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Chandogya Upanishad 1.10.1-1.11.3 Lecture 148 on 19 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-27T02:05:07Z

DanielM:

== Question 1: On the Power and Efficacy of Different Prayers ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, everywhere we see a lot of prayers, stuthis, mantras, shlokas, different kinds, and they say this is the most powerful, that is the most powerful. Is there really a difference between the different prayers?

'''Maharaj:''' You see, there will be devotees of Rama, devotees of Krishna, devotees of Kali, devotees of Shiva, Subrahmanyam, Ganesha, etc. Now they are all contributors. So he has to—if he praises one prayer, then the others will withdraw their contribution, and therefore he has to praise everyone.

What I am trying to tell you: '''God is one.''' He manifests according to the likes of his devotees. This is called ''Ishta Devata'', isn't it? Every prayer is absolutely God's prayer only. It gives the same result. Whatever the person who is praying, depending upon—does he want ''Dharma'', does he want ''Artha'', does he want ''Kama'', does he want ''Moksha''?

For example, you know, many people look down upon Ganesha, but there is a hymn which says: ''So, parabrahma-rūpaṃ gaṇeśaṃ bhajema.'' For the devotee of Ganesha, Ganesha is the very manifestation of '''Parabrahma''', isn't it? For Krishna devotee is Krishna, for Rama devotee is Rama, for Kali devotee is my mother. I call my mother Brahma. When she is doing something, I call her Shakti. When she doesn't do anything, I call the same mother as Brahman, isn't it?

There is absolutely nothing called important hymns and unimportant hymns. It all depends upon what a person wants urgently, what value he puts upon that particular mantra, every mantra. That is why, what is it called?

'''Student A:''' Mananat trayate.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah!
----

=== The Story of the Pumpkin Mantra ===
So, this is a small story, you know. One fellow, a villager wanted to learn a mantra for snake bite. So, there was a very famous fellow. This villager, very innocent person, he went there, prostrated, and said, "Sir, please teach me the mantra by which you are able to cure thousands of snake biters, snake bitteners."

So, that man looked contentiously and said, "Kushmanda, Kushmanda."

So, this man got the mantra. He went back, started repeating Kushmanda. Very soon, Mantra Chaitanyam occurred. In the village, somebody was bitten by a poisonous snake. He rushed there because nobody knew about him. He uttered the mantra and touched him. And that man got up as if nothing had happened.

So, very soon, slowly, slowly, his name and fame also started spreading. And this main person, the guru, who was supposed to be an expert, he used to live in the capital near the king. And the king had a daughter. One day, she was bitten by a very poisonous snake. And she fell down unconscious on the verge of death.

The king immediately called him. He came running and he uttered his mantra. Nothing happened'''.''' Then the king was whispered by the prime minister that we heard of another person who is doing miracles. And then let us try him. Because this man had failed anyway.

So, they sent news and he was brought immediately. He must have been brought by the fastest horses. And then this person, he came and immediately understood the grave situation. Grave situation means situation which will lead next to the grave.

So, he rushed to the girl and started repeating the mantra. And immediately the girl woke up as if she was sleeping deeply. The Rajamantrika was astonished. "What I could not accomplish, this villager!" He completely forgot about it. So, he asked, "Who is your guru?"

This man made a Shastanga pranam and said, "Sir, you yourself have initiated me. You gave me that marvellous mantra."

"What mantra did I give you?" Because he was doubting himself.

"Sir, you said the Maha Mantra called Kushmanda."

This fellow did not know what is the Sanskrit meaning of the word. Sanskrit word Kushmanda. Kushmanda means pumpkin'''.''' He meant village pumpkin! "What? I have to give you mantra?" So, he said "You kushmanda!" This fellow heard only "Kushmanda", thought the great guru had given him mantra. With complete faith he started repeating it, and it was working miracles.

=== The Lesson of Shraddha ===
So, the whole story is: if a person is endowed with Shraddha, any mantra will do. It becomes truly mantra when the mantra is done, it awakens. That is called ''Mantra Chaitanya''.

So, what is the name of Rama? What does the name of Rama really mean to people in Poland or Netherlands or other places? Does it mean anything? No. Rama, Krishna, all these things. But for Hindus, those who know, they have been taught Shiva means God, Krishna means God, Rama means God, etc. Isn't it?

So, it all depends upon. God has billions of names. As many names as we have, dictionary has so many names. So, no mantra is inferior. It depends upon how much ''Shraddha'' we have in that mantra. God is one. Any name of His, infinite names, infinite forms of God.

== Question 2: On Sankalpa in Nishkama and Kamyartha Japam ==
'''Student B:''' Swamiji, Namaskar. Actually, it is not directly related to the lecture here. But something related like, there are some Kamyartha Japas and Nishkama Japas. When we do the Nishkama Japam without any desire, we are just doing it for our satisfaction. In such case also, in the Sankalpa, we say Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, Artham. In the Sankalpam, should we desire those things? That is one question.

The second question is, in case of Kamyartha Japam, regularity should be definitely done as something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. As prescribed in the Shastra. So, what is the second question?

'''Student B:''' Second question is, in the Nishkama Japam, should we also say in the Sankalpam about the Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha, Artham?
----

=== Answer to the First Question ===
'''Maharaj:''' Okay. The answer to that is, we don't need to remove Dharma Artha, Kama'''.''' We can make a meaning and say that I will lead a Dharmic life. Of course, for my life, I require some Artha and some Kama, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, let everything that I do, let my very breath be directed towards one goal, that is ''Mukti''.

We don't need to remove the mantras. But we mean, I only want Mukti, let all this be helpful means. That is the answer to your first question. ''Don't remove anything.'' Meaning will be changing, that's all. I don't care much about Artha, Kama. Dharma definitely, not Artha and Kama. But Artha, Kama also, to maintain the body and mind, whatever minimum is required, that is required, isn't it?
----

=== Answer to the Second Question ===
The second question is, if it is for the purpose of fulfilling a desire, we should be very strict about how the scripture instructs us'''.''' First, the second, this, third, this. It should be done like this, that should be like that. We should not deviate from that.

But if our goal is Moksha, you don't need to bother about these things. You do first thing last, last thing first, because you are not caring for Dharma, Artha and Kama. You are only caring for Moksha. That is the answer.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.15 Lecture 146 on 12 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-27T01:07:21Z

DanielM:

== Question 1: On Desires and Suffering ==
'''Student A:''' General question, Maharaj. We know that suffering is because of desires.

'''Maharaj:''' No, suffering is because of our bad karmas. Desires will keep us bound to this world. But sukha dukkha is a different issue.

If those desires are fulfilled following the instructions of the scriptures, then the person will get maximum happiness. Of course, every happiness is tainted with some kind of unhappiness. If you don't feel hungry, you can't really enjoy. So that hunger is also an instrument for your final happiness. Do you understand?

So you see, the desire is not—desires are also of two types. A person wants preyas or shreyas. And there is no choice in the beginning. One has to go through preyas only. Unless a person goes through this, what is called worldly life, he will never have a desire to have a spiritual life. So everything has a purpose.

But within this, can I follow scripture or do I do impulsively something? That is the point. So desires themselves are not the causes of happiness or unhappiness. It is how those desires are executed, put into practice. Okay?

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj. If a person executes these desires in a proper manner, then it should result in sukha?

'''Maharaj:''' Maximum sukha! There is nothing called absolute sukha.

We have to pay the price, you know. Blessed are the persons who are ravenously hungry. Even though it is a very small payment. Just imagine, you are ravenously hungry and you are hurrying to a feast. Is it suffering or is it a blessing?

'''Student A:''' A blessing.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah! I am not joking. The more is the unhappiness, the more would be the joy. Ah! This is the psychological connection between maximum squeezing means maximum desire, maximum thirsty, maximum hungry, maximum tired. That is the precondition. The more maximum is the, what is called, desire, intense desire. The fulfillment also is proportional.

== Question 2: On Dharmic Actions and Attachment ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, another related question. Raga, we have seen before that from avidya comes asmita, ego. And from asmita arises raga and dvesha.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' And from them arise attachment.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' How is, if we are trying to satisfy the desires, even in the dharmic way, wouldn't that increase the attachment, Maharaj?

'''Maharaj:''' This point also, many times I have dealt with. When a person does dharmic action, that is following the instructions of the scriptures, how to fulfill and that is called karma yoga. What does it do?

First of all, it purifies the mind.

Secondly, it focuses the concentration, power of concentration increases.

Thirdly, the mind becomes expanded because such a person can identify easily with other such persons who are in the same condition. Yes. But this person is accumulating punyam and punyam produces spiritual desire. You see, punyam always leads to higher and higher goal. That is the result of following the scriptures.

'''Student A:''' Sure.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. It is only the persons who neglect the instructions of the scriptures, they just become, they get the opposite result.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Medha Suktam Lecture 01 on 29-Dec-2022

2025-10-27T00:45:42Z

DanielM:

{|
|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|oṃ jananīṃ sāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadgurum,
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}
From today onwards we will be studying one of the most marvellous sūktas called Medhā Sūkta. Just now the recording was put on and I hope you have heard. Though I won't chant it with accents, but I will just recite it without any accents.

This is how it goes. But before the Medhā Sūkta comes, I would like also to introduce a very beautiful prayer from the first chapter of the Śikṣāvallī, Taittirīya Upaniṣad, first chapter called Śikṣāvallī, fourth Anuvāka. It is a prayer again, a wonderful prayer and I will talk about it later on. And that is also included. We will discuss first from the Śikṣāvallī and then we will proceed to the Medhā Sūkta. And this is what is from the Śikṣāvallī, first chapter, fourth section.
{|
|ॐ यश्छन्द॑सामृष॒भो वि॒श्वरू॑पः ।
छन्दो॒भ्योऽध्य॒मृता᳚थ्संब॒भूव॑ ।

स मेन्द्रो॑ मे॒धया᳚ स्पृणोतु ।

अ॒मृत॑स्य देव॒धार॑णो भूयासम् ।

शरी॑रं मे॒ विच॑र्षणम् ।

जि॒ह्वा मे॒ मधु॑मत्तमा ।

कर्णा᳚भ्यां॒ भूरि॒विश्रु॑वम् ।

ब्रह्म॑णः को॒शो॑ऽसि मे॒धया पि॑हितः ।

श्रु॒तं मे॑ गोपाय ।

ॐ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॑ ॥
|oṃ yaś chandásām ṛṣabhó viśvárūpaḥ,
chándobhyo 'dhyamṛtā́t saṃbabhūva,

sá mendro medhayā́ spṛṇotu,

amṛ́tasya devadhā́raṇo bhūyāsam,

śárīraṃ me vícarsaṇam,

jihvā́ me mádhumattamā,

kárṇābhyāṃ bhūri víśruvam,

bráhmaṇaḥ kośo 'si medhayā́ pihitaḥ,

śrutáṃ me gopāya,

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ.
|}
This is from the Śikṣāvallī. Then comes our Medhā Sūktam.
{|
|ॐ मे॒धादे॒वी जु॒षमा॑णा न॒ आगा᳚द्वि॒श्वाची॑ भ॒द्रा सु॑मन॒स्यमा॑ना ।
त्वया॒ जुष्टा॑ नु॒दमा॑ना दु॒रुक्ता᳚न् बृ॒हद्व॑देम वि॒दथे॑ सु॒वीराः᳚ ।

त्वया॒ जुष्ट॑ ऋ॒षिर्भ॑वति देवि॒ त्वया॒ ब्रह्मा॑ऽऽग॒तश्री॑रु॒त त्वया᳚ ।

त्वया॒ जुष्ट॑श्चि॒त्रं वि॑न्दते वसु॒ सानो॑ जुषस्व॒ द्रवि॑णो न मेधे ॥

मे॒धां म॒ इन्द्रो॑ ददातु मे॒धां दे॒वी सर॑स्वती ।

मे॒धां मे॑ अ॒श्विना॑वु॒भावाध॑त्तां॒ पुष्क॑रस्रजा ।

अ॒प्स॒रासु॑ च॒ या मे॒धा ग॑न्ध॒र्वेषु॑ च॒ यन्मनः॑ ।

दैवीं᳚ मे॒धा सर॑स्वती॒ सा मां᳚ मे॒धा सु॒रभि॑र्जुषता॒ꣳ॒ स्वाहा᳚ ॥

आमां᳚ मे॒धा सु॒रभि॑र्वि॒श्वरू॑पा॒ हिर॑ण्यवर्णा॒ जग॑ती जग॒म्या ।

ऊर्ज॑स्वती॒ पय॑सा॒ पिन्व॑माना॒ सा मां᳚ मे॒धा सु॒प्रती॑का जुषन्ताम् ।

मयि॑ मे॒धां मयि॑ प्र॒जां मय्य॒ग्निस्तेजो॑ दधातु॒

मयि॑ मे॒धां मयि॑ प्र॒जां मयीन्द्र॑ इन्द्रि॒यं द॑धातु॒

मयि॑ मे॒धां मयि॑ प्र॒जां मयि॒ सूर्यो॒ भ्राजो॑ दधातु ।

ॐ म॒हा॒दे॒व्यै च॑ वि॒द्महे॑ ब्रह्मप॒त्नी च॑ धीमहि । तन्नो॑ वाणी प्रचो॒दया᳚त् ।

ॐ हं॒स॒ हं॒साय॑ वि॒द्महे॑ परमहं॒साय॑ धीमहि । तन्नो॑ हंसः प्रचो॒दया᳚त् ।

ॐ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॒ शान्तिः॑ ॥
|ॐ me̱dhāde̱vī ju̱ṣamā̍ṇā na̱ āgā̎dvi̱śvācī̍ bha̱drā su̍mana̱syamā̍nā,
tvayā̱ juṣṭā̍ nu̱damā̍nā du̱ruktā̎n bṛ̱hadva̍dema vi̱dathe̍ su̱vīrāḥ̎,

tvayā̱ juṣṭa̍ ṛ̱ṣirbha̍vati devi̱ tvayā̱ brahmā̍ʼʼga̱taśrī̍ru̱ta tvayā̎,

tvayā̱ juṣṭa̍ści̱traṃ vi̍ndate vasu̱ sāno̍ juṣasva̱ dravi̍ṇo na medhe.

me̱dhāṃ ma̱ indro̍ dadātu me̱dhāṃ de̱vī sara̍svatī,

me̱dhāṃ me̍ a̱śvinā̍vu̱bhāvādha̍ttāṃ̱ puṣka̍rasrajā,

a̱psa̱rāsu̍ ca̱ yā me̱dhā ga̍ndha̱rveṣu̍ ca̱ yanmanaḥ̍,

daivīṃ̎ me̱dhā sara̍svatī̱ sā māṃ̎ me̱dhā su̱rabhi̍rjuṣatā̱̱ svāhā̎.

āmāṃ̎ me̱dhā su̱rabhi̍rvi̱śvarū̍pā̱ hira̍ṇyavarṇā̱ jaga̍tī jaga̱myā,

ūrja̍svatī̱ paya̍sā̱ pinva̍mānā̱ sā māṃ̎ me̱dhā su̱pratī̍kā juṣantām,

mayi̍ me̱dhāṃ mayi̍ pra̱jāṃ mayya̱gnistejo̍ dadhātu̱

mayi̍ me̱dhāṃ mayi̍ pra̱jāṃ mayīndra̍ indri̱yaṃ da̍dhātu̱

mayi̍ me̱dhāṃ mayi̍ pra̱jāṃ mayi̱ sūryo̱ bhrājo̍ dadhātu,

ॐ ma̱hā̱de̱vyai ca̍ vi̱dmahe̍ brahmapa̱tnī ca̍ dhīmahi, tanno̍ vāṇī praco̱dayā̎t,

ॐ haṃ̱sa̱ haṃ̱sāya̍ vi̱dmahe̍ paramahaṃ̱sāya̍ dhīmahi, tanno̍ haṃsaḥ praco̱dayā̎t,

ॐ śāntiḥ̱ śāntiḥ̱ śāntiḥ̍.
|}
This is chanted so beautifully. There are a few people who are gifted with marvellous voice and they have learnt it properly with intonations and when they chant, it is a marvellous thing. And there are so many Sūktas. How many Sūktas are there? Hundreds of them are there.

So where are these Sūktas from? From the Vedas. We find them in the Ṛg Veda. We find them in the Yajur Veda. We find them in many other parts scattered here and there. And when we are talking about Mahā Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad which is most marvellous especially for the renouncers, Saṃnyāsīs and Saṃnyāsinīs, a part of that one is this Medhā Sūktam. And this comes in Ṛg Veda in the 10th Praśna, 41st to 44th Anuvāka also. And Medhā Sūktam we have taken is from Yajur Veda and as I said it is also in both Ṛg Veda and Atharvana Veda. The mantra also starts with verses from Taittirīya which I have now chanted. oṃ yaś chandásām ṛṣabhó viśvárūpaḥ, chándobhyo 'dhyamṛtā́t saṃbabhūva, etc.

So what is the importance of this Medhā Sūkta? We understand Medhā. Medhā is that intelligence. If a human being is superior to every type of creation in this world including the Devatās. And what is the reason? What could be the reason? Because human being is endowed with a supreme intelligence. Human being can think of God, can think of devil, he can become a saint, he can become a veritable Asura, he can become anything he wants. A great scientist, a great musician, a great poet. In fact it is because of the intelligence all these people exhibit.

Not only it is the intelligence, intelligence is the very root cause of power, of wealth, of enjoyment, of every blessed thing in this world. It is said in a way in the worldly topics that Lakṣmī Devī and Sarasvatī Devī they are always envious of each other. Where there is Sarasvatī there is no Lakṣmī and where there is Lakṣmī there is no Sarasvatī. That is what many of us think like that. But the fact is it is the intelligence that is the root cause of Sat, that is the root cause of the Cit, that is the root cause of the Ānanda. But strangely that is also the root cause of Asat, Acit and Duḥkha.

If somebody is suffering it is because not because intelligence is lacking but that intelligence has not been awakened. I can put it this way. "Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal and do this either by work or worship etc." These are the famous four sentences from Swami Vivekananda at the very beginning of his book, the marvellous book Rāja Yoga. Instead of saying divine if we can replace it with the word Medhā each soul is potentially an intelligent person. What does potentiality mean? It means his very nature is of that of intelligence but the person because either of the attachment to the body or external objects or internal ideas all of them are clubbed together as Rāga and Dveṣa and all this potential intelligence doesn't manifest.

It is said by a very intelligent psychologist if anybody lacks intelligence he cannot become an evil person. To become an evil person greater intelligence is necessary. To become a thief much greater intelligence than the protectors of the law called police is needed. A thief should outwit anybody who is out there to catch him. That is why it is said in the computer world a hacker is much more valued than an ordinary person.

So you see intelligence is the root cause of what did I say? Intelligence is the very root cause of Sat, root cause of Cit, and root cause of Ānanda. What do I mean by that? If we do not have intelligence we will become Asat. What does Asat mean? Of course Sat means absolute existence and for that no intelligence is necessary, but what is meant is if I want to be healthy and to be happy I have to use my intelligence under whatever circumstances I am placed into. That is the greatness of intelligent people. You put them in the very hell and they will make a heaven for themselves. Whether they succeed in making a place heaven for others or not that depends upon other people but if you take an intelligent person put him in hell and he will make it heaven itself. There is absolutely no doubt about it.

How? Because intelligence is such it can convert the whole world. What is the philosophy of what I just now said? The philosophy is we are the architects of our own fate. This is what Swami Vivekananda has said. We are the architects of our own fate. What does this word fate mean? Fate means what we think, what we decide to do and what we actually put into execution, what we thought and the result of that karma is called karma phala and that karma phala is called loka or the locus of experience.

So if an evil person goes to heaven he will suffer terribly as it is said in common parlance if a pig is taken to heaven and released there the first thing that it seeks is sewage water because it cannot live without sewage water. So even if we are put in heaven we will create our own sewage water there and that means that sewage water for a pig cannot be compared to an evil person. Why? Because the pig is very happy if it gets sewage water, it doesn't matter it is in bhū loka, pātāla loka or indra loka or brahma loka, but a wicked person he created that through his pāpa and a wicked person is a human being with potential intelligence and we create our own lokas.

That is why, even though we say we are living, for example, in India, we all of us are living in our own individual circumscribed world, and it could be made up of any percentage of either happiness or unhappiness. But intelligence is the root cause, and this is what Swami Vivekananda means. It's how do I know I am divine? Intelligence is necessary to understand it. And I don't understand it? Yes, that is where the Vedas come in, and they tell you that you cannot understand it with ordinary intelligence. I will come to this point later on. That is where śraddhā steps in.

There are certain things we can understand in this world through our intelligence. There are many more things which we can never understand in this world by this ordinary intelligence. We only have one option: that is to believe in the teachings of saints and sages, or in the teachings of the Vedas, which is the same thing. What do I mean by which is the same thing? So usually we separate people from their works. Here is Kālidāsa, and his works are separate. But this is a very unintelligent view. The reality is that Kālidāsa is a Kālidāsa only because of his knowledge. Remove the knowledge, he is not Kālidāsa anymore. Of course you may call him Kālidāsa, but he is no more a Kālidāsa. He is XYZ, Tom, Dick and Harry. But place that intelligence—any ordinary people will be a Kālidāsa, an Einstein and a Beethoven, a Rāmānuja or a Rāmakṛṣṇa, or anybody for that matter of fact. That is Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati (Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.9). If somebody has the knowledge of Brahman, he becomes Brahman.

So this is the—our ancient Ṛṣis have discovered the glory, the greatness of Medhā. But it is there in the form of a seed. That is called potentiality. Seed means, don't think of a small thing. A huge banyan tree is there, and if you look at the seed, it will be like a mustard seed. Never have this kind of wrong idea about what Swamiji calls "each soul is potentially divine." It means that the entire 100% divinity is within us. 100% Sat is within us. 100% Cit is within us. 100% Ānanda is within us. But because of our present intelligence, we are able to see it very vaguely, understand it very vaguely. That understanding is called potentiality.

It is not that some seed is there and it grows. No, just as the entire tree is there compressed into a seed, and the entire tree is there. What is the distance between the seed and the tree? Time, space and causation. That is why we have to put it in a soil and slowly see it unfold itself. Life is nothing but unfoldment of a being under circumstances tending to press it down. So this is just by way of introduction only I am giving.

Each soul is a potentially intelligent soul. And by that word soul, each soul, our Vedas do not mean only human beings. They mean everything in this world. And why? Because everything in this world is nothing but a manifestation—Brahman, which Swami Vidyaranya in his Pañcadaśī summarises so beautifully at the very beginning. And he says, what is this Brahman? Sat, Cit and Ānanda. And what is this world? Sat plus Cit plus Ānanda. He doesn't use this word Sat, Cit, Ānanda. He uses the word Asti plus Bhāti plus Priya plus Nāma plus Rūpa. Asti, Bhāti, Priya is Brahman. You add to that Nāma plus Rūpa is called Jagat. You take the Jagat, which is nothing but Asti Bhāti Priya Nāma Rūpa. You minus the last two, Nāma and Rūpa. What remains is Brahman.

What does that mean? That means there is only one thing. Call it Brahman, call it the world. If you are trying to look towards the Brahman with Nāma Rūpa, it appears as this Prapañca, this world. But if you remove your mind, then you will see it is nothing but Brahman. There are no two things called Brahman and the world. And intelligence is—Medhā is necessary. And that is why this Medhā is very important. Intelligence is very important.

Once somebody asked Swami Brahmānandaji, is a Guru necessary to obtain Brahma Jñāna? And immediately, Pat came the answer from Swami Brahmānandaji. Said, even if you want to become an expert pickpocket, you require an expert, expertest, expert pickpocket as a Guru. Otherwise you will be caught on the very first attempt and beaten to chutney. If this is the case, you think you want to obtain that highest Brahma Jñānam?

So who is a Guru? Guru is called Medhā. Guru is called Knowledge. Guru is called Brahman. Guru is called Viṣṇu. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Deva, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Param Brahma. What does that mean? Don't imagine 5-6 people are sitting there, and each one with a particular Kirīṭa and hands and so many ornaments, so many weapons, etc. That is very ordinary intelligence. But they are all different manifestations of different powers and different degrees of that one knowledge. Everything is the knowledge. That is why, according to Advaita Vedānta, the world is called an idea. The world is an idea in the mind. We create with this idea an entire world, live in the world, and experience pleasures and pains in our—what am I talking about? Dream. And what am I talking about? Waking state is no different from the dream state, because there is something. What is that something? Brahman.

But my idea, my take upon this, what we call external—remember, even the external and internal is an illusion created by the mind only. So there is no externality, there is no internality. This we have been discussing in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad so thoroughly. It takes time for these ideas to sink into our concretised brains—not because the brains are bad, but because we have built up thick walls. Fortunately, they are not stone walls but mud walls, easy to pierce, I hope so. So the whole idea of the world is just that: it is a thought in our brain, idea in our brain, and that thought is nothing but a manifestation of intelligence.

Now I want to connect a few things. Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa made a statement about our holy mother. He said, this is Sarasvatī. She came into this world to distribute knowledge, but in the form of Bagalā. It is a mysterious word. The Divine Mother manifests in 8 ways, Aṣṭamūrti, and one of them is Bagalā. And Bagalā is a very strong lady. So she is like Mother Kālī. She keeps her husband and the entire world under her feet, Mahākāla. And she manifests his glory in the form of Sat Cit Ānanda. So Divine Mother has manifested in the form of Bagalā, and the Divine Mother is Sarasvatī, and that Sarasvatī is this Medhā Devī, and that Sarasvatī's name is called Śāradā Devī, Sāradā Devī.

Sāra Dā, Dā means one who gives. Who can give? Only a person who has can give. And what does our Mother Śāradā give? She gives Sara. What is the Sara? Once somebody asked Shankaracharya "You have written so many books, I don't have either the intelligence or the time. You please summarize for me", and then he is supposed to have summarized it and said:

ślokārdhena pravakṣyāmi yaduktaṃ granthakoṭibhiḥ |

brahma satyaṃ jaganmithyā jīvo brahmaiva nāparaḥ ||

I will tell you, even I don't have time to waste with you. In half a sentence I will tell you the essence of not only what I have written and am teaching, but the essence of entire scriptures that were, that are, that will be in future. God alone is real. You are that God. And until you realise, everything is unreal. And the goal of life is to realise Aham Brahmāsmi. This is the essence, and that is the essence Mother Śāradā, Holy Mother, has come to give us.

That is why, whether a secular seeker of knowledge, spiritual seeker of knowledge, stock broking knowledge, or whether musical knowledge, all of us have to pray to Mother Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is the very embodiment of knowledge, and we have to pray. What is the prayer for? Oh Mother, I don't have intelligence, please grant me intelligence. This is a very unintelligent prayer. No. Oh Mother, I know I am potentially intelligent, but I do not realise it. Please bestow your grace so I can recognise my own potential intelligence and realise it through various ways. I might become a businessman. I might become a great cook. Do you notice there are billions of cooks are there? Every housewife is a cook. Every male is also a cook. But when you taste the cooking of a few people, you are transported with joy, and that special knowledge of cookery is the grace of the embodiment of wisdom called Sarasvatī, Medhā Devī.

So what is this Gāyatrī? Our earlier ṛṣis have realised—a ṛṣi is a person, he realised. How did he realise? That he must have prayed. Probably he did not know. The very first ṛṣi might not have known there is a goddess of wisdom called Sarasvatī, or whatever name. You don't need to call it Sarasvatī. That is a Sanskrit name. But even people who don't know Sanskrit, who speak what we call any language, Eskimo language or any language, you just pray "Oh Divine Mother, I know you are there, and I know you are the embodiment of Cit, Sat, Cit and Ānanda". Remember, they are not separable, they are inseparable. So Mother Sarasvatī is Sat. Mother Sarasvatī is Ānanda. She is of course Cit. So, "Oh Mother, please grant me your blessings".

So first thing, I am potentially intelligent. Second thing, certain channels have been made by my Saṃskāras already throughout many of the past births which I had gone through, and I made them myself. Maybe I trained my mind. I shaped my mind to be, to get the knowledge of mathematics or poetry or music or cookery or administration, anything. It doesn't matter. To do better in any field, we require the grace, as I said, even to become a pickpocket. This is the difference between expert pickpockets and dull pickpocket people. That an expert, his intelligence is very sharp. He analyses the capacity, whom to pick up, when to pick up, how to pick up, how quickly to pick up, from which side to pick up. You see what I mean?

So that intelligence, is it good or bad? Yes, it looks bad at the beginning, but in course of time, when divine mother slaps him and then rewards him both with sometimes with carrot, sometimes with a stick, he understands. He awakens, says, already he had the intelligence. Now direct that intelligence for his own greater happiness. That is called awakening. That is why Swami Vivekananda statements are beautiful. He takes from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad a beautiful quotation: uttiṣṭhata jāgrata, prāpya varānnibodhata (Katha Upanishad 1.3.14). Many people get confused. What is uttiṣṭhata and what is jāgrata? They look the same. They mean the same. Get up, get up. No. First of all, you get up from the long time ignorance. Then jāgrata, you objectify yourself and make yourself be completely aware. I have wasted my time. I suffered a lot. I do not wish to suffer. I make a vow. I promise to God, I do not wish to suffer, O Lord, and show me the way. Then jāgrata. And then you want to go in the direction you want. How to go? Then you approach people who can give you what you are saying. You want to be a musician? Approach music teachers. Want to a scientist? Approach great scientists. Want to become a ruler? Approach somebody.

As the history of our world is astonishing, Napoleon used to pour over the biographies of great rulers, etc. Why was he doing? Because he wanted to develop himself into a great ruler. So he was studying their life, and he adopted some of them. That is why what he did is not important, but how he became great, that is what is important. Swami Vivekananda used to appreciate Napoleon. He used to appreciate Julius Caesar. He used to appreciate Alexander the Great. Why was he appreciating? Are they saints? Were they saints? No. But they did a lot of wicked things. They were bad characters. They were not to be emulated at all. And why was Swami doing? Because there is a great potentiality, has been aroused, has been trained, and has been condensed. It is now ready to be directed for higher ends. Simple example: if Alexander is reborn today and turns towards spiritual life, then very quickly he will progress—because he has already all the necessary equipment to just to jump over hurdles.

Similarly, we see so many stories. Tulasi Dasa was a great potential saint, but he was totally tied up with his wife—that means with a woman, that means with sex—but the tremendous potentiality was bubbling like a terrible volcano. When the volcano is about to burst, his wife gave just a merest direction: turn this power towards God. And he became the greatest sannyāsins.

We can see Vālmīki Ratnākara, how so much of energy was bubbling within him. Never ever mistake these stories. Some saints were passing through and accidentally they came across this Ratnākara, and accidentally he bound them. Accidentally they put some question, and then he became thoughtful. He became a Ratnākara, and then he became initiated. He became real Ratnākara. What is the Ratnākara? A treasure house of invaluable gems—gem, I would say. What is that invaluable gem? Rāmāyaṇa, devotion to Rāma. That was bubbling like a volcano. Nothing happens in this world as an accident.

So this is the prayer: prāpya varān yo uttiṣṭhata jāgrata. Prāpya varān—varān means those who are capable of redirecting and guiding you, removing your obstacles, helping you go forward. In other words, guru. That is why these ṛṣis, especially from the Ṛg Veda—in fact, it is from all the three Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda. Many people, they do not know this fact that what we now call Gāyatrī Mantra consisting of 24 letters, it is consisting of eight—three lines consisting of eight letters each. Three into eight is 24, and all these three are eight letters. Line is from each one of the Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sāma Veda.

So Bhūr Bhuvaḥ—oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ—is not part of the Gāyatrī Mantra. tat savitur vareṇyaṃ is from Ṛg Veda. bhargo devasya dhīmahi is from Yajur Veda, dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt is from Sāma Vedaḥ. And these three combined together is called Gāyatrī Mantra.

What is the essence of the Gāyatrī Mantra? What we have been discussing, what Śaṅkarācārya has said: "Oh Mother, now I know I am potentially intelligent—cit—but I don't know how to direct it. You show me a channel, and then guide me how to overcome obstacles and how to put it to good use, right use, so that I can reach my goal." What is the goal? There should be no difference between you and me.

So for that purpose, we meditate. We meditate means we pray to you. You know, in the—that is a very beautiful sentiment in the Vedic ṛṣis realm—they never say, "I meditate, I want to come to you." No, a ṛṣi is one who has purified himself. He has attained citta śuddhi—that means morality. That means he identifies himself with everybody. And then he says, "We"—the—the—"we meditate upon you, dhīmahi." And then dhiyo yo naḥ—naḥ means us—dhiyaḥ, that is medhā pracodayāt. Pracodayāt means like Kṛṣṇa driving the chariot, the buddhi of Arjuna. "You sit in in our medhās, intellects, and you drive it, because when you drive it, then it will be accurate. It will never go in the wrong way, the shortest way, the best way, most efficient way, most successful way. We will be reaching you, and it can happen only when you bestow your grace upon us."

And what is this meditation? Complete śaraṇāgati. I will be patti in your hands. Do whatever you like with me.

śhiṣhyaste ’haṁ śhādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam (BG 2.17).

When Arjuna surrendered, then only the Gītā started to flow from the mouth of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa prayed, "Oh Mother, I am a fool. You make me do what you want me to do, make me speak what you want me to speak, and make me do everything. I surrender myself to you," and Mother gave herself to him. When she says—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says—"Mother gave me everything, showed me everything," it means Mother gave herself to me.

When we pray this way, then Mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom, bestows everything upon us. But the important point: there are secular people and there are spiritual people. When secular people pray, Mother will not deny, like our mother. When we are children, do we pray for an aeroplane? "Give me an aeroplane gift on Christmas Day"? No. "Grant me, oh Mother, some—give me some toys, give me some lozenges, some chocolates," because that is all I am capable of handling, and she will give that. But it is necessary to pester the mother, and that is the very essence of Medhā Sūktam.

And this is from Yajur Veda. Medhā means intelligence, and we are all Indian people, but most of us are potentially intelligent. And that is why this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary. And as I mentioned earlier, intelligence is the very foundation. Do you want to attain sat, to be healthy, to be happy, to be good, to be truthful, and finally to be divine? This prayer, surrender that intelligence is necessary. Who can really surrender? The most intelligent person. He understands: "I am limited, I am completely bound by my body, by my mind, by myself. What I can achieve is extremely slow—in fact, nothing—but if I surrender myself, my mother herself will carry me", and that is called prayer.

What is the prayer? Prayer actually is a form of surrender, self-surrender. The more we pray and the more we surrender ourselves, and ultimately when we are able to completely give up our egotism and then identify ourselves with Sarasvatī, we become Sarasvatīs, we become Brahmās, we become Brahman, we become Nārāyaṇa. Because there are so many sūktams are there, Medhā Sūktam is only one of the thousands of sūktams that are available. Most of them have been lost in course of time, but this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary.

That is why even students, when they start with Vidyāraṃbhaṃ—the beginning of trying to learn alphabet, etc.—Mother Sarasvatī is worshipped. This is also called, very interestingly, Akṣara Abhyāsa, the starting of the akṣara. What a marvellous concept this is. Just pause a second and think about it. Kṣara means that which is very temporary, that which becomes completely destroyed in course of time, sooner or later. Akṣara means that which is never—never can be undecayed, indestructible, avināśī. And how many avināśīs are there? Only one, and that is Brahman. That is why it is infinite. That is why it is eternal. And that is what we want to do. The purpose of any learning—Akṣara Abhyāsa—is only finally to attain to that akṣara.

And that is why the devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa can know very well that when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was forced by Rām Kumār, "You go to the teachers, you attend—you don't attend the class, you are bunking the classes, you are going into the Manikram's gardens, mango gardens." I am not sure, my imagination somehow refuses to go a little bit beyond. I was thinking about it actually. So did these mango gardens—do they really have ripe, marvellous, sweet, fragrant Alphonso mangoes? Why was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa visiting them? Because it was a solitary place, and then there he was absorbed in thinking about the Divine Mother. He was inspiring, he was training a troop of boys, and that is why even at that time he had a bad name. Not only was he absconding from the schools, he was also bringing the other people.

When Rām Kumār—it came to the notice of Rām Kumār—of course, Mother Chandramani, being mother, could not do anything, could not even open to scold, because she was acutely aware he lost his father. But Rām Kumār was acutely conscious that "my youngest brother—will grow up, then he will get married, then he has to earn, so he has to learn something at least." So when he scolded him, then we know the classical reply that Rāmakṛṣṇa has given: "What do I do with this knowledge which only helps me to bundle rice and plantains?" Meaning this salary earning, worldly goods accumulating knowledge. "What am I going to do with all this?"

Then Rām Kumār, of course, did not understand. I don't know, we don't know. Maybe he questioned, "Then what do you want?" He might have replied, but somehow it is not there. "I want that by which—yayā tadakṣaramadhigamyate (Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.5)—by which I can really attain to that Akṣara. That is the type of Akṣara Abhyāsa I want, not anything else." And that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa taught through the Gospel, through to each one of us. He is still teaching. Gospel is not a book. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not a person. He is Mother Sarasvatī, wisdom personified, Brahmavid, Brahman himself.

What is he telling? That M—first day that he went on the last Sunday in February 1886—sorry, 1882—the first words he heard that sandhyā—that means rituals, merge in Gāyatrī, and Gāyatrī merges in oṃkāra. oṃkāra is the symbol of the both saguṇa Brahma as well as nirguṇa Brahma. And immediately the unconscious of him connected it and said, "I feel that Śukadeva was teaching to Parīkṣit." What was he teaching? Bhāgavatam. What is this Bhāgavatam? Story of Bhagavān. What is the meaning of the story of Bhagavān? Parīkṣit Mahārāj, he was cursed: within seven days you will die. And he said, "Even if I am reborn," because he was Parīkṣit—Parīkṣit means he will examine everything, everybody, every statement—though it is not relevant here, I cannot resist myself. Aśvatthāmā had discharged the Brahmāstra. Let the Pāṇḍavas become Pāṇḍava-less, and there was only one child that is in the womb of Uttarā left by Abhimanyu. This foetus was growing and this Brahmāstra was speeding up, and Uttarā prayed, everybody prayed, because this is the only child that was there. As in the lineage, he had to become the future emperor of the Kaurava, then Kaurava Rājya, Kuru Rājya.

Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa gave word and he entered there, and with his Cakra they said our Puranically, that he was protecting, he never allowed the Brahmāstra to come anywhere near. And it is said Parīkṣit was looking with great delight, drinking a lotus-like face and feet of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And then Brahmāstra could not do anything and it returned back. Then after some time Parīkṣit was born, and then he could not forget his experience while he was in the womb of his mother.

As soon as he was born, people started rushing to see this only one being left out as the lineage in the whole that Pāṇḍava Homesha. And then he was peering into every face. They were peering into his face, he was peering into their faces with Parīkṣā. Is this the being that I beheld when I was in the womb? No, no, this is a stupid face, that is an unwise face, and the other one a dirty face. Every face that appeared was like that, but when Śrī Kṛṣṇa came his face lighted up with great delight. This is the being who has protected me and who has saved me from this death thralls.

That is why he was given—he was examining every single face with the intent to find out, to ferret out, who was that being who saved me from this great calamity. That is why he was, it is said, he was given the name Parīkṣit. He without Parīkṣā, he never does anything.

Anyway, what is important for us, that we need intelligence. And Parīkṣit Mahārāja was cursed or some bad action he had done, insulting a Muni, and then Śukadeva came to know about it. He said that even if you are reborn not once but even thousands of times, you will exactly have the same fate. Is not that you might have been dying, about to die within a week, next birth you may live 150 years and next birth you may live 500 years, but in the end death is completely certain. So you can, the only way you can escape is by completely surrendering yourself to the Divine Lord.

And then, Parīkṣit decided he will seven days he will listen to this only Bhāgavatam, which is the story of Bhagavān, and that is what came from the very mouth of Śukadeva. And then at the end of it, Parīkṣit Mahārāja had attained to the Divine Lord himself, because when such great people reside, there is no option but to think of God.

What am I talking about? Anybody who came into the orbit of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking, is not talking as we are talking. He was talking and the minds of the listeners have been uplifted to the highest level that is possible for them. And so long as they were in the orbit of his influence, like a black hole, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is the black hole, Mother Kālī is the greatest black hole. All that you need to do is approach her and then you will see you will be sucked helplessly into that Mahākāla, into that great void, into that great timelessness, which is in other words called Mokṣa, Mukti, liberation, Brahmajnanam, call it by what, a Nirvāṇa, whatever name you want to call it. That is the highest goal, and that is what Lord Śiva promised as Mahākāla. You come and stay in Vārāṇasī. Vārāṇasī is the greatest black hole. Anybody who remains here, he will be helplessly sucked into that Mahākāla and then become one. Helplessly we become first paste, then chutney, then become one with Mahākāla. This is called Mokṣa.

For that, prayer is necessary. You want to die in Kāśī? Pray to the Divine Lord. You want to have knowledge, any type of knowledge? Then you want to be happy, you want to pray. How can I be a happy? All this psychological advice or business advice, stockbroker's advice, lawyer's advice is all supposed to be different facets. How can I be a happier person? And every being is helplessly going to that in, in the words of Swami Vivekananda "Everybody wants freedom, freedom from time, space and causation", in other words from this world, in other words they all, we all want Brahman, in other words we want to become one with Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge and Absolute Bliss. And that is the goal. And can we achieve it? Yes, the Vedas are meant for that purpose only.

But the most important thing is we have to pray. There is no other way. That's why it is my favourite example, and it may look even heretical. Some people come and ask, especially those who have been studying the literature of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda, does Karma Yoga give Mokṣa? The emphatic understanding is yes, so also Rāja Yoga or Bhakti Yoga or Jñāna Yoga, or Christianity or Hinduism, Joto mot toto poth. Everybody believes wholeheartedly every path gives us liberation, and they come and ask me and they want to hear it from my mouth. And I say "No, no path will give you liberation, no path will take you even one millimetre or billimetre forward in any path". "What? I'm trying, struggling, will I not progress?" Yes, you can progress. I never said you never progress, but you have to surrender, you have to pray. It is the Grace and Grace and Grace alone.

Am I talking? No. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking. What did he say in the very Gospel? Search for it. It is only by the Grace of God alone that one can attain God. I repeat, by the Grace of God alone one can attain to God. And that prayer is for what purpose? Good Lord, I want your Grace, and your Grace is always there, but I am not able to use it, I'm not able to access it. Why? Password is missing. Files are there. Sometimes in the computers, you want to, you put on the switch, switch it on and it comes laughing at us, password. And you have forgotten, and then you go on putting everything and you take a hammer and break it to pieces. Is that going to help you? No. What is the password? Only one.

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।

अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा श‍ुच: ॥ ६६ ॥

''sarva-dharmān parityajya''

''mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja''

''ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo''

''mokṣayiṣyāmi mā śucaḥ''

(Bhagavad Gita 18.66)

So there is only one password. Saranagati, Saranagati, and Saranagati. Am I talking about it? No, I am only repeating like a parrot what I have understood. Tasmat Tvameva Sharanam Mama Dina Bandho. Four times it comes in the hymns that we sing every day to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. This is called Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Dvādaśākṣarī Stotram.

ॐ hrīṃ ṛtaṃ tvamacalo guṇajidguṇeḍyo

naktaṃ divaṃ sakaruṇaṃ tava pādapadmam,

mohaṅkaṣaṃ bahukṛtaṃ na bhaje yatoʼhaṃ

tasmāttvameva śaraṇaṃ mama dīnabandho.

but the second line, second verse is most important.

bhaktirbhagaśca bhajanaṃ bhavabhedakāri

gacchantyalaṃ suvipulaṃ

What does he say? bhaktiḥ, devotion. bhagaḥ, knowledge, bhajanam, Bhaja sevayam. Karma Yoga. Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, all yogas. gacchantyalaṃ, more than enough, any one of them is enough to take you to the goal. vaktroddhṛtopi hṛdi me na ca bhāti kiñcit‌‌. I go on repeating like a parrot, any path is okay. Joto mot toto poth. I go on reciting it, quoting it, talking about it endlessly, lecture after lecture. But, na ca bhāti kiñcit‌‌, hṛdi me, but that faith that it can take me to that, "oh Lord, it is not coming to me. These are only empty words, these are only, only words. Air, Vātāsa".

What is the way? tasmāttvameva śaraṇaṃ. You are my refuge. I take refuge in you. dīna bandho, and I know you will save me. How do I know? Because you are dīna bandho, you are the greatest lover of helpless people, and therefore I try to take refuge. Here is a secret. The secret is I can't even take refuge in God, unless God says you give me your power of attorney. But when we go on crying, Mother comes and takes us in her hands, and then we say this is the Mother herself must take us, and must make us understand that we are hers and she is ours. There is no other way.

Self-effort is only to understand that everything is useless. It is only Divine Grace, Grace, Grace. This is the prayer. This is the essence of Medhā Sūktam or, or also Gāyatrī Mantra, or many other mantras that we just quoted from Śīkṣāvallī. And with these marvellous things, I will discuss, we will discuss, we will study in our next class. Don't think I am deviating, all these things. As I am speaking, I never planned to speak like this, but as I am speaking, all these things are coming together, rushing inside my brain by his Grace, by Mother's Grace, because I always pray to Mother Sarasvatī before I talk, before I open my mouth. You speak and you speak to your devotees. I have nothing to do with, and she, I think she does it, the job.

So we will talk about it next class.
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|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|oṃ jananīṃ sāradāṃ devīṃ rāmakṛṣṇaṃ jagadgurum,
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}
May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!
[[Category:Medha Suktam]]

Medha Suktam Lecture 01 on 29-Dec-2022

2025-10-27T00:45:27Z

DanielM:

Medha Suktam Lecture 01 on 29-Dec-2022

2025-10-26T21:58:09Z

DanielM:

Om Janānīṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagat Gurum Pāda Padme Tayo Śrītvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuḥ.

From today onwards we will be studying one of the most marvellous sūktas called Medhā Sūkta. Just now the recording was put on and I hope you have heard. Though I won't chant it with accents, but I will just recite it without any accents.

This is how it goes. But before the Medhā Sūkta comes, I would like also to introduce a very beautiful prayer from the first chapter of the Śikṣāvallī, Taittirīya Upaniṣad, first chapter called Śikṣāvallī, fourth Anuvāka. It is a prayer again, a wonderful prayer and I will talk about it later on. And that is also included. We will discuss first from the Śikṣāvallī and then we will proceed to the Medhā Sūkta. And this is what is from the Śikṣāvallī, first chapter, fourth section.

This is from the Śikṣāvallī. Then comes our Medhā Sūktam. This is chanted so beautifully. There are a few people who are gifted with marvellous voice and they have learnt it properly with intonations and when they chant, it is a marvellous thing. And there are so many Sūktas. How many Sūktas are there? Hundreds of them are there.

So where are these Sūktas from? From the Vedas. We find them in the Ṛg Veda. We find them in the Yajur Veda. We find them in many other parts scattered here and there. And when we are talking about Mahā Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad which is most marvellous especially for the renouncers, Saṃnyāsīs and Saṃnyāsinīs, a part of that one is this Medhā Sūktam. And this comes in Ṛg Veda in the 10th Praśna, 41st to 44th Anuvāka also. And Medhā Sūktam we have taken is from Yajur Veda and as I said it is also in both Ṛg Veda and Atharvana Veda. The mantra also starts with verses from Taittirīya which I have now chanted.

So what is the importance of this Medhā Sūkta? We understand Medhā. Medhā is that intelligence. If a human being is superior to every type of creation in this world including the Devatās. And what is the reason? What could be the reason? Because human being is endowed with a supreme intelligence. Human being can think of God, can think of devil, he can become a saint, he can become a veritable Asura, he can become anything he wants. A great scientist, a great musician, a great poet. In fact it is because of the intelligence all these people exhibit.

Not only it is the intelligence, intelligence is the very root cause of power, of wealth, of enjoyment, of every blessed thing in this world. It is said in a way in the worldly topics that Lakṣmī Devī and Sarasvatī Devī they are always envious of each other. Where there is Sarasvatī there is no Lakṣmī and where there is Lakṣmī there is no Sarasvatī. That is what many of us think like that. But the fact is it is the intelligence that is the root cause of Sat, that is the root cause of the Cit, that is the root cause of the Ānanda. But strangely that is also the root cause of Asat, Acit and Duḥkha.

If somebody is suffering it is because not because intelligence is lacking but that intelligence has not been awakened. I can put it this way. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal and do this either by work or worship etc. These are the famous four sentences from Swami Vivekananda at the very beginning of his book, the marvellous book Rāja Yoga. Instead of saying divine if we can replace it with the word Medhā each soul is potentially an intelligent person. What does potentiality mean? It means his very nature is of that of intelligence but the person because either of the attachment to the body or external objects or internal ideas all of them are clubbed together as Rāga and Dveṣa and all this potential intelligence doesn't manifest.

It is said by a very intelligent psychologist if anybody lacks intelligence he cannot become an evil person. To become an evil person greater intelligence is necessary. To become a thief much greater intelligence than the protectors of the law called police is needed. A thief should outwit anybody who is out there to catch him. That is why it is said in the computer world a hacker is much more valued than an ordinary person.

So you see intelligence is the root cause of what did I say? Intelligence is the very root cause of Sat root cause of Cit and root cause of Ānanda. What do I mean by that? If we do not have intelligence we will become Asat. What does Asat mean? Of course Sat means absolute existence and for that no intelligence is necessary but what is meant is if I want to be healthy and to be happy I have to use my intelligence under whatever circumstances I am placed into. That is the greatness of intelligent people. You put them in the very hell and they will make a heaven for themselves. Whether they succeed in making a place heaven for others or not that depends upon other people but if you take an intelligent person put him in hell and he will make it heaven itself. There is absolutely no doubt about it.

How? Because intelligence is such it can convert the whole world. What is the philosophy of what I just now said? The philosophy is we are the architects of our own fate. This is what Swami Vivekananda has said. We are the architects of our own fate. What does this word fate mean? Fate means what we think, what we decide to do and what we actually put into execution, what we thought and the result of that karma is called karma phala and that karma phala is called loka or the locus of experience.

So if an evil person goes to heaven he will suffer terribly as it is said in common parlance if a pig is taken to heaven and released there the first thing that it seeks is sewage water because it cannot live without sewage water. So even if we are put in heaven we will create our own sewage water there and that means that sewage water for a pig cannot be compared to an evil person. Why? Because the pig is very happy if it gets sewage water it doesn't matter it is in bhū loka, pātāla loka or indra loka or brahma loka but a wicked person he created that through his pāpa and a wicked person is a human being with potential intelligence and we create our own locus.

That is why, even though we say we are living, for example, in India, we all of us are living in our own individual circumscribed world, and it could be made up of any percentage of either happiness or unhappiness. But intelligence is the root cause, and this is what Swami Vivekananda means. It's how do I know I am divine? Intelligence is necessary to understand it. And I don't understand it? Yes, that is where the Vedas come in, and they tell you that you cannot understand it with ordinary intelligence. I will come to this point later on. That is where śraddhā steps in.

There are certain things we can understand in this world through our intelligence. There are many more things which we can never understand in this world by this ordinary intelligence. We only have one option: that is to believe in the teachings of saints and sages, or in the teachings of the Vedas, which is the same thing. What do I mean by which is the same thing? So usually we separate people from their works. Here is Kālidāsa, and his works are separate. But this is a very unintelligent view. The reality is that Kālidāsa is a Kālidāsa only because of his knowledge. Remove the knowledge, he is not Kālidāsa anymore. Of course you may call him Kālidāsa, but he is no more a Kālidāsa. He is XYZ, Tom, Dick and Harry. But place that intelligence—any ordinary people will be a Kālidāsa, an Einstein and a Beethoven, a Rāmānuja or a Rāmakṛṣṇa, or anybody for that matter of fact. That is Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati. If somebody has the knowledge of Brahman, he becomes Brahman.

So this is the—our ancient Ṛṣis have discovered the glory, the greatness of Medhā. But it is there in the form of a seed. That is called potentiality. Seed means, don't think of a small thing. A huge banyan tree is there, and if you look at the seed, it will be like a mustard seed. Never have this kind of wrong idea about what Swamiji calls "each soul is potentially divine." It means that the entire 100% divinity is within us. 100% Sat is within us. 100% Cit is within us. 100% Ānanda is within us. But because of our present intelligence, we are able to see it very vaguely, understand it very vaguely. That understanding is called potentiality.

It is not that some seed is there and it grows. No, just as the entire tree is there compressed into a seed, and the entire tree is there. What is the distance between the seed and the tree? Time, space and causation. That is why we have to put it in a soil and slowly see it unfold itself. Life is nothing but unfoldment of a being under circumstances tending to press it down. So this is just by way of introduction only I am giving.

Each soul is a potentially intelligent soul. And by that word soul, each soul, our Vedas do not mean only human beings. They mean everything in this world. And why? Because everything in this world is nothing but a manifestation—Brahman, which Swami Vidyaranya in his Pañcadaśī summarises so beautifully at the very beginning. And he says, what is this Brahman? Sat, Cit and Ānanda. And what is this world? Sat plus Cit plus Ānanda. He doesn't use this word Sat, Cit, Ānanda. He uses the word Asti plus Bhāti plus Priya plus Nāma plus Rūpa. Asti, Bhāti, Priya is Brahman. You add to that Nāma plus Rūpa is called Jagat. You take the Jagat, which is nothing but Asti Bhāti Priya Nāma Rūpa. You minus the last two, Nāma and Rūpa. What remains is Brahman.

What does that mean? That means there is only one thing. Call it Brahman, call it the world. If you are trying to look towards the Brahman with Nāma Rūpa, it appears as this Prapañca, this world. But if you remove your mind, then you will see it is nothing but Brahman. There are no two things called Brahman and the world. And intelligence is—Medhā is necessary. And that is why this Medhā is very important. Intelligence is very important.

Once somebody asked Swami Brahmānandaji, is a Guru necessary to obtain Brahma Jñāna? And immediately, Pat came the answer from Swami Brahmānandaji. Said, even if you want to become an expert pickpocket, you require an expert, expertest, expert pickpocket as a Guru. Otherwise you will be caught on the very first attempt and beaten to chutney. If this is the case, you think you want to obtain that highest Brahma Jñānam?

So who is a Guru? Guru is called Medhā. Guru is called Knowledge. Guru is called Brahman. Guru is called Viṣṇu. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Deva, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Param Brahma. What does that mean? Don't imagine 5-6 people are sitting there, and each one with a particular Kirīṭa and hands and so many ornaments, so many weapons, etc. That is very ordinary intelligence. But they are all different manifestations of different powers and different degrees of that one knowledge. Everything is the knowledge. That is why, according to Advaita Vedānta, the world is called an idea. The world is an idea in the mind. We create with this idea an entire world, live in the world, and experience pleasures and pains in our—what am I talking about? Dream. And what am I talking about? Waking state is no different from the dream state, because there is something. What is that something? Brahman.

But my idea, my take upon this, what we call external—remember, even the external and internal is an illusion created by the mind only. So there is no externality, there is no internality. This we have been discussing in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad so thoroughly. It takes time for these ideas to sink into our concretised brains—not because the brains are bad, but because we have built up thick walls. Fortunately, they are not stone walls but mud walls, easy to pierce, I hope. So the whole idea of the world is just that: it is a thought in our brain, idea in our brain, and that thought is nothing but a manifestation of intelligence.

Now I want to connect a few things. Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa made a statement about our holy mother. He said, this is Sarasvatī. She came into this world to distribute knowledge, but in the form of Bagalā. It is a mysterious world. The Divine Mother manifests in 8 ways, Aṣṭamūrti, and one of them is Bagalā. And Bagalā is a very strong lady. So she is like Mother Kālī. She keeps her husband and the entire world under her feet, Mahākāla. And she manifests his glory in the form of Sat Cit Ānanda. So Divine Mother has manifested in the form of Bagalā, and the Divine Mother is Sarasvatī, and that Sarasvatī is this Medhā Devī, and that Sarasvatī's name is called Śāradā Devī, Sāradā Devī.

Sāra Dā, Dā means one who gives. Who can give? Only a person who has can give. And what does our Mother Śāradā give? I will tell you, even I don't have time to waste with you. In half a sentence I will tell you the essence of not only what I have written and am teaching, but the essence of entire scriptures that were, that are, that will be in future. God alone is real. You are that God. And until you realise, everything is unreal. And the goal of life is to realise Aham Brahmāsmi. This is the essence, and that is the essence Mother Śāradā, Holy Mother, has come to give us.

That is why, whether a secular seeker of knowledge, spiritual seeker of knowledge, stock broking knowledge, or whether musical knowledge, all of us have to pray to Mother Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is the very embodiment of knowledge, and we have to pray. What is the prayer for? Oh Mother, I don't have intelligence, please grant me intelligence. This is a very unintelligent prayer. No. Oh Mother, I know I am potentially intelligent, but I do not realise it. Please bestow your grace so I can recognise my own potential intelligence and realise it through various ways. I might become a businessman. I might become a great cook. Do you notice there are billions of cooks are there? Every housewife is a cook. Every male is also a cook. But when you taste the cooking of a few people, you are transported with joy, and that special knowledge of cookery is the grace of the embodiment of wisdom called Sarasvatī, Medhā Devī.

So what is this Gāyatrī? Our earlier ṛṣis have realised—a ṛṣi is a person, he realised. How did he realise that? He must have prayed. Probably he did not know. The very first ṛṣi might not have known there is a goddess of wisdom called Sarasvatī, or whatever name. You don't need to call it Sarasvatī. That is a Sanskrit name. But even people who don't know Sanskrit, who speak what we call any language, Eskimo language or any language, you just pray, Oh Divine Mother, I know you are there, and I know you are the embodiment of Cit, Sat, Cit and Ānanda. Remember, they are not separable, they are inseparable. So Mother Sarasvatī is Sat. Mother Sarasvatī is Ānanda. She is of course Cit. So, Oh Mother, please grant me your blessings.

So first thing, I am potentially intelligent. Second thing, certain channels have been made by my Saṃskāras already throughout many of the past births which I had gone through, and I made them myself. Maybe I trained my mind. I shaped my mind to be, to get the knowledge of mathematics or poetry or music or cookery or administration, anything. It doesn't matter. To do better in any field, we require the grace, as I said, even to become a pickpocket. This is the difference between expert pickpockets and dull pickpocket people. That an expert, his intelligence is very sharp. He analyses the capacity, whom to pick up, when to pick up, how to pick up, how quickly to pick up, from which side to pick up. You see what I mean?

So that intelligence, is it good or bad? Yes, it looks bad at the beginning, but in course of time, when divine mother slaps him and then rewards him both with sometimes with carrot, sometimes with a stick, he understands. He awakens, says, already he had the intelligence. Now direct that intelligence for his own greater happiness. That is called awakening. That is why Swami Vivekananda statements are beautiful. He takes from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad a beautiful quotation: uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata. Many people get confused. What is uttiṣṭhata and what is jāgrata? They look the same. They mean the same. Get up, get up. No. First of all, you get up from the long time ignorance. Then jāgrata, you objectify yourself and make yourself be completely aware. I have wasted my time. I suffered a lot. I do not wish to suffer. I make a vow. I promise to God, I do not wish to suffer, to God, O Lord, and show me the way. Then jāgrata. And then you want to go in the direction you want. How to go? Then you approach people who can give you what you are saying. You want to be a musician? Approach music teachers. Want to a scientist? Approach great scientists. Want to become a ruler? Approach somebody.

As the history of our world is astonishing, Napoleon used to pour over the biographies of great rulers, etc. Why was he doing? Because he wanted to develop himself into a great ruler. So he was studying their life, and he adopted some of them. That is why what he did is not important, but how he became great, that is what is important. Swami Vivekananda used to appreciate Napoleon. He used to appreciate Julius Caesar. He used to appreciate Alexander the Great. Why was he appreciating? Are they saints? Were they saints? No. But they did a lot of wicked things. They were bad characters. They were not to be emulated at all. And why was Swami doing? Because there is a great potentiality has been aroused, has been trained, and has been condensed. It is now ready to be directed for higher ends. Simple example: if Alexander is reborn today and turns towards spiritual life, then very quickly he—because he has already all the necessary equipment to just to jump over hurdles.

Similarly, we see the so many stories. Tulsi Dasa was a great potential saint, but he was totally tied up with his wife—that means with a woman, that means with sex—but the tremendous potentiality was bubbling like a terrible volcano. When the volcano is about to burst, his wife gave just a merest direction: turn this power towards God. And he became the greatest saṃnyāsins.

We can see Vālmīki Ratnākara, how so much of energy was bubbling within him. Never ever mistake these stories. Some saints were passing through and accidentally they came across this Ratnākara, and accidentally he bound them. Accidentally they put some question, and then he became thoughtful. He became a Ratnākara, and then he became initiated. He became real Ratnākara. What is the Ratnākara? A treasure house of invaluable gems—gem, I would say. What is that invaluable gem? Rāmāyaṇa, devotion to Rāma. That was bubbling like a volcano. Nothing happens in this world as an accident.

So this is the prayer: prāpya varān yo uttiṣṭhata jāgrata. Prāpya varān—varān means those who are capable of redirecting and guiding you, removing your obstacles, helping you go forward. In other words, guru. That is why these ṛṣis, especially from the Ṛg Veda—in fact, it is from all the three Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda. Many people, they do not know this fact that what we now call Gāyatrī Mantra consisting of 24 letters, it is consisting of eight—three lines consisting of eight letters each. Three into eight is 24, and all these three are eight letters. Line is from each one of the Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sāma Veda.

So Bhūr Bhuvaḥ—Om Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ—is not part of the Gāyatrī Mantra. That Savituḥ or Eniam is from Ṛg Veda. Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi is from Yajur Veda, is from Sāma Vedaḥ. And these three combined together is called Gāyatrī Mantra.

What is the essence of the Gāyatrī Mantra? What we have been discussing, what Śaṅkarācārya has said: "Oh Mother, now I know I am potentially intelligent—cit—but I don't know how to direct it. You show me a channel, and then guide me how to overcome obstacles and how to put it to good use, right use, so that I can reach my goal." What is the goal? There should be no difference between you and me.

So for that purpose, we meditate. We meditate means we pray to you. You know, in the—that is a very beautiful sentiment in the Vedic ṛṣis realm—they never say, "I meditate, I want to come to you." No, a ṛṣi is one who has purified himself. He has attained citta śuddhi—that means morality. That means he identifies himself with everybody. And then he says, "We"—the—the—"we meditate upon you, dhīmahi." And then dhiyo yo naḥ—naḥ means us—dhiyaḥ, that is medhā pracodayāt. Pracodayāt means like Kṛṣṇa driving the chariot, the buddhi of Arjuna. "You sit in in our medhās, intellects, and you drive it, because when you drive it, then it will be accurate. It will never go in the wrong way, the shortest way, the best way, most efficient way, most successful way. We will be reaching you, and it can happen only when you bestow your grace upon us."

And what is this meditation? Complete śaraṇāgati. I will be patti in your hands. Do whatever you like with me. When Arjuna surrendered, then only the Gītā started to flow from the mouth of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa prayed, "Oh Mother, I am a fool. You make me do what you want me to do, make me speak what you want me to speak, and make me do everything. I surrender myself to you," and Mother gave herself to him. When she says—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says—"Mother gave me everything, showed me everything," it means Mother gave herself to me.

When we pray this way, then Mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom, bestows everything upon us. But the important point: there are secular people and there are spiritual people. When secular people pray, Mother will not deny, like our mother. When we are children, do we pray for an aeroplane? "Give me an aeroplane gift on Christmas Day"? No. "Grant me, oh Mother, some—give me some toys, give me some lozenges, some chocolates," because that is all I am capable of handling, and she will give that. But it is necessary to pester the mother, and that is the very essence of Medhā Sūktam.

And this is from Yajur Veda. Medhā means intelligence, and we are all Indian people, but most of us are potentially intelligent. And that is why this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary. And as I mentioned earlier, intelligence is the very foundation. Do you want to attain sat, to be healthy, to be happy, to be good, to be truthful, and finally to be divine? This prayer, surrender that intelligence is necessary. Who can really surrender? The most intelligent person. He understands: I am limited, I am completely bound by my body, by my mind, by myself. What I can achieve is extremely slow—in fact, nothing—but if I surrender myself, my mother herself will carry me, and that is called prayer.

What is the prayer? Prayer actually is a form of surrender, self-surrender. The more we pray and the more we surrender ourselves, and ultimately when we are able to completely give up our egotism and then identify ourselves with Sarasvatī, we become Sarasvatīs, we become Brahmās, we become Brahman, we become Nārāyaṇa. Because there are so many sūktams are there, Medhā Sūktam is only one of the thousands of sūktams that are available. Most of them have been lost in course of time, but this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary.

That is why even students, when they start with Vidyārambha—the beginning of trying to learn alphabet, etc.—Mother Sarasvatī is worshipped. This is also called, very interestingly, Akṣara Abhyāsa, the starting of the akṣara. What a marvellous concept this is. Just pause a second and think about it. Kṣara means that which is very temporary, that which becomes completely destroyed in course of time, sooner or later. Akṣara means that which is never—never can be undecayed, indestructible, avināśī. And how many avināśīs are there? Only one, and that is Brahman. That is why it is infinite. That is why it is eternal. And that is what we want to do. The purpose of any learning—Akṣara Abhyāsa—is only finally to attain to that akṣara.

And that is why the devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa can know very well that when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was forced by Rām Kumār, "You go to the teachers, you attend—you don't attend the class, you are bunking the classes, you are going into the Manikram's gardens, mango gardens." I am not sure, my imagination somehow refuses to go a little bit beyond. I was thinking about it. So did these mango gardens—do they really have ripe, marvellous, sweet, fragrant Alphonso mangoes? Why was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa visiting them? Because it was a solitary place, and then there he was absorbed in thinking about the Divine Mother. He was inspiring, he was training a troop of boys, and that is why even at that time he had a bad name. Not only was he absconding from the schools, he was also bringing the other people.

When Rām Kumār—it came to the notice of Rām Kumār—of course, Mother Candramaṇi, being mother, could not do anything, could not even open to scold, because she was acutely aware he lost his father. But Rām Kumār was acutely conscious that "my youngest brother has—will grow up, then he will get married, then he has to earn, so he has to learn something at least." So when he scolded him, then we know the classical reply that Rāmakṛṣṇa has given: "What do I do with this knowledge which only helps me to bundle rice and plantains?" Meaning this salary earning, worldly goods accumulating knowledge. "What am I going to do with all this?"

Then Rām Kumār, of course, did not understand. I don't know, we don't know. Maybe he questioned, "Then what do you want?" He might have replied, but somehow it is not there. "I want that by which—by which I can really attain to that. I want not anything else." And that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa taught through the Gospel, through to each one of us. He is still teaching. Gospel is not a book. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not a person. He is Mother Sarasvatī, wisdom personified, Brahmā with Brahma, Brahman himself.

What is he telling? That the M—first today that he went on the last Sunday in February 1886—sorry, 1882—the first words he heard that sandhyā—that means rituals margin—Gāyatrī, and Gāyatrī merges in oṃkāra. Is the symbol of the both saguṇa Brahma as well as nirguṇa Brahma. And immediately the unconscious of him connected it and said, "I feel that Śukadeva was teaching to Parīkṣit." What was he teaching? Bhāgavatam. What is this Bhāgavatam? Story of Bhagavān. What is the meaning of the story of Bhagavān? Parīkṣit Mahārāj, he was cursed: within seven days you will die. And he said, "Even if I am reborn," because he was Parīkṣit—Parīkṣit means he will examine everything, everybody, every—though it is not relevant.

Here I cannot resist myself. Aśvatthāmā had discharged the Brahmāstra. Let the Pāṇḍavas become Pāṇḍava-less, and there was only one child that is in the womb of Uttarā left by Abhimanyu. This foetus was growing and this Brahmāstra was speeding up, and Uttarā prayed, everybody prayed, because this is the only child that was there. As in the lineage, he had to become the future emperor of the Kaurava, then Kaurava Rājya, Kuru Rājya.

Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa gave birth and he entered there, and with his Cakra they said our Aṇikāli, that he was protecting, he never allowed the Brahmāstra to come anywhere near. And it is said Parīkṣit was looking with great delight, drinking a lotus-like face and feet of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And then Brahmāstra could not do anything and it returned back. Then after some time Parīkṣit was born, and then he could not forget his experience while he was in the womb of his mother.

As soon as he was born, people started rushing to see this only one being left out as the lineage in the whole that Pāṇḍava Homesha. And then he was peering into every face. They were peering into his face, he was peering into their faces with Parīkṣā. Is this the being that I beheld when I was in the womb? No, no, this is a stupid face, that is an unwise face, and the other one a dirty face. Every face that appeared was like that, but when Śrī Kṛṣṇa came his face lighted up with great delight. This is the being who has protected me and who has saved me from this death throes.

That is why he was given—he was examining every single face with the intent to find out, to ferret out, who was that being who saved me from this great calamity. That is why he was, it is said, he was given the name Parīkṣit. He without Parīkṣā, he never does anything.

Anyway, what is important for us, that we need intelligence. And Parīkṣit Mahārāja was cursed or some bad action he had done, insulting a Muni, and then Śukadeva came to know about it. He said that even if you are reborn not once but even thousands of times, you will exactly have the same fate. Is not that you might have been dying, about to die within a week, next birth you may live 150 years and next birth you may live 500 years, but in the end death is completely certain. So you can, the only way you can escape is by completely surrendering yourself to the Divine Lord.

And then his Parīkṣit decided he will seven days he will listen to this only Bhāgavatam, which is the story of Bhagavān, and that is what came from the very mouth of Śukadeva. And then at the end of it, Parīkṣit Mahārāja had attained to the Divine Lord himself, because when such great people reside there is no option but to think of God.

What am I talking about? Anybody who came into the orbit of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking, is not talking as we are talking. He was talking and the minds of the listeners have been uplifted to the highest level that is possible for them. And so long as they were in the orbit of his influence, like a black hole, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is the black hole, Mother Kālī is the greatest black hole. All that you need to do is approach her and then you will see you will be sucked helplessly into that Mahākāla, into that great void, into that great timelessness, which is in other words called Mokṣa, Mukti, liberation, call it by what a Nirvāṇa, whatever name you want to call it. That is the highest goal, and that is what Lord Śiva promised as Mahākāla. You come and stay in Vārāṇasī. Vārāṇasī is the greatest black hole. Anybody who remains here, he will be helplessly sucked into that Mahākāla and then become one. Helplessly we become first paste, then chutney, then become one with Mahākāla. This is called Mokṣa.

For that, prayer is necessary. You want to die in Kāśī? Pray to the Divine Lord. You want to have knowledge, any type of knowledge? Then you want to be happy, you want to pray. How can I be a happy? All this psychological advice or business advice, stockbroker's advice, lawyer's advice is all supposed to be different facets. How can I be a happier person? And every being is helplessly going to that in, in the words of Swami Vivekananda, everybody wants freedom, freedom from time, space and causation, in other words from this world, in other words they all, we all want Brahman, in other words we want to become one with Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge and Absolute Bliss. And that is the goal. And can we achieve it? Yes, the Vedas are meant for that purpose only.

But the most important thing is we have to pray. There is no other way. That's why it is my favourite example, and it may look even heretical. Some people come and ask, especially those who have been studying the literature of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda, does Karma Yoga give Mokṣa? The emphatic understanding is yes, so also Rāja Yoga or Bhakti Yoga or Jñāna Yoga, or Christianity or Hinduism, so forth. Everybody believes wholeheartedly every path gives us liberation, and they come and ask me and they want to hear it from my mouth. And I say no, no path will give you liberation, no path will take you even one millimetre or millimetre forward in any path. What I'm trying struggling, will I not progress? Yes, you can progress. I never said you never progress, but you have to surrender, you have to pray. It is the grace and grace and grace alone.

Am I talking? No, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking. What did he say in the very Gospel? Search for it. It is only by the grace of God alone that one can attain God. I repeat, by the grace of God alone one can attain to God. And that prayer is for what purpose? Good Lord, I want your grace, and your grace is always there, but I am not able to use it, I'm not able to access it. Why? Password is missing. Files are there. Sometimes in the computers, you want to, you put on the switch, switch it on and comes laughing at us, password. And you have forgotten, and then you go on putting everything and you take a hammer and break it to pieces. Is that going to help you? No. What is the password? Only one Japo.

So there is only one password. Am I talking about it? No, I am only repeating like a parrot what I have understood. Four times it comes in the hymns that we sing every day to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. This is called Amṛtam, but the second line, second verse is most important. What does he say? More than enough, any one of them is enough to take you to the goal. But I go on repeating like a parrot, any path is okay. I go on reciting it, quoting it, talking about it endlessly, lecture after lecture. But, but that faith that it can take me to that, oh Lord, it is not coming to me. These are only empty words, these are only, only words.

What is the way? You are my refuge. I take refuge in you, and I know you will save me. How do I know? Because you are, you are the greatest lover of helpless people, and therefore I try to take refuge. Here is a secret. The secret is I can't even take refuge in God unless God says you give me your power of attorney. But when we go on crying, Mother comes and takes us in her hands, and then we say this is the Mother herself must take us and must make us understand that we are hers and she is ours. There is no other way.

Self-effort is only to understand that everything is useless. It is only Divine Grace, grace, grace. This is the prayer. This is the essence of Medhā Sūktam or, or also Gāyatrī Mantra or many other mantras that we just quoted from Śīkṣāvallī. And with these marvellous things, I will discuss, we will discuss, we will study in our next class. Don't think I am deviating. All these things, as I am speaking, I never planned to speak like this, but as I am speaking, all these things are coming together, rushing inside my brain by his grace, by Mother's grace, because I always pray to Mother Sarasvatī before I talk, before I open my mouth. You speak and you speak to your devotees. I have nothing to do with, and she, I think she does it, the job.

So we will talk about it next class.

Om Jananīṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum, Pāda Padme Tayo Śritvā Praṇamāmi Muhurmuhuḥ.

May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.
[[Category:Medha Suktam]]

Medha Suktam Lecture 01 on 29-Dec-2022

2025-10-26T21:56:59Z

DanielM:

[[Category:Purusha Suktam]]
Om Janānīṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagat Gurum Pāda Padme Tayo Śrītvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuḥ.

From today onwards we will be studying one of the most marvellous sūktas called Medhā Sūkta. Just now the recording was put on and I hope you have heard. Though I won't chant it with accents, but I will just recite it without any accents.

This is how it goes. But before the Medhā Sūkta comes, I would like also to introduce a very beautiful prayer from the first chapter of the Śikṣāvallī, Taittirīya Upaniṣad, first chapter called Śikṣāvallī, fourth Anuvāka. It is a prayer again, a wonderful prayer and I will talk about it later on. And that is also included. We will discuss first from the Śikṣāvallī and then we will proceed to the Medhā Sūkta. And this is what is from the Śikṣāvallī, first chapter, fourth section.

This is from the Śikṣāvallī. Then comes our Medhā Sūktam. This is chanted so beautifully. There are a few people who are gifted with marvellous voice and they have learnt it properly with intonations and when they chant, it is a marvellous thing. And there are so many Sūktas. How many Sūktas are there? Hundreds of them are there.

So where are these Sūktas from? From the Vedas. We find them in the Ṛg Veda. We find them in the Yajur Veda. We find them in many other parts scattered here and there. And when we are talking about Mahā Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad which is most marvellous especially for the renouncers, Saṃnyāsīs and Saṃnyāsinīs, a part of that one is this Medhā Sūktam. And this comes in Ṛg Veda in the 10th Praśna, 41st to 44th Anuvāka also. And Medhā Sūktam we have taken is from Yajur Veda and as I said it is also in both Ṛg Veda and Atharvana Veda. The mantra also starts with verses from Taittirīya which I have now chanted.

So what is the importance of this Medhā Sūkta? We understand Medhā. Medhā is that intelligence. If a human being is superior to every type of creation in this world including the Devatās. And what is the reason? What could be the reason? Because human being is endowed with a supreme intelligence. Human being can think of God, can think of devil, he can become a saint, he can become a veritable Asura, he can become anything he wants. A great scientist, a great musician, a great poet. In fact it is because of the intelligence all these people exhibit.

Not only it is the intelligence, intelligence is the very root cause of power, of wealth, of enjoyment, of every blessed thing in this world. It is said in a way in the worldly topics that Lakṣmī Devī and Sarasvatī Devī they are always envious of each other. Where there is Sarasvatī there is no Lakṣmī and where there is Lakṣmī there is no Sarasvatī. That is what many of us think like that. But the fact is it is the intelligence that is the root cause of Sat, that is the root cause of the Cit, that is the root cause of the Ānanda. But strangely that is also the root cause of Asat, Acit and Duḥkha.

If somebody is suffering it is because not because intelligence is lacking but that intelligence has not been awakened. I can put it this way. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal and do this either by work or worship etc. These are the famous four sentences from Swami Vivekananda at the very beginning of his book, the marvellous book Rāja Yoga. Instead of saying divine if we can replace it with the word Medhā each soul is potentially an intelligent person. What does potentiality mean? It means his very nature is of that of intelligence but the person because either of the attachment to the body or external objects or internal ideas all of them are clubbed together as Rāga and Dveṣa and all this potential intelligence doesn't manifest.

It is said by a very intelligent psychologist if anybody lacks intelligence he cannot become an evil person. To become an evil person greater intelligence is necessary. To become a thief much greater intelligence than the protectors of the law called police is needed. A thief should outwit anybody who is out there to catch him. That is why it is said in the computer world a hacker is much more valued than an ordinary person.

So you see intelligence is the root cause of what did I say? Intelligence is the very root cause of Sat root cause of Cit and root cause of Ānanda. What do I mean by that? If we do not have intelligence we will become Asat. What does Asat mean? Of course Sat means absolute existence and for that no intelligence is necessary but what is meant is if I want to be healthy and to be happy I have to use my intelligence under whatever circumstances I am placed into. That is the greatness of intelligent people. You put them in the very hell and they will make a heaven for themselves. Whether they succeed in making a place heaven for others or not that depends upon other people but if you take an intelligent person put him in hell and he will make it heaven itself. There is absolutely no doubt about it.

How? Because intelligence is such it can convert the whole world. What is the philosophy of what I just now said? The philosophy is we are the architects of our own fate. This is what Swami Vivekananda has said. We are the architects of our own fate. What does this word fate mean? Fate means what we think, what we decide to do and what we actually put into execution, what we thought and the result of that karma is called karma phala and that karma phala is called loka or the locus of experience.

So if an evil person goes to heaven he will suffer terribly as it is said in common parlance if a pig is taken to heaven and released there the first thing that it seeks is sewage water because it cannot live without sewage water. So even if we are put in heaven we will create our own sewage water there and that means that sewage water for a pig cannot be compared to an evil person. Why? Because the pig is very happy if it gets sewage water it doesn't matter it is in bhū loka, pātāla loka or indra loka or brahma loka but a wicked person he created that through his pāpa and a wicked person is a human being with potential intelligence and we create our own locus.

That is why, even though we say we are living, for example, in India, we all of us are living in our own individual circumscribed world, and it could be made up of any percentage of either happiness or unhappiness. But intelligence is the root cause, and this is what Swami Vivekananda means. It's how do I know I am divine? Intelligence is necessary to understand it. And I don't understand it? Yes, that is where the Vedas come in, and they tell you that you cannot understand it with ordinary intelligence. I will come to this point later on. That is where śraddhā steps in.

There are certain things we can understand in this world through our intelligence. There are many more things which we can never understand in this world by this ordinary intelligence. We only have one option: that is to believe in the teachings of saints and sages, or in the teachings of the Vedas, which is the same thing. What do I mean by which is the same thing? So usually we separate people from their works. Here is Kālidāsa, and his works are separate. But this is a very unintelligent view. The reality is that Kālidāsa is a Kālidāsa only because of his knowledge. Remove the knowledge, he is not Kālidāsa anymore. Of course you may call him Kālidāsa, but he is no more a Kālidāsa. He is XYZ, Tom, Dick and Harry. But place that intelligence—any ordinary people will be a Kālidāsa, an Einstein and a Beethoven, a Rāmānuja or a Rāmakṛṣṇa, or anybody for that matter of fact. That is Brahmavid Brahmaiva Bhavati. If somebody has the knowledge of Brahman, he becomes Brahman.

So this is the—our ancient Ṛṣis have discovered the glory, the greatness of Medhā. But it is there in the form of a seed. That is called potentiality. Seed means, don't think of a small thing. A huge banyan tree is there, and if you look at the seed, it will be like a mustard seed. Never have this kind of wrong idea about what Swamiji calls "each soul is potentially divine." It means that the entire 100% divinity is within us. 100% Sat is within us. 100% Cit is within us. 100% Ānanda is within us. But because of our present intelligence, we are able to see it very vaguely, understand it very vaguely. That understanding is called potentiality.

It is not that some seed is there and it grows. No, just as the entire tree is there compressed into a seed, and the entire tree is there. What is the distance between the seed and the tree? Time, space and causation. That is why we have to put it in a soil and slowly see it unfold itself. Life is nothing but unfoldment of a being under circumstances tending to press it down. So this is just by way of introduction only I am giving.

Each soul is a potentially intelligent soul. And by that word soul, each soul, our Vedas do not mean only human beings. They mean everything in this world. And why? Because everything in this world is nothing but a manifestation—Brahman, which Swami Vidyaranya in his Pañcadaśī summarises so beautifully at the very beginning. And he says, what is this Brahman? Sat, Cit and Ānanda. And what is this world? Sat plus Cit plus Ānanda. He doesn't use this word Sat, Cit, Ānanda. He uses the word Asti plus Bhāti plus Priya plus Nāma plus Rūpa. Asti, Bhāti, Priya is Brahman. You add to that Nāma plus Rūpa is called Jagat. You take the Jagat, which is nothing but Asti Bhāti Priya Nāma Rūpa. You minus the last two, Nāma and Rūpa. What remains is Brahman.

What does that mean? That means there is only one thing. Call it Brahman, call it the world. If you are trying to look towards the Brahman with Nāma Rūpa, it appears as this Prapañca, this world. But if you remove your mind, then you will see it is nothing but Brahman. There are no two things called Brahman and the world. And intelligence is—Medhā is necessary. And that is why this Medhā is very important. Intelligence is very important.

Once somebody asked Swami Brahmānandaji, is a Guru necessary to obtain Brahma Jñāna? And immediately, Pat came the answer from Swami Brahmānandaji. Said, even if you want to become an expert pickpocket, you require an expert, expertest, expert pickpocket as a Guru. Otherwise you will be caught on the very first attempt and beaten to chutney. If this is the case, you think you want to obtain that highest Brahma Jñānam?

So who is a Guru? Guru is called Medhā. Guru is called Knowledge. Guru is called Brahman. Guru is called Viṣṇu. Guru Brahmā, Guru Viṣṇu, Guru Deva, Guru Devo Maheśvara, Guru Sākṣāt Param Brahma. What does that mean? Don't imagine 5-6 people are sitting there, and each one with a particular Kirīṭa and hands and so many ornaments, so many weapons, etc. That is very ordinary intelligence. But they are all different manifestations of different powers and different degrees of that one knowledge. Everything is the knowledge. That is why, according to Advaita Vedānta, the world is called an idea. The world is an idea in the mind. We create with this idea an entire world, live in the world, and experience pleasures and pains in our—what am I talking about? Dream. And what am I talking about? Waking state is no different from the dream state, because there is something. What is that something? Brahman.

But my idea, my take upon this, what we call external—remember, even the external and internal is an illusion created by the mind only. So there is no externality, there is no internality. This we have been discussing in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad so thoroughly. It takes time for these ideas to sink into our concretised brains—not because the brains are bad, but because we have built up thick walls. Fortunately, they are not stone walls but mud walls, easy to pierce, I hope. So the whole idea of the world is just that: it is a thought in our brain, idea in our brain, and that thought is nothing but a manifestation of intelligence.

Now I want to connect a few things. Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa made a statement about our holy mother. He said, this is Sarasvatī. She came into this world to distribute knowledge, but in the form of Bagalā. It is a mysterious world. The Divine Mother manifests in 8 ways, Aṣṭamūrti, and one of them is Bagalā. And Bagalā is a very strong lady. So she is like Mother Kālī. She keeps her husband and the entire world under her feet, Mahākāla. And she manifests his glory in the form of Sat Cit Ānanda. So Divine Mother has manifested in the form of Bagalā, and the Divine Mother is Sarasvatī, and that Sarasvatī is this Medhā Devī, and that Sarasvatī's name is called Śāradā Devī, Sāradā Devī.

Sāra Dā, Dā means one who gives. Who can give? Only a person who has can give. And what does our Mother Śāradā give? I will tell you, even I don't have time to waste with you. In half a sentence I will tell you the essence of not only what I have written and am teaching, but the essence of entire scriptures that were, that are, that will be in future. God alone is real. You are that God. And until you realise, everything is unreal. And the goal of life is to realise Aham Brahmāsmi. This is the essence, and that is the essence Mother Śāradā, Holy Mother, has come to give us.

That is why, whether a secular seeker of knowledge, spiritual seeker of knowledge, stock broking knowledge, or whether musical knowledge, all of us have to pray to Mother Sarasvatī. Sarasvatī is the very embodiment of knowledge, and we have to pray. What is the prayer for? Oh Mother, I don't have intelligence, please grant me intelligence. This is a very unintelligent prayer. No. Oh Mother, I know I am potentially intelligent, but I do not realise it. Please bestow your grace so I can recognise my own potential intelligence and realise it through various ways. I might become a businessman. I might become a great cook. Do you notice there are billions of cooks are there? Every housewife is a cook. Every male is also a cook. But when you taste the cooking of a few people, you are transported with joy, and that special knowledge of cookery is the grace of the embodiment of wisdom called Sarasvatī, Medhā Devī.

So what is this Gāyatrī? Our earlier ṛṣis have realised—a ṛṣi is a person, he realised. How did he realise that? He must have prayed. Probably he did not know. The very first ṛṣi might not have known there is a goddess of wisdom called Sarasvatī, or whatever name. You don't need to call it Sarasvatī. That is a Sanskrit name. But even people who don't know Sanskrit, who speak what we call any language, Eskimo language or any language, you just pray, Oh Divine Mother, I know you are there, and I know you are the embodiment of Cit, Sat, Cit and Ānanda. Remember, they are not separable, they are inseparable. So Mother Sarasvatī is Sat. Mother Sarasvatī is Ānanda. She is of course Cit. So, Oh Mother, please grant me your blessings.

So first thing, I am potentially intelligent. Second thing, certain channels have been made by my Saṃskāras already throughout many of the past births which I had gone through, and I made them myself. Maybe I trained my mind. I shaped my mind to be, to get the knowledge of mathematics or poetry or music or cookery or administration, anything. It doesn't matter. To do better in any field, we require the grace, as I said, even to become a pickpocket. This is the difference between expert pickpockets and dull pickpocket people. That an expert, his intelligence is very sharp. He analyses the capacity, whom to pick up, when to pick up, how to pick up, how quickly to pick up, from which side to pick up. You see what I mean?

So that intelligence, is it good or bad? Yes, it looks bad at the beginning, but in course of time, when divine mother slaps him and then rewards him both with sometimes with carrot, sometimes with a stick, he understands. He awakens, says, already he had the intelligence. Now direct that intelligence for his own greater happiness. That is called awakening. That is why Swami Vivekananda statements are beautiful. He takes from the Kaṭha Upaniṣad a beautiful quotation: uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata. Many people get confused. What is uttiṣṭhata and what is jāgrata? They look the same. They mean the same. Get up, get up. No. First of all, you get up from the long time ignorance. Then jāgrata, you objectify yourself and make yourself be completely aware. I have wasted my time. I suffered a lot. I do not wish to suffer. I make a vow. I promise to God, I do not wish to suffer, to God, O Lord, and show me the way. Then jāgrata. And then you want to go in the direction you want. How to go? Then you approach people who can give you what you are saying. You want to be a musician? Approach music teachers. Want to a scientist? Approach great scientists. Want to become a ruler? Approach somebody.

As the history of our world is astonishing, Napoleon used to pour over the biographies of great rulers, etc. Why was he doing? Because he wanted to develop himself into a great ruler. So he was studying their life, and he adopted some of them. That is why what he did is not important, but how he became great, that is what is important. Swami Vivekananda used to appreciate Napoleon. He used to appreciate Julius Caesar. He used to appreciate Alexander the Great. Why was he appreciating? Are they saints? Were they saints? No. But they did a lot of wicked things. They were bad characters. They were not to be emulated at all. And why was Swami doing? Because there is a great potentiality has been aroused, has been trained, and has been condensed. It is now ready to be directed for higher ends. Simple example: if Alexander is reborn today and turns towards spiritual life, then very quickly he—because he has already all the necessary equipment to just to jump over hurdles.

Similarly, we see the so many stories. Tulsi Dasa was a great potential saint, but he was totally tied up with his wife—that means with a woman, that means with sex—but the tremendous potentiality was bubbling like a terrible volcano. When the volcano is about to burst, his wife gave just a merest direction: turn this power towards God. And he became the greatest saṃnyāsins.

We can see Vālmīki Ratnākara, how so much of energy was bubbling within him. Never ever mistake these stories. Some saints were passing through and accidentally they came across this Ratnākara, and accidentally he bound them. Accidentally they put some question, and then he became thoughtful. He became a Ratnākara, and then he became initiated. He became real Ratnākara. What is the Ratnākara? A treasure house of invaluable gems—gem, I would say. What is that invaluable gem? Rāmāyaṇa, devotion to Rāma. That was bubbling like a volcano. Nothing happens in this world as an accident.

So this is the prayer: prāpya varān yo uttiṣṭhata jāgrata. Prāpya varān—varān means those who are capable of redirecting and guiding you, removing your obstacles, helping you go forward. In other words, guru. That is why these ṛṣis, especially from the Ṛg Veda—in fact, it is from all the three Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda. Many people, they do not know this fact that what we now call Gāyatrī Mantra consisting of 24 letters, it is consisting of eight—three lines consisting of eight letters each. Three into eight is 24, and all these three are eight letters. Line is from each one of the Vedas: Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sāma Veda.

So Bhūr Bhuvaḥ—Om Bhūr Bhuvaḥ Svaḥ—is not part of the Gāyatrī Mantra. That Savituḥ or Eniam is from Ṛg Veda. Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi is from Yajur Veda, is from Sāma Vedaḥ. And these three combined together is called Gāyatrī Mantra.

What is the essence of the Gāyatrī Mantra? What we have been discussing, what Śaṅkarācārya has said: "Oh Mother, now I know I am potentially intelligent—cit—but I don't know how to direct it. You show me a channel, and then guide me how to overcome obstacles and how to put it to good use, right use, so that I can reach my goal." What is the goal? There should be no difference between you and me.

So for that purpose, we meditate. We meditate means we pray to you. You know, in the—that is a very beautiful sentiment in the Vedic ṛṣis realm—they never say, "I meditate, I want to come to you." No, a ṛṣi is one who has purified himself. He has attained citta śuddhi—that means morality. That means he identifies himself with everybody. And then he says, "We"—the—the—"we meditate upon you, dhīmahi." And then dhiyo yo naḥ—naḥ means us—dhiyaḥ, that is medhā pracodayāt. Pracodayāt means like Kṛṣṇa driving the chariot, the buddhi of Arjuna. "You sit in in our medhās, intellects, and you drive it, because when you drive it, then it will be accurate. It will never go in the wrong way, the shortest way, the best way, most efficient way, most successful way. We will be reaching you, and it can happen only when you bestow your grace upon us."

And what is this meditation? Complete śaraṇāgati. I will be patti in your hands. Do whatever you like with me. When Arjuna surrendered, then only the Gītā started to flow from the mouth of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa prayed, "Oh Mother, I am a fool. You make me do what you want me to do, make me speak what you want me to speak, and make me do everything. I surrender myself to you," and Mother gave herself to him. When she says—Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says—"Mother gave me everything, showed me everything," it means Mother gave herself to me.

When we pray this way, then Mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of wisdom, bestows everything upon us. But the important point: there are secular people and there are spiritual people. When secular people pray, Mother will not deny, like our mother. When we are children, do we pray for an aeroplane? "Give me an aeroplane gift on Christmas Day"? No. "Grant me, oh Mother, some—give me some toys, give me some lozenges, some chocolates," because that is all I am capable of handling, and she will give that. But it is necessary to pester the mother, and that is the very essence of Medhā Sūktam.

And this is from Yajur Veda. Medhā means intelligence, and we are all Indian people, but most of us are potentially intelligent. And that is why this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary. And as I mentioned earlier, intelligence is the very foundation. Do you want to attain sat, to be healthy, to be happy, to be good, to be truthful, and finally to be divine? This prayer, surrender that intelligence is necessary. Who can really surrender? The most intelligent person. He understands: I am limited, I am completely bound by my body, by my mind, by myself. What I can achieve is extremely slow—in fact, nothing—but if I surrender myself, my mother herself will carry me, and that is called prayer.

What is the prayer? Prayer actually is a form of surrender, self-surrender. The more we pray and the more we surrender ourselves, and ultimately when we are able to completely give up our egotism and then identify ourselves with Sarasvatī, we become Sarasvatīs, we become Brahmās, we become Brahman, we become Nārāyaṇa. Because there are so many sūktams are there, Medhā Sūktam is only one of the thousands of sūktams that are available. Most of them have been lost in course of time, but this Medhā Sūktam is very necessary.

That is why even students, when they start with Vidyārambha—the beginning of trying to learn alphabet, etc.—Mother Sarasvatī is worshipped. This is also called, very interestingly, Akṣara Abhyāsa, the starting of the akṣara. What a marvellous concept this is. Just pause a second and think about it. Kṣara means that which is very temporary, that which becomes completely destroyed in course of time, sooner or later. Akṣara means that which is never—never can be undecayed, indestructible, avināśī. And how many avināśīs are there? Only one, and that is Brahman. That is why it is infinite. That is why it is eternal. And that is what we want to do. The purpose of any learning—Akṣara Abhyāsa—is only finally to attain to that akṣara.

And that is why the devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa can know very well that when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was forced by Rām Kumār, "You go to the teachers, you attend—you don't attend the class, you are bunking the classes, you are going into the Manikram's gardens, mango gardens." I am not sure, my imagination somehow refuses to go a little bit beyond. I was thinking about it. So did these mango gardens—do they really have ripe, marvellous, sweet, fragrant Alphonso mangoes? Why was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa visiting them? Because it was a solitary place, and then there he was absorbed in thinking about the Divine Mother. He was inspiring, he was training a troop of boys, and that is why even at that time he had a bad name. Not only was he absconding from the schools, he was also bringing the other people.

When Rām Kumār—it came to the notice of Rām Kumār—of course, Mother Candramaṇi, being mother, could not do anything, could not even open to scold, because she was acutely aware he lost his father. But Rām Kumār was acutely conscious that "my youngest brother has—will grow up, then he will get married, then he has to earn, so he has to learn something at least." So when he scolded him, then we know the classical reply that Rāmakṛṣṇa has given: "What do I do with this knowledge which only helps me to bundle rice and plantains?" Meaning this salary earning, worldly goods accumulating knowledge. "What am I going to do with all this?"

Then Rām Kumār, of course, did not understand. I don't know, we don't know. Maybe he questioned, "Then what do you want?" He might have replied, but somehow it is not there. "I want that by which—by which I can really attain to that. I want not anything else." And that is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa taught through the Gospel, through to each one of us. He is still teaching. Gospel is not a book. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not a person. He is Mother Sarasvatī, wisdom personified, Brahmā with Brahma, Brahman himself.

What is he telling? That the M—first today that he went on the last Sunday in February 1886—sorry, 1882—the first words he heard that sandhyā—that means rituals margin—Gāyatrī, and Gāyatrī merges in oṃkāra. Is the symbol of the both saguṇa Brahma as well as nirguṇa Brahma. And immediately the unconscious of him connected it and said, "I feel that Śukadeva was teaching to Parīkṣit." What was he teaching? Bhāgavatam. What is this Bhāgavatam? Story of Bhagavān. What is the meaning of the story of Bhagavān? Parīkṣit Mahārāj, he was cursed: within seven days you will die. And he said, "Even if I am reborn," because he was Parīkṣit—Parīkṣit means he will examine everything, everybody, every—though it is not relevant.

Here I cannot resist myself. Aśvatthāmā had discharged the Brahmāstra. Let the Pāṇḍavas become Pāṇḍava-less, and there was only one child that is in the womb of Uttarā left by Abhimanyu. This foetus was growing and this Brahmāstra was speeding up, and Uttarā prayed, everybody prayed, because this is the only child that was there. As in the lineage, he had to become the future emperor of the Kaurava, then Kaurava Rājya, Kuru Rājya.

Then Śrī Kṛṣṇa gave birth and he entered there, and with his Cakra they said our Aṇikāli, that he was protecting, he never allowed the Brahmāstra to come anywhere near. And it is said Parīkṣit was looking with great delight, drinking a lotus-like face and feet of Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa. And then Brahmāstra could not do anything and it returned back. Then after some time Parīkṣit was born, and then he could not forget his experience while he was in the womb of his mother.

As soon as he was born, people started rushing to see this only one being left out as the lineage in the whole that Pāṇḍava Homesha. And then he was peering into every face. They were peering into his face, he was peering into their faces with Parīkṣā. Is this the being that I beheld when I was in the womb? No, no, this is a stupid face, that is an unwise face, and the other one a dirty face. Every face that appeared was like that, but when Śrī Kṛṣṇa came his face lighted up with great delight. This is the being who has protected me and who has saved me from this death throes.

That is why he was given—he was examining every single face with the intent to find out, to ferret out, who was that being who saved me from this great calamity. That is why he was, it is said, he was given the name Parīkṣit. He without Parīkṣā, he never does anything.

Anyway, what is important for us, that we need intelligence. And Parīkṣit Mahārāja was cursed or some bad action he had done, insulting a Muni, and then Śukadeva came to know about it. He said that even if you are reborn not once but even thousands of times, you will exactly have the same fate. Is not that you might have been dying, about to die within a week, next birth you may live 150 years and next birth you may live 500 years, but in the end death is completely certain. So you can, the only way you can escape is by completely surrendering yourself to the Divine Lord.

And then his Parīkṣit decided he will seven days he will listen to this only Bhāgavatam, which is the story of Bhagavān, and that is what came from the very mouth of Śukadeva. And then at the end of it, Parīkṣit Mahārāja had attained to the Divine Lord himself, because when such great people reside there is no option but to think of God.

What am I talking about? Anybody who came into the orbit of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking, is not talking as we are talking. He was talking and the minds of the listeners have been uplifted to the highest level that is possible for them. And so long as they were in the orbit of his influence, like a black hole, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is the black hole, Mother Kālī is the greatest black hole. All that you need to do is approach her and then you will see you will be sucked helplessly into that Mahākāla, into that great void, into that great timelessness, which is in other words called Mokṣa, Mukti, liberation, call it by what a Nirvāṇa, whatever name you want to call it. That is the highest goal, and that is what Lord Śiva promised as Mahākāla. You come and stay in Vārāṇasī. Vārāṇasī is the greatest black hole. Anybody who remains here, he will be helplessly sucked into that Mahākāla and then become one. Helplessly we become first paste, then chutney, then become one with Mahākāla. This is called Mokṣa.

For that, prayer is necessary. You want to die in Kāśī? Pray to the Divine Lord. You want to have knowledge, any type of knowledge? Then you want to be happy, you want to pray. How can I be a happy? All this psychological advice or business advice, stockbroker's advice, lawyer's advice is all supposed to be different facets. How can I be a happier person? And every being is helplessly going to that in, in the words of Swami Vivekananda, everybody wants freedom, freedom from time, space and causation, in other words from this world, in other words they all, we all want Brahman, in other words we want to become one with Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge and Absolute Bliss. And that is the goal. And can we achieve it? Yes, the Vedas are meant for that purpose only.

But the most important thing is we have to pray. There is no other way. That's why it is my favourite example, and it may look even heretical. Some people come and ask, especially those who have been studying the literature of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda, does Karma Yoga give Mokṣa? The emphatic understanding is yes, so also Rāja Yoga or Bhakti Yoga or Jñāna Yoga, or Christianity or Hinduism, so forth. Everybody believes wholeheartedly every path gives us liberation, and they come and ask me and they want to hear it from my mouth. And I say no, no path will give you liberation, no path will take you even one millimetre or millimetre forward in any path. What I'm trying struggling, will I not progress? Yes, you can progress. I never said you never progress, but you have to surrender, you have to pray. It is the grace and grace and grace alone.

Am I talking? No, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is talking. What did he say in the very Gospel? Search for it. It is only by the grace of God alone that one can attain God. I repeat, by the grace of God alone one can attain to God. And that prayer is for what purpose? Good Lord, I want your grace, and your grace is always there, but I am not able to use it, I'm not able to access it. Why? Password is missing. Files are there. Sometimes in the computers, you want to, you put on the switch, switch it on and comes laughing at us, password. And you have forgotten, and then you go on putting everything and you take a hammer and break it to pieces. Is that going to help you? No. What is the password? Only one Japo.

So there is only one password. Am I talking about it? No, I am only repeating like a parrot what I have understood. Four times it comes in the hymns that we sing every day to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. This is called Amṛtam, but the second line, second verse is most important. What does he say? More than enough, any one of them is enough to take you to the goal. But I go on repeating like a parrot, any path is okay. I go on reciting it, quoting it, talking about it endlessly, lecture after lecture. But, but that faith that it can take me to that, oh Lord, it is not coming to me. These are only empty words, these are only, only words.

What is the way? You are my refuge. I take refuge in you, and I know you will save me. How do I know? Because you are, you are the greatest lover of helpless people, and therefore I try to take refuge. Here is a secret. The secret is I can't even take refuge in God unless God says you give me your power of attorney. But when we go on crying, Mother comes and takes us in her hands, and then we say this is the Mother herself must take us and must make us understand that we are hers and she is ours. There is no other way.

Self-effort is only to understand that everything is useless. It is only Divine Grace, grace, grace. This is the prayer. This is the essence of Medhā Sūktam or, or also Gāyatrī Mantra or many other mantras that we just quoted from Śīkṣāvallī. And with these marvellous things, I will discuss, we will discuss, we will study in our next class. Don't think I am deviating. All these things, as I am speaking, I never planned to speak like this, but as I am speaking, all these things are coming together, rushing inside my brain by his grace, by Mother's grace, because I always pray to Mother Sarasvatī before I talk, before I open my mouth. You speak and you speak to your devotees. I have nothing to do with, and she, I think she does it, the job.

So we will talk about it next class.

Om Jananīṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum, Pāda Padme Tayo Śritvā Praṇamāmi Muhurmuhuḥ.

May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.

Medha Suktam Lecture 01 on 29-Dec-2022

2025-10-26T21:54:47Z

DanielM: Created page with " Category:Purusha Suktam"

[[Category:Purusha Suktam]]

Category:Medha Suktam

2025-10-26T21:50:34Z

DanielM: Created page with "Category:Swami Dayatmananda"

[[Category:Swami Dayatmananda]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 74 Ch2 5.1-5.3 on 15 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-25T16:05:54Z

DanielM: typo fixes

== '''QUESTION 1: On Religious versus Spiritual Life''' ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, I want to compare two personalities. One is a religious person, has a strong faith in God and in the times of great dukkha, she gets a vision of God and leads a life of complete dependence on God, in sukha, dukkha, but does not really bother about leading a spiritual life in particular. In the sense, she wants less suffering, that's when she calls upon God.

'''Maharaj:''' That is how actually progress is made, just as a baby grows into a child, child into an adolescent, adolescent into youth, etc. So, nobody falls from the sky completely spiritual person. Even the stories of the saints that we hear, they have done in the past life. Because we don't take into consideration past lives, that is where the problem comes.

So, first there is a worldly person called materialist, charvakas. They neither believe in God nor believe in life after death, much less higher worlds. So, they say, Rinam kritva ghritam pivet (translation: Borrow money and drink ghee). So, use your credit card and enjoy your life. It is up to the bank how they are going to get their money.

But a person goes on suffering, no worldly means can ever remove the suffering. Then there is no choice, there must be some way. Because hope is embedded in every human being, in every living being. So, then he slowly imitates maybe parents and goes on pilgrimage, japa, yajna, prays to God.

But mainly he prays to God, but a religious person means you have to understand, what you described is not correct. A religious person truly, a real definition, true definition of a religious person is, he believes in God, he believes in dharma, he believes in satyam, and though he has worldly desires, he will not give up righteous life. You understand now?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' The so-called religious people who go and pray, let my daughter get a good husband. There are some people who pray. They saw a friend of their daughter's getting a better husband. And they pray to God, let that husband run away from that girlfriend. Marry my daughter.

Yeah, yeah, you will see all sorts of things. So, these people, they are lower religious people, I call them. But you know, through experience, through suffering, slowly their understanding becomes better.

And they say that belief in God means belief in the scriptures, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in the scriptures means belief in karma siddhanta, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in karma siddhanta means that they know, if we do something wrong, even if we pray to God, do japa, tapa, we cannot escape the consequences. Slowly, over the many number of janmas, lives, this transformation takes place.

Then, I gave the definition. A truly religious person, he has many worldly desires, but he will not deviate from satyam and dharma. That means he lives mostly what is in this manomaya kosha, understand? Anahata chakra.

And then, that punyam purifies his mind further, his understanding becomes better, then he turns. Every worldly desire has two consequences. First, it will come to an end. Second, the opposite effect, he will fall from that state. There is nothing called continuous. kṣhīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśhanti (Bhagavad Gita 9.21).

So, from svargaloka, people are ready with their right leg lifted up. The moment punya credit is over, they will give one kick and from that svargaloka, they fall down. Okay? And then, slowly. āvṛttacakṣur amṛtatvam icchan (Katha Upanishad 2.1.1). Then, after through many, a life of suffering, introspection, then they understand that spiritual life is the only life worth leading. That is called evolution. And then, slowly they progress through sakama, nishkama and one day they become nishkama. Nishkama means what? We want only God-realisation and nothing else. That is called nishkama. This is how progress starts.

So, be very clear. The people who pray for their selfish desires and also for the suffering of other people so that their selfishness will be fulfilled, they are not really... I do not consider them as religious persons.

== '''QUESTION 2: On Faith versus Shraddha''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, trying to understand when faith becomes Shraddha. Is it right in understanding that the religious person who follows dharma, like you explained, because they go by faith and the spiritual person is guided by Shraddha?

'''Maharaj:''' Religious person who believes in scriptures, not only in God. Belief in God means belief in the scriptures. He understands. That is why I said this person has complete faith in the scripture. Belief in God means belief in the scripture. Belief in the scripture means belief in the karma siddhanta.

So, if I want to avoid suffering, I have no option but to follow Satyam and Dharma. These are the two important words. And as a result, what happens? He experiences whatever has been promised in the Vedas. Okay? That direct experience of what is promised, if you do this, you will get this result. That goes on increasing his faith.

And when he has more faith, then his eyes travel further, higher. And he says the same scripture, which is talking about fulfilling our desires, going to higher lokas, etc. is also later on condemning those very desires and asking us to desire only God realisation. Now that faith only leads to that knowledge. Isn't it? Then he will further evolve. And he will fall down. He will get up. He will move forward. That is how he will evolve in course of time.

Until from sakama upasaka, he becomes the nishkama upasaka. And that is when truly spiritual life starts. Until then, it is a lower religious life and higher religious life, but not spirituality.
----

== '''QUESTION 3: On Totapuri Maharaj's Nirvikalpa State''' ==
'''Student C:''' When we look at this pancha kosha and how we progress through it, with the different contemplations, so far I've understood that once we, nirvikalpa state would be to transcend all the koshas.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So from that aspect, and then also that I've understood that to transcend each kosha, we must see, realise Brahman at the individual as well as the cosmic level in that kosha.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So now from that, I'm not able to understand about Totapuri Maharaj's experience because if he attained to the nirvikalpa state, transcending all the koshas, but he still could not comprehend at the cosmic level, you know, that is what I'm not able to resolve.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. I have spoken about this subject, I think quite extensively, quoting this very story of Totapuri. So what must have happened because we are talking about those great souls, which neither I understand nor you understand, savikalpa, nirvikalpa, but honest assessment, you know, what is called assessment? The understanding of an ass is called assessment. Okay.

So my understanding is the Divine Mother was pleased to show him the nirvikalpa samadhi, just like Swami Vivekananda was shown a glimpse. Now you will have to strive for that. Sometimes by God's grace, the highest revelation is bestowed, not that he becomes established, but yes, I have seen such a thing exists and now there is no doubt.

So a person becomes very anxious, intense yearning comes to attain to that state. So my understanding is the Divine Mother had sent him, you teach whatever you know to Sri Ramakrishna and then Sri Ramakrishna will take you to the other side. Now you understand? He tried to commit suicide. Why should a nirvikalpa man commit suicide? You have to understand many things. I have referred to this and talked about it extensively.

So he has been shown a glimpse because a man of nirvikalpa samadhi doesn't make distinction sacred fire and secular fire. Even I cannot see any distinction between, but if I put my hand either in the sacred or secular, equally it burns me with total indifference, isn't it? How he could see, and he was about to beat a person also. Sri Ramakrishna laughed and then he understood I have not attained to the highest.

Then in the company of Sri Ramakrishna for 11 months, slowly he was being given better and better understanding because Sri Ramakrishna is the Jagad Guru. Like Krishna had his Guru Garga Maharshi. But Garga Maharshi said, you know what he said? I know you are a Parameshwara but to keep the tradition otherwise people will not come. You are accepting me as your Guru but you are the Guru Namguru, Adi Guru.

So, you know that he felt terrible pain in the stomach. He wanted to commit suicide. This is one of the greatest puzzlements for me. A man of nirvikalpa samadhi fails in committing suicide. Even I can commit suicide, anybody can commit suicide and he could not commit suicide. Then he understood that everything is Brahman.

Your body, your mind really do not belong to me. That is what we have to apply here. When I say transcending Annamaya Kosha means Annamaya Kosha does not belong to me. Pranamaya does not belong to me. Manomaya does not belong to me. Vijnanamaya does not belong to me. Anandamaya does not belong to me. Everything belongs to Brahman. And therefore there is no second person called me and you.

'''Student C:''' So Maharaj, then some of the direct disciples like Swami Brahmananda and all they did a lot of spiritual practise after Thakur passed away and I think he was asked and he said something like that we are doing this to make it our own.

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly.

'''Student C:''' So is that what is happening?

'''Maharaj:''' Ramakrishna had given a glimpse because of his grace, but once you see something you can't say such a thing doesn't exist. And once you see such a thing you will never again run after anything lower. You only want that. That is the whole point of a detachment from this ''Sthula sharira. Gross'' body, then subtle body, then causal body then what remains? The same thing in this five Kosha model, five Sheeth model but same thing.
----

== '''QUESTION 4: On Practicing Vairagya in Daily Life''' ==
'''Student D:''' I have a question slightly different from Kosha's. I would like to ask you how do we practise Vairagya in everyday life in relation to people?

'''Maharaj:''' Excellent question. The very first practise I suggest you take all the unhappy experiences of the last month keep in a diary what are all the unhappy experiences that you had with persons, places, food etc. Okay. Now you go through them and then you say what has happened temporarily some setback was there but I am exactly what I am, and now in spite of all that am I in doldrums or am I enjoying something? How are you able to enjoy? Because you have transcended that mindset which is making you despondent. Isn't it? So, you practise like this. That is called Vairagya. Somebody praises you, don't get elated. Somebody criticises you, don't get depressed! You get good food don't go on saying "marvellous, marvellous today I am very lucky!", don't say. "It is okay, it is okay", simply say "By God's grace I enjoyed it".

Apply everything, relate everything, associate everything with God. Somebody abused you, okay, "God is teaching me a lesson". Somebody praised you, you don't become something great if somebody praises you. You don't become worse if somebody criticises you. This is called practise of Vairagya.

What is Vairagyam? Vi Raga. Raga means what? Being affected. No, no attachment means what? Being affected. What is Vairagya? Not being affected. As simple as that. Simply say that I will fix my mind upon something more worthwhile and that is the only way to practise Vairagya.

If you don't have a higher goal I will go on battling with this day to day incidents, that's not going to help you at all. That is why one of the best examples. Suppose somebody, imagine, has abused you whole day and then even beaten you up, and you are suffering, mourning and complaining, depressed, then you enter into deep sleep state. So long as you are in that state, you are the greatest Vairagya or not? So much of joy comes or not?

So imagine that with consciousness, with awareness, we have to be in that state where nothing touches us, we are very happy.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.14-15 Lecture 145 on 11 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-25T13:44:34Z

DanielM:

== '''QUESTION: On Akshipurusha, Chidabhasa, and the Process of Perception''' ==
'''Student A:''' This Akshipurusha in Prajapati Vidya, there Akshipurusha referred to the gross body, Vishwa, state of Vishwa.

'''Maharaj:''' Just now I explained to you that we normally think that the eye is capable of seeing. An unconscious person, he may open his eyes. Will he see? Suppose the mind is absent. Can he see? So the consciousness is not there. Nothing of this. He is not even aware. He can't even say, I can't see. Even to say, I can see or I can't see, I can think, I cannot think. That consciousness behind should be there. That is called true seer. These are all what is called pretenders. But they do their function. They help us to carry us to God and that is what their function. Once it is there, they say goodbye forever.

'''Student A:''' So it is really, Akshipurusha means the same between the two?

'''Maharaj:''' Brahman. Akshipurusha means Brahman.

'''Student A:''' And then in the Krama Maraj that you mentioned today, from Chit comes Chidabasa and then Antakarana, the four parts. And then they direct the ten organs, senses of knowledge and action.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. But don't mistake. Chidabasa is not a separate thing from the mind. When Chit associates with the mind, that is called Chidabasa. Just as there cannot be a reflection without a mirror. So the original person who is there in front of the mirror, take him as Chit. The mirror has the mind and the reflection. Chidabasa. So without that person, mirror cannot do anything.

So Chit and then when it is associated with the mind, it is called Chidabasa. And that Chidabasa, now the mind lends like a big merchant. Like your, I forget the name, some brothers, Lenon brothers or somebody, who lends to the banks. Lehman brothers.

And those banks lend to you. And you lend it to your children, pocket money and all those. So like that, so the mind lends it to the sense organs, sense nerve currents. The nerve currents lend it to the physical windows, what we call sense organs. And the sense organs they think, "I can see, I can see" like that. That I is called Chidabasa. And the I says I see, that is called Chidabasa. And when the mind says, "Ahh, what you see is a tree", that is called Chidabasa.

So this is how first you borrow it from the pure consciousness called Chit. And there afterwards you go on lending it to everybody.

'''Student A:''' In this process Maharaj, everything seems pure until the sense organs. Everything seems to be doing its function as expected. But somehow impurity creeps in.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the eye doesn't say "this is a worthless tree". Whether it is worth or worthless is told by whom? By the mind. Poor, my eye says, remove the beam from your eye. Jesus Christ tells, there is no beam, it is all. That is what is called when the eye looks at it first time. That is called Srishti-Drishti. And later on through experience we develop certain types of likes and dislikes. And that is called Drishti-Srishti. So this is how we are caught in this net.

Now reverse the process. Whatever I say, see a thing as it is. A tree is Brahman because it is existing. A tree is of this type that knowledge corresponds to the chit. And even a poisonous tree can give tremendous joy. Can you understand that? Somebody wants to commit suicide. Somebody wants to kill somebody. How do you think all the tribes were surviving? They find these poisonous plants and they found out through hard experience. And they put it nicely in the arrows. And that is how they kill whether it is monkeys, monkey hunting if you have ever seen on YouTube.

So all those are soldiers killing through poisonous arrows. So that is everything in this world is a wonderful medicine. You have to understand appropriately. What is the remedy for snake? Venom only. So it depends upon how you see it. Sweets becomes poison when it is taken in inappropriate proportions. Okay.

So what is being told is every spiritual practise is nothing but we have to go by Srishti Drishti as it is not as it reflected in our impure body and mind.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 74 Ch2 5.1-5.3 on 15 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-24T23:12:31Z

DanielM:

== '''QUESTION 1: On Religious versus Spiritual Life''' ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, I want to compare two personalities. One is a religious person, has a strong faith in God and in the times of great dukkha, she gets a vision of God and leads a life of complete dependence on God, in sukha, dukkha, but does not really bother about leading a spiritual life in particular. In the sense, she wants less suffering, that's when she calls upon God.

'''Maharaj:''' That is how actually progress is made, just as a baby grows into a child, child into an adolescent, adolescent into youth, etc. So, nobody falls from the sky completely spiritual person. Even the stories of the saints that we hear, they have done in the past life. Because we don't take into consideration past lives, that is where the problem comes.

So, first there is a worldly person called materialist, charvakas. They neither believe in God nor believe in life after death, much less higher worlds. So, they say, Rinam kritva ghritam pivet (translation: Borrow money and drink ghee). So, use your credit card and enjoy your life. It is up to the bank how they are going to get their money.

But a person goes on suffering, no worldly means can ever remove the suffering. Then there is no choice, there must be some way. Because hope is embedded in every human being, in every living being. So, then he slowly imitates maybe parents and goes on pilgrimage, japa, yajna, prays to God.

But mainly he prays to God, but a religious person means you have to understand, what you described is not correct. A religious person truly, a real definition, true definition of a religious person is, he believes in God, he believes in dharma, he believes in satyam, and though he has worldly desires, he will not give up righteous life. You understand now?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' The so-called religious people who go and pray, let my daughter get a good husband. There are some people who pray. They saw a friend of their daughter's getting a better husband. And they pray to God, let that husband run away from that girlfriend. Marry my daughter.

Yeah, yeah, you will see all sorts of things. So, these people, they are lower religious people, I call them. But you know, through experience, through suffering, slowly their understanding becomes better.

And they say that belief in God means belief in the scriptures, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in the scriptures means belief in karma siddhanta, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in karma siddhanta means that they know, if we do something wrong, even if we pray to God, do japa, tapa, we cannot escape the consequences. Slowly, over the many number of janmas, lives, this transformation takes place.

Then, I gave the definition. A truly religious person, he has many worldly desires, but he will not deviate from satyam and dharma. That means he lives mostly what is in this manomaya kosha, understand? Anahata chakra.

And then, that punyam purifies his mind further, his understanding becomes better, then he turns. Every worldly desire has two consequences. First, it will come to an end. Second, the opposite effect, he will fall from that state. There is nothing called continuous. kṣhīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśhanti (Bhagavad Gita 9.21).

So, from svargaloka, people are ready with their right leg lifted up. The moment punya credit is over, they will give one kick and from that svargaloka, they fall down. Okay? And then, slowly. āvṛttacakṣur amṛtatvam icchan (Katha Upanishad 2.1.1). Then, after through many, a life of suffering, introspection, then they understand that spiritual life is the only life worth leading. That is called evolution. And then, slowly they progress through sakama, nishkama and one day they become nishkama. Nishkama means what? We want only God-realisation and nothing else. That is called nishkama. This is how progress starts.

So, be very clear. The people who pray for their selfish desires and also for the suffering of other people so that their selfishness will be fulfilled, they are not really... I do not consider them as religious persons.

== '''QUESTION 2: On Faith versus Shraddha''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, trying to understand when faith becomes Shraddha. Is it right in understanding that the religious person who follows dharma, like you explained, because they go by faith and the spiritual person is guided by Shraddha?

'''Maharaj:''' Religious person who believes in scriptures, not only in God. Belief in God means belief in the scriptures. He understands. That is why I said this person has complete faith in the scripture. Belief in God means belief in the scripture. Belief in the scripture means belief in the karma siddhanta.

So, if I want to avoid suffering, I have no option but to follow Satyam and Dharma. These are the two important words. And as a result, what happens? He experiences whatever has been promised in the Vedas. Okay? That direct experience of what is promised, if you do this, you will get this result. That goes on increasing his faith.

And when he has more faith, then his eyes travel further, higher. And he says the same scripture, which is talking about fulfilling our desires, going to higher lokas, etc. is also later on condemning those very desires and asking us to desire only God realisation. Now that faith only leads to that knowledge. Isn't it? Then he will further evolve. And he will fall down. He will get up. He will move forward. That is how he will evolve in course of time.

Until from sakama upasaka, he becomes the nishkama upasaka. And that is when truly spiritual life starts. Until then, it is a lower religious life and higher religious life, but not spirituality.
----

== '''QUESTION 3: On Totapuri Maharaj's Nirvikalpa State''' ==
'''Student C:''' When we look at this pancha kosha and how we progress through it, with the different contemplations, so far I've understood that once we, nirvikalpa state would be to transcend all the koshas.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So from that aspect, and then also that I've understood that to transcend each kosha, we must see, realise Brahman at the individual as well as the cosmic level in that kosha.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So now from that, I'm not able to understand about Totapuri Maharaj's experience because if he attained to the nirvikalpa state, transcending all the koshas, but he still could not comprehend at the cosmic level, you know, that is what I'm not able to resolve.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. I have spoken about this subject, I think quite extensively, quoting this very story of Totapuri. So what must have happened because we are talking about those great souls, which neither I understand nor you understand, savikalpa, nirvikalpa, but honest assessment, you know, what is called assessment? The understanding of an ass is called assessment. Okay.

So my understanding is the Divine Mother was pleased to show him the nirvikalpa samadhi, just like Swami Vivekananda was shown a glimpse. Now you will have to strive for that. Sometimes by God's grace, the highest revelation is bestowed, not that he becomes established, but yes, I have seen such a thing exists and now there is no doubt.

So a person becomes very anxious, intense yearning comes to attain to that state. So my understanding is the Divine Mother had sent him, you teach whatever you know to Sri Ramakrishna and then Sri Ramakrishna will take you to the other side. Now you understand? He tried to commit suicide. Why should a nirvikalpa man commit suicide? You have to understand many things. I have referred to this and talked about it extensively.

So he has been shown a glimpse because a man of nirvikalpa samadhi doesn't make distinction sacred fire and secular fire. Even I cannot see any distinction between, but if I put my hand either in the sacred or secular, equally it burns me with total indifference, isn't it? How he could see, and he was about to beat a person also. Sri Ramakrishna laughed and then he understood I have not attained to the highest.

Then in the company of Sri Ramakrishna for 11 months, slowly he was being given better and better understanding because Sri Ramakrishna is the Jagad Guru. Like Krishna had his Guru Garga Maharshi. But Garga Maharshi said, you know what he said? I know you are a Parameshwara but to keep the tradition otherwise people will not come. You are accepting me as your Guru but you are the Guru Namguru, Adi Guru.

So, you know that he felt terrible pain in the stomach. He wanted to commit suicide. This is one of the greatest puzzlements for me. A man of nirvikalpa samadhi fails in committing suicide. Even I can commit suicide, anybody can commit suicide and he could not commit suicide. Then he understood that everything is Brahman.

Your body, your mind really do not belong to me. That is what we have to apply here. When I say transcending Annamaya Kosha means Annamaya Kosha does not belong to me. Pranamaya does not belong to me. Manomaya does not belong to me. Vijnanamaya does not belong to me. Anandamaya does not belong to me. Everything belongs to Brahman. And therefore there is no second person called me and you.

'''Student C:''' So Maharaj, then some of the direct disciples like Swami Brahmananda and all they did a lot of spiritual practise after Thakur passed away and I think he was asked and he said something like that we are doing this to make it our own.

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly.

'''Student C:''' So is that what is happening?

'''Maharaj:''' Ramakrishna had given a glimpse because of his grace, but once you see something you can't say such a thing doesn't exist. And once you see such a thing you will never again run after anything lower. You only want that. That is the whole point of a detachment from this ''Sthula sharira. Gross'' body, then subtle body, then causal body then what remains? The same thing in this five Kosha model, five Sheeth model but same thing.
----

== '''QUESTION 4: On Practicing Vairagya in Daily Life''' ==
'''Student D:''' I have a question slightly different from Kosha's. I would like to ask you how do we practise Vairagya in everyday life in relation to people?

'''Maharaj:''' Excellent question. The very first practise I suggest you take all the unhappy experiences of the last month keep in a diary what are all the unhappy experiences that you had with persons, places, food etc. Okay. Now you go through them and then you say what has happened temporarily some setback was there but I am exactly what I am and now in spite of all that am I in doldrums or am I enjoying something? How are you able to enjoy? Because you have transcended that mindset which is making you despondent. Isn't it? So you practise like this that is called Vairagya. Somebody praises you don't get elated. Somebody criticises you don't get depressed. You get good hold don't go on saying "marvellous, marvellous today I am very lucky!", don't say. "It is okay, it is okay", simply say "By God's grace I enjoyed it".

Apply everything, relate everything, associate everything with God. Somebody abused you, okay, God is teaching me a lesson. Somebody praised you, you don't become something great if somebody praises you. You don't become worse if somebody criticises you. This is called practise of Vairagya.

What is Vairagyam? Vi Raga. Raga means what? Being affected. No, no attachment means what? Being affected. What is Vairagya? Not being affected. As simple as that. Simply say that I will fix my mind upon something more worthwhile and that is the only way to practise Vairagya.

If you don't have a higher goal I will go on battling with this day to day incidents that's not going to help you at all. That is why one of the best examples. Suppose somebody, imagine, has abused you whole day and then even beaten you up, and you are suffering, mourning and complaining, depressed, then you enter into deep sleep state. So long as you are in that state, you are the greatest Vairagya or not? So much of joy comes or not?

So imagine that with consciousness, with awareness, we have to be in that state where nothing touches us, we are very happy.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 74 Ch2 5.1-5.3 on 15 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-24T23:12:02Z

DanielM:

== '''QUESTION 1: On Religious versus Spiritual Life''' ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, I want to compare two personalities, Maharaj. One is a religious person, has a strong faith in God and in the times of great dukkha, she gets a vision of God and leads a life of complete dependence on God, in sukha, dukkha, but does not really bother about leading a spiritual life in particular. In the sense, she wants less suffering, that's when she calls upon God.

'''Maharaj:''' That is how actually progress is made, just as a baby grows into a child, child into an adolescent, adolescent into youth, etc. So, nobody falls from the sky completely spiritual person. Even the stories of the saints that we hear, they have done in the past life. Because we don't take into consideration past lives, that is where the problem comes.

So, first there is a worldly person called materialist, charvakas. They neither believe in God nor believe in life after death, much less higher worlds. So, they say, Rinam kritva ghritam pivet (translation: Borrow money and drink ghee). So, use your credit card and enjoy your life. It is up to the bank how they are going to get their money.

But a person goes on suffering, no worldly means can ever remove the suffering. Then there is no choice, there must be some way. Because hope is embedded in every human being, in every living being. So, then he slowly imitates maybe parents and goes on pilgrimage, japa, yajna, prays to God.

But mainly he prays to God, but a religious person means you have to understand, what you described is not correct. A religious person truly, a real definition, true definition of a religious person is, he believes in God, he believes in dharma, he believes in satyam, and though he has worldly desires, he will not give up righteous life. You understand now?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' The so-called religious people who go and pray, let my daughter get a good husband. There are some people who pray. They saw a friend of their daughter's getting a better husband. And they pray to God, let that husband run away from that girlfriend. Marry my daughter.

Yeah, yeah, you will see all sorts of things. So, these people, they are lower religious people, I call them. But you know, through experience, through suffering, slowly their understanding becomes better.

And they say that belief in God means belief in the scriptures, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in the scriptures means belief in karma siddhanta, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And belief in karma siddhanta means that they know, if we do something wrong, even if we pray to God, do japa, tapa, we cannot escape the consequences. Slowly, over the many number of janmas, lives, this transformation takes place.

Then, I gave the definition. A truly religious person, he has many worldly desires, but he will not deviate from satyam and dharma. That means he lives mostly what is in this manomaya kosha, understand? Anahata chakra.

And then, that punyam purifies his mind further, his understanding becomes better, then he turns. Every worldly desire has two consequences. First, it will come to an end. Second, the opposite effect, he will fall from that state. There is nothing called continuous. kṣhīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśhanti (Bhagavad Gita 9.21).

So, from svargaloka, people are ready with their right leg lifted up. The moment punya credit is over, they will give one kick and from that svargaloka, they fall down. Okay? And then, slowly. āvṛttacakṣur amṛtatvam icchan (Katha Upanishad 2.1.1). Then, after through many, a life of suffering, introspection, then they understand that spiritual life is the only life worth leading. That is called evolution. And then, slowly they progress through sakama, nishkama and one day they become nishkama. Nishkama means what? We want only God-realisation and nothing else. That is called nishkama. This is how progress starts.

So, be very clear. The people who pray for their selfish desires and also for the suffering of other people so that their selfishness will be fulfilled, they are not really... I do not consider them as religious persons.

== '''QUESTION 2: On Faith versus Shraddha''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, trying to understand when faith becomes Shraddha. Is it right in understanding that the religious person who follows dharma, like you explained, because they go by faith and the spiritual person is guided by Shraddha?

'''Maharaj:''' Religious person who believes in scriptures, not only in God. Belief in God means belief in the scriptures. He understands. That is why I said this person has complete faith in the scripture. Belief in God means belief in the scripture. Belief in the scripture means belief in the karma siddhanta.

So, if I want to avoid suffering, I have no option but to follow Satyam and Dharma. These are the two important words. And as a result, what happens? He experiences whatever has been promised in the Vedas. Okay? That direct experience of what is promised, if you do this, you will get this result. That goes on increasing his faith.

And when he has more faith, then his eyes travel further, higher. And he says the same scripture, which is talking about fulfilling our desires, going to higher lokas, etc. is also later on condemning those very desires and asking us to desire only God realisation. Now that faith only leads to that knowledge. Isn't it? Then he will further evolve. And he will fall down. He will get up. He will move forward. That is how he will evolve in course of time.

Until from sakama upasaka, he becomes the nishkama upasaka. And that is when truly spiritual life starts. Until then, it is a lower religious life and higher religious life, but not spirituality.
----

== '''QUESTION 3: On Totapuri Maharaj's Nirvikalpa State''' ==
'''Student C:''' When we look at this pancha kosha and how we progress through it, with the different contemplations, so far I've understood that once we, nirvikalpa state would be to transcend all the koshas.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So from that aspect, and then also that I've understood that to transcend each kosha, we must see, realise Brahman at the individual as well as the cosmic level in that kosha.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct!

'''Student C:''' So now from that, I'm not able to understand about Totapuri Maharaj's experience because if he attained to the nirvikalpa state, transcending all the koshas, but he still could not comprehend at the cosmic level, you know, that is what I'm not able to resolve.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. I have spoken about this subject, I think quite extensively, quoting this very story of Totapuri. So what must have happened because we are talking about those great souls, which neither I understand nor you understand, savikalpa, nirvikalpa, but honest assessment, you know, what is called assessment? The understanding of an ass is called assessment. Okay.

So my understanding is the Divine Mother was pleased to show him the nirvikalpa samadhi, just like Swami Vivekananda was shown a glimpse. Now you will have to strive for that. Sometimes by God's grace, the highest revelation is bestowed, not that he becomes established, but yes, I have seen such a thing exists and now there is no doubt.

So a person becomes very anxious, intense yearning comes to attain to that state. So my understanding is the Divine Mother had sent him, you teach whatever you know to Sri Ramakrishna and then Sri Ramakrishna will take you to the other side. Now you understand? He tried to commit suicide. Why should a nirvikalpa man commit suicide? You have to understand many things. I have referred to this and talked about it extensively.

So he has been shown a glimpse because a man of nirvikalpa samadhi doesn't make distinction sacred fire and secular fire. Even I cannot see any distinction between, but if I put my hand either in the sacred or secular, equally it burns me with total indifference, isn't it? How he could see, and he was about to beat a person also. Sri Ramakrishna laughed and then he understood I have not attained to the highest.

Then in the company of Sri Ramakrishna for 11 months, slowly he was being given better and better understanding because Sri Ramakrishna is the Jagad Guru. Like Krishna had his Guru Garga Maharshi. But Garga Maharshi said, you know what he said? I know you are a Parameshwara but to keep the tradition otherwise people will not come. You are accepting me as your Guru but you are the Guru Namguru, Adi Guru.

So, you know that he felt terrible pain in the stomach. He wanted to commit suicide. This is one of the greatest puzzlements for me. A man of nirvikalpa samadhi fails in committing suicide. Even I can commit suicide, anybody can commit suicide and he could not commit suicide. Then he understood that everything is Brahman.

Your body, your mind really do not belong to me. That is what we have to apply here. When I say transcending Annamaya Kosha means Annamaya Kosha does not belong to me. Pranamaya does not belong to me. Manomaya does not belong to me. Vijnanamaya does not belong to me. Anandamaya does not belong to me. Everything belongs to Brahman. And therefore there is no second person called me and you.

'''Student C:''' So Maharaj, then some of the direct disciples like Swami Brahmananda and all they did a lot of spiritual practise after Thakur passed away and I think he was asked and he said something like that we are doing this to make it our own.

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly.

'''Student C:''' So is that what is happening?

'''Maharaj:''' Ramakrishna had given a glimpse because of his grace, but once you see something you can't say such a thing doesn't exist. And once you see such a thing you will never again run after anything lower. You only want that. That is the whole point of a detachment from this ''Sthula sharira. Gross'' body, then subtle body, then causal body then what remains? The same thing in this five Kosha model, five Sheeth model but same thing.
----

== '''QUESTION 4: On Practicing Vairagya in Daily Life''' ==
'''Student D:''' I have a question slightly different from Kosha's. I would like to ask you how do we practise Vairagya in everyday life in relation to people?

'''Maharaj:''' Excellent question. The very first practise I suggest you take all the unhappy experiences of the last month keep in a diary what are all the unhappy experiences that you had with persons, places, food etc. Okay. Now you go through them and then you say what has happened temporarily some setback was there but I am exactly what I am and now in spite of all that am I in doldrums or am I enjoying something? How are you able to enjoy? Because you have transcended that mindset which is making you despondent. Isn't it? So you practise like this that is called Vairagya. Somebody praises you don't get elated. Somebody criticises you don't get depressed. You get good hold don't go on saying "marvellous, marvellous today I am very lucky!", don't say. "It is okay, it is okay", simply say "By God's grace I enjoyed it".

Apply everything, relate everything, associate everything with God. Somebody abused you, okay, God is teaching me a lesson. Somebody praised you, you don't become something great if somebody praises you. You don't become worse if somebody criticises you. This is called practise of Vairagya.

What is Vairagyam? Vi Raga. Raga means what? Being affected. No, no attachment means what? Being affected. What is Vairagya? Not being affected. As simple as that. Simply say that I will fix my mind upon something more worthwhile and that is the only way to practise Vairagya.

If you don't have a higher goal I will go on battling with this day to day incidents that's not going to help you at all. That is why one of the best examples. Suppose somebody, imagine, has abused you whole day and then even beaten you up, and you are suffering, mourning and complaining, depressed, then you enter into deep sleep state. So long as you are in that state, you are the greatest Vairagya or not? So much of joy comes or not?

So imagine that with consciousness, with awareness, we have to be in that state where nothing touches us, we are very happy.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 73 Ch2 4-5.1 on 08 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-24T22:18:31Z

DanielM:

== '''QUESTION 1: On Vijnanamaya Kosha and Mental Renunciation''' ==
'''Student A:''' When we have successfully reached Vijnanamaya Kosha, is that also the same point that we are able to fully renounce our mind? Because that is now the Manomaya Kosha and we don't identify with it anymore, so full mental sannyasi is possible. Is that so?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, once we become identified with Brahman, that is to say our body is God, our prana is God, our mind is God, our intellect is God, we are becoming more and more God Maya, full of God, understand?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' We are approaching the end. So this is a Upasana. It is not merely a description of a particular Kosha, Sheeth, but it is a way of approaching God nearer and nearer. And the more we approach God, the less will be the limitation and we are going to, that is called, slowly we are identifying with God more and more. That is called spiritual growth. So call it sannyasa, whatever you call it.
----

== '''QUESTION 2: How the Subtle Fills the Gross''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, question from last class. You had said that when we discussed Pranamaya Kosha, the mind fills the prana, prana fills the Annamaya Prapancha. I am trying to understand how the subtle fills the gross.

'''Maharaj:''' I already discussed this point. What does it mean it fills? If you have a bottle and the bottle is filled with, let us say, Coca-Cola or milk, which is important, bottle or milk?

'''Student B:''' Milk.

'''Maharaj:''' I also told you, you will have to recollect to that. What is it? Every reaction of ours, if has to start, how can I be happy? Even to say I am hungry, I need food. It is another way of saying that I want to get rid of this problem called hunger. So I want to be happy. What happens when I get rid of hunger? It is obstructing my ananda. So I want to do ananda.

So Anandamaya Kosha, as it was the highest officer next to the Prime Minister, it commands, hey you fellow, which one Vijnanamaya Kosha? So find out how can I be happy? This example, I am hungry. Then that Vijnanamaya Kosha knows I am a South Indian. I like hot, hot food. My master likes it. And among that, which hot food will be the best for him? How? By remembering all the past experiences. So that is how it thinks a lot and this is what needs to be done.

And that presents it to the buddhi. At this moment, what is your will? My lord says, morning I have eaten the other thing. Now I want to eat something else. So the mind says your commandment. And then it will call the Pranamaya Kosha. Now activate, go and give a slap to your legs because the legs have to go to that particular shop where it is available.

The very thought that I am going to eat will bring tremendous amount of enthusiasm to every part of the personality. Isn't it? So this Prana influences, energises the lethargic legs. They don't want to go. But that Ananda, I am going to get Ananda. As if owner's happiness is its own happiness. It runs to that place and hands grab hopefully after payment and then it will bring it and then the mind says everything is ready. Now you can sit and eat. So it has to be put inside.He is a devotee. Brahmarpana he will do and then he starts enjoying. The hunger is gone. Then he doesn't have desire and that is called happiness. Removal of desire is called happiness. Desire means unhappiness. Removal of desire is equivalent to happiness. So you see, all the Pancha Koshas are involved. But the highest Kosha is "I want to be happy".

It can come in two forms. So I am not hungry but I fancy a sweetmeat. Another is I am hungry so this would be most enjoyable form of food. Either way, the purpose is to be happy. And also there is subtle difference. Any food will, good healthy food will remove the hunger. Isn't it? But it may not give more happiness. You go on eating bitter gourd juice, you have to drink four times during the food.

So this is the general way Pancha Koshas work. So without Prana, body cannot sustain. Body cannot even live. So as if prana is upholding the body—eṣa pūrṇaḥ—and the condition of the Prana, whether it is enthusiastic or "Thanda Ho Gaya" (Hindi: has gone cold) as they say, depends upon our thoughts. And our thoughts again depends upon our Buddhi, which thoughts are happy thoughts, unhappy thoughts, etc. And the deciding factor also is influenced only by Ananda.

Whether somebody wants to kill or whether somebody wants to commit suicide, they are all influenced by Ananda only. This is the correlation. No Kosha is separate from the other Kosha. Because if one Kosha is absent, Ananda will not be possible. They are one integral whole. You have to understand.
----

== '''QUESTION 3: On Mantras in the Atharva Veda''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, one more question about the Atharva Veda. You had mentioned that there are mantras in the Atharva Veda which the aspirant can use to free himself or herself from problems. You mentioned that mantras can be used instead of disturbing God.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. One must have faith in that. For example, I gave you the example, Sri Suktam. If somebody chants with that faith, Mother's grace will be there. Definitely it will come.

'''Student B:''' But isn't the repetition of mantra also praying to God, Maharaj?

'''Maharaj:''' You put it whatever way you like. We have some need. That need should be removed. That can be achieved, whether it is a ritual or puja or chanting. There are also other ways. You can join an office and work for them. That is also another way. So the point is even Vedic mantras have that power to fulfil our desires. That is the point.

So in Atharva Veda, there are so many mantras and also what is called medicinal plants etc. are indicated. We are not bothering about them. And some of the mantras are also what you call black magic mantras. I want to get rid of this fellow. I want to kill this fellow or I want to bring this fellow under my thumb. All these things are mentioned there because people with various problems require some solution.
----

== '''QUESTION 4: On Panchakosha Viveka''' ==
'''Student C:''' The Panchakosha Viveka is more of a theoretical knowledge, and while Panchakosha as it is here in the Taittiriya Upanishad, this is really the practice part of it, Upasana part of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I am thoroughly confused by your question.

'''Student C:''' Panchakosha Viveka, in having Neti Neti, not this not this, is actually one way where we try and meditate.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no. There is no such. Panchakosha Viveka is a very practical yoga. When a person says "I am not the body", he must feel "I am not the body" or the body is not the highest truth.

'''Student C:''' You also said that you do not go to the next step until you have actually completed the first step.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. That is involved there. There are now two separate things called Panchakosha. Discrimination between five Koshas and practising each one separately. There is no such division. To know that I have to go to this place, there only I will get what I want. Is it theoretical or practical?

'''Student C:''' Practical and theoretical.
----

== '''QUESTION 5: On the Analogy of the Bird''' ==
'''Student C:''' This analogy given to the bird, just the maha pucchaṃ pratiṣṭhā. You have been saying the wing and the legs are taken together. Is that right?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no. It is the whole body is conceived. Just as when we are identifying with this physical body, are you identifying with the whole body or part of the body?

'''Student C:''' Whole body.

'''Maharaj:''' Similarly, we are also identifying, albeit unconsciously, with the Pranamaya Kosha. So when I am breathing in, that is Apana. When I am breathing out, it is a Prana. When I am digesting, it is one particular Prana. When it is distributing, it is one particular Prana. When something is thrown out which is not suitable, that is one particular Prana. So we are not thinking them in their separate functions and parts. Simply collective name Prana is the one.

Without Prana, the body cannot sustain. That means if any part of the Prana is not working, for example, if Apana Prana is not functioning, then you won't sweat, you can't vomit, you can't go to the toilet. What would be the condition of you if you cannot do that?

'''Student C:''' [indistinct]

'''Maharaj:''' So we have to understand that God only is digesting our food. God is only distributing the energy to every part. So without that Prana Brahma, it is impossible even for the body to sustain. Similarly, what makes the Prana really tick as they call it? It is only the thoughts. And what makes the thoughts really tick? It is the Shraddha. Whatever you believe, that alone you will do. You will never do anything which you really do not believe.

Finally, the purpose of everything is to be happier. This is the answer.

'''Student C:''' When you ascend one step to other, you never ever fall back to a lower one do we?

'''Maharaj:''' Once you know higher Ananda, you will never again desire lower Ananda.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 73 Ch2 4-5.1 on 08 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-24T22:15:53Z

DanielM:

'''TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD''' '''Question & Answer Session''' ''8 October 2025''
----

== '''QUESTION 1: On Vijnanamaya Kosha and Mental Renunciation''' ==
'''Student A:''' When we have successfully reached Vijnanamaya Kosha, is that also the same point that we are able to fully renounce our mind? Because that is now the Manomaya Kosha and we don't identify with it anymore, so full mental sannyasi is possible. Is that so?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, once we become identified with Brahman, that is to say our body is God, our prana is God, our mind is God, our intellect is God, we are becoming more and more God Maya, full of God, understand?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' We are approaching the end. So this is a Upasana. It is not merely a description of a particular Kosha, Sheeth, but it is a way of approaching God nearer and nearer. And the more we approach God, the less will be the limitation and we are going to, that is called, slowly we are identifying with God more and more. That is called spiritual growth. So call it sannyasa, whatever you call it.
----

== '''QUESTION 2: How the Subtle Fills the Gross''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, question from last class. You had said that when we discussed Pranamaya Kosha, the mind fills the prana, prana fills the Annamaya Prapancha. I am trying to understand how the subtle fills the gross.

'''Maharaj:''' I already discussed this point. What does it mean it fills? If you have a bottle and the bottle is filled with, let us say, Coca-Cola or milk, which is important, bottle or milk?

'''Student B:''' Milk.

'''Maharaj:''' I also told you, you will have to recollect to that. What is it? Every reaction of ours, if has to start, how can I be happy? Even to say I am hungry, I need food. It is another way of saying that I want to get rid of this problem called hunger. So I want to be happy. What happens when I get rid of hunger? It is obstructing my ananda. So I want to do ananda.

So Anandamaya Kosha, as it was the highest officer next to the Prime Minister, it commands, hey you fellow, which one Vijnanamaya Kosha? So find out how can I be happy? This example, I am hungry. Then that Vijnanamaya Kosha knows I am a South Indian. I like hot, hot food. My master likes it. And among that, which hot food will be the best for him? How? By remembering all the past experiences. So that is how it thinks a lot and this is what needs to be done.

And that presents it to the buddhi. At this moment, what is your will? My lord says, morning I have eaten the other thing. Now I want to eat something else. So the mind says your commandment. And then it will call the Pranamaya Kosha. Now activate, go and give a slap to your legs because the legs have to go to that particular shop where it is available.

The very thought that I am going to eat will bring tremendous amount of enthusiasm to every part of the personality. Isn't it? So this Prana influences, energises the lethargic legs. They don't want to go. But that Ananda, I am going to get Ananda. As if owner's happiness is its own happiness. It runs to that place and hands grab hopefully after payment and then it will bring it and then the mind says everything is ready. Now you can sit and eat. So it has to be put inside.He is a devotee. Brahmarpana he will do and then he starts enjoying. The hunger is gone. Then he doesn't have desire and that is called happiness. Removal of desire is called happiness. Desire means unhappiness. Removal of desire is equivalent to happiness. So you see, all the Pancha Koshas are involved. But the highest Kosha is "I want to be happy".

It can come in two forms. So I am not hungry but I fancy a sweetmeat. Another is I am hungry so this would be most enjoyable form of food. Either way, the purpose is to be happy. And also there is subtle difference. Any food will, good healthy food will remove the hunger. Isn't it? But it may not give more happiness. You go on eating bitter gourd juice, you have to drink four times during the food.

So this is the general way Pancha Koshas work. So without Prana, body cannot sustain. Body cannot even live. So as if prana is upholding the body—eṣa pūrṇaḥ—and the condition of the Prana, whether it is enthusiastic or "Thanda Ho Gaya" (Hindi: has gone cold) as they say, depends upon our thoughts. And our thoughts again depends upon our Buddhi, which thoughts are happy thoughts, unhappy thoughts, etc. And the deciding factor also is influenced only by Ananda.

Whether somebody wants to kill or whether somebody wants to commit suicide, they are all influenced by Ananda only. This is the correlation. No Kosha is separate from the other Kosha. Because if one Kosha is absent, Ananda will not be possible. They are one integral whole. You have to understand.
----

== '''QUESTION 3: On Mantras in the Atharva Veda''' ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, one more question about the Atharva Veda. You had mentioned that there are mantras in the Atharva Veda which the aspirant can use to free himself or herself from problems. You mentioned that mantras can be used instead of disturbing God.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. One must have faith in that. For example, I gave you the example, Sri Suktam. If somebody chants with that faith, Mother's grace will be there. Definitely it will come.

'''Student B:''' But isn't the repetition of mantra also praying to God, Maharaj?

'''Maharaj:''' You put it whatever way you like. We have some need. That need should be removed. That can be achieved, whether it is a ritual or puja or chanting. There are also other ways. You can join an office and work for them. That is also another way. So the point is even Vedic mantras have that power to fulfil our desires. That is the point.

So in Atharva Veda, there are so many mantras and also what is called medicinal plants etc. are indicated. We are not bothering about them. And some of the mantras are also what you call black magic mantras. I want to get rid of this fellow. I want to kill this fellow or I want to bring this fellow under my thumb. All these things are mentioned there because people with various problems require some solution.
----

== '''QUESTION 4: On Panchakosha Viveka''' ==
'''Student C:''' The Panchakosha Viveka is more of a theoretical knowledge, and while Panchakosha as it is here in the Taittiriya Upanishad, this is really the practice part of it, Upasana part of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I am thoroughly confused by your question.

'''Student C:''' Panchakosha Viveka, in having Neti Neti, not this not this, is actually one way where we try and meditate.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no. There is no such. Panchakosha Viveka is a very practical yoga. When a person says "I am not the body", he must feel "I am not the body" or the body is not the highest truth.

'''Student C:''' You also said that you do not go to the next step until you have actually completed the first step.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. That is involved there. There are now two separate things called Panchakosha. Discrimination between five Koshas and practising each one separately. There is no such division. To know that I have to go to this place, there only I will get what I want. Is it theoretical or practical?

'''Student C:''' Practical and theoretical.
----

== '''QUESTION 5: On the Analogy of the Bird''' ==
'''Student C:''' This analogy given to the bird, just the maha pucchaṃ pratiṣṭhā. You have been saying the wing and the legs are taken together. Is that right?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no. It is the whole body is conceived. Just as when we are identifying with this physical body, are you identifying with the whole body or part of the body?

'''Student C:''' Whole body.

'''Maharaj:''' Similarly, we are also identifying, albeit unconsciously, with the Pranamaya Kosha. So when I am breathing in, that is Apana. When I am breathing out, it is a Prana. When I am digesting, it is one particular Prana. When it is distributing, it is one particular Prana. When something is thrown out which is not suitable, that is one particular Prana. So we are not thinking them in their separate functions and parts. Simply collective name Prana is the one.

Without Prana, the body cannot sustain. That means if any part of the Prana is not working, for example, if Apana Prana is not functioning, then you won't sweat, you can't vomit, you can't go to the toilet. What would be the condition of you if you cannot do that?

'''Student C:''' [indistinct]

'''Maharaj:''' So we have to understand that God only is digesting our food. God is only distributing the energy to every part. So without that Prana Brahma, it is impossible even for the body to sustain. Similarly, what makes the Prana really tick as they call it? It is only the thoughts. And what makes the thoughts really tick? It is the Shraddha. Whatever you believe, that alone you will do. You will never do anything which you really do not believe.

Finally, the purpose of everything is to be happier. This is the answer.

'''Student C:''' When you ascend one step to other, you never ever fall back to a lower one do we?

'''Maharaj:''' Once you know higher Ananda, you will never again desire lower Ananda.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.14 Lecture 144 on 05 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-10T13:19:22Z

DanielM:

== On the Degradation of Intelligence in Kali Yuga and God Realization ==
'''Student A:''' Two questions. One, the calibre of people in general during the Vedic age is very high. You've mentioned that. But generation after generation, it seems the intelligence is degrading, which is what will happen in future also.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' At the same time, Thakur has mentioned that it is easier to realise God in the Kali Yuga.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' Does it mean that God also adjusts his expectations according to the degrading times?

'''Maharaj:''' Let me tell you, he has no choice. Otherwise, he is not going to get a single disciple.

Once, I was teaching Gita to somebody. There were 5-6 students were there. Somebody remarked, "Only 5-6 students." I told them, "You don't have intelligence, very low intelligence. I am much much better than Krishna. He had only one disciple. And later on, he told, 'I forgot the whole lot.'"

What I am trying to tell you is that who created all these Yugas? And every Yuga, the intelligence is becoming polluted, corrupted, impure. Isn't it? By whose will?

'''Student A:''' By the Divine Will.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. So, since it is His will, he also has to show us the path. So, that is why it is said in Satya Yuga and Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga —people have to do, in Satya Yuga, they have to do, what is called, head down, legs up, Sirsasana Tapasya. In Treta Yuga, they have to do lot of these Yagnas, Yagas, like Vishwamitra, etc. In Dvapara Yuga , they have to do lot of these, what is called, duties for Varnashram Dharma.

And in Kali Yuga, everything got so mixed up. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Hare Rama,

harer nāma harer nāma

harer nāmaiva kevalam

kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva

nāsty eva gatir anyathā (Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā Ch 6.242)

So, he said, but sincerely, longingly, like a child praying to God, if one calls upon God, then that would be the easiest. But when you say it is easiest way, that can be grave mistake. Just as it is so difficult to perform Tapasya, to perform Yagna Yagas and to do Karma Yoga and all those, even to take the name of God is extremely difficult.

So, Ramakrishna offered, "You take my name morning and evening, dawn and dusk," to whom? (Girish) And he said, "I don't know in what condition I will be. So, I am not going to do it. I can't tell you a lie."

"Alright, at least once, no. At least while you are taking food."

He said, "Many times I have taken food without noticing what I am doing."

Finally, Ramakrishna said, "Alright, you practise Sharanagati Bhava."

Then, Girish Chandra Gosh said immediately, "Practise the path Sharanagati." So, it is not that easy.

== On the Purpose of Religion and Comparative Study ==
'''Student A:''' Next question, the purpose of every religion, I understand, is the purification of mind.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct

'''Student A:''' So, if a person is really after leading a religious life or spiritual life, then he or she would be just sincere about purifying the mind. There wouldn't be any time or leisure to think about or comparison with other religions.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct, should not.

'''Student A:''' So, if I see somebody talking about religion or something, it just means, does it mean that person is really not spiritual?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely no. Even YouTube is talking all about spirituality. Have you seen YouTube getting Moksham? Look at the character of the person always. Look how much our character has changed. That is the most important.

'''Student A:''' When does it become really necessary to learn about, at least fundamentally, about other philosophies? Today you mentioned Madhavacharya.

'''Maharaj:''' You see, what I am telling, when I am talking about philosophies, if a person is intellectually fit and has plenty of time they can devote, then that is a good way of keeping the mind pure, that's all. But otherwise, take the essential essence of their teachings, which are all to be found in our own Thakur and Maa. You don't need to go anywhere. Meditate upon this.

Today, I have talked so much about Swamiji's interpretation of all this. Where else do you get this kind of interpretation? You go to traditional level, Brahma Sathyam, Jaganmithya, Jaganmithya. All these things, they go on talking, wearing you, everybody down. Including the microphones also get tired. Mobile phones also get tired. But look at this, only positive thought. No distraction, no illusion. More and more revelation after.

== On the Discordance Between Mind and Body in Sadhana ==
'''Student B:''' Is there a kind of a time phase in the sadhaka's life where there is a bit of a discordance, that on a mind level you can feel very good, very strong in your high thoughts, however, the body action, it kind of lags behind, it doesn't follow quite the same note. Is there a discordance?

'''Maharaj:''' No, I don't call it discordance. We have to bring up the reaction slowly, slowly to our ideal. What you are talking, this is my ideal. But ideal is always higher, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, that is true.

'''Maharaj:''' So, our body, mind, both are in harmony. So, it is not that the mind is high and the body is low. That never happens. Both go in the same way. So, we have to slowly progress. Do whatever efforts we can do. That is the only way. There is no other way.

== On Contemplation ==
'''Student B:''' We are going through this Upasana Vidya. We are learning so much about contemplation. Can contemplation itself be thought of as a worship?

'''Maharaj:''' Let me define. What is contemplation? Whatever enlarges our vision, takes us nearer to Reality, that alone deserves the name contemplation.

== On Protecting Spiritual Practice with Discipline ==
'''Student B:''' Initially there is a lot that we must be protecting ourselves, the spiritual plant, be fenced with very strong fencing. And what would that in reality mean? What will that fence be?

'''Maharaj:''' That would be, once we decide about certain routine, stick to it like super glue. Everybody is a [dilly-dallier?]. When they feel like, they attend the class. When they feel like, they do a little japam. When they feel like, they do a little charity. When they feel like, they will do something. But there is no consistency there.

'''Student B:''' But Maharaj Ji, why is so? Because I am struggling.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, forget about why and all those things. We have discussed it so many times. You take, make a routine and stick to it. Try to not deviate. That is the way.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.14 Lecture 143 on 04 October 2025 Q&A

2025-10-06T15:59:19Z

DanielM:

== Q&A: The Manifestations of Brahman and the Teaching of the Three Fires ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, in the first section, when Gārhapatya Agni instructed, there was mention about Prana, Kam and Kham. But later on, four other things are mentioned, four other manifestations are mentioned.

'''Maharaj:''' First teaching was Prana, Kam, Kham. So I know Prana, but I did not know that Kam and Kham are the same. Kam is Brahman, Kham is Brahman, both are Brahman. Kam means Vishayananda, Kham means Brahmananda.

So what is Vishayananda? There is no separate Ananda called Vishayananda. When they say, you go to the Ganges river and directly take the water and drink, touch, bathe and then you come home and then you open the tap and then you use the same water. So what is the difference? Here you are directly touching the sacred river. Here it is limited by the pipe work.

So our mind is the limiting factor—time, space and causation. So Kam is limited happiness, Kham is unlimited happiness, but Kam is nothing but the same unlimited happiness available manifest through limited instances.

'''Student A:''' The three, they got translated into four in the later section. Upakosala is talking about twelve manifestations, four from each Agni.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct, four into three. Each Agni taught four parts of Brahman, that is one part of Brahman divided into four sub-parts.

'''Student A:''' How did that Prana, Kam and Kham that got translated into Prithvi and then the other three?

'''Maharaj:''' They are all manifestations of the Pancha Bhutas in short. For that we have to go to earlier talks and say the same Brahman is manifesting as Saguna Brahman and Saguna, these are all manifestations of the Saguna Brahman.

What I said towards the last of my talk today, whatever you see, nothing is excluded. You show me other than these twelve, you will not see anything. So everything is the manifestation of Brahman only.

'''Student A:''' Maharaj, each of these three Agni, Devatas, they have listed their manifestations in four different ways. Is it proper to understand that Devatas themselves, they realised their divinity through these four manifestations and that's what they are preaching?

'''Maharaj:''' They are self-revealing themselves. Remember, the same Saguna Brahman is manifesting in the fire. Whom is Upakosala really contemplating serving three fires? And same thing Satyakāma Jabala was also doing, tending to the fires.

One side he was looking after the cows and the other side, morning, evening, what was he doing? Serving the fires! And who taught him that one? The teacher must have taught him. Those details are not there. Otherwise how he should do, why he should do, those answers we do not get. Same thing here also. Only instead of four fires, four different forms, here we get three different forms.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.10 Lecture 140 on 21 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T19:54:32Z

DanielM:

== Question: Understanding kaṃ brahma and khaṃ brahma ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, in today's class the khaṃ brahma that you have mentioned, where it is mentioned twice. I just want to make sure I got it correct. The first khaṃ brahma refers to the external manifestation of akasha?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no, first, first, first, kaṃ and khaṃ. Just like there are two alphabets, ka and kha. kaṃ k-a-ṃ, khaṃ k-h-a-ṃ.

'''Student A:''' Ok, and the first one means the external space Maharaj, external manifestation?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, kaṃ means Sukham. In Vedantic terminology, kaṃ means Sukham. Sukham means Joy. Joy means objective enjoyment, limited enjoyment, objective. Every objective enjoyment is a limited enjoyment.

'''Student A:''' And the second kha, khaṃ?

'''Maharaj:''' kha means Akasha, but here Shankaracharya clarifies it very beautifully. So the Akasha that we know as one of the five elements, Panchabhuta, is it Brahman or is it an effect? It is an effect, and an effect is always considered in Vedanta as limited. And that which is limited can never be Brahman, because Brahman is completely unlimited. So we have to understand it in a different way.

Then this Akasha word is used three times: BAHYA AKASHA, CHITTA AKASHA and CHIT AKASHA. Here it is referring to the CHIT AKASHA. CHIT AKASHA is Brahman and therefore it is Brahman. But what is the point here?

We are thinking if we are eating a sweet, my enjoyment is coming from this sweet. So long as we think our happiness is coming from an object, the object becomes Brahman. You understand? Without that object, no enjoyment. When we understand no object can give us happiness, it only removes the obstruction between my own Ananda and myself. That is called Knowledge, then it becomes Brahmananda.

To rephrase, if we think that happiness is coming through the instrumentality of an external object, it is called kaṃ. When we understand it is coming from within ourselves as our own nature is coming out, that is called khaṃ.

'''Student A:''' So in the five Anandas that you have explained to us Maharaj, from Vishayananda until Dharmananda.

'''Maharaj:''' There are Karyanandas, limited Anandas. Every limited Ananda should not be equated with Brahman.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.10 Lecture 140 on 21 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T19:41:43Z

DanielM:

== Question: Understanding kaṃ brahma and khaṃ brahma ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, in today's class the khaṃ brahma that you have mentioned, where it is mentioned twice. I just want to make sure I got it correct. The first khaṃ brahma refers to the external manifestation of akasha?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no, first, first, first, kaṃ and khaṃ. Just like there are two alphabets, ka and kha. kaṃ k-a-ṃ, khaṃ k-h-a-ṃ.

'''Student A:''' Ok, and the first one means the external space Maharaj, external manifestation?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, kaṃ means Sukham. In Vedantic terminology, kaṃ means Sukham. Sukham means Joy. Joy means objective enjoyment, limited enjoyment, objective. Every objective enjoyment is a limited enjoyment.

'''Student A:''' And the second kha, khaṃ?

'''Maharaj:''' kha means Akasha, but here Shankaracharya clarifies it very beautifully. So the Akasha that we know as one of the five elements, Panchabhuta, is it Brahman or is it an effect? It is an effect, and an effect is always considered in Vedanta as limited. And that which is limited can never be Brahman, because Brahman is completely unlimited. So we have to understand it in a different way.

Then this Akasha word is used three times: BAHYA AKASHA, CHITTA AKASHA and CHID AKASHA. Here it is referring to the CHID AKASHA. CHID AKASHA is Brahman and therefore it is Brahman. But what is the point here?

We are thinking if we are eating a sweet, my enjoyment is coming from this sweet. So long as we think our happiness is coming from an object, the object becomes Brahman. You understand? Without that object, no enjoyment. When we understand no object can give us happiness, it only removes the obstruction between my own Ananda and myself. That is called Knowledge, then it becomes Brahmananda.

To rephrase, if we think that happiness is coming through the instrumentality of an external object, it is called kaṃ. When we understand it is coming from within ourselves as our own nature is coming out, that is called khaṃ.

'''Student A:''' So in the five Anandas that you have explained to us Maharaj, from Vishayananda until Dharmananda.

'''Maharaj:''' There are Karyanandas, limited Anandas. Every limited Ananda should not be equated with Brahman.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.9-10 Lecture 139 on 20 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T13:52:08Z

DanielM:

=== Question 1: The Guru's Path and the Disciple's Realization ===
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, every Rishi has that line of thought process, or contemplation, and towards realisation, and that seems to have been passed on to the disciples exactly the same way. Satyakama, even though he was not physically present with the Guru, but he received exactly the same set of contemplation.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' And his Guru [...], is that the case always Maharaj, universally?

'''Maharaj:''' You see, Shankaracharya was following which path?

'''Student A:''' Advaitha path.

'''Maharaj:''' Jnanamargha, and he taught his disciples what?

'''Student A:''' Same thing.

'''Maharaj:''' Christians teach?

'''Student A:''' Lord Jesus Christ.

'''Maharaj:''' So you see, what a person understands as the path. He alone can tell about that path. How can he tell about some other path of which he is completely ignorant, you see? But that is not the complete answer, really speaking. I tell you what is it. When a person realises Brahman, whether be a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, or anybody else, after realisation, who speaks?

'''Student A:''' Brahman alone.

'''Maharaj:''' I am giving you a concrete example. Vijayakrishna Goswami was so close to Sri Ramakrishna, but he did not initiate Vijayakrishna Goswami. Vijayakrishna Goswami got initiation from some other Guru. Not from Sri Ramakrishna. And Sri Ramakrishna did not initiate Yogen Maharaj.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' You know why?

'''Student A:''' Because he was a disciple of holy mother.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no. "You fellow, you insulted me. You tested me whether I was going to my wife. I will not initiate you. So you have to go to her and if she forgives you and initiates you, you enjoy the fun."

Because Yogen Maharaj's heart is so tender, so he wants him to realise Divine Mother's grace through holy mother. And his whole life he dedicated. That's why Holy Mother wept when Yogen Maharaj died. [...] used to recollect if some devotee gives four annas to Yogen, he says "This will come in good use when my mother goes on pilgrimage." He never spent for himself. Actually he died as a result of his severe austerities.

Anyway, the point is a Guru can teach only through the same path through which path he had attained perfection, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Only exception is Avatara Purusha. Avatara Purusha cannot teach anybody. And the interesting thing is, no Avatara Purusha had ever taught Jnana Marga as the important path. Rama, Sharanagati, Krishna Sharanagati.

'''Student A:''' Karma Yoga.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no, "sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ" (BG 18:66) Self effort is absolutely limited. One cannot get the unlimited by the limited. That is the message. But through the limited one can obtain the grace of God which can make him totally unlimited. That is the message. Sri Ramakrishan taught Sharanagati, "Tasmat tvam-eva sharanam, mama dina-bandho". Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. All Avatars, Jesus Christ, "Let thy will be done." Muslim, what does he say? Inshallah. Means what? Allah's will.

And that is the truth. There is nothing called self effort. It is an illusion. Anyway.

'''Student A:''' In the case of Satyakamma Maharaj, he was not present. He was not getting instruction in the normal sense through speech, but through intuition. Which means he was getting instructed by the Guru, Gautama Rishi only, through exactly the same path Gautama Rishi travelled.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' Which means there was Guru residing in himself. So that's what happens with initiation, Maharaj?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Whichever path, if it is Sri Ramakrishna, then he can be Jagadguru. An ordinary person, we can also follow the footsteps of Sri Ramakrishna and Avatara. But you notice that when the disciples of the Acharyas, for them the Acharya becomes greater than God. So in their case, whatever the Acharya says becomes Veda Vakya, Brahma Vakya.

The followers of Advaita, for them God is not great. Shankaracharya is great. That's why the interpretation of Shankaracharya. Krishna Bhagavan as an example is telling, "karmaṇaiva hi sansiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ" (BG 3.20) "People like King Janaka, through Karma Yoga, Nishkama Karma Yoga, attained Siddhi." But that Siddhi was interpreted by Shankaracharya as Jnana Marga Yogyata, fitness for following the path of Knowledge. Not realisation of Brahman.

Krishna Bhagavan himself says, everybody, whoever comes through whichever path "ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyaham, mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ" (BG 4.11) He is telling, and Shankaracharya comes and says "You keep quiet, you don't know what you are talking about." You know, that is why Swami Vivekananda said, this is called text torturing.

Sri Ramakrishna said it is a God's Grace alone which can give Brahmajnana, but God's Grace can come "joto mot toto poth". You understand now? Sri Ramakrishna also taught complete self-surrender to the Divine. Then there would be no difference. I am not there, only you are.

You know what is the difference between a Jnani and a Bhakta? Bhakta says, "You alone are there, I am not there". Jnani says, "You alone are not there, I am there". Aham Brahmasmi.

That is the difference between these two. But if people are sincere, anybody with sincerity will reach the goal. That is the idea.

----

=== Question 2: Worldly Knowledge versus Brahman Knowledge ===
'''Student B:''' The difference between the ordinary, if we go to any professor and if a student masters a theory and go and ask confirmation of theory, in the typical worldly sense, worldly knowledge, professor says, "Yeah, that is correct," plus there is something else he adds on. Typically there is no end to this kind of worldly knowledge, secular knowledge.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Because it is broken knowledge.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student B:''' But in the case of Brahmastana, Gautama Rishi clearly indicated that this is the end. You have completed it. There is nothing more to add.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Nothing is left out. Twice he says, "Nothing is left out". And he did not teach anything. He said, whatever you learned, that is complete. Simply, merely, he gave us. As I explained in today's class, it is only Guru who is manifesting because Guru is Brahman. Brahman is manifesting in the form of these four Adideivika. That's all.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.7-9 Lecture 138 on 14 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T13:18:09Z

DanielM:

No questions.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.5-6 Lecture 137 on 13 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T13:10:10Z

DanielM:

== Question 1: The First and Second Pada as Chit and Sat ==
'''Student A:''' Can you interpret the first pada here as the meditation on Chit aspect of Brahman and the second one on the Sat?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, first contemplation should be on Sat. For the sake of practicality, transactional purpose, you divide the infinite space into four parts, isn't it? My office is towards the eastern direction, so will you start travelling to the western direction? You will reach after infinite amount of time.

What is important we have to understand is first comes space. You want to construct a new house, what is the first consideration? Empty space. It is using the same thing, so first thing is space only. How much space you want? How much? How many rooms you want? Everything depends upon the space. Your civil engineer, what is the first thing he will look into?

'''Student A:''' How much land there is.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahhh, and then only he will design according to how big the bedroom is, etc. Space means manifestation of Brahman as ''ātmana ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ''. And then what is beheld? Bhuloka, Bhuvarloka, Svarloka, Samudra—everything is seated where?

'''Student A:''' In space.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahhh, that is the second one.

So first contemplate on space because everywhere we need space. You want to eat more food, what do you need? You want to think deeply, what do you need?

'''Student A:''' More space.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahhh.

== Question 2: Understanding Ananta - How the Earth is Infinite ==
'''Student B:''' Just wanted to check about the anant part of it. How is the earth understood to be the anant? Is it infinite?

'''Maharaj:''' You see, as we progress in spiritual life what happens? Chitta vaishalyata. We start, or anybody who is really progressing starts identifying, transcending the limits of the one's own individual body mind. This person, then he gets married, he identifies with the family. Then children—of course parents will be there, brothers, sisters will be there, their families will be there. Thereafter, the whole village, my village, my language, my religion—the expansion, expansion.

'''Student B:''' OK, OK.

'''Maharaj:''' Since brahman is infinite, we are travelling towards infinity. Progress is measured in the form how much we have expanded.

'''Student B:''' I thought maybe it is infinite in the sense like we have no idea in terms of how many infinite earth, space... Not earth, but...

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is not meant. My individuality is slowly expanded.

'''Student B:''' Finally, when you are reaching to that Brahman level, then it goes much beyond your family, this, that, whatever,

'''Maharaj:''' Everything.

== Question 3: Swami Vivekananda's Spirit - Brahman or Personality? ==
'''Student C:''' Maharaj, I have read in Swamiji's collection of letters. In the preface there is a comment, where Swamiji said, "Read my letters and you will imbibe my spirit." So here my question is, here the spirit means the Brahman or Swamiji's overall personality including Brahman?

'''Maharaj:''' Swamiji's personality. If you are reading my whatsapp publications, Swami Turiyanandaji was telling "Swamiji ever remained identified with..."?

'''Student C:''' Brahman.

'''Maharaj:''' So there is a realised soul. We are looking at him as a realised soul, but a realised soul looks at himself as what?

'''Student C:''' Brahman.

'''Maharaj:''' Slowly we have to progress. And that's what says, if we can have faith in Swamiji's words with reverence, with Bhakti, if we go on studying, then to the extent we surrender to him, to that extent he enters into us. To the extent you make your room empty, to that extent the light... it is like that.

'''Student C:''' It means everything, correct?

'''Maharaj:''' That is the idea—that I am divine, that understanding becomes expanded. That is the meaning.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 70 Ch2 3-4 on 17 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T11:46:33Z

DanielM:

== Question 1: Consciousness in Deep Sleep and the Nature of the World ==
'''Student A:''' The world exists in our mind, and from there we have on my Pranamayakosha, we have Annamayakosha. But when we are in deep sleep, or we are unconscious. The world does not exist for us. But is it correct to say that Hiranyagarbha still exists, and we are disconnected from that. But it continues, because we are only a part of the sea.

'''Maharaj:''' The answer to your question is, what do you mean by unconscious? We have to get out of this rut called scientific description of what is called mind. According to Vedanta, brain has nothing to do with the mind. So in your deep sleep, are you alive or not?

'''Student A:''' I am alive.

'''Maharaj:''' Are you conscious or not?

'''Student A:''' I am conscious.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, think over it before you answer. You are conscious that "I am my reality", just as when we are in the waking state, "this is my reality". When we are in the dream state, that is my reality. When we are in the deep sleep state, that is our reality.

We are not unconscious of the deep sleep state. But the nature of that deep sleep is just like in darkness, we cannot see anything. There is nothing, no mind. Therefore, even the thought of body doesn't exist. But I am in the state of non-duality, but temporarily non-duality, that awareness is there. Where is this awareness? In the mind.

But what do the modern scientists say? They equate, they don't know the difference between brain and mind. The brain is stunned, made unconscious through anaesthesia or a blow to the head or whatever it be, as if the mind also has become unconscious. We have to forget when we enter into Vedanta, this false concept of the equation between brain and mind. Okay?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Then your question that when we are unconscious, it doesn't arise. There is no time when we are not conscious. You have to ponder over it.

'''Student A:''' Yeah. How does that relate to the idea of Hiranyagarbha? Although I'm not being conscious of...

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, do not worry about what those people say. Consciousness can never become unconscious. Simple. This is why Vedanta wants to tell us what we do not know. Vedanta completely contradicts what the science tells. I have discussed it so many times. Again, I'm bringing that two points here.

Scientists even today believe life was inorganic. That means no prana. Suddenly prana entered. Is it a scientific view or unscientific view? If prana were not to be there potentially, suddenly from somewhere outside can prana come?

'''Student A:''' No, that's unscientific.

'''Maharaj:''' A stupid fellow suddenly becomes very wise. So does that wisdom come from somewhere outside or he was wise but something was blocking. Suddenly it is unblocked and he finds himself wise. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called scientific view. That is the first wrong notion Vedanta wants us to get rid of. Second, science never talks about consciousness. It doesn't know. It wants to measure it in its own scientific terms and that is a wrong way to go about because consciousness is that which goes beyond time-space-causation.

And even practically speaking, suppose you are in deep sleep state, suddenly you come to waking state. How did you happen to come to waking state from the unconscious state?

'''Student A:''' That is the crux that I don't really understand.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, you were never unconscious. Consciousness in one particular state is what we call upon waking up as unconscious. In deep sleep, you never call "I'm in an unconscious state." It is only upon waking up. When we think about it, we say it is unconscious. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Correct. So, forget about scientific notion accept this what we call Vedantic knowledge. Vedantic concept.
----

== Question 2: Understanding the "Thickness" of Annamaya Kosha ==
'''Student B:''' You said that the Annamaya Kosha is the thickest.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Thickest, grossest, most outside cover.

'''Student B:''' So, it is thickest in terms of overcoming it or?

'''Maharaj:''' It is thickest in the terms of. Supposing, I'm giving a small example, don't mind. Suppose there is an ugliest person. In America, they give prizes. First prize to the most ugliest person possible. Suppose this person had put on a beautiful dress. Okay. And thinks himself I'm a very beautiful person. Has he become beautiful person?

'''Student B:''' No. It's like covering.

'''Maharaj:''' And he also knows it. The moment I go to bed, I have to get rid of all these dresses and then soon he enters into that most beautiful state called deep sleep state where ugliness and beauty both disappear at the same time. What I'm trying to tell you is that at this moment, we do not know that we are not the other. We are other than the body. So, consider your body as the temple of God and treat it that way. As you treat a temple.

'''Student B:''' Sure, sure, sure. See, the thickness is not in the terms of the power of being able to overcome because in that way, the Manomaya Kosha and the...

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, you are not listening properly. I have been explaining so easily. Until you make this Annamaya Kosha sacred. The thought that "There is something which is sustaining me", that understanding will not come. So, start first treating your own body as a temple of God. Then simultaneously, everybody, even a mosquito's body is a temple of God and then only as if you climbed a mountain peak and when you reached the top of the peak, then you see there is another mountain. This is only a small branch of that mountain.
----

== Question 3: Tiredness and Prana at Different Times ==
'''Student B:''' Just one more question about the Pranamaya Kosha. So, is it that at different times of the day, is it just purely just because of the avastha that for no rhyme or reason, you know, somebody, we could be feeling more tired like reading a book or concentrating on something. If there's no obvious reason why one could be feeling more tired, that's why.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, I can tell you when a person is not happy, tiredness comes in. That is the pure psychology for you. When a person really knows I am Pranamaya Kosha, that prana will be most sacred. When you are very happy. Body requires some rest. But when you are most of the time happy, even science says that you even if you work for 20 hours out of 24, you will not feel tired.The example they give. [...] For him he says rest is change of work. Sri Ramakrishna used to sleep only two hours.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' Why do we sleep? During class also, people sleep. Why do people sleep? Because that puts them, lulls them. Somebody's voice, hypnotic voice. So, when a person is not happy, he feels tired. If a person is very happy and more happy listening to these spiritual talks, then he will feel why is the talk ending so fast, so quick?

'''Student B:''' Can I just ask Maharaj Ji, is this idea of happiness, can it be also because what I'm saying is that many times there is no actual cause for being unhappy. It can be just that you are battling with certain thoughts, which are not very clear. So, could that be also draining?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, everything is in the thought realm, and those thoughts, some thoughts, we have developed automatically. Samskara we call them.

'''Student B:''' In other words, when something is not very clear, then one can feel tired?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no. When something is boring a person, he feels tired. A scientist, thoughts are not clear, but he is determined to get more knowledge. He is not tired.
----

== Question 4: The Relationship Between Manomaya and Pranamaya Kosha ==
'''Student C:''' We say that Manomaya Kosha is subtler than Pranomaya Kosha.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student C:''' So, some thoughts which are expressed as words or speech or action, they sometimes give prana or give more energy like the activities of interest or they lead to less energy like the activities or things that we don't like to do. And prana also has an action on the other way also. When we have more prana, we feel more happy. We feel like doing. So, it goes both ways.

'''Maharaj:''' Actually, it goes only one way.

'''Student C:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' Only the mind, the thought influences. Every Monday morning, that is why weekdays are called "weak days". Saturday and Sunday are called "weak ends", weekends, and Saturday, Sunday, the clock runs so fast. When does the clock really runs very fast? When a person is very..

'''Student C:''' Happy.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh, that is the secret. It is the root cause, the origin, the cause of the prana is thought.

You analyse. I want, somebody, a dear friend, has invited me to a hotel or first class cook and you will be looking forward for that. And you know somebody else's cooking and that person with great enthusiasm invites you again and again. The moment first invitation comes, your prana sinks lower and lower. Right or wrong? What is it making you like that?

'''Student C:''' Past experience.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. Always higher influences the lower, and it reinforces of course as you said. The experience reinforces. Within interior, subtler, as the cause of pranamaya kosha, is manomaya kosha. Beautiful analysis. I don't know any any psychologist really can analyse like this.

'''Student C:''' In another talk, you have mentioned that the feelings generate the right action and the actions also generate the correct feelings.

'''Maharaj:''' You see, which comes first?

'''Student C:'''Feeling comes more often.

'''Maharaj:''' So, supposing, just as an example, you eat some food. Very common example. By experience, you know, this is very tasty food. It may, it will make me happy. It is this thought which will make you either get the food or gift the food or obtain the food and experience it. That happiness comes now as a result?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And that happiness reinforces the original thought. Not creates the original thought.

'''Student C:''' Yeah. Sure.

'''Maharaj:''' So, the samskara becomes?

'''Student C:''' Stronger.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. That is how when I said like that, feelings reinforce the experience. Experience also again reinforces. This is how we progress from a lower state to a higher state.

'''Student C:''' If we want to, say, develop new better habits and replace the bad samskara.

'''Maharaj:''' It starts again. Bad bad thoughts, bad samskaras. Manomaya kosha. So, it should start only from the? Mind should determine! "I want to overcome this state!" Then it will devise a way. "From today onwards, I will have to do this kind of actions."

It is not the actions which you determine. Actions give you experience. Experience reinforces the samskara and if it is unhappy samskara, nobody wants unhappy samskara. One day or the other, the person has to wake up and say, "since this particular action is leading to unhappiness, I should convert it into happy experience". That which gives to happy experience. Again, it is at the thought level only. That is where willpower comes. Willpower belongs to pranamaya kosha or manomaya kosha?

'''Student C:''' Manomaya kosha

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 70 Ch2 3-4 on 17 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T11:06:40Z

DanielM:

== Question 1: Consciousness in Deep Sleep and the Nature of the World ==
'''Student A:''' The world exists in our mind, and from there we have on my Pranamayakosha, we have Annamayakosha. But when we are in deep sleep, or we are unconscious. The world does not exist for us. But is it correct to say that Hiranyagarbha still exists, and we are disconnected from that. But it continues, because we are only a part of the sea.

'''Maharaj:''' The answer to your question is, what do you mean by unconscious? We have to get out of this rut called scientific description of what is called mind. According to Vedanta, brain has nothing to do with the mind. So in your deep sleep, are you alive or not?

'''Student A:''' I am alive.

'''Maharaj:''' Are you conscious or not?

'''Student A:''' I am conscious.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, think over it before you answer. You are conscious that "I am my reality", just as when we are in the waking state, "this is my reality". When we are in the dream state, that is my reality. When we are in the deep sleep state, that is our reality.

We are not unconscious of the deep sleep state. But the nature of that deep sleep is just like in darkness, we cannot see anything. There is nothing, no mind. Therefore, even the thought of body doesn't exist. But I am in the state of non-duality, but temporarily non-duality, that awareness is there. Where is this awareness? In the mind.

But what do the modern scientists say? They equate, they don't know the difference between brain and mind. The brain is stunned, made unconscious through anaesthesia or a blow to the head or whatever it be, as if the mind also has become unconscious. We have to forget when we enter into Vedanta, this false concept of the equation between brain and mind. Okay?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Then your question that when we are unconscious, it doesn't arise. There is no time when we are not conscious. You have to ponder over it.

'''Student A:''' Yeah. How does that relate to the idea of Hiranyagarbha? Although I'm not being conscious of...

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, do not worry about what those people say. Consciousness can never become unconscious. Simple. This is why Vedanta wants to tell us what we do not know. Vedanta completely contradicts what the science tells. I have discussed it so many times. Again, I'm bringing that two points here.

Scientists even today believe life was inorganic. That means no prana. Suddenly prana entered. Is it a scientific view or unscientific view? If prana were not to be there potentially, suddenly from somewhere outside can prana come?

'''Student A:''' No, that's unscientific.

'''Maharaj:''' A stupid fellow suddenly becomes very wise. So does that wisdom come from somewhere outside or he was wise but something was blocking. Suddenly it is unblocked and he finds himself wise. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called scientific view. That is the first wrong notion Vedanta wants us to get rid of. Second, science never talks about consciousness. It doesn't know. It wants to measure it in its own scientific terms and that is a wrong way to go about because consciousness is that which goes beyond time-space-causation.

And even practically speaking, suppose you are in deep sleep state, suddenly you come to waking state. How did you happen to come to waking state from the unconscious state?

'''Student A:''' That is the crux that I don't really understand.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, you were never unconscious. Consciousness in one particular state is what we call upon waking up as unconscious. In deep sleep, you never call "I'm in an unconscious state." It is only upon waking up. When we think about it, we say it is unconscious. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Correct. So, forget about scientific notion accept this what we call Vedantic knowledge. Vedantic concept.
----

== Question 2: Understanding the "Thickness" of Annamaya Kosha ==
'''Student B:''' You said that the Annamaya Kosha is the thickest.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Thickest, grossest, most outside cover.

'''Student B:''' So, it is thickest in terms of overcoming it or?

'''Maharaj:''' It is thickest in the terms of. Supposing, I'm giving a small example, don't mind. Suppose there is an ugliest person. In America, they give prizes. First prize to the most ugliest person possible. Suppose this person had put on a beautiful dress. Okay. And thinks himself I'm a very beautiful person. Has he become beautiful person?

'''Student B:''' No. It's like covering.

'''Maharaj:''' And he also knows it. The moment I go to bed, I have to get rid of all these dresses and then soon he enters into that most beautiful state called deep sleep state where ugliness and beauty both disappear at the same time. What I'm trying to tell you is that at this moment, we do not know that we are not the other. We are other than the body. So, consider your body as the temple of God and treat it that way. As you treat a temple.

'''Student B:''' Sure, sure, sure. See, the thickness is not in the terms of the power of being able to overcome because in that way, the Manomaya Kosha and the...

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, you are not listening properly. I have been explaining so easily. Until you make this Annamaya Kosha sacred. The thought that "There is something which is sustaining me", that understanding will not come. So, start first treating your own body as a temple of God. Then simultaneously, everybody, even a mosquito's body is a temple of God and then only as if you climbed a mountain peak and when you reached the top of the peak, then you see there is another mountain. This is only a small branch of that mountain.
----

== Question 3: Tiredness and Prana at Different Times ==
'''Student B:''' Just one more question about the Pranamaya Kosha. So, is it that at different times of the day, is it just purely just because of the avastha that for no rhyme or reason, you know, somebody, we could be feeling more tired like reading a book or concentrating on something. If there's no obvious reason why one could be feeling more tired, that's why.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, I can tell you when a person is not happy, tiredness comes in. That is the pure psychology for you. When a person really knows I am Pranamaya Kosha, that prana will be most sacred. When you are very happy. Body requires some rest. But when you are most of the time happy, even science says that you even if you work for 20 hours out of 24, you will not feel tired.The example they give. [...] For him he says rest is change of work. Sri Ramakrishna used to sleep only two hours.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' Why do we sleep? During class also, people sleep. Why do people sleep? Because that puts them, lulls them. Somebody's voice, hypnotic voice. So, when a person is not happy, he feels tired. If a person is very happy and more happy listening to these spiritual talks, then he will feel why is the talk ending so fast, so quick?

'''Student B:''' Can I just ask Maharaj Ji, is this idea of happiness, can it be also because what I'm saying is that many times there is no actual cause for being unhappy. It can be just that you are battling with certain thoughts, which are not very clear. So, could that be also draining?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, everything is in the thought realm, and those thoughts, some thoughts, we have developed automatically. Samskara we call them.

'''Student B:''' In other words, when something is not very clear, then one can feel tired?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no. When something is boring a person, he feels tired. A scientist, thoughts are not clear, but he is determined to get more knowledge. He is not tired.
----

== Question 4: The Relationship Between Manomaya and Pranamaya Kosha ==
'''Student C:''' We say that Manomaya Kosha is subtler than Pranomaya Kosha.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student C:''' So, some thoughts which are expressed as words or speech or action, they sometimes give prana or give more energy like the activities of interest or they lead to less energy like the activities or things that we don't like to do. And prana also has an action on the other way also. When we have more prana, we feel more happy. We feel like doing. So, it goes both ways.

'''Maharaj:''' Actually, it goes only one way.

'''Student C:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' Only the mind, the thought influences. Every Monday morning, that is why weekdays are called "weak days". Saturday and Sunday are called "weak ends" and Saturday, Sunday, the clock runs so fast. When does the clock really runs very fast? When a person is very happy. That is the secret. It is the root cause, the origin, the cause of the prana is thought.

You analyse. I want, somebody, a dear friend has invited me to a hotel or first class cook and you will be looking forward for that and you know somebody else's cooking and that person with great enthusiasm invites you again and again. The moment first invitation comes, your prana sinks lower and lower. Right or wrong? What is it making you like that? Fast experience.

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Always higher influences the lower and it reinforces of course as you said the experience reinforces within interior subtler as the cause of pranamaya kosha is manomaya kosha. Beautiful analysis. I don't know any any psychologist really can analyse like this.

'''Student C:''' In another talk, you have mentioned that the feelings generate the right action and the actions also generate the correct feelings.

'''Maharaj:''' You see, which comes first? Feeling comes more often. So, supposing, just as an example, you eat some food. Very common example. By experience, you know, this is very tasty food. It may, it will make me happy. It is this thought which will make you either get the food or gift the food or obtain the food and experience it. That happiness comes now as a result.

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And that happiness reinforces the original thought. Not creates the original thought.

'''Student C:''' Yeah. Sure. So, the samskara becomes stronger.

'''Maharaj:''' That is how when I said like that feelings reinforce the experience. Experience also again reinforces. This is how we progress from a lower state to a higher state.

'''Student C:''' If we want to say develop new better habits and replace the bad samskara. It starts again. Bad bad thoughts, bad samskaras. Manomaya kosha. So, it should start only from there. Mind should determine. I want to overcome this state. Then it will devise a way. From today onwards, I will have to do this kind of actions.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay. It is not the actions which you determine. Actions give you experience. Experience reinforces the samskara and if it is unhappy samskara, nobody wants unhappy samskara. One day or the other, the person has to wake up and say, since this particular action is leading to unhappiness, I should convert it into happy experience. That which gives to happy experience. Again, it is at the thought level only. That is where willpower comes. Willpower belongs to pranamaya kosha or manomaya kosha.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 69 Ch2 2.4-3 on 10 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T10:17:10Z

DanielM: /* Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj */

== Question 1: Reconciling Self-Realization with Self-Surrender ==
'''Student A:''' The Upanishads are full of this idea of self-realisation and I find it a bit difficult how to reconcile the idea of self-realisation with self-surrender. It seems that sometimes there are at odds with each other.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Sadhana means surrender. Surrender means give up what is not Real and approaching Reality step by step. Another word for it, from the knowledge point of view, it is called Atmanishaya [Atmanishta?]. From the devotee point of view, it is called you surrender yourself to God and the more we surrender, the less we become, and more God enters in. That is called surrender.
----

== Question 2: Upasana - Meditation or Contemplation? ==
'''Student B:''' What I just wanted to clarify, this system of Upasana, is this in the realm of contemplation or is it really the Dhyanam, meditation?

'''Maharaj:''' There is no difference between meditation and contemplation. If your meditation becomes deep, what happens first of all? You will forget your physical body. You forget your pranic body. Then the more you become identified with what you are meditating upon, and what are you meditating upon? God. So, all the panchakoshas slowly become melted away and only God remains in the end.

That is called Upasana. Why is it called Upasana? Upa means near. As you approach nearer to God, then automatically your ideas before approaching God will melt away and you become empty. That is the purpose of meditation, to become one with the object of contemplation.

'''Student B:''' And what I get to understand is. So this increasing knowledge, from moving from one Kosha to another, giving up step by step one anatma principle, and then go to the next one and to the next one. Simultaneously, it looks like this knowing is becoming because you also mentioned there is a transformation happening alongside.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. That is what I have been telling all the time. To know means to become.

'''Student B:''' Now, the question is: Can one every day in the meditation or dhyana, can one not simultaneously do the first step and then do the second and then do the third. So, you are more or less going at each session of your Upasana. Can one go through one after the other in the same session?

'''Maharaj:''' No.

'''Student B:''' Or we should wait?

'''Maharaj:''' So, it is like a school child asking "I will close my eyes and I will understand what college professor is telling, what university professor is telling". It is not a realistic meditation. It is only imagination.

'''Student B:''' Yes, yes. But it is just so wonderful, because a clear methodology is there.

'''Maharaj:''' In any field, not only in spiritual field, in every field.

'''Student B:''' Yes. So, essentially when we are saying this upasana, you are actually concentrating what you have just been teaching.

'''Maharaj:''' Identifying oneself with the higher manifestation of the Self.

'''Student B:''' How would we know when we are ready to go to the next step?

'''Maharaj:''' I told you, I explained to you in this very class. If somebody has become, or progressing towards Annabrahma, his selfishness becomes less, his generosity, his love, his identity with everything in this creation becomes more and more. Otherwise, he or she may be imagining I am becoming Annabrahma. The effects will show but we have to be awake to know whether I am progressing or not. Simply thinking I am progressing, staying where one is, that is not going to be helpful.

'''Student B:''' It is just tempting to go straight to the pranamaya. Only because it looks like there is a facility where it automatically unblocks your know various...

'''Maharaj:''' No, it will not happen. First step, we have to transcend actually. You stand on the ground floor, go on shouting "I am on the first step! I am on the second step! I am on the third step!" What will happen? Mentally, that is what we are shouting.

Important point is somebody has become, let us say, identified with Pranabrahma. In his presence, in her presence, people will be inspired. In other people's, those who are not, their perspiration will grow, not inspiration.

'''Student B:''' Maharaj Ji, would it be fair to assume you know, like some very amazing books or a very great music, you would say that's just simply Medananda is not an effect of Pranamaya Kosha being activated?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, Prana is the very foundation for whichever, every kosha, Prana. If Prana is not there, mind will not work, buddhi will not work, there will be no ananda.
----

== Question 3: How Koshas Limit Our Idea of God ==
'''Student C:''' So Maharaj, in today's class, I will just ask these questions. It seems that the kosha that we are in or identified with at any time, does that kind of limit or determine our idea of God?

'''Maharaj:''' Sure, sure, sure, sure. Whatever we know about ourselves, our concept of God will be exactly the same.

'''Student C:''' So the highest idea of God we can reach within or have within a particular kosha would be at the most the universal aspect of that kosha? Would that be correct to say?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, yes. If I think I am the body, I cannot think of Annabrahma except as a huge human being. That's what Swamiji says, you know, if you ask a cow, its idea of God. It is a huge cow, powerful cow. If you ask an ant, most powerful ant. The concept one has about oneself when it is magnified to a great extent is called God.

'''Student C:''' So that statement, as God grows with us, that's really what this is talking about. And then when Thakur says in the gospel that in this Kali Yoga our body is dependent on food. So he is saying to us that we are mostly identified at the most with the Anna?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Anna means body. Body means related with the body, possessions, relationships, other people's opinions about ourselves, adverse circumstances, favourable circumstances, everything that is physical, external, that which affects our body, that is what is called our level. Where are we? At the body level.
----

== Question 4: Desert Fathers and the Meaning of Spirituality ==
'''Student D:''' Maharaj, a general question. We see spiritual people, especially with Desert Fathers, the more spiritual a person gets, the more human he gets. They are identified with even the most defective or the most sinful, as the Christians put it. They are very human to the core. What does spirituality really mean? Is it just being human fundamentally?

'''Maharaj:''' You see, our understanding of what is called our concept of sinfulness and the Desert Fathers, what they mean by sinfulness, don't presume that what we understand is what they mean.

Swamiji explained during his talks that even Christianity has this idea of involution, that Adam and Eve have forgotten their true nature and to feel that they are human, to feel that they are, that is called the body level, worst body level. What do I mean? Why did Eve cover herself? What is the meaning of this covering?

'''Student D:''' She is the body now.

'''Maharaj:''' Not only body, everybody will not do that. Two children, say three years old boys and girls, most of the time they will be playing naked. Do they cover themselves? The adults want to cover them and they want to uncover themselves, isn't it? Is it the same like young men and women? So, grossest body level, that falling is called fall from the paradise. That is called sin. That is the concept of the Desert Fathers.

Sin means ajnana, which is the root cause. That is why he said they got the fruit of knowledge. Here knowledge means what? Ajnana. And by the way, ajnana is not absence of knowledge, but very positive knowledge, but wrong knowledge, ignorance of who we are.

So, the more these Desert Fathers were advancing in spiritual life, the more they realise how powerful is this ajnana, or what we call Mahamaya. And that is why they are always praying, "O Lord, please remove this," because only through prayer, "mayādhyakṣheṇa prakṛitiḥ sūyate sa-charācharam" (BG 9:10) not only that, "daivī hyeṣhā guṇa-mayī mama māyā duratyayā, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti te" (BG 7:14). Bhagavad Gita says "This maya is mine". Mine means what? I am only manifesting in the form of ajnana to sport with myself. Of course, we do not know that. We think he is playing with us like a cat plays with rats. They are struggling to overcome this maya, which is called satan. That is what they mean by the word sin. And what do we understand by the word sin? There is a vast difference between their understanding and our understanding. The nearer they are approaching, the more they become conscious of the power of the Mahamaya. The more they pray to the Divine Lord.

That is why when other people fall, they become most compassionate because they understand how difficult it is to overcome. Not difficult, it is impossible. Only God's Grace can save us.

'''Student D:''' So, in approach Maharaj, it seems like the real stepping-ladder towards spirituality. So it means the expansion of the consciousness, to become more and more.

'''Maharaj:''' What is the meaning of the expansion of consciousness? The understanding that I am from God, my nature is Divinity. To feel more Divinity is to feel less identity with body, mind, etc. That is what we should understand by the word Consciousness. Knowledge. In other words, Real Knowledge.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.5 Lecture 136 on 07 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T08:39:37Z

DanielM:

= Chandogya Upanishad Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj - September 7, 2025 =

== Question 1: Is There an Order to the Four Parts of Instruction? ==
'''Student A:''' Within these four parts of instructions, is there a krama? Is there an order in which these four are to be followed?

'''Maharaj:''' The Rishi had given this order. It makes no difference. If you follow one order of one part, you are forced to follow the same thing. Supposing you look towards the east. Do you see empty space, or do you see all the sun, the moon, the fire, the Samudra, the Prithvi, the plants? Do you see or you will not see?

'''Student A:''' I will see everything.

'''Maharaj:''' But detailed instructions are given. That marvellous teaching "everything is Brahman" is broken down into these methods. You can in fact use any Krama, you can use. Every order will include all the other three. For example, if you don't have Prana, will you be able to contemplate?

So this is the particular order this particular Rishi has given, but there is no such rule. Some other Rishi may take the fourth one, that is the Prana Devata. So it doesn't matter. Everything includes everything else.
----

== Question 2: The Difference Between Agni Devata and Aditya Devata ==
'''Student A:''' And then the second and third parts, Maharaj, where Agni Devata and Aditya Devata come to teach. What is the chief difference between these two Devatas? They seem synonymous.

'''Maharaj:''' You see, who is being taught? An ignorant person. What is this ignorant person's experience? "I see the sun. I see the moon. I see the fire. I see the Samudra, lightning, lightning, whatever." Do I really see the same thing in everything?

So a relationship is created in enlightened mind, ready mind, that they are all interrelated. Now try to see same Brahman in all these things together. They are interrelated. The moment you say "this is my first brother, this is my second brother, this is my third sister, this is my fourth sister," they all related, same parents, isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' That is how the part leads to the whole. This is what is called unity and diversity. Swami Vivekananda used that word in his Jnana Yoga lectures.
----

== Question 3: Seeing Parts as Whole - All Light as Brahman ==
'''Student B:''' My question is whether we should see the parts as a whole. We have the fire, we have the moon, we have the lightning, the sun, and should we take this as that Brahman is in all light, all light emanates from Brahman?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. You touch any part of a human being's body, you are touching the whole human being. You touch any part of a river, you are touching everything that is called water.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' There is a interrelationship between. It may be a small pool, it may be coming dripping from your pipe in your kitchen, it doesn't matter. Ignorant people, they see only what they are experiencing, nothing beyond that. But thoughtful people will see that "where from this water is coming?" They collected it from a water collection area. Where from this water collection area got the water? From the rains. And where from the, how did the rains come? From the samudra.

Like that, from the lower limitation, we are slowly connecting and we are reaching higher and higher unlimitedness. That is the point here. From first step to second step, third step, etc., these are the aids.
----

== Question 4: Correlation Between Chatushpada Teachings ==
'''Student C:''' See, we learned about Chatushpada here, and also in Mandukya Upanishad we had Chatushpada. So are these correlated?

'''Maharaj:''' No. That is not Chatushpada. That is four states of experience called waking, dream, deep sleep. And fourth is not a real state, but it is given to distinguish it from the other three, which is called Turiyavastha. So there, states of experience are given there. Here, the objects of experience are given. You see the point?

If your sight needs to be corrected, then the doctor prescribes you the correct glasses. So that is what is being described in the Mandukya Upanishad. But what objects you are seeing through this corrected glasses, that is being described here.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.4.1-5 Lecture 135 on 06 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T08:10:48Z

DanielM:

= Chandogya Upanishad Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj - September 6, 2025 =

== Question: The Meaning of the Name Jabala ==
'''Student A:''' So, I'm wondering, you mentioned the meaning of Satyakama, but I'm thinking, what about Jabala? Is there a meaning that we should derive from that name as well to help us with understanding?

'''Maharaj:''' No. That is just a name. But as I mentioned symbolically she must have been a Brahmana woman. First of all a Brahmana man, male, it is very rare to marry a non-Brahmin.

Many people misinterpret. I am following the footsteps of Shankaracharya. It is based upon this one. Of course I have added a few things. This harsh truth especially directly to her own son. Will any prostitute tell to her son, "I am a prostitute and I don't know who your father is"?

Whether anybody will ask, anybody will reply. But this lady fearlessly, truthfully she said. As I mentioned, a Brahmana is supposed to be truthful, but we take it the other way round. A person is a Brahmana only when he speaks the truth. So this lady spoke truth or not?

'''Student A:''' Absolutely.

'''Maharaj:''' She must be a Brahmana. Even taking for granted she was a low caste woman. Even if it is taken also. If this low caste person had spoken truth, automatically we have to consider that person not a low caste person but no less than a Brahmana. The name is only just, there is no meaning in that name. Just like any other name it is there.

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 68 2.3-2.4 on 3 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T07:57:27Z

DanielM: fixes

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Relationship Between Selfishness and Attachment ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, one kind of general question. Relationship between selfishness and attachment. It seems that selfishness is the root cause of attachment.

'''Maharaj:''' I would say the other way. Attachment is the cause of selfishness.

Say suppose you love somebody. You are ready to share whatever you have, that is the characteristic of love. Isn't it? Are you becoming selfish or unselfish?

'''Student A:''' Unselfish.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, then supposing at some point the friendship is broken, your love is broken. What do you become now?

'''Student A:''' Selfish.

'''Maharaj:''' You understand now? The root cause of selfishness is attachment.

Attachment in a way of speaking is identity. If I think I am the body, my attachment will be, no no, to the body. And by some chance I do some spiritual practise and I start identifying, "I am not the body. I am the prana." Immediately what happens? I become completely detached from the body that is called kosha. And as soon as that happens, you become unselfish or selfish?

'''Student A:''' Unselfish.

'''Maharaj:''' Ah, unselfish means you don't give importance, you don't share. You see, attachment means what? Identity. All, even friendships. If you think you are a Hindu, you will be attached to Hindus. That is why as soon as a person gets married, a whole host of attachments spring upon on that person belonging to the opposite party, isn't it?

And forced way. You are forced to be unselfish. Your distant relative's son has come. And you prepared first class dish to your own son. And this bhuta has come or not now? What can you do? You are forced to be?

'''Student A:''' unselfish.

'''Maharaj:''' See, the fun of it. Outside, inside.

So identity is the root cause of all these problems. Whether it is religion, political party, club, whatever it is. Our identity is the root cause.

'''Student A:''' So every bias is an identity?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. If you are attached to your religion, others who follow your religion, good or bad, you will pass favourable judgement over them. Isn't it? Attachment comes only as a result of our identity. First identity, then attachment. Under that attachment, either it will be selfish or unselfish depending upon what I am attached to.

'''Student A:''' Surely. Thank you, Maharaj.
----

== Question 2: Changes in Experience Moving from Annamaya to Pranamaya Kosha ==
'''Student B:''' Pranam, Swamiji. Pranam. Just a couple of questions. First is, as we are doing this kind of Panchakosha dissection, it feels like a dissection. But there is experientially as you move from the Annamaya Kosha to the Pranamaya, so Annabrahma to Pranabrahma Upasana. Is it quite common that you, your nature of dukkha is changed? It is not the dukkha which you experienced before. One should not call it dukkha, but it is like things which you could normally enjoy, like certain serials or movies or whatever, you don't enjoy them at all. Is that something, I don't think someone can class it as dukkha, but it is just that things which you could ordinarily enjoy, you don't...

'''Maharaj:''' You see, it is like this. Whenever you are watching a movie, say you are watching a movie where murder is taking place in the movie. Are you enjoying or not?

'''Student B:''' Used to.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no, no. People enjoy it, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' True, true, very true.

'''Maharaj:''' But if it is an actual event, will they enjoy it?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' So my point is, you can still enjoy everything belonging to the Annamaya Kosha even after moving into the Pranamaya Kosha. But that certain knowledge, "this is not real, this is only like a movie," which makes it even more enjoyable. So the dukkha becomes less effective. That also becomes enjoyable. Because any amount of negative experiences in the movie they will give you, should give you, aesthetic enjoyment, because they are well acted but not real.

So your enjoyment becomes nearer to the reality. But at the same time, your attachment, when you are identifying with Annamaya Kosha is so deep, that will not be there any longer. You will be more loving, more selfless. Everything becomes better, deeper, more pervasive. And your ananda also becomes much more pervasive.

'''Student B:''' So there is a kind of gradual shift in this Adhyatmika experience?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes, once we experience that one, we would not like to go back to the grossest experience. Just like I gave you many times examples. If someone is accustomed to a village, a sweet meat vendor prepared with very gross materials, he will enjoy. But once he moves to the city and gets accustomed to finer types of sweets etc., he would not like, he would not prefer, that earlier type of enjoyments.

What I am trying to tell you in a sense, once we have higher happiness, we will not be attached to the expressions of lower happiness.

'''Student B:''' Correct. Perfect. This is the illustration of this Panchakosha Vivarana. Also reminds me of Thakur's story of the woodcutter in the forest.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct, correct. That is correct.

'''Student B:''' So that is quite a beautiful one to reflect. Maharaji, is this Pranamaya Kosha, it is Upasana particularly, is this a kind of energy consuming as well? I just wanted to understand whether there is an energy consumption. You have referred to it in the last class.

'''Maharaj:''' A person, if he is identified with the Pranamaya Kosha, more prana is available for every function.

'''Student B:''' So it should be less actually. So it should be more energised.

'''Maharaj:''' More energy is available because he is worshipping Pranabrahma. He is going to the very source of prana.

So what happens is, his ananda will increase and this prana also energises his buddhi understanding. His understanding becomes deeper. His capacity to think deeper also increases. So at every higher step, or subtler level, our what is called, in the Taittiriya we are going to get I think in the 7th or 8th anuvaka words called Ananda Mimamsa. So the next higher level of ananda is 100 times more than whatever human being can get.

Apply this in some way to this. I also discussed about 5 levels of ananda: Vishayananda, Medhananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda and Brahmananda. So every inner kosha increases the happiness, the understanding etc. And that is the only way to become detached from the lower. Higher ananda always brings detachment from the lower ananda.

Therefore, therefore, the bodily happiness will become much less important. Because not because he is giving up, because he is getting superior happiness. So detachment becomes much much better actually. It is a beautiful idea. You will have to explore.

'''Student B:''' Just a tiny bit question again on the experiential level that is there, before you can be properly established in the prana, Prana brahma upasana, is there a little threshold period after which like you see much more of your defects, much more of your which you couldn't see earlier? It is actually glaringly obvious, as if your subconscious is completely woken up and you see, "my god, what is this?"

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Because your understanding becomes deeper. So your understanding of all your faults etc. become deeper. Also the good points, positive characters you have, that also becomes we understand.

'''Student B:''' Thank you. Jai Thakur.
----

== Question 3: The Parable of the Bird and the Mast ==
'''Student C:''' Pranams Maharaj. So Maharaj, in today's class you listed like the problems with the effect. So in the context of Thakur's parable of the bird who sits on the mast of a ship and the ship sails? I am wondering if it can be applied here or it makes sense that at every kosha when we take up an upasana, do we after long tapasya meaning of practise, do we come to a point where initially we find that it is actually freeing and as we proceed and we have less limitation, but we still reach a point because that kosha itself is limited, that we reach a point of surrender and then we can go to the next kosha? Is something like that happening at all?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. That mast represents Brahman. So the further we fly or keep distance from Brahman, the more problems will arise. So in a way of speaking we can say the bird has flown to the east, to the south, to the north, to the west. Not finding any shelter, it comes back. The only shelter is Brahman.

Similarly we can apply here. We were thinking that this body is Brahman, but then we understand since it is an effect, an effect is always unreliable. So we fly away, fly into the say annamaya kosha identifying. Then we understand after some time it is unreliable. So we return to that Brahman. But this time the Brahman becomes Prana Brahman.

So at every level, that Brahman is the most important point. The others are expressions. Prana Brahman is Paramatma, but expression of prana is only an effect. Manomaya Brahman is Paramatma, its expressions are thinking, rituals etc. You follow what I am trying to tell you?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Go on contemplating on Brahman, identifying some particular aspect with the Brahman. The result of that is Brahman alone is dependable, reliable. But the other things are only expressions, anatma, karyatva, mithyatva. You understand now?

'''Student C:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' Only when we become convinced, karya should not, mithya should not be depended upon, can we say our mind automatically runs to the mast which is Brahman. So ultimately even Anandamaya Kosha also, that Anandamaya Kosha is only a manifestation of Brahman, not Brahman. Then Brahman alone is the root cause.

So that is how we fly to the Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha. Finally we rest in Brahman. And that is the end of it. So far as I understand, this is the meaning of this parable of Sri Ramakrishna.

'''Student C:''' Thank you Maharaj. So really no freedom, that's what we eventually understand. At every level there is always some illusion or sort of freedom, but truly speaking there isn't.

'''Maharaj:''' There is no freedom because of dependence. If you can be happy without depending upon anything, then you are free. But if you are thinking, "when I eat I am free, when I drink I am free, when I get married I am free," then that is why life is full of these undependencies. That is the problem.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 68 2.3-2.4 on 3 September 2025 Q&A

2025-10-04T07:21:51Z

DanielM: /* Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj */

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Relationship Between Selfishness and Attachment ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, one kind of general question. Relationship between selfishness and attachment. It seems that selfishness is the root cause of attachment.

'''Maharaj:''' I would say the other way. Attachment is the cause of selfishness.

Say suppose you love somebody. You are ready to share whatever you have with that, is the characteristic of love. Isn't it? Are you becoming selfish or unselfish?

'''Student A:''' Unselfish.

'''Maharaj:''' Then supposing at some point the friendship is broken, your love is broken. What do you become now?

'''Student A:''' Selfish.

'''Maharaj:''' You understand now? The root cause of selfishness is attachment.

Attachment in a way of speaking is identity. If I think I am the body, my attachment will be, no no, to the body. And by some chance I do some spiritual practise and I start identifying, "I am not the body. I am the prana." Immediately what happens? I become completely detached from the body that is called kosha. And as soon as that happens, you become unselfish or selfish?

'''Student A:''' Unselfish.

'''Maharaj:''' Unselfish means you don't give importance, you don't share. You see, attachment means what? Identity. All, even friendships. If you think you are a Hindu, you will be attached to Hindus. That is why as soon as a person gets married, a whole host of attachments spring upon that person belonging to the opposite party, isn't it?

And forced way. You are forced to be unselfish. Your distant relative's son is coming, has come. And you prepared first class dish to your own son. And this bhuta has come or not now? What can you do? You are forced to be unselfish. See the fun of it. Outside, inside.

So identity is the root cause of all these problems. Whether it is religion, political party, club, whatever it is. Our identity is the root cause. Every bias is an identity.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' If you are attached to your religion, others who follow your religion, good or bad, you will pass favourable judgement over them. Isn't it? Attachment comes only as a result of our identity. First identity, then attachment. Under that attachment, either it will be selfish or unselfish depending upon what I am attached to.

'''Student A:''' Surely. Thank you, Maharaj.
----

== Question 2: Changes in Experience Moving from Annamaya to Pranamaya Kosha ==
'''Student B:''' Pranam, Swamiji. Pranam. Just a couple of questions. First is, as we are doing this kind of Panchakosha dissection, it feels like a dissection. But there is experientially as you move from the Annamaya Kosha to the Pranamaya, so Annabrahma to Pranabrahma Upasana. So is it quite common that you, your nature of dukkha is changed? It is not the dukkha which you experienced before. One should not call it dukkha, but it is like things which you could normally enjoy, like certain serials or movies or whatever, you don't enjoy them at all. Is that something, I don't think someone can class it as dukkha, but it is just that things which you could ordinarily enjoy, you don't...

'''Maharaj:''' You see, it is like this. Whenever you are watching a movie, say you are watching a movie where murder is taking place in the movie. Are you enjoying or not?

'''Student B:''' Used to.

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, no, no. People enjoy it, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' True, true, very true.

'''Maharaj:''' But if it is an actual event, will they enjoy it?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' So my point is, you can still enjoy everything belonging to the Annamaya Kosha even after moving into the Pranamaya Kosha. But that certain knowledge, "this is not real, this is only like a movie," which makes it even more enjoyable. So the dukkha becomes less effective. That also becomes enjoyable. Because any amount of negative experiences in the movie, they will give you, should give you aesthetic enjoyment, because they are well acted but not real.

So your enjoyment becomes nearer to the reality. But at the same time, your attachment, when you are identifying with Annamaya Kosha is so deep, that will not be there any longer. You will be more loving, more selfless. Everything becomes better, deeper, more pervasive. And your ananda also becomes much more pervasive.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Once we experience that one, we would not like to go back to the processed experience. Just like I gave you many times examples. If someone is accustomed to a village, a sweet meat vendor prepared with very gross materials, he will enjoy. But once he moves to the city and gets accustomed to finer types of sweets etc., he would not like, he would not prefer that earlier type of enjoyments.

What I am trying to tell you in a sense, once we have higher happiness, we will not be attached to the expressions of lower happiness.

'''Student B:''' Correct. Perfect. This is the illustration of this Panchakosha Vivarana. Also reminds me of Thakur's story of the woodcutter in the forest.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct, correct. That is correct.

'''Student B:''' So that is quite a beautiful one to reflect. Maharaj, is this Pranamaya Kosha, it is Upasana particularly, is this a kind of energy consuming as well? I just wanted to understand whether there is an energy consumption. You have referred to it in the last class.

'''Maharaj:''' A person, if he is identified with the Pranamaya Kosha, more prana is available for every function. So it should be less actually. So it should be more energised. More energy is available because he is worshipping Pranabrahma. He is going to the very source of prana.

So what happens is, his ananda will increase. And this prana also energises his buddhi understanding. His understanding becomes deeper. His capacity to think deeper also increases. So at every higher step or subtler level, our what is called, in the Taittiriya we are going to get I think in the 7th or 8th anvaka words called Anandamimamsa. So the next higher level of ananda is 100 times more than whatever human being can get.

Apply this in some way to this. I also discussed about 5 levels of ananda: Medhananda, Vishayananda, Medhananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda and Brahmananda. So every inner kosha increases the happiness, the understanding etc. And that is the only way to become detached from the higher ananda. Always brings detachment from the lower ananda.

Therefore, therefore, the bodily happiness will become much less important. Because not because he is giving up, because he is getting superior happiness. So detachment becomes much much better actually. It is a beautiful idea. You will have to explore.

'''Student B:''' Just a tiny bit question again on the experiential level that is there, before you can be properly established in the prana, Prana brahma upasana, is there a little threshold period after which like you see much more of your defects, much more of your which you couldn't see earlier? It is actually glaringly obvious, as if your subconscious is completely woken up and you see, "my god, what is this?"

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. Because your understanding becomes deeper. So your understanding of all your faults etc. become deeper. Also the good points, positive characters you have, that also becomes we understand.

'''Student B:''' Thank you. Jai Thakur.
----

== Question 3: The Parable of the Bird and the Mast ==
'''Student C:''' Pranams Maharaj. So Maharaj, in today's class you listed like the problems with the effect, you know. And that whole sequence. So in the context of Thakur's parable of where the bird who sits on the mast of a ship and the ship sails, I am wondering if it can be applied here or it makes sense that at every kosha when we take up an upasana, do we after long tapasya meaning of practise, do we come to a point where initially we find that it is actually freeing and as we proceed and we have less limitation, but we still reach a point because that kosha itself is limited, that we reach a point of surrender and then we can go to the next kosha? Is something like that happening at all?

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. That mast represents Brahman. So the further we fly or keep distance from Brahman, the more problems will arise. So in a way of speaking we can say the bird has flown to the east, to the south, to the north, to the west. Not finding any shelter, it comes back. The only shelter is Brahman.

Similarly we can apply here. We were thinking that this body is Brahman, but then we understand since it is an effect, an effect is always unreliable. So we fly away, fly into the say annamaya kosha identifying. Then we understand after some time it is unreliable. So we return to that Brahman. But this time the Brahman becomes Prana Brahman.

So at every level, that Brahman is the most important point. The others are expressions. Prana Brahman is Paramatma, but expression of prana is only an effect. Manomaya Brahman is Paramatma, its expressions are thinking, rituals etc. You follow what I am trying to tell you?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Go on contemplating on Brahman, identifying some particular aspect with the Brahman. The result of that is Brahman alone is dependable, reliable. But the other things are only expressions, anatma, karyatva, nithyatva. You understand now?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Only when we become convinced, karya should not, mithya should not be depended upon, can we say our mind automatically runs to the mast which is Brahman. So ultimately even Anandamaya Kosha also, that Anandamaya Kosha is only a manifestation of Brahman, not Brahman. Then Brahman alone is the root cause.

So that is how we fly to the Annamaya Kosha, Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha, Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha. Finally we rest in Brahman. And that is the end of it. So far as I understand, this is the meaning of this parable of Shri Ram Krishna.

'''Student C:''' Thank you Maharaj. So really no freedom, that's what we eventually understand. At every level there is always some illusion or sort of freedom, but truly speaking there isn't.

'''Maharaj:''' There is no freedom because dependence. If you can be happy without depending upon anything, then you are free. But if you are thinking, "when I eat I am free, when I drink I am free, when I get married I am free," then that is why life is full of these undependencies. That is the problem.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Chandogya Upanishad 4.3.4-4.3.8 Lecture 133 on 30 August 2025 Q&A

2025-09-01T17:11:55Z

DanielM:

= Question 1: When Are Nirguna and Saguna the Same vs. Cause and Effect? =
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, in these cause-effect Upasana, the aspirant is always led from Saguna Brahma and then to Nirguna Brahma.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So Nirguna becomes the cause, Saguna seems like the effect. In the Gospel, Thakur says Brahman and Shakti are the same.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So when do we see Nirguna and Saguna as cause and effect and when do we see them the same?

'''Maharaj:''' You see, even at the Saguna level, there would be no division. Who is talking about Saguna? The mind is talking. Even in your Sushupti, the mind doesn't function. What to speak of when you become Ishwara?

You see the point? All this Saguna and Nirguna division is done by whom? It is all done only by our mind. When we are at the Prakriti level, body-mind level only, then only it is done, not otherwise. You see how wonderful it is.

In the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, just now I got that, the master is telling this: "Existence and non-existence are attributes of Prakriti. The reality is beyond both." This is very appropriate to what we are discussing. This existence means Saguna. Non-existence means what? Nirguna. There are attributes of Prakriti. Prakruti means what? Mind!

When you don't have mind, who is going to question whether it is Saguna or Nirguna? Are you going to talk about Saguna and Nirguna in your Sushupti? Not to speak of Ishwara, even at the Prajñā level also, they don't try to think whether it is Saguna or Nirguna, isn't it?

That is why it is said

सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषः सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात् ।

स भूमिं विश्वतो वृत्वात्यतिष्ठद्दशाङुलम् ॥१॥

Sahasra-ṣīrssā Purussah Sahasra-ākssah Sahasra-Pāt |

Sa Bhūmim Viśvato Vrtva-ātya-ṭisstthad-ḍaśa-āngulam ||1||

That ātya-ṭisstthad-ḍaśa-āngulam is the Nirguna aspect. Because the moment you raise the topic of Saguna, in what background you say it is Saguna?

'''Student A:''' Background of Nirguna.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh, and how do you say Nirguna?

'''Student A:''' Background of Saguna.

'''Maharaj:''' See, how wonderful it is. These are all tricks of the mind. Let us do our Sadhana, then a time will come when we say everything is God. "brahmārpaṇaṃ brahma haviḥ" that is the essence of this entire Upanishad.
----

== Question 2: Understanding Prana at Different Levels ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, one more question. From Prana comes Annam and through Annam comes Prana again. So, it seems like the understanding of Prana itself can be at the gross level, at the subtle level and even at the causal level.

'''Maharaj:''' Even at the gross level, Prana is the giver, Prana is the also receiver. Simple example, a farmer in a village, he wants to eat food. He has to cultivate land or not?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' For that he requires Prana or not?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Prana means energy. So, for that what is he going to do? He cultivates the land, tills the land.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' And of course, from the Adhidaivika level, the proper sun, proper moon, proper rains at proper seasons in sufficient quantities have to come.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' That is what Taittiriya Upanishad. So, "Tripti Riti Vrishtau." Tripti means satisfaction. Vrishti means rain. As soon as sufficient rain falls, Tripti will come. Less rain means less Tripti, Atripti. More rain means again the same, Atripti. All the crops will be washed away.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, who is giving? Devatas give in the form of, bestow their grace upon all of us in the form of the sun, the moon and all the seasons, rains, dry season, spring season, everything. That is how Bhagavan is bestowing his grace on his own creation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, you require Prana to cultivate the, then as a result of it you get Annam. Then you eat Annam. And what does Annam do? It is eaten and it is digested and energy is distributed. What is not digested is thrown out. All this is done by whom?

'''Student A:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Prana only. Five functions of the Prāna, Apāna, Vyāna, Udāna, Samāna . Okay. Where do I come in?

'''Student A:''' Unnecessarily.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why the 15th chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

गामाविश्य च भूतानि धारयाम्यहमोजसा ।

पुष्णामि चौषधी: सर्वा: सोमो भूत्वा रसात्मक: ॥ १३ ॥

''gām āviśya ca bhūtāni''

''dhārayāmy aham ojasā''

''puṣṇāmi cauṣadhīḥ sarvāḥ''

''somo bhūtvā rasātmakaḥ''

"I am nourishing the entire universe in the form of the sun and moon." And then he comes, he manifests in the form of fire to cook that food. Cooking is not alwaysnecessary. Fruits need not be cooked. Though I have seen, if you cook apple it gives a marvellous taste. Have you ever eaten cooked apple?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' But we as our ancestors did not discover fire, then what were we eating? But the same fire manifests in the form of Vaishvanara agni, Jathara agni. So, God gives rains, etc. God produces the food and the food is digested by the same God in the form of hydrochloric acid, etc. Where do I come in, in between?

'''Student A:''' That's the problem.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why we are having this class. So, Sri Ramakrishna says, "I and mine is ignorance". "Tumi tomar", You and Yours. That is called knowledge.
----

== Question 3: Is Ganapati Atharvashirsham an Upanishad? ==
'''Student B:''' I was reading Ganapati Atharvashirsha and while reading that Ganapati Atharvashirsha, the mantras are exactly the same as mantras from other Upanishads. Is Atharvashirsham also an Upanishad?

'''Maharaj:''' Let me tell you now. Not a secret.

What is the meaning of the word Upanishad? Shankaracharya beautifully analyses it. "Upa-ni-sat"

"Upa" means that which takes us nearer to God. Brahman.

"Ni" means absolutely, without the least bit of doubt, by destroying everything that stands between me and Brahman, which is called Ajnana.

"Sat," that which, what is called, totally eliminates, destroys ignorance.

So, is Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad or not?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Works of Swami Vivekananda Upanishad or not?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' Ramana Maharshi's teachings are Upanishads or not?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' In fact, they are better Upanishads because which works do you understand better? Their works or these Upanishads we are discussing?

'''Student B:''' Their works.

'''Maharaj:''' So, we are standing, "I am not an ordinary person. I read Upanishads okay." Ramana Maharshi said the same thing. Ramakrishna said also the same thing. We are giving a secondary place to them. We should give, you know, what should a wise person do? Whatever helps a person better, quicker, in a better way, that he should adopt. Isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is the answer. Yes, this is also an Upanishad. So, that's why it goes by that name.

'''Student B:''' And attributed primarily to the Lord Ganesha.

'''Maharaj:''' So, all the Upanishads are the knowledge gained by the grace of God. So, this person must have been the Upasaka of Ganesha. He obtained, just like Yajnavalkya was an Upasaka of Suryadeva. And that is from Suryadeva only he got this Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The whole Shukla Yajur Veda came out from this Suryadeva Upasana, Hayagriva Upasana.
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 67 2.2-2.3 on 27 August 2025 Q&A

2025-08-31T07:47:10Z

DanielM: Sanskrit fix

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Understanding Subtle Elements Through Dreams ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, you've explained that the Prithvi that we experience is actually the gross manifestation of Prithvi Devata.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So, and all the gross elements, the Vayu, Agni, all of them are manifested in this gross manner and that's how we interact.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' So, if I want to understand how the subtle elements, what the subtle elements are or how my subtle body interacts with those subtle elements, can I take dream as an example to understand that?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. There is no gross world in the dream state. It is all made up of what?

'''Student A:''' Thoughts.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

So, thoughts belong to which Kosha? and Pranamaya Kosha also. All the Koshas are involved. You have to understand Pranamaya Kosha means all the five Koshas, what is called Koshas are involved. Each Kosha is representing more or less one, one element.

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' But supposing, just for the sake of clarity, you see mountain. This mountain is the product of the Prithvi. You see the water.

Jala Devata is different from this Jala that we see, the water we see. This is the grosser manifestation of the element called Jala, water, which is already contained in Prithvi.

'''Student A:'''The grosser manifestation of Prithvi.

'''Student A:''' Grosser manifestation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, that is how when we go to the subtler elements, then we will see that if we go, for example, what is the root cause of this earth, waters. Then we perceive not only water as the subtle element, we also perceive the Prithvi also as a subtle element.

Just when you put on green glass, how do you see everything?

'''Student A:''' Green.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, let me put it. Just now one analogy, example had come to me.

Supposing a person is suffering from myopia, great myopia like me. So, imagine that person can't see anything unless -12 glasses are prescribed. But I will only limit the example. Okay, -5 is his power.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' A doctor prescribes him -1 glasses. How much can he see?

'''Student A:''' Not at all.

'''Maharaj:''' A little bit. Without glasses nothing. With glasses he will see better. Suppose the same person wears -2 glasses. He sees even better.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' -3 even better.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' -4 even better. -5 much, much better. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, imagine like this. Every kosha is just like every subtle element and every subtle element is like putting on a particular, what is called better correct glasses.

== Question 2: Offering to the Five Pranas During Puja ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, I have two questions. So, the first one is to do with today's class. I got reminded of the offering that we do during puja when we offer naivedyam. We also offer to the five pranas.

'''Maharaj:''' Yeah.

'''Student B:''' So, how are we to understand that at that juncture in puja? Are we talking about this in, you know, pervading the annam with the prana because it's the next higher kosha or how do we, how do I understand this?

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly the same way.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranamaya kosha is pervaded by pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranabrahma, we don't know what is pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But it is functioning, it is manifesting in the form of five functions.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' When you breathe in and out is one function, actually it is called prana. Then when something is expelled from the body, it is another manifestation of prana with a particular name. Udana, it is called udana. When a person is giving up the body, it throws out something from the body, throws out the prana. That's why it is called udana. When the digested food is circulated according to the need of every part of the body, it is called samana.

Like that, all the same prana functioning in five different departments, doing in five different types of activities is called prana. So when we are offering food, we have to understand that we are offering everything to the collective prana brahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is to say, oh pranam, even if there is some problem with my food, with other things, out of your grace, you make it defect free. Then only I will be able to worship you properly.

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirair aṅgais

What is that sthirair aṅgais? Every part of the our personality, both body and mind. So this is also one way of identifying ourselves with prana brahma. In that puja contains all these elements. When you do manasika puja, with which kosha are you identifying?

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' Manomaya kosha, Vijnanamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, isn't it? So puja means it is upasana. Another name for upasana, contemplation, is called puja, worship. In that, all these processes are there.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So now we understand whatever we offer to this prana, we are offering to prana brahma. That means we are achieving what is called detachment, thinking that I am the body. I am not the body. I am the product of prana brahma. Prana is the product of mano brahma. Mind is the product of vijnana brahma. And vijnanam is the product of ananda maya. And ananda maya is the product of brahma.

This is how slowly if we do worship, that is how we progress and shift our identity from the lower to the higher until we reach the sahasrara and then become one with Parama Shiva Sushumna Pathena.

== Question 3: Keeping Three-Fourths of Mind on God ==
'''Student B:''' Second question Maharaj has to do with yesterday's whatsapp message or today's. It is about when Swami Brahmananda says we should, when doing any work or we should keep three fourths of our mind on God and then with the rest of it we should do work something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student B:''' And then he talks about doing things with concentration, the smallest thing with concentration. So I've always had trouble figuring out for practical purposes how to apply this three fourths of the mind on God and doing everything with the rest of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I understand the problem. It is actually simplest thing. We are always doing that.

Supposing one of your children is sick and doctor prescribes a medicine and you are going to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. You are driving.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to pay attention to the traffic now?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' You are not thinking of other things but the thought is "I am going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for the sake of my child".

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' You see. "My child is suffering. I have to give it." I am driving because I need this medicine to be purchased and then I have to give it to my child. Even though you are not consciously thinking about the child but you are practising the thought, the welfare of the child.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' In that way when puja is going on supposing you are cooking. What is the idea? You don't repeat the name of God. You need to. We have to repeat the name of God!

So I am preparing, so that this can be offered to God.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called the important thought called practise of the presence of God. Everything for the sake of God. Let that be the background and you do whatever you need to do.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called practise of the presence of God. The best example is brother Lawrence.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So that is called keep the three-fourths of your mind on God.

'''Student B:''' Perfect Maharaj.

'''Student B:''' Yeah. So basically connect every single thing the smallest action to God in however we do it.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. This is for God.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Just like Swami Brahmanandaji himself gives a beautiful example. Supposing you have headache.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' Let us say mild headache.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' And you have to attend the office or you have to cook or you have to do something, whatever.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' So you are doing everything. Where is part of your mind?

'''Student B:''' Oh, on the headache.

'''Maharaj:''' The general presence of the pain or suffering is in your mind.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But you have to pay attention even if you are driving in a thick traffic. Your mind is completely three-fourths of your mind is there only, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called engaging the unconscious. Consciously you do whatever you need to do. Pay attention to the traffic or whatever. But unconsciously your mind is filled only with that thought.

And another, not such an elegant example. When you are worried, do you stop eating, cooking and all those things?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' But what are you practising?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, constant.

'''Maharaj:''' Presence of the worry, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why, you know, I defined what is meditation? Worrying about God.

'''Student B:''' Oh, that's that's excellent.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to start worrying about God. Then you have to start worrying God. You understand the difference?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Now God becomes alert. Why is this person troubling me? The only way I can get rid of this trouble, is remove the trouble permanently. And that is called...?

'''Student B:''' Mukti.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

== Question 4: Prana and Consciousness ==
'''Student C:''' Today we talked about the different aspects of how prana manifests in the body. Prana, apana, udana, etc. And I'm wondering, is it appropriate to think that prana is also involved in the movement of the centres of consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely.

When we say a person is unconscious, what does it mean? The eyes are there in good condition. Ears are there. Mind is there. Everything is in perfectly good condition. What is missing?

'''Student C:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. Prana is the manifestation of consciousness.

That is why many times I brought up this. What is the difference between a living human being and a dead human being? Atman is present. And do you know how it is present?

When we say about anything, this is, that is-ness is called atman. You see that this is a living person. This is a dead person. In both what is common? Is! What is not common, living and dead. Therefore, dead means what? Prana is not there.

When there is no prana, other koshas will not function. Only a living person means he is breathing. Living means, that is what we call living. Living means what? Prana.

So only when a person is living, the consciousness can reflect in the form of, "I want to know what is this?" and I am seeing, I am hearing, I am tasting, etc., etc. Prana is the thing that sustains all the physical bodies, organs, as well as the mind. All the three bodies, isn't it?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' This is an important question. You have to think about what is the relationship between consciousness and prana.

'''Student C:''' I was wondering specifically about the centre of consciousness and how that moves up and down constantly.

'''Maharaj:''' That consciousness doesn't move up or down.

You see, when, what is called, supposing you take a bulb or a torch, light in your hand, move it up and down. So is the light moving up and down or not?

Do you get what I am talking? Take a torch light and move it left, right, above, below. The light also moves, isn't it?

Is the light movement of the light anything to do with the battery?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' The battery is constant, but because of its instrument of manifestation, so we see that light is moving up or down, etc.

So what I am trying to tell you, prana is continuous and constant, but depending upon how it is manifesting, so we say these fivefold functions, breathing in, breathing out, circulation, digestion, distribution, and throwing out something from inside to outside, etc. We will discuss about them in our next class. These are the fivefold functions of the one single prana called prana brahma.

But as I said, you think what is the relationship between consciousness and prana? Consciousness is infinite, eternal, permanent, indivisible, but prana depends upon its manifestation.

'''Student C:''' In your example with flashlights, is prana the movement and the battery in consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' No. Battery is the prana, but that power which the battery manifests, that is called consciousness. Power is there, but that power has to be manifested. That power is never absent.

Before the discovery of this battery, is the power lacking or it came newly? You think over it. Power is everywhere, but we have not discovered how to manifest it in a particular way. That is called invention.

Electricity is everywhere. Battery and electricity are synonymous words, power, but it requires a medium. So when the bulb is a red bulb, light takes on what form? Form of the red colour.

'''Maharaj:''' So electricity is everywhere, power is everywhere, prana is everywhere, but it requires certain manifestation. So when we say a person is dead, what it really means is the instruments for the prana to manifest are absent.

The power of hearing is there in the ear, but what happens when the instrument called the ear becomes deaf? Think over it. When a person becomes deaf, has he lost the power of hearing? Or, the power of hearing is present, but the instrument has become defective. Do you see the difference?

Suppose now somebody discovers a cure for this external instrument, will he be able to hear again or not?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the power of hearing belongs to the subtle body, not to the physical body. That is why modern inventions, now even a born blind person can be made to see some shapes, white and black.

'''Student C:''' And to tie this back to the Panchamaya Kosha model, is it a dead person? Is it like saying the scabbard is there, but the sword is gone?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is an ordinary people's misunderstanding. Soul is gone, soul is not gone, soul cannot go, prana cannot go, but the instruments for manifesting. When the bulb is fused, do you say electricity is gone?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' And even if you say electricity is gone, is electricity really gone? Are the wires carrying the electricity damaged?

'''Student C:''' Yes, it is in a different shape.

'''Maharaj:''' Now you understand? There is a deep relationship between consciousness and prana and without prana consciousness cannot manifest. It is a beautiful question actually. Maybe I will deal with it in the next class.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 67 2.2-2.3 on 27 August 2025 Q&A

2025-08-29T14:42:43Z

DanielM:

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Understanding Subtle Elements Through Dreams ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, you've explained that the Prithvi that we experience is actually the gross manifestation of Prithvi Devata.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So, and all the gross elements, the Vayu, Agni, all of them are manifested in this gross manner and that's how we interact.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' So, if I want to understand how the subtle elements, what the subtle elements are or how my subtle body interacts with those subtle elements, can I take dream as an example to understand that?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. There is no gross world in the dream state. It is all made up of what?

'''Student A:''' Thoughts.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

So, thoughts belong to which Kosha? and Pranamaya Kosha also. All the Koshas are involved. You have to understand Pranamaya Kosha means all the five Koshas, what is called Koshas are involved. Each Kosha is representing more or less one, one element.

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' But supposing, just for the sake of clarity, you see mountain. This mountain is the product of the Prithvi. You see the water.

Jala Devata is different from this Jala that we see, the water we see. This is the grosser manifestation of the element called Jala, water, which is already contained in Prithvi.

'''Student A:'''The grosser manifestation of Prithvi.

'''Student A:''' Grosser manifestation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, that is how when we go to the subtler elements, then we will see that if we go, for example, what is the root cause of this earth, waters. Then we perceive not only water as the subtle element, we also perceive the Prithvi also as a subtle element.

Just when you put on green glass, how do you see everything?

'''Student A:''' Green.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, let me put it. Just now one analogy, example had come to me.

Supposing a person is suffering from myopia, great myopia like me. So, imagine that person can't see anything unless -12 glasses are prescribed. But I will only limit the example. Okay, -5 is his power.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' A doctor prescribes him -1 glasses. How much can he see?

'''Student A:''' Not at all.

'''Maharaj:''' A little bit. Without glasses nothing. With glasses he will see better. Suppose the same person wears -2 glasses. He sees even better.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' -3 even better.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' -4 even better. -5 much, much better. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, imagine like this. Every kosha is just like every subtle element and every subtle element is like putting on a particular, what is called better correct glasses.

== Question 2: Offering to the Five Pranas During Puja ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, I have two questions. So, the first one is to do with today's class. I got reminded of the offering that we do during puja when we offer naivedyam. We also offer to the five pranas.

'''Maharaj:''' Yeah.

'''Student B:''' So, how are we to understand that at that juncture in puja? Are we talking about this in, you know, pervading the annam with the prana because it's the next higher kosha or how do we, how do I understand this?

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly the same way.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranamaya kosha is pervaded by pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranabrahma, we don't know what is pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But it is functioning, it is manifesting in the form of five functions.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' When you breathe in and out is one function, actually it is called prana. Then when something is expelled from the body, it is another manifestation of prana with a particular name. Udana, it is called udana. When a person is giving up the body, it throws out something from the body, throws out the prana. That's why it is called udana. When the digested food is circulated according to the need of every part of the body, it is called samana.

Like that, all the same prana functioning in five different departments, doing in five different types of activities is called prana. So when we are offering food, we have to understand that we are offering everything to the collective prana brahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is to say, oh pranam, even if there is some problem with my food, with other things, out of your grace, you make it defect free. Then only I will be able to worship you properly.

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirair aṅgais

What is that sthirair aṅgais? Every part of the our personality, both body and mind. So this is also one way of identifying ourselves with prana brahma. In that puja contains all these elements. When you do manasika puja, with which kosha are you identifying?

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' Manomaya kosha, Vijnanamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, isn't it? So puja means it is upasana. Another name for upasana, contemplation, is called puja, worship. In that, all these processes are there.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So now we understand whatever we offer to this prana, we are offering to prana brahma. That means we are achieving what is called detachment, thinking that I am the body. I am not the body. I am the product of prana brahma. Prana is the product of mano brahma. Mind is the product of vijnana brahma. And vijnanam is the product of ananda maya. And ananda maya is the product of brahma.

This is how slowly if we do worship, that is how we progress and shift our identity from the lower to the higher until we reach the sahasrara and then become one with Paramashiva sushumna āpatana.

== Question 3: Keeping Three-Fourths of Mind on God ==
'''Student B:''' Second question Maharaj has to do with yesterday's whatsapp message or today's. It is about when Swami Brahmananda says we should, when doing any work or we should keep three fourths of our mind on God and then with the rest of it we should do work something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student B:''' And then he talks about doing things with concentration, the smallest thing with concentration. So I've always had trouble figuring out for practical purposes how to apply this three fourths of the mind on God and doing everything with the rest of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I understand the problem. It is actually simplest thing. We are always doing that.

Supposing one of your children is sick and doctor prescribes a medicine and you are going to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. You are driving.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to pay attention to the traffic now?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' You are not thinking of other things but the thought is "I am going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for the sake of my child".

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' You see. "My child is suffering. I have to give it." I am driving because I need this medicine to be purchased and then I have to give it to my child. Even though you are not consciously thinking about the child but you are practising the thought, the welfare of the child.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' In that way when puja is going on supposing you are cooking. What is the idea? You don't repeat the name of God. You need to. We have to repeat the name of God!

So I am preparing, so that this can be offered to God.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called the important thought called practise of the presence of God. Everything for the sake of God. Let that be the background and you do whatever you need to do.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called practise of the presence of God. The best example is brother Lawrence.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So that is called keep the three-fourths of your mind on God.

'''Student B:''' Perfect Maharaj.

'''Student B:''' Yeah. So basically connect every single thing the smallest action to God in however we do it.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. This is for God.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Just like Swami Brahmanandaji himself gives a beautiful example. Supposing you have headache.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' Let us say mild headache.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' And you have to attend the office or you have to cook or you have to do something, whatever.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' So you are doing everything. Where is part of your mind?

'''Student B:''' Oh, on the headache.

'''Maharaj:''' The general presence of the pain or suffering is in your mind.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But you have to pay attention even if you are driving in a thick traffic. Your mind is completely three-fourths of your mind is there only, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called engaging the unconscious. Consciously you do whatever you need to do. Pay attention to the traffic or whatever. But unconsciously your mind is filled only with that thought.

And another, not such an elegant example. When you are worried, do you stop eating, cooking and all those things?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' But what are you practising?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, constant.

'''Maharaj:''' Presence of the worry, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why, you know, I defined what is meditation? Worrying about God.

'''Student B:''' Oh, that's that's excellent.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to start worrying about God. Then you have to start worrying God. You understand the difference?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Now God becomes alert. Why is this person troubling me? The only way I can get rid of this trouble, is remove the trouble permanently. And that is called...?

'''Student B:''' Mukti.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

== Question 4: Prana and Consciousness ==
'''Student C:''' Today we talked about the different aspects of how prana manifests in the body. Prana, apana, udana, etc. And I'm wondering, is it appropriate to think that prana is also involved in the movement of the centres of consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely.

When we say a person is unconscious, what does it mean? The eyes are there in good condition. Ears are there. Mind is there. Everything is in perfectly good condition. What is missing?

'''Student C:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. Prana is the manifestation of consciousness.

That is why many times I brought up this. What is the difference between a living human being and a dead human being? Atman is present. And do you know how it is present?

When we say about anything, this is, that is-ness is called atman. You see that this is a living person. This is a dead person. In both what is common? Is! What is not common, living and dead. Therefore, dead means what? Prana is not there.

When there is no prana, other koshas will not function. Only a living person means he is breathing. Living means, that is what we call living. Living means what? Prana.

So only when a person is living, the consciousness can reflect in the form of, "I want to know what is this?" and I am seeing, I am hearing, I am tasting, etc., etc. Prana is the thing that sustains all the physical bodies, organs, as well as the mind. All the three bodies, isn't it?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' This is an important question. You have to think about what is the relationship between consciousness and prana.

'''Student C:''' I was wondering specifically about the centre of consciousness and how that moves up and down constantly.

'''Maharaj:''' That consciousness doesn't move up or down.

You see, when, what is called, supposing you take a bulb or a torch, light in your hand, move it up and down. So is the light moving up and down or not?

Do you get what I am talking? Take a torch light and move it left, right, above, below. The light also moves, isn't it?

Is the light movement of the light anything to do with the battery?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' The battery is constant, but because of its instrument of manifestation, so we see that light is moving up or down, etc.

So what I am trying to tell you, prana is continuous and constant, but depending upon how it is manifesting, so we say these fivefold functions, breathing in, breathing out, circulation, digestion, distribution, and throwing out something from inside to outside, etc. We will discuss about them in our next class. These are the fivefold functions of the one single prana called prana brahma.

But as I said, you think what is the relationship between consciousness and prana? Consciousness is infinite, eternal, permanent, indivisible, but prana depends upon its manifestation.

'''Student C:''' In your example with flashlights, is prana the movement and the battery in consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' No. Battery is the prana, but that power which the battery manifests, that is called consciousness. Power is there, but that power has to be manifested. That power is never absent.

Before the discovery of this battery, is the power lacking or it came newly? You think over it. Power is everywhere, but we have not discovered how to manifest it in a particular way. That is called invention.

Electricity is everywhere. Battery and electricity are synonymous words, power, but it requires a medium. So when the bulb is a red bulb, light takes on what form? Form of the red colour.

'''Maharaj:''' So electricity is everywhere, power is everywhere, prana is everywhere, but it requires certain manifestation. So when we say a person is dead, what it really means is the instruments for the prana to manifest are absent.

The power of hearing is there in the ear, but what happens when the instrument called the ear becomes deaf? Think over it. When a person becomes deaf, has he lost the power of hearing? Or, the power of hearing is present, but the instrument has become defective. Do you see the difference?

Suppose now somebody discovers a cure for this external instrument, will he be able to hear again or not?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the power of hearing belongs to the subtle body, not to the physical body. That is why modern inventions, now even a born blind person can be made to see some shapes, white and black.

'''Student C:''' And to tie this back to the Panchamaya Kosha model, is it a dead person? Is it like saying the scabbard is there, but the sword is gone?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is an ordinary people's misunderstanding. Soul is gone, soul is not gone, soul cannot go, prana cannot go, but the instruments for manifesting. When the bulb is fused, do you say electricity is gone?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' And even if you say electricity is gone, is electricity really gone? Are the wires carrying the electricity damaged?

'''Student C:''' Yes, it is in a different shape.

'''Maharaj:''' Now you understand? There is a deep relationship between consciousness and prana and without prana consciousness cannot manifest. It is a beautiful question actually. Maybe I will deal with it in the next class.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 67 2.2-2.3 on 27 August 2025 Q&A

2025-08-29T04:50:36Z

DanielM: trimming the tails of each Q&A

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Understanding Subtle Elements Through Dreams ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, you've explained that the Prithvi that we experience is actually the gross manifestation of Prithvi Devata.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So, and all the gross elements, the Vayu, Agni, all of them are manifested in this gross manner and that's how we interact.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' So, if I want to understand how the subtle elements, what the subtle elements are or how my subtle body interacts with those subtle elements, can I take dream as an example to understand that?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. There is no gross world in the dream state. It is all made up of what?

'''Student A:''' Thoughts.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

So, thoughts belong to which Kosha? and Pranamaya Kosha also. All the Koshas are involved. You have to understand Pranamaya Kosha means all the five Koshas, what is called Koshas are involved. Each Kosha is representing more or less one, one element.

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' But supposing, just for the sake of clarity, you see mountain. This mountain is the product of the Prithvi. You see the water.

Jala Devata is different from this Jala that we see, the water we see. This is the grosser manifestation of the element called Jala, water, which is already contained in Prithvi.

'''Student A:'''The grosser manifestation of Prithvi.

'''Student A:''' Grosser manifestation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, that is how when we go to the subtler elements, then we will see that if we go, for example, what is the root cause of this earth, waters. Then we perceive not only water as the subtle element, we also perceive the Prithvi also as a subtle element.

Just when you put on green glass, how do you see everything?

'''Student A:''' Green.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, let me put it. Just now one analogy, example had come to me.

Supposing a person is suffering from myopia, great myopia like me. So, imagine that person can't see anything unless -12 glasses are prescribed. But I will only limit the example. Okay, -5 is his power.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' A doctor prescribes him -1 glasses. How much can he see?

'''Student A:''' Not at all.

'''Maharaj:''' A little bit. Without glasses nothing. With glasses he will see better. Suppose the same person wears -2 glasses. He sees even better.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' -3 even better.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' -4 even better. -5 much, much better. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, imagine like this. Every kosha is just like every subtle element and every subtle element is like putting on a particular, what is called better correct glasses.

== Question 2: Offering to the Five Pranas During Puja ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, I have two questions. So, the first one is to do with today's class. I got reminded of the offering that we do during puja when we offer naivedyam. We also offer to the five pranas.

'''Maharaj:''' Yeah.

'''Student B:''' So, how are we to understand that at that juncture in puja? Are we talking about this in, you know, pervading the annam with the prana because it's the next higher kosha or how do we, how do I understand this?

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly the same way.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranamaya kosha is pervaded by pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranabrahma, we don't know what is pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But it is functioning, it is manifesting in the form of five functions.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' When you breathe in and out is one function, actually it is called prana. Then when something is expelled from the body, it is another manifestation of prana with a particular name. Udana, it is called udana. When a person is giving up the body, it throws out something from the body, throws out the prana. That's why it is called udana. When the digested food is circulated according to the need of every part of the body, it is called samana.

Like that, all the same prana functioning in five different departments, doing in five different types of activities is called prana. So when we are offering food, we have to understand that we are offering everything to the collective prana brahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is to say, oh pranam, even if there is some problem with my food, with other things, out of your grace, you make it defect free. Then only I will be able to worship you properly.

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirair aṅgais

What is that sthirair aṅgais? Every part of the our personality, both body and mind. So this is also one way of identifying ourselves with prana brahma. In that puja contains all these elements. When you do manasika puja, with which kosha are you identifying?

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' Manomaya kosha, Vijnanamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, isn't it? So puja means it is upasana. Another name for upasana, contemplation, is called puja, worship. In that, all these processes are there.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So now we understand whatever we offer to this prana, we are offering to prana brahma. That means we are achieving what is called detachment, thinking that I am the body. I am not the body. I am the product of prana brahma. Prana is the product of mano brahma. Mind is the product of vijnana brahma. And vijnanam is the product of ananda maya. And ananda maya is the product of brahma.

This is how slowly if we do worship, that is how we progress and shift our identity from the lower to the higher until we reach the sahasrara and then become one with Paramashiva susumna [inaudible].

== Question 3: Keeping Three-Fourths of Mind on God ==
'''Student B:''' Second question Maharaj has to do with yesterday's whatsapp message or today's. It is about when Swami Brahmananda says we should, when doing any work or we should keep three fourths of our mind on God and then with the rest of it we should do work something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student B:''' And then he talks about doing things with concentration, the smallest thing with concentration. So I've always had trouble figuring out for practical purposes how to apply this three fourths of the mind on God and doing everything with the rest of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I understand the problem. It is actually simplest thing. We are always doing that.

Supposing one of your children is sick and doctor prescribes a medicine and you are going to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. You are driving.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to pay attention to the traffic now?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' You are not thinking of other things but the thought is "I am going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for the sake of my child".

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' You see. "My child is suffering. I have to give it." I am driving because I need this medicine to be purchased and then I have to give it to my child. Even though you are not consciously thinking about the child but you are practising the thought, the welfare of the child.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' In that way when puja is going on supposing you are cooking. What is the idea? You don't repeat the name of God. You need to. We have to repeat the name of God!

So I am preparing, so that this can be offered to God.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called the important thought called practise of the presence of God. Everything for the sake of God. Let that be the background and you do whatever you need to do.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called practise of the presence of God. The best example is brother Lawrence.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So that is called keep the three-fourths of your mind on God.

'''Student B:''' Perfect Maharaj.

'''Student B:''' Yeah. So basically connect every single thing the smallest action to God in however we do it.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. This is for God.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Just like Swami Brahmanandaji himself gives a beautiful example. Supposing you have headache.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' Let us say mild headache.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' And you have to attend the office or you have to cook or you have to do something, whatever.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' So you are doing everything. Where is part of your mind?

'''Student B:''' Oh, on the headache.

'''Maharaj:''' The general presence of the pain or suffering is in your mind.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But you have to pay attention even if you are driving in a thick traffic. Your mind is completely three-fourths of your mind is there only, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called engaging the unconscious. Consciously you do whatever you need to do. Pay attention to the traffic or whatever. But unconsciously your mind is filled only with that thought.

And another, not such an elegant example. When you are worried, do you stop eating, cooking and all those things?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' But what are you practising?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, constant.

'''Maharaj:''' Presence of the worry, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why, you know, I defined what is meditation? Worrying about God.

'''Student B:''' Oh, that's that's excellent.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to start worrying about God. Then you have to start worrying God. You understand the difference?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Now God becomes alert. Why is this person troubling me? The only way I can get rid of this trouble, is remove the trouble permanently. And that is called...?

'''Student B:''' Mukti.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

== Question 4: Prana and Consciousness ==
'''Student C:''' Today we talked about the different aspects of how prana manifests in the body. Prana, apana, udana, etc. And I'm wondering, is it appropriate to think that prana is also involved in the movement of the centres of consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely.

When we say a person is unconscious, what does it mean? The eyes are there in good condition. Ears are there. Mind is there. Everything is in perfectly good condition. What is missing?

'''Student C:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. Prana is the manifestation of consciousness.

That is why many times I brought up this. What is the difference between a living human being and a dead human being? Atman is present. And do you know how it is present?

When we say about anything, this is, that is-ness is called atman. You see that this is a living person. This is a dead person. In both what is common? Is! What is not common, living and dead. Therefore, dead means what? Prana is not there.

When there is no prana, other koshas will not function. Only a living person means he is breathing. Living means, that is what we call living. Living means what? Prana.

So only when a person is living, the consciousness can reflect in the form of, "I want to know what is this?" and I am seeing, I am hearing, I am tasting, etc., etc. Prana is the thing that sustains all the physical bodies, organs, as well as the mind. All the three bodies, isn't it?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' This is an important question. You have to think about what is the relationship between consciousness and prana.

'''Student C:''' I was wondering specifically about the centre of consciousness and how that moves up and down constantly.

'''Maharaj:''' That consciousness doesn't move up or down.

You see, when, what is called, supposing you take a bulb or a torch, light in your hand, move it up and down. So is the light moving up and down or not?

Do you get what I am talking? Take a torch light and move it left, right, above, below. The light also moves, isn't it?

Is the light movement of the light anything to do with the battery?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' The battery is constant, but because of its instrument of manifestation, so we see that light is moving up or down, etc.

So what I am trying to tell you, prana is continuous and constant, but depending upon how it is manifesting, so we say these fivefold functions, breathing in, breathing out, circulation, digestion, distribution, and throwing out something from inside to outside, etc. We will discuss about them in our next class. These are the fivefold functions of the one single prana called prana brahma.

But as I said, you think what is the relationship between consciousness and prana? Consciousness is infinite, eternal, permanent, indivisible, but prana depends upon its manifestation.

'''Student C:''' In your example with flashlights, is prana the movement and the battery in consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' No. Battery is the prana, but that power which the battery manifests, that is called consciousness. Power is there, but that power has to be manifested. That power is never absent.

Before the discovery of this battery, is the power lacking or it came newly? You think over it. Power is everywhere, but we have not discovered how to manifest it in a particular way. That is called invention.

Electricity is everywhere. Battery and electricity are synonymous words, power, but it requires a medium. So when the bulb is a red bulb, light takes on what form? Form of the red colour.

'''Maharaj:''' So electricity is everywhere, power is everywhere, prana is everywhere, but it requires certain manifestation. So when we say a person is dead, what it really means is the instruments for the prana to manifest are absent.

The power of hearing is there in the ear, but what happens when the instrument called the ear becomes deaf? Think over it. When a person becomes deaf, has he lost the power of hearing? Or, the power of hearing is present, but the instrument has become defective. Do you see the difference?

Suppose now somebody discovers a cure for this external instrument, will he be able to hear again or not?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the power of hearing belongs to the subtle body, not to the physical body. That is why modern inventions, now even a born blind person can be made to see some shapes, white and black.

'''Student C:''' And to tie this back to the Panchamaya Kosha model, is it a dead person? Is it like saying the scabbard is there, but the sword is gone?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is an ordinary people's misunderstanding. Soul is gone, soul is not gone, soul cannot go, prana cannot go, but the instruments for manifesting. When the bulb is fused, do you say electricity is gone?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' And even if you say electricity is gone, is electricity really gone? Are the wires carrying the electricity damaged?

'''Student C:''' Yes, it is in a different shape.

'''Maharaj:''' Now you understand? There is a deep relationship between consciousness and prana and without prana consciousness cannot manifest. It is a beautiful question actually. Maybe I will deal with it in the next class.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 67 2.2-2.3 on 27 August 2025 Q&A

2025-08-29T04:48:35Z

DanielM:

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Understanding Subtle Elements Through Dreams ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, you've explained that the Prithvi that we experience is actually the gross manifestation of Prithvi Devata.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So, and all the gross elements, the Vayu, Agni, all of them are manifested in this gross manner and that's how we interact.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' So, if I want to understand how the subtle elements, what the subtle elements are or how my subtle body interacts with those subtle elements, can I take dream as an example to understand that?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. There is no gross world in the dream state. It is all made up of what?

'''Student A:''' Thoughts.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

So, thoughts belong to which Kosha? and Pranamaya Kosha also. All the Koshas are involved. You have to understand Pranamaya Kosha means all the five Koshas, what is called Koshas are involved. Each Kosha is representing more or less one, one element.

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' But supposing, just for the sake of clarity, you see mountain. This mountain is the product of the Prithvi. You see the water.

Jala Devata is different from this Jala that we see, the water we see. This is the grosser manifestation of the element called Jala, water, which is already contained in Prithvi.

'''Student A:'''The grosser manifestation of Prithvi.

'''Student A:''' Grosser manifestation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, that is how when we go to the subtler elements, then we will see that if we go, for example, what is the root cause of this earth, waters. Then we perceive not only water as the subtle element, we also perceive the Prithvi also as a subtle element.

Just when you put on green glass, how do you see everything?

'''Student A:''' Green.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, let me put it. Just now one analogy, example had come to me.

Supposing a person is suffering from myopia, great myopia like me. So, imagine that person can't see anything unless -12 glasses are prescribed. But I will only limit the example. Okay, -5 is his power.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' A doctor prescribes him -1 glasses. How much can he see?

'''Student A:''' Not at all.

'''Maharaj:''' A little bit. Without glasses nothing. With glasses he will see better. Suppose the same person wears -2 glasses. He sees even better.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' -3 even better.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' -4 even better. -5 much, much better. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, imagine like this. Every kosha is just like every subtle element and every subtle element is like putting on a particular, what is called better correct glasses.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Student A:''' Okay, Maharaj. Thank you very much.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay. Jai Thakur.

'''Student A:''' Jai Thakur.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay.
----

== Question 2: Offering to the Five Pranas During Puja ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, I have two questions. So, the first one is to do with today's class. I got reminded of the offering that we do during puja when we offer naivedyam. We also offer to the five pranas.

'''Maharaj:''' Yeah.

'''Student B:''' So, how are we to understand that at that juncture in puja? Are we talking about this in, you know, pervading the annam with the prana because it's the next higher kosha or how do we, how do I understand this?

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly the same way.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranamaya kosha is pervaded by pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranabrahma, we don't know what is pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But it is functioning, it is manifesting in the form of five functions.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' When you breathe in and out is one function, actually it is called prana. Then when something is expelled from the body, it is another manifestation of prana with a particular name. Udana, it is called udana. When a person is giving up the body, it throws out something from the body, throws out the prana. That's why it is called udana. When the digested food is circulated according to the need of every part of the body, it is called samana.

Like that, all the same prana functioning in five different departments, doing in five different types of activities is called prana. So when we are offering food, we have to understand that we are offering everything to the collective prana brahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is to say, oh pranam, even if there is some problem with my food, with other things, out of your grace, you make it defect free. Then only I will be able to worship you properly.

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirair aṅgais

What is that sthirair aṅgais? Every part of the our personality, both body and mind. So this is also one way of identifying ourselves with prana brahma. In that puja contains all these elements. When you do manasika puja, with which kosha are you identifying?

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' Manomaya kosha, Vijnanamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, isn't it? So puja means it is upasana. Another name for upasana, contemplation, is called puja, worship. In that, all these processes are there.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So now we understand whatever we offer to this prana, we are offering to prana brahma. That means we are achieving what is called detachment, thinking that I am the body. I am not the body. I am the product of prana brahma. Prana is the product of mano brahma. Mind is the product of vijnana brahma. And vijnanam is the product of ananda maya. And ananda maya is the product of brahma.

This is how slowly if we do worship, that is how we progress and shift our identity from the lower to the higher until we reach the sahasrara and then become one with Paramashiva susumna [inaudible].

'''Student B:''' Yeah. Beautiful Maharaj.
----

== Question 3: Keeping Three-Fourths of Mind on God ==
'''Student B:''' Second question Maharaj has to do with yesterday's whatsapp message or today's. It is about when Swami Brahmananda says we should, when doing any work or we should keep three fourths of our mind on God and then with the rest of it we should do work something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student B:''' And then he talks about doing things with concentration, the smallest thing with concentration. So I've always had trouble figuring out for practical purposes how to apply this three fourths of the mind on God and doing everything with the rest of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I understand the problem. It is actually simplest thing. We are always doing that.

Supposing one of your children is sick and doctor prescribes a medicine and you are going to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. You are driving.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to pay attention to the traffic now?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' You are not thinking of other things but the thought is "I am going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for the sake of my child".

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' You see. "My child is suffering. I have to give it." I am driving because I need this medicine to be purchased and then I have to give it to my child. Even though you are not consciously thinking about the child but you are practising the thought, the welfare of the child.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' In that way when puja is going on supposing you are cooking. What is the idea? You don't repeat the name of God. You need to. We have to repeat the name of God!

So I am preparing, so that this can be offered to God.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called the important thought called practise of the presence of God. Everything for the sake of God. Let that be the background and you do whatever you need to do.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called practise of the presence of God. The best example is brother Lawrence.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So that is called keep the three-fourths of your mind on God.

'''Student B:''' Perfect Maharaj.

'''Student B:''' Yeah. So basically connect every single thing the smallest action to God in however we do it.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. This is for God.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Just like Swami Brahmanandaji himself gives a beautiful example. Supposing you have headache.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' Let us say mild headache.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' And you have to attend the office or you have to cook or you have to do something, whatever.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' So you are doing everything. Where is part of your mind?

'''Student B:''' Oh, on the headache.

'''Maharaj:''' The general presence of the pain or suffering is in your mind.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But you have to pay attention even if you are driving in a thick traffic. Your mind is completely three-fourths of your mind is there only, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called engaging the unconscious. Consciously you do whatever you need to do. Pay attention to the traffic or whatever. But unconsciously your mind is filled only with that thought.

And another, not such an elegant example. When you are worried, do you stop eating, cooking and all those things?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' But what are you practising?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, constant.

'''Maharaj:''' Presence of the worry, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why, you know, I defined what is meditation? Worrying about God.

'''Student B:''' Oh, that's that's excellent.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to start worrying about God. Then you have to start worrying God. You understand the difference?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Now God becomes alert. Why is this person troubling me? The only way I can get rid of this trouble, is remove the trouble permanently. And that is called...?

'''Student B:''' Mukti.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

'''Student B:''' Thank you, Maharaj. Pranams, Jai Thakur.
----

== Question 4: Prana and Consciousness ==
'''Student C:''' Today we talked about the different aspects of how prana manifests in the body. Prana, apana, udana, etc. And I'm wondering, is it appropriate to think that prana is also involved in the movement of the centres of consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely.

When we say a person is unconscious, what does it mean? The eyes are there in good condition. Ears are there. Mind is there. Everything is in perfectly good condition. What is missing?

'''Student C:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. Prana is the manifestation of consciousness.

That is why many times I brought up this. What is the difference between a living human being and a dead human being? Atman is present. And do you know how it is present?

When we say about anything, this is, that is-ness is called atman. You see that this is a living person. This is a dead person. In both what is common? Is! What is not common, living and dead. Therefore, dead means what? Prana is not there.

When there is no prana, other koshas will not function. Only a living person means he is breathing. Living means, that is what we call living. Living means what? Prana.

So only when a person is living, the consciousness can reflect in the form of, "I want to know what is this?" and I am seeing, I am hearing, I am tasting, etc., etc. Prana is the thing that sustains all the physical bodies, organs, as well as the mind. All the three bodies, isn't it?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' This is an important question. You have to think about what is the relationship between consciousness and prana.

'''Student C:''' I was wondering specifically about the centre of consciousness and how that moves up and down constantly.

'''Maharaj:''' That consciousness doesn't move up or down.

You see, when, what is called, supposing you take a bulb or a torch, light in your hand, move it up and down. So is the light moving up and down or not?

Do you get what I am talking? Take a torch light and move it left, right, above, below. The light also moves, isn't it?

Is the light movement of the light anything to do with the battery?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' The battery is constant, but because of its instrument of manifestation, so we see that light is moving up or down, etc.

So what I am trying to tell you, prana is continuous and constant, but depending upon how it is manifesting, so we say these fivefold functions, breathing in, breathing out, circulation, digestion, distribution, and throwing out something from inside to outside, etc. We will discuss about them in our next class. These are the fivefold functions of the one single prana called prana brahma.

But as I said, you think what is the relationship between consciousness and prana? Consciousness is infinite, eternal, permanent, indivisible, but prana depends upon its manifestation.

'''Student C:''' In your example with flashlights, is prana the movement and the battery in consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' No. Battery is the prana, but that power which the battery manifests, that is called consciousness. Power is there, but that power has to be manifested. That power is never absent.

Before the discovery of this battery, is the power lacking or it came newly? You think over it. Power is everywhere, but we have not discovered how to manifest it in a particular way. That is called invention.

Electricity is everywhere. Battery and electricity are synonymous words, power, but it requires a medium. So when the bulb is a red bulb, light takes on what form? Form of the red colour.

'''Maharaj:''' So electricity is everywhere, power is everywhere, prana is everywhere, but it requires certain manifestation. So when we say a person is dead, what it really means is the instruments for the prana to manifest are absent.

The power of hearing is there in the ear, but what happens when the instrument called the ear becomes deaf? Think over it. When a person becomes deaf, has he lost the power of hearing? Or, the power of hearing is present, but the instrument has become defective. Do you see the difference?

Suppose now somebody discovers a cure for this external instrument, will he be able to hear again or not?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the power of hearing belongs to the subtle body, not to the physical body. That is why modern inventions, now even a born blind person can be made to see some shapes, white and black.

'''Student C:''' And to tie this back to the Panchamaya Kosha model, is it a dead person? Is it like saying the scabbard is there, but the sword is gone?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is an ordinary people's misunderstanding. Soul is gone, soul is not gone, soul cannot go, prana cannot go, but the instruments for manifesting. When the bulb is fused, do you say electricity is gone?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' And even if you say electricity is gone, is electricity really gone? Are the wires carrying the electricity damaged?

'''Student C:''' Yes, it is in a different shape.

'''Maharaj:''' Now you understand? There is a deep relationship between consciousness and prana and without prana consciousness cannot manifest. It is a beautiful question actually. Maybe I will deal with it in the next class.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 67 2.2-2.3 on 27 August 2025 Q&A

2025-08-28T20:31:51Z

DanielM: /* Q&A Session with Swami D */

= Taittiriya Q&A Session with Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj =

== Question 1: Understanding Subtle Elements Through Dreams ==
'''Student A:''' Maharaj, you've explained that the Prithvi that we experience is actually the gross manifestation of Prithvi Devata.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student A:''' So, and all the gross elements, the Vayu, Agni, all of them are manifested in this gross manner and that's how we interact.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes.

'''Student A:''' So, if I want to understand how the subtle elements, what the subtle elements are or how my subtle body interacts with those subtle elements, can I take dream as an example to understand that?

'''Maharaj:''' Correct. There is no gross world in the dream state. It is all made up of what?

'''Student A:''' Thoughts.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

So, thoughts belong to which Kosha? and Pranamaya Kosha also. All the Koshas are involved. You have to understand Pranamaya Kosha means all the five Koshas, what is called Koshas are involved. Each Kosha is representing more or less one, one element.

'''Student A:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' But supposing, just for the sake of clarity, you see mountain. This mountain is the product of the Prithvi. You see the water.

Jala Devata is different from this Jala that we see, the water we see. This is the grosser manifestation of the element called Jala, water, which is already contained in Prithvi.

'''Student A:'''The grosser manifestation of Prithvi.

'''Student A:''' Grosser manifestation.

'''Maharaj:''' So, that is how when we go to the subtler elements, then we will see that if we go, for example, what is the root cause of this earth, waters. Then we perceive not only water as the subtle element, we also perceive the Prithvi also as a subtle element.

Just when you put on green glass, how do you see everything?

'''Student A:''' Green.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay, let me put it. Just now one analogy, example had come to me.

Supposing a person is suffering from myopia, great myopia like me. So, imagine that person can't see anything unless -12 glasses are prescribed. But I will only limit the example. Okay, -5 is his power.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Maharaj:''' A doctor prescribes him -1 glasses. How much can he see?

'''Student A:''' Not at all.

'''Maharaj:''' A little bit. Without glasses nothing. With glasses he will see better. Suppose the same person wears -2 glasses. He sees even better.

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' -3 even better.

'''Student A:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' -4 even better. -5 much, much better. Isn't it?

'''Student A:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' So, imagine like this. Every kosha is just like every subtle element and every subtle element is like putting on a particular, what is called better correct glasses.

'''Student A:''' Okay.

'''Student A:''' Okay, Maharaj. Thank you very much.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay. Jai Thakur.

'''Student A:''' Jai Thakur.

'''Maharaj:''' Okay.
----

== Question 2: Offering to the Five Pranas During Puja ==
'''Student B:''' Maharaj, I have two questions. So, the first one is to do with today's class. I got reminded of the offering that we do during puja when we offer naivedyam. We also offer to the five pranas.

'''Maharaj:''' Yeah.

'''Student B:''' So, how are we to understand that at that juncture in puja? Are we talking about this in, you know, pervading the annam with the prana because it's the next higher kosha or how do we, how do I understand this?

'''Maharaj:''' Exactly the same way.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranamaya kosha is pervaded by pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' This pranabrahma, we don't know what is pranabrahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But it is functioning, it is manifesting in the form of five functions.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' When you breathe in and out is one function, actually it is called prana. Then when something is expelled from the body, it is another manifestation of prana with a particular name. Udana, it is called udana. When a person is giving up the body, it throws out something from the body, throws out the prana. That's why it is called udana. When the digested food is circulated according to the need of every part of the body, it is called samana.

Like that, all the same prana functioning in five different departments, doing in five different types of activities is called prana. So when we are offering food, we have to understand that we are offering everything to the collective prana brahma.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is to say, oh pranam, even if there is some problem with my food, with other things, out of your grace, you make it defect free. Then only I will be able to worship you properly.

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirair aṅgais

What is that sthirair aṅgais? Every part of the our personality, both body and mind. So this is also one way of identifying ourselves with prana brahma. In that puja contains all these elements. When you do manasika puja, with which kosha are you identifying?

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' Manomaya kosha, Vijnanamaya kosha, Anandamaya kosha, isn't it? So puja means it is upasana. Another name for upasana, contemplation, is called puja, worship. In that, all these processes are there.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So now we understand whatever we offer to this prana, we are offering to prana brahma. That means we are achieving what is called detachment, thinking that I am the body. I am not the body. I am the product of prana brahma. Prana is the product of mano brahma. Mind is the product of vijnana brahma. And vijnanam is the product of ananda maya. And ananda maya is the product of brahma.

This is how slowly if we do worship, that is how we progress and shift our identity from the lower to the higher until we reach the sahasrara and then become one with Paramashiva susumna [inaudible].

'''Student B:''' Yeah. Beautiful Maharaj.
----

== Question 3: Keeping Three-Fourths of Mind on God ==
'''Student B:''' Second question Maharaj has to do with yesterday's whatsapp message or today's. It is about when Swami Brahmananda says we should, when doing any work or we should keep three fourths of our mind on God and then with the rest of it we should do work something like that.

'''Maharaj:''' Correct.

'''Student B:''' And then he talks about doing things with concentration, the smallest thing with concentration. So I've always had trouble figuring out for practical purposes how to apply this three fourths of the mind on God and doing everything with the rest of it.

'''Maharaj:''' I understand the problem. It is actually simplest thing. We are always doing that.

Supposing one of your children is sick and doctor prescribes a medicine and you are going to the pharmacy to buy the medicine. You are driving.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to pay attention to the traffic now?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' You are not thinking of other things but the thought is "I am going to the pharmacy to buy medicine for the sake of my child".

'''Student B:''' Oh.

'''Maharaj:''' You see. "My child is suffering. I have to give it." I am driving because I need this medicine to be purchased and then I have to give it to my child. Even though you are not consciously thinking about the child but you are practising the thought, the welfare of the child.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' In that way when puja is going on supposing you are cooking. What is the idea? You don't repeat the name of God. You need to. We have to repeat the name of God!

So I am preparing, so that this can be offered to God.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called the important thought called practise of the presence of God. Everything for the sake of God. Let that be the background and you do whatever you need to do.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called practise of the presence of God. The best example is brother Lawrence.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' So that is called keep the three-fourths of your mind on God.

'''Student B:''' Perfect Maharaj.

'''Student B:''' Yeah. So basically connect every single thing the smallest action to God in however we do it.

'''Maharaj:''' Yes. This is for God.

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Just like Swami Brahmanandaji himself gives a beautiful example. Supposing you have headache.

'''Student B:''' Mmm.

'''Maharaj:''' Let us say mild headache.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' And you have to attend the office or you have to cook or you have to do something, whatever.

'''Student B:''' Hmm.

'''Maharaj:''' So you are doing everything. Where is part of your mind?

'''Student B:''' Oh, on the headache.

'''Maharaj:''' The general presence of the pain or suffering is in your mind.

'''Student B:''' Yeah.

'''Maharaj:''' But you have to pay attention even if you are driving in a thick traffic. Your mind is completely three-fourths of your mind is there only, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is called engaging the unconscious. Consciously you do whatever you need to do. Pay attention to the traffic or whatever. But unconsciously your mind is filled only with that thought.

And another, not such an elegant example. When you are worried, do you stop eating, cooking and all those things?

'''Student B:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' But what are you practising?

'''Student B:''' Yeah, constant.

'''Maharaj:''' Presence of the worry, isn't it?

'''Student B:''' Yes, Maharaj.

'''Maharaj:''' That is why, you know, I defined what is meditation? Worrying about God.

'''Student B:''' Oh, that's that's excellent.

'''Maharaj:''' You have to start worrying about God. Then you have to start worrying God. You understand the difference?

'''Student B:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Now God becomes alert. Why is this person troubling me? The only way I can get rid of this trouble, is remove the trouble permanently. And that is called...?

'''Student B:''' Mukti.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh.

'''Student B:''' Thank you, Maharaj. Pranams, Jai Thakur.
----

== Question 4: Prana and the Movement of Consciousness ==
'''Student C:''' Today we talked about the different aspects of how prana manifests in the body. Prana, apana, udana, etc. And I'm wondering, is it appropriate to think that prana is also involved in the movement of the centres of consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' Absolutely.

When we say a person is unconscious, what does it mean? The eyes are there in good condition. Ears are there. Mind is there. Everything is in perfectly good condition. What is missing?

'''Student C:''' Prana.

'''Maharaj:''' Ahh. Prana is the manifestation of consciousness.

That is why many times I brought up this. What is the difference between a living human being and a dead human being? Atman is present. And do you know how it is present?

When we say about anything, this is, that is-ness is called atman. You see that this is a living person. This is a dead person. In both what is common? Is! What is not common, living and dead. Therefore, dead means what? Prana is not there.

When there is no prana, other koshas will not function. Only a living person means he is breathing. Living means, that is what we call living. Living means what? Prana.

So only when a person is living, the consciousness can reflect in the form of, "I want to know what is this?" and I am seeing, I am hearing, I am tasting, etc., etc. Prana is the thing that sustains all the physical bodies, organs, as well as the mind. All the three bodies, isn't it?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' This is an important question. You have to think about what is the relationship between consciousness and prana.

'''Student C:''' I was wondering specifically about the centre of consciousness and how that moves up and down constantly.

'''Maharaj:''' That consciousness doesn't move up or down.

You see, when, what is called, supposing you take a bulb or a torch, light in your hand, move it up and down. So is the light moving up and down or not?

Do you get what I am talking? Take a torch light and move it left, right, above, below. The light also moves, isn't it?

Is the light movement of the light anything to do with the battery?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' The battery is constant, but because of its instrument of manifestation, so we see that light is moving up or down, etc.

So what I am trying to tell you, prana is continuous and constant, but depending upon how it is manifesting, so we say these fivefold functions, breathing in, breathing out, circulation, digestion, distribution, and throwing out something from inside to outside, etc. We will discuss about them in our next class. These are the fivefold functions of the one single prana called prana brahma.

But as I said, you think what is the relationship between consciousness and prana? Consciousness is infinite, eternal, permanent, indivisible, but prana depends upon its manifestation.

'''Student C:''' In your example with flashlights, is prana the movement and the battery in consciousness?

'''Maharaj:''' No. Battery is the prana, but that power which the battery manifests, that is called consciousness. Power is there, but that power has to be manifested. That power is never absent.

Before the discovery of this battery, is the power lacking or it came newly? You think over it. Power is everywhere, but we have not discovered how to manifest it in a particular way. That is called invention.

Electricity is everywhere. Battery and electricity are synonymous words, power, but it requires a medium. So when the bulb is a red bulb, light takes on what form? Form of the red colour.

'''Maharaj:''' So electricity is everywhere, power is everywhere, prana is everywhere, but it requires certain manifestation. So when we say a person is dead, what it really means is the instruments for the prana to manifest are absent.

The power of hearing is there in the ear, but what happens when the instrument called the ear becomes deaf? Think over it. When a person becomes deaf, has he lost the power of hearing? Or, the power of hearing is present, but the instrument has become defective. Do you see the difference?

Suppose now somebody discovers a cure for this external instrument, will he be able to hear again or not?

'''Student C:''' Yes.

'''Maharaj:''' Because the power of hearing belongs to the subtle body, not to the physical body. That is why modern inventions, now even a born blind person can be made to see some shapes, white and black.

'''Student C:''' And to tie this back to the Panchamaya Kosha model, is it a dead person? Is it like saying the scabbard is there, but the sword is gone?

'''Maharaj:''' No, no, that is an ordinary people's misunderstanding. Soul is gone, soul is not gone, soul cannot go, prana cannot go, but the instruments for manifesting. When the bulb is fused, do you say electricity is gone?

'''Student C:''' No.

'''Maharaj:''' And even if you say electricity is gone, is electricity really gone? Are the wires carrying the electricity damaged?

'''Student C:''' Yes, it is in a different shape.

'''Maharaj:''' Now you understand? There is a deep relationship between consciousness and prana and without prana consciousness cannot manifest. It is a beautiful question actually. Maybe I will deal with it in the next class.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 05 on 19 June 2024

2025-07-06T23:57:06Z

DanielM: Sanskrit shlokas for Shraddha Suktam

== Full Transcript (Not Corrected) ==
We are studying the ''Taittiriya Upanishad''. We have not yet entered into the text itself, but certain preliminaries must be fulfilled to truly understand any scripture. Though we are speaking only of the ''Upanishads'', every scripture of every religion, and even non-formal religions, requires certain conditions to be fulfilled for understanding. Curiously, it's not just scriptures; any type of knowledge demands prerequisites. Hence, not everyone can become a doctor, lawyer, or cook because specific capacities, intelligence, propensities, and aptitudes are necessary for any subject—be it worldly or spiritual.

Before delving into the main text, we are discussing certain terms. Additionally, as I mentioned, please keep in mind that for this first part of the introduction, we must transition between the Wednesday class and the Saturday-Sunday class. I may not explain certain details from the ''Chandogya Upanishad'' here, and vice versa, until this introductory portion is completed. However, this transition is not difficult. Even if you miss something, transcripts are available on our website srisaradadevi.com. All you need to do is download them and combine them to ensure clarity in understanding the introduction.

Firstly, we discussed that all human life is filled with activities falling under three types: thoughts, speech, and action. Whether it's the life of an amoeba or a great ''sadhaka'', there are three types of achievements, known as ''sadhyatrayam''. Firstly, maintaining our own body and mind fitness is essential because without this basic requirement, enjoyment and progress are not possible. Secondly, we seek to acquire certain objects that we believe will bring us happiness and prevent suffering. Thirdly, some people, endowed with a faith called ''Shraddha'', believe in other worlds after the fall of this body—higher ''lokas'', which represent higher states of enjoyment.

Even if we are rational in any experience, we care primarily about the result. For instance, when eating a sweet fruit or candy, the existence of the fruit or candy is the first condition. Obtaining it and experiencing it through eating, listening, smelling, tasting, touching, or seeing is the actual experience. We focus on whether it makes us happy, the duration and intensity of that happiness, and whether it comes with any additional consequences.

There are people who believe that life continues after death, with higher worlds accessible through specific methods. Higher worlds promise progressively greater happiness, a concept elaborated beautifully in the second chapter of the ''Taittiriya Upanishad''. Conversely, lower worlds result from evil, wrongful, or forbidden deeds, leading to diminishing happiness and increasing suffering. Naturally, nobody desires suffering; everyone instinctively seeks higher and higher happiness until reaching the highest state, referred to as ''Bhuma'' in the ''Chandogya Upanishad''.

These are the three goals: our body-mind complex must serve as a perfect instrument for experiencing happiness. To illustrate, imagine a person owning a splendid car but without any roads—a scenario similar to the Dalai Lama's interest in inventions. Once, in Tibet, he acquired a car that could only circle around his building due to the absence of roads, yet he still enjoyed it. An instrument without a purpose is entirely useless. This concept is known as "higher ''Loka Vishaya Prapti''" or the acquisition of objects, where the essence of all experiences is to minimize suffering and maximize happiness.

After experiencing these ideals, one can ascend to higher worlds through unwavering faith in the teachings of scriptures, known as ''Ishta'' and ''Portha. Ishta'' involves prayers to God, performing sacrifices, or embarking on pilgrimages. Simply desiring higher experiences without serving society is insufficient. This is why Swami Vivekananda established the twin motto for the Sri Ramakrishna Order: "''Atmano Mokshartham Jagatitayacha''" (For one's own salvation and for the welfare of the world).

To achieve ''Atmano Moksha'' (self-liberation), one must reduce selfishness and embrace selflessness. This involves engaging in actions such as the ''Pancha Maha Yagna'', which are technically referred to as ''Ishta'' and ''Portha. Ishta'' involves personal struggles to acquire certain qualities and using them for the benefit and welfare of many, echoing the teachings of Buddha. Buddha preached this noble message for the welfare of many, as did Swami Vivekananda, who had a remarkable encounter with Buddha in his youth. During meditation, Swami Vivekananda saw a picture of Buddha come alive, which startled him deeply. It is believed that Buddha's spirit continued to influence him, as evidenced by his declaration that he would willingly be reborn a thousand times if he could help even a single dog on the street. This spirit is encapsulated in the Sanskrit phrase "''Bahujana Hitaaya, Bahujana Sukhaaya,''" which Swamiji incorporated as the twin motto.

So, this is what we have to do, and through this, we accumulate merit. The result of this merit is access to higher ''lokas''. But what happens next? When a person repeatedly experiences higher happiness, eventually intelligence dawns upon them that these happinesses are temporary; everything that is acquired will come to an end, and only what is unacquired will last forever. At this realization, even though the scriptures are available to such a person, their eyes are opened to the fact that any worldly attainment is short-lived, temporary, and beset with three defects, known as ''Doshatrayam'', which we discussed elaborately.

Therefore, such a person desires a ''Vedic''-guided life. Only someone who lives such a life is fit to be called ''Vaidika''; merely claiming "my father was a ''Brahmana,'' my grandfather was a ''Rishi''" is insufficient. Just as everyone must eat and sleep for themselves, there are certain things that each individual must do for themselves, which others cannot do for them.

For instance, I might jest, "Even if Sri Ramakrishna enjoyed ''Jalebi'' and ''Sandesh'', what good is that to me? I must enjoy them myself." To achieve this, I must take action. Of course, I can pray for guidance, asking, "Show me where the best ''Jalebi'' and ''Sandesh'' are available," and thus enlighten my understanding. However, I must still obtain and experience them. This interpretation reflects Swami Vivekananda's profound understanding of scriptures. There is no concept of experiencing things by proxy or reaching heaven solely through faith. Many religions assert that faith alone leads to heaven, but this is not true; faith must transform our lives, turning us from selfish to unselfish individuals.

The scriptures tell us that we do not need to attain because we are already what we seek. This statement can be a tremendous shock and revelation. The challenge then becomes how to transform this faith into reality, which is the purpose of ''sadhana'' or spiritual practice. Such a person must seek a qualified ''Guru''. A qualified Guruis someone who has reached the goal themselves—a ''Rishi''—and who deeply understands the scriptures, following them meticulously and with absolute faith. This concept is beautifully illustrated in the ''Katha Upanishad'' through the phrase "''shraddha avivesha''," where Nachiketa is possessed by ''shraddha''.

Therefore, a Guru must be "''Shrotriya''" (well-versed in the scriptures) and "''Avrujina''"

How do we recognize a realized soul? Only one realized soul can understand another realized soul. Just as one ''Jeevan Mukta'' can comprehend another ''Jeevan Mukta,'' and one Einstein can understand another Einstein, we may speculate about someone's qualities if we are not qualified ourselves, but we will not fully understand or appreciate them.

A Guru must be someone who has personally attained realization and diligently followed the scriptures with unwavering faith in their own ''Guru''. This is why the lineage (''sampradaya'') is given so much importance. Let me delve into this topic now, even though I had planned to discuss it later.

Consider why Sri Ramakrishna needed to take ''sanyasa''. When Totapuri first saw him, he immediately recognized that Sri Ramakrishna was fully fit to take ''sanyasa''—a judgmental statement so rare. How many ''Gurus'' can confidently say upon first sight that a disciple is such a person? Similarly, in the ''Katha Upanishad,'' Yamadharma Raja tested Nachiketa and declared, "You have already attained what you wanted to attain." Why didn't Yamadharma Raja start teaching him? He understood that a person like Nachiketa, with such qualifications, would instantly realize the truth upon hearing it.

Swami Saradananda writes in his "Great Master" that Sri Ramakrishna achieved his spiritual goals within days of undertaking specific practices. Totapuri saw and understood Sri Ramakrishna's qualifications, performed his ''sanyasa'' ceremony, initiated him into the ''Mahavakya "Aham Brahmasmi,''" and gave him preliminary instructions. Though Totapuri remarked he had never seen another person so endowed, Sri Ramakrishna himself did not fully grasp his own understanding.

When the proper qualifications are fully evident, a person can achieve their goal instantaneously, like the vanishing of darkness when light appears. There is no time gap. Therefore, a Guru must have that kind of ''shraddha'' (faith), and naturally attains realization.

Why does a Guruwant to teach? In the Gospel class, I discussed this: a ''Jeevan Mukta'' is not the same as before. It is as if God is working through that particular body-mind instrument—the old self is dead; only God remains.

That is why it is said, and then this person, such a person is qualified to teach others. So why is this particularly mentioned here? Because we see that there are so many ''Jivanmuktas'', yet God does not choose every ''Jivanmukta'' to be a teacher. There are many wandering ''Jivanmuktas''. For instance, Sri Ramakrishna himself encountered several at Dakshineshwar who appeared not only normal but also extraordinarily abnormal, resembling madmen or even beasts. Some ''Jivanmuktas'' are described as childlike, inert like a log, completely mad, or ferocious like a beast. Sri Ramakrishna encountered and experienced all these types.

Why doesn't God use every ''Jivanmukta's'' body for teaching? Or perhaps He does, but in what manner? This remains a mystery to all of us. However, it is certain that every ''Jivanmukta'' is fulfilling God's will without a doubt.

When a disciple is earnest, they must possess intense longing, ''shraddha'' (faith), and the third qualification, ''shakti'' (power). Having ''shraddha'' alone is insufficient; longing is also necessary, but whether the body-mind complex is suitable remains a crucial consideration. In Sri Ramakrishna's life, there are numerous examples where he remarked about devotees, acknowledging their goodness but indicating they would not realize God in this life. On the other hand, Sri Ramakrishna transmitted higher experiences to some individuals while telling others that they would realize in the future. These incidents are profound and worthy of contemplation.

''Shraddha'' must be absolute. What is ''shraddha''? Shankaracharya, master of realization and language, beautifully defined it as "''shastra Guruvakyeshu satya buddhiya vadharana,''" meaning a firm conviction that every word of scripture and utterance of the ''Guru'' is truth. The challenge today is our lack of ''shraddha''. How do we know? It's simple: our actions and reactions reflect our true beliefs. You may claim devotion, yet if thoughts of someone who insulted you daily dominate your mind even during meditation, it reveals where your true ''shraddha'' lies. Sri Ramakrishna emphasized the importance of ''shraddha'' greatly, and we will discuss this extensively in today's class.

How to obtain ''Shraddha''? There are two particular hymns or ''suktams''. One is called ''Medha Suktam. Medha'' means right intelligence, and it should come from God only. We believe that it is the Divine Mother who is the embodiment of all these qualities.

''Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu shraddha roopena samsthita''

''Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu buddhi roopena samsthita''.

How do we obtain that faith or awaken the Divine Mother in that particular format?

If a person wants to meditate or become a musician, they must meditate upon the Divine Mother in the form of knowledge. If a person wants tremendous power, ''Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu shraddha roopena samsthita'', then they should meditate upon Mother ''Kali''. There are particular manifestations of the Divinity expressing or fulfilling specific desires. ''Suktam'' means it is discovered by a realized soul to fulfill the needs of people like us who want to attain something. ''Medha Suktam'' gives us the right knowledge. What does right knowledge produce? It produces whatever the scripture tells, and that is the truth. So, ''mayi indriyam dadhatu. mayisuryo brajo dadhatu.'' Like that, there are concluding prayers in the ''Medha Suktam''. So, please refer to it.

But there is another ''suktam'' found in the ''Rig Veda'' in ''Mandala'' 10, ''Sukta'' 151, aptly named ''Shraddha''. In my last class, I also mentioned ''nama japa''. When we want to repeat the name of God, we should not just repeat it mindlessly. First, salute your own ''mantra'' or the name of God. What is a ''mantra'' or name of God? Salute it. Say, "''O Nama." Nama'' means the name of God. "''O Nama'', please bestow your grace so that you become awakened." This way, I don't need to repeat with tremendous effort. Effortlessly and spontaneously, you should manifest yourself in me. This is called ''mantra chaitanya'', or we can also call it ''nama chaitanya.''

If we pray to the name of God, the name of God becomes even more powerful than God himself. Ramakrishna himself gives a beautiful example. Hanuman, uttering the name of Rama, crossed the ocean in a trice. But the man whose name he uttered required a huge bridge to be built. Hanuman was the main labourer who brought huge mountains. Even now, they say it is there, called ''Ram Setu'', from Rameswaram to Sri Lanka. It is very necessary to pray to the Divine Mother. Then the Divine Mother will come in the form of ''Medha'' or ''Shraddha. Shraddha'' in ''Guru's'' words is essential because the ''Guru'' interprets the words of the scriptures.

How do we know the scriptures are true? It is just like a scientific experiment. Some scientists discover a method to produce a certain result, publish it, and then other intelligent people understand how to replicate the experiment. If it is scientific, it must yield the same result. Similarly, if my ''Guru'' or his ''Guru'' experimented and obtained the same result as the first person who discovered the experiment, it confirms the realization of God.

How do we know that the scripture is telling us the truth? The proof is my ''Guru''. Whatever is described as the characteristics of a realized soul, I see in this person in front of my eyes. You see, what I am trying to instill in all of us is that you can't simply say, "I have faith, I have faith." That is a vain sound that makes no meaning. But when I see that my ''Guru'' is teaching me, and he is the embodiment of what he is teaching, and he is always joyful, that is how I know.

That's why I told you, how do we know that a person is spiritual? The first quality we see in a spiritual person is that, without any means of external happiness, he is continuously happy because he has become God. God is of the nature of bliss. Therefore, anyone who has become God must manifest the same. In fact, God has three qualities: ''Sat, Chit,'' and ''Ananda.''

''Sat'' means He doesn't know what change is; He is ever-existent. Secondly, God is of the nature of pure consciousness; He is always conscious. Thirdly, God is bliss, ''Ananda.'' Anyone who becomes God must be Sat. The word ''Sat'' not only means existence—a stone also exists, but that is of no use to us. Here, ''Sat'' has other meanings: He is good, pure, unselfish, and only truth comes out of his mouth. ''Sat.''

That is why Ramakrishna used to say, "Cultivate the holy company (''Sat Sangha'')." It leads to ''Satya Sangha'', which leads to ''Sat'', none other than God himself. The same process applies to the other two qualities, ''Chit'' and ''Ananda.'' So, when a person asks if God exists or not, and if what the scripture says is true, everything becomes true because I see a person in front of me who embodies these qualities.

Even if I read a thousand scriptures without encountering a person who is ever happy and good, there is an invariable relationship between goodness, purity, pure knowledge, and happiness. A wicked person may appear to be happy, but he can never truly be happy. We must have the intelligence to understand this because our conclusion might be that a wicked person is obtaining everything by hook or crook, and we might think we can do the same to enjoy life. No, that is not going to work.

So, when I see in front of me a person who embodies these qualities, I can develop faith only by cultivating the company of people who have this ''Shraddha''. Can we develop ''Shraddha'' not merely by listening to lectures, etc.? In the ''Rig Veda'', 10th ''Mandala, Sukta'' 151, there is a beautiful ''Suktam''. It is a prayer to ''Shraddha Devi,'' the Divine Mother in the form of ''Shraddha. Shraddha'', the Divine Mother herself, is manifesting as ''Shraddha''.

Here is a plain meaning of it, and we have to meditate on each line:

śraddhayā’gnissamidhyate | śraddhayā hūyate haviḥ |

śraddhāṁ bhagasya mūrdhani | vacasāvedayāmasi ||1||

''Shraddha'' makes the fire burn splendidly. When a person performs ''Agni'' with ''Shraddha'', he will naturally do whatever is necessary. As a consequence, the fire burns spontaneously and splendidly because he is fulfilling the conditions.

More than that, the fire itself becomes manifest in the form of the deity, as it happened to many ''Rishis'', particularly Satyakama Jabala. When he was tending the fires, every evening he would stoke the fire and then sit in front of it. One day, the fire spoke to him: "O Satyakama, I am going to teach you one quarter about ''Brahman''." First a bull, then the fire, and then two birds each taught him one quarter of the knowledge of ''Brahman'', adding up to the complete understanding. When Satyakama Jabala reached his ''Guru's'' place, his ''Guru'' immediately noticed a change and said, "Your face is shining like an ''Knower of Brahman''. Who taught you?" Satyakama explained that it was not a human being but the Divine Mother, manifesting in the forms of the bull, fire, and birds. The Divine Mother, who is the embodiment of pure knowledge, manifested through these forms, resulting in Satyakama Jabala becoming an ''Knower of Brahman''.

When a person is endowed with ''Shraddha,'' or deep faith, it makes the fire burn splendidly. This concept connects to many incidents in Sri Ramakrishna's life. For instance, when Sri Ramakrishna started worshiping the Divine Mother, he used the ''Agni Mantra''. As soon as he took a little water and sprinkled it around with the ''mantra "Ram''," he was filled with immense faith. Immediately, he saw a wall of fire springing up, symbolizing that ''Shraddha'' can bring forth divine experiences.

When a person endowed with ''Shraddha'' rubs sticks together to make a fire, it burns splendidly and immediately. ''Shraddha'' makes the fire burn splendidly, and any oblation offered with ''Shraddha'' is accepted immediately. ''Shraddha'' is the best among all kinds of wealth. It means that if a person has ''Shraddha,'' it becomes the instrument for attaining not only worldly happiness but also the highest spiritual bliss, ''Brahma Ananda''.

In my past classes, I have quoted the story of Sabari from the ''Ramayana''. Because she was endowed with ''Shraddha'', God Himself came to her. She never went on a pilgrimage, yet Rama came to her, granted her ''moksha'' (liberation), and performed her last rites. This demonstrates that ''Shraddha'' is the best among all kinds of wealth. If anyone possesses this wealth called ''Shraddha,'' they attain everything.

We affirm this fact with our words of praise: "''Vachasa Vedayamasi'', O Divine Mother ''Shraddha'', we are only conveying this because You have manifested within us in the form of ''Shraddha.''"

''priyaṁ śraddhe dadataḥ | priyaṁ śraddhe didāsataḥ |''

''priyaṁ bhojeṣu yajvasvidaṁ ma uditaṁ kṛdhi ||2||''

Directly addressing the Goddess called ''Shraddha''. O Goddess ''Shraddha'', bestow pleasing and agreeable things on one who is charitable and also on the one who wishes to be charitable.

Why should you bestow your grace, O Divine Mother? Because this person is most charitable, meaning unselfish. Another person, desiring to become charitable, once they make the determination (''Sankalpa'') to do charitable work and become unselfish, God Himself manifests in that person. This is what Sri Ramakrishna advised in his simple words to Mathur Babu: "You are only a trustee. That which the Divine Mother has given you is meant to be given to the rightful persons as a trustee." What a marvellous thing it is.

yathā devā asureṣu śraddhāmugreṣu cakrire |

evaṁ bhojeṣu yajvasvasmākamuditaṁ kṛdhi ||3||

In our mythologies, there is continuous friction and battles between the Gods and the ''Asuras'' (demons). This represents the conflict within each of us, between our good tendencies (''samskaras'') and evil tendencies. At first, worldliness often conquers, but divinity cannot be suppressed or destroyed. It will assert its power sooner or later, often through suffering, and the person will turn to spiritual life.

The Gods pay particular attention to the frightening demons. This means that demons (or our challenges) are necessary to frighten us and turn us toward God. Every suffering is a demon working indirectly to fulfill the purpose of the Divine Mother. This child of mine is not turning towards me in prayer, so he should come to me through suffering or unhappy experiences. When people are defeated and frightened, they remember God and come running to ''Vishnu, Brahma,'' or ''Shiva'', praying for rescue.

The interpretation of mythologies should be clear to us. Simply saying, "Oh God, please save me," is not enough. Have you reformed? Have you recovered your original nature? Initially, you became a god by living a godly life as a human being. As a result, you became a god. But now, having obtained this position, you became intoxicated with enjoyment and forgot God, lost ''Shraddha'' in the Divine. This is the result.

Curiously, there was a great historian, Arnold Toynbee in the UK, who came to a similar conclusion. Whenever people become civilized, they become weak, addicted to temporary happiness. They become dependent upon slaves. Then, a rough ride, accustomed to extreme conditions, becomes endowed with tremendous bodily and mental strength. They fall like thunderbolts upon this civilized society, occupy their place, and then adopt that civilization, becoming addicted to luxury. The former gods now become demons, and the former demons become gods. This cycle, the ''Brahma Chakra'' or ''Samsara Chakra,'' continues. The former ''Devas'' come and conquer the current society, kicking them out. The cycle of learning, relearning, and relearning these lessons goes on endlessly.

yathā devā asureṣu śraddhāmugreṣu cakrire |

evaṁ bhojeṣu yajvasvasmākamuditaṁ kṛdhi ||3||

Just as the gods pay particular attention to the frightening demons by taking refuge in the Divine Lord, showing reverence to ''Vishnu'' or ''Shiva'', we too, O Goddess ''Shraddha'', show reverence to you. We acknowledge our past as demons, but now we have learned our lessons. So, Mother, kindly fulfill our intent towards our priests who perform rituals, allowing them to enjoy the fruits thereof. Endow us with ''Shraddha'' so that we may embrace the first part of the ''Vedic'' teachings, called ''Karma Kanda''. By doing so, we will perform and live a ''Vedic'' life, enjoying all the happiness it brings. However, every happiness comes with a cost.

Performing actions with ''Shraddha'' yields four results. First, it endows us with full faith. When we see that performing actions with faith yields results, our ''Shraddha'' becomes stronger and stronger, like a muscle exercised in a gymnasium. This is the first result: ''Shraddha.'' Secondly, the mind becomes focused and concentrated, coming under control. This is the second result. The third result is ''Chitta Shuddhi,'' or purification of the mind, enabling us to understand the deeper meanings of the scriptures. The fourth result is ''Chitta Vaishaliyata,'' where we begin to understand higher experiences and the existence of higher and more universal deities.

For example, Indra is identified with ''Indraloka'', but ''Brahma'' and ''Vishnu'' are identified with the whole universe. In the ''Vishnu Sahasranama'', the first name that appears is ''Vishwam'', indicating that ''Vishnu'' manifests as the entire universe. This is followed by ''Vishwam Vishnuhu'', and then ''Vashatkaraha,'' which refers to the performance of rituals according to the ''Brahmana'' portion of the ''Vedas.''

Performing rituals produces results, which in turn reinforce our ''Shraddha''. This ''Shraddha'' elevates us, increasing our identification with higher realities. The four results we achieve are:

# Concentration: The mind becomes focused and controlled.
# Complete faith: Our ''Shraddha'' increases and strengthens.
# Understanding: The mind becomes pure, enabling deeper comprehension of scriptures.
# Higher awareness: The mind transcends lower realms, reaching for higher realities until our vision is fixed on the highest truth.

These are the four results of performing ''Yajnas'' and ''Yagas.'' As I mentioned earlier, if I am personally doing something beneficial, it is called ''Ishta''. Whatever makes me a better person is technically called Ishta. However, I cannot become better unless I expand my personality.

So, what is higher happiness? If I am eating something alone, my happiness is very limited. But if I share it and eat with many others, my happiness expands to include the joy of everyone present. Interestingly, when a mother forgoes eating something tasty she has cooked in a small quantity, and instead gives it to her children, she derives higher happiness from their enjoyment.

This same principle is illustrated in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. When his disciples prayed for him to be able to eat during his last days, he had a tremendous revelation. He asked, "Why? Am I not eating through all of you? Am I not deriving so much joy through your experiences?" He realized that he didn't need to eat for himself to know happiness, as his joy was already complete through the happiness of his disciples.

Whoever is very charitable and leads a good life, transforming their existence, will be blessed by the Goddess ''Shraddha''. O Mother, kindly fulfill our intent towards our priests who perform rituals, allowing them to enjoy the fruits thereof. The performance of rituals gradually elevates a person to higher states of consciousness. Then:

śraddhām devā yajamānā vāyugopā upāsate |

śraddhāṁ hṛdayyayā<nowiki>''</nowiki>kūtyā śraddhayā vindate vasu ||4||

Meaning: The ''Devas'' and the performers of rituals, protected by the Divine Mother in the form of ''Vayu'', worship Goddess ''Shraddha''. All worship her with devotion, intent in their hearts. By this devotion, one gains ''Dharma'' (righteousness), ''Artha'' (wealth), ''Kama'' (desires), and ''Moksha'' (liberation), all through ''Shraddha''.

śraddhāṁ prātarhavāmahe śraddhāṁ madhyandinaṁ pari |

śraddhāṁ sūryasya niṁmṛci śraddhe śraddhāpayeha naḥ ||5||

We invite Goddess ''Shraddha'' in the morning, at noon, and at sunset, and by implication, throughout the 24 hours.

O Goddess ''Shraddha'', bless us that we may have ''Shraddha'' in this life, at this time, and in this place. This ends the ''Shraddha Sukta'', which consists of five mantras. O Mother ''Shraddha,'' bestow your grace upon us, endowing us with ''Shraddha'' all the time—morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Let there not be a single second when we are bereft of ''Shraddha''. How is this possible? Only by your grace, because you are the Divine Mother.

Now, if we want to interpret the different manifestations of the Divine Mother as described in the ''Durga Saptashati'', we see various qualities mentioned, such as ''Shraddha Roopena Samsthita'' (manifested as ''Shraddha), Buddhi Roopena'' ''Samsthita'' (manifested as intelligence), ''Tushthi Roopena Samsthita'' (manifested as satisfaction), etc. There are many such manifestations of the Divine Mother, each with its own ''mantra''. If we repeat these ''mantras'' with faith, we will achieve the desired result.

For instance, if you are struggling with sleep, you can repeat the ''mantra'' "''Ya Devi Sarva Bhuteshu Nidra Roopena Samsthita''" (She who is manifest in the form of sleep). This practice can help induce sleep. It’s curious why Swami Vivekananda, who faced issues with sleep, did not use this ''mantra''. Perhaps he had his own reasons. Nevertheless, these ''mantras'' are not only for those who struggle with lack of sleep but also for those who are troubled by too much sleep.

Indeed, it is the same Divine Mother who awakens us from our ignorance and bestows her grace upon us. The story of ''Brahma'' hymning to the Divine Mother to awaken ''Vishnu'', who was overcome with terrible sleep, exemplifies this. In this story, the Divine Mother withdraws herself from ''Vishnu'', leading to his awakening. He then sees the demons ''Madhu'' and ''Kaitava,'' slays them, and saves ''Brahma.'' This narrative highlights the power of the Divine Mother in dispelling ignorance and bestowing enlightenment and protection.

The symbolism of these stories is profound. In your previous talks, you might have discussed how these narratives represent the inner spiritual journey of overcoming ignorance and awakening to higher consciousness. This process is deeply connected with the concept of Shraddha, or faith.

The ''Shraddha Suktam'' is a key text that helps in developing this faith in the ''Vedas''. By constantly offering prostrations and repeating the ''Shraddha Suktam'' or ''Medha Suktam'', one can cultivate a life endowed with ''Shraddha''. The word ''Shraddha'' itself, understood in Hindu tradition as referring to the last rites after a person's death, signifies faith. It implies the belief that even though the physical body is gone, the person's essence continues to exist and will be reborn, either in higher or lower worlds or on this earth as a human being.

Scriptures like the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and the ''Upanishads'' repeatedly affirm this belief and explain the process of rebirth. The concept of ''Panchagni Vidya'' in the ''Chandogya Upanishad'', for instance, details how a dead person is reborn. This underscores the necessity of ''Shraddha'' in our spiritual practices.

Sri Ramakrishna provided a beautiful interpretation of ''Shraddha'', emphasizing its importance. He often spoke about how faith is essential in spiritual practice, enabling one to overcome obstacles and progress on the path to enlightenment.

In the next class, we can delve deeper into Sri Ramakrishna's interpretation of ''Shraddha'' and explore other aspects of this profound concept. ''Shraddha'', as faith, permeates every aspect of our lives and spiritual practices, guiding us towards higher consciousness and ultimate liberation.
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Category:Pratah Smaranam

2025-01-19T19:11:52Z

DanielM: Adding Swami Dayatmananda category

[[Category:Swami Dayatmananda]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 6 on 03 December 2020

2025-01-19T19:08:56Z

DanielM: Add category

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are studying the last Shloka of the Pratah Smaranam Stotram Pratarnamami Tamasa Paramarkavarnam Poornam Sanatanapadam Purushottam Aakhyam Yasmin Nidam Jagad Asesham Asesham Urthav Rajvam Bhujangamayava Pratibhasitam Vayi This most wonderful meaning in the morning, at dawn, in the Brahmi Muhurta I salute that which is beyond the darkness, which is without any form and which is of the supreme nature of illumination like the sun. The sun is referred to as the illuminator here just like our Shuddha Chaitanya, pure Atma which illumines the mind. This consciousness doesn't have any form and to that supreme Brahman I offer my morning salutations.

I mentioned earlier that Sri Ramakrishna used to get up early in the morning and go on chanting. The divine names in such a sweet voice that it is impossible to describe the influence effect of such a even hearing that chanting. The devotees used to go into Samadhi.

We can also while reading the Gospel or while even chanting these three verses are very easy to remember, easy to memorize. If we can memorize early in the morning, if we can chant them with devotion, with fervor and we will see how much of change comes into our minds. Takes time because any progress is slow but it is very sure to come.

That is why the great Acharya Bhagavatpada Shankaracharya had written this kind of stotras. This is not the only stotra. As I mentioned at the introduction Shankaracharya has written whether it is Ganesha, whether it is Lalita, whether it is Shiva so many stotras are available.

The most famous of course is Venkateshwara Suprabhatam. Where is that Venkateshwara? He is right where we are. He is everywhere but we have to learn how to look for him and these stotras help us to look forward to see him.

And so we have given some meaning in a very general way in our last class. Let us go into a little more depth. I salute.

Salutation is always a matter of self-surrender. That's why whenever two real Hindus, orthodox Hindus meet together they say salutations to you. Namo Narayanaya.

Whenever we say namo Narayanaya, namaha means nothing belongs to me. Everything belongs oh lord to you. That is the meaning of namaha.

That is Sharanagati. I also meaning the body, mind which in my state of ignorance at present I consider as myself, my very identity, everything in this world belongs to you. I am in this world.

I also belong to you. With this bhavana, with this understanding we have to salute the lord. Oh lord, I belong to you.

As soon as I say I belong to you, I have to understand my responsibility. Whether the master keeps me on a royal bed or on a refuge, heap, whatever. Whether I am happy, unhappy, wealthy or not, learned or not.

I don't care all those things. My mother had decided to keep me here. I would like to be there.

Pratarnamami and what is the nature of that supreme being that I am trying to remember all the time. Tamasaha param arkavarnam. It is Tamasaha param, beyond all darkness.

Let us remember light and darkness have special meaning in Vedanta. But apart from Vedanta, even in ordinary words, when we are unable to think deeply, we say I am in darkness. I do not know what to do.

But as soon as light comes, in cartoons we see a new idea comes and immediately as if a bulb has been lighted up. In every cartoon, this kind of depiction we see that light always means dana, knowledge. And that's a very beautiful word.

Supposing it is 12 o'clock midday and the sun is shining so brilliantly. But I do not know what to do. Some circumstance has come suddenly either from myself or somebody gives an idea as if a light bulb has been put on and immediately my mind becomes cheerful.

So when that knowledge, the solution to my problems come up, that is called the dawn. Prataha means that dawn, an ignorant person who is in complete darkness. And even whether it is day, night, waking, dreaming, deep sleep, he is only in complete darkness.

And this is what is beautifully depicted at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. यानिशा सर्वभूतानाम् तस्याम् जागर्ति संयमि यस्याम् जागर्ति भूतानि सानिशा पश्यतो मुने For an ignorant person, whole life is as it were, he is in deep darkness. And Tulasidas also sings in his beautiful song, जानकी शकी सकी O Lord, how long have I slept and so many yugas have passed just like deep nights.

अभु प्रभात प्रकट भानु ज्ञानके भानु Now the dawn has come and I have realized, जानकी शकी सकी करिपा जगावति The grace of Janakisha who is Bhagawan Rama. When that Kripa comes or dawns upon somebody, that will be the beginning of a new day. A dawn is always a new day to a person who is sleeping.

Here we are talking about the dawn of knowledge and it comes only to virtuous people, wise people. जगावति सुजान जीवा Only those people who trust in the scriptures and lead a life of purity, virtue and self-control. On such people automatically the grace of God dawns.

Does it mean to say grace is absent and never dawns to other people? No, it is like light whether people are sleeping or people are awake. When the time comes the sun rises and the sun will be there whole day practically. But if a person has chosen to close his eyes and sleep, the light is available but the person is not availing it.

Availability and to take advantage of it, these are completely two separate things. That's why Shri Ramakrishna used to say, the breeze of God's grace is always blowing unfurl your sails. That is what Bhagavad Gita is telling, A person who is awakened, he sees it.

What is the awakening? He sees the divine Lord. Where? He sees everywhere including himself. That means there is no he, there is no the world.

Everything is one and the same. That is the symbolism of this world. It is beyond darkness.

Where there is light, there is no darkness. Where there is darkness, there is no light. But we are in a very peculiar condition.

Half darkness because if it is full darkness, we are never going to awake. If it is full light, we also don't need anything else. Is it? Very beautiful ideas are compressed in this particular two words.

That is why Swami Vivekananda had initiated people. I have seen There is no other way. The light has to come.

That's why during Vesper service also, the person who is doing Aratrikam, he always shows the light because the divine Lord is right in front of the person. But to see him, he requires the light. And the devotees who are attending, they also require that light.

Perhaps many of you have noticed when in Indian temples, especially traditional temples, the Lord is kept as it were in a deep place. Practically every temple, it is only the Ramakrishna temples where the place is so wide from any angle and it is fully lighted. People could see this Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Swamiji from every nook and corner.

But in the traditional temples, you go to Kanchikamakshi, you go to Kanyakumari, you go to Rameshwaram, you go to Tirupati Venkateshwara, you go any of these places. It is a small place and it is in deep darkness. The devotees go there.

But how to have darshan and they will be seeing from a long distance. They will not allow them to come near. Excepting the Tirupati Venkateshwara temple is something unique.

There practically within 2-3 feet as if you can touch the Divine Lord. Huge image you can see. Most of the places, the pujari, the worshipper, he lights some camphor and then he takes it round.

If you see the face, you don't see the hands. If you see the hands, you don't see the legs. So he takes it round.

So devotees feel extremely blessed. Now what is the symbolism? Are the Hindus so miserly or the Hindus are deep thinkers? So they are telling what Upanishads call Hridaya Guha, the cave of the heart. Khandhara means a cave hidden in deep darkness.

But there the Divine Lord is available there. This word cave has many many meanings. I will just give you only one more simple.

Cave means first of all it is secret. Cave means absolutely dark. Dark means where every thought has to be completely suppressed.

That means one has to be in the state of yoga because that is what is called yoga. Naturally the doubt comes when all the mentations, the thoughts are completely controlled. What happens? The very word control means not removing them, not suppressing them, but to make all of them merge into one single thought which alone remains at the end.

That is called Brahma Akara Vritti. And that Brahma Akara Vritti is our reflection. Why do we call reflection? Why do I say it is a reflection? Because it is still a reflection in our hearts, in our thoughts.

And that reflection shows us who we really are. That when you stand in front of a mirror and it is a clean mirror, there is more than sufficient light and then your form should reflect exactly as you are. Other times always we stand with five layers of dressings and stand in front of the mirror.

Every day we go in the bathroom and especially in some of the countries, the bathroom is full of mirrors, 10,000 watt bulbs, whereas in the sleeping room only one small bed light is there. I didn't understand the meaning of it when I used to go at the beginning. I want to read, I want to see.

In my opinion, bathrooms should have very small lights because after all you just answer calls of nature, take bath and come out. Later on it dawned on me that is the way we go on staring at ourselves and many people carry a small mirror and whenever occasion demands or not demands, they take out that mirror, look at their face and then correct something here and there, a hair falling here or there. Now hair falling on the eye is also part of the fashion.

Only with one eye, already both eyes are blind. Now one eye they want completely covered with the hair. Anyway, so then this is you stand in front of those mirrors.

What do you see? You see the body. What is the body? Annamaya Kosha. And if we can remove it, then we see Pranamaya, then Manomaya, then Vijnanamaya, then Anandamaya.

That seeing Anandamaya Kosha equivalent to this Brahmakara Vritti. So when all thoughts are completely controlled and unified and redirected towards only one thought, the thought of Brahman and that is called Brahmakara Vritti and so we are talking about the cave. Cave means it is very deep inside us that is called Hridaya Kuhara and that is also completely in darkness so far as we are concerned and that is also where every thought has to be suppressed.

Here deep darkness, it is equivalent to yoga. All the Chitta Vrittis are totally to be controlled and then unified and then directed and then a light will come and that light is called Brahmakara Vritti. In this controlled mind, when the Jivatma looks at himself, that Chidabasa, I am a reflection of the Paramatma, that will come.

That knowledge dawns at that time. That is why Swami Vivekananda has a prayer, O Lord Ramakrishna, you are the light of the lights. Jyothira Jyothi.

Ujjvala Hridikandara. You light up my heart. What does my heart mean? It means you alone will be there and when I look into that controlled thought, Brahmakara Vritti, Ramakrishna Akara Vritti.

What did Sri Ramakrishna see? Then Tathapuri wanted to ask him to meditate. He saw Kalika Devi. He is Ishta Devata.

But here we have to be extremely cautious. When we look at Mother Kali, we see a lady with four arms and ferocious appearance. Never imagine this kind of figure.

It is okay for the beginning but not even to the advanced students. What is the Divine Mother Kalika? That Sat Chit Ananda. That Swaroopalakshana.

And that was what Sri Ramakrishna used to see. How do, you may ask, how do you know, Swami, you are talking about this? Because Swami Shardanandji discussed this matter when Sri Ramakrishna had the very first vision of Mother Kali when he was about to commit suicide. Then Mother came, caught hold of his hands and then he described vividly waves of consciousness, like huge tsunami waves surrounded me from all sides trying to make me unconscious.

I struggled not to become unconscious and then I became unconscious. These are all mystical words. How can consciousness make a person unconscious? This was the dilemma that Maitreyi had faced and asked Yagnivalkiya.

Then he explained, you do not understand, my dear, what I really meant was that when you are capable of seeing that light, that light absorbs all other lights and the idea, you become unconscious of the idea of every other light excepting that one single light and because of which every other light is shining. Tasyabhasa Sarvamidam Vibhati. That's what Swami Vivekananda compressed, Jyoti Rajyoti Ujjvala Hrithi Kandara.

This Brahmakara Hrithi lights up. Then immediately the knowledge comes, oh this is me. I thought I was the body, I was the mind, I was the causal body but now I know these are all partial knowledge, not completely untrue but partially true.

Now I know what it is and then he becomes so eager as Bhagavad Gita says like moths. As soon as they behold the light, immediately they want to become one with it. So the soul also as soon as it finds the reflection, it wants to break that mirror and become one with it but that also requires complete self-surrender.

That's what Sri Ramakrishna had done. Divine mother came to him in the form of discrimination, a soul of discrimination and in words Sri Ramakrishna was describing as soon as the form of the mother appeared, I took up the soul of discrimination and cut the form into two that means destroyed that form and as a result that barrier between me, that reflection and me. What does it mean? Destroy the mirror.

What is the mirror? Purified mind. As soon as the mind is destroyed, there is no reflection, there is not reflected. Both become completely one and my mind merged completely in the divine mother.

This is what we are talking here. Arka means the sun. Varnam means the light of the sun.

So that divine light Jyotira Jyoti and we also have to say that even the sun that we know is only a symbol. How do we know? Again another Upanishad comes to our aid. Remember Shankaracharya was a master of all the Upanishads and every single word of the Upanishad is on the tip of the tongue.

Therefore whenever he requires, you refer to that Upanishad, such and such an Upanishad and such and such a shloka where that particular word comes and then we are struggling to go to the internet and get that quotation. But everything he had by hearted. Anyway what are we talking about? He is talking about Tasyabhasa Sarvamidam Vibhati.

When this Brahmakara Hrithi comes, it is like a great light. What does it do? It destroys. What does it destroy? The mirror.

Here the mirror is purified mind. When that mind is destroyed, there is no thought and then who is to say this is me and this is Paramatma. It is not there.

So I was raising one point which is the most wonderful point. Supposing there is a day and then you see it is midday and the sun is burning bright. Suddenly a huge cloud comes and it obscures the sun.

We can see the clouds only because of the sun. If it is night, deep dark, even if it is thickly clouded, we can't see anything. So here is the inner secret.

The clouds are produced by the sun. The clouds are illumined by the sun and yet the clouds cloud the sun. And here we are apt to make the greatest mistake of our life.

The clouds are covering the sun and that is why I am not able to see the sun. There can be no greater mistake committed than this. The clouds cannot cover the sun because the karya, the effect can never obscure the cause.

Then why are we not able to see? We are not able to see because the clouds cover not the sun but my eyesight. The clouds cover my eyesight. You don't even need huge clouds.

You just take one of your fingers and put it in front of both your eyes. That's what Sri Ramakrishna was trying to convey this message to us. One day he was asking, God is everywhere but how come we are not able to see? Immediately Sri Ramakrishna wanted to illustrate it.

So he took up a small towel which used to be with him all the time on his shoulders. He put it in front of his face. Then he said, see how near I am to you and how near you are to me.

Neither I am able to see you nor you are able to see me. This profoundly meaningful statement. So when the towel is covering Sri Ramakrishna's face, is it covering the eyes of the devotees or is it obscuring Sri Ramakrishna's face? Normally we say, oh the towel has covered Sri Ramakrishna's face.

I am okay but because of the towel I am not able to see. The truth is that the towel is obscuring everybody's sight. Because if somebody is on this side of the towel that person can see Sri Ramakrishna very well.

So if you go beyond the clouds you can see the sun very very well. So we say the sun is an enemy of darkness. We should never say that.

The sun is what is called enemy of the clouds. But the clouds are not the enemy of the sun. I hope I am able to convey what I am talking about.

Supposing there is somebody and he says that where there is sun there will be no darkness. So darkness is the enemy of the sun. And then the Guru will tell to such kind of stupid student, okay you show me darkness.

Let us take the sun. And then he says in Japan there is darkness now. All right, oh sun come to Japan.

So he will go to Japan. And then as soon as the sun goes there, where is the darkness? Nobody can see the darkness. Where is the darkness? Oh it has gone to America.

So let us go to America. And the sun goes to America. And there he finds it is there back in India.

So where there is light there is no darkness. Therefore for the sun he doesn't know the very existence of darkness. That's why when something is non-existent such a thing can never become an enemy of anybody.

You can't simply claim that such and such a person. Where is he? He is not born. But he is my greatest enemy.

So this is all mithya. But it has also got its usefulness is there taken in the right light. What am I talking about? In the Bhagavatam we get the story of Krishna.

Kamsa was the ruler. He was a wicked person. But really he was a great devotee of God.

Never forget that. He was one of the greatest devotees of God. He was born a great devotee.

The watchman of Vaikuntha was born as a Kamsa. And then this Kamsa was wanting to go back to the Lord. So this Kamsa had a what is called he heard a divine voice Akashvani.

The eighth child that is to be born to your sister Devaki will be your annihilator. The mystical words should be Oh Kamsa I am very pleased with you. You wanted to come back to God Vaikuntha to me very quickly.

So to fulfill your desire because you are my greatest devotee. Soon I am going to be born in your own family as the eighth child. And then you will be meditating upon me.

And then at the end I will destroy your ignorance. And then I will take you hug you to my bosom. You will become one with me.

This is the inner language mystical language. So Bhagavatam describes as soon as he heard we know the story. Kamsa what happened to him? He became the greatest sadhaka in the world.

In what? He knew now. He believed. He was possessed of Shraddha.

What Shraddha? Soon a child is going to come and he is going to destroy me. Bhaya has come. Deep fear has come.

What is the fear? Meanwhile Kamsa became attached. I am the hero. I am greatest.

Everybody is obeying me. And in fact he imprisoned his own father. He became an asuri prakriti.

But deep inside him his spiritual nature is longing. Oh my beloved when are you going to come and show your face? As a result of his intense prayer the lord said I am pleased with you. Very soon I am going to come.

As soon as Kamsa heard he became completely detached to the world. He transformed everything. Wherever he was seeing whom was he seeing? Krishna.

Oh some footsteps are coming towards me. Hey I think Krishna is coming to kill me. Somebody some sound is coming outside.

Krishna is coming to me. I think in his dreams. All dreams are nothing but Krishna in a ferocious form like Kalanala Sanniva is coming to destroy me.

Open the eyes Krishna. Seeing the eyes Krishna. He could never have any kind of sleep.

Even a wink of sleep. Krishna Krishna Krishna Anavarata. This japa japa was going on in the mind of the Kamsa.

Of course you know in the end Krishna came and with his own hands he destroyed. What can the sun destroy? Only darkness. What are we talking about? Many of these stories have got deep mystical meaning.

If only we really meditate upon them. So this is what we are talking about. Early morning we have to think about it.

What was the point I raised? The sun doesn't have any enemy. If at all light has any enemy it is darkness. But light where light is there is no darkness.

Therefore there cannot be any enemy. But where there is darkness then it is frightened. The light will come and it will destroy me.

And every one of us is frightened of the destruction. But really that is why light always represents knowledge and darkness represents all the negative things. Fear, trepidation and then deep dissatisfaction.

And that is why in Bengali there is a beautiful saying. What are you seeing my brother? Andhakar dekchi. I am seeing deep darkness.

Means I am not happy. My buddhi is not okay. That is why early in the morning every devotee, devout Hindu must face the rising sun.

And then he say. Tatsavitho varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi dhiyo yonaha prachodayat. There is every mantra of this Gayatri mantra.

Three we can say. This whole Pratarnamami stotram is only a little bit elaboration of these three sentences. Now you try to connect it.

I will give you that homework. So Pratarnamami. With the brahmi muhurta I salute.

Namaha means I said I surrender myself. What do I surrender? I have got darkness and I can surrender. Surrender to whom? There is only one who can absorb it and make it positive.

That is the supreme light of the lights. And then Swamiji continues. You are the one.

You are the only one. Because you are the Jyoti Rajyoti. If all the external lights.

How many external lights are there? According to the Brihadaranyika Upanishad, four lights are there. The sun, the moon, the fire and then the speech. But there is another light, fifth light that is called Chidabasa.

Our mind has to grasp. But what lends that understanding power to our mind? That is the real light of the light which is called Jyoti Rajyoti. I salute that Jyoti Rajyoti.

There there is no darkness at all. It is full light. Light of knowledge.

What type of knowledge is that? That's what he is describing. Having put forward this idea that there is that Jyoti Rajyoti. But what is the nature of that Jyoti Rajyoti, light of the lights? Purnam.

It is perfect. It is infinite. It is complete.

What marvelous ideas in the Shanti Mantra, especially of the Yajur Veda. We get this. Very briefly I want to discuss this point.

This Shanti Mantra as I mentioned has got three meanings. The first meaning is you completely destroy any obstacles to the good work I have started. And the second meaning is it also tells us your goal of life.

What is that goal? That Moksha that I am full. I am Purna. But I am only thinking I am not Purna and this world is also not Purna.

This is a mistaken notion in my mind. Everything is nothing but that infinite only. There cannot be any finiteness besides this infinity.

So that idea I must attain that goal. That is the second meaning. Third meaning is so what is the nature of that goal that I have to attain? That is being said that is infinite.

That means the cause. The cause of this world. Where from this entire world has come? From Pancha Bhutas.

All the living beings have come from Anna. Food has come from the earth. Earth has sprung from waters.

Water has originated from fire. Fire has originated from air. Air has originated from space, ether.

And space is originated from nothing but Atma. So what does it mean? The Bhagawan that Saguna Brahma whom we call Brahma. So he himself manifesting as the five elements both subtle as well as gross.

And this whole universe cannot come from anybody else. You should not think a potter is making a pot out of clay. Potter is separate.

The wheel, potter's wheel is separate and clay is separate. But with regard to the whole world there is nothing besides God before the world was originated. Therefore the world must have come from God.

This has been expressed beautifully. What was at the beginning? Asat and the Sat. This existence came from that non-existence.

This is what every materialist is telling. Never mistake. Asat means unmanifest.

This manifested world is now appearing and it has come from that which was unmanifested. That which was in the course of time not experienceable to all of us. At some point it became experienceable, visible, knowable, witnessable and that is called Sat.

So this whole universe is nothing but God. And in the whole of 11th, 10th chapter, 11th chapter, 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita and we are going to also come into the 13th chapter, 15th chapter. The Lord is again and again emphasizing that there is nothing else besides me.

I am Purushottama, Kshara, Akshara. Both have come from me only. So this whole universe is nothing but the Divine Lord.

And what is the nature of it? You may think I am different, world is different, everything in this world is different. That is pure ignorance. Just people think the snake is different from the rope.

So the entire world is Purnam. Why? Because this Purnam, this visible universe, this manifested universe has come from that infinite, unmanifested being which is God. Even though it looks as though it came out, it really did not come out.

So it remains the same infinity. It has never become infinite. Even though it looks, it seems to have come from the infinite, that this infinite has never come.

Because infinite cannot be multiplied, divided, added or removed. It remains exactly the same. If we do not understand, we require some nutritious food for that.

So what is the idea? This visible universe in reality is nothing but that infinity. That is being explained here. Purnam, Sanatana Padam.

This is the eternal. Sanatana means beginningless. Infinity is beginningless, timelessness.

And it is the Padam. That is the only state. Even now we have not fallen.

Man has not fallen. He has not become a sinner. But this ignorance is there.

That is a vritti, that is a thought. That which is infinite somehow fallen into the idea, I am not infinite. But the idea of the infinite can never be removed.

Even to say, I am not infinite, we have to think about the infinite. Somebody says, I am not the prime minister. First you should know about the prime minister.

What does it mean? Then only I can say, I am not that prime minister. So deep in the depths of our unconscious mind, this is what Jung called universal unconscious. In that unconscious, we all know, I am Sat, I am Chit, I am Ananda Swaroopa.

And that's why consciously or unconsciously, we are all struggling towards it only. So this Sanatana Padam, that is the only goal. Because I can only become what I am really.

A mango seed cannot become anything else excepting a mango tree. Just imagine, suppose there is a mango seed. And one day a first class apple seed came and met.

Both of them became deeply intimate. And then the mango came to know. And then it will say, see, for so many lives, I am only being born as a mango and then dying.

I would like to change my nature. For some births, I would like to become a little bit of apple. You become a mango, you will be happy.

I will become an apple and I will be happy. So is it possible? It's never ever possible. We can only become what we really are.

Therefore, Sanatana Padam, that state of being infinite, that eternal, that unborn. Nitya, Shuddha, Buddha, Mukta, Swabhava. That is my nature.

That can never be forgotten. So what is spiritual practice? Not to become, but to claim. I was, I am and I will be that eternal.

Whether we are ignorant, whether we are evil and wicked, whatever it is, this idea will never go away from the depths of our minds. It is impossible. Even a most evil person, what does he want? I want to forever to be known as the greatest power on earth.

How long? Forever. That means he is trying to find out in a wrong way albeit that I want to be eternal only. Then what is the name? Akhyam means name.

What is that name? Purushottama. Purushottama. Purusha means he who pervades everything, inside, outside, middle, everything.

That is called Purusha. That's why in the 15th chapter he says, That Purushottama, Uttamapurusha, Akhyam. That's my name.

That's my nature. Name and nature usually do not coincide. If you say Dayatmananda, many devotees have remarked somehow they gave you the name Dayatma but you are anything but Daya.

Anyway, Purushottama Akhyam. My name is Purushottama. How many Purushottamas are there? Only one.

There cannot be more to infinites. Therefore my name is that. And then okay sir, then what about this world? Yasmin, in that Purushottama, in that infinity, this whole universe, it is able to be witnessed.

It is able to be known. This world, I exist. How? Without, this is the famous classical analogy in Advaita Vedanta, In semi-darkness, a rope is mistaken for a snake.

Many times I told you, it is not Asatya. It is not Asat. It is not non-existence.

It is partial existence. We have partial knowledge of the rope. Partial knowledge of the rope is called the snake.

Full knowledge of the snake is called rope. When light is brought, then we see this snake in its real nature, nothing but the pure rope. We can also mistake it for many other things.

What are we trying to tell? This universe is like our mistake. This person mistaking a real rope for a temporary snake. Without the rope, there cannot be any snake because the existence of the rope, the knowledge of the rope and the effect of the rope is partially obscured because of the semi-light.

That's a very important word, semi-light. Full darkness, no problem. Full light, no Adhyasa, no Brahmati, no superimposition.

It is only in semi-darkness. Maya is called semi-darkness. Ajnana is not absence of knowledge, but Ajnana is semi-knowledge, little bit of knowledge.

Like each blind man touching one part of the elephant, but he claims this is the 100% elephant. But that partial knowledge is right knowledge because the blind man is touching none other than only that elephant, nothing else. All of them were touching the elephant.

All of us are only living in God. But because of partial knowledge, I exist. This comes from Brahman's existence.

I know that comes from Brahman's what is called Chit and I am happy that comes from the Ananda aspect of Brahman. Yes men, in that Purushottama, Idam Asesha Jagat, entire universe and what is the universe? Consisting of Asesha, Asesha Murtav, countless forms, small, big, different colors, different qualities, living, non-living, everything. Whatever we experience in the waking state, in the dream state, in the dreamless state, not only that, what people have experienced in the Bhuta, past, Parthamana, the present, they are going to experience in the future.

Mavishyat, everything is contained in this. This beautiful idea has been elaborated in the very first mantra of the Mandukya Karika, especially by Shankaracharya's grand guru, Gaudapadacharya. In that Brahman, Nirguna Brahman, Shuddha, Nitya, Mukta, Buddha, Shuddha, Svabhavaha Brahman, this entire universe is shining just as a snake shines only because of the rope.

The knowledge of the snake is the incomplete knowledge of the rope and the effect it produces is the incomplete Ananda of the rope. So Rajvam Bhujangama means snake, Eva, as if. That word Eva is very crucial in Shankaracharya's vocabulary.

What does it mean? Eva means not real, as if, always as if. Pratibhasitam, why? It is this world we are able to, it is shining. It is making itself experienceable.

Why? Because if some object is lying in darkness, you cannot experience it. But as soon as light falls upon it, immediately it comes into the power, purview of our experienceability. So this whole universe is nothing but that Purna Paramatma and I salute that Paramatma.

He is the light of the lights and Dhyo Yonaha Prachodayat. By His grace, because I surrender myself to Him, I completely pray to Him and then let Him enlighten my understanding. Dhyo Yonaha Prachodayat.

Therefore, I bow down to Him. So with this, the third verse also is complete. But there is a Phalashruti.

Phalashruti means we have to understand this meaning of this also. What is the Phalashruti? That fortunate and assiduous devotee who is sincere to the core, every morning if he remembers these three beautiful mantras, I would say mantras and as I mentioned, they are nothing but pure Gayatri mantra. So whoever remembers every time, not only in the morning, at dawn, at dusk, whenever we tend to forget God, immediately, oh, I forgot to remember God.

That is called awakening. If you forgot, you cannot remember Him. But when you say, I forgot, that means you remembered.

At that time, keep the meaning in these three. These three verses, Punyam, it gives Mahapunyam. Because when I remember these things, I would not feel like doing anything dark, anything evil, anything ugly.

At least temporarily, it prevents us. Not only that, in course of time, it has tremendous effect. Its reputation has a tremendous effect.

That is why Holy Mother used to say, Perfection comes through Japa. Remembrance of these three verses regularly with Bhakti, it brings Mahapunyam and it is said in our scriptures, Punya yields two results. One is, it gives us happiness in this world.

But more than that, it purifies the heart. And when heart is purified, Jignasa will come. The desire to know one's own nature, that is called when we say, I want to realize God, it is indirectly saying, I want to know who I myself am.

So that is what comes Punyam. Lokathraya Vibhushana. If anybody wants to do the greatest adoration, there is no ornament, greater ornament.

It is not the golden ornaments and diamond studded golden ornaments that are really, they are all temporary things. Not only that, that great Pranapaya will come. If somebody gets such people, they are likely to be killed.

But these three things, let the whole world snatch it away from us. As many people as they want, you snatch it away because this is Jnana Bhushana, not Suvarna Bhushana. Lokathraya Vibhushanam Pratakale Pate Dhyasthu.

Whoever remembers. Remember Pratakala doesn't mean only early in the morning. Whenever we remember what is the goal of life, that is Pratakala.

Remember these things and then what is the result? What do I get out of it? Sagacchet Paramampadam. He attains the supreme goal. That means he will know Aham Brahmasmi and then he will become free from the trammels.

That means he will be most happy person in the whole world. These three verses actually, the Guru comes and tells as if Tattvamasi, my child, thou art that. And if we can go on doing Japam, then we get this beautiful state.

What is this state? Not somebody's state. Our own state. Then we will be swimming in the ocean of bliss and if it can happen, even while we are alive, we will be called Jeevan Mukthas.

That's why Sri Ramakrishna has been praised in the third line of this Khandana Bhava Bandhana. Beautiful idea and as also mentioned, these particular three verses are a little more elaborate explanation of Remember the reverse order I mentioned in my past talks. This Gayatri Mantra consisting of three lines.

Each line is about eight syllables. Three into eight, 24. That meter which contains these 24, that is called Gayatri Chandas.

So it became famous as a mantra. Actually, it is a Chandas. Now the essence of these three Gayatri Mantra is And the essence of is And the essence of And these three come together.

This is what is said. A, O plus Um is Om. This Um contains again three parts.

That which is sound. That which is unsounded. That means the essence of these three verses.

That's what Sri Ramakrishna meant when M heard for the first time Sandhya merges in Gayatri and Gayatri merges in Om. So we can rephrase it. The Sandhya merges in Prathasmarami Stotram and Prathasmarami Stotram merges in Gayatri and Gayatri merges in Om and Om is my own Lakshana consisting of Akara, Ukkara, Makara and everything beyond that also.

With this, we conclude the brief, very brief I said, explanation of this. For our next class, I would like to take a similar but related Stotra of Shankaracharya which is called Manisha Panchakam. Saturday afternoon we will take it.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 5 on 28 November 2020

2025-01-19T19:08:36Z

DanielM: Add category

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are studying this most wonderful divine hymn that has been composed by Adi Shankaracharya. We have practically completed the second verse. Only we have to deal a little bit about the last part of it.

Pratar Bhajami Manasa Vachasam Agamyam Vacho Vibhanti Nikhila Yad Anugrahena Yenneti Neti Vachanaih Nigamaha Avocham Tam Devadevam Ajam Archutam Ahu Agriyam I worship in the morning the supremely effulgent being who is spoken of in the Vedas as unborn changeless who is inaccessible to the mind and whom words cannot directly describe but by whose blessing and support the faculty of the speech functions and who is described in the Upanishads by the words not this not this. This second verse that we are studying is dealing with the knowledge of this Advaita and the means of obtaining that particular knowledge. In the first verse Prathasmaram Hridhisamspurat Atma Tattvam we have been talking about or the scripture is talking about Shankaracharya is talking about what is the Tattva, what is the truth.

As we remember every scripture must clearly enunciate three truths Tattva, Purushartha and Hita. Tattva means what is the truth, Purushartha means what is the goal of life and Hita means what is the means of realizing that truth reaching that particular goal. The first is called Prameya Vichara deep discussion about Prameya something that must be known.

Prameya means that which is to be known. Every being in this world wants only to know how can I be happy and to be happy every being must be, must live and must also be aware, conscious. So the first verse Prameya Vichara deep discussion but in crystal clear but pithy words has been described.

In the second one we are talking about what is the way to reach that same goal. So beautifully Shankaracharya is putting it here that Manasa Vachasa Agamyam it is not possible either for the body or for the mind. Body means 10 sense organs, 5 organs of action and 5 organs of perception, knowledge nor is it possible for the mind to think about.

That is why we are reminded every single evening This is being told Manasa Vachasa Agamyam not reachable either by the mind or speech but without the background support existence of that divine it is not possible for the mind either to think or for the words to express which includes for the sense organs to perform any action. So how to make this unknown as known? There is only one way Neti Neti Yath Neti Neti Vachanaihi By these words not this, not this Nigamaha Avacham Nigamaha means Vedas, Avacham They have spoken to us, given us this direction. What is it? He cannot be described but he can be experienced and even to say he cannot be described is a way of preaching him.

Tam Deva Devam Ajam Achyutam and that reality which cannot be thought of which cannot be spoken of which cannot be attained by any action he is the original cause of everything in this world. He is unborn, he is immovable and he is the only one. Agriyam means causeless cause So I worship him in the morning.

We will just talk a little bit about Pramana Vichara because that is what he is telling through the mind it is not possible even to think about it action comes later on and for the speech not possible to describe it and yet every scripture describes it every teacher speaks of it and they produce these descriptions produce a kind of knowledge within us thoughts about that ultimate reality So in Vedanta we talk about six Pramanams and here Shankaracharya is telling not possible for any of the one of these five Pramanas possible only to one Pramana not possible for five Pramanas and what are these Pramanas? Total six five plus one one Pramana which tells us five Pramanas they turn away from the truth and they can only describe the what is called temporary truths Mithya So Hinduism identifies these six Pramanas as the correct means of obtaining right knowledge and what are these things? Pratyaksha, Anumana, Upamana, Arthapatti, Anupalabdhi These are five which cannot give us or even point out a direction to look into but one Pramana tells us clearly follow this way like an arrow Can it describe the truth? No, but it can point out This is called in Sanskrit language Shakhopanyaya So somebody who doesn't know anything about these astronomical bodies they are curious So according to Hinduism Saptarshis are there in the sky and visible most of the nights and so somebody has to be pointed out especially newly married couple they have to live as Vasishta and Arundhati So how to show? The priest will take them outside when the night is clear and he shows to a big branch gradually leads him to a forking of the branch and in between you see there are seven stars and do you see one star at the very end and by that you focus there is a small dimly lit star and that is called Arundhati This is called Shakhopanyaya through from the gross to the subtle So no scripture can give us description of God but every scripture can point out otherwise sadhana is impossible Guru's job will be completely redundant So what are the five through which we can never obtain this knowledge? Pratyaksha Pratyaksha means perception with our own five sense organs especially through the eyes We see that is called Aksha means eyes and whatever is perceived by the eyes is called Pratyaksha I am seeing directly and we had discussed Nothing that we experience is absolutely direct It is indirect through the means of the eyes the nadis through the nervous system and the mind These are the three filters and what comes is thrice removed truth So Pratyaksha and this is the only pramana right means of knowledge in this world We can get every bit of knowledge with regard to this world through these five pramanas Pramana means right means of knowledge and all the other four that is Anumana, Inference, Upamana, Comparison Arthapatti, Postulation, Anupalabdhi, Non-perception All these spring only dependent upon the Pratyaksha Direct so-called direct perception As I said it is not direct It is only indirect Then what is the way to know about Srishti Kartha about God the cause of every being There is only one way and that way is called Shabda Shabda means word but it is not ordinary Shabda Testimony of Rishis Reliable experts and who are they? Shastras What are Shastras? The experienced knowledge conveyed through limited thoughts and words in the form of the teachings of great Rishis A Rishi is called a Mantra Drashta A person who realized truth in a particular way and our Vedas are nothing but the experiences of these Rishis I am talking about real Veda because there are so many things which go in the name of the Veda but they are not Vedas There are stories There are leniences In other words The first part of the Veda is absolutely dependent upon Smriti Secondary support but a primary one Real Veda is called Upanishads Upanishad truths What are the Upanishads? Very pithy and concise sayings of the Rishis In that sense Ramakrishna's teachings are Upanishads Swami Vaikunanda's teachings are Upanishads Holy Mother's Ramana Maharshi So many thousands of Sadhus are there Saints are there Whether they are Bhaktas Karma Yogis Yogis like Ghajipuris Pavahari Baba All these must be considered as Upanishads even though the tradition doesn't accept it Every day to make us remember this That is why we were reminded every single day that And who is he? Jyoti Rajyoti He is the light of the lights He is pure consciousness Shuddha Chaitanyam And every day we are reminded And what is the nature of that? It is indescribable But then what is the pointer? The whole Khandana Bhava Bandhana And Om Hreem Hritham is a pointer How we can progress in spiritual life For example Sri Ramakrishna is described as Khandana Bhava Bandhana Remember always Whenever we are talking about an object We are talking about the knowledge of the object Not the object itself We will never know what is the object We can only know about the knowledge we get of that object I also had explained this point very much There is something there But our sense organs obtain the knowledge of it But that's not important point for us But what we understand That is why in Sanskrit An object is called Padaartha Pada means knowledge, idea Artha means actually that object Padaartha Whenever we experience an object We don't experience it directly We only experience through the three filters The sense organs And the Nadis The conveyance Nervous system And the mind And the mind coordinates all the reportory information That comes through the five sense organs Makes it into a composite whole And presents it to the buddhi And the buddhi understands It has the capacity How can it understand? Because it has got that Sattvikamsha Buddhi is created out of the Sattvika part Of the five subtle elements And in that buddhi The Chidabasa Reflection of the Atman Is clearly making it possible to understand Jnanam Knowledge Always comes only from the Atman Not from the body-mind complex So these are the five Pramanas We have talked about And as I said Every day we are reminded That for a Pramana You have to understand correctly And if we do not understand It will give us the wrong or incomplete knowledge And lead us to more and more suffering in this world So it is not possible for the body For the mind That's why the Vedas The primary scriptures of Hinduism Are forced to say But what is the nature? He is the original God From whom the whole creation has come He never slips from his own real nature And he is the only one That remains in this world That completes the second verse Now we are entering into the third verse of What? I hope you remember Prathasmarana Stotram Composed by Shankaracharya We are entering into the third of this shlokam In the morning I salute the darkness Which is without any I salute that which is beyond the darkness Which is without any form And which is of the supreme nature of illumination Like the sun The sun is referred to as the illuminator here Just like our Atman Which illumines the mind This Atman doesn't have any form And to that supreme Brahman I offer my salutations every morning Remember Morning means Whenever the mind is absolutely quiet and alert These are the two conditions That is the morning Not literally in the early morning Literally also That is the effect of the early morning Called Brahmi Muhurta Let us discuss first of all The word meaning Namami I salute every morning Remember Every dawn and dusk Shri Ramakrishna is to clap his hands And go on chanting In the sweetest voice that is possible The names of various gods and goddesses Including the most sacred rivers etc Gaya Sacred place Ganga Sacred river Gita Sacred scripture A Govinda Mama Prana Jeevana And every scripture Bhagavata Bhakta Bhagawan I hope our devotees will remember Why Shri Ramakrishna had added to his repertory Of this Bhagavata Bhakta Bhagawan One day evening He was sitting in the Radha Krishna temple A Bhagavata Pandit was expounding Bhagavatam And you have to remember Whatever Shri Ramakrishna does Whether he speaks Whether he sings Whether he listens His whole mind is completely absorbed in it That was a trait he had From the very beginning of his life So one evening He was sitting Some lights were there And then his mind was absorbed Suddenly he had a vision A ray of light was coming from the feet of Lord Krishna This event had happened When Shri Ramakrishna was sitting at the Radha Krishna temple A ray of light came from the lotus feet of Krishna Touched the Bhagavatam I am not sure whether it touched the Bhagavata Pandit And came and touched Shri Ramakrishna's heart And again went back to the feet of Shri Krishna Thereby there is a triangle is formed Shri Ramakrishna was made to understand Where there is Bhagavatam There would be a Bhakta devotee And there would be Bhagavan Where one is present The other two will be invariably present Since that time he used to In the late dawn and dusk Go on clapping his hands Bhagavatam, Bhakta, Bhagavan, Krishna, Rama We don't know how many names he had But his Advaitic guru Totapuri Maharaj was not at all able to comprehend it He was intrigued He even made fun Are you fashioning chapatis like that? Shri Ramakrishna sharply replied Rascal, I am taking God's name And you call it fashioning chapatis And do not mistake Ramakrishna's way of talking He had the highest reverence for all his gurus and scriptures So Totapuri understood There was something behind the words of Shri Ramakrishna's disciple Totapuri Maharaj understood His disciple was even greater than himself In every single way So he was waiting It took him 11 months to understand What Shri Ramakrishna had meant So why was Shri Ramakrishna doing it? So Pratarnamami Early morning I salute Salute what? That which is beyond all darkness Darkness in Vedantic terminology is called ignorance In fact these two words Light and darkness What does light do? In the light we have to have knowledge of things In darkness we do not have knowledge of things So knowledge is called light Or light is called knowledge And darkness is called ignorance Here we are not talking about ordinary ignorance Do you know such and such a person? Yes I know That is perfect knowledge But we are talking about Do you know who you are? No I do not know Ramana Maharshi always used to tell Every problem can be solved If only we know who we are It was an intriguing statement But by knowing myself Then how can there be problems? So remember when Yagnivalika instructed Janaka Maharaja And Janaka Maharaja was an apt yogya satshya Endowed with sadhana chaturthi sampathi And he understood what the guru was trying to teach him So he says that I have understood everything Not intellectually but through realization We have to infer that one Not by mere instruction So immediately Yagnivalika understood I could see my disciple is also enlightened So he gave a certificate In the form of saying You obtained fearlessness Fear or dukkha or suffering Comes from a second object So by knowing who I am I come to know there is nothing else Or as we say By having the knowledge of clay By knowing about the clay About the gold About the wood That all knowledge of objects Made out of clay or wood or gold are obtained How? Because there are not many Clay is one Gold is one Wood is one So also by knowing myself Everything is nothing but me Then what about all this world that we experience From birth to death Not in one birth But millions of births That's what he is trying to tell us Later on we will come to that Just like a person goes on seeing a snake in a rope But here the whole world That means what? If there are four different persons Looking at the same rope They may not see the same snake Some will see a stick Some will see a stream of water Some will see a garland Some may see a piece of cloth According to their past experience That we will come a little later on So I am saluting that truth That supreme reality Simply called Brahman Or in simple English language God Tamasaha param Is beyond darkness Means he is only knowledge Satyam jnanam anantam brahma Arka varnam Arka means light Sunlight So sun is called arka Arka varnam means like the sun Remember there are certain words Sun and sunlight Fire and the heating power Milk and its whiteness These are not two separate things Whenever we talk about a rose is red Redness is different Rose is different A blue lotus Lotus is different Blueness is different So a red t-shirt Redness is different Shirt is different But when we say sunlight There is no sun There is no light That means one and the same If you take away all the light from the sun There would be no sun If you take away the heating power There would be no fire If you can take away the whiteness There would be no milk But of course you can never do that It's only a manner of speaking So param That which is beyond the ignorance Arka varnam It is of the nature of light Beyond darkness Means will there be light Again that is a concept We have to destroy Oh we are aware here The room is dark completely But when we come out of the room There is light We are aware of both darkness and light But when a person knows who he is There would be no two Only advaitam There is no dvaita So he cannot even say I am light These are only words used To convey that absolute truth Which is in fact inconceivable Unthinkable And inexpressible But we have to use certain words to convey it So it is said That reality Bhagavan Brahman Is beyond the light Param And of the nature of light means Pure knowledge Satyam Jnanam Purnam We chant this one Purnam means perfect Infinite Sanatana padam Means that eternal state Eternity And what is he called In different words Purnam Sanatana padam Arttamasahaparam Arkkavarnam Purushottamakhyam Akhyam means name And that reality Is also named as Purushottam Uttama Purusha Especially We get to this 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Purushottama Yogonama Panchadasho Adhyaya At the end Bhagavan Krishna clarifies What do you mean by Purushottama means Uttama Purusha There are Three truths are there One is called Kshara Another is called Akshara Esmakshara mati toham Aksharadha pichottamaha Ato lokeshmi vedecha pratitaha Purushottamaha Same word is direct Shankaracharya Takes it from here Purushottama What does it mean Kshara means That which changes All the time That means whatever is object Whatever is knowable Experiencable Whatever is known Seen But there must be somebody to see Somebody to experience Somebody to witness This again this beautiful concept Has been brought out in a most wonderful book And that is called Dhrith Drishya Viveka Discrimination between the seer and the seen So there is a sharp difference Both like opposite poles Subject and object Seer and seen Knower and known Witness and witnessed This is what is being told here Kshara means That which is always experienceable Changeable Very limited Finite That is called Kshara Then there is a confusing word It is called Akshara We use this word Akshara in Katha Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad Bhagavad Gita Every scripture practically And here also we use it So what is that Akshara? Akshara means The seer The knower The witness Sakshi Because remember These two are inevitably correlated Without the seer there is no seen Without the seen there is no seer So Akshara means That Jeevatma who experiences Earlier we have seen The waking state The dream state And the dreamless state So they are completely separate So Akshara means That consciousness Awareness Which experiences every inert thing In the form of the three states Waking Dream And dreamless That is called Akshara But they are correlated The seen and the seer And therefore Bhagavan himself clarifies I am beyond the Akshara I am known as Uttama Purusha Purusha Uttama So that is another name Akhyam means name That is the Brahman God Supreme reality Satyam Whatever name we choose And then what is it we see now The scriptures are telling About that supreme reality What is our day to day experience From morning to evening From birth to death We are going on seeing Only waking state Dream state Dreamless state Continuously We are witnessing this one Now what is the relationship Are there two Supreme reality And ephemeral reality Paramarthika satya And vyavaharika satya No sir They are not like that Then what is their relationship Like the rope and the snake This is a beautiful concept That is being brought out here Yasmin In which Brahman Idam jagat This universe Asesha asesha murtau Asesha means endless Endless endless Murti means images Forms Every form will have Its own specific name Every object will have Its own specific quality Nama Rupa And guna Name Form And quality What are these things These are the things Which separate one object From every other object In this world So for facility Of our vyavahara Phenomenal relationship And our day to day Doings in this world We have to separate things Otherwise Milk means You may bring Potassium carbonate That's not what is wanted Jagat Asesha asesha murtau How many things are there in this world Infinite things Why infinite things Simple logic Suppose there is a sun And there is an ocean And the ocean Is producing because of wind Innumerable Uncountable Number of waves In every wave There is a reflection How many waves are there now There would be Countless waves will be there But this is only For an example to make us understand But who is the real sun In our normal day to day experience There is only one sun There is a moon There are stars There are so many things are there But with regard to the supreme reality How many are there Only one And what is its nature Infinite And how many mirrors are there Infinite mirrors are there Remember There cannot be relationship between The finite And the infinite This world is also infinite How do we know Because earlier we discussed Purnam This is a beautiful Shanti Patha We whenever we study Isavasya Upanishad Or Brihadaranyika Upanishad We go on Shukla Yajurvediya Shanti Patha What do we do This so called universe Is only that infinite universe But because of our ignorance We see these two as completely different Here also There is some beautiful psychological fact So long as we see Finiteness in this world We can only think of God as finite A mind which sees finiteness here Will see finiteness there Only a mind which experiences infiniteness there Will experience infiniteness here also So this beautiful analogy is given This entire universe is compared to a snake And God is compared to the support Substratum Is the infinite Upon that infinite This infinite number of objects Which is the Which we call the Prapancha This is experienceable It is appearing to us Right in front of us That is what he is concluding Rajyam In the substratum support Called this rope Bhujangama Bhujangama means a ferocious frightening snake Iva means not real Iva means as if It is getting reflected This whole universe is a reflection In the mirror of our hearts But what is sustaining And because of which the mind is able to know That is that supreme reality That is being explained here And the same subject Again in the What we call Dakshina Murthy Sutram And again composed by Shankaracharya So this whole universe is like a huge city Imagine there is a huge mirror Not a small bathroom mirror But is maybe 100 feet tall 100 feet wide And it is at a particular angle And facing the city And then you are sitting Not looking at the city But looking at the mirror And whatever you see People are moving Trees are swaying Vehicles are moving at tremendous speed And everything after some time You will know This is the only truth Highest truth So in this analogy Our mind is the mirror The supreme reality is Bhagawan This universe is that reflection of Bhagawan And because our mind is not one But it is broken into a billion pieces Every single thought represents one single object Here is some supreme truth again This mind can entertain only one thought at a time Suppose there is a table And there are 50 objects on the table When you are looking at the pen That is one thought Looking at the paper Another thought Looking at the clip Another thought Looking at your computer Another thought Looking at the keyboard Another thought Every single object represents one single thought What did we say earlier? The mind can entertain This is a pen This is a paper This is a clip One after the other Not at the same time So that capacity of the mind is extremely limited That's why the one truth We see as infinite fold As if countless objects are there But all those objects again are nothing but pure Brahman There are no objects There is only object When you say objects It is only the reflections So a spin because of force of stratum Because of this God God outside God also is inside And he is eliminating the buddhi The mind The sense organs And that reflected consciousness Called Chidabhasa Is going out through the eyes Contacting the so-called external Even these ideas external and internal Are only within the mind We also discussed about it In the waking state We are completely convinced There is something inside us And there is something And many more things outside us But Rodapada beautifully discusses this point In his Mandukya Karikasan says Just as you go to bed You have a dream And you are sleeping on your bed Trying to sleep Suddenly a huge elephant enters into your room Now you are startled for two reasons Before you saw the elephant Where was the elephant? Outside your room And after some time what happened? It broke the door with one blow of its trunk And entered into your room Remember this is not possible in actuality Because a huge elephant cannot come into your room Especially when the rooms are like matchboxes Especially you are on the 27th floor How the elephant flies and comes into your room Small room Enters even sometimes through the What is called ventilator God alone knows how it is possible But you feel Oh my God It's going to kill me This external and internal How did it enter into my room? That very word into my room means There is something outside the room So there is an outside There is a definite inside Definite outside But as soon as the dream is broken And you Oh where from this room has come? Inside the mind Where from the elephant has come? From inside the mind So this is a concept External, internal It has no reality That's why this difficult concept has been expounded Like giving the comparison analogy of space Space inside the small pot Outside the small pot Ghatakasha and Mahakasha So it's telling just as we all mistake Because of darkness, semi-darkness That's a beautiful analogy Because we are able to perceive this world Only because we are not in dense darkness But in semi-darkness We don't know who we are And we also are not completely unconscious But in this semi-conscious state Which is called comparable to semi-light We perceive that Brahman We perceive experience Nothing but that Brahman And that Brahman appears As if it is this visible, experienceable universe for all of us How long? Until we get out of that concept Once we know who we are Only one thing happens Not who we are Only I am Even that concept I am Totally disappears Because remember when we say I am It is only from the standpoint of the mind Where there is no mind Where there is no body There is no experience possible That's why not to speak of Nirvikalpa Samadhi Even in our everyday deep sleep When we go We don't say inside outside We don't say we are seeing this universe We don't say anything We don't even say I am In waking state I am In dream state I am But in deep sleep state We do not say I am I do not say I am But don't say I do not exist Because as soon as we wake up And that is a state of ignorance And also profound ignorance That's why it is we are called Prajna The word Prajna means Deeply ignorant Because of absence of body and mind So the sleepers Another in Sanskrit Vedantic terminology The word sleeper is equivalent to Prajna But the universal concept of Prajna is called So we are all part of Ishwara In that state What state? In the state of deep sleep That's why we are called Prajna Means we are aware something is there There I am that is absent And I am springs forth As soon as we wake up Also in the dream state That's what is being told In the morning I salute the darkness The that which is beyond the darkness Which is without any form And which is of the supreme nature Illumination like the sun So that is our Atman Which illumines the mind The Atman doesn't have any form And to that supreme Brahman I offer my morning salutations Tamasaha Darkness signifies formlessness This is another concept We have to understand What does darkness mean? Suppose you are seeing it A room is there full of objects There is light You see many things And then suddenly the light goes off Completely dark, pitch dark What do you see? Nothing Darkness means there is no object Why is there no object? Because there is no light And so when there is no object There is no distinction This is this object The other one is the separate object This is called formlessness Is another type of darkness So we are all groveling in that darkness Ignorance Formless ignorance And if we are having formful ignorance It is called waking state, dream state Formless ignorance is called Deep sleep, Sushupti state And that is why ignorance is bliss Because there is only one form What is that form? That form is called deep ignorance That is experience of the individual self Without any interruption Interestingly the Maya has two powers Avarana Shakti and Vikshepa Shakti During waking and dream states During the waking state Both will work Avarana and Vikshepa During the dream state There will be less of Avarana More of Vikshepa Shakti Why? Because it is the remembrance Of things experienced in the waking state But when we come into the deep sleep state There is only one power And that is called Avarana Complete covering of darkness That's why we are called Prajnaha No Vikshepa Shakti Only Avarana Shakti That means we don't have experience of the world Either waking or dream But we have experience of ignorance Pure ignorance That's why as soon as we get up What do we say? I slept well Because I was very happy Why? Because there is no second object How? Because fear is produced from a second object This is a very interesting concept again Self is second Anything second So it may create a desire I want it or I don't want it Both produce only suffering I want something I will not get it I want something I get it Even when I get it It will not last long time This is the Parama Sathya You like sweet Get some sweets You'll be tired of sweets If sweets are produced all the time There is a limit in time In space When we can enjoy it So that is what is being said here Tamasaha Param Arkavarnam And what happens in ignorance There is many foldness So Dviti Advai Bhayam Bhavati Bhayam means suffering And this suffering is divided into three fold That's why we utter Shanti Mantra thrice Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Why? Because we all suffer Every living creature suffers from three fold misery Adhyatmika Adhibhautika and Adhidaivika So that is what said Now we'll close this third verse Some quotations Remember when Swami Vivekananda attended the Parliament of Religions During one of his later talks Not on the first day He initiated thousands of people And more came after hearing from those people who came first And he was like a midday sun Everybody faded away That's why the managers They had to keep Swami Vivekananda's speech to the very end Just to keep the audience Just remember if Swami Vivekananda was to give a speech in the morning Then people will come early Hear him And then get out Let us not forget He was one of the Saptarshis Maybe he was the person in ancient times Who realized that truth And uttered it in that great mantra Shunvantu Vishwe Amrutasya Putraaha Aaye Dhamaani Divyaani Tasthu Vedaha Metam Purusham Mahantam Aditya Varnam Tamasaha Parasthaat Tameva Viditva Atimrutyu Meti Nanya Pantha Vidyate Ayanaya Same Sanskrit mantra Remember English also can be used as mantras What is the definition of mantra? That which saves a person by repetition Mananath Deep thinking Prayate That which saves one who is repeating Who is thinking deeply That is called mantra For example Jesus mantra is there Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner This is the English mantra Equal into Sanskrit mantra It is not the language It is the meaning Swami Vivekananda Thunders Hear ye children of immortality All those that reside in this plane And all those that reside in the heavens above I have found the secret I have found him Who is beyond all darkness Through his mercy alone We cross this ocean of life Through God's mercy alone We cross this ocean of life Children of immortal bliss What a sweet What a hopeful name Allow me to call you brethren By that sweet name Heirs of immortal bliss Ye The Hindu refuses to call you sinners Ye are the children of God Sharers of immortal bliss Holy and perfect beings Ye divinities honor Sinners It is a sin to call a man so It is a standing label on human nature Come up O Lions And shake up the delusion That you are sheep Your souls immortal Spirits free Blessed and eternal Ye are not matter Ye are not bodies Matter is your servant Not you the servant of matter Tell each and all that infinite power Resides within them That they are sharers of immortal bliss This is what is being expressed In these three verses We will conclude it in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother And Swami Vivekananda Bless us all with Bhakti

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 4 on 26 November 2020

2025-01-19T19:08:15Z

DanielM: Add category

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We have almost come to the end of the first shloka in the Prathah Smarana Stotram. Prathah Smarami Hridesam Spurad Atma Tattvam Sachet Sukham Paramaham Sagathim Turiyam Yath Swapna Jagara Sushupta Mavaiti Nityam Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Nacha Bhoota Sanghaha We are dealing with the last line of this shloka. Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Nacha Bhoota Sanghaha I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements that this universe or this nature or the five elements Panchabhoothas is made up of.

Tat Brahma Earlier also we have seen I am not the Jagradhavastha. Yath Jagra Swapna Sushuptam Mavaiti Nityam The Atman is a witness. A witness and that which it witnesses can never be one and the same.

There is a tremendous difference, absolute division between the seer and the seen, the knower and the known and the experiencer and the experienced. Many examples I have given. If I see a tree, I am not the tree.

If I am knowing a table, I am not a table. Whatever object I see, that or I experience, that's not what I am. Then what is my nature? I am the eternal witness, Sakshi.

Usually we all go through the three states, waking, dream as well as dreamless. But I am completely a witness, that means I am not any one of these states. This is a very important Vedantic doctrine.

Whatever I see, that's not what I am. This is not a philosophical speculation but a fact of life. Whatever we experience through the five sense organs, that's not what we are.

And we also experience the body, experience the mind. Therefore, neither the body nor the mind. Then what remains? That's what I am.

I am the body, mind and soul. It is a dream. Swami Vivekananda categorically issues this statement.

You as body, mind and soul are a dream. But what you really are, existence, knowledge, bliss. And then he goes, you are the God of this universe.

Because whoever is the witness, he is that one who has nothing to do. So whatever we are witnessing is divided, finite, consisting of parts. And whatever is witnessing is just the opposite.

If the world is finite, I am infinite. If the world is divided, I am undivided. That's what this particular shloka is telling.

Nishkalam, it is indivisible, partless, whole. Ramakrishna had a wonderful experience. One day perhaps he wanted to know who was Narendranath.

So he said, my mind started ascending through the path of Samadhi. What does that mean? Means ascending one plane after the other. Like Bhrigu giving up the Annamaya Kosha, ascending to Pranamaya.

Then giving it up, ascending to Manomaya, Vijnanamaya, Anandamaya. Finally reaching. So he said, I have seen so many worlds.

And in every world, there are beings who are enjoying experiencing that particular world. Finally, I have reached that state called Akhanda. And I was surprised to see seven great Rishis absolutely still in the merged in meditation.

Now, these are mystical experiences hard to understand by people like us. How can in the indivisible world, first of all, there could be division. Here are seven Rishis meditating.

And Sri Ramakrishna says later on, I also belong to this realm. And he also issued a very strange statement. As I said, very difficult to understand.

There are places in this world where the ice becomes solidified, never melts. That means what? Even in that indivisible world, there will be certain beings who are as if manifestations of that indivisibility. And they are supposed to be rule this world.

Please do not ask me how we know. I am only quoting Sri Ramakrishna. We are all indivisible.

It means Ananta. It means infinite. Infinite is not a sum total of many, many finite things.

You cannot even talk about that it is one. That is why the double negative has to be not one. Advaita, Advaitiya, Akhanda.

These are forced terms which our Rishis were forced to use to convey what cannot really be conveyed. And by the way, it is not possible to convey even an ordinary experience. I mentioned earlier in my talks.

Suppose a person had eaten a sweet and he wants to convey it to somebody else. Supposing there are two people. He wants to convey to these two people the taste of this sweet.

One person doesn't know what is sweet. The other person has not eaten this particular sweet, but he had eaten other sweets. Maybe he has eaten a sweet fruit or he had eaten a sweet root.

You know, there are sweet roots like sweet potato, etc. And there are so many things which are quite sweet. But through the known, the unknown can be conveyed.

So you can say, did you enjoy that sweet? Is it not something different from other tastes? Yes, yes. So what I have eaten is one such kind of sweet, but far superior to whatever you have tasted. This is how knowledge can be conveyed from one person to the other person.

Through the known only, the unknown, means unexperienced thing can be conveyed. Sriram Krishna is giving voice to this that God can never be described. That's why, is he with form? Yes.

Is he without form? Yes. At the same time? Yes. At the same place? Yes.

It looks paradoxical. Now, one of the linguistic models, examples to convey certain inexpressible ideas is usage of what I call paradoxical language. We have dialectical language.

We have negative language. We have positive language. We have what we call paradoxical language.

For example, At the same time, the Atman moves. It doesn't also move. It is very near.

It is very far. It is inside. It is outside.

It is everywhere. This resembles Zen Buddhism's koans. How can you make sound, clap with one hand? It is impossible.

So, to break down the limitations of the so-called rations of the mind, these koans were designed. So, this paradoxical language, Not this. Not this.

I will give you some example of that also. So, here, Shankaracharya's very famous verse or six verses called Panchakam means a group of five shlokas. Shatka means same thing, a group of six shlokas.

Ashtakam, Bhavani, Ashtakam, a group of eight shlokas. So, how does it go? The very first verse in the Nirvana Shatka. The soul is not composed of any materials.

It is unity, indivisible. This is what Swami Vekananda says. In fact, Swami Vekananda translated this particular Nirvana Shatka.

But in another place, Swami Vekananda, he describes about our true nature, man's true nature. At the Parliament of Religions, he said it is a blasphemy to call a human being a sinner. So, he addressed a kind of initiation.

I consider it Amrutasya Putraaha. You are all children of immortality. How do we know? Because one of his disciples, Priyanatha Sinha, asks Swami Vekananda, Did you, Swami, have many disciples? He said, yes.

Will there be 500, 600? He says, more than 3000. We do not know. We have no record that he sat down, called them together and then initiated.

But then, his very classes, some people he initiated, some people he initiated into Brahmacharya in the West, some people he initiated into Sanyasa, especially two people at the Thousand Island Park. But a Rishi uttering like Ramanuja, climbing to the top of the temple, Om Namo Narayanaya, he initiated thousands of people. So also, if Ramanuja could initiate, why not Swami Vekananda? And that's what so many people's life was transformed by this kind of spiritual baptism.

In Christianity, baptism is a very important thing. Describing the Atman, and Swami Vekananda said, I have not preached anything but the Upanishads. And the Upanishads do not say anything excepting, Davat Brahman Tattvam Asi.

So here goes, what Swami Vekananda says, The soul is not composed of any materials. It is unity indivisible. Therefore it must be indestructible.

For the same reasons, it must also be without any beginning. So the soul is without any beginning, and therefore without any end. And then what is the implication of it? There is no such thing as good and bad.

They are not two different things. The same thing is good or bad, and the difference is only in degree. The very thing I call pleasurable today, tomorrow, under better circumstances, I may call it pain.

The fire that warms us can also consume us. It is not the fault of the fire. The whole universe is one.

There is only one self in the universe. Only one existence. And that one existence, when it passes through the forms of time, space and causation, is called by different names.

Buddhi, fine matter, gross matter, and all mental and physical forms. You as body and mind or soul are a dream. But what you really are is existence, knowledge, bliss.

You are the God of this universe. What are we talking about? Let us not forget. Tat Brahma.

I am that Brahman. This was what Swami Vivekananda is elaborating. We are spirit.

Spirit that has no form or shape. Spirit that is infinite and not matter. Mother, father, child, wife, body, wealth, everything I can lose, excepting myself.

Bliss in the Self. This very soul is the Self in all. So if I am the Self, if I am Brahman, Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Naja Bhoota Sangaha I am that Brahman.

I am not one of the parts. I am not one of the five elements. This is what Swamiji is summarizing here.

If I am the soul, what about the universe? Is it something different? Is it Asatya, non-existence? Nithya, a mere delusion? Swami Vivekananda says that is the greatest delusion to think that there are two things called the Self and the non-Self. To think that there is Self and non-Self is the greatest Nithya. Swami Vivekananda says we believe that every being is divine, is God.

Every soul is a sun covered over with clouds of ignorance. The difference between soul and soul is owing to the difference in density of these layers of clouds of ignorance. He who says he is the body is a born idolater.

That is what we are discussing here. Nishkalam. I am the indivisible.

Kala means part. The moon is called Shodasha Kalatmaka. 16 parts.

A woman who attains 16 years of age and many countries consider when a lady turns 16 it is called sweet 16 and in the heaven everybody enters there as only 16 years old. Stay there until their punya phala comes to an end as 16 years old. That's why it is called sweet 16.

Shodasha Kala. Kala means part. 16 parts means 16 years.

Nishkalam. Nish means no. No division at all.

Indivisible. Partless. Whole.

Nacha. I am not also. Bhoota Sangaha.

What is Bhoota? Pancha Bhootas. Akasha. Vayu.

Agne. Apaha. Prithivi.

The whole visible as well as invisible universe is made up of these 5 elements. The Sokshma Sarira is made up of these 5 Sokshma Bhootas which are unmixed. Apanchi.

Kruta. Sokshma Bhootaha. Whereas the gross 5 elements are mixed up with each other.

That is the only difference. I am not the Bhoota Sangha. That means I am not the body.

I am not the mind. I am not the gross body, subtle body or even the causal body. So whatever is other than these 2 bodies, gross, subtle, that is what I am.

That's why it is said I am the Yath Swapna Jagara Sushuptam Avaithi Nityam. I am the witness. So what are we discussing? We are discussing the moment you say I am not body, mind, as if there is a witness and there is something it witnesses because without something to be witnessed, there cannot be any witness.

Without Sakshya, there cannot be Sakshi. That means there are 2 realities because if the Sakshi is real, Sakshi also must be real. To remove that misunderstanding, therefore in this verse it says Nacha Bhoota Sangha I am Nishkalam, not Bhoota Sangha.

If I am not parts, then who am I? I am partless. If I am not the 5 elements, who am I? I am that infinite Brahman who appears. So the Jagat, the universe that we witness, both the gross, subtle and causal universe, it is not something different.

It doesn't exist separately. But the same one Brahman is mistaken. This is the right understanding.

We will have to always accept that in the beginning to get Viveka, Viragya, discrimination and dispassion, we have to go on detaching ourselves. So we say I am not the body, I am not the sense organs, Mano buddhi ahamkara chitta ninaham. But a time will come when I know I am infinite.

Besides the infinite, there is no finite. There is only one. So who am I? I am the Brahman.

What is its nature? That it is ever shining in my heart, always saying Aham, Aham, Soham, Prathasmarami Hridhisamsparat Atma Tattvam. Atma Tattvam means my own nature. So I have to remember I am that Brahman.

But how can I reach that state? In the first of these three verses, the nature of Brahman has been beautifully described. But we will have to come now to the second verse where it says that how can I progress doing sadhana. This is called Prameya Pramana Vichara.

The first verse says Prameya, what is to be known. The second verse as well as the third verse, it is describing Pramana. What is the Pramana? The right means of knowledge.

And let us discuss it in this second shloka. I worship when? In the morning. We also discussed what is morning, when the mind is comparatively quiet, when the body, mind are not tired, when the mind is calm but completely alert and very focused.

At that time, I wanted to worship. It has certain meanings. We will discuss about it.

I want to worship that my own nature or Brahman or if we are not that daring, Saguna Brahma or Ishta Devata. How? Manasa, Vachasa, through the mind and also through the words. Agamyam is not possible either for the mind or for the speech.

It is not reachable. It is not describable. It is not even thinkable, imaginable, experienceable.

But without which, without the grace of which, it is impossible for the body-mind complex even to function. All sorts of speech. Speech means what here? If we analyze, when you want to talk, you will have to think first.

First comes a thought even when you are not aware of it. That's why we say sometimes slip of the tongue. What does it mean? It means there is a thought but you are not paying attention to it.

Whatever we have to say or do, it starts in a very subtlest form and that subtlest form has got two names in Sanskrit. One is called vritti or vibration, thought formation. Another is called pratyaya, an idea.

For example, suppose suddenly you see a table. The moment you see the table, you recognize there is a table. The table is outside.

That is called existence. But you recognize it, cognize it. Why do we say recognize? First time, what is that? Someone explains, this is called a table.

Ever since that time, you keep it in memory. Second time when you see, what do you see? You recognize. Cognize first time.

Recognize every time thereafter. So you say this is a table. But that is in the form of thought.

So thought and first. Then it becomes a speech. Even when you do not talk about it, but you talk to yourself.

I want to go and place something on the table. There is a nice chair. I wish to go and sit on it.

There is a nice sweet. I would like to go and eat it. This is how it starts in a very subtlest form, in the form of vritti or thought.

And then it goes and then expresses in the form of speech. And then actual physical action follows. And the results of physical actions also follow.

But before I think, what is that that comes? I think. I speak. I act.

That I, I, I, that is what is being described here. By the presence of which. Here anugraha means presence.

The very existence of it. Anugraha. Or it is in the devotee's language kripa.

Because God exists, I exist. Because Brahman exists, I exist. Because Brahman is knowledge, I know.

Because Brahman is of the form of bliss, so I have happiness. And sometimes I have less happiness, which is called unhappiness or dukkha. Sukha and dukkha are not two separate things.

Less sukha is dukkha. Less dukkha is sukha. That's all we have to say.

Only by the presence of which, which is there already before any activity can take place. All the speech, it comes out. It is expressed.

Whatever it is. And speech is of two types. One is external.

You speak, I listen. Another is internal. So 24 hours a day, excepting during the deep sleep, Sushupti time, we go on either talking with ourselves or talking with somebody else.

Here, there is a beautiful Sandhi. Avocam is when Sandhi comes. When the two vowels come together, that conjunction is called Sandhi.

When this Sandhi comes, it becomes Avocam. But if you split it, Avocam. They speak.

This is a plural. Why is it plural? Nigama Vedas. Vedas are speaking.

Because that is only Pramana. What are they saying? You want to describe anything in this world? You can describe more or less. You want to describe Brahman? There is no way.

Excepting one way. What is that? Is this? No. Is that? No.

Ramakrishna's help we will take. He gives a beautiful example. Such a telling example from day to day experiences.

There was a girl. She was married. And one day, her husband had come.

And he brought many friends. They were all sitting and talking. And this girl, along with her friends, was watching from within the room.

Now the other girls did not know who was the husband. So they point out. Is that your husband? She says no.

Is that the other one? No. The other one? No. Finally, they come to the fellow and they have to say Is that the one? Just mark Ramakrishna's expression.

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't even say no. Not this.

Not this. Simply, she keeps quiet bending her head down. And her face is a little bit shy and flushed.

The others understand. Oh! That is her husband. Such a beautiful description.

And this is the finest description. Ramakrishna also gives another description. But which is a little bit more gross, I have to say.

He says, Imagine, it is midday. The sun is shining. There are ten pots full of water.

And how many suns are there? One real and ten reflections. One pot is broken. How many suns are there? Nine reflections and one real sun.

Supposing, nine pots are broken. How many suns are there? One real and one reflected sun. Suppose, the last pot is broken.

How many suns are there? And this otherwise man, he goes on talking. Oh! There is one real sun. Because all the pots are broken.

All the reflections are gone. Ramakrishna acts, comes down. He says, No.

Because, who is asking? One of the reflected suns is asking. Who is replying? One of the reflected suns. With the destruction of the last pot, who is there to ask? And who is there to reply? So, you cannot even say, it is one.

That's why, this Advaita Advaita is a double negative. Is it Dvaita? No. Not Dvaita.

So, Advaitiya. Is it second one? No. It is, there is no second one besides it.

Akhanda. Such expressions are there. So, Yat Neti Neti Vachanaihi Nigamaha means Vedas Avacham They express.

How many times? Once? No. 100 times? No. How many times? Millions of times.

All the scriptures tell is only about that. Tam Then, what am I supposed to do? I cannot think about him. Yes, you can think about him.

It is limited thinking. But, you can think about him. You can speak about him.

And, you can also worship him. Go on pilgrimage etc. So, you can do it.

Therefore, he says, Tam Devadevam Ajam Achutham Ahuhu Agriyam There are sages, intelligent, guides and they know our condition. If we say something is indescribable, then, it is tantamount to saying it is non-existence. Because, one of the important things that we have to understand is somebody at some time must experience something.

Then only, we come to know something is existing. Perhaps, there is something. Maybe, after billion billion years or light years, somebody experiences it and says, yes, yes, there it is.

Either through telescope or a microscope or some scope or ultimately Vedanta scope. So, what do they say? There is something is existing. If something is existing, it must be experienceable by somebody either in the past, present or in the future.

If nothing, if somebody says there is something and nobody experiences it, then, that is a false statement. That means, such a thing doesn't exist. So, this is important to keep.

There are some people who understand our condition and say, ok, my children, Saumya, you do not need to worry about all these descriptions. You know, you worship Rama, yes, yes. Krishna, yes, yes.

Chaitanya, yes. Jesus, yes. Buddha, yes.

Allah, yes. He is the Parabrahma, but worship him now. Worship always involves a dualism, the worshipper and the worshipped.

So, tam deva devam ajam. But remember, you cannot say God is born. Even though you are worshipping him, he is unborn.

But, for the sake of meditation, contemplation, worship or even doing stotram to him, we have to imagine. That's why Swami Vekananda gave a good blow to one of the Rajasthan Maharajas. He said, should people not be told that they should not worship idols? Immediately, Swamiji, you remember that incident, most of you, he asked the minister, you bring down that painting which was hanging there and spit on it.

How dare a person could speak? Only Swami Vekananda could get away with it because he was so powerful. In the presence of a Raja in those days who had the power of life and death to say, I say, spit upon it in public, in front of everybody, in front of the Raja, spit on the painting of your own father. How dare anybody can do it? Then, Swamiji made an impression on the Raja, look here, your highness, this is nothing but a piece of paper with some drawing upon it.

But by looking at it, people do not think this is a piece of paper with some writing upon it, painting upon it. They see the likeness of your father, remember him and respect him, revere him and bow down their heads. So also when a man bows down in front of a piece of stone or piece of photograph, picture or an icon, etc., they are not worshipping.

These are called Upasanas, Vidyas. Then the king hopefully, I hope he understood, but he refrained from asking any silly question. He asked also another silly question.

Instead of living life like me and you, why did you become a monk? And then Swamiji, instead of answering, he put opposite question. Why do you go on hunting instead of performing your duties? Then he said, oh, I think I enjoy it. Swamiji said, yes, for the same reason, I enjoy being a monk.

That's why I have taken to the monk. Of course, he did not explain. It is not for his enjoyment.

Swamiji was born for our sake. He became a monk so that we understand that ultimately Moksha is only Paramapurushartha and Sanyasa is the ultimate stage of life in spiritual growth. That what every Hindu must know ultimately, we have to become monks in course of time.

Anyway, coming back that you worship Deva. Deva means he who is the originator of every celestial being by implication the human beings, non-human beings, living things, non-living things, everything but do not compare him. Oh, I have got my parents so they are mortal.

I am also mortal. So, if my originator Deva, he is because I am mortal, he is also mortal. This is called reverse engineering.

No sir, he is Ajam, he is unborn and he is Achyuta. Achyuta means to deviate from one's nature. What is the nature of Brahman? It is indivisible, infinite, unborn, Ajam, Nityam, Shashvatayam, Puranam, all these epithets we have to remember from the Bhagavad Gita at least and Kata Upanishad.

Achyuta means to deviate, to slip down, fall down from one's true nature. In fact, nobody can slip down from one's true nature. What about me? I also cannot fall down.

Then you say I am a human being. Yes, he is like a person who says I am Napoleon. He has never become Napoleon.

He is only cherishing a wrong concept idea in his mind but everybody knows this is not Napoleon, this is so and so. So, a realized soul knows we are that Brahman, we are nothing else, we are unborn, we are also Achyutas, we are also Anantas, we are also the witness to all the three states. In other words, I am that Brahman, I am partless, divisionless.

Agriyam means the cause of this delusion. Remember, in Advaita Vedanta, we don't accept God is the cause and the universe is the what we call the effect, but we explain it through the popular analogy. The snake never is born, really, it appears.

This theory is called Vivartavada. So, there are two theories about creation, Parinamavada. All dualists cling to this Parinamavada.

God really, in truth, transforms into this world. These are called dualists who claim such a thing, but no Advaitin worth his salt ever says God has become this world, that means the unborn has become born, infinite has become finite, and the all blissful has become a mixture of happiness and unhappiness. It is unacceptable for all rationality.

So, we say it appears, that means really, Brahman is not a cause, this world is not an effect. This relationship is totally destroyed, but for the beginning, as I explained many times in Katha, as well as Mundaka Upanishad, you have to understand, because your relationship, your identity of yourself depends upon your parents. If your parents are Brahmanas, you are a Brahmana.

If parents are what is called divine beings, you are a divine being. That's why Amrutasya Putra, you are children of immortality. So, I am Agriyam, means the foremost, the original, but these explanations are from the Advaitic viewpoint, you worship your Ishta Devata and like you know, for example, Krishna, you say, is incarnation of Vishnu and Vishnu is an incarnation of Ishvara.

Ishvara is a modification of that Parabrahma. That is how we trace these things, Guru Parampara. So, you worship Him.

Tam, Deva, Devam, Ajam, Achyutam, Ahu, Agriyam. So, what are we supposed to do? Pratar, Bhajami. It is not Upadesha, instruction for you.

It is an instruction for each one of us. We have to say early in the morning when the mind is very quiet, I will have to remember, I have to worship my Lord only through His grace, I am going to move forward. It is just like as we say, our Ishta Devata is as we keep a big mirror and then correct ourselves.

Our Ishta Devata is to correct ourselves. How come? Earlier, in one of my talks, I explained there are four stages of spiritual progress gradually that through meditation, contemplation. What are they? Nama Dhyana, Rupa Dhyana, Guna Dhyana and Swarupa Dhyana.

Easiest thing for us is close your eyes and with one pointed mind repeat your mantra. This is called Nama Dhyana. It is also called Japa Dhyana.

Then a little more labor is required. Then you have to imagine, for example, if you have to meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna then imagine the, take the photograph of Sri Ramakrishna and go on staring at him for sometime. Close your eyes and go on reproducing that same form in the mind in the beginning.

Later on that form also has to be made alive because in the photo we see only a dead form. That dead form must be made to come out alive and it will come alive during the course of our spiritual progress. So, first the Nama will be going on even unconsciously then the form that impinges itself upon everything that we see.

This was the experience of Kuntanath Sanyal on 1st January 1886. Sri Ramakrishna touched him as a result of that divine touch. He started seeing Sri Ramakrishna on the earth, in water, in the objects that he was witnessing.

This is only on the way to spiritual identity. Afterwards, when we become a little better in this Rupa Dhyana then we realize we have so many defects and to remove these defects, these defects are called Vigunas, defective qualities. We have to make them Sagunas.

In the Bhagavad Gita, we get these Vigunas and also Sagunas. Daivi Sampath, Daiva, Asuri Sampath, divine characteristics and demonic characteristics. Beautifully described and all of us have got these demonic qualities.

How do we know? Because if we have only spiritual qualities, we would have been realized souls long back and more important what is the Pramana? Proof that you would not have attended my class if you are realized souls. So, we have to remember Guna Dhyana. What does it mean? That is where Patanjali Yogi comes to our aid.

Pratipaksha Bhavanam. If someone is a miser, remember this God is an ocean of compassion and giver of everything to his children. If somebody is restless, God is just like a deep ocean immovable.

The figures of Lord Buddha as well as Swami Vivekananda in meditation remind us what is the true state of meditation. That is if somebody has got short temper then one should be like that Brahmana. There is a Brahmana Gita in the Bhagavatam.

People spit on him, they go on throwing stones upon him, they abuse him, sometimes they beat him but he remains ever safe. I have done something wrong, I am only reaping the prarabdha, sorry not Brahmana Gita, Bhiksha Gita. Bhiksha Gita is there.

Like that we have to think Pratipaksha Bhavana means whatever quality we want to acquire we have to meditate God as the embodiment of that quality only when we want to get rid of its opposite either anger, short temperedness, miserliness, restlessness or hatred or envy etc. This is called Guna Dhyana and when we succeed to some extent then only we are taught this is what is called in Advaitic language Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampatti only then Brahma Jignasa has to come Athato Brahma Jignasa then what is that Brahman then Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma Truth what is called Truth Ultimate Truth Absolute Truth or Jnanam Absolute Knowledge and Infinity which is in Puranic language translated as Sat Chit and Ananda this is called Swaroopalakshana one has to meditate first on Sat then on Chit then on Ananda this is called the proper way of progressing in spiritual life and a time will come when we progress and the mind has only one vritti that is called Brahmakara Vritti and that assumes the form of Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma and then there is only one stage more and that can be done only by the grace of God as the Upanishad describes on whomsoever the Atman is pleased to him it reveals its own true nature this is what Sri Ramakrishna has come to say without God's grace nobody can progress in spiritual life this is the meaning of this second verse Prathah Bajami Manasa Vachasa Magamyam Vacho Vibhantini Khila Yadanugrahena Yenneti Neti Vachanaihi Nigamaha Avocan Tam Devadevam Ajam Achutam Ahuhu Agriyam it is a beautiful word this word Bhaja and Bhaja has got many meanings one of the meaning is Bhaja Sevayam Seva means if I am a devotee whatever I do I serve the divine Lord so that is what we get in the second verse of the everyday we sing Omrim Ritam Bhakti Bhagascha Bhajanam Bhava Bhedakari Bhakti means devotion Bhagaha means knowledge Bhajana what is that Bhajana Sevaha Nishkama Karma Yoga Karma Yoga is indicated by Bhaja Sevayam and then there is also this beautiful word Vacho Vibhanti Nikhila Yadanu Grahena by whose presence by whose very existence first all the activities of the mind speech and body are possible that is what Swami Vivekananda everyday we sing that one in the hymn Khandana Bhava Bandhana what do we say Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mana Adhita so Enneti Neti Vachanai Nigamaha Ocham so it is not possible for the mind as well as for the speech and that means actions also without the Ashraya without the Adhishtana without the very presence of that Atman and but that is what he says Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mana Adhita Mana Vachana Ek Adhar he is the only resort he is the only support for the mind to think for the mouth to speak and for the sense organs to function but he is beyond beyond means what only in his presence in the presence of pure consciousness, it is possible to think. First comes I. I means pure consciousness, pure awareness.

Then only comes everything else, the mind, the speech, the actions. The whole life of man can be divided into thinking, speaking and acting. So this is every day we have to remind but here not only morning, in the evening only at the Vesper service we do this thing Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mano Ateetha.

Vakya Mano Ateetha. Mana Vachana Ek Adhaar. Jyoti Rajyoti Kujjala Hridi Kandhara.

Tumi Tama Bhanjana Haar. That is what we are taking. There is a famous Vakya, Mahavakya called Yagnivalkya.

This teaching of Yagnivalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad we get Neti Neti. That soul is not this, not this, not this. What does it? Twice what does it mean? First not this means nothing to do with the gross world, gross body and second time he says Neti Neti.

That's why he has employed it twice. Not anything that can be done by the mind, neither by the gross body nor by the subtle body. Of anything there is no body, it is mind.

So Yagnivalkya is describing the self. It is imperceptible because it is never perceived. It is indestructible because it is never destroyed.

It is unattached because it doesn't attach itself and it is unfettered because it cannot be fettered. It's beyond suffering and injury. That's why it is described as Neti Neti, not this, not this.

This doctrine of Neti Neti suggests the indescribability of the Brahman. Absolute Yagnivalkya attempts to define Brahman as not definable. Therefore it is described as Neti Neti, Naiti Naiti.

And in the Taittiriya also the same idea is echoed. He who knows the bliss of Brahman, whence all worlds together with the mind turn away, unable to reach it, such a person attains fearlessness because there is nothing, no second object for him to fear. This is the simple meaning.

Let us worship the Saguna Brahma, our Ishta Devata, so that by his grace we can go beyond this body and mind and we can become one. We can never experience Brahman but we can become one with that Brahman which is none other than my own Tattvam, Atma Tattvam. With this we will conclude the second verse also.

We have discussed it in our next class which is day after tomorrow. We will be talking about the last verse.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 3 on 21 November 2020

2025-01-19T19:08:02Z

DanielM: Add category

== Uncorrected machine transcription ==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are studying the Prathasmara Stotram of Bhagavan Shankaracharya. We have been discussing the very first shloka. What is that first shloka? Prathasmarami Hridhisamspurad Atma Tattvam Sachchit Sukham Paramahamsa Gatinturiyam Yath Swapna Jayagara Sushuptim Avaithi Nityam Tat Brahma Nishkalamaham Nacha Bhuta Sanghaha I remember in the morning the Self which shines in my heart, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, which is the goal to be attained by the Paramahamsa Sanyasis, which is also called the fourth state, because it is beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep.

I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements that is Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi, Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. We have discussed the first line of this one Prathasmarami. Pratha means when the mind is very fresh.

Hridhi is a place where we feel more intensely the presence of the Atman. Atman is everywhere just as water is everywhere as Ramakrishna says, but it is easily available in a well, in a tank, in a river. So within our personality there is an Akasha called Chidakasha where the Lord is ever shining.

Not only He is shining, He is making everything also shine and without that Jyoti Rajyoti, light of the lights, external lights are totally useless because if we are unconscious we cannot recognize anything even if there is a midday sun burning, but He has to be obtained, easily communicated with in that particular place which is called the heart and that is Hridhi. Samspurat is shining by itself. Nobody need shine a light.

It always shines by itself. Then Sachitsukham paramahamsagathim turiyam. We will be discussing today from this second line onwards.

Now these are the words we use in major Upanishads. We do not get this word Sachidananda. We get it in the minor Upanishads and we also get it in the Puranas, Smritis like Mahabharata etc.

but never in the major Upanishads. What then do we get in the major Upanishads? We get in Taittiriya the most famous, most often quoted mantra portion Brahma Vidha Apnoti Param There Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Satyam corresponds to the Sat, Gnanam corresponds to the Chit.

There instead of Anantam here, there it is used Anantam because whatever is Antam, Shantam, limited can be called Sukha, Dukha but never Ananda. Ananda is that which is beyond both happiness as well as unhappiness. And we will come back to this Sachitsukham.

This is also called Turiyam and it is also called Paramahamsagathim. According to Vedanta, Gathi means movement. We are all moving albeit unconsciously.

Prakruti in the form of evolution. It is taking us from a one celled life to the highest evolved saint who sees Brahman everywhere. This evolution is inevitable.

Sometimes we have to go through what we call round and round the bush but at last we will be attaining that highest state. So Gathi means both movement and also the highest state. And why we cannot stop going there? Because that's our nature.

24 hours a day we are trying to be ourselves. Trying to be means what? We think we are not our real self. How do we know? Because I want this.

Without that I am not complete. So this eternal longing has been beautifully classified into three prayers. Very very ancient prayer which springs from every living creature.

Specially of course from human beings. But this is so beautifully framed in our Upanishads in the form of three prayers with which we are all very familiar. Asato Maha Sadgamaya May I never die.

May I ever live. Tamaso Maha Jatirgamaya May I never be devoid of consciousness or knowledge. May I always be aware.

And may I always be ever blissful. This is the unconscious prayer. It has to be vocalized.

It has to be remembered. It has to be meditated upon. These three prayers Shankaracharya puts it here as Sat, Chit and Sukham.

And why should we follow it? Because that is the highest state which the realized souls called Paramahamsas ultimately attain. It is the Turiyam. That is the ever existing state.

There is no doubt about it. Sat, Chit, Sukham. Paramahamsagathim Turiyam.

Now these three words Sat, Chit and Sukham. This Sukham instead of saying Ananda Shankaracharya has used it. Why does he use it? Sometimes we have to use it for the convenience of making a meter.

Chandas. Sometimes the words we use do not correspond, do not fit in to the grammatical rules of a meter. So we have to use some other words equivalent giving the same meaning but at the same time fits into the grammatical requirements.

Sat, Chit, Sukham. What does Sat, Chit, Sukham mean? Sat means we say existence. Chit means consciousness or knowledge.

Ananda is a very Sukham is a word that is happiness. What do these words really mean? In Vedanta last class I have explained a little what are the characteristics of Brahman. In Vedanta we give two characteristics.

One is called Tatastha Lakshana. Another is called Swaroopa Lakshana. What were the Tatastha Lakshanas given? Srishti, Stithi and Laya.

These are the activities. Later on of course Vedanta completely abrogates, destroys the very idea of God is the creator, God is the maintainer and God is the destroyer. But that is for an advanced student.

What we have to know is this is the Tatastha Lakshana means the accidental characteristic. Oh you want to know God? Find out from where the whole universe has come and that is God. Suppose God doesn't create.

Suppose your mind is not working. Can you think about then all these things? No it is not possible. That's why we have to derive at some other definition.

Actually Brahman cannot be defined. He can only be pointed out. So there comes Swaroopa Lakshana.

What is this Swaroopa Lakshana? Sat, Chit and Ananda. How do we translate it? Sat means existence absolute. Chit means knowledge absolute.

Ananda means happiness, bliss absolute. What is the big deal of difference between existence absolute and existence? Because in our day to day life we see everything. A chair exists, a tree exists, a man exists, a bird exists, a mountain exists.

Everything is existence. Without experiencing existence there is no world at all. And world consists of infinite number of things.

Then what is the idea then? Absolute existence means, let me first give you an illustration. So there are 100 ornaments and every ornament is made up of gold. That is called relative temporary existence.

Why do we call it temporary? Because anything made up of gold can be melted, can be transformed, can be beaten up, the shape can be changed, anything can be done. But if you look at gold, there is no way you are going to change it. Whether it is flat gold, round gold, conical gold, angular gold, in whatever it is, gold is only formless gold.

Then the next thing is whenever we are talking about relative existence, please remember these two words because these two words we are going to apply to knowledge as well as to bliss also. So these two words, relative and absolute. What is the difference? Absolute is that which never changes.

Relative is absolutely changes. It can never remain exactly as it is. Again take the example, there is a ring made out of gold.

So when was it made? Only just today itself. So it has a birth and then tomorrow it becomes what? One day old. After one year, it becomes one year old.

A time will come, it will not be exactly in the same thing. Every millisecond, remember time means change, every millisecond it is changing. One day it may be completely useless.

So what do we do? We give to old smith. What does he do? He melts it. What does melting mean? Melting means removing the nama and rupa.

But the gold, remember, never changes. So absolute is that which is not subjected to time, space and causation. Whereas relative means always subjected to time, space and causation.

If you can understand this, apply it to any object that we experience. In the absolute, there is no I or you or it. There is no subject, object.

There is no knower, knowledge. The witness, witnessed. The experiencer, experienced.

In absolute, there are no two. Therefore, there is no time, there is no space, there is no causation. But in the relative and relative means that which is perceived through the framework of time, space and causation.

So here is a chair. It has a birth and it has a what is called shelf life and one day it has to be totally removed. It may be after 500 years, 1000 years, but it has to go out.

But the woodness that is called its real swaroopa never changes. So now coming back, tatastha means accidental. Wood has been made into a chair is an accidental characteristic.

It remains for some time an accidental characteristic. And one day it also goes back, that is to say, relatively into the state of wood. As wood, it never changes.

As shape and then form and then shine, newness, oldness, etc. It always changes. This is the difference between absolute and relative.

This is an example. Now come back. Here is a tree.

A tree is there. The moment we use the words was, is or will be, all the three words are referring only to existence. Rama was.

Now we say this person is and Bhagawan is going to incarnate in course of time as Kalki. That will be future existence. So whether it is avataras, where is Rama now? Where is Krishna? Where is Ramakrishna? And same fate will await even Kalki also.

Anything that comes into existence. This is called relative existence. That's why the Lord, this beautiful hint, My janma karma, see as an avatara, with the limitation of a body-mind, however great that avatara is, is absolutely relative.

It may last for a longer time. It may, the power may be tremendous. But that power also will come to an end.

Here we can also understand a very funny thing. So Krishna was considered purna avatara. Is Krishna most powerful now? Not really so.

Who is most powerful now? Ramakrishna. Why? Because in the power, the form, etc. of Krishna can only influence a few people.

Krishna's form can only influence. Ramakrishna's form, it will influence many, many people. And who is this Ramakrishna? You should not take his body-mind.

That's only for the facility of thinking, meditation. Ramakrishna in the form of idea. That is the greatest thing in this world.

Is Ramakrishna form and power really infinite? In this relative world, you forget about that word, infinity, absolute. After sometime, maybe after thousands of years, nobody will know about Ramakrishna much. Suppose there is a third world war.

Most people will not know about Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, etc. But the same power will come again when it is needed, when adharma increases in future. So that's why they are called yuga avataras.

Yuga avatara means an avatara that is absolutely effective only for one particular yuga. How do we know? Swami Vivekananda gave us that beautiful statement. I have given food for 1000 years.

There are two versions here. I have given food for 1000, I have given food for 1500 years. In one of his drawing room conversations, Swami Vivekananda issued a statement.

I have to come once more. And naturally the visitors were highly delighted. When Swami are you going to come? He said, I do not know.

Sri Ramakrishna said, I will be reincarnating in 200 years. And along with him, he will have to bring certain of his selected followers. Always he will bring someone or others at that time.

So next time he is going to bring me also. And if you remember, this was what many devotees remember. Sri Ramakrishna once asked Holy Mother, you will have to come again.

And Holy Mother said, I am not going to come again with you. Because she suffered most from him only. Then Sri Ramakrishna said, you see, we are like a kalmi saag.

It is a kind of creeper on the surface of water. And it spreads. It is a creeper.

One side of it if you pull, the whole thing has to move. It has to come like a net. You catch hold of a net and pull it towards you.

The whole net has to come towards you. And finally Holy Mother asked, why should I come? Because you have to carry my hookah. And at that time Holy Mother happened to carry his hookah.

He said, here is your hookah. I am not going to come again. This is a wonderful statement.

Swamiji had to come. Why? Is there any rational explanation? Yes, there is a rational explanation. Think, I don't know.

What is it? These have been already trained. These are called eternal companions always. Sri Ramakrishna coined a word.

These are called Ishwarakoti Nityamukta. A group of them will always be there together. So it is said that at the time of Jesus Christ, he brought only 12.

But this being Kalikala, he brought 16. And all the 16 direct disciples are not Ishwarakotis. Some of them, only about 6 of them he said are Ishwarakotis.

Of the 6, there was a householder, Poornachandra. He was the last one. Anyway, these are divine mysteries.

We will not understand it. What is important is that the power and the ideas and the ideals preached by any avatara will only last until that particular yuga lasts. A yuga is made up of certain what is called ideology.

Every yuga has got a particular name. Toynbee had done a marvelous job. He said the age of superstition, the age of faith, the age of rationality, the industrial age, like that every particular age has been divided into according to the particular type of spirit that is prevailing.

Spirit means that everybody will be mostly influenced by that spirit. What is our particular age? It is called age of reasoning. Even a child, you tell him God exists and why should he exist? Where does he exist? And why we are seeing so many things? Why I am not seeing God? Why is there so much of misery? Why, why, why? We all want to know why and how, understand through the intellect.

That's why Swami Vekananda had to preach Vedanta in the form of like in scientific language through rationality. You remember, if it is Upanishads, this is Aesha Adesha, Aesha Upadesha. This is Adesha, commandment because that was the age of faith.

As this scripture tells it and I have to do it. That is why the very meaning of the word scripture is Vidhi. Vidhi and Nishedha, Shastra.

It commands, it never requests, schedules, suggests. It just commands. Do this, do this, do this.

But coming back to our time for the next Yuga, this particular spirit of Sri Ramakrishna will prevail and they are talking about it. All this topic came because we are discussing that word Sat. What is Sat? Even an avatar becomes less powerful as time goes on.

Not only that, according to Vedanta, there are so many Kalpas. In the past Kalpa, so many avatars came. We also were there.

Do we remember any of them? Absolutely no. So Swami Vekananda had framed this particular idea, Jirumbhita Yuga Ishwara Jagadishwara Yoga Sahay. Jagadishwara, the Divine Lord.

What did He do? Jirumbhita Yuga Ishwara. He is the Lord of this particular Yuga which may last for 1000 years or at best 1500 years. We don't know what the world is going to be.

The world is changing very very fast. Coming back, existence we have to understand in two ways. Relative existence and absolute existence.

When here Shankaracharya is referring to Sat, he is not referring to the relative existence. Why? You have to remember what we discussed so far, even today itself. Relative existence is very relative.

It is temporary. It comes and it goes. Now, same thing you apply it to knowledge.

There is absolute existence and relative existence. And relative existence is a modification, an infinitesimal modification of the absolute existence. A tree, a man, a bird, a chair, a river, a mountain, etc.

And remember they have a birth date, they have a shelf life date, and they also what is called expiry date. Everything. Something may last for 1000s of years like a mountain.

But it will come to an end. For example, at one time there was this wonderful Saraswati river 11000 years back. Now we don't know.

But they say it has gone deep underground and sweetest water at least 5 to 10,000 feet underground near Allahabad, etc. That's why it is called Triveni. Ganga, Yamuna we can say Saraswati is underneath.

Triveni means through strands. Okay. Understand the same thing.

Chit. Absolute knowledge. It has no form, no name.

It is eternal. It never changes. But when it manifests, we call it relative knowledge.

For example, here is a scientist. Who is a scientist? A man who has got scientific knowledge. Here is a musician.

Who is a musician? He has got musical knowledge. Here is a cook. He has got knowledge of cookery.

He is a driver. He is a pilot. So for every activity there are specialists.

And the more a person has knowledge, the more specialized he becomes. There is a funny saying. Who is a specialist? A specialist is one who knows more about less.

For example, previously an eye doctor. He knows everything about the retina, about the eye and all those things. Now there is a super specialist.

Someone is specialized in examining the eye. Some are specialized in retina specialist. Some go even beyond that, the nervous system.

So a super specialist is one who knows everything about nothing. That is the definition of a super specialist. So this is an age.

The manifestation. Here is what is called eye specialist. Here is an ear specialist.

Here is an inner ear specialist. Here is a stomach specialist. So also here is a physics scientist.

Here is a biologist. Here is a zoologist. Like that more and more time passes on, more and more knowledge comes.

What are we talking about? This knowledge manifesting in the form of science, in the form of aestheticism or art or in the form of ruling, in the form of what is called statesmanship, in the form of interpersonal relationships, all these types of knowledge are but infinitesimal manifestations of that absolute knowledge. If we compare Brahman as the relative knowledge, it is not Brahman, it is Brahman, Brahma. So we have to remember he is the source.

And in Puranic terms, what is this source called? It is called Saraswati. Brahma is called pure existence. Saraswati is called pure knowledge.

A combination of both these are called Ananda, Purnananda. Sat, Siddha, Sukha. Same thing, relative happiness and absolute happiness.

Ananda. Here the word unfortunately used is Sukha. Because remember, if you remember cold, you are remembering heat.

Otherwise you will never know what is cold. If you say go to the sun and say good morning Mr. Sun, he will be wondering, good I understand what is morning. Because from the standpoint of the sun, there is no morning, he will be exactly the same.

The further he is, it is morning. He comes near, that is midday. And the further we are away, because he is also moving, we are also moving, earth is moving, sun is moving, we think his power is less.

Midday sun is terrible. So we divide it morning, noon and evening, and night when we don't see the sun at all. But if you go to the sun, there is absolutely no morning, no night, etc.

Absolute bliss, that means there is no Sukha, Dukha, there is absolutely only happiness. That is called Ananda. It is a technical word, don't use it for ordinary things.

I got Ananda eating a sweet, I got Ananda listening to music, etc. That would be a misnomer. So, Sat, Siddh, Sukham, that is absolute existence, and absolute existence is absolute.

There is no birth, there is no sustenance, there is no death. Similarly, that pure knowledge, that pure bliss. Let me give you, with regard to the bliss, another example.

Supposing you are very happy, early morning, the air is very cool, like spring, and it is beautiful. As the sun comes up, you feel the heat of the sun, and you become more and more little uncomfortable. When it is at noon, you will certainly not sit there, you will go inside and then take rest in the shade.

Towards the evening, again you come out because it is tolerable. This tolerable and intolerable is not the fault of the sun. This is how sometimes we are a bit happy, a little more happy, and all the time, what is called opposite unhappiness is trailing behind us.

Otherwise, even the cognition, I am happy, is only I am not unhappy, so it is called happiness, like a dimmer switch. So also, this Ananda, that's why deep sleep is called Ananda. It is called Ananda, Maya, Kosha.

There, we don't know what is Dukha, what is Sukha, even if somebody cuts us to pieces, of course, not deep sleep, but after giving anesthesia, we will never know anything about it. Absolute existence, absolute knowledge, absolute Ananda. They never change, they are eternal, there is no beginning, there is no end.

One more point, there are three epithets, Sat, Chit, and Ananda. We are dividing, here are three people, here are three chairs, here are three trees, etc. But when we are talking about absolute, Sat, Chit, and Sukham are not three different things, but that is the very nature, they are not the qualities, not that God exists, not that God has knowledge, not that God is happy.

They are the very nature, how that we usually use certain human words. The sun is shining, it is okay for the sake of our normal day-to-day life, but it is a wrong term to use because a man is walking. What is he doing? A man is walking.

That means if he chooses, he can stop walking, he can sleep, or he can do something else. He can jump or he can bury himself, but the sun cannot do anything else excepting to shine. That's why conventionally we say the sun is shining, but really speaking, the shining and the sun, there is no difference.

Milk is white, fire burns. You ask fire, why are you burning? It simply asks, if you have the intelligence to understand, what do you mean by burning? Because the fire never feels the heat. Because that is its very nature.

I hope you understand what I am talking. Fire will never burn fire. Fire burns everything else, but not fire.

So it doesn't know what is called burning. A light doesn't know what is called light. The sun doesn't know what is called light.

That is its nature. This is what we are talking. These three, existence, knowledge and bliss are not separate at all.

They are one in three and three in one. And they are not qualities. They are the very nature of that highest reality.

One more point and we are done with this. The point is when we use such thing, here is a tree exists. It is a positive term, the tree exists.

How do we know? Because anybody can experience it or somebody experienced it yesterday or 100 years back. So it has existed. But when we say Brahman exists, you are getting a positive idea.

What is the idea? With regard to any object in this world, something was not there before, it comes into existence, lives for some time and then goes back. A man is born 100 years back and then he lived for 100 years and then he died now. If you understand existence in that sense, then you are doing great justice to Brahman.

So what we have to say that Brahman is like fire whose very nature is existence. Brahman is like that. The knowledge itself is its very nature.

Ananda is its very nature. So to distinguish relative terms from the absolute terms, does God exist? No, He doesn't exist. Like a tree, like a man.

Then He doesn't exist then. No, no, no. Not that He doesn't exist.

So do you observe double negatives? Does God exist? Not that He doesn't exist. That means what? Positively we don't want to say God exists. Then you equate Him with a tree, with a man etc.

Does God have knowledge? No, no. Not that He is having knowledge. Not that He doesn't have knowledge.

Do you mean to say God has? No. Because every object in this world has only knowledge, is not knowledge. Similarly, does God have happiness? Not that He is not happiness.

That means what? The Vedanta is forced to use this what is called rational language to use double negative to indicate what we understand positively but thereby it avoids our ordinary understanding of what is Sat, Chit and Ananda. So God is existence. God is knowledge.

God is Ananda. Not relative existence, knowledge and bliss but absolute God is. Then He is not three.

He is when you see existence, you see the knowledge and you see the Ananda. When you see the knowledge, there is existence and Ananda. When you see Ananda, there is existence and knowledge.

These three are three different names for the same single Ekam Advithiyam Brahma. And this is the ultimate destiny Paramahamsa Gatim. If you see, here is a man, he wants to become a billionaire.

What is his goal? To become a billionaire. But here are great saints, Rishis, Munis from birth to death, life after death, life after life, they are going on striving for what? This one particular thing. What does it mean? Attain.

This word attainment again is a misnomer. Not attain but recognize I was Brahman, I am Brahman, I will be Brahman forever. So such a person who realized he is called Paramahamsa.

The word Hamsa is very interesting word as I explained in the book. This is the reverse. Hamsaha is Visarga.

Two small zeros at the end of the word is called Visarga. One is Anuswara, one is Visarga. This Visarga becomes, takes the form of O. Hamsa So, Saha becomes So, So, Ham.

When you put Saha plus Aham side by side by the grammatical rule. Of, what is called Sandhi. Two letters conjoining together.

Saha becomes So. But there is a Avaliptha. There is Avagraha we call it.

It is indicating one like reversed Yes will be there. And then afterwards we put Ham. So, Saha, Aham, So, then Avagraha, Ham will be there.

So, Ham, So, Ham. You go on repeating it. Ham, Saha, Ham, Saha, Ham, Saha.

So, this Soham is called Japa, Japa. From birth till death every living creature is going on experiencing doing this what is called continuous Japa going on. What does it mean? Ham, Saha means Soham.

What does Soham mean? Saha, Aham. I am He. I am He.

How does it go? Swamiji explains this in his Bhakti Yoga. Beautifully. So, what is this Soham? When you observe your in-taking breath So, and you observe the outgoing breath Ha, Ha.

So, Ha, Soham, Soham, Soham, Soham, Soham. Continuously it is going on Soham, Soham. If we pay attention to it then we have I am He.

Just join your mind pay attention your mind also will be attached if something is attached to a chain and which is moved by a machine you will also be moving so continuously this Soham is going on. Such a being who realizes is called a Hamsa and he is called a Paramahamsa who knows I am Brahman. So, these Paramahamsas when they attain to that state called Aham Brahmasmi they are called Paramahamsas and that is the highest state and that is the nature of Sat, Chit and Sukham that is called Paramahamsa Gati and it is called Turiyam.

Turiyam means the ground because of which all the three states were experienced by every living creature from morning to evening. Now, we will come to that part of it which is going to third line Yat Swapna Jagara Sushuptim Avaithi Nityam Nityam means constantly Avaithi means experiences and knows Remember these are the two words consecutive words you can never know something unless you experience you see a cow first and then you come to have knowledge this is a cow so what is human life it constantly from birth to death birth after birth goes through three states what are those three states waking state and dream state and deep sleep state this is what is being said Yat means that Brahman that pure consciousness which is called Turiyam Nityam Avaithi constantly witnesses and this word witness has got two implications which I will come to very soon what does this Turiyam witnesses Sakshatva Swapna Jagara Sushupti again for the sake of Chandas meter it is put this way the usual is Jagrat Avastha Sushupti Avastha Swapna Avastha and Sushupti waking dream and dreamless this is the consequence but actually it should be the other way round Sushupti Jagrat and then Swapna why is it why this particular one remember what is this waking state experienced through through physical body called the gross body what is the dream state experienced by the Sukshma Sarira or subtle body or the mind in simple words and the deep sleep experienced by Karana Sarira causal body now remember Karana means cause just as a seed contains the entire tree everything that we experience remains in a dormant state in the state of deep sleep that's why it is called Karana Sarira and the person who experiences as a special name he is called Prajna why Prajna Prajna means the Prakrishtena Ajnaha I do not know anything remember it is not a state of ignorance it is a state of witnessing the ignorance I am witnessing nothingness there is something I witness there is something in a room there is a man I see a man I witness that man that man goes away then I do not see that man to experience both the presence or absence of this person both there must be somebody who is witnessing so in deep sleep we do not lose consciousness we lose the external as well as the subtle world but Karana Sarira you will be there Karana Prapancha is experienced what is the nature of that Karana Prapancha there is nothing here there is nothing that's why you can't say I have seen something I know nothing you are experiencing that state called I know nothing so that is the first state logically then slowly this Sushupti sprouts that sprouting and growing is called Jagradhavastha waking state remember it in this order first deep sleep then waking state then comes again Swapna state then comes waking state then comes deep sleep state this is how the cycle goes on and on so why do I say so because remember what is a dream world dream world is nothing but all the memories and vasanas gathered during the waking state and remaining in that part of the mind called Chitta in the form of memory when we go to this dream state a part of our mind takes some of these memories and mixes them up like Khichdi and then makes it a man is flying I am flying so a horse is flying a flying bird and a running horse both are combined together a flying horse a walking bird like that any number of combinations is possible so the dream state cannot exist without the memories of the waking state that's why our scriptures tell first there is this Karana Sharira then from it comes the waking state from waking state comes the dream state again from after dream state we go back to the waking state and from waking state we go to the Karana Sharira like a tree which grows from a seed and then it gives flowers fruits and then again becomes a seed and then it goes back again to that state so that witnessing consciousness called Thuriyam what does it do it always bears witness Swapna the here because of the Chandas or meter it should have come actually Sushupti Jagrat and Swapna but first dream state then waking state then deep sleep state Nityam Avaithi so that Thuriyam state continuously witnessing the states are changing but the witness is not changing what does it mean first of all when you use that word state that brings is waking is a state dreaming is a state deep sleep is a state so this is a fourth state let us get rid of that idea Thuriyam is the continuously witnessing consciousness nothing to do with any state a state is always relative to each other it is temporary and it is everything is changing and it is experienced witnessed therefore it is an object Thuriyam is the very subject without getting involved so two points we need to remember here if you don't see something so far as you are concerned that thing doesn't exist only when you see something that thing exists first point second point whatever you are experiencing is totally different from you if you are witnessing a tree you are not a tree you are witnessing a house you are not the house you are seeing a car you are not the car that is the second point third point is whatever attributes or qualities the experience object is having a red rose or a green leaf or a big house those qualities belong to that object but not to you when you are looking at a red rose you don't become a rose you don't also become red or green or whatever it is these three points you remember you are a thuria state you are that pure consciousness you are witnessing what was the first point if you are not there if you are absent things do not exist and they exist only so long as you are witnessing it or experiencing it first secondly whatever you are witnessing doesn't belong to you you are not that thirdly whatever attributes you are witnessing because whenever you are witnessing an object necessarily you are witnessing also certain attributes small big green red fat thin etc they belong to the object not at all to you remember these three points so first point is if thuriyam is not there world itself will not be there second without thuriyam the world cannot exist at all it is existing means there is something who is lending existence to it consciousness to it ananda to it if we remember this yath nityam avaiti it illumines what illumines the three states of dream waking as well as sushupti or deep sleep and witnessing means it knows i am witnessing the waking state i am witnessing the dream state i am also witnessing the deep sleep state that is why i clarified am i witnessing the deep sleep state waking state dream state we can understand it but deep sleep we think we are not seeing anything that ability to know i am not seeing anything is also a state of witnessing because there is nothing for you to witness something is there in waking and dream nothing is experienceable excepting nothingness that is why without you you will never know how do you know upon waking up what do you say that you say that i slept well you don't say somebody else has come and slept and at the same time you also say that i know nothing you know nothing because there was no body there was no mind gross body gross mind subtle body and subtle mind is not there but seed body seed mind they are there in the in the way just as a seed is there away the constant it goes what why should we go through all this discussion because we are constantly identifying when you are in the waking state i am the maker when you are in the when i am in the dream state i say i am the dreamer when i am in the deep sleep state i am the sleeper continuously i am changing my identity and that is called insanity madness tell me really who you are now few hours you say i am a waker few hours i am a dreamer and few hours i am a sleeper tell me something which you always are that is this scripture tells us i am the tutorium so it is to remind i am not the waking state i am not the dream state i am not the deep sleep state what i am every morning i have to remember this yes jagrat svapna sushraktin avaiti nityam tat brahma i am that brahman nishkalam i am partless what does it mean in technical terms you say akhanda advaya means partless because anything that has a parts it will be broken apart anything that has parts will get destruction anything partless will never attain destruction because there is nothing that can make it destructive for example space is the greatest example always advaita vedanta gives that example what is the example space space is whether it is in a pot or without pot it is unbreakable so we will discuss this beautiful a few more that is to say i am not the body mind therefore if there is no body mind i do not have waking dream deep sleep then who are you i am turiyam i am the witness of all these three states for sadhana then you say tat brahma i am that brahman nishkalam i am partless nacha bhuta sangaha i am not made up of the five elements these beautiful ideas we will discuss next Thursday.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 2 on 19 November 2020

2025-01-19T19:07:47Z

DanielM:

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are discussing the Prathasmarana Stotram and just in my last class I have given you what is just called an introduction. The most important point of that introduction is these stotras, stutis of several kinds and one of the most important especially that we are supposed to remember chant is early in the morning and we would like to delve deep into it. Adi Shankaracharya has given us many precious gems, beautiful verses for all sadhakas irrespective of country, time etc and these stotras are called Prathasmarana Stotram.

This is not the only one as I mentioned earlier on the Saguna Brahma there are many for example Lalitha Prathasmarana Prathasmarana. Practically Ganesha, Karthikeya, Lakshmi, Saraswati, every imaginable form of God or Goddess. Of course the most memorable nobody can forget especially in South India is Sri Venkateshwara Suprabhatam and we have one of our senior Swamis Harshanandaji Maharaj has composed a most beautiful hymn, that is, starts with Dharmasyaha nivabhidah paridrishyasi grham Kamaara pushkaraite pratite samruddhe Grame suviprasadane yavijata deva Sri Ramakrishna Bhagavan Tava suprabhatam Suprabhatam means good morning, good morning not only for other people but most importantly for us.

What is the most important suprabhatam? We have to remember what is life, what is our kartavya, duty and what, how we have to achieve it. So this is what we are going to talk about, especially these particular three verses are about Atma tattvam. Pratha smarana, we have to remember.

Atma means not somebody somewhere at a long distance, not in Vaikuntha, not in Kailasa, not in Ramakrishna Loka, but me. Atma means me. Tattvam means truth.

What is the truth about me? Ramakrishna had beautiful sayings, gems with deep meaning. So he says here that everybody in this world is mad. Everybody is mad.

Who is a madman? He who doesn't know who he is, he is a madman. But there are many such mad people who are far superior to who consider themselves as normal people. This is not my statement.

The great psychologist Jung used to say most of normal people I find in life are most normal and those who think they are most normal, they are the most abnormal people in this world. So Ramakrishna's words tally not only from a spiritual standpoint, even from a psychological standpoint also. So we have been studying this Pratha smarana stotram.

Purely it is a nirguna tattvam, which is nothing other than our own true nature. We are going to talk about it. So the first shloka goes like this.

In plain words it means I am the Paramatma and I am not what I think I am in this world, a combination of body and mind, B and M complex. I remember in the morning the self which shines in my heart, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, Chidananda and which is the goal to be attained by the Paramahamsa Sanyasis, which is called the fourth state because it is beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements, that is ether, air, water, fire and earth.

Now let us discuss one by one Pratha smarana. Early in the morning Pratha. So what does Pratha mean? According to Hindu sages, there are many sacred things in this world, sacred books, sacred people, sacred events, sacred times, sacred places which we call Tirthas.

What is sacred time? It is called Brahmi Mahota, a time of Brahman. What does it mean? It is much easier for anybody to remember God. Why? Because nature aids, helps all of us in making the mind very quiet, provided we fulfil certain conditions.

We eat early and we eat not to the full stomach, we eat what is suitable for us and then we go to bed, not jumping from the TV or internet or email to bed, but doing some japam, reading a beautiful book. You can also watch movies like Little Krishna, anything that makes our mind Godward and spiritual and with calm and quiet mind, if we go early to bed, we can rise early and usually the time between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock, this is called Brahmi Mahota. 5 to until sunrise, it is called Ushah Kaala.

So not only that, Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, out of his own personal experience, used to tell this Brahmi Mahota differs from place to place. He said in Vrindavan, it is midnight. In Varanasi, it is after 3. Spiritual vibrations will be so deep at that particular time.

Anyplace we can find out a few days of experiment, if we can do, get up at 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock, find out when your mind, observe your mind, watch your mind is most quiet. Don't go by the books. You can take general advice, but don't go by the books.

Find out when you had very nice sleep, refreshing sleep and your mind is extremely calm, but alert at the same time, that is called Ratha Kaala. Also, it is not only Pratha Kaala, every devotee of Ramakrishna remembers early in the evening time. We call it Vesper service, Arathrikam time.

There also we have to remember. In fact, Aasuthehe Aamarana, Aamruthehe Kaalam Nahet Brahmachintaya Until we fall deeply asleep or until death overtakes us, we should strive to remember God. So in the evening Arathrikam time, after putting everything down, then we will have to sit and then remember what? Khandana Bhava Bandhana.

It is the divine Lord who He alone can cut, destroy our bondage. The whole essence of that Arathi hymn, beginning with Khandana Bhava Bandhana, is the very first line, Khandana Bhava Bandhana Vandhi Tomae. The whole world is only looking for it albeit unconsciously, but the whole world salutes because that is the greatest prophet in the world.

So also the greatest prophet in the world is to know who I am. So that is called Prathah Smarami. Smarami means I remember.

Prathah means early in the morning. Early in the morning means when my mind is absolutely quiet. Why am I dwelling on this such a long time? Because for some people 7.30 may be Prathah Kala.

That time may be the most suitable time. So it is not only the external time, but observe your mind when it is quiet and also most alert. That is Prathah Kala.

Smarami, remember. Why? Because we remember I am a man, I am a woman. Now I have to remember consciously with effort until it becomes an automated process.

Remember Sri Ramakrishna. Even though he was such a great soul, he used to at dawn and dusk, he used to clap his hands and take the name of different names of Gods. Ganga, Gaya, Gayatri, Krishna, Govinda, Mama Jeevanam, Mama Pranaha, etc.

It is for whose benefit? Not for his benefit, but to set an example to people like us when Sandhya time. That's why it is called Sandhya Vandana. We are still far away from Sandhya Vandana.

So we have to remember all the time, strive and pray to God. Oh Lord, let me remember you. Let me not forget you.

So what is early morning? Two conditions. Mind is very, very quiet and mind is very alert. At that time, whatever ideas sink in, they will be going deeply and helping us more.

But for different people, the morning could be different countries, different times. At the same time, there are certain general times, which are called meeting of the night and day and day and night. In fact, Hinduism says four times, early in the morning, midday and in the evening after sunset until it becomes dark and at midnight.

I have spoken extensively that the mind changes because we are still creatures of Prakruti, nature. Therefore, the entire Hindu musical system had evolved based upon this, the moods created by the external nature. So we don't sing a particular Raga at any given time, though nowadays people are violating them.

So early in the morning, one particular Raga, may be Bhairava, may be Bhairavi and when the sun gets up, may be Bhimapalasi. Then as the evening approaches, again Bhairavi Raga, Bhairava Raga, Malakosha, then midnight Ragas are there. Not only every day, but every season also, there are songs, Ragas to be sung in the rainy season.

There are songs to be sung at spring season. There are songs to be sung in summer, mid-summer season because nature has tremendous influence upon us. Not only that, when there are supposed to be eclipses, then the mind is supposed to be undergoing a peculiar mood.

This is not a superstition. Swami Vivekananda, when he was in East Bengal, in the house of Naga Mahasaya, an eclipse happened there and there is a rule, one has to eat food either before or after eclipse. There is also something very strange here.

Swami Vivekananda, he was the greatest rationalist in the world and yet he had certain beliefs based not upon superstition or blind, but upon experience. So he believed during the eclipse time, whatever a person does, he gets many fold result and he was lacking sleep. So he thought, I will eat food and I will try to sleep.

Then if I could manage to sleep during the eclipse, then I will get much more sleep in my life. But alas, that is not to be. He could not sleep.

Now my point is, I made deep research on this. I am making fun. Don't take it too seriously.

That since he tried to sleep and failed in it, his failure in sleeping will be a thousand fold more now from now onwards. So this Prathasmarami, early in the morning, what do I remember? Three things. What is Tattva? What is Purushartha? And what is Hita? Remember of course, Tattva is each soul is potentially divine.

So what is the Purushartha? To manifest this goal either by one yoga or the other. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal. This is called Purushartha, Paramapurushartha.

Hinduism crystal clearly divided life into the preparatory stage and the attaining stage, last stage. What are the preparatory stage? It's called Priya. What is Priya? Dharma, Artha and Kama.

What is Shreya? Only one, Moksha. That's why Hinduism divided life into four categories. That is Brahmacharya, student learning stage, experimental stage, semi-withdrawal stage and total stage of total self-surrender to God called Brahmacharya, Garhastya, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa.

Accordingly, the Vedas are also divided into four categories. What are the four categories? First stage, learn what is Dharma. Means these three things, Tattva, Purushartha and Hita.

Then enter into Grahastasrama. What one has to do? Grahastasrama, perform Nitya, Naimittika, Karyas, etc. Do not do any Nishaya, Karma, etc.

Then you worship God, slowly progress. Then when it comes, Vanaprasthasrama, that is called Aranyaka. Aranya means what Sri Ramakrishna used to call, develop more and more solitary state.

Try to remain by yourself, depending totally upon God and very happily, it's not a punishment, it is a goal, it is a necessary condition for developing, even for creative people like musicians, writers, etc., not to speak of Sadhakas. Of course, the ultimate stage is called Upanishad, which corresponds with the, what is called Sanyasa Ashrama with the sole goal or aim of Moksha. How beautifully our Vedas are divided into these four categories.

So, early morning, we have to remember, but it doesn't mean early morning any number of times because we are likely to forget during the course of the day and that's why in every Ashrama, practically, Vesper service goes on in the churches and in the mosques, everywhere, these evening reminders is there and especially Muslims, they call five times a day. Why? Because in case people forget, so, remember them and that is helpful for all of us also. Then, Pratha Smarana.

Remember. Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh. So, we have to, first stage is Shravana.

This Smarana is Shravana. Then only Smarana will come. You go on hearing this kind of hints, then slowly they will go inside.

What comes then? Then comes Smarana. Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh. Smarana comes only after trying to remember what we heard about God, about the goal of life.

Then, Hridi Samspurat Atmatatvam. Three words are there. Hridi, Samspurat, Atmatatvam.

Such beautiful meanings are there. We will go through them. So, also remember, even psychologists tell us the power of positive thinking.

A man has written a wonderful book that is Emotional Intelligence. Some other person has written Spiritual Intelligence. So, these are beautiful books based upon deep research, how man can be happy even in this world even if he is not spiritual.

But the funny thing is without being spiritual, not to label it as a spiritual life, but nonetheless living a spiritual life one controls one's mind, emotions, goals, etc. and such a person is likely to be more happy. So, we should remember only positive thoughts.

That's why what do we do when we meet each other? Namaste. Why do we do that? Because I am reminding you. Namaste means Oh man, I am not saluting you.

I am saluting real you, the Lord Narayana who is within you. So, also you do it. When Christians or Westerners meet, they shake hands as a token of friendship, say good morning.

Means what? Let your mind be filled with positive thoughts. So, what are the positive thoughts? We have to only remember our blessings. What are the blessings? We have seen in Vivekachudamani what are the three things are the result of God's greatest grace upon us, three great blessings.

What are they? The human birth and the desire for spiritual progress and favourable circumstances company of the holy. Dullabham Trayamevaitam Devanugrahahetukam Manushyathvam Mumukshathvam Mahapurushasamsayah So, we must remember the goal of human life. Why do we read the gospel every day? Why do we read Gita, etc.? Why do we attend these kind of classes? Only one purpose, for reminding ourselves our goal, etc., which is, what is that goal? Paramahamsagatin Turiyam What beautiful, precious gem-like words.

What is this? Paramahamsagati Each one of us have to reach Gati means the highest state of consciousness the ultimate goal, Paramapurushartha It is also called Turiyam. We will explore these things in future Paramahamsa means a person who had attained, who had become a saint, who had attained Atma Jnana, who is called Brahma Jnani, such a person is called Paramahamsa and every Paramahamsa attains to this state So, what are we talking about? We have to remind ourselves and there are only three ways to remember and attain the goal. So, what is that Smaraami? I remember or I contemplate on the Self, the truth of everything and His pure consciousness called Shuddha Chaitanya.

To count this blessing of my Swaroopam, Atma Swaroopam For this, every scripture and remember the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the Gospel of Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda's works are nothing but pure Upanishads presented to us in such a simple English or local language So, the scriptures present us three Upayas, we call it. What are they? Shravanam, Mananam and Nididhyasanam So, Shravanam and Mananam is to really feel we are blessed and this is the goal of life and there is no other goal of life. What is Nididhyasanam? Approach a Sadguru get His direction, surrender completely to His teaching Actually, surrendering to the Guru means surrendering to His teaching and not simply falling at His feet and pulling His legs.

As I mentioned once I was in UK one devotee came and I was standing fortunately near a table outside the lecture room and this lady made Sastang Pranams stretched her legs, started pulling my legs so that my legs will touch her head. Instead of bringing her head to my feet she started pulling my legs. Fortunately, I realised the danger, caught hold of the table and saved myself So, surrendering doesn't mean that paying attention to the physical aspect of Guru but who is a Guru? His teaching that means follow His teaching.

He is the best person Ramakrishna illustrates this so beautifully. There was a rich man, he had a garden he had two gardeners one garden goes on praising and another garden never comes to the master but with back breaking work he makes the garden so fruitful Whom do you think the master will be pleased with? So, surrender to the Guru means surrender to the teaching. It doesn't mean you neglect the teacher because the teacher reminds us that's why teacher is given the highest place even better than God's place.

So, that's why we say Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara I have mentioned earlier that there was a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Brindavan and he was extremely harsh towards his disciples and the disciples and you have to remember the presiding deity of Brindavan is not Sri Krishna but Radharani just as the presiding deity of Ramakrishna Sangha is Holy Mother the presiding deity of Varanasi is Mother Annapurna that's why even Shiva had to take a begging bowl and stand in front of her to get Annapurna, Sadapurna but what is the viksha she gives Gnana, Vairagya, Siddhyartham, Viksham, Dehicha, Parvati Annapurna Stotram, please refer to it ok, so to count these greatest blessings to remember then what we need to do, first we have to Shravana, then only Manana then the idea takes deep root in our unconscious mind that is why even Prahlada's nine stepped way a ladder consisting of nine steps Shravanam, Kirtanam Vishnu, first Shravana then Kirtana, what is Kirtana? Manana, it is identified with Manana, then only Smarana will come so the Shravana Manana is there to make this idea go deep within our minds, that is why early in the morning we chant as I mentioned Sri Ramakrishna Tava Suprabhatam, Sri Saratheshwari Tava Suprabhatam Swami Vivekananda's also Tava Suprabhatam etc, so this counting this blessing should be done in the morning, why? because generally the mind is more calm more alert after deep sleep relaxation etc and do not forget that certain conditions to be able to sleep without fulfilling those conditions you can have nightmares or disturbing sleep, the result is early in the morning you do not feel ok, you carry on with the help of a black cup of coffee etc, that's not desirable, we must get up happily looking forward to jump into the days, when is the day going to start? Joyfully that is possible only if we fulfill those conditions, that's why it is said Brahmi Muhurta, what is Brahmi? When remembering God becomes much easier than before, therefore we have several Prathas, Smarana Stotras like Lalita Stotra, Prathas, Smarana Shiva, Vishnu and all sorts of things are there but one particular Stotram is extremely liking, it is called Govinda Damodara Madhaveti I don't remember who composed it but this is a beautiful Stotram, very less known but the idea is early in the morning Gopis in Vrindavan, they get up and after washing and finishing the ablutions what do they do? They were all cow headdresses, they have put the milk to make it into butter or curds, then they take up in a pot, they have to churn the butter at that time all the Gopis will be doing this Govinda Damodara Madhaveti with every Shloka so beautiful, there is no end we are so rich in all these things, let us remember it and finally Khandana Bhava Bandhana, so then where to remember, where is the place is it in the mind, is it outside or which part of the body, that's why it is good, Hridi Prathah Smarami Hridi Hridi means heart very often in the Upanishads we get this one, Hridi is in the heart as a symbol of cave, so we get in the Katha Upanishad, just now we have finished it, the very 17th, the penultimate mantra in the 6 sections of this Katha Upanishad Angushta Matraha Purushaha Antaratma Sada Jananam Hridaye Sannivishtaha, so where is this Atman, Jananam Hridaye, in the hearts of the people always Sada Sannivishtaha it is not that he has some time, every time you go there, he will be there and he is there, so that you can conveniently contemplate upon him, not as Arjuna gets frightened Angushta Matraha, why Angushta after hearing the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna got frightened, but when you see a ferocious Saint Bernard or an Alsatian dog, I am sure your heart will break, but there are very cute, small dogs are there they are even smaller than cats and with that soulful eyes when they look at you, you will lose your heart forever and will you get frightened about it, that's why Angushta Matraha means that contemplation of the divine form which will invoke in you no fear absolutely and the greatest joy and he is always available so this Atma Tattvam is always with us where, in our Hridaya and it is hidden deeply in the cave of our own hearts, Nihitam Gohayam, Hridi heart is the cave, the deepest recess of your own being that's really this ultimate being, you have to be very cautious in not allowing this thought to slip out at any time, namely your deepest recess of existence cannot be outside the deepest recess of the cosmos Sri Ramakrishna says the heart is the drying room where we meet the rich person or Jamindar so this is what we have to understand it, Hridi is the best place, once a devotee asks Sri Ramakrishna, this comes in the gospel, says sir, what is the best place to think of God why? so the most marvelous place is Desh Jayega, in Bengali this is the Hridaya why Hridaya? I remember something, I have to share it with you even some of you might know about it Swami Virajanandaji was the direct disciple of Holy Mother and he was a man of contemplation, even he created in that Mayavati that was not sufficiently solitary enough, he built a place called Shyamalathala Shyamalathap it is called and most of the time he used to go and meditate after several years he had got what is called migraine headache and he had to come down to Belur Math he asked Swami Brahmanandaji and Brahmanandaji Maharaj knew the trouble but to increase his Guru Bhakti he asked you go and meet your Guru, Holy Mother so of course with greatest joy he went into Holy Mother and he entered into the room Holy Mother had one look said Baba where are you meditating that means in the body where is your concentration is it in the what is called Sahasrara or Ajna Chakra in the forehead, he said in the forehead, my son only highly evolved few souls should meditate there it is completely wrong I don't know who instructed you to do this just for a few days stop meditation otherwise the old Samskara will come up and then joyfully she started cooking and feeding and making him very happy after few days that migraine headache totally disappeared then she told him meditate always in the heart so Swami Brahmanandaji used to say if you meditate on the forehead many people are likely to get headache and they become headache to others and they become the greatest headache to God himself and Guru himself because they don't know what they are doing very briefly I will explain to you what is the psychology behind it see in this body so much of blood is flowing and if any part of the body becomes injured immediately there would be pain, pain is the mind reminding us there is something wrong here you must attend it to it immediately and there blood gathers so when blood gathers it has two purposes first of all it washes away all the germs which are not travelling from China they are there all around us the moment they get one small opportunity immediately they try to rush it immediately the blood will flow what is it doing? it is not doing danger to us it is washing away like we wash dirt with water all the germs and then second function is it completely seals that area which forms a scab in course of time what is the point to remember not the scab but wherever the mind goes blood flow increases so if we start to meditate upon the stomach that's what happens when we are hungry we are reminded of the stomach you say you are hungry which part of the body your mind is stuck in it generally this if you have a very what is called erotic feeling then the organs appropriate organs they are swelling with blood etc they are all right for that particular purpose this is only to illustrate somebody without getting qualification without able to control the mind starts to think anything not only of God but concentrating in the forehead that will create blood flow will come and then if the person is not able to control it then migraine will be natural result so Brahmanandji said heart is the place and physically immediately the heart the physical heart affects and then what happens when the blood gathers its natural function to distribute this blood throughout the world that is how this psychological condition psychologically psychosomatic affect can be controlled Hridaya that is the place to remember God that is why most of our Upanishads where to think of God Hridaya that's why Sri Ramakrishna said every word of Sri Ramakrishna is very very precious for us that's why he says that rich man can be anywhere but usually he is found in the drawing room what is that drawing room our hearts so samspurat atmatattvam samspurati spurati the most beautiful word spurati means something is shining all by itself swayam prakasha like light even the external lights the sun, the moon the fire, the candle light, even the speech etc. they are all external lights but they must be an internal light to recognize the external lights so that is why to remind us everyday we are singing what are we singing jyothira jyothi the light of the lights ujjvala hridikandra oh lord reveal yourself as the light of lights in the recess of hridaya kuhara and here I have to tell you something very very important when we are studying the Upanishads we come across to see anything there must be space akasha you see a tree it is in akasha you see a house it is in akasha this is called bahya akasha external space similarly to find out thoughts in the mind there must be an akasha because every thought is an object what is an object whatever the subject experiences is an object so I am experiencing the object in the mind I am happy, I am unhappy I am rich, I am poor I am healthy, I am famous etc. all these thoughts are crystal clear objects in the mind therefore there must be for us to experience those objects there must be an akasha space what is that akasha it is called chitta akasha don't say chitta akasha chitta akasha chitta means mind then for thinking of god because god is sat chit ananda god cannot be really thought in the chitta akasha god has provided us another akasha and that is called chitta akasha don't confuse with chitta akasha the external sense organs function in the bahya akasha the mind functions in the mind space which is called chitta akasha and the spiritual thoughts meditation in the advanced stages functions only in the chitta akasha and that chitta akasha is called hridaya chitta akasha is called the gufa so so many names are there there this atman is shining as I said sphurati how is it doing it sphurati means automatically nobody need light it up in fact it is the one which makes us recognize every lighted object so that jyoti jyoti light of the light it is always shining there how sam sphurat by itself and that is called consciousness chaitanya and that is called sat chit ananda so what is it doing there s c i v s puranam in the dakshina murthy stotram actually when we study dakshina murthy stotram we get this prathasmana stotram is an essence of this dakshina murthy stotram so what is it telling in the third shloka of the dakshina murthy stotram he by whose light this unreal universe is lighted up and appears as real that is called s c i v s puranam in the seventh shloka so beautifully it is said avasthasu api vyavruttasu anuvartamanam aham iti antahas purantham sada aham aham me in jagradhavastha waking state me I am the waker in dream state I am the dreamer in deep sleep state I am the sleeper so there are special names for this in the advaita vedanta technological terms what is it called vishwa thaijasa and prajna so what is telling I was in the dream state I was in deep sleep state I am in the waking state did you notice this grammar you cannot talk about dream as well as deep sleep I am in dream state you don't talk I am in deep sleep that means you are not in deep sleep but you can't talk I was in the waking state that you cannot talk you will have to talk only in the present tense I am in the waking state so find out where are you now so svatmanam prakati karoti this what is this in the hridaya kohara this bal yadishu in the childhood in youth in middle age old age until death what is telling I I was a child I was an adolescent I was youth I was middle age I was old age etc similarly jagrat swapna sushupti sarvasu api avastasu what is it doing I am the waker I am the dreamer I am the sleeper all the time that I never disappears the states will change states of the conditions of the body will change but that I never changes so svatmanam prakati karoti bhajatam yo mudraya bhadraya rasmai sri gurumurthaye namaidam sri dakshinamurthaye very interesting word bhadraya mudraya so that most wonderful mudra you know what is mudra that is various parts of the body are joined together of all these things one mudra is the greatest that is called gnanamudra so if you look at gnanamudra it is also alternatively called chin mudra chit means gnanamudra you can see the thumb and index finger are joined together the other three fingers they are separate what does it mean for a non realized soul that index finger indicates jivatma the thumb represents paramatma the other three fingers represent consecutively the waking state the dream state and the deep sleep state when a person through sadhana can separate saying I am not the waker I am not the dreamer I am not the sleeper then who am I? then that is called joining the index finger with the thumb then the other three will not disappear but he knows I am not the body I am not the mind I am not the karana sharira also this is called bhadraya bhadra mudra bhadra means that which saves a person is the safest place to live that is called tasmai sri gurumurthaye nama idam sri dakshinamurthaye so we come to the next sat chit sukham paramahamsagatim turiyam there are five words are here sat chit sukham paramahamsagatim and turiyam beautiful words as if he picked up the very essence ho shankaracharya the essence of all the scriptures not only hindu scriptures but whether they are christian bible or tripitaka or koran so what is it? the goal to be attained by the paramahamsa sanyasis which is called sat chit ananda and it is done through the discrimination between real and unreal and this is the highest state this is called paramahamsagati and it is called turiyam those who have studied the three states waking and dream and deep sleep and apart from that that other state is called turiyam but turiyam is not a fourth state though many times it is translated as the fourth state the moment we say fourth we have to remember three, two, one that would lead us to very wrong conclusion so that adhishtana substratum without which that waking, dream deep sleep cannot take place what is that substratum? I am in the waking state I was in the dream state I was in the deep sleep state what was changing? waking, dream and deep sleep what was not changing? I, so the three states from birth to death waking, dream, dreamless are continuously going on not only at particular periods of time but very often at all periods of time is going on you have been listening for almost 50 minutes now and how many times you have gone to America to Australia, to India how many times you have forgotten what was that state you were dreaming if only I win this lottery ticket wonderful, how many times your mind has gone blank that is called dreamless state and again now and then coming back and say ok Swamiji is still there and he is continuing all the time so the goal to be attained by these great Paramahamsas we would put it the other way one who attained that goal he is called Paramahamsa and what is that goal? it is called Turiyam Turiyam means the Adhishtana substratum which is nothing but me, I I in the waking state I in the dream state as well as I in the dreamless state what is my nature? here Sat, Chit and Sukha means Anandam here instead of Anandam uses the word Sukha Sat means, Swami Vivekananda translated existence absolute Chit means knowledge absolute Anandam means bliss absolute absolute means what? that which doesn't have any manifestation existence without manifestation, knowledge without manifestation and bliss without manifestation that is the true nature of God we will finish today's talk with one reminder which I will expand day after tomorrow if God permits so it is this, this is one of the most interesting means of teaching the disciples so the Vedanta scriptures especially Upanishads adopt two methodologies the first one is what is called Tatastha Lakshana to describe Brahman or real me and the second is called Swaroopa Lakshana Tatastha means something accidentally is there, so for example you go to a colony where there are hundred houses exactly the same you want to meet someone whom you know and you do not know which is the right house, then you ask somebody and he says look there is a red cloth hanging for drying and that is the house you are seeking, so that hanging of the red cloth is only very accidental because after one hour the red cloth may be replaced by no cloth or green cloth or a crow is sitting there this is called Tatastha Lakshana Lakshana means Lakshayate Lakshayati Iti Lakshanaha by which we come to know definitely this is this, that is called Lakshana characteristic, this is called Sat, Chit and Ananda or Srishti Stithi Laya, creation as well as maintenance, as well as destruction are called Tatastha Lakshanas, whereas Sat Chit Ananda, they are called Swaroopa Lakshanas, what is Swaroopa and what is Lakshana It is a beautiful intellectual topic, not only interesting, it sharpens our brain and we will talk about it in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 1 on 14 November 2020

2025-01-19T19:07:31Z

DanielM: Add category

== Uncorrected machine transcription ==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

By the grace of the Divine Mother, we were able to complete one of the most beautiful summarizations of spiritual practice called Sadhana Panchakam. From today, continuing the same tradition, sometimes these are called hymns or stotras. A stuti gives us the meaning, praise, to extol somebody, but there are very few people who know that these hymns are of so many varieties, of so many bhavas and so many classifications and the same thing applies also to all bhajans.

(0:58 - 1:59)
What is the big deal of difference between a bhajan which we call a devotional song and hymns, stotras? The difference is mostly the stotras are chanted, but nowadays people are also singing just with tabla etc. like any other bhajan, but the tradition is that most of them are only chanted whereas bhajans nobody really chants excepting when quoting in a speech or quoting in a book. It is mostly sung, put to rhythm, raga etc.

As we all know that music is a very specialized art. Everyone cannot appreciate it. There are only a few people among all the human beings who have that special sense called aesthetic sense and that is a very specialized field.

(2:00 - 6:54)
In this field of what is called Saundarya Kala, nine bhavas are there, nine types of emotions to be expressed. For example, joy, sorrow, separation, self-pity and heroism, hero, then romanticism, humor, so many things are there, shingara rasa, dharma rasa, ananda rasa etc. Nine, Navarasa, that's why it is called Navarasa and most of what applies to this Kalashastra also applies to these both the bhajans as well as the stothis.

Before we go into the details of this Shankaracharya's Pratah Smarana Stotram, a hymn that has to be chanted as soon as we wake up. That word Pratah has very special meanings. We will come to that in a sooner, but today we are going to study what are the hymns and how many types of hymns are there and how many what we call bhavas, feelings, emotions created and I will give you also along with some examples the types of feelings that every human being goes through when he goes through these stothis and there are some great composers who are sadhakas.

Nobody can compose a hymn or write a devotional song unless the person himself is an advanced sadhaka or at least person sincerely has started spiritual sadhana, but many of them have been composed in a state of ecstasy where what we modern psychological terminology is called automatic writing. They did not sit and then compose. They just emanated spontaneously, intuitively from the mouths of these great souls.

Tulsi Dasa, Meera Bai, Kabir Das, North India, Tukaram, Namdev's Abhangas, then we get Bengal, Ram Prasad, Kamalakanta, Premik etc. Then when we come to the south, Thyagaraja, Purandar Dasa, Muthuswamy Dixitar, Bhadrachala Ramdas and so many others. Nowadays some people are trying to create some bhajans without any experience just because they know a little bit of some language.

They have some poetical skills, but needless to say they have all taken their cue from the earlier traditions. So if anybody thinks that hymns are of only one type, that is a great mistake because there are many varieties, classifications and types of both stotrams as well as bhajans or kirtans. Comparable to this we have especially in the south India what we call Suprabhatams.

Venkateshwara Suprabhatam, then Devi Suprabhatam, Lalita Suprabhatam. Let us first briefly, briefly I said because these bhavas have been extensively studied and classified by earlier persons and one of our publications it is called the spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja. One great south Indian scholar called Raghavan, he had translated and there in the introduction as well as in the main body of the text he gives great details how these bhajans can be divided into so many bhavas, types.

Sthai bhava, Sanchari bhava, Aviraha bhava etc. But first we will very briefly discuss what are the types of stotras, hymns of various types. First classification is there are Vedantic, means Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, specially of Advaitic hymns.

What we are going to discuss today is pure Advaitic type. Then there are innumerable Bhakti stotras of devotional types. Then there are peculiarly some stotras called sectarian.

They only praise either Vishnu or Shiva and even do not hesitate to condemn and look down that if you praise somebody else then you will go to the other place. We will not go into that business but Vedantic devotional. What does it mean? Gnana mukhya stotras or Bhakti purna stotras.

(6:54 - 8:41)
When we analyze different bhajans we also get more or less exactly the same classification. Then the next classification is all hymns are of two types Sakama and Nishkama. Example of Sakama is Dhruva stuti we get in Bhagavatam that he performed tapasya for the sake of obtaining a kingdom because he was very much disturbed that he could not sit in the lap of his father.

This is called Sakama. Later on of course by the vision of Bhagavan Vishnu he was transformed into a great devotee. But when we come to Prahalada stuti in the Bhagavatam pure what Sri Ramakrishna used to call Ahaituki Bhakti.

Devotion without any motivation and motivation for devotion is again divided into two classes. One type they say oh lord I don't want anything excepting you but the other one for example Kulasekar Alwar in Mukunda Mala he goes to the other extreme. He says oh god I don't care for you.

I just want devotion and Purandara Dasa also reflects. If I have your name you can go to the other place. I don't care.

Of course we all know Nama and Amni. The name and the named are exactly one and the same but here like the second yogi in the parable of Sri Ramakrishna let god come let not god come. I don't care let me have devotion.

(8:41 - 9:32)
In Chaitanya Sikshastaka we have the same thing. Kulasekar Alwar he says oh lord make me born as but one thing do not deprive me of that let me now never forget your lotus feet and devotion. Yamanacharya he had composed a most beautiful hymn called Stotra Ratna and there also it is consisting of 60 odd shlokas and there also he says you make me born even in the lowest lifetime like an Kittaka but I beg only let me never lose devotion to your lotus feet that means irrespective of whether I am happy unhappy you do not deprive me of devotion to your lotus feet.

(9:32 - 13:58)
There are also so many modern devotees who say I cannot live oh lord without you. Sakama and Nishkama what is the example of Sakama? I was going to come a little bit later but let me just give you Hanuman Chalisa, Sri Suktam and then also the Kanakadharastavam. I wanted money I chanted Sri Suktam and Kanakadharastotram.

Devotion is there but it is Sakama Bhakti. I want something from god but here also again two times I want something for myself and I want something for serving other people. That is one classification.

Then another classification is some hymns emphasize Bhakti, some emphasize Gnanam. For example the hymn we are going to study today it emphasizes more of knowledge. So that is Gnana emphasizing Stotram and Bhakti emphasizing Stotras are there.

As an example one of the most important hymns is Annapurna Stotram. At the end of it Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Oh mother I beg you alms.

What alms? Do I want food? Do I want money? Want anything else? No. Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham. I want knowledge.

I want devotion. I want discrimination. I want dispassion.

Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Then the next classification is we know that in Hinduism there are three types of thoughts about God. Concepts of God.

Two of male and one of female. Vishnu, Shiva and Devi and we have plethora of hymns and mostly composed by this great Shankaracharya in his own inimitable Sanskrit style and Devi Stuti, Vishnu Stuti and as well as Shiva Stuti are also there. As mentioned earlier we also have got what we call those which are emphasizing Gnanam and Shankaracharya also emphasizes for example Bhakti.

In Bhavani Astaka Gatistvam Gatistvam Tvameka Bhavani. Then there are some hymns which which take the place of Japam. We know what is Japam.

Japam means repetition of the name of God. A devotee is never satisfied with repeating only one particular name of God. So he wants to repeat so many names of God.

So we have got what is called 108 names of God. 1008 names of God. Most famous Shiva Sahasranama, Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama.

Then you name the God then every type of Sahasranamas are there. Thousands of names are there. This is mostly Japam.

A person who cannot keep his mind steadfast on one particular name of God, for such persons this particular Sahasranama is prescribed, advocated. So the mind is restless but it is happy to chant. Most of the time we go to the temples on particular specified dates and here North India and South India differ.

In Bengal the Saturday and Tuesday is very auspicious for Devi and we divided the seven days of the week into particular indicating seven deities. For example, Monday is for Shiva, Tuesday is for Devi, Wednesday for Ramakrishna, Thursday for Guru and Hanuman and Friday for Lakshmi and Devi. Saturday, this is according to South Indian tradition, Saturday either Hanuman or miscellaneous Gods and Sunday any God or Goddess.

(13:58 - 16:30)
This is the tradition we follow in our Ramakrishna order. Slightly differently it will be followed in the Bengal. For example, Thursday is good for Devi, Saturday as Ramakrishna says is good for Kali, Durga etc.

Then there are what is called some hymns which describe you want to be a Bhakta, a devotee, you want to progress in spiritual life. Purely this kind of things, some kind of what is called bhajans or stotras, they are full of this what type of qualities we must acquire. To take from Bhagavad Gita, the 12th chapter of the qualities of a Bhakta, from 13th chapter Amanitva, 16th chapter Daivashara Sampad Vibhaga.

We have a most famous Hindi bhajan. It starts like this, Itne guna jame so sant. He is a saint.

Santa means a devotee. This is a beautiful word. We say Sant Mahatma, Sant Lok.

Santa means that is sprung from the root word Sat. He who is a Satpurusha, he who alone exists all the time, he who is a holy person and such a person is called a Santa and naturally in him so many qualities are. Itne guna, these many qualities jame in whom so are present, that person alone is called a Santa.

This word so is a Hindi word, not the English word. So you can also take it in the English word. How do you know sir that you are asserting so? So Srimukha Kamalakanta, Srimad Bhagavatam, Madhya Jasagave Srimukha Kamalakanta.

Kamalakanta means Vishnu, Narayana, Krishna himself had sung the qualities of a saint in that great Purana Bhagavatam. So it goes on. So Harike bhajanu sadhuki seva, always worship Hari and associate with the holy people, cultivate holy Sangha etc.

Then he goes on. Another hymn is Vaishnava Janatam Thenekahi. It is full of characteristics which every sadhaka had to do it.

(16:30 - 17:45)
So there are this kind of, this stotram we are going to study is full of this one. What should you do as soon as you wake up when you are in a freshness of the mind? So smarami hridi samskurat Atmatatvam. Remember God as soon as you get up.

Kausalya supraja rama purva sandhya pravartate utthishta narasya ardhula kartavyam daivam ahinikam. Venkateshwara stotram starts with that. Remember Venkateshwara, the Lord.

And so we have got Suprabhatams. Dharmasya anima vitha paridushya sigram. Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhata is there.

Sri Ramakrishna Bhagavan tava Suprabhatam. Then we have got stotrams that describe the nature, the karma and the special quality of the God or Divine Mother. One of the most of these which in the Ramakrishna order, the third hymn which we sing every day Sarva Mangala Mangalye.

What is the nature of the Mother? Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Sarva artha sadhike. She is capable of giving everything.

(17:45 - 18:27)
Whatever she does is the most auspicious thing. What is the most auspicious thing? Parama purusha artha. She can give mukti, she can give mukti.

She can give prayers, she can also give sreyas. But if she gives prayers that is called Mangala. But if she gives sreyas, mukti, that is called Sarva Mangala Mangalye.

She is the auspiciousness of every other auspiciousness, the essence of everything, Satchitananda. That is the very nature. Why is it her nature? Why do we need to remember it? Because only a rich man can help a poor man.

(18:27 - 19:09)
Only a scholar can give knowledge to a person who doesn't have knowledge. Only a strong person can help a weak person. So only one who is God can give godliness to anybody else because God is Sarva Tantra Swatantra.

He is not only infinite but he can give and what can he give? Usually means he gives himself. Even if he gives money, slowly he will fulfill the desires but he will give bhakti along with that. The greatest poison in this world to worldly happiness is called bhakti.

(19:09 - 20:07)
Once bhakti comes everything is destroyed. That bhakti destroys everything. Who says? Sri Ramakrishna says.

What did he say? He compared once bhakti is like a terrible huge tigress. Just as a tigress falls upon every other animal, once God grants bhakti because you cannot develop bhakti because you don't have it. So only God can give.

Once this bhakti is given to you, it becomes like a tigress. It kills every other animal because every other animal is weak, small and this is the What does it mean? This tigress called Sachidananda gives you so much ananda that it automatically destroys every object after which we are running all the time. So this is the negative function.

(20:07 - 20:54)
Bhakti performs a negative function of destroying everything and at the same time destroying what? Ajnana, avidya and making a person purna, completely infinite. This is Sarvamangala. This is the nature of the Divine Mother.

Then what is her karma? Shristi sthiti vinashana. She creates, she sustains, she also destroys but deeper meaning of it is she can give bhakti jnana, she can also increase that bhakti jnana, she can also destroy it if a person becomes arrogant, pride, prideful, proud and egotic. Example is when the gopis met Krishna, they became proud.

(20:55 - 21:30)
Immediately he disappeared and that produced what Vaishnava literature names it as viraha. That viraha is the ultimate intensity of suffering and it cannot be compared to any other type of suffering and it is the nature of person when he experiences any type of suffering, he wants to get out as quickly as possible but this viraha, this suppression was given by God. Therefore what does he do? Him along with that viraha, it is like a terrible poison.

(21:30 - 22:46)
As soon as they became filled with pride, God disappeared, viraha came, viraha means suppression and they realized it is our I. We were thinking it is my I but God made them realize that I also was given by God himself. We have this reference in the gospel once Krishna was described. By the way there is a beautiful way of understanding Vaishnavism through the gospel of Shri Ramakrishna.

We are only taking most general sense. Shri Ramakrishna was talking about Krishna, about gopi viraha etc. There are two aspects, I have not gone into details there but these are one aspect is the Rasha Leela of Bhagavan Krishna with gopis.

This is one of the most esoteric episodes in the life of Krishna and it surpasses even more than the Gita Upadesha. That's why there are two books by Krishna, rather three types of teachings, Bhagavad Gita, Anu Gita and Uddhava Gita. This aspect of bhakti has been mostly emphasized in the Uddhava Gita.

(22:47 - 24:15)
Ramakrishna gives this story, Uddhava was sent to Vrindavan to make him understand, because he was a Gnani type, what true devotion is like. So Krishna granted them that viraha vedana and then that destroyed their pride and Bhagavatam describes in inimitable language, every gopi given, destroyed her individuality, became one with God because destruction of individuality is attainment of universality. Then every gopi is telling, look, look, I am Krishna and you are gopi.

I am going to play with you. Like that every gopi felt her identity with Bhagavan. Another secret related to this is Bhagavatam gives an open secret.

How many gopis? Hundreds. How many Krishnas? Superficially hundreds. Between two gopis, that's what we get in calendars, that's what we get the outward expression.

But the inner essence is, every gopi is seeing only one Krishna, her Krishna and nobody else. That play between the Bhakta Atma and Paramatma is called Rashadeva. That is the first point which is hidden in the gospel of Ramakrishna.

(24:15 - 26:33)
The second secret is, very few people know that Sri Ramakrishna showed as an example, what is Rasha Leela. At Kamarpukur, he played this Leela. How do we know? Because the great master gives a hint without going into details that there were some girls who were imbued with the greatest devotion to God.

They considered and worshipped Sri Ramakrishna Gadadhar as none other than Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Their relationship was an absolutely purest relationship and even when they became old, they could not forget him. How could they? So, this aspect we did not want to emphasize or Swami Saradanandaji, Swamiji, Brahmanandaji did not want to emphasize because what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did was that and the result was secret societies everywhere in the name of Rasha Leela and it brought destruction to the religion.

Dharma Shruti had happened. Adharma had risen. Okay.

Anyway, so what does the Divine Mother do? Srishti, Stithi and Vinasha. It doesn't mean only creating the world, sustaining the world and destroying the world. It also applies equally to not only to the gross body, gross world, Sukshma Prapancha, also Karana Prapancha.

So, here a devotee's world is Bhakta Prapancha, Bhakti Prapancha. There also it is the mother who creates Bhakti. It is the mother who sustains it.

It is the mother again who destroys that Bhakti. What does that mean? Does a person go to hell because she destroys? No. Your very personality is destroyed so that you will not have to be reborn again but there are certain songs which are very popular in the Ramakrishna order.

If anybody thinks that I am a great person, I attained everything by myself. Some people, oh mother, you elevate to the position of Brahma. Some people and same people maybe, she will again bring them down but she is a mother.

(26:33 - 28:21)
She cannot bring them down permanently. It is only to purify their impurities, destroy their impurities, avidya as divine mother had done which we discussed in such considerable detail about Totapuri Maharaj. She destroyed his individuality and thereby you close your eyes, it is Brahma and you open your eyes, it is again the same Brahma.

So that is what the mother does. But she has a role to play. Her only job, if you ask her, oh mother, what's your most important role? He says, the rescuing those people who surrender themselves to me and who do not know anything except me, who call me by the name of mother, only those people, I have immediately, that is my biggest job in this world.

So the nature of the divine mother, the nature of her activities and ultimately what is her main mission in life, this is what we call Sarva Mangala Mangaliye. Then there is another hymn, a begging and beseeching. We have got Purandar Dasa as an example, oh lord, I am in trouble, I am praying to you, you are not coming to me, apply, apply, no reply, remember here.

If you do not show love to me, then you will not get another person who is as in a bad shape as in me. Your name is what is called Artha Trana Parayana. So I am begging you.

(28:27 - 28:49)
So this is begging and beseeching. This is what Sri Ramakrishna said, oh mother, why are you excluding me? The whole world is in you. Am I alone outside the world that you are looking after the whole world but excluding me, you are not bestowing your grace upon me.

(28:49 - 38:57)
Then there are songs and hymns, I am combining them together, the bhava, the essence is the same, of heroism, tremendous heroism. Okay, I am praying to you, you are not replying to me, I will take you to court. There is one example of Ram Prasad, I will, oh mother, if you do not listen to me and do not give me my rightful heritage, I will drag you to the court and as a witness that I am your son, I will drag my father Shiva with me, he will bear witness for me, yes, yes, this is our son, my wife is unfortunately neglecting him, she doesn't want to give his heritage, this is heroism, why? Because we are the sons of a heroine, anyway, don't misunderstand the word heroine and rush for your buckets.

Ram Prasad, he says, then of joy there are stotras which are merely out of realization and out of joy, oh lord, now I know who you are, I see you everywhere and that indescribable joy is described both in these stotras as well as in songs. One example, this is only a sample, you can get plenty of them everywhere. Purandara dasas, Govinda, Govinda, Ati Ananda, by taking the name of Govinda and immersed in a sea of bliss, how could he, the same man who says, if you do not come to my rescue, then you will not be able to retain your Olympic titles, how could he do that? He can do that because you have bestowed your grace, you made him understand, then there are hymns of sorrow, tremendous things are there, so many varieties are there of bhajans and of stotras, one of the stotras which I mentioned that of sorrow, oh mother, I am calling you again and again but you are not responding, and then there is one beautiful song, I think it has been probably composed by one of the Sikh gurus, maybe, I think it is Guru Nanak, Hari Bina Kaun Teri, who else is there for you excepting Hari, Hari means God, so according to Sikhism, they do not care much for oh man, there is nobody excepting God for you, then there is also the most famous hymn again composed, it is called Mohamudgara Bhaja Govindam Stotram, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja Mudamate, this is meant for the sake of invoking Vairagya, days are passing, so it says, when death is approaching you, full of dispassion, now when you are earning money, everybody is running, please come father, please wash your feet, here is coffee and idli and you take rest, but as soon as you stop earning money, unable to walk, the body became wrinkled, the hair has become white, hardly is able to see, nobody asks him, hey old fellow, why are you giving so much trouble and how long are you going to be here giving us trouble, but sometimes we hide our hypocrisy, oh God, our father, grandfather is suffering so much, please take him away to free him from his troubles, water in brackets to free us from suffering on account of him, this we don't say, of course there are people with devotion, then there are hymns of self-pity, oh Lord, I am the lowliest of the lowly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pinastumam, may Bhagavan Krishna just put me under his feet and then smash me to pieces, you are the severe of the poor and the helpless, then despair, many times we are doing our best, no results seem to come, then karunakarani embudetako, so why should we call him a merciful person, so then there are some prayers for the fulfilment of one's desires, secular as well as spiritual, as I mentioned in this very talk earlier, so what are the examples, Hanuman Chalisa, many people ask me, Swamiji, we are going through a very rough patch, I say you recite Hanuman Chalisa, millions of people got benefit, you will also get benefit, then we are not having any jobs, okay, I advised many people, repeat Sri Sukta, repeat Kanakadharastava, if you do it, mother's grace will come and then you will be redeemed, there are some hymns which are glorifying the name of God, not glorifying God, please take note, glorifying the name of God, one example I cited, Purandara Dasas, neen yakko, I don't want you O God, neena nama ondu iddare sakko, if I have your name, that will do everything, like Hanuman, taking the name of Rama, immediately he crossed over, so one beautiful example and most gloriously composed by none other than one of the avataras called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his only best known work is called Sikshashtakam, 8 verses, ashtakam means 8 verses or siksha means instruction manual, how a devotee can develop devotion to God, in the very first shloka, cheto darpana marjanam, bhava maha dhavagni nirvapanam, sreyaha kairava chendrika vitharanam, vidhya vadhu jeevanam, anandambudhi vardhanam, pratipadam poornamrutha aswadanam, sarvatma snapanam, param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, he is praising sankirtana, the praise of God's name, what does this shloka mean? Glory to the name of Sri Krishna which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of this worldly life of repeated birth and death, this name of your sankirtana, the singing of your glorious name is the prime benediction for humanity because it spreads the rays of the benediction of moon like moon which saves us, cools us from the burning rays of the midday sun and brings happiness to everybody, this name kairava chendrika, it is the life of all transcendental knowledge, so beautifully it's written vidhya vadhu jeevanam, jeevanam means the very life breath of whom? Vadhu, the bride, the wife, who is that wife? Vidhya jnanam and then it is also written anandambudhi vardhanam pratipadam, every second anandambudhi vardhanam, taking the name of God we are experiencing, a devotee experiences a very ocean of joy, anandambudhi vardhanam, it grows up, how can an ocean grow but it transcends the natural law and then this ocean grows and grows and grows, then pratipadam, you take once the name of God it grows, take second time it doubles, take third time then it grows even more and then poorna amruta aswadhanam reminds us sriram krishna tava katha amritam tapta jeevanam kavivariditam etc., poorna amruta aswadhanam, then sarva atma snapanam, a person is there whole day he has worked back breaking in the fields, is terribly tired, sweat is pouring but take God's name sarva atma snapanam, it is like a cooling bath for the gross subtle as well as the causal body and all these results come from param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, krishna's name taking God's name, repeating God's name param vijayate it brings the supreme glory, so these are just I have given you a few samples how many types and how many results, how many varieties, how many classifications etc., if you want those who want there are books like Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu etc.

and easiest case is Raghavan's spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja, it is a most marvelous book, now coming back to our subject matter, we are going to discuss this what we call Pratha Smarana Stotram, as we know Adi Shankaracharya's works writings can be divided into three parts, first is called Bhashyams on the Upanishad Prasthanatraya and second is called Prakarana Grantha like Atmabodha, Vivekachudamani etc. etc. Vakyavruthi etc.

(38:58 - 39:37)
then there is the third category is called Stotras and these Stotras or hymns as I mentioned earlier can be divided into what is called two classifications broadly, one towards the Saguna Brahma Stotras and Nirguna Brahma Stotras, Vedantic Stotras, Saguna Brahma Stotras again are divided into they are either of Vishnu, of Shiva, of Devi, of course Ganesha, Karthikeya etc. and different manifestations of the Divine Mother Lalitha, Durga, Bhavani, Annapurna etc. etc.

(39:37 - 50:33)
So this particular hymn is falling into the what we call Gnana Marga Sadhana, this is one of the most wonderful hymns that is chanted by most of the followers of Advaita Vedanta but many of the devotees of especially Sri Ramakrishna and what do then we call it Pratha Smarana Stotram, Pratha this is a beautiful word pregnant with meaning usually the word Pratha means early in the morning what do you mean by early in the morning remember Swami Vivekananda's exhortation he has taken it from the Katha Upanishad what does it really mean what does Pratha Kala mean Pratha Kala first means by the very nature of our life in the external life Pratha means when we had sufficient rest and certain conditions have to be fulfilled I'll come to that very shortly when we have sufficient rest when we wake up in the morning the mind becomes very fresh it is completely relaxed full of energy and before that mind can be diverted towards other things that mind has to be made an agenda a goal has to be created usually you know if a person is working in at an office as soon as before he goes to bed tomorrow these are the things tasks I have to as soon as he wakes up these devils sit there and then they occupy before those tasks jump upon this person like all our old sins are sitting on the branches of the trees on the shore of the Ganga as soon as a person reaches then they jump on his shoulders before they possess us we have to remember what is the real goal of life and that is called Pratha that is the superficial meaning but the real meaning is what do we mean by early in the morning this is the final meaning when the mind is freshly woken up and absolutely alert to receive whatever is the best before our samsaric our worldly affairs take possession of us in the normal sense that is called Pratha Kaala early in the morning but that is very superficial meaning we can derive two meanings out of it one is to referring to the nature early in the morning the sun has not risen we call it Sandhya Kaala the time between this sunrise and then before the sun rises when there is sufficient light called Usha Kaala or in the afternoon after the sunset before it becomes completed or this is called Sandhya, Sandhya means conjunction between day and night at that time nature itself makes our minds quite peaceful that is the from the nature's point of view from the individual's point of view there is a time we all wake up and as soon as we got out of the sleep and for a few milliseconds or even seconds we are not aware where we are we are awake but we are not aware at that time the mind is highly receptive to these spiritual ideals at that time if we make an agenda and consciously make a resolution before going to bed as soon as wake up I am going to remember these particular instructions Pratha Smarami Venkateshwara Suprabhatam or Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhatam etc that sets our spiritual agenda after that is over then a person as if he is in the world he has to think about worldly objects they should not be neglected so this is the inner meaning that is called Pratha Kaala but Pratha Kaala doesn't mean only after we wake up there are other two meanings given in between two thoughts there is a slight gap and if we can be awake to that slight gap in between these two thoughts that is called Pratha Kaala and at that time we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam in between two thoughts pure Atma Tattvam is Purana it is just vibrating throbbing of itself but as soon as we are possessed of some self-awareness then it becomes our effort so it is another meaning of Pratha Kaala in between two thoughts another meaning of Pratha Kaala is it is not necessary in the morning evening also if we have trained our mind as soon as Sri Ramakrishna says finished the duties wash our hands and feet and then sit in a meditation posture withdraw our mind that is why one of the things is what is called Uparati Yoga system calls it Uparati withdraw your mind from all thoughts and think of this thing that is also called Pratha means fully awake and mind fully alert fully ready to receive the spiritual thoughts that's another meaning of Pratha so what should we do at that time Pratha Smarami I must remember why remember means here you don't need to remember you just to be recipient open your heart why because what we manually have to remember effortfully we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam it is vibrating I am I am I am all the time this is what Kena Upanishad says Prati Bodha Viditam with every thought that is there this Ramana Maharshi used very much to emphasize that one so this is called Pratha Smarana means not remembrance Smarana means this is my goal like a Sankalpa I have to spend my time only in thinking of God in progressing spiritual life and in realizing God this is the only goal every other activity whether it is physical, mental or causal then it must be directed towards God just now I mentioned physically we can read books and do all our spiritual activities that's called remembering but we can also dream if we read books earnestly pray to God divine dreams will come but that is another aspect what can we do in deep sleep so it is said it is it is also a fact that can be proved you think something deeply and that will continue even during your deep sleep as soon as you wake up the first thing you are reminded is that last thought you kept there just like you keep a big notice before going out of your bedroom and you go to bed wake up and you want to go to the toilet or you can put it on the mirror in the toilet reminder or at the doorstep what is the first thing you notice oh today I need to complete this task like that you remind yourself that one this is called smarana not merely remembering but remembering what we should do what is the goal of life etc so this is not for dhyana this is for contemplation what does it mean these verses are for contemplation not for meditation what does it mean contemplation is on the self and true nature where there is no reality in contemplation there is no reality so we will have to think these are the preparations that will take us and all that we need to do is remove all negative thoughts and that is how we go on progressing so we don't need to do anything pay attention to something which is reminding us every millisecond of our life what is that remembrance just I will read and we will stop here we will discuss the meaning in our next class Pratah smarami hrithi samspurat atma tattva Sachet sukham paramaham sagatim turiyam Yath svapna jagara sushrutim avaiti nityam Tat brahma nishkalam aham nacha bhuta sangaha I remember early in the morning the self which shines in my heart which is of the nature of existence consciousness and bliss sacchidananda which is the goal to be attained by the paramahamsa sanyasis which is called the fourth or turiya state because it is beyond the three states of waking dream and deep sleep I am that brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements pancha mahabhutas akasha vayu agni chala and hrithi. The only important point to note down here is you don't need to remember but you pay attention to something like alarm bell is ringing but you pay attention to it hrithi samspurat atma tattva that atma by its very nature every minute every millisecond what is it telling it is vibrating throbbing with one idea what is that one idea I I I. We will discuss these points in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

Today is holy Diwali and in most of the Ramakrishna orders, in a small way or big way, Kali puja is going to be done according to India in the evening time some places they do whole night Kali puja and Sri Ramakrishna used to go into muhurmuhu samadhi on this particular holy days.

May Mother, divine mother Kali, may Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti and we have at half past seven Bhagavad Gita class we will continue as usual.

[[Category: Pratah Smaranam]]

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 6 on 03 December 2020

2025-01-18T17:20:18Z

DanielM: Pratah Smaranam Lecture 6 transcription

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 5 on 28 November 2020

2025-01-18T17:07:55Z

DanielM: Pratah Smaranam Lecture 5 transcription

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are studying this most wonderful divine hymn that has been composed by Adi Shankaracharya. We have practically completed the second verse. Only we have to deal a little bit about the last part of it.

Pratar Bhajami Manasa Vachasam Agamyam Vacho Vibhanti Nikhila Yad Anugrahena Yenneti Neti Vachanaih Nigamaha Avocham Tam Devadevam Ajam Archutam Ahu Agriyam I worship in the morning the supremely effulgent being who is spoken of in the Vedas as unborn changeless who is inaccessible to the mind and whom words cannot directly describe but by whose blessing and support the faculty of the speech functions and who is described in the Upanishads by the words not this not this. This second verse that we are studying is dealing with the knowledge of this Advaita and the means of obtaining that particular knowledge. In the first verse Prathasmaram Hridhisamspurat Atma Tattvam we have been talking about or the scripture is talking about Shankaracharya is talking about what is the Tattva, what is the truth.

As we remember every scripture must clearly enunciate three truths Tattva, Purushartha and Hita. Tattva means what is the truth, Purushartha means what is the goal of life and Hita means what is the means of realizing that truth reaching that particular goal. The first is called Prameya Vichara deep discussion about Prameya something that must be known.

Prameya means that which is to be known. Every being in this world wants only to know how can I be happy and to be happy every being must be, must live and must also be aware, conscious. So the first verse Prameya Vichara deep discussion but in crystal clear but pithy words has been described.

In the second one we are talking about what is the way to reach that same goal. So beautifully Shankaracharya is putting it here that Manasa Vachasa Agamyam it is not possible either for the body or for the mind. Body means 10 sense organs, 5 organs of action and 5 organs of perception, knowledge nor is it possible for the mind to think about.

That is why we are reminded every single evening This is being told Manasa Vachasa Agamyam not reachable either by the mind or speech but without the background support existence of that divine it is not possible for the mind either to think or for the words to express which includes for the sense organs to perform any action. So how to make this unknown as known? There is only one way Neti Neti Yath Neti Neti Vachanaihi By these words not this, not this Nigamaha Avacham Nigamaha means Vedas, Avacham They have spoken to us, given us this direction. What is it? He cannot be described but he can be experienced and even to say he cannot be described is a way of preaching him.

Tam Deva Devam Ajam Achyutam and that reality which cannot be thought of which cannot be spoken of which cannot be attained by any action he is the original cause of everything in this world. He is unborn, he is immovable and he is the only one. Agriyam means causeless cause So I worship him in the morning.

We will just talk a little bit about Pramana Vichara because that is what he is telling through the mind it is not possible even to think about it action comes later on and for the speech not possible to describe it and yet every scripture describes it every teacher speaks of it and they produce these descriptions produce a kind of knowledge within us thoughts about that ultimate reality So in Vedanta we talk about six Pramanams and here Shankaracharya is telling not possible for any of the one of these five Pramanas possible only to one Pramana not possible for five Pramanas and what are these Pramanas? Total six five plus one one Pramana which tells us five Pramanas they turn away from the truth and they can only describe the what is called temporary truths Mithya So Hinduism identifies these six Pramanas as the correct means of obtaining right knowledge and what are these things? Pratyaksha, Anumana, Upamana, Arthapatti, Anupalabdhi These are five which cannot give us or even point out a direction to look into but one Pramana tells us clearly follow this way like an arrow Can it describe the truth? No, but it can point out This is called in Sanskrit language Shakhopanyaya So somebody who doesn't know anything about these astronomical bodies they are curious So according to Hinduism Saptarshis are there in the sky and visible most of the nights and so somebody has to be pointed out especially newly married couple they have to live as Vasishta and Arundhati So how to show? The priest will take them outside when the night is clear and he shows to a big branch gradually leads him to a forking of the branch and in between you see there are seven stars and do you see one star at the very end and by that you focus there is a small dimly lit star and that is called Arundhati This is called Shakhopanyaya through from the gross to the subtle So no scripture can give us description of God but every scripture can point out otherwise sadhana is impossible Guru's job will be completely redundant So what are the five through which we can never obtain this knowledge? Pratyaksha Pratyaksha means perception with our own five sense organs especially through the eyes We see that is called Aksha means eyes and whatever is perceived by the eyes is called Pratyaksha I am seeing directly and we had discussed Nothing that we experience is absolutely direct It is indirect through the means of the eyes the nadis through the nervous system and the mind These are the three filters and what comes is thrice removed truth So Pratyaksha and this is the only pramana right means of knowledge in this world We can get every bit of knowledge with regard to this world through these five pramanas Pramana means right means of knowledge and all the other four that is Anumana, Inference, Upamana, Comparison Arthapatti, Postulation, Anupalabdhi, Non-perception All these spring only dependent upon the Pratyaksha Direct so-called direct perception As I said it is not direct It is only indirect Then what is the way to know about Srishti Kartha about God the cause of every being There is only one way and that way is called Shabda Shabda means word but it is not ordinary Shabda Testimony of Rishis Reliable experts and who are they? Shastras What are Shastras? The experienced knowledge conveyed through limited thoughts and words in the form of the teachings of great Rishis A Rishi is called a Mantra Drashta A person who realized truth in a particular way and our Vedas are nothing but the experiences of these Rishis I am talking about real Veda because there are so many things which go in the name of the Veda but they are not Vedas There are stories There are leniences In other words The first part of the Veda is absolutely dependent upon Smriti Secondary support but a primary one Real Veda is called Upanishads Upanishad truths What are the Upanishads? Very pithy and concise sayings of the Rishis In that sense Ramakrishna's teachings are Upanishads Swami Vaikunanda's teachings are Upanishads Holy Mother's Ramana Maharshi So many thousands of Sadhus are there Saints are there Whether they are Bhaktas Karma Yogis Yogis like Ghajipuris Pavahari Baba All these must be considered as Upanishads even though the tradition doesn't accept it Every day to make us remember this That is why we were reminded every single day that And who is he? Jyoti Rajyoti He is the light of the lights He is pure consciousness Shuddha Chaitanyam And every day we are reminded And what is the nature of that? It is indescribable But then what is the pointer? The whole Khandana Bhava Bandhana And Om Hreem Hritham is a pointer How we can progress in spiritual life For example Sri Ramakrishna is described as Khandana Bhava Bandhana Remember always Whenever we are talking about an object We are talking about the knowledge of the object Not the object itself We will never know what is the object We can only know about the knowledge we get of that object I also had explained this point very much There is something there But our sense organs obtain the knowledge of it But that's not important point for us But what we understand That is why in Sanskrit An object is called Padaartha Pada means knowledge, idea Artha means actually that object Padaartha Whenever we experience an object We don't experience it directly We only experience through the three filters The sense organs And the Nadis The conveyance Nervous system And the mind And the mind coordinates all the reportory information That comes through the five sense organs Makes it into a composite whole And presents it to the buddhi And the buddhi understands It has the capacity How can it understand? Because it has got that Sattvikamsha Buddhi is created out of the Sattvika part Of the five subtle elements And in that buddhi The Chidabasa Reflection of the Atman Is clearly making it possible to understand Jnanam Knowledge Always comes only from the Atman Not from the body-mind complex So these are the five Pramanas We have talked about And as I said Every day we are reminded That for a Pramana You have to understand correctly And if we do not understand It will give us the wrong or incomplete knowledge And lead us to more and more suffering in this world So it is not possible for the body For the mind That's why the Vedas The primary scriptures of Hinduism Are forced to say But what is the nature? He is the original God From whom the whole creation has come He never slips from his own real nature And he is the only one That remains in this world That completes the second verse Now we are entering into the third verse of What? I hope you remember Prathasmarana Stotram Composed by Shankaracharya We are entering into the third of this shlokam In the morning I salute the darkness Which is without any I salute that which is beyond the darkness Which is without any form And which is of the supreme nature of illumination Like the sun The sun is referred to as the illuminator here Just like our Atman Which illumines the mind This Atman doesn't have any form And to that supreme Brahman I offer my salutations every morning Remember Morning means Whenever the mind is absolutely quiet and alert These are the two conditions That is the morning Not literally in the early morning Literally also That is the effect of the early morning Called Brahmi Muhurta Let us discuss first of all The word meaning Namami I salute every morning Remember Every dawn and dusk Shri Ramakrishna is to clap his hands And go on chanting In the sweetest voice that is possible The names of various gods and goddesses Including the most sacred rivers etc Gaya Sacred place Ganga Sacred river Gita Sacred scripture A Govinda Mama Prana Jeevana And every scripture Bhagavata Bhakta Bhagawan I hope our devotees will remember Why Shri Ramakrishna had added to his repertory Of this Bhagavata Bhakta Bhagawan One day evening He was sitting in the Radha Krishna temple A Bhagavata Pandit was expounding Bhagavatam And you have to remember Whatever Shri Ramakrishna does Whether he speaks Whether he sings Whether he listens His whole mind is completely absorbed in it That was a trait he had From the very beginning of his life So one evening He was sitting Some lights were there And then his mind was absorbed Suddenly he had a vision A ray of light was coming from the feet of Lord Krishna This event had happened When Shri Ramakrishna was sitting at the Radha Krishna temple A ray of light came from the lotus feet of Krishna Touched the Bhagavatam I am not sure whether it touched the Bhagavata Pandit And came and touched Shri Ramakrishna's heart And again went back to the feet of Shri Krishna Thereby there is a triangle is formed Shri Ramakrishna was made to understand Where there is Bhagavatam There would be a Bhakta devotee And there would be Bhagavan Where one is present The other two will be invariably present Since that time he used to In the late dawn and dusk Go on clapping his hands Bhagavatam, Bhakta, Bhagavan, Krishna, Rama We don't know how many names he had But his Advaitic guru Totapuri Maharaj was not at all able to comprehend it He was intrigued He even made fun Are you fashioning chapatis like that? Shri Ramakrishna sharply replied Rascal, I am taking God's name And you call it fashioning chapatis And do not mistake Ramakrishna's way of talking He had the highest reverence for all his gurus and scriptures So Totapuri understood There was something behind the words of Shri Ramakrishna's disciple Totapuri Maharaj understood His disciple was even greater than himself In every single way So he was waiting It took him 11 months to understand What Shri Ramakrishna had meant So why was Shri Ramakrishna doing it? So Pratarnamami Early morning I salute Salute what? That which is beyond all darkness Darkness in Vedantic terminology is called ignorance In fact these two words Light and darkness What does light do? In the light we have to have knowledge of things In darkness we do not have knowledge of things So knowledge is called light Or light is called knowledge And darkness is called ignorance Here we are not talking about ordinary ignorance Do you know such and such a person? Yes I know That is perfect knowledge But we are talking about Do you know who you are? No I do not know Ramana Maharshi always used to tell Every problem can be solved If only we know who we are It was an intriguing statement But by knowing myself Then how can there be problems? So remember when Yagnivalika instructed Janaka Maharaja And Janaka Maharaja was an apt yogya satshya Endowed with sadhana chaturthi sampathi And he understood what the guru was trying to teach him So he says that I have understood everything Not intellectually but through realization We have to infer that one Not by mere instruction So immediately Yagnivalika understood I could see my disciple is also enlightened So he gave a certificate In the form of saying You obtained fearlessness Fear or dukkha or suffering Comes from a second object So by knowing who I am I come to know there is nothing else Or as we say By having the knowledge of clay By knowing about the clay About the gold About the wood That all knowledge of objects Made out of clay or wood or gold are obtained How? Because there are not many Clay is one Gold is one Wood is one So also by knowing myself Everything is nothing but me Then what about all this world that we experience From birth to death Not in one birth But millions of births That's what he is trying to tell us Later on we will come to that Just like a person goes on seeing a snake in a rope But here the whole world That means what? If there are four different persons Looking at the same rope They may not see the same snake Some will see a stick Some will see a stream of water Some will see a garland Some may see a piece of cloth According to their past experience That we will come a little later on So I am saluting that truth That supreme reality Simply called Brahman Or in simple English language God Tamasaha param Is beyond darkness Means he is only knowledge Satyam jnanam anantam brahma Arka varnam Arka means light Sunlight So sun is called arka Arka varnam means like the sun Remember there are certain words Sun and sunlight Fire and the heating power Milk and its whiteness These are not two separate things Whenever we talk about a rose is red Redness is different Rose is different A blue lotus Lotus is different Blueness is different So a red t-shirt Redness is different Shirt is different But when we say sunlight There is no sun There is no light That means one and the same If you take away all the light from the sun There would be no sun If you take away the heating power There would be no fire If you can take away the whiteness There would be no milk But of course you can never do that It's only a manner of speaking So param That which is beyond the ignorance Arka varnam It is of the nature of light Beyond darkness Means will there be light Again that is a concept We have to destroy Oh we are aware here The room is dark completely But when we come out of the room There is light We are aware of both darkness and light But when a person knows who he is There would be no two Only advaitam There is no dvaita So he cannot even say I am light These are only words used To convey that absolute truth Which is in fact inconceivable Unthinkable And inexpressible But we have to use certain words to convey it So it is said That reality Bhagavan Brahman Is beyond the light Param And of the nature of light means Pure knowledge Satyam Jnanam Purnam We chant this one Purnam means perfect Infinite Sanatana padam Means that eternal state Eternity And what is he called In different words Purnam Sanatana padam Arttamasahaparam Arkkavarnam Purushottamakhyam Akhyam means name And that reality Is also named as Purushottam Uttama Purusha Especially We get to this 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Purushottama Yogonama Panchadasho Adhyaya At the end Bhagavan Krishna clarifies What do you mean by Purushottama means Uttama Purusha There are Three truths are there One is called Kshara Another is called Akshara Esmakshara mati toham Aksharadha pichottamaha Ato lokeshmi vedecha pratitaha Purushottamaha Same word is direct Shankaracharya Takes it from here Purushottama What does it mean Kshara means That which changes All the time That means whatever is object Whatever is knowable Experiencable Whatever is known Seen But there must be somebody to see Somebody to experience Somebody to witness This again this beautiful concept Has been brought out in a most wonderful book And that is called Dhrith Drishya Viveka Discrimination between the seer and the seen So there is a sharp difference Both like opposite poles Subject and object Seer and seen Knower and known Witness and witnessed This is what is being told here Kshara means That which is always experienceable Changeable Very limited Finite That is called Kshara Then there is a confusing word It is called Akshara We use this word Akshara in Katha Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad Bhagavad Gita Every scripture practically And here also we use it So what is that Akshara? Akshara means The seer The knower The witness Sakshi Because remember These two are inevitably correlated Without the seer there is no seen Without the seen there is no seer So Akshara means That Jeevatma who experiences Earlier we have seen The waking state The dream state And the dreamless state So they are completely separate So Akshara means That consciousness Awareness Which experiences every inert thing In the form of the three states Waking Dream And dreamless That is called Akshara But they are correlated The seen and the seer And therefore Bhagavan himself clarifies I am beyond the Akshara I am known as Uttama Purusha Purusha Uttama So that is another name Akhyam means name That is the Brahman God Supreme reality Satyam Whatever name we choose And then what is it we see now The scriptures are telling About that supreme reality What is our day to day experience From morning to evening From birth to death We are going on seeing Only waking state Dream state Dreamless state Continuously We are witnessing this one Now what is the relationship Are there two Supreme reality And ephemeral reality Paramarthika satya And vyavaharika satya No sir They are not like that Then what is their relationship Like the rope and the snake This is a beautiful concept That is being brought out here Yasmin In which Brahman Idam jagat This universe Asesha asesha murtau Asesha means endless Endless endless Murti means images Forms Every form will have Its own specific name Every object will have Its own specific quality Nama Rupa And guna Name Form And quality What are these things These are the things Which separate one object From every other object In this world So for facility Of our vyavahara Phenomenal relationship And our day to day Doings in this world We have to separate things Otherwise Milk means You may bring Potassium carbonate That's not what is wanted Jagat Asesha asesha murtau How many things are there in this world Infinite things Why infinite things Simple logic Suppose there is a sun And there is an ocean And the ocean Is producing because of wind Innumerable Uncountable Number of waves In every wave There is a reflection How many waves are there now There would be Countless waves will be there But this is only For an example to make us understand But who is the real sun In our normal day to day experience There is only one sun There is a moon There are stars There are so many things are there But with regard to the supreme reality How many are there Only one And what is its nature Infinite And how many mirrors are there Infinite mirrors are there Remember There cannot be relationship between The finite And the infinite This world is also infinite How do we know Because earlier we discussed Purnam This is a beautiful Shanti Patha We whenever we study Isavasya Upanishad Or Brihadaranyika Upanishad We go on Shukla Yajurvediya Shanti Patha What do we do This so called universe Is only that infinite universe But because of our ignorance We see these two as completely different Here also There is some beautiful psychological fact So long as we see Finiteness in this world We can only think of God as finite A mind which sees finiteness here Will see finiteness there Only a mind which experiences infiniteness there Will experience infiniteness here also So this beautiful analogy is given This entire universe is compared to a snake And God is compared to the support Substratum Is the infinite Upon that infinite This infinite number of objects Which is the Which we call the Prapancha This is experienceable It is appearing to us Right in front of us That is what he is concluding Rajyam In the substratum support Called this rope Bhujangama Bhujangama means a ferocious frightening snake Iva means not real Iva means as if It is getting reflected This whole universe is a reflection In the mirror of our hearts But what is sustaining And because of which the mind is able to know That is that supreme reality That is being explained here And the same subject Again in the What we call Dakshina Murthy Sutram And again composed by Shankaracharya So this whole universe is like a huge city Imagine there is a huge mirror Not a small bathroom mirror But is maybe 100 feet tall 100 feet wide And it is at a particular angle And facing the city And then you are sitting Not looking at the city But looking at the mirror And whatever you see People are moving Trees are swaying Vehicles are moving at tremendous speed And everything after some time You will know This is the only truth Highest truth So in this analogy Our mind is the mirror The supreme reality is Bhagawan This universe is that reflection of Bhagawan And because our mind is not one But it is broken into a billion pieces Every single thought represents one single object Here is some supreme truth again This mind can entertain only one thought at a time Suppose there is a table And there are 50 objects on the table When you are looking at the pen That is one thought Looking at the paper Another thought Looking at the clip Another thought Looking at your computer Another thought Looking at the keyboard Another thought Every single object represents one single thought What did we say earlier? The mind can entertain This is a pen This is a paper This is a clip One after the other Not at the same time So that capacity of the mind is extremely limited That's why the one truth We see as infinite fold As if countless objects are there But all those objects again are nothing but pure Brahman There are no objects There is only object When you say objects It is only the reflections So a spin because of force of stratum Because of this God God outside God also is inside And he is eliminating the buddhi The mind The sense organs And that reflected consciousness Called Chidabhasa Is going out through the eyes Contacting the so-called external Even these ideas external and internal Are only within the mind We also discussed about it In the waking state We are completely convinced There is something inside us And there is something And many more things outside us But Rodapada beautifully discusses this point In his Mandukya Karikasan says Just as you go to bed You have a dream And you are sleeping on your bed Trying to sleep Suddenly a huge elephant enters into your room Now you are startled for two reasons Before you saw the elephant Where was the elephant? Outside your room And after some time what happened? It broke the door with one blow of its trunk And entered into your room Remember this is not possible in actuality Because a huge elephant cannot come into your room Especially when the rooms are like matchboxes Especially you are on the 27th floor How the elephant flies and comes into your room Small room Enters even sometimes through the What is called ventilator God alone knows how it is possible But you feel Oh my God It's going to kill me This external and internal How did it enter into my room? That very word into my room means There is something outside the room So there is an outside There is a definite inside Definite outside But as soon as the dream is broken And you Oh where from this room has come? Inside the mind Where from the elephant has come? From inside the mind So this is a concept External, internal It has no reality That's why this difficult concept has been expounded Like giving the comparison analogy of space Space inside the small pot Outside the small pot Ghatakasha and Mahakasha So it's telling just as we all mistake Because of darkness, semi-darkness That's a beautiful analogy Because we are able to perceive this world Only because we are not in dense darkness But in semi-darkness We don't know who we are And we also are not completely unconscious But in this semi-conscious state Which is called comparable to semi-light We perceive that Brahman We perceive experience Nothing but that Brahman And that Brahman appears As if it is this visible, experienceable universe for all of us How long? Until we get out of that concept Once we know who we are Only one thing happens Not who we are Only I am Even that concept I am Totally disappears Because remember when we say I am It is only from the standpoint of the mind Where there is no mind Where there is no body There is no experience possible That's why not to speak of Nirvikalpa Samadhi Even in our everyday deep sleep When we go We don't say inside outside We don't say we are seeing this universe We don't say anything We don't even say I am In waking state I am In dream state I am But in deep sleep state We do not say I am I do not say I am But don't say I do not exist Because as soon as we wake up And that is a state of ignorance And also profound ignorance That's why it is we are called Prajna The word Prajna means Deeply ignorant Because of absence of body and mind So the sleepers Another in Sanskrit Vedantic terminology The word sleeper is equivalent to Prajna But the universal concept of Prajna is called So we are all part of Ishwara In that state What state? In the state of deep sleep That's why we are called Prajna Means we are aware something is there There I am that is absent And I am springs forth As soon as we wake up Also in the dream state That's what is being told In the morning I salute the darkness The that which is beyond the darkness Which is without any form And which is of the supreme nature Illumination like the sun So that is our Atman Which illumines the mind The Atman doesn't have any form And to that supreme Brahman I offer my morning salutations Tamasaha Darkness signifies formlessness This is another concept We have to understand What does darkness mean? Suppose you are seeing it A room is there full of objects There is light You see many things And then suddenly the light goes off Completely dark, pitch dark What do you see? Nothing Darkness means there is no object Why is there no object? Because there is no light And so when there is no object There is no distinction This is this object The other one is the separate object This is called formlessness Is another type of darkness So we are all groveling in that darkness Ignorance Formless ignorance And if we are having formful ignorance It is called waking state, dream state Formless ignorance is called Deep sleep, Sushupti state And that is why ignorance is bliss Because there is only one form What is that form? That form is called deep ignorance That is experience of the individual self Without any interruption Interestingly the Maya has two powers Avarana Shakti and Vikshepa Shakti During waking and dream states During the waking state Both will work Avarana and Vikshepa During the dream state There will be less of Avarana More of Vikshepa Shakti Why? Because it is the remembrance Of things experienced in the waking state But when we come into the deep sleep state There is only one power And that is called Avarana Complete covering of darkness That's why we are called Prajnaha No Vikshepa Shakti Only Avarana Shakti That means we don't have experience of the world Either waking or dream But we have experience of ignorance Pure ignorance That's why as soon as we get up What do we say? I slept well Because I was very happy Why? Because there is no second object How? Because fear is produced from a second object This is a very interesting concept again Self is second Anything second So it may create a desire I want it or I don't want it Both produce only suffering I want something I will not get it I want something I get it Even when I get it It will not last long time This is the Parama Sathya You like sweet Get some sweets You'll be tired of sweets If sweets are produced all the time There is a limit in time In space When we can enjoy it So that is what is being said here Tamasaha Param Arkavarnam And what happens in ignorance There is many foldness So Dviti Advai Bhayam Bhavati Bhayam means suffering And this suffering is divided into three fold That's why we utter Shanti Mantra thrice Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Why? Because we all suffer Every living creature suffers from three fold misery Adhyatmika Adhibhautika and Adhidaivika So that is what said Now we'll close this third verse Some quotations Remember when Swami Vivekananda attended the Parliament of Religions During one of his later talks Not on the first day He initiated thousands of people And more came after hearing from those people who came first And he was like a midday sun Everybody faded away That's why the managers They had to keep Swami Vivekananda's speech to the very end Just to keep the audience Just remember if Swami Vivekananda was to give a speech in the morning Then people will come early Hear him And then get out Let us not forget He was one of the Saptarshis Maybe he was the person in ancient times Who realized that truth And uttered it in that great mantra Shunvantu Vishwe Amrutasya Putraaha Aaye Dhamaani Divyaani Tasthu Vedaha Metam Purusham Mahantam Aditya Varnam Tamasaha Parasthaat Tameva Viditva Atimrutyu Meti Nanya Pantha Vidyate Ayanaya Same Sanskrit mantra Remember English also can be used as mantras What is the definition of mantra? That which saves a person by repetition Mananath Deep thinking Prayate That which saves one who is repeating Who is thinking deeply That is called mantra For example Jesus mantra is there Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner This is the English mantra Equal into Sanskrit mantra It is not the language It is the meaning Swami Vivekananda Thunders Hear ye children of immortality All those that reside in this plane And all those that reside in the heavens above I have found the secret I have found him Who is beyond all darkness Through his mercy alone We cross this ocean of life Through God's mercy alone We cross this ocean of life Children of immortal bliss What a sweet What a hopeful name Allow me to call you brethren By that sweet name Heirs of immortal bliss Ye The Hindu refuses to call you sinners Ye are the children of God Sharers of immortal bliss Holy and perfect beings Ye divinities honor Sinners It is a sin to call a man so It is a standing label on human nature Come up O Lions And shake up the delusion That you are sheep Your souls immortal Spirits free Blessed and eternal Ye are not matter Ye are not bodies Matter is your servant Not you the servant of matter Tell each and all that infinite power Resides within them That they are sharers of immortal bliss This is what is being expressed In these three verses We will conclude it in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother And Swami Vivekananda Bless us all with Bhakti

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 4 on 26 November 2020

2025-01-18T17:06:13Z

DanielM: Pratah Smaranam Lecture 4 transcription

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We have almost come to the end of the first shloka in the Prathah Smarana Stotram. Prathah Smarami Hridesam Spurad Atma Tattvam Sachet Sukham Paramaham Sagathim Turiyam Yath Swapna Jagara Sushupta Mavaiti Nityam Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Nacha Bhoota Sanghaha We are dealing with the last line of this shloka. Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Nacha Bhoota Sanghaha I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements that this universe or this nature or the five elements Panchabhoothas is made up of.

Tat Brahma Earlier also we have seen I am not the Jagradhavastha. Yath Jagra Swapna Sushuptam Mavaiti Nityam The Atman is a witness. A witness and that which it witnesses can never be one and the same.

There is a tremendous difference, absolute division between the seer and the seen, the knower and the known and the experiencer and the experienced. Many examples I have given. If I see a tree, I am not the tree.

If I am knowing a table, I am not a table. Whatever object I see, that or I experience, that's not what I am. Then what is my nature? I am the eternal witness, Sakshi.

Usually we all go through the three states, waking, dream as well as dreamless. But I am completely a witness, that means I am not any one of these states. This is a very important Vedantic doctrine.

Whatever I see, that's not what I am. This is not a philosophical speculation but a fact of life. Whatever we experience through the five sense organs, that's not what we are.

And we also experience the body, experience the mind. Therefore, neither the body nor the mind. Then what remains? That's what I am.

I am the body, mind and soul. It is a dream. Swami Vivekananda categorically issues this statement.

You as body, mind and soul are a dream. But what you really are, existence, knowledge, bliss. And then he goes, you are the God of this universe.

Because whoever is the witness, he is that one who has nothing to do. So whatever we are witnessing is divided, finite, consisting of parts. And whatever is witnessing is just the opposite.

If the world is finite, I am infinite. If the world is divided, I am undivided. That's what this particular shloka is telling.

Nishkalam, it is indivisible, partless, whole. Ramakrishna had a wonderful experience. One day perhaps he wanted to know who was Narendranath.

So he said, my mind started ascending through the path of Samadhi. What does that mean? Means ascending one plane after the other. Like Bhrigu giving up the Annamaya Kosha, ascending to Pranamaya.

Then giving it up, ascending to Manomaya, Vijnanamaya, Anandamaya. Finally reaching. So he said, I have seen so many worlds.

And in every world, there are beings who are enjoying experiencing that particular world. Finally, I have reached that state called Akhanda. And I was surprised to see seven great Rishis absolutely still in the merged in meditation.

Now, these are mystical experiences hard to understand by people like us. How can in the indivisible world, first of all, there could be division. Here are seven Rishis meditating.

And Sri Ramakrishna says later on, I also belong to this realm. And he also issued a very strange statement. As I said, very difficult to understand.

There are places in this world where the ice becomes solidified, never melts. That means what? Even in that indivisible world, there will be certain beings who are as if manifestations of that indivisibility. And they are supposed to be rule this world.

Please do not ask me how we know. I am only quoting Sri Ramakrishna. We are all indivisible.

It means Ananta. It means infinite. Infinite is not a sum total of many, many finite things.

You cannot even talk about that it is one. That is why the double negative has to be not one. Advaita, Advaitiya, Akhanda.

These are forced terms which our Rishis were forced to use to convey what cannot really be conveyed. And by the way, it is not possible to convey even an ordinary experience. I mentioned earlier in my talks.

Suppose a person had eaten a sweet and he wants to convey it to somebody else. Supposing there are two people. He wants to convey to these two people the taste of this sweet.

One person doesn't know what is sweet. The other person has not eaten this particular sweet, but he had eaten other sweets. Maybe he has eaten a sweet fruit or he had eaten a sweet root.

You know, there are sweet roots like sweet potato, etc. And there are so many things which are quite sweet. But through the known, the unknown can be conveyed.

So you can say, did you enjoy that sweet? Is it not something different from other tastes? Yes, yes. So what I have eaten is one such kind of sweet, but far superior to whatever you have tasted. This is how knowledge can be conveyed from one person to the other person.

Through the known only, the unknown, means unexperienced thing can be conveyed. Sriram Krishna is giving voice to this that God can never be described. That's why, is he with form? Yes.

Is he without form? Yes. At the same time? Yes. At the same place? Yes.

It looks paradoxical. Now, one of the linguistic models, examples to convey certain inexpressible ideas is usage of what I call paradoxical language. We have dialectical language.

We have negative language. We have positive language. We have what we call paradoxical language.

For example, At the same time, the Atman moves. It doesn't also move. It is very near.

It is very far. It is inside. It is outside.

It is everywhere. This resembles Zen Buddhism's koans. How can you make sound, clap with one hand? It is impossible.

So, to break down the limitations of the so-called rations of the mind, these koans were designed. So, this paradoxical language, Not this. Not this.

I will give you some example of that also. So, here, Shankaracharya's very famous verse or six verses called Panchakam means a group of five shlokas. Shatka means same thing, a group of six shlokas.

Ashtakam, Bhavani, Ashtakam, a group of eight shlokas. So, how does it go? The very first verse in the Nirvana Shatka. The soul is not composed of any materials.

It is unity, indivisible. This is what Swami Vekananda says. In fact, Swami Vekananda translated this particular Nirvana Shatka.

But in another place, Swami Vekananda, he describes about our true nature, man's true nature. At the Parliament of Religions, he said it is a blasphemy to call a human being a sinner. So, he addressed a kind of initiation.

I consider it Amrutasya Putraaha. You are all children of immortality. How do we know? Because one of his disciples, Priyanatha Sinha, asks Swami Vekananda, Did you, Swami, have many disciples? He said, yes.

Will there be 500, 600? He says, more than 3000. We do not know. We have no record that he sat down, called them together and then initiated.

But then, his very classes, some people he initiated, some people he initiated into Brahmacharya in the West, some people he initiated into Sanyasa, especially two people at the Thousand Island Park. But a Rishi uttering like Ramanuja, climbing to the top of the temple, Om Namo Narayanaya, he initiated thousands of people. So also, if Ramanuja could initiate, why not Swami Vekananda? And that's what so many people's life was transformed by this kind of spiritual baptism.

In Christianity, baptism is a very important thing. Describing the Atman, and Swami Vekananda said, I have not preached anything but the Upanishads. And the Upanishads do not say anything excepting, Davat Brahman Tattvam Asi.

So here goes, what Swami Vekananda says, The soul is not composed of any materials. It is unity indivisible. Therefore it must be indestructible.

For the same reasons, it must also be without any beginning. So the soul is without any beginning, and therefore without any end. And then what is the implication of it? There is no such thing as good and bad.

They are not two different things. The same thing is good or bad, and the difference is only in degree. The very thing I call pleasurable today, tomorrow, under better circumstances, I may call it pain.

The fire that warms us can also consume us. It is not the fault of the fire. The whole universe is one.

There is only one self in the universe. Only one existence. And that one existence, when it passes through the forms of time, space and causation, is called by different names.

Buddhi, fine matter, gross matter, and all mental and physical forms. You as body and mind or soul are a dream. But what you really are is existence, knowledge, bliss.

You are the God of this universe. What are we talking about? Let us not forget. Tat Brahma.

I am that Brahman. This was what Swami Vivekananda is elaborating. We are spirit.

Spirit that has no form or shape. Spirit that is infinite and not matter. Mother, father, child, wife, body, wealth, everything I can lose, excepting myself.

Bliss in the Self. This very soul is the Self in all. So if I am the Self, if I am Brahman, Tat Brahma Nishkalam Aham Naja Bhoota Sangaha I am that Brahman.

I am not one of the parts. I am not one of the five elements. This is what Swamiji is summarizing here.

If I am the soul, what about the universe? Is it something different? Is it Asatya, non-existence? Nithya, a mere delusion? Swami Vivekananda says that is the greatest delusion to think that there are two things called the Self and the non-Self. To think that there is Self and non-Self is the greatest Nithya. Swami Vivekananda says we believe that every being is divine, is God.

Every soul is a sun covered over with clouds of ignorance. The difference between soul and soul is owing to the difference in density of these layers of clouds of ignorance. He who says he is the body is a born idolater.

That is what we are discussing here. Nishkalam. I am the indivisible.

Kala means part. The moon is called Shodasha Kalatmaka. 16 parts.

A woman who attains 16 years of age and many countries consider when a lady turns 16 it is called sweet 16 and in the heaven everybody enters there as only 16 years old. Stay there until their punya phala comes to an end as 16 years old. That's why it is called sweet 16.

Shodasha Kala. Kala means part. 16 parts means 16 years.

Nishkalam. Nish means no. No division at all.

Indivisible. Partless. Whole.

Nacha. I am not also. Bhoota Sangaha.

What is Bhoota? Pancha Bhootas. Akasha. Vayu.

Agne. Apaha. Prithivi.

The whole visible as well as invisible universe is made up of these 5 elements. The Sokshma Sarira is made up of these 5 Sokshma Bhootas which are unmixed. Apanchi.

Kruta. Sokshma Bhootaha. Whereas the gross 5 elements are mixed up with each other.

That is the only difference. I am not the Bhoota Sangha. That means I am not the body.

I am not the mind. I am not the gross body, subtle body or even the causal body. So whatever is other than these 2 bodies, gross, subtle, that is what I am.

That's why it is said I am the Yath Swapna Jagara Sushuptam Avaithi Nityam. I am the witness. So what are we discussing? We are discussing the moment you say I am not body, mind, as if there is a witness and there is something it witnesses because without something to be witnessed, there cannot be any witness.

Without Sakshya, there cannot be Sakshi. That means there are 2 realities because if the Sakshi is real, Sakshi also must be real. To remove that misunderstanding, therefore in this verse it says Nacha Bhoota Sangha I am Nishkalam, not Bhoota Sangha.

If I am not parts, then who am I? I am partless. If I am not the 5 elements, who am I? I am that infinite Brahman who appears. So the Jagat, the universe that we witness, both the gross, subtle and causal universe, it is not something different.

It doesn't exist separately. But the same one Brahman is mistaken. This is the right understanding.

We will have to always accept that in the beginning to get Viveka, Viragya, discrimination and dispassion, we have to go on detaching ourselves. So we say I am not the body, I am not the sense organs, Mano buddhi ahamkara chitta ninaham. But a time will come when I know I am infinite.

Besides the infinite, there is no finite. There is only one. So who am I? I am the Brahman.

What is its nature? That it is ever shining in my heart, always saying Aham, Aham, Soham, Prathasmarami Hridhisamsparat Atma Tattvam. Atma Tattvam means my own nature. So I have to remember I am that Brahman.

But how can I reach that state? In the first of these three verses, the nature of Brahman has been beautifully described. But we will have to come now to the second verse where it says that how can I progress doing sadhana. This is called Prameya Pramana Vichara.

The first verse says Prameya, what is to be known. The second verse as well as the third verse, it is describing Pramana. What is the Pramana? The right means of knowledge.

And let us discuss it in this second shloka. I worship when? In the morning. We also discussed what is morning, when the mind is comparatively quiet, when the body, mind are not tired, when the mind is calm but completely alert and very focused.

At that time, I wanted to worship. It has certain meanings. We will discuss about it.

I want to worship that my own nature or Brahman or if we are not that daring, Saguna Brahma or Ishta Devata. How? Manasa, Vachasa, through the mind and also through the words. Agamyam is not possible either for the mind or for the speech.

It is not reachable. It is not describable. It is not even thinkable, imaginable, experienceable.

But without which, without the grace of which, it is impossible for the body-mind complex even to function. All sorts of speech. Speech means what here? If we analyze, when you want to talk, you will have to think first.

First comes a thought even when you are not aware of it. That's why we say sometimes slip of the tongue. What does it mean? It means there is a thought but you are not paying attention to it.

Whatever we have to say or do, it starts in a very subtlest form and that subtlest form has got two names in Sanskrit. One is called vritti or vibration, thought formation. Another is called pratyaya, an idea.

For example, suppose suddenly you see a table. The moment you see the table, you recognize there is a table. The table is outside.

That is called existence. But you recognize it, cognize it. Why do we say recognize? First time, what is that? Someone explains, this is called a table.

Ever since that time, you keep it in memory. Second time when you see, what do you see? You recognize. Cognize first time.

Recognize every time thereafter. So you say this is a table. But that is in the form of thought.

So thought and first. Then it becomes a speech. Even when you do not talk about it, but you talk to yourself.

I want to go and place something on the table. There is a nice chair. I wish to go and sit on it.

There is a nice sweet. I would like to go and eat it. This is how it starts in a very subtlest form, in the form of vritti or thought.

And then it goes and then expresses in the form of speech. And then actual physical action follows. And the results of physical actions also follow.

But before I think, what is that that comes? I think. I speak. I act.

That I, I, I, that is what is being described here. By the presence of which. Here anugraha means presence.

The very existence of it. Anugraha. Or it is in the devotee's language kripa.

Because God exists, I exist. Because Brahman exists, I exist. Because Brahman is knowledge, I know.

Because Brahman is of the form of bliss, so I have happiness. And sometimes I have less happiness, which is called unhappiness or dukkha. Sukha and dukkha are not two separate things.

Less sukha is dukkha. Less dukkha is sukha. That's all we have to say.

Only by the presence of which, which is there already before any activity can take place. All the speech, it comes out. It is expressed.

Whatever it is. And speech is of two types. One is external.

You speak, I listen. Another is internal. So 24 hours a day, excepting during the deep sleep, Sushupti time, we go on either talking with ourselves or talking with somebody else.

Here, there is a beautiful Sandhi. Avocam is when Sandhi comes. When the two vowels come together, that conjunction is called Sandhi.

When this Sandhi comes, it becomes Avocam. But if you split it, Avocam. They speak.

This is a plural. Why is it plural? Nigama Vedas. Vedas are speaking.

Because that is only Pramana. What are they saying? You want to describe anything in this world? You can describe more or less. You want to describe Brahman? There is no way.

Excepting one way. What is that? Is this? No. Is that? No.

Ramakrishna's help we will take. He gives a beautiful example. Such a telling example from day to day experiences.

There was a girl. She was married. And one day, her husband had come.

And he brought many friends. They were all sitting and talking. And this girl, along with her friends, was watching from within the room.

Now the other girls did not know who was the husband. So they point out. Is that your husband? She says no.

Is that the other one? No. The other one? No. Finally, they come to the fellow and they have to say Is that the one? Just mark Ramakrishna's expression.

She doesn't say anything. She doesn't even say no. Not this.

Not this. Simply, she keeps quiet bending her head down. And her face is a little bit shy and flushed.

The others understand. Oh! That is her husband. Such a beautiful description.

And this is the finest description. Ramakrishna also gives another description. But which is a little bit more gross, I have to say.

He says, Imagine, it is midday. The sun is shining. There are ten pots full of water.

And how many suns are there? One real and ten reflections. One pot is broken. How many suns are there? Nine reflections and one real sun.

Supposing, nine pots are broken. How many suns are there? One real and one reflected sun. Suppose, the last pot is broken.

How many suns are there? And this otherwise man, he goes on talking. Oh! There is one real sun. Because all the pots are broken.

All the reflections are gone. Ramakrishna acts, comes down. He says, No.

Because, who is asking? One of the reflected suns is asking. Who is replying? One of the reflected suns. With the destruction of the last pot, who is there to ask? And who is there to reply? So, you cannot even say, it is one.

That's why, this Advaita Advaita is a double negative. Is it Dvaita? No. Not Dvaita.

So, Advaitiya. Is it second one? No. It is, there is no second one besides it.

Akhanda. Such expressions are there. So, Yat Neti Neti Vachanaihi Nigamaha means Vedas Avacham They express.

How many times? Once? No. 100 times? No. How many times? Millions of times.

All the scriptures tell is only about that. Tam Then, what am I supposed to do? I cannot think about him. Yes, you can think about him.

It is limited thinking. But, you can think about him. You can speak about him.

And, you can also worship him. Go on pilgrimage etc. So, you can do it.

Therefore, he says, Tam Devadevam Ajam Achutham Ahuhu Agriyam There are sages, intelligent, guides and they know our condition. If we say something is indescribable, then, it is tantamount to saying it is non-existence. Because, one of the important things that we have to understand is somebody at some time must experience something.

Then only, we come to know something is existing. Perhaps, there is something. Maybe, after billion billion years or light years, somebody experiences it and says, yes, yes, there it is.

Either through telescope or a microscope or some scope or ultimately Vedanta scope. So, what do they say? There is something is existing. If something is existing, it must be experienceable by somebody either in the past, present or in the future.

If nothing, if somebody says there is something and nobody experiences it, then, that is a false statement. That means, such a thing doesn't exist. So, this is important to keep.

There are some people who understand our condition and say, ok, my children, Saumya, you do not need to worry about all these descriptions. You know, you worship Rama, yes, yes. Krishna, yes, yes.

Chaitanya, yes. Jesus, yes. Buddha, yes.

Allah, yes. He is the Parabrahma, but worship him now. Worship always involves a dualism, the worshipper and the worshipped.

So, tam deva devam ajam. But remember, you cannot say God is born. Even though you are worshipping him, he is unborn.

But, for the sake of meditation, contemplation, worship or even doing stotram to him, we have to imagine. That's why Swami Vekananda gave a good blow to one of the Rajasthan Maharajas. He said, should people not be told that they should not worship idols? Immediately, Swamiji, you remember that incident, most of you, he asked the minister, you bring down that painting which was hanging there and spit on it.

How dare a person could speak? Only Swami Vekananda could get away with it because he was so powerful. In the presence of a Raja in those days who had the power of life and death to say, I say, spit upon it in public, in front of everybody, in front of the Raja, spit on the painting of your own father. How dare anybody can do it? Then, Swamiji made an impression on the Raja, look here, your highness, this is nothing but a piece of paper with some drawing upon it.

But by looking at it, people do not think this is a piece of paper with some writing upon it, painting upon it. They see the likeness of your father, remember him and respect him, revere him and bow down their heads. So also when a man bows down in front of a piece of stone or piece of photograph, picture or an icon, etc., they are not worshipping.

These are called Upasanas, Vidyas. Then the king hopefully, I hope he understood, but he refrained from asking any silly question. He asked also another silly question.

Instead of living life like me and you, why did you become a monk? And then Swamiji, instead of answering, he put opposite question. Why do you go on hunting instead of performing your duties? Then he said, oh, I think I enjoy it. Swamiji said, yes, for the same reason, I enjoy being a monk.

That's why I have taken to the monk. Of course, he did not explain. It is not for his enjoyment.

Swamiji was born for our sake. He became a monk so that we understand that ultimately Moksha is only Paramapurushartha and Sanyasa is the ultimate stage of life in spiritual growth. That what every Hindu must know ultimately, we have to become monks in course of time.

Anyway, coming back that you worship Deva. Deva means he who is the originator of every celestial being by implication the human beings, non-human beings, living things, non-living things, everything but do not compare him. Oh, I have got my parents so they are mortal.

I am also mortal. So, if my originator Deva, he is because I am mortal, he is also mortal. This is called reverse engineering.

No sir, he is Ajam, he is unborn and he is Achyuta. Achyuta means to deviate from one's nature. What is the nature of Brahman? It is indivisible, infinite, unborn, Ajam, Nityam, Shashvatayam, Puranam, all these epithets we have to remember from the Bhagavad Gita at least and Kata Upanishad.

Achyuta means to deviate, to slip down, fall down from one's true nature. In fact, nobody can slip down from one's true nature. What about me? I also cannot fall down.

Then you say I am a human being. Yes, he is like a person who says I am Napoleon. He has never become Napoleon.

He is only cherishing a wrong concept idea in his mind but everybody knows this is not Napoleon, this is so and so. So, a realized soul knows we are that Brahman, we are nothing else, we are unborn, we are also Achyutas, we are also Anantas, we are also the witness to all the three states. In other words, I am that Brahman, I am partless, divisionless.

Agriyam means the cause of this delusion. Remember, in Advaita Vedanta, we don't accept God is the cause and the universe is the what we call the effect, but we explain it through the popular analogy. The snake never is born, really, it appears.

This theory is called Vivartavada. So, there are two theories about creation, Parinamavada. All dualists cling to this Parinamavada.

God really, in truth, transforms into this world. These are called dualists who claim such a thing, but no Advaitin worth his salt ever says God has become this world, that means the unborn has become born, infinite has become finite, and the all blissful has become a mixture of happiness and unhappiness. It is unacceptable for all rationality.

So, we say it appears, that means really, Brahman is not a cause, this world is not an effect. This relationship is totally destroyed, but for the beginning, as I explained many times in Katha, as well as Mundaka Upanishad, you have to understand, because your relationship, your identity of yourself depends upon your parents. If your parents are Brahmanas, you are a Brahmana.

If parents are what is called divine beings, you are a divine being. That's why Amrutasya Putra, you are children of immortality. So, I am Agriyam, means the foremost, the original, but these explanations are from the Advaitic viewpoint, you worship your Ishta Devata and like you know, for example, Krishna, you say, is incarnation of Vishnu and Vishnu is an incarnation of Ishvara.

Ishvara is a modification of that Parabrahma. That is how we trace these things, Guru Parampara. So, you worship Him.

Tam, Deva, Devam, Ajam, Achyutam, Ahu, Agriyam. So, what are we supposed to do? Pratar, Bhajami. It is not Upadesha, instruction for you.

It is an instruction for each one of us. We have to say early in the morning when the mind is very quiet, I will have to remember, I have to worship my Lord only through His grace, I am going to move forward. It is just like as we say, our Ishta Devata is as we keep a big mirror and then correct ourselves.

Our Ishta Devata is to correct ourselves. How come? Earlier, in one of my talks, I explained there are four stages of spiritual progress gradually that through meditation, contemplation. What are they? Nama Dhyana, Rupa Dhyana, Guna Dhyana and Swarupa Dhyana.

Easiest thing for us is close your eyes and with one pointed mind repeat your mantra. This is called Nama Dhyana. It is also called Japa Dhyana.

Then a little more labor is required. Then you have to imagine, for example, if you have to meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna then imagine the, take the photograph of Sri Ramakrishna and go on staring at him for sometime. Close your eyes and go on reproducing that same form in the mind in the beginning.

Later on that form also has to be made alive because in the photo we see only a dead form. That dead form must be made to come out alive and it will come alive during the course of our spiritual progress. So, first the Nama will be going on even unconsciously then the form that impinges itself upon everything that we see.

This was the experience of Kuntanath Sanyal on 1st January 1886. Sri Ramakrishna touched him as a result of that divine touch. He started seeing Sri Ramakrishna on the earth, in water, in the objects that he was witnessing.

This is only on the way to spiritual identity. Afterwards, when we become a little better in this Rupa Dhyana then we realize we have so many defects and to remove these defects, these defects are called Vigunas, defective qualities. We have to make them Sagunas.

In the Bhagavad Gita, we get these Vigunas and also Sagunas. Daivi Sampath, Daiva, Asuri Sampath, divine characteristics and demonic characteristics. Beautifully described and all of us have got these demonic qualities.

How do we know? Because if we have only spiritual qualities, we would have been realized souls long back and more important what is the Pramana? Proof that you would not have attended my class if you are realized souls. So, we have to remember Guna Dhyana. What does it mean? That is where Patanjali Yogi comes to our aid.

Pratipaksha Bhavanam. If someone is a miser, remember this God is an ocean of compassion and giver of everything to his children. If somebody is restless, God is just like a deep ocean immovable.

The figures of Lord Buddha as well as Swami Vivekananda in meditation remind us what is the true state of meditation. That is if somebody has got short temper then one should be like that Brahmana. There is a Brahmana Gita in the Bhagavatam.

People spit on him, they go on throwing stones upon him, they abuse him, sometimes they beat him but he remains ever safe. I have done something wrong, I am only reaping the prarabdha, sorry not Brahmana Gita, Bhiksha Gita. Bhiksha Gita is there.

Like that we have to think Pratipaksha Bhavana means whatever quality we want to acquire we have to meditate God as the embodiment of that quality only when we want to get rid of its opposite either anger, short temperedness, miserliness, restlessness or hatred or envy etc. This is called Guna Dhyana and when we succeed to some extent then only we are taught this is what is called in Advaitic language Sadhana Chatushtaya Sampatti only then Brahma Jignasa has to come Athato Brahma Jignasa then what is that Brahman then Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma Truth what is called Truth Ultimate Truth Absolute Truth or Jnanam Absolute Knowledge and Infinity which is in Puranic language translated as Sat Chit and Ananda this is called Swaroopalakshana one has to meditate first on Sat then on Chit then on Ananda this is called the proper way of progressing in spiritual life and a time will come when we progress and the mind has only one vritti that is called Brahmakara Vritti and that assumes the form of Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma and then there is only one stage more and that can be done only by the grace of God as the Upanishad describes on whomsoever the Atman is pleased to him it reveals its own true nature this is what Sri Ramakrishna has come to say without God's grace nobody can progress in spiritual life this is the meaning of this second verse Prathah Bajami Manasa Vachasa Magamyam Vacho Vibhantini Khila Yadanugrahena Yenneti Neti Vachanaihi Nigamaha Avocan Tam Devadevam Ajam Achutam Ahuhu Agriyam it is a beautiful word this word Bhaja and Bhaja has got many meanings one of the meaning is Bhaja Sevayam Seva means if I am a devotee whatever I do I serve the divine Lord so that is what we get in the second verse of the everyday we sing Omrim Ritam Bhakti Bhagascha Bhajanam Bhava Bhedakari Bhakti means devotion Bhagaha means knowledge Bhajana what is that Bhajana Sevaha Nishkama Karma Yoga Karma Yoga is indicated by Bhaja Sevayam and then there is also this beautiful word Vacho Vibhanti Nikhila Yadanu Grahena by whose presence by whose very existence first all the activities of the mind speech and body are possible that is what Swami Vivekananda everyday we sing that one in the hymn Khandana Bhava Bandhana what do we say Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mana Adhita so Enneti Neti Vachanai Nigamaha Ocham so it is not possible for the mind as well as for the speech and that means actions also without the Ashraya without the Adhishtana without the very presence of that Atman and but that is what he says Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mana Adhita Mana Vachana Ek Adhar he is the only resort he is the only support for the mind to think for the mouth to speak and for the sense organs to function but he is beyond beyond means what only in his presence in the presence of pure consciousness, it is possible to think. First comes I. I means pure consciousness, pure awareness.

Then only comes everything else, the mind, the speech, the actions. The whole life of man can be divided into thinking, speaking and acting. So this is every day we have to remind but here not only morning, in the evening only at the Vesper service we do this thing Namo Namo Prabhu Vakya Mano Ateetha.

Vakya Mano Ateetha. Mana Vachana Ek Adhaar. Jyoti Rajyoti Kujjala Hridi Kandhara.

Tumi Tama Bhanjana Haar. That is what we are taking. There is a famous Vakya, Mahavakya called Yagnivalkya.

This teaching of Yagnivalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad we get Neti Neti. That soul is not this, not this, not this. What does it? Twice what does it mean? First not this means nothing to do with the gross world, gross body and second time he says Neti Neti.

That's why he has employed it twice. Not anything that can be done by the mind, neither by the gross body nor by the subtle body. Of anything there is no body, it is mind.

So Yagnivalkya is describing the self. It is imperceptible because it is never perceived. It is indestructible because it is never destroyed.

It is unattached because it doesn't attach itself and it is unfettered because it cannot be fettered. It's beyond suffering and injury. That's why it is described as Neti Neti, not this, not this.

This doctrine of Neti Neti suggests the indescribability of the Brahman. Absolute Yagnivalkya attempts to define Brahman as not definable. Therefore it is described as Neti Neti, Naiti Naiti.

And in the Taittiriya also the same idea is echoed. He who knows the bliss of Brahman, whence all worlds together with the mind turn away, unable to reach it, such a person attains fearlessness because there is nothing, no second object for him to fear. This is the simple meaning.

Let us worship the Saguna Brahma, our Ishta Devata, so that by his grace we can go beyond this body and mind and we can become one. We can never experience Brahman but we can become one with that Brahman which is none other than my own Tattvam, Atma Tattvam. With this we will conclude the second verse also.

We have discussed it in our next class which is day after tomorrow. We will be talking about the last verse.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 3 on 21 November 2020

2025-01-18T17:01:05Z

DanielM: Created page with "== Uncorrected machine transcription == ॐ जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् । पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।। Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum | Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu || We are studying the Prathasmara Stotram of Bhagavan Shank..."

== Uncorrected machine transcription ==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are studying the Prathasmara Stotram of Bhagavan Shankaracharya. We have been discussing the very first shloka. What is that first shloka? Prathasmarami Hridhisamspurad Atma Tattvam Sachchit Sukham Paramahamsa Gatinturiyam Yath Swapna Jayagara Sushuptim Avaithi Nityam Tat Brahma Nishkalamaham Nacha Bhuta Sanghaha I remember in the morning the Self which shines in my heart, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, which is the goal to be attained by the Paramahamsa Sanyasis, which is also called the fourth state, because it is beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep.

I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements that is Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi, Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. We have discussed the first line of this one Prathasmarami. Pratha means when the mind is very fresh.

Hridhi is a place where we feel more intensely the presence of the Atman. Atman is everywhere just as water is everywhere as Ramakrishna says, but it is easily available in a well, in a tank, in a river. So within our personality there is an Akasha called Chidakasha where the Lord is ever shining.

Not only He is shining, He is making everything also shine and without that Jyoti Rajyoti, light of the lights, external lights are totally useless because if we are unconscious we cannot recognize anything even if there is a midday sun burning, but He has to be obtained, easily communicated with in that particular place which is called the heart and that is Hridhi. Samspurat is shining by itself. Nobody need shine a light.

It always shines by itself. Then Sachitsukham paramahamsagathim turiyam. We will be discussing today from this second line onwards.

Now these are the words we use in major Upanishads. We do not get this word Sachidananda. We get it in the minor Upanishads and we also get it in the Puranas, Smritis like Mahabharata etc.

but never in the major Upanishads. What then do we get in the major Upanishads? We get in Taittiriya the most famous, most often quoted mantra portion Brahma Vidha Apnoti Param There Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Satyam corresponds to the Sat, Gnanam corresponds to the Chit.

There instead of Anantam here, there it is used Anantam because whatever is Antam, Shantam, limited can be called Sukha, Dukha but never Ananda. Ananda is that which is beyond both happiness as well as unhappiness. And we will come back to this Sachitsukham.

This is also called Turiyam and it is also called Paramahamsagathim. According to Vedanta, Gathi means movement. We are all moving albeit unconsciously.

Prakruti in the form of evolution. It is taking us from a one celled life to the highest evolved saint who sees Brahman everywhere. This evolution is inevitable.

Sometimes we have to go through what we call round and round the bush but at last we will be attaining that highest state. So Gathi means both movement and also the highest state. And why we cannot stop going there? Because that's our nature.

24 hours a day we are trying to be ourselves. Trying to be means what? We think we are not our real self. How do we know? Because I want this.

Without that I am not complete. So this eternal longing has been beautifully classified into three prayers. Very very ancient prayer which springs from every living creature.

Specially of course from human beings. But this is so beautifully framed in our Upanishads in the form of three prayers with which we are all very familiar. Asato Maha Sadgamaya May I never die.

May I ever live. Tamaso Maha Jatirgamaya May I never be devoid of consciousness or knowledge. May I always be aware.

And may I always be ever blissful. This is the unconscious prayer. It has to be vocalized.

It has to be remembered. It has to be meditated upon. These three prayers Shankaracharya puts it here as Sat, Chit and Sukham.

And why should we follow it? Because that is the highest state which the realized souls called Paramahamsas ultimately attain. It is the Turiyam. That is the ever existing state.

There is no doubt about it. Sat, Chit, Sukham. Paramahamsagathim Turiyam.

Now these three words Sat, Chit and Sukham. This Sukham instead of saying Ananda Shankaracharya has used it. Why does he use it? Sometimes we have to use it for the convenience of making a meter.

Chandas. Sometimes the words we use do not correspond, do not fit in to the grammatical rules of a meter. So we have to use some other words equivalent giving the same meaning but at the same time fits into the grammatical requirements.

Sat, Chit, Sukham. What does Sat, Chit, Sukham mean? Sat means we say existence. Chit means consciousness or knowledge.

Ananda is a very Sukham is a word that is happiness. What do these words really mean? In Vedanta last class I have explained a little what are the characteristics of Brahman. In Vedanta we give two characteristics.

One is called Tatastha Lakshana. Another is called Swaroopa Lakshana. What were the Tatastha Lakshanas given? Srishti, Stithi and Laya.

These are the activities. Later on of course Vedanta completely abrogates, destroys the very idea of God is the creator, God is the maintainer and God is the destroyer. But that is for an advanced student.

What we have to know is this is the Tatastha Lakshana means the accidental characteristic. Oh you want to know God? Find out from where the whole universe has come and that is God. Suppose God doesn't create.

Suppose your mind is not working. Can you think about then all these things? No it is not possible. That's why we have to derive at some other definition.

Actually Brahman cannot be defined. He can only be pointed out. So there comes Swaroopa Lakshana.

What is this Swaroopa Lakshana? Sat, Chit and Ananda. How do we translate it? Sat means existence absolute. Chit means knowledge absolute.

Ananda means happiness, bliss absolute. What is the big deal of difference between existence absolute and existence? Because in our day to day life we see everything. A chair exists, a tree exists, a man exists, a bird exists, a mountain exists.

Everything is existence. Without experiencing existence there is no world at all. And world consists of infinite number of things.

Then what is the idea then? Absolute existence means, let me first give you an illustration. So there are 100 ornaments and every ornament is made up of gold. That is called relative temporary existence.

Why do we call it temporary? Because anything made up of gold can be melted, can be transformed, can be beaten up, the shape can be changed, anything can be done. But if you look at gold, there is no way you are going to change it. Whether it is flat gold, round gold, conical gold, angular gold, in whatever it is, gold is only formless gold.

Then the next thing is whenever we are talking about relative existence, please remember these two words because these two words we are going to apply to knowledge as well as to bliss also. So these two words, relative and absolute. What is the difference? Absolute is that which never changes.

Relative is absolutely changes. It can never remain exactly as it is. Again take the example, there is a ring made out of gold.

So when was it made? Only just today itself. So it has a birth and then tomorrow it becomes what? One day old. After one year, it becomes one year old.

A time will come, it will not be exactly in the same thing. Every millisecond, remember time means change, every millisecond it is changing. One day it may be completely useless.

So what do we do? We give to old smith. What does he do? He melts it. What does melting mean? Melting means removing the nama and rupa.

But the gold, remember, never changes. So absolute is that which is not subjected to time, space and causation. Whereas relative means always subjected to time, space and causation.

If you can understand this, apply it to any object that we experience. In the absolute, there is no I or you or it. There is no subject, object.

There is no knower, knowledge. The witness, witnessed. The experiencer, experienced.

In absolute, there are no two. Therefore, there is no time, there is no space, there is no causation. But in the relative and relative means that which is perceived through the framework of time, space and causation.

So here is a chair. It has a birth and it has a what is called shelf life and one day it has to be totally removed. It may be after 500 years, 1000 years, but it has to go out.

But the woodness that is called its real swaroopa never changes. So now coming back, tatastha means accidental. Wood has been made into a chair is an accidental characteristic.

It remains for some time an accidental characteristic. And one day it also goes back, that is to say, relatively into the state of wood. As wood, it never changes.

As shape and then form and then shine, newness, oldness, etc. It always changes. This is the difference between absolute and relative.

This is an example. Now come back. Here is a tree.

A tree is there. The moment we use the words was, is or will be, all the three words are referring only to existence. Rama was.

Now we say this person is and Bhagawan is going to incarnate in course of time as Kalki. That will be future existence. So whether it is avataras, where is Rama now? Where is Krishna? Where is Ramakrishna? And same fate will await even Kalki also.

Anything that comes into existence. This is called relative existence. That's why the Lord, this beautiful hint, My janma karma, see as an avatara, with the limitation of a body-mind, however great that avatara is, is absolutely relative.

It may last for a longer time. It may, the power may be tremendous. But that power also will come to an end.

Here we can also understand a very funny thing. So Krishna was considered purna avatara. Is Krishna most powerful now? Not really so.

Who is most powerful now? Ramakrishna. Why? Because in the power, the form, etc. of Krishna can only influence a few people.

Krishna's form can only influence. Ramakrishna's form, it will influence many, many people. And who is this Ramakrishna? You should not take his body-mind.

That's only for the facility of thinking, meditation. Ramakrishna in the form of idea. That is the greatest thing in this world.

Is Ramakrishna form and power really infinite? In this relative world, you forget about that word, infinity, absolute. After sometime, maybe after thousands of years, nobody will know about Ramakrishna much. Suppose there is a third world war.

Most people will not know about Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, etc. But the same power will come again when it is needed, when adharma increases in future. So that's why they are called yuga avataras.

Yuga avatara means an avatara that is absolutely effective only for one particular yuga. How do we know? Swami Vivekananda gave us that beautiful statement. I have given food for 1000 years.

There are two versions here. I have given food for 1000, I have given food for 1500 years. In one of his drawing room conversations, Swami Vivekananda issued a statement.

I have to come once more. And naturally the visitors were highly delighted. When Swami are you going to come? He said, I do not know.

Sri Ramakrishna said, I will be reincarnating in 200 years. And along with him, he will have to bring certain of his selected followers. Always he will bring someone or others at that time.

So next time he is going to bring me also. And if you remember, this was what many devotees remember. Sri Ramakrishna once asked Holy Mother, you will have to come again.

And Holy Mother said, I am not going to come again with you. Because she suffered most from him only. Then Sri Ramakrishna said, you see, we are like a kalmi saag.

It is a kind of creeper on the surface of water. And it spreads. It is a creeper.

One side of it if you pull, the whole thing has to move. It has to come like a net. You catch hold of a net and pull it towards you.

The whole net has to come towards you. And finally Holy Mother asked, why should I come? Because you have to carry my hookah. And at that time Holy Mother happened to carry his hookah.

He said, here is your hookah. I am not going to come again. This is a wonderful statement.

Swamiji had to come. Why? Is there any rational explanation? Yes, there is a rational explanation. Think, I don't know.

What is it? These have been already trained. These are called eternal companions always. Sri Ramakrishna coined a word.

These are called Ishwarakoti Nityamukta. A group of them will always be there together. So it is said that at the time of Jesus Christ, he brought only 12.

But this being Kalikala, he brought 16. And all the 16 direct disciples are not Ishwarakotis. Some of them, only about 6 of them he said are Ishwarakotis.

Of the 6, there was a householder, Poornachandra. He was the last one. Anyway, these are divine mysteries.

We will not understand it. What is important is that the power and the ideas and the ideals preached by any avatara will only last until that particular yuga lasts. A yuga is made up of certain what is called ideology.

Every yuga has got a particular name. Toynbee had done a marvelous job. He said the age of superstition, the age of faith, the age of rationality, the industrial age, like that every particular age has been divided into according to the particular type of spirit that is prevailing.

Spirit means that everybody will be mostly influenced by that spirit. What is our particular age? It is called age of reasoning. Even a child, you tell him God exists and why should he exist? Where does he exist? And why we are seeing so many things? Why I am not seeing God? Why is there so much of misery? Why, why, why? We all want to know why and how, understand through the intellect.

That's why Swami Vekananda had to preach Vedanta in the form of like in scientific language through rationality. You remember, if it is Upanishads, this is Aesha Adesha, Aesha Upadesha. This is Adesha, commandment because that was the age of faith.

As this scripture tells it and I have to do it. That is why the very meaning of the word scripture is Vidhi. Vidhi and Nishedha, Shastra.

It commands, it never requests, schedules, suggests. It just commands. Do this, do this, do this.

But coming back to our time for the next Yuga, this particular spirit of Sri Ramakrishna will prevail and they are talking about it. All this topic came because we are discussing that word Sat. What is Sat? Even an avatar becomes less powerful as time goes on.

Not only that, according to Vedanta, there are so many Kalpas. In the past Kalpa, so many avatars came. We also were there.

Do we remember any of them? Absolutely no. So Swami Vekananda had framed this particular idea, Jirumbhita Yuga Ishwara Jagadishwara Yoga Sahay. Jagadishwara, the Divine Lord.

What did He do? Jirumbhita Yuga Ishwara. He is the Lord of this particular Yuga which may last for 1000 years or at best 1500 years. We don't know what the world is going to be.

The world is changing very very fast. Coming back, existence we have to understand in two ways. Relative existence and absolute existence.

When here Shankaracharya is referring to Sat, he is not referring to the relative existence. Why? You have to remember what we discussed so far, even today itself. Relative existence is very relative.

It is temporary. It comes and it goes. Now, same thing you apply it to knowledge.

There is absolute existence and relative existence. And relative existence is a modification, an infinitesimal modification of the absolute existence. A tree, a man, a bird, a chair, a river, a mountain, etc.

And remember they have a birth date, they have a shelf life date, and they also what is called expiry date. Everything. Something may last for 1000s of years like a mountain.

But it will come to an end. For example, at one time there was this wonderful Saraswati river 11000 years back. Now we don't know.

But they say it has gone deep underground and sweetest water at least 5 to 10,000 feet underground near Allahabad, etc. That's why it is called Triveni. Ganga, Yamuna we can say Saraswati is underneath.

Triveni means through strands. Okay. Understand the same thing.

Chit. Absolute knowledge. It has no form, no name.

It is eternal. It never changes. But when it manifests, we call it relative knowledge.

For example, here is a scientist. Who is a scientist? A man who has got scientific knowledge. Here is a musician.

Who is a musician? He has got musical knowledge. Here is a cook. He has got knowledge of cookery.

He is a driver. He is a pilot. So for every activity there are specialists.

And the more a person has knowledge, the more specialized he becomes. There is a funny saying. Who is a specialist? A specialist is one who knows more about less.

For example, previously an eye doctor. He knows everything about the retina, about the eye and all those things. Now there is a super specialist.

Someone is specialized in examining the eye. Some are specialized in retina specialist. Some go even beyond that, the nervous system.

So a super specialist is one who knows everything about nothing. That is the definition of a super specialist. So this is an age.

The manifestation. Here is what is called eye specialist. Here is an ear specialist.

Here is an inner ear specialist. Here is a stomach specialist. So also here is a physics scientist.

Here is a biologist. Here is a zoologist. Like that more and more time passes on, more and more knowledge comes.

What are we talking about? This knowledge manifesting in the form of science, in the form of aestheticism or art or in the form of ruling, in the form of what is called statesmanship, in the form of interpersonal relationships, all these types of knowledge are but infinitesimal manifestations of that absolute knowledge. If we compare Brahman as the relative knowledge, it is not Brahman, it is Brahman, Brahma. So we have to remember he is the source.

And in Puranic terms, what is this source called? It is called Saraswati. Brahma is called pure existence. Saraswati is called pure knowledge.

A combination of both these are called Ananda, Purnananda. Sat, Siddha, Sukha. Same thing, relative happiness and absolute happiness.

Ananda. Here the word unfortunately used is Sukha. Because remember, if you remember cold, you are remembering heat.

Otherwise you will never know what is cold. If you say go to the sun and say good morning Mr. Sun, he will be wondering, good I understand what is morning. Because from the standpoint of the sun, there is no morning, he will be exactly the same.

The further he is, it is morning. He comes near, that is midday. And the further we are away, because he is also moving, we are also moving, earth is moving, sun is moving, we think his power is less.

Midday sun is terrible. So we divide it morning, noon and evening, and night when we don't see the sun at all. But if you go to the sun, there is absolutely no morning, no night, etc.

Absolute bliss, that means there is no Sukha, Dukha, there is absolutely only happiness. That is called Ananda. It is a technical word, don't use it for ordinary things.

I got Ananda eating a sweet, I got Ananda listening to music, etc. That would be a misnomer. So, Sat, Siddh, Sukham, that is absolute existence, and absolute existence is absolute.

There is no birth, there is no sustenance, there is no death. Similarly, that pure knowledge, that pure bliss. Let me give you, with regard to the bliss, another example.

Supposing you are very happy, early morning, the air is very cool, like spring, and it is beautiful. As the sun comes up, you feel the heat of the sun, and you become more and more little uncomfortable. When it is at noon, you will certainly not sit there, you will go inside and then take rest in the shade.

Towards the evening, again you come out because it is tolerable. This tolerable and intolerable is not the fault of the sun. This is how sometimes we are a bit happy, a little more happy, and all the time, what is called opposite unhappiness is trailing behind us.

Otherwise, even the cognition, I am happy, is only I am not unhappy, so it is called happiness, like a dimmer switch. So also, this Ananda, that's why deep sleep is called Ananda. It is called Ananda, Maya, Kosha.

There, we don't know what is Dukha, what is Sukha, even if somebody cuts us to pieces, of course, not deep sleep, but after giving anesthesia, we will never know anything about it. Absolute existence, absolute knowledge, absolute Ananda. They never change, they are eternal, there is no beginning, there is no end.

One more point, there are three epithets, Sat, Chit, and Ananda. We are dividing, here are three people, here are three chairs, here are three trees, etc. But when we are talking about absolute, Sat, Chit, and Sukham are not three different things, but that is the very nature, they are not the qualities, not that God exists, not that God has knowledge, not that God is happy.

They are the very nature, how that we usually use certain human words. The sun is shining, it is okay for the sake of our normal day-to-day life, but it is a wrong term to use because a man is walking. What is he doing? A man is walking.

That means if he chooses, he can stop walking, he can sleep, or he can do something else. He can jump or he can bury himself, but the sun cannot do anything else excepting to shine. That's why conventionally we say the sun is shining, but really speaking, the shining and the sun, there is no difference.

Milk is white, fire burns. You ask fire, why are you burning? It simply asks, if you have the intelligence to understand, what do you mean by burning? Because the fire never feels the heat. Because that is its very nature.

I hope you understand what I am talking. Fire will never burn fire. Fire burns everything else, but not fire.

So it doesn't know what is called burning. A light doesn't know what is called light. The sun doesn't know what is called light.

That is its nature. This is what we are talking. These three, existence, knowledge and bliss are not separate at all.

They are one in three and three in one. And they are not qualities. They are the very nature of that highest reality.

One more point and we are done with this. The point is when we use such thing, here is a tree exists. It is a positive term, the tree exists.

How do we know? Because anybody can experience it or somebody experienced it yesterday or 100 years back. So it has existed. But when we say Brahman exists, you are getting a positive idea.

What is the idea? With regard to any object in this world, something was not there before, it comes into existence, lives for some time and then goes back. A man is born 100 years back and then he lived for 100 years and then he died now. If you understand existence in that sense, then you are doing great justice to Brahman.

So what we have to say that Brahman is like fire whose very nature is existence. Brahman is like that. The knowledge itself is its very nature.

Ananda is its very nature. So to distinguish relative terms from the absolute terms, does God exist? No, He doesn't exist. Like a tree, like a man.

Then He doesn't exist then. No, no, no. Not that He doesn't exist.

So do you observe double negatives? Does God exist? Not that He doesn't exist. That means what? Positively we don't want to say God exists. Then you equate Him with a tree, with a man etc.

Does God have knowledge? No, no. Not that He is having knowledge. Not that He doesn't have knowledge.

Do you mean to say God has? No. Because every object in this world has only knowledge, is not knowledge. Similarly, does God have happiness? Not that He is not happiness.

That means what? The Vedanta is forced to use this what is called rational language to use double negative to indicate what we understand positively but thereby it avoids our ordinary understanding of what is Sat, Chit and Ananda. So God is existence. God is knowledge.

God is Ananda. Not relative existence, knowledge and bliss but absolute God is. Then He is not three.

He is when you see existence, you see the knowledge and you see the Ananda. When you see the knowledge, there is existence and Ananda. When you see Ananda, there is existence and knowledge.

These three are three different names for the same single Ekam Advithiyam Brahma. And this is the ultimate destiny Paramahamsa Gatim. If you see, here is a man, he wants to become a billionaire.

What is his goal? To become a billionaire. But here are great saints, Rishis, Munis from birth to death, life after death, life after life, they are going on striving for what? This one particular thing. What does it mean? Attain.

This word attainment again is a misnomer. Not attain but recognize I was Brahman, I am Brahman, I will be Brahman forever. So such a person who realized he is called Paramahamsa.

The word Hamsa is very interesting word as I explained in the book. This is the reverse. Hamsaha is Visarga.

Two small zeros at the end of the word is called Visarga. One is Anuswara, one is Visarga. This Visarga becomes, takes the form of O. Hamsa So, Saha becomes So, So, Ham.

When you put Saha plus Aham side by side by the grammatical rule. Of, what is called Sandhi. Two letters conjoining together.

Saha becomes So. But there is a Avaliptha. There is Avagraha we call it.

It is indicating one like reversed Yes will be there. And then afterwards we put Ham. So, Saha, Aham, So, then Avagraha, Ham will be there.

So, Ham, So, Ham. You go on repeating it. Ham, Saha, Ham, Saha, Ham, Saha.

So, this Soham is called Japa, Japa. From birth till death every living creature is going on experiencing doing this what is called continuous Japa going on. What does it mean? Ham, Saha means Soham.

What does Soham mean? Saha, Aham. I am He. I am He.

How does it go? Swamiji explains this in his Bhakti Yoga. Beautifully. So, what is this Soham? When you observe your in-taking breath So, and you observe the outgoing breath Ha, Ha.

So, Ha, Soham, Soham, Soham, Soham, Soham. Continuously it is going on Soham, Soham. If we pay attention to it then we have I am He.

Just join your mind pay attention your mind also will be attached if something is attached to a chain and which is moved by a machine you will also be moving so continuously this Soham is going on. Such a being who realizes is called a Hamsa and he is called a Paramahamsa who knows I am Brahman. So, these Paramahamsas when they attain to that state called Aham Brahmasmi they are called Paramahamsas and that is the highest state and that is the nature of Sat, Chit and Sukham that is called Paramahamsa Gati and it is called Turiyam.

Turiyam means the ground because of which all the three states were experienced by every living creature from morning to evening. Now, we will come to that part of it which is going to third line Yat Swapna Jagara Sushuptim Avaithi Nityam Nityam means constantly Avaithi means experiences and knows Remember these are the two words consecutive words you can never know something unless you experience you see a cow first and then you come to have knowledge this is a cow so what is human life it constantly from birth to death birth after birth goes through three states what are those three states waking state and dream state and deep sleep state this is what is being said Yat means that Brahman that pure consciousness which is called Turiyam Nityam Avaithi constantly witnesses and this word witness has got two implications which I will come to very soon what does this Turiyam witnesses Sakshatva Swapna Jagara Sushupti again for the sake of Chandas meter it is put this way the usual is Jagrat Avastha Sushupti Avastha Swapna Avastha and Sushupti waking dream and dreamless this is the consequence but actually it should be the other way round Sushupti Jagrat and then Swapna why is it why this particular one remember what is this waking state experienced through through physical body called the gross body what is the dream state experienced by the Sukshma Sarira or subtle body or the mind in simple words and the deep sleep experienced by Karana Sarira causal body now remember Karana means cause just as a seed contains the entire tree everything that we experience remains in a dormant state in the state of deep sleep that's why it is called Karana Sarira and the person who experiences as a special name he is called Prajna why Prajna Prajna means the Prakrishtena Ajnaha I do not know anything remember it is not a state of ignorance it is a state of witnessing the ignorance I am witnessing nothingness there is something I witness there is something in a room there is a man I see a man I witness that man that man goes away then I do not see that man to experience both the presence or absence of this person both there must be somebody who is witnessing so in deep sleep we do not lose consciousness we lose the external as well as the subtle world but Karana Sarira you will be there Karana Prapancha is experienced what is the nature of that Karana Prapancha there is nothing here there is nothing that's why you can't say I have seen something I know nothing you are experiencing that state called I know nothing so that is the first state logically then slowly this Sushupti sprouts that sprouting and growing is called Jagradhavastha waking state remember it in this order first deep sleep then waking state then comes again Swapna state then comes waking state then comes deep sleep state this is how the cycle goes on and on so why do I say so because remember what is a dream world dream world is nothing but all the memories and vasanas gathered during the waking state and remaining in that part of the mind called Chitta in the form of memory when we go to this dream state a part of our mind takes some of these memories and mixes them up like Khichdi and then makes it a man is flying I am flying so a horse is flying a flying bird and a running horse both are combined together a flying horse a walking bird like that any number of combinations is possible so the dream state cannot exist without the memories of the waking state that's why our scriptures tell first there is this Karana Sharira then from it comes the waking state from waking state comes the dream state again from after dream state we go back to the waking state and from waking state we go to the Karana Sharira like a tree which grows from a seed and then it gives flowers fruits and then again becomes a seed and then it goes back again to that state so that witnessing consciousness called Thuriyam what does it do it always bears witness Swapna the here because of the Chandas or meter it should have come actually Sushupti Jagrat and Swapna but first dream state then waking state then deep sleep state Nityam Avaithi so that Thuriyam state continuously witnessing the states are changing but the witness is not changing what does it mean first of all when you use that word state that brings is waking is a state dreaming is a state deep sleep is a state so this is a fourth state let us get rid of that idea Thuriyam is the continuously witnessing consciousness nothing to do with any state a state is always relative to each other it is temporary and it is everything is changing and it is experienced witnessed therefore it is an object Thuriyam is the very subject without getting involved so two points we need to remember here if you don't see something so far as you are concerned that thing doesn't exist only when you see something that thing exists first point second point whatever you are experiencing is totally different from you if you are witnessing a tree you are not a tree you are witnessing a house you are not the house you are seeing a car you are not the car that is the second point third point is whatever attributes or qualities the experience object is having a red rose or a green leaf or a big house those qualities belong to that object but not to you when you are looking at a red rose you don't become a rose you don't also become red or green or whatever it is these three points you remember you are a thuria state you are that pure consciousness you are witnessing what was the first point if you are not there if you are absent things do not exist and they exist only so long as you are witnessing it or experiencing it first secondly whatever you are witnessing doesn't belong to you you are not that thirdly whatever attributes you are witnessing because whenever you are witnessing an object necessarily you are witnessing also certain attributes small big green red fat thin etc they belong to the object not at all to you remember these three points so first point is if thuriyam is not there world itself will not be there second without thuriyam the world cannot exist at all it is existing means there is something who is lending existence to it consciousness to it ananda to it if we remember this yath nityam avaiti it illumines what illumines the three states of dream waking as well as sushupti or deep sleep and witnessing means it knows i am witnessing the waking state i am witnessing the dream state i am also witnessing the deep sleep state that is why i clarified am i witnessing the deep sleep state waking state dream state we can understand it but deep sleep we think we are not seeing anything that ability to know i am not seeing anything is also a state of witnessing because there is nothing for you to witness something is there in waking and dream nothing is experienceable excepting nothingness that is why without you you will never know how do you know upon waking up what do you say that you say that i slept well you don't say somebody else has come and slept and at the same time you also say that i know nothing you know nothing because there was no body there was no mind gross body gross mind subtle body and subtle mind is not there but seed body seed mind they are there in the in the way just as a seed is there away the constant it goes what why should we go through all this discussion because we are constantly identifying when you are in the waking state i am the maker when you are in the when i am in the dream state i say i am the dreamer when i am in the deep sleep state i am the sleeper continuously i am changing my identity and that is called insanity madness tell me really who you are now few hours you say i am a waker few hours i am a dreamer and few hours i am a sleeper tell me something which you always are that is this scripture tells us i am the tutorium so it is to remind i am not the waking state i am not the dream state i am not the deep sleep state what i am every morning i have to remember this yes jagrat svapna sushraktin avaiti nityam tat brahma i am that brahman nishkalam i am partless what does it mean in technical terms you say akhanda advaya means partless because anything that has a parts it will be broken apart anything that has parts will get destruction anything partless will never attain destruction because there is nothing that can make it destructive for example space is the greatest example always advaita vedanta gives that example what is the example space space is whether it is in a pot or without pot it is unbreakable so we will discuss this beautiful a few more that is to say i am not the body mind therefore if there is no body mind i do not have waking dream deep sleep then who are you i am turiyam i am the witness of all these three states for sadhana then you say tat brahma i am that brahman nishkalam i am partless nacha bhuta sangaha i am not made up of the five elements these beautiful ideas we will discuss next Thursday.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 2 on 19 November 2020

2025-01-18T16:22:02Z

DanielM: Pratah Smaranam Lecture 2 transcription

==Uncorrected machine transcription==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

We are discussing the Prathasmarana Stotram and just in my last class I have given you what is just called an introduction. The most important point of that introduction is these stotras, stutis of several kinds and one of the most important especially that we are supposed to remember chant is early in the morning and we would like to delve deep into it. Adi Shankaracharya has given us many precious gems, beautiful verses for all sadhakas irrespective of country, time etc and these stotras are called Prathasmarana Stotram.

This is not the only one as I mentioned earlier on the Saguna Brahma there are many for example Lalitha Prathasmarana Prathasmarana. Practically Ganesha, Karthikeya, Lakshmi, Saraswati, every imaginable form of God or Goddess. Of course the most memorable nobody can forget especially in South India is Sri Venkateshwara Suprabhatam and we have one of our senior Swamis Harshanandaji Maharaj has composed a most beautiful hymn, that is, starts with Dharmasyaha nivabhidah paridrishyasi grham Kamaara pushkaraite pratite samruddhe Grame suviprasadane yavijata deva Sri Ramakrishna Bhagavan Tava suprabhatam Suprabhatam means good morning, good morning not only for other people but most importantly for us.

What is the most important suprabhatam? We have to remember what is life, what is our kartavya, duty and what, how we have to achieve it. So this is what we are going to talk about, especially these particular three verses are about Atma tattvam. Pratha smarana, we have to remember.

Atma means not somebody somewhere at a long distance, not in Vaikuntha, not in Kailasa, not in Ramakrishna Loka, but me. Atma means me. Tattvam means truth.

What is the truth about me? Ramakrishna had beautiful sayings, gems with deep meaning. So he says here that everybody in this world is mad. Everybody is mad.

Who is a madman? He who doesn't know who he is, he is a madman. But there are many such mad people who are far superior to who consider themselves as normal people. This is not my statement.

The great psychologist Jung used to say most of normal people I find in life are most normal and those who think they are most normal, they are the most abnormal people in this world. So Ramakrishna's words tally not only from a spiritual standpoint, even from a psychological standpoint also. So we have been studying this Pratha smarana stotram.

Purely it is a nirguna tattvam, which is nothing other than our own true nature. We are going to talk about it. So the first shloka goes like this.

In plain words it means I am the Paramatma and I am not what I think I am in this world, a combination of body and mind, B and M complex. I remember in the morning the self which shines in my heart, which is existence, consciousness and bliss, Chidananda and which is the goal to be attained by the Paramahamsa Sanyasis, which is called the fourth state because it is beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. I am that Brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements, that is ether, air, water, fire and earth.

Now let us discuss one by one Pratha smarana. Early in the morning Pratha. So what does Pratha mean? According to Hindu sages, there are many sacred things in this world, sacred books, sacred people, sacred events, sacred times, sacred places which we call Tirthas.

What is sacred time? It is called Brahmi Mahota, a time of Brahman. What does it mean? It is much easier for anybody to remember God. Why? Because nature aids, helps all of us in making the mind very quiet, provided we fulfil certain conditions.

We eat early and we eat not to the full stomach, we eat what is suitable for us and then we go to bed, not jumping from the TV or internet or email to bed, but doing some japam, reading a beautiful book. You can also watch movies like Little Krishna, anything that makes our mind Godward and spiritual and with calm and quiet mind, if we go early to bed, we can rise early and usually the time between 3 o'clock and 5 o'clock, this is called Brahmi Mahota. 5 to until sunrise, it is called Ushah Kaala.

So not only that, Swami Brahmanandaji Maharaj, out of his own personal experience, used to tell this Brahmi Mahota differs from place to place. He said in Vrindavan, it is midnight. In Varanasi, it is after 3. Spiritual vibrations will be so deep at that particular time.

Anyplace we can find out a few days of experiment, if we can do, get up at 2 o'clock or 3 o'clock or 4 o'clock, find out when your mind, observe your mind, watch your mind is most quiet. Don't go by the books. You can take general advice, but don't go by the books.

Find out when you had very nice sleep, refreshing sleep and your mind is extremely calm, but alert at the same time, that is called Ratha Kaala. Also, it is not only Pratha Kaala, every devotee of Ramakrishna remembers early in the evening time. We call it Vesper service, Arathrikam time.

There also we have to remember. In fact, Aasuthehe Aamarana, Aamruthehe Kaalam Nahet Brahmachintaya Until we fall deeply asleep or until death overtakes us, we should strive to remember God. So in the evening Arathrikam time, after putting everything down, then we will have to sit and then remember what? Khandana Bhava Bandhana.

It is the divine Lord who He alone can cut, destroy our bondage. The whole essence of that Arathi hymn, beginning with Khandana Bhava Bandhana, is the very first line, Khandana Bhava Bandhana Vandhi Tomae. The whole world is only looking for it albeit unconsciously, but the whole world salutes because that is the greatest prophet in the world.

So also the greatest prophet in the world is to know who I am. So that is called Prathah Smarami. Smarami means I remember.

Prathah means early in the morning. Early in the morning means when my mind is absolutely quiet. Why am I dwelling on this such a long time? Because for some people 7.30 may be Prathah Kala.

That time may be the most suitable time. So it is not only the external time, but observe your mind when it is quiet and also most alert. That is Prathah Kala.

Smarami, remember. Why? Because we remember I am a man, I am a woman. Now I have to remember consciously with effort until it becomes an automated process.

Remember Sri Ramakrishna. Even though he was such a great soul, he used to at dawn and dusk, he used to clap his hands and take the name of different names of Gods. Ganga, Gaya, Gayatri, Krishna, Govinda, Mama Jeevanam, Mama Pranaha, etc.

It is for whose benefit? Not for his benefit, but to set an example to people like us when Sandhya time. That's why it is called Sandhya Vandana. We are still far away from Sandhya Vandana.

So we have to remember all the time, strive and pray to God. Oh Lord, let me remember you. Let me not forget you.

So what is early morning? Two conditions. Mind is very, very quiet and mind is very alert. At that time, whatever ideas sink in, they will be going deeply and helping us more.

But for different people, the morning could be different countries, different times. At the same time, there are certain general times, which are called meeting of the night and day and day and night. In fact, Hinduism says four times, early in the morning, midday and in the evening after sunset until it becomes dark and at midnight.

I have spoken extensively that the mind changes because we are still creatures of Prakruti, nature. Therefore, the entire Hindu musical system had evolved based upon this, the moods created by the external nature. So we don't sing a particular Raga at any given time, though nowadays people are violating them.

So early in the morning, one particular Raga, may be Bhairava, may be Bhairavi and when the sun gets up, may be Bhimapalasi. Then as the evening approaches, again Bhairavi Raga, Bhairava Raga, Malakosha, then midnight Ragas are there. Not only every day, but every season also, there are songs, Ragas to be sung in the rainy season.

There are songs to be sung at spring season. There are songs to be sung in summer, mid-summer season because nature has tremendous influence upon us. Not only that, when there are supposed to be eclipses, then the mind is supposed to be undergoing a peculiar mood.

This is not a superstition. Swami Vivekananda, when he was in East Bengal, in the house of Naga Mahasaya, an eclipse happened there and there is a rule, one has to eat food either before or after eclipse. There is also something very strange here.

Swami Vivekananda, he was the greatest rationalist in the world and yet he had certain beliefs based not upon superstition or blind, but upon experience. So he believed during the eclipse time, whatever a person does, he gets many fold result and he was lacking sleep. So he thought, I will eat food and I will try to sleep.

Then if I could manage to sleep during the eclipse, then I will get much more sleep in my life. But alas, that is not to be. He could not sleep.

Now my point is, I made deep research on this. I am making fun. Don't take it too seriously.

That since he tried to sleep and failed in it, his failure in sleeping will be a thousand fold more now from now onwards. So this Prathasmarami, early in the morning, what do I remember? Three things. What is Tattva? What is Purushartha? And what is Hita? Remember of course, Tattva is each soul is potentially divine.

So what is the Purushartha? To manifest this goal either by one yoga or the other. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature external and internal. This is called Purushartha, Paramapurushartha.

Hinduism crystal clearly divided life into the preparatory stage and the attaining stage, last stage. What are the preparatory stage? It's called Priya. What is Priya? Dharma, Artha and Kama.

What is Shreya? Only one, Moksha. That's why Hinduism divided life into four categories. That is Brahmacharya, student learning stage, experimental stage, semi-withdrawal stage and total stage of total self-surrender to God called Brahmacharya, Garhastya, Vanaprastha and Sanyasa.

Accordingly, the Vedas are also divided into four categories. What are the four categories? First stage, learn what is Dharma. Means these three things, Tattva, Purushartha and Hita.

Then enter into Grahastasrama. What one has to do? Grahastasrama, perform Nitya, Naimittika, Karyas, etc. Do not do any Nishaya, Karma, etc.

Then you worship God, slowly progress. Then when it comes, Vanaprasthasrama, that is called Aranyaka. Aranya means what Sri Ramakrishna used to call, develop more and more solitary state.

Try to remain by yourself, depending totally upon God and very happily, it's not a punishment, it is a goal, it is a necessary condition for developing, even for creative people like musicians, writers, etc., not to speak of Sadhakas. Of course, the ultimate stage is called Upanishad, which corresponds with the, what is called Sanyasa Ashrama with the sole goal or aim of Moksha. How beautifully our Vedas are divided into these four categories.

So, early morning, we have to remember, but it doesn't mean early morning any number of times because we are likely to forget during the course of the day and that's why in every Ashrama, practically, Vesper service goes on in the churches and in the mosques, everywhere, these evening reminders is there and especially Muslims, they call five times a day. Why? Because in case people forget, so, remember them and that is helpful for all of us also. Then, Pratha Smarana.

Remember. Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh. So, we have to, first stage is Shravana.

This Smarana is Shravana. Then only Smarana will come. You go on hearing this kind of hints, then slowly they will go inside.

What comes then? Then comes Smarana. Shravanam Kirtanam Vishnoh. Smarana comes only after trying to remember what we heard about God, about the goal of life.

Then, Hridi Samspurat Atmatatvam. Three words are there. Hridi, Samspurat, Atmatatvam.

Such beautiful meanings are there. We will go through them. So, also remember, even psychologists tell us the power of positive thinking.

A man has written a wonderful book that is Emotional Intelligence. Some other person has written Spiritual Intelligence. So, these are beautiful books based upon deep research, how man can be happy even in this world even if he is not spiritual.

But the funny thing is without being spiritual, not to label it as a spiritual life, but nonetheless living a spiritual life one controls one's mind, emotions, goals, etc. and such a person is likely to be more happy. So, we should remember only positive thoughts.

That's why what do we do when we meet each other? Namaste. Why do we do that? Because I am reminding you. Namaste means Oh man, I am not saluting you.

I am saluting real you, the Lord Narayana who is within you. So, also you do it. When Christians or Westerners meet, they shake hands as a token of friendship, say good morning.

Means what? Let your mind be filled with positive thoughts. So, what are the positive thoughts? We have to only remember our blessings. What are the blessings? We have seen in Vivekachudamani what are the three things are the result of God's greatest grace upon us, three great blessings.

What are they? The human birth and the desire for spiritual progress and favourable circumstances company of the holy. Dullabham Trayamevaitam Devanugrahahetukam Manushyathvam Mumukshathvam Mahapurushasamsayah So, we must remember the goal of human life. Why do we read the gospel every day? Why do we read Gita, etc.? Why do we attend these kind of classes? Only one purpose, for reminding ourselves our goal, etc., which is, what is that goal? Paramahamsagatin Turiyam What beautiful, precious gem-like words.

What is this? Paramahamsagati Each one of us have to reach Gati means the highest state of consciousness the ultimate goal, Paramapurushartha It is also called Turiyam. We will explore these things in future Paramahamsa means a person who had attained, who had become a saint, who had attained Atma Jnana, who is called Brahma Jnani, such a person is called Paramahamsa and every Paramahamsa attains to this state So, what are we talking about? We have to remind ourselves and there are only three ways to remember and attain the goal. So, what is that Smaraami? I remember or I contemplate on the Self, the truth of everything and His pure consciousness called Shuddha Chaitanya.

To count this blessing of my Swaroopam, Atma Swaroopam For this, every scripture and remember the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the Gospel of Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda's works are nothing but pure Upanishads presented to us in such a simple English or local language So, the scriptures present us three Upayas, we call it. What are they? Shravanam, Mananam and Nididhyasanam So, Shravanam and Mananam is to really feel we are blessed and this is the goal of life and there is no other goal of life. What is Nididhyasanam? Approach a Sadguru get His direction, surrender completely to His teaching Actually, surrendering to the Guru means surrendering to His teaching and not simply falling at His feet and pulling His legs.

As I mentioned once I was in UK one devotee came and I was standing fortunately near a table outside the lecture room and this lady made Sastang Pranams stretched her legs, started pulling my legs so that my legs will touch her head. Instead of bringing her head to my feet she started pulling my legs. Fortunately, I realised the danger, caught hold of the table and saved myself So, surrendering doesn't mean that paying attention to the physical aspect of Guru but who is a Guru? His teaching that means follow His teaching.

He is the best person Ramakrishna illustrates this so beautifully. There was a rich man, he had a garden he had two gardeners one garden goes on praising and another garden never comes to the master but with back breaking work he makes the garden so fruitful Whom do you think the master will be pleased with? So, surrender to the Guru means surrender to the teaching. It doesn't mean you neglect the teacher because the teacher reminds us that's why teacher is given the highest place even better than God's place.

So, that's why we say Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara I have mentioned earlier that there was a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in Brindavan and he was extremely harsh towards his disciples and the disciples and you have to remember the presiding deity of Brindavan is not Sri Krishna but Radharani just as the presiding deity of Ramakrishna Sangha is Holy Mother the presiding deity of Varanasi is Mother Annapurna that's why even Shiva had to take a begging bowl and stand in front of her to get Annapurna, Sadapurna but what is the viksha she gives Gnana, Vairagya, Siddhyartham, Viksham, Dehicha, Parvati Annapurna Stotram, please refer to it ok, so to count these greatest blessings to remember then what we need to do, first we have to Shravana, then only Manana then the idea takes deep root in our unconscious mind that is why even Prahlada's nine stepped way a ladder consisting of nine steps Shravanam, Kirtanam Vishnu, first Shravana then Kirtana, what is Kirtana? Manana, it is identified with Manana, then only Smarana will come so the Shravana Manana is there to make this idea go deep within our minds, that is why early in the morning we chant as I mentioned Sri Ramakrishna Tava Suprabhatam, Sri Saratheshwari Tava Suprabhatam Swami Vivekananda's also Tava Suprabhatam etc, so this counting this blessing should be done in the morning, why? because generally the mind is more calm more alert after deep sleep relaxation etc and do not forget that certain conditions to be able to sleep without fulfilling those conditions you can have nightmares or disturbing sleep, the result is early in the morning you do not feel ok, you carry on with the help of a black cup of coffee etc, that's not desirable, we must get up happily looking forward to jump into the days, when is the day going to start? Joyfully that is possible only if we fulfill those conditions, that's why it is said Brahmi Muhurta, what is Brahmi? When remembering God becomes much easier than before, therefore we have several Prathas, Smarana Stotras like Lalita Stotra, Prathas, Smarana Shiva, Vishnu and all sorts of things are there but one particular Stotram is extremely liking, it is called Govinda Damodara Madhaveti I don't remember who composed it but this is a beautiful Stotram, very less known but the idea is early in the morning Gopis in Vrindavan, they get up and after washing and finishing the ablutions what do they do? They were all cow headdresses, they have put the milk to make it into butter or curds, then they take up in a pot, they have to churn the butter at that time all the Gopis will be doing this Govinda Damodara Madhaveti with every Shloka so beautiful, there is no end we are so rich in all these things, let us remember it and finally Khandana Bhava Bandhana, so then where to remember, where is the place is it in the mind, is it outside or which part of the body, that's why it is good, Hridi Prathah Smarami Hridi Hridi means heart very often in the Upanishads we get this one, Hridi is in the heart as a symbol of cave, so we get in the Katha Upanishad, just now we have finished it, the very 17th, the penultimate mantra in the 6 sections of this Katha Upanishad Angushta Matraha Purushaha Antaratma Sada Jananam Hridaye Sannivishtaha, so where is this Atman, Jananam Hridaye, in the hearts of the people always Sada Sannivishtaha it is not that he has some time, every time you go there, he will be there and he is there, so that you can conveniently contemplate upon him, not as Arjuna gets frightened Angushta Matraha, why Angushta after hearing the 11th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna got frightened, but when you see a ferocious Saint Bernard or an Alsatian dog, I am sure your heart will break, but there are very cute, small dogs are there they are even smaller than cats and with that soulful eyes when they look at you, you will lose your heart forever and will you get frightened about it, that's why Angushta Matraha means that contemplation of the divine form which will invoke in you no fear absolutely and the greatest joy and he is always available so this Atma Tattvam is always with us where, in our Hridaya and it is hidden deeply in the cave of our own hearts, Nihitam Gohayam, Hridi heart is the cave, the deepest recess of your own being that's really this ultimate being, you have to be very cautious in not allowing this thought to slip out at any time, namely your deepest recess of existence cannot be outside the deepest recess of the cosmos Sri Ramakrishna says the heart is the drying room where we meet the rich person or Jamindar so this is what we have to understand it, Hridi is the best place, once a devotee asks Sri Ramakrishna, this comes in the gospel, says sir, what is the best place to think of God why? so the most marvelous place is Desh Jayega, in Bengali this is the Hridaya why Hridaya? I remember something, I have to share it with you even some of you might know about it Swami Virajanandaji was the direct disciple of Holy Mother and he was a man of contemplation, even he created in that Mayavati that was not sufficiently solitary enough, he built a place called Shyamalathala Shyamalathap it is called and most of the time he used to go and meditate after several years he had got what is called migraine headache and he had to come down to Belur Math he asked Swami Brahmanandaji and Brahmanandaji Maharaj knew the trouble but to increase his Guru Bhakti he asked you go and meet your Guru, Holy Mother so of course with greatest joy he went into Holy Mother and he entered into the room Holy Mother had one look said Baba where are you meditating that means in the body where is your concentration is it in the what is called Sahasrara or Ajna Chakra in the forehead, he said in the forehead, my son only highly evolved few souls should meditate there it is completely wrong I don't know who instructed you to do this just for a few days stop meditation otherwise the old Samskara will come up and then joyfully she started cooking and feeding and making him very happy after few days that migraine headache totally disappeared then she told him meditate always in the heart so Swami Brahmanandaji used to say if you meditate on the forehead many people are likely to get headache and they become headache to others and they become the greatest headache to God himself and Guru himself because they don't know what they are doing very briefly I will explain to you what is the psychology behind it see in this body so much of blood is flowing and if any part of the body becomes injured immediately there would be pain, pain is the mind reminding us there is something wrong here you must attend it to it immediately and there blood gathers so when blood gathers it has two purposes first of all it washes away all the germs which are not travelling from China they are there all around us the moment they get one small opportunity immediately they try to rush it immediately the blood will flow what is it doing? it is not doing danger to us it is washing away like we wash dirt with water all the germs and then second function is it completely seals that area which forms a scab in course of time what is the point to remember not the scab but wherever the mind goes blood flow increases so if we start to meditate upon the stomach that's what happens when we are hungry we are reminded of the stomach you say you are hungry which part of the body your mind is stuck in it generally this if you have a very what is called erotic feeling then the organs appropriate organs they are swelling with blood etc they are all right for that particular purpose this is only to illustrate somebody without getting qualification without able to control the mind starts to think anything not only of God but concentrating in the forehead that will create blood flow will come and then if the person is not able to control it then migraine will be natural result so Brahmanandji said heart is the place and physically immediately the heart the physical heart affects and then what happens when the blood gathers its natural function to distribute this blood throughout the world that is how this psychological condition psychologically psychosomatic affect can be controlled Hridaya that is the place to remember God that is why most of our Upanishads where to think of God Hridaya that's why Sri Ramakrishna said every word of Sri Ramakrishna is very very precious for us that's why he says that rich man can be anywhere but usually he is found in the drawing room what is that drawing room our hearts so samspurat atmatattvam samspurati spurati the most beautiful word spurati means something is shining all by itself swayam prakasha like light even the external lights the sun, the moon the fire, the candle light, even the speech etc. they are all external lights but they must be an internal light to recognize the external lights so that is why to remind us everyday we are singing what are we singing jyothira jyothi the light of the lights ujjvala hridikandra oh lord reveal yourself as the light of lights in the recess of hridaya kuhara and here I have to tell you something very very important when we are studying the Upanishads we come across to see anything there must be space akasha you see a tree it is in akasha you see a house it is in akasha this is called bahya akasha external space similarly to find out thoughts in the mind there must be an akasha because every thought is an object what is an object whatever the subject experiences is an object so I am experiencing the object in the mind I am happy, I am unhappy I am rich, I am poor I am healthy, I am famous etc. all these thoughts are crystal clear objects in the mind therefore there must be for us to experience those objects there must be an akasha space what is that akasha it is called chitta akasha don't say chitta akasha chitta akasha chitta means mind then for thinking of god because god is sat chit ananda god cannot be really thought in the chitta akasha god has provided us another akasha and that is called chitta akasha don't confuse with chitta akasha the external sense organs function in the bahya akasha the mind functions in the mind space which is called chitta akasha and the spiritual thoughts meditation in the advanced stages functions only in the chitta akasha and that chitta akasha is called hridaya chitta akasha is called the gufa so so many names are there there this atman is shining as I said sphurati how is it doing it sphurati means automatically nobody need light it up in fact it is the one which makes us recognize every lighted object so that jyoti jyoti light of the light it is always shining there how sam sphurat by itself and that is called consciousness chaitanya and that is called sat chit ananda so what is it doing there s c i v s puranam in the dakshina murthy stotram actually when we study dakshina murthy stotram we get this prathasmana stotram is an essence of this dakshina murthy stotram so what is it telling in the third shloka of the dakshina murthy stotram he by whose light this unreal universe is lighted up and appears as real that is called s c i v s puranam in the seventh shloka so beautifully it is said avasthasu api vyavruttasu anuvartamanam aham iti antahas purantham sada aham aham me in jagradhavastha waking state me I am the waker in dream state I am the dreamer in deep sleep state I am the sleeper so there are special names for this in the advaita vedanta technological terms what is it called vishwa thaijasa and prajna so what is telling I was in the dream state I was in deep sleep state I am in the waking state did you notice this grammar you cannot talk about dream as well as deep sleep I am in dream state you don't talk I am in deep sleep that means you are not in deep sleep but you can't talk I was in the waking state that you cannot talk you will have to talk only in the present tense I am in the waking state so find out where are you now so svatmanam prakati karoti this what is this in the hridaya kohara this bal yadishu in the childhood in youth in middle age old age until death what is telling I I was a child I was an adolescent I was youth I was middle age I was old age etc similarly jagrat swapna sushupti sarvasu api avastasu what is it doing I am the waker I am the dreamer I am the sleeper all the time that I never disappears the states will change states of the conditions of the body will change but that I never changes so svatmanam prakati karoti bhajatam yo mudraya bhadraya rasmai sri gurumurthaye namaidam sri dakshinamurthaye very interesting word bhadraya mudraya so that most wonderful mudra you know what is mudra that is various parts of the body are joined together of all these things one mudra is the greatest that is called gnanamudra so if you look at gnanamudra it is also alternatively called chin mudra chit means gnanamudra you can see the thumb and index finger are joined together the other three fingers they are separate what does it mean for a non realized soul that index finger indicates jivatma the thumb represents paramatma the other three fingers represent consecutively the waking state the dream state and the deep sleep state when a person through sadhana can separate saying I am not the waker I am not the dreamer I am not the sleeper then who am I? then that is called joining the index finger with the thumb then the other three will not disappear but he knows I am not the body I am not the mind I am not the karana sharira also this is called bhadraya bhadra mudra bhadra means that which saves a person is the safest place to live that is called tasmai sri gurumurthaye nama idam sri dakshinamurthaye so we come to the next sat chit sukham paramahamsagatim turiyam there are five words are here sat chit sukham paramahamsagatim and turiyam beautiful words as if he picked up the very essence ho shankaracharya the essence of all the scriptures not only hindu scriptures but whether they are christian bible or tripitaka or koran so what is it? the goal to be attained by the paramahamsa sanyasis which is called sat chit ananda and it is done through the discrimination between real and unreal and this is the highest state this is called paramahamsagati and it is called turiyam those who have studied the three states waking and dream and deep sleep and apart from that that other state is called turiyam but turiyam is not a fourth state though many times it is translated as the fourth state the moment we say fourth we have to remember three, two, one that would lead us to very wrong conclusion so that adhishtana substratum without which that waking, dream deep sleep cannot take place what is that substratum? I am in the waking state I was in the dream state I was in the deep sleep state what was changing? waking, dream and deep sleep what was not changing? I, so the three states from birth to death waking, dream, dreamless are continuously going on not only at particular periods of time but very often at all periods of time is going on you have been listening for almost 50 minutes now and how many times you have gone to America to Australia, to India how many times you have forgotten what was that state you were dreaming if only I win this lottery ticket wonderful, how many times your mind has gone blank that is called dreamless state and again now and then coming back and say ok Swamiji is still there and he is continuing all the time so the goal to be attained by these great Paramahamsas we would put it the other way one who attained that goal he is called Paramahamsa and what is that goal? it is called Turiyam Turiyam means the Adhishtana substratum which is nothing but me, I I in the waking state I in the dream state as well as I in the dreamless state what is my nature? here Sat, Chit and Sukha means Anandam here instead of Anandam uses the word Sukha Sat means, Swami Vivekananda translated existence absolute Chit means knowledge absolute Anandam means bliss absolute absolute means what? that which doesn't have any manifestation existence without manifestation, knowledge without manifestation and bliss without manifestation that is the true nature of God we will finish today's talk with one reminder which I will expand day after tomorrow if God permits so it is this, this is one of the most interesting means of teaching the disciples so the Vedanta scriptures especially Upanishads adopt two methodologies the first one is what is called Tatastha Lakshana to describe Brahman or real me and the second is called Swaroopa Lakshana Tatastha means something accidentally is there, so for example you go to a colony where there are hundred houses exactly the same you want to meet someone whom you know and you do not know which is the right house, then you ask somebody and he says look there is a red cloth hanging for drying and that is the house you are seeking, so that hanging of the red cloth is only very accidental because after one hour the red cloth may be replaced by no cloth or green cloth or a crow is sitting there this is called Tatastha Lakshana Lakshana means Lakshayate Lakshayati Iti Lakshanaha by which we come to know definitely this is this, that is called Lakshana characteristic, this is called Sat, Chit and Ananda or Srishti Stithi Laya, creation as well as maintenance, as well as destruction are called Tatastha Lakshanas, whereas Sat Chit Ananda, they are called Swaroopa Lakshanas, what is Swaroopa and what is Lakshana It is a beautiful intellectual topic, not only interesting, it sharpens our brain and we will talk about it in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Pratah Smaranam Lecture 1 on 14 November 2020

2025-01-18T16:14:35Z

DanielM: Pratah Smaranam Lecture 1 transcription

== Uncorrected machine transcription ==

ॐ

जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।

पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

By the grace of the Divine Mother, we were able to complete one of the most beautiful summarizations of spiritual practice called Sadhana Panchakam. From today, continuing the same tradition, sometimes these are called hymns or stotras. A stuti gives us the meaning, praise, to extol somebody, but there are very few people who know that these hymns are of so many varieties, of so many bhavas and so many classifications and the same thing applies also to all bhajans.

(0:58 - 1:59)
What is the big deal of difference between a bhajan which we call a devotional song and hymns, stotras? The difference is mostly the stotras are chanted, but nowadays people are also singing just with tabla etc. like any other bhajan, but the tradition is that most of them are only chanted whereas bhajans nobody really chants excepting when quoting in a speech or quoting in a book. It is mostly sung, put to rhythm, raga etc.

As we all know that music is a very specialized art. Everyone cannot appreciate it. There are only a few people among all the human beings who have that special sense called aesthetic sense and that is a very specialized field.

(2:00 - 6:54)
In this field of what is called Saundarya Kala, nine bhavas are there, nine types of emotions to be expressed. For example, joy, sorrow, separation, self-pity and heroism, hero, then romanticism, humor, so many things are there, shingara rasa, dharma rasa, ananda rasa etc. Nine, Navarasa, that's why it is called Navarasa and most of what applies to this Kalashastra also applies to these both the bhajans as well as the stothis.

Before we go into the details of this Shankaracharya's Pratah Smarana Stotram, a hymn that has to be chanted as soon as we wake up. That word Pratah has very special meanings. We will come to that in a sooner, but today we are going to study what are the hymns and how many types of hymns are there and how many what we call bhavas, feelings, emotions created and I will give you also along with some examples the types of feelings that every human being goes through when he goes through these stothis and there are some great composers who are sadhakas.

Nobody can compose a hymn or write a devotional song unless the person himself is an advanced sadhaka or at least person sincerely has started spiritual sadhana, but many of them have been composed in a state of ecstasy where what we modern psychological terminology is called automatic writing. They did not sit and then compose. They just emanated spontaneously, intuitively from the mouths of these great souls.

Tulsi Dasa, Meera Bai, Kabir Das, North India, Tukaram, Namdev's Abhangas, then we get Bengal, Ram Prasad, Kamalakanta, Premik etc. Then when we come to the south, Thyagaraja, Purandar Dasa, Muthuswamy Dixitar, Bhadrachala Ramdas and so many others. Nowadays some people are trying to create some bhajans without any experience just because they know a little bit of some language.

They have some poetical skills, but needless to say they have all taken their cue from the earlier traditions. So if anybody thinks that hymns are of only one type, that is a great mistake because there are many varieties, classifications and types of both stotrams as well as bhajans or kirtans. Comparable to this we have especially in the south India what we call Suprabhatams.

Venkateshwara Suprabhatam, then Devi Suprabhatam, Lalita Suprabhatam. Let us first briefly, briefly I said because these bhavas have been extensively studied and classified by earlier persons and one of our publications it is called the spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja. One great south Indian scholar called Raghavan, he had translated and there in the introduction as well as in the main body of the text he gives great details how these bhajans can be divided into so many bhavas, types.

Sthai bhava, Sanchari bhava, Aviraha bhava etc. But first we will very briefly discuss what are the types of stotras, hymns of various types. First classification is there are Vedantic, means Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, specially of Advaitic hymns.

What we are going to discuss today is pure Advaitic type. Then there are innumerable Bhakti stotras of devotional types. Then there are peculiarly some stotras called sectarian.

They only praise either Vishnu or Shiva and even do not hesitate to condemn and look down that if you praise somebody else then you will go to the other place. We will not go into that business but Vedantic devotional. What does it mean? Gnana mukhya stotras or Bhakti purna stotras.

(6:54 - 8:41)
When we analyze different bhajans we also get more or less exactly the same classification. Then the next classification is all hymns are of two types Sakama and Nishkama. Example of Sakama is Dhruva stuti we get in Bhagavatam that he performed tapasya for the sake of obtaining a kingdom because he was very much disturbed that he could not sit in the lap of his father.

This is called Sakama. Later on of course by the vision of Bhagavan Vishnu he was transformed into a great devotee. But when we come to Prahalada stuti in the Bhagavatam pure what Sri Ramakrishna used to call Ahaituki Bhakti.

Devotion without any motivation and motivation for devotion is again divided into two classes. One type they say oh lord I don't want anything excepting you but the other one for example Kulasekar Alwar in Mukunda Mala he goes to the other extreme. He says oh god I don't care for you.

I just want devotion and Purandara Dasa also reflects. If I have your name you can go to the other place. I don't care.

Of course we all know Nama and Amni. The name and the named are exactly one and the same but here like the second yogi in the parable of Sri Ramakrishna let god come let not god come. I don't care let me have devotion.

(8:41 - 9:32)
In Chaitanya Sikshastaka we have the same thing. Kulasekar Alwar he says oh lord make me born as but one thing do not deprive me of that let me now never forget your lotus feet and devotion. Yamanacharya he had composed a most beautiful hymn called Stotra Ratna and there also it is consisting of 60 odd shlokas and there also he says you make me born even in the lowest lifetime like an Kittaka but I beg only let me never lose devotion to your lotus feet that means irrespective of whether I am happy unhappy you do not deprive me of devotion to your lotus feet.

(9:32 - 13:58)
There are also so many modern devotees who say I cannot live oh lord without you. Sakama and Nishkama what is the example of Sakama? I was going to come a little bit later but let me just give you Hanuman Chalisa, Sri Suktam and then also the Kanakadharastavam. I wanted money I chanted Sri Suktam and Kanakadharastotram.

Devotion is there but it is Sakama Bhakti. I want something from god but here also again two times I want something for myself and I want something for serving other people. That is one classification.

Then another classification is some hymns emphasize Bhakti, some emphasize Gnanam. For example the hymn we are going to study today it emphasizes more of knowledge. So that is Gnana emphasizing Stotram and Bhakti emphasizing Stotras are there.

As an example one of the most important hymns is Annapurna Stotram. At the end of it Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Oh mother I beg you alms.

What alms? Do I want food? Do I want money? Want anything else? No. Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham. I want knowledge.

I want devotion. I want discrimination. I want dispassion.

Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Then the next classification is we know that in Hinduism there are three types of thoughts about God. Concepts of God.

Two of male and one of female. Vishnu, Shiva and Devi and we have plethora of hymns and mostly composed by this great Shankaracharya in his own inimitable Sanskrit style and Devi Stuti, Vishnu Stuti and as well as Shiva Stuti are also there. As mentioned earlier we also have got what we call those which are emphasizing Gnanam and Shankaracharya also emphasizes for example Bhakti.

In Bhavani Astaka Gatistvam Gatistvam Tvameka Bhavani. Then there are some hymns which which take the place of Japam. We know what is Japam.

Japam means repetition of the name of God. A devotee is never satisfied with repeating only one particular name of God. So he wants to repeat so many names of God.

So we have got what is called 108 names of God. 1008 names of God. Most famous Shiva Sahasranama, Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama.

Then you name the God then every type of Sahasranamas are there. Thousands of names are there. This is mostly Japam.

A person who cannot keep his mind steadfast on one particular name of God, for such persons this particular Sahasranama is prescribed, advocated. So the mind is restless but it is happy to chant. Most of the time we go to the temples on particular specified dates and here North India and South India differ.

In Bengal the Saturday and Tuesday is very auspicious for Devi and we divided the seven days of the week into particular indicating seven deities. For example, Monday is for Shiva, Tuesday is for Devi, Wednesday for Ramakrishna, Thursday for Guru and Hanuman and Friday for Lakshmi and Devi. Saturday, this is according to South Indian tradition, Saturday either Hanuman or miscellaneous Gods and Sunday any God or Goddess.

(13:58 - 16:30)
This is the tradition we follow in our Ramakrishna order. Slightly differently it will be followed in the Bengal. For example, Thursday is good for Devi, Saturday as Ramakrishna says is good for Kali, Durga etc.

Then there are what is called some hymns which describe you want to be a Bhakta, a devotee, you want to progress in spiritual life. Purely this kind of things, some kind of what is called bhajans or stotras, they are full of this what type of qualities we must acquire. To take from Bhagavad Gita, the 12th chapter of the qualities of a Bhakta, from 13th chapter Amanitva, 16th chapter Daivashara Sampad Vibhaga.

We have a most famous Hindi bhajan. It starts like this, Itne guna jame so sant. He is a saint.

Santa means a devotee. This is a beautiful word. We say Sant Mahatma, Sant Lok.

Santa means that is sprung from the root word Sat. He who is a Satpurusha, he who alone exists all the time, he who is a holy person and such a person is called a Santa and naturally in him so many qualities are. Itne guna, these many qualities jame in whom so are present, that person alone is called a Santa.

This word so is a Hindi word, not the English word. So you can also take it in the English word. How do you know sir that you are asserting so? So Srimukha Kamalakanta, Srimad Bhagavatam, Madhya Jasagave Srimukha Kamalakanta.

Kamalakanta means Vishnu, Narayana, Krishna himself had sung the qualities of a saint in that great Purana Bhagavatam. So it goes on. So Harike bhajanu sadhuki seva, always worship Hari and associate with the holy people, cultivate holy Sangha etc.

Then he goes on. Another hymn is Vaishnava Janatam Thenekahi. It is full of characteristics which every sadhaka had to do it.

(16:30 - 17:45)
So there are this kind of, this stotram we are going to study is full of this one. What should you do as soon as you wake up when you are in a freshness of the mind? So smarami hridi samskurat Atmatatvam. Remember God as soon as you get up.

Kausalya supraja rama purva sandhya pravartate utthishta narasya ardhula kartavyam daivam ahinikam. Venkateshwara stotram starts with that. Remember Venkateshwara, the Lord.

And so we have got Suprabhatams. Dharmasya anima vitha paridushya sigram. Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhata is there.

Sri Ramakrishna Bhagavan tava Suprabhatam. Then we have got stotrams that describe the nature, the karma and the special quality of the God or Divine Mother. One of the most of these which in the Ramakrishna order, the third hymn which we sing every day Sarva Mangala Mangalye.

What is the nature of the Mother? Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Sarva artha sadhike. She is capable of giving everything.

(17:45 - 18:27)
Whatever she does is the most auspicious thing. What is the most auspicious thing? Parama purusha artha. She can give mukti, she can give mukti.

She can give prayers, she can also give sreyas. But if she gives prayers that is called Mangala. But if she gives sreyas, mukti, that is called Sarva Mangala Mangalye.

She is the auspiciousness of every other auspiciousness, the essence of everything, Satchitananda. That is the very nature. Why is it her nature? Why do we need to remember it? Because only a rich man can help a poor man.

(18:27 - 19:09)
Only a scholar can give knowledge to a person who doesn't have knowledge. Only a strong person can help a weak person. So only one who is God can give godliness to anybody else because God is Sarva Tantra Swatantra.

He is not only infinite but he can give and what can he give? Usually means he gives himself. Even if he gives money, slowly he will fulfill the desires but he will give bhakti along with that. The greatest poison in this world to worldly happiness is called bhakti.

(19:09 - 20:07)
Once bhakti comes everything is destroyed. That bhakti destroys everything. Who says? Sri Ramakrishna says.

What did he say? He compared once bhakti is like a terrible huge tigress. Just as a tigress falls upon every other animal, once God grants bhakti because you cannot develop bhakti because you don't have it. So only God can give.

Once this bhakti is given to you, it becomes like a tigress. It kills every other animal because every other animal is weak, small and this is the What does it mean? This tigress called Sachidananda gives you so much ananda that it automatically destroys every object after which we are running all the time. So this is the negative function.

(20:07 - 20:54)
Bhakti performs a negative function of destroying everything and at the same time destroying what? Ajnana, avidya and making a person purna, completely infinite. This is Sarvamangala. This is the nature of the Divine Mother.

Then what is her karma? Shristi sthiti vinashana. She creates, she sustains, she also destroys but deeper meaning of it is she can give bhakti jnana, she can also increase that bhakti jnana, she can also destroy it if a person becomes arrogant, pride, prideful, proud and egotic. Example is when the gopis met Krishna, they became proud.

(20:55 - 21:30)
Immediately he disappeared and that produced what Vaishnava literature names it as viraha. That viraha is the ultimate intensity of suffering and it cannot be compared to any other type of suffering and it is the nature of person when he experiences any type of suffering, he wants to get out as quickly as possible but this viraha, this suppression was given by God. Therefore what does he do? Him along with that viraha, it is like a terrible poison.

(21:30 - 22:46)
As soon as they became filled with pride, God disappeared, viraha came, viraha means suppression and they realized it is our I. We were thinking it is my I but God made them realize that I also was given by God himself. We have this reference in the gospel once Krishna was described. By the way there is a beautiful way of understanding Vaishnavism through the gospel of Shri Ramakrishna.

We are only taking most general sense. Shri Ramakrishna was talking about Krishna, about gopi viraha etc. There are two aspects, I have not gone into details there but these are one aspect is the Rasha Leela of Bhagavan Krishna with gopis.

This is one of the most esoteric episodes in the life of Krishna and it surpasses even more than the Gita Upadesha. That's why there are two books by Krishna, rather three types of teachings, Bhagavad Gita, Anu Gita and Uddhava Gita. This aspect of bhakti has been mostly emphasized in the Uddhava Gita.

(22:47 - 24:15)
Ramakrishna gives this story, Uddhava was sent to Vrindavan to make him understand, because he was a Gnani type, what true devotion is like. So Krishna granted them that viraha vedana and then that destroyed their pride and Bhagavatam describes in inimitable language, every gopi given, destroyed her individuality, became one with God because destruction of individuality is attainment of universality. Then every gopi is telling, look, look, I am Krishna and you are gopi.

I am going to play with you. Like that every gopi felt her identity with Bhagavan. Another secret related to this is Bhagavatam gives an open secret.

How many gopis? Hundreds. How many Krishnas? Superficially hundreds. Between two gopis, that's what we get in calendars, that's what we get the outward expression.

But the inner essence is, every gopi is seeing only one Krishna, her Krishna and nobody else. That play between the Bhakta Atma and Paramatma is called Rashadeva. That is the first point which is hidden in the gospel of Ramakrishna.

(24:15 - 26:33)
The second secret is, very few people know that Sri Ramakrishna showed as an example, what is Rasha Leela. At Kamarpukur, he played this Leela. How do we know? Because the great master gives a hint without going into details that there were some girls who were imbued with the greatest devotion to God.

They considered and worshipped Sri Ramakrishna Gadadhar as none other than Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Their relationship was an absolutely purest relationship and even when they became old, they could not forget him. How could they? So, this aspect we did not want to emphasize or Swami Saradanandaji, Swamiji, Brahmanandaji did not want to emphasize because what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did was that and the result was secret societies everywhere in the name of Rasha Leela and it brought destruction to the religion.

Dharma Shruti had happened. Adharma had risen. Okay.

Anyway, so what does the Divine Mother do? Srishti, Stithi and Vinasha. It doesn't mean only creating the world, sustaining the world and destroying the world. It also applies equally to not only to the gross body, gross world, Sukshma Prapancha, also Karana Prapancha.

So, here a devotee's world is Bhakta Prapancha, Bhakti Prapancha. There also it is the mother who creates Bhakti. It is the mother who sustains it.

It is the mother again who destroys that Bhakti. What does that mean? Does a person go to hell because she destroys? No. Your very personality is destroyed so that you will not have to be reborn again but there are certain songs which are very popular in the Ramakrishna order.

If anybody thinks that I am a great person, I attained everything by myself. Some people, oh mother, you elevate to the position of Brahma. Some people and same people maybe, she will again bring them down but she is a mother.

(26:33 - 28:21)
She cannot bring them down permanently. It is only to purify their impurities, destroy their impurities, avidya as divine mother had done which we discussed in such considerable detail about Totapuri Maharaj. She destroyed his individuality and thereby you close your eyes, it is Brahma and you open your eyes, it is again the same Brahma.

So that is what the mother does. But she has a role to play. Her only job, if you ask her, oh mother, what's your most important role? He says, the rescuing those people who surrender themselves to me and who do not know anything except me, who call me by the name of mother, only those people, I have immediately, that is my biggest job in this world.

So the nature of the divine mother, the nature of her activities and ultimately what is her main mission in life, this is what we call Sarva Mangala Mangaliye. Then there is another hymn, a begging and beseeching. We have got Purandar Dasa as an example, oh lord, I am in trouble, I am praying to you, you are not coming to me, apply, apply, no reply, remember here.

If you do not show love to me, then you will not get another person who is as in a bad shape as in me. Your name is what is called Artha Trana Parayana. So I am begging you.

(28:27 - 28:49)
So this is begging and beseeching. This is what Sri Ramakrishna said, oh mother, why are you excluding me? The whole world is in you. Am I alone outside the world that you are looking after the whole world but excluding me, you are not bestowing your grace upon me.

(28:49 - 38:57)
Then there are songs and hymns, I am combining them together, the bhava, the essence is the same, of heroism, tremendous heroism. Okay, I am praying to you, you are not replying to me, I will take you to court. There is one example of Ram Prasad, I will, oh mother, if you do not listen to me and do not give me my rightful heritage, I will drag you to the court and as a witness that I am your son, I will drag my father Shiva with me, he will bear witness for me, yes, yes, this is our son, my wife is unfortunately neglecting him, she doesn't want to give his heritage, this is heroism, why? Because we are the sons of a heroine, anyway, don't misunderstand the word heroine and rush for your buckets.

Ram Prasad, he says, then of joy there are stotras which are merely out of realization and out of joy, oh lord, now I know who you are, I see you everywhere and that indescribable joy is described both in these stotras as well as in songs. One example, this is only a sample, you can get plenty of them everywhere. Purandara dasas, Govinda, Govinda, Ati Ananda, by taking the name of Govinda and immersed in a sea of bliss, how could he, the same man who says, if you do not come to my rescue, then you will not be able to retain your Olympic titles, how could he do that? He can do that because you have bestowed your grace, you made him understand, then there are hymns of sorrow, tremendous things are there, so many varieties are there of bhajans and of stotras, one of the stotras which I mentioned that of sorrow, oh mother, I am calling you again and again but you are not responding, and then there is one beautiful song, I think it has been probably composed by one of the Sikh gurus, maybe, I think it is Guru Nanak, Hari Bina Kaun Teri, who else is there for you excepting Hari, Hari means God, so according to Sikhism, they do not care much for oh man, there is nobody excepting God for you, then there is also the most famous hymn again composed, it is called Mohamudgara Bhaja Govindam Stotram, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja Mudamate, this is meant for the sake of invoking Vairagya, days are passing, so it says, when death is approaching you, full of dispassion, now when you are earning money, everybody is running, please come father, please wash your feet, here is coffee and idli and you take rest, but as soon as you stop earning money, unable to walk, the body became wrinkled, the hair has become white, hardly is able to see, nobody asks him, hey old fellow, why are you giving so much trouble and how long are you going to be here giving us trouble, but sometimes we hide our hypocrisy, oh God, our father, grandfather is suffering so much, please take him away to free him from his troubles, water in brackets to free us from suffering on account of him, this we don't say, of course there are people with devotion, then there are hymns of self-pity, oh Lord, I am the lowliest of the lowly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pinastumam, may Bhagavan Krishna just put me under his feet and then smash me to pieces, you are the severe of the poor and the helpless, then despair, many times we are doing our best, no results seem to come, then karunakarani embudetako, so why should we call him a merciful person, so then there are some prayers for the fulfilment of one's desires, secular as well as spiritual, as I mentioned in this very talk earlier, so what are the examples, Hanuman Chalisa, many people ask me, Swamiji, we are going through a very rough patch, I say you recite Hanuman Chalisa, millions of people got benefit, you will also get benefit, then we are not having any jobs, okay, I advised many people, repeat Sri Sukta, repeat Kanakadharastava, if you do it, mother's grace will come and then you will be redeemed, there are some hymns which are glorifying the name of God, not glorifying God, please take note, glorifying the name of God, one example I cited, Purandara Dasas, neen yakko, I don't want you O God, neena nama ondu iddare sakko, if I have your name, that will do everything, like Hanuman, taking the name of Rama, immediately he crossed over, so one beautiful example and most gloriously composed by none other than one of the avataras called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his only best known work is called Sikshashtakam, 8 verses, ashtakam means 8 verses or siksha means instruction manual, how a devotee can develop devotion to God, in the very first shloka, cheto darpana marjanam, bhava maha dhavagni nirvapanam, sreyaha kairava chendrika vitharanam, vidhya vadhu jeevanam, anandambudhi vardhanam, pratipadam poornamrutha aswadanam, sarvatma snapanam, param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, he is praising sankirtana, the praise of God's name, what does this shloka mean? Glory to the name of Sri Krishna which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of this worldly life of repeated birth and death, this name of your sankirtana, the singing of your glorious name is the prime benediction for humanity because it spreads the rays of the benediction of moon like moon which saves us, cools us from the burning rays of the midday sun and brings happiness to everybody, this name kairava chendrika, it is the life of all transcendental knowledge, so beautifully it's written vidhya vadhu jeevanam, jeevanam means the very life breath of whom? Vadhu, the bride, the wife, who is that wife? Vidhya jnanam and then it is also written anandambudhi vardhanam pratipadam, every second anandambudhi vardhanam, taking the name of God we are experiencing, a devotee experiences a very ocean of joy, anandambudhi vardhanam, it grows up, how can an ocean grow but it transcends the natural law and then this ocean grows and grows and grows, then pratipadam, you take once the name of God it grows, take second time it doubles, take third time then it grows even more and then poorna amruta aswadhanam reminds us sriram krishna tava katha amritam tapta jeevanam kavivariditam etc., poorna amruta aswadhanam, then sarva atma snapanam, a person is there whole day he has worked back breaking in the fields, is terribly tired, sweat is pouring but take God's name sarva atma snapanam, it is like a cooling bath for the gross subtle as well as the causal body and all these results come from param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, krishna's name taking God's name, repeating God's name param vijayate it brings the supreme glory, so these are just I have given you a few samples how many types and how many results, how many varieties, how many classifications etc., if you want those who want there are books like Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu etc.

and easiest case is Raghavan's spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja, it is a most marvelous book, now coming back to our subject matter, we are going to discuss this what we call Pratha Smarana Stotram, as we know Adi Shankaracharya's works writings can be divided into three parts, first is called Bhashyams on the Upanishad Prasthanatraya and second is called Prakarana Grantha like Atmabodha, Vivekachudamani etc. etc. Vakyavruthi etc.

(38:58 - 39:37)
then there is the third category is called Stotras and these Stotras or hymns as I mentioned earlier can be divided into what is called two classifications broadly, one towards the Saguna Brahma Stotras and Nirguna Brahma Stotras, Vedantic Stotras, Saguna Brahma Stotras again are divided into they are either of Vishnu, of Shiva, of Devi, of course Ganesha, Karthikeya etc. and different manifestations of the Divine Mother Lalitha, Durga, Bhavani, Annapurna etc. etc.

(39:37 - 50:33)
So this particular hymn is falling into the what we call Gnana Marga Sadhana, this is one of the most wonderful hymns that is chanted by most of the followers of Advaita Vedanta but many of the devotees of especially Sri Ramakrishna and what do then we call it Pratha Smarana Stotram, Pratha this is a beautiful word pregnant with meaning usually the word Pratha means early in the morning what do you mean by early in the morning remember Swami Vivekananda's exhortation he has taken it from the Katha Upanishad what does it really mean what does Pratha Kala mean Pratha Kala first means by the very nature of our life in the external life Pratha means when we had sufficient rest and certain conditions have to be fulfilled I'll come to that very shortly when we have sufficient rest when we wake up in the morning the mind becomes very fresh it is completely relaxed full of energy and before that mind can be diverted towards other things that mind has to be made an agenda a goal has to be created usually you know if a person is working in at an office as soon as before he goes to bed tomorrow these are the things tasks I have to as soon as he wakes up these devils sit there and then they occupy before those tasks jump upon this person like all our old sins are sitting on the branches of the trees on the shore of the Ganga as soon as a person reaches then they jump on his shoulders before they possess us we have to remember what is the real goal of life and that is called Pratha that is the superficial meaning but the real meaning is what do we mean by early in the morning this is the final meaning when the mind is freshly woken up and absolutely alert to receive whatever is the best before our samsaric our worldly affairs take possession of us in the normal sense that is called Pratha Kaala early in the morning but that is very superficial meaning we can derive two meanings out of it one is to referring to the nature early in the morning the sun has not risen we call it Sandhya Kaala the time between this sunrise and then before the sun rises when there is sufficient light called Usha Kaala or in the afternoon after the sunset before it becomes completed or this is called Sandhya, Sandhya means conjunction between day and night at that time nature itself makes our minds quite peaceful that is the from the nature's point of view from the individual's point of view there is a time we all wake up and as soon as we got out of the sleep and for a few milliseconds or even seconds we are not aware where we are we are awake but we are not aware at that time the mind is highly receptive to these spiritual ideals at that time if we make an agenda and consciously make a resolution before going to bed as soon as wake up I am going to remember these particular instructions Pratha Smarami Venkateshwara Suprabhatam or Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhatam etc that sets our spiritual agenda after that is over then a person as if he is in the world he has to think about worldly objects they should not be neglected so this is the inner meaning that is called Pratha Kaala but Pratha Kaala doesn't mean only after we wake up there are other two meanings given in between two thoughts there is a slight gap and if we can be awake to that slight gap in between these two thoughts that is called Pratha Kaala and at that time we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam in between two thoughts pure Atma Tattvam is Purana it is just vibrating throbbing of itself but as soon as we are possessed of some self-awareness then it becomes our effort so it is another meaning of Pratha Kaala in between two thoughts another meaning of Pratha Kaala is it is not necessary in the morning evening also if we have trained our mind as soon as Sri Ramakrishna says finished the duties wash our hands and feet and then sit in a meditation posture withdraw our mind that is why one of the things is what is called Uparati Yoga system calls it Uparati withdraw your mind from all thoughts and think of this thing that is also called Pratha means fully awake and mind fully alert fully ready to receive the spiritual thoughts that's another meaning of Pratha so what should we do at that time Pratha Smarami I must remember why remember means here you don't need to remember you just to be recipient open your heart why because what we manually have to remember effortfully we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam it is vibrating I am I am I am all the time this is what Kena Upanishad says Prati Bodha Viditam with every thought that is there this Ramana Maharshi used very much to emphasize that one so this is called Pratha Smarana means not remembrance Smarana means this is my goal like a Sankalpa I have to spend my time only in thinking of God in progressing spiritual life and in realizing God this is the only goal every other activity whether it is physical, mental or causal then it must be directed towards God just now I mentioned physically we can read books and do all our spiritual activities that's called remembering but we can also dream if we read books earnestly pray to God divine dreams will come but that is another aspect what can we do in deep sleep so it is said it is it is also a fact that can be proved you think something deeply and that will continue even during your deep sleep as soon as you wake up the first thing you are reminded is that last thought you kept there just like you keep a big notice before going out of your bedroom and you go to bed wake up and you want to go to the toilet or you can put it on the mirror in the toilet reminder or at the doorstep what is the first thing you notice oh today I need to complete this task like that you remind yourself that one this is called smarana not merely remembering but remembering what we should do what is the goal of life etc so this is not for dhyana this is for contemplation what does it mean these verses are for contemplation not for meditation what does it mean contemplation is on the self and true nature where there is no reality in contemplation there is no reality so we will have to think these are the preparations that will take us and all that we need to do is remove all negative thoughts and that is how we go on progressing so we don't need to do anything pay attention to something which is reminding us every millisecond of our life what is that remembrance just I will read and we will stop here we will discuss the meaning in our next class Pratah smarami hrithi samspurat atma tattva Sachet sukham paramaham sagatim turiyam Yath svapna jagara sushrutim avaiti nityam Tat brahma nishkalam aham nacha bhuta sangaha I remember early in the morning the self which shines in my heart which is of the nature of existence consciousness and bliss sacchidananda which is the goal to be attained by the paramahamsa sanyasis which is called the fourth or turiya state because it is beyond the three states of waking dream and deep sleep I am that brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements pancha mahabhutas akasha vayu agni chala and hrithi. The only important point to note down here is you don't need to remember but you pay attention to something like alarm bell is ringing but you pay attention to it hrithi samspurat atma tattva that atma by its very nature every minute every millisecond what is it telling it is vibrating throbbing with one idea what is that one idea I I I. We will discuss these points in our next class.

Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |

Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||

Today is holy Diwali and in most of the Ramakrishna orders, in a small way or big way, Kali puja is going to be done according to India in the evening time some places they do whole night Kali puja and Sri Ramakrishna used to go into muhurmuhu samadhi on this particular holy days.

May Mother, divine mother Kali, may Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti and we have at half past seven Bhagavad Gita class we will continue as usual.

Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 02 on 26 May 2024

2024-12-21T20:20:28Z

DanielM: Corrections from Maharaj, and minor fixes.

== Full Transcript ==
{|
|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|Oṃ jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}
{|
|ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः
श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि।

सर्वम् ब्रह्मोपनिषदम् माऽहं ब्रह्म

निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म

निराकरोद निराकरणमस्त्व निराकरणम् मेऽस्तु।

तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते

मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥

हरिः ॐ ॥
|Oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ
śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi.

Sarvam brahmopaniṣadam mā’haṃ brahma

nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma

nirākaroda nirākaraṇamastva nirākaraṇam me’stu.

Tadātmani nirate ya upaniṣatsu dharmāste

mayi santu te mayi santu.

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

hariḥ oṃ
|}Om

May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength, and all the organs, become well developed.

Everything is the Brahman, revealed in the Upanishads.

May I not deny Brahman, may not Brahman deny me.

Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman.

Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me.

May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me, who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self.

May they repose in me.

Om Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

We have started the Chandogya Upanishad of the Samaveda. It is one of the two biggest of all Upanishads. One is the Brihadaranyaka and another is Chandogya. This Chandogya Upanishad comprises the last eight chapters of a Brahmana from the Samaveda, Chandogya Brahmana. This Chandogya Upanishad contains eight chapters with 154 sections, 628 mantras in total, as mentioned earlier.

The Chandogya Upanishad has eight chapters, each with varying number of sub-sections. The first chapter includes 13 sections, each with varying number of verses. The second has 24 sections. The third contains 19 sections. The fourth is composed of 17 sections. The fifth has 24. The sixth chapter has 16 sections. The seventh includes 26 sections. And the last eighth chapter is with 15 sections.

Some of the scholars try to classify this Chandogya Upanishad into three groups. The first group comprises chapter one and two. What do these two chapters deal with? They deal with the structure and rhythmic aspects of language and its expression, which is speech and particularly the Upasana called Omkara Upasana or otherwise called Udgitha Upasana. The second group, according to these scholars, consisting of the third, fourth and fifth chapters. In this, there are more than 20 Upasanas and Vidyas on premises about the universe, life, mind, spiritual life, etc. The third group consists of chapters six, seven and eight. These three chapters mainly deal with the true spiritual metaphysical questions. What is the reality? What is the nature of reality and self? And whether such a thing really exists or not?

Because so many people doubt the very existence of God. And we also, devotees also, doubt too much about God. And not only we doubt about God, but we also doubt about His capacity to do any good. As I mentioned earlier, there was a Rabbi, that is a Jewish religious teacher is called a Rabbi. He was living in USA many years back. He had a very sweet daughter of eight years old. Naturally, he loved her very much and she became sick and died all of a sudden. And that brought a terrible crisis in his mind. Does really God exist? First question. Second question, if God exists, is He good and powerful? If He has got both these qualities, goodness and power, then something else should have happened. Maybe He is good, but He is powerless. Therefore, He permits His own creation because there is no doubt.

So the original creator of this universe is God only. Why do I say original universe? Because once He creates somebody and that somebody who was created now becomes the secondary creator. And that secondary Srishti becomes the third creator, etc., etc. We see in our life whether it is creation of lifeless objects or living objects. So when there is union of male and female, the parents are the causes, especially the mother. And so the offspring would be the effects. But the parents themselves, if we go on tracing back, they come from Saguna Brahman. And Saguna Brahman, in a way of speaking, is none other than manifestation of the Nirguna Brahman.

And as I mentioned umpteen number of times, every day we sing, “Srishti Stithi Vinashanam Shakti Bhute Sanatani”. The Divine Mother, otherwise called Shakti, otherwise called Saguna Brahman, is the real original creator. Is it not Nirguna Brahman? No. The being who has nothing to do with any activity, He is called Nirguna Brahman. But we have to understand it in a particular way, peculiar way, that when I look upon God as with activity, then we prefer to call Him as Saguna. If we look upon the same reality, then He has to be called as Nirguna Brahman. That's all. Not that there are two Brahmans. In fact, according to Advaita, nothing else exists excepting your Brahman. Whatever we are thinking, we are seeing, is like a similar way, an analogy. We have dreams and I, the one waker, seem to have manifested as multiple, the subject and object, the experience and the experiencer, etc. That is why from the Advaita point of view only, but from the realistic point of view, Dvaita point of view, creation is very real. Even dreams are very real. And there is a lot of logic in it. Yes, dreams can be very real also. They can be mere imaginations, but they can also be very real.

So, this is the formal division, Omkar Upasana, etc. The third group only with the nature of reality, nature of the Self. What is one of the specialities of this Chandogya Upanishad? It has got a Mahavakya and it is one of the most important Mahavakyas, even though all the Mahavakya. What is a Mahavakya? That statement by the Rishi which says that you do not exist, only Brahman exists. Therefore, you and Brahman, Jiva and Brahman are not separate. That sentence which gives this identity, “Jiva Brahma Aikya” Bodha, that is called a Mahavakya.

How many Mahavakyas are there? Infinite number of Mahavakyas, literally hundreds are there, but four have been chosen from important Upanishads. One of the Upanishads is Chandogya, where it comes, Tat Tvam Asi, Tat Tvam Asi. Tvam Tat Asi. Tvam, you the Jiva. Tat, that Brahman. You are that Brahman, and Swamiji translated it as each soul is potentially divine. Brihadaranyaka is very closely related to our Sampradaya, Sri Ramakrishna Sampradaya, because Totapuri Maharaj has taken Sanyasa from Sringeri Matha, that is why they are called Puris and Puri Matha, the Mahavakya, only one, which is called Aham Brahma Asmi, Prajnanam Brahma, I am Atma Brahma.

So, I just classify them in a particular order to make it a little more meaningful other than that there is no special significance. So, Prajnanam Brahma, I am Atma Brahma, Tat Tvam Asi, Aham Brahma Asmi and generally I add a fifth one, Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma. In that order. Why that particular order? So, where is God? For that the answer is that Prajnanam Brahma. Prajnanam means consciousness, the distinction between the living and non-living is not absence of consciousness, but non-manifestation of consciousness.

So, existence is there, Chit and Ananda are hidden, unmanifest, but where there is Sat, there should be Chit, where there is Chit, there should be Sat and where there is Ananda, you see even in our day-to-day life, if I say I am happy, only when I am conscious, I can experience, any experience is possible only when we have awareness. So, I have to know not only I am aware and it is a beautiful awareness, I am happy, I am fulfilled etc. So, that is why it is called Prajnanam, I am alive, how do I know, because I am conscious of it, if I am unconscious, others may be conscious of me, but I may not be conscious of others.

So, this is the methodology, then the doubt comes for the student, where is that and who, where is that consciousness and then the Guru has to point out, I am Atma Brahma, you know there are two components in you, one is Atma, one is Anatma, so body-mind that is called Anatma or I have also funnily put it, so Brahma Jnana, Brahma Jnana, Brahma Jnana is consciousness, Brahma Jnana is identity with the body and mind and this whole world etc. So, when the student looks puzzled, you are telling consciousness is Brahma, what has it got to do with me, because you are not to identify yourself with body-mind, but identify yourself with the only conscious part, consciousness part of it and that is called Jivatma, so in the Jivatma, Atma is there plus Anatma, a combination of Atma and Anatma is called Jivatma, if it is collective, it is called Ishwara, otherwise it is called individual, Yakti.

So I am Atma Brahma, where is that Brahman, each soul is potentially divine. Then when we progress further, then the teacher, his teaching becomes more relevant to us, then he says, “Don't go on searching here and there, claim yourself that Tvam Tat Asi, “Thou Art That”, you are that Brahman and then through Sravana, Manana, Nididhyasana, then the Sadhaka, the student, he is not a mere student, he has become a Sadhaka, he wants to personally claim, call it realization or Darshana, whatever. Then he says “Aham Brahmasmi”, “Now I know, I claim”, “I thought I was somebody else, but I was never anybody else accepting Brahman all the time. Not that I have newly become Brahman, I was, I am, and I will be, but temporarily I have become mad”, madness means assuming a separate identity, but if a person upon this realization doesn't come back to this body and mind, then the problem will not arise, but there are so many who come back or who have been made to come back by God's will, such people are called Jivanmuktas, for them, how do they look upon? Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahma.

So these are the five Mahavakyas and the third one, Tat Tvam Asi comes in the sixth chapter, nine times it is repeated and the chapter also starts with Sadeva Soumya Idam Agra Asit, the teaching in the sixth chapter starts with the Brahmajnani addressing the fifth disciple, actually they were father and son, Uddalaka Aruni and Svetaketu, but Svetaketu was, as I mentioned, he was very proud, we will come to that when the time comes, so he understood that there is something, I thought I was all-knowing, but I know nothing actually, to know to have Brahmajnana is no Jnana at all, it is dangerous Jnana, it is Ajnana actually, every Brahmajnana is only Ajnana.

So he understood it, he became humble, he approached as a student of Brahmavidya, Atmavidya is supposed to approach, otherwise simply this is my son, whether he is fit or not, I will teach him, that's not going to happen, because this is not any Vidya, even how to thread a needle, that also Yogya Shishya, even how to pick pocket, so Yogya Shishya should be there, otherwise a dull student, not only will be beaten very soon on the first attempt, but he will bring terribly bad name for his Guru also, because after being beaten, then he might blurt out the name of the bigger pickpocket, okay.

So the teachings are “sadeva somyedamagra āsīd”, Sadeva, Soumya, O soft-hearted one, or a fit disciple at the beginning, pure existence without any manifestation, Srishti means manifestation of existence with Nama and Rupa, name and form, and therefore it starts. This teaching Tat Tvam Asi and Thou Art That is repeated at least nine times, because the disciple has got almost nine times doubts, every time it is said you are that, oh so please teach me further, clarify me further and so the father goes on and this repetition is also is Abhyasa, again and again, is one of the ways to determine what is the real purport, import of anything, any knowledge.

In the last three chapters the goal is self-knowledge, Tat Tvam Asi is the teaching of Sage Uddalaka to his son Śvetaketu, the father removes the doubts that arise in his son and teaches Tat Tvam Aasi, Śvetaketu, addressing him as Śvetaketu, that was his name, so every Jiva is perfect like God, but every Jiva is not conscious of his true self, therefore the Upanishads are using Śvetaketu as a pretext, remember we are not studying a story of a person, this is presented in the form of a story, as Sri Ramakrishna used to present so many, we used to call stories parables.

Every story that we get in the Upanishads and we get plenty of stories and there are also books available. Stories from the Upanishads. In brief, very beautiful books are there. The Upanishads are using each story as a pretext to show Brahmavidya to all beings like us, and this is in the chapter 6. The 7th chapter also speaks of Brahmavidya only, as I said 6th, 7th and 8th, they all speak only Brahmavidya. In the 7th chapter a Guru and importance of Guru is very much emphasized. Without Guru it is impossible to get knowledge. Who is a Guru? A manifestation of God only. God only comes in the form of a Guru, so that the teaching can be given out of God's compassion to a human disciple in the form of a human being, but Gurus can come not only in human form, but even in the form of non-human beings. Remember the story of Satyakamajabala that fire, bull and two types of birds have taught him. You may wonder how can that is? No, they are only what we call by seeing them when he was ready, he could intuit the lessons there, so as a great poet says that to see the whole universe in a dew drop early in the morning on the smallest of the flower petal, so when our mind is ready, we can learn the lesson and this is graphically illustrated by a story of Avadhuta and when questioned how did he become so enlightened and then he says “I had 24 Gurus”, of course there were some humans also, at least one prostitute, public woman, was also there, a young girl was there, and birds were there and nature was there, so when we are ready nature has a lot to teach, in fact we all learn only from nature.

I'll give you a small example, the logic starts like that, if you want to study logic, so how do we study the logic? Plato or Socrates is a human being that is the example, and all men are mortal that is the Siddhanta, therefore Socrates is a man and therefore Socrates is mortal. That is the nature of this world where there is birth, there is growth, there is old age, there is a disease, there is death, these are called changes, so if we observe the nature. Some changes are good, some are not good but we can become enlightened, but we have to be ready, otherwise nature will not teach anything at all. It is just like standing in front of a mirror and looking at the reflection of ourselves, so we go on dressing whom? Ourselves, nature is meant to be a reflector of each one of us, so if our neighbours are good friends that teaches us one lesson, if they are noisy, disturbing, vicious, evil kind that teaches us another lesson, so every experience that we go in this world has only one purpose and that purpose is how we can mould our life, manifest our divinity and get out of this net of Maya, Maya Jala.

So in the 7th chapter there was a great Rishi, he was in fact called the Manasa Putra, the spiritual son of Brahma, the creator, was called Sanatkumara and none other than our great sage Narada Rishi, he approaches him and then he expresses, “Guruji, please teach me Brahma Vidya” and very, very interesting chapter, all chapters are interesting only but this chapter is also quite interesting. The Guru asks him, “So far how much have you learnt?” and then he says, “I studied all the Vedas, all the Upanishads” and those Upanishads must contain Chandogya Upanishad, and it must contain the 7th chapter! Anyway, I am just making a bit of fun. So then so many other Vidyas, not only spiritual, but secular also, everything, how to find out whether there are precious stones, diamonds or how to cure snake bites, how to dance, how to sing, how to compose poetry, every available. Narada was a living, walking, moving encyclopedia of all the knowledge that existed and in the past all the knowledge has been divided into 64 branches, Gandharva Vidya etc. Nakshatra Vidya, that is Jyotish Shastra. Astronomy, Astrology, everything.

Then Sanatkumara asks, "Oh, you seem to know everything but what brings you here?” and then Narada expresses, “It is true, but I am only a knower of words and their literal meaning, not the inner meaning, I know the Vachya Artha, not the Lakshya Artha, and I have heard only when a Sadguru teaches a Satshishya, then realisation will take place. So I am approaching.” and then a most marvellous discussion, a thorough analysis of the entire psychology and what prompts each one of us to do any action and even Sadhana is one of the most noble, noblest of all actions. So how to proceed and progress in the right way, rationally and having taken shortcuts also, so that is possible only when a person had trodden the same path and they had taken many disciples along with and showed them the path, made their life blessed, so also I want to be blessed and categorically the 7th chapter says - without the help of a guide or a Guru, it is impossible to realise. We can get at best to the Vachya Artha which is difficult even for most of us, not to speak of Lakshya Artha.

So 15 types of Sadhanas, spiritual Sadhanas, from one to the other. They are called also Upasanas, for example Nama Upasana, Vak Upasana, Sankalpa Upasana, Asha Upasana and Annopasana, Prana Upasana, the final 15th Prana Upasana and then the Prana is none other than Brahma, this is the essence of the 7th chapter. Then we come to the 8th chapter, what does this 8th chapter contain? Again Brahmavidya, but now a beautiful analysis of every living creature, the waking state, the dream state, and the deep sleep state. We have become I am sure very thoroughly conversant with this because of the Mandukya Karikas that we have been studying in the past.

So there was a great soul called Prajapati, I am only briefly telling, hinting what is to come. Foretelling. Prajapati is none other than Brahma and he announced, “Those who realize the Self, Atma Vidya, all their desires will be fulfilled!” That is called beautiful advertisement. So if you buy this one, all your desires will be fulfilled. So each one of us, we are suffering from non-fulfillment of desires. So by knowing this, every single desire will be permanently fulfilled. Kritsna Karma-Krit.

So then there were two types of people, one was a non-spiritual person, another was a sincere seeker, one is called Virochana or Asura, another is called Deva, Indra. So both these people have chosen one one representative and they both approach, and then Prajapati, he wanted to make them ready. So he says, live for 32 years as one of the Brahmacharis and they lived and then the teaching starts with the experience of the waking state and then now you attain Brahmavidya, and then they go away satisfied and the Virochana, he went and “I know Brahman, his body is Brahman, worship the body, enjoy to your heart's content, especially beautiful mangoes that are going to come out now” and that is how he ever since that time, so those who follow Virochana, all of us, that is worshippers of the body mind, but Indra on the way, he thought he understood, he started doing Manana, he found defect, he came back, again 32 years, again he was taught and again he was going back, again he found problem, again he approached another 32 years and then he thought he understood and then he got doubt and then he came back for the fourth time, “Okay you have almost only 5%, Chitta Suddhi has to be done”, so another 5 years, 3 into 32, 96 plus 5 years, 101 years.

That is why Sri Ramakrishna says, nowadays if a fellow is suffering from fever, the old Ayurvedic medicine by that time it takes place, the fellow will be expiring, first perspiration, then Ayurvedic medicine, then expiration but for that “Guptas mixture”, just swallow one painkiller or what we call an Anacin tablet here and then your this fever will go. Headache will go, body ache will go etc. The gospel is supposed to be that easy teaching. Teaching is easy, practice is exactly the same thing.

So he was given that none of what I have taught is really sadvidya, brahmavidya, and you are that Brahman, and then this time he became a realized soul. Indra becomes a realized soul, how many times God alone knows because in Kena Upanishad also, we get that he was one of the people, maybe he was a different Indra, that is what we have to presume. That is how the 6th teaching for Śvetaketu, 7th teaching for Narada, 3rd teaching for Indra, these are the 3 chapters which deal with.

Now from the 1st to the 5th chapters of the Chandogya is nothing but full of upasanas beginning with Omkara Upasana, another name for Omkara is called Udgita, so the question comes, Upanishad is supposed to only deal with what we call Brahma Vidya, why is it so full of these things, in a way of speaking it is absolutely right, that is not the Brahma Vidya, so why are there so many upasanas and in the Vedas we get two things, we have to understand the distinction between them, one is called Upasana, another is called Vidya, so for example Sri Vidya, Gayatri Vidya etc. is there, so there is a slight difference, both are upasanas only, one is elevated upasana, another is normal type of upasana, there are different types of upasanas are there, which I am going to take up very shortly.

So why are there so many upasanas, every upasana is a stepping stone for Brahma Vidya, so what is a upasana? That is let us say upasanas are like steps leading to the roof. Let us remember Ramakrishna started his sadhana with the worship of the Divine Mother Kali, there are so many aspects of Mother Kali, Smashanakali, Bhadrakali, Chinnamasta, Dhoomavati etc., so it is nothing but Saguna Brahma Upasana.

So before we discuss a little bit about upasanas, let us see how the Vedas are divided, this is not a new knowledge, because if you have been consistently attending my talks, you would have known, this is just to remind ourselves. Usually Vedas are divided into two parts and the first part is called Karma Kanda, second part is called Jnana Kanda and the Karma Kanda means various types of rituals. In these various types of rituals, there are further division is made, so one can do mere ritual, one can also combine a ritual, Vedic ritual, not any ritual, Vedic ritual which is strictly we have to adhere to all the rules, regulations, how to approach, where to sit, facing which direction, what should be the implements etc., etc., but along with that what is called two types of upasanas are also prescribed. One is called Auxiliary Upasana to any particular Karma, this is called Karma Angi Bhuta Upasana ("part of any particular Upasana"), but there are some Svatantra Upasanas ("Stand alone Upasanas") and they are called really speaking at Vidyas ("Videos like Panchagni-vidya, Gayatri-Vidya etc. Hundreds are there but popularly 32 Videos are taken notice of").

So Karma Kanda consists of not only rituals but also Upasana and while pure ritual yields a limited lower type of result, the same ritual combined with a Upasana gives much better result, long lasting, much higher type of result if it is combined with a Upasana and the second part of it is called Jnana Kanda, that is a person through these rituals, Karmas and Upasanas both, so remember Vedas divided life into four Ashramas. First stage is called Brahmacharya Ashrama, where a person has to learn what are the ways of life, what should be the goal of life and learn about this Karma Kanda and also theoretically Jnana Kanda. Study, that is the main emphasis.

When a person enters into Grihasta Ashrama, naturally a person has desires and desires only fall under two categories according to Sri Ramakrishna, that is sex and money, Kama and Kanchana, so a Grihasta will not become a Grihasta, a man will not become a Grihasta, if he does not have a desire, where exceptions are there, where to obey the parents or to continue the lineage, one is forced to do that, one of the brightest examples of this is in the Bhagavatam. Kapila, Kapila's father, he was not willing to marry, he wanted to lead a Sannyasin's life but Bhagawan Himself wanted to be born as his son and so He compelled him to get married and then this father of Kapila, he extracts a promise, as soon as a child is born then give me permission to take Sannyasa and run away from this Grihasta Ashrama. Then this Devahuti was his wife and this Devahuti gave birth to this Kapila, Kapila was supposed to be an incarnation of Vishnu, and then as soon as Vishnu is born in the form of Kapila, the father takes leave and then goes away.

Now what happened, this Kapila grows up and his mother was grieving, so he gives a beautiful what is called Sankhya Yoga, which has nothing to do with the Sankhya philosophy but it is pure Jnana Yoga as the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is so named. So, the Jnanam here means Atma Vidya, so the Grihasta Ashrama is meant for the performance of this Karmakanda, especially in the olden days. Nowadays of course, the only Karma they do is money earning Karma, some people, there are a few people definitely everywhere, they do this Gayatri Upasana, Pooja, etc., etc., no doubt about it. Then there are Swatantra Upasanas and the third stage of life called Vanaprastha Ashrama is purely this Swatantra Upasana, Upasana means mental contemplating through the mind, there are many Upasanas are there and that is the exclusive, Vanaprastha Ashrama is reserved only for practicing this for what purpose, so that the mind first, it is called Chitta Suddhi, mind becomes pure, purity means it doesn't have any desire, any other desire excepting the desire for realizing God and for that purpose slowly get rid of all the dross, all the impurities.

So purity of the mind, concentration of the mind, then enlarging one's view, not only we normally look and live and judge everything from purely from an individual point of view, no, the ability to stand in the shoes of everybody else, that is called Chitta Vaishalyata, expanding so that we can identify ourselves with the larger whole and that is the main job in the Vanaprastha Ashrama and then the mind becomes one-pointed, that means only one desire is there and now if the person is ready, I want to become one with Brahman and for that Upanishads are the guides and Brahma Sakshatkara and obtaining Moksha as a result of this Brahma Sakshatkara, that is the exclusive privilege of the Sannyasins. Of course anybody can mentally also become a Sannyasi, that is a different issue.

So in the modern times, I was mentioning, if you remember, some Rishis married like the father of Kapila, Shri Ramakrishna, he was married of course before when he took Sannyasa and the usual custom is to go away far from wife because temptations might come but Sri Ramakrishna kept holy mother, his wife, with him for purpose to establish Adarsha Grihastha Ashrama, how to be an ideal householder, not only an ideal student, an ideal householder and an ideal Vanaprasthi, an ideal Sannyasi, Sri Ramakrishna represents all these beautiful ideas.

So from the Grihastha to Vanaprastha is full of what is called Karmangi Bhuta, Karmas, that means Vedic Karmas and then Upasanas, both in the Brahmacharya and Grihastha Ashrama, pure Upasanas in the Vanaprastha Ashrama and when a person is ready, he should take to the study of the Upanishads which is the exclusive prerogative of the Sannyasins, as I said one can be also mentally a Sannyasin, it need not be an external ritual itself.

Now I will come back to this Upasana, there are types of Upasanas, I did discuss these things quite elaborately in other contexts but I want to recollect ourselves before we enter into this briefly, into the introduction to this Chandogya Upanishad and I have to summarize this chapter 1 to chapter 5 because as I mentioned I am only going to talk about selective chapters which are none other than 6, 7 and 8 but equally important is the spirit of the Upasanas. What is Upasana? Preparations for Brahmajnanam is called Upasana, simple meaning and nobody can jump into Brahmajnanam without this Upasana. Remember Ramakrishna also started his what is called way to Brahmajnana with pure idol worship, anyway everybody has to start.

So what is the meaning of Upasana? Like Upanishad, Upa means near, near to whom? Nearer to one's own self, so that practice which brings us nearer and nearer to the knowledge of our own true self that is called Upasana. Asana means what? Usually what do a person do if he is working in an office? There is a special office, say a higher office officer or executive officer, CEO, he sits in his chamber, he has got a special seat, nobody is permitted to sit there and then he will carry on all his business there. Similarly this Sadhaka who has become prepared and he is slowly approaching that Asana and that approaching nearer and nearer to one's own self is called Upa. Asana means do discharge your sadhanas, practice your sadhanas, that is the meaning of Upa plus Asana. Similarly we also say Upavasana, that is plain meaning is that a person, what does he do? He goes on fasting, either he drinks water only or some light fruits etc. But heavy food is avoided, that is called Upavasa, Upavasana. Upanishad is a beautiful word, so here also Upasana means that type of living which will bring us nearer to God.

So Sri Ramakrishna used all the five types of Upasanas because usually Upasanas are divided into either five or six types and the sixth one sometimes we include in one of them, and so we take the help of certain external symbols and they are of two types, iconic and aniconic. What is iconic? Means crystal clearly, even a child can understand, this is the image of Narayana or Shiva. That is why our temples are full of this iconic, so Pratimas, this is also called Pratima Upasana, what is a Pratima? Worship of images or Vishnu image, Shiva image, Kali image etc., so this includes, this is called iconic, so worship anthropomorphic images of Gods, Goddesses which are called Pratimas, a Pratima may be a picture drawn on a piece of paper or cloth, sometimes on silver, on copper, gold etc., so a three-dimensional idol, that is important, that is to say that we see like a human being, like Hanuman, images etc., they can be made out of any type of material of clay, for example when Durga is worshipped, Kali is worshipped annually, then out of clay they make, but usually in the temples they use only stone, sometimes what is called Panchalinga, in our Hyderabad ashrama, they say Ramakrishna's image is made up of Panchaloha, five types of metals etc., this is called iconic.

Then there is something that is called aniconic, what is this aniconic? That means there is no three-dimensional picture, but Yantras, Mandalas, symbols, for example cross, usually Jesus is kept on the cross, no, many people wear just a cross, and Omkara is such thing. So what is the meaning of Pratika Upasana? Going towards Pratika, a representation, Pratika means representation and earlier I was talking about Pratima Upasana, there also Nama Upasana is there, that's why I said five or six types of Upasana. What is Nama Upasana? As just now mentioned, Nama means name of God, a mantra with or without Beja and continuously doing, for example singing Bhajans also falls under Nama Upasana, if we sing keeping God in mind, Bhajans, not simply opening the mouth and then thinking something, but only the sounds are coming appropriately, that is not singing Bhajans, with meaning, concentration, with Bhakti etc.

Sri Ramakrishna had to give a slap to Rani Rasmani because she was listening, but she was not, her mind was elsewhere, but when Sri Ramakrishna or Swamiji used to sing, they sing only identifying themselves with the essence of that song, then Nama Sankirtana also belong to this group, for example Hare Krishna movement, what do they say? Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, so what did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu preach? Nama Sankirtana, what did Sri Ramakrishna do in his life? Mostly Nama Sankirtana only, it could be of Shiva, could be of Vishnu or it could be of the Divine Mother, Sri Ramakrishna also propagated Nama Sankirtana, Nama Upasana, Nama Upasana, also called Shabda Brahma Upasana. Holy Mother's most precious teaching, Japat Siddhi, if you go on repeating with complete faith, the mantra becomes alive, it is called Mantra Chaitanya, this is beautifully illustrated in the story of the way of a pilgrim, you remember perhaps a Russian orthodox monk writes his autobiography, so this is called Nama Sankirtana.

So the anaconic group as I said Yantras, Mandalas, Saligrama, Shiva Linga, Water Pot, what does Water Pot represent? Many forms of Gods or Goddesses, but especially in Bengal, this represents Mother Shitala. Even now if you go to Kamarpakur, the Mother Shitala that was worshipped by Kshudhiram etc. and also by his children's children etc., so it is still there, so these are the what is called Pratima Pratika Upasanas in which is also contained this Nama Upasana.

Then we get Sampad Upasana, Adhyasa Upasana, Ahamgraha Upasana. What is Sampad Upasana? So you take an inferior object, you just take a piece of stone, for example Saligrama or Shiva Linga and you superimpose, this is Vishnu, this is Rama, this is Shiva, so it is only a piece of stone, a special piece of stone, but at the same time it has no special value, that's why nobody will steal it and then superimpose upon it a higher reality that is called Sampad Upasana, make it rich.

Then the second Adhyasa Upasana, so that is a superior symbol like the sun, like the moon, like the fire, like the mind etc., so when we are meditating upon Ramakrishna or Rama or Kali, we are actually practicing Adhyasa Upasana, Ramakrishna is not the body-mind, Ramakrishna is what we call the Parabrahma, but because he was such a great soul, so we superimpose upon his body-mind etc., that superior thing that is called Adhyasa, Adhyasa means superimposition, like we superimpose a snake upon a rope, it is a negative example, but the positive example also they give that silver upon a silver shell, it is shining very white and somebody can mistake it, anyway it doesn't matter, it is called Adhyasa Upasana.

Then there is another Upasana called Ahamgraha Upasana, that is Shri Ramakrishna meditated upon Hanuman, he became Hanuman, Aham Anjaneyo Asmi, Hanuman Aham Asmi, Aham Radha Asmi. So identifying oneself, Aham Brahma Asmi is called Ahamgraha Upasana. Holy mother meditated on Sri Ramakrishna and became Sri Ramakrishna, Swamiji became Shri Ramakrishna, Ahamgraha means self-grasping, self-identification, so these are the important type of Upasanas are there and these are irreplaceable, therefore they give us the capacity to reach the roof, about which we will talk in our next class.

{|
|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|Om jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Jai Ramakrishna!
[[Category:Chandogya Upanishad]]

Amrita Bindu Upanishad Lecture 02 on 7 January 2024

2024-12-06T12:18:00Z

DanielM:

== Full Transcript (Not Corrected) ==
{|
|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|Oṃ jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}
<br>
{|
|ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।
भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।

स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवाग्‍ँसस्तनूभिः ।

व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ।
|Oṃ bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ
bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ

sthirairaṅgaistuṣṭuvāgaṃsastanūbhiḥ

vyaśema devahitaṃ yadāyūḥ
|-
|स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः ।
स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः ।

स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः ।

स्वस्ति नो वृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

हरिः ॐ ॥
|Svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ
svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ

svasti nastākṣaryo ariṣṭanemiḥ

svasti no vṛhaspatirdadhātu

Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Hariḥ oṃ
|}
<br>
Om, oh Gods, may we always hear with our ears what is auspicious,

Oh worshipful ones, may we with our eyes always see what is auspicious,

May we live our allotted lives, hale and hearty, offering our worship unto thee.

May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness on all of us,

May the all-nourishing potion be propitious to us,

May Garuda, the destroyer of all evil, be well disposed towards all of us.

May Brihaspati ensure all our welfare.

Om. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.

We have started the study of Amrita Bindu Upanishad, which belongs to the Atharva Veda. As I mentioned earlier, it has 22 mantras and there are 5 Upanishads ending with the word Bindu. And Amrita Bindu means a drop. Shri Ramakrishna used to say, just imagine a room dark for a million years and just a litting of one match is sufficient, the darkness will vanish. How many Bindus, drops, Bindu means a drop, how many drops does it take for us to become immortal? What is this Bindu? Bindu means knowledge. What is that knowledge? I am not a bound soul, I am not a Jeevatma, I am Paramatma, Aham Brahmasmi. Very appropriate name, just like the last Upanishad, Kaivalya Upanishad. That guarantees us Kaivalya, means my real Swaroopa, I am one without a second. Kaivalya, Kevala, only me, nothing else exists. Amrita, I am immortal. And this is the word Swamiji used very often, especially at the Parliament of Religions. It is a sin to call any human being a sinner, because sin is not the nature of any one of us, not only human beings, the whole creation. Sin is a thought that belongs to the mind. We are going to explore it further, but what Swamiji meant is Amrita. "Shrunvanthu Vishwe Amruthasya Putraaha", you are the manifestations of Amrita. Let us not again bring, Putra means son. So a son must have a father. So God is our father, we are his children. Again, there is a possibility of having a dualistic idea. No, here it means Ātmajā. Even in Vedanta, it says a father alone has become the son. That is why a son is called Ātmajā, oneself born again. So here it means Bhagawan is manifesting, to whom? To himself! Just as we create the dreams, to whom is the dream world relevant? Only to us. So Shrunvanthu, that is your real nature. That is the marvellous word Amrita. Every Puranic story, including Samudra Manthana, churning of the milk ocean, is symbolic. What is the Samudra? Samsara Sagara. This very world in which we are living, transmigratory world. But there is Shubha and Ashubha, good and evil. But if we can churn it, and for churning it requires 100% of the mind, not a divided mind. Let all the asuri part of the mind remain there. No, both the gods, as well as the demons, have to combine. Then churn. Then with 100% mind, the truth will come out. And that truth is brought by Dhanvantari. Who is Dhanvantari? He is the divine physician. Every Guru is called divine physician. Bhava-rōga-vaidya. So we are all called upon. You are not a human being. You are not the body-mind. You are Brahman. And that is how you listen first. Then do sadhana. And finally you know that you have never lost your immortality, but temporarily you have forgotten. That temporary forgetfulness has been destroyed by sadhana. And then he says Aham Brahmasmi.

So before starting any study of any scripture, we discussed yesterday. To successfully complete a scripture, which means to be able to master not only the science, not only the knowledge, but the ability to put it to practical usage. It must make us always happy, healthy and wise. So not to speak of scriptures. So, we have to pray to God because any effort is fraught, full of defects. It could be our own Prarabdha (past karmas, ready to be experienced through the present body). It could be external obstacles.

As it is said, three types of obstacles:

* Ādhyātmika (related to body and mind)
* Ādhibhautika (related to Bhuta, or living beings)
* Ādhidaivika (related to the Daiva, Divine or unseen forces)

That is why we have to pray to God. Every Shanti Mantra is a prayer to God. Yesterday, towards the end of the class, we have started this Shanti Mantra, Bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ.

Every Shanti Patha has got four different ends in view. What is it? The very first thing is "Ishwara Sakshatkara Prapti" (obtaining God realization). We have to realize God. Realizing God means not that God is real. God alone is real. And if God is real, I am God. I am also real. Then, for the good body, good mind, etc., "Devanam Anugraha" (Divine Grace), for our journey to be auspicious. That is what is called Swasthi. And for that, this whole creation has been divided into a triangle. Ishwara, then Ādhyātmika, Jiva and Jagat. That is Ādhyātmika, Ādhibhautika, Ādhidaivika. So we have to be in harmony. All the three. God's grace should be there. The manifestation of God in the form of various presiding deities and our own body, mind and right effort, our journey and sadhana, everything must be in harmony. And that is possible only purely, sheerly, by the grace of God. Devanam Anugraha. And this Devanam Anugraha, the grace of God, has been so beautifully put forward. How does the grace of God come? In the form of Sadbuddhi (right understanding). Diyonah Prachodayat. And Ramanujacharya. We have to be extremely grateful for him. He says that when we obey the scriptural commandments, vidhi and nishedha, then the firm conviction, shraddha, will arise by the grace of God. What is the conviction? Only God can save us. Rakshashyati iti vishwasaha. Nobody else can save us. Because avidya can be countered only by vidya. Ajnanam can be destroyed only by jnanam. Darkness can be destroyed only by light. And God, He is the swaroopa of jnanam. So by His grace, if we are ready to receive His grace, then we get that right understanding. He alone can save us. There is a beautiful reading in the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna spoke something. And later on he was in the habit of examining M. Because M's special task was to recollect all the sayings of Sri Ramakrishna through memory and put them in the form of, later on what we call Katha Amritam, or the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, or Vachana Amritam. Some people have translated Vachana Amritam, Katha Amritam, Vachana Veda, in Kannada. So he used to ask questions. What did I say? This is what you said, Sir. Ahh, what do you understand? This is what I understood. Right, right. It is God's grace that you understood it properly. Sri Ramakrishna not only approved, but added you would not have been able to understand this excepting by the grace of God. And even we will explore it further. Even for our body, for our mind to be healthy, hale and hearty, and to be strong and to listen to our true welfare, it requires God's grace. And then so many what is called wrong samskaras, samsaric samskaras, must be completely eliminated. That is why the 16th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is totally devoted to the study of Daiva Asura Sampat, the description of such and such a person is a God. Not that there is a God, but if a person possesses these qualities then he is considered as a God. But if he is having lot of what we call satanic qualities it is called a rakshasa, asura or asurika sampat. Life is a continuous fight. Fight for what? So that dharma will obtain victory. And what is dharma here? Sadbuddhi or Sad Guna Prapti. Of course so many obstacles will arise and every obstacle is a grace of God. Every obstacle is tailor made for each individual. Like obstacle race. You must have noticed a person is running obstacle race how do they train? The first foot only a few inches high obstacle and slowly the barrier will be raised. Even high jump also. So like that, every obstacle is tailor made for our further evolution in our life. Evolution means approaching God, nearer and nearer. So this Vighnas (Obstacle), nobody should ever think that an obstacle is God's wrath or God is angry. No. God can never be angry. If God becomes angry, he becomes the opposite. He never remains as God. God is the embodiment of all the mothers. Whatever motherly quality in this world, we get. Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu Matru Rupena Samsthita. All the motherliness, if it is combined together, is the divine mother. God is also called divine mother. So, no mother will ever put a Vighna. I have seen many times when the child is trying to walk and fall down the parents, wise parents never rush forward to help the child because they know falling down is also climbing the ladder. That is how the child first he gets frightened, then he becomes accustomed, then he has self-confidence, and then he starts walking with holding something, by holding something, and then he starts walking without holding, and in course of time he might become an Olympic runner. Who knows?

So these are the four important purposes ends in view of earnestly praying to God.

* Ishwara Sakshatkara Prapti (obtaining God realization)
* Devanam Anugraha (Divine Grace)
* Sadbuddhi (right understanding), or Sad Guna Prapti (obtaining virtue)
* Vighna Nivarana (obstacle prevention)

So whether it is we are striving for spiritual progress or material progress every effort for our future progress because you know everybody wants to progress only even an animal even a mosquito it attempts several times at the mosquito curtain and at last it finds a small aperture and it joyfully enters into it. If it simply sits "Oh I failed, there is a huge mosquito curtain. I will never be able to enter into it!", it will simply starve, shrivel and die. So, there are two factors to be taken. One is our own effort, and we must not be lazy, we must not hesitate to use all our efforts. In fact we do it when we are doing our favorite job, but when we think that it is somebody else's job, including government job or company job, then we try to say the least amount that is necessary so that one is not thrown out especially in India. Whereas in the west there is a marvelous thing that I have observed, many Swamis have observed. In India when an interviewer asks a person, in the interview, that "How much did you study? How many passes you have? How many certificates you got?", they never ask "What can you do?". In the west it is just the opposite, "I don't care how many certificates you get, what can you do for our company? Can you help us progress in our quest? Can you make us reach our target ,our goal?", if the person says yes and they test him and they find useless, hire and fire. And that competition, look at what it has done, so many developments are taking place. In America, in the UK, in even China, even though some of the things that China is doing is wrong, there are so many things I admire in them. How much those Chinese people, they are making effort to excel in everything, and they want to surpass every country in the world. And here in India we are trying to pull each other down. Everyday news is "Pull everybody down!", whereas the Upanishad is advocating that "Let the Gods help us", "Let human beings worship God", that is the burden, essence, of every Shanti.

So, how to enhance our own effort? The very chanting of the Shanti Matras will produce many positive Adrishtams (merits / unseen forces / invisible results), so that if there are some obstacles. So our prayers, the grace of Gods. I am using deliberately the word Gods, because God directly will not come. He comes in the form of Gods. What about Lord Venkateshwara Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Ramakrishna. They are also part of the Gods only, They are only incarnations. Ishwara, Saguna Brahma never comes in the form of Saguna Brahma. Always in the form of Rama, Krishna, Kali, Vishnu, Allah, Jesus, Buddha, etc. So there are as we know, many types of Shanti Pathas are there. Some of the Shanti Patas of these Upanishads. You know, as we know, there are four Vedas, and one Veda is actually of two versions. Shukla Yajur Veda and Krishna Yajur Veda. So five Vedas we can say in a way of speaking, they all have their own specified particular Shanti Pathas, but whatever they are, they are all meant for spiritual seekers. So there are what is called general prayers are there, specific prayers are there. For example the Sahana Vavatu. We all know:

Sahana Vavatu

Sahanau Bhunaktu

Saha viiryam Karavaavahai

Tejasvi Naavadhiitam-Astu Maa Vidvishaavahai

This is exclusively meant for a spiritual person, even secular person also, the attitude of the Guru and the Sishya they must be loving each other. Guru must love the disciple as his own child and the disciple must look upon the teacher as none other than Acharya Devo Bhava (The teacher is equivalent to God) and they should never entertain any negative thoughts Maa Vidvishaavahai dislike, hate, differ in disharmony with each other. So, these are very specific prayers for obtaining certain qualities, certain mindsets. So certain, creating certain environment in the mind, so that that specific purpose or goal of life is achieved. This bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ it is a prayer. Let anybody, a householder, a sanyasin, a secular person, or a spiritual person. Whatever it is. Even a secular person is a highly developed soul, if he doesn't do any namby-pamby, but solely relies upon the grace of God. This is where as I mentioned many years back, recently I have not mentioned.

Vedas are divided into two parts, Karma Kanda and Jnana Kanda, and those who study Advaita Vedanta they develop very wrong notion "Karma Kanda it is not helpful very much, a little bit, it makes the mind pure and makes a person a fit person but ultimately they are like by roads, small roads, village roads, country roads, so all their function is to bring the traveller to the national motorway". That is completely wrong idea. Sri Ramakrishna never taught such an idea. [Unknown sanskrit. Timestamp 23:55] So there are so many people who attained through mere Karma Yoga, Siddhi. But as I mentioned, let us remember this, that without God's grace it is not Karma Yoga, or Jnana Yoga, or Bhakti Yoga, or Raja Yoga, that will give us realization. These only make us fit receptacles to receive the unbounded grace of God, which is always flowing. So no Yoga can give us realization, it is only God's grace. But to obtain God's grace there are many pathways are there. Jato Mat Tato Path (যত মত তত পথ ). As many faiths, so many paths. Every path takes one to the same reality, if you hear any teaching "only one path", "major path", "every other path will not take you", that person is not only a fool, he is following Andha Paramparā (the blind leading the blind). Even they quote sometimes Bhagwan Krishna, so even quoting Bhagwan Krishna and they try to interpret as Advaita Vedanta, Ramanuja tells, etc. Bhagwan Krishna crystal clearly enunciated:

ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāns tathaiva bhajāmyaham

mama vartmānuvartante manuṣhyāḥ pārtha sarvaśhaḥ

Bhagavad Gita. Chapter 4, Verse 11.

Whichever pathway a person follows, even if it is a wrong path, God knows. Provided a person is having Shraddha, God will come in the form of the right guidance. Sri Ramakrishna used to tell that story. A man was in earnest, he wanted to visit Lord Jagannath, but he started in the wrong direction, but on the way some people asked him and directed him in the right way. And who is that right person who guided him? "Do not go this way, Jagannath Puri Kshetra lies in the southern direction!", it is only God. Anybody who helps us. Anybody who takes us to a higher step, is a Guru. And every Guru is only Sachidananda, as Sri Ramakrishna mentioned so many times.

So there are some Shanti pathas. Shanti patha is an earnest prayer. Some are for general and anybody. So what is it that I wanted to tell you? That Karmakanda has a speciality. What is that speciality? Supposing somebody, as an example, wants to become rich. What can he do? He can study well, and pass brilliantly, obtain a good job, work very hard, and as a result definitely he is going to earn and become wealthy. Apply this to any desire. But there is another way, this is not the only way. So another way is to pray to Mother Lakshmi, or chant Sri Suktam, Kanakadhara Stavam, earnestly and by God's grace Kanakadhara Vrishti will come. Will it come? Yes, it will come. It may not be Kanakadhara, but somehow or other the money will come there is no doubt about it. So if somebody wants a child another example that they can try all the laborious laboratory means, or they can just do like Dasaratha, Putrakameshti, and he will obtain. This is proven by so many people. You want rain? You can put rain seeds, some chemicals, or you can pray to the Lord. There is a yagna, Homa. If they do, the Vrishti will come. Definitely. So, Karmakanda is a very sure way of getting our desires fulfilled. So one can work very hard without having faith in God or scripture, and obtain the result. This is the Karmaphala, but the same Karmaphala can be obtained by praying to God earnestly. That is what I wanted to point out.

In any case Shanti Pathas are very good, they are beautiful! So another is very general:

Sarve Janah Sukhino Bhavantu

Sarve Santu Niraamayaah

Ma Kashchid Dukhabhaag Bhavet,

etc. So,

durjanah sajjano bhūyāt

sajjanah śāntimāpnuyāt

śānto mucyeta bandhebhyo

muktaścānyān vimocayet

So there are what is called two types of Shanti Pathas. One is for a specific purpose, another is for a general purpose. Even the Shanti Pathas meant for a general purpose are extraordinarily good. So this Bhadram Karnebhih is a general Shanti Patha. Anybody can start everyday, it is a marvelous prayer. So in this prayer they are praying earnestly to God, like Nachiketa prayed to Yama, Dharmarāja, like Sri Ramakrishna prayed to the Divine Mother, like the Rishi in the Ishavasya Upanishad is praying.

hiraṇmayena pātreṇa satyasyāpihitaṁ mukham |

tat tvaṁ pūṣannapāvṛṇu satyadharmāya dṛṣṭaye ||

"O Lord, without your grace nobody can remove the veil which you yourself have put on", this is what exactly Sri Ramakrishna was trying to tell. A police sergeant was going around at night with a powerful torch, and then nobody can see his face, but he can see everybody's face. So if anybody anyone wants to see his face, then he has to pray earnestly "Sir, please turn on the torch light on your own face". That is called the grace of God. So ultimately the grace of all the Devas. About this I will quote later on from the Bhagavad Gita especially in the third chapter. So why should we pray to Gods? Because Gods are none other than God Himself manifesting as Adhiṣṭhātṛdevatās (presiding Deity). That is for knowledge, Mother Saraswati, or here in this, Brihaspati, for wealth - Lakshmi, for Vighna Nivarana - Ganesha, or Vignesha, for success - Kumaraswami. So for anything. Sri Ramakrishna used to tell about Holy Mother, she is Mother Saraswati in the form of Bagalā. She incarnated, she is Jnanadayini. That is why every day we pray "sārade jñānadāyike pāpebhyo naḥ sadā rakṣa kṛpāmayi namo’stu te" (Prakritim Paramam Arati Hymn by Swami Abhedananda). So the Gods being prayed, they are giving us everything, not that they are waiting to bestow their grace, they are providing rains in time, crops all the things necessary for our happy journey in life, but we should never forget them. So, "parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śhreyaḥ param avāpsyatha" (Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 3, Verse 11). I will come to that later on. When we worship or propitiate the Gods they in turn bless us empower us and protect us. This is what Bhagavad Gita in the chapter 3 from 9-13th shloka. I am just briefly mentioning this idea of Bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ is reflected here. First of all Bhagavan Krishna says, the whole life is meant for a Yagna. What is a Yagna? Bali, sacrifice. What is to be sacrificed? Yajnapashu. That is our Ajnanam is Pashu. If we don't have Jnanam we are called Pashus. That's why Shiva is called Pashupati and we are supposed to sacrifice our animal nature. Animal behavior. Asuri Sampath. Instead of that, there are people who happily sacrifice, kill, living creatures not knowing how much of suffering we are giving them. So, yajña-arthāt karmaṇaḥ (Bhagavad Gita 3.9). If anybody lives as a worship, whole life is an offering to God, because God has given me the body, the mind through Pancha Bhutas etc. Otherwise, the person will have to struggle in this world for a long time called Karma Bandhana. And then, Bhagavan Krishna is declaring (Bhagavad Gita 3.10):

saha-yajñāḥ prajāḥ sṛiṣhṭvā purovācha prajāpatiḥ |

anena prasaviṣhyadhvam eṣha vo ’stviṣhṭa-kāma-dhuk ||

So when creation started, Prajapati the creator having created Gods as well as the whole world, he instituted this lineage of sacrifice, Yagnas, and then he declared. By this, that means by performing Yagnas, you multiply. Let this be your worship, and through this you worship Gods and they will bestow and fulfill all your desires. Continuing (Bhagavad Gita 3.11):

devān bhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ |

parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śhreyaḥ param avāpsyatha ||

You offer your worship to the Gods with this, and let those Gods nourish you. Nourishing one another thus, you shall attain the supreme good. And then what do they do if we worship Gods? They will be pleased, and they will grant us whatever we want. Rakshasas wanted worldly prosperity and Gods will grant them, but with one caveat, condition. What is the condition? As we saw earlier in the Devi Suktam. What is the condition? These Tripurasuras.

# Lead a godly life
# Never give up worship
# Do not do any harm to good people

You be good people. Help other good people. Worship God. Lead a Dharmic life. And you will enjoy to the super relative degree, all the enjoyments of the world. That is the declaration, but unfortunately they forgot. They gave up worshiping God. Really speaking, giving up or non-believing in God, generally it means the person is immoral, is demonic, and he wants to do what is harmful. Thinking that thereby he is doing good for himself. Unnecessarily troubling other people, injuring other people, killing other people, as it is happening in front of our eyes. Not ever looking at the scriptures. As you sow, so you reap. As you do karma, so also it comes back to you. And so the gods being pleased with your worship (Bhagavad Gita 3.12):

iṣhṭān bhogān hi vo devā dāsyante yajña-bhāvitāḥ |

tair dattān apradāyaibhyo yo bhuṅkte stena eva saḥ ||

"But those ungrateful people who do not show their gratefulness to the gods, and go on trying to enjoy selfishly. Such a person is called a thief."

And just as thieves are punished, anybody who is ungrateful will also be punished. By whom? We don't need to bring any extra factor. Karma siddhanta tells your own adharma will punish you. Your own dharma will reward you. And if we can heed the teachings of the scriptures, yajña-śhiṣhṭāśhinaḥ (BG 3.13). Those who do everything as prasadam. This house is God's prasadam. This car, God's prasadam. This job, God's prasadam. These parents, God's prasadam. These family members, God's prasadam. Everything is God's prasadam. This is called partaking the prasadam at the end of it. You know after puja is over they are all waiting for prasadam (Bhagavad Gita 2.65):

prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ hānir asyopajāyate |

prasanna-chetaso hyāśhu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣhṭhate ||

So what happens, those who are ungrateful, they never acknowledge that God in the form of various gods, presiding deities. They are raining all the goodies upon us. But those who are ungrateful, he will only eat what is called sinful food, that food is completely sinful. And, Atma Karana (Unknown/incorrect transliteration), he becomes selfish. There is a beautiful story I remember. Now and then I will remind you. This is about Guru Nanak. Once Guru Nanak happened to be, he reached during his wandering time/days, a small village, and then it was already dark, nobody seeing his appearance, nobody welcomed him. But there was a cobbler. Seeing a sadhu, these poor people, the indigent people, they have tremendous faith in God. They heartily welcomed him and said "Sir, you can sleep in my small hut and if you are gracious, you partake of the same simple food that we prepare for ourselves". Guru Nanak was more than happy to do this. So gladly he saw sattva guna, so much manifest in that person happily he was eating. Meanwhile somehow people came to know about Guru Nanak there were so many rich people and they came running and said "Sir, you should not stay in this untouchable place. All our homes are open to you. Please come and stay here!". Guru Nanak said "I am very happy here, I don't need to go anywhere". But they insisted, he was a saint and he was a samadarshi. He doesn't mean he doesn't make any difference between low caste and high caste. So he went to a rich man's house and that rich man provided royal dishes in very costly golden plates, and it was served. And he was asked that "Please enjoy this food. We ourselves have prepared. Our own family members have prepared". Not ordered from online what is called so many restaurants and other things. But Guru Nanak looked at the food and flatly refused to touch the food, and they all said "Sir, what is wrong? Why are you not partaking?". And then Guru Nanak said "I see nothing but pure blood, pus, and rotten things here". And they were very upset by hearing this now it is from our own fields, our own money. Then he explained "How did you get this money? You are squeezing the sweat of the poor people whom you give the least bit of wages. Squeeze their life. You are not taking their labor, you are taking their life itself, and that is why their blood is seen here. I refuse to eat this one.", and then he went away. Same thing happened to Swami Vivekananda. Once before going to America he was wandering in Kashmir. There was a Muslim. Very poor woman. One day he went there at night "Maa, I am hungry. Give me some food." he begged, and the lady was very very pious lady. She welcomed him wholeheartedly, she was a very poor lady. She was preparing some chapatis. You know in north India, some chapatis. And Swamiji was very young, and he was ravenously hungry. Probably he did not get food. So he sat down and hot hot chapatis she was preparing and serving him with either dal or simple curry. And Swamiji later on said "I have never tasted such tasty food in my life. It tasted to me like nectar itself." and then what happened? You know, he of course blessed her and then he had nothing to give in return. He went to America, he came back again with his disciples. He was wandering and he remembered and then he quickly disappeared and then these disciples were wondering "Where did Swami Vekananda suddenly disappear?". Then they went in the direction that he was hurrying, hastening, and then they saw him in a small hut sitting in there. And then the woman was serving hot chapatis and whole heartedly he was enjoying it. Then he had some money, he gave her, "Maa, do you remember once I came before going to America? and I have never tasted such food. I had nothing to give you at that time, but now I have got something I can give you, share with you." and he gave quite some amount of money. But in Khetri also something similar happened, if your devotees should remember. That Swami Vivekananda was staying at Khetri. I think Khetri, it may be somewhere in Rajasthan, I do not remember exactly. And for three days and nights, people were attracted like flies. And they made him talk and talk and talk. Almost twenty hours a day. Nobody enquired whether he was taking, who was providing bhiksha for him. And he also did not ask. They made him sing. They made him talk, and they were very happy and they disappeared, and then there was a cobbler in front of where Swamiji was staying. He noticed it, and then he came "Sir, I have been watching. Three days you have not taken food. Will you accept my humble food?". Gladly Swami Vekananda went. Tears came to his eyes, and that food also tasted like nectar. And then when he met Raja Khetri. Immediately Khetri Maharaj invited him, and Swami reported this incident, and the Maharaja sent somebody to fetch him, this poor cobbler. And the cobbler went trembling, thinking that somebody reported him feeding the sadhu, and he will be punished severely. Yes, that was the condition at that time. But the Raja said "I am so grateful to you, you have fed the great Swami". He gave him sufficient wealth so that his whole life he could live. Incidentally feeding sadhus, gives also that result. But the point here is, this is called ''yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ (BG 3.13).'' Those who partake of, offering to God everything. That means, not only offering to God. Sometimes we see rich people also offering to God. That is not what is meant. That is, one who observes the scriptural teachings, never deviates from Vidhi and Nishedha. That is called real Puja, and whatever they get by that, and they are satisfied, this is Prasada given by God. Such food is called Prasada. And ''yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ,'' those who partake of that Bhagavat Prasada, they become santaḥ, that is wise Rishis, Munis, great people. What happens? Sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ mucyante, they become freed from all impurities, and then those who do not they become thieves, they will take a long time. This is just to tell. What did I want to tell?

That prayers to God - we have to be eternally grateful

I am healthy - I am grateful to God

I have a wonderful memory - I am grateful to God

I am able to understand - I am grateful to God

I am able, I have the opportunity to listen to all these beautiful talks - I am grateful to God

How many people do not have the time or inclination or opportunity for everything that is happening? Especially for these spiritual seekers, every breath. That is what he says, "Oh Arjuna, whenever you are eating, you are sleeping, and you are opening your eyelids, closing your eyelids, everything, anything. You are sleeping, you are working? Offer it to me. That is how you will reach me." Shvasa and Nishvasa all because of the [unknown sanskrit]. So this is the essence of the prayer. Here the word used is Bhadraṃ, also Mangalam. Sarva-Manggala-Maanggalye Shive Sarvaartha-Saadhike. In the entire creation, there is only one ultimate auspicious thing, and that is called God, that is called Brahman, that is called Bhagwan, that is called Divine Mother. That is why it is said in the Vishnu Sahasranama, in the Mahabharata "pavitrāṇāṃ pavitraṃ yō maṅgaḻānāṃ cha maṅgaḻam" before chanting the Vishnu Sahasranama.

So the prayer is "Oh Gods, may I hear, may I listen to Bhadram (auspicious)". That means may I listen only talks about God.

There was a wonderful story in the, I think Mahabharata or Bhagavata, I do not remember. There was a king called Khatvanga, he was a very strong person. Once Devendra requested him to help him fight with the Asuras, demons. King Khatvanga was taken to the heavens, and he fought, and along with him Indra obtained victory, and the war was over, and then he was about to return. Indra offered "I am so grateful, you helped me. Ask some boons. Whatever you want, I am capable of giving to you". What does a man want? Long life, healthy life, every material to make the mind completely free. This is what we desire, but this king was a very wise person, spiritual person. He asked first "Tell me how long am I going to survive? When is my death coming?" and Indra smiled and said "In two hours time you are going to die". "What am I going to do with whatever you give me? So what is the way for me to obtain Moksha?", and then Indra says "You just go to the Bhuloka. I will transport you instantaneously, and then you sit and forget the world and merge yourself in the thought of God", and within two hours Khatvanga obtained Mukti by the grace of God. It is the earnestness, it is not the time. King Parikshit obtained in just one week. That is why many Swamis, or devotees, they hold Bhagavata Satsanga. They call it Bhagavata Saptaha, because King Parikshit he had only taught entire Bhagavatam by none other than Shukadeva himself, just in a week. So one week is enough. One day is enough. Two hours is enough. One second is enough. Anta-kāle cha mām eva smaran muktvā kalevaram (Bhagavad Gita 8.5). So just one second remember, and God will be very pleased.

So we also have the opportunity always. What is Bhadram? Bhadram means think about God. The only auspicious thing in this world is God. Anything related to God. Sacred book, sacred place, sacred festival, sacred puja, sacred event, sacred prasadam, etc. Then it is a prayer to all the Gods. Svasti means well-being. Many times we really do not know what is good for us. We think we know, that is the stupendous ignorance which Socrates had found out. When the Delphi Oracle declared him the wisest man. It is said Socrates went round, met all the greater pundits than him, talked with them, came back, and declared now I know I am the wisest person. "How did you know?", "Because, everyone with whom I spoke, they said 'I know, I know'. I am the only person who can say I do not know anything". That humility, that is called wisdom. Oh Lord, let me hear about Brahman. Therefore through this prayer, so the ability to hear. That means a good body, a good mind, good environment, good circumstances. All this is possible. Sri Ramakrishna says beautifully, you know. Suppose there are two brothers. Younger brother is very sincere spiritual seeker, and then probably his elder brother was married, he was earning money, and so the family responsibility was taken up by the elder brother, and the elder brother does not expect anything from his younger brother. Lovingly looks after him. So without any worry he can, what is called practice, continue his spiritual practice. This is possible only by God's grace. Sri Ramakrishna often use it to cite Balaram Babu's family and said "It is through the Grace of Lord Jagannath. Every one of them is overflowing with Bhakti, including the servants who are working in Balram Basu's house". So then how long should we pray to gods? [unknown Sanskrit] So long gods grant us, how long are we going to live, and so long as we are living, our only, as Christian saints say "We are created by God, only to praise him, to meditate, to pray to him". So also Hindus also say "We are born only to praise God, and to think about God, and to progress in God". So how long? From the time we come to our senses, until this body drops off again. This is called [unknown sanskrit]. So long as the gods have granted us, so much time you will live. So how to pray? Prayer is not simply you utter some mantras, or sutras. We have to strive, this is called Sadhana. What is the Sadhana? Hinduism specifies we have to strive to acquire four fruits of life:

* Dharma
* Artha
* Kama
* Moksha

Let me spend my entire life in Ishwara Aradhana. Bhagvat Pooja. Whatever be the life allotted to me according to the law of Karma. Because God (gods? unkown) have no partiality. The only allotment. That is why God is called Vidhātā. According to what we have done, many times I told you Jaati (Species), Ayu (Lifespan), Bhoga (how much happiness and unhappiness). These are dependent upon our Purva Janma Karma. Devahitaṃ yadāyūḥ. So let the journey of our quest, God quest, spiritual quest, go on smoothly without any obstacles. Therefore, O Devas, may you all give me Bon Voyage. Svasti means "happy journey". Happy journey means "by your grace". May I not encounter any obstacles. May all favorable things like a boat, favorable wind. It can happen only by God's grace, and there is, we have to add svasti dadhātu. Dadhātu means what? "May God grant and supply everything for each one of us". Svasti naḥ dadhatu. Svasti means every type of auspicious thing. That is absolutely necessary.

In our next class I will deal with, but very briefly.

May Indra bless us with an auspicious journey.

May Surya Narayana, that is Ocean (unknown, verify), bless us with an auspicious journey, and

May, what is called Garuda, Ariṣṭanemiḥ, the destroyer of all obstacles. Tārkṣya (name of Garuda). Why Garuda? Many times I told you. Garuda what does he do? He brings God. Our Guru is compared to Garuda. Who is a Guru? He carries God to us where we are. Because we are not capable of going to God. God is brought by Garuda. That is why Garuda is called Guru. He is also called Ariṣṭanemiḥ. That means nobody can obstruct him. So also may he bless me with obstacle-less auspicious journey, and finally may Brihaspati bless us with an auspicious [journey]. That means, may he give us the right understanding at every step, so that I can reach God.

A few more points are there, we will talk in our next class.
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|ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
|Om jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
|}
May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Jai Ramakrishna!
[[Category:Amrita Bindu Upanishad]]