Purusha Suktam Lecture 08 on 13-July-2023

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We have been studying this most marvelous Purusha Suptam. As I mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of suptams, but one of the most famous, most meaningful, most helpful to our spiritual life, giving us the hint into the final truth, everything is Brahma. Sarvam Kalvidam Brahma is this Purusha Suptam. In our previous class we have discussed 4th and 5th. PRIPADA UDDHAM UDAIT PURUSHAHA PADO ASYAIHA ABHAVAT PUNAHA TATO VISHWAM YAKRAMATU SAASHANANASHANE AVI What does it mean? The 3 4ths part of God is in that unmanifested state on top. Top means invisible. Invisible means unmanifested state. The other 1 4th quarter has evolved into this entire world, that I, you and all of us, living or non-living, is included. And as I mentioned, 1 4th is not 1 4th. ISTABHYAHAM IDAM KRISHNAM EKAM SHENASTHITO JAGAT Just one teeny-weeny part. But even that is not true because there is no creation. It is only manifestation. That is to say, we are looking at God, at a tiny little bit of God, and thinking that we know everything. That is the meaning. Then the Divine Lord or Divine Mother penetrated into all the inert substances and also living beings and spread them. That means He has become everything, is manifesting as everything. This is the essence of the 4th mantra of the Purusha Sukta. Then what happened? Further elaboration of this Srishti Kriya, creative act, is being explained. The entire Purusha Sukta is talking about creation and sustenance and recycling. So that we can understand, an inquiry should come into our mind, what this is all the effect, every effect must come from a cause, and who is that cause, which or who himself doesn't have any cause. KARANAM KARANANAM KARANAM MAHAKARANAM AKARANAM That is the entire burden so that we can claim our divinity that all this time I did not know who I am. Now I know I am thou because I do not exist, only you exist. That is being said in the form of describing the manifestation of the universe and it will come how this creation, act of creation itself was done. That is going to come. TASMAD VIRAT AJAYATAH From that divine or that divine manifested himself as Virat. Virat means the universal, is the cosmos. VIRAJO ATI PURUSHAH And then what happened? He himself has entered into it. He himself is inside. He himself is outside. He is everything. He is pervading everything. VIRAJO ATI means everything. PURUSHAH And he is known as VIRAJO. VIRAJO means to shine. VIRAJO means everything is nothing but his manifestation, his splendor. SAJYATAH ATYARICCHATAH But do not think that whatever we experience is that much only is him. It is infinite. What we are experiencing is finite. Why? Because we are looking at the infinite with the instruments of finiteness. That is mind, time, space and causation. But he is unimaginable. He is beyond any thought, beyond speech and of course beyond any action. VASCHAT BHOMI ADHAH PURAH Then he created Bhoomi means Panchabhutas. And then out of the Panchabhutas his entire universe has been manifesting. Like ornaments made out of gold, like furniture made out of wood, like pots made out of clay. It is really speaking there is no pot excepting Nama and Rupa. This is what we discussed in our last class. Now we are coming, we were actually discussing the sixth mantra which says YAT PURUSHENA HAVISHA DEVAHA EGNAM ATANVATA VASANTO ASYAASID AJYAM KRISHNA IDMA SHARATH HAVIH What does this sixth mantra really mean? Very simple. That there was a great EGNA and EGNA means in this olden days modern puja can be translated as EGNA in the olden days. Especially when we want to understand with the English language. EGNA means sacrifice. Sacrifice means I have something and I voluntarily give it up. That is an entirely wrong idea. EGNA means I came from God and I am nothing but God. I have forgotten I am God. I must live in such a way I will again remember I am none other than God. Whether it is scripture or Guru or experiences of life are there only to lead us to that final knowledge I am Brahman, I am God. Aham Brahmasmi So here the concept of EGNA. Usually what happens just like our puja, modern puja there will be somebody whom we are worshipping. There will be certain things. So in every puja three elements, three important elements are involved. The deity whom we are going to approach, the devotee who wants to approach and the materials through which he wants to approach. And all of them must be one. What is the idea? That the knowledge that my body, my mind plus this world is nothing but God only. So even if I want to offer something to God, I cannot offer because there is nothing which is not He, which is not His. If we recollect, Sri Ramakrishna first started his spiritual life at the Dakshineshwar Kali temple first as the pujari in the Radha Krishna temple. Subsequently when his eldest brother Ram Kumar fell sick or became old, he was at Ram Kumar's request and Madhur Babu's request, Sri Ram Krishna took up the position of the pujari. And for a few months, every day he was progressing by leaps and bounds. And a few months after that, it was Sri Ram Krishna's habit to go and collect the flowers and make garlands and then decorate the Lord and with some flowers worship the Divine Mother. One day he said, I went out and then I saw clearly that everything, every tree, every flower bearing tree, every fruit bearing tree, they have already offered themselves completely. In fact, if we understand their language, we were created only to adore Thee, to worship Thee, to offer ourselves in Your service. Sri Ram Krishna clearly perceived. So if something is offered already to somebody, to take it out and offer it to somebody else will be what is called in our language, vichishta, impurity, pollution. So he said, my external puja had borne fruit. What is the fruit? To perceive the Divine, a worshipper, a worshipped and the items with which one worships. All these things are three manifestations of the same Divinity. When that knowledge came, my external puja had come to an end and funny things happened. After that, Hriday worshipped for some time. We don't know what happened. He was not suited actually for the job of a pujari. Then one haladari, one cousin of Sri Ram Krishna was given the job. But he had a peculiar idea about the Goddess, especially Mother Kali. Many people have. She is a tamasic deity. Whereas Sri Ram Krishna said many times, She is neither tamasic, nor rajasic, nor sattvic. She is the very embodiment of all the gunas. Srishti sthiti vinashanam, shakti bhute sanatani. Gunas shraye. She is the substratum, adhishtatra devata of all the gunas. But also gunamayee. She herself is the gunas. She is prakriti, she is maya, she is shakti. By whatever name a person chooses to call her. So that is the understanding. When a person truly progresses in spiritual life, that becomes a worship. Breathing itself. That is why in the Bhagavad Gita also we say, When I am breathing, I am doing pranayama. When my hands are moving, I am doing arathrikam. When my legs are moving, I am doing pradakshinam. And when my mouth is uttering words, I am hemming. And when I lie down even to sleep, Nidra samadhi sthiti yat yat karma karomi tat tad akilam shambho tava aradhanam. Because he himself is the worshipper, he himself is the worshipper, etc. So this Haladhari, he had this concept that it is the tamasic deity. Because ferocious appearance. He did not understand the symbolism. Kala deified is called Kali. Kala springs or we imagine Kala from timelessness. When we perceive at a time which is infinite, that means there is no past, present and future. To our limited vision, time appears to be in the form of past, present and future. This is the linear concept. And so even now the western countries are suffering terribly from this concept. And I don't know how much misery they have to go through before they understand time is a part of the timelessness, Mahakala. And Mahakala is always there. Just as my form cannot be without existence, it is a part of the formless existence. My knowledge is formless Chit. And my manifested joy is nothing but a form of the Ananda. Sat, Chit, Ananda. So timelessness, time can never be separated. We cannot see any form without pure Sat. We cannot think of anything without pure Chit. We cannot respond to any emotion without that Ananda. So everything is divine but playing a dual role. One single entity playing a dual role, manifest and unmanifest, formless and with form, etc. And that was what Sri Ramakrishna had realized and said with that, my puja had come to an end. But this Aladari had to learn a lot of lessons. But everybody will grow up, no doubt about it. That's why Swami Vivekananda had issued a statement, any soul that is going to be united with God in its last birth at least must be born only in India. Because these partial or faulty, fanatical concepts of religion, God, etc. cannot be tolerated as we grow. God also grows. A finite God, God is never finite. But as the man thinks he is finite, he only created us and he created us out of the best material. And he is our chosen deity. He will not protect anybody excepting us. These childish tribal ideas should vanish altogether. So this is what is being explained through this beautiful Suktams, that the whole world that we are experiencing, the experiencer called the evatma, and the instrument called body and mind, and the object called this entire Jagat, all this is without distinction, nothing but that pure Brahman. This is the concept of Yajna. And when we have this knowledge, and every breath of ours becomes a Yajna, a natural Yajna, an automatic Yajna, call it Ajapa Japa, or call it Yajna. That is why Sri Ramakrishna was hymned by Swami Vivekananda, Pranarpana Jagatatharana Krintana Kalidho. Pranarpana. Every millisecond of his life, his very breath is for the good of the world, for the welfare of the world. So with this background, seeing how creation had come about. Why am I giving such an elaborate introduction? Because don't think first of all, creation is a separate act. Like a potter taking a material which is not the potter, creates pots, is not like that. The cause of anything is called material cause. But that is applicable only in this world. But when we look before the creation, the material cause, called Upadana Karana, and the intelligent cause, which conceives of such an idea, only translating with the help of the material, into what the divine being thinks, is called intelligent cause, called Nimitta Karana. So Abhinna Nimitta Upadana Karana is the message that we have to understand. For that, beautiful psychological concepts are being explained here, elaborated here. One of such beautiful concepts is what we call psychosomatic effect. It is purely understood in the form of what is called the mind, or the feelings of the mind bring about the physical changes in our body. But our Upanishads go much further than that. What do they say? Whatever we think, and thinking is an internal process that affects not only ourselves, it affects the whole world. For example, a good person can affect the whole world. An evil person, perhaps, even more he can affect, which is not true, the whole world. So that is the idea. Creation itself is a concept of psychosomatic effect. Here somatic, I am not interpreting as the body, somatic means world, psycho means thinking. This process of deep thinking is what brings about, creates. I want to talk about it a little later, but sixth mantra we are exploring, what happens in any puja. And here Yajna. And the difference in the Yajna is, they did not have temples, they did not have any constructed, what is called, places, except in Yajna Shalas. And then fire is the most important medium. What we now call Ishta Devata was in the form of the fire, Agni. That's why the Agni is called Purohitaha. He who is in front of us to carry is like a postman. We give a letter and he takes it to the addressee and then if something the addressee gives, he will bring it back. So this communication facility between us and Gods or superhuman beings is called Purohitaha, priest. That is the idea. Even today in the temples, devotees go there, take offerings and hand it over to the priest. Priest takes it inside, offers to God, keeps something there and then brings back and then gives Prasada. That Prasada is symbolic. Our offering is also symbolic. We have certain prayers. What we are offering is a medium. It is like the cover of what we call a letter. An envelope. The cover of the envelope. The letter is separate. The envelope is separate. When we are offering fruits, flowers, garlands or jewels or money etc. It is like the envelope, the cover. But what is inside? I want to pass the examinations. I want to get a job. I want to get married. I want children. And I want a better job. And I want to go to America, Australia. I want to earn a lot of money. Big bank balance etc. etc. This is the real letter. And that is what we can do. Just as a small child wants to feed its mother. Anyway, this is the idea is to lit a fire. But that fire has to be lit in a particular way with certain materials called bricks. And then certain things, especially clarified butter has to be offered into that brightly burning fire. And while they are doing that offering with various prayers and mantras, the whole place has to be protected from malvalent elements. And that idea also, I will come there. But then, to do this kind of yajna, we require bricks, we require firewood, we require offerings, we require so many other things. But we are talking about where were all those things when this whole physical creation had not come. For that, this Purusha Sutta is giving a brilliant idea how this had taken place. Through intuition, some rishis came to know about it. Very briefly, it is like this. But first I will give you an example. Suppose you want to start a business, start a company, start an enterprise, whatever you want to, construct a factory, whatever it is you want to do. What do you do first of all? You will find out some people, people who know how to construct, people who know how to recruit employees, people who know how to manage the whole thing and what raw materials are necessary. So different people you hire and through them they are the first creation. And then when you have done this one, and then you command them, now you start your job, I want the factory to be built and it should be working within such a time frame. So that would be the secondary creation. What is the idea I am deriving? First of all, God decided there should be creation. Sankalpa. And then He created what is called Adi Srishti or Primary Srishti and He created Brahma. For example, Vishnu said I want creation. So He created Brahma out of Himself. Meaning He manifested Himself as Brahma. That's why Brahma, the creator, is always depicted as having come from the navel of Vishnu. This is a Puranic way of conveying the same truth which Purusha Supta is trying to convey. So what did now Brahma do? I have to create. So what does he do? He created four Manasa Putras. That is exactly what we are going to see. These Manasa Putras, with their help, he wanted to create. But of course there is a story. They understood the whole problem and they renounced promptly and they disappeared. Then Brahma did something else. That is not the point. The point is, Parabrahma has created Brahma as it were, commanded him to continue the act of creation and this Brahma, he created certain Devatas, certain Rishis, certain Sadhyas and then he commissioned them. It is just as I mentioned that you wanted to start an enterprise, a business, then you first have a primary creation. So people who are specialised in some particular fields and then you give them each responsibility. First construct a place, afterwards procure these raw materials, then keep the machines ready, a factory will be ready and at some time frame you start actually using those raw materials and out of that factory comes the secondary creation. So creation is primary. We have talked about that creation. This analogy is very good at giving us an idea what Purusha Sukta wants to convey. But there is one problem. Here, in this example, everything is physical, concrete. They are already available. So even those people whom we have employed to carry on the primary creation, the first phase of starting the creation, they already have physical things. But these Devas, the Shatru Devatas and the Rishis and the Sadhyas, etc. they did not have any of these raw materials. And what did they do? Just like a surgeon, you know, so many expert surgeons are there. This is a beautiful example. And the surgeon knows if I perform an operation in this particular way, there is a great chance of the patient recovering and the operation being successful. But for that, there is no existing instrument. And though that instrument must be created, how does he do it? He sits down and he imagines it should be of this size, of this length, of this shape, of this angle, and how thin, how thick, what it should be for different jobs, different types of surgical instruments. And he will call an engineer. The engineer belongs to the infrastructure. And then with the help of different engineers, somebody to choose the material, somebody to create the particular type of machine to produce, to bend, and to connect this kind of material. So different departments have to be harmonized. And then the result will be a concrete instrument which can be used by the surgeon. And most often, he will be very, very successful. Take this example as a model. And the primary creation is over. And that was called Purva Srishti. What is the Purva Srishti? Now we have discussed. God has created Devas. God had created Rishis. God had created Sadhyas. Why do I mention that? Because that is exactly what is given in the next mantra, when we go to the next mantra. And then God commanded. God means here God created Brahma. Brahma created the infrastructure. And then Brahma called them together and said, now that I have created you, you go on starting the factory and then start factory creation. Everything is factory creation. Why do I say so? Because Vedas themselves are mentioning. Rig Veda itself is mentioning. dhātā yathā pūrvam sūrya-candra-masau akalpaya How the Brahma created in the past. When? When means Hanadi. We don't know. But in the past creation, He created Surya. He created Chandra. That is what the Krishna Upanishad says, Rayincha Pranincha Aditya Chandrama Then Samatsaraha. Then Kalaha. Then Anna. So many beautiful way we have discussed about it. So first primary creation called Adi Srishti. Then from there time, space, causation, everything has to be created. And that is called Uttara Srishti. Secondary creation, subsequent creation and we are going to start. The important point is they did not have the raw materials to successfully do the surgery. Similarly, just as a surgeon expresses through his experience, this is how I would like to imagine the instrument to be. Because Brahma is endowed with the divine intelligence, he says that I have created. When? When he had created in the past. What does he do now? There is no need. That's why I mentioned factory. What does a factory do? Once the factory is complete, same car, same motorcycle, same chapati, same everything will come out without any change. First time you have to think and create the instrument. After that, the material will be coming out. You clean it up. Again put 4-fold the material and again it gets shaped in a particular way, comes out. So this mould, which I call factory here, has been created much earlier and this Brahma remembered. The others also remembered. Oh, we constructed a similar factory many years back in that country, in that country, in that country, in the past and last year also we did. This year also we are doing. It is no great deal at all. They remembered it. The Smriti has come. That is exactly what these people are doing. They sit down, they meditate and then they go on saying this is how one after the other the creation has to come. So just as we do puja, puja is for the purpose of creating wealth, creating materials, creating or fulfilling our desires, the same thing has to be done. Exactly in the same way and this is said, the same creation, that means, James Swami, the Atmananda was there in many, many, many Purva Janmas and same audience, all of you are there. That is a good reason why you should try, strive for Moksha and then you will be free forever. Somebody comes in your place. Otherwise, you have to come again and again, hear the same class until you get out and I have to take the same class until I get out also. So it applies both ways. In this introduction, we will be proceeding. It should not be difficult actually. So the sixth one, Ek Purushayana Havisha Bevaha Egnam Patanvatha Vasanthah Asya Asidh Aajyam Reshma Isiddham and Sharath is Havihi. What did the Devas do? What did they do? They lit up a fire and then what did they do? They brilliantly invoked the fire which is burning. Now, for the fire to burn, they require firewood and for the God to be put as an offering into that, plenty of food should be there. So they require petrol, they require firewood and they require food etc. to be offered. What did they do? They sat down and they mentally imagined because they were Sathya Sampanna Purushas, Sattva Sampanna Purushas, Sattva by the way and Sathya by the way are synonymous. Whatever they thought, it just came out. I will also give you some examples. So for the Yagna, performed by the deities with God as the object of a fire, the spring was Ghee, the Grishma, that is the summer time, was cooking firewood and the atom Sharath Kala where plenty of food harvest was there as the offering. They imagined. Now what happened? The miracle has taken place. What is the miracle? It is a creative act. Creation is a creative act. That means it is something unique. Just like any other artist, a sculptor, a musician, he will sit and meditate and bring out new ragas. This bhava, feeling can be expressed this way. He will be doing it and exactly that way and great scientists. They will be working hard. This is what we want to discover or this is what we want to create. They will be thinking deeply and as a result of depth of thinking, ideas will spring forth into their minds. That's why even in the cartoons, they depict here is a person, here is a problem, he is thinking deeply about it. Suddenly an idea comes shown in the form of a bulb lighted up above their heads. Creative act is what the devas did. What happened? As they thought of the Sharath Kaala, Sharath Kaala was created, food was created. As they were thinking of the summer season, summer was created, firewood was created. As they were thinking of the spring season, ghee was created and Sharath Kaala was created. Why? Sharath Kaala is inevitably associated with ghee etc. and summer season is associated with firewood. Symbolic, remember. And the autumn season was invariably associated with plenty of food. So these are the materials he has to do. The materials come in the course of seasons. Seasons represent time and time is controlled by the movement of the sun and moon. And the sun and moon were also created as part of the Panchaghutas Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi. Remember, what a beautiful concept. That is what they did. And then what is the raw material? The Gods and the Rishis and the Sadhyas were all made up of Bhagavan. The material for everything beginning from the first, before creation, after first creation and even after the second creation, the raw material is nothing but God only. And the intelligent material is also called God. So Abhinna, Nimitta, Upadana, Karana. So this mantra starts describing the later Srishti that after infrastructure has been given and then what do you do when you want, as I said, to start a new business? Hire a few experts. Assign them the task of completely planning and then complete the factory, etc. After that procure the raw material, start manufacturing the goods and then distributing it. That is what then accountants, then accounting, creating, educating people how to use it, etc. This is exactly what the Brahma did. So Brahma in his turn created Devas and Rishis and Sadhyas and by offering oblations into a duly consecrated fire, whatever the Gods wanted, whatever the Gods desired, immediately it becomes materialized. That is the difference. Not really much difference. Whatever you desire. A musician desires this Raga and he creates it. It becomes materialized. So also a cook wants to create a new recipe. That is what happens. That means what? Ignorance is a system of creation. So that is why Shri Ramakrishna was said. And to reinforce this idea, whether our interpretation is correct or not, we can beautifully go to Krishna Upanishad, fortunately which we had done, as a Kabandhi Kathiyayana. There was a disciple called Kabandhi Kathiyayana. He came to this Rishi and said, Hey Bhagwan, how did this creation come about? Then he said, the Guru said, the Rishi said, Prajapati means here, Brahman. He became desirous of creating this creation. What did he do? Tapas means here, deep thinking. If somebody wants to realize God, he goes and does Tapasya. What does it mean? He starts living a simple life and sits for meditation for many hours. What does he do in meditation? Deep thinking. Tapasya means deep thinking. Not simply hard day life, but it is all to aid this deep thinking. Keep only the minimum things which are necessary and then for the Tapasya, do Tapasya, think deeply. That's what Varuna advised his son Bhrigu. So you teach me about Brahman. Think deeply my child and whatever is necessary to think deeply, that is what you are going to do. And then as a result of that, he created the subject and the object, the man and the woman. So Mithuna means the subject and object, enjoyer and the enjoyed, etc. First I will create the infrastructure called Rayi and Prana and through this my purpose will be served. That is what Bhagavad Gita also says that, Oh Arjuna, I am the generating seed of all living beings. No creature moving or non-moving can purely exist without me. Whatever you see, as beautiful, glorious, powerful, good or evil, know that it springs from but a spark of my splendor. And Arjuna also reinforces this particular idea. Why should not they, in the 11th chapter, why should not they salute you, O Lord? Even the first creation called Brahma, you are the creator of that Brahma. You are, earlier to that, you are changeless. Everything has come and that same thing is there in the Bhagavad Gita, again in the 11th chapter. You are the primeval God, the original divine personality. You are the sole resting place of the universe. You are both the knower and the object of knowledge. You are the supreme ego, O possessor of infinite forms. You alone pervade the entire universe. And then to clinch, 39th verse of the 11th chapter. You are Vayu. You are Yamaraja. You are Agni. You are Varuna. You are Chandra. You are the creator of Brahma, the great grandfather of all things. I offer my salutations unto you a thousand times, again and again, again. So this is called So as I mentioned, that's what exactly every creative person does. That is what we also do. The whole Samsara is a case of involution and evolution. That is thinking and manifestation, etc. So as soon as the Devatas, deeply with a prayerful mood, they meditated, deeply thought, and what they thought became protection. Another way of understanding is that when you go to sleep, whatever you think becomes present in front of you as if in a concrete form. While dreaming, you don't say it is not a concrete form. You experience, we experience as 100%, 150% as a concrete form. You see a tiger, 100%. You see a building, 100%. You think of America, you are in America. Think of in Kashi, you will be in Kashi. So this is called mental Manasika Yagna. And we are all doing it. And here I want to tell that we are the creators. Who is the Brahma? I am the Brahma. And what is the material? My desires. And what are my desires? My Purva Janma Samskaras. And how did they come? Because of the Purva Purva Janma Samskaras. So with this understanding, because they were pure, they were truthful, whatever Sankalpa came to them, it became true. What happened? Pancha Bhutas were created. And that further is being said here. And then day and night was created. Day and night means time was created. Food was created. And then the enjoyer and the enjoyed. The moving and the non-moving. The living and non-living. Everything came out of there. Beautiful Tapasya. And that Tapasya is called Yagna. And we have to convert our whole life into this Yagna. This is elaborated further in the 7th Mantra. Saptasya Samparidhaya Trisapta Samidhakarta Deva Yajnam Tanvanah Abadhnan Purusham Pashum Remember that when we do some Puja, the Puja recites there. There is a representation of God in the form of an image or a symbol or a name or a picture or a photo or a book, whatever it is. And there will be some implements, some materials like flowers and fruits and etc. And through hymns, etc. we will be doing. But it is also believed that there are malevolent creatures, Bhutas, Pretas, Pishachas. Whenever we do some Puja, we have got certain special ceremonial acts called Bhutapasarana, Bhutavignarivarana, etc. For example, if I utter the mantra called Ram. Ram is called Agni Mantra. Sprinkle water all around. I should be able to see a wall of fire. Tirthankrishna actually said whenever I uttered the mantra, I sprinkled the water, I saw that a wall of fire blazing. No Bhuta, Preta, Pishacha can ever enter within that, inside that limit. That limit is what is also being said in this mantra. So first of all, these Devas, Rishis and Sadhyas, special primary creation, Adi Srishti. What did they do? They did mental Yagna, Manasika Yagna. And then they thought to create this entire universe, Panchabhutas are necessary. Time is necessary. The Sun and the Moon are necessary. So these are the things. So the five elements and the day and night. These are the seven limits called Paridhis. I will explain if I have time or I will continue in the next talk. But what is important is the entire what we call Prapancha, the very name Pancha means out of five Bhutas. But five Bhutas, five elements alone will not do. So the Bhutas are of two types. Gross five and then very subtle five. The subtle five elements, what are the elements we are talking? Akasha, Vayu, Agni, Jala and Prithvi. Subtle elements called Tanmatras. They have become the inner world. That is our Sukshma and Karana Shariras. And the Panchikrita Pancha Mahabhutas have become the entire physical world. And any activity can be done only in time. So time is represented here by day and night. So Paridhi means what is called borderline. And then 21 materials are there. And what did the Devas do? They decided to do this Yajna. What type of Yajna? Manasika Yajna. Yath Yajnam Deva Tanmanaha. They wanted, they started. And what is the first material? Abadhnan Purusham Pashu. It is generally in Shakti Puja, a goat or a buffalo etc. Pashu will be there. That is where the concept of Bali has come. Really Bali means sacrifice. Sacrifice means the destruction of the ego. Instead of that, a Yajna Pashu, an animal, people somehow started. Oh they said Yajna Pashu. It has to be sacrificed. Afterwards it has to be cooked. It has to be offered to the Divine. And then it has to be consumed as Prasadam. I will discuss about it probably in my next class. But this concept has come. It is totally wrong concept. What is the Pashu? We are the Pashus. How am I a Pashu? An animal? Because I am exhibiting animal qualities. What are the animal qualities? Complete identification with especially the body and then the mind. And how does this manifest in physical life? Concrete form, Ahara, Nidra, Bhaya and Maiduna. What we call? Sex, food, name and fame, money, aggressiveness, fear, and then trying to oppress other people and trying to hog everything, grab everything, get as much as possible for one's own self. This is called animal behavior. That is why all Srishti, including human beings, including Devatas, they are all called Pashus. And Shiva is called Pashupati. So there is nothing wrong. And what are we supposed to do to get out of this state and enter into the enlightenment? We have to get rid of this Ajnana, this ignorance. And getting rid of the ignorance is called Pashu. We have to kill. And this Pashu is in the form of pure egotism. And killing of that egotism and saying, Oh Lord, excepting you, nothing else exists. That is called a real symbolism of Bali. So we will discuss about it in the next class. But what I want to say, first of all, here is the worshipper and he sits there and he lights up three types of fire. And then I will explain later on what are the fires. And then seven are the limits, borders. Then 21 are the Samiths. Samith means firewood. That which is to be to keep the fire ablaze. 21 things have to be done. And then with this material, 21 firewoods and then seven borders or limitations. These deities, Devas, Rishis, Sadhyas, they started this yajnam. And then who is the main material? He is called Purusham. Purusham means what? Sat, Chit, Ananda. Anything that we see in the gross world or subtle world is nothing but the manifestation of Sat, Chit and Ananda. If we see a non-living, Sat is manifest. Chit and Ananda are dormant. If we see some lower creatures, then all the three are present. But mostly it is only manifesting Sat. Even though we can detect by growth, by spreading, etc. Chit and Ananda in a very rudimentary form. But slowly the biological evolution, evolution of the brain or intelligence and appropriate body to manifest to house, to manifest and to increase that particular intelligence called body, they go together until human birth is achieved. That is called, what I call, vertical evolution. And then starts another evolution. This biological evolution is external and vertical. The mental evolution, there are two. One is moral evolution. Another is spiritual evolution. Moral evolution is internal and it is horizontal. That is to say, I try to identify with my family, first with myself, then with my family, then with my village, then with my state, then with my country, then with the whole world, then with non-humans, then with non-living also. That is how I grow and grow and grow by identifying. This is called moral evolution. It is an internal evolution and it is horizontal evolution. I grow and grow and grow transcending this limited body-mind identification. Then at some point of time, then I again start my spiritual evolution which is vertical again because it has nothing to do either biologically or morally. That is only a platform from which we take off and rejoin like the young chick of the Homa bird rejoins its mother. So that is called spiritual evolution. It is again vertical and it happens only individually. We cannot help others. We cannot eat for others. We cannot dream for others. We cannot sleep for others. We cannot do anything for others excepting a little bit of loving, encouraging, supplying a few materials. So that is how the three evolutions have to take place and this Yagna is a symbolism of how first through Yagna I grow biologically. Then through Yagna I grow morally and through Yagna I grow spiritually. Yagna means an act of creation. Yagna means an act of expansion. Yagna means an act of evolution and that is why the concept of Yagna is very important. Let us remember finally this Yagna is equated with modern Puja and the entire philosophy of the Puja is summarized in a beautiful Sanskrit verse Devo bhutva devam yajet Who can worship God? Only God. So we have to become God in order to be able to appreciate God and that appreciation or understanding is a true Puja and for that we have to sacrifice our what is called Ahamkara and that is also called Sharanagati. These beautiful ideas we will discuss in our next class.