Devi Suktam Lecture 10 on 21 December 2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We have been enjoying the Devi Suktam. In our last class we have been discussing the fifth mantra of this Devi Suktam. The Divine Mother, that is to say, the lady called Vak. She became a knower of Brahman, became Brahman, identified herself with Brahman and then she was telling, just like our Holy Mother, once somebody asked, why do we always find you involved in worldly matters? She smiled sweetly and said, what to do my son? I am Maya herself. But then she became grave and added liberation and bondage. She did not of course add the word bondage. Liberation is in my own hands. That means bondage also in her own hands. The power of binding and releasing, both will be in the hands of the Divine. Here through this realization, I am Brahman. A Rishi called Vak Brahman is telling us that I am the Divine Mother. I was the Divine Mother, not that I have become the Divine Mother. I was the Divine Mother, I forgot, I thought I was an ordinary girl. Then I did Tapasya and then I got the knowledge of my own Self. Now I have become one with Brahman. I am called also the Jaganmata, Divine Mother. What is she telling? Aham eva svayam idam udami. I myself am telling you, God himself is telling, Divine Mother herself is telling. What is she telling? Yushtam, worshipped, praised, honoured by whom? Deve bhihi, by all the Gods and Goddesses. Utha as well as Manushye bhihi, by human beings. And human beings are of two types. Those who have got the qualities of Daivi Sampath and those who have the qualities of Asuri Sampath. It is not that human beings are born as Asuras or Devas. No, depending upon what they do and we always change our qualities. Sometimes we do good things, sometimes not so good things. So this is the play of the three Gunas. Srishti sthiti vinashanam, shakti bhute sanatani, unashraye gunamayi, Narayani namo sthute. So that is what the Divine Mother is telling here. That when people, these Devatas, what do they realise? We have become, I have become Indra, I became Agni, I became Vayu, I became all the different Gods and Goddesses. How? This we get in the story of Kena Upanishad. Uma, Aimavati, she gave Brahma Gnanam to both Agni, Vayu, Indra and many other Gods or Goddesses. And then they realised, that realisation, we are just mere instruments. Ma Amisharanagato, I am surrendering myself to You, O Mother. And that was Sri Ramakrishna's refrain from the very beginning of his Sadhana. He understood that man by himself can never do anything, it is only the Divine Mother. So he surrendered himself totally to the Divine Mother. And she is here, this Rishika herself is telling this, that when people understand, that means when they get rid of their egotism and realise the truth, we do not exist separately, if at all we are existing, it is only by the power of the Divine Mother. Then what happens? The meaning of the word Jushtam means worshipped, honoured, praised, etc. Another meaning is, I am highly pleased with all these things. What? Pleased by whom? By the truthful expressions of all the Gods and Goddesses, as well as any Sadhaka who surrenders himself. O Mother, please, I take refuge in You and She will provide everything, Iha, Para. And then she is telling, she is declaring, Yam Kama Ehe, upon whomsoever I want to bestow my grace. Kama means desire and whatever I desire, I want to give this person this, the other person something else. Yam Yam Kama Ehe, though there are no two words Yam Yam, but we have to presume that one. Yam Kama Ehe, that person upon whom I want to bestow my grace, Tam Ugram Karomi, here Ugra has got two meanings, One meaning is very ferocious, frightful, scary, that is one meaning. But that is also true, anybody who becomes very angry, he doesn't know what he will do. His anger also concentrates all the powers that a person has. Even people can kill his parents, grandparents. Rarely it happens, but it is happening in many many countries, even in India. For the sake of money or while drunk or while enraged, for whatever reason, persons can do and then regret later on. So Tam Tam Ugram Karomi, Ugram means that unopposable. I make him very very strong, so that other people can never overcome them. They will be of the strongest persons. Not only that, whatever a person desires, when we pray to God, the Divine Mother understands. This person wants money, this person wants wealth, this person wants name and fame, this person wants true knowledge, this person wants wisdom, Brahma Gnanam, this person. For example, in the Durga Saptashruthi, both the merchant and businessman wanted Brahma Gnanam. And when the same Divine Mother offered, what do you want? And the king, what did he say? I want to remain a king, because his desires were not satiated, he wanted. So the mother said, yes, but I am not only giving you what you desire at the moment. I know you are a boy child, you are hungry now, so you are asking for food. But after some time, you want to be liberated from every type of desire. That is to say, I will give you liberation. And then after satiating your desires through some experience, then you will become a discriminative, discerning person. And then you will come to me, Oh Mother, all this time I wasted, only liberation alone is the only Paramapurusha Artha and I will give that person at that time. I am not saying, so foolishly you asked this, why should I bother to give? A loving mother will give the very best, whether the child knows it or not. In fact, the whole life, what does a loving mother do? She thinks, what is the best for my children? And the Divine Mother, the Mother of the whole universe, that is what she also thinks. So, tam brahmanam, some people want, I want to become Brahman. Not brahmanam means, we can also take it, I want to attain to the position of Indra, Chandra, Prajapati, Brihaspati or Brahma. That also she will give, because these positions are not some persons, they are positions. So, a Prime Minister, an MP, MLA, a Minister, these are all positions. So, if a person just wants only liberation, I will give him liberation. Tamrishim, I will make him a great Sadhaka. Tam Sumedham, some people want, I want to defeat everybody in debate. Remember the story of Gauri Pandit. He worshipped the Divine Mother and Divine Mother had given him two marvellous boons. One of the boons was, he can perform Homa, lighting of the fire in his one left hand side. So, he will be having nearly one and a half months of firewood. And he pours ghee and then he lits it up and it will be blazing for nearly one and a half hours. And with the right hand, he will be offering all by himself. What happens? Is his hand reduced to ashes? Nothing happens, as if he is doing in a Homa Kunda. Just as even we cannot bear sometimes performing these things even in a Homa Kunda, because the heat can scorch us. But no, this person as if is sitting right in Himalayas. So, whatever a person wants, Kalidasa, he wanted Panditya and Divine Mother has given him. Sri Ramakrishna, he wanted two boons. One boon is, Mother, I want to realise you and she gave. Do you know what the second boon Sri Ramakrishna asked? Probably, you don't remember, you don't recollect. I want to become an emperor of devotees. I just don't want to be an ordinary devotee. I want to be one of the greatest devotees. So, I am myself telling you and what I am telling you is nothing but the truth. So, I am announcing the Gospel Tidings, Great Tidings. What is it? That when Gods and men or anybody, even Asuras, remember our Puranas, marvellous books, every Asura practically, when he wants power, he approaches God. Shamelessly, he performs Tapasya and we are going to come across such a story very soon. And God, will He give? Yes, this child wants to play Leela for some time. So, He will definitely give. One of the very important points we have to note down here. So, whether it is Brahma or Shiva or Vishnu and Vishnu rarely gives. That is why He is called by many as a crafty fellow. He will never give boons to Asuras. Otherwise, He Himself has to suffer a lot afterwards. Whereas, Brahma and Shiva, whenever they grant boons without thinking, then these Asuras turn against them and they want to fight. And then they don't see any way because they have given the boons. You can beat me. This is the Vara. This Brahma and Shiva will give to them. You can reduce me to ashes. Bhasmasura has a story. So, then they say, Oh Bhagawan Vishnu, Vishnu, we have committed a mistake. Of course, these are books written by Vaishnavas. Don't forget that one. Shiva Bhaktas never write that way. If at all they write, they say, Vishnu Bhaktas, they commit these mistakes. Anyway, even these Asuras realize the source of all power is only in the Divine Mother. Whatever we want, we want food, it is only coming from Mother Annapurna. We want Prana, it's coming from Vayu Devata. We want name, fame, wealth, Lakshmi. Wisdom, Saraswati. Victory, Kartikeya. Freedom from all obstacles, Ganesha. So, every human being, whatever be the desires, expressed or unexpressed, but if they surrender to the Divine, she will fulfill. This is what she is telling. So, the person I love, I make mighty in strength. I make another person a knower of Brahman. I make another person a sage, a Rishi. I make another person a learned scholar or some people want to be wise people and I will elevate them to the wisdom. So, Bhagam Bruni, Rishika is now telling us, I realized Brahman, I realized that I was Brahman, I am Brahman, I will be Brahman. Not that I was not Brahman and through Tapasya, I became Brahman. Merely the forgetfulness that I am Brahman, which is temporarily there and that is what Arjuna was answering Bhagavan Krishna, that Smruti Labdha, Nashto Mohaha Smruti Labdha, Tatt Prasadat Maya Achyuta, by your grace. And here also, O Mother, by your grace, I obtained this one. So, Bhagam Bruni, Rishika is telling now, I am Brahman, this is my nature, I am the Divine Mother, I am the Divine Father. Shakti Bhute Sanatani, I become one with God and therefore, I am God, therefore, I am Divine, therefore, everything, power, non-power, everything is me. Sat, Chit, Ananda, everything that comes from me. It's my power which exists in all the Jivas as Jivas and it is that power which is responsible for eating the food. Who provides the food? Who creates Jivas? Me. Who became the Jivas? Me. Who provides food for the Jivas? Me. And who digests it? Me. And who is seeing? Me. Who is hearing? Me. Who is thinking? Me. So, I am giving this teaching to you, Te Vadami. Beautiful word. Here, as usual, the Shayana comes for our aid. So, He who created, Srishti, Stithi, Inashaanaam, Shakti Bhute. It is not that Mother creates, Mother Herself enters. So, first, Srishti, Tat Srishtva, Tat Eva Anupravishami, Tat Eva Anupravishat. This is the mantra. Having entered, having created, Bhagawan Himself entered. What does it mean? Like clay creating the pot, He entered as it were because we cannot understand that power. How can the same being create and enter? But that is the Rishi's words. How to understand? So, just imagine that the clay or gold has become ornament and having become as it were entered. Why? Entered means what? Entered means we are forgetting that this ornament is nothing but gold only. Ornament doesn't exist. Gold in a particular name and form is the ornament. But when we think a little bit deeply, oh, this is nothing but gold. That knowledge is called as if gold was waiting for us to recognize this is gold. There is no special, another, second object called ornament. That is called Pravishami. This is called Pravesha Shruti. Very, very marvellous. So, it is my power and I create. What is there in Bhagavad Gita, we get. Bhagavad Gita is nothing but essence of the Upanishads. In the 15th chapter, we get who supplies food, Surya and Chandra. As the Sun, I produce all the plants, etc. That is energy. And as Chandra, I enter into them as different powers, different medicinal effects, different tastes, Prasa, Ananda. When you eat a medicine and it cures the disease, it leads to Ananda. When you eat tasty food, that leads to Ananda. And you have provided food and you have cooked the food. And how did you cook the food? By lighting up the fire. And then, without fire, can you cook? No. And then, having cooked the food, what did you do? You have to digest. So, can you digest? No. So, He says that I enter at अहम् वैश्वानरोभूत्वा प्राणिनाम् देहमाश्रितः प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचामिअन्नम् चतुर्विधम् You eat any type of food. भक्ष्यम्, भोज्यम्, लेपियम्, etc. Food is divided into four types. That which is lickable, that which is drinkable, that which is chewable, that which is swallowable, etc. Sometimes, when something is very good, we cannot wait to chew properly. Gada, gada, gada, like that, we go on swallowing everything until our stomach swells. So, all this type of food goes inside. Baba, who is going to digest it? अहम् वैश्वानरो Then, I lit myself as the digestive power. Hydrochloric acid, and I digest. Some people, Bhima Sena, he is called उरुकोदराः. उरिका means wolf. उदरा means stomach. That means like the stomach of a wolf. It is said, wolfing down, there is an expression. So, there are some people who cannot wait for that terrible suffering from starvation, hunger, and they have to wolf it down. I have seen people who don't chew small balls of what is called ragi, malt, etc. And they just make a small fistful of balls and then just swallow them with some chutney and all those things. And they are able to digest it. So, who is digesting? अहम् वैश्वानरो उत्वा प्राणिनाम् देह माश्रितः प्राणा पानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नम् चतुर्विधम् And here, Agambrani Rishi, what is he telling? I am the food, I am the eater of the food, I am also the digester of the food, so that I can get energy. I am Shakti Swaroopini and I perform all activities. What activities? सृष्टि स्थिति लया Every activity is nothing but सृष्टि स्थिति लया And I am giving this teaching to the person upon whom I bestowed my grace. And what am I telling about it? ईद्रुषम् ब्रह्मात्मकं वस्तु तेतु बियं वदामि उपधिषामि My child, I am pleased with you, so I am giving you ब्रह्मग्नानम् ईद्रुषम् ब्रह्मात्मकं वस्तु Everything is Brahman, that means you do not exist. And this is the gist of the third chapter of the Kena Upanishad. Uma Haimavati, the Divine Mother, says she is Parabrahman, because of whom only you Devatas were able to conquer the Asuras in the battle. That is to say, if anybody is a good person, that means he conquered evil nature. How did he conquer? Only by the grace of the Divine Mother. So these Devatas had fought a battle and they won the war and they became proud, forgetting that it is the Divine Mother who made them win. And Uma grants them that teaching. In our time, it is Mother Sharda Devi who will give that one. That is why who is telling? Sri Ramakrishna was telling. She is Saraswati. She has come in the form of Bhagala to grant knowledge to all of us. And that is there exactly Sri Ramakrishna's what we call a vision of Lord Vishwanatha at Manikarnika Ghat that he was liberating and he was only uttering the mantra. Okay, okay, okay, you are Brahman. But who the hell is going to cut off all the bondages? And that was not there in the scriptures. And then Mother Kali lovingly cuts off all the bonds and sending every soul who dies in Varanasi into that state of Mukti. So Divine Brahman as it were telling to the Mother, these are all your children, you liberate them. And then His command is the grace of the Divine Mother. So this Brahman about whom I am going to teach you now, why? Because I am pleased with you. Worshipped by the Gods like Indra or anybody, any Rishi, any human being and anybody in the past, present, future. Anybody. That's why it says Uta Manushye Bhi. Uta means also but it doesn't mean only Rishis. Any Asura. Are there Asuras who wanted only Brahman? We forget many times who was Prahlada? Who was Bali Chakravarti? Bali Chakravarti was the grandson of Prahlada. And who was Prahlada? Where was he born? To Hiranyakashyapu. He was the son of Hiranyakashyapu. And who was Hiranyakashyapu? He is the Asura. But before that, what was he? He was the greatest to Bhakta. Jaya and Vijaya were born as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu. Each soul is potentially Divine. There are no Asuras, there are no Devas. Everything is the Divine Mother. And then what do you do, Mother? She is Herself telling. So do you want my child? You want to. What is called unopposable, unconquerable strength. Tam Tam Ugram Karome. Krunomi means Karome. I will transform him. I will give him tremendous power. Nobody can resist him. Tam Brahmanam. He wants, I want, I had. Enough of these things. And here the point to be noted is that nobody is... He was evolving and he becomes very, very, very wise. And then he asks for liberation. No. This fellow, first he was endowed with Tamoguna and behaved like a Rakshasa. Then he was endowed with Prajoguna. Then he behaved like any young man or young woman, running after each other to gratify all the five sense organs. Then when he grew up and children and he understood the wisdom has come. Wisdom teeth have come because normal teeth have fallen down. So he became what we call Vedanti. Wisdom has come. And very painful wisdom has come. Because they say even the wisdom tooth comes in old age. It is extremely painful. So give me liberation, Mother. I cannot bear intolerable this what is called Tritapa. All right. You have pleased me. I will definitely give it. Tam Risham Krunomi. You want to discover some new truth. Who is a Rishi? Mantra Drashta. What is Mantra Drashta? Mantra means truth. So anybody, somebody discovers a new scientific truth. He is a Rishi. Somebody discovers a new art. He is a Rishi. Somebody discovers a new recipe. He is a Rishi. So like that, anybody who discovers something marvelous, that person is a Rishi. So if a scientist wants to be a great scientist, I will make him a scientist. In fact, every scientist is made only a scientist. That means their scientific knowledge comes directly from the Divine Mother Saraswati or from Brahma in the form of Saraswati. Tam Sumedham Krunomi. Some people want to be endowed with right knowledge. Sumedha. So Buddhi Yogam Tadamyaham Diyo Yonaha Prachodayat. You want real Buddhi. I will make you. I will give you Buddhi. I will make you Buddhiman. So this is what we also studied in the Medha Suktam. I hope you recollect. At least now. Tvaya Yushta Anudamana Duruktan Brihad Vadema Vitate Suviraha Tvaya Yushta Rishik Bhavati Devi Tvaya Brahma Agata Sri Ruta Tvaya Tvaya Yushta Chitram Vindate Vasusano Yusha Swadra Vinona Medhe Exactly the same meaning. Also recollect Kali Dasa's prayer. And immediately Mother Kali, he who was appearing like an idiot, she was pleased with him and then he became unconscious. She just looked at him and he got up. One of the greatest. And then you know, this in the before writing the Raghuvamsham, Kali Dasa expresses this prayer. What does he say? Vagarthav Ivasampruptav Vagartha Pratipatthaye Jagathah Pitarau Vande Parvati Parameshwarau So Vagarthav Ivasampruptav means speech and Artha meaning they can never be separated. The moment you hear this is a table, the object table in all its glory stands in front of your mind. So the meaning of a word and a word can never be separated. We are talking, this is a word, this is a meaning. But in practice you can never separate them. Sampruptav Vagarthav Ivasampruptav So Vagartha Pratipatthaye Oh Mother, can I write a great book like Raghuvamsham? Unless you sit on my tongue and talk. I mentioned to you in my last class, Swami Vivekananda, he stood in front of that grand platform of the world religion held at Chicago. And even he became a little bit scared because everybody, they were not ordinary people, highly learned people, most of them, not that they were not ordinary people, but most of them were PhDs, doctors, etc. And their one aim was to demolish every other religion including Hinduism. But the Divine Mother's will was otherwise. Hinduism stood up as the great, not only greatest, as the only religion. That's why Swami Vivekananda used to say, If India disappears, then the best wisdom disappears along with India. That means Hinduism. Hinduism, India will never disappear because it stands for all the marvellous wisdom. Is every damned Indian a wise person? No, in fact, otherwise. Exactly the opposite. But this sacred wisdom that all religions lead to the same goal. The only goal of life is Mukti, liberation. Each soul is potentially divine. Every path is a path directly leading to God, provided the person sincerely believes in it. These marvellous truths because of the lack of which nations are fighting even today with each other. They hate each other. They want to annihilate each other. And this is the greatest tragedy. If India disappears, Hinduism disappears, this sacred wisdom disappears, then what remains is chaos. And what is the result of chaos? Soon the whole world will get destroyed. The result of chaos is always like that. So Kalidasa's prayer we have said. Now Sri Ramakrishna's prayer. Oh mother, I am a fool. Make me do what you want me to do. Make me speak what you want. You speak through my mouth. I am the instrument. Make me dance as you wish me to dance. Also recollect the story of Kanakadharastavam. You know, Shankaracharya went for begging. She stood in front of a very, very poor widow. And she felt, here is my own son coming to beg me. He said, Mother, Ma, give me some bhiksha. And what did she have? Only one dried amlaki. So with tears in hand, she said, My son, I have nothing else excepting this. Please take it. And only one amlaki. She should have eaten that one. And then Shankaracharya's heart melted in pity. Immediately, you know. So tam tam ugram karo me. Tam rishim. Tam sumedham. And then earlier also we have seen Agatha Sri utatvaya. You want to become wealthy? I will make you wealthy. And this is what Shankaracharya prayed. Angam hare pulakabhoshanam ashrayanti. Brunganganeva mukulabharanam tamalam. What a marvellous kanakadhara sthamam. And there was a rain of golden amlakis all over her compound. Mother, all this Divine Mother has granted to you. Please use. And what do you think? Anybody who has been granted by the Divine Mother and because of their bhakti, they will also use it in three ways. For their own simple needs, first. Second, whatever is remaining in what is called Bhagavat Seva, Pooja and Dharidra Seva. This is how Sudama had spent his money. This is how Upendra Mukhopadhyaya spent his money. This is how this lady also must have spent. Because where there is no humility, nothing will be accumulating there, collecting there. So he says, So whomever I please, I will give you. Then the doubt may come that is God partial? Some people will give riches. No, He is a Karma Adhyaksha. He is a Vidhata. He only distributes the fruits of those Karmas. And here in some cases, it is the Tapasya, which is the good Karma. So depending upon the Yogyata, intrinsic merit of the person who has earned for himself the good things of life. Depending upon that, the mother will elevate him. And if a person has done bad things in life, then he is naturally brought down for a short time. There is nothing called eternal hell. As per the rules of the game, this is called cosmic law. That is called Karma Siddhanta. That is why, So Sri Ramakrishna wanted to give Narendra. But he was not ready. And then, so greatest strength, I mean anything my children want. I mentioned last time, whether it is Kanchi Kamakshi, Madhura Meenakshi, Kashi Vishalakshi, it doesn't really matter. But then, when God's grace comes, here is a point we all have to keep in mind. The divine mother never says, my child is very happy if I give him wealth. But she says, this is my child. He will grow up. He will learn the lesson. I will make him learn the lesson. Finally, he will come to me, Ma, please give me what? Moksha. I will give him Moksha. When he is ready, I am ready. I am ever ready. This is what we need to understand all the time. It is the divine mother. Now, we move on to the sixth mantra. What does it mean? I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow might slay the hater of the words of sacred wisdom. That is Tripuras. Tripura Asuras. I rouse the people and make them strive. I have entered the earth and heaven, filling everything. That means, I am everything. There is nothing other than me. I am Satsvaroopini. So, Aham Rudraya. When Rudra, one of the incarnations of Shiva or one of the forms of Shiva, Rudra, Rodayati Iti Rudraha. Those evil doers, because of their evil deeds, Lord in the form of Rudra makes them weep because you have committed evil deeds. So, the result of evil deeds is intense, unbearable anguish, suffering. But how did Rudra kill a particular type of Asuras? A story we are going to come to later on. So, in those days, people used to fight with bow and arrows. Mahabharata is very famous. Shastra and Astra and so many things were there, including Brahmastra, etc. So, Shiva had to string the bow and discharge the arrow. And it requires tremendous amount of strength. And you can see it. When Rama wanted to marry Sita, Vishwamitra took Rama Lakshmana there. And then you know what happened. There was a Shiva Dhanush. Nobody can lift excepting Shiva. And Shiva granted that to Janaka Maharaja, Sita Devi's father. And many people came. It is said including Ravanasura had come. But he could not even lift. He fell down unconscious. Then Rama came smilingly. And then just what we call Avalela, without the least bit of effort, he simply lifted it, strung it. And then they say it is an old bow. So, it could not stand that stringing. It broke into two pieces. But it made such a sound. And then Parashurama, he heard about it. My divine God, Ishta Devata's Dhanu, I want to kill. And Parashurama, unfortunately, these Pauranic stories are full of intrigue, sometimes un-understandable. So, Parashurama came. I am an incarnation. And who is this new incarnation, latest incarnation, latest fashion? So, he came across and smilingly. So, he defeated Parashurama. And then Parashurama bowed and said, All the strength left because the Divine Mother withdrew her power, which was very much working until that time. So, Rudra, Brahma granted boons to some four Rakshasas, Asuras. And they started harassing Gods, human beings and other Asuras, everybody. Then, as usual, these fellows ran and then took refuge in China or whatever it is. And then you must save us. And then Vishnudeva, he said, Shiva, this is your job. Only you can kill them. So, he did. This is a very symbolic story. In today's story, we will only explore this particular aspect. But I just want to give a simple meaning before coming to the first line. Brahma Dvishaya. Dvisha means those who hate, Shatrus. Shatrus of whom? Brahma. That is good people, spiritual people, wise people, Rishis, Munis, Sadhakas. And that is why Vishwamitra came to take the help of Sri Rama and Lakshmana, especially Sri Rama. So that I want to do what is called Vishwamitra. That is for the welfare of the whole world. Some Yagna. But these Asuras come at the right time and pour unmentionable things into the fire, destroying all the effects. That is, Vishwamitra wanted to proclaim the greatness of Sri Rama. Not that he did not have any power. Why? Because he was only the Guru, Shastra Guru. Like Ronacharya was the Guru of all the Pandavas, he was only responsible for teaching on the way. He taught him all the Shastra Vidya. And then with these Shastras, you will do. This is only the introduction. Later on, Ravanasura and 14,000 Asuras, you will have to kill. And for that purpose, I am endowing you with this. This is only the beginning. The first enemy that came was Putana. What is Putana? Sri Rama said, how can I kill a woman? Then Vishwamitra convinces him, This is a woman, though it may be, but she is an embodiment of evil. And therefore, you will have to kill anybody. There is no male, there is no female. There is only a division of good as well as evil. I become an instrument in the destruction of those who hate all the good people, all the sadhakas. That is to say, those who are opposite to all Gnanam, Agnanam. I destroy Agnanam. And then Aham, myself as Brahman. Not like a dictator saying, I will protect you. Aham Janaya, for people who worship me. That means, who obtained the Yogyata, fitness to receive my grace. Samadham Kurnoomi. Here Madham is a very peculiar Sanskrit word. Madha means terrible, what is called pride. Or you can say egotism. So he is very strong in his egotism. He cannot tolerate anybody. No. Here Samadham means Samaram. Samaram means Yuddham. Here is a person, he is a very good person. And he is necessarily made to fight against the opposite party. And then I will see that he conquers. And the greatest Asura, the greatest foe is Agnanam. Who can conquer? That is why Bhagawan says, Who can conquer my Maya? But those who take refuge in me, I give them the power to overcome. Those who completely surrender themselves to me. Then I tell, as Ramakrishna puts it beautifully, This is my mother. Mother means what? A loving husband, he addresses his wife as a loving mother. Ma, this is our child. So like that you should not obstruct him because he called you mother. He took refuge. And I fight on his behalf. And when I fight on his behalf, I will make him victorious. And then the highest wisdom, I have created the Swarga Loka, the Antariksha Loka, the Bho Loka, And then I only am manifesting in their forms. That means, That is the meaning of the yearbook. So, So what happened is a famous story. So there were what is called Rakshasas. Four Rakshasas called Tripuras and Shiva destroys them. So that is why one of the names of Lord Shiva is Tripura Dahana. Dahana means one who burns. Tripurari, the enemy of Tripuras. Tripurahara, one who demolishes Tripuras. That is Thoola Sokshma Karana Shariraas. Tripura also means Sattva. Prajashatama, three Gunas. Tripura Dahana. So this is the story. It is said that Tarakasura was a great Asura and he got a boon. Accepting Shiva's son, nobody can destroy him. So Shiva had to produce a son called Subramanya. That is when the story of Kamadeva comes and then makes Shiva feel a little bit lustful. So he got Subramanya. Shiva according to Puranas has two sons. One is Subramanyam, Karthikeya, Shanmuka, same names. And the other is our famous Ganesha. So this Tarakasura can be only killed by him. And then this Subramanyam, he went and destroyed them. Now this Tarakasura had a brother called Maya. And this Tarakasura himself had three children. So what are they? So Tarakasura, Vidyamali, Kamalaksha. What beautiful names! Vidyamali, a garland of Vidya. Kamalaksha, lotus eyed Tarakasura. So though Asuras, our Indian parents are very good. A squint eyed fellow is called lotus eyed, Paddalochana, like that. So these three children of Tarakasura and as well as Taraka's brother Maya, four Rakshasas. And they all, what did they do? Lot of austerity. Then Brahma rengered himself. What do you want? Because the power of Tapasya, the power of Karma cannot be stopped. Then Maya requested Brahma, though all four of us, we must become immortal so that we will never die and we can go on harassing everybody including you and Vishnu and Shiva. And secondly, Maya should have the power, a special power to create or to build three wonderful cities which will be constantly flying, which can never be destroyed by anybody else. Chaturmukha Brahma, of course, he was a wise man. So he said you cannot become Amaras because only Brahma, Brahman is Amara. But anything created must go back into its cause, that is Brahman. So nobody can attain what is called immortality excepting the knower of Brahman. Death has to come to every being that is created sooner or later. But the second power I can give you, you will be able to create four wonderful cities and the children of Taraka and each one of you become the king of one, one, and they will be what is called Puras, continuously moving. But there are three conditions which were imposed on Maya by Brahma. What are they? But first of all, the condition was they should never come together because if one fellow itself is so great, all the three come together, nobody will be able to withstand them. If the moment they come together, their Varas will be destroyed. And the second condition is that they should live in those three cities and they should never lift a small finger against the Devas. So you enjoy them. I give you that power because of your Tapasya. But you should never lift a finger, even think of picking up a fight with the Devas. But the third condition is that you must always worship Lord Shiva. Brahma is telling only as long as you fulfill these three conditions, then you can have that power. You will have three beautiful cities. Very symbolic story which we will come to later on. So for a long time, they accepted these conditions. They became very powerful. They were separately ruling them. They were going where they wanted to go. So just like your satellite, they were endowed with so much intelligence and they never lifted their finger against the Devas and they were the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva. But then what happens? There is a beautiful poem of Goldsmith, an English poet, where wealth accumulates, their men decay. Certainly, gradually, they gave up worshipping Lord Shiva and they became swollen with pride, Ahankara. And these Gods, who are they? Why are they enjoying? Let us be Gods. So all the three conditions they have neglected. They came together and then Shiva took up the bow and arrow and with one arrow, he destroyed all of them. So there is a wonderful description of how he killed. So Bhumi, the earth, was made the Ratha, chariot. The four Vedas were the horses pulling the chariot. And Brahma was the charioteer himself. And Mandara Parvatha himself is the Dhanush, the bow. And Adisesha was made the string. And Maha Vishnu was the arrow. See, how symbolic it is. So what does it mean? All the powers of the Gods were concentrated in the hands of Lord Shiva and at one stroke, he destroyed all these three cities. That's why after killing them, it is called Tripurari, Tripurahara, and Tripuradahana, Tripuranashaka, etc., etc. But what is the symbolism? Symbolically, it means that these three Asuras, they can be called three Gunas. Jagrat, Swapna, Sushrupta, they can be called. Stola Sharira, Sukshma Sharira, Karan Sharira. This is called Maya. Remember, Ramakrishna called all the three Gunas robbers, including Satvaguna, who brought the traveller safe to the edge of the forest, showed him his own place and said, there is your village, now you can go. Sir, you saved my life. Why don't you come with me? We will be honoured to honour you. He said, no, I am also one of the gang of the robbers. Guna means equality. Guna means that which binds. One meaning of the Sanskrit word Guna is a rope, that which binds. All the three Gunas bind. So, how does Satvaguna, Gnana, Sangena, Bhadranathi? In the 14th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Sat, Sukha and Gnana. These three bind a person. But how do they bind? When you have some amount of happiness, you don't want to move forward. When you have got some amount of Gnana, it says, I have the highest Gnanam. You cannot understand that there is higher knowledge. Whatever I have, I am the greatest. So, that is how, said Ramakrishna, funnily, Pan is to make Pan. Every Pass is called a Pasha. You become, you pass matriculation, one Pasha. And that is one rope, one more bondage. You pass what they call intermediate or P, you say another Pasha. B.A. and another Pasha. M.A. another Pasha. And then finally, you pass Ph.D. Permanent head damage. So, every Pass is a Pasha. So, they develop Asuri Sampathinas and it becomes intolerable. Is there any way out? Yes. In order to conquer these three Gunas, then we have to take refuge in Lord Shiva, Mahadeva. And by His grace, we will be able to destroy or transcend the three Gunas. This is the story. So, this is what she is telling. I, as Brahman, endow Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. It is a marvelous meaning. Still more meaning is there. And I will continue it in my next class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Kurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamami Moho Moho May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna