Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 126 Conclusion on 14 October 2026 Q&A

Discussion on Jivanmuktas, Totapuri, and the Models of Bondage

Question 1: Did Totapuri Not Recognise Sri Ramakrishna as a Jivanmukta?

Participant: Maharaj, one Jivanmukta recognises another Jivanmukta. So when Totapuri Maharaj met Sri Ramakrishna, he did not recognise him as a Jivanmukta. So that concludes that Totapuri Maharaj was not a fully realised soul. Correct?

Response (Maharaj): Correct.

The Story of Narada's Vision

Response: So how do we understand this? There is a story in the Bhagavatam. Narada – he became an orphan, and he got tremendous dispassion towards the world. Then he wanted only to become a devotee of God. So one of the rishis in whose ashrama his mother was working as a maidservant – and she was beaten by a snake and died in the forest. So one of the sages took pity upon him and initiated him into this Narayana Mantra. It is called the Ashtakshari Mantra: Om Namo Narayanaya.

Oh, he went into the forest and with great earnestness, he started repeating it and praying intensely like Sri Ramakrishna: "I cannot live without you." We have to guess by looking at Sri Ramakrishna's life. And then suddenly he had a vision of Narayana, just like a flash of lightning. And then it disappeared.

But for that flash of lightning, Narada was overwhelmed with so much of Ananda. There is no word equal to Ananda in any language. We can only use the word "bliss." So he became despondent: "Why did you withdraw your vision from me?" Then Vishnu said, "It is only to encourage you, to prove to you that what you are seeking is not a mere belief, it is a fact. So I gave you a glimpse of what you are going to achieve."

Thereafter, joyfully, Narada had to practise for a long time – tapasya.

My Personal Belief About Totapuri

Response: So it is my personal belief – people may differ from me – that the Divine Mother had given Totapuri a glimpse into that Brahmanubhuti. And then he thought – but then he, according to my interpretation, he forgot that what was given to him as a glimpse should have been made his own, like what Sri Ramakrishna gave to Swami Brahmananda. He did tapasya at Brindavan and made it his own.

So you may question, how do I know this is not my fancy, but it is a fact? According to – of course – my understanding. There are people who may think otherwise.

Evidence That Totapuri Was Not Fully Realised

Response: So if he was a Jivanmukta, then he would have realised. Upon seeing – not only did he not realise that you are an avatara. He did not even understand. In fact, he misunderstood: "A good man, but brain is a little bit weak. He calls that image his mother."

So not only that, he refused to enter into the temple of the Divine Mother, to bow down to her, because of whom he had this experience. And eleven months he had to stay. The man who decided to leave after three or four days, he was forced to live there eleven months. He was forced to have the desire to commit suicide. He was forced to cross the Ganga. He was forced to misunderstand: why is it there is not sufficient water to drown this small body in this huge Ganga?

So he did not understand why these things were happening. Only then, out of her infinite grace, she revealed herself: "Everything is me. You do not exist. I only exist. My body is – it is my body, it is my mind. And you are claiming it is your mind. I am the Saguna Brahman."

And then with that, his psychosomatic disease also disappeared. He became radiant with health. And then he came back in the same way.

Totapuri's Realisation and Acknowledgement

Response: So then next morning, when Sri Ramakrishna came to enquire, he was radiant with joy. That means Sri Ramakrishna never saw him so joyful. Then he asked, "Yesterday I thought you may not survive for a long time. What happened?"

Then Totapuri said, "Whom you call your mother – I never understood until yesterday night. She revealed everything to me. Now I know whom you are calling your mother."

And the man who thought his brain was addled – now he understood whose brain was addled all the time. "So let us go to your mother. It is she who kept me waiting." He acknowledged. And then they went together: "Mother, can I depart now?" She said, "Yes, yes – the lesson. The sooner you depart from here, the better it will be for both of us."

You understand? Only then he could depart from there. But with the realisation – everything is possible only by the grace of the Maha Maya. Nothing else. She who binds – she alone can liberate. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna experienced at this Manikarnika Ghat. Until Mother comes and cuts all the bonds, even Shiva as Taraka Mantra is totally useless.

The Great Master and the Avatara's Greatness

Response: You see now. So The Great Master is a wonderful book we have to study, not read. And there we get – long before any of the gurus came, Ramakrishna had the highest Nirvikalpa Samadhi. These gurus came only to confirm it.

Then the wonder is: once a person had this Nirvikalpa Samadhi, as if he forgot the entire lot, as if he had to relearn everything. He is capable of – you know – he himself closes his eyes. That is the Avatara's greatness. He knows, "I am Brahman. Nobody can bind me." But he closes his own eyes and pretends to himself – pretends that it is real: "I don't know anything."

Sri Ramakrishna's prayer: "Ma, you know I am a fool." Whom is a fool in? So it is difficult to understand. That is the answer, okay.

Participant: Yes, Maharaj, thank you.

Response: All right, any other?

Question 2: What Exactly Is Being Broken in Each Model?

Participant: Yes, pranam, Maharaj. Okay, so Maharaj, I had some questions, and you have answered them today, but I just wanted to understand if my understanding of that is correct. So we have discussed different models – the Pancha Kosha model, the Triputi Avasthatraya model. And then we also have talked about the microcosm and the macrocosm. And so all this, in with the backdrop of Khandana Bhava Bandhana.

So when I was thinking, I was trying to understand: what is breaking here, or what is the incarnation – or the lot – breaking? So in the micro and the macrocosm model, is it the breaking of the distinction between the micro and the macro causal? Correct – is being correct. Okay.

And then in the Pancha Kosha model, is it the identification – or that "this kosha is me" or "this is mine"? That identification is being broken, which we, of course, as you said, we call Avidya. And then in the Avasthatraya model, the difference of the three – the Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika – is that being broken? I wanted to understand.

The Three States and the Five Koshas Are Identical

Response: You see, in our experience, whether it is the three states model, Avasthatraya, three states of experience model, or Pancha Kosha model, there is no difference between them. First of all, you have to understand.

The Jagrat Prapancha and the Annamaya Kosha are identical. The Anandamaya Kosha and our – what is called – Sushupti Avastha, they are identical. And the three koshas – prana, manas, and vijnana – are identical with our subtle body experience through the subtle body, Swapna Avastha. Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti.

So these are two ways of expressing the same truth. They are not separate models actually. The Mandukya Upanishad, especially the Mandukya Karika, uses the three states, Avasthatraya. The Taittiriya Upanishad uses this Pancha Kosha model.

So the first kosha and this sthula sharira – one and the same. So the Anandamaya Kosha and then this – what we call – Sushupti Avastha – same. The middle three, they are identified with our Swapna Avastha, dream state.

Whatever State We Identify With, We See the Whole World in That Light

Response: Okay. So when at whatever given time, we are identified as reality with that particular kosha. When we are in the Jagrat Avastha, we are not saying that this is what is called the reality. We are the reality. "I am the reality." And when I am the reality, everything becomes a reality.

When you put on black-coloured specs on your eyes, how does the whole world appear? So when you think "I am the body," everything else is looked upon as body. When we are looking upon the Anandamaya Kosha, that is deep sleep, "I am Anandamaya. The whole universe is also Anandamaya."

I hope you are getting – I am able to express properly. If not, what happens is: I am in Anandamaya Kosha, but the world is not in Anandamaya Kosha. There is no such division. The whole creation is in Anandamaya.

Why do I call creation? Because still bondage is there. We wake up after some time. It is not realisation, but it removes one layer of covering called vikshepa shakti. Avarana shakti is not – we are not becoming, we are not realising the truth that covering is there. Even after waking up, that covering comes.

In deep sleep also there is that covering. I am not saying "I am Brahman." I am saying "I am in bliss." That's all.

The Dream State

Response: And when we are in dream state, then we experience everything, the whole world, as a dream only, isn't it? But while experiencing the dream state, we don't say we are in dreaming. We say that is the waking state. Only upon waking up from the dream, we say that was a dream. Okay.

Participant: Yes, Maharaj, yes.

Whatever We Identify With, We See the Whole World in the Same Light

Response: So there is – whatever state we are identifying with, we see the whole world exactly in the same light. That is the answer to your question.

So if I think I am the body, when I look at Sri Ramakrishna, what do you think I am looking at?

Participant: Oh, just the phone.

Response: Yes. Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, or anybody – a realised soul. I am only looking at his body. But only – "Oh, he is more happy than me. He is not a person to worry easily. I am a person who worries very easily. And if I don't have anything to worry, I worry even why – why am I not worrying?"

You understand now?

Participant: Yes, I am.

The Coloured Glass Analogy

Response: Whatever coloured glass we are wearing at this moment, it is the same colour. I don't see any distinction between myself and what I am experiencing. That is the secret.

So if I change my – if I remove all my specs, then I can see everything in it in that glass. If I see "I am Brahman," everything is Brahman. You follow now. There is no separate way of seeing: "I am in ignorance, but you are very enlightened." There is no way. That is the psychology of the mind.