Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 100 on 04 May 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAKPRANASYAKSHUH SHROTRAM ATHO BALAMINDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRAKURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRAKARO ANIRAKARANAM ASTVANIRAKARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHAD SU DHARMA TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HA RE HE OM OM May my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears, as also strength, and all the organs become well developed. Everything is the Brahman revealed in the Upanishads. May I not deny Brahman. May not Brahman deny me. Let there be no spurning of me by Brahman. Let there be no rejection of Brahman by me. May all the virtues that are spoken of in the Upanishads repose in me. I am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. OM PEACE PEACE PEACE BE UNTO ALL In our last class we started the third section of the eighth chapter of Chandogya Upanishad which is dealing with the Chit Swaroopa, Consciousness aspect. And what did we cover so far? That the first mantra says that whatever desires a contemplator, Upasaka of Ishwara or Saguna Brahma in the Dharakasha, small space that is obtained in the heart of each one of us, if a person becomes successful in contemplating, then every desire that any man cherishes, any such Upasaka cherishes, instantaneously, simultaneously he can enjoy. But there is a law for it. There is a condition for it. Such a person must first become Satya Kama and Satya Sankalpa. That means by continuous meditation upon the Saguna Brahma. He becomes one with Saguna Brahma and there is nothing which is bored for him. Every Loka, every object. This is the truth. But the question comes now, why are we not able to obtain them? We means the ordinary people. Ordinary people means those who are filled with Mithya. That means Anatma. That means this world. That means our minds are seeking what is temporary, what is ever changing, what depends upon the witness, Sakshi Chaitanya. That is why sometimes because of good actions we can fulfill one or two small desires and that too one by one and that too for a limited amount of time. This is what the first mantra in this third section wants to convey. All these desires which are within one's heart and which can be obtained without any trouble but by just identifying oneself with Ishwara. Even though this truth is common to everybody, a knower and also a non-knower, a Jnani, an Agnani. But what is the difference? The Agnani thinks first of all all desires are outside in the external world. How can there be in the heart? So that is what is said Anrita Api Dhanaha. Anrita here means that misconception. What is it? My desires are not within me. I have to seek for them somewhere outside. Now not only that, there is something very interesting. This is a point which I also had emphasized. Any person, any Prani, whatever desires he has, that means I am suffering. I am not having the Ananda, the bliss that is obtainable through any object. So I must seek an object. The purpose of coming into contact with the object is not to come into contact with the object but to squeeze the bliss, the happiness that we think mistakenly is within that. Sri Ramakrishna gives the examples of a camel trying to chew a thorn bush and when the thorns injure the gums and blood is flowing but the camel blissfully thinks the thorns are giving me all this juicy Ananda. Similarly a dog trying to chew a dry bone. In the same way we also think. So this is very important for us to understand. I think somebody is not muted. So that is the covering the truth with our own opinions that it is not there. This happens many times in our lives also that when we are seeking some object we go and try to obtain it from outside and after some time when we are searching for something else in our old stock we get exactly the same object we have forgotten even though it is there as if it is not there. This is what the Rishi wants to convey to us in this first mantra which we had already covered. That means whatever desires a person really is after. They are all there. It is very true. But they are covered completely that means what is covered? Ignorance. What is ignorance? I do not have these objects. So Tesham Satyanam Satam. Even though Tesham all the kamas Satyanam that means they are absolutely Sat. They are existent within oneself. Anrutam Apidhanam. Because of one's own ignorance thinks it is somewhere else. I do not have but they are available somewhere else and whole life practically they are running after these things like the Kasturi Mariga trying to run after its own fragrance thinking it is somewhere else. And then the Upanishad gives a peculiar example. Yo yo hi ase itha prayiti na tam iha darshanaya labhate. Suppose some relative some beloved person he dies and then he goes to we don't know where he goes. But we believe he goes to some other world. But as far as we are concerned such a person is not available so therefore we do not get it. But earlier we have seen that whatever world a realizer of Brahma desires Pitru Loka, Matru Loka, Brahatru Loka, Swasru Loka and Gandharva Loka or Anna Loka or Sangeeta Loka whatever desires come as if that particular world instantaneously presents itself. It is only a way of saying that he doesn't have any desire. A knower of Brahman cannot have a desire because every desire means a person is not happy. So he is trying to feel the lack of the unhappiness the happiness and he wants to fulfill it cover it so fill up the gap. But a realized soul knows I am Brahmananda Anantananda infinite and eternal. Then why is the scripture mentioning I told you earlier that is for people to inspire by advertisement that is what comes in the seventh section of this particular chapter Prajapati announced if anybody realizes his own self all his desires will be completely forever fulfilled. So we will come to that these are just introductions so we may be fit when we enter into that section that we are able to understand and put it into practice. So the first shloka in this third section says everything is inside but being ignorant we do not know that they are available to us. We think they are not available but a realized soul even a person who is advanced in spiritual life he knows and that is why according to Gaudapada the fourth obstruction in yoga or in spiritual perfection is Ananda. He becomes so Ananda he doesn't he is completely satisfied there is a likelihood of his forgetting that there is a higher Ananda. So Ananda itself becomes a kind of obstruction but one who reaches that means becomes one with Ishwara that person he becomes one with Brahman enjoys and this subject is so beautifully discussed in the second chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad which we are going to enter very soon. So that was the essence of the first mantra. Second mantra So now he is talking about the Sushupti Avastha in comparison with the waking state and dream state. Both states have a common experiential knowledge. What is it? I am different, the objects are different, I am not happy, I must obtain these objects and I must become one with those objects. This is a point I am again mentioning to you so that you can remember. In a person simple example so he becomes hungry and he is not happy because that lack of Ananda that comes from food that is not available now because of the state of being hungry so he obtains food and then he eats it and he recovers back his lost happiness as it were but the point I wanted to remind you is when the object becomes one with us then only we can get that happiness. Food must become one with us, fragrance must become one with us, sound must become one with us, whatever we see must become one with us, whatever we touch it must become one with us because so long as the object is even the slightest distance away we cannot enjoy it. Simple example you take one grain of sugar put it one millimeter away from the tongue you will not know what the sugar granule really tastes like so it must become one with you what happens it becomes melted and you swallow it it becomes one with you you have become one with sugar and that is the real Ananda that is why the saying I want to be I don't want to be one with sugar but I want to enjoy sugar is a false statement because so long as the sugar is away from us we cannot really enjoy it we must become one and this applies to all the faiths and Sargams. This is a profound truth which we have to keep in mind. So here whether a person is alive asya means on this earth eha jiva eha means here jivaha means living creatures echa pretaha and whichever creature had lived but now it is dead and gone. Whatever they want they would not get it in which state in the waking as well as in the dream state but sarvam tadatragatva indate sarvam can be interpreted into everybody every prani or everything tadatragatva indate. Atra means what when a person entertain and enters into the Sushupti state indate he gets everything just after waking up you make an analysis while I was asleep while I was in the state of Sushupti did any desire trouble me that okay some desires I obtained some I could not so I am unhappy with regard to those objects which I could not get such a thought arises no how do we know because you are full of bliss that's why it is called Anandamaya Kosha. The study of this Sushupti is a most marvelous subject we have to try to understand it every creature right from the once held being amoeba to the Brahma Loka everybody becomes absolutely happy only when they enter into the third state called deep sleep state. How do we know because that Ananda usually we equate Ananda or happiness with excitement oh I did not have money I got money I excited I did not have sweets I got obtained some nice sweets or ice cream and I am very happy that is not Ananda. Ananda means where there are no desires the mind is full of Ananda but when that Ananda Sagara is disturbed then only the desires that is called desire that means fulfillment has to be done etc. So every day Bhagawan has given to all of us this beautiful experience of deep sleep so when a creature enters into that state Sarvam Vindatai everybody obtains everything but when this person is in that state all true desires truthful desires until we reach that state we do not know that all the desires are within ourselves a marvelous mantra the second mantra and for that to make us understand better deeper clearer the mantra itself gives a beautiful illustration which we discussed also yesterday what holy mother used to say in a village there was a ghat and there was a big stone people thought it was very beautiful stone for washing cloths for rubbing their feet etc until an expert jeweler came and he examined it and with great joy he found that was the world's biggest diamond exactly in the similar way that even though when we are entering into the Sushupti state we are obtaining everything there is no lack of anything that is why no desire ever troubles our deep sleep but then why do we wake up because this is not a state of knowledge this is Bhagawan's grace what I call poor man's samadhi so this person he experiences it but he doesn't think twice about it how is it unless objects are obtained by me with great trouble I can never be happy nobody can ever be happy but here is everybody without any object without any desire without any effort effortlessly every desire is as if fulfilled that means is in a state of bliss how come people don't know we have to think about it now suppose we think and then we come to know that Sushupti state is very desirable what is the problem but we want to be absolutely conscious and enjoy that Sushupti state not for a few hours but forever so this is the difference between Sushupti and Samadhi first of all Sushupti comes when it wants to come and it departs when it wants to depart our effort our desire doesn't work here in fact the more we try to enter into sleeping state deep sleep state the miserable more miserably we fail to catch it that is the first problem second problem is this Sushupti state contains within it the seeds of the waking and dreaming that means many desires that means ignorance that means I am not Brahman that means I am a small being helpless being and I have to strive very hard to get he forgets I am the source I am Brahman so that is the problem so if we can study this Sushupti and enter into that state try to obtain that state how so such a person first of all he has to be awake and then he must approach worthy gurus teachers acharyas who know what they're talking about and then go on put how come I'm so happy during Sushupti other times I'm not I'm not happy how can I prolong this Sushupti state forever all the 24 hours but at the same time being fully conscious and that is called spiritual practice and that is what the mantra is indicating everybody is given that boon privilege of entering into Sushupti becoming one with Brahman Saguna Brahman Ishwara and for a short time because what is five hours even seven hours even eight hours very short time but everybody is given that privilege but then when we wake up we forget completely about it in fact sometimes when we have some desires even the Sushupti we don't want I want to get up early tomorrow some event is going to happen which is highly delightful for us so we even put obstructions to that so why is it we are not able to understand how am I getting the Ananda the bliss in the deep sleep state because all my desires are completely fulfilled but then as soon as we wake up both in the waking and dream states completely covered that means as if they're outside not inside me I must obtain them that then this illustration here Upanishad is trying to give the illustration of a cultivable land suppose there is a cultivable land somebody is cultivating it they are called Kshetragnas means cultivators and then there is a tremendous Nithi Hiranya means gold gold Nithi is hidden there yesterday I told you that story a person who became specialized in the field of oil came back and found out that his own field which he left thinking that it is a dry field he discovered that unending flow of oil is available there you can use that example they go on walking on it umpteen number of times now in the you they do not cognize that there is a tremendous treasure which I am seeking all the time evam eva exactly in the same way Praja means people but not only human beings every living creature every prani means every day they are entering into that state which is state state that is called Brahmaloka but as soon as they wake up then they do not understand that we have experienced it but they are looking again in the old symbol before going to into the deep sleep what they were doing their pratyuda so they do not know they go daily into the Brahman world and do not find it for they are carried away by the untrue what does it mean it means that everything that you seek is within you my friend but you have to have that knowledge for that spiritual practice is necessary so this is the Sanskrit translation but in English this is the translation but those of his people whether they're alive or dead and whatever else one desires but doesn't get all that one finds by going there into the Atman the Akasha in the heart the Akasha for here indeed are those true true desires of his covered by the untrue covered means what covered means we do not have the knowledge that I have everything I want within me within my heart by becoming one with that Ishwara I can obtain everything there would nothing will be left out and forever infinite desires will be fulfilled but what is our faith I don't have anything I do not have even prana because when after old age or accident I have to die so as though for that the illustration is people who do not know a particular field walk again and again over the treasure of gold hidden underground but they do not find it even so all these creatures here though they go daily into the Brahman world here Brahman world means not Brahma Purushas Sushupti because in Sushupti Prajna and Ishwara both become one and though even though daily we go even though daily we experience that tremendous bliss for several hours unbroken yet as soon as we wake up we as if lose it do not find it because of our conviction as soon as we wake I am separate a suite is separate money is separate house is separate car is separate everything is different from me and I have to obtain that and all those things so this is also yesterday we have covered now we will go to the next this one but all these desires are where there are in the heart and how they how are they in the heart because there is Ishwara as we have seen earlier what type of Ishwara Ishwara means Saguna Brahma what type of Saguna Brahma or Brahma Chaitanya Ashta Guna Vishishta Ishwara Eight that is he is pure is untouched by evil he is Sarva Jna is Sarva Veth he doesn't suffer from old age death birth and he is not troubled by thirst or hunger he is not troubled by anything that is external so we have seen one has to contemplate on on Ishwara in one's own heart in the form of these eight qualities and what is the law of Upasana whatever Upasana we do we become one with it the Ram Krishna became Hanuman by contemplating on Hanuman the Ram Krishna became Radha by contemplating upon Radha afterwards he became one with Rama and Krishna that is a different issue the main result of Upasana is to become completely one one meant complete oneness with whichever we are contemplating for that purpose we use so many things like if I want to meditate upon Vishnu I don't have any capacity so I use this something called Saligrama if I want to meditate upon Shiva then we take another type of Shiva Linga so these are all called Prateekas and if we are not even that much advanced we have to take recourse to Prathima means we have to imagine Rama looks like that Rama Krishna looks like that here is a beautiful point so if a child is asked showing the photograph of a Ram Krishna fortunately in this incarnation we have a photograph how Chaitanya Mahaprabhu looked or Rama looked Krishna looked Jesus looked we have no idea at all it is all imagination paintings only so here is an actual photograph of a Ram Krishna and he himself certified that this is a very high state so we should not become like children saying this is Rama Krishna why according to Advaita Vedanta it is very harmful to say this is God by saying this is God we are saying nothing else is God but only this we are accustomed to it they're habituated to it so for example you name a person suppose you know a person called Lakshmana and you point out to that person oh I know this person this is Lakshmana and accepting that person the whole blessed universe even if there are countless number of objects is not Lakshmana only that particular person is Lakshmana so that is the danger we encounter say this is this one so Sri Ram Krishna also says once Ramlal Dada came to Kashipur Sri Ram Krishna was suffering very much and Ramlal Dada was asking Sri Ram Krishna uncle do you miss mother Kali there instantaneously Sri Ram Krishna replied why do you think mother Kali is not here so he what what was Ramlala referring is referring to the image of the divine which was established at Dakshineshwar what was Sri Ram Krishna seeing this is my divine mother is all over this entire universe in fact all space all time is contained within her in the stomach of mother Kali there is actually no stomach because we only understand what is stomach so that example is forcibly given to us so everything is there she is everything and she has everything within her that is the meaning it it is not that she is another big being and within her separate from her like you have got your heart or undigested food within yourself so the whole universe is there good people bad people what is called wild animals cruel animals etc etc no that is not the understanding so this is all for our understanding what did we discuss so far so you contemplate on Ishwara in the Dharakasha and that Dharakasha is within your heart which resembles a lotus bud and that Akasha itself is full of knowledge Chit and that is called Saguna Brahma that Saguna Brahma is equipped with eight Asta Veda Guna Sampannaha so if we meditate then what happens just like him when we become him then all our desires are fulfilled in fact it is not that after contemplation only we get all those desires they're already there but Sadhana is to realize I'm not going to get anything new but I realize what I am seeking is here So these two mantras in this third section we have covered that is seek that unity with that Saguna Brahman otherwise also called Ishwara. Now Mantrati wants to point out that truth so what is the truth since Ishwara resides in our heart like a treasure the this third mantra is a definition for Ishwara so what is that Ishwara called Hridayam it is according to the Upanishad wants to play with words and it does it next to mantra also what is called Satyam giving peculiar definition but that's not important for us so here this Hridayam itself is Ishwara how come that is when I am in a house the house is only sheltering me but I am separate from the house because I can come into the house I can go out of the house and both can be both are separate even while I am in the house no no no that is not the meaning Hridayam so that this is the definition given here Hridayam means Hrit Hridayam that is the Paramatma is available in the heart the Paramatma is the heart and there is no heart other than Paramatma this is what Shri Ram Krishna meant beautifully a Jamindar can be found anywhere but most often he is met only he meets visitors only in the visitors room therefore based on this etymology Hridayam that Ishwara resides in the heart we also get this idea given by Bhagwan himself in the Bhagavad Gita and many times I quote it Ishwaraha Sarvabhutanaam Hridyeshe Arjuna Tishtati Brahmayan Sarvabhutani Kentra Arudhani Mayiya so again like all the desires are within us but we think they are not there same mistake we can commit with regard to Ishwara no no Ishwara is somewhere he is in Vaikuntha he is in Kailasa and etc etc so therefore we perform puja we invoke the deity in a picture in a Saligrama in a Shiva Linga what do we say very interesting this is called invoking the deity or Prana Pratishta so what do we do so we close our eyes and say oh God within now come out and enliven this image that is why that mantra is there if you recollect in the puja system that is to say my own Prana I impose upon the external image my own body I impose on the external image my own heart I impose even that identity showing finger that is called Astraya Phat I am Ramakrishna what is the idea oh lord because of my ignorance I was thinking all this while these hands belong to me now by your grace I realize actually they are your hands and apply this to the entire body mind complex and then say my legs are yours my eyes are yours that is why we touch every part and in the end we perform what is called Sarva Anga Gnasa Sarva Anga Gnasa means the realization nothing belongs to me everything belongs to you that is why once puja is over we call it Visarjana Visarjana means what just before Visarjana that that is I brought you out because I am unable to see you inside myself now wholeheartedly I have worshipped you my heart became enlightened now from now onwards I want to worship you forever adore you eternally within my heart and then after some time there is no within or without is it I do not exist everything is you only remember the story of Madhur Babu he was performing Durga Puja when the time came for the immersion ceremony the priest was sending word again and again there is a particular time period we have to do that Visarjana and Madhur Babu did not understand at first but when he understood he got wild he said if anybody does Visarjana I am going to wring his neck from his body then Sairam Krishna was appealed and he came and said this was his explanation oh why are you so much agitated the mother within you has been accepting your worship for the all these five days from outside now she will be sitting forever in your heart and will be accepting your worship forever Madhur Babu understood by the grace of Sairam Krishna and how long he kept that knowledge God alone knows anyway so immediately he said yes yes you can now immerse that image I don't require in fact when we realize that all this external worship is only to realize that the being whom we are worshipping outside is none other than Ishwara within our own hearts. So this is the idea that we are going to get in this third mantra. This Atman verily is in the heart each soul as Swamiji says the potentially divine so this word Hridaya he wants to give etymological explanation in this Upanishad so this Atman is in the heart hence it is heart he who knows thus indeed goes daily into the heavenly world so what does it mean everybody gets into Brahma Loka during deep sleep and what happens we become one with that Ishwara who is within our heart that is why the very definition of the heart is Hridaya that is the heart what is that heart Ishwara another name for heart Ishwara. Ishwara is heart, heart is Ishwara there is no difference and once a person understands it so he goes daily into that this is the process or the description what happens when we enter into deep sleep state Sushupti state why are we so blissful because we become one with the blissful Brahman Sat Chit Ananda we feel we are existence we feel we are consciousness we feel we are Ananda that is why there is no limitation of time or space that is why usually we say a person is in the deep sleep state let us say for six hours but that is only calculation from the waking point of view or even from the dream point of view but never from its own point of view because we have gone beyond the time space causation so this Ashta Guna Isishta Paramatma is that heart and when we contemplate upon him then we become him we become Parameshwara Ishwara and like him we also become Ashta Guna Isishta then what happens his Sat becomes our Sat his Chit becomes our Chit and his Ananda becomes our Ananda that means we obtain complete one mind with that Paramatma Upasaka merges with this Paramatma every day when in Sushupti even an Agnani merges with Paramatma but he doesn't know it he doesn't know I am I have become Paramatma why doesn't he know because he has to think but the very thinking instrument mind is completely absent there so this beautiful Advaita state is given I think it is in the Shiva Aparadha Kshama Stotram I think I'm not sure so Swam Atma Girija Mati the Divine Mother is my mind Pranaha Sahacharaha all my friends are this Panchaveda Pranas Prana Pana Vyana Oda and Samana whatever objects I am experiencing during the waking and dream state actually there is nothing but your puja who is eating food Parameshwara who is drinking Parameshwara so everything is all these things we think I am eating I am drinking I am enjoying I am hearing I am seeing I am tasting I am touching I am smelling no as I remember Ramakrishna once he was about to eat and a devotee is passing critical remarks then suddenly she had seen a snake coming out that means Ramakrishna was offering everything to a Brahma so this is one of the special subjects in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad especially there is a particular chapter called Swayanjyoti Brahmana and there we find every Upanishad is nothing but talking the same truths in different words now that serene and happy being rising out of this body and reaching the highest light appears in his own true nature that is to say during the Sushupti state we all become one with that Brahman only without knowing it and that is being described graphically Samprasada means serene very happy that means in the state of deep sleep we are not identified either with the physical body or with the mind both merge totally in the Karana Sharira causal body and that causal body is nothing but Ishwara and Paranjyoti that beautiful consciousness having become one with that Paranjyoti what Rupa I every Jeeva assumes the form that I am Ishwara then he knows I am that Ishwara and what is that Ishwara the Rishi is further describing this is that Atman which every Jeeva in that particular state whether he is a Gnani or a Gnani merges in that what we call the Sushupti deep sleep state this is the immortal there is no death do you feel that I am going to die in that deep sleep state do you feel I lack something no so is Amrutam there is no fear because fear is either I do not get what I am expecting to get or I lose what I already have since there there is no higher anything else only one then there is no fear and really that Brahman which we experience in that Sushupti state he is called from his name is Brahman and that is the truth and that is the real if you remember this is the explanation so with this the third mantra is over what is the essence of this third mantra during the Jeeva during deep sleep is happy and free from the impurities born of contact with objects though this term serene and happy being is applicable to every creature knowledgeable or ignorant here the person with knowledge is specially given this appellation this serene being giving up the notion that the body is the self and also the mind is the self reaches that supreme self which is of the nature of pure consciousness and having realized realized his complete identity with that Ishwara or Brahman he becomes merged in fact in his own true form so this name of that Brahman is called Sathyam is repeated here for the purpose of commending the method of meditating upon it and for that peculiar play word play is going to come which we will see in our next class may the Ramakrishna holy mother and Swami Vekananda bless us all with Bhakti Jai Ramakrishna