Khandana Bhava Bandhana Lecture 01 on 21 April 2019

From today, we are going to discuss about the meaning of ‘khaṇḍana bhava bandhana’ ( खण्डन भव बन्धन ). We will start with this - that why it started; How it started; And, how it became complete, later on.   

First, when the direct disciples, of Sri Rāmakrishna, were wandering in North India, they used to invariably stay in some place where monasteries were there. Every monastery in North India, in the evening, they have Āratrikam.

And monasteries or monastics are of two types. Shankarāchārya's Daśanāmi and Non-Daśanāmi. Non-Daśanāmi means those who are following the path of bhakti (devotion). There they sing inevitably Bhajans, kīrtana etc..   

But in the Daśanāmi Sampradāya, inevitably there would  be one Śivā Śivālaya. Because, Śivā is supposed to be the Yogeśvara. And there every evening, most usually, two things are sung before meditation. One is this Śivā Mahimna Stotram. Everyday they sing it. Śivā Mahimna Stotram.

mahimnaḥ pāraṁ tē paramaviduṣō yadyasadṛśī

महिम्न: पारं ते परमविदुषो यद्यसदृशी

It starts like that. At the end of it ‘Bom Bom Hara Hara Mahādeva’ goes on repeating.   

So when Swāmi Vivekānanda started Rāmakrishna Math, then He wanted something like that to be introduced. Why?  There are certain things - any organisation must have a structure. This structure must have something that everybody should follow. Otherwise it won't  be an organization.

What time they get up, what time they go to the temple, what time they do Pūjā. Invariably in most of the monasteries, either Śivā Pūjā or they do the Pūjā of Dakshinamūrthy, in Daśanāmi Sampradāya. Otherwise Rāma, Rāma Bhaktās, they are called Rāmāyat. Sri Rāmakrishna had come across that Rāmāyat pandit. He had a big book, and on every page was written only Rāma. Like that there are followers of Krishna. So many Vaishnava Sādhus are there. Similarly Shākta Sādhus are there. Bhairavi Brāhmani was one of them. Like that.

We are talking about Daśanāmi Sampradāya.

So Swāmiji, when He started this one, He wanted to have some structure. Otherwise, it becomes a Chaos. They have to come for breakfast, lunch, or evening tea, supper, at a particular time. Otherwise, it won't be an organization. So also, part of it is morning meditation and evening meditation.

Before evening meditation the mind has to be made a little bit prepared. Calm and quiet. For that Swāmiji wanted something. So what I heard was खण्डन भव बन्धन निरञ्जन नररूपधर निर्गुण गुणमय ( Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana nirañjana nara-rūpa-dhara ) नमो नमो प्रभु ( Namo Namo Prabhu ), from that onwards. In between nothing. This was composed by Swāmi Vivekānanda. This must have gone on for some time. Then somebody said that why don't you fill up some more of this.  

Then spontaneously, the Inspiration had come, then He completed it. This is it. It is not that from the very beginning the whole hymn has been sung. It has been done in several stages. So this is how Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana.

Now this Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana, is not a Sri Rāmakrishna stotram. It is not called Rāmakrishna’s stotram. It is called Avatāra stotram. It describes the birth, the purpose and the characteristics of an Avatāra. Now, how do we know it is not Rāmakrishna stotram? There is not one single mention about Sri Rāmakrishna in this first hymn.

( 05:34 mins )

You know, we have an order

• Khandana…
• Om Hrīm Ritam…
• Sarva Mangala … and then
• Prakṛtim Paramām

Prakṛtim Paramām & Sarva Mangala they belong to Holy Mother.

And Khaṇḍana and Om Hrīm Ritam…they belong to Sri Rāmakrishna. So this Om Hrīm Ritam is called Rāmakrishna stotram. In fact, it was based upon from Swāmi Vivekānanda’s Vision of Sri Rāmakrishna as Dvādasakshari Mahāmantra -12 - ॐ नमः भगवते रामकृष्णाय ( Om Namo Bhagavate Rāmakṛṣṇāya ) - you know that if you take the first letters, Om Hrīm Ritam, naktaṁ divaṁ, Na, mohaṅ-kaṣaṁ. Om Na Mo - There are four stanzas. Every stanza has got four lines. If you take the first letter of the first three lines -

Om Na Mo - from first stanza,

Bha Ga Va - from second stanza.

Te Rā Ma - third stanza.

Kṛ Ṣṇā Ya - yasmādaham aśaraṇo jagad-eka-gamya - So this is the fourth. 

If you repeat it, whether you know it or not, you are repeating Om Namo Bhagavate Rāmakṛṣṇāya.

So people like Swāmiji, they're called Rishis. They don't compose sitting like a poet like Rabindranath Tagore, looking at the half moon. He won't write. Inspiration comes. That is why it is called आर्ष प्रयोग् (Ārsha Prayoga)

That is why when Swāmiji completed Om Hrīm Ritam he called Sarat Chandra Chakravarthy, and said ‘You, Correct this’. He was a scholar, Sanskrit scholar. And there were a few problems, and it is not very elegant, I have to say. But he said this is Rishi Prayoga as it came from the mouth of a Rishi & so it cannot be corrected.

That is it.. that is going on. For us this problem doesn't arise. Whether it is Rishi prayoga or any prayoga, we don't know the beauty of the Sanskrit  language.

But, full of meaning. At the end of every fourth line we get तस्मात्त्वमेव शरणं मम दीनबन्धो ( tasmāt tvameva śaraṇaṁ mama dīna-bandho )

Coming back to Khaṇḍana, So it is called Avatāra stotra. What is the proof? The second line starts like this :

निरञ्जन नररूपधर ( Nirañjana Nararūpadhara ) - So That Highest Reality, which is stainless.

Stainless because partless. Partless - means Akhaṇḍa. Akhaṇḍa - means Infinite. Infinite -means eternal.

We will Slowly discuss about it. In this seventh line - जृम्भित-युग-ईश्वर जगदीश्वर योगसहाय ( jṛmbhita-yuga-īśvara jagadīśvara yogasahāya )

So who is an Avatāra? We are not talking about Rāmakrishna. An Avatāra is one - Jagadīśvara - He is the Lord of this entire universe.

But such an Īśvara, takes birth as a human being - Nararūpadhara.

For what purpose? Yogasahāya - To aid people in whichever path they are following. Here Yogasahāya - means Dharma Sahaya. Dharma Sahaya - means any religion. Because every religion has got sincere people. So these - the second line and seventh line is where we know this is as Avatāra stotra. And no one can understand an Avatāra .

जन्म कर्म च मे दिव्यमेवं यो वेत्ति तत्त्वतः ।

त्यक्त्वा देहं पुनर्जन्म नैति मामेति सोऽर्जुन ॥९॥

janma karma cha me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ

tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna ॥9॥

My janma is secret, mysterious. It is a mystery. And my activities are also mystery. For example, you know Kṛṣṇa was stealing. It is mysterious. He won't come and steal your butter. He will only steal from devotees, first of all. You know, why? Because, devotees are the most foolish people on earth. Householders  are, very clever people! If anybody wants to steal then he will be caught easily, who knows this better than God?

( 10:36 mins )

He will only steal from His greatest devotees, so that they remember Him and meditate upon Him. His act of stealing - through the butter He steals the very hearts of the devotees. Remember this! It is not the butter,  along with the butter, He will convert your heart into butter, and then takes it away.

Then what remains when you remove butter from milk? Butter milk. Peculiar word, I’ve never heard this, never found out the meaning of buttermilk. In Butter Milk there is no butter, there is no milk. Have you thought about it? It is not milk, there is no butter. What remains is called buttermilk. God Alone knows why?

So this is the secret - Janma and Karma. One who understands it… Understanding is of two types -

• Intellectual
• another is Faith.

Understanding through Faith is - ‘Oh Lord. I don't understand You, but I Know Who You Are’. And for everybody that is the only way. You can't understand something and not be changed. You have to change yourself. When you come to know this is God, you can't but Change.Yes!

Any true knowledge, produces instantaneous reaction (And I’m telling in between some secrets of knowledge). Any true knowledge must bring instantaneous reaction, change!

Suppose, you know, there is a lump in the blanket. You don't know what it is. You think it is a blanket. Suddenly, you remove the blanket and a huge bear is hiding behind it. It will come to strike you. The moment you see the bear, will there be a change in you or not? There has to be a change. 

So knowledge always binds.That is why you study any number of scriptures, if it doesn't bring a change, it is not knowledge, it is merely useless information.That's all.

So this is called Avatāra Stotram. Whatever has been written in it, it applies to every Avatāra. And as I mentioned, this is supposed to be sung just before meditation. We are supposed to sit for meditation after this is sung.  How does it help? Because, this is set, in such a way. This is called chow-tāla - four 16 mātrās. chow-tāla has  got 16 mātrās. That is why those who are giving that gong in our Temple - khaṇḍana bhava bandhana jaga vandana vandi tomāy…

This can be sung also in tri-tāla - khaṇḍana bhava bandhana. In fact, namo namo prabhu is sung like that. But if you sing that way, mind will not be peaceful. Only if you sing for 20 minutes nearly, you go on singing this, it has its inevitable effect upon us.

Swāmiji  was a musician, first class musician. That is why He knew that the purpose of music is to quieten the mind. Restless mind must become restful. That is why he had composed this.

( 15:09 mins )

So, all the secrets of the Avatāra He has made. This Avatāra-tattva is the most wonderful third principle of Hinduism. What is called Incarnation - Iṣṭa-devatā Siddhānta - which includes Avatāra-tattva. Hindus are the only religious people on Earth who believe that God incarnates as a human being. How many times? As many times as necessary?

But then what brings an Incarnation? What brings God down? When people forget who they are, and when we forget who we are, we also forget  what we are supposed to do. So, at that time, to help Humanity, God incarnates as a human being. This has been stated, so beautifully in the fourth chapter of the Bhagavad-Gitā -

अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्वरोऽपि सन् |

प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय सम्भवाम्यात्ममायया || ४/६ ||

ajo ’pi sannavyayātmā bhūtānām īśhvaro ’pi san |

prakṛitiṁ svām adhiṣhṭhāya sambhavāmyātma-māyayā || 4/6 ||

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत |

अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम् || ४/७ ||

yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata |

abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānaṁ sṛijāmyaham || 4/7 ||

When? For what purpose?

परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् |

धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे || ४/८ ||

paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśhāya cha duṣhkṛitām |

dharma-sansthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge || 4/8 ||

That we have to bring it here.

What is it? God incarnates.

For what purpose? Dharma Sthāpana.

What is Dharma Sthāpana? What is the Dharma? 

Sthāpana - means establishment.

What is Dharma? The meaning of Dharma is two fold. If you understand that you have correctly understand what is Dharma. The primary meaning of Dharma - is our true nature. We have forgotten, so we think we are not divine. That's what Swāmiji has said - “Each soul is potentially divine”!

We have forgotten! Forgotten! Even if someone tells us, we don't accept it. Am I  Divine? We don't accept it. I'm a human being. So human beings also - I'm a man, I'm a woman. And in that also - I am young, I am old, like that. We make fun. If an old man is trying to behave like a young man, they ridicule him. They call him, you know, ‘Old man, don't forget you are old’. But in America - euphemistic Society, they don't say old man, it's offensive. He says ‘Sir, you are a senior citizen.’

When you enter into a Train, even if it is full, somebody दबाक् ( dabāk ) he will get up and ‘Sir please take your seat’. What is he telling you? You are an old useless fellow, take your seat before you fall on somebody and injure somebody. This is the meaning. It is a very euphemistic Society. A woodcutter is called tree-sugeon. A 70 years old woman is called a girl. In the Aeroplanes, I don't know whether you noticed it, so, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls’. I was tempted to ask at what age people become ladies and gentlemen? Until that time they are boys and girls.

This is called euphemistic Society. What is euphemistic Society? We cover truth with a glittering gold plate. This is called euphemistic Society.

1. So what is Dharma primary meaning? I am Divine. I am not the body mind. That is My Svabhāva or Svarūpa. But we have forgotten. When a large segment of humanity forgets it, then God incarnates to establish and say, you are not a human being, you are Divine being and you must reclaim. You must know that you are a Divine being. So first meaning of Dharma is to remind us of who we really are.
2. The second meaning of Dharma is whatever helps us to manifest that Divinity, that is the secondary meaning. That means Karma-yogā, Bhakti-yogā, Raja-yogā, Jnāna-yogā or any Christianity, Hinduism, Islam or whatever it is.  Understand? So the rest is to make this instrument. 
3. Third Meaning of Dharma is to make this instrument. And there are only two instruments. What are those instruments? Body and mind.

( 20:48 mins )

So, If you are a child, you have to eat children's food. If you are a young man, young person's food. If you are old men, old person's food. And if you are a sick person, sick person's food because that is the food which can give the body maximum optimal health. Similarly the mind also should be given that healthiness.

These two in Hinduism are divided, or specially named, Varna-āshrama Dharma. Āshrama Dharma means according to the stage of the body, you know, young age, youth, or house holder-ship. This is according to age dharma. Varna Dharma means mental, according to the qualifications that we have, primarily whether we are endowed with Sattva-Guna, Rajo-Guna or Tamo-Guna.

So one of the purposes of an incarnation is to establish or re-establish Varna-āshrama Dharma. So we have forgotten. For example, we have forgotten. We only know two āshramas now. What are the āshramas?

• Brahmachārya-āshrama - a student's life
• and Gṛhastha-āshrama 

Most people have forgotten what is called Vānaprastha-āshrama. What  is Vānaprastha-āshrama? When you reach a certain stage, then you have no right to behave like a young man. You have to voluntarily control yourself and do appropriate things.

Like what? Study and acquire higher knowledge. Think about God. Think about your own self. If you don't believe in God, think deeply and become morally, at least… Spirituality requires God. Morality requires only Society. Do you follow? Try to  follow what I am trying to tell you, and if you have any problem ask me a question.

Suppose there are some people who don't believe in God, then it is useless to tell them about God. But you can tell them about morality. Why? Because no man is an island. We all have to live, for example, we all have to live here. Yeah, otherwise, you know, if you are sitting here somebody can't come and tell, ‘You get up and sit there. I want to sit here’. Have you seen anybody doing that? This is part of morality. So if we are not moral, even Society will not function properly. This is what in modern psychology is called the rules of the game called life.

Dharma-śāstra is more concerned with how to live in this Society, how to train our body mind to make them fit instruments.

Spirituality is beyond morality. But spirituality - one can be moral without being spiritual; but one cannot be spiritual without being moral. This is the simple truth.

So three meanings we have given to Dharma. What is it?

First meaning, what is your real nature? And if you know what is your real nature, That alone can be your goal of life. We are in fact indirectly trying to reclaim our true nature. I told you many times.

What do you want? I have got three desires.

• I don't want to die.
• I don't want to be ignorant,
• And I don't want to be unhappy.

( 25:07 mins )

Understand? What he is telling is I want to become God, Indirectly that is all.

1. So first meaning of Dhrama is - what is my true nature?
2. Then second is - what can help me to manifest it and finally become? 
3. Third is - the instruments through which we can travel. The Chariot has to be prepared. What is that Chariot? Body and mind!

This is the purpose of all Dharma śāstras and Avatāras. You understand this. So for that purpose, when people forget these three, then God incarnates. Then He re-establishes Dharma. What is re-establishment? The word “re” is a very important word. It was there. It was done before. But somehow it has become Telugu dandam maruga padyam. Today it has been hidden. Now remove all the dirt and dust, bring it out, polish it, and put it in front of everybody. That is the purpose.

Before we proceed further we use one word… Suppose we don't want to follow Dharma, we follow Adharma. What is wrong with it? Adharma is equivalent to suffering, and nobody (instinctively also) wants to  suffer. So that which makes us suffer limits us. That is called Bandhana

God comes to break every type of Bandhana. What are the three meanings of Dharma we have given? So whatever is obstructive for the health of the body and mind, He will break. Whatever is the bondage for the yogās, obstacles to yogā. That is why yogasahāya. He will help us. And finally He will also by His own Grace, He will also help us by making us know there is no difference between you and Me. Keep this always in mind. Then it is easy to Understand. 

The very first line starts.

Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana…

Bandhana - means bondage.

So how many types of bondages are there?

• Bodily bondages are there.
• Mental bondages are there.
• Spiritual bondages are there.

So a person has to be lifted up. For example, if God wants to make a person spiritual… and here is a baby - Do you think He will give Gitā Upadeśa there? Does God give Gitā Upadeśa to the Child? What does He do? He will provide him with, what is called, healthy food, Puṣṭikara Khādya, nutritious food, and encourages the child to go and play, until he is in a fit condition to enter into school.

Once he enters into school in further two more ways God helps them.

1. One is, He provides good education, both secular and spiritual in the form of good teachers.
2. And then to make the knowledge enter into the person, the child, all the school children, college children, also must be given another important help. It is called discipline.

So two things for a child!

• First, no discipline, just eat and go and play, grow about three years or so, or in Hinduism about five, six years.
• Then, send to the Gurukula.

What is the purpose of sending any child  to Gurukula? Two things - the first is to learn character. Form your character. And that cannot be learnt through school lessons. It can be only learnt when you see a person, we will learn it from that person. If you don't see a truthful person, you are never ever going to become truthful.

( 30:14 mins )

Interestingly, Sri Rāmakrishna, He said my ideal is my father. Suppose His father was not a truthful person. Do you think Sri Rāmakrishna would have been what He is now? We don't know. Very very unlikely, for most of us. Incarnation maybe.

What about Prahlāda? But Prahlāda's father, was he an untruthful person? When did you find that he told any untruth? He was a very truthful person.

Girish Chandra Gosh, he might have been drinking, he might have been visiting questionable places, but in his life, he had never ever spoken one untruth.

In my past classes, I have explained one thing very clearly. If somebody wants to be truthful, all by itself you can't be truthful. If you want to be truthful, one quality has to aid truthfulness. You know what it is? Courage. If you don't have courage… if we have courage, we are all truthful people. We are not truthful because of only one thing, we are not courageous. Somebody will take revenge, we may lose our jobs, our partner may go away. ( You don't know what Bliss you will get if your partner goes away. That is a different issue. How free you will feel, that's a different issue ).

Anyway, what I am telling is courage is necessary. To Have Courage, it requires another quality. You know what is that quality? Faith! Faith, that there is a God. I am following His Commandments and ultimately, He is going to come and save me. It’s very very interesting.

13 years the Pāṇḍavas were out  there. Why were they… They wanted to follow truthfulness. What gave them that courage? Faith that Satyameva Jayate - Truthfulness alone will Triumph in the end. Okay any number of these things.

The other day I was talking to somebody. He said that only truthful people are remembered. Immediately one of our devotees said ‘Swāmiji, but Kauravas are also remembered along with the Pāṇḍavas. The moment you talk about Pāṇḍavas, Kauravas are also remembered.’ I couldn't counter it.

What is the point? Ultimately there is a Justice. Our problem is we want Justice to be right now in front of our eyes. Somebody insulted us, he must burn right now in front of our eyes. That's not going to happen. But it will happen. But how do you know that he did something wrong to you? How do you know that you did not do something wrong and you are enjoying now the consequences of all that.

It’s like they say marry in haste and repent in leisure. Marriage day you are happy. Rest of the… until… Repent in Leisure. You have got 24 hours to think why did I become like that? What what made me foolish, so foolish? Anyway, I'm just joking. Good things also happen.

• Truthfulness must be followed by courage.
• Courage must be followed by faith.
• And faith will not come until you practice, what has been prescribed for you in the scriptures.

That is why another name for faith - Naciketa - wherefrom he got all that faith? Because he was practicing. Īśāvāsya Upaniṣad. He says, ‘You remove your veil, I have a right to demand of you.’ How did He get that right? Satya Dharmāya dṛṣṭaye. I have been practicing truthfulness and Dharma my whole life, so I have got a moral right, that I am your child, I can demand it. Until a person follows these practices, he cannot really… He doesn’t have the authority.

( 35:04 mins )

So faith will come, provided we start with what is called blind faith. And that blind faith becomes real faith. So don't think that from no faith you will enter into faith. That is not going to happen. Without understanding, what ever you believe in, it is called superstition. But you start with it. And if you go on persisting in it, one day faith will come .

I am quoting this because Sri Rāmakrishna’s life is in every way very helpful to us.

Coming back to our subject. God incarnates. Avatāra Stotra! For what purpose? Three purposes I told you.

1. For reminding us who we are
2. And for showing us what is the way, to attain our true nature, to realize we are so and so.
3. And what is the third one I said? To prepare the body and mind.

So, now you see - ‘Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana’ -

Bandhana - means bondage. What is bondage? Whatever keeps us away from God is bondage. And many things can keep us away from God. Because we are always tending to think about spiritual bondage only, not moral bondage, not physical bondage. That is what I am going to discuss now.

So what is it? Here is a poor person. So what did Swāmi Vivekānanda say - what is religion? ‘Religion is not for empty stomachs’. If you want to teach them religion… you give religion to them not in the form of Upadeśam, but in the form of nutritious food. That's why Swāmi Vivekānanda said, ‘Forget your Gods and Goddesses for the next fifty years’. Produce more food. You eat, you become strong, you feed others. Let the whole nation Nation become strong.

Then He said, after that give them education. What is education? That which forms character?

So what are we trying to discuss? Bandhana means bondage. What is bondage? Anything that stands between us and God or our true nature is called a bondage. And bondages are of various types I said. Primarily they fall into three categories-

1. Body
2. Mind
3. And spiritual.

So countries like South America, Bangladesh, Pakistan, there are so many poor people. Don't think of Pakistan as only terrorists attacking India. Millions of people are there. They are the same everywhere - in Sri Lanka, in India, in Bangladesh, in Pakistan. So many people! They don't care in Burma, and so many other, Syria, everywhere. Even in America tramps are there, poor people are there. But they don't allow this news to circulate.

So what what does Swāmi Vivekānanda say, Sri Rāmakrishna say? God has come down for the purpose of - if there are poor people remove their poverty; if there are sick people remove their sickness, help them; if they are unhealthy remove their unhealthiness; if they are uneducated remove their illiteracy; if they are oppressed by wicked people, remove their oppression.

Any sort of Bondage, God has come down to help them remove it. Keep it in mind. Don't confine it to ‘I am a spiritual aspirant, He comes only for me.’

Next point is God comes for, not India. He might be born in India, but He is meant for the whole world. He doesn't consider Indians as ‘My children’. If at all He considers, He says, ‘That is the last place’. (The way the Indians behave).

Sri Rāmakrishna said ‘I have my white children also, very sincerely thinking about Me.’

So Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana. So whatever is a bondage is ignorance. Bondage comes because of what? Ignorance. 

- Ignorance of body condition brings about ill health.

- Ignorance of Agriculture brings about poverty.

- Ignorance of the power which is within themselves brings about oppression, political etc., oppression. 

( 40:18 mins )

Like that you give me the name of one bondage, what is the root cause? Ignorance! Ultimately He wants to remove Ignorance. But Ignorances are of different varieties, ignorance of different stages of life. Does a youth know what is ignorance? ‘I'm a young man. I must lead my life in a particular way’. For that a blueprint is given in the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, first chapter, 11th section.

सत्यं वद। घर्मं चर। स्वाध्यायान्‌ मा प्रमदः। ( Satyam vada dharmam chara svādhyāyān mā pramadaha )

How many youths are aware of that? That's it. That’s an ignorance. So we have to give that knowledge to them - blueprint. For who's good? For God's good or for our good? If somebody teaches you good health, who is going to enjoy? We are going to. This is the important point we have to learn.

So God comes for breaking the bondage, in any form - physical, mental or spiritual.

And He comes to help everybody. Not only human beings, other beings also.

Khaṇḍana bhava bandhana jaga vandana - the whole universe salutes  God, Avatāra. How does the universe salute? We may not see.

Simple examples I am giving - a mother prepares nice baby food and feeds the baby .The baby, if it is hungry, it eats that food and its face is blooming with joy. What is that blooming joy on the face of the baby? The greatest thanksgiving to the mother! If the baby is not happy, even if Mother feeds it a hundred times, she won't be happy. ‘My child is very happy’ - That is the thanks we have to give.

The whole universe is created, is sustained, and ultimately we return to God. Is it not a fact that

यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते।येन जातानि जीवन्ति।

यत् प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति। तद्विजिज्ञासस्व। तद्‌ ब्रह्मेति।स तपोऽतप्यत। स तपस्तप्त्वा॥

yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante | yena jātāni jīvanti |

yat prayantyabhisaṁviśanti | tadvijijñāsasva | tad brahmeti |sa tapo'tapyata | sa tapastaptvā ||

Taittirīya Upaniṣad, is telling the whole universe is created. He who creates us, He also sustains us. That is why Savita, as we say पूषन् ( Pūṣan ) It is Pūṣan, He who sustains us. But why should He sustain us? Because He created us. How do we know? ( that is called Sūrya ) Sūrya is the creator. Pūṣan is the sustainer. Ah whole day He is going round the world for whose sake? For His Sake or for our sake? For our sake.

In simple words… Hinduism is great in explaining these things. You see, He manifested Himself into five bhūtas: Akaśa. Vayuhu, Agni, Jala, and Pṛthvi. We are all such. Our body is made up of what? And it is sustained by what? Do you understand? It is sustained by these pañcha bhūtas. So there is an Earth element. There is a water element. There is a fire element. There is an air element. There is a space element. Our body is nothing else, but pañcha bhūtas. He assumes the Cosmic pañcha bhūtas to sustain us.

How? Food comes from where? Bhūmi! So through that food, the Bhūmi element, in the form of the food is sustaining the Bhūmi, which is within each one of us.

He gives us water through rain etc. What is a river? Water, pure water! It is meant for whom? For all beings. So that water goes and it sustains the plants. The plants produce energy, and we eat the plants. We also drink the water. Whenever you are thirsty what do you do?

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Then there is fire inside. He maintains the fire inside, otherwise sub thandā ho jāyegā. So if you are feeling cold go outside, if you are feeling too much heat, then come inside the room. What is called homeostasis. Correct amount of temperature should be there. Through that He is sustaining Prāṇa.

Air. We require oxygen every moment. He is sustaining us. By blowing air He is Fanning us 24 hours. He is our greatest fan. Biggest fan of whole world. He's a fan of the whole world because it is His own creation.

And Space if there were to be no space you would not have come, I would not have been able to sit, I would not have been able to move. So He has created space for us to move freely on Earth, in the water, and in the air. Wherever you want, with some limitations,

So He is sustaining the whole universe, through these five elements. That is what jaga vandana - whole world's salutes Him. Because the person, because of whom we are able to exist, if we don't show our gratefulness, then… So that feeling, that there is a God to sustain us. Only scientists call it nature. Without nature we wont be there. If we are there without nature it is very unnatural.

So जग वन्दन वन्दि तोमाय ( jaga vandana vandi tomāy )

I salute you because O Lord, whatever I am today is because of You. Whatever knowledge I have is because of You. Because you are the knowledge. If I exist it is because of Sat. If I have knowledge it is because of Chit. If I am happy it is because of Your Ānandam. My very existence depends upon You. Naturally, I have to be grateful.

निरञ्जन ( nirañjana ) - But who is He? I am saluting Him. Who am I saluting? Nirañjana! Añjana means stain. He cannot be stained.

In fact, nothing in this world can be stained. It is a very strange thing. I will give you only a hint. Suppose there is Water. Water, without any admixture. What do you call it? Pure water. Pure water! Because just water - anything you say ‘just’ that is pure. The moment you add salt, what does it become? Salt water. If you add sugar what happens? If you add dirt what happens? Dirty water.

Now tell me, if you take salt or sugar and mix with it, has this salt or sugar become one with water. Can it become? Think of it. Can salt and water become one? It can never become one. That's why, you don't call it water. What do you call it? Salt water. If it is one, why do you call by two names?

See if you're calling it by two names, you know what it means? It means you have the capacity to remove them, separate them. So what am I trying to tell you? In this world every element is absolutely pure. It cannot be made impure by anything. In the sense two things cannot become one. It ever remains separate.

Okay, if you drink dirty water you get some problem, health problem. Now tell me, did water create the problem or did the dirt create the problem? So if you drink too much sugar water, did water create the problem, or did sugar create problem? If you eat sweet mango, did mango did create the problem or the sweetness in the mango?

Yeah, you have to understand clearly because if you eat avākāya, Andhra avākāya, it will never create any diabetes in you. Because, there is no sweetness there, it is only some sourness. It might create acidity problem, that's a different issue altogether. Yeah, Kāra problem should be there, Ahamkāra problem might be there, but you will not have diabetic problem.

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So what am I trying to tell you? Pure, anything pure cannot create any problem. Everything will remain separate in this world. Two things you cannot bring and make it one, however close they are! They may be indistinguishable, but they will never become one.

Water can become one with water. Salt can become one with salt. Sugar can become one with sugar.

So what am I trying to tell you, God can never be stained. That's why he is called nirañjana. So why can't He be stained? The reason is given, The Infinity cannot be stained. When there are two objects - stainless steel and Stain; Iron and stain. When both come together iron becomes stained. That is what you call rust.

When God is only one! What element is there in this world to make Brahman stained? That's why he is Nirañjana. Nirañjana also means part-less because God can only be Infinity. Infinity and Eternity they go together.

So there can be no change. There can be no change. Remember that word. God is changeless.

In God's Own nature, He is infinite. But He has created this world ‘as it were’ from Advaitic point of view. Then change will come. One will affect the other. (Q&A)

Don't don't mix two things. World is not pure. God is pure. That's why we say Ātmā, body, mind. When these three seemingly become one you call it Jīvātmā. But have they really become? Has the Ātman become body and mind? It has never become body-mind. It will never become body-mind.

So our business is, it is only a cognitive problem. So there is something you have to understand - what is cognitive problem? What is the real problem?

A person is X. But suddenly he comes to you, you know him as X, Rāmu, for example. You know him. He comes to you and you say ‘O Rāmu I am happy to see you.’ ‘Hey, whom are you talking about? Rāmu? I am not Rāmu. I am Rajiv Gandhi’, or who is that fellow? Rahul Gandhi. ‘I am Rahul Gandhi?’ Immediately you shut your mouth and say there is something gone wrong with this fellow. Because he is Rāmu, now he's claiming he is somebody else.

What is the point I am trying to tell you? Did he become Rahul Gandhi? No! But in his mind, he thinks he is only Rahul Gandhi.This is not a factual problem.This is a cognitive problem. In his understanding the problem has come.

So when we are talking about God, we should never mix it with the world. World is changeable. That's why it is called Jagat. Jagat means what? Always changing! But God will never change.That's why God is not the world. God has never become the world. God has never created the world. God appears to be the world. Of course, I am talking from Advaitic point of view.

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If it is a pure mind, it never suffers from cognitive problem. It is only Avidyā Mind, ignorant mind, which suffers from this cognitive problem.

In Advaita Vedānta something doesn't become something else. If something becomes something else, it is a factual problem. If the rope becomes a snake, two things must happen. First of all, rope must be destroyed. If rope becomes a snake, what was the rope before has now become a snake. But we don't think like that. Rope has never- become, it appears to be a snake. It is a cognitive problem. Cognitive means the rope has no such Illusions, ‘I have become a snake’.

We have the problem. Where is the problem? Within us. This is called cognitive problem. In fact rope will never have any problem because it has no cognition at all. We are under the problem. The body never knows ‘I’m a body’. Does the body know, I am the body. Only you know, this is a body.

The mind also never suffers from any problem. I'm trying to tell you something which might surprise you. The mind doesn't know it is a mind. Who knows it is a mind? You know it is a mind. So when you get mixed up with the mind, the mind seems to come to life. And then it has a cognitive problem.

Soul by itself has no problem. Mind by itself has no problem. But when soul and mind mix together, there is a cognitive problem. From Advaita Vedānta point of view, mind you. According to Dvaita Vedānta God actually has become!

Today I will just introduce to you to these two concepts about creation.

There are two schools of thought - Advaita philosophy and Dvaita philosophy. Dvaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita all fall… anything other than Advaita is Dvaita. Christianity, Islam everything is Dvaita only. According to Dvaita, creation is real, so it is called Pariṇāmavāda. God has actually become the world. The milk has actually become the Curds.

According to Advaita, something appears to have become something else without becoming - this is called a Vivartavāda.

Pariṇāmavāda and Vivartavāda - Rope, snake is the example. The rope appears to have become the snake, but it has never become snake.

So the problem comes, when milk becomes Curds. Does milk remain as milk any longer? Gone! Milk is gone. You can't call it milk. You can only call it curds. So if God becomes the world, He has lost His Godliness. He has become world.

How does the dvaitins counter this argument? They say, ‘No, no, He is God, so He can also change, He can also remain. This is His special power.’ These are time-pass arguments. We don't understand it.

Advaita Vedānta says it is the Vivartavāda. God appears to have become. God appears to have become - without becoming. This is scientific.

What is scientific? If you make some materials out of iron, what would be the materials? Only iron. So has iron become something else? Has gold become something else?

My point is there are no two objects called gold and bangle. There is only one object - gold. Gold in this shape, you call it necklace; gold in that shape, you call bangle; gold in that shape, you call nose-ring trip. And gold in other shapes is called Bangles or rings - whatever you call it. There is no second substance! That is called Vivartavāda.

( 1:00:12 mins )

Now appearance. Second point - from scientific point of view. You can make out of gold only golden objects. You can’t make iron objects out of gold. Human beings can give birth only to human beings. Dogs can give birth only to Dogs. So if God's nature is divine, even if He becomes the world, what can He become?

So understand properly, when milk becomes curds its entire nature has changed. Whereas, if God really becomes the world, you can't change it, because God can only manifest as God. As Stone can only manifest as stone, gold can only manifest as Gold. This is science. We are not talking about spirituality.

That is the correct view according to Advaita Vedānta. Scientific! What is unscientific is if God is all knowledge, where from ignorance has come?

They can't answer. They say, ask a proper question, I will give you proper answer. It is illogical. The Infinite cannot become finite. And the Nirañjana cannot be come añjana.  So ask a Logical question. In other words, what we call psychology - has no solution. Vedānta has no problem. You are talking from the psychological point of view. I am talking from Vedāntic point of view. We are not meeting any where. We are running in a parallel line.

But the point is now we are in bondage. We want to get out of bondage. Therefore God comes down and guides.

1. First - He will develop the body-mind.
2. Second - He gives correct education knowledge.
3. Third - He removes all obstacles in the form of ill-health and whatever oppression etc, etc.
4. And he will make us manifest Divinity in various capabilities - means music or science or whatever it is, and make us use that knowledge, slowly, to progress in spiritual life.

That is why -

खण्डन भव बन्धन जग वन्दन वन्दि तोमाय।

निरञ्जन नर-रूप-धर निर्गुण गुणमय॥

khaṇḍana bhava bandhana jaga vandana vandi tomāy |

nirañjana nara-rūpa-dhara nirguṇa guṇamay ||

Nirguṇa means what? We have to be very careful what it means. Nirguṇa doesn't mean quality-less. Nirguṇa means the one who has infinite number of qualities, but not manifest.

So you see God is Nirākāra.  Ākāra means form. Nirākāra means… What does formless mean? Formless doesn't mean he doesn't have Forms. Formless means that He has infinite number of forms not manifested. With this I will close my class.

So you take a piece of stone. Is it Sākāra or Nirākāra?

The stone is Nirākāra - infinite number of images are there. So a sculptor can make a rat, he can make a cat, he can make a house, he can make Kṛṣṇa, he can make a cow. He can make anything - as his imagination flies. Isn't it? All those forms, unless they are there, he cannot bring out. That which is not inside he can't bring out. You understand that. That means they are already there.

So what does the sculptor do? He doesn't create anything new. What does he do? He removes the obstacle between that form and that which is hiding. So Kṛṣṇa - remove  non-Kṛṣṇa. What remains is Kṛṣṇa. Rāma - remove non-Rāma. Dog - remove non-dog. What appears is dog.

But out of dog also, you can create again Kṛṣṇa. Isn’t it? There is this much stone. By the time the dog is made it will be this much. So now another counter - you can say the dog is not good. So I will make it into Kṛṣṇa. Then somebody says Kṛṣṇa is not good, I will make him Rāma. This is Devi. I don't like Devi, I will make Venkateśvara.

Tirupati Venkateśvara is what? Devi! Somebody came and then did a little bit of, you know, cosmetic surgery. And now ‘She’ has become ‘He’. She has become He. All that he removed was - that ‘S’ was there, he removed that ‘S’. She has become now He.

What I am  trying to tell you is, Nirguṇa means infinite qualities are there, but all non-manifest.

When you are sleeping are you nirguṇa or saguṇa? Nirguṇa! Means what?

See, here is Sri Rāmakṛṣṇa sleeping, here is Rāvanāsura  sleeping. Rāma, Rāvanāsura. Both are sleeping. Are they nirguṇa or saguṇa? Nirguṇa! Only when they get up, then this is one quality, that’s another quality. These beautiful words saguṇa, nirguṇa, we will discuss in our next class.  

ॐ जननीम सरददाम देवीम रामकृष्णं जगत गुरुम ।

पाधा पद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहर मुहुहु ।।

Om Jananim Sāradām devīm Rāmakrishnam jagadgurum

Pādapadme tayoh shritva pranamāmi muhurmuhuh.

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