Patanjali Yoga Sutras Lecture 096

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om yogena cittasya padena vacham malam sharirasya ca vaidhyakena yo pa karutam pravaram muninam patanjalim pranjali rana tosmi I bow to the eminent sage Patanjali who removed the impurities of the mind through yoga, of speech through grammar and of the body through medicine. We have entered into a very interesting discussion. Just to remind ourselves what are we talking, there are so many types of powers and these powers can be obtained not through yogic practice but a person who develops intuition, higher knowledge, he can also obtain all these powers. As I reminded you in my last class, what yogic practices did Sri Ramakrishna practice because of which he obtained all these powers? Did he specially train himself, I want this particular power and then got that particular power? It simply came to him. Why? He went to the very source. All these powers belong to lower categories. Who is the source of all these powers? God. Since Ramakrishna realized God, automatically all these powers, automatically they come. This is a wonderful topic referenced to with some of the Upanishads. What happens to a person who becomes one with Brahma? He enjoys every type of enjoyment, happiness simultaneously, not one after the other. In our case what happens? We obtain enjoyment, if I eat something I get perhaps a little bit of joy. And I can't eat everything and I can't hear everything, I can't see everything, I can't smell everything, I can't taste everything. Everything is limited but here the Upanishad is boldly declaring and for your reference the Upanishad I am talking is Taittiriya Upanishad, second chapter called Brahmananda Vali. A man of realization, Brahman becomes Brahman. Once he becomes Brahman, God, then he enjoys everything. What is the explanation? The explanation is such a realized soul, he has become Brahman, he has become God. If he had become God, where is he? Where is God? He is everywhere. Who is eating? Everywhere, God is eating. Who is seeing? God is seeing. Who is smelling? God is smelling. Not only that, who is being eaten? If everything is God, the eater is God but the eaten is also... I'll give a small funny example, a man is eating fish. So before the man ate fish, who was the man? God. Who was the fish? God. Now one God eats another God. So the eater and the eaten, both are God only. So this is the explanation but this is not real explanation. This is only for our crude understanding. The real explanation is, suppose a man obtains 100 dishes and is capable of eating and if he eats, what does he get? Joy, happiness. So he gets joy. What is every desire for? To get joy. Actually if you analyze, what is the purpose of any desire? Desire means I lack something and I am not happy unless I make it full. I fulfill that. When we are hungry, we feel lack. What? Food. So when we do not breathe, we lack something. What is it we lack? Air. Once we have eaten food, once we have breathed the air, then we become happy. What were we before that lack was felt? We were quite happy. Then somehow it was missing. Then we fill it up, like we fill up our cars. Then what happens? Everything goes on smoothly. So when the Upanishad is declaring a man of realization enjoys everything, he doesn't even enjoy. He becomes happiness. What is the difference? If I have happiness, sometimes I may have, sometimes I may lose. If I am happiness, wherever I go, I am there. I never feel the lack. And for our crude minds, the Upanishad tells infinite joy. Infinite joy means what? It is only joy. Pure joy. Nothing but joy. It will be always there. It will be always everywhere. That is God. So if we become God, we get everything. Now what are we talking about all these powers? Why does a person want powers? Or why does he get it? Because he is a limited being, a limited person who tries to get or who gets some amount of unlimited type of powers. That is the purpose of the powers. If God is everywhere, is Akashagamana needed? Like Sudama, does he need to do Putrakamesti Yagna? What is the point I am driving at? When a person is everywhere, does he need to move from one place to another place? Can he move? Can God move from any place? Can he go on a holiday? God cannot go on a holiday. So you can imagine, every other power that we are talking about, is only from this much limitedness, we move perhaps a one billionth of a millimetre through all these powers. That is the benefit. What is the loss? Man remains for a long time bound to this world. If anybody offends me, I will use that power. I may think that I will be very careful, very discriminative. I will use only for the good of the world. This is before we get. After we get, it can lead us to... Anyway, it is true that these powers can be got. And only low minds, they try to get these kind of powers. In our last class, what did we discuss? That by breaking the concomitant relationship between ourselves and our body. Now, what is our condition now? We are totally bound. You give your CV. Who are you? I am so and so. Can you break that relationship? You cannot break. Can you think you are not the body? Can you think you are not the mind? It is almost impossible. But if a yogi, if he understands and focuses his mind, the relationship between himself and his body and mind, then what happens? He obtains the discriminative power. I am not the body. I am not the mind. When he gets that power of detaching himself both from the body and mind, then he gets the power to attach himself to any other body. That is called parakaya pravesha, entering into other people's bodies. I gave an example in my last class, if you remember, Shankaracharya. And not only that, so many other people will do it. There is another way of controlling. What is parakaya pravesha, parasharira pravesha? It is the ability to control someone else's body and mind. How does a person do? How do we control our body and mind? By identifying ourselves with our bodies and minds. But we cannot control the other people because we do not identify ourselves with their bodies and minds. If a yogi can break this concomitant relationship, means invariable relationship, almost unbreakable relationship, if we can break with our own body and mind, he becomes like a free person. Not only that, then he obtains the power whether the other person likes it or not, permits or not. This yogi can go and through his superior power, he can go and attach himself to the other bodies and mind and control that body. It could be done for good, it can also be done for evil. Most of the time it is done for evil. The yogic powers. Now let us use common sense. Are we really such independent people that no one else is controlling us? Every second of our life we are being controlled. Simple example is, as I am talking, some of you definitely are influenced by my talk. That means what? You have surrendered your freedom because a swami is talking, it must be 150% correct. Your mind is changed. If we analyze, what are we, what is our CV, a little bit of Indian culture, a little bit of western culture, a little bit of Hinduism, a little bit of Christianity, a little bit of Guardian, Daily Times, all these things put together is what we call our CV. Do we admit it? We never admit it. What is the point? We are being constantly buffeted by the strong opinions of everybody else. I'll give you a small example from the day-to-day life that is going on. Now there is a junior doctors are not happy with the government decision to make some forced, that's what the junior doctors are forced to contract. The government is eager to force themselves. Now we are, most of us know, I'm sure, but the point is are you so neutral that you say let me think about it? You already have formed an opinion whether it is a right thing or right wrong thing. How did you form? Did you think about it? No, you read some newspaper. Depending upon which newspaper, whose opinion you have read, you have come to the conclusion either the government is wrong or the junior doctors are wrong. What is the point we are talking? We are constantly liable even though some other yogi doesn't enter into our body mind, still so many of other people's opinions are forcibly entering into our bodies and minds are influencing. Since we are weak and victims of this influence, we can have a choice with deliberation, with discrimination. What is the choice? I would read only those books which conduce for my future good. I will only do those actions, imitate those actions which great people have done. Simple example, imitation of Christ, imitation of Ramakrishna. Why do we read gospel of Sri Ramakrishna every day? To be influenced. When you are reading the gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, who is influencing you? And it is good because we know that he will never give us anything. So this is the sum and substance of what we are discussing from our last class is yogis have a special power. They can enter into other people's bodies and minds, can control them as a hypnotist or a puppeteer controls puppets or a hypnotist controls the hypnotized people. This is a power. It can be done. That is the point. Whether it is good or bad, whether it should be done or not done, that's an entirely different matter. Now we move on to the next aphorism. By conquering the current called Udana, the yogi doesn't sink in water or in swamps and he can walk on thorns. What is Udana? Udana is the name of the nerve current that governs the lungs and all the upper parts of the body and when a yogi becomes master of it, he becomes light in weight. He cannot sink in water. He can walk on thorns and sword blades and stand in fire and so on. He has a special power. What happens when we step on a thorn or water? Straight, we go down. But a yogi, he can walk on waters. He can do lots of things. Other powers are also coming. Whether it is mud. Suppose there is a road full of mud and a yogi has got a special Italian made shoes and he doesn't want his shoes to get muddy. What does he do? He uses his yogic power. Just one millimeter above the mud, he can just walk nonchalantly whereas he enjoys other people sinking up to the ankles and then getting dirtied. A yogi can do it. Many yogis have got that power to do it. But is it desirable? That's a different issue altogether. I'll come to this point slightly later on. Samana jaya prajvalana. The 41st aphorism says there is another Naru current called Samana when a yogi through concentration conquers and concentration means obtaining mastery. Let us discuss that point very interestingly. You are reading a book. You are focusing on that book completely. You are not distracted at all. What would be the result? Very quickly you are able to understand what the book you are reading about. Not only that, proportionate to the concentration, your retentive power. Now when we study something, there are two factors we have to always keep in mind. One is the power of grasping what that man wants to tell and second the ability to retain it and that is the power most of the time we do not have. You know now as I am talking most of you I am sure able to understand and if you are not able to understand it is my fault because I am not putting it in the proper way. It is my fault because anything can be made so nicely, so simply and it can be made to be understood by almost everybody. Alright, you go out or come back after 2-3 days or next week you attend and do you remember what I spoke last week? What is the problem? There is no retention power and concentration is that power. It does three things because it is so efficient method of doing. Very quickly you can finish the job and you do it very successfully with understanding and you can retain it for a long time and regarding this memory power I have spoken, there are four types of memories. You remember? That's what I am talking about now. Retentive power S-S-S-L-L-S-L-L What does that mean? S-S short time to remember, short time to forget. S-S. S you remember very quickly, forget also very quickly. S-L means short time to remember and long time to forget. That means you retain it for a long time. L-S means long time to remember. It takes long time to remember anything and very short time to forget. L-S. L-L means some people are there, long time they take to remember anything but they also retain it for a long time. What is the ideal now? Ideal is S-L. Very short time to understand, memorize and it will be there long time. Say Ramakrishna, what is he called? Ekashruti dhara. Once he hears something it will be there in his mind. And what was Swami Vivekananda? Dvishruti dhara. Twice he has to hear something and it will be there for life. Long time means for life it will be there. Now why is it so necessary this subject? It is necessary because everything is already, we are reading gospel of Ramakrishna and it is wonderful. What happens we understand it and we also keep it for a short time in memory. But suppose long time passed and some situation arises and we need this what we read to rescue us but at that time, Sankatakala, then we forget totally. Ramakrishna said something like that. Anyway, I will tell you a brief story which illustrates my point. There was a prince. He was an extraordinarily intelligent person and his mother, she was passing away. At that time she called this young man and told him, my son, I am giving you something. Keep always, keep it tied around your neck. When you are in the greatest trouble then you take it out and read it. So the young man took it. The lady passed away and this man became the king and for a long time he was so happy. He was ruling very discriminatively, very in a justified way. Everyone was very happy. Then what happened, the neighboring king invited him, defeated him and threw him out. So this fellow had to run away into a forest. He was hiding and he was in great misery. He was thinking of committing suicide. Then he forgot that he promised his mother that he will look up but idly as he was fingering, suddenly he remembered, oh this was what my mother gave me, asked me to read when I am in the greatest streets. Then he opens and then only advised, these two will pass away. These two will pass away and then he said, why should I commit suicide? He dusted himself off and went to the neighboring country and joined in the army and being a very talented person, very soon he became the commander-in-chief and he married the daughter of that neighboring king and then he again invaded his own country which is being ruled now by his former enemy and he conquered that fellow, finished the whole lot and regained his kingdom and he was sitting there and he was very supremely happy. Now he got two kingdoms, his kingdom and his father-in-law's kingdom too and then one day he forgot about all this. One day he was sitting idly playing with his wife and suddenly his fingers, because he was still wearing, his fingers touched that amulet. Then he remembered, then he again opened it and he read it, these two will pass away. Ever since that time he learned when he is happy, he should not forget, these two will pass away and when he is in straits, straitened circumstances, he should not forget, these two will pass away. What a beautiful advice. We also should always remember, these two will pass away. I should remember that always this appreciative audience will not be here for me. These two will pass away. So what is the point here? All these powers though enumerated, they are all true, they can be obtained but great people like Shri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda as I read in my last class, they always warn us the purpose of human life is not to obtain these things. Ramakrishna has given a beautiful example. I should have given it in my last class but I will give it right now. A very beautiful parable. There were two brothers. The younger brother, the elder brother was married. The younger brother felt dispassion, he renounced the world, went into a forest. 12 years he practiced a tremendous amount of austerities and then he visited his brother. 12 years after he left the home, he again came back and visited his brother. Of course his brother was very happy. Then his elder brother and this younger brother were having a talk. The elder brother asked him, 12 years you practiced in such superhuman austerities, what did you gain? You want to see what I gained? Come with me, take to a river and then you look at me, what I am doing and he simply walked over the waters and reached the other shore and the elder brother, he called a boatsman and he sat in the boat and he reached the other side and then the younger brother smirkingly said, did you see? Elder brother said, no I didn't see anything. Did I not walk on the water? Yes, did you see? By paying half an anna, I also crossed the river. What you used for 12 years and wasted your life by paying half an anna, I could also cross. What did you get by that? Another story was also there. Just reminding, there were similar situations but there was a yogi who had obtained the power of life and death. So one day somebody came and asked him, Sir, what did you achieve through all these lifelong austerities? He said, you want to see? Yes, I want to see. Just at that time, a huge elephant was passing by that side. Then the yogi said, hey elephant, you die. Immediately, the elephant fell down dead on the spot and the yogi smiled, looked at him and then looked further, see what I have obtained. He looked, hey elephant, you wake up and immediately the dead elephant came out alive and the yogi looked at the enquirer, said, did you see? Enquirer said, I didn't see anything. I saw an elephant dying and coming back to life. I don't see what you gained by this. Yes, the elephant died and came back to life. What did you gain by that? With this, the man became discriminative. He got out of that delusion that I have this power. Don't we see here, people are born, people are dying. A doctor can also help many people to survive which would not have been possible many years back. What did the doctor gain through that? Okay, elephant died, elephant got up. What happened to you? What profit did you get? Did you get that divine wisdom? Did you progress in spiritual life? That is the idea we have to get throughout. But why are we discussing? Because, first reason why we are discussing, because it is part of the Patanjali Yoga Sutra. Second reason we are discussing, many of us have become skeptical that these are all just hyperboles, especially Indian hyperboles. No, they are all true. Okay, I will just remind you very briefly before we go further. This incident happened in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. He was very sick. He couldn't move from side to side at Kasipur and one day, Holy Mother was carrying Sri Ramakrishna's foot. There was a upstairs, she has to go upstairs from ground floor and as she was going, she saw Sri Ramakrishna like an arrow darting with infinite speed and before she could, this happened in the middle of the staircase, before she could reach his room, again like an arrow, she saw him moving towards his room and as soon as he entered, it must have taken not more than a minute, she saw Sri Ramakrishna lying. Holy Mother asked, where did you go? Where can I go? I can't move. No, no, I saw you moving. Then he said, our children, means his disciples, they wanted to go to near the pond and then drink a little bit of this palm juice. There was a palm tree but there was a ferocious snake there, poisonous snake and he said, he's a very angry fellow. That means in snakes also, there are Sattvika Sampanna snakes and then ferocious Rajasika Sampanna snakes also. Even if you go near, even if you don't do any harm, they will come and attack you. Some snakes are very very good, you know, they give warning, like rattlesnakes, you know, if you go near, it rattles its tail so that you know that it is there and it is just to tell you off, this belongs to me. But there are some without any notice, like black mamba, it will just come and not only that, Sri Ramakrishna also tells something very interesting. Among human beings also, there are snakes, you don't know when they come and then bite you. It could be friends, it could be nearby people, they are dangerous people out there. No difference between animals and ordinary human beings. All are controlled by the three gunas. Coming back to our point, by the conquest of the current Samana, a yogi is surrounded by blaze and an example is given, Chandra or Girija's power of light from his backbone. You remember the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna? Sri Ramakrishna had two brother disciples called Chandra and Girija, disciples of Bhairavi Brahmin. I do not remember the name, Sri Ramakrishna one day went out to visit a devotee's house which was not very far from Dakshineshwar and by that time, they started back, it was dark, pitch dark, nothing could be seen. Sri Ramakrishna was fumbling because he was unable to see the right road and then this gentleman, his brother disciple said brother you wait and he turned his back. From his back a powerful light focused itself, lighting up the way all the way from that place to Dakshineshwar temple and with that light Sri Ramakrishna was easily able to reach his room without tumbling or slipping down. This is a power and I also mentioned the other power that one of his brother disciples, he had the power of making himself invisible. It's called Adhrisya Shakti and then he fell down very soon because desire came for him and he went and contacted some woman in a rich man's house and he used to go and enjoy and he fell down from that power because these powers normally they are very dangerous for those who are practicing spiritual disciplines but the same powers are like great assets to a person, to a realized yogi because a realized yogi he will not be tempted by these things and God also gives him that power, discriminative power to control them and when to use, when not to use them. Example just now I mentioned Sri Ramakrishna darted like an arrow that's a yogic power. Here it says by the conquest of the current Samaha a yogi can generate fire and that's why you see sometimes you know yogi's pictures, a halo around their heads. Have you not seen? What is that halo? It's a kind of power and it is said in Sri Ramakrishna's life he didn't specially want it. It just came to him through his complete surrender to the Divine Mother. So when he was at Jairambati and one day he was about to return to Kamarpukur and then he was having night shower. He had taken this what he called betel leaf his lips were red and then so many people gathered to see him and Sri Ramakrishna was stunned. Hriday, why did so many people come? I said to see you. See me? What is there to see me? No uncle, you look so beautiful. Hriday could not explain. A divine light used to come out of the body of Sri Ramakrishna and that used to lend an ethereal beauty to him and attracted by that so many people used to come. Sri Ramakrishna said what? These people came to see this filthy body? I don't want it. So he did not go that day. He went back inside and he prayed oh mother please take away this light coming from you know from a supposing there is a room full of windows all around and there is a very bright light inside anybody from outside can see that light the light simply streams from this room through the windows and a yogi's body will be like that this is called Tejas or Ojas. Simply Sri Ramakrishna had that one then he had to pray oh mother do not manifest in this form you withdraw yourself from this and afterwards he said the body complexion became dull because the power has gone inside. He didn't want it. He had the power but he didn't want it. This is what is being said in this Samana Jaya Prajvalanam as though tremendous light and power is emanating from the body of the yogi if anybody had did Sanyama or deep focus concentration on Samana by the conquering of it. Now I will come what is this Udana and Samana let a brief explanation we know prana we are all pranis how do we know if you say yes you have got prana and if you don't say anything what does that mean prana means that which keeps us alive prana we know that because of this prana we are able to breathe we are able to eat we are able to digest we are able to move we are able to any type of activity requires prana according to Vedanta this prana is a very general name generic name this prana according to its functions is divided into five categories prana apana vyana udana and samana these are the five names given not five pranas there are no five pranas one prana functioning in different ways is given a special name like a person you know is even he is at home he's a husband and when he's playing with his children what is he father when he is in his surgery what is he called a doctor or a lawyer or whatever same person functions and incidentally this is the same idea people don't understand do hindus worship many many many gods do hindus worship many gods are there many gods how many gods are there only one then what is the meaning of hindus worshipping so many gods different functions of the same god simple example i have given many times it is this if somebody wants knowledge which aspect of god he will worship saraswati if he wants money lakshmi if he wants victory ganesha if he if he wants to pass an examination you know everybody remembers swami vekananda before his first talk at the parliament of religions whom did he remember saraswati because if she speaks everything will be absolutely fine no mistake will be there not only that in the ramayana when this manthara mantharas heard the news rama was going to be coronated next morning and then she became very hesitated why did she become hesitated you know why because if rama was coronated the old ramayana will not be there today we will not be remembering ramayana at all so he had to go to the forest then his wife had to be kidnapped then he had to go and kill rahanasura and then bring sita back and then he will be coronated that is ramayana overnight things have to change then who worked through manthara saraswati worked she went and persuaded kaikeyi that you're a foolish woman because kaikeyi was so happy at that time kaikeyi was extremely happy do you know who was her most beloved child rama overnight it had to change and not only that there's so many wonderful things we we have to understand by studying it praying it is not a book to be read like a story it is a scripture so what is the idea somebody had to take a blame and some some swami also said you know do you know what he said the whole ramayana is because of kaikeyi if there were to be no kaikeyi there would be no ramayana at all not because of rama not because of ramanasura it is all because of kaikeyi what a wonderful thing it is there is only one god but that god he his power is manifest in different ways fulfilling the needs of of all his children like that one energy energy is only one simple example electricity but how many ways it manifests do you know first of all magnetism then heating then lighting then movement you know when your car is going it's because of what because of petrol and what is because what is petrol so energy is necessary to do anything even to sit suppose you don't have energy can you sit can you hear can you understand neither physically nor mentally nothing works if the prana doesn't work that another name for that energy what is it called prana this prana is the only one the energy that comes into our bodies and minds by the through the instrumentality of what we eat what we eat ahara then not only through the mouth through all the five sense organs also it is energy what is the sun it is a concentrated energy and what are when you are eating tell me what are you eating when you are eating bread what are you really eating a bit of the sun when you are walking whose power you are using a bit of the sun it is the same sun power that works through motor cars or the air is moving everything is moving the sun is responsible for everything in this world our life our light everything our happiness our unhappiness but is the point here when that energy functions in a living being it comes to be known as prana that is what makes us live the word very word prana means prani means he who is what whatever is alive that is called prana and this prana is nothing but energy this energy has to do a lot of functions of these functions there are five important functions and so it gets five names what is it prana apana vyana udana and samana briefly what are those functions i am going to read out prana in the respiratory system the external air is breathed in as the prana vayu the energy is absorbed and thereafter the wastage is exhaled so this breathing in and breathing out exhaling in and exhaling out that is the function one function of the prana it goes by the general name of prana the second one is apana which means the evacuatory or excretory system that energy which gives the power for the removal of wastage from the body you know this waste sewage wastage system if the council doesn't work for one day what happens if that sewage wastage system malfunctions in our body what happens what happens you know you can't eat you can't sleep and can you meditate when you are sitting there what will you be meditating upon what a wonderful thing and god has made it automatically it is taking place all the time this is called apana the third is vyana which is the circulatory system for the energy that is manufactured out of food food is first converted into energy and that energy is supplied or distributed to every cell of the body and this is done by vyana which is known as circulatory system in biological terms the fourth one is called samana which is digestive system which converts the raw material called food into the invisible energy and distributes it throughout our body according to our needs that is called samana the very word samana means equal it doesn't make any discrimination like a mother which gives small amount of food to the child and a little more food to a little grown-up person and huge amount of food to a very grown-up person like that the samana distributes to every cell of the body that is it doesn't have any partiality that is why it comes to be known as samana then the fifth one is is called udana very beautiful what is udana it's a unique system which functions only rarely emergency system this is called udana is called emergency system what does it do it is like an emergency exit and that power gets activated whenever any poison or toxin which is a threat to our health enters our body this power manifests either in the form of vomiting or purging until the poison is thrown out if some foreign particle enters through the nose we keep on sneezing till that particle is thrown out similarly if some dust particles enter the eyes the tear glands begin to put in extra efforts till the dust particle is totally removed even when we are sorrowful or we experience certain unhealthy emotions then also tears come down to our eyes what a wonderful thing what happens you are very unhappy shell shock you can't shed tears you know what happens the moment you are experiencing this slowly what does what does this tears do what do they do they just reduce the tension everything that is why if some person gets some shocking news and cannot shed a tear you know this go on slapping not only that something is told i don't know how far it is true when a child is born and then doesn't weep somebody has to puts upside down and then goes on slowly slapping until the fellow starts bawling out something undesirable entered into the stomach and to protect how many ways the prana is protecting us immediately we feel discomfort what does this udana do it will make the person vomit what is omitting throwing out the poison the unneeded or dangerous so whenever we are in danger god is protecting us in the form of these five functions especially udana so this all these are examples of the function of udana which we can call the reversing function or the emergency function which operates very rarely but there is another function of udana which is most important what is that udana is active at the time of death all things inside the body are thrown out food cannot be taken inside all this happens because the subtle body has to leave the gross body when a person or a creature is about to die which function of the prana helps that person or the subtle body get out of this physical body gross body what is that function of the prana udana and then this is the most wonderful thing it's all god's grace the more the udana function prana functions beautifully the less we will suffer from the death throngs means that is why there are some lucky people because their udana is extremely good as soon as the time comes it is just like a ripe seed you know you press like that and it the seed pops out like that this sukshma sarira immediately it goes out some people you know going on dying and dying and dying and dying takes long time they suffer they make other people also suffer what is the problem malfunctioning of the udana now after hearing this talk you understand how important is this functions of the prana so when we are vomiting is it good or bad it's very good when you are sweating is it good or bad it's very good when tears come out is it good or bad very good so if you don't get tears there is an indian easy indian solution take some chili powder put it in your eyes sovereign remedy for this function of the udana so now we'll come back udana jaya what happens when a person conquers udana jaya means by conquering of this udana prana how does a yogi do do that conquer do you remember what is pranayama one of the functions of the pranayama is to get control of these five functions of the prana that is why a yogi if he has to die simply he calls udana and says i'm about to leave this body and then finished yes it is so very important if anybody while living not necessarily at the time of death any yogi has conquered this udana function of the prana what happens he can easily walk on thorny bushes he becomes as though air so that even if a thorn comes into touch with that body it won't prick it will be like what like the air through the like air you know it goes like that what about this quicksand when a person enters in the quicksand he just sinks down it is like a muddy type of this thing nothing happens to him he becomes absolutely as though he just walks over like that and he can always he can walk on thorns and he can walk on water he can do jesus christ was supposed to have walked on the water do you remember when peter and others were in the boat suddenly they saw a storm arose suddenly they saw jesus christ walking first they were frightened and then afterwards they realized oh this is jesus christ and he had to reassure them because they have never seen anybody walking on water they have never probably not even heard so they could understand this must be a weird creature this may be a ghost which is walking but jesus christ had to come and say no no it is me and then he entered into the boat and then they became very bold even when we see such kind of things in front of our eyes we can be very skeptical about those things that is the point by conquering the current called udana the yogi doesn't sink in water that means he will not die in swamps he can walk on thorns nothing happens his body becomes as light as air in this light as we discussed the five functions of the prana samana jaya prajvana samana is another function of the prana just as what is its function to carry energy equally to all the parts of the body it's like a yogi samadarshana so what happens by this a tremendous light is produced by the yogi sometimes they do it not willingly deliberately but to aid some people that is what they do this is another power shrotra akashaya sambandha sayyama divyam shrotram the next aphorism number 42 tells us by making sayyama remember the word sayyama remember what is the meaning sayyama means complete concentration in a particular specified manner that is called sayyama shrotra akashaya sambandha sayyama divyam shrotram by making sayyama on the relation between the ear and the akasha comes divine hearing there is the akasha the ether and the instrument the ear by making sayyama on them the yogi gets divine hearing he hears everything anything spoken or sounded anywhere on this earth not only on this earth even in the other worlds because indra is having a secret conversation with rambha the yogi can hear right from here how do we know ramakrishna can do that swami vekananda had obtained you know during his sadhana period suddenly he got this he could see anybody from a long distance he could hear two people are talking maybe three miles away five miles away he could crystal clearly hear but a yogi can hear anywhere without any instrument there is the akasha the ether the instrument the ear by making sayyama on them the yogi gets divine hearing so this is only we have to add etc etc means what how many sense organs we have five that means by making particular sayyama on the particular sense organ and its cause so what is the cause of the what is here is ear what is the cause of the ear akasha space so what happens if there is to be no space then we can't hear if there is no fire we cannot see if there is no water we cannot taste have you understood it one now even the tongue becomes dry because of some reason or fever do you know what happens yeah you know a good example came to my mind suppose you have a deep cold what is deep cold you are throwing out so much of liquid from your body is it not the form of sneezing and all those things going on putting your handkerchief and throwing out what happens after that you can't taste food have you noticed why is it because this there is a connection between the tasting power and the water what is the special quality of water tasting power and what is the special power of this earth fragrance you know we offer five items at the time of arathrikam fragrance there is a correlation individual function is called sense organ and the universal function in the external world is called its deity these two when they are combined these functions are possible if a yogi can do sayama between the relay between the relationship that exists between his ear and the space then he is not limited by our present limitation he can hear any sound anywhere not only hear the sound hearing sound means what not merely hearing sounds because you can hear a chinese talking can you understand a yogi can also understand and enjoy especially you know suppose there is a beautiful devotional singing going on in america or in india and you are sitting here and you are a lover of divine singing can you hear it but a yogi can hear it he need not go there right from here he can hear so also he can see so also he can touch so also he can smell everything all the functions of the five sense organs he can do universally anywhere he wants to do according to his will when he wants how he wants how long he wants if he does his special sayama on the relationship between the particular sense organ and its universal counterpart that means what i'll just close my talk with this example suppose there is a yogi and he wants to taste what indra is eating you know indra when he eats it's a very special type of food it's extraordinarily tasty you cannot you can never get it or another example is in indra's place there is a special type of flower called parijata and it is incomparably fragrant so now we can't get it but sri krishna got it for rukmini sri krishna got it is what the bhagavatam tells us a yogi wants to enjoy suddenly the desire came but he's a yogi what he can do he can do sayama on this special akasha and where is heaven in space or outside space can there be anything outside space if something is there it must be within space space means that opportunity to be there there must be something so even heavens also are located only in space and that space special property of that space is hearing ear hear and space when these three come together without any division then this yogi he wants to hear what indra is talking he makes this sayama on the tongue and water and then he can he taste what indra is tasting it applies to all the five sense organs this is a very interesting topic we will discuss about it in our next class