Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 109 on 09-April-2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. We are dealing with the chapter, Visit to Eeshwar Chandra Vidyasagar. August 5th, 1882. In our last class we have seen Sri Ramakrishna was expounding. Compassion, love of God and renunciation are the glories of true knowledge. When a person has real knowledge, what is the knowledge? I am not the body, I am not the mind, but I am the Atman. Then what happens? The same knowledge that if I am the Atman, automatically it means I am everything, I am everybody. What we call in modern scientific language, science has never recognized that any non-living thing is really God. But for Hindus, those who understand, the earth is God, Goddess, water is God, fire is God, the air is God, the space is God. Pancha Bhutas. Not only that, we are nothing but these Pancha Bhutas. When a man obtains this knowledge that I am the Atman, it really means I am everybody, I am everything. That is why something, once I observed a very curious thing. The Pope from Rome, he had gone to some country, I do not remember, as soon as he landed from the plane then he came down and then he, just as we make pranams, he made pranams to the earth, whether they have that idea, we do not know, that the earth is nothing but the Atman. That manifestation of God, but definitely we all worship Bhudevata, that is why if whenever we want to construct a building, then Bhumi Pooja, we call it. Whenever we buy an animal, usually a cow, then Go Pooja will be there and Shri Krishna advocated the Pooja of Parvata. What is the idea, that everything is nothing but God only. So when a person understands, if I am hurtful, if I do something wrong, then I am doing it to myself. If I am doing something good, my favorite illustration is, if the right hand scratches the left hand, because it is itching, the left hand for whole life, it need not be in gratefulness, Oh, you did so much of good to me, because there is no difference between right and left, so between me and anything else, there is no difference at all. This recognition of the divinity, recognition of the sacredness in everything that we experience, and especially our own body, our own mind, that is the greatest manifestation of this Atma Jnana. There is a very beautiful incident, Holy Mother was at Jairambati, so a lady devotee who used to work there, she was in a hurry, so accidentally Holy Mother's foot touched that person's body, immediately Holy Mother said, come here, and then she took the dust of her own feet and put it on the head of that devotee, indicating this is a sacred body, because I see sacredness in everything. You are sacred, I am sacred, everything is sacred. Sacredness is another name for Atman or Brahman. Purity, consciousness, sacredness, holiness, these are synonymous terms. So this particular expression of Sri Ramakrishna to Vidyasagar, of course to all the other people who were present, compassion, love of God, and renunciation are the glories of true knowledge, as soon as a person advances in spiritual life, not to speak of realization of God. So automatically these qualities, not only these, but many other allied qualities, these are called the characteristics of the Upanishads, Upanishadic dharmas automatically manifest, and there is a beautiful description of these things in the 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, this is called Daivisampad, divine treasure. So we were discussing, because Mandukya Karika, the last chapter, 4th chapter, 86th, Vipranam vinayoh eshah, shamaha prakruta uchyate, prakruta means very natural, because vipra, who is a vipra, a person who knows the essence of the Vedas. Vedadhyayana vipro bhavati. What is Vedadhyayana? Professor of philosophy, especially Indian philosophy in our universities, is not a vipra. A vipra is one who knows the essence of the scriptures that everything is Brahman. So dhamah, vinayah, shamah, prakruti, dantattvat, these are very natural. The person had struggled so much time, how many janmas we don't know, to acquire these qualities, what we call like our habits, they become automatic. A habit, by the way, is an action and reaction about which we do not need to think. Automatically it takes place. If someone wants to be a Brahman, he must acquire these qualities with great assiduity. That is what is being said here. He who thus realizes the Brahman, which is all-peaceful, himself becomes tranquil and peaceful. Remember, Eshwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great Sanskrit pandit. He has studied all these things and he has written books also. And what is the difference? Anyway, Vidyasagar was a vastly learned person. We can say that great qualities of sage Narada that we get in the especially Chandogya Upanishad. Remember, I hope you remember, we are going to discuss another story also from the Chandogya Upanishad very soon. This Narada, he is a Upanishadic Narada. He approaches a great sage and says, help me to realize God. And then the teacher asks him, so far what have you learned? Because I don't need to waste my time teaching you what you already know. Then Narada gives a big catalogue. That means there is no knowledge which is not known to him. Then the teacher puts a question to him, since you know everything, why do you need to come to me? This is a very marvelous story. And then Narada replies, Sir, I heard from great sages like you that until these truths come out of great realized souls like you, they will not be effective. That is the truth. Ramakrishna reiterates again and again that great pandits are there. Just in our last class we have seen and Sri Ramakrishna compared them to vultures. Vultures soar so high, but where is their drishti, their sight? That means they are seeking, their desire, rotting corpses, carcasses. And so a great pandit need not necessarily be a spiritual person, not only that. Vidya Sagar possessed a lot of qualities like compassion and sympathy and the quality to do dana. He was also called Daya Sagar. Many people's daya extends only to either family or to caste, to religion, but never goes beyond it. But here is Vidya Sagar. Wherever he saw, he met misery, poverty, suffering. He tried to eliminate as much as he could. After all, he was a human being. But then we have to understand, he had all these wonderful qualities, but somehow he failed to meet Sri Ramakrishna's estimation. How do we know? Because Sri Ramakrishna later on after returning at some other point of time, he remarked, Vidya Sagar doesn't know what is lying buried. If he only digs one a little bit, then gold comes out of him. What was Sri Ramakrishna referring to by the word gold? Gold means spirituality. So much of knowledge is there, compassion is there, hard work is there, fellow feeling was there, and he did a lot of social service by just making the widow remarriage possible. And Vidya Sagar's life is so pathetic, so much of suffering, so much of opposition, and in spite of that he was one of the greatest beings. Otherwise Sri Ramakrishna would never have even visited him. He saw the manifestation of the Divine Mother in the form of Vidya roopena samsthita, daya roopena samsthita, priti roopena samsthita, matra roopena samsthita. See Vidya Sagar, in those days, you know, there were no cars. People had to travel by horse carriages. And Vidya Sagar refused to travel because the poor horses used to be beaten. And Vidya Sagar refused to drink milk because he thought milk is deserved only by the cows, not by human beings. There are so many good qualities, but I am very sure Sri Ramakrishna's blessings, Avatara himself visited him very soon. He is going to become a great person. But something very curious was there. So Vidya Sagar listened to these words in silence. The others too. Because by that time quite a crowd had gathered, gazed at the Master and were very attentive to every word he said. It is something very interesting for us to note down. Whenever Sri Ramakrishna speaks, whenever Swamiji speaks, somehow they had the power to draw the attention of people. In their presence, people cannot sit and talk irrelevant things. Something prevents them. Same thing used to happen in the presence of Ramana Maharshi also. So Vidya Sagar listened to these words in silence, others also. And then M passes some remarks here. Vidya Sagar was very reticent about giving religious instruction to others. But he had studied Hindu philosophy and he was a deep student. So once M himself asked Vidya Sagar his opinion about Hindu philosophy or about God. And Vidya Sagar said, I think the philosophers had failed to explain what was in their minds. A gem of a statement. There is a rule, there is a law in fact that only when a person understands something, his words will convey the right meaning. If somebody without understanding wants to speak, explain it especially to other people, he will be going on mumbling a lot of words. But he won't be able to convey it properly. But look at Sri Ramakrishna's words in a beautiful song. So you have taught people in simple words. But Vidya Sagar in his daily life followed all the rituals of Hindu religion and wore the sacred thread of a Brahmin. And about God he had once declared, these were the interjunctions of M. It is indeed impossible to know Him. What then should be our duty? It seems to me that we should live in such a way that if others followed our example, this very earth would become heaven. Everyone should try to do good to the world. There is something very strange also for us, being such a great pundit, that he could utter these kind of words. It is indeed impossible to know Him. If it is impossible to know God, I am using the word God and Brahman. With the same word synonymously. So if it is then, why should these scriptures go to that so much of trouble? The whole purpose of Veda is only to make us realize God. But their knowledge means not like the knowledge we have about what we call ordinary science, objects, etc. No, it is not that. So here it means that becoming one. In this world, if I have the knowledge of a tree, then I am separate. The knowledge is separate. Why? Because just like I put on a shirt, my knowledge also is something that the mind puts on. After some time, maybe my mind forgets it. Because everything is changing. So two factors we have to understand. Our knowledge about the worldly objects, world itself, is continuously changing. That is why the scientists are updating their knowledge. Every time they get better knowledge, the old knowledge is swallowed within it, sometimes downright contradicted. And the knowledge remains separate. Even the greatest scientist, if he is in a coma, if he is in deep sleep, but that knowledge will be separate. He can lose it. We can lose our body, we can lose our mind. And along with our mind, all that knowledge we acquire is also lost. In fact, every second we are losing it. The moment we think of something else, all the knowledges of every other object that we know have been forgotten temporarily until we remember that object. But if it is knowledge about God, first of all it is unchanging. Unchanging knowledge means I am God. And that knowledge will never change. I as the pure consciousness. So anybody who understands it, even a non-realized person, if he knows the spirit of the scriptures, he will never say it is impossible to know God. In fact, God-realization is the very goal of life. As Swamiji puts it so beautifully, each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity, to know that I am God. But Vidyasagar's words are very good. What should be our duty? Our duty is we should live such a life that if anybody follows our example, that this very earth itself can become heaven. But it is impossible. Nobody is going to live that kind of life. There is nothing more painful. Even if nothing negative happens, adverse happens, the very life itself becomes intolerable because change is the very nature of this world. So M is interjecting his profound erudition notwithstanding Vidyasagar would never say anything about God. And some people questioned him. Sir, you are so learned, yet why do you not speak about God? He replied, look, I am afraid of being whipped. What did he mean? He meant to say that to speak about an object without knowing it would invite upbraiding. In a way it is true. A person who doesn't know anything about God, he should not speak. So whenever we speak, whenever we read, whenever we are listening, what should be our attitude? Not that I know God, but this help will help me remember God. If I am talking about God, all the time I am remembering God. If I am reading God, the same thing happens. And if you are telling me, same thing happens. That is why it is said, So each person, they address each other. You speak, I listen. I speak, you listen, etc. So Vidyasagar is telling, I am afraid of being whipped because I cannot talk about God because I have not realized God. But how do other people talk? Ramakrishna is talking, Ramana Maharshi is talking, our talking. There is a lot of difference. They talk because they have become one with the sugar. But we talk because we take their words, that they are absolutely truth, nothing but truth. That is why it is said, So we must speak about God because the scriptures do not speak anything excepting God and what pleases God and what displeases God. I am repeating this sentence. What do the scriptures talk about? Scriptures talk about three things. They talk about God. They talk about what pleases God. And they talk about what displeases God. Because this is the way for spiritual improvement or what we call, even for improvement in health, improvement in intellect, improvement in art, improvement in morality, of course spiritual improvement can come only because of this. So Vidyasagar's friends and companions, however, would not let Vidyasagar off. Finally, they forced me and then he expressed something very interesting. God is formless, His nature is consciousness. So He is Nirguna Brahma and what is His nature? Chaitanya. And how many of us understand a formless God? It is impossible so long as our mind is there. Formlessness, namelessness, what is beyond name and form or quality could never be understood because the very instrument that we use which is bound, limited by Desha, Kala and Vastu or what Swami Vivekananda says, time, space and causation, that itself will limit, makes it a form. So if you have got looking at a vast empty space through a small hole, then you see the whole space is round. There is no other way. So he used to say God is formless and His nature is consciousness. We do not know how he helped the students by describing God as formless and of the nature of consciousness. But he certainly created confusion among the teachers because he has written a book and that book the teachers are supposed to teach to the students. And the teachers when they read God is Nirakar and is Shuddha Chaitanya. I don't know how they are going to convey it to their students. So now Sairam Krishna is echoing or re-echoing Vidyasagar's same words because Vidyasagar was really an intellectual giant. At least intellectually he can understand that it is impossible to describe Brahman, to think about Brahman. Such gems of teachings have fallen especially in the second chapter and Sairam Krishna is expressing. Brahman is beyond both Vidya and Avidya, knowledge and ignorance. It is beyond Maya, illusion of duality. Very interesting. If Sairam Krishna is speaking about Brahman, so his description of Brahman is within Vidya Maya and Avidya Maya or beyond Vidya and Avidya Maya. We will come to that. The world consists of the illusory duality of knowledge and ignorance. Brahman is beyond Maya, illusion of duality. It contains knowledge and devotion and also attachment to money and gold, righteousness and unrighteousness, good and evil. But Brahman is unattached to these. Good and evil apply to the Jeeva, the individual soul, as do righteousness and unrighteousness. But Brahman is not at all affected by them. So this partiality belongs to man, not God. It is impossible for a human mind to think about what is beyond mind. Whatever we think about must fall within the limits of the mind. Sairam Krishna illustrates this elsewhere. Suppose somebody has got what is called jaundice. How does he see? A person with jaundice sees every object appears to be yellow because the person is using an eye with a disease. Suppose a person has got cataract and he will not be able to see properly. And you know there are people, unfortunately they are colour blind. They can't see any other colour. Not only that, do we see every colour? We think we see and nothing can be further from truth. There was a great watercolour painter called Monet, a French artist. He had a cataract operation and suddenly, we don't know how it happens, the eye which was operated, it got what we call ultraviolet vision. Just as bees, insects look at the different flowers, they also see. I don't know much about it. But I think, say honeybees, when they look at a flower, they see different colours. But at the same time, it probably also gives them a knowledge that this particular flower contains what is called nectar. Probably by experience they understand it. That is why unerringly they visit only those flowers which are supposed to give plenty of nectar. That is how they collect. So maybe they don't know whether there is nectar. We don't know whether anything has got nectar, but probably a particular colour. We also have that knowledge to some extent. When you look at a mango and you see the colour, this must be a ripe mango, this must be a ripe orange, etc. We definitely know about chillies. If it is green, it is a green chilli. And when it is completely ripe, it is a red chilli. We know about tomatoes, many things we know. So there are marvellous beautiful colours out there. We don't know. Many animals, they are colour blind. They can't see colours, only black and white. So even some people are colour blind. And when they look at any object, this is the point, what other people experience, they can't see it at all. So you extend this analogy and say, some people intellectually have far more understanding capacity. Everybody doesn't have it. So this is what Shri Ramakrishna is telling. The mind is limited and the mind consists of duality. Therefore, anything that the mind understands falls within duality. So knowledge and ignorance, knowledge and devotion, and attachment to what Shri Ramakrishna calls Kama and Kanchana, and Dharma and Adharma, and good and evil, Punya and Papa, etc. But Brahman is unattached to these because everything is Brahman. So when Brahman is good, Brahman is evil. Then how do you say, if there are two Brahmans, or even same Brahman, changing Brahman, for example, a person, sometimes he is good, sometimes he is evil. Then you say, you cannot rely upon that person, when he is going to be good or evil. But if a person, when a person is sleeping, in deep sleep especially, what do you call him? Do you call him a good person, evil person, righteous person, unrighteous person, knowledgeable person, ignorant person? How do you call him? You cannot call because all the dharmas, qualities belonging to the mind, now they become subsumed in that deep sleep. Until he wakes up, he will not be able to find them. So Brahman is completely unattached. And so good and evil apply to the Jeeva, the individual soul. So also righteousness and unrighteousness, but Brahman is not at all affected by them. That is why partiality belongs only to man and not God. Now what happens? Ignorant people, when they look at the world and compare, we always compare ourselves to other people. Why is that person more happy than me? Why is the other person more talented than me? Why is the other person having more power, more wealth, etc., etc.? So there is also wisdom to be learned. Are there not people who are much, much more unfortunate than us? You see, one Swami had expressed this very beautifully, happiness and unhappiness is because of comparison. It is all comparison. And he gave a beautiful illustration. There is a clerk. He was drawing 100 rupees salary. And then suddenly, his boss somehow liked him. He promoted him. Now he is getting 500 rupees salary. So he is comparing. I was getting 100. Now I am getting 500. Oh, such a good fortune. My boss is a very good person. So all sorts of comparisons have come. And there is another person. He was drawing 1000 rupees. And he was not doing a good job. He was demoted. And now he is drawing only 900 rupees. See, that person becomes profoundly unhappy. The difference is what? 100 rupees. And that was more than sufficient. But he will not think, Oh, I used to get so much compared to that. I am like this. So we always compare ourselves to other people. And that is one of the most manifested worldly qualities. Whereas, if a person is a divine person, really good person, he says that the other people deserve it. Because in this world, Karma Siddhanta tells us, without deserving, that means they have already paid for it. Nobody can acquire it. So if somebody has better things than us, then we have to say, let me also do some punya karma, so that I will also get it. But when we compare ourselves to much less fortunate persons, unfortunate persons, so many blind fellows, deaf fellows, poor people, and what is called unhealthy people, compared to that, and always comparison is possible, then we have to give infinite, eternal thanks to God. Thank God I am not in that position. There is a beautiful story. I go on repeating them, but it doesn't matter. Very beautiful story. So this actually happened. So somebody, great person has given that anecdote. There was a person. And one day he went out for a walk. He was previously a soldier. And he lost one leg. So he had to walk with crutches. And he was walking. He was profoundly unhappy. He saw a beggar sitting with a blanket on his legs. Then that beggar cheerfully greeted him. Good morning, sir. And this fellow has put a castor oil face. So the beggar asked him, Sir, why are you not cheerful? And he said, How dare you ask me to be cheerful? I have lost one leg. Immediately the other, that beggar, he removed his blanket. And both his legs are not there. He said, Sir, I also met an accident. And I have lost both my legs. But thank God, I am still alive. And see the difference. Even though in that condition, he was extraordinarily cheerful. This person was put to shame. If only he said, Here is a person. And thank God, I am much better than this person. Similarly, I remember another anecdote. I do not remember the name of that person. Probably Johnson in UK. I am not sure about it. He used to go out for a walk. And then he had the habit of tipping his hat to everybody that he meets. That was his habit. So as he was going, there was a tramp who was walking by. And this man, as usual, as soon as their eyes met, Johnson lifted his hat, bowed his head. But that fellow did not even acknowledge it. In a huff, he started walking off without replying. Then somebody who noticed it, he said, Sir, why do you bow down to this person? And he said, Look here. But for the grace of God, I could have been in that person's position. But God had endowed me with such enormous intellect, understanding, energy. I can go out for a walk. I think if it was Johnson, it was very good. There is another beautiful anecdote. He was not married, but he met a woman who was divorced. Then the woman, he was trying to date that woman. One day there was a conversation. And then Johnson was about to propose. So he said, Look here. No, the lady had said, So look here, you want to marry me? But in my family, so many people have gone mad. And so many people have committed suicide. So many people have been put behind the jail. Hearing that, Johnson tipped his hat and said, Unfortunately in my family, nobody has become mad. But several of them definitely deserve to be hanged. And then they got married. So this comparison, if we can compare ourselves to much less fortunate people, we can be much more happier. But definitely that will bring what we call Namrata, humility. And that is how. But there is also another explanation. What is the explanation? If somebody is much less fortunate, he deserves it because of Karma Siddhanta. Similarly, if another person is much less fortunate, then that person deserves also to be what is called sympathetic. Poor fellow, he did not know, he did something wrong. I wish he would soon understand and then change his behavior. Then he can also be very happy. Swamiji, there was a beautiful incident that is happening. Don't think I am deviating from the Gospel. These are all very important points. Swamiji was returning to India from his second trip. And along with some ladies, Swamiji had passed through Egypt. And then when he was passing, he was excitedly talking. And Swamiji used to be totally absorbed. So when he was talking, suddenly they entered into what we call a red light district. The others recognized, because so many women were lolling about and some of them were only cackling and calling them as customers because they saw this beautiful looking young man with an American dress, etc. Swamiji did not realize and they did not want to interrupt him. Suddenly, they were calling, they were shouting. He stopped talking, looked at them. In a moment he understood who they are and his whole demeanor had changed. He started walking towards them. And then he said, Divinity manifesting in this wretched form, what we call a terrible sympathy, alas, if only they knew what they are really. The Divine Mother has been reduced to this status. Of course we believe, no society can reduce anybody. No human being can reduce anybody. If you see anybody dominating, torturing, or making the other person enslaving, etc. Remember, according to Karma Siddhanta, I am talking, that they deserved it, so they are getting it. Those who do not deserve it, they will not get it. Whether some of you really agree with this statement, at least, I may not agree completely. I don't care. But that is what I believe. And because we don't know the vast history that had passed before, but I believe that nobody can get anything that they don't deserve, good fortune or misfortune. So, this is what the subject is coming. Sairam Krishna is trying to explain this. Just because we are partial, we attribute that partiality to God also, especially when we are miserable. Why did God create me like this, like that? So, Sairam Krishna is explaining this topic. Is God really partial? Partiality belongs only to man, never to God. And that is what Sairam Krishna is explaining. One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp and another may commit forgery by that very light. But the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous. You may ask, how then can one explain misery and unhappiness? First of all, the first paragraph, that beautiful analogy, there is beautiful light, one person is reading Bhagavatam, another person may be reading how to make bombs and how to destroy other people. And that is what is going on right now in front of our eyes. And the same thing has been happening in history. History is nothing but man's suppression of man all the time. Not to speak of women and weak people, etc. So, after telling this one, Sairam Krishna is asking, you may ask, then we see sin and unhappiness, misery and sin and unhappiness. How do you explain? The answer is that these apply only to the Jeeva. Brahman is unaffected by them. Why is this answer, statement? Because according to Vedanta, and that is what Sairam Krishna is trying to explain, Jeevatma, each soul is potentially divine. Divine means potentially Brahman. Hidden Brahman. Forgotten Brahman. We have forgotten. We are Brahman. So, if I am Brahman and Brahman is not affected, just as Sairam Krishna said, how then can one explain misery and sin and unhappiness? Remember, they pointed to me, how then can we explain somebody is fortunate, somebody is very happy and somebody is such a nobility is being manifested. Both. The answer is that good and evil, happiness and unhappiness, everything can be applied only to the Jeeva and so long as a person is enslaved to these things, spiritual progress is impossible. So, one has to give up first of course, what is negative, then even positive, then go beyond both. Brahman is unaffected by them. Then, Sairam Krishna gives a very peculiar example. There is poison in a snake but though others may die, if bitten by it, the snake itself is not affected by the poison. And then, Sairam Krishna comes. Earlier, we have seen Vidya Sagar's issue of the statement Brahman is Nirahakara and Brahman is pure consciousness and nobody can talk about God. He is like this or like that. And Sairam Krishna is re-echoing but with a vast difference. Let us read what Brahman is. It cannot be described by anybody. All things in the world, the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy have been defiled like food that has been touched by the tongue for they have been read or uttered by the tongue. Only one thing has not been defiled in this way and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what Brahman is. There are several Shruti statements. Shruti means scriptural statements. This is the methodology employed by Shankaracharya especially to great effect. Whenever he is writing a commentary, it is laced with plenty of scriptural statements supporting this view. You will never read his commentary without these things. So here is what is called Anyadevatadviditath Athahavitath Aviditath Adhi. It is Sushrama Purvesham This is from the Kena Upanishad. What one cannot think with the mind but by which they say the mind is made to think know that alone to be the Brahman. Not this which people here worship. That is to say, whatever we know, whatever we do not know. And what we know is called manifest. What we do not know is called unmanifest. And this is called Vidita means manifest. Avidita means unmanifest. Unmanifest also means that which is hidden. So that Brahman is beyond both manifest as well as unmanifest. And in Bhagavad Gita 15th chapter Bhagavan Krishna echoing this statement, he says that I am beyond both Kshara and Akshara. So therefore I am known as Purushottama. Purushottama means Uttama Purusha. The very name of the chapter is called Purushottama Yoga. It is Sushrama. But how did you come to know about Brahman exists? Because if we do not know whatever I know is not Brahman. Whatever I do not know that is also not Brahman. But then how do we know? It is Sushrama Purusha. Our ancestors were God realized souls. They explained it to us. And then Kena Upanishad of course which we have done that which can never be thought of by the mind. By which because of the presence of which the mind is capable of thinking. Whatever you think whatever you speak that is not Brahman. But that power behind our mind our eyes our Indriyas whether it is Jnana Indriya or Karma Indriya that is Brahman. But don't go on saying it is something else. No. It is manifesting as these but it is much much beyond the range of all these things. Because this world only for the beginners it is taught that this world is Mithya. But one important point people forget about it. For example there is a person who is frightened of snakes and then he sees a snake at night. He thinks there is a snake and he gets frightened. And later on somebody brings light and shows this is only just a rope. Now the what Vedanta wants to understand is Mithya can never be experienced unless it is a manifestation of Satyam. If the rope were not there then nobody can see the snake or any other mistakes that we commit. It is a garland and it is a streak of water or it is a bent stick looking like a snake etc. That similarity but the rope must be there. So if we are seeing this world and this world is Mithya because when we are experiencing it, experience cannot be heard of non-existence. Anything must be existing. Then only we can experience. So even though we are experiencing experiencing the rope at that time experiencing the same rope at night time can be quite different. But the fact that it is a rope that is not going to change. So that Jeeva is a Mithya idea because so long as there is subject and object, Jeeva and Jagat, so long that is called Mithya. But both these existence of the Jeeva and the existence of the Jagat, that belongs to the Brahman who is Sat and the knowledge of the Jeeva and the knowability of the object both belong to the Chit aspect of Brahman and the Sukha or Dukha that we get that depends upon the very basis foundation is Ananda because besides Ananda, that is which is called Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma, nothing else exists. Then one point I have already explained it but just to remind us can Mithya give us happiness? Say a person who looks and thinks there is a snake can he be a happy person? Yes, there are some people so there are people who are called snake catchers and they love snakes and they can live with snakes and there was a fellow, just an illustration but really I have seen a person whose house is full of snakes in Bangalore hundreds of snakes and then he is very happily sleeping there snakes also do not do anything same thing is said by Ram Krishna, when I was deeply absorbed completely unconscious of the world, snakes used to crawl all over my body they used to think, I mean inert thing Ramana Maharshi for several months stayed under what is called Patala, that is the basement of Arunachala temple and it was most of the time completely dark and snakes, poison non-poison and scorpions this thing used to be there but there is not one instance when these things have met but I think definitely mosquitoes have bitten him, how do we know? because I have met several devotees later on and their habit is to bite the other fellows both in front of them and behind them also they must have definitely sucked the blood of Ramana Maharshi and as a result the devotees, but their nature of what is called biting has not been changed and now we come to the Taittiriya Upanishad there is a second chapter, Taittiriya Upanishad consists of three chapters first is called Sikshavalli very beautiful chapter how to pronounce and how to develop Upasana very significant word then the second one is called Anandavalli, Brahmanandavalli Brahmanandavalli, Brahmavalli it goes by three names but usually we call it Brahmanandavalli and in this Brahmanandavalli this beautiful quotation is there yato vacho nivartante aprapya manasa saha anandam brahmano vidvan na vibhete kuthas chaneti etam ha vava na tapati kimaham sadhu na karavam kimaham papam akaravam ithi saha evam vidvan ete atmanam spranute uvehi eva ete atmanam spranute e evam veda ity upanishad, marvellous passage and it is full of these marvellous passages this is where the, what is called human language, the definition of Brahman is given satyam jnanam anantam brahma he who has Brahman idhya he will become Brahman, he becomes one with Brahman so yato vacho nivartante, from where the speech returns back, unable to express because as I told you so any expression is preceded by thought and every thought is preceded by objective experience and an objective experience is limited, so the knowledge is also limited, so the expression is also limited and therefore this Brahman is infinite and it is unlimited and Sri Ramakrishna's famous teaching to all of us is never limit God you worship whom you think your ishta devata you think whatever you want about him, that is your pathway to God but if somebody else has chosen to think of God some other way do not criticize, don't say God is only, should only be called as Allah should not be called as Ramak or Krishna that is how much of destruction is wrought because of this wroughten, narrow idea, this is what is called fanaticism, even now it is going on so along with the mind the incapacity of the mind to think the very capacity of the mind to think is supported only because of the presence of Brahman once a person realizes this, he becomes what is called Vidwan, knower and then he gets that Ananda, which is the very nature of the soul and there will be no fear because there is no fear because there is no second I am everything, even a Brahmin man he doesn't say I am everything there is no everything there is also he doesn't say I am only Brahman, that saying is possible only through the mind, there is no mind there so he cannot say, this is only a description for people like us and nothing really troubles him nothing burns him that is, why did I do so much of sinful activity, I should never have done and why did I not do what I should have done, human life an ignorant person's human life is full of regrets, I could have been somebody I could have mastered some other knowledge I could have some other job, I could have been living some other place I could have married somebody else all these regret in the, about the past and regret what am I going to do I am hopeless etc this is the lot of a Jeevatma, so why did I not do what is the best thing to be done why did I not prevent myself from doing, what is Papa person, that's a person he is always, he knows I am the Atman this person is beyond both this is exactly what Sri Ramakrishna was trying to tell and having heard this Vidyasagar turns to his friends and says that is a remarkable statement I have learned something new today, even though he was a Vidyasagara he is telling I have learned something new today there are beautiful things we will talk about it in our next class Om Jananim Shardam Devin Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Adapadmetayo Shritva Pranamami Muhurmaho May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna