Chandogya Upanishad Lecture 119 on 12-July-2025
Full Transcript (Not Corrected)
अम् जननीम्शारदाम् देवीम् रामक्रिष्णम् जगत् गुरुम् पादपद्मेतयो स्रित्वा प्रणमामिमुहुरुमु अम् आप्यायन्तुममांगानिभाग् प्राणस्चक्षुहु शुत्रमतुबलमिंद्रियानिचसर्वाणि शान्ति शान्ति शान्ति हारे हे अम्
Oṁ jananīṁ śaradāṁ devīṁ rāmakṛṣṇam jagad-gurum pāda-padmetayōśritvā praṇamāmi-mohurumō
Oṁ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇas cakṣuḥ śrutra-mathu bala-mindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi
sarvam brahmau paṇiṣadam
māham brahma nirākuriyām
mā mā brahma nirākarot
anirākaraṇam astva nirākaraṇam me astu
tadātmani nirate yau paṇiṣadsu dharmā
te mai santu te mai santu
Oṁ śānte śānte śānte Hare Om
Oṁ may my limbs, speech, vital force, eyes, ears has 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
who I am engaged in the pursuit of the self
may they repose in me
Aum, Peace, Peace, Peace be unto all
So we have been discussing section 14th of chapter 8th, a last chapter in the Chandogya Upanishad. What did we discuss? Prajapati is telling this is called Khela Kaanda or Upasana Kaanda. Assorted subjects are here. Who are the authors? Again the rishis only. So this is one of the highest prayers as well as upasana, meditation. How can we meditate upon the formless aspect of Brahman? The utmost we can imagine Brahman to be space. There are many similarities between the atman and space. What are the similarities? Brahman is infinite. Space also looks like infinite, not really infinite as I explained earlier that which is created. A very created object makes a division called creator and created, subject and object. And when there are two, then that is a limitation. But for practical purposes being the subtlest. So akasha is the highest symbol. We cannot go beyond that. So we are forced to meditate upon Brahman remembering or superimposing the qualities of space, akasha on Brahman. This is how Brahman should be. So akasha is one without a second. Remember when akasha was created, that was the first creation, there was nothing else besides it. So another name for akasha should be Saguna Brahma. Different scriptures call them Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, Ishwara, Saguna Brahma etc. And from akasha slowly it manifested or it grossified itself as the other four elements. Let us remember space itself is the first element, created element. That is what we saw in the 14th section, only one mantra. This mantra in the 14th section can be divided into three separate sections. It means three separate ideas are posited in this mantra. So this is the first idea that akasha equivalent to atma is the creator, the sustainer and the dissolver of everything that came out of it. Just as if we remove the clay, every pot will disappear. If we remove gold, every ornament will disappear.
We can add any number of examples. If water is removed, all waves, all bubbles, everything will disappear. So this is the first idea and that is Brahma, that is immortal, deathless because death indicates birth or creation. Since akasha, here it is only as an example, but it means Brahma really. So this akasha nama brahma is the creator, is the sustainer of every name and form. That means every created object is called nama roopa, nothing but nama roopa. The whole world is nothing but names, forms, of course utilities. This is the first idea in this one mantra in this 14th section. Then there is a prayer, it is a beautiful prayer. The sadhaka who is the contemplator of the saguna brahma and in this instance it is called akasha nama saguna brahma. When he is contemplating what is his prayer, I started contemplating on this brahma. Therefore I would like to be nearer to him. Let me approach him, nearer and nearer, still nearer. Sabha means a hall, Peshma, that house. I would like to be where Brahma is residing, Brahmapuri, prapadye. And I would like to prapadya, word prapadya, I surrender myself, I pray to the lord. I would like to approach him nearer to him and then having approached, what does the sadhaka, spiritual practitioner want to become? Yesho aham bhavami, the literal meaning of yesha means fame, may I be well known, may my name and fame spread. But this dictionary meaning is not going to help us here because when the spiritual practitioner approaches nearer and nearer, Brahma, he becomes Brahman, that's why we use in English one n is added to separate Brahma the creator from a supreme reality called Brahman or Atman. So he says let me become famous, yesha means fame, name, everybody should know about me, everybody should be aware of me. But then that meaning is meaningless, therefore he says yesha, Shankaracharya interprets this word yesha as Brahma. Another name for Brahma is yesha, yesha means Atma, yesha means Brahma. What does it mean? Aham yesho bhavami, may I become Brahma. Why? Because prajapati, here prajapati means what? Brahma only, so as I approach Brahma through my contemplation may I become Brahma. And this is also interpreted in two ways, if the practitioner spiritual aspirant is a contemplator of saguna Brahma, of the Brahman with qualities, then he this Brahma loka, the highest enjoyable world, may I enter into that highest world, may I enjoy, may I become Brahma and may I obtain gradually liberation, krama mukti. But there are people who must have experienced all these things, I have nothing to do with Brahma loka, I want to go straight to Brahman and become one with Brahman. And here yesha means may I become Brahman. How does this word fame, how can it be equated with Brahman?
For that there are Upanishads and certain places it is also mentioned, yesha means Atma, yesha means Brahman. So may I attain atonement, completely become one with Brahman, yeshoham bhavami. And once the aspirant becomes one with Brahman, then as if that any name and fame, anything that belongs to anybody, either in the past, present and future, it all belongs to Brahman only. This is what we see in the Bhagavad Gita, the almost concluding shloka in the 10th chapter of Bhagavad Gita, talking about vidbhuti. yad yad vibhuti mat satvam srimad ujjita me bhava tattadeva mamate jo amsha sambham So Arjuna, wherever you see some speciality, specially manifestation of me, that's my vibhuti, my glory. My glory means just like sun and sunlight, just like fire and the burning power of fire, God and his glory, Brahman and its glory are not separate. So yesha means here Brahman, sahaham yeshasaam yeshaha, Brahmananam. So if there are excellent Brahmanas who are well known for their excellent qualities, that is called Brahmananam yeshaha. There are glorious Brahmanas, ragnam yeshaha, there are glorious kings, emperors. Even today we remember great emperors for certain qualities. So Julius Caesar we remember, Alexander the Great we remember, Napoleon the Great we remember, in India Ashoka the Emperor we remember. So whosoever people remember, a large number of people for a longer period of time, they must have some special quality and that is called yeshaha. Visham yeshaha, there are some business people who are extraordinarily talented, they very soon become the richest people because all these things they require intelligence. Without that intelligence, without diligence, without appropriate self-sacrifice of time, energy, one cannot manifest that quality. Whatever we manifest, it is only as Brahman, as potential Brahman, we all have that one. But because of our self-effort, it becomes manifested. And this person, he says I am approaching Brahman, as I approach Brahman, I get more and more glory, that means I reflect more and more glory of Brahman. And finally when I become one, everything is the glory of Brahman. Glory we should not mistake only for name and fame. Whatever exists, that is the glory of Brahman, that is the characteristic of Brahman. Wherever there is consciousness manifested, in the form of knowledge. So the first is sath, pure existence, sath, truth, sath, holiness, purity. Then the next is knowledge, not only worldly knowledge, but every sort of knowledge, that means I become like mother Saraswati, like the goddess of wisdom. The word wisdom is more important and we should use that word rather than knowledge. Most knowledge people will be learned fools. But here we are thinking that the person who could manifest not only secular knowledge, but spiritual knowledge by realizing I am Brahman. So such a person, I am that person, I am such a person because I become one with Brahman. And this also has a point which we have to keep in mind. If somebody is a computer expert, that is also Brahman's glory. Somebody is a very skillful pick pocket, that is also a skill, that skill, skillfulness is God, God's knowledge. But the person who is using that knowledge for the sake of some desire in a wrong way, that is a separate issue. Knowledge is a separate issue, how we use that knowledge is a separate issue altogether. So we see sometimes that there were what is called hackers. They hack the banks and then they also get lot of money and banks do not reveal that, that we will not release your files until you pay so much of money. And they are forced to do because they cannot wait. So this is how we will have to understand this one.
So whatever existence, whatever knowledge, knowledge means manifestation of more consciousness, that is my glory because I am not separate from Brahman. Similarly wherever you see a person is more happy, he is experiencing what is called Ananda. And every day every creature experiences during the deep sleep state, that is called Ananda. So this second part of this 14th, the mantra in the 14th section, it is expressing this is I am Brahman, I realized Brahman. So I have become one with Brahman and then I come back and I look, the whole universe is nothing but my glory and the whole universe is nothing but Sat, Chit and Ananda. This is the result of my realization. That is what he wants to say. Literally it means may I obtain the glory but really it means that before becoming Brahman, one with Brahman, I can only pray but after realizing that I am Brahman, naturally there is nothing else excepting me, everything is me, aham sarvam, I am everything, that knowledge will come. That is being expressed here like we saw in the Taittiriya Upanishad also. So a great Rishi, he said aham rikshasya reriva, I am the very root of the tree called the world. Keerthi prishtham gireriva, and my name and fame, my glory has no limit, it has reached to the highest peak, exactly the same sentiments are expressed there also. So aham prapatsi, that means may I become Brahman and once I become Brahman, I know I am Brahman. Not becoming means I was not Brahman, I did so much of austerity, spiritual practice, then somehow I became Brahman. That's a wrong idea according to the Upanishads, I was, am and will be Brahman but temporarily I have forgotten. Now I removed that maya, ignorance, now I know I was always, I am, I will be Brahman only and this should be the experience of oneness with Brahman. And then he says, he has, as if he realized sahah aham yashasam yashaha, I am the glory of the glories, that means every glory that we experience is a manifestation of Brahman. Yashasam yashaha and the glory of all glories, that original glory and which is manifesting in every other glory, as every other glory as Brahman, that is that Brahman I am. This is the second part, which is a beautiful part, actually this is what we are also praying, asathoma sadgamaya, tamasoma jyotirgamaya, prutyorma mrutangamaya, even though we do not use those exact phrases to translate this meaning of this one, what it means is may I become Brahman and may I realize that the whole universe is nothing but my glory and there is no individuality there, the whole of the universe is me. And then as a result of this realization, what happens, I am not going to have any future births, that is beautifully explained in the third part of this only mantra in this 14th section.
I already mentioned the meaning, you should always at least remember by going through once, then it would be easier. Shetam means reddish-white, adatkam, that which does not have any teeth, adatkam, dat means danta, adatkam means no teeth, shetam means a peculiar colour, so reddish-white, lindu means slippery, what is that, this is where from we all come, the female generative organ indicating birth, indicating womb, therefore maa abhi gaam means may I never enter, lindu maa abhi gaam, may I never enter. But here we have to understand, I have been born, I suffered a lot and I had enough of this birth and death, therefore I do not wish to be born again, that is called mumukshatvam, deep desire for liberation. And this person through wonderful traditional teaching, through a Sadguru about which we will talk in the last and next mantra, so I have realised now by the grace of God, by the grace of my teacher, by the grace of the scripture, and by the grace of the traditional teaching that I am Brahman, but I did not know, I thought I was a human being or any being, but in human life only I become aware that I have a birth, I have growth, there continuously I am changing and one day I will get rid of all these bodies, not only the physical body, all the other four bodies also which are called panchakoshas, so may I not be reborn, may I not be reborn.
And since birth comes from the womb, therefore it is said, it is described, the womb represented by the generative organ, sheyatam adatkam, sheyatam adatkam, and slippery, very interesting word because if it is not slippery, we will never be able to come out, our operation has to be done to bring us out, nowadays that is what is happening. So the meaning of this mantra in the fourteenth section is first of all may I realise Brahman, then may I become one with Brahman and may I manifest, may I understand everything that is manifested in this world is nothing but the glory of Brahman, is not necessary, somebody should become very famous, well known, anything even if a small pebble exists, there is also that existence itself is a glory of God only, glory of Brahman only, so may I realise that I am everything, sarvam kalvidam brahma, may I realise, and the person has realised, and if I realised what happens, I will never be reborn, so before realisation that is my earnest prayer which is called mumukshrutvan, after realisation I know I am not going to be reborn, so you see if we have to wrap up this particular mantra that I was Brahman, I manifested as akasha, and then from me the whole universe has come, and therefore whatever is in the universe is my glory, and since it is my glory there is nothing that is desirable by me, I am purna kamaha, all my desires are completely fulfilled, so there is no more chance of my again being what we call having rebirth, so again he says according to Hindu scripture all human beings are divided into brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya and shudra, and each one is greater or the higher caste manifests more glory of Brahman in the form of sat, chit and ananda, or at least should and it is nothing but me, that means may I become one with everybody, and after realisation I am everybody, that would be the essence of this one, and once I attain that one the question of rebirth doesn't rise at all, and then it is repeated may I not be reborn, may I not enter into the womb, so twice it is maa abhi gama, this repetition is often to indicate that particular section or chapter or the entire book is closed, it is that subject is over, rebirth is a source of evil and by God's grace I know I was not born, so I will not be born, that is a taken for granted experience by realising I am Brahman, that is the essence of the 14th section.
Now we enter the last 15th section and here also one mantra is there, and then the essence of this mantra is the attainment of Brahmaloka, remember Brahmaloka means the world of Brahman has been interpreted as I just now mentioned few minutes back in two ways, for the contemplator of Saguna Brahma, personal God, such a person if he is successful in that contemplation he becomes identified with Brahma the creator, that is called attainment of Brahmaloka, and he will experience all the bliss of Brahma the creator, which means actually Brahma, Vishnu, Maheshwara, because one person according to three different activities will be known by three different names, they are not three different persons, the whole burden of our Hindu scriptures especially of the Upanishads is there is only one reality, there are not multiple realities, so I gave many times the example, any number of times we have to repeat until the idea sinks into the depths of our consciousness, if there is a person and he is a doctor and when he is treating patients he will be called doctor, and the same person he will be doing some money transactions, he will be a businessman for example, if he goes for swimming he is called a swimmer, if he enters into a club he is a club member, if he is enjoying the company of his family he is a family man, one and the same person, depending upon what type of activities the person is found to be at that very moment, that person will be called by that particular name to distinguish him, so a family man at that time is not a doctor, is not a swimmer, is not a club member etc. So attainment of Brahma Loka means what, if the person doesn't have that highest concept he wants to attain oneness with Brahma the creator, Brahma or Vishnu the maintainer or Shiva, that is why all Hindu devotees mainly are divided into Vaishnavas, followers of Vishnu, Shaivas, the devotees of Shiva and Shaktas of course, the devotees of Divine Mother, so Divine Mother is Prakruti, Prakruti represents three gunas and three gunas represent Brahma, represents Sattva, Vishnu represents Rajas and Shiva represents Tama, not in the negative sense but in a very positive sense, that is why Nataraja is a wonderful symbol, if opportunity comes we will talk about it later on but what is meant here is that those Saguna Brahma Upasakas, those who contemplate on the personal God, they become one with personal God and that is called Brahman Brahma Loka, but if the same person had had enough in the past verse, he develops Tivra Vairagya, at most dispassion and he says I don't want to again to Brahma Loka, I want to attain one-ment, oneness, complete identity with Brahman and such a person goes to or becomes Brahman and that is also called Brahma Loka or the status of Brahman, as Bhagavad Gita says that is the highest reality, highest place and once a person attains that one, there is no question of coming back, that means there is no rebirth at all because he has realized the truth, his ignorance is completely destroyed, he will not come back, first we desire not to come back but there are two types of people, some people say gradually I will go to higher and still higher and still higher Loka, that is for one type of mentality they are called Saguna Brahma Contemplators, but there are some people who say I don't want to go anywhere, I want to know I am Brahman here and now and such people are called Nirguna Brahma Upasakas, this 15th section it wants to describe that state of Brahman or whichever it is, but what is common, one attains liberation gradually, another attains liberation while living which is called Jeevan Mukti or as soon as the body falls which is called Videha Mukti, but for some people because of some latency, latent samskaras which they are not able to overcome while living in this human body, they will go to higher Lokas, then the limitation is nothing but subtle, very subtle desire and that will be fulfilled, he will not come back to the earth that is called gradual liberation or popularly known as Krahma Mukti. Now in this 15th section two points are emphasized, very very important to take note of them, first nobody can realize that I am Brahman unless he becomes a follower he must have a Sadguru, real Guru and he must follow Parampara, Guru Seshya Sampradaya, very very important that is the first point, so the first part of the mantra it beautifully it outlines this Guru Parampara system how important is the Guru and knowledge without Guru he is not saying almost impossible, he says it is impossible that is the first point we have to note down, it will be easy for us then to understand, second point is how to conduct one's life, so the whole of Hindu Shastra is only an explanation what is the goal or what is your nature and what should be the goal of life and how one should attain one's own nature or that is called attainment of goal that is what Swami Vivekananda beautifully explained, each soul is potentially divine in the very first teaching of our scriptures and that is what is called Dharmastapana.
Dharma means first meaning of Dharma is what is one's own true real nature, for example sweetness is the very nature of sweet, if you remove sweetness from a sweet it won't be sweet, if you remove bitterness from a bitter gold it will not be bitter at all, so you go on adding any number of examples that is the first primary meaning of the word Dharma, so that is why Swami Vivekananda says each soul is potentially divine and if we believe in the scriptures and that is the root cause of all spiritual practice in every religion and that is what the first point, man has fallen from paradise, what is paradise, my nature is to be with God in dualistic terms and to be with God is called paradise and for whatever reason I have fallen from that state and then I acquired knowledge, here knowledge means ignorance, I have fallen into ignorance, ignorance creates duality, so I am male, you are female, this is happiness, that is unhappiness, this is good, that is evil etc. every object in this world has its opposite which defines this particular object, for example as many times I told, I am repeating it so many times, you will not know what is happiness unless you know what is unhappiness, you will not know what is heat unless you know what is cold, you will not know what is death unless you know what is birth and vice versa, so unless we know paradise we don't know what is not paradise, so we will not know what is bondage unless we know what is called freedom and we are always praying, let me be free from this bondage, and unless we know that our nature is unbroken happiness we will never desire it, this is a fundamental principle of Vedanta, no one can desire what the person is not, I want to be happy because my nature is happiness, I desire knowledge because knowledge is my nature, I want to exist without interruption, without change because my nature is existence, no desire, prayer means desire, prayer means for the fulfilment of desire, we pray to a higher being, I am not able to get my desire fulfilled but if you bestow upon me then I will be able to get it, but the desire itself is making us turn towards God, and desire means what does one desire, a person doesn't desire something other than oneself only, one cannot desire what is not oneself, this is a beautiful point I wish you keep in your mind, if I am Brahman I can only desire to be Brahman, and since Brahman is Sat beyond mortality, Chit pure consciousness, Ananda in eternal bliss, I will never be able to crave for these three things, three in one, one in three, so that is the first point, what is the second point, now I know I am not Brahman, somehow I have fallen into the trap thinking that I am not Brahman, so what is my nature, I should be Anatma, non-Brahman, but I don't accept it because unconsciously let me not die, let me not be ignorant, let me never suffer, that indicates profusely without any doubt that my real nature is all the Sat, Chit, Ananda, that's why keep that point, nobody desires to be anything other than oneself, everybody desires automatically all the time, the search may be in a wrong direction, but the desire indicates our true nature, so that is what Swamiji's second, the goal of life is to manifest that potential divinity, make the potentiality actual, real, and how to manifest that reality either through work or worship or philosophy or through will power by one or more or all of these and be F R E E, this is the essence of all scriptures.
So everybody has fallen from that paradise, they want to go back, whether you study Christian scriptures or Islamic scriptures, they always accept there is God, God means paradise, paradise means these three, Sat, Chit, Ananda, and I want to be there so that I will be myself, but that is explained in different ways, so the second point is how to conduct one's life by following the four ashrama dharmas in order to attain this Brahman, this is very fully explained here and then he says one who really strives hard and he practices all the dharmas going one after the other from the student life, then the householder's life, then the semi-retirement life, and complete renunciation or complete surrender to God, one will regain one's own nature by knowing that I am Brahman and then once that knowledge becomes, he attains to that Brahmaloka, what does that Brahmaloka signify? He will not be coming back, that means he will be liberated, he will not be coming back, so this is the essence, first point is that one cannot realize one's true nature unless there is a proper guide who knows what he is talking about and guides us, secondly how to, after hearing the teaching, how to conduct one's own life.
We have seen that the student about to return samavarthana from the gurukula, from the house of the guru back to home to enter into most often into the married life, grahastha ashrama, and then how to go into the vanaprastha and how to become a sanyasi and how to conduct one's life is beautifully depicted, so many times we discussed especially the eleventh section of the first chapter of Taittiriya Upanishad and more or less these are the two points, and one who follows these teachings, such a person will never be reborn again, he becomes free and that is the goal, why we are listening to these talks, why we are studying, why we take initiation, why we practice every day, puja, japa, dhyana, pilgrimage etc. So this is the essence and once you keep these points in mind it will be very easy for us to understand, now we will enter and briefly discuss this mantra, tadvai tad etad, brahma prajapate vacha, prajapate manave, manuho prajabhyah, what is this guru, sishya, that is a teacher, student, sampradaya means a tradition because there must be somebody who knows first, there is a first person who knows what is the secret of the scripture and then only after he is gaining that knowledge he will out of his infinite love not compassion, compassion is for those who are not me, love, infinite love is I am only teaching myself and everybody is none other than my own manifestation. tad hi etad, tad taddahi tad, brahma, er brahma means the first manifestation of Brahman called brahma the creator and we get it in Mundaka also, we get it even in Chandogya also, prajapate ho vacha, he taught prajapati, prajapati means to his disciples, his creations, ho vacha means taught, a literal meaning of ho vacha means he spoke, sanjay ho vacha, arjuna ho vacha, like that, but here it means teaching is highest teaching and then what happened, brahma passed on that knowledge to his disciples or children because the children are his own creation and they became the disciples and what did they do in their turn, prajapati manave, so this prajapati, he passed that knowledge to manave, manaha means manu, manu means the in charge of the whole world, just like president of America, just like prime minister of India, president of France, et cetera, et cetera, he who rules this entire universe at a particular time, he is called manu, that's why the offspring of manu is called manavaha and then that manu in his turn he realized the truth and passed it to whom, prajabhyaha, praja normally means people, but here citizens, but here praja means word children because manu created manavas and then he taught to his children and then in course of time they become multiplied, so some people may not be directly related, so they come to this brahma or manu and then they sit there, they are called disciples, if one's own children they are also called disciples because whoever sits is a student for the purpose of learning and everybody is a student only.
So the desire for study and acquisition of knowledge is called student and the person who knows what these people want and passes it on, what he got from his guru, this is the tradition, we will talk about it in a little more detail in the next class. Acharya Kulat, Vedam Adhitya, Yatha Vidhanam, Guruho Karmaathiseshena, Avishamaavrutya, Kutumbhe Shucha Udeshe, Swadhyayam Adhiyano, Dharmikaan Vidadhat Atmani, Sarvendriyaan Samprati Shatapya, Ahimsaan Sarvabhutani, Anyatra Tirthe Bhiha, Sa Khalvemu Vartayan, Yavad Ayusham, Brahma Lokam, Avishampadya The, There is only one mantra in this last one, so what he means is having learned from the guru, come back, become a householder, for most of the people, become a householder, having become a householder, what you should do? Acharya Kulat, Vedam Adhitya, Vedam Anujya, Acharyo Ante Vashinam Anushasthi, having taught the essence of the Vedas, everything, Acharya Kulat, having learned Yatha Vidhanam and following whatever has been taught to them, these disciples or disciples, Guru, from the guru, and the guru who belongs to Acharya Kula, that means teacher, student, sampradaya, tradition, not an isolated being, karmati seshena, that is he must go on practicing what the guru taught, how to live a householder's life, what is sathya na pramadhi tavyam, kushala na pramadhi tavyam, bhutya na pramadhi tavyam, sathyam vada, dharmam chara, svadhyayan maa pramadaha, nmaatru devo bhava, pitru devo bhava, acharya devo bhava, adhi devo bhava, all these things, karmati seshena, having practiced to the best of his knowledge, avi samavrutya means having returned from the teacher's house, kutumbhe, then having become a householder, sucevdeshe, then every day keeping himself pure, svadhyayam adhi anaha, svadhyayan maa pramadaha, dharmikan idhadhat atmani, until now this is an indication of prihasta ashrama, do virtuous actions, dharmikan idhadhat atmani, slowly turn your mind towards god, atmani, towards one's own self, brahma, up till now kutumbha, then grihasta, then slowly you retire in the third stage, enter into the third stage, sarvendriyani sampratistha, so you try to control all your body, your body, your mind, everything your desires, become pure and purer and purest, then this is called the lakshana characteristic of the third stage of life which is called vanaprastha, what is called turning all our energy inwards, then ahimsaan sarvabhutani, anyatra tirthe phyaha, ahimsaan practicing ahimsa, not injuring any of the creature, why? because by that time this indicates sanyasa life, by that time he understood everything is nothing but brahmaan, if I hurt somebody I am hurting myself, so therefore ahimsa, only thing we have to note this non injury is to be practiced by the students, by the householders, by the vanaprasthins, by the sanyasins whole life, life after life, and if somebody follows the teachings of the teacher and without any deviation practices it, sakhalu evam vartayam, practicing living that kind of, how long? yavadayusham, until the last breath departs from him, what happens as a result? brahma lokam avishampadyate, attains that realization, I am brahmaan, such a person is not going to reborn, such a person is not going to reborn, this repetition as we said is indication that this what is called in the 8th chapter, the 15th section is over, 8th chapter is over and there are beautiful points, in brief we will discuss about them in next class tomorrow.
Om jananim sharadam devem ramakrishnam jagad gurum padapadme tayo sritva pranama ame muhar muhu.
May Sri Ramakrishna Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with bhakti.
Jaya Ramakrishna