Svetasvatara Upanishad Lecture 15 on 22 April 2023

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padme Tayo Shritva Pranamami Moho Rumoho Om Sahana Bhavato Sahanao Bhunatto Sahaveeryam Karavavahai Tejasvinaavaditamastumavidvishavahai Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Hare Om Om May Brahman protect us both. May Brahman bestow upon us both a fruit of knowledge. May we both obtain the energy to acquire knowledge. May what we both study reveal the truth. May we cherish no ill will towards each other. Om Peace Peace Peace be unto all. We are studying the second chapter of the Shweta Kshetra Upanishad. It contains 17 mantras. The main essence of this second chapter is how to practice spiritual disciplines and progress in spiritual life and realize Brahman as my own self. And for that certain aids are being described. Especially we see a lot of similarity between Patanjali Yoga Sutras and this. How marvelous this similarity. I am going to take help of Swami Vivekananda's teachings from his Raja Yoga. In Mantra 10 we have seen that where, what is the place, best place. So there are two conditions put. One, the place where we are going to sit or a yogi, a spiritual seeker is going to sit should be free from all sorts of uneven places. And it should be a place where there are no pebbles. It is clean. There should not be any fire or smoke or sand nor any type of noise of water, of birds, of people should not be there. That means it should not be a public place. And an Indian public place. Most of the time we notice in western countries people do not talk so much. Indians are horrible and especially Varanasi is, it takes the first prize for noise making. And if it can be a cave, something is there in a cave where so much of peaceful atmosphere is created and that should be the first condition. Second condition, by just being in a place the mind will be highly pleased. And that's why many of the spiritual seekers use it to go to beautiful places in Himalayas. Most of the Buddhist monasteries are located in such beautiful mountainous regions where it is extraordinarily beautiful. Now, such a place a person should sit and withdrawing the mind from the world, from controlling the sense organs, controlling the food etc. युक्ताहारविहारस्यय युक्तचेष्टस्यकर्मसो युक्तस्वप्नअवभोधस्यय योगोभवतिदुखः As Bhagavad Gita has indicated. Let us not forget Bhagavad Gita has taken lot of this Patanjali Yoga Sutras directions because whatever is acceptable, whatever is helpful from whichever place, from whichever system, from whichever scripture, we have no objection because it is a common property of all people. Now, I was mentioning earlier, when Yoga is being practiced, certain signs will appear and before we go further, this is what Swami Vivekananda has got to say in his Raja Yoga. I am quoting from Swamiji's Raja Yoga. The Yogi must always practice. He should try to live alone. Spanning ship of different sorts of people certainly distracts his mind and an aspiring Yogi should not speak much because to speak distracts the mind nor too much of activity because too much work also distracts the mind. The mind cannot be controlled after a whole day's hard work. One with such a determination becomes a Yogi. Such is the power of good that even the least Yogic practice done will bring a great amount of benefit. It will not hurt anybody but it will benefit everyone. First of all, it will tone down nervous excitement, bring calmness, enable us to see things more clearly, the temperament will be better and the health will be better. Even for these benefits, one should be able to practice. Sound health will be one of the first signs and a beautiful voice. Defects in the voice will be changed. I never saw a Yogi with a croaking voice. So this will be among the first of the many effects that will come. But those who practice hard will get many other signs. Sometimes there will be sounds as a peal of bells heard at a distance, comingly and falling on the ear as one continuous sound. Sometimes things will be seen, little specks of light floating and becoming bigger and bigger. And when these things come, know that you are progressing very fast. You will find that when you are beginning to concentrate, the dropping of a pin will seem like a thunderbolt going through your brain. The organs get finer and the perceptions get finer. The first effect of this practice will be that the face will change. Harsh lines will disappear. With this calm, though calmness will come over the face. These are some of the effects that Swamiji is outlining and it is absolutely true. Now in Mantra 11 also which we have seen and Sri Ramakrishna had confirmed. Let us remember, Sri Ramakrishna had unending number of visions. And just to quote one such vision, I saw the whole universe like mist. I saw the whole universe like sparkling little lights, small lightenings moving here and there in the entire universe. I saw the whole universe, everything made up of wax. And these are only a few things that Sri Ramakrishna really expresses. He says it is impossible to even remember how many visions I had. And Sri Ramakrishna used a very peculiar word. Just as when a man has got loose motion, how many times is passing motion, like that how many visions I had, unending number of visions. But one thing we have to keep in mind, all these visions are only milestones indicating that we are progressing. One of the most important points is, let us not look for these visions. Some people may have, some people will not have. For example, Sri Ramakrishna was approached by Baburam Mara, Swami Premanandaji. Everyone else is having so many experiences, visions. But I do not seem to have any vision. Sri Ramakrishna consoled him. He went and then prayed to the Divine Mother. And later on, Mother said, Baburam will not have visions. He will have steadfast knowledge. So all may not have the visions. Even if visions are had, plenty of visions also were had by a person. That's not important. We don't know what visions a person can have or had. We don't care. What we want to see, what is the change that had come over you in your character? Are you becoming less selfish? Are you becoming less attached to the world? What Sri Ramakrishna used to say, is the lessening of lust and gold. Kama and Kanchana. They are, remember, the most strongest bondages that a person can have. So we have to look for the change in the character. And that's what has been so beautifully outlined at the end of the second chapter of the Bhagavad Gita by Bhagavan Sri Krishna. This is called Sthita Pragna Lakshanas. Prajahateta Kaman Sarvan Partha Manogatan Atmanyeva Atmanatrashtaha Sthita Pragna Tadochyate Dukheshvanadvigna Manaha Sukheshvigatas Prahaha Vitarag Bhaya Krodhaha Sthitadev Munarichyate Ek Sarvatra Anavisneha Tatat Prapyate Like that went on. And Esha Brahmi Sthiti Partha If you see anybody and this type of characteristics very naturally all the time manifest in a person, know that this is called Brahmi Sthiti. This is the condition of a person who has attained the God Realization or Brahman Realization. So a few things are outlined here and these are bodily lifted from Yoga Shastras by whoever may be the author of this particular Upanishad, Shweta Shastra Upanishad. What does it indicate? I am giving an example. One of the oldest Upanishads is supposed to be Chandogya Upanishad. And in that Chandogya Upanishad just as many things made up of a metal are exactly having the nature of the metal as their own essential nature, that was the example given, metal. Then he says that even a nail cutter, Nakadyu, nail cutter. How can the mention come nail cutter there? That means even in those days it was in usage. A nail cutter just imagine being used thousands of years back and metal was being used, gold was being used. Many other metal things were also being used. Mercury was being used. So that indicates that many things are of old origin and it is nothing much new. So we will enter into the eleventh mantra where some of the things a yogi automatically perceives or manifests to his vision without wishing, without particularly wanting them, automatically they will come and they must take that person from wherever he is towards Brahman. That is why it is called Brahmani Abhivyakti Karani. Manifestations of Brahman. What are they? Nihara, Dhooma, Arka, Anila, Analana. The very first thing is snowflakes, smoke and the sun and the air and the fire. Some of the things for example the air and the fire. These are what we call some of the Pancha Bhutas. That means Pancha Bhutas suddenly will come. A little more detail will come a little bit later on. I will explain them when it comes. Here suddenly when the yogi is sitting maybe he will see snowflakes. As I mentioned Ramakrishna saw the whole universe was sparkling like glow worms all over the world. He never wished it. He did not even know it was coming and it has come. Suddenly the whole universe as it were is covered in smoke. Or he sees what is called cloudless sky, a beautiful sun. But if we come across, if we stare at such a sight of the sun, our eyes may be injured. But here it is only in the vision of the yogi or suddenly wind or suddenly fire. All these things will experiences like visions of mist, smoke, the sun, wind and fire. Then Khadyota means like glow worms. Vidyut that means lightenings. Sphatika, suddenly the whole universe as it is pure crystal or Shashinam, a beautiful moonlight. First we have seen the sunlight. Now we are seeing moonlight. Then there are beautiful stars. All these, many more are there. These are just a few. When a person is doing everything right, he is progressing. And then what is the sign? Seeing or experiencing these things. That is not the real test. Real test is as soon as a yogi experiences them, his mind is inevitably helplessly drawn towards Brahman. And Brahman becomes more and more manifest. That is an important point that we have to understand. So it is not necessary that these should happen or many more also that are not described here. So we may see, we may not see. Some people may see, some people may not see at all. Such extraordinary experiences of sounds, touch, forms, taste and smells are forerunners of the manifestation of the truth. Why? Because my understanding is that the person is becoming unified with the five elements. That is why all these things indicate that you are the Pancha Bhuta. I am not merely a manifestation of the Pancha Bhuta. I am the Pancha Bhuta. So slowly his mind is becoming refined. That is the understanding. But as I said, we should keep in mind that visions sometimes do not occur to many people. Like as I said, Primanandaji, the idea that if any experience does not transform our character, that it is not only it is useless, it can even be dangerous. Because some visions, they can make the person completely a slave, wishing to have that vision more and more. Because every higher vision brings some happiness. And the last obstruction in yoga is Ananda. That is getting stuck at some stage. Of course we are far away from it. We have not even progressed from what is called the very first obstruction called Laya. That is why inevitably somebody is not getting sleep. Try meditation and it should work. Otherwise take up what is called deep philosophical book and the first page generally does the trick. Anyway, so these can come. But a yogi understands and he is inevitably drawn up towards Bhagawan. That is the important thing. There is a change in character. However much a person may do, what we call chappa, dhyana, meditation, etc. But if there is no change in a person's character, it is totally useless. And those changes in the character are called sthita prajna lakshanas. Just now I quoted a few shlokas. The person is always happy. The person doesn't get delight in anything excepting in Bhagawan. And every object in this world reminds him only of God. Ramakrishna gives from the Vaishnava scriptures several of these examples. Once Radha went into a state of Samadhi. What did she see? She saw a beautiful flower and that flower resembled the body colour of Bhagawan Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu went into a deep Samadhi when He was passing through a village. Somebody casually mentioned that the clay from that village is specially used to put on a percussion instrument called Khol. And immediately it brought Him. Khol is an instrument used in singing Bhagawan's name, Kirtan. And Bhagawan is Krishna. One association led to the other association and He went into Samadhi. And Shri Ramakrishna was describing what a beautiful vision He had. And suddenly He saw while describing a flower, a blue flower. And then immediately He started weeping inconsolably because it reminded Him of Bhagawan Krishna. So our mind becomes associated with Bhagawan. Any event immediately makes our mind rise up and somehow relate it to Bhagawan. That is why there is a beautiful Stotram. It is called Govinda Damodara Stotram. So describing Gopis, what are they doing? Early morning they get up singing the name of Bhagawan Krishna. Damodara, Govinda, Damodara, Yadaveti, Damodara. That is Krishna's another name. So what do they do? They go to take bath and they are singing. And they set about early morning, you know, churn the curds to bring out the butter. Govinda, Damodara, Madhaveti. Whatever they are doing, it reminds them of God. Why did Bhagawan Krishna, for example, steal butter? You just imagine. We have to stretch our imagination. Bhagawan Krishna never stole from a person, from a house which has not loved Him. Of course, Gokula, there is no such home. Even Putana fell in love with Him. She who came to kill Him. And of course, because of fear of Kamsa, she had to do her duty. But why am I telling? Because how did she get Moksha? Only because of Krishna's grace. And how did Krishna bestow His grace? Because after beholding Krishna, if anybody can say Krishna is an ordinary child and He deserves to be killed, that person is very much mistaken. No Asura, Tenka Asura, Maka Asura and so many Asuras have tried, including Kamsa himself. That is why Bhagavatam describes How did Kamsa attain Mukti? Bhayat Kamsaha, Kamyat Gopiyaha, Dreshat Shishupaladayaha. Such a beautiful description. All these people must have done tremendous Punya to be destroyed by God Himself. What can God destroy? What can light destroy? Only darkness. What can knowledge destroy? Only Agnana. So Ramakrishna's every movement is associated with Bhagavan, with Divine Mother, with Vishnu, etc. That is why when he went on a pilgrimage to Vrindavan, he brought the dust from Vrindavan and sprinkled it all over Panchavati. And then he said, from today this has become Vrindavan. So that is what we are supposed to develop. Associate the very things which may pull down our mind and usually do pull down with Bhagavan. That is called, make it Prasada. Whatever you are doing, everything to be associated. How slowly the mind rises up. How does it rise? I am outlining according to the Patanjali Yoga system, Sankhya system. The Sankhya Yoga which outlines that the Prakruti consists of all these Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi. Prithvi means the grossest manifestation. And now the Yogi's mind is becoming subtler and subtler. As it is ascending, as his Kundalini, as Tantra describes, is ascending to higher and higher Chakra, then we see that his mind is transcending the grossest which is Prithvi. And then it becomes Jala. And it becomes Vayu. It becomes Agni. Then Vayu. And then Akasha. It is becoming subtler. It is becoming more pervading. And it is becoming what is called indivisible. Finally, a person merges in the Sahasrara which is to attain oneness with the Divine. And that Yogi's progress, how it can happen, is in a particular way being described here in the first half of this twelfth mantra. And what happens to the Yogi's body and mind also, that is described in the second half of the twelfth mantra. First we will deal with this twelfth mantra. First part. I'll give you the meaning immediately. First half. Prithvi means Bhuv. Up means Jala. Tejaha means Agni. Anila means Vayu. Khe means Akasha. Samuthite. Slowly the mind is identifying. The mind of the Yogi is identifying with these five elements. So he is merging his personality on the earth. And earth is being merged in the water. See, from gross to subtle, to subtler, to subtlest, even subtlest, etc. And then this fire. Tejaha means fire. Fire until the earth, the water and the fire. These are called Moortha Prapancha, visible. We can see the earth. We can see the water. We can see the fire. And Vayu and Akasha, they are called Amurtha Prapancha. That is, the person cannot see. But we can feel it. For example, by hearing the sound, we know there is Akasha. That is how we know Akasha is there. And by our skin, we know the sparsha. You cannot see as we see a tree, etc. We can see all these Moortha Prapancha. But Amurtha Prapancha, we can experience through our sense organs. But we cannot see directly with our eyes. That is why it is called unseeable. That means not possible for the eyes to see. But even these two, that is the ears as well as the skin, they are also part of the five sense organs. So we can experience it. They are not avyakta. Amurtha is not avyakta. It is very much vyakta. Only we will not be able to see them. That's all. Now, I was talking about this. Supposing there is a yogi. And I will come to the details. I will read out the details from the Yoga Shastra. Suppose a person, he wants to become identified, let us say, with the earth. What does he do? What is this special indication of earth? Gandaha. Gandaha means Pushpa. Remember, whenever we are doing Aratrikam, first is Agni, then Agni Tattvam, then Jala Tattvam, then Akasha Tattvam, then the third one is the cloth we give, that is Akasha Tattvam, then we give the Pushpa. Pushpa is Prithi Tattvam, and finally Vayu Tattvam. It is not in the sequence that we are accustomed to. But what does it mean? It means, O Lord, You are manifesting in the form of these five elements. As this world. This world is nothing but five sense organs in my body and five objects of sensory experiences, which I call the world. And me, the experiencer, and the world which is experienced, is none other than You. Therefore, I do not exist. My body and mind do not exist. What exists is only You. That knowledge, the dawn of that knowledge, that existence of the manifestation of that knowledge is symbolized by the Aratrikam. So, if a yogi wants to know, Am I progressing really? How to understand? By this time, Nadi Shuddhi is done, and he has progressed. Of course, we have to take for granted, and you have to imagine, he is not merely a person who is trying to concentrate. He had gone through Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana. So, such a person, as a curiosity, I want to know whether I am progressing. How to know I am progressing or not? So, Prithvi, what does he do? He has the power of concentration. So, what does he do? He thinks of the tip of the nose. What is the nose? It is the sense organ which can smell. And if the yogi concentrates on the tip of the nose and doesn't allow that mind to go here and there, very soon, he will be able to smell something extraordinary, which the person has never smelled before. Because such a smell is the very essence of Prithvi. So also, if a person concentrates on the tip of the tongue, remember, tip of the tongue, when you want to taste anything, first thing is the tip of the tongue. You touch a bit of the sugar, immediately you will see. So, the tip of the tongue, if anybody concentrates, he will taste such a marvelous taste, which is not available because it is the highest manifestation of taste, Jala Tattva. Similarly, if he wants to see beautiful light, then Agni Tattva. And then if he wants to see what is the Vayu, when a person practices upon this Vayu, such a beautiful climate is created and experienced only by the Yogi. I will give you a small example. It was deep summer season, Calcutta and Belur mud, Swami Brahmanandji was there. So, there was a Brahmachari and in those days, there was not accepting hand fan, there was not much available. So, both were suffering. It was noon and Raja Maharaj smilingly said to the Brahmachari, now let us meditate upon Himalayas. And of course, Maharaj immediately plunged himself and then he became one with Himalayas and then he asked the Brahmachari, now touch my back and the Brahmachari touched according to the instruction of Swami Brahmanandji. What did he find? As if he was touching a block of ice. What happened? Simply Raja Maharaj, he has focused his mind upon that coldness. Remember, all this cold, heat, smooth and hard are the qualities of Vayu. And immediately he became one with the Himalayas and the whole Brahmachari's body became cool and Raja Maharaj's body also became cool. Not only that, Swami Akhandanandji, while wandering in the Himalayas, he met some Tibetan yogis. Of course, we should not say Tibetan or Hindu. A yogi is a yogi, wherever he may be. And this one yogi, he said, look, this is very cold here. But then he was naked and he said the ice was melting all around him. Then Swami Akhandanandji was very much impressed because he was also shivering very much. It is intolerably, unbearably cold. Then the yogi said, do you want to learn how to make yourself comfortable? Once you know this one, you will be able to roam about all over the Himalayas without suffering from any type of cold. Yogis know that one. And my guess is, after reading this incident, how does this person know? Because he knows because he has practiced, probably he was meditating upon fire, the Tejas element, and immediately his whole body became fire. And because of the heat that was emanating, even the ice upon which this yogi was sitting started melting and it was flowing in the form of water. So, these are things ordinary people are likely not to believe. But this is the experience of yogis and Akhandanandji saw many, many more of these things. Since the topic came just now, I remembered an incident. There was a great yogi, more than 100 years back, in Varanasi. I think, if I am not wrong, his name was Vishuddhananda Saraswati. And he had a tremendous power. That is, he will stand in the sun and then he will ask the visitors, give me your handkerchief. And then the ordinary person gives hands over. And he shows this handkerchief to the sun. And then after a few minutes, he will hand over that handkerchief. Now you smell it. And such an extraordinary smell used to come from this handkerchief. For days and days together, nobody can wash it off. How many more miracles are there? Miracles are there. What is a miracle? When somebody defies what is called natural law, that is called a miracle. Is it possible to become invisible? Yes. Ramakrishna's brother disciple, I think Girija or Chandra, one of them, he acquired the power of becoming invisible. Unfortunately for him, he came into contact with a woman and he fell headlong like a pack of cards. He used to visit her. He lost. Ramakrishna, our Divine Mother, had taught him a great lesson. He was beaten by the family members and he was kicked out. And the other person, I think it may be Chandra, he had the power to produce light from his very back. And when we find such kind of miracles, they are not miracles, they are the already potential powers each one of us have, but we have to practice it. Sometimes, many times, these kind of siddhis, they become what we call obstructions in our life. Without further explanation, I will come to this. When earth, water, fire, air and Akasha arise, that is to say, the five attributes of the elements. Attributes means, as I just now mentioned, if it is earth, what is the attribute? Smell. If it is water, what is the attribute? Taste, rasa. If it is fire, what is the attribute? Form, color. If it is air, what is the attribute? Touch. And if it is Akasha, what is the attribute? Sound. That is why in that order, Shabda, Sparsha, Rupa, Rasa, Kanda. So when these five attributes of the elements, that is pancha-bhutas, mentioned in the books on yoga, become manifest, then the yogi's body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and he becomes free from illness, old age and death. So in this mantra, and the next emanation of subtle powers are being described. So each of these five elements, pancha-bhutas, is endowed with its unique characteristic. And the description is this. By concentrating on the tip of the nose, a yogi enjoys a heavenly fragrance and that fragrance is the essence of all fragrances and the essence of that fragrance manifests in a rose flower, in a jasmine flower and any good smelling flower, any good smelling object, like for example, sandalwood, etc. But this is the purest smell and that is the characteristic of the mantra. One of our senior Swamis, he told me personally that he experienced this smell himself. So this is one. By concentrating on the tip of the tongue, a heavenly flavor, what is heavenly flavor? Essence of all flavors and flavor is the essential element of the rasa, water. And if somebody concentrates on the middle of the tongue, a heavenly touch, sparsha, and on the root of the tongue, a heavenly sound, tas. By means of these perceptions, the whole personality becomes subtle and the mind becomes steady but it is no longer attracted by outward objects. Why is it no longer attracted? Because you see, supposing, and just giving a crude example, you have to extend it. Supposing there is a young man and he wants to get married and he sees a young woman. She looked quite beautiful and attractive. Then he looks at another woman suddenly after a few days or a few hours or whatever and this second person, second lady, is a billion times more beautiful. Not only physical beauty but in character, everything. When this person says, then who do you think will look at the first person, second person, third person? This is one crude example. Another example I am giving, suppose somebody has tasted, this is what actually Sri Ram Krishna tells, when a person tastes sugar candy, after that the ordinary village, bella, that is jaggery, will not hold any attraction for him. Now what is it that I want to tell you? That the concentration of the best smells and best tastes and the best forms, beauties and the best touches and the best of the sounds, when a person experiences them, who will care for these meanish objects, even the best of the objects? First of all, if they are at all giving any of these experiences, they are a billionth part of the original element. The second thing is, these are all perishing experiences. Even the most beautiful flower, after a few minutes, it will lose its flavor. You just see it. You taste ice cream, afterwards you feel like screaming. It is like chewing gum. First tastes very nice, after that it is horrible. So what I am trying to tell, when a yogi once experiences these things, he will never want to look at anything. If at all there is a temptation, he would like to only experience the original pure element, the most characteristic element of these Pancha Bhutas. That is what I wanted to say. So the whole personality becomes subtle, the mind becomes steady and that is what is being said, it can no longer be attracted by any outward objects. This is referred to as attaining Siddhi in Patanjali Yoga Sutras. But the seeker should not become arrogant with attaining these powers as his final goal is realizing Brahma. I will add, though it is not mentioned here, there are Ashta Siddhis, eight occult powers. Some of them is to become as light as a feather. Another is to become as heavy as the highest mountain. Another is the ability to see whatever is happening far away. Another is to obtain whatever a person requires, immediately it becomes his. This is beautifully described in one of the Upanishads. If such a great yogi wants to be in a Gandharva Loka, enjoy Gandharva Loka, immediately he will find that Gandharva Loka comes to him and surrounds him. If he wants to be in Pitru Loka, Pitru Loka surrounds him. If he wants to be in Brahma Loka, Brahma Loka surrounds him. Whatever desire comes, if at all any desire comes, immediately it will be available to him. What is the point? The point is, when a person enjoys that incomparable experience, no object, because every object is bound by time, space and causation, but the original things are outside, in a way of speaking, outside the boundaries of time, space and causation, such a person will never be able to be caught by these things. That is the point. So that is the first. Then what happens? Such a person who has these things, what happens to him? That is being said. Tasya. Tasya means that yoginaha, roge, rogaha, he will never suffer from any roga. No, not even headache, not even toothache, no. Because these are all defects in the health. That means he will always be extremely healthy because he just eats what is needed, he drinks what is needed, and he sleeps just how much time is needed, he has become a definite person. Najara. He will not become old. Na mrutyuhu. So here mrutyuhu, we have to understand, whatever body it is, avatara or anybody, it has to die, but he will not suffer. That is why it is said, Buddha Deva, 80 years old, his body has become old, but anybody who approaches him never finds a wrinkle. You just look at Swami Vivekananda's face, it represents Buddha's face. You will not see a wrinkle. You will not see any sign of disease. You will not see any sign of pain or anything. This is a different system actually. That is why it is called yoga marga. Patanjali yoga marga. Don't identify it with bhakti marga because bhaktas can suffer, they can have diseases, they can have accidents, they can have anything. So astro-siddhis one can have. How can astro-siddhis? What does it mean? That means when a person, for example, identifies himself with Surya Deva, Surya Deva is able to see because he is called Jata Vedas. He knows everything. He is everywhere. Light is everywhere. Remember, no area is ever in darkness at any given time. Oh, what about when the sun is in the east? What about Americans? Is it not in deep darkness? Yes, there will not be plenty of light, but there will be light. And how do we know? There are some animals which can see crystal clearly even in that light. And you don't need to go to America. This is a beautiful season for mosquitoes. So you just stay outside with a bare body in deep darkness and you will see. One fellow, he wanted to escape from mosquitoes. So he put on the mosquito curtain and went and laid himself down under the bed. And then somebody found him and asked, why are you lying under the bed? He said, the stupid, idiotic mosquitoes you know, they think I am inside the mosquito curtain. I don't see, they don't know that I am here hiding. Who is stupid now? Mosquitoes smell you and they can know a warm-blooded, hot-blooded blood, that blood of any animal. And also some of the, what they call it in Khasi areas, they call it jokes. Some kind of this crawling insect, they fall from the trees and then they suck your blood etc. And of course they are also used for medicinal purposes, no doubt about it. Now what I am trying to tell you, when a person becomes identified for example with Vayu, with air, his body becomes as light as possible. Suppose the same person identifies with earth, he becomes as heavy as a mountain. Suppose he identifies with what is called fire, his body literally glows with a light. That is why we put a halo around the faces of any saint and sage. Even if we don't see, it is some of the modern, what you call self-certified, self- realized souls, their disciples also put it around the head of their guru whom they believe to be all-knowing. Anyway, what I am trying to tell you that all these siddhis, when a person's mind becomes through yoga, concentration, identified with a particular element, all the powers that are possible for that particular element to manifest, they are called, what you call, they are called siddhis. If a person, as an example again I am telling, identified with Vayu, and Vayu what can do? Even a feather, it can move. So that is called Akasha Gamana. If he is identified with the sun, he can see anywhere from here. It is called Dura Darshana. And if somebody is talking, if somebody is identified with Akasha, then he can hear because Akasha is everywhere, light is everywhere, air is everywhere, fire is everywhere, rithvi is everywhere, and all these siddhis, not only eight siddhis, they are all related only to these elements. So each of the subtle elements end out with its own unique characteristic, etc. So by identifying, by uniting oneself with that, that person can enjoy siddhi. But as Sri Ramakrishna warned, every siddhi can create a bondage because once our mind is not having enough amount of discrimination, it can become a victim to that. So now, what other characteristics are there? So by the description I have given you, you can extend your imagination and imagine. Everything falls within the scope of these five elements. Both what is called mixed up five elements and at the same time unmixed, what you call tanmatras, subtle elements. Elements with panchikarana and elements without panchikarana, which means gross body, which means the subtle body and causal body. Now we move on to the mantra 13. So what did we understand? A yogi can know by certain signs that his mind is slowly progressing and it is only to show as a milestone. Every milestone that we see indicates we are in the right direction and progressing towards God. If that is not helping, somebody sits down beautiful scene, beautiful smell, beautiful taste, then for some time his progress will be stuck. So, in the mantra 13, certain things happen to him, especially to his body that is being described. laghotvam, arogyam, alolupatvam, varnaprasadaha, swarasaushtavamcha, gandhaha, shubhomutraha, purushamalpam, yoga pravrutim prathamam adanti. The precursors of perfection in yoga, that is yoga siddhas, those who attained to perfection in yoga. What do they say? That the yogi attains lightness and healthiness of the body. Body becomes very light, that means he doesn't feel it is a burden, feels as if he can fly in the sky and perfectly healthy. What is the definition of healthiness? Forgetfulness of the body consciousness is the healthiness of the body. Forgetfulness of the mind is what is called healthiness of the mind. So, we are all experts in forgetfulness. No, that is not what is meant. What is meant is that the mind is completely engaged and manifesting what is called potential, potentialities, which is another meaning of manifesting potential divinity. Not only a person may progress in spiritual life, but a person like Einstein, for example, Kalidasa, for example, or Beethoven, for example, all these people, they are manifesting, they have very special talents in poetry, in science, in music, etc., etc. So, these are the things we have to manifest and we have to use them in the service of divinity as our offering to the Divine Lord and then spiritual progress is possible. So, potential divinity means final attainment of spiritual oneness with the Divine, but through the development of God-given talents and that is what we have to find out what we are good at. Some people may be good at sweeping the floor. Some people are good at cooking. Some people are good at keeping quiet and not disturbing other people. So, each one of us must understand what is my special talent and how can I serve Bhagawan in the form of the world and that is the way for me to progress further, that is what he says. So, what is first lightness, healthiness and absence of desire and very beautiful, maybe I have to explain it in the next class also, why does this person alolupatvam alolupatvam means miserliness, the tendency to accumulate greediness, why does it come? It comes because he thinks I am not able to enjoy now, it will give me security and I can enjoy it later on. And what does suppose even the wealthiest person what does he do? He cannot eat money, he cannot eat gold, he cannot eat what is called monetary notes, 500 rupee note, 2000 rupee note, he cannot eat but he can buy things and what do the things do? They can contribute, not necessarily they will, they can contribute to some kind of pleasure. What is the ultimate thing? Pleasure. What is the ultimate pleasure? Earlier I explained, when a person yogi, we are talking about yogis, identifies himself for example with the what is called prithvi tattva, that person not only experiences the greatest amount of what is called this unearthly fragrance, but he himself will become emanating this fragrance. That is why it is said, when you go near a yogi, I have never seen a yogi practicing of course that particular system of Raja Yoga, who is smelling of bad smell, especially nowadays you know, when a person sits near and the breath that is coming out of that person can smell so bad, I have seen so many people, that's why I don't allow people to be very near, but they don't understand, they think I am keeping them far away. They are not aware how horrible smelling those people are, every breath that is coming out of them, they are not aware, but it is intolerable. Mahapurush Maharaj also mentions to a particular devotee, anyway I will not go into that, when a yogi is experiencing such a thing, so his very speaking becomes so pleasant, his body becomes so pure, so much emanating fragrance, unearthly fragrance, that is why all the devatas they have got fragrance coming out of them. When a person experiences these things and he himself is manifesting, how is he manifesting? Because he has become identified with those particular elements, as if that element itself is being manifested, even to those who are not yogis, who are nearby and not only that, varna prasada, his body starts emitting a divine light, swara saustvamcha, what is called, Swami Vivekananda used to say about Pavahari Baba, I never heard any voice as sweet as Pavahari Baba's. Swamiji's voice itself is the sweetest and Shri Ramakrishna's is incomparable. And here, such a Swamiji is describing I never heard anybody's voice so much. Gandhaha, beautiful smell comes, shubhaha, anybody who comes within certain distance, they feel pure and motra purisham alpam, that is his feces, his urine they become very small, but they never smell also. That is why it is said, even pigs do not touch because there is no masala there. Yoga pravrttim prathamam udanti, that is when a yogi starts practicing, these are some of the things that manifest in such a yogi. Now, one point before I close, keep it in mind, this is particularly applicable to yogis who are practicing Raja Yoga, it doesn't apply to other yogis necessarily, we will talk about it tomorrow's class. Om Jananim Sharadam Devim Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayoh Shritva Pranamame Mohur Mohoh May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti. Ramakrishna.