Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 37 on 28 September 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Chandogya Upanishad and this sixth chapter is called the Sadvidya. It has sixteen sections and in our last class we have completed the sixth section, Khanda. So another ten sections are to be dealt with. Out of that, the next two sections, seventh and eighth, is famously known as Adhyarupa, superimposition. What is superimposition? That the entire creation with varieties of names, forms and qualities is nothing but manifestation of Brahman. But even though it is the manifestation of Brahman, we seem to forget Brahman and see many-foldness, many forms and each separate from each other. This process is called Adhyarupa, superimposition, as if the creation is superimposed like a snake is superimposed upon the rope. What is the end result? We forget Brahman who is of the nature of Sat, Chit and Ananda, pure existence, pure knowledge and unbroken bliss. We seem to forget this and we seem to think we have birth, we have death and our knowledge is very very limited and we are going through both happiness and unhappiness, swinging from one to the other. So in our last class and in every class, this is what Uddalaka Aruni wants to convey to us. So this is called the process of superimposition. This will continue through examples until the next two chapters, that is the what is called eighth, sorry only one chapter, seventh chapter. From eighth to the end, nine chapters, if this is Adhyarupa, superimposition, then what is the remedy? Remedy is called Apavada, getting rid of the superimposition, getting rid of the notion that this is a snake and then what remains is pure rope, harmless rope. That is the example here. It is not harmless Brahman but Sat, Chit, Ananda, Brahman. Then person will be eternally happy. That is what to be conveyed from eighth to the end of this sixth chapter, sixteenth, nine chapters and at the end of the teaching of each of the chapters beginning from eight to sixteen, Uddalaka, he ends every section, Tattvam Asi Shweta Ketu, Etat Satyam, this is the truth and what is the truth? Tattvam Asi Shweta Ketu, you are that Brahman, Tattvam Asi, this is one of the Mahavakyas, repeated how many times? Nine times and this is how we have seen earlier how the real teaching of the scripture has to be understood. There must be a criteria. That criteria is called Shadlinga, Tatparya Nirnaye. In order to come at the right understanding of scriptural teaching, we use, employ six characteristics, Upakrama, Upasamsara, Upasamhara, that is beginning and end, Abhyasa, in between repeating it. Then like that six characteristics are there, something unique, Apurvata, through all these, yes, since it is repeated, so that must be the real meaning of the scripture and here nine times the teacher repeats it to his disciples. It's a unique phenomenon which we will study but now still we are in the superimposition part only. So seventh and eighth, so what did we discuss in the sixth chapter? Uddalaka wants to convey that Brahman was manifesting as three elements. Three elements have become manifesting in this whole creation, living, non-living and among the living, it is only the human being who is capable of understanding biological evolution, brings this living creature starting from the one-celled creature called amoeba to the highest possible level, that is a sadhana, chatustaya, sampanna, adhikari, a person who is capable of receiving this highest truth from an appropriate teacher in the form of Shravana and then he has to continue the spiritual practice in the form of Manana and Nididhyasana. So for that purpose, from chapter one, chapter one gives the essence of the entire sixth chapter, that is why it is called Sadvidya, that is accepting Sat, means pure existence without any names, forms and qualities, that means Brahman. Pure existence alone was, it alone is, it alone will be, but what we see is only vacharambanam, vikaro, namadheyam, it is only names, forms and these are only words, words are only thoughts, thoughts are our misrepresentation of Brahman because we see everything through the instrumentality of the five sense organs plus the mind, that is the essence of the, from the first to the seventh chapters. So for that, he gives a lot of examples, how the three elements first become or four stages of degeneration or manifestation. First, the subtle three elements, then mind, prana, etc., that is the second creation from the subtle three elements, then the three elements get combined, tripartite and then they become the three bhutas, but we have to presume they are pancha bhutas and from the pancha bhutas, this entire prapancha, that is why it is named as prapancha has come. So this prapancha is nothing but an effect and the law says an effect is nothing but only the cause and when we go to the cause, then slowly the maya or the divisions or the delusions become attenuated, becomes less and less and less. So for that purpose, what is this entire creation? It is reduced to element, three elements and what are the three elements? They are the manifestation of Brahman. Brahman is the moolakarana, the original cause, causeless cause and once a person understands this, he becomes free realizing aham brahmasmi, this is the essence and in the sixth section, what is the essence? He gave a beautiful analogy, when milk is churned, especially in India, then butter comes out, so the milk is kept to become curds, curds is churned and then it divides itself into two, a buttermilk and then the butter, butter always comes up, floats, that is how when food is eaten, then it becomes mind, when water is drunk, its finest portion becomes prana or the force of living vitality and when oily materials are eaten, which is called agni, then it becomes walk. So the whole universe is nothing but mind plus speech plus pranas and they are the effects. Effects must have cause, so go back to the original cause and that is what he wants to tell. So that is the essence of the sixth section of the sixth chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad. Now we start, enter into the seventh section. Chapter seven, what is its main subject matter? How the mind consisting of food is sustained by food, depends upon food and without food, it cannot function. Without food, mind is unable to function but with food, only mind is able to function. So mind, prana and walk, mind, vital force and speech are the products of the three elements called prithvi or the earth and then waters and then the fire and these three elements are the outcome products of Brahma. This is the essence of seventh chapter and for this purpose, so the sixth chapter is given the essence. What is it? The mind is also product of matter only. It is not Brahman, it is a misrepresentation of Brahman and mind is insentient. How does it become sentient? Only when the reflection of chit falls upon the mind, it seems like a mirror, seems to be containing an image. It is not containing, it is only reflecting and this we have seen in the Dakshinamurthy Stotram, So mind is insentient, that means it is matter and it is subject to birth, to growth and to death like matter. How come? So what is mind? Mind is nothing but another name for thoughts. No thoughts, no mind. So mind is another name for thoughts and if you notice, there was no thought, a new thought comes, that is the birth of a new thought. Then it is sustained for a short time and then it goes back. It is destroyed by another thought, replaced by another thought. So mind is nothing but thoughts. Every thought has birth, growth and death. So therefore, whatever has a birth is subject to change and change is called impermanence. This is what Sri Ramakrishna says, God alone is permanent, everything is only temporary and therefore the mind is not the Atman. Body of course is not the Atman, mind is not the Atman. Atman is something which is totally separate, completely opposed to the world creation consisting of body-mind complex, is limited, is changing, is dependent. Brahman is one, unchanging and independent. This world is manifold. Brahman is only one. This is the essence of the sixth chapter. Now we enter into the seventh chapter. Here to prove that if someone questions, how do you say mind is made up of food? You made a statement and we have seen that annam that becomes treta in threefold way, it divides itself. The finest part becomes excreta. The middle part goes to make up the flesh and the finest part goes to make up the mind. And all this Uddalaka concludes at the end of the fourth mantra in the sixth chapter that they are all Pikaaro Namadheyam, it is only a thought, it is only a name, that's not the reality. So for that purpose an experiment is done. What is this experiment? This seventh section has six mantras. What is the experiment? So the father to prove to the Sishya, that is the Shweta Ketu. He asks him, my son you fast for 15 days. Why did the father ask to fast for 15 days? Because at the end of the sixth chapter Shweta Ketu says, I seem to understand a little bit, but will you kindly expound it a little more detail so that I can grasp it properly as you wish me to grasp. Tatheti, let it be so. My son, Saumya, pleasing one. And then the seventh section starts. So fast, fast for 15 days. But then he says, you drink as much water as possible. Why? Why 15 days? Because there is a peculiar theory is introduced here. Man consists of 16 parts and if he fasts for 16 days then he will not be alive. Of course there are people who have not eaten food or drinking water. Gandhiji 21 days, some other person 30 days, but there is a limit, severe limit. What is meant is that without food many of the faculties of the mind will not function as if the mind is dead. Remember, as if. So for 15 days if this student fasts, then the mind will not be able to function. But the prana, six, you drink as much water because remember water has become prana. Prana will remain. You will not die. In normal day also we can see life that man cannot, man can live without food for quite a number of days. Man can live few days only with water. But man cannot live without air even only just a few milliseconds, that's all. So he wants to prove, a teacher wants to prove that if you drink water you will be alive. But then nothing of your brain or so-called mind will function. And this also we have to add a little bit in the brackets. So what happens? The mind will be functioning. Mind is not going to die. But the mind can function only through the brain. Remember it. You have many experiences. All of that is stored in that part of the mind, antahkarana, that is called chitta. But if you are sick and you are distracted or in a coma state or even you are extremely weak, you will not be able to recollect. Even after many years, if an object is not thought of, it will take a long time, if at all, to recollect it, to remember it. That shows the remembrance is not dead. But the instrument of the mind is through the brain. That is why so much confusion is there, especially in the West, that the brain is equated with the mind. No. And that is why a big problem for many Indian devotees. Bhagavan Krishna says that a person who can remember me at the end, then he will attain me. But then what happens if a person has an accident and if a person is in a coma or unconscious? So there are so many cases like that. And even if we are not having those things, there is no guarantee that we remember unless we practice it intensely, uninterruptedly for a long time. So this question was put to Holy Mother. And Holy Mother answered, My son, if anybody becomes unconscious, just before becoming unconscious, what is remembered, that God will see. Because that is the function of the mind. But this brain is a part of the body. It is purely a gross part of the gross body. So if the gross body is not functioning, the brain also will not function. So never think that if I fast for 15 days or 20 days, my mind also is gone. No, mind will not go. Will it become less? No, it will not become less. Then what happens? Its ability to function through the brain is reduced gradually. That is what the Uddalaka wants to prove to his son, Shweta Ketu. That is to say, the brain has to be a fit instrument. Then only the mind also will work. How do we know? Because every born Hindu believes in punar janma, past janma and punar janma. Not to speak of not eating food. If a person dies, our scriptures do not tell that the person has to start with a new mind. The same old mind which is part of the subtle body and subtle body is now destroyed. Both the subtle and causal body after death will carry the blueprint of the new body, new dress that it is going to occupy, a new house it is going to occupy. That clearly proves mind is not dimmed, not changed, not lost. But it is the brain's function. Brain requires food. Without food, brain cannot function for a long time. This is the experiment. So the father asked, what was his aim after 15 days? And Shweta Ketu was already a master of all the Vedas, Upangas, etc., many many other subjects like Narada, whose story we are going to get in the next chapter, 7th chapter. So he knows everything and he can recite. In those days, presumably, there was no writing. Then what happened? He fasted, then he came back. Father asked him to recite. He could not recollect a single thing. Remember, because the brain was not functioning. But then father asked, look, because you did not eat, your mind is not functioning. You should have said your brain is not functioning. Then go and eat for 15 days. Why? Because don't eat 15 days food at a time. Eat slowly bit by bit and then you will see that slowly slowly you will regain back your memory. So first day you eat, little bit of memory. I think I know it. Second day you eat, yes, some parts of it comes. So the boy who is extraordinarily intelligent, perceptive, able to grasp, endowed with Medha, after 15 days of eating he comes. Then father says, now you recite. And then, like drinking water we call it, he could recite without the least batting an eyelid. Then that proves that it is because of the food. So our very existence of the body depends upon food. Food also nourishes the brain. Brain is the main instrument. Do not forget about it. This is the essence of this particular 7th section. And if we understand it, let us dive deep into it. The first mantra in the 7th chapter, 7th section goes like this. A person, my dear, consists of 16 parts. Do not eat any food for 15 days. But drink as much water as you like. It is a commandment. You have to drink. Since the prana consists of water, it will not cut off your life if you drink water. This is the meaning of it. So this is where we have to understand. Earlier, at the end of the 6th section, 4th mantra, at the end he says, Shweta Ketu says, I still can't understand. So the father tries something else. A normal human being in good health is said in Vedanta to be made up of 16 parts. And I will expound what these 16 parts are later on. If a person neither eats nor drinks water for 15 days, he will die. But if he doesn't yet eat, continues to drink water without eating, he will remain alive. And what happens to a person when he drinks water but doesn't eat? That is what the father wants to illustrate. His mind cannot function. He cannot remember anything. And remembrance is part of the function. And to convince his son, the father asks him to fast for 15 days but to drink plenty of it. So then we proceed to the 2nd mantra. It's a beautiful Sanskrit also. So Shweta Ketu, following the commandment of the Guru, because Guru's commandments are not suggestions. They are only commandments. So police, they do not request you. They command you. Law doesn't request you. It commands you. Doctors do not request you. They command you. Even the street lights, they command you. When green light comes, you have to proceed. Otherwise, the fellow behind you will see that you proceed with damage to the back side of the car. And if the red light comes on, immediately you have to stop. And you can try. If you have got intelligence, when the orange light starts coming, then see how much time within seconds you can cross up. Depends whether you have got 1920s fold car or the latest Porsche. That's Shweta Ketu. Panchadasha means 15 days. Ahani means days. Na, not. Asha, did not eat. After that, what happened? Atha, thereafter. Ha, surely. Enam, that is Uddalakam, is the teacher. Upasasada, he came near the teacher after 15 days. Kim bravemi, bho. So what do you want me to speak about? So earlier he is telling nicely, Bhagwan. Now he reduced it to one letter, bho. Tell me, what do you want? And then, what did the father say? Father or Guru? That is to say, the Upanishad is extraordinarily, what is called Sutra form, doesn't want to say. That is, now you recite the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda. He told him. Then nothing is coming to the mind of the Shweta Ketu. So immediately he replied, because he was an intelligent person. He is not telling whom, ha, he, he. He wants to be straightforward. Sa, ha, uvacha. He replied, Now why? Ma, pratibhanti, bhoiti. Oh, I cannot remember anything. Nothing is coming to my mind. Pratibhanti means, that is flashing. Nothing is flashing in my mind. Why? The mind is lying down because of 15 days of not eating. But here mind means, you have to substitute it with the brain. The brain has become extraordinarily weak. So for this, the commentator says, now the father says to his son, will you please recite to me the Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Sama Mantras. But the son sadly replies, they are completely gone. I do not remember even a single one of them. They do not appear in my mind at all. Not even one word, not even a suggestion. Having been without food for 15 days, Shweta Ketu's mind was almost gone. The mind is the finest part. But finest part of what? The essence of food, not of water, not of anything else. What is the essence of the water? Prana. What is the essence of fatty material? You know, we have seen, he who eats fire. Fire means oily substances. Therefore, the mind is a material. The brain, not only the brain is a material, the mind also is material. That is a separate issue. Let us not confuse the mind with the brain. As I explained just now, when a person dies, his mind does not die because it is not part of the body. Only the gross body is not able to function. But the prana is not dead. Prana along with the two other bodies, subtle body and causal body, which contain all the accumulated experiences and memories in the form of samskaras. Samskaras, according to Patanjali, they only reside in karma asaya. There is a special bag, zipped bag. It is called karma asaya, the container of karmas. Here karma means all the karma samskaras and karma phalas. So along with that, the jiva travels. But then how does it know what type of body it should enter next to birth? For that Upanishad, especially Brihadaranyaka Upanishad gives a beautiful example. There is a worm and then it always eats and moves on the trees. Its main food is leaves. It has also got likes and dislikes. So it developed some taste and you can see that so many leaves, holy leaves full of holes eaten by these so-called worms and it crawls. What does it do when the food is over? That means food is gone. If I don't eat, I will not survive. What does it do? It has many legs, hind legs and forelegs. So it firmly holds to the leaf with the hind legs, lifts up the forelegs and places it on a new shiny, full of nutritious food, new leaf and firmly holds on to the new leaf. Then only it lifts the hind legs and this is how it moves. This is the analogy given for each one of us after our death. What happens unless of course you happen to die outside Kashi? Unless you happen to be blessed by God so that he will grant you manna. Everybody else, then the Jeeva like this insect, it moves from this body and it firmly places itself on the new body. Where is that new body? In the form of a blueprint. It already knows which parents, which country, which religion, which society, which culture, which language. Everything is fixed according to its prarabdha or the actions done in the past birth and then straight away it enters into that. Are there some creatures who stay without entering into the new body? They are called ghosts or disembodied spirits and they are also because of their actions for some time. They have the blueprint but they take some time to get a new body. This is how it happens. So what happened now? I do not remember anything and that doesn't mean the memory is gone. Everything is completely intact but the brain is unable to access them. Just like I can give you the analogy of a computer. You have many many files but you don't remember the names of the files. At least if you remember one or two letters that are there, there is a chance. The file is not dead but then the ability to access that particular file because you are not able to name it, command this, fetch this file. So like that the mind is there but the brain because of the weakness is not capable of accessing. But when it eats food, it gets strength, then it remembers, then it starts thinking. So this is how we have to understand. Asana means to eat. Asana here, past tense, he did not eat for 15 days and then he approached the father, now chant. He could not chant, then go and eat for 15 days and then he ate, he obeyed and then he came back. Now that is what he is going to illustrate now. So in the third mantra, So what does he say? His father said, just as my dear, imagine there is a great blazing fire, a single coal, the size of a firefly may be left. Fire had burned and a small piece, very small, tiny coal is still having that fire and if you want to burn with that anything, you won't be able to burn because that doesn't have the sufficient firepower, burning power. Even so my dear, man consists of 16 parts. So of your 16 parts, because you have fasted for 15 days, only one part is left out and therefore with that one part, you will not be able to remember the Vedas. So what is the way? So he says, now Atha, Asana, you go and eat. How many days? For 15 days, he did not say that, it means 15 days. Go and eat and you will understand what I am talking about because even if the father says after 15 days of fasting, he will not be able, he is not in a condition to understand what he says. The only thing with that little bit of one, little bit of that one day he did not eat that last struggling prana, he said he understood, go and eat. That much he understood. So he went, ate for 15 days and then he came back. Now go and eat and then you will understand what I wanted to tell you. Not this, but earlier what I said, everything, the whole mind is made up of the food and the best of the food, the most sattvic of the food, the best will be the mind. But here remember, we are not talking about killing the mind, talking about the capacity to access that mind which is the brain. And he gave this example, imagine a huge big pile of wood and you start fire and after a while the whole pile is consumed, there is only one little spark left, a spark as small as a firefly. Then with that small spark, very little can be burnt. So even like that, you go on adding some, first a little bit of dry grass, this is how fire is got up in many places and you go on blowing it, oof, oof like that and then smoke will come out, slowly a dried grass, dried coconut etc., it catches fire and after some time slowly the fire starts to blaze, after that you add some more what is called firewood. If you add firewood on that little spark, what little hope is there, that also will be gone. So Uddalakaruni says similarly, your mind is like that tiny spark now after 15 days of fasting, it's not functioning now because you have not given it any fuel these last 15 days. But it's just a flicker of your mind working and it cannot serve any useful purpose. If you eat something now, everything will come back to your mind. So this is called, man is called 16 colours. Then what happened? Shweta Ketu, he had no option because even if father says nothing, he will go and eat, otherwise he might eat up the father himself, he will be so hungry. So what are the 16 parts? Did we ever come across this idea, man is consisting of 16 parts? Yes, fortunately we have studied this in the Prashna Upanishad, fourth mantra it is there, sixth prashna, fourth mantra it is there and then this is the mantra that is available there, sa pranam ashwajata, pranat shraddham kham vayuh jyotihi apah prithvi indriyam manah annam annadveriyam tapah mantraah karmalokah lokeshucha namachah. These are the 16 parts. What does it mean? He, that means Brahman or Prajapati, created prana and from prana he created what? From prana he created faith. First he created prana and then from out of prana he made the other parts. What are they? Faith, space, air, fire, water, earth. These are the five elements, the organs, mind, food and from food virility, strength, then austerity, then Vedic hymns, sacrifice, the worlds and in the worlds he created names. That is to say, first he created prana and from prana the whole creation universe has been created. So this mantra gives us all the 16. What is it? The very first is prana. Prana representing a total mind or Hiranyagarbha. Another name for Hiranyagarbha is Prajapati. Prajapati means a lot of prajas or creatures and in Puranic language it is called Brahma. This represents the life force without which nothing can exist in the world and based upon that prana, shraddha, faith in the scriptures, in Brahman, in astikya buddhi. Then the five elements, akasha, vayu, agni, apaha, prithvi and in this Chandogya we are only using most of the time fire, water and earth. Then out of this, indriyas, karmendriyas and jnanendriyas. Then mind, yantakarana. Mind you know, as we know, consisting of four functions, manas, buddhi, ahamkara and chitta and this is subdivided as we know into two, that is manas, chitta and buddhi and there is second one is ahamkara. This ahamkara, aham, it must join with the mind because this aham is containing that spark of consciousness, the reflection of consciousness. So when that comes, remember it is called chidabhasa. Here ahamkara is called chidabhasa. Why? Because without mind, without chitta, without the buddhi, the mind is pure reflection only. Only when it comes and joins with the cogitating, is this, is it this or something else, that is called manaha. I remember, so I have a file upon this object, so this is that object and this information, data is presented to buddhi and the buddhi stamps it and says, yes, there is no doubt about it, nischayatmika, doubtless confirmation, that is called buddhi. Without ahamkara, mind will not be there, chitta will not be there, buddhi will not be there. So that aham is nothing but chidabhasa. That is what we have to remember. And then out of these five elements, that's why it is called combination, the mind has come, pranas has come, then food has come, then viriya, out of food what comes? Viriya, vigor. And then tapas or austerity, self-control or the loss of self-discipline, then mantras, all the vedic mantras to guide our life. Out of that, you use these mantras in this particular way, in the form of actions. Manifest the mantras in the form of actions. Very, very interesting. So you hear Swami Vivekananda's mantra, each soul is potentially divine and if you do not manifest it, how? By controlling nature, external and internal, you are nothing. So karma comes out of mantras. Mantras means what? Directions. And according to karmas, to enjoy the karma phala, the effects of our actions. So carrot and stick, that is the rewards and the punishments. If we did something rightly, then we enjoy, we earn punya. Otherwise we earn papam. And then all the worlds contain infinite number of objects. To distinguish one object from the other, we require to give it a name. So these are the 16 parts. And what is the purpose of mentioning them? To say that our sukshma karana sarai rasa, including the rasa body, is nothing but these 16 parts. And if our body-mind complex is of 16 parts, and they are not the pure chaitanyam, and therefore they are unreal, like the objects seen in a dream, and are created or we are seeing as though they are real through delusion called maya, prakriti, avidya. But when this avidya is destroyed, they again merge in purusha, losing their names and forms. That is the process we have been adopting in this particular Upanishad, how you merge everything, the mind, everything in the food, pranas in the water, and the body in the prithvi tattva. So three elements. And these three, again gradually, that is the earth should be merged in the waters. Because at the beginning of creation, the earth was submerged. That is why there is varaha avatara, how God incarnated Himself. And He is describing, before the earth came, the Vedas were all submerged in the waters, along with the earth. And He went and brought it up after killing that varaha avatara. So this is how Puranas are trying to repeat the teachings of the Upanishads exactly in the same way. So then these elements, again, the earth element should be merged in its cause, which is waters. The water should be merged in its cause, which is called fire, and the fire, if you add those two, then it should be merged in vayu or air. Air should be merged in Akasha, and Akasha came out of Atman, manifestation of Atman, grossification of Atman. That is how creation is gradual, gross, grosser, grossest, still grosser. That is the process. So subtle, subtler, subtlest, go back to the cause. That is why this is called Adhyatropa, superimposition. So this is the meaning of, man is consisting of 16 elements, which in this Upanishad has been simply said that the body, the brain, and the mind of the person is only made up of these three elements, and if you deprive of food, then all the three elements become weak, and then you won't be able to do anything much. So what did Shweta Ketu do then? The fourth mantra says, Sa, Ha, Asha. He went and ate. Athahainam Upasasadha, Tamah Yatkinchit Papparaksha, Sarvamah Pratipede. Shweta Ketu ate for how many days? 15 days, and approached his father, and whatever his father asked, what did his father ask? Exactly the same thing, that is Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sama Veda, and then instantaneously, everything came like water flowing from a high place, without the least bit of hesitation, because the brain has become sustained. We have to keep that all the story. So what is the logic here? Anna Abhave, Medha Abhavaha. In the absence of food, the brain will not work. In the absence of brain, even though it is there in the mind, that cannot be accessed. Then food came, and the brain became strong, and it started remembering. So Anna Abhave, Medha Abhavaha. When food is there, everything functions normally. Therefore, everything depends upon food. We have to remember that food means the finest elements. Therefore, food is the only cause of the mind. This is how Uddhvalaka wanted to prove to Shweta Ketu. Then he is entering into the fifth mantra. Then his father said to him, Just as my dear, of a great lighted fire with huge number of firewood, but when all the firewood is consumed, imagine a single coal the size of a firefly is left. And if left, it may be made to blaze up again by adding small pieces of that which can easily catch fire. Small wooden chips or grass, dried grass, etc. Don't put wet grass to it and will thus burn much more. So what happened to you? So because you did not eat for 15 days, day by day the fire has gone down. Only as if a small spark of the size of a firefly remained. Then when I asked you to eat, then slowly you are adding a little bit of fuel at a time. And then it got up the blaze and more and more and more, brighter and brighter and brighter, stronger and stronger and stronger. And then this is the process that has happened. Then what is this example for? एवं सोम्य ते शोडशारां कलानां एका कला अतिषिष्टा अभूत् सान्ने नोपसमाहिता प्राज्वली तयई तरहि वेदान अन्भवस्य अन्नमयम्यिर् सोम्य मनः आपोमयह प्राणः तेजोमयह वागिते तत्ः अस्य विजग्नविति विजग्नविति Even so, my dear, of your 16 parts, just as mentioned, प्राण, शद्ध, वेदा, मंद्रा, नेम्, etc., only one part was left and that when strengthened by food like a small spark, if you add a tiny dried bits of glass, again blazes forth, so through this food it became strengthened and it blazed up like a blazing fire and then with it you now remember the Vedas. So what is the essence? What does he want to convey? He says, he concludes, he gives the essence himself, therefore my dear, the mind consists of food, the prana consists of water and the speech consists of fire. So this is the essence. Now, after hearing, after this experiment, after hearing the explanation, Shweta Ketu has understood it completely, the whole universe is being nourished by the three elements, we come out of the three elements, remember always, five elements, another two and we are nourished by the three elements and we go back into these three elements. When? Not after death, every single second we are going through that, keep that in mind. For example, you are not hungry, then you become hungry, you eat food and when you are hungry means what? You don't have that much of strength left out, that is energy is lacking, food is nothing but energy. Then you eat food, then energy comes up, then you expend it in thoughts, activities, achieving something and again you expend the energy, so the energy came from the food and the energy was sustained for some time by the food and the energy went back. You take in, for example, air, pranavayu and then you keep it, you use it and then you again breathe out and so what we breathe in is something's breathing outs, out-breathings and what we breathe out is life force for somebody, that is how we have come from these three elements and we are sustained by the three elements and we go back to the not after death but every millisecond a cell is being born, it is sustained, it goes back from where it came, that means it goes back to the three elements and finally the three elements go back to Brahman. So everything that comes out, manifestation is what is called Adhyaropa, Mithya, Asatya and the original cause Brahman alone is the Satyam, this is what is being said. With this the 7th chapter is over, with this the Adhyaropa section is over and from next, as I mentioned, directly in Who are you? Jivo Brahmaiva Naaparaha, 9 times he repeats Tattva Matha Shritha Ketu which we will talk about from the next class. Om Jananim Sharadham Devim, Ramakrishnam Jagadgurum, Pada Padme Tayo Shritva, Pranamami Mohur Mohu, May Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti, Jai Ramakrishna.