Mandukya Karika Lecture 132 on 06-December-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

In our last class, we have been studying the 45th Karika of the 4th chapter of Mandukya Upanishad called Alatha Shanti Prakarana. The question that arose is that, in this dualistic world, we all believe in the theory of cause and effect. Our experience shows that everything points to cause and effect, and cause and effect, in turn, remind us of time, space, and causation.

Causation, where parents are the cause and children are the effect, leads us to the concept of Jati when birth takes place. Then the question arises: Who created? The answer is parents created, and who are created? Children are created. When were they created? They were not there from the beginning of time. Only six days ago, a baby was born. Before that, the baby was not there. Now the baby is there, introducing the element of time. Where is it born? It is born either in India or the USA, introducing the element of space. How did it come about? Some Nimitta, a cause or reason, will be there.

Thus, the whole universe is nothing but a perspective from time, space, and causation, and these three things together are called mind. The mind's constitutional elements are Desha, Kaala, and Nimitta. The scriptures discuss two kinds of facts: the world and Brahman. Even though we are not directly talking to Brahman, we assume through our mind and look at Brahman. What we see is the world, and we see it through the lenses of time, space, and causation. This is why the scriptures talk about creation. However, is the creation real? No, it is not real, and this is a crucial point.

It is emphasized that what is real doesn't change, and what changes cannot be real. Practically, the changing nature of the world affects us every second of our lives. Happiness changes to unhappiness, good to evil, friendship to enmity, and calmness to agitation. Everything is in a constant state of flux, and this process is called Dwandwa. Human beings instinctively do not wish to experience this constant change. Birth and growth are acceptable, but death is not. The desire is for unchanging happiness, referred to as Ananda.

Asatoma Sad Gamaya.

Tama Soma Jyotir Gamaya.

Mrityor Ma Amritam Gamaya.

The longing to avoid any separation from happiness is expressed in the desire not to experience even one millisecond of separation from it.

In conclusion, the text touches upon the human desire for unchanging happiness and explores the quest for a way to attain it.

The scripture is likened to a loving mother, the most loving mother. Similar to a caring mother, it guides the child's growth, cautioning against dangers, such as the bogeyman in a room. The advice is akin to a warning not to engage in Adharma, as it can be harmful and may engulf the individual. The child, representative of those seeking spiritual guidance, is fearful because of the faith placed in the mother's words. It's worth noting that when referring to "child," the context extends beyond literal infants to individuals, including those described by Swami Vivekananda as "moustached babies" - individuals who, despite their maturity, engage in spiritual learning and contemplation.

Swami Vivekananda's teachings stress the importance of following the path of Dharma, emphasizing that Dharma leads to the fulfilment of desires (Dharma Deva Kamaha), wealth (Dharma Deva Arthaaha), and liberation (Dharma Deva Mokshaaha). The discourse highlights the dichotomy between Dharma and Adharma, with an emphasis on the former. Dharma, as described, involves identifying oneself completely with others and behaving as if one's actions affect oneself, while anything contrary to this is labelled Adharma.

The text delves into the concept of Mahamaya, presenting two powers - Vidyamaya and Avidyamaya. Vidyamaya guides individuals to protect and care for their inner circle, while Avidyamaya suggests that outside the family, anyone can be a target for Adharma. True Dharma is defined as identifying with others completely and treating them as oneself.

The discussion touches upon Swami Vivekananda's definition, stating that which takes us closer to God is Dharma, emphasizing that proximity to God means closeness to one's true self. Tat tvam asi, thou art that. Conversely, actions and beliefs that distance individuals from their true selves are labelled Adharma.

The text concludes by addressing the recurring question of why scriptures repeatedly caution against delving into the mysteries of creation. The analogy of being like babies is used, emphasizing that there is a "bogeyman" in the form of potential confusion and misunderstanding. The purpose of discussing creation in scriptures is explained: it is to guide individuals toward happiness, health, and overall well-being (Dharma, Artha, and Kama). The three pursuits are referred to as Prayas, with the text urging individuals to mature beyond these and strive for Shreyas, the ultimate spiritual welfare.

That is why life has been divided into four parts. The first part is to accept creation. I am a part of creation and slowly bridge the gap between what is me and what is not me. So when we enter into Vanaprastha or Upasana, contemplation, when we meditate, for example, on Brahma, Brahma is the entire creation. If I meditate on Brahma, I should be able to identify myself with the entire creation. And when I identify myself with the entire creation, I cannot misbehave because it is a proven fact. Nobody wants to harm one's own self. Everybody, on the contrary, wants to do good for oneself. So to lead people, especially babies who have less understanding, to higher truth, which is called Bhagawan, Brahma, Moksha, etc., the scriptures talk about creation and cause and effect.

So this world came from where? From God. And there is a law that even babies understand; cause and effect can never be different from each other. If milk is white, its products also should be white only. If sugar is sweet, its products also can only be sweet, not anything else. So for the benefit of people who cannot understand higher truths, there is ritualism, Karma Kanda. And slowly, when they feel that what the scripture is talking about is absolute truth because they have experimented, only in that sense, Vedic truths are called scientific truths. Scientific truth should not be mistaken by any one of us, that the Vedas are talking about the knowledge of the world. We are talking about that methodology. If one person had mixed certain things and obtained some results, anybody who follows him, mixes the same ingredients, must get the same result. That is called science.

So by following Karma Kanda, the scripture prescribes to me, 'do this worship, Yagna or Yaga or Agnihotra.' Swarga Kaamoh Agnihotram Yajetah. A person who is desirous of entering into heaven must perform Agnihotra every day. So he does it and he goes to Swarga, and he thereafter is convinced. Then he does something else, Puttarakamesti. He gets the result. Nowadays, God has also become a businessman. So if you are praying, 'give me one son,' and he says 'buy one, get three free.' That is how Dasharatha got four people. So like that, every action prescribed in the scripture proves to be an absolute truth. Etat Satyam. As the Mundaka Upanishad says, Etat Satyam Sarvam Satyam. Whatever is said in the Karma Kanda is an absolute scientific truth. You do it to prove that God has incarnated as Sri Ramakrishna. And Agnimantra, for example, when he was doing puja, as soon as he uttered this Agnimantra and sprinkled water all around him, immediately a wall of fire appeared, so ferocious that no evil being can ever penetrate and come inside it. So it is true.

And we do not have the description of what happens to other things, but we have sufficient descriptions. For example, when a person is sincerely concentrating, slowly his Kundalini will be awakening. Whether you are a Christian, a Buddhist, a believer, or a non-believer, mix the ingredients, and you must get the same result. So if a Christian is meditating, he will also have the arousal of Kundalini. But then our problem is no Christian has ever said that this Kundalini had risen from Muladhara to Sahasrara in the way described by Sri Ramakrishna. In fact, I don't know; I have not read tantric scriptures thoroughly, excepting here and there. Even there, it is written that there will be a state of higher and higher states of consciousness; there will be lotuses, etc. There are songs also; it is written that Mother, you who are playing in a forest of lotuses, all the lotuses represent, every lotus, every chakra represents a state of mind's consciousness, where the consciousness is more and more manifest in the purified mind; that is called a chakra. If you don't understand, your head is going round and round, whirling round and round. But a Christian may have a different vision. He may see angels; he may see angels floating with big musical instruments. There is one instrument which can be carried easily only either by Bhimasen or an elephant. And I don't know how this wispy angel with two butterfly-like wings is carrying that one and playing. And it is called a harp. And the Christian scriptures go on harping on this harp very much.

Anyway, what I wanted to tell you is that the descriptions are different, but the essence is absolutely the same. So what happens when a person, for many lives, goes on performing all these Karmas, and they are absolutely true, I can tell you, because I myself have practiced a few of them and got what the Bengali beautiful expression, 'Hathe Hathe Phal.' That is, you do, and immediately you get the result. So it is absolute. When a person has unwavering faith in Karma Kanda, he is slowly introduced by his spiritual Guru, that is God Himself, into the externalization of worship, which must be internalized. This is called Manasika Puja, but it is also called Upasana Kanda. And that is the main purpose of Vanaprastha Ashrama. And when a person goes on doing this one, slowly, slowly, he enters into that beautiful state. He experiences the same results or even better results than anybody else. Then one can obtain through Karma Kanda, pure physical worship, etc. And then he is convinced. If this has been told by the scripture, and it turned out to be true, and this also has been described by the scripture, and that also turns out to be true because I experienced it myself, that is the conviction. Until that, one experience at least doesn't come; one cannot be convinced of it.

Swami Vivekananda had a very funny way of expressing it. A man who has seen a ghost is a better believer in God than anybody else for two simple reasons. One is if you see a ghost, then your mind will be thinking only about God out of fear. Second is a profound truth. There is nothing called death. This person is dead. Now this person is appearing like a ghost. That means physical death, the falling of the body is not the end of life. So this is conviction because he has seen a direct experience of a person who has left his physical body and is still very much alive. Even though he may be threatening to swallow you up, that is the truth. So any vision of a Mahapurusha, not to speak of a Bhoota, convinces us, and his Vanaprastha Ashrama leads us to that effect.

The interesting fact is some Swamis are a bit more rational, and I am one of them. So when a person sees a ghost, what is it? That he undergoes a tremendous amount of experience of fear, etc. Fear of seeing the ghost, fear of anticipating, perhaps this ghost fancies me. He or she wants to marry me, and then I will be taking refuge in God rather than getting married to this Bhoota. So these are some of the practical benefits we have to understand. And then an intense joy is experienced in the Upasana Kanda. How? If a person experiences by contemplating on Indra and he achieves identity with Indra, then he gets Indrananda. The same thing with Brahaspati. Brahaspateranandaha Prajapati Prajapatehanandaha Brahma Loka, that is Brahmananda. We are not talking about Brahman; we are talking about Saguna Brahma, the creator called Brahma, that Brahma Ananda. You cannot distinguish in Sanskrit, Brahma plus Ananda, both akaras, both vowels, the end of one word and the beginning of another word. This is called Savarna Dergha Sandhi in Sanskrit grammar. So this Brahma Loka Ananda Prapti, he experiences. And then only says that when you climb the highest mountain and stand on the peak of that mountain, you will discover there is another mountain behind which is much more superb, much more beautiful, and much more majestic. And if you are a mountain climber, your greediness, 'I want to climb that mountain also,' definitely will increase. If we do not know about something, a desire for something doesn't arise at all. So this is exactly what happens to the person having experienced Brahma Loka Ananda. He now feels there is something; these are all limited; I want something unlimited. Unless a person reaches the limit of finite happiness, he will not be able to acquire the other one.

So, it is for the purpose of leading a smaller understanding mind to better and better understanding by the creation of faith, leading from Bhu Loka Ananda, Bhuvar Loka Ananda, Suvar Loka Ananda. Finally, he gets a glimpse of that which is beyond. Then he becomes a Sannyasin and he says, 'I renounce the Ananda, Bhu Loka, Bhuvar Loka, Suvar Loka, etc.' Then he becomes not uttering but really feeling, really longing for that ultimate truth. So it is for that purpose only. In this background, keep always, the scripture's only goal is to guide every soul from wherever he is to a higher ideal.

Even the worship of Bhutas, as Bhagavan Krishna tells, a devotee of Bhutas, worship the Bhutas. A devotee of Rakshasas, worship Rakshasas. A devotee of Yaksha, Gandharva, etc., worships those beings but that would not be the end. The scripture doesn't deny such people exist but the purpose is to lead them, not to say this is the highest goal but slowly leading to higher, still higher, much higher goals until the person reaches the end of the limitation of the duality and then only he will be able to step into the highest. Is there any exception to it? Yes. Varanasi is the exception. Come and die in Varanasi. You don't even need to understand what Mukti is. Shiva automatically will give it to you.

With this background, let us... Now, one more point. I will just make a small introduction and then quickly go over it. So, I see something in front of me. Therefore, I say something exists. Then, I see that thing may be moving and then I say, by the experience of the movements by me, 'Yes, definitely there is,' and I call it the existence of an object. For example, I see an animal. It is standing still. Seeing itself is proof because nobody can experience something, and seeing is one of the best proofs of experience. You cannot see anything unless it exists. So, even if some wise crack says that this fellow has experienced a Bhuta, Bhuta also exists. That is why our scripture definitely confirms it. Bhuta also exists. And this idea. Three things you know. Upalambha and Samacharatha. So, Upalambha means direct experience through our sense organ. Samacharatha means my reaction towards it or seeing the behaviour. Then, I also react to that behaviour. This is called Samachara.

So, a magician, as I told you in the last class, produces a huge white elephant from his small hat. He can produce not only a rabbit; a fellow who can produce a rabbit can also produce an elephant. I think he can also produce you. There is no doubt about it. This is called Mayahasti, which means what? As soon as the magic is withdrawn, the whole thing completely disappears. What is the point? The point is seeing something is not proof of existence. Because in a dream also, we see, we react. In a dream also, somebody is coming towards us with a AK-47. And we can have a heart attack. Yes, several people have heart attacks. Probably they had. Early in the morning, their neighbours or family members find him. Happily, that fellow had died. They say very happily without any suffering. Who knows whether he had any heart attack in his dream? We do not know.

So this is the example given by Gaudapada in the 44th Karika. He says, 'We all, especially if you see a magic, and you are told it is a magic, and even if you see it five times, ten times, you know that it is only a magical rabbit, a magical elephant. But if nobody tells it is a magic, and if you happen to see it every day, and then you will have no doubt that this thing absolutely exists really, and that is proof of it is what? Because I see it. Proof of it is what? I am reacting and it is also reacting towards me. There is definitely, it is there. अस्ति वस्तु तथा विच्चते An elephant conjured up by the magician, on account of its being perceived, and also on account of its answering to the behaviours of a real animal, is said to exist. Exactly the same way, also our objects are said to exist, on account of their being perceived, and also on account of their answering to our dealings with them. But in truth, the objects of sense perception are as unreal as the magician's elephant. We have to understand that. So exactly in the same way, the unborn Brahman is seen as born, as moving and as real. Dreams.

And one example, but I will now give you another example. Supposing somebody challenges you, that you believe, you proclaim, there is no Bhootha, no ghost. That fellow says, 'What is the problem? Go to the crematorium at midnight and come back.' He says, 'What is the big deal? I will go.' You go there. And suddenly, the branches of a huge banyan tree are moving, and the dance of the devils starts there. Not one, but many creatures. Not only that, you hear their sounds also. It may be a cricket sound. It may be a jackal sound. It doesn't matter. But you hear directly, they are being emitted from the mouths of the ghosts, etc. And then by the second, your confirmation that they are real, and they are all looking at you. They are not looking even at a friend if you take them. And they are after you. And they are all running, having an Olympic competition to grab you, who would be the first? And when you feel like that, then what is yours? You run away. What is this example for? You will not run away if you think such a thing doesn't exist. The moment you think it exists, you will run away.

So, this is what we are doing day and night, not only in the dream but in the Jagradavastha also. And then the same idea is repeated in the 45th, which we have dealt with.

जात्याभासं चलाभासं वस्त्वाभासं तथैव च ।

अजाचलमवस्तुत्वं विज्ञानं शान्तमद्वयम् ॥ ४५ ॥

jātyābhāsaṃ calābhāsaṃ vastvābhāsaṃ tathaiva ca |

ajācalamavastutvaṃ vijñānaṃ śāntamadvayam || 45 ||

45. Consciousness which appears to be born or to move or to take the form of matter, is really ever unborn, immovable and free from the character of materiality; it is all peace and non-dual.

And Gaudapada gives the earlier examples and says, 'जाति आभासं. आभासं' means mere appearance, not in reality. The जाति, here जाति means birth. So as if the infinite is born. I'm using deliberately the word infinite because if you use ब्रह्मन, as if somebody is sitting there with tremendous splendour, like we see Lakshmi Narayana on a calendar, printed by many of the business houses. No, जाति आभासं, as if he is born. चलाभासं and as if he is moving. वस्त्वाभासं and he is a real object. आभासं means appearance, mere appearance without a shred of existence. So, ब्रह्मन is born, ब्रह्मन is moving and ब्रह्मन is a real object. तथाईवचा, like मायाहस्ति, etc.

Because what happens, the infinite cannot be born because you have to remember some of the logical points. Birth is a change and after that, a baby grows, becomes a young person, old person, diseased person, suffering person, then a dead person. Now, there is a psychological point. I am trying many times to instil that idea within all of us that as soon as you say that this is changing, something is changing. This baby is now a grown-up child. This child is now a beautiful youth. This youth now is an old man. That is, the same being has changed. Now, what are you telling? What is the point? The point is that to perceive, to experience, to judge that this is changing, you must cling to something which is unchanging. Look at this example just now I gave you. So, there is some person, call him a person. And that person is born. That person is growing. That person has become old. And the birth of that person, the growth of that person, they change, all the changes you are attributing to that person who remains changeless. That is why you say, 'Oh, you are the same person. I don't see any change in you.' 50 years, the person laughs. He looks the same. And even though he has become a Vedanti now, and you go on telling the same person. When you utter unconsciously the word the same person, you are unconsciously referring to the aspect of changelessness. But you are committing a terrible, terrible mistake. On one hand, you are saying, this person is a changeless person. At the same time, you are attributing, this person was a baby, this person became a child, a young person, middle-aged, old-aged, suffering, and Vedanti. On one hand, you are saying it is changeless. On the other hand, you are telling that which is changing. Same changeless object can never become changeful. And a changeable object ever remains only a changeable object. And that such an object never exists anywhere in this world.

So I hope I can only convey in my language what I am trying to instil into your brains, that you cannot say at the same time a changeless something is undergoing a change. Now apply it to Brahman. On the contrary, you are saying Brahman is ajataha, He is unborn. And then He is born. Brahman is unborn and Brahman is born also. But when you say Brahman is unborn, you say it is changeless, nitya, ajo nitya shashvatoyam. So this is how, from the Bhagavad Gita, it is said. But at the same time, this is a man, this is a woman, this is Bhishma, this is Drona, this is Duryodhana, etc., etc. You are attributing to the Atman which doesn't belong, anything that doesn't belong to the Atman, to the Atman. This is a great mistake all of us are committing. Why are we committing? The simple answer Gaudapada gives, Vedanta gives, scriptures give, is what? You are trying to see the changeless through the prism of the mind which is subject to time, space, and causation. Time means change. Space means change. Causation means change. All the three indicate only change.

This is what the 45th Karika Gaudapada wants to instil into us, Abhasa. You are seeing okay. You are seeing something is moving okay. And in fact, there is a terrible philosophy behind this movement. Anything moving. That's why a cinema is called a movie. You see a person, he is moving. But it is proved scientifically, there is nothing called really a phenomena called moving. What happens? The person is at any still moment, so the person is standing, the next moment he lifts his leg, for example, and the next minute he keeps it somewhere else, then next minute he lifts another leg. So like that one after the other, every moment is a still moment. But when these still moments are watched by our human eye, which has a defect, the last impression of that moment remains in the mind before the next moment impinges upon it and they get glued together and this creates the illusion of movement.

That's why somebody has created a beautiful book. I wish you could go through it. So what is that? A person is dancing and this person has drawn hundreds of pages of every tiny change in the movement and when you turn the pages, you see only a still picture. But when you see this person moving it fast, then you flick the pages like that, then you see a real dancing person, which proves movement is only our mind's trick. Really there is nothing called movement at all. Anyway coming back, just I wanted to share some of my ideas with you that Brahman is born, the unborn is born, the infinite is moving. Where does it move? And it appears to be one object among billions of objects exactly in the same way. Aja means that which is unborn. Achala, that which cannot move because it is infinite. Avasthutvam and that which is not endowed with any name and form and qualities. That Vijnanam, that knowledge of Brahman brings about what? Advayam Shantam.

So we have to perceive Brahman as Advayam, non-dual, and then the mind becomes Shantam. Now put it another way, only when the mind becomes Shantam, everything becomes Advayam, and that knowledge completely removes the false notion that something is born. These are all ideas in our mind.

So here I will tell you something which is very, very important. That is, is it all true? Whatever you are saying, whatever Gaudapada is writing, and whatever you are explaining, is it all real? And I have to tell you it is all false. I should not have told you that one because whatever we express through the mind is all false. Nothing can be real. Can I think of Brahman? No, you cannot think of Brahman. Can I become Brahman? Yes, you can become Brahman. That is, you get beyond the state of mind and you become one with Brahman. Then you know Brahma Vid, BrahmaVeda, Brahma Eva Bhavati, there is no doubt.

But so long as you view Brahman through the prism of the mind because all philosophies are what? Mind-borne philosophies. I am inclined to say blind-borne philosophies. That is, everybody is convinced what I think is right and that is the meaning of Sri Ramakrishna's beautiful saying. Sri Ramakrishna says beautifully, everybody thinks his watch alone is right. The only correct watch is the sun. So this is it. But until we reach that state, what will we do?

First of all, these thoughts, these talks, these ideas stimulate higher reasoning within us and will not allow us to lower our minds to the animal level, the body level, or the enjoyment level. I do not, for a moment, mean that we should not eat, drink, or enjoy—God forbid. What I mean is that it is all not really real. It is nothing but pure illusion in the mind because taste is an illusion, beauty is an illusion, good smell is an illusion, and what is called touch is an illusion. Everything is an illusion. So this is what we discussed. Oh, this man Devadatta is born, he moves, and he is known to be fair and tall, and therefore, Devadatta is real. But in contrast to that, it is consciousness which is free from birth, free from change, all peace, and therefore non-dual.

So then we move on to at least one verse we have to do.

एवं न जायते चित्तमेवं धर्मा अजाः स्मृताः ।

एवमेव विजानन्तो न पतन्ति विपर्यये ॥ ४६ ॥

evaṃ na jāyate cittamevaṃ dharmā ajāḥ smṛtāḥ |

evameva vijānanto na patanti viparyaye || 46 ||

46. Thus the mind is never subject to birth or change. All beings are, thus, free from birth. Those who know (the Truth) are never subject to false knowledge.

So in the 46th Karika, what is Gaudapada leading us to? 'evam na jayate chittam.' As the example given there, Brahman is free from birth, from movement means change, change means that is the movement from one state to the other state, and whatever we experience, that is called the object, reality, that is all false.

But then, as I mentioned earlier, Gaudapada uses horrible words, using the word 'chittam.' Chittam means what? Mind. So 'evam,' as described earlier, if I have understood all that, this mind is not born. How can the mind not be born? The mind, the very concept of the mind is, it is born; that is, it moves and it creates all these illusions like the cinema machine or the projector goes on creating by its movement. So 'chittam' means what here? Not mind. Chittam means Brahman. Who can imagine this word that Gaudapada is telling? You have to control your chittam; you have to control God, otherwise, he will create havoc in your life, and he is telling 'chittam na jayate.' That mind doesn't exist. No, Brahman is not born. 'Jayate' means birth. Brahman is not born, and then another word we come across, 'evam dharmaha.' Exactly as Brahman is not born, evam, exactly in the same way, dharmaha, all living creatures, ajaha smritaha, they are also not born. Neither Brahman is born nor Jivas are born. 'Evam eva vijanantaha.' A sage who knows this truth, na patanthi, or any sages who know this truth, 'viparyaya na patanthi,' they never again fall into viparyaya. What is viparyaya? That is false knowledge, ignorance, agnana, avidya. It means samsara. They never again are born into this samsara sagara. They are not born at all. So here is a very important verse we have to understand. There is really not much for us to do vichara or vishleshana. Only we have to be careful. 'Chittam' means Brahman. 'Chittam' means God. So God is not born because if God is born, then He is also born. Very interesting.

When you look at Bhagavad Gita, so Bhagavan Krishna, that is Bhagavan Narayana is born. What does it mean? That's why Shankaracharya starts with Gita commentary. So Iva, he uses the word Iva many times. What Iva means? What? As if God is born. Why? For dharma sthapana. Hare Baba, when the world itself is not existing, where is the question of dharma sthapana? When the world is not there, adharma is not there. So like a person who wakes up from a dream and then supposing in the dream this person has snatched your purse and then unfortunately he tripped and fell down and you are very happy and there is a lot of money was there in that. At that moment you woke up and then what will you do? That rascal is still unconscious. I will go back and then bring back my purse. I will retrieve my purse. Will you say that? It is as good like that. When a person wakes up to the real awakening that Brahman is never born. So even Brahman is not born, neither Brahman is born nor the world is also born. Dharma means what? We have to include the whole of the world, both chit, what Ramanuja calls chit and achit. So this is the meaning. If you have heard my introduction, you will understand it.

ऋजुवक्रादिकाभासमलातस्पन्दितं यथा ।

ग्रहणग्राहकाभासं विज्ञानस्पन्दितं तथा ॥ ४७ ॥

ṛjuvakrādikābhāsamalātaspanditaṃ yathā |

grahaṇagrāhakābhāsaṃ vijñānaspanditaṃ tathā || 47 ||

47. As a fire-brand, when set in motion, appears as straight, crooked, etc., so also Consciousness, when set in motion, appears as the perceiver, the perceived, and the like.

And then in the 47th Karika, now comes what is the title of this fourth chapter? Alatha Shanti. Alatha means a firebrand. Shanti means that is extinguishing completely and that is what he starts here to give. It is because of this 47th Karika, this fourth Prakaranam is called Alatha Shanti Prakaranam. Very beautiful way of description to indicate that the birth of Brahman and the movement of Brahman and the feeling that an object exists. Jatya Abhasam, Chala Abhasam and Vastava Abhasam, which we have seen earlier is because of that. Today's class, I'll just give you one minute's introduction. You take up a firebrand means what? You can take a well-glowing incense stick. You don't need to do anything. A thick incense stick, well glowing. Take it in your hand. What do you see? One point of the incense stick is glowing brightly and then you move it round very fast. You see a circle. Make it a square. It appears like a square and then make it triangle and it becomes a triangle. If you are intelligent or capable, skilful, you can make it like your boss. So you can extinguish him with one poof like that. So you can make anything. Now really speaking, the tip of the firebrand is only one tip. It remains like that. So does it assume any form like a circle or a square or etc.? Absolutely no. Does it appear like a man, like a dog, like a human being, like a flower, like a tree? Absolutely no. So where from all those forms have come? They have not come from anywhere. They are born out of your mind. And when you keep that incense stick steady, what happens? Suddenly all those forms also disappear.

So Gaudapada gives this beautiful analogy and says those forms did not come from somewhere and suddenly imposed themselves on the tip of the incense stick. And when you stop moving this one, also those forms did not again subside back into the firebrand. But they subsided. They arose in your mind and they subsided in your mind. But the firebrand or the incense stick remains exactly the same. And this is what he says. But in the end, giving this example, he says even like that Brahman, because of the imagination of the mind, grahaṇagrāhakābhāsaṃ. Here is a subject. Here is an object. Here is the Jeeva. Here is the world. vijñānaspanditaṃ tathā. All this knowledge that means where is the world? In your mind. Where is the idea I am Jeevatma? In your mind. In my mind. Really speaking, there is no world. How do we know? He gives a beautiful example of deep sleep which we will talk about in our next class.