Mandukya Karika Lecture 049 on 04 May 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamami Mohor Moho Om Bhadram Karne Vishrunayamadevaha Bhadram Pashyem Akshabhirya Jatraha Sthirai Rangai Stushtu Vagam Sastanu Bhe Vyashayamadevahi Tanyadayoh Swasthina Indro Hrithashravaha Swasthina Pusha Vishwa Vedaha Swasthina Starkshu Aristanimi Swasthina Om Brihaspati Hrithadhatu Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hari Om Om O Gods, may we always hear with our ears what is auspicious. O worshipful ones, may we with our eyes always see what is auspicious. May we live our allotted life hale and hearty, offering our praises 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 our welfare. Om Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all. We have been entering into the discussion of the Mandukya Upanishad. We have completed six mantras. We entered into the Gaudapada Karikas. We have completed practically six karikas of this Mandukya Gaudapada's commentary on the Mandukya Upanishad. In our last class, we have been talking about the whole creation. That is the world in which we are living. We are holding class now. So the question comes, who created it? And then comes, what purpose created it? So four reasons are given. But before we go into those four reasons, four types of people, we have to note a few points. It's not only four reasons. There are so many reasons are there, but only some are chosen as a sample. That's all. That is one point we have to understand. Now Gaudapada is not at all interested in this world, nor are we interested in this world. We have to be very clear about it. What about a worldly person? Even a worldly person, truly speaking, is not interested in the world. In fact, he is fighting against the world. What do I mean? He is fighting, first of all, against the limitations of time, space, and causation. First of all, man wants no death should ever come. Second, he never wants to be unhappy. Third, he always wants to be conscious, aware. He wants, in other words, to be Sat, Chit, and Ananda. But he thinks, a worldly person thinks, he can get these results by adopting worldly means. So nobody really wants the world. If at all you ask anybody, do you want a world? Yes, I want a world. What type of world do you want? I want a world where there are no conflicts, no wars, no quarrels, no criticisms, no unfulfilled desires, no fears of death, of old age, of accidents, etc., etc., etc. That means everybody wants perfection. Perfection means eternity, infinity, and perfect happiness, unbroken happiness for all time to come. But what do we find in this world? Just the opposite. Many, many problems are there. So we are all wanting Mukti. There is no doubt about it. But then, some people's attention is unfortunately drawn to the external world, and a few people's attention is drawn to the internal world. And discussing this Mandukya Upanishad, studying Mandukya Upanishad, or any other Upanishad, is a sure indication we have realized the futility of the external world, dependence upon it. Why? Because it is ever-changing. Ever-changing thing people never want. Ever-unchanging thing only people want. So why is Gaudapada suddenly bringing the topic of creation? It is to dismiss if there are any lingering doubts in the minds of people like us, earnest students like us, that why God has created? Because this is our day-to-day experience. He should have created a better world, etc., etc. So he is first outlining the views, opinions of certain people that really there is a Srishti creation, and what is the reason for that creation, and who is the creator, who is the real author of this creation. That is what the question is going to be raised. But before that, one point Shankaracharya, Gaudapadacharya, Chandogya Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad want to make us clear. What is the point? Nothing comes out of nothing. If something has come, if something is existing, it must come out of pre-existing, existing maybe not in a manifested state, but in a potential state. Potentiality means we will not be able to experience. Unmanifest means that which is beyond time, space, and causation. And therefore nobody with a mind can experience it. Why can't we experience it? Because the very instrument called mind is using time, space, and causation. In fact, mind means time, space, and causation. So through the lens, as Swami Vivekananda used to prefer to call, through the prism of time, space, and causation, whatever we view will be appearing as time, space, and causation, and that is what Srishti or creation really is. In the sixth one, just to remind us, because we have discussed enough, satāṁ vidyamānānāṁ sveṇa avidyākṛta-nāma-rūpa-māyā-svarūpeṇa sarva-bhāvānāṁ viśva-taijasa-prājña-vedānāṁ prabhavah utpate. This particular karika is in explanation of Mandukya Upanishad's fifth mantra. Fifth mantra first says, what is the nature of prajñā? But prajñā is equated to Ishwara. And what is the nature of the Ishwara? That is outlined in the sixth mantra of the main Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad. In the sixth mantra, He said, He is Sarva-jnaha, Sarveshwaraha, and He is the creator of everything. So naturally, He is the yoni, He is the cause for the creation of this world. What is this world? It consists of only three, viśva, taijasa, and prajñā. That is all. And the whole universe, or even aneka koti brahmāṇḍa, millions and millions and trillions of universes we experience, also falls under only through my view. Through what is my view? When I look outside, through the gross body, it appears as gross. What appears? The world. When I look at the same, whatever is outside, and what is outside? Only Brahman. When I look to Brahman, look at Brahman, through subtle body, sukshma sarira, that is what I experience, called dream world. And when I look at causal world, through the eyes of the prajñā, I see everything as kāraṇa. Everything as kāraṇa. If it is looked at as individual kāraṇa, I am called prajñā. If I look from the universal cause, He is called īśvara, He is sarvajna, sarvasya yoni, and that is why the point of creation has come. So the first point we have to remind ourselves, because we discussed it a sufficient number of times, if something is suddenly manifest, it can come only from something which is pre-existing but in an unmanifested state. That is the essence of sixth kārika of Gaudapada. And to make that point, Śaṅkarācārya gives an example. We can use some words which have no parallel corresponding object. For example, we can say mirāja. Beautiful word. Mirāja is there. What do I see? I see cool water, plenty, a huge body of water. Yes, the word mirāja is there. But is there really water? No water at all. Pandhya putra is a very common example. The son of a barren woman. The moment we say barren, that means there is a woman, it is true, but she has never given birth because she can't give birth for whatever reasons. So when we are talking about the birth of a son by a barren woman, that barren woman's son neither exists really nor even magically. That means he doesn't exist at all. So then the purvapakṣe asks a question. So if everything is coming, the whole universe, creation, is asat janmasya, that means you are denying viśvā, you are denying taijasā, you are denying prājñā. This is the purvapakṣe's objection to us siddhāntis, advaita vedāntins. What is he telling? That if this world is not there, then everything becomes non-existent because a non-existing world can only be talked about the origin of such a world, only non-existing. So if this is true, then what is the problem that comes? Then the problem is we can never understand about Brahman because it is seeing the effect that one deduces only the cause. We see the effect, but we don't see the cause. But there must be cause because that is the meaning of cause and effect. Without cause, there can be no effect. But there can be effect sometimes without the cause. So then the whole scriptures become useless because if there is no world and we cannot question where from the world has come, we cannot find out the cause of the world and the cause of the world according to you is Brahman and therefore Brahman cannot be inferred because an unreal effect can only come from unreal cause. It is only words that are being used. There is no meaning in it. And for that brilliant answer is being given by Shankaracharya. Sir, your brain is a little bit affected. Supposing you see a false snake and what are we talking about? We are not talking that there is no cause. We are talking this snake is Mithya snake. It is only appearance. But when you bring light, it is not that the rope also disappears. No, the snake disappears, but there must be a substratum, a foundation, a something to make superimposition upon and therefore your understanding of what I say, the world is Mithya and my usage of the word Mithya, there is a lot of difference there. I mean there is something real, but that real is not being understood and that is what I call Mithya. Whereas you have taken Mithya means it is non-existing, therefore a non-existing effect can only come from a non-existing cause and therefore Brahman also doesn't exist. That's a total mistake. This is what Shankara says that the snake appearing as such on account of an illusory cause, which itself is the effect of ignorance, pre-exists in the form of the rope, is a matter of common experience, everyday experience. For by no one is the illusion of the rope snake or the mirage etc. ever perceived without a substratum. If there is no real substratum, a mistake can never happen. If there were no rope, even in semi-darkness, you cannot see a snake. There must be something resembling like the rope, but it is not rope. That is called Adhyasa, that is called superimposition. Then where is this Yatha Rajyavan? प्राक् सर्व उत्पत्तेः रज्वात्मना सर्पः सन्ने वासित् Even this superimposed snake is already existing in the form of avidhya where in the real rope, रज्वा सर्प उत्पत्तेः, before one mistook it, there must be a rope. That is the meaning, if there had been no rope, you would never have even superimposed or mistaken the rope for a snake. So, exactly in the same way, when you see the world, the world is not real, but the world indicates this unreality, superimposition of the world must have a foundation and that foundation is what Shankaracharya calls now, प्राण विजात्मनैवसप्राण means Ishwara and that Ishwara is Saghuna Brahma. Saghuna Brahma means Srishtikarta, so there is an Ishwara. And then to support, Shankaracharya quotes a lot of wonderful Shrutis. Whenever Shankaracharya makes a statement, any Acharya makes a statement, they must support it from the Shruti. This is the speciality of Indian philosophers, that is logic, reasoning is secondary, primary is the scripture. If there were no scripture, then these people would never debate with each other. शर्षुतिरपिवक्ति, here are some quotations from the scripture, ब्रम्मयवेदं, so Mandakopanishad, everything is Brahman, Priyadharanyakopanishad, आत्मावाइदं अग्रे आसिद्, before the creation only Atman is there, instead of Brahman, Priyadharanyakopanishad substituted it as Atman, so that is the one. Now, in this world we see two types of creations, one is with life, another is without life. Both have come only from Ishwara. So Ishwara is a mixture, according to Advaita Vedanta, Ishwara is a mixture of Maya and Chaitanya. If it is pure Chaitanya, without Maya, he is called Parabrahma. But if there is a little bit of Maya, and he is the master of the Maya, the ruler of the Maya, such a being is called Ishwara, from this Ishwara, that is from the part of his consciousness, all living beings have come, and from the part of his Maya, Maya means Jada, has come the inert things like what we discussed, but in the end we have to understand there is no inert object, if we look at it because of our stupidity, our ignorance, there is no living, non-living, there is only one, and that is Brahman. That should be kept in mind. So I hope that point is clear. So what is this creation? Prajna, Taijasa, Vishwa, Bhedena, all the different things. As Prajna means what? The causal world, Taijasa means dream world, Vishwa means the waking world. So all these worlds, Deva, Manushya, Triyagadi, Deha, Bhedeshu, Vibhavya, Manaha, Chetaha, Mshaha. So wherever you see a living creature that is coming from the consciousness, Chaitanya part of Ishwara, wherever we think there is a rock, there is a water, and there is an air, etc., which we ordinary people consider as lifeless because they don't talk to us, they don't blow to us, even though they are talking to us 24 hours a day. This is my insertion. How are they talking? Now it is summer, and you are quite happy at your home, it is much cooler, whatever means you employ, and you went outside, and then now the fire is talking to you, my child, you are quite happy in your house, and then you came here into my presence, therefore you have to pay the payment of suffering from heat. Similarly cold, similarly rain, similarly everything. So according to Hindus, everything is open only, they talk to us, but we don't listen to them, we don't even understand to them, why is there so much untimely rain? Ah, my son, you have created a lot of environmental pollution, and that is why I am tit for tat, I am giving it to you. So this much, if we understand, this is over. Now we are coming to what is called four reasons or four causes of creation. We see the creation, we see the effect. Suppose you see a table, and then it naturally comes, it is a beautiful table, which the artist has created out of wood, wood is the real cause, which is called material cause, and the carpenter is the intelligent cause, with the help of some upakaranas, like saw, like the planer, like the polisher, like the hammer, like the saw, etc., he will be using them. That is instrumental cause, material cause, as well as intelligent cause. Now there are some people, and Gaudapada in this first chapter, because in the other chapters he is going to outline many more, but in this chapter he just takes four. Let us discuss in the seventh karika. Those who think of the creation, believe it is the manifestation of the glory of God. Vibhuti means glory, the grandeur, the power of whom? Of Ishvara, manifestation of the power of God. This is one cause of creation. The other people think, what is the nature of this creation? It is like a dream, it is like maya, dream is maya. You have a dream, and when you wake up, you say it is all unreal, then why did you dream? That is maya. Maya means what? It's not real. So the whole creation, some people think it is like a dream, like a musician's magic, but that is the cause. Maya is the cause of this creation. Remember, at the beginning, Advaita says it is maya, the creator, but later on he says, when there is no effect, the question of imagining who is the creator, who is the real cause, doesn't arise at all. But that's for later on. Now these two people are there. The whole creation must have come. We see marvellous things in this creation. So a person like Einstein, person like Kalidasa, person like great scientists, great musicians and great heroes, we see so many things. We see dull people also, stupid people also, idiots also, what is called illiterate persons. We see all sorts of persons. We see good people, we see evil people. So such a marvellous creation, impossible to think about it. Imagine it, such a thing. Billions of things completely remain unknown to us. Then we think, this must have come only from God Himself, who is the greatest magician in this world, and whose power makes it appear before us. In other words, this creation is nothing but the manifestation of the power of God. This is one view. What is the second view? That is, no doubt, this world is like a swapna. Because when we go to dream state, waking state becomes unreal. When we are in the waking state, dream state will become unreal. When we are in the deep sleep state, both waking and dream state become unreal. So Maya is the only cause of this mayic, changing world. Now there are problems with both these views and briefly we will discuss it. So first of all, commentary of the Shankaracharya, Vibhutihi means Vistara. Vistara means expansion. Expansion of what? The power of God, Vibhuti, of whom? Eswarasya. Some people think. So who are the people who think like that? Here Shankaracharya doesn't give a hint. But another commentator gives a hint. There are some people and they are called Vishishtadvaitins. They base all their philosophy upon a particular scripture called Bhagavatam and it is called Pancharatrikamatha. And this Pancharatrikamatha is that Bhagavan manifests in five different ways and one of the ways is this particular creation. So the cause is Raghuna Brahma called Vishnu called Narayana and from this philosophy alone came Vishishtadvaita. Now we will go back to Shankaracharyas. Now Gaudapada by himself and also with the help of Shankaracharya, he is questioning, My dear sir, what is the goal of your life? I want to go beyond all the unhappiness, suffering. And what is the cause of suffering? Birth, growth, change. What we call sixfold changes. I want to escape that one. I want to be always in the same way a very happy person. So if that is your goal, why are you bothered about it? Because so long as you think this world can be changed and it will be eternal, it is like hot ice. The world is not the Srishti. Creation is never going to be. Srishti means in the Sanskrit we call it Samsara. Samsara means samagra roopena sarathi, always changing, jagat, always moving, gati. So that which whose nature is like the curly tail of a dog, why do you go on bothering about all these things? Find out a way to get rid of this thinking about this Srishti. Think of the way how you can get rid of the Srishti, get out of the maya, bondage of the maya. This is what he wants to tell, Godapada wants to tell through Shankaracharya's elaborate commentary. For that he gives a beautiful example. First I will give you a very short way of that example, then we will go. In olden days there was a magical trick. It is called Indian rope trick magic. What is it? A magician will come. He says, I am going to show you Indian rope trick. What does it mean? I will throw a rope and it will extend into the sky beyond anyone's eyes. And once the rope is created, I will climb it and then I will go beyond your eyesight and then there will be a fight between me and somebody and something will happen at that time. This is called Indian rope trick. Nobody has ever seen and only we heard about it and it is only just as an example. So this magician, he takes a small, he produces magically a rope and that rope may be only one foot long and he throws it and it goes on extending and extending and extending and then he catch holds of it and he goes on climbing. Within a few seconds, he disappears into the clouds. After some time, some sounds are heard of a clash between a demon and this magician. After some time, a hand of the magician, leg of the magician, etc. Different parts fall down and people were horrified to see the blood, the flesh, etc. and the parts of the body and then suddenly the whole thing is over. The rope disappears, all the fallen pieces disappear and the real magician is broadly smiling, hopefully holding a hat for the collection of his fees. This is the Indian rope trick. Now, what Shankara wants to convey is this. This person has created a rope, he created a, he threw that rope, that is also part of the creation. His climbing itself is a part of the magical trick. The real magician never created anything, never moved from the place and he is all the time in front of the audience. But his magic power is such that everybody is looking at the magic, nobody, everybody, this magician became completely invisible for all the people. That is the point. And then they see this magic for a few seconds and then smilingly the whole thing is over, lights come on and the magician is smiling broadly, nothing happened to him. Now, his creation of this rope, throwing up, Shankaracharya compares it, the Ishwara, Prana creating this Sthoola Prapancha, Sokshma Prapancha and Karana Prapancha and experiencing it himself. The same magician climbs up, same magician enters into the Sthoola Prapancha knowing as putting the dress and calling himself as Vishwa, enters into the dream world, donning the dress of a subtle body, calls himself Taiyasa, same way he dons a very thin dress, it is called Vidya, and then he enters into the Karana Prapancha, causal world, and he calls himself Prajna, and in that Prajna he becomes Ishwara also, and all the while nothing is happening. What is our understanding? Ishwara's creation of this world is like this magician. He never created and there was no audience. Remember, there is no audience. He never created. He will never create. There is no need for him to create. We will come to that point later on. There is no need for him to create at all because there must be a cause for creation and that we will come in the ninth Karika. We are going to see that. So this is the real thing that Shankaracharya's commentary wants to explain. He says, Paramarthasaktana, those who are Umukshus, desirous of getting liberation, there should be no interest at all. Don't waste your time. And for that, quotations come from Brihadaranyaka, Indra, that is to say Ishwara, Mayavi, through his power of Maya, Pururupayate is appearing as many-fold forms like this magician, different parts of the body falling down and an opponent and he having nice maja, yudha, somewhere where nobody can say it is Shruti. So if you understood the analogy of this particular magician's rope trick, we don't need to go to all these things. Only relevant portions I will give. Exactly like that magician, Ishwara is like that magician and that Mayavi, that magician, he throws up and this Jagrat Swapna Sushupte is like the extension of the rope. That means it is all unreal. And then who climbs it? Himself, like that who experiences these three worlds, that is Jagrat Swapna Sushupte himself. This is Tatha Rudavyam Anyah Paramarth Mayavi. But who is the real magician apart from the fake Mayavi who climbs, apart from the fake Mayavi who created, who climbs the rope etc. which is Vishwa, Taijas and Prajna. Adartha Mayavi saw Bhumistha Eva Mayachanaha. He remains invisible, Mayachanaha. But he is there right in front of the eyes of the audience. How? Adrushyamana Eva, just invisible. That's all. Tatha, in the same way, Turiyakhyam, this Turiya Paramarth Tattvam, the highest reality is like that real magician. But later on even this thought he is a magician is also denied because so long as we are under the delusion that there is a magic, the question of who created this magic, there must be a magician comes. When we get out of this samsara, there is no creation, therefore there is no creator, no Maya, therefore no Mayavi. But that is what both Gaudapada and Shankaracharya are trying to drive us. Athaha, if you understood this, Tath chintaye me aadaroh mumukshu na hariyanam na upapadyate. Therefore a real mumukshu, a sadhaka. So never should think about it. Why? Na nishprayojanayam srishtau aadaraha. So there should not be any thought about Srishti because it is nishprayojana, completely it is useless. You know how? Supposing you have a dream. In the dream you are going and you entered into a beautiful restaurant and you ate very tasty food. When you came out, some people have caught hold of you, they thought you are rich and they beat you black and blue, stripped you of everything and disappeared. And you woke up. And then you are thinking, now how did these fellows come? And how did this cook create such a tasty dish? How did these rogues, how did they come to know I am going to come out of this restaurant at this particular time? Will you waste your time thinking? Once you wake up, just like that. Mumukshus should think like that. And one way of thinking about it is that Lord, this is your Maya. Narada's Maya. If you remember the story of Narada asking Shri Krishna, show me your Maya. And he went to fetch water. The water disappeared. He saw a beautiful girl that is called Maya and he fell in love, married and he became a householder even though he was Nitya Brahmachari. And he got some children and once flood came and he lost everything. Before he got married, he didn't have anything. After he lost everything, he remained the same person. The person who was before, this was exactly the person who remained after the whole, his wife, his children, his property, his treasure, his money, everything disappeared. And then the Lord called him, Narada, why are you delaying? And then he became startled. He saw, he was standing right in front of the water. Only he went down to fetch the water and this Maya. How much time it took? Less than a fraction of a millisecond. But it appeared to as if that several years have passed. Then he came running, fell at the feet of Krishna. Let by your grace, give me the bone. Let me never fall under the bewitching power of your Maya. And Krishna was pleased. This was what Sri Ramakrishna's narration. And he said, I am so pleased with you, I guarantee you, never again Maya is going to trouble you. But I am pleased, I want to give you something more. Narada said, I don't want anything because anything you give is Maya. Again you are throwing me into Maya. I want you. So give me Ahaituki Bhakti. Motiveless devotion alone, you give it to me, there is no other way. So this is one view. We will discuss about it a little bit further. We will take to the second opinion that what causes this creation. Swapna Rupa, Swapna Maya, Sarupa Iti. Some other people, what do they think? That this whole world is similar to Swapna, dream. And it is coming out of Maya, Sarupa. That means similar to Maya. So who created Maya? And what is the creation of Maya? Just like Swapna. What do you mean by Swapna? Swapna means dream. What do you mean by dream? Dream means upon waking up, just as we can see everything as unreal, just a few imaginary thoughts. So this whole universe creation is nothing but some imaginary things. Now some problems are there with both of these things. First I will dispose of the second view. There are some people, these are called Dwaitins, and they say this creation is real. Who is the creator? Narayana. And how did he create? Through his Maya. So remember this is also in Bhagavad Gita. I, Prakrutin Swam Adhishtaya, that is taking the help of Prakruti, I create this whole world. Through my Maya, I create the whole world. That's what he is telling. So this is real. Okay, what is your contention? My contention is this is a product of Narayana's Maya. What do you mean by Maya? It is just like a dream. What do you mean by dream? Dream means everything is unreal. When you reach a certain state of understanding, certain awakening, then you see everything is just like a dream. All right, wonderful. Is this creation real or unreal? Empathically these people say it is real. Now are you not contradicting? On one hand you say it is just like Swapna. On the other hand you say it is real. Is there anything called real dream? Impossible. This is the contradiction. Just Shankaracharya wants to point out through this Godapada Karika, the 7th Karika. Now we will come to the first part of this 7th Karika. What is it? Vibhuti Vistaraha. Eswaraha Vibhutir Vistaraha. This creation is the manifestation of the glory of God. That means in simple words, God created this world. This is whatever you say, Divine Mother, Srishti Sthivinashanam, Shaktipute Sanatani, etc. Fine. Now what is the problem? There are terrible problems out there. What are the problems? If you think that in this creation, first of all, everything is changing. Secondly, it is full of contradictions. Some people are happy, some are unhappy, some are rich, some are poor, some are learned. Now how can one creator have so much of variation? Some people are suffering. Don't say it is Maya suffering. When headache comes and you won't be able to attend this Mandukya Karika Upanishad, don't say this headache is unreal, but I will continue. You won't be able to do that. You will be hypocrite if you do that. So long as we realize God, this world is absolutely real. Either world is real or God is real. So long as we are in the world, God is unreal, world is real. When we get out of this world, then the remembrance that once upon a time I was in this world, that also will completely vanish. Therefore, with this contention, dismiss it. It is not a manifestation of the glory of God at all. Because if it is God's glory, it must have God's glory reflected. Accepting that there is creation, nothing of God's glory. We see here stupidity, foolishness, hatred, jealousy, fighting with each other, killing each other. This is all going on. That is the problem. So with this, Gaudapada dismisses. Later on he dismisses. This is some people's view. And then we already dismissed that this world is like a dream, but it is real. So a real dream. That is also completely illogical. That is dismissed. Now, we will enter into the 8th Karika, which is interesting. There are two types of people. The first type of people are being indicated here. The world we are in, where we are conducting this Mandukya Karika class, this creation, it is by the will of God. Icch Prabho Icchha Matra. Just by Sankalpa. The question comes, I desire, I want to eat Rasogola. The moment I desire, will a Rasogola appear to me? Of course not. Because if that is the case, let me tell you, there will be terrible tragedies in this world. How? Because suppose there are two people. They hate each other. And what is their desire? Let person A think, let B be destroyed. But person B is also thinking exactly on the same lines. That means they are going to destroy each other. Interesting conclusions are there, whether a Jeevan Mukta will become Ishwara. Our creed, Shastra, tells crystal clearly, a Jeevan Mukta becomes Brahman, one with Brahman, not one with Ishwara. Because Ishwara's function is creation. Because if there are two types of Jeevan Muktas, and if they become one with Ishwara, one fellow says, I suffered very much, I don't want any creation. The other fellow says, I enjoyed it very much, I want it to continue. Now whose will is going to happen? That's why as Brahman, they are free. As Ishwara, they are completely different. Swami Vivekananda gives a beautiful example. Supposing you create a clay mouse and a clay elephant. As clay, both are same. But as name and form, mouse and elephant. If the mouse falls upon the elephant, if the clay mouse falls upon the clay elephant, or the clay elephant falls upon the clay mouse, the result will be the same. The mouse will be destroyed. There is heaven and hell difference between a clay elephant and a clay mouse. So as Ishwara, a Jeevan Mukta will never become. But he will become one with Brahman, just as all pots, big and small, they all claim, I am the clay. Anyway, so some people say, that by God's will. So I talked about, if I wish, nothing happens. It should not happen also. Otherwise, you know what happens? Remember, recollect, the Ramakrishna story of a traveller sitting under a Kapavriksha. Ultimately, he destroyed himself. So it will not happen. But the case of Ishwara is different. Just as when we are dreaming, we become Ishwaras. Whatever sankalpa matra, a thought came, I am in America, I am in America. A thought came, I want Rashagulla, Rashagulla is present. Like that, Ishwara's will immediately manifests as the creation. How does it manifest? Why does it manifest? Because He is Satya Sankalpa, and He is Satya Kama. He will not desire anything unreal, first of all. Secondly, whatever He desires, it must be fulfilled. So God, by His mere thought, He created this Sankalpa Matrena. This is some person's view, and I think that is our view also. Then the second type of people, Kala Prasutin Bhutanam Manyante Kala Chintakaha. There are some people who know, time is the creator. Time creates, time brings change, time destroys people. For everything, there is a time. The birth of a baby, and the change of the baby, and the death of the baby, everything in this world falls under time, space and causation. These are some people who think like this. In both these views, there are enough number of holes to blow away this kind of faith. So what are those things? Now let us go to this Shankara's commentary. Iccha Matram Prabho Satya Sankalpatva Srishti The manifestation or creation proceeds by the mere will of God. Ghatadi Naam Sankalpana Matram Simpliest will, and His will immediately manifests. Na Sankalpana Aterittam So nothing can go against the will of God. This is one view. Another view is Kaladeva Srishti Riti Kenchit Some say this creation proceeds from time. So with this, we will discuss. I think we will discuss it because there are very elegant and very rational arguments of the faults that we encounter. Whether you say, this creation is the creation of Ishwara, or whether you say, time is the creator of this entire world. And according to modern scientists, time is the creator. In time, the inorganic became organic. Organic started growing. These are some of the contentions we will discuss in our next class. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna