Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 03 on 11 March 2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURUM PADHA PADME TAYO SHRITVA PRANAMAMI MUHUR MUHUR OM SAHANA VAVATU SAHANAO BHUNAKTU SAHA VIRYAM KARVA VAHE TEJASVI NAVADHITAM ASTHUMA VIDVISHA VAHE OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HARI OM OM May Brahman protect us, both the teacher and the students. 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 will towards each other. OM Peace, peace, peace be unto all. We have been studying this Svetasvatara Upanishad, which belongs to Krishna Yajur Veda. And as we all know, Yajur Veda has two presentions, Krishna and Shukla, the white Yajur Veda to which Brihadaranyaka and Ishavasya belong. And Krishna Yajur Veda, where Taittiriya Upanishad belongs. And this Svetasvatara Upanishad. And black, or Krishna, implying unarranged, a motley collection of mantras. And this Svetasvatara Upanishad contains 113 mantras, arranged in six chapters in different numbers. And the first chapter contains 16 mantras. Now, in our last class, we have gone through the Shanti Patha. A Shanti Patha, or peace chanting, is a sincere prayer to God for the purpose of serving mainly three purposes. The first purpose is removal of every type of obstacle. The second purpose is to obtain the grace of God so that I can, or we can, continue the spiritual sadhana. The third purpose is it is only by God's grace we can really realize God. And that is the most important point this Svetasvatara Upanishad wants to emphasize. It is only through the grace of God that we can, or one can, realize God. But to obtain the grace of God, to retain the grace of God, to remember the grace of God, and to use it appropriately, and with a particular attitude, bhavana, these five aspects of God's grace, we can only pray to the Lord, and He will definitely give us. So without further introduction, we will go into the first mantra of the first chapter of the Svetasvatara Upanishad. And let us remember, Shankaracharya gives certainly one of the largest introductions, so far as I know, to any of the Upanishads. And he gives a lot of quotations, not only from the Upanishads, other Upanishads, but a lot of quotations from what we call Smritis, Puranas, Brahma Shastras, Bhagavad Gita, of course, Brahma Sutras, et cetera. And that made some people, some scholars, think probably this is not the composition, or commentary is not the commentary of Shankaracharya. The Upanishad is no doubt, but whether he has really written any commentary upon this particular Svetasvatara Upanishad. But this is the secondary reason why they think it is not his commentary. But the first reason is that this Upanishad contains a lot of elements of Bhakti, and it is in total following the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, or should I say that Sri Ramakrishna followed the methodology of Svetasvatara Upanishad, where he says, Saguna Brahma is far easier to realize, and by the grace of Saguna Brahma, one can realize anything. That is why Sri Ramakrishna's teachings are very pregnant with meaning. Ramakrishna, crystal clearly teaches us that, of course, according to Vedanta, nobody can really think about Brahman, because Brahman doesn't have eyes to see that who is praying to him, thinking of him, and he cannot hear what you are talking about, what you are praying for. So naturally, he doesn't have hands to give you what you want to, what you hope to get from him. So he is, in other words, blind, deaf, dumb, disabled, and it is absolutely useless. So you can only think about Saguna Brahma. Of course, I'm making fun. You can understand it. But we have to approach step by step, and the lowest, lower, highest step, next to that highest reality, is called Ishwara. And here, the Svetasvatara Upanishad inculcates a lot of devotional elements, and Sharanagati, Ramanuja Sharanagati. That's why the dualistic teachers, like Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, they take huge delight in commenting upon the Shweta Shudra Upanishad, because this exactly proves what they want to preach. That means a lot of this Upanishad supports. And that is the one reason why most people think. But if you ask Ramakrishna, if you ask some of us, then our answer will be, an Upanishad is an Upanishad. Every Upanishad has got only one purpose, or I would say, three goals. Every Upanishad has three goals. The first goal is to find out who you are. The second goal is, what should be the goal of life, Parama Purushartha. And the last thing is, is there any pathway by which we can attain it? Tattva, Purushartha, and Hita. And we see here, all the three very beautifully enumerated. And the very first thing is, who are you? In other words, who am I? In other words, from where am I coming? And that's, you remember, when Sri Ramakrishna first met Narendra Nath, he sang two songs. And those two songs are the essence of what we are talking about in these first few mantras. Rather, the very first mantra itself. One is, Manachalo Nijaniketane Samsaar Bideshe Bidesheer Bheshe Brahmo Keno Akarane And the second song, that we are wasting our time, Jabe Ki Hai Din Biphale Jaiya Shall all my days go in vain, O Lord? Because I know what I have to do. But I do not seem to find a way how I am still caught up in this attachment of the Brahma Chakra. One of the most beautiful terminology that this Svetasvatara Upanishad uses is instead of saying Samsara Chakra, it says Brahma Chakra. What a vast difference it makes. Samsara means Maya, Maya Chakra. But Brahma Chakra means, as a Sufi, so beautifully put it, we start our journey from God, in God, to God. So we are coming out of Brahman, and we grow up in Brahman, and we go back onto Brahman. And this is the Upanishadic methodology. And especially in the third Valli of the Taittiriya Upanishad, when Bhrigu asks his father, Varna, teach me about Brahman, he says, I can only give you some hints. yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante ena jātāni jīvanti yat prayanti aviśaṁ viśanti ti from where all the creatures come, in whom all the creatures are sustained and live and slowly evolve. And ultimately, every creature is going to know what it is, who it is, and know the Brahman, become Brahman, remain Brahman, become free from all the trammels of this samsara. But here it is, beautiful word, we are spiritual, whether we know it or not, and that's why the beautiful word we have to remember is Brahma Chakra. Swami beautifully put it, we are not human beings seeking Brahman, we are Brahman, accidentally caught in the net of samsara and seeking to go back to our own nature. This is what Swami Vivekananda exactly puts it, each soul is potentially divine, that means there is an irresistible urge for each one of us to move forward and we have come down, that is called the process of involution. Now we are going up and our journey can end only when we reach God, that is what we have to understand. So the question, there are some people and they have gone obviously through Brahmachari Ashrama, Grihastha Ashrama, and of course they have come to Banaprastha Ashrama. They have approached a Guru and they have learned or they want to learn and their desire, when the Guru happens to ask them what brings you here, what do you want? Just as Prajapati asks Indra and Virochana, what brings you here? He knows very well what brings them there because it was Prajapati's own announcement, whoever knows Atman, all his desires will be fulfilled. And beautiful story there, beautiful meaning is there that we all desire God, not because we are terribly having headache in realizing God, we have so many unfulfilled desires. So we approach God with the idea that He is the only one who can fulfill all my desires. Everybody else is a very limited being, God alone is unlimited, He can give me with a bit of payment, He can give me with a heavy payment, He can also give me without any payment. So we approach God. Suppose God says, what do you want? I cannot fulfill a single desire of yours. If you wish, you can worship me. I don't think God will have anybody turning towards Him. I love you, we don't love anybody. Husband doesn't love wife, wife doesn't love husband, a devotee doesn't love God, God also doesn't love. If God at all loves you, why does He love? Ramakrishna puts it beautifully. So don't blame me. He says God wants devotees. Why? Because who can understand better than God? If there are no devotees, who is there to call me as God? So He also wants praise, you are God, you are great. Then for that purpose He depends upon us. That's why He becomes very miserable if nobody calls Him God. What am I talking about? Ramakrishna once said, there was a time when if I was not worshipped, I used to feel very restless. Anyway, this is what He is talking about. We can understand the condition of God Himself. So it is Parasparambava Yantra. We need Him, He also needs us. Without us, He is not a Bhagawan and we cannot be bhakthas without Bhagawan. Bhagawan cannot be Bhagawan without bhakthas. So we scratch each other's back. Parasparambava Yantra. So even though I am making fun, there is a lot of truth. Even more truth is, actually we do not exist. He Himself wants to scratch His own back. Why? Because He is the only one. There is no second. Advaitiya. Therefore He is forced to scratch His own back. And for that He stands in front of a mirror. No, no, no. I am Bhagawan. Why should I scratch my own back? Look there. Somebody else is scratching my back. Yes, you can delude yourself and that is the world. God's deluding Himself is called the world. A lot of truth is there in what I have just now spoken. Coming back, if a person has gone through this evolutionary scale, then he will come to a point where he will have to ask. He has gone through all experiences and he has learned his lesson. In this world, nobody can help me. Only God can help me. And I have a lot of desires. And every desire of mine can be fulfilled when I become God. Because God is everything. So if I want everything all the time without losing anything, I must become that infinite God. And so the question comes, is it possible? And these students must have studied scriptures very thoroughly, attended my classes for a long time and then they became wise and they started asking the question. The essence of this question is Who am I? And that is what he is telling. Beautifully put, the language also is not archaic language. The speciality of the Svetasvatara Upanishad is it is not an ancient Upanishad but it is fairly modern. When I say fairly modern, it is not a few centuries back. It is many centuries back. But we can see here, the Sanskrit language is much more easy to understand and crystal clear. We will start it without further ado. Hari Om. Anytime before we start a class, we must always pray to God. And Hari Om. Om or Hari is a beautiful word. Mangala Vakyas. About five questions have come. Kim Karanam? What is the cause of this samsara? Of my own birth. Because I am part of the samsara. In other words, if I know where from I have come, I know who I am. When a pot comes to know I am the clay, its purpose is over. It has realised. As a pot, it has birth, it has continuance, and it has an end. But as a clay, as an example, don't go on using your cleverness and say clay also has come from something. As an example. So clay, here, comparable to Brahma. So, Kim Karanam? Brahma. That is, these Brahmavadis, what is the ultimate cause? Kutasma Jataha. From where are we born? In other words, who are our parents? What is the cause from which we have come? In other words, we are the effect, I am the effect, so I must have a cause. What is the cause from where I have come? Because, remember, there is an invariable law that whatever is the cause, the effect will have the same constituents. It cannot change. What will have is nothing but clay. An ornament, golden ornament, cannot but be gold. A wooden furniture, whatever it be, in the past, present, in future also, cannot but be only that wood nature. These are examples. So if I know where from we have come, and we will be knowing who I am, and once I know that I am Brahman, that is important, because I still don't know if I am Pancha Bhutas, if I am a production of time, production of accident, production of chance, production of everything else, we will discuss about, because very funny incidents are there. So this is what is called a terribly agonizing question. These Brahmavadins, they are not simply sitting after lunch and having a digesting process. They are extremely keen to know and they feel time is passing out, as Ramakrishna used to fall down on the earth. Oh mother, another day is gone and I have not seen you. What was Ramakrishna doing? Exactly the same thing. He wants to know that you are my mother and mother is the root cause of the child and I have not seen you, that means I have not understood who you are. Once you give me that knowledge, then there will be no death at all. So, Where from we have come? Kutaha means from where? So, how are we living? What is it that sustains us? Pachasampratishtha. What is it? That is the substratum because of which we are living. Adishtitaha kena sukhata reshu vartama he and controlled by whom? Viralled by whom? That is how sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are not very happy. That means we are swinging between happiness and unhappiness. Sometimes the wave is high, sometimes it goes down. This is the exact description of the samsara that we are going through every single minute. And what is the ultimate arrangement? Is there any purpose in living itself? These are the questions and they are all Brahmavadins. That means they are Sadhana, Chatursthaya, Sampanna all endowed with Adhikarins and they are Mumukshus. They want to realize their Brahman or God, whatever name you give it. And they are seriously discussing and obviously they are discussing it or they are putting these questions because they have discussed and they thought about it. They could not get an answer and they must have come to a Sadguru and that is what we call Guru Sampradaya. So they must have come and they must have put these questions. We have tried to resolve this problem. We could not resolve this problem and we have come with the certainty, faith that you are a knower of Brahman and you alone can solve the problems. Nobody can solve the problems. Look how these words resound, echo. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna had a doubt. He says, O Lord, You are talking about controlling the mind and I know how difficult it is because if I was a man of self-control, mind control, then I would have been a realized soul. I would have known. But I had fallen deep into the trough of this depression only because my mind is sometimes taking me down, sometimes swinging me up and down like a swing, like a wave. It is very easy for you to say that you control your mind but I don't see any way. It is like controlling the wind. And then the Lord says, Yes, there is a way. Then Arjuna says, That is also you say. That is wonderful. But I think it is almost impossible. Then the Lord gives some answer. And then Arjuna has got some question. He says, I believe nobody can remove this doubt of mine excepting you. And that is how these Brahmavadins, we don't know how many have come. Since plural is used, we presume it must be more than one. It could be two, three, four, five, many. Of course, I don't expect many because Brahmavadins will never be many. Manushyanaam sahasreshu kashchid yatati siddhaye. These are our questions. We ourselves have discussed among ourselves. We have not come to a satisfactory conclusion. But we have faith that you are able to solve the problems. So the translation goes like this. Rishis, discoursing on Brahman, ask, is Brahman the cause? Whence are we born? By what do we live? Where do we go and dwell at the end? Please tell us. O ye who know Brahman, under whose guidance we abide, whether in pleasure or in pain. There is a creator, there is a preserver, and there is a layakarta unto whom we return constituent elements. This is the inevitable fate of every effect. The pot must go back into the clay, the ornament must go back into whichever material it is made up of, gold or silver or whatever. Every piece of furniture finally must go back to its cup. This is inevitable. So through this Upanishad, we are also told certain things. What are the certain things? That where there is birth, there is growth, there is happiness and unhappiness, and old age and disease, and inevitably death. But death is not destruction because nothing can come out of non-existence. And nothing that exists can go back also to non-existence. It is impossible. Anything that is existent must come only through Sath and must go back to Sath. Sath means that which assumes names, forms, qualities. That is called birth and growth. And finally it must go back to that unmanifest state. That is called death. That means there is no death. But meanwhile, even if we come to know there is no death, we will not be happy because we don't want merely to know that we are deathless, but I want also to know that I can be happy all the time, that my happiness should never have any type of break, etc. So who is a Rishi? The literal etymological meaning Rishati, Janati, Rishihi one who knows. But here Rishis means if they come to know, the question of their doubting, their discussion, and allowing a wee bit allowance for doubts will never arise. They would have been realized souls. But they are called Rishis just like medical students, especially after the third year, are honorifically named as doctors, even though they are not permitted to practice independently. So these Rishis. And why are they called Rishis? Because like Yamadharmaraj says about Nachiketa, as if you already have reached the goal. But how, sir? I am only asking you, you have not even started answering me. He says because anybody who has your qualifications, there is absolutely no doubt about it, not even 1% of doubt about it, that you are going to reach the goal. These people were completely fit people. And as soon as the Sadguru opens his mouth and tells them, and they know, they can understand the truth instantaneously. And who is a Sadguru? A person who knows what he wants to, what others want to learn. But when the students become ready, then only they can receive. Let us take the example of Kalpataru day, which had happened on the 1st January 1886. Sri Ramakrishna has bestowed his grace. In fact, he was not discriminating, excepting in the case of two people, whom he said, not now, you will receive it later on. Though Sri Ramakrishna was so gracious, but the people who received, most of them did not retain it. After some time, everybody has lost it. But the memory of it can never be lost. Remember, in the Bhagavatam, there is the story of the great devotee called Narada. And he became very, very much aware of the ephemerality of this world. So he went to do Tapasya. With great earnestness, he was praying to Lord Narayana. And immediately Narayana appeared, giving him a glimpse himself. And Narada was transported. But just like lightning, which we have seen in the Kena Upanishad, that vision had vanished. And then Narada came down with a thump, as it were, to the hard earth. And then he said, Oh Lord, why did you withdraw yourself from me? And the Akashvani comes, Narada, out of my grace, I showed you what you are going to attain, so that you will never be discouraged, you will never have any doubt what is going to happen in future. But this much, that this memory of what you had experienced will never allow you to become depressed. And that is exactly what happened to the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, who could not retain, but they know this is a reality. One can have this kind of experience, but one must strive so that they will be able to retain it, not for a few minutes again, but forever. For that, we have to make it. Even I remember, Swami Brahmanandaji was doing Tapasya at Vrindavan, and Vijayakrishna Goswami asked, Maharaj, you have received so much grace of Thakur, why are you practicing these hard austerities? And Swami Brahmanandaji replied, It is true. Sri Ramakrishna, out of His infinite boundless grace, had bestowed me all these things, but we have to make it our own, because visions come and disappear. Anything that disappears is impermanent. But what is permanent? That knowledge, I am that. God exists in Vaikuntha, in Kailasa, etc., in Kingdom of Heaven, etc. That is also may be true, but until I am with God, all the time, then it will come, the experience will come, and it will disappear also. I remember a very useful incident. There was one great devotee of Krishna, and he used to meditate with great sincerity, longing. He had several visions of Krishna. Then he happened to come to Ramana Maharshi, and at that time, he wanted to get the approval, that Ramana Maharshi saying, that you are very great, and you have had many visions of Krishna, and probably that lurking desire to be certified was there. So with great glee, he narrated all his experiences. But then what he received was very much disappointing. Ramana Maharshi, you know, when he looks, he never looks at you, he looks beyond you. So he looked at this devotee, and simply made a remark, whatever comes, also goes. And Krishna Premi, his name was Krishna Premi, I think, if I am not wrong, and he was very much disappointed. Later on, he was recollecting, so then I was disappointed, but anyway, a great soul, enjoyed his presence, came back to my ashrama, and in course of time, the knowledge of Krishna remained with me, but the visions of Krishna had vanished. So anything that comes will go, and if I am seeing Brahman, hearing Brahman, tasting Brahman, touching Brahman, smelling Brahman, it will come and will disappear. But if I become Brahman, there is no separation at any time at all. And that is what is needed. These great Rishis, advanced souls, completely detached from the world, they have risen up from the three types of desires, Pithaishna, Putraishna, Lokaishna, as Brihadaranyaka Upanishad so beautifully describes. And their only goal is to realize God, like hundreds of real Paramahamsas used to visit Shri Ramakrishna as soon as he completed his Advaita sadhana and remained experiencing it continuously for six months. After that, by the will of the mother, his mind came down, and then after that, hundreds of real Paramahamsas, not vagabonds, real, real Paramahamsas, somehow drawn by the divine will, came to Dakshineshwar, stayed there. Each one of them was at some point of spiritual progress in his own destined path. And they got help from Shri Ramakrishna. Their obstacles were removed and their path became clear. They got tremendous inspiration. All their doubts were probably removed. And as soon as that happened, they saluted him and then left. This phenomena happened. And whenever Shri Ramakrishna became perfect, perfect in any one of the pathways, that is important for us. So these Brahmavadins, they are ready to receive and they must have practiced Tapasya. Whether the Guru asked them that one year you stay, like as we have seen in Prashna Upanishad, or at least 105 years, like we see in the Chandogya Upanishad, they were ready. And these were the questions they put forward. And we know from the scriptures. This is a point we have to remember. Not that they did not know the answers. Everything is new. They must have studied the scriptures, intellectually understood, but they wanted confirmation from a realized soul. So with this query, they had come. And they were completely, what is called, restless. That is why it says, is Brahman the cause? Yes, every Upanishad says, Brahman is the cause. We are coming from Brahman and we are living in Brahman and we go back to Brahman. Yes, not that they did not know intellectually. They knew very well. But we want confirmation. Is Brahman the cause? Whence are we born? Have we come from Brahman? By what do we live? Is Brahman sustaining us? Nourishing us? Pushan ekarshe? Hey Pushan! As this Avasya Upanishad says, you are sustaining the entire creation. So by what do we live? What is it that we live by? And Bible gives a beautiful answer to this question. Man does not live by bread alone. What does he live? Only by God. So even if you eat food, you don't live because of the food, you live because of God. What is God? In the manifestation of Sat, Chit and Ananda. We don't want to die, we don't want to be ignorant and we least of all want to suffer. We want that highest happiness. This is what is meant by we only live by God. Ananda dheva kalvimani bhutani jayante anandena jevanti anandam prayante abhisamvi shantiti. We are manifested because of Ananda, we live because of Ananda and we go back and merge ourselves into Ananda. Ananda is another name for Brahman. So, please tell us these disciples, Brahmavadinis, yet to realize Brahman, what are they telling? O ye, whoever you are, wherever you are, ye know Brahman under whose guidance we abide whether in pleasure or in pain. Please tell us. Please clarify this. Please certify that our understanding is absolutely true. And we see it in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna in the form of a marvellous song. I have quoted it many times. This was translated by none other than Girish Chandra Ghosh and most of us know this well-known bhajan judai te chai kothai judai. We mourn for peace. That is how it is translated in the Gospel. We mourn for rest. Alas! Rest we can never find. So, kothai judai. Where is that peace we are seeking? That is, we want to be united with Brahman and that is the only source of peace and we want to be united with Brahman and obtain that peace but we do not seem to get. Kothai hotey ashi. Where from are we coming? Kothai bhise jai. Where do we go on floating? Floating means as if a powerful stream is carrying us forward. This is the stream of evolution, what I call evolutionary escalator. Phire phire ashi. I come back again and again. I am reborn again and again. And what happens? Kotho kaandi hasi. How much I weep? How much I laugh? Caught in this samsara chakra or Brahma chakra. Keva kothai jai. And where do we go? Suddenly something happens. We are snatched and everything that we are aware of, know of, love of, hate of and completely disappears and this is the one thought that has possessed us. Sada bhavi kothai. I always am possessed by the thought these questions come into my mind but I do not know how to answer. Ke khalai? Who is making me play? I don't want to play but somebody is forcibly making me play. Where do you think you remember? Ishwaraha sarvabhutanaam hrideshe arjunatishtati brahmayen sarvabhutani yantrarodhani mayaya. Ke khalai? Who makes me play? Ami khaliva keno? Why am I playing? Why am I playing? Because I am helpless. I have no other way. I am like a pawn in the hands. I am a chess piece in the hands of the chess master. Wherever he puts, I have no freedom but I am not a chess piece. I have got consciousness. I can understand. I want to resist but I cannot resist. Jagiye ghumaye koh ke jano? What a horrible condition I am in. I am fully awake as if I am sleeping deeply. Koh ke jano? Sometimes, you know, in the what is called ice-clad countries such as Norway, etc. Sometimes, persons go for a walk and suddenly a terrible fog I have read marvellous stories like that. A terrible fog envelops them. They don't know where is east where is west. They move here and there. Very soon, they are lost and they cannot see. Sometimes and many times, they die also. Many people die even though the house is very near not very far. But since they cannot find what you call hyperthermia sets in and very quickly they die. Jagiye ghumaye even though I am fully awake as if I am awake in deep darkness. Koh ke jano? Ek hamon ghor How horrible is this condition this night Havena ki bhor Will it ever bring dawn? Will I see the light? Adhir adhir jai mate shomir Abhiram gati niyat dhai This beautiful gentle wind is blowing so much and it has no stop. As if 24 hours it is moving Gati niyat dhai. It doesn't know who blows it why it blows why is it sometimes very mild sometimes very very powerful I am also like that Jani na keva Eshechi kothai Jani na I do not know. Keva. Who am I? I do not know. Who am I? Eshechi kothai. I don't know Where I have come? If we are asked, where are you? I am in Varanasi Where are you? I am in Bangalore That is not the point So why did I come here? Where was my home? And where am I here? Who brought me here? Why did I come here? I don't know Ke naba eshechi. I don't know why I have come I don't know where I have come I don't know how I have come And kothai niyat jai. Somebody as if is going to take me somewhere. I don't know anything There is a beautiful, very big song. One of the most marvelous songs but I have only taken a small part of it. This summarizes the gist of what these Brahmavadins are moaning This is the English translation even though I had explained We moan for rest, alas but rest can never find We know not whence we come nor where we float away Time and again we tread this round of smiles and tears In vain we pine to know whither our pathway leads And why we play this empty play We sleep, although awake, as if by a spell bewitched Will darkness never break into the light of dawn? As restless as the wind, life moves unceasingly. We know not who we are, nor whence it is we come. We know not why we come, nor where it is we drift Beautiful song, I tell you And this was the condition of Bhagavan Buddha, Siddhartha before he renounced the world. So it is said in the Lalita Vistara, some devatas came and sang and that deeply awakened him. And that very night he decided to find out the mystery of life and renounced the world. For six years he struggled and he came back an enlightened person, like that person who felt the temptation to jump into the enclosed space, but with great difficulty he restrained himself because there are so many people, they don't know such a marvelous place condition exists, where they can be happy forever. Let me also share with others this is the description, depiction of Sri Ram Krishna's form and went out for a walk. The depiction of an avatar, indirectly indicating. So Brahman or pure consciousness is it the cause of the universe? Obviously Brahman, the absolute which is beyond time and space and the causal relationship cannot be the real cause because cause is as much bound as the effect. So one must go beyond both cause and effect. Is that supreme reality we call Brahman? Is it the cause? Apparently so, really no. Then who is it? Apparently Ishwara but not really Ishwara. So if Brahman is the cause then the Brahman must create in cooperation with something and what is that something? That Prakruti and if Prakruti's help is needed, Brahman is no Brahman at all. He is caught in his own chakra and that is impossible. So what kind of causes of this universe? Is there a material cause? Is there an efficient cause? And to come to the conclusion, I have already told you, Ishwara is both the material cause and the efficient cause of this entire creation because before the creation and every creation requires these two causes then Brahman must be the both causes because there was none other than that Ishwara. We are talking about Ishwara. Whenever we are talking about creation, let us not talk about Parabrahma. Let us not talk about Nirguna Brahma. Let us talk only about Savuna Brahma called Ishwara. Ishwara means Brahman with Maya and it is also called Purusha Prakruti in Sankhya and in this Svetasvatara Upanishad, a lot of Sankhya Yoga is going to come. Kutaha because everybody comes from somewhere else. Babies are born from the wombs of their mothers. Plants come from a seed. There must be a cause. Even continents are born because of the clash of the tectonic elements deep underneath the earth. Everything must have a cause. So no birth or death is possible for the real Jeeva. So this is we want to know. In essence is we want to know and what purpose? Because when I come to know then I will know I was never really born. When I come to know where from I am born and by what I am living and where I am going to go. Apparently it looks as though I get the answers but from the Advaitic point of view, these are all questions from the Mayic point of view, from the mind's point of view from the bound point of view. So whatever questions we have and whatever answers we receive, they are all not real answers. Fake answers. Why do we say fake answers? Because when the question is fake then the answer also should be only fake answer. That's all. But how does it help? Because when you understand the reality, you will stop questioning, you will not seeking an answer because there is no problem at all. This is what one senior Swami told me that problems cannot be solved ultimately but problems can be dissolved. I hope you understand the difference between solving and dissolving and spiritual life is dissolving. So Kena Jeeva Maha what supports the Jeevas during their phenomenal existence? Kuchasampradishta at the end. And who is sustaining us? Because who is the substratum? Like a snake cannot be there without the substratum of a rope. A mirage cannot sustain unless there is substratum of desert. Deep burning sand and remember one cannot have the illusion of mirages at night. Only at midday you can have it or when there is tremendous temperature is there. Kena by whom? Controlled by whom? Under whom? All of us Jeevas experience pleasure and pain in the world. Who is the controller of this pleasure and pain? A sharp division between pleasure and pain is evident. All beings are attached to pleasure and repelled by pain. Both are bondages. Raga and Dvesha. Still it is seen that people experience pain even while enjoying. The question is what is that power or that factor which leads one to both first happiness then unhappiness and to pain? These questions asked in this verse are related to the creation, preservation and ultimate dissolution of the Jeevas and the universe. So among themselves they are debating and these are the again further doubts from the viewpoint of the students remember. So is it all these? The questions continue. Beautiful arguments are here. So the questions come. So what is the question? What is the cause of this samsara? Is your time the cause? Is nature the cause? Is necessity the cause? Is chance the cause? Chance means what? Many people believe there is no God, there is no purpose, it is just pure accident, chance. A man and a woman, male and female, they meet and something happens and a child, a baby, an offspring has come out. That's it. Don't worry. You know in the West, modern America, so many, some children, not everybody, some children, they rebel against the parents, especially if their experiences are negative experiences and not necessarily because the parents are bad because of their own samskaras. Only Hindu can accept that one. These children, when the parents say, don't you have any obligation towards us? Their inevitable reply will be, what obligation are you talking about, old man, old woman? You had your pleasure and for your pleasure, you never thought about it, you never planned for us and you enjoyed yourself and we just born out of accident, so it is your duty to bring us up and you brought us up and if we have any say in it, we are thoroughly dissatisfied how you have brought us up, so we have absolutely no obligation to do anything about you. And if we do the same thing, of course we will be obliged if we have children who is going to, who do you think is going to bring them up? We will be bringing them up. But we are fully aware, unlike you, we don't expect even though they are thinking they expect what they don't expect from their children. So we don't expect, we do our duty and as soon as they grow up we will be very glad to get rid of them. This is the type of, is it a chance? Is it an accident? Or as the Hindus say, Sankhyas say, the five elements, the elements we regarded as the cause or he who is called the Purusha, the Atma, the living self, is he the cause? The cause cannot be any of the combinations of these entities. Why? Because all these things are already present only after the creation. Before the creation they were not present. Therefore they cannot be the cause because they are all effects. And we are seeking the first cause. And then what about the Atman? Since there is a living self, Atman, and it seems that is our consciousness, our awareness, it seems to be the cause of all these things. We are asking the questions also. Now, Atman can never be the cause of this creation because a very beautiful argument is given here. When we open our eyes and look into our life as well as other people's lives, we see crystal clearly that so much of happiness is there. And if we ourselves are responsible for this creation, which fool will create something deliberately may I suffer? May I create causes of suffering? It is impossible. That is what Swami Vivekananda said. If God had taken my advice at the time before creation, I would have given him a very better solution because he was suffering. So we the Jivatmas are already caught in the net of samsara which was created long before we were created and therefore we cannot be the cause. Then who is the real cause? This is the question. So is it the time? Time is time as they say, even modern science says is born along with the creation, not before creation. The whole of the nature only after the creation. Necessity after the creation. Elements after the creation. Purusha, the so called Jivatma, only after the creation. The Atman or consciousness caught in the net of this body-mind complex is called Jivatma. That means even before this Atman was caught, this body-mind complex is existing. Therefore for these two reasons if Jivatma is the cause he would only create as the master, as the creator, that which is very good for him. All the time cutting capers enjoy, but the truth, the practical thing is completely different. So we will discuss about this because these are the questions that will come to us when we are looking for God. Two reasons I can say right now. We seek God not because God is wanted after eating nice sweet nobody seeks God. Only when I am suffering, intense suffering and I come to know that there is absolutely no way out then only I will come to know, I will seek God. Seeking God means seeking permanent solution from the suffering and how can I be infinitely, eternally happy. So only a person who has practiced these teachings of the scriptures for many many lives he understands. Only he can ask this question and it is inevitable that means the Rishi, the Upanishad is anticipating what we are going to ask and it is the inevitable process and before we come to that it itself says you should ask these questions sincerely then only you are going to really get the answers. We will talk about these points in our next class.