Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 31 on 18 December 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

In our last class, we completed the eighth anuvaka of Taittiriya Upanishad. The first chapter of the Taittiriya is called Sikshadhyaya. It has twelve anuvakas. The first and the last. That is the first and the twelfth are peace chants, Shanti Mantras. Thereafter, many Upasanas have come. In our last class, where we completed the eighth section of the first chapter called Sikshavalli, we have seen how Omkara is the best instrument, best symbol. It is a symbol of both Saguna and Nirguna Brahmans. It is a doorway to Nirguna Brahman. So how to contemplate? And as an example, the Upanishad gives us whenever Vedic Yajnas, Yagas are being conducted, then instead of talking loudly, they knew everyone was a master. So shall I start chanting? They won't say that. Om, they say. Meaning the Prithvik, that is, who is going to chant Samagar Ganas, the songs or the mantras of the Samaveda. So shall I chant? But instead of saying this is the right time, right place, shall I chant? But he will say Om, looking at Brahma, the manager of the entire Yajna and Brahma is also the master of all the four Vedas. Then he also replies Om. Yes, this is the right thing you have to do at this time. So before doing any action, they would not specify in specific words, but simply they say Om and the Brahma understands. Yes, this is the right time, right place in the sequence. So Om, I am giving you permission, start. And if there is any correction to be made, then also he will say Om and they understand by that what mistakes they have committed and then they will correct themselves because whole life they have been doing these things. So if by chance any mistake is done, they will be doing. Before starting a study, delving into the depths of the study of Vedas, a student of Veda, he says Om and Om as we have seen is a sacred word not only for the contemplation but it removes all the negativity, all the obstacles and it bestows all positivity, helps the student to move forward. That is why it is called Om and Atha. These are the two words that came out of the mouth of Brahma himself. So they are called Mangalika Padau. They are the very sacred auspicious words and if we also do that, then whatever be the defect in our doing, thinking, but it will remove that defect and grant us the right result. That is the faith. Even Shri Ramakrishna before doing anything, he will just say Om. Very beautiful life for us to imitate. If Ganges water is nearby, he will sprinkle the Ganges water but if it is not there nearby, he will simply say Om. Such was his faith that just by uttering the word Om, everything becomes pure. But the most important thing is contemplation of Om is contemplation of God. That is what I mentioned many times. The rituals merge in our puja or repetition of our mantra. Sandhya merges in Gayatri. We have to translate. Rituals merge. Whichever form of God or Goddess we are doing worship, that means the very mantra of the Ishta Devata that merges. That means if we have so much of faith, then we do not need any other rituals. Just uttering the name will be doing everything. And ultimately, all the different Ishta Devatas, Chosen Deities, they are all different names and different forms. All of them merge in Omkara. And Omkara, where does it merge? No. Omkara merges only in Brahman. Another name or symbol for Brahman, both with qualities, without qualities. Saguna, Nirguna. Personal, impersonal. It is nothing but Omkara. And that's what is the best forms of contemplation. That's what we have completed. That is the essence. If I cannot do anything, especially in the Vanaprastha Ashrama. Why do I mention Vanaprastha? Because in Vanaprastha Ashrama, one is supposed to give up all physical rituals and do only Manasikha, that is Upasanas. And a Sanyasi is one who has reached that state of Omkara. And therefore, he doesn't do even his contemplations, Upasanas. Simply, he will say Om and everything will be absolutely fine. Having studied that one, now we are going to enter into the ninth section. And here in this ninth section, it is a mini, what is called Convocation Address, Veredictory Address. You know, in the colleges, in the universities, when a student completes either his B.A. degree, B.Sc. degree, M.A., M.Sc., etc., then they are given certificates and they have to don a particular type of dress. I don't know whether it is still going on in colleges and universities. And then some senior person, academic is called in, either past principal or a person honoured or a Sanyasi. For example, Swami Ranganathanji Maharaj used to be invited to go to many universities to give the Veredictory or Convocation Address. Means, you have studied so far that you have acquired, hopefully, that knowledge, but how to live life using that acquired knowledge. But there is something else we have to understand. Even though, suppose a person has become a great scientist, a great chemist, a great medical doctor, because PhD means they can be doctors of philosophy or some research paper, some particular specialized subject. But if the person is a medical doctor, then only he is asked to practice medicine. But acquiring knowledge is one thing and putting it into good use is another thing. And transforming one's life is a totally different thing. There are many doctors and they can be divided as good and evil, very selfish, and they are only interested in acquiring money, name and fame, power. They will suppress or remove any obstacle, any person that stand in their way. But there are also very good doctors. I know personally in Bangalore, there was a very famous doctor and in his old age, when others were charging hundreds of rupees even for consultation, this doctor opened because he was a vaidika practicing the scriptural teaching. He will only charge two rupees for those who are capable of giving. And many times he gives medicines also free, two rupees. Whereas others were charging hundreds, thousands of rupees. Those days hundreds of hundred rupees was a great amount. So there are very good doctors are there. I know other doctors, they take full fees, but they have allotted. So this much of my time I will spend only in serving the people. Even that is a wonderful step. So there is a hospital and a doctor who studied in one of our schools. He treats all the Ramakrishna Mission Sadhus completely free. Whatever surgery, everything is completely free. So there are very good doctors are there. So there are among the bad doctors also, there are two types of doctors are there. That is there are expert doctors and there are patient killers also. There are so many types are there. But here we are talking that how should one lead the life, whether they are medical doctors or doctors of other subjects or B.S., B.Sc., M.Sc., M.Sc.s or even illiterate people, the parents are supposed to teach how to live the life. That is a blueprint beautifully given in the eleventh section of this. This is ninth. So eleventh we come across that one. But this ninth is called Swadhyaya. Very important, great importance is given to Swadhyaya. Prashamsa means praise. So eulology, what is Swadhyaya? According to Patanjali Yoga Sutras, we have given two meanings. Swadhyaya means study of the what is called enlivening teachings. It could be Vedas, of course, and Upanishads, of course, Puranas, of course, Itihasas like Ramayana and Mahabharata, of course, and the life and teachings of every saint and sage, of course. But there are also great people in this world who are unselfish. They may not be called saints or rishis, but they have done a wonderful job. They served the society. George Washington Carver, he is no other than a great rishi and he was a great believer in God also. He is only an example I am giving. So many dedicated their lives purely for social service, etc. And by the way, all the social service, so personal service, social service, service of the animals, all these fall, according to Vedanta, under one category. It is called Pancha Maha Yajnas. And whatever we are going to study in this ninth chapter is a slight elaboration of these Pancha Maha Yajnas. We know what are the Pancha Maha Yajnas, but before going, it is called Swadhyaya Prashamsa. What is it? Swadhyaya means study of inspiring talks, inspiring teachings, inspiring lives, whatever be the subject matter, whether they are great statesmen, great kings, great ministers or great rishis, great doctors, it does not matter. In America, there was a very great doctor who became actually a medical doctor late in life. Only after 30, he was supposed to have studied. His name was Osler. One of the brilliant and at the same time, an ideal doctor who had kept the principles as his goal. He would never deviate from them. He was one of the most famous physicians in the whole of America. And India had also produced, practically every country we get great people, even if they are not spiritual people, but even ordinary people sacrificed themselves to help other people. You must also have heard Nightingale who became a nurse in the Second World War and became an ideal nurse. How much she suffered at the same time, how much she also served, how wonderfully she served. These are great lives and we have to study the great lives. So, this is the first meaning. Study deeply with tremendous faith with the idea, I must imitate these great souls. That is one meaning of this word Swadhyaya. Second meaning is even more beautiful. Not study alone will not help us. Swadhyaya means study. Swa means one's own self. That is, analyze oneself, study oneself and find out, I am studying the scriptures, I am studying the lives of Sri Ram, Krishna, Holy Mother and Swamiji, but at the same time, am I becoming a better person, am I really following their footsteps, which is a beautiful book if you remember, Imitation of Christ. So, our practice of the presence of God by Brother Lawrence. There are innumerable saints in every religion, in every country, even if we have not heard their names. That is a beautiful point we have to keep in mind. What is the point? There are so many good people, people, some of them who professed faith in God, others might not have professed faith in God, but their life is a life of pure spirituality, pure unselfishness. We have to remember and wherever they are, they uplifted people's minds, they inspire people's lives. So, study of those lives is the first meaning, but how much I am also able to transform my life. So, that is the Upasana, Swadhyaya Upasana. Go on studying and go on contemplating and go on transforming slowly albeit surely. We will have to do that. That is the second meaning of Swadhyaya. Let me find out how much I have changed, how much I am progressing, etc. And incidentally, the second meaning is also called Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga helps in spiritual growth and all the karmas that we perform are classified according to Vedanta into three types – Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika. What is Sattvika? Pure, unselfish actions which will benefit mostly outside people, of course, one's own self. Second, Rajasika karmas, it benefits both oneself as well as the society. So, Pancha Mahayagnas also fall into that category. And then Tamasika activities which neither help the person individually but does immense harm to other people. So, we have to study do I fall into Sattvika, Rajasika or Tamasika. And these three are further classified – what type of food, what type of activity, what type of motivation, our take, look, what is called view upon our activities and our courage, our willpower, everything. In the 17 and 18 chapters, we get this. But a description of who is Sattvika, who is what is called Tamasika, that is called Daiva Asura Sampat Vibhaga Yoga Nama Shodasho Adhyayaha, 16th chapter. Thereafter only, how these three gunas can be applied to various activities including breathing, sleeping and eating and talking with others, what type of speech. And again, all activities can also be classified into three categories – the mental, the what is called speech, oral and as well as practical actions that we do externally. And whatever we do through these three instruments mind, speech and body, they can be classified as Sattvika, Rajasika and Tamasika. This is the teaching given so that we can move forward in life, we can reach our goal which Swamiji had kept – each soul is potentially divine. How to manifest that divinity within? This is the way. That is called Yoga, Karma Yoga especially. So every activity, whether it is mental or oral or practical, we must try to transcend slowly from Tamasika to Rajasika to Sattvika and be a perfect instrument in the hands of God. That is the goal of life. But it may take several, several lives. So all these are part and parcel of Panchamaha Yagna. Karma Yoga, Panchamaha Yagna can be synonymous. And as we know, just to remind ourselves, five great worshipping, worships of God. What are they? First thing is everyone, every human being is inducted by the very birth because we cannot live without knowledge. So living with knowledge is what is called Brahma Yagna. So we should try to acquire through Swadhyaya all the wisdom that our elders, our scriptures are giving whatever be our religion. Even if some irreligious people are there, but there can be good people, great people among them also. If we study the history of the world, we can see surprisingly many, many such great people, even some of them are illiterate, but they shone with great name and fame because of their idealistic life. So Panchamaha, we are inducted because of the wisdom we acquire first from our mother, then our father, then Acharyas. And how did they acquire? From their fathers, mothers and Acharyas. This is called Rishi Yagna. So we are inducted. We are in debt. What is our way of getting rid of this debt? Whatever knowledge we know that helps us, we must pass it on to others. Not only we should learn whole life, but we should be eager also to pass it on to others unselfishly without copyright. That is how we get rid of the debt of the Rishis. And even though it is not our physical experience, there are presiding deities of all the Panchabhutas, the space, the air, the fire, the waters and the earth. And these are ruling. From that they transformed themselves into creation and they are the presiding deities and we are all nothing but manifestation of them. And we are inducted for our birth, for our living and even for our death. And therefore we must worship them and what they are giving, how they are helping us, we must acknowledge our thankfulness in the form of Krita Jnata, rituals, pujas, etc. That is called Deva Yagna. Then of course we are inducted to our father, mother, not only for the wisdom that we inherit, but the very sustenance of the body, maintenance of the body. If mother were not to sustain us, we would not have survived. So mother, father, how much they work, they suffer, they go through just to make us better people in every wise. So we must be very grateful and that also that falls under Pitru Rina. Pitru means our indebtedness not only to our parents but to our grandparents because our parents have learned from their forefathers, etc. Then it is impossible to live a life without getting help. If I am wearing a good shirt, somebody somewhere must be working. Nowadays it is much more obvious how supposing there is some poor country and some big textile company and there are some business people, they purchase the cloth and then they use these people as labor. It could be Taiwan, it could be Bangladesh, it could be India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, many other countries. So they pay very low wages according to the employer's standard but maybe quite good wages according to the circumstances under which they are living. So without other people's help, early morning I want my coffee. Unless the people who are tending the cows get up early in the morning at two o'clock and then go on milking and then sending them, supplying them and from distances they are carried and we get it early in the morning, the milk bottles or milk packets, etc. So for everything in our life we are dependent upon every other person in this world. So every person is dependent upon every other human being. This is called the debt that we incur towards our fellow human beings. It is called NRI or NARA, RINA. I am only telling briefly. But is it only human beings? No, everything helps. There is nothing in this world which is harmful. Is a mosquito helpful? If all the mosquitoes are eliminated, we will not be surviving for a long time. Any bird or any creature which we think is redundant, then that will ruin us in some way or the other. This is called holistic attitude. Scientists have discovered nothing is redundant. Whole creation in unison is trying to help every one of us. Even the destruction of excessive things is also part of that. Earthquakes, tsunamis and wars, they are also part of this maintenance action only. If we take it as a whole, not as a part, limited for a limited study will not make us understand. So we are indebted to everything else, not only to other living creatures, other non-living creatures also. For example, according to modern scientists, the rivers, the mountains, the forests are all, forests of course, some of them are non-living, inert things. According to Hinduism, there is nothing called inert. Everything is thriving with pure consciousness, throbbing with pure consciousness. So that is called bhuta-yagna or a little bit expanded pancha-bhuta-yagnas. That is the worship of the five elements, living or non-living. In brief, this is called pancha-maha-yagna and if we can do this, we will progress physically, intellectually, aesthetically, morally and of course spiritually. This is the point that is made in this. So in the society, according to Hinduism of course, the best analyzer in the whole world, every life of every human being are divided into four. First is called learning stage. Learn thoroughly well. This is called brahma-yagna. That is, every student is supposed to learn what helps him to be a good grown-up person, whether married or unmarried. And then the second stage is that when a person grows up, the child grows up into a young person and then there will be some natural desires and they must be fulfilled in the most natural way, not fight against nature but swim along with nature. This is called grihasta-ashrama. So first stage is learning stage. Second stage is experiment and experience. That is what we call artha and kama. Artha means acquire things to experience. Kama means actually experience. These two are the highest ideals for every householder and every householder has got several duties. This is the introduction I am giving so that we can understand this ninth section, anuvaka, very easily later on. Then a time will come when our physical prowess or energies slowly, gradually, they are becoming less and less. At that time, we should reduce slowly all the physical activities and enter into the mental activities which we have said upasana, pradhana. So the third stage is withdrawal, stage of the withdrawal, the stage where all our attention which is so far to the external must now be forcefully directed towards within. That is the ideal for the third stage when our children are grown up, they are standing on their own feet. We have no more responsibilities. So we will have to turn our attention inside. Sri Ramakrishna's words are deeply enlightening. When M asks, should we earn money? Sri Ramakrishna's succinct answer is yes. First of all, only what is necessary for living a simple life which includes saving money. Secondly, only for the wife if she is a good wife or whatever and we should provide so that in case we are not there, the husbands are not there, so the wife should not undergo undue suffering. But then he also remarks beautifully, just like birds, as soon as the chicks grow up and are capable of gathering food for themselves, the parents, especially the mother, pecks it out preparing for the next brood of the offspring. So also, no grown up person has any duty towards the children and this is one of the grossly neglected aspects of Hindus who claim that Vedas are their divinely manifest scriptures. So this is very important for us to understand. We have certain duties. Fulfill them. After that, you have no duties at all. That doesn't prevent us from loving our children and grandchildren, but we should not feel guilty. Oh, I have to provide them with some billions, otherwise they will go to dogs, etc. Then of course, if we continue this trajectory of evolution, then we come to the fourth stage when we totally withdraw from the world, from even the mental Upasanas and become merged or surrender ourselves to God totally. That is called Sannyasa. Sannyasa means absolute surrender into the being called Brahman or God, whatever name you may give. This is the essence of the four stages and the four stages are nothing but after fulfilling his Panchamaha Yagnas, we have to do this. This is the background with which we can enter into now. Only two more words I want to say. Three words actually. Ritam, Satyam and Tapaha. So again and again, they are emphasized here. What is Ritam? By the sincere and devoted study of the scriptures, when we get what we call the right knowledge, what is life? This is life. What is the goal? This is the goal. How to attain the goal? This is the way to attain the goal. That is what Swami Vivekananda summarized. First, what is life? Each soul is potentially divine. This is called Ritam. This is the highest truth. Then what is the goal of life? To manifest this divinity. Then how do we manifest through any of the Yogas and become free from all bondages? In a sense, this is what the Vedas really teach. So Ritam, the word Ritam, we observe the law of this entire creation and then the truth will come out. And whatever we have understood by the devout study of the Vedas, that must be the goal and that is called realization of the truth, Satyam. And entire life should be directed for that Satyam. And for that purpose, lest we should not forget what is the goal of life and whether we are really progressing or not, at every stage, many times, study the scriptures, study yourself and also pass on that knowledge to others unselfishly. This is repeated at the end of every commandment. These are the commandments. So first word is Ritam, second word is Satyam, third word is Tapah. To practice, put into practice, that is called practical Vedanta of this truth, one has to go through lot of difficulties, hardships, sufferings and deliberately we should try to overcome this obstacle, that is called Tapah. Tapah means austerity. Austerity means self-control. Self-control means control of the external body, external organs, external activities is called Dhamaha and control of the inner world is called Shamaha. But at every stage, we should be studying so that we should not forget what is the goal of our life and also we should study whether I am really progressing towards it or not. So this is the essence of this particular ninth section. With this background, we will enter into this actual text. So with this, I will just read out the English translation, then we will go to the simple meanings. Righteousness and also a learning and the teaching. Swadhyaya is learning, Pravachana is teaching or passing on that knowledge to others and this has to be added at every commandment that comes. So truth and Swadhyaya Pravachana. Satyam, austerity, Tapah and also Swadhyaya Pravachana. Then Shamaha and also Swadhyaya Pravachana. Dhamaha, Dhamaha, first self-control, then Shamaha, tranquility of the mind, etc. and Swadhyaya Pravachana. Then Agnischa, that is kindling the sacrificial fire, etc. and then performance of several small Yajnas, Dayanandana Yajnas, daily Yajnas that were prescribed for the, especially for the Brahmins. Agnihotrancha, that is called Agnihotra. Then Atithayascha, so Atitha means hospitality to anybody who comes without any notice, etc. Then Swadhyaya Pravachana. Then social duties, Manushancha, being born as a human being, we have our obligations to the entire society. Society means the perfect cooperation between every member of the society that is called social duties and Swadhyaya Pravachana. Then part of that is to get married and then to beget children, then pass on our knowledge to the children for the good of the society and also pass on to the, encouraging them to get in their turn grandchildren, etc. That should be there. This is the special meaning of this first part of this ninth section. So quickly we will go through this Ritamcha Swadhyaya Pravachanacha. Important point we have to keep in mind is at every commandment, these are commandments, remember. These are not suggestions. These are not just showing the way like philosophy professors, etc. But this is what one has to do. So very good example is modern AI. So you can see every day how many improvements are done. What is the point? Point is they are not sitting and then propagating some kind of theories. They actually, they code it in such a way. I want, for example, a summary of this particular text and they are coding. And we are, without understanding, we are getting that or you transcribe this speech into the language that we are speaking into. So simply they are not telling, now you do this, now you do that. You use that instrument or what is called software and you get the result. And we don't get the result unless those people are sweating it out and then finding out how to make it possible. This is very practical science. That is why computer science is a very practical science. In fact, every science should be practical only. So as I mentioned earlier, in the Vedas, we get two important words. One is called rhythm. Another is called satya. What is rhythm? Rhythm is English word. Rhythm has come from this word rhythm. What is rhythm? You observe the nature and it falls into a particular rhythm. There is birth, there is growth and there is a death. Then the sun rises and gives light and then sun sets. So also the moon, so also the stars, so also the growth of a plant and sustenance of the plant and end of the plant. But remember, end of the plant, it doesn't die. Physical part will die but it propagates itself in the form of the seeds. So that is very important. There is no death. The tree is reliving in the form of the seeds and it is reliving in a greater number than before. So death is only an illusion. Birth also along with that is only an appearance. Really there is no birth, there is no death. It is a travel. So a train is coming to your town and it is not coming from your town. Many times it comes from a long distance. It is stopping at your station. You get into it and then you get in the next town but the train continues. So you can say in the way of analogy, you are getting into the train is the birth and you are sitting through the period of the travel is called sthiti and then you get out. So different people get in and stay for some time, get out. So this is beautifully illustrated at the airports, what is called unmanned trains. They take the people at different gates, they leave them. So the whole life is nothing but this rhythm. This is called Brahma Chakra. Chakra means a wheel, a wheel of samsara. It moves slowly in different degrees etc. So rhythm means learn the lesson and then what do we observe? People are happy, people are unhappy and why are they happy? Because the rule of rhythm, that is this rhythm only, later on it became what we now call dharma and then this dharma further elaborated. This is what we call karma phala. You do some good activity, you get good result and that result is kept in mind by the supervisor called Vidhata and in the next station your credit card, your next bank, whichever bank you go, so that your credit is awaiting you, you can withdraw it, you can deposit, do many things like that. So rhythm is studying the very life in all its phases and then coming to understand or becoming wiser that I am responsible for what I am. In other words, I know this to be the right thing and I know this thing to be the wrong thing and the scripture also helps us to understand the past as well as the have faith in the future and that is why you have faith in the concept of dharma and this will be reinforced by the study and as well as pass on this knowledge to others. There is a curious psychological phenomena, if you go on talking about something many times then slowly you start believing even initially if you don't believe in it but slowly you will be believing in it. There was a story, in a village there was a Christian priest and he had beautiful gardens outside the village and many mischievous people and animals used to go and spoil that one. So he started spreading a rumor himself, some such person, some person had seen a terrible ghost in that garden and then slowly people started talking about it and some fellow who is superstitious had actually seen at night time some glowing eyes running after him and he started spreading. So several months have passed, people started doing nuisance less and less in that garden for fear of the ghost and then one day this priest was resting at his house, suddenly he heard a great commotion. So the whole villagers were running towards his garden. So he did not know there was anything special. So he went and asked them, where are you running all of you? Then they said, don't you know this fellow had fainted, he saw a terrible ghost in that garden. Then the priest also started running, who knows, I might have propagated it, maybe really there is a ghost. So if you repeat often something, that becomes, that is why mantra has to be repeated. By repeating, initial disbelief slowly turns into a conviction. That is why we should go on doing it whether we are happy or unhappy etc. So this is, Ritam means that you try to learn what is right, what is wrong and reinforce that your understanding through daily reminding yourself by the study of scriptures. Don't forget, scriptures means it is the lives of great saints, sages, anybody of any religion, it doesn't matter, not only the prescribed scriptures, but any great person, whatever through life is learned is a scripture, especially if it is unselfish something. Then, Satyancha Swadhyaya Pravachanaicha, so it follows, whatever we have believed, belief should not ever remain, only belief. It must be transformed into practical life. That is what Swami Vivekananda had called practical Vedanta. That is called Satyam. Even though I have not realized it, but it is absolute truth and great incarnations like Rama, like Dharma. Sri Rama is what is called embodiment of Dharma. Sri Krishna is an embodiment of Dharma. Similarly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Jesus Christ, that is why people did not like, especially the priests did not like. So the study of their lives, the worship of such people, when talking about them and remembering them, especially the incidents in their life, is absolutely useful. But if we want to progress in life, then austerity is also very necessary and nobody likes suffering. Austerity means suffering. But then, the study of scriptures which follows every such commandment, so that says, so if you do this tapasya, initially, temporarily, for the present, you may be suffering, but later on you will reap a great result. So that will give us inspiration and when we see other great people's lives, they also performed. So that is the proof that they became great. About these beautiful topics, we will talk about in our next class. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.