Bhagavad Gita Ch15 part 06 on 18 July 2021

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Vasudeva Sutam Devam Kamsa Chanuram Ardhanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishad Gopala Nandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Bhokta Dugdham Geetha Amritam Mahat Mookam Karuti Vachalam Pangum Langayate Girim Yath Kripatam Aham Vande Paramanandam Adhavam We are studying the 15th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Yesterday we have seen when a sadhaka, spiritual aspirant acquires certain qualities, then he is in a position only after the acquisition of sixfold qualities. Only then the spiritual aspirant called yogi, called sanyasi, because spiritual life is an internal matter not something external. So the question of whether a householder can become a sanyasi, certainly he can be a sanyasi but mentally. There are some people externally as well as of course internally they are sanyasins. There are some sanyasins who are externally in the garb of sanyasi but internally they are still attached to the world. Only the divine mother knows who is a real spiritual aspirant. So with complete faith in the teachings of the scriptures as interpreted by our own guru, we will have to follow and finally the Lord said, it is only by complete self-surrender to me one can attain to my state and that's what Shri Ramakrishna illustrates. A servant cannot come and sit by the side of the master but if the servant is very humble and discharges all his duties as it should really be done, then the master himself will be pleased with him and said, come, come, come and sit by my side and that is I am the divine and the divine in you and the divine in me are not two separate things. That is the highest goal and the description is now going on about that goal in the sixth verse. It means the divine reality, supreme reality. The sun illumines not nor the moon not to speak of the fire. It's my supreme abode and they who reach it never return. They who reach it means those through knowledge. Understand that I am not a limited being. I am the divine and once a person goes beyond the body-mind identity, there remains only one, one undivided infinite eternal consciousness and why did the Lord choose three things all related to light, a fire light. In the previous ages, how are the people able to walk when there is no light? They take a piece of cloth, dip it in kerosene, light it up and they used to carry it and with the same one they can cook food also. So fire gives both light as well as heat. Now our point here is why the Lord chosen all only that emit light. The sun, of course the moon, moon is nothing but, moonlight is nothing but the reflected sunlight on a particular piece of the surface we call the moon but it is the light and it is most necessary and in no way less in importance for human life. This is a wonderful fact. Our ancient sages have discovered the sun has a function. Equally the moon also has a function in the growth, in the sustenance of the entire world. Similarly, the fire also has its own special niche to fulfill its own function but what is important, it is the eye. What does the sun, moon, fire, what? Indriya, that sun which illumines our entire planet is in the outside world, in the cosmos but that is in our eye in the form of the ability to see, to utilize the light that the sun is giving and the moon, it is said in the Vedanta philosophy that the sun is the Adhishtana Devata, the presiding deity of the eyes, the organ of seeing and the moon is the presiding deity of the mind. All the vagaries of the mind are tremendously influenced by the presiding deity of the mind which is the moon. The moon is related to the tremendous constant fluctuations that we experience in our mind in the form of emotional thoughts. For everything we react. In brief, these are called likes and dislikes and depending on the circumstances, sometimes they are very intense, sometimes they are very mild. Okay, then we come across a fire. Fire is the presiding deity of the speech. That's why when we hear somebody's speech, hear it and get inspired, it's a great speech. It's a fiery speech. Even in English language, we use that, there is no fire in that speech but it is a fiery speech. Referring that this particular organ called Vaak or the instrument of expression of speech is completely controlled by the fire. So that's why pranayama is very important if someone really wants to speak, calm and quiet, relaxed, etc. These three deities are mentioned but it means all other deities by indication. As we say, etc. means includes everything. What does it mean? The sun is shining and if we have the good eyes and in right mind, very alert, then we can experience the world. But the sun is illuminating the world and giving us knowledge of the world. But who is perceiving the sun? It depends upon me. If I am drunk, if I am unconscious, if I am in deep sleep, let there be a million suns but for me as if I am completely blind. Unless I make an effort and I bestow my grace upon the sun and say that I cognize you, I recognize you, I will take advantage of your light. Unless our mind, mind here means the reflected consciousness in the mind, if it is not there, then the sun, moon, in fact the whole world is completely dead as far as we are concerned. That's what happens in the deep sleep when the pure consciousness does withdraw from its association and withdraws its reflection as a result in the mirror called the mind, then the body-mind, their very existence is obliterated. Of course for the time being but for a man of samadhi, nirvikalpa samadhi, even if he retains the mind, he understands it is I who am the sun, I who am the moon, I am who am the fire, in fact all the world is nothing but an experienceable object and I the pure consciousness is the experiencer and the sun and moon and fire etc. They all fall under the category of something that is experienced. The experiencer is always a conscious being and the experiencer is always inert without any consciousness. You can't ask a table, are you a table? Who are you? You can never ask. This is the point the Lord wants to say. Me, the divine Lord, the supreme reality, the sun illuminates not nor the moon nor fire but that which illuminates everything in this world, that is me, means pure consciousness and it is my supreme abode, broken, divided, individualized consciousness called awareness, called reflection of the consciousness that is because of the various minds like a sun reflecting in a million dew drops but the pure light, pure consciousness, it is unbroken, unbreakable, indivisible, it is never absent. To state that fact, especially the Mandokya Karika says in what state are you now? I am in the waking state. Then in what state? I was in dream state. Then in what state? I was in the sleeping state. Now back to the waking state. I was there as the seer, experiencer, witness of the waking, dream as well as deep sleep state. They are all changing and they are all contradicting one another. One is completely denying the very reality of the other two states. For example, when we are in the waking state, dream is unreal, deep sleep what we experience is also unreal, it is gone, it is dead. When I am in the dream state, then waking and deep sleep are destroyed. When I am in deep sleep, both waking and dream states are destroyed, not even admitted as memories. But I who is moving from one state to the other, I remain completely unchanged. I illumine them but they do not illumine me. That is what the Lord is trying to tell the sun, the moon and fire. Light up, give us knowledge about the world but they are cognized only by our consciousness, by us. That means each one of I, I, I. The light of the sun in this universe is in our eye. The moon is our mind. The fire is our speech. That's why we get in the Taittiriya Upanishad. Let's always try to remember Bhagavad Gita is nothing but the very essence of all the Upanishads. Every single verse has been taken from one or the other of the Upanishads. Many times bodily the same words are used. Many times the essence, the instruction is reformatted in Lord Krishna's own words. But the essence is nothing but Vedanta, pure Upanishadic teaching. The sun is illumined by the Atman, experienced by the Atman. Therefore the sun can never illumine the Atman. The effect can never know the cause but the cause can always know the effect. The eye cannot reveal the Atman. The speech cannot reveal the Atman. The mind also cannot reveal the Atman. Why? Minus the consciousness, the eye, the mind and the speech. They do not simply exist. It is the borrowing of the existence, knowledge and bliss from the Atman that make things to exist and to be known and to be experienced as higher happiness or lower happiness. That is being said. Interestingly what does the eye represent? Many times witnesses ask, Have you witnessed this incident, event by yourself? Yes, sir. I was there. My eyes are open. The event took place, the accident took place, the event took place in front of my eyes. This is called Pratyaksha Pramana, direct perception. And this is the best means of obtaining more or less correct knowledge if everything is right. That is why the Pratyaksha Pramana is incapable of revealing the divinity, the pure consciousness because before the eye could see or witness directly, the consciousness should be present both in the form of the capacity of the eye as well as the revelation of the object in the form of light. If it is pitch darkness, nothing can be witnessed. And if it cannot be witnessed, then it cannot be thought about. If it cannot be thought about, it cannot be spoken at all. That is why the knowledge in the mind is called Anumana Pramana. For example, you will see an animal and by description, by experience in the past you infer it is cow because it looks like a cow. So this is inferential knowledge, direct perception. I see an animal and it looks like something I had seen before. Definitely it is a cow but the mind has to recollect the memories, compare it and say this looks like it. So yes, it is that. This is called inferential knowledge. And what does this Shabda? Shabda means walk. Walk means speech. Speech depends upon Shabda Pramana. What is it? The Atman is available only through one right means of knowledge, Pramana and that is called learning it from the scriptures as interpreted rightly by experienced spiritual aspirants, not by any Tom, Dick and Harry, not by any PhD pundits. For professors of philosophy, they only eat the dry leaves, they never know the sweetness of the mango. So there was an interesting incident. Once Sri Ramakrishna went to see Dayananda Saraswati, a great reformer in India, a great monk. He established later on Arya Samaj etc. And this Dayananda Saraswati was not in the least cognizing Sri Ramakrishna's greatness. He was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Keshav Chandra Sen. His mind was on that subject but meanwhile he had a conversation. Then he realized and then he passed a remark about Sri Ramakrishna. We are only drinking the buttermilk. Buttermilk means a liquid where there is neither milk nor butter. That is strangely called buttermilk. Butterless, milkless liquid. That should have been the right word. We have been only drinking, meaning you only know the dry meanings, intellectual meanings of the scriptures. But here is a man who is constantly tasting the bliss of the butter. Remarkable statement by a great man. So what are we talking about? The Indriyas, the sense organs cannot reveal the Atman. On the contrary, it is the Atman which reveals the sense organs. Similarly, the mind which only functions mostly as a secondary means of knowledge but through inference, by recollecting the old memories, comparing it with the present experience and saying yes or no, whether I have knowledge or is it a completely new object and then it categorizes. Next time when it comes across the same object, I know this. Last time I have experienced it. This time it is not new. Last time it was new. This time it is only recollection of the memory. So this is how nothing works. What can reveal? Only Shabda Pramana. Shabda means the teachings of the directly realized sages and souls. That's why even our speech, it cannot reveal but it can point out. That's an important thing. Just like a sign, walk this way, you will reach the dining hall, you will reach the temple, etc. Similarly, certain walks, certain things like that you practice these spiritual disciplines, you move forward in your life. Shabda Pramana. And so if a person really understands, nothing can reveal. Then if nothing can reveal, is there no way for us to know it? Yes, yes, there is. Something is there. My grace in the form of the teachings of the scriptures will illumine your intellect because we may study the scriptures but the understanding must come by the grace of God and that comes only when we surrender. Earlier we had seen the Bhagawan Himself is telling, the Lord Himself is telling that's the only way to reach my abode and that means to know that there is no difference between you and me. That's what He was trying to tell us. The sun, the moon, that means no object in this world can reveal but is it completely useless? No. When you see a mountain, when you see a river, what do you say? There is a mountain, there is river and there is a tree, there is a person. Then there is, something is existing and as soon as you cognize that particular form, a knowledge of that particular form comes, that is the cognizance of the existence is called Sat, a cognizance of its knowledge. I am a table. A table is not saying but a table is invariably associated with that knowledge. I am a table. Before it became a table, I am the wood. Before it became the wood, I am the tree. Like that, existence is never absent but due to changing forms, different names are given but that existential part of any object is totally dependent upon the infinite existence of the Lord. Similarly, the knowledge that this is a table, this is a tree, invariably associated with that object, that to be known by conscious being, that borrows its part of knowledge or Kanchatru Chidamsha, a part of the Chit. And when we experience an object, invariably the mind undergoes a transformation. Either it likes it, doesn't like it, it's happy, it's unhappy. If it is happy, it wants it more. If it is unhappy, it doesn't want it. So this is how whatever we experience is ultimately traceable only to the Divine Lord. Now this is what we discussed. No object can illumine but every object is illumined only by our consciousness and the mind acts as a pure mirror reflecting that consciousness. That's why it is a reflected consciousness in the mind to the extent the mind is clean. That is called what we call Chidabhasa. Chit means pure consciousness. Abhasa means a partial reflection. Partial because the mirror is limited, not because the consciousness is limited. That is called Chidabhasa, that reflected consciousness. Plus the thought after experiencing an object, say a table, then this is a table, that cognition takes place in the mind only when we are conscious with the help of the reflected consciousness called Chidabhasa. So the reflected consciousness plus the idea come out alive in our mind in the form of knowledge. This is a table, a tree, a mountain, a river, etc. The whole world is nothing but a manifestation of the Sat, existence of the world in the Sat part of the Divine. The knowledge part of the world is derived from the consciousness part of the Lord called Chit and the resultant experience derives its part from the Ananda aspect. If it is good experience, it is called happiness. If it is otherwise, it is called Dukkha, suffering, pain, experience of pain. So there is nothing but only the world. Important point is that which is experienced depends always on the experiencer who is consciousness. And so what is the point? When we understand by going beyond the mind through the help of the mind again. Why do I say through the help of the mind? Because as our mind is practicing spiritual disciplines in the form of acquiring certain qualities and these spiritual qualities, what do they do? They scrub the dirt accumulated on the mirror which is our mind as it were and the more we scrub, the cleaner it becomes. The greater will be the reflection, greater will be the knowledge, understanding and ultimately we realize when everything is taken off, I am not the body, I am not the mind, I am the Purusha. This was what Patanjali Yogi was referring as Chittavaruthi Nirodha means cleansing the mind so that the one, the Purusha who is standing in front of that so-called mirror called the mind, pure mind that is to say a mind which doesn't distort knowledge or object as something else. Then he stands, the reflection stands in all its glory reflecting the pure consciousness called Purusha and then the person then understands. When I was being reflected as the body, I thought I was the body. When I was reflecting the thoughts, I thought I was the mind. Now I know I am neither the body nor the mind but pure consciousness and bereft of the gross, subtle and causal body, bereft of the five sheaths neither Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya. And when this knowledge comes, immediately that knowledge creates the deepest impression. Even afterwards, if the mind is still functioning, this forgetfulness will never come. Forever that ignorance is destroyed. Once we behold our own true nature and that beholding our true nature without any covering, cover up that is called Samadhi and that is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi, pure reflection in the mind and then we understand we are not the body and mind, we are not the reflection. Always let us remember a reflection is not me, it is only to correct myself. A mirror is used usually to correct the body deformities, ugliness etc. But here a spiritual mirror in the form of the scriptural teaching, Shastra Darpana is meant for reflecting our true consciousness but for that we have to cleanse our mirror to certain extent and as more and more we cleanse, a divine reflection becomes clearer and clearer and that gives lenses renewed strength to remove the lost vestiges of these impurities in the form of body, mind, identity and at last we stand in all our glory. I am that pure consciousness, Sat, Chit and Ananda. One in three and three in one. Here I want to insert a note. When we are telling that the supreme reality is called by these three epithets, they are not separate epithets like here is a flower, it's a big flower, it's a fragrant flower and it is a lily. We are not talking, there are lilies, small lilies, here is a big lily, there are lilies without fragrance, here is a lily with a tremendous fragrance, there are lilies of various hues and colors, here is a blue lily, all these three are totally separate, unrelated to each other. One can live without the other but when we say existence cannot live without knowledge, knowledge cannot be separated from Ananda. They are three in one, one in three. Let us always keep that in mind. So the Lord is beautifully telling us that the whole world is nothing but manifestation of Sat, Chit and Ananda. Then why do we call it the world? Because of the limitation of our perception and the eye sees, looks at the Paramatman, then the eyes beholds only forms and we forget it is all forms are nothing but that pure consciousness. When we have knowledge, this is a table and this is a chair, distinguishing two forms but made of the same material. Then we forget and make distinction, good chair, bad chair, good table, bad table, etc. It affects our reaction. But depending upon the reaction, if I am forced to live with something which I like, then I am a happy person, otherwise I am an unhappy person. This has nothing to do with the object, it is something to do with the training our mind gets from our particular family, tradition of our forefathers, our language, our region, our religion, everything contributes for our right or wrong view. So what are you talking about here? The pure reality is that which limits everything. I am that pure reality. I am that pure consciousness. This is we have to understand. The Upanishad as I said, it is said, Anya Deva Viditath Athah Aviditath Stath Brahma. The Kena Upanishad it says, if you think you know something, if you think you know Brahman, then you don't know. Because if you make a statement, I know Brahman and Brahman is a thought in your mind. This act of knowing is possible only through the thought and a thought is not an object. The object is totally separate from the thought. So if anybody thinks I know Brahman, he is an ignorant fellow and if somebody knows Brahman, he cannot express it. Therefore he says, I don't know Brahman. Maybe this person, I don't know Brahman. I don't know means I know Brahman, but how can I express because there is no comparison. Only through comparison as we discussed earlier, either through species or well-known fact or through relationship or through particular quality or through particular action, we can convey something to the other. Brahman being infinite, being divisionless, doesn't fall under any of these categories and therefore impossible to describe. So the knower, the realiser, he says simply, I don't know, meaning I know Brahman, but I don't know how to express it. Here a doubt will come. If every realised soul tells, I know Brahman, I know what I am, but I cannot express it, then who is going to convey the teachings? For that, Shabda Pramana, first you acquire this, first you recognise the alphabet, then 2-3 alphabets are brought together, its meaning is made clear and then you don't need to get alphabets together. You can understand words brought near and that is how in the course of time, huge paragraphs, huge chapters, huge books, knowledge just reflects. That is how slowly the walk, the teachings of the scriptures lead us by removing the impurities and when we start removing our impurities, our mind becomes more and more clean and pure and then pure reflection, which is we who are standing in front of the mind as it were, mind mirror as it were, we get our full self-knowledge by looking at the reflection and this reflection in Vedanta, pure 100% reflection in the purest mind is called Akara Vruthi, Brahma Akara Vruthi or Krishna Akara Vruthi or Shiva Akara Vruthi, Kali Akara Vruthi, Christ Akara Vruthi etc. So the point is I illumine everything and nothing can illumine me and you can understand that you are me only at the time of when my grace descends. When does my grace descend? Only when you completely surrender, that means when you do not resist my grace, most of the time we are resisting our grace. Before going further, this wonderful thought, God has given us a human body, that is one of his greatest gifts to us. We could have been born as a cockroach, as a dog, as a worm in any way, but God has given us this human body. Then he has given us some intellect to understand the higher scriptures, that is even greater grace and then he has given us this marvellous opportunity to study books, holy books, to listen to holy talks etc. and these are three what is called God's gifts which are obtainable only by a very fortunate few people, but what is the point? We are resisting this grace, means what? We are misusing our human life. We are not doing or studying what is supposed to be studied and we are not associating with people whom we are supposed to associate etc. Now the Lord is trying to tell the earlier discussed point, what is the point? The whole world and I the individual who is witnessing the world, each one of us are the witnesses. I am called Jeevatma, individual soul, you are called Jeevatma and whatever I am experiencing, you are experiencing, he is experiencing, she is experiencing, that is called the world. There are only two objects, a whole life is divided into two, the experiencer and the experienced and now here two points are to be noted again and again I will tell you in the past also I told you. What is the first point? Tremendous fact, whatever I experience is not me, whatever you experience is not you, whatever he or she is experiencing is not it. A mosquito if it is experiencing me, the mosquito knows very well that I am not a mosquito, I am not the mosquito eye but it is something where I can take advantage of it. When I see a mango, I want to eat it but I know I am not the mango but I will become a mango after eating it. We are what we eat, a little bit of fun, if I eat a mango then I become the mango or the mango becomes me, if I eat an egg, I become the egg, egg becomes me, if I eat fish, I become fish and fish becomes me, if I eat a donkey, you can understand further what I am trying to lead. The whole world is divided into the experiencer called Jeevatma and the experienced called the object of experience called the world but what is the relationship between these two? That's what the Lord wants to say slowly, my dear devotee you are part of me, the whole world consisting of nothing but body and mind is also part of me only. Now I want to insert something wonderful, supposing you see another human being and you are the experiencer of that human being and what are you experiencing? That other human being has a body and you know that that person has a mind because you can interact with that person. Similarly, when the other person looks at me, at you, he knows, first thing is I am not you, second thing is I am experiencing you, third thing is you have a body and you have a mind. So this is how we fall into the trap, I am a separate being, you are a separate being but the point here I wanted to highlight is that we are seeing body and mind. Both body and mind are inert because when I see any object in this world, that principle you apply, I am seeing a table, I am not a table, I am seeing a tree, I am not the tree. I am seeing another human being including my mother, my father, my wife, my husband, my children, my friends, my enemies, no, I am not my father, mother, etc. This is the first fact. Second fact is whatever qualities we see and we always see, my mother has certain qualities, my father has certain qualities, my husband has certain qualities, all these are called gunas. Those gunas belong to my father, to my mother or to my husband or to my wife, to my children but they do not belong to me. So these two points, whatever I see is not me. Second point, whatever qualities we perceive and react, act and react, those particular qualities belong to that particular person and do not belong to me. What is the benefit of it? First of all when I look at Sri Ramakrishna, I know that I am not Sri Ramakrishna because Sri Ramakrishna is a body and mind whom I choose, everybody chooses to call as Sri Ramakrishna. But he has certain qualities. He was a realized soul. He had wonderful intellect, wonderful mind, wonderful capacity to think, to understand, to do what he wants to do. Nobody can hold him back but all those qualities unfortunately belong to Sri Ramakrishna but not to me. I can try to imitate him and make them mine but they never belong to me. How does it help me? That if I want exactly to be like Sri Ramakrishna, I have to do what he had done to become that Sri Ramakrishna. If an aspiring musician wants to become like a great musician like Balamurali Krishna or Subbalakshmi etc., then he has to do what they have done to become such a great musician. So if I want to become great in any respect, I must work very hard. That is called effort. They can inspire me. In what way? If by following a particular path, they have become, achieved that greatness. It is a living proof, incontrovertible proof that I also by following their footsteps means by doing what they have done. I can also definitely scientifically can become like them if not more than them. That is the inspiration we can get. Anyway coming back, the Lord wants to tell that you the individual, you are not the individual. You are nothing but me, a particular part of me, an amsha, a ray of me. Like the millions, billions of sun rays, the sun says this ray is me, this ray is also me, all the rays that are escaping from me is nothing but me. Like millions of sparks that are thrown out from a blazing fire, every spark, though small in size, small in capacity, but exactly the same nature of the fire, no less at all. So every individual belongs to God. Then duality comes. Okay, all individuals are parts of God. But what about the world? He says your body is also me, your mind is also me. So let us make a triangle out of it. Paramatma from one point of view is individual soul, from another point of view is the world. These are the three angles comprising one wholesome harmonious triangle and so long as we have a mind, we have to keep this idea of triangle that the world and me, God. There is no difference. Let me give just a small explanation. I exist, though I know I am an individual, so my existence comes from God. I am aware of my individual existence, that understanding comes from the Chit part of the God and I am happy or unhappy, that is manifestation of my Ananda nature of Paramatma. Similarly, here is the existence of a tree, for that is a representative of the world. So the world exists, so that existence of the world is part of the existence aspect of Paramatma called Sat. And as I mentioned just now, every object comes with its own specialized knowledge. I am a triangle, I am a square, I am a tall tree, I am a short bush, I am sweet mango. All this is nothing but derived from the Chit part of supreme reality called Paramatma or Brahman, whatever name you call to choose it. And when we come into contact with each other and we invariably come into contact, I and the world, then my experience of eating a mango, eating a bitter fruit brings about appropriate reactions and that forms the part of the Ananda. With this background, let's go to the seventh verse says, An eternal portion of myself having become a living soul in a world of living beings draws to itself the five senses along with the mind which is the sixth which abide in Prakruti or in this particular world Prakruti. What is the Lord trying to tell? Here categorically the Lord is declaring. These are the words of the Lord. That's why it is called Bhagavad Gita. Gita means the words, a song that came out of whom? From Bhagavan's own mouth and He is declaring. Every Jeeva that is seen in this world though seemingly separate and almost innumerable, every Jeeva is nothing but my own part. Just as every ray is a part, just as every drop in the ocean is nothing but the ocean. Very interesting analogy. I'll come shortly to that. He had become Jeeva Bhutah as if we always have to add from the Advaitic point of view. He has not become Jeeva. He appears to be Jeeva. Like in a dream, you appear, you are walking. Somebody comes and throws you down and about to eat your blood, drink your blood or eat your flesh. A tiger for example to its only appearance. How do we know? Because as soon as we get up, we know it is a dream. But at the same time you say, yes, yes, dream I know. But waking state is not real. We are very foolish. Whenever we are in a dream state, we are categorically denying the reality of the waking state. Many times I explained to you. And when we are in the deep sleep state, we are categorically denying the very reality, existence of both the waking as well as the dream states. So Jeeva Bhutah, I have become you, Sanatana. I am eternal. Sanatana means eternal. Therefore you are also eternal. Not only that, every Jeeva, how did he become a Jeeva or individual? Because this reflected consciousness, the very word reflected means it must be reflecting in some object and that is the mind. And this reflected consciousness in the mind, it reflects through the five sense organs, illuminates the world, grasps the world, takes the world inside as thoughts and acts and reacts. This is what is called a life of even a mosquito, even a worm, even a microbe, amoeba, every living creature etc. So Jeeva Bhutah, Sanatana. Sanatana means deathless. Eternal means deathless. Birth is a manifestation, death is non-manifestation. So eternally like a circle, birth and death are going on until we know who we are. An eternal portion of myself having become a very Jeeva Atma and interacts with this world through the five sense organs along with the mind for the sixth. So five sense organs, five sense organs of knowledge plus the mind, only remember if the mind is not there, five sense organs are just like windows. A camera doesn't see the object in front of it. It is the cameraman only he understands with the help of the camera what he is capable of taking the picture. Similarly we have to understand five sense organs are fine, they are like windows, they are called Golakas. Golaka means mere windows. But the person behind the window who is peeping through the window, it is the mind in the form of reflected consciousness plus the ability to reflect the outside object. So a mind is reflecting two things. A part of the consciousness called awareness and a part of this object whichever is experienced. A thought of the object manifesting outside is an object, the same object manifesting inside the mind is a thought of that object. Whenever you think tree, that object called tree is manifesting in our minds as the thought tree. But that thought of tree cannot manifest, it must be manifesting only with the aid of awareness through the help of the reflected consciousness. This is the nature of the thought which is the most wonderful thought. So what is the Lord telling? That every individual soul is me. But the body and mind, what is it? That's also me. So wherever I go, I carry these things. What is the point of this verse? In this particular verse, the Lord is affirming the theory of rebirth. There is birth. Birth means the reflected consciousness which is called the mind and the baby starts to grow and go through so many changes. The final change is called dissolution of the body. What happens then? Along with the acquired samskaras, along with the subtle body called mind, causal body called the storehouse of all impressions, it is called karana sharira, causal body. A subtle body and the causal body carries the idea of a future body and then after discarding this worn out, useless, it has done its function in search of a new body. That is called a new birth. Rebirth is nothing but acquiring a fit physical instrument called body for the purpose of expressing its accumulated impressions, good or bad. That is being reiterated here. Our point, important point is you cannot prove it in the laboratory. We have to trust only the teachings of there. So this is what he is telling that this Brahman is manifesting through infinite number of mirrors called the minds and in the form of infinite number of bodies because remember mind will not function for long without a body. So the subtle body is called a body because it has a body but the subtle body, causal body cannot function long without the help of a physical body. They always go together but there is a temporary short gap. A physical body is given up and until we gain a new instrument and forge it by our own previous actions, thoughts, impressions to express our own desires etc. Then the bodiless state is experienced, call it bodiless, preta, bhuta, pishacha or a ghost, a spirit etc. or if the person has to experience tremendous joy because of the accumulated virtue then he goes to higher world. There requires a suitable body for experiencing higher type of enjoyment and this is another fact many times I repeated to experience a tasty object. The instrument to enjoy, appreciate that taste must be there. That's why we say sometimes what does a monkey know? The taste of ginger etc. So if you want to enjoy wine, you must be a very what is called skillful person in the art of tasting. You can never understand the greatness of wine like the wine tasters, coffee tasters, tea tasters or any type of tasters. So this is something very wonderful. So the Lord is asserting there is rebirth. Rebirth for whom? For every individual. Rebirth for whom? Until a person realizes that I am Paramatma. This every birth is a new opportunity. It's what is called evolutionary step forward even through the experience of pain and suffering so that we can learn good lessons from it. Hopefully we have learned some lessons from this COVID which I have very little hope but some people definitely have understood and are preparing themselves. If any such thing it repeats in future, occurs in future, the persons are ready but those who are not ready they will have to learn their lesson through greater suffering. So life is full of learning process. Every life is to learn more and more. A final point of learning is that I am none other than Paramatma. Here is the authoritative statement. An eternal portion of myself have become the innumerable living souls called Jeevatmans, individual souls in this world of living beings. And at the time of death it discards the worn out useless instrument called the body and then along with the subtle body five sense organs and the mind called the subtle body, six components, five organs of knowledge and one organ of intellect or mind. What about the five organs of action? They will come into force only when we acquire a new physical instrument called Deha. So here is a beautiful statement. Along with this the Jeevatma for the experiencing travels after leaving the body until he acquires a new body and where are these mind and indriyas located? Prakruti. The world has supplied these things to us, this body, this mind, the gross body, the subtle body as well as the causal body. All the three are supplied by the Prakruti, nature. But here the gross body is gone and therefore we are in search of a new house for us to stay there and carry on our activities. This is an assertion of the well-believed this thing. So what is the point? The whole universe is nothing but manifestation of the divine supreme reality in the form of the both individual soul as the experiencer and the world as the experienced. And this fact we have studied in the fourth chapter 24th verse. He who learns how to look upon both the body, the mind, the experiencer as well as the experienced as manifestation of that supreme reality through that spiritual practice of seeing everything as Brahman finally he realizes this is not an imagination, this is not faith, this is my own self. So we will move with this idea to the next verse in our next class. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.