Bhagavad Gita Ch18 part 30 on 27 March 2022

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

Om Jananem Sharadam Devem Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum Pada Padmetayo Sritva Pranamami Mohur Mohur Om Vasudevasutam Devam Kamsa Januram Arthanam Devaki Paramanandam Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Sarvopanishadho Gavo Dogdha Gopalanandana Partho Vatsa Sudhir Goktha Dogdham Gita Amritam Mahat Mokam Karoti Vachalam Pangam Langhayate Girim Yat Kripatamaham Vande Paramanandam Adhagam We have been studying the 53rd verse of the 18th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita. Certain spiritual qualities have to be acquired in order to progress in spiritual life and ultimately become one with the Divine. That is to say, to realize I am Divine. Aham Brahmasmi What are those things? Ahamkaram, Balam, Darpam, Kamam, Krodham, Parigraham, Pimutsya, Nirmamaha, Shanto, Bhutva, Brahmabhuyaya, Kalpate. Such a spiritual aspirant should abound in egoism, violence, arrogance, desire, hatred and courteousness. We have been just starting the subject Parigraham. If you remember well, in our Patanjali Yoga Sutra classes, the very first step is to get rid of all the negativity. And that is what we are supposed to do. For that, Yama and Niyama, 10 universal rules and regulations, characteristics. 5 to avoid, 5 to acquire. Get rid of the negativity. Acquire positivity. So Yamas are there to get rid of all the 5 negative things. So what are those things? We have seen Ahimsa, Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya and Aparigraha. The fifth of these Yamas, Aparigraha. Graha means to grasp. Parigraha means to grasp so strongly. It is a prefix which means that it is so very difficult to get rid of it. And the opposite of it is Aparigraha. As if such a thing doesn't exist at all. The true definition of Aparigraha is dependent upon the psychology of desire. How is a desire created in all of us? By knowing about a thing. Not only by knowing about a thing, but knowing it, what result it gives. Just by knowing something, desire will not come. If it doesn't either contribute for our happiness or unhappiness. If it contributes for happiness, we want it. If the opposite, we have a strong desire to get rid of it somehow or other, even to avoid it. If we have it, get rid of it. If we don't have it, but it is likely to come to us, try to avoid it. In either way, this desire is there with regard to both, something we want and something we do not wish. Suppose a person doesn't know that a thing doesn't exist, then desire will not come. There is no question of having what you call likes or dislikes. So here we are talking about a very very important thing. Parigraha means to accept things. Is it possible for any human being to live without accepting? It's impossible. Our very birth has come by borrowing and our life continues by borrowing. And even after we die also, we only want to borrow. What is this mystery? Hinduism has recognized, that means Hindu Rishis have recognized, every human being is born with a tremendous debt. Not only debt, but to five beings, five debts. To those who give us knowledge, Rishis. To those who are giving us everything, material, mental, etc. The different powers of God, Devatas. Then to our ancestors, to every human being, and to all the non-human beings. There is no being or object in this world to whom we are not indebted. Whole life we have to work hard to get rid of these debts. There is a beautiful coining of Sanskrit words. It is called Reina. Reina means debt. So Pesha Reina, Deva Reina, Pitru Reina, Dhruv Reina, Bhuta Reina. And when we try to get rid of it, it is called Yagna, great sacrifice. Earlier I have dealt with it thoroughly. Yagna means sacrifice. The word sacrifice means as if I am giving up something. No. To give up the idea, I am somebody, I have something. To give up that idea, that is called Yagna or sacrifice. Because I am because of God. What this world is because of God, if certain things and myself come into contact, and certain things happen to be with me, for example, my body, my mind, my possessions, etc., they all belong to God. That is why also I explained when Hindus do Asper service in the evening, that is at dusk, they show five things to God. Light, water, cloth, a flower, and a fan, indicating of five Bhutas, five elementals. So five elements and their derivatives, elementals, elements, and elementals, they all come from God, Atman. Nothing belongs to me. What I call me, everything belongs to God. My individual consciousness belongs to the universal consciousness. My individual mind belongs to the universal mind. My individual body belongs to the universal body. Nothing belongs. This acknowledgement that nothing belongs to me is the result of truly worshipping God and that knowledge that I have nothing to offer, please accept my gratefulness, is called Asper service. And that is the duty of everybody. This is the true meaning of Parigraha. Parigraha means to have that knowledge that from the very beginning I am borrowing, my very birth is borrowing five elements, the earth, the water, the fire, the air, and the space. I live every millisecond borrowing these five things. When I am hungry, I borrow food from the earth. When I am thirsty, I borrow and fill my body with the required amount of water from the Jala Devata. When I require warmth, heat, I borrow it from Surya Devata indirectly or indirectly. And when I want to breathe oxygen every millisecond I borrow the Vayu Devata. And the more I grow, the more I move about, I require space for me, for my movement, for every action. And I borrow it from Akasha Devata. And all these five elements have come from God. Therefore, everything is God. Everything has come from God. Everything is living in God. Everything ultimately goes back to God. That's why a great Sufi saint has uttered an astonishing statement. Every Sufi starts his journey from God, progresses in God, ultimately ends in God. Except in God, there is nothing else. If we can grasp that idea, that is called Aparigraha. And so long as we do not, then it is not right. Bhagavan Krishna here says, Aparigraha is one of the spiritual qualities. That means everything belongs to you. I belong to you. I can only acknowledge in gratefulness. That is called worship. That is called sacrifice. That is called knowledge. And that's what I need to develop. So that's why Krishna says, If we do not attempt to get rid of this terrible quality called covetousness, then it leads to hell. What is hell? According to Vedanta, greater suffering. Like a person, the further away he is from the seashore, the more the heat will scorch him. The further away a person is from Sat, Chit and Ananda, the further will be his sufferings. So the nearer we move, that is called Aparigraha. So Bhagavan Krishna says earlier, We have studied Kama, Krodha and Lobha. Lust, anger and greed are three sure gateways to hell. And Ramakrishna has even a better word. He used to say, What is Maya? Maya is nothing but lust and greed. These two are the greatest obstructions in spiritual life. He used to call it Kama and Kanchana. Kanchana means usually it is gold, money, property, possessions. But here in this case, having property is not an unspiritual quality. But to use it properly, to acknowledge the Divine Lord, that is what we saw in the third chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, that which is given to us by the Gods, means God in the form of the Gods bestows everything needed for living a joyous life. Without offering that to the Divine Lord, he who merely enjoys selfishly, such a person is called a thief. So Ramakrishna is telling, Maya is nothing but lust and gold, Kama and Kanchana. And then one who is caught in this net of Maya is called Jivatma, a bound soul. And he says, you have the traits of a Jiva, an embodied being. And what are these traits? Lust, egotism, greed for wealth, and hankering after name and fame. All embodied beings have these traits. So renunciation means the giving up of lust and greed. Of these, greed is the most difficult thing to give up. The Bible says, Greed is defined by Shankaracharya as the sense organs running madly after objects of enjoyment. Greed, that means cautiousness, that means Parigraha, not only binds man, but also makes him commit crimes. You just analyze the anatomy of greed. Anatomy of murder is a beautiful book. Anatomy of a crime, anatomy of a murder. Eric Fromm, one of my favorite social psychologists, Anatomy of Destruction, a big book he has written, a marvelous book. If we analyze, what is the anatomy? Limitless greed. So greed not only binds man, but also makes him commit crimes. And even some people do not commit crimes outside, externally, but their mind is full of crimes. That's why Tulasidas says, even Jesus Christ says, anybody who looks upon another woman with a lustful eye, he has already committed adultery in his mind. What is adultery? I wish I possess this object of enjoyment, irrespective of whether the other person wants to enjoy or not, likes it or not. So the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas said of greed, it is a sin directly against one's neighbors, since one cannot overabound in external riches without another man lacking them. It is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, inasmuch as man rejects things eternal for the sake of temporal things. Thomas Aquinas has put his finger right on the problem, the psychology, the anatomy of this particular quality called greed. What does greed do? First of all, it makes a person forget God. What is the second thing it does? It makes a person terribly possessive. Not only is he never satisfied, he wants more and more, and more and more can come, only when he can deprive the other people. Third, and very few people realize this, if any person possesses more, that means somebody is possessing less. And Swami Vivekananda has given a marvelous explanation of this in these terms. If anybody has more than what he requires, somewhere, at some time, he is depriving another person of what that person requires. So that is why he says it is a sin against God, like any other mortal sins. According to Christianity, there are seven mortal sins. Greed is one of them. Lust is one of them. Jealousy is one of them, etc. Seven sins against God. So, as man rejects things eternal for the sake of temporal things, because God and mammon cannot be together. You can't have both. That is what Tulasidas says, Rama and Kama cannot live together. It is impossible. Now, there is a further thing we have to understand. Greed would not be so bad if it could make the greedy person happy. All right, Baba, you are a greedy person, and you want to accumulate more. Fine. Granted. Have them as much as you want. But will you be a happy person? You won't be a happy person. Why? Because there are two reasons, two causes. A greedy person spends more time, more energy, more thought, in trying to accumulate things. And you know, this is one of the factors that even the intelligent modern man or woman is not capable of understanding. You cannot grab happiness. You can't grab food and put a piece of hamburger, take a big bite, and take in one hand, another hand, a big bottle of Coca-Cola, and like a piston, use it, the Coca-Cola, push it against the food so that it goes down the throat. That is, filling the stomach, not enjoying the food. Anything enjoyable, it requires time, it requires leisure, it requires a certain frame of mind, it requires a certain time, a certain place, a certain atmosphere. All these things, if any of them is lacking, to that extent, the happiness will be very much lacking. So, a funny thing I heard, there are some very famous restaurants, and people have not even standing space. That is why they have invented some chairs. They are so comfortable for 15 minutes. Afterwards, they will be so uncomfortable that unconsciously, a fellow will just swallow whatever is remaining, and takes a drink, empties the bottle, and rushes out of it, not knowing why he is making it. These restaurant owners deliberately make it so that more people can come, so that more money can be accumulated. Look at nations, they want to grab lands, they want to grab power, they want to grab money. What are you going to do with all that unless a very important factor in enjoying anything is our body, our mind. They are the most crucial factors. If they are not equipped with the right conditions, for example, a man must be hungry to enjoy food, whatever may be the food. A man must be thirsty in order to enjoy some cool drinks. A man must be very tired, then only he can enjoy. And the enjoyment is proportion to this desire that is created by being hungry, by being thirsty, by being tired, etc., etc. And suppose a man has got two beds. Is he going to jump? Three hours I will sleep in this bed, three hours I will sleep in the other bed. Such a foolish fellow will not get sleep and he may be profoundly disturbed. This is what he is telling, the pursuit of greed leaves little time for anything else, much less enjoyment. And then usually in Sanskrit there is a saying that if a miserly fellow, who is a greedy fellow, he accumulates. A miserly fellow doesn't even have neither time nor inclination to enjoy. What happens to all his wealth? Either his relatives take away or the government takes away in the form of taxes or the thieves take away. So he is only what is called Parishrama, only suffering, hardship in accumulating all these things. And the Sanskrit saying, it gives the example, poor bees go on working very hard in accumulating honey and then one day either a bear or a man or some bird, something or other comes, knocks off and then enjoys it. The poor bees are left out to look for again to construct a beehive and to do everything. So be commonsensical. So there are so many negative things about covetousness. And then to boot all this with us, what is it? We may not be aware. Sometimes we are. Most of the time we think it is wisdom to accumulate things for a rainy day. So all of us are greedy. Why? Because all bound souls are greedy. And if we are not greedy, we would have been free long back to boot. And we live in a society which promotes more and more accumulation in the name of happiness, freedom and security. So by our very nature, we are all greedy. Imitation of Christ, which is a marvellous psychology of human being, that any psychologist can bear his knowledge. Human nature is greedy and finds receiving more blessed than giving. There is a law. If you cannot give, then you cannot receive. If you cannot make space by removing what you have, there will be no place for you to receive, even if the best things come out also. Patanjali specially deals with this subject in the 5th of the 5 Yamas, Ahimsa, Hathya, Asteya, Brahmacharya and Aparigraha. Aparigraha means non-possessiveness, non-greediness. So what does it mean? That catching hold of things with a death grip, not grasping, non-possessiveness and just remain a trustee, that is called Aparigraha. A beautiful maxim tells us, all the things of the world are ours to use, but not ours to own. That is the essence of Aparigraha. Whenever we become possessive, we are in turn possessive. This is one of the great wisdom of psychology. We think we are possessive, not knowing that our possessions take possession of us and we become extremely anxious, holding on to our things and grasping for more and more and somebody or other will definitely come along and take away things, causing us tremendous grief. But when we make good use of the possessions that come to us by the grace of God, we can enjoy them without becoming, very important to take note, emotionally dependent on them. Then they neither wield power over us nor lead to false identities and expectations. And that is why Yamadharma Raja's sage-iest advice to Nachiketa, a householder who doesn't entertain a guest, Asha Pratiksha, hope and expectations will be burnt to ashes. So, do you acquire more? Just ask the question. Let us examine ourselves, our tendencies, with some amount of objectiveness, especially towards possessiveness. Do you acquire more of something than you can use? Do you depend too much on people and possessions? And if yes, then we are greedy, possessive Parigrahins. A Parigraha tells us to let go of everything that we do not need, possessing only as much as necessary. A Parigraha makes us dependent more and more on God. Who can really practice non-covetousness? The person who takes complete refuge in God. He alone can practice. And that is why in the future verses, this point is very beautifully emphasized. We will come to that point. Once Madhur Babu, the person who was a devotee and caretaker of Sri Ramakrishna, took him to an estate. And then after coming back, Madhur Babu thought, My father, Sri Ramakrishna, is to call him Baba. He doesn't have anything. And who knows when I am going to die. Let me write a piece of this, my land, so that the annual income, interest out of it, can take care of Baba, so long as He is alive. And he gave this advice, probably hoping Sri Ramakrishna will be very grateful. On the contrary, Sri Ramakrishna became extremely angry. Took up a big stick and said, You rogue! You want me to depend upon you and your possession? He is not my mother. All the time taking care of me. This is a marvelous example of total dependence upon God. Just look at a baby. What does he possess? He is not even aware that he has a body. All that he knows is, I am in safe hands. My mother is taking care of me. Have you ever seen a baby thinking, Where from am I going to get my next meal? Where am I going to sleep? And who is going to take care of me? Every spiritual aspirant must ultimately become a child, totally dependent upon God. And God definitely will take care of him. So this is called total dependence on God. It is a real uparigraha. And then there is a beautiful story of Sri Ramakrishna. It is a parable of Sri Ramakrishna. There was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. And one day Lord Vishnu was sitting and talking with Lakshmi Devi. Suddenly, all of a sudden, He jumped up and ran out. And after a second, He again came back smiling and resumed his conversation. Lakshmi was surprised. Where did you disappear? And again, why did you come back so fast? Then Narayana explained, I saw one of my devotees, completely absorbed in thinking of me, was unconsciously walking on a lot of... some washermen have washed clothes and kept them for drying on the river bank. And this man, unconsciously with his dirty feet, started walking on them. And the washermen got angry. They were about to beat him up. I saw the devotee was very, very absorbed in thinking of me. Then Lakshmi asked, Why did you come back so quickly? What happened? Then Narayana said, smiling, Only the devotee is broken. And he saw and he took up a brick to protect himself. And so I said, When he is capable of looking after himself, he doesn't need me. I just came back. A beautiful parable that unless we totally depend upon God, He is not going to take care of us. And many times Ramakrishna had taught this lesson in his Gospel. And one simple, just to remind, somebody comes and tells to him that, Sir, I need something from the store. Will you come and give it to me? And this owner of the house says, I have already employed somebody. You go there and ask him. You will get it from him. If nobody is there, I will come and give it to you. That is meaning that so long as you yourself think, I am quite capable of not only taking care of myself, of also taking care of what I call my family, my relatives, my country, my possessions, everything. What a marvelous thing. So, Bhagavan Krishna at the end of this chapter says, He who totally giving up dependencies upon everything in this world, and take refuge in me, I will take up his burden. And the same thing was also told in the 9th chapter. He who constantly thinks of me and is not aware of anything, so I carry whatever is necessary to him. अनन्यास्चिन्दयं तोमां एजनाः पर्युपासते तेशाम् नित्याभी उक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहामिः I carry what is necessary, I preserve, I protect what is necessary. Such a person need not worry about anything else. And to prove this, Swami Saradhananda says, people lost faith in this promise of the Lord, so the Divine Lord once more incarnated as Ramakrishna to prove this. So, with this, we have completed these qualifications. Slowly, slowly, every spiritual aspirant has to acquire. So, that's why he says, विमुच्या, by giving up, giving up what? कामा, क्रोधा, लोभा and all the आंकारम, बलम, धत्मम, कामम, क्रोधम, परिग्रह, six of the inimical things. By giving up, what does he become? He will be entitled to become a Sanyasin, a monk or a nun. Even if such a person doesn't put on a special dress called an ochre robe, a yellow robe, etc. Or Christian monks and nuns, they put on various types of dresses, usually a white dress or even a black dress. That is not necessary because all this belongs to the mind, not to the external body at all. Still, why is the Lord insisting? Because even monks are human beings, nuns are human beings. We see, we hear so many scandals, not only in India, in the Roman Vatican, that cardinals, bishops and including the whole Vatican, money laundering and then what is called stock brokering and losing millions, gaining millions and through all sorts of ways, a big investigation is still going on, I believe. It happens not only in the Roman Vatican, but it happens everywhere, especially we have to be extremely careful. And Shankaracharya, he comes, I will come to that. So when a person is able to give up these things, what happens when there is no possession? That means the spiritual outlook, I do not have anything, everything belongs to God. Such a person acquires a tremendous quality called Nirmamaha. Mamaha means mine, I and mine. As I tell funnily, Mama means mine. So that mine is a minefield. The moment anybody says, this is me and this is mine, just like minefield, it can explode at any moment and it is bound to explode sooner or later. But if a person strives sincerely, prays to God, Oh Lord, only through your grace I can acquire these things and really it is true unless there is Divine Mother out of her infinite compassion, doesn't take off what Sri Ramakrishna calls avidya maya, immature maya, kaja ami. It is not possible. Yet it is said here that even sannyasins can say that I have the body. This is my body. Yes, I have given up all attachment to external possessions but body. So many sadhus are there and they grow beards and they look really handsome though Swami Ranganathanji Maharaj used to say, Oh beard, how much you are capable of hiding behind that bushy moustache and beard. A man can hide so many things and people have some reverence seeing that one. How many hypocrites have been exposed indulging worse than householders in possessions and everything but only by God's grace when we are objective, sincere and surrender ourselves, trying to surrender. Really true surrender is possible only like a big magnet can attract a small iron file. All that we need to do is get rid of the mud etc. by trying to wash it off. The moment that is done, we need not pray to the magnet or request it or suggest it automatically it takes place. So this is Shankaracharya says that a monk even though he has given up everything, he can still have a sense of ownership with reference to his own body. Once a person gives even this attachment to the body up, it doesn't mean he doesn't care. It means he cares whatever is necessary, no more, no less. Such a person has not even no mamatva even in the sustenance of the body. Therefore it is said in the Sanskrit, such a person neither desires to live long nor desires death. He says I have nothing to do with it. It belongs to God. Let him do what he wants to do, when he wants to do, how he wants to do it. So such a person neither desires life nor death. So giving up all these things as a very natural consequence, what happens? Shantu Bhavati. His mind becomes absolutely like a ripple-less ocean, windless ocean, about which in Bhagavad Gita we have seen like a lamp which is kept in a windless, completely windless place and not even a flicker will be there. And that is really called Yoga Chittavruti Nirodaha. What is the result of developing all the spiritual qualities aforementioned? Such a person, the 23rd verse says from the mouth of Shri Krishna, Brahma Bhuyaya Kalpate. That person can gain certainty of knowledge. What is that knowledge? I am Brahman. This is called Brahma Bhuya. The capacity, Brahma Bhuya means to become Brahman. He has got all the qualifications. As soon as he is fit, immediately the obstruction is removed. The grace of God comes. This is what we call in simple Sanskrit language, this is called Brahma Akara Vritti. Brahma Akara Vritti. Only one Vritti is there. Brahman, Brahman, Brahman. Not even I am Brahman. Only Brahman. And that is possible only, not emphasized enough by the grace of the Divine Mother or God, whatever you call it. Then as soon as he is fit, immediately he will become one. As soon as light is brought, darkness is destroyed. And we don't need to bring in something else to reveal the rope. As soon as sufficient light is brought, that light destroys the idea that this is a snake. This is not a rope. And that's all its purpose. All spiritual practice has only one goal. To remove the feeling that I am not God. I am not Brahman. The ultimate of such is that as soon as a person acquires these qualifications, like a magnet, Brahman, simply makes this iron filing, each iron filing, one with it, every iron filing also becomes part of that, is only human expression, part of that big magnet. It itself becomes a magnet. There is no part, there is no whole. This is just for the convenience of language. Now that is called the highest union. The Guru comes and says, you know, really you are Brahman. And the disciple says, yes, yes, I am Brahman. I know that now. This person, he has become Brahman because of those qualifications. What are these qualifications? 17 qualifications. What do they do? They thoroughly wash away, purge away all the obstructions. And like Karpura, like camphor, not only it purifies everything, it itself disappears. Like the purifying agent. So like that, this person is the obstruction. I am the individual. And that is God. This individual, this and that will be removed. There is no difference between I am and Brahman. And that highest union, immediately, automatically, and this point is beautifully elaborated, discussed in the Mandukya Karika, especially from the 3rd, 4th and 5th Karikas of Gaudapada. So what happens? Alright, this person realizes I am divine. I am the child of immortality, by whatever language you use. Then what does he become? He is called Jivan Muktha. How do we know? We don't know really, but certain characteristics become very manifest. What are they? That is being beautifully, graphically described in the 54th Shloka. So having become Brahman and being tranquil in heart, he neither grieves nor desires. He treats like all beings and attains supreme devotion to Me. What happens? The very first thing that happens is Prasanna Atma. He becomes an embodiment of bliss. Whoever goes, even into the presence of that person, I would go so far as to say, if we can sincerely even think of such person, for example, you cannot think of Sri Ramakrishna without becoming joyous. You cannot think of Swami Vivekananda without coming out alive. If anybody says that Oh, I read Swami Vivekananda. I am a very depressed person. He is not reading Vivekananda. He is reading the works of Swami Shokananda. So you just think of Brahmanmarshi. You just look at the figure of Buddha, figure of Shankara, Shiva and figure of the meditative posture of Swami Vivekananda. You will understand a little bit of what I am talking about. So Prasanna Atma is extremely pleased. That means what? We also become pleased for a short time. No. He becomes pleased to the highest degree and then that will be perfect. It will be eternal. It can never be ruffled. It can never be lessened or made more. That is why Na Shocchati. Such an idea, Na Kankshati. Na Shocchati means never grieves, never becomes depressed, doesn't look back and then go on saying Oh, I should grieve because I did so many bad things. Na Kankshati. Oh, there are so many unfulfilled desires. I wish I had this. I had the other one. I had the... especially I had the other one which other people have. Human psychology, you know. So marvellous. If I don't have something, probably I don't need it and probably I don't desire it. But the moment I see the other fellow, this is called in English language, keeping up with the Genesis. Such a person, he never desires anything because he knows I am more than happy. A realised soul, he becomes happiness. There is nothing that can give him happiness. That's why he neither grieves nor desires anything. Not only that, such a person, as we have seen earlier, a person who has knowledge of God becomes God and like God in God's eyes, there is no non-God. Everything is only God. So there is a beautiful story. Once the son became very friendly with a fellow who was living in a dark cave and they started corresponding and then one day the son invited that fellow, you come to my house and then we will just spend some joyous time and the person jumped, went there and found marvellous. He had never experienced such a joy. So much of light, light, light. There is no darkness at all. This fellow, whole life he was only suffering in darkness, no darkness, all light and he spent some days there and in his turn, invited, please come to me and he said, yes, yes, next week I will come to you. And the son came and he entered into the cave and then he said, my friend, you have been lamenting about your darkness so much. Where is that? Where is that darkness? I see only light. Well, well, don't you see here? In this corner. So he went into that corner and there was complete light. That fellow in the cave could not point out what is darkness so long as the sun is there. So when a person becomes, he is In Vivekachudamani, we have marvellous description of what happens to a person. So such a person, in his vision, there is no second, only Brahman, the infinite, the one without a second, the eternal, the unborn, the deathless, the changeless, the pure, shuddha, nitya, shuddha, buddha, mukta, chaitanya, alone exists. Therefore, he sees everything as divine, joyous, divine manifestation. That is called Leela. If he is still, body-mind is still functioning. And then not only that, when this person gains that knowledge that I am Brahman, mat-bhaktim labhate param and such a person, he gains supreme devotion to me. Why? Because he knows what is devotion, what is bhakti. Bhakti is love. What is love? Love means complete union with the other is called love. If a person loves his or her spouse, that is, they want to become, remain together. If a person loves his country, he wants to do good for his country. If a person loves humanity, he cannot bear the slightest unhappiness of any human being. When a person identifies himself with existence, he cannot bear even one stone also. It is not a stone. In the eyes of a brahmagnani, a stone is nothing but a manifestation of satchitananda. In our eyes, sat is there, existence is there. Because we say it is a stone. There is a stone. This is a stone. But we don't see consciousness, much less joy. But even a stone can give us much joy. If you need to break a nut, a heavy stone will give you tremendous amount of joy. If you don't understand, I don't want to say, we are all nuts. So, these are the, what is called, marvellous results of realising Brahma. What is it? Brahma buddhaha. Prasannatma becomes extremely pleased. That is why it is said, Prasadhe sarva dukkhanam Anirasya upajayate prasanna chetra suhyashu buddhi parye vatishthate. Then he attains tremendous amount of tranquillity, which is not like deep sleep tranquillity, but it is over abundance of joy. Therefore, there is no place for regret, nakankshati. And as I said, samam sarveshu buddheshu. Whatever he sees, mountain is a devata. A river is a devata. A forest is a devata. All the five elements, they are devatas. And this is called bhakti. What is bhakti? Devotion. What is devotion? Supreme knowledge. What is supreme knowledge? That I am Brahman. I am everything. Nothing is separate from me. So, who doesn't love oneself? Nobody can hate oneself, but we use English expression, I hate myself. That means what? My mind looks down upon my body and there is a part of the body which perhaps is inconvenient. It is not cooperating. It is painful. I hate my body. I hate my hair. I hate my face. Everybody is beautiful, excepting me. Ask your mother when you are a baby and she will tell the truth that you are the most beautiful person on earth. Ask your dog. It will tell you the truth that my master, my mistress is the most beautiful person in this whole world. So, such a person becomes ever cheerful. That's why it is said nobody can be in the presence of Swami Vivekananda for a few seconds and not be lifted up at all. So, Shankaracharya, he comments, such a disposition of always being cheerful because he knows there is nothing which can bring me either change or sorrow or separation or death. It is not natural, but something one has to acquire by living a life of spiritual sadhana. And this person never desires anything because everything he has become. There is nothing he has not become at all. So, such a person. This Taittiriya Upanishad gives us in the Ananda Valli a beautiful description. I cannot describe how marvellous it is. A realised soul. Why did I not do good deeds? Such past regrets such a person will never have. Why did I do such a sinful action? A person goes far beyond these two because there is no place for such negative thoughts. For whom? This means Beautifully it says He in whom it is the Self, being, that has become all existence, all beings, all becomeings, for He has the perfect knowledge. How shall He be deluded? When shall He have grief? Who sees everywhere? The same one pure consciousness. That person, Bhagavan says, gains the highest devotion to Me. Bhakti was defined in the Bhagavad Gita. There are four types of bhakti. Four types of people who have these four types of bhakti. We have seen that one. What is it? There are people who have performed all virtuous deeds for many many many lives. As a result their attention turns to Me. But among them also there is a beginner's devotion which is whenever that person is in distress, he remembers Me more and immediately I rush because I know he relies upon Me and I save him. Draupadi, Gajendra, a few examples, plenty of such examples are there. Then when a person overcomes such a stage, he comes to the next stage. What is the next bhakti? Much higher. He is not in danger. He says, I have a lot of unfulfilled desires. The first type is called Artha. The second type is called Arthaarthi. I have lots of desires. Arthaarthi. I am the desirer of a lot of desires. So Bhagavan fulfils. He says, those who worship Me in whatever form, I fulfil their desires in that very particular form. Thereby their faith in Me is reinforced. Thereby they come to depend upon Me more and more and one day they get tired of all those things because anything is acquired, anything comes, also goes. Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram. If Rama comes, Rama departs. An object comes, object goes. Body comes, body goes. Everything. This is an eternal law. Then he gets. I never want to get or to get rid of, to obtain and to lose. I want to attain that state where I can always be having everything, being everything. Such a person is called an Enquirer. Jignasu. That is the third, three-fourth devotion. And then in course of time, that Jignasu, that Karma Yogi, having practiced all the 17 characteristics which we have outlined right now, such a person, he acquires, he becomes Brahmabhuyaya Kalpate. He obtains the knowledge of Brahman through My grace. And once he becomes Nashochati, Nakankshati, he becomes Prasannatma and then Samamsarveshu Bhuteshu Madh Bhaktim Labhate Param. So, four types of devotions. All are good. Like a baby growing up, each one of us has to go inevitably through that four-fold process, but we are going to attain sooner or later, probably sooner than later. Then, what does that devotion do? This is the Bhakti that is called Parabhakti. Swami Vivekananda says, there is absolutely no difference between supreme devotion and supreme knowledge. And I will just bring a teaching of Ramanuja in today's class before ending it. According to Ramanujacharya, there are four steps for attaining liberation. The first step is called Karma Yoga, which is common with Jnana Yoga as well as Bhakti Yoga. That is, our heart has to be purified, our detachment has to be developed, some amount of control over the body, sense organs and mind has to be acquired. Then, as a result of that, he obtains knowledge. The second step is to obtain knowledge. What is the knowledge? Who am I? What is God? What is my relationship with God? Three. Who is God? Who is me? What is our relationship? He understands God is Brahman. I am a Jivatma. Of course, according to Ramanuja, I am part of God. Not the whole of God. Not one with God. Part of God. This knowledge brings tremendous... This is my mother. This is my father. That's why he says, Mata, this is my Tvameva Pita, Tvameva Pita, Tvameva Bandhu, Tvameva Sakha, Tvameva Dravinam, Tvameva Vidya, Tvameva Sarvam, Amadeva Deva. And then he revels in that. And then ultimately, he becomes inseparably united as part with God. That is Ramanuja's version. That's what he is telling through this Parabhakti. So Parajnana will come. And what happens? He will come to know. This teaching of Ramanuja, we will discuss in our next class. May Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti. Jai Ramakrishna.