Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 105 on 24 May 2025

Full Transcript(Not Corrected)

OM JANANIM SHARADAM DEVIM RAMAKRISHNAM JAGADGURUM PADAPADMETAYOH SRIDHVA PRANAMAMI MUHURMUHU OM APYAYANTUM AMANGANIVAKPRANASYAKSHUH SHROTRAMADHU BALAMINDRIYANICHA SARVANI SARVAM BRAHMAHU PANISHADAM MAHAM BRAHMANIRAKURIYAM MAMA BRAHMANIRAKARO ANIRAKARANAM ASTVANIRAKARANAM ME ASTU TADATMANI NIRATE YAUPANISHADSU DHARMAH TE MAI SANTU TE MAI SANTU OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI HA RE HE 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 fifth section of the eighth chapter of Chandogya Upanishad. We were discussing the fourth mantra wherein the Upanishad or the Rishi is telling what is Aranya. Why this particular word? Because Brahmacharis are supposed to live in Aranya. But Upanishad is playing with this word. So there are as it were. We do not know. We have to believe whatever the Upanishads say, Vedas say. We have to believe in it. So in Brahma Loka. And why Brahma Loka? Because those who follow Brahmacharya, it is practicing Brahmacharya is continuous remembrance of God. And those only who do not have any other desires can think of God unbrokenly, continuously. Such people because of some lack, they go to a highest world called Brahma Loka. And in that Brahma Loka, there seems to be two huge Samudras or lakes. One is called Ara and another is called What is the reference? That the waters, not at all salty waters, but they are filled with intoxicating, that is symbolizing great joy. Both of them, whoever falls in it, they will not die. Interestingly, Sri Ramakrishna once asked Swami Vivekananda, future Swami Vivekananda, Narendra Nath, my child, imagine that you are a fly and there is a big saucer cup full of nectar. How will you sip? And he answered, I will sit at the edge, tightly closing my legs and stretch my tongue and enjoy. Sri Ramakrishna laughs and says, my child, this is not ordinary syrup. It is the immortal Amrita Dhara. So there you will not die. You will become immortal even if you fall in it because that is Amrita and whoever falls into it will become Amrita. So this is the Brahma Loka and there is also an Ashwathatori and in that Ashwathatori, what is its speciality? That yields Somarasa. Again, Somarasa is a symbol of indescribable and imaginable joy. So just playing, whoever practices Brahmacharya and practicing of Brahmacharya is equivalent to practice of every other type of spiritual discipline. All of them are included in that practice of Brahmacharya. As I said, all practices are only meant for one purpose, unbroken remembrance of God. That is called Brahmacharya, Brahmani Charati, Sada. So he who is constantly in God, moves about in God, he is called a Brahmachari. So such a person, if there are any desires left out, he will attain to Brahma Loka and by the way, the Upanishad tells this is what happens to even an ignorant person, Agnani or Gnani, worldly person or spiritual person, both of them in the state of Sushukti, they enter into Brahma Loka. What is the problem? Problem is that the ignorant person will be forced to come out by the potential desires that are still there. Even though mind is not there, potential mind is there. It is only temporary separation of the mind during the Sushukti state. So Upasana must be practiced lifelong and such a Upasaka at the moment of death, when his pranas are departing and how do the pranas depart? Through the Sushumna Nadi. So the Upanishadic Rishi wants to tell all about these Nadis. We will discuss about it shortly. So whoever practices Brahmacharya is sure to attain Brahma Loka. This is called also Krama Mukti. But if a person doesn't have any desires, he just swims in the ocean of Brahman, then he will attain that knowledge Aham Brahmasmi. Even in this very life, such a person has nothing to do with body. It is called Jeevan Mukti. Jeevan Mukti has nothing to do with body, mind. Others who see that person behaving in a particular way, completely contrary to what he was behaving previously. Now as I mentioned many times that Jeevan Mukta is not that old individual. He has become merged with Brahman. It is Brahman who again entered into that body-mind for the welfare of the world. That is the essence of the fifth chapter. Now we are going to start the sixth chapter. And the sixth chapter is all about description of Nadis. And these Nadis even Swami Vivekananda describes it. First of all, what are the Nadis? They are subtle channels functioning in the subtle body. They have nothing to do with what we call the nerves. Nerves, we can see operations are done. Not only that, every Ayurvedic, even allopathic people, they hold on the pulse, Nadi Shastra and they go on seeing the Nadis. We call them nerves. And a person who is very strong, very courageous, never gets agitated even if death is approaching him. Such a person is, we call him that very strong person. He is not at all a nervous person. But this is not what is meant. So in also Tantra Shastra or Yoga Shastra, these Nadis are very much outlined. Primarily, there are three Nadis are there, Ida and Pingala. And in between these two, Sushumna Nadi is there. And in general, the consciousness of these people will be hovering only in these three going up and down. And that is functional in the three chakras, we call it. This is related to the Kundalini. What is the Kundalini? All the complete person, unconscious, subconscious, conscious personality, that is consciousness of a person becomes combined and there are lots of potentialities. That is called Kundalini, like a coiled up snake. It has all the potentialities, but as if it is not active. And a little bit of it is active in the lower three chakras. These are Muladhara, Swadhishtana and Manipura. As I explained many times, when a person's mind is fixed with possessions, that is the Muladhara, somehow he attains a little higher step. Then he thinks about what is called the organ of generation, sexual happiness. And most of man's life, animal's life is spent only eating, drinking, fearing, fighting and Maiduna, copulating. And a person, when he becomes slightly higher, perhaps, I am not sure, he goes to the higher chakra, that is called his whole personality is hovering around his stomach food, that is called Manipura. So this is how I understand. So the Kundalini usually for millions of lives is only moving up and down through these three chakras. But at some point or other, because each soul is potentially divine, a man awakens, turns his attention from outside to inside. Then he looks up like the bird in the Mundaka Upanishad, which when it eats very bitter fruit, looks up and finds calm and serene bird. It thinks that is my ideal, not knowing the lower bird is the higher bird, potentially higher bird. And slowly it moves up and again it gets involved. So a Yogi deliberately, consciously, under the instructions of an experienced Guru, moves up and reaches Anahata Dhwani. Sri Ramakrishna in his Gospel explains beautifully what would be the state of my consciousness when the consciousness moves from these lower three to Anahata, from Anahata to Vishuddha, Vishuddha to Ajna and finally emerges in Brahman in the Sahasrara Chakra. So how does this Kundalini move? Through these three Nadis, Ida, Pingala, Sushumna. But for the lower three, as Swami Vivekananda mentions, the Sushumna is closed until a person looks inward. Only then, when he starts looking inward, suddenly he notices that there is another door and he becomes extremely curious to know what that is. And he discovers it and he enters into it and again he goes down. How do we know he goes down? As Sri Ramakrishna says, only when the mind reaches Ajna Chakra, if at all the consciousness goes down, it only goes down to the level of the Anahata. That means this Deha, Mana, Atma Buddhi becomes much reduced only to what is absolutely necessary to maintain the body, that much only the mind functions. And such persons are always Nitya Abhyuktana, Yogakshayamam Vahamyaham. So slowly this is how progress goes. So in Nadi Shastra, we get it. Now about in this Raja Yoga, which is also connected with Tantra and where Kundalini is very much practiced. So the goal of a Raja Yogi is to move from the lower Chakra to the highest. Only when he reaches Sahasrara, he can say, There there are no secondary thoughts, not even one thought. That is the one thought. Even though we are saying he will be in that state of Aham Brahmasmi or he will be in the state of Puri Avastha, he doesn't say it. He doesn't say there is no Avastha there. It is just I am. And curiously if you use this word I am, it makes no sense to anybody. Speak with anybody and if perchance question you, who are you? I am. That is why Moses was answered by God. I am who I am. So this is how we have to progress slowly forward. Now I want to quote Swami Vivekananda, what he has to say about the Nadis. So Swamiji spoke about Nadis and he called them channels of energy in the context of Raja Yoga and Pranayama. First we have to understand these Nadis are subtle. Subtle means that which is not available for the experience of the anything physical. The smallest is not subtle. Subtle body cannot be experienced excepting through the subtle mind. It is all when we are in the Sushupti state or we are focusing, withdrawing our attention from the physical, then we know what is going on in our minds. But we cannot express it. The moment we express, it becomes less. That's why they are called subtle. This is a point we have to keep in mind all the time. Non-perceptible to any external instruments. Even the biggest microscope, most powerful microscope cannot see. Swamiji emphasized the importance of purifying these channels. Here he calls Nadis as channels through practices like Nadi Shodhana, purification of these Nadis through breathing. And here we have to see what he means. First Nadis are channels of energy just like telephone wires. So telephone wire, a physical wire is not a carrier. There is something because you can connect any number of physical wires anywhere you want. But only when they are connected with a particular instrument, suddenly they become meaningful. There is something which has to convert our speech, our sounds into a particular body, particular way. Then only the wires, purely as physical instruments are capable of carrying. Otherwise, so many wires are lying down in our houses all over. That will not do. So these Nadis first of all are channels of energy. So Swamiji says these are the channels through which prana, the vital life force flows. I think that is why the Chinese people have discovered this acupuncture. They press the Nadis at particular places. The whole body is full of these Nadis and it is like a channel and sometimes the channels are blocked and the acupuncture, we believe, unblocks and then the prana can move. Otherwise, physically when the heart becomes clogged, then they will have to insert just as blood is the carrier of energy, so also these Nadis carry that pranic energy. So Swamiji believed that prana, the primordial energy that creates and sustains the entire universe. So as I mentioned, according to Yoga Shastra, according to him, two primary Nadis, Ida and Pingala and the centre Sushumna Nadi, which is located so far as we can see in the spinal column. Second purification, Nadi Shuddhi. For that Pranayama. Pranayama is control, regulation of the breath and the purpose of Pranayama is to purify these Nadis. But as some great soul had remarked very beautifully, even what is called the blacksmith's bellows or goldsmith's bellows are moving up and down rhythmically. That's not going to help. What is needed is purification and that purification is what when the prana starts flowing through these channels, tremendous energy is aroused and that energy flows through the eleven organs, five of knowledge, five of action and one which is called the mind, including Ahamkara. Funnily, if somebody is weak, he cannot express, he cannot be active because prana is not flowing. It is only for the strongest person that he can be great, what is called superior ego and by the way, superiority complex is a clear sign, proof that the person is suffering from inferiority complex. A superior person who knows he is superior, no need for him to exhibit and to declare to everybody, I am a superior person. Superiority itself proclaims to everybody whether they want to hear it or not that this person is most superior. It is only an inferior person who wants to do that and another funny thing is the worst is the ego, the weakest is the ego, cannot sustain even the slightest remark. You look at him, don't look at him, smile at him, don't smile at him, speak with him, don't speak with him. Whatever you do, the person gets offended and if he is ignored, he will get offended. We see crystal clear cases of this in the gospel. One day a devotee came, Ram Krishna was praising somebody, Suresh Babu and this person was not being praised and he was in a huff. So he went away and for six months, he never came to see back Ram Krishna. That was the disciple of Ram Krishna. I think we are in far better condition. So what is this purification that controls the body and mind and that is the real purification. Simply blowing the incoming breath and outgoing breath is not Nadi Shodhana because when we are in Sushupti, most of the time our Nadi Shodhana is going on all the time. So this Nadi Shodhana is for purifying, controlling prana and when we control prana, we must have that mental capacity to direct it where we want it to grow and that alone leads to spiritual growth and finally to God realization. Swamiji also mentioned that purification of Nadis can be how to know whether a person is being purified. Ram Krishna, if you remember, used to examine the bodies of people. Sometimes he used to take the hands and and if it is heavy, he used to tell, he is a worldly person. He knows what is called the science of physiognomy but Swami Vekananda, he also knows about it and it is there in the Yoga Shastra. Certain signs like lightness of body, effulgence and increased gastric fire etc. etc. This is called Nadi Shuddhi but we should not take it 100% physically real. Ram Krishna could not digest a little bit more milk. Therefore, you should not say he is Nadi or not pure. After realization, he had excellent health before realization. So Swamiji said, practice pranayama and that will channelize the energy more and he gave a beautiful story. I don't know whether he created it. How a minister who was imprisoned by a king cleverly escaped by telling his wife what to do when she comes next day and as I mentioned this is connected with Kondalini also. Now in many of the Upanishads, this is what we are seeing and before I go into the mantra, I have to tell there is a strong understanding belief that when a person is going to die, he is what is called all the subtle body and causal body. It is only the physical body that has become useless, functionless but the mind is as energetic as our sukshma sharira and karana sharira. They depart and so how do they depart? Is there any way they depart through any particular part of the body? So there is a peculiar theory. I have my own peculiar theory but it is believed if a yogi's pranas depart from the brahma randhra that is the sukshma nadi extends from the moladhara to the top of the head. That's why they say when you feel the baby's head just born or even after some time, there is like a very soft spot towards the back of the head and if you press it, it is like after opening a toothpaste tube and you will see if you press. So if you press a little more like a ripe fruit, it may pierce and his prana may depart through the brahma randhra but what is meant is that's called brahma randhra and if yogi's pranas if they depart then that means he will become a mukta purusha, a liberated soul. But I am not much of a fan of this theory for two reasons. One reason is that it is clearly stated the pranas of a jnani, they do not go anywhere and they can't go anywhere because he is everywhere. When a person says I am brahmasmi, I have to go to brahma loka. That's not what he means. I am brahman, I am ananta, I am satyam, I am jnanam, I am everywhere, I am everything. So the question of departure doesn't arise. And second reason is that once knowledge attains, a person can live for a long time. So the question of his waiting for the death of the body doesn't arise. That is why the scripture crystal clearly mentions three types of mukti, krama mukti, sadyo mukti and videha mukti. So krama mukti and videha mukti after the death of this body. But sadyo mukti, the moment knowledge dawns, immediately the person becomes completely free. Such a person is called jivanmukta. So that is the person. And what does it matter? When a person says I am not the body-mind, I am the brahman, through which part of the body the pranas depart? That is to say the subtle body and causal body depart. Makes no difference to him because he's not identified with them at all. So these are the two reasons. I don't believe everybody's prana has to depart only through the brahmarandra. But I have a peculiar theory, as I said, take it or take it as much as you want to do, as Ramakrishna used to say, minus the head and the tail. What is it? If somebody is what is called terribly attached to possessions, his body departs through the pranas, or his two bodies, subtle and causal body, depart through the muladhara, anus. If he is full of sexual thoughts, he will depart through the generating organ. If he is a foodie, it will depart through his stomach. Don't think there is no hole in the stomach. Stomach is very holy, full of holes only. Every pore of the body is a prandra. So if a person has got higher tendencies, maybe his heart stops, maybe departs through his mouth or through his eyes, etc. So perhaps if he's a musician, his bodies may depart through the ears. If he's a painter, a silpy, a kalakara, then his bodies may depart through the eyes, etc. But never through the brahmarandra. Anyway, I told you about my idea. You can take it or reject it as you want. So the whole sixth section is full of this nadi shastra. And remember, whatever the scripture tells us, we have to believe. Don't ever say, I don't see this one. What happens? No, no, you don't see. If you see, that is not a nadi, that is a body. With this background, we will enter into the mantra. Then those that are these nerves of the heart are filled with subtle juices, which are of five colors of reddish brown, white, blue, yellow and red. And the end or sun, Aditya, surely reddish brown. Also he is white, he is blue, he is yellow and he is red. What does the mantra want to convey to us? That the Aditya is source of all energy. Remember, because we cannot directly access the energy out of infinite compassion, the Aditya helps to produce plants, which is food or animals also. And we all eat the plants and animals, animals eat animals, plants also eat plants and only plants have the capacity to convert the energy of the sun through photosynthesis. Now, this Aditya is source of the energy and this energy in Vedanta Shastra is called prana. So the rays of the sun enter onto the earth, the whole universe, in fact cosmos and it spreads and each human body or each body, living creature's body is full of these nerves and these rays carry that energy. How? Through these nerves and they reach different parts of the body, functioning as the pancha prana. Remember, prana, vyana, udana, samana, apana, etc. So it is mentioned in the Upanishads, so as I said we have to believe the sun is of various hues, colours and they are all combined into five colours and juice. Juice means the energy, so they enter and then it is said that they also colour our various nadis with these. So this is a description and as I said we have to just swallow it with not a pinch of salt, with complete faith. Then what happens? Atha, ya, etaha, hridayasya, ya, nadyaha. Now, etaha, hridayasya, ya, nadyaha. Whatever nadis this human body has got and if they belong to the subtle body, they are of the five colours. Pingala, ninaha, tishtanti, shuklasya, nilasya, pitasya, lohitasya, ithyaso. So filled with this, the juice of the sun, that means the energy of the sun and various nadis acquire various colours, reddish brown, white, blue, yellow and red colour. And what is the reason? Because the younger son, asava, adityaha, he is of these five colours because he is entering in the form of his race into every body, probably even the vegetable kingdom also. I don't know whether plants have got certain nerves. They must be having because they are pranis also. Otherwise, how do you feel? How do they feel? Sir Jagadeesh Chandra Bose had discovered even the smallest plant, very sensitive and they can feel love, hatred. It is an astonishing fact. And how do they feel? Through these nerves. Even a speech, you go and speak to your plant and if it is loving speech, it reacts one way. Loving sound, if a beautiful sitar sound is played, then they lean towards that, indicating they very much appreciate and if it is rock music is played, they veer away from that. So we have to understand these things. As I said, we have to accept it. I am not going too much into this. There are arteries called nadis and they belong to the subtle body and they cannot be seen but they can be felt. So the heart, they all flow into the heart and there are various nerves and they are of different hues. Any amount of microscopic examination is not going to take us to that, show us those colours. We have to, what we call, only believe in that. There is no other way. But the purpose is not, if we can see some or other, these colours, something happens. No. All that it means is, we are receiving energy and how are we spending that energy? In the form of pancha prana. My theory is that these pancha pranas are somehow related to these five colours but take it with a pinch of salt. So according to the text, these substances are of these colours because of their connection with the sun, that is the face of the sun, the light of the sun, the heat of the sun enters into these arteries and resumes these various colours. So we are not bothered, why these colours? Because as the Upanishad tells, the sun itself is full of these colours. So as I said, the Shastra teaches what we cannot see through any of the body and mind, that's why Veda is that which grants us knowledge beyond the sense organs. That is what person says. What is the purpose of this description? Because earlier we have seen this Upasaka, practicing various spiritual disciplines and all of them are clubbed into one called Brahmacharya and if that person's sadhana is not 100% complete, after giving up this body, he goes. So how do these nerves take this person there? I will put it this way, how does he reach Aditya Mandal? As if, as the Upanishad describes, this sun that we see is a doorway to higher lokas, as if this sun that we see is a closed doorway. How do we know? Because we have seen in the Isavasya Upanishad, I think in the 16th mantra, I want to see, go beyond what is this closed door. So I am your devotee, I am devoted to Satya and Dharma, so please help me. So then, as the Upanishad itself in this very section explains to us, so the result of this Upasaka attains Krama Mukti and how does he attain this Krama Mukti? Not really very difficult and that is what is going to be outlined in second mantra. evam eva etādityasya praśmeha ubhau lokau bhajjanti imañca amuñca amuṣmād adityād pratāyante tā āsu nādiṣu sruptāhā abhyo nādibhya pratāyante te amuṣmin aditye sruptāhā A beautiful analogy is given. Suppose there are two villages and there is a pathway, highway that runs between the two villages. What happens? People can commute from one village to the other village. Exactly in the same way, the rays of the sun, they come here and touch the Upasaka. Not only Upasaka, all of us, but since we are not Upasakas, the God Aditya knows we are not fit to go there. How do we know? This very section also outlines it. So the meaning of this mantra is just as an extending highway runs between two villages, this as well as that, this village as well as that village, even so the rays of the sun go to both these worlds. This world, that is the world of the Upasaka as well as that world means the higher world called Brahma Loka. So these rays of the sun spread out of the under sun and enter directly into these arteries. So when you stand in the sunlight, the rays of the sun with various colors enter, but they can enter only according to our fitness. So out of these arteries, they spread and enter into the under sun. So beautiful word the Upanishad uses, Pratayanta means shoot out. That is naturally they spread out and you must get the meaning just like there are two worlds, two villages and both are connected with a highway. So there are two worlds, the higher world or Brahma Loka and this world and the sun acts like a door keeper. So what happens, the rays of the sun, they come down and enter into the arteries, noddies of the Upasaka and they assume various forms and at the time of death, they know what is the fittest Loka this particular person has to reach. So accordingly, they gather the Pranas as we saw in the Mundaka Upanishad. Please come, please come, our Lord Aditya is very much pleased with you. He wants to bestow his grace. So what happens similarly, the sun's rays connect two realms, that is our Loka and Brahma Loka. Our Loka means don't ever mistake a worldly person's Loka. It means a Sadhaka who is in this world with a body mind, Upasaka with a body mind, but mentally he is in the Brahma Loka, but he still has a body and mind. But after death, what happens, his Pranas, when they are about to depart, These rays which are originating from the sun and flowing into our noddies, from the noddies, they extend until the Surya Mandala, the sphere of the sun and that is why I told you why the Sadhaka turns to the Surya and there the Surya is not an outside globe, it is a living deity waiting for the Upasaka to open the door and conduct him through his rays to the higher worlds deserved because for so many lives he has been doing Upasana. So I may reach Brahma Loka through it. So this is the essence of this one. We have to trust that God has not forgotten. He is connected with us, but according to our spiritual practice, the result also will come and especially in this section, the path of the Krama Mukti, gradual liberation is being outlined. Now we enter into Matra 3. So that being so, what being so, either you can take it when a person is in the deep sleep state or when a person is in the case of the Upasaka because of his long standing practice of Upasana, when one sleeps in such a way that he has all his organs withdrawn and becomes tranquil, he doesn't see any dream, then he enters into these nerves in that state which is state when the body and mind are withdrawn into the Sushupti state. No sin touches him. That is why he says, then what happens in that state? He becomes free. He is verily then becomes enveloped by the rays of the sun which are nothing but spiritual vibrations. So this is the state of the Sushupti, whether a person is knowledgeable or whether a person is not knowledgeable or whether a person is a Jnani or Jnani. The state of Sushupti experience is exactly the same and at the same time not exactly the same. What do I mean? The state of an ignorant person is he will not know what is unhappiness or suffering because there is no body-mind, there are no objects, there is no good or evil. So he will be very peaceful but the person who knows will be in a very high state like a person like in Samadhi experiences a higher state of bliss. So I am distinguishing between the bliss of the Sushupti of an Agnani and the bliss of a Jnani. So this is what he wants to tell. The Jeeva travels during the Sushupti state, the Nadis, through the Nadis not only at death but continuously in all the three states. Now as a Jeeva we always travel through the Nadis only. It is a very interesting idea and which we will expound in our next class.