Sri Suktam Lecture 05 on 08 February 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Shri Shobdham. The word Shri is a marvellous word. Anybody who pleases the Divine Lord gets His grace. The grace of God is called Shri. Once a person gets the grace of God, he gets everything as Bhagavan Krishna so beautifully explains in Bhagavad Gita. The whole universe is nothing but my Divine Maya, Splendor. DAIVI HESHA GUNAMAYI MAMA MAYA But it is extremely difficult to cross. But those who take refuge in me, adore me, worship me, only such people, by my grace, this very same Maya which binds us or seems to be binding us, will liberate us. That means like a loving mother, she takes us to our father. In Christian adoration, God is mostly conceived as father. But even there we get some devotees who conceive God as mother or even a child, child Jesus. But mother Mary. But in Hindu mythology, the whole universe is the outcome, manifestation of the Divine Mother. And very surprisingly, that Divine Mother is called by many names. One of the best names which the devotees of Shri Ram Krishna every day chant is Narayani. Narayani namostu te, in the hymn Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Now that is very important because Narayana and Narayani, that is pure consciousness and its power to manifest, can never be separated. That is the meaning. And here also we have to understand, as we discussed earlier, any hymn can be understood in two ways. Any prayer to God can also be understood in two ways, in a secular way and in a spiritual way. Worldly way, as I put it in other classes, some devotees want something from God. Some devotees want only God. Those who want something, they are called the followers of prayers. And those who want God, they are called followers of prayers. So we have seen how beautifully this Rishi, from whose heart spontaneously this hymn had come, Shri Suktam. And the very description delights our heart. Om Hiranyavarnam, she is shining like gold but nothing to do with gold. Here pure spirituality, the manifestation of Sattva Guna, Harinim. We have seen Harini, essentially two meanings. Hara or Hari is Lord Vishnu's name. Harini is the feminine aspect of Hari, Harini. Shiva, Shivani. Narayana, Narayani. So that is how we have to understand this Harini. But Harini is also the name of a deer. That is if somebody is running after the splendor, the manifestation of God's glories, that is called desiring prayers. But some people, they evoke from this dream and they only want Shreyas. I want God Himself. That is the meaning we have to take here. But both the children are children of God only. That is one of the fundamental principles or teachings of Vedanta. Everybody, every soul is divine. Each soul is potentially divine. And not only that, every soul first only follows the smaller path, which is the path of secular desire. But in the course of time, the person awakens and then he desires only the source of everything, which is the Divine Mother or God. Suvarna Rajata Srijam, this divine being is described just as when we see a very beautiful, young, adorable lady. But not merely a physical beauty, but endowed with extraordinary spiritual qualities and also worldly qualities. What do we mean by worldly? We have to understand everything in the world called worldly is not bad. There are people, very noble people, even sometimes they say we do not believe in God, but they are people of ideals, people of principles. They will not deviate from that. So, whenever we see, our heads automatically bow down, not in physical desire, but a desire, how marvellous, if my mother is like this, my sister is like that, my spouse, partner is like that, then my daughter is like that, it is wonderful. Suvarna Rajata Srijam, adorned with gold and silver ornaments, as we discussed earlier, every word has got its own spiritual meaning, inner meaning. So Chandram, the moment one beholds this mother, when a baby beholds its mother, just as we behold a beautiful full moonlit night's moon, our hearts bloom in great bliss, joy, enthusiasm, energy. So she is called Chandram, just as the moon is the cause of our Ahlada, so also this mother, divine mother, she gives happiness to everybody. You can sometimes watch the YouTube videos, so few days back I was seeing that there was a baby elephant and for some reason it was lost and the mother was so anxious, it is running here and there and producing that tremendous trumpeting noises, but she could not. But some people saw it and then put it on a truck, back of a truck and took near where the elephant's head is there and then let her, and the way she was running to its mother, the moment it saw its mother, the mother also came running, the baby was also running, and the mother cannot have enough of the baby. That would be our condition if we are blessed with devotion to God and then how do we know this is a good interpretation. We can see in the life of Holy Mother, Holy Mother is considered by Her devotees as Saraswati, as Lakshmi, as Mahamaya, as Parvati, as Mother Kali, in all aspects, Sarva, Deva, Devi, Swaroopini. And in the later part of Her life, mostly She used to spend in that remote village called Jairambati, and then like bees in such a honey, people used to go there, and then what was the attraction, because She was more anxious to meet the devotees, to see the devotees, to feed them, to look after them, then even the devotees, of course, they will be very glad, but the moment they come, one lady was describing, Why are we so much attracted? After all, there is nothing physically this Holy Mother could provide. Those who are living in cities like Calcutta can have much better, so-called much better things, whether eatables or anything, but in this remote village, even vegetables were very rare. They had to shop for them to neighboring villages, such was the remotest, very small village, Jairambati, even now it remains more or less a modest village only. So why do we go? Because the beautiful description is there, the moment especially the housewives reach Mother, they feel a heavy burden is lifted off their heads. So they leave their children, if there are children, and within a few minutes, the first thing Mother does is to feed her devotees, and then happily they will take up some pots, and then go to the hangs or the river to fetch water, and happily do the household job, etc. So one such vivid scene comes to my mind, once a lady devotee came there, and she had a son, and this son was her greatest whore to throw, and at the same time, he was also creating a lot of heart shock also. So this child came, and it was Mother's habit, as soon as she sees small children, immediately she will stretch her hand, and nobody hesitates to jump into her lap. So this child came, and immediately Mother took him in her lap and started feeding him some of the best things. Then this Mother was complaining, Ma, look at this horrid fellow, how much I have to coax and distract him to feed him, but here he is eating like a horse from your hands, and Holy Mother was cautioning that devotee, don't you cast evil side upon my child. So she was scolding the Mother, who was the actual Mother of the baby, that don't go on remarking like that, because as soon as we see the Divine Mother, we feel like just going and running and jumping into her lap. Our own mothers are recollected, and that is exactly the situation, like when we behold after a haughty day, when the full moon lit night comes, only those who have seen, they know, and of course there are some people who are endowed by God's grace with a complete aesthetic sense, and they only know what tremendous heights of aesthetic heights they ascend to and enjoy it. By the way, aesthetic happiness is the third highest happiness in the ladder of happiness. Material happiness, intellectual happiness, aesthetic happiness, moral happiness and spiritual happiness. And herein my aim, so she is good luck, she is the richest, we can also interpret it. When a baby sees its mother, he is not thinking, what is she going to give me? How much money? These are all stupid, worldly people, grown-up people, what is called brainwashed by the world, you cannot live without money, etc., etc., as if we never lived without money, and she is called Lakshmi. In the word Lakshmi itself, we are saying all the best things, endowed with the best things, but especially Yama and Niyama, and especially Niyama for householders. Shoucha, Santosha, Tapaha, Swadhyaya, Ishwara Pranidhana, pure, pure it external and internal. Santosha, extreme, great, contentment, whatever they get, like a baby, they are quite happy, and their happiness is not coming from outside, it is a state of the mind. And they are endowed with a tremendous amount of Tapasya, that means their minds will not be moving hither and thither, and then they are always thinking of God, that is studying the scriptures, taking God's name, etc., and we want that mentality, where we feel like babies sitting in the lap of the mother, and all our burdens are taken off, and the mother will look after us, and that is called the Divine Mother. Oh Agni Devata, so Fire God, please bring to me such a Lakshmi. Why Jata Veda? Because Agni burns everything, turns everything into ashes, that burning power. So let, Oh Agni Devata, burn all the impurities of my heart, and you only keep everything pure. When impure gold is burnt in the fire, it is burnished, that is why you say like burnished gold, all the stains, all the spots, and the dirt, dust, everything is washed off. Fire is the greatest purifier in the world, and this kind of Lakshmi, that means this kind of personality, this kind of mentality, this kind of great characteristics can only come by the grace of God. In the course of time, they will do that. This is also we discussed first. Second mantra goes like this, TAM AVAHA JATA VEDO LAKSHMIM ANAPAGAMINI YASYAM HIRANYAM INDEYAM GAM ASHVAM PURUSHAN TAHAM TAM, such a Lakshmi, which is so beautifully described in the first mantra of the Sooktham. Oh Jata Veda, that is God. Jata Veda means all-knowing, there is nothing which is unknown, past, present and future, that means He is none other than Srishti Kartha, the Creator Himself, and only God can bring the Divine Mother, there is nothing else. Jata Veda, please bring my own Divine Mother, whom I have missed and I did not even recognize, like a child who is growing up in somebody else's house, adopted like, in the adopted parents, but now I realize, this is my real mother, so you please unite us, that is what is said, Lakshmim, such a Lakshmi, such a Divine Mother, whenever we use this word Sri or Lakshmi, we will have to apply this, She is my own Divine Mother, I am her child, in the beginning, but later on, nobody is outside, She is the Mother of a whole universe, and what type of Mother, Anapagaminem, Apa, Gaminem means one who can be separated, but She is Anapagaminem, She cannot be separated, and what for am I praying, what is it that I am expecting, Siyam, from whom, Hiranyam, that is wealth, Pindayam, may I obtain wealth, then what else, Gaam, all the, what is called cows, etc., because in the Vedic culture, cows, bulls, they played the greatest part, as we already discussed, so in Hindu's eyes, a cow stands substitute of a mother, as many women in childbirth, used to die after giving birth to the children, they substitute nourishment, used to be the milk of the cows, even today it stands unparalleled, and then all the Yajnas, Yagas, that is the worship of God and Goddesses, Gods and Goddesses, in those Vedic times, was all done by lighting up a fire, etc., and for that, clarified butter, butter, milk, cow dung, and cow urine, these are the five important products, and if it is a bull, they become what we call agricultural animal, until other things are done, strangely in the western world, it is the horse that has taken that place, so I want all these, then Ashwam, because Ashwa means a horse, horses means many other animals, there are so many animals, but these are representatives, most important, so for facilities of travelling, and many other things, but cows are most important, and then Purushan, Purusha means men, what is the meaning of men, so whenever we want to worship God, we cannot live in isolation, we want people to guard us, we want our own number of children, both male and female, and we want what is called assistants, servants, and in so many ways, an isolated life is never possible, that is why Aristotle was forced to call every human being a social animal, so all these meanings are implied in the second mantra, O Agni, please bring Lakshmi to me, by whose grace I will obtain, gold means, gold stands for wealth, gold also stands for the best type of ornaments, even today it is very surprising, the wealth of any country is measured only in the form of gold, the gold reserves is the best thing, so gold, cows, horses, and friends and relatives, and servants, good servants, all these we want, O Agni, please bring such a Lakshmi to me, who will forever dwell both within and without me, beautiful word, who dwells within, within me means what, I will worship her as the Divine Mother, and the Divine Mother can never be separated from the Brahman, that is why I quoted many times that beautiful verse of Kalidasa, before he started composing Raghuvamsha, what is it, just like a word, Vagarthav Ivasampruktav, Vagartha Pratipatthaye, Jagathaha Pitarao Andhe, Parvati Parameshwarao, so Shiva and Kali can never be separated, consciousness and energy can never be separated, this is a tremendous fact, and that is why in the Soundarya Lahari, the very first mantra, only if Shiva, consciousness, is joined together with Shakti, divine energy, then only the activity of Divine Mother, what is it, creation, sustenance and dissolution or recycling is possible, by the way, Laya means not destruction, Laya means recycling or merging back in our original nature, so this is what we were discussing in our last class, please O Agni Devata, because who is Agni Devata here, He is the Ishwara, please ensure to bring Lakshmi, whose splendor is described in the previous verse and in this verse also, but what purpose, Lakshmi in Anapagamini, in the Indian mythology, Lakshmi is always inseparable from Narayana, she will be in the form of Kaustava Ratna on the chest of Vishnu and Vishnu and Lakshmi or Lakshmi and Narayana or Narayana and Narayani can never be separated, like word and its meaning can never be separated and they are called Jagadaha Pitarao, they are what is called Divine Mother and Divine Father, inseparable like word and its meaning, so I want to compose this beautiful adoration to Shri Rama, Praguhamsa and without your grace, it's not possible, any greatest discovery is the grace of God, anything that is great is the grace of God, so when Lakshmi, Anapagamini means she should never leave me and if Mother should not leave me, what type of life shall I lead, my life also will be, I will not leave her, till so long as I go on calling Oh Ma, Oh Mother and she will also will not be able because she hears this sound wherever we are, whenever we cry, as I mentioned in one of my classes, the God is like compared to a cow who had just given birth to a calf and then whenever the calf gets hungry, she just cries in a very low moving voice and then wherever the mother even two miles away, she hears that particular sound and with uplifted tail she runs and I have actually seen that one, I read about it in the Vedas but I did not know maybe because these Vedic Rishis, they used to have this, it is a daily phenomenon for them, so one day I went to the cow shed at about 11 o'clock morning, the calf was fed and the cows were let out for grazing in the hills at Cherrapunji and they were there about two kilometers away grazing the green grass that is grown freely on the hills actually, not mountains, very green and it is also always raining and then this calf must have been hungry, in the cow shed it is let free and it was mowing and then I just came out of the cow shed and I saw its mother with uplifted tail was running and it came to the cow shed and it just started suckling the baby, I was stunned, I said, oh this must have been a daily, almost daily sight of these people, Vedic culture, agricultural civilization must have been and they every time they described only, they can describe only with what they are living day and night, so we want somebody and this Lakshmi from the side of God, Ishwara, Narayana and Narayani cannot be separated and from our side, she is the mother, mother and the child also cannot be separated but the child may be sleeping, playing and then he forgets the mother, he or she, this is what he said, may I never forget the Divine Mother and may the Divine Mother also never forget, means one meaning, what is the other meaning? That let whenever, wherever Lakshmi goes, then Narayana, wherever Narayani is there, Narayana must be there, they can never be separated, wherever there is a devotion, God will always be there, wherever there is love, a beloved should be there, physically we are not thinking, we are not supposed to think only purely in physical terminology, we are talking about a language of love, so Lakshmi in Anupagamini, she will bring, in fact there is a third meaning said that unless there is God's grace, Lakshmi cannot come, only when God is gracious, he says Lakshmi, your child is calling you, you go and live with your child, let us go and live with your child, so she brings God because true Lakshmi, true wealth is spiritual wealth, not only physical wealth, that is why we see richest people, celebrities becoming mad, becoming drug addicts, then drunkards, then going mad and they spend so much of money just to remain, there is a joke I am remembering, whenever the celebrities meet in a party, usually a drinking party, so these ladies you know will go, who is your shrink, so at first I did not understand in America what is the meaning of shrink, nobody can tell me also what is the meaning of shrink, so then I made up my own definition, he who shrinks your bank balance is called a shrink, that is to say your psychiatrist, so then these ladies were very proud, who is your psychiatrist, oh so and so, oh okay, okay, okay, meaning my psychiatrist is the most celebrated psychiatrist in the world and who requires most celebrated psychiatrist, I leave it to you to guess what it means, so Lakshmi should never leave us and what are the conditions, Lakshmi will not leave a place where there is devotion, discrimination and really speaking self-control and that clinging devotion, and what type of Lakshmi, one who can never leave me, of course she will never leave me, because she is both combination of consciousness as well as energy, that is why in Indian lore, wherever we go, Lakshmi and Narayana, Shiva and Parvati, similarly Brahma and Saraswati, so they cannot be separated and who does not, cannot go away from me, why, because I am ever with God and she is also ever with God, when she comes she brings Narayana and I sit in the lap of mother and father also will be there, that is the meaning of one who can never leave Bhagawan, therefore one who can never leave me also, wherever she goes she brings Hari, the divine Lord, I am using this word Hari or Vishnu or Narayana or we have to say God, our father in heaven or Allah, whatever name, because there is only one God and she can never be separated and so both will be there, pure consciousness as well as divine energy and this divine energy manifests in the form of what is called divine characteristics, she is always with Bhagawan and so I want from her, is my prayer, what do I want, I want wealth, I want cows, this is called Godhana in Indian lore, Godhana means wealth, Godhana means a person in the olden times, there were no banks etc and even some tribes are there, where they leave all their animals outside in the forest, only occasionally they will go there to count but all the villages, everybody's cows will be mixing only but every villager knows how many cows, individual cows he has got and bulls he has got and meanwhile they will be also increasing most often unless they fall victims to tigers etc, so once in a way unfortunately these tribes they eat this beef, so they catch hold of some bull and bring it and sacrifice it and the whole village shares it, so they just leave and the cows are also very happy there, only somewhere or somehow or other either a tiger eats or a man eats, it doesn't really matter, so I want this Godhana, the wealth of because that is the very heart of every Vedic Rishi's household for worshipping, for enjoying etc. etc. So Gaum, then Ashwam for transportation for many other purposes live there and then servants are necessary, now you may ask oh you want to boss over, you want to be servants, so you are praying to God, especially nowadays what is the prayer, oh God the maid servant has left, the cook has left and the driver has given notice, I am not getting anybody, so if your gracious devotion and knowledge later on I will claim from you, but now for now you bring these things, so ancient time also we cannot live, so why should God give servants, after all they are also children, for that Hinduism is very clever religion, so he says it is all karmaphala, if your buddhi, your intellect, your understanding is very poor, then you start your life with a lower state, being servants, then you become a little clever, you become a businessman, then you become strong, you become a warrior, then you become very purified, then you become a Brahmana and what is called highest rationality and intellect is the highest human being and literally it is true today, so somebody had written a beautiful book, a future shock and it was a eye-opener and that author whom I don't remember now, he had clearly indicated in future the person who has got the knowledge, he will be the wealthiest person in the world and this is a marvelous discovery because in Indian mythology Saraswati and Lakshmi are rivals, where there is learning there would not be wealth, where there is wealth there the intellect will be very dull, but here knowledge that brings everything and it is really that is the correct idea that when the divine mother comes, she gives us intellect, everything else is. So for completing a life, even for leading a spiritual life is very necessary, that God's grace should be there, then what happens, everything will become favorable. Dharam Krishna indicates in a beautiful way, perhaps there are two brothers and the younger brother is very spiritual and he doesn't want anything from the world, he wants only God and he doesn't want to get married, but every person in the world has his own share of responsibilities, not only rights but responsibilities. So this person, he wants his pray, O Lord let me be free so that I can think of you freely without any restraints and then perhaps the elder brother, he takes responsibility and so younger brother is freed, so he is free to contemplate God. Very, very interesting and the concept of Vanaprasthashrama, the third stage of life according to Hinduism, that is when the children are grown up and standing on their own feet and when they have to, these people, they should retire because there is no time and if you are becoming a work colleague, you will never be able to retire. So become a work colleague or intellectual or alcoholic, whatever it is, but you are not asked to stop work but you are asked to change the subject of the work. Now more or less if we are secure and turn that energy inward and meditation and study of the scriptures, pray and pray into God, helping other people with our experience and knowledge, all these constitute the third stage of life called Vanaprasthashrama. And if somebody doesn't follow you, in fact, I was reading a book many years back, not now, that by an American author, most elderly people are left to live in what is called old age homes. Their greatest problem is loneliness and the lonely crowd. I think that was the title of the book, Lonely Crowd. So there are a huge number of people, they have physically more or less everything to lead a very happy life but they suffer from nobody to speak with, no way to spend our time, they never developed any beautiful hobbies like enthusiastically, ecstatically studying any deeper subject, immersing themselves, forgetting themselves, they have never developed these hobbies. So they feel terribly miserable even if they have to talk with other people, only rubbish, worthless things and same things again and again discussing this loneliness, that should be overcome. And the only way to do it, to develop these marvellous habits and you don't need to retire from work but retire from these useless activities, substitute them with spiritual activities, this is called turning away from the world, turning away from the many-foldness and facing the one-foldness, that is advancing towards God. But that will happen only if we turn our life into what is called sacrificial life from the very beginning and this knowledge is gained in the very first stage of Hindu's life called Brahmacharya Ashrama, then enjoy and become one. So even these Vanaprasthis, Sannyasins need not be, all are not so great that one can exclusively spend one's time in pure spiritual contemplation but that is why this praying that may the mother bless me with not only external wealth, more importantly internal wealth and this is the complete picture of perfect life on earth, that is both in Vedantic terminology praise and misery is combined. This is what Swami Vivekananda said, Atmano Mokshaartham Jagat Hithayacha, for one's own liberation but at the same time through service rendered to the world, through helping the world, Jagat Hithayacha, whatever is good, whatever is conducive to the welfare of the world, such activities are not opposed to spiritual activities, that is what all this prayer. Otherwise it looks like as if I want to be richest person, give me everything. In fact a person without God, as Hiram Krishna so beautifully puts it, that any number of zeros without a number one in the beginning are worthless but if there is number one and the more number of zeros we add, the value increases exponentially, that is what is very important. So here Purusha means also not only human beings but Lord Vishnu, Vishnu is called Purusha. We already had dealt with if you remember Purusha Suktam and those who want they can go back to the website and do that. So when mother Lakshmi is pleased, she takes the aspirant to Vishnu and once approaches Vishnu, like any object approaching fire, become one with it. So this is called liberation or Moksha and Lakshmi is also known as Vishnu Maya, Maya Swaroopini and who can take us beyond Maya? Only Maya. So long as we are in Maya, we have to address her as Ma, O Mother, that is what Hiram Krishna beautifully, his contribution to the interpretation of certain terms in Vedantic lore, that is she is not Maya, she is the Divine Mother. She has got two aspects, the deluding aspect and the aspect of liberation. So she is Avidya Maya, also Vidya Maya, pray to the Vidya Maya so that she herself helps us when she is graciously bestowing her grace upon us, her very grace because she is Anapadamini, she cannot remain apart from the Divine Lord. So she takes us to Vishnu. Here Vishnu means not Hindu God Vishnu, but what we call in general God. So in this context, riches also means experiencing bliss. So if you say there is a rich person, rich in experiencing bliss, very happy person. So you see that it is only with the help of Maya that one can become one with God which is God going beyond both Maya and both the aspects of Maya, Vidya as well as Vidya Maya. Entering and I want to bring here one example of Totapuri Maharaj. Totapuri, the Advaitic Guru of Shri Ramakrishna and only in the end he realized that the Divine Mother was making him successful without his being conscious of her. So when he attained to the almost highest state, he refused to enter into her temple. This is all for those who are ignorant people, not for me who has entered into Samadhi. And one day the Mother wanted to, out of her Divine Grace, to remove that ignorance. So she made him so that he wanted to commit suicide and he was supposed to say, I see Brahman everywhere. There are so many incidents. I am just reminding the lesson we have to learn. And he entered into the Ganges river to drown his body. It was no doubt compared to us, very big body. But Mother Ganga is half a mile wide there and half a mile bottom also, height. Easily he could have given. But no, there was no water even to drown his body. So then Mother revealed to her, you don't belong to you. Your body, your mind, your everything is nothing but Me. And then he became enlightened. Then he found both the aspects of Brahman, Saguna as well as Nirguna are only the expressions of one and the same Brahman. And then he started seeing Brahman everywhere. Then he acknowledged, by your grace I am able to understand now whom you used to chant Ma Ma like that, both at dawn as well as at dusk. In this idea, in both these mantras, Agni Devata, that is Ishwara is prayed for, for His grace. Because without God's grace, we can neither be healthy physically or mentally and worldly-wise we cannot enjoy. So Sat, Chit and Ananda, all these three are possible only by God's grace. And the day we understand that, we tend to surrender ourselves completely to the Divine Mother. And then third mantra, Ashvaporvam Prathamadhyam Hastinathaprabodhinem Shriyam Devim Upapaye Shri Ma Devi Yushatam. So here also my prayers are granted. I pray to the, what is called a God of fire, Agni Devata, that is Ishwara, Jata Veda, graciously accepting my prayers, He brought again through the Agni Devata. He carried my invitation to His other half, that is His grace and then Lakshmi has come. So how do we know? She arrives, how? Received by horses, chariots and trumpets of elephants. Finally, she arrives full of light in the form of power of her Lord Vishnu, awakening the aspirant spiritual energy and ultimately liberating him. And when the Divine Mother comes, in what form do you think she will come? Divine Mother can never make us merge in Maya. This is a fact, Sri Ramakrishna's greatest contribution. Previously Advaita was inundating India with the stupid idea, false idea that the whole world is Mithya, Maya, as we say in the Mandukya Karika. But Ramakrishna said, she is not Maya, she is Mahamaya. She is the Divine Mother. Srishti Sthiti Vinasha Anam, Shakti Bhuti Sanatani. Accepting surrender to her, there is no other way. And we have to remember when we are studying this, there was a time when future Swami Vivekananda, Narendra Nath was undergoing terrible difficulties. He who has to become the teacher of the whole world practically, representing pure Vedanta to the whole world, that is called Dharma Stapana. He was suffering physically. His family was suffering. It was a huge family. They did not have enough even to eat and he tried his level best. Such a talented person, so intelligent, full of such great memory. But he translated some law books, earned a little money and then he became a teacher and some other jealous teacher. He inspired the students to go and complain to owner of the school, Vidyasagar, that this teacher is no good. He cannot teach. He who is about to awaken the whole world within a few years was described as a worthless teacher. We don't understand what he is trying to convey to us and Eswar Chandra Vidyasagar had no option but immediately dismissed him. Such a thing happened and then his family was suffering. Swamiji would not have minded himself suffering but he could not tolerate others suffering especially his family. Then he prayed to God. Nothing happened. Then he came to Sri Ramakrishna. He had tremendous faith in Sri Ramakrishna and he prayed. If you say, if you bless, then our family will be out of this dire poverty. Sri Ramakrishna's reply was amazing. He said, my child, do you think you have to come and request me to pray for you? Do you think I don't know whatsoever condition? I know everything that's happening. I prayed many times to the Divine Mother but there is absolutely no response from her side and then she let me know. Why is it she is not responding? Because you have not accepted the Saguna aspect of God. You are only accepting what type of God. He even ventured to remark, if God had called me in a conference before creation, what type of creation I should do, you advise. I would have corrected some of his misconceptions. I would have advised not to make this worldly people suffer so much. Even today do we think we understand why this war is going on? Stupidity can go no further. So many wars are going on and why? It is because some people are wicked, some people are fanatics and that is why they cannot tolerate the other religions, other countries and they want to conquer them. No, no, it has nothing to do. It is the will of the Divine Mother and whatever will be the will of the Divine Mother will be for good only. Therefore here the aspirant is telling, we have to understand the whole world is created by the Divine Mother and she knows everything that is not only that happened, that is happening but that is going to happen in future also. Just so that this idea that Divine Mother, our Creator, here Creatrix, she is completely aware of what is going on and she is happily allowing whatever is happening now. For that there is a beautiful illustration. So you know many Muslims, kings especially Aurangzeb etc. destroyed many Hindu temples which is a bone of contention even today between Hindus and Muslims. This Swami Vivekananda, he went to one mother's temple in Kashmir and then the temple was broken. Swamiji in his emotion, he thought had I been present at that time, I would have protected the Divine Mother. Immediately thunderous voice had come, is it you who will protect me or is it I who protects you and Swamiji understood. What did he understand? That this destruction of the Hindu temples is also a will of the Divine Mother. So anything that happens, Srishti, Stethi as well as Laya, everything is Her will. Let Thy will be done. Christ prayed, if possible let this cup pass away from me but immediately God let Him know and then immediately Christ said, Father let Thy will be done because there is no other way. Even if I wish otherwise, it is not going to happen and whatever is God's will, however horrendous it might look in our eyes will always be for the best purpose, best outcome. That faith a devotee should never lose. So here the aspirant is telling that Mother has come but how do you know the Mother has come? When she comes, what happens? This is a description in terms of what these Vedic Rishis used to experience. Supposing a great king, in those days kings were there, so like Janaka Maharaja whose name frequently we get in the Priyadaranyaka Upanishad. So like that when these kings used to visit the ashramas of these Rishis, sages, how they will come? First comes horses, that is horsemen, then comes elephants, then comes a chariot and so many people will come and there is so much of victory to the Divine King, victory to the most powerful person on earth etc. etc. When the Divine Mother comes, same thing is imagined here that many, many horses, many armies just proceed and also succeed. In the middle will be protected the king so the Divine Mother comes and these auspicious signs will be there and in the middle, so many elephants. You know in the Indian lore, elephants are trumpeting, that is the greatest wealth one has got. So Ratha Mathyam, so chariots will be there and these chariots are preceded by what? Hasti, Nada, Prabodhinem. Hasti means elephant, Nada means a trumpeting sound that are made, peculiar sound that made by the elephants. Prabodhinem, as if somebody is telling some great person is coming and then Shriyam Devi, I know she has come, I know she is the Divine Mother and I have to invite her. Uptham, Shriyam Devi, Upafaye, I invite her and then may the Divine Mother be ever pleased. Shri Ma, means Maam, means me, Devi, that Shri Devi, Jushatham, this word Jushatham we have already seen, Medha, Devi, Jushamana, Agad, Vishvachi, Bhadra, so Munashyamana, when the Divine Mother is pleased, let her be highly pleased with me, let her never be separate. That means if she is pleased, she will be with me and if she is with me, then Divine Lord will be with her also. So myself and the Divine Mother and the Divine Father, this would be the ideal happiness in any devotee, whether he be a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Jainist or a Sikh or whatever it is. Beautiful meanings are there and with this background, it will not be difficult to understand further. We will deal with it in our next class. Om Jananem Sharadam Devin Ramakrishnam Jagat Puram Adhapadmetayo Sritva Pranamami Mohur Mohur May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna