Mandukya Karika Lecture 016 on 15 September 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Shardam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Mohor Moho Om Bhadram Kanne Vishnu Yamadevaha Bhadram Pashye Maakshabhirya Jatraha Sthirai Rangai Stushtu Vagam Sastanu Bhi Vyashem Adhevahi Tanyadayu Swasthina Indro Vruddha Shravaha Swasthina Poosha Vishwa Vedaha Swasthina Stakshu Aristanime Swasthino Brihaspati Hridadhatu Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hare Om Om, O Gods, may we hear auspicious words with our ears, may we see auspicious things with our eyes, worshipping the Gods with steady limbs, may we enjoy a life that is beneficial to all. May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness on us, may the all-nourishing potion be propitious to us, may Garuda the destroyer of evil be well disposed towards us, may Brihaspati ensure our welfare. Om, peace, peace, peace be unto all. We are exploring Mandukya Upanishad along with Gaudapada's Karikas which we have yet to encounter. In our last class, we discussed certain ideas which are very pivotal, very important if we want to understand this Mandukya Upanishad plus any other Upanishad. So what is this world? This entire Jagat consisting of what? Nama and Rupa. That is the first point, first idea. Second, what is the relationship between name and form? Well, generally that which is outside an object, that is called Rupa or form. And all the knowledge, ideas we derive by experiencing that object, that is called Nama or the outside world is called Sat and the inside, our knowledge about that world is called Chit. Sat and Chit, Nama, Rupa and Nama. And they are inseparable. That is why Kalidasa at the beginning of his Raghuvamsha, he praised Shiva and Parvati that the Shabda and Artha means inseparably united. Like what? Vaak or sound or word with all its meaning and the object and then Artha, the idea that we have of it. Vaak means name, Artha means all the ideas we have. For what purpose was he praying? Vaak Artha Pratipatthai. In order that I may be endowed with the most beautiful knowledge of all the words so that I can put them in a most beautiful form, I can weave an extraordinarily beautiful texture and he succeeded in it. Jagataha Pitarao Vande Parvati Parameshwarao. I salute the parents of this entire universe who are Parvati and Parameshwara. In other words, Parvati represents Shakti, the capacity to translate ideas into facts and Shiva. Parameshwara is Shiva. That's what Sri Ramakrishna has to call Brahman and Shakti and the whole universe is nothing but Brahman and Shakti and in the words of Sri Ramakrishna. But in the words of the Puranas, they are Narayana and Lakshmi, Shiva and Parvati, Brahma and Saraswati and in the Advaita Vedanta words, what is it? It is called Ishwara. How do we derive this meaning? Because the individual part comes from the universal part. In this waking world, the Jeevatma associated with the waking world through this body plus five sense organs, he is called Vishwa and he is part of the Virat. Similarly, the Jeevatma associated with the dreaming state, he is called Thaijasa and he is the individual part of Hiranyagarbha, Sutratma and in the deep sleep state, he is called Prajna. The whole universe, universes both gross and subtle, waking and dream, merge without any distinction but remain in a causal state in the form of a seed and individually the Jeevatma experiencing this is called Prajna but universal name for that is Ishwara. So in Advaita Vedanta, Ishwara is Brahman and Shakti together. Another name for him is Saguna Brahma. Saguna means Maya, Brahman means Nirguna Nirakara Brahma. So this is the terminology. So here the whole universe is nothing but consisting of Nama and Rupa and it is nothing but the manifestation of Ishwara as if, this is important word, as if he divided himself into an external and an internal. The external is called Rupa or form. Form means form, size, shape, qualities, colors, fragrances belonging to all the five sense organs. But the internal knowledge through which a person cognizes, distinguishing one from the other and that is called Artha, Idea, Chit and Sat and Chit are invariably united together. This is the one point. Then this Nama takes first a general sound, then a specialized sound, then all the knowledge associated with that specialized sound. For example, suppose a child, he sees a table and like that he tells and that is his way of saying this is a table. But nobody can understand it excepting that child. For him it is crystal clear. But when the same person grows up, goes on hearing his family members, this is a table, this is a table, A for apple, etc. And then he learns that what is called a general sound, indistinguishable sound becomes a particularized sound like chair, etc. And whatever thereafter his knowledge he acquires through his five sense organs. And remember, when we first see for example a table, our knowledge is limited. As time goes on, we develop various usages for that table and various ways of utilizing it and all that knowledge goes on accumulating till the very end. For a simple example, funny example, when you are afraid somebody is about to break into the door, you drag the heavy table against the door. It is not meant for that but it can be used for that purpose in emergency cases or you want to reach something higher. So you drag it down below the bulb and above it you put a chair and then if you are brave enough, you go on getting on to the chair, etc. That is not the proper usage of the either table or a chair but all these knowledges, once you have experienced it, then that knowledge becomes added to the knowledge already you have of that particular object and this applies to every single object in the world. So samanya shabda, visesha shabda, then visesha artha, distinguishing it from all other knowledges excepting the knowledge of that particular object. That is why in Sanskrit every object is called padartha. What does it mean? Pada means sound, name, meaning knowledge, chair, table, that is the pada. Artha, its knowledge, immediately brings. When we utter the name, the form is associated with it but when the meaning comes invariably associated, that is called artha. Artha of the pada which is associated with the physical object, that is why it is called padartha. And just as Shiva and Shakti cannot be separated, so also the name and form cannot be separated. So they always remain. Where there is artha, there is a pada, meaning naam. And where there is a pada, there will be artha. And we know nothing else but this artha. This is an important point. I am going to elaborate slightly that when we say this is a chair, we are not talking about the chair, we are talking about the knowledge of the chair which we have obtained, which is within us, within our mind, accumulating more and more knowledge about that particular object. For example, a rope is very good for tying together many things and keeping things safe. But the same rope, when you are in depressed mode, you can use it to hang yourself. So this is a novel use, not meant by the rope. Of course, government can hang you, many others can hang you, but not oneself. That is called suicide. So our knowledge of things goes on increasing. So for example, a person in youth goes on eating sweets and he doesn't understand the deleterious effect of that sweet. But when he reaches 50, 60 or whatever, suddenly the doctor declares, you have become very sweet. Then that person suddenly has a different idea about the sugar. He is extremely careful. It is very delectable, but highly poisonous. Very, very delicious poison. That is how you will understand it. So what am I talking about? We know nothing about the outside world. I am going to talk about it slightly. That is a beautiful idea we have to keep in mind. So Brahman divides itself into Rupa and Nama. Rupa corresponds to the Sat and Nama corresponds to the Chit. And all external objects are Rupas and our perception of all the objects external is called Artha, ideas or meaning or Nama. Now the most wonderful idea is, in our life, in the waking state, only in the waking state, there is a world outside and I am experiencing it. I am the experiencer and the world is outside. I have nothing to do. I can't become a table. I can't become a tree. I can't become you or anybody else. That's a false notion that we go on cherishing birth after birth and that is the real root cause of all problems. What is the way to understand this? Is it not separate? Is it not outside? Here is a table and I go to sleep and then how do you say that it is outside? Because if it is inside me, nobody can take it away. But if it is outside me, somebody can bring it in. Somebody can take it out. They can do whatever they like. They can burn a house and I feel it and we feel so real. But just imagine, when you go to your subtle body and experience Swapna, are you experiencing the whole world or not? Of course you are experiencing. Exactly in the same way, like the waking state, we are all experiencing every single day, not only during lying period but even when you are listening to my talk, suddenly you hear some sound and immediately your whole mind, whether it is for one tenth of a second or several minutes, is completely gone. You are not moving but your mind is not here. You may be even staring at me but nothing of what I am talking about is going inside you. So the whole dream world, upon waking up if you are asked, if you suppose you say, I saw a beautiful flower. Where did you see? In my dream. And did I see it? No, only I saw it. Nobody else has seen it. This is a most marvellous flower. I cannot even describe it adequately. So full of marvellous fragrance, etc. Now, where did you see? In Himalayan Parvatha. And did you go to Himalayas? No, no, no. Then how did you see? Oh, I was dreaming. So you see, the entire outside world, your enemies, your friends, your sukha, your dukkha, your everything is experienced as real, as concrete as the waking state. And we admit it, we accept it. When? When we come back to waking state, comparing the waking state, we do that. But then, in the dream state, do you feel that the world is inside or outside? We invariably feel it is outside. So these ideas of inside and outside are in the mind. How? Because to cognize something is inside, what is necessary? Consciousness. To cognize something is outside, what is necessary? Consciousness is necessary. So I am leading you to this, one of the most wonderful ideas. Consciousness envelops everything. Consciousness contains everything. Consciousness, pure consciousness, it manifests itself as outside and inside, as nama and rupa. Besides consciousness, nothing else exists. And when this consciousness is dreaming or thinks it is in the waking state or thinks it is in the dream state or thinks it is in deep sleep state, that is called jagat, that is called jivatma, with various names of course. When the same atma is associated with the waking state, it is called vishwa or virat. Same jivatma in the subtle body, in the swapna state, dreaming state, is called taijasa or hiranyagarbha. And same jivatma in the deep sleep state, thinks I am prajna, I am part of the eshwara, I did not know anything. So what are we talking about? All these three states are contained within that pure consciousness. When the consciousness is not associated with these three, not even aware of these three, he is called nirguna brahma, parabrahma. But if brahman is associated with these three states, he is called eshwara. From eshwara comes hiranyagarbha. From hiranyagarbha comes virat. From virat comes vishwa. From hiranyagarbha comes taijasa. From eshwara, the counterpart, the individual part, is called prajna. So what am I trying to tell you? That this idea, jagat, this idea that I am jiva, this idea world is outside, this idea something is inside, everything is enveloped, embedded, manifesting cause is nothing but awareness. I will expand it slightly so that it is easier for us to understand. Supposing you are in the waking state and for a moment you slept off and everything is happening in front of your eyes. So in which state are you? Are you in the waking state or sleeping state? You are sleeping. Suppose you see an object, a beautiful car for example. Immediately your imagination flares up and you go on saying, how nice it would be that I will be driving this car at 150 miles per hour and what a joy it is with the wind racing against my hair and face and other things on a huge motor road where there are no vehicles for me to control the car etc. That is what people do everywhere all over the world whether it is motorcycle or etc. So what are you doing? You have seen that motorcycle or car in the waking state. Next moment what are you doing? You are not asleep because in sleep state no activity takes place in the mind but in this dream state your dream, your kalpana, your imagination has taken wings and it goes on remembering all the kinds of things and that is what people generally do when they visit these cinema theatres or when they watch a movie they are identifying themselves because they are thoroughly dissatisfied how they look like. Nobody ever tells to this fellow, you are beautiful but everybody tells to this hero, you are a most beautiful person, desirable person. Every girl is going ha ha ha and then the heroine looks so beautiful. Sometimes I made fun you know, if you see the same heroine in her normal dress especially after she is having a deep cold and getting up early in the morning your idea will be totally different. It applies both men and women together. So what am I talking about? This idea that everything is contained within the consciousness. This is a most marvellous idea we have to keep in mind. Everything is in the consciousness, awareness. If you are aware there is waking state. If you are aware there is dream state. If you are aware there is deep sleep state. Don't stare at me. When you are completely aware in the deep sleep state only there is nothing to experience. That is why you say I did not know anything because I did not experience anything but I was wide awake to experience or not to experience. You have to be wide awake. When you are not you will neither experience something nor non-experience. Keep it in mind. So this idea external or internal is within the mind only and that is very difficult for us to accept though some examples are given and examples are examples you will have to stretch your imagination with a big pinch of rationality. You are watching a movie on a big screen, 70 feet screen and there is ocean and there is fire, there is rain and above all an aeroplane is flying. So even a toy aeroplane will not be able to fly on the screen and if a few drops of water come the whole screen comes down crashing. If there is a spark of fire the entire screen will be smashed. Now when you are looking at the screen you know with one part of your mind everything is within the screen, contained within the screen but after a few seconds you forget totally and say supposing you are seeing a park and a person sitting inside the house then you will say the park is outside the house, the man is sitting inside the house on the screen, within the screen. So this inside and outside these are all nothing but pure mental phenomena Manasa Mano Kalpitam, Manas Puranam the play of the mind which Gaudapada is going to bring about. So this is a beautiful idea. You have to keep these ideas that we discussed earlier. First of all whole world is nothing but name and form. Secondly name means the sound, generalised sound, specialised sound and then all the ideas that we accumulate from our first experience until our last experience and all the Rupas that means the objects that are experienced through our five sense organs Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Gandha this is called the Jagat, entire Jagat. So the world is nothing but objects and their knowledge and the next idea that we discussed is that the whole Nama Rupa they can never be separated. They are there, we use two names, intellectual knife can cut them into two but it is impossible to separate them. That is the next idea. The next idea is inside and outside. Where is object? Outside. Where is the idea, understanding, knowledge? Inside. This outside and inside are all contained within the what? Consciousness. If you are aware there is something outside then it is your experience. If you are not aware even the most wonderful thing that is passing in front of you or most horrible thing that is passing in front of you both as if they did not exist at all. The very existence, Sat is dependent upon the Chit. So Sat is contained within Chit and Chit is also contained within Chit. What Chit are we talking about? That is limited knowledge, enveloped, delimited, limited by every object in this world both of them are contained within the consciousness awareness. But when it is limited we are called Jivatmas. When we go beyond all these three states the same thing is called Brahman, Turiya, etc. I hope these ideas are quite clear. If anything wrong during question answer we can find out. So the whole world is nothing but an idea in our minds just like in a dream. Just as upon, only upon waking up, not before. We get rid of the idea that I saw an elephant, it was outside my house. Inside my house I was sitting, outside my house a big elephant has come and sometimes if I am frightened the elephant pushed itself inside also. All these outside, inside, everything is within the purview of the mind which is nothing but within the purview of the awareness, consciousness. That is something we have to understand. In my last class I have brought up, in this first mantra says Om is everything, whatever was, whatever is and whatever is going to be. That means Samasta Jagat, the whole creation from the beginning of its creation even when it is continuing being sustained by the Lord and even when it comes to an end, Pralayakala, all these are contained. So here there is a world that which is beyond time. Beyond time means we are not talking about Nirguna, Parabrahma. We are talking about the manifested world. Both and the non-manifested, unmanifested world, both are contained within Omkara. How is it contained? I gave you a beautiful example very, very succinctly in a very few words. What is it? That this Nama starts with sound. For example, here is a table and to utter the word table so the wind, the air from our lungs has to pass through the whole gamut of the sound box which starts from the beginning of the throat. So it starts with Akara. You cannot make it Ikara, Ukara. Just as when you want to climb, the very first step is first to be gotten over. So without the first step, there will be no second step at all. Without Akara, nothing else will be there. Now the whole universe is containing so many objects, innumerable, uncountable objects. Every object has to be distinguished from every other object. So every object is distinctly called by a particular name. If there are several objects with same type of objects, then we give chair number 1, chair number 2 or senior so-and-so, junior so-and-so, the Matthiyamma, third one or eldest one, elder one, middle one, younger one, youngest one, as Pancha Pandavas are called. So we have to distinguish, separate them to specify each one separately. Now what is my point? Every object in this world is associated with a name and every name has to be uttered with a sound. And all the sounds that are existing in the entire world representing all the billions and billions of objects in this cosmos, they all have to be passed through the sound box. So that's how, regarding that, where does it start? Ah. And when it comes to the middle, it becomes Oh. Then when it exits, almost exiting, doorway, outside, it becomes Um. Half Makara, not full Makara. Rama, for example, Um. When we combine Ah plus Oh plus Um, it becomes Om by Sanskrit rules. As some of you know, Ah plus Ah is Ah. Ah plus E is E. Ah plus Oh is Oh. Ah plus Oh is Oh. Oh, Ah plus Oh is Oh. Um, Aha, above else you see, A, A, E, E, O, O, R, R, L, L, O, E, I, O, O, Anuswara, Um, Aha, Isarga. So all this is such a beautiful language, our Sanskrit language. It has got 52 syllables are there, this alphabet. Whereas English language has got only 26, as we all know. So Sanskrit is a perfect language to express any sound in this world. So every object has a name. Every name has to be uttered to distinguish it. And that utterance comes from the sound box. And this Omkara, beginning from the beginning of the throat, gradually rising to the middle of the throat, and ending that Ah between Ah and Um, the entire alphabet is contained. And this entire alphabet, the whole dictionary is within this entire alphabet. Just look at the biggest Oxford dictionary. You will see there are billions of words are there. But all those words are contained within the 26 letters of the English alphabet. But ours is even more detailed. 52 letters are there. So that is why no other word will come. This background is how Swami Vivekananda explains to us. Where? In his Bhakti Yoga, Swami Vivekananda explains the mantra Om, word and wisdom. I read for all of us, you might have read it, but it takes on a new meaning when we discuss it again. Swamiji says, the Siddha Gurus, teachers, who have attained the goal as a rule, have to convey the germs of spiritual wisdom to the disciple by means of words, called mantras, to be meditated upon. What are these mantras? The whole of this universe has, according to Indian philosophy, both name and form, Nama and Rupa, as its condition of manifestation. Swamiji says, in the human microcosm, there cannot be a single wave in the mind-stuff unconditioned by name and form. That's what we discussed earlier. Mind-stuff means chitta vritti or thought modulation. If it be true that nature is built throughout on the same plan, this kind of conditioning by name and form must also be the plan of the building of the whole of the cosmos called macrocosm. This one has been so beautifully put in the Chandogya Upanishad. As one lump of clay being known, all things of clay come to be known. So the knowledge of the microcosm must lead to the knowledge of the macrocosm. What is Swamiji telling? If you know a single object, its real nature, then you will know Brahman. Because every single object is nothing but pure Brahman conditioned by name and form. So remove the name and form, what remains is pure light of pure consciousness. Swamiji continues, So, form is the outer crust of which the name or the idea is the inner essence or kernel. The body is the form and the mind or the antahkarana is the name. And sound symbols are universally associated with nama in all beings having the power of speech. Even a cricket, it has the power of speech. It has a language. It conveys to other crickets. If there are male, it might challenge. If there are female, it might let them know, I am available at your service. In the individual man, a thought waves rising in the limited mahat or chitta must manifest themselves. First as words and then as the more concrete forms. Now and then I will be inserting a bit of explanation. Even though I know you are all highly intelligent students. See for example, supposing a person is suddenly had a very weird experience. And he is trying to, what is called, convey it to others, formulate words. Words are not coming, like that he goes on telling until some nearest comparison, comparative example comes to his mind. But stumbling, that is stumbling for us. But in his mind, he is very clear what he wants to convey. Only he is searching for appropriate words. Similarly, we humans are terribly arrogant. We think human language is the only language. And what about ants language, mosquito language or amoebas language? They have their own way of conveying to their own kind, here are good things, here are bad things. Here are happy tidings, here are unhappy tidings. Here is sweet food and here is bitter food. Here is poisonous food, here is happiness, here is unhappiness. And I am young, I am hero and you are old, you are useless fellow. All these ideas by gesture or by making sound. One simple example is, when a monkey rashes its teeth against the teeth, a rashing sound comes and it is a wonderful monkey language to convey to the other one. Take care, I am very dangerous, don't approach near me. David Attenborough studied all these things. What are we talking about? What is Swamiji talking about? That every living creature has its own language, however limited it is for its limited requirements to express ideas. That language is called Nama. In this universe, Brahma or Hiranyagarbha or the cosmic Mahatma first manifested himself as name and then has formed this universe. There is a kind of commentary I am giving on Swamiji's. First the subtle one comes, then only the gross comes. The seed is always subtle, the cause is always subtle. The effect, the tree, the manifestation is always gross compared to the cause. So this Brahma, that's why he is called the creator, in Vedantic language he is called Hiranyagarbha, he is called in Sankhya language Mahat, Prakruti becomes Mahat. So first manifested himself as name, that means very fine sound, very fine, subtlest of the knowledges, ideas and then slowly that idea has become what you call this form, concrete form. So actually speaking, concrete form, it is nothing but the manifestation of the subtlest idea. Subtlest idea is nothing but the manifestation of awareness and awareness is nothing but this pure consciousness limited by a particular idea. So all this expressed, sensible universe means a universe that is experienceable through the five sense organs in the form. Anything that we experience, not necessarily through the eye, Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Sagandha, behind which stands eternal inexpressible Spota. Spota means, that is what is called Shabda Brahma is called Spota. There is a distinct school of philosophy called Spotavada. That is everything came by from the big bang, the Spota. Para, Pashyanti, Mathyama, Vaikari etc. So this Spota is inexpressible and slowly, gradually it becomes grosser and grosser and the whole universe is nothing but an expression of that. Let me insert here something very interesting. Once Swamiji was talking with one of his disciples, Shalachandra I think. Then during the conversation, a topic of how Brahma creates Skapa, Swamiji expressed. The moment an idea comes into the mind of the Brahma, immediately it becomes an object and manifests outside as an object. And the disciple expressed disbelief and said, how is it? If I say a cow, a cow will not manifest itself here. But I have to add my own special masala here. Yes, yes, supposing you are walking in your dream in a solitary spot and just now you have read the man-eaters of Kumaon where every moment a leopard is waiting behind even a leaf, smallest leaf to jump up on you and tear you and don't worry. The leopards also have got their own special tastes and one look at you and most of the leopards decided, I would rather hang myself, kick my bucket rather than have this kind of food even if it comes as a gift. So you have nothing to fear. So you are walking in your dream, suddenly the idea of what you have read comes into your mind. Suddenly there is some kind of sound and immediately in your dream, oh, there comes the leopard. And you know what happens? The moment you thought of a leopard in your dream, instantaneously a huge leopard is coming towards you with mind-boggling speed, leaping 20 feet at a time. So Swamiji was explaining, if you and me utter the word, this is only humility. If Swamiji utters a word, it must come true because they are satya kamas, satya sankalpas. Sri Ramakrishna, yesterday gospel class I have mentioned that if Sri Ramakrishna's mouth utters a word, it must come true, there is no other way. Even if such an object doesn't exist, it will be created specially for him because he is a satya sankalpa. Anyway, so we are doing every day, the moment you think that is created. I want to be in Chennai, you are in Chennai. I want to be in Kolkata, I am in Kolkata. So I want to be on Mars, immediately you find yourself on the Mars. I want to be at the top of the Himalayas, Everest. Yes, that is possible. So what are we talking about? If you and I who constantly live a life of deceit, self-defeat, self-deceit, that is hypocritical life, even if we utter any word, it will not come true. But Brahma is none other than satya swaroopa, an embodiment of truth. The moment he utters, the whole universe comes spontaneously, immediately, because time springs immediately from timelessness. That's what Swami was trying to explain to His disciple, I think, Sharad Chandra Chakravarti. So this is called spota. So spota, what is this? Eternal, inexpressible, a manifesto, as logos, as Bible uses it, or word. This eternal spota, the essential eternal material of all ideas or names, is the power through which the Lord creates the universe. That is to say, in simplest words, He utters a name, table. Immediately a table comes into creation. So He says pot, pot will come. Man, man will come. Woman, woman will come. Sankalpadeva Srishti. By His mere will, everything comes, like a magician. But His magic is real, and these normal magicians are only make-believe magicians. Swamiji continues, nay, the Lord first becomes conditioned as this spota, and then evolves Himself out as the yet more concrete, sensible universe. In this line is the highest essence of Vedanta. It's not that Lord created the world, Lord has become the world. He became more and more subtler, subtlest, subtle, and then gross. The whole universe is nothing but Him. This spota has one word as its only possible symbol, and this is Om. And Swamiji will explain it. And as by no possible means of analysis, can we separate the word from the idea? So we cannot separate a word from the idea. This Om and the eternal spota are inseparable. That means Om and Brahman are inseparable. And therefore, it is out of this holiest of all holy words, the mother of all names and forms, the eternal Om, that the whole universe may be supposed to have been created. But it may be said that although thought and word are inseparable, yet as there may be various word symbols for the same thought, it is not necessary that this particular word Om should be the word representative of the thought out of which the entire universe has become manifested. An objector comes. You see, what you call water, what we call water in English, is called aqua, is called pani, is called jala in Sanskrit. So every object has got different names uttered by different languages. How dare you say Omkara is the only word which represents everything. Christian and Muslim, non-Christian, Buddhistic, everything is represented by this Om. This was the objection. To this objection we reply that this Om is the only possible symbol which covers the entire gamut, the whole ground, and there is none other like it. So what is this spota? Spota is the material of all words, yet it is not any definite word in its fully formed state. That is to say, if all the peculiarities which distinguish one word from another are removed, then what remains will be the spota. Therefore this spota is called the Nada Brahma, the sound Brahman. Now every word symbol intended to express the inexpressible spota will so particularize it that it will no longer be the spota. That symbol which particularizes it the least and at the same time most approximately expresses its nature will be the truest symbol thereof and that is Om and only Om. Because these three letters A, O, M pronounced in combination as Om may well be the generalized symbol of all possible sounds. It is wonderful to think about it. The letter A is the least differentiated of all sounds. And therefore Bhagavan Krishna says in the Gita, Aksharanam akaro vasme, I am A among the letters. While reading English, don't say I am A. That gives a wrong impression. It is not A. It is actually A. Now what is the real explanation of the symbol Om? Again, all articulated sounds are produced in the space within the mouth beginning with the root of the tongue and ending in the lips. The throat sound is A and M is the lip sound. And the O is exactly represents the rolling forward of the impulse which begins at the root of the tongue till it ends in the lips. Properly pronounced, this Om will represent the whole phenomena of sound production. And no other word can do this. And this therefore is the fittest symbol of the Spota which is the real meaning of the Om. And as the symbol can never be separated from the thing signified, the Om and the Spota. Remember, Spota here means Brahman or One. And this Spota being the finer side of the manifested universe is nearer to God. And is indeed the first manifestation of divine wisdom. This Om is truly symbolic of God. Again, just as the one only Brahman, the Akhanda Sachidananda, the undivided existence knowledge bliss, can be conceived by imperfect human souls only from particular standpoints and associated with particular qualities. So this universe, God's body, is also to be thought of along the line of the thinker's mind. This direction of the worshipper's mind is guided by its prevailing elements or tattvas. The result is that the same God will be seen in various manifestations as the possessor of various predominant qualities. And the same universe will appear as full of manifold forms. Even in the case, as in the case of the least differentiated and the most universal symbol Om, thought and sound symbol are seen to be inseparably associated with each other. As I mentioned earlier, Nama and Rupa. So also, this law of the inseparable association applies to the many differentiated views of God and the universe. Each of them, therefore, must have a particular word symbol to express it. These word symbols, evolved out of the deepest spiritual perceptions of sages, symbolize and express as nearly as possible the particular view of God and the universe they stand for. For example, Rama, Jesus, God, Buddha, Allah. So these, say for example, Allah expresses the particular concepts of the worshipper whatever way he says. Oh, Allah is a creator, Allah is the maintainer, he will punish, he will reward. All these ideas, however furile we may think, are appropriate for that particular mind which has only been able to reach that particular state of consciousness. And as the Om represents the Akhanda, the undifferentiated Brahman, the others represent the Khanda or the differentiated views of the same being. And they are all helpful to divine meditation and thereby the acquisition of true knowledge. The sounds signifying the phenomena are non-different from the phenomena as both are illusions. Mind, I am reading again. The sounds signifying the phenomena are non-different from the phenomena as both are illusions. When the illusion disappears, the substratum alone remains, which being one admits of no difference, hence Brahman is Om. I will give two examples, even though I have given already, that is you are watching a movie on a cinema screen. All the hero, heroine and villain and the burning, the looting, the raining, forest fire, all the conflicting experiences are seen within two hours' time. But what is the substratum? Take away the screen, everything disappears. But even when they are continuing, is the screen affected in any way? No. So two points to be taken from this example, that the screen, without the screen it is impossible to see the phenomena. And nothing affects the screen, whatever be the phenomena, good or bad. Similarly, without pure consciousness, that is the screen. And in that screen, a whole universe is illumined. And whatever happens in the world doesn't in the least affect, just as whatever happens in your dream doesn't affect your waking state experience at all. Therefore it is said, with the word Om etc., begins the treatise consisting of four quarters, which is, this is not Swamiji's words, I have completed what Swamiji has got to say. These marvellous ideas, Swamiji had as it were taken a mixi, put the whole Mandukya Upanishad in it and squeezed out the very essence of it, and he expressed in this particular chapter called Om, the mantra and the wisdom, and you please go through it, if possible, if possible means definitely possible, before our next class. So, there are a few things to be talked about this Omkara, before we proceed further. I have introduced this explanation of Swamiji only because this is the only one that gives such marvellous explanation with these simplest, most expressible English language words. But these ideas are profound. Never be under any delusion, because the words are simple, the ideas are also simple. So, go through that, meditate upon it, but what we have been discussing for the last two classes and today's class also is this, the whole world is nothing but Nama and Rupa. Nama and Rupa, Rupa is outside called object, Nama is inside called knowledge, what is outside is Sat, what is inside is Chit, and Sat and Chit, the background of this is Brahman and really is outside and inside is a delusion, what is the background, like the screen, Brahman is the background, Omkara merges in Brahman and the whole Rupa also merges in Brahman. Ultimately what remains is Brahman and Brahman alone. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Dayo Sridhva Pranamami Mukurmukur May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.