Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 24 on 21 May 2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We have started the fourth chapter of the Svetasvatara Upanishad. As I said, this chapter reflects exactly the whole of the Narayana Sottam. And what does the Narayana Sottam reflect? The fourth chapter of the Svetasvatara Upanishad. What do we understand by that? That there is one reality that is called Brahman. The whole universe is nothing but His manifestation. So long as we look at the world, we have to see that same Brahman with various forms, various names and various qualities and for different purposes. But we are not seeing anything separate, distinct from Brahman. From the Advaita viewpoint, Brahman is not the creator. Brahman is the manifester. Or we should say not even the manifester. But when we look at Brahman through the mind, that Brahman appears through Kaala, time, space and causation with forms, names and qualities and utilities. But when the mind is not there, there is only one experience possible. I am Brahman. Let us look at the second mantra. TADEVAGNE TADADITYAHA TADVAYO TADUCHANDRAMAHA TADEVASHUKRAM TADBRAHMA TADAPAHA TADPRAJAPATHI That Brahman is the fire or fire means here, one of the Panchabodhas, Adhishtana Devatas, the presiding deities. He is the sun, He is the air, He is the moon, He is the starry, all the shining stars, and He became the water, that is Jala Devata, and He is the Prajapati, He is the creator in everything. That means He Himself is appearing as this whole universe. Then, in the third mantra, TVAM STRI TVAM PUMAN ASI TVAM KUMARAHA KUTHAVA KUMARI TVAM JIRNO DANDENA VANCHASI TVAM JATO BHAVASI VISHVATO MUKHAHA Thou art the woman, thou art man, thou art youth, thou art the maiden, thou, as an old man, is walking along shuffling your feet with the help of a stick. It is again you alone who, when you are born, assume as diverse forms. Everything that YATYAKINCHIT JAGAT DRISHYATE SHROYATESHVA TAT SARVAM YAPYA NARAYANAHA HARIH The entire universe is the Lord's manifestation. Then, specially, not only human beings, even though it is said He is everything, a bit specific, what does it mean? Whichever person you see, including yourself, when you look at yourself in a mirror, you should not think I am XYZ. I am Brahman. And when you look at any other being, human being, young, old, whatever it is, even a dead person, there is no death according to Vedanta. It is all Brahman. Then you are the most precious blue butterfly or bee and you are that beautiful parrot, green parrot with reddish eyes. HARITAHA means green, LOHITAKSHAHA means with burning red eyes. TADIDH GARBHAHA In the rainy season or whenever it rains, it also sometimes gives flashes of lightning. That lightning is hidden in that water bearing clouds. And that again you, all the seasons, one after the other, without deviation. That is called the concept of RITA. That is why we call the seasons. One after the other, it will come, they come and go. That's why they are called RITA. SAMUDRAHA All the oceans and these oceans are the, without oceans there cannot be any life. And ANADHIMAT, when is this creation, when is this manifestation? All the time. And you are controlling everything. Not only you are the creator, but you are the maintainer and you are the withdrawer and you are that even to make the world go properly. BHAYAT AGNESH TAPATHI BHAYAT ASHMAT AGNIH TAPATHI The Kata Upanishad we have seen. So from the fear of Him, just by His presence, everything works exactly as it is supposed to work, excepting human beings. They are the only deviants. So you are the Lord and for whose good? You are not like the dictators, cruel dictators, for the sake of their own enjoyment. No. You, whatever you do, like a mother, commanding the child, for whose good? For the good of the child. And this, whatever we see, every star that is born, everything that is born, every blade of grass that is born, VISHVAHA BHUVANANI SARVAHA YATAH JATANI from whom or who is manifesting in the form of everything. Thou art the dark blue bee, Thou art the green parrot with red eyes, Thou art the thunder cloud, Thou art the seasons, and Thou art the seas, Thou art the beginningless and all-pervading, and from Thee all the worlds are born. What we call this entire universe. So, the seeker perceives only the supreme in all objects. What type of seeker? God seeker. Seekers of God. Not ordinary persons. Directly? Not directly. Does an ordinary person see anything other than God? Absolutely no. Even worldly persons want to see and only will see God. What does it mean? It means everybody wants to live. They want to become Sat. And whatever helps to be Sat, that means to be healthy and that means not to have any fear of death. And every striving that we have, every action we take, every breath we take is only for that purpose so that we can be Sat. And here is a very interesting psychological point. Asat means disturbed mind. One meaning of Asat is a body which is unhealthy and a mind which is also unhealthy. What does that mean? That means a body which doesn't follow all the rules and regulations of what a healthy person or a seeker of health should seek. We may not do it. But we want the health and that perfect health is forgetfulness of the body and that belongs only to the Divine. So a healthy mind is that which is always productive, gets fulfillment in whatever it does, creative, and it wants to have right knowledge and it wants to be very calm and quiet. And that is what even worldly people see. I am restless for this object. Perhaps if I get this object and possess it or make it me by eating or by possessing or by using, somehow owning it, then I will be a happy person. So every person, every prani, whether human or non-human, only seeks, I want to be Sat, I want to be Chit, I want to be always happy. Asat Oma Sadgamaya, Tamas Oma Jyotirgyamaya, Mrutyor Ma Amrutangamaya. This is the continuous prayer, continuous activity of everybody. Nobody wants to be Asat, Achit or Dukkha Purna. It is impossible. But consciously, when a person understands that this is not a proper way, I am seeking God but I have to seek in a proper way, gets the direction and the first thing the Guru tells, that you must look upon your mother as God, your father as God, your teacher as God, your Guru as God, progress and thereafterwards, Atidhi means anything that you experience, you will be able to say as God. So in all objects, whether they are living, non-living, sentient, insentient, having all colors, that means all qualities and all sizes and all forms because all these worlds and the denizens who dwell in those are manifesting or Brahman is manifesting as Them. In His all-pervading aspect, He is in everything, omnipresent and takes up every form. He is the Master of Prakruti which is now going to be discussed in the next few mantras, in the next three mantras. We will see how this progress is going on. Now, what is the problem here? Why suddenly the Sankhya philosophy? Because even if you want to do something, first of all, you must have a concept of that object in your mind in the form of an idea but you must have an instrument. So, only Brahman is there but wise people, deeply thinking about it, have come to the conclusion because of certain reasons, it is not complete thinking, a little bit partial thinking, immature thinking, they have come to this conclusion that there is a consciousness. This is a marvelous discovery. Without consciousness, there is no difference between living and non-living. As soon as Prana comes into a so-called non-living being because Vedanta doesn't accept if Prana was not there, if Chit and Ananda were not to be there and by any amount of time, billions and billions and billions of years, trillions of years, it will not come, it will not manifest. That is the scientific law. Whatever is not there will never come out and whatever comes from outside can never remain because two separate objects will remain separate. And another principle they discovered through these wise thinking people that it will take time to manifest many things. So in course of time, even the inorganic, so-called inorganic, in Vedanta, remember, everything is Sat, Chit, Ananda. Even in so-called inorganic, insentient, we see Sat. If you don't see, when you are seeing a stone, you are seeing its existence. So existence cannot be avoided. Not only that, when we see the existence of something, the knowledge of that something, it flashes in our mind, that is called Chit. That means we are admitting that this object has got Chit. It may not be aware, but I am aware of it. Like when we look at a sleeping Einstein, he may not know that he is Einstein until he wakes up, but we know he is Einstein. And then every object, when it is cognized, then it creates a desire, Ananda. That is, if it is a pleasant object, or we believe it can give me Ananda, I go near it. And if I know that it will give me suffering, then I would not like to suffer, I would like to be happy, so I run away from it. That means the Chit aspect in our mind produces a reaction, that is called Ananda. Every endeavour is to avoid Dukkha. Dukkha nivrutti and Ananda prapti. Sukha prapti, Dukkha nivrutti. So these wise people, they have come to know, and only a conscious person can make philosophy, not other people. In fact, I want to share with you an open secret. We think that philosophers are a very special type of breed. They are available either in the Ramakrishna order, or in the universities, or in the colleges, but an ordinary person is not a philosopher. We are totally wrong. Every man, every animal is a wonderful philosopher. How? The person has a definite aim. He has a view of the world. I like this person, I like this object, I don't like that person or that object, this event is good, that event is not good, and after some time, the person puts on that particular opinion as he expects. If Ramakrishna is putting on Gnananjana, these people will put on Agnananjana, but they are philosophers. Even a tiger is a great philosopher. So, how do you know? Because Jim Corbett tells us that when a tiger is injured, it understands. It is not possible for me to catch any prey, because every single prey, including a kitten, is far faster, far cleverer than me. But these helpless human beings, the moment they see a tiger, the first thing is they stand still, they lose consciousness, there is a broad invitation, come and eat me up, I am not going to run away anywhere. So, the philosophy is if it is a human being, you don't need to struggle much, it is an open invitation, and I have been very lucky to find such a willing victim. So, a mosquito has a philosophy. What is the philosophy? It divides human beings into three types. Those who have a new mosquito curtain are the worst of humanity. Those who are using an old mosquito curtain which has become holy and through which it can enter and do its job, that is progressing sadhakas. But that fellow who doesn't have any mosquito curtain, he is the holiest of all. See, every man, even a baby, has got a philosophy. It encounters a relative who comes and utters endearing sounds, but there is nothing in the hand which a person philosophically accepts, because the baby is helpless. But the moment it hears the voice of people who always come bearing gifts, that immediately it perks up, its eyes sparkle, even from the deepest sleep, samadhi, it wakes up instantaneously, because it knows how to take advantage of the opportunity. Anyway, I just wanted to be a little bit light. Now, there were some people and as they were developing, they were developing their thinking power, as a result, they were coming to the right conclusions and the greatest of them, below the Vedantic level, are called Sankhya philosophers. And Advaita Vedanta or Vedanta, Dvaita Vedanta, Vishishta Advaita Vedanta, bodily, they lift 99% of their philosophy. Now, why am I talking about Sankhya philosophy? Because they talk about certain things and it will become clear when I tell you, but very briefly, very succinctly, I am going to tell you Sankhya philosophy in brief. Because the verse which we are going to study immediately, is full of this Sankhya philosophy. So this verse of the Upanishads is very much praised by the Sankhya philosophers. What is their philosophy? According to the Sankhya philosophers or Sankhya philosophy, there are two ultimate principles. One is called Purusha and one is called Prakruti. Both are eternal. What is the difference? Purusha is only consciousness, Shuddha Chaitanyam, and Prakruti is completely inert. And the whole universe, Jagat, that includes our body, our mind, everything is nothing but modifications of Prakruti. But without Purusha, Prakruti being inert, it cannot think, it cannot scheme, it cannot want, I want to become like this. But in the presence of Purusha, note down carefully, Purusha will not do anything. Just as in the presence of light, we do so many activities, and if you ask the light, why do you do so many activities? No, I don't know anything. That's what Sri Ramakrishna so beautifully put. Two people were using a hurricane lantern in the evening. One person was reading Bhagavatam with great devotion. Another person was forging the cheques of other people to steal money from that person. The light is only a help. Without light, both of them cannot do that. But the light itself doesn't know, but in its presence, many activities take place. That is why a Sun is called Karmakara. Kara means one who inspires activities. Karmadhyaksha. So what does it mean? It means without light. And light doesn't mean only the physical light. Sound is also light. Smell is also light. Light means knowledge. Taste is also light. And touch also is light only. That is knowledge only. So this Prakruti does everything because of the mere presence of the Purusha. And because of so many bodies, so many minds, the Sankhya philosophers, the Dvaita philosophers, the Visishta Dvaita philosophers, they have come to the conclusion as many personalities, so many persons, so many Jivatmas, many Atmas, many Purushas, but one Prakruti. So the proximity of the Purusha, which is pure consciousness, activates Prakruti. And this Prakruti, how does it activate? It is consisting of, comprising of three Gunas. They are Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva is represented by whiteness, Rajas by redness and Tamas by blackness. And the entire universe is nothing but Vikruti. That is modifications of the original Prakruti. And we can see that everything, all this entire, whatever we see, Jagat, is nothing but living, non-living bodies and minds. And the non-living is nothing but bodies. Mind is potentially there, but not really there. How do we know? In the course of time, as it comes to life, it wakes up in the form of a microbe. Very small light is percolating within that mind and it also knows what to eat, what to avoid, how to struggle, how to procreate. But that mind, small mind, small intelligence is enough for that. Even that intelligence which belongs to the mind is part of the Prakruti. So, everything is evolved. But when it comes to human life, something special happens. Self-awareness becomes a primary property of every human being. And when these human beings, all the human beings, according to Sankhya, can be divided into two categories. Those who are unevolved or endowed with less buddhi, viveka, and more buddhi or more viveka. And what do these people do? Those who are not endowed with high intelligence, they run after the things of this world, that is, the body and mind, goes after the objects. Remember, body and mind, bodies and minds, and also the objects, they are all made up of Prakruti. Prakruti is made up of three gunas. And so, guna, guneshu, vartante. The body and mind having particular type of gunas and they differ from person to person, from age to age, from time to time, and they deal with the objects. But the Jivatma has nothing to do with that. Purusha has nothing to do. But there are people, they go through what is called Tapatraya. This is a word from the Sankhya philosophy. Every evolved, right-thinking person, after many lives, he is endowed with viveka buddhi, he wakes up and says, I am suffering so much, I don't want to suffer. Yes. Then he understands, through the Guru's grace, that I am the Purusha. I have nothing to do with Prakruti. But now I am identifying myself with Prakruti. I am the body, I am the mind. I possess these things in these three forms. But what is the way to be free and to be completely free of this Tapatraya? Because the Sankhya philosophy doesn't talk about Paramananda Swaroopa. It says you will be free. It is a bit of a negative concept. So what did they do? They evolved a practical system. Every Indian philosophy first gives theory and then gives the practicality, a pathway, a sadhana marga for them to get out of this samsara. Getting out of samsara, obtaining mukti, is the final goal of every school of Indian philosophy. So there is a yoga system. That is why Sankhya, Darshana and Yoga Darshana are clubbed together all the time. So this Yoga Darshana says you have to do certain things, follow certain steps, evolve psychologically and afterwards that evolved mind becomes a springing board from where you take off and realize I am the Purusha and then you become free. So how does it? We all know the Ashtanga Yoga. Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhyana, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi first Savikalpa, then Nirvikalpa etc. So you see this Patanjali was supposed to be the practical man of this yoga system. He has culled from the existing knowledge, classified it beautifully, presented it in the form of yoga sutras. So in the second sutra he says Yoga Chitta Vrutti Nirodaha What is the joint between Purusha and Prakruti? Chitta. Then what should be disjointed? Chitta. And by controlling it, ultimately the Chitta becomes separated from the Purusha and that is called Yoga, that is called Chitta. Vrutti Nirodaha. And once a person has sufficiently progressed towards this goal, then that person, what happens to him? Tada Drashtu Swaroope Avasthana Thereafter he knows, I am Purusha, I have nothing to do with this Prakruti and that is the end of this transmigration, cycle of transmigration. And this getting out of this separation from the Prakruti and remaining as Purusha, that is called Mokte and that is what is going to be outlined here in the next mantra. That is why this introduction, so that it would be very easy. If you have heard what I have said and you will know everything about Sankhya Yoga, the rest is only detail. With this understanding, let us move to the fifth mantra. Universal Self and the Individual Soul Instrument of creation is Prakruti and people get entangled. But the following mantras describe how Brahman, that is Jeevatma, with the help of Prakruti or nature, so he created this Jeevatma, etc. and becomes entangled in the beginning but later on wakes up and strives and separates himself. So what is Mukti? It is not a positive attainment, it is a negative detachment. That is why some beautiful sages have defined Yoga, Yoga is Viyoga, that is separation from Prakruti. That is what to say, I am not body-mind. And when I attain to that knowledge, I know I am the Purusha. The only difference is, Advaita Vedanta says, there are not many souls, there are not many Purushas, only one Purusha. Call him Brahman, by whatever name you want. Ekam Sat, Ipraha, Bahudhavadanti. With this background, I hope I am clear enough. Let us move to the fifth mantra. Ajam Ekam Lohita Shukla Krishnam Bhakthihi Prajah Shriyamanam Sarupah Ajohi Ekah Yushamanah Anushayate Jahati Enam Bhukta Bhogam Ajah Anyaha This is a summary of, I have given the summary of this mantra in the form of Sankhya philosophy. What does it mean? There is one unborn Prakruti, and it has three colors, red, white and black. And this Prakruti, having these three colors, which are representative of the three Gunas. That is, red means Prajoguna, white means Satvaguna, black means Tamoguna. And this Prakruti, gives birth to many creatures like itself. That means, anything born of Prakruti, Prakruti is consisting of three Gunas, so anything born of Prakruti will always be a manifestation of three Gunas. It is wrong to think that some people have only Satvaguna, some Rajoguna, some Tamoguna. No, all the three qualities, three Gunas will be there, but in low developed human beings, Tamoguna dominates, and then Rajoguna second, and Satvaguna below. But if the same person evolves, then that person, that Prajoguna will be there, then Satvaguna will be there, then Tamoguna will be there. But if a person evolves highest, then Satvaguna assisted by Rajoguna and Tamoguna will be there. It is only the proportion of three Gunas, like a dimmer switch. So, this Prakruti is giving birth to this entire universe. Whatever you can see, we are able to witness, our body, our mind, everything, every body, every object, even a piece of mat, even a house, even a doormat. Some doormats, you feel, ha, so smooth, I feel like not moving from here. Some doormats, you have to jump practically to enter into the room. One touch is enough. So, some carpets, when you see some carpets, your mind becomes restless. When you see some other carpets, you feel like going to sleep. And when you see some carpets, you feel your whole mind becomes absolutely calm and quiet and pleasant. Similarly, when you hear some people's speech, you feel like going to sleep. When you hear other people, you feel very hesitated, restless, angry. This is how politicians do their jobs. And when some people, spiritual people give, then you feel, ah, my mind has become so marvellous. By hearing the bhajan by Sri Ramakrishna, Manilal Mallick's mind, who was returning by cremating his 25-year-old youthful son, which was full of grief, has perked up and said, life is like that. I will not do anything to unnecessarily create any more attachment. So what happens, then this Prakruti is manifesting even as human beings. And as I mentioned, there are what is called unevolved human beings. What do they do? They become attached to this Prakruti, to this body. Remember, all attachment is to no other object, but only for the sake of the happiness. Even our attachment to the body is only for the sake of happiness. So, at some point, these people, they go on thinking that we can be very happy, but death will come, disease will come, old age will come. And through repeated experiences, knockings, the person awakens one day and says, however wonderful the body or the mind, we have to go through these three types of sufferings, Tapatraya. So, then he wakes up. He determines, I want to get out of samsara. Whether it is Sankhya Yoga, Advaita Yoga, Sistadvaita Yoga, Advaita Yoga, or whatever it is, we all want to get out. That means, we want to be eternally happy. We want unbroken happiness. And so, while another, that is, individual soul, what does it do? Leaves it after its enjoyment is completed. That means, I will come to the meaning shortly. Let me go through this. Ajam, that means unborn, Prakruti is unborn, because it belongs to God. And it is Ekam, the beginning of creation. It is one. And you can call it Shakti. You can call it Saguna Brahma. You can call Ishwara. This is what we are talking about. And it is consisting of three gunas, represented by red, white and black. Lohita, Shukla and Krishna. And Srijamana, what does it do? It goes on multiplying itself. Into how? Sarupaha, exactly like itself. Means what? Not similar forms, similar gunas. However many colors, forms, sizes, names, but all of them are having these three gunas. Bahvi, infinite number of what? Prajaha, means creatures. Prajaha doesn't mean human beings. Human, non-human, living, non-living, and moving, non-moving, chara, achara, etc. Everything is nothing but manifestation of Prakruti, consisting of these three gunas, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. So what is the point? Point is, the human beings, the Pranis are created. And we need not talk about lower than human beings, but Ajaha, there is one Purusha, and he is called Jivatma. He is called Purusha in Sankhya philosophy, and he is eternal, and he is unborn. Ajaha means unborn. Ekaha, he is only one, but Jushamanaha, he goes on enjoying the Prakruti. Anushete, that means he becomes completely bound. That is the meaning of the first part of the second line. So Anushete, he goes on enjoying it. And then what happens? He becomes very happy. And then what happens? He becomes attached. I want that happiness. I want that Sukha, again and again and again. That means he becomes bound, Paddha Jiva. But there are other people, Jehati Enam. Enam means Prakrutim. That is Jehati. So there is a second type of people. They are not fifty-fifty. Manushyanaam sahasresho kashchid yatati siddhaye So yatatam abhisiddhanam kashchin maam vetti tattvataam One in a million, perhaps, strives to get out of this stranglehold of the Prakruti, but he takes up. And if I am there, like the fish which is caught, it wants to get out. And that is a beautiful analogy given by Sri Ramakrishna. We all know that a fisherman casts a net in the pond and some are never caught. They are called Nityamuktas. And many others are caught. But as soon as the clever ones are caught, they immediately jump out. But there are some who struggle, will not be able to get out in this life. But there are some who are quite happy. So all these two lower, two types are described in this last part of the second line. Bhukta bhoga That means they have enjoyed it many times. It gives us a hint. So can I renounce the world? No, sir. You have to go through this. You have to get married and then suffer, enjoy, suffer, enjoy, enjoy, suffer, be reborn again and again and one day, Bhukta bhoga. Enough is enough. I don't need it. Not I don't want it. That is a negative philosophy. I don't need it because I know what it is. Jahati enam prakruti strives to give it up. So he is also Jivatma. The one who is caught is also Ajaha. He is also Jivatma. The one who is caught also is only Jivatma. But Anyaha means the second type of people. Viveka purushas Viveka is enlightened people. The awakened people. Buddhistata, jagrata, prapyavara, nibodhata. So if you see somebody who is striving for Mukti, so don't think he never enjoyed it because according to Hindu philosophy we are all, we have enjoyed it for a long time in so many births. Churasi lakh janam. And then we suddenly wake up. It is not a sudden waking up. It is a gradual waking up. Then we strive and it takes many many lives. So what does it mean? That Brahman becomes with his own maya, with his power, maya becomes the entire universe. He divides himself into the living and non-living. He also evolves what is called by Charles Dickens biological evolution until he comes to the human birth manusya janma. There are two types of manusyas. Those who are still evolving, they are the people who are caught and those who have evolved enough, they become what is called awakened persons and then approach great people, gurus, get the teaching and strive. So this is the inevitable, inescapable process. That is what we have to understand. That is why Bhagwan Krishna also says Know these two. That is the Jivatma is my higher self and Prakruti is my lower nature and it is the womb. I am the womb of all beings. Therefore I am the origin. I am also the dissolution of the whole universe. Why did I quote this Bhagavad Gita? Because earlier I told you according to the Sankhya Yoga, Purusha and Prakruti completely separate. They are eternal principles. But in this Bhagavad Gita time, Bhagwan Krishna or maybe somebody else earlier to him has reconciled and said they are not two separate principles. One is my lower nature. One is my higher nature. So I am only dividing myself just as in a dream. What do we do? We become the conscious individuals. We also become a rock, a mountain, a tree or a living creature and so we divide ourselves. We also become thoroughly worldly people. We also dream that we have become awakened. We are visiting the ashramas. We are listening to these beautiful talks. And we also do exactly the same thing. But this reconciliation, there is no separation. There are no two principles. There is only one principle that is beautifully put forward here. Again in the 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, earlier was the 6th shloka. This is the 7th shloka. Oh Arjuna! That means all of us. There exists nothing whatsoever higher than me. All this is strung on me as a row of gems on a thread. So everything is like a beautiful garland, beautiful chain. Everything is there. But I am dividing myself in this Jagat as the enjoyer, as the enjoyed, as the Jivatma and as the enjoyable object, a fodder for the Jivatma. With this beautiful explanation, we will move to the 6th mantra. And here what Bhagavan wants to tell, the Rishi, Svetasvatara Rishi wants to confirm that within each one of us, there are two eyes. One is a Sakshi eye. Another is a participating eye. But put it in a beautiful way. We have studied it in the Mundaka Upanishad. So we will straight go into the mantra. So there are two birds. They are always together. And they are known by the same name. Closely cling to the same tree. One of them eats the sweet fruits. The other looks on without eating. Who are the two birds? That is the Jivatma and Paramatma. Remember, if there is no Paramatma, there is no Jivatma. So a beautiful imagery is given. Imagine a huge tree. And there are two birds. One bird is on the uppermost branch. And the other bird is below. And the bird below is but a shadow, a reflection, a mirror of the higher bird. So what does this lower bird do? It goes on enjoying the different fruits. Even though the Upanishad is using sweet fruit, we have to understand the experiences of life. What is the tree? This body is the tree. Both Jivatma and Paramatma, both are within this body only. Both are together. Though how? That is both. Like brothers, like twins. Sayuja. That means they are inseparable. You can't separate them. I will come to the meaning. Sakaya. That is the elevations of each one. And they know. Suparna. And they are having the same, what is called beautiful plumage. The meaning also I will come. Samanam Vriksham. That is the self, same tree. One tree. What is the tree? It is body and mind. Parishasva Jathe. They are taking shelter. Or they made this body-mind their home. And then what are they doing? Are they doing the same thing? No. Tayoh Anyaha. That is one of them. That is Jivatma. Pippalam Swadhu Atti. Pippalam means a fruit. So Swadhu. Swadhu means tasty. No, no, it is not tasty. I will also, there is a beautiful meaning to it. Atti goes on eating. Means experiencing. Sometimes bitter and sometimes sweet. Sometimes neutral, etc. But this is one bird. What does the other bird do? Who is that bird? Paramatma. Anyaha. The other one. Anashnath. Without eating anything. Avichakasithi. It goes on looking. That means witnessing. Again I said, let us explore these things. These two birds are referred to in this highly poetic passage. One is the individual soul called Jivatma. And the supreme soul called Paramatma. They are said to be insufferable friends. Because the Advaitins would interpret the passage, Jiva is only an image of the Paramatman. Thrown upon the mind. And hence both these are insufferable means. Actually there are not one. Imagine you are standing in front of a mirror. And there is a reflection in the mirror of you. And as if this is me, that is my reflection. Can the reflection be separated from you? Impossible. And if you are not there, will there be the reflection? No. But why is the reflection appearing? Because of the mirror. What is this mirror here? Body-mind complex. Especially the mind. So the Jiva is only an image of Paramatman. And hence both are insufferable. And the Sun's image is from the Sun. Let us look like this. I told you that within each one of us, there are two I's. Not E-Y-E, but the letter I, a hum. Every second, millisecond, both will be there, life after life. How? So when this body was small, I was the baby. Then when it grew up, I was the young person. Then I was the youth, I was the middle-aged person. I am identifying and experiencing appropriate actions, reactions with that instrument. But there is the other one. You show yourself, somebody shows you, your photo is a baby. Oh, that is me. Even though you are 80 years old, you are still saying, that is me. Show another photo of the youth, that is me. Show the middle-aged person's photo, that is me. And show the earlier, a few years old, that is me. And show today's photo, this is me. So you can extend your imagination. Suppose you are dead, and imagine that your Bhuta is hovering above the corpse, and somebody comes and points out this Shiva, that is me, that was me. And we are supposed to say, only we say now, I had many births. That means, I was born and I was the corpse also. So, that 24 hours, from birth to death, from one birth to another birth, birth after birth, this I, Sakshi I, identifying I, this one which integrates the whole experiences and never leaves me, and that I is called Sakshi I, that belongs to the Paramatma. But the other I, Oh, I was happy, I was unhappy. Who is telling? Sakshi I. And what is the participator? Oh, I was so happy. Oh, I was so unhappy. Who is telling? Participator, participating I. So, that participating I is called Jeevatma, individual soul, and the Sakshi Atma is called Paramatman. It ever remains like this Paramatman only, so long as this body-mind continues, and body-mind will continue until our, what is called Mukti. So, these two I's will be there, and they are beautifully represented in this, in the imagery of two birds. What do they say? So, that is what we have to understand. The soul and God are both said to reside in the same body, because in respect of the soul, the body has to be conceived as the locus, and in respect of God, even though He is transcendent, He being also immanent in all beings, in the form of Chidabhasa. Another name for this Chit is the upper word, Chidabhasa is the lower word, and is realized by an embodied being, through the means of the body and mind, personality. So, the fruits of the tree are the results of one's own karma, past, present actions, which are performed with the help of this body-mind complex, and out of attachment, the individual soul clings to these fruits of actions, and suffers the consequences, good as well as bad, in successive embodiments. But the Lord, its companion bird, on the tree of this body, remains non-attached to actions and their fruits, being the mere witness of this cosmic being. So, this is how we have to understand, that there is a deeper level of being in each one of us, which remains a Sakshi, unruffled, and completely detached. But in spite of not taking notice of that Sakshi eye, it is nonetheless present there, and whenever we do something wrong, it makes us feel guilty, and when we hear beautiful, uplifting spiritual discourses, or read books, or hear words, or listen to bhajans, spiritual life starts, and first it will be respiratory, temporary, but slowly, slowly, slowly, it becomes a habit, and that is how we progress in life. So, the sufferings of the Jeeva, why does it look up now and then? It is because of the inability to bear the suffering, Dukkha, but can it not get out? No, it is helpless, it is impotent, and this impotence can be destroyed only by realizing God. As I said, so to get out of this Tritapa, we have to know who we are, and that is to know, I am the Purusha, I have nothing to do with Prakruti. Prakruti means body and mind. This beautiful idea is again expressed in the next Seventh Mantra.