of the happiest persons on earth every person place every individual place infinite almost infinite number of roles during the waking state and dream state father mother brother sister officer club member or a patriot or a scientist etc this sushupti experience deep sleep experience conclusively proves that the real atman which is my essential nature is completely unattached to the things of the waking state as well as to the dream state asangohi I am purushaha as the upanishad states this truth is so nicely presented to us by god day after day in case we forget day before yesterday's experience I forgot yesterday also I had deep sleep but I forgot to learn the lesson I was the happiest person so long as I was in the deep sleep and to make a little fun others also perhaps were even more happy when you are in deep sleep if only we care to understand investigate this is a great lesson we have to learn analysis of sleep is an important topic in the teachings of the upanishads and as I mentioned earlier very few people especially modern psychologists as well as philosophers as well as religious people pay very little attention either to the dream state or deep sleep state sometimes they do investigate the dream state to understand what we are in the waking state but Vedanta doesn't have that kind of identity at all it says each state is completely different each is in fact opposite to the other two states and each state proves the falsity of the other states for example if you are in the waking state nobody takes the dream state as real if in your last night's dream you dreamt you won a million dollar or million pound or million rupee koti rupees lottery ticket you don't check your bank balance and in your deep sleep of course no such experience takes place but when you are in the dream state is your waking state really real or you feel that maybe you slept in Bangalore or London but you may find yourself in India or you may find yourself somewhere else so which is reality as long as we are dreaming what we experience during the dream state alone is the reality but here comes the crux when we wake up from deep sleep we never say that deep sleep state was the reality the fact is otherwise what is it deep sleep is as real a state as so long as it lasts and that is a most marvelous state we have been discussing all these wonderful points the lesson we have to learn is all the three states are changing changing means unreliable you remember if you really analyze what is the meaning of the word change so supposing somebody comes to you says I want to be your friend or I want to love you and you ask simple question directly will you love me forever says no for five minutes I will love you would you invest your life your association your money in such unreliable answer absolutely no and yet that is what we are doing even though we are seeing everything is changing in the whole world that is a great lesson we need to learn but how do we know changes are taking place all the three states are changing changeable changing and they will never become at any given time in future unchanging but what is there to experience any change there must be the background of something which is completely unchanging what is the nature of it that is where this deep sleep states comes to our aid and says pure consciousness I am conscious waking state is unreliable I am conscious dream state is unreliable however wonderful it may appear so long as it lasts similarly deep sleep state is also changing because you can't sleep forever unless somebody cuts your throat during your sleep so that is also changing every state is changing there is only one thing which is not changing that is you are witnessing one scene after the another three scenes waking scene dream scene dreamless scene or continuously revolving in front of you but without you nobody will be there to cognize they are the states they are changing states all these things so whatever is the Atman in sleep that undifferentiated existence absolute alone is the reality and I am that unchanging reality so whatever is there outside sleep is unreal mithya let us always remember very few people that means the students of Vedanta really understand the meaning of mithya mithya is not non-existence that is a partial experience of satya is called mithya this is very important so many times I have emphasized it mithya is not non-existence it is partial experience of reality simple example the experience of a snake while seeing a rope that is called mithya how do we know because if there had not been a rope there would not have been a snake so what are we seeing a rope really but unclear rope that is called partial knowledge a bit of ropeness it is not unreal but it is neither real that which is neither unreal nor real but partially real that is called mithya so as soon as we wake up that means outside sleep there are two states waking state as well as dream state this is called mithya what is mithya there there is a division as soon as we wake up or go to dream unlike the deep sleep state there is a division what is the division the first division is subject object division plurality namarupa a body identified with oneself as distinct from everything every object in this world then the sense of agency aham jnata aham karta aham bhokta aham sukhi aham dukhi enjoyership all these are completely absent in sleep yet I am there so what is that I without which I exist and happily exist find out this is the truth about the Atman all these divisions have been superimposed on the Atman in the waking and dream states because of ignorance or avidya now another point is during the waking and dream states we are all subject to three things is called pariccheda limitation by desha kala and nimitta space time and causation the first point we need to cognize is these are not three separate things but this is one experience viewed from three different angles I gave an example earlier supposing you come to know there is an accident you can ask three questions where did it happen desha pariccheda you are asking which place then you will have to understand kala pariccheda that is time division when did it happen and then you ask how did it happen why did it happen here is something very important the difference between how and why very few people understand in this world supposing you mix two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen what would be the reason h2o what is the result water now if you ask any child what is this water how did it become water oh it is because of two molecules of hydrogen and one molecule of oxygen he thinks this is why it happened no this is how it happens not why it happens nobody knows why it happens like that but this is a description of this is the process how it has taken place and this distinction is very important because science proclaims loudly that we are unraveling the secrets of the nature and we are advancing in knowledge we know why things happen so science never will be able to tell why science only tells us how it had happened not why it has happened now why h2o should not become milk or gold or a human being that you cannot tell only srishti karta vidhata creator of this whole universe can tell why he decided h2o would be only water and not gold or mercury or milk or the greatest vaccine for this covid so it is always keep in mind the meanings of how and why are totally separate we don't know why only bhagwan knows why but we can to some extent unravel how it takes place this is very important during the waking state dream state we are born slaves we are whirling round and round caught by the maya in the form of time space causation matrix remember there was a beautiful movie that is called this this particular time space causation matrix that matrix has been taken only based upon this idea of maya that great film during the waking and dream state we are all born slaves helpless people under the matrix of time space and causation how i was born at such and such a time now and so many years old and i am in this particular country i speak this language i am happy i am unhappy so when a person says that i am so many years old that is time matrix a person says i am like this in this country or that country in this position that position is talking about the space and whether i am happy or unhappy is talking about the status of causation we are inevitably inescapably caught in the web of maya and what is maya as swami vekananda explains i think in the sixth or seventh lecture of the jnana yoga series time space causation brahman looked at through the prism of time space causation is called world and world looked without time space and causation and to some extent this happens in deep sleep that is called brahman the deep sleep gives us a glimpse remember it is also a state of bondage because it happens when it wants to happen and it also breaks when it wants to break we have absolutely no control and if you struggle very hard to get into deep sleep that will be the self-defeating only this is time space matrix and that is greatest bondage but if we can study deep sleep where there is no time no space no causation we do not know who we are but we at least do not identify with the time space and causation so that is 50% samadhi is wonderful samadhi so what is the purpose meditate what is the purpose of meditation to go beyond time space and causation how will that happen in meditation because the by definition meditation is where you forget to time space and causation so that is why it says drop now and here in this context i have to also tell you when we say now instantaneously there are two ideas associated that is what came before and what is going to come later on what we call the past the present and the future when we are thinking about the past have you gone to the past or have you brought the past into the present made it the present and re-experiencing the past and when you are inferring or imagining about the future the future has never happened at least the past had happened the future has never happened nobody knows what is going to happen but you bring certain guesses imaginations into your life and then you bring it into the present now what is the magic of it if there were to be no past and there were to be no future will there be something called present that is also is impossible but then they are there we are caught in the mesh and we are being squeezed in the mesh i was so and so and i would like to be so and so and we probably suffer more from this matrix of now remember squeezed between the past and what i could have been or what i should have been this is what Isavasya Upanishad is telling why did i do such and such things and why did i not do such and such things what is the person regretting about so why did i do such things is past why did i not do such things is the thought about the future and a person who knows i am beyond time space and causation he has no regrets at all or put it in the other way round only a person who goes beyond time space and causation he knows i am he doesn't say now i am he doesn't say i'm going to become he doesn't say i was simply he says i am let trying to drop these notions of time space causation and remember they are the three angles of one triangle they always go together therefore if you can drop time automatically space and causation will also disappear so now what is meditation meditation is to focus upon one thought keep one thought and here is the psychological secret if there is one thought you are beyond time space and causation because what brings the idea of time space and causation is second thought as soon as the second thought comes the first thought becomes the past tense and this next thought will become the future thought so when time is dropped off space also is dropped off and naturally why this time and space affect us because of some reason and that reason is called cause that causation also automatically drops off deep sleep teaches us the lesson i am beyond time space and causation and that's why this counting whether i slept for two hours or five hours or eight hours is purely in a calculation done when upon waking up not during that state at all as i gave the example when you go on a holiday that the first thing that happens when you go on holiday whether it is one week 10 days 15 days three weeks time passes very very very fast why because you are in such a happy state happiness is to go beyond time and space so if you want to be happy forever the only way is to forget about time space and causation but if you are happy because of some reason and that reason is called causation and that causation as soon as it comes to a drop remember the law of thermodynamics if you throw a stone as soon as that initial energy is completely exhausted a stone has to fall at some point whatever object can bring us happiness the moment that initial momentum comes to a stop that happiness come to a stop and that happiness can change only into one thing that is called unhappiness the experience of sleep proves many things teaches us many things what is it i am the atman i am the ever-present pure consciousness my nature is i am a witness of every state and i am beyond time space and causation and i am not the possessions i am not body mind sense organs intellect or not the three bodies nor the five koshas because in sleep there is no three bodies or pancha koshas pancha kosha is there fifth kosha is there the third body karan sharira is there but i am not conscious of it yet i continue so all this i am not the possessions i am not the body i am not the mind i am not the buddhi i am not the ahankara i am not a samsari i am not happy or unhappy i am not a doer i am not an enjoyer i am not a karta i am not a bhokta i am the pure satyam jnanam anantam brahma asti bhaati priyam i am in that state neither a man of knowledge nor a man of ignorance neither am i bound nor am i free i am not a devotee i am not a jnani i am not a karma yogi i am not a jnana yogi i am not a scholar i am not a father i am not a mother i am neither bound nor a sadhaka nor have i attained liberation a thief who sleeps is not a thief a policeman who sleeps not a policeman sleep is nothing but it points to our own swaroop or real nature only sleep is there with the veil of maya sleep or sushupti emphatically proves this wonderful fact asangohi ayam purushaha and if you remember what nirvana shatakam what is the very first shloka nirvana shatakam mano budhya hankara chitta ninaham na ca srotra jihve na ca grana netre na ca vyoma bhumir na tejo na vayu chidananda roopah shivoham shivoham all these things are conclusively proved for a discerning wise person when he studies this state called deep sleep and then this has been summarized by no lesser than gowdapadacharya in his advaita prakaranam na nirodho na ca utpatti na baddho na ca sadhakah namo mukshurvai it namukta ityesha paramarthata i may play any number of roles in the waking state or dream state but in sleep i am blissfully detached from all these roles since i am essentially unattached in waking state dream state there is the pair of opposites dvandva sukha dukha in deep sleep there are no vandas sukha comes stays for a while and yields to dukha its opposite sleep also proves one more point which i had already pointed out happiness is intrinsic to me because without any object i am quite happy but not dukha i am not of the nature of suffering or unhappiness why because deep sleep nobody is unhappy the most suffering person physically or mentally or externally or whatever what we call tritapa a person is completely free so long as he is in that deep sleep state even a iota of pain won't touch a person in deep sleep even the greatest murderer the greatest evil person rakshasa everybody enjoys the bliss of the sleep as anybody else there is no distinction between the good and the evil when people are asleep this situation of the waking state does not alter the situation in sleep at all in sleep i am invariably happy by nature in waking state we need a reason to be happy what is that reason i am eating rasagulla so i am a happy person i meet somebody whom i love so i am a happy person but if i happen to meet a unloved person then i will be inevitably unhappy if i eat something bitter like that lower bird in the mundaka upanishad then i look up and say what is the secret of that higher bird in the highest branch which is so happy and absolutely calm and quiet and peaceful happiness here is a great point happiness does not require any reason that means it doesn't depend upon any condition that is the most wonderful thing look at a child a child is happy without any reason not only that here is something great lesson we have to learn look at any child and you just gave him a doll or a small ball or even a wooden elephant so long as he is playing he is very happy how happy he is so long as he is playing with that doll or wooden object or anything or he is eating a lollipop whatever it is how happy that child is when you are eating a rasagulla how happy you are are you 100% happy you remember your husband has scolded you wife has taught you a good lesson your friend has cheated you and somebody is threatening to upset your job or your business a hundred thousand thoughts crowd in your mind even while a small portion of your mind is starting to enjoy that particular sweet look at the child now answer the question 100% that child is happy why is he happy because whatever the reason that is a different issue the child is happy because how much is he absorbed while he is playing or eating how much are you absorbed while eating a sweet or while playing or while doing something now you understand the difference between a child and a grown-up person that is what happens in deep sleep a person is completely absorbed nobody can say I am only 1% deep asleep or 99% deep that's not called deep sleep 100% a person is completely this analysis study of the deep sleep Sushupti, Godha Nidra teaches us many lessons and to the extent we can assimilate these wonderful points we have been analyzing for the last I think three classes Samsara, this worldly life gets slowly diluted it's a big step in terms of understanding one's own true nature this message of the sleep can be summarized as I am by nature completely unattached unattached means I am not identifying with either body or mind or intellect etc second important point one can be happy without the fulfillment of any particular desire because this is our intrinsic nature and this intrinsic nature when it is completely realized is what we call sthita prajna lakshanas which has been so beautifully summarized in the Bhagavad Gita Atmanyeva atmanatustaha sthita prajna tadocchate Ramakrishna was called Atmarama he sports in himself one who is happy in himself with himself always is called sthita prajna so the sixth verse tries to explain the nature of my real nature the real nature of I during the deep sleep it is maya that is covering the Atman during this experience thus as soon as a person wakes up he realizes I was the same person who went into this deep sleep state before I was the waking person or dream person but as I mentioned earlier that by the grace of the Guru which is nothing but the grace of the God after all these experiences are over we pray wholeheartedly and the Sri Dakshinamurthaye namaha namaha means namama I don't have anything complete state of self-surrender is called namaha and when a person attains to that state suddenly all this darkness of ignorance is totally destroyed he wakes up with not wakes up from deep sleep wakes up from the long sleep of ignorance and then he says nasto mohaha smriti labdha how my delusion is destroyed now by your grace I remember my remembrance has come back that remembrance here is called pratyabhijnata recognizes who I am really once I recognize what is my real nature there is no more going back that will be an eternal state but tvat prasadat maya achyuta only by your grace thus in spite of all these changes that take place during the waking dream etc I am pure consciousness without any dehatma buddhi or buddhiyatma vritti or pranatma buddhi etc I am that pure shuddh nitya shuddha buddha mukta chaitanya swaroopaha that is proved so beautifully in the sixth verse and the same idea I continue despite all these changes is again beautifully put in the seventh verse in life we have four stages every day we have three stages states and then from birth to death we go through different states of experience sukhi dukhi etc and through all those things that I continuously continues illuminating all these states again that is being taken up in the seventh verse which we will take day after tomorrow in our Dakshinamurthy Sutra om jananim saradam devim ramakrishnam jagadgurum padapatmi tayo srithva pranamami muhur muhur may sri ramakrishna holy mother and swami vikaranda bless us all with bhakti