Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 44 on 30 July 2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Yesterday we have finished the 20th verse of the 6th chapter of the Shweta Shwetra Upanishad. This is a beautiful example is given. Is it possible to hold on to both the world and also God? No, it is not possible. And to illustrate this, the Upanishad, that is Shweta Shwetra Rishi himself is giving a beautiful example. Let me put it in a conversational style. Now the Guru asks him, the science has advanced so much. Is it possible for any human being to roll up the sky just as we roll up a mat or a piece of cloth? Of course, the disciple says sky, space, impossible. So the Guru asks him the next question. Is it possible to attain to that supreme peace without realizing God? And again the answer is no, it is impossible. We must become one with God. We must know we are God. We must claim I have never lost. This is the most important point based upon which Asparsha Yoga, Ajati Vada and then what we call Vivartta Vada, the seemingly created universe, never really universe, in reality, in fact, was not created, cannot be created. Not only was not created, cannot be created. Why? Because creation means division. Creation means duality. There is somebody to create, something to create. And then also we have to look at it, before the universe was created, is there any raw material separate from God with which He can do something? If we admit that there is a second entity, then God will not become Advaita, He becomes only Dvaitin. And Dvaita means second. Second means fear. Fear means suffering. Suffering means bondage. So if God is in bondage, realizing God, we have only entered, even if we are not bound before realization of God, after realization of God, because He is of the nature of bound, we also become bound. It is completely illogical. So the Guru asks, do you think God is bound? No, He is absolutely free. Then are you bound? Yes. Then how do you plan to become completely free? By meditating upon freedom. God is the very embodiment of freedom. And without becoming free, will you be free? Will your bondage go away? No, it is impossible. They are paraspara viruddha, completely opposite to each other. And so this illustration is there, just as it is impossible to roll up the sky, not 100%, even 1%. It is impossible, because what is the nature of this space? Asparsha, completely unattached. And you cannot even catch hold of it. Whether to get attached or to be detached, there must be a second one. That is why very often, for the sake of meditation, space is given as an object of meditation. It indicates many things. The first thing is, it is absolutely infinite. Space means infinite. Second, it is all-pervading. Third, it is completely unattached. We may see so many things, so many colors, dust, etc. But space is absolutely unattached. And sometimes back, I also pointed out, not only that, even two things can never become attached to each other. Take the example, you add sugar to water or salt to water. Of course, the sugar will not appear. Salt also cannot be seen. But we infer, the water is salty or sweet. So have they become one, apparently? Really, no. How do we know? If they become one, they will remain inseparable. If they are not one, they can be separated. So by distillation, water can be completely separated from dust, dirt, from sugar, from salt, any blessed thing you can imagine. So the infinite sky, unattached sky, and one without a second, all these are qualities. And if we can imagine, we perhaps can think about God, Brahman, in that way. So this 20th mantra in the Shwetashwetra Upanishad, Yadah Charmavat, Like anything made up of skin, Akasham, the space, Manavaha Vestayushyanti, If per chance, human beings succeed in rolling, in handling space, like we can handle a mat or a skin, anything made out of skin, etc. Then it is possible to get out of all suffering without realizing God. This is double negative. That is to say, it is impossible to handle space. Therefore, it is impossible to get out of suffering without realizing God. That is the meaning of it. When man shall roll up space, Akasha, as if it were a piece of hide, then only there will be an end of misery without once cultivating the knowledge of the Lord, who is because He is without parts, without actions, tranquil, blameless, unattached, a supreme bridge to immortality, and like a fire that has consumed all its fuel. Before going further, yesterday I promised, what is the difference between Samadhi or realization and peacefulness? There is a parallel. Even when a person is in deep sleep for some time, the person is absolutely peaceful, really peaceful. Why? Because he attains to the state of Advaitiya, secondlessness. How? Because in the waking state, in the dream state, there will be subject-object division. It is this division that creates problems. Subject is limited by the objects. Object is again limited by the subject. This is called Bheda, differentiation. Differentiation is called duality, secondness. But what happens? Karanam and Karyam, cause and effect, both of them become absolutely merged. And the Jeevatma, he will not be experiencing because the instrument of experience, which is the body and which is the mind, they have become one. Therefore, there is absolute peace. Not only that, there would be Advaitiyatma, non-dualness. There, a king is no king, a man is no man, a scholar is no scholar, a suffering is not there, happiness also is not there. That is called peace. This is the most crucial point. The person, as it were, is like a piece of stone. There is, even though it is called Anandamaya Kosha, but still he doesn't consciously experience. So the Shanti that we obtain in deep sleep, there is Shanti, but without consciously experiencing it. Whereas in Samadhi, realisation of God, the person is 100% aware, I am of the nature of bliss. And he will be experiencing indescribable peace and at the same time is fully conscious about it. Not like our being conscious about any object, but this is called self-consciousness. Swayam Prakashakatvam, the word Swayam Prakashakatvam has two meanings. Like a lamp, here is a lamp, here is a sun, here is a moon, here is a fire, here is a lamp, electric lamp. What does it do? It can also illumine things for us. With their help, we can also obtain knowledge of the things, but they don't need another lamp to point out, here is a lamp, here is the sun. That is what we think. Usually that is the lower definition, but they also require another lamp and that lamp is called Swayam Jyotihi. That is the pure, the light of the pure consciousness. I give you examples, if I am thinking something else and not aware of the sun, sun doesn't exist. Not aware of the moon, moon doesn't exist. Even if you are standing in front of me, I am deeply absorbed in thinking about something else, then you do not exist so far as I am concerned until my attention is drawn to your being here, presence here. So that is called Jyoti Rajyoti. So this is the difference between absolute self-realization and temporary peace. Why temporary? That is why the Sushupti is called Karana Sharira. Karana means cause. Cause and effect. Where there is a cause, there will be effect. There can never be a cause without effect. And where there is an effect, there is a cause. Where there is a cause, there will be an effect. And they are waiting. As soon as some time passes, something kicks us out of that state. Then we fall into the waking state, dream state, etc. One of the most important points is, we generally know that there are three states of experience. Waking, dream, deep sleep. But we are blissfully unaware that all the three states are present at all the three times. And a beautiful example I will give you. Suppose I am in the so-called waking state. Is it a pure waking state? No. It has got dream state and it has also got deep sleep state. How come? Here is the example. Supposing I am seeing you. And I am seeing you. I am aware of you. You are here in front of me. We are talking. This is waking state experience. But my knowledge about you is mostly dream only. Means imagination. He is such and such a person. The other day he has not given me that thing. And he has insulted me. Or he is a good man. All these things I superimpose upon you. And these concepts have been so beautifully discussed threadbare in those two schools of philosophy called Drishti-Srishti Vada and Srishti-Drishti Vada. Because there is something, we see it. And because I see it, it is there. Parasparam Bhavayantaha. One depends upon the other. But when I see something, I don't have a pure experience. Yes, there is. For the first few milliseconds, here is a tree. And then my Puro-Samskaras take over. Oh, this type of tree I have seen. And last time I have eaten that mango and that was very sour, rotten. So perhaps this tree is also like that. All sorts of ideas will come about it. This is what I call dream state. Even while in the waking state. They are there in the background. Where is the Sushupti state? Sushupti state is I am meeting you for such and such a reason. Karana. And what do I want to gain from you? All these, what is called Samskaras are there. Through the prism of which, through the prism of time, space and causation. I am looking even while I am completely aware of you. These two things. My opinion about you is not purely as you are. But so many things are added. So now you can also extend these examples in dream state. There is a dream. There is also waking. And there is also deep sleep. And in deep sleep also there is awareness and there is also dream state. This is a marvelous subject which I am not going to tell it. So, coming back to this 20th mantra. When men succeed in rolling of this space, then they can get out of all suffering, Tritapa, Atitha, without realizing God. The essence is without realizing God, it is impossible. What is that God? Nishkriyam, Shantam, Niranjanam. Nishkriyam. That is, there is no action. Why is there is no action? Because action is always rooted in a desire. And desire is expression of finiteness. I am not full. I have a lot of things to achieve. And if I can get such things, perhaps I will become a little more fulfilled. That is why Purnam I will never become, so long as I am aware of body and mind. But when temporarily I become a little bit full, by obtaining the objects which I think will give me peace of mind, for the time being I become Shantam. Because what is Shantam? When the desires are fulfilled, they temporarily become full, that is, subside for the time being. They go behind the screen, not completely. And that is why we say Shantam. Yesterday, this was the point. Bhagawan is Purnam Adaha. Therefore, He doesn't have any desires. Why? Because He is Aditi Yaha, He is infinite. Besides Him, nothing is there. When there is infinity, there is one only without second, whom is He going to desire? There must be the knowledge that there is something aside from Me, then only I can say, I am Shantam, I desire. Then, to fulfill that desire, I will work, and then through work, I might get something. And when I am united with the object of my desire, for the time being, the mind becomes peaceful. That mind's desire, quelling for some time, is called Sukham or Anandam. And that Brahman, whom I want to become, Dushkriyam, I must become desireless. I must become Shantam, I need not become. The moment I become desireless, I will attain to that state automatically. Niranjanam, I am infinite, and therefore, nothing can stain me. Anjana means stain. That is why, Gnana Anjana. It is said that there is some kind of Ayurvedic preparation, and if ladies put it on, then their eyes become very clear. That is called Anjana. In Kalyariyam, we call it. But the Lord is completely pure, Shuddham. What is Ashuddham, impure, when two things come together and each acquire the nature of the other, each superimpose something from the other, that is called impurity. And that impurity is not there for the single reason God is Advaitiya, only one. There is nothing which can be said to be making him impure. And God, of course, doesn't have any vasanas, because vasanas only are the expressions of desires. And vasanas are created because desires transform themselves into actions, and repeated actions become habits, and they become samskara, and they become vasanas. Nishkalam, that is partless. Kala means part. Shrodhashakala in Prashna Upanishad, Shrodhashakala Purusha, a Purusha who is complete with 16 parts. No, that is not being said here. Nishkalam means no part at all, partless. Akhanda, Sachidananda, Niravadyam. Avadyam means what? Something that is blemish, there is some blemish. And as I just now discussed, blemishness comes only from the second. When there is no second, there is nothing to put a stain. And Brahman is Ananda, that is why Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha, Mukta, Swaroopaha. And God also is nameless, formless, Nirguna, Niranjana, Nishkriya, Shanta. All these epithets are given. And then how is another beautiful example for the sake of Manana and Nidhidhyasana. Dagda indhanam iva analam. Nineteenth mantra is being described here. Dagda indhanam iva analam. Analam means fire, beautiful word. Alam means enough. Analam means never sufficient. What does it mean? You go on adding fuel to the fire, it will never say enough, enough, enough. I have more than enough. I don't want any more. The more we add, the more brightly it burns. But as if it is completely, firewood is extinguished or burnt out. And then what happens? The fire becomes smokeless and smoke comes only from the firewood, especially not incompletely dried firewood. And then it creates so much of pain in the eyes, etc. Like the fire which becomes invisible or unmanifest because there is nothing to make it manifest. Brahman is always there. What is the idea of this particular analogy? Our body is a manifestation of Bhagawan's chaitanyam. Our mind is a manifestation of Bhagawan's chaitanyam. The whole world is a manifestation of Bhagawan's chaitanyam. That is the most marvelous thing. So the God should be meditated with these kinds of qualities. And then he has also said meditation, manana, with these qualities. What do they do? They become like a bridge, like Ram Setu. What happens? There is a bridge to immortality. Amrutasya param setum. Param means supreme. Supreme means only one. No other bridge is ever going to take us to God. The only bridge is complete meditation. And what does the meditation mean? Complete surrender, sharanagati. What does sharanagati mean? Completely becoming one with Him. Removing ourselves. Burning ourselves. There is only one way to attain God. It is to become one with God. That means to completely destroy Ahamkara. That is what Sri Ramakrishna says, Naham Naham Tuhu Tuhu. Self-knowledge is the only bridge to become one with God. And that is the only way to become immortal. And I therefore surrender my ego and my vitiyatvam, finitude, and remain as I am, as I was, as I will be, as the immortal truth. This mantra is meant for the sake of meditation. And then with this, practically, Shweta Shwetra Upanishad has come to an end. Then what are the other mantras are there? It is to describe about this Rishi who propagated, who gave out his teaching to people who wanted it. Mantra 21 Tapah Prabhavat Deva Prasadatcha Brahmaha Shweta Shwetaraha Atha Vidvaan Athyarsham Ibhya Paramam Pavitram Provach Samyak Rishi Sangha Yushtam Through the power of austerity aided by the grace of the Lord, the sage Shweta Shwetaraha realized Brahman as I am Brahman. And thereafter he became a Jeevan Mukta. And thereafter proclaimed, propagated how he practiced, what gunas he had acquired, how he practiced Sharanagati, how he practiced austerities and realized Brahman. And then taught the same thing, that supreme knowledge which leads to immortality, which alone can sever all the bonds of the samsara, which alone can take us beyond the Tapatraya, the causes of the three afflictions. What did he do? He taught this Brahma Vidya to other aspirants, that is, Brahma Jnanis. And then they also after hearing, practicing attained to the same state. It is a marvelous mantra. I will discuss it a little bit. Tapah Prabhavat, austerity. Nobody is going to attain anything great. Whether in the secular world or intellectual world or aesthetic world or moral world or spiritual world. Without Tapasya, austerity. The word generally refers to penances and self-mortification. But what is the real Tapasya? Remember, we have not yet taken up the Taittiriya Upanishad. I have a desire to do that if Bhagawan's grace is there. But in the third chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad, there was a Brahma Jnani like Shweta, Shweta Rishi and his own son. They were householders. What does it indicate? That means even though he was a householder, through Tapasya, he also had attained. How do we know that he attained through Tapasya? I will discuss it very briefly. He had a son and the son grew up and he was also born to realize God. And remember, Bhagavad Gita says, if any Yoga Brashta had died without attaining the supreme state, what happens? That Yoga Brashta, either he will be born in a very prosperous family. Shuchi Naam Shreemataam Gehe Yoga Brashta Abhijayate or Athava Yogi Naam Eva Kule Bhavate Dheemataam. He will be born in not so prosperous but completely Yogis family. All of them are spiritual aspirants. Mother, father, brothers, sisters, everybody. Extremely rare type of Janma. And such a person in this very life, he will be attaining to God. So this Bhrigu must have been such a person and only such a person because he must have practiced Tapasya in the past life and he has not reached the goal. Because if he had reached the goal, he would not have been having any Punar Janma and he was born because of that tremendous Yogic power in the family of a realized soul. And then when the time came, that means when he became a little grown up, he approached and said, you please teach me about Brahman. And then the father said, I know, I also had this desire. I approached my Guru, he told me and I did what he told me and I am teaching you the same thing. This is called Guru Parampara system. What did he say? Having given the subject matter, what he should really meditate upon? Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasana. What is that? The whole universe, everything came from God, is living in God and ultimately realizes that it is none other than God. That is Brahman. I also practiced Tapasya and I realized Tapo Brahmeti. Tapasya itself is Brahman and Tapasya will make you Brahman. Meditation on Brahman is the only Tapasya. That is that meditation, Manana and Nidhidhyasana, that is the real meaning of Tapasya. Anything that helps it, eating small quantity of food and praying earnestly, not sleeping too much, not engaging in too many distracting activities, etc. All these things are not real Tapasya but only aids for Tapasya. And then what did Varunadu do? Satapas Tattva, he had practiced Tapasya. That means deeply thought about Truth or Brahman which are one and the same. And then step by step he progressed. How did he progress? Merely through Tapasya? No, that is where this mantra is telling, through Tapasya but Deva Prasadachya, by the grace of God. By the grace of God, Tapasya becomes deeper, stronger, more one-pointed. And more one-pointed, more in the capacity to receive the grace of God. About whom are we talking? Brahma Shweta Shwetara Atha Vidwan. What happened? My child, Shweta Shwetara Rishi was teaching this to other Brahma Vidwan. Brahma Vidwamsa, those who are in search of Brahman, in search of realizing Brahman. That means they had already advanced a lot and they are going to advance. So that is why he said, this Brahma Vidwan, Shweta Shwetara said, My Guru taught me, ordered me to perform Tapasya. And I did Tapasya. And through that Tapasya, what did I attain? The grace of God. The grace of God means God Himself. So that is what is being said here. Deva Prasadachaya with Tapasya to receive the God's grace. God's grace to make this person, anybody who surrenders himself to Him. Another meaning of Tapasya is complete self-surrender. Surrender means removing whatever is not divine, whatever is temporary, body and mind. What happened? Shweta Shwetara Rishi Atha Vidwan Abhavath. He became Vidwan. He became what Vidwan? Brahma Vidwan. Brahma Vid. Brahma Evabhavati. In no era Brahman becomes Brahman Himself. What is Tapasya? Deep Manana. Deep Nidhidhyasana. And thereafter he became a Jeevan Mukta. Because a Videha Mukta cannot teach. Only a Jeevan Mukta can teach. What did he do? Sri Ram Krishna used to say, as soon as a lotus blooms, all the honey bees will come without any invitation. That blooming itself is the greatest invitation. Oh my children, where are you? Shunvant Vishwe Amrutasya Putraaha. When we are ready, grace will come by itself. Teaching will come by itself. When the field is ready, the seed will come. Seed must come. That's what Ram Krishna said. Swami Vaikunanda said. So what did this Shweta Shwetara Rishi do? He, Rishi Sangha Jushtam. A large number of people, like hundreds of real Paramahamsas started coming to Dakshineshwar to see Ram Krishna. Unbeknownst, why they are going there, but nevertheless, the Divine Mother was pulling them. Here is what you are seeking. Here you will get what you are seeking. And they all became blessed by the grace, by the teaching and mostly by the blessing. Sri Ram Krishna must have blessed them. May you become awakened with Chaitanya. Chaitanya Hoga. Through everything, they got fulfillment. In fact, Sri Ram Krishna's own Guru became fulfilled. And even Bhairavi, Brahmani, all the Gurus, in fact, became fulfilled. And they must have been blessed. They must have also been grateful. They have departed. And through them, the message of Sri Ram Krishna, Dharma Stapana, Parva Dharma Sapan Saman Vaya, and the ultimate goal of life must have always been spread through the mouth of those people who are helped by Sri Ram Krishna. So Rishi, Sangha, Yushtam. Lot of people. What type of people? Rishis. All are in search of Bhagawan, Brahman. Sangha means a large company of them, like Vamadeva, Sanaka, etc. They all gathered. That is what Sri Ram Krishna means. As soon as the lotus blooms, the bees, because they want honey. What is the honey here? Brahman. Brahma Jnanam is the honey. So they have all come and they must have been helped. I will refer to that. So that is how Sage Shweta Shwetara had attained and he started teaching. What is the next point? That it is the invariable law. Somebody is taught and he reaches the goal. God inspires him through him. He starts. Now you pass on this knowledge which you got from me to other fit disciples. Only to fit disciples. That also will come here very soon. So that is what people had come. Not that he invited or he had self-advertised, self-realised soul, please come. They automatically come. Same thing will happen in our case. Both in secular life, in spiritual life, in every aspect of life. So that is what happened. They came. He has passed and they in their turn have realised. They passed it. This is the next point. Guru Parampara system. What is the first point? When we become sincere, we will be inspired to do Tapasya. What is Tapasya? Sravana, Manana and Nidhidhyasana. Deep contemplation. What is the second point? The grace of God will come. All the Sravana, Manana and Nidhidhyasana are meant for us to receive the grace of God. And without grace of God. Self-effort and the grace of God. Yatra yogeshwara krishno yatra partho dhanur dharah tatra srihi vijayo bhuthi dhruva nithir matir mama That is how Bhagavad Gita ends. Self-effort versus God's grace. They always go together, hand in hand. That is being said. And the third thing is the Guru-Shishya Sampradaya. In Munda Kopan Shat also we get. Brihadaranya Kopan Shat we get. In every Kopan Shat we get. Sri Sri Ramakrishna passed that knowledge to his disciples. They in their turn passed it. And we in our turn are passing it to other people. Then mantra 22nd. What is it telling? The knowledge of the Brahman should never be imparted to unworthy people. Because it will not be useful. That is not that some people are excluded. Those who are incapable of receiving, they should be given some other instruction through which they will gradually become Ph.D. students. Fit to acquire Ph.D. So they should be imparted only after thoroughly considering the fitness of the pupil. In unworthy hands, it loses its profundity and sacredness. That is what exactly is happening. Millions of self-proclaimed teachers, they don't have the even proper, let alone realization, proper intellectual knowledge. Anybody who has understood Vedanta properly, he will never be able to say there is only one path. There are, God is infinite and infinite are the people who want to reach Him and infinite are the pathways to reach Him. Infinite paths are the realization of the infinite. Jato moth tato bhot. That is being beautifully explained in the mantra 22nd. Vedante paramam guhyam pura kalpe prachoditam na aprashantaya tataviyam na aputraya na asisyaya va punaham This profound mystery of the Vedanta was taught in the previous cycles. It passed from Guru to disciple but it should never be given to one whose passions have not been subdued, not one who is not a son or a disciple. Very easy to understand. This is the ancient tradition. This is called Guru-Shishya-Sampradaya. What is it? Vedanta. This Vedanta means pure spirituality. Paramam Guhyam. It is the most secret because it is the most sacred. It is not secret because it will be given only to people who pay large amount of monies or supply other materials. A person who cannot understand 2 plus 2 is 4, do you think he will be fit to understand the special theory of relativity as propounded by Einstein? It is impossible. When Einstein propagated this, he became instantaneously world famous and then he said only 8 people were supposed to have understood that completely besides Einstein, 7 people. If that is the case in secular knowledge, how much it is true in sacred knowledge? Pura Kalpe Prajoditam. From the very ancient times of which we have no clue at all. The beginningless of history. Pura Kalpe Prajoditam. This is how through Guru-Shishya. That is why all our scriptures are called Shrutis. Shruti means the disciple hears from the Guru and then in his turn he teaches it. So from mouth of the Guru to the mouth of the disciple, from the mouth of the Shishya who becomes the Guru to his disciple, even today it is coming and that cannot be broken. Why? Because an unfit person, even if it is told, will not be able to grasp it. That is why it is said, न अप्रशान्ताय शान्ताय, whose desires have been subdued, whose passions have been completely overcome, he who only has one desire, मुमुक्षुत्व, then his mind becomes absolutely tranquil and not only tranquil, very tranquil. That means he only wants God and one who is not attained to this state is called अप्रशान्ताय दातवियम्. Should never be given. But it will be given when he becomes प्रशान्ता, not only that. अपुत्राय, पुत्र, शिष्य, again the same qualification appears. Many Gurus never taught it to their own sons when they found them incapable. Many Gurus never taught to every one of his disciples. I will come to the son, पेदान्ते परमं गुह्यम्. This is most secret. At the same time, it is open to anybody. पुराकल्पे प्रचोधितम् And then, Sri Ramakrishna, in his life when we look, later on the disciples told, he used to close all the doors and windows and drilled his highest ब्रह्मसत्यम् जगन्मिथ्या रहास्या to his would-be monastic disciples. Did he neglect the ordinary householders? No. For them, how they can be fit to receive the highest truth, that what is called महावाक्य स्रमण, that he gradually trained them. And when they are ready, automatically Guru-Shishya connection will be established. And same thing, we call Bhagavad Gita the essence of all Upanishads. What does it say? 18th chapter, at the very end, 67-68, इदन्ते न अतपस्काया न अवक्ताये कदाचिनम् This sacred Upanishadic essence as expounded in the Bhagavad Gita should never be passed on to one who is not self-controlled and who is not a devotee, true devotee of God. असुष्रोषवे, one who is not interested, वाच्यम्, it's नवाच्यम्, should never be even spoken about. And he who hates God, that means only propagates secular wisdom, it should never be given. But on the other hand, यईवं परमं गुःयः, this most secret, this is greatest secret, मद्भक्ताया अविदास्यति, मद्भक्तेष्य अविदास्यति He who propagates among my real sincere devotees, भक्तिम्य, such a person who grants this knowledge, he will attain more bhakti because of this teaching and they will also attain me, he will also attain. And this Shweta Shwetra Upanishad is being closed with the most marvellous mantra which all our gurus including Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, everybody in the past, present, future have to repeat it umpteen number of times. Here goes this mantra 23. What did we learn in the 22nd? If first of all we will not get it unless we are fit and when we are fit we will get it, we have to practice then by the grace of God we will also become like Shweta Shwetra and then when we attain to that state we should never hide it. Of course we cannot hide it, a true realized soul is none other than God and God will not withhold anything to his grown-up children. So how to? This is the most marvellous mantra. Who is going to get all these beautiful Brahma Vidya mantra 23rd? यस्य देवे पराभक्ति यथा देवे तधा गुरव तस्य इते कथिताहि अर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते महात्मनः If these truths have been told to a noble-minded person, spiritual-minded person, who has the greatest, highest devotion for God and for his Guru, has equal devotion to the Guru, equal devotion as he had for the God. That means it's a devotion to Guru and God, there is no difference. That means Guru is God, God is the Guru. Then they will surely shine forth. What will shine forth? These experiences, Aham Brahmasmi knowledge will automatically come out. Then indeed they will shine forth. प्रकाशन्ते, such people are called Mahatmas. So, this is what is called clinching, a summary of it, developed devotion, unparalleled, single-pointed, पराभक्ति, as Swami Vivekananda discussed it, गौणभक्ति and पराभक्ति, and he who has, he will definitely get. But if a person has bhakti to God, then he will have same bhakti. This is a marvellous psychological truth. If my capacity for loving anything is 100% and wherever I turn my mind, I will love everything to that same percentage. If my mind is capable of loving something 100%, it is a matter of turning the direction, directing that same love towards other objects. So, nobody can say, I love God 100%, but I love my mother and father only 5%. It is a false understanding. If I love God 100%, I see the same God in my mother and father, because God is not a person. God is knowledge. And when a person has this knowledge, wherever he sees, समधर्शिनः, whether it is विद्याविनेसंपन्ने, ब्रह्मने, गवी, हस्तिनी, शुणिचैव, शबाकेच, पंदिताः, समधर्शिनः. So here it is, if somebody doesn't have such devotion to Guru, he will never have devotion to God. If somebody doesn't have devotion to God, he will also not have devotion to Guru. Then how to develop devotion? Because equate Guru and God. That is what is said, गुर्वर्भ्रम्मा गुरुर्विष्णः गुरुतेवो महेश्वरः गुरुसाक्षात् परम्भ्रम्ह तस्मयस्रि गुरुवेनमः गुरुवस्तकम् Beautiful expression. That is, even my Guru is the worst of the humanity. Once I have chosen him as my target, I will practice seeing God 100% in that person. That is called Guru Bhakti. Because very strange thing is, if my mind is full of seeking faults, I will find fault in Guru, I will find fault in God, I will find fault in everything. There would be nothing in this world where I will not find fault. But if I am trying to overcome this fault finding, then same thing will apply to Guru, to God. That is why Taittiriya Upanishad says, start with Mother. Mother should be looked upon as God. Matru Devo Bhava. Extend it to Father. Pitru Devo Bhava. Extend it to Acharya. Acharya Devo Bhava. Then extend it to anybody with whom you come in contact. Here, symbolically called Atidhi Devo Bhava. So this 23rd, last mantra, 113th mantra of the sixth chapter is telling, He who has greatest Bhakti for God, exactly same amount of Bhakti towards his own Guru, who has shown him the path to God, and only for such a person, these truths, as soon as they are heard, that means as soon as he develops this Bhakti, the moment the mind is filled with that Bhakti, these truths, which were only mere meaningless words before, they assume a very special meaning. They become Param Satyas. They were Satyas, but now I understand, any person with these qualifications, he will assume. And there is no other way. The only way to become Mahatmas, the only way to realize God, is to develop this Bhakti towards the Guru and towards God. This is the meaning of it. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna had. That is what Swami Vivekananda had. And there was a very interesting conversation. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that who is the Guru? Satchidananda alone is the Guru. Once Swami Vivekananda, after his return from America, met Holy Mother. And he said, Mother, nowadays all these ideas are disappearing. Immediately she said, Baba, don't make me also disappear. Immediately Swami said, Mother, if Guru disappears from my mind, then where do I stand? It is only because of Guru, all these things are completely overcome. That means everything is looked upon as God. With this, Shweta Shwetara is over. I will give you a brief summary of Shweta Shwetara. This Upanishad, Shweta Shwetara Upanishad, belongs to the Krishna Yajur Veda. This Upanishad is not counted as the ten principal Upanishads upon which Shankaracharya has written beautiful versions. Actually, even Shweta Shwetara Upanishad also is supposed to, some people say, is written. But many people don't accept it. There is a controversy. It doesn't matter. Whoever has written, he must be considered as Shankaracharya. So some people consider Shankara himself has written. It doesn't really matter. So long as the truth is expounded, that is absolutely fine. And it is also got a peculiar name. It is called a compiled Upanishad. What is compiled? As you like modern thesis, the fellow will be stealing from 100 books. And because very few people will read 100 books, they can't find out what. And he will change the phrases here and there. He will get charge, pity to write it, rewrite it in a particular way. And he will submit it. And the teacher also, because he knows, he must have taught, he obtained his permanent head damage in the same way. PhD means permanent head damage. And so he has no option but to make his student also permanent head damage. It is not like that. All Upanishads teach only the highest truth. So there are this Shweta Shwetra Upanishad mostly taken from many other Upanishads. A few truths are there which belongs to this Shweta Shwetra Rishi. We should not say everything is compiled. But he must have heard all those things. And he must have put his own experience in the form of his collections because important thing is to convey the knowledge. Not that whether he wants to be known as an independent original author or not. The real author is only Bhagawan. That is why all the Vedas, it means Upanishads, they are all called Apaurushayas. So there are beautiful mantras gathered with a slight change of the text. Mahanarayana, Kata Upanishad, Kunda Kopanishad, Preta Aranyaka Upanishad, etc. There are many other Upanishads but it doesn't matter. This Shweta Shwetra Upanishad is divided into six chapters and totally there are 113 mantras are there. And these six chapters, what are they teaching? All the teachings can be classified into four parts. And who is the Rishi? Shweta Shwetara. Shweta Ashwatara means a horse. Shweta means white. A white horsed Rishi. What does it mean? Just like a well-trained horse is the best way of taking one from place 1, point 1 to point B. So that knowledge which takes us to the highest goal which is Brahman or God, that is compared to a person, a Rishi who has all his body, mind is under control, who had acquired Sadhana, Chaturstha, Sampati, who has become a true seeker after liberation, Moksha. And such a person is comparable to Shweta Shwetara. We don't know who gave that name but he acquired that name and he became enlightened and he passed on what he had learned from his Guru and through his realization authentically to his Rishi Sangha to his disciples. Remember these Brahmavidwamsas, they gathered together and who is the author of this world etc. They are the points. What is the first one? Who is the creator of this world? They thought Kala, Swabhava, Niyati. Finally they came to know only God alone is the only creator. If God has created, He is the material cause. He is also what is called the efficient or intelligent cause. If God is both material and efficient, this world is none other than both material and efficient which is none other than Brahman. That is why in the Vishnu Sasarnama, the very first word is Vishwam, second word only is Vishnu. This is the first. Second is the knowledge about nature. What is taught? All about the nature of Brahman, Brahmaswaroopam. And what is the nature of Brahmaswaroopam? He is one, there is no second and He is uncontaminated etc. We have seen Nirguna, Niranjana, Nishkala etc. And these are the qualities. Slowly we have to practice through Tapasya. So what is it? The third topic is that all these spiritual qualities we must acquire and through practice. And what is the fourth one? That while practicing we must surrender ourselves to God. Then we will obtain God's grace. Then we also attain to Moksha. This is the essence of the Shweta Shwetra Upanishad. With this the Shweta Shwetra is over.