Mandukya Karika Lecture 014 on 01 September 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Bhadram Kanne Vishnuyamadevaha Bhadram Pashye Maakshabhirya Jatraaha Sthirai Rangai Stushthu Aagum Sastanobhi Vyase Mahadevahi Tanyadayu Svasthina Indru Vrithya Shravaha Svasthina Bhusha Vishwa Vedaaha Svasthina Starksho Arishta Nimihi Svasthino Prihaspatir Dadaatu 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's beneficial to all. May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness upon 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. So, we are exploring the Mandukya Upanishad. In our last class, we have been elaborately translating the commentary of Shankaracharya, that is his introduction called Sambandha Bhashya to the very first mantra that's going to come very soon. So, in this connection, the first mantra of this Mandukya Upanishad is equating everything with Om. Whatever falls within time, whatever is also beyond time. Everything is Omkara. Saguna, Nirguna. Sakara, Nirakara. Everything, this world and the cause of this world. The effect and both the cause and the effect. Everything is Omkara. It's a very beautiful idea. We will discuss how it is so beautiful. But finally, Chandukya Upanishad, there is one shloka which says, Everything is nothing but names and sounds. Vikaro namadeyam. Everything else is mithya. And how this is absolute truth, we will explore it very soon. Continuing our introduction of the Shankaracharya's Bhashya. Katham punaha omkara nirnayaha atmatattva pratipatti upayatvam pratipadyate iti uchyate. Katham, how again. Punaha means again. How again. Omkara nirnayaha. The true nature of the Om. True knowledge about Om in all its aspects. Related both to the manifested as well as the unmanifested. Always let us remember, what is manifested falls within time, space and causation. And what is unmanifested, of course it would be beyond time, space and causation. But here Advaita Vedanta gives us a deep insight. What is that insight? Whether we are talking about what falls within time or what falls outside time. Both are thoughts in the mind. Because whatever is outside the mind can never be thought, can never be of course uttered. It is not possible to do anything about it. So that is why this is very deeply connected with Sri Ramakrishna's most wonderful teaching. Remember, on the very first day when M entered into the room of Sri Ramakrishna, a talk was going on. Sandhya, that means the ritual called Sandhya Upasana merges in Gayathri. That is, a person just goes on meditating, praying to this Gayathri Devata through the Gayathri mantra consisting of 24 syllables. But as the man progressed from the ritual to the Gayathri, he will also progress from Gayathri to where? Omkara. This is what Sri Ramakrishna had summarized the entire Mandukya Upanishad. That is what Shankaracharya is introducing. The very first mantra, Omkara, is everything that falls within time and outside time also. But remember, both the ideas of cause and effect, manifest and non-manifest, both fall within the thinking of the mind. Supposing, for example, that which falls outside the time, space and causation is not discussed in the mind, by the mind. Why it cannot be discussed? Because it is outside the mind. Then the question of what is beyond space would not be risen at all. But since the Upanishad is clearly mentioning both what falls within time, what also is outside time, we must remember the Parabrahma, the highest reality called Brahman, is both beyond that which is within the time and also without the time. That is one very important idea always we have to keep in mind. But at the same time, everything that we experience, that which falls within the time is also nothing but Brahman. That means, if we posit two realities, one outside the mind called Parabrahman, supreme reality, another, this Jagat, this world, that which is experienceable through the play of the subject and object, both are existing. If we make such a statement, that would be a false statement because Advaita means no Dvaita. Dvaita means no duality. No duality means there are no two. One is called Parabrahma, another is called this Jagat. So this is the ultimate purpose to explain this. This first mantra in the Mandukya Upanishad is being started and here Shankaracharya is giving a very good, deep idea for us how when we encounter this first mantra, we can understand it in a better way. So, Katham, Punaha, how again? Omkara Nirnaya, Nirnaya means complete thorough analysis, obtaining full knowledge about this Omkara, Punaha. So, what does it do? Atma, Tattva, Pratipatti, Upayatvam, Pratipadyate. Pratipadyate, this is being put forward. What? Upayatvam, the means, the instruments, the way to obtain, to obtain what? Atma, Tattva. Tattva means knowledge. Atma, Tattva means self-knowledge, knowledge of the Atman. Pratipatti, in order to obtain Omkara, becomes the only instrument. Remember, not only it is the instrument, but it is the only instrument. No other instrument can serve this purpose. Iti, if such a question is put by anybody, Uchchate, the answer is being given. How does again the determination of the meaning of Om help the realization of the essential nature of Atman? It is thus explained. Now, this first chapter is called Agama Prakarana. Now, Agama Prakarana, as we discussed earlier, consists of 12 mantras of the Mandukya Upanishad. In the next three chapters, there are Prakaranas, there is no Upanishadic mantra occurs. Purely Gaudapada Karikas, as well as the illuminating commentary by Shankaracharya, plus Anandagiri's Tika, when he thinks some commentary of Shankaracharya, some words of the commentary of Shankaracharya needs further elucidation, so that we can understand it much better without misunderstanding. So, Shankaracharya heavily quotes Agama means Veda, Agama means Shruti. That's why the first chapter is aptly named as Agama Prakaranam. Now, this Agama Prakarana, 12 mantras of the Upanishad, plus 29 Karikas by Gaudapada, plus the commentary of Shankaracharya, followed by the Tika of Anandagiri. Now, Shankaracharya is quoting, this is from Katha Upanishad. So, we, the students, are supposed to, as soon as he just quotes a little bit of it, very rarely Shankaracharya quotes complete mantra for us to understand. He says, you fellows, I will give you some homework. You can just start, and then you find out where it is. So, Katha Upanishad, it comes, Om Iti Etat. Everything is nothing but Om. It is Om. Etat Alambanam. Again, Katha Upanishad. This Om is the best support. Best support for what? Support for those things which fall within time, space, causation, and outside space, time, and causation. That which are experienceable through the manifested world, and that which is the cause of the unmanifested world also, and that which falls, doesn't fall within time, space, and causation. It's outside time, space, and causation. Then, Etadvai Satyakamaha Paranja Aparanja Brahma Et Omkaraha Tasmadvidvan Etena Eva Ayatanena Ekataram Anvethi. This quotation is from the Prashna Upanishad. So, what does Etadvai Satyakamaha? The teacher is addressing a disciple called Satyakamaha, who puts, this is the fifth Prashna, that's why that Upanishad is known as Prashna Upanishad. There are six disciples, six students, they come with six questions, and the entire Upanishad is consisting of six questions and answers by the teacher. So, he says, O Satyakamaha, addressing Satyakamaha, it is this Om, which is also the higher and the lower Brahman. So, if you can understand, what is the lower Brahman? What is the lower Brahman? Anatma Brahman. What is Anatma Brahman? This entire experienceable world. And what is the higher Brahman? You can call it subject, you can call it outside time, space, and causation. In other words, it is timeless, it is spaceless, it is beyond time, beyond space, beyond causation. That is called infinity and eternal. So, Etadvai, Etad means this Omkara, which has been quoted from the Katha Upanishad, that Omkara represents both Param and Aparam. Now, when I said the word represents, should not be misunderstood. In common language, suppose you have invited somebody for a party, and that person whom you invited could not come, so he sends his representative in honor of your invitation. But that's not to be understood because this Omkara is Parabrahman, Omkara is again lower Brahman. If Omkara is Parabrahman, Omkara is also Aparabrahman, then what is the difference? There is absolutely no difference at all. So, Tasmat, therefore, therefore, therefore means therefore, because this Omkara is both the higher and lower, Vidwan, one who understands that this Omkara is both the higher and lower. So, by the means of this one, by the support of this, by the bridge of this, by the instrumentality of this Omkara, finally he understands. What does he understand? That everything is Omkara. How is Omkara? If you are merged in it, that is called Brahman. But if you are experiencing it and want to express it, this will become Omkara. Let us always remember. Sri Ramakrishna says, everything in this world has become Uchishta, polluted, because everything that touches our mouth, if we touch something to our mouth or our mouth touches something, both become polluted. So, everything has become polluted because everything has been expressed by words, by names, by sounds through the mouth of human beings, only human beings, even a butterfly, even a mosquito, even an ant, whatever living creature expresses, that is all polluted. Then he says, very interesting, Brahman alone is never polluted. Brahman is not polluted. Interesting question. I hope you guessed what I am going to tell. Sir, you said Brahman is not polluted, but you have uttered that word Brahman, it has come from your mouth, so it must be also polluted. What will Sri Ramakrishna say? You are absolutely right. Even my utterance of Brahman is only a conventional way to convey an idea. When a person wants to convey the idea to another person, he has to use human language. That human language is called Brahman. It could be another two words, supreme reality, or one word, reality, or God. Remember, God doesn't mean always personal. Both the personal as well as the impersonal aspect of reality is called God in English language. So, that Omkara is both the highest reality, also the manifested reality. Omkara is both the manifested as well as the unmanifested reality. And if a person is wise, he understands this through sadhana and God's grace. And when he understands, he understands that there are no two divisions called higher and lower. That is only two ways of looking at it. Now, why two ways of looking at it? Because so long as a person is having mind, then two ways are there. But if there is no mind, as we experience nidra, deep sleep, the experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi is indescribable. And yet it is an experience. Tasmād vidvān etena eva āyatanena By this instrument alone, ekataram anveti he comes to know that the higher and lower Brahmans are not really two separate entities, but one and the same. Therefore, they know here, by means of this foundation OM, can discover either of them or both of them. Then, further, omiti ātmānam in jītā So, here also, meditate on the Self as OM. Why? Omite brahmā. So, because OM is called Brahmā. In the earlier, omiti ātmānam in jītā. The word in jītā means joined together through yoga. And how meditation is joining two things together, like superglue. So, supposing Ramakrishna was meditating on Brahmā, in the beginning, he was the meditator, Brahman is the meditated. After some time, when the meditation becomes perfect, there is no such Ramakrishna and Brahman. Because Ramakrishna's body, Ramakrishna's mind are no more there. They are still there, but as if they are not there. They have also become nothing but Brahman. Like a salt doll or sugar doll, upon touching water, it just melts and becomes one with it. Even that is a wrong example because sugar will not appear when it melts, but it is still there. Salt doll, Ramakrishna's example was salt doll, when it goes to measure the depth of the ocean, it becomes one with the ocean. But an image made of ice, if it plunges to measure the depth of the ocean, then there would be absolute unity between the ice and the water. That is perhaps a better example. All these examples are meant to convey certain meaning for us and remove misunderstanding, but they should not be taken literally. Then in the Taittiriya Upanishad, why should I meditate on Brahma? Because Om and Brahma, they are one and the same. This word Om is Brahman. Omkara eva idam sarvam Chandogya Upanishad idam sarvam, whatever you experience as the world, called Jagat or Prapancha, idam sarvam omkara eva, only omkara, ityadi shrutibhyah All these quotations that we have just talked about from the Shrutis. Shruti means scriptures. So, all the Shrutis with one voice, they declare that Omkara and Brahman are non-separate. Therefore, Omkara can be used both as the instrument of knowing Brahman and finally Brahman itself. That is the idea. Then Shankara continues. So, why should we or how should we understand this? As the rope etc. which are the substratum of such illusions that the snake etc. So, first let us complete this. Here is a beautiful idea is given by Shankaracharya. So, always Advaita Vedanta gives certain stock examples. The rope and the snake is one and then the lake in the desert, mirage or like the reflection in the mirror or like the movie on the screen or like a dream. Keep these five examples. These are stock examples. They will come again and again and again especially this rope and the snake. Now, what is Shankara telling? Vikalpa. Rajyadiriva Vikalpa. Suppose there is a piece of rope and it is semi-dark and you are moving and you are terribly frightened of snakes because if you are terribly frightened of snakes that has a deep meaning. What is the meaning? If you had never encountered a snake before the question of either becoming frightened or becoming happy, such emotional manifestations can never take place. So, whenever we mistake one thing for something else we have to know both these things together but because light is not there or some emotional this thing is there so at that time most likely we make. I said this second thing that because of emotional problem also we can mistake. Supposing you are expecting somebody and the person is a bit late and you are sitting and with great eagerness expecting that person. Suddenly a car, a speeding car comes to your house and then suddenly puts a brake, stops and doors are opened. You are not seeing the car but you are hearing the sounds because you are already expecting. You are 100% sure that this is the person or persons whom we are expecting. It may not be but that is how Brahma takes place. Then you shout, hey our expected person has come let us welcome him and you rush to the door and then you find out that person had stopped the car just a little bit in front of your house but he is entering into the next house. So this is also because of emotional problems, lack of light or another thing is if you are overcome with a terrible emotion called fear etc or it could be tremendous amount of what is called delusion that you are in love with somebody. I hope you remember, I mentioned the story of a young man he was in love with a young woman from the village and a village is a place where everybody knows everything else about everybody so they decided to meet outside the village at 10 o'clock at night under a banyan tree and it was also dark. So the young man rushes there exactly at 10 o'clock and he was delighted to find his beloved there and he could not wait patiently, he ran and enveloped that object in his arms and then after a few seconds something started pricking him and then by that time moonlight also had come and then he saw to his horror it was a black bear which came there in search of food and that fellow also could not understand why somebody is in a great rush to embrace me. So this vikalpa means what? Mistaking things a rope is mistaken for a snake a standing stump of tree is mistaken for a standing purusha, for a policeman for a drunkard for a beloved as many imaginations, so many things are there. So what are we talking? Raju, Adi, Iva so many examples like the rope etc. and they all give Sarpaadi Vikalpasya Aspadaha Here is a wonderful point Shankaracharya is telling us supposing there is no rope can you mistake that there is a snake? Whenever we mistake something for something else that mistake that we commit must have something prior, in prior existing. If there were to be no rope, if there were to be no desert, if there were no stump of tree etc. it is impossible to mistake. So this adhyasa, or imposition, it must always have something which is unchanging, which is the real, which is the karna and which cannot be denied. So he says, all that we are experiencing, we are experiencing this world in the form of subject the whole experience of human being is in the form of a subject and then object. Now this subject, I it means all of you all of us, how do we experience? We experience it in three ways there is a state called waking state, I become the waker and I experience it with my body mind and all the sense organs. When I enter into some other state called dream state apna avastha, then I become another type of subject I will come to that later on is called dreamer and I experience the same world, world is the same but it is experienced in a slightly different color, different flavor, different taste, but predominantly with the mind help of the mind so the same world is experienced in the waking state, in the dream state, same world is also experienced in another very subtle or what is called causal state which is called deep sleep. There are only two things, one is subject, everything else is the object. The subject never changes but the object is ever changing so suppose there are three rooms and you are entering into the room number 1 and you are room number 1 person, you enter into the room number 2, you are the person, room number 2 person, similarly room number 3 person, again room number 1 person, even though you are being given 3 names there is absolutely not the slightest change in you so that great idea is being given here, whether you see a snake, whether you see a person in a stump whether you see dazzling brilliant huge body of water in a mirage whenever we do this kind of superimposition what is superimposed changes, when the right knowledge comes when the light is brought up, for example the snake instantaneously vanishes, but whatever was before we mistook it and while we mistook it, after we had gotten rid of the mistake it ever remained only that rope or what is called lizard or what is called stump of a tree, etc etc, now this is the greatest truth even if you think that the understand the whole world is mithya, the point is not the mithyatva of the world the point is this mithyatva depends completely totally upon some adhishtana, substratum, so what is meant by sadhana that you give up this temporary changeful superimposition and then find out upon which that is superimposed and you will be out of that fear, as soon as you come to know that this is a rope both the serpent and the emotional havoc that was caused by the knowledge of the serpent everything will disappear that's being put so beautifully in Sanskrit so vikalpasya aspadam aspadam means substratum vikalpa means superimposition that which is changing that whatever what are they, rajvadhiriva sarpadi, sarpadi means snakes, etc and they are superimposed upon raju, ropes, etc and this rope is the aspadam substratum for the snakes, etc similarly, this whole world consisting of experienced through the three states of waking, dream, as well as causal state, jagrat, swapna, sushupti they are all changing therefore they are vikalpas but they must have an aspadam substratum what is the substratum? that is called turiya that is called brahma that is called ankara finally, it is called ahi, I am brahman, so that is what being said, advayam atma paramarthatah advayam atma so in paramarthatah in reality what is in reality? what is paramarthah? so, according to advayata this experience is divided again into three different glasses what are they? paramarthika satya absolute truth vyavaharika satya transactional truth prativasika satya illusory truth I will give some examples when you see your shadow or your reflection in a mirror or when you watch a movie or when you are seeing things in a dream that is called prativasika illusory but in this waking state whatever we experience is called vyavaharika I will tell you the difference also but when you transcend both merge both in their cause the cause of both the sleep state as well as the dream state as well as the waking state in their cause which is called brahman or turiya that is called absolute truth paramarthika satya so what is the difference between paramarthika satya vyavaharika satya and prativasika satya so prativasika satya even while we are witnessing it accepting dream looking at your reflection or shadow you know that is not me that is only my appearance when you are watching a movie you know this is not reality it is just a movie the moment I close my eyes the whole movie becomes destroyed so this is called prativasika now what about vyavaharika it is extremely difficult excepting for jivanmuktas extremely difficult for all of us I am eating rasagulla and to say that I am eating a mithya rasagulla a unreal rasagulla this is absolutely un-understandable unacceptable so this is the difference between prativasika and vyavaharika so long as this vyavahara is there transaction is going on and transaction is impossible if we think it is only a pretense or it is unreal so no action is possible no reaction is possible that's why it is very important to truth we will explore it in the future but I am giving an example supposing you are watching a movie and there is a wonderful golden ornament is there and you don't say ornament, I want to buy that ornament no, that is not possible because you are the vyavaharika satya but what you are experiencing is prativasika satya there cannot be any transaction between vyavaharika and prativasika but this vyavaharika even though it is not real from the paramarthika so long as we are experiencing it is real, so long as we are experiencing dream dream is not dream dream is vyavaharika davasta, waking state completely real when does it, we call it to dream upon waking up so also when this whole jagat of the consisting of the vyavaharika satya when this vyavaharika satya so long as we are there it is not possible and it is not desirable to consider it as unreal but what should we consider then when the scriptures are teaching it is unreal, it is changing that's why Sri Ramakrishna's teaching the fourth commandment of Sri Ramakrishna what to do practice discrimination what is discrimination God alone is real everything else is Sri Ramakrishna did not use the word unreal, he used the word temporary so what is real permanently real, that means never changes what is this temporary real that means this temporary reality is constantly changing one temporary reality changes into another temporary reality for example, if you have bought fresh sweets they are vyavaharika satya, right now but after a day it becomes old sweet decomposing sweet that is what is called here this temporary changing reality but we understand every human being understands oh, how time passes I have become old just a few seconds back, I was a young person now I have become so old, how time passes very often we hear the remark how time passed, we were married 50 years, how time passes so this we recognize some way, but our recognition doesn't impute the truth of it in our transactions ok, if it is old gold also that is fine, if it is old gold also, that is also fine but we don't want to give up sadhana consists first to recognize everything is temporary that means everything is changing and whatever changing should not be valued but we say everything is changing we are aware of the change but we do not devalue it, in fact we may put it all the more value, funnily some things become even more valuable for example if there is an antique so 2000, 3000 4000, 5000 years back, somebody has done some small image and the more time passes, the more valuable it becomes, but for whom, not for everybody only those who love antiques, otherwise it becomes a monkey act, antique really speaking so what are we talking just as any superimposition to superimpose something upon something else, there must be something unchanging, reality must be there as an example he has given if you have to mistake something as a snake you must have a rope so also there must be desert dry sand to mistake it as a body of water, so etc etc, so nobody can deny because there are certain schools of philosophy and Shankara has those schools of philosophy in mind, he wants to refute them it will come in the future here itself, in the Agama Prakrna itself, they are called Shunivadins he says if everything is Shuniya, everything is zero, nothing can be produced from zero the question of superimposing something upon a Shuniya doesn't arise there will be no birth no sthiti, stability or no resolving back Shuniya means complete zero, Tuccham that which never existed we are not talking about non-existence we are talking about two types of existence, permanent existence and temporary existence so the snake is temporary existence but the rope is permanent existence that is being said here Vikalpasi Aspadam there must be a substratum which is eternal, which is unchanging, so some of you are very intelligent so is the rope permanently there? No, no it is only an example from the Vyavaharika Sathya, what is the cause of rope? Existence the existence part of the rope is permanent the knowability part of the rope is permanent the ananda that comes, the experience that comes from understanding this object called rope, that is permanent Sat, Chit, Ananda is permanent but everything else is Vikalpa the whole world is nothing but superimposition upon so I will just proceed to make this point clear, we will proceed slowly so that we can really understand it, so you can say supposing here is a shirt, that is the reality no sir, that is not the reality it is a superimposition it is what is called a change brought about, it is a karya effect so if there is a karya effect there must be a cause what is the cause? The cause is the threads oh, so how do we know? Because if we can take back the shirt into the that threads we can make something else out of it you know when people sew this woolen caps etc and sometimes they leave it and then a child comes, pulls the whole thing comes out, so it can be changed like that but are the these threads themselves are they permanent cause? No, the threads came from the cotton the cotton came from the tree and the tree has come from as a result of the pancha bhutas, five elements akasha, vayu etc and all these elements came from whom? from Atman so you trace the cause of, the cause of, the cause of the cause etc, ultimately the whole universe however different it may appear they all merge in God in what form? sat, chit and ananda existence, knowledge and bliss and thereafter where from sat has come where from chit has come where from ananda has come are they effects and if so, what is their cause? No, that is called paramarthata, highest cause but then, here is something again I will just give a hint when the time comes, I will talk about it so here is a, we are all suffering from a disease terrible mental disease called cause and effect just as I told you a shirt is nothing but thread a thread is nothing but cotton now I will take that much only then go further when you say the shirt has an effect it is nothing but thread that means the effective nature of the shirt has disappeared when the effect disappears along with that the cause also disappears when there is no ornament so long as a golden ornament is there gold is the cause ornament is the manifestation but the moment you understand that the golden ornament is nothing but gold in every way that effect effectness becomes destroyed, as soon as the effectness becomes destroyed simply karana cannot be a karana cause cannot be a cause without effect, just as when there are no students a man cannot be called a teacher when a man doesn't have money he can't be called a rich person when a person doesn't have anything about music he can't be called a musician so the moment karya is removed, karana also disappears, so the thread is merged in the cotton the cotton is merged in the tree, the tree is merged in the earth earth is merged in the water water in fire, fire in air, air in akasha, space and space is merged in atman as soon as we remove the effects, then the karana cause also disappears so brahman only is a cause so long as we do not know the cause so long we do not resolve the effect into the cause but that will come in future we will again discuss about it so if there is a superimposition, there must be something real, a substratum which is called sacchidananda, the examples don't take as absolute the existence of the rope is the permanent substratum for the appearance for the existence of the rope, for the knowledge of the rope is the cause for the knowledge of the snake the bliss part of the rope modifies now for the effect of seeing a snake I also gave an example if you are frightened and the effect of this seeing the snake thinking it is a snake is fright, but if you are a snake catcher or even better just now it occurred to me if you are a snake eater and you are particularly fond of cobra because much more tastier than water snake then your joy knows no bounds so without the substratum it is impossible even to make adhyarupa superimposition, adhyasa and what is that? advayam, when we come to the final cause that causeness disappears and it becomes advaya non-dual atma, it becomes atma paramarthatha and that is the highest truth highest reality so taking these examples, Shankaracharya what he wants to say san pranadi vikalpasya aspadam yatha that is to say the whole universe that we experience there may be billions and billions of objects and all objects are divided into the living and non-living, those with consciousness and those without consciousness jada prapancha and chaitanya prapancha but both are nothing but vikalpas of parabrahman so they must have their cause because this is the effect and what happens all these merge in the subject without the subject there would be no object when through meditation through spiritual sadhana with the help of the guru with the help of the scriptures as expounded by the guru, we say the subject alone is the cause how do we know? because as soon as you go to the sleep state the whole universe disappears, notice so like that, but then it is not the highest truth, why? because after some time it again gives birth to the waking state as well as the dream state so that is why it appears to be advaita but in reality it is not advaita, what Shankara wants to say, just as a snake etc. cannot be mistaken unless there is a rope which remains permanent without any change so also the whole universe which consists of prana, here prana means Hiranyagarbha Hiranyagarbha means the collectiveness of the entire universe consisting of these three let us say Ishwara in Chandogya Upanishad Ishwara is called prana, we should not mistake prana for our individual life sustaining system, here prana means universal cause of the entire universe so this universe also is superimposed upon Brahman and that collective superimposition of this entire universe is called Ishwara Ishwara is a combination of the Saguna Brahma, that's why it is called a combination of Parabrahma plus Maya Brahman plus Shakti and so that is also Dwaitam only not Advaitam but both of them are effects because they are also superimposed at that high level not at our level so when Ishwara along with Maya is resolved back into that which never changes that is called Paramarthika Sathya Parabrahman Atman, by whatever name we call it Pranadi Vikalpasya Aspadam Yatha so this Brahman is the substratum for the entire universe, both manifest as well as the non-manifest Tatha and exactly in the same way, Sarvo Api Vak Prapanchaha the entire universe consisting of words Vak means words Pranadi Atma Vikalpa Vishaya and this whole Prapancha is consisting of what? Prana Adi Prana, Vyana, Udana etc this Akasha, Vayu Agni, Jala and Prithvi etc Vikalpa Vishaya what we experience it Sarvo Api entire thing what is it? Omkara Eva so is the non-dual Atman which is the ultimate reality a substratum of such imaginations as the vital breath etc they are all effects they are changing they are unreal they are as much superimposed upon Brahman as we superimpose a snake upon a rope etc without substratum there cannot be any superimposition this world which is constantly changing cannot be also imagined or superimposed without that substratum which is called Brahman and that Brahman is called Omkara so Omkara is Brahman Brahman is Omkara Brahman is Atman so Atma, Brahman and Omkara is one and the same and how it is one and the same is the subject matter which we will discuss next week Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padme Tayo Sritva Pranamami Muhur Muhur May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti and the capacity to understand this particular Evirupanishad particularly this Mandukya Evirupanishad