Bhagavad Gita Ch14 part 13 on 26 June 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadogavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetam Ritam Mahat Mookam Karuthi Vachalam Pangum Langhayate Girim Yad Kripatamaham Vande Paramanandam Adhavam We have been discussing in great detail this 14th chapter, very aptly entitled the chapter dealing with the three gunas. We have come almost until 21st verse of this, but just to recollect what we did in our last class. The Lord is declaring, one who understands that everything in this world, our body, our mind and the whole world, all the activities that are going included in birth, growth, then old age, disease, decay, death, everything done by mosquito, done by a microbe, everything is being done only by gunas, prakruti, maya, the Lord has nothing to do with it. Lord means here the Jeevatma, I who unnecessarily poke my nose and when the body says I am happy, I say I am happy, when the mind says I am unhappy, then I say I am unhappy. Not understanding, body is doing its job, mind is doing its job. I have nothing to do with it. This practice, if it goes on and on and on for some time, then it ends finally in that slow conviction, slow but sure conviction that I am separate from the body and mind. So identity becomes reduced and then a stage will come, let the body deal with the body, let the mind deal with the mind. This is what Shri Ramakrishna in his pithi saying, O mind, let the body deal with the body but you remain absolutely separate and devoted to God. It has nothing to do with you. Just now we have issued a statement, whatever body does, that is the activity of the gunas. Whatever the mind does, that is also activity of the gunas. So how can Shri Ramakrishna say, O mind, let the body do, what he means is this kind of a person who attained to this knowledge, I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am something totally different. I have nothing to do with body-mind, nothing to do with the three gunas, nothing to do with the world. That is the type of personality since we have to talk, you can't talk about a supreme reality. We have to talk about in some understandable language says there is a pure mind, impure mind means that which thinks I am the body-mind. Pure mind means that which knows I have nothing to do with body and mind. Ramakrishna used to express this in various ways. So in support of that, we also had cited one of the most marvellous parables of Shri Ramakrishna, the cough which goes through endless indescribable suffering and in the end when it falls into the corridor, who is the corridor, Sadguru and then what does he do? He separates the impure mind from the pure mind and highlights it, keeps it above and then says to the disciple, my child, this is you. That impure mind is mixed up with the gunas, even including sattva guna is not you. This is the type of mind we are talking about. This is what is, oh mind, oh pure mind, oh realised mind, let the body deal with its own problems. Sometimes it is healthy, unhealthy, happy, unhappy, that's absolutely fine. So this is what the Lord is telling, when a person attains to that power of uninterrupted discrimination, when a man of insight beholds no agent other than the gunas and also knows him who is beyond the gunas, he attains my being. This person of knowledge through continuous sadhana, spiritual effort combined with the grace of God, what happens to him, crystal clearly, he comes to see two things. First of all, the maya, prakruti, gunas, they do their own job, they are the subject, they are the object and the subject-object play is called samsara or transmigration, I have nothing to do. And what is the second thing, there is something which is separate, which is not touched at all. Like as we say, the space is not touched by good smell, bad smell, good sight, bad sight, etc. So this Paramatma, Bhagawan, the highest reality, paramasatya, highest truth, supreme truth is totally separate and how many such supreme truths, Brahmins are there, only one. Therefore this purified mind has no option but to say that either I join the body-mind complex or I identify myself with the Paramatma, that is the condition that is described here as soon as he comes to know that there is something which is totally separate and that supreme something and me, there is no separation, there is no division, there is no distance. Why? What causes separation, separateness, distinction, distance is the gunas. Since there are no gunas, that means there is no mind. Remember that when we are in deep sleep, there is no question of time-space causation. These are the three which separate everything from everything else, which create the idea that everything is separate, everything is different from each other and since that mind is not there, this person knows only in human language, I am Brahman, even to a real knower of Brahman doesn't say I am Brahman, it is for our sake, somebody is telling. A child doesn't go on saying I am a child, a baby never says I am a baby, he knows, it knows only the mother. The Lord is declaring categorically when a person comes to know that he is not any part of the gunas, prakriti, maya, he then awakens to the fact I am the infinite, I am the eternal, I am the unborn, I am all blissful, all existence and all consciousness. Then what happens? gunan etan atitya trin dehi deha samudbhavan janma mrityu jaradukkai imuktaha amrutam asnute So somebody may question, what is the result? We are all utilitarians. What do I get? Do I get a gingerbread? The Lord says you get more than a gingerbread, you become the gingerbread, you get more than happiness, you become happiness, when you become happiness then you will not seek anything else. When the embodied soul has risen above the three gunas of which its body is made, it gains deliverance from birth, death, old age and pain and becomes immortal. Etan, dehi, the individual soul, so long as he has been identifying I am the embodied soul, I have a body, I have a mind and I am caught in the net of the body-mind, I am completely identified with this body-mind, such a knowledge is called dehi. In reality, no one is caught, according to Advaita Vedanta, it's only like a bad dream, like a king who dreamt after having nice dinner supper, he goes to bed, embraces his beautiful young wife and then goes into a terrific, horrific, nightmarish dream, the neighbouring king had declared war and he fought and he conquered, he drove me away and I am running for my life and within few minutes I would be chopped to pieces and then fortunately the borderline between his country and the other country comes and immediately the soldiers of the other country shield him as soon as he crosses and the enemy soldiers had nothing to do with it, then this person he sighs deeply, says thank God I am alive, whatever the future I will face. Was he really caught, was he really conquered, was he really bound, was he really running away, was he really free, this is all a thought, a wrong thought, negative thought, unpleasant thought, so even the bondage is unpleasant thought, that's why Manaheva Manushyanaam Karanam Vandhamokshayoh Mind alone is the cause of bondage, mind alone again is the cause of liberation too, that is remove the first thorn called the thought of bondage with the second thorn called the thorn of the opposite thought, I am completely free, I will never be bound, I am ever free but this comes only during a long period of sadhana which may extend to many number of lives, we have to understand that, Dehi is individual soul, so what happens, Ethan Dehasamudbhavan, the three gunas give birth to the body-mind complex to the entire social structure in this world, this is the most marvellous idea, we have to understand, we are the creators of this world, so if our neighbours are good, we created them, they are troublesome, we have created them, an enemy always tormenting me, we have created him, a friend, we have created, everything is our creation, hard to believe, very few people believe but that is the highest truth, how do we know, because through proper knowledge, we can overcome all these things, Dehi, Ethan means these, these means three gunas, Dehasamudbhavan, the gunas produced the body-mind and then external world and they in their turn influence, change the gunas in the body-mind, this interaction, this psychosomatic effect is going on, Trin gunan athithya, when this Dehi then transcends, crosses over, means what, not like crossing the border land of a country, that means disidentifies himself with the body-mind, that is the meaning of athithya, crossing over, going beyond, then what happens, Janma Mrityu, Jara Dukkhai Vimukthaha Bhavati, so immediately, not later on, not even one millisecond later on, he becomes free from birth, death, old age and all the types of sufferings that particular body due to that particular prarabdha are subjected to, not only he becomes free, this is a negative idea, are you having any troubles, no, but are you very happy, no, but that is also a big problem, if I am offered a choice, you will have some problems but you will be very happy or you will have no problems but you won't be happy, if this choice is given, I don't think any one of us will ever reject type of suffering, okay, I am ready to pay the price but I also want to be a happy person, to be happy is our real nature and then what happens, simultaneously, just as when light is brought, then the idea of snake disappears, the fear of snake disappears, when, after 5 minutes, no, immediately, then he attains fearlessness which is called amrutha, it is joy, oh, how much I am relieved, now I have no fear at all but that's a very pale comparison, here eternal infinite bliss is attained, that's what he said, this jiva, dehi now says I am not the deha and immediately he crosses over all the negativity and attains his own true nature which is sat, chit and ananda, now how do we understand, this is a fact, I am going to give you a beautiful example, you see even we, the most ignorant like anybody else, even we never identify ourselves with anybody else, a mother hardly can 100% identify with her children, neither father nor wife nor husband, everybody can only identify inevitably, inescapably, there is no other way, that's why Agnivalka tells nobody loves anybody, everybody loves only one's own self, capital S, this is a highest fact, even from the lower S point of view, just look at it, if I love somebody it is because that object gives me happiness, anyway we should not forget the example I am giving that even we accepting our identity with our own body and mind, we are completely free with everybody, every object in this world, we are not identified, we have the sense of possession of a few things but never completely identified and this grandest truth has been illustrated through a very beautiful Bengali song, bebe dekho man, ke ho karo noy, I have just translated, just discriminate a little, think deeply o my mind, in this world nobody belongs to anybody and then he goes on to say, here is a wife, she says to her husband one minute before that I love you the greatest in this world, without you I cannot live, imagine after her saying this, he passes away, then what happens? She is frightened to touch that body, among all hobbe bole, so even that inauspiciousness will touch her, she will be shrinking away from touching that body which was so beloved, what does it show? Shows that she never loved the body but she only was loving herself because through that object her desires are being fulfilled, that is the most marvelous thought we have to see, so gunan etan atithya trin dehi deha samud bhavan janma mrutyu jaradukhai vimukta amrutam ashnute, then we go on. Now Arjuna has got a question, he compressed three points in one question, Arjuna after listening to the Lord in the last three verses he is telling, Arjunam vacham, Arjuna said kai lingai trin gunan etan atitho bhavati prabho, kimacharaha katham cha etan trin gunan ativarthate, three points, three questions, what are the marks O Lord of the man who has risen above the three gunas, first what is his conduct, second and how did he arise, how does he rise above the gunas, asking he has already risen, the question of how does he rise does not arise at all, he has become a jivanmukta, so the idea is he is not asking now that how is he making effort to go beyond, what is he telling, how did he rise, so that if he can indicate it then I can also follow his footsteps and that is how we will also be able to overcome. Let us now analyse a little bit this one, hey Prabho, now Arjuna is addressing the Lord not as Krishna, hey Prabho, hey Guru, Sadguru, kai lingai, by what characteristics, by what pointers, etan trin gunan atitho bhavati, that means how did he go beyond the three gunas and if he had done it and I believe your words, how can I recognise such a person, are there certain signs by which I can recognise all these qualities that he is a jivanmukta, first question, saha, kim acharavan, how does he act and react, remember when a jivanmukta that means he is a man of knowledge, he is living in this world and at the same time if there is a body, there is a mind, the only difference is he never thinks I am the body and mind but the external world, the weather, the circumstances, the summer heat, the winter cold, the enemies, the detractors, the criticisers, the harmful people, everybody has to go, in fact I would say the most criticised person in this world is God, I am making a bit of fun, so suppose a devotee professes faith in God and then says oh Lord, I believe in you, now fulfil my desire and then the Lord says okay, this is my devotee, I will fulfil his desire, immediately the Lord, I am a foolish fellow, I asked for small things, why did you not give me bigger things, after all you are supposed to be more intelligent than me and you claim that you created me and then you claim that you love me and you claim that you listen to every prayer and how come you have not given me much more than what I asked, could you not have added something without my knowledge, this is the complaint, this is even worse complaint, criticism, how many people are grateful to the Lord, that's why the great Shankaracharya reminds us again and again, what does he say, he says do you see my friend, you got a human body or say somebody confront Shankaracharya and then he says my God, how much abundance of grace the Lord has bestowed upon you and this fellow is a miserable fellow, from the birth he is thinking, then he says sir, are you mad, that is the first appellation, why are you saying that God is full of grace towards me, then Shankaracharya says my friend, you could have been born as an amoeba, as a piece of stock or stone or a clod of earth but you are given the greatest of all births where a person can attain to the highest which is called human birth, is it not the great grace of God, alright, okay, somehow we will accept it, then what are the other things that you have a desire, your faith in God, you want to progress towards God, you want to see God, you have desire for God and this desire never mistake that you have created yourself, it has come from God and only by God's grace, it will remain, then says what is the third thing that see God has provided you all the best environment that you could get, this is the greatest grace of God, whenever we tend to think God doesn't exist, why? Because he never bestowed his grace upon me, he never paid any attention to my prayers etc., all these three things are only the greatest grace of God and besides look back and say you could have been killed, you could have lost so many things but as you are compared to billions of other people, you are one of the luckiest persons much better than billions of other people, let us do this kind of discrimination, then our happiness will increase, whether our devotion will increase or not, definitely our devotion to God will increase, this is what is Arjuna was asking, how do I recognize and how did he cross over, not how easy crossing over and then how does he react because there would be no difference between the world's reaction or the external world's existence and its effect upon a Jeevan Mukta or upon a mosquito, upon anything else in this world. Just I wanted to remind you because I observe these things, it was very hot and then a few drops of water were left out, immediately hundreds of ants gathered there, so what do I infer from it that they are feeling the heat and they are feeling the need for replenishing themselves with water and a few drops are available here, immediately they gathered there, what a marvellous event in nature, look at nature, everything else is wanting to be free from want, from lack because each soul is potentially divine. Then what is the third question, O Krishna, please tell me how did he rise above them, now the Lord is going to describe that to us. Now to go back to this, earlier also at the end of the second chapter, what we call sthita prajna lakshanas, sthita prajnasya kaabhasha, how does a Jeevan Mukta speak, how does he walk, sthita dehi kim prabhasheta, kim asita, prajeta kim, how does he sit, how does he walk, how does he talk, that means how does he react, that was the same question and most marvellous description was given, then in the third chapter, fifth chapter, sixth chapter, twelfth chapter, thirteenth chapter, we have come across repetitions of these in so many ways. Now what we are going to understand that how do we know that who is a Jeevan Mukta, when you see here is a person and there is probably more trouble brewing for him than anybody else and yet he is seen sadhananda maya, sadhananda mayi kaali, there is a beautiful song, this person is sadhananda maya, always happy and then if trouble comes, okay, that belongs to the body, that belongs to the mind, I have nothing to do with it, that would be a typical reaction. So does the body suffer or not? Some Prabuddhas, Prabuddha means here unintelligent person, puts the question, does a Jeevan Mukta ever suffer? My answer is, do you ever suffer in your deep sleep? Even the greatest pain, the greatest worry, they are overcome when a person completely becomes free because he is removed from the body-mind identification in sushupti avastha, so long as he is there and how long? Every day, God has given us five to six hours of complete relief from the body-mind identification, not to speak, the disidentification during waking state, during dream state, etc., okay. So much of Bhagawan's grace is there and we are supposed to say, if I can be without being troubled, in spite of having troubles, then it is possible in waking state also, in dream state also, if I can cultivate a special kind of a spiritual attitude, cultivate special kind of a way of reacting. Sri Ramakrishna's story of the farmer whose only son died, he came and he did not shed a single tear because he said that in dream, I felt I was a king and I had seven beautiful sons, not this what is called ugly, unintelligent son and as soon as I woke up, the whole of that existence has come to an end but here, this also when I go to dream, I may be dreaming again, I may be a king but if I go to the sleep state, we generally call it sleep but some people to make it clear, call it deep sleep, godhanidra, sushupti, dreamless state, etc., etc. but by this time, you should have been accustomed with all these things. This is a wonderful illustration, how did he get to that state? Because he has practiced it. So that is how. I remember a funny story, you know the British people have very bad idea about Indians, especially Indian English, they always make fun with that peculiar accent, etc. So once it so happened, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was invited to I think either Cambridge or Oxford to deliver a very important lecture on philosophy and he went there and he delivered in such impeccable local English language. After that, there were a few other programs, he came down and he was sitting in the front pew and then a neighbor, an Englishman asked, sir, how could you speak being an Indian, such a flawlessly beautiful English and immediately Radhakrishnan smiled and said, that is because sir, I learnt it. Indirectly meaning, you may be born as an Englishman but if you have not learnt it, you will be only an uncouth, uncultured type of person, your pronunciation may be good, I am not sure about it because BBC English is supposed to be the best pronounced English. I have no problem in understanding what the BBC newsreaders and others who speak. I have great problem with speaking some of the people, especially Welsh people and especially people from northern part of London, etc., not to speak of various peculiar accents that were there in slum areas, etc., anyway that was an incidental topic, I should not have brought it up. What are we talking about? Here is a person, he had practiced it for a long time and therefore he practiced made him perfect, so if I want to become also a gunatheetha, go beyond all the gunas, slowly but surely I have to follow a definite path shown to me by my Guru and that is how I am going to go beyond that, the Lord is going to answer. Then kimacharaha, that means always is action and reaction, that means what? Everything in our world is a reaction, we are born and that is an action beyond our control. But after we are born, everything is action and reaction, mother looks at me, that is an action, I react to her, that is a reaction and somebody slaps me, that is an action, I react, that is a reaction, so like that the whole life is nothing but an interplay between action and reaction and when this action started, God alone knows. What am I trying to tell? Even an enlightened soul, he has to be there, look at the life of Rama, he had to go through endless trouble, look at the life of Krishna himself, how much he was criticized, he was blamed, there were plans to do away with him by Duryodhana and others etc. Endless troubles until finally he died because of an arrow discharged by a hunter mistaking his soul for the foot of a deer. Then what about Mahatma Gandhi, what about all people who suffered for our country, what about Ramakrishna, holy mother, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Brahmananda, direct disciples, Ramana Maharshi, any saint, the world will be the world only, we have no other way but we have to keep it in mind. Let us keep in mind this, how does he react? I wanted to point out two things, first of all he looks upon the whole universe as his own self, so you can understand how we react towards our self, how do we react when we bite our own tongue with our own teeth, that is the first thing, the second thing is that everybody says I am an instrument in the hands of the Lord, when a person is beyond Nirvikalpa Samadhi, Aham Brahmasmi state, the question of thinking and willing doesn't arise but as soon as there is a body-mind, this peculiar feeling will come, I am an instrument, Ame Jantro, Tume Jantri, you are the mechanic, oh mother, it will come inevitably to everybody. How does this Jivanmukta react? He doesn't react, it is the divine mother, Jemni Bolao, Temni Boli, Jemni Korao, Temni Kori, whatever way you make me speak, I will speak, whatever way you make me do, I will do, this is what we need to understand it very clearly but we have to practice it slowly slowly to the best of our ability, according to our ability and slowly by the grace of God, we will be moving forward. This is how the description is going to come, this is the second question and then how did he clearly, how did he cross over these 3 Gunas? That means how did he come to feel that I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am the divine soul? The Lord is giving answer, now we go to the 22nd, Sri Bhagavanam Vacham, the Lord says Prakashancha pravruttincha mohame vachapandava madhveshtisam pravruttani nani vruttani kankshati In 4 verses, the Lord is giving the answer to all the questions of the Arjuna. First 2 shlokas, first answer for the first question, second 2 verses answer to the second question. Then we will come to the third question, how did he go about it, but these 4 verses itself indicate to us crystal clearly that it is only by practicing certain spiritual virtues, removing certain impure desires, impure actions and developing pure desires and putting them into practice with pure actions in accordance with the scripture and the teaching of the Guru. First let me chant these 4. Prakashancha pravruttincha mohame vachapandava madhveshtisam pravruttani nani vruttani kankshati udasena vadaseno gunairyona vichalyate guna vartanta ity evam yo vatishthati nengate sama dukha sukha swastha samalostasma kanchanaha tulya priya priyo dhiraha tulya nindatma samsthute manapa manayo tulya tulyo mitrari pakshayoh sarvarambha parithyagi gunatita savujyate The Lord said he hates not light or sattva guna, activity or rajo guna, and delusion or tamo guna when they manifest in the body and mind nor longs for them when they are not there. So Arjuna, when they are absent, he who, sitting like one, unconcerned, indifferent, that means completely unaffected, he who is unmoved by the gunas, not at all influenced, he who remains firm and never wavers, knowing that the gunas alone are active, he who dwells constantly in the Self and regards life, pleasure and pain, who looks on a clod of earth, a clod, a stone and a piece of gold as of equal worth, who remains the same amidst agreeable and disagreeable things, and who is a man of wisdom and who sees no difference between praise and blame, he who is the same in honour and dishonour, the same to friend and foe, and who has renounced all undertakings, such a man is said to have risen above the gunas. A crystal clear answer, not much new because we have discussed all these things from amanitvam, adambitvam, ahimsa, kshantirarjavam, etc. and sthita prajnaśyaka bhāṣa, we also discussed it, everything, but any number of times these need to be heard by us because they have to sink in our mind that am I behaving accordingly or not, just like a man is suffering from a chronic disease and what is the difference, chronic disease is something which a person has been suffering from a very long time, therefore what is the conclusion, such a person can never expect an immediate relief or result or cure, it will take a long, long time, that's what holy mother used to say, supposing my son, you have a ball of thread of different colours all rolled into a ball and then there is some coloured thread which is yellow which you require now and if you want to get it, you have to unwind the whole thing, then only you will get it, we are going to discuss in some detail, not in deep detail because we already have done that earlier, let us deal with these 4 shlokas now individually one by one. Sri Bhagavanvacha, the lord is replying to the query of Arjuna, prakasham, prakasha means light, light means sattva guna, so when sattva guna is dominant, all the sense organs become sharp, the mind becomes extremely concentrated, one pointed, paying complete attention and alert and has endowed with memory so that it remembers everything in the past and so its power of grasping and having the right knowledge will be very quick. Here is a Jivanmukta at times in this body and mind which he was made to dwell as a guest, as people go and live in the hotels for a few days but in Indian terminology what is called a dharmashala is there, see Tibetan Dalai Lama is staying in dharmashala, dharmashala means what some philanthropic person had built the guest house, anybody can stay there, everything is temporary, that is called a dharmashala. Here is an enlightened person, what does he do? He recognizes immediately, I am living in a dharmashala, the famous Sufi story, one day a king who was in earnest, he was thinking, pondering, how could I move forward in spiritual life, progress in spiritual life and under his rule any fakir, that means wandering Muslim saint can just enter or exit according to their will. So a wandering fakir moved in and he just wanted to see and he saw beautiful paintings, drapings and so many other very beautiful objects, costly objects. Then suddenly he faced the king and asked him, he was a Muslim king of course, O king, this house belongs to whom? And then the king said it belongs to me, this dharmashala, this guest house belongs at the moment to whom? The question itself is not very clear at all. The king was annoyed, he said why are you calling it dharmashala, a guest house, this is my palace, I own it, I live in it and the fakir smiled and said, he pointed out to one painting and said whose painting is that? And that was my great-grandfather, where did he live? In this house, in this palace, very palace, how long he lived? 50 years. The next one he pointed out, whose is this painting? My grandfather, where did he live? In this house, how long? 40 years. Then third one, who is this? That's my father. How long did he live? 55 years. Where did he live? In this house. O king, where people live for a short time and depart hence without any address? They have no address or neither address when they are born, where from they came we don't know, neither address nor address and when they die also there is neither address nor address where they go, when people come live there for a few days and depart without any further clue where they are, what else do you want to call it? The king was enlightened, he bows down and tries to practice it. Most beautiful Sufi story we all have to remember, we lived in our grandfather's house, lived in father's house, no, no, no, I came to London, I bought it, nobody lived, we are the first persons to live, okay, the problem will come to your children, when you leave behind your address and address, then they will also think this belongs to us. What are we talking about? The Sattva guna sometimes comes to the fore, sometimes Rajoguna will come to the fore. As I mentioned, they are not doing deliberately anything, they are mere instruments in the hands of God, sometimes Tamoguna also will come to their fore but they are not attached to Sattva guna, they don't hit either Rajoguna or Tamoguna, whatever guna comes, he says oh ma, you wanted to play this beautiful game, I am also game to your play, let me also participate it, this is called Divine Leela. When they come, what happens? Nadveshti sampra vruttani, he doesn't hate when something is pleasant, he doesn't get attached, something is very, very pleasurable or happiness giving, nani vruttani kankshati and something has given him happiness and it disappeared, he doesn't desire again. What does it mean? He enjoys thoroughly every single moment saying this is Bhagawan's prasada, everything is Bhagawan's prasada. I cannot refrain myself from re-quoting a parable of a story of Sri Ramakrishna. There was a great devotee of Sri Rama, he was a soldier, one day he was stabbed by his own side, a Muslim soldier stabbing a Hindu soldier, this is a historical fact and then he was on the point of expiring. Then his fellow soldiers came to know, rushed to him and said you just point out that fellow, we will take off his head above his neck. Then he smiled and said it was Rama who made me what I am, it was Rama who killed me, nobody else is to blame. Such a noble reaction, that is how these great souls react. So what are we talking about here? Hey Pandava, O Arjuna, prakashancha, satvaguna, manifestation of satvaguna, pravruttincha, manifestation of rajoguna, he feels like doing, he wants to run here and there like a child, mohamaya vacha, he goes on telling no, no, I want only that. I will give a small illustration, once Sri Ramakrishna was returning from Calcutta to Dakshineswar, on the way he saw some roadside sweetmeat shops and there were colourful sweets put in jars, very unhealthy, very infectious, but Sri Ramakrishna felt a desire like a child, came to Dakshineswar, next morning he gave some money to Swami Adhutananda and instructed him go and buy them at such and such a place and return back as soon as possible. It is a big, wonderful story, but this much only I will recollect. So the disciple returned long back and then Sri Ramakrishna was very angry, he was waiting to eat those sweets, then he asked, why did you not come you rascal and then said smiling happily Sir, I used my own brain, I thought why should I buy these worthless sweets, a devotee will be blessed, I went to a devotee house, got them made and then I brought. Sri Ramakrishna said, no, I did not want to eat these things, I wanted to eat only those coloured sweets. Now we have to thank Lattu Maharaj, otherwise he would have quit the body perhaps much earlier than 1886. Now the point is, this is called Tamoguna, it manifests, they are like children, they don't discriminate, whatever attracts them, they want it, so they go on playing this beautiful role, when something gives them pleasure, they will not get attracted, something gives them pain, they will not get hatred, let it come, that's it, experience it, pass it on and that is the nature of Leela, Bhagavat Leela. Then we move on to the 23rd. Udāsīnavat āsīnaḥ gunaiḥ yo na vichālyate gunāvartanta ity evaṁ yo avatiṣṭhati na iṅgate. He who sitting like one, completely unconcerned, indifferent, such a one is unmoved by the gunas, he remains firm, never wavers, knowing that the gunas alone are active, not me, he is neither overcome by the influence nor he hates them, it is just a beautiful play for him to enjoy the divine sport, Divya Leela, that is what the Divine Mother said, Bhāvamukhe thāku, remain in Bhāvamukha, Bhāvamukha means the Divine Leela, the realm of the Divine Leela, everything is Divine Leela, which Swami Vivekananda sarcastically put it as life is a circus, it is a circus because in the circus, the high adventure as well as the low buffoons activities etc., they provoke so much of laughter but everything is only a circus, a fun, a humour, nothing is to be taken as real at all, that is called Divine Leela, participating in the Divine Leela is one of the greatest spiritual practices, we can all practice occasionally, I say occasionally but most of the time, suppose, I am suffering from headache and I am really suffering, then I say, oh mother, you want me to suffer, alright, I will get along with you, I will go along with you and I will pretend to be suffering, even though I am not pretending, even though I have to pay the heavy price, even though I become restless but thinking in this manner is a spiritual practice, everything is Divine Leela, God is making fun, let us be His Leelas, Sahacharas, His companions in this Divine sport, so Udāsīnavat, Udāsīna means complete indifference, something is happening to somebody in some place of which I don't know, what is my reaction? No reaction, why? Because I am not even aware of that, only in this case, I see this body and mind interplay, Udāsīnavat means like an indifferent person, not really an indifferent person, why? Because even though he is not attached, he doesn't hate anything but even his, what is called greatest enemy, if he is in trouble, this person will rush forward, embrace them, try to do his best including offering his life if it can help the enemies because here is an enemy, here is a friend, it is our reaction but for him, everything is the Divine Mother, Divine Leela, so Udāsīnavat, Udāsīnavat, gunaihi yo na vichālyate, same idea from earlier, lokas is repeated, he who is not moved at all, there is happiness, he is not moved, there is too much of restlessness, he is not moved, there is too much of dullness, he is also not moved, gunaha vartante, it is the small children playing, Ramakrishna used to give an example, a man is sitting there in the log and enjoying the cool breeze and a lot of puppies were there and they were all playing there, sometimes they shout at each other, bark at each other and try to bite each other but he knows, it is all play, he doesn't go to interfere because at the end they are all sleeping peacefully one above the other and when they go to mother, they all forget everything, this is the nature of children, gunaha vartante, it is the gunas who are creating the action, the gunas who are creating the reaction, iti matva, with this firm conviction, matva means he is not thinking, the literal meaning is matva means he is thinking thus, he is not thinking, he knows, he knows it is the divine mother in the form of nature, in the form of these three qualities working, even the most wicked persons, most wicked, evil, intolerably horrendous activities, they are all done, they are not real, if they are real, then God is real but if they are appearances and that is why only God only knows, we do not know, iti matva, with this firm knowledge because he knows it, evam avatishtati, simply he sits there and like we enjoy a cinema, like we enjoy puppies play, like we enjoy children's play, this person goes on enjoying everything, samadukha sukha swasthaha, samalostashma kanchanaha, tulya priya priyo dheeraha, tulya ninda atma samstuti, he who dwells in the self and regards alike pleasure and pain, who looks on a clod of earth, a piece of stone and a piece of gold as of equal worth, who remains the same, amidst agreeable and disagreeable things, who is a man of wisdom and who sees no difference between praise and blame, continuing these are some of the characteristics that manifest in an enlightened soul, not with effort but naturally, automatically like the continuous flow of the Ganges river, there is no break at all between them, so when happiness comes, he is swasthaha, he is firmly established in his own self, dukkha comes, he is firmly established in his own self, swasthaha means swa means in one's own atman, sthaha means to sit immovably, unmoving, that means what, having the firm knowledge that I am the atman, being established in that atman, never deviating from that knowledge, whatever happens to the body and mind, remember not to him, he never says something is happening to me, says something is happening to this body and mind, something is happening to that body and mind, something is happening to some other body and mind, beautiful examples come to my mind but I will deal with them in our next class tomorrow evening with beautiful examples from Shri Ramakrishna's teachings, for example just to give you a glimpse, during his sadhana, he took a cloud of earth and a rupee coin and said taka mate, mate taka and establishing firmly that knowledge in his mind, he threw them both in the Ganga, thereafter he need not do because that sadhana had yielded its fruit, I only have a small regretful problem, he should have left that rupee coin for me or for you also, I don't mind to share with you, he should have left it but then it's all Divine Mother's will, okay, then people criticised him, he was never moved and then he was very glad, somebody reported, sir so and so is criticising you, he said oh, he is thinking of me only, what a marvellous thing, unhappiness comes, he will take it as mother's play, happiness comes, he will take it as mother's play, some people try to do harm, he will take it as mother's play, some people try to honour him, he will take it as mother's play, these beautiful qualities are what is called the way for spiritual progress so that we can attain it, which we will discuss in tomorrow's class. Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Januram Ardhanam, Devaki Paramanandam, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna.