Taittiriya Upanishad Lecture 01 on 22 May 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

As announced today, from today onwards on the Wednesdays, we will be studying Taittiriya Upanishad. It is one of the major Upanishads. Major means on which Shankaracharya had written commentaries or Bhashyam. And of these, commented by Shankaracharya, all these Upanishads are called major. But really speaking, there is no major or minor. Even the Brahma Upanishad we just concluded and the Mandukya, they convey only one truth. That is, O man, you are potentially divine and your goal, you are ignorant of which is that you are divine. We are all ignorant of that fact. And the scripture reminds us of the fact. So the goal of life is not anything belonging to this world, but only to re-remember our true nature, which is that we are divine. Potentiality doesn't mean small. It means we do not remember it. If we do not see somebody in front of us, it is as good as if that person doesn't exist at all. And for a long time, when we do not see something, there is very strong impression formed in our minds, such a thing doesn't exist, even if it is in front of us. How many incidents we can quote from true life? How much we misunderstand each other? All because we do not understand that we are living in the presence of God. In what form? In the form of the whole universe. So it reminds us, not only you are divine, but the whole universe is nothing but divine. There is no multiplicity. So that is the second primary teaching of every scripture. Hindus call this Upanishads. Christians call it Bible. Muslims call it Koran. Buddhists call it Tripitaka, scripture, Shastra. And the third factor is, it's okay, but how do I remember my true nature? How do I know who I am? This word remembrance or recollection is all that takes place through human endeavour. How do we know? Because at the very end of the Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavan Krishna, having taught Arjuna nearly 700 shlokas, he asks at the end one question, Krishna's one question, Have you listened to my teaching with attention? And have you understood it? If you have done that, then your delusion should have gone. What is the delusion? That I am Arjuna. I am a warrior. And these are my beloved people. These are my archenemies, etc. Then Arjuna categorically says, That is very important. That's what every incarnation teaches, that you surrender yourself to me. I will take you to myself. I will make you myself. So he says, by your grace, all my delusion is gone. What is delusion? Thinking I am somebody else. Forgetting I am somebody else. So there Arjuna uses that word Smriti. Smriti Labdha. Nasto Mohaha. Smriti Labdha. But by your grace. It is not possible through any endeavour. What is the logic? If we go on working, should we not achieve this one? Because there is a law, very much alive, and every second used by scientists. That is called the law of cause and effect. If the cause is small, the effect will be small. If the cause is limited, the effect also will be limited only. So for a small limited cause, cannot produce unlimited effect. God or Brahman is infinite. Any effort is only limited. So through limited efforts, to achieve the unlimited is impossible. This is the main purport of why Shankaracharya, when he seems to be saying, that actions cannot give us that realisation. So there is a beautiful saying, actions cannot give realisation. Actions need not give realisation. Why? Because the effect of actions is something, either it was not before, so we created it, but it is existing, but it is not available here. It is available somewhere else. It is available, but it is not in a good shape. So it needs repairs. This is called Samskara. Or it is broken. Then one has to repair it. So this creation is available only elsewhere, and it is broken, or it requires polishing or restoring, etc. Any action that we do, Shankara explains, can give only these four effects, four results. And if we think deeply, can you show me, is there any other effect other than these four? Every effect, in other words, falls into one of these four categories. But Brahman is what? You don't need to create Brahman. He is ever-existing. Brahman is present everywhere. So He is available everywhere. And Brahman, being one, cannot be unclean, impure, contaminated, because there is no second object. Contamination always comes from a second object. If you think really, you can understand. So water is mixed up with something. So it becomes flavorful, or it becomes colorful, or it becomes dirty, impure. It is not the fault of the water, but that extraneous second thing that comes and mixes itself up. And Brahman can never become old or lose its shine. Like any object, in the course of time, loses its polish, becomes dull, requires refurbishing or burnishing, etc. No, because there is no second object. And Brahman cannot be broken so that it has to be repaired. All these actions are possible only in the world of limitation, not in the world of Brahman, so to say. Therefore, karma can never bring us, need not bring us, because we have forgotten the fact that we are Brahman. So that is what the scripture reminds us. That is why we always strive to do something. You know what is our greatest desire? It is to know that we are God. It looks strange. Do we dare to become God or to desire to be God? Yes, that is the only thing. Because, just like you know, the seed of a marigold wants to be a beautiful marigold plant giving rise to many seeds. The seed of an apple wants to become an apple tree, not a coconut tree, not a mango tree, not anything else. It wants to be itself. And this is expressed in the form of three desires. They are spontaneous mantras called Abhyaroha Mantras. What is Abhyaroha? Ascending, getting up, going to higher and higher places spontaneously. Asato Ma Sadgamaya May I become pure existence. Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya May I become pure knowledge. Remember, not becoming, acquiring knowledge, not becoming existence. Realizing that I am not limited by any name, form or quality, but I am pure existence. It is called Sat. And these words, Sat, Chit. Then, third prayer is Mrityor Ma Amrutangamaya No man wants to have even one millisecond's suffering, unhappiness. Everybody wants unbroken, eternal, infinite happiness. Eternal and infinite happiness. Why use two words? Eternal means unbroken happiness. That is, we want to transcend time. Infinite means what? I may be happy. I am hungry. I eat food. Temporarily I am. But I desire to eat everything in this world. Only, that is only, a desire to eat is only one infinitesimal portion of our total desire. So, I want nothing left out that can be enjoyed. I want to enjoy everything. That is why, beautifully, the Upanishads describe that whatever a person enjoys, because God is infinite, He is only manifesting in myriad forms, uncountable forms. So, He is experiencing Himself all the time. That is why, We have seen both in the Narayana Suktam as well as Purusha Suktam and in many other places also. So, this is the reason why any limited action, limited by time, space, causation, etc., can never give us unlimited, infinite result. This is the crux of what Shankaracharya, why he was dead against. And that is why, what he says is, not that karma should be given up. Even spiritual practice is nothing but karma. But we should know the result of every karma is only to forget our limitedness. And once we forget, once we are capable of forgetting our limitedness, we don't need to become anything. We automatically regain. And then, every type of sadhana that we do helps us only to recollect the fact, I need not have done anything to recollect it. You know, sometimes we seem to forget, especially as we get on in age. Some things do not come. Even the extraordinary persons, it will take some time to recollect. So, this is very important. I was reading the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and something struck me very forcefully. After the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, M was asking Narendra at Varanagar Math, when was your first visit to Sri Ramakrishna? He said at Dakshineshwar. Actually, it was at Suresh Babu's house where he sang two songs. Swamiji repeats, I sang two songs. But I think he forgot he had met at Suresh Chandra's house, not at the house at Dakshineshwar. Sri Ramakrishna invited him from the householder's house, you come and visit me at Dakshineshwar. Then, of course, Swamiji moves there and he must have sung there. But that was not the first time. That was at least the second time. After that, he started. But that is not an important part. It does not mean that Swamiji had defective memory. This is only an example. Unnecessary things, it is better to forget. The ability to forget is a divine gift. That is why Apohana means the capacity to forget. We should be able to remember what should be remembered. And we should be able to forget what needs to be forgotten. That is why, matthah smritir jnanam apohanam cha in the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, we get this beautiful idea. Blessed indeed are those who are capable of forgetting even good things also because they don't suffer from evil things. Okay, anyway. Every action only brings limited results. And God is infinite, unlimited. Unlimited means beyond time, space and causation. Therefore, action can help us. It doesn't mean actions are useless. Just like pole-volting, the pole helps us to run and rise to a certain level in space. And then we have to give up. With the help of karma, we can attain purity and we can understand because even deep thinking is also part of the action. Just I wanted to remind ourselves. Sometimes we can misunderstand Shankaracharya. So anyway, we have started this Taittiriya Upanishad. And we will be studying it. And most marvelous truths, the definitions of what is Brahman, two types of definitions are there about God. One is called Accidental Definition or Circumstantial Definition called Tatastalakshana. Another is called Pointer Definition. Definitely it points out. What are these two? If you are searching for some house, the classical example in Vedanta, you enter into a colony and it may be an Indian colony. All houses look exactly alike. No numbers are there. Even if the numbers are there, broken, erased, upside down, so many things will be there. You ask somebody. He says, just look there, the third house where a crow is sitting, that is the house. Now the crow is not defining that house. Accidentally it came and sat down. Then it was a wise crow, found out nothing can be got from here. So by the time you reach, it might have flown away. But this is only what is called accidental or temporary, what is called pointer. But that which points at the final level, like a signboard, walk this way like that, that is called Swaroopalakshana. Really Brahman can never be defined because any definition is a limited something. Because every object is limited, the name also will be limited. So by name, form and quality. And Brahman is unlimited. So the infinite, it cannot be pointed out. The simple reason is, infinity is everywhere. So you ask where is space? Space is everywhere. There is Swaroopalakshana for the sake of meditation. It is called Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam, Brahma. Three words in juxtaposition and related to each other. You cannot separate them as three separate words and then understand Satyam is one word, Gnanam is another word, Anantam is another word. No, we have to understand infinite truth, infinite knowledge and infiniteness. Only we have to apply infinite Satyam, Ananta Satyam, Ananta Gnanam and Ananta Anandam. Instead of Sat, Chit and Ananda, here it is replaced by Anantam. So in this Taittiriya Upanishad, the accidental definition of Brahman is from where this creation has come and because of which the creation is continuing. And ultimately, and whether it is temporary or when liberation is attained, unto which. So water came from the ocean and that became rivers, streams, water courses, lakes, etc. But ultimately, all the waters have to return to the ocean. That is the effect should ultimately remove all the limitations. That is called merging in the cause. This is called Tatastalakshana. We cannot really express it. This is what is beautifully said in the Bhrigu Valli, we get it. It is called Tatastalakshana and Swaroopa. What is the true nature? Satyam, Gnanam, Anantam, Brahma. This sentence occurs at the very beginning of the second chapter called Brahmananda Valli. And the Tatastalakshana or accidental definition comes only in the third. Actually, the third chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad, which we will talk about a little bit later on, is only a summary of the second chapter in the form of a beautiful story. Anyway, so Taittiriya Upanishad is a part of Taittiriya Aranyaka, which is a branch of the Krishna Yajur Veda. Ultimately, every Upanishad belongs to one of the four Vedas. And really speaking, there are five Vedas. Usually we say four. There are five Vedas. Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. Where is the fifth one? So this Yajur Veda has two recensions. There is a reason also for that, why there are two recensions. He is called the black or Krishna. Bhagavan Krishna is a blackish fellow. That is why he is called Krishna. Draupadi was called Krishna. Vedavyasa is also called Krishna because they are all blackish. Draupadi, the black beauty, everybody wanted her. So Krishna Yajur Veda and Shukla Yajur Veda. Earlier it was only one Yajur Veda. But because there is a story which divides this into two recensions, means two versions, the white and the black. So this Taittiriya Upanishad belongs to this Krishna Yajur Veda. And this Taittiriya Upanishad is further divided into three chapters called Sikshavalli, Brahmanandavalli or the second chapter is called Brahmavalli, Anandavalli or Brahmanandavalli. Same. And the third chapter is called Bhrigavalli. And there are a total of 53 mantras. And each chapter is subdivided into sections called Anuvakas. There are 40 or so Anuvakas are there. And this Sikshavalli, the very first chapter, is also called Varuni Upanishad or Varuni Vidya. So Taittiriya Upanishad is divided into three sections, three chapters, Sikshavalli, Brahmanandavalli and Bhrigavalli. And in these three sections, there are 12 Anuvakas and 25 shlokas in the first chapter called Sikshavalli, 9 Anuvakas subsections and 13 mantras in the Brahmanandavalli and 19 Anuvakas and 15 shlokas in Bhrigavalli. And this Upanishad is in a prose form, divided into paragraphs. You know, some Upanishads are having beautiful shlokas. Shlokas means poetical form with Chandas everything. Chandas is a grammatical meter. Gayatri Chandas, Anustubh Chandas, etc. A particular way of putting is a poetical form, chantable very nicely. So, why is it in a particular form? Because the prose is a little more difficult. But the poetry, you know, anything that if you sing, so that is how nursery school rhythms are made. Whether it is numbers or days of the week, they are beautifully sung in the form of some small poems, etc. So, but this Upanishad is in a prose form, divided into paragraphs, instead of verses. A paragraph, whether it is small or big, is usually known as Anuvaka. And this Sikshavalli, the very name, how do these three chapters are named? Sikshavalli, Brahmanandavalli and Bhrigavalli. So, for example, the very first words in the Sikshavalli, Now we are going to teach you this Siksha means correct way of pronunciation, about which I will deal later on. How important it is to, especially mentioned by the Vedic Rishis, commanded that even one syllable should not be mispronounced, otherwise they threaten us, adverse effects will be there. If you shorten one syllable, the opposite result might come. I am not saying that it is true. What I am saying is, if you allow this kind of mistakes, then in the end, the very meaning will go. So, there are so many people whose brains are such a capacity to keep in memory. Some people, they are called Chaturvedis. All the four Vedas, thoroughly they have mastered. Then Trivedi, there are some who have only mastered three Vedas. Then Dvivedi, there are some people who have mastered only two Vedas. Then Ekavedi, I think so, but only one Veda. And then we are there. I don't want to tell about whether that word Veda should be applied at all. So, this belongs to the Krishna Yajur Veda. This Sikshavalli, the very first chapter, which we are going to deal, it has got twelve sub-sections. And the first is called Peace Chant, Shanti Mantra. The twelfth also is a Shanti Mantra. And we discussed about what is a Shanti Mantra. Shanti Mantra means, first of all, it is an earnest prayer to God, O Lord, without your grace, I cannot completely, we cannot completely, we cannot complete our study successfully. Even the teacher must have the capacity, of course, understanding, then capacity to express, to be able to teach properly. But the student also should be having capacity to be both body-wise healthy, mind-wise sharp enough and also desire-wise. I must have tremendous faith in the scriptures and that is why I want to master them. All these blessings are possible only by God's grace. And how does He bestow? By removing the obstacles and by endowing us with the necessary qualifications. This is the first meaning of Shanti Mantra. Let there be no obstacles. Second meaning of Shanti Mantra is that unless we remember God, because our purpose is what? To reach God. Our purpose is not to study anything because the scripture is there. No, the scripture is like a boat. Once we reach the destination, we have every right to discard the boat. In fact, we have to. Even if you are travelling by a motor car, you don't barge the car into the house. You leave it there outside or in the garage and then you enter into the house. So once the purpose, the end, the destination Vedas are supposed to take us in the form of a boat or a ship. Why do we use the word ship? Because in Indian Hindu way of thinking, this terrible delusion or this world is first of all called Maya. Second, it is called, it is a Maya Sagara. It is an ocean. Samsara Sagara. It is a huge ocean and how does a person go to the other side of the ocean only with the help of a raft and with the help of a boat, with the help of a ship, etc. Don't go on arguing with me. No, no, no. We travel by aeroplane. That is all. Somehow we have to carry. Yes. So, this Upanishad helps us in that way. But once we reach the other shore, where is the need for all these things? We have to discard them because they served their purpose and Sri Ramakrishna used to give this beautiful example that once the house is flooded, then all this scaffolding it is not necessary at all. In fact, if you don't remove this scaffolding, it becomes very ugly and unlivable. So, Yatra Veda Aveda Bhavanti. Vedas are bold. The only scriptures in the whole world which declares Vedas are totally not only useless, they are obstacles once the goal is reached. So, no other scripture, no other seer of other religions dare to say Bible is useless, Koran is useless, etc. But the Vedas tell us Yatra. Once a person reaches that highest destination, all these are just like rafters. They served their purpose and that is the end of the journey and no more journey will be taken. That is something very wonderful. If an ignorant person dies, then he will be reborn. This is one of the foundational laws of Hinduism. And why rebirth? Another chance, another opportunity to continue our journey and until we reach our destination, which is our cause, which is Brahman or God, there is no question of stopping the travel. So, life after life, birth after birth, but once we reach God, there will be no rebirth at all. And that is why all this journey, there is no more journey and that which helps us in the journey is also not necessary. A Upanishad is like a boat. So, Upanishad is necessary. In Ramakrishna's interpretation of these Upanishads, without mentioning the source, etc., is extraordinary. I will give you an example of what we have been discussing just now. And what is that? Once we reach the destination, there is no need of any scripture. Sri Ramakrishna gave in the form of a beautiful parable. A man from a village, he started working in a city. One day, he received a letter from home and he was in a hurry. He misplaced the letter. He went out, completed his job, came back, started searching, and then it took him a long time to ferret out the letter which he had misplaced. Misplacing doesn't mean placing somewhere else. Sometimes, it will be staring in front of us, but we don't take notice of it. Remember, M went in search of Sri Ramakrishna to Dakshineshwar in the earlier days and he did not find him in the room. He went to the Panchavati because that is where the master would be. Then he stood in front of Sri Ramakrishna. So many devotees were sitting there, sitting on the platform, sitting below also, observing, and he stood right in front of Sri Ramakrishna and then he asked, where is Sri Ramakrishna? So, this person found out the letter and then he read. What is it? When you are coming at weekend or month end, bring these things with you. They are necessary at home. And once he got the message, he tore the letter to pieces and this is exactly what I have quoted. Yatra Veda Aveda Bhavan where Vedas become completely useless. Not only useless, even obstructive also. So, this Taittiriya Upanishad is the most marvellous Upanishad. I need not use that word marvellous because every Upanishad is marvellous. Brahma Upanishad just now we completed. It is a marvellous Upanishad. Every Upanishad. But what is the speciality of this Taittiriya in comparison? There are two Upanishads. There are some Upanishads which are which have got intonations. You know intonations there will be some marks where the voice has to be raised one octave high or lowered one octave low. So, it is called if it is high Udatta marked by a vertical mark. If it is Anudatta, there will be a dash below the letter and that is called Anudatta. Na Udatta is Anudatta. Then sometimes we have to prolong the Udatta twice. So, there will be two vertical marks on the top of any particular letter. So, just now we chanted you know that is called Swarita and there are also a few other. So, after G if you put M, the letter M it is called G and then M. We have to pronounce it. There is a special mark for that. These are called accents. Vedic accents and Isavasya Upanishad which also belongs to the Shukla Yajur Veda. Isavasya Upanishad, they belong to the White Yajur Veda. But Katha and then this Taittiriya belong to the Krishna Yajur Veda. This Taittiriya is extraordinarily chantable. It is one of the most marvelous Upanishads which facilitate the chanting and it is preserved there. There are some Upanishads which there are no intonations. So, very difficult to chant it. You can chant it in a way but it is better to read it like a prose. Anyway, the matter is it is one of the most pleasant chantable Upanishads and as we said it is divided into three parts. The very first part is called I will deal with it later on but this is just briefly I am mentioning. This is a preparatory chapter. What is preparatory? Suppose you have undertaken a journey and it is a long journey and then you can't simply get up from the bed and start walking off. You think long and hard many days before what things may be required on the way. So, what necessities may arise in the form of food or drink or inclement weather how to protect oneself, make the journey very safe. So, this is how supposing you are going on a plane and you have taken everything excepting your passport. What happens to you then? They will not allow you to board. So, that happens sometimes when we forget. That is the most important thing. So, like that some people are late, some people forget. So, many things happen every day of our life. A Sikh Shivali one of the very first things that in the Sikh Shivali, as I said, I am only briefly discussing now. So, pronunciation is a most marvelous thing and that is a vital sign of a cultured person. When a BBC reader news reader, because when we want to learn English language we often say that you read this listen to this BBC because more or less it will be perfect language. If you are listening to somebody from let us say Welsh accent, then nobody can understand you including Welsh people. So, pronunciation is very important. That is why Akshara Bhyasa for every Hindu child the beginning of learning starts with a tremendous prayer and then you will be given some prize etc. and that he has to write the name of God which is included as the Shanti Mantra and then it is called Akshara. That type of learning because alphabet is the very foundation of any education and what does alphabet lead to? Intellectual development and what is the purpose of any intellectual development? Only one to know that we are divine. Ultimately for that we have to go through so many struggles in life. So that alphabet which takes us to the infinite is also by proxy called Akshara. Akshara means that which is decayable, destructible. Akshara means indestructible, decayable. So that is why it is called Akshara Bhyasa. Go on practicing this one and very important in any language. There is a cultured person is known by how the person speaks. Nowadays you notice in the society that they speak such bad words. I have no words. I don't want even to utter those words and that is considered as a modern fashion but that is the worst thing anybody can talk about because our sentences, our words, the way we pronounce them, utter them they indicate what type of culture we have within. That is why there is one type of language and that language is called Samskruta. Krita means that which is done. Samskruta means highly refined. That is why Samskruti means culture. Bharatiya Samskruti means Indian culture. That is how we say it. So culture is defined and is respected only because of the type of education and education because there is a beautiful saying we become what we eat. We are what we eat. Therefore what we eat, how we think and how we express how we act and interact in this society and that is what actually determines what we call our very nature and if we are going to travel to God, it should be Godly culture. That is very important. That is why Samskruta is a beautiful name and from there only the word Samskruti and it is called Devanagari, the language of the Gods. Very important. So what are we talking about? Shri Kshavali starts with a beautiful analysis of how sounds come out of our, from the beginning of the throat until the end of the lips and how we should be able to pronounce properly. But it is not merely training us to pronounce words but in the course of time these very words these are called Akshara Samhitas. When two letters join together they undergo a modification and two letters come together. It is called Sandhi. When two words come together it is called Samasa. These are beautifully described and finally they have been transformed into means to make us spiritual in the form of Upasana. Simple example I am just quoting as a sample in this introduction. So what does it mean? That mother is the lower part father is the upper part. Their coming together, their union is called the power of procreation or generation and Praja that is the result is the birth of children. So meditate upon it. Make it a Upasana. That means what? Let us think about any effect and an effect doesn't fall from the sky. It must have been the result of a cause. Find out the cause and go back to that cause. This process of climbing to the cause with the help of the effect is called Upasana. When the time comes I will give a more elaborate explanation. In fact I have even talked about this explanation earlier also but it is necessary for us because any number of times we have to hear until it becomes a fixed memory in our minds. So Acharya, teacher is the upper person and the student is the lower person and the method of transmitting knowledge from the teacher to the student is the process which joins them together and the result is the education of the student who acquires knowledge. Now meditate upon it. That is why a teacher is everywhere revered. So this kind of what is called Upasana contemplation taking a beautiful example of this alphabet etc. and the everyday facts of life that is beautifully mentioned here. Also this Siksha Pali consists of earnest sincere prayer to the divine that the teacher prays may I get worthy disciples and the disciple also should pray may I be endowed with Shraddha that is one of the first prayers that we will see across and then may I get a teacher under whom I can also become like him united with my own true nature and then in the last 11th Anuvaka just before closing is a beautiful blueprint that is where it says Dharmam Chara Swadhyaya Anma Pramadaha Speak the truth, live righteously and never forget studies never forget being grateful to your teacher, to your mother to your father, to your teacher and to everybody else and what should be done in life. How should any person, human being should live in this human life so that his life will be successful that means meaningful that means he remembers what he really is. This blueprint unparalleled it is there indirectly in many, in every scripture practically but so beautifully brought together in crystal clear terms can be seen in a small chapter subsection called 11th subsection in this first chapter of the Sikshavalli. So now I have to talk about a little background about these things. So then once we are equipped through this first chapter what is called we become Sadhana Jatusthaya Sampanna Adhikari. We become fit to enter into the higher stage of life either taking to Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga or Jnana Yoga but we become fit spiritual aspirants. Then one should approach a Guru and one should learn what is the nature of God because that is my nature. What is indirectly described as the nature of God is actually my own nature but since we cannot accept it at this time I am limited in every way but Brahman is unlimited in every way and my experience shows one thing but my scripture my teacher is telling something completely so he cannot be telling a lie. He must be telling the truth. That is called faith in the teacher Shraddha. I have Shraddha in God, Shraddha in scripture Shraddha equals Shraddha faith in the teacher but my experience doesn't tally with what he is teaching and so I should be able to reconcile it so first hear the truth called Shravana then think deeply how long until the last vestige of doubt or misunderstanding or hesitation is completely destroyed and then transform let us transform our lives into that of the teacher just as he became one of the purposes of living with the Guru not only merely to learn the scripture but to imitate his ways. There is an interesting incident in the life of Sri Ramakrishna. So at the beginning Narayana started coming and he was not able to come frequently one day Sri Ramakrishna was talking on one of the Narayana visits and I think M was also present there Sri Ramakrishna is telling you will have to visit me frequently as frequently as possible. Why? Because once you know by seeing me, by hearing me above all by imitating me then after that you don't need to come to me so once you master everything then I am not needed any longer and until it becomes automated in your life what to think what to do and how to act and react in this life then there is no need for you to come to me and then Sri Ramakrishna smiles and says when a man marries a woman newly wed husband so he cannot keep his mind away from his wife everyday morning from the office he will be thinking his wife how quickly the time passes and I can return but then what happens is as time passes on he passes more and more time in the office until sometimes he comes back at midnight also then some people will think why this fellow wants to visit his wife so frequently oh he is newly married fellow you see that is why he wants to visit. So Sri Ramakrishna's apt analogy is the teacher is necessary like a boat until we know how to swim properly and cross over this ocean what is called Maya Sagara Samsara Sagara so it is very necessary even if I have read this scripture billion times until I do not require it any longer and only when reaching the shore other shore or when I know who I am really then there is no need for a scripture because I become the very scripture. Mention of these scriptures so there are some introductions are necessary some very important things of course since I have been talking about these things through so many Upanishads I will only briefly mention but there are some very important what is called Parivashikas technical words like Shravana, Manana, Nidhidhyasana, Sadhana, Chitra Trisampatti etc and we will be talking about them from our next class onwards.