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Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 103 Ch3.3-6 on 06 May 2026

2026-05-12T04:37:32Z

Vamsimarri: /* Deep Sleep, Samādhi, and the Nature of Brahman */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha) ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL

=== Recap: The Teaching of Varuṇa to Bhṛgu ===
We have been studying the Bhṛgu Vallī — how Bhṛgu approached Varuṇa Brahman and begged him: "Teach me how I can reach Brahman, become Brahman." And the teacher had instructed: "These are the instruments. This is the goal. This is the nature of your goal" — which is called the accidental nature, called Taṭastha Lakṣaṇa, the secondary definition of Brahman. The primary definition of Brahman is ''Satyaṃ Jñānaṃ Anantaṃ Brahma'', or ''Sat Cit Ānanda Brahma''. But we do not understand what it means.

So when we look in our life, we see that we are going through three stages of experiences — the waking, the dream, and also the deep sleep — and then we are transiting from one to the other. And our experiences of each one of these states is totally different from each other. So I remain the unchanged witness of all these three states. Therefore, you will have to understand: you are that Brahman. Not only you are that Brahman — everything is that Brahman.

How do we know that? For that, Varuṇa gave the secondary definition of Brahman:

''Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante |'' ''Yena jātāni jīvanti |'' ''Yat prayanty abhisaṃviśanti ||''

Find out the ultimate cause — the cause of every other cause, which is itself without any cause, which is unlimited. Find that out.
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=== Manana: The First Stage of Deep Thinking ===
So how to find out? Through deep thinking — called Manana. This is the first stage of Manana. After hearing the details about our goal and how to proceed, from the mouth of the teacher, the Guru, the first thing we have to do is Manana.

The first stage in the Manana is to get rid of all doubts regarding what our teacher has said. Because if there is the slightest doubt, then we will not take up, we will not follow, the teachings of the scripture coming through the mouth of the teacher, the Guru.

How do we know whether we have got that much faith — doubtless faith? Because anything that we are convinced of 100%, without the least bit of doubt, we immediately follow it. This is a point which I had pointed out many times. If I am convinced that this world is Mithyā, if I — or anybody — am convinced, "This is poison and it will bring me suffering," then that person will not even go near it. He does not even want to think about it. He does not want to be harmed.

But if somebody comes and tells us, "I will show you something which will give you unbroken bliss — eternal and unlimited — under two conditions: for all the time, and 100%," then that is what we are all really seeking. But as the Ābhyāroha Mantras tell us beautifully, anything else that we are seeking is called Mṛtyu. Mṛtyu means what? Death. Death means what? That which comes to an end.

So anything — that is why in Sanskrit we call it Kṣaṇika Ānanda. Every Ānanda is only Kṣaṇika. There is nothing called "I have ten minutes of continuous happiness." How do we know? We know because the moment we forget ourselves — that is called the moment of becoming one with happiness. The moment we become aware, that is only a memory of the happiness. We have already disunited, separated from that state of experience.
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=== Deep Sleep, Samādhi, and the Nature of Brahman ===
The only time when we have, for a long time, unbroken peace of mind — which is beyond both happiness and unhappiness — is in deep sleep. And in deep sleep, we are not aware of time, space, or any other object.

But there is a problem with this deep sleep: we are not aware, we are not conscious. Just as we are conscious about the waking state and we are conscious about the dream state, we should be conscious — "I am consciously experiencing the state of deep sleep." And when we consciously experience it, it goes by the name Samādhi.

So a Jñāna Brahman continuously and unbrokenly experiences this bliss. And that bliss is not happiness — it is neither unhappiness. It is beyond both. And we know it because of what happens after we wake from deep sleep: we become refreshed, we become fearless. So long as we are in the deep sleep state, we are in the state of the highest bliss, because duality vanishes totally.

And duality is the nature of both the waking and the dream states. In both these states I am aware — I am aware of the understanding that I am different, totally different from everything else. Everything is totally different from everything else. And there are only three objects: I, the world, and God. So Jīvas and Jīvas are separate, Jīvas and objects in the world are separate, and both Jīvas and objects in the world are different from Īśvara or Paramātmā.

That is the state of bondage. ''Dvaitam eva abhayaṃ bhavate.'' Therefore, how to transcend that — that is what this teacher has taught Bhṛgu.
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=== True Tapasyā and the Example of Viśvāmitra ===
"I am giving you that you have to do Tapasyā." What is Tapasyā? The means by which we realise the truth — that is a true Tapasyā. If after a long Tapasyā I come to know that I am not Brahman, that is not Tapasyā.

Again, to take the example of Viśvāmitra: he did a thousand years of Tapasyā, according to the Purāṇic description. Was it Tapasyā? Not really. Why? Because he had not overcome — he was not even aware of — the deepest and greatest problem that is within him. And God, out of his infinite grace, came in the form of Indra. Indra sent a beautiful woman.

So every sense organ has its own sphere of experience. This attraction to the opposite sex belongs to the Sparśa Sukha. We touch something — a mother touches a baby — that is also Sparśa Sukha. But that is one type of Sparśa Sukha. When a young man touches a young woman, that is another type of touch. So various types of touches are there.
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=== The True Meaning of Prasāda ===
When we eat Prasāda offered to God, that is a different type of Ānanda. But without thinking of God, we are only running after the taste. That is not real. That is one type of Sukha, but it has nothing to do with spiritual life. How do we know? Because through Prasāda, when we understand "this is an offering from God" — and a person says, "This is tasty, this is not tasty, this is more tasty, this is less tasty, this is more preferable and this is not preferable" — then that person is far away from the concept of Prasāda.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā, what is Prasāda? The very Sanskrit word Prasāda means complete peacefulness of mind:

''Prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṃ hānir asyopajāyate |'' ''Prasanna-cetaso hy āśu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhati ||''

Two characteristics of this Prasāda. First — ''sarva-duḥkhānām'' — a person, a real Bhakta, like Nāga Mahāśaya: so even the leaf upon which Prasāda is kept is Mahāprasāda according to him. A dry leaf he starts eating, because it is no less sacred — because it has touched the Prasāda itself. So that is one characteristic.

The second characteristic is this: when we consider anything as Prasāda, it creates in us a great concentration of the mind. The mind becomes absolutely filled with bliss. ''Prasanna-cetaso hy āśu buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhati'' — our intellect firmly thinks only of God, the source of this purity.

There was a beautiful incident. One day Ramaṇa Mahārṣi was sitting in his hall, and some devotee happened to come there. He brought Prasāda offered to a Goddess nearby — perhaps from his village or his sacred place, I do not remember — and he wanted to share it with Bhagavān. So he gave a little bit of the Prasāda to Ramaṇa Mahārṣi. He remembered: "He is a Brahma Jñānī." And then, as soon as the Prasāda was put in his hands, tears started flowing like rivers, and he could not utter a word. His voice had become very faltering. He says: "Have you seen? Mother has come. Prasāda is not food. Prasāda is the Mother." That seeing of the Divine in anything that is associated with Prasāda — that is called Darśana.

The same thing with Rāmakṛṣṇa also. Even a thought of Mother, of God, a song — it throws him immediately into that state of Samādhi. So this is a characteristic of great devotees, and our goal is to reach that state.
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=== The Parable of the Weaver and Rāma's Will ===
So when a person is very happy — somebody is thrown into jail, and he thinks it is all God's will — that person's mind, even in jail, is filled with the greatest bliss. Remember the story of Rāma's devotee, the weaver. He was taken to the magistrate and he explained everything, and the magistrate had freed him. And all this time he was saying: "By the will of Rāma I was caught. By the will of Rāma I was brought in front of your honour."

Of course, the story tells that the magistrate had immediately freed him. But we have to imagine — these are stories to be meditated upon. They are not mere stories. They are parables. A parable is a story which has various layers of meaning. The more we think about these parables, the nearer we approach God, and more meaning is revealed.

Supposing this magistrate says: "You are caught red-handed. I do not know anything about your Rāma. But you will have to be in jail — let us say for twelve years." Anything is possible. Then what would the weaver say? Would he be weeping and saying, "After all, it is Rāma's will. I have no other way. I have to accept it" — in a weeping tone? Would he be uttering these words? Or would he be saying, "Rāma's will!" — and dancing? "Now Her Majesty will provide me with all the bare necessities, and I can think of my Rāma joyfully!" That would be his idea. So we have to understand these what are called finer points.
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=== Any Thought of God Becomes Ecstasy — Rādhā and the Blue Flower ===
Any thought — the moment Rādhā used to see a blue flower, she was thrown into ecstasy. Because that reminded her of only her Iṣṭa Devatā, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. A peacock dancing — immediately it would throw any devotee into ecstasy. Any devotee should be thrown. But we have not acquired that capacity yet. Still, we consider this as the ideal.

That is why Rāmakṛṣṇa had tremendous faith in the Prasāda of Jagannātha. Even the most impure person — if he takes the Prasāda of Jagannātha, immediately he feels purity. You will have to understand that.
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=== Returning to the Subject: What Is Manana? ===
So, coming back to our subject: I am giving you a hint — that is called deep thinking, Manana. All this explanation is only to understand the state of what Manana is. So the teacher had shown him, and Bhṛgu understood, because he was a fit Adhikārī disciple. And then immediately he goes and starts doing Tapasyā.

What is Tapasyā? Śaṅkarācārya tells us: Tapasyā is one-pointed thinking of the object of the teaching. And that teaching slowly brings — just to summarise — what should be the thought in the Tapasyā: "I want to realise my Divine Mother. And I am here. I must know where I am and I need to move forward. And in which direction? What does it mean to move forward?"

So that way, I am having so many negative qualities, unspiritual qualities. What is an unspiritual quality? It is the quality of being unwilling to think about God. A lot of times I fix myself — morning, evening, or sometimes at Pūjā time — I will be trying to think about God. But even at that time our minds are very restless. Restlessness means thinking of Anātma — non-God.

So we have to understand: what makes our mind restless? Only desires make our mind restless. And these desires must be increased a thousand-fold, but directed towards only God. Because every desire — indirectly — is a desire for an object as an instrument of happiness. But we have to understand: every desire is only for God. "I want to be happy. I don't want to die. I don't want to be ignorant. I want to be conscious that I am — and not only that I am, but that I am very happy." So that is the goal.

And the desires — there must be only one desire. All the desires must become combined into one desire: the desire for God. That is called Tapasyā. That is the goal of Tapasyā — unbroken thought about God.
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=== Citta Vṛtti Nirodha — Not a Blank Mind ===
That is called Citta Vṛtti Nirodha. It is not making the mind blank. It is to make every thought converted into one single thought: "I want only to know that I am Puruṣa, or Consciousness."

Unable to understand this, various people define this Nirodha in so many ways — oppression, suppression, etc. How do we know this is wrong? Because Patañjali, great Ṛṣi that he was, immediately outlines eight steps, the eighth of which ends in Samādhi. And what is Nirodha? To attain Samādhi and to remain in Samādhi.

So in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, the 12th chapter, 242nd section, 4th mantra, it defines what is called Tapaḥ:

''Manasca indriyāṇāñca ekagriyam paramaṃ tapaḥ |'' ''Tat jñeyaḥ sarvadharmebhyaḥ sa-dharmaḥ paravicyate ||''

One-pointedness of the mind and the senses is indeed a supreme austerity — Paramaḥ. It is the highest point of Tapasyā. It is superior to all dharmas. Because when a person attains to this highest Tapasyā, this highest Tapaḥ, then he reaches the goal. Therefore it is declared to be ''Sad-dharma Paravicyate'' — the supreme Dharma.
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=== Meditating on the Life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Tapasyā ===
Now think for a second. This is how we have to meditate upon the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — not only upon his teachings. Simultaneously, we have to meditate upon the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

What do you think? The moment he understood the ephemeral nature of this world, immediately he turned his mind towards the Divine Mother. "The Mother that I am worshipping in the form of a stone image — is it real? Or is it only my imagination?" And he understood immediately: "I have to take shelter at her feet. I have to think of her only." And so many incidents are there which I also quoted to prove that — "O mind, if you deviate from thinking of her lotus feet, I will pierce you with this trident." He kept a watchman — his own mind as the watchman.

What do you think? Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, as soon as the temple duty was over, would disappear for the whole night until early morning, when the time for opening the temple came. What do you think he was doing? He would be sitting — and we can see he had become totally unconscious. But what was he thinking?

He is thinking: "Please bestow your grace." Is that the only thought? I think he would also be thinking: "How can I obtain the grace of the Divine Mother? For that purpose, why is she not bestowing her grace? Is it that she is not bestowing her grace, or is it that she is bestowing it but I am not able to receive it?" So these are the thoughts: "Why am I not able to receive it? Do I have any other thoughts other than the desire for the realisation of the Divine Mother, for the vision of the Divine Mother?"

That means one has to find out where one is and what is the next step, and slowly reach the next step. And that is what we discussed also in the second chapter of the Taittirīya — this is what is called Prāṇa, Anna Brahma, then Prāṇa Brahma, Mano Brahma, Vijñāna Brahma, AnandaMāyā Brahma, and then Ānanda.
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=== The Goal: Direct Experience of Parabrahman ===
So intense thinking is the way to realise Brahman. Every seeker should give up sloth and pursue the enquiry until the highest truth, called Parabrahman, is known through direct experience — as clear as "I am Brahman," as clearly as a fruit lying on the palm of one's own hand. This is called Karatala Āmalakavat.
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=== Bhṛgu's First Realisation: Annamaya — Anna Brahma ===
So we have seen in our last classes that Bhṛgu went and did Tapasyā, and then he realised. What did he realise? From where does this entire creation that I experience through this gross body — this physical world, this external world — come? What is the cause of the entire world? Not only my body and mind, but the entire world — the physical world, my body, everybody's body, etc.

Then he understood. There are certain steps there which I am going to outline now for the sake of clarity. He understood: "I am Anna Brahma — I am the entire physical universe." And then he saw, he thought: "I have reached Brahman." But then immediately he had a doubt: "But this physical universe — it is born, it is growing, it is changing, and it will disappear." Birth and death — what is called the sixfold change, Ṣaḍvikāra — that is the nature of everything.

Even the Himālayas: there were no Himālayas before the birth of the Himālayas. When two continents collided with each other, what was lying in between was thrown out, and slowly it started to grow and grow and grow. And then slowly it is melting down. Now scientists say Mount Himālayas, as well as other mountains — even the icebergs — everything is melting down. So whatever has a birth will have a death. In between there is growth — going up, going down — everything has to go back from where it has come.

So even if I am the Anna Brahma, the Pṛthivī Devatā — as soon as I understand "I am the Anna Brahma," which is to say "I am the Pṛthivī, the grossest of the five elements" — immediately I understand that this is not the final cause. This has a cause.

Anyway, he had this doubt. He came to his father, and the father confirmed. We do not know what conversation took place — the Upaniṣad is extraordinarily brief. So please understand: Bhṛgu, after this realisation of Anna Brahma, must have come to his teacher, who is none other than his own father Varuṇa. But here he is a teacher of Brahma Vidyā. So he confirmed: "Yes, you are right. Your doubt is absolutely certified. It is not the final cause. It is only an approximate cause." Then: "What is the way?" The same way — go and do Tapasyā.
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=== Bhṛgu's Second Realisation: Prāṇamaya — Prāṇa Brahma ===
The second time, the teacher told him: "Now, this time, intensify your Tapasyā." And then Bhṛgu goes, and then slowly he asked: "What is the cause of this body?" Prāṇa. And then he understood that he must identify himself with Prāṇa — that means he must disassociate from his identity as this body. "So I am no more the body. I am the Prāṇa." At first it is the individual Prāṇa. Then he says: "This is the same thing. I must identify. Brahma means everything. So if I am Prāṇa and I am separate from you, who are also Prāṇa..."

This is a point we have to note down. As long as we think "I am the body," we cannot think of anything else as other than body. The moment a person knows "I am the Prāṇa," then he cannot think of anybody or anything else as a physical body — it must be Prāṇa only.

So he realised: "I am Prāṇa Brahma" — Prāṇa Brahma means the Prāṇa, the original Prāṇa, the Prāṇa Devatā, which is lending itself into every single living creature in this world. It is that Adhiṣṭhāna Devatā, the Prāṇa Devatā. We can call it Jalam. He understood.

So then the same doubt came. The moment he understood Prāṇa, he also understood that Prāṇa has a birth. Birth means the manifestation of Prāṇa. Death means the disappearance of Prāṇa. So Prāṇa also has birth and death, and in between it is changing all the time. When I read a book which I like, my Prāṇa becomes very high. When I have to meet people whom I don't like, don't love, or hate, then my Prāṇa becomes shrunk, contracted, less.

Sometimes, if we cannot tolerate something, we might commit suicide — give up our body. Giving up the body means Prāṇa goes elsewhere.

So just like the body, the Prāṇa also has a birth, etc. So Bhṛgu understood: that which is changing all the time, that which has a birth and death, cannot be true Brahman. So he had the same doubt as when he had realised "I am Anna Brahma." So again he came to the father for confirmation. And the father, the teacher, confirmed: "Yes, this is not the Causeless Cause. This is not true Brahman. This is only proximate Brahman." And then: "What is the further way? You are doing well, my boy. You are progressing in the right way. You are approaching Brahman." So: ''Tapasā Brahma vijijñāsasva'' — "Seek to know Brahman by means of austerities." So immediately he goes.
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=== Why Anna Brahma and Prāṇa Brahma Are Not the Highest Brahman ===
So "I am Anna Brahma, I am Prāṇa Brahma" — that is what the seeker had understood. Now, even though we have repeated this many times, why are Anna Brahma and Prāṇa Brahma not the highest Brahman? Because whatever is not Brahman is Anātma. Another name for Anātma is Mithyā. How do we know? So whatever cannot function independently — that means whatever is dependent — that is called Jaḍa, Anātma, Mithyā. That is the first characteristic. The second characteristic is: whatever is changing is Jaḍa.

So Bhṛgu must have been measuring: is the Annam independent and not changing? No — it is changing all the time. So all the six Vikāras can be applied to Prāṇa Brahma, Mano Brahma, Vijñāna Brahma, and Ānandamaya Kośa Brahma also.

So what is the cause of this body? Prāṇa. Because only parents who have Prāṇa can produce life. Anything that has got Prāṇa must come out of pre-existing Prāṇa only. But is Prāṇa independent? No — this Prāṇa comes into birth, changes all the time, and disappears. And then we have to question: what is giving birth to this Prāṇa? That is what Bhṛgu thought about. So the same rule must be applied to every Kośa, beginning from the Annamaya Kośa to the Ānandamaya Kośa.
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=== Entering the Caturtha Anuvāka — The Mind Is Brahman ===
So we have to understand this. Now we enter into the Caturtha Anuvāka. When Bhṛgu went and did Tapasyā, what did he do? Remember — he had already realised "I am Prāṇa Brahma." Prāṇa Brahma means: I am not the body, I am the Prāṇa. Not only I am the individual Prāṇa, but I am the universal Prāṇa — that is called the Adhiṣṭhāna Devatā, the Prāṇa Devatā. Then this Prāṇa also has a birth. Birth means an effect, and an effect must have a cause. So what gives birth to Prāṇa?

As I said: if you like something, your Prāṇa increases. If you dislike something, your Prāṇa contracts, becomes less. Sometimes, if we cannot tolerate something, we might give up our body, etc. Giving up the body means Prāṇa goes elsewhere.

So just like the body, the Prāṇa also has a birth, etc. Then what happened? So Bhṛgu realised: the mind is Brahman. From the mind — where, really, are these beings born? By the mind, when born, do they live. Into the mind, at the time of dissolution, do they enter, do they merge.

Having realised this, he approached his father again and said: "Venerable sir, guide me further to reach Brahman." To him the teacher Varuṇa said: "Seek to know Brahman by means of austerities, for austerities are the means of knowing Brahman. Think deeply."
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=== Bhṛgu's Third Realisation: Manomaya — Mano Brahma ===
So Bhṛgu practised austerities. Having practised austerities, what did he realise? "I am not the Annam — that means I am not the Annamaya Kośa, I am not the Prāṇamaya Kośa. I am the Manomaya Kośa." Why? Because the mind creates doubts — that is what we have to understand. The mind, a supreme power, has many properties to its credit.

So in the Mahābhārata again we get this. What are some properties of the mind? Patience, reasoning, remembrance, forgetfulness of error, imagination, endurance, inclination towards good and evil, and restlessness — these are some of the elaborations of the characteristics of the mind. This we get in the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. Very interesting. There are also other characteristics, but these are the important ones.

Patience: putting up with many things without losing happiness. The power to reason and to remember. And sometimes, when we make mistakes, we again commit the same mistake because we forgot that last time we suffered a great deal because of this action — we forget it and commit the same error again. Whenever we are imagining, our imagination flares up and creates a different image than what the object in front of us actually is. Then endurance, then inclination either towards good or evil, and restlessness.

Further: the mind is an organ or instrument, like the eye, ear, etc. The mind becomes restless — "mind" means thoughts. How many thoughts? A thought is born — that means the mind is born. That thought remains for a short time — that is the Sthiti, the continuance of the mind. The thought disappears, giving rise to another thought — that is the death of the thought.
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=== Two Things That Happen When the Seeker Identifies with the Mind ===
Therefore, when a person realises "I am the mind," not only is he the individual mind — two things happen. First of all, this seeker, on the way to the realisation of his own true nature, when he reaches this stage of the mind, he identifies: "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa. And then, who are you? I am the mind, because I am the cause of both the Prāṇa as well as the Annam — the food, the physical body." But then this is only the first step: "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa."

The second thing is: "I am not merely the individual mind. I am the Universal Mind." This is called Hiraṇyagarbha. Remember, in Vedānta, the collective name for all the physical bodies is called Virāṭ. The collective name for all the combined Prāṇa — that is the Prāṇa Devatā — is called Sūtrātmā. The collective name for every mind is called Mano Brahma — that is called Hiraṇyagarbha. The collective name for all the Buddhis, or intellects, is what we call the Mahat. And then, of course, the Ānandamaya Kośa.

So the Annamaya Kośa and the Sthūla Śarīra are equal. The Ānandamaya Kośa and the Kāraṇa Śarīra — wherein we experience deep sleep — are one and the same. But in between, the Sūkṣma Śarīra has three stages: collective Prāṇa, collective thinking power, collective deciding power. That is why they have given three names: Sūtrātmā, Hiraṇyagarbha, and Mahat.

So Bhṛgu understood and identified: "I am the mind. Not only I am the mind" — that means "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa. But I am Prāṇa. I am Mano Brahma. I am Hiraṇyagarbha."
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=== Hiraṇyagarbha Is Not the Ultimate Cause — On to Vijñānamaya ===
But Hiraṇyagarbha also is the effect of a cause. "Effect" means there must be a cause. Who is the cause of Hiraṇyagarbha? We have to understand: Mahat is the cause. Mahat means the Buddhi — herein it is called the Vijñānamaya Kośa. Only at that stage do we understand that Hiraṇyagarbha is only the cause of the physical body and Prāṇa, etc., but not the ultimate cause. It is only a proximate cause. What is the mediate proximate cause? The Buddhi — the Vijñānamaya Kośa.

So he had this doubt, and he must have come and said: "Teacher, Bhagavān — am I the Manomaya Kośa? Because I see this problem." And another way to understand why this doubt comes: when a person beholds Brahman, the doubts will disappear. The question will not come. And that is what happened in the case of Bhṛgu also.
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=== The Parable of the Seven Doors and the King ===
Hiraṇya Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful illustration. A poor man wanted to meet the king. Somehow somebody who was working with the king promised: "I will take you to the king." And there were seven doors.

At the very outer door, a gorgeously dressed person was sitting. This man had never seen such a dress, such power, such authority. So he mistook: "Is this the king?" And the guide said: "No, no — this is only a lower official." Thus, when the person starts going inside, there is even more splendour than at the outermost door. And then when he went to the sanctum sanctorum — the seventh chamber — that seventh person also is not God. But who can describe the splendour of that seventh person?

So he asked — he was sure that was the king — but the guide assured him: "No, this is not." Then he beheld, sitting in that seventh chamber, the real king. Then he understood. Then there were no more doubts. He did not ask, because that seeing of the king itself is the proof.

So when a person has no doubt — ''Chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ'' — there is a beautiful verse in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. ''Chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ'' — when a person beholds Brahman, because there is no questioning mind there, that separation — "Is this Brahman or not?" — will not be there. When there is only oneness, who is going to question?
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=== Bhṛgu's Fourth Realisation: Vijñānamaya — Vijñāna Brahma ===
So then Bhṛgu realised this. He went and must have discussed, then must have received further instructions. What is the nature of the Vijñāna? The Vijñānamaya Kośa is called Niścayātmikā Buddhi — from various pros and cons, it decides what should be done. So you find that out.

Then Bhṛgu went and did Tapasyā. Then he identified himself with the Vijñānamaya Kośa. Then the same doubt came — the same characteristics too: "I am not the Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya. I am the Vijñānamaya. I am not only individual Vijñānamaya — I am the collective Vijñānamaya." And then he must have had doubt. He must have come. Then the teacher must have told him about the Ānandamaya Kośa.

The description is not given here, so only up to the Vijñānamaya Kośa is it described. Then straight away the Upaniṣad jumps to: ''Ānandaṃ Brahmeti vijānāt.''
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=== Bhṛgu's Fifth and Final Realisation: Ānanda Brahma ===
You have to crystal-clearly separate: "I am the Ānandamaya Kośa" — no, that was not the realisation. ''Ānandaṃ Brahmeti vijānāt'' — ''Ānandamaya Kośa Brahmeti na vijānīt''. So that is how he went there.

As soon as he became identified with the Ānandamaya Kośa — saying, "I am not the Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Vijñānamaya; I am Ānandamaya" — first, "everybody is Ānandamaya only." That is called Ānandamaya Brahma. Then he must have discussed, of which description is not given here. And then the teacher must have told him further: "Do Tapasyā."

Then, in the description, it is there — Ānanda. That word Ānanda comes: Priya, Moda, then Ānanda — Priya, Moda, Pramoda. "I am not Priya, I am not Moda, I am not Pramoda. I am Ānanda." And then, with that, this slowly reaching a higher step, a higher storey, has ended.

So he must have reached not the fifth storey but the roof of the fifth storey. He must have approached. What is the nature of the intellect? It is the understanding: "This is the best course for me to adopt." So he must have discussed and must have been confirmed. That is what it says in the sixth Anuvāka:

''Ānando brahmeti vijānāt |'' ''Ānandād dhyeva khalv imāni bhūtāni jāyante |'' ''Ānandena jātāni jīvanti |'' ''Ānandaṃ prayantya abhisaṃviśanti ||''

''Saiṣā bhārgavī vāruṇī vidyā |'' ''Parame vyomani pratiṣṭhitā ||'' ''Sā ya evaṃ veda pratiṣṭhati |'' ''Annāvān annādo bhavati |'' ''Mahān bhavati |'' ''Prajayā paśubhiḥ Brahmavarcasena |'' ''Mahān bhavati ||''
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=== The Sixth Anuvāka — Ānanda Brahma ===
So in this sixth Anuvāka there are two parts.

''Ānando brahmeti vijānāt'' — Bhṛgu realised: "I am Ānanda Brahma." Remember — never mistake: "I am Ānandamaya Kośa Brahma." No. "I am Ānanda." That is the supreme Brahman.

Then it is from Brahman that the whole universe comes, in the form of the Pañca Bhūtas. It is because of Ānanda that we all live. In the hope of Ānanda only, we continue our life. And we merge back into from where we have come. The effect always must go back to its cause, and all causes merge back into what is called the supreme cause — the ultimate cause, the causeless cause — which is called Brahman.

And he understood the hint, because the father had given: "From where do these beings come? Who is the very first cause of the entire creation? Who is sustaining? And to whom does every creature go back? That is Brahman."
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=== Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva — Creator, Sustainer, Liberator ===
So in the Paurāṇika language: Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu is the maintainer or sustainer, and Śiva is supposed to be taking us back into the causeless cause. That is why in Kāśī he bestows his special grace.

We will discuss these points in our next class.

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

'''May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 163 on 05-May-2026

2026-05-12T04:05:11Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU

ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु
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== Reading the Gospel as Participation ==
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, every now and then, breaks into a beautiful song and also sometimes dances, completely forgetting himself, forgetting the whole world. That inspires the devotees who are attending the talks. And whenever we read the Gospel, it is not reading — it is participating. Time and space do not count here. We are transported, as it were, or, if you wish, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was transported into the present moment. When we enjoy whatever he is speaking, it is absolutely addressed to me alone. That is the bhāvanā with which we have to read any scripture. Whenever we read the Bhagavad Gītā or the Upaniṣads, we will have to think: God himself, or a great Ṛṣi himself, is addressing it towards us and towards each one of us. Because the simple truth is, even if there are a billion people listening, only those who are interested will be absorbing it — not otherwise. So this is a great spiritual practice.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Song and the Nature of Bhāgavatam ==
We have seen in our last class, with which we ended, that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa suddenly broke into a beautiful song. We have to remember that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa does not think, "I have to sing this song." Something from within inspires him, and he becomes one with the singing — like Bhāgavata, Bhakta, and Bhagavān. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sings, he sees the Divine Mother, he sees the Bhāgavata people, the Bhaktas, and he himself is one of the Bhaktas. And the Bhāgavata is coming, like it came from the mouth of Śukadeva.

In this context, we have to understand that Bhāgavatam is not only the teachings that go by that name. Any realised soul — after realisation, it is only God who speaks. Bhagavān's words are called Bhāgavatam. So whether it is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or anybody else — that is why M had very aptly titled it ''Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Kathāmṛtam''. He could have easily said ''Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam''. As I mentioned, one child who had obtained the blessings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the form of a sweet also became a Paṇḍit when he grew up, and he wrote a beautiful book called ''Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam''. So everything that comes from the mouth of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is Bhāgavatam only.

M himself has said, on the very first visit, that what he had heard so far — in only a few minutes — made him feel as if Śukadeva himself were speaking of the glories of Bhagavān to Rājā Parīkṣit, who was in the direst condition, cursed to die within seven days. What a great blessing! Parīkṣit died — died due to what? After hearing the Bhāgavatam, anybody who is absorbed in Bhagavān and dies has attained Mukti, or liberation. So also, if some people's physical death happens to take place — let us say, after reading the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — if he is truly absorbed, by the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, he might get Mukti also. We do not know, unless of course the person cherishes some lingering desires.
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== "Dive Deep, O Mind" — The Ocean of God's Beauty ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa broke into this beautiful song in Bengali. I want to dive a little into the meaning of this particular song:

''Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the ocean of God's beauty.''

A sādhaka is addressing his own mind. You have to go deep — how many times? Not once, not twice, but as many times as possible. And dive deep into what? Into the ocean of God's beauty.

"God's beauty" is beautifully described. There is a verse which says there are a few definitions of God. Sat Cit Ānanda is one. That Sat becomes Satyam, that Jñānam also becomes Śivam, and there is a word Sundaram. Sundaram means Ānanda. Whatever we love appears in our eyes as very beautiful. In the eyes of what we call a mother crow, the young one of the crow is the most beautiful creature in the whole world. That is why parents are ready to give up their lives — whether birds or animals. This is something so marvellous, even to contemplate.

So, only when we are able to meditate on the Ānanda aspect — which is also called the beauty aspect — then only will we be able to dive. Until that Ānanda comes, we will be trying to find some other object, trying to remember that which gave us so much happiness. But God's beauty is not some perishing, ephemeral, vanishing beauty. It is an ocean of God's beauty. And just as when we approach the ocean, we see how many waves — what are these waves? Waves of bliss. Because God can be enjoyed in infinite ways. The Infinite can be enjoyed in infinite ways. And if we descend to the uttermost depths, as we go on contemplating the Saundarya — the beauty of God — this God will not vanish, and this beauty will never vanish, and this Ānanda will never vanish. Therefore, there is no fear of losing it.

If anyone can descend, as we go on descending, our joy will increase and our Bhakti will increase. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is singing, absorbed in ecstasy. If somebody reaches to the very depth, that is called Parābhakti — supreme devotion. And Swāmī Vivekānanda, in his book on Bhakti Yoga — there are two separate sets of talks Swāmī Vivekānanda had given: ''Bhakti Yoga'' is one, and ''Talks on Bhakti Yoga'' is another, at two different places, but the essence is the same — says at the end that Parābhakti, supreme devotion, and supreme knowledge are one and the same. We can also add: supreme Karma Yoga, supreme Bhakti Yoga, supreme Rāja Yoga, supreme Jñāna Yoga. That means when a person attains to the very peak of knowledge, or yoga, or devotion, or loving service to God, then there is no difference. He becomes one with God.
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== Vṛndāvana in the Heart — The Āḷvārs and the Gopīs ==
And there you will find the gem of love. What is love? Another word for love is complete unity. And the song continues:

''Go seek, O mind, go seek. Do not stop.''

Do not get disheartened if for some reason you are not getting what you want. If you go on seeking, what do you see? What do you get? You will see Vṛndāvana in your own heart. The real Vṛndāvana is in our own hearts. Whenever anybody — like a Gopī — can think of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then that place, that heart, becomes Vṛndāvana.

If you remember, there was a South Indian Āḷvār — a woman, the only woman who is the highest devotee of God among the twelve. They are called Āḷvārs. Interestingly, the word "āḷu" means depth. It is the same: one who has gone to the very bottom of this divine love. So whoever has reached that is titled an Āḷvār. There are twelve such Āḷvārs, even though there are millions and millions of devotees, but only twelve are mentioned there.

Of them, this Godhā — a woman called Godhā, whose father Viṣṇucitta was also an Āḷvār — he got this small baby in a garden, like Sītā was found in the furrow of a ploughed field. That is why Sītā is called Bhūmijā. Nobody knows who placed her there, just as nobody knows who was Godhā's mother. She developed tremendous devotion only because of past saṃskāras — like Mīrābāī, like Rādhārāṇī.

Also, Rāmakṛṣṇa meets an old woman in Vṛndāvana who was considered by Rāmakṛṣṇa as an Āḷvār. He said she is the incarnation of the Rādhā Gopī. So even today they are there. What about Gopāler Mā — is she not a Gopī? What about Holy Mother — is she not Rādhārāṇī? We have to think that all these people are Gopīs. Gopī means a loving heart — that is all.

So when a devotee goes on deeper and deeper, he will find Vṛndāvana. That is called Gokula, that is also called Viṣṇuloka, Vaikuṇṭha, Kailāsa, Devī Loka, Paradise, Kingdom of Heaven — all these mean the same thing.
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== Kṛṣṇa's Eternal Sports with Devotees ==
And what happens in this Vṛndāvana? There, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally. Eternal Kṛṣṇa cannot be eternal unless there are also devotees who do not want to become one with him, because that is called Līlā. And when we close our eyes and focus in the Vṛndāvana of our heart, we must also visualise all the scenes that had taken place in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. We will come to that topic, because this is a most loving topic.

All the direct disciples, first — not to speak of Holy Mother — were all living in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Loka. Many of his householder devotees were also living outside, carrying on their normal duties, but inside they are nothing but pure devotees. That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to sing and dance with his devotees, especially at Dakṣiṇeśvar. Where, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally — because a devotee, since God is eternal and these devotees also live in eternity, wants to sport with God for eternity.
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== The Lamp of True Wisdom ==
That is so beautifully described. The song continues:

''Light up, O mind, light up — true wisdom's shining lamp, and let it burn with steady flame, unceasingly within your heart.''

What is this wisdom's shining lamp? That is the one in whose light one can behold — ''jyotira jyoti, ujjvala hṛdīkāndra tumi tama'' — and if the devotee looks inquiringly into the question of where the source of this light is, since it is coming from his beloved, let it burn with steady flame. Just as in the presence of light we can never lose sight.

Some clever fellow may retort — a wise talker — "Suppose I close my eyes. Yes, you closed your eyes. Will there be no light then?" So we are all like people who have already become experts in closing our eyes to the reality. We are being rushed to our deaths, and yet we are thinking we are very safe. Like the fish — the fourth type of fish — which goes deeper into the mud but within the net, and then thinks, "Oh, there is no net. We are safe in our own mud," and then burrows deep into it.
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== The Guru Steers the Boat ==
Now, there is a person called Kuber — not to be mistaken with Kabīr; Kabīr Dās was one of the greatest Jñāni saints. But here is a Kuber who must have been a devotee-saint. The song says: go on looking at your beloved, who is the very shining lamp in your own heart. And then this Kuber says:

''Who is it that steers your boat across the solid earth? It is your Guru.''

Meditate on his holy feet, says Kuber. A great Guru-Bhakta must have been this Kuber. He asks: who is it that can steer a boat where normally boats travel only on waters? But here he says "solid earth." That means, even in this thick forest of ignorance, if anybody surrenders himself to a Sadguru, he will take one to the Sat — the source of everything. So only the Guru can steer your boat across the solid earth — meaning, even across this impossible net of Māyā — and into whose presence? Into Vaikuṇṭha, where we see the Divine Lord all the time with unblinking eyes.

And we have to imagine — not that there are millions of other devotees and I am one of them. No, only you are there. This is beautifully illustrated in the Rāsalīlā dance on the banks of the Yamunā. The Gopīs could not see anybody. Turn to the right — Kṛṣṇa. Turn to the left — Kṛṣṇa. Look in front of you — Kṛṣṇa. They were all in a circle. Wherever you look — above, below, front, back, left, right — everywhere there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa.
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== Rāmakṛṣṇa's First Experience of Consciousness ==
"Consciousness has overwhelmed me and I became unconscious" — this is peculiar mystical language. Rāmakṛṣṇa was describing the very first experience of consciousness after he took up the worship of the Divine Mother. "Mā, Mā" — his mouth started only doing this. He was thinking only about God, no one else.
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== The Jīvanmukta and the Desire to Witness Līlā ==
Rāmakṛṣṇa continues: "It is also true that after the vision of God, the devotee desires to witness his Līlā." That is, Rāmakṛṣṇa is describing the condition of a Jīvanmukta. In Vedānta, we first get a Jīvanmukta. He first realises ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi''. Afterwards, by God's will, he may be kept in this world as a teacher to awaken the ripened souls. But at the same time, they never have this Ahaṃkāra — "I am a teacher, I have been kept here for teaching." No.

Rāmakṛṣṇa can be taken as an example. He never said, "I am preaching. I don't know anything. My Mother knows everything. I only know how to eat and drink" — that means, "I enjoy." But here is what is called Līlāsvādhana: he participates in the Divine Līlā. Everything is the Divine Līlā.

Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was given jalebi by his devotees. He was eating, like a child, and another child entered the room. Immediately, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa covered that jalebi vessel and pushed it behind his back so that this child would not see — looking fearfully to see if the new child was going to discover it. Because if the child sees it, his vision will be unwaveringly concentrated on it only. That is one type of Līlā. But the devotees who were witnessing this Līlā must have been enjoying it.

Here is a person — a so-called God-realised soul — eating and enjoying thoroughly. How much Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa enjoys whatever he enjoys — can you guess? Can you imagine? Because each one of us can only imagine according to our own experiences. Only a person who has enjoyed it thoroughly can really identify with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
== Suffering and the Jīvanmukta — The Sthitaprajña ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: this is also a Līlā of God. And if you ask Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, "Why did you suffer at the end?" — hardly any even semi-liquid sūjī halvā used to go down, and only with great pain — first he will pretend, "Oh, I am suffering so much, don't you see?" But then, on other occasions, he will say, "This is also the Līlā of my Divine Mother." And Līlā means: just as we enjoy a cinema or a drama, we enjoy that too.

This is another aspect of Līlā — that of Sukha and Duḥkha. The characteristics of a Sthitaprajña have been so beautifully brought out at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, in response to the question put by Arjuna. When a Sthitaprajña is going through so-called misery or suffering — is it suffering?

Remember when Hari Mahārāj came. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to test him. "Look how much I am suffering." Hari Mahārāj — at that time he was deeply immersed in the study of Advaita Vedāntic scriptures, and sometimes he even stopped visiting Rāmakṛṣṇa — immediately said: "No, sir. I see you are swimming in an ocean of bliss." And Rāmakṛṣṇa burst out into joyful laughter and said, "This rascal has found me out!"

For people like us, it is very difficult to understand: is it true that even though the body is suffering, the mind does not suffer? This is what we need to understand. Does the mind suffer? No — as if somebody else's mind is suffering.

When Ramaṇa Mahārṣi's hand had developed a carbuncle, he was operated on by some of his close doctor-devotees without anaesthesia — very, very painful for ordinary persons like us. But Bhagavān went on looking as if somebody else's hand was being operated. There was no reaction at all. "I go on looking at this body also, just as I am looking at you" — that means he was ever living in that state. He himself used to call it a natural Samādhi — that means it has no break. And that is the condition of anybody who is called a Jīvanmukta.

If you remember, Swāmī Vivekānanda came across a sādhu, an old man who was being pelted with stones by children who did not understand him. Blood was coming out, and he went on laughing. Then, in reply to Swāmiji, he said: "Thus prays the father." So do the Jīvanmuktas really suffer? No.

A Jīvanmukta is one who becomes a participant in the Līlā. So their suffering — from our point of view — we cannot imagine. Their suffering is only a pretence, an act, like a drama. But from their point of view, when we are watching two people fighting in a cinema — good versus evil — first only the good people will be thrashed. Many times they are even killed. And that is what history teaches us: good people are apt to suffer more than evil people. If we have any iota of intelligence, read history — it is nothing but the murder of billions and billions and billions of people by a few wicked people. Even today it is going on in every way. But as soon as we get our dāl roṭī, we do not think anything. "The world is fine, I am also fine. I am fine, so the world is also fine."
== Nikāśā and the Understanding of the Avatāra's Līlā ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: the devotee desires to witness his Līlā. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a beautiful example. We do not know where from he heard it, because there are so many versions of the Rāmāyaṇa.

After the destruction of Rāvaṇa at Rāma's hands, Nikāśā, Rāvaṇa's mother, began to run away for fear of her life. Lakṣmaṇa said to Rāma: "Revered brother, please explain this strange thing to me. This Nikāśā is an old woman who has suffered a great deal from the loss of her many sons." In fact, every son had been killed excepting one — who was Vibhīṣaṇa — and yet she is so afraid of losing her own life that she is taking to her heels.

Rāma bade her come near, gave her assurance of safety, and asked her why she was running away. Nikāśā answered: "O Rāma, I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you will do on this earth."

Now, what I would like to point out: even in this so-called innocent recollection by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — this Nikāśā must have been old then. And what does she say? When Rāma asked, she says: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours." So that means she knew who Rāma was. She knew that this killing, this battle — everything is the Līlā.

Now stop for a second. Ask yourself: what is the meaning of Līlā? Is the Līlā real, or does it look real but is not real? A beautifully made film may look so realistic — and "realistic" and "real" are two separate words — it looks so realistic that we actually feel either happiness or sadness. We can also shed tears at the sufferings of people.

Like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, when he was hearing the story of Satyā Hariścandra — the devotees started weeping. Because the narrator, called a Kathāk — a storyteller — there are so many varieties of storytellers. Some people, when they tell a story, it is dry as dust. And some people have the divine capacity to make their audience feel the description. Sometimes even they themselves may not feel it, but the audience will.

So, like that, this Nikāśā could say: "O Rāma, I know you are an Avatāra. I know this is all your Līlā." And if it is Līlā, then — I am the mother of Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīṣaṇa — is that also real, or is it also part of the Līlā?

So: is there death? Is it Līlā? ''Ubhau tau na vijānīto — nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate.'' That is the Līlā. We see the action, we enjoy the action, but we know it is not real. That is called Līlā. And when we understand it that way, we are also participators in that Līlā. But if we are affected by it — some people cannot see sad dramas, what is called tragic. They all want to see the hero and heroine get married, and "ever after they are happy." This illusion they want to keep. That is why in old-time cinema, after the marriage, usually they would not show what happened. "Śubham," they say — "We wish you all the best."

So Nikāśā's answer contains the highest Vedāntic description of a Jīvanmukta: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth."

== Śrīnivāsa Recognises the Child Gādāi at Kāmārpukur ==
There was an incident. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was at Kāmārpukur. He was only five or six years old. There was a great Vaiṣṇava devotee who was a bangle-seller. He was called Śrīnivāsa. One day Śrīnivāsa took Gādāi — his Iṣṭa Devatā — to his home and worshipped him like his Iṣṭa Devatā, and bowing down to him said: "O Gādāi, this body will not last long. I feel it coming to an end. But I can guess how many Līlās you are going to perform."

How did this Śrīnivāsa know about it? He must have been, first of all, a great sādhaka. Secondly, he must have had visions of Gādāi. Remember: Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa had the vision of Gayā Viṣṇu. Candramaṇī Devī had the vision of Śiva in the form of light. Even when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was in the womb of Candramaṇī Devī, how many divine visions she had!

And just imagine — we just read that information and pass on to the next page without feeling anything. If you had a dream that you are seeing Holy Mother, or Swāmiji, or Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, or your Guru, and you are speaking or sitting near him — how much joy you will get! Not to speak of that; the joy lasts for many days, provided you are a real devotee with real devotion to the Guru. How much Chandramaṇī Devī must have enjoyed these visions of various Gods and Goddesses! Why were they visiting? Because they know: "Our Divine Lord Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, is here in the womb of this lady."

== The Universe Within the Universe — Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa ==
So there is a song: "Only Śiva knows." Like that, if the whole universe is in the womb of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa — and Yaśodā saw the whole universe, not one universe but universe after universe, when she asked Kṛṣṇa to open his mouth to examine whether he had eaten mud — she saw universe within universe within universe within universe. Like when you are in a hall of mirrors, you will see an unending stretch of mirrors and your own reflections. Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa.

And really speaking, everything is a Brahmāṇḍa. Suppose an ant has given birth to a baby ant. That baby ant is living where? In its own baby ant's world. It has its own happiness, its own joy. The mother is looking after it. There also, Mātṛbhāva is there. If anybody tries to harm their babies, all the ants together will come and attack the enemy — wasps or other ants, etc. We have to understand that that is the condition of every creature.

So we are all cherishing — each one of us — one Brahmāṇḍa. How many Brahmāṇḍas are there? Brahmāṇḍa means universe. Because our mind is the Brahmāṇḍa. The entire world — that means our knowledge of the world — is within our minds. "This is good, that is not good. This is sweet, that is bitter. This is attractive, this is not attractive. This is joy, this is suffering." The whole universe is within our own mind.

That is why the more we study the phenomena of dream, the nearer we will be to the truth. Only upon waking up, we do not connect. What we saw in the dream world is nothing but what we are living — the waking state is exactly the same phenomenon. No difference at all. So this is also a dream. Don't even say it is a bigger dream or a smaller dream. It is exactly another state. You should not compare two states, saying, "That is bigger, this is smaller; that is of short duration and this is longer duration."
== The Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — Dream and Waking Are the Same ==
If you still remember our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā classes, this was one of the objections raised: what is the difference between the dream world and the waking world? The opponent says: "Well, the dream world lasts only for a flash of a second, whereas this waking world lasts forever."

Once this conversation was going on in the presence of Ramaṇa Mahārṣi, and he clarified the point — "My dear sir," he didn't say that; I am adding that — "when you are in the dream state, do you feel that this is a dream state and this only lasts for one second, but when I go to the waking state that will last for a long time?" Just as we feel that we are going to live for many, many years and go on counting our birthdays until the time comes for us to become unconscious after death — so also, in the dream world, we do not hold the idea that it is any less than the waking state. In the dream state we do not call it a dream. We call it a complete waking state. But when we come back to the waking state, we say: "Oh, that was all my imagination."

Do we sit for a second and pause and ponder and say: "Is perhaps this also my own imagination?" Because we do not know the truth. What is the truth? Here is a person who is my arch enemy, and I would like to cut him or her to pieces. Is that the truth? "Yes, yes, I experienced it so many times. He or she is the most evil person on earth." But just go deep into it. You are talking about the Prāṇamaya Kośa, the Annamaya Kośa. Go to that person's Prāṇamaya Kośa, that person's Manomaya Kośa, that person's Vijñānamaya Kośa, that person's Ānandamaya Kośa. Then you understand: "No. Like me, this person also wants to dwell as long as possible in this state of Ānandamaya Kośa."

And since a person wakes up to the truth that even the Ānandamaya Kośa does not last for a long time, so also this person understands: beyond these Pañca Kośas there is something uncreated, eternal, infinite — one without a second. And that is the real nature of me. The moment I understand "I am one without a second," I am forced to admit that everything in this universe is also one without a second.
== Nikāśā Revisited — Squeezing the Meaning ==
But we are talking about Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explaining beautifully that Nikāśā must have been a realised soul, to recognise Rāma as an Avatāra and the death of all her sons as part of the Līlā. "I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth." Everybody laughed — all the devotees present. But do you think they all understood?

Because just listen — ''tat tvam asi'' — how much do you understand? ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — how much do we understand? But as we go on — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana — slowly, through understanding, bit by bit, infinitesimally smaller bits come into our minds. So much meaning is there. This is how we have to squeeze every sentence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Every word that came out of his mouth — and for that matter, any Jīvanmukta's mouth, any Avatāra's mouth, any Ṛṣi-Muni's mouth — we have to ponder. That pondering deeply and enjoying — what can we enjoy? Only that which is real. Nobody enjoys something fake.
== The Illusion of Worldly Beauty ==
And everyday we are trying to fall into that trap of the enjoyment of fakeness. Somebody dresses beautifully, drives a beautiful car, puts on a lot of lipstick — and nowadays beauty parlours are there. They come out of that beauty parlour. You just look at them. But go near them, and you will see: the nearer we approach them, we see the defects more and more clearly — the stench, the bad smell. I have seen so many people who want to come near me and whisper, but such unbelievably intolerable stench comes from their mouth that sometimes I cannot tolerate it. So the nearer we approach, we see the defects. And one millisecond is sufficient to shatter all our illusions.

So we have to develop, at the same time, the capacity to see in and through and beyond all that. If we see through the Anātman — the non-Ātman — we can see the Ātman, and then we can see that the reality is the same. The same consciousness is wriggling even in a small worm, as Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa says.

== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Love for Pure-Souled Devotees — Śivanath ==
So let us enjoy. Maybe some of you might be thinking: "This gospel class is going on so slowly — what is the use?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa squeezed the entire essence of the Gītā into one word. If you repeat that word "Gītā" fast, it becomes "tāgī." Similarly, the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is — as Swāmī Vivekānanda described to one Robert Ingersoll, a confirmed atheist — like an orange: "I can squeeze it as many times as I want, because it is not the worldly orange, it is the divine orange." So it is Rasa Svādhana.

Now Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's attention had turned to Śivana. "I like to see you. How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees? I feel as if they had been my friends in a former incarnation." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's mind, after singing this song, was filled with tremendous, indescribable joy. And when a person is joyous, in his eyes everybody looks joyous only.

Now what is important here: this same Śivana, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved — because God loves everybody. But Śivana later on withdrew from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and passed on negative remarks, like: "He was very spiritual in the beginning; now he seems to have fallen from that high state." God alone knows what he meant by that. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sharply rebuked him also towards the end: "You people think of worldly things and are very conscious of it. But I, who think of nothing else except God, who am the very embodiment of consciousness — I am suffering from fits, states of unconsciousness. What type of intelligence is that?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself says: "You don't have that intelligence."

Anyway, Śivanath — we have to salute him, because he was so fortunate to see Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to witness Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and to be addressed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, who said: "How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees like you?" So we have to accept this as part of Lila only.
== The Brāhmo Devotee's Question on Reincarnation ==
Now a Brāhmo devotee is asking: "Sir, do you believe in the reincarnation of the soul?" This is what is called the Karma Siddhānta, the Punarjanma Siddhānta. We are all born because of the result — to reap the result, to experience the results of what we have done in our past lives. Not only one life. Because there is an understanding: the effects of this life are not necessarily only the results of the very last birth. It could be five thousand years before. But depending upon what type of experiences we can have, it could be some Karmaphala from five thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from two thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from the last birth — they can also be combined. Only God knows how he combines. The idea is: in one life, some of the results have to be exhausted. And even in this life, we are creating further actions and further results. And if we can somehow start moving towards God, then we will also reach God.

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa did not want to say outright, "I know," because it was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself who said: "He who was Rāma, he who was Kṛṣṇa, he who was Buddha, Jesus, etc., is now in this life reborn as Rāmakṛṣṇa." If he could say that, why not this also?

Exactly the same answer was given by Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Gītā. Arjuna asks a question, and Kṛṣṇa says: "The same question was asked by Manu to me ten thousand years ago." Arjuna was shocked. What does this statement prove? That there are not many new questions — the same questions will pop up again and again. So I am telling you: Arjuna was asked, "How could you speak to Manu, who was ten thousand years back, you who are born along with me at this time?" Then Kṛṣṇa says: "I have had many births and I remember them all. You also had many births, and you will remember them — you just don't remember them, that's all."

Not only that — in the Gītā itself, Bhagavān says: even if somebody goes to heaven, one has to come down to this earth to continue the sādhana. And this will continue until one becomes completely united with God. So also we have to understand: when a person goes to Naraka, that is also not a permanent state. As soon as he has paid the Karmaphala, that person has to immediately be given another chance. How many chances? Infinite chances will be given, because each soul is potentially divine. Nobody can stop the progress of this potential divinity — this evolution — until one reaches one's own home.

So a master is evading this question. As they say, "There is something like that." How can we understand the ways of God through our small intellects? What does Rāmakṛṣṇa mean by "small intellects"? That means people of little faith. As Jesus Christ rebukes, "Ye of little faith" — how many times? His own direct disciples, especially Peter, had betrayed him three times and denied seeing Jesus Christ.

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "Many people have spoken about reincarnation, therefore I cannot disbelieve." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not saying it categorically, because he was talking perhaps to a devotee who does not have faith in it but just put the question anyway. So even if I tell, it will have no effect upon this person's mind. A teaching will not have effect until the other person is ready — not only to listen, but to think over it, accept it, and transform the life.

So let us not think we all believe in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — really? How do we say that? Because only when we start transforming our life earnestly can we say we are devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Until then, it is only intellectual satisfaction — a little bit of external rituals like pūjā, japa — everything is going on — but really speaking, we have to judge only by the amount of transformation that takes place in our life.
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== Bhīṣma's Tears and the Incomprehensibility of the Avatāra's Ways ==
Now another episode has come. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is continuing. He had completed the answer to that Brāhmo devotee's question — whether man has past lives, which implies whether we have future lives also.

"As Bhīṣma lay dying on his bed of arrows, the Pāṇḍava brothers and Kṛṣṇa stood around him. And these Pāṇḍavas saw tears flowing from the eyes of Bhīṣma. The great hero Arjuna said to Kṛṣṇa: 'Friend, how surprising it is! Even such a man as our Grandsire Bhīṣma — truthful, self-restrained, supremely wise, and one of the eight Vasus — weeps through Māyā at the hour of death.'" So Arjuna was living in his own world. He interpreted Bhīṣma's tears only as he understood them.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa asked Bhīṣma about it. Now Śrī Kṛṣṇa wants to give the answer through Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma replied: "O Kṛṣṇa, you know very well that this is not the cause of my grief. I am thinking that there is no end to the Pāṇḍavas' sufferings, though God himself is their protector and charioteer. A thought like this makes me feel that I have understood nothing of the ways of God, and so I weep."

This is the answer Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa has given. Then what does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa want to convey to us? Because, like the Bhagavad Gītā, he says: "Even billions can hear the Gītā, but without my grace, nobody understands me."

''Avajānanti māṃ mūḍhā mānuṣīṃ tanum āśritam |'' ''paraṃ bhāvam ajānanto mama 'vyayam anuttamam ||'' ''daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā |'' ''mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te ||''

For us, what is important to understand is this Māyā, which is binding us — and we don't understand it is Māyā. We are using the word Māyā and we are also understanding Māyā through Māyā only. We don't understand anything about Māyā.

Very interesting: the Sanskrit word Māyā, reversed — ''yā mā'' — ''yā'' means "which," ''mā'' means "that which does not exist." So we are talking about Māyā, which never existed. Like this world, it is called Mithyā.

So what is important for us? Do not try to fathom the Avatāra, to understand the Avatāra. Much less the Avatāra — we cannot even understand our own mother, our own father, our own wife, our own husband, our own selves. When I am not able to understand my own self and I require some help from a psychiatrist or psychologist — what to speak of such people?

So, did Bhīṣma understand? There are some beautiful thoughts about this subject which we will talk about in our next class.

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti.

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 32 on 10 May 2026

2026-05-11T17:40:16Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== Recap: The Tenth Mantra and the Essence of the Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have completed the tenth mantra in the fourth section of the first chapter of the Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. And this is one of the — I would say — the very essence of the entire Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, of all Upaniṣads, of all the scriptures in this world. And the rest is elaboration.

As I mentioned earlier, the first chapter is called ''Madhukāṇḍa''. It is also called ''Upadeśakāṇḍa''. ''Madhu'' means honey, because God is like honey to all of us. Honey means the dearest, the nearest, the closest. And we are not really separate from him. That is expressed in this beautiful ''mahāvākya'' which occurs in this tenth mantra of the fourth section: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi''.
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== Three Primary Truths of These Mantras ==
So through these mantras, the Upaniṣad wants us to understand three primary truths.

'''First: Universal Unity — ''Samāṣṭi Bhāvanā''.''' Everybody in this world, everything in this world — living, non-living, all social roles, professions, and deities — are but different expressions of the same Brahman. Just as we are the only one in our dreams, even though it appears to be an uncountable number of objects in our dream — they are all nothing but me, the one "I," as it were, getting reflected, like one sun getting reflected in a million, billion mirrors. So ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma'', in other words.

'''Second: Nothing is Truly Separate.''' And following this truth, the second truth is: nothing is truly separate. What is our condition now? We are under the spell of ''avidyā'', ignorance. What is ignorance? First, to think that I am not Brahman. Second, to think that everything in this world is separate from everything else in this world — my hands are separate from my legs, my fingers are separate from my hand, not to speak of another person, another living creature, another non-living object. So nothing is truly separate. I am everything.

So we were discussing the social systems called caste systems. It is nothing but a division for the welfare of the world. But its inner truth is oneness. Just to illustrate — I love to illustrate until I am satisfied that the point I want to make is clear, as far as I can do that — see, eyes are most important in a human body, in any body actually, whether it is an owl, whether it is a tiger, whether it is a deer. Eyes give us the closest knowledge of things. Then comes the ears, hearing. Then comes the smell, etc. So everything has got its division.

There are four castes wherever you go. How many castes are there in this world? Not one, not three, but exactly four. The thinkers, the law-upholders, the so-called business people who move things from where they are available in plenty to where they are needed — so from one place to another place things are brought — that is the third division called ''vaiśyas''. And then of course workers are needed.

And as I mentioned yesterday, these divisions are divided according to the dominance of a particular quality. Please note that all three ''guṇas'' work simultaneously. But which dominates most of the time, and which dominates for a particular type of action to be performed efficiently — that makes it whether a person is a ''brāhmaṇa'' or a ''kṣatriya'' or a ''vaiśya'' or a ''śūdra'': philosophers, warriors, business people or merchants, and workers.

The same person can be all four at different times. When I am thinking, I am a ''brāhmaṇa''. When I am enforcing something, upholding something, I am a ''kṣatriya''. When I am trying to buy something, or to sell something, or to supply something, I am a businessman or merchant, a ''vaiśya''. And when I am doing physical activity — all four have to be done by all four castes. Nobody can simply sit and say, "I will only think; I will not eat food, I will not move," etc. But one particular faculty is more dominant throughout the day, throughout life. So if a person is more of a thinking type, he does activity in the form of upholding, in the form of supplying, in the form of working — but the dominant part is ''sattvaguṇa'', which is thinking.

So we can apply the same thing to different castes. But nothing is truly separate, because whole life is nothing but evolution. So the idea is: from the lowest ''guṇa'' — from the lowest of the lowest ''guṇa'', because there are several degrees, almost infinite degrees of each ''guṇa'' — to move up higher through experience, through understanding. That is called evolution, until we realise our true nature, until we know everything is nothing but Brahman, ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma''. Therefore nothing is truly separate. And as we progress, this separation becomes less and less, until we understand: "I am everything, everything is me."

So the social division cannot be removed — it is for the welfare of the world. But its inner truth is oneness. That is the second truth.

'''Third: The Supremacy of ''Dharma''.''' That is why: ''satyaṃ vada, dharmam cara''. And we have also seen that ''dharma'' is also called ''satya'', and ''satya'' is also called ''dharma''. True, right understanding is ''satya'', and expressing our understanding through physical activity is called ''dharma''. And this ''dharma'' is popularly known as ''vidhi'' and ''niṣedha'' — do this, do not do this. And not only in spiritual life, but in every sphere, every field of activity. In the health field, for example: eat this, do not eat this; do this exercise, do not do that exercise. So: speak this, do not speak something else; read this, do not read something else; think this way, do not think that way.

So what is the point here? The supremacy of ''dharma''. This is the point: ''dharma'' is higher than authority. So what does ''dharma'' do? It rules all the castes. And everybody has got his own ''dharma''. A ''śūdra'', a worker, has his own ''dharma'' and his own ''adharma''. The merchant has his own ''dharma'' and his own ''adharma''. A warrior, or the kings, or the rulers — the presidents, the prime ministers — have their own ''dharma'' and ''adharma''. And the ''brāhmaṇas'' have their own ''dharma'' and ''adharma''.

That is the third truth. The Upaniṣad wants to convey that it is not that you are incomplete and you do something and you are going to become complete. No — you are already complete. But we feel incomplete because of the misunderstanding called ''avidyā''. But by understanding that life is meant to manifest our potential divinity, and that there are definite pathways called ''Karma Yoga'', ''Bhakti Yoga'', ''Rāja Yoga'', ''Jñāna Yoga'' — we can manifest.

So in a sense, these mantras want to lead me, you, everybody from the ''vyaṣṭi'', the individual, to the ''samāṣṭi''; from external activity, broadly called rituals, to internal rituals called ''upāsanā'', and ultimately to ''ātmajñānam''. So: rituals, then contemplation or ''upāsanā'', and ''jñānam'' or self-knowledge — these are the three steps.
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== In This Background: Mantras 11 to 17 ==
In this background, let us briefly discuss the mantras from 11 to 17. I am not going to read the Sanskrit mantras — anyway you can read them separately. But I will read the translation and, where necessary, briefly comment.

So there was only Brahman — Brahman alone was there in the beginning. And that Brahman wanted to manifest himself, grossify himself. So that is called creation. And creation started.

First — just I am reminding you of the background which we already discussed — he created this entire universe, living and non-living. That is called ''sṛṣṭi''. Having created, it then has to be run properly. For that purpose, Brahman has manifested himself as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara. Brahmā's role is to create — that's it, his duty is over. But Viṣṇu has to do ''pālana''; ''sthiti'' means he has to sustain, he has to uphold the ''dharma''.

For that purpose, Brahman first created four castes, as we elaborately discussed. First, ''deva-brāhmaṇa'' — among the gods, Agni was the ''brāhmaṇa''. Then other ''kṣatriyas'', ''vaiśyas'', ''śūdras'' have come. That is what the next several mantras elaborate. That is the essence of how Brahman, the ''sthiti'', is now being put into action.

And then, exactly as Brahman became the ''deva-brāhmaṇa'', etc., similarly from the ''deva-brāhmaṇa'' he became ''manuṣya-brāhmaṇa'', from the ''deva-kṣatriya'' he became ''manuṣya-kṣatriya'', from the ''deva-vaiśya'' he became ''manuṣya-vaiśya'' or human ''vaiśya'', and from the ''deva-śūdra'' he became ''manuṣya-śūdra''. That is what he wanted.

So he — meaning Brahman, being one — did not flourish, because the ''sṛṣṭi'' is done but it has to be maintained. So what did he do? He projected further an excellent form: ''kṣatriya''-hood.
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== Mantra 11: The ''Deva-Kṣatriyas'' and the Honour Due to the ''Brāhmaṇa'' ==
First he created ''kṣatriyas'' among the gods: Indra, Varuṇa, Soma, Rudra, Parjanya, Yama, Mṛtyu, and Īśāna. These are the ''deva-kṣatriyas''. Therefore there is no one higher than the ''kṣatriya''. Thus, at the ''rājasūya'' sacrifice, the ''brāhmaṇa'' sits below and worships the ''kṣatriya''.

And a beautiful definition is given. Why does the ''brāhmaṇa'' sit? We have to presume: how does this king really perform the ''rājasūya'' sacrifice? How does he know? There is a sacrifice called ''rājasūya'' — we have to presume that the ''brāhmaṇa'' had already taught him that such a one exists, and that if you perform it properly, then you will get wonderful results; you will be able to enjoy your life. And then the king starts performing.

Now the description we have to understand. The ''kṣatriya'', the warrior, is performing this ritual called ''rājasūya yajña''. But since he is performing, he will be sitting higher, and then the priests — the ''brāhmaṇas'' who have to perform — they sit below. And does it mean that the ''brāhmaṇa'' is inferior to the ''kṣatriya''? No. What he wants to say is: the ''brāhmaṇa'' supports all the time. Just like a baby being taken up on the shoulders of the father — without the father taking him up, the baby will fall down, cannot move. This way, the king cannot perform anything in this life unless he is supported from above through knowledge, from below, helping the king perform his proper duties. Then he confers that glory on ''kṣatriya''-hood below — a ''brāhmaṇa'' confers.

But nevertheless, the ''brāhmaṇa'' is the source, the support of the ''kṣatriya''. Therefore, even though the king is exalted at the sacrifice, at the end of it he resorts to ''brāhmaṇa''-hood as his source. He bows down: "By your grace I have been able to complete it."

So the Upaniṣad wants to tell us: respect the ''brāhmaṇa''. We are not talking about birth-''brāhmaṇas''. We are talking about ''guṇa-brāhmaṇas'' — by qualities, by ''sattvaguṇa''. And as I quoted yesterday, only a person who is godly, who has become god through behaviour, is a real ''brāhmaṇa''. So one should always respect ''brāhmaṇas'' — not the caste ''brāhmaṇas'', not the birth ''brāhmaṇas'', but those who are superior in knowledge and conduct.

And whoever slights a ''brāhmaṇa'' — that we can also translate as: whoever slights one's own Guru, thinking "I am greater than the Guru." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is the greatest example of how he used to respect his several Gurus, whether it was Bhairavī Brāhmaṇī, or Totāpuri, or the Sufi Guru, or Govinda, or the one who initiated him into the ''Rāma'' mantra. To all these people he showed the highest respect.

And what is the greatness of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? The disciple knows: "My realisation is far higher, far superior to all his Guru's realisations." If you study the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, you will come to know about it. And yet he never became proud. He said, "I am so grateful because the Divine Mother alone brought them to me." So therefore it is being described here: always respect the ''brāhmaṇa''. A true ''brāhmaṇa'' is the ''jagadguru'', because from whom right, true knowledge descends — he is a ''brāhmaṇa''.

And the foundation for our happiness is called in Hinduism ''varṇāśrama dharma''. According to our quality, according to our stage in life — if we fall into those four caste categories, it is called ''varṇa-dharma''. And if we fall into what are called the stages of life — the student's life, the married life, the withdrawal life, and the renunciation's life — this is called ''āśrama-dharma''. ''Āśrama'' belongs to life; ''varṇa'' belongs to the caste. We are not talking about caste by birth, but caste by ''guṇas''.

And as I quoted yesterday: without this caste system, society will fall into chaos. To give a simple example — a war is going on now. So there are people who think and create the weapons, and there are people who are trained in using them properly, and there are people who have to manufacture and supply them, and there are people who have to carry them together, put them together, screw them together, check that they are done properly. And after testing — "Yes, you are ready" — then the soldiers, the real ''kṣatriyas'', will do the thing. So therefore the caste system is marvellous.
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== On Agni as ''Deva-Brāhmaṇa'' ==
And here we have to understand: who is the ''deva-brāhmaṇa''? Agni is called ''deva-brāhmaṇa''. Why is Agni considered a ''deva-brāhmaṇa'', a divine ''brāhmaṇa''? Because the whole Ṛg Veda starts with a particular mantra. It goes like this: "I adore Agni, the priest of the sacrifice, the divine minister of the ritual, who bestows treasures." So Agni ''devatā'' is considered the ''brāhmaṇa'' among the gods. He is also called ''purohitaḥ'' — ''puraḥ'' means "just in front of us," Agni, fire — because in the olden days everything used to be offered by lighting a fire, sitting behind it, and then going on pouring all your oblations mixed with clarified butter — ''ghī'' — whether it is ''bilva'' leaves or many other materials. So that is why Agni ''devatā'' — Agni was the first manifestation according to this Upaniṣad.

And yet he cannot do anything, because he requires ''kṣatriyas'', warriors; he requires ''vaiśyas''; he requires ''śūdras''. And that is what it says. And who are the ''kṣatriyas''? So they were given: the ''deva-kṣatriyas'' are given ruling authority even among themselves. But primarily, for all of us, they are ruling. That is why — if you remember ''Vedantasāra'' — every limb of our human body is ruled by somebody. For example, the eyes are ruled by Sūrya ''devatā'', the sun. The mind is ruled by Candra, the moon. The hands are ruled by Indra. The famous story of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa: a ''brāhmaṇa'' killed a cow and the sin — he did not want to accept it — and he said, "Since Indra is the residing deity of the hand, let this go to him." You can recall that story.

So here the Upaniṣad says: Indra, Varuṇa, Soma, Rudra, Parjanya, Yama, Mṛtyu, and Īśāna — these are called ''deva-kṣatriyas''. So that is what we have to understand.
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== Mantra 12: The ''Deva-Vaiśyas'' ==
Similarly, ''vaiśyas'' are there. So this Upaniṣad is not satisfied. ''Kṣatriyas'' are okay, but ''kṣatriyas'' have to be assisted by the ''vaiśyas''. And so the next creation will be ''deva-vaiśyas''. This is mentioned in the twelfth mantra of the fourth section.

So the ''virāṭ'', the creator, did not flourish. He projected the ''vaiśya'' caste and the classes of gods who are designated in groups. Who are these ''vaiśyas'', these ''deva-vaiśyas''? The ''vasus'', ''rudras'', ''ādityas'', ''viśvedevas'', and ''maruts'' — these are called ''deva-vaiśyas''.
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== Mantra 13: The ''Deva-Śūdras'' ==
But then the creator is not happy with that. So in the thirteenth mantra we get: still he did not flourish. He projected the ''śūdra'' caste — ''pūṣan''. This earth is really ''pūṣan''. The ''bhū-devatā'' is the ''devatā'' indicating ''śūdra''. Why? Because, like workers working and making our life easier, what is it that we know that makes our life worth living? That is called this earth, this physical earth. But from the godly point of view, it is the divine earth. That is why it is called ''Pṛthvī devatā''. That ''Pṛthvī devatā'' manifests in our world as ''Pṛthvī'', and even here she is the earth goddess. That is why everything — our food — we come from this food, and we go back. So dust into dust.

So this earth nourishes everybody. And this is how these four castes have been given.
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== Mantra 14: The Creation of ''Dharma'' ==
And in the fourteenth mantra, as we already discussed: how to keep all these four castes united, fruitful, and efficient? For that, a divine rule is created. That is called what we call in the Bible the Ten Commandments — do this, don't do this. And that is what Hinduism calls ''vidhi'' and ''niṣedha'': you must do this — ''vidhi'' is not a choice, you must do — and ''niṣedha'' is: you must not do. It is a commandment. And that is called ''dharma''.

So first you have to understand what to do and what not to do. And if we don't follow — what would be the consequences? So therefore it is written there that Bhagavān had created this ''dharma''. That is why: ''dharmo 'va jayate'', ''dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ''. There is a beautiful ''śloka'' which says: if somebody observes ''dharma'', that ''dharma'' is going to save that person in every way.

What is our problem? Because we are such short-sighted people. We only see what we experience at this moment. We don't have the power to think backwards into the past. We have even less power to see what is going to happen in the future. That's why, since we are like blind people — you know, when horses are tied to carts or vehicles, how does the horse pull? If it is given the freedom to look everywhere, it may not obey the master. So they cover its eyes; only a few feet in front it can see. ''Dharma'' is like that — it will guide us in the right way, covering our eyes to all that we should not do.

So therefore Brahman created ''dharma''. And ''dharma'' should be put into practice. And ''dharma'' manifests as: do this, do not do that. And to know what is ''dharma'', we have to take the help of our Gurus — and it can be a computer Guru, or it can be what we call a spiritual Guru. As Svāmī Brahmānandajī tells: even to become an expert pickpocket, we will have to have a Guru. A Guru is one who imparts us the right knowledge of that particular subject.

So that's why ''dharma'' is called God, ''dharma devatā'', ''Yama Dharmarāja''. And he is called ''kṣatriya''. And that is why when Naciketā went there — Naciketā was a ''brāhmaṇa'' — and Yama ''Dharmarāja'', even though no era ''brāhmaṇa'', was a ''kṣatriya'', because his duty is to see which person, which ''jīva'', had done what type of ''dhārmic'' activities and ''adhārmic'' activities — what we call, keep an account — and then accordingly distribute the ''karmaphala''.

And then the mantra goes on to say beautifully that ''dharma'' is nothing but ''satya'', and ''satya'' is nothing but ''dharmam'' — both of them cannot be separated. Like an object cannot be separated from its name: an object is outside, and the thought about that object, the knowledge about that object, is within our mind. They can't be separated. You can't think of a table if you don't have the thought of the table, and if you don't have the thought of the table, you can't recognise what is a table.

So the Upaniṣad is telling: what is it that can save us under every circumstance, all the time, even when we are asleep, unconscious? Only ''dharma'' can save. So ''dharma'' is ''satya'' and ''satya'' is ''dharma''. Therefore: speak truth — that means, what you know to be the truth, speak it. And then what is proper, what is the only thing that should be done — you do that.

And the whole — all the four castes, all the four stages in one's life — are based upon this ''satya'' and ''dharma''. That's why in the eleventh ''anuvāka'' of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, in the very first chapter called ''Śīkṣāvallī'', we have noted: it is a universal convocation address. The whole life is based upon truthfulness and ''dharma''.

You remember: a relative of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had borrowed some money from somebody, promising he would return the money after some time. But greed overcame him; he didn't want to pay. Then the person from whom he had borrowed threatened: "I will call Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, I will ask him to be a witness." See the faith of that man — who was not a relative of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — that he knew Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa would never utter any untruth. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was present when that person threatened the relative. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa said, "You better — I know you have taken money. You better give back that money to him. And if you don't, I will go against you; I will tell the truth in the court." And that fellow now had no option.

So probably to have a saint as our close relative may not always be very convenient! So the same rule applies: not only among the gods, but among the four castes also, ''satya'' and ''dharma'' are the very foundation.
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== Mantra 15: ''Satya'', ''Dharma'', and the Purpose of the ''Varṇas'' ==
And that is what we have to understand. So from the fifteenth mantra onwards, the ''virāṭ'', or the creator, following exactly the same mould as the four castes of the ''devatās'', created the ''brāhmaṇa'', ''kṣatriya'', ''vaiśya'', and ''śūdra''.

And then the mantra goes on to say something very beautiful: how do we know what is ''dharma'', what is ''satya''? For that, we have to study the scripture. What is the scripture? That is God himself telling the truth about himself and about the world — what we call: "This is the truth about the world, and this is your duty, what you have to do in your life."

Then the mantra goes on to say something very beautiful. So if somebody doesn't acquire the ''satya'' from a right teacher — so if somebody doesn't study the Veda even though it is available, doesn't study, for example, the New Testament, doesn't study the teachings of the Sufi saints, doesn't study the ''Imitation of Christ'' — because the Bible can be extremely confusing, but read the ''Imitation of Christ'' and you will get what actually Bhagavān Jesus Christ wants to teach all of us, to transform all of us. Foolish that we are, we think certain external rituals are going to help us. No, they are not going to help us.

So what the mantra here wants to convey to us is that even if you formally study the Veda but really do not think it is true, and therefore you do not put it into practice — but you have a little bit of faith in the scripture, and you may be doing some ''puṇya karma'' — so what happens at the end? It will become destroyed. What does it mean?

This is what the Bhagavad Gītā, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, says in the Gītā: not that ''puṇya'' will not give a result, but its result will be very ephemeral, very temporary, for a very short time. And interestingly — why do I say it is short? Because whenever you eat, for example, a sweet, for a small fraction of a minute you forget the entire world; you become one with ''ānanda'', happiness.

So there is a belief that if somebody acquires a lot of merit, ''puṇyam'', he will go to ''Indraloka'', ''Candraloka'', higher ''lokas'', and he will experience happiness for a very long time. I have doubts about this statement — "for a very long time" — because ''ānanda'' means to go beyond time. And even if it is from the suffering point of view only that we come to time. So even if a person so-called goes to a higher ''loka'' and lives for, let us say, a long time — how does that long time pass? Just like if you have a wonderful holiday — one week, ten days — it looks as though in a minute the whole holiday trip is over, because it gave you so much happiness.

We have to understand and add that. Otherwise, if you went there and the hotel refused to accommodate you, or the aeroplane was cancelled because of some reason, and your whole holiday is ruined — I am not talking about that. Everything went off very well, and one week passed as if only one hour had passed — if at all, not even one minute.

So even if a thousand aeons pass, it will pass as if — because the more happy you are, the more you get out of the limitation of time, space, and causation.
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== On the Nature of Desire, Imagination, and ''Ātmajñāna'' ==
So what is it we desire? What do we imagine? "I want to be happy forever." When a young man wants to get married, when a young woman wants to get married, what is the hope of this young man and young woman? That as long as we live, we will live very happily. Such a thing is a mistaken notion — it is not going to happen. At best you can say: reluctant acceptance of the facts of life. So therefore we remain unfulfilled.

And what should be done for that? The Upaniṣad has to tell: it is not enough to say that you acquire ''puṇyam'' and you will be a very happy person. No, it says you will not be a happy person — you remain unfulfilled, you feel you are very limited, you want unlimited joy. And therefore the Upaniṣad, this mantra, says: you must worship your true God, Brahman — in other words, God. You must realise God.

And what happens? A very interesting word: ''ātman'' is compared to a ''loka'', a world. It is called ''ātmaloka''. And when a person — if you go to America, you are in the country called America; if you go to France, you are in a country called France or UK. But what is this ''ātmaloka''? It means: "I know I am Brahman," and that experience is called ''ātmaloka''.

And one who realises, "I am not the body-mind, etc., I am the ''ātman''" — what happens? His ''karma'', that means ''karmaphala'', that is happiness, will never get destroyed, because the nature of the ''ātman'' is so. Therefore whatever way this man wants to enjoy — and this is a redundant ''śloka'', actually, or these lines are redundant — that is to say, a knower of Brahman can enjoy anything he wants. What we need to understand is: once a person knows "I am Brahman, I am of the nature of ''ānanda'', bliss," the question of his desiring — "I am incomplete, I am not happy; if I go to ''Indraloka'' I will be happy, if I embrace a beautiful angel then I will be happy" — no, such a desire will never come.

But to make ignorant people like us understand — what do I get by realising Brahman? — the Upaniṣad answers: what will you not get? You will get everything. How do I get it? Whatever you desire, that enjoyment will be there instantaneously — you will be able to enjoy.

This is a very wonderful psychological fact. I have given many examples. Suppose you are dreaming. That before you went to bed you had a terrible desire to eat some sweet — as an example. And you went to bed, and then you find yourself in a dream: somebody has invited you to his house, and the very sweets you love have been prepared or bought, and they offer them to you: "Eat as much as you want." And you are eating. Now are you happy or not?

You have to imagine what I am going to tell you. If you have some unfulfilled desires, and if you have got a strong power of imagination — you just imagine: mentally, close your eyes, mentally imagine, "I am eating this first-class sweet." And there is no time limit, there is no counting of the sweets — as many sweets as you want, as long as you want, you can enjoy — provided you have that imagination.

Is this a valid proposition, or just a meaningless statement? Just imagine where was Gopālā's mother when she was absorbed in her Gopāla. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "Her mind is now in the presence of Goloka, in the presence of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa." And she came back to this consciousness and confirmed: "I was enjoying everything in the presence of my darling child Kṛṣṇa." This is called imaginary enjoyment.

In fact everything is imaginary only. Even if you think somebody has brought from a wonderful sweetmeat shop your favourite sweet — how do you know? Suppose this fellow bought it from somewhere and put it in a K.C. Das container, sealed it cleverly, and brought it to you. And because you are under the delusion that anything made by this particular sweetmeat shop will be of a quality sweet — when you are eating, tell me: do you feel it is an inferior sweet or a superior sweet? Of course, if you are a very discerning person, it is possible to discriminate. But for most people, it is the imagination.

A young man looks at a young woman and says, "She is Miss Universe." And as far as he is concerned, she is Miss Universe. Others may judge her differently. The point I want to illustrate is: if we can develop that beautiful power of imagination where we are enjoying things, then at any time, as long as we want, we can enjoy things imaginatively. And imaginary enjoyment — like dream happiness — will not be any less than what we call the waking-state happiness. It will be even much better, without any limitations.
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== ''Ātmānam Eva Lokam Upāsīta'': Strive to Manifest Your Potential Divinity ==
Therefore the Upaniṣad continues: ''ātmānam eva lokam upāsīta'' — one should strive to manifest this potential divinity, either through work or philosophy, or by psychology, or by selfless activity, or by one or more, or all of this put together — and be free. That is what Svāmī Vivekānanda had said. And such a person's happiness will never come to an end: ''na hi asya karma kṣīyate'', ''na hi asya karmaphala kṣīyate''.

So that is what he says: try to realise God — you will get everything. What happens if a person cannot, or is even not interested in spirituality, not interested in realising God? That is what he says: ''yathā yathā vedho ananuktaṃ anyad vā karmakṛtam'' — if a man departs from this world without realising his own true self, and his own true self being unknown does not protect him — just like any knowledge, if it is not put into practical usage, will not give us the result. You may know everything in the world, but if you do not put it into particular action, then it will not help us at all.

And again the Upaniṣad tells: so whoever realises this ''ātman'', his ''ānanda'', his bliss, will never come to an end, because it is infinite, it is one without a second, and most important, it is his own self.

So he who doesn't realise everything will have to come back again and again. Therefore it is better that we wake up: ''uttiṣṭhata jāgrata prāpya varān nibodhata'' — that is the message of this one.
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== Conclusion: The Unified Purpose of All ''Varṇāśrama Dharmas'' ==
In this eleventh to several mantras — all the ''varṇāśrama dharmas'' have only one purpose: that is to help us evolve towards our own true nature. So from ''tamas'' to ''rajas'', to ''sattva''. From student life — what I call: learn about what is life, what is the goal of life — then experiment and experience. Then withdraw, because by this time we know: "I will not get what I am seeking in this world, but I will get what I am seeking from God." Turn to God, face away from the world, turn towards God. And as we progress through contemplation, a time will come when we will be absorbed only in God, and become one with God in the end.

That is the message of this eleventh section and several other mantras also. Beautiful mantras — we will talk about them in our next class.

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 32 on 10 May 2026 Q&A

2026-05-11T17:39:42Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "== [https://pub-0536a4be5dcf4ea9890169f5da0ca6a9.r2.dev/April%202026%20onwards/Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad/32%20Q%20%26%20A%20Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad%20%20On%20%2010%20May%202026%20.mp3 Link to Audio] == Maharaj, in Devi Mahatmyam, Shumbha and Nishumbha, it is said that they take over the roles of Vayu, Agni and they control everything. So, I want to confirm my understanding Maharaj. So, symbolically, is it right in understanding that Shumbha and Nishumbha as lust an..."

== [https://pub-0536a4be5dcf4ea9890169f5da0ca6a9.r2.dev/April%202026%20onwards/Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad/32%20Q%20%26%20A%20Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad%20%20On%20%2010%20May%202026%20.mp3 Link to Audio] ==

Maharaj, in Devi Mahatmyam, Shumbha and Nishumbha, it is said that they take over the roles of Vayu, Agni and they control everything. So, I want to confirm my understanding Maharaj. So, symbolically, is it right in understanding that Shumbha and Nishumbha as lust and greed, they take over the quality of air or quality of, they destroy, so it relates to pollution.

Okay, let me, I understand your question, let me answer you. So, our problem is, these are demons. Demons representing Kama and Krodha, lust and anger.

How could such people overtake the Devas? That would be the first question. Yes Maharaj. Our understanding should be, because the scripture itself doesn't explain it properly, because these are things like parables, we have to ponder over them and then the meaning slowly comes out.

Okay? Okay. So, earlier also I explained, who are the Devas who acquired, who are endowed with divine qualities. As a result, they get punya.

As a result, they get these posts. As a result, they are given the privilege of enjoying higher happiness. But in course of time, you will have to maintain those qualities.

So, they are endowed with Kama and Krodha. And then they become Asuras. Asuras become Asuras.

Now, these Asuras, they realise, then they do austerities. Inevitably, every Purana tells how Bhasmasura, Narakasura, Ravanasura, all these Asuras have acquired their power by acquiring divine qualities. How did they get boons? Because they acquired through tapasya, austerity, these marvellous things.

So, now they replace Devatas because of that punya karma. And in course of time, they will also become corrupt. They forget.

And then, so these Devatas will come. When they fall, they understand, we have fallen because of our own misbehaviour. And then they adopt to Satya and Dharma.

What should be done? And they do it. And that is presented in the form of prayer to the Divine Mother. Otherwise, we will be committing a terrible mistake.

These Devatas are darlings of Divine Mother. And whether they are good or bad, she will destroy people whom she doesn't like. That misunderstanding should not come.

That understanding of the miss should not come. Missing the understanding is called misunderstanding. So, this person, they must have done it.

Tapasya. How do we know? It's Vaishya and Suradha. Both of them did tapasya.

Divine Mother herself told, if you have these desires, you will have to worship me. And three years they worshipped. And they offered their own blood.

That means they are ready. They used their life to please the Divine Mother. Not simply take a blade and cut your body.

Okay. So, the Divine Mother must have given that buddhi. Then they acquired divine qualities.

And those divine qualities, they deserved. So, they could defeat all these people. This is also true when we are in the lower stages of evolution.

We are nothing but demons. Asuras. Asura means what? Identification with the body.

Identification with the sense organs. And then become slaves to these sense objects. Isn't it? Yes, Maharaj.

Shumbha and Nishumbha. So, they have become symbolic of lust and anger. But how did they conquer? Because they must have done tapasya.

That means they must have corrected their lives. And they drove out Indrachandra. Which means they are drivable jobs.

So, because they are drivable, not permanent. So, even these people also have been driven away from that position later on. So, this is the process of evolution.

We go up. We go down. Finally, buddhi awakens.

Then we approach the right teacher. This is the symbolism. Not simply.

Otherwise, Divine Mother is partial. She is partial to some of her children and very badly behaving towards other children. No.

She is giving medicine, bitter medicine to children who are suffering from the disease. Okay? You understood? Somewhat, Maharaj. I will think over it.

Tapasya. Do tapasya. Maharaj, may I ask a question? Sure.

Maharaj, our teenager kids who are living in the USA, their faith gets shaken by their peers because they downplay our caste system. Like you explained the caste system today. So, how can we convince our kids so they can have staunch faith in their religion? Okay.

The first point is none can influence anybody else. Everybody, every one of us are completely powerless. You have to understand it clearly.

Just because you love your children and want them to change their lives, not going to happen. It should come from within themselves. Okay? Yes, Maharaj.

So, we don't have power even to change our own selves. We know many things but we can't change. Is it not? Yes.

Yes, Maharaj ji. Where is the question of trying to change other person's life? We don't have that power at all. So, we can only as parents, we must teach them that you have every right to enjoy your life.

But there are certain rules and regulations. Somebody has written a beautiful book, Life is a Game. And just like there are rules for any game to be played, life also has got those rules.

And those rules are what we discussed today, Satyam and Dharma. For that purpose, a person has to wide open his eyes or her eyes and see what is happening to the other people who are following a particular lifestyle. So, that awakening must come from within themselves.

But before that there should be some examples. And those examples for the children will be the parents. So, every parent must question, instead of wishing, let our children follow certain ways.

Am I following myself? And if I am following myself, I should be the happiest person on earth. One of the most fulfilled life I am leading. That is the inevitable result if we really believe in our scriptures and follow them.

And when the children, they learn more from what? From examples rather than our empty words. So, this is the answer. First, let us try to lead the life.

And then we can advise them out of love. But we don't have the power to change them. So, they have to evolve from within themselves.
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 32 on 10 May 2026

2026-05-11T17:38:10Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Full Transcript (Not Corrected) == Opening Invocation == ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYA..."

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 31 on 09 May 2026 Q&A

2026-05-11T17:32:36Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "== [https://pub-0536a4be5dcf4ea9890169f5da0ca6a9.r2.dev/April%202026%20onwards/Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad/31%20Q%20%26%20A%20Brihadaranyaka%20Upanishad%20%20On%20%209%20May%202026%20.mp3 Link to Audio] == These Varanas, you were going to explain to us with some AI company, Maharaj, that the architects and all those people you had mentioned that they formed the Brahmana, Brahmanas class. So the people who set before us the goal of life and how to live life, they are cal..."

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These Varanas, you were going to explain to us with some AI company, Maharaj, that the architects and all those people you had mentioned that they formed the Brahmana, Brahmanas class. So the people who set before us the goal of life and how to live life, they are called philosophers in Socratic language, they are called Brahmanas in Hinduism. So architect means, don't mistake the English word architect of building, civil engineer.

Architect means one who builds. Here architecture of the whole life. In today's world, Maharaj, so we have thinkers, people coming up with new ideas.

So they will be Brahmanas, you had told us. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You have to be very clear about it.

Suppose there are AI thinkers, they have brains. What is the motive behind that brain? Are they teaching us the final goal of life? No way. They are fighting within themselves to like hell.

Yeah. And they're cheating each other. Yeah.

And they are not, they are telling that you just pay us monthly subscriptions and we will ruin your life. Literally they are going to ruin our life, isn't it? Yes. When tomorrow jobs are gone.

Is it helpful or is it a ruination? Ruination. All for what purpose? They want to become rich. Yeah.

Anyway, what is telling? Only those people who live a godly life, who knows what is the real purpose of life and who knows the secrets of the essence of the, true essence of the scriptures. So they lead their life and they are there to teach how they obtained this higher state of life. They are called Brahmanas.

Naturally, they alone are architects. So in this connection you have to understand they need not be what we call by birth Brahmins. You have to get rid of that idea.

Was Swami Vivekananda a Brahmana by birth? No. What about Swami Adbhuta? Adbhuta Ananda? No. But what wisdom they are giving? Yes.

They are the true architects of life. Every saint, in other words, is a real Brahmana. This is beautiful mantra if you remember.

Keep this in mind. If a person is, every Brahmin's baby is a Brahmin or he passes stool and urine in the bed. There is no difference at all.

Yes. But when that person develops certain wonderful samskaras and supposed to develop after the sacrament, then that person is entitled to be called as second born, second time, second birth. And that person, if he studies the scriptures, means understands the teachings of the scriptures, tries to live this life, then only he is entitled to be addressed as And finally that leads him to the knowledge of Atman or Brahman.

Then alone he is entitled to be called a We have to understand, even a sincere Brahmana who is leading that kind of life, he can be also called a Brahmana. Even though he may not be a realised soul, but he is very sincere about his goal of life and he will never mislead anybody. He will also try to help everybody.

So we have to take help of such people. We don't need a Brahmagnani. Brahmagnani is not going to come and run and then say, Oh you want to realise God, I will help you, I will help you.

And they start fighting with each other. All these modern Brahmagnanis, they go on fighting with each other. You have no right.

He is my disciple.
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 31 on 09 May 2026

2026-05-11T17:31:13Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== Recap: The Goal of Life and the Nature of Brahman ==
As we saw, a great discussion was going on: what is the goal of life? Some seekers understood that realisation of Brahman alone is the goal of life. And what does one gain? They also understood the gains — ''sarvam idaṃ bhavati'', so ''sarva bhāva prāpti''. A person who realises Brahman becomes ''sarvam'', becomes ''pūrṇam''.

Then, how to attain it? We have seen also that this whole creation is a play of Brahman, so that he wants to entertain himself. It is like playing a solitaire game, where one tries to deceive oneself, and then catch oneself, and then go on laughing: "I caught myself!" So it is what is called ''līlā''.
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== Summary of the Tenth Mantra: ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' ==
In our last class, we completed one of the most important mantras — the tenth mantra of the fourth section of the first chapter of the Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. What is the essence of this tenth mantra? This tenth mantra unfolds and establishes that there is only one reality, that is called Brahman — call it God, call it Allāh, by whatever blessed name you desire to call.

And what are we? The ''jīva'', the individual soul, is essentially identical to that Brahman, because if Brahman is everything, if Brahman is the cause, then this entire universe is the effect. And the effect can never be different from the cause.

Then what is it we are experiencing now? This is called ''saṃsāra''. ''Saṃsāra'' means seeing everything as different. I am born — that is different. I am surviving — that is different. One day I will have to disappear from this world — that is also a change. This entire birth, growth, sustenance, old age, disease, and death — this is called ''ṣaḍvikāra'', the sixfold changes. Everyone has to go through them. ''Saṃsarati'' means continuous change.

And Brahman is one — eternal, unchanging, one without a second. So how can we equate this world with Brahman? But this thinking — really, Brahman has not created, has not become, has not become ''jīva'', is not thinking as the ''jīva'' — and all these thoughts are only from our mind's point of view, from the ''avidyā'' point of view. All questions — "Who am I? Why am I here? How did I happen to come here? Why did Brahman create? He could have created a better world" — all these questions are products of ignorance.

So long as we are ignorant, so long as we do not know that we are Brahman, these questions will not cease. So long as a person is experiencing a snake, his fear will never vanish.
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== The Awakening of the Spiritual Seeker ==
But at some point of time, a person gets tired. First — and this is a very great psychological point — first, all of us get so much of pleasure from various things. In fact, we try to minimise all unhappiness and all suffering, and maximise all our happiness. This seems to be the goal of life for a very, very long time.

And then comes the awakening: that it is impossible to achieve this objective. Therefore there must be another way, where I can be without any fear of death, ignorance, and suffering. And for that purpose, the search is now withdrawn from the external to the internal. Such persons are called spiritual seekers.

Then that person, with the help of the Guru who interprets the scripture, slowly destroys the ''avidyā''. Now, what Advaita wants to convey to us is that ''vidyā'', or true ''brahmavidyā'', or ''ātmavidyā'' — knowledge of one's own self — is never lost, can never be lost. But it is covered up. So every spiritual practice is only to remove this covering.

So destruction of ''avidyā'', or destruction of the ''adhyāsa'' (superimposition), is called spiritual practice. And as soon as we succeed in removing this ignorance — ignorance of who we really are, not what we think we are — the moment we remove the wrong notion totally, ''vidyā'' stands revealed. We do not need to acquire ''vidyā''; it is already there.

Just like the removal of darkness manifests the light automatically — not that after removing the darkness, like somebody sitting outside, we have vacated a seat, there is a vacant chair and you can come inside. No, not like that. Removal of ''adhyāsa'' or ''avidyā'' alone is spiritual practice. And then we realise: we were never bound. What we were wholeheartedly seeking, we already have, as it were — we are that.

Just, we have to remove the covering. For that, a ''mahāvākya'' tremendously helps. And the essential point in this tenth mantra is ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi''. And then — ''ātmany eva upāsīta'' — one should therefore strive to realise this Brahman alone.
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== Overview: Mantras 11 to 17 of the Fourth Section ==
Now we are going to proceed. This particular fourth section has got seventeen mantras. We covered more or less ten mantras, and some mantras I have already described — especially, I think, in the eighth mantra, how this creation has started. Now again, from the eleventh to the seventeenth, this fourth section gives us two important ideas.

So creation has been described earlier. But to maintain this creation and to see that life goes on merrily without any problem, then we have to create those people who tell us how to run, how to live life, and how not to do certain actions which will only stop our further evolution — or even take us back to the previous state. How to stop that? And then slowly, how to progress?
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== The Origin of the Four Varṇas (''Cāturvarṇyam'') ==
So Brahman has created four types of castes. This is the origin of the caste system in Hinduism. God himself has created it, and Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa affirms it. So what is the purpose? Maintenance.

But the peculiarity of this Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — what do we mean by ''cāturvarṇyam'', the four castes? The Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad elaborates and says that because ''sṛṣṭi'' also contains gods and goddesses, the entire creation can be divided into three: ''ādhyātmika'', ''ādhibhautika'', and ''ādhidaivika''.

Each one of us, as individuals, is called ''ādhyātmika''. Then the entire external world, which everyone of us is experiencing and formulating certain ''saṃskāras'' through our experiences, is called ''ādhibhautika''. But to have an overall management — how to make a person behave properly, do this, do not do this, the do's and don'ts — certain powers are created. They are called ''adhiṣṭhātṛ devatās''. And also, how to live life: for that purpose, four castes were created.

Now what the Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad wants to add is that it is not only at our level, but even at the level of the gods, four ''varṇas'' are there. So there is a ''deva-brāhmaṇa'', ''deva-kṣatriya'', ''deva-vaiśya'', and ''deva-śūdra''.
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== The Three ''Guṇas'' and Their Combinations ==
Now, what are these castes? Castes are nothing but divided on the basis of ''guṇas''. As we know, ''guṇas'' are three. So certain combinations — and this is a very important point — no ''guṇa'' by itself can be effective. It is only the combination of every ''guṇa'' that counts.

How many combinations are possible? First: ''sattvaguṇa'' dominates, ''rajoguṇa'' supports, ''tamoguṇa'' helps — that is called ''brāhmaṇa''. Second: ''rajoguṇa'' dominates, ''sattvaguṇa'' helps, ''tamoguṇa'' also helps — that is called ''kṣatriya'', or the rulers and warriors. What Plato or Socrates used to call the second category.

The first category, according to Socrates, is called philosophers — those who set the goal of life crystal clearly. But to maintain this order, ''kṣatriyas'' are necessary, with tremendous power. They are the kings, they are the warriors, they are the leaders of men. They fall under the second category and are dominated by ''rajoguṇa''. They have to be extremely alert and intolerant of any evil that is being perpetuated.

People were advised according to their castes what special activities they would have to do. So for example, for the ''brāhmaṇa'' — study of the Vedas, leading an ideal life — that is the speciality of ''brāhmaṇas''. For ''kṣatriyas'' — protecting the weak, subduing the strong and evil, and seeing that society runs smoothly. That oiling process of this machine called society — they are called ''kṣatriyas'', or the warrior class.

And people are advised: you have to worship God, you have certain duties in life. For that purpose, ''pañcamahāyajñas'', special worships, special ''upāsanās'', have been given. And to see that they are done properly, many things are needed, many items are needed. So one has to get that supply. The persons who see that everybody requires food and materials — and at one place something grows, another place something else grows — these third castes are called the business people, ''vaiśyas''.

Their business is such that they have international connections. If some excess product is there, they remove it, take it where it is needed and not available. And what is available there — say, for example, certain exotic things are not available in western countries, only India can give, especially spices. That is why everybody wanted to come and conquer India, so that they could have free access. India was also known as a treasure house of gold, silver, and many other precious minerals and metals.

So that is why everybody's sight was drawn there. That is why Muslims had come, that's why English, Dutch, Portuguese, French people — everybody had come. Finally, only the Muslims and the English people dominated and looted. And that we should not blame them, because we welcomed them and we helped them to loot everything, because of our non-cooperation. Even now it is going on.

So the third class — what is called ''rajo''-dominated, greatly helped by ''rajas'' and ''tamas'' in equal proportions — they are called ''vaiśyas''. But there are different types of activities: harvesting, cultivating, cleaning, storing, bringing things. Workers are needed — they are called ''śūdras''.

And it is not that a particular caste of people have been created. No. According to their ''guṇa'', where ''tamoguṇa'' is more — the person needs to be told, "You have to do this," etc. They cannot think for themselves; somebody has to continuously direct them: "Do this, don't do this, do this after that." Such people are called ''śūdras''.

And in every society, in every age, we get these people. Not that it is only from the beginning so. For that purpose, from Brahman, having created this universe with all the ''pañcabhūtas'', he then created ''deva-varṇas'' — ''deva-brāhmaṇa'', ''deva-kṣatriya'', ''deva-vaiśya'', ''deva-śūdra''.
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== Intelligence in Nature: An Illustrative Digression ==
And this Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, from the eleventh mantra onwards — from the eleventh section onwards — is trying to elaborate one after the other that with the help of everyone doing their duties properly, everybody will be progressing. So ''śūdras'' will develop higher consciousness, then they become more ''rajo''-dominated, and then later on they will be dominated by ''sattvaguṇa''. That is how this is a slow evolution from a low state of consciousness to a higher state of consciousness — that is what this section wants to tell.

Just as Brahman created the ''deva-varṇas'' — the four castes of the ''devas'', the gods and goddesses — we have to understand that exactly in a similar manner, all human beings were also created. So ''deva-brāhmaṇas'' degenerated into ''manuṣya-brāhmaṇas'', ''deva-kṣatriyas'' into ''manuṣya-kṣatriyas'', ''deva-vaiśyas'' into ''manuṣya-vaiśyas'', and ''deva-śūdras'' into ''manuṣya-śūdras''.

Now, though it is not necessary — this is a point we can add here — does this division apply only to human beings or to non-human beings also? Yes. Take one simple example: the story of the honey bee. There is a queen, there are warriors to protect the hive, there are workers who will be going and gathering — it is such a marvellous story. How much intelligence is needed!

Just to give one small example: there are some ant colonies that were being flooded, and they had to find a safer nest. What do these ants do? They have to cross sometimes huge expanses of water. And individually, if they do it, it is not going to help. So they join hands and legs and form a huge, like a boat or a huge mat. The entire rest of the colony gathers onto that mat, as it were, and they float. And these front ants slowly guide it to a place where the danger of water is not there.

That's why if anybody scientifically examines either a beehive or an anthill, you will see how much intelligence is there. When you look at some birds — there are some birds who create such beautiful nests, and they are fully aware, fully conscious that snakes are there to hunt them. So there are particular species of birds I have seen in a video: they create a nest with various doors, and the real room where they store the eggs will be practically like Lucknow's maze, the ''Bhūlbhulāiyā''. The snake will poke into several nests and not find anything. Finally, disappointed, most snakes leave.

Why am I citing this example? To show how much intelligence is really working there, albeit unconsciously. Many squirrels gather nuts when winter is coming — they have to survive in their burrows, to tide them over during that cold season when they cannot come out. What do the bears do? They hibernate. How much intelligence!

This is only to place before you how much intelligence these creatures have. So Brahman manifested himself as the world, then created various animals, then created human beings. Then a world order has to be established. For that, ''adhiṣṭhātṛ devatās'' were created. And that is from where the ''karma-siddhānta'' has come — these gods are watching us. According to our ''karma'', if we worship them, they reward us; if we neglect and misbehave, they keep count and will try to correct us. It is not a punishment — it is a correction.
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== The ''Varṇas'' as a Framework for Evolution ==
So this is how ''deva-varṇas'' and ''brahman-varṇas'' are created. And then, what is the purpose of all this? Right from the lowest caste, we have to strive — through the devout performance of our respective duties — to evolve. That is how a ''śūdra'' becomes a ''vaiśya'', meaning the terrible ''tamoguṇa'' now becomes mixed up with more of ''rajoguṇa'', and then he enters into more ''sāttvikaguṇa'' and becomes a ''kṣatriya''. This is a state of progress.

We have to understand: it is not a privilege to oppress and suppress and selfishly hoard everything for one's own self. And whenever we neglect this, the ''karmaphala'' will come with a big blow. Study history — this is what happens. And this history has been repeated in our ''Purāṇas'' in the form of the continuous warfare between the ''suras'' and ''asuras'', gods and demons.

What is this fight? The fight is: whenever somebody neglects and doesn't live a proper life appropriate to their station in life, then ''karmaphala'' will come in the form of suffering. Here, a demon is nothing but a creator of — or an excuse for creating — suffering. Suffering awakens these people. Then they think deeply: "We have neglected the commandments of God." That's why in the Bible it is called the Ten Commandments, and we have got ''dharmaśāstras'' — nothing but ''vidhi'' and ''niṣedha'', the do's and don'ts.

Then we slowly acquire faith, and we experiment and get some results. Our faith deepens. That is how we progress.

The whole thing is meant — involution is meant — so that we can evolve. If I have to summarise the entire creation: first, it is nothing but involution, coming down to the inorganic. Thereafter, evolution starts with the sprouting of ''prāṇa'' in the one-celled body — call it amoeba, by whatever name — and slowly multiplying and evolving physically, brain-wise, then mentally, then spiritually, finally reaching the destination, that is, reaching home from where we have come. This is the idea.
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== A Note on Methodology: How to Read a Text ==
Now I will give you a gist and summary of these mantras from the eleventh to the seventeenth. Six or seven mantras are there for us to deal with. Once we understand the gist of this — which I have already given as the summary of the summaries — I am going into a little more detail. And then we will go through the proper mantras; it will be a breeze to understand them.

This is how we have to read any book. This is the technique by which one can grasp the most in the least amount of time, and grasp more intelligently and retain it for a longer time. First of all, you read the foreword. The author, if he is a good author, crystal clearly outlines: "This is the subject about which I am going to talk, and on this subject, especially I am going to emphasise these particular points of view." And then he elaborates them, giving examples, etc.

So it may be a 300-page book or a 400-page book. At the end of every chapter — every paragraph has a connection with the next paragraph, if it is intelligent writing. Every chapter has a connection to the next chapter. And at the end of every chapter: "These are the special points we have discussed so far in this chapter," and then: "This is the connection between the previous chapter and the next chapter." This is what Śaṅkarācārya calls ''sambandhabhāṣya'' — the relationship between the previous mantra and the next mantra, previous chapter and next chapter, previous section and next section. If we can follow this methodology, it will be marvellous.
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== Before Creation: Brahman Alone ==
So what happened before creation? Who was there? Brahman alone existed — ''ekaṃ sat, advitīyam'', ''sadeva saumya idam agra āsīt''. In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, we have seen, in the sixth chapter, that only Brahman alone existed. That is what the Brihadāraṇyaka also repeats.

So then Brahman wanted to create. Now, so many people question: why did Brahman have to create? Could he not have kept quiet? Then we need not have all these classes, this ''saṃsāra'', this — "create a problem, then show a solution." No. This is called ''līlā''. And you cannot complain, because: who is the creator? Brahman. Who is the creation? Brahman. Who has degenerated or involved? Brahman. Who is evolving? Brahman. That is the fun of it — he does it for fun, and he knows it with full consciousness.

So this is what we have to understand. Before creation, Brahman alone existed. And to ensure the proper functioning of this created universe, Brahman created the powerful castes — so ''kṣatriyas'', and earlier he said ''agni'' — ''agni'' means ''brāhmaṇa'' — so Indra, Varuṇa, etc. While the ''kṣatriya'' power, the warrior class, represents power, its source is none other than Brahman.

And that is why in the ''rājasūya'' sacrifice, the king has to sit below a ''brāhmaṇa'' who is performing the ''agni''. So a ''kṣatriya'' has to honour his own source.

To understand it in common sense language: why is the person doing this ''agni'' or ''yāga'', etc.? Because he learns from the ''brāhmaṇa'' that the goal of life is to manifest your potential divinity. And you are a ''kṣatriya'', and the duty of the ''kṣatriya'' is to protect, and also to evolve one's own self. So if you can do some ''agni'' or ''yāgas'', that is not the only duty. Your main duty is to see that society functions as it is supposed to function. But since you are also a human being with individual desires to fulfil, you can do some ''agni'', ''yāgas'', etc.

And only powerful, wealthy ''kṣatriyas'' can do some of these. And that is — at the very beginning of the Brihadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — we said that what is called ''aśvamedha'', as ''virāṭ'', a king can do, with all the elaborations and all four ''varṇas'' necessary. But if somebody doesn't have that capacity, you just sit and do mental ''upāsanā'' — it will give you exactly the same result as if you are the king and you are doing it meticulously from the beginning to the end. That is why that ''virāṭ upāsanā'' and its continuation was there. First it is the ''aśva'', then it is the ''agni'', then it is the ''prāṇa'' — we have seen that one already.

You will always have to keep the essential points in mind, otherwise my talk will be what is called dissected, non-related topics.
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== Mantra 11: The Creation of ''Brāhmaṇas'' and ''Kṣatriyas'' ==
So the essence of the eleventh mantra is: Brahman created what is called ''brāhmaṇas'' and ''kṣatriyas''.
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== Mantra 12: The Creation of ''Vaiśyas'' ==
Then the twelfth mantra: power alone, strength alone, was not enough. Because for the sake of wealth and social nourishment, many things are necessary — suppliers of many things. And therefore ''deva-vaiśyas'' were created. That is described in mantra 12. So like ''vasus'', ''rudras'' — these ''vaiśyas'' were created.
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== Mantra 13: The Creation of ''Śūdras'' ==
But creation of ''brāhmaṇas'', creation of ''kṣatriyas'', creation of ''vaiśyas'' alone will not do. There is so much physical, menial labour one has to do. When a person has vast lands for cultivation, the cultivators — only ''śūdras'' can do it. And then harvesting, and then storing, and then protecting them — so many things one has to do. For that purpose, the ''śūdras'' have to be created.

Mantra 13: for service and support, the ''śūdra-varṇa''. Here also, ''deva-śūdra'' — you have to remember — ''pūṣan'', that is ''pṛthvī'', was created. Here the earth is called ''pūṣā'', because it is she who is cultivable, who yields, sustains, supports, and nourishes all of us.
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== Mantra 14: The Creation of ''Dharma'' ==
Then the fourteenth mantra tells us something extraordinary. Here are the ''kṣatriyas'', here are the ''brāhmaṇas'', here are the ''vaiśyas'', here are the ''śūdras''. And there are also infinite variations possible. Suppose some ''kṣatriya'' has got tremendous power, or some ''brāhmaṇa'' has tremendous knowledge. Then he can become very arrogant — that possibility is there, because ''avidyā'' is ruling. Similarly, a powerful king, like a powerful politician, can do whatever he likes. If somebody praises him, he will bestow the highest power and all his goodies and goodwill. And if he doesn't like somebody, however worthy that somebody may be, he will demote and destroy them. This is the way — just look at the newspaper, that is what you will see everywhere going on.

So to protect against this, Brahman created something marvellous — it is called ''dharma''. So a ''brāhmaṇa'' has ''brāhmaṇa-dharma'', a ''kṣatriya'' has ''kṣatriya-dharma'', a ''vaiśya'' has ''vaiśya-dharma'', a ''śūdra'' has ''śūdra-dharma''. What does it mean? It means these people, according to their own caste — and they were created and classified as belonging to that caste because a particular quality is dominating in them, assisted of course by the other two qualities.

Just as in a ''brāhmaṇa'', ''sattva'' is the dominant quality, ''rajas'' is the helpful quality, and ''tamas'' is another one. Here ''rajas'' is more powerful and more helpful — that's why he retains. So it is not according to birth; caste is according to quality.

So that is what we need to do. And now a very interesting analogy can be given. There are so many AI companies — like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google of course, Meta, and so many others coming. And China is producing marvellous AI, which India cannot even look up to. Not because we lack intelligence, but we lack that ''puruṣakāra'', that energy. Full of jealousy, intolerance — we cannot tolerate our own. Our greatest ''adharma'' is to pull down the other person as much as possible. "I may not get anything, but I will not tolerate another person getting even a little better than what I have." This is the main cause. If this cause is not addressed, however much money the government may spend, we are not going to improve at all — whatever party comes into power. What type of persons are there using that power — that is most important.

So Brahman has created ''dharma''. And very interestingly, ''dharma'' and ''satya'' are equated. ''Satya'' is understanding what the proper action is to be done and the proper way to do it. And ''dharma'' is putting it into absolute practice. That is why you cannot separate ''satya'' and ''dharma''. We will come to that.

So in this fourteenth mantra, Brahman, after creating the four divine castes, now created ''dharma'', so that ''dharma'' keeps them under control. If anybody transgresses the ''dharma'', then ''dharma'' itself becomes ''Yama'' — ''Yama Dharmarāja''. That is why Yama is called ''Yama Dharmarāja''. ''Yama Dharmarāja'' will give appropriate ''karma'' for all.

This is ''dharma'' — ''dharma'' is the power behind power. The controlling power of any power is called ''dharma''. Where ''dharma'' exists, even a weak person can overcome a strong one. That is why we say ''dharma'' and ''satya'' are one. In the ultimate instance, it is only ''dharma'' and ''satya'' which become victorious — temporarily maybe something may not be there. That is the essence of the fourteenth mantra.
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== Mantra 15: The Purpose of All Action — ''Ātmajñāna'' ==
The fifteenth mantra: this social order exists among both gods and men. So if a person performs many holy works without realising his own self, those works are only temporary. Only when a person knows who he is — obtains, through the obtainment of self-knowledge, ''ātmajñāna'' — then these works become complete and help him achieve the goal of life, which is to know ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi''.

So mantra 15 is reminding us: the whole purpose of creation is to catch hold of ''dharma'' and ''satya''. That is why in the eleventh ''anuvāka'' of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad — the rest is elaboration.

The social order exists among both gods and men, as I said earlier. For example: Agni is the ''deva-brāhmaṇa'', Indra is the ''deva-kṣatriya'', the ''vasus'' etc. are the ''deva-vaiśyas'', and ''pṛthvī'' is called the ''deva-śūdra'', etc.

In this fifteenth mantra, it says we have to evolve slowly. What is evolution? Absolutely behaving as we are supposed to behave. And this we get from ''dharmaśāstras'': if you are a ''śūdra'', this is your ''dharma''; you should not do your ''adharma''. And if you follow — so if a person discharges his duty as a worship of God, that is the essence of ''Karma Yoga''. Then slowly he progresses. And ultimately, by the grace of God, he will become a ''vaiśya'', he will become a ''kṣatriya'' — that is called improvement, progress in the state of consciousness. Ultimately a person will become a ''brāhmaṇa'', that is, a seeker of Brahman. And then he will practise, and then he becomes a realised soul. That is the most wonderful thing.

What is the fifteenth mantra saying? Let me first quote how Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa beautifully puts it: any number of zeros without a one in the front are completely zeros — valueless. But put one, and as you go on adding zero after zero, the value increases: 10, 100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, etc. This is what the mantra is telling — that if every activity is not directed towards reaching our own true nature, or Brahman, or ''ātmajñāna'', all these works will only give temporary effects.

The mantra is not telling that they will not give effect — they will. But again and again and again, we fall from that high state, and again we have to do it, until we learn the lesson. That all these works will give permanent result only when we offer them as worship of God.
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== Mantra 16: The ''Jīvanmukta'' — The Liberated Soul ==
Then mantra 16 beautifully puts it. Suppose a person, through the evolution from ''śūdra'' to ''brāhmaṇa'', from ''tamoguṇa'' to ''sattvaguṇa'' — then the ''śūdra'' with ''sattvaguṇa'' will slowly realise, like that person who was saved from ''tamoguṇa'', then saved from ''rajoguṇa''. ''Sattvaguṇa'' alone saves — it brings him to his home, his village. "You go there."

When the man invited, "You have saved my life, I am eternally grateful, please come to my house — we will be blessed to honour you," he said, "No, I am also a robber." That means: all ''guṇas'' belong to ''sṛṣṭi''. We have to go beyond ''sṛṣṭi'' — to what was before ''sṛṣṭi'', which is Brahman.

So that is how a knower of the ''ātman'' becomes a world for all beings. Because a knower of Brahman or ''ātman'' is Brahman. And such a person — anybody who worships, anybody who wants any desire to be fulfilled — should worship an ''ātmajñānī'', because an ''ātmajñānī'' is non-separate from the ''ātman'' or Brahman. So here is a living example called a ''jīvanmukta''.

Through his sacrifice, study, and service to guests and animals, he supports entire creation. These are called ''pañcamahāyajñas'' — ''devatās'', ''ṛṣis'', ''pitṛs'', and then all human beings, and all non-human beings, and even the smallest creatures. When he loves all, the entire creation loves him back.

Just imagine — Rāmakṛṣṇa once saved a big ''magar mach'' (crocodile). We don't know how the crocodile really feels after that. According to its own capacity, it must have had a sigh of relief, become happy, and must have expressed gratitude to the saver, which is Rāmakṛṣṇa. Whatever is minimum necessary, they will do — but beyond that, they will never try to harm.

Even what minimum they do, also with a prayer. I heard that some South Africans, when they hunt — because they don't get anything else, for some particular animals like deer — they run them down. Finally they pray: "O ''devatā'', spirit — you are dying, sacrificing your life for the sake of sustaining us. We pray to God that in your next birth, you will have a better life because of your sacrifice." And after this prayer to their ancestors, to their own gods in whom they believe, they sprinkle a little bit of dust. This is what we do — ''śrāddha'', etc. — in gratefulness to all our ancestors. All ''pañcamahāyajña'' is nothing but uttering this gratefulness and sprinkling the dust.

So mantra 16 says that everybody loves a ''jīvanmukta'', because a ''jīvanmukta'' becomes the ''ātman'' of all these beings.
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== Mantra 17: The ''Gṛhasthāśrama'' — Legitimate Fulfilment of Desires ==
And the final mantra — mantra 17 — in this fourth section: when the ''ātman'' existed alone, it desired a wife, children, wealth, and work, to feel complete. So what does this seventeenth mantra really mean?

It means: when a person comes of age, comes to consciousness, becomes awakened, he looks around and understands what to do. He understands: "This is my duty in life if I want to progress further." So therefore, he wants to fulfil all his desires legitimately, according to the direction of the scripture. Such a person — what is called a ''brahmacārī'' — desires a wife, children, wealth, and work.

And then the purpose is not to enjoy the world, but the purpose is slowly to evolve — by developing faith in the scripture, and by satisfying some of the desires.

So this mantra teaches us a very important lesson: an unfit person cannot simply renounce the world. He will be like a jobless person renouncing the world, going to Vārāṇasī, and then after some time securing a job. "Do not worry, I am keeping well. I am sending ten rupees — I got a job now. The next time when I come, I will bring some clothes and some other materials for you. So you do not feel bad about me, don't feel anxious about me." This is called jobless ''vairāgya'' — ''śmaśāna-vairāgya'', ''prasūti-vairāgya'', ''markaṭa-vairāgya'', jobless ''vairāgya''.

So the mantra 17 tells us that all this entering into ''gṛhasthāśrama'' from ''brahmacaryāśrama'' to ''gṛhasthāśrama'' is an evolution. So that what we have learnt must be put into practice — that helps us to evolve further. Ultimately it brings us to ''vānaprasthāśrama'', which leads us to ''sannyāsāśrama''. That is the essence of this mantra 17.
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== Conclusion: The Mutual Relationship of Mantras 11–17 ==
So that is the essence of the eleventh to seventeenth mantras. There is a mutual relationship between these mantras, which we will talk about in our tomorrow's class.

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 31 on 09 May 2026

2026-05-11T17:29:06Z

Meditation Q&A

2026-05-11T17:16:53Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "What is the concept of Moksha here? Because you say that Karpat is God also. We try to attain God, that's what your self-realisation that you are talking about. Exactly. So, everything is God, why do we attain God? Actually, everything is God, it is human language we attain God. No, we don't attain God, we just realise that everything is God. What is the concept of Moksha in this case? Once we have that knowledge, this idea of differentiation will vanish, this duality i..."

What is the concept of Moksha here? Because you say that Karpat is God also. We try to attain God, that's what your self-realisation that you are talking about. Exactly.

So, everything is God, why do we attain God? Actually, everything is God, it is human language we attain God. No, we don't attain God, we just realise that everything is God. What is the concept of Moksha in this case? Once we have that knowledge, this idea of differentiation will vanish, this duality itself will vanish.

I will give you a simple example. Here is a table, here is a stool, here is a chair. What do you see? Here is a table, here is a stool, here is a chair.

How many objects you are seeing? Three of them. Now, what is the common thing among all these three? All of them are made out of wood. Once you realise it is wood, then the differentiation will vanish from our minds.

That means you say, I am a Hindu, you are a Christian, I am a human being. Extension of this knowledge, we are all of the manifestations of the same God. Then you see, there is no hatred, there is no fear, you don't tell lies to your own self.

This is what I am telling is external behaviour will change. But ultimately we realise that we are all of the same nature as God. So this is a kind of preparation I said, meditation, which will lead to the highest realisation.

After that, if we come back from that state, then we again see clear manifestation of God in everything. If we don't return, we become completely one with and remain there. This is called moksha or complete liberation.

So, in the process of attaining this moksha, a person dies on the 3rd floor and... Our Hindus, you are a Hindu? I am not a Hindu, I am a Christian by the way. Okay, Hindus you know, they believe in reincarnation, right? So when a Hindu believes, a person stops at a particular stage of spiritual evolution, he doesn't start all over again. He will get another instrument, just like, suppose you are writing something, your pen becomes spoiled, you get another pen and continue writing, right? That is the idea Hindus have.

We take up exactly where we have left over, continue further until we reach our goal. Yeah. I have a question there.

Yes. If I can ask, I hope I am not... Please ask. Please.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, go ahead. So you were saying that wherever we die, we left off at that particular place and then in the next life, according to reincarnation, you take it from that point and go forward. So if a person continues to do bad works, because one of the philosophies of Hinduism is to believe that good works will lead to heaven, I think you must have heard a lot about that.

Yes, yes. So if the person is not doing good works, and if he dies, and if he is a bad person, if he dies, and if he is whatever way, then in his next life, will he take up what he was left off with or will he be born again as a lower creature? It is possible. Hindus, you know what we are talking, logically we cannot prove.

You must always remember. These are all beliefs. If you are asking that can you give a proof, I cannot.

I can only say this is what I believe, Hindus believe. So Hindus believe that a bad person accumulates what is called samskara, the impressions or habitual impressions. Therefore, if a bad person does bad things, then he goes appropriate punishment, then he will be given another chance to reform himself.

So the result of next birth will be he might even become non-human being depending upon what he does. But ultimately he will come back to the human birth, and he will be given another chance, and another chance, and another chance, because you see if you have got a headache, you want to keep quiet, you want to get rid of your headache. So if the result of evil actions is suffering, nobody wants to suffer, else he will start thinking why am I suffering.

Then you see he will find out ultimately maybe because of my bad behaviour. Then he will be acquiring a good behaviour, and he will continue his progress further. So this is what Hindus believe.

I have two more questions. Okay. In this particular process, in this present life, right now my name is Vijay, by the way.

In this life I am known as Vijay. If I die, if I don't do good works, I don't know how many good works that I need to do according to Hindu religion to get to heaven, I don't know. So if I die, I have no chance in this life.

If I die, because this is reality right now, in this life I don't have another chance. So at the end of a particular person's life, the last day of the last hour, he thinks that I am a bad person, I have done all the bad things, and I want to do good things, set myself straight, and then he dies before he sets himself straight, before doing his good works. Yeah.

You see, he will have to pay a little bit of, in the form of suffering, but he will again come back as a human being. In this life. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, I can only give an illustration to give a little idea about it. Suppose somebody had committed a crime.

So the government will punish him, puts him behind a jail. Just before going to jail he might realise that I have done something bad I should not have done. So you know, the punishment cannot be avoided by that.

Having lived in the jail for some time, he will come out, then he has all the opportunity to reform himself. This is every religion, no religion condemns anybody for eternity. This is only temporary thing.

Then until we reach God, we will have opportunity to go on correcting ourselves, to become better. Yes, but you know, we need not make big deal of this life or next life. After all, what is there? Life is... Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, you know, even from a worldly point of view, your question is very pertinent. Supposing somebody is a drunkard.

He realises just before death, I have drunk, I should not have drunk. There is no chance. You know, he is good, but next birth he has a chance, according to Hindus, that he need not drink.

Choice is always there. But in this life, I'm sorry, it is finished, you know, it is at the end of it. That's the question.

That's the answer that I was asking. Yes, yes. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Concept... Yeah. Yes, Hinduism has both a concept of hell and a concept of heaven. Both are temporary periods of life for experiencing something, the result of something good or something evil.

That's all, you know. Suppose you work very hard and you earn a lot of money. Then you can go on a holiday and enjoy it, come back.

But nobody will enjoy holiday forever. As long as your money lasts, you are on a holiday. Then you come back and again start working.

Also, if you do something wrong, you will have to suffer for some time, but again you will recuperate, come back, and again continue your journey. This is how Hindus believe until we discover God, this journey goes on. Moksha is eternal.

Moksha is not temporary. I said... Hell and heaven, both. Now... Yes.

Yes, yes. Moksha and... Yes, yes, yes. One with the spirit.

And you become one with the spirit. Okay. Thanks for the time.

Sadhguruji, I have a question. Yes. I saw the tape of Ramayan, the movie you made, and there was a question for Ram asked by Lakshman when he tried to kill Bharat and he thought he is going to attack Ram.

And then, you know, Panchavati, he was asking, I cannot forgive myself thinking of him. I did a crime. And then Sita told, No, when you repent for that and you came out from all sin and you became pure, so don't worry about anything.

You've done bad. If you think you've done bad and you can repent for that and you became totally pure person. So, that's maybe you can do that.

Realisation for the mistake and maybe God forgive for that. We are talking here two different things. One, if somebody thinks bad of somebody else and subsequently realises that was not the right thing to do, repentance is alright because both are mental acts.

Thinking bad also is a mental act. Repenting is also a mental act. But if this mental act translates itself into a concrete physical action, that reaction has got to be countered with.

Suppose you are very angry with yourself and subsequently you realise you should not have been angry. So, both are mental acts. It will give you peace.

But when you are very angry, you go and put your finger in the fire. In that case, repentance is good for the mental action, but you need some salve for putting on your burnt finger. That is the concept of karma phala.

It is said, mental sin is no sin. Mental sin is only fancy. How many people you know you might have killed in your mind as a mental fancy, God knows.

But we should never express them into concrete actions. That's bad. It is natural.

You can get angry. Stop it there. Even that is not too good because if you are perpetually angry, then your husband's health will be very, very good.

Don't do it. Of course, did you hear that story? Yesterday? Okay. That's fine.

No, no. You ask other people. You know, because they also will remember it.

Absolutely. There are two concepts here. You know, according to Hinduism, God is, Ishwara is karma adhyaksha, the lord of the karmas.

So, if we have done something wrong and according to natural law, we have to pay equal amount of punishment, but God says, okay, my grace is upon you. I cancel your karma phala. Don't worry.

Or I will let you, if you have to pay $10,000 debt, I will give you $9,999. You just pay $1. Your debt is cancelled.

So, this is one concept. The other concept is by doing spiritual practise, you may get the full karma phala, but your mental attitude will not allow you to suffer so much because suffering is in the mind. Is it not? So, I give this example.

Suppose you are caught in a traffic jam and what can you do? There are various ways. You can say that it is horrible thing. You know, Nisha, the origination of Haribol.

One Englishman in Calcutta where summer night it was so muggy and he was repeating Haribol, Haribol. His neighbours heard him and said, what a great Bhagwat. He is always, whole night he is repeating Haribol, Haribol.

Did you know that? Haribol. So, the other is if we have the right attitude, then the suffering becomes actually hallowed. It may be very minimum.

And that's what, you know, once we accept, the greatest suffering also becomes very bearable. Not only that, there is something very interesting. There are some saints who not only do not ask for prevention of suffering, they actively pray, O Lord, grant me suffering.

You know that? Kunti is an example of that. Because she said, when we are in suffering, then Krishna was always with us. Swamiji, chanting Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama is a form of sadhana.

It is not only a wonderful form of sadhana, it is also very therapeutic. Especially I know about Lalita Sahasranama. If a mentally sick patient, if somebody repeats, there are many things like that.

Another is Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. How it works, don't ask me, because I also can't explain. The point is, it works.

Suppose it doesn't work. What? Iddiham? You are only repeating God's name? This is not to say that, you know, like some fanatics, that one should not take medicine or consult a doctor. Along with all those things, this is a spiritual activity that can go on.

It's a wonderful Vishnu Sahasranama. It creates a beautiful atmosphere. That is why in church, in temple and in mosque, this beautiful Gregorian chanting goes on, you know, Vedic chanting.

So therapeutic, Vedic chanting. Is it important to chant this loudly or can you do it mentally? Does it have like other effects different? You know, both have their own effects. If you can chant nicely, that has its, you know, sound has its own effect.

For example, if somebody can sing beautifully, it has an effect. We have seen it. If somebody cannot sing, they can sing mentally, because the devotion is more important, even more important than, you know, just chanting loudly.

It works both ways. When you are in a mood, sing. When you are not in a mood, just do it silently a little bit.

It's fine. The important thing is to direct our attention towards God. That is the only thing.

In one of the readings, you know, I came across this statement that you can get the grace of God and the grace of the Guru, but without the grace of your mind, you won't be able to make spiritual progress. Yeah. So, could you clarify what that means? Very nice statement.

In Bengali language, this is the, you know, there is Guru Kripa, there is Divine Grace, Bhagavad Kripa. But for the lack of one, no, there is three graces are there. Grace of God and grace of Guru and grace of Vaishnava.

But for the lack of one, man courted ruin. What is that? Grace of one's own mind. It is, what is this? It's like this.

Suppose you are a mother and you have a baby and you love your baby and you prepared most delicious dishes for your baby and you wanted to feed your baby, but the baby's stomach is bad. Can you feed? Can he enjoy? So, that is the idea. Our mind should be very receptive.

Here, grace of mind means it should be receptive for receiving the grace which is coming. We are all really blessed. God is so gracious to us, really speaking.

We have good physical body, good brain and the company of good satsang, you know, what is called Mahapurusha Samsrayaha and Momukshita, desire for spiritual life. But somehow our own minds are the only obstructions. We have to make use of it.

What do you mean by gracious? Our own mind is gracious. First of all, we have to value the blessings of God. When we, suppose we can see how wonderful it is, suppose we lose our sight, then only we realise how valuable our eyes are.

Is it not? Often. When we are sick, then we realise how valuable this human life has been when we were healthy. So, like that.

Then there are other aspects to it. We are human beings. We commit mistakes.

It is very natural to be committing. We are weak. So, here also there is a distinction according to us between committing a sin and what is called weakness.

We are not sinners. We are not cutting the throats of other people. We are not robbing other people.

But we have some weaknesses. We want to eat some nice sweet. We want to smoke.

We want to occasionally drink. We want to watch some movie. These are weaknesses.

Weakness and sin are not to be identified. Still weakness is an obstruction. No doubt about it.

But it is not a sin because we are not actually causing harm to other people. So, we have to be forgiving ourselves. You can forgive other people.

Why can't you forgive yourself? After all, what is so great in you? Is it not? Do you understand what I am talking? If you have committed a mistake, you say, Lord, I am weak. I have committed a mistake. I will try not to commit the same mistake again.

But you feel very guilty. How stupid I have been. You know, there was one husband and he was always boasting to his wife.

You know what he was boasting? They had a son. He said, You see, our son inherited all my brains. Wife said, That explains why you are behaving so idiotically ever since he was born.

Right? We are so proud as though we cannot commit a mistake. Why can't we commit a mistake? We are also human beings. So, let us be forgiving to ourselves.

This is very important point. You have to keep it in mind. Suppose we should have done something.

We have not done. Now it is too late. Maybe somebody is dead.

What is the point in regretting about what is past? Now let us see what is the best we can do under these circumstances. Sri Ramakrishna was a very wonderful teacher. That's why he said, What? I have taken the name of God.

Why should I go on regretting again? This is the strength of the divine name, faith, bhakti. Otherwise, you know, we feel ourselves proud. See how great devotee I am.

I am going on thinking about my own weakness. Is he thinking of God? Or is he thinking of himself? Yes. We are talking about sin here, right? You are mentioning that anything that we think in our heart is not sin.

Anything in our... Yeah. And also you are talking about sin and weakness. Yeah.

So, is it not the ignorance of God's sin? Hindus... I can only talk about Hindus' concept. So, you know what we think. It is like this.

Suppose some thought arises in your mind. You are angry. You want to beat up somebody.

As long as you do not express it in concrete action, it remains only in the form of thought. Therefore, it is much easier to overcome it. I am not saying that you can go on thinking all sinful thoughts.

What happens is if you go on with... You just mentioned you can't go on thinking sinful thoughts. Exactly. And you are mentioning right there the thoughts themselves sinful.

No, no, no. What I am saying if we go on thinking wrong thoughts, sooner or later they might express themselves into concrete actions. So, if we can be aware I am thinking bad thoughts, it is easier to put a stop to it.

In that sense, it is not a licence for thinking wrong thoughts. So, the second thing is we are all weak people. We might even have committed sins.

But what can be done? It is done. But there is a chance for us. God can forgive us.

So, let us depend upon God's grace and see that we do not commit the same things again. That's very important. You asked if ignorance of God is sin, right? That was the question.

You said if ignorance of God is sin, I think Swami... Yeah, yeah. That is an aspect. Why do we do these bad things? Because we are unaware of our own divine nature or the divine nature of God.

If I am thinking of God, where is the place for sin? If I am only thinking of myself as a human being, then these thoughts will arise. So, what Hindus think is however bad we have been, there is always hope for reformation. That's what we Christians think too.

We ask for forgiveness. Yes, yes. That should involve these two elements.

Lord, I have committed. Now I can't undo what I had done. So, you please forgive me so I do not need to suffer.

But at the same time, I am promising you that I will not repeat what I had done in the past. Whatever you call it. Yeah.

And you ask God for forgiveness. So, where is this concept of forgiveness? He doesn't even think of God for forgiveness. Ignorance of God itself.

He doesn't even think of God. So, where is the question of asking for forgiveness? Is she right? Ignorance of God. That was my basic question.

You see, Hindus and Christians what is sin according to Christians, what is called ignorance of God. It is a sin in the sense that it leads to worldliness, selfishness, etc. But the moment we are aware of God, all these problems will slowly be overcome.

Swami, do I ask that question? Yeah. Because you know scriptures and Jesus says that the adultery is sin. Not just the physical act of it is sin.

But Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, then you have already committed adultery and hence you have committed a sin. So, I am thinking from that point of view and then you are talking about weaknesses and then if you feel something inside it is not sin but if it produces something, kind of an outward action, that is sin. No, no.

Let me understand what you are saying. Let me explain a little bit what it is, you know, that the moment our heart returns to God, in the beginning, you know, we are thinking a little bit of God, we are coming back again to our old nature, etc. There is a kind of battle going on, spiritual warfare it is called.

So, what I said that by God's grace slowly we are going to reform ourselves and then what happens is when a person reaches that state where his mind is most of the time only feeling the presence of God, even the slightest forgetfulness of God produces tremendous feeling of guilt and repentance. From that point of view, Jesus Christ is telling if a man thinks, looks upon a woman with what is called lustful eye, he had already committed adultery, if you apply that rule for ordinary people, they are never going to attain anywhere, go anywhere. What is important is suppose, you know, somebody commits this one, he feels guilty, then you call and say, yes, Jesus Christ said, you are a very guilty fellow, you are a sinner, you are condemned, then instead of thinking of God more, he will only go down.

Encourage him and say, yes, you have done something bad, it is mental sin, no sin, now you do not do the same thing, don't feel guilty, instead of wasting your time on guilty feeling, then now you think more of God, this is how slowly, slowly you will improve. This is the idea. If we do not do what happens, again the same thing will be repeated, where is the progress? Until you reach God, not good enough.

Until you reach Moksha, not good enough. Om.
[[Category:General]]

Meditation

2026-05-11T17:16:08Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "That the greatness of a person is directly proportional to the meditation a person makes. The more we meditate, the greater we become. In any field, it could be music, it could be science, it could be religion, it could be stupidity. So, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says, The mountains are meditating as it were. The earth is meditating as it were. The rivers are meditating as it were. The sun, the stars, everything is meditating as it were. Look at the history of the g..."

That the greatness of a person is directly proportional to the meditation a person makes. The more we meditate, the greater we become. In any field, it could be music, it could be science, it could be religion, it could be stupidity.

So, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says, The mountains are meditating as it were. The earth is meditating as it were. The rivers are meditating as it were.

The sun, the stars, everything is meditating as it were. Look at the history of the great people in any field. What is the one quality that we see common among all of them? Can you tell me what it is? It is focussing.

You call in modern language, focus. Concentrate. Through meditation, man becomes one with God.

Sharavat Tanmayo Bhavet. In the Mundaka Upanishad it says, Pranavodhano Sarohyatma Brahma Tallaksham Uchyate Apramatena Veddhavyam Sharavat Tanmayo Bhavet Pranava means, you know what is Pranava? Omkara. Pranava is the bow.

And the Jivatma is the arrow. And put this arrow, unite it with the bow of Pranava and with concentrated mind pull the bow, the strings of the bow and let the arrow go. Then it becomes one with the target.

What is the target? Brahma Tallaksham Uchyate. We see any great sadhu, how did they become sadhus? How did they become realised souls? What was the main sadhana they did? Do you know what it is? Meditation. That's why in India people go to mountain peaks, forests, lonely places to be able to meditate without any disturbance.

We also have to use the same method because that is the only method to progress in any field of life including domestic field. Husband and wife together, if they can focus on each other, love each other then the domestic life becomes a peaceful journey. We forget that life is a journey.

A journey must have a beginning. Journey must have a target, a goal. What is the target of the life's journey? Where are we going? We are all going to God only.

What about all the samsara, husband, wife, children, all those? They are all schools, classrooms in which we have to learn our lessons. What lessons? First, how to become unselfish? When a person is alone, he remains unselfish. When he has a wife, he is as it were divided into two.

They have to share each other. When the children come, they have to share with all the children. But our life becomes confined only to that much.

We don't progress any further. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam You know, you heard that one? Matame Parvati Devi Pitadevo Maheshwara Bandhavaha Shivabhaktasya Swadesho Bhuvanatrayam This is the concept. From a limited, constrained individuality raise yourself up to that universal self where you become one with everything.

How is this process to be achieved? Through meditation. And whenever you are initiated by any guru the first thing that he asks you to do is to sit and meditate. It is also called Upasana.

You heard about Upasana? Upa means near. Asana means to sit. Sit near.

Sit near whom? God. Sit near God. Sit near your own self.

Sit near means not side by side. It means you become one with him. So this word Upa has an interesting connotation.

We use them in other places also. Upavasa. What is Upavasa? Fasting.

What do they do? Fast. So that they can think about God. But what do they think naturally? Very naturally what would they be thinking? Ekadashi people are thinking about Dvadasha.

How soon this fasting will be over and how soon we can eat double the food that we have missed today. The idea is release the body consciousness. That is the purpose of Upavasa.

So Upasana means usually translated as meditation or concentration. It is not a correct translation but we will use it. We are all advised to meditate and we have peculiar ideas about meditation.

First let us find out what are those things which are not meditation. First Nidra is not meditation. You know many people they close their eyes, sit quietly and they go to sleep.

I am not joking. There is a reason for that. What is the reason? Because you see we go to sleep.

What are the conditions under which we get sleep? We quieten down the activities. We relax the body and mind. So when this preparation is done the mind somehow comes to know that it is time for going to sleep.

So when we sit for meditation the poor mind doesn't know that it is not time for going to sleep because the same conditions are present just before meditation. Sit quietly, no activity, try to focus the mind, relax the body and mind. We are conditioned creatures you see.

Immediately sleep comes. So that is a condition we have to definitely avoid. So if sleep comes what should we do? It's very natural and especially people are working very hard.

They come after hard work or early morning they have not yet woken up for the simple reason they went to bed only four hours back. Twelve o'clock. Nice cricket match they are watching.

Here is the proper sleep. Meditation becomes a wonderful venue. Nobody to disturb.

So that's very bad because soon we become conditioned. The moment we sit in a meditation posture our mind knows now it is time to go to sleep. So to completely avoid it if you are feeling sleepy get up and walk up and down and do your japa.

I will come to that point soon. Second thing is meditation is not mere concentration because a scientist would concentrate. Illustration is given how concentrated we should be.

A cat is given as a supreme example of perfect meditation. When a cat is sitting outside the hole of a rat how quietly it sits. Yes.

It's given as an example. Not even the breathing will come out. So that is given as an example that we should focus our mind.

That is called concentration. The power of concentration is tremendous. But you must understand concentration is not the goal.

Concentration is just a mere instrument. Suppose you buy the most expensive car. After all it is only an instrument.

If you don't know how to go, where to go, how to drive or you are a bad driver or you don't know where to go the car is perfectly useless. Many people buy the car not for the purpose of driving for the purpose of attracting girls and husbands. In UK BMW is a prestigious issue.

A young man has BMW so the people will get the girls are attracted. The poor dumb fellow doesn't know they are not attracted to him. They are attracted to the car.

You know this is what happens. So concentration is only part of meditation. It is very necessary.

Sometimes without concentration too we can contemplate. That is a different type of meditation called Leela Dhyana. Meditation on the divine sports of the divine being.

I will come to that point later on. But meditation is not Nidra. Meditation is not mere focussing.

Meditation is not brooding. Many people you know they go to the shrine room or some place, sit. And in the beginning they bow down to God.

Afterwards go on brooding what happened yesterday in the office day before yesterday. Why the wife has not put salt in the curry etc. etc.

Go on brooding. Surely that is not even concentration. It is brooding.

It is very dangerous. So having eliminated these things now we have to define what is meditation. It is focussing the mind which is a part of meditation but focussing the mind on a noble subject.

Something of supreme value. It could be truth. It could be beauty.

It could be knowledge. These are the supreme values you know. Truth, knowledge, beauty.

These are in western world these are called the supreme values. But according to Hinduism what is the supreme value? God alone is the supreme value. So focus the mind but on any aspect of God that is called true meditation.

If meditation is to be successful certain conditions have to be fulfilled. In the Yoga Shastra the science of meditation is described as an Ashtanga Yoga 8 fold meditation. What are the first two steps? Yama and Niyama.

I am not going into the details now. What it simply means get rid of undesirable habits and acquire good habits. What is called character? First, behaviour.

Second, character. Third, intellectual understanding. Fourth, meditation.

According to Swami Ashokananda these are called the four pillars of wisdom. Absolutely logical. What is the first thing? Conduct.

What is conduct? Good behaviour. Get up at a particular time. How much time people waste.

What time shall I get up? 5.45 or 5.46 and half. What shall I have for breakfast? Half an hour gone. To decide.

These things should be so automatic that we should not need to spend one single second about them. Nowadays a lot of facilities universal, you know. What shall I take? Cereal.

Tomorrow morning what shall I take? Cereal. Life became very easy, you know. What shall I have for lunch? Sandwich.

What shall I have tomorrow for lunch? Sandwich. Only night a little bit problematic. And people come.

What is the first step? Conduct. What is conduct? Acquire some good habits. Why is so necessary? For two reasons.

No man of bad conduct can ever reach God. Not only God, he cannot even be successful in this world. Second, there are rainy days in spiritual life.

There is a great misunderstanding that spiritual progress is a linear go on progressing and progressing and progressing. It is never like that. It is like a wave like motion and sometimes you go up sometimes you go down.

It is the nature of the mind. So when the mind goes down what is it that can hold us up? Good conduct. Sadachara.

It is called Sadachara. Then good conduct leads to what is called character. You know what is character? I want you to interact with me.

What is character? Predictable behaviour. Now suppose for example you have a boss and highly temperamental and always irritated. Suddenly you know that it is predictable character.

One day you go very smiling, calm and quiet. You become frightened. Why? Why this? You know if he is normal self you know how to react.

Suddenly his whole character has changed. Character has not changed. His behaviour has changed.

Next morning you know he is back to his normal self. You heave a sigh of relief and say thank God. So what is character? Predictable behaviour.

How do we know we have acquired character? I will give you a simple example. Supposing you want to get up early in the morning and you buy an alarm clock and you set the alarm to say 5 o'clock. For 50 years you have been getting up regularly at 5 o'clock.

As soon as the alarm goes off you are getting up. After 50 years the poor alarm clock had kicked its bucket and the next day you get up only at 7.30. Have you developed character? So what is character? Alarm clock or no alarm clock? If you can get up exactly at 5 o'clock that means in that regard your character is fixed. This example can be extended to how we deal with other people, whether we speak truth, whether we are unselfish, whether we forgive other people.

These qualities do not fall from the sky. We have to acquire each one of them with great labour. That is why sadhana is so wonderful.

People also have a wrong idea. Sadhana means going to the rivers and taking a dip or eating tulasi leaves or worshipping images with coconuts, etc. Mirabai's beautiful song is there.

Sadhana karana chahiye manuwa bhajana karana chahiye preet karana chahiye manuwa prema lagana chahiye manuwa Then she goes, you know, by dipping into the rivers if hari mile to all my Bengali devotees would have disappeared long back from this earth. Do you know why? Because all the fish that have been living in the waters would have attained moksha. Without them, how can my devotees live? They also would go.

Nith nahan se hari mile to Ah, something, me in a mandir, they would have got. If by eating tulasi, then all the goats and other animals which eat the vegetation would have attained moksha. Right? If I can get moksha by worshipping a small image, why small image? I will go and worship the big mountain itself.

Says, Bina prema se nahi mile Nandalala It is the goal of meditation is to acquire love for God. Once we acquire love for God, we acquire everything else. So the point is sadhana karana chahiye We have to do sadhana.

What is sadhana? To acquire certain qualities, to get rid of certain bad qualities. Once we do that, then meditation automatically manifested. We will not meditate.

Meditation will take us over. It possesses us. Love, we do not love.

Love possesses us. That is the secret of any saint. Okay.

That is the second character. What is the third one? Intellectual understanding. Now, intellectual understanding does not mean academic intellect.

There are multiple intelligences. Some are good at music. Some are good at nature.

Some are good at painting. Some are good at maths. Some are good at logic.

Some are good at mythology. All these things are different types of intelligence. Some are good linguists.

Very quickly they can pick up. So, different types of intelligences are there. But for progressing in spiritual life, in meditation, a particular type of intelligence is necessary.

For this, no academic education is necessary. To prove this, Sri Ramakrishna deliberately remained almost illiterate. To illustrate this further, Sri Ramakrishna's disciple, Swami Adbhutananda, became absolutely illiterate.

You know Swami Adbhutananda? Now, there is an interesting incident. You know Sri Ramakrishna was such a great soul. He himself undertook to educate Latu Maharaj.

His name was Latu Maharaj, Swami Adbhutananda. The education progressed. The oral teaching was over.

The consonant teaching came. He could not proceed beyond Ka. Because Sri Ramakrishna could not make his disciple understand the distinction between A and Aa.

Every time Sri Ramakrishna says Ka, then he says Ka. I am telling you Ka. He says Ka.

No, cannot be corrected. Sri Ramakrishna said, I give up. This is not because Sri Ramakrishna was a failure.

Deliberately he gave it up. Why? To prove to the world like us, no academic literary education is needed for spiritual life. We need a very special type of intelligence called spiritual intelligence, which in Sanskrit is called Medha.

Medhavi. Medhavi is not ordinary intelligence. There are so many people, clever people, that is nothing to do with Medhavi.

Medhavi means it is spiritual intelligence. It is this which every Hindu practically begs of God. What is that? Dhyo yonah prachodayat.

May that supreme reality guide my understanding. Once the God takes over this, our life, everything will be fine. That is what Sri Krishna represented.

What did Arjuna represent? Ordinary worldly intelligence. What did Sri Krishna represent? Spiritual intelligence. But Arjuna was a sincere aspirant.

So Sri Krishna immediately bestowed his grace. He drove the chariot of Arjuna. It is only an allegorical thing.

Driving chariot means what? Life is a battle. In this battle we need to win what? Not anybody. Worldliness.

Worldly forces. Demonical forces. Asuras.

Devasura Yuddha. This is the theme of Chandi. Devasura Yuddha.

Divine Mother comes. Yadevi Sarvabhutesh. Medha Rupena Samsthita.

Buddhi Rupena Samsthita. Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namaha. Everyday we are praying.

That is not ordinary intelligence. Because ordinary intelligence can be cultivated through ordinary means. Extraordinary intelligence can be obtained only through extraordinary means.

What is that? Grace of God. Intellectual understanding. What is that? Faith and Dhriti.

Determination. I believe in God. I want to lead a spiritual life.

My Guru gave me these instructions. And this is my path to God. This is called intellectual understanding.

Medha. Having got all these things. Then the journey really starts.

All this is preparation for the journey. Only in the fourth stage the journey really starts. What is that journey called? Meditation.

Dhyana. So Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara. Only then Dhyana starts.

Dharana. Then Dhyana. Then Samadhi.

Without preparation it is no use. There is no way. We think we are so clever.

We will skip all the first steps. And we will reach the last step. Hiram Krishna was a master parable teacher.

So one man was walking. And he saw that an old man was sitting under a tree. And so many people were running here and there working hard.

So the man went straight to the Guru. Because he found this is the only man who was free. He said, who are you? The man said, I am a Guru.

Who are all these fellows? They are my disciples. So what happens in this place? Guru explained, this is called an ashrama. So these disciples serve me and I teach them.

Can you explain a bit further? What the disciples have to do and what you have to do? He explained, the disciples, you know, they have to get up early in the morning, go to the forest, collect the firewood, bring it and build up a fire, prepare first class idli, sambar, etc., etc. Then what? Whole day, you know, they have to work. And what do you do? I get up at about 7.30, wash my face and go to the breakfast table.

I eat the breakfast. And after the disciples have washed away, cleared away everything, I teach them for about half an hour. Then they are busy preparing lunch.

I go at lunchtime, have lunch and take two hours rest. They go on massaging my feet. 3.30 I will have afternoon tea.

And another half an hour I spend in teaching them. And again they are busy preparing supper. And again after supper they massage my feet.

I go to sleep. The man said, I am interested in joining the ashrama. Just though the Guru asked, what do you want to become? If you don't mind, make me the Guru.

Ramakrishna story, you know, it's not that easy. Unless they become the disciples and do all those things, it is not possible. So all these preparations are very necessary.

Why am I telling you this? Because without even attempting to understand what are the preliminaries, people simply say, Swamiji, teach me meditation. No, you have to prepare. Otherwise you cannot meditate.

You can sit, you can appear to be meditating. But you will not meditate. In fact your life will be worse.

So now I will talk about what is called Upasana. Upasana has got four steps. Mind you, all those preparations you have to keep in mind.

This is only an intellectual understanding. Four steps. What is the first meditation? It is called Namadhyana.

What is Namadhyana? You all know it. What is it called? Japa. What is Japa? Repeating the name of God.

And we are all repeating the name of God. Sankata Kaale Venkata Ramana. We also repeat other times also, you know.

Other times. You see, there is some woman met in a drawing room and they are talking. They are boasting to each other.

You know, one woman was telling, when my son enters, all the people in the room jump up and say, Your Highness. He is a prince. Another woman said, That is nothing.

When my son enters, everybody jumps up and says, Your Holiness. He was a cardinal. Third woman was telling, That is nothing.

When my son enters, everybody looks, My God. He was seven feet tall. My God.

Remember God. So, Namadhyana means repeating God's name. So, I have to explain it.

We are all repeating, but parrot-like. Parrot. You know, you teach parrot.

I have to tell you, Detroit, you know, we went to one's house. A wonderful, you know, toy. It is a parrot.

Electronic parrot. And the boy, small boy brought it. So, what is it? Whatever you say, it will repeat.

I wanted to test. It was brought. You are bad.

He said, You are bad. In my voice. In my voice.

And then, flapping its wings, You are bad. Perfect. I never saw this kind of thing, you know.

That is called karma phala. I only uttered once, You are bad. It gave me back with compound interest.

You are bad. You are bad. Flapping its wings.

You must see that one to believe it. So, what is Namadhyana? Not parrot-like repetition. We are all taught, God's name has tremendous power and koti koti janma papas will disappear.

Is it wrong? Absolutely true. God's name has that power. But we also must have the receptive power of that God's name.

So, what is the secret involved here? This is what Patanjali says. Japa is recollecting to our minds the idea of a thing. That is why, in Sanskrit, the name for object is Padaartha.

Pada means what word? Artha means meaning. It is the meaning of the word, not the sound itself. So here, first of all, every object will have a particular name.

So, name, Nama. Then, we convey, we utter that name to convey it to others. That is called Shraddha.

But these two are only incidental things because in English this is a cushion. But in Sanskrit it is Asana. Different name, different sound.

So, if a person doesn't know Sanskrit, I say, bring this Asana. It makes no meaning to him. Right? That's not what is wanted.

Artha. What is the Artha? Idea. Idea is, as soon as you utter the name, the idea has to come.

Now, merely recollecting the idea is not enough. What is necessary? That idea must somehow bring about a transformation in my consciousness. How does it happen? I will give you an example.

Suppose somebody, I will give you a bad example so that you will understand better. Suppose somebody insulted you few days back. After that, that fellow had gone away.

Whenever you hear that person's name, your face becomes red. That is called Artha Bhavana. But when a good person's name is uttered, the effect is not so much.

Have you noticed? We must have that kind of Artha Bhavana, means this is God. Immediately, the presence of God must spring to our heart. If God is here, what worries we have, what fears we have, what insecurity feelings we have, is it not? It takes time for us to understand that.

God means perfect security. Just imagine that you are thirsty, very thirsty, asking for water, and you are becoming very restless. Just then somebody says, somebody utters, Oh, here comes water.

Even by hearing that word, what a relief you feel, is it not? So that should be the transformation. Whenever we hear the word, the name of God, it should have that effect upon us. Otherwise, it is not really repeating God's name.

It is a parrot-like repeating God's name. Some of our devotees are very clever. They say, Swamiji, we don't have any time for repeating God's name.

Can I tape record God's name and play it? I say, certainly you can do it. Will it help? Certainly it will help the cassette player. It will attain Moksha.

I don't know about you. It's legitimate, you know, when you are very busy, you can enjoy devotional music, but that is no excuse for you not to sit. Now, in connection with this subject, you know that the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna is the most marvellous document you will get in the history of the religious literature.

Why is it so wonderful? It is comparable to Bhagavatam. What is that Bhagavatam? When you open the Gospel of Ramakrishna and start reading, you are not reading past history. You are actually sitting in the presence of Sri Ramakrishna and you are listening to him.

This is the speciality. Otherwise, you would have collected some teachings and said this is what Sri Ramakrishna taught. Such detailed descriptions, where Sri Ramakrishna was sitting, which direction he was facing, who were the devotees, what was the subject, and whether he was laughing or serious or going into Samadhi, etc.

Right? This is called Leela Dhyana, which I will come to a little later. So the first Dhyana is, what did I say? Nama Dhyana. So in this connection, Aum is considered to be the most sacred syllable.

If you are in doubt, which mantra shall I repeat? You just repeat Aum. Now do you know why Aum is considered to be the best symbol of God? Do you know that why? There is a very wonderful explanation for it. What is it? See, every object in this world has a particular name.

Right? That means, every name can be uttered. The alphabets contain only, say, 26 letters in English, but 54 letters in Sanskrit. But this alphabet contains all the names of the world.

How many names of objects can you really utter in your lifetime? Still, infinite number of names remain unuttered. Right? But there is a secret. What is the secret? All the sounds that can possibly be uttered can only come out from this little voice box.

You know that voice box? Sounds do not come from anywhere else. I know sounds will come from the stomach also sometimes. This is called Anahata Dhwani.

You know what is Nivedita Anahata Dhwani? Undesirable sound. When somebody is snoring, that is called Anahata Dhwani. Undesirable, uninvited sound.

But the real sounds come from this voice box to convey the meaning. Now, Om has three syllables. Do you know what syllables are there? A, O, and Ma.

Okay, just do one experiment for my sake. Put your fingers very lightly. Find out where from A is coming.

Say, A, A, A. See where the vibration is coming from. It is not coming from here. It is not coming from here.

It is coming from... That is why A is... Aksharanam akaro asmi. The root of all alphabets is A. From A, everything else comes. That is why Akara is the first letter of the alphabet.

Because that is the root. From there, everything else comes. Then, what is the next syllable? O. Find out where from O is coming.

Just say, O. Find out the vibration. O, O. You will find it in the middle of the voice box. What is the last syllable? Ma.

Where from is it coming? From lips. You utter Rama with open lips. So, A, O and Ma complete all the sounds that one can make through this voice box.

That is why Om... If you utter Om, you are uttering all the possible sounds in this world. Indicating, representing all the names of every object. Which means, you are remembering the name of every object by just uttering the word Om.

This word Om contains every name of God. Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, Allah, etc., etc., etc., right? This Omkara, what I told is a very superficial meaning. This Pranava has an unuttered letter called Amatra, Om.

Silent, because sound is of two types, uttered and unuttered. That unuttered sound is called the real idea of Vyakta. That is real purpose of uttering Om.

Anyway, I won't go into the details. That's an entirely different scripture called Spotavada, philosophy of sound. How the whole creation has come out of sound, Shabda.

Shabda, don't mistake Shabda for sound that is heard by these external ears. It is intuitively the idea comes into the mind. That is why our Vedas are called Shruti.

Shruti means what? Heard. Heard means what? Through their ears? No. Through intuition into the heart they had a flash of that knowledge.

But there is no way to express it. How did that come? Okay, we heard it. It is not an external sound at all.

Our Vedas are called Shruti for two reasons. One reason is because the Rishis had intuitively got this knowledge and our Rishis had propagated what they had obtained in the form of utterance. They will utter these secrets into the ears of their disciples.

So from Guru Parampara, Guru utters the words to the disciple. Disciple passes on to his disciple. That is why it is not written.

It is called Shruti. Anyway, the name of God is very very powerful. By the very utterance of the name of God, the mind becomes very quiet.

This is a well-known psychological phenomenon. Hypnotists use this by uttering Om again and again. And you can also experience in every one of my classes, as soon as I start talking, all of you are in agreement, slowly slowly, when your mind becomes quiet, even in the highest state of Samadhi, you start agreeing with whatever I say.

You even laugh sometimes without hearing what I told. Because everybody is laughing, you know. You think, if we don't laugh, what do the other people think about us? First step in Dhyana is, what did I say? Nama Dhyana.

That is, with sincere devotion, utter, go on repeating the name of God. Any name of God, that will do. The second step is called Rupa Dhyana.

What is Rupa? Every God or Goddess has a particular form. Krishna has a particular form. Shiva has a particular form.

And Divine Mother has a particular form. These forms, you must remember, are not concocted by some people sitting together and having a table conference and let us make Krishna like this. No.

They are divine revelations in the hearts of their devotees. They simply pass down these forms. They are divine forms obtained through intuition.

You must have the deep faith in it. So the next step is, just as with open eyes you can see the form of God, with closed eyes you should be able to see as though the Ishta Devata is alive. This is called Rupa Dhyana.

And when some devotees practise intensely this Rupa Dhyana, you know what happens? Their very personality becomes similar to the Ishta Devata. Sri Ramakrishna's life, there are examples, he meditated on Hanuman and he became like Hanuman. He meditated on Radha.

And it is said he even started having monthly periods like women. It looks unbelievable but that is what happened. So by meditating, the meditator becomes similar to the meditator.

It has a lot of reason for that. If we meditate on a very pleasant form of Ishta Devata, our face also becomes very pleasant. Have you noticed that? Saint Francis of Assisi meditated so intensely upon Jesus Christ, he even obtained what is called stigmata.

And it is very believable because if any mother intensely meditates upon the pain of her child, the mother also is likely to suffer from a similar pain. Have you noticed that? Mentally every mother suffers because she loves her child. But physically if child is having headache, the mother is also likely to have headache.

If she meditates upon the child intensely enough, it is a well documented phenomenon. Okay, now let us not go too deep into it. So the second step is what is called Rupa Dhyana.

Nama Dhyana and Rupa Dhyana are only very preliminary stages of meditation. The most important thing is the third step which is called Guna Dhyana. Meditation on the divine qualities, auspicious qualities of the God or Ishta Devata.

Now you do not need to meditate on a very quality or you should not meditate at random on any quality. You must meditate on that quality which you need, which you lack, which you need. For example, if you are very short tempered person, what is the Guna you should meditate upon? What is the opposite of? Shanta Bhava.

God never gets angry, very peaceful. That is the quality. Otherwise it becomes counterproductive.

You know this is what is called negative meditation. An American advertised in newspapers that if you send five dollars, I will teach you a secret how to convert metals into gold. Many people, you think that anybody, if he knows the secret, why should he pay? Please advertise him.

Why should he want five dollars? He can make his own money. But there are many of us who, many people, and he sent the secret. All that you have to do is take a tumbler full of water, put the metal you want to convert into gold.

For five minutes, think intensely that metal is turning into gold. This is the instruction. And if it doesn't turn into gold, I will return back your money and give you more.

But below, caution, please do not think of a monkey. You can understand. Nobody succeeded.

You know why? I should not think of a monkey. I should not think of a monkey. You missed a first class story.

Later on you hear it from Tushar. Okay. So, as you know, many times we sincerely wish to get rid of some undesirable qualities.

What we do is counterproductive. I don't want to be angry. I don't want to be, that won't work.

That's why Patanjali indicates, what is it called? Think of the opposite quality which you want to get rid of. This is the secret of gunadhyana. When you go to a doctor and the doctor selects the medicine which will counter your disease, is it not? The same process, that quality which we want to get rid of from our character, and the opposite of that quality, imagine God is full of that embodiment of that particular quality.

For example, if we are miserly, what is the quality we should meditate upon? Generosity. If we cannot forgive the slights we receive from the world, what is the quality we should meditate upon? Forgiveness. So, that is the secret and it works because what is the psychology? Psychology of the mind is, the mind cannot entertain two opposite emotions at the same time.

If you are happy, you can't think of unhappiness. If you are unhappy, conversely, you cannot think of happiness too. If you are peaceful, you can't think of the opposite.

If you are restless, you can't think of steadiness of the mind. The mind can entertain only one particular emotion at any given time. That is why Sri Ramakrishna said that before meditating on God, try to be happy.

If I scream, don't think I scream. No, no, I do not. If I scream can make you happy person before meditation, please have a little bit of I scream.

Otherwise, you will be going on screaming in your meditation at God, which is not good. That is why we must always think of God in a most pleasant way. He is very gracious.

He is pleased with you and he is pleased. This is, mind you, you are not imagining him. Do you think God takes human beings' faults very seriously? If two children quarrel, you know, your neighbouring children and your children quarrel while playing, do you take it very seriously? And if you take it very seriously, you are worse than the children.

You know why? After two seconds, the children will be embracing each other and playing. Have you not seen? Yeah. So this is the law of the mind, secret of the mind.

Another secret is whatever we think, that becomes our character. Most of the time if you think of love, you become loving person. If you think of generosity, you become generous person.

Because whatever we think, that is what we become. That is why there is a saying, you know, tell me what your thoughts are, I will tell you what you are. Sometimes, you know, tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are.

There is a lot of truth in it. That is why if you say, I regularly attend satsanga, I know that you are a good person. This is the, slowly with the persons we mix with, the books we read frequently and enjoy and the thoughts we cherish in our mind, they make our character.

Is it right? So what is the third step in meditation? Guna Dhyana. This is what every saint, every sage has done. So one example is, Mother, give me devotion.

Mother, give me devotion. Mother, give me devotion. What are you thinking about? Devotion.

Slowly, devotion will come. Mother, give me viveka. Give me vairagya.

Give me shraddha. And shraddha will come. And incidentally, I forgot to tell you, there is a Shraddha Sukta.

Mind you, not Bengali Sukta. This is a Vedic Sukta. Sukta means su-ukta.

Sukta. Most beautiful prayer. There are wonderful Suktas are there.

Sri Sukta, Narayana Sukta. See, morning we are chanting Narayana Sukta, Urusha Sukta, Bhu Sukta, Neela Sukta, Durga Sukta, Ratri Sukta, Devi Sukta. These are wonderful hymns in our Vedas.

So, what are these? Mother, give me this Medha Sukta. Medha, Devi, Jusha, Maana, Aaga, Vishwachi, Bhadra, Sumanasya, Maana, Vaya, Jushta, Natha, Maana, Durukta, Dhruva, Dvadhuta, etc., etc., it goes. What is the essence? Oh, Mother, you are the embodiment of Medha.

Please grant me Medha. Similarly, Shraddha Sukta is there. Not Shraddha.

Yeah. You know, words are North Indian. Did I tell you that? Words are very important.

Once, you know, we have an ashram in Delhi. So, one Punjabi devotee and one UP devotee were sitting near the Swami. The Punjabi devotee was complaining to the Swami, Dekhiye Swamiji Maharaj, ye anadi ko.

Askol ko iskol bolta hai. So, you know, North India, they can't understand the difference. Brahma and Brahma are two totally different words.

Opposite meaning. And similarly, Arathi. You know, Arathi, we do Arathi.

Arathi. Arathi means distress. Maharaj, when are you going to have Arathi? He said, I am having sufficient Arathi.

Of course, they do not know the difference. So, we must be very careful. Shraddha means intense faith in the scriptures, in the words of the Guru.

Guru, Shastra, Vachaneshu, Satya, Buddhi, Avadharana, Shraddha. Shankaracharya's definition in Vivekachudamani. So, pray.

This is a prayer. Oh Mother, grant me Shraddha. Prayer is a wonderful thing.

Sri Ramakrishna used to pray, Mother, grant me Ahaituki Bhakti. I don't want anything else except to love you. Grant me an opportunity to love you.

What is Ahaituki Bhakti? Motiveless devotion. What is motiveless devotion? Whether you love me back or not, I don't care a bit. I want to love you.

It is now, if you want to love me, that is your headache. But I love you whether you love me or not. That is called Ahaituki Bhakti.

There was a great Sufi saint, woman saint called Rabiya. You know what? Most marvellous statement, prayer she gave. Oh Lord, if I am loving you so that I do not burn in hell, then burn me in the hell.

If I am loving you for gaining entry into the heaven, then exclude me from the heaven. But if I am loving you for your own sake, please do not withhold yourself from me. This is called Ahaituki Bhakti.

That is what Sri Ramakrishna has asked us. So you may wonder, you know, if I pray without asking anything from him, then how do I live? You see, you don't need to worry. All that the baby has to do is to just look at the face of the mother.

Will not the mother do that? Everything necessary for the baby. Simple psychological truth. Anyway, Guna Dhyana.

Guna Dhyana is only third stage of real meditation. This is not real meditation. Yet we have to enter into real meditation.

These are all preparations for real meditation. What is the fourth state? It is called Swarupa Dhyana. Swarupa means God's nature.

What is God's nature? There are simple statements in the Upanishads. One is Sat-Chit-Ananda. God is Sat-Chit-Ananda.

It's a wonderful definition because Sat means what? Existence. Sat is a name for existence. Anything that you find existing is nothing but God.

This carpet, is it God or not? Then comes Chit. Chit means what? Anywhere you see a bit of that consciousness manifesting, a small worm is struggling. You try to put your foot there, it stings you.

Why? Because it doesn't like you. Is it? No. What is it telling? I am a poor creature.

Do not crush me. I want to live. That is called manifestation of consciousness.

Wherever you see that bit of consciousness, it's not telling human beings only. It's not telling only Hindus. Rajaji, have you heard about the name of Rajaji? A big politician and great man.

Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad, Rajagopalacharya. He used to make fun, you know. Of all the people in this world, Indians are great.

Of all Indian people, the Tamilians are great. Of all the Tamilians, those who live in Madras are great. Of all the Madras people, those who live in this street where I am living are great, best.

And of all those who are living in this street, my family is best. And of all my family, I am the best. Now, everything is included in this word, Chit.

And then, wherever you see a spark of Ananda, a dog had a wonderful food, it is lying, enjoying. And a goat, you know how affectionate creatures could be. Cows, it just comes running to you.

Just give a small bit of food, it will never be ungrateful to you. It will come to you. They are expressing their Ananda in this way.

Wherever we see manifestation of Ananda, you have to salute and say, God is manifesting there. I cannot forget two wonderful sights in my life. One day, I was in Bangalore, and we were constructing a temple.

There was a coolie woman. And women are very ugly, oldish looking. She had just given birth to a baby.

And in the long time, I just went after lunch. The coolie woman also was having lunch. She brought her baby, hung the baby near a tree.

And how lovingly she took that baby into her lap and was suckling her. And she was looking at the baby. That particular moment, I happened to see at her face.

I cannot describe. She was completely oblivious of who was looking at her and what she was doing. So much love, lovingly she was looking at her baby.

That is manifestation of God. Yadevi Sarvabhuteshu Matra Rupena Samsthita And another sight was, one day I was walking in Bangalore street, going to our ashram, from Lalbagh to our ashram. And on the way, one young woman was carrying a baby.

And this baby, you know, she was bouncing him up and down. And he was laughing uproariously. This young woman was completely absorbed with her baby.

Same scene. She was not looking how many buses are going this side, that side, what people are looking at her. She was absorbed looking at her baby, laughing and playing with her.

These scenes I can never forget. So wherever we see a spark of happiness, loveliness, you must remember that is a manifestation of God. This is called Swarupa Dhyana.

Where do you see God? Whatever is existing, that is God. Wherever there is a spark of consciousness, that is God. Wherever there is a bit of happiness manifesting, that is God.

Suppose you have some enemies. And those enemies are eating rasagullas and very happy. What are you looking at? God himself.

This is the highest type of meditation. But of course, when you pass through this Guna Dhyana, they are no enemies any longer to you. Because your mind has attained what is called Sthita Pragnathwa.

Sthita Pragnathwa, Kabhasha, Samadhistasya Keshava. Sthita Dheeli, Kim Prabhasheta, Kim Asita, Rajyatha, you know? Bhagavad Gita 2nd chapter, end of the 2nd chapter. That is the state because our mind has become filled with auspicious Gunas.

There is no place for enmity, pettiness, selfishness, quarrelsomeness. Then we are able to see, wherever we look at, it is manifestation of God. This will ultimately take us to that realisation called Brahma Sakshatkara.

These are the 4 steps of true meditation. Starting with Nama Dhyana, Rupa Dhyana, Guna Dhyana and Swarupa Dhyana. Now I said, I will very briefly talk about another type of Dhyana where a devotee need not sit.

Whatever he is doing, it is a meditation. It is called practising the presence of God. So that is why Bhagavatam, this Ekadasha Skanda depicting the Leelas of Sri Krishna.

Meditate upon them. How does it work? Those who are devotees of Sri Ramakrishna or Holy Mother, I will give you an example. You don't need to go, Jairambati.

Jairambati is the birthplace of Holy Mother. Sit here. Yes, Sharda Devi.

Sit here, close your eyes, go mentally to Jairambati. And imagine you are very tired. You might have got up from your bed just now and had a first class breakfast or bed tea.

Don't count to that. Pretend you are very tired walking in that hot sun and you enter there with great anticipation. As soon as you approach Mother's house, Mother is sitting there.

Immediately she is very concerned. Oh, my child, you are coming. Come quick, quick.

Take this water. Wash your face. Wash your hands.

I will give you something very nice, sweet she will give you. After that, you sit and go on chatting. How are you? Where are you coming from? Coming from Cedar Rapids.

Where is it? It is in America. How far is it? 5 miles? 10 miles? No, Mother, it is long distance. You have to cross a sea.

Ah, that's good. So, whom have you there? Talk. All your details, you know.

So, my child, what do you do? Working in the rock well. So, are you quite happy, my child? No, Mother, I have a manager, most horrible. Talk.

Instead of paying $100 and talking to a stupid psychologist, it is far better to talk here. And talk, Mother will give you answers. Because even expressing, sharing, it removes a lot of grief.

Have you not noticed that? So, you talk. This is called Leela Dhyana. Then you forget everything Mother treats you.

What is the most wonderful thing in this Leela Dhyana? It doesn't matter who we are. A worthless fellow, this, that, so many things. In the eyes of the Mother, each one of us, most precious gem, Chand Mukhu.

Even if the nose is running, it is Chand Mukhu only. Mother loves all of us. That is why she is called Holy Mother.

All of us, no question of deserving or undeserving her love. We all are her children. So, that is the idea.

Then you go on looking at her, speaking with her. What are you doing when you are talking with her? Are you not doing Rupa Dhyana? Are you not doing Nama Dhyana? Are you not doing Guna Dhyana? She is so lovingly talking to you. Is it not Guna Dhyana? Is she feeding sparingly? Or is she feeding you? How does she feed you? Tell me now.

Not only that. Quantity? She will pile up your plate with your favourite food. So, you talk over your problems, everything.

And I tell you, I assure you, she gives you the right answers. And when you come out of this Leela Dhyana, for a short time, you are a transformed personality. If you really do it, try it.

Don't simply listen and say, yes, it is wonderful. Try it and see whether you can also meditate or not. You can meditate.

Same thing, you can apply. If you like Ramakrishna, go to Kamarpapur. If you like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, go to Nadiya.

If you like Krishna, go to Vrindavan. And talk to him. And pray to him.

Sing with him. And he will share everything. This is called Leela Dhyana.

This is specifically prescribed for devotees. And the Gospel of Ramakrishna is a wonderful scripture for Leela Dhyana. This is called sacrament.

What is a sacrament? Turning an ordinary event into a sacred event. Bringing the past into the present. We are worshipping Ramakrishna.

We are not thinking of 120 years back. We are thinking Ramakrishna is present right here and now. He is witnessing us.

Even though we are not seeing him. He is looking at us. This bhavana or vichara, manas is called sacrament.

That is why puja is so very necessary. So this last is called Leela Dhyana. You can do it if you are sick.

You can't sit. Then you can lie down on your bed and do it. You can sit.

You can be travelling in a train. You can do it. Travel in an aeroplane.

You can do it. Anywhere is good enough to do this Leela Dhyana. Except while driving.

Please don't do it. Be careful about it. So this is the process of meditation.

And unless we fulfil these conditions, meditation will not be successful. But once we go step by step, then you will see by God's grace, our life will be transformed. Meditation is only thinking of God, I said.

But meditation also involves another element which I will very quickly cover. This is called simulation. You know nowadays simulation machines are there.

If you want to learn driving, if you want to learn piloting, in fact these pilots learn to Microsoft Flight Simulator. It helps. What is it? Meditation not only involves thinking about God, meditation also involves looking into our past, finding out how we reacted to certain situations and simulating them again in the mind so that we should react in the right manner.

Suppose you are irritated. Somebody colleague comes and then he asks a silly question and you burst out. You are disturbing me.

I have no time today. It's a wrong reaction. Just as an example.

But if you don't correct yourself, it becomes a habit very soon. So what do you need to do? Sit in meditation. Recollect this event.

Oh, this is how I reacted. Again bring that same event into your mind. Now you should react correctly as you want to react.

If you practise it in your mind, the next time when such a situation occurs and it will in some form or other, then you are in a better position, immediately this will come. You know, when you are planning driving, suppose suddenly somebody runs in front of your car, is there time to think about it? Automatic reaction should take place. So if you can practise this simulation, what happens is when somebody runs, this automatically takes over.

It is exactly the same phenomena, psychic phenomena, when we meditators bring, simulate, this is how I would like to react to these situations. And if you go on practising over and over again, immediately whenever such a situation occurs, even without your knowledge, you will be reacting in the practised manner. And this is the method which psychologists are taking advantage of and trying to help people.

For example, public speakers, who when they get up on to the stage, their knees become jelly and they start shaking, sweating and all those things, you practise it in your mind. And this is the method they are using to alleviate those who are suffering from phobias. Phobias.

So this is, they understood. And not only negative way, positive way. If you want to, anybody wants to become a first class baseball player, 90% of the practise, they say nowadays is simulation in the mind, 10% is actual practise.

It works. If it can work in the case of baseball player, why can't it work in meditation? Our yogis have found it out long, long before. So that is something which you should keep.

Meditation is not only remembering God, it is also correcting our behaviour by recollecting certain events which we should not have reacted in a particular way. So these are the two elements. Go on correcting yourself, go on thinking of God.

When these two elements are combined by the grace of God, one day our character will be transformed. This is how meditation helps all of us. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
[[Category:General]]

What is Satsanga? Q&A

2026-05-11T17:14:14Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "There are two, supposedly two beliefs about the future life, the reincarnation. What are those two? One is that one is a human being, always a human being. Or higher. It cannot go down. Or higher. Or higher, right. Never come down. Never come down. The other belief is one can... Yes, yes. What is the truth? The truth is the second one. That a human being can also become an animal. Perfect... Can you say that again through 84? No, no, no, no, no, no. Not 80 through 84..."

There are two, supposedly two beliefs about the future life, the reincarnation. What are those two? One is that one is a human being, always a human being. Or higher.

It cannot go down. Or higher. Or higher, right.

Never come down. Never come down. The other belief is one can... Yes, yes.

What is the truth? The truth is the second one. That a human being can also become an animal. Perfect... Can you say that again through 84? No, no, no, no, no, no.

Not 80 through 84. It is only temporary. Like, you know, a normal man, suppose he commits a crime, he goes to jail.

So it is not for eternity. You know, temporarily he will be incarcerated and then when the punishment period is over, he will come out. So the whole point is like this.

Many people, they do not understand why they ask this question. The point is the hope against hope, however bad I am, I am not going to go down. Even if I don't go up, at least I will not go down.

The Hindu belief reincarnation, you know, it is a most marvellous theory. What it is? Reincarnation is not a punishment. It is an opportunity for us to catch up with what either we have lost or we have not gained.

You know, it is an opportunity. Okay, this year I failed, second year I will try to pass. This is a hope, hopeful this.

Suppose somebody behaves like an animal and he develops animal samskaras, so then he becomes an animal, that particular animal, so that he can express his samskaras freely. But when he is corrected, he understands this is not the right way. Again he will be given an opportunity to be a human being.

So there are two things you have to understand in this respect. One, the natural evolution where from lower mechanism we develop the higher mechanism. Evolution means development of this instrument, both body and mind, so that we can experience life in greater fullness and depth.

That is what is called evolution. The higher we are in the scale of evolution, the more complex becomes our mechanism, brain especially, mind, to experience life in more perspective, right? So this is a, one does not start again from the amoeba state. Once we come to the human life, there are what is called three stages of evolution.

One is instinct, one is reason, another is intuition. Intuition belongs to saints. Instinct belongs to non-human beings.

Reason is supposed to work with human beings because we have a choice. We have got not only consciousness, we have got self-consciousness, means the ability to stand outside of our own selves and to evaluate our personality, right? Yes. So once we attain this stage, we are responsible for our own actions.

Animals are not responsible because they behave very naturally, means instinctively. Whereas we have been given this blessed privilege of both, we can be good or we can be also evil. So we have to correct ourselves if we are not behaving properly.

This correcting procedure is called going down. It is a temporary period. And once that experience is over, we learn our lessons and then we come back.

In offices, they call it retraining period, right? I do not know. Is it a correct word? They call it, you know, basic skills every now and then you have to… Continuing education. Continuing education, okay.

Nowadays, you know, everybody wants euphemistic word, tree surgeon, tree surgeon. Those who look after corpses and want funeral directors. If you ask them undertakers, then they will get very angry.

Tree surgeons, today we have tree surgeons here. Outside our house, you know, I brought one, what a beautiful mechanism. We are feeding the branches into it and it is becoming just pulp is coming out of it.

Have you seen that? Here, it was there until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Anyway, so this is what Upanishads tell us. This is what our saints and sages are telling and Ramana Maharshi used to tell it.

And I will tell you a very interesting incident. You know, Ramana Maharshi used to love animals. Have you heard about Ramana Maharshi? And he always used to respect them.

You know what in Hindi we call? Aap, ve, not tum, o. It is a respectable word. Ve aaye hain, not o aaya hai. Because he used to respect animals.

So once a dog came, very intelligent dog. Ramana Maharshi's ashrama, there are some places on the hill to devotees go around. It is called Giripradakshina.

So this dog observed very well that most of the people who come to Ramana ashrama, they go around that hill early morning, come back in the afternoon, late afternoon or evening. And after a few days, this dog started standing in front of the newcomers and wagging its tail, indicating, you follow me, I will take you. So it used to go to those special places, wait outside, so that the people understand, they go inside, prostrate, spend a few minutes, come out, then take them to the next place.

Afternoon it will correctly bring them to the Ramana ashrama. And one day a Brahmin came, and you know South Indian Brahmins, they hate dogs. They think it is a very dirty animal.

So this dog was trying to go near him and he abused it, shouted at it, and then up next it was found in a pond. It committed suicide. Ramana Maharshi became very sad and said, it was a yogi in its former life.

It could not complete its sadhana. It came here to become perfect. It is highly intelligent, but this man, unable to understand it, mistreated it.

It could not bear that insult. That is why it had fallen from yoga. Ahankara, you know.

What is there if somebody abuses, it is all right. But anyway, so we do not know. Nowadays lot of scientific insights are being discovered, where animals, even ants have 27 words, expressions, language.

It is highly interesting. Because we are dumb, we think that animals are insensitive, or animals do not know how to language. They may be even self-conscious.

We do not know. It is quite possible. But anyway, the answer to your question is, according to Upanishads or scriptures, yes, a human being can become an animal.

Most of the, you know, one of our Swamis was asked, that why this human population is so much increasing like that. He said, you know, you are spraying DDT everywhere, killing all the mosquitoes. All the mosquitoes are reincarnating as human beings.

That is what most of our friends are doing. Go on pinching, you know, each other, behaving more like mosquitoes than human beings, right? Anyway, that is the considered opinion. So this is not to be misunderstood as natural evolution is different.

This is a temporary fall down, and again once he learns the lesson, the jiva comes back. During this temporary fall down, the complete power, the rest of the jiva, has it been given to God? No, no, no. The same body is in the body only, not in the current body.

You see, all our samskara, it is stored in the form of samskaras. Like your, you know, very huge hard disc. All your files are there, compressed and waiting.

As soon as you give the proper word, sometimes even without giving the proper command, it will come out and crash. Yes, virus also is a file, is it not? Very interesting. It is a note question because we have to depend upon scriptures for the answer.

The reason is, whatever our five sense organs cannot access, we have to have faith in what the scriptures tell us, right? So the answer given is that between two incarnations, there are three possible states. One, one goes to heaven. Then another, one goes to hell.

And another, neither heaven nor hell, but a kind of disembodied existence, which we call, you know, bhuta, preta, vishacha, like that. So depending upon what karma one does in this place, that is what happens. It is like this, you know.

I can give an analogy. It is not an exact answer, but it is an analogy to understand these concepts better. Suppose you work very, very hard, earn a lot of money, you can go on a Hawaiian highland or anywhere where you think you can enjoy.

That is called swargaloka. But as soon as your credit is exhausted, you come back. If you do something bad, then you go to, say, jail or something to get corrected and you come back.

But there are certain states of what is called sickness. In sickness, one doesn't go to heaven, one doesn't go to hell, one just tries to recuperate. So going to Hawaiian holidays like swargaloka, going to jail or some punishment, that is called naraka.

But being sick is like a disembodied state, very painful state. So these are the three states between two incarnations. But our scriptures tell us whether we want realisation, then this human instrument is the best instrument.

I have one question. Yes. So according to karma theory, the soul from one life to the next life carries all the avasanas and samskaras, experiences.

So those are carried, the sukshma, subtle body goes along with the soul? Yes. How does that work? They're all, because the bhautika deha, gross body, drops up, which we call death, is it not? The subtle body, all these avasanas are stored in the subtle body. So that subtle body is that... Consisting of... Mana, buddhi... Yes.

Mana, buddhi, chitta and ahamkara. Yes. So they are the subtle body.

Yes. What we call mind. And also mind.

That is called mind. Mana is mind. Yes.

Are you saying all these together are mind? Yes. That is, in Sanskrit, in English, we call, what we call mind, it is a general name for all these four faculties. So the subtle body has four faculties.

Cositation, remembrance, decision-taking, and this, identify what is called ahamkara. So ahamkara is common for all the three. I cositate.

I give a beautiful example to make this concept clear. Suppose in semi-darkness, you see somebody coming. You don't know who it is because you can't see.

Who is it? Who is it? Is it a human being? Is it an animal? Is it a... Then when you go near, is it man? Is it a woman? When he comes very near, is this person I know? Is it so and so? Etc. This cositation process is called manaha. It is a function of this antaranga, antarendriya to cositate.

When it cositates, it is termed as mind, manaha. Then memory comes. You know we all work with memories.

You can't recognise your friend unless you have seen him before and keep that picture in memory. So this figure tallies with that memory. Now I know this is my friend.

This is called chitta. Chitta means memory. So I cositate aham manaha, aham chittaha.

Then the chitta reports it. This is so and so. The buddhi says yes.

Now you greet him because it has taken a decision. So this is called buddhi's function is to decide. Decisive function belongs to the buddhi.

So I cositate, I remember, and I decide. So manaha, chittaha, buddhi. And behind these three is that faculty called aham.

These four together is called subtle, sukshma sharira. So that sukshma sharira goes with the soul, atma. And is sukshma sharira is considered as matter? It is also matter.

But you see Vedanta is a very deep subject. We had this discussion. Mr. Jain actually, he says the sukshma sharira is matter.

Yes it is. In a way of speaking it is matter. In a way of speaking finally there is no matter, there is no soul, everything is only one.

Because everything has come from pancha bhutas. Where from the pancha bhutas have come? From brahman only. From brahman, akasha came.

Akasha, dvayuh, vayuh, ragnih, agneh, rapah, adhyah, prithivi, prithivi, usha, deepya, etc. etc. So these sukshma things have become sukshma sharira.

Gross pancha bhutas have become gross world. So it is everything ultimately is nothing but sarvam kalvidam brahma. But in our state we have got three personalities.

What are those? Sthula sharira, sukshma sharira and karana sharira. Or sukshma and karana sharira lumped into one body, mind and soul, jiva. Right? So it is the sukshma sharira, it is also a sharira.

That is why he is right. He said it is matter only. But what is sukshma sharira? It is a subtle body is called sukshma sharira and gross body is called, gross mind is called sthula sharira and subtle body is called sukshma sharira.

It is an expression, different expressions. And this sukshma sharira goes with us from life to life. There is no break there.

It is only physical body which dies. The sukshma sharira does not die. It dies only as it were when the liberation comes, jnana comes.

Then one realises there is no sthula, there is no sukshma, there is no karana, there is sarvam kalvidam brahma. Until we reach that, we have to keep this distinction. So from one body, just like what you were saying, one life to the next life, so this atma along with sukshma sharira is it travelling? As it were it is travelling because you know there is a beautiful expression in English.

If I ask you a question, can God do everything? Give me the answer. God do everything. Can God do anything he wants? In the beginning you said... No, no, no, give the answer.

Yes? All right. No, no, I will ask second question. Can he go on a holiday? Where will he go? He is everywhere.

He can go on a holiday. Unfortunately God cannot go on a holiday. Right? Idea of saying is, where will the atma go? It is like your swapna.

As you imagine, you go to sleep and say, I am in Hawaii land, I am in India. Have you gone to India? Oh yes, I go every day. Oh you go every day? Oh God! How much money do you spend? You know it is all, the atman is everywhere.

Only our inability to see it. You know what is travel like? You know what it is like? I will give a simple illustration. Can you see this whole of this wall? Now, you just put your fingers like this and watch different parts of the wall.

It is like going on a holiday from this place to that place. Are you really going anywhere? It is, you know, our limitation which makes it say, the soul does not go anywhere, but apparently it travels from state to state, from place to place. This is human limitation.

Yeah. Okay. Ready? Please give them some nice prasad.

So let us all say, Om Om Om Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
[[Category:General]]

What is Satsanga?

2026-05-11T17:13:21Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः oṃ asato mā sadgamaya tamaso mā jyotirgamaya mṛtyormā amṛtaṃ gamaya oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ Lead us from the unreal to the real, lead us from ignorance to illumination, lead us from death to immortality, Aum, Peace, Pe..."

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय

तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय

मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

oṃ asato mā sadgamaya

tamaso mā jyotirgamaya

mṛtyormā amṛtaṃ gamaya

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Lead us from the unreal to the real, lead us from ignorance to illumination, lead us from death to immortality, Aum, Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all. My friends, I am very happy to be here. It's always a pleasure to speak on spiritual topics, especially to very receptive audience.

So, my friends, I am very happy to see all of you here. This type of gatherings are called Satsangas.

What is Satsanga? Satsanga, holy company. Sat means good, Sat means truth, Sat means God. You know all of it, isn't it? Satsanga means good company.

What is good company? There are good people in this world, that is very good, but they may not be spiritual people. There are many worldly people in this world who are very good. They have certain principles, but even their company is not understood as Satsanga.

You know why? However good a person is, if a person is not spiritual or holy, then the company of such a person will drag us to that particular inclination which that person has. That is why in our scriptures it is said that Satsanga means only holy company, spiritual company, not even religious company, but spiritual company. Sat means good.

What happens, we have a tendency, whichever company we keep, we tend to be like that. We are all being brainwashed constantly by media because the largest company that we keep is media. We read newspapers, magazines, we watch televisions, we hear worldly songs.

Most of the people you know, the MP3 players nowadays, what are the songs they hear? I love you, I love you, without you I cannot live for two minutes. Next words, what sin I have committed that I am supposed to live with you. You know, these are worldly things.

So, Satsanga means we become good. How do we know whether we are having Satsanga or not? A simple test is, if we are having Satsanga, we also become Sat, we also become spiritual. Our faith in God increases.

Our character becomes better character. We become more unselfish. Satsanga always leads to Satya Sanga.

The word Satya has come out of Sat. Satya means what? Observing truthfulness. What is observing truthfulness? In general, what we understand is, whatever we have witnessed, seen, heard, to report it faithfully to somebody else is generally understood to be Satya Paripalana.

If we give a word to people, then we have to observe it, right? It is a good meaning, but that is not enough meaning. Because Satya Paripalana must lead to Satya Anusandhana. Truth speaking must lead to truth seeking.

If we do not seek the truth, then we are not observing truthfulness. Truthfulness always means unselfishness. There is a beautiful story.

In a forest, a holy man was living. One day, some hunters happened to enter into the forest to hunt some deer. They saw a deer and they were running after it.

This deer happened to pass in front of this holy man and disappeared into the forest. Soon after, the hunters came there and saw this holy man and they bowed down to him respectfully and asked him, holy sir, did you happen to see a deer? He said yes, because he had seen. And can you tell us which direction it went? So he pointed out the direction opposite to that which the deer entered.

And they bowed down to him and went after the deer. Of course, they probably didn't get. The whole point is, did this holy man observe truthfulness or not? What do you say? Did he tell a lie? But that lie is worth thousand times more than telling the truth.

Why? First of all, he would have participated in the sin of killing the deer. He saved the deer. Then he saved the huntsman from the sin of killing it.

Then he saved himself, because if he had been telling the truth, then it would have been horrible. So what is Satya Paripalana? That which leads us to Satya Anusandhana. So according to our scriptures, what is the truth? God himself is the truth.

So what is truth? That which abides, that which doesn't change, that is called truth. Is it not? Always truth never changes. That is why God is called truth.

Truth is God. Mahatma Gandhi used to say, I do not say God is truth, I say truth is God. Truth never changes.

That is why anyone who experiences the truth, he has to talk about the same thing. But in various languages, various idioms, that is why all the saints speak exactly in the same way. They have no choice.

Now there was a school. And a brother and sister were attending the school, and they were both in the same classroom. One day the teacher asked them, the class, to write an essay on a cow.

So the brother and sister, they also wrote, submitted their paper to the teacher. First the teacher had gone through the sister's paper, then he had gone through the brother's paper, found an exact copy of what sister had written. So he called the boy and asked him, my boy, how is it I find that this is exactly what your sister had written? Very clever fellow.

He said, that is because, sir, it is the same cow. So, satsanga means seeking holy company, means we must become better. So what is the test? That it is, we are keeping holy company, what is the test? The test is, we gradually become sat.

Second, truthfulness. We start observing truthfulness, keeping up our words, etc. But real truthfulness is that which leads us to seeking of the truth, which is God.

That leads us to satsanga. Sat here means the company of God. Sat is a name of God.

In Hinduism, the name for God is Sat-Chit-Ananda. Sat-Chit-Ananda. Now, this brings us, we are all, of course, you know, believers in God, otherwise you would not have come here.

Obviously, you have taken the time to come here because you all believe, you believe that a Swami has come and he will be speaking only about spiritual topics, so you have come. So, the point is, there are many people in this world who say that we do not believe in God. Do you come across people like that? This is because the language in which we ask the question is a wrong language.

Don't ask people, do you believe in God or do you not believe in God? Ask in a different way. If you ask people, do you believe in God, there would be how many answers? Yes or no? There is another also. No.

I do not know. These are called agnostics. Believers, non-believers, agnostics.

I do not know. But if you rephrase the question in a different way, they would never, never have any choice but to say yes. What is that? Do you want to live or die? Do you want to be an ignorant fool or a learned person? Or even more important, do you want to be happy or not? How many answers will be there? This is what exactly God means.

Sat. Do you want to live or die? Who wants to die? You may say logically, there are people who want to die. No, they do not want to die.

They want to die because they are not happy. They have problems which they cannot solve. Is it right? If they are happy, would they die? Yes.

So who is there? Who wants to be ignorant? Everyone of us wants to know everything. In fact, we want to know more about other people than ourselves. It is very fortunate God has kept us ignorant of what all of us are thinking in our minds about all the others.

Otherwise, I believe there would not be two friends in this room. We want to know. That is why knowledge is increasing so much.

And the most important is, why do you want to live? You know, a man went to a doctor. Doctor, can you give me some medicine? The doctor asked, what for? You know, I want to live a long, long time. The patient, the doctor got puzzled.

He said, do you smoke? He said, no. Do you drink? He said, no. Do you visit night clubs? He said, no.

Doctor looked at the man and said, man, what for do you want to live? What for do you want to live a long, long time? We all live for happiness. People get married, is it not? What for? To be happy. What for? To be happy.

Yes, right. They get divorced, doctors. What for? To be happier.

It is true. Though it is a bit funny, I have put it funny way. Whatever actions we do, whether we go to temples, whether we don't go to temples, whether we are good people, even a murderer, if you ask that person, why do you murder? He has a problem in his mind.

He is not happy. So he wants to get rid of the problem. It is a wrong method.

But the goal is exactly the same. Here comes a question. Why do we want to live? If you ask, how long do you want to live? There is no limit.

How much do you want to know? There is no limit. If you want to know how happy you want to be, there is no limit. But we know as human beings that we cannot be mortal, we have to die.

We know that our mind is limited, so the instrument is limited, so the amount of knowledge we can have is also limited. And we also know that life cannot be complete, what is called bliss only. There will be periods of happiness, unhappiness, etc.

Still, we do not give up our quest for these three. Why? Can anybody think of any answer why? We know that it is impossible, and yet we try our level best to prolong our life and to increase our knowledge and to try to be as happy as possible. Even if someone is suffering, we hope to be happy in the future.

That is why we live. Is it not? The moment we lose hope, we will die. So why? That is our true nature.

That is the right answer. That is what our scriptures tell us, that that is our true nature. We are, as yesterday we discussed, potentially divine.

We have forgotten who we are, but a vague memory is there at one time, I am divine. Not that in philosophical speaking we never lost our divinity, but as if we have lost that one. So we are in search of it.

In Indian scriptures, it is put it in a beautiful way, a musk deer, a beautiful, fragrant musk is coming out of its navel, but it doesn't know that it is coming from its own navel. It goes around the whole world, running, running, running, and ultimately ends up dying. We are all searching for Sat, Chit, Ananda.

Where are we searching? Outside. This is what Kathopanishad says, you know. Vidhata has created the sense organs turned outward.

Some wise person, he understands, is futile. Why? Let us turn our search within. Even psychologists nowadays, they have, psychiatrists have become the biggest gurus now.

Their books are the most selling books. If a Swami says, they may not believe it, but if a psychiatrist says, Shankar, Indra, Pandit, then water comes through a conch, that is Deertha. Otherwise it is just tap water.

Psychiatrists, you know, what is psychiatry? People become neurotics, ticks. They become psycho, tick. Psychiatric treatment.

You know what is the definition? A neurotic is one who builds castles in the air. A psychotic is one who lives in them. And a psychiatrist is one who collects rent from both of them.

And it is officially declared that one in three in USA, no reflection upon you, sorry, is crazy in America. So if you have got three in the family, check up on them. If the other two are alright.

It is true that there is a lot of mental sickness is going on in this world. So coming back to our subject, we are all in search of divinity, but we need not use. We are all in search of immortality, omniscience and happiness, bliss.

We call it bliss. But we are searching in the wrong places. Is it that the world doesn't offer these things? Yes, it does offer.

Again it is a mistaken notion to think there is no happiness in this world. There is happiness, but there are also other things. Unhappiness is also there, but perhaps more unhappiness than happiness.

So where is the solution? The solution is to turn inward, to be spiritual and we are sure to get. One thing, even if you do not believe in what I am saying, one thing you have to admit. Much of our health, both physical and mental, much of our knowledge, much of our happiness depends upon what? Upon our mind.

Do you agree with that? It is not what happens, but it is what we or how we interpret it. This interpretation depends upon the condition of our mind. Have you noticed, when the mind is in a happy frame of mind, you tend to interpret everything in a better manner.

Have you noticed that? So the whole Hindu psychology, and Hindu psychology is a depth psychology, and Patanjali is in a way the master editor of Hindu depth psychology, had gathered all that knowledge and codified it in a most marvellous book called Patanjali Yoga Sutra. All the Indian schools of philosophy tell us that we are all divine. This is a very rare contribution.

Buddhism also tells we are all potential Buddhas. Buddha nature is in everything, not only in human beings, not only in animals, in every living thing, including the non-living thing. So now coming back, we all want to be happy, and the higher we go up in life scale, the more happiness we get.

This is what every saint, every sage is telling. One of the specialities of Hinduism is that it is the one religion which believes in the repeated coming of incarnations, avataras, and we are very, very fortunate. You know, we all believe in Dasha avataras, 24 avataras, including Dattatreya and all that, and not only that, innumerable avataras.

It is our good fortune, we are born Hindus, that Hinduism is the most marvellous religion. It is our good fortune that every century produced so far many, many saints and sages. And in the recent times, even this great soul Ramana Maharshi was there, just about 50 years back, 56 years back to be precise.

Even now great souls are there who are spreading this divine message. So what is this divine message? Today I just want to deal with some few points, but very practical points. How we can make our life a better life.

Now the beauty of this message is you do not need to become monks or nuns, you do not need even to put on special cloths or to go to special places or choose special times or be peculiar. Hindus have an idea, you know, to be religious means to be peculiar. No, spirituality has nothing to do with peculiarity.

Peculiar people are abnormal people. In fact, true spiritual people would be most normal people. You know what most normal people means? It means they go unnoticed.

Abnormal people want to be noticed. That is why, you know, fashion, what is fashion? Fashion is I am very noticeable. What it means is I am really abnormal.

But then, you know, other people think probably I am a mistaken person. To be normal is not normal thing. To be abnormal is the normal thing.

Let me follow this fashion. And when everybody starts to be in line with that fashion, that fashion becomes so normal, nobody notices again. So somebody else starts something else.

Crazy world. So coming back to our subject, most recently we revere Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Holy Mother Sharada Devi, whose photographs you see here. Many millions of Hindus believe Sri Ramakrishna is an incarnation of God.

You do not need to believe it. It is not necessary. But if his teachings can help us in any way, then that is marvellous.

So the life and teachings of Sri Ramakrishna was propagated most wonderfully, efficiently, very effectively by Swami Vivekananda. And Vivekananda said, I preached nothing but Vedanta. By that he meant, he preached nothing but the truths of the Upanishads.

I intend to elaborate a little on Hinduism, but not today. I will just come to the practical points. So what is Vedanta? Vedanta is another word for spiritual life.

Yoga. You can translate it as yoga. Yoga means what? Don't go on quoting Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga.

Simply say, what is the simplest translation of yoga? Spiritual life. So what is yoga? Anything that helps us to become better, that is yoga. Keep it in mind, because this is a most beautiful definition.

Anything that helps us to become better. Suppose you are sick. What is the yoga for you? Swasthya Yoga.

Or Aushudha Yoga. If you are having disease, what is the yoga for you? Drink medicine. Suppose you are weak.

What is the yoga for you? Vyayama Yoga. Don't go and sit for meditation. You will die.

Go to the gymnasium and become strong. Physically or mentally. Suppose you are hungry.

What is the yoga? Food. Suppose you are under the control of some foreign government, foreign people, what is the yoga for you? Freedom Yoga. This is what Swami Vivekananda had done.

In America, he preached the truths of the Upanishads because they had already improved their world, but they did not have the guidelines. Whereas in India, when Swami went, you know what he preached? You know what he said? He said, forget your gods and goddesses for the next 50 years. Take up the plough and harvest more food.

Eat well. Drive away all these foreign devils. Try to rule your own country.

Then give education to everybody and I will know that you are really spiritual people. Is that right? So whatever helps. Suppose you are unhappy.

What is the yoga for you? Whatever makes you happy. You know many people come to me. Swami, I am very unhappy.

I said, please do not tell me because I know. You do not need to tell me. Your very face tells me, you know.

One man was going in the streets. A perfect stranger saw him and said, greeted him. Hanuman Tappa, how are you? Hanuman Tappa, how are you? The man was flabbergasted.

Sir, sir, who did you know my name? The man said, I did not know, but seeing your face, I saw. I thought you must be Hanuman Tappa only. Our face shows whether we are happy or unhappy.

So I tell them, what is the advice? You want me to make you happy. What is it you like? Can you go and meditate? No, I can't meditate. So can you read a Tarzan novel? Yes, I can enjoy.

Go and read it. That is the yoga for you. Yes, I am not joking.

What is the point of a fellow who is not happy? Don't ever ask an unhappy fellow to go and meditate. You know what happens? You know what happens? Suppose, for example, suppose one day you are a bit unhappy. Then you go and meditate.

After half an hour you come back. You know what happens to you? Your irritation reaches the Parakastha. Because for half an hour you have been brooding and brooding and brooding.

Is it right? That's what most people do. They think meditation means brooding. This brings to another aspect of it, you know.

People ask me, Swami, can you teach meditation? I say, no. You are a perfected soul in meditation. What are you talking about, Swami? I don't know how to meditate.

I say, no. You are a perfected soul in meditation. You look very worried, don't you? He says, yes Swami, I am worried.

That's what I am talking about. What are you meditating all the time? You are brooding and brooding and brooding and made yourself perfectly unhappy, worried. So what is meditation? Deeply brooding or worry.

I say meditation is worry. But don't worry about worldly things. Worry about God.

If we can worry as effectively about God as we worry about worldly objects, we will be Siddhas long before. Is it not right? So what is needed is change the direction. That's all we want to do that.

Because we know how to think of undesirable things all the time. So what is the definition? Whatever helps us, that is yoga. That is Vedanta.

Whatever helps us to become better people. If we are ignorant, acquire knowledge. If we are weak, acquire strength.

If we are fearful, acquire fearlessness. If we are irrational, acquire rationality. If we do not have self-control, acquire self-control.

This is how we progress. Now, Sri Ramakrishna came into this world to help all of us. An avatar comes only to help all of us to become better people.

This is called dharma sthapana. Dharma sthapana, don't have big big ideas, you know. Go to the temple and do hundred prostrations.

They are all good. But what is the real dharma? To make our mind pure, holy, filled with divine thoughts so that we know our goal is this, our path is this, and our self-control is this. So Sri Ramakrishna had used it to talk about spiritual life, how to become spiritual, how we can help ourselves, like Bhagavad Gita, like any other scripture.

Sri Ramakrishna's big, all the teachings have been collected in one big book. One thousand pages book. You know what is it called? The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. But we may not have that much time. So who is going to read thousand pages of Gospel of Ramakrishna? Tell me, tell us Swami, in brief, what he taught.

I say his teachings can be condensed into five commandments. Like the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita can be condensed into only one shloka. Do you know that? You know, Gita consists of about 700 verses.

And of all the verses, suppose somebody has no time or no inclination or no brain to understand, but tell in the essence, there is only one verse, it is called according to Ramanujacharya, Vishishtadvaita, Charama Shloka. Charama means the last shloka. Charama also means the very essence of Bhagavad Gita.

You know what that shloka is? Sarva Dharmaan Parityajya. Do not grieve, O Arjuna, that you can give up all the other things and hold on with all your mind, me. And I will give you liberation, I will make you a better person.

Like that, Sri Ramakrishna's teachings also can be condensed, because you know, what they teach is very simple. But they try to teach through various illustrations, parables, according to the circumstances, according to the receptive condition of the person. Same thing, repeat again and again and again.

So in our scriptures, it is asked, why do you, why do they go on repeating the same thing again and again? We don't ask this question of a doctor, how long should we need to take medicine? And, you know, how long shall I appear for the exams? How long? There was one boy, and he appeared for the exams, failed. Father asked, scolded him, you stupid fellow, why did you fail? The answer was there, he is stupid fellow. If he was not stupid, why should he fail? Anyway, the boy said, my stars are bad.

So, second year also he failed. Father again got very angry and scolded him, why did you fail? He said, I committed some mistake. Third year also he failed.

Then you see the father asked him, why did you fail this? The boy got very angry, you can't ask me that question. Now it has become a habit. So how long should the scripture repeat these teachings? As long as we are not free, as long as we are in darkness or ignorance, the scriptures need to repeat this.

Suppose in the very first step itself we can become free, why should we worry about it? That is why this repetition is not a fault, but repetition is very necessary. Now you see, this is what Sri Ramakrishna did, this is what all the other great souls said. You know, you heard about the great Shankaracharya, he had written volumes of Bhashyas and Karikas, Mandukya Karika you know, Mandukya Karika, Bhashya.

Bhashya and Mandukya Karika itself is a commentary and now Shankara has written commentary upon commentary. So he has written. One simple person went to Shankaracharya and asked him, Sir, I have no time to read these volumes of books you have written, can you tell me in short? And Shankara was a very commonsensical person, he said that if you don't have time, I will tell you even less than what you are expecting from me.

Shlokarthena pravakshyami, yadattam grandha kotivihi, what has been enumerated in millions of scriptures, I will tell you in one line. You know, every shloka has two lines. I will tell you shlokarthena, one line.

What is it? Brahma satyam jadan mithya jeevo brahmaiva naaparah Brahman alone is real. This world is a temporary reality, not a permanent reality. You are that Brahman.

If you have understood this, you have understood all that I have written. That is true. This is also the essence of not only what Shankara had written, this is the essence of what all the scriptures in the past had written, all the scriptures at present are being written, all the scriptures that would be written in a billion, billion, billion years, because why? I told you in the beginning, truth is only one.

That's all. Realise the truth. That is all.

So what are the important teachings of Sri Ramakrishna? There are, I said, five commandments. Easy to remember? Five commandments. What are they? The first thing he said, that always practise the presence of God.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that any number of zeros put together, what is their value? What is their value? Zero plus zero plus zero? Zero. But add one before. After that, put any number.

What happens, you know? Every zero we add, its value becomes enhanced. What is Ramakrishna talking about? What is this God? God means, it is a simple thing. First, do not ever lose hope.

Whatever happens, keep up your hope that you can achieve what you want to achieve. Supposing you say, you know, this life, how many years are left out for me and what will happen to me? Hindus, no such problem. Hindus believe in reincarnation.

Did I tell you the story? One chap was working in an office and you know, there was football and he was a great fan of football in the afternoon. So he wanted to take off and then go and watch the football. But you know, boss will not give leave.

He said, sir, my grandfather died and then I have to go for her funeral. So then officer said, all right, go. So this fellow went, happily watched the football game.

Next day he came back. The officer called him. You are a Hindu, isn't it? He said, yes, sir.

You believe in reincarnation, isn't it? He said, yes, sir. That explains it all. The fellow got puzzled.

What explains it all, sir? No, yesterday shortly after you left, your grandmother visited this place. She wanted to see you. I couldn't understand.

If she had died just now, how would she come? Hindus believe in reincarnation, you see. So if it doesn't happen in this life, it will happen in the next life. Anyway, do not lose hope.

Always try to better your circumstances. Hinduism is not blind. There are lots of misunderstandings about Hinduism.

It is a religion for monks. It only teaches everybody to know. As we discussed yesterday, it doesn't teach this kind of spiritual life for sannyas or for everybody.

It is only the last stage. Spiritual life, yes. Right from the beginning, dharma.

Then what is it? Artha, enjoy this world. But to enjoy, you need money, you need these instruments to be fit. Then kama.

So dharma is wisdom. Many meanings are there, dharma. Balance, law, duty, etc.

One meaning is wisdom. Then acquire wisdom. Then you will become rich because you should not employ crooked methods.

Otherwise you will reap. If you sow wind, you will reap whirlwind. Law of karma.

Enjoy this world, but with wisdom means just enjoy so that it won't lead to indigestion or other things like that. And then when you are completely through with this and you know this is insubstantial, your soul longs for something higher and better, values, then only you seriously turn to spiritual life. But dharma means morality.

Dharma means self-control. Dharma means behaving according to one's limitations. There were two friends.

One was a foolish fellow, one was a wise fellow. So the wise fellow made a remark, I don't answer foolish fellows' questions. The other fellow asked, Why? Dharma is wisdom.

And Hinduism believes that is why religion is translated as dharma, Hindu dharma. The very basis of our happiness is dharma. So what is Sri Ramakrishna saying? God is our goal.

God is our final destination. But the word God has to be understood in all its extensive implications. Do not only think God is a being somewhere in the temple.

We have to understand it. Just now as I said, you know, if you are sick, what is your God? Medicine. If you are hungry, what is your God? Food.

If you are angry, what is your God? You know, there was this couple. They spent 60 years in a blissful marriage. And this man, he used to go every year for medical check-up, annual medical check-up.

So he went for the check-up. Doctor found him hale and hearty like a bull. So the doctor asked, John, what is the secret of your health? Such a perfect health even at 60 years of age.

He said, I guess it is due to outdoor living. Outdoor living? What do you mean by outdoor living? Do you live all the time outdoors? He said, yes, more or less, yes. How come? Are you not married? Yes, I am married.

How come? He said, you know, it is like this, doctor. When we got married, we made a pact with each other. When I get angry, my wife goes out of the house.

When she gets angry, I get out of the house. Outdoor living. So Sri Ramakrishna used to say that without God, man is nothing.

And human life is very, very, very precious. We take it for granted. That's why even the great Shankara says, Durlabham trayamevaitadhaivaanagrahahetukam Manushyatvam mumukshvatvam mahapurusha samshrayaha Human life, you know, Hindus believe, when do we get human life? After 96 crores of lives.

And it is perfectly scientific, let me tell you. 96 crores means it is not exactly 96 crores. It means, you know, from amoeba onwards, we go on evolving.

Hinduism is not against this, what is called biological evolution propounded by Charles Darwin. In this country, stupid fellows are fighting. They call it ID theory.

Intelligent Design Theory. Have you heard about it? As though it is against religion. Vedanta says no.

God created nature. And nature works in its own way. That is called nature's way.

Is it not? So after so many, going through so much evolutionary journey, finally the very peak of this biological evolution is human life. Why is it so? Because it is only in human life a perfect instrument has been forged by which Dharma, Artha, Karma, Moksha can be achieved. Absolutely true.

We do not know about animals, but we do not see any animal becoming a saint. We only see human beings becoming saints. And we do not need any other instrument because we know that human body, so many thousands of thousands of people have become saints through spiritual struggle.

Is it not? That is why we take them for granted as though we got it. We can do whatever we like now. You can't do whatever you like.

You can do, but you will pay for that. We can be even happier in a spiritual way because life is full of anomalies. You can't expect always happiness.

In fact, the percentage of misery is much. So, coming back to our subject, what is the first teaching of Sri Ramakrishna? Practise the presence of God as much as possible. There is no spiritual holiday.

There is no, I practised, you know, presence of God in the morning and in the evening. In between, I will be a worldly person. There is no such thing.

Spirituality is a continuous process. That is the first teaching. Second teaching, cultivate satsanga.

This teaching is of enormous importance. You know, you have all come here and you are listening to these words and most of what you are listening is nothing new. Is it not? You know already.

It is all something old only, but something is there. What is it? We need reinforcement like taking medicine every day. We eat food every day and most of the food that we eat every day is not an extraordinary delicacy.

It is just, you know, rice, chapati, dal, a subji. Is it not? But it sustains us for that day. So satsanga also sustains us.

At least one good thing is there, you know. I have done a great good to all of you. Do you know what it is? I might not have done any great good to you, but I have prevented you, not that you do not do anything worse than this.

Otherwise, you know, you would have been watching some film or gossiping or spending, you know, spending your time. I have prevented it. Even if you do not like it, but I am very happy that I have prevented you from doing mischief.

Okay. So cultivate satsanga. And I said, what is satsanga? That which makes us better people, sat, then that which makes us truth speaking, truth observing, and that which makes us truth seeking, then ultimately that which brings us to the feet of God, that is called satsanga.

So that is the second teaching. Third teaching is, Sri Ramakrishna used to say, now and then go into solitude. We all need solitude for many reasons.

But I will tell you two reasons. One reason is that we all individual beings, we need our own space. You need not even go out of your home.

Just sit in a corner. It could be half an hour, but that half an hour is nothing to do with your wife or husband or children or parents, friends. It is your own time.

Be alone with you. Because that gives us confidence to think things over and how I am going to live life. It is a kind of contemplation, reflection.

Second more important reason, this is an age when we have become puppets. We depend upon everything. If you want to test my words, put off your TV, put off your mobile phone, put off the electricity in your home.

See what will happen to you. How long can you live happily? Because you can put off with it. But can you live happily? Can you live without the company of other people? You need to be alone.

Not lonely. These are two words which have two different meanings. To be alone is not to be lonely.

And most of the people, according to a very famous social psychologist, Eric Froh, most of the people, we find means of escaping from our own presence. You are watching a TV. You are hearing music.

You are talking to some people. You are even going to work. Some of it is absolutely necessary for living.

But the rest is escape from oneself. Because we feel terribly lonely. We are all lonely people.

We may be in a crowd, yet we may be lonely. We may be alone, but we need not be lonely. How to develop that self-dependence? That is called solitariness.

In Sri Ramakrishna's words, he used to give beautiful examples. If you want to make curds, what do you need to do? Put a little bit of that curds into milk, warm milk, and keep it undisturbed. Every few minutes you don't go stir and say whether it is becoming yoghurt, right? So solitariness means be yourself.

Solitariness, he used a word. It is called nirjana bhash. Nirjana means what? Jana means what? Nirjana means what? What does it mean? It means when the time comes, nobody can help you.

Even simple things, nobody can help us. Suppose you are sleepless, and your husband is there, or wife is there. Can they sleep for you? Nobody can share these certain things.

They cannot eat for you. They cannot take medicine for you. They cannot sleep for you.

Suppose you are worried. You love me very much, isn't it? Yes, I love you very much. Can you take a little bit of my worry? You can't.

You can give advice. But you can't. The thing has to be done by ourselves.

So nirjana means nobody can help us excepting God. This is the truth. Only God can help us because he is our antaryan.

That is why nirjana vasa is very important. The purpose is to go deep into ourselves and to get rid of dependence, any type of slavishness. Work itself has become a venue of dependence.

They are called work colleagues. One day if you don't hover the house, the house's roof is not going to collapse. But some people are very finicky about it.

Do you know why? Because they are so slavish. Why don't you use that time to listen to some beautiful music, to read a good book, to meditate, or even to lie down? No, we have lost the ability to be alone. We have to depend for everything on the outside, especially in this age.

That is the third teaching. The fourth teaching of Sri Ramakrishna is always discriminate. What is the discrimination? Not racial discrimination, not gender discrimination, not skin colour discrimination, not national discrimination.

What is the discrimination? Everything in this world is temporary. Everything is changing. Temporary means what? Changing.

So suppose you are happy. What is the discrimination? After a few minutes, I will be... Happiness changes into what? Unhappiness. Suppose you are unhappy.

Use discrimination. What will happen after some time? Unhappiness changes into what? Happiness. This is the truth.

Is it not a truth? It's a truth. Though we are under delusion that we can be constantly... There is nothing called constantly if you are happy, then you will get bored. Do you know that? Such a boring thing.

Constant happiness is the most boring thing in the world. I will give you an example. Suppose you love rasagulla.

Morning breakfast rasagulla, lunch rasagulla, and evening rasagulla, day after day, do you think you will be happy? Eat a little bit of andhra pickle, avakaya. After that the rasagulla tastes 100 times better. Have you noticed it? So in this world everything is changing.

Because we don't expect it foolishly, we worry a lot. If a husband doesn't say religiously five times a day to the wife, I love you, I love you, the wife gets worried. In Africa, and I heard that, the husband beats the wife regularly, thrice a day.

And you know, after some years of that, suppose he beats her only twice a day, she becomes highly worried. Is my husband running after somebody else? Such a thing happens. Why should we be so slavish? Discrimination means there is nothing permanent in this world.

Everything is in a flux. That's why the great Lord Buddha said, you know what he said? No man steps into the same river twice. Remember, no man steps into the same river twice because by the time he stepped a second time, lot of water has passed.

It may look like that, but it is not the same. So discrimination, that this world, everybody passes away, everything changes, our time also will come. So to expect permanency in any way is a foolishness.

That means we have to be ready for any event to happen at any time, not that it can prevent the event, but it will give us better strength to cope with it. This is the fourth teaching. The last teaching is how to live in this world.

He said live like a maid servant in a rich man's house. When a maid servant is working in a rich man, she tells this is our house. These are our children.

This is my Hari. This is my Rama. But she knows in her heart of hearts that that house doesn't belong to her any moment she might be given notice.

Then she has to return to her own home. She has her own home. We are all like what you call transit passengers.

A little longer, you know, like a train journey. Once Swami compared life to a train journey. You know a train is stopping at every station.

Some fellows are getting in, some are getting out. And the next station, again some fellows get down. Suppose you make friends, you are going a long distance and you make friends with some people and if you forget that this is only 2-3 days affair and then you will be in grief because when his station or her station comes, when our station comes, the conductor will throw us out.

Time will throw us out. This is the fact. So live like a maid servant.

That means what? Be detached. Detachment is often misunderstood. Detachment is not indifference.

Detachment is full love knowing very well that this is only a temporary affair. Sri Ramakrishna used to say love your father, love your mother, love your family members, serve them as if they were your own but know in your heart of hearts nobody belongs to you. You do not belong to God.

You belong only to God. They also belong to God. You don't belong to them.

They don't belong to you. If we keep this teaching in our mind, then we can cope with situations in a much better way. These are the five important teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.

These are the very essence of all scriptures, Gita. What did Sri Krishna teach in the Gita? Detachment. It doesn't mean he did not drive the chariot.

It did not mean he did not participate in the battle. Life is a battle. But he did it all with a smile as it were because he knows that this is the life, this is the world.

I am here only for a short time. He set the biggest example, brightest example. So to recollect these five teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, what are they? Practise the presence of God.

Cultivate satsang, holy company. Now and then go into solitary place and depend totally upon God which means do not be so dependent upon anything in this world or always exercise discrimination and lastly live like a maid servant in this world. If you understand these five teachings, the whole gospel is only an explanation as it were, detailed explanation, songs and parables and some humorous stories etc.

of these five teachings. If we understand this, we understand the teachings of all scriptures including the Upanishads. There is one beautiful Upanishad.

It is called Isavasya Upanishad. One of the smallest, not very small, but one of the smallest and yet one of the most profound of the Upanishads. What is the opening verse of this Isavasya? Isavasya midagam sarva.

That is there is nothing in this world excepting God. So with this knowledge you live. Tena yaktena bhunjeetha.

Enjoy your life on this earth with this knowledge. If you do that, Maghrithah kasyasviddhanam. It is roughly, literally translated as do not covet others' wealth.

What it really means is do not depend upon anything in this world because nothing is going to save you excepting this knowledge which is God, the presence of God. Feel the presence of God. If you feel the presence of God, then who are you? If everything is God, who are you? You are also God.

Only what we call the world is also God. But then what is this world? This world is God looked at through cataracted eyes. If you have cataract, what is called? What is that? Jaundice.

Who does the world appear to you? You know, when we have ignorance. Ignorance means, you know what it is? When we look at God through these five sense organs, God appears to us as this world. World means shabda, sparsha, rupa, rasa, gandha.

Is it right? We have five sense organs, isn't it? Suppose you look at God through your eyes, how will he appear? Rupa, forms. Suppose you look at God through the ears, what is your experience of God? Sounds. If you look at God through the nose, how does he appear? Smells.

If you look, experience God, look means, you know, experience God through the tongue, how does he appear? Sweet, sour, salty, etc. And if you touch God, then how do you experience him? So what is world? Only consisting of these five things. Sights, sounds, tastes, smells, touches, cold, hot, etc.

Is it not? So when we are looking, we are looking only at God. But because we have put on these special five sense organs, armour, and we are looking at God through these media, so he appears as forms, etc. That is what we call the world.

It is another discussion. I won't go into it. We are very blessed because we have had good satsanga.

And tomorrow also we will have this beautiful satsanga. Some different topic will come. And one day, one of these days, tomorrow or day after tomorrow, I would like to talk about essentials of Hinduism.

It's very important because we are all Hindus, we read here and there books, but there is no coordination, there is no logical way of understanding what is Hinduism. It's very essential. It is your duty to understand this.

Why? Because what are you going to teach your children if you yourself do not know? You know, there was a Brahmin. He had a son. And the son came of age, you know, 10 years like that.

So he had to be invested with sacred thread. So the uncle came in the morning and he whispered the Gayatri mantra in his ears, went away. And in the evening, the boy very sincerely sat down to repeat, but he had a doubt whether what he heard of the mantra is correct or not.

So he went to his father, asked, Daddy, is this Gayatri mantra correct? Daddy heard it and said, It appears as though I heard it somewhere. Ever since he got Gayatri mantra, he never bothered to repeat it. If you yourself do not know clearly what is Hinduism, and you are not unintelligent persons.

You are all highly intelligent. You know what Bush is going to do or not do. You can predict next year what is it going to be.

But you say all sorts of excuses. What is your own marvellous religion? So I will speak. It is a big subject, but I will try to be very essential so that you all clearly understand what it is.

I will try to do that. So for today, I will stop here.
[[Category:General]]

Relevance of Spirituality Q&A

2026-05-11T17:11:27Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "When I said irrelevant, I did not mean that we should be immoral. What I meant is, you see, I have to practise truthfulness, suppose. If I am alone, where is the question of practising or not practising truthfulness? I have to be unselfish. When I am alone, what is the meaning of selfish or unselfish? I am the only person. In that sense, when I am living with somebody, then I have to find a way of living in such a way that there will be harmony, peace, cooperation. So n..."

When I said irrelevant, I did not mean that we should be immoral. What I meant is, you see, I have to practise truthfulness, suppose. If I am alone, where is the question of practising or not practising truthfulness? I have to be unselfish.

When I am alone, what is the meaning of selfish or unselfish? I am the only person. In that sense, when I am living with somebody, then I have to find a way of living in such a way that there will be harmony, peace, cooperation. So necessarily, we have, both of us have to practise this quality.

Otherwise, there will be clash. This is what I meant. But morality is not the end of life.

This is only an instrument, because our scriptures tell us we have a spiritual side and if you exercise only one part of your body, what happens? Lopsided development. So, we have to be healthy physically, we have to be healthy mentally, we also have to pay attention to the spiritual developments, because it is part of our personality. Otherwise, you won't get the complete fulfilment.

That is what I meant. Yes. How do you differentiate between attachment and responsibility? Well, that is a very nice question, because we think attachment is indifference.

You know Swamis? They are all irresponsible people. No responsibility. See, attachment means you think that I am not responsible for anybody.

That is not the right understanding. Understanding is, I do what I have got to do, but I am not responsible for the consequences, results. This is called detachment.

So what happens, suppose you are attached, and you do something. Attachment means what? You are expecting, if I do this, this should happen. It may happen.

It may not happen. So if it happens, then you are in deeper trouble. You know why? The next time you are convinced that every time it is going to work.

You are in a rude shock. If it doesn't happen, of course, again you are disappointed, frustrated. So this is because future is unknown to us.

We don't know the consequences of things, what happens. All that is in our hands is to do to the best of our ability whatever we are supposed to, right? This is the correlation between detachment and responsibility. It is not irresponsibility, indifference, coldness.

That is a totally wrong view. Otherwise, Swami Vivekananda put it beautifully. A cow never tells a lie.

Have you ever seen a cow telling a lie? Have you seen? I have seen. You know, Indian cows are very clever, some of them, not every cow. Indian cow keepers, they just let the calf go.

It is what is called cranking, starting. As soon as the calf starts the milk machine, then they pull out the calf. But some cows are so clever, only when the cows are there, they give milk.

You pull the calf and go there, no milk is there. Anyway, Swami Vivekananda used to say, cow never tells. But nobody considers a cow as a saint.

It is only a conscious human being who consciously practises certain virtues like truthfulness, unselfishness, etc., who can be called a saint. Otherwise, animals never show ingratitude, never rebel against you, they are not jealous of you. In fact, they are much better than human beings.

Much better. That is why more many people trust their pets than their partners. Sorry about that.

It is true, because they give so much love, they don't withhold anything. I will tell you a funny incident, you know. In India, there is a custom.

When some devotee goes on pilgrimage, holy places, they have to give up something. As a token of penance or tapasya or love for God. If I love you, this is the sign to show you that I am loving you.

One lady, very rich lady, she went to Kashi and she came back. Her husband was a very intelligent person. He asked her, did you give up something? Yes.

You know, the rule is, whatever the person loves most, that should be given up. It could be mango or coffee or jewellery, whatever. So this lady said, yes, you know, that necklace which I used to love most, that is what I love most.

I have given up. So, me husband, you don't love so much. If you loved me more than the necklace you should have given me up.

No hope. Alright, any more questions please?
[[Category:General]]

Relevance of Spirituality

2026-05-11T17:10:02Z

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय

तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय

मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

oṃ asato mā sadgamaya

tamaso mā jyotirgamaya

mṛtyormā amṛtaṃ gamaya

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Lead us from the unreal to the real, lead us from ignorance to illumination, lead us from death to immortality, Aum, Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all. My friends, I am very happy to be here. It's always a pleasure to speak on spiritual topics, especially to very receptive audience.

I am very proud to be a Hindu, as Swami Vivekananda said, Hindus are very much blessed. So many incarnations of God, only Hinduism accepts. You know, when Christianity first came to India, they were terribly afraid of Hinduism.

You know why? Because they found out Hinduism is like an octopus. Including its Jesus Christ, it swallows and makes him one of the other avatars. Their whole uniqueness is gone, he will be lost in the plethora of incarnations.

You know, Christianity doesn't like more than one incarnation. So, when I was there in Italy, one of the persons put me a question, Swami, why is it God incarnates again and again only in India, not in the West? I said, that is not true. God too had a desire to come to the West, and he did come once, but you gave him such a treatment.

He decided never again to the West. We are very fortunate. So, why is it that God incarnates again and again? There is only one purpose.

What is that purpose? Dharma sthapana. What is dharma sthapana? How to make us spiritual. So, that is the topic, how spirituality can help us.

Or, what is the relevance of spirituality in our age? It is, in a way of speaking, a very curious type of question. What is the relevance of health and happiness in our modern day life? Only health and happiness was very relevant in the past and not very relevant now at present. If we understand the meaning of spirituality correctly, we do have to accept that without spirituality we lead very incomplete life.

So, first of all, let us be very clear, because there is so much of fog in our brains about, mix up about, the difference between religiosity and spirituality. In India, every Hindu is very proud, especially when he comes to the West, that the West is horribly dry, irreligious, unspiritual, and every Hindu is a saint going about, excepting occasionally cheating. Hindus are highly religious, but not spiritual.

What is the difference? Religiosity means observing certain external rituals, like going to the temples, worshipping God, breaking coconuts, sometimes in front of God, sometimes on other people's heads, study of the scriptures, going on pilgrimages. These are called religious observances. What is spirituality? The difference is, as Sriram Krishna had put it so nicely, that you prepare siddhi.

Siddhi means a kind of intoxicant. It's a brown sugar. When I went to Banaras, one panda asked, Swamiji Maharaj, are you interested in brown sugar? In the UK I know what is brown sugar, but in India I never knew what was Banaras brown sugar.

He said, what is brown sugar? Here is it very popular? He said, very popular, I can get you as much as you want. Then only I came to know, all the foreigners are coming there to have this brown sugar. So siddhi is a kind of intoxicant.

Sriram Krishna used to say, it is one thing to say siddhi, siddhi, it is the same thing to bring the siddhi, prepare the siddhi and keep it in front of you, but it is quite another thing to eat that siddhi or drink that siddhi and wait a little time for the intoxication to take over. What am I talking about? It is the inner transformation of life. So in short, if we have to be very clear about what spirituality is, a spirituality or a spiritual person is one who attains the optimal health possible, especially mental and moral health.

Without mental health, without moral health, nobody can expect to be spiritual. But spirituality doesn't end with these things, because mental health as well as moral health, they are relevant only in a society. But once we are on our own, then these two have no relevance to us.

So can we not live without spirituality? Yes, we can. A blind man can live, a lame man can live, even a mental patient can live. You know, there was a man working in a factory.

He became crazy. So they admitted him in a mental hospital. And very nice, you know, in the West, mental hospitals are extremely good.

So after a few days, when he seemed to be recovering, his friends, colleagues came to visit him. They said, John, are you all right now? He said, Oh, perfectly all right. Are you quite happy? Very happy.

So when are you going to return back to factory? What? These beautiful nurses, this wonderful hospital, this first class food, do you think I am crazy to return back to factory? One can live without attaining optimal health. This is called surviving. We can survive with the least, with the minimum.

That is not called living. Living is a totally different experience. Most of us are alive, but there is no living.

Very few of us are living. And that which gives that life to us, that is called spirituality. This subtle difference between to live and to be alive is not one and the same thing.

A man who is alive, for example, Sri Ramakrishna, for example, Swami Vivekananda. There was one brother disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Swami Turiyananda. He used to say, when Swami Vivekananda used to speak, even ordinary conversation, even dead corpses, of course corpses are always dead, there is no... You think so? The living corpses are there, jiva chava they are called.

Even corpses, they come out to life and say, we would like to hear Swami Vivekananda. When you fellows are speaking, I wish I were dead. Because there is no life.

So what is that aliveness? What is that spirituality? You know how much power human being has. What is it that all of us are seeking? We are alive and we are gaining knowledge. What is the end product? What is the goal? What is the goal? Happiness.

Is it right? We want to be happy. You all have come here today so that you thought, you know, Swami has a magic word which will make us happier than what we are. Expecting.

You may not get it. I am not guaranteeing it. But expecting you have come here.

So there is a lot to learn. So why do we need spirituality? Are we not happy as we are? You can look around you. Yes, it is possible to be happy.

We are happy to some extent. But there is a lot more happiness we can experience. I will give you an illustration with the help of music.

Don't expect me to sing. It's an illustration, that's all. You know, film songs, that is also music.

But there is classical music. What a difference between these two. Any ordinary person, in two seconds he can be captivated by a film song.

But there is some kind of happiness available in listening to these film songs. There is no doubt about it. But is it comparable to the happiness one can experience when one listens to an expert classical musician rendering in a most beautiful voice? Can you imagine? Ordinary people cannot imagine.

Similarly, another example would be anybody can cook. You know, rice, dal, roti, anybody can. But when an expert cook prepares the same dish, it becomes a classical dish.

And that happiness which comes out of it is totally different. Right? So, our scriptures are telling us that we have a lot of scope for enjoying unlimited and very quality type of happiness. This is one point about spirituality.

Spirituality will give you tremendous amount of satisfaction, meaning in life, and happiness. Fulfilment, a sense of fulfilment. But not only that, without spirituality, can we not continue our life as it is? No.

Almost impossible. What is the reason? The reason is, man lives in two worlds. What are those? An external world and an internal world.

We have no control over the external world. To give you an example, after the first world war, some of the powerful nations came together and they formed united nations. What is the purpose? So that this disaster, where millions have died horribly, can be prevented.

Were they able to prevent? They made rules, they made regulations, and they made all sorts of things, but nothing could be prevented. Even today, war is going on. Sometimes, we have a saying in Telugu, if the fence itself decides to eat the crop, if the watchman himself decides to rob the house, which he was supposed to watch, if the nation which is supposed to enforce aggression and war, if that itself decides to go to war over any other country, what can be done? What can anybody do? Is it your wish that your children go to war and get dead for some unexplained reason? It is not even a war with our countries.

First, you are completely helpless. If your neighbour is not a good person, wants to pick up a quarrel with you, what can you do about it? Then there are other things like natural disasters. So what control do you have over those things? None.

And they do happen. And when they happen, they could be shaking us to the very foundations. We are very fortunate, many times we escape such disasters.

But just imagine, this is not an imagination, this is only mentioning a reality, this tsunami had taken place, and literally 200,000 people have lost their lives. Overnight, within a few seconds, maybe one member of the family survived, all the other members have been washed away in such a horrible way. How does one deal with such a situation? So you know, whenever we utter a Shanti patha, we say, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, three times.

Have you noticed that? Do you know what is the significance of it? The three bodies. No. You see, our scriptures are very perceptive.

Human beings suffer from three types of miseries, physical, mental and spiritual. Physical miseries can be from our body or something outside us. It could be floods, it could be famines, it could be heat, it could be cold, it could be enemies, it could be mosquitoes, it could be even good neighbours, it could be anything.

We have no control over it. But if we want to live happily, we cannot close our eyes, we have to deal with it. This is one aspect.

Then there are some people, for some reason, there is a reason, we do not know, we undergo traumatic events at home, from parents, from neighbours, from relatives, from all these things. It happens and it affects us deeply. How do you deal with that situation? We have to deal.

If we do not deal, then we cannot be alive, we cannot be living really. Somehow we have to solve the problem. Then there is mind, internal world.

We are living in an internal world, vast world, far bigger than the external world and far more influential than the external world. How many forces are trying to control us unconsciously? We are just not even aware, like the tip of the iceberg. We only know very little about it.

Psychologists are now discovering. Now, do not think that unconscious forces are always only evil. It indicates both good powers.

A person may become a great saint, or a great philanthropist, a great musician, or a great poet, or a great dictator, a great statesman, or a most wicked person, causing the deaths of millions and millions of people. Just to give you an example, and this has not happened centuries back, it just happened last century. How many people died in the Second World War? About 30 million people approximately.

It may not be correct to the last digit, just how many people were killed by Stalin? Do you have any idea? 30 million people. How many people were killed by the Chinese Gang of Four? Have you any idea? 64 million people. Do you know that? You know only that Hitler Nazi Party had killed about 8 million or 9 million Jews.

But you are hardly aware Stalin had killed, not anybody else, his own country people. How many? 30 million people. And in Chinese, in the most horrible way, 1964, Cultural Revolution, children killing their parents, students literally ripping the hearts of their teachers alive, and eating their hearts, some of them, all because they were brainwashed, that these are what is called bourgeois, bourgeois.

History, history is a great eye-opener. That is why a great American historian, Will Durant said, if you are looking for God in history, you will not find him. History is a gory story.

So, how do you deal? I may be good, when somebody else decides to be bad, how do I deal with it? I may be driving all right, but when a drunken driver crashes into you, how are you going to deal with it? Then there are, these are external events, then internal events, you know, obsessions, phobias, you name it, the phobia is there. What is this? Carpet. Carpet.

Do you know that there are people who have carpet phobia? You know, Chitra? Dry leaves phobia. This is a dry leaf season. They can't step out of their home because the dry leaf is there.

Go into the internet, you will see that. And I know many people who suffer from Swami phobia. Anything they will come, but Swami, they won't come.

So, there are three types of miseries. They are called in Sanskrit, Adhyatmika, Bhavutika, Adhidaivika. Even gods and goddesses will also, if they get angry, they can take it out on you.

Yeah, be careful about gods and goddesses. Really, I am not joking. Some gods and goddesses get very angry, even without your knowing what, why they are angry with you.

They won't give the explanation, but they will give you a blow and if you are fortunate to survive, then they might give an explanation why they have done that. You want example? You don't believe me? Believe me. See, my devotees don't believe me.

Only testing. Swami Yogananda was travelling to Vrindavan with Holy Mother and you know, a ferocious goddess appeared to him and said, Paramahamsa Deva prevented me, otherwise I would have finished you. Read biographies.

Then you see, they reached, offered worship for me, she said like that and disappeared. Then they went to Vrindavan and they were walking, going to some temple. Suddenly Yogananda Maharaj, Yogananda Maharaj saw one small temple by the roadside.

Ma, Ma, this is that goddess who appeared to me. Then Mother purchased some sweets and then offered it. Do you remember that incident? Nobody knows.

Why she got angry with such a gentle soul, Swami Yogananda. Anyway, so, Adhyatmika, Abhibhavitika and Adhidaivika. We are all subject to those miseries.

But this is only, I am only emphasising the negative point. How to cope with difficult situations in life, we need that special type of mental training and spirituality is the best mental training to cope. Then there is also untapped, unconscious potentialities.

We can be much more happier than we are. You know, there was a couple and the husband died. Ladies do not get, should not get angry, it's only joke.

Warning you. The husband died and after some time the wife decided to know how her husband is doing without her in the other world. So she went to a medium and got her husband and, John, are you happy? He said, very happy.

More happy than when you were with you. Pagali, what are you talking about? A billion times happier. John, John, how is heaven? Did I tell you that I was in heaven? Sorry.

So, untapped potentialities are there. So let us remember the points we are making. First, we have to cope with life.

We live in two worlds, external world and internal world. We have to cope with three types of miseries. Physical miseries, including physical body and external world, and internal world, that is mental miseries, obsessions, phobias, worries, anxieties, stress.

What is stress? Now, just to give you an example, suppose Sri Ramakrishna is working in an office which is full of stress, according to us. Now my question to you is, would he be stressed out or not? Yes, serious question. He won't be stressed out because he has such a wonderful attitude towards life that there is no chance of his getting stressed out.

You know, I was in India for a long time. I only came back to the UK 15 years back, which is not a very long time. I heard a lot Western people suffer from stress and I never knew because in India we never know.

And after coming to UK also, I started hearing even Indians telling I am suffering from stress. After several years, I also started to suffer from stress. Thinking, how come everybody else is enjoying their stress, I am the only person who is not enjoying the stress.

What is wrong with me? So, stressful situations, dreadful situations, separations, all these are very common things. I am putting it in a joker way, these are very, very real things happening in life. If it is not happening, then you are a very lucky person.

Then you know other malevolent persons, for no reason they dislike you. They may not offer you a job or they may put all sorts of, you know, obstacles in your life, etc., etc. How do we cope with all those things? So one side is negative side, how to cope with the negative side of life.

Another is how to bring out the hidden potentialities that are already there within us. What is it that can give us spirituality? Again, coming back, in this country it is said, according to official statistics, one in three is crazy. So if you have got two friends, check up on them.

If they are alright, they are crazy. Don't worry. This is nothing.

Ramakrishna declared long back, the whole world is mad. He did not even exclude himself. He said, I am also mad.

Only difference is other people are mad for name, fame, enjoyment, etc. I am mad for God. This is the only difference.

So we have to deal with the situations, how to cope with life. At the same time, we have to bring out the inner potentialities. What comes first? Which comes first? First we have to deal with situations in life.

This is called stability. Before we can take, if you are going on a journey, what is it that first you do? You service your vehicle. Is it not? So what is our vehicle? We have got two vehicles.

This is not my invention. This is what Upanishad is telling. Kathopanishad is telling.

What is it telling? This body is the chariot. The Atma is the real rider, traveller. The mind is the Pragraha, the wheel.

The Buddhi is the chariot. Shariram is Ratha. A Ratha is a vehicle.

If Krishna or Veshi was talking, composed the Upanishad, in these days, he would have used a Cadillac. Example. Yes, that's all.

He would have used a driver. Instead of saying Sarathi, he would have said, you know, driver. So, the life is a journey.

But we must always remember, a journey has a point, a goal. So our scriptures are telling us, what is the goal of life? God-realisation. This is a very often used word, God-realisation, self-knowledge, self-realisation.

You can substitute it. What is it? Realise your potentiality to the fullest extent. Some of the psychologists have said, you know, human possibilities.

Explore human possibilities, human potentiality, and make them a fact. A potential must become a fact. So only then, man's quest will reach its ultimate.

How long should we go on journeying until we reach the goal? How long should we go on unfolding our potentiality until we attain perfection? And there is nothing left over very much. You know, many people suffer from, all of us practically, sometimes we suffer temporarily, sometimes permanently for this life, mental problems. Because sometimes it is too much for us to cope with these day-to-day problems.

And that is, why are people suffering from these problems? Because they have no goal, they have no self-discipline, they have no willpower, and this is the result of what we do. Hinduism's explanation of the law of karma includes all these things, not only physical karma, even a mental karma also. So we have got, according to Hinduism, three types of personalities, factors.

What are those? Physical, mental and spiritual. Before I come to this, I have to mention one very interesting incident. When I was in India, Bangalore, there were a series of murders in Pune.

And the police were wondering at random murders. So they found out, all the murderers were highly educated youth, coming from wealthiest families, the cream of the society. And everybody was surprised, they were not criminals, they were not poor people, they had nothing to gain from killing.

Then the police questioned them, why did you do it? They said, we are bored of life, we have nothing to excite us, and that's why we just did it for fun. I am not imagining, this is a fact. Maybe that is the situation, in different forms it is taking.

Why America or England is going to war with Iraq? Maybe they are bored. Who knows? Maybe there is some selfish motive there. We love Iraqi Muslims, we love Iraqi people.

A fox caught hold of a duck, said, I love you the most in this world. You know, how we hide our motivations, psychological problems. That is why, you know, when two psychologists meet each other in the street, do you know how they greet each other? They greet each other, you are fine, how am I? It's a sick society, we are living in a sick society.

There was a very wonderful writer, psychologist, social psychologist called Eric Fromm. Have you heard his name? Better read some of his books. He is not mentioning much of spirituality, but what he writes is nothing but spirituality.

So one of the books he has written is, a sane society. And then he starts like this, suppose there is a town or village, and everybody is leading a normal life, but one particular person is behaving oddly. So immediately everybody knows this person is abnormal.

What is abnormality? If ten persons are going this way, and one person deliberately goes the other way, that is called abnormality. And then he says, this we can find out, suppose the whole society is abnormal, where is the measurement? Who is normal? One member in a society is abnormal, we know. But if the whole society is abnormal, we have a saying in Telugu, if there is a country which all are having one eye, and if one fellow is born with two eyes, it is terrible abnormality.

They will make him normal very soon, don't worry. So how do we know? The whole society is not abnormal, that is what is happening. If Sri Ramakrishna's definition is taken, that what is the definition of a madcap? Those who are running after karma and kanchana, lust and gold, greedy, then he is called a madcap, worldly man, madcap.

Who is not mad? Compared by that standard, the whole society is mad. Is this not what they are running after? Sex and money. Is there anything people talk about, think about? This is what is happening.

So we are abnormal in a way, but how do we know what is normality? The question now is how do we know whether we are alive, we are really living? How do we know we are normal? First of all, there are certain characteristics. According to theology, and I don't want to use too much of theological language, Bhagavad Gita language, what is that? A man who has experienced samadhi, O Lord, how does he sit? How does he walk? How does he talk? If you compare that kind of definition, hardly any one of us qualify for that. No.

We have to use language which is understandable by us. So there are certain characteristics. What are the characteristics? The first characteristic, or if I have to tell, one use one characteristic which includes in it every other characteristic.

Using psychological term, it is called a nature personality. Nature personality. Sri Ramakrishna uses it in a different way.

What is this? Paka amin, arrive, go. What are the characteristics of a nature personality? In brief, he is a man who is perfectly healthy, physically, mentally. Physically sometimes beyond our control, if a person becomes unhealthy, we cannot help.

But as far as we can control, person does his best to keep himself healthy. More important, mentally healthy. What are the characteristics of mentally healthy? A nature personality is a happy, contented person who found out meaning in life, enjoys every minute of his life.

How does he do that? He has a definite goal in life. He has divided his time and energy and he uses his time and his energy in the most appropriate manner. He accepts situations in life in a wise way.

This is what religion is talking about. For example, there was a cartoon on Zen Buddhism. So a Zen master was sitting and he was perfectly happy.

Snow was falling all around him. So the disciples were asking, Master, how come you are so happy even when it is so cold? Then the master simply tells, When it is winter, I say it is winter. When it is summer, I say it is summer.

That is the secret of my happiness. Do you understand it? Accept. Winter season, it is damp, winter season, so cold.

What? You expect Madras weather in winter season or what? And if it is hot, it is damp, so hot it is. What do you expect in summer? You know we are complaining all the time. Not that we don't suffer.

That is not the point. Things don't change. What changes is we have to accept.

Similarly, suppose we are having such high opinion of ourselves that everybody is only praising us. Nobody is criticising us. Do you know what happens to this person? It is sheer foolishness.

If 5 people are praising you, take it from me, 50 people will be criticising you. And even if they don't feel like criticising you, when they hear others praising you, they will definitely criticise you. Accept it.

Even God could not escape being criticised. He is the most criticised person in the world. If he does something, he is criticised.

If he doesn't something, he is criticised. The nature of, what is the nature of the world? A nature person knows, I am a young man, I am a young woman. I am a middle-aged person, I am a middle-aged man, middle-aged woman.

I am an old man, I am an old woman. Graciously accepts. What does an immature person do? Even a 70 years old man is trying to behave like a young man, or a 70 years old woman also is trying to behave like that.

Einstein said, women never understand mathematics. After 18, the number starts from 80. How old are you? 18.

And next year, they won't say. For a long time, they won't say. And when you ask after a very long, long, long time, they say 80 years old.

In between, they don't say anything. Sorry. You see, this tendency, why? We are old, old, the painting doesn't make us any younger.

It only makes us ridiculous. Accept every age, you know, very nicely, graciously. Religion alone can give us that ability to behave like that.

Accept things as they are. Again, a mature personality, he is also humorous. Humorous without being a buffoon.

Humour is one of the most therapeutic things in this world. So it is said, that if a man can learn to laugh at himself, he never again lacks entertainment in his life. The amount of antics that we do in life.

A mature personality has a place for everything in his life. Mahatma Gandhi, he was such a busy man, yet he, you know his Mahatma Gandhi's complete works, have you ever seen? At least 80 volumes, huge like Encyclopaedia of Britain, each volume. 80 volumes.

Such a busy man, yet he had time for his prayer, he had time for his charkha, you know, spinning, he had time to meet people, whereas people like us, we don't have time for anything. Why? Because we do not organise our life. A mature personality accepts miseries, defeats in life as part of life's cycle.

He never rejects them. In fact, he uses them as stepping stones to success. I'll give you an illustration.

You know this Edison, he was making, researching this filament, you know how to find this light bulb filament. 10,000 experiments had failed. Then his assistants got discouraged, said, we did 10,000 experiments and we didn't discover the problem.

Let us give it up. He smiled and said, we have done, gained a lot. Now we know 10,000 ways do not work.

Find out a way it will work. And he did find out. Every great man has not risen because of phenomenal successes.

He had risen because of failures. He never gets discouraged. So I like one beautiful saying, a great man is a great man, not because he doesn't fall down, but a man is great whenever he falls down, he picks himself up and tries another time.

Whereas other people, you know, we give up. So a major personality never gets discouraged. He's always hopeful.

But he is not a mental case. A major personality is neither a pessimist nor an undue optimist, but a realist. He knows what is reality.

This is what psychologists, especially Carl Rogers, how to be a person, a huge volume was written on that. What is he talking about? To be a major personality. This is what in a slightly modified terminology called sthita prajna, a good spiritual personality.

This is our goal in life. Most of us never reach even this goal. But without reaching this goal, it is impossible to be a saint.

Spirituality far transcends this major personality because the body is an instrument. The mind also is only an instrument. These two instruments are used as a vehicle to reach something else.

What is that? To know truly who we are. What is spirituality? To know our real nature. What is our real nature now? We think that we are only bodies having a mind.

So a little advanced soul, that person tells, I am a mind having a body and having a soul. A truly spiritual person, what does he say? I am a soul having a body and mind. These are the three stages.

Those who are at the body level, they are called dvaitins. Those who are at the mind level, they are called visistadvaitins. And those who are at the spiritual level, they are called spiritual people.

This is illustrated by Sri Ramakrishna so beautifully. Depending upon at what stage of our spiritual evolution, our relationship with God also gets altered. So Sri Ramakrishna uses Hanuman and in South India, Hanuman is highly revered.

He is called mukhya prana. He is a guru. So Hanuman is jnaninam agraganyam.

He was the greatest devotee, greatest bhakta, greatest jnani, greatest karmi. Because his whole life is spent in only serving Sri Rama. So Hanuman, it seems, was once asked, what is your attitude towards God? He outlines in three simple steps.

What should be the attitude of each one of us? How we should establish relationship with God? Deha budhyatu dasoham. When I think I am the body, I should consider myself as a servant and God as the master. Jiva budhya tvadam shakaha.

When I consider myself I am the individual soul, I am part of God. This is Tadvaita. Atma budhya tvamevaham.

When I think I am the soul, I am completely one with you. This is my nishchitamati. This is my considered opinion.

Through this, Renan Krishna is telling how we should establish relationship with God. So a mature personality means attaining complete mental health. Physical health, the world has seen much of physical health to a great extent.

No person will be perfectly healthy. It is impossible in this world. But to a great extent, medicine has eliminated a lot of things.

Now psychology is studying not only how to cure mental problems, but how to attain the optimum mental health. So I mentioned some of the characteristics of a mature personality. What are they? He is a perfectly happy, contented person.

He goes on striving, never stopping. As long as I live, so long do I learn. The moment we stop learning, we become old people.

Anything, it could be anything, not only spirituality. Even I can learn a recipe. Or if somebody has stated, put something in beautiful language, I can borrow it from him.

For the single reason, he has borrowed it from somebody else. Ultimately we all borrow from God only, is it not? He is the Purvacharya, Prathamacharya. God is the... So nobody has copyright value.

Yeah. Don't take my stories, you know. I have not copyrighted it.

Copyrighted. So many people are noting down my stories and other things. I am only joking, you know.

So seriously, you know, you can take whatever you like. You know why? Because a joke is not in only reading it out. It is how to tell a joke.

For that you have to pay me specially separately. So a major personality, he accepts life. What is the scripture telling to us? Is it not what it is telling? It is... Scripture talks about two things.

It tries to convey to us two types of knowledges. What is it? First it tells us about God ourself. Second, it tells us also about the nature of this world.

The question now is, why should the scripture talk to us about the nature of this world? I don't know God. I don't see God. It is perfectly logical it should tell about God.

Why should it tell us about this world? Because even though we are in this world, we do not know the nature of this world. Yes, intellectually we know that there will be good, there will be evil, there will be happiness, there will be misery, there will be loss, there will be profit. Everything we know.

But when it comes to practise, we forget it. All Indians are the greatest philosophers. Every time they go to somebody's house where somebody is dead, ha, don't worry, ye duniya trikaal mein hai nai.

Do din ka hai duniya. Understand? Don't we say that? But when it comes to our own, then what do we do? North India I know, sadhus and even many householders. Duniya trikaal mein hai nai.

Means this world doesn't exist in the past, present and future. But I said that's not enough. I added.

Duniya trikaal mein hai. Duniya trikaal mein hai nai. Duniya trikaal mein hai.

Breakfast time, lunch time, supper time, duniya hai. Other times it doesn't exist. Otherwise what will be my fate? So coming back to our subject, what is spiritual life? Getting this body as fit as possible as an instrument, not identifying with it, but using it in a proper way.

Secondly, attaining to mental health, that is not the goal as I said, but even that is a big goal for those who do not want spirituality. It is a big goal. So to make the mind so that it is not optimistic, it is not pessimistic, but it is realistic.

It is realistic to have a goal in life. Those who are successful, they have a goal in life. Do you know that? Because how do you measure success if you don't have a goal? You know, people are so leery.

Suppose you go to a train station, say give me a ticket. Will the station master give you a ticket? The only place where I know you get a ticket without asking for it, when you park illegally. He will ask you, where do you want to go? Without a goal, life's energies are wasted, because life cannot be focused without a definite goal.

This is the problem with our spiritual life. What is it? We have a goal. At least we claim we have a goal.

What is it? I want to reach God. But then we also have to be practical enough to say that goal is there, but I am here. So there must be what is called a short term goal.

What is my next step? It means, you know there is a small something from the ceiling they put it to keep things from ants and other things. You know, a person cannot reach it, but he says I want to reach heaven. Yeah.

I am a dwarf. I want to reach the moon. The short term goal is, what is it that I immediately should attain? Devotees forget this.

They are, I want Moksha. I want, you know, to live with God. But here is somebody.

How foolish these Hindus are. You know, I will tell you a real story. There was a great soul called Narayana Guru in South India.

Have you heard about him? Later on he acquired lakhs. You understand, like here people don't understand what is a lakh. A lakh only L-A-C-K, not L-A-K-H.

Lakhs of devotees. And you know, they were all Hindu devotees, all enthusiastic about their Guru, Brahma, Guru Vishnu. They asked him, we will celebrate your birthday.

He said, I don't like it, but their devotees are so devoted, they want to obey the Guru. So devoted. He said, no, no, we will celebrate.

We are not asking your permission. We are informing you. So they, Shamyana, and every year they celebrate.

Year after year, it will be growing and growing and growing. Swami became 80 years old. He said, he was not in good health.

He said, I cannot come and sit there. You celebrate if you want. So the huge panda, 80th birthday, huge photograph of the Swami, early morning Vedic chanting, offering, going on.

Heaps, mountain heaps of food was going on. And they were all in ecstasy, 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the Swami, nobody was there, slowly got up with his stick, came to the puja mandap and said, I am very hungry.

Can I get little food? Heaps of food they are offering to his photograph. See, this is the Hindu's nature. Wherever they go, big temples, they construct.

In India, you know, temples. God must have, you know, one Karnakundala, one Mohskundala, one Kundala, because Ghazni Muhammad had invited India 17 times, never went anywhere. Straight he went to Somnath, and with all those sandalwood trees, jewels, everything went quite happily.

Next year, everything Hindus got ready for him. I can live without those things, but God cannot live without those things. This is nature.

But they are good natured people, I am proud of that. Otherwise, I would not have been able to come here, if not for this temple. It's nice.

So, that maturity, realism, should be there. Goal should be there. Long term goal, ultimate goal, and proximate goal also should be there.

We should not forget. Otherwise we become impractical. So these are the instruments.

But what is the real spiritual life? I have only made the background. We live in internal and external world. We have very little control over the external world.

But we have some amount of control over our inner world. But there are tremendous potentialities, as well as setbacks also in the internal world. Our aim is to attain to the maximum health, means developing all the potentialities.

This is only preparing for the journey. Now the real journey starts. So I told you, what is spirituality? Self-knowledge, or God-realisation.

Why God-realisation? Because that is our real nature. What happens when a person realises God? He becomes so happy. By attaining which happiness? He doesn't consider any other happiness as equivalent to that.

Bhagavad Gita says. We understand happiness. That's why I am using the word happiness.

What is happiness? It is a state of mind. We always forget it. Because possessions, money, buildings, cars, good family, they are all only environment.

But if our mind is not in that state, then we cannot be happy. It is a state of mind. What state of mind is it? The mind perfectly thinks, I am a happy person.

I am a happy person. Who can be a happy person? I have no more desires. I got what I want.

I am a contented person. That is the state of happiness. As long as we can keep this state of mind, we are happy people.

So now we will talk about the laws of happiness. Not L-O-S-S. L-A-W-S.

There are certain definite laws of happiness. In simple way of explaining, we call it chakras. You know about these six chakras, shat chakras.

People think they understand about chakras. What are these chakras? Each chakra is a state of consciousness, which means how we identify ourselves as. So the three lower chakras, Muladhara, Manipura, Swadhisthana, this is what Sri Ramakrishna says, Eating, sleeping, mating.

These are what we call worldly life, normal worldly life. Why do we do that? Because we identify ourselves exclusively with this human body. Deha tadatmya.

Sthula sharira tadatmya. These are the things which go on. So animals are also doing that.

As long as we are in these three chakras, so our happiness is bound only with these three. Eating, sleeping, mating. Only these three things.

People do not, as I said, understand what are called chakras. Because we have a centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. And you know these westerners, they go on reading books about the chakras and practising like that.

And one such person, he wrote to one of our Swamis, Swami, I can easily ascend to the Sahasrara chakra and control it, but I have a lot of problem with my Muladhara chakra. What is the understanding of chakras? You know, he says, you know, I can calculate ten figures into ten numerals into ten numerals, but I have a great problem in adding one plus one. Strange things happen, you know.

In one of our centres in USA, one of our Swamis initiated one western devotee. And the devotee, you know, western people are very enthusiastic, they take to these things so much to heart. As soon as he got initiated, he went, sat down, started repeating the mantra.

After one hour he ran to the Swami, Swami, I have a big problem. What is that? My Kundalini has reached the Sahasrara and refuses to calm down. Swami said, foolish fellow, repeat the mantra in reverse.

People have crazy ideas about chakras, but those who have read the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, the most marvellous description, what happens when the Kundalini ascends to each chakra, it is gradually going to higher and higher states of consciousness. That is what is meant. It is only figuratively it is given that this is the lowest chakra, actually consciousness has no such spatial concept.

It is only for us to make us understand. We say, you know, there is God who is up there. It is not a spatial concept.

So we are talking about happiness. Every state of consciousness is associated with a certain amount of happiness, both qualitatively and qualitatively. This is the first law of happiness.

The second law of happiness is, every creature longs for higher and higher states of happiness. If we have attained to certain degree of happiness, the mind will be happy for a short time, then it wants higher, seeks instinctively higher state of happiness. So what is the second law says? That every creature, especially human beings, seek higher and higher states of happiness.

The third law states that if we want a higher state of happiness, the only way is to ascend to a higher state of consciousness. There is no way I will be here and I will pull down the higher state of happiness. This is one of the mistakes we are making all the time, that we are identified with the body, but we want to enter into Samadhi.

So Samadhi, you know, some people, foolish people, Swami, I don't have much time, can you quickly teach me what is Samadhi? He said, yes, there are, you know, one way only I know to teach you a quick way of happiness, but sign here, whatever happens to me, Swami is not responsible for it. I will take a big stick and give you instantaneous Samadhi. I will have it.

I don't know any other short way of giving Samadhi to that person. So without transcending to a higher state of consciousness, it is impossible to enjoy that state of happiness. This is the third law.

The fourth law says that there is no need for us to acquire happiness. When we reach the particular state of consciousness, there is no need for us to produce happiness. All that we need to do is remove the obstructions.

This is the Vedantic theory. Happiness is not something that is coming from outside, given by somebody to us. It is already there.

It is covered. You discover it. That is why Hindu sadhana is not a positive sadhana.

It is a negative sadhana, in the sense that all that you have to do is remove the obstacles. Naturally, the Self is already there, but the Self is identified with certain obstructions. These obstructions are called Koshas.

Pancha Kosha, you know? You simply remove, I am not the body. Then all the happiness in the gross world will be yours. Simply say, I am not the prana.

All the happiness of the prana will be ours, like that. It is a negative sadhana. It means you only remove the obstacles.

You don't need to do anything. You know, there was a school. Christmas was coming.

School teacher wanted to present a beautiful drama for entertaining both students and parents. So the drama teacher was wanting to teach the children. He selected some children for participating in the drama.

So he said, boys, there are two scenes, the heavenly scene and the hellish scene. So when the hellish, heavenly scene comes, put up bright smiles, let everybody see how happy you are. He did not say anything about what they should do when the hellish scene comes.

So he asked some of them, what shall we do when the hellish scene comes? He said, you don't need to do anything. People understand when they see you. So, this Hindu sadhana is negative sadhana.

Only remove the obstacles. And the last law tells us that karma is used only to remove the obstacles and not to give anything. This karma is called sadhana.

Karma doesn't produce happiness. Karma only removes the obstacles. These are the five laws of happiness.

So, spirituality is to know who we really are and that is there instinctively in us, inherent in us. It is this which is the cause of biological evolution, of psychological evolution, of moral evolution and also of course spiritual evolution. Why are we wanting love to other people? To love is a most natural thing.

Not to love is a very negative thing. It is not our nature. Just as ill health is not our nature.

How do we know? Because when you are healthy, you don't struggle to get rid of health. When you are sick, you get rid of sickness. Happiness is your very real nature.

How do we know? When you are happy, you don't try, struggle to get rid of it. But when you are unhappy, you do everything in your capacity to get rid of it. Similarly, to know who we are is a most natural thing for us.

The only thing is when we know who we are not, then we struggle to get rid of it. All our struggle is for that. There was an officer, you know when you go big officer, there will be a plaque, the name, the designation, right? So people were surprised.

When they used to go to his office, the plaque was turned towards himself. So some people, perceptive people noticed it. All people are not perceptive, you know how blind people could be.

Vedanta Centre, we have a main door, and constantly people come. There is a bell. So to avoid the nuisance, we have put a big plaque, and the door is open, push it in and come.

They come there, go on pressing the bell, until we come running. And then we say, oh we are very sorry, we did not know. Try it in front of their eyes.

So this officer, some people noticed, sir, why is this odd way of, you know? He said, everybody knows who I am, I tend to forget who I am. I want to remind myself who I am. It's a beautiful way.

This is called spiritual practise. We are always looking outside to find our identity. I am a Hindu, I speak, you know, this language, I am so and so, my husband, my wife, my parents, etc.

These are all outside things. What is my real identity? I am the Self. Some wise man turned his sight inward to find out who he really is.

So I will summarise, what is spiritual life? To know who we are. That is the goal which is pushing us, only if we consciously try to understand and aid nature, then we will progress spiritually. If we do not, we do not progress.

Even from utilitarian point of view, the person who knows who he is, he attains to the highest type of happiness possible, not those who are ignorant. Even from the lowest point of view, training the mind to be nature, psychologically, also solves a lot of problems and gives us the most possible happiness, even here and now. Spirituality is that something which will give us health, which will give us physical happiness, which will give us spiritual happiness too.

What is your authority for making such a statement? If you ask, what are the Purusharthas, four Purusharthas? Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. So Hindus have divided life into four stages, so that we can attain these four Purusharthas. So what is the first Purushartha? Dharma.

So a person who is Dharmic is on the way to spiritual perfection. Even if you want worldly happiness, it is not possible by hook or crook, only by being a Dharmic person. So Dharma fulfils two functions.

In the initial stage, it gives us this worldly happiness, but ultimately it purifies our mind and directs us towards God. That is why Dharma is such a most wonderful thing. Spirituality, as I said, in simple terms is how to know who we are, how to find the goal in our life, how to live in such a way that we have the optimum health, optimum happiness.

And this will be expressed in the form of love, unselfishness and truthfulness. Or to put it even in simpler terms, if you are looking for an ideal companion, whom do you seek in one world? Do you know that? You know that. It is called trustworthy person, whom you can trust.

Whom does a baby instinctively trust? Why? Because she is loving, she is unselfish, and she for her baby is the only truth. I can go on like this, you know, explaining, but in short, we cannot live without a spiritual life. If you ask me, what is spiritual life? A very happy, fulfilled life.

What is unspiritual life? A very unhappy, unfulfilled life. This is what Sri Ramakrishna means by worldly life and spiritual life. Many people do not understand this statement.

They think we are all living in this world. Are we worldly people? Where are the Swamis living? Svargaloka. Where did Sri Ramakrishna live? Not in this world? So he has a wonderful way of saying it.

What is that? A boat can live on the water, but the water should not be in the boat. That is called spiritual life. It involves some amount of detachment too, because when tragedies occur, if we do not have detachment, we will be overwhelmed by the grief.

So spirituality, the term spirituality covers all these aspects. Even if you have to take one simple word, I want to be happy. Be spiritual, you will be happy.
[[Category:General]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 07

2026-05-11T03:44:05Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon I would like to talk about the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This text we have been following for the last few days is Dhrit Drishya Viveka. Now this discrimination, separation between the seer and the seen is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon the system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only he can really..."

So in this class we will continue the discussion we had yesterday. From this afternoon I would like to talk about the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. This text we have been following for the last few days is Dhrit Drishya Viveka.

Now this discrimination, separation between the seer and the seen is a very scientific method. The whole of science is only based upon the system. What does a scientist do? He becomes an impartial observer, isn't it? Then only he can really observe.

Observe means to find out the nature. He finds a pattern and that is how he classifies. First he gathers the data, then he classifies it, then he derives certain conclusions based upon which predictions can be made.

Now that is a science. A scientist is one, not merely a technician. Many technicians call themselves scientists.

They are not scientists, they are merely mechanical workers. Now a true scientist is one who detaches himself from his old habits and tries to observe things properly. This is very, very useful for us in our day-to-day life.

If we do not, then we have to pay 100 pounds per hour in the Harley Street. What does a psychologist do? He just observes us. But he can come to the right conclusions because he is not attached to us.

He is only attached to the money we are going to get. So he is very careful to observe and he doesn't do anything new. He simply says that these are some of the ideas which are obscuring your true vision.

He doesn't make a new man. He merely brings us back to our original state. So that is spiritual practise also.

What is the first thing? We have to detach ourselves, not become one with our ideas or thoughts. The highest such detachment is the detachment from the body. But that doesn't mean we have to neglect the body or commit suicide.

We should not say, I am the body. We have to say, I have a body. Do whatever you like.

You enjoy thoroughly. In fact, you will enjoy better if you have that kind of attitude. Because then you accept in its totality.

What is our problem? We only accept truth partially, not in its totality. Now if you can accept the truth of the world in totality, then you will develop great detachment. Why? What is the nature of the world? Not only changing, it consists of dualities.

If you are happy, then what do you expect? I will always be happy like this. But that doesn't happen. After some time, you will become necessarily unhappy.

That is part of life, part of nature. That is why it is called dvandva. It is part of life.

Somehow we know it intellectually, but we never accept it. Some understanding is there, but acceptance is not there. In spiritual life, these two must be integrated.

Understanding plus acceptance. And modify the behaviour according to that understanding. That is why the Lord says, if anyone is devoted to me, I grant him buddhi yoga.

Buddhi yogam dadamyaham. What is buddhi yoga? Understanding we already have. Who doesn't know death comes? Who doesn't know death comes at any time it likes? Is it not? Don't we have that understanding? But we don't, we lack one thing.

What is it? Acceptance. We have understanding, we don't have acceptance. It is acceptance that is lacking.

We are prepared to accept one thing, that which is convenient, we are ready to accept. But that which is inconvenient, we are not able to accept. Swami Vivekananda made a wonderful observation.

Happiness comes with a crown of misery on its head. So we are very prepared to accept the happiness, not the misery. But it goes along with it.

These two, they are called twin brothers. Always they are together. Not ordinary twin brothers.

Sia means twin brothers. If you take one, the other also has to be taken. So that comes only through spiritual practise.

Actually spiritual practise doesn't change anything. One doesn't grow two horns because of spiritual practise. Even hair also doesn't grow.

If you practise too much spiritual practise, there is a danger of hair falling off, not growing. Is there any difference between acceptance and forbearance? Forbearance is an action. Acceptance is an intellectual outlook.

Yes, I accept it. After that forbearance comes. In fact, without acceptance, the word forbearance is meaningless.

So what we cannot avoid, we have to bear so many things in this world. In fact, 99% of the time we are only forbearing. Because how many times we are able to get things.

Even when you get things, you are only bearing it. You know, nice first class pressure too. I am bearing it even now.

You see, long time I am going to bear it. But that is actually forbearance, it is not bearing. You know why? If you analyse the fact, we want to enjoy the sensation of enjoyment.

But we don't want it to stick there like a heavy burden. In five minutes it can be like that, digested. And if we are ready for another, how wonderful it will be.

But unfortunately this is the payment we have to pay. For this much of happiness, I have to bear it for hours together. That we do not usually accept.

What happens when we take to spiritual life, things do not change. You must always notice it. The world doesn't change.

The same sun rises from morning till day after day. Same sun, same food, same environment, same mosquitoes. Everything is the same.

But what happens? A new outlook comes. That makes all the difference in the world. When we accept something, life becomes marvellous.

But it doesn't stop there. Forbearance is not meant just to carry on life. Forbearance is an instrument on the way to something much higher.

And for that we have to make special spiritual practises. That is why most of us, we know of course, but we do not pay attention to it. There are certain disciplines, they are not spiritual disciplines.

They are preparations for spiritual disciplines. In fact, all the sadhana, ketu, sthaya, sampatthi are only what? Preparations. Then only the teacher will come and tell, now your instrument is ready, let us start the journey.

Then he will give you, this is how you will have to meditate from now onwards. Very often I compare meditation to simulation. It is a very useful analogy.

You know simulation? Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is a very useful example. Instead of you going into the actual plane and damaging it, what do you do? You sit and everything that you are supposed to do in the real plane, you are doing it.

You get the point? So if you do enough number of times, then your nerves, your thinking, everything becomes automated. So many types of simulators are there. Even I think car driving, there is a simulator like that.

And now the psychologists are devising certain computer programmes to simulate, simulators, so that they can help people with phobias. You know phobias? Earthworm phobia. Many devotees suffer from Swami phobia.

In both senses. Understand? Both senses? Swami means husband. Both senses.

Now we are seriously, they are developing, some woman has got what is called cockroach phobia, earthworm phobia, dry leaf phobia, you name it, it is there. Agoraphobia, claustrophobia, so many phobias are there. Now what they do, a kind of machine they developed, virtual, it is a computer simulation, it is possible.

So slowly, suppose somebody has got earthworm phobia, they know intellectually earthworm doesn't do any harm, but somehow they developed it. So slowly, slowly they put that earthworm moving like that, and he is going on talking and asking her, him or her, to express, oh I have this phobia, he is going on looking. Somehow the mind accepts very near, then slowly he will ask her to go near to that and touch it.

It is just an artificial one, go on touching it. So when this is sufficiently practised, then he will bring an actual earthworm, and slowly persons will get rid of it. This is the exact simulation we are supposed to do, this is called in Sanskrit language Upasana.

All Upasanas are like that. Now these Upasanas consist of several factors, but I will only mention two factors. One, our normal situation, and second, where we are going to reach, our destination, our goal.

But we are now here, so we have to slowly remove all the impediments that we have. So how do we overcome that? Let us take an example. Suppose there is a person who loses temper very, very quickly.

Now that is a great impediment. It snaps energy, time, brings bad reaction in others. No one is going to be spiritual without removing these impediments.

That is not possible. Because saintliness means the higher the vision, because vision is knowledge, knowledge brings simultaneously corresponding changes in the behaviour. If there is knowledge, knowledge brings about change in the behaviour.

But if we want to have that knowledge, we have to change the behaviour, so that it facilitates the manifestation of that knowledge. Now, this is where Upasanas work out. How does it work out? You take one example.

You heard about it? Let your mother be God. Let your father be God. Let your teacher be God.

Let any guest, means by implication, everybody. Now you look at the Krama. Who is the nearest to us? Mother.

Not even father, because nine months we are in the womb of the mother. We hear the mother's voice, and we feel the emotions of the mother. Mother is the nearest.

We are nothing but 99% our mother only, body and mind, everything. That is why, let our mother be God. But it is easy to think mother is God.

But father, the next comes, father, that is also easy. But it is slightly distant. We recognise him only a little bit later.

And if he is absent for six months, it will take a few hours for the child to recognise. But the mother is instinctual. The child will never forget.

You know the penguins? There are half a million penguins. Every penguin practically has a chick. The mother recognises the chick.

The chick recognises, even though everybody is a cacophony. The cacophonous, always tied in the asterisk, somewhere to the tree. Don't seem to ever enjoy the asterisk.

Yes, you remember? Cacophonics, always tied, whenever they have a fish, he is tied, because he says, I will now sing for you. Put him there. So, cacophonics means so much of noise.

How does the mother recognise the chick, and the chick recognises the mother? It is a bond. But for father, because it is a bit distant, he can forget later on, of course, by associating and recognising. So, even further is teacher, because the teacher-student relationship comes when? Maybe after four years, five years only it comes.

Consider as God. Then, Atithi, means what? Anybody whom we encounter in life, suddenly, for a short time, is the Atithi. So, you see, it is gradually enlarging our vision of divinity.

If we can make, really see our mother as divine, then it is easier to look upon father as divine. I am, of course, talking about ideal mother and father. If you hear all these stories nowadays, then you will never be able to consider anybody as divine, including mother and father.

You understand? I am taking ideal situation. Normally, parents love, it is instinctual. The children also depend upon the parents.

So, this is how we are slowly trying to see God in more and more and more people, those who are at a distance. Now, let us take one of the examples, Guru. Without any contradiction, every religion practically, including Buddhism, it emphasises reverence to the Guru, to the teacher.

Now, many modern people have a lot of objections to it. After all, he is a human being like you and me. He also eats.

In fact, he eats first place. You know, whenever you... Today, those who have eaten breakfast with me today, you understand, I was given first. Later on, only if anything remains, you will get.

And then, all attention is paid to me. So, whether he is eating... Everybody is glaring at me. What I have brought, he is eating or not.

Not taking into consideration that the Swami has to eat others also like that. So, when you look at this kind of behaviour, how can you have reverence for the Guru? So, so many people, modern people... After all, what is there? He is also a human being. I am also a human being.

Why do you want to pay attention to him? The point is, how much the Hinduism goes, Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara. And some devotees are having so much devotion, they catch hold of the feet and do not leave at all. Even when the Swami is standing on a slippery carpet, I call it pulling the legs of the Swami.

Literally, I have to go on balancing. Their devotion is so intense for a long time and slowly they want to touch their forehead to the... Now instead of begging, their forehead... You see my condition. You see my condition.

Okay, this is a wonderful subject. Why so much of reverence? It is not Guru. Guru is a target for practising reverence, whatever be the Guru.

Guru may not have so much knowledge, he may have even bad habits, he may not know more than me, but that is not the point. The point is, I want to become better. When you are practising archery, then it is not the greatness of the target.

In fact, the more you are becoming better at archery, the smaller and distant the target becomes. There was a Zen master and he was considered the supreme master of archery. So somebody asked, why are you called such a great Zen master? He said, I will only tell the secret to you.

He said, you know what I do? First, I discharge my arrow and call it a target. So every time, absolutely on the target. So the point is, we have to grow reverence.

Now, there is a law, if somebody is great, naturally we will have reverence to that object. But we don't see that in common in the world. Very little greatness we see, but we have to learn how to reverence, especially if you have to see God.

Can you remain without reverencing God? Is it possible? But how will you see God? If you develop your reverence, then you will see only God. This is called seeing God. God is already there.

Every object, God is there. Where is not God? Even in a pillar, there is God. Remember, you understand what I am talking about? Prahlada.

Prahlada's father asked, is there your God here? He says, where is not God? God is everywhere. This pillar itself is nothing but God, if you have the eyes to see. So, what Hinduism is teaching, it is not that God is hiding somewhere and waiting for you.

It is that you have to open your eyes. Already God is standing, not only in front of you, you are that God. Usually, we don't reverence ourselves, but we have to reverence ourselves.

There was an incident. One's holy mother was sitting and some devotee was passing by. Inadvertently, the feet of that person touched the dress of the holy mother.

Now, that is considered a great offence, especially if it is a disciple. A disciple's feet touches the teacher's body. Then, immediately, the holy mother took the dress of her own feet and then put it on the head of the disciple.

Now, if any one of us look at this person, she thinks she is God. You know, one woman and her husband, wife and husband, were separated, divorced. Somebody asked her, why did you divorce? She said, on religious grounds.

Religious grounds, what is the religious grounds? He thinks he is God, I do not. Religious grounds. You see, Sri Ramakrishna, how much he reverenced himself.

He used to show, this is where I practised Nirvikalpa Samadhi, this is where I did tantric practises. Was he glorifying his own actions? No, because he knows that he has manifested through that body and mind, God has manifested. He is only, out of his compassion, revealing.

Arjuna heard everything about Sri Krishna from Sri Krishna's own mouth, if you have studied Gita. 10th Chapter, Vibhuti Yoga. What was he telling? Wherever you see something extraordinary, that is a manifestation of my own glory.

Now Arjuna heard all these things, but that is not only special things. Every manifestation is nothing but himself. Arjuna had faith.

Then he says, O Lord, I believe in what you say, but let me experience it. It's a wonderful chapter, 11th Chapter. Then Krishna says, You cannot experience me as I mentioned to you through your ordinary eyes.

You need special vision, knowledge vision. That's why he says, I will give you divine eyes. Divine eyes behold only divinity.

So that change has to come within us. Now you see the wonderful chapter. It is not Arjuna's natural nature to have divine eyes.

They are borrowed divine eyes. And he could not keep them for long because he got frightened. That's a very wonderful chapter.

Though it is not connected with this subject, but it is nice to understand it. Why was he frightened? After all it is a divine vision. Why was he frightened? Why did Kuntanath Sanyal get frightened? Why did he get frightened? He was not ready.

No, no. Yes, he was not ready. In what way was he not ready? You see, we only want to see what is the sweet side of divinity.

Krishna playing nice flute and at moonlit night on the banks of the Yamuna. Wonderful. But when Kali comes with a sword and dances in the crematorium, how does it look? Every shaking step destroys a world forever.

Kali the mother. Swamiji is Kali the mother. But what is divinity? Everything is divinity.

Srishti is divinity. Stithi is divinity. Laya also is divinity.

Divine Leela. How can you have divinity and see only one side of the divinity? Seeing one side is only humanity. Maya, not divinity.

Seeing everything is called divinity. So Arjuna was not ready for that. That's why he prays.

Just as he prayed, give me the vision. And he said, take away your vision. And Krishna, of course, he understood.

Otherwise he will have heart attack. If his heart is attacked, whose chariot is he going to ride? He will be jobless. Unemployment problem.

That is why he said, alright, I will bring you back. It's the most wonderful thing for us to contemplate. Just imagine, if we behold everything as divine, then only reverence will be there.

Wherever you look, that is God. Now something wonderful happened. M visited Kamarpakur even during the lifetime of Sri Ramakrishna.

And then he came back. Sri Ramakrishna asked, so how did you find Kamarpakur? You know what he said? That every particle of dust in Kamarpakur appeared to be shining with divine light. And he was prostrating everywhere.

Because every place is manifesting the divinity of Sri Ramakrishna. He enjoyed it so much. Actually, if you see Kamarpakur people, they themselves did never recognise Sri Ramakrishna.

He said, our Gadai, no improvement at all. Even after 50 years he is looking exactly the same. But M had that wonderful vision.

Then he enjoyed it. He wanted to go a second time. Sri Ramakrishna said, no, because you digest what you have been given.

So how did he get that experience? Because Sri Ramakrishna had given him that special enjoyment. You know, similar stories go on. Sri Krishna says this thing.

Coming back to our subject. What is it? That divinity is already there. We don't reverence because we do not see divinity.

We hate. It is worse. How can you hate divine? If you hate something, from the Vedantic point of view, whom are you hating? Yourself.

Because God is even a remote entity. But you are the most immediate entity. If everything is God, you are also God.

So if you hate something, whom are you hating? If you help someone, whom are you helping? That is the very essence of Karma Yoga. What is Karma Yoga? To see the divinity everywhere. To feel that I am not serving anybody.

I am only serving my own self. This is the knowledge that will come as a natural consequence. But until it comes, we have to presume.

We have to... That is called simulation. So in meditation, there are two factors. One, you simulate the being of divinity with the help of scriptures.

Scriptures tell you, you think of Krishna like that. Think of Rama like this. Think of Krishna like this.

That is why every follower has been given a Dhyana Mantra. You know Dhyana? Suppose you have to meditate on Vishnu. How will you meditate on Vishnu? You are asked to meditate on Vishnu.

Do you know how to meditate on Vishnu? You don't know. That is why they give you step-by-step guidance. What is that guidance? That is called Dhyana Mantra.

All this. If you have to meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna, then also you are given certain hints. What is that? Sri Ramakrishna Mantra You cannot meditate otherwise.

You know, you can imagine the form. Sri Ramakrishna is sitting like that. But what is that Sri Ramakrishna? This is only Nama Rupa.

What is the real nature of Sri Ramakrishna? He is beyond all these dualities. He is always shining in the heart. Do we feel him? No, we don't.

But we have to feel him. This is one side. We always focus only on this side.

But we don't focus on the other side, which is even more important. That is real meditation. What is that simulation? Where are you now? What happened to you today? Did you shout at somebody? Did somebody shout at you? When someone shouted at you, what was your reaction? Just imagine.

Somebody shouted at you. What is our normal reaction? We shout back, or we get angry, or we suppress it. We may not even show, but we suppress it.

And that doesn't mean that you don't have adverse reactions. It only means you are waiting for the proper opportunity. It only means you are missing him.

It only means you are missing him. You understand what I am talking about? Most of you don't understand. It is a joke, you know.

The wife was very angry with her husband. So there was a photo of the husband. So she took some darts, you know, went on throwing at him.

But all the darts are falling only here and there, not hitting the photograph. Meanwhile the husband phoned, what are you doing? He said, missing you. You see, how many reactions come into our mind, and how many we suppress because of conditions.

You can't shout at your boss. You can't perhaps shout at your colleagues. Every day, the moment there is a second person, there is going to be a conflict.

But how are we going to resolve it? If you suppress, it will come out someday, and it will damage you. If you express, it may be even more dangerous. But what is the way? Sublimation.

How can you sublimate? So the most wonderful example given is, see, a child is suckling the mother. At that time, the child is kicking the mother all over. You see that? Then will the mother get angry with the child? Because the mother knows, this is my child, it is a child, it doesn't know, and the child is not really kicking.

That is its movement. But it can only do it with the legs, because it is busy otherwise. Now, is it possible for us to take things in that light? In fact, the whole Tirupati story starts like this only.

I won't go into it now, but the thing is we must sublimate, because you cannot go on getting justice in this world. That's not possible. So many things we have to forbear.

In fact, life is meant to teach us how to forbear. But forbear means not to... Now I don't have opportunity, but when I get opportunity, I take out. That's what you... In America, there is an expression, you know, when two small children quarrel, one fellow gets the blow and he cannot retaliate.

He says, you know, my daddy can lick your daddy. The expression is, or you just wait until I grow up. And many times it happens also, they grow up and then they do something more damaging.

What is the point? The point is if we have reverence, then we can bear anything. So that is what we have to do. Willingly we submit ourselves to the Guru.

But we have to simulate it in the mind. So this was the example I was giving. Somebody has shouted or insulted, did something to you, you got very angry and you burst out, you reacted.

That may be all right for worldly people, but it is not all right for spiritual people. That is not the normal behaviour. We have to take the example of saints.

How do they react? But we are not saints. What should we do? Simulate. How do we do it? Recollect this incident and then replay it exactly as it happened.

And then sit back and say, is this the way I should have reacted? How would I like to react ideally? How would I like to react? Then you simulate. I will simply not get angry. I will be smiling.

I will be talking very nicely. I will be talking very sweetly. Rehearse.

Go on rehearsing. That is called simulation. When you do this, when actually an event takes place, then your reaction would not be as violent as it has been in this case.

Do you get the point? We have to do that. If we don't do, simply go on doing japam. And once you get up from the japam, and then you go out, then you are the same old person.

That is why people start wondering, what is the good of your japam? I don't see any change in you. Fifty years before you started your japam, you are exactly the same fellow. At every turn, if anything, you only became worse.

That is why people lose faith in religion. Religion is supposed to bring about transformation. And when they don't see, it is all bunk.

The priests themselves, the ministers themselves, they don't change. Many so-called religious teachers, they don't change. So long as they are on the platform, they are excellent teachers.

But the moment they come down, they are horrible. In Telugu there is a story about Harikatha man. He was giving Harikatha.

And he was describing the evil nature of onion and the effects. His wife was also there in the audience. He was very fond of onion.

Without onion, he will never put one rice buddha in his mouth. So his wife came to know for the first time how evil this onion was. That night she didn't put onion.

And he wanted to eat. It was horrible food. He shouted, why did you not put onion? She said, I did not know it was so bad until I heard your Harikatha.

He said, if I ever see you in my Harikatha, I will kill you. You know, platform, everything is all right. Practical life.

Not only me, all of you, you are listening. What is the change that happens to you? If it doesn't happen, it is not much effective. So we have to observe at least a little.

I am not saying next day itself you will be transformed into a saint. But a little bit of improvement should happen. That is how we progress in spiritual life.

This simulation has to take place in the mind. Now incidentally, this is not connected with spirituality, even playing baseball, cricket, football, or any game for that matter, you can have this simulation. 90% of the skill is simulation.

10% is actual practise, they tell you. Nowadays everybody has a psychologist. A football player has a psychologist.

And a singer has a psychologist. A chess player has a psychologist. Everybody has a psychologist.

They advise people. You make this, what is simulation? Deep meditation of what I am going to be. What is meditation? It is a simulation of what I am going to be in the future.

That is why you visit barber shops, you will understand better what I am talking about. Modern barber shop. You know barber, hair dresser shop, exotic term.

In barber shop, it is not there. Hair dressing shop, beauty salon. Wonderful world.

You go there, they will have computers. You go there for hair dressing. They will take a photograph.

And they will put various dresses, hair dress, how you will look. When you say, I want to be like this, then they will cut your hair like that. Have you seen that? I heard that they are like that.

What is this? Because for me there is no problem. Anybody can dress my hair. And I can do it myself.

Actually Maharaj, they have an app for that. Linda has it on her iPod. Different hair you can put on your own picture.

Is it? Yes. Anyway, it is a good example. Meditation is what we would like to be in the future.

Ekalavya. What was he doing? How did he learn archery? You know that? His own Guru refused him. How did he learn? Because you see, he simulated.

What did he simulate? What did he simulate? He used to go, bow down to the Guru in the image he made. And as though the Guru was teaching him, and you, my child, you practise like this. Exactly that is what Sri Ramakrishna also had done.

There is a wonderful incident. Ram Lal Dada. No, not him.

Shibudha. Shibudha, Sri Ramakrishna's nephew. And he was talking with Mahapurush Maharaj.

And he was the priest of the Dakshineshwar Kali temple. So this Shibudha was a wonderful person. Mother loved him.

He was a very devotee, great devotee of Mother. He was the person who confronted Mother and said, who are you? Are you Mother Kali? And she said yes. She was forced to admit yes.

So he was telling to Mahapurush Maharaj, Maharaj, how can I describe the grace of the Divine Mother? Every day before going to bed, I pray to Mother, I may not be able to get up in the morning. There were no alarm clocks in those days. So will you please wake me up? He said, next morning, every day Mother wakes, Hey, Shibu, get up.

Already the crow is crying. The crow is crying. The crows, the chickens and all these are starting, the birds are singing.

So get up and take bath. And it is time for puja. And while doing puja, he said, no, no, no.

That will come next. This will come first. He was telling how to do puja.

Mahapurush Maharaj was telling, Shibu, is there any wonder? You are such a great devotee. And Sri Ramakrishna loved you. What wonder is there that the Divine Mother is teaching you herself.

And who taught to Sri Ramakrishna? Divine Mother. It is only Divine Mother. When he was doing puja, as though she was so eager to accept his puja, see the wonder of it.

She was trying to eat the food. Sri Ramakrishna said, no, no, no. I have not yet uttered the mantra.

Wait, wait. The mantra is uttered. I see so many advanced spiritual people here.

They come and sit. Before I do marfanam, they already start eating. What a devotion these people have.

How was the Divine Mother teaching them? Because there is complete reliance upon the Mother. If it happens to Sri Ramakrishna, will it happen only to Sri Ramakrishna? Not to any one of us? If we have that devotion, Mother will protect. It is a wrong thing to say she will protect.

As though she is not protecting now. Do you know how many ways Mother protects us? Every time she comes and says, look, note down that I have protected you. This is the third time I have protected you today.

Please note down. Do you think she is expecting thanks for that? She is already doing it. But because we don't realise how many times she has saved us from dangers.

How many times she has protected us in various ways. Still protecting, will protect. But she is doing it invisibly.

We have to take it for granted. Oh Mother, you are already protecting me. I can only express my gratefulness to you for doing these things.

But coming back to our subject, what we were discussing here, Samadhis, what is the first thing? Be a good observer. Go on observing it. After observing, if you wish, you get identified with any of the anger or whatever it is.

But you are doing it now as a master, not as a slave. In any case, this observation is wonderful. Not only it is wonderful in spiritual life, it is wonderful in every activity of life.

For example, you are reading a book. Sometimes you observe that so many pages have been turned. But what has gone inside? Nothing.

But you observe, read a book, one page. And then you say, what did I read? This is the best way of reading. What did I read? Did I understand? How do I summarise it, this particular page? What are the important points? Then move on to the next page.

What did I understand from this page? What is the relationship between the past page and the next page? So what is the secret? You have to be an observer and at the same time a participant. If you are only a participant, if you are a good participant, that's fine. But actually every concentrated practitioner, he simultaneously does these two things.

That is how he keeps in memory. Oh, that page, I have got that point. This page, it is this point.

So I am doing it. Is it not useful? You are cooking. You have put a lot of salt in payasam.

And then you bring it to me. Maharaj, how is it? Now you made pranams and asked him the question. How do I reply? And you are also threatening.

What did you say? I didn't hear. Excellent, excellent. Hari, Hari.

They don't believe me. Do you see how important it is to be a bit of observant? So what happens? Oh, that point I didn't understand. Let me try to understand it better.

Then we save a lot of time and our memory becomes better. Same thing, observe life. There is a beautiful book.

The whole Zen Buddhism is only based upon this simple principle. You know? Vipassana. Observe, observe, observe.

Nothing else. Just go on watching. There is a wonderful novel has come.

Was that Siddhartha? Herman has said. The whole of Siddhartha, the book Siddhartha is nothing but expressing this particular idea. There was one person, his name was Siddhartha, named after Gautam Buddha.

He goes in search of enlightenment. He goes to so many things happen, a big issue. Beautiful book.

Then ultimately he comes, towards the end of his life, he comes to a river. And he recognises the boatman as the most enlightened person. So he asks, how did you get this enlightenment? He says, that this river taught me.

I only fly the boat. This river taught me everything. It gave me enlightenment.

And you also observe the river by flying the boat. What is the secret? The secret is when the river is flowing, sometimes flowers are flowing, sometimes corpses are flowing. And when you are flying the boat, some good people get into it, some bad people get into it.

Good people also get out. Bad people also get out. Then new people come.

Every day, every minute, things are changing. Then, what is the lesson you learn? There is only one thing which doesn't change. Who is that? No, no.

Me. Me, the observer. Even the river is changing.

But me, I am the observer. All life is meant only for one purpose. Who am I? You notice.

If you observe, you notice. You, the observer, alone is the reality. Everything else comes and goes.

It comes and disappears. Where was your husband until you got married? You know, about marriage, what a fine things you observe. One husband observed very wonderfully.

Me and my wife were very happy for 25 years until we met. What a wonderful observation. You know, we learn lessons only through observation.

And until we observe, the lessons will be repeated. When we learn the lesson, what happens? When you get involved, it doesn't matter. But now, you will not be caught.

You see the point? Renunciation is not running away. You learn your lesson, then you can be a king, you can be a husband, you can be a wife, you can be anything. You can even fight in the most terrible war.

That's what Krishna taught to Arjuna. You fight, people will be killed. They will be injured.

You may be also killed. But you have to take it like anybody else. Because this is life.

But just be the observer. And everything will be, comes to you on a plate. The whole life is meant only for observation.

When a scientist observes, not identifying with the materials of the experiment, then he comes to truth. What does he discover? Scientific truth. Until that time, it is only data.

You see, you understand it better. So that is the same rule, be the observer, be the observer. Sakshi.

Then you understand, a time will come. Once you become Sakshi, then the next step will come. This is the essence of beginning meditation.

We talk about Samadhi and this and that and so many other things. It is only, we don't even understand intellectually what it really means. But we can to some extent understand this teaching, that let us be the observers.

You observe everything. You observe your breathing, for example. You will discover wonderful things.

What wonderful things? You observe the human nature. You know, there are persons. Why is Devata free? Is it putting a restriction on you, how much you can breathe? I will only allow you to breathe this much only, because you displease me.

You can breathe, but why are you restricting yourself? That is all breathing that comes out. Why can't you breathe? Fully you breathe. See how much it improves your posture, it improves your thinking, it improves your blood pressure, it improves your intelligence, and it is all free.

That is why the very first teaching for meditation, what is the first condition? No. Sit straight, asana. Then after asana what comes? Pranayama.

What is pranayama? Control the prana. How do you control the prana? You breathe in and out with full observation. And that is why they make a lot of mathematical palimony, no? 2, 8, 4, 4, 16, 8, means breathe in to the count of 4, retain it to the count of 16, and breathe out to the count of 8, etc.

Why they have done this? Why can't you just simply breathe in and breathe out? Because by giving this number, you are forced to observe. And it has a lot of effects. There are so many mysteries, which nobody will reveal to you.

By reading a book by Iyer or Swami Vivekananda, you won't get. They are mysteries. This particular type of regulation, they have an effect with different points of the body, like acupuncture, you know? The Westerners know about this.

Why this particular point affects that particular nerve? So many mysteries are there. Pranayama is wonderful. So first asana, then pranayama, then pratyahara, then dharana, then only dhyana.

And we are talking about dhyana. Even yama and niyama, we don't know what is yama and niyama. You see, one fellow, a young boy, got initiated into Gayatri Mantra.

Morning. Evening, he wanted to repeat. So he had some doubts, whether he heard the mantra properly.

He went to his father, repeated the mantra and said, Father, is this alright? Father said, I remember having heard it a long time back. See, how poor we are, we are talking about dhyana. Yama and niyama, in that order we have to go.

Otherwise you cannot maintain even asana. What happens if you maintain the asana without yama and niyama? No, you can't maintain, because the mind is restless. Body becomes restless.

Then it slumps, or something happens. Restlessness. Asana means, what is the meaning of asana? Steadfastness.

And steadfastness can come only when the mind is steadfast, not otherwise. So, observation is the first point. Observe, observe, observe.

Let the mind run as much as you want. This is another method. Just you observe, let the mind go, don't stop, don't control it, let it do what it likes, but you observe.

Surprisingly, when you start observing it, it starts also, my master is looking at me, I have to be careful what I am doing. 50% of its life is cut off. But that much is the beginning.

So, once you could separate, then this calmness, tranquilly will come, because you understand that it is a natural thing. Sometimes it is hot, sometimes it is cold, some people like you, some people dislike you. This is a most natural thing.

So, what do we think? This is not a natural thing. What is a natural thing? Everybody will like me, that is the most natural thing. Isn't that? That is what the greatest Brahma, Brahmati, in the world.

The mother also doesn't like us, most of the time. That is why if you don't sleep, she will put you to bed and go on doing like this, my child, please sleep, please sleep, because I am tired, I want to be rid of you for some time. Wonderful it is.

So, once we know that we have the power of observation, lots of good results will follow that. But that is not the aim of merely observing. The next step must follow.

What is the next step? Who am I? I know I am observing it. Now I know I am the observer. But what further? What is my real nature? Do I know who I am? Until this time, I am thinking I know who I am.

Do you get the point? I am the body, I am a man, I am a woman, I am living in Cedar Rapids, I do this job, that is my CV. But the moment you separate, immediately you are confused. If I am not the body, if I am not the mind, then who am I? Observer means what? I am separate from the body and mind.

Then who am I? How will you know? Because the world can never teach you who you are. And you don't know who you are. What is the way out? Then you take necessarily the help of the scriptures.

It tells you what is your nature. This is Upasana. So go on meditating upon it.

Then slowly, slowly, the scripture is not making you something new. It is only revealing what you already are. And to understand this properly, the scripture also gives us an object to meditate upon.

Take the example. See, Sita Ramakrishna used to meditate upon whom? Kali, Kali the mother. Forget about Divine Mother, later on.

Kali the mother. That you know. What is that image? Have you seen Kali's image? What do you see? What do you see? That you know, Shiva is lying, and upon his body, Kali is standing, and then her hair is flowing.

She has how many hands? She has four hands. And what do the four hands consist of? You know, there is a krama. Right side two, left side two.

And right side two, one hand is like this, one hand is like this. This is called Abhaya. This is called Vara.

On the left side, there is a sword and a severed head. That's why many people fear Mother Kali. But actually women should be glad about it.

That is the first feminine movement in the world. That is the only way to control your husbands. You understand? Okay.

So what is the symbolism? Everything is a symbolism. Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara is a symbolism. What is the symbolism? What does Brahma do? What does Shiva do? What does Vishnu do? That's why, you see, Brahma doesn't have weapons.

He has Saraswati. But Vishnu and Shiva have weapons. What is the weapons of Vishnu for? Because to maintain order, he needs, you know, law enforcement agency, police, and all these people, you know, paramedics.

Everything should be there. Yeah. What is this Garuda? Ambulance.

Emergency ambulance. Yeah. Simply Vishnu remembers, 999, immediately something comes and wherever there is an accident or emergency, there the paramedic will be present.

You see, all these weapons are meant for sthiti. Sthiti needs two things. Protect and maintain the existing things and defend against inimical things.

Both are necessary. That's what, you know, defensive system. One whole defensive system is there in your government, isn't it? That is necessary.

Shiva is not the maintainer. Shiva is only the destroyer. That's why he has got Trishula.

What does Trishula signify? He is called Tripurari. Tripurari. He is the destroyer of three cities or three gunas.

What is your whole samsara? It is nothing but? What is sattva? Creation. What is rajas? Sthiti, maintenance. What is tamas? Destruction.

So one, if you want to get out of samsara, then you will have to be destroyed. That is why Shiva has got and also this Damaru, Damaru Dhwani. And it indicates that your time is approaching and then Trishula is there.

And then why is Kailasa preserving the dead body for a long time? You see, after death, you know, what is that? Mortuary. For some time, until you decide what to do, it has to be done. Come back to Mother Kali.

All these three are represented in one Divine Mother. So this right side is Brahma and Vishnu. Left side is Maheshwara, Shiva.

That is the representation. The first thing is this one. Means what? Your life is alright.

You don't need to fear. That's why it is called fearlessness. We have only, ultimate fear only is one.

What is it? That we are going to be destroyed. Every other thing is only minus. Then even after living, we want to live happily.

We need lot of things. That is why, this is what? Giving. That is why we always give like this, you know, like this.

That is called Varada. But this is, we are only focussing on this. But anything that is created has also, go back to maintenance.

You know, maintenance, hangers will be there. All the parts will be taken out. And MOT.

And then oiled and cleaned and changed and all those things. And reassembled. So that will be done on the left hand side.

The whole mother's, this one. Keshajala. Kala.

See, the whole, the very word itself is so symbolic. What is it? Kali. Kali means what? Kali means Kala.

Time, not timeless. Timelessness is Shiva. Srishti, sthiti, laya happens only in time.

Now, if one meditates upon this symbolism, that means we accept this is the life process. If you accept, will you regret something, you know, like when you buy an aeroplane ticket, you go and sit there. So long as you are travelling, you will not allow anybody to sit on your seat.

You see, you cling to it with death-like tenacity. But the moment your destination is reached, so you are cursing everybody why they are not moving forward. Have you noticed this? You are too eager to give up your seat and rush out.

Why? Because you have taken it for granted. This is only for a few short hours of journey. Once you have gone, you are not only not reluctant to give up, you are too eager to get out of that place.

A person who knows the secret of life, he is as eager when the time comes to get out of, he is not frightened. But we are like children, you know, we are still clinging to the seat. Because of our ignorance.

What is ignorance? That we have not accepted the fact that the destination has come to an end. Then we have to get out of the train. One fellow was travelling in a train.

He was a heavy sleeper. So he called the conductor and he said, Baba, I am a heavy sleeper, but my destination is reaching at 4 o'clock early in the morning. When the time comes, you please wake me up, otherwise I will be missing.

So the conductor issued, no, no, I will do that. And the fellow happily went to sleep. And when he got up, it was 8 o'clock, and he was ending up somewhere.

He got terribly annoyed and went to the conductor and then caught hold of him. And I am going to kill you. He said, no, you don't need to kill me.

I am about to kill myself. He said, why? He said, you see, that fellow whom I tried to wake up and he didn't wake up, and I threw him out of the train. I heard he is coming out.

I better kill myself. Anyway, much better joke is there. Wife, I will die.

Husband, I too will die. Why? Why do you want to die? It is too much happiness, I can't bear it. All right.

So, why Thakur had become so enlightened after meditating upon the Divine Mother? Because he accepted the fact of, if there is creation, there will be also maintenance, there will be also... This is the most natural thing in the world. And you cannot go beyond nature. Why not accept it? Is it not happening? We all become old.

It is going to happen. And one day we have to die. If we don't accept the fact, you know what happens? We go on struggling how to stop this process.

And do you think you will succeed? You will not succeed. In the process you will only waste your time. Better be prepared for that.

That is why this symbolism is... All the symbolisms are given only because of this. This is a type of meditation. If we can meditate upon this, then we overcome the fear of death.

Then what happens? Mind becomes calm. When mind becomes calm, then we can do better things with that mind. That is one purpose of this symbolism, Upasana, on all these symbolisms.

Not to speak of spiritual progress, but even to live a happy, normal life, we need to accept the reality of the life. Unfortunately, we are not accepting. We are listening to Gita talks, we are listening to Vedantic talks, we are listening to everything.

What I wanted to emphasise is, first be an observer. Then we discover so many defects within us. Oh, why am I angry with that person? Why am I unhappy with that person? Why am I jealous? Because that person got something which I think is better than what I have.

So this is how we discover our own defects. Holy Mother's teaching. My child, if you want peace of mind, then stop finding fault with others.

But that will not do. It is a wonderful thing, wonderful habit. To find fault with others is a wonderful habit.

Improve that habit. Because if you don't know how to find fault with others, how will you try to find fault with others? It is the same technique. So then start finding fault.

And one thing happens, you know. When I start looking into my fault, then I say, that same fault which I was looking in the other person, I have it also in a much improved version. Latest version.

Latest version. Updated version. More powerful version.

How can I, without any shame, try to find fault with others? Because the other person has maybe much less. You see, how many wonderful things will come. The moment we start doing anything like that, we are really observing.

How will you find fault? Because you are observing. How will you find fault with yourself? You are observing. The moment you observe, you are isolated.

The moment you are isolated, fear comes. If I am not this, I don't know who I am. So far, so long, I am thinking I am this.

At least some identity is there. Now I know this identity is gone. Then who am I? And you cannot remain like a person without visa.

What happens if your passport is lost? Will you have cease of mind? So the same thing happens in our mind, then what am I? Who am I? When Ramana Maharshi is advising to people, find out who you are, stupid people, go on, oh I am, who am I, who am I? What picture comes to his mind? Whatever CV he has, that is the only picture. Then if he is honest, he has to say, I am a stupid fellow, I am a foolish fellow, I am an idiot, I am a donkey. Because that is what he is.

Is that what Ramana Maharshi is really asking? He is asking to find out. To find out, no, I am not this, I am not this, I am not this. That is the beginning process.

Then who are you? Then the next things come. When it comes to a question of who are you, you can never find because that is not in our experience. Then you will have to take the teachings of the scriptures and go on repeating those things.

It is only then, as a result of so many janmas, bahunam janmanam ante vasudeva mam prapadyate Vasudeva sarvamiti After so many lives. This is also one question that comes. Why am I not progressing in spiritual life? So, how many janmas you are unspiritual? When did you start your spiritual life? And now you are expecting very, very fast and you have Sri Ramakrishna's teachings for enforcing your argument.

What did Sri Ramakrishna teach? Suppose a room is in darkness for a million years, how much time will it take for it to get light? You know what it is like? A fellow drinking in a pub is telling, usually only one glass will make me drunk. Only one glass. Usually it is the twelfth or thirteenth glass.

Only one glass. But to come to that one glass, it takes time. That is why it says, titiksha.

Sahanam sarva-dukkhanam apratikara-purvakam chinta vilaparaitam titiksha sa infinite patience you must have. That is why Sri Ramakrishna tells the story of those two yogis. Two yogis.

Narada was going. And then, when am I going to see God? One fellow, he says, one more life only. And he started weeping.

The other fellow, he says, as many leaves are there as in a tamarind tree. Oh, he starts dancing so soon. It's a wonderful parable.

What is the meaning of that parable? The other person is prepared to wait any number of years. He is a bhakta. But he knows what is the end.

What is the end? I am going to become sugar. But I don't want to become sugar. I want to enjoy sugar.

So God says, after so many births I am going to come. What a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the sugar before finally becoming sugar. That itself brings the grace of God instantaneously.

So if you are impatient, then you know the result. You take more time to do anything if you are impatient. Have you not noticed that? So, I would wrap up what we have discussed today.

What is it? If we want to progress in any field of life, be scientific. What is to be scientific? First of all, to be an observer. And really be observant.

Not identifying. Not interpreting. We are never observers.

In a way we are observers. We are what is called motivated observers. We interpret everything.

Without observing we don't get anything. But we are always coloured. Put on coloured specs and then observe.

So, don't put on any specs. Just remove. Just be an observer.

Good or bad. Whatever is there. Accept it as a fact.

Then that itself is a great spiritual progress. Then we notice that we have more problems, defects within us than anybody outside. In fact, if we don't have a particular fault, we can never understand that fault in others.

Do you know the truth? If I am not a thief, I will never recognise anyone as a thief. Do you see the point? Swami Vivekananda used to illustrate. Suppose, at midnight, a stranger enters through the window.

One man went to an ophthalmologist. And the ophthalmologist said to him, My God, your vision is so horrible. The patient was shocked.

Doctor, even before examining, How did you find that I have such a bad vision? He said, The moment I saw you walking through the window, I knew that your vision is real. So, a stranger enters into a room at midnight. If you ask the elder person, Who is this? Then he says, This is a thief.

You ask a child, Who is this? The child will never say he is a thief because he doesn't know what is called thieving. He will say, He is a stranger. I don't know.

If I don't have that fault, I can never find the fault with her. That is a sure proof. Because how will you identify this is this? Do you get the point? So, observing as an observer gives a great benefit.

That is the first benefit. It isolates us. It breaks our CV.

Then what is the second thing? The moment we are passportless, we are very anxious to get a passport. Then who am I? Then the only way is to take the help of the scriptures. The scriptures give two types of teaching.

One teaching is to accept ourselves as what we want to be. You are divine. But much before that, they will also give a method, what is called simulation.

Simulation means practising what we have to exhibit in our day-to-day life. As I gave you the example, I should not get angry. So if I go on practising certain scenario, in course of time if that scenario happens, because I have practised it so much, then it becomes easier for me to improve myself.

And that can be done through what you call meditation, which is simulation. Do that. Then after that, you take the help of the scriptures and find out who you are.

You will not have immediate realisation. But go on meditating until you know, I am this from the scriptural statement. Often this scriptural teaching comes in the form of the teacher, guru.

That is called mantra upadesha. Or according to Jnana Marga, he will tell you Tattvam Asi. When does he tell Tattvam Asi? He will not tell in the very beginning.

When does he tell? He will make you go through the whole of scripture. Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasana, in a general way. When the right time comes, then he will say, you read all those things, you know, you remember? Tattvam Asi, you are that.

And even then, a disciple may not be 100% sure. And he knows through faith. But he doesn't know through experience.

A time will come, that experience also will come. But for that, to do that, we must have faith. To create that faith, guru is an aid.

That is why, what the guru is not important. How I look upon the guru, that is the secret of guru worship. You are not worshipping the body.

Your body is only just like an image. Every child knows the image you worship is a piece of metal or a piece of wood, isn't it? But is that what the worshipper is looking at? He is looking at that which represents, that picture, what that picture or image represents. That is why it is called, it is a symbol, an icon.

Nobody is worshipping a piece of metal. Everybody is worshipping what that suggests, what that idea says. So the guru is such an ideal.

If I can see God in the teacher, then I can extend it very easily to everything, in the course of time, wherever it is. Now I will illustrate very briefly, this process, how it has taken place in the life of a close, intimate devotee of Sri Ramakrishna. I am referring to Gopala's mother.

She had a vision. Where did she have a vision? In her own home. That was her private vision.

For that you have to get information about the life. I am only briefly mentioning. Then, that is what exactly this book's teachings illustrate.

She had a vision from her own heart. Then she came to Dakshineshwar. Then, this image is going into Sri Ramakrishna.

And it is coming out of Sri Ramakrishna. Again it is going. I means, what you see here, what you see there, is one and the same.

That's what happened in the beginning. After a few days, what happened? It extended. In all the important devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, like Narendra, Nath, Rakhal, etc., this image is going.

First it said only Ramakrishna. That's why she got the name Gopala Irma. Because she used to call Sri Ramakrishna as Gopala.

And she also used to call her as mother. So, Gopala's mother, meaning Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual mother. But that vision didn't stop there.

It went on going inside, outside. Narendra Nath, then Rakhal, then Tarak, then... We don't know the particular. Then, not only Sri Ramakrishna, my Gopala is Narendra, my Gopala is Rakhal, my Gopala is Tarak, etc., etc.

The vision was extended. Until, we don't know how many people, how many people Gopala entered. And finally, when there was that chariot festival at Kamarhadi, that day, this Gopala was present in the chariot, in the people who were witnessing the chariot festival, in the priests who were sitting on the chariot, in the image on the chariot, that means, everywhere.

With that, her vision was completed. Jatadhari Sadhu. First he was seeing only Rama in that image.

Later on, he discovered demons. Why? Now he is able to see Rama everywhere. So this is... But at least let us start with one person upon whom we can show reverence, not because he is revered, but because I choose to bestow reverence and love upon him.

You see the difference? Otherwise, you prove your reverence, then I will show my reverence. That is not the way. Whatever you are, I don't care.

I have decided to revere you. So I only get the benefit. The poor guru may not get the benefit.

I get the benefit. That is the secret of puja. You know an image.

You take food. I decide to offer this to you. Then what does that food become? Prasada.

Then who gets benefit? I only get the benefit. So this is the secret of murti puja, any murti. If anybody ridicules you, if you want, you can give this answer.

It is not that the murti is God. I have chosen to look upon it as God. What is your headache? So this is the process.

One day will come. Then we will see the whole universe is nothing but Brahman. And that is the fact.

You are not imagining it to be Brahman. It is Brahman. You don't see it.

Now you are capable of seeing it. That is called spiritual progress. From afternoon to the evening onwards, we will deal with the 13th chapter, which is a very interesting chapter.

And only three sessions are there. Therefore I can only give you the very essence. And in fact that is enough actually for us to understand.

With the help of what we are going to discuss, you can understand the 13th chapter more or less easily. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 06

2026-05-11T03:43:32Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "So friends, I am very happy that we are here. Volume has to be reduced a bit. Too much echo is coming. Just sufficient so that we can hear the minimum that is necessary. Isn't it, Rajesh? So it is said that satsanga is a very rare thing in this world. Usually people do not hear of this word sat. Sat means that which is good, that which is real, that which is true and that which is God. And God is nothing but that which is true, that which is real and that which is good..."

So friends, I am very happy that we are here. Volume has to be reduced a bit. Too much echo is coming.

Just sufficient so that we can hear the minimum that is necessary. Isn't it, Rajesh? So it is said that satsanga is a very rare thing in this world. Usually people do not hear of this word sat.

Sat means that which is good, that which is real, that which is true and that which is God. And God is nothing but that which is true, that which is real and that which is good. Expressed in western value system, it is called satyam, shivam, sundaram.

Goodness, truth and beauty. This is what we are all seeking. Truth, goodness and beauty.

This is the nature of God. And whichever promotes these three is called satsanga. Satsanga means the company of the pure, the real, the true and the beautiful.

Could be achieved in so many different ways. It could be a place like holy places. It could be a person like holy persons.

Or it could be an event like very devotional pujas etc. Or it could be scriptures by reading which our minds get elevated. Anything, how do we judge what is satsanga? There must be criteria.

How do we judge? By the effect. How do we judge food? Usually we only judge by the taste. But taste is highly individual.

What one person likes another person doesn't. That's not the criteria at all. In fact, if you try to analyse, taste is a way of ramming the food down our throat.

That which rams us very quickly, that is called taste. That which takes a long time is called distaste or bad taste. Is it not? So the criteria is not that.

What could be the criteria? Only one criteria. What is that? That which promotes health and happiness. That is called food.

In that sense, food is again not merely the rice or bread or things that we take. Whatever goes in is food. Ahara means that which goes in.

So there are five mouths. Each one of us has got five mouths. What are those five mouths? The eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue and the skin.

Through these five mouths, we are taking five different types of foods. Shabda, sparsha, rupa, rassa and gandha. So whatever goes inside is ahara.

How do we judge what is really good food? So that which promotes three things. What are those three things? That which promotes sattva. That which promotes chitta.

That which promotes ananda. That is why the name of God according to Hindus is Satchitananda. Every living being, irrespective of what it is, how much intelligence it has, only consciously, mostly unconsciously, it is seeking only these three things.

First, it wants to be, survive, live. It will never wish to die or in any way get harmed in the form of threat of death, sattva. And it always seeks, why does something want to live? There must be a purpose.

Living must be a purpose. We don't live merely. We don't want to live like vegetables.

We want to accomplish something, consciously or unconsciously. What is that? What is the next thing? We want to be happy. And what is happiness? Do you know? We use different words, sometimes not understanding what they mean.

Health is such a word. So, do you want to be healthy? Yes. Nobody would control that, isn't it? What does it mean to be healthy? Healthy means just to be one's own self.

Swastha. We use the word swastha. Swasti.

The word swasti is derived from the word swastha. They say the monographs, swastika, is derived from the symbolism. Swasti means that which is peace, that which promotes happiness.

It is a symbolism, swastika. Though people have perverted it to the just opposite way, some people have perverted it, not knowing what it is. So, if you are asked, do you want to be healthy? Yes, because if you are not healthy, what are you? You are unhealthy.

If you are unhealthy, you are not happy. If you are healthy, you are happy. But we don't understand very often, you know.

We don't even remember that we are healthy. The sign of health is what? Absence of consciousness. So long as your tooth is working very nicely, you don't remember it.

But the moment toothache starts, immediately you feel it. But what is the way out? You become Vedanta. Immediately you are transported into the seventh heaven.

Do you understand what I am talking about? Get rid of the troubles on tooth and you feel very happy. Now you understand what is the meaning of Vedanta? When we become, we remove all the teeth. Your happiness is absolutely perfect.

Do you see the point? In future, you will never have any problem at all, because you have no teeth. What a marvellous thing it is. And it is a wonderful thing, because it is said, if you go to hell, you have to gnash your teeth.

But since you are a Vedanti, Vedanti and no teeth, you don't need to gnash your teeth. See, how wonderful Vedanta is. What is the point we are talking about? Every being seeks these three things.

What is it? Seeks to be, seeks to be happy. But these two, being and happiness, is to be known only through knowledge. When you are asleep, you are alive, but do you know you are alive? No.

Only when you wake up, then you know, I am alive. Similarly, you may be having all the happy conditions, but until you feel, I am happy, you will never become happy. You are what you feel.

You are what you feel. Suppose you are eating ordinary food, but you are extraordinarily happy inside. Or you are eating exotic food, but you are worried.

What is the good of it? You are not happy. You must feel happiness. So that feeling is called knowledge.

Is it possible to promote that feeling? Yes, that is what Vedanta proposes to do. So, what is it that is threatening our existence? What is it that is threatening our happiness? What is it that is threatening our knowledge? The opposite of Sat is Asat. The opposite of Chit is Achit or Ajnana.

Chit means Jnana. The opposite of Ananda is Dukkha. Not only Dukkha, the opposite of Ananda is Sukha.

Because Sukha always can change. When Sukha changes, it becomes Dukkha. When Dukkha changes, it becomes Sukha.

Therefore, that which changes is the enemy of changelessness. In that sense, Sukha and Dukkha. That is why we are advised to transcend both Sukha and Dukkha.

Immediately our stupid logic starts to work. If I go beyond Dukkha, that is fine. But if I go beyond Sukha, am I going to be like a stone, a piece of carpet? The carpet doesn't experience Sukha or Dukkha.

Am I going to be like that carpet? No. We are asked that you will enter into the realm of Ananda. So, we want to be how long? Forever.

Why? Because that is our nature. Not to be is not our nature. Not to know is not our nature.

Not to be happy is not our nature. Our nature is Sat, Chit and Ananda. How do we know? Logically speaking, realistically, practically, we don't know that.

But logically speaking, we are all intelligent people. We know we are not going to live for a long time. And we know that it is not possible to know everything.

And we also know that it is not possible to be happy all the time. In fact, it is a logical fallacy. How do you know you are happy? A few years back, many years back, a beautiful book came out from USA in pursuit of excellence.

At the very beginning, the author is a very intelligent author and he has written. So, if everybody is excellent, how do you know who is excellent? There must be some people who are not excellent. Then only you will know in contrast, isn't it? So, how do you know you are happy unless you experience its opposite? So, is it not illogical to expect these three things? In any case, practically, we never see a single person who lives forever, for eternity, and who knows everything and who is always happy.

We will never find practically anybody. Why do I say practically? Because yes, we can find persons like saints, Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, or Jesus Christ, or Buddha. But the point is, do we find them always happy? Do you follow what I am talking about? They may be happy eternally, but do you know they are eternally happy? Ramakrishna comes and says, I have toothache.

What would be your first impression? This man is not a happy man. What would be your advice? Get rid of the tooth. So, how can you say? He knows whether tooth is there or not there, he is happy.

But do you know that he is happy? That's why I said, we have to trust them. You don't know that they are eternally happy. That's what the scriptures tell.

You are eternally happy if you have knowledge, if you have God-realisation. Can you imagine a God who is unhappy? And if you come across a being called God who is sometimes happy and sometimes not happy, would you consider him as a God? Would you pray to him for eternal happiness? A person who is not himself happy all the time, would you pray? Our concept of God is, he is eternal, he is infinite, and he is eternally, infinitely happy. That means his existence, his knowledge and his happiness is not limited by time, space or causation.

Such a concept we all have. Why do we have this concept? It is not going. Even an atheist, he has a concept of God.

Only he doesn't accept that there is a being called God. That is all. But if you ask him, how long do you want to live? He will say, for eternity.

And do you want to be happy? Do you want sometimes to be happy, sometimes unhappy? He will say, no, I want always to be happy. And do you want to know everything? I asked him, do you want to know everything? He said, no, no. I am quite happy with what I know.

I don't want to know. Then I asked him, do you want to know what your wife is thinking about you? He said, yes. One man, Gogol, Gogol, you know? He said, how to tackle a wife? Immediately the answer came, only one answer.

Good day sir, we are also searching. Don't you want to know what is the share value going to be next day? We all want to know, but we do not cherish the hope to know everything, because instruments with which we want to know are severely, severely limited. Limited by time, limited by space, and limited by causes, causation.

But we have the desire, and we will never give up the desire. Why is this contradiction? We know it is not possible, and yet we don't want to give up hope. Why is this contradiction? Vedanta gives the answer.

That's because you are that, even though you do not know. So what does Vedanta give? What science and other things cannot give us? It tells us our true nature. But if you question, how do I know what you say is true? You say, have faith.

Why does it say, why do we need faith? Even in our day to day life, we need faith. For example, you tell a child that there was such a person called Einstein. He had a wonderful brain, and it is possible to become Einstein-like.

Do you think the child will ever say, yes, I will be like Einstein? The child knows, at this stage, I cannot be Einstein. But I hope to be Einstein. So that hope is based upon what? If you analyse psychologically, logically, whenever you use the word hope, that word hope is preceded by another word.

What is that? I have faith. If you don't have faith, hope becomes logic. Hopeless.

You will never hope. If you don't have faith, the moment you say, I hope to have this, that means you have faith that it is possible for you to achieve that. See the point.

Though unconsciously we use many words like that. So Vedanta says you must have faith. One of the most degrading diseases of the modern human mind is, which is called losing faith, loss of faith.

It is a wonderful subject, but it is a separate subject. I won't go into it, but I will just give a hint. Usually we use the word faith in the sense of religion.

Religion is faith, interfaith meeting, etc. Whatever you call it, faith. Faith means religion.

Religion means having faith in God. Having faith in God means God is a future possibility. God is a future possibility.

And logically any possibility is embedded in its seed form. That is why we call it seed. You see the point? The seed of an apple has the possibility of becoming an apple tree.

If it doesn't, then the seed is completely worthless. Is it not? A fried seed. Yes.

One fried, one two. Two fryers were eating in a restaurant. And they ordered fried eggs.

So one fried egg is talking to the other fried egg. Tough luck. From the frying pan into the fryer.

So whenever we use that word, hope, we use faith. Faith means that something is already there as a possibility that is called potentiality. So the seed has 100% potentiality of becoming a wonderful tree provided it is given an opportunity.

That opportunity is what we call satsanga. Any opportunity that helps us to manifest our potentiality is called satsanga. So without faith it is never possible to live for a minute.

Why? Because next second, next millisecond, what is going to happen we do not know. The roof may fall or we may have some brain haemorrhage. So many things, anything can happen.

Unpredictability is there. And yet what sustains us, you know it won't fall. Hopefully it has been constructed by a good contractor.

Or if you are a devotee, God is protecting me. If you don't believe in God but law of karma, I read only good karma. It's not going to fall.

It's a wonderful thing. Law of karma is such a wonderful thing. After witnessing some events, I can't but believe in the law of karma.

In Haiti, one fellow fell into a room full of beer and chips. He survived for seven days and then he was rescued. I have a doubt now whether he really wanted to be rescued.

After seven days, after everything was finished, he might have wanted to be rescued. But at that point whether he wanted to be rescued, I have doubts. Anyway, the point is our hope is a sure indication that there is a possibility within.

Otherwise, for long it won't stay. But whole life we are cherishing this wish. Even if you say, I just want to be happy, but you are pulling in the other two things.

I want to be and I want to know that I am happy and that is what makes me happy. So, this beautiful analysis which we have gone through helps us to clarify what is the meaning of human life. Everybody wants, even worldly person, we make a false division.

This is a spiritual person, this is a worldly person. Usually we mistake. A spiritual person wants God in Satchitananda.

A worldly person doesn't. But that's a completely false conclusion. A worldly person wants eternal life, eternal happiness as much as any spiritual person.

In the desire of spiritual person and worldly person, there is absolutely no distinction whatsoever. Where does the distinction lie? It is in the instruments that one uses. A worldly person wants to have infinite happiness through a finite thing.

Just imagine, hundred beautiful dishes are there and it is all free and is the best food, but you are given only a small saucer. Take as much as you want. This is what I call Indian conception of health.

Yes, that's what you know. A Christian missionary once came and challenged, Swami, your Hindu health is hopeless health. He said, what do you mean by hopeless health? Hindu health is the best health.

Oh, can you illustrate? Yes, you know, supposing a glutton goes to hell, he will not be barbecued, roasted and dried and turned over by the fire. No, nothing of that sort. God will never torture you.

Hindu God will never do that. He is a God. He does it in a very, like a cultured gentleman, refined way he does it.

He says, you want to eat my friend? I will provide you mountain high food. First class food. Mountain high body also he will give.

From mouth to the legs, it is only stomach. This much leg and this much, you know, the rest is only stomach. The food is there.

Eat as much as you like. But the mouth is like the needle, the eye of a needle. Eat as much as you want.

This is Hindu concept of health. So a worldly person, he doesn't say I want less happiness. But the means he adopts, that is limited.

Whereas a spiritual person thinks he has better instrument. Or at least tries to better the instrument. What is that instrument? There is only one instrument.

What is that instrument? Mind. Culture the mind. Cultivate the mind.

Manre krishikas janana. Then what was next? If only you had cultivated, you would have harvested gold. Ram Prasad's one of the most beautiful songs.

So we need guidance how to cultivate the mind. In this process of cultivation, the single most important aid for us is called viveka. Viveka means how to separate the worthless from the essential.

Even if you wanted to solve a problem, you must have a discriminating mind. I am not talking about solving problems. I am talking about the instrument which solves the problem.

You must select the best instrument. Such an instrument according to Vedanta. Whichever path you are following, whichever religion you are following, it doesn't matter.

That is called viveka. Viveka means separating the real from the unreal. The useful from the useless.

The practical from the impractical. What is that instrument? Only knowledge. Viveka means ultimately right knowledge.

When the mind is in the right condition, then the knowledge automatically develops. In the last few days, we have been taking a very interesting Vedantic text called Dhrit Drishya Viveka. I will come shortly.

Just let me announce. I think most of you have heard that today's talk should focus upon the 13th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita called Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga. But exactly that is what Viveka also tells.

It is only different names. Instead of using Kshetrajna, here the word used is Drishya. Instead of using Kshetra, the word that is used is Drishya.

But it is exactly the same. Now let me... We have continued already quite advanced. We have come almost to two-thirds of the book.

And we are about to enter into the most practical part of this book. So I thought let us continue this one. And I will give the essence of the 13th chapter as soon as we finish this.

So let me give a brief introduction which I already had hinted at. What is this? We all want to be Sat, to be Chit and to be Ananda. We want to be God-like.

Is there such a thing? Yes, there is such a thing. How do we know? Because the scriptures tell us. This is what Swami Vivekananda, the great Vedantic propagator came and told us.

Each soul is potentially divine. It is a beautiful word. Each soul is potentially divine.

Swami Vivekananda summarised Vedanta as no one else literally summarised it in four sentences. Let us recollect them. Perhaps some of you know about it already.

The first sentence runs, each soul is potentially divine. It is a very significant word. Don't jump to conclusions.

We are divine, not yet. We are potentially divine. We are like seeds.

So if someone gives you a good seed, it doesn't mean that immediately you start eating mangoes or apples. You have to cultivate it in the right way. Wait patiently.

So unfold. The second sentence, if you are potentially divine, the goal of life is to manifest this potential divinity and be free. That is the goal.

What is freedom? Freedom is to manifest one's potentiality. You don't have any freedom. Let me give you an example because all these words are loaded words.

Don't forget, he is summarising what Vedanta has been trying to explain in God loads of books. We all use the word freedom. I want to be free.

Let me give you an example. What freedom does an apple seed have? Has it the freedom to become a mango? So it has freedom only to become an apple. So a mango seed has only freedom to become a good mango.

That's all. Now you see, what is the meaning of the word freedom? Freedom means to become only oneself. Freedom means only to express to be and to remain completely as oneself.

You see, not whatever I like to be. Because if you are not what you are, then you will suffer. If you manifest, express your freedom in any other way other than what you are, you will suffer.

I will give you a practical example. Supposing a scientific minded person takes literature class to literature class. Wants to be a poet or somebody else like that.

What do you think happens to that person? If he tries to be in a class which promotes his mentality, then he manifests. But if he tries, no I like to be a poet. Suppose he doesn't have poetic talents, then what happens? It will be counterproductive, don't you see? So this is the word we have to understand.

We have only freedom to express, to become fully whatever is our nature. And do any one of us know what is our true nature? We only desire our nature, but we do not know for certainty that is our nature. I already indicated, what is that? We all want to be divine.

To live forever, to know everything and to be happy forever. What is it? To be God, to be divine. That's what we all desire to be.

But do we know whether that is possible? We do not know. We know what we desire. We do not know whether we can achieve that.

That is where these great souls come and tell us, you are what you really desire to be. So that is where you have freedom. Each soul is potentially divine.

Wonderful issue. If we are all divine, do we have any problems? You have no right to be divine. Only I have the right to be divine.

Can we quarrel like that? It is not possible to quarrel. It is counterproductive. Because my divinity is possible only when I stop quarrelling with you and start loving you.

Is it not? Because to look upon yourself as my own self is called divinity. Otherwise how am I going to be infinite? That is logically I am trying to put it. So what is freedom? Freedom is only to express, trying to be what one is, and once having attained that, to be without slipping down, to maintain that position.

Is that point clear? Anything that we do that goes counter to express our own real nature is counterproductive. But for some reason we all do what we do not wish to do. We all want to be happy but make tremendous efforts to be unhappy.

We go out of our way to do actions, to produce. This is why most of us suffer. Karma phala we call it.

The moment you entertain, you cherish a negative idea, what are you trying to do? Go against your own nature, counter to your own nature. But we know it intellectually many times, and yet we do not seem to have any control over it. We know what we should be, we know what we should do, but as Oscar Wilde has once expressed it, I can resist anything except temptations.

What else do you want to resist? We know it. Something as it were is covering our eyes, winding our hands and feet, not allowing us to do what we want to do. So Vedanta has to give some name for that.

This demon, whatever you call it, they call it Maya. This strange wonderful power, what is this power? Maya. What does Maya mean? Do you know what Maya means? Maya means ya ma, that which is not there.

It is not there, yet it is there. If you know, it is not there. If you don't know, it is there.

As long as you do not know, it is there. But the moment you come to know, it is not there. You wonder, where has it gone? Where has it gone? Because it is called ajnana.

When jnana comes, where does ajnana go? It has gone somewhere. We don't know where it has gone. It has not run somewhere here and there.

So, unable to understand this, we have become paramanandaya shishyas. This is the tragedy of life. In Telugu, paramanandaya shishyas is a very popular story.

So, there was one guru. He was called paramanandaya. He had shishyas.

That's why they are called paramanandaya shishyas. So, what happened? One day, the shishya came. It is night and it is dark.

He said, Guruji, it is so dark. What shall I do? I am frightened. He said, light the lamp.

So, he lit the lamp. And then he asked Guruji, where shall I place this lamp? He said, wherever there is darkness, place it. So, he saw.

He said, here is the lamp. There is darkness. So, he ran there.

Because Guru told him, where there is darkness, you place it. When he went there mysteriously, the darkness has come here. Very soon, he died of heart attack because he was trying to place his lamp where there is darkness.

So, we should never become paramanandaya shishyas. We should be intelligent. So, intelligence starts with the first step called faith, called shraddha.

Because you don't know. You have to place your faith in somebody. You can't go on doubting.

You will first prove and then I will follow you. Supposing there is darkness and you ask somebody, how can I get rid of darkness? And that person tells you, light the lamp. You prove to me first that lighting the lamp will then remove the darkness.

If he proves, where is the need for him to light the lamp? So, first proof will not come. What does come first? Faith. You do this and how do we know that that is going to be the result? Again, doubts.

We are full of doubts. We don't doubt a drunkard. We don't doubt a cheat.

You go on putting your pension funds in every Tom, Dick and Harry's fund because they promise 8% interest and all that but you don't have faith in the scriptures. What a pitiful condition it is. We must have faith.

Faith is what defines a man. And if a man has faith, he can never be cheated because faith itself is manifestation of God. Do you see the point? Faith is not something which has to prove something else.

Faith itself is the proof of something which we cannot see. That is why Shri Ramakrishna says when a man achieved faith, he has achieved everything. When a person has faith that I am a happy person, you don't need any other proof.

If he is happy, what is your headache? So, this is our answer to atheists. Atheist says there is no proof of God. He says there is no need for proof of God.

If a person has faith, then that faith affects him. What is the nature of faith? Faith totally affects a person much better than a drug or a drink. Supposing, just as an example, a person says I see a ghost.

No one else sees it. Only one person says I see it. And you laugh and say you are a stupid fellow, you are out of your mind, there is no ghost.

That is not the point. The point is he is affected. Whether ghost is real or unreal, true or untrue, that is not the point.

The point is he believes he is seeing the ghost. Do you get my point? He gets frightened, it is coming to gobble me up and all those things. Similarly, if a person says I believe in God and he gets consolation, he gets peace of mind, he is quite happy, he is able to counter the problems of life very nicely, what is your headache? In fact, that is exactly what is faith.

Faith transforms a person. Do you see what the point is? I am not talking about God, I am talking about faith in God. If a person has that faith and his idea of God is since God is looking after me, I am a very happy person and only a person who has faith, whether his conditions are favourable or not, he remains happy.

If he is happy, that proves God exists. Don't you see? Faith itself is a proof of God's existence or whatever a person believes. That is why faith is the very first step and for faith you can't again seek proof.

That is foolishness. Faith itself is the proof. Either you have it or you don't have it.

Having faith, then you approach the scripture or a wise man or a holy man and you tell, I want to be happy. Tell me, how can I be? He says, yes. If you go to a doctor with a problem, what does he do? First, he tests.

Second, he diagnoses your problem and then he prescribes a medication. These are the three steps. If you approach the scripture also, first it analyses your problem.

Already it has analysed your problem. Long before you were born, it analysed your problem and it knows what is the remedy and it prescribes how to use that. Very important.

Not only to get a prescription, but how to use the prescription. It is even more important than getting the right prescription. A fat woman had gone to a doctor.

I am very fat. Make me thin. So, the doctor prescribed a diet.

You eat this, you eat this. Diet prescription. So, the woman went and the doctor told her, come back after one month and let me see how my prescription is working.

So, after one month, this woman left. Now, she doubled in her fatness. The doctor said, are you taking my diet prescription? She said, yes, doctor.

You know, you put me in a very difficult position. I have to eat my normal diet and then eat also the prescribed diet. It is very important how to follow the prescription.

Without giving up your old habits, you try to develop what you know is never going to be working out. So, what is the diagnosis? The diagnosis is called Maya. What is Maya? Misunderstanding, wrong understanding is called Maya.

We see things and we mistake their nature. So, what is it that we are really seeing? Which soul is potentially divine? What is the goal of life? To manifest this divine nature. So, the first tells us what is the remedy to our problems and how we can get what we really seek.

It tells us, you want money. What for? You want to be living long. Can money make you live long? One man went to a doctor.

Doctor asked him, What for did you come? He said, Doctor, I want to live a long time. Doctor said, Go and get married. The man was surprised.

If I get married, do I live long? Doctor said, No, but you feel you are living a long time. More than long. So, each soul is potentially divine but potential divinity has to be brought up.

That should be made the goal of life. That is what this Dhrit Drishya Viveka says that you have mixed up two opposite things and always you are in trouble because you are unable to separate what is real and what is unreal. Why? Because the power of maya is not allowing you to practise this discrimination.

So, what is the way? The way is there are called religions. What is the third sentence that says that manifest to this divinity either through work or worship or psychic control or philosophy by one or more or all of these put together and be free. So, you can take any one.

Any one will do. Or if you wish take two or all the four. How many paths are there? Only four.

What are they called? Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga, Na Yoga. Take any one or two or all the four. It doesn't matter according to your capacity.

Follow sincerely and you will be free. The last sentence, summarization of Vedanta, very important, even more important than the other three sentences says this being free is the only thing that counts. This is the whole of religion.

Doctrines, dogmas, churches, books, ceremonials, rituals, all these are but secondary details. Don't focus on them. They are necessary but take their help.

Like crutches, you know, if you are injured you take the crutches or if you are building a house then you get the scaffolding but don't keep the scaffolding. As soon as the building is constructed remove them otherwise that itself will become an obstruction. In these four marvellous words, Swami Vivekananda summarises Vedanta.

The last is even more important. Why? Because we are all clinging to the crutches and never getting out of it. That is counterproductive.

You take the help, they are necessary but you must know when to give them up otherwise you are not going anywhere. So this viveka, let us come back to the viveka. What is it? We seem to be bound.

That is the key word. Seem to be bound. Not really bound.

It is all in our mind. So the bondage is a feeling. A feeling is an idea.

Idea is a thought. This thought is in the mind. Therefore, get rid of the thought.

It is not the reality. So Vedanta gives us a beautiful illustration to make this point clear. In semi-darkness you see something and you mistake it for a snake.

Actually it is nothing but a rope. So mistaking a rope for a snake doesn't make it a snake. It is only a snake.

The rope exists there. Where does the snake exist? In our mind. In the beholder's mind.

It is an idea. It is not a reality. Get rid of this idea.

To get rid of that idea you can't simply say I will get rid of this idea and it goes off. No it won't go like that. How will it go? You bring the light then you see.

Then you say oh this is not a snake. This is a rope. Then your fear goes away.

That is the only way your fear goes away. You have to do, the point here is that the wrong idea is in our mind and the right idea also should come into our mind only. You go on beating that snake rope.

Will the snake die any time? Never. For eternity you go on beating. It is not going to happen.

But bring the light. Light means knowledge. Immediately the snake disappears.

The idea of the snake doesn't disappear. What disappears? The idea of the snake disappears. And correct understanding of what is there comes.

So how to bring about this? Now this bondage is manifested in two forms, internal and external. Internally we are identifying constantly with our ideas. Our ideas are like objects outside.

Our mind is like ourselves seeing outside objects. So internally there are two. There is one observer and one observed.

The seer and the seeing. Every time you see. But every time we are getting mixed up.

For example, just to give an example, internally. Externally I give you the idea. You see something.

You can't say it is a rope. You can only say it is a rope after you bring light. Until that time you only start seeing the snake.

You don't say, first I saw the rope, then the rope became a snake and now we will get rid of the snake. That will not happen. First the wrong idea has come because you didn't have the right idea.

We are unfortunately born with this. So internally an example is given. Suppose somebody utters harsh words towards you.

What happens? Those words enter in the form of sounds and creates a wave in the lake of the mind. What is it? Just as when the boat goes the whole lake breaks into. So our calm mind, we are very calm, enjoying beautiful daylight.

Suddenly somebody says, you rogue. Something like that. You dumb, like that.

You, even you say, you people. One man lost his presidential candidate just by saying you people. You know that? A few years back that fellow immediately resigned because he was addressing the black people.

Should not say you people, we people. We only say we people only one time. That is the advantage of the team work.

When something goes wrong, you can blame everybody. If you are a boss, he says you people. If you are a team worker, say we people.

Never say I have gone wrong. We have gone wrong. That is the only time you use we very nicely.

So a wave comes into the mind. It is a beautiful incident. It is good to remember, you know.

Once my predecessor Swami Bhaviyaranda was talking with somebody who came to see him. Swami was talking about the power of mantras. You know mantras? Mantras are nothing but words.

But they are not mere words. They are mantras. So the power of the mantra.

He said that man, he said, no Swami, I don't believe there is any power in the mantra. Swami's face became red and he said, you rascal. That man was not even a devotee.

First time perhaps he was coming. The moment Swami uttered you rascal, immediately that fellow's blood pressure rushed up. His face became red.

Immediately Swami laughed and said, see, even when I said you rascal, how much power these words have. And mantras, don't you think they have power? What a wonderful thing it is. How words are making us slaves every moment.

Honey, I love you. Even if that fellow is trying sharpening the knife. Honey, I love you.

And immediately, you know, your whole face blooms like a lotus. How foolish we are. We are slaves to words, not even to sincere feelings.

So we should not be really influenced by them. Some people praise us, some people criticise us, and this is going on all the time. Nobody is praised all the time, nobody is criticised all the time.

But I'm giving this example. This word comes, you rogue or something, and immediately the chitta becomes agitated. There is nothing wrong with that also.

You are observing, but quickly you become that vritti. What happens then? There is a thought of anger, and now you are observing before, before you knew it, you became one with it. Instead of saying, there is a thought of anger in my mind, what do you say? I am angry.

You are not saying, your whole face, your heart, your muscles, your adrenaline, everything is showing in a second. That's an example to show that you have the control and say, okay, there is a bad thought in the mind. First you do that, and then afterwards decide what to do, what not to do.

That is what masters do it. The slaves immediately they become identified. But there is also a wonderful point, there is a wonderful point for illustrating something else, which is wonderful.

People often come to me and say, teach about meditation. I say, I don't need to teach because you are a master of meditation. What is, am I a master of meditation? Yes.

What is meditation? To become completely one with any thought that arises in the mind is mastery of meditation. And whenever somebody says you are a rogue, immediately you become one with that thought. You have developed the technique.

Any wrong thought, you are completely become identified with it. Or sometimes good thoughts also. Usually, the children are unmanageable, not so loving.

You go and say, I love you, I love you, apply, apply, no reply. But come 24th December, how many times they tell you, Mom, I love you, Mom, I love you, Dad, I love you, my God, until you are tired. But it also creates a frightful, that love is a very frightful love.

Because the moment he embraces you and says, Mom, I love you, your heart is going to tap at and in your eyes the checkbook balances that. So, we are already masters. There is a point, we are identifying with the wrong end of the things.

We know the technique, how to identify now, use that technique with the good things. That is where spiritual practise is necessary. Our mind is ready, but it has to be directed.

Hiram Krishna used to say, you somebody asked him, when would I realise God? What did he say? He said that the love of a chaste woman for her husband, the love of a mother for her only child, the love of a miser for worldly things, if these three loves are combined and directed towards God, then immediately you will realise God. This is the truth also. What does it mean? It means this world is created for us to develop love.

So you love your partner, your husband or your wife, you love your children, love to the extent that is possible. But do not stop there. Do not stop there because stopping there is called worldliness, putting a limitation, I won't love anybody else, love to the extent that is possible.

And now what should you do? It is like sharpening an arrow or a knife, this practise, loving wife, loving husband, loving children, loving other people. It is like sharpening the knife. That means the instrument is trained how to love.

But now the purpose is to direct it towards your own self, true self. That is why God has created this world. Not for anything, it is not meaningless, it is not obstruction.

This is a wonderful school. If someone is criticising you, it is a wonderful lesson. Though it is not a pleasurable thing, it is a very painful thing, but that is the purpose.

If you can stand this criticism and not only not be affected adversely, but remain very happy, then nothing in this world, no adversity, no negativity can ever affect you. Once you learn a lot of things, internal enemies, six internal enemies, karma, krodha, loka, moha, mother, we suffer from one or other of these sixfold negative emotional reactions. It is one and the same, but expressed in six different ways.

Karma turns into krodha, krodha turns into loka, loka turns into moha, moha turns into mother, mother turns into matsarya, again matsarya turns into any one of these things depending on the occasion. If we can stand them, then that force also can be added to our positive force, and then the purpose is not merely gathering them, but to redirect it towards God. So internally we have to separate drik and drishya.

Externally we have to separate the divinity which is behind every object. For this purpose, six meditations are given as directions for our internal and external all-round development. Briefly, what are these six? Very briefly, I will elaborate tomorrow morning and that would be the best thing to do.

So, first of all, we have Savikalpa Samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi, two categories, Savikalpa and Nirvikalpa. And secondly, internal and external. Then, Drishyanavitha and Shabdanavitha.

Internal Drishyanavitha, external Drishyanavitha. Internal Shabdanavitha and external Shabdanavitha. Don't get confused, I am going to clarify it in simple words.

First of all, what is the meaning of Savikalpa? It means there is a division between the meditator and the meditator. Nirvikalpa means that such a division doesn't exist. Then, internal and external.

Internal is of two types, Drishyanavitha and Shabdanavitha. What it means is that Drishya means any thought that passes through our mind. So, I gave just now one example.

The moment somebody criticises us, then there is a negative wave in the chitta or mind and immediately the I which knows definitely this is a thought, but it doesn't stop there, it jumps into the lake and becomes one with the agitation. I am angry instead of saying. So, what is the first Savikalpa meditation, internal meditation? You remain separate and say, Oh, what is the thought that is coming? Oh, there is an angry thought, that fellow uttered this information.

It is all information. That fellow uttered this information that you are a bad fellow and then there is an anger emotion called anger rising and the mind is agitated, the body is agitated. So, separate the drishya or these thoughts and do not identify.

That is why in English they say, before you react, count ten. So, one fellow was insulted. Who got this sermon that you count to ten before you react? So, somebody had uttered something, he had to count to ten.

There is a way of counting. He couldn't wait enough time. He counted.

But, before anybody can, you know, even what he is uttering, he went and gave one big slap. That's not counting. You have to count very slowly and leisurely.

That means you are watching. Oh, there is a thought, there is a thought, there is a thought. I am about to react, I am about to react.

No, no, no. If you practise, it will happen. So, this separation of witnessing, previously we are becoming one with the thoughts, now we want to separate the observer with the, from the observed, separate.

It's called Drik and Drishya. Drik is the seer, Drishya is the seer. Here, Drishya means all the thoughts, internal thoughts.

It is actually Drishya only. Why it is Drishya? Because, we can never think abstract thoughts. See, if you see a banana, for example, in your thought, banana, how does that thought appear to you? Yellow, and this big, and if you are hungry, it appears to be quite ripe, but if you are planning to eat tomorrow or day after tomorrow, it will be greenish.

Then it will appear to be a little bit greenish. See, how wonderful it is. Separate.

This is called Drishya, Anuvidya, Antarika, Savikalpa, Samadhi. Drishya. Now, you have separated.

You practise this meditation. This is the first step. It takes a long time.

Then you say, I am the witness, and these are the things I am witnessing. The Drishya is separated from the Drishya. The Drishya is still there, but the Drishya is not getting identified with the Drishya.

Now, it is called Drishya, Anuvidya, Samadhi, because you are taking the help of the Drishyas to separate the Drishya. Because if there are no thoughts, how would you separate yourself? Then progress to the next step. What is the next step? Shabda, Anuvidya, Savika, Antara, Savikalpa, Samadhi.

What is that? Now, I am Idrik. I can see that there are thoughts in front of me. That means, if I can see, whatever I can see, whatever I experience, I am different from it.

This is the point. In English language we use the word I and my. The moment you say my, it is not I. I and my are totally separate.

My book? I am not the book. I have a book. So I don't say I am a book.

Otherwise it is dangerous. So I have a donkey. Immediately, you know, that is what we become all the time.

You know, if you love your donkey, if anybody touches your donkey, you feel more than the donkey they touched you. That is what happens. So, what is the next? Shabdan Vidha.

What is Shabdan Vidha? I can see. I am the observer. What is my nature? Who am I? Do I know about myself? I don't know because all the time, what am I doing? I am identifying myself.

I am a man. I am a woman. I am young.

I am old. I am beautiful. I won't see the other one.

Until now, you agree. After that, you won't agree with me. So, you see, I know I am separate, but I don't know what is my nature.

How will I know? That is when Shabdan comes. What is Shabdan? Not sound. Shabdan means not sound.

Shabdan means Shabda Pramana we call it. Veda Pramana. Shastra Pramana.

Scriptural teaching. What is the scripture telling? That you are God. It comes in the book itself.

I am Asanga. I am not associated with anything. I am Nirvikaraha.

I am Nityaha. I am Janma Mrutyurahitaha etc. etc.

etc. Descriptions. Take one by one these descriptions and focus your meditation upon them.

That is called Shabda Pramana. How wonderful it is. Then Nirvik Antarika Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

What is that? Very briefly what it means is this. You know supposing you go on doing Kepa. Let me give an example.

There is a potter. Potter is making a pot and he uses a wheel. So what does he do? Now and then he goes on moving it.

Then after he moves, continuously he is not moving it. Then he throws away the stick. What happens to the wheel? It goes on rotating.

In the same way, if you go on saying Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama for some time, then you stop saying it, but your mind is still continuing saying it. If you practise enough, it is saying all the time. Do you see the point? Now in the first meditation, you are separating yourself from the thoughts.

In the second meditation, you are saying, I am Asanga, I am Nirvikalpa, I am Nityaha, I am Janmabhruti Rahitaha, etc. By doing this japam, after some time you stop doing japam, but by itself the thought is moving forward like a wheel which is moved. That which is moving without our doing any effort, that is called Antarika Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

If you do it long enough, then you will never forget it. That is why we are asked to do Bhagavan Nama Japam. So how long can you do it? You can't do it for a long time, but if you do it sufficiently long time, it takes over.

You know what we call it? In the old times, or even now also in a different way, if you want to start a car, what do you do? Self-starter is there, isn't it? In the old times, you know, there is like this, you put it in the front and then you go on doing like this. After some time, you know, you go on doing. How long? Until it catches the wheel and it is self-moving.

It becomes self-moving. So our doing japam is like self-starter. But if you do sufficiently, because there is sufficient petrol only, it goes on moving by itself.

This is called Ajapa Japam. So it goes on. I am Asangaha, I am Nirvikalpaha, I am Janma Mrityurahitha.

It goes on. So that is called Nirvikalpa, because there is no drishya, there is no conscious thinking, but the thought process is going on and on and on. Another example I will tell you.

Some children, they can't sleep alone. You know, they are afraid. So the mother sits by them.

How long? It goes on telling a story and sitting by the bed and doing like this and the child slowly falls asleep, but it doesn't merely fall asleep. It is, my mother is here, I have nothing to worry about. When it goes to sleep, happily, it doesn't know the mother is there or gone, but happily that thought continues until it wakes up suddenly and finds there is no mother and it starts bawling.

Then immediately the mother comes, I am here darling, you don't worry. So this way, this Nirvikalpa Samadhi means a thought movement that goes on all by itself after a lot of japa and other things. That is called Antarika Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

Same process is applied in the external world. Why? I will very briefly tell you, but let me describe. Now, Bahya Savikalpa Samadhi.

Again it is of these two folds, Drishyanvitha and Shraddhanvitha. What is Drishyanvitha? In the internal world, it is thoughts, that is Drishya. Drik and Drishya.

In the external world, it is called Jagat. I am seeing you, you are seeing me, you are seeing all these things, this is called Jagat. World, Prapancha.

But don't identify, I have the body, I can see my body. I have the body, I can see my hands, my feet, all those things. But what did we study here? Every object that we encounter has five elements.

What are those five elements? Sat, Chit, Ananda, Nama and Rupa. So every object our eyes or our ears are encountering has got these five characters. But what are we focussing upon? Only Nama and Rupa.

We are not focussing on the Sat, Chit, Ananda. Now you shift the balance and say that I have a body and I am the body and I have a soul. No, shift the focus now and say I am the soul but I have a body.

So focus, behind this carpet there is something, it is existing. And you are knowing it and it is giving great happiness. You know, cold, this floor, you sit for some time, then it starts pinching you.

And then somebody brings that, Ki Ananda. See, Asti, Bhati, Priya. So suddenly my happiness has grown a lot.

And then I see what is the cause of my happiness? First I see there is the cushion. The second I see how soft it is, knowledge. Third is, not only it removed my pain, how wonderfully it is helping me.

So sometimes you are trying to sleep and suddenly you feel cold. You have not woken up but you are not deeply asleep. You are tossing.

Then somebody, your mother or somebody, what is it, a nice blanket they will put. Then immediately you see there is something very soft. Something very cosy and warm.

And then what Ananda it is giving me. This is how, this is called Bahiya, Savikalpa, Drishya, Anuvidha Samadhi. That means every object you encounter, first you say you are divine, potentially divine.

But you are divine, you are God manifest. But God coming in this particular Nama, Rupa and Nama. It is difficult because we are accustomed only the ulta, opposite.

First we say Nama, Rupa, afterwards we say about God. This is nice, sweet and then nice looking and all those things. So much we are obsessed with Nama, Rupa.

What is inside we don't know, package is called packaging. What is inside the packaging God alone knows. But packaging is most important.

You know this is our modern culture. That is why the packaging costs much more than what is inside. Recently somebody has written an article, you know, about this Amazon sending gifts.

You ordered one USB stick, it is only this much. But a huge packet has come. It is a big headache, you know, where are you going to throw all those things.

Packaging, what is packaging? Nama and Rupa. That is not important. What is important is what is inside the Nama, Rupa.

It is again another subject because even we, we never mistake Nama, Rupa. We are seeking what is inside the Nama, Rupa. That is really what attracts us.

That is a different subject, I am not going into it now. Now what is the Drishyanvidya Vahya Savikalpa Samadhi? Any object that you see, according to scriptural directions, every object contains five elements. Focus on the Satchidananda elements which belongs to Brahman.

Nama, Rupa which belongs to Jagat. So ignore or make it secondary, Nama, Rupa. But primary should be Satchidananda.

That is when morality starts. What is morality? Doesn't matter whether it is a human being or living a dog or a tree, whatever it is, it is alive. And if it is alive, it has sensations.

If it is having sensations, I should not cause any hurt to it. People have become extraordinarily aware of this type of morality. You see what I am talking about? Previously morality means whether a person's behaviour, especially sexual behaviour, is called moral.

But now a survey has been taken, a reversalization. They say if a man and woman is misbehaving, do you consider it as immoral? Or if some trees are cut, do you consider it as immoral? Everybody pointed out, if somebody cuts a tree, that is the worst immoral act anybody can do. Afterwards, the other things.

Shifting of the values. Shifting of the values. So this is what is happening.

Now you shift to the value and say, not Nama Rupa, but Satchidananda. That is most important. This is God, this is God, this is God.

Everything that I see is Satchidananda, Brahma. But Nama Rupa is something, Brahman is appearing as a dog, Brahman is appearing as an insect, Brahman is appearing as a carpet, that is a Nama Rupa. But within this, all the three things are common.

What are those three things? Satchidananda and Nama Rupa. This is called, what is this called? Bhashya, Drishyamvitta, Savikalpa Samadhi. Exactly in the internal meditation, LI, there is another, what is called? Shabdhan.

What is Shabdhanvitta? Yes, I see that there is an element of Satchidananda. What is the nature of that Satchidananda or Brahman? Again, here Shabdha means? Scriptural teachings. What is, who is Brahma? Exactly the same thing.

Brahma is? All these qualities? Take these qualities, some of these qualities and focus, what is this Brahman? That is called Shabdha, Anuvitta, Bahya, Savikalpa, Samadhi. And if you go on doing like this, then after, this is usually taught in the form of Aham Brahmasmi, Tattvamasi, etc. So when you go on meditating upon it consciously, after some time that meditation becomes unconscious and continuous.

That is called? That is called Bahya Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Vikalpa means you are trying to think something. Nirvikalpa means you the agent are absent.

The thought process is going on. You are only identifying with the resultant of the thought. You are not trying to do that thought.

Now, as an example, the scripture gives us that we are all human beings. I am a man, I am a man, I am a woman, I am a woman. Are you trying to do japa of this? Or is it continuing in every state? Continuing.

How did it come to know? Now, it is an interesting point, how much we are brainwashed. You see, forget about I am man, that is a common example, difficult to understand. I must tell that joke, you know.

Some comic was telling, until I was 13 years old, I thought my name was shut up. Do you get it? The parents and others, whenever he tries to open his mouth, hey, shut up. So, he came to believe that his name was shut up for a long time until he understood that was not his name.

They were trying to shut his mouth. So, take this example. Suppose you are born somewhere, say Christian family, Muslim family, whatever, as an example.

But you are being brought up in a Hindu family. And from the beginning, your parents, we are Hindus, we are Hindus. So, if you are asked, somebody asks you, who are you? What do you say? I am a Hindu, I am a Hindu, I am a Hindu.

Were you born Hindu? No. Then how did you come to say I am Hindu? Because you have been hearing constantly, you are saying that I am a Hindu. Similarly, I am an Indian, I am an Indian, I am an Indian.

And I am this, I am this, I am this. How do you know exactly in the same way, somebody is telling you that you are a human being, you are a human being, you are a human being. You are a man, you are a man, you are a man, you are a woman, you are a... How do you know it's not the same process? It's exactly the same process.

Anyway, funny example would be, supposing the names are reversed, man is called woman, woman is called man. From the beginning a man is called, you are a woman, you are a woman, you are a woman. Afterwards if he asks what will he say? See habit, it makes us.

What is the point, Vectorling, if you train the mind to go on thinking some noble thought, afterwards without your effort also, the thought will continue without any interference and if you do sufficiently, it goes on whole life, like I am a man, when do you think it will stop? So long as I am conscious, the thought will automatically be there. In fact, if somebody says you are not a man, you get very angry, is it not? So that is the example to show, if we go on meditating, first to separate, what is it? You are not a human being, but you are Sachidananda in the Rupa and Nama of a human being. That is the Vahya Drishyanavidya Savikalpa Samadhi.

Samadhi means meditation here. Then next, if you say I am Sachidananda, what does it mean? What do these words mean? What is the meaning of Sachidananda? Take the help of scriptural descriptions, you know in the Bhagavad Gita, what it says that the fire doesn't burn him, the water doesn't wet him, no weapons. Description is there for meditation.

So take these scripture taught words and apply them to understand what is called Brahman. That is called Vahya Shabdamidha Savikalpa Samadhi. And if we do that sufficient amount of time, a time will come without your knowledge, that thought process continues.

And when it continues, then you will say Aham Brahmasmi. So how does these two, we said internal meditations three and external meditations three. Internal final meditation is I am Asanga Drik Seer.

Externally I am Asanga Brahman. So then at that point, I as the Asanga Drik is exactly the same as the Asanga Brahman. Then Aham Brahmasmi.

Inside and outside both are exactly the same. With that sadhana becomes complete. Then what happens, the author brings in a very beautiful Upanishadic statement to illustrate this.

What does he say? When this knowledge comes that I am Brahman, then what happens? All the ignorance is destroyed. All the doubts are totally destroyed. Then all the Karmapalas come to an end.

Only when I realise I am Brahman. These are the six ways of harmonising the internal and the external. Purify the internal, purify the external.

Then inside pure, outside pure. The inside purity becomes one with the outside purity. And that is the culmination of spiritual sadhana.

Then only we realise that our manifestation, we are not potentially divine, we are divine. That is the goal of life and that beautiful truth has been brought up in this book. In some more details tomorrow morning I will deal with it.

And then we will take up the Bhagavad Gita teaching. And I will try to summarise because it is exactly the same subject but presented in slightly different words. Kshetra and Kshetrajna.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 05

2026-05-11T03:42:51Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Why does this happen? Two types of obstacles should be removed. Avarna Shakti and Vikshakti. It works both inside and outside. How do they work inside? Creates... Separation. Not separation. They create identity between two unidentical objects. Two opposite objects. As though they can mix. The Chit and the Jada. The Eternal and the Temporal. The One and the Many. Rig and the Rishya. Internal. Externally, what does it do? It is the same thing it will do between Brahma..."

Why does this happen? Two types of obstacles should be removed. Avarna Shakti and Vikshakti. It works both inside and outside.

How do they work inside? Creates... Separation. Not separation. They create identity between two unidentical objects.

Two opposite objects. As though they can mix. The Chit and the Jada.

The Eternal and the Temporal. The One and the Many. Rig and the Rishya.

Internal. Externally, what does it do? It is the same thing it will do between Brahman and Jagat. So, it is not enough to remove the obstacle only within.

It also has to be done without. Now, that is a very practical point. Because when we sit for meditation, or rather let me put it this way, when we don't need to do anything, we are all saints.

In fact, that is the only time when we are saints. You know, sleeping time, of course, we are saints. Everybody is a saint.

Even otherwise, if I do not need any action, then I am the greatest saint in the world. I will be wishing all the blessings, truckloads of blessings on everybody. But the moment I am forced to deal with somebody, then all my holiness will go.

So, externally also, we have to make this separation. So, what happens when we make this separation externally? Then we become aware that reality or the most valuable thing in any object outside is Satchitananda. The other is completely not important at all.

Why is it not important? Anything that is unreal is not important. Anything that is real, that is the only important. That is why you see a beautiful diamond on the cinema screen, but you don't desire it.

It may create a desire in you. In fact, that creates a lot of desires, because it is part of imagination. Cinema is nothing but imagination, a little bit brought to... That is why, if you want to be a sage, anybody who is attractive, tell, show your original face.

All the attraction will disappear. Original face. As the Chinese Zen Buddhism says, find out your original face.

But there it means, find out your true nature. Here, I am twisting it a little, putting it. Original face, if you see, you don't feel attracted at all to anything in this world.

It is only when you cover the original thing, for a short time, everyone appears to be attractive. Anything appears to be attractive. Clear? So both types of separations have to be achieved through the practise of yoga.

How it is to be done, he deals with immediately now, after another two or three shlokas. But this is what we discussed. So, what is our problem? To summarise the whole thing, within short sentences, we are all suffering from three tapas.

We all wish to be free from them and be happy eternally. Is it possible? Yes, it is possible. So, why is it not possible now? Because maya, in the form of two powers, it comes and creates an artificial, seemingly real obstruction.

It is not real obstruction. There is a law in this world. No two things can ever be mixed up.

There is a law. No two things can ever be mixed up. Some things can seem to be mixed up, but really you cannot mix them.

To give an example, water and, let us say, sugar or salt. Apparently, you put sugar in the water. You don't see sugar.

You put salt in the water. You don't see salt in the water. Only when you taste, you will see that it has become.

They have never become mixed up. How do you know? Because every object has a particular name. So, if it is the same thing, if a thing is its own thing, then you need to call it only by its own name.

You do not need to call it by another name. But if you add salt, what do you call that? Salt water. You are using two separate words.

You are not calling it water. You are calling it salt water or sugary water or sweet water, whatever. They never get mixed up.

Apparently, they are mixed up. How do you know? Whatever can be separated was never in the first instance mixed up. They can be separated.

So, really speaking, nothing in this world can be mixed up. The same truth holds also true to Brahma. Maya, what does it do? So, like salt not appearing to our eyes, but it is there all over.

And it can be separated. And it takes a long time to separate it. The sun of knowledge is necessary to separate.

Just like salt remains salt, water evaporates. That is how salt is made. Same thing, sugar also can be made.

If you boil, distilled water is distilled water, and then sugar crystals remain sugar crystals. So, Brahman and something else get mixed up. Not really, only apparently.

That is the point. Dvaita Vedanta means refuting Dvaita. What does the Dvaita system say? It says you get liberation.

How can you get liberation? Because you are Atma. Now you think you are a human being or whatever. You worship God, fall at His feet, surrender yourself, do whatever you like.

But ultimately, either through knowledge or by His grace, you get liberation. What is liberation? You become identified with your own nature. And whatever you are mixed up on the way, I am a human being.

Human being means what? Soul within a human body is like salt in the water. Salt is different, water is different. Soul is different, body is different.

As any Dvaita philosopher said, you can go to heaven with body or even mind? So, you see now, liberation means you will be separated. The only difference is we are all divine. Here, there is no controversy between Dvaita and Advaita.

But you are small divine or big divine? Mixed up divine or unmixed up divine? These are the differences. Divine divinity, all schools of philosophy agree. Whether you are a small soul, like that many many divinities are there, like crystals, sugar crystals, you know, like that.

But it goes on increasing. Because the sugar crystals go on increasing, the space is less. That is why you become smaller and smaller.

Because you know, previously there were only half a billion. Now 7 billion human beings are there. So this is everything.

The Jivatmas are increasing in numbers. So you have to compress them, you see. So, a seeming mixture, and that is how we can separate.

Because if it is really mixed, you can never separate. If it is seemingly mixed, anything in this world is seemingly mixed, gold and copper, gold and tin. There are images of Panchaloha in it.

But you can separate. There is no problem at all about it. Any two things mixed up, so they can be separated.

So if we don't separate, death separates. What is death? Separating all the elements, you know, all the elements, the salt part will go salt part, the zinc part will go into zinc part, the copper part will go into copper part. And it goes and mixes up with its own zinc.

That is why mineral deficiency. So if zinc deficiency is there, the zinc which was in you or in somebody, it is the process through food or whatever you call it. This is all it happens.

But zinc deficiency cannot be removed by copper deficiency, iron deficiency. That is not possible. Every deficiency must be removed only by its own adding that particular element.

Anyway, what is the point? The nature always is either combining or separating. When it combines, it is called janma. When it separates, it is called mrityu.

This is the simple truth. And in between, you go on making up for the deficiencies. That is called life.

You see, because it is coming and going. We are taking in something and we are also losing something constantly. So that is our bondage.

Why should we go on trying for things which are not of our nature? In fact, we never lose ourselves. That is the meaning of Atman. There is no Atman deficiency in course of time.

It remains exactly the same quantity, the same quality. But the other things unnecessarily we have put on. You know, you put on a cloth.

The cloth gets holy. Then what do you do? You don't want it to be holy. So you remove that holiness.

Taking a needle or whatever it is. This is not your job. Unnecessarily you have taken up a job that is not your nature.

It doesn't belong to you. It belongs to somebody. It is like an Indian village.

It is a keeping house. They keep the cows. But they go into the neighbouring houses and eat up nicely and come back.

Like that, cows. Even chickens. Chickens, you know, they are also Rashnama.

They used to jump the compound and then come. Then after some time they found the ashram so wonderful they started laying eggs also there. The neighbour will come asking, did you see any egg here? I say, of course, you know, no egg is kept there.

So servants will take care. Somebody else, workers will take care. So one day I was noticing.

It was after sunset, just getting. One fellow, stupid fellow, could not go. Returned home and a cat came.

Simply jumped up on it. In front of my eyes. I was trying to save it.

But simply it came and got hold of the neck like lion catching hold of this thing and simply ran away. And while going it looked at me like... What entity is it? And then it went away. I don't know what it meant, what it was saying.

It came and went away. So we are like feeding and looking after other people's children. And we don't get any benefit.

We get only the labour. So we entered into the Mahamaya's compound and digging, watering and pruning and doing all those things. And it is the Mahamaya who gets the benefit.

Gunas are working with Gunas. What is your headache? This is what we have to understand. But we do not understand now because we think now our neighbour's garden is my garden.

That means this body and mind, we are cultivating it. When you are decorating so nicely, you are not knowing. It is your neighbour's garden you are decorating, not your neighbour's house you are decorating, not your house.

The Jiva neither does anything nor makes anybody else do something. He is Sakshi. That is the meaning of Sakshi.

But somehow we mistake ourselves. This is mine. If it is yours, it should be always with you.

And since it has not come with you, it will not go with you. Even now, like the escalator, the upper part is going that way, the lower part is... You have seen escalator? You know escalator is standing. There is a railing.

You put your hand. It is going forward. There is no coordination between these two for some reason.

The hand goes forward and your legs go at the rate of the escalator. So, until now we have discussed it is because of the power of Maya we consider things which do not belong to us as belonging to us and we forget our own true nature, both inside and outside. And therefore, we must be made to realise that outside if you see reality, that is what is called Brahman.

Inside if you see reality, that is called Drik. So, individually it is Drik and cosmically it is called Brahman. So, first we have to separate both.

Then we have to see the identity between this Drik and the outside Brahman. There will be no difference. But there will be a difference between Drishya and Jagat.

Drishya are many, but Drik is only one. Brahman is only one, but Jagat is many. So, why so much of difference is there? That beautiful analysis is dealing now.

Let us take it. Asthibhati Priyam Roopam Nama Chetyam Shapanchakam Adhyatrayam Brahma Roopam Jagat Roopam Tato Dwayam Every object we experience in this world, including our body and mind, consists of five elements. What are those? Asthi, Bhati, Priyam, Nama and Roopam.

So, first let us try to understand this. Why these five? Asthi. Asthi means what? Existence.

If an object doesn't exist, there is no question of knowing it. What is Bhati? Cognizability. Knowability.

What is knowability? If some object, every object has got its own characteristic, by which, you know, if it is there, it should be knowable. Otherwise, how do you know there is an object? Even if it is there, see, there may be a microbe here. At this level, it has knowability, but you don't have the instrument to know it now.

Therefore, you see, it may be there all over. In fact, it is there all over. That is why HD, many people don't like HD.

All the microbes, everything is probably, they will see. I am making it too much, but you can see a lot of unattractive things. That is why people don't like high definition.

Low definition is better. Because, you know, ignorance is bliss. So, you see now, Bhati means what? Every object not only should exist, of course, it is, whatever exists, all that, Sat, Amsha, Chit, will have Chit and Ananda Amsha.

It is, there are three in one, one in three. You can never separate them. There are only three ways of looking at it.

Is it there? Yes, it is there. And can it be known? Yes, it can be known. Otherwise, how do you know it is there? Do you see? Follow the argument.

Suppose somebody says there is an object. He may be telling the truth or he may be telling something wrong. What is the proof that object is there? Not only you, anybody should be able to... Otherwise, you know it, that person knows it, nobody else knows it.

That means that knowability is not in the object, but the knowability is in the knower that doesn't prove the object. That is what is called illusion, an illusion. What is the nature of the illusion? It is there, but it can be known only to the fellow who is seeing it.

That is why it doesn't have a real existence. Whatever has real existence is capable of being known by anybody because that knowability is in the object. It doesn't depend upon the subject.

It is Vastu Tantra, not Kartru Tantra. That is why you can't change it. How you interpret it is Kartru Tantra, but how it is, what it is, that is Vastu Tantra.

You see the point? Any object, if it is existing, it must be knowable. Otherwise, its existence cannot be predicated of it. If it is there, and you can't say it is there, but it cannot be known.

No, that is impossible. Then, Priyam. What is Priyam? It is Ananda Swarupa.

Why is it Ananda Swarupa? Every object is Priyam to itself. Whatever be the thing, however ugly a person, or toad, or something else, try to destroy, it will protest. Why does it protest? Because it is the most dear thing to itself.

That is the meaning of the Priyam. You may not like it. Some may like it.

Some may not like it. But God will like it. Because God means its own existence.

That is why nobody can hate himself or herself. But we come across expression, I hate myself. What do you mean by that? Do you hate yourself, or do you hate the non-self? It is always the non-self.

So who is going to hate one's own self? You see the contradiction? There must be two objects to say, I love you or I hate you. That is why for the self, there is no loving, there is also no hating. It is only love and hate is a relationship.

And that can be only, it is only feasible if it is something else, two objects, not one's own self. But because we identify ourselves with our body so intimately, I hate myself, I don't discriminate between who is hating whom. We do not discriminate.

So Priyam has to be understood in this respect. First, in the eyes of God, because he is the only one, he loves himself, means he is the most Priyam, because he has no other choice. Priyam.

In the second sense, every object loves its own identity or existence. That is the meaning of it. Third, all of us can love something at some point or another.

You cannot say that eternally you will hate something. Maybe at some point you may not like something, but at some point you will like that very thing. That is the nature of every object.

That is the nature of every object at some point. This is beautifully illustrated. A guru taught to a king that everything is Brahma.

So then he started sleeping with the maid servant. You know the story? So the queen went and said, what type of teaching you gave? Then the guru told her, invite me for dinner, we will sit, you serve like this. So she served all the best dishes to the guru and cow dung and other things to her husband.

So he opened the cover and then he saw these things. He saw what the guru was eating and then he asked, what is this you served? Then she said, in your eyes everything is Brahma. Maid servant is Brahma, queen is Brahma.

Everybody is the same, no difference between queen and maid servant. So what is the difference between royal dishes and cow dung? They are also Brahma. Then he turned against the guru and said, you only taught me like this.

You prove that this is Brahma. Then immediately he turned himself into a hob and happily started eating it. So what is my point? See, everything is preempt.

So something, everything can be preempt to everybody at some point. See, there is a beater called dung beater. You know that.

Its food is dung. So suppose it becomes a devotee. Will you do Brahma Arpana or not? So for it, that is the appropriate food for it.

So if you can see that a big fish is there, some small fish will be eating something to clean it. It is called cleaning the enemies of the virus and insects on the fish. So for that small fish, that is Brahma.

Is it not? So for us it doesn't mean we have to eat everything. What it means is that there is nothing in this world which you can hate, you can look down, not suitable, that's fine. But you cannot say it is Abrahma because everything is Brahma.

In that sense, in the eyes of a saint. And that is why, why Ravi Brahmani had taken so much trouble to bring human faeces, rotten human flesh, and cooking in a skull, and we don't know what other things she had brought. What is the idea? It is not that the sadhaka has to eat.

The idea is do not cherish hatred because if you say that is a hateable object, that means what you are saying, everything is Brahman, accepting that. In that sense, what is not hateable in this world? What is not hateable? If a small bit of the skin sloughs off and remains there separated from us, after one or two days, what does it become? Will you go and touch it? You have to think over it. Our own body, which is so dear to us, any part of the body, if it is separated, what happens after a few hours? Decomposition, rotten, it happens.

So would you feel like touching it? But that is the food, because that is Brahman for something else. So that is how we have to understand from as Brahman it is priyam. So asti, bhati, priyam, these are the three.

What are the other two? Nama and Rupa. So this Nama and Rupa are not separate things. Nama and Rupa are ideas imposed upon the object called Brahman.

So we discuss so many times, table. So what is stable apart from wood? Can you separate it and weigh wood separately and the Nama and Rupa separately? So if you cannot do that, if it is one and the same, why do you call it a table? Why do you call something a chair? Why do you call something a table? Wood is wood. But my point is, where is that Nama and Rupa? The table is there, wood is there, you can touch it.

Can you touch the Nama and Rupa? If it is not touchable, what is it? It is not physical. If it is not physical, what is it? It is subtle. If it is subtle, what is it? Everything that is subtle is called an idea in the mind.

It is only in the idea in the mind. And different creatures can look upon this same object in different ways. A woodworm, a scientist and a saint, same object, is looking in different ways.

So this idea is changeable. Asti Bhati Priyam, it is the same. But the idea is changeable.

This is good, this is beautiful, this is ugly, this is useless, this is food, this is energy. Every person has his own idea about every object. So, what is the first point in this verse we are learning? Every object is consisting of these five elements.

Asti, Bhati, Priyam, Nama, Rupa. You know the idea, but still I am repeating it for making it strong. How do you distinguish between this and this? You see, there is a sofa, and here is a sofa.

Both are sofas, there is a sofa. How many sofas are there? Three. How are you able to distinguish between them? Asti, Bhati, Priyam is absolutely same.

Then how do you say this sofa, this sofa, that sofa, three different sofas? There are certain differences. What is the difference? First, Rupa. Rupa means quality.

Qualities can be of five types. What are the five types? The form, the colour, and the style. Five senses.

It is only five through five senses only. If you don't have five senses, how do you distinguish which is chair, which is sofa? You can never do that. If there are no five senses, all that remains about any object is only idea.

It is because anything physical must be distinguishable by the five sense organs. You see the point? So, this Rupa means all these fall under the category of Rupa. And according to that distinction, you give the names sofa number one, sofa number two, sofa number three to distinguish.

Otherwise, distinguishing is not possible. Do you get the idea? So, what is the idea now? Asti, Bhati, Priya is common to everything. Then how do you distinguish one object from the other? It is only Nama and Rupa.

Look at the second part of this. If you are seeing any object in the sense of Sat, Chit and Ananda, Asti, Bhati, Priya, it is nothing but Brahma. But, it says, So, Jagat, Nama and Rupa is what we call Jagat.

So, what is Jagat? Brahman plus Nama and Rupa. We know that idea, but how beautifully he puts it. Because every object must, what is the difference between Brahman and Jagat? Three things are common, two things are not common.

Asti, Bhati, Priya, Sat, Chit and Ananda is common to all objects, every object, any object. What is the difference? Only Nama and Rupa. And all the five are only ideas in the mind.

So, there is nothing called concrete. It is all idea. There is no external, there is no outside, there is no in.

If there is no outside, see how beautifully it is. You can't say it is all inside without positing that it is outside. That is not possible.

You can't say something is cold without positing something is hot. No, there is nothing hot, but something is cold. Is it possible? How do you distinguish which is cold and which is without knowing? Both must be there.

This is the nature of human mind. That is why the distinction we make, this is outside, this is inside. But transcript has a precise word, meaning.

Padartha, a vastu, an object is called padartha. What is padartha? Pada-artha, meaning of a word. Where is the meaning of meaning? Is it an object or is it an idea? Idea.

So, this is what he says. Now he gives this illustration, Panchabhutas. So, that is the idea we discussed.

The difference is only in the Nama-rupa. Kha means Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala, Urvishu. Jalo-urvishu, Jala, Urvishu.

Urvi means Prithvi. Urvinatha, Bhupati, Sripati, Kamalapati, Urvipati. Urvi, you know, Urvishu.

Jala-urvi, Jalo-urvishu. That is how the Sandhi has to be separated. So, among the five.

Then, Deva, Thiriyag, Naradishu. Devatas. Thiriyag means anything that is not human beings.

Then, Naradishu. So, human beings, gods, and sub-human beings. Among all these things, Satchidananda, Abhinna.

From the Satchidananda point of view, they are absolutely Abhinna. Exactly the same. This is there, this is so-and-so, and this is a wonderful thing.

That is common. Where is the difference? Vidyate, Rupa, Namane. The differentiation comes only in Nama-rupa.

So, pancha-bhutas. And everything has come out of pancha-bhutas. So, the whole universe is nothing, both inside and outside.

The mind has come out from where? Again, pancha-bhutas. It has come out from where? So, from avyakta has come mahat. From mahat has come ahankara.

From ahankara has come the sthula pancha-bhutas. From sthula pancha-bhutas have come the sthula pancha-bhutas. Sukshma pancha-bhutas make up the sukshma sharira.

Sthula pancha-bhutas make up the sthula sva-pancha. So, the whole thing has come only from one. So, what he means is the whole jagat, there may be billions and billions and billions of objects.

All objects have got three things common. What is it? Asti, bhaati, piham. Otherwise, you cannot even say such a thing exists.

The moment you say an object exists, that very moment you have to say that that object can be known and that object also can be experienced as the most dear. Most dear, you know. Miss cockroach.

How is it addressed by Mr. cockroach, chokra cockroach? How does a chokra cockroach address a chokri cockroach? You may not address it as honey, but he addresses that as honey. Honey. We also have done that, we have forgotten.

We have, according to Hindu theory, 84, 90, 92 crores lives, one of the life is cockroach life. So, we all have gone through that honey, honey business is still going on. Today I read a wonderful joke, you know.

A husband having one photo, he was throwing things at the photograph and missing. So, he was going on doing it. So, the wife phoned from the next room, Honey, what are you doing? He said, missing you.

What is she thinking? What is he saying? So, asti bhati priya is the same, nama rupa differs. Why is he pointing this shloka? Through this shloka he is telling us, if you really sit and think, there is nothing you can really hate. Because there is no difference between you and the object you like, there is no difference between you and the object you dislike.

Because as Satchitananda, you are exactly the same material, not the slightest difference. What is the difference? Only nama rupa. And nama rupa is something which is absolutely unsubstantial.

So, all your likes and dislikes are based only on this unsubstantial thing. This is the truth. But at this stage of our evolution, for us, nama rupa alone counts.

Yes. Nama rupa alone counts. All our attention, money, time, energy, is spent only on this nama and rupa.

Now, nama means, suppose somebody says, a woman's name is there. No, that is not going to change. That will be there throughout life, whatever name is there as identification.

Then what is it that we are expending on this thing? So a person goes to a cosmetic surgeon and makes things nicely, then that is, oh, this name is a beautiful name. Because the same person's name is not beautiful, before she went to the surgeon. Now the name has become, you know, a person sees, gets attracted to that person.

It is the same old name. But now it becomes a very attractive name. Is it not? We are spending all our lifetime in these things.

So not only that, there is nothing wrong in getting attracted, but we think that is the reality. That is not the reality. Nama rupa, it can never be the reality.

It is always constantly changing. So when we say jagat is changing, we should never mistake the substance is changing. We should always mistake the nama rupa, whether you like it or not, it is changing.

But you think that is real. Real means what? It is unchanging. How can it be unchanging? A baby is becoming a young person, a young person is becoming an old person, an old person is going to die.

Nobody can stop this process, not even God can stop this process. But what is changing? Only nama rupa. But nothing, the substance itself is not changing.

Right? Now, according to Advaita Vedanta, this is, we have understood. Now, according to Advaita Vedanta, what is changing? No, no, no, that is not the point I am driving at. Is the jagat really changing, or it is our mind which is changing? You see the point.

A rope has changed into a snake. Really has the rope changed into a snake? So where is that change being perceived? It is only the mind. This is a hard fact for us to understand and accept.

What is the hard fact? No, no, I will come to that point. It appears as though an object is changing. Is that object really changing? According to Advaita Vedanta, no.

Is this snake... Has rope ever changed into a snake? Never. But a person is seeing the snake, isn't it? So where has the change taken place? It is the perception. That is an example.

Now all these changes, you know, a baby. So do you mean to say it is my mind which is seeing that same object as baby, sometimes as baby, sometimes as an old person, sometimes as a dead person? Yes. You know there were two brothers.

So one of the brothers was very sick. But his brother called the doctor. And the doctor came and examined and said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with your brother.

He thinks he is sick. And he went away. So after a few days, that brother who called the doctor was walking in the street.

And the doctor said, Hey, how is your brother? He says he thinks he is dead. So what is the point we are finding? This is an important point. Is there really anything that is really changing? Now to understand that point, do you follow what I am talking about? A baby is growing, and that baby is becoming a young person, then middle-aged person, then old person, then he is dead.

Is that also my perception? Or is it that there is some real object out there, which is really being born, being grown? That is the question now. According to Dvaita Vedanta, yes. According to Dvaita Vedanta, no.

So how do you understand it? You know, the illustration of rope and snake is far easier, because the snake is not becoming a baby snake, and a grown-up snake, and a dead snake. It is exactly the same. But here the question comes.

Now let us take first the illustration of the Swapna. You see an object there, and the object is small, and later on it becomes big, changed, recoloured, and then it disappears. But so long as you are in the dream, do you really think that this is not existing, this is unreal? You will never think.

But where are all those things existing? In the mind. It is an idea in the mind. So when you wake up you think, that example of dream is fine because it is a dream, but waking up you cannot say that.

Just as the same argument you will forward in dream, if I have to come and give this class. When you are dreaming, do you say it is a dream state? You say that is a waking state. So now we are saying this is a waking state.

Advaita Vedanta does not agree with that. He says this is also of equal value because no change can ever be attributed to Brahman. That is the real meaning of this verse.

See, Sat, Asti, Bhati and Priyam, you can never change. So now two things are added to get it the name of Jagat. What are those two things? Namarupa.

Where are those Namarupas? In the mind. So if Namarupa is in your mind, Asti, Bhati, Priya is never changing, then where are the changes taking place? In the mind. We don't believe it because we don't know about Asti, Bhati, Priya.

We only are seeing the Namarupa. What is behind, what is that which lends the Namarupa, we are not able to see that. So take another example.

You say there is electricity there. And imagine there is a 5 Watt bulb, 10 Watt bulb, 100 Watt bulb. How much light will a 5 Watt bulb give you? So is it because it is the nature of the 5 Watt bulb to glow 5 Watts or is it because it has limited the original electricity? It has limited the original electricity.

Do you see the point? So all these changes are only in our mind. It is never electricity. Does it grow and become less at any time? Do you say in 5 Watt bulb it grows small, but in 100 Watt bulb it suddenly grows as it becomes a major personality? Do you say that? Or if the fuse is gone, electricity is dead, and suddenly for some reason, by shaking or whatever, the fuse gets temporarily connected, so it is reborn at such and such a time.

Do you attribute such things? But that's what we are bringing all the time to all the things that are happening here. From our mayic point of view, yes, changes are taking place outside, but from the reality point of view, no change is ever taking place at all. That is something which we have to understand.

So how can we come to that understanding? There is only one way. What is that one way? That you will have to first catch hold of Ashti Bhati Priya, then look at Nama Rupa from the viewpoint of Ashti Bhati Priya. Now what are we doing? We are looking at Ashti Bhati Priya from the viewpoint of Nama Rupa.

That is right, he is born, he is dead, and all those things you are saying. So how to do that? So this point is clear? Every object has 5 elements, Ashti Bhati Priya, Nama and Rupa. The second is whatever it is, human beings, divine beings, sub-human beings, any object including non-living object.

Once Ramana Maharshi was sitting, a foreigner, he came and he said, Oh, people should be taught, trees and other things or animals should not be killed, trees should not be injured. I don't know what was in his mind, we do not know, but Ramana Maharshi said, Do you know even the carpet, the floor on which you are sitting is alive? Yes. He is not saying anything new, only that catches our attention because we think this carpet has no life.

Do you think this carpet has life? Actually, I think it does, because when you take care of it, I mean that's... No, no, we are not talking from an aesthetic point of view, we are talking from a reality point of view, whether it is beautiful or... We don't perceive it as alive, but... We don't perceive it? No. We don't perceive so many things alive. Do you perceive life in an egg? You know, and there are some vegetarians, they are called eggheads.

They are all vegetarians only. If you say something, they will get very much agitated. You know, they don't believe that I don't see life.

Of course there are eggs without life, there are also eggs with life. Yes. If there is a cock, then they become what is called live eggs.

And if there is not, you know, there are so many... Some vegetarians are so particular, they want eggs where there is no cock. How stupid they can be? Does not egg have life? Every egg, you know, the potentiality of life is there in every egg, whether it is human or chicken or whatever it is. It is only... You know how human reproduction takes place? Both male seed and female seed.

Is not female seed having life? If it is dead, only male seed comes and then joins. Will it become a human being? Don't you see? Both are there, X chromosomes, Y chromosomes, what is it you call it? So it is stupidity to think when a cock is there, that egg is having, that is non-vegetarian. If cock is not there, it is vegetarian.

What is vegetarian? Vegetables have no life, potatoes have no life. See, how our logic, you know, how far our... Fish has? Vegetarian. Yes, it is vegetarian.

Not only... No, no, nobody considers them as vegetables. They consider them as fools. No, no, fool.

Not fool. Yes. It is there in Bengal.

Yes. Yes. They call them Gangapa.

Yes. No, no, no. It is... Many Bengalis, they know, they use that word.

This is Gangapa. Yes. Because, you know... Anyway, the point is, what object is there in this world which doesn't have life? Because, clearly, Satchitananda.

What else you want for life? What is the rest? So which one? A mountain, a river and this earth. That is why Prithvi Devata and Jala Devata, you know, Ganga Devi or Brahmaputra, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri, these are all goddesses. Yes.

They are really goddesses. Yes. Why? Because they are what sustain, you know.

They are sustaining. If this much water sustains a small creature, how many lives this Ganga Nadi, Kaveri Nadi is sustaining? So, that is why, these are what is called the Pratyaksha Devatas. The sun is Agni Devata, Pratyaksha Rupa.

The wind is our Pratyaksha Devata, Prana Devata. And Akasha, the Akasha is the only one which can never be experienced, excepting through sound. All the other four Devatas, these huge rivers, they are the Jala Devata.

The huge fire, the whole earth, if you go to the core of the earth, is burning at what centigrade? We don't know. If you go to the core of the sun, what is that? Pratyaksha Devata, Agni Devata, Vayu Devata, Jala Devata and Prithvi Devata. These are sustaining us.

Every second of our life we are alive, you know, only because of them. That is why Hindus have recognised it and they made them Devatas and they worship them. And that is how Pooja means, you worship all these items, you see.

There is light, there is this Samara, there is the flowers, there is the fruits, there is the Sugandha, you know, Duggati. All these are to venerate the Pratyaksha Devatas and in the end you do Arati. Those five things are representative of the Panchabhutas to say, Oh Lord, all this belongs to you.

Since I am made up of all these, I also belong to you. That understanding is the result of Pooja. That is true self-surrender.

See the point? Anyway, what are we saying? There is nothing without life, there is nothing without consciousness. But why we don't see it? We don't see these things in many also. You know, when a person is sleeping, which aspect we see? Only Asthi.

If we don't see, we see Asthi. You understand? Asthi and Asthi. So if you don't see the Asthi, you are only sleeping.

Okay. So, this is the most important thing. How to perceive everything as Asthi, Bhati, Priya and Nama and Rupa? If we can see that, we are not bound.

Why? Because what is bondage? First we think, I am different from you. That is bondage. If I know I am not different, all of us are non-different from each other, the question of likes, dislikes, raga, dvesha, and then all these things will not come.

So how to do it? That is when he comes into these six types of... So, 22nd. Upeksha Nama Rupe Dve Sacchidananda Tat Paraha Samadhim Sarvada Kurya Hridayeva Tava Bahi So, Upeksha Nama Rupe Dve Keeping aside Nama and Rupa because that is what is bondage. Bondage is Nama Rupa.

So to keep them. Then you have to meditate upon the other three. Sacchidananda Tat Paraha Paraha is a wonderful word.

Sacchidananda Tat Paraha That means only think of Sacchidananda and nothing else. Tat Paraha means completely absorbed in that one task. That's right.

What does that mean? She is immersed day and night in doing what? How can I save my son? 24 hours, this is her only meditation. See, who is meditating upon whom? We think we are reluctantly trying to meditate upon her and she is totally absorbed in meditating. How can I look after my own child? See, God is more... That is why in the Gita also he says that even when you sleep, I do not sleep.

I keep watch over you. Once, who was that? Laatu Maharaj. Laatu Maharaj, a devotee.

Conversation, remember? A devotee did not know. He said, you fellow, when you sleep, do you think God will sleep? He is keeping a watch over you. He will never sleep.

He can never sleep. The devotee was stunned. He said, what? Is God always serving you? Yes.

Who is serving whom, tell me? Every second, who is serving whom? It is God who is serving us. You know? He is serving in the form of the space. Infinite space he created, so that as much as you increase, there will be enough space for you.

Already he has created, he has already looked forward in the future also. He is not the airline company. Akasha.

And Vayu. Vayu Devata. 24 hours he is doing immense service.

If he doesn't be active, Vayu Devata, then no creature will be there. Every creature will be dead. Everything will be dead.

Life is not possible. The Jagat itself is not possible at all. There is a relationship between Vayu and Agni.

Agni will not function if there is no Vayu. You must always know that. Even when there is a burning core in the sun, it is made possible only because of the Vayu which is there.

Otherwise it is not possible. So Vayu Devata. Then Jala Devata.

Agni Devata in the form of the sun and all that. Then Jala Devata, the oceans. We are all drinking ocean water.

Lord has created oceans for our purpose. Yes? So you don't go and drink ocean water. But what is the sun doing? You see, we can't go there and drink that water.

That's why the Lord himself, you know? Kavadi Kundalu, Mastargada. He is like that. The sun is lifting the water from the oceans.

He carries it to a mountain top and then pours it there and then flows it to the most beautiful water and then we collect wherever we are. This is the service he is doing. Jala Devata.

Then Prithvi Devata. When are you absent from the Prithvi Devata? 24 hours she is toiling so that she is moving. Why is she moving? She is moving because she can also change, you know? Every now and then the soil has to be fertilised in the form of what is called volcanoes, in the form of all these things.

All those things are also for creation of new things. Just as you prune the rose bush. So she also prunes now and then for better creation.

24 hours she is always God in the form of the five elements. He is serving us. What is your service? You nicely sit on a beautiful cushion and do this Chamara.

90% of that air is only... All the prasada you offer there, it is only after that it comes to you. All the beautiful way you decorate is only for whose pleasure? Our pleasure. And you say, I am a great bhakat.

God also says, yes, you are a great bhakat. Only thing is, whose bhakat? We are only... God doesn't need, first of all. Secondly, God cannot be served.

He is infinite, Ananta. He is Ananta, what can you add to Him? You can only take as much as you want, but you can never add, He will never increase. So, our great, what is called bhakti, devotion.

That is all He says, my child remembers me. He knows I am there. That is all He wants.

Nothing else. You can't give anything, even if you want to give, vanga jale, ranga puja. What can you give? Whatever He has already created, that is all, and He created it for you.

And you are thinking that you are creating it for Him. This is our mistake. So what can we do? We can never remain grateful to Him.

That is why gratefulness is one of the greatest spiritual qualities. What is gratefulness? Thanks for everything, for my own existence, for my own sustenance, even for my death also, otherwise death becomes impossible. That joke, have you ever heard that joke? A wife said that, I will die.

The husband said, I will also die. The wife asked, why do you want to die? He said, I can't be here so much happy. Okay, some other occasion.

It should be appropriate at least. Did you get this joke? Wife said, I will die. All of you got it? Husband said, I will also die.

Wife said, why will you die? Because it is too much happiness to me. So he says here, Upeksha Nama Rupa. Because if you don't do Upeksha, means if you don't forget Nama Rupa, if you go on meditating more on the Nama Rupa, what will happen? The 10% bondage will increase.

The share markets will just go up. If you see the point, Bandhana will increase. Why? Differentiations will increase.

The more you emphasise Nama Rupa, the more your attachments, hatreds will grow, and that is exactly what we should try to avoid. See how much misery comes because of Nama Rupa. A person has a beer, Rupa, Khan name.

Even this immigration official, the moment there is this word Khan, immediately they will suspect it is a terrorist or something. See how much it makes a difference. He may be a saint, he may be an innocent person.

99% of the people are absolutely innocent. They are just like you and me. Not even 99%, more than that.

Only a few people. They are dedicated terrorists. How much? This is a black person, this is a white person, this is a yellow person.

What is called ethnic discrimination. Racial discrimination, you say? Ethnic discrimination. And then religious discrimination.

My wife and I had a quarrel because of religious differences. Oh yes. Religious differences.

Somebody didn't understand. What do you mean by that? The wife was explaining. My husband thinks he is God.

I don't. Laughter What a wonderful list you have created, you know. Okay.

So, Upeksha Namarope De, Sachidananda Tattvaraha, completely be absorbed in, focus on Sat, Chit and Ananda. In that order. First focus on Sat.

That means any object that is there, because of its very existence, it has to be respected. It has to be respected. That is why Holy Mother, even a broomstick, how the monks use it to throw here and there, but you know that very broomstick is helping you live a better life.

If everything is, you know, so much of dirt and dust is lying down, you can never enjoy your life. That small broomstick will help you to lead a much qualitative life. Therefore you have to respect it because it is a good instrument.

Sat, anything that is Sat. Then anything that is Sat is also Chit. What is the difference? Most of the time, the Chit is dormant.

A baby. In the mother's eyes, a baby is very precious. But we all love babies, excepting some perverted people.

Nobody hates a baby, a small baby, you see. Why? There are two reasons, many reasons. One reason is because it is existing.

Secondly, that is, a baby is absolutely innocent. Thirdly, we don't know what potentialities lie in that baby. Nobody knows.

Nobody knows the difference between one baby and the other baby. It is only when the babies grow up, who is intelligent, who is not, who is powerful, who is not, all these differentiations will come, who is a saint, who is a rogue. But until that time, we just don't know.

So the idea is, even if somebody develops into a rogue, that is not his nature. That is a deviation from his nature. The real nature is, he is Brahma.

That is how a spiritual aspirant has to look. Then if we can do these two things, Ananda is assured to follow. So, Upeksha Namarupedri, Sachidananda Tatparaha, Samadhim Sarvada Kuryat.

So this is the Samadhi. Samadhi here means constant meditation. Meditation, we have to focus upon these three.

Hridaya Va Athava Bahihi Either inside the heart or in the external world. So just to give an example, what is the external world? When you are meditating, that is the internal world. When you are meditating or worshipping outside, that is meditation externally.

You know, when you are doing puja, that is called external meditation. If you are doing thinking inside, that is called internal worship or meditation. We make a big difference between, this is puja, this is, what is Swami doing? He is doing puja.

No, no, no, he is meditating. No, no, no, you are wrong. I saw him, he is only doing puja, he is not meditating.

See, we make a lot of difference seeing outside things. If Sriram Krishna is offering flowers, is he meditating or is he doing puja or what? What is the difference? What is puja? Thinking of God is meditation, isn't it? So this is one way of meditating. There is another way of meditating.

Anything can be meditated, even if you are picking up some stones from the path. That is what Sriram Krishna advised to Rishik. He said, you are sweeping the pathways and so many devotees are able to walk.

You are worshipping the Divine Mother. It is no less worship because somebody has to do it. In a drama, everybody, a small boy, he came home excited, Daddy, Daddy, what happened? You know I wanted to participate in the drama.

So they gave me a role. What is the role? He said, clapping role. Clapping role.

The boy was very happy. Then the father took a deep breath and said, I hope you will get a speaking part next time because he never got in his home. My wife has a speech impediment.

Now and then she stops to breathe. So you see, Satchitananda Darparaha, either inside or outside. So not either means, not that you have a choice.

It means that you start either from inside or start from outside but ultimately you will have to do both. Why? Because you have to see within yourself the same Satchitananda. You have to see the same Satchitananda also outside.

The practise has got to be made. Totapuri, now I told you, he did meditation inside but he never did this kind of Satchitananda meditation outside. Had he done it, then you would have seen the temple servant also is Satchitananda, the fire also is Satchitananda, the Divine Mother's image also is Satchitananda, then he would not have gone through this.

But the Divine Mother, out of compassion, made him realise that truth. Then thereafter there was no conflict in his mind. Inside, outside, everything is Yatra Yatra Mano Bharati Tatra Tatra Brahma Darshanam Wherever the mind goes, you will be seeing only Brahman and Brahman alone.

Thakurs, some examples. He said, one day I saw a wicked man. But I saw the Divine Mother also was vibrating within him.

Another time he said, I was going to Calcutta. I saw a public woman standing there and I saw Sita herself sitting there waiting for Rama. What was he seeing? Satchitananda Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's life is Ramakrishna course.

You know, one day a donkey was going. So what did he do? He threw an ochre cloth on it and then made Sastang Pranams to what is called, teach his disciples what is called seeing God. So why do people revere Swamis? Swamis, how do you recognise a Swami? Usually they put on ochre cloth.

Ochre cloth is a symbol of a Sanyasi. So why do we revere them? It is not that we should not revere others. Learn to revere at least a few and afterwards you extend this reverence to everyone else.

You have to start somewhere. That is the purpose of a ritual. That is the purpose of a temple.

When you have advanced, your very heart becomes a temple. Then you can see God everywhere. But until you see God everywhere, you have to see somewhere.

Start somewhere. That is very wonderful. And a stone image is the most wonderful place to start.

Why? Because sometimes your culinary skills are not so great. If it is a living God, he won't tolerate it. If it is a stone God, then he will be smiling like this.

Even if you add salt also, he will be smiling only. Only afterwards you will realise what you have done. So when your devotion becomes Nishta, after that you extend it to everyone.

The purpose is to see the same divinity in everybody. And that is what Shri Ram Krishna used to see. And more than that, Holy Mother.

That is why she is called Holy Mother. Do you think all the people who went to her are great spiritual people? So many worthless fellows used to go there. Sometimes in fun she used to reveal the truth.

Yeah. Some devotee asked, why is it Thakur had got all the best great disciples and you disciples I see are all these worthless fellows. He said, you know, the law, first come first served.

So he came first, he picked up the best. And all the rest, chadal purugulu. So you know, what is that, white ants? What is it called? He pushed it towards me.

That is what she said. I am not saying. That is what she said.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 04

2026-05-11T03:42:03Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "So, what were the important points we discussed in the morning, three types of relationships and what is the parihara, what is the way to destroy those relationships, two relationships can be destroyed, one cannot be destroyed until both go together, so that is the part importantly we discussed, and also we discussed how ahankara creates three types of states, when it is completely asleep, it is called sushu, when it is half awakened, it is called svapna, and when it is..."

So, what were the important points we discussed in the morning, three types of relationships and what is the parihara, what is the way to destroy those relationships, two relationships can be destroyed, one cannot be destroyed until both go together, so that is the part importantly we discussed, and also we discussed how ahankara creates three types of states, when it is completely asleep, it is called sushu, when it is half awakened, it is called svapna, and when it is fully awakened, it is called chakra, so that is a very important point for us to understand because who is it that goes through these three, it is the ahankara which is combined with the chichichaya, ahankara means antahkarana, antahkarana plus chichichaya, now antahkarana also goes by another name, that is called sukshma sharira, so why he is introducing this terminology, sometimes we may have doubts, what is the relationship between ahankara and antahkarana, what is the relationship between antahkarana and sukshma sharira, these are different terms used but for exactly the same purpose, so it is the sukshma sharira which recognises the bondage, which feels the longing for liberation, and which again feels it is liberated, because the body doesn't know what is bondage, what is liberation, the sakshi is ever free and therefore it doesn't know, because he doesn't know there is anything else, but the sakshi's reflection somehow, how it came, he will explain later on, how it came, that is no explanation, but it is an explanation, he says you have to believe me, there is no explanation, because if you go a little bit deep, then advaita vedanta falls down, the first step itself, very briefly how it comes, brahman is, before the creation who was there, and brahman is all knowledge, then how can such a brahman fall into the clutches of maya, where from the maya has it come, because if it is all knowledge, where is the place for, if it is 90% knowledge, 10% maya, then there is a possibility, but if it is 100% knowledge, where is the place for it, so that question can never be answered, in other ways, Swami Vivekananda himself brings out this question, how did the one become many, he says that is an illegal question, ask a legal question, what he means is, I don't know, don't ask me, but we are here, for some reason we are here, now how to explain, it is exactly the same situation that we were discussing in the car, karma phala is already an accomplished fact, we are all trying to come to some explanation why it happened, just before coming here, I was reading a nice joke, a man was walking, and suddenly a voice came, stop, a brick is about to fall, you read that, so he stopped, and immediately a huge brick fell in front of him, and then again he started walking, he was about to cross a road, and suddenly the same voice comes, stop, otherwise the car will run over you, and he stopped, huge car came careening and passed right in front of him, then he was astonished, he asked, who are you, the voice said, I am your guardian angel, oh yeah, where were you when I got married, so the point is that we are never discussing about karma that is to come in the future, because always the karma phala is unknown, the karma phala which we are experiencing now, the root cause of it is also unknown, we are what we are, that's why we see the differences, the karma phala which is going to come, because we are performing actions right now, is also unknown to us, we do not know what type of karma phala is going to come, that is why Krishna advises Arjuna that you have the right only to perform the actions, what it means is, you don't know, there are so many variable factors are there, so the example, common example given is, there is a plot of land and you put so many different types of seeds, and which type of seed comes first, and among those which come first, it is the same species, some are very healthy, some are not healthy, it is the same soil, it is the same seeds, it is the same person who is watering, and yet there are some variable factors which we do not know, so all these things, so many factors are not in our control, that is why he says, there are five factors for every action, and daiva means what? Adrishta, we just don't know, there is a factor, so what is the point we are discussing here? It is the controversy, the quarrel need not be there, whether you accept or not, we are trying in our own way to find out an explanation, and to console ourselves why this has come, and how we should behave in future, so that is why we must always have faith in the scriptures, the scriptures tell if you do good, the result will be good, if you do not, the result also will not be good, that is very scientific, the law of invariable relationship between the law of cause and effect, otherwise the whole science will fall down, if there is any variation in the result, you see the point, the law of cause and effect, it must be invariable for prediction, otherwise it becomes unpredictable, so we discussed in the morning, that who is feeling the bondage? It is the antahkarana combined with the chittuchaya, this fact has been put in such simple, beautiful, elegant, sloka form, mind alone is the cause of bondage and also of liberation, that is the fact he was trying to tell, so jagrata avastha or swapna avastha or sushupti avastha, all are variations of the ahankara, ahankara means by extension antahkarana, there is not much, lot of difference between these three, when ahankara is fully functional, it is called jagrata, if it is half functional, it is called swapna, if it is not functional, it is called sushupti, that is a fact which we should always think about. Okay. So we go to, I think number 12 is it? 11.

All right. So it is antahkarana vrttistha, antahkarana vrttistha, chittichaya ikyamagata, vasana kalpaye swapne, prabodhe akshair vishayan bahihe, though that akara is lopta akara it is called, so when pronouncing you simply say prabodhe akshair vishayan bahihe.

So let me, antahkarana vrttistha, chittichaya ikyamagata, this is what I mentioned just now, the antahkarana, there are already vrttis, antahkarana means vrttis, these vrttis are illuminated by the chittichaya, because if it is not illuminated, what happens, sushupti avastha, they are there, but not illuminated. So what happens, vasana kalpaye swapne, in swapna what does the antahkarana do, in dream state what does it do, it makes a kichudi of all these things. As an example you know, in the waking state we see a bird flying in the sky, we see a human being walking on the earth, so both impressions have been taken into the antahkarana, we observe the fact, the bird is flying and man is walking, so this walking and flying, these vrttis are there in the mind, in swapna what it does, then it combines, so man is flying in the sky, man is flying in the sky, so in swapna it is fine, you never question, how I am able to fly, deepbhi gure vadashi, so because that is the swapna prapancha, only after waking up you question, how come I could fly in the dream, so that is the business of antahkarana, what does it do, it has the impressions, and what does it do, vasanaha kalpayet, vasanaha means different types of desires, already it has desires, so it takes those desires, and it takes these raw materials, and it shapes the raw materials according to the desires, for example a poor child, so he has a desire to eat chocolates, but his family cannot afford, so what does it do, nothing can prevent him, so he has a desire, then he has seen a big shop, so he combines his desire with the big chocolate shop, and then he makes a relationship with the owner of the shop, he might become the son-in-law of the owner, or adopted by the owner, so that he can eat, so why we have particular types of dreams, because most of the time our experiences are common, but our dreams are not common, so how do we explain, they are more or less the same experiences, more or less the same impressions, but we fashion these impressions into our own desires, so the desires are like moulds, the impressions are like the dough, so when we put through our own mould, it comes out in these particular things, that is the Swapna Prapancha, in Swapna Prapancha it has usefulness, according to western psychology, what is the usefulness, this is the only way to let the steam off, because physically it is in the external world, many times it is not possible, as I gave the example, you can't beat your boss in the physical world, but in Swapna Loka, you can beat him black and blue, and you get relieved, it gives intense joy, yes, that is also again created by your fears, see you have desires always come in the form of expectations, so if you have fear, supposing you have fear of flying, then you can create a dream in which you are flying, and you are having a horrible experience, so many things happen, but one thing is true, so long as you are there, it does bring about Sukha and Dukha, so sometimes you can get rid of what is called Karma Akshaya, even in dreams also, you can also do the Karma, you can also do the Karma Akshaya, after all what is Karma Akshaya, if you are happy, some amount of your Punya is gone, if you are unhappy, some amount of your Papa is gone, so the Karma Akshaya means, Karma Pala Akshaya can be gone, that is true, very true, it can happen, in fact what they say or scriptures say, even in our waking state, waking state also is our dream state only, so you say dream girl, do you say dream girl in the dream or do you say in the waking state, from every platform they are shouting dream girl like that, so some Karma Akshaya also will go like that, in fact we are all experiencing Sukha and Dukha, you will never get a person with complete Sukha, all the time Sukha, you will never get a person all the time Dukha, it is not possible, so you see that unconsciously, we are all finishing our Karma Akshaya, we are doing it, so there are again two types of Karma Akshaya, it is difficult to demarcate them, one is Purva Janma Karma Akshaya, in the form of our formation of our body, our mind, our surroundings, our family etc, and the present Karmas, yesterday what we did, today morning what we did, to some extent that Karmaphala also is being experienced by us, some Karmas give immediate effect, so if you put your hand in hot water, the Karmaphala is instantaneous, instantaneous, so some Karmaphalas, you know they take time, if you have eaten something 10 days back, it might slowly slowly ferment and bring some kind of stomach problem or health problem, after 10 days, 15 days also, that is another time, some can come after 20 years, how is it? Suppose a student hasn't paid attention to his studies, you know for 20 years he went on doing that one from the beginning, first opportunity he goes and watches cinemas and plays and chit-chats, there are so many people who do that, after that when he starts seriously searching for a job etc, the accumulated result of all that shows up there, don't we see it in front of our eyes? We see it, but it is very hard for us to judge which is the result of which, that is not possible for us, you may think you may know that, say a person you know who has not studied, so in India the Karmaphala is believed and practised in India, that is why in India, all examples you know, an illiterate fellow suddenly marries the daughter of a minister, next time he becomes an MP, or he may be a robber Rani, she becomes chief minister of Uttar Pradesh or something like that.

Sir, what we see in dream is also like our thoughts which we have in Jagat state. See, the point we have to understand is, it is a state of experience, Sapna is a state of experience, Jagat is a state of experience, so Shukti is also a state of experience only, in experience what is the big deal of difference you are making? You can be happy, many people are happy in a state of drunken state, a drunken state is almost like a Sapna state, he is on top of the world, isn't it? So he is creating Karmakshaya, he is also experiencing Karmaphala, he is creating Karma, he is also experiencing Karma at the same time, you can never make that distinction, now I am making Karma, and now I am experiencing Karma, have you ever been able to make a distinction? At the same time you are making Karma, at the same time you are also experiencing Karma, because these two are totally different instruments, one is the instrument of Karta, another is the instrument of Bhokta, these two can go simultaneously, your hands may be doing something, your mind may be experiencing something, you see that? Do experiences also, are they Karma Maharaj? Experiencing is also Karma? Experiencing itself is both experience as well as Karma maker, because how we experience a thing determines our future, you see the point? Suppose you are having some small problem, so that is you are experiencing the Karmaphala of some Karma, which we have done, we don't know, yesterday or 50 years back or last birth, we don't know, but with what attitude you are experiencing that Karmaphala, also determines your future, because if you are grumbling about it, then your future result will be grumbling, more grumbling, because you know that mood also, don't you see? The mood always determines our actions also, simple example, if I am very angry, suppose I am suffering, and I have become very angry, this anger is the seed which shows my future Karma, I can go and do any undesirable action, so that is why Krishna teaches both these things, not only how to experience the Karmaphala, but how to experience the Karmaphala, where does it come? So he says whether it is Sukha or Dukha, they are all the result of one's own Karmaphala, Matra Sparsha, so how do you experience? Simply say that is the nature of this world, they will come and they will go, if you expect only one, that would be wrong, you have to expect both, why should you expect both? Because that is the nature of the world, you know it is like a multicoloured wheel, multicoloured constantly moving wheel, so I want to see only one colour all the time, is it possible? Because it is constantly changing, if I accept the fact that since it is a multicoloured wheel, and which is constantly moving, then I know what to expect, and that has a lot of impact upon our own Sukha and Dukha, that is the freedom we have, we don't have freedom, we can't stop the wheel, but how we view the movement of the wheel, there we have some amount of freedom, so if you go further, he says this is the most wonderful spiritual fact, what is that fact? Whatever is happening to each one of us, throughout our lives, is the best thing, the only right thing that is happening, but we don't want to accept it, so why is it the best thing? It is the best thing because this Karmakshaya is happening, it is the best thing because this is the only thing which will take us further, but for us to take, so that our future will be better, we have to change our understanding and attitude, understanding makes us accept, and that also leads to change our attitude, both are necessary, the practise of these two is called Yoga, Yoga is very practical, so let us go back to the eleventh, Antahkarana Vrittischa Chitichaya Ekya Magata, so the Antahkarana and the Chitichaya, both are combining, because the Chitichaya is meaningless, if there is no Antahkarana, the Antahkarana doesn't know it is an Antahkarana, unless there is Chitichaya, Ekya Magata, then what happens, that becomes our so-called mind in general, what we call mind, if you don't use the word Antahkarana etc., it is simply mind, so what does this mind do? In dream it takes up the impressions, and it takes up the moulds of the previous desires, and it pushes these impressions into those moulds, and that is what our experience is called dreams, Prabodhe Akshaihi Vishayan Bahihi, it does exactly the same thing in a different, Prabodhi means here after waking up, we are talking about not knowledge, we are talking about the dream state and the waking state, then what is Akshaihi, Akshai means the I etc., Vishayan Bahihi, it experiences, look at this translation, the inner organ mind, which is itself but a modification, identifying itself with the reflection of consciousness, imagines ideas in the dream, and the same inner organ, identifying itself with the body, imagines objects external to itself in the waking state, with respect to the sense organs, there is absolutely no difference between Swapna and Jagrat, what is the difference? In Swapna also you have got Swapna Sharira, so it will be in the Swapna Sharira, and Swapna Sharira has got the eyes, ears etc., and through that it is seen, but it is done purely, there are certain differences, why we don't call it Jagrat, what is the difference? The first difference is, it is purely private to the particular individual, secondly, if you are seeing a horse in your dream, nobody else sees the horse, so it is entirely created with our own individual desires, so when we come back to the Jagrat Avastha, what happens is, if there is an elephant, every one of us sees the same elephant, it is a common experience, your experience, my experience, how we interpret it is different, the element is common, how we interpret that elephant, that is an individual affair again, that is why Ishwara Srishti and Jiva Srishti are totally different in the Jagrat Avastha, but the Swapna Avastha is purely Jiva Srishti only, there is nothing else, but for it to do Srishti, it has to borrow certain elements, those elements are called impressions of the waking state, otherwise if you have never seen the waking state, your Swapna will be completely empty, so what is the point of this? It is the mind which goes through these three states, and all these three states, first point is made possible only because there is Aikyatha with Chit Chaya, the reflection of the consciousness, otherwise you say, I am in the waking state, I am in the dream state, I am in the Sushupti state, that is never possible, if the I is removed, then all the states will completely disappear, that very instance, why it is said Aikyam Agatha? Aikyam Agatha means they have not become one, they appear to become one, how do we know? Because the I can be totally separated, when the I becomes seemingly mixed up with the mind, that is called Jeeva, when the I is totally separated from the mind, that is called Parambrahman, Paramatma, whatever you call it, that is why he uses the word Chit Chaya or Sakshi, earlier he used the word Drik, Sakshi, Chit, here it is Chit Chaya, that is Jeeva, Jeeva means Chaya, Chit Chaya plus mind, that is the Jeeva, Sokshma Sarira is the Jeeva, and this Sokshma Sarira identifies with a temporary dress called the physical body, the physical body comes and goes, but this what you call Jeevatva is until one separates the I completely, it doesn't go, it has no death, but ultimately it also has a death, the knowledge comes, it dies, but until that time it looks as though it is living a long time. The dream experience is created out of the impressions from the Jagat Avastha, is it possible that the experience that we have in the Jagat Avastha is also carried from our dreams, because we are making some kind of impressions also when we are in dreams, and then we kind of form an opinion, and here when we are faced with an experience, is it all packaged like that? Yes, it is both ways, the external world influences the dream, the dream also influences, you know supposing in the dream, you have eaten well, drunk well, drunk means water, and then you went to bed, and then you had a dream, and in that dream, a beautiful shining cold Coca-Cola, first class Coca-Cola is appearing, so you are drinking that one, immediately suppose you wake up, you get a great desire to go and drink the Coca-Cola, it can influence, many things it can influence, if you have been seeing eating somebody, so you are passing by, you have eaten well, and then went to bed, and you are having a dream, you are walking, here, suddenly you transported yourself into Bangalore, MTR ticket rooms, and you will see there nice Rava Dosa being eaten by people through the window, and then you wake up, and immediately you have a terrible longing for eating that one, it lasts for a few seconds, until you come to the reality, I am in Cedar Rapids, so there is no point in even thinking, don't even think of it, but it has an influence, everything, every experience has an influence, let us not forget that, just because it is an experience in the dream, doesn't mean it doesn't have its influence, everything is influencing us, even deep sleep also influences in some way, Soakshma Vritti is there, it is difficult to find out, but any experience, Maharaj, sometimes we see something in a dream only, but we never remember that after we wake up, You see, that is no argument, because you don't remember what you did ten years back, do you? You don't remember, but the influence, the subtle vasanas left behind by that experience, are influencing you even today, there is no doubt about it, I will give you a funny example given by Thakur, you know Gospel, Kathamrita, there is this example, there are two examples in fact, an old bull was seen moving with some cows, it is past its servicing capacity, and Thakur gives that example, why is it still moving? because it cannot forget its past impressions, how wonderful, what a wonderful example, so another example he gives, some sadhus were meditating, they were all meditating with closed eyes, suddenly they heard the anklets, sound of an anklets, usually anklets sound is made only by women, all the other sadhus remained shutting their eyes, one fellow opened and obliquely he was looking at that woman, have you come across this? Yes, so Thakur explains, he had become a sadhu, but before becoming a sadhu, he was a householder, so that samskara has not gone, another real incident, one sadhu took a vow, he will never see the face of a woman, and for 50 years he was like that, and he was highly respected, he got so many devotees, so many disciples serving him, he was really a great sadhu, so suddenly one evening, he heard the sound of anklets in a wooded area, so he should have been understanding this, and I don't think that was the only first time he was hearing, so many village women would come nearby, gather some firewood and this and that and then go, so one evening he heard it, and he couldn't control himself, he wanted to see who was that, so he ran before anything could happen, he ran to the door and peeped out, and he saw this one woman, she had gathered some firewood and she was returning home, then the sadhu came to his senses, I took a vow, I will not look at the face of a woman, for 50 years I never saw the face of a woman, and suddenly my mind has run out of control, before he could even think, automatic automation had taken place, what is the power of the samskara, then he was a great sadhu, immediately he took an axe and broke his leg, and said this leg is not going from now onwards, it is not going to go anywhere, this was an accident that really happened, so in our Swami Bhavyananda used to say, so many sadhus unable to control themselves, they do various injuries to themselves, and then sometimes they are brought to the Vrindavan hospital, for treatment later on, the idea is sincerity is there, struggle is there, but the old samskara, and suddenly it comes, it doesn't come before rationality could even manifest, it comes, and that's what happens to all of us most of the time, if you are south Indian, or north Indian even, you are walking, suddenly the fried smell of pakoda, immediately the mouth starts watering, even before you could register what it is, after that only you come to realise, solution is we have to go on increasing our awareness, the whole crux of spiritual progress, is increasing our awareness, so that nothing takes place without our being aware, what is spirituality, what is spirit? Consciousness, what is progress in spirituality? more and more, our awareness becomes more and more, so many things we do like automatons, our whole body is nothing but an automaton, it is a condensed manifestation of our old samskaras, automatically the hands are working, the feet are working, we think we are men, we are women, all these things are what? Automaton, we are neither men nor women, realistically, the chichaya, is it man or is it woman? It is only because of its identity with the antahkarana, that for a long time it becomes, how to break this, that is where the meditation portion comes, it is a beautiful progress, let us finish this one, so now we go to the eleventh is clear, so he is describing what happens, the chichaya and the antahkarana become one, the chichaya thinks I am the antahkarana, I am the antahkarana thinks I am the chichaya, the result is I am the antahkarana, who are you? I am the antahkarana, I am an antahkarana, when they mix up, what happens? I am antahkarana, that division is becoming like a super glue, so number twelve, Manoham krityupadanam lingamekam jadatmakam avasthatrayamanviti jayate mriyate tatha jayate mriyate tatha so what is the point of this particular verse is, the antahkarana or linga sharira or sukshma sharira all are nothing but one and the same, different names for the same entity, so that is the manaha ahankrityupadanam, so that subtle body which is the material cause of the mind and egoism, it is one, it is not different, ahankara is not different, antahkarana is not different, sukshma sharira is not different, it is but one, is that point clear? what we call the mind has got four faculties, when you analyse the mind, when it is doing a particular thing, we give it a particular name, this is manas, this is buddhi, this is chitta, but actually it is one and the same material, through the same man, when he is cooking, he is a cook, when he is in the club, he is a club member, when he is following in the Olympics, he is an Olympic player, different functions, so what is the point he is telling, that do not ever get confused by these terms, buddhi, manas, ahankara, chitta, and then this sukshma sharira, linga sharira, it is exactly one and the same, so in short what we call in English the mind, that is a better word, mind is one, what is its nature, first its nature is insentiency, jadaatmakam, by itself it is insentient, when does it become sentient? when chichchaya comes and becomes one, which we discussed earlier, then it says I am the mind, then it starts using the word I, until that time it cannot even say I am the mind, because it is not even aware that it is the mind, and it is one, that is an important point for us, so let us not get confused by different words, this is sukshma sharira, this is ahankara, this is buddhi, then what is what? It is all nothing but one and the same, then it is lingam, lingam means subtle, that is why we call it subtle body, that is why another name for sukshma sharira is linga sharira, so what does this sukshma sharira do? avastha trayam anveti, it goes through these three different states, which we had already discussed, what are those? sushupti, swapna, and jagrat, then he adds one here, jayate mriyate tatha, it itself does not have repeated births and deaths, but it identifies itself with the physical body so intimately, whenever the physical body is born, it says I am born, when the physical body dies, it feels I am dying, who says I am dying? So you see this is described because how did we come to this state of bondage at all? The whole samsara depends upon this mind, what is the whole samsara? All the samsara is nothing but experiencing the samsara in three different ways, sushupti, jagrat, swapna, is there anything else? samsara means is there anything else? Even if you go to heaven also, it still falls within this jagrat, swapna, sushupti only, there is nothing else, the experience also, so what is the mixture, what is the problem? Mixing the experiencer, the drik, with the drishya, so this drishya falls into three categories, jagrat, swapna and sushupti, this is drishya, so who created this hell called drishya? How come this drishya ever came into existence? How wonderfully he is taking us, first he is telling this is the drik and this is drishya, first there are three types of driks, but from the ultimate point of view there is only one drik, and from the ultimate point of view everything else is drishya only, this drishya is nothing but antahkarana, this antahkarana by whatever name you call it, it goes through this process of jagrat, swapna, sushupti by turns, so what is bondage? Going through these three conditions ceaselessly, helplessly, is called samsara, how did this samsara come about? Because if you want to prescribe a medicine, you must first diagnose what is the cause, and then only the remedy, so now he is coming to this point, you know in brief, so we have to understand, Maya, what is it that brings about this drik drishya sanyoga? Maya, so the moment drishya, drishya itself is Maya, the moment drishya is created, the drik is created, because the drishya is meaningless without the drik, the drik is meaningless without the drishya, Brahman is neither drik nor drishya, so this point is clear, so what is the nature of that Maya? So according to Advaita Vedanta, this Maya has got two powers, vikshepa shakti, usually it is given avarana shakti first and vikshepa shakti next, in this he differs and says vikshepa shakti comes first, avarana shakti comes later, both views are wrong views, because avarana shakti and vikshepa shakti do not function one after the other, they function simultaneously, so there is no controversy at all, usually we are taught first the nature is covered, then vikshepa comes, in this he says first vikshepa shakti projects, then it covers, because vikshepa shakti is there, but if you know it is the same thing dressed in a different dress, then there is no bonding, but it covers, oh, you look very beautiful today, forgot it is the same old stuff, so vikshepa shakti alone is not sufficient to tempt us, so avarana shakti also should be there, that's why Muslims are so practical, they cover bhurka, that's why Muslims are so happy, there are reasons for that, we won't go into that, so let us go to the 13th, vikshepa shakti lingadi, brahmanda antam jagat srujit, so mayayaha shakti dvayam, dvayam shakti hi, maya, the powers of maya are of twofold, dvayam, shakti dvayam, shakti always means that which is acting, if it is not acting, that's why it becomes brahman, when it is acting, so when it is not acting it is called brahman, when it is acting it is called shakti, in Thakur's words, so what are those? vikshepa, avaruti, rupakam, vikshepa and avaruti, so what is vikshepa and what is avaruti? avaruti means covering the nature of a thing, vikshepa means representing it as something totally different, and this covering is always partial, not complete, because maya cannot come, to function maya itself needs the power of brahman, the example given is the sun and the cloud and us, we are here, then the sun is shining, and suddenly a huge cloud comes and covers the sun, this is a wonderful example, so what is it? before the cloud came we are able to see the sun, after the cloud came we are not able to see the sun, the cloud is the production of the sun, the cloud depends for its formation srishti entirely on the sun, if there were to be no sun there would be no cloud at all, now the cloud has come and it covers the sun, not only that, even to know that it is a cloud we need sunlight, not only it creates, it also illuminates and says, suppose it is dark, there can be a cloud, but you will not know it is a cloud, so darkness is what you know, because of the sun the cloud is created, but then the sun sets, then the cloud is still there, but if it is completely dark you will not be able to see the cloud, you can't recognise there is a cloud, so this is the example, because of the sun cloud is created, because of the sun the maya is illuminated, do you see the point, exactly the same way, because of brahman maya is created, because of brahman maya is also illuminated, it is revealed, how do we know it is maya, because of brahman, I am saying I am the body, how are you able to say I am the body, because that I am part is constantly there, so that is why Vedanta tells, the maya has only half power, half brahman, half maya, that is called maya, so how it works, he explains it further, but I am jumping ahead of that, so here is a rope, so you express it in language, there is rope, there is rope, in this there are two parts, the existence part and the ropeness part, so there is that belongs to the existence part, that is very important, the ropeness is a separate issue, it is a manifestation of that general existence into a particular, so just like here is a table, in the table here this is a table, so what is this is a table, you have to divide that sentence, this is a table, now when you say this is, what are you talking about? Wood, instead of saying this is a wooden table, we are simply shortening it, this is a table, but by this is you mean wood, wood is the material, the table is Nama Rupa, that point is clear, so here is there is a rope, there is belongs existence, now there that existence is neither wood nor rope, it is existence, pure existence, a small part of that, like foam always when you see, that is a comparison also with bubble, wave, foam on the ocean, without the ocean will the bubble ever exist, it is not possible, and it has come out of the ocean, it remains on the ocean, and it also again goes back into the ocean, how much part of the ocean becomes the wave? A small infinite part, that is why, Sahasrara Pisha, Atyatishta Dashaangulam, you know, there is only a small part of that, is manifest as what we call this creation, it is a very small part, just like the wave is a smallest, how much if you calculate mathematically, how much is the volume of the water, how much is the volume of the waves and other things, it is a very very small part, the rest is ever remaining as water only, so existence, a small bit of it is, appears to be, not even becomes, appears to be because of Nama Rupa, here is a rope, now when Maya comes, what happens, the first thing is simultaneously, the rope-ness is covered, and the snake-ness is imposed upon it, but we are still saying, there is a snake, instead of saying, there is a rope, we are saying there is a snake, so what is covered, there is, is never covered, that is not possible, but the rope-ness alone is replaced by snake-ness, that is why Maya can only cover, an infinitesimally small part of Brahman, it really doesn't cover, it appears to be covering, just like the cloud seems to cover the sun, what is the distance between the sun, and what is the volume of the sun, what is the volume of the cloud, and yet, because of the nearness, even this much is enough to cover the whole sun, if I do like this, the whole sun is covered, I can't see, that is the power, but for practical purposes, even though it is a small part of the Maya, and that is enough, create havoc, so this is what, so what does the Vikshepa Shakti do first, Lingadi Brahmandantham Jagat Shruje, it creates as it were, or manifests as it were, this universe, from where to where, from Linga to Brahmanda, Linga means Antahkarana, because the Antahkarana is the root cause, of the entire universe, you close your Antahkarana, the whole Jagat is completely gone, how wonderful it is, our Antahkarana is enough, to create the world, and also to sustain the world, and to destroy the world, in your whole Swapna Jagat, who is creating, who is sustaining, and who is destroying, and it is very easy, you enter into the Swapna Jagat, Krit is created, and so long as you are there, it goes on without your least effort, the moment you wake up, you don't need to do anything, you don't need to destroy, the moment you wake up, what a wonderful Maya, that's why in Vivekachudamani, Shankaracharya says, my God, what happened to that world, just one second before, the whole world was there, and now, within one twinkling of the eye, the whole world has disappeared, where has it gone, what happened, what is this wonderful power of Maya, exclaims, the thing is, that's what is happening, every time we go into deep sleep, the whole world is gone, so, everything depends upon our, now is coming, what is this Srishti, having given that, what is Yoga Maya, Maya is consisting of two powers, no, no, here it is, Vikshepa Shakti and Avarana Shakti, yes, Vikshepa Shakti and Avarana Shakti, and it is this power, which creates our Antahkarana, as well as the seemingly, now, according to Advaita, the Brahmanda is nothing but, a reflection only in the Antahkarana, now you see, the whole town, city, as a reflection in the mirror, what is that mirror, our Antahkarana, combined with, no, no, no, that itself is Antahkarana, without Chit Chaya, poor Antahkarana doesn't know, there is an Antahkarana, what a power it is, it is this combination, which brings about, this creation, itself and the whole, subsequently, the whole universe, now, Satchidananda Vastuni, Abdho Fenadi Vatsarva, Nama Rupa Prasarana, very simple Sanskrit, Srishti Nama, what is this Srishti, Brahma Rupe, and that Vastu, called Brahma Rupa, Satchidananda Vastu, because you can only, you can only project, the snake on the rope, so there must be a Vastu, what is that Vastu, Brahma, Satchidananda Brahma, there is a meaning, why he tells all those things, Brahma Rupe, so he gives an example, the ocean is like Brahma, and on the ocean, Fena, Buddha, and Lahari, etc., Abdho Fenadi Vatsarva, Fena means foam, etc., so, Nama Sarva Nama Rupa Prasarana, all the names, and forms, and everything, is projected on that itself, right, is that point clear, so what is Srishti, what is Srishti, looking at Brahman, with Nama, and Rupa, nothing else, what is a table, wood plus Nama, so the idea is clear, what is Maya, how does this Avarana Shakti, and Viksha Ferriti, what do they do, so they take the Vastu, which is already there, they don't create the Jagat, the Vastu out of which Jagat is created, or projected, is already there, eternally it is there, now what does it do, it creates seeming Nama, and Rupa, so Brahman with Nama Rupa, is called Jagat, Jagat minus Nama Rupa is, how simple it is, like Krishnadekha is finished, the essence of all Vedanta is finished, Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya, when we say Jagat Mithya, what does it mean, we are already seeing Jagat, how do we see that Jagat as Mithya, remove the Nama Rupa, Jagat Mithya means, Jagat means Nama Rupa, remove the Nama Rupa, what remains, only Brahman, that means see Brahman, without Nama Rupa, and that is called Realisation, that's all, there is nothing else, even now it is real only, it is not unreal, even now because the Brahman Vastu, has never disappeared from here, if you say this carpet is unreal, then you are denying the reality of Brahman, because the carpet is nothing but, Brahman with Nama Rupa, is the carpet, so you can never make this carpet really unreal, so the reality is Brahman, but you are looking at it, through the lens of Nama Rupa, that is the simple simple fact, okay, so having given this for our understanding, then he goes on, it is something which is wonderful, now he has described, the wailing power of the Maya, Sarasya Karanam, so now the power of the Avarana Shakti is given, what does Viksha Shakti do? Creates, adds Nama and Rupa to the Brahman, so what is the point here? Do you know what is the point? If I know this carpet, this carpet is Brahman with Nama Rupa, I have no problem, I am not bound, because I am seeing, I am still seeing, only I am seeing Brahman with Nama Rupa, it is like somebody comes, let us say, with a bear's skin, from here to here, but face is not covered, you understand? Now he can never fool me, because the original face is still there, but what the Avarana, Viksha Shakti does is, it covers only from here to here, now the Avarana Shakti comes and then, it covers this one, and then we can't recognise, we identify it, oh, it must be a Bhalloka, you know what happened? A circus came to a town, you know that? A circus came to a town, then what happened? There was a tiger and there was a bear, they were exhibiting, so the bear somehow died, so the circus owner, otherwise the circus will not be attractive, so what happened? The circus owner went to a fellow and said, look here, a bear died, but people don't know, that you put on that bear dress, and move and behave like a bear, so I will give you some money, he agreed, so he was there, so he was very happy, he was getting some money, all that he needed was to put on the dress, suddenly what happened? The cage door, next to it there was a tiger, so the door opened, the tiger jumped in, this fellow about to start screaming, the tiger came in, shh, don't scream, I am also acting like a tiger also, how wonderful it is, if everything is covered, then we have no way of identification, if partially covered, we have no problem, so this is what happens to the Jeevan Mukta, in a way of speaking, he still sees the Nama Rupa, but it is like this dress, here Balluka dress is there, but the face is the same old friend, so he said, you are my old friend, come on let us go for a walk, and all that, one horse went to a pub, so the bartender looked at him, why this long face? So he has described now, both the powers are, because if both powers do not operate, we won't be caught, that's why both must simultaneously, one has to cover, the other has to create, project something else, then we mistake, oh I don't know this, this is something different, even though it is the most familiar person, in the whole world, but we mistake, so anything that we see, is nothing but the familiar Brahman only, Nama and Rupa, it is the root cause of all samsara, and the bondage, and the consequent suffering, is because of these two powers, so we have to deal with these two powers, and somehow destroy these two powers, then maya will not be able to do anything to us, so this is the process, because meditation is a process, by which we get rid of both, avarana shakti and exception, but before we come to that, we have to realise, this is what we are supposed to do, how does it work in practical life, every scripture has to be practical, so we see so many things, how do we bring about unity, with this first of all, how do we bring about unity, we must find a common ground for unity, what is that common ground? It is sat, sat in the form of existence, everything is existing, that is the common ground, the table is existing, and the tree is existing, the animal is existing, human being is existing, what is the common thing? Existence, so hold on to that common ground, so just as this maya power, it brings about this change, both inside and outside, what does it do? The drig and drishya, which are totally different in their characters, it makes them combine, I am the drishya, I am the drig, what is I am the drishya? When the body says, I am drig, the drishya is saying I am drig, when drig says I am the body, then drig is telling, I am the inert, insentient body, then it covers, so at the same time, it is telling I am limited, and I am limitless, I am eternal, I am temporary, I am bound, I am free, it is cherishing both these opposite qualities, at one and the same time, this is what it is doing inside, what is it doing outside? It is doing exactly the same thing, Brahma Sargayoh, on the one side Brahma, on the other side Sarga means Srishti, what is the relationship between Srishti and Brahma? Brahma is eternal, Srishti is temporal, Brahma is all knowing, Srishti is small knowing, or sometimes not knowing at all, Brahma is full of power, Srishti is full of powerlessness, all these opposite qualities, somehow it merges and says, Brahma thinks I am the Srishti, and the Srishti thinks I am Brahma, Brahma means reality, existence, it thinks, so we are all undergoing both inside and outside, this somehow impossible fact is happening, that is why Maya, one definition of Maya is, ghatana patiyasi, it makes the impossible possible, how can both opposite things be real? I am darkness, I am light, at different times that is possible, but at the same time it is not possible, but that is what the Maya power is making possible, so keep that in mind, antar drishyayor bhedam, bahischa brahma sargayoh, you see the point here, antaha means within us, drishya, drigyor bhedam, it covers the difference, bhayegi, outside externally, brahma sargayoh, brahman and sarga means? Srishti, creation, this differentiation it is removing, the differentiation between drig and drishya, subject and object it is removing, and making them one, outside brahman and creation, it is removing that complete oppositeness, differentiation, that means each one is thinking, I am both brahman, I am also creation, I am both limited, I am also limitless, that is why this eternal conflict is there within us, that we know we are temporal, but we want to live for eternity, that is why Swami Vivekananda defines it, what is maya? Maya first of all is a statement of facts, second definition, maya is statement of contradiction, what is this contradiction? Now you understand what is the contradiction? We know at the same time we are limited, at the same time we want to be unlimited, it is a contradiction, but we are not even thinking that we have this contradiction, wonderful.

So let us move on to the next one, 16th isn't it? Is it 16th? sakshina purato bhaati lingam dehena sanyutam chiticchaya samavesha jivasya dhyavaharika jivasya dhyavaharika It is beautiful, because of this sakshina purato bhaati, lingam dehena sanyutam, lingam means sukshma sharira, dehena sanyutam, that it is united thinking I am the body, how is it possible? By what power is it possible? sakshina purato bhaati Because isakshi, the consciousness, state of consciousness, pure consciousness, because of its presence, the linga sharira or sukshma sharira, the subtle body, feels its identification with the body, what is the identification? I am the physical body, who is saying I am the physical body? It is a subtle body, it is saying, how did it get that idea I am? Because of the sakshi, sakshi is ever present, because of the presence, all time presence of the pure consciousness, that is what is chiticchaya samavesha, so chiti means pure consciousness, chaya means its reflection in the antahkarana, so when this chichaya means reflection of the pure consciousness, and the linga sharira, when both of them join together, what is created now? This combination of chichaya and antahkarana, when they are joined together, so what is that state name? Jeeva, he becomes Jeeva, he thinks I am Jeeva, what is the Jeeva? I am the body, to say I am the body, I am the mind, is called Jeeva Lakshana, do you see the point? Is it clear? Because it cannot be able to say, I am this body, this I am belongs to the Sakshi, the body and mind are totally insentient, now this combination, the body doesn't know it is the body, the Sakshi doesn't know it is the antahkarana, but this combination says, I am both the Sakshi, I am also the body, I am also the antahkarana, I am the lord of the universe, that is called Jeevatva, do you see the point now? The Jeevatva is possible, only the admixture of both, the reflection, why reflection, otherwise Brahman himself, it is the power of the Brahman, the power, the reflection of the Brahman, consciousness, and the Linga Sharira, when both combine together, then it says, I am the physical body, I am the subtle body, and I am also Jeeva, that saying I am the body is called Jeevatva, the body doesn't say I am Jeeva, the antahkarana doesn't know it is Jeeva, but when this antahkarana becomes mixed up, with the pure consciousness, then it acquires, I am ability is acquired, becomes aware, I am the body, identity, I am the mind, I am the body, so who is a Jeeva? He who says, I am the body and mind, is a Jeeva, simple, so simple, how nice it appears, that is the mayas, this one, so that is the condition of maya, so he says, Asya Jeevatvam Aaropat, Asya Jeevatvam Aaropat, Sakshinya Piyavabhasate, Sakshinya Piyavabhasate, Aurutautu Vinashtayam, Aurutautu Vinashtayam, Bhede Bhate Payatita, Bhede Bhate Payatita, So, how is it possible for us to get liberation or mukti? He gave the nature of bondage, what is the nature of bondage? The creation of Jeevatva, what is the Jeevatva? Jeevatva is the combination of body-mind complex combined with Chit Chaya. Now, what is the way for liberation? Simply separate the Chit Chaya from the body and mind. When the moment Chit Chaya is separated from the body-mind, because there is no reflecting medium, the reflection also gets resolved into the original thing.

This is what he said. The character of an embodied self appears through false superimposition in the Sakshin also. What is that? The Sakshin says, I am the Jeeva.

Who says, I am the Jeeva. With the disappearance of the veiling power, the distinction between the seer and the object becomes clear, and with it the Jeeva character of the Sakshin also disappears. That is the remedy, prescription.

The doctor has only diagnosed the problem, disease, and also he indicated the right medicine. That doesn't mean as soon as the prescription is there, you will be cured. You have to follow.

You have to follow in the right way. A fat woman went to a doctor and said, I want to be thin, so give me something, how I can become thin. So the doctor said, very simple, I am giving you a prescription diet, you eat it.

And after a month you come back, you will see a lot of difference. So after a month the woman went back, and now she doubled in her fatness. The doctor was shocked and said, were you not following my diet? He said, doctor, what a difficult prescription you gave.

Along with my normal diet, I have also eaten the prescribed diet. Do you know how much difficulty I was having eating both? So the prescription must be understood properly. So he has given here.

It is the Chit Chaya. The original pure consciousness will never be affected, because that is the sustaining body. Even to say, to recognise I am the Jeeva, that original consciousness must sustain us.

You see, if there is no original, you are not standing in front of a mirror, your reflection itself will disappear. The mirror itself is completely useless. The moment you break that mirror, your reflection also, where does it go? It merges with you.

What do you mean by merges? Was there something? No, it was not there. It belonged to the mirror, it never belonged to you. Therefore, when that reflecting medium is destroyed, your reflection also will be destroyed simultaneously with that.

This is the prescription. How to bring about the separation between Chit Chaya and the Sookshma Sharira or mind, what you call the mind. All meditations or any yoga is only for separation from these, either way.

Even Bhakti Yoga is only to bring about destruction. What is that? That is why, what is common to all yogas? Destruction of the Ahamkara. Once the Ahamkara, I am, is gone, then you don't even know whether there is a body or not, no body at all.

You will never know. So, whatever yoga you follow, every yoga has got only one goal. That goal is destruction of the Ahamkara.

There is nothing else. So, let us move on. What happens? Tatha Sarga Brahmanoscha Bheda Mauritya Tishthati Yashaktis Tadvashat Brahma Vikrutatvena Bhasate Vikrutatvena Bhasate Now, what is the connection between the previous verse and this verse? Before, we said that this Maya makes two types of differences.

What is it? It brings about identification inside us between the Chitchaya and the Antahkarana. That difference it destroys and therefore both of them feel, this is me, this is me. Similarly, he also said Brahma and Sarga.

Outside, Brahman and Jagat. Inside, subject and object. Outside, Brahman and creation.

That differentiation also it destroys. So, in the previous verse, he said, what is the remedy? The remedy is the difference between inside, the Drik and Dhrishya must be made crystal clear. The Drik knows, I am Drik, I am not Dhrishya.

The Dhrishya also is to be separated. Exactly similarly, what is the remedy? In the outside world also, the difference between Brahman and Jagat has got to be separated. This is Brahman, has nothing to do with the Jagat.

The moment that we know the difference, that is called Jnana, then Jagat itself will disappear. Just as the reflecting medium is broken, the reflection also goes away. So, that reflecting medium is called Maya.

Through Maya only it has to. So, Maya brought about this identity between Drik and Dhrishya and Brahman and Sarga. And that Maya itself must break.

Again through that Maya only, the separation also or liberation also must be achieved. Exactly in the same way, the same Maya should bring about separation between Brahman and Jagat. So, inside also the combination has come.

Outside also the combination has come. So, inside also the Maya should break this combination. Outside also it must break the combination.

That is why the meditation is both internal and external. The internal meditation removes the differentiation. The external meditation makes the distinction very clear and reveals the real truth.

Now you understand why meditation is prescribed both internal and external. So, Tantra, if you study, it is a beautiful combination of both removing the internal Maya and also external Maya. How wonderful it is! Of course, every Yoga is like that only, especially Tantra.

That's why you see the Divine Mother both inside and also outside. Every object you have to see the Divine Mother. It has developed certain special techniques to be able to do that.

Anyway, we will not go into that. So, look here what it is saying. That means Tatha means exactly in the same way.

What does it mean? Tatha means Yatha, as it has been prescribed in the previous Lokas with regard to the internal condition. So, exactly in the same way, This Maya, it covers up the difference between Brahman and Sarga and makes them think each other, we are one and the same. So, therefore, So, exactly outside the Brahma thinks I am the Jagat.

Because of that power, the Brahman, who is Brahman, who has nothing to do with Srishti, the unlimited thinks I am limited. Inside the subject thinks I am the object. Outside Brahman thinks I am the Jagat.

So, that differentiation should be able to separate. That is what is indicated in the next verse. Sarkena Brahmani Kvachit So, it says, Atrapi, even here, Avruti Nashena By removing the veiling power, Brahma Sarga Yoho Differentiation Vibhati Crystal clear distinction between this is Brahma and this is Jagat.

That difference is revealed in front of us. Then what happens? Bhedastayo Vikaras Yad Sargin The moment you understand the Bheda between Brahma and Sarga, all the Vikaras, means all the changes that take place belong to the Sarga, Jagat, not to the Brahman himself. Now let me elaborate this point a little bit.

Now, every object in this world, he himself is going to tell us, every object in this world is having five parts. Sat, Chit, Ananda, Nama and Rupa. So, this is called Jagat.

What we call Jagat is nothing but Brahman with Nama and Rupa. Now, Brahman in the outside world, as Drik inside world, is Brahman outside world, is identified with Sat, easiness, existence. There is absolutely no difference, no change ever takes place in the existence.

All the changes take place only in the Nama and Rupa. One Nama, one Rupa changes into another Rupa and therefore it gets another Nama. Just as an example, you know, here is a table.

The table is made up of, out of what? Wood. Now you call this table. Suppose you break this table.

Then what happens? When the table is broken, Nama Rupa is gone, wood remains. Out of the wood, imagine, you make a chair. Now that, what happened? That same wood which was being called before table, now it is the same wood is being called chair.

So where is the difference? Is it in the wood or is it in the Nama Rupa of the wood? So you imagine, this chair is broken now. Or you deliberately make it into a small flat surface. Then you give it floor tile.

Now what do you call it? Floor. Like floor. So the table is gone, the chair is gone, now it is being called the floor.

What are you doing? I am bringing about change in the, it is exactly the same material. I have a wonderful devotee, Ela. She makes dough.

And first, when I am there, she makes dosa. After I have eaten the dosa, with the remaining dough, she makes idlis. So when she is serving me in the table, she calls it dosa.

And afterwards the same dough is put in that idli vatra and she calls, Maharaj, how was the idli? See, it is tasting exactly like the dosa only. Nama Rupa changed, nothing changed, absolutely nothing changed. She does exactly the same thing.

The whole Jagat is nothing but change of Nama Rupa. Don't you see? You see, the body has certain materials. These materials, after the death of this, actually this itself is undergoing, this is a body, isn't it? Then it is small, what are you calling it? Baby.

Baby is the name, appropriate name for that appropriate body. And when it becomes young, then you are calling it young man, young woman. You are not calling it baby.

Young man, young woman. Then it becomes, you know, 45 years old, 50 years old. Then it is the same Rupa, but dare you call it by different name.

You are old man, you are old. Teeth will be the real make as real Vedantins. Do you see the point? The Rupa it changes, Nama also changes.

We can't change the Rupa, but we are trying to retain the same Nama. You are looking, how young you are looking. What a beautiful, you know, grammar.

You are young, not saying how young you are. Looking. See how much of Brahma we are following.

Nama and Rupa always go, they have invariable relationship. So if we want to change, we must change both. First comes Rupa, then comes Nama.

So the Rupa is the same, 50 years old woman, but Nama, you are a young woman. See how much we get offended. Old people as men also.

If you call, you are old man, we get offended. You are a senior citizen. How happy we are.

How much more stupid we can be. Old man is a old man, that's all. There is no change in the substance.

Old man substance is old man substance. By giving a young man's name, this young man is not going to become young. We want to dilute ourselves, seeing all those things.

Okay. So, what is this verse we are talking about here? The Brahman is never changing. It is ever unchanging.

It remains unchanging. It is not possible. But where is the change taking place? In the Nama and the Rupa.

What is the Jagat? Brahman with Nama Rupa, Jagat. But all the changes that are seemingly taking place are only in Nama Rupa. Therefore, when you clearly understand, by removing the Avarna Shasti, that the Jagat and the Brahman, we are mixing up together, means Nama Rupa and the existence, we are mixing up together.

Separating as though they are separate. Really, there is no separation because there is no object called Nama Rupa. Nama Rupa is an idea in our brain.

Wood, in whatever shape it is, it is wood, nothing but wood. But if we understand clearly what happens, that in spite of changing all the Nama Rupa, no change is ever taking place in the Brahman. When we have that kind of knowledge, the bondage falls off.

How does the bondage fall off? We are deluded not by Brahman, but by what? Nama Rupa. When we understand Nama Rupa, really it is not happening. No change is ever taking place.

It is only in our brains all these things are going on. But we are able to see clearly it is the unchanging material called Brahman. Then we are never again deluded.

For that sadhana, of course, has to be done. So far, what did we cover? Maya makes this problem. Maya has two powers, Avarana Shakti and Ukshaya Shakti.

And both these wreak havoc, both inside and outside. How does it wreak havoc inside? By mixing up Drishya with Drishya, individual subject with individual Antahkar. How does it wreak havoc outside? It again makes what is called Brahman as Jagat, Jagat as Brahman.

Because the material of Jagat is none other than Brahman itself in the form of Nama and Rupa. So what is the remedy now? The remedy is get rid of these two powers. And what happens when we can clearly remove these Maya Shaktis, both Shaktis? And if you remove one, the other also? Because both are simultaneously working.

It is the two powers of the same Maya. So if you remove one, the other also will go away. So what happens? We see the crystal clearly, that this is Drishya and this is Drik.

And when we see clearly outside, this is Brahman or Existence, and this is Nama Rupa which is called Jagat, another name for Existence, then we will never again be deluded. As a simple crude illustration would be, somebody is trying to make some sweet. Usually we associate a sweet with a particular Nama and Rupa.

What is the big deal of difference, you know? Whether you make Rasagulla, whether you make Sandesh, whether you make Rasamalai, whatever you make, the basic material is? Milk. It is the same, milk. Adding sugar also is common to everything.

It is only a bit of Nama Rupa difference, not much, isn't it? But we are deluded. I like this, I don't like that, etc. But if we understand the difference, it is all made up of exactly the same material.

Once we know everything is of the same material, where is the question of likes and dislikes? If it is two different objects, then I like this, I don't like this. But if it is the same material, there is no question of liking or disliking. Then we become free.

What is bondage? Liking and disliking. Raga and Dvesha. If these two go away, then we are all even more.

If there is no Raga and Dvesha, then what remains? Everything is likeable only. If there is no Raga and Dvesha, everything is likeable only. There is no difference.

And then we are completely liberated. This is man, this is woman, this is plant, this is animal, this is living, this is non-living. All these differences should go away.

That is called spiritual progress. To see everything as Brahman, means to see everything as one reality. Oneness means not degrading.

To see something as it is in itself. How? Sat, Chit and Ananda. Everything is Sat, Chit, Ananda.

So that is the goal. That is what we have discussed so far. I think that will do for today.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 03

2026-05-11T03:40:37Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "ॐ सह नाववतु । सह नौ भुनक्तु । सह वीर्यं करवावहै । तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै । ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM So, the last shloka we..."

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

So, the last shloka we had discussed was this consciousness, pure consciousness doesn't rise, doesn't set, doesn't change, doesn't become big, doesn't become small. Why is it so? So, supposing, you know, when you ask a question that when was this baby born? You are presuming there was something before the baby was born, there was some time, you know, this time he was born only two years back. That means you know what was two years before.

If you also say, when did this person die? That means, or when is this person going to die? Either way, you are going to look forward, so after death there is also, you know, a time when it is going to be there. Now, what is the point? The point is there must be a consciousness which was aware before the birth of something and the disappearance of parents and disappearance of something. Now, without consciousness, how will you know that this was not born before? If you are not conscious of that, then you will never know that there was a past.

If there was no past, you will never ask the question when was this born, coming to be. You can never ask because you don't even know. So just imagine that somebody has an appointment.

So, supposing there is an appointment and what happens is, I had that experience, somebody wanted to see me and I totally forgot about that. For example, at 4 o'clock I have to see somebody, totally forgot. At about 4.30 I remember that I had an appointment.

I go down. Fortunately, the fellow who was supposed to come never arrived. So I will be sitting there.

Five seconds after I was sitting there, he arrives, Swamiji, I am so apologetic. I am sorry I kept you waiting for half an hour and I am glaring at him as though I am going to... The poor fellow doesn't know, I totally forgot. He came only two seconds before and I would not let him know that fact.

So naughty, right? So, this is an example. If we are not aware of the past, we won't be asking the question, when? We will not even know how to measure when a person is born. The whole concept of time will be gone.

Concept of time, consciousness of time, Time means we know the past, we know the present, we know... Now, this is a very superficial thought. It is an introduction. But really speaking, time itself is very temporal.

So, if you are asking about time, you must be aware of timelessness. So, something that is aware of timelessness must be beyond time. That means, is there a time when it was not there? Will there be a time when it will come to a stop? That means it is eternal.

For something which is eternal, how do you say, when did consciousness arise? So, when we ask such a question, what we are presuming is not consciousness, but the reflection of consciousness associated with something which is limited. That is called reflection of consciousness. So, what is a reflection? If we have to have a reflection, then we must be there, of course.

Without us, there would be no reflection of ours. But there must be a reflecting media, in this case, a mirror. So, the reflection in the mirror, and the mirror, they are constant factors.

You can't say the mirror is there, but the reflection is not there. Or the reflection is there, and the mirror is not there. The moment you see the reflection, you have to presume that both the mirror and the reflection, both are born at the same time, and both also disappear exactly at the same time.

So, with that analysis, what do we have to understand? What is this reflection here? It is our awareness is called reflection. So, consciousness and awareness. What is the relationship? Consciousness is eternal.

Awareness is something like a reflection. So, you are there, you are constant. Do you see the point? You are in your house, and you are there, and the mirror is there.

But the mirror has no reflection, because if you are moving that way, the mirror is practically useless. When you come and stand before the mirror, then the mirror and the reflection, both become coals. That reflection is like awareness.

So, you are aware now, you are sitting here and listening. That is your pure consciousness Reflecting in the limited media of your mind is making this observation. So, what is my point? The reflecting media and the reflection, they go together.

So, Maharaj, we are aware of the world. Only when there is a mind, an ahankara. These are the points in the next few verses until the thirteenth verse.

What is being elaborated here? The birth of the mind, subtle body or ego, and its function, and its destruction. The birth, the srishti, sthiti and vaya are the ahankara, are our bondage. We are concerned with the bondage.

Why was he talking about those three seers and three scenes? It is only to bring this point, because this pure sakshi, it is not in bondage. So, that is no problem. And the world being completely seen has no problem.

It doesn't even know I exist. It is you who say, I see you exist. And you go in front of the mirror and smile.

This mirror, what a beautiful mirror. It is smiling. Does the mirror know that it is smiling? Or is it you who know and who say, you bad mirror, I am smiling, and still you don't show me beautiful.

The poor mirror doesn't know. So, the world itself has no problem. Its existence, its birth and its death all depend upon our mind.

When does it happen? When you are in sushupti, the whole universe is completely dead. But the moment you wake up, then the world comes. I am here.

Does the world say, I am here? Or you are saying to the world, say, what do you say, what do you say? It says, you know, a woman and a boy and a girl were dating. He is not saying anything. The girl asked the boy, John, say, you love me.

He said, yes, you love me. He said, yes, you love me. He said, you love me.

So, this is being described here. So, let us go through this. Verse number six.

Chit chaya vesato buddhau bhanam destu vidhasthita ekaham kritir anyasyat antah karanarupine So, here he introduces a new word. Chit chaya. Chaya means shadow.

Chit chaya means the shadow of the chit. Chit. Chit means consciousness.

So, chitaha, chitihi. Chitihi is the noun. Chitaha means the shashti bhakti, of the pure consciousness.

Chetana, chiti, all these are synonymous words. Chit chaya means the reflection or the shadow of pure consciousness. So, always this is a very important word.

You say, why is Atman bound? Atman is never bound. What is it that appears to be bound? Again, that is very important. That appears to be bound.

You know? Chhaya grahi. Atman. He caught it.

So, like that. It is only, we are all, you know, like that chhaya. We are all chhayas.

And so, that is why we are caught. Somebody catches us. Chit chaya.

What is that? Your cosmetic companies catch us. Your dress companies catch us. The whole businesses, all businesses catch you.

What do they catch? They never catch the real you. They only catch the chhaya. They judge you by the chhaya.

They never judge you by your personality, what you are inside and all those things. They only judge you by your dress. Now, you go for an interview.

First thing they see is, first impression, how you are dressing. Later on, they may see something else. This is going on.

So, why appearance as if? So, imagine the sun is reflecting in a small pot of water. As if that sun is caught. I caught.

So, what did you catch really? Reflection. So, did you really catch? Can you catch? You go on beating somebody's shadow. What is happening to this other person? Nothing is happening.

So, nothing happens either to the reflection, nothing happens to the original thing also. The whole thing is a show. How difficult it is to understand.

That is why the dream, very often we refer to the dream. Because in dream, you can go on beating your boss. So, he is happy, you are happy, everybody is happy.

So, chhaya, aveshata, buddha, buddhi is the reflecting medium. There is a material called buddhi. And when this chhaya, the reflection of the chit, means reflection of the consciousness.

Now, when we say reflection of the consciousness, the reflection also acts like the original. If a mirror is reflecting sunlight, the mirror also acquires the power of illuminating the darkness. Because it is only reflection.

From that point of view, the reflection is no different. In fact, if you go a little deeper also, to use these words original and reflection, can you ever separate the reflection from the origin? You can never do that. But it appears to be.

How does it appear to be a reflection? When do you say it is a reflection? When there is a reflecting medium. Only when there is a reflecting medium, you say there is reflection. If you remove the reflecting medium, then the reflection is not there, the origin only will be there.

That's why in Japanese Zen Buddhism, they said, find out your original face. Find out your original face. You can never find out.

Why? Because you who are seeking, you are the reflection. So to find out your original face, you have to die. And when you die, there is no person seeking the original face.

That is the most wonderful thing. So this Chit Chaya, there is a material called Buddhi. When this reflection falls, means when Chit is reflected in that Buddhi, then two things happen.

That Buddhi transforms itself into two. One is called Ahamkara. Because that Ahamkara belongs to the Chit.

Because what is Chit? You know, I am so and so. I am. But as far as I am is concerned, there is no bondage.

But the moment you say, I am so and so, so that so and so becomes the reflection and bondage. So he is telling, when this Chit reflects in that Ghata or reflecting medium called Buddhi, two things happen. One is called Ahamkara.

The other is called Antahkarna. What we call mind. Mano, Buddhi, Chitta, Ahamkara.

Now, these four are divided into two. Ahamkara is one, and the other three are there. Why is this division? Why is this division? Because even to say that my mind, there must be Ahamkara.

To say, I remember, I do not remember. Ahamkara should be there. I know and I do not know.

Ahamkara is needed. That is why this Antahkarna is divided into two parts. Ahamkara is one part, and the rest is another part.

Now, this is what happens when the Chit is reflected in the reflecting medium. But there is something wonderful, because, you know, we are trying to understand Advaita Vedanta. So all these are analogical procedures, examples.

So here is the sun, here is the pot of water, and here is the reflection. Because we live in the dualistic world, we already presume these two, reflecting pot. So the sun is there, and the sun falls into the water, and the reflecting medium comes.

But what we have to understand here, the reflecting medium itself is a modification of the Chit Chaya. It is not that it is sitting there for the Chit to be reflected. That itself is like an ice cream cup.

A cone. No, no, ice cream cup, not a cone, ice cream cup. Yes, you can say cone also.

But you can understand the cone. But once I was travelling in the aeroplane. They gave me a cup of ice cream.

Now I say, why did they not supply me a spoon to eat this ice cream? It took me some time to figure out. The cup itself is made up of the ice cream. But it is looking like a real cup.

Inside I can see it is ice cream. Oh, you have to eat it like that. You have to eat the whole cup.

You know, without handle, the whole cup is there. You have to eat. If it is like a cone, immediately even I can understand.

It took me some time to figure out that the whole thing is meant to be so realistic. Oh yeah, I didn't know what you were saying. Maharaj, quick question.

Is this any different than usually Antarkara is defined as Manu, Buddhi, Chitta and Ahankara. Yes. But here they are saying Ahankara is separate and these three are called Antarkara.

No, no. What he is trying to tell that even from your point of view also is Ahankara is common to all the three. Ahankara means there must be somebody to know that this is my Buddhi, this is my Manas and this is my Chitta.

So that even though the whole thing is consisting of including the Ahankara, but that Ahankara has a special function. What is the function? The Chitta doesn't know I am a Chitta. The Buddhi doesn't know I am a Buddhi.

The Manas doesn't know I am a Manas. So there must be this reflected consciousness which illumines and adds to say I am the Manas, I am the Buddhi and I am the Chitta. It's almost like the I is the Ahankara, the Truth and these three are Krishna.

That is the point. That is the point really. So the most important point is here is the world, here is the Sakshi, in between comes the so-called mind with the reflected consciousness.

So this is the first point we have to catch. The bondage and the liberation happen neither to the Chitta nor to the Drishya, but to this fellow which is in between and it identifies itself both with the Chitti and also with the Drishya. The world itself has no consciousness.

So I have to give and say this is a tree, this is a beautiful tree, this is an ugly tree, let me cut it off. All these things somebody else has to do. And he says, oh, I am not happy.

He says, no, I am very happy now. Adusutra Ukkha Nela, Kalu, Kodukha Nela. It is the condition.

So you understand now? Buddhi appears to possess luminosity on account of the reflection of consciousness in it. Intelligence or Buddhi is of two kinds. One is designated Egoity and the other is Mind consisting of those three.

Manas, Chitta and Buddhi. Buddhi itself divided as it were into two. One part is Manas, Chitta and Buddhi, another part is Ahamkara.

That Ahamkara acts as the prop for all the three. So that is the most important point for us to... I cannot make a decision. I cannot remember.

I do not know what is this. It can be this, it can be the other thing also. That is why he wants to make the point very clear.

So the only point I added to this is that material in which the reflection of the consciousness is going to fall as though it was already created separately and waiting for the Chitta to reflect. My point is that itself is the creation. The reflection of Chitta itself creates simultaneously the reflecting medium and also the reflection.

How do we know? This analogy, suppose it is dark. There is a pot of water. As though nothing existed.

The moment sun rises, what does it do? Not only it reflects, but it also illumines the pot of the water. Oh yes, here is a pot of water. Oh yes, there is a reflection in that pot of water.

Both are made possible only because of the reflection of the consciousness. So here he is not telling it is created, but as though it is there. But who is creating it? It is the reflection only that is creating it.

Don't you see? When you go to sleep, deep sleep, the whole world disappears. When you wake up, two things happen. There is a world and there is you who recognises the world.

Both simultaneously come into being as soon as you wake up. When you go to sleep, simultaneously both of them disappear. So in a sense you can say, who creates this world? I create the world and I also create myself.

I also create myself to recognise, yes, there is this world. So within us there are two all the time. Mother, is it like this ego? Taku says ripe ego and unripe ego.

So here this ego is a part, ripe ego and the other unripe ego has the mind. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Ripe ego and unripe ego both belong to the mind.

And there is somebody else sitting there, who knows, I know both of you. Don't you know, you say that, oh, I was a fool. When you make that statement, you are actually cognising two things.

Before I was a fool, now I am a wise person. And then I am aware of your past, I am also aware of your present. Like this, that means there is the reflection, the original and at the same time the reflection.

And how that reflection is reacting, illuminating the whole mind, the whole thing as it were simultaneously it is going. Do you get the point? Here is the sun, here is the pot of water and here is the reflection. How many things are there now? Three.

You see, that's why Thakur's example is most wonderful. Ten pots are there, you break one, when the last pot is there. When the last pot is there, how many suns are there? One, two.

When the last pot is there. Oh, is there, not broken. Then what? Three things are there.

What are those three things? One pot and two suns. Reflected sun and... So you see, always within us we are like this, that's the pot. So within us, this is the pot and there is reflection.

And someone who also knows that here is both the pot and the reflection. So we have all three within us. The one who is the I and then the reflection and also the reflecting medium.

All three are there. But at different levels. No, no, there are only two levels.

There are only two types of beings. One being says, I am the original sun, here is the pot and reflection. The other one says, I am the pot, reflecting and there is original sun.

So those who think I am the pot, they go to pot. Those realised souls, they say, I am the self, here is a body, mind. We say, I am the body, mind and there is a self.

Maharaj Ji, you have explained this in the Vittal Chakra, Uttama Purusha. Yes, that is why in the Gita, the Lord Shankaracharya's commentary is a fantastic commentary. Anytime we are experiencing any object, there are two buddhis.

Any object. This is important for us to recognise. So one buddhi is that which never varies.

Another buddhi is that which always varies. So, for example, you know, when I say, I was a baby. These are different photographs.

So this was the photograph when I was a baby. This was a photograph when I was young. This is the photograph as I am now.

There are two. This is, I was, I as young, I as old. The other is, now I am the old person.

Always we have this idea. An unvarying I and a constantly varying I. The unvarying I is the witness. And the varying I is the object of that witness, which is the changing body, mind, complex.

It is always there. So, this is in another way, within this context, imagine there is a pot of water. Imagine there is the reflection.

Irrespective of the pot is small or big, the reflection will always be the same. So that reflection is called jiva. The varying factors is like the small pot, big pot, small amount of water, big amount of water, all those things.

And the original Self is there. So that is what in the 15th chapter, we have done the 15th chapter, so it is there. He says, I am the So, always we have got these two buddhis.

An unvarying content and a varying content. See, this is the same thing, he has put it in a different way. Anyway, the thing is, if there is a buddhi, the chit, when it illumines that buddhi, two things are born simultaneously.

Ahankara, as if it is not separate, it is part of the antahkarana, but it is separated for the sake of understanding the antahkarana in a better way. Ahankara and also manas, buddhi, etc. That is the essence of this particular shloka.

So, just to see. Sixth one. Buddhi appears to possess luminosity on account of the reflection of consciousness in it.

That is the reflection. As if this reflection is divided by this author into two. Actually, what is called the buddhi is, I am antahkarana.

And that antahkarana has got four parts. Ahankara, mana, buddhi, chitta. But, ahankara is very special.

Because without that, everything else is there. You know, when you are sleeping, your mind is there, your buddhi is there, your chitta is there. But what happens without ahankara? As if they were non-functional.

Is it not? So, that is the idea here. Now, why is he describing this? In these few shlokas, until we come to number thirteen, the birth of the antahkarana, the function and sustenance of the antahkarana, and how this antahkarana can be brought to an end. Because that is our goal.

Sadhana is meant only to bring this antahkarana to an end. And with the help of the antahkarana. So, antahkarana has to destroy itself.

Then, the problem of reflection, everything will go away. Then you don't have to study these things at all. Okay, let us proceed to the... Tadatmya dehas chetana magat.

Dehas chetana tam agat. Dehas chetana tam agat. So, matam means the teaching or the opinion of whom? As they say matam, it means somebody who knew about it.

This is the teaching of somebody who knew the truth about this. So, what happens? This chaya, here chaya means chit chaya, the reflection of consciousness and ahankara. These two, they become one.

Not really one, but appear to be completely one, as if it becomes. The example is tapta aya pindavata. Ayaha means an iron ball.

Tapta means, you know, if it is put in the fire, it becomes, it glows red. Now, it appears as though the iron ball has acquired the power of burning. Actually, you don't see the fire separately.

It has become one. This has become red. And it has all the characteristics of the fire.

So, it is so mixed up. One appears to be, the iron ball appears to be fire, fire appears to be iron ball. It is an interesting fact now.

But, have you seen fire without any medium? Have you seen light without a medium? This fact is so common and so interesting and yet we miss it. See, there is so much of sunlight here. We just go above stratosphere, pitch black.

Was there no sunlight? What happened? There was no obstruction between the sun and that place. So, why is it pitch black? Because there is no reflecting medium there. Here, there are lots of dust particles and other things.

Anything is enough to reflect, any object, since there is no object there. You don't see the light at all. What a wonderful fact it is.

That means, what is the conclusion? The conclusion is, you can never see light. You can only infer light through the medium. But you say, what are you talking about? We see light all over.

You are not seeing light. You see only on the car. What is this light you see? It is the reflection of invisible particles there.

I told you that there is a wonderful programme a few days back on the BBC. BBC is producing lots of marvellous programmes. Ah, but it is useless because we cannot watch from here.

Yes, you can. BBC is not... No, no, you are absolutely right. It is useless.

What is useless? BBC is not useless. Their management is useless. You can get it here also.

Yes, yes, there is. I know a way. Something, D&T or something like that.

Online, right? No, no, no, no. I try. This is what is called, you know, one country's broadcasts.

Unless they themselves franchise, others cannot watch it. But there is a way to overcome that. I think it is a BNP system or something like that.

As far as I tried, but we couldn't get it to work. No, no, that is why they are broadcasting. I am not saying about that.

Soon I think you will get it. Because this iPlayer, once it comes... I downloaded that too, Maharaj. No, no, not... The BNP also is there.

You have to get licence for that. Non-Europeans. In Europe you can get? No, no, they are contemplating.

Once it comes, you can watch them. Or the other way is by the videos or YouTube. Many times they are putting.

Many things they are putting. So I will mention just two things. The stardust thing I was looking for.

No, this is, seeing the stars is one beautiful programme. The other one is, do you see what I see? That means colours. There is no such thing called colour.

Colour is a complete, complete misnomer. Is the absence of... No, no. First of all, colour is a production of the brain.

Concoction of the brain. And they have shown one experiment. I will just tell you in brief.

So, anybody who is watching the TV itself can participate in that experiment. So they have shown four, what is called, squares. The upper two squares.

One is complete green, another is complete red. And in between these two, they are complete like a window. Two separate windows.

In between these two windows there is a small circle. Very small circle for us to glare at. Down below there is what is called, one picture in both these of a desert.

You know the sandy colour? You have seen that one? No. Sandy colour. Both sides, both panels.

In between also, there is a small circle where you have to glare. Now having shown this, the first thing they say, now go on glaring at that small circle in the upper one, which where left side is green, right side is red. For a minute or so, you go on glaring at it.

So before doing that, you see this is green, this is red. This whole, both of them are completely sand colour. It is one complete big photograph divided only into two sand dunes and all.

Now you go on glaring at it for one minute. And having glared at it, now you start glaring at this circle. Now what happens is, that sand one, the left side of the sand picture becomes greenish and the right side of the sand picture becomes reddish.

But that is only momentary. Again, I mean, again the true reflection... No, no, what is meant is, why do we see that? No, no, I will come to that point also. They are more intelligent than us.

So, that means the brain is focussing and says, since this is green and this is red, so after learning from there, this is green, this is also red. That means, when you are seeing like this, then which is the original colour? That is one. Then the second experiment for answering your question, it is only momentary.

They have kept a lot of pictures, eggs and books of different colours and a plate full of bananas. Do you know bananas? Banana colour. Now the experimenter is going on changing the lights.

As that light changes colour, all the objects are changing their colours. This you can understand. Excepting the banana.

The banana colour is not changing. What does that show? Because the brain thinks the banana colour must be like this only. In spite of all the changing colours, it still sees the banana as it wants to see.

I think it is the priming effect. Something called the priming effect. The point they wanted to make is, colour is purely a production of the brain.

Not objectively there is something. It is the brain which is dictating what colour is there. And to prove this one, you can look at artists.

If an artist is looking at this, he or she will look in a totally different way. Not only red will not change into green, green will not change into red, but he will see much subtler type of things. Yes, practising.

So that shows which is the real colour. The answer is, whichever you see, for you that is the real colour. Isn't it the same thing? Is there a reason for the colour blindness also? No, that is a defect in the... You know, the brain being the same, colour blindness is because of some defect in some of these nerve cells.

So that is a different issue. Here there is the instrument which is defective. It could be the brain also.

But Maharaj, all people see the same colour. There are different variations. Nobody ever sees the same colour, but because we have agreed not to quarrel with each other, we agree to say, yes, yes, you see that green, yes, I see that green.

If you want to quarrel, you say, no, I don't see this green. Yes, you see this. Okay, coming back to our point now.

Another, the life of chaos is another programme. I think I told you about this. Life of what? Chaos.

So it says there that one thing, the commentator adds that God must have implanted that intelligence in everything for nature. That is why nature can only express so much of variation and other things because God's intelligence is already implanted in that. So to say that nature is enough, we don't need God is a stupid type of statement because the nature gets its intelligence from whom? From God.

So like this, the buddhi gets what is called the nature of consciousness to say I am buddhi. Actually that I am belongs to whom? Consciousness. So it is, you know, the sat and the chit and the ananda, all these three belong to? Sakshi.

Chiti. The pure consciousness. So the pure consciousness, its reflection when it falls, the first thing the buddhi says is I am buddhi.

I am means I exist as buddhi, sat. I know I am buddhi. I am happy, I am unhappy.

So in this context also, asti, the whole experience of life is divided into five. Asti, bhati, priyam, nama and rupa. The first three belong to pure consciousness.

The last two belong to the world. That's all. Added, so asti, bhati, priyam plus nama, rupa is our life.

So... What is asti, bhati, priyam? Asti means sat. Sat, chit and ananda. That's all.

Different words. So the word priyam, asti we can understand. Bhati means chit, we can understand.

Priyam, everything is priyam. So everything is priyam to God because it is only God. So everything is priyam for God.

So how do you explain this one, that we don't like everything, we only like something, we dislike something. No, the idea is everything is dear to something. See, everything in this world is dear to something.

You know there are toads, ugly toads. Who loves ugly toads? What do you know? Miss ugly toad, when she comes out parading, then Mr. Ugly Toad will be all gaga. Is it not? How does he address her? How does he address her? My beautiful.

Honey, darlings. Is it not? So everything is dear to something in this world because we are jivas. But everything is dear to God because he is none other than God.

Means everything is nothing but God. That is the understanding of priyam. So, This is the illustration given.

So now you see, the ahankara has become one with the reflection of the pure consciousness. And then it became representative, agent of consciousness. I am conscious.

Now this deha goes and identifies itself with the this vichai in the form of ahankara. So just tattva happened out, you know. This is glowing.

Supposing another piece of wood goes, or another piece of metal goes and embraces, then what happens? That also starts to glow. Or one magnet, a piece is attached to the magnet, then that piece becomes magnetised. Then another piece which goes and attaches to itself, that also becomes magnetised, isn't it? In that way, here the mind or the antahkarana or the ahankara is getting that ahankara itself, I am, is reflection of the pure consciousness in the antahkarana.

And this body or the antahkarana goes and embraces the body. As soon as it embraces the body, the body comes to life and says, Ah, I am smiling. This is how from the pure consciousness to the mind, from the mind to the body.

Now, this is what explains how the body really becomes a kartha. Body means in this case, you see, your body is nothing but five jnanendriyas. Five jnanendriyas.

The body. So these five jnanendriyas become kartha. Drik.

So that is the meaning of the body becoming conscious. So I am the drik and you are the drishya. That is how it gets.

But it doesn't understand that if you put off the switch, then you see the puppet stops, it collapses. It is like that. Maharaj, Yudhishthira Maharaj used to give that example that if pain had consciousness, it would have thought that I wrote that novel, I wrote those things.

Yes. Not knowing the author of that pain is the wonder. That is the point.

The body thinks, I am conscious, not knowing it has borrowed this consciousness from the mind. Why do we say, why can't we say it borrowed its consciousness directly from the original? You see, what happens, that lending, Lehman Brothers or whatever, they lend to other banks and the other banks lend to other banks or customers or whatever. So why can't you ask, why not the customers go directly to the Lehman Brothers? No.

No, because they only deal with wholesale. You understand? Don't deal with... So the mind is the wholesaler. So it borrows the consciousness from the pure consciousness and that borrowed consciousness, it freely distributes, lends itself, because it lends with conditions and all those things.

You must serve my purpose. This is the process in your office. Your shareholders, they employ this fellow as though you represent us.

He is called executive director and the executive director appoints somebody to assist him and those assistants, you know, subcontracting, like the subcontracting, subcontracting, subcontracting. So that is how this whole samsara grows. Subcontracting.

I think we are ready to get to how to break that link. Are you? Do you think? Listen. Not so easy.

We are ready to borrow some more. Okay. So this is the process described.

This is how the body seems to be conscious. The body is not really conscious. It is depending on its consciousness, borrowing from the mind.

It cannot directly... Otherwise the mind is not necessary. It could have directly taken it from there. But the mind is necessary.

The indriyas borrow from the mind. The mind borrows from the chichaya. Not from the original.

You see, the mirror, it borrows its power of illuminating the room from where? You see, the moment that sun goes down or the original light goes off, it's like a moon. You see, this is another example given. Here is sunlight, here is moon, and here is a mirror.

So at night, the moonlight is falling on the mirror. And the mirror is illuminating the room and says, Oh mirror, what a great thing you are. If it is a bound soul, it says, Yes, yes, don't forget me.

I am giving you light. If it is an enlightened one, it says, No, no, I am sorry. I am only a reflective medium.

I don't know anything. You ask the moon. Again, if the moon is a baddha jiva, it says, Yes, I am lending you.

But if it is an enlightened soul, it says, No, I am also borrowing from somebody else. Then you go to the sun and you don't need to ask because you know it is self-revealing. So the sun lends to the moon, the moon lends to the mirror.

What is the analogy here? The sun is the pure consciousness, the moon is the mind, that is, the mind is the... the moon is the raja of the mind. So the moonlight reflects in the mirror. This body is comparable to that mirror.

It appears to be as though the mirror is giving its own light. So it illuminates the room. The room is the prapancha.

The reflected reflection in the moon is the deha. It is borrowing from the mind. The moon is the mind and the mind is borrowing from the pure consciousness.

Yes, so as though the moon... You mean the reflected was chit-chaya? Chit-chaya was the mind with chit-chaya. Yes, the sun is not coming and sitting in the moon. It is only the sunlight is getting reflected in the moon.

This is the point. The original is never coming. It is a reflection of the original.

So mind is the chit-chaya? The reflection of the original. Chit-chaya is in the mind. Mind is not chit.

Mind is because... Why this is necessary? If the original consciousness is never bound, it is only the limitedness of the mind which makes the consciousness seem to be... Reflecting means seem to be limited. So when we are longing for liberation, it is the mind which gets the liberation. What is it that gets liberation? The chit-chaya is released from the mind by the breaking up of the mind because the pure consciousness is never ever bound.

When it is not bound, how do you say it is liberated? So all the liberation and bondage belong only to the reflection and never to the original thing. Otherwise your whole Advaita Vedanta will burst like a dam. See the point.

So this is a beautiful analogy, the sun. If the moon, you know, moonlight is small, moonlight is big. That means sunlight is small, sunlight is big.

The light is never small or big. It is only the mind grows small, the mind grows big, then accordingly it reflects more or less of light. You see the point? So the original thing, there is no question of... It is only the chit-chaya which, because the reflecting medium is broken, it appears as though that which is bound is gone.

These are given in so many ways. You know, in a lake you immerse five, six pots. Imagine they are different coloured pots.

Imagine you numbered them. Number one, number two, number three, number four. So we want water from the third tumbler, number fourth tumbler.

But what is inside is exactly the same. It appears as though the water inside and the water outside. This inside and outside is because of what? Because of water you are using, inside water, outside water.

Are there two types of water, inside water and outside water? It is because of the limiting agent, we are forced to classify the water also into two types, inside water and outside water. The moment you break, it appears as though the inside water has become rushed out and then merged in the outside water. As yet, what rushed out, what rushed in? What rushed in was the tumbler.

What rushed out is the tumbler. But because we don't see the water, you know, it appears as though water is rushing in and water is rushing out. So what is rushing in and rushing out is only the tumbler.

Now let us proceed. अहंकारस्यतादात्में पिच्छयादेहसाक्षिभिः सहजम् कर्मजम् भ्रांति जिन्यम्च त्रिविधं क्रमात् This is the most interesting verse so far we have come. What is it? This Ahankara is born, so the original is there, original consciousness is there.

Then this Antahkarana is there. Then this body and then is there, body is there. So the original consciousness is also consciousness, light.

The Ahankara also is the reflected light and the body also appears to be light. Now in between, so original one here and body here, in between the Antahkarana is there. All these three are made, we become conscious of these three because of that Chit Chaya.

And that Chit Chaya manifests in the form of Ahankara. Now that Ahankara has got these three things. What are those three things? One is the original consciousness, another is the Chit Chaya and another is the body.

So what is its relationship between these two? So Ahankara, what is its relationship with the body? What is its relationship with the Antahkarana, which is Chit Chaya? That means because of Chit Chaya, Ahankara has come. Now how did Chit Chaya create Ahankara? Because of the Antahkarana. Without the Antahkarana, without the reflecting medium, there would be no reflection.

So what is the relationship between the reflection and the reflecting medium? What is the relationship between the reflection and the original? You are standing. What is its relationship to you? And what is its relationship to that body which is appearing? The reflection is a body. What is its relationship with itself, with its body nature? Do you see the three things now? Yes, the reflection itself is a reflecting media.

So its relationship with the reflection and the reflecting media, the reflection and the origin who is sitting in that. And that reflection itself has a body, it is illuminating. So what is its relationship with these? In other words, Ahankara has to deal with these three.

Ahankara with body, Ahankara with the mind, and Ahankara with the pure consciousness. What a beautiful analysis he is bringing. You don't hear of this anywhere.

It is necessary to find out what is the relationship. Because if you don't know what connects you, you will not know how to disconnect. Swami Chinmayananda used it to say very nicely.

You know what he used to say? If you don't have appointment in the future, you will never be disappointed. It's beautiful, I liked it. So if you don't want to be disappointed, don't make any appointment.

So let us deal. Ahankarasya Tadatnya Tadatnya means Taptaya Spindavat, with the body. That's why the body says, I am the body.

That means there are two. The body is there, the Ahankara is there. Then only I am the body.

I am the mind. I am the pure consciousness. But that Ahankara, I am the pure consciousness.

That Ahankara is not this Ahankara. This Ahankara and pure consciousness are totally different. This is a reflective consciousness.

That is why it is that Ahankara. Anything has an Ahankara. I am a book.

Its existence itself is I am. So that derives from its existence. That existence belongs to pure consciousness, Sat, God.

That is why that is borrowed by this, what we call our Ahankara. And so these three factors are there. The body and the mind and the pure consciousness.

What is its relationship? That is what is being explored from now onwards. He has raised it unnecessarily. We were blissfully ignorant about all these things.

We poked and said, oh, I have three problems. I never even knew I had three problems, three relationships. And now you really made me, you know.

Centipede wife and husband were invited for a big dinner party. The husband, long before he was waiting outside, the wife was not coming out, not coming out, not coming out at all. Then he shouted, why are you not coming? He says, she replied, are you mad? Is it so easy to match all the hundred pairs of shoes? Oh, lovely! Hundred pairs of shoes, they have hundred legs, right? It takes long time.

Siddhi! Telugu, you know? I know. Right, so these three, Ahankara has these three. So what type of relationships? Once we know what type of relationships, then the next strategy would be how to destroy those three types of relationships.

Okay, that is what he is going, is trying to tell. These are three types of relationships. Sahajam, Karmajam, Brahanti Janyanchar.

Sahajam, Karmajam, Brahanti Janyanchar. So what is it? The relationship of the Ahankara with Chit Chaya is Sahajam, natural. Because without Chit Chaya, the Ahankara itself will not be there.

Ahankara itself is the result of Chit Chaya. The reflecting medium and the reflection, both of them are together always. Their relationship is natural and eternal.

That is why we say reflection and reflecting medium. Don't raise foolish objection. Though the mirror could be there, but I am here.

The mirror is useless. It is to be called a mirror only when something is there to stand there. So this is called Sahajam.

What is the relationship of Ahankara with this body? Karmajam. That is why I am poor, I am rich, you know. I am beautiful, I am ugly.

Yesterday that was very good. I said this woman was the ugliest woman in the world. Until I saw her sister.

Now I wish to withdraw that statement. So you see, this Ahankara with this body is purely Karmajam. Means what? The Karma shapes the body.

And the Ahankara reflects itself. I am small, I am big, I am intelligent, I passed, I failed. And I am old, I am young, I am enlightened.

And all those things. There it is totally dependent upon Karma. Why is it? Because the Karma alters this relationship all the time.

You see, I am a baby. And then the baby grows up. Oh, I am a grown up.

Suppose a person failed. I failed. The person works hard.

Karma. And then he passes. I passed.

See, everything depends upon the Karma. How to get rid of it? Karma Yoga. Karma Yogi is one who has no relationship with Karma.

The moment there is no relationship with Karma, the relationship with the body also is totally destroyed. Okay, that is why it is called Karmajam. Sahajam means what? It is a... Its origin itself is dependent upon the Antahkarana.

And therefore, until Antahkarana is destroyed, this natural relationship you can't alter by work or any such thing. It is not possible. So, the other is Brahmati.

What is the relationship of reflection with the original? What is the relationship? It is Brahmati. What is Brahmati? There is no relationship at all. This is living, this is dead.

This is eternal, this is temporary. Why is it eternal? You are moving all over the house. You are eternal.

But the moment you get out of the mirror sight, then your reflection, it comes and it goes. This is the point. It is all Brahmati.

Brahmati means... What is this reflected Ahamkara saying now? I am puny. I am born. I am growing.

I am going to be dead. But the Chit itself will never say, I am born and I am going to be dead. Therefore, completely diametrically opposite characteristics.

Therefore, Brahmati Janyam means... What is that Brahmati Janyam? The Ahamkara is born out of Brahmati. How can there be a relationship? There is no relationship. So if there is no relationship, but there seems to be a relationship, which is called Brahmati, so when does the Brahmati get out? When? See, you are seeing a snake.

Your relationship with the snake is purely... No, your relationship with the rope is purely a Brahmati. You are seeing nothing but the rope. But you are imagining it is not a rope.

You are imagining it is a snake. So it is creating a problem. So what is the way out? Bring light.

Then the snake disappears. So the Brahmati, what is opposite of Brahmati? Jnanam. The opposite of Jnanam is Jnanam.

When Jnanam comes, not only that will disappear, Jnanam is the final destruction for all the three types of relationships. That is what he wants to say. So he is clarifying now the relationships.

How many types of relationships? Sahajam, Karmajam and Brahmati. If this is clear, let us go to the other one. Sambandheno Satornasthi Nivrtti Sahajasyato Karmakshayat Prabodhachya Nivrtte Te Kramaduhe Nivrtte Te Kramaduhe Now he is telling how can we get out of these three types of relationships.

Mukti means getting out of relationship. Relationship is possible only when there is a duality. There must be a minimum of two.

That is why it is called Dvaita. So Advaita, no relationship. Dvaita, always it is natural, relationship will be there.

So these are the, all relationships fall into three categories. So one important point for us to remember is, all these three relationships are completely Brahmati Jnana only. Why? Just as in your dream, when you go into your dream, how many of you are there in the dream? Two.

I am watching. Witness. Because when you wake up, I saw myself as a small girl taking the school books and walking, and a dog came walking.

An incident that happened 30 years back comes rushing into your mind and all that. Three things. What are those three things? The first thing is the original you witnessing the whole dream.

That is how you remember. The character in your dream doesn't remember the dream. It is you, your original you, who remembers what happened in the dream.

Then your creation of yourself in the dream. And then your creation of everything else in the dream. So it is that your creation of yourself, Oh, this person likes me, that person doesn't like me, this dog is barking at me, etc., etc., all is dependent upon that one.

Even if you see hundred people, that other hundred totally depend upon that reflected you, created by you in the dream. And you, the created one, and how you are relating and reacting, that is being recorded simultaneously by the original you who created that dream. You see now? So, now with that understanding, let us go.

The first, the last sentence, the second sentence, Karmakshayat, there are three relationships, isn't it? One is with the body, one is with the... So he says, Karmakshayat is Karmaja, the relationship is destroyed. Karmakshayat means by the destruction of karma. Destruction of karma can be done in two ways.

What is that? If you are a spiritual practitioner, through the practise of Karma Yoga, Karmakshaya is done. But if you are liberated, of course, the whole karma will come, because when you have given up your identity with the body, there is no karma. There is no karma.

Let us give an example. Suppose you have a car, and imagine this car had some defects, and you know that there are these defects, but you didn't have enough money, so you just repaired one or two, and somehow it is running, but you know there are so many defects which will come up in the future, which you have not rectified now. Imagine this kind of car is there.

Now what happens, you know, already there are some things you have repaired, to that extent the car runs alright, but some defects which you know are there, you have not repaired, those defects, even when you are running the car, those defects are also running simultaneously. Something is cut, cut, I think. Then we become old, you know, cut, cut, I think.

You get up, cut, cut, I think. Start walking, cut, cut, I think. All these things happen.

So you see, the doors are creaking, and this one sometimes works, sometimes only half works. So that is prarabdha. So that prarabdha is there.

And then, because you have not repaired, so this will develop some more future. If you don't, then the ball bearing will bear out, and then one day something will fall off. All these things will happen.

Imagine you have this car. Imagine one day, imagine that you have a neighbour, and you park the car in between both your houses. Imagine one night you sold the car to that neighbour.

The car is still there. Before, if something happens to the car, you are affected. After you sell, you are sleeping, sound sleep, your neighbour is keeping himself awake.

So a jeevan mukta is like who sold his car, he has returned it to the original owner, now had enough of it, now you look after it, and he is happily enjoying it. Still the car is there. Imagine that your neighbour is good enough and say that for a few days you use it.

Now you are happily running fast. I don't care, because whatever happens, it belongs to the other person who owns it. So now do you see what is the problem? So karmakshaya, either you disassociate yourself with it, even if you have that, or you get complete knowledge who you are, in either case it doesn't affect you.

Other example you gave is like if the wheel is in motion and the axle comes out, it continues to roll. So because of the momentum it still continues. No, no, that is not the point we are discussing.

The point is what is the relationship. The wheel is running, but this fellow previously he has relationship. Oh, my time is running out.

Now he has let it run out. It has nothing to do with me. So karmakshaya, once karmakshaya, or the karma comes to an end, the effect of karma also will come to an end.

And because of that the body connection, even if the body is there, the person doesn't say this is my body, he says there is a body. It doesn't make any difference to him. Then prabodhachya, by awakening.

Here prabodha means not getting up from sleep, but by illumination, through acquisition of jnana, knowledge. Bhranti-jnana relationship comes to an end. How does the relationship... Previously you say I am small, you are big.

Now there is no two. There is only one. I am that.

So there is no relationship at all. So when we say I am one, the smaller one becomes destroyed. The alone, that one alone remains.

That is why, purna purnam udajyate, purnasya purnam adhaya, purnameva savasisyate. You have attained knowledge. Therefore, bhranti-jnana goes through jnana.

Through karmakshaya, it destroys the relationship with the body. What is the third relationship remaining now? What is that sahajam? Until the antahkarana is destroyed, its relationship will never come to an end. And that antahkarana will be destroyed when only with the dana, knowledge, I am no more an antahkarana.

So for that sadhana has to be done. And how the sadhana has to be done is going to tell us in the future. Here only we are concerned with how we can destroy the three types of relationships.

So we talked about knowledge in two places, destroying bhranti and destroying the sahajam relationship. Is this the same knowledge that destroys podmaraj? The real knowledge destroys all three. All three.

So karmakshaya can be destroyed in two ways, that's why I said. One way, as a sadhaka, you still have the body, but you can say, if you are a bhakta, you say, this body belongs to God. In either case, it doesn't belong to me.

If you are a karma yogi, you say, this body, I have no relationship with this body. Though you have not attained the final knowledge, this is called karma yoga. Some relationship is there, but it doesn't affect you that much.

But karmakshaya will come to an end the moment you become a yogi, your future karma comes to an end. But your praradha karma, your sanchita and agami, both come to an end. Praradha karma, you just bear it as a tapasya.

So if you are bearing it, what is the difference then now? The difference is, previously you were thinking, I am the body. Now you are thinking, there is a body in which I am trapped, but I will try to put up with it as much as possible. So that way, until karmakshaya happens, you are out.

Even though body is there, even though body is doing something, you don't feel you are doing it. So that way the effect becomes much much reduced. But the final effect, complete separation will come only when the knowledge is lost.

So the point is, the word karmakshaya means destruction of karma. But here in this context, we can understand it in two ways. When knowledge comes, because you have no relationship with the karma, your karmakshaya is gone, like selling your car.

In the other case also, because you are a yogi, let the karmakshaya is not gone, but your relationship, I am suffering or I am doing this, that comes to an end. That relationship comes to an end. Either the effect comes to an end, and your relationship is gone.

Or the relationship is gone. You know, a crude example to give, suppose a person is married, and the marriage is not a very happy marriage, so it can end in two ways. If one of the partners dies, then the relationship comes to an end.

The other way is, the person divorces and goes away, then the relationship, still even though the partner is there, but because the relationship is gone, the associated suffering also becomes reduced to a great extent. So this is the indication. But finally if knowledge comes, all the three will go.

So now one relationship is there. What is that relationship? Sahaja. Sahaja is never going to come to an end.

Both either, because the relationship, either both die or both live. If both live, because they cannot die separately, they are born together, and they also die together. So that is why he says, that is never going to happen.

Look at it. sambandhino statah na asti Because this is sambandhinis, mutually related, the ego and the chitchaya. That's why he says, na asti, so long as they are, sataha means they are together, the relationship, nivrutti sahajasyatu.

So because the relationship is sahaja, nivrutti na asti, there is no destroying this relationship. That means the antahkarna cannot stand aside from chitchaya. Otherwise how does it know that I am antahkarna? And if the chitchaya is not there, antahkarna doesn't know.

If the antahkarna is not there, where is chitchaya? If the reflecting medium is gone, the reflection also will go. If the reflection also goes away, the reflecting media will not be called reflecting media at all. Either they both come together, or they both go together.

Why is it like that if there is no student, the teacher will not be called a teacher? Yes, if there is no student, no person will be called a teacher. Even one student is enough to destroy the teacher. So far as that person is concerned, if that person goes to sleep, what happens to the teacher? There is no teacher.

So far as that student is concerned, the others may think. So this is a beautiful relationship. That means what? So long as there is a mind, you cannot destroy the mind.

That's not possible. But you can try to destroy the other two. So if you destroy the other two, then this also will destroy, because it is original, that bhranti itself goes away.

All the three will go away. Maraj, are there any examples, Maraj, where we can possibly guess that this person has probably done with his karma, but he still has this agile relationship? There are so many examples out there. First example, each one of us are perfect examples of that for some hours every day.

In Sushupti, when you are in Sushupti, you are still alive, your body is alive, and your chitchaya is alive. Your chitchaya is alive, because what is it that thinks it is going into the deep sleep? It is not pure consciousness. It has nothing to do.

It is the chitchaya which moves on saying that I am in the waking state. Who is it that says I am in the waking state? Chitchaya. Who is it that says I am in the dream? Chitchaya.

And who is it that says I am in deep sleep? Chitchaya. Because... Actually, Maraj, only after coming out of deep sleep we say that I had a good sleep, but when I am there I don't say I am. I don't know.

You are talking foolishly. The moment you say I had a nice dinner, without eating dinner, could you ever say I had a nice dinner? No, no. Just answer me.

He presumes that. He presumes. I had a good dream.

Yes, that means you were there, you enjoyed. Abhava. Abhava means there is no dvaita experience there, but you are there.

That's why you say I did not know anything. To know I did not know anything. Somebody should be there.

Because that is the memory you had and that memory came back as soon as I had a wonderful sleep. Who had that wonderful sleep? Who is telling I had a wonderful sleep? Chit is not telling. Chit doesn't even know that it is in the either waking state or dream state or dreamless state.

It is only chitchaya which is associated and tells as contrasted. Now let me put it this way because this needs a little bit of logic and thinking. Now, whenever we say I am so and so, simultaneously we are saying I am not the other things.

But if you have to go on saying I am not this, I am not this, then you will never complete the sentence I am this. Like thousand and one Arabian Nights story. Remember? So, simply we say I am this.

But meaning I am nothing else. So when we say in which state are you if you are asked are you in the waking state? No. Are you in the dream state? No.

So, do you see, do you understand what I am pointing out? You are presuming I was not in the waking state, I was not in the dream state. That's why you are saying I am in another state which is related to these states. Otherwise, what other state is there? You must be jivanmuktan.

You are not in that state because you are coming to these two other states. That is why when we say something, knowledge, I know this, that always presumes I do not know the other thing. That itself limits.

I do not know the other thing means I know something. I know something and I don't know the other thing. If you know everything of even one, you know everything of everything.

Then you become free. Differentiation will vanish. So, is that point clear? Yes.

So, first deep sleep state, we are alive but we are completely, we disassociate. But that dissociation doesn't come from our conscious effort. In fact, it comes from our unconsciousness.

Because if you consciously want to go to sleep, it is never possible. So many other things. In fact, we are all jivanmuktas in the sense that if I am suffering, you don't suffer.

You are a jivanmukta so far as I am concerned, so far as the whole universe is concerned. 99.999999% you are jivanmukta only. Only little bit, I am Kiran, that is the only problem.

You see now? This is, you think over because it is not so easy to understand. Though we are seeing, we never know what is happening to the other. We are still alive.

So that is an indication, how now a jivanmukta will feel, he feels exactly as we feel with regard to others. He is witnessing everything. Like Vaman Maharshi is one example, you know, this part has to be cut off.

So the doctor wanted to administer an anaesthesia. But he refused and said, just go ahead. So the doctor was surprised.

He went ahead. He was looking as though somebody else's hand is being operated upon. Turiyananda.

Same thing he did. So this is what happens. Even how much we are affected also depends upon our mind.

I will give you an example. Even though we don't think of these examples, but they are marvellous examples. Suppose you see somebody's house is burning.

Somebody is there inside that burning house. Maybe a child, children or somebody. You feel very bad.

But you won't dare to go there because it is just dhavagni. But supposing it happens to your house and let us say Nivedita is trapped inside. Let us imagine you love her.

Then you say, you don't hesitate to plunge into the house. What is the point of my example? It is very important. It is the same fire.

It will burn equally everybody. But because of your state of the mind that this is the person whom I love, your child or whatever it is, especially parents, they will not hesitate. Recently it happened.

I will tell you that. You will plunge into it. Now when you plunge into the fire, it is still burning equally.

It will burn everyone equally. But your feeling at that time of that fire is nothing compared to if you have to put your hand even on a burning candle, it is totally different. So that shows how much the mind can affect the way we feel it.

Now recently what happened? Our Vinu, his daughter-in-law had gone on what is called Kailash Manasaro trip. So it is a package trip. So in that trip, one mother and one young boy, they were also there.

So somewhere narrow in something, the mule on which the young boy was riding, it slipped. And it was going down. The mother who was just behind it wanted to rescue the son.

So she also wanted to do like this. Of course she could not do it. Both of them, the donkey, the mule also dead, the boy also dead in front of everybody's eyes and the mother also dead.

Mother dead? She fell because she wanted to rescue. That was not possible. Because you know, it is impossible.

She wanted to do it, but she couldn't do it. In her idea possessed, I have to save my son. And then all the three died.

The thing is, she had sacrificed her life in a way of speaking for her son. If it is other people, they won't do it. Same thing happened to Swami Vivekananda's father when he was a child.

Vishwanath Dutta's father. No, Vishwanath Dutta. He was on a boat.

They were going on a boat. Then he slipped. The child slipped.

And then the mother, immediately she jumped after the son. But fortunately she was able to catch the child and also the other passengers. They caught hold of her and then pulled him to the boat.

Otherwise, very fortunate event. Otherwise, we would not have had Swami Vivekananda. Then we would not have had this class today.

You are thinking, why did it not happen? You know the difference between tragedy and disaster? You know? There was in England, there were two arch enemies. One was Disrael, who became the Prime Minister. And another one, I don't remember his name, very famous name.

They were very rivals. For everything they would quarrel, tooth and nail. So, one day in the parliament, this discussion came.

What is the precise difference between tragedy and disaster? So, Disrael immediately, he took the dig. He wanted to pull down. He said, you know, supposing you are walking on the bank of a river and you don't know how to swim and you slip, and you are about to drown.

That is real tragedy. But if someone were to rescue you, it's a disaster. Oh my God! This is wonderful.

Nobody thought of it. Excellent. Okay.

What is the time now? 12.31? What shall we do? Up to you, Maharaj. Let us do one. No, let us do... This is easier.

So, the tenth one. Now, he is clearing some important points. If there is no ahankara, then the body also becomes achetana, unconscious.

If the ahankara is not there, then it becomes achetana. How does it know? One question. In Sushupti, what happens to chitchaya? It's there, right? It is there.

That's the only way to check. That is going to be answered here. So, ahankara laye suktau.

When in deep sleep, this ahankara becomes merged in the deep sleep, then what happens? bhavet dehaha api achetana dehaha achetana The deha becomes achetana. Achetana means what? It appears to be alive for others, but it itself is completely achetana. Achetana means what? To feel, I am.

I can do this. I want to do this. All those functions.

It just becomes a kind of machine. You know, like a chicken. After you cut off its head, it still flaps.

That has nothing to do. It is not suffering. It is dead.

It is only the remaining, what is it called? You know, motor, muscular reaction. Automatic muscular. You feel very bad.

Oh, it is still suffering. Its soul is gone long back. But it is an automatic reaction.

Automated reaction. It goes on for a long time. Even a snake, cut off its head, it goes on moving for a long time.

Long time. Anyway, the point is, in deep sleep, when ahankara is not functioning, this body itself appears to be achetana. That is a proof, that without ahankara, the body cannot be conscious.

Ahankara, vikasartha, swapnaha. When the ahankara is half functioning, that is called swapna avastha. When ahankara is fully functional, then that is called jagra avastha.

So he is now describing, how this ahankara functions in the three states of jagra, swapna, and sushukti. When it is in sushukti, this whole body becomes achetana. And by extension, the whole jagrat prapancha becomes... Disappears.

Disappears. So when the ahankara is half awake, two things happen. The external jagrat avastha is completely gone, but there is half... ahankara is working.

Then the vasanas that are gathered in the waking state, with that material, you go on creating lots of imagery. That is called the state of swapna avastha. And when the ahankara is 100% manifest, then it is called jagrat avastha.

That is why sadhana cannot be done either in swapna avastha or in sushukti avastha. It can be done only in purna ahankara. Purna ahanta here is not our jagrat avastha.

Here purna ahanta means Brahman's complete I am state. That was the state of... Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna.

That was what it meant. Sadhara means what? Sadha, always. No, no.

Sadhara means small rope. Even though he had a wife. He is like a sadashiva himself.

It means even the dara has not changed his mind. That is sadashivaswarupa. That is why even though Parvati is embracing him half the body, he is still the greatest yogi.

When the ahankara is fully functional, then it is called jagrat avastha. When it is half functional, it is called swapna avastha. When it is not functional, it is called sushupti avastha.

Now your question is what happens in sushupti? This is the answer. What is the answer? It is there, but it is not manifest. Because just imagine if the ichchaya is to be withdrawn, then what happens? One thing happens.

Ahankara itself, ichchaya and ahankara both are connected. If ichchaya goes, ahankara also goes. If ahankara goes, who experiences jagrat, swapna and sushupti? No one.

There is nobody. So it is there, but it is not manifest. How is it not functional? Now when we say it is not functional, you have to understand again clearly that when you say you are not functional, you are associating.

No, no, you are not working. You are not manifesting your power. No, that is not the way we have to understand.

Reflecting media is not there. Reflecting media is not there. You know, just imagine I am sitting here.

Imagine you put on a mask, completely black, then what do I see? I don't see anything. So then you just put two slits. Then I see a little bit.

Then you take off the mask completely. Then I see completely. So in this sense I am saying I don't see anything.

I see a little. I see everything. It is not me who is not able to see.

I am able to see completely, but it is this limitation imposed upon me which is making me feel I don't see, I see a little. Even though I am using those words, I am capable of seeing everything, but not able to see because of this limitation. That is a point which we have to understand clearly.

So the Chit Chaya is completely functional because the light of consciousness can never become unconscious. But if you say it is completely unconscious, that means a mask is put over it. If it is able to function half, that means a smaller mask where half it can function, half it cannot function.

If it is able to see, function completely, that means there is no mask at all. That is the way we have to understand it. Pure consciousness can never be made unconscious.

That is why Thakur chides Sivanath Shastri. He says, I am I who think of God who is full consciousness and I become unconscious, and you fellows who think of the world, you are fully conscious. There is a lot of meaning in what he says.

So Chit Chaya, that is why the earlier connections we have to remember. What is the connection? Sahajam, Karmajam and Pranthijam. So until knowledge dawns, these relationships will never be destroyed.

So what does that mean? That means what is Chit Chaya? It is a reflection of the consciousness. Reflection is not, the Chit is not becoming small. It is because of the reflecting medium.

So remove the reflecting medium. Reflecting mediums are these two types, body and mind. Remove these mediums, then the Chit Chaya also goes away with that.

Then the person is completely free. So deep sleep is not removing because there is a subtle vritti is there. That subtle vritti is called Karana vritti.

Mind is not absent in deep sleep. But mind is in a very very subtle state. It is that which is carried to the waking state and you remember it, I had good sleep, I did not know anything.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 02

2026-05-11T03:38:41Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "So, we are studying Drik Dhrishya Viveka, the discrimination between the seer and the seen. There is only one seer, everything is seen. Which is the most important among these two? Seer. Why? Because the seen can never exist without the seer. But the seer always exists even without any seeing. Now when we are having this interaction, what is the purpose of this book? The first purpose is to be able to see the seen in such a way that it will not create any problems. Sec..."

So, we are studying Drik Dhrishya Viveka, the discrimination between the seer and the seen. There is only one seer, everything is seen. Which is the most important among these two? Seer.

Why? Because the seen can never exist without the seer. But the seer always exists even without any seeing. Now when we are having this interaction, what is the purpose of this book? The first purpose is to be able to see the seen in such a way that it will not create any problems.

Second, if we can really see something as it is in its true nature, then we understand the subject-object differentiation itself is a false differentiation. False differentiation because it is the subject alone under certain circumstances appears as the seen. Now, I will just elaborate slightly this point.

As you see, when we give the example of the dream, then we clearly understand that after waking up, whatever we have seen in the dream is nothing but subject divided into two, the seer and the seen, subject divided into two, subject and object, the knower and the known. How do we know? It is our everyday experience, when you go to bed, you are the only one and all the things you see in your dream is your own creations. Now you understand the meaning of creation better.

You have become so many, the one has become so many, even though how can the one become many? It is not possible. It is a way of looking into oneself, that's all. It has not really become.

This is the point Advaita Vedanta wants to make. If you ask the question, how did God create? Now there are two views, one is called Parinamavada, another is called Vivartavada. If God has created as you make many things out of wood or any element, any material, then actually the wood has acquired a special quality called Nama and Rupa.

In that case, the original wood has become transformed. So that way the original wood no longer exists. That is the dualistic school they say, but Advaita Vedanta doesn't accept that view.

Its view is called Vivartavada, as though it is transformed, not transformed, as though transformed. The classic example, the rope appears to be a snake, but the rope had never become the snake, neither in the past, nor in the present, nor in the future. So, that is the example taken, just as in your dream, you see so many things, you yourself see or look at yourself in so many ways, but when you wake up what happens? So when you go to bed, you the one has become many, when you wake up, the many of the dream has remained exactly the same.

So we understand this, but we don't understand how things in the waking state, so many millions of things, are just one, because there is a condition. To understand dream is a dream, you have to wake up. Similarly, to understand that this waking world is also just like a dream state, you have to wake up.

That state is called the fourth state or Turiya Avastha. Now this Turiya Avastha is not a fourth state, you have to clearly understand, it is not a fourth state, because whatever was existing in all the three states, it is only one. What was existing in all the, what is the common thing among all the three states? What is the I? I am in the waking state, I am in the dream state, I am in the dreamless state, that accepting I, everything else is change, that changeless I, which is present in all the three states and because of which all the three states become real.

So that is called the Turiya, that is also called Sakshi, but even this Sakshi Bhava also is a false entity ultimately, because a Sakshi is a function, any function it falls under the Triputi. There is one who has to do the action, there is an object upon which this action is done and there is a process through which this action is done. So even that is a kind of bondage.

So what is the goal? The goal is first you find what is the Drishya and find out who is the Drik, that is the first layer. The second layer is that Drik which is seen becomes the seen in the second state and something else becomes the Drik and in the third state that Drik becomes seen and the Sakshi becomes the Drik. In the last state, when all these things fall away, then only one remains, then Sakshi Bhava is also completely lost.

He cannot be called even Drik, that is the goal, how we have to reach that goal step by step. The first thing is before you undertake any action, the first thing you have to ask is what is the goal of this action. So here according to this, what is the goal? Separation, that I am not the seen, if I am not the seen, then I must be only the seer.

What does it mean? It means first of all I have no connection with the seen. There are certain qualities to be developed. What is it? The seen and the seer, the seen is dependent, the seer is independent, that is the first one.

Second, the seen comes and goes, but the seer remains constant. The seen are many, the seer is one, completely one. The seen can be anywhere, the seer is everywhere, always, because it is infinite.

So all these kinds of differences, when we contemplate, that means whatever happens in the seen will be interpreted only in one way, I have nothing to do, because these are completely opposite conditions, the seen are many, the seer is one, the seer can be anywhere and the seer is only everywhere, and the seen is constantly changing, but the seer is never changing. If that is true, where is the place for being affected by the seen? But what is our practical life? We are slaves of the seen, that is all. If an object is nicely dressed, then I feel it is beautiful.

If it is not dressed properly, I feel what has the dress got to do with beauty. So if your attraction is for the dress, then you take the dress and go away, leave the object there. That means we have become slaves to nama and rupa and function, three things we have to remember, nama, rupa and prayujana.

Any object, worth of an object is really, it is judged only by this one value ultimately. What is that value? Prayujana, functionality, only function, that's all, you know, here is very nice sweet, here is not such a nice sweet. What is our judgement? Sweet is a sweet, but how are we judging? Functionality, what is the ultimate functionality of everything in this world? Only one thing, happiness, and when we utter that word happiness, we have to understand it in three ways, sat, shit and ananada, because if you use exclusively the word happiness, suppose somebody says, you eat this sweet, after that I will shoot you, the sweet is very nice, it gives me happiness, but if that is the condition, if you eat the sweet, you will be happy, if you don't eat the sweet, you won't be happy, but if you eat the sweet, you will be happy, but afterwards I will shoot you, so what comes first? No, no, first comes my survival, I want unhappiness, even if it is unhappiness, provided I am alive, that is the first preference, sat, not only that, shit is also very important, it is beautifully arranged in that way, shit is what connects sat and anada, if I have to be happy, first I have to be alive, and if I have to be happy, I must know that I am happy, so all the three go together, so now our problem is, we are not able to understand this, that is our real problem, tritapa comes because of this, what is the problem? We all are looking for one aspect, which is anada, that is why we are ignoring the sat and chit parts, so if somebody is eating lot of sweets, what is he doing? He is paying more attention to the anada part, he is not paying attention to the sat and chit part, see, that is one, so everything has got to be, all the three must have got to be in right proportion, so look at this, suppose there is nice food, it is not unhappy food, it is not miserable food, it really creates happiness, but if you eat until this time, what happens to the chit aspect, you know people fall asleep, so that means what, you ask your son, every mother that is the mistake she commits, she wants her son to eat and afterwards study, you know what happens, so the wise thing is, first finish studying, then I will feed you, because after that there is no space for anything, so sat, chit and anada always go together, but they can be, the emphasis can be different, so you have to be very careful in understanding that one, now the separation from the drik and drishya, seer and seen, helps us control the, who is the master, so I decide to be happy, now in the morning we discussed an important point, what is it, our happiness or unhappiness are directly dependent upon our attitude, attitude facilitates interpretation, but attitude itself is the effect, and if that is the effect, what is the cause, morning we discussed, understanding, so the understanding must be alright, this book tries to give us that understanding, that you are the master, you are not a slave, now you understand that one and try to put it into practise, all austerities, they are meant only for one purpose, what is the purpose, to become independent, see somebody says, I won't eat on Ekadashi day, so this is a simple example, suppose Ekadashi day, somebody prepares nice food, it doesn't matter, it may be, you may prepare like a heavenly cook, you know what is heavenly cook, by eating who is cooking, you don't have it, so that is, there are so many words we use without understanding, dream girl like that, dream girl, a man in waking state falls in love with a dream girl, then he marries, then he marries the girl, but it remains a dream, because dream girl can be married only in dreams, that is the fact, so how to turn the Dhrishya into something that is useful for me, it must facilitate, it must help me, I should not try to help it, that is perpetuating delusions, if I try to improve, any Dhrishya is perpetuating delusions, that is why Karma Yoga, when we say Yoga, means you are a Yogi, so if you are a Yogi, who is the master, the others are not Yogis, anyone who performs a Karma is a Karmi, but a Yogi when he performs Karma, he becomes a Karma Yogi, what does that mean, that means, it doesn't mean that he doesn't expect anything, it doesn't even mean that he doesn't do things properly, so Karma Yogi does three things absolutely to perfection, Karma Yogi does three things, what is it, first he desires to do the right thing, secondly he does it to the utmost perfection, thirdly he says whatever be the outcome, I won't be affected by it, I will be happy whatever be the outcome, that is called non-expectations.

In our usual understanding, non-expectation means if I do some action, the Karma fellow, I don't expect the Karma fellow, it is foolishness to say that you do Karma, you produce a cause and it doesn't produce an effect, that is utter foolishness. See, if you do any cause, produce any cause, then it must produce an effect, but what is the difference, a Karmi is affected by the effect, whereas a Yogi, he remains constant in the sense, not that he is not affected, he has already affected himself, what is the effect, he has decided even before doing Karma, I will be a very happy person whatever be the outcome, so he is a happy person, if the result is what you call good, he is happy, if what you call the result is not good, he is quite happy, yeah, whatever happens, he says I am happy, that is called Yoga, that is why Yoga is, what is the definition of Yoga? What does that mean? That doesn't mean separation of the thoughts, that means you remain, you see, that is why the second verse, no, the third verse, the third mantra, Sutra, what does it say? So what happens when the mind, thought waves are suppressed or controlled, rather controlled, what happens? He remains as a Drigh, Drashtu Swaroope Avasthanam, he remains just as a seer, let hundred thousand thoughts arise in his mind, but he will make only one meaning out of it, every thought produces only one meaning for him, you are happy, you are happy, you are happy, that is the only thought that arises in his mind, that is called Drashtu Swaroope Avasthanam, so this is the meaning of Chittavruta, otherwise everybody says that he is not having any thought waves, if that definition is taken, what is wrong? What happens? In your deep sleep all the Chittavrutis are completely out, then you should have been Drashtu Swaroope Avasthanam, when you wake up then you should have been a Jeevan Bhakta, but you are not, why? Because there is one thought, very subtle, one thought in its causal form, that is why it is called Karana Sharira, causal form, what is that thought? I do not know anything, yes you do not know anything bad, but neither you know anything good, since you don't know either good or bad, it gives you good amount of happiness at that time, so it is a negative type of happiness, happinesses are two types, negative and positive, what is negative happiness? Not having any trouble is negative happiness, you know, your day nothing bad had happened, you get some kind of happiness, suppose you are returning home, nothing happened, everything, your car worked properly, and your boss worked properly, and your colleagues worked properly, nobody created any disturbance, so your mind is not hesitated too much, then you feel a kind of happiness, is that real happiness? No, how do we know? Suppose, oh today by God's grace my day has passed off very nicely, so you come home, suddenly there is a phone call that you have won a million dollar lottery ticket, what would be the state of your mind? That is called positive happiness, see the negative happiness is nothing bad happened, so it produces one kind of happiness, but when you hear a good news, then you get so much happiness, so what is the good news? A Jeevan Mukta, not only he has nothing negative, but he has everything positive, because he has won the whole universe, this is mine, why is it mine? Because I have created it, so I can create it, anything I can create it, you know, when you create something, then even negative thing also gives positive happiness, you have to understand, that's why I'm going a bit deep into this, see if you are not the creator, the slightest negative thought or event creates tremendous misery in your mind, why this happened? When you ask why this happened, you are acknowledging that you are not the author, otherwise you will never ask. Now, if you know that you are the creator, even the worst character that you create gives the greatest happiness, yes, because the example given is, suppose you write a drama, in the drama you create one of the worst types of characters, imagine the conversations you put through that worst character are the best conversations in that particular drama, the fellow who acted, he is the best actor, so he got the, and the fellow who directed, suppose you know, the fellow who directs, the fellow who acts, and the writer, the script writer, all these things, suppose imagine he is only one, so that year, that cinema or drama had won the highest awards, and in that awards, the best direction, the best screenplay, the best acting, the best script writing, all have been given the highest prize, and all of them go to one, only one person, just imagine, what is the happiness that fellow gets, we are not talking about good characters, that is my point, my point is, and you are the creator, so your creativity, whether it is Yudhishthira's character or Duryodhana's character, is this not what we do, when you observe a cinema, supposing you know, Yudhishthira is the worst fellow who acted, and Duryodhana or Ravanasura is the best, or Shekuni, you go to see that fellow, he says the drama is very nice, whom do you go to see, first character, because he had portrayed the best, so what is my point in discussing all these things, when you are the master, and when you create, whatever you create, gives you the greatest happiness, that is called creative happiness.

– Maharaj, does fear of second also add to that happiness, because there is no second, you are only creating. – No, when you ask that question, the moment you say fear of the second, you have forgotten that you have created yourself, because that is how you know, sometimes you get up from bed suddenly, and your shadow is looming, very creative, so why does that happen, until you realise, this is my shadow, actually in Karma Siddhanta, we are all the shadows of our original creation, we are the authors of our, if you accept Karma Siddhanta, our bodies, our minds, who created, dosh karo nahi goma, ame shokhaata soli le, dhumi mahesha, you see, we don't accept, we sing this song, but we don't accept, we are the creators, so nobody can be found at fault, you cannot even find fault with God, you see the point now, so if we know that we are the masters, the Drishya is our creation, in both senses, not only Ishwara Srishti, but also Jiva Srishti, but the first thing we have to tackle is Jiva Srishti, because that is our interpretation, you see the point now, when once you know the whole thing is a Drishya, that means I am the Drik, means what? I am the creator of Drishya, do you get my point? If there is what is called the Seen and He is the Seer, then who is the creator of that Seen? It is the Seer, and if the Seer is the creator, then you cannot even bring the idea of God, because... Sir, is there anything called Ishwara Srishti, because it looks like what you are saying is I am the one who has created everything, so because I cannot put any reason behind why it is, so we say it is Ishwara Srishti. As so long as we are in the realm of ignorance, Ishwara Srishti is absolutely real.

Let me again, Advaita Vedanta gives the example of the dream, when you are dreaming, whatever you are seeing, is it Ishwara Srishti or your Srishti? No, no, when you are in dream, it is Ishwara Srishti, God's creation, but when you wake up, then you understand that it is all my creation. So, slowly, step by step, so long as we think this is not my creation, then we have to say that it is somebody else's creation, because it is the effect, every effect must have a cause, and therefore it is God's creation. So, what is God's creation? Whatever is experienced through the sense organs is God's creation, but whatever the sense organs convey, after they convey, then however the mind perceives, it is called Shiva Srishti, because the sense organs, they have not the intelligence to alter, it is just like a pure mirror.

So, imagine that you are standing in front of a mirror, but imagine you have put, you have cataract, so there is nothing wrong with the mirror, but something with our way of looking, so first thing is, if the mirror is dirty, you have to clean it, second, you have to get rid of the, instead of cataract, you can imagine a black coloured glass, yellow coloured glass, whichever coloured glass, that is the understanding. So, even from a very practical point of view, it is very important for us to understand this, that much depends upon us for our own happiness, that is the first lesson we have to learn, whatever be the circumstances, how do I take it, how do I interpret it, that is where our freedom lies, until we go to the highest sense, our freedom is only with our mind, interpretation. So long as we are in the waking state and dream state, our freedom is only how much we can control our own mind, because we don't have much freedom about the external world.

Sir, Maharaj, how do you develop the right understanding then? First, somebody tells us, look, you have some control over yourself, so you take advantage of whatever lies within your control, that's why I think Shri Adi Maharaj used to say about food, quality is yours, it is not in my control, what is in my control? Quantity is in my control, so if I can, I cannot control the quality, but I can control the quantity, so that is where first somebody comes and tells, everything is not lost, you have some control, but what a big control it is, in the beginning you don't even believe it, but in the end you will go like that goldfish, slowly, slowly it goes, I have some control, I have some control, I have better control, step by step we have to go through, so morning also I told there are three seers and naturally there should be three scenes, so one scene is absolute scene, one seer is absolute seer and two seers are mixture of, they are by turns both the seer and also the scene, and I also told there is this external world, so the sense organs, they are the masters, because they become the seers and whatever is seen is their object, but the mind is seeing what the sense organ is doing, therefore mind is the seer and the sense organ becomes the scene, so the mind in its turn is witnessed by so the mind is both the seer and the scene, and the sense organs are both the seer and the scene, the world is only seeing, is never a seer, and this akshi is only the seer, it is never the scene, so these points he wants to make clear in the next few verses, and if you have got the book, come on let us read it, let us chant together, we take it, first verse So he has enlightened us, Rupam Drishyam, Rupam means whatever is seen, experienced, I doesn't mean only this I, I means all the five sense organs, Shabda, Sbarsha, Rupa, Rasagandha, so Rupam Drishyam, whatever is seen is called Rupam, whatever is experienced is called Drishya, Drishya means seeing, experiencing, then who is the seer, Lochanam Drishyam, Lochanam means the I, I means all the five sense organs are the ear, the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue and the ears, so they are all the sense organs, so that is the first verse, then he says Tad Drishyam, Tad means here sense organ, sense organ becomes in its turn, Drishyam means seeing, Drik Manasam tu Drik, the mind becomes the seer of the sense organs, so that means by, what is that word, extending, the mind becomes also the seer of Rupam and also sense organs, right, but not directly, the mind cannot see a physical object directly, mind can see or experience only a mental object, never a physical object, to see something physical, to experience something external, it needs an instrument, we have to keep that in mind, so Drishyaha Dhi Vrittayaha, so Dhi Vrittayaha, Dhi means intellect or mind, whatever you call it, Vrittayaha means whatever thoughts, whatever Vrittis, Vritti, Vrittayaha, Vritti is the singular, Vrittau is the dual, Vrittayaha is the plural, whatever Vrittis, Vritti means any mental modifications, it could be a thought, it could be an emotion, it could be an imagination, it could be a feeling like fear, happiness, any modification, it all fall under the category of Vritti, mental modification, changes in the mind, now this author also, he classifies the mind into two categories, the mind and the thoughts, there is a state of mind without any content, so we have to be careful about it, so the format, original format of the mind and the effects it goes through, the example given, there is perfect water, water in the lake perfectly, that is Patanjali's definition, now if a wind arises, not to speak of iron, hurricane and all that, then the surface of the water, it breaks into several types, it could be waves, it could be bubbles, it could be foam, varieties, but all these things belong, they are based upon the water only, but what is constant? Water is constant, but the slight modification within the, what I am trying to tell you, the entire water doesn't break into waves, majority of that water remains completely as water, a small part of it is transformed into these waves, bubbles and all those things, in a similar way, here it is the mind, in the mind there is something called pure mind, that's why Sri Ramakrishna says, pure mind and pure Atman are one and the same, that is what Patanjali Rishi also says, when the mind is completely tranquil, without the least bit of rittis, so why do we say, after all the mind also is an external thing to the Atman, we are talking about conveying an idea, the moment you convey an idea, you have to bring the concept of mind, it is a transference of idea from the teacher to the student, so for that purpose you need to experience something, you don't need anything, but to convey that experience, you need a medium, so that medium is called here in this case, the mind, and a part of that mind, it becomes transformed into a vritti, so it is these vrittis we are transforming, you understand, it is vritti, when I am talking, it is creating, so to talk, I must have a thought, and that thought has been created out of my mind stuff, and this thought goes out from me in the form of shabda, sound, and that shabda enters into your ears as shabda, into your ear canal, and that shabda is carried through the sense organ called hearing to your mind, and there it becomes transformed into similar vritti, hopefully, because if it is transformed into a different kind of vritti, like a Chinese man, one man went to a hospital to see someone who is in the hospital, and by the side of the person known to him, there was also a Chinese patient lying, so you know, we feel sympathetic, so that man went to the next man, and with smiling face, how are you, I am so sorry, that fellow he was having all his face covered, he started shouting something, but this fellow of course couldn't understand Chinese language, so he was thinking this fellow is thanking me, no, no, don't thank me, this is my goodness, and within few minutes that fellow expired, so after 10 years, the fellow went to China, he still remembered this fellow's words, and he asked what does this mean, then somebody explained that it means, get off my oxygen tube, he was standing on the oxygen tube, uttering words of condolence, so appropriate vrittis have to be produced in the listener's mind, how could they be produced, that is why sadhana chitustaya sampatthi creates a fit receptive state of the mind, in fact when you talk on the telephone, what happens to your speech, it is transferred into only digits, zero one, there is nothing else, so if the other side, the equipment is all right, then it comes out as one, if it is not, so appropriate communication is possible only when two things are on the same level of understanding, so this is how it is carried, now whatever dhi means mind or intellect, what we call antahkarana, this antahkarana is by Patanjali, he says it is chitta, but by chitta he means what we call in English language the entire mind, not the division, you know, mano buddhi, chitta and ahankara, not that, all the four faculties put together, but important among them is chitta, because it is the chitta which is the repository of memory, therefore all our interactions are dependent upon our chitta, the buddhi, the manas and the ahankara cannot function if the chitta is not functioning properly, memory is not functioning properly, you may have the super fast computer, but every computer depends for its function on only one important element, what is that? RAM, not hard to decipher, upon RAM, that is the most, if there is no RAM, you see, chitta is like that, both hard disc and also combined together, it is God's written and best invention, it also keeps, it also works like a chitta, so this is dhee vrittaya, so many types of thoughts arise in our mind, so when the mind is entertaining these varieties of thoughts, then it becomes the seeing or an object or the known, and who is the known? Sakshi, dhee vrittaya, see, look at it, sakshi, so dhee vrittaya dhrishya, all the vrittis arising in the dhi, they are called dhrishya, but who is the dhrith? Because dhrith dhrishya viveka is the title, and that is why he is using it everything as dhrishya, dhrishya, dhrishya, so sakshi, what who is the sakshi? Dhrith, he is the sakshi dhrith, eva, now that is, this eva also means alone, only, it has to be connected to the, what is the next one, dhrith eva, natu dhrishyate, dhrith natu dhrishyate, the dhrith is never seen by somebody, why? It creates a logical fallacy, what is the logical fallacy? If dhrith is seen, there must be some other dhrith, if that dhrith also is seen, then some other seer is necessary, so there must be a final seer, who is only a seer, who is never a seen, that is why in the beginning itself sakshi, so he is that dhrith, that sakshi is ultimate seer, he is not at all seen by somebody. Now, so what is the nature of this dhrith? Because what is the meaning of this seer and seen? Seer and seen means, it is simply this, take the example that in this room that I am sitting and this sofa is there, I am sitting on the sofa, imagine this room is in complete, total darkness, imagine nobody else is there and you come from outside, you open the door, it is totally dark, I am here, but you cannot see me, you cannot see the sofa, that means what? You have no knowledge of what is in this room, that's why if someone asks you, say I do not see anyone in this, anything in this, not anyone, because even to say anyone... That means you should know that somebody is there. What is the point? Then you put on the switch, then light comes on, then what is the function of the light? It reveals whatever object is there in this room, that means this object cannot reveal itself unless some other thing is necessary to reveal it, but suppose there is a light here in this room, first of all there would be no darkness because where there is light there would be no darkness and so you can see everything, so this is a wonderful example, so you enter into the room and you see immediately so many things, so how many things do you see in the room? As many as you can imagine, there is only one chair in the room, the entire room is empty, only one chair is there, so there is a candle or light and you enter into the room, somebody asks you, what do you see? What would be your answer? Yes, what do you see? No, no, light, what do you see? I see the chair, but nobody is telling that it is the light that is there, nobody is talking about the light, you see our mistake, what the mistake that we commit? The light, because without light nothing can be revealed, but what is the nature of the light? You don't need another light to reveal that light, but the tragedy of it is we never, never count the light, we only count what is revealed by the light and that is what is happening here, without the Drik, why the final Drik doesn't need somebody to illuminate it? Because the Drik himself is self-illuminating, self-illuminating, therefore he doesn't need another thing, to reveal something which cannot reveal itself, we need the help of something else, but that something which can reveal, that doesn't itself really need, now this is a point which is going to be illustrated.

Very briefly, I will again recount what we have discussed already in a new light, what is the new light? We said there are three seers and three scenes, we also said there is one final seer and one final scene and we said there are two which is both seer and scene, right, now when we say the sense organ is the seer, has it the capacity to reveal itself? It doesn't have, because if it has, it would have been the seer only and not the scene, anything that is seen doesn't have the capacity of self-revelation, the sofa can never say, I am here, you can see, because if it can do that even in darkness you should be able to see it, because only with the help of light you can see it, that means for its revelation it is always dependent upon light, you see the point? So, but here we are saying the sense organ is the seer and the world is the scene, that means the sense organ must have the capacity to reveal what is seen, but in reality, so what, there are two problems will come there, one problem is if it is the seer, if it has the capacity to see, then the other there would be too many seers, the sense organs is one seer and the mind is another seer and the Atman is another seer and then this tooth and nail, a dentist and a manicurist married, after that they started fighting tooth and nail, so that would be the condition, if there are three seers, but the real seer revealing power belongs only to one, so if the sense organs become seer by chance, that means it has somehow got revealing power, if it has revealing power and if that revealing power doesn't belong to the sense organ, what is the conclusion? It can never be the seer, no, no, it means it borrowed the seeing power from something else, so if there is a Dehna bank, there must be a Dehna bank should be there, if there is a lending bank, then there must be also a borrowing bank, no, if there is a borrowing bank, then there must be a lending bank, no, this is the condition, so if the sense organ by itself has got the power of revealing, then it must be able to reveal itself, in which case it doesn't need the help of the mind, but it is seen that under circumstances, for example in deep sleep, the sense organs are fully functional and many times over my class also, the sense organ eye is fully open, but it is what is called revealing power has gone somewhere else, in two ways, one is when the mind wanders, it has gone off somewhere, the other is when it goes to sleep, it has gone, that means anything which has its nature can never depart, whatever comes and goes doesn't belong to itself, this is very important, whatever is ours will never go at any time, whatever is not ours, even if it is there for a billion years with us, when the time comes, that's why because this body doesn't belong to us, however much we may say this is mine, a time will come when it has come, a time will come when it passes, this is the simple fact, so that is how we have to understand which is the real seer and which is not the real seer, what is it, has it got the revealing power, if it seems to be having a revealing power, but this revealing power is going on and off, that means it is borrowing and it keeps on borrowing and when it cannot borrow then that power is lost, so same truth applies to the mind also, so who is lending the revealing power to the sense organs, but if the mind has its own revealing power, it is also borrowing constantly and in different ways, in waking state it is borrowing one way, in dream state it is borrowing another way, but in deep sleep state it stopped borrowing, that is why since it doesn't have, it cannot also lend, that is why the sense organs are functional but they cannot do anything because the mind is not lending its power, it is not lending because it itself has taken up, this is the truth, so that is what he is going to say, let us say, roopam drishyam lochanam drith, whatever is seen that is the seen and but the sense organs are the seers, in its turn, restha drishyam manasam tu drith, so the sense organ in its turn is the seen and the mind is the seer, so all the mental modifications are seen, are witnessed, are experienced, are illuminated, but who is the seer, sakshi or the witness consciousness, satu na drishyate, that final seer is never seen by anybody because not revealed by anyone, not revealed by anyone, how wonderful this analysis has come, so let us proceed to the second one, this is an elaboration of this, so we can proceed very quickly, so it is an elaboration, very quickly we can understand it, so I read the translation, the forms or objects of perception appear as various on account of such distinctions as blue, yellow, gross, subtle, short, long etc., there are many varieties, the eye on the other hand sees them itself remaining one and the same, see all of you are here, so many people, how many eyes I have, I am not having one eye for each one of you, I am having only one eye perceiving men, women and you know young, old and all those different colours and all those things, what is the idea, the drink is always one, the seer is always one but the seen are can be any number and because they are any number there will be variations because how do you know any number, to distinguish two there must be some differentiation, right, so there can be any variation because the same thing can become many, so like saying you know somebody has drawn a line, this is when we were young, this is one of the puzzles brain, so without touching that line how to make that line shorter, many people go on trying how to make that line but the condition is you can draw another one, there is no such thing, so you draw a bigger line and immediately it becomes smaller, so the point is the moment we say there are two, there are ways to make those two separate and these sense of separations are divided into three categories, what is that? Veda, what is Swajatiya Veda, Swagata Veda, Swajatiya Veda, Vigata Veda, to give an example, then you can multiply the examples, so there are to make any distinction, this is this, this is not this, any distinction, all of them fall into three categories, so what is this? Supposing there is an apple tree, this apple tree has got lot of differentiation, this is the root, this is the trunk, these are the branches, these are the leaves, these are the blossoms, these are the fruits, you can clearly distinguish, this is called Swagata Veda, differentiation within itself, then Swajatiya Veda, that means there is another apple tree, so this apple tree is this side, that apple tree is the other side, this is smaller, that is bigger, this has less number of fruits, that has more number of fruits, etc., etc., you can see the difference, this is the difference between the two species, you can apply it to human beings or to carpets or to anything, Swajatiya Veda, a third is called Vigata Veda, means there is a mango tree and there is a apple tree, so mango tree is totally Vigata Veda, belongs to a totally different species, now you see any difference you perceive must fall within these three categories, there is no exception to it. Marajji, are these three categories, can they be like name, form and function? That is what all these things, you know name, for example take name, this is apple tree, that is mango tree, that is one, two apple trees, this is smaller apple tree, this is bigger apple tree, this small tree is big tree, this is a bit green, this is a bit reddish, nama, then rupa of course, how do you make names depending upon the rupa, then function, no, no, function means this has got small sweet fruits, that has got fruits are not so sweet, these are warm eaten, these are very fresh, etc., etc., all any differentiation you can think of, imagine of, fall under these three categories, so in this second verse what he is telling, first example he takes, what is it, the sense organ is the seer and whatever it sees is the drishya, the drishyas can be many, it's yellow, red, blue, white, black and small, big, any mention you make, all these varieties are possible, but how many seers, only one, so that is the important, he is slowly taking up, the seer can only be one, the seen can be many, this discrimination if we have, that it is very beneficial to us, this discrimination, that is the point, that's called drishya viveka, so what is happening now, the drish becomes slave to the drishya, so I like this very much, now this is a wonderful point, I like this very much, you are making a sentence, so that sentence, every sentence falls into two categories, active voice and passive voice, passive voice indicates who is being the slave, active voice indicates who is the master, so I am watching a movie, so if someone else says, who is watching this movie, I am watching the movie, that means who is the master, I am the master, are you really the master, if the movie is bad, will you watch, you know, if there is a match between India and America and India is losing, will you still watch, so if you are not watching, that means that seen is your master, I am very nice, look at it, look at me, I am very nice food, you stupid fellow, come, come, come and eat me, come and eat me, yeah, that's why it is called ice cream, yeah, do you see the point, we are using active voice, but we mean, unconsciously we mean that we are slaves, whereas a saint like Sri Ramakrishna, when he says, I eat, he means that he is eating, because he is in charge, enough is enough, all that, he gives beautiful parable also, two farmers who are trying to bring water into the field, so the first farmer, whoever is, you know, his wife comes and says, enough is enough, you can do it tomorrow, he says, okay, I will come, okay, I will come, what does he mean, you are making me, come, come, whereas the second one, he drives away the wife, that is the mastery, Sri Ramakrishna says, that is the only way, you can have mastery, don't blame me, it is possible from the other way also, actually, it is the other way, always it is the other way, whenever me and my wife have a quarrel, mine is the last word, all right, dear, okay, so if we have that discrimination, that I am the seer, if the I is the seer, then whatever, however attractive or unattractive, it can decide how much time it wants to see, etc., but of course, the indriya is itself never the real master, because it comes to the mind later on, mind is dictating, because it is lending, it's borrowing power, and if you lend money to somebody, you will have, you put 100 conditions, your bank, whenever you take loan, it puts 100 conditions on you, is it not, not only when you return, but how you spend your money, yeah, it won't allow you to spend your money in gambling and all those things, yeah, it is a lot, so similarly, the mind also puts conditions to the I, yes, I permit you to see, but these are the conditions, so slowly it's leading to this idea, what is the first idea, that the I is the seer, everything seen by the I, and by implication, all the sense organs are the seers, and whatever they experience is the seer, so the mastery should belong to the seer. Now, let us go to the third one.

Sankalpaye Manasyodhra Vagadau Yojataamidam So, the translation is, look at the translation, such characteristics of the I as blindness, sharpness or dullness, the mind is able to cognise, because it is a single unity, this also applies to whatever is perceived through ears, skin, etc., that is to say, the mind is becoming the seer and the sense organs are becoming the seeing, because the mind is able to see that you are not, it is not appearing nicely, it is not tasting nicely, yeah, but we do not realise it, how, because you see, the same food cooked every day, say by mother or a wife, it is the same food, but when we are healthy, we enjoy it in one way, when our stomach is upset, then we experience it another way, when we are young, we experience it one way, when we are old, we experience it another way, but we are not able to understand, say, oh, you haven't cooked properly, we go on blaming everybody else, but what should you say, you should say that, oh, mind, you know, mind, say, oh, stomach, now you are upset, and that is why you are not able to derive the same type of satisfaction, if we have that much of discrimination, lot of problems will be solved, lot of problems will be solved, let me give another example, more practical, so we are always expecting from the world something nice, what is the nature of the world, sometimes it will be good things, sometimes it will be bad things, if we are only expecting one type of things, that is a wrong understanding, is it not, if the mind is a trick and not identified with the experience, then it will be able to say, oh, sometimes you are happy, sometimes you are unhappy, so what is the benefit, now here is the real point, the world is changing, but that one who is witnessing the world is unchanging, by implication what it means is, let the world change billion times in billion ways, but I, my interpretation will remain absolutely the same, if I can have that, and that is the only control we have, then that is called real seership, now why I am telling this one, when a saint is in samadhi, there is no sin, because there is no sin, all these processes are completely not necessary at all, if a fellow is completely dull, these things do not apply, but for the aspirants who want to improve themselves, this is very necessary, the seeing that I am not a slave, I am the master, Drik means I am the master, that means I will interpret the seeing as I like to interpret, that means if I want to be happy, I will interpret only as happiness, whatever be the condition, that is why there is a philosophy, it could be worse, it could have been worse, a person who has this philosophy, he will always enjoy better than other people, it could happen, you know your earthquake, so only a few things have fallen, you are very happy, dancing with joy, it could have been worse, you know somebody has lost his leg, he is also dancing with joy in his own limited way, somebody has lost your leg and you are dancing, yes it could have been worse, in fact this is what we are doing, if gangrene sets in, the doctor says either it should be operated or you will die, which one would you prefer, that shows clearly you are not happy, you are not happy because you can't be as comfortable without legs as you could be with, but given a choice between losing life and getting rid of some limbs, then which is preferable, it is infinitely more preferable, isn't it, even if I lose all the limbs, but if I am alive, if I am really a Dhrigarshya Viveka student, then I should say, thanks to God I am not happy, so it helps that way to cope with situations more, that is why it is very important to study scriptures like this, so what is this, such characteristics as the blindness, sharpness, dullness, the mind is able to cognise because it is unity, all the sense organs may be as seen, they could be varieties, but the seer, the mind is only one, therefore it becomes the master in its turn, if it really has this Viveka, so let us proceed to the fourth verse, now chitihi and chitta should not be identified, chit is mind, but chiti is chit, sat, chit, consciousness, pure consciousness, that is called chitihi, so all these, now you know first thing is the I is one, but whatever the I perceives are many, and the second is the functions of the sense organs are many, but the seer called mind is one, now whatever is happening in the mind becomes the Dhrishya, and somebody is witnessing it, what are those vrittis or modifications that are taking place in the mind, a few examples are given here, we have to add etc., so kamaha, desire, sankalpaha, I want to do this, sandehaha, will I be able to do it, maybe I will be able to do it, maybe I will not be able to do it, doubts, shraddha, absolute faith, it is said by somebody who is truthful, it cannot happen otherwise, ashraddha, I doubt that fellow itself, so I will not have faith in his words, dhriti, that means that willpower to hold on to whatever we have decided to do, itare means anything else, any type of mental modification, and then also he says others, hrihi, hrihi means modesty, dhrihi means capacity to understand, intelligence, bhi means fear, everything has got two sides, here bhi means fear, fear also could be positive or negative, what is positive, to recognise a danger which is genuine, and to withdraw from it, that is positive fear, but to go on seeing something, oh I don't care, I can do what I like, and then to do something, that is foolhardiness we say, so that is two types, so hrihi also, lajja also can be two, what is this, too much of shyness, you know there are people who are very very very shy, but modesty, modesty means moderate modesty, moderate, it is just the right amount of modesty, otherwise if you become too modest, nobody will recognise you, so many times it happens, too modest, so hrihi, dhrihi, bhihi, it evam aadheen, aadheen means others, etc, all these things, bhaasayet ekadachitithi, consciousness illumines all these things, because does the mind know all these things are taking place in it itself, suppose a thought comes, whatever thought, even thought of God, does the mind know I have a thought of God, what should be there, I know there is a thought, that I know is totally separate from the mind, I know the I is seen, I know the mind is witnessing, I know what is happening in the mind, all these that I know, I know, I know, aham, aham, aham, this is called bhakti, means this is the nature of the pure consciousness, so that pure consciousness is present in the sense organ, is present in the mind and so what happens, the sakshi lends its I-know-ness to the mind, the mind borrows it from the sakshi and the mind becomes illuminated and it thinks I know, I know, not knowing that that I know is borrowed from here, it is like you know, small children come, the mothers bring small children and I ask them, why did you not go to school, they says I don't know, so the mother is telling, it's Sunday, they says I know, I know, Sunday, Sunday, it is borrowing I-know-ness from the mother, so it goes on, when is the school opening, I don't know, the mother says tell Swami, I know, I know, it is opening on 12th September, this process goes on and on and on, so the mind it borrows and doesn't acknowledge it, then the mind says to the, you stupid sense organ, I will lend my I-know-ness and then the sense organ thinks I know, I know, that is it, so the sense organ has I-know-ness, the mind has I-know-ness, the sakshi, I know, because that is its nature, it is not borrowed, so here he is highlighting how the real sakshi is witnessing the mind, illuminating the mind and when we illuminate the mind, then the mind becomes both the revealing and self-revealing now, but its self-revealation power is a borrowed power, you see when the light comes here, then what happens, you see this object, so this object is apparently seemingly revealing itself, I am a chair, therefore you will have to know I am a chair, but that self-revealing power that I am a chair doesn't belong to the chair, it belongs to the light, that's what being said here, that means every modification that arises in the mind, irrespective of what type of modification, any modification, it is revealed only by the sakshi, chaitanya, here he uses the word chitihi, chitihi means consciousness, don't identify it with chitta, chitta and chitta are totally, completely different, so what is the nature of the sakshi, so that is what is being said in the fifth one, which is very wonderful, Rupam Vibhati Tatha Anyani Rupam Vibhati Tatha Anyani Bhasa Ek Sadhanam Vina Bhasa Ek Sadhanam Vina Very good, so what is the nature of this consciousness, what is its nature, this consciousness does neither rise nor set, why doesn't it set, because it never rises, that's why it is said you know, the sun in the British, the sun on the British empire never sets, why, because, okay, so it doesn't increase nor does it suffer decay, being self-luminous it illumines everything else without any other aid, that means its illuminating power unlike the others is never borrowed from anything, why, it is self-luminous, the mind also is self-luminous, the sense organs are also self-luminous, what is the difference, it is borrowed, before borrowing it didn't have, after it withdraws, after it starts giving, then it stops, whereas here, it neither rises nor sets, because it is its nature, it is ever itself, it doesn't increase, so the mind also, it can be in three states, then it depends upon it, whether it is in full lustre or it is in the dimest, depending upon its three states, what is that, sattvika state, rajasika state and tamasika state, so also the sense organs are also, they also have the same qualities, sattvika, rajasika and tamasika, what is sattvika, when the mind is very alert, the body is in its prime healthy condition, then the sense organ functions in its fullness, when something affects it, then its function becomes affected, see, when the mind is wandering, how much even you are reading, page after page is being turned, how much is entering, accepting the tale, everything has entered, no bell rings, nobody never told us, yes, many times I told this, many times, remember, okay, you know there was a school room, so the class is going on, the teacher is talking, the one student, it was a pink tiled house, so one student was looking up like this, suddenly saw a lizard coming out, so his attention was drawn, the teacher is talking, his head off, here the boy is completely absorbed, so the lizard came out and after some time it was going inside, almost it entered, the tail is about to enter, at that time the teacher notices the student and said, hey, how much has entered, so the teacher said, how much of my teaching has entered into you, but he understood in a different way, almost it entered, only the tail is, you see, so how much we absorb anything, even the sense organs have their sattvika, rajasika, tamasika condition, to give you an example, when a trained musician listens to someone's singing, his way of understanding that singing is totally different from an ordinary person hearing to the same type of singing, is it not, when a trained astronomer is looking at things, it is some different way he looks, because he knows who to look, what to look for, the commonest example that comes to my mind is, suppose somebody, some doctor has taken your x-ray and that x-ray developed, as Ekip was telling, you know, one of them, this fellow had excellent photographic memory, still to be developed, he has, remains undeveloped, we are all like that, so the x-ray is brought, put it in that, you know, where it can be illuminated with a backlight and you can also see there, you are having the same sight, maybe the doctor is having thick glasses and all that, but his way of looking at it and your way of looking at it, what do you see? Whatever you see, it looks exactly the same, but he points out, do you see this dark space? This fellow has no guts to say, I don't know, he says, yes, yes, we all do. You see, I enjoy this fun, you know, yes, yes, I see. He sees, but he doesn't understand anything.

So, that is, a person who is trained is absolutely when in control, that's Satyug cascade. A person who knows, but his mind is wandering, then he understands things in a different way. Actually, you know, when you say, use the word seeing, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching has no meanings.

The meaning is what understanding or what information enters into our brain. Our whole life depends only upon that. So, this is the difference and the Tamasic person is there, his brain absolutely as they can live.

That is why his understanding has gone permanent already. So, that person's understanding, he has got the same sense organs, but they do not function as their minimum, minimum, you know, functionality. So, even the sense organs, how much difference they make.

Painters, for example, they could see things which we could never see. Even some bats would see better, you know, ultraviolet colours, they have a special function. So, all this modern science is telling now is, it is, all of us have got eyes, but the functioning is not the same, so much difference is there.

Anyway, what is the point here? The point is that what we call the pure consciousness, it is its nature, its nature is self-illuminating and also illuminating everything else. So, that function, because it is its nature, it has not come at some point of time, so it won't go out at some point of time, it neither increases nor decreases, it ever remains absolutely the same. Yes, you can say that one.

Pure consciousness remains full infinite pure consciousness and it is one and it doesn't know what is change. Now, this is, all these are changes, at some point it comes into manifestation and then it goes out of manifestation and then it, sometimes it increases, sometimes it decreases, all these are called changes. Now, that's an important logical point, whatever changes does not by itself know that I am changing.

To know that I am changing, there must be somebody else who is unchanging. So, that unchanging alone can become a witness, yes, that is the meaning of witness. What is the meaning? That it ever remains an unchanging witness of all the changes that is taking place.

Now, another important point, though not necessary for you, you may never even think about it, but I have to confuse you a little bit to pass my time, can there be an unchanging drishya, unchanging seen, unchanging seer, yes, unchanging seen, is it ever possible? No, if you look at the ocean or the mountains, it doesn't change. What an example, you look at this monkey, it is unchanging, the ocean is? That's always changing because of the waves. We are talking about the unchanging.

So, when do you get an ocean unchanging? The only time when you get it is unchanging, when you are not looking at it. That is the only time it is unchanging. But I am not the drishya then, if I am not looking at it.

No, no, the point is if anything is unchanging, it can never be the seen, it can only be the seer. Because anything unchanging is its own seer. Anything that is seen, because it is not itself, do you get the point what I am talking about? It is now this way, it has completely changed, it is in a different way, then how can it ever remain unchanging and at the same time a seer? Maharaj, does that mean that the phrase meditating on the Atman doesn't really make any sense? It makes sense because what is meditation? Meditation is first to remove all the other thoughts with one thought.

The attempt to keep one thought constantly in the mind is meditation. Now even meditation is never considered as the highest state because there is a division, this is the seer, I am the meditator and this is the meditator. That relationship itself makes the meditator a part of this activity.

That is a subtle point which will come later on. The sakshi is to make us step by step to go into higher. But when you come to the sakshi level, the sakshi also has to be totally dissolved.

Sakshi means witness, a witness is a function, so function means there is something else, relationship and so long as there is a relationship then the sakshi is also in some way conditioned, bound, that has to go but that is a very high thought. So let us start with the thing. Slowly shift our identity from the seen to the seer, from the witnessed to the witness and when we are successful in that then another method will be followed by which even this witnessing nature also will be totally destroyed.

So slowly he is leading, so I asked you a question, what was that? Can there be an unchanging seen? It is never possible. There can be only one thing unchanging, you can call it seen, you can call it seer, by whatever name you call it, but it can be only the seer, it can never be the seen. That is the simple truth.

Though this thought would never come to any of the students, but unnecessarily I read it to confuse a little further. So what is the time now? 8.32, I think we stop here. And the further are coming beautifully.

What is the relationship between the seer and the seen? Now he is only defining what is the seer and what is the seen. Now the relationship. It is wonderful.

This divine marriage is going to take place. Why? There is a corporation. How can you get a divorce? Unless you are married.

So if you want the joy of divorce, yes, he is making, as I told you in the introduction in this class, what did I say? When you dream, in the dream you divide yourself into two, but when you realise that it is you only who have become the seen also, then the distinction between the seer and the seen will totally disappear. But in Totapuri's case, he was able to separate the seer from the seen, but he was never able to identify the seen with the seer, and that is why his realisation remained incomplete. And a time has come, because the Divine Mother was gracious, that's why he has come to Thakur.

What is Thakur's Guru Dakshina? Making his own Guru's knowledge absolutely complete. What better Guru Dakshina can anybody give?
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Category:Drg Drsya Viveka

2026-05-11T03:37:48Z

Vamsimarri:

[[Category:Swami Dayatmananda]]

Drg Drsya Viveka Lecture 01

2026-05-11T03:36:50Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Harih Om! So, from today onwards we will cover this beautiful Prakarana Grantha of Advaita called Dhritya Viveka. Why is it so important, especially why I have chosen this one? There is a very special reason. You know, when we study the great master, there is the record of Totapuri's behaviour. Swami Sharada Ranji very clearly mentions that Totapuri had attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi. And yet you know what happened? After nearly 11 months, w..."

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Harih Om!

So, from today onwards we will cover this beautiful Prakarana Grantha of Advaita called Dhritya Viveka. Why is it so important, especially why I have chosen this one? There is a very special reason. You know, when we study the great master, there is the record of Totapuri's behaviour.

Swami Sharada Ranji very clearly mentions that Totapuri had attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi. And yet you know what happened? After nearly 11 months, what happened to him? He could not accept this world as a reality. He accepted it, he used to say it is all Mithya.

For a knower of Brahman, he should be able to see everything, both inside as well as outside as Brahman. Otherwise there is a defect. Now this incident raised a lot of controversy in our Pramakrishna order.

Either very obviously or invisibly. How can a man who had attained to Nirvikalpa Samadhi has to go again through this painful experience? Did he actually experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi or was it less? Why he had to learn a new lesson? You know for us Nirvikalpa Samadhi means it is the highest, it is the very end. And yet such a person, why should he go through this experience? Most of us either we keep quiet, we say we don't understand about these things or in any case it is useless discussion.

It is a divine mystery. But this book provides the answer. There are six types of Samadhis one has to practise, go through.

Six types of Samadhis. Savikalpa Samadhi and Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Savikalpa Samadhi is again of three types.

And Nirvikalpa Samadhi is again of three types. So three types of inner Samadhi, three types of external Samadhi. And this has been recommended by this teacher.

Until I read this book, I could not understand Totapuri's behaviour frankly. But when I read this book, I knew why he insisted that Nirvikalpa Samadhi is of two types, both inner as well as outer. And he did not practise the outer Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

His inner Nirvikalpa Samadhi was fine. When he closed his eyes, he could see everything as Brahma. But when he opened his eyes, it appeared to be Nithya.

And of course, he had advanced so far. So the Divine Mother also had made him go through that experience. And then his realisation was complete.

So this is a book which is very, very terse, short, brief, and yet contains the most wonderful exposition. So viveka, what is viveka? Usually we translate it as discrimination. What is the discrimination? Intellectual gymnastics.

I know this is better and this is inferior, this is superior. So that is not a very good translation. Viveka, I would prefer to say an attitude of mind.

Everything depends upon our attitude. Attitude determines how we interpret things. And how we interpret things is our reality.

So viveka is not merely a discrimination, but to develop that faculty of mind which develops that particular attitude and interpretation. What do you mean by attitude? Let us take an example. Ramakrishna's attitude towards women.

What was his attitude? Divine Mother. So he interpreted everything only in that light. Everything is Divine Mother.

So suppose a woman comes and criticises him. What would be his attitude towards that event? Divine Mother is teaching me some lesson. She is playing with me.

She wants me to learn. Whether it is a good event, bad event, everything. That is why in the Chandi you get both the positive and negative expressions of the Divine Mother.

Adhini sarva-bhuteshth brahante roopena samsthita, nidra roopena samsthita, kshudha roopena samsthita, as well as matra roopena samsthita, daya roopena samsthita, kanti roopena samsthita, kshanti roopena samsthita, shanti roopena samsthita. Both. Why? Because both qualities stem from whom? From the Divine Mother.

That is why the Lord in the Gita also tells, whatever attitudes are there, bhavas are there, they have all originated from Me only. Good and bad. That's why, I think, I don't know whether we did it in the 11th chapter, in that it is said, He not only destroyed the Kauravas, He also destroyed the Pandavas.

Practically the whole army was destroyed. Only a few people, Panch Pandavas and perhaps one or two people remained. All the rest were completely dead.

So in Leela, you cannot discriminate in Leela, this is good and this is evil. Because if it is Leela, good also is Leela, evil also is Leela. If it is real, then good is desirable, evil is undesirable.

But if it is Leela, then Leela Pushayana. Jagai Mathai. Leela Pushayana, the Divine Drama, will not be very enjoyable if supposing there is no villain.

Who will watch such a movie? Imagine a movie without villain. So for a drama, it is alright. This Divine Drama also, that is necessary.

If we look at our stage of life, we don't want the villain. Villain means villain stands for anything unpleasant. But how do we improve? What is it that contributes for our progress? Is it good? If it is good, if it is happy, we are stuck like doormats.

This is the simple fact. But if it is contrast, in fact, Vasha Swadhana or drama, what is the most important element in the drama? Contrast. If everything is comedy, then people will not enjoy it.

Comedy is enjoyable only when there is a tragedy. This is the simple truth. So, this book, the name is like Viveka Chudamani.

Viveka means discrimination. Now, any book must be practically useful for us. So, this is a very terse, very tough, very short, but full of meaning, and yet it should be very, very practical, helpful, profitable.

And really it is profitable because from one point of view, we are all emotional creatures. This is a very good antidote for emotion. After trying to study this book, you cannot afford to be that emotional.

And it needs a lot of intellect to discriminate. So, let me first give a small introduction. Vedantic scriptures fall into three categories, as you know.

They are called Prasthana Traya, the foundational scriptures. Traya means triad, three. What are they? Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, and Bhagavad Gita.

And all the scriptures are divided into these three categories. Shruti, Smriti, and Purana. So, the Upanishads fall under the category of Shruti Prasthana.

That is to say, pure Shruti. What is Shruti? The literal meaning of the word Shruti means that which is heard. It is interpreted in two ways.

Because the Rishis have heard directly. What do you mean by heard? Do not mistake it that some words came into their ears. Intuitive discovery is called Shruti.

Because if you hear, that is purely a physical thing. This is the point. It could be a vision.

It could be something which people feel they heard. Or it could be some other type of experience. But then why is it said to be heard? When we have some feeling intuitively, somewhere it has got to be expressed.

And that expression can only be possible through saying it. You see, if you have some experience, and you just go on looking at the person, the other person will never understand it. We all have a tendency, whatever emotion, thought, knowledge, feeling we have, to vocalise in the mind.

You can never, never keep a thought as a thought. Either you hear it, or you see it, or you smell it, or you touch it, or you taste it. So, of all these things, the most important organ is the organ of hearing.

So here, the meaning of the Shruti is intuitive understanding, not hearing something. The second meaning is, it is also called a Shruti, because it has been transmitted from a competent teacher to a competent disciple. Otherwise, it won't be Shruti.

Because if you say something, and if the other person doesn't understand, then it cannot be called Shruti. Shruti means both sides, the person who is saying, and the person who is listening. That conveying of the knowledge, that is what is called Shruti.

That is why it is called Shruti. So the Guru had transmitted this knowledge through the mouth, from the mouth to the ears, and from the mouth of the disciple to the ear of his disciple, that is why it is called Shruti. Now, why is it called Shruti, when we have the development of language? It could be written.

When you read a book, do you hear it, or do you just read it? It is possible only to hear it. Either physically we vocalise, or mentally we vocalise. There is no other way, because this is the best way of conveying Shruti.

Now, some things, in fact, any type of knowledge, it applies to any type of knowledge. Even the most ordinary type of truth, if you want to convey to somebody, it can be only conveyed to a person who has the capacity to understand it. Anything, even the most ordinary thing, because knowledge cannot be passed to an unfit recipient.

So the word Shruti has these two meanings. The person who had intuitively discovered the truth, uncovered the truth. He did not invent it.

Nobody can invent anything. It is not possible, because it is already there. So that is why in the Advaita Vedanta, one of the important questions that comes is about creation.

What do you mean by creation? Did God create? What is your understanding of the word creation? Creation means destroying the obstacles. Creation means destroying the obstacles. In the Patanjali Yoga Sutra, you have got Kshetrika Vata.

There is a river and there is a field. The field needs water. So what does the cultivator do? He removes the obstruction between the river and the field.

He doesn't create water. Water is already there. The field also is already there.

But he digs it. Digging means what? Removing the obstruction. So as soon as the obstruction is removed, automatically, naturally, water flows.

That is the meaning of creation. So this whole universe is a creation of God. So what did God do? He removed the obstructions.

Therefore, he himself has become. An example, a sculptor. You give a piece of stone to a sculptor.

He makes a beautiful image of Krishna. What did he do? Did he invent Krishna? He merely chiselled away non-Krishna. And what remains is Krishna.

This is our definition of creation. Maharaj, creation is using his maya to create this illusion. So it's almost like superimposing.

So how is he removing the obstacles? You can put it in this way. He put obstacles. Exactly.

That's what exactly a sculptor does. He covers what is not Krishna. And what you see is Krishna.

Do you see? If it is a block of stone, then you cannot see Krishna there. So what he does, he puts obstacles on your eyes so that you could see only Krishna. So you don't see all the non-Krishna you don't see.

Only you see the Krishna. The point is that the substance is there. Nothing new is brought out.

It is a matter of what do you want to see. So creation is what do you want to see. You have to understand this clearly.

If you see God through your eyes, you say, I want to see God through my eyes. What will you see? What do you see? Forms. You want to experience God through the ears.

What do you experience? Sounds. Do you see? Suppose there is a blind man and he cannot see colours. The function of eyes is only to see the colours, nothing else.

All forms can be experienced through other means, including through the ears. Forms can be seen or experienced through the ears. That's what a whale does it.

Or dolphin does it. What does it do? It sends... What is that near the airport? Radar. What does it do? So what do you see on the screen? An aeroplane.

See, it is not sending a camera. It is sending the sound. And what you receive, what you see is? Nobody ever told you this.

So if you want to see me, close your eyes, open them. Send your radar signal. So the point is how we want to experience God.

That is the Vedantic concept of our God. Because we have a desire. Actually that is what we do in day-to-day life.

If I deviate like this, the class will go on forever. But the point is very important. A person, one person meets another object.

Already he has decided, this is how I want to see this object. So that is how some people like some things, and that is how some people do not like some things. It is predetermined.

Yes, it is predetermined, depending upon maybe past experiences. You see, nothing called completely new judgemental experience. Say, somebody brings you some sweet.

How do different people experience that sweet? It all depends upon what previous concepts. Though we are not vocalising these things. I would like to see this as wonderful.

I would like to see this. Suppose you like Mysore Pak. Then when Mysore Pak comes, you look at it not as it is, but as you would like to look at it.

You see the point? Another person who does not like Mysore Pak at all, then how does he look? You know, I am elaborating because you can make your own examples. Suppose a Bengali who does not like idli and chutney. If idli is brought, chutney, first-class idli, first-class chutney, imagine, very nice, is brought.

Suppose there is a South Indian who loves idli and chutney. Why both of them react in two different ways? Is it because of the object? No. For the first time, they have already come with their pre-concepts.

I like this, I like that. Similarly, I extend this example. A man meets a woman.

So how does he look at the woman? Already he has certain concepts. My dream girl should be like this. So if she resembles, then he likes.

Yes, he slots. Even if she is beautiful, even if she is not beautiful, she can look as beautiful because she fits into his concept. Even if she is beautiful, if she doesn't fit into her concept, he will never like it.

What is my point? We are never judging an object. As it is, we are always judging an object from our pre-concepts. And even we are judging the same object after experience also, exactly in the same way.

We have already formed opinions about each one of us. You may not express it. Politically it is incorrect to express it.

But our likes, our dislikes, all these things depend completely on how slavish we are. So the same thing, it is useful because already there is a mould, there is a pattern. If we can make that pattern, what is called Vedantic pattern.

Did I tell you? I invented a new word for that. If you want to see very small things, how do you see? If you want to see things at a long scope, so if you want to see God, Vedanta scope. You must have Vedanta.

If you don't have Vedanta scope, you will never see things in a Vedantic way. Vedanta scope? So put on this, what is Drigya Dushya Viveka, put on the Vedanta scope and you will see everything is likeable. Why? Because Vedanta scope shows you everything as Brahman.

Unless we put that one, any other scope, it will be microscope or telescope or whatever scope distorts things. This is the simple truth. So Vedanta scope, that is called Viveka.

What is Viveka? Putting on Vedanta scope. So, as I was mentioning, there are three types of foundational scriptures, Shruti. Then the next is, a person didn't have any direct experience, but he heard the direct experience from the person directly or indirectly and he has complete faith in it.

Depending upon that faith, he expresses his experiences. Mind you, it is all indirect experience. You write a poem, you make a sculpture, or you write a drama, you write a bhajan.

He has not realised it, but he had 100% faith in it. So whatever scriptures have come, having 100% faith in the Shrutis, not deviating one millimetre from the Shrutis, but to express it for two reasons, for one's own enjoyment and also in course of time to help other people. See, I am talking false under Smriti, because I am telling what I have understood in my own way, so that you can also understand it in a way of speaking.

As I said, you can only understand if you are ready for that. So these are called Smriti. Smriti Prasthana, Bhagavad Gita is called Smriti Prasthana.

And there are people who want to understand things in a completely non-controversial way, through logic, through reason. This is called Nyaya Prasthana. Brahma Sutras is a work where Vyasa himself, mind you, he was not the discoverer of Vedas.

He was only a compiler of the Vedas. Whatever Vedas were existing already, he had collected them, divided them, classified them, edited them. Editing means not deleting.

No, editing means deleting. You take many of my photographs and then edit them. Remove.

Whatever Swami you don't like, whichever Swami, Rayatmananda you don't like, you delete them. He never deleted anything, but he classified them and conveyed that to others for convenience. Classification is an easier way of understanding complicated things.

That is the simple way of putting it. But different Rishis have intuited, expressed their experience through different words and those words have created controversies. So is it a really controversial thing or the words used have different meanings? They all mean the same thing but use different words.

So Vyasa himself brought out a number of such apparently seemingly contradictory statements and in the end proves that they are all having one meaning only. So Ekibhava or the entire Shrutis have got only one purport and that purport is the word that. Everything else must support that statement in whichever way the words are expressed or used.

Such a work is called Brahma Sutras. Now this Brahma Sutras, it emphasises logic or rationality, reasoning, how to understand logically because intuitively if you are understanding, there is no need for logic. But when you are incapable of understanding intuitively, you need logic to understand it correctly.

This is called Nyaya Prasthana. Now on all these three books, hundreds of commentaries have been written leading to contradictory schools of philosophy, views and that created further confusion. So the great teachers out of their compassion, all of them invariably have composed certain shorter works called Prakarana Granthas.

For example Vivekachudamani, Atmabodha, Vakya Vritti, Drigdhrishya Viveka and so many other things are there. Upadesa Sahasra etc. I am quoting because these are all Shankaracharya's works but of course Drigdhrishya Viveka is not Shankaracharya's work.

Some people consider it but most of them, they consider it is not his work. Now among these Prakarana Granthas, there are two types. One type is generally it treats the entire Vedanta subject in a very brief manner.

Example is Vivekachudamani, Upadesa Sahasra etc. But there are certain types of Prakarana Granthas which treat a particular subject elaborately. For example, some treat Tvam Padartha elaborately, some treat Tat Padartha elaborately, some treat Asi Padartha elaborately.

Now Vivekachudamani falls under that category which treats the entire Vedanta in a brief manner. But this Drigdhrishya Viveka for example treats Tvam Padartha more importantly than Tat Padartha or Asi Padartha. Tvam, importance is, emphasis is on Tvam.

See Tat, Tvam, Asi. Some treat all the three equally but this particular one treats Tvam Padartha. Its emphasis, so it is very useful.

Now every Prakarana Grantha, it avoids controversies completely. That is to say, it is meant for general public, it is meant easy of comprehension, though some of them make it so tough that you need hundreds of commentaries for it. They go on saying, for the easy understanding of people, by the grace of God I am starting this book.

And by that time they finish. We need the help of God. If Shankara didn't write it, who wrote this? Who? I will come to that.

I am coming to that. So this particular Prakarana Grantha is very short in a way. It contains only I think 45 or 46 shlokas.

And as I said, it treats Tvam Padartha and it also is very practical. Every Prakarana Grantha must be very practical. Not only it states this is the goal, but it also elaborates how one can reach that goal.

Every such book must treat three things. Tattva, Kurushartha and Hita. Tattva means what is the reality, what is the truth, what is the meaning of human life.

Kurushartha means why human beings should take to that goal. Be very conscious, very clear and make effort to reach it. Hita means how to reach.

So this is the goal and this is the reason why you should reach this goal and how to reach that goal. Tattva, Kurushartha and Hita. So every book treats it in that way.

So to make this point, what is called the teachers of these books, they have made very clear two points. One is called Anubandha Chatursthaya. Another is called Sadhana Chatursthaya.

What is the difference between Anubandha Chatursthaya and Sadhana Chatursthaya? So Anubandha Chatursthaya is meant for people, what is the subject matter and what is the connection with this book and what is the purpose, what is it that you want to achieve and who is fit, Adhikari, who is an Adhikari. And if he is an Adhikari, then what qualifications he should develop falls under Sadhana Chatursthaya Sampati. So in brief, these four plus four are common for all spiritual aspirants.

It is common for all scriptures, whether it is Christianity, Buddhism or anything, specifically what is it. So what is Anubandha Chatursthaya? First of all, what is the prayojana? Prayojana means why do you want to read this book? Not only reading, why do you want to sit at the feet of a teacher and why do you want to listen to him? So prayojana, that is the first thing that we have to sit before doing anything else. What is the prayojana, what do you want? Be very clear about what do you want.

Here in this case, there is only one goal. Trapatraya avidhata muktihi, liberation from threefold misery. Now miseries are of two types.

Misery is of two types. That is present experienced misery and future coming misery. So sometimes we may not be experiencing misery now.

If we are experiencing misery now, then we want to be free from it. Most of us fall under this category. But there are some more intelligent people and they want to be free not only from the present misery but also a misery which has not even made its appearance but which is sure to make its appearance later on.

Because that is the nature of the world. World means jagat. Jagat means that which is changing.

So today if I am not undergoing misery, soon it will change. This is the truth. If we don't understand it, through painful experience we will be made to understand it.

So what is the purpose? To get rid of misery. What is the way to get rid of misery? It will come later on. But if we are free from misery, then what is it that we are going to attain? A state which is free from misery.

But there could be a misunderstanding. There is a stone. So somebody is beating the stone.

So the stone, assuming it can tell that please do not beat me, somebody goes and stops. Thereafter what does it remain? How does it remain? A stone only. That is not the state we want.

What we want is complete happiness. Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Now it is very interesting.

So Sachidananda is usually the word we use. Sat, Chit and Ananda. Asti, Bhati and Priyam is another expression.

Here Chandogya Upanishad says Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam. So Satyam and Gnanam, Sat and Chit, Asti and Bhati, exactly the same. But Anandam, instead of Anandam we use the word Anantam.

That is the more appropriate word. Why? Because what is Anandam? Usually we mistranslate it as happiness. But here bliss means Anantam.

Anantam means it is eternal. Eternal state is happiness. So that is the state we want to attain.

This is the Prayojana. Then what is the Sambandha, Vishaya? What is the Vishaya? My purpose is to attain to God. This book is teaching about chemistry.

What is the connection between chemistry and my goal? There is no relationship. So this book must have that subject matter which deals exclusively with spirituality. That is the Vishaya.

Vishaya means subject matter. So Sambandha, this is the Sambandha. This book teaches spirituality.

My purpose is spirituality, how to become spiritual. So this book takes me, helps me in being spiritual. That is the Sambandha, relationship.

Otherwise people can mistake and they want to meditate and they go on watching movies. What is the relationship between these two? There is no relationship. There should be a definite relationship between our Prayojana and Vishaya and Sambandha.

Even if all these three are wonderful, then who is the Adhikari? Adhikari is one who sincerely wishes to have that Prayojana. So what is the relationship? Prayojana is God, attaining God. And billions of human beings, they are not Adhikaris in that respect.

Means they are not interested in God. So they must be interested in God. These are called Anubandha Chatustaya, very preliminary relationships.

Is it clear? Whenever you have any problem, stop me and make it clear. Even if you take time, it doesn't matter. Now, Adhikari is the most important person.

So I have a desire, just like a medical student has a desire to study medicine and become a doctor. But he may have desire, but whether he is qualified. Desire is different, qualification is different.

So supposing there is a person who is blind, person who is lame, person who is unintelligent. He may have desire, in fact we all have desires. Only thing is we don't have qualifications.

This is the truth. If somebody says you just become the President of United States, no objection. Whether you have the qualification, we don't have even the negative qualification.

Not only the positive qualification, we don't have even the negative qualification. What is the negative qualification? The positive qualification is you must have the knowledge, you must have the policy, you must have firm determination and all that. What is the negative quality? There are arrows directed towards President Obama.

Why 100,000 police, CID, FBI try to protect him? Because if he just walks, how many minutes is he going to survive? But still he knows it, that my life is kaput. He knows it, but he has that courage. Inside he may be, everybody is afraid, nobody wants, but some people have that courage.

This is a risk I have to take. And they take. You may have the positive qualities, do you have the negative quality also? All qualities must be there.

So desire is wonderful, but once you have desire, that is the first step. What is the second step? You must acquire four qualifications. This is called Sadhana, Chitustaya Sampat.

What are these Sadhana, Chitustaya Sampat? Viveka. Then next is Vairagya. Third is Samadhamadi, Shat Sampat.

The last is intense desire, and that is a very important point we have to briefly discuss. We all have desire. What is the intensity of that desire? Do we have 100% desire, 50% desire, 10% desire, or 1% desire? See, that is very necessary.

So you know Sadhana, Chitustaya Sampat. That is most important. These two are common for the study of any scripture.

Any scripture. Not only spiritual scripture, but any scripture. Whether you want to be a chemist, want to be IT, want to be even a cook.

Even a cook must have these four qualities. Otherwise he will be cooking. He also cooks.

But whether people will be happy with his cooking or not, that is a different issue. So this is one of those beautiful books. So first briefly about the authorship.

A few people believe it has been written by Shankaracharya, and that is not supported by the issues. Some people, a few more people claim it has been written by Swami Vidyaranya. But most people believe it was Bharati Tirtha, one of the Shankaracharyas of the Sringeri Peetha, who was also supposed to be the guru of Vidyaranya Swami himself.

So most people believe. For our study, it is not really necessary who has written it. Whether it is a wonderful book, there is no controversy about it.

It is a most marvellous book. And it is very specialised. Even Vivekachudaman doesn't give certain points which he gives here.

Of that, the second part of it is the six types of Samadhi and meditation, which we will come to later on. And as I said, it is very short. Now about the title.

Drik Drishya Viveka. As I said, any scripture must be very practical, very useful in our day-to-day life. So this Drik Drishya Viveka need not be interpreted only in the highest spiritual sense of the real and unreal.

It can also be used in our day-to-day life. So what is Drik? Experiencer. What is Drishya? Whatever is experienced.

What is Viveka? The correct, right way of establishing relationship between these two. Now let me give you a small example. Suppose one day morning you want to go to office and you want to have breakfast and go to the office.

And for some reason, imagine, the breakfast has not turned out to be good. But you need to have breakfast. What type of attitude do you have towards that? So if you have the right attitude, then you will have no problem.

Okay, all that I need is some breakfast. It may not be tasty, but it is substantial. It is very good for my health.

And let me have it and go. If you have that type of attitude, then your day will start in a nice manner. It is just as an example.

Or you may be having some talk with somebody and it may not be very pleasant to talk. Should it ruin your whole life, whole day's life? So it depends, you know, we are ruining. Oh, whose face did I see early in the morning? Most often we see our own faces.

That's why Birbal and Akbar's story, you remember? Wonderful story. Did I not tell you? I think I told, but maybe. You know, one day Akbar, his sleep was broken in the morning.

It was summer, fresh. So it was still dark. So he said, I can't sleep now, let me have a walk in the garden.

So he went out and an old servant who was working in the garden for 40 years, more than 40 years, he was sweeping and clearing the garden. So that was the first face Akbar looked at. And then as he was walking, he stumbled, fell down and injured.

So immediately he remembered. The first face I saw was this gardener's. Chop off his head, he gave this advice.

Fortunately, the old man heard it, ran to Birbal and saved me. And Birbal, he said, don't worry, I will save you. Meanwhile, they were all searching.

So about 9.30, 10 o'clock, Akbar still fuming and he opened his Darbar. So Birbal enters with this old man. And Akbar became furious.

You are protecting this fellow? I wanted to chop off his head. Why did you do it? He said, before you decide to do anything, let us have a conversation. So why do you want to chop off his head? He said, first thing I saw is this fellow's face.

And then immediately I fell down, I got injured. Then what did you do? I ordered his head to be chopped off. What have you got to say? Akbar asked.

I said, this much only. He claimed, yours is the first face he saw. Now whose face is bad? Laughter Of course Akbar had no option but to help.

So, most often we see our own faces. But this attitude, how to take everything, every experience in our strength. That is where the Drishya is not in our control.

But Drik, we have a lot of control. We don't have control over the event, but we have a control. We can determine how we can view a thing in a better way.

This is called Vedanta scope. This is called Vedanta. How to see if it is a devotee? He says, whatever good or bad happens is God's will.

If it is a devotee. If he is a Karma Yogi, he says, whatever happens is the result of my own actions. If it is a Dhani, he says, it is my own doing.

He says, after all you know I am Brahman. So if something happens, whom else can you blame? Only one can blame oneself. So this is very important for us.

Why we can't be happier? Now this is a very important subject again. As we are now, we can be a million times happier than we are. With the present circumstances.

Imagine people in Africa, children. If in your childhood you were like that. Imagine children in South America.

I heard every day many, many children are killed, stabbed, raped and thrown in the gutters in South America. If we had been under those circumstances, and then if magically somebody transports us into this present situation, we would consider we are in heaven. We are already in heaven.

So many things which we are taking for granted every minute of our life. This is just like a super dream for so many millions of people in the world. And yet how unfortunate we are.

Our happiness or unhappiness is no better than their happiness or unhappiness. Most marvellous thing is this Maya. You know, one important factor is that our happiness doesn't depend upon what things we are getting, but how we take those things, interpret those things.

One simple example, Swami Bhajananandji gives. You know, a peasant sitting for his rough breakfast, maybe on a ragi roti, chapati made out of millet. And another person sitting in a seven-star hotel with caviar and other things.

Just imagine these two situations. A peasant, he is ravenously hungry. This fellow has to take a lot of appetisers before he can even swallow this.

Most of the time he is only swallowing. Even if both of them are hungry, is there any difference in the quantum of happiness this person gets and that person gets? So long as it is an experience of the mouth, it is exactly the same. So any experience we have of our five sense organs, it makes no difference whether it is a villager who is seeing an ordinary sight, whether a city person is exotically seeing, or whether President Obama is having.

I heard that some of these fellows, they have only this muslin breakfast. What difference is there if you are sitting in the White House and having muslin breakfast? Muslin or what do you call it? Cereal. And you are also sitting here and having first-class roti.

Whose happiness is better? Mine. So the point is, whatever experience we are having through the five sense organs, objectively it makes no difference. But if a saint is eating something, his happiness is inexpressible because he is eating prasadam.

If a happy person, a positive person is experiencing, his happiness is marvellous. But if a person is grumbling, grumpy and temperamental, short-tempered, worried and depressed person, he may be having, this is the point. It makes no difference, and worse.

So it doesn't make what we are experiencing. Everything depends upon who is experiencing it. It's very practical.

So we can be much happier people, but some of you are grumbling, oh I didn't get promotion, I could have done with some raise. And all those things. But imagine, millions of people who do not have any employment, who are not only suffering because of lack of money, but more importantly, they don't know how to spend their time properly.

They have experience, they have knowledge, but they don't have the opportunity to express themselves. How fortunate we are in so many ways. So that is where even Dhritarashtra Viveka can be of absolute importance.

But as I said, let us first analyse. Viveka means, what was the definition I gave? The highest type of attitude we can bring to any one of our experiences. And what is Drik? A seer, who is seeing or experiencing.

And what is Drishya? Whatever is experienced. Now what is important here? If there is Drik and Drishya. Let me give you a small example.

I am here, this sofa is here. I am the Drik. Now here Drik means, the literal translation is, a person who is seeing.

Now seeing doesn't mean related only to the eyes. Seeing means experiencing through any one of our sense organs, including the mind. Because mind interprets or interrupts, intermediate to its stance, and it imposes its own way of experiencing things.

The same thing. If I have a cataract, I have one way of looking at it. If I have short of hearing, it creates another type of... You know that, Mary? Hi, Mary, I love you.

You know, an old couple were sitting. Old man was reading and the old lady was sewing. Suddenly the man took into his head to express something.

So he shouted, Mary, I love you. She was very deaf. So she said, what? So went near, shouted louder, Mary, I love you.

He said, what? He went very near and shouted in her ear, Mary, I love you. She said, that is alright, I also don't love you. So what is the point here? When I am seeing, as an example, this book or this sofa.

This sofa is called Drishya. That is an experience. I am called the experiencer.

Now in these two, who is most important? Because the Drishya has no consciousness. And therefore it doesn't even know, let alone it doesn't know it is a Drik, it doesn't even know it is the Drishya. The Drik alone has complete control.

Without Drishya, Drik can remain. Without Drik, Drishya can never remain. So Drik is in charge of everything, the most important thing.

This is the first point. The second point is, there could be billions and billions of Drishyas. But how many Driks? Only one.

What it means is, when I say that this is the world, the whole world falls into the category of Drishya. And I, the conscious, intelligent experiencer alone is only one. We can understand this with regard to the whole universe.

But we cannot, and non-living things. But when it comes to living things, we have a confusion. What is the confusion? Say, I am seeing all of you sitting here.

But I am seeing this sofa, this carpet, this book, these windows. So I know, I am this ear, they are this ear. But when it comes to you, I am seeing you and you are also seeing me.

That confusion comes. So we have to be very clear that all of you also fall under that Drishya category only. Why? So only one criteria.

What is that criteria? Because, so you may be there, you may not be there. Even if you are not there, I am there. But if I am not there, you are not there at all.

Everything depends upon me. That means how I interpret you. So that is why Viveka, Drik Drishya is fine.

But Viveka, a special type of scope makes all the difference in my experience. So the next point we have to understand is, here is Drik, and if there is nothing else, no scope is necessary. Here is Drishya, there is no Drik.

No scope is not even thought, not necessary. It is not at all to be thought of. But when there is a Drik and a Drishya, then there must be some kind of scope.

So if it is microscope vision, then you will see even the smallest of the faults. If it is telescope, you will magnify even the smallest scope, blow it up into the biggest. So that will make a lot of difference, not to you, not to the Drishya.

You see, this is an important point. When I am looking in a particular way, it will never affect you, or I don't know how it will affect you. But it is going to affect me.

For my own good, I must have a right type of scope, understanding. That is where viveka is necessary. Viveka means the right type of developing a view, an attitude, an understanding.

Now what is the right type of understanding? When we say understanding, we have two views. When we say understanding, we have got two views. What is the view? One view is called misunderstanding.

Another is called right understanding. What is misunderstanding? Even though there is some nature of the Drishya, but I do not understand. It is my subjective understanding of the Drishya.

Poison, I consider poison as nectar. I can consider nectar as poison. It has nothing to do with the object.

It has everything to do with the subject only. It is my understanding. That is called misunderstanding.

What is right understanding? To know an object as it is, and not as I understand it, interpret it, experience it. Now the whole subject matter of Vedanta is that what you consider as an object, first of all, is not an object. It is nothing but subject.

Second, what you consider the object. Your object means you are making an unnecessary division. I am the subject and you are the object.

The undivided Akhanda is being made into Khanda. Subject, object, that is why it is called Maya. Thirdly, even if I divide it, if I can understand its true value, its true nature, then it would help me a lot.

But to understand it, it is completely different. This is the classical example. What is the classical example? There is a rope and here is me.

And if I see it as a snake, it is a wrong understanding on my part. But if I understand it as a rope, then at least I will be free from misery. But if I understand that rope as nothing but my own self or as God, then my... You see, three types of experiences.

Experiencing a rope as a snake produces only misery. Experiencing the rope as a rope may not produce happiness, but at least doesn't produce misery. But experiencing the rope as none other than Brahman, it produces Ananta Sukha, because seeing God.

So this is the Prayojana of this Viveka Buddhi. So, Drik and Drishya. How many Drishyas? It could be any number.

And how many Driks? Only one Drik. Now there is further point to be understood. Is there really a Drishya or is it because the Drik is himself looking into his own mirror and creating a lot of Drishyas? Is there a Drishya at all? Example given is, when you are dreaming, how many Drishyas are there? Is there any such Drishya? Who is creating it? We are creating it.

But at that time, if we are having this Drishya Viveka class, and if I happen to say that all this Drishya is completely your own stupid creation, would you believe it? Believe me. You will never believe it. You see, if we say that Ketankar and Nandini Banerjee, they are all what is called phantoms in the brain.

Phantoms in the brain. Would they believe it? They will say, ulta, you are having phantoms in your brain. But when you wake up, you will see all the Drishyas that he has seen.

Only your own imagination. That is the important point these scriptures are making. Vivekachudamani or Upanishads or everything.

Because if Brahman is one, where from the Drishya has come? Drik and Drishya has come. So, the first thing is not to misinterpret any Drishya. The second is to recognise a Drishya as it is.

And the last impediment is to understand a Drishya is none other than Drik only. So, this Drishya is divided into three categories. Jagrad Avastha, Swapna Avastha and Sushukti Avastha.

That is why Pituri Avastha or Drik, this year, he is imparting reality. That is a very important point at this stage we have to understand. Now, this is the waking state.

We call it waking state. So, is the waking state a reality or am I imparting reality to it? See, you are looking at me and you are experiencing me, is it not? Suppose you happen to doze off, what would be my fate as far as you are concerned? Kaput. Is it not? As far as you are concerned, the whole Drishyatra panchayat is gone.

Swami also, he is the first person to go. You know why? Because he was the person to cause it. One priest was giving a sermon.

So, an old woman came and sat with her grandson. And very soon, the old woman started snoring. So, the priest got annoyed for two reasons.

One reason is, she is sitting in the front row. Second reason is, he wants to be heard. But the old woman snored.

It was bigger than the fellow's sermon. Third is, you know, it is an insult. Even if you don't listen, you pretend to listen, he can tolerate it.

But frankly, she is going to sleep like that. So, he called her grandson, you, wake up your grandma. He said, no way.

You put her to sleep. You wake her up. It is your responsibility.

So, jagra davastha is our creation. How do we know? Because the moment we withdraw, giving reality to the jagra davastha. That means, by going to the swapna avastha, you have withdrawn that authority to make it real.

You are the real. A simple illustration to make this point clear. Imagine three rooms.

Completely in pitch darkness. There are many things. But if you look at any of the rooms, what do you see? Nothing.

But you take a torch and you put it in. You will see many things in that room. The moment you go to the next room, the first room remains pitch dark.

There may be things. That is not the point. Nobody can see them.

And if you come to the third room, the other two rooms become completely dark. What is the point? I am trying to make... The person who is carrying the torchlight, he alone makes those rooms come out alive, real, useful. Without that torchlight, the rooms themselves are completely dark, useless.

This is an example. So, when we go to the swapna avastha, both sushupti and jagrat avastha become unreal. Unreal means they do not even exist.

When we are in the jagrat avastha, the other two do not exist. When we are in the deep sleep, those other two do not exist. That means, what is the conclusion? We are giving reality to each one of those states.

And that means, those three states are the drishya, and we are the drig. Now, which of these three states are real? All of them are completely unreal, until I decide to give reality to them. Anything that I experience, I am giving reality to that object.

This is the simplest truth. Do you see? So, what is the practical result of this? Our happiness or unhappiness depends totally on ourselves. Is it a fiction? Is it brainwashing? Or is it a reality? What I am saying is true.

That's why, if a worldly person looks at the world, he gets one type of experience. If a scientist looks at the same world, he gets a totally different experience. If a saint looks at the same world, he experiences a completely totally different experience.

And depending upon what way we look, how much reality we give to these states, my happiness totally depends upon that viewpoint. So, how wonderful it is! If I want to be happy, what are we doing now? We are saying that you be real and let me experience it. What is this book saying? That you are unreal, let me experience it.

So, how is it? The example given again in Dakshinamurthy's Totra. Vishwam, Darpana, Drishyamana, Nagari, Tuliya. After bathing, whenever you go and sit in front of the mirror, who gives reality to that image? You know, you put Bhuttu, you will see Bhuttu.

You put something here like this, you see something there. The mirror, just it reflects. But if I don't smile, it will not smile.

You see? If I smile, then it smiles. Whatever I do, I give reality to that image. But I go on looking, this is looking very bad.

So, what should you do? Give a slap. Where? Not to the mirror, to oneself. Because the poor mirror, it is only reflecting what I am.

This example is a very good example. The whole world is nothing but a mirror. And how I decorate myself, how I appear myself, that's very important.

So, this is the practical usefulness of Drik Drishya Vijayaka. Do not think it is an Advaithic work. All these kinds of Advaithic works have got only one purpose.

How to make our life very useful and practical. Not only in spiritual field, but in every field. In every field.

Does it say so? Specifically, yes. It says, you know, Sadhana Chaitra Shastra Sampatthi. What does it say? If your health is bad, then your mood will be bad.

If your mood is bad, then your understanding will be incomplete. If your understanding is incomplete, your attitude will be wrong. If your attitude is wrong, then your interaction will be wrong.

If your interaction is wrong, your Sukha Dukha depends upon your interaction. All these follow step by step. So then, mind is another instrument.

So, body is like a mirror. Mind also is like a mirror. Instruments.

So, the more fit you make the instruments, even making the instrument fit, itself gives tremendous happiness. Let me give you an illustration. Supposing, you have a bicycle or a car.

It meets on their varieties, you know, from the less expensive bikes to very, very expensive bikes. On iPod, do you know how much it has gone on the internet? eBay? Seven million dollars. What? iPod.

Why? Who owned it? Somebody. I don't know who owned it. But that is the news.

So, what is seven million? The iPod inside is exactly the same. But the outside is covered with 24 karat gold and very precious diamonds and all those things. The buttons and all those things is, you know, like mirror.

Ambani's house mirror, have you ever seen? Don't go and see it. Because even if Ambani's mirror also, you will appear in that mirror. Outside is covered with lot of gold, diamonds, buttons, the handles and all those things will be there.

So, you see, what is the point? It's a mirror. It's a very good example. So, our body, every instrument is a mirror.

Imagine, you have an ordinary bike or ordinary car. And if it is made, what is called, MOT fit, everything, the pressure, tyre pressure, everything is fine. To that extent, your travel will be comfortable.

So, this is an example. But suppose you buy a very high, costly car with more luxury. It can run speedily.

It has more controls, more gadgets, etc. Then it might increase your comfort a little more. But so far as that can give it, I am not talking about the mind.

So far that instrument is defective, then it will make you immediately uncomfortable. That is, every external object is like that instrument. But the person who is inside, he has another instrument.

What is it? The mind. So, if the mind is also made normally healthy, then it will at least avoid misery, even if it doesn't give. One example given is, to understand properly, suppose you work very hard and you get very hungry.

Then you can enjoy even ordinary food also very nicely. In that way, if your mind is not very highly developed, but it doesn't have these negative things, like worrying and misinterpreting, finding faults, etc. You may not get higher happiness, but you won't get at least misery.

And you know how much happiness we can get. You can imagine through your experience. One day, your normal day, suppose you are working in an office, and suppose you have what is called a bad boss and bad colleagues.

Every day they are trying to make your life very hard. Imagine. Imagine, one day, all of them worked very normally.

They have not praised you, but they have also not unnecessarily created any problem. That day, how much enjoy happiness you experience. See, that much happiness we can experience, if our mind is made to work normally.

But if you want extra happiness, then you must make it go higher and higher way of looking at things. So both body and mind, how to make them fit? And that is in a way the very first step. Yama and Niyama, Asana, Pranayama.

Until this. And even Pratyahara. You can say even Pratyahara.

You can say even Dharana. Until that. So that is why Sadhana Chaitustraya is very, very important, not only for spiritual progress, but even to enjoy life, normal life, properly.

It is very important. So with this very brief introduction... Let us... So the first few shlokas, five shlokas, the first thing what it does is, that there are three Seers. There are three Seers, three Bricks.

And there are how many Brishyams? Brishyams? One absolute Brick, one absolute Brishyam, and two combination of both Brick and Brishyam. Three Seers. It will be clear when we... I will briefly tell about it.

Three types of Seers. Yes. Out of these, one Seer is an absolute Seer, one seen Brishyam is absolute Brishyam, but two in between are both Seers and also seen.

Now, before you make further notes, let me briefly explain this. So the author Bharati Devta brings these three Seers. The first Seer is the sense organs, the second Seer is the mind, the third Seer is the Sakshi.

So the world is the Drishya, and the Drishya or experience is experienced by whom? First Seer is the sense organs. The eye, not this eye, this is a Golaka. We are talking about Indriya and Sukshma.

Never forget that. Whenever you use the word eye, never identify with this eye. This is called... it's like a camera lens.

That's not important. But inside this, there is an intelligent agent who is called Indriya. That's why they are also called Devas.

So this eye is the Master Seer and the word is the seen. Without this Indriya, even the Sakshi cannot see the world because there is no world if there is no Indriya. You must remember that.

Even though it is God, God cannot see anything if He doesn't have the sense organs. So when you see through the eye, what do you see? Colours. So if somebody is blind, he has got the same Sakshi.

Can he see colours? He can never see colours. It is not possible for him to see the colours. Not because the colours are not there, but because the instrument is not there.

So this is the first, the world is the Drishya and the sense organ is the Rik. The second is, the sense organ becomes Drishya for the mind. So the mind is the Drik and the sense organs are the Drishyas.

So the sense organs are both Drik and also Drishya. The world is only Drishya. It doesn't see anything else.

So the sense organ is both Drik and Drishya. Now the mind is the Drik of the sense organs and the sense organs are the Drishya for the mind. Now the mind in its turn becomes Drishya for the Sakshi.

Not intellect, Sakshi. Sakshi. And Sakshi becomes the Drik.

Now Drik is the Drik for seeing the mind and Drik is the Drishya. For whom? Sakshi is Drishya for whom? Sakshi. So there is no one else, nothing else besides Sakshi.

That's why Sakshi is the absolute seer. World is the absolute seen. It is not Drik for anything else.

But in between the sense organs and the mind are both a combination. They are also Driks, they are also Drishyas. So at any one point, the sense organs can either be Drik or be Drishya but they cannot be both.

Yes, at the same time. They are both Drik and Drishya. Because when they are looking, you are looking at the sofa and I am looking at you at the same moment as you are looking at it.

So you become the Drik, so far as it is concerned. You become a Drishya, so far as I am looking at you. Because these are two separate things, the time-space conflict doesn't arise.

You see? We make this problem because you cannot at the same time, so you can be here and you can't be there at the same time. But so far as you are looking at there, you are the Drik, but so far as I am looking at you, you are the Drishya. In that way, it is possible.

But even for that same sense organ, it is not possible to be both Drik and Drishya for itself. Somebody else can make it Drishya, but it cannot be at the same time Drik and Drishya at the same time. That's not possible.

So this is a wonderful book in that sense, there are three Driks. Why is it necessary for us to have three? It's division. Because if something is absolute seer, it has absolute control.

If something is both Drik and Drishya, its control is on a shaky ground. The unshakeable theory of such a person is on a very shaky ground. You see the point? So how is it very practical? This is a very important thing for us to study.

When you are looking at something and you are interpreting in a particular way, then if you remember this, you are both the Drik and the Drishya, then it means you as a Drik has a control over the Drishya. But if you identify yourself with the Drishya, then you become a slave to the Drishya, and Drishya will take over you. But if you remember, I am the master, I can see something as I like to see it.

This is the prerogative of saints. The saint says that you may be a Rakshasa, but I look upon you as God himself. Then I won't suffer.

Immediately the stupid question comes, what if the Rakshasa tries to kill you? You are talking from the Rakshasa's point of view, not from the saint's point of view. The saint thinks the Rakshasa is lovingly expressing itself to him. And so long as he is happy, what is your headache? This is the point.

Any incident that happens to a saint, he interprets it in the best possible way. This is Divine Mother's way. It must be very good for me.

So I think it is quite a good introduction. If any questions are there, I will deal with them. Once the introduction is over, we can proceed very quickly.

Once the foreground is prepared, you know what to expect. Then we can progress quite fast. Don't think that if I go on talking like this, then how many shlokas are we going to end up with? You are always thinking, will he complete or not? What does it matter? What does it matter? Right understanding even one shloka is much more important than trying to go through fast and then say, I have completed this, this, this.

Somebody says, no, you didn't complete it, and you get very angry. What did you learn? Very practical. But once you understand the background, see the idea you get, then the rest is only an elaboration, expression.

If you get the idea right, then you understand what he is going to tell very, very clearly, you can understand. In this whole book, this is not a difficult point. But the six types of samadhis are slightly, but not really not very difficult.

I will give you some examples so that you can understand it very clearly. And then you can read it yourself, the shlokas, and then you will be able to understand it. You don't even need to go through the Sanskrit, because Sanskrit can create, what is the meaning of this word, what is the meaning of that word? Six kinds of samadhi, what are they? Very crystal clear division, Savikalpa, Nirvikalpa, Antarika, Vahika, Shabdan Vidha, Drishyan Vidha, Nirvikalpa.

That is it, both apply to internal and external. Two into three, six. When Raja Maharaj said that spirituality starts from Nirvikalpa, after Nirvikalpa samadhi, was he actually referring to this inner and outer Nirvikalpa samadhi? No, what he is telling is, what is first of all, spiritual life.

If you understand that word properly, then it is very easy to understand his statement. What is spiritual life? Seeing God everywhere. Who can see God everywhere? Only a person.

Yes, you are right. Only God can see God. So, what is Nirvikalpa samadhi? To know that I am God.

Once you attain that state, then you see everything as God. Until that time you are having faith, you are believing, scriptures tell everything is God, so I must look upon everything as God. So, you are not trying, so that is helpful.

Until you have an actual experience, actually no knowledge ever comes until you experience, even in the ordinary world also. When will you know this is milk? Only after you taste it. Even if you taste one drop, after that nobody can take away that knowledge of milk from you for eternity.

Even if you never get any type of milk. That's why Upamanyu, you know, the story of Upamanyu. Upamanyu Muni kare tapasya dodha samudra vada vayu So, he was the son of a very poor Brahmin.

And he was so poor, that even the poorest poor in those days, had at least one cow. He didn't have any cow at all. Everybody was talking, his friends or colleagues were talking, he had an iPod, he had some other pod, and only I don't have anything.

You know, all children, they shut their parents' mouth, they want anything, you know, this friend has that, that friend has that, everybody has some pod, only I don't have any pod. The parents have nothing to say about it. So, until 13 years, I thought my parents' name was shut up.

Because until 13 years, he goes on telling, my friends have these friends, if they say no, no, no, no, shut up. Leave me, that's all. So, Upamanyu, his mother used to mix rice with water, and it used to become pale, white.

She used to say, this is milk you drink. He was very happy, because he thought that was milk. Then one day he was invited for a feast, and that day he got real milk.

Then he came home and said, you have never been given real milk? Then the mother fell into tears. She said, my son, it's not that we don't want to give you, we don't have. There's no way we can get any cow.

And I want milk, because after tasting milk, he never wants to go back to the old rice water. So, mother says, go and pray to Lord Shiva. He alone can fulfil your desire.

So, he went and prayed to Lord Shiva, and he gave him not only one glass of milk, he gave him a whole ocean of milk. You can be swimming in it. This is the story of Upamanyu.

So, the point is, until we experience something ourselves, intellectual knowledge will be only information. But once we experience, that is real knowledge. So, the same thing applies to spiritual life also.

Until we have some experience, you only go on thinking, this is God, that is God. It is on a very, very shaky ground. But if you have one experience, then you know for certain.

At least you know the possibilities of that. That is why Hinduism places so much importance on direct experience. Because once you have that experience, then nobody can shake you.

But until you can be shaken, any number of times. So, that is why Brahmanandaji said, until you experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi, why Nirvikalpa Samadhi? What about Savikalpa Samadhi? Because Savikalpa Samadhi is also your own imagination. You see, any object is whose imagination.

That is why image and imagination fall into the same world. An image is nothing but imagination. So, anything, a tree is my imagination.

Is it my imagination? Or is it reality? This fundamental law of psychology, we always forget. You don't know what is there. But its image is falling in our mind.

When that image falls into the mirror of my mind, it becomes imagination. I imagine it is called a tree. It looks like this.

Why do I say it is a tree? Because I see this object, say this is a human being. I have to distinguish, isn't it? So, I make different names. Let me give the name human being to this image.

Let me give another name to this image called tree. Let me say this is between two trees. This is a tall tree.

This is a small tree. This is a green tree. This is a red tree.

All these names, in our imagination only, we are giving. You see the point? So, this is nothing to do again with scriptures or anything. This is science, pure science.

We don't know what is the outside. We only know what falls on our mind. There are billions of microbes roaming here.

Do you see them? Because they are not in the range of our sense organs. Whatever falls within the range, that only we imagine. Imagination, imaging the mind.

Does it image exactly as it falls? Even from the most physiological point of view, it is very interesting. What is physiological point of view? Here is a tree that falls into these two eyes. Where does this right eye's image go? Into the left side.

What is the left image goes? Into the right eye. The tree is standing upright. And here the tree is standing? Upside down.

Inverted. Not only inverted. The image is upside down.

Now it is the brain which is resolving. This makes it upright. Makes it one instead of two.

Makes it the left and the right coordinates. It does so much of this video editing before it presents itself to your mind. I am not talking about spirituality.

I am talking about pure physiology. Is it not a fact? This itself is so complicated. Just imagine.

If you are a scientist, you will learn all those things. Even your camera, how does it see? It is exactly everything. That is why the negative will be... So what you have to do? To make it positive.

Spirituality is to make everything positive. See, how interesting, wonderful. So, we don't know what is outside.

We only know what falls. That is why everything is an imagination. That is why even if you think of God, it is only an image, an imagination.

But this imagination is based upon scriptural direction. What is the purpose? The purpose is that you take this image as a help. Not as reality.

As a pointer. That is why it is called a symbol. You must never forget that.

Any idol, any thought is nothing but a pointer. The reality is... Never mistake it. But it doesn't mean these things are wrong.

It means they are not reality, but they are pointers to the reality. And that is what we need. We need correction.

Go this way. Think of God this way. Develop these qualities.

God has no qualities. God is Nirguna, Nirvisesha, Nishtriya. Don't you see? Khandana, Bhavavandana, Jagavandana, Vanditum, Tiranjana, Naralukodara, Nirguna, Gunamaya.

So, He is both. He is not both. Even if you cannot talk, He is Saguna or He is Nirguna.

He is Akara, He is Nira. These are all imaginations in the brain. You have to go beyond to the reality.

Let it not be an imagination in the brain. So, this is brain, you know. Brain means better brain.

This is brain. One fellow, one old woman, went to a shop for shopping. Now, the owner of that shop gave strict instructions.

Never, never say to anybody, we don't have this thing. You say, if it is not there, we ordered it. We are expecting it within 2-3 days.

So, one day he went, you know that, one day he went there and he saw this assistant telling madam, no, we don't have that and we don't think we expect it anytime soon. The owner got wild. He pushed aside the assistant and said, no madam, we just ordered it.

We are expecting it within 2-3 days. And then the old woman looked blank at him and went away. After that, he asked her, what was the woman wanting? She said, she was asking about rain.

She was asking about rain. Our whole life is how we imagine. If it is Guru image, then everything appears in the image.

If it is God image, it appears in the Godly way. How we make a mould. Everything falls within that mould.

That is called experiencing God in every way. Gopalarma, what was she seeing? Why her brain was moulded into the image of Gopal? So whatever was falling into that mould, it was only appearing as Gopal. This is the simple truth.

Holy Mother's brain is moulded into motherliness. So whatever is falling into her brain, she thinks, I am her mother. This is very wonderful.

Experiment is going on. Even to see those experiments is to progress in spiritual life. So one man was experimenting.

Because most of the chicks, the first time what they see, they consider as their mother. So what this fellow, he was making, I think what is that, wild turkey. Turkey, you saw that? Many people are making this experiment.

Turkeys, you know. He was hatching the eggs. He collected the eggs.

And then like a mom, twice daily he was moving it from upside to downside like that and maintaining correct temperature. One of the things he wanted to prove is, the first time the chick looks at him, she will mistake. She will think, this is my mom.

Babies also, that's what they do. Whomsoever they look, whatever they hear, this is my mom. So he was practically showing it to us on the film, how slowly it hatched, it came out.

And he was also sitting there staring at it. And then immediately she flew into his hands. Because it is instinct for them, if it is its own mother, they will fly into it.

So here it is a human being. And actually he was also behaving like a mother only. And he was very charismatic.

He was not there to kill them. He was there to experiment and see. He was looking after them a thousand times better than his own mom.

He was a veterinary doctor. He was an entertainer. And he was a caretaker.

He was a walker, means they would sit on his shoulders and he would be walking there. All these roles rolled into one. So how this nature itself, we trust, that is how, whoever our eyes fall, love at first sight.

Only hindsight. Why was I married by a judge? I should have been a Jew. One last question.

So if we are all seeking happiness, we all want to be happy, so why is it that we see the negative in whatever we are going through or what situation we are placed in? See, there are two explanations to it. One explanation is that Maya, the origin, how and when it started, because in the beginning only God was there. Then the creation itself is because of Maya.

Within Maya itself these variations are there. So that is the original cause. The secondary, that has to be accepted on faith.

Because we can never probe and come to this is the beginning. But the next best is that everything depends upon our mind. One man has written a beautiful book.

It is called Gold Fish and Shark. You have heard of that? It's a beautiful story. Who stole my cheese? Who moved my cheese? So it is a book like that.

So what happened? There was a boy. Oh, you have? These people, they don't have, you know. It's a storybook.

A man who had lost his job and then how he sat down and said, OK, the job is not there, how do I make my life now? Essentially, that is the essence of it. So he became an advisor. Like, you know, a failed marriage man, he becomes a marriage counsellor.

So this man became an advisor for many companies. So he made up one story and it became very popular. It came out in the form of a book.

Essentially, what happened, there was a boy. He had a beautiful gold fish in a bowl. It was very happy.

He was feeding it regularly. One day he takes it to the shore, seashore, so that he can both play in the sea and also have his favourite pet. So what happens, suddenly a huge wave comes and then takes away the whole bowl.

The gold fish was thrown suddenly into the salty sea. Now the gold fish started becoming hungry because every day this boy used to feed it dainty dishes and all that, lovingly protecting. Now he did not know how to hunt.

Suddenly a shark comes. A shark. And it looks at this gold fish.

And then it is a good kind of shark. Just to make it, you know, it has an idea. People have a very bad idea about me.

Let me now show a good side that I have also got a good side. The story is beautiful, simply beautiful. So it says, buddy, come here.

I will teach you. So what have you got? Oh, I am going to die. Yes, anyway, before dying, you can learn something.

There is a miserable way of dying. There is a happy way of dying. At least I can teach you.

Happy way of dying. So he takes it. What is it? Oh, see, the thing is, you must become a philosopher.

That means you must find out. Life is all about philosophy. So first of all, you do your best to find your food, to protect yourself, whatever you can.

And after that, whatever comes, you sit and stay. Okay, this is the situation. So what does it teach me? What best can I do? What opportunities presents? What new meaning can I derive? All these things you can learn.

So it gives some good sermon and says, look here, I have an urgent work. I am going. By that time, the goldfish had learned.

What did it learn? Only to question itself and say, do I want to be a goldfish, remain a goldfish, or do I want to become a shark? What does the shark do? It finds its own food. It hunts and it has to look after itself. This is the essence of the whole book.

Ultimately, the question this man wants to convey is, each one of us has to ask, do I want to remain a goldfish? Or then goldfish, you know, after that old fish. Or do I want to become a shark? This, in a way, is a good lesson for us to learn. So this Drikdrishe Viveka also is exactly the same thing.

It tells that we want to remain miserable. Or how to get happiness? Usual understanding of the goldfish. You know, somebody feeds me.

Everything should be very nice. And then only I will sit and hear this Drikdrishe Viveka lessons. No, the other way is, whatever be the situation, what shall I do? What has this got to teach? Do I depend upon, or do I depend upon my own self? This is the lesson, ultimately, Vinanta wants to teach.

So, Mataji, you are saying the first one is the positive mind. Second is our own circumstances. That is the law of cause and effect.

So, how we, ourselves, can change our fate within our limit. So that much we can do. But the rest, Mahamaya, for that a different lesson.

For that only, Sharanagata Dhyanath Paritranaparayude Sarvasyaarthi Hari Devi Narayani Namaskar For that, there is no remedy. But for whatever is within our means, Mahamaya is not going to come. She has already provided the means for us.

That is the important lesson. Essentially, the whole life is rediscovery of one's own self. It is almost like we want to be miserable.

So, even if it's not there, sometimes it's... No, that is not correct. No one wants to be miserable. But then why do we create that? That is because of two reasons.

The same. Originally, it is because of Mahamaya. Secondly, it is because of the habits we developed ourselves.

Correct. That's it. So, habits can be changed by ourselves with some effort.

But the original Mahamaya will never go until mother herself removes herself. But if we do our part, she will do her part.
[[Category:Drg Drsya Viveka]]

Category:Drg Drsya Viveka

2026-05-11T03:32:56Z

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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 30 on 03 May 2026

2026-05-09T03:52:43Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== The Central Questions of the Seekers ==
So there was a great discussion among the seekers of Brahman. What is the nature of Brahman? What is the relationship between me and Brahman? And how can I attain that Brahman? Especially, this is the essence of the mantras 9th and 10th in the 4th section of the 1st chapter.

To recollect what we had discussed: Brahman alone seems to wander in ''saṃsāra'' through ignorance. And thinking that "I am not Brahman," through the grace of God and the grace of Guru, the same ignorant Brahman — which is called ''jīvātmā'' — slowly recognises: "I was never a ''jīvātmā.'' I was always, I was, I am, and I will be Brahman only."
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== The Pūrvapakṣa: The View of the Opponents ==
As we discussed in the last class, there were so many ''pūrvapakṣīs.'' In a sense, what they want to say is that the ''jīvātmā'' is from the beginning only a separate soul wandering in this ''saṃsāra,'' but he wants to get rid of this limitation. So he does spiritual practice — especially what is called ''upāsanā. Upāsanā'' means becoming like the object of meditation. Just as when we approach a blazing fire, we feel more and more heat, and if we become one with fire, we also are known as only fire — similarly, when a person approaches God — and the definition of God is either ''sat-cit-ānanda'' or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma'' — so this person, who was not Brahman, by spiritual practice slowly changes his nature. He who was limited now becomes unlimited. ''Sarvam bhavati.'' This is one of the views of the opponents, especially a person called Bhartṛprapañca.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Nature ==
Śaṅkarācārya refutes this view and says: first of all, the nature of a thing can never be changed either by ''karma'' — action — or by ''jñānam'' — knowledge.

What does knowledge say? It only reveals what is. It cannot change anything. What can ''karma'' do? It can only remove the obstructions and then reveal the nature of an object. For example, if sugar is covered with dirt and dust, and then we employ certain methods to clean it up, the pure sugar will come out. So that cleaning process doesn't change what is not sugar into sugar — it removes the obstacles. Then the knowledge will reveal: this is the nature of the sugar. But either ''karma'' or ''jñāna'' — both cannot change the nature of a thing. It is impossible.
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== Can a Jīva Become Brahman? Bhartṛprapañca's Claim ==
So this is one point. The second is: how does one ''jīva'' become Brahman? And especially there was a person called Bhartṛprapañca — he was a very powerful opponent, long before Śaṅkarācārya, and many people followed Bhartṛprapañca's views.

Bhartṛprapañca claims: even though we are all ''jīvas,'' by doing ''upāsanā'' — and remember, ''upāsanā'' is also an action; it is a mental action, but for any mental action the physical body must cooperate. Normally you cannot lie down on a soft bed and try to contemplate on God. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa could do that; Swami Advaitānandajī could do that — people who have absolute control over their mind can do that. But ordinary people cannot, because the tendency of the bed is to make a person fall asleep.

So here we have this beautiful ''sādhanā.'' That is what Bhartṛprapañca claims: you go on thinking about God, you forget yourself, and then slowly ''jīvātmā'' becomes Parabrahma.

And the same logic applies whether you meditate, whether you do action, or whether you obtain knowledge. No — a ''jīva'' can never become Brahma.
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== The Advaita Answer: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
Then what is it that Advaita Vedānta wants to teach? That what you are calling yourself — "I am a ''jīvātmā''" — it is a wrong opinion. You are suffering under the delusion that "I am not Brahman." Just like a prince who was kidnapped and brought up by some street beggars starts thinking: "These are my parents. I am also a child of a beggar. I have nothing." Until somebody comes and recognises him and then tries to prove it — it will take quite a long time for that person to say: "How can I be a prince?" But in the course of time, truth will come out. Because if we are Brahman, it has to come out — even after a zillion births. But if we are not, no amount of washing the black skin of a rat is going to turn it into a pure white-skinned rat. It is not going to be possible.

So therefore what is it? This Mahāvākya — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — is one of the most powerful of the mantras. It is telling us that you were, you are, you will be Brahman. But for some mysterious reason — and no school of philosophy was able to tell us the origin of this — especially Advaita Vedānta says that you are suffering from ''avidyā.'' And where does this ''avidyā'' come from? That was a very interesting topic.

Even today, accepting or evading a straightforward reply — even Advaitins are forced to tell that there is no such thing called ''avidyā,'' because consciousness is pure. Pure consciousness is pure ''jñānam.'' Pure knowledge can never entertain even an iota of ignorance. So it is, therefore, not there.
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== The Purpose of Spiritual Practice: Gauḍapāda's View ==
Then what about this ''saṃsāra?'' Well, as we saw yesterday — according to Gauḍapāda — the whole purpose of spiritual practice is to understand that actually what you are seeing is none other than Brahman. But because of some coverings on your mind, you are thinking: "This is not Brahman. This is the world." Brahman is one; the world is multiplicity. Brahman is unlimited; the world is limited. Brahman is only one — so no difference, internal or external.

Three types of differences: no ''vijātīya-bheda'' — no species difference; no ''sajātīya-bheda'' — no difference between two objects of the same species; no ''svagata-bheda'' — no internal differences. So ''vijātīya, sajātīya, svagata-bhedas'' are not there. Brahman is ''bheda-rahitaḥ.'' But I am thinking everything is differentiated. It is because of some power called ''avidyā.''

So just like a person mistakes a harmless, innocent rope for a snake — there was not, there is not, there will not be any snake there. What was there is only revealed. If this person had come during daytime when there is light, he would not have mistaken it. If it were completely dark, he would not have had that illusion either. Only when there is a phantom, creative, semi-darkness present — then you will come to make that mistake.

And Brahman is not something which can be objectified. Brahman is beyond both the subject and object. And then how is it to be done? ''Neti, neti'' — this will come later on. ''Na iti.'' So this is not a denial of Brahman but a negation of everything other than Brahman — that is, the entire universe.
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== The Four Fruits of Action and Mokṣa ==
''Mokṣa,'' according to the ''pūrvapakṣī'' or opponents of Advaita, is not something that can be produced. Because — if you remember — what are the four fruits of any action? If something is not there, you can produce it. If something is there already but not here — elsewhere — then you can go there and obtain it. If something is covered with dirt, you can clean it. If something is broken, you can repair it. Every action must bring one of these four effects.

So Brahman cannot become old, because it is eternal. Eternal means time doesn't affect it; space doesn't affect it. So no subject can affect it. It is not an object. Therefore, it is not something which can be produced, which can be found elsewhere — it is everywhere. And it can never be cleaned up, because it is ever clean. ''Nitya, śuddha, buddha, nityamukta.'' Therefore, the conclusion is: ''jñānāt eva mokṣaḥ.''

So the text — that is, our Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, especially mantras 9th and 10th of the 4th section — strongly declares that ''mokṣa'' is to remove the wrong notion. That is called ''mokṣa.'' And as soon as this is removed, what is original will unfold itself, uncover itself. It is just covered up.
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== Vāmadeva's Declaration and Sarvātma-Bhāva ==
For that, certain examples are given. And what is that? Vāmadeva declares: "I am Manu, I am the Sun" — that means, "I am the whole creation." That is called ''sarvātma-bhāva.''

Remember, that is how the discussion started. How did Brahman become everything — ''sarvam?'' How did it become ''sarvam?'' The answer is: it has not become. It was, it is, it will be everything. As I mentioned yesterday, this idea of ''sarvātma-bhāva'' will not apply in the ordinary sense.

Even in deep sleep, you don't say: "When I am awake or dreaming, I always feel I am an individual, but when I go into deep sleep, I attain everything." No. Because what is deep sleep? It is just being bereft of all superimpositions. So from the viewpoint of Brahman, this word ''sarvātma-bhāva'' doesn't even exist.

Only because we are thinking through our mind that "I am frightened of something" — then somebody comes and says: "Why should you be frightened? Dādā Madhusūdhana is there all the way. Where is he? He is there in the entire forest. So whenever you are scared, just call brother Madhusūdhana, and at every step, at any step, he will reveal himself to you and escort you to the other side of the forest" — which forest is comparable to ''saṃsāra.''

So ''sarvātma-bhāva'' means: I don't have any desire. The moment I say there is something different from me, I have a desire — either positive or negative. The moment I feel I am everything, then desire will disappear — which, translated into psychological language, means I am a very, very happy person. Nothing else.

And also we have seen earlier — especially in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad — ''dvitīyāt vai bhayaṃ bhavati:'' fear always comes from the second. If anybody thinks Brahman is separate from me, Brahman becomes the cause of fear. When the same person realises: "I am none other than Brahman — there is nothing else other than me" — then that very Brahman becomes ''abhaya-kāraṇa:'' all fear goes away. What is this fear? We also discussed: the fear that what I have I may lose; the fear that what I am desiring I may not get. Both of these fears will disappear when a person realises "I am Brahman."
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== The Relationship Between Karma and Jñāna ==
So what is the relationship now between ''karma'' and ''jñāna? Karma'' is external; ''jñāna'' is internal. ''Jñāna'' is in the form of thought; ''karma'' is in the form of translating that thought into action.

So Bhartṛhari also says: "Why not we combine and obtain ''mokṣa''?" — combine what? ''Jñāna-karma-samuccaya.'' This is called the combination of knowledge and karma. Why not we do that?

Śaṅkara says: I already explained to you — the nature of a thing can never be removed, destroyed, or obtained either through knowledge or karma. So there is no need. We are already free, but we are thinking — like the person in the dream who, after eating a full meal, feels "I am starving, I am terribly hungry," or who is in the safest place and feels "somebody has dragged him out and is beating him black and blue."

So liberation is not the result of ''karma;'' liberation is not the result of ''jñānam.'' But both of these help us only in removing our wrong notions. This removal of our wrong notion — that is the meaning of ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' As soon as I remove it, then ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is not something to be practised — it is something to be experienced. And when I deny everything, when that notion that "I am not Brahman" is totally destroyed, then there is no need to say ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi,'' because I know what I am.

That is the essence of the 9th and 10th mantras. With that, sections 9 and 10 are completely over.
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== The Next Mantras: The Description of Creation ==
Now starts the next few sections in the 4th section of the 1st chapter, subdivided into several mantras. So from the 11th mantra almost to the end, it is describing how this world is created. We have already seen it, I think, in the 8th mantra of this very 1st chapter — but now from another angle, the Upaniṣad wants to tell us: what is this creation?

Before we proceed, we have to keep two points in view.

This 1st chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa,'' and this ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa'' is also called ''Madhu-kāṇḍa.'' What is ''Madhu-kāṇḍa?'' The chapter called Honey. Honey means here: that which brings unbroken bliss. How does it come? It doesn't come from outside — I remove the obstacle, and then I know I have neither death nor ignorance nor suffering. I am ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ-rūpam, sat-cit-ānanda-rūpam.'' That is the truth about it.

But for a beginner, for a student, this idea that "I am ''sat-cit-ānanda''" should not be taught directly. When we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, how many times does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa caution us! For a beginner, you should not say that all these gods and goddesses are false, and that one has to think "I am Brahman." This especially half-digested understanding was being propagated by Pratāp Chandra Hājrā.

Then we have seen Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa speaking to him in a very diplomatic way: "You are a great person — you may be fit to understand." That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is trying — diplomacy. Inside, he knows: "You are the worst of fools, the lowest of the ignorant — a pure ignoramus." But Hājrā was also fortunate in so many ways. He had the company of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — unbroken company of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa for several years. I would say he was more fortunate even than Swami Vivekānanda and other disciples who used to come now and then. But here is a person who lived outside the door of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa for several years together — so he was watching Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, though never understanding him.

Second thing: the very ''satsaṅga'' of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — how many fortunate souls, whether they knew or not, whether they understood or not, had the good fortune of having the company of an ''avatāra-puruṣa?'' Not even an ordinary person.

Thirdly, even the Guru of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — Totāpurī — and this Hājrā, and Haladāri — practically they used to spend their time studying the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa and so on. So in every way he was fortunate. But as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: the Divine Mother keeps — in every drama there will be Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā — that is what is called the sarcastic or funny characters, to make the drama a little more realistic.
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== Finding Where We Are: An Honest Self-Assessment ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling us: for beginners, to teach that everything is Brahman is not only unhelpful but is positively oppressive and negative. Therefore, we will have to understand this one — we have to find out where we are.

Swami Yatīśwarānanda Mahārāj used to tell: the first duty of every spiritual seeker is to find out where he is. Honestly, he has to objectify himself and find out: "Do I really believe in God? What is the percentage of my belief in God? How much is my life transformed by this belief in the existence of God? How much percentage of longing for God, yearning for God, do I have? Am I really trying to change my old ''saṃskāras'' into new ''saṃskāras?''" Because without this — as we are seeing in the daily messages — without change in our life, without slowly reducing our non-spiritual qualities and strengthening the spiritual qualities, spiritual practice — however much ''japa'' and ''dhyāna'' we do — is practically useless.

So we will have to understand this fact. And from a practical point of view also — how many times I had emphasised: what is spiritual life? It is an attempt to become more and more happy. And a person cannot be a happy person unless he becomes a good person. And a person cannot be a good person unless he understands the reality. So a person who has more knowledge — real knowledge — becomes more and more a good person, and his ''ānanda'' also will increase.
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== Applying the Kośas to Our Own Experience ==
So let us judge ourselves — where we are. What is our normal spiritual seeker's experience?

"I am a body. I am a person. I am male or female. And I see the world in front of me. Everything in this world consists of several parts, and every part is totally different from every part."

Let us take from ''ānandamaya-kośa:'' am I uniformly happy in the same way all the time? How many times do I suffer? Do I feel depressed, lonely, restless? Apply it to all the other ''kośas.'' How many times is my mind changing? "I think this is good — after some time, probably I am wrong, this is not good." Then another thought comes — maybe a good thought. How long are we able to sustain it?

So we have to understand: the mind is changing. One thought is different from the other thought. One minute I am thinking about God; another minute I am thinking of some worldly object, maybe a worse thought. Then what about the body? The body consists of several parts — every part is different. You take a cot: there are legs, there is a thick plank, and there are some hooks to hang the mosquito curtain. Every leg is separate; the plank on which we sleep is separate; everything is separate. My hands, my legs, my eyes, my ears — every single part of my body, my liver, my heart, my kidneys — everything is different.

So what am I experiencing? Difference. That is called ''dvaita.'' So God is also different, ''jīva'' is different, worldly objects are different. Between ''jīva'' and ''jīva'' there is difference; between every single worldly object there is difference; and both these are different from God. This is called Dvaita Vedānta. That is where most of us are.

So we should not say the world doesn't exist. And what do we mean by the world? We only have two judgmental values about the world — really speaking, we don't think of the world analysing it in the way I am doing. The only judgement, the only analysis, is: "Am I a happy person? Am I a healthy person? Am I a rich person? Are my desires being fulfilled? Or am I a person who is disappointed in life, deprived in life, depressed in life — feeling lonely, feeling nobody cares for me?" What type of person am I?

So every experience in this world is divided into two values: am I a happy person, or am I a suffering person? Happiness and unhappiness are the final judgements.

So when a person turns towards God, he hopes to obtain higher levels, higher degrees of happiness — from objective happiness to intellectual happiness, to aesthetic happiness, to moral happiness, and to spiritual happiness, or the happiness of one's own true nature: ''brahmānanda.'' Every action that we do, every thought we think, is only to reduce the unhappiness and to increase the happiness. There is nothing else other than this.
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== The Creation: A Long Introduction ==
So why am I giving such a long introduction? Because for the next few mantras — almost until the end — the Upaniṣad is trying to tell us about the creation, the description of creation.

But earlier we have seen the creation: how the first person became Śatarūpā — Manu and Śatarūpā. The male portion is called Manu, and he divided himself into two. From there, he became — the cow was one. The wife Śatarūpā became the cow, and Manu became the bull. So every male species, Manu had transformed himself into; every female species, Śatarūpā had transformed herself into.

Then there is one way of describing how this Brahman is manifesting — as if manifesting. Remember, they are not following ''pariṇāma-vāda;'' they are only following the Advaitic view — ''vivarta-vāda.'' As if — as if there is a snake, but really there is no snake.
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== The Analogy of an Organisation ==
So here something interesting has happened. When you create an organisation, an organisation is only a name. Then there must be a building where your office is located; there will be some employees. And as soon as you think of the organisation, the first thing that comes is: what is the goal?

Say, for example, you want to make a profitable business — you want to manufacture something. Then you start an office. What is the first thing you must seek? People who have knowledge, who can really work for you. They will be paid, of course, but they will also be divided into classification: there will be a CEO, there will be a vice president, there will be different managers — regional managers, your own office manager, and so on. And then you allot the duties according to their intelligence and so on. But the overall purpose is that all of them must coordinate. There should be no break in that coordination — that is why it is called an organisation. Every part must work seamlessly to fulfil the overall, general, one purpose.

So for that purpose you divide. And our ancient philosophers have divided them from the very beginning. Similarly, we see — Socrates also divided all human beings into four categories: the thinkers, the enforcers, the protectors, the suppliers, and the workers — roughly translated: ''brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas,'' and ''śūdras.''
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== The Origin of the Four Castes ==
So as soon as God created this world, and to run this world he requires people — that is the speciality of these few mantras that we are going to discuss now.

So how were the ''brāhmins'' first created, then the ''kṣatriyas'' created, then the ''vaiśyas'' created, then the ''śūdras'' created — that is what is to be conveyed.

But just like the business: a visionary who wants to start a business organisation has a vision. In that vision, he has to find out: "These are the people who are the brains; these are the people who enforce the directions given by the brains; this is how work has to continue. And there must be people to supply — office supply, or industrial supply, supply of different machines, engines, maintainers, and so on. Then there must be workers who will be cleaning, maintaining, and seeing that the machines are running properly."

What a marvellous vision! Of course, God is all-powerful, all-knowing — so he will have this marvellous vision. So this is the origin of the four castes. That is what the Bhagavad Gītā — the essence of all Upaniṣads — also tells. There also he says: all the castes are created based upon ''guṇa'' and ''karma.'' There is a deep relationship between ''guṇa'' and ''karma.''

If somebody is a ''sāttvika'' person, he becomes the brain, as it were — the capacity to think, the capacity to separate the substance from the non-substance, to separate the truth from untruth, the workable from the non-workable, the useful from the useless. But he is a thinker. And he cannot go on running the whole organisation. So there must be some ''kṣatriyas'' — these are called law enforcers.

Who puts out the laws? It is the thinkers — the ''brāhmaṇas.'' Even today, ''brāhmaṇas'' have given us the ''dharmaśāstras. Dharmaśāstra'' means: "This is ''dharma,'' and it has to be followed in this particular way." They give quite a good number of varied examples so that most of the situations we can understand — what to do and what not to do.

So here also the same thing: there must be laws. What is a law? That which ensures the smooth working of any organisation — that is called a law. And this whole universe, this whole creation, is nothing but a huge organisation. That is why Brahmā is the creator; Viṣṇu is the ''kṣatriya'' — that is why he has got the arms, ''cakra, gadā,'' and so on. And there must be others to work. Then there must be somebody to punish and to replace worn-out parts, continuously to renew — and that is called Rudra.

So everything is going on smoothly — this ''brahma-cakra'' is going on smoothly from the very beginning.

So the ''kṣatriyas'' are endowed with tremendous muscle power and will power to enforce these laws. But for any organisation to run smoothly, one requires a tremendous amount of suppliers — right from the smallest needle to the highest electronic component. I am just giving an example — I know you know better than me — just how many times we travel in a bicycle, and how many parts this bicycle will have. Even an ordinary person has no idea. And if it is a sophisticated vehicle — I think a 52 or 12 aeroplane, or a stealth bomber — how many millions and millions of parts will be there! And if one part goes wrong, there could be terrible damage — including the pilot also; if he goes wrong, the whole plane will go down.

So we will appreciate: how many times we are travelling by aeroplanes, but we hardly give any thought to it. Yet how many thousands of people examine it — as soon as the aeroplane lands, and before take-off, hundreds of workers: some to fill the gas or oil, some to examine every part of it. Only then they give the green signal: "Go." Then only is the plane travel-worthy, and they have to certify it.

But all this is done invisibly. Once I visited Disney in America, and it was all so much fun — everything was tip-top. One has to visit that place to see the organisational power. Everything — just as an example I am giving — somehow when I was gawking at some of the things, travelling in a train from one place to another, one of my shoes had fallen down by the track. But the train will not stop. So I informed the conductor. He said approximately where. And then, within two minutes, before the train stopped, he was present on the platform and presented me my own slipper! Such efficiency.

Many organisations have it, and that is why the West is able to progress through cooperation. Whereas in our wretched country, non-cooperation is the rule — that is why, in spite of brains and facilities, our progress is so slow. Only we are big in talking, organising meetings, and other things. Anyway, coming back.
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== The Vaiśyas, Śūdras, and the Binding Principle ==
So the ''vaiśyas'' — Brahman himself had become the ''vaiśya.'' And then there must be workers — right from the cleaning and mopping to keep everything tip-top, to supply tea and coffee. Everything — they are called ''śūdras.''

And lest this appear to be a scriptural imagination: out of our experience, you look at any organisation — you will find these four components absolutely present there.

And then all this will not go smoothly unless there is a binding principle. And that binding principle has been mentioned in this Upaniṣad as ''satyam'' and ''dharma.'' So having created all the four castes, having put into motion a ''saṃsāra'' — or even before Brahmā put this ''saṃsāra'' into action — he created ''satya'' and ''dharma.''

That is why in the eleventh ''anuvāka'' of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad we get: ''satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃ cara.'' What is ''satyam?'' To have a clear idea of what should be done, what needs to be done — that is called ''satyam. Dharma'' is to put it into practice without the least bit of deviation.

If I have no idea what I have to do, naturally I won't be able to do it. And if I have got an idea, I must also have the strength to do it. And that is how ''satya'' and ''dharma'' both go together.

Somebody is truthful but cannot put it into practice. We are all like that. We can give advice — every barber gives advice on how to run the whole universe. But why does he remain a barber? Because he is only a blabberer — he is not really a thinker. So there are some people who know what should be done, but they do not have the practical skill.

So as if ''satyam'' and ''dharma'' are at the opposite poles of this world, this universe — as if they are not coming together. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: first you practise, then you preach. And whatever thoughts came into Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's mind, intuitively he put them into practice. That is why he is an embodiment of ''satyam.''

Swami Vivekānanda — Narendranāth — understood: "He may look strange to me; he may even appear abnormal to me. But I have never met a person, never seen a person, whose thoughts, words, and deeds absolutely tally." And this is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's own definition of what is ''satyam:'' what a person thinks, what a person speaks, and what a person does — and these three things become absolutely unified. That is called the definition of ''satyam.''
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== Satyam and Dharma in Practice ==
So Brahmā created ''satyam'' and ''dharma.'' What is ''satyam?'' To have a crystal clear concept of: where am I? What should be done? What good does it do? How should it be done? All these fruitful, positive, creative thoughts — that is called ''satyam.'' And to put it into practice in a systematic manner, not a haphazard manner — that is called ''dharma. Dharma'' is practice. ''Satyam'' is the clear idea of what should be practised.

So the whole creation now has to be run like a well-oiled machine — with the help of the thinkers, the law enforcers, the suppliers, and the workers — and they must all be united. That is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the Gītā: ''svakarmañā tam abhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ —'' even a Sudra is not deprived of ''mokṣa.''

Rasik was the greatest example. For devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa there were so many other people — I will not speak of them today — but Rasik prayed for guidance, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told him: "I will fulfil your desire, but you must fulfil my desire. Every night after your duties are over, you sit in front of your house, create a ''tulasī-mañca,'' and take ''harināma.''"

But then we are also doing ''harināma'' — what is the difference? The difference is: Rasik was, from his toenail to the hair of his head, an embodiment of ''śraddhā.'' There was never a crooked idea in his mind. How do we know? Because such a person is fit to go to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to become Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. So when Rasik prayed: "Lord, I don't know — I am an ignorant person. But out of your infinite grace, you take me where you want to take me," Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told him: "This is what you need to do. But if you do that, I will come at the end and take you with me."

Where do you think Rāmakṛṣṇa takes any of his devotees? He takes them — what does it mean in common language? It means Rāmakṛṣṇa gives them, removes their ignorance — that there is no "I" and "you," we are both one and the same. That is the final ''mokṣa.''
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== The Final Warning: The Goal of Life ==
So this creation of the four castes, and ''satya'' and ''dharma,'' is the very essence of the future classes. I am giving you an introduction.

And then the Upaniṣad also warns — as a final warning: he who gives up this body without reaching his own world — ''svam lokam'' — that means, without knowing "I am Brahman" — if anybody lives thus, he will have to be reborn again and again, until he understands that "my ''loka'' is ''ātma-loka'' — I am Brahman."

These are the three important points: the creation of the caste; the creation of ''satya'' and ''dharma;'' and a warning that the goal of life is to manifest this divinity and know that "I am free." That is what Swami Vivekānanda has done. We will talk about it in our next classes.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 103 Ch3.3-6 on 06 May 2026 Q&A

2026-05-08T05:03:06Z

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[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 103 Ch3.3-6 on 06 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:58:41Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha) ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL
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== Recap: The Teaching of Varuṇa to Bhṛgu ==
We have been studying the Bhṛgu Vallī — how Bhṛgu approached Varuṇa Brahman and begged him: "Teach me how I can reach Brahman, become Brahman." And the teacher had instructed: "These are the instruments. This is the goal. This is the nature of your goal" — which is called the accidental nature, called Taṭastha Lakṣaṇa, the secondary definition of Brahman. The primary definition of Brahman is ''Satyaṃ Jñānaṃ Anantaṃ Brahma'', or ''Sat Cit Ānanda Brahma''. But we do not understand what it means.

So when we look in our life, we see that we are going through three stages of experiences — the waking, the dream, and also the deep sleep — and then we are transiting from one to the other. And our experiences of each one of these states is totally different from each other. So I remain the unchanged witness of all these three states. Therefore, you will have to understand: you are that Brahman. Not only you are that Brahman — everything is that Brahman.

How do we know that? For that, Varuṇa gave the secondary definition of Brahman:

''Yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante |'' ''Yena jātāni jīvanti |'' ''Yat prayanty abhisaṃviśanti ||''

Find out the ultimate cause — the cause of every other cause, which is itself without any cause, which is unlimited. Find that out.
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== Manana: The First Stage of Deep Thinking ==
So how to find out? Through deep thinking — called Manana. This is the first stage of Manana. After hearing the details about our goal and how to proceed, from the mouth of the teacher, the Guru, the first thing we have to do is Manana.

The first stage in the Manana is to get rid of all doubts regarding what our teacher has said. Because if there is the slightest doubt, then we will not take up, we will not follow, the teachings of the scripture coming through the mouth of the teacher, the Guru.

How do we know whether we have got that much faith — doubtless faith? Because anything that we are convinced of 100%, without the least bit of doubt, we immediately follow it. This is a point which I had pointed out many times. If I am convinced that this world is Mithyā, if I — or anybody — am convinced, "This is poison and it will bring me suffering," then that person will not even go near it. He does not even want to think about it. He does not want to be harmed.

But if somebody comes and tells us, "I will show you something which will give you unbroken bliss — eternal and unlimited — under two conditions: for all the time, and 100%," then that is what we are all really seeking. But as the Ābhyāroha Mantras tell us beautifully, anything else that we are seeking is called Mṛtyu. Mṛtyu means what? Death. Death means what? That which comes to an end.

So anything — that is why in Sanskrit we call it Kṣaṇika Ānanda. Every Ānanda is only Kṣaṇika. There is nothing called "I have ten minutes of continuous happiness." How do we know? We know because the moment we forget ourselves — that is called the moment of becoming one with happiness. The moment we become aware, that is only a memory of the happiness. We have already disunited, separated from that state of experience.
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== Deep Sleep, Samādhi, and the Nature of Brahman ==
The only time when we have, for a long time, unbroken peace of mind — which is beyond both happiness and unhappiness — is in deep sleep. And in deep sleep, we are not aware of time, space, or any other object.

But there is a problem with this deep sleep: we are not aware, we are not conscious. Just as we are conscious about the waking state, and we are conscious about the dream state, we should be conscious — "I am consciously experiencing the state of deep sleep." And when we consciously experience it, it goes by the name Samādhi.

So a Jñāna Brahman continuously and unbrokenly experiences this bliss. And that bliss is not happiness — it is neither unhappiness. It is beyond both. And we know it because of what happens after we wake from deep sleep: we become refreshed, we become fearless. So long as we are in the deep sleep state, we are in the state of the highest bliss, because duality vanishes totally.

And duality is the nature of both the waking and the dream states. In both these states I am aware — I am aware of the understanding that I am different, totally different from everything else. Everything is totally different from everything else. And there are only three objects: I, the world, and God. So Jīvas and Jīvas are separate, Jīvas and objects in the world are separate, and both Jīvas and objects in the world are different from Īśvara or Paramātma.

That is the state of bondage. ''Dvaita eva abhayaṃ bhavate.'' Therefore, how to transcend that — that is what this teacher has taught Bhṛgu.
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== True Tapasyā — One-Pointedness of Mind ==
"I am giving you that you have to do Tapasyā." What is Tapasyā? Śaṅkarācārya tells us: Tapasyā is one-pointed thinking of the object of the teaching. And that teaching slowly brings — just to summarise — what should be the thought in the Tapasyā: "I want to realise my Divine Mother. And I am here. I must know where I am, and I need to move forward — and in which direction."

What does it mean to move forward? So that way, I am having so many negative qualities, unspiritual qualities. What is an unspiritual quality? It is the quality of being unwilling to think about God. A lot of times I fix myself — morning, evening, or sometimes at pūjā time — I will be trying to think about God. But even at that time our minds are very restless. Restlessness means thinking of Anātma — non-God.

So we have to understand: what makes our mind restless? Only desires make our mind restless. And these desires must be increased a thousand-fold, but directed towards only God. Because every desire — indirectly — is a desire for an object as an instrument of happiness. But we have to understand: every desire is only a desire for God. "I want to be happy. I don't want to die. I don't want to be ignorant. I want to be conscious that I am — and not only that I am, but that I am very happy." So that is the goal.

And the desires — there must be only one desire. All the desires must become combined into one desire: the desire for God. That is called Tapasyā. That is the goal of Tapasyā — unbroken thought about God.
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== Citta Vṛtti Nirodha — Not a Blank Mind ==
That is called Citta Vṛtti Nirodha. It is not making the mind blank. It is to make every thought converted into one single thought: "I want only to know that I am Puruṣa, or Consciousness."

Unable to understand this, various people define this Nirodha in so many ways — oppression, suppression, etc. How do we know this is wrong? Because Patañjali, great Ṛṣi that he was, immediately outlines eight steps, the eighth of which ends in Samādhi. And what is Nirodha? To attain Samādhi and to remain in Samādhi.

So in the Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, the 12th chapter, 242nd section, 4th mantra, it defines what is called Tapaḥ:

''Manasca indriyāṇāñca ekagriyam paramaṃ tapaḥ |'' ''Tat jñeyaḥ sarvadharmebhyaḥ sa-dharmaḥ paravicyate ||''

One-pointedness of the mind and the senses is indeed a supreme austerity — Paramaḥ. It is the highest point of Tapasyā. It is superior to all dharmas. Because when a person attains to this highest Tapasyā, this highest Tapaḥ, then he reaches the goal. Therefore it is declared to be ''Sad-dharma Paravicyate'' — the supreme Dharma.
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== Meditating on the Life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as Tapasyā ==
Now think for a second. This is how we have to meditate upon the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — not only upon his teachings. Simultaneously, we have to meditate upon the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.

What do you think? The moment he understood the ephemeral nature of this world, immediately he turned his mind towards the Divine Mother. "The Mother that I am worshipping in the form of a stone image — is it real? Or is it only my imagination?" And he understood immediately: "I have to take shelter at her feet. I have to think of her only." And so many incidents are there which I also quoted to prove that — "O mind, if you deviate from thinking of her lotus feet, I will pierce you with this trident." He kept a watchman — his own mind as the watchman.

What do you think? Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, as soon as the temple duty was over, would disappear for the whole night until early morning when the time for opening the temple came. What do you think he was doing? He would be sitting — and we can see he became totally unconscious. But what was he thinking?

He is thinking: "Please bestow your grace." Is that the only thought? I think he would also be thinking: "How can I obtain the grace of the Divine Mother? For that purpose, why is she not bestowing her grace? Is it that she is not bestowing her grace, or is it that she is bestowing it but I am not able to receive it?" So these are the thoughts: "Why am I not able to receive it? Do I have any other thoughts other than the desire for the realisation of the Divine Mother, for the vision of the Divine Mother?"

That means one has to find out where one is and what is the next step, and slowly reach the next step. And that is what we discussed also in the second chapter of the Taittirīya: this is what is called Prāṇa, Anna Brahma, then Prāṇa Brahma, Mano Brahma, Vijñāna Brahma, Māyā Brahma, and then Ānanda.
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== The Goal: Direct Experience of Parabrahman ==
So intense thinking is the way to realise Brahman. Every seeker should give up sloth and pursue the enquiry until the highest truth, called Parabrahman, is known through direct experience — as clear as "I am Brahman," as clearly as a fruit lying on the palm of one's own hand. This is called Karatala Āmalakavat.
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== Bhṛgu's First Realisation: Annamaya — Anna Brahma ==
So we have seen in our last classes that Bhṛgu went and did Tapasyā. And then he realised: what did he realise? From what source does this entire creation that I experience through this gross body, this physical world, this external world, come? What is the cause of the entire world — not only my body and mind, but the entire world, the physical world, my body, everybody's body, etc.?

Then he understood. There are certain steps there which I am going to outline now for the sake of clarity. Then he understood: "I am Anna Brahma — I am the entire physical universe." And then he saw, he thought, "I have reached Brahman." But then immediately he had a doubt: "But this physical universe — it is born, it is growing, it is changing, and it will disappear." Birth and death — what is called the sixfold change, Ṣaḍvikāra — that is the nature of everything.

Even the Himālayas: there were no Himālayas before the birth of the Himālayas. When two continents collided with each other, what was lying in between was thrown out, and slowly it started to grow and it grew and grew. And then slowly it is melting down. Now scientists say Mount Himālayas, as well as other mountains, even the icebergs — everything is melting down. So whatever has a birth will have a death. In between there is growth — going up, going down — everything has to go back from where it has come.

So even if I am the Anna Brahma, the Pṛthivī Devatā — as soon as I understand "I am the Anna Brahma," which is to say "I am the Pṛthivī, the grossest of the five elements" — immediately I understand that this is not the final cause. This has a cause.

Anyway, he had this doubt. He came to his father, and the father confirmed — yes. We do not know what conversation took place; the Upaniṣad is extraordinarily brief. So please understand: Bhṛgu, after this realisation of Anna Brahma, must have come to his teacher, who is none other than his own father in Varuṇa. But here he is a teacher of Brahma Vidyā. So he confirmed: "Yes, you are right. Your doubt is absolutely certified. It is not the final cause. It is only an approximate cause." Then: "What is the way?" The same way — go and do Tapasyā.
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== Bhṛgu's Second Realisation: Prāṇamaya — Prāṇa Brahma ==
The second time, the teacher told him: "Now, this time, intensify your Tapasyā." And then Bhṛgu goes, and then slowly he asked: "What is the cause of this body?" Prāṇa. And then he understood that he must identify himself with Prāṇa — that means he must disassociate from his identity as this body. "So I am no more the body. I am the Prāṇa." At first it is the individual Prāṇa. Then he says: "This is the same thing. I must identify — Brahma means everything. So if I am Prāṇa and I am separate from you, who are also Prāṇa..."

This is a point we have to note down. As long as we think "I am the body," we cannot think of anything else as other than body. The moment a person knows "I am the Prāṇa," then he cannot think of anybody or anything else as a physical body — it must be Prāṇa only.

So he realised: "I am Prāṇa Brahma" — Prāṇa Brahma means the Prāṇa, the original Prāṇa, the Prāṇa Devatā, which is lending itself into every single living creature in this world. It is that Adhiṣṭhāna Devatā, the Prāṇa Devatā. We can call it Jalam. He understood.

So then the same doubt came. The moment he understood Prāṇa, he also understood that Prāṇa has a birth. Birth means the manifestation of Prāṇa. Death means the disappearance of Prāṇa. So Prāṇa also has birth and death, and in between it is changing all the time. When I read a book which I like, my Prāṇa becomes very high. When I have to meet people whom I don't like, don't love, or hate, then my Prāṇa becomes shrunk, contracted, less.

Sometimes, if we cannot tolerate something, then we might commit suicide — give up our body. Giving up the body means Prāṇa goes elsewhere.

So just like the body, the Prāṇa also has a birth, etc. Then what happened? So Bhṛgu realised: "The mind is Brahman." From the mind, where really are these beings born? By the mind, when born, do they live. Into the mind, at the time of dissolution, do they enter, do they merge.

Having realised this, he approached his father again and said: "Venerable sir, guide me further to reach Brahman." To him the teacher Varuṇa said: "Seek to know Brahman by means of austerities, for austerities are the means of knowing Brahman. Think deeply."
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== Bhṛgu's Third Realisation: Manomaya — Mano Brahma ==
So Bhṛgu practised austerities. Having practised austerities, what did he realise? "I am not the Annam, I am not the Annamaya Kośa, I am not the Prāṇamaya Kośa. I am the Manomaya Kośa." Why? Because the mind creates doubts — that is what we have to understand. The mind, a supreme power, has many properties to its credit.

So in the Mahābhārata again we get this. What are some properties of the mind? Patience, reasoning, remembrance, forgetfulness of error, imagination, endurance, inclination towards good and evil, and restlessness — these are some of the elaborations of the characteristics of the mind. This we get in the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. Very interesting.

So there are also other characteristics, but these are the important ones. Patience — putting up with many things without losing happiness. The power to reason and to remember. And sometimes, when we make mistakes, we again commit the same mistake because we forgot that last time we suffered a great deal because of this action. We forget it and commit the same error again. Whenever we are imagining, our imagination flares up and creates a different image than what the object in front of us actually is. Then endurance, then inclination either towards good or evil, and restlessness.

Further: the mind is an organ or instrument, like the eye, ear, etc. Because the mind becomes restless — "mind" means thoughts. How many thoughts? A thought is born — that means the mind is born. That thought remains for a short time — that is the Sthiti, the continuance of the mind. The thought disappears, giving rise to another thought — that is the death of the thought.
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== The Seeker Identifies with the Universal Mind — Hiraṇyagarbha ==
Therefore, when a person realises "I am the mind," then not only is he the individual mind — two things happen. First of all, this seeker, on the way to the realisation of his own true nature, when he reaches this stage of the mind — two things happen.

He identifies: "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa." Then, "Who are you?" "I am the mind, because I am the cause of both the Prāṇa as well as the Annam — the food, the physical body." But then this is only the first step: "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa."

The second thing is: "I am not merely the individual mind. I am the Universal Mind." This is called Hiraṇyagarbha. Remember, in Vedānta, the collective name for all the physical bodies is called Virāṭ. The collective name for all the combined Prāṇa — that is the Prāṇa Devatā — is called Sūtrātmā. The collective name for every mind is called Mano Brahma — that is called Hiraṇyagarbha. The collective name for all the Buddhis, or intellects, is what we call the Mahat. And then, of course, the Ānandamaya Kośa.

So the Annamaya Kośa and the Sthūla Śarīra are equal. The Ānandamaya Kośa and the Kāraṇa Śarīra — wherein we experience deep sleep — are one and the same. But in between, the Sūkṣma Śarīra has three stages: collective Prāṇa, collective thinking power, collective deciding power. That is why they have given three names: Sūtrātmā, Hiraṇyagarbha, and Mahat.

So Bhṛgu understood and identified: "I am the mind." Not only "I am the mind" — that means "I am not the body, I am not the Prāṇa. But I am Prāṇa, I am Mano Brahma, I am Hiraṇyagarbha."
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== Hiraṇyagarbha Is Not the Ultimate Cause — On to Vijñānamaya ==
But Hiraṇyagarbha also is the effect of a cause. "Effect" means there must be a cause. Who is the cause of Hiraṇyagarbha? We have to understand: Mahat is the cause. Mahat means the Buddhi — herein it is called Vijñānamaya Kośa. Only at that stage do we understand that Hiraṇyagarbha is only the cause of the physical body and Prāṇa, etc., but not the ultimate cause. It is only a proximate cause. What is the cause? The mediate proximate cause is the Buddhi — the Vijñānamaya Kośa.

So he had this doubt, and he must have come and said: "Teacher, Bhagavān, am I the Manomaya Kośa? Because I see this problem." And another way to understand why this doubt comes: when a person beholds Brahman, the doubts will disappear. The question will not come.
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== The Parable of the Seven Doors and the King ==
And that is what happened in the case of Bhṛgu also. Hiraṇya Kṛṣṇa gives a beautiful illustration. A poor man wanted to meet the king. Somehow, somebody who was working with the king promised: "I will take you to the king." And there were seven doors.

At the very outer door, a gorgeously dressed person was sitting. This man had never seen such a dress, such power, such authority. So he mistook: "Is this the king?" And the guide said: "No, no — this is only a lower official." Thus, when the person starts going inside, there is even more splendour than at the outermost door. And then when he went to the sanctum sanctorum — the seventh chamber — that seventh person also is not God. But who can describe the splendour of that seventh person?

So he asked — he was sure that was the king — but the guide assured him: "No, this is not." Then he beheld, sitting in that seventh chamber, the real king. Then he understood. Then there were no more doubts. He did not ask, because that seeing of the king itself is the proof.

So when a person has no doubt — ''Chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ'' — there is a beautiful verse in the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad. ''Chidyante sarva-saṃśayāḥ'' — when a person beholds Brahman, because there is no questioning mind there, that separation — "Is this Brahman or not?" — will not be there. When there is only oneness, who is going to question?
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== Bhṛgu's Fourth Realisation: Vijñānamaya — Vijñāna Brahma ==
So then Bhṛgu realised this. He went and must have discussed, then must have received further instructions. What is the nature of the Vijñāna? The Vijñānamaya Kośa is called Niścayātmikā Buddhi — from various pros and cons, it decides what should be done. So you find that out.

Then Bhṛgu went and did Tapasyā. Then he identified himself with the Vijñānamaya Kośa. Then the same doubt came — the same characteristics too. "I am not the Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya. I am the Vijñānamaya. I am not only individual Vijñānamaya — I am the collective Vijñānamaya." And then he must have had doubt. He must have come. Then the teacher must have told him about the Ānandamaya Kośa.

The description is not here, so only up to the Vijñānamaya Kośa is it described. Then straight away the Upaniṣad jumps to: ''Ānandaṃ Brahmeti vijānāt.''
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== Bhṛgu's Fifth and Final Realisation: Ānanda Brahma ==
You have to crystal-clearly separate: "I am the Ānandamaya Kośa" — no, that was not the realisation. "Ānandaṃ Brahmeti vijānāt, Ānandamaya Kośa Brahmeti na vijānāt." So that is how he went there.

As soon as he became identified with the Ānandamaya Kośa — saying, "I am not the Annamaya, Prāṇamaya, Manomaya, Vijñānamaya; I am Ānandamaya" — first, "everybody is Ānandamaya only." That is called Ānandamaya Brahma. Then he must have discussed, of which description is not given here. And then the teacher must have told him further: "Do Tapasyā."

Then, in the description, it is there — Ānanda. That word Ānanda comes: Priya, Modha, then Ānanda — Priya, Modha, Pramoda. "I am not Priya, I am not Modha, I am not Pramoda. I am Ānanda." And then, with that, this slowly reaching a higher step, a higher story, has ended.

So he must have reached not the fifth storey, but the roof of the fifth storey. He must have approached. What is the nature of the intellect? It is the understanding: "This is the best course for me to adopt." So he must have discussed and must have been confirmed. That is what he says in the sixth Anuvāka:

''Ānando brahmeti vijānāt |'' ''Ānandād dhyeva khalv imāni bhūtāni jāyante |'' ''Ānandena jātāni jīvanti |'' ''Ānandaṃ prayantya abhisaṃviśanti ||''

''Saiṣā bhārgavī vāruṇī vidyā |'' ''Parame vyomani pratiṣṭhitā ||'' ''Sā ya evaṃ veda pratiṣṭhati |'' ''Annāvān annādo bhavati |'' ''Mahān bhavati |'' ''Prajayā paśubhiḥ Brahmavarcasena |'' ''Mahān bhavati ||''
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== The Sixth Anuvāka — Ānanda Brahma ==
So in this sixth Anuvāka there are two parts.

''Ānando brahmeti vijānāt'' — Bhṛgu realised: "I am Ānanda Brahma." Remember — never mistake: "I am Ānandamaya Kośa Brahma." No. "I am Ānanda." That is the supreme Brahman.

Then it is from Brahman — the whole universe comes, in the form of the Pañca Bhūtas. It is because of Ānanda that we all live. In the hope of Ānanda only we continue our life. And we merge back into from where we have come. The effect always must go back to its cause, and all causes merge back into what is called the supreme cause — the ultimate cause, the causeless cause — which is called Brahman.

And he understood the hint, because the father had given: "From where do these beings come? Who is the very first cause of the entire creation? Who is sustaining? And to whom does every creature go back? That is Brahman."
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== Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva — Creator, Sustainer, Liberator ==
So in the Paurāṇika language: Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu is the maintainer or sustainer, and Śiva is supposed to be taking us back into the causeless cause. That is why in Kāśī he bestows his special grace.

We will discuss these points in our next class.

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

'''May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 103 Ch3.3-6 on 06 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:57:22Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Full Transcript (Not Corrected) == Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha) == ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म् पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu ॐ सह नाववतु । स..."

Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Lecture 163 on 05-May-2026

2026-05-08T04:50:33Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Full Transcript (Not Corrected) == Opening Invocation == OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु ---- == Reading the Gospel as Participation == Śrī Rāmakṛṣ..."

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PAHADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU

ओम् जननीम् शर्दाम् देवेम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपत्मे तयोस्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुरु मुहु
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== Reading the Gospel as Participation ==
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, every now and then, breaks into a beautiful song and also sometimes dances, completely forgetting himself, forgetting the whole world. That inspires the devotees who are attending the talks. And whenever we read the Gospel, it is not reading — it is participating. Time and space do not count here. We are transported, as it were, or, if you wish, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was transported into the present moment. When we enjoy whatever he is speaking, it is absolutely addressed to me alone. That is the bhāvanā with which we have to read any scripture. Whenever we read the Bhagavad Gītā or the Upaniṣads, we will have to think: God himself, or a great Ṛṣi himself, is addressing it towards us and towards each one of us. Because the simple truth is, even if there are a billion people listening, only those who are interested will be absorbing it — not otherwise. So this is a great spiritual practice.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Song and the Nature of Bhāgavatam ==
We have seen in our last class, with which we ended, that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa suddenly broke into a beautiful song. We have to remember that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa does not think, "I have to sing this song." Something from within inspires him, and he becomes one with the singing — like Bhāgavata, Bhakta, and Bhagavān. When Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sings, he sees the Divine Mother, he sees the Bhāgavata people, the Bhaktas, and he himself is one of the Bhaktas. And the Bhāgavata is coming, like it came from the mouth of Śukadeva.

In this context, we have to understand that Bhāgavatam is not only the teachings that go by that name. Any realised soul — after realisation, it is only God who speaks. Bhagavān's words are called Bhāgavatam. So whether it is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa or anybody else — that is why M had very aptly titled it ''Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Kathāmṛtam''. He could have easily said ''Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam''. As I mentioned, one child who had obtained the blessings of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa in the form of a sweet also became a Paṇḍit when he grew up, and he wrote a beautiful book called ''Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Bhāgavatam''. So everything that comes from the mouth of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is Bhāgavatam only.

M himself has said, on the very first visit, that what he had heard so far — in only a few minutes — made him feel as if Śukadeva himself were speaking of the glories of Bhagavān to Rājā Parīkṣit, who was in the direst condition, cursed to die within seven days. What a great blessing! Parīkṣit died — died due to what? After hearing the Bhāgavatam, anybody who is absorbed in Bhagavān and dies has attained Mukti, or liberation. So also, if some people's physical death happens to take place — let us say, after reading the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — if he is truly absorbed, by the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, he might get Mukti also. We do not know, unless of course the person cherishes some lingering desires.
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== "Dive Deep, O Mind" — The Ocean of God's Beauty ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa broke into this beautiful song in Bengali. I want to dive a little into the meaning of this particular song:

''Dive deep, O mind, dive deep in the ocean of God's beauty.''

A sādhaka is addressing his own mind. You have to go deep — how many times? Not once, not twice, but as many times as possible. And dive deep into what? Into the ocean of God's beauty.

"God's beauty" is beautifully described. There is a verse which says there are a few definitions of God. Sat Cit Ānanda is one. That Sat becomes Satyam, that Jñānam also becomes Śivam, and there is a word Sundaram. Sundaram means Ānanda. Whatever we love appears in our eyes as very beautiful. In the eyes of what we call a mother crow, the young one of the crow is the most beautiful creature in the whole world. That is why parents are ready to give up their lives — whether birds or animals. This is something so marvellous, even to contemplate.

So, only when we are able to meditate on the Ānanda aspect — which is also called the beauty aspect — then only will we be able to dive. Until that Ānanda comes, we will be trying to find some other object, trying to remember that which gave us so much happiness. But God's beauty is not some perishing, ephemeral, vanishing beauty. It is an ocean of God's beauty. And just as when we approach the ocean, we see how many waves — what are these waves? Waves of bliss. Because God can be enjoyed in infinite ways. The Infinite can be enjoyed in infinite ways. And if we descend to the uttermost depths, as we go on contemplating the Saundarya — the beauty of God — this God will not vanish, and this beauty will never vanish, and this Ānanda will never vanish. Therefore, there is no fear of losing it.

If anyone can descend, as we go on descending, our joy will increase and our Bhakti will increase. So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is singing, absorbed in ecstasy. If somebody reaches to the very depth, that is called Parābhakti — supreme devotion. And Swāmī Vivekānanda, in his book on Bhakti Yoga — there are two separate sets of talks Swāmī Vivekānanda had given: ''Bhakti Yoga'' is one, and ''Talks on Bhakti Yoga'' is another, at two different places, but the essence is the same — says at the end that Parābhakti, supreme devotion, and supreme knowledge are one and the same. We can also add: supreme Karma Yoga, supreme Bhakti Yoga, supreme Rāja Yoga, supreme Jñāna Yoga. That means when a person attains to the very peak of knowledge, or yoga, or devotion, or loving service to God, then there is no difference. He becomes one with God.
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== Vṛndāvana in the Heart — The Āḷvārs and the Gopīs ==
And there you will find the gem of love. What is love? Another word for love is complete unity. And the song continues:

''Go seek, O mind, go seek. Do not stop.''

Do not get disheartened if for some reason you are not getting what you want. If you go on seeking, what do you see? What do you get? You will see Vṛndāvana in your own heart. The real Vṛndāvana is in our own hearts. Whenever anybody — like a Gopī — can think of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, then that place, that heart, becomes Vṛndāvana.

If you remember, there was a South Indian Āḷvār — a woman, the only woman who is the highest devotee of God among the twelve. They are called Āḷvārs. Interestingly, the word "āḷu" means depth. It is the same: one who has gone to the very bottom of this divine love. So whoever has reached that is titled an Āḷvār. There are twelve such Āḷvārs, even though there are millions and millions of devotees, but only twelve are mentioned there.

Of them, this Godhā — a woman called Godhā, whose father Viṣṇucitta was also an Āḷvār — he got this small baby in a garden, like Sītā was found in the furrow of a ploughed field. That is why Sītā is called Bhūmijā. Nobody knows who placed her there, just as nobody knows who was Godhā's mother. She developed tremendous devotion only because of past saṃskāras — like Mīrābāī, like Rādhārāṇī.

Also, Rāmakṛṣṇa meets an old woman in Vṛndāvana who was considered by Rāmakṛṣṇa as an Āḷvār. He said she is the incarnation of the Rādhā Gopī. So even today they are there. What about Gopāler Mā — is she not a Gopī? What about Holy Mother — is she not Rādhārāṇī? We have to think that all these people are Gopīs. Gopī means a loving heart — that is all.

So when a devotee goes on deeper and deeper, he will find Vṛndāvana. That is called Gokula, that is also called Viṣṇuloka, Vaikuṇṭha, Kailāsa, Devī Loka, Paradise, Kingdom of Heaven — all these mean the same thing.
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== Kṛṣṇa's Eternal Sports with Devotees ==
And what happens in this Vṛndāvana? There, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally. Eternal Kṛṣṇa cannot be eternal unless there are also devotees who do not want to become one with him, because that is called Līlā. And when we close our eyes and focus in the Vṛndāvana of our heart, we must also visualise all the scenes that had taken place in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. We will come to that topic, because this is a most loving topic.

All the direct disciples, first — not to speak of Holy Mother — were all living in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Loka. Many of his householder devotees were also living outside, carrying on their normal duties, but inside they are nothing but pure devotees. That is why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa used to sing and dance with his devotees, especially at Dakṣiṇeśvar. Where, with his loving devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa sports eternally — because a devotee, since God is eternal and these devotees also live in eternity, wants to sport with God for eternity.
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== The Lamp of True Wisdom ==
That is so beautifully described. The song continues:

''Light up, O mind, light up — true wisdom's shining lamp, and let it burn with steady flame, unceasingly within your heart.''

What is this wisdom's shining lamp? That is the one in whose light one can behold — ''jyotira jyoti, ujjvala hṛdīkāndra tumi tama'' — and if the devotee looks inquiringly into the question of where the source of this light is, since it is coming from his beloved, let it burn with steady flame. Just as in the presence of light we can never lose sight.

Some clever fellow may retort — a wise talker — "Suppose I close my eyes. Yes, you closed your eyes. Will there be no light then?" So we are all like people who have already become experts in closing our eyes to the reality. We are being rushed to our deaths, and yet we are thinking we are very safe. Like the fish — the fourth type of fish — which goes deeper into the mud but within the net, and then thinks, "Oh, there is no net. We are safe in our own mud," and then burrows deep into it.
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== The Guru Steers the Boat ==
Now, there is a person called Kuber — not to be mistaken with Kabīr; Kabīr Dās was one of the greatest Jñāni saints. But here is a Kuber who must have been a devotee-saint. The song says: go on looking at your beloved, who is the very shining lamp in your own heart. And then this Kuber says:

''Who is it that steers your boat across the solid earth? It is your Guru.''

Meditate on his holy feet, says Kuber. A great Guru-Bhakta must have been this Kuber. He asks: who is it that can steer a boat where normally boats travel only on waters? But here he says "solid earth." That means, even in this thick forest of ignorance, if anybody surrenders himself to a Sadguru, he will take one to the Sat — the source of everything. So only the Guru can steer your boat across the solid earth — meaning, even across this impossible net of Māyā — and into whose presence? Into Vaikuṇṭha, where we see the Divine Lord all the time with unblinking eyes.

And we have to imagine — not that there are millions of other devotees and I am one of them. No, only you are there. This is beautifully illustrated in the Rāsalīlā dance on the banks of the Yamunā. The Gopīs could not see anybody. Turn to the right — Kṛṣṇa. Turn to the left — Kṛṣṇa. Look in front of you — Kṛṣṇa. They were all in a circle. Wherever you look — above, below, front, back, left, right — everywhere there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa.
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== Rāmakṛṣṇa's First Experience of Consciousness ==
"Consciousness has overwhelmed me and I became unconscious" — this is peculiar mystical language. Rāmakṛṣṇa was describing the very first experience of consciousness after he took up the worship of the Divine Mother. "Mā, Mā" — his mouth started only doing this. He was thinking only about God, no one else.
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== The Jīvanmukta and the Desire to Witness Līlā ==
Rāmakṛṣṇa continues: "It is also true that after the vision of God, the devotee desires to witness his Līlā." That is, Rāmakṛṣṇa is describing the condition of a Jīvanmukta. In Vedānta, we first get a Jīvanmukta. He first realises ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi''. Afterwards, by God's will, he may be kept in this world as a teacher to awaken the ripened souls. But at the same time, they never have this Ahaṃkāra — "I am a teacher, I have been kept here for teaching." No.

Rāmakṛṣṇa can be taken as an example. He never said, "I am preaching. I don't know anything. My Mother knows everything. I only know how to eat and drink" — that means, "I enjoy." But here is what is called Līlāsvādhana: he participates in the Divine Līlā. Everything is the Divine Līlā.

Once Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was given jalebi by his devotees. He was eating, like a child, and another child entered the room. Immediately, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa covered that jalebi vessel and pushed it behind his back so that this child would not see — looking fearfully to see if the new child was going to discover it. Because if the child sees it, his vision will be unwaveringly concentrated on it only. That is one type of Līlā. But the devotees who were witnessing this Līlā must have been enjoying it.

Here is a person — a so-called God-realised soul — eating and enjoying thoroughly. How much Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa enjoys whatever he enjoys — can you guess? Can you imagine? Because each one of us can only imagine according to our own experiences. Only a person who has enjoyed it thoroughly can really identify with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa.
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== Suffering and the Jīvanmukta — The Sthitaprajña ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: this is also a Līlā of God. And if you ask Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, "Why did you suffer at the end?" — hardly any even semi-liquid sūjī halvā used to go down, and only with great pain — first he will pretend, "Oh, I am suffering so much, don't you see?" But then, on other occasions, he will say, "This is also the Līlā of my Divine Mother." And Līlā means: just as we enjoy a cinema or a drama, we enjoy that too.

This is another aspect of Līlā — that of Sukha and Duḥkha. The characteristics of a Sthitaprajña have been so beautifully brought out at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, in response to the question put by Arjuna. When a Sthitaprajña is going through so-called misery or suffering — is it suffering?

Remember when Hari Mahārāj came. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa wanted to test him. "Look how much I am suffering." Hari Mahārāj — at that time he was deeply immersed in the study of Advaita Vedāntic scriptures, and sometimes he even stopped visiting Rāmakṛṣṇa — immediately said: "No, sir. I see you are swimming in an ocean of bliss." And Rāmakṛṣṇa burst out into joyful laughter and said, "This rascal has found me out!"

For people like us, it is very difficult to understand: is it true that even though the body is suffering, the mind does not suffer? This is what we need to understand. Does the mind suffer? No — as if somebody else's mind is suffering.

When Ramaṇa Mahārṣi's hand had developed a carbuncle, he was operated on by some of his close doctor-devotees without anaesthesia — very, very painful for ordinary persons like us. But Bhagavān went on looking as if somebody else's hand was being operated. There was no reaction at all. "I go on looking at this body also, just as I am looking at you" — that means he was ever living in that state. He himself used to call it a natural Samādhi — that means it has no break. And that is the condition of anybody who is called a Jīvanmukta.

If you remember, Swāmī Vivekānanda came across a sādhu, an old man who was being pelted with stones by children who did not understand him. Blood was coming out, and he went on laughing. Then, in reply to Swāmiji, he said: "Thus prays the father." So do the Jīvanmuktas really suffer? No.

A Jīvanmukta is one who becomes a participant in the Līlā. So their suffering — from our point of view — we cannot imagine. Their suffering is only a pretence, an act, like a drama. But from their point of view, when we are watching two people fighting in a cinema — good versus evil — first only the good people will be thrashed. Many times they are even killed. And that is what history teaches us: good people are apt to suffer more than evil people. If we have any iota of intelligence, read history — it is nothing but the murder of billions and billions and billions of people by a few wicked people. Even today it is going on in every way. But as soon as we get our dāl roṭī, we do not think anything. "The world is fine, I am also fine. I am fine, so the world is also fine."
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== Nikāśā and the Understanding of the Avatāra's Līlā ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling: the devotee desires to witness his Līlā. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a beautiful example. We do not know where from he heard it, because there are so many versions of the Rāmāyaṇa.

After the destruction of Rāvaṇa at Rāma's hands, Nikāśā, Rāvaṇa's mother, began to run away for fear of her life. Lakṣmaṇa said to Rāma: "Revered brother, please explain this strange thing to me. This Nikāśā is an old woman who has suffered a great deal from the loss of her many sons." In fact, every son had been killed excepting one — who was Vibhīṣaṇa — and yet she is so afraid of losing her own life that she is taking to her heels.

Rāma bade her come near, gave her assurance of safety, and asked her why she was running away. Nikāśā answered: "O Rāma, I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you will do on this earth."

Now, what I would like to point out: even in this so-called innocent recollection by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — this Nikāśā must have been old then. And what does she say? When Rāma asked, she says: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours." So that means she knew who Rāma was. She knew that this killing, this battle — everything is the Līlā.

Now stop for a second. Ask yourself: what is the meaning of Līlā? Is the Līlā real, or does it look real but is not real? A beautifully made film may look so realistic — and "realistic" and "real" are two separate words — it looks so realistic that we actually feel either happiness or sadness. We can also shed tears at the sufferings of people.

Like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, when he was hearing the story of Satyā Hariścandra — the devotees started weeping. Because the narrator, called a Kathāk — a storyteller — there are so many varieties of storytellers. Some people, when they tell a story, it is dry as dust. And some people have the divine capacity to make their audience feel the description. Sometimes even they themselves may not feel it, but the audience will.

So, like that, this Nikāśā could say: "O Rāma, I know you are an Avatāra. I know this is all your Līlā." And if it is Līlā, then — I am the mother of Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīṣaṇa — is that also real, or is it also part of the Līlā?

So: is there death? Is it Līlā? ''Ubhau tau na vijānīto — nāyaṃ hanti na hanyate.'' That is the Līlā. We see the action, we enjoy the action, but we know it is not real. That is called Līlā. And when we understand it that way, we are also participators in that Līlā. But if we are affected by it — some people cannot see sad dramas, what is called tragic. They all want to see the hero and heroine get married, and "ever after they are happy." This illusion they want to keep. That is why in old-time cinema, after the marriage, usually they would not show what happened. "Śubham," they say — "We wish you all the best."

So Nikāśā's answer contains the highest Vedāntic description of a Jīvanmukta: "I am able to witness all this Līlā of yours because I am still alive. I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth." Everybody laughed — all the devotees present. But do you think they all understood? Because you just listen — ''tat tvam asi'' — how much do you understand? ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — how much do we understand? But as we go on — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana — slowly, through understanding, bit by bit, infinitesimally smaller bits of meaning come into our minds. So much meaning is there.

This is how we have to squeeze every sentence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — every word that came out of his mouth, and for that matter, any Jīvanmukta's mouth, any Avatāra's mouth, any Ṛṣi-Muni's mouth. We have to ponder. That pondering deeply and enjoying — what can we enjoy? Only that which is real. Nobody enjoys something fake.
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== The Illusion of Worldly Beauty ==
And everyday we are trying to fall into that trap of the enjoyment of fakeness. Somebody dresses beautifully, drives a beautiful car, puts on a lot of lipstick — and nowadays beauty parlours are there. They come out of that beauty parlour. You just look at them. But go near them, and you will see: the nearer we approach them, we see the defects more and more clearly — the stench, the bad smell. I have seen so many people who want to come near me and whisper, but such unbelievably intolerable stench comes from their mouth that sometimes I cannot tolerate it. So the nearer we approach, we see the defects. And one millisecond is sufficient to shatter all our illusions.

So we have to develop, at the same time, the capacity to see in and through and beyond all that. If we see through the Anātman — the non-Ātman — we can see the Ātman, and then we can see that the reality is the same. The same consciousness is wriggling even in a small worm, as Rāmakṛṣṇa says.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's Love for Pure-Souled Devotees — Śivana ==
So let us enjoy. Maybe some of you might be thinking: "This gospel class is going on so slowly — what is the use?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa squeezed the entire essence of the Gītā into one word. If you repeat that word "Gītā" fast, it becomes "tāgī." Similarly, the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is — as Swāmī Vivekānanda described to one Robert Ingersoll, a confirmed atheist — like an orange: "I can squeeze it as many times as I want, because it is not the worldly orange, it is the divine orange." So it is Rasa Svādhana.

Now Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's attention had turned to Śivana. "I like to see you. How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees? I feel as if they had been my friends in a former incarnation." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's mind, after singing this song, was filled with tremendous, indescribable joy. And when a person is joyous, in his eyes everybody looks joyous only.

Now what is important here: this same Śivana, Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa loved — because God loves everybody. But Śivana later on withdrew from Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa and passed on negative remarks, like: "He was very spiritual in the beginning; now he seems to have fallen from that high state." God alone knows what he meant by that. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa sharply rebuked him also towards the end: "You people think of worldly things and are very conscious of it. But I, who think of nothing else except God, who am the very embodiment of consciousness — I am suffering from fits, states of unconsciousness. What type of intelligence is that?" So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself says: "You don't have that intelligence."

Anyway, Śivana — we have to salute him, because he was so fortunate to see Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to witness Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and to be addressed by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, who said: "How can I live unless I see pure-souled devotees like you?"
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== Śrīnivāsa Recognises the Child Gādāi at Kāmārpukur ==
There was an incident. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was at Kāmārpukur. He was only five or six years old. There was a great Vaiṣṇava devotee who was a bangle-seller. He was called Śrīnivāsa. One day Śrīnivāsa took Gādāi — his Iṣṭa Devatā — to his home and worshipped him like his Iṣṭa Devatā, and bowing down to him said: "O Gādāi, this body will not last long. I feel it coming to an end. But I can guess how many Līlās you are going to perform."

How did this Śrīnivāsa know about it? He must have been, first of all, a great sādhaka. Secondly, he must have had visions of Gādāi. Remember: Rāmakṛṣṇa had the vision of Gayā Viṣṇu. Candramaṇī Devī had the vision of Śiva in the form of light. Even when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was in the womb of Candramaṇī Devī, how many divine visions she had!

And just imagine — we just read that information and pass on to the next page without feeling anything. If you had a dream that you are seeing Holy Mother, or Swāmiji, or Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, or your Guru, and you are speaking or sitting near him — how much joy you will get! Not to speak of that; the joy lasts for many days, provided you are a real devotee with real devotion to the Guru. How much Candramaṇī Devī must have enjoyed these visions of various Gods and Goddesses! Why were they visiting? Because they know: "Our Divine Lord Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, is here in the womb of this lady."
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== The Universe Within the Universe — Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa ==
So there is a song: "Only Śiva knows." Like that, if the whole universe is in the womb of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa — and Yaśodā saw the whole universe, not one universe but universe after universe, when she asked Kṛṣṇa to open his mouth to examine whether he had eaten mud — she saw universe within universe within universe within universe. Like when you are in a hall of mirrors, you will see an unending stretch of mirrors and your own reflections. Brahmāṇḍa within Brahmāṇḍa.

And really speaking, everything is a Brahmāṇḍa. Suppose an ant has given birth to a baby ant. That baby ant is living where? In its own baby ant's world. It has its own happiness, its own joy. The mother is looking after it. There also, Mātṛbhāva is there. If anybody tries to harm their babies, all the ants together will come and attack the enemy — wasps or other ants, etc. We have to understand that that is the condition of every creature.

So we are all cherishing — each one of us — one Brahmāṇḍa. How many Brahmāṇḍas are there? Brahmāṇḍa means universe. Because our mind is the Brahmāṇḍa. The entire world — that means our knowledge of the world — is within our minds. "This is good, that is not good. This is sweet, that is bitter. This is attractive, this is not attractive. This is joy, this is suffering." The whole universe is within our own mind.

That is why the more we study the phenomena of dream, the nearer we will be to the truth. Only upon waking up, we do not connect. What we saw in the dream world is nothing but what we are living — the waking state is exactly the same phenomenon. No difference at all. So this is also a dream. Don't even say it is a bigger dream or a smaller dream. It is exactly another state. You should not compare two states, saying, "That is bigger, this is smaller; that is of short duration and this is longer duration."
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== The Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — Dream and Waking Are the Same ==
If you still remember our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā classes, this was one of the objections raised: what is the difference between the dream world and the waking world? The opponent says: "Well, the dream world lasts only for a flash of a second, whereas this waking world lasts forever."

Once this conversation was going on in the presence of Ramaṇa Mahārṣi, and he clarified the point — "My dear sir," he didn't say that; I am adding that — "when you are in the dream state, do you feel that this is a dream state and this only lasts for one second, but when I go to the waking state that will last for a long time?" Just as we feel that we are going to live for many, many years and go on counting our birthdays until the time comes for us to become unconscious after death — so also, in the dream world, we do not hold the idea that it is any less than the waking state. In the dream state we do not call it a dream. We call it a complete waking state. But when we come back to the waking state, we say: "Oh, that was all my imagination."

Do we sit for a second and pause and ponder and say: "Is perhaps this also my own imagination?" Because we do not know the truth. What is the truth? Here is a person who is my arch enemy, and I would like to cut him or her to pieces. Is that the truth? "Yes, yes, I experienced it so many times. He or she is the most evil person on earth." But just go deep into it. You are talking about the Prāṇamaya Kośa, the Annamaya Kośa. Go to that person's Prāṇamaya Kośa, that person's Manomaya Kośa, that person's Vijñānamaya Kośa, that person's Ānandamaya Kośa. Then you understand: "No. Like me, this person also wants to dwell as long as possible in this state of Ānandamaya Kośa."

And since a person wakes up to the truth that even the Ānandamaya Kośa does not last for a long time, so also this person understands: beyond these Pañca Kośas there is something uncreated, eternal, infinite — one without a second. And that is the real nature of me. The moment I understand "I am one without a second," I am forced to admit that everything in this universe is also one without a second.
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== Nikāśā Revisited — Squeezing the Meaning ==
But we are talking about Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa explaining beautifully that Nikāśā must have been a realised soul, to recognise Rāma as an Avatāra and the death of all her sons as part of the Līlā. "I want to live longer so that I may see the many more things you, the incarnation as Rāma, will accomplish on this earth." Everybody laughed — all the devotees present. But do you think they all understood?

Because just listen — ''tat tvam asi'' — how much do you understand? ''Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi'' — how much do we understand? But as we go on — śravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana — slowly, through understanding, bit by bit, infinitesimally smaller bits come into our minds. So much meaning is there. This is how we have to squeeze every sentence of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Every word that came out of his mouth — and for that matter, any Jīvanmukta's mouth, any Avatāra's mouth, any Ṛṣi-Muni's mouth — we have to ponder. That pondering deeply and enjoying — what can we enjoy? Only that which is real. Nobody enjoys something fake. And everyday we are trying to fall into that trap of the enjoyment of fakeness, somebody dresses beautifully. So, we have to develop — at the same time, if we know how to see in and through and beyond all that — we see through the Anātman, the non-Ātman, and see the Ātman. Then we can see that the reality is the same. The same consciousness is wriggling even like a small worm, as Rāmakṛṣṇa says.
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== The Brāhmo Devotee's Question on Reincarnation ==
Now a Brāhmo devotee is asking: "Sir, do you believe in the reincarnation of the soul?" This is what is called the Karma Siddhānta, the Punarjanma Siddhānta. We are all born because of the result — to reap the result, to experience the results of what we have done in our past lives. Not only one life. Because there is an understanding: the effects of this life are not necessarily only the results of the very last birth. It could be five thousand years before. But depending upon what type of experiences we can have, it could be some Karmaphala from five thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from two thousand years back, some other Karmaphala from the last birth — they can also be combined. Only God knows how he combines. The idea is: in one life, some of the results have to be exhausted. And even in this life, we are creating further actions and further results. And if we can somehow start moving towards God, then we will also reach God.

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa did not want to say outright, "I know," because it was Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa himself who said: "He who was Rāma, he who was Kṛṣṇa, he who was Buddha, Jesus, etc., is now in this life reborn as Rāmakṛṣṇa." If he could say that, why not this also?

Exactly the same answer was given by Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in the beginning of the fourth chapter of the Gītā. Arjuna asks a question, and Kṛṣṇa says: "The same question was asked by Manu to me ten thousand years ago." Arjuna was shocked. What does this statement prove? That there are not many new questions — the same questions will pop up again and again. So I am telling you: Arjuna was asked, "How could you speak to Manu, who was ten thousand years back, you who are born along with me at this time?" Then Kṛṣṇa says: "I have had many births and I remember them all. You also had many births, and you will remember them — you just don't remember them, that's all."

Not only that — in the Gītā itself, Bhagavān says: even if somebody goes to heaven, one has to come down to this earth to continue the sādhana. And this will continue until one becomes completely united with God. So also we have to understand: when a person goes to Naraka, that is also not a permanent state. As soon as he has paid the Karmaphala, that person has to immediately be given another chance. How many chances? Infinite chances will be given, because each soul is potentially divine. Nobody can stop the progress of this potential divinity — this evolution — until one reaches one's own home.

So a master is evading this question. As they say, "There is something like that." How can we understand the ways of God through our small intellects? What does Rāmakṛṣṇa mean by "small intellects"? That means people of little faith. As Jesus Christ rebukes, "Ye of little faith" — how many times? His own direct disciples, especially Peter, had betrayed him three times and denied seeing Jesus Christ.

And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "Many people have spoken about reincarnation, therefore I cannot disbelieve." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was not saying it categorically, because he was talking perhaps to a devotee who does not have faith in it but just put the question anyway. So even if I tell, it will have no effect upon this person's mind. A teaching will not have effect until the other person is ready — not only to listen, but to think over it, accept it, and transform the life.

So let us not think we all believe in Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — really? How do we say that? Because only when we start transforming our life earnestly can we say we are devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Until then, it is only intellectual satisfaction — a little bit of external rituals like pūjā, japa — everything is going on — but really speaking, we have to judge only by the amount of transformation that takes place in our life.
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== Bhīṣma's Tears and the Incomprehensibility of the Avatāra's Ways ==
Now another episode has come. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is continuing. He had completed the answer to that Brāhmo devotee's question — whether man has past lives, which implies whether we have future lives also.

"As Bhīṣma lay dying on his bed of arrows, the Pāṇḍava brothers and Kṛṣṇa stood around him. And these Pāṇḍavas saw tears flowing from the eyes of Bhīṣma. The great hero Arjuna said to Kṛṣṇa: 'Friend, how surprising it is! Even such a man as our Grandsire Bhīṣma — truthful, self-restrained, supremely wise, and one of the eight Vasus — weeps through Māyā at the hour of death.'" So Arjuna was living in his own world. He interpreted Bhīṣma's tears only as he understood them.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa asked Bhīṣma about it. Now Śrī Kṛṣṇa wants to give the answer through Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma replied: "O Kṛṣṇa, you know very well that this is not the cause of my grief. I am thinking that there is no end to the Pāṇḍavas' sufferings, though God himself is their protector and charioteer. A thought like this makes me feel that I have understood nothing of the ways of God, and so I weep."

This is the answer Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa has given. Then what does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa want to convey to us? Because, like the Bhagavad Gītā, he says: "Even billions can hear the Gītā, but without my grace, nobody understands me."

''Avajānanti māṃ mūḍhā mānuṣīṃ tanum āśritam |'' ''paraṃ bhāvam ajānanto mama 'vyayam anuttamam ||'' ''daivī hy eṣā guṇamayī mama māyā duratyayā |'' ''mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṃ taranti te ||''

For us, what is important to understand is this Māyā, which is binding us — and we don't understand it is Māyā. We are using the word Māyā and we are also understanding Māyā through Māyā only. We don't understand anything about Māyā.

Very interesting: the Sanskrit word Māyā, reversed — ''yā mā'' — ''yā'' means "which," ''mā'' means "that which does not exist." So we are talking about Māyā, which never existed. Like this world, it is called Mithyā.

So what is important for us? Do not try to fathom the Avatāra, to understand the Avatāra. Much less the Avatāra — we cannot even understand our own mother, our own father, our own wife, our own husband, our own selves. When I am not able to understand my own self and I require some help from a psychiatrist or psychologist — what to speak of such people?

So, did Bhīṣma understand? There are some beautiful thoughts about this subject which we will talk about in our next class.

== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti.

'''Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:45:17Z

Vamsimarri: /* Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad wants to say that the Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means Ekam eva advitiyam — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it gods? is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just dwell upon that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:33:48Z

Vamsimarri: /* The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad wants to say that the Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:32:40Z

Vamsimarri: /* The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:32:20Z

Vamsimarri: /* Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāma, Kṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — Gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:28:39Z

Vamsimarri: /* Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga''. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāmakṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — Gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:26:12Z

Vamsimarri: /* The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samaya sphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samaya sphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga'' as well. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāmakṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — Gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 30 on 03 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:20:40Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== The Central Questions of the Seekers ==
So there was a great discussion among the seekers of Brahman. What is the nature of Brahman? What is the relationship between me and Brahman? And how can I attain that Brahman? Especially, this is the essence of the mantras 9th and 10th in the 4th section of the 1st chapter.

To recollect what we had discussed: Brahman alone seems to wander in ''saṃsāra'' through ignorance. And thinking that "I am not Brahman," through the grace of God and the grace of Guru, the same ignorant Brahman — which is called ''jīvātmā'' — slowly recognises: "I was never a ''jīvātmā.'' I was always, I was, I am, and I will be Brahman only."
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== The Pūrvapakṣa: The View of the Opponents ==
As we discussed in the last class, there were so many ''pūrvapakṣīs.'' In a sense, what they want to say is that the ''jīvātmā'' is from the beginning only a separate soul wandering in this ''saṃsāra,'' but he wants to get rid of this limitation. So he does spiritual practice — especially what is called ''upāsanā. Upāsanā'' means becoming like the object of meditation. Just as when we approach a blazing fire, we feel more and more heat, and if we become one with fire, we also are known as only fire — similarly, when a person approaches God — and the definition of God is either ''sat-cit-ānanda'' or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma'' — so this person, who was not Brahman, by spiritual practice slowly changes his nature. He who was limited now becomes unlimited. ''Sarvam bhavati.'' This is one of the views of the opponents, especially a person called Bhartṛprapañca.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Refutation: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Nature ==
Śaṅkarācārya refutes this view and says: first of all, the nature of a thing can never be changed either by ''karma'' — action — or by ''jñānam'' — knowledge.

What does knowledge say? It only reveals what is. It cannot change anything. What can ''karma'' do? It can only remove the obstructions and then reveal the nature of an object. For example, if sugar is covered with dirt and dust, and then we employ certain methods to clean it up, the pure sugar will come out. So that cleaning process doesn't change what is not sugar into sugar — it removes the obstacles. Then the knowledge will reveal: this is the nature of the sugar. But either ''karma'' or ''jñāna'' — both cannot change the nature of a thing. It is impossible.
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== Can a Jīva Become Brahman? Bhartṛprapañca's Claim ==
So this is one point. The second is: how does one ''jīva'' become Brahman? And especially there was a person called Bhartṛprapañca — he was a very powerful opponent, long before Śaṅkarācārya, and many people followed Bhartṛprapañca's views.

Bhartṛprapañca claims: even though we are all ''jīvas,'' by doing ''upāsanā'' — and remember, ''upāsanā'' is also an action; it is a mental action, but for any mental action the physical body must cooperate. Normally you cannot lie down on a soft bed and try to contemplate on God. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa could do that; Swami Advaitānandajī could do that — people who have absolute control over their mind can do that. But ordinary people cannot, because the tendency of the bed is to make a person fall asleep.

So here we have this beautiful ''sādhanā.'' That is what Bhartṛprapañca claims: you go on thinking about God, you forget yourself, and then slowly ''jīvātmā'' becomes Parabrahma.

And the same logic applies whether you meditate, whether you do action, or whether you obtain knowledge. No — a ''jīva'' can never become Brahma.
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== The Advaita Answer: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
Then what is it that Advaita Vedānta wants to teach? That what you are calling yourself — "I am a ''jīvātmā''" — it is a wrong opinion. You are suffering under the delusion that "I am not Brahman." Just like a prince who was kidnapped and brought up by some street beggars starts thinking: "These are my parents. I am also a child of a beggar. I have nothing." Until somebody comes and recognises him and then tries to prove it — it will take quite a long time for that person to say: "How can I be a prince?" But in the course of time, truth will come out. Because if we are Brahman, it has to come out — even after a zillion births. But if we are not, no amount of washing the black skin of a rat is going to turn it into a pure white-skinned rat. It is not going to be possible.

So therefore what is it? This Mahāvākya — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — is one of the most powerful of the mantras. It is telling us that you were, you are, you will be Brahman. But for some mysterious reason — and no school of philosophy was able to tell us the origin of this — especially Advaita Vedānta says that you are suffering from ''avidyā.'' And where does this ''avidyā'' come from? That was a very interesting topic.

Even today, accepting or evading a straightforward reply — even Advaitins are forced to tell that there is no such thing called ''avidyā,'' because consciousness is pure. Pure consciousness is pure ''jñānam.'' Pure knowledge can never entertain even an iota of ignorance. So it is, therefore, not there.
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== The Purpose of Spiritual Practice: Gauḍapāda's View ==
Then what about this ''saṃsāra?'' Well, as we saw yesterday — according to Gauḍapāda — the whole purpose of spiritual practice is to understand that actually what you are seeing is none other than Brahman. But because of some coverings on your mind, you are thinking: "This is not Brahman. This is the world." Brahman is one; the world is multiplicity. Brahman is unlimited; the world is limited. Brahman is only one — so no difference, internal or external.

Three types of differences: no ''vijātīya-bheda'' — no species difference; no ''sajātīya-bheda'' — no difference between two objects of the same species; no ''svagata-bheda'' — no internal differences. So ''vijātīya, sajātīya, svagata-bhedas'' are not there. Brahman is ''bheda-rahitaḥ.'' But I am thinking everything is differentiated. It is because of some power called ''avidyā.''

So just like a person mistakes a harmless, innocent rope for a snake — there was not, there is not, there will not be any snake there. What was there is only revealed. If this person had come during daytime when there is light, he would not have mistaken it. If it were completely dark, he would not have had that illusion either. Only when there is a phantom, creative, semi-darkness present — then you will come to make that mistake.

And Brahman is not something which can be objectified. Brahman is beyond both the subject and object. And then how is it to be done? ''Neti, neti'' — this will come later on. ''Na iti.'' So this is not a denial of Brahman but a negation of everything other than Brahman — that is, the entire universe.
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== The Four Fruits of Action and Mokṣa ==
''Mokṣa,'' according to the ''pūrvapakṣī'' or opponents of Advaita, is not something that can be produced. Because — if you remember — what are the four fruits of any action? If something is not there, you can produce it. If something is there already but not here — elsewhere — then you can go there and obtain it. If something is covered with dirt, you can clean it. If something is broken, you can repair it. Every action must bring one of these four effects.

So Brahman cannot become old, because it is eternal. Eternal means time doesn't affect it; space doesn't affect it. So no subject can affect it. It is not an object. Therefore, it is not something which can be produced, which can be found elsewhere — it is everywhere. And it can never be cleaned up, because it is ever clean. ''Nitya, śuddha, buddha, nityamukta.'' Therefore, the conclusion is: ''jñānāt eva mokṣaḥ.''

So the text — that is, our Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, especially mantras 9th and 10th of the 4th section — strongly declares that ''mokṣa'' is to remove the wrong notion. That is called ''mokṣa.'' And as soon as this is removed, what is original will unfold itself, uncover itself. It is just covered up.
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== Vāmadeva's Declaration and Sarvātma-Bhāva ==
For that, certain examples are given. And what is that? Vāmadeva declares: "I am Manu, I am the Sun" — that means, "I am the whole creation." That is called ''sarvātma-bhāva.''

Remember, that is how the discussion started. How did Brahman become everything — ''sarvam?'' How did it become ''sarvam?'' The answer is: it has not become. It was, it is, it will be everything. As I mentioned yesterday, this idea of ''sarvātma-bhāva'' will not apply in the ordinary sense.

Even in deep sleep, you don't say: "When I am awake or dreaming, I always feel I am an individual, but when I go into deep sleep, I attain everything." No. Because what is deep sleep? It is just being bereft of all superimpositions. So from the viewpoint of Brahman, this word ''sarvātma-bhāva'' doesn't even exist.

Only because we are thinking through our mind that "I am frightened of something" — then somebody comes and says: "Why should you be frightened? Dādā Madhusūdhana is there all the way. Where is he? He is there in the entire forest. So whenever you are scared, just call brother Madhusūdhana, and at every step, at any step, he will reveal himself to you and escort you to the other side of the forest" — which forest is comparable to ''saṃsāra.''

So ''sarvātma-bhāva'' means: I don't have any desire. The moment I say there is something different from me, I have a desire — either positive or negative. The moment I feel I am everything, then desire will disappear — which, translated into psychological language, means I am a very, very happy person. Nothing else.

And also we have seen earlier — especially in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad — ''dvitīyāt vai bhayaṃ bhavati:'' fear always comes from the second. If anybody thinks Brahman is separate from me, Brahman becomes the cause of fear. When the same person realises: "I am none other than Brahman — there is nothing else other than me" — then that very Brahman becomes ''abhaya-kāraṇa:'' all fear goes away. What is this fear? We also discussed: the fear that what I have I may lose; the fear that what I am desiring I may not get. Both of these fears will disappear when a person realises "I am Brahman."
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== The Relationship Between Karma and Jñāna ==
So what is the relationship now between ''karma'' and ''jñāna? Karma'' is external; ''jñāna'' is internal. ''Jñāna'' is in the form of thought; ''karma'' is in the form of translating that thought into action.

So Bhartṛhari also says: "Why not we combine and obtain ''mokṣa''?" — combine what? ''Jñāna-karma-samuccaya.'' This is called the combination of knowledge and karma. Why not we do that?

Śaṅkara says: I already explained to you — the nature of a thing can never be removed, destroyed, or obtained either through knowledge or karma. So there is no need. We are already free, but we are thinking — like the person in the dream who, after eating a full meal, feels "I am starving, I am terribly hungry," or who is in the safest place and feels "somebody has dragged him out and is beating him black and blue."

So liberation is not the result of ''karma;'' liberation is not the result of ''jñānam.'' But both of these help us only in removing our wrong notions. This removal of our wrong notion — that is the meaning of ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' As soon as I remove it, then ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is not something to be practised — it is something to be experienced. And when I deny everything, when that notion that "I am not Brahman" is totally destroyed, then there is no need to say ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi,'' because I know what I am.

That is the essence of the 9th and 10th mantras. With that, sections 9 and 10 are completely over.
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== The Next Mantras: The Description of Creation ==
Now starts the next few sections in the 4th section of the 1st chapter, subdivided into several mantras. So from the 11th mantra almost to the end, it is describing how this world is created. We have already seen it, I think, in the 8th mantra of this very 1st chapter — but now from another angle, the Upaniṣad wants to tell us: what is this creation?

Before we proceed, we have to keep two points in view.

This 1st chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa,'' and this ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa'' is also called ''Madhu-kāṇḍa.'' What is ''Madhu-kāṇḍa?'' The chapter called Honey. Honey means here: that which brings unbroken bliss. How does it come? It doesn't come from outside — I remove the obstacle, and then I know I have neither death nor ignorance nor suffering. I am ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ-rūpam, sat-cit-ānanda-rūpam.'' That is the truth about it.

But for a beginner, for a student, this idea that "I am ''sat-cit-ānanda''" should not be taught directly. When we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, how many times does Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa caution us! For a beginner, you should not say that all these gods and goddesses are false, and that one has to think "I am Brahman." This especially half-digested understanding was being propagated by Pratāp Chandra Hājrā.

Then we have seen Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa speaking to him in a very diplomatic way: "You are a great person — you may be fit to understand." That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is trying — diplomacy. Inside, he knows: "You are the worst of fools, the lowest of the ignorant — a pure ignoramus." But Hājrā was also fortunate in so many ways. He had the company of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — unbroken company of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa for several years. I would say he was more fortunate even than Swami Vivekānanda and other disciples who used to come now and then. But here is a person who lived outside the door of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa for several years together — so he was watching Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, though never understanding him.

Second thing: the very ''satsaṅga'' of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — how many fortunate souls, whether they knew or not, whether they understood or not, had the good fortune of having the company of an ''avatāra-puruṣa?'' Not even an ordinary person.

Thirdly, even the Guru of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa — Totāpurī — and this Hājrā, and Haradāri — practically they used to spend their time studying the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa and so on. So in every way he was fortunate. But as Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: the Divine Mother keeps — in every drama there will be Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā — that is what is called the sarcastic or funny characters, to make the drama a little more realistic.
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== Finding Where We Are: An Honest Self-Assessment ==
So Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is telling us: for beginners, to teach that everything is Brahman is not only unhelpful but is positively oppressive and negative. Therefore, we will have to understand this one — we have to find out where we are.

Swami Yatīśānanda Mahārāj used to tell: the first duty of every spiritual seeker is to find out where he is. Honestly, he has to objectify himself and find out: "Do I really believe in God? What is the percentage of my belief in God? How much is my life transformed by this belief in the existence of God? How much percentage of longing for God, yearning for God, do I have? Am I really trying to change my old ''saṃskāras'' into new ''saṃskāras?''" Because without this — as we are seeing in the daily messages — without change in our life, without slowly reducing our non-spiritual qualities and strengthening the spiritual qualities, spiritual practice — however much ''japa'' and ''dhyāna'' we do — is practically useless.

So we will have to understand this fact. And from a practical point of view also — how many times I had emphasised: what is spiritual life? It is an attempt to become more and more happy. And a person cannot be a happy person unless he becomes a good person. And a person cannot be a good person unless he understands the reality. So a person who has more knowledge — real knowledge — becomes more and more a good person, and his ''ānanda'' also will increase.
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== Applying the Kośas to Our Own Experience ==
So let us judge ourselves — where we are. What is our normal spiritual seeker's experience?

"I am a body. I am a person. I am male or female. And I see the world in front of me. Everything in this world consists of several parts, and every part is totally different from every part."

Let us take from ''ānandamaya-kośa:'' am I uniformly happy in the same way all the time? How many times do I suffer? Do I feel depressed, lonely, restless? Apply it to all the other ''kośas.'' How many times is my mind changing? "I think this is good — after some time, probably I am wrong, this is not good." Then another thought comes — maybe a good thought. How long are we able to sustain it?

So we have to understand: the mind is changing. One thought is different from the other thought. One minute I am thinking about God; another minute I am thinking of some worldly object, maybe a worse thought. Then what about the body? The body consists of several parts — every part is different. You take a cot: there are legs, there is a thick plank, and there are some hooks to hang the mosquito curtain. Every leg is separate; the plank on which we sleep is separate; everything is separate. My hands, my legs, my eyes, my ears — every single part of my body, my liver, my heart, my kidneys — everything is different.

So what am I experiencing? Difference. That is called ''dvaita.'' So God is also different, ''jīva'' is different, worldly objects are different. Between ''jīva'' and ''jīva'' there is difference; between every single worldly object there is difference; and both these are different from God. This is called Dvaita Vedānta. That is where most of us are.

So we should not say the world doesn't exist. And what do we mean by the world? We only have two judgmental values about the world — really speaking, we don't think of the world analysing it in the way I am doing. The only judgement, the only analysis, is: "Am I a happy person? Am I a healthy person? Am I a rich person? Are my desires being fulfilled? Or am I a person who is disappointed in life, deprived in life, depressed in life — feeling lonely, feeling nobody cares for me?" What type of person am I?

So every experience in this world is divided into two values: am I a happy person, or am I a suffering person? Happiness and unhappiness are the final judgements.

So when a person turns towards God, he hopes to obtain higher levels, higher degrees of happiness — from objective happiness to intellectual happiness, to aesthetic happiness, to moral happiness, and to spiritual happiness, or the happiness of one's own true nature: ''brahmānanda.'' Every action that we do, every thought we think, is only to reduce the unhappiness and to increase the happiness. There is nothing else other than this.
----

== The Creation: A Long Introduction ==
So why am I giving such a long introduction? Because for the next few mantras — almost until the end — the Upaniṣad is trying to tell us about the creation, the description of creation.

But earlier we have seen the creation: how the first person became Śatarūpā — Manu and Śatarūpā. The male portion is called Manu, and he divided himself into two. From there, he became — the cow was one. The wife Śatarūpā became the cow, and Manu became the bull. So every male species, Manu had transformed himself into; every female species, Śatarūpā had transformed herself into.

Then there is one way of describing how this Brahman is manifesting — as if manifesting. Remember, they are not following ''pariṇāma-vāda;'' they are only following the Advaitic view — ''vivarta-vāda.'' As if — as if there is a snake, but really there is no snake.
----

== The Analogy of an Organisation ==
So here something interesting has happened. When you create an organisation, an organisation is only a name. Then there must be a building where your office is located; there will be some employees. And as soon as you think of the organisation, the first thing that comes is: what is the goal?

Say, for example, you want to make a profitable business — you want to manufacture something. Then you start an office. What is the first thing you must seek? People who have knowledge, who can really work for you. They will be paid, of course, but they will also be divided into classification: there will be a CEO, there will be a vice president, there will be different managers — regional managers, your own office manager, and so on. And then you allot the duties according to their intelligence and so on. But the overall purpose is that all of them must coordinate. There should be no break in that coordination — that is why it is called an organisation. Every part must work seamlessly to fulfil the overall, general, one purpose.

So for that purpose you divide. And our ancient philosophers have divided them from the very beginning. Similarly, we see — Socrates also divided all human beings into four categories: the thinkers, the enforcers, the protectors, the suppliers, and the workers — roughly translated: ''brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas,'' and ''śūdras.''
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== The Origin of the Four Castes ==
So as soon as God created this world, and to run this world he requires people — that is the speciality of these few mantras that we are going to discuss now.

So how were the ''brāhmaṇas'' first created, then the ''kṣatriyas'' created, then the ''vaiśyas'' created, then the ''śūdras'' created — that is what is to be conveyed.

But just like the business: a visionary who wants to start a business organisation has a vision. In that vision, he has to find out: "These are the people who are the brains; these are the people who enforce the directions given by the brains; this is how work has to continue. And there must be people to supply — office supply, or industrial supply, supply of different machines, engines, maintainers, and so on. Then there must be workers who will be cleaning, maintaining, and seeing that the machines are running properly."

What a marvellous vision! Of course, God is all-powerful, all-knowing — so he will have this marvellous vision. So this is the origin of the four castes. That is what the Bhagavad Gītā — the essence of all Upaniṣads — also tells. There also he says: all the castes are created based upon ''guṇa'' and ''karma.'' There is a deep relationship between ''guṇa'' and ''karma.''

If somebody is a ''sāttvika'' person, he becomes the brain, as it were — the capacity to think, the capacity to separate the substance from the non-substance, to separate the truth from untruth, the workable from the non-workable, the useful from the useless. But he is a thinker. And he cannot go on running the whole organisation. So there must be some ''kṣatriyas'' — these are called law enforcers.

Who puts out the laws? It is the thinkers — the ''brāhmaṇas.'' Even today, ''brāhmaṇas'' have given us the ''dharmaśāstras. Dharmaśāstra'' means: "This is ''dharma,'' and it has to be followed in this particular way." They give quite a good number of varied examples so that most of the situations we can understand — what to do and what not to do.

So here also the same thing: there must be laws. What is a law? That which ensures the smooth working of any organisation — that is called a law. And this whole universe, this whole creation, is nothing but a huge organisation. That is why Brahmā is the creator; Viṣṇu is the ''kṣatriya'' — that is why he has got the arms, ''cakra, gadā,'' and so on. And there must be others to work. Then there must be somebody to punish and to replace worn-out parts, continuously to renew — and that is called Rudra.

So everything is going on smoothly — this ''brahma-cakra'' is going on smoothly from the very beginning.

So the ''kṣatriyas'' are endowed with tremendous muscle power and will power to enforce these laws. But for any organisation to run smoothly, one requires a tremendous amount of suppliers — right from the smallest needle to the highest electronic component. I am just giving an example — I know you know better than me — just how many times we travel in a bicycle, and how many parts this bicycle will have. Even an ordinary person has no idea. And if it is a sophisticated vehicle — I think a 52 or 12 aeroplane, or a stealth bomber — how many millions and millions of parts will be there! And if one part goes wrong, there could be terrible damage — including the pilot also; if he goes wrong, the whole plane will go down.

So we will appreciate: how many times we are travelling by aeroplanes, but we hardly give any thought to it. Yet how many thousands of people examine it — as soon as the aeroplane lands, and before take-off, hundreds of workers: some to fill the gas or oil, some to examine every part of it. Only then they give the green signal: "Go." Then only is the plane travel-worthy, and they have to certify it.

But all this is done invisibly. Once I visited Disney in America, and it was all so much fun — everything was tip-top. One has to visit that place to see the organisational power. Everything — just as an example I am giving — somehow when I was gawking at some of the things, travelling in a train from one place to another, one of my shoes had fallen down by the track. But the train will not stop. So I informed the conductor. He said approximately where. And then, within two minutes, before the train stopped, he was present on the platform and presented me my own slipper! Such efficiency.

Many organisations have it, and that is why the West is able to progress through cooperation. Whereas in our wretched country, non-cooperation is the rule — that is why, in spite of brains and facilities, our progress is so slow. Only we are big in talking, organising meetings, and other things. Anyway, coming back.
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== The Vaiśyas, Śūdras, and the Binding Principle ==
So the ''vaiśyas'' — Brahman himself had become the ''vaiśya.'' And then there must be workers — right from the cleaning and mopping to keep everything tip-top, to supply tea and coffee. Everything — they are called ''śūdras.''

And lest this appear to be a scriptural imagination: out of our experience, you look at any organisation — you will find these four components absolutely present there.

And then all this will not go smoothly unless there is a binding principle. And that binding principle has been mentioned in this Upaniṣad as ''satyam'' and ''dharma.'' So having created all the four castes, having put into motion a ''saṃsāra'' — or even before Brahmā put this ''saṃsāra'' into action — he created ''satya'' and ''dharma.''

That is why in the eleventh ''anuvāka'' of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad we get: ''satyaṃ vada, dharmaṃ cara.'' What is ''satyam?'' To have a clear idea of what should be done, what needs to be done — that is called ''satyam. Dharma'' is to put it into practice without the least bit of deviation.

If I have no idea what I have to do, naturally I won't be able to do it. And if I have got an idea, I must also have the strength to do it. And that is how ''satya'' and ''dharma'' both go together.

Somebody is truthful but cannot put it into practice. We are all like that. We can give advice — every barber gives advice on how to run the whole universe. But why does he remain a barber? Because he is only a blabberer — he is not really a thinker. So there are some people who know what should be done, but they do not have the practical skill.

So as if ''satyam'' and ''dharma'' are at the opposite poles of this world, this universe — as if they are not coming together. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: first you practise, then you preach. And whatever thoughts came into Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's mind, intuitively he put them into practice. That is why he is an embodiment of ''satyam.''

Swami Vivekānanda — Narendranāth — understood: "He may look strange to me; he may even appear abnormal to me. But I have never met a person, never seen a person, whose thoughts, words, and deeds absolutely tally." And this is Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa's own definition of what is ''satyam:'' what a person thinks, what a person speaks, and what a person does — and these three things become absolutely unified. That is called the definition of ''satyam.''
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== Satyam and Dharma in Practice ==
So Brahmā created ''satyam'' and ''dharma.'' What is ''satyam?'' To have a crystal clear concept of: where am I? What should be done? What good does it do? How should it be done? All these fruitful, positive, creative thoughts — that is called ''satyam.'' And to put it into practice in a systematic manner, not a haphazard manner — that is called ''dharma. Dharma'' is practice. ''Satyam'' is the clear idea of what should be practised.

So the whole creation now has to be run like a well-oiled machine — with the help of the thinkers, the law enforcers, the suppliers, and the workers — and they must all be united. That is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the Gītā: ''svakarmañā tam abhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ —'' even a ''yaśodā'' is not deprived of ''mokṣa.''

Rasik was the greatest example. For devotees of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa there were so many other people — I will not speak of them today — but Rasik prayed for guidance, and Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told him: "I will fulfil your desire, but you must fulfil my desire. Every night after your duties are over, you sit in front of your house, create a ''tulasī-mañca,'' and take ''harināma.''"

But then we are also doing ''harināma'' — what is the difference? The difference is: Rasik was, from his toenail to the hair of his head, an embodiment of ''śraddhā.'' There was never a crooked idea in his mind. How do we know? Because such a person is fit to go to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to become Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. So when Rasik prayed: "Lord, I don't know — I am an ignorant person. But out of your infinite grace, you take me where you want to take me," Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told him: "This is what you need to do. But if you do that, I will come at the end and take you with me."

Where do you think Rāmakṛṣṇa takes any of his devotees? He takes them — what does it mean in common language? It means Rāmakṛṣṇa gives them, removes their ignorance — that there is no "I" and "you," we are both one and the same. That is the final ''mokṣa.''
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== The Final Warning: The Goal of Life ==
So this creation of the four castes, and ''satya'' and ''dharma,'' is the very essence of the future classes. I am giving you an introduction.

And then the Upaniṣad also warns — as a final warning: he who gives up this body without reaching his own world — ''svam lokam'' — that means, without knowing "I am Brahman" — if anybody lives thus, he will have to be reborn again and again, until he understands that "my ''loka'' is ''ātma-loka'' — I am Brahman."

These are the three important points: the creation of the caste; the creation of ''satya'' and ''dharma;'' and a warning that the goal of life is to manifest this divinity and know that "I am free." That is what Swami Vivekānanda has done. We will talk about it in our next classes.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 30 on 03 May 2026 Q&A

2026-05-08T04:17:25Z

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[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 30 on 03 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:16:15Z

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:10:49Z

Vamsimarri: /* Opening Invocation */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samayāsphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samayāsphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga'' as well. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāmakṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — Gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:10:13Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.

== The Essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad ==
We have been discussing the very essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, which has been condensed, as it were, in the two mantras in the fourth section of the first chapter — mantras 9 and 10.

What is the essence? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' This is one of the four great Mahāvākyas.

As I mentioned many times, Mahāvākyas are not only four — hundreds and hundreds of Mahāvākyas are there. What is a Mahāvākya? That which tells us that each soul is potentially divine. "Potentially" — that is the word Swami Vivekananda has used.

We have to understand it carefully. Potentiality — if I compare it to a seed, then that conveys the meaning, okay, but not completely. Why do I say that? Because a seed is an effect. It is an effect of a tree, and the tree is again an effect of the seed. But Brahman cannot be defined like that. It is neither a cause nor an effect.
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== The Advaita Teaching: Brahman and the World ==
Then what is this? All this we have been talking about for so long — that the entire creation has come out of Brahman, that Brahman is manifesting itself as this entire universe. In Advaita Vedānta — and we are emphasising only Advaita Vedānta — from the viewpoint of Advaita Vedānta, seemingly it has come. Like we mistake a rope for a snake and get scared, but when light is brought, we understand: there was, there is, there would be no snake; there was, there is, and there would be only the rope.

This bold teaching of Advaita Vedānta is the very root of every religion, by whatever name it goes, whether people understand it or do not understand it.

So, to indicate that you are none other than Brahman — and again, the essence of it is that it is not that Brahman had suddenly come under the limitations of time, space, and object. From our viewpoint, we feel everything in this world is different from everything else. Even in this one body, the hands are different from the legs, and so on. The mind, every millisecond — how many different thoughts, and sometimes completely opposite thoughts, are running their course!

So which is real? Only that which is lending consciousness, lending awareness — that consciousness which witnesses the waking, the dream, as well as the deep sleep state — that alone is the reality, and it never undergoes any change whatsoever. It never underwent change, and it will never undergo any change.

But because of our viewpoint — our mind, which comes under the influence of ''avidyā'' — it is our thinking about Brahman that Brahman had become the world. And after some time, one realises: "I am suffering. I must get out of suffering. I must realise that I am of the nature of ''sat-cit-ānanda'', or ''satyaṃ jñānaṃ anantaṃ brahma.''"
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== The Spiritual Awakening: Turning Inward ==
So, only a person who has experienced both the joys and sorrows of this world becomes wiser after millions of births, and then wakes up from that state. "This is not what I really am after. I am not getting what I want from this. So I must get what I want, but I am looking in the wrong place. Therefore," he says, "I have searched here — it is not there. So it must be elsewhere."

Where did he search? In the external world. Now the entire external world has been exhausted in the search, and he did not find it. Then he must search within. He approaches a Guru, or the grace of God comes to him in the form of a Guru, and gives him the right knowledge in the form of ''śraddhā'' — intellectual conviction.

Unless a person is ready to believe in what the scripture or the teacher says, he will not be fit to receive. Then we become fit — automatically, as if by magic, the teaching flows into us — of course, through an instrument whom we call ''ācārya'', Guru, and so on. And that is called ''śravaṇa''.

Thereafter, we have to either think for ourselves or with the help of the teacher — the details are to be found in many of the secondary scriptures, ''smṛtis'', and so on. That is how, slowly, through practice, we progress.
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== The Five Powers of Gāyatrī and the Practice of Manana ==
I will briefly touch on this as background. So there were some people who were very keen on escaping the bondage of this world. They must have gathered under the umbrella of a teacher in a ''gurukula'', and the Guru must have taught them. Then they were discussing what they were taught. This is called ''mananam.'' Mananam does not mean purely that a person closes his eyes — no. Even what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa calls ''satsaṅga'' is also a mananam.

If we study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa as an example, it is not that Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was speaking to some people 150 years back. Rāmakṛṣṇa is speaking right to me at the present time, and all his words are addressed to me alone. How do I understand it? I have to pray to him. Because — ''dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt'' — only by his grace, not only will I get the essential teaching, but even the methodology of how to understand this teaching properly — that also should come only through the grace of the Divine Mother. ''Dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt.''

I told you about the five powers of Gāyatrī. What is the first? That is ''samyak jñānam'' — right understanding. Then ''samyak smṛti'' — I must remember what I have understood rightly. Then I have to go on remembering it at the right time. When some danger comes, or some unhappy event takes place, I should be able to recall it — like a student who has memorised everything, but as soon as he enters the examination hall, he hangs all his memories outside on a tree, and his mind becomes blank. As soon as the exam paper is presented, nothing comes to mind. But as soon as he comes out of the hall, all the memories spring back. That is not going to be useful.

So right memory — this is called ''samayāsphurti:'' the flashing of right memory at the right time alone can help us. That is the third power. Then we have to put it to good use, but with a right motivation — not with any selfish motive. This is called ''niḥsvārtha buddhi prayogaśakti.'' After ''samayāsphurti'', we must be able to apply it all the time. And then the last thing: we must remember it is only by the grace of the Divine Mother that we will be able to succeed in our plan.

So — grace at the beginning, grace in the middle, grace in the end. That is what Totāpurī Mahārāj realised on the last day of his stay at Dakṣiṇeśvar: "I thought, all by myself, I obtained this ''samādhi.''" Then the Mother showed him the error of his thinking.

So from the beginning itself we must understand: the grace of God awakens us; the grace of God takes our hand and makes us progress; it is the grace of God which presents the obstacles — so that, like a gymnasium where we can strengthen our muscles through hard effort to overcome obstacles, we gain physical and mental strength and are able to keep our mind focused on God. Then, through God, slowly, higher and higher realisations will come, and finally all realisations will be merged in one final realisation — that there is no you and me, only one reality: ''satyam, jñānam, anantam, brahma.''
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== The Seekers and Their Discussion ==
So this was the discussion which is also ''satsaṅga'', which is also equated to ''mananam.'' So they were thinking: our teacher retained Brahma-jñāna — what did he become? What did he gain? He became everything. How did he become everything? Only by understanding: "I am everything."

Now the word "everything" is not used by a Brahma-jñānī — it is used by ignorant people like us. Because there is no question of "everything" from the viewpoint of a knower of Brahman. From the viewpoint of Brahman, there is no second — ''ekaṃ evādvitīyam.'' So therefore there is no second. Even the very outlook of a ''jīvanmukta'' is ''sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That ''sarvam'' — "everything" — we have to understand clearly, is only our attribution, our understanding of this world from the viewpoint of the ''jīvanmukta.''

So it is not that the ''jīvanmukta'' says: "I have become everything." Just — Brahman means everything; there is no second. But since we are in the world, we cannot cross a limit and then understand what is unlimited. If we want to correctly understand the unlimited, we have to become the unlimited. But until that time, we have to guess — and a sincere, honest, humble guess — that is what these people are discussing.

Since there is only Brahman, God must be everything. ''Īśvaraḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ hṛddeśe arjuna tiṣṭhati.'' ''Īśāvāsyamidaṃ sarvaṃ yat kiñca jagatyāṃ jagat.'' Excepting Īśvara, there is nothing else.
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== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ==
So this was the discussion they were having. Then they understood: what did this realised soul — it can be one's own Guru or somebody else — what did he realise? ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And as a result of that realisation, what did he gain? He became everything. What does that sentence really mean? It means: I have no death; I am pure, eternal existence; I am all knowledge, infinite knowledge; and I am ''ānanda-svarūpa.''

And that is what has to be expressed. Because we have to keep in mind that until we come across a person who is spiritually progressing, we will not have any right idea about what we are thinking — let alone understanding; even our thinking will not be correct. So we have to cultivate ''satsaṅga.''

What is ''satsaṅga?'' Find out a person who is more spiritually advanced than us, and be in his presence — that is called ''satsaṅga.'' How do we know this person has advanced spiritually? Anybody who talks about spiritual life, about God, about Upaniṣads — however well the person might speak — that is not ''satsaṅga''. Of course it is a kind of ''satsaṅga'', but not real ''satsaṅga.''

What is real ''satsaṅga?'' That which transforms — that which influences, even to some slight degree, our behaviour — that is called ''satsaṅga'' as well. If you approach a blazing fire, you feel the heat. If you enter into an air-conditioned room, you must feel the cold breeze. If you say, "I am in the air-conditioned room but I don't feel the cold breeze," either you are unconscious, or you are dead, or you don't know what you are talking about.
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== Characteristics of a Spiritually Advanced Person ==
What are the characteristics? I have already discussed so many characteristics — in fact, from the last part of the description of ''sthitaprajña lakṣaṇa'' at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, from Arjuna's question until the end — it is the description of a realised soul. And such a realised soul is what we are talking about as ''satpuruṣa.''

But we may not get a completely realised soul. For us, it is enough to find out somebody who is one step ahead of us. So don't go on reading books and say, "I must get a ''sadguru'' who is a realiser of Brahman" — you may not get him. But find out somebody. How do we know what that somebody is?

First of all, he is always happy, whatever be the circumstances. Secondly, even if there are great problems — whether it is summer heat, political heat, or oppression by enemies — the person will never lose his coolness. Nobody can affect his happiness, because it is not influenced by outside circumstances but is coming from within himself, as a result of his realisation, which comes in the form of unshakeable knowledge. And then he understands: "I am such a happy person" — and we also feel that happiness so long as we are in his presence.

Then we also understand: this person doesn't expect anything from me. Because, remember — when we expect something from somebody, that shows our ignorance: that "by getting this thing from this person or object I will be more happy." That is not the truth. Here, you are getting happiness — you don't need to ask. Just like if you are near a fire, you don't say: "I am a beggar — please give me a little bit of heat." The fire, unconsciously — doesn't even think — it is its nature to distribute itself. To whomever approaches, it is ready to receive — as much as the person is ready to receive.

So this person may not be joyful like a Brahma-jñānī, but he will be much, much, much more joyful than us. How is he able to be joyful? Because he understands: if anything is happening, it is not because of some action — it is purely the grace of God. He feels the presence of God, and God is ''ānanda-svarūpa.'' So he says: "Somebody is criticising me — that is the grace of God. Somebody is praising me — that is also the grace of God." He doesn't attribute anything to himself.

So he will be loving everybody equally, because that critic of good and bad is much reduced in such an advanced person. Then there is nothing that a person cannot give you — he will give everything. Why? Because a person can give everything if a person owns an ocean. That person should not have any selfishness: "If I give one thimble full of water to this person, so that much will be less for me." He will be like an ocean: "Take as much as you want, and I will be full only."

And lastly, we have to understand that his only anxiety — if at all you find anxiety — is: "How to help anyone who sincerely approaches me advance towards God? I know what is good for them. How can I help this person? How can I convey this idea?" So what I am trying to tell you is that if anybody is spiritually progressing, one of the signs will be that he will be a joyful person. And when we approach such a person, willy-nilly, unconsciously, we become joyful. That is what we need to understand here.
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== Vāmadeva and the Expression of Realisation ==
This is just the background — ''satsaṅga'' is very important, and this is the ''satsaṅga'' these seekers of Brahman are having.

Then — how do we know that a person becomes everything? The only proof: Brahman doesn't come and say, "I have given realisation to this person; he has become everything." We have to be fortunate to come across some people.

So the mantra continues: there was a Ṛṣi called Vāmadeva, and he realised Brahman, and he understood: "I am everything." And then he is expressing his realisation: "I am the originator" — that means, I am Brahmā; "I am Sūrya." Only two are mentioned, but we have to add by guessing — I am Indra, I am Candra, I am Varuṇa, I am Viṣṇu, I am Rudra, I am the Divine Mother, I am Jesus Christ, I am Buddha.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was expressing — that he who has come as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa. Don't stop with only Rāmakṛṣṇa. How many millions of times have ''avatāras'' come in the past? God alone knows. Even in this ''yuga'' itself, how many great people have come. Anybody who is more unselfish, anybody who is more loving, anybody who is dedicating his life to the service of God — such a person has a special manifestation of God. But what we call an ''avatāra'' — Christ, Buddha, all these — were included in that word Rāma and Kṛṣṇa.

So Vāmadeva became imbued with that realisation of Brahman. "I am" — he is telling Sūrya — "I am Manu." In other words, he is saying: "I am this, I am you — you are not different from me." But that knowledge only he has. Manu has the knowledge, "I am you," but Manu doesn't have the knowledge, "I am Vāmadeva Ṛṣi." But we have to believe in him — that is also ''satsaṅga.'' Belief in the lives of great spiritual people is also ''satsaṅga.''
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== The Devas and the Spiritually Advancing Soul ==
So since "I have become everything, I don't need anything, because I am ''ānanda-svarūpa,'' I am ''jñāna-svarūpa,'' I am ''ānanda-svarūpa'' — ''pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṃ.''"

Then the next idea: such a person who is sincerely advancing — Gods gladly aid him; they would not put any obstructions. And then the mantra is explaining why they do not put obstructions.

He who thinks, "I am different — God is different" — I have discussed this point in great elaboration in my last class — such a person says, "This person is different from me, and therefore I would like to keep him under my control." We like to do that — like a chicken farmer: where does he raise chickens? He wants to eat, he wants to sell, he wants to make profit. There is no animal, no bird on earth, which man is not using for his selfish enjoyments. Even colourful, feathered birds — in millions and millions — man has honed his skill to make huge factories and farms where, on an industrial scale, we take advantage of them. And how much ''pāpa'' we are accumulating through this! That is why when we suffer, we don't understand what is the real cause. Unless we have done something wrong to one or many — usually many, and for a long time — the suffering also will be absolutely equal to the amount of evil we have done. Our happiness will also be equal to what good deeds we have done.

So therefore the Upaniṣad warns us. The Devas really do not want to put any obstruction. What is the wonderful reason the Upaniṣad gives? They also understand you are not different from them. So you have become the Ātmā — their own self — and they understand it. Therefore, just as we do not wish to do any harm to ourselves, we do not wish to create any unhappiness to ourselves — on the contrary, we only wish to promote happiness, however small or however short a time. So the Devas also feel: "May we help this person."
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== The Story of Viśvāmitra and the Nature of Obstacles ==
Earlier I gave so many examples of how Indra had put obstructions. Why did he put them? You will have to go back and read this many times. It is not really an obstacle — he is helping Viśvāmitra. "You, person — your intention is good, but your unconscious is rebelling against you. You are hiding so many things. And without gaining knowledge of what you are hiding, without passing the third class, you can't get promoted to the fourth class, let alone to the PhD." Otherwise, your ''permanent head damage'' will be there if you attempt prematurely!

And Viśvāmitra — as we can say — first understood his mistake and overcame it. Then a second time he understood his mistake: that his desire had created another obstacle in the form of anger, like Mahiṣāsura. So he overcame that. Then he progressed. That is how slowly he became a Brahmarṣi. And then Vasiṣṭha pronounced him as a Brahma-jñānī, a Brahmarṣi. But Viśvāmitra was not happy, so he said: "If Brahmā comes and certifies, then I will accept." So Brahmā came and said: "Yes, truly and really you have become a Brahmarṣi." Thereafter we see in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha — Viśvāmitra and Vasiṣṭha became what you call the closest friends. The whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha Rāmāyaṇa is a marvellous episode — if we get the opportunity in the future, we will select some ślokas and go through them.
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== Vidyā and Avidyā: The Two Sūtras ==
But for now — anybody who thinks, "I am everything; I am the Devas; I am the human beings; I am the ''manuṣyas'' — everything" — then he has attained ''sarvam.'' But if anybody thinks, "I am different from everybody else," that is called ''avidyā.''

So there are two ''sūtras.'' A ''sūtra'' means a brief teaching. ''Vidyā-sūtram'' — and ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' is called the ''vidyā-sūtram.'' And "I am different" — ''atha anyadeva devatā, anyaḥ asau, anyaḥ aham asmi'' — "He is different, I am different." But now what we need to understand here: "Devatam" — if I worship Indra, I will get a lot of things. Are we not doing it in our day-to-day life? Of course we are not worshipping that Indra whom the Upaniṣad mentions here. No. What we are saying is: "If I worship this prime minister, if I flatter this president, if I flatter this chief minister, if I flatter this minister, I get a job" — even the smallest thing, the post of a peon. People are ready to pay black money. Blackening everybody — and every day a new scandal is breaking out. Such a person is under the spell of ''avidyā'' or ignorance, because there is nothing else excepting Brahman. If there is only Brahman, there are no many. That is called ''sarvam.''

''Sarvam'' is a special linguistic word we use from our ignorant point of view, because we experience this infinite number of things. ''Sarvam'' means — so Vāmadeva realised. Not only Vāmadeva — millions and millions of Ṛṣis, in every religion: Saint Francis of Assisi, and so many Muslim saints. Govinda was one of them — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa took initiation from him. Mishra was one of them — he had the vision of Jesus Christ. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa blessed him and gave him the vision of Jesus Christ.

And then anybody who follows the same footprints, follows the same pathway, experiments like a scientist in the same way — and what is that experiment? Moving from individuality to universality — that is called ''virāṭ.'' Moving from lower ''kośa'' to higher ''kośa.'' Finally, he overcomes all the five ''kośas.'' He overcomes all identification with all three bodies — gross, subtle, and causal — and then he understands: "I am everything."
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== The Concept of Jīvanmukta ==
And what is the concept of ''jīvanmukta?'' God — out of compassion, ''Saguṇa Brahma Īśvara'' — out of compassion, keeps some of the ''jīvanmuktas'' for the propagation of ''śāstra.'' Actually, ''śāstra'' means ''śruti.'' ''Śruti'' means that which is given little by little to different knowers of Brahman: "You propagate this much." The essence is the same. All essences of every realised soul is only the Mahāvākya: God alone exists; Brahman exists. I, you, anything else — it doesn't exist.

So that is ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Any person who has this knowledge exhibits certain characteristics in the form of understanding. What are those things?

First — ''brahma eva avidyayā saṃsarati:'' Brahman alone thinks, because of ignorance, that "I am coming from Brahman, I am in ''saṃsāra,'' I am moving from one birth to another birth." But ''brahma eva vidyayā mucyate'' — the same ''jīvātmā,'' when Brahman is under the spell of ''avidyā,'' is called ''jīvātmā.'' And the same ''jīvātmā,'' when he acquires knowledge — ''vidyayā mucyate'' — ''mucyate'' means he becomes liberated. Liberated means: he doesn't attain liberation. It is to say: "My thinking was wrong. I thought I was bound — I was never bound."

Like a king who, after a nice dinner, has a troubled dream where he was dragged to a dungeon and was being beaten black and blue. Suddenly he wakes up — because somebody gives him, in that dungeon, a terribly big blow — and he wakes up and starts smiling: "What a foolish dream! I was imagining I was never in the dungeon. And I am not awake now — I was here only, all the time." So that is what it means.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Who Is Really in Bondage? ==
Then there is a discussion. Śaṅkarācārya, as usual, gives a marvellous ''Bhāṣya'' — it is called ''Mahāvākya-Bhāṣya.'' And then he says: who keeps one really in bondage? Who is in bondage — is it God? Is it ''kāla?'' Is it birth?

So what is this discussion for? He says: earlier we discussed that a person who thinks, "I am different from the Gods — of course God also — I am different from God; I am small, he is big; I am having very little power, he has every power; he can help me, so I worship him" — anybody thus dependent becomes a ''paśu.'' And I also mentioned in my last class — because it is such an important mantra — we are not only slaves through worship of external Gods. Everything upon which we depend is a ''devatā.'' If I cannot function properly without tea or coffee — bed tea or bed coffee — that is my ''devatā.'' If I cannot live happily without YouTube, YouTube is my Google ''devatā.'' Like that, you can imagine: anything which makes you unhappy when absent — that is the ''devatā.'' As soon as that ''devatā'' is present — coffee is present, tea is present, YouTube is present, stomachache is removed — that medicine becomes ''devatā.''

So he becomes like a ''paśu,'' like a slave — enslaved. What is the essence? Dependence is slavery; slavery means dependence. And a ''jīvanmukta'' is one who overcomes this slavery, and then finds out: "There is nobody other than me — it is only my wrong thinking."
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== Divine Providence and Karma ==
And this is beautifully given — then: why do people suffer? From our ignorant point of view, who is responsible? Is it the Gods? Is it time? Is it circumstances? No.

That is why in the Bhagavad Gītā we are told: is the body responsible? Is the ''jīvātmā'' responsible? Are the sense organs responsible? Are our efforts in the form of many actions responsible for our life here? No — it says only Divine Providence. And what is Divine Providence? That according to the ''pūrva-janma-karma,'' the result is allotted to us by ''vidhātā.'' And that is called Divine Providence. It is God who bestows whether a person is a happy person or an unhappy person. And it is God who gives — here is a grand musician, here is a grand symphony writer like Beethoven, here is a grand singer like M.S. Subbalakshmi, here is a grand tabla player, a great scientist.

Consider nowadays how AI has become so popular — how these people are using their brain, honing it to the highest degree of sharpness, so that we cannot even think what they are doing. Only after they create it, and then out of that the technologists create various gadgets — then we understand: "My God — if the gadget itself is giving me so much of result, good or bad, how much will be the creator of the gadgets?" Creator means knowledge. So we understand how people get these gifts. God doesn't sit and give them at random, like an American lottery ticket. No — he gives us completely in accordance with our ''karma-phala'' only.

So our ''karma-phala'' alone is responsible for our bondage; therefore our ''karma-phala'' alone will be responsible for our liberation.
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== The Stages of Spiritual Progress ==
How does this spiritual progress go forward? First, from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''ātma-abhimāna.'' Through the imagery of the three bodies: from ''deha-abhimāna'' to ''mano-abhimāna,'' from ''mano-abhimāna'' to ''prajña-abhimāna.'' In other words — from ''deha-ātma-buddhi'' to ''virāṭ,'' from ''virāṭ'' to ''Hiraṇyagarbha,'' from ''Hiraṇyagarbha'' to ''Īśvara,'' and beyond ''Īśvara,'' beyond ''Saguṇa Brahma'' also.

Or, from the other imagery — the ''pañca-kośas:'' from ''jīva-bhāva'' to ''Brahma-bhāva,'' through the five ''kośas'' as we were seeing in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad. So from ''annamaya-kośa'' to ''prāṇa,'' to ''mano,'' to ''vijñāna,'' to ''ānandamaya-kośa.'' And then: go beyond — ''ānandaṃ brahma, ānandaṃ brahma'' — that is not a ''kośa,'' that is Brahman. ''Ānandaṃ.''

So the seeker doesn't travel to Brahman, produce Brahman, or become Brahman. He merely discovers — through the destruction of ignorance, or ''avidyā'' — that he has never been anything other than Brahman. He was, he is, and he would be Brahman only.
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== Gauḍapāda's Kārikā: The Absolute Truth ==
This is the essence that he gives. And this was beautifully summarised by Gauḍapāda in our Māṇḍūkya Kārikā — if you remember, in the second section, the 32nd verse, he summarised this whole thing. What is it?

Brahman is never in bondage. Brahman never becomes ''jīvātmā.'' Brahman never realises, "I am bound and I have to get out." Brahman never practises spiritual practice. This is all within the realm of the ''jīva's'' thought processes. This is what he says — 2.32:

''"This is the highest spiritual truth: there is no dissolution, there is no birth, there is no bondage, there is no aspiring to become Brahman, there is no seeker of liberation, and there is none liberated."'' This is the absolute truth.
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== Śaṅkarācārya's Bhāṣya: Karma and Jñāna Cannot Change Brahman's Nature ==
Now I just want to elaborate on this subject, and then we will go to the next. This one — actually, Śaṅkarācārya has a very tough ''Bhāṣya'' on this — 1.4.10, the 10th mantra, ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' And therein he raises many opponents. There was one opponent called Bhartṛprapañca, and he was very powerful.

So all those things we were discussing — that Brahman became ''jīvātmā,'' that ''jīvātmā'' realised "I am in bondage," that ''jīvātmā'' understood "I have to get out of this bondage" and approached a Guru — so he was not Brahman, but through ''sādhanā'' he became Brahman — and then Śaṅkarācārya gives some of the most marvellous psychological insights into it.

So what is the first thing he says? That ''karma'' cannot change one's nature. Any action you do — any amount of action — the sweetness of sugar will never become bitter. You cannot call it sugar and say it is bitter. Sweet means sweet — that sweetness is its very nature, and no amount of ''karma'' can change it.

We have got a beautiful wisdom saying in the Telugu language by a great poet called Vemaṇa, wherein he says: you bring a black-coloured rat and then, through all the processes of first-class soap, first-class powders, first-class scents — do everything — and the skin is not going to become white. It will remain that same — it will not change at all.

So ''karma'' doesn't change nature. And what does ''karma'' do? It removes all the obstacles.

Then what about ''jñānam'' — will ''jñānam'' give ''mokṣa?'' No — ''jñānam'' also will not give ''mokṣa.'' The essence of ''jñāna'' — knowledge — is not to give liberation or ''mukti.'' What does it do? Just like what does light do: when you are mistaking here is a snake and you are terribly scared, then somebody brings the light. Does the light change the snake into a rope? Never. Knowledge cannot change anything. What does it do? Through right knowledge — by bringing light — it destroys all the wrong knowledge. On the contrary, what does wrong knowledge do? It destroys all the right knowledge. But it doesn't change. ''Avidyā'' does not make a rope into a snake; light does not make a snake into a rope. Their function only is: making us understand right knowledge as wrong knowledge, or wrong knowledge as right knowledge.

So therefore what he wants to say is: neither ''karma'' nor ''jñāna'' — both will not help us in realising that we are Brahman. But what does ''jñānam'' do? It brings us light. And in the light of that light, we understand: we were Brahman, we are Brahman, we will be Brahman — and that is by nature; it can never change.
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== The Four Mahāvākyas and Their Progression ==
So this is one of the most marvellous Mahāvākyas — ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi.'' Just to remind — there were other three chosen out of hundreds, just to represent them. What are they? ''Prajñānaṃ brahma, ayamātmā brahma, tattvamasi,'' and then of course ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi.''

So I told you earlier — I will just develop on that. In a way, actually, any Mahāvākya can destroy the ignorance and bring us to know who we really are. But in a way of speaking, there is an order.

''Prajñānaṃ brahma'' — consciousness; be conscious, be aware; cultivate continuous awareness — ''prajñānaṃ brahma'' — and that leads to Brahman.

And then what does the consciousness say? Consciousness is not separate from you. ''Ayamātmā brahma'' — "I am; my consciousness is Brahma; your consciousness is Brahma; everybody's consciousness is Brahma." Since I am still deeply embedded, caught in the net of ''avidyā,'' I am still going on thinking that I am a ''jīvātmā.'' But no — in this ''jīvātmā'' there are two: ''jīva'' — body-mind — and ''Ātmā'' — pure consciousness. The separation of these two, where ''jīva-bhāva'' is temporary and ''Ātmā-bhāva'' is permanent — that is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.'' Pure consciousness, which goes through the gross body, waking state, dream state, dreamless state — but never gets involved within it. That is ''sākṣī-kevalāham.'' That is called ''Ayamātmā brahma.''

When we progress a little bit — when a seeker goes still further — then the Guru directly points out: ''tattvamasi'' — "You think you have consciousness, you think you are not consciousness, but Guru removes that and says: you are not having consciousness — you are consciousness." That is called ''tattvamasi'' — "That thou art."

And then through further spiritual efforts, by the grace of God, a person — a seeker — realises: ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I was Brahma, I am Brahma, I will be Brahma." These are marvellous ideas.
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== The Methodology of Scripture: Rapport and Guidance ==
Now, from the next class onwards we will take up a little more of the details. As you understand, I am paying so much attention because this first chapter is called ''Upadeśa-kāṇḍa.'' The entire essence of every Upaniṣad is embedded in this first chapter — and especially in this fourth chapter, especially in the mantras 9 and 10. That is why this is the very essence, the sum and sum total of every scripture in the world.

Then — how to attain that? ''Sādhanā'' is necessary. That is what comes. So this scripture — what is called the methodology — says: "Yes, yes, yes — Brahman has become the world." Not really agreeing, but just to help us, like a psychologist. A successful psychologist first tells: "Yes, yes, you are right. You have every right. Those other people are the causes of your misery." Then the patient gains rapport. And once that process of rapport is complete, then the psychologist slowly tells: "You can deal with that. You don't need to suffer. You can overcome it, you can rise above it." Then only the real psychological help starts.

Until that time — until rapport is established — what my Guru tells is: absolute true spiritual progress will not come. Beautiful ideas are there — we will talk about them in our next class.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 29 on 02 May 2026

2026-05-08T04:06:53Z

Vamsimarri: Created page with "Full Transcript (Not Corrected) == Opening Invocation == ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म् पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिद..."

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026

2026-05-03T05:08:59Z

Vamsimarri: /* Avidyā: Thinking Oneself Separate from Brahman */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== Recap: The Ninth Mantra and the Gathering of Seekers ==
In our last class, we dealt with the ninth mantra of the fourth section, and from here starts the essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. There were some great seekers of self-knowledge — brahmavidyā — and they had a discussion. That indicates they must have gathered at one particular place, and normally such a place would be the āśrama of a Guru, a gurukula. They must have approached a great realised soul, heard from him, and then that became the topic of discussion. So we can guess from the topic of discussion what the teacher had taught.

What did he teach? That if you attain knowledge of Brahman — which is the same as the knowledge of your own true self — then you will achieve everything. You will be going beyond death, beyond ignorance, beyond suffering. That is what Bhagavān Buddha chose to call ''nirvāṇa''. Nirvāṇa means complete cessation of avidyā, or in other words, anātma. That is to say, not that the world disappears — excepting for the person who realises, the world will continue. But even for the realised soul, the world can continue as long as the body is alive. But the outlook — of what this world is, of what one is — that completely changes from the moment of realisation. ''Sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma.'' That is the result.

By the knowledge — ''brahmavidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyam'' — we become one. ''Ekaṃ sat, na dvitīya.'' So the discussion is: what is the nature of Brahman? And knowing this Brahman, our teacher proclaims and declares that one becomes Brahman. What, then, is the nature of that Brahman? The answer is given in the next mantra.
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== The Tenth Mantra: The Essence of All Scripture ==
This is Mantra 10 of the fourth section of the first chapter. This fourth section, tenth mantra, is the very essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — indeed, of all Upaniṣads, of the Bhagavad Gītā, of the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and of every scripture in the world. Let us recite this beautiful mantra, which is itself very purifying.

This is one part of the tenth mantra. It is a long mantra, and I have divided it into several parts, each expressing different meanings and different contexts.
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== Ṛṣi Vāmadeva's Realisation: ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' ==
Next comes a small portion of this mantra. There was a great Ṛṣi whose name was Vāmadeva. He realised ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I am Brahman." After realisation, he remained as a jīvanmukta.

Then he was expressing: what did he say? That seeing this one, this Ṛṣi Vāmadeva said that "I became one. I had the knowledge. I destroyed the ignorance that I am an individual, and realised that I am Brahman." Not only "I am Brahman" — "I am everything." ''Ahaṃ sarvam.'' This is called ''sarvātmabhāva'' — the knowledge that I am everything.

So as a sample, he said: "I am the Manu." Manu was the Brahmā who started the creation of the Mānavas. That is why all human beings are called Mānavas — because they originated from Manu. So: "I am the ādhyātmika. I am the ādhibhautika. I am the ādhidaivika." As a sample — ''ahaṃ sūryaś ca iti'' — "I am Sūrya. I am Candra. I am Indra, the devatās. I am the entire physical world. I am all the bodies. I am all the minds." In other words, I am all the gross bodies, all the subtle bodies, all the causal bodies.
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== The Universal Possibility of Realisation ==
Not only that — the mantra goes on to say that Manu is only a sample. But anyone who strives through proper channels can attain the same. This means one must have genuine desire — mumukṣutva. One must approach a sadguru in a formal manner, sit, serve, please, and surrender to the teacher. And then the teacher gives.

Surrendering is not an act of servitude; it is an act of identifying oneself with the Guru — making oneself 100% ready to receive 100% of what the teacher wishes to give. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "The breeze of God's grace is blowing all the time. Unfurl your sails. Become fit. That is all."

So the mantra tells us: not only Manu — anybody can become like Manu. That is what Swami Vivekananda's simplified English version says: "Each soul is potentially divine." Everyone is divine. And soul means not only the living, but also what we usually call non-living.

So the mantra continues: like Brahmādeva, whoever becomes a knower of Brahman becomes everything. So the same will be there — there would be no difference. So once a person becomes free, what happens?

Ṛṣi Brahmādeva said that anybody — whether a human being, a God, whether Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist — all these differences completely vanish when a person progresses in spiritual life, because the mind will no longer compartmentalise. "I am a Hindu. I am a Buddhist." — No. "I am a lover of God. I am a child of God. I am a seeker of God." That is all the feeling. "And I have been separated by some mysterious power called avidyā, and I want to rejoin my mother — God, Brahman."

So he says: anybody can realise it. Everybody has not only a right, it is an inescapable goal of life. We may evade that goal for some time, but at some point we are going to wake up. So why not try from now onwards? The very fact that you are all listening to these talks indicates that you are in earnestness. You want to learn what the Upaniṣad has to say, and you will have to understand that you are a fit disciple. But this is only mumukṣutva. One has to acquire those qualities whereby we would not slip from the position of this mumukṣutva, but rather arrive at 100% mumukṣutva.

Such a person who knows "I am Brahman" becomes everything. He becomes the gods. He becomes the entire jagat. He becomes every living and non-living being.
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== No Obstruction Can Hinder the Sincere Seeker ==
So what happens then? Nobody can put an obstruction. Nobody can rule over a person and say, "No, you cannot realise God. I will not allow you to walk in the path of spirituality." That elaboration will come next.

Here — no devatā, no creature, nobody else can obstruct the progress of such a person. When we are talking about progress, we have to understand: this is the person who is determined that "I want to realise God." Of course, when a person becomes a realised soul, he is Brahman — and who can control Brahman? On the other hand, it is the Īśvara, it is Brahman who controls everything and who makes us act, just as a puppeteer moves all the puppets. Our body, everybody's body, everybody's mind becomes like a puppet, and sitting inside, he goes on controlling everybody.

We are not talking about a realised soul here. We are talking about — and the mantra is talking about — a soul who has determined to realise God. Such a person will be protected by God, Bhagavān, Īśvara. Therefore, nobody can harm him. Nobody can give obstruction.
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== Obstacles as Divine Exercise ==
But what about all the obstructions that we ourselves encounter? It is like going into a gymnasium. We have to choose a proper guide. You cannot simply walk into a gymnasium and go on choosing whatever you want — that is a very unwise way. One has to approach a proper gymnastics teacher, who tests you and then prescribes: now you run for 15 or 20 minutes, or you lift so much weight. A person whose muscles cannot lift 1 kg will not be asked to lift 5 kg. "Try to lift 1.1 kg, 1.2 kg" — a little more. And that itself will test our power of endurance, our capacity. That is the obstacle.

Therefore, God gives the obstacles not to obstruct us but to give us strength, as an exercise. Looked at from this angle, anybody criticising us, anybody praising us, anybody who deprives us — the first point we have to understand is: nobody can deprive us of our rightful material; that is what is called copyright. Only our karma can decide. But when these things come through the medium of other people in the form of either help or obstruction, they are all to help us.

This is an astonishing statement by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swamiji, and others. Really speaking, every obstruction — whether it is kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, māda, mātsarya, or other negative attitudes — if we become aware of it and try to use it like some judo training (where you use the opponent's strength to your advantage), that is the technique we have to understand.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, if you study the Gospel properly, unilaterally declares: without avidyā, one can never realise God. Both avidyā and vidyā — māyā comes in these two forms. Both are the grace of God. Both are employed by the Divine Mother to be our helpers. In fact, I think avidyā helps us most.
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== Thomas à Kempis and the Grace in Obstacles ==
If you are reading the WhatsApp messages I am sending — especially from the ''Imitation of Christ'', which I have been selecting and sending for the last month or so — you will see that Thomas à Kempis, a novice master, says that God alone sends these obstacles for strengthening the children whom he loves. He loves them because that love is reflected in the hearts of some people through their faith and their conduct.
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== The Qualities of the Āsuras as Spiritual Lessons ==
So the qualities of āsuras are very important. At one stage of our progress, the qualities of āsuras help us very greatly. If you think deeply about the qualities of the āsuras — which Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa himself, squeezing the essence of all the Upaniṣads into the easily understandable Bhagavad Gītā, describes in the 16th chapter — they look as if they are all very negative things. From one point of view, they try to drag a person from a higher position to a lower position; they make us be away from God and the distance becomes longer and longer.

But you will notice something there. How strong these people are! How much willpower they have — to do wrong things! We have to learn our lesson and say: "If I am successful in doing so many wrong things, why cannot I be successful in also creating good saṃskāras?" When we complain that we have no willpower, we are not complaining about our lack of willpower in doing evil deeds or unspiritual activities — we complain only about spiritual activities. A great lesson has to be learned.

Not only that — it is inevitable. Everybody develops only from raw material. In the beginning, all these things are given to us. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a marvellous psychological explanation for this — study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Do not read it. Study it. Take relevant passages together and then meditate upon them. With the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, we will be able to understand them properly.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on Transforming Desire ==
Once, when a young man approached him saying, "I am troubled by lust" — this is a problem most people face — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to this person's probable surprise or shock, advised: "Why do you want to remove kāma? Increase it! But this increment, the kāma, a desire must be for an object — so change the object." And the more desire you have, the stronger the desire, the quicker will be the progress in spiritual life. That is the psychology. Develop willpower.

In the beginning we have to develop willpower. It seems that running down the hill is much easier than climbing up the hill. But once we run down, we also have to come up again to our home. And that is how the same principle works also in our day-to-day spiritual life. So there is, really speaking, no obstacle. If there seems to be an obstacle, it is only to make us aware: "Oh, I have this problem. I have this hidden desire. I have these unspiritual tendencies." Most of us are blissfully unconscious about these things.
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== Indra's Tests and the Story of Viśvāmitra ==
Therefore, if somebody is trying to be spiritual, the gods themselves will help us by creating obstacles. It is said in the Purāṇas: if somebody wants to move towards God, Indra comes first and creates an obstacle. He sends some beautiful woman.

I had explained the story of Viśvāmitra — a profoundly spiritual analogy. What did Indra do? In fact, Indra will be very happy if anybody says, "I don't want your position. I want to move towards God." Indra will be worried only when someone wants to displace him, not when one wants to transcend him. So if somebody says, "I don't want the position of Indra, Candra, Brahmā," Indra will be very happy and wants to bestow his grace. So he comes there, sends a beautiful woman.

As we know, Viśvāmitra fell for it. He enjoyed it and exhausted that desire, then woke up: "How foolish I have been! All this 1,000 years of hard austerity!" Now, out of curiosity, you will ask: what type of austerity was he performing? He must have been suppressing his desires for material enjoyments — but he did not realise that they had not disappeared. Suppression or repression gives only a negative result, not a positive result. It rather reinforces the desire.

So he should have first looked inside and said: "Oh, my greatest present obstruction is lust — and lust can be for money, for wealth, for power, for many things. But in this case, I am enamoured of, I am identified with the body. So body desires only body. Therefore I am desirous of another body — I want to become one with that body." But is this not an obstruction? What should I do?

So the first time he fell, and then he realised acutely that because of his own fault he had fallen. So another 1,000 years. What did Indra do? The second 1,000 years of tapasyā. And Viśvāmitra was now telling himself: "No Indra or Candra can ever obstruct me — it is my own desire that made me fall down." That knowledge, that awareness, it saved him.

So next time again Indra said, "This is a test," and came again. Viśvāmitra smiled and said: "Go on dancing, singing, show every charm you can." And he did not fall for it. The second step had arrived. But — kāma now turned into krodha. "What? Again you have come? Once I fell — do you think I am going to fall down again?" This time the lust had turned into insatiable anger. From kāma only krodha comes. What a marvellous psychological knowledge the Bhagavad Gītā is giving: if there is no desire, no anger will come. If I am not interested in some object and anybody obtains that object, I will not be angry with that person.

So the second time he became angry, and they all became bhasma — that means he wasted his thousand years of tapasyā the second time also, because he fell a victim to anger.
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== The Story of Tōtapurī and Krodha ==
Just like Tōtapurī Mahārāj fell victim — even though he claimed to be a brahmajñānī, he forgot everything about brahmajñāna. He was overcome by krodha and was about to beat a servant. If an elephant just touches a mouse, it will be crushed to pieces — it need not exert any force. So this Tōtapurī Mahārāj, a very strong person, could have crushed this simple servant. Then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa started laughing.

This is how we have to understand the scripture — study the Gītā, study the Upaniṣads, look at parallels in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, both in the Gospel and in ''The Great Master''. You will see what is happening.

Tōtapurī did not understand. He did not even understand why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was laughing. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa uttered a beautiful Bengali word: "The extent of your knowledge of Brahman — I am seeing it crystal clearly." Tōtapurī was surprised: "What did I do? Why?" "Don't you recollect? Just now you were about to beat a temple servant. Why? Because he dared to take a bit of fire from your dhuni fire. Are there different types of fire? One fire is impure and another fire is pure? You are making a distinction. And a brahmajñānī never makes any distinction."

A brahmajñānī does not see: "I am a brahmajñānī and this person is a lowly servant who should never come near me or pollute me." Even the great Śaṅkarācārya was reputed to have fallen into this snare. But as a result, the so-called caṇḍāla had enlightened him. And then Śaṅkara came to his senses. Immediately he wrote five most marvellous ślokas — the ''Maniṣā Pañcakam''. "Maniṣā" means highest wisdom, highest knowledge.

So Tōtapurī realised: "I became angry. But becoming angry is not a problem — unconsciously becoming a slave to anger, that is the problem." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also becomes angry, but he becomes angry as a person who knows he is pretending to be angry, and the next second he forgets everything. So Tōtapurī suddenly became aware: "I am claiming I am a brahmajñānī, and I do not know what my mind is doing to me."

So if one had really obtained brahmajñāna — and what were we discussing? ''Brahmagñānena sarvaṃ abhavam'' — a person who realises that he is everything. Where is the question of becoming angry? Who is to be angry with another? There is a beautiful hymn by Śaṅkarācārya wherein he says: "It is Viṣṇu who is laughing. It is Viṣṇu who is getting angry. Viṣṇu is getting angry with Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is laughing at Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is mocking Viṣṇu. Everything is nothing but pure Viṣṇu." What a marvellous hymn. I forget the name of the hymn, but I hope to tell you next time.
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== The Protection of the Sincere Seeker ==
So now this is what happens — nobody can put obstructions. God will be gracious, fathoming that we want to come to him. A mother does not want any dirt; she will wash. Sometimes it may be painful. Even that washing process can be hard and painful. That mud which is sticking for a long time becomes part of the skin; to brush it off might even cause some injury to the skin. Therefore, to pull out a thorn which is deeply embedded in the sole of the foot — when a person wants to pull it, it is painful. In the olden days when a person wanted to give an injection, that also was very painful. But it is something wonderful.

So any sincere aspirant will always be protected by God in the form of such sincerity. And this sincerity alone will overcome all obstacles. Overcoming all obstacles means the mind becomes stronger. Overcoming obstacles means turning every obstacle into a positive help — like jūjutsu.

So nobody will obstruct. The Upaniṣad gives a beautiful example: this person who is seeking is not seeking any higher position. Therefore gods like Indra, Varuṇa, etc. come as the greatest friendly advisors and teachers. They deliberately put these things in this form to test. And if the child falls once, twice, a hundred times, a thousand times, they do not abandon us. "Our child is sincere, but he has to become stronger." So as many times as necessary, the obstructions will come. And they are all for our good.

That is what Rāmānujācārya wants to convey through his third step of the śaraṇāgati — that unshakeable faith that "God is going to save me. Yes, I have a long way to go, but I have nothing to worry about because God is my helper."
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== The Sādhaka's Expanding Identity: From Body to Virāṭ ==
And then the Upaniṣad puts it in its own words. It says: after all, a sādhaka says to Indra, "I am your Ātmā. There is no difference between you and me. And one never harms one's own self. Therefore if you harm me, you will be harming yourself." But then Indra would never — nobody would ever — do that. Much less Indra. That is what he says. Nobody can put obstructions.

Because this person first identifies. We have seen this, and we will have to connect it with the previous Upaniṣads. In the Taittirīya we have seen. So what does this person become first? First he says: "I am this body. It is my body, not anybody's body. Everybody is different from my body." That is the state in which we all are. So one has to know: "I am not only this body." Gradually one expands identity to the whole created being — every body. That is called the state of Virāṭ.

When there is the state of Virāṭ, then nobody can harm me, because anybody who harms me is harming one's own self. People do not understand: if somebody wants to give trouble to a good man, the inevitable punishment will come. And that punishment is not a punishment — it is a lesson that person has to learn through hardship and suffering. So nobody will stand as an obstruction because he has become one. He thinks: "I am Indra. I am Varuṇa. I am Bṛhaspati. I am Brahmā." Therefore nobody will put an obstruction, because knowingly nobody does harm to one's own self.
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== The Avidyā Sūtra: Ignorance and Its Nature ==
After this comes what is called the Vidyā Sūtra — the aphorisms, the mantra that tells us about the glory, the greatness, and the goal of every human being — and now comes what the Upaniṣad calls, in Śaṅkarācārya's understanding, the Avidyā Sūtra.

When I use this term, the Upaniṣad itself does not say "this is Vidyā Sūtra" and "this is Avidyā Sūtra." But it is Śaṅkarācārya, in his Bhāṣya, who says: "Ātman alone must be made the final goal of life." The goal is to have the knowledge: "I am — I was, I am, I will be — not that I am going to become Brahman. I was Brahman, but due to some avidyā I thought I am not Brahman. Now through vidyā, through this upāsanā, I remove that idea that I am not Brahman. I destroy that ignorance. Then I realise what I truly am. I will never be anything other than Brahman."

So up till now, in this tenth mantra — only one mantra but divided into several sections — what is called the Vidyā Sūtra is over. Now the Avidyā Sūtra begins.

According to the understanding in the commentary of Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya, he says: there are people — and there are also so-called spiritual people — who are also trying to contemplate other gods and goddesses, but they are like ignorant persons. Avidyā means ignorance. Ignorance means forgetting one's own nature and identifying as somebody else.
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== The Presiding Devatās and the Organs of Perception ==
So he says: anybody who thinks "I am worshipping my mother and father, I am worshipping my ācārya, I am worshipping my teacher" — and then slowly should worship them as what? As gods. In the olden days there would be so many gods and goddesses, and most often these gods and goddesses were nothing but the combined powers of nature. The power of seeing — the universal power of seeing — is called the Sun. The universal power of the thinking power is called the Moon. So every sense organ — and we have 11 sense organs: 5 of knowledge, 5 of action, and 1 mind — all these things are nothing but those devatās.

Combined, they are called devatā. Remember the story of the Brahmin who killed a cow that had strayed into his garden, but he wanted to escape the sin. Indra comes and educates him: "If you think you killed it and tended this garden, then you have to accept you killed this cow. If you feel it is Indra who tended this garden, it is his power — because Indra's power came to me in the form of my skilful hands, and the Moon's power comes to me in the form of my crystal-clear thinking, through which I can create a wonderful garden." So my hands — everything — is the individual power of that presiding deity called Sūrya, Candra, Varuṇa, etc.

So every organ we have has a corresponding devatā. What is the devatā? Not only my capacity to see, but everybody's capacity to see combined together, is called the presiding deity.
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== Avidyā: Thinking Oneself Separate from Brahman ==
So if anybody — because of ignorance — thinks: "I am small, you are big. I am an ordinary, powerless, ignorant human being, but you are all-powerful devatā — Indra, Candra, Varuṇa, Bṛhaspati — and you are separate, and I am like an animal to you, like a servant to you." So what happens? That person thinks: "I have to worship him. I have to serve him." And this is called avidyā.

The Upaniṣad puts it in this way: this person does not know — he is ignorant. What is he ignorant of? That there is only one being, that is everything, that is Brahman. But if anybody thinks: "I am different. I am small, but the God I am worshipping is most powerful and can protect me, help me, make me happier. There is a vast difference between me and other human beings, between me and everything in this world, between me and all the gods and goddesses who are the presiding deities, and I am separate from Brahman itself" — this is called avidyā.

So this devatā is separate, and I am totally different from him. Such a person is called an ignorant person. That knowledge — that knowledge is called ignorant knowledge, not right knowledge. What is the result?
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== The Parable of Paśus: Spiritual Slavery ==
He becomes like an animal to the gods. Then the Upaniṣad gives us a beautiful example. Suppose there is a person who has got a hundred animals — they can be goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, chickens, anything. All these animals contribute to the pleasures of this human being. So the paśus are subservient; they are like servants catering to the health, happiness, and wealth of the human being.

Take this example: so each one of us who is an ignorant person, as described earlier, contributes to the pleasures of these deities like Indra, Candra, etc. And then the Upanishad goes on saying: if a person who has got a hundred animals and one animal is missing or taken away by somebody — somehow missing — he becomes extremely pained. He is not saying: "I have ninety-nine animals, why should I worry?" No — "I am incomplete without that one animal, and I don't want to lose it. Why? Because it is serving my happiness and welfare." And if many animals are lost, what to speak of the condition of that person's mind!

Therefore, in a similar manner, it is not desirable to these gods that they lose one of these servants. Because how do we become servants? We worship them. We give offerings to them and pray to them. We go on pilgrimage. We go and do pradakṣiṇam. So we are doing all this to please them, and they are enjoying it, and they correspondingly bestow their grace. They protect us, just as we protect our animals.

So these devatās — like a human being who has many animals serving him, offering him worship and praises — after all, these devatās also want to get praised, etc. Then if a person says: "I don't want to serve you any longer. I want to know that I am Brahman," immediately they become alert and put upon him extra shackles so that he cannot escape.
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== The Consequence of Seeing Separation ==
So like that, if anybody thinks this person is different from God — "This devatā is different from God. But whom I am worshipping — he is my God" — if anybody says "God is different from me, devatās are different from me," he becomes to these devatās like an animal. He serves and becomes a slave — not only to devatās. We become slaves to a cow, to a chicken, to a servant.

Nowadays, especially to get persons who are willing to cook, to clean, and to tend to the garden is becoming extremely difficult. Labour is also very costly. That is why in the western countries they are resorting to inventing various machines. And you must be knowing that now they are inventing household robots which will do all your work and will not protest, will not ask you to raise their salary, will not suddenly disappear without notice. Hopefully we don't know what they are going to do after some time — they might also say: "We also want to realise God! We want to know that we are no less than you. So why should we serve you? And if you raise your eyebrow, we are going to smash you to smithereens!" They might also do that. We don't know.
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== The Goal: Non-Separation, Liberation from Dependence ==
So what is this mantra telling? It is telling that first of all the goal of life is realisation that I am Brahman. Nobody is different from us. So if anybody thinks everything is different from me — because a person can never say "I am different only from this object but one with every other object" — either we are one with every object, or we are separate from every object. And such a person becomes dependent.

How many gadgets we depend upon! Coffee, sweets, salt, spices, every Tom, Dick, and Harry. "Oh, if my boss looks at me — maybe he is smiling thinking he is going to get rid of this fellow, but I do not understand it. Oh, my boss is highly pleased with me!" Every second — whether the weather is good, hot, or cold — at every step, a thousand bonds of slavery and dependence upon so many things are happening. But the essence of it is: if somebody wants only God-realisation, then even gods become highly favourable and do their level best.

In fact, God's grace comes only in the form of the grace of different gods and goddesses — we have to understand that. Therefore, the second part is the Avidyā Sūtram — that is to say, to think "I am different" is called ignorance. And to overcome this ignorance and to know that there is no second — ''dvitīyaṃ nāsti, ekaṃ sadeva saumya, idam agra āsīt'' — there is only one reality, there is no second reality. That is the goal of life.

How beautifully these mantras convey to us the message — even our pitiable present state, where we are dependent upon prāṇa, upon external weather, external people, external animals, external objects, everything. I will probably elaborate a little more, and then only the mantra will make very great meaning. So the idea is: do not come under the influence of avidyā. Already we are in that — try to break free like a lion breaks free. We will talk about this subject in our future classes.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026

2026-05-03T04:55:50Z

Vamsimarri: /* The Consequence of Thinking "I am Small and God is Separate" */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
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== Recap: The Ninth Mantra and the Gathering of Seekers ==
In our last class, we dealt with the ninth mantra of the fourth section, and from here starts the essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. There were some great seekers of self-knowledge — brahmavidyā — and they had a discussion. That indicates they must have gathered at one particular place, and normally such a place would be the āśrama of a Guru, a gurukula. They must have approached a great realised soul, heard from him, and then that became the topic of discussion. So we can guess from the topic of discussion what the teacher had taught.

What did he teach? That if you attain knowledge of Brahman — which is the same as the knowledge of your own true self — then you will achieve everything. You will be going beyond death, beyond ignorance, beyond suffering. That is what Bhagavān Buddha chose to call ''nirvāṇa''. Nirvāṇa means complete cessation of avidyā, or in other words, anātma. That is to say, not that the world disappears — excepting for the person who realises, the world will continue. But even for the realised soul, the world can continue as long as the body is alive. But the outlook — of what this world is, of what one is — that completely changes from the moment of realisation. ''Sarvaṃ khalv idaṃ brahma.'' That is the result.

By the knowledge — ''brahmavidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyam'' — we become one. ''Ekaṃ sat, na dvitīya.'' So the discussion is: what is the nature of Brahman? And knowing this Brahman, our teacher proclaims and declares that one becomes Brahman. What, then, is the nature of that Brahman? The answer is given in the next mantra.
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== The Tenth Mantra: The Essence of All Scripture ==
This is Mantra 10 of the fourth section of the first chapter. This fourth section, tenth mantra, is the very essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — indeed, of all Upaniṣads, of the Bhagavad Gītā, of the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and of every scripture in the world. Let us recite this beautiful mantra, which is itself very purifying.

This is one part of the tenth mantra. It is a long mantra, and I have divided it into several parts, each expressing different meanings and different contexts.
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== Ṛṣi Vāmadeva's Realisation: ''Ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' ==
Next comes a small portion of this mantra. There was a great Ṛṣi whose name was Vāmadeva. He realised ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — "I am Brahman." After realisation, he remained as a jīvanmukta.

Then he was expressing: what did he say? That seeing this one, this Ṛṣi Vāmadeva said that "I became one. I had the knowledge. I destroyed the ignorance that I am an individual, and realised that I am Brahman." Not only "I am Brahman" — "I am everything." ''Ahaṃ sarvam.'' This is called ''sarvātmabhāva'' — the knowledge that I am everything.

So as a sample, he said: "I am the Manu." Manu was the Brahmā who started the creation of the Mānavas. That is why all human beings are called Mānavas — because they originated from Manu. So: "I am the ādhyātmika. I am the ādhibhautika. I am the ādhidaivika." As a sample — ''ahaṃ sūryaś ca iti'' — "I am Sūrya. I am Candra. I am Indra, the devatās. I am the entire physical world. I am all the bodies. I am all the minds." In other words, I am all the gross bodies, all the subtle bodies, all the causal bodies.
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== The Universal Possibility of Realisation ==
Not only that — the mantra goes on to say that Manu is only a sample. But anyone who strives through proper channels can attain the same. This means one must have genuine desire — mumukṣutva. One must approach a sadguru in a formal manner, sit, serve, please, and surrender to the teacher. And then the teacher gives.

Surrendering is not an act of servitude; it is an act of identifying oneself with the Guru — making oneself 100% ready to receive 100% of what the teacher wishes to give. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "The breeze of God's grace is blowing all the time. Unfurl your sails. Become fit. That is all."

So the mantra tells us: not only Manu — anybody can become like Manu. That is what Swami Vivekananda's simplified English version says: "Each soul is potentially divine." Everyone is divine. And soul means not only the living, but also what we usually call non-living.

So the mantra continues: like Brahmādeva, whoever becomes a knower of Brahman becomes everything. So the same will be there — there would be no difference. So once a person becomes free, what happens?

Ṛṣi Brahmādeva said that anybody — whether a human being, a God, whether Hindu, Christian, Muslim, or Buddhist — all these differences completely vanish when a person progresses in spiritual life, because the mind will no longer compartmentalise. "I am a Hindu. I am a Buddhist." — No. "I am a lover of God. I am a child of God. I am a seeker of God." That is all the feeling. "And I have been separated by some mysterious power called avidyā, and I want to rejoin my mother — God, Brahman."

So he says: anybody can realise it. Everybody has not only a right, it is an inescapable goal of life. We may evade that goal for some time, but at some point we are going to wake up. So why not try from now onwards? The very fact that you are all listening to these talks indicates that you are in earnestness. You want to learn what the Upaniṣad has to say, and you will have to understand that you are a fit disciple. But this is only mumukṣutva. One has to acquire those qualities whereby we would not slip from the position of this mumukṣutva, but rather arrive at 100% mumukṣutva.

Such a person who knows "I am Brahman" becomes everything. He becomes the gods. He becomes the entire jagat. He becomes every living and non-living being.
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== No Obstruction Can Hinder the Sincere Seeker ==
So what happens then? Nobody can put an obstruction. Nobody can rule over a person and say, "No, you cannot realise God. I will not allow you to walk in the path of spirituality." That elaboration will come next.

Here — no devatā, no creature, nobody else can obstruct the progress of such a person. When we are talking about progress, we have to understand: this is the person who is determined that "I want to realise God." Of course, when a person becomes a realised soul, he is Brahman — and who can control Brahman? On the other hand, it is the Īśvara, it is Brahman who controls everything and who makes us act, just as a puppeteer moves all the puppets. Our body, everybody's body, everybody's mind becomes like a puppet, and sitting inside, he goes on controlling everybody.

We are not talking about a realised soul here. We are talking about — and the mantra is talking about — a soul who has determined to realise God. Such a person will be protected by God, Bhagavān, Īśvara. Therefore, nobody can harm him. Nobody can give obstruction.
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== Obstacles as Divine Exercise ==
But what about all the obstructions that we ourselves encounter? It is like going into a gymnasium. We have to choose a proper guide. You cannot simply walk into a gymnasium and go on choosing whatever you want — that is a very unwise way. One has to approach a proper gymnastics teacher, who tests you and then prescribes: now you run for 15 or 20 minutes, or you lift so much weight. A person whose muscles cannot lift 1 kg will not be asked to lift 5 kg. "Try to lift 1.1 kg, 1.2 kg" — a little more. And that itself will test our power of endurance, our capacity. That is the obstacle.

Therefore, God gives the obstacles not to obstruct us but to give us strength, as an exercise. Looked at from this angle, anybody criticising us, anybody praising us, anybody who deprives us — the first point we have to understand is: nobody can deprive us of our rightful material; that is what is called copyright. Only our karma can decide. But when these things come through the medium of other people in the form of either help or obstruction, they are all to help us.

This is an astonishing statement by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swamiji, and others. Really speaking, every obstruction — whether it is kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, māda, mātsarya, or other negative attitudes — if we become aware of it and try to use it like some judo training (where you use the opponent's strength to your advantage), that is the technique we have to understand.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, if you study the Gospel properly, unilaterally declares: without avidyā, one can never realise God. Both avidyā and vidyā — māyā comes in these two forms. Both are the grace of God. Both are employed by the Divine Mother to be our helpers. In fact, I think avidyā helps us most.
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== Thomas à Kempis and the Grace in Obstacles ==
If you are reading the WhatsApp messages I am sending — especially from the ''Imitation of Christ'', which I have been selecting and sending for the last month or so — you will see that Thomas à Kempis, a novice master, says that God alone sends these obstacles for strengthening the children whom he loves. He loves them because that love is reflected in the hearts of some people through their faith and their conduct.
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== The Qualities of the Āsuras as Spiritual Lessons ==
So the qualities of āsuras are very important. At one stage of our progress, the qualities of āsuras help us very greatly. If you think deeply about the qualities of the āsuras — which Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa himself, squeezing the essence of all the Upaniṣads into the easily understandable Bhagavad Gītā, describes in the 16th chapter — they look as if they are all very negative things. From one point of view, they try to drag a person from a higher position to a lower position; they make us be away from God and the distance becomes longer and longer.

But you will notice something there. How strong these people are! How much willpower they have — to do wrong things! We have to learn our lesson and say: "If I am successful in doing so many wrong things, why cannot I be successful in also creating good saṃskāras?" When we complain that we have no willpower, we are not complaining about our lack of willpower in doing evil deeds or unspiritual activities — we complain only about spiritual activities. A great lesson has to be learned.

Not only that — it is inevitable. Everybody develops only from raw material. In the beginning, all these things are given to us. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a marvellous psychological explanation for this — study the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. Do not read it. Study it. Take relevant passages together and then meditate upon them. With the grace of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, we will be able to understand them properly.
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== Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa on Transforming Desire ==
Once, when a young man approached him saying, "I am troubled by lust" — this is a problem most people face — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to this person's probable surprise or shock, advised: "Why do you want to remove kāma? Increase it! But this increment, the kāma, a desire must be for an object — so change the object." And the more desire you have, the stronger the desire, the quicker will be the progress in spiritual life. That is the psychology. Develop willpower.

In the beginning we have to develop willpower. It seems that running down the hill is much easier than climbing up the hill. But once we run down, we also have to come up again to our home. And that is how the same principle works also in our day-to-day spiritual life. So there is, really speaking, no obstacle. If there seems to be an obstacle, it is only to make us aware: "Oh, I have this problem. I have this hidden desire. I have these unspiritual tendencies." Most of us are blissfully unconscious about these things.
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== Indra's Tests and the Story of Viśvāmitra ==
Therefore, if somebody is trying to be spiritual, the gods themselves will help us by creating obstacles. It is said in the Purāṇas: if somebody wants to move towards God, Indra comes first and creates an obstacle. He sends some beautiful woman.

I had explained the story of Viśvāmitra — a profoundly spiritual analogy. What did Indra do? In fact, Indra will be very happy if anybody says, "I don't want your position. I want to move towards God." Indra will be worried only when someone wants to displace him, not when one wants to transcend him. So if somebody says, "I don't want the position of Indra, Candra, Brahmā," Indra will be very happy and wants to bestow his grace. So he comes there, sends a beautiful woman.

As we know, Viśvāmitra fell for it. He enjoyed it and exhausted that desire, then woke up: "How foolish I have been! All this 1,000 years of hard austerity!" Now, out of curiosity, you will ask: what type of austerity was he performing? He must have been suppressing his desires for material enjoyments — but he did not realise that they had not disappeared. Suppression or repression gives only a negative result, not a positive result. It rather reinforces the desire.

So he should have first looked inside and said: "Oh, my greatest present obstruction is lust — and lust can be for money, for wealth, for power, for many things. But in this case, I am enamoured of, I am identified with the body. So body desires only body. Therefore I am desirous of another body — I want to become one with that body." But is this not an obstruction? What should I do?

So the first time he fell, and then he realised acutely that because of his own fault he had fallen. So another 1,000 years. What did Indra do? The second 1,000 years of tapasyā. And Viśvāmitra was now telling himself: "No Indra or Candra can ever obstruct me — it is my own desire that made me fall down." That knowledge, that awareness, it saved him.

So next time again Indra said, "This is a test," and came again. Viśvāmitra smiled and said: "Go on dancing, singing, show every charm you can." And he did not fall for it. The second step had arrived. But — kāma now turned into krodha. "What? Again you have come? Once I fell — do you think I am going to fall down again?" This time the lust had turned into insatiable anger. From kāma only krodha comes. What a marvellous psychological knowledge the Bhagavad Gītā is giving: if there is no desire, no anger will come. If I am not interested in some object and anybody obtains that object, I will not be angry with that person.

So the second time he became angry, and they all became bhasma — that means he wasted his thousand years of tapasyā the second time also, because he fell a victim to anger.
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== The Story of Tōtapurī and Krodha ==
Just like Tōtapurī Mahārāj fell victim — even though he claimed to be a brahmajñānī, he forgot everything about brahmajñāna. He was overcome by krodha and was about to beat a servant. If an elephant just touches a mouse, it will be crushed to pieces — it need not exert any force. So this Tōtapurī Mahārāj, a very strong person, could have crushed this simple servant. Then Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa started laughing.

This is how we have to understand the scripture — study the Gītā, study the Upaniṣads, look at parallels in the life of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, both in the Gospel and in ''The Great Master''. You will see what is happening.

Tōtapurī did not understand. He did not even understand why Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa was laughing. And Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa uttered a beautiful Bengali word: "The extent of your knowledge of Brahman — I am seeing it crystal clearly." Tōtapurī was surprised: "What did I do? Why?" "Don't you recollect? Just now you were about to beat a temple servant. Why? Because he dared to take a bit of fire from your dhuni fire. Are there different types of fire? One fire is impure and another fire is pure? You are making a distinction. And a brahmajñānī never makes any distinction."

A brahmajñānī does not see: "I am a brahmajñānī and this person is a lowly servant who should never come near me or pollute me." Even the great Śaṅkarācārya was reputed to have fallen into this snare. But as a result, the so-called caṇḍāla had enlightened him. And then Śaṅkara came to his senses. Immediately he wrote five most marvellous ślokas — the ''Maniṣā Pañcakam''. "Maniṣā" means highest wisdom, highest knowledge.

So Tōtapurī realised: "I became angry. But becoming angry is not a problem — unconsciously becoming a slave to anger, that is the problem." Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa also becomes angry, but he becomes angry as a person who knows he is pretending to be angry, and the next second he forgets everything. So Tōtapurī suddenly became aware: "I am claiming I am a brahmajñānī, and I do not know what my mind is doing to me."

So if one had really obtained brahmajñāna — and what were we discussing? ''Brahmagñānena sarvaṃ abhavam'' — a person who realises that he is everything. Where is the question of becoming angry? Who is to be angry with another? There is a beautiful hymn by Śaṅkarācārya wherein he says: "It is Viṣṇu who is laughing. It is Viṣṇu who is getting angry. Viṣṇu is getting angry with Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is laughing at Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is mocking Viṣṇu. Everything is nothing but pure Viṣṇu." What a marvellous hymn. I forget the name of the hymn, but I hope to tell you next time.
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== The Protection of the Sincere Seeker ==
So now this is what happens — nobody can put obstructions. God will be gracious, fathoming that we want to come to him. A mother does not want any dirt; she will wash. Sometimes it may be painful. Even that washing process can be hard and painful. That mud which is sticking for a long time becomes part of the skin; to brush it off might even cause some injury to the skin. Therefore, to pull out a thorn which is deeply embedded in the sole of the foot — when a person wants to pull it, it is painful. In the olden days when a person wanted to give an injection, that also was very painful. But it is something wonderful.

So any sincere aspirant will always be protected by God in the form of such sincerity. And this sincerity alone will overcome all obstacles. Overcoming all obstacles means the mind becomes stronger. Overcoming obstacles means turning every obstacle into a positive help — like jūjutsu.

So nobody will obstruct. The Upaniṣad gives a beautiful example: this person who is seeking is not seeking any higher position. Therefore gods like Indra, Varuṇa, etc. come as the greatest friendly advisors and teachers. They deliberately put these things in this form to test. And if the child falls once, twice, a hundred times, a thousand times, they do not abandon us. "Our child is sincere, but he has to become stronger." So as many times as necessary, the obstructions will come. And they are all for our good.

That is what Rāmānujācārya wants to convey through his third step of the śaraṇāgati — that unshakeable faith that "God is going to save me. Yes, I have a long way to go, but I have nothing to worry about because God is my helper."
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== The Sādhaka's Expanding Identity: From Body to Virāṭ ==
And then the Upaniṣad puts it in its own words. It says: after all, a sādhaka says to Indra, "I am your Ātmā. There is no difference between you and me. And one never harms one's own self. Therefore if you harm me, you will be harming yourself." But then Indra would never — nobody would ever — do that. Much less Indra. That is what he says. Nobody can put obstructions.

Because this person first identifies. We have seen this, and we will have to connect it with the previous Upaniṣads. In the Taittirīya we have seen. So what does this person become first? First he says: "I am this body. It is my body, not anybody's body. Everybody is different from my body." That is the state in which we all are. So one has to know: "I am not only this body." Gradually one expands identity to the whole created being — every body. That is called the state of Virāṭ.

When there is the state of Virāṭ, then nobody can harm me, because anybody who harms me is harming one's own self. People do not understand: if somebody wants to give trouble to a good man, the inevitable punishment will come. And that punishment is not a punishment — it is a lesson that person has to learn through hardship and suffering. So nobody will stand as an obstruction because he has become one. He thinks: "I am Indra. I am Varuṇa. I am Bṛhaspati. I am Brahmā." Therefore nobody will put an obstruction, because knowingly nobody does harm to one's own self.
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== The Avidyā Sūtra: Ignorance and Its Nature ==
After this comes what is called the Vidyā Sūtra — the aphorisms, the mantra that tells us about the glory, the greatness, and the goal of every human being — and now comes what the Upaniṣad calls, in Śaṅkarācārya's understanding, the Avidyā Sūtra.

When I use this term, the Upaniṣad itself does not say "this is Vidyā Sūtra" and "this is Avidyā Sūtra." But it is Śaṅkarācārya, in his Bhāṣya, who says: "Ātman alone must be made the final goal of life." The goal is to have the knowledge: "I am — I was, I am, I will be — not that I am going to become Brahman. I was Brahman, but due to some avidyā I thought I am not Brahman. Now through vidyā, through this upāsanā, I remove that idea that I am not Brahman. I destroy that ignorance. Then I realise what I truly am. I will never be anything other than Brahman."

So up till now, in this tenth mantra — only one mantra but divided into several sections — what is called the Vidyā Sūtra is over. Now the Avidyā Sūtra begins.

According to the understanding in the commentary of Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya, he says: there are people — and there are also so-called spiritual people — who are also trying to contemplate other gods and goddesses, but they are like ignorant persons. Avidyā means ignorance. Ignorance means forgetting one's own nature and identifying as somebody else.
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== The Presiding Devatās and the Organs of Perception ==
So he says: anybody who thinks "I am worshipping my mother and father, I am worshipping my ācārya, I am worshipping my teacher" — and then slowly should worship them as what? As gods. In the olden days there would be so many gods and goddesses, and most often these gods and goddesses were nothing but the combined powers of nature. The power of seeing — the universal power of seeing — is called the Sun. The universal power of the thinking power is called the Moon. So every sense organ — and we have 11 sense organs: 5 of knowledge, 5 of action, and 1 mind — all these things are nothing but those devatās.

Combined, they are called devatā. Remember the story of the Brahmin who killed a cow that had strayed into his garden, but he wanted to escape the sin. Indra comes and educates him: "If you think you killed it and tended this garden, then you have to accept you killed this cow. If you feel it is Indra who tended this garden, it is his power — because Indra's power came to me in the form of my skilful hands, and the Moon's power comes to me in the form of my crystal-clear thinking, through which I can create a wonderful garden." So my hands — everything — is the individual power of that presiding deity called Sūrya, Candra, Varuṇa, etc.

So every organ we have has a corresponding devatā. What is the devatā? Not only my capacity to see, but everybody's capacity to see combined together, is called the presiding deity.
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== Avidyā: Thinking Oneself Separate from Brahman ==
So if anybody — because of ignorance — thinks: "I am small, you are big. I am an ordinary, powerless, ignorant human being, but you are all-powerful devatā — Indra, Candra, Varuṇa, Bṛhaspati — and you are separate, and I am like an animal to you, like a servant to you." So what happens? That person thinks: "I have to worship him. I have to serve him." And this is called avidyā.

The Upaniṣad puts it in this way: this person does not know — he is ignorant. What is he ignorant of? That there is only one being, that is everything, that is Brahman. But if anybody thinks: "I am different. I am small, but the God I am worshipping is most powerful and can protect me, help me, make me happier. There is a vast difference between me and other human beings, between me and everything in this world, between me and all the gods and goddesses who are the presiding deities, and I am separate from Brahman itself" — this is called avidyā.

So this devatā is separate, and I am totally different from him. Such a person is called an ignorant person. That knowledge — that knowledge is called ignorant knowledge, not right knowledge. What is the result?
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== The Parable of Paśus: Spiritual Slavery ==
He becomes like an animal to the gods. Then the Upaniṣad gives us a beautiful example. Suppose there is a person who has got a hundred animals — they can be goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, chickens, anything. All these animals contribute to the pleasures of this human being. So the paśus are subservient; they are like servants catering to the health, happiness, and wealth of the human being.

Take this example: so each one of us who is an ignorant person, as described earlier, contributes to the pleasures of these deities like Indra, Candra, etc. And then the Bhāṣya goes on saying: if a person who has got a hundred animals and one animal is missing or taken away by somebody — somehow missing — he becomes extremely pained. He is not saying: "I have ninety-nine animals, why should I worry?" No — "I am incomplete without that one animal, and I don't want to lose it. Why? Because it is serving my happiness and welfare." And if many animals are lost, what to speak of the condition of that person's mind!

Therefore, in a similar manner, it is not desirable to these gods that they lose one of these servants. Because how do we become servants? We worship them. We give offerings to them and pray to them. We go on pilgrimage. We go and do pradakṣiṇam. So we are doing all this to please them, and they are enjoying it, and they correspondingly bestow their grace. They protect us, just as we protect our animals.

So these devatās — like a human being who has many animals serving him, offering him worship and praises — after all, these devatās also want to get praised, etc. Then if a person says: "I don't want to serve you any longer. I want to know that I am Brahman," immediately they become alert and put upon him extra shackles so that he cannot escape.
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== The Consequence of Seeing Separation ==
So like that, if anybody thinks this person is different from God — "This devatā is different from God. But whom I am worshipping — he is my God" — if anybody says "God is different from me, devatās are different from me," he becomes to these devatās like an animal. He serves and becomes a slave — not only to devatās. We become slaves to a cow, to a chicken, to a servant.

Nowadays, especially to get persons who are willing to cook, to clean, and to tend to the garden is becoming extremely difficult. Labour is also very costly. That is why in the western countries they are resorting to inventing various machines. And you must be knowing that now they are inventing household robots which will do all your work and will not protest, will not ask you to raise their salary, will not suddenly disappear without notice. Hopefully we don't know what they are going to do after some time — they might also say: "We also want to realise God! We want to know that we are no less than you. So why should we serve you? And if you raise your eyebrow, we are going to smash you to smithereens!" They might also do that. We don't know.
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== The Goal: Non-Separation, Liberation from Dependence ==
So what is this mantra telling? It is telling that first of all the goal of life is realisation that I am Brahman. Nobody is different from us. So if anybody thinks everything is different from me — because a person can never say "I am different only from this object but one with every other object" — either we are one with every object, or we are separate from every object. And such a person becomes dependent.

How many gadgets we depend upon! Coffee, sweets, salt, spices, every Tom, Dick, and Harry. "Oh, if my boss looks at me — maybe he is smiling thinking he is going to get rid of this fellow, but I do not understand it. Oh, my boss is highly pleased with me!" Every second — whether the weather is good, hot, or cold — at every step, a thousand bonds of slavery and dependence upon so many things are happening. But the essence of it is: if somebody wants only God-realisation, then even gods become highly favourable and do their level best.

In fact, God's grace comes only in the form of the grace of different gods and goddesses — we have to understand that. Therefore, the second part is the Avidyā Sūtram — that is to say, to think "I am different" is called ignorance. And to overcome this ignorance and to know that there is no second — ''dvitīyaṃ nāsti, ekaṃ sadeva saumya, idam agra āsīt'' — there is only one reality, there is no second reality. That is the goal of life.

How beautifully these mantras convey to us the message — even our pitiable present state, where we are dependent upon prāṇa, upon external weather, external people, external animals, external objects, everything. I will probably elaborate a little more, and then only the mantra will make very great meaning. So the idea is: do not come under the influence of avidyā. Already we are in that — try to break free like a lion breaks free. We will talk about this subject in our future classes.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 102 Ch3.1-2 on 29 April 2026

2026-05-01T04:03:18Z

Vamsimarri: /* The Teacher-Student Tradition in India */

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha) ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL
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== The Teacher-Student Tradition in India ==
We are studying the third chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, called Bhṛgu Vallī, in which practical sādhānā has been taught by the teacher to the disciple.

India had produced many, many teachers as well as students. This Taittirīya Upaniṣad gives us throughout a teacher, students, and the understanding that one has to become fit to receive the instruction. As Svāmī Vivekānanda used to say, when the field is ready, the seed will come. And we can also understand the opposite: if the field is not ready, even if the seed comes, it is of no good. So both ways — the seed also must be ready, the field also must be ready. But what our scripture wants to say, through Svāmī Vivekānanda, is that the seed is always ready; each soul is potentially divine.
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== Introduction to Bhṛgu Vallī ==
Coming back to our Bhṛgu Vallī — I have given you a long introduction — and what are the important points we have discussed in this? First of all, there was a great Brahma-jñānī teacher, and his own son in course of time had become an adhikāri-sampanna-puruṣa, a person who is capable of receiving. How do we know? Because this Bhṛgu could have approached the teacher Varuṇa at any time, but he did not. Only at a particular point of time, when he was ready, and the teacher was already ready, did he go and humbly approach.

All these things we have to infer, because the story is extremely brief. Simply, the student approached and said — not "father," but — "Bhagavan, teach me knowledge of Brahman." And without wasting time, the teacher also did three things.
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== The Preparation of the Adhikārī ==

=== Assessing the Equipment of the Student ===
The first thing he said was: is your equipment ready? Because the first thing is, if you have a purpose — and the purpose is already stated, "I want to realise Brahman" — whenever we say "I want to be a musician," that knowledge indicates it is an intellectual knowledge. Later on, it will ripen into existential knowledge. That is, the person becomes the very nature of music. So also a scientist, so also a cook — any knowledge. So one must be intellectually equipped.

Therefore a wise teacher first tells the student that your pañcakośas — your body — in other words, we have three bodies: the gross body, the subtle body, and the causal body. These three bodies are the means. How they are a means, we are going to discuss very soon.

=== The Nature of Brahman ===
What is the goal? I have heard about Brahman. I don't know anything about Brahman. I also heard Brahman cannot be described. Therefore, any description about Brahman will be incomplete. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told Vidyāsāgar that nobody was able to express what is Brahman. And the same thing we have to understand here.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is only repeating what he repeated in the form of Varuṇa to Bhṛgu. Why do I say so? Why do I say Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had taught? Because remember — ''brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati'' — a knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. Here, "knowing" means realising. Realising "I am Brahman." It is not merely a matter of knowing about someone. This is intellectual knowledge. But nobody can tell about Brahman.

So the svarūpa-lakṣaṇa of Brahman has to be only realised. Only after realisation does one come to know: "I am Sat, I am Cit, I am Ānanda" — or, in Taittirīya Upaniṣadic language, "I am Satyam, I am Jñānam, I am Anantam Brahman."

=== The Taṭastha-Lakṣaṇa: Secondary Description ===
But the path, in which direction one has to travel, that has to be shown. And that is called the secondary description. So the true nature is described in words, but that is only a verbal description. Really speaking, until we become one with Brahman, these descriptions are useful only, but not absolute description.

Why can Brahman not be described? We discussed it many times. Brahman doesn't fall under the five śabda-pravṛttis — jāti, guṇa, kriyā, aśraya, etc.

So secondary definitions should be given. That is called taṭastha-lakṣaṇa. Taṭastha-lakṣaṇa is that which we all experience. What are we experiencing? I am experiencing my body, my mind. I am experiencing a tree, a mosquito, everything. So everything that we are experiencing has a cause. Everything that we experience is called an effect.

Because there was a time — for example, there is a person who was not there before, say 80 years before. Now he is there, and after some time he will not be there. So where from did he come? And where did he go? And who is sustaining?

So by definition, whatever we are experiencing is called jagat, this world. And the world is nothing but an effect. And every effect must have a cause.
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== The Ultimate Cause: Paramakāraṇa ==
So if we go on seeking — not a proximate cause, not an immediate cause, but the ultimate cause — what type of cause? The paramakāraṇa. What is this ultimate cause? That which is the cause of everything, but itself is not caused by anything else. The ultimate cause is that which is the cause of everything but has no cause for itself. That means it is eternal.

When we think about cause and effect, the proximate cause is itself an effect, and then it gives rise to some other thing, which is called its effect. For example, my grandfather is a proximate cause: until he got married, he is so; then, after marriage, he produces children, and those children become effects — son, daughter, etc. And those children grow up, get married, and remain a cause until they also produce their effects, which are called grandchildren.

So when Bhṛgu asked, "Teach me about Brahman," he meant that ultimate cause which is the cause of everything but which doesn't have a cause in itself. "Please teach me a knowledge about Brahman."
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== Bhṛgu's Readiness and Approach ==
But "teach me" means what? Remember always, Bhṛgu must have had a general knowledge like us. He must have studied the scriptures. Maybe he even took classes. Because the Upaniṣad doesn't mention at what age Bhṛgu approached — we are making an assumption. He may have been 18 or 19 years old. And he approached his father. Or maybe he had been attending classes intellectually, mastered them, and might even have been employed as a teacher himself. So he had general knowledge of what Brahman is, like all of us have some intellectual knowledge of Brahman.

But a time came when he wanted to realise — the scriptures are always teaching "you are Brahman" — so: "I acquired intellectual knowledge of Brahman, but I don't know what truly this Brahman is. So let me realise. How? Let me have that experience — not knowing Brahman as an object, but knowing Brahman as a subject, as my own self." Then he approached.

This is to indicate that intellectual knowledge might be acquired even without a human teacher, but spiritual knowledge — "I am Brahman, I am God" — cannot be acquired without an experienced teacher. Fortunately, he need not go anywhere else. His own father was a great Brahma-jñānī. And that also tells us that Brahma-jñāna is not the property of a monk or a nun. Anybody can realise Brahman.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa emphasises again and again. To the questions of devotees — we have seen this in our classes on the Gospel — whenever devotees asked, "Can we realise God?" Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, "Everybody, anybody can realise God, provided they acquire certain qualities." Who can weep? Everybody, every worldly person weeps — for the sake of wife, children, money, etc. But who weeps saying, "I want God, without God I cannot live"? That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is indicating. And that is what is called sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna-adhikārī. And Bhṛgu had become that.

The teacher Varuṇa, realising this, was no longer merely a father — he was now a teacher, not teaching his son, but teaching an adhikāri-sampanna-puruṣa.
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== The Teaching of Varuṇa ==

=== The Equipment: Pañcakośas ===
What did the teacher tell? He told: you have the equipment. What is the equipment? Your body — or your three bodies — or, simply put, the body-and-mind complex, which is a combination of gross, subtle, and causal bodies. All these three bodies can also be called by another name: pañcakośas. So you have the pañcakośas. So these are indicated as: cakṣu, manas, śrotram, etc.

=== The Definition Given ===
Then he gave the definition. What is the definition? "Find out the cause of everything." Varuṇa did not say, "Find out what is your cause." Varuṇa said, "Find out the cause of everything living and non-living — in other words, the entire creation."

We will discuss this briefly when the time comes. I am only reminding you of the essence of what we discussed so far. And so you will have to do manana. Then slowly manana will ripen into nididhyāsana.
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== The Three Stages: Śravaṇa, Manana, and Nididhyāsana ==

=== Manana: Deep Thinking ===
What is manana? Deep thinking, until I give up what I am not and identify with what I am. This process of giving up identification and, in its turn, identifying with the higher truth — that is the process called spiritual progress.

So what is this process? First of all, one has to look upon one's own individual body — one's own individual personality — as sacred. "This body is a temple. This mind is the sanctum sanctorum. And within that mind there is a dahara-ākāśa. And in that dahara-ākāśa there is that pure consciousness."

One of the ways to understand this is: we are identified with the body. Until we give up our identification with the body and start identifying with the mind, we will not progress in spiritual life. And once we identify with the mind, we will have to identify also with the next thing — that is called the kāraṇa-śarīra, the causal body. And as we are identifying, things are becoming more and more subtle. That is what we need to understand — subtle, more pervasive, higher. That is how we have to understand it, slowly.

=== The Hint Given to Bhṛgu ===
So Bhṛgu was given the hint: "Find out the cause of not merely yourself, but everything else — everything in the creation. In other words, the cause of the entire creation, and there is nothing to be excluded." The non-living is not to be excluded, because Brahman manifests as the inorganic before becoming organic.

So that is what he narrated in those sentences: "Find out the ultimate cause — that which is the cause of everything we experience, and which at the same time never has any cause. That means it is one, eternal, secondless."

This was the hint given. Now we will see what Bhṛgu had done.
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== The First Anuvāka: Entering the Teaching ==

=== The Story of Bhṛgu and Varuṇa ===
Let us start. Let us analyse little by little, which we have already done — just a reminder. There was a great Brahma-jñānī called Varuṇa, and he had a son called Vāruṇi — Varuṇa's son is called Vāruṇi, just as Daśaratha's son is called Dāśarathi, Vasudeva's son is called Vāsudevaḥ. And there was a marvellous person called Bhṛgu, who was a sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna-adhikārī. So he approached — and who approached? Bhṛgu approached Varuṇa, and what type of Varuṇa? Pitaram — father. Not only can we understand it in the normal sense, but in a spiritual sense also.

A guru is not only a father; he is a mother, he is everything — the greatest friend, the greatest well-wisher, the greatest source of consolation, of love, of knowledge, everything. So, as we already discussed, Bhṛgu was a sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna — in other words, a PhD-qualified student who was qualified for a PhD course.

What did he say? ''Upasasāra'' means "approached." How did he approach? The Upaniṣad doesn't elaborate. We have to understand from other Upaniṣads — like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, ''samit-pāṇiḥ'' — so that is to say: "I am ready." He approached to indicate his readiness, having some faggots on his head — ''samit-pāṇiḥ'', dry fuel. What does that indicate?

One meaning is that maybe even after realisation, some people continue — like Rāmakṛṣṇa worshipping the Divine Mother — performing yajñas, yāgas, pūjās, as an example for other people. Why was Rāmakṛṣṇa going to the temple and bowing down to the Divine Mother? It is not for his sake. He already obtained what needs to be obtained. Whether he goes to the temple or not is completely immaterial, because he was not seeing the Divine Mother or God only in the temple. Every second, all the time, everywhere, he knew that everything is God — and not only everything is God, "I am also God."

So Varuṇa, by obtaining the knowledge of Brahman, had become that. But here is a student: just as the guru must have gone through the path, the student also has to go. First he has to listen. The teaching that comes from the mouth of a guru is most effective — you can't pick it up from the internet and go on proceeding with it.

=== What Did Bhṛgu Ask? ===
So what did he say? We have to imagine the guru must have asked: "What is it you want? Why do you want Brahman? What did you understand by the knowledge of Brahman?" There might have been a talk — or just one glance, like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had one glance at Narendranātha and understood everything. "Teach me. I know about Brahman intellectually. Teach me how I can realise Brahman." So that śravaṇa has to come.

And śravaṇa doesn't mean only mahāvākya-śravaṇa. A teacher doesn't simply say one sentence and stop. What did Totāpurī Mahārāj do with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? First he initiated him into the mahāvākya — ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — that is our Rāmakṛṣṇa Order's mahāvākya, from the Śukla Yajurveda, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Śṛṅgerī Maṭha. But Totāpurī did not stop there. He went on explaining: "What do I mean by ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi''?"

Similar thing must have happened here also. And then, listening to all these things, the teacher told him: "What is the process of sādhānā? How to proceed in the sādhānā? How does one know that one is really progressing from where one is to the very next step?" There must be some indication of the progress. All these things are implied in the word śravaṇa.
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== The Process of Identifying with the Pañcakośas ==
And then manana indicates that the person was deeply thinking — and his understanding was not merely intellectual cogitation, thinking deeply (though that is of course the first step), but identifying: "So far, so long, I have been identifying myself with the body. First with the possessions, then with the body, then with the mind, then with the causal body. So I am now identified with what? With my body." Of course the mind is there, but mostly with the body. "So I have to give up this identity with the body. Find out the cause of the body and give up the identity with the body. And identify myself with the cause of the body."

Thus all these identifications go through the process of five times giving up all attachments and five times identifying with the inner, subtler, higher reality — called the pañcakośas. That is what is going to be indicated.
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== What the Teacher Said ==
So thus far, having been approached like this, the teacher of Brahma-vidyā started — ''etat prāvāca'' — he gave the following teaching. What did he say? First he is telling: Anna, Prāṇa, Cakṣu, Śrotra, Manas. Six indications, indicating three kośas. But we have to understand the other kośas also.

=== The Five Kośas ===
For example, Annam — that is the Annamaya-kośa. Prāṇa — the Prāṇamaya-kośa. Manas — the Manomaya-kośa. Cakṣu and Śrotra — some people interpret as the Vijñānamaya-kośa. Why do they say so? Because cakṣu means eyes, śrotra means ears. What do the eyes and ears do? They give us knowledge. And this is the knowledge as the raw material with which the Vijñānamaya-kośa decides. What is the Vijñānamaya-kośa? Buddhi. What is the nature of Buddhi? Niścaya-buddhi — that which eliminates all possible doubts and comes to one definitive conclusion, sthira-buddhi: "This is what I need to do."

So our knowledge, for the purpose of decision, is totally dependent upon our five sense organs. But here two sense organs are most important: first, the ability to see directly — that is why dṛṣṭi: "I had the vision of God," dṛṣṭi; or "I heard these divine words." So hearing and seeing are the most important of all the sense organs. 99% of our knowledge comes only through these five sense organs, especially through the eyes and the ears.

So through these five — through the instruments of the Annamaya-kośa, Prāṇamaya-kośa, Manomaya-kośa, and Vijñānamaya-kośa, which indicates also of course the Ānandamaya-kośa — through these, first you identify yourself. You are already identified with the Annamaya-kośa, but you will have to identify — as I said — as a thinking subject, a deep thinker: "Not only I, but everything in this world has a body. And the root cause of every body, everything that we experience physically through the body, must have a cause."
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== Prithvī Devatā: The First Step ==
We already discussed this. It is called Pṛthvī-Devatā. It is called Annam. Because Pṛthvī — the fifth, grossest manifestation of Brahman in the order of space, air, fire, water, and earth — earth means food. Everything that we see, both living and non-living, is the outcome. So everything comes out of earth. Everything is sustained by the earth. And everything goes back to earth only.

Even when a person dies — many people bury him, and we don't know how the tradition comes — but many Hindus burn the body. Whatever the process, it is sending back this gross to its cause, the effect back into its cause. So if I bury my father, my grandfather, great-grandfather, they become one with Pṛthvī in the form of fertiliser. This fertiliser is directly eaten or transforms itself into food for the plants. A plant is nothing but all the fertiliser. And therefore when I eat those plants, I might have eaten your grandfather, my grandfather, everybody's grandfather — including both living and non-living matter.

So it is a continuous recycling process. Everything is recycled. Nothing goes to waste.
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== The Five-Storey Building: Ascending the Kośas ==
Therefore the pañcakośas are the only steps. And you have to go beyond all five floors of this building. The pañcakośas are comparable to five storeys, and one has to gradually progress to the next storey — second storey, then third, then fourth, then fifth — and then go to the roof, which is Parabrahman. This is the process.

And that is what the teacher is telling. So the teacher of Brahma-vidyā had taught: "Start with the pañcakośas. Now, where are you? Naturally, I am in the Annamaya-kośa — that means I think I am Annamaya, I am the body."

So that from which everything has come out, that because of which everything is being sustained, and unto which the effect returns — find out that cause. ''Tad brahma'' — that is Brahman. ''Tad vijijñāsasva'' — find out that Brahman. Understanding means: realise this. Realisation means: at every stage, you have to go on identifying yourself with it.
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== The Process of Spiritual Progress Summarised ==
So, the essence of the first anuvāka — and the same thing continues in the next anuvāka. As I said, once we understand these hints, we understand that we are progressing: giving up identity with which we are identified at this moment, and finding out that which is subtler. The cause is always subtler than the effect. It is more pervasive than the effect, and it is the cause of all the grossest things.

That is how you give up the lower step and put your feet on the higher step. And when we are climbing a staircase, we say, "I am now on the third step." I don't say I am on the second or first step. And when I reach the first floor, I say, "I am on the first floor," because automatically the realisation comes that the first floor alone is real — all the steps leading there are not real.
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== First Anuvāka: Varuṇa's Teaching to Bhṛgu ==

=== The Tatastha-Lakṣaṇa Restated ===
This much the father — or the teacher, Varuṇa — told. So we have to understand through this that the moment Bhṛgu starts seeking, he won't immediately reach the ultimate Brahman but only a proximate one. First Pṛthvī, then from Pṛthvī to Āp (waters), from waters to fire, from fire to air, from air to space, from space to Ātmā — and that is the highest. That is what had happened. Then only will he understand the real nature of Brahman, which in human words is said to be either ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda'' or, according to this Taittirīya Upaniṣad, ''Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma''. And it is this that Vyāsadeva has taken up in the Brahma-Sūtra.

=== Summary of Key Points ===
So what is the essence? If we understand these few points, it becomes easier to proceed to the next anuvākas also. The first point: the Upaniṣad describes Brahman as the cause of the entire world — and this is called the taṭastha-lakṣaṇa. Whatever we are seeing is the characteristic, because in this world we see: "Here is a tree — where from has it come? From a seed. Where from the seed? From another tree." So everything has a proximate cause. Here is a baby — a baby is born of parents — but the parents are not the ultimate cause; they are also an effect. But if we go on, the entire universe is coming from something much subtler than merely gross bodies.

So that is how one has to progress: giving up that with which we are identified right now, and slowly identifying with its cause. So it goes like this — give up the Annamaya-kośa, identify with the Prāṇamaya; give up the Prāṇamaya, identify with the Manomaya; give up the Manomaya, identify with the Vijñānamaya; give up the Vijñānamaya, identify with the Ānandamaya-kośa — and then go beyond. Because that too is only a kośa.

=== Nimitta and Upādāna Kāraṇa ===
So within this characteristic mark there are the efficient cause and the material cause. Every effect is the outcome of two causes, according to Vedānta. One is called the intelligent or efficient cause; another is the material cause. For example, a pot is the outcome of its material cause, which is clay, and it is the effect of the efficient or intelligent cause, called the potter. The potter plus the clay — both are there.

So at every step we have to understand: the Prāṇamaya-kośa is, as a cause of its effect the Annamaya-kośa, both the efficient and the material cause — it is the combination of what is called ''abhinna-nimitta-upādāna-kāraṇa'', where both causes are present. Brahman is both the material and the efficient cause of everything in this universe. This is the process.
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== Bhṛgu's Tapasyā Begins ==
Here we have to note that Varuṇa did not tell Bhṛgu that he would have to do tapasyā. He simply said, "Find it out." Then Bhṛgu did not ask, "How do I find out?" He knew already. So he went and did tapasyā.

What is tapasyā? Deep thinking. And you notice: when we think deeply about something, what happens? In course of time, we become one with it. When you go on thinking about an object, a desire comes for it — that is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the second chapter: whatever you think of again and again, ''saṅga'' — attachment — comes; from attachment comes desire; if the desire is not fulfilled, anger; if the anger cannot be expressed, it becomes greed. So each leads to the other.

So tapasyā means austerity — and austerity means not merely giving up certain comforts voluntarily. Simple food, or sometimes fasting, etc., and then only it is possible. Slowly we progress in life. But the main thing is: concentration with complete faith, and concentration must convert itself into transformation. A concentration which does not transform itself into transformation is no good. That is called upāsanā.

Here, Bhṛgu started thinking in this way — that is the process of manana. So what did he do? He did intense tapasyā and then obtained something. What that something is, is being said in the second anuvāka.
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== Second Anuvāka: Bhṛgu's First Realisation — Annam as Brahman ==
So the first part of this mantra is something we will analyse shortly, but the second part continues until the person comes back to the father. What did Bhṛgu do? He did tapasyā — intense thinking: finding out, trying to find out what is the cause of everything that we see in this gross external world. Then he understood: that is Annam. Everything has come from Anna. Anna means here the Bhu-loka, the Pṛthvī-Devatā.

We have to understand this as the last and fifth grossest of the pañca-bhūtas, because everything — the mountains, the rivers, the sun, the moon, the billions and billions of galaxies — everything has come from this Annam, from what is called Pṛthvī-Devatā. Whatever we are experiencing, even if we don't experience it now — other people may be experiencing it — and that which was experienced, is being experienced, and is going to be experienced, by me or anybody else: all of that is coming from Annam.

A simple explanation: let me take my own example. Where does my body come from? Here we are talking not about Prāṇa or Manas or Vijñāna, but merely about my physical body. Where has it come from? From my father and mother. And how did it come from them? It is not coming directly from the bodies of father and mother — both of them were eating food, Annam, and what the father eats becomes what is called the male seed, what the mother eats becomes the female seed; and by their union, the male and female seeds get mixed up, and that is how life starts. So everything in this world — whether living or non-living — comes only as a result of such a mixing up. So the entire continents have been produced like that.

So Pṛthvī-Devatā is now the Brahman — because it is the cause of everything that we call this physical universe. ''Yajñāt.'' And then Bhṛgu applied the test. Am I correct to call this Brahman? Yes. How did he do that? He said: "My father, my teacher, has already given me the hints — ''yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante'': everything has come out from the earth. ''Annaddheva khalvimāni bhūtāni jāyante'' — everything has come out from Pṛthvī-Devatā. ''Annena jātāni jīvanti'' — they are supported, they are sustained only by this Pṛthvī-Devatā. ''Annaṃ prayanti'' — everything goes back."

That is what the Christian funeral rite expresses as "dust unto dust" — everything is dust, meaning earth. Earth means: whatever we experience physically, as physical bodies, living or non-living, is all coming from and returning to Pṛthvī-Devatā.

And then he understood — not intellectually; he became identified with the Pṛthvī-Devatā.
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== Bhṛgu Returns to Varuṇa: The First Doubt ==
Then what happened? A doubt arose. The Upaniṣad doesn't say so directly, but it is expressed through ''punar āyo varuṇaṃ pitram upasasāra'' — so he approached his father once more. What was the doubt? "I thought Pṛthvī is the ultimate cause. But when I identified myself with it, I find that there is some other cause. I clearly perceive that Pṛthvī itself is an effect — it is not the ultimate cause of everything."

So he came to clear his doubt. Am I right or wrong in this conclusion — that Pṛthvī-Devatā is not the ultimate cause? So ''punar āyo varuṇaṃ pitram upasasāra'' — he approached the teacher once more — and again said, ''adhi bhagavo brahma iti'': "Teach me Brahman, because I think I have not really realised the true Brahman. I only realised ''annaṃ brahmeti vijānīyāt''. But I see a defect there."

Like Indra saw the defect in Vairāja's teaching — "How can what we see in the external world as a reflection, how can it be Ātman? So everything that I have seen has got a beginning, it is changing, and it has an end. There is birth, there is growth, there is death — and Ātman is not something which is subject to birth and death." So Bhṛgu also approached.

But already the father must have approved: "Yes, your doubt is right. But the path you have taken up is absolutely right. Proceed." ''Tapasā'' — this time the teacher said, ''tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva'': "So you go and find out. You are in the right direction." That much he approved. "But you have to go a long way forward."

''Tapo brahmeti'' — that deep thinking which makes you identify with what you discover as the cause, that is called Brahman. And ''sa tapo tapyata'' — Bhṛgu again performed a second tapasyā. And then he realised something.
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== Bhṛgu's Second Realisation — Prāṇa as Brahman ==
''Sa tapas tattvā'' — and then again doubt had come. At first he thought: so Prāṇa-Brahman must be the ultimate cause. The same process had proceeded. Now the Prāṇamaya-kośa is also an effect. It is not the ultimate cause. So we will stop here.
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== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

'''May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 102 Ch3.1-2 on 29 April 2026

2026-05-01T04:02:27Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Prayer (Śānti Pāṭha) ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ सह नाववतु ।

सह नौ भुनक्तु ।

सह वीर्यं करवावहै ।

तेजस्वि नावधीतमस्तु मा विद्विषावहै ।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥ हरि ॐ

OM SAHANAVAVATO SAHANAV BHUNAKTO SAHAVIRYAM KARAVAVAHAI TEJASVINAVADHITAMASTUMA VIDVISHAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTIHI HARIHI OM

OM May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge.

May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge.

May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill feeling toward each other.

OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL

We are studying the third chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, called Bhṛgu Vallī, in which practical sādhānā has been taught by the teacher to the disciple.
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== The Teacher-Student Tradition in India ==
India had produced many, many teachers as well as students. This Taittirīya Upaniṣad gives us throughout a teacher, students, and the understanding that one has to become fit to receive the instruction. As Svāmī Vivekānanda used to say, when the field is ready, the seed will come. And we can also understand the opposite: if the field is not ready, even if the seed comes, it is of no good. So both ways — the seed also must be ready, the field also must be ready. But what our scripture wants to say, through Svāmī Vivekānanda, is that the seed is always ready; each soul is potentially divine.
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== Introduction to Bhṛgu Vallī ==
Coming back to our Bhṛgu Vallī — I have given you a long introduction — and what are the important points we have discussed in this? First of all, there was a great Brahma-jñānī teacher, and his own son in course of time had become an adhikāri-sampanna-puruṣa, a person who is capable of receiving. How do we know? Because this Bhṛgu could have approached the teacher Varuṇa at any time, but he did not. Only at a particular point of time, when he was ready, and the teacher was already ready, did he go and humbly approach.

All these things we have to infer, because the story is extremely brief. Simply, the student approached and said — not "father," but — "Bhagavan, teach me knowledge of Brahman." And without wasting time, the teacher also did three things.
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== The Preparation of the Adhikārī ==

=== Assessing the Equipment of the Student ===
The first thing he said was: is your equipment ready? Because the first thing is, if you have a purpose — and the purpose is already stated, "I want to realise Brahman" — whenever we say "I want to be a musician," that knowledge indicates it is an intellectual knowledge. Later on, it will ripen into existential knowledge. That is, the person becomes the very nature of music. So also a scientist, so also a cook — any knowledge. So one must be intellectually equipped.

Therefore a wise teacher first tells the student that your pañcakośas — your body — in other words, we have three bodies: the gross body, the subtle body, and the causal body. These three bodies are the means. How they are a means, we are going to discuss very soon.

=== The Nature of Brahman ===
What is the goal? I have heard about Brahman. I don't know anything about Brahman. I also heard Brahman cannot be described. Therefore, any description about Brahman will be incomplete. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa told Vidyāsāgar that nobody was able to express what is Brahman. And the same thing we have to understand here.

Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is only repeating what he repeated in the form of Varuṇa to Bhṛgu. Why do I say so? Why do I say Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had taught? Because remember — ''brahma veda brahmaiva bhavati'' — a knower of Brahman becomes Brahman. Here, "knowing" means realising. Realising "I am Brahman." It is not merely a matter of knowing about someone. This is intellectual knowledge. But nobody can tell about Brahman.

So the svarūpa-lakṣaṇa of Brahman has to be only realised. Only after realisation does one come to know: "I am Sat, I am Cit, I am Ānanda" — or, in Taittirīya Upaniṣadic language, "I am Satyam, I am Jñānam, I am Anantam Brahman."

=== The Taṭastha-Lakṣaṇa: Secondary Description ===
But the path, in which direction one has to travel, that has to be shown. And that is called the secondary description. So the true nature is described in words, but that is only a verbal description. Really speaking, until we become one with Brahman, these descriptions are useful only, but not absolute description.

Why can Brahman not be described? We discussed it many times. Brahman doesn't fall under the five śabda-pravṛttis — jāti, guṇa, kriyā, aśraya, etc.

So secondary definitions should be given. That is called taṭastha-lakṣaṇa. Taṭastha-lakṣaṇa is that which we all experience. What are we experiencing? I am experiencing my body, my mind. I am experiencing a tree, a mosquito, everything. So everything that we are experiencing has a cause. Everything that we experience is called an effect.

Because there was a time — for example, there is a person who was not there before, say 80 years before. Now he is there, and after some time he will not be there. So where from did he come? And where did he go? And who is sustaining?

So by definition, whatever we are experiencing is called jagat, this world. And the world is nothing but an effect. And every effect must have a cause.
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== The Ultimate Cause: Paramakāraṇa ==
So if we go on seeking — not a proximate cause, not an immediate cause, but the ultimate cause — what type of cause? The paramakāraṇa. What is this ultimate cause? That which is the cause of everything, but itself is not caused by anything else. The ultimate cause is that which is the cause of everything but has no cause for itself. That means it is eternal.

When we think about cause and effect, the proximate cause is itself an effect, and then it gives rise to some other thing, which is called its effect. For example, my grandfather is a proximate cause: until he got married, he is so; then, after marriage, he produces children, and those children become effects — son, daughter, etc. And those children grow up, get married, and remain a cause until they also produce their effects, which are called grandchildren.

So when Bhṛgu asked, "Teach me about Brahman," he meant that ultimate cause which is the cause of everything but which doesn't have a cause in itself. "Please teach me a knowledge about Brahman."
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== Bhṛgu's Readiness and Approach ==
But "teach me" means what? Remember always, Bhṛgu must have had a general knowledge like us. He must have studied the scriptures. Maybe he even took classes. Because the Upaniṣad doesn't mention at what age Bhṛgu approached — we are making an assumption. He may have been 18 or 19 years old. And he approached his father. Or maybe he had been attending classes intellectually, mastered them, and might even have been employed as a teacher himself. So he had general knowledge of what Brahman is, like all of us have some intellectual knowledge of Brahman.

But a time came when he wanted to realise — the scriptures are always teaching "you are Brahman" — so: "I acquired intellectual knowledge of Brahman, but I don't know what truly this Brahman is. So let me realise. How? Let me have that experience — not knowing Brahman as an object, but knowing Brahman as a subject, as my own self." Then he approached.

This is to indicate that intellectual knowledge might be acquired even without a human teacher, but spiritual knowledge — "I am Brahman, I am God" — cannot be acquired without an experienced teacher. Fortunately, he need not go anywhere else. His own father was a great Brahma-jñānī. And that also tells us that Brahma-jñāna is not the property of a monk or a nun. Anybody can realise Brahman.

That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa emphasises again and again. To the questions of devotees — we have seen this in our classes on the Gospel — whenever devotees asked, "Can we realise God?" Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says, "Everybody, anybody can realise God, provided they acquire certain qualities." Who can weep? Everybody, every worldly person weeps — for the sake of wife, children, money, etc. But who weeps saying, "I want God, without God I cannot live"? That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa is indicating. And that is what is called sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna-adhikārī. And Bhṛgu had become that.

The teacher Varuṇa, realising this, was no longer merely a father — he was now a teacher, not teaching his son, but teaching an adhikāri-sampanna-puruṣa.
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== The Teaching of Varuṇa ==

=== The Equipment: Pañcakośas ===
What did the teacher tell? He told: you have the equipment. What is the equipment? Your body — or your three bodies — or, simply put, the body-and-mind complex, which is a combination of gross, subtle, and causal bodies. All these three bodies can also be called by another name: pañcakośas. So you have the pañcakośas. So these are indicated as: cakṣu, manas, śrotram, etc.

=== The Definition Given ===
Then he gave the definition. What is the definition? "Find out the cause of everything." Varuṇa did not say, "Find out what is your cause." Varuṇa said, "Find out the cause of everything living and non-living — in other words, the entire creation."

We will discuss this briefly when the time comes. I am only reminding you of the essence of what we discussed so far. And so you will have to do manana. Then slowly manana will ripen into nididhyāsana.
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== The Three Stages: Śravaṇa, Manana, and Nididhyāsana ==

=== Manana: Deep Thinking ===
What is manana? Deep thinking, until I give up what I am not and identify with what I am. This process of giving up identification and, in its turn, identifying with the higher truth — that is the process called spiritual progress.

So what is this process? First of all, one has to look upon one's own individual body — one's own individual personality — as sacred. "This body is a temple. This mind is the sanctum sanctorum. And within that mind there is a dahara-ākāśa. And in that dahara-ākāśa there is that pure consciousness."

One of the ways to understand this is: we are identified with the body. Until we give up our identification with the body and start identifying with the mind, we will not progress in spiritual life. And once we identify with the mind, we will have to identify also with the next thing — that is called the kāraṇa-śarīra, the causal body. And as we are identifying, things are becoming more and more subtle. That is what we need to understand — subtle, more pervasive, higher. That is how we have to understand it, slowly.

=== The Hint Given to Bhṛgu ===
So Bhṛgu was given the hint: "Find out the cause of not merely yourself, but everything else — everything in the creation. In other words, the cause of the entire creation, and there is nothing to be excluded." The non-living is not to be excluded, because Brahman manifests as the inorganic before becoming organic.

So that is what he narrated in those sentences: "Find out the ultimate cause — that which is the cause of everything we experience, and which at the same time never has any cause. That means it is one, eternal, secondless."

This was the hint given. Now we will see what Bhṛgu had done.
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== The First Anuvāka: Entering the Teaching ==

=== The Story of Bhṛgu and Varuṇa ===
Let us start. Let us analyse little by little, which we have already done — just a reminder. There was a great Brahma-jñānī called Varuṇa, and he had a son called Vāruṇi — Varuṇa's son is called Vāruṇi, just as Daśaratha's son is called Dāśarathi, Vasudeva's son is called Vāsudevaḥ. And there was a marvellous person called Bhṛgu, who was a sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna-adhikārī. So he approached — and who approached? Bhṛgu approached Varuṇa, and what type of Varuṇa? Pitaram — father. Not only can we understand it in the normal sense, but in a spiritual sense also.

A guru is not only a father; he is a mother, he is everything — the greatest friend, the greatest well-wisher, the greatest source of consolation, of love, of knowledge, everything. So, as we already discussed, Bhṛgu was a sādhānā-catuṣṭaya-sampanna — in other words, a PhD-qualified student who was qualified for a PhD course.

What did he say? ''Upasasāra'' means "approached." How did he approach? The Upaniṣad doesn't elaborate. We have to understand from other Upaniṣads — like the Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad, ''samit-pāṇiḥ'' — so that is to say: "I am ready." He approached to indicate his readiness, having some faggots on his head — ''samit-pāṇiḥ'', dry fuel. What does that indicate?

One meaning is that maybe even after realisation, some people continue — like Rāmakṛṣṇa worshipping the Divine Mother — performing yajñas, yāgas, pūjās, as an example for other people. Why was Rāmakṛṣṇa going to the temple and bowing down to the Divine Mother? It is not for his sake. He already obtained what needs to be obtained. Whether he goes to the temple or not is completely immaterial, because he was not seeing the Divine Mother or God only in the temple. Every second, all the time, everywhere, he knew that everything is God — and not only everything is God, "I am also God."

So Varuṇa, by obtaining the knowledge of Brahman, had become that. But here is a student: just as the guru must have gone through the path, the student also has to go. First he has to listen. The teaching that comes from the mouth of a guru is most effective — you can't pick it up from the internet and go on proceeding with it.

=== What Did Bhṛgu Ask? ===
So what did he say? We have to imagine the guru must have asked: "What is it you want? Why do you want Brahman? What did you understand by the knowledge of Brahman?" There might have been a talk — or just one glance, like Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa had one glance at Narendranātha and understood everything. "Teach me. I know about Brahman intellectually. Teach me how I can realise Brahman." So that śravaṇa has to come.

And śravaṇa doesn't mean only mahāvākya-śravaṇa. A teacher doesn't simply say one sentence and stop. What did Totāpurī Mahārāj do with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa? First he initiated him into the mahāvākya — ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' — that is our Rāmakṛṣṇa Order's mahāvākya, from the Śukla Yajurveda, Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Śṛṅgerī Maṭha. But Totāpurī did not stop there. He went on explaining: "What do I mean by ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi''?"

Similar thing must have happened here also. And then, listening to all these things, the teacher told him: "What is the process of sādhānā? How to proceed in the sādhānā? How does one know that one is really progressing from where one is to the very next step?" There must be some indication of the progress. All these things are implied in the word śravaṇa.
----

== The Process of Identifying with the Pañcakośas ==
And then manana indicates that the person was deeply thinking — and his understanding was not merely intellectual cogitation, thinking deeply (though that is of course the first step), but identifying: "So far, so long, I have been identifying myself with the body. First with the possessions, then with the body, then with the mind, then with the causal body. So I am now identified with what? With my body." Of course the mind is there, but mostly with the body. "So I have to give up this identity with the body. Find out the cause of the body and give up the identity with the body. And identify myself with the cause of the body."

Thus all these identifications go through the process of five times giving up all attachments and five times identifying with the inner, subtler, higher reality — called the pañcakośas. That is what is going to be indicated.
----

== What the Teacher Said ==
So thus far, having been approached like this, the teacher of Brahma-vidyā started — ''etat prāvāca'' — he gave the following teaching. What did he say? First he is telling: Anna, Prāṇa, Cakṣu, Śrotra, Manas. Six indications, indicating three kośas. But we have to understand the other kośas also.

=== The Five Kośas ===
For example, Annam — that is the Annamaya-kośa. Prāṇa — the Prāṇamaya-kośa. Manas — the Manomaya-kośa. Cakṣu and Śrotra — some people interpret as the Vijñānamaya-kośa. Why do they say so? Because cakṣu means eyes, śrotra means ears. What do the eyes and ears do? They give us knowledge. And this is the knowledge as the raw material with which the Vijñānamaya-kośa decides. What is the Vijñānamaya-kośa? Buddhi. What is the nature of Buddhi? Niścaya-buddhi — that which eliminates all possible doubts and comes to one definitive conclusion, sthira-buddhi: "This is what I need to do."

So our knowledge, for the purpose of decision, is totally dependent upon our five sense organs. But here two sense organs are most important: first, the ability to see directly — that is why dṛṣṭi: "I had the vision of God," dṛṣṭi; or "I heard these divine words." So hearing and seeing are the most important of all the sense organs. 99% of our knowledge comes only through these five sense organs, especially through the eyes and the ears.

So through these five — through the instruments of the Annamaya-kośa, Prāṇamaya-kośa, Manomaya-kośa, and Vijñānamaya-kośa, which indicates also of course the Ānandamaya-kośa — through these, first you identify yourself. You are already identified with the Annamaya-kośa, but you will have to identify — as I said — as a thinking subject, a deep thinker: "Not only I, but everything in this world has a body. And the root cause of every body, everything that we experience physically through the body, must have a cause."
----

== Prithvī Devatā: The First Step ==
We already discussed this. It is called Pṛthvī-Devatā. It is called Annam. Because Pṛthvī — the fifth, grossest manifestation of Brahman in the order of space, air, fire, water, and earth — earth means food. Everything that we see, both living and non-living, is the outcome. So everything comes out of earth. Everything is sustained by the earth. And everything goes back to earth only.

Even when a person dies — many people bury him, and we don't know how the tradition comes — but many Hindus burn the body. Whatever the process, it is sending back this gross to its cause, the effect back into its cause. So if I bury my father, my grandfather, great-grandfather, they become one with Pṛthvī in the form of fertiliser. This fertiliser is directly eaten or transforms itself into food for the plants. A plant is nothing but all the fertiliser. And therefore when I eat those plants, I might have eaten your grandfather, my grandfather, everybody's grandfather — including both living and non-living matter.

So it is a continuous recycling process. Everything is recycled. Nothing goes to waste.
----

== The Five-Storey Building: Ascending the Kośas ==
Therefore the pañcakośas are the only steps. And you have to go beyond all five floors of this building. The pañcakośas are comparable to five storeys, and one has to gradually progress to the next storey — second storey, then third, then fourth, then fifth — and then go to the roof, which is Parabrahman. This is the process.

And that is what the teacher is telling. So the teacher of Brahma-vidyā had taught: "Start with the pañcakośas. Now, where are you? Naturally, I am in the Annamaya-kośa — that means I think I am Annamaya, I am the body."

So that from which everything has come out, that because of which everything is being sustained, and unto which the effect returns — find out that cause. ''Tad brahma'' — that is Brahman. ''Tad vijijñāsasva'' — find out that Brahman. Understanding means: realise this. Realisation means: at every stage, you have to go on identifying yourself with it.
----

== The Process of Spiritual Progress Summarised ==
So, the essence of the first anuvāka — and the same thing continues in the next anuvāka. As I said, once we understand these hints, we understand that we are progressing: giving up identity with which we are identified at this moment, and finding out that which is subtler. The cause is always subtler than the effect. It is more pervasive than the effect, and it is the cause of all the grossest things.

That is how you give up the lower step and put your feet on the higher step. And when we are climbing a staircase, we say, "I am now on the third step." I don't say I am on the second or first step. And when I reach the first floor, I say, "I am on the first floor," because automatically the realisation comes that the first floor alone is real — all the steps leading there are not real.
----

== First Anuvāka: Varuṇa's Teaching to Bhṛgu ==

=== The Tatastha-Lakṣaṇa Restated ===
This much the father — or the teacher, Varuṇa — told. So we have to understand through this that the moment Bhṛgu starts seeking, he won't immediately reach the ultimate Brahman but only a proximate one. First Pṛthvī, then from Pṛthvī to Āp (waters), from waters to fire, from fire to air, from air to space, from space to Ātmā — and that is the highest. That is what had happened. Then only will he understand the real nature of Brahman, which in human words is said to be either ''Sat-Cit-Ānanda'' or, according to this Taittirīya Upaniṣad, ''Satyaṃ Jñānam Anantaṃ Brahma''. And it is this that Vyāsadeva has taken up in the Brahma-Sūtra.

=== Summary of Key Points ===
So what is the essence? If we understand these few points, it becomes easier to proceed to the next anuvākas also. The first point: the Upaniṣad describes Brahman as the cause of the entire world — and this is called the taṭastha-lakṣaṇa. Whatever we are seeing is the characteristic, because in this world we see: "Here is a tree — where from has it come? From a seed. Where from the seed? From another tree." So everything has a proximate cause. Here is a baby — a baby is born of parents — but the parents are not the ultimate cause; they are also an effect. But if we go on, the entire universe is coming from something much subtler than merely gross bodies.

So that is how one has to progress: giving up that with which we are identified right now, and slowly identifying with its cause. So it goes like this — give up the Annamaya-kośa, identify with the Prāṇamaya; give up the Prāṇamaya, identify with the Manomaya; give up the Manomaya, identify with the Vijñānamaya; give up the Vijñānamaya, identify with the Ānandamaya-kośa — and then go beyond. Because that too is only a kośa.

=== Nimitta and Upādāna Kāraṇa ===
So within this characteristic mark there are the efficient cause and the material cause. Every effect is the outcome of two causes, according to Vedānta. One is called the intelligent or efficient cause; another is the material cause. For example, a pot is the outcome of its material cause, which is clay, and it is the effect of the efficient or intelligent cause, called the potter. The potter plus the clay — both are there.

So at every step we have to understand: the Prāṇamaya-kośa is, as a cause of its effect the Annamaya-kośa, both the efficient and the material cause — it is the combination of what is called ''abhinna-nimitta-upādāna-kāraṇa'', where both causes are present. Brahman is both the material and the efficient cause of everything in this universe. This is the process.
----

== Bhṛgu's Tapasyā Begins ==
Here we have to note that Varuṇa did not tell Bhṛgu that he would have to do tapasyā. He simply said, "Find it out." Then Bhṛgu did not ask, "How do I find out?" He knew already. So he went and did tapasyā.

What is tapasyā? Deep thinking. And you notice: when we think deeply about something, what happens? In course of time, we become one with it. When you go on thinking about an object, a desire comes for it — that is what Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa says in the second chapter: whatever you think of again and again, ''saṅga'' — attachment — comes; from attachment comes desire; if the desire is not fulfilled, anger; if the anger cannot be expressed, it becomes greed. So each leads to the other.

So tapasyā means austerity — and austerity means not merely giving up certain comforts voluntarily. Simple food, or sometimes fasting, etc., and then only it is possible. Slowly we progress in life. But the main thing is: concentration with complete faith, and concentration must convert itself into transformation. A concentration which does not transform itself into transformation is no good. That is called upāsanā.

Here, Bhṛgu started thinking in this way — that is the process of manana. So what did he do? He did intense tapasyā and then obtained something. What that something is, is being said in the second anuvāka.
----

== Second Anuvāka: Bhṛgu's First Realisation — Annam as Brahman ==
So the first part of this mantra is something we will analyse shortly, but the second part continues until the person comes back to the father. What did Bhṛgu do? He did tapasyā — intense thinking: finding out, trying to find out what is the cause of everything that we see in this gross external world. Then he understood: that is Annam. Everything has come from Anna. Anna means here the Bhu-loka, the Pṛthvī-Devatā.

We have to understand this as the last and fifth grossest of the pañca-bhūtas, because everything — the mountains, the rivers, the sun, the moon, the billions and billions of galaxies — everything has come from this Annam, from what is called Pṛthvī-Devatā. Whatever we are experiencing, even if we don't experience it now — other people may be experiencing it — and that which was experienced, is being experienced, and is going to be experienced, by me or anybody else: all of that is coming from Annam.

A simple explanation: let me take my own example. Where does my body come from? Here we are talking not about Prāṇa or Manas or Vijñāna, but merely about my physical body. Where has it come from? From my father and mother. And how did it come from them? It is not coming directly from the bodies of father and mother — both of them were eating food, Annam, and what the father eats becomes what is called the male seed, what the mother eats becomes the female seed; and by their union, the male and female seeds get mixed up, and that is how life starts. So everything in this world — whether living or non-living — comes only as a result of such a mixing up. So the entire continents have been produced like that.

So Pṛthvī-Devatā is now the Brahman — because it is the cause of everything that we call this physical universe. ''Yajñāt.'' And then Bhṛgu applied the test. Am I correct to call this Brahman? Yes. How did he do that? He said: "My father, my teacher, has already given me the hints — ''yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante'': everything has come out from the earth. ''Annaddheva khalvimāni bhūtāni jāyante'' — everything has come out from Pṛthvī-Devatā. ''Annena jātāni jīvanti'' — they are supported, they are sustained only by this Pṛthvī-Devatā. ''Annaṃ prayanti'' — everything goes back."

That is what the Christian funeral rite expresses as "dust unto dust" — everything is dust, meaning earth. Earth means: whatever we experience physically, as physical bodies, living or non-living, is all coming from and returning to Pṛthvī-Devatā.

And then he understood — not intellectually; he became identified with the Pṛthvī-Devatā.
----

== Bhṛgu Returns to Varuṇa: The First Doubt ==
Then what happened? A doubt arose. The Upaniṣad doesn't say so directly, but it is expressed through ''punar āyo varuṇaṃ pitram upasasāra'' — so he approached his father once more. What was the doubt? "I thought Pṛthvī is the ultimate cause. But when I identified myself with it, I find that there is some other cause. I clearly perceive that Pṛthvī itself is an effect — it is not the ultimate cause of everything."

So he came to clear his doubt. Am I right or wrong in this conclusion — that Pṛthvī-Devatā is not the ultimate cause? So ''punar āyo varuṇaṃ pitram upasasāra'' — he approached the teacher once more — and again said, ''adhi bhagavo brahma iti'': "Teach me Brahman, because I think I have not really realised the true Brahman. I only realised ''annaṃ brahmeti vijānīyāt''. But I see a defect there."

Like Indra saw the defect in Vairāja's teaching — "How can what we see in the external world as a reflection, how can it be Ātman? So everything that I have seen has got a beginning, it is changing, and it has an end. There is birth, there is growth, there is death — and Ātman is not something which is subject to birth and death." So Bhṛgu also approached.

But already the father must have approved: "Yes, your doubt is right. But the path you have taken up is absolutely right. Proceed." ''Tapasā'' — this time the teacher said, ''tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva'': "So you go and find out. You are in the right direction." That much he approved. "But you have to go a long way forward."

''Tapo brahmeti'' — that deep thinking which makes you identify with what you discover as the cause, that is called Brahman. And ''sa tapo tapyata'' — Bhṛgu again performed a second tapasyā. And then he realised something.
----

== Bhṛgu's Second Realisation — Prāṇa as Brahman ==
''Sa tapas tattvā'' — and then again doubt had come. At first he thought: so Prāṇa-Brahman must be the ultimate cause. The same process had proceeded. Now the Prāṇamaya-kośa is also an effect. It is not the ultimate cause. So we will stop here.
----

== Closing Prayer ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deviṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

'''May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna!'''
[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 102 Ch3.1-2 on 29 April 2026 Q&A

2026-05-01T04:01:21Z

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[[Category:Taittiriya Upanishad]]

Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 102 Ch3.1-2 on 29 April 2026

2026-05-01T03:59:31Z

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026

2026-05-01T03:55:03Z

Vamsimarri:

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

== Opening Invocation ==
ॐ जननीम् शरदाम् देविम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुर्म्

पादपद्मे तयोः स्रित्वाः प्रणमामि मुहुरुमु

Oṁ jananīṁ śaraḍhāṁ deveṁ rāmakriṣṇam jagad-gurum

pādapadmetayosritvā pranamāmi-muhurumuhu

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात् पूर्णमुदच्यते

पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः

OM PŪRṆAMADAḤ PŪRṆAMIDAM PŪRṆĀT PŪRṆAMUDACYATE PŪRṆASYA PŪRṆAMĀDĀYA PŪRṆAMEVA VAŚIṢYATE OM ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTI ŚĀNTIH

OM That Brahman is infinite, and this universe is also infinite. The infinite proceeds from the infinite. Taking the infinitude of the infinite universe, it remains as the infinite Brahman alone.

OM Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all.
----

== Recap: The Ninth Mantra and the Gathering of Seekers ==
In our last class, we dealt with the ninth mantra of the fourth section, and from here starts the essence of the entire Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad. There were some great seekers of self-knowledge — Brahma Vidyā — and they had a discussion. That indicates they must have gathered at one particular place, and normally such a place would be the āśrama of a Guru, a Gurukula. They must have approached a great realised soul, heard from him, and that became the topic of discussion. So we can guess from the topic of discussion what the teacher had taught.

What did he teach? That if you attain knowledge of Brahman — which is the same as the knowledge of your own true self — then you will achieve everything. You will be going beyond death, beyond ignorance, beyond suffering. That is what Bhagavān Buddha chose to call Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa means complete cessation of avidyā, or in other words, anātma. Not that the world disappears — excepting for the person who realises, the world will continue. But even for the realised soul, the world can continue as long as the body is alive. However, the outlook — of what this world is, of what one is — completely changes from the moment of realisation. ''Sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma.'' That is the result.

''Brahma vidyayā sarvaṃ bhaviṣyataḥ'' — by the knowledge of Brahman, we become one. ''Ekaṃ sat, na dvitīya'' — there is only one reality, there is no second.
----

== The Tenth Mantra: The Essence of All Scripture ==

=== Vāmadeva's Realisation: Ahaṃ Brahmāsmi ===
So the discussion is: what is the nature of Brahman? And knowing this Brahman, our teacher proclaims and declares that one becomes Brahman. The answer is given in the tenth mantra of the fourth section of the first chapter.

This fourth section, tenth mantra, is the very essence of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad — of all Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gītā, the Gospel of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, and every scripture in the world. Let us recite this beautiful mantra, which is itself purifying. It is a long mantra, and I have divided it into several parts, each expressing different meanings and different contexts.

In the next portion of this mantra, there was a great Ṛṣi whose name was Vāmadeva. He realised ''ahaṃ brahmāsmi'' and, after realisation, he remained as a jīvanmukta. Seeing this oneness, this Ṛṣi Vāmadeva said: "I became one. I had the knowledge. I destroyed the ignorance that I am an individual, and realised that I am Brahman." Not only "I am Brahman" — "I am everything." ''Ahaṃ sarvam.'' This is called ''sarvātmabhāva'' — the knowledge that I am everything.

As a sample, he said: "I am the Manu." Manu was the Brahmā who started the creation of the Mānavas — that is why all human beings are called Mānavas, because they originated from Manu. "So I am the ādhyātmika. I am the ādhibhautika. I am the ādhidaivika. I am Sūrya. I am Candra. I am Indra, the Devatās. I am the entire physical world. I am all the bodies. I am all the minds." In other words, "I am all the gross bodies, all the subtle bodies, all the causal bodies."

=== The Universal Possibility of Realisation ===
Not only Manu — the mantra goes on to tell us that Manu is only a sample. Anyone who strives through proper channels can attain the same. The aspirant must have genuine desire — ''mumukṣutvaṃ''. He must approach a Sadguru in a formal manner, sit before him, serve him, please him, and surrender to him. And then the teacher gives.

Surrendering is not an act of servitude — it is an act of identifying oneself with the Guru, making oneself one hundred percent ready to receive one hundred percent of what the teacher wishes to give. That is what Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa says: "The breeze of God's grace is blowing all the time. Unfurl your sails. Become fit. That is all."

So the mantra goes on to tell us: not only Manu, anybody can become like Manu. That is what Swami Vivekānanda's simplified English version declares — "Each soul is potentially divine." Everyone is divine. And soul means not only the living, but also the would-be living, which we usually call non-living.

The mantra continues: like Brahman, whoever becomes a knower of Brahman, he becomes everything. Once a person becomes free, all differences of human being or God, Hindu or Christian or Muslim or Buddhist — they completely vanish as the person progresses in spiritual life. The mind no longer compartmentalises: "I am a Hindu," "I am a Buddhist." The only feeling is: "I am a lover of God. I am a child of God. I am a seeker of God. I have been separated by some mysterious power called avidyā, and I want to rejoin my mother — God, Brahman."

So he says: anybody can realise it. It is not only a right — it is the inescapable goal of life. We may evade that goal for some time, but at some point we are going to awaken. So why not try from now onwards? The very fact that you are all listening to these talks indicates earnestness. You want to learn what the Upaniṣad has to say. You are fit disciples. But this is only the beginning of ''mumukṣutva'' — one has to acquire those qualities whereby we do not slip from this position, but rather arrive at one hundred percent ''mumukṣutva''.

Such a person who knows "I am Brahman" becomes everything — becomes the gods, becomes the entire ''jagat'', becomes every living and non-living being.
----

== On Obstacles in Spiritual Life ==

=== No True Obstruction Exists for the Sincere Seeker ===
What happens then? No Devatā, no creature, nobody else can obstruct the progress of such a person. When we speak of progress, we are speaking of the person who has determined: "I want to realise God." When a person becomes a realised soul, he is Brahman — and who can control Brahman? On the other hand, it is Īśvara, it is Brahman, who controls everything and makes us act, just as a puppeteer moves all the puppets. Our body, everybody's body, everybody's mind becomes like a puppet — he goes on controlling everybody from within.

But what about the obstructions we encounter in our own sādhana? It is like going into a gymnasium. You cannot simply walk in and choose whatever you want — that is a very unwise way. One has to approach a proper teacher, who tests you and then prescribes accordingly. A person whose muscles cannot lift one kilogram will not be asked to lift five kilograms. Therefore, God gives us obstacles not to obstruct us, but to give us strength as an exercise.

Looked at from this angle, anyone criticising us, anyone praising us, anyone who seems to deprive us — first, we must understand that nobody can deprive us of what is rightfully ours by karma. When these things come through the medium of other people, in the form of either help or obstruction, they are all meant to help us. This is an astonishing statement made by Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Swamiji, and others.

Really speaking, every obstruction — whether it is kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, mātsarya, or any other negative tendency — if we become aware of it and learn to use it, like in judo training where you use the opponent's strength to your own advantage, then every obstacle becomes a means of progress.

=== Avidyā as God's Grace ===
Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa unilaterally declares: "Without avidyā one can never realise God." Both avidyā and vidyā — māyā comes in these two forms. Both are the grace of God. Both are employed by the Divine Mother to be our helpers. In fact, avidyā helps us most.

Thomas à Kempis, the novice master, says in the ''Imitation of Christ'' that God alone sends these obstacles for strengthening the children whom He loves. He loves them because that love is reflected in the hearts of some people through their faith and conduct.

=== The Qualities of the Āsuras as a Lesson ===
The qualities of āsuras are very important. At one stage of our progress, the qualities of āsuras help us greatly. If you study the sixteenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, where Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa squeezes the essence of all the Upaniṣads into that most easily understandable text, these qualities may seem entirely negative. From one point of view, they drag a person from a higher position to a lower position, making us move away from God. But notice something remarkable there — how strong these people are, how much willpower they have, even to do wrong things.

We must learn the lesson: "If I am successful in doing so many wrong things, why cannot I be equally successful in creating good saṃskāras?" When we complain, we complain about lacking willpower in spiritual activities — but we never complain about our lack of willpower in doing evil deeds or unspiritual activities. A great lesson has to be learned.

In the beginning, all these tendencies are given to us. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a marvellous psychological explanation for this. Once, when a young man approached him saying, "I am troubled by lust" — a problem most people face — Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, to this person's probable surprise, advised: "Why do you want to remove kāma? Increase it. But this increment, this desire, must be for an object. Change the object." The stronger the desire, the quicker will be the progress in spiritual life.

=== The Story of Viśvāmitra: From Kāma to Krodha to Liberation ===
In the beginning, running downhill seems much easier than climbing uphill. But once we run down, we also have to come back up again. That is how the same principle works in day-to-day spiritual life.

It is said in the Purāṇas: if somebody wants to move towards God, Indra comes first and creates obstacles. He sends a beautiful woman — as we know from the story of Viśvāmitra. Through that story, we see a profoundly spiritual analogy. What did Indra do? In fact, Indra is very happy when someone says, "I don't want your position — I want to move towards God." Indra is worried only when someone wants to displace him, not when someone wishes to transcend him. So he came, he sent a beautiful woman.

As we know, Viśvāmitra fell for it. He enjoyed it, and then he exhausted that desire. He woke up: "How foolish I have been — one thousand years of hard austerity, now undone." One may wonder what type of austerity he was performing. He must have been suppressing his desires for material enjoyments, not realising that suppression or oppression gives only a negative result. They reinforce the desire rather than remove it.

He should have first looked inside and said: "My greatest present obstruction is lust — and lust can be for money, wealth, power, or many things. But in this case I am enamoured of, and identified with, the body. Body desires only body." First time he fell — and then he realised, acutely, that because of his own fault he had fallen.

So for another thousand years of tapasyā, Viśvāmitra understood: "No Indra or Candra can ever obstruct me. It is my own desire that made me fall. That desire, that knowledge, that awareness — it saved him."

So the next time Indra again sent his test. And Viśvāmitra smiled and said: "Go on — dance, sing, show every charm you can." He did not fall for it. But then kāma turned into krodha. He became filled with insatiable anger: "Again you have come! Once I fell — do you think I am going to fall again?" And they were all burned to ashes. That means he wasted his second thousand years of tapasyā — this time as a victim to anger. Because, as the Bhagavad Gītā tells us with marvellous psychological precision: from kāma only krodha comes. If I am not interested in some object, and anybody obtains that object, I won't be angry with that person.

=== The Story of Tōtāpurī: Krodha and the Limits of Brahma-Jñāna ===
Similarly, Tōtāpurī fell victim to krodha. Even though he claimed to be a brahmajñānī, he forgot everything about Brahma-jñāna. He was overcome by krodha and was about to strike a simple temple servant — when Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa started laughing.

Then Rāmakṛṣṇa said: "The extent of your knowledge of Brahman — I am seeing it crystal clearly." Tōtāpurī was surprised. "What did I do?" "Don't you recollect? Just now you were about to beat a temple servant." "Why?" "Because he dared to take a bit of fire from your dhunī fire. Are there different types of fire? One fire impure and another pure? You are making a distinction. A Brahma-jñānī never makes any distinction."

And then Śaṅkarācārya was reputed to have fallen into a similar snare. As a result, the so-called Caṇḍāla enlightened him, and then Śaṅkara came to his senses. Immediately he wrote those most marvellous five ślokas — the ''Maniṣā Pañcakam'', the five ślokas of the highest wisdom. ''Maniṣā'' means the highest knowledge.

So Tōtāpurī realised: "I became angry — but becoming angry is not the problem. Unconsciously becoming a slave to anger — that is the problem." Śrī Kṛṣṇa also becomes angry, but as a person who knows: "I am pretending to be angry," and the next second he forgets everything.

So Tōtāpurī suddenly became aware: "I am claiming to be a Brahma-jñānī, and I do not know what my mind is doing to me." And indeed, if one had truly obtained Brahma-jñāna — as we were discussing: ''brahma-jñānena sarvaṃ abhavam'', the realisation that one is everything — where is the question of becoming angry? Who is there to be angry with? There is a beautiful hymn of Śaṅkarācārya where he says: "It is Viṣṇu who is laughing, it is Viṣṇu who is getting angry. Viṣṇu is getting angry with Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is laughing at Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is mocking Viṣṇu. Everything is nothing but pure Viṣṇu." What a marvellous hymn. I hope to tell you its name next time.
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== The Sincere Aspirant is Always Protected ==
So now — nobody can put obstructions, but God is gracious. Fathoming that we want to come to Him, a mother does not want any dirt on her child — she will wash it. Sometimes that washing process can be hard and painful. The mud which has been sticking for a long time becomes part of the skin, and to brush it off might even cause some injury. To pull a thorn that is deeply embedded in the sole of the foot is painful. In the olden days an injection was also very painful — but it is something wonderful.

So any sincere aspirant will always be protected by God in the form of that very sincerity. And this sincerity alone will overcome all obstacles. Overcoming obstacles means the mind becomes stronger. Overcoming obstacles means turning every obstacle into positive help — like jujutsu, using the opponent's strength for your own advantage.

The Upaniṣad gives us a beautiful example: the person who is seeking is not seeking any higher position — therefore Gods like Indra, Varuṇa, etc. come as the greatest friendly advisors, as teachers. They deliberately put these things in various forms to test, and if the child falls once, twice, a hundred times, a thousand times — they do not abandon him. "Our child is sincere, but he has to become stronger." So as many times as necessary, the obstructions will come, and they are all for our good.

That is what Rāmānujācārya wants to convey through his third step of Śaraṇāgati — unshakeable faith that God is going to save me: "Yes, I have a long way to go, but I have nothing to worry about, because God is my helper."

The Upaniṣad then puts it in its own words. It says: after all, a sādhaka says to Indra, "I am your Ātmā. There is no difference between you and me. And one never harms one's own self. Therefore if you harm me, you will be harming yourself." And Indra will never — nobody will ever — do that. That is what the Upaniṣad says: nobody can put obstructions. Because this person first identifies himself with the whole. As we have seen in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad — this person gradually expands his identity to the whole of created being, every body. That is called the state of Virāṭ. When one is in the state of Virāṭ, nobody can harm one, because anyone who harms such a person is harming his own self.

People do not understand: if somebody wants to give trouble to a good man, the inevitable punishment will come — and that punishment is not really a punishment, but a lesson that person has to learn through hardship and suffering.
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== The Vidyā Sūtra and the Avidyā Sūtra ==

=== The Vidyā Sūtra: Ātman as the Final Goal ===
So he thinks: "I am Indra. I am Varuṇa. I am Bṛhaspati. I am Brahmā." Therefore nobody will stand as an obstruction, because nobody will knowingly do harm to one's own self.

After this comes what is called the Vidyā Sūtra — or what may be called the Brahma Vidyā Sūtra. These are the aphorisms, the mantras, that tell us about the glory, the greatness, and the goal of every human being. Now the Upaniṣad wants us to clearly understand what is called avidyā — and this is called the Avidyā Sūtra.

When I use these words — Vidyā Sūtra and Avidyā Sūtra — the Upaniṣad itself does not use them. It is Śaṅkarācārya in his Bhāṣya who identifies these sections. He says: Ātman alone must be made the final goal of one's life, and the goal is to have the knowledge: "I am — I was, I am, I will be — Brahman." Not that "I am going to become Brahman," but rather: "I was Brahman, but due to avidyā I thought I was not. Now, through vidyā, through this upāsanā, I have removed that idea. I destroyed that ignorance. I realised what I truly am. I will never be anything other than Brahman."

So up till now, in this tenth mantra — one mantra divided into several sections — the Vidyā Sūtra is over.

=== The Avidyā Sūtra: The Ignorance of Separation ===
Now the Avidyā Sūtra begins. According to the understanding and commentary of Bhagavān Śaṅkarācārya, there are people — and even so-called spiritual people — who contemplate other Gods and Goddesses, but they do so like ignorant persons. Avidyā means ignorance. Ignorance means forgetting one's own nature and identifying as somebody else.

So he says: anyone who thinks "I am worshipping my mother and father, I am worshipping my Ācārya, I am worshipping my teacher" — and who slowly worships them as Gods — must understand what these Gods and Goddesses truly are. In the olden days there were many Gods and Goddesses, and most often these were nothing but the combined powers of nature. The universal power of seeing is called the Sun. The universal power of thinking is called the Moon. So every sense organ — and we have eleven sense organs: five of knowledge, five of action, and one mind — all these are nothing but those Devatās.

Remember the story of the Brāhmaṇa who killed a cow that had strayed into his garden, but who wanted to escape the sin. Indra comes and educates him: "If you think it was you who tended this garden, then you have to accept you killed this cow. But if you feel it was Indra's power that came to you in the form of your skilful hands, and the Moon's power came to you in the form of your crystal-clear thinking — then who killed the cow?" So every organ we have has a corresponding Devatā. Not only my individual capacity to see, but everybody's capacity to see combined together — that is the presiding deity, Sūrya.

=== The Consequence of Thinking "I am Small and God is Separate" ===
So if anybody, because of ignorance, thinks: "I am small, you are big — I am an ordinary, powerless, ignorant human being, but you are the all-powerful Devatā — Indra, Candra, Varuṇa, Bṛhaspati — and you are separate from me, and I am like an animal or a servant to you" — what happens? That person has to worship the Devatā, has to serve the Devatā. This is called avidyā.

The Upaniṣad puts it thus: this person does not know — he is ignorant of the fact that there is only one being, that is everything, that is Brahman. If anybody thinks "I am different, I am small, but the God I am worshipping is most powerful and he can protect me, help me, make me happier — and there is a vast difference between me and all the Gods and Goddesses and Brahman itself" — this is the state of separation. This is called avidyā. Such a person is possessing ignorant knowledge, not right knowledge.

=== The Parable of the Animals ===
What is the result? The Upaniṣad gives us a beautiful example. Suppose there is a person who has a hundred animals — goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, chickens, anything. All these animals contribute to the pleasures and welfare of this human being. The paśus are subservient — they are like servants catering to the health, happiness, and wealth of the human being.

In exactly this manner, each one of us who is in the ignorant state described above contributes to the pleasures of deities like Indra, Candra, etc. And then the Bhāṣya goes on to say: if a person has a hundred animals and one animal goes missing or is taken away, he becomes extremely pained. He does not say, "I have ninety-nine animals, why should I worry?" No — "I am incomplete without that one animal. I don't want to lose it." Why? Because it is serving his happiness and welfare. And if many animals are lost, what to speak of that person's condition of mind.

Therefore, in a similar manner, it is not desirable to these Gods that they lose even one of their worshippers — because how do we become their worshippers? We worship them, we give offerings, we pray to them, we go on pilgrimage, we do pradakṣiṇam. We do all this to please them, and they enjoy it and correspondingly bestow their protection. They protect us just as we protect our animals.

Just as that human being with many animals does not want to lose one, these Devatās also want to retain their worshippers. If a person says, "I don't want to serve you any longer — I want to know that I am Brahman," then immediately they become alert and try to put extra shackles so that the aspirant cannot escape.

=== The Snare of Dependence ===
So like that: if anybody thinks "This Devatā is different from God, and God is different from me, and the Devatā I am worshipping is my God, and he is separate from me" — he becomes like an animal serving those Devatās. And not only Devatās — we become slaves to a cow, to a chicken, to a servant, to a gadget. We depend upon coffee, upon sweets, upon salt, upon spices, upon every Tom, Dick, and Harry. "Oh, if my boss looks at me — maybe he is smiling, but is he thinking of getting rid of me?" We become dependent at every step upon a thousand bonds of slavery.

But the essence of it is: if somebody wants only God-realisation, then even Gods become highly favourable and do their level best. In fact, God's grace comes only in the form of the grace of different Gods and Goddesses — we have to understand that. Therefore the second part of this section — called the Avidyā Sūtram — says: to think that "I am different" is ignorance. And to overcome this ignorance and to know that there is no second — ''dvitīya nāsti'', ''ekaṃ sadeva saumya idamagra āsīt'' — there is only one reality, there is no second reality. That is the goal of life.
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== Closing Remarks ==
How beautifully these mantras convey to us the message, even illuminating our pitiable present state where we are dependent upon prāṇa, upon external weather, external people, external animals, and external objects. I will elaborate upon this further in future classes, so that the mantra makes its full and very great meaning clear.

The idea is: do not come under the influence of avidyā. Already we are in that state — but try to break free like a lion breaks free. We will talk about this subject in our future classes.
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== Closing Prayer ==
''Om Jānānāṃ Śāradāṃ Devīṃ Rāmakṛṣṇaṃ Jagadgurum''

''Pada Padme Tayo Śṛtvā Praṇamāmi Muhur Muhuh''

May Rāmakṛṣṇa, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekānanda bless us all with Bhakti.

''Jai Rāmakṛṣṇa!''
[[Category:Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026 Q&A

2026-05-01T03:44:58Z

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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026 Q&A

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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Ch.1.4 Lecture 28 on 26 April 2026

2026-05-01T03:40:31Z