Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 01 on 4 March 2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

auṁ jananīṁ śāradāṁ devīṁ rāma-kṛṣṇaṁ jagad-gurum pāda-padme tayo sṛtvaḥ pranamāmi mūrmukhaḥ auṁ saha-nāvavatu saha-naubhūnatu sahavīryam karavāvahai tejasvi nāvadhītamas tu mā vidviṣāvahai auṁ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ hāre hē auṁ By God's grace, we have been able to complete several of the Upanishads. From today we are starting a new Upanishad. I am sure you remember, in our last class we have completed the Kena Upanishad, four chapters and thirty-eight mantras. So today onwards, Svetāśvatara Upanishad. How did this name come? There was supposed to be a Rishi. It may be his name or it may be his title. Svetāśvatara. Sveta means white. White means pure. Pure means a mind which knows only God and nothing else. Therefore he must have got the name or title Svetāśvatara. Like we say Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi is not necessary. When we talk Mahatmaji did this and that, then we consider we only mean Mahatma Gandhi. So Svetāśvatara Upanishad. And naturally, what is the subject matter? The subject matter of every Upanishad is exactly the same. How to convey to us what we are. And why do we want to know what we are? Because suffering is inevitable in this life. Birth is suffering. Growth is suffering. Old age is suffering. Sickness is suffering. And finally death also is suffering. Whoever it is, even avatars, incarnations, if they take birth as any being, as a fish, as a tortoise, as a boar or as a human being, half human being, as human being, death is inevitable and it is not pleasant. But not that until death we will be extremely happy, joyous, life-leading. No. So every minute we are unhappy. Why happiness is followed by unhappiness? Unhappiness is followed by happiness. And without that we will not know whether we are happy or unhappy. But all of us long, unconsciously or unconsciously, we are only travelling towards our own nature. Every living creature only desires three things. Let me never die. Let me never be ignorant. And let me never suffer. असतो मा सद्गमय तमसो मा जोतिर्गमय मृत्योर्मा अम्रतंगमय This consciously or unconsciously, this is what we are trying to achieve all the time. And therefore is there any way out? Now here every Upanishad, Vedanta, crystal clearly tells us if your nature is not sat-chit-ananda, that is if you are not immortal, if you are not all-knowing, if you are not the nature of bliss, any amount of effort is not going to make you that. But if you are that, any amount of maya is not going to stop us. Either way, what philosophically one terms as teleological urge. Like a seed, it has an urge. I must become a plant. I must become a tree. I must bear either flowers or fruits or whatever it is. And then only life becomes meaningful. Then only I will get what we call fulfillment. And this is what every living creature is seeking. No creature wants death. That is non-existence. No creature wants ignorance. And no creature ever wants to suffer even a millisecond. Naturally the question is, is it possible to attain eternal life, infinite life, eternal infinite joy? Is it possible? Categorically the Upanishads, every scripture, whichever be religion, that is Kingdom of Heaven or Paradise or Satori, Nirvana or Samadhi or Brahma Sakshatkara, every religion categorically, emphatically tries to teach us it is not only possible but it is inevitable. And this is what Holy Mother used to say, everybody will be fed. Maybe some people they get early in the morning because intelligently they try to obtain. But it is also possible some lazy fellow will be there but the mother will not neglect that person. If necessary, she will tear away that person from toys, play and drag him, feed him, put him to sleep because that is what a mother is. And that is called teleological urge, only in philosophical language. So first question is, can we be eternal? Can we have all the knowledge? And can we be all bliss? Yes. How is it possible? Because that is what we really are. And how to obtain it? Not by attaining it but by removing the obstacles. That is why there is a marvelous Vedantic principle, especially Advaita Vedanta promulgates it, propagates it. Knowledge doesn't change anything. Knowledge doesn't produce anything. Knowledge cannot produce, cannot change. It can only reveal what already is there. So if I am not Satchitananda, knowledge cannot make me Satchitananda. Whatever I am, that's all that knowledge can reveal to me. A clay cannot claim, I will become one day gold or diamond. Impossible. Vice versa. So therefore, here is a question. Every human being, especially after going through a long term of unbearable suffering, every human being puts a question. I am suffering so much. I don't want to suffer. And if there is no way out of suffering, I would like to die. I would like to be non-existent. But if there is any way, I would like to escape. Tapatraya abhigatha jignasa. Is there any way out? Yes. That is what Advaita Vedanta Upanishad claims. The marvellous explanation of the word Upanishad by Shankaracharya in his Sambandhavahasya, Rudhikata Upanishad, which has become popular all over the world, especially by Vedantins. He gives three functions of knowledge. Upa means near. That which takes us near. Ni means nisesha, without any remnant, without the least possible doubt. Complete revelation. Sat, that which loosens the bondage, destroys the bondage and reveals to us the truth about ourselves. This is what you really are. And it is very logical, very rational, if something is bound by a rope for a long time or even by an iron chain, in course of time, it develops rust and it is very difficult to remove that chain. What should be done? We pour some chemicals so that the rust and other things will be removed. That is called loosening. And once it is done, the chains are totally removed. And once it is done, you pull down whatever is covering our true nature. And this is how the process takes place and that which helps us to loosen our bondage, to destroy our bondage and to reveal our true nature and whatever does that is called Upanishad. And so Shweta Shwetara Upanishad is also nothing new. It does exactly the same thing. However, there are some fundamental differences between other Upanishads and Shweta Shwetara Upanishad. And that is what induced me actually to take up at this stage. What are the specialties? First of all, Shweta Shwetara Upanishad is not an ancient Upanishad. It is what we call quite modern. It is not written very long back, sufficiently long back, but not very long back. That's why many people accept it as modern. That is the first difference. Second is, by that time, Shweta Shwetara Upanishad came to be known like you know Upanishads are evolving scriptures. For example, there is one Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad. What is the difference between other Upanishads? Archaic language is not there. Ideas, even the language itself, is very difficult to understand Vedic language. It requires Vedic dictionary, Vedic terminology, Vedic explanation and fortunately, we had some like Vidyaranya and Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, but there is a problem. Problem is, these people, they are not completely what we call rational. They claim to be rational, but they are not really rational. Whatever they understood, that alone fanatically they claim. This is the only possible meaning of any particular Upanishad. No wonder about it, because even ordinary people, some of us, when we are brought up in a household where Lord Venkateshwara is worshipped or Kumar Swami or Ganesha or Durga or Kali or Shiva or Rama or Narayana or Jesus or Buddha, naturally we are likely to think we alone are travelling the right path. Everybody else is, even if not completely wrong, at least definitely partially wrong. So Sri Ramakrishna had come to disabuse. Once upon a time, many thousands of years ago, Bhagavan Krishna had also attempted the same thing. Crystal clearly He taught, ये यधा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तान्स्ततैव भजाम्यहं मम वर्त्मनि अन्मुर्त्तन्ते मनुष्याः पार्थ सर्वशः Everybody worships Me and inevitably worships Me in exactly the way that person understands Me. But no need to quarrel. Everybody is travelling in the right way. Infinite are the paths. So infinite paths, that means you travel any path, you cannot miss God because God is everywhere. That is what we need to understand. This is the true interpretation of Hinduism. When I say Hinduism, when Sri Ramakrishna says Hinduism, He means Vaidika Dharma. He doesn't mean by that. As I explained earlier in some other classes, Veda means knowledge and that knowledge is for our good. And that knowledge is not confined to the followers of Vedas. It is confined to anybody who wants to become better, anybody who wants to become healthy, anybody who wants to obtain more happiness. They have to follow these rules and regulations. Simple analogy we can give, comparative analogy. There are billions of human beings and everybody's goal is to first of all get rid of the disease, become healthy, then become strong. So the rules and regulations for getting rid of sickness and for remaining healthy and for becoming strong is exactly the same whether the person is Indian or American or UK citizen, French citizen, it doesn't matter because body is body. Everybody has the same constitution. Everybody, every body has to follow the same what is called bodily laws, regulations. And the science of health tells us one has to take healthy food, one has to give healthy food to the mind also and ultimately one has to also give spiritual food because it is a great mistake most people make. Man is not consisting of mere body and mind. There are three bodies, physical body or external body, gross body, subtle body and spiritual body. If spirituality is neglected or mind is neglected, it is like saying I will only exercise one finger, one leg, one part of the eye just as it remains incomplete, doesn't do much good. So also if we do not harmoniously develop physical health, intellectual health, aesthetic health and spiritual health, we will be only partially sick persons. And whatever knowledge, whatever rules, regulations, whatever diet, you know when disease comes, first find out the cause of the disease, diagnose. Secondly, we have to give the appropriate medication. Even if two persons are suffering from the same cause, a wise doctor never prescribes exactly the same medicine because there are so many other variables are there. Similarly, a Sadguru, a real Guru, will not give the same teaching in general, yes. In particular, it is a one-to-one relationship and exact prescription, what is called tailor-made prescription, tailor-made breast making, one has to be given, then only it will be more effective, perfectly effective. And that is what Upanishads claim to do. Another point we have to remember, no Upanishad claims that I will make you God. If you are God, you are going to be God whether you know it or not. If you are not God, any amount of effort is not going to make you God. Then what is the role of the Upanishads? This is where a crucial question I am going to answer. Every Upanishad Swami, you say, teaches the same thing. So why should we go through so many Upanishads? That is the question. Even studying one Upanishad or even one chapter or even sometimes one mantra is more than sufficient. Then where is the need to study everything? Simple example I will give you. If somebody has to want to understand Bhagavad Gita, how many commentaries he needs? No commentary. How many chapters he needs to study? Not 18 chapters. How many shlokas he has to mug up and try to understand? Only one shloka. What is that shloka? But what is the answer to that question I raised? Why do we need? Because continuously, constantly, with the utmost concentration and devotion, we need to study the Upanishads. Why? Although all Upanishads teach the same thing, but to reinforce that essential idea that I belong to God, God belongs to me and there is no difference between God and me. In order to understand this, we will have to study, meditate, go on pilgrimage, do japam, do worship, always thinking, meditating, worshipping, speaking with each other, devotees enjoy. That is the nature of the devotees. Until we reach the goal, repetition is necessary. And repetition of one might bring boredom, monotony. That's why repetition, but in the form of different scriptures, different Puranas, different teachings and different stories and it will keep us entertained and prevents monotony. And so this is how we have to enjoy. And also, God has given us the intellect. Why? Why only go on repeating like a parrot the same thing? Why not enjoy? Otherwise, Sri Ramakrishna used to give a beautiful example. Every temple, they employ some musicians. Especially there is one, something called Nadaswara. So one person, two persons, one person will give Shruti. He only plays the same thing. But the other person, he goes through the seven notes, up, down, combination called ragas. And that is very pleasant. So Sri Ramakrishna told this with regard to the Brahmo Samaj. You people are like that person, accompanying person who only plays one raga again and again and again and again. It is monotonous. Sometimes I think of God. Sometimes I speak of God. Sometimes I sing of God. Sometimes I read of God. Sometimes I listen of God. Sometimes I dance in the name of God. I want to enjoy the same sweet in different ways. And the more I try to enjoy, the more I will get so much of Ananda. So we have to spend our time. Kala, time, hangs heavy. But we have the opportunity, especially nowadays, internet is the greatest blessing, provided we use it in the right way. It is the greatest curse, provided it is used in the wrong way. The fault doesn't lie with the internet. It lies with us who want to use it. Why did I say? Because any wonderful talk, any wonderful song, anything wonderful, anywhere in the world, in the past, present, future, completely we can access it. That is very, very, very important for us. Wherever we are, we can do that. That opportunity was never there before. Of course, I would say in the past yuga, exactly the same thing happened. It is there. But now is the wonderful opportunity at our own time, at our own pace. And you want to hear for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc. This is the explanation why we want to study various scriptures. We want to enjoy God in so many different ways. That is the point. Now I want to give you a bit of introduction to this Shweta Shwetra Upanishad. It also is a marvelous Upanishad. As I mentioned, it is not considered as an ancient Upanishad. And Shankaracharya supposedly had written a commentary upon it. Some people accept it. Some do not accept it. But it does not matter. Either Shankaracharya has written or somebody else in the name of Shankaracharya has written. So far as it does not confuse us, it takes us to the same goal. It helps us in thinking of God in every aspect, saguna, nirguna. That is absolutely fine. Whether it is Shankara, Ramanuja or Mathwa, it does not matter. But we must have that discernment that whosoever's explanation is simple, understandable and helpful in practical life, that we have to understand it. So there must have been some people. There must have been a great Rishi. And in this instance, he is called Shweta Shwetara. He was a great Rishi. A Rishi is one who is a realized soul. And naturally those who wanted the knowledge that he realized, those who are after that type of knowledge, naturally they are attracted. Naturally. There is a natural attraction is there. Some people, they want to attract. But if they don't have that, people may not come. That is the first failure. Secondly, even if some people, say for example, a great musician, a great singer or instrumentalist, but everybody will not appreciate. This is something unique in this world. If there are 100 musicians, 100 vocalists, 100 instrumentalists for some peculiar inexplicable reason, somebody likes one person's way of playing, singing, other person's others, there is a wide choice. So what am I talking? That you choose which Upanishad you want to study, which scripture you want to enjoy and whose explanation gives you the greatest satisfaction and also the greatest practical help. We have wide choice. Earlier days, the girls used to hold a ceremony called Swayamvara. Now bhaktas have got that Swayamvara. Ishta Devata is nothing but Swayamvara. So you can think of God, you can say to God, you will dress like this, you will appear to me with two hands, ten hands, four hands or whatever way, whichever dress, it could be yellow, it could be white and you stand on a lotus or you stand if you wish on jagged rocks, doesn't matter. But I would like to think of you because whatever gives me enjoyment, individual taste is what dictates. This is called Ishta Devata Siddhanta. So a scripture, a particular path of sadhana, particular form of God, particular name of God, particular dress of God, particular things associated with that particular God, all these things, we have been given complete choice, especially in Hinduism and that's why it is a supermarket. You can go to a supermarket and there is a department called Rama. Which Rama you want? You want child Rama, Ramlala. You want a student Rama. You want a Yoga Vasishta Rama. You want a Adhyatma Ramayana Rama. You want that Rama who went to Dandakaranya and ultimately went to Sri Lanka, conquered Ravanasura, brought back Sita or you want philosopher Rama. You want the loving eldest brother Rama. Which Rama you want? Accordingly, murtis are made and you can choose. Similarly Krishna, even better than Rama because I cannot imagine Rama dancing with Gopis. I cannot even imagine him dancing with Sita, let alone Gopis. But Krishna, no problem. How many of you? Is there any limit? No limit. As many of you as you want to dance with me, you come and dance with me. I will assume so many forms and you want Kuchipudi, I will be Kuchipudi dancer. You want Bharatanatyam, I will be Bharatanatyam dancer. You want Manipuri, I will be Manipuri dancer. And whichever you want, you want modern Russian ballet dancer, I will be also ballet dancer. Any form you wish. This is called Ishta Devata Siddhanta. No boredom. One thing I have to accept, I have to tell you. There is no religion superior to Hinduism. You may say that it is fanaticism. No, I am not talking about fanaticism. Every religion takes to the same God. But such a marvellous religion, especially, I am a devotee of Lord Venkateshwara. Early morning, Sakkare Pongal, and this Pongal, and so many other items will come. No completely different dishes, including Tirupati Laddu. Evening, again something separate. Beginning itself is like that. And slowly you make your way to Vaikuntha. Then you will see there how many varieties of dishes. And the greatness of Vaikuntha is that there you will see that you can digest instantaneously. I don't even say you digest. I will say you enjoy through look. And you will get same satisfaction, more satisfaction, then better than eating. Because if you eat, you have to digest. And whatever is indigestible, you will have to have some attached bathroom. So many problems are there. But Vaikuntha, just look, and you will have tremendous enjoyment. But if you are a Christian, I am only making fun, don't mind. So what will you do? You will go to after death. And how do you die? Like Jesus Christ, you will be crucified on the cross. And then God will say, Sabash, come with me. And He will give you a huge harp. And you are supposed to fly, playing that harp. God alone knows. I saw a harp once. Then I had an idea. If this is the one, certainly I don't want to go to Kingdom of Hades. If I have to carry it 24 hours a day, it is not desirable at all. You go to Vaikuntha, and exclusive face-to-face, all the 24 hours, and forever. So this is the imagination called Ishta Devata. So let us enjoy these things. This Shweta Shweta Upanishad is a modern Upanishad. What is the speciality? First of all, it is not as exclusive as Advaitic interpretation of the Upanishads. It combines a lot of the element of Bhakti in it. And then, there is a verse there, says, Just as a person had tremendous devotion to the Guru, if the same devotion is directed towards Deva, calls Deva, the Divine Lord, then only, he will progress in spiritual life. This is called Bhakti Marka. So Saguna Brahma Upasana in the form of especially Bhakti Yoga is very much emphasized here. And there are marvelous mantras. And many of them are containing deep psychological truths. When the time comes, I will deal with them. And this Upanishad contains in total 6 chapters. And there are 113 mantras are there, divided not equally, unequally. 1st chapter has got 16, 2nd chapter 17, 3rd chapter 21, 4th chapter 22, 5th chapter 14, 6th chapter 23. The 1st chapter contains, as I said, 16 mantras. This Upanishad is regarded as one of the authoritative works which formed the Vedanta philosophy. Its mantras are quoted profusely in all Vedantic treatises by virtually every Vedantic teacher. The peculiarity of this Upanishad is that it contains passages that can be interpreted to support dualism, qualified non-dualism, and every blessed other system of thought. Certain verses can also be related to the Sankhya philosophy of Kapila, even though there are some acute differences between the Sankhya school of philosophy and this Shwetashtra Upanishad. So here there is a Bhakti, very strong Bhakti strength, unlike other Upanishads. And names like Hara, Rudra, Bhagawan, Agni, Aditya, Vayu, Deva, other words, appear frequently in the Shwetashtra Upanishad denoting the personal God. This Upanishad identifies the Supreme Brahman with Rudra who is conceived as the material and efficient cause of the world not only as its author but also as its protector and guide. Ingredients associated with theism, that is Bhakti Marga, like personal God, devotion to God, or Bhakti, are prominent in this Upanishad. The emphasis is also there on Brahman, the Absolute, but it also places equal emphasis on Bhakti, Saguna Brahman. So this is the speciality and that is the Upanishad called Sri Ramakrishna Upanishad. Every pathway takes us exactly to this same goal and Shwetashtra Upanishad also overcomes Sankhya philosophy divides eternal principles as two, Purusha and Prakruti. But in this Shwetashtra, Prakruti and Purusha are harmonized. They are not two eternal principles. This we get in the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita also. So this Upanishad says that Pradhana or nature is not an independent entity but belongs to the Self of the Divine, Devatma Shakti and hence God is the possessor of Prakruti. Another word for Prakruti is Maya and the maker of Maya is the cause of the world and this Maya belongs to God and this Maya consists of three Gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. They are the constituent materials of Prakruti and the entire universe has come out of Prakruti. Therefore, every object in this world is only a combination of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. And this is the fact. Again emphasizing, maybe Bhagavan Krishna was already familiar with this Shwetashtra. So he says crystal clearly. In the seventh he says the Prakruti, what is called Prakruti, is my Apara Prakruti, my lower nature and Devatma is my consciousness, is my higher nature. In this Upanishad, whose content is taken by the Bhagavad Gita, the Lord Krishna crystal clearly enumerates. He says Daivey Hesha Gunamayi Mama Maya This Maya is consisting of, it belongs to me and it is not possible to overcome the Maya. Duratyaya That means will we forever be only stuck in this Maya? Never be able to get out of it? No. The Lord says Whoever takes refuge in me Mameva E Prapadyante Eta Mayam Te Taranti There are ways. But you have to tell. Sri Ramakrishna in his simple words he is telling this that don't go and ask Shambhu's servants how much property he has, how many houses he has, how many stock bonds he has. That means Ramakrishna was very knowledgeable about stock trading. So he says you somehow or other if necessary by being pushed by the servants and you go and introduce yourself to the master Shambhu Malik then he himself will tell you how many houses, how many gardens, how many bonds he has, how much reserve money he has. Everything he will tell you. Because the servants also I don't think any master will tell anybody any servant what things he possesses realistically. So you take refuge in me and the Maya not only it will not obstruct you but it will literally it will carry you to me. God is the Mahin, the maker of the Maya and from this Maya only came the same world and the world is a manifestation of God and one can overcome Maya by the grace of God alone. Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother emphatically say this again and again God can only be realized by His grace there is no other way and that is what the Shweta Shwetra Upanishad emphasizes again and again. These features of the Shweta Shwetra Upanishad also allowed great Acharyas like Ramanuja and Madhva who are called Bhakti Marga followers Dvaita Acharyas, Theistic Acharyas they take the quotations to support their own views and they become fanatical that's where Sri Ramakrishna comes and tells every Acharya teaches something very nice just take that part every Acharya also doesn't teach the truth there is something which is not ultimate truth you don't need to take take it from some other person I'll give you a small example Sri Ramakrishna, he is a follower of Shankara he is a follower of Ramanuja he is a follower of Madhva what does he say? when I am fully conscious I am a follower of Madhvacharya Deha Buddhiya Tu Ta Soham then I will serve you I will stand with folded hands I will not dare to transgress your laws and I am frightened of you like a servant is frightened of the master but when the same person advances to higher level of the mentality or understanding Naina then he says God is like my mother I am like a child we are separate but sitting in the lap of the mother and a mother there is no mother who doesn't love her child and there is no mother who neglects her child everything is completely taken care of by the mother I only have to feel that I am a helpless child and this is Ramanuja's path then Ramakrishna says it is wrong to say that Saguna Brahma is the highest goal no, Shankaracharya is right Advaita is the highest goal but it is wrong to say for Shankaracharya Nainamarga alone can take you to that Ramanuja is right surrender yourself prostrate yourself take refuge in God cry like a child this is called Prapatti Marga the path of self-surrender and Ramanujacharya advocates this Prapatti or Sharanagati Marga that is what in the Bhagavad Gita we see Arjuna had done Sishya means disciple disciple is one who gladly submits to the discipline imposed by the teacher a teachable person is called a student not otherwise so naturally Madhava, Ramanuja they emphatically dogmatically emphasize only what they think is realism supporting their views realism or qualified non-realism whereas Shankaracharya does exactly the same opposite he takes the same mantras same words and gives a non-dualistic meaning and emphasizes that the goal of this like any other Upanishad is to prove that only Brahman exists Brahman is the sole reality and no there is no Jeeva everything is Brahman the whole universe is nothing but Brahman so Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda will not agree with that are they denying? no he says Sri Ramakrishna says and what Sri Ramakrishna said Swami Vivekananda followed then we hear the words of Swami Vivekananda we have to always understand it is not true Vivekananda he is only HMV he is master's voice a real inspiration ideas, thoughts, ideals they belong to Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ramakrishna is manifesting in the mind of Narayana Nada in the form of understanding and Swami Vivekananda's voice Swami Vivekananda's expression Swami Vivekananda's magnetic personality and his ability master of the English language or any other language it is only for propagating his master's message that's why Swami Vivekananda says to sister Nivedita anything good has come from my mouth it absolutely belongs to Sri Ramakrishna if nothing if anything has come out which is not good it solely belongs to me not to Ramakrishna such humility such complete self-surrender and there are instances when Swami Vivekananda was found and he was talking in his room and the hostess heard distinctly two different voices next morning when they confronted him and asked him who was the other person he sweetly smiled sweet smile means avoiding direct answer he says I was talking with myself was he telling a lie? no, he was telling the truth because Ramakrishna is who? my own Atma we are not different they are not two different people one is the knowledge another is the expression of the knowledge instrument of the expression of the knowledge so Ramakrishna's view is every teacher is right in some way not correct in other ways you take the best of them and you adopt whatever takes and that too with a complete attitude of self-surrender to God then only you are going to reach the goal now coming Shankaracharya's Bhashya this I find is one of the longest Bhashya Sambandha Bhashya his introduction runs to pages and pages and pages so Shankara's introduction to this Upanishad is a grand illustration of his broad canvas of arguments quoting lavishly means page after page quotation after quotation from Shrutis, Smritis, Puranas Bhagavad Gita etc. to establish his monistic point of view but many scholars doubt whether in fact Shankara had really written a commentary on this Upanishad but we will not enter into it let it be anybody anybody who writes in the name of Shankaracharya provided he is only placing Shankaracharya's opinions in his own language attributing everything to Shankara it is nothing but Shankara Bhashya for example I am trying to explain to you this Shweta Shweta Upanishad don't think Swamitaya Atmananda's commentary this is nothing but what I understand by studying Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vikaranda, Holy Mother and other teachers also and I have made a beautiful garland of it and I am presenting it so that all of us can enjoy the real meaning of it I am not interested in any school of philosophy I am interested only in presenting the truth as we can interpret in the light of Ramakrishna's life and teachings in every talk that I do that's my goal so let us not go into these controversies we will try to study this Upanishad as a guide so that we can see what are the obstacles we can see what is our goal we can see what are the pathways and this Upanishad linguistic wise language wise very beautiful simple not at all archaic like other Upanishads it uses simple and lucid language that propounds inclusiveness nowadays this world inclusiveness is gaining gained very much in popularity what does it mean? when there is a what we call interfaith meetings first of all exclusive view my religion alone is true every other religion may be containing some partial truths I concede but the fullest manifestation is only in my religion this is called exclusivism then the pluralism there are two varieties of pluralism the highest type of pluralism says everybody is trying to express if a dog barks if a jackal barks if a bird cries if a human baby cries if a cow also moos when they are hungry they mean the same thing we are hungry we are thirsty we want food that is the only meaning they are conveying similarly whoever tells there is only a practical value we want to get out of trita apanasha that is possible and every Upanishad's endeavour is to destroy loosen and destroy and reveal the truth you are never in bondage you are thinking that you are in bondage so that is all we require really so Upanishad is marvellously synthesising Sri Ramakrishna's views that is why I like this Upanishad so much Swami Vivekananda also quotes from this so let us not go into the controversies because if you follow any particular commentary these controversies are inevitable so what does this Upanishad teach in lucid simple language this Upanishad propounds inclusiveness that means everybody is right so I was mentioning higher inclusivism what is lower inclusivism they also accept there are truths in every religion but they are incomplete they are partial but our religion allure has the complete explanation this is called lower one and higher one then there is a new type of interfaith meeting where they adopt phenomenal view what is this phenomenal view that there are some very intelligent teachers they say nobody has any right to pronounce about any religion we want to suppose a Christian wants to talk about Hinduism for some time he should practice Hinduism and he should wear the shoes of a Hindu do exactly what the Hindu does and then only he will understand what is the feeling of Hindu understanding of Hindu effects of Hinduism and the good points in Hinduism this is called phenomenal view that is you actually live for some time you wear the shoes of that particular religion walk with that shoes for some time and when you reach walk for some time you will have good understanding provided you are sincere then every religion every person has to follow for some time then only is exclusivism lower pluralism higher pluralism everything will inclusivism everything will disappear this is called phenomenal view every religion is real for the follower of that particular religion nobody has got any right to criticize, to downgrade or to pull it down or to compare it with one's own religion and this is exactly what Sri Ram Krishna said everybody's watch is defective only the sun maintains the correct watch right understanding comes not while we are travelling but when we reach the goal become one with the Divine then we know from the top of the mountain we see that various people all are struggling all are trying to reach the top there is no reference is there no easy path is there remember when bhaktas claim that our path is easy don't say that if a yogi loves yoga that is the easiest path for him if a jnani loves jnana marga that is the easiest for that person anybody loves bhakti marga that is the easiest person only for him he should not claim that others are more difficult paths that is also a kind of fanaticism but Ishrita Shethra Upanishad is I think more or less is reflecting what is called Neo Vedanta as interpreted by Ram Krishna and Swami Vivekananda so this Upanishad teaches the unity of all souls and the world in the one supreme reality treating it as an attempt to reconcile the different philosophical and religious views which prevailed at the time of its composition and as I explained earlier every Upanishad belongs to a particular Veda this Shweta Shethra Upanishad belongs to what we call a particular Veda you know we are familiar with four Vedas but we do not remember that this Yajur Veda has two recensions Shukla and Krishna and this belongs to Krishna Yajur Veda and as I said it contains 113 mantras and anybody who follows Krishna Yajur Veda if it is Shukla Yajur Veda Ishanthi Patha is Purnamadah Purnamidam if it is Krishna Yajur Veda Ishanthi Patha is what I chanted Sahana Vavato Sahana Vunato Sahaveriyam Karavavahai Tejasvina Hathitamastu Amavidvisha Vahai Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om, may Brahman protect us both may Brahman bestow upon us both the fruit of knowledge may we both obtain the energy to acquire that knowledge may that we may what we both study reveal the truth and may that truth energize both of us may we cherish no ill will towards each other peace peace three times I will talk a little briefly because we have dealt with the subject before undertaking any auspicious activity we have to pray to God may this journey be a safe pleasant less obstacle and may we reach our desired goal with great joy bounding jumping from lower joy to higher joy for that God's grace is necessary and God's grace comes in the form of both the teacher and the disciples and only when he blesses ability to convey and the ability to understand both are possible only by God's grace understanding is possible by God's grace endowed with Brahma Tejas is possible only by God's grace finally knowing that I am one with Brahman is only possible by God's grace so may both teacher and the disciple be blessed by the grace of God and that is the essence of this one may we obtain threefold peace from the three sources of affliction we will talk further things in our next class. May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Ramakrishna.