Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 04 on 12 March 2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Adapadmetayo Shritva Pranamami Mohur Mohur Om Sahanaavavatu Sahanao Bhunaktu Sahaveeryam Karavavahai Tejasvinavaditamastumavidvishavahai Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hare Om Om May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both, the teacher and the student, the fruit of knowledge. May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge. May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill will towards each other. Om Peace Peace Peace be unto all. We are studying the Shweta Shwetra Uparshad. Yesterday we have seen in the first two mantras and I will go back to the second mantra also. There were some students of Brahman. Students of Brahman means two things. They were sadhana, chatustaya, sampanna, adhikaris. Absolutely fitted people, fit people to obtain the knowledge of Brahman. They had the fourfold qualities, discrimination, dispassion, mind control, body control, sense control and they are intensely desiring the realization of God or Brahman. Intense yearning for God realization called mumukshatva. And they have this query that what is our goal? We have heard intellectually, we understood intellectually but we want to actually realize it. Is there such a thing as Brahman? What is the nature of the Brahman? And how do we know about it? Because only from a qualified teacher, a realized soul like a scientist who did experiments and discovered some formula or discovered a greater truth and the specialty of science is anyone who follows the same methodology, footsteps, steps, they must arrive at the same truth. If anybody claims I alone can get the result, not anybody else, then that is not scientific. That may be true but that is certainly not scientific. Anybody who follows the same pathway must reach the same goal. That is called scientific. And Swami Vivekananda clarified spirituality is highly scientific. It doesn't mean that like the knowledge that we obtain through scientific methods. What is the distinction? The knowledge we obtain by using limited instruments and that is what a scientist's body is limited, scientist's mind is limited, scientist's brain is limited, scientist's buddhi is limited, and the instruments he uses are limited and the objects that he studies are also limited. So a final truth can never be found out by him. But what Swamiji meant is very practical. If anybody says I followed this path and I realized God, anybody who follows the same path must realize God. That's what is meant by science is very authentic and it can be experimented, followed by anybody who has the requisite qualities. That is what we are talking here. Brahmavadinaha, not debaters about Brahman, but earnest students intensely yearning for the realization of Brahman. And they have been discussing perhaps within themselves. So where from did we come? Or where from this entire universe has come? And by what is this universe sustained? What is the substratum? What is the sustaining material? And ultimately where is it going to go and become one with it? This is the same question. Let us remember that was given as an answer to Brigo's question by his own father who was a realizer of Brahman, Varuna. All these beings, that means the entire cosmos, came from Brahman, lives in Brahman, and ultimately as if goes back to Brahman. We have to add that as if it has come from Brahman, as if it is living separate from Brahman, and as if it is going back to Brahman. That is why we have to understand some of these statements properly. पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्छते पूर्णस्य पूर्णमदाय पूर्णमेव अवसिष्यते This universe, which is also infinite, has come from the infinite. Even though this universe has come from the infinite, that infinite doesn't become any less. It remains infinite. And everything goes back to that infinite. That means seemingly something has come. Seemingly something is staying. Seemingly something is going back. In reality, if you say you take a knife and cut a rope into two, now you have two pieces of rope, not any longer one piece of rope. So to understand the infinity, we have to understand it in a different way. Nothing comes out, nothing is separate, and nothing goes back. But so long as we are ignorant, as if it has come, as if it is separate, as if it has become one. Everything is a cognitive process, thought process, knowledge process, nothing else. So this is Brahmavadini. In the first mantra we have seen, किमकारणम् Is it Brahman who is the ultimate cause of this universe? कुतस्मजाता Did we come from Brahman? जीवाम केन How are we being kept, nourished, alive, sustained? Yes, by Brahman. We come from Brahman and we are sustained by Brahman. And we are nourished by Brahman. And as if we go back to Brahman. And केनस्व च संप्रतिष्ट What is the substratum of all of us? अधिस्तिताः That is supervised, sustained by whom? केन by whom? Sometimes we experience happiness, sometimes we experience unhappiness. वर्तमह We live our life like that. So this is the यवस्थ. This is the arrangement. So ब्रह्मविदः They think like that. They issue the statement like that. That is, we came from Brahman. We live in Brahman. We go back to Brahman. To put it in the Advaithic language, Seemingly we come from Brahman. Seemingly we are sustained by Brahman. Seemingly we go back to Brahman. And the best way to understand this, as I mentioned, is dream. Dream is sustained by the waker. And dream comes out from the waker. It is sustained by the waker. And when we get up, the dream world doesn't get destroyed. It merely reverts back. Oh, I was dreaming. I thought it was a different world. I thought I was in a different place. I thought I was doing something different. But now I find where I laid my body. And there only I am there. I was there. I am there. And even now I am here. That is the understanding. So what is the question? This should be each one of our questions. If we claim to be a spiritual aspirant. What is our goal? God realization. What does realization mean? Everything is real. That which is real is called realization. God realization means God alone is real. Then if God is real, who are we? We are also none other than God only. But this is the meditational process we have to understand. Why? Because we are working through our body, through our mind. So the mind has a tendency to question. What is my root cause? When did I born? How was I born? And why am I living? Where am I going? And ultimately where do I end up? These are the questions compressed in this way. But this is the one. Is Brahman the real? Did we come from Brahman? Are we living because of Brahman? And who is the substratum of all of us? Is it Brahman? And is it Brahman that gives us Sukha and Dukha? What is the cause? It is God only. But not directly. Indirectly in the form of the results of Karma. Karma phala. But remember, Karma can be done only through body-mind. But mere body-mind cannot do Karma. Body-mind should be made alive by awareness. Chaitanya. And that Chaitanya is called Chidabhasa. And Abhasa means reflection. Chit means pure consciousness. So it is the pure consciousness manifesting a little bit because of the body-mind which is enlivening the body-mind, which is making the mind think, decide and aim for desire, etc. Knowing, desiring, doing and experiencing. All this the mind feels, I want to know. And when I know, I desire. When I desire, I have to do some activity. I act. And when I act, I experience, according to my Karma, the phala, the result. If the action is good, I will be experiencing happiness. Otherwise, unhappiness. But these are all in dream also we do. And exactly like in dream, the root cause is awareness, consciousness. If we are unconscious, nothing can happen. So that is the idea. This is the essence of the first mantra. Then they themselves. That means their thinking minds. That means different minds. Remember, Brahma Vadinaha is a plural. Therefore, there must be more than one person. Maybe two or more. What did they do? They were talking. Let us find out. What's your opinion? What's your opinion? What's your opinion? So some people must have posited Kala. Some people must have posited something else. And we will again recollect what we have discussed. So what is the question? Kim Karanam? Where from? What is the cause of our Janma? What is it that sustains us? Why do we live? Who makes us happy and unhappy? Finally, where do we end up? So is it Kala? Is it Swabhava? Etc. So they have discussed about it. And they have come to some conclusion. That conclusion was not at all satisfactory. It did not answer their query. But their putting forward could these be the thing. Because different people say different things. We will briefly discuss about it. Should time or nature or necessity or chance or the five elements be regarded as the cause of this universe? As the cause of all of us? Or is the cause who is called the Purusha? Here Purusha means not Paramatma but Jeevatma. The living Jeevatma. The living Self. So the cause cannot be the combination of all these mentioned earlier. Like Kala, Swabhava, Niyati, Yadrucha, etc. Since there is a living Self, Atman, for whose sake a combination has been made. Yet neither is the Atman the cause of this creation. For this Atman, this Jeevatma in turn is dependent upon good and evil. Very very beautifully clearly put forward. We will discuss about this in a little bit details. Because I presume from all the talks we had that already more or less we have discussed all these things. Especially remember when we were talking about the second chapter of the Mandukya Karika, Vaithathya Prakaranam, Gaudapada has outlined 35 views of what the Supreme Reality is. And all these we are going to discuss in this Upanishad are only just a few. And all of them without exception have been mentioned there in the Mandukya Karikas. So Kalaha, first thing is everything. You see a baby. And the baby is just born. What time? Yesterday at 12 midnight the baby is born. So there are some people, everything comes in time and lives in time. And when the time comes, goes back, that means disappears. So time perhaps is the cause of this universe. Because any object that we experience, here is a table. Has it got a manufacturing date? Yes, it is manufactured only few days back. How long will it live? It will live 100 years, 200 years, but after that it becomes again, goes back, it breaks up, it becomes or goes back to its constituent element which is wood. So it came from wood at a particular point of time and it is sustained for some time. And we have to remember no object is sustained exactly in the same way. A baby will not remain a baby. Every minute, every second, every hour, every day you say how old, how old, how old. Old by the minute, he is 60 minutes old. He is 3 hours old. He is 3 days old. He is 3 years old. In fact, we foolishly, we remind ourselves a birthday. Every birthday, remember, so much time is gone and we are, as I am fond of repeating, nearer the chopping block, that is nearer Yamadharma Raja. So Kalaha, what do we see? Everything in this world has come at a particular point of time. So some people believe Kalaha is the root cause of this creation. From worldly point of view, to some extent, they are real. It is true. But it is not absolutely true. Because, take one small example, a baby is born. Is the baby just formed in Akasha space and born from the sky? No. His parents, they were young, they grew up and they were married and then they came together and then that is one. Is that the only reason? If we study Hindu philosophy, no. Why did this particular baby come into this particular family? Because of past karma. That means he had previous birth. That means he was born 100 years back, 50 years back, whatever it is. So, then how did that birth happen? Because of previous birth. And where is the original birth? We don't know. That is why, from a limited viewpoint, it is true, not absolute truth. Okay. Hence, vaha vaha. Some people say it is nature. So wood has got its nature. Gold has got its nature. A flower has got its nature. A fruit has got its nature. Humans have their nature. Animals have their nature. Mosquitoes have their nature. Mountains have their nature. Rivers have their nature. Anything you take, is that Himalayas, were they existing from eternity? No. At one time, there were no mountains at all, absolutely plain land. Then what happened? Some change, some clash. The tectonic plates beneath the earth have clashed together and pushed something up. And slowly, the Himalayas grew over millions and millions of years. What a marvelous thought, even to say, this Himalayas, at one point of time, it was not there. Then it has a birth. And by that time, it came out of the Mother Earth. Millions of years have passed. Then maybe one centimeter. Then one inch. Then one foot. Then one meter. Then miles together. This is what it is. And not only that. Now what is happening? It is slowly going back. It is melting down. Becoming smaller and smaller. Albeit very slowly, but that is happening. Latest news is, Africa is going to split into two. Because the tectonic plates have clashed together and they are slowly drifting apart. It may not happen tomorrow, after one century. But inevitably, those who know a bit of the history of the earth, they know the whole earth was one. And then it divided itself into these five plates. How do you know? You cut all those parts and put them together. It will be one perfect unified globe. So everything has a birth. Stars have birth. The sun has birth. Growth. Death. We don't see anything. And what is birth? Particular point of time. This is one view which we discussed. Swabhavaha. Why did it come? Well, no particular reason. It is its nature. And what is the nature? To be born is its nature. To grow up is its nature. To dissolve is its nature. This is called Swabhava. Swabhavaha. It is its own nature. Then what is the next thing? That is Niyatihi. Are there some rules? Are there some regulations, etc.? So that is also there. Niyatihi. Cause. But then if we really analyze, we find cause means law. Niyatihi means law. A law doesn't create things, but law is created or understood later on. Simple example. Swamiji explains it. So everybody before Newton, they did not know about the law of gravitation. So what happened? That whatever you throw up, it will come down inevitably and crash to the ground. And then Newton one day, fortunately or unfortunately, an apple fell on his head. I wish a first class Alphonso mango should have fallen on his head. Because that is the most important fruit according to God. Why is God incarnating in India? Because He knows. The sweetest mangoes are available only in India. That is why once He understood. And who should understand better? He doesn't want to go anywhere. Once, of course, He had a desire to have a foreign trip. And He went there. They caught hold of Him. They asked His visa. There was no visa. They crucified Him on the spot. And then afterwards He decided, I will never ever go there. That's all. Okay. So what are we talking about? Law. So this Newton, suddenly he started thinking. Whatever object is thrown up or there, it will fall down. That means there is something which is pulling it down. And is it something new he invented? No. A law was there. It was not understood. But he thought about it. And something inevitably, inexorably, inescapably, it goes on functioning every minute, every second, millisecond. So he gave it the name, the law of gravitation. It was there. So what is the law? Discovery of certain repeating facts is called a law. And you cannot change them. So is the law the cause of this? No. Because something has to be there already. And it should be behaving in a particular way. And later on people will observe it. Oh, this is happening like this. Birth is happening. Growth is happening. Sustenance is happening. Death is happening. Again birth is happening. The sun rises. The sun gives light. The sun sets. Seasons come. Seasons grow. Seasons go away. Similarly, a plant grows. And it grows for some time. It gives some fruit, some grain. And then it disappears. Everything in this world follows a particular law. And this was the greatest discovery of Rishis called Ritam. That Ritam is what in English language we call Ritam. What is Ritam? A sound that is done continuously exactly in the same way like the swing of the pendulum of any clock. Repeating same thing. Coming this side, going that side. Starting and sustaining and ending. Everything in this universe is the Ritam. But does this give an answer to my quest? By knowing everything is Ritam. I have come from Ritam. Do I know that I become free? Because what is freedom? Here is a pot made out of clay. So long as it is a pot, it is limited. That means it cannot be anything other than the pot. This is called Parichcheda, limitation. In Vedantic language, beautiful analysis. Kala Parichcheda, Desha Parichcheda and Vastu Parichcheda. That is, if something is here, it cannot be anywhere else. This is called Desha Parichcheda, limitation of space. If something is now, it can only be now. It can't be in the past, it will not be in the future. This is called time limitation, limitation of time. And if two objects are side by side, one doesn't allow the other to be in the other place. This is called Vastu Parichcheda. Everything in this world is limited. Now what is our problem or Brahmavadin's problem? They want to become unlimited. They want to go beyond the limitation of time, space and causation. If time is the cause, time itself is limited. And if Swabhava is the cause, Swabhava is limited. How is it limited? If this chair is made up of wood, it cannot become gold. It cannot become anything else. It is limited by its nature. Not an object is as equally limited by a wooden chair, by a mud pot, by everything in this world. So everything is limited. And whatever is limited is not desirable at all. Because there is an invariable law. Whatever is limited is continuously changing. Limitation means change. Time, space, causation continuously like Chakra. That is why in this Upanishad, instead of using Samsara Chakra, a beautiful word substitutes that Samsara, says Brahma Chakra. Everything is Brahman. Brahman appearing to be limited in space, in time and in causation is called Samsara. So anything limited cannot be the cause. That should be the ultimate analysis and we have to understand it. What about Bhutani? Bhutani means five elements. We know that. We call this world in which we live as Prapancha. Pra, Prakrishta Rupa, Pancha Bhutani. Everything is the combination of five elements and when any object physically disintegrates, it goes back to its five elements. And these elements, they are limited. They limit each other. And they have come in time. And they are sustained in time. And a time will come, they also go back to their original cause. So these are approximate causes, not ultimate causes. That is the point we have to understand. No. These elements also cannot be the cause. And another reason why they can't be the cause, because something is to be created. What is the first thing that we look for? For example, you see a machine, a car for example. When you look at it, you don't say the car is very intelligent. It is equipped with AI and it can drive itself. No, it is something which is totally independent. No, sir. A human being has created this car. And they give two, three reasons. First reason is any object doesn't have consciousness. And anything that doesn't have consciousness cannot have a mind. Anything that cannot have a mind cannot think. I want to produce this. I want to become like this. A baby says, I want to become a first class cricketer. A great scientist, a great musician. Even to desire, there must be consciousness. But every object in this world, and pancha bhutas we are talking about, they do not have that consciousness. And that which doesn't have a consciousness, it is definitely created by somebody other than a being who is conscious and who is totally separate from these jada vastu or non-conscious beings or anatma. This is the logic that goes. What is the logic? There must be consciousness and they must be changeless. And do you ever say to him, for example, a chair, how happy are you? Are you married? Are you getting on well with your wife? Does she give you happiness? Does he give you happiness? You don't ask. You can even ask a living creature, not a dead creature. The body is dead according to Vedanta. The mind also is jada according to Vedanta. So for the body to work, for the mind to work, there must be conscious being. This is another argument. But one of the clinching arguments is, what we call anything that comes together is a combination. There is nothing in this world which is not a combination. For example, water. What is the combination? H2O. Gold. Combination of certain elements. A house. Combination of many parts. A car. Combination of many, many, many parts. An aeroplane. A combination of millions of parts. Now, there is a theory advocated by certain schools of philosophy. They say anything that is constituted of many parts, first of all, it is non-conscious jada. Secondly, it must have been created for the purpose of somebody who is conscious. Example, a house is constructed by a human being for the use of the human being. Similarly, a car. Similarly, a bicycle. Similarly, whatever we grow in the field and everything is a combination. And whatever is a combination, it cannot be the cause. It can only be something that is used, effect. So, I hope you are getting any combination is for the use of a conscious being who deliberately consciously creates that particular object. So, all the five elements and the whole universe, cosmos is made up of the five elements and all the five elements are created in different infinite variations, combinations for the sake of a living creature, a conscious being, even ants. They create such huge ant hills. Birds create such complicated nests. Every creature has its own sufficient intelligence. But what it creates is only for its own sake, for its own enjoyment. So, our body, our mind, which is a combination of these pancha bhutas, and they have come together, and since they have come together, there must be some conscious being who consciously planned, he made a drawing and he combined these things. He had the knowledge, if I combine these things, it becomes water, it becomes gold, it becomes silver, it becomes diamond. You know, diamonds are produced, artificial diamonds. Can you distinguish? Absolutely, practically, no. They say, yes, some experts, but a time will come, then nobody will be able to, now AI can create a diamond. I don't think anybody can analyze it and say this is artificially created. And it is not necessary. It is totally a useless exercise. Why? Because I want something which will beautify me and which will be strong. That is all I want. Whether it is created because of millions of years of earth burning, or wood, or it is created in a few minutes or days by an artificial, that is completely, totally immaterial to me. I want to use it. If it satisfies me, that is the only cause that I seek. So any combination, anything that is made up of combination, that is Jada, that is changing, that is prepared for the usefulness of, for the utility of somebody else, and that is why that itself cannot be the cause, because Jada can never be the cause, etc. Then, that is the reason. Then any of the combinations, okay, not one element, but all these together, can they become conscious? No. A non-conscious object can never become conscious, even if they combine in thousands of ways, infinite number of ways. It is impossible. So, one by one, something is posited, is it the final cause? Remember, we are not saying it is not the cause. We are saying it is a temporary cause. It is not a final cause. What is the final cause? That cause into which every other temporary cause goes and merges. In Vedanta, it is called Mahakarana. But we say Karana. Yes, mother and father are Karana. They are not Mahakarana. Karmaphala is not Mahakarana. Then, where from these five elements have come? From Atman. That is the Mahakarana. From where Atman has come? No, it has not come from anywhere. It itself is the cause, but it is not caused by anything. Akarana, Makarana is called Mahakarana. Beautiful Sanskrit words. We have to remember. So now, having eliminated some of this, is it nature? Or is it time? Or is it some law? Or is it an accident? Yadrucha means chance. And many things happen in chance. What is it? We meet somebody. We fall in love. We get married. Two cars are travelling. They meet each other. And they want to embrace each other. I am afraid the result is not a very pleasant result. So, everything is an accident. Is accident. Yadrucha means accident. Is the accident the result? No, it cannot be the result. Then, you are saying, are you saying that a conscious being is the cause of this entire world? There are two interesting answers. One is called, what is called Drishti Srishti Vada. Another is called Srishti Drishti Vada. How deeply our ancients have thought about it. We have to admire their thinking power. Whether we accept their views or not. What is it? That I open my eyes and I see a tree. That tree was there before. Just because I opened my eyes, does not mean the tree has come into existence. There are some schools who of course believe in it. I am not going to confuse you with any of these things. Drishti, you have seen. You have experienced it. Drishti does not mean only form. You heard something. You smelled something. You tasted something. You touched something. Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha. Then you became aware. Oh, the weather is pleasant. This is a beautiful smelling flower. This is a very pleasant sound. And this is a very tasty material. Because my tongue had decided. And this is a very, very comfortable weather. Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha. Are these? What are these? All these are a combination of the five elements only. Now, what are we talking about? Is it an accident? A coincidence? Simply, somehow, two things come together. Man and woman come together. And H2O come together. Because the whole, every object in this world, according to chemists, is a culmination and combination of what they call 97 elements or 105 elements. Different views are there. But some elements. Elements means the basic particles out of which everything has come. By chance, they have come. Hinduism is the last philosophy which believes in accidents. There is no accident. Man and woman do not meet accidentally. They are born to come together. It is destined through, because of the, what we call, Karma phala, that is called Karma Siddhanta. And I will not go into it. But accident is ruled out. What is it? Accident is not the origin, the cause of this universe. It has not come accidentally. It has come purposefully. Okay. What about the Jeevatma? Did the Jeevatma create this world? Very marvellous answer is given. Thinking power. Exhibiting the thinking power. Jeevatma himself is part of the creation. Because who is a Jeevatma? That is, there is a body, there is a mind. And the consciousness comes and meets with body-mind. And then that Atma identifies with the body-mind. And then says, I am Atma. I am a person. I am a being. I am so and so. But this I am before. But how did I become so and so? By coming into contact. That means creation was already there. Therefore, I cannot create. Because I have already been created. And I came with whatever has been created. And I was caught in this creation. Hence I have become a Jeevatma. That is a very beautiful argument. That means Jeevatma is not the cause of this universe. Then another reason is given. Supposing you say Jeevatma is the root cause. He is the Srishtikarta. And this is what Swami Vivekananda's argument was. Had God called me before creation, I would have given him better advice. What better advice he would have given? That I will always be a happy person. Narendranath, Narendra's family, Narendra's mother, father, sisters, brothers, everything will be in the highest happy state. And that is what I would have advised God to make me. What about others? I will make everybody happy. Now tell me, Sir, if everybody is happy, how do you know that you are happy? Simple argument. Supposing you say I am a man. How did you know you are a man? Because you know there is your opposite, another gender called female. If you are not aware that there is a female gender, you will never ever know that you are a male. If you are not aware of darkness, you will not know what is light. For a simple example, if you go early morning to the sun and say good morning, he will be shocked. I don't understand your language. What is the meaning of morning? Because for the sun, there is no morning at all. Secondly, he doesn't understand what is good. Because good is what? If it is burning, it is not good. If it is mild, it is perhaps good. So he doesn't understand morning, afternoon he doesn't understand. Evening he doesn't understand. Night, because he doesn't know what is called darkness. Nothing is known by him. This is a marvellous idea. So this Jeevatman cannot be the creator. So for that an argument is given. What is the argument? Every Jeevatman, what does he want? May I never be unhappy. May I always be happy. And if he has the power to create, he would have created at least for himself. So that whole life he will be extremely happy. What is the practicality? Every Jeevatman has to go through Sukha and Dukha. Therefore, does any Jeevatman, even for a millisecond, ever imagine, I want to be unhappy, I want to be suffering. It is an impossibility. Therefore, Jeevatman, here called Purusha, Purusha should not be mistaken for the, what is called Brahman, or the creator God. No, Purusha means Jeevatman, cannot be the creator, because for what? Sukha Dukha Heto. Because the happiness and suffering of a Jeeva is determined by what? By his past Punya and Papa Karmas. That means he had past birth. That means he was born in the past life. That means he was dead. Who can say this is my life, present life? He who had a past life. That means how can, without dying, he can have a second birth? That means he has died. And does any Jeevatman say, I want to die? Nobody will say. Does any Jeevatman say, I want to become old? No. What am I talking about? What are we talking about? See how much of thought is involved. First point is, there is a wrong notion. Death comes after 100 years. Then body becomes very old, decrepit, completely actionless, and then that is the time, then the prana will depart and body will fall down dead. Nothing can be further from truth. A fetus can die. Baby can die. Youth can die. Middle aged person can die. Old age person can die. Death can come at any time. Does any Jeeva require? Probably he might accept that when I become old, I am unable to enjoy anything and I have to depend upon others and perhaps I should give up this body and acquire another body. That could be there, the thought. But really speaking, ask even a fellow whom doctor categorically declared, after 5 minutes you are going to die. You go there and say, I am a better doctor than your present doctor. I can prolong your life by another 3 minutes. Now give me your answer. Do you want to die within 5 minutes or do you want to die after 8 minutes? I doubt anybody will say, I want to die after 5 minutes. He says, maybe I want to die after 8 minutes. So long, as long as I can live. But we know death is inevitable. We know happiness and unhappiness are inevitable. That means we are not the masters. Here is the law. If I am the creator, I am the master. If I am the master, I can create the way I like it. So far, we have not seen a single creator who could create something and it will never become old. It will go on and on forever. Neither our bodies, nor our minds, nor what we create ever, because time means continuous change. Therefore, I cannot be the master. Therefore, Jeevatma cannot be the master. And so all these Brahmavadins, they have come to that conclusion that all these are part causes. They are not saying they are not at all causes. They are temporary causes. They are visible causes. They are accidental causes. But none of them are real causes. The real cause, from the scriptures they know, is Brahman. But they want to know whether am I still thinking time is the creator? Am I thinking my body is the creator? Nature is the creator? Accident is the creator? Or Swabhava is the creator? Or law is the creator? Or Jeevatma is the creator? No, none of them. All of them are creators. Partially they are responsible. But what I am seeking is not a partial cause, but the ultimate cause. What is the ultimate cause? The one who is totally independent, totally limitless, totally Sat, totally Chit, and totally Ananda. That's what I am struggling for. They could not arrive at the truth. So what did they do? Though the Upanishad doesn't tell us, we have to insert in brackets. They must have sought the help of a realized soul. They must have come to a great Sadguru. They must have sat down. And when they are ready, they must have put the questions like Prashna also, like Kena also, like Kata also. They must have asked the questions and the Guru must have given the answers. But the difference is what they studied earlier was only intellectual understanding. But when the same answer came from the mouth of a realized soul, they know that is the highest truth. But then they have to make it their own. So how did they make it their own? That is what the third mantra is telling. What did they come? All these causes that we posited in the first mantra Kaala, Swabhava, Niyati, Yadrucha and Bhutas, all these, even Jeevatma, six Karanas, all these are definitely causes. Not full cause, not the master cause, not the Adi Karana, but they are all after creation. They work. In this world, they work. I will talk about it in my next class in a little bit more detail. But what is important, they are not rejecting them as non-causes, but they are rejecting them as the ultimate causes. Because upon thinking deeply, none of them are adequate. That is important for us. So they must have come to the Sadguru, they must have placed their thoughts in front of him and he already knows because at one point of time, he also had gone through the same doubts, same questions, same thoughts and he must have put it in front of his Guru and his Guru must have answered. Then after obtaining the answer, what are they supposed to do? First step is Shravana, second step is Manana and third step is to make it Teruva called Nidhidhyasana. And that is being said here. They have meditated upon the words. First they cogitated deeply and whatever little doubts, misunderstandings, incomplete answers that have been deeply rooted in their mind by Manana, they have gotten rid of. They are completely, 100% convinced what the scriptures said and that scripture explained through the Guru's mouth the absolute truth. But we have to make that truth our own. This is what is mentioned Dhyana, Yoga, Anugataha. They deeply meditated. Nidhidhyasana they practiced. What happened as a result? Apashyan. Immediately their intuition opened up. Remember, thinking is very limited. Intuition is unlimited. Ultimately we can make truths unlimited. It's only through intuition not through simply thinking. Until, as Swami put it, you develop, I develop, you develop, we develop. Intuition. We have to be in intuition. Intuition means what? Shramana, then Manana, and Nidhidhyasana. Guru need not be there all the time telling. He tells you, listen, go on thinking deeply and once you are convinced that is the truth, you have to make it your own. Realize it as your own. And that is what they did. Apashyan. They intuitively understood. What did they understand? Devatmasaktim Swagunaihiniguda It is Brahman who is the ultimate cause, who is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer. Now, Brahman is Nishkriya, Nirguna, Nirakara, Eka. How can he create? Why should he create? What is the purpose? Was he bored? All these unnecessary, unanswerable questions will arise. So here we have to take it as Saguna Brahma, Ishwara. They understood that Brahman now conceived as Ishwara and Ishwara means Brahman plus Maya. That Maya is here called Devatmasaktim Prakrutim and what is it? Swagunaihiniguda It is completely comprised of Swagunaha and how many Gunas? Three Gunas. What are the three Gunas? Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. This point also a little more elaboration. We will talk about it in the next class. And then what about all the things that we talked, we thought about earlier, talked about and argued with each other Yeh Karanani Nikhilani Tani So all those things, we won't say they are not causes. What are those causes? Kala, Swabhava, Niyati, Yadrucha and Bhutas and Jivatma. All these Yuktani Adhi Ishtati Ekaha That one Ishwara along with the help of the Prakruti the Adhi Ishtati He sustains all those causes. He remains the ultimate cause. From that ultimate cause proximate causes come out. And what are the proximate causes? Kala, Swabhava, Niyati, Yadrucha, Bhutani and Jivatma. But they cannot be sustained independently. They cannot remain independently. Their creations, their manifestations of that Ishwara we have discussed at this point but we will discuss about it in our next class. But the essence of this third mantra is that they have realized the cause of all causes. It is called Brahman. That Brahman when we are talking about that Brahman when we are thinking about that Brahman necessarily inevitably inescapably we think only through the help of the mind and when we try to think through the mind mind is limited. So that is where depending upon whether I am more dominant with Sattva or Rajas or Tamas different opinions will come. It is Ishwara who is manifesting in the form of all these minds in the form of all these qualities in the form of all these understandings but we have realized that ultimate cause of all causes is Ishwara only. So what is the point? If we know that we are coming from Brahman we are sustaining in Brahman we are living in Brahman and we go back to Brahman and once we go back to Brahman that is called Realization and with that Realization Mukti is inevitable. We will be freed of the Samsara that is called Moksha that is called Param Purushartha that is the ultimate goal. Each soul is potentially Divine. So the goal is to manifest and become F R E E Om Jananim Sharadaam Deveen Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Saritva Pranamami Moho Moho May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna.