Aitareya Upanishad Lecture 03 on 12 August 2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADME TAYO SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM VAMME MANASI PRATISTHITA MANO ME VACHI PRATISTHITAM AVIRAVIRMAIDHI VEDASYAMAANISTAH SHRUTAM ME MAPRAHASI RANENADHITE NAO RATRAM SANDADHAM MIRUTAM VADISHYAMI SATYAM VADISHYAMI AVATUMAM AVATU TAD VAKTARAM AVATU AVATUMAM AVATU VAKTARAM AVATU VAKTARAM OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HARI OM OM MAY MY SPEECH BE FIXED IN MY MIND MAY MY MIND BE FIXED IN MY SPEECH OM SELF LUMINOUS BRAHMAN MAY YOU BE MANIFEST UNTO ME OM MIND AND SPEECH MAY YOU BOTH BRING ME THE MEANING OF THE VEDAS MAY WHAT I STUDY FROM THE VEDAS NOT LEAVE ME I SHALL UNITE DAY AND NIGHT THROUGH THIS STUDY I SHALL THINK OF THE RIGHT I SHALL SPEAK THE RIGHT MAY BRAHMAN PROTECT ME MAY BRAHMAN PROTECT THE TEACHER MAY BRAHMAN PROTECT ME MAY BRAHMAN PROTECT THE TEACHER OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL I have been studying the Shanti Patha. Actually, this Shanti Patha is one of the greatest aids for our Sadhaka's life. It tells us what should we do. In brief, I will rephrase these things so that we can understand. Let my mind, let my speech be united. That means what I think, what I speak and what I do. Let there be no division between them. This division is called madness in psychological terms. This division is what is called ignorance. Truth is, as Sri Ramakrishna says to us, man mok ak kora, make the thought, the speech and the action one. So that by hearing us, people will know this is what this person is really thinking. By seeing our actions, people will really know. This is the nature of this person. Why? Because he is of the nature of truth. He will not think differently. He will not speak differently. He will not do something different. This is the meaning of let the speech be united with the mind. Let the mind be united with the speech. But the greatest thing is, every day billions of Hindus will be praying to the Mother of Knowledge, the Goddess of Wisdom. What do they say? Bhur Bhuvah Swaha Tat Savitaru Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi Dheeyo Yonah Prachodayat Let the Divine Mother give me the right understanding. What is the right understanding? That I am Amruta Putra. Each soul is potentially divine. Aavehi Aavehi Maa Aethi Let that light again and again be revealed to me. I cannot see the light. Sri Ramakrishna says, a sergeant will have a torch light. He can see everything, everybody. But nobody can see his face. If we want to see his face, then we will have to pray to him. Please turn. We cannot turn the light. Only he can turn the light upon himself. So, O Lord, O Brahman, Aavehi Aavehi Maa Aethi. Aavehi means Prakasha. You are self-luminous. Swayam Prakasha Atma Maa Aethi. Aethi means reveal yourself to me. Sri Ramakrishna used to pray, O Mother, I do not want any worldly objects. I don't want money, kama, kanchana, etc. I only want you. I cannot live without you. Please reveal yourself. O Mother, if you do not reveal yourself to me, then I will not be able to see you. Not only that, he quotes often Narada's prayer to Bhagavan Krishna. First of all, Narada was asked, ask a boon of me, Bhagavan says. And Narada says, O Lord, you give me motiveless bhakti. I do not want anything excepting you. What is motiveless? Through you, I don't want you. When we are praying to God, give me this and that. I am using God as a servant, as a slave. You provide me this thing, not paying enough wages. Even for an ordinary servant, if we do not pay, he will leave us. But we take it for granted, like a baby takes mother for granted and commands, I want this. And for a baby, it is absolutely right. Because the baby has 150% faith, my mother will give me whatever I want. Even if I don't want, she will give me and she will protect me. She is there to look after me. I need not think about the future. She will be thinking about the future. That is the type of faith that we require. And so Narada said, Ahai tu ki bhakti. God was even more pleased. I am so pleased. I want another boon. I am going to grant you. Narada says, Lord, I do not need. But if you are pleased to give me, see that your world bewitching maya should never overpower me. That means I will be always out of maya. That means I will know all the time. I am the Atman. Aham Brahmasmi. That is the meaning of here, Aavir Aavirma Edhi. Vedasya Ma Anistaha. That is what we are going to talk about now. What is this Anistaha? Even in ordinary, God is Prakashaswaroopa. That is why Guru is called Prakashaswaroopa. Who is a Guru? Guru means he who destroys the Andhakara. Agnana Timirandhasya. Gnana Anjana Shalakaya. Chakshu Kunmilitam Yena. Tasmai Sri Urave Namaha. That is why, what is the prayer? This prayer comes, we have also studied, without God's grace. Nobody can know him. Nobody can experience him. It is impossible. That is why a great sadhaka prays in the Isavasya Upanishad. I think 16th mantra. Hiranyena Patrena Sathyasya Apehitam Mukham. Tattvam Poshan Apavrunu. Sathya Dharmaya Drishtaye. Very marvellous shloka. In fact it is a very paradoxical mantra. Why? What is your nature? He says you are shining like gold. Your face is shining like gold. And that very shining is covering your real nature. I see you as Jyotishwaroopa. But I want to see you as Jyotira Jyoti, not Jyoti. I can see Jyoti everywhere. Hiranyena Patrena Sathyasya Apehitam Mukham. So this is the prayer. Agnana Andhakaara Avidya Aavarna Apanayena Prakati Bhava You don't need to reveal yourself to me. The moment by your grace the curtain called avidya is removed because you are svayam prakasha. You don't need another light for me to see you. But between you and me this big curtain is there. What is that curtain called? Avidya. I am praying to you. I am surrendering myself to you. Please remove that one. So now he is addressing both the vak and manas. Mano me vachi pratishtitam. Vag me mano pratishtitam. So let the speech be united with the thought. Let the thought be united with this. Now he is addressing. O speech, O mind, please be gracious to me. There is a beautiful saying in Bengali. He says a man has obtained three graces but for the lack of the grace of one he goes to ruin. What are the three graces? That he got the grace of Guru. He gets the grace of God. He gets the grace of a first class human body endowed with a marvelous mind which can understand. Everything is favorable. But what is the obstruction? It is the mind. Without the grace of the mind it is not possible to move anywhere. Why? Because we have given it a long rope. You go and roam wherever you want. The more you roam the more I will be glad. And now suddenly we want to control it. And it will resist with all its power. That is the struggle is not with God. The struggle is only with our mind. That is what he is telling. O mind, O speech, be gracious to me. So, O Vagmana say, Vedasya me anis taha. O speech, O mind. What is my prayer? Vedasya. That means Veda Gnana. What is Veda Gnana? Each soul is potentially divine. The goal of life is to manifest this divinity within. And infinite paths are there. So not only all the four yogas, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and in future how many isms are going to come. Provided a person is very sincere, every pathway is absolutely useful. So, what is this anis taha? What does it mean? It means please see that I understand, see that I grasp the real meaning of the Vedic wisdom. It is possible only by your grace. If the body is gracious, and the mind is gracious, speech is gracious, then satyam will become firmly established. Because what I think, what I speak, and what I do become absolutely reconcilable. That is, it is one. There is no dichotomy between them. And then prayer is also for both the mind and speech. Shrutam me ma prahasih. Shrutam. Whatever I have heard from the mouth of my Guru, from the books, Vedas, Upanishads, etc., from the mouth of Sri Ramakrishna. Are we hearing from the mouth of Sri Ramakrishna? When anybody studies New Testament, he is directly hearing Jesus. When Buddha's teachings are being read, he is hearing directly from the Buddha's mouth. When you are singing, kahata Kabira suno bhai sadho, you are hearing directly from Kabir Dasa, from Tulsi Dasa, from Mirabai. Mere to Giridhara Gopala dosarona koi. There is nobody else for me. Not only for me. Mirabai is talking on behalf of all of us. None of us have anybody. Nobody has anybody else excepting God. Because without God, even I cannot exist. You cannot exist. We cannot exist. Nothing can exist. That is the truth. But to put it in an ethic way, what is the way? The Guru comes and says, tat tvam asi. You are Brahman. And the disciple through shramana, manana, nididhyasana, says aham brahmasmi. And shrutam, I hear it, but let it not go from my mind. Let me never forget it. Ramakrishna says, never speak an untruth. Yes, we have read hundreds of times. But do we remember it? No. That is the problem. How do we know that we remember? Remembering means, yes, yes, Ramakrishna told it. That is not remembrance. If I do not follow his teachings, I will be the greatest loser. I will not progress in spiritual life. I will be deeper into this worldly life. And that is not remembering it. Not merely remembering. That is not the thing. So what I have listened should not disappear. May I keep in mind what I read and what I have read. May I understand. And what I understand should never be erased. Shrutam me gopaya. That is why he said, Tejasvi nao adhita mastu. That means whatever knowledge, I know it is right. I know it is the truth. But I must remember it at the time of my transaction. Matsakashat brahmi na nirgacchatu. Let it never depart. That means what? Let me never forget. That means what? Ramakrishna told, I should not tell a non-truth. I know that. I remember it. But I go on telling the truth. That is not remembering. Remembering means, I should never tell and I will not tell because He is here. Remember the story of Kanakadasa. His Guru told him that go and eat a banana where nobody can see you and everybody else has eaten hiding themselves. But Kanakadasa could not. When he came, still with the banana hanging in his hand, his Guru asked, why did you not eat? He said, wherever I see, I see sahasra seersha purushaha sahasra akshaha sahasra pat billion billion eyes and day and night are the eyes. In another scripture it is said, day is an eye of God, Shiva and night is another eye of God and Shiva is watching me, day time is watching me and night time is also watching me. Who can escape day and night? So I am being watched day and night. How can I eat? How can I put into practice your commandment, go and eat where nobody is able to see you? So that is why it is not mere remembering but to put it into practice that is called real remembrance. Same thing, remember God always. Yes, yes, I remember God always but I do what I like. That is not the remembrance at all. anena adhitena and then the prayer continues. In this particular Shanti Patha, anena adhitena aho ratran sandadhami that means what? The confusing translation is may I join night and day with whatever I have mastered. What meaning does it make? What it really means is day and night. Let me spend the day time in studying, in acquiring night time in thinking about it in prayer so that what my Guru told me what the scriptures are teaching me let me understand them properly and let me put it into practice. anena adhitena aho ratran aha means day ratra means night time sandadhami may I spend my day and my night days and nights in the thought of what I have learned. This is called manana and once manana is over then comes only nididhyasana let me put it into practice and what is that practice? ritam vadishyami may I only speak about what is ritam what is ritam? that the highest truth as taught by my Guru from the Vedas from any scriptures any science teachings usually Vedas means only four Vedas Upanishads means only those portions which occur in the four Vedas but let us not restrict that meaning any person who is a sincere spiritual aspirant and he realizes something and he says he expresses his realization this is what we have seen earlier vang me manasi pratishtita means whatever I understand let me speak only what I understand not what others understand so that paramartha tattvam the truth about God that is speak about God in other words let me speak only about God about spiritual things about things which will help anybody to be more happy more healthy and get, obtain more knowledge finally obtain moksha that is called ritam I shall tell only the truth that I have learnt from scriptures as I just now mentioned scriptures means the teachings of any saint even the saints who come in future because by definition a saint is not different from God himself when a saint speaks it is only God who is speaking so I will not talk any other thing this is what munda ko punshad anya vachaha imunchatha give up all vain talk talk only about Atman about Brahman don't talk about aparavidya worldly talks Hiram Krishna again and again and again warrants don't waste your time why? why should not I waste? because my son you have wasted millions of your births only talking about worldly things as non-humans what were you doing? thinking about survival as humans what were you doing? running after more and more pleasures at least now you are fortunate to be awakened so it is a terrible tapasya great tapasya that is why Shankaracharya says yogasya prathamam dvaram vagnirodaha keeping silence that means not mulling in the mind I will not talk but I will think whatever I like no think only about God speak only about God do whatever pleases the Lord this is what is called anyo vaca vimunchak pritam vadisya me I will speak only truth satyam vadisya me and I will speak satyam what is satyam? earlier we have dealt with it what is satyam? this is called vak tapasya anudvega karam vakyam satyam priyam hitam four conditions have to be fulfilled then only it becomes satyam that means I will talk only about brahman or the teachings of Ramakrishna Holy Mother Swami Vivekananda etc etc and then many obstacles might come I don't even know what is going to happen next second that is why tan mam avatu let that brahman protect me let that prakasha rupa brahman let that self luminous brahman protect me by what? by enlightening me by making me understand that human life is precious let him protect me protect means what? not that he will just protect my life and I will go on doing what I have been doing for millions of births no let him protect me just like the owner of a dog will not allow the dog to stray here and there let the keeper of a animal cows buffaloes etc he will not allow them to stray into neighbor's fields he will protect so oh lord protect me so that my mind will not even peep into worldly objects and unless god protects nobody else can protect if at all we can be spiritual is only by the grace of god so let brahman protect me and not only that vaktaram avatu mam avatu means protect me that means what is protection here? that is whatever my guru says let me hear with concentrated mind that is first protection let me do manana of what I have heard that is the second protection let him reveal the real significance of what my guru had taught me that is the third significance fourth protection is that when once I understand what it is I want to put it into practice and let the divine mother or god protect me so that I will not stray go back to worldly life sriram krishna's words are the illustrations of all these upanishads now I will quote you there was a king he wanted to understand bhagavatam so he employed he heard about a bhagavata pandit and called him and said will you kindly teach me bhagavatam and the bhagavata pandit was really a great vakta and he was very glad to pass on his knowledge so everyday he will teach expound the bhagavatam and ask oh king have you understood the king invariably says you better understand first then only you can teach me and then the pandit got worried am I missing something so he will go back he will study again and then next day he will come same thing happens and he will go and study again next day he will come he will teach same thing happens few days passed then one day he thought thinking the king is a very intelligent person he will not simply say some meaningless thing so he must be telling me something very which I am missing so I tried my level best I could not find out what he meant so he prayed to god with all his heart and soul and that night a divine grace had descended upon him and then he understood oh man god alone is real everything is unreal so realize god this is the only goal of life and that very night he sent a slip to the king oh king thank you very much for what you are trying to tell me out of the infinite grace of god first it came through your words second it came through my prayer now I understand the world is empty it is meaningless god alone is the truth and I am leaving I will not give up my quest until I realize god that is what we are talking here artha prakasha roopena mam avatu may the divine lord make me understand god realization alone is the goal of life and nothing else but now we get here avatu vaktaram vaktaram means the teacher let brahman protect the teacher also in what form? the teacher may know may not know completely so I thought that the teacher may know he might not know but let brahman reveal himself to my teacher so that he is going to teach me and only when he knows the truth he will be capable of teaching me what is the highest truth so let brahman protect my teacher my guru by giving him the complete understanding, right understanding pritam and satyam and then not only that he may understand but he may not have the capacity to express it in the suitable words which I can understand therefore the second gift of grace of brahman is not only let him know what he is going to talk let him also have the right expression remember earlier we have seen so speech should be correct speech and it should be understood by the disciple and each disciple is totally different from other disciples or other students the teacher must come down to the level of every student, there is nothing called common student that is called gurukula and then he should make the student understand gradually lift him from a lower state to a higher state this is the second protection by brahman first protection to give him the correct understanding correct knowledge, second protection the ability to express it so that the student can understand it without any ambiguity but that will not do third expression so that is what Sri Ram Krishna used to call Adhikari did God authorize once there was a person and he was a very famous teacher and then everybody was praising him and then he came to Sri Ram Krishna and he pet him also, Sri Ram Krishna was very happy and during the course of conversation he asks have you got authorization from God and then he says authorization no no I don't know authorization, somebody else interfered and said definitely he got authorization but the person himself said no I have not received any authorization what is it only whom God puts his seal you go and teach only he will be able to teach he did this to Vedavyasa he did this to Valmiki he did it to Swami Vekananda and there was a funny incident I remember Swami Vekananda had two disciples Swami Varahi Ananda and Swami Prakashananda Swamiji's had a desire that Sri Ram Krishna's teachings must be spread in East Bengal so he called his disciples both of these and commanded them, ordered them go to East Bengal and preach Sri Ram Krishna's teachings after Guru is telling so they made Sastanga Pranam and then said no, Swamiji was again second time no I am commanding you go and preach in East Bengal again second Sastanga Pranam no then Swamiji got why are you saying Sir you are telling us to go and preach but we have not got authority they got Panditya they know what they are going to teach they can talk very beautifully how do we know because Swami Varahi Anandaji towards the goal supreme is one of the greatest spiritual aids for anyone of us so he knows he can express very beautifully but he doesn't have the authority then what did Swamiji do he looked at them became thoughtful and he said come with me took them to the shrine made them prostrate to Sri Ram Krishna and he blessed them putting his hand upon their heads and said I am authorizing you to go and preach in East Bengal they made Sastanga Pranam and said yes we will go and do that called authorization and this is the third grace of Brahman this is how Guru or the Vaktaram has to be protected by Brahman first by giving the right understanding second by giving the ability to express it properly and third by authorizing because without authorization it will be only like education that passes from the notebooks of the professors on to the notebooks of the students without passing the brains of either so how Bodhakatva Samardhya Adhikara Pradhanena this is what we discussed Thakur used to ask him many times did you hear properly he said yes repeat to me what I said and then quite a number of times because Yam did not record so many things whatever he recorded is still lying unsubscribed unsubscribed unsubscribed written because like shorthand he used to take note even two or three books are there in his house even now preserved so he used to get it by God's grace whenever he opened a page the old days events come flooding into his mind but for others it is a blank book even if we see we see headlines we don't understand anything else even that Yam sometimes he did not understand Ram Krishna used to correct him did I say that no I did not say that I said this and he used to do that this is called Avataram Avataram and what is it that we are talking about may my speech be fixed in my mind may my mind be fixed in my speech O self luminous Brahman please be manifest unto me O mind and speech may you bring to me the meaning the real meaning of the Vedas may what I study from the Vedas through the mouth of the Guru never leave me I shall strive day and night not only Shramana but Manana I shall unite day and night means day and night I will labor to study what I have heard this is called Mananam so that I can transform my whole life and I shall think only what is right and I shall speak what is right may Brahman protect me may Brahman protect the teacher may Brahman protect me may Brahman protect the teacher without the grace of God Guru will not be available and more important Sishya is also not available with this Shanti Mantra is over as I mentioned without obtaining all these qualities that we have discussed in this particular Shanti Mantra which is specific to Rig Veda Rig Veda means this Aitareya and there is another Upanishad called Kaushitaki that also for every Veda there is a Shanti Patha so let all the obstructions be destroyed by the grace of God let there be perfect harmony between the teacher and the taught and let the teacher have the qualities of right understanding right expression and authority let me have the qualifications of purity this is what is called let me be a real Adhikari what are those? with this Shanti Patha is over and if we really think about it and it contains God load of meaning and we even we have to practice that one so much now we are going to enter into the first chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad in this marvelous facts are being told first mantra itself this is the first mantra in the beginning this is the meaning straight forward meaning simple meaning in the beginning beginning means in the before creation has started before creation all this that means what was there creation was not there then what should be there only Bhagwan is there Brahman is there instead of using the word Brahman here the word that is used is Atman, only Atman was there all this verily was Atman only all this means this visible universe that we are talking about remember all these Upanishads Vedas, Upanishads Brahmanas and Aranyas and all these teachings they all came far far later but all this where was it it was there in the form of Atman only that is the meaning we will go deep into it there was only Atman and was there anything else besides him, no one even to say one is not permitted in Advaita Vedanta because the moment you hear one you also remember second third any number but for the convenience of understanding the word one ekameva idam agra agre asit and without a second na anyat there was nothing else that winked that winked means what that which was living and Shankaracharya adds that which is not winking also that means chara and achara jada and jiva jagat that is the living and the non-living the moving and the non-moving nothing was there who was there Atmava that one word would have been sufficient Atma alone was there but then why is the Upanishad describing that there is no other because we are seeing two important points we don't see the Atman we see only the world therefore what is the first fact the Upanishad wants to convey to us there are two truths are there what is the truth the first truth of course is yakta manifest this entire universe in the form of sthoola sookshma karana sharera jagrat swapna sushupta avastas this is our everyday experienceable experienceable universe that is the fact and is God there we don't see God we don't see we see only the snake we don't see the rope therefore without the rope there cannot be any snake at all so the scripture is telling yes there is a second one what is that second one what is the second first one this world that we experience what is the second one Atman whom we are experiencing every billy second and yet it is invisible it is manifest but we do not cognize it it is uncognizable when I am talking because of the chaitanya when you are listening because of the chaitanya but if you are asked you don't say because of the chaitanya I am able to think about it hear about it understand about it you simply say I am listening I am talking etc but we should never forget without that pure consciousness being nothing can be experienced just like if there is no light nothing can be visible at all there is no light, light doesn't mean only the physical light the light means gnana that which gives knowledge is called light so if I touch something I get gnana that is called touch light when I smell something oh there is a fragrant rose that is called grana pramana when I taste something even with closed eyes that is called rasana indriya working so that is called the rasana chaitanya should be there chaitanya to cognize this is a fragrance this is a taste and this is a touch this is called vision this is called sound to cognize them first goes consciousness then only everything else but usually we don't take notice of it so this Upanishad at the very beginning it is telling there are two facts this not only this world but that chaitanyam is there and that because of that chaitanyam alone we are able to see to experience everything ok then what is the relationship are they two are they one and to answer that one this first mantra itself is telling there is nothing else excepting atman even when we are experiencing the world what we are experiencing is nothing but pramana and many times we have repeated this one but any number of repetitions are worth doing it when we are looking at a piece of furniture what are we looking at the wood when we are looking at a pot what are we really looking at only clay there is nothing called separate object called pot pot is nothing but clay with nama rupa and guna special purpose when we are looking at an ornament nothing but gold and that ornament is a different form different name so that necklace should be around the neck bangle will be should be around the wrist the ring should be around the finger for different purposes so excepting brahman nothing is there that is why brahman has been defined as sat first existence chit then pure consciousness then ananda unbroken bliss bliss is the word not sukha not dukha to point out the fact first of all for an ignorant person you are seeing this world fine but don't forget along with the world you are able to experience see and do everything because of that pure consciousness so pure consciousness plus the world so how many are there two are there oh two are there so it is dvaita no no no pure consciousness alone appearing with nama rupa that is the world that is why to make us remind this fact brahma satya brahman alone is real jagat mithya mithya means what not unreal mithya means perceiving that brahman with nama rupa forgetting that we are perceiving none other than brahman that perception without cognizing there is brahman that is called mithya so the jagat is not mithya my understanding of the jagat is mithya I hope you are getting important points mithyatva is not outside it is within my mind ajnana is not outside this world is covered with a veil no it is like I cover my eye with my little finger and the whole world becomes dark so you should not say somebody put a huge veil around the entire universe let us say the sun and the sun disappeared no no no nobody can cover the sun just imagine realistically somebody puts any material you want covering the sun try to cover the fire see what happens with any material and millions of degrees of centigrade it will simply burn away and it is so huge what does it mean? it means that covering is in me not in the sun similarly that ajnana is not outside it is inside me the moment I get rid of my ajnana that is why I am praying that what I have studied let me think and realize what realization? aham brahmasme sarvam khalvidam brahma nothing else so in this first mantra so what is it? idam ekaha eva agre asit only atman is there na anyat kinchanah mishat means winking literal meaning of the word mishat means winking who can wink? only a living creature but shankaracharya beautifully explains that which is not winking what is that? that which is what we call jada non-living why should we add jada? because what do we experience in this world? living and non-living therefore if we say whatever is living is coming from brahman then where from the non-living is coming? it must also come from brahman only so to for that purpose the upanishad is not telling it is only telling living creature everything that is living is not there was not there at that time then what does it mean? it means really speaking that is the state because the whole universe is manifestation of brahman therefore I am in this universe therefore I am also brahman but I am only hearing it from the upanishad I don't understand it really speaking for this purpose I have to study the scriptures so the reason we ask why is it if brahman is in front of me god is in front of me I am not able to see it the answer is because there is a mind the mind is coming in between my understanding and brahman in what form does it come? ajnana ajnana means what? limitation limitation in what way? two different models are given one is desha, kala, nimitta space, time and causation usually the order will be space, causation what is the second model that is given there? so svagata veda is not there vigata veda also vijatiya veda is not there sajatiya veda is not there svagata veda is also not there nothing was different remember when we are getting the description of the atman the person who is describing is describing with the aid of the mind and he is describing to a person who has got even much less enlightened mind, therefore to explain this one that nothing is there this is the second implication what is the first implication? first only atman is there why? because what is our experience? only the world is there by this mantra not only world is there, atman alone is there, oh but I don't see the atman, yes you don't see the atman but if you don't see something doesn't mean it is non-existent that is the idea what is the second fact? that first of all there are two if there are two, naturally the discrimination comes what is important? which is first? atman is first or world is first? for that to answer that one this first of all atman alone was there in the beginning that means it is the first this is the second fact, what is the third fact? third fact is that this whole universe was not existing this whole universe which is a combination of time, space and causation was not there that is what he wants to say but then I see it if you are seeing something it must have come from somebody then where from it could come? only sat can come, only from sat existence can come only from existence knowledge can come only from knowledge bliss can come, only from bliss and therefore what is the this world is nothing but atman this whole world is nothing but atman that atman only is manifesting in the form of namarupas, this is the third fact, if we understand these three factors what is the first factor? we see only, we experience only this world no, there is something else that is the first factor what is the second factor? which is more important what is it? atman or pure consciousness or existence or the world first there should be clay then only there will be pot have you ever seen a pot without clay? have you ever seen an ornament without gold? have you ever seen a piece of furniture without wood? so what is the first one? first one is atman only pure consciousness only but the most important point is the third one, what is the third one? if in the beginning there is no nama there is no rupa there is no guna then what is there? atman is there what is the name of the atman? sat chit ananda swaroop it is alone and what is its nature? pure consciousness if atman is pure consciousness and not anything else whatever can be the effect of that pure consciousness can it be non consciousness? can clay ever produce a golden pot? only gold can produce golden pot clay can only produce clay pot this is the most important point that if the human beings are there they can only produce human beings dogs can produce only dogs insects can produce only insects trees can produce only trees birds can produce only birds still this must be stamped again and again to make us understand if atman is pure consciousness and this whole universe has come from atman but what could be the nature of this universe? only pure consciousness if everything is pure consciousness is there anything called jada? anything called non living? it is impossible that is the fact the first mantra wants to tell us then the second part of this mantra is telling sa ekshata shankara changes this word ekshata ekshata means visualized that atman thought, why should he think? we don't know, don't ask me nobody has ever answered why he wanted to think, why he wants to create this mess, only probably he also doesn't know so there must be some devil possessing god so you create this world so that all of us can suffer anyway, I am making fun sa ekshata, sa ekshata that atman he thought, visualized what did he say? lokannu sruja eti, let me create the worlds, world let me create the universe, now here again and again I have been emphasizing for so many days, this sruja means not parinama vada, god has become the world god is manifesting as the world, what is the difference? the milk has become curds invariably milk is lost, now it is only appearing in the form of the curds and in this process, first point is milk is lost second point is that the curds may have some extra elements which were not there in the milk, for example milk is sweet but curds is not sweet it will be a little bit of sourishness is there and it will go on increasing with the passage of time etc, what is the point of srishti the whole first chapter is to describe how srishti came what is the first point? god only became the universe what is the purpose of this saying this one from this aithareya rishi, he is also telling this universe is nothing but god because if god is atman is pure consciousness, this world cannot be anything else other than pure consciousness what is our experience that we do not know where from we have come if we are asked what do we say I came from my parents, you ask them, say we came from our parents, nobody knows upanishad alone tells us everything has come only from that atman and that atman is chaitanya roopa and therefore everything else is nothing but chaitanya, this is the essence of this aithyana not only this upanishad, every other upanishad itself we will discuss this further in our next class tomorrow Om Jananim Shardam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmet Ayo Saritva Pranamami Mohur Moho May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti Ramakrishna