Chandogya Upanishad 5.3.7 Lecture 162 on 07 December 2025

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

Opening Invocation

ॐ जननीं सारदां देवीं रामकृष्णं जगदगुरुम पादपद्मे तयो: श्रित्वा प्रणमामि मुहुर्मुहु :

Om Jananim Saradam devim Ramakrishnam jagadgurum Padapadme tayoh shritva pranamami muhurmuhuh.

ॐ आप्यायन्तु ममाङ्गानि वाक्प्राणश्चक्षुः

श्रोत्रमथो बलमिन्द्रियाणि च सर्वाणि।

सर्वम् ब्रह्मोपनिषदम् माऽहं ब्रह्म

निराकुर्यां मा मा ब्रह्म

निराकरोद निराकरणमस्त्व निराकरणम् मेऽस्तु।

तदात्मनि निरते य उपनिषत्सु धर्मास्ते

मयि सन्तु ते मयि सन्तु।

ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥

oṃ āpyāyantu mamāṅgāni vākprāṇaścakṣuḥ

śrotramatho balamindriyāṇi ca sarvāṇi.

sarvam brahmopaniṣadam mā’haṃ brahma

nirākuryāṃ mā mā brahma

nirākaroda nirākaraṇamastva nirākaraṇam me’stu.

tadātmani nirate ya upaniṣatsu dharmāste

mayi santu te mayi santu.

oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

Translation

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 who am engaged in the pursuit of the Self. May they repose in me. Om. Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.

Introduction to Pañcāgni Vidyā

The Story So Far

So we are studying the Pañcāgni Vidyā. What happened so far? Śvetaketu approached King Pravāhaṇa Jaivali, and he declared, "I am a very learned person." The king put him five questions, and even to one question, Śvetaketu was not able to answer.

Then Śvetaketu became very upset. In a huff, he went back to his father and complained against his father: "You told me, you taught me everything, but this king asked five questions. I could not reply even one question. Why did you say you taught me everything?"

Gautama's Humble Response

Then the father said—Gautama Ṛṣi said—and he was a learned person, but not so learned like the king, Pravāhaṇa Jaivali. So he was very humble, very sincere, with great faith. So he said, "My son, whatever I knew, without hiding, I taught you. But even I do not know the answer to these five questions. And therefore, I am going to go to that king, sit humbly at his feet and learn."

The Universal Principle of Learning

Because there is an adage, a saying, that higher knowledge—any type of knowledge—can be obtained even from a baby, from a caṇḍāla, from anybody. Even animals also can teach.

Can animals really teach us? Yes. The greatest lesson any animal can teach us: no animal is sleepless, worrying, "From where am I going to get my food tomorrow? Why the other animal—maybe a squirrel—had quarreled with me yesterday, tried to bite me, drive me out?" It might have happened, but the squirrel is not going to worry about it. So live in the present. Live in the moment. That is a great lesson we have to learn.

But we are human beings. We think about the past and future. Rarely people live in the present. So there are so many things we can learn. And as we knew from the story of Bhāgavatam, Avadhūta had learned from twenty-four gurus. Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa learned from so many things.

The Nature of True Knowledge

So we have to be open and say, "I am not all-knowing." Only one being is there who is all-knowing, and that is God. So except God, everybody has very little knowledge. So we have to learn, but we don't need to learn everything.

What is most important? How can I become happier? How can I face death? How can I sleep peacefully? And that is the only knowledge. Who am I really? That is the only knowledge we need to learn.

Gautama's Journey to the King

The Son's Refusal

Whatever it is, now we have to come back. So Gautama invited his son: "You also come along." But he was so puffed up, arrogant, angry, disturbed, he refused to go with father. What type of learning was that? We have to imagine.

Gautama's Humble Approach

So Gautama alone went. The king received him and then he asked, "Whatever you want—that is manuṣya vittam, that pertains to this world, like money, land, cows, etc.—you ask, I will give whatever you require."

But he said, "You keep things your own. I don't want, I have not come. I do not lack anything. But I want—I am thirsty for knowledge. And you have that knowledge. So I am humbly approaching you as a student. I don't care whether I am a brāhmaṇa, you are a kṣatriya. Knowledge can be received even from a śūdra."

The Lesson of Śaṅkarācārya and the Caṇḍāla

As I mentioned yesterday, Śaṅkarācārya—especially his followers—have not learned any lesson from what happened to Śaṅkarācārya. So Śaṅkarācārya wanted to exhibit his knowledge of differentiation—dvaita buddhi. Dvaita buddhi means differentiation. Differentiation means some is high, some is low; some is respectful, some is disrespectful, etc.

But the caṇḍāla taught him. A caṇḍāla who knows this is not a caṇḍāla—he becomes a mahājñānī. So Śiva himself had taught him. But that teaches us a lesson: anybody who has knowledge can be a representation of God. We have to sit humbly.

Learning from Enemies

Even if we have quarrel with some people, even if somebody is our deadliest enemy, but if he has superior knowledge, then it is our duty to be humble and to endeavor to obtain that knowledge.

What is the example? Rāmakṛṣṇa gives a brilliant example. In the Purāṇas, some of the Purāṇas, Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra are depicted as born enemies. But we have to understand: Vasiṣṭha was not having any anger, any enmity towards Viśvāmitra. He was like an ajātaśatru. He was a jñānī. But Viśvāmitra was perishing.

The Story of Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra

So Viśvāmitra, it is said, killed hundred children of Vasiṣṭha. Then one day Viśvāmitra decided to do away with Vasiṣṭha. So he came at night with a knife, waiting outside the cottage of Vasiṣṭha. It was night. It was dinner time. Vasiṣṭha was deeply absorbed in reading a book.

His wife Arundhatī came, said, "It is past dinner time. You can continue your studies. Come and have your dinner." But Vasiṣṭha was unwilling to give up his reading.

Then Arundhatī asked, "What is the book you are reading?"

Vasiṣṭha mentioned, "It is a book written by Viśvāmitra."

Arundhatī said, "That he was your arch enemy. And still you want to read books written by him?"

Vasiṣṭha had given a beautiful reply: "What has it got to do with our enmity? Viśvāmitra's book is so superior that even I could not imagine writing such a book. I have a lot to learn from his book."

That was called vinaya—real thirst for knowledge. Whether the story is true or not is not the point. The point is: a person who is very eager to acquire knowledge will not care who has written the book. But is it something worthy so that I can learn my lessons, become a better person myself? That is the idea.

The Transformation of Viśvāmitra

Viśvāmitra—the story continues, according to Ṭhākura—was overhearing this conversation from outside. And he realized how great was Vasiṣṭha, what was his character. He rushed inside, fell at the feet of Vasiṣṭha, confessed what he was planning to do, and begged his pardon.

That is the spirit that we have to entertain. So this Gautama said, "I don't care whether you are a kṣatriya or a caṇḍāla. I will sit at your feet and learn."

The King's Decision to Teach

Breaking Tradition

Now, until that time, this special knowledge called Pañcāgni Vidyā was never known to any brāhmaṇa. So Pravāhaṇa Jaivali was thinking, "It is not traditional. Should I go against the tradition? Some people might misinterpret that I am reluctant to pass it from kṣatriya to a brāhmaṇa. Then there would be no speciality of kṣatriyas. Because as soon as this becomes common knowledge, then we lose our privilege."

No copyright. Knowledge has no copyright.

Testing the Disciple

Then what happened? He thought, "This person is very, very sincere, very eager. And I will definitely teach." But he wanted to test him. So he said, "Ciram vāsa"—stay here. And that is what we are going to read in this seventh mantra: third section, seventh mantra, fifth chapter of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, third section, seventh mantra.

So he thought, "Let me test him." So he said—like we have seen in the case of Prajāpati, how he asked his disciples, would-be disciples, to stay for thirty-two years and gave a little bit, little bit means that what they could understand.

The Process of Spiritual Education

And then, as we know, Virocana had returned, thinking he obtained one hundred percent knowledge. It is like passing a lower class to a higher class. As soon as a child joins a school, he is not promoted. The only promotion a child unwilling to learn gets is: throw him out of the school. That is the only promotion.

But this second type of throwing is to make this person fit at the lower class, and then take him to a higher class, and still higher class. Then when the school's capacity is exhausted, then those who pass it successfully, they will be thrown out—in the sense, "Now we have taught whatever we could. Now you have to go to higher colleges, higher education." And so that is the type we need.

So the second time, Indra was asked another thirty-two years. Third time, another thirty-two years. Fourth time, another five years—total one hundred and one years.

When the Student Is Ready

So we do not know what Pravāhaṇa Jaivali thought. So he said that you stay for some time. "Then I will see whether you are ready. And as soon as you are ready, I will teach you."

Swami Vivekānanda used to express this so beautifully: "When the field is ready, the seed also is ready."

The Seventh Mantra - Analysis

The King's Command

Now with this background, and then the king also tells, "Until now, this knowledge is not known to brāhmaṇas, because no brāhmaṇa has ever approached any knowing, knowledgeable kṣatriya so far. You are the first person. And I know about this Pañcāgni Vidyā. You are ignorant of this Pañcāgni Vidyā. But you came to me with humility, with śraddhā, and with great eagerness to learn."

He fulfilled—he became, what is called, adhikārī, completing the anubandha catuṣṭaya.

So he said, "You live with me for some time. When I come to know you are ready, I will pass on this knowledge to you."

The Loss of Vedic Knowledge

Because those who know, they overcome all these selfish restrictions. Most of our Vedas died. Swami Vivekānanda commented upon this: more than ninety percent—maybe ninety-nine percent—of our Vedic knowledge disappeared because people's capacity to receive became small. And what they received, they made it a copyright. "We will not pass it to anybody excepting to our own children. And if children are not there, so one of the favorite disciples." So they withheld the knowledge.

And as a result, when the person who received it died, before he could pass on to somebody, that branch of knowledge has completely disappeared. So what we have now is not even one hundredth of what was there.

But it is not a matter for sadness, because whatever we have is much, much more sufficient than what we really require. It is like a huge ocean full of food which can feed the entire population for many yugas—for all yugas actually. That is why it is called eternal knowledge.

The Mantra Explained

Anyway, so "I am going to teach you when I find you are fit for that. But let me understand you are fit. So until that time you stay here." And this knowledge had not gone—brahma kṣatriya—probably no brāhmaṇa approached a kṣatriya, or some kṣatriyas, even though they know, refused to pass it on, which is unlikely. So, but I am not like that. Whomsoever I find fit person, I am going to pass on this knowledge.

With this, this is the essence of the seventh mantra. We will read out.

So the king commanded him. Who can command? Only a brāhmaṇa can command a kṣatriya. But in this case, the roles are reversed. Now the kṣatriya had become the guru, and brāhmaṇa had become—Gautama had become—the disciple. So a guru has a birthright to command his disciple: "Stay here for quite some time." Ciram means for a long time.

But we do not know—Upaniṣads does not tell. Immediately it says that he started, after the introductory remark, started passing on. That's what we are going to see here. So he must have kept Gautama for a period of time. And then he said that this knowledge, prior to you, this knowledge never went to the brāhmaṇas. That is why expounding this knowledge belonged to the kṣatriyas in earlier times, in all the worlds. But then he instructed him, which we are going to see in the next mantra.

Brief Analysis

So we will just analyze very briefly, very quickly, the seventh mantra.

Tam—tam means Gautama. "Stay here for as long as it is necessary." How much time is necessary? "Till I consider you are a fit person to receive, let me have that opinion about you." He commanded him. Because now the relationship is not a king and a brāhmaṇa, but a guru and a disciple.

At the end, he must have found him. "Now is the right time." Then he called him tam—means Gautama. "Just as you"—mā means me—"you asked me, you questioned me, you requested me."

Then as an introduction, he said, "This knowledge that I am going to instruct you"—means until this time, before this time, before you came to me—"this knowledge never been transmitted from a kṣatriya to a brāhmaṇa. That's why the kings remained"—the kings who had this knowledge remained as the rulers.

The Power of Spiritual Knowledge

Rulers because usually a brāhmaṇa rules a kṣatriya. But those who know this vidyā, Pañcāgni Vidyā—that means they know higher spiritual knowledge. That means they must have practiced it. We have to remember a point here: it's not like a professor passing on some knowledge from the textbooks onto the notebooks of the students, without passing the brains off either. No. They must have practiced this themselves. And then only they get that real power.

It is not a power bestowed by a dictator. It's a power that naturally springs up from within themselves as a result of their spiritual realization. That is why those who knew—not all kings knew; some kings knew—and those kings, so they became the rulers.

Having made this remark, then what did the king do? He started. Tasmai means to Gautama. Ha uvāca means started telling him. That means he started instructing him.

Summary

So Pravāhaṇa Jaivali wanted to test Gautama by offering him some worldly wealth, like Yamadharma Rāja offering all worldly wealth to Naciketa. But upon being refused, then he said, "You stay on." And later on, this king realized that he has become a proper recipient. So he started asking him to stay on, that he has become a proper recipient for this Pañcāgni Vidyā.

He imparted to him the knowledge, adding that this particular knowledge till now had been handed down only among the successive generations of kṣatriyas. Gautama was the first brāhmaṇa to receive it to make kṣatriya king. It is not the tradition, but tradition can be broken. That is an important point. Tradition can be broken. Even a śūdra can become a sannyāsī.

Beginning the Fourth Section

Anyway, so we are starting the fourth section. And this is where about the five fires, five agnis, five sacrifices, Pravāhaṇa Jaivali was going to teach. In answer to the five questions he himself had asked Śvetaketu and which were repeated by Gautama: "I did not know even one answer to even one question of yours. Please explain to me."

The Nature of This Knowledge

It is not intellectual knowledge. It is utilitarian knowledge. Like a scientific experiment, like a person may know how to prepare any number of dishes, but he might not want to do—clearly speaking—want to cook. What is the use? Intellectual, dry intellectual knowledge helps nobody in any situation, not at all.

The Fundamentals of Pañcāgni Vidyā

Introduction to the Five Fires

So now the first fire is being described. But before we dive deep, we must keep certain fundamentals in mind. What are the fundamentals? What is the essence of these descriptions of the five fires?

First Principle: Interconnectedness

What is the first point? The whole sṛṣṭi is interconnected. There is no isolated event in this world. And now scientists recognize it, and it is called holistic attitude, holistic view.

That's why some beautiful saying is there: if a butterfly flutters its wings in a remote corner of India, then there would be some change in the course of the stars. It is impossible to believe. What is the relationship between the small flutterings of a butterfly and those huge cosmic objects who are exerting unimaginable power, gravity, etc., on everybody that comes near? How can they be affected by this small act?

It is possible only if the whole universe is interconnected.

An Illustration

I am going to give you a small example. Probably it is not a very elegant example. Supposing you want to log in into an internet, and you go into the internet, and even if one syllable, comma, semicolon, colon, etc., is missing or replaced by something, logging is not possible.

So like that, the whole creation is interconnected. And such a marvelous concept these Vedic ṛṣis had, even such a long time back—what a marvelous thing for us to understand.

No Isolated Events

So the whole creation is interconnected. That is the first point we have to understand. That means there is no isolated event in this world. And everything anybody does—even the smallest amoeba moves from one side to the other side—so that affects everything in this world. Each is affected by every event. And that illustration we will discuss in future. That is the first point.

Second Principle: Divine Dispensation

Second, all events are divine dispensations. That is, God only has become everything, and that is happening everywhere.

As an example, again I am bringing dream. So you are dreaming, you are suffocating at your home, and you want to have fresh air. So you go outside, and then there is a beautiful park, vast park, and happily you are humming or listening to some beautiful song and moving along so happily. Suddenly there is a thunder, sound of a thunder, lightning, and within five minutes there is a heavy downpour.

I am not saying that that bhajan had—that song had—brought the rain. But what I am telling: this event suddenly occurs. There is some connection, cosmic connection. And you don't know what is that; we don't know what is that cosmic connection. Why this rain has come?

The Folly of Calling Things "Accidents"

We think, what do we think? "Oh, it is just some happening. It is just happening. It is an accident." Nothing can be further from utter foolishness than this statement. Really speaking, every event is connected. Our karma phala is connected. That is a very important point. Why we happen to be there? Because of our karma phala. You could have been at home.

The Air India Example

So, two, three months back, Air India crashed. And we attributed engine failure, pilot deliberately crashed—so many theories are going on. We should completely reject all these theories.

There is one person who reached late, ten minutes late, and was refused entry. By that time already the plane was moving. And she did not die. And why was she delayed? I don't know. But I am just telling my imagination. Maybe there was traffic. Maybe she forgot something. It took time for her to search for passport or things necessary to check in, etc.

Whatever be the reason, she reached ten minutes late. What do we say? "Accident. Lucky." No, she was not destined to die. Because even one person who was in that aeroplane, even though others died, even though others who have nothing to do with aeroplane was resting in their hostel, they also died. This one person came out. This person who reached ten minutes late, she could not get.

Usually, Airbus—usually is famous, Air India—for delays. So, practically, everywhere, they are very notorious for delays. But this person, in time, the plane took off. I don't know. Anyway, so she was not destined to die. Why was she not destined to die? Because of her prārabdha karma. That is an important point.

Everything Is Divine Will

So, all events are divine dispensations. And when we have this knowledge, yakalī to mārī icchā—that is the Sanskrit equivalent. Everything is thy will, O Divine Mother, Mother of the Universe. And this firm knowledge leads to God realization.

Birth as a Cosmic Event

So, the Upaniṣad here is taking one single example and connects it to every event that had happened, is happening, will happen, so long as creation is sustained. So, the birth of a baby—it's a cosmic event.

What do people think? "Oh, we are married, and after some time living together, and we produced this baby. It is our baby. Because of our coming together, this baby is born." This is the common notion of all of us.

But Upaniṣad tells, "No, it is a cosmic event." The birth of a baby is a cosmic event. The living of the baby is a cosmic event. The death of a baby—that means the baby might have grown up—is a cosmic event.

Why? How do we know? Because death is only a temporary event in the course of events, this brahma cakra. So this baby, this old man maybe, after death, he goes—that is going to be described. So this is an example. The birth of a human baby is only just an example. It's a cosmic event.

The Process of the Five Fires

The Role of the Sun

So, how does this happen? In a brief way, I am summarizing it here. We see every day and take for granted our solar system's sun, Sūrya Deva. We don't say Deva. People say, "Simply inert matter and a combination of certain energy-producing particles, and so it is burning. It is producing so much of heat, and that heat is being radiated to the long, unimaginably long distances."

That is what the scientific view, which now neither understands what is life in this world, what is—let alone past life, future life—nothing is known to them. And the sun is a lifeless, this one.

From Sun to Rain

But what happens? The sun—it is the cause of clouds. It lifts the water and makes it into a cloud, and the sun's movement also causes wind, and the wind carries the cloud to further reaches, upper regions, and there it descends in the form of the rain.

So from the sun—sun is the first sacrifice of a sun god, and rain god is the second sacrifice—and the rain falls on the earth.

Rain, Earth, and Food

Without rain, there cannot be any production of food. That is why when scientists are looking for life, the first thing they look for is water. That is the most important element. Without water, there is no food production. Without food production, there is no life.

So, how does the rain, water come? Because of rain. Without rain, on any planet, discovered or undiscovered, there would be no life at all. And how did—how does the rain happen to come down? There must be some cosmic force called the sun, the heat.

Agni devatā turns into jala devatā. Jala devatā turns into pṛthivī devatā. Pṛthivī devatā turns into food, anna devatā.

Food to Seed

Anna devatā—anna is eaten, food is eaten—and it strengthens the male body, and then it enters into every pore of the body. And there is a very special something which converts—it takes from every healthy limb a tiny, teeny-weeny portion and makes it into a liquid called śukram—that is called the male seed. That is the fourth agni.

And man thinks, "I am just—I love this woman, and I am uniting with this woman." He doesn't understand. He is a pistol, a gun is put behind him, and then say, "Mate with this woman." And the woman also produces egg out of the same food. Without food, no male, no female.

The Union of Seeds

And that food is condensed, summarized as it were, essence—śukram. And in the woman it is called śoṇitam. Śoṇitam means raktam. Raktam means blood, but it is not ordinary blood. If a woman's hand is injured, some blood will come out. That is not going to produce. So this is a particular specialized seed.

And when this śukla and śoṇitam mix up together, then formation of the baby is born.

Summary of the Five Fires

So these are the five fires:

The sun is the first fire
Then the rain is the second fire
Then the water is—rather earth is—the third fire, and the food produced (earth means food)
Then it enters into the human being, male human being—that is called the fourth fire
And the puruṣa mates with the woman, and the woman is the fifth and last fire

And as a result, the baby is produced.

Universal Application

Whether it is mosquito, whether it is mice, whether it is man, it is the same process. And what we have to understand further is there are fortunate mosquitoes.

Some mosquitoes come to my room, and I have got mosquito repellent all over, and I have got mosquito curtain, and I am safely inured inside the mosquito curtain. So long as I do not come out, these mosquitoes have no power. But there are people who have no place to sleep, and they will be sleeping on the streets—you can see in India and everywhere—and mosquitoes have a gala time, festive time, because these people work so hard, and they also are inured to the cold and heat.

And when they sleep, it will be deep, troubleless, worryless sleep. And mosquito—they don't care because they are not aware. Mosquitoes cannot disturb their sleep. So the circle goes on.

Beyond Surface Understanding

So we think that man and woman just meet together. They do not take into consideration—rather I would say the male and female come together—but we have to go beyond and say: because of the food, because of the rain, and rain is because of the fire, and the fire is because of the sun. That is one part of the understanding this Pañcāgni Vidyā.

The Role of Karma

Why Different Births?

The second part of it is: so babies are born, no doubt. Why a baby is born in rich people's family, in poor people's family, in trans family—even in—even those who are suffering from what is called lepers, even they get married, they also have children. Such is the nature's hold.

And what I am trying to tell you: but why some babies are born in the most wretched conditions, and some are, as we say, born with a golden spoon or diamond spoon or silver spoon—whatever you call it? Why?

Behind that, the karma is there.

The Concept of Apūrva

And how does this karma affect? Because if somebody had led a good life, at least in later on evolutionary stage—not earlier stage—and then because of that puṇya karma, he goes into higher lokas. And then he cannot stay forever because the result of karma—in Vedānta it is called apūrva.

Apūrva means, first of all, it is unseen. Pūrva means prior. Apūrva means never before such an effect existed before—this is the first time, and this will be the last time. Every single action produces its own specialized karma, and that is called apūrva.

And this apūrva determines how much happiness, how much misery a person has to undergo.

Understanding Higher and Lower Lokas

And the higher the world, the more happiness. Here what we have to question and understand is: is there a poor person from a very poor family in India or Italy migrates to USA and finds better opportunities and then he becomes richer? That is not the process. That is not the understanding.

What is the understanding? Higher loka means where a person experiences higher state of happiness. When a person does the opposite to dharma—adharma, which means he accumulates pāpa or god-wise—and as a result, his capacity to experience happiness becomes less and less and less, and his capacity to experience misery, unhappiness, suffering grows up. That is called lower lokas.

The Descent from Higher Lokas

But here is an example is given in this Upaniṣad. Provided we are all vaidikas, we are dying. So we did something good, but every karma is limited. Because karma is limited, the result of karma is also limited. But one has to experience the karma phala.

That karma phala is mysterious, so it is called apūrva. But God gives a account book: how much we did good and evil. So accordingly, He will allot to us: "You go up. It may be Indra loka, Gandharva loka, Prajāpati loka"—we will see that in the eighth chapter, eighth section of the second chapter of the Taittirīya Upaniṣad called Brahmānanda Vallī—ānandam imāṃsa.

The Return Journey

But because the karma phala is limited, time is limited. So as soon as—like hotel, staying in a hotel—a person paid for a week or ten days, and a notice comes: "By tomorrow breakfast time, you have to vacate with your bag and baggage." Like that, notice comes automatically. The person will fall down.

How does he fall down? He first of all falls into the fire called sun. Then he becomes one with rain. That is the key factor. So this fallen soul becomes one with the sun. That is called yajña. "So I am not that puṇyātmā. I am identified with the sun," still retaining the individuality.

Transformation Through the Five Elements

So then he becomes transformed into rain, one with the rain. That is called contemplation. And after the—from the rain, he transforms himself into the food. And from food, he becomes food. He then is transformed into seed. And that seed transforms, mixes with the opposite half—fifty-fifty. This is what they call X chromosome and Y chromosome. And then both of them meet. Two halves, as soon as they meet, they become united. And that is how that baby which was experiencing—it comes down.

The Cosmic Event of Rebirth

So it is a cosmic event. So how does he come down? Because God Himself is manifesting in the form of Gods. This is what we call adhiṣṭhātṛ devatā—presiding deities. So Indra, Varuṇa, Kubera, Vāyu devatā, Pṛthivī devatā, Bhū devatā, then Jala devatā, Agni devatā, Vāyu devatā, Ākāśa devatā—so from one to the other, a person becomes identified as it were.

A person comes from a long distance and first time he stays at one station, and very soon he will be transported to the next station below. And then when he comes to the fifth station, then birth takes place. Birth means a new opportunity. Don't think of in terms of baby, etc.—that is only evolutionary step—sorry, evolutionary step.

So then that person, according to his pūrvajanma karma, will be given another opportunity to lead a life.

The Ultimate Goal of Pañcāgni Vidyā

Attaining Liberation

But the point is, if someone can contemplate this, then what happens? What happens? He successfully identifies first with seed, then with food, then with water, then with fire, then with rain—means water—then fire, then with the sun. And the sun here represents the Hiraṇyagarbha.

Once he gets to the state of identity with Hiraṇyagarbha, then he knows that "I am Īśvara, and I am none other than that Supreme Reality called Brahman."

Understanding the Sacrifice

So: the sun, rain, food, man—means seed—two, woman. So each event is an ignorance sacrifice. What is a sacrifice? A sacrifice is a self-transformation.

So we are all transformations of Brahman: first in the form of the sun, then waters—what we popularly called pañca bhūtas. But here the same thing is represented in a different way.

Then once we come to know that all the transformations are of Brahman, and one becomes free.

The Knowledge That Liberates

So this knowledge comes by knowing that clearly: my body is none other than Brahman, my mind is none other than Brahman, and whatever I do—yad yad karma karomi tat tat akhilaṃ śambho tava ārādhanam—and that is called svakarmanā tam abhyarcya siddhiṃ vindati mānavaḥ—by transforming every action of ours into service, by God, attributing it to God. That is called in the life of Rāmakṛṣṇa: "Give God the power of attorney."

So this knowledge transformation—what knowledge transformation? "I am the doer of everything" is now transformed into "God is the doer of everything." That is called an agni.

The Loss of Ancient Knowledge

So this is the summary of this Pañcāgni Vidyā. Unfortunately, we have lost most of the details of these ancient Vedic upāsanās. And because of commentators, great commentators, mahāpuruṣas like Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, ācāryas, we are able to have a glimpse of what used to be a normal knowledge at the Vedic times.

Conclusion and Preview

What Lies Ahead

With this background, we will enter into this study of these mantras below, which describes—each mantra practically describes one, one agni—how that soul falls from a higher loka after enjoying the puṇya, exhausting puṇya karma, and again attains a babyhood, getting another opportunity to earn more puṇyam, and then knowledge of discrimination, and slowly attaining gradually by degrees higher and higher knowledge until one knows aham brahmāsmi.

So we will talk about these things in our next class.

Closing Prayer