Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 07 on 15 June 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

So we will be continuing the study of the Chandogya Upanishad, which belongs to the Samaveda. In our last class we have seen that every single worldly experience and we are all in search of happiness. We are in search of obtaining more happiness and trying to get rid of that which brings us suffering. SUKHA PRAPTE DUKHANI VRUTTI This is the essence of human life or any life. But soon human being, being endowed with extraordinary intelligence, discovers three defects. That is, always every happiness, happiness and unhappiness, they come together and they are dissatisfactory and they always bind us. But a person who starts living a Vedic life, it doesn't mean that one has to live the teachings of the Upanishads or Vedas. Not necessarily. Vedic life by extension also means any saint who is a realized soul. Such people alone are called saints and if anyone has Shraddha, faith in that saint and follows his teachings without knowing anything about either Gita or Upanishads or Brahma Sutras or any other scriptures, by proxy we have to call that person also is following a Vedic life only. Then because the teachings are exactly the same. So this following of the Vedic life, he soon discovers that it is not possible to get rid of these three problems. But is there any way out? Then he understands that I have practiced the first part of the Karma Yoga and I also experienced the life but they are all imbued with these three defects. But the same Vedas also or teachings of any saint tell us there is another ideal which is free from all these three defects which will give us eternal infinite life. And so the man discovers that there is a higher goal. How does he discover? Because of his Shraddha in the Guru or teachings of the Guru, any realized soul. Once a person reaches this stage then the first part of the Vedas called Karma Kanda that becomes irrelevant to him. He doesn't give it up out of frustration but he understands the very nature of this Karma Kanda, worldly existence which are synonymous and then voluntarily he longs because he understands there is another ideal of life which is called Shreyas. The first type of life is called Prayas consisting of Dharma, Artha and Kama. But the second highest ideal is called Nishreyas or Moksha. Then he understands that this is defect free and what is the essence of it? That I must become God, not I must know God. Knowing God and becoming God actually is one and the same but to make it clear one must realize that I am God. That is called realization. Then he tries to follow the second part but it is not so easy. Then what does the second part tell us? It tells us that so long as you think you are different from God you are still in Anatmal Loka, in this Mithya Loka. But the moment you discover theoretically, intellectually that I am Brahman and that is the only way because Brahman alone is free from all these defects. Brahman is infinite, Brahman is eternal, Brahman is unborn and I am that Brahman. This is what the second part of the Veda reveals to this person. Which person? He who has been following the teachings of any great saint and then his heart develops intense yearning. I must realize God. I must become one with God. If a person thinks I am separate from God not only he becomes limited he also makes God also limited. That is called Dvaita. But the scripture crystal clearly tells there is no Dvaita. Dvaita is Mithya. Mithya is Dvaita. Fear, suffering, limitation is because of the second one. But there is no need. So the Upanishad says you are Brahman. But my experience shows, your experience shows, everybody's experience shows that I am anything but Brahman. I am a Brahman, non-Brahman. Then a conflict can arise. But the person has developed tremendous Shraddha. So what the scripture tells, what the guru who is nothing but a personification of the scripture, he tells you are Brahman and finally is when I guide you then you will discover there is no guru, there is no Sishya. All are Brahman. Everything is Brahman only. So therefore this teaching goes to the very opposite of my experience. That is when tremendous amount of Shraddha is required to accept that statement. So when that point is reached, we have to note down that when we hear statements like we should never ever question the scripture or the guru. But we should question our own convictions. And that is Kallu Shraddha. Guru Shastra Vakyeshu Satya Buddhe Avadharana. But how to resolve this problem? Then there is no other way. Every scripture, especially the Upanishads, even Bhagavad Gita crystal clearly tells us, Shri Ram Krishna confirms it, that without guru it is impossible to resolve this conflict. Only a guru, a living, a realized soul can alone resolve this conflict. What is the conflict? Scripture tells you are so and so. But I know I am not what the scripture tells. But I must be wrong because I have faith. The scripture never tells me any untruth. So it acts like a psychiatrist. Then I must develop Shraddha. But how to understand it? Then that very Shraddha makes me approach a guru. So what should I do? Then I must approach the guru. I must prostrate, means I must surrender. Then I must please him. And then when he is gracious, I must request him to resolve my doubts. Pariprasnena. Then that very approaching the guru is one of the great qualifications required of the disciple. That is why in every scripture, in different words, it says, Samitpanihi, Shrotriyam, Brahmanistam. That is, one should approach a Shrotriya, one who knows the scriptures thoroughly, and Brahmanistam, one who is firmly established in that realization indicated by the scriptures. Samitpanihi, with firewood in hand, highly symbolical. I discussed it already. It means I must burn my own wrong convictions. And that is the real Igna, Atma Igna, Atma Ahuti. And I must accept the teachings of the guru or scripture as absolute truth. And only when I attain to that qualification, which is called Adhikaritva, as we discussed, the ninefold qualities, Viveka, Vairagya, Shamadama, Adi, six qualities, and Mumukshutva. When a person approaches, then the guru becomes pleased and the guru initiates the disciple. Disciple, Sishya. Sishya means what? One who is ready to follow the teachings of the teacher without any, the least bit of doubt. And that is called a Sishya. And then the guru, what does he do? First of all, he establishes a relationship with the disciple. How does he establish? Through initiation. Just as when a baby is born, the baby is, as it were, related to the parents. Without the parents initiating, the child will not be born. So similarly, without initiation, what is initiation? A new birth, a spiritual birth, second time birth. That is the symbolism of sacred thread or Yagna Upavita. And second birth also must have parents. The guru becomes the father and the mantra he gives becomes the mother. And what is the mantra he gives? That is called, according to Jnana Marga, it is called Mahavakya. According to Bhakti Marga, it is called Mantra Deeksha. My child, that you are the child of the God in this particular form called Ishta Devata. He is your Ishta Devata. He is your mother, he is your father, he is your friend. In fact, he is the only one who will be always with you. Nobody else will be with you. Even earthly mothers, fathers, even the body of the guru, that will be only temporary. So guru is a concept of the self. If we say guru is a body and mean that, then we will be very far from truth. That is why when we say Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, we are not talking about guru's body. We are not talking about our experience of the physical aspect of the guru or even the mental aspect. We are talking about the symbolism of the guru, which is guru stands for condensed concrete form of God, Ishta Devata. That is why Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara applicable only in this attitude. So when the guru initiates, what is he doing? You are my child. I am your parent. The mantra I am giving you, that will be forever with you. And like a mother, the mantra will protect you. And according to the Jnana Marga, this mantra is called Mahavakya. According to Bhakti Marga, it is exactly the same, even though many people do not understand it that way. This is called Guru Parampara. I am the child of my guru. My guru is the child of his guru. This is called Guru Parampara. And the first guru is none other than the manifestation of God only. Mundaka Upanishad crystal clearly enumerates this in the very first mantra, Brahma Devanam Prathamo Sampabhova. So we are taking here, for example, the Mahavakya. The guru, he initiates a disciple into a Mahavakya. Let us not mistake that this person will become instantaneously a realized soul. This is a beginning. Deksha is only a promise to God. That is why whenever we do puja, we do Sankalpa. I will not leave this seat until I have completed this process of worship. And as a symbol, he makes a ring out of Kusha grass and puts it on his finger. And it can be removed only after puja is over, after Sharanagati is done. So as we know, there are hundreds of Mahavakyas are there. What is a Mahavakya? That which tells us the real nature of each one of us. You are not a Jeeva, but you are Brahman. But for the sake of convenience, there are five Mahavakyas and they go in this way. Prajnanam Brahma, the very first characteristic that we observe in anything that is alive. Life and consciousness or awareness, they always go together. That is called Prajnanam, means consciousness is Brahman. Then where is this consciousness? You, who is alive and who says And then only, first comes before doing anything, before every thought, before every action, I am and then only so and so. I am a man, I am a woman, I am doing this, I am running, I am tired or you are tired. Everything is only subsequently follows I am. Without that I am is as good as the person is dead. That I am is called I am Atma Brahma. That which says I am, that is Brahma. But what we add after I am, that is our problem. I am man, I am woman, I am short, tall, fat, lean, thin, learned, etc. That is called Kara. What we need to get rid of is Kara, not Aham. It cannot be gotten rid of. So this I am Atma Brahma. We have studied this in the Mandukya Karika, very second mantra, I am Atma Brahma. Then in the Chandogya, which we are going to study in the sixth chapter, Shweta Ketu was initiated by Uddalaka and he says Tattvam Asi, nine times. Nine times he teaches, repeating, so that that idea becomes firmly established in the mind of the disciple. Tattvam Asi. The Guru can only say that you are that. But after sadhana, a person comes to know Aham Brahmasmi, which comes in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. These are four, Prajnanam Brahma, I am Atma Brahma, Tattvam Asi, Aham Brahmasmi. What was the fifth one I was talking about? So it is called Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma. Usually, as Sri Ramakrishna puts it, when a person realizes Aham Brahmasmi, many people, he says, will never return back. Their body lasts for 21 days. After that, the body drops off like a dried fruit or dried branch of a palm tree and we presume from our point of view that this person has become merged in Brahma, which is of course a wrong expression because the word merging is only when there are two things. One is merged into the other. But that is not the truth. We were never anything other than Brahman. But because we do not know, we say I am so and so. But all the time, we are none other than Brahman. So that is called loss of memory or ignorance, maya, agnana, avidya, brahante, mith, samshaya, and karmani, granthi, etc. So many names are there. So that is called bondage, bandhana. But by knowledge, knowledge does not make us Brahman. Knowledge does not take us to Brahman. Knowledge merely removes. I thought I was not Brahman. But now I know I was, I am, and I will ever be Brahman only. Agnana is destroyed. What is agnana? The forgetfulness that I am not Brahman. That's all. Smriti labdha, tvat prasadatmai achyuta, as Arjuna categorically declares. So there are a few people whom God, for lack of a better word, decides that the body and the mind must function for some time. Remember, this karma phala is destroyed along with brahma jnana. So if anybody says prarabdha karma, you know, I am hoping that you are familiar with these teachings. There are three types of what is called results of actions. One is prarabdha, that has already started. Our present life is called prarabdha karma. But what is going to come in future is called agami, or what we are accumulating even in this life, that is called agami, means that which is going to come in the future. But there is another. So many things, they do not fructify. They are getting stored. That is called sanchita. So many people teach. Many scriptures also teach this. And we have a mistaken notion about them. Sanchita as well as agami are destroyed. But prarabdha should continue. And Shankaracharya in his Viveksudamani supports this view for the ignorant people in the beginning. But in the very end, the same Shankara says, we are talking nonsense. Because when a person says, I am not the body, I am not the mind, what type of karma, whether it is agami, or sanchita, or prarabdha, when the body itself is not there, who is going to claim that there is a prarabdha karma? It is we who are ignorant people. We say Sriram Krishna is a jivanmukta. But anyway, this is just a clarificatory explanation. But when this particular Bhagawan enters into this body-mind complex, remember, not the same individual was before, but God Himself. And then only that mind can declare, everything is done by your will only. Such for such a person, what is his view? That is where the fifth mahavakya, sarvam kalvidam brahma. That is, whatever I am seeing is nothing but reflection of the same Brahma or manifestation of the same Brahma with names, forms, and qualities. In his vision, there is nothing other than Brahman, but Brahman with names and forms, because he looks to the world, at the world, through the lens of body-mind. So it appears as if there is something separate. Many separate things are there, but sarvam kalvidam brahma. Like, as I gave this example many times, if there are ten mirrors in your room, small, small mirrors, and then you are standing in front of them, each mirror reflects you, but it can distort you. Depending upon whether it is colored glass, convex glass, concave glass, mirror, and it can, but we know that if we know what is concave and convex, then we can also definitely infer that all of these, though looking quite different, with different colors, etc., they are none other than only reflections. Now you have to question yourself, is a reflection true? Is it alive? Is it separate from me? Does it have an independent existence? And very soon we come to know that as soon as I remove myself from the mirrors, all the reflections also will go away. So that is the view of the realized soul for him, and in normal terminology, we call him a Jeevan Mukta, for a Jeevan Mukta. So sarvam kalvidam So at the time of realization, aham brahmasmi, before realization, he has intense faith in the Guru's teachings, and that is tattvam asit, you are that, thou art that. But before that, every life comes only with consciousness, prajnanam brahma, and every living creature is ayam atma brahma, is none other than Brahma. But after realization, not only that which is with life, but that which exists, existence itself is none other than Brahma. That's what happened. So what does the Guru do? First he initiates Mahavakya, and then he sits down to explain it. And this takes place in three stages. The first stage is called, this is called Vedanta That is deep contemplation on this Mahavakya, because what is the conclusion of Vedanta? Brahman alone exists, and this the Guru tries to teach. After this Mahavakya, and as you know, Shankaracharya had established four mathas, and then two points you have to note down, that these Mahavakyas are all from the Upanishads, and Shankaracharya had established four different mathas, and he had created only for the sannyasins, ten different names for sannyasins. So like Bharati, Tirtha, Saraswati, Aranya, etc., etc., and these ten names, he distributed among the four mathas. So some branch has got only two names, some will get one more extra, like that, because ten cannot be divided exactly by four. So in this Darshanami, that's why our organization, sannyasin organization, according to Vedanta tradition is called, especially Advaita Vedanta tradition is called Darshanami Sampradaya, and we who are the followers of Sri Ramakrishna, we have the title Puri, because Totapuri, he was the Guru of Sri Ramakrishna, and this Puri name is got only from Sringeri Matha. So we all belong to the Sringeri Matha, you also belong to the Sringeri Matha, whoever is initiated, he or she belongs to the Sringeri Matha only. So now we are talking about this highly qualified disciple who has become a sannyasi, and as I mentioned, the Guru can initiate either a would-be sannyasin, only after this Mahavakya, he will become a regular monk, or if he initiates a devotee, a householder, then he will not give the Mahavakya, but he will give one of the names of God only, that is called Ishta Mantra. But the purport is the same, then the Guru, he will try to train, and this process, how the disciple can attain to the same experience as the Guru had, takes place in three stages. The very first stage is, first is Shravanam, that is initiation into the Mahavakya, and then for as long as it is necessary, he will be training him through different scriptural explanations, how you are Brahman. So the purport of all the Mahavakyas, and there are hundreds I told you, and four are chosen mainly, that's all for convenience sake, but it will be a mistake to think that there are only four Mahavakyas, there are hundreds of Mahavakyas. What is a Mahavakya? That which tells us you are one with Brahman, or you are God, that is called a Mahavakya, and such statements are there everywhere in this whole world, in the scriptures. That is why even in Bible, it is said Jesus Christ tells that I am the shepherd, you are the sheep, you are the children, God is the father, that is for the lowest, and I am the tree, and you are the branch, that is for those who are much higher developed persons, and I and my father are one, that is for the highly qualified aspirant. So everywhere it is there, though it is not explicitly mentioned. In Islam also, it is this Anal Haq, I am that supreme reality, and what was Buddha talking about? I am, I attained Mahaparinirvana, what is that Mahaparinirvana? Nirvikalpa Samadhi, what is that Nirvikalpa Samadhi? I realized I am Brahman, can you describe? No, it is indescribable, that is why he called it Nirvana, means complete extinction of what is our ignorance, Anatma, this Buddha's teaching of Anatma, or as popularly called in Pali language, Anatta, and Bengali has got a lot to do with this, that's why even many of the words are pronounced Atta, it is not Atta, the Atma in Pali language or Prakruta language is called Atta, so they pronounce even today also it is prevalent in the Bengali language, Atta, Atma, Anatma, so he says what you call, I am the body-mind complex, that is called Anatma, and everything is Anatma, it is Mithya, it is Maya, it has no existence, Buddha was not talking about what Upanishad calls Atma, he is talking about what Upanishads call Maya, Mithya, that Anatta doesn't exist, Atta doesn't exist, because in our experience before realization, we think that I am the body-mind, that is what we call, I am so and so, that Atta is Mithya, but when we completely extinguish, means burn out this Ajnana through Jnana, that is called Bodhe, then he is called Tathagata, he has arrived at the truth, and that is called Nirvana, complete extinction of Maya, Mithya, Anatma, then a person doesn't become anything, he remains what he was all the time, he is teaching exactly this Brahma, and this point has been made very clear in the Sri Ramakrishna, the great master by Swami Shardanandaji, talking about that what Buddhists call Shoniam, Shoniam means a Purnamadaha, Purnamidham, that is called Shoniam, and that is Vedanta calls it Brahman, and Buddhists call it Shoniam, and what we call the Prapanchayat, that is what Buddhists call it Anatma, if we do not understand it properly, in the light of saint's life, then we can thoroughly misunderstand, in fact I have come across many Buddhists who also misunderstand, coming back to our subject, the first thing is after initiation, the Guru has to take so many classes, and try to explain to him, slowly trying to remove the false understanding, what is called Vachiyartha, so according to Upanishads or Vedanta, these Vakyas or Shabdas or words, have got what is called, two meanings are there, the superficial direct meaning called Vachiyartha, there is a tree that is the Vachiyartha, but you see sometimes we can also refer, oh somebody is talking, and then you are listening, and it appeals to your rationality, and you understand what this person is talking about, is absolutely right, what do you say, how do you respond, I see, you say I see, you don't mean, you are seeing something through this instrument called the eye, you mean I understand it, so many times we use, we mean something symbolically, so this is called superficial meaning, it's called Vachiyartha, but from the superficial meaning, you are Brahman, you are limited, Brahman is unlimited, can never be right, but what is the Vachiyartha, so you are called Jivatma, individual soul, Brahman is called Paramatma, supreme soul, so individual soul, supreme soul, individual soul is the supreme soul, it can confuse us, if we take external meaning, cross meaning, no, what it means is that you remove this individual and universal, Jiva and Param, remove it, this is called Jahat, Ajahat, Lakshana, you keep something and you discard something else, so then if you remove from Jivatma, what remains is Atma, if you remove Parama from the Paramatma, what remains is Atma and between these two Atmas, there is absolutely no difference at all and this is explained in various ways, when you put a small pot outside, so the space which is external called Mahakasha and the space within this empty pot is called Ghatakasha, pot space, when the pot breaks, as if, as it were, the pot space becomes one with the greater space, it is only for facility of understanding because space cannot be divided, space is all-pervading, so there is no inside space and outside space, everything is space only, so this is called Lakshayartha, what is intended meaning and this is what the Guru wants to explain it and that process where the disciple with complete faith in the teacher goes on listening and slowly he goes on doing a second one which is called Manana, deep thinking, Guru told me this, can it be this, a little bit of that doubt is removed, only a little bit, next day again, he listens, a little more doubt is removed, like that it may take quite a long time depending upon the situation, for example, I quoted you when Sairam Krishna said everything is Brahman, Narendranath and Pratap Chandrahajara, both of them listened, heard it and they went outside and they started laughing uproariously, this pot is Brahman, this cot is Brahman, this rat is Brahman, this mat is Brahman, etc., and Sairam Krishna came out, touched Narendra, not Pratap Chandrahajara and immediately a glimpse of what Sairam Krishna had said started dawning on him, for nearly two weeks, from Narendranath was in a Sairam Krishna induced higher state and then he understood behind every word of Sairam Krishna, there is a deep, deep meaning is there and the truth, the same way every disciple, student should go on deeply thinking, that process is called Manana, what is the point of Manana, my experience, my understanding of my experience tells me I can never be Brahman, but my teacher is telling, the scripture is telling, he is only telling the scripture, quoting from the scripture that I am Brahman, so there must be something wrong with me, my understanding and by thinking and by meditating, obtaining the grace of the Guru or God, slowly the understanding comes, that first understanding is I am wrong, Guru is right, scripture is right, second understanding is that the Moolakarana, the original cause of everything is only Brahman, slowly, slowly this process of getting rid of every possible doubt that can arise, that is the next transformation called Manana and then finally when all doubts are completely removed, a man is convinced, but it has to be his knowledge, not Guru's knowledge, then he will try to do what is called spiritual practice and by the grace of God, one day he understands suddenly I am Brahman, that is called Nididhyasana, so what is Shravanam, Shravanam is the consistent and systematic study of the scriptures under a realized soul, who uses certain methodology called Shraddhingas to arrive at the central Tatparya, theme of the Upanishads or scriptures, any scriptures, by scriptures, I don't mean only Upanishads, it could be Gita, it could be the teachings of any realized soul, it could be of the Bible, of the Koran, of the Buddhist Tripitaka, of the Guru Granth Sahib, any realized soul, he can only teach, Shri Ram Krishna used to express sometimes very pithy and funny type of statements, all jackals howl the same way, by jackals Shri Ram means a realized soul, just as all jackals, their body formation is done in the same way, so the sounds that emanate from them is exactly the same, so every realized soul, they may differ in language, some may call it water, some may call as pani, some may call as aqua, some may call it jala, but they all mean the same thing, so every realized soul is talking about exactly the same thing, but when we try to take up the teachings of any realized soul, they are not talking through their imagination, they are only expressing their experience, so that has tremendous impact upon each one of us, provided we are possessing Shraddha, so some may take one life, some may take 100 lives, some may take only one minute, some may take many many years, but that process is called Shravanam, and what is second stage, Mananam is the second stage of inquiry, where through deep contemplation of the scriptural statements with complete faith in the scripture as well as in the teacher, all doubts regarding the teaching are completely annihilated, removed, then transformation of one's life into that of knowledge, so the central objective of Nidhidhyasanam is through continuous dwelling on the Mahavakya, finally arriving at what we call Brahmakaravrtti or Ishtadevata, Kalika Akaravrtti, Krishna Akaravrtti, Rama Akaravrtti, Christ Akaravrtti, Buddha Akaravrtti, it doesn't matter, and that is the ultimate stage in the dualistic process, and finally he understands, there is no difference between me and Brahman, that is called Aham Brahmasmi, and as I said that if God still uses that, then that God will look upon himself as a very thing, so this is the Shravanamana Nidhidhyasana process, but the Guru in the beginning, how does he teach? He says because the doubts come in our minds, how do we know that this is the teaching of Deopanishad, because it is your interpretation, no, for that our Mimamsakas, one school of philosophy has developed a certain methodology, how to know that this is the essence, this is the what the Tapariya, the teaching, main teaching of the Upanishad, and this is called six indications, Linga means indication, Shraddha means six, so the Guru doesn't simply say I am telling you, he says this is how we have to interpret any scripture, what is it? That is called six, what is called Lingas, Shraddha Lingas are there, but before I enter into that Lingas, that we all, the Guru also uses what is called Pramanas, he explains to the disciple, my child you are trying to understand the scriptural statement through normal way of thinking, what is the normal way of thinking, so we want to get knowledge, I suppose see some object and that object, I about that object, I am seeing it or I am hearing it, I am tasting it, I am smelling it, I am touching it, any one of them, but I don't know what it is, so to come to the right understanding, what is called Pramana and here also as I mentioned earlier, these are the preliminaries for understanding any scripture properly, especially Vedantics, so what is a Pramana? Pramana normally that is the word we use it, but we have to understand there are four words, Pramatha, Pramana, Prameya, Prama, what is the meaning of these four? Pramatha means one who wants to obtain right knowledge, the person who wants to know what is this something in the right way, I want to obtain right knowledge about this object, the person who wants to obtain that knowledge is called Pramatha and naturally the question that comes, what is it you want to know about that object, which is the subject matter of this knowledge that is called Prameya, I want to know about this particular object, that object about which I want to know is called Prameya, but to know I must become one with that Prameya and the instrument through which I can relate myself to that object, it is called Pramana, the instrument through which the knower and the object of knowledge becomes united because according to Hindu or Vedantic epistemology, what is epistemology? That is the special branch of Vedanta philosophy is called the all about what is knowledge, how do we know it is right knowledge and how is this right knowledge acquired, all these things beautifully analysed and explained that the science of knowledge is called epistemology and that deals with this what we are talking, the subject the knower who wants to know is called Pramatha, the object about which he wants to know is called Prameya and there must be a right instrument and this is very important. For example, you want to know about a painting and what colours are mixed up etc., so this seeing either black and white or colours is not possible for any of the five sense organs, we know every one of us have got five sense organs, every living creature more or less has got five sense organs and through which he gathers knowledge, but we have to remember that each sense organ can only obtain only one particular type of knowledge. For example, the eyes can only know about the colours and the form, the nose can know only about the smell, the tongue can only know about the taste, the skin can only know about the touch, hard and soft, cold and heat and the ears can only hear the sounds, all of them are capable of giving partial knowledge only about any object. For example, the drum is being beaten, the ears can hear, but the ears can only know, but how does the drum look like, what is its shape and size, for that we require other organs, we can touch, we can see the colour etc., so every sense organ gives only peculiar knowledge, particularised knowledge and that is confined only to that sense organ, so one sense organ is authoritative in giving right knowledge of its own speciality, the eye cannot hear, touch, taste etc., so also other organs, but when this through the five sense organs as much knowledge as possible goes inside, it is the mind which is a harmonious organ which harmonises all these five types of knowledge and makes it into one harmonious whole which we call Prama, Prama means right knowledge, otherwise it can be mistaken knowledge, any partial knowledge is a mistaken knowledge, so four of these, Pramata is the knower, Prameya is the object of knowledge, Pramana is the instrument which makes this knower become one, so that is one of the important points what I wanted to point out is, if I become one with the object which I want to know 100%, my knowledge will be right knowledge and 100%, if I become one with it 50%, it is only half the knowledge, if I become 10% identified, my knowledge will be only 10%, so to the extent I can become one, to that extent only my knowledge can come, purely speaking, so this is a beautiful understanding from the Vedantic point of view, I must become one, so if I want to obtain knowledge of a mango tree, I must become completely one and that is what the mind going out through the sense organs envelops like a dentist who takes the samples of our what is called teeth, so that we can produce, reproduce artificial teeth, so that impression is taken in, so this is an important point, then we become one with any object, then only our knowledge of that object will become 100%, if I want to know about God, I must become one with God, I must become God, then only my knowledge will be complete, so that instrument of knowledge is our five sense organs plus mind also and when the Pramatha through right Pramana becomes one with the Prameya, the object of knowledge and what he gets is Pramaha, right knowledge, so there are six Pramanas that are accepted by Advaita Vedanta, different schools of philosophy accept only either one, for example Charvakas, they accept only one Pramana that is called Prateksha Pramana, what I say that is all I accept and I don't accept Anumana, Upamana, Arthapatti, Anupalabdhi etc., I will not accept, so there are six Pramanas are there and of these six Pramanas, five Pramanas can give us knowledge of the world and these five again divided into two categories, Prateksha is the only Pramana, only instrument of knowledge, based upon it through past experience, we can infer something, we can compare something, we can presume something and about which I will talk in my next class because these are a very fundamentals of Vedanta, even though you might have read but it is very helpful if we can have clarity about these things, that's why I am going through this and then of course we will enter into the real Upanishadic spirit.