Pratah Smaranam Lecture 1 on 14 November 2020
Uncorrected machine transcription
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जननीम् सारदाम् देविम् रामकृष्णं जगद्गुरुम् ।
पादपद्मे तयोः श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहरमुहुहु ।।
Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |
Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||
By the grace of the Divine Mother, we were able to complete one of the most beautiful summarizations of spiritual practice called Sadhana Panchakam. From today, continuing the same tradition, sometimes these are called hymns or stotras. A stuti gives us the meaning, praise, to extol somebody, but there are very few people who know that these hymns are of so many varieties, of so many bhavas and so many classifications and the same thing applies also to all bhajans.
(0:58 - 1:59) What is the big deal of difference between a bhajan which we call a devotional song and hymns, stotras? The difference is mostly the stotras are chanted, but nowadays people are also singing just with tabla etc. like any other bhajan, but the tradition is that most of them are only chanted whereas bhajans nobody really chants excepting when quoting in a speech or quoting in a book. It is mostly sung, put to rhythm, raga etc.
As we all know that music is a very specialized art. Everyone cannot appreciate it. There are only a few people among all the human beings who have that special sense called aesthetic sense and that is a very specialized field.
(2:00 - 6:54) In this field of what is called Saundarya Kala, nine bhavas are there, nine types of emotions to be expressed. For example, joy, sorrow, separation, self-pity and heroism, hero, then romanticism, humor, so many things are there, shingara rasa, dharma rasa, ananda rasa etc. Nine, Navarasa, that's why it is called Navarasa and most of what applies to this Kalashastra also applies to these both the bhajans as well as the stothis.
Before we go into the details of this Shankaracharya's Pratah Smarana Stotram, a hymn that has to be chanted as soon as we wake up. That word Pratah has very special meanings. We will come to that in a sooner, but today we are going to study what are the hymns and how many types of hymns are there and how many what we call bhavas, feelings, emotions created and I will give you also along with some examples the types of feelings that every human being goes through when he goes through these stothis and there are some great composers who are sadhakas.
Nobody can compose a hymn or write a devotional song unless the person himself is an advanced sadhaka or at least person sincerely has started spiritual sadhana, but many of them have been composed in a state of ecstasy where what we modern psychological terminology is called automatic writing. They did not sit and then compose. They just emanated spontaneously, intuitively from the mouths of these great souls.
Tulsi Dasa, Meera Bai, Kabir Das, North India, Tukaram, Namdev's Abhangas, then we get Bengal, Ram Prasad, Kamalakanta, Premik etc. Then when we come to the south, Thyagaraja, Purandar Dasa, Muthuswamy Dixitar, Bhadrachala Ramdas and so many others. Nowadays some people are trying to create some bhajans without any experience just because they know a little bit of some language.
They have some poetical skills, but needless to say they have all taken their cue from the earlier traditions. So if anybody thinks that hymns are of only one type, that is a great mistake because there are many varieties, classifications and types of both stotrams as well as bhajans or kirtans. Comparable to this we have especially in the south India what we call Suprabhatams.
Venkateshwara Suprabhatam, then Devi Suprabhatam, Lalita Suprabhatam. Let us first briefly, briefly I said because these bhavas have been extensively studied and classified by earlier persons and one of our publications it is called the spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja. One great south Indian scholar called Raghavan, he had translated and there in the introduction as well as in the main body of the text he gives great details how these bhajans can be divided into so many bhavas, types.
Sthai bhava, Sanchari bhava, Aviraha bhava etc. But first we will very briefly discuss what are the types of stotras, hymns of various types. First classification is there are Vedantic, means Advaita, Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita, specially of Advaitic hymns.
What we are going to discuss today is pure Advaitic type. Then there are innumerable Bhakti stotras of devotional types. Then there are peculiarly some stotras called sectarian.
They only praise either Vishnu or Shiva and even do not hesitate to condemn and look down that if you praise somebody else then you will go to the other place. We will not go into that business but Vedantic devotional. What does it mean? Gnana mukhya stotras or Bhakti purna stotras.
(6:54 - 8:41) When we analyze different bhajans we also get more or less exactly the same classification. Then the next classification is all hymns are of two types Sakama and Nishkama. Example of Sakama is Dhruva stuti we get in Bhagavatam that he performed tapasya for the sake of obtaining a kingdom because he was very much disturbed that he could not sit in the lap of his father.
This is called Sakama. Later on of course by the vision of Bhagavan Vishnu he was transformed into a great devotee. But when we come to Prahalada stuti in the Bhagavatam pure what Sri Ramakrishna used to call Ahaituki Bhakti.
Devotion without any motivation and motivation for devotion is again divided into two classes. One type they say oh lord I don't want anything excepting you but the other one for example Kulasekar Alwar in Mukunda Mala he goes to the other extreme. He says oh god I don't care for you.
I just want devotion and Purandara Dasa also reflects. If I have your name you can go to the other place. I don't care.
Of course we all know Nama and Amni. The name and the named are exactly one and the same but here like the second yogi in the parable of Sri Ramakrishna let god come let not god come. I don't care let me have devotion.
(8:41 - 9:32) In Chaitanya Sikshastaka we have the same thing. Kulasekar Alwar he says oh lord make me born as but one thing do not deprive me of that let me now never forget your lotus feet and devotion. Yamanacharya he had composed a most beautiful hymn called Stotra Ratna and there also it is consisting of 60 odd shlokas and there also he says you make me born even in the lowest lifetime like an Kittaka but I beg only let me never lose devotion to your lotus feet that means irrespective of whether I am happy unhappy you do not deprive me of devotion to your lotus feet.
(9:32 - 13:58) There are also so many modern devotees who say I cannot live oh lord without you. Sakama and Nishkama what is the example of Sakama? I was going to come a little bit later but let me just give you Hanuman Chalisa, Sri Suktam and then also the Kanakadharastavam. I wanted money I chanted Sri Suktam and Kanakadharastotram.
Devotion is there but it is Sakama Bhakti. I want something from god but here also again two times I want something for myself and I want something for serving other people. That is one classification.
Then another classification is some hymns emphasize Bhakti, some emphasize Gnanam. For example the hymn we are going to study today it emphasizes more of knowledge. So that is Gnana emphasizing Stotram and Bhakti emphasizing Stotras are there.
As an example one of the most important hymns is Annapurna Stotram. At the end of it Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Oh mother I beg you alms.
What alms? Do I want food? Do I want money? Want anything else? No. Gnana Vairagya Siddhyartham. I want knowledge.
I want devotion. I want discrimination. I want dispassion.
Bhiksham Deheecha Parvati. Then the next classification is we know that in Hinduism there are three types of thoughts about God. Concepts of God.
Two of male and one of female. Vishnu, Shiva and Devi and we have plethora of hymns and mostly composed by this great Shankaracharya in his own inimitable Sanskrit style and Devi Stuti, Vishnu Stuti and as well as Shiva Stuti are also there. As mentioned earlier we also have got what we call those which are emphasizing Gnanam and Shankaracharya also emphasizes for example Bhakti.
In Bhavani Astaka Gatistvam Gatistvam Tvameka Bhavani. Then there are some hymns which which take the place of Japam. We know what is Japam.
Japam means repetition of the name of God. A devotee is never satisfied with repeating only one particular name of God. So he wants to repeat so many names of God.
So we have got what is called 108 names of God. 1008 names of God. Most famous Shiva Sahasranama, Vishnu Sahasranama, Lalita Sahasranama.
Then you name the God then every type of Sahasranamas are there. Thousands of names are there. This is mostly Japam.
A person who cannot keep his mind steadfast on one particular name of God, for such persons this particular Sahasranama is prescribed, advocated. So the mind is restless but it is happy to chant. Most of the time we go to the temples on particular specified dates and here North India and South India differ.
In Bengal the Saturday and Tuesday is very auspicious for Devi and we divided the seven days of the week into particular indicating seven deities. For example, Monday is for Shiva, Tuesday is for Devi, Wednesday for Ramakrishna, Thursday for Guru and Hanuman and Friday for Lakshmi and Devi. Saturday, this is according to South Indian tradition, Saturday either Hanuman or miscellaneous Gods and Sunday any God or Goddess.
(13:58 - 16:30) This is the tradition we follow in our Ramakrishna order. Slightly differently it will be followed in the Bengal. For example, Thursday is good for Devi, Saturday as Ramakrishna says is good for Kali, Durga etc.
Then there are what is called some hymns which describe you want to be a Bhakta, a devotee, you want to progress in spiritual life. Purely this kind of things, some kind of what is called bhajans or stotras, they are full of this what type of qualities we must acquire. To take from Bhagavad Gita, the 12th chapter of the qualities of a Bhakta, from 13th chapter Amanitva, 16th chapter Daivashara Sampad Vibhaga.
We have a most famous Hindi bhajan. It starts like this, Itne guna jame so sant. He is a saint.
Santa means a devotee. This is a beautiful word. We say Sant Mahatma, Sant Lok.
Santa means that is sprung from the root word Sat. He who is a Satpurusha, he who alone exists all the time, he who is a holy person and such a person is called a Santa and naturally in him so many qualities are. Itne guna, these many qualities jame in whom so are present, that person alone is called a Santa.
This word so is a Hindi word, not the English word. So you can also take it in the English word. How do you know sir that you are asserting so? So Srimukha Kamalakanta, Srimad Bhagavatam, Madhya Jasagave Srimukha Kamalakanta.
Kamalakanta means Vishnu, Narayana, Krishna himself had sung the qualities of a saint in that great Purana Bhagavatam. So it goes on. So Harike bhajanu sadhuki seva, always worship Hari and associate with the holy people, cultivate holy Sangha etc.
Then he goes on. Another hymn is Vaishnava Janatam Thenekahi. It is full of characteristics which every sadhaka had to do it.
(16:30 - 17:45) So there are this kind of, this stotram we are going to study is full of this one. What should you do as soon as you wake up when you are in a freshness of the mind? So smarami hridi samskurat Atmatatvam. Remember God as soon as you get up.
Kausalya supraja rama purva sandhya pravartate utthishta narasya ardhula kartavyam daivam ahinikam. Venkateshwara stotram starts with that. Remember Venkateshwara, the Lord.
And so we have got Suprabhatams. Dharmasya anima vitha paridushya sigram. Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhata is there.
Sri Ramakrishna Bhagavan tava Suprabhatam. Then we have got stotrams that describe the nature, the karma and the special quality of the God or Divine Mother. One of the most of these which in the Ramakrishna order, the third hymn which we sing every day Sarva Mangala Mangalye.
What is the nature of the Mother? Sarva Mangala Mangalye. Sarva artha sadhike. She is capable of giving everything.
(17:45 - 18:27) Whatever she does is the most auspicious thing. What is the most auspicious thing? Parama purusha artha. She can give mukti, she can give mukti.
She can give prayers, she can also give sreyas. But if she gives prayers that is called Mangala. But if she gives sreyas, mukti, that is called Sarva Mangala Mangalye.
She is the auspiciousness of every other auspiciousness, the essence of everything, Satchitananda. That is the very nature. Why is it her nature? Why do we need to remember it? Because only a rich man can help a poor man.
(18:27 - 19:09) Only a scholar can give knowledge to a person who doesn't have knowledge. Only a strong person can help a weak person. So only one who is God can give godliness to anybody else because God is Sarva Tantra Swatantra.
He is not only infinite but he can give and what can he give? Usually means he gives himself. Even if he gives money, slowly he will fulfill the desires but he will give bhakti along with that. The greatest poison in this world to worldly happiness is called bhakti.
(19:09 - 20:07) Once bhakti comes everything is destroyed. That bhakti destroys everything. Who says? Sri Ramakrishna says.
What did he say? He compared once bhakti is like a terrible huge tigress. Just as a tigress falls upon every other animal, once God grants bhakti because you cannot develop bhakti because you don't have it. So only God can give.
Once this bhakti is given to you, it becomes like a tigress. It kills every other animal because every other animal is weak, small and this is the What does it mean? This tigress called Sachidananda gives you so much ananda that it automatically destroys every object after which we are running all the time. So this is the negative function.
(20:07 - 20:54) Bhakti performs a negative function of destroying everything and at the same time destroying what? Ajnana, avidya and making a person purna, completely infinite. This is Sarvamangala. This is the nature of the Divine Mother.
Then what is her karma? Shristi sthiti vinashana. She creates, she sustains, she also destroys but deeper meaning of it is she can give bhakti jnana, she can also increase that bhakti jnana, she can also destroy it if a person becomes arrogant, pride, prideful, proud and egotic. Example is when the gopis met Krishna, they became proud.
(20:55 - 21:30) Immediately he disappeared and that produced what Vaishnava literature names it as viraha. That viraha is the ultimate intensity of suffering and it cannot be compared to any other type of suffering and it is the nature of person when he experiences any type of suffering, he wants to get out as quickly as possible but this viraha, this suppression was given by God. Therefore what does he do? Him along with that viraha, it is like a terrible poison.
(21:30 - 22:46) As soon as they became filled with pride, God disappeared, viraha came, viraha means suppression and they realized it is our I. We were thinking it is my I but God made them realize that I also was given by God himself. We have this reference in the gospel once Krishna was described. By the way there is a beautiful way of understanding Vaishnavism through the gospel of Shri Ramakrishna.
We are only taking most general sense. Shri Ramakrishna was talking about Krishna, about gopi viraha etc. There are two aspects, I have not gone into details there but these are one aspect is the Rasha Leela of Bhagavan Krishna with gopis.
This is one of the most esoteric episodes in the life of Krishna and it surpasses even more than the Gita Upadesha. That's why there are two books by Krishna, rather three types of teachings, Bhagavad Gita, Anu Gita and Uddhava Gita. This aspect of bhakti has been mostly emphasized in the Uddhava Gita.
(22:47 - 24:15) Ramakrishna gives this story, Uddhava was sent to Vrindavan to make him understand, because he was a Gnani type, what true devotion is like. So Krishna granted them that viraha vedana and then that destroyed their pride and Bhagavatam describes in inimitable language, every gopi given, destroyed her individuality, became one with God because destruction of individuality is attainment of universality. Then every gopi is telling, look, look, I am Krishna and you are gopi.
I am going to play with you. Like that every gopi felt her identity with Bhagavan. Another secret related to this is Bhagavatam gives an open secret.
How many gopis? Hundreds. How many Krishnas? Superficially hundreds. Between two gopis, that's what we get in calendars, that's what we get the outward expression.
But the inner essence is, every gopi is seeing only one Krishna, her Krishna and nobody else. That play between the Bhakta Atma and Paramatma is called Rashadeva. That is the first point which is hidden in the gospel of Ramakrishna.
(24:15 - 26:33) The second secret is, very few people know that Sri Ramakrishna showed as an example, what is Rasha Leela. At Kamarpukur, he played this Leela. How do we know? Because the great master gives a hint without going into details that there were some girls who were imbued with the greatest devotion to God.
They considered and worshipped Sri Ramakrishna Gadadhar as none other than Bhagavan Sri Krishna. Their relationship was an absolutely purest relationship and even when they became old, they could not forget him. How could they? So, this aspect we did not want to emphasize or Swami Saradanandaji, Swamiji, Brahmanandaji did not want to emphasize because what Chaitanya Mahaprabhu did was that and the result was secret societies everywhere in the name of Rasha Leela and it brought destruction to the religion.
Dharma Shruti had happened. Adharma had risen. Okay.
Anyway, so what does the Divine Mother do? Srishti, Stithi and Vinasha. It doesn't mean only creating the world, sustaining the world and destroying the world. It also applies equally to not only to the gross body, gross world, Sukshma Prapancha, also Karana Prapancha.
So, here a devotee's world is Bhakta Prapancha, Bhakti Prapancha. There also it is the mother who creates Bhakti. It is the mother who sustains it.
It is the mother again who destroys that Bhakti. What does that mean? Does a person go to hell because she destroys? No. Your very personality is destroyed so that you will not have to be reborn again but there are certain songs which are very popular in the Ramakrishna order.
If anybody thinks that I am a great person, I attained everything by myself. Some people, oh mother, you elevate to the position of Brahma. Some people and same people maybe, she will again bring them down but she is a mother.
(26:33 - 28:21) She cannot bring them down permanently. It is only to purify their impurities, destroy their impurities, avidya as divine mother had done which we discussed in such considerable detail about Totapuri Maharaj. She destroyed his individuality and thereby you close your eyes, it is Brahma and you open your eyes, it is again the same Brahma.
So that is what the mother does. But she has a role to play. Her only job, if you ask her, oh mother, what's your most important role? He says, the rescuing those people who surrender themselves to me and who do not know anything except me, who call me by the name of mother, only those people, I have immediately, that is my biggest job in this world.
So the nature of the divine mother, the nature of her activities and ultimately what is her main mission in life, this is what we call Sarva Mangala Mangaliye. Then there is another hymn, a begging and beseeching. We have got Purandar Dasa as an example, oh lord, I am in trouble, I am praying to you, you are not coming to me, apply, apply, no reply, remember here.
If you do not show love to me, then you will not get another person who is as in a bad shape as in me. Your name is what is called Artha Trana Parayana. So I am begging you.
(28:27 - 28:49) So this is begging and beseeching. This is what Sri Ramakrishna said, oh mother, why are you excluding me? The whole world is in you. Am I alone outside the world that you are looking after the whole world but excluding me, you are not bestowing your grace upon me.
(28:49 - 38:57) Then there are songs and hymns, I am combining them together, the bhava, the essence is the same, of heroism, tremendous heroism. Okay, I am praying to you, you are not replying to me, I will take you to court. There is one example of Ram Prasad, I will, oh mother, if you do not listen to me and do not give me my rightful heritage, I will drag you to the court and as a witness that I am your son, I will drag my father Shiva with me, he will bear witness for me, yes, yes, this is our son, my wife is unfortunately neglecting him, she doesn't want to give his heritage, this is heroism, why? Because we are the sons of a heroine, anyway, don't misunderstand the word heroine and rush for your buckets.
Ram Prasad, he says, then of joy there are stotras which are merely out of realization and out of joy, oh lord, now I know who you are, I see you everywhere and that indescribable joy is described both in these stotras as well as in songs. One example, this is only a sample, you can get plenty of them everywhere. Purandara dasas, Govinda, Govinda, Ati Ananda, by taking the name of Govinda and immersed in a sea of bliss, how could he, the same man who says, if you do not come to my rescue, then you will not be able to retain your Olympic titles, how could he do that? He can do that because you have bestowed your grace, you made him understand, then there are hymns of sorrow, tremendous things are there, so many varieties are there of bhajans and of stotras, one of the stotras which I mentioned that of sorrow, oh mother, I am calling you again and again but you are not responding, and then there is one beautiful song, I think it has been probably composed by one of the Sikh gurus, maybe, I think it is Guru Nanak, Hari Bina Kaun Teri, who else is there for you excepting Hari, Hari means God, so according to Sikhism, they do not care much for oh man, there is nobody excepting God for you, then there is also the most famous hymn again composed, it is called Mohamudgara Bhaja Govindam Stotram, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Govindam Bhaja Mudamate, this is meant for the sake of invoking Vairagya, days are passing, so it says, when death is approaching you, full of dispassion, now when you are earning money, everybody is running, please come father, please wash your feet, here is coffee and idli and you take rest, but as soon as you stop earning money, unable to walk, the body became wrinkled, the hair has become white, hardly is able to see, nobody asks him, hey old fellow, why are you giving so much trouble and how long are you going to be here giving us trouble, but sometimes we hide our hypocrisy, oh God, our father, grandfather is suffering so much, please take him away to free him from his troubles, water in brackets to free us from suffering on account of him, this we don't say, of course there are people with devotion, then there are hymns of self-pity, oh Lord, I am the lowliest of the lowly, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's pinastumam, may Bhagavan Krishna just put me under his feet and then smash me to pieces, you are the severe of the poor and the helpless, then despair, many times we are doing our best, no results seem to come, then karunakarani embudetako, so why should we call him a merciful person, so then there are some prayers for the fulfilment of one's desires, secular as well as spiritual, as I mentioned in this very talk earlier, so what are the examples, Hanuman Chalisa, many people ask me, Swamiji, we are going through a very rough patch, I say you recite Hanuman Chalisa, millions of people got benefit, you will also get benefit, then we are not having any jobs, okay, I advised many people, repeat Sri Sukta, repeat Kanakadharastava, if you do it, mother's grace will come and then you will be redeemed, there are some hymns which are glorifying the name of God, not glorifying God, please take note, glorifying the name of God, one example I cited, Purandara Dasas, neen yakko, I don't want you O God, neena nama ondu iddare sakko, if I have your name, that will do everything, like Hanuman, taking the name of Rama, immediately he crossed over, so one beautiful example and most gloriously composed by none other than one of the avataras called Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his only best known work is called Sikshashtakam, 8 verses, ashtakam means 8 verses or siksha means instruction manual, how a devotee can develop devotion to God, in the very first shloka, cheto darpana marjanam, bhava maha dhavagni nirvapanam, sreyaha kairava chendrika vitharanam, vidhya vadhu jeevanam, anandambudhi vardhanam, pratipadam poornamrutha aswadanam, sarvatma snapanam, param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, he is praising sankirtana, the praise of God's name, what does this shloka mean? Glory to the name of Sri Krishna which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of this worldly life of repeated birth and death, this name of your sankirtana, the singing of your glorious name is the prime benediction for humanity because it spreads the rays of the benediction of moon like moon which saves us, cools us from the burning rays of the midday sun and brings happiness to everybody, this name kairava chendrika, it is the life of all transcendental knowledge, so beautifully it's written vidhya vadhu jeevanam, jeevanam means the very life breath of whom? Vadhu, the bride, the wife, who is that wife? Vidhya jnanam and then it is also written anandambudhi vardhanam pratipadam, every second anandambudhi vardhanam, taking the name of God we are experiencing, a devotee experiences a very ocean of joy, anandambudhi vardhanam, it grows up, how can an ocean grow but it transcends the natural law and then this ocean grows and grows and grows, then pratipadam, you take once the name of God it grows, take second time it doubles, take third time then it grows even more and then poorna amruta aswadhanam reminds us sriram krishna tava katha amritam tapta jeevanam kavivariditam etc., poorna amruta aswadhanam, then sarva atma snapanam, a person is there whole day he has worked back breaking in the fields, is terribly tired, sweat is pouring but take God's name sarva atma snapanam, it is like a cooling bath for the gross subtle as well as the causal body and all these results come from param vijayate sri krishna sankirtanam, krishna's name taking God's name, repeating God's name param vijayate it brings the supreme glory, so these are just I have given you a few samples how many types and how many results, how many varieties, how many classifications etc., if you want those who want there are books like Bhakti Rasamruta Sindhu etc.
and easiest case is Raghavan's spiritual heritage of Thyagaraja, it is a most marvelous book, now coming back to our subject matter, we are going to discuss this what we call Pratha Smarana Stotram, as we know Adi Shankaracharya's works writings can be divided into three parts, first is called Bhashyams on the Upanishad Prasthanatraya and second is called Prakarana Grantha like Atmabodha, Vivekachudamani etc. etc. Vakyavruthi etc.
(38:58 - 39:37) then there is the third category is called Stotras and these Stotras or hymns as I mentioned earlier can be divided into what is called two classifications broadly, one towards the Saguna Brahma Stotras and Nirguna Brahma Stotras, Vedantic Stotras, Saguna Brahma Stotras again are divided into they are either of Vishnu, of Shiva, of Devi, of course Ganesha, Karthikeya etc. and different manifestations of the Divine Mother Lalitha, Durga, Bhavani, Annapurna etc. etc.
(39:37 - 50:33) So this particular hymn is falling into the what we call Gnana Marga Sadhana, this is one of the most wonderful hymns that is chanted by most of the followers of Advaita Vedanta but many of the devotees of especially Sri Ramakrishna and what do then we call it Pratha Smarana Stotram, Pratha this is a beautiful word pregnant with meaning usually the word Pratha means early in the morning what do you mean by early in the morning remember Swami Vivekananda's exhortation he has taken it from the Katha Upanishad what does it really mean what does Pratha Kala mean Pratha Kala first means by the very nature of our life in the external life Pratha means when we had sufficient rest and certain conditions have to be fulfilled I'll come to that very shortly when we have sufficient rest when we wake up in the morning the mind becomes very fresh it is completely relaxed full of energy and before that mind can be diverted towards other things that mind has to be made an agenda a goal has to be created usually you know if a person is working in at an office as soon as before he goes to bed tomorrow these are the things tasks I have to as soon as he wakes up these devils sit there and then they occupy before those tasks jump upon this person like all our old sins are sitting on the branches of the trees on the shore of the Ganga as soon as a person reaches then they jump on his shoulders before they possess us we have to remember what is the real goal of life and that is called Pratha that is the superficial meaning but the real meaning is what do we mean by early in the morning this is the final meaning when the mind is freshly woken up and absolutely alert to receive whatever is the best before our samsaric our worldly affairs take possession of us in the normal sense that is called Pratha Kaala early in the morning but that is very superficial meaning we can derive two meanings out of it one is to referring to the nature early in the morning the sun has not risen we call it Sandhya Kaala the time between this sunrise and then before the sun rises when there is sufficient light called Usha Kaala or in the afternoon after the sunset before it becomes completed or this is called Sandhya, Sandhya means conjunction between day and night at that time nature itself makes our minds quite peaceful that is the from the nature's point of view from the individual's point of view there is a time we all wake up and as soon as we got out of the sleep and for a few milliseconds or even seconds we are not aware where we are we are awake but we are not aware at that time the mind is highly receptive to these spiritual ideals at that time if we make an agenda and consciously make a resolution before going to bed as soon as wake up I am going to remember these particular instructions Pratha Smarami Venkateshwara Suprabhatam or Sri Ramakrishna Suprabhatam etc that sets our spiritual agenda after that is over then a person as if he is in the world he has to think about worldly objects they should not be neglected so this is the inner meaning that is called Pratha Kaala but Pratha Kaala doesn't mean only after we wake up there are other two meanings given in between two thoughts there is a slight gap and if we can be awake to that slight gap in between these two thoughts that is called Pratha Kaala and at that time we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam in between two thoughts pure Atma Tattvam is Purana it is just vibrating throbbing of itself but as soon as we are possessed of some self-awareness then it becomes our effort so it is another meaning of Pratha Kaala in between two thoughts another meaning of Pratha Kaala is it is not necessary in the morning evening also if we have trained our mind as soon as Sri Ramakrishna says finished the duties wash our hands and feet and then sit in a meditation posture withdraw our mind that is why one of the things is what is called Uparati Yoga system calls it Uparati withdraw your mind from all thoughts and think of this thing that is also called Pratha means fully awake and mind fully alert fully ready to receive the spiritual thoughts that's another meaning of Pratha so what should we do at that time Pratha Smarami I must remember why remember means here you don't need to remember you just to be recipient open your heart why because what we manually have to remember effortfully we have to remember Hridi Samsparat Atma Tattvam it is vibrating I am I am I am all the time this is what Kena Upanishad says Prati Bodha Viditam with every thought that is there this Ramana Maharshi used very much to emphasize that one so this is called Pratha Smarana means not remembrance Smarana means this is my goal like a Sankalpa I have to spend my time only in thinking of God in progressing spiritual life and in realizing God this is the only goal every other activity whether it is physical, mental or causal then it must be directed towards God just now I mentioned physically we can read books and do all our spiritual activities that's called remembering but we can also dream if we read books earnestly pray to God divine dreams will come but that is another aspect what can we do in deep sleep so it is said it is it is also a fact that can be proved you think something deeply and that will continue even during your deep sleep as soon as you wake up the first thing you are reminded is that last thought you kept there just like you keep a big notice before going out of your bedroom and you go to bed wake up and you want to go to the toilet or you can put it on the mirror in the toilet reminder or at the doorstep what is the first thing you notice oh today I need to complete this task like that you remind yourself that one this is called smarana not merely remembering but remembering what we should do what is the goal of life etc so this is not for dhyana this is for contemplation what does it mean these verses are for contemplation not for meditation what does it mean contemplation is on the self and true nature where there is no reality in contemplation there is no reality so we will have to think these are the preparations that will take us and all that we need to do is remove all negative thoughts and that is how we go on progressing so we don't need to do anything pay attention to something which is reminding us every millisecond of our life what is that remembrance just I will read and we will stop here we will discuss the meaning in our next class Pratah smarami hrithi samspurat atma tattva Sachet sukham paramaham sagatim turiyam Yath svapna jagara sushrutim avaiti nityam Tat brahma nishkalam aham nacha bhuta sangaha I remember early in the morning the self which shines in my heart which is of the nature of existence consciousness and bliss sacchidananda which is the goal to be attained by the paramahamsa sanyasis which is called the fourth or turiya state because it is beyond the three states of waking dream and deep sleep I am that brahman which is indivisible and not the aggregate of the five elements pancha mahabhutas akasha vayu agni chala and hrithi. The only important point to note down here is you don't need to remember but you pay attention to something like alarm bell is ringing but you pay attention to it hrithi samspurat atma tattva that atma by its very nature every minute every millisecond what is it telling it is vibrating throbbing with one idea what is that one idea I I I. We will discuss these points in our next class.
Oṃ jananīm sāradām devīm rāmakṛṣṇam jagadgurum |
Pādapadme tayoḥ śritvā praṇamāmi muhurmuhuhu ||
Today is holy Diwali and in most of the Ramakrishna orders, in a small way or big way, Kali puja is going to be done according to India in the evening time some places they do whole night Kali puja and Sri Ramakrishna used to go into muhurmuhu samadhi on this particular holy days.
May Mother, divine mother Kali, may Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti and we have at half past seven Bhagavad Gita class we will continue as usual.