Mandukya Karika Lecture 056 on 22 June 2022
Full Transcript(Not Corrected)
OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGAD GURUM PADAPADMETAYO SRIDHVAM PRANAMAMI MUHOR MUHOR OM BADRAM KANNE BISHRUNIYAM DEVAH BADRAM PASHYE MAKSHABHIRYA JATRAH STHIRAI RANGAYE STUSHTU VAGUM SASTANUBHYE VYASHEMA DEVAHITAYADAYO SWASTHINA INDRO VRIDDHA SHRAVA SWASTHINA POOSHA VISHWA VEDA SWASTHINA STHARKSHO ARISHTA NIMI SWASTHINO BRIHA SPATIRUDDHA DATO OM SHANTE SHANTE SHANTE HE HARE OM OM O Gods, may we always hear with our ears what is auspicious. O worshipful ones, may we with our eyes always see what is auspicious. May we live our allotted life, hale and hearty, offering our praises unto Thee. May Indra of ancient fame bestow auspiciousness on us. May the all-nourishing potion be propitious to us. May Garuda, the destroyer of all evil, be well disposed towards us. May Brihaspati ensure our welfare. OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL So we will continue from where we had stopped in our last class. We have been studying the seventh mantra and the karikas that have been composed by Gaudapada to explain this seventh mantra of the Upanishad. NANTAH PRAGNAM NABHAI PRAGNAM NABHAITAH PRAGNAM NAPRAGNANAKANAM NAPRAGNAM NAPRAGNAM ADHRISHYAM AVYAVAHARYAM AGRAHYAM ALAKSHANAM ACHINTHYAM AVYAPADESHYAM EKAATMA PRATYEYASARAM PRAPANCHA UPASYAMAM SHANTAM SHIVAM ADVAITAM CHATURTHAM ANYANTE SAATMA SAVIGNEYAH This mantra is the very crux of the entire range of Upanishads. That means Vedas. That means even the Bhagavad Gita. It means even the Gospel of Sri Ram, Krishna, Holy Mother, all the complete works, etc. So what is this Turiya? Is it different from Vishwa, Taijasa and Pragnya? That's why several times I am repeating this idea. There is nothing else but Turiya. Whether we are in Samadhi or outside Samadhi, whatever we experience is nothing but only Turiyam or Brahman or Paramatman or Atman, nothing else. That is the idea we will have to slowly understand here. Now, I mentioned something. Yes, when a person is, let us say, Nirvikalpa Samadhi, and by the way, Nirvikalpa Samadhi is not the posture. How a man sits, how a man stands and what type of gestures, posture the man has, that's not Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Nirvikalpa Samadhi is a state of knowledge that only Brahman exists and I am that Brahman. Now, that is understood. What about when a person comes out of Samadhi? What is Nirvikalpa Samadhi? Knowledge. Is there something called coming out of knowledge? Once we get knowledge, whatever be the type of knowledge, that knowledge is ultimate knowledge. If it is wrong knowledge, it will be sublated. It will be updated sooner or later. But there comes a point when the knowledge is absolute truth. It can never become updated or changed or sublated and that is called true Gnanam. But the point is, so long as we have knowledge, right or wrong, that knowledge dictates our real behaviour inside or outside. So apply this to a Samadhi Man Purusha. He obtains the knowledge, I am Brahman. That is the knowledge, that is the final knowledge, that is the unsublatable, the final knowledge. After that, it is not whether he is in the Samadhi state or he is fully conscious of this world, but he sees everything as only Brahman. Just like this Shankaracharya always gives this classical example of the rope and the snake. Now I am going to update Shankaracharya's example. In fact, I had done so already. What is the classic example? That there is a rope. Now let us change that rope. It is a rope, but it is just like a snake, electronic snake. Plastic covering is there. It could be any blessed covering and it looks exactly like a snake and it is equipped with electronics inside, nowadays you know, like robots. And then it appears to be like an actual snake because it seems to be behaving also like an actual snake. And a person in semi-darkness sees it not lying down but moving hither and thither, hissing sometimes, unfurling its hood, everything. It is so natural that the person gets frightened. Then what happens? The person who put it there, who created it, who put it there, he finds this person very distressful condition and he brings light. He shows, look, this is not a real snake. It is only an appearing snake, electronic snake. It doesn't bite, but it behaves for all purposes like a real snake. Now, when the person tells it, nowadays you know, people are very clever. So even in the broadest light, even if there are 50,000 watt halogen lamp or pure sunlight, now this snake doesn't suddenly disappear and appear like a rope. It still appears exactly like a snake. But the person is no longer afraid of it. So this is the update to that idea of the rope and it is quite possible and people are already making them. Now, what is the point we want to say? That until we know it is an electronic snake, the person is frightened. So much of misunderstanding is there. But even after the light is brought, nothing changes. It looks exactly the same as before, but the effect will not be there any longer. The person knows it looks like a snake, but it is not a real snake. It looks so realistic, but it is not a real snake. It is a realistic snake. Now you come back to this idea. So this is the way Brahma Jnani, what does he do? He looks at this before entering into the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. That means before obtaining the full knowledge of what we are experiencing every day in this world, my body, your body, my mind, your mind and the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the plants, the planets, the whole blessed cosmos, everything. So this person, he sees everything. First of all, everything is experienced as different from me. We call it object. The experiencer is called the subject and I do not change. The subject does not change. Every object is different from each other and the object is temporary. It depends upon me, whereas I am totally independent. Apply this to the waking state, dream state or sleep state. It does not matter. So what does he see? Don't think he is seeing pure Brahman. When he is watching this, experiencing this world through the medium of the body-mind, that is what we consider as Jeevan Mukta. The body is there, mind is there, as if inside he is sitting and he is experiencing this world like any one of us. But the vast difference is, now he knows everything is Brahman, inside Brahman, but outside it is only Rupa, Nama, Prayojana. What is the result? He will never be at, neither he has special liking nor special disliking. The moment we say special liking, special liking automatically produces special non-liking. It cannot be, if I say I like this more, it means some things are there which I like less. Automatically it happens. What we call in Vedantic language, Raga and Dvesha will not be there. Raga and Dvesha will not be there because there are not two separate objects. A tree is Brahman. A dog is Brahman. A learned Brahman is a Brahman. A dog, a dog-eater, a cow, an elephant, everything is Brahman. When one perceives there is no second, only Advaitam, the question of likes and dislikes doesn't arise. The condition for likes and dislikes is there must be something other than oneself. And since that is not there, Raga and Dvesha will not be there. And so he perceives everything as Brahman. Is he afraid of the form? No. And for that Vedanta gives a beautiful example. There is a pure crystal in front of you and you are sitting in front of it and you can see everything that is behind. Suddenly you bring a bright red coloured huge flower and put it behind the crystal. Now the whole crystal as if has become completely bright red. And then anybody who comes there, he can see only the bright redness. Anybody. It will not go. Even if you try to wash it, it will not go. When will it go? You remove the red flower which is behind, then automatically the colour will go away. So a person, a Jeevan Mukta will be looking at it. This Nama Rupa, everything is Brahman which is like the crystal. But behind the crystal there is a form, there is a colour, there is a name, there is a Prayojana. In other words Upadhi. And he says even this Upadhi is not inimical to Brahman, has not come out from something other than Brahman. Brahman only is appearing as this. For example, imagine there is ice and water. There is ice and there is also water. And you see there both the ice cubes floating on the water. A learned, a thinking person, a grown-up person knows that the ice is another form of water and the water is another form of the ice. As we know, every liquid, solid and gas, water can be in a gaseous form also. Whichever form we see, it is nothing but water only. Water in different form. And that is how a Brahmagnani sees everything. That's why he doesn't see anything else. Then is everything temporary? No, nothing is temporary. Temporariness comes only because everything is permanent. Like clay, clay is permanent. And what about the names and forms? They are also permanent. But they are avyakta, hidden. That is why you can squash a chapati dough, wheat dough. If you don't like the shape, you can make any shape you like. And if you don't like, you can just squash it, make it in any shape you like and enjoy it. So, what am I talking about now? If you squeeze and ask a question, what is the essence of all the Mandukya Upanishad? That means essence of all the Upanishads. Essence of the Gaudapada Karikas. Don't get the idea. He is trying to analyze these three states. He says they are all mithya. He says so many things. But the true meaning Gaudapada wants to understand is that even these three states are different forms of Brahman. Brahman in one form is Jagratavastha and Taiyasa. Brahman in another form is Swapna Prapanca, Jagrat Prapanca and Vishwa, Swapna Prapanca and Taiyasa, and Sushupti Prapanca, Karana Prapanca and Prajna. Because you have to remember, when we say mithya, generally we say it will disappear. But it does disappear. What does it mean? It means just as you squash a chapati shaped wheat dough, the form will go. But the form is eternally there. So we have to understand, if you want you can bake the dough also and eat it. But if you want a particular shape, you can also do that. So what does it mean? It means what we call the world. World means only three states of experience. Remember, there is no other world. We don't know anything else excepting what we call experience of the world in different forms. What is this world? Brahman. What is it made of? Brahman. You see a tree. What is it made of? The sun. What is the sun made of? Brahman. Hiranyagarbha. We are going to study it in Krishna Upanishad. So you see a brick building. What is this brick building? It is nothing but Atman. How come? Well, all these materials are the different forms of earth. And the origin of earth is water. And the origin of water is fire. And the origin of fire is Vayu, air. And the origin of air is Akasha. And the origin of Akasha is Atman. This is directly experienced by a Samadhiman Purusha. Whether he opens his eyes, closes his eyes, doesn't matter. Then why do we see the prapancha like this? No. Prapancha is not consisting of names and forms. Listen carefully. Prapancha, until now I said, is nothing but Brahman with name and form. Now I am going to update this statement. Prapancha means the thing that we are experiencing. Whatever we experience is called Prapancha. Now what I am saying is, Brahman appears to be Prapancha because we are not experiencing Brahman directly. We are experiencing it just as a crystal appears to be red because of the reddish flower behind. So this world appears to be like the world. And that world means what? Nama, Rupa and Prayujana. Why does it appear like that? Not because Brahman has ever become the world. But the way we look at it, the prism, the glasses, the medium through which we see and whatever we see, then it appears to be like that color. That's why Shri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful analogy. Every evening we sing praises to Thakur called Vesper service. In the fourth line of the Avatara Stotram, Gnananjana Vimalanayana Vikshane Mohajaya. If somebody puts on the Collarium of Knowledge, then all his delusion will grow because it is said Collarium will give good eyesight to the eyes. If there are any impurities, it will remove. With this example, Shri Ramakrishna gives another example. Suppose somebody has got jaundice. Where is the jaundice now? And whatever a jaundiced person experiences appears as yellow. And where is that jaundice? Not in the world, but in the eyes, as if he has put on yellow colored specs. And through that, whatever he sees, it appears only yellow. So, eyes is one type of specs. Ears are another type of specs. Nose, the tongue and the skin, five organs of knowledge are nothing but five colored specs, five different experiences. When we look at Brahman through the eyes, Brahman seems to be having forms, colors. When we look at Brahman through the ears, he becomes sound. When we look at Brahman through the nose, the smelling organ, then we see different types of smells, good, bad. And when we perceive, experience Brahman through the tongue, various tastes, and when we experience the same Brahman through the skin, four different experiences will come, that is, heat and cold, soft and hard. These are the only four types of experiences one can have. So, I hope the idea is clear. Brahman has not become the world. There is no world. It is only because of this Upadhi, the medium through which we look, we try to experience, and that makes Brahman appear as different, and then different objects with different colors, different sizes, different shapes, different purposes, different names, different qualities, everything. But Gaudapada, following the thought process of Upanishads, wants to convey to us that this Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna, not that they do not exist, they are nothing but Brahman. When Brahman is experienced through the body-mind complex, it is called Jagrat Prapancha, and Vishwa is the name of the experiencer. When the same Brahman is experienced through the mind alone, through the accumulated memories gathered from the waking state, then he becomes what we call the dream world, and the perceiver is named as Taijasa. And when a person is in a deep sleep state, it is called Karana Prapancha, Bija Prapancha. And the person who experiences is called Prajna. Add to this understanding, Vishwa and Jagrat Prapancha are not two separate things. The Brahman, because of this Upadi, limiting adjunct, seems to have divided himself as the experiencer and the experienced. Similarly, you can understand this better when I give the example of the dream. You go to bed, and then in the dream, exactly like the waking state, you experience everything. What are you doing in the dream state? You are dividing yourself as the external world which you are experiencing, and also you the individual, the subject. As if one waker divides himself into two, one side he appears as subject, another side as the experienced object. Similarly, in the deep sleep state, as if Prajna is separate, Karana Sarira is the separate thing. For beginners, that's what we say. But for the advanced students, what Upanishad wants to tell, there are no two things called experiencer and experienced. Everything is the same. Inevitably, when we identify either as Vishwa or as Taizasa or as Prajna, this subject-object dichotomy, division, which has nothing to do with each other, is inevitable. But when we go beyond these three, that means remove all the mediums, then what remains is only one Advaitic pure Brahman, and that is what is the essence of the seventh mantra. And this mantra, the seventh mantra, is now being explained by Gaudapada in the next few shlokas. Remember, after the sixth mantra, we had about nine shlokas, nine karikas. Now another, I think, ten karikas are going to come to explain the same idea. Now here, in my last class, I mentioned that this Gaudapada uses peculiar words. Karana, Karya, is one. Agrahana and Anidhagrahana is another. And Maya has got two powers. Avarana Shakti and Vikshepa Shakti is another. Then we call it what you call Agrahana and Anidhagrahana. That is called Swapna. When both are there, it is called Swapna. When only Nidra is there, and that is called the condition of the Prajna. Only ignorance is there. Avarana Shakti is there. Vikshepa Shakti is not there. So Karya, Karana and the other words he uses, Swapna and Nidra, Avidya and Ahankara, Avarana Shakti and Vikshepa Shakti, Karana and Karya. So these words seem to be troubling us. I only introduced them just to understand. But I don't want to go on, continue with those four words, which are difficult to remember, but which are more confusing than anything else. Just remember only two. What is it? Every human being constantly, continuously undergoes through three states. The waking, the dream and the dreamless. What is the difference? And then we also have got Chaturtha, the Turiyam. Let us say four. Vishwa, Taijasa, Prajna and Turiyam. Now again I am repeating. The Turiyam, Vishwa, Taijasa and Prajna are not separate from Turiyam. Turiyam, looked through the medium Upadhi of certain particular type of body, whether it is gross body, subtle body or causal body, makes Brahman appear as that particular world. That's all. But these three, what is wrong with them? Because they produce two types of effects. One is called not knowing what is right knowledge. Another is mistaking right knowledge for a wrong knowledge. That is, here is a person and he sees a snake. When he is seeing a snake, two things are happening. He doesn't know what is the nature of the rope. He doesn't know, he mistakes the rope. First, he doesn't know what is rope. Second, he mistakes the rope for a snake. So in both waking and dream, we mistake these two are there. Not knowing that it is a rope, but mistaking it as though it is a snake. Not knowing the snake is called agnana or agrahana. Agrahana means to know rightly. Agrahana means completely not knowing what it is. Anyatha agrahana means mistaking it as something else. So these two, if we can remember, then it will be easy for us to understand the rest of the karikas or shlokas. Karika is nothing but a shloka. Both in the waking state as well as in the dream state, we have both these. Not knowing the truth and mistaking the truth for something else. Whereas in the deep sleep state, mistaking doesn't arise for the simple reason mind is not there. But a sleeping person is not a knowing person. He is not a realized soul. Otherwise, he should be considered as everybody. Without any trouble, he can go to deep sleep and then he can wake up as a realized soul. That is not going to happen. So let us repeat once more so that we can proceed with the further explanations of Gaudapada in the form of the karikas. Whatever exists is nothing but Turiyam. Another name for Turiyam is Brahman. Call it Brahman, call it Turiyam, call it Atman. It doesn't really matter. They are synonymous words for that one, what is called Shantam, Shivam, Advaitam. That is the nature of the Advaitam, Brahman. So four things. Vishwa, Taijasa, Prajna and Turiyam. What is the first point? These three are included in Brahman, but they are not complete Brahman. They are mistaken Brahman. But this mistake has got two classifications. One classification is not knowing the truth. Another is mistaking it for something else. Both in the waking state and in the dream state, every one of us, first we don't know the truth, second we mistake it for something else. What is that mistake? I see a tree, I see a house, I see my neighbor, I see my parents, I see my husband, I see my wife, I see my children, some are friends, some are enemies, not knowing that they are not your other people, they are all pure Brahman, but we don't know that fact. So we go through, first mistake is not knowing the truth, second mistake is mistaking Brahman for something else, mistaking Brahman for world, Jagat. These two experiences, both Karana and Karya, or to avoid confusion, I am telling, Avarana Shakti and Vikshepa Shakti, both are very much effective in both waking and dream states. When we come to the deep sleep state, then there is only one problem. Problem is, I do not know the truth, but I don't mistake that truth for something else. What is the reason? Because to mistake, I need the instruments, mind and sense organs. I don't have, because the mind resolves itself, the entire physical body and also the mind, along with the sense organs, resolves itself into the bija form, into the causal form, avyakta form. Just like the entire tree, you cannot distinguish anything when it is in the seed state. That is why it is called bija-nidra-yutaha. So in the deep sleep state, we have only one problem, but we don't mistake anything. And that's why there is no second. I don't know about the first, but there is no second, fortunately. That is why it appears to be like Advaitam, one without a second, but as soon as we wake up, the same problem will come. And that is why I am not a samadhi manpurusha in deep sleep. So in prajna avastha, nidra avastha, sushupti avastha, only one problem is there, not knowing the truth. Now the next point, Gaudapada wants to clarify. Turiya also, there is no second. Prajna state, sushupti state also, there is no second, but they are not the same. Why are they not the same? Because in prajna avastha, the anyatha grahana, vikshepa shakti is absent, but avarana shakti is very much present. Ajnana is very much present. In Turiyam, nothing is there, neither avarana shakti nor vikshepa shakti. That means no maya is there. That is why it is pure, shuddha, chaitanya, sarupa, Advaitam. But why do we need to know about this? Because superficially, when a person is in deep sleep, he is quite happy. When he is in Turiyam, he is very happy. Is there any difference between the happiness experienced in the sushupti as well as in the turiya avastha? Absolutely no difference is there. Because to find out the difference, you require a mind. But there is absolutely no difference. But does it mean the same? No. Because in this sushupti avastha, it is bija nidrayutaha. Bija, the seed is there. And that seed, in the course of time, it is going to sprout. That means what does it give birth to? Both vishwa and taijasa, the waking state and the dream state. Turiya does not give rise to that state. Now let me summarize what I have spoken all this time, 38 minutes nearly. First point is Upanishads. Through Gaudapadacharya, through Sankaracharya, through Swami Vekananda, through Sai Ramakrishna, one wants to say, nothing else exists excepting Brahman. But that is the vision of a realized soul. We have to attain to that state. That is the first point. Then I see the world in front of me. Yes, you are thinking. You are not seeing Brahman. You are seeing something called world. The Upanishad wants to correct us and say, no, you are not seeing. There is no world. What you call the world consists of three things. Rupa, a form. Nama, a particular name. And pravijna, a particular utility. And why do I see the world? Because not that Brahman has become the world, but Brahman is looked at, experienced through the prism of what Swami Vekananda is fond of saying, time, space and causation. What I call, when we experience Brahman through the Vishwa state, it is Jagrat Prapancha. When the same Brahman is experienced through the Taijasa eyes, it is called Swapna Prapancha. And when the same thing is experienced through the Prajna's personality, it is called Sushupti Avastha. So, I hope you are getting the point that there is no world. There is no tree. There is no colour. But if I have an eye that can see colours, then something appears as colourful. But there are colour-blind people, for them everything is black and white. And there are blind people, they don't see anything. No form is seen at all. Just see, this is a practical example. If somebody is deaf also, two-fifths of the world is gone. If somebody is dumb, three-fifths is gone. So like that, each sense organ, when it becomes dysfunctional, one-fifth of the world disappears. But the pure Chaitanya, that will not disappear. So that is the second point. We experience the world because we are experiencing Brahman through the medium of something. Call it body, call it mind, or call it causal state. That is the second point. Third point is that both the waking state or Vishwa or Taijasa, they are riddled with the problems of not knowing that he is the Turiya, but thinking that he is a human being, he is a mosquito, he is a dog, etc. So this is what is called one is Avarana Shakti, covers the truth, Viksha Shakti, projects it as something else. That is the reason of Nanatva, meaniness. The fourth point is that there is a difference between Vishwa, Taijasa, both, and then Prajna. For Prajna, he suffers only from Avarana Shakti, not Viksha Shakti. Fifth point is in sleep, a person is blissful because there is no Dvaita. Dvaita requires mind. Since the mind is in a dormant state, there is no experience of the world, but there is the experience of bliss. I did not know anything, and that is the cause of the bliss. Then is it equal to Turiyam? Because in Turiyam also there is no Dvaitam, but here also it looks as though there is no Dvaitam. No. The important difference is in Sushupti state, there is a temporary Dvaitam, but in Turiyam, it is a permanent Dvaitam. These are the important points. So I told you earlier, Nidra, Swapna, Karyakarana, Avarna Shakti, Viksha Shakti, Agrahana, Nidhagrahana, Goudapada uses. He should have used simple words. It would have been much better. But anyway, this is what I am telling. Now we will continue with our analysis of the Shloka. Earlier I have taken this, what is called Mandukya Karika, 10th, because after the 6th Mantra, 9 Shlokas have come. So here the 10th Shloka in this first chapter called Agama Prakarana. When a person realises, I am Turiya, what happens? So all the miseries will come. Come to an end. Why do they come to an end? Because all miseries come from three sources. One source is waking state. Another source is dream state. Another source is sleep state. Turiyam is free from all these three states and that is why there is no Dukkha at all. Remember, Sukha or Dukkha, they come only when there is a second object. When there is only one object, the question of Sukha or Dukkha doesn't arise. And remember also, when I say second thing, we are not only talking about the gross physical body, we are also talking about subtle body, which is called mind. When there is no body-mind, there is no second. When there is no second, because there is no second, the absence of all problems comes because of these limitations. Limitation is a problem. And what is freedom? What is the desire? To go beyond the limitation. For example, hunger is a limitation. By eating food, I want to go beyond this limitation called hunger. I am thirsty. That creates a desire. By drinking water, I fill up my quota of the liquid inside my body and then I am very perfectly happy and so the desire will go away. So every attempt is because of this body-mind complex. Simply put together, body-mind complex. What is the way you go beyond this body-mind complex? What we call Tapatraya, Adhyatmika, Adhibhautika, Adhidaivika, all of them because of this body-mind. When there is no body-mind, there is no Adhyatmika Tapa, Adhibhautika Tapa and Adhidaivika Tapa. And how can we go? By knowing that actually we are not limited beings. We are Amrutasya Putrah. We are Turiyams. We are Brahman. Not Turiyams. Turiyam. Only one. Otherwise it will give the idea there are many Turiyams. And the name for this Turiyam is Ishanaha. He is the ruler. He is the Prabhu. He is Avyayaha. Because once a person has that knowledge, that knowledge is never again going to change. Avyayaha means to be exactly in the same state. That is called Advaitaha. And then this Gaudapada says Sarvabhavana. Here he uses peculiar words. Here Bhavana means Jantus or Jivas. Sarvajivana. It would have been much more clear. Advaitaha. Because Advaitaha is the very nature of every being. And he is the Deva. He is the shining one. The light of the Atma Jyoti. And he is called Turiyaha. He is called Vibhau. This Smritaha means this is what the Upanishads want to convey to us. In it, means in the Turiya experience, indicated as the changeless and the Supreme Lord. Once a person realizes, there is cessation of all miseries. It is the one without a second among all entities. It is known also as the Turiyaha, as the effulgent and as the all-pervading. Karika number 11. Kariya karana baddhau tau. Ishiya te vishwa taijasau. Prajnaha karana baddhastu. Dvau tau turiya na sidhyaha. Earlier I told you, remember this one. So, tau, dvau. Those two. What are those? Vishwa and taijasa. Jagrat and Swapna prapancha. He who experiences both the waking state and the dream state, both of them, they are kariya karana baddhau. It is said, tau ishiya te. What is that? Kariya karana baddhau. Again, I am simplifying. Kariya karana. Karana means avarana shakti. Kariya means vikshepa shakti. And both shaktis bind a person. It doesn't allow the bound person not to know the truth, but on the contrary to think that I am somebody else, you are somebody else, and that is something else. Who? Both vishwa and taijasa suffer from that. Prajnaha. What is the difference between these two and prajna? Prajna is also bound, but he is bound only by one rope. What is that rope? Karana baddhastu. He doesn't know that he is turiyam, but he doesn't suffer from vikshepa shakti. And when there is no vikshepa shakti, that is called temporary advaitam. There is no advaitam. And because there is no advaitam, there is no second, one doesn't even think oneself. Very interesting psychology. When do I think myself? You see, a funny example I will give you. Suppose you are on a hilltop, and rarely people come. And you know what happens? You can be completely naked. You can throw things anywhere you like, because you know there is nobody. And you don't care to comb your hair and to make makeup and all those things. Why? But the moment you come to know that somebody has informed you, that person is visiting you, immediately you become conscious. I must appear well. I must dress well. I must make up my face and other things. Everything should be tip-top. So when a temporary cessation of advaita happens, then he is very happy, because there is no sukha, there is no dukha. Then what is there? That pure advaita state, which is called ananda, prajna, but he is bound. Bound means he is not free, because prajna doesn't know anthuriyam. When that sushupti state comes to an end, and it will come by itself, not that he wants to come out, but it will kick him out of itself, then he falls into the net of again karya and karana, which is avarna shakti and vikshepa shakti. And these uddhvau, thau, that is karya karana, that is agrahana and anidha agrahana, that is avarna shakti and vikshepa shakti, thuriye, in the state of thuriya, na sithya, it doesn't simply exist. That is the meaning of the eleventh karika. Vishwa and taiyasa are conditioned by cause and effect. Forget about all cause and effect. Avarna shakti and vikshepa shakti, that is not knowing the truth and thinking one is somebody else and others are also somebody else. But prajna is conditioned only by one, by cause alone. That means he doesn't know his thuriyam, but he doesn't suffer from I am somebody else. Why? Because the mind is temporarily not working. But these two, cause and effect, do not exist in thuriyam. Very clear. And then what is the condition of this person in the karika twelve? What is the condition of the prajna? na atmanam na params caiva na satyam na pichanratham prajna kincana samvetti thuriyam tad sarva-draksada Further description of that idea we have discussed earlier. Prajna doesn't know that I am a prajna. A sleeper doesn't know I am sleeping. Only upon waking up, in contrast to waking and dreaming, this is the waking state. Yesterday I had some dream and separate from these two states of experience, it is a completely third type of experience and I call it nidra. And at that time what is the condition? I did not know that I am sleeping. So neither he knows anything about himself nor about the world or anything else nor truth. He doesn't know that I am thuriyam nor untruth. Because remember, only karana is there. Karya is not there. Vikshaya prashakti is not there. In which state? Sushupti state. But thuriya is ever-existent and ever-all-seeing. So thuriya is free from the bondages of waking, dream and sleeping. That means he is ever-awake. It is we who go on saying from such and such a time to such and such a time I was awake. And then from such and such a time to such and such a time I had this dream state. And from such and such a time to such and such a time I was in deep sleep. All these calculations through the remembrance in the waking state. So prajna doesn't know anything of himself that I am the prajna much less I am the vishwa and taijasa nor anything else exists. The world exists, etc. He doesn't know that I am thuriya. But equally he doesn't know that there is nothing other than thuriya. That also he doesn't know. He doesn't know anything about the world, about the second, about the object. But contrast from the vishwa, taijasa and prajna. Thuriya is ever-existent because it is thuriya which says I am the waker. The thuriya which says I was in dream state. I was in the waking state. I was in the dream state. I was in the sleep state. That I doesn't change. The state will change. So it is ever-existent and ever-all-seeing in the form of remembering Oh! I remember my waking state. I remember my dream state. I remember my deep sleep state. Again I am in this same waking state again and I am going to go through again dream and dreamless. But that I never changes. And if we can separate that I from these three states and know that I am that I. Instead of saying I am vishwa, know I am that unchanging thuriyam which is behind the vishwam. I am the unchanging thuriyam behind the experiencer called dreamer. I am that unchanging experiencer called the sleep state, the prajna state. I am all those three but I am the unchanging brahman. If a person can realize he will go beyond all the what is called tritapa. From now onwards practically it is very easy for us because today's talk you remember these few points that I have given you. I think six points. You please remember. I will stop here. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagat Gurum Pada Padmetayo Sritva Pranamami Mohur Moho May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Ramakrishna