Amrita Bindu Upanishad Lecture 01 on 6 January 2024
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
Om jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
ॐ भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।
भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।
स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवाग्ँसस्तनूभिः ।
व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ।
Om bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ
bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ
sthirairaṅgaistuṣṭuvāgaṃsastanūbhiḥ
vyaśema devahitaṃ yadāyūḥ
स्वस्ति न इन्द्रो वृद्धश्रवाः ।
स्वस्ति नः पूषा विश्ववेदाः ।
स्वस्ति नस्तार्क्ष्यो अरिष्टनेमिः ।
स्वस्ति नो वृहस्पतिर्दधातु ॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
हरिः ॐ ॥
Svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ
svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ
svasti nastākṣaryo ariṣṭanemiḥ
svasti no vṛhaspatirdadhātu
Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ
Hari Om
Om, oh Gods, may we always hear with our ears what is auspicious,
Oh worshipful ones, may we with our eyes always see what is auspicious,
May we live our allotted lives, hale and hearty, offering our worship unto thee.
May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness on all of us,
May the all-nourishing potion be propitious to us,
May Garuda, the destroyer of all evil, be well disposed towards us.
May Brihaspati ensure all our welfare.
Om. Peace, peace, peace be unto all.
From today, we are going to study a beautiful Upanishad, albeit a minor one, containing only 22 mantras. This Upanishad is called Amruta Bindu Upanishad. And this Upanishad belongs to Atharva Veda. And you must notice here, Amruta Bindu. Amruta means nectar. Bindu means one drop. So there are five Upanishads belonging to this Atharva Veda. Atharva or Atharvana Veda. And the Shanti Patha for the Atharvana Veda, Atharva Veda, is just what we chanted just now. Bhadram, Karnevi, Shunyamadeva. The most marvellous Shanti Patha. We have already seen the meaning, but we will see it again to remind ourselves.
There are five Upanishads which end with Bindu. All five belonging to this Atharva Veda. What are they? Nada Bindu, Brahma Bindu, Tejo Bindu, Dhyana Bindu and of course Amruta Bindu Upanishads. And these Upanishads, most of the Upanishads are called only minor Upanishads. What does it mean? What is the difference between minor and major? Whenever we say major, first of all, most of the Upanishads and especially Brihadaranyaka and Chandogya are vast. Not only in the meaning, depth of the meaning, but also volume wise. Brihadaranyaka is the biggest. Chandogya probably a bit smaller, but very big. The rest of the Upanishads have got varying number of mantras. And as we said, even the Mandukya Upanishad is the smallest Upanishad consisting of only 12 mantras. So, it is major. Why is it called major? Because this Amruta Bindu contains 22 mantras. Then why do we call it minor? If at all we should call, Mandukya is minor. Not according to the number of mantras, but according to the importance given only by one Acharya who is called Shankaracharya. He has written usually 10 Upanishads, but there is also one Upanishad added to it. It is called Shweta Shvatara Upanishad, which we happen to finish. All the Upanishads are beautiful. So, those which have been specially taken notice and commented by Shankaracharya are usually known as major Upanishads. Besides that, there is no minor or major. (Timestamp: 5:48)
The message of all Upanishads, even the smallest Upanishad is only, Thou art That, you are Brahman, Tattvamasi. That is all. Even the smallest Upanishads, as we have seen in the Kaivalya Upanishad, which is only containing 26 mantras. What a beautiful garland of gems. So also, this particular Amrutabindu Upanishad is also a gem of the Upanishad. Why do we call it [Amrutabindu]? Because in most of the Upanishads, especially if we go to Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka, there are lots of Upasanas outlined elaborately. In fact, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad starts with the Upasana. That is a deep contemplation on Virat Purusha, but in the form of a horse. So, Ashwa. But here, Ashwa is compared to the Virat. So, plenty of Upasanas are there. Only a few chapters really contain the very nectar, the gem, of Self-knowledge, Atma Jnana. (Timestamp 7:16)
But these Upasanas are of no less importance. In fact, I would go so far as to say, following the footsteps of Sri Ramakrishna, what is called Bhakti Yoga is nothing but this Upasana only. What does a Bhakta want to do? He wants to merge in God. So, he slowly gets rid of his limitations. So, getting rid of limitations is becoming the unlimited. This is called Sharanagati. For that purpose, he prays to God. He does Nama Japam and also Rupa Dhyana, meditation on the form. He does Guna Dhyana, meditation on the Gunas. Finally, he also becomes fit to meditate on the Swaroopa. So, he starts with the first step called Nama Japam, progresses into Rupa Japam. What is Nama Japam? It is what we normally call the Japam of our mantra. Nama. It does not require much effort. But Rupa, to imagine the Divine Lord, especially in greater and greater sublimation, is going to be much more difficult. Then, we have to become fit to receive the grace of God. For that purpose, we have to acquire certain, what is called, Aupanishad Gunas, Sadgunas, Daivisampat. So, in the Upanishads, several qualities have been mentioned and elaborated. Unless a person obtains all these qualities, he doesn't really become an Adhikari. What is the meaning of an Adhikari? A person who is capable of receiving and retaining what the Divine Lord, out of His infinite grace, tries to bestow upon each one of us. A very interesting point here. It is not that God is waiting for us, that He is holding His grace on one side, with our name on it, and when my child comes, I will hand it over. No, no. He has already posted it long back. But we are not going to the post office to receive it. That is, we are not acquiring that quality to receive it, to retain it, and to use it, and to benefit from its use. A person who is ready, not only to receive, to retain, and to enjoy what he receives, with adequate grace, is called an Adhikari. Or, in Vedantic words, Sadhana, Chaturstvaya, Sampannaha. Every religious person, Hinduism and non-Hindu religions, every Sadhaka, whether he is a believer or non-believer, there is absolutely no difference in Sadhana. Sadhana means what? The capacity to receive. If the ocean, and the ocean never tells us that I will give you only one bucket full of water. The ocean says, bring a truck, I will fill it. Or, take as much as you want. Bring a tanker. But, whatever instrument we take is limited. So, the ocean is capable of giving itself, the entire ocean. But, where will you keep it? I have to become an ocean in order to receive the ocean. Therefore, I have to become God in order to receive God. This is called Sharanagati. We call it Jeeva Brahma Aikyanubhuti. Whatever name you call it, there should not be two. Either God or me. Both cannot remain. This is a fact. Whether we are following Bhakti Marga, Yoga Marga, or Karma Yoga Marga, or Jnana Marga, it doesn't really matter. (Timestamp: 11:50)
So, this Upanishad contains only 22 mantras. As I said, it is not commented by Shankaracharya. So, many people call it, unfortunately, a minor Upanishad. But, really, it is not a minor Upanishad. It is one of the most important Upanishads. I consider it as really Amrutabindu. So, what does any Upanishad want to tell us? It wants to give us only one type of knowledge. Knowledge is classified into two types. One is called Atma Jnana. Another is called Anatma Jnana. Atma Vidya or Anatma Vidya, or in Sri Ramakrishna's pithy words, it is called Avidya Maya, Vidya Maya. Let us not again mistake the word Maya. Maya means what? Knowledge. If it is incomplete, finite knowledge, it is called Avidya Maya. Anatma Vidya. But, if it is called Vidya Maya, it means it is infinite knowledge. And so, we all want to be infinite only.
One of our Swamis, a very grand master in giving talks, every sentence requires tremendous amount of effort by our mind to penetrate into the depths of this Swami's talks. He is called Swami Ashokananda. He was the head of our San Francisco Ashrama Vedanta Center in USA for many years. And he passed away there itself. A brilliant soul. And he has written, not really written, but delivered many wonderful talks which have been transcribed and collected together in some books. He was also editor of our Prabuddha Bharata for several years. Brilliant editorials are there, which are available online, kindly put up by our Advaita Ashrama Prabuddha Bharata magazine. It is a monthly magazine. Started by Swami Vivekananda himself. So, one of the talks is, why is the mind restless? And we are all restless. Not only restless, extremely restless. So, why is the mind restless? Because it is in search of the infinite. And when does it become restful? Only when it gets what it wants. What does it want? Infinite knowledge. What is infinite knowledge? Again, do not rake your brains. Infinite knowledge means, knowledge of "atom bomb", knowledge of the "where are the Hamas leaders", knowledge of the "how to prepare a tasty dish". No. These are called Anatma Vidyas. What Sri Ramakrishna used to call, Avidya Maya. Maya means knowledge only. Maya is not absence of knowledge. Maya means wrong knowledge. Ajnanam. [Anatma Vidya?] is another word. Avidya is another word. Maya is another word. So, this Swami has given a beautiful explanation what each one of us, not only human beings, even non-human beings, even an insect, even an amoeba, it wants to become infinite. And in its own limited way, this, I want to become everything, manifests in the form of propagation of this species. Every species wants to become, to spread, to become immortal. One way of becoming immortal is by spreading itself through the genes. So, there are billions and billions and billions of not only human beings, every creature. But unfortunately, so one species limits the other species. And until the mind understands this fact, that what I am seeking, where is it? It is within one's own self. [16:50 unknown sanskrit]. "Where are you searching, O fool? I am inside you. Turn your attention". [17:04 more sanskrit] One must be a Dheera. Dheera means buddhi. Dheera means one has the sharpest intellect. He, after getting tired of searching, what he doesn't know, he is searching. We really do not know what we are searching. But the Upanishads crystal clearly enunciates us. We are searching our own self. We are in search of self-knowledge. Are we really? Yes. We want to become immortal. We want to have all knowledge. And we want to be forever happy. Who has these three things? Only God. But I don't say "I want to become God". But my every effort, every breath, is "I want to be God". And that is expressed unconsciously in the form of what is called ajapa japa. Ajapa japa. Without really doing it, automatically it is going on. Through our in-breath, out-breath. When we are taking the air inside, it is called shvasa. We are saying, what are we saying? "So", Like that sound comes. And when we are breathing out, Ham... So... Ham... So... Ham... My verse is called Hamsaha. That is called the famous Hamsa mantra. Tanno Hamsah Prachodayat. Let that Hamsa, let it destroy my finiteness and make me Soham. This is what we are all really seeking. And the restlessness of the mind will never come to an end until it knows I am one with God. I am God. Aham Brahmasmi. And this is what the Upanishad wants to give us. [Timestamp 19:16]
So every Upanishad, Major, Minor, gives us a clear and complete understanding of who we really are. And every Upanishad goes beyond feelings, ideas, theories and concepts. Because what do these things do? They limit us. I imagine I am a human being. My idea is "I want to be rich". My theory is "everybody is a rogue excepting myself". My concept is "I am a good person. Everybody is a Rakshasa". But that is what everybody is thinking. Every Upanishad, including this Amrutabindu Upanishad, indicates the self as it is. That is, you are one without a second. Advaita Advaitiya. You do not fall under Dvaita. Dvaita means finiteness. Advaita means infinitude. So you are Ajata. Ajaha. You are never born. You are beyond cause and effect. You are Nitya, changeless. You are Shashvata, eternal. You are Ananta, you are infinite. So, every Upanishad, through positive or negative means, what does it do? Through negative means, it tries to remove all our notions of finitude about ourselves and in the positive way makes us realize I am that infinite truth. Brahma Atma Aikya Bodha. Most of us have a notion that I know who I am. But do we really know who am I? This was the first question Ramana Maharshi used to ask. He was not the first person. Even in the Bhaja Govindam. Kastvam Koham Kota Ayataha. Who are your parents? Who are you? Where from have you come? Etc. etc. So, every Upanishad gives us a clear and complete understanding of who we really are in essence. Every Upanishad makes us realize "I am the infinite Truth". Brahma Atma Aikya or Jiva Atma Aikya Bodha.
But is everybody fit to receive this Upanishadic knowledge? Especially if we want to study the scriptures. So, scientifically, rationally, our scriptures prescribe first of all, find out four things about yourself. It should not be difficult for us to question ourselves. This is called Anubandha Chatustaya. Chatustaya means four-fold questions we have to ask ourselves. These are called Anubandha. Before starting this study, any department of knowledge, including science, medical knowledge, music, etc. I will give a small example. Even though I have dealt with these things many number of times, it is well for us because one of the things that we always ignore is that whether we are really making progress in spiritual life. How do we know? Because we have to question. This is Anubandha Chatushtaya. Then, a person who is endowed with this, who passes the test of this Anubandha Chatushtaya, that person is called an Adhikari, that is, a Yogyavan Purushaha or a person who is capable of receiving the Divine Grace in the form of knowledge. Even a Bhakta requires knowledge. What is the knowledge? These are not my parents. These are not my family members. God alone is my parents, both mother and father. God alone is my family member. God alone is my eternal companion. Nobody comes with us. Nobody goes with us excepting Dharma and Adharma. This is well known. And what is that Dharma and Adharma? God's knowledge. So, what are the Anubandha Chatushtaya? What is called Anubandha Chatushtaya? Fourfold.
The first is we have to sit down and within what is called unbiased mind ask first thing is Prayojanam. What is the goal? What is it finally? What is the result that I want to achieve? So, do I want to become a musician, a physicist, an astronomer, a scientist, a good cook, a good driver, etc. So, it is a good example. Somebody wants to be a good driver. So, what is it you want? I want to be a good driver. That means I must have thorough knowledge of driving. That means I must have thorough knowledge of not only driving but to some extent, at least to a great extent, how, what is the vehicle, knowledge about the vehicle. So, this is called Prayojanam. Do I want God really?
Then comes Adhikari. Adhikari means who is a fit person. For example, a person without a good voice can never become a great musician. Theoretically, yes, but he cannot sing, he cannot play a person whose responses, bodily reactions are not quick enough. He can never become a good instrumentalist. There is a difference between what is called common instrumentalist and an expert. There was one tabla player and how his fingers fly. You try and you will understand what I am talking about. But they devoted their whole life for that. That is not enough. Many of us are also prepared to spend our whole lifetime. But we must have that equipment. A person who wants to sing must be born to good parents with great lung power and with a specially equipped sound box. That is the voice or throat. Otherwise, a donkey also wants to sing. So, what is called Adhikarya, a person who wants to paint. So, he should have good eyesight to distinguish between a thousand different shades of yellow, red, etc. You think that red is red. It doesn't have any shade. We know now better. Even an ordinary person knows. These are Faisal [Base? Timestamp 27:15] colors. These are deep colors, etc. It is an art. Home decoration is an art. Supposing a person wants to perform surgery, he must have not only very good eyesight, especially heart surgery or brain surgery, he must distinguish between a small vein and a bigger vein and what part of the brain or heart is infected. How to see that the other parts are not damaged slightly. Whether it is a back, what is called operation, brain operation, heart operation, any operation for that matter of fact. A keen eyesight along with, of course, knowledge. What I am talking about is physical equipment should be there. Then a keen desire. I am ready, prepared to spend any amount of time until I become a master of that. And there is no such thing called mastery. Every day, life after life, there is so much to learn. So this is called, very briefly, Adhikari. Am I having a physical, mental equipment, especially the motivation and especially willpower.
Then Vishaya. A person who wants to become a musician need not study what is called physics and chemistry. A little bit of knowledge is okay but it has what is called rhythm, what is called, what I call six angas of every good Sangeetha. Bhava, emotion, the feeling. Then the Sahitya, the lyrics, the very composition of the lyrics. Then Raga, composition, a particular tune depending upon whether it is what type of bhava. Early morning bhava, after sunrise bhava, midday bhava, evening raga or deep into the night or midnight raga, early morning raga or is it rainy season or is it spring season, every season. What a marvelous analysis our Hindus have gone into depths. That is why Navarasa. Every human feeling is divided into nine parts. An expert music composer, he will understand what bhava needs to be expressed, conveyed to other people. That is why when you hear some songs, they go straight into our heart. But in the hands of an not so expert, it tastes what we call tasteless. It doesn't impress us. It may be okay, but second time you don't feel like. But we carry after hearing an expert's song, either instrumental or vocal, deep into our hearts and we are affected by that mood. So these are the three parts. Bhava, Sahitya and Raga. But every good music should be accompanied by three things. This is called accompaniments. What are they? First of all, Shruti. Every person's sound box is different. Especially, I am talking about vocal music. Then the person must be aware of his limitations. Just observe how Ghantasala sings, how Mohammed Rafi sings, how Lata Mangeshkar sings. So you will see the differences. They may be singing the same Raga, but everybody has got different limitations. There is one background singer called Talat Mahmood. I am just mentioning it. What a marvelous voice! But the music composer takes into account this person's limitations. So he must compose, and only if that person's voice fits into it, he will allow that person to sing. These are called golden age composers. Then Laya. Rhythm. That is the very heart of music. Rhythm. There are two varieties. General rhythm and specific rhythm. General rhythm is the very first one. Then specific rhythm. For every song, that is what they call Tala. Adi Tala. Or it is Jhampa tala . Etc. Three Tala. So there are so many Talas. Varieties of Talas are there. Each song falls exactly into one particular module. And then without breaking the rhythm, one should be able to keep up with the Tala. So what are the accompaniments? Shruti. That is one's capacity where the middle part, so the highest one's voice reaches, the lowest one's voice can reach, in between easily whatever takes one's voice very high and very low not with difficulty. And that middle part, that is called Shruti. So Bhava, Sahitya, Raga, Shruti, Laya and Tala. Only a person should study these things. That is called Vishaya. So we have described Prayojana, Adhikari, Vishaya. Appropriate book of knowledge to our desire, to suit our desire to make us advance what we want to achieve. [Timestamp 33:52]
Then comes the last one, Sambandha. What is the relationship between spirituality and the scripture? What is the relationship between a person who wants to be a good cook and the relationship between a good cook book? So they must be related because even there are infinite, not really infinite but almost infinite, varieties of the same thing can be invented and every taste is different. So even a cook to become an expert cook, it is a Kala, it is an art and it requires tremendous amount of every expertism. It requires tremendous amount of will power and very sharp intellect to understand the nuances. And then a correct teacher who knows what he is going to talk about. Without Guru it is impossible to progress in any direction [life? 35:09]. So before undertaking any scripture, so another example is a deaf person can never become a great musician. So for every subject of art, there are certain qualifications. A painter need not be good, need not have good ears. A musician he must have good ears but even his eyesight can be very poor. In fact it is said of Beethoven that he had gone blind and intuitively he used to compose. There is a very interesting story I will be inserting now and then to break this monotony. One day where this Beethoven was living, he used to go out for a walk in the evenings especially just after sunset and he had become quite famous. One day he was taking a walk and he was walking by a poor house. There was a battered old piano. Piano is supposed to be a greatest musical instrument in the western countries. Not harmonium. Not keyboard. Piano. So one young girl who was an admirer of Beethoven, she was trying to play [with her? 36:40]. She was a poor girl. She could afford only a battered piano and she was trying to play and Beethoven heard it and he was very much impressed. Even with that battered piano the lady was able to do her best. So he just knocked, went inside introduced himself. They were transported with the greatest joy. Then he sat down and at that time his eyesight was failing actually. He could see very faintly. He looked out of the window because the piano was by the side of the window and he saw the moon in all its glory. Then he started. Suddenly inspiration came. By the way, all great people, every greatness, every great composition, every great piece of writing or sculpture or speech, anything that comes from the divine or any power. [Unknown sanskrit 37:46] So anything that comes from God that makes a person great. So this person was inspired seeing that marvellous sight even with his failing sight. And then suddenly the whole sonata fell into pieces and then and there he composed. This is called the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven. Even today it is one of the best conducted by world famous musicians. And hundreds and hundreds of instruments will be playing there. And the music conductor, he will be taking a baton and then he will be moving up and down. But his ears are so sharp that even one single half false note from any one of the instruments or singer, immediately his rod will come down. That is why they are paid so highly because this is a very special talent. If any person wants, ultimately it comes only, should come only from God. Anything for that matter, even whether it is scientist, many scientists have discovered many scientific truths through pure intuition and what we call that intuition is God's manifestation in that intellect, Mother Saraswati's manifestation in that particular intellect.
So this is called Anubandha Chatushtaya and a person who fulfills these four conditions Prayojana, Adhikari, Vishaya and Sambandha he becomes a fit person called Adhikari and then he must approach a Guru and then what should be done? Tad Vidhi, obtain that knowledge, Pranipatena, by surrendering, that is keep all your old ideas, everything outside, don't bring into the presence of the Guru. Empty your mind, then only you will be able to receive it, that is called Pranipata, surrender Sharanagati, then Pariprasnena but because of meter's rule Sevaya, Sevaya means you should genuinely love him, adore him, and try to serve him and in other words make him pleased, but Guru will not be pleased just because you cook him wonderful dishes or you solve some of his secular problems. No, Guru will be pleased when you fulfill, when I fulfill when we fulfill requirements without which he cannot pass on his knowledge. Then ask exactly questions, the Guru knows what we are capable, but he expects us because questioning is a marvelous art. Once somebody came to me and I was about to go for dinner, he said very short question: "Swami, it won't take long time". I asked him, "What is the question?". "I want to enter into Nirvikalpa Samadhi, can you show me the way?". Very short question. I also gave a short answer. There are two methods, one method takes a long time, many lives, but there is a very short method. He asked eagerly what is it, "I take a big stick and give a big blow, and you will enter instantaneously into Nirvikalpa Samadhi", with that he smiled and went away. Pariprasnena means appropriate questions, don't ask irrelevant questions and then listen to what he says with 100% faith even if it contradicts your own direct experience. For example Brahma Sathyam Jagan Mithya. That is Jagat is unreal but this Brahman alone, God alone is real, what is our experience, God is unreal and this world alone is real that is not going to help us, we must have faith, so Guru knows, he will never tell an untruth, it is impossible, so there must be something wrong with my understanding, for that purpose I have to understand it and for that purpose I have to think deeply, and that deep thinking where no remnant of doubt can remain that is called Manana. Manana means deep concentrated thinking until the last vestige of doubt is completely cleared away. That is called Manana and once I understand my old Samskaras are there they have to be slowly transformed into good Samskaras. I am not talking about what is called spiritual Samskaras I am talking about unspiritual Samskaras. What is spirituality? Slowly transform unspiritual Samskaras into spiritual Samskaras, that is called Sadhana, so I actually want infinite, that is God and eternal happiness. I want immortality. I want that knowledge, not Anatmavidya, but Atmavidya, that is called Chit. [Unknown Sanskrit 44:10] The first one represents Sat, the second one represents Chit and the third desire represents unbroken happiness called Ananda. Where do I get it? I get only in the Upanishads. Any Upanishad. Bible, yes, that is also Upanishad, and Quran that is also Upanishad. Guru Granth Sahib, that is also Upanishad. You don't need to call it Upanishad. That which takes us, makes us, we can say generously, make us be near, in the presence of God, that is called Moksha, that is called Mukti. Once we are in the presence of God, so you don't need to think he is another human being, I also another human being, but he is a great man, I will be enjoying his presence. No, he is of the nature of Knowledge, I am also same. So in his presence means all my Ajnanam, in the presence of fire, all the cold will dissolve. In the presence of light, all darkness melts away. In the presence of what is called Jnanam, all Ajnanam will disappear. And that which leads us in the best way possible to the presence of God, makes me understand, I may be thinking I am a human being because animals don't attend the class, that is important, so every Upanishad is expressed Knowledge of a realized soul. Sri Ramarishna's words are nothing but Upanishads, so also Swamiji, so also every realized soul. So also Ramana Maharshi, Namadeva, Tukaram, Tulasi Dasa, Mirabai, and Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vithala Dasa. So many Narayana Guru, so many Gurus are there. So there are many many Upanishads, so many have been lost. And there is one Upanishad called Muktika Upanishad. In there 108 Upanishads are mentioned. And that which is commented by Shankaracharya are called Mukhya Upanishad, or Major Upanishads, not that others are Amukhya.
So this is the background. Only when we have this qualification, we can listen. What about if we do not have that qualification? Not that we are barred from hearing them. By hearing them again and again, whether it is Bhagavad Gita, whether it is the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, whether it is minor or major Upanishads. The very contemplation, recitation, of these things have tremendous effect. This is called Satsanga. Why do I call them, we call them, Satsanga? Because if we do not, thinking that I cannot understand, what will you do with your time? You will be doing Asatsanga. To prevent that one, understand or not, I want to do that. There was a, what is called a great devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, and he used to he used to work very hard. He used to come to Dakshineshwar practically every night. He will come make a pranam and spread a mat in Sri Ramakrishna's room in front of Sri Ramakrishna, lie down and go to sleep and after 9.30 something like that he will be woken up and he will make another pranam and then he will go away. Another devotee criticized this devotee to Sri Ramakrishna. "What is the use of his coming?". Sri Ramakrishna became very grave and serious. He said "Don't talk like that, because he has the faith. Even if he sleeps in my presence, he is going to get benefit". And now scientists are also proving or rather they are confirming the fact that there is something called sleep learning, a baby in the womb of a mother learns lullabies, particular type of lullabies, and it recognizes mother's voice and a little bit of father's voice. That is how, as soon as it is born let the mother sing immediately. It feels I am in safe hands, and goes to deep sleep. Let a stranger take, even if the baby's eyes are not open, the baby becomes very restless, because the smell, the sound, everything makes this baby feel unsafe. So there is something called unconscious learning. As children we do not learn consciously, we soak in what is called sponges. Even unconsciously.
This is just a background of what is the Upanishad that I am going to come in the next few minutes. So as I mentioned there are five Upanishads and with the name Bindu. They are called, these are all belonging to Atharva or Atharvana Veda, Nada Bindu, Brahma Bindu, Tejo Bindu Vihana Bindu, Amrita Bindu. And so what does it mean? Amrita Bindu. Bindu means one drop, one drop of knowledge, one ray of light is sufficient to destroy a million years of darkness according to Sri Ramakrishna, and it is absolutely true. Amrita means, normally Amrita means, this whom we call Indra Chandra Gods. They are possessors of this Amrita, and that famous story in the Bhagavatam, Kshirasāgara manthana. Superficially understanding, it means only the nectar Amrita obtained and drunk by the Devas. It gives us it is a healthy drink. Gives us health, long life, etc. etc. But there is something called, it is very important for us to understand, there is something called real Amrita. That is Mrityu, means mortality, to become free from mortality to attain Moksha and to be forever free, call it Mukti, call it Moksha. That is the real meaning of Amrita. So this Amrita Bindu really straight comes to the point, "Am I eager to obtain Mukti?", "Yes!", "What is the way to do that?". "I must do Sadhana", "What for?", "Not that I can demand, but I can become fit to receive what God wants us to give me". And many times we find in the Upanishads, practically every Upanishad is a dialogue between the teacher and the student or students, we have seen so many times, many times names are not mentioned, but they give us something and that is called, what Sri Ramakrishna calls, that is Vidya Maya. What is Maya? knowledge. What is Vidya Maya? Immortal Knowledge, what leads us to God, what makes us realize we are really Amrita Swaroopas. This is called Self-Knowledge. This brief introduction, then just a few words. [Timestamp 52:52]
Every Upanishad starts with a Shanti Mantra, and the Shanti Mantra for this Amrita Bindu Upanishad is: Om bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ, which I have chanted at the beginning of this class. All the Shanti Pathas are very beautiful and they can be used as daily prayers by all the people, especially spiritual seekers. And every time, not only every day, Nityaparayana, but every time. Supposing, as an example, you are starting to go to your office work. You know there are many unpleasant callings, or bossing boss who is rough with you and you chant this, what is this, bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ, bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhiryajatrāḥ, sthirairaṅgai. So let me not be hesitated, let me hear what is good, maybe he is telling us something good, maybe he is finding fault with my work, maybe I have really those faults, and if I do not have that faults, he is only talking rubbish but it doesn't matter. I have to learn how to forbear. "Forbear, forbear, forbear", Sri Ramakrishna used to say. So from the colleagues also they are exhausting my Prarabdha Karma, or they are also acquiring more sin. The inevitable result of Karma is Dharma and Adharma. So if they are troubling me unnecessarily, there are two types of criticisms. One is your own well wishing people, you find these are the defects we find in you, and we have to be grateful to them, for them, so that they can point out. The second type is for their own pleasure they find faults, and that means they are committing Adharma. That means they are going to suffer in future. So one thing about this Karma Siddhanta is that there are certain actions which give immediate result. You put your hand in hot boiling water, the result is instantaneous. You sow a banyan seed, it may take several years for it to come up. But you do some actions, which may yield the result after many births, but Bhagwan is called Vidhata. He keeps an account, and usually it is called Chitragupta, keeps an account, but it doesn't matter and everybody has to reap the results, good or bad. Our tendency is he is giving me trouble now, he should suffer now, no it doesn't happen, somebody is doing as good, that person may suffer very soon but he will reap the result later on. Somebody is giving me Dukha, he may be happy person right now, but he will inevitably pay because all are children of God and God impartially he corrects everybody either by carrot or stick, carrot means reward, Puniyam, or stick means punishment. Now there are four important Prayojanas of every Shanti Patha, first is Ishwara Sakshatkara Prapti. This is the only one we are studying, so that by God's grace may we obtain God's grace and through that God's grace may we become one with him this is called Ishwara Sakshatkara Prapti. Second is the same Bhagawan is manifesting in the form of Adhishtatru Devatas presiding deities like Surya, like Chandra, like Indra, like Varuna. Everyone is in charge of one one particular department and we also require their Anugraha. And then third result, Sadbuddhi or Sadguna Prapti, we have so many defects evil qualities, unspiritual qualities. If we pray to the Gods they will out of their boundless grace correct us and help us transform our unspiritual qualities into required good qualities. Of course the last one is Vijnani Varanam, any obstacles because of our Purva Janma Dushkruti, or wrong deeds, by their grace we can easily overcome. That means our body will be fit vehicle, our mind will be fit vehicle, and we worship so long as God bestows his grace upon us, and keeps us alive. It is all his grace. And these are the four important results we expect from Shanti Patha. [Sanskrit], and the Devanam Anugraha Sadbuddhi or Sadguna Prapti Vijnani Varanam. We will talk about these things in our next class tomorrow.
ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम्
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहुः
Om jananīṁ sāradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇaṁ jagadgurum
pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuḥ
May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.
Jai Ramakrishna!