Aitareya Upanishad Lecture 11 on 09 September 2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

So far, what have we discussed? The Divine Lord, Paramatma, decided to create this world. The creation of the world means God Himself is both the intelligent and material cause. He manifested as this Jagat. Why did God do this? It is His sport, which we call Leela. We do not know the why, how, or when, so we think that it is to enjoy Himself, as if He was not enjoying before creation.

Now, this creation can be divided into three parts. One view is Srishti (creation), Stithi (sustenance), continuing the Divine Leela, and thirdly, going back and merging in the Divine. To put it another way, for this Leela to take place, the entire creation, what we call Srishti, must be divided into three: the enjoyer, the instruments of enjoyment, and the objects of enjoyment.

After hearing this third statement, are all objects enjoyable? Yes, every object is enjoyable, but we have to adopt two particular views. If we are unable to enjoy any object, person, event, or experience now, we have to take it as a lesson for us on how not to be suffering or reacting negatively to it. That is for our edification.

The second view is adopted by enlightened people. What is the second view? When we are watching a movie, generally, a movie will be a mixture of tragedy, comedy, positive, negative, happy, and unhappy. But since we know it is only something that is not real, something we are deliberately watching for entertainment, everything becomes enjoyable. The villain is smashing the hero; again, the hero is smashing the villain. Both become enjoyable. This is called Saundarya Ananda, Kala Ananda, aesthetic enjoyment. Many consider this only next to Brahmananda. Exactly a realized soul enjoys everything. Somebody is beating him; he enjoys, thus plays the father. Somebody is praising him; thus plays the divine mother. Everything is enjoyable. So this whole creation. Who is the creator? God. What are the instruments? God. If we can keep this, then the whole Upanishad, not only this Upanishad, every Upanishad becomes very enjoyable.

Now, what did we discuss so far? Bhagavan saw, and then what did he think? Sa ekshate me nu lokahascha lokapalahascha mebhyaha srujayti. So what does he mean? He looked. I have created the lokas, worlds. I have created the lokapalas. Though it is not mentioned here, I have also created the instruments we have seen in our last class. And then what is remaining? Objects of enjoyment. Bodies are there. The adistatra devatas are there. The worlds are there. Objects are not there. So annam means objects of enjoyment, objects of experience. And that is what srujami iti. For these people, for all the jeevatmas, I want to create annam.

So, the creator thought unto himself, 'Here now are the worlds and the world guardians. And by implication, all the bodies are there, and the indriyas are there. What is lacking? What are the bodies now going to do without the objects for them to enjoy? That is called annam. Annam means objects of enjoyment—for the eyes, forms, colours are the annam; objects for its special field of experience. For the ears, it is the sounds; for the nostrils, it is the smells; for the tongue, it is the taste; and for the skin, it is the touch—hard, soft, cold, heat, four only.

So, he decided. Remember, God's desire is immediately concrete, exactly like our dreams become real as soon as we think it. That is why devotees of Sri Ramakrishna must remember the beautiful story. A traveller was lying under a tree, tired, hungry, and thirsty. He did not know what tree it was. But as soon as he said, 'How nice it would be if I had food,' pancha bhaksha parmana presented itself. 'How nice it would be. Cool drinks not available even in America.' Immediately, cool drinks were present. 'Now I am satiated. Now I am tired. If I can lie down, it will be wonderful.' 'How wonderful it will be if a first-class spring mattress, a beautiful cot will come.' Immediately, he found himself. 'How nice it would be if a beautiful woman comes and massages me.' Immediately, it came. 'Perhaps a tiger may come,' and the foolish person did not think deeply because whatever he was thinking was being fulfilled. Immediately, a tiger came and ate him up. What happened to him? He woke up.

Because our mind is like that. Our dreams are like that all the time. Not only in that special state called the dreaming state. Even now, we are in a dreaming state only. What do I mean? Whatever opinion we have about others, we do not know. But we only know the opinions we are cherishing. That is the only reality so far as we are concerned. A husband looks at the wife, thinks something. And that is his concept, and he takes it for granted. That is the reality. So everything in this world. Our concept is our reality. Therefore, our concept is our world. We are living in our own world. A child, an adolescent, a youth, an old man, a sick man, and whether in India or anywhere—man or woman or animal. Every living creature is living in its own world created by itself. That is a most marvellous thought.

So now coming back. Let me create food. Here, food means not rice and dal, but for each sense organ, whatever is appropriate and whatever it can experience in its specialization. That is called food.

So, what did the Bhagwan do?

so.apo.abhyatapattAbhyo.abhitaptAbhyo mUrtirajAyata .

yA vai sA mUrtirajAyatAnna.n vai tat.h .. 2..

A marvellous concept indeed. When he says the creator brooded over the waters, he means the creator contemplated upon the waters. What are these waters? Water, or 'Jala,' here is symbolic, representing not just the physical element but the five elements collectively—Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala, and Prithvi, known as the Pancha Bhutas. The entire universe is nothing but the original Pancha Bhutas.

The grosser aspect of these Pancha Bhutas forms the physical world, the 'sthula jagat,' to be experienced by the 'sthula sharira' (gross body). The subtler part, the 'tanmatras,' gives rise to two elements—'sukshma sharira' (subtle body) and 'karana sharira' (causal body). For the gross body, the entire world, consisting of shabda (sound), sparsha (touch), roopa (sight), rasa (taste), and gandha (smell), serves as food. For the mind, it encompasses the experiences, memories, thoughts in the form of remembrance, and memories ('smriti'). The subtle body then weaves these experiences into its own dream world.

After experiencing both the gross and subtle worlds, the individual, feeling tired, enters the causal world—the cause of both waking and deep sleep. In this context, 'Saha paramatma apaha abyatapat' conveys that the Supreme Being contemplated, visualized, and thought about the emergence of the Pancha Bhutas through His will, wish, and desire. Out of this contemplation, He created the five objects—shabda, sparsha, roopa, rasa, gandha. Why only five objects? Because there are only five senses. The five karma indriyas (organs of action) are instruments that aid the five senses in experiencing. For example, if someone praises a movie, the hands and legs enable us to reach the theatre or TV room; the hands prepare and carry the food to the mouth, allowing the tongue to taste it.

Hence, the essence lies in the Pancha Bhutas, which become the objects experienced by the gross, subtle, and causal bodies. All three bodies require 'annam' or sustenance.

So, what is the annam for the causal body? It is pure rest, a rest from both the enjoyer and the enjoyed, the subject and the object. This is the food for the causal body. What does it gain after partaking of this food? After experiencing the karana sharira, it obtains a tremendous amount of joy—Ananda Swarupa, Ananda Maya Kosha.

With this understanding, what happened? Bhagawan deeply visualized and then thought, visualized on what? Apaha, jalam. Jalam means the Pancha Bhutas (five elements), and He created all the objects that can be experienced by the sthula shariram (gross body), sukshma shariram (subtle body), and karana shariram (causal body). This is called annam.

Now, we also discussed, I am only recollecting from our last class, this is the third mantra of the third section of the first chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad. First chapter, third section, third mantra.

tadenatsRiShTaM parA~NtyajighA.nsattadvAchA.ajighRikShat.h

tannAshaknodvAchA grahItum.h .

sa yaddhainadvAchA.agrahaiShyadabhivyAhRitya haivAnnamatrapsyat.h .. 3..

The Sanskrit language is a bit involved, but I've already indicated the meaning. I will go through it again before we proceed to the next mantra.

So, He, meaning Paramatma, sought to grasp it with speech, but He was not able to grasp it with speech. And then, what is the conclusion? If indeed He had grasped it, had He been able to grasp it, the annam with speech, one would then have been satisfied by merely uttering the word 'food.' If someone could grasp food through their eyes, ears, thoughts, or smell, they would have been satiated. Each sense organ, mentioned as a sample in the earlier shlokas, tried but did not succeed.

What is the Upanishad trying to tell us? Only one sense organ was able to catch hold of it, able to experience it, able to enjoy it. What was that organ? That is called 'mukham,' the mouth, through apana vayu, which became the apana vayu. This signifies the function of apana vayu, pushing the food down. After chewing, the food needs to be pushed down, and here, the apana vayu performs this special function. The word 'annam,' as we discussed, means food appropriate for each of the sense organs.

But here, we are talking about actual food, like rice, dal, curds, milk, fruits, roots, leaves, etc. Why is this? Because there is a special reason for it. What is the reason? What is the particular substratum of our entire life? Physical food. By eating food, by digesting food, by expelling what is not digested, food means energy. Different pranas squeeze and convert the food eaten into energy, and that energy is supplied to all the sense organs: the five organs of knowledge, the five organs of action, plus the mind.

Without this physical body, which houses the mind, as it were, the subtle body and the causal body, it is impossible because prana will not be there. If prana is not there, then how does the body function? How does the mind function? It cannot function. So, in this mantra, the third mantra of the third section of the first chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad, earlier we saw that food specifically meant physical food. We put it into our mouth, chew it, and then swallow it down with the help of apana vayu. That is the most important point we have to understand.

So, what happened? The eyes saw the food, the ears heard about it, the nose smelt it, but none of them succeeded in using it because they were not made for this kind of food to be experienced, to digest, etc. Then what happens? This food energizes the whole body, every part of the body, including the subtle body. Without food, we cannot think, remember, decide, live, or even feel that I exist. We simply do not exist.

The physical sustenance of the physical body is the most important part of these second and third mantras. With this understanding, we will go through it because from this fourth to tenth, it is only a repetition of the description. The eyes thought of finding it, the ears thought of holding it, etc. Here also, earlier we have seen, as soon as annam was created, all the sense organs were running, and the food got frightened. This is also a physical fact; we are eating each other. Man eats small fish, eaten by a bigger fish, and so on. Whatever we experience is food. We are both the enjoyers of food and the enjoyed. We become enjoyers of food, eaters of food, and also food to be eaten by others, an everyday experience. How many bacteria are living upon us, on our eyes, on our body, inside our guts, everywhere? We cannot live without that.

That is why some Brihaspatis are there, non-vegetarian is very bad. Okay, non-vegetarian. What about your curds? How many billions of bacteria life you are taking, and then you are slurping with your tongue, how wonderful it is. Especially, if it is Bengali Mishti Dahi, how much you are slurping it.

But don't worry, there is a beautiful song, I don't know by whom, probably by Kabir Das, 'Mati kahe kumbhar se,' a potter was making a pot and he was very proud and the master of this clay, 'I can do it whatever way, small pot, big pot, square pot, conical pot, round pot, etc.' And then, the Mati observed him and said, 'You stupid fellow, Brihaspati Raja, do not feel so proud, ek dinu aisa aavega, mai tore doondungi.' So, one day will come, I will shape you, I know how to shape you. So, when we all are burnt and become ashes and then thrown into the mud, or buried, some people buried and then ultimately, we go into the mud and we, the mud shapes us into its own type.

So, I am both the enjoyers, 'aham annam, aham annam, aham annam, aham annadho, oham annadho, oham annadha, aham shloka grith, aham shloka grith.' I am also the poet who expressed this highest truth in my own way. By the way, all the mantras in the Vedas are also called shlokas in a special meaning. That is, expressions of one's experience.

Now, from this third mantra, in this third section of the first chapter, the description is given that all those which were mentioned, which were created by the Creator, like Vaak, etc., they were, as soon as food is created. Here, food means physical food like rice, wheat, ragi, etc., tried to grab it, but they could not because it is only proper food for the mouth. This is what is being said here. The food so created, first of all, it wished to flee away. Means what? That I can be enjoyed, caught, only by the appropriate sense organ. If any one of you tries to grasp it, just a funny remark by me. Supposing there is a nice first-class idli, especially with South Indian chutney. Take it, put it, the eye says, 'I want to grasp it.' Put it in the eye. See what happens. Push it into the ear. See what happens. Push it into the nostrils. See what happens. Push it into different sense organs. See what happens. What happens? Not only it won't help us, it will really positively harm us. Put it into the mouth, and every other organ will be energized by that. But the same thing, the mouth cannot smell, mouth cannot hear, mouth cannot experience touch, etc. Every sense organ has got its own special function, which is expressed in the form of special food, mainly shabda, sparsha, roopa, rasa, gandha, thinking, deciding, remembering, and feeling I am so and so, etc.

So just remember that the annam is trying to run away by inappropriate sense organs when they are trying to catch hold of it. But when it was held by the proper sense organ, it was very happy because annam is meant for the mouth, and the mouth is also meant for annam. Now from 4th to 10th, I will just read out; it is exactly the same repetitions until we come to the 11th.

tatprANenAjighRikShat.h tannAshaknotprANena grahItu.n sa

yaddhainatprANenAgrahaiShyadabhiprANya

haivAnnamatrapsyat.h .. 4..

The simple meaning is prana or breath, that is the action of breathing in and out or to grasp it with the breath. But the Bhagawan Himself, He has not yet become Jeeva, He is going to become Jeeva. He was not able to grasp it with the breath.

And then the Upanishad adds, if indeed the Paramatma was able to grasp this food with the breath, then just by merely smelling, He would have been satisfied. So, etc, etc, etc. Ditto, ditto, ditto. We have to go on adding it.

tachchakShuShA.ajighRikShat.h tannAshaknochchakShuShA grahItu/n sa

yaddhainachchakShuShA.agrahaiShyaddRiShTvA haivAnamatrapsyat.h .. 5..

That is, He sought to grasp it with the eye, but He was not able to grasp it with the eye.

tachChrotreNAjighRikShat.h tannAshaknochChrotreNa grahItu.n sa

yaddhainachChroteNAgrahaiShyachChrutvA haivAnnamatrapsyat.h .. 6..

He sought to grasp it with the ear, but He was not able to grasp it with the ear.

tattvachA.ajighRikShat.h tannAshaknottvachA grahItu.n sa

yaddhainattvachA.agrahaiShyat.h spRiShTvA haivAnnamatrapsyat.h .. 7..

He sought to grasp it with the tvacha. Tvac means skin, with the skin, but He was not able to grasp it with the skin.

tanmanasA.ajighRikShat.h tannAshaknonmanasA grahItu.n sa

yaddhainanmanasA.agrahaiShyaddhyAtvA haivAnnamatrapsyat.h .. 8..

He sought to grasp it with the mind, but He was not able to grasp it with the mind. Why? Because, it is a beautiful explanation, if indeed had He succeeded in grasping this physical food with the mind, one would then have completely fulfilled hunger, removed hunger by merely thinking about food. Of course, we can do it in the dream, in a way of speaking.

tachChishnenAjighRikShat.h tannAshaknochChishnena grahItu.n sa

yaddhainachChishnenAgrahaiShyadvitsRijya haivAnamatrapsyat.h .. 9..

He sought to grasp it with the organ of procreation, but He was not able to grasp it.

But now we are coming to the tenth one.

tadapAnenAjighRikShat.h tadAvayat.h saiSho.annasya graho

yadvAyuranAyuvA.r eSha yadvAyuH .. 10..

That is why this prana, apana prana is called annayuhu. That is, ayu means long life because it has become one with anna. So, the Paramatma, that is the Virat Purusha who was created, Brahma, sought to grasp it with the apana and He grasped it. Why? Because the function of the apana, that is prana, apana, vyana, udana, samana. The original name is called prana, but prana has five functions. One of the functions is to push something down. So, without that apana vayu, if we put our food in the mouth, it will not go down. It will rather maybe go out. But, apana vayu just pushes it down into the guts. Then the digestive process takes place. So, He succeeded in it. So, this grasper of food is that particular vayu or prana is. That vayu is what lives on food. Which vayu? Apana, part of the vayu is called that which lives on food. That is why its special name, title is anna vayuho. That is, anna becomes its ayush, its life. So, this apana function of the prana vayu is anna grahaka. And for this type of food, that was the appropriate sense organ. That is what the Upanishad wants to convey to us.

Now, what is complete? Lokas are complete. Lokapalakas are complete. The instruments, body, etc., the Indriyas, etc. are complete. Annam is complete. But, will it be useful? For that, Bhagavan Shankaracharya gives a beautiful explanation. Now, before that, I have to give a very small introduction. There is something called, what is called a combination of objects. For example, there is a house. The house is made up of the floor, the roof, the walls, the windows, and so many other things. The entire different parts made up with different materials, that is what we call the house. And this house, if nobody lives in it, is completely useless. You just leave a house, nobody is living in it; maybe after some time, bats, dogs, animals may go and live there, but somebody has to live there. So, what does the Upanishad want to tell? Here is the world, here everything is ready, the whole Jagat is like a house. All facilities are there, but where is the house owner, the person who built the house? In this case, the whole world is the house, and every house has got so many rooms, that is our bodies, everything.

Now, somebody has to do it. Who has to do it? Parameshwara himself has to enter. You know what we do? After the completion of building the house, with a beautiful ceremony, it is called Griha Pravesha. So, an opening ceremony where we may even invite Swamis, perform Pooja, and invite many guests. Perhaps, depending on the occasion, we may also feed the poor. Afterward, the person and their family start living there. Similarly, the world is created, many houses have been created, and many windows have been created. So, everything is over. Only one thing is remaining. What is that one thing? It is called Jeeva Srishti, the creation of the Jeevatma. That is what is remaining. And where is this Jeevatma? There is no Jeevatma. Jeevatma means consciousness.

So, a house is an inert thing, food is an unconscious thing, smell is an unconscious thing, sound is an unconscious thing. So, every object in this world is unconscious. There must be somebody to enjoy that. To be able to enjoy, the person must have knowledge, and to have that knowledge, he must have awareness. That awareness in Sanskrit is called Chaitanya. So, Bhagawan is Chaitanya. Bhagawan enters into each living creature because, remember, He has created many Jeevas. The mention will also come up in the future. But here, just a hint is given by giving this Manushya Sarira only. But Manushya Sarira alone will not do. The Pashu Sarira, the Vriksha Sarira, the Insect Sarira, the Pakshi Sarira, the Crawling Worm Sarira, every type of Sarira should be there. That is, living and non-living should be there. Details will be coming in the future.

But by creating, the best of the creation is a human being. The purpose of the creation of everything else in this world is only to make them slowly evolve, finally become the Manushya. And then, only in the Manushya Sarira, only what is called Nisrayasa is possible. It is only in the human body that Bhoga is possible. Only in the human body, Adhyatmika Sadhana is possible. So, whether it is Vyavaharika, Pratibhasika, or Paramarthika experience, it is only a living creature through a human body, deliberately, with full awareness, consciously, can decide. But that is what we think. We can have a choice, but no. Evolution will not tolerate choice.

āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca

sāmānyam etat paśubhir narāṇām

dharmo hi teṣām adhiko viśeṣo

So, in the beginning, the animal bodies. Then, afterward comes, slowly, evolution until the monkeys, chimpanzees, the gorillas, finally, human beings, lower human beings, and human beings. What is said? Shudra, then Vaishya, then Kshatriya, then Brahmana. And then also, four stages. The learning stage, the experimenting and experiencing stage, the withdrawal stage, and the complete unitative stage. So, life also is divided into four. So, Varna Dharma, Ashrama Dharma. For what? The Jeevatma can finally realize who it is and remain forever as it is. It has never become Jeevatma. That is important for us.

All the Srishti Krama is only to tell us that it is a thought in our mind; really, nothing is created. Really, nothing is born, but as if, especially Advaita Vedanta revels in it by giving again and again the examples of Rajju Sarpa, the rope and the snake. I remember many years back; there was a great writer called Rajaram, and he wrote this novel called The Rope and the Snake, taking this analogy because, in the olden times, most of these stories and novels have some ideals in them. The whole Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavatam is nothing but pure Vedic teachings in the form of, just like now I remember, in the ChatGPT and you put a prompt that explains to me the special theory of relativity of Einstein so that even my five-year-old son can understand it. And that prompt was given to our Vedic Rishis, and that is what is called the origination of the Puranas. Now you understand, but as I mentioned, it contains stories, etc. They need to be specially understood with a special interpretation like a parable. And the illustrations of great souls, great Maharshis, great kings, great people, etc., we have to understand. Equally, there are also Rakshasas like Ravanasura, etc. That is also for our edification only.

So, now in this eleventh mantra of this third section of the first chapter of the Aitareya Upanishad, what is it telling? Bhagawan said, now everything is ready for my entry into this house, that is Sharira. Then only Jeeva will come. Atma becomes Jeevatma. The Paramatma becomes Jeevatma. When it enters into each one of these bodies and identifies himself that I am the body, I am the mind. That is what the Upanishad wants to convey in this eleventh mantra.

sa IkShata katha.n nvidaM madRite syAditi sa IkShata katareNa prapadyA iti .

sa IkShata yadi vAchA.abhivyAhRita.n yadi prANenAbhiprANita.n yadi

chakShuShA dRiShTa.n yadi shrotreNa shruta.n

yadi tvachA spRiShTa.n yadi manasA dhyAta.n yadyapAnenAbhyapAnita.n

yadi shishnena visRiShTamatha ko.ahamiti .. 11..

The simple summary or I am rephrasing the meaning before I go into the details is Bhagawan saw that this body, that is, all the bodies are completely useless if I do not enter. It is like a dead body. It is Jeevatma. How does he enter? He has to enter in the form of two entities. One is called Prana. Another is called Chaitanya. This is a most marvellous concept. And Swami Vivekananda in his introduction to the Raja Yoga, if any one of you has read and still remembers and still wonders what it is all about, he says that there are two elements that become the creation. What are they? One is called Akasha. Another is called Prana. What is Akasha? Purusha. What is Prana? Prakruti. So, without Chaitanyam, Prakruti cannot function. And without Prakruti, Srishti cannot be done. It is a combination. That is why in Vedantic terminology, the Srishti Karta is called Saguna Brahma. Some Swami funnily makes it Married Brahma. Because Srishti cannot come out without husband and wife. So, Married Brahma. Brahman with Maya. Purusha with Prakruti. So, without Bhagawan entering into it. It will come in the future, but what? I am forestalling it as it were. So, he thought, let me enter into them. Into these bodies. And I have to enter in two forms. Prana should enter through the foot and Chaitanyam should enter through the Brahmarandra on the top of the head. Why is it so? Remember, much of it is imaginary. What is imaginary? It is said in our scriptures, when a person performs a lot of spiritual sadhana and he realizes God, almost, and then his pranas will depart through the Brahmarandra. It is a marvellous concept. When the time comes, I will go into more details.

But, as I said, I was forestalling. Now here, Bhagawan's house is ready, the world, that means the world is ready, bodies are ready, indriyas are ready, pranas are there, everything is there, but Chaitanyam has to be there. And I, pure consciousness, have to enter into them. And before that, he is thinking, 'Madrute, without me, Siddham, how can this world function? How can this body function? How can this mind function? How can anything function? Without consciousness, prana will not be there. Where there is prana, there will be consciousness. Where there is consciousness, there will be prana. And without these two death will be there. But if there is no creation at all, no Jeevatma is there, what is the point of the whole creation? It is just like building. I believe that in China, that is what is being done. Millions of buildings have been built, nobody to live in them. Now they are destroying them. So that is what happens. Destruction has to be done. Not only Bhagawan enters into them, but when these houses become old, like worn-out dresses, He will simply demolish and reconstruct. His greatest recycler is Bhagawan, Srishti, Stithi, and Laya. So He will not, nothing is thrown away as waste. So without Madhruti, Prithi means without me, without, Prithi means without, Math means me, without me, Kathamno Idam, so what is going to happen with all this world? So He thought, that means I must enter into them. Suppose I don't enter, what happens? Katarena Prapadyayate, all these things, how are they going to function? That is, the eyes and the speech and the prana and the eyes and the ears and the skin and the nostrils and the mind and the apana with which earlier we saw the food was taken. Who is going to take the food? If a person is dead, who is going to eat the food? Who will know this is food? Even does he get hungry? So, no organ and as I mentioned earlier, every organ is only etc. because the complete description of the organs is not given, only a few are mentioned. So Bhagawan thought that they cannot function, that is what He wants to tell, 'Sai Ikshata.' He the creator thought in Himself, how could this aggregate of body and organs exist without me? That means how do they function? I have to enter in the form of prana, I also have to enter in the form of pure consciousness. Then He said to Himself further, if speech can be uttered by the organ of speech, smelling is done by the breath, seeing is done by the eyes, hearing by the ears, touching by the skin, thinking by the mind, eating by the apana, and the emission of semen by the virile member, then who am I? That means what? It is a little bit involved language. What does it mean? It means if I, pure consciousness, do not enter into the body and enliven and make them function, then all these things will be totally useless. Then what was all this description about? It means really speaking that speech cannot be uttered without me, smelling cannot be done without me, seeing cannot be done without me, and thinking cannot be done without me, touching cannot be done without me means consciousness, eating cannot be done without me and emission that is procreation is not possible without me. That was the essence of this particular mantra here.

That means I must make them live. Only a living person can see, can hear, can smell, can eat, can procreate, can propagate; everything can be done. Instead of saying simply he entered it. This theme of entering is called Anupravesha Shruti, and in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, practically in every Upanishad, we have seen in Shweta Shatra, in Prashna Upanishad, etc., also, this Anupravesha Shruti is specially expounded so graphically, in so much detail in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and the same meaning that I have given earlier, if there is a house, it is totally useless. The house is inert. It cannot know I am a house. It cannot know I am supposed to be lived by somebody, use me and enjoy himself, and I will not know anything about who is enjoying me. Every object, whether it is a car, a fridge, freezer or whether it is an aeroplane, pen or your dress or anything, a dead body cannot enjoy. There is no person called a dead person. Though even though we say that person is dead, previously he was alive, now you have to say it is a dead body. Never say it is a dead person. Person is different. Person means with consciousness, with awareness, with full carefulness. But the moment Pranas leave, the moment Chaitanya also leaves, both go together and that thing cannot be called. You cannot even call it a thing because it is totally useless, and very soon it will be absorbed into its constituent elements by what was there earlier. This is the beautiful meaning. What does it mean? It means I, the Jeeva, have to enter. Naturally, the question comes, enter into what? Enter into the body. Here it is called the house. House means body. For what purpose? To live there. For what purpose? Eating and dying? No, the body has to be used. For what purpose? I told you, Srishti, Sthiti, and Laya. I gave a special meaning if you still remember that one. Every thought in this Upanishad requires special memory to remember. What is Srishti? Let me enjoy myself. Let me bespoke myself. Let me do Leela myself. That is called Srishti. Why? Because it is not my Srishti. It is not an animal's Srishti. It is Bhagawan's Srishti, Paramatma's Srishti. Srishti means He Himself is manifesting, spreading as every object in this world, both the experiencer and the experienced, the subject and the object as well. But having created, and we accept the Darwinian theory of evolution, first I become Panchabhutas, inorganic. Slowly I develop into organic. One-celled, then multi-celled, then small insects, plants, birds, animals, slowly evolving all the time and finally coming to the peak human body and still evolving from Tamoguna to Rajoguna to more and more Satvaguna, and that is the real secret of the caste system. And once I become a Brahmana, then my further evolution takes place. First through the Karmakanda, Bhoga, and then only this Nishreyasa will come. First, it will be only worldly enjoyment, then only spiritual enjoyment will come. That is why in other lectures, I have outlined five types of happiness: Vishayananda, Medhananda, Kalananda, Dharmananda, and Brahmananda. The crux of the matter is with each one of these; we go on evolving. That is the meaning of Stithi. Creation is getting ready. Stithi is slowly moving forward inescapably, helplessly because, as I said, we are standing on the escalator. Will it or not, we are being taken forward. That is what Darwin has discovered, a part of it. Only biological evolution but moral and spiritual evolution, every one of us, each one of us has to rediscover. And finally, Laya. What is the special meaning of Laya? Not rebirth. That is going back into our original nature. That is the final evolution. So it is a marvellous thing, and then Bhagawan He decided to enter into that which we will see in our 12th mantra in our next class tomorrow.