Chapter 1	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

In every sphere of this world, in all motion and in all existence, one finds an exception to the rule. The Bengali word for exception is “vyatikrama” (vi – ati – kram + al) which literally means “departure from the usual.” In Hindi, it is called “apaváda”. In Bengali, apaváda has a different meaning: “censure” or “blame”.

Since the days of Australopithecine, a new kind of creature slowly evolved: proto ape or ape man. At a certain stage in evolution, one of these creatures became an exception to the norm of the community, resulting in some evolving into chimpanzees, some into orangutans, some into gorillas, and some into human beings. All of these creatures are tailless. These diverging evolutionary branches occurred due to an exception somewhere along the path of evolution.

Various fishes have evolved from the Silákantha, the original ancestors of the fishes. One would think that, having all evolved from the same source, all fishes would be of the same appearance – but this is not the case. Due to many exceptions along the path of evolution, different species of fishes emerged. If such exceptions had not occurred, all the fishes, all the chimpanzees, gorillas, etc. would have been of the same type.

These exceptions were not accidental but were preplanned to bring about certain changes in the process of evolution. Their occurrence led to different evolutionary lines branching off the main established line. Had there been no exceptions, there would have been no major evolutionary changes.

The same things also happen in the case of language. The Saḿskrta word “cikitsá” was in vogue for a long time until somebody distorted the pronunciation to “cikicchá”. Similarly, at a certain point in the past, someone wrongly pronounced the word “mahotsava” as “mahocchva.” Later, the word changed to “mocchava”. We should never say that these deviations were wrong.

Many deviations have occurred in human society due to human ignorance, human inefficiency, and a number of other reasons. These deviations formed new branches which opened up new vistas of human intellect. One of the most important factors on the path of movement is the exception. The value of these exceptions should never be underestimated.

In India, princes and princesses used to eat sumptuous food, dress well, and travel extensively. One day, however, a prince thought, “Why do humans suffer from so much pain and affliction? What is the cause of this suffering? What is the reason behind it? I will have to go deep into the matter to find out why. I will have to step down from the throne to make a thorough investigation.” This exception to the rule occurred in a prince’s mind and led to the birth of Buddhism.

There was a great scholar who had a sudden realization that mere pedantry will not lead to the cessation of misery; it will not bring any lasting joy or happiness. So he gave up his worldly life and started wandering through the streets. [His name was Sri Caetanya Mahaprabhu.] This led to the birth of Gaoriiya Vaesnavism.

Those people who are society’s exceptions are extraordinary people. Keeping our ideology fixed before our eyes, we must also become exceptional people. For those people who are treading a new path, who are constructing something new, exception is as valuable as their very lives.

Most people spend their lives on this planet eating and drinking. Sometimes they contract diseases, their stomachs become distended, and they die. But there are certain exceptional people who say, “No, we have not come to eat, drink and make merry.” Those who lead licentious lives foolishly get involved in brawls and fights, but the exceptional people say, “No, we don’t want to live such a life.” Missionary life was started on this planet by such people who today are glorifying that tradition in ever increasing numbers. They alone will make this line of exceptions even more brilliant, and will build human history. Others cannot and will not do it. The poet Rabindranath Tagore said;

Kon álote práńer pradiip
Jváliye tumi dharáy ása
Sádhak ogo premik ogo
Págal ogo dharáy ása.

[Enkindling the light of your lamp
With what divine light have you come to Earth?
O sádhaka, O devotee, O intoxicated one
With what divine light have you come to Earth?]

These exceptional people are sometimes seen as a bunch of lunatics by others, but the fact is, these so-called lunatics do something new and constructive for society.

Je tore págal bale
Táre tui balisne kichu.

–Rabindranath

[To those who call you a lunatic
Do not say anything.]

You should also know that you are exceptions. You, too, will do something great, will build something historical.

Chapter 2	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Many philosophers say that the number of sensory and motor organs is not ten, but eleven; five sensory, five motor, and one more, the mind. Whatever the organs do, they do with the sanction of the mind. When the mind wants to steal, the hands do the action. Although the hands (which are undoubtedly a motor organ) do the physical stealing, the real thief is the mind. It would not be just to put the entire blame on the motor organs. That is why reputed philosophers say, “Why should the mind be exempted? Why should we blame the organ, leaving aside the actual entity at fault?” Thus, they say there are eleven organs.

The mind has two main functions: thinking and recollection. What has been done in the past, say ten years ago, remains stored in the mind. This is memory. Thinking is sowing the seed of one’s future actions. The organs function when there is an attempt to externalize an internal thought, that is, when the internal thought is projected outward. Under natural circumstances, when someone is thinking, the sensory and motor organs are inactive; but when the process of externalization begins, when the mind thinks something and projects the thought into the external world, those organs immediately jump into action. This externalization is called “utkepan” in Saḿskrta. It is just like flicking a piece of butter into a hot frying pan (which the cook does to give a richer aroma to the food). In the same way, when the mind decides to externalize an internal thought it “flicks” it, causing the sensory and motor organs to spring into action.

Imagine a scoundrel is standing in front of you. The man is such a rogue that you feel like slapping him, but do not actually do it. It is only when you decide, “Let me slap that scoundrel,” that your hands actually strike him. When the inner urge to externalize the feeling becomes strong enough, your hands leap into action.

A great person is one who has complete control over the externalization of thoughts. A thought will not always be expressed physically. One may have a desire to hit someone or a desire to steal, but never actually does it due to one’s self control. A person who has such control over the mind can externalize internal ideas more vigorously than a normal person can. You may have met people who never lose their temper unnecessarily, but utilize anger with the utmost control for benevolent reasons. This is because they have control over their minds.

In sádhaná (particularly in abhidhyána: abhi – dhae + anat́), the spiritual aspirants withdraw the mind from its numerous preoccupations and keep it fixed on specific ideas. You should remember that the human mind is occupied with more objects than the mind of any other living creature. This year’s RU discourse explains how the increase of knowledge in human beings leads to an increase in the number of psychic objects. An animal cannot think about more than six or seven objects at a time, but an ordinary person can think of more than fifty objects at a time. Human beings have fifty vrttis (psychic urges), and those fifty vrttis are also complex in their functioning. As the vrttis become more complex, so do their functions.

A vrtti can either be kept within one’s mind or it can be externalized. One can steal both mentally and in the external world. Hence, as each of these fifty vrttis can be expressed both internally and externally, there are one hundred possible expressions. These hundred expressions can be expressed in ten directions: six “pradisha” directions: north, south, east, west, above, and below; and four “anudisha” directions: northeast, southeast, northwest and southwest. So the total number of expressions comes to (100 x 10 =) 1,000! That is why the pineal gland is called sahasrara cakra or “that which expresses itself in one thousand directions.”

I have also said that in the future the number of vrttis may further increase. The more complicated social life, family life, the realm of thought and the realm of intellect become, the more vrttis will develop. For example, the vrtti, cunningness, may be expressed in many more ways. To fulfil their desires, people will develop different types of cunningness which may become different vrttis in future. For example, the cunningness required to procure an object by devious means, the cunningness needed to give a promise knowing full well that one will never keep it, and the cunningness required to trick someone into believing that one did not tell a lie when in fact one did tell a lie, may all become separate vrttis in future.

Thus, in the future, as people’s thought processes become more complicated, many new vrttis will develop. The number of vrttis may not stay at fifty. Just imagine the situation that will arise in the future as a result of humanity’s ever increasing thirst for knowledge. To meet these developments the nerve cells and nerve fibres will have to become more complex. Consequently, the human cranium will become larger and the size of the head will increase. The hands and feet will become weaker and weaker and human beings may even lose the ability to walk. Today, the human toes have almost stopped functioning – in spiritual actions we have almost no use for them – whereas at one time, when we used to walk on four legs, we used our toes as much as our fingers. The front legs were used less and less, and were transformed into arms, and thus these days it has become almost impossible for us to crawl on all fours. There was a time when humans would run on four legs, but today they cannot do that. After a time, children feel uncomfortable crawling around on all fours and try to walk on their hind legs. In the initial stages, when they try to stand up, they soon fall down. Again they stand up, again they fall down. When they finally develop the habit of standing on two legs, there are corresponding changes in the physical structure so that the use of their arms becomes less. In the future, the legs will be used less and less and the capacity to move on them will decrease. The arms will become thin, and the head will become abnormally large.

Today we think that such people will look very strange, but in the future one may hear people commenting, “Oh, how handsome he looks with eyes as small as little peas and arms as thin as jute sticks. He can’t hear anything with his ears. In fact, he hasn’t got any ears at all! What an attractive man.” Although it seems slightly repulsive to us, this will become the standard of beauty in future. People will judge beauty according to the standards of the day, saying, “Oh, those stick-like arms of his make him look so handsome. The fellow can’t walk properly. How wonderful.” And if someone can walk, people will say, “How indecent that fellow looks hobbling around on two legs!” But if he crawls along the ground they will say, “How wonderful, how beautiful!” If we were to see this sort of scene today, however, we would say, “How unsightly. That fellow is uglier than an owl.”

The notion of what is beautiful or ugly, or good or bad in human beings changes from age to age, and in different environments. Those who are black-complexioned will say, “How beautiful black is. Why is that man so white? Has he contracted leucoderma (white leprosy)? How repulsive, how utterly repulsive!” That is, human judgement is relative; it changes according to time, place and person. In one particular country of the world, people decompose small fishes, make a sauce out of them and then bury it in the ground. After three months, when the sauce is so rotten that its odour can be smelled even a mile away, they dig it up and eat it with rice and pulses. “Oh how delicious,” they exclaim. But if we were to eat it we would complain, “How obnoxious, how repulsive!” In that same country, a gentleman was frying luci [puffed, unleavened bread] in cow’s ghee. The village chief came up to him, saying, “Can you please go and cook your food in some other place, far away from here? We have no idea what you’re cooking, but whatever it is, it smells terrible. We can’t stand it any more.” It means they do not like the smell of pure cow’s ghee, which, for us, is a very nice smell.

Thus, the number of vrttis in the mind will gradually increase. If anyone disagrees with this, they are mistaken. Everything in this world is subject to change. Humans evolved from animals and now have many more vrttis than animals. Due to the development of human intellect and the consequent increase in vrttis, language also changes. In the Saḿskrta language there are over 500,000 words, in English over 400,000, and in Bengali about 125,000 words. Of all the Indian languages, Bengali has the largest vocabulary, and even that has only about 125,000 words. The most developed species of monkey has a vocabulary of about 800 words. The most undeveloped human beings living in certain forests have a vocabulary of about 950 words. Thus, the undeveloped humans have only a slightly larger vocabulary than the most developed monkeys. The most developed species of monkey is the “ulluka” in Saḿskrta (red-faced apes) which have a larger vocabulary than other species of ape. Each of their words, such as “kieun”, “kiawn”, “kwee”, etc., has a different meaning. But no one has yet taken the trouble to compile a dictionary for them.

To withdraw the ten sensory and motor organs and the mind from all their objects, that is, from the grip of all the vrttis, and to direct them towards Parama Puruśa is called “abhidhyána”. We say, “directed towards Parama Puruśa” because Parama Puruśa is the source of the creation of mind. His mind has been condensed to create the unit mind; His thought waves have been converted into the mental and physical bodies; and His mental stuff has been transformed into the five fundamental factors. Those five fundamental factors, through further clash and cohesion, have been turned into subtle mind. The human mind does not come directly from Parama Puruśa; it comes from crude matter, which in turn comes from the Macrocosmic Mind. But when the human mind is directed towards the Supreme Being, it should not be directed through crude matter; it should be directed straight towards the Cosmic Mind.

In Saiṋcara (the extroversial phase of movement), matter originates from the Cosmic Mind, and unit mind evolves out of matter. In the process of returning to its original abode, however, the mind should not be allowed to move through matter, but should proceed directly towards the Cosmic Mind. If the mind is engrossed in crude matter, it will become crude. That will be a very dangerous thing. That is why one should avoid idol worship. In this introversial phase, all fifty vrttis should be directed towards the Supreme Goal. The mind which was swayed away by the fifty vrttis should now be redirected. How? The activities of the ten organs should first be withdrawn and suspended in the mind, and the suspended mind should be directed towards Parama Puruśa. In the process of withdrawal or pratyáhára, all the organs should be channelized towards the subtle mind.

What is dhyána? To suspend all the vrttis and then to direct them towards the Supreme One is dhyána. There are two definitions of dhyána “Yogashcittavrttirnirodhah.” [“Yoga is the suspension of all psychic propensities” – Patanjali] and “Sarvacintáparityágo nischinto yoga ucyate” [“Yoga is the attainment of a composed mind unperturbed by the thought” – Tantra]. The mind should be suspended. But where should the suspended mind go? Suppose we build a dam in the mouth of a river. If there is not a small outlet for the water, the dam will burst under the force of the current, which could be catastrophic. Similarly, if the mental flow is checked, it is also dangerous. The mind must be directed along a particular path, it must have some kind of mobility. Dhyána means to direct the mind towards the Supreme One. Remembering Parama Puruśa is dhyána. In this thought process there is a sense of mobility. The absence of mobility leads to crudeness and ultimate destruction. Those of you who are students of psychology will understand this subject better.

There are two distinct paths. The first is to stop the extroversial tendencies of mind and become absorbed in the inner goal; the second is to keep all the sense organs engaged in the same activity, such as kiirtana. When kiirtana was first invented, the psycho-philosophy behind it was this: at the time of kiirtana, the vocal cord sings, the ears hear, and the hands and feet dance, and thus all the organs are kept preoccupied with the divine. They are not allowed to move wherever they want but are kept engaged. There is a popular Indian superstition that when ghosts are not kept busy they break the necks of their prey. Similarly, if the sensory and motor organs are not kept engaged in the attainment of the divine, they may lead one astray. Kiirtana is therefore most beneficial as it keeps all the organs fully engaged in a spiritual pursuit. However, while doing kiirtan, if one listens to anything else, the mind will be diverted. Suppose, while doing kiirtana, one lady asks another, “Well sister, what did you cook today?” This will also be heard by the practitioners of kiirtana. To prevent these undesirable sounds from being heard, it is advisable to play some instrument during kiirtana. A mrdauṋga [a kind of drum] or some similar instrument should be used, but one should not play any heavy-sounding instrument like a d́hák [a large drum played with sticks], a d́hol [a loud drum] or a gong. The mind prefers to hear a sweet sound, like that of the mrdauṋga, than a harsh sound. Some time ago I mentioned that Bhola Mayra said that when the cawing of crows and the beating of drums stop, human ears get some relief. People do not like to hear such harsh, unpleasant sounds. The sound of the mrdauṋga may not be perfect, but it has one quality: it is very sweet. Thus, whenever a distracted mind hears the sweet music of a mrdauṋga, it returns to the proper place. A remarkable science lies in kiirtana.

Chapter 3	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

It is said, “Kiirttaniiyah sadáharih”. What do we mean by “kiirttaniiyah”? When someone’s qualities are sung aloud and highly praised, it is called “kiirttaniiyah”. In Saḿskrta, the root verb “kiirt” means “to utter something loudly in praise of someone”. It is something that is uttered loudly enough to be audible to others. If uttered very softly, it will be audible to oneself, and if uttered mentally, it will be audible to one’s own mind, but will not be audible to others. Kiirtana should be sung loudly enough to be heard by others.

“Kiirttaniiyah sadáharih”. Kiirtana should be done on Hari and on no other entity. One should not praise oneself or any other person. There are many people who are very fond of praising themselves by telling everyone what wonderful things they have done, but, as mentioned in this sloka, kiirtana is not for one’s own self but for Hari. Even though people are taught to do kiirtana for Hari, they still make the mistake of praising themselves too much. Sometimes their self-praise is so intense that others are obliged to say, “Please stop praising yourself so much.” They forget that their self-applause is rather boring for others. Human beings should realize that no one likes to hear the self-praise of others.

What is the actual meaning of Hari? Hari and Hara are the two functional expressions of Parama Puruśa that humans usually come in contact with. The word “Hara” is a combination of two acoustic roots or biija mantras. What is a biija mantra? Every action and every existence are characterized by certain particular sounds. While you sit in one place, you exist, and because of your existence various waves get buffeted and altered. Light waves, for example, are either reflected or refracted, after which they go back into the air. The existential acoustic root is a prerequisite for all the functions of existence. Through existence, through action, you are always engaged in some type of work.

What is work? Work, or action, means to change the location of an object. Suppose we move a pillow from one place to another: the pillow changes its position. This is what we call an action. Every action has a sound of its own which may or may not be audible to the human ear. Suppose someone is walking on tiptoe: the sound produced is so soft that it is inaudible; but some sound is produced nevertheless. Some people make a lot of noise when they walk. Some people smile silently, whereas other people laugh loudly. In Saḿskrta, smiling silently is called “smita”, and laughing loudly is called “hásya”. Though it seems that smiling is a silent action, it does produce a sound. While smiling, one’s mouth and lips move slightly, causing a little stir in the air which creates a very faint sound. That minute sound of every action is called “acoustic root” in English and “biija mantra” in Saḿskrta. Ether is the subtlest factor in this quinquelemental world. It, too, having existence, produces a certain sound.

Mental thoughts create a vibration in your mind (a sound) which in turn vibrates the nerve cells and nerve fibres. Some people think of football games even while sleeping. Thinking while sleeping is called “dreaming”. If one thinks during the wakeful state it is called “thinking.” As the conscious mind does not function during sleep, the objects thought of are considered real; but when the conscious mind is active during the state of wakefulness people think, “I’m thinking this.” But during sleep, the conscious mind remains suspended and one’s thoughts appear to be real. If a sleeping football fan thinks deeply about football, he may shout, “Goooaaal!” and kick the person sleeping next to him. Why does this happen? It happens when a thought is “flicked” into action during the state of sleep. The letter “ha” is the acoustic root of the ethereal factor, the subtlest of the five fundamental factors; and the letter “ra” is the acoustic root of energy. In the Indo-Aryan alphabet all fifty letters, from “a” to “kśa” are acoustic roots of one action or another, and the totality of all these fifty acoustic roots constitutes the alphabet, called “akśa málá”.

A kind of mixed Tantra was evolved out of three different spiritual texts: the Puráńas, Tantra and Atharva Veda. In this mixed Tantra, the akśa málá was held by a Tántrik deity known as Bhadra Kálii (who is not the four-armed goddess depicted in mythology). When idol worship first started, human beings had not yet learnt how to write or recognize the letters of the alphabet. To symbolise those fifty sounds, therefore, a garland of fifty human heads was placed around the neck of the effigy of goddess Kálii, as it is the human mouth which utters words. The acoustic root of creation is “a”, the acoustic root of preservation is “u”, and the acoustic root of destruction is “ma”. So, “a”, being the acoustic root of creation, was made the first letter. That is why the deity Bhadra Kálii holds the first letter “a” in her hand while the remaining 49 letters, from “á” to “kśa”, are suspended from her neck. Of course, in the idols made nowadays, just fifteen to twenty faces are placed in the garland. The artists who make these effigies today are not aware of the philosophical significance, nor are the worshippers.

“Ra” is the acoustic root of energy. There are various types of energy – mechanical, electrical, magnetic and so on – which are the manifestations of the Supreme Operative Principle within His vast cosmos. At any one time something is being constructed, something is being destroyed – by earthquakes, floods, cyclones and so many other catastrophes. This takes place within the scope of “ha” and “ra” and is nothing but the divine play of Parama Puruśa. When Parama Puruśa plays this sort of divine game, He is known as Hara (ha + ra). Another of Shiva’s names is Hara. That is why some people utter, “Hara Hara vyom vyom”.

“Harati pápániityarthe harih”. “Harana” means “to steal”, so Hari means “one who steals”. How strange! Why should Hari steal? This is something very bad as it goes against the fundamental principles of yama and niyama. One would never expect that He would break these principles. So why does He do it? Parama Puruśa certainly wants the prosperity and well-being of all created beings. Human beings have been accumulating sins life after life, and to exhaust them all may take as many as twenty lives. Then should we assume that the future of humanity is dark? It is difficult enough to carry the load of sins of only one life, so just imagine how difficult it is to carry the sins accumulated in twenty lives. How can people be expected to carry such a heavy load?

There is one hope for redemption, and that hope is Parama Puruśa who cares deeply for His loving disciples. What does He do in this case? He tells His devotees, “My children, give me all your sins; otherwise there is no future before you. For how many lives will you be able to carry such a heavy burden? It is better for you to give your load to me.” The question, though, is will the devotees agree to give the load of their sins to the Lord? No, they will not. Instead, they will say, “We are ready to give you sweets, but how can we give you our sins? We can offer garlands to you, but not our sins!” No devotee would ever agree to do that. If ever the thought to do it were to cross a devotee’s mind, he or she would certainly say, “No, no, I can’t give my sins.” Yet the fact is that the Lord belongs to the devotees and will certainly do what is needed for their spiritual progress. Therefore, He will have no other choice but to steal their sins. He will have to take away their sins without their knowledge. What do we call taking something belonging to others without their permission? We call it stealing. So, He steals, and as He steals sins, He is called Hari. What happens to the devotees after the sins are stolen? Their minds become pure. Usually the human mind has different weaknesses and frailties. But as people continue to refine their intellect and perfect their spiritual practices, their minds move upwards through the different kośas (layers): kamamaya, manomaya, atimanasa, vijiṋánamaya and hiranyamaya, resulting in the crude portion of the mind becoming increasingly subtle. Take the case of cream: when churned, its essence (butter) is separated from the non-essential part (whey). Similarly, once the sins are stolen the real essence of the mind, which is called átman, is separated from the mind. That is why Hari is nicknamed “makhan cor” – the butter thief. It is wrong to take these words literally. Take it for granted that Krśńa never stole the cream or butter from the milkmaids’ houses.

“Amáninama mána deyaḿ kiirtaniiyah sadá harih.” Give respect to those who are not respected by others, and to those who are not even recognized as human beings, give recognition. Go to them and say, “Don’t worry, I will always help you. As long as I am here you need not feel unnecessarily concerned.” Give hope and consolation to human beings – give them respect, give them recognition as human beings. Tell them, “You are also human beings and worthy to be treated with respect and dignity.”

These are the real signs of a genuine devotee, an ideal sádhaka. I want you all to try to become genuine devotees like this.

Chapter 4	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

It is mentioned in the Upanishads:

Súkśmátisúkśmaḿ kalilsya madhye vishvasya sráśt́áraḿanekarúpam
Vishvasyaekaḿ pariveśt́itáraḿ jiṋátvá Shivaḿ shántimatyantamáti.

In ancient Vedic, the root verb “vid” was widely used in place of the verb “jiṋá”. The word “veda” is derived from the root verb “vid” (to know). “Ved” means “knowledge”. The root verb “jiṋa” came to be used much later.

The Rk Veda was first composed about 15,000 years ago. Its composition continued for a further 10,000 years, that is, until 5,000 years ago. It was followed by the Yajurveda, and then the Atharvaveda. It was later found that each of these three Vedas contained certain musical portions. These musical portions were put together to form the fourth Veda, the Sáma Veda. The Vedic term “ sáma” means “song”.

There are seven metres in Vedic poetry: gáyatri, anuśt́up, tiśt́up, brhatii, jagatji, paunkti and uśńiik. The Vedic Rks were composed in uśńiik, the most difficult of all the metres.

The composers of the early Rks noticed that the vocal cord of a particular animal produces a particular type of sound with a particular pitch. Seven musical notes were evolved from the sounds of seven animals: peacock (śaŕaja), ox (rśabha), goat (gándhára), horse (madhyama), cuckoo (paiṋcama), ass (dhaevata) and elephant (niśáda). By taking the first letters of these seven sounds – śa from śaŕaja, re from rśabha, gá from gándhára, má from madhyama, pá from paiṋcama, dhá from dhaevata and ni from niśáda – the musical septet, śa-re-gá-má-pá-dhá-ni, was made. Thus there were seven metrical rhythms and seven musical notes.

Every idea in the mind has its own inherent sound. “In the beginning there was sound, and the sound was with God, and the sound was God”. This sound is Śabdha and consists of omn, hum’, phat, vaośat́, váśat, sváha, and namah. These are the acoustic roots which should be uttered before the corresponding action is performed. For instance, “Namo Brahmańe namah” [This is recited whenever one offers something to God and literally means “Salutations to Brahma.”]. Before saying “namah” the ideation should be of self-surrender. “Nam devatáyae namah” [salutations to the gods]. When one recites “namah” it does not remain a mere word, but becomes an idea. Namah is derived from the root verb “nam” which means “I surrender myself”. Self-surrender is the main idea behind namah. With this sort of ideational sound, ideation and not the sound is the main factor. There are seven vibrational sounds such as this.

Later, it was discovered that tenderness, love, affection, and benevolent thought are inherent qualities of the mind. When they are predominant in the mind people produce sound in a particular way; but where there is no benevolent thought, no love and affection, people produce a different sound. Suppose you are a little ill and do not feel like eating. Naturally you will inform the members of your family, saying “I won’t eat anything today as I’m not feeling very well.” But when you decide not to eat because you are angry with your family, you will not express your reluctance in the same way. You will say rather abruptly, “I won’t eat anything today!” There is an expression of anger in your tone. So these two expressions of “I won’t eat anything today” are not the same. There is a marked difference in intonation.

There are two mental feelings which are particularly difficult to suppress – even very prominent actors have trouble hiding them which are “viśa” [angry dissent] and “amrta” [deep affection]. The seven acoustic sounds, the seven musical notes, viśa and amrta are the sixteen sounds controlled by the vocal cord. In this connection it should be noted that the root-verb “jiṋa” is not included in the seven metrical rhythms of the Vedas. The reason is that the origin of any sound is not in the vocal cord but in the múládhára. “Pará pashyantii madhyamá dyotamáná vaekharii shrutigocarah”. These are the different stages in the formation of words. They first originate from “para” [the primordial seed of a word] and terminate in shrutigocarah [the audible form of a word]. In the state of pashyantii one visualises an idea. In the dyotamána stage, one has an inner urge to express the idea, but the words remain unexpressed. You must have often experienced the state when you understand many things, but cannot find words to express them. That is, you do not understand how to express those ideas and thus cannot convey your internal feelings. This is the stage of dyotamáná. If you want to go deep into the subject of music, you will have to acquire a thorough knowledge of these seven stages of expression.

The Old Latin verb “keno” is derived from the later day Saḿskrta word “jiṋa”, and the Modern English verb “know” is derived from “keno”. The letter “k” of “know” has lost its original pronunciation, but we still retain it in the spelling because its root is “keno”. Those who study English language may find this information useful in doing research.

“Jiṋátvá Shivaḿ shántimatyantamati”. In Saḿskrta, the word “shiva” has many meanings. The first is “well-being”. While blessing someone, one can say “shivamastu” in place of “sukhamastu” [may you prosper]. The second meaning is “consciousness”. “Shiva shaktyatmakaḿ Brahma” [Brahma is the composite of Supreme Consciousness and Supreme Operative Principle]. The third meaning is “one who remains lying down” or “one unable to get up,” that is, a dead body. In this sloka Shivam means Parama Puruśa or Supreme Consciousness. Jiṋátvá means “after knowing”; shántiḿ means “peace”. Sham + ktin = shánti; sham + anat = shamana.

The one who, guided by the Supreme Intellect, controls all the entities everywhere; who does not permit any entity to go astray or violate the established principles; and who controls everything with an iron hand, is called Shamana. This is the mythological God of Death (Yama). Shamana also regulates the populations of all created beings. According to mythology, when the number of creatures increases uncontrollably, the sinners are annihilated leaving the virtuous to work in peace. “Samanam karoti yah sah shántá”. Sham + ktin = shánti. Every human being wants mental composure. The only way to attain this state is to know that Shivam, that Parama Puruśa, that Supreme Entity. There is no other way, “Shivaḿ shántmatyantamati.”

On many different occasions in life, whether big or small, one can hope to attain a certain degree of mental composure, but permanent composure or “prashánti” or “átyántikii shánti” (composure beyond which there is no further composure, and which, once attained is never lost) cannot be attained easily. In war, an army may win one battle thus attaining a certain degree of composure, but they may be defeated in the next battle. Victory, once attained, may not necessarily be permanent. Only vijaya, that is, victory which is never followed by defeat, is permanent. A person wishing to attain permanent composure will have to attain Shiva or Parama Puruśa. There is no other alternative. Hence it is said, “Gatvam Shivaḿ shántimatyantamati”. Once one enters deep into the realm of permanent composure one gets a permanent abode in that supreme state of bliss.

Chapter 5	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Philosophically speaking, defects and qualities may both be called bondages. That is, any idea which binds a person or an entity may be called a bondage. A defect may be called a negative quality. To accomplish anything in practical life, one must not only acquire certain positive qualities, but one must also avoid certain negative qualities. Intelligent people develop those qualities through constant practice and thus acquire special advantages in the struggle of existence. By keeping away from certain ingrained defects or by giving up certain bad habits, they avoid many of life’s major problems. There are a few of these bad habits which everyone should try to avoid. It is said;

Nidrá-tandrá-bhayaḿ-krodhah-álasyam-diirghasútratá
Ete hátavyáh śaŕ adośáh bhútimicchata.

In this sloka, people are cautioned about six dangerous bad habits. Those seeking welfare (in Saḿskrta, bhuti means “well-being”) in individual or collective life, in social or political life, should avoid these six bad habits. They bring great trouble to people, both individually and collectively.

The first bad habit is nidra or sleep. Sleep is a state that creates a feeling of vacuity after it is over. That is, immediately after waking up people forget where they were or what they were doing before sleeping. They lose the sense of time. “What’s the time now?” they ask, forgetting whether it is day or night. If people sleep too much for days on end, this mental disorientation persists for a long time. “Is it day or night? What time is it?” they ask, confused. If this continues, their receptive and retentive powers decrease resulting in an almost total loss of mental power. They become dull, and lack courage to face life’s problems. They may have physical strength, but they lack courage. The ancient people believed that excessive sleep is good for health, but this is not the case. Rather, too much sleep not only impairs the health, but has an adverse effect on the mind.

What is sleep? It is something like the temporary retreat of an army after a major offensive, or, the way runners push their legs behind them on the starting line to give themselves more momentum to sprint forward. Before undertaking a strenuous task, a short rest is required. This is our sleep. As for myself, I usually do not sleep more than four hours a night for many months at a stretch, and have no difficulty. Those who know the special techniques to control the nerve cells or nerve fibres may forego sleep altogether. You must have noticed that some people who sleep too much often doze off at work. This has brought much trouble to the society. Suppose a man’s lifespan is 80 years but he spends forty of them sleeping; he will not get much time to do anything worthwhile. To be under the spell of sleep is therefore highly deplorable. Those who sleep too much must strive to reduce their sleeping time as far as practical.

The second bad habit is tandra or dullness. It is a sense of contraction, the loss of momentum or inspiration to do any work in life. This may occur due to glandular defects, diseases or even due to inborn instinct. Those suffering from the latter normally die in their early teens.

Those who are habitually lazy suffer from a lack of original thinking and a lack of drive in the field of action. “Shall I be able to do this? How will I ever get it done? I’m good for nothing. I’m illiterate.” When people think in this way, their nerve cells fail to control their nerve fibres properly, resulting in their apathy for work. This dullness is a dangerous thing. The drowsiness that one feels after waking up from sleep is also tandra, and is also a kind of dullness. To overcome it, one should practice certain psychic exercises and follow a psychic discipline.

Some students can only concentrate attentively on their studies for a short time before their minds are diverted to the playground. Their eyes may remain fixed on the text-book, but their minds play in the playground for maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. Their parents and teachers feel satisfied with their apparent studiousness, but actually, they cannot study properly. The eyes may read, but their minds do not. This is also a kind of staticity because the mind is fixed in the playground.

During the examination period, a student may have to study under compulsion due to the high expectations of friends, parents and neighbours. In this case, too, the eyes will read but the mind will not, as the boy is working under external pressure. What will the result be? During the first period of relaxation after the examinations are over, when he goes to the cinema or playground, his mind will revert to its original static position. He quickly forgets within two or three days what he had previously learned and remembered with great labour. During the examination period, you will notice that you can memorize your lessons very quickly, but, as soon as the exams are over, you will forget everything within two or three days. The same sort of psychology works in all such cases. Thus, dullness is a very dangerous thing. One should remain vigilant against it.

If the feeling of dullness overcomes a woman cooking in the kitchen, she will forget to add salt and spice to the vegetables. She is physically present in one place, but mentally, she is somewhere else. If you see a man who is inattentive to his duties, or a woman forgetting to add salt and spices to the food, you will know that their minds are under the spell of lethargy. They need psychic treatment. And in the case of boys and girls - particularly those who are engaged in studies – it takes a long time to shake off this psychic lethargy. School teachers should understand this psychology so that their students can learn from them.

The third bad habit is bhaya or fear. This fear instinct is ingrained within everyone’s mind. When fear is prominent, people are said to be timid. The rule regarding fear is the more you surrender to it, the more it will increase. Similarly, the more you sleep, the more you want to sleep, and the day may come when you will develop the habit of sleeping twenty-four hours a day. The more you eat, the more your desire to eat increases. One can devour as much as a demon, but if one reduces the intake of food, one can remain just as healthy. I have spent about five years virtually without food. It seems impossible, but anyone can do that if they try. It is not very difficult.

One must exercise control over all these habits. It may happen that due to adverse circumstances, one is unable to get any food for ten days. One who does not have any control over the food habit will certainly die in such a situation. But the one who has control will manage to survive even for four or five years. This is within the bounds of possibility for human beings.

If one surrenders to fear, the fear instinct will increase. One who is timid may see a ghost even in broad daylight. Conversely, one who is brave will not see a ghost even in a burial ground in the dead of night. What is the reason for this? Due to fear psychosis, a kind of internal psychic projection is created. Usually the mind is in one of five states: kśipta – almost mad, múrha – almost foolish, vikśipta – scattered, ekágra – almost concentrated, and nirodha – one pointed. Depending upon one’s internal psychic projection within any one of these five states, ghosts may be created. Even in the dead of night, one can dismiss the presence of ghosts with the help of negative hallucinations. This is just the opposite of internal psychic projection (positive hallucination). Thus, one should have control over fear. How to do this? The only way is to ideate on and take shelter in the most powerful entity – Parama Puruśa.

Yátováco nivartante aprápya manasá sáha,
Ánandaḿ brahmano vidvám má vibheti kadácana.

If one takes shelter in Parama Puruśa one need not be afraid of anything in this world. In fact, this is the only way to become totally free from fear. Those who are affected by a fear psychosis doubt their own capacity to do anything. But, if they were to try a little, they would easily accomplish what they wanted to do. “Shall I be able to do this work?” You might wonder. But who knows, maybe the task will be accomplished before you think. If someone sees a ghost under the spell of fear and immediately they remember their iśt́a mantra, they can then take a few steps forward, slap the ghost and immediately understand that it was not a real ghost – it was perhaps a chair which was wrongly taken to be a silhouette of a human being. This is what happens. March forward with courage and you will see the ghosts, ghouls and goblins stepping away from you doing namaskar!

It may happen that you are tormented by someone in your personal life and tolerate everything out of fear. If one day you summon up all your courage to oppose that person, you will find that the tyrant retreats ignominously. Similarly, under the spell of fear, a community may allow itself to be exploited by another community. But if the exploited community turns against the exploiters, the tyrants will take to their heels. There is a great need for courage. Never surrender to fear in individual or collective life.

The fourth bad habit is krodha or anger. What is the nature of anger? When there is too much agitation in the nerve cells and nerve fibres, perhaps after thinking or hearing something, one is affected by krodha. When someone vexes you or humiliates you too much, your nerve cells become agitated. It may also be that no one has insulted or disturbed you, nor have they done anything to provoke you; yet simply thinking about a certain person your nerve cells get tremendously excited. Perhaps someone said something insulting to you as long as fifteen years ago. Even now, when you suddenly remember those words, your nerve cells get excited, your nerve fibres become restless, and you grow angry. As a result of anger, the whole body trembles, and the skin changes colour: one with a fair complexion becomes reddish, one with a black complexion becomes violet. (The Bengali word for anger is “rága”: rańj + ghaiṋ = rágá. In Saḿskrta, rága means to colour something. In Oria it is also “rága”). This is the effect of anger on the human body. Anger is the same everywhere. It occurs when the nerve cells fail to control the nerve fibres.

Let me give another example of what happens when one loses control over the nerve fibres. Some people are so crazy about football that they dream of the game while sleeping. What is a dream? When we think during the wakeful state our conscious mind operates and we understand that we are thinking inwardly. But when we think during the state of sleep, the conscious mind does not work and we wrongly think the objects thought of are real. So a football fan who dreams about the game while sleeping may shout, “Gooaal! Gooaal!” and start kicking left and right with his legs. Clearly, his nerve cells have lost control of the nerve fibres.

When one gets angry, one is easily defeated. That is why Lord Buddha said,

Akkodhena jine kodhaḿ asádhuḿ sádhuná jine;
Jine kadariiyaḿ dánena saccena aliikavádinam.

To fight anger you must be established in the state of non-anger. When angry, one loses control over the nerve cells and fibres – one trembles all over and says things which would not otherwise have been said. If you remain free from anger, you will easily overpower an angry person because you have absolute control over your nerve-cells and fibres. The angry person will fall down with the slightest push. Thus Buddha’s advice is, “To fight anger you must be established in the state of non-anger.”

“Asádhuḿ sádhuná jine”. To fight against a dishonest person, you will have to become even more honest yourself. To fight against a miser, you will have to become more charitable. These mental tendencies, that is, anger, dishonesty, miserliness, etc., are the expressions of mental disease. If you want to fight against them you must be totally free from mental disease. If you are not, you will have to keep aloof from them at least at the time of battle.

I once told a story about the habit of miserliness. There was a tight-fisted man whose wife was equally miserly. Let’s call him Somá. One day, when Somá returned home, his face was pallid and he was physically sick. Seeing the wretched condition of her husband, his wife – we can call her Somii – asked:

“Somii kahe samá se kanche muh malin
Kyá kuch gánt́se giir gayá kyá kuch diiya diin.”

“Somá, my darling, why is your face so pale? Why do you look so haggard? Have you lost some money? Did you happen to give a present to someone by mistake? Something like this must have happened, otherwise why would you look so pale?” Somá replied;

“Na kuch giiro ná kuch diiyo diin
Diiyo dekhe dosarko táhe muh maliin.”

“No, nothing like that. Neither have I lost any money, nor have I given a gift to anyone. I just happened to see someone giving a donation to another person and lost my usual composure.”

So you see these are all psychic diseases. Obviously, when you are preparing to fight against psychic disease, you must remain free from the disease yourself, at least during the time of battle. Only then will you be victorious. The next bad habit is alasya or lethargy. In the human body the various actional faculties take the form of action with the help of different nerve cells. Some people are incapable of activating those nerve cells due to their inborn instincts – they are unable to work even if they wish; whereas others develop the habit of idleness in the course of their lives. Idleness is most harmful in the spiritual sphere, less harmful in the psychic sphere and still less harmful in the physical world.

Every human being, from the age of fourteen or fifteen, has an innate desire to ideate on Parama Puruśa. With cosmic ideation one will attain vast expansion of mind, one will become great in all respects. No one can check the all-round growth of such a person. People realize this and yet ignore it and thus waste their time getting old for nothing. That is, they waste their time in non-spiritual pursuits. This is called “spiritual lethargy”. It causes the greatest harm to human life because it results in only a very small percentage of the human potentiality – maybe one or two percent – being utilized by humans. Even those whom we call great personalities hardly use ten percent of their potentialities. Due to spiritual lethargy people are unable to grow, and thus remain very ordinary. They come to the world, live, decay and die as ordinary human beings.

Next is psychic lethargy. What is the nature of this sort of lethargy? Psychic lethargy is the lack of mental courage to think independently and to utilize the physical potentialities according to one’s inherent thoughts. For example, most people realize that since all human beings are the progeny of Parama Puruśa, there should not be any distinction of caste. Those who accept casteism can never accept Parama Puruśa and conversely, those who believe in Parama Puruśa can never accept casteism. Almost all human beings understand this and yet, in their individual lives, they surrender to old customs and beliefs. Just imagine what a serious lapse this is, what a serious psychic lethargy. The root case is the lack of moral courage.

Next is physical lethargy, which you all understand from your personal experience. Extreme physical idleness has led to the ruin of many communities. Many communities in the world are so adverse to physical labour that they employ people from outside to do their work for them. Even if they had no food to eat they would be reluctant to work. You will also find people who only have enough food for a few days and yet lie blissfully in bed. Some are in an even worse plight because they remain oblivious to their condition under the influence of alcohol. The people of many countries in the world today are affected by this lethargic mentality. This explains physical lethargy. People will have to fight against it.

The sixth and last defect is procrastination – the psychology of delaying tactics: not today, but tomorrow always tomorrow. Defer everything until tomorrow. Though procrastination is a very serious defect according to the scriptures, personally, I do not totally accept this view. In my opinion, the capacity to delay noble deeds is a vice, but the capacity to delay sinful deeds is a virtue. If I waste time and postpone good deeds until tomorrow, it is extremely bad. But if I postpone bad deeds until tomorrow, it is good. While delaying something bad, one’s mind may change and one may decide not to do it after all. Hence, procrastination in the case of bad deeds is a virtue.

There is a good story in the Ramayana. When Ravana was about to die, Rama came near him and said, “You are an experienced and knowledgeable king. In comparison to you, with your vast experience, I am just a boy. Please give me some valuable advice”. Ravana said, “Rama, through experience I have learnt that whenever you wish to perform a noble deed, do it immediately. Do today whatever you propose to do tomorrow. ‘Shubhasya shiighram ashubhasya kálaharańam’”

Yo kál kare so áj kar
Yo áj kare so ab
Palme pralay hoyegii
Bahurii karoge kab?

–Kabir

The work which you decide to do tomorrow, do it today itself. Why should you delay it until tomorrow? The sun’s rays may not penetrate into your life tomorrow. Do it today. And the work that you have decided to do today should be done immediately, this very moment.

“Rama,” he continued, “I thought about building a staircase to enable everyone to reach heaven. Unfortunately I delayed and delayed and now am about to die. I will never complete the work.”

“‘Ashubhasya kálaharańaḿ.’ ‘Whenever you have a thought in your mind to do something bad, delay it. Think to yourself, I won’t do it today, I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ll keep postponing it’. Alas, I didn’t follow this advice. On the spur of the moment, I took a decision to abduct Sita. I should have realized that it was not a good deed, but I didn’t wait. I abducted her without any delay. The result is that I am about to die. So, Rama, I advise you to follow these two principles.”

So to repeat, procrastination in the case of good deeds is extremely bad, but in the case of wicked deeds, is extremely good. Thus, whenever you have a desire to do something bad, you should delay – do not do it immediately. And then you should ask others whether the action is worth doing or not. Maybe the delay will bring about a change in your mind and you will not do the bad deed after all.

When people overcome these six bad habits and strive to move ahead, there is no force on Earth which can stop their movement, or check their progress. In your personal life you should always try to keep yourself free from these six bad habits. If you do, you are destined to be victorious.

Chapter 6	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

In individual and collective life, changes are constantly taking place: minor changes frequently and major changes intermittently. Primitive human beings came onto this Earth about 1 million years ago, but the present human beings had their origin only about 100,000 years ago. The pace of human progress these last million years has been very slow: humans advanced at barely a snail’s pace. It took those primitive people hundreds of thousands of years to discover fire; and hundreds of thousands of years more to invent the bullock cart. Many ancient civilizations have disappeared from the annals of history simply because they could not invent the wheel. They were able to invent the boat, but as they had not invented the wheel, they could not make carts and chariots. For this reason, the Mayan civilization of South America had its downfall. The speed of social progress in those days was very slow and only began to accelerate during the last 15,000 years, after the composition of the Rk Veda. The history of these 15,000 years of progress can be considered as the real history of human civilization.

Generally, humans adapt themselves to minor changes through individual or collective endeavour. Sometimes, if the need arises, they cause minor changes themselves and progress accordingly. Whenever one or both of these two situations occurs, that is, when people feel the necessity to introduce minor changes to adapt themselves to the changed conditions, various leaders emerge who guide the society. In ancient times, these leaders were called “rśis”. Many such leaders lived in past, many are living in the present, and many will live in the future, because changes are sure to come in human society. Whatever is created, will certainly move ahead through changes. Everything which exists in the universe will certainly have to undergo change. When the difference between the two forms, past and present, becomes too vast, we say that the past is dead and gone.

Death is also a type of change in which the present form seems to lose its link with the past. Suppose there is a small baby. When it grows into a boy a distinct change occurs, but we understand nevertheless that the same baby has grown up into a boy. In due course, the same boy becomes a youth, the youth a middle-aged man and, after a certain period, the middle-aged man becomes an old man. We can divide a person’s life into different stages of growth in this way. But when the same old man is reborn as a child, the difference becomes so vast that one fails to discover the link between the two lives. Thus, death is a change, and rebirth is also a change.

A study of history reveals that minor changes take place continuously, and major changes occur at longer intervals. Before the discovery of fire, the ancient human beings used to heat things with the scorching rays of the sun. Much later, when fire was discovered, it was considered a major change in human history. When the ancient humans first invented the bullock cart it was considered as a sign of far-reaching scientific progress.

We can roughly say that civilization first started sprouting after the prehistoric age of the human race, that is, from the days of the first composition of the Rk Veda, about 15,000 years ago. A major change took place during the days of Lord Shiva towards the end of the Rk Vedian period (which lasted 10,000 years).

Human life is characterized by various kinds of expressions – people eat and drink, wear clothes, sing and dance, build houses, undergo medical treatment, and so on – which are collectively known as culture. Any one of these expressions is not culture; culture is the sum total of them all. Sadashiva wanted to systematise all those expressions of human life – dance, music, medicine, civilization, in fact, every aspect of life. This was a big change, a revolutionary change. Nothing like it had ever taken place before. Such far-reaching changes are not easily brought about by ordinary leaders or rśis. Those who help people adapt themselves to the changed situation, I have called “sadvipras”. But the one who actually initiates the major change is called a “mahasadvipra”. Sadvipras know how to lead people in perfect adjustment with the changed circumstances, and guide them along the right path.

So, the initiation of a revolutionary change is not the work of a sadvipra, but the work of a mahasadvipra. Mahasadvipra is the philosophical term; in the scriptures he is called “Táraka Brahma”. Sadashiva was one such Táraka Brahma – a versatile guide in all aspects of human life. In the post-Shiva period, however, the speed of social progress eventually slackened. It lost its momentum, and degeneration set in. The various parts of the social machinery became rusty. The situation demanded the advent of another great personality who was capable of pushing the society ahead and leading the people along the right path. Thus, about 3,500 years ago another great leader emerged – Sri Krśńa. He also caused a big change in the society and infused a tremendous wave of social progress.

One may ask whether Sadashiva alone brought about these major changes in the society. No, certainly not! He was assisted by numerous sádhakas, devotees, intellectuals and ordinary people. In the scriptures, they are known as Shiva’s “gańa”. It is said that other gods and goddesses were decorated with various kinds of ornaments – some wore ear-rings and crowns, others carried conches and lotuses and weapons such as discs and clubs – but in the case of Shiva, His ornaments were His devotees who worked tirelessly to build the society according to his instructions.

What happened during the days of Sri Krśńa? He, too, brought about a revolutionary change in the society. Those who assisted Him in the revolutionary task were not necessarily wise and intellectual people; nor were they all well-versed in all the scriptures. Many of them were ordinary members of society. But it is a fact that they were ardent devotees and sincerely worked for the welfare of humanity under the directions of Sri Krśńa (Vraja). Their wealth was their love for their Iśt́a (goal); their devotion to Krśńa. And because of their devotion they became successful in their lives. People achieve more with their sincerity than with their knowledge.

This age, too, has undergone a marked change. Various kinds of problems have arisen in the society of today. New types of preparations – mental, physical and all-round preparations – are necessary to cope with the present situation. Corruption and degeneration have entered the minutest pores of the social body. The honest people will have to work towards a major change by fighting unitedly against this adverse situation. To succeed in this task, however, people will have to make thorough preparations. Just as one needs to make preparations before doing a bad action, one must also make preparations before doing a good deed. Good people will do good deeds.

There is a preparatory stage before each action. In fact, long preparations have been going on, and today, change has become inevitable. The situation brooks no further delay. About 3,300 years have passed since the days of Lord Krśńa, and about 7,000 years have passed since the days of Shiva. The people of today will have to become prepared just as they were in the past. They will have to plunge themselves into a new battle with a new ideology to bring about the total well-being of the human race.

When a major change took place in the past, such as in the days of Shiva and Krśńa, a new philosophy, a new way of life, a new light inspired people to move along, and that is why they could accomplish their task in an incredibly short time. To bring about a major change, fight is inevitable, be it short or protracted. When people fight under the inspiration of a mighty personality the task is accomplished within a short period. The people then decide, after deep thought, what the main problems confronting society are, and then make necessary preparations to solve those problems. Once they are prepared, they can attain success very quickly.

Human society today must be viewed with a universal outlook and not in a sectarian way. We must resolve all problems, major or minor. We must start the work of solving the major problems immediately because the need to bring a change in the society has already come. The more we delay the more the darkness will linger. Today a new philosophy, a new form of humanism, a new form of socio-economic thought has already come, with the sole intention of promoting collective social welfare.

That is why I advise you not to waste your time any longer. Utilize your time in worthwhile pursuits. It is said, “Shubhasya shiighram ashubhasya kálaharańam”. Before starting a noble task you need not consult the almanacs or the positions of the stars; start it immediately. But when you want to do something harmful, try to delay it for as long as you can. With the passing of time, and a change in mentality, you may decide not to do it any more.

While you are executing your noble task do not waste your time. In this practical world, in this relative world, the most valuable relative factor is time. Once the time has passed and gone, it does not return again, so never misuse time. May you prosper. May victory be with you.

Chapter 7	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Regarding the duties of human beings, it has been said,

Tyajá durjanasaḿsargaḿ
Bhaja sádhu samágamaḿ
Kuru Puńyamahorátraḿ
Smaranityamanityatám.

“Tyaja durjana saḿsargaḿ”. Who is a durjana? It is a relative term. Durjana is one whose presence has a degenerating effect on others. What is degeneration? Degeneration here means deviation from the path of self-cultivation. According to the scriptures, that which leads to one’s physical, psychic and spiritual well-being is called “hita”; that which leads to one’s psychic and spiritual well-being is “kalyáńa”; and that which leads to one’s spiritual well-being is “kśema”. The person who has a degenerating effect on others is called a durjana.

Every human being has certain merits and demerits. Suppose a person has forty percent merit and sixty percent demerit: the resultant demerit is twenty percent. If a weak person whose resultant [[merit]] is forty percent comes in contact with a person whose resultant demerit is more than forty percent, he will certainly degenerate. Obviously, a thief will not be a durjana for a perfectly honest person because the latter will easily counteract the thief’s negative qualities. But for an ordinary person without any notable attributes, the thief will certainly be a durjana. Those with less psychic or spiritual power can easily be influenced by a wicked person. Those who are psychically and spiritually developed, however, are not so easily influenced and for them even a very wicked person may not be a durjana.

It is the duty of every human being to avoid wicked people. You may ask, “Can wicked people ever become virtuous?” Of course they can, but remember that only those people having greater psychic power than them should try to transform them. So what should you do? Instead of going alone, you should take five or ten friends with you so that your collective psychic strength will be greater than theirs.

“Tyajá durjana saḿsargaḿ”. There are many people who speak enthusiastically about improving the economic condition of the poor but have no intention of doing anything about it themselves. Even though it is evident that they are hypocrites, you should not confront them directly, but should be temporarily indifferent to them. How should you deal with such people? Instead of dealing with them alone you should take ten or twenty people with you and try to bring them to the right path.

“Bhaja sádhu samágamaḿ.” Who is a sadhu? A sadhu is one whose company leads to hita, that is, physical, psychic and spiritual well-being.

Játascha eva jagati jantavah sádhu jiivitáh
Ye punarneha jáyante sheśáh jat́haragardabháh.

The gist of this sloka is that only those who have been engaged in honest deeds since birth are worthy of being called sadhus. Other people, even though they appear to be human, are best described as “donkeys”! They have the form of a human – they were born to human mothers – but the mentality of a donkey.

“Bhaja sádhu samágamaḿ.” Spend as much time as you can in the company of honest people who have dedicated their lives for others’ welfare. This will enable you to develop your personal well-being and be in a better position to bring about the welfare of all created beings. This is the duty of an ideal person. You must avoid those who are sinful. The sinful people are not equally wicked to all, but the honest people are equally virtuous to all. In this context it has been said:

Satsaungena bhavenmuktirasatsaungeśu bandhanam
Asatsaungena mudrańaḿ yat tanmudrá parikiirttita.

The excellence of satsauṋga, that is, the uplifting company of the virtuous, is equally beneficial for all.

“Kuru puńyam ahorátram.” Ahorátraḿ means the twentyfour hour period from sunrise to sunrise. According to Indian astronomy, the period from sunrise to sunset is called “dinamána” and the period from sunset to sunrise, “rátrimáńa.” So one dinamána and one rátrimána together constitute twentyfour hours. According to the Western conception of time, the period from midnight to midnight makes twenty-four hours. It is in no way connected to the dinamána and ratrimána of the Indian system. The Western day begins from midnight and is thus fixed according to the time of the watch.

It is advised that one should acquire virtue (punyam) around the clock. Now the question is, what is virtue? By simply taking a dip in the waters of the Ganges will one acquire virtue? Of course not. Then what is virtue?

Aśt́ádashapuráńeśu Vyásasya vacanandvayam
Paro’pakárarah Puńyáya pápáya parapiiŕańam.

Doing good to others is virtue; doing harm to others is sin. In this world there is no shortage of wicked people who have an innate desire to commit atrocities and harm others. What should the virtuous people do? They should acquire virtue by doing good to others, to the society, to the country, and to the masses. Their actions should promote the socio-economic well-being of the people in a skilled way. This should be their main concern. Your good deeds may take society two steps forward, but if bad people are at work at the same time, they will take the society two steps backward and the resultant progress will be nil. Therefore, you must continue doing good to society, and at the same time must fight against the bad people to prevent them from taking a single step forward. On the path of dharma, one is not only to do noble deeds; one must also fight against the dishonest people – both are virtuous actions. There are many good people in the society – noble people engaged in noble deeds – who are not ready to fight against wrongs and injustices. This sort of passive benevolence does not really promote the cause of human progress in the world. What is desirable is to acquire virtue by doing noble deeds and fighting against all sins and crimes. Both are mandatory, both an integral part of dharma.

“Smara nityamanityatám”. You should always remember that although you have come to this world for a very short span of time, you will have to be responsible for doing so many different things, including social service. Thus you will have to equip yourself in intelligence and wisdom in all possible ways. And at the same time, you must fulfil your duties and responsibilities. Once your duties are over you will have to bid adieu to this world with a smiling face. In this regard, the words of Tulsi are worth quoting:

Tulsi jab tum jag men áye jag hansá tum roye
Aesii karnii karelo tum hánso jag roye.

[Tulsi, when you came to this world, it smiled and you wept. Continue your noble deeds so that when you die, you will laugh and the world will weep.]

When a child is born, the members of the family laugh joyfully, but the child itself cries. You should live such a benevolent life and do such glorious deeds that when you leave this world, smiles will blossom on your face while the people mourn your departure with copious tears. The people will feel bereaved at the loss of a person who truly helped them in their hour of need. All of you should take such a vow to do noble deeds as long as you are alive, and thus leave this world with a smiling face.

Chapter 8	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Of all the defects and internal enemies of human beings, fear is the worst. Fear is expressed in various ways. One way is through the inferiority complex which generally arises due to a sense of imperfection or inadequacy. The poor feel inferior before the rich, the weak feel inferior before the strong and the sinners feel inferior in the presence of the Lord. This expression of fear is most harmful to human beings as it creates formidable obstacles on the path of progress. Suppose one has done something undesirable – suppose one has committed a serious mistake: the resultant inferiority complex prevents one from undertaking any important task. One is afraid to stand before Paramátma, thinking, “I am a sinner, how can I face Him?” But the scriptures say that human beings should not permit such thoughts to enter the mind. They should never think that they are sinners. If one constantly thinks, “I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner”, one loses one’s inherent mental strength. Such thoughts are to be avoided. What humans should think is, “Whatever I may be, good or bad, I belong to Paramátma, so why should my mind be weakened by hesitation, confusion or an inferiority complex?”

In the Giitá, Krśńa said:

Api cet sudurácárii bhajate mámananyabhák
Sápi pápavinirnukto mucyate bhava bandhanát.

Those who are worse than sinners, to whom do they belong? They certainly belong to Parama Puruśa. No one is beyond Him or outside Him. When Parama Puruśa is the owner of this universe, the Supreme Lord of this universe, is He not also the Lord of the sinners? Then why should sinners be afraid of Him? They will also attain Him one day.

“Api cet sudurácárii bhajate mánanyabhák.” A sudurácárii is such a despicable sinner that even ordinary sinners call him a sinner. If the sinners of sinners take shelter in Parama Puruśa with undivided attention, that is, if they withdraw their psychic propensities from all other objects and direct them towards Him, they will attain Him. They will forget that they are sinners and will remember that they belong to Parama Puruśa alone. Those who take shelter in Him with this undivided mind will be freed of all their sins and worldly bondages, and will ultimately attain salvation.

No one should ever think, “I am a sinner, I have sinned”, but rather, “Whatever I may be, I certainly belong to Parama Puruśa. Whatever wealth I possess – in body, mind and soul – has been given by Parama Puruśa. I will make the best use of this to serve Him, to make Him happy. I have not come to this world for self-gratification, but for one purpose: to make the best use of the wealth that Parama Puruśa has bestowed on me by serving the progeny of Parama Puruśa in this expressed world. If I serve His creation, He will certainly be pleased with me.”

Those who serve humanity, serve Parama Puruśa at the same time. To please Parama Puruśa one will have to serve humanity, serve His children. And while doing this one should be free of any kind of inferiority complex or sin. Whatever you may be, you belong to Parama Puruśa. Thus, do virtuous deeds from this very moment. This will surely bring about your well-being.

Chapter 9	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

I have been explaining, “Kuru puńyam ahorátram” – “Do virtuous deeds day and night.” People may wonder how it is possible to do that. It appears to be quite a difficult task. Kuru means “do” in the second person imperative mood. Do good deeds around the clock. I have already explained the meaning of ahorátram: the period from sunrise to sunrise.

The science of time measurement was first invented by the Dravidians and later developed by the Vedic Indians and the Arabians (not the present Arabians, but the Arabians who lived five to six thousand years ago). According to the Arab theory, the easiest way to measure time is to think of the Earth as being fixed. Of course, the Earth is not fixed, but for the convenience of recording time – which is a relative calculation – one may think of it as being so. It will only be possible to measure time accurately if the Earth is accepted as being fixed. But in other countries in those days people believed that the Earth was in motion. They also knew that it is round. During the days of the Rk Veda, however, people’s general knowledge was not very developed and on this particular point there was some difference of opinion. According to some, the Earth was triangular; according to others, it was square, but from the days of the Yajurveda it was known that the Earth is round.

“Kapittha phalavat vishvaḿ dakśińottrayosamam.” In Saḿskrta, kapittha means “wood-apple”. It is also called “udvilva” or “uravilla”. The place which was previously known as Uravilla [in Gaya district of Bihar, India] is now known as Arwal. “Kapittha Phalavat”: the world is as round as a wood-apple. But its southern and northern poles are elliptical. So, the Earth is partially and not fully elliptical. Indeed, not only the Earth, but all celestial bodies are neither fully round nor fully elliptical. Their shape may be termed “ethereal.”

According to the ancient Arab theory, it was assumed that the Earth is fixed and the sun is moving around the Earth. If time is calculated according to this supposition, it will be accurate. If on the other hand, it is accepted, that the Earth is rotating, it will be difficult to measure time as there will be no point to start the measurement from. The people of those ancient days thought that if sunrise to sunrise (ahorátra) was a period of twenty-four hours, that will make one full day and night. The period from sunrise to sunset was called “ahan”. This word “ahan” is found in the word “saptaha” [sapta means “seven”; ahan means “day”]. In Saḿskrta, measuring is called “mápa” or “mána”. So the period from sunrise to sunset is called “dinamana” or “day-measurement” and the period from sunset to sunrise is called “ratrimana” or “nocturnal measurement”. The Latin adjective for night is “nocturnal”. In Vedic, “naktram” is the equivalent term for “night.” “Madhu naktamutaśaso”: “Let night and day be as sweet as honey”.

The Western countries learnt the science of time measurement much later. The Saḿskrta word, “páshcátya” means “accidental”. What is páshcátya? If you look towards the morning sun, your face will be towards the east, and your back towards the west. There are three Saḿskrta equivalents for the word “back”: “prśt́ha”, “Pashcim” and “pashcát”. From the word “prśt́ha” the Magahii and Bengali word “pith” has come. The word “pashcim” has quite a few meanings. One meaning is “back”, another is “west”. There is a particular ásana called “paschimottánásana” during which the back will be lifted off the ground. Some people are under the impression that pashcim means “behind”, but they are wrong; it means “back”. The Saḿskrta word “páschattya” is derived from paschat + tyaiṋ. Páschattya should be spelt with two “ta’s”.

According to western calculation, ahorátra is the twenty-four hour period from one midnight to another midnight. This has one big disadvantage: if there is a mechanical disorder in the watch, there will be a desynchronisation in the twenty-four hour span. But there is no chance of an irregularity with the sunrise. So, according to the Indian system, the day begins at sunrise and according to the Western system, it begins at midnight.

It has been said, “Do virtuous deeds day and night.” What is “puńya”? Puńya means that action which leads to one’s physical, psychic and spiritual well-being. That action which leads to one’s physical, psychic and spiritual degeneration is called “pápa”. Puńya and pápa are both of two types.

The two types of pápa are pátaka and pratyaváya. If one does something which should not be done, such as stealing, telling lies, etc, it is called “pátaka”. It is an action which harms others. If one fails to do that which should be done, such as not feeding the poor or not serving the sick, it is called “pratyaváya”. According to the logicians, pratyaváya is more reprimandable than pátaka.

Pátaka is again subdivided into three categories. Suppose your action has harmed others: it is undoubtedly pataka. However, if you do something to atone for the damage done, it ceases to be pátaka. Suppose you have stolen something. If you return it to its owner along with a little interest – it is no longer called pátaka as you have paid due compensation. There are some types of damage, however, which can never be compensated for. Suppose you cut off someone’s fingers: they can never be replaced. Such an action is called “atipátaka”. And when you cause heavy damage which can never be compensated for and which has a recurring bad influence on others, it is called “mahapátaka”. Suppose an unscrupulous businessman adulterates black pepper with papaya seeds. Nobody will be able to tell the difference as both seeds look alike. Other businessmen may be tempted to follow his example and thus a vicious cycle of adulteration will be set in motion. This is mahapátaka. By dedicating oneself to doing virtuous deeds one may atone for atipátaka; by offering compensation, one may atone for pátaka; but one can never atone for mahapátaka. It is the worst type of pátaka. For that one will have to dedicate one’s life to a noble cause and refrain from any type of pleasure-seeking.

You all know the story of the Rámáyańa. When Ravana was about to be defeated in the war with Rama, he prayed to Shiva, his Lord and the source of his might, to save his life. But as he had abducted another man’s wife, Shiva was immensely displeased and unwilling to help. There was no other person to save Ravana. Had Ravana been the disciple of any other guru, his life might have been saved, but as Shiva was his guru, there was none to save his life. In the scriptures it is said, “Shive ruśt́e gurustrátá guraoruśt́e nákashcana.” If Shiva is angry with a person, his guru can save him but if Shiva is also the guru, none can save him. Thus, as Shiva was Ravana’s guru, there was none to save Ravana when Shiva was angry with him.

Parvati requested her husband, “Shiva, Ravana is your devotee so please save him.” But how could Shiva save him? Ravana was a mahapátaki. Parvati suggested that Ravana was only an atipátaki. “No,” said Shiva, “If Ravana had abducted Sita as a thief, he could be called an atipátaki, but he abducted her in the guise of a sadhu. This will have a recurring effect as in the future no married woman will ever trust a sadhu again. They will think that a sadhu may be another Ravana in disguise. Even scoundrels may commit crimes dressed as sadhus.” As in fact they actually do today. “Such a crime as this which has a recurring bad effect is undoubtedly mahapátaka.” So Shiva refused to save Ravana’s life. Parvati said, “Then I will save his life.” “You may try,” said Shiva, “but you won’t succeed.” Parvati did try to save Ravana but she ultimately failed.

We have seen that pápa is of two types: pátaka and pratyaváya. There are also two types of puńya: pratyakśa puńya and apratyakśa puńya – direct and indirect virtue.

Pratyakśa puńya, or direct virtue, is acquired when one performs an action such as feeding the hungry or serving the infirm. Indirect virtue is acquired when one’s service has a recurring effect, such as service to the society, planting trees, etc. If banyan trees are planted beside a hot and dusty road they will continue to give shelter to weary travellers for one thousand to two thousand years. Virtue acquired in this way is indirect virtue. The financially poor and the physically weak have trouble acquiring direct virtue due to their unfavourable social circumstances. It is a fact that comparatively few people actually acquire direct virtue. But everyone can attain indirect virtue. Of course, people can also attain direct virtue if they make the effort. The financially handicapped can render physical service; the physically handicapped can render intellectual service. Everyone can render service in some way or other. This explains puńyam or virtue.

“Kuru puńyam ahorátram”. So far we have discussed ahorátra and puńya. Regarding pápa and puńya, Vyasadeva said (Vyasa is not a first name, but a surname like Bannerjee or Tiwari. His first name was Krśńa Dvaepáyana. He was born into a fisherman’s family on a small island situated at the confluence of the Ganga and Jamuna rivers whose soil is the colour of black cotton. As he was born on an island with black coloured soil, he was named Krśńa Dvaepáyana. He was the author of the eighteen Puráńas:

Aśt́adashapuráńeśu Vyásasya vacanadvayam
Paropakárah puńyáya pápáya parapiiŕańam

[The two most important words in all of Vyasa’s eighteen Puráńas are paropakárah – doing good is virtue – and parapiiŕańam – doing bad is vice.]

Why did he write these eighteen Puráńas? He wanted to demonstrate through stories that virtuous deeds lead to the acquisition of virtue. That is, one acquires virtue by doing good to others. Conversely, one accumulates sin by doing harm to others. He wrote these Puráńas as a medium of mass education. This is what prompted him to write these Puráńas.

“Kuru puńyam ahorátram”. Shauṋkarácarya advises people to acquire virtue night and day. But how can people acquire virtue at night? What do people do twenty-four hours a day? They breathe. If you can attune the act of doing virtuous deeds to your inhalation and exhalation, then even during sleep your virtuous deeds will continue. Your respiration continues in both the wakeful state and the sleeping state. So when you attune any subtle activity to your respiration, it will continue twenty-four hours a day. Thus, during meditation, the process of incantation is attuned to the respiratory system. Once you have mastered this practice, your incantation will continue automatically while you sleep. You may ask whether the process of incantation leads to the acquirement of virtue or not. It elevates your mind and equips you with more power to acquire more virtue. Being the subtlest of all acts, it is certainly a virtuous deed. When the process of incantation is perfectly attuned to the respiration, it will continue effortlessly in a wakeful, dream or sleep stage. A person in that situation is said to have attained “ajapá siddhi”. The spontaneous repetition of one’s iśt́a mantra is called “ajapá gáyattrii” or “ajapá japa.” This is said to be the final stage in the process of incantation. It can be continued even during sleep and thus Shauṋkarácarya said, “Kuru puńyam ahorátram.” Through this practice human beings will become elevated mentally and spiritually and will consequently be able to render greater service to their own community and to the society at large. Everyone should try to attain this stage.

Chapter 10	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

In the morning discourse there was a detailed discussion on “Kuru puńyam ahorátram”. You know what jiṋána [knowledge], karma [action] and bhakta [devotion] are, and you know that ultimately there is no other path except bhakta or devotion. You also know that devotion is based on prapattiváda.

What is prapattiváda? Human beings and other created beings perform a multitude of actions. The ultimate action, however, is prapatti or total surrender. Without His wish, not even a leaf of a tree, nor even a blade of grass can move. Total surrender to the Supreme Entity is called prapatti. The cult of devotion is based on prapatti. It is the divine sport, the divine drama of Parama Puruśa. And in this drama one will have to act according to the role assigned to one by Parama Puruśa. The drama is long and at times beset with difficult scenes for the playwright. One such scene occurred after the total defeat of the Kaoravas at the hands of the Pandavas, who also suffered heavy losses in the battle. Dhrtaráśt́ra, Gándhárii and others had reached the battle field. Opposite them were Lord Krśńa, the five Pandava brothers and their mother. Both parties were in tears. Suddenly, Krśńa came across to the Kaorava camp. They stood facing each other. Gándhárii and the one hundred daughters-in-law were also profusely weeping. Following the social custom of the day, Krśńa tried to console Gándhárii, saying, “Why are you shedding tears, mother? As you are an intelligent person, you know very well that this is the law of the world. ‘Ját́syahidhruvarnrtyú’ – ‘Whoever is born is destined to die some day.’ ‘Yah ágacchati sah gacchati’ – ‘Whoever comes, goes.’”

Then Gándhárii said, “Krśńa, when other people lament, one can easily go to their houses to console them. But when one is grief stricken oneself, one forgets this and feels even more grief on hearing those words of consolation.” (The fact is that when an accident takes place in someone’s family, one should not mention the event but should simply go and sit near the grief stricken person.) Krśńa remained silent. “Krśńa,” she continued, “I know that you are the person whose duty it is to direct the drama. I accept this. In your drama you have assigned a certain role to the Kaoravas and a certain role to the Pandavas. But you could have assigned the role of the virtuous to my sons instead. Why have you chosen to show your partiality in this way?”

It was difficult for Krśńa to reply to this question. Krśńa could have reversed the roles, making the Pandavas the sinners and the Kaoravas the virtuous. Why did He not do this? This was her grievance against Krśńa. Krśńa had to remain silent.

The fact is that for Parama Puruśa all created beings are equally important, just like the ten fingers on one’s hands. He can make them dance exactly as He wishes. This is His sole privilege. However, human beings are entitled to raise this question, as they, too, have certain rights. Otherwise, why would He have provided them with a vocal cord? If He says that He does not wish to listen to human reasoning, it is not to be accepted. As He has equipped humans with the means to speak, He will have to listen to them. Human beings will definitely have something to say; they are expected to tell their troubles to their nearest and dearest ones. Otherwise, to whom should they go? To whom should they complain? Of course, this may be a little inconvenient for Parama Puruśa.

Gándhárii said, “Krśńa, I will lay a curse on you.” What was Gándhárii’s complaint? She wanted to know why Krśńa had assigned the role of the wicked to the Kaoravas and the role of the virtuous to the Pandavas. On that occasion Krśńa was unable to give any answer, although there was an answer which could have been given. Gándhárii persisted, “Krśńa, you must give me permission to lay a curse on you.” Before laying a curse on Parama Puruśa, one must first obtain His permission. Gándhárii continued, “Just as all my sons died before my own eyes, let your entire dynasty be destroyed before [[your]] own eyes.” Krśńa said in affirmation, “Let it be so.”

Everything in this universe takes place according to His wish. This is prapatti. The volumes of books on devotion are based on the concept of prapatti.

Now, among human beings there are some prominent jiṋániis and renowned karmiis. But in the practical world practical skills are more important than theoretical knowledge. It is useless to lose oneself in the world of theory. In practical life, one should always be pragmatic. Suppose you meet a great karmi and ask him if he is successful in everything he undertakes. He will certainly say, “No.” If you ask him if he ever gets tired of working, he will say that he definitely gets tired on different occasions. And when he gets tired does he not pray to Parama Puruśa to give him more strength? No matter how great a karmii one might be, one will have to eventually take shelter in Parama Puruśa, one will have to eventually surrender to Him.

Similarly, a jiṋánii often becomes fatigued with the continuous cultivation of knowledge. Sometimes, after prolonged thinking, the brain simply refuses to function any more and it becomes increasingly difficult to implement one’s internal thoughts and ideas. What happens at that time? Knowledge concedes defeat and the ego has no choice but to surrender. Finally, one is compelled to plead, “Oh Parama Puruśa, please help me, please save my prestige.”

Some so-called bhaktas – those who do not have genuine devotion - pretend to be devotees just to cheat others. That is, they ring the bells as they should be rung and light the candles as they should be lit, but without any feeling, so that after some time they become like machines. A person lacking devotion becomes like a machine. There is no more joy; only the mechanical turning of the parts. A heart devoid of joy is as barren as a desert. When one becomes as dry as the desert sands, one is compelled to cry out, “Oh Lord, save me. Protect me from the scorching heat of the desert.”

When people get fatigued, be they jiṋánis, karmis or bhaktas, they say, “There is nothing more I can do.” In such a situation they can only take shelter in Parama Puruśa. This is called “sharańágati.” Here shelter means one hundred percent dependence on Parama Puruśa to the exclusion of all other objects. “A” means “coming” and “gati” means “mobility”. When all mobility terminates in Parama Puruśa, it is called “sharańágati”. When sharańágati occurs, one is said to have accomplished the final attainment. You should remember this supreme truth.

Chapter 11	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

I will narrate a shloka [couplet] from the Shriimad Bhagavad Giitá:

Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata;
Cábhyutthánamadharmasya tadátmánaḿ srjámyáham.

[O Bhárata, at a time when dharma is distorted and adharma is ascendant, I create myself out of my own fundamental factors.]

What is the meaning of yadá yadá? What is the meaning of yadá? Yadá means “at the proper moment”, “at the most opportune moment”. What is the proper moment, what is the most opportune moment? You know, for each and every job, for each and every duty, there is a best period, and that is the opportune moment. You have a particular time for transplantation of paddy seedlings, and a particular time for harvesting. And that time, or those times, are the most opportune moments for those particular jobs.

Here the Lord says:

Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata;
Cábhyutthánamadharmasya tadátmánaḿ srjámyáham.

He says that “Whenever there is degradation of dharma and development of adharma, rule of adharma, regime of adharma, then, and in that particular moment, I recreate Myself.”

Now, what is the proper moment, what is the most opportune moment? As you know, in this universe of ours nothing moves – no force, no expression, no manifestation, moves – along a straight line. The movement is always pulsative; the movement is always of systaltic order, order of pause and start. There must be a stage of pause, and another stage just following the stage of pause – a stage of movement. And in each and every order of our individual and collective movement, all impurities, all degrading elements, all filths, accumulate in the phase of pause; and they are destroyed in the phase of movement. In our collective life there are similar small pauses and small periods of speed. But in our collective life, sometimes after a long span, after a long span of thousands of years, millions of years, there comes a certain special type of pause and speed. Generally the pauses and speeds that we find, and the accumulated filths that we get in the phase of pause, are properly cleared, and proper speed is given to the society by the great persons of the society, by the great personalities. In our philosophy, I have used the word sadvipra for those great personalities. But after a long span, when this phase of pause comes, and so many filths accumulate, so many impurities accumulate, it becomes difficult for the sadvipras to tackle the problem. It goes beyond their capacity to solve the problem. Under such circumstances, service from a greater personality is required. And just to give a proper medicinal dose to that society – that society will become just like a stagnant pool of water – Parama Puruśa sayeth in this shloka that “I come.” When? Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata [“O Bhárata, at a time when dharma is distorted and adharma is ascendant”].

Addressing Arjuna, He says “Bhárata”. “Bhárata” here means Arjuna. The word bhárata comes from two Sanskrit root verbs: bhr and ta. Bhr means “to feed”, bharańa. Ta means “to expand”, “to develop”. Bhr + al = bhara, which means “feeding entity”. And tan + d́a = ta. Ta means “expanding entity” that helps you in your all-round expansion. So bharata means “the entity that feeds you and helps you in your all-round development”. Bha, ra, ta. And bharata plus śna, bhárata, means “pertaining to bharata”.

This land of ours [India] is known as Bháratavarśa. In Sanskrit, the word varśa has three imports: One meaning of varśa is rainy season; another meaning of varśa is “year”. 1979 is a varśa. And the third meaning of varśa is a desha [country] that can be identified, that can be properly demonstrated or pointed out. That one is signified in “Bháratavarśa”. “Bháratavarśa” means “the country that feeds you as well as as helping you in your all-around development”.

Here “Bhárata” means a king. Arjuna was a king. So he is “Bhárata”, because it was his duty to feed his people and to help his people in their all-round development. Addressing Bhárata, addressing the representative, Lord Krśńa says that “Whenever there is degradation of dharma and wherever adharma becomes prominent, becomes the dominating factor, and under such circumstances it becomes difficult for the sadvipras, the developed personalities, to tackle the situation, and under such circumstances I find no alternative but to come over here – tadátmánaḿ srjámyáham – ‘under such circumstances I create myself.’”

Now, what is dharma? Krśńa says: “Whenever there is degradation of dharma, depravation of dharma, degeneration of dharma…” So first we should know what dharma is. There are four synonymous words in Sanskrit: dhrti, dhárańam, dhárańá and dharma. Dhrti (dhr + ktin = dhrti) means “that holds an object”, that is, “holder”, “holding entity”. All your activitities, all your physical or psychic manifestations, are held or controlled by dharma, are controlled by a particular wont, a particular characteristic; and that particular wont, that particular attribution, is known as dharma.

For animals, there is a certain dharma. For human beings there is a certain dharma. And each and every entity will have to adhere to the codes of dharma, to its own code of dharma. And under no circumstances should a man or should a living being or should an inanimate being deviate from the path of dharma.

Shreyán svadharmo viguńah paradharmát svanuśt́hitát;
Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah.

[It is better to follow one’s own human dharma, even if it lacks in some qualities, than to follow the dharmas of other beings. It is better to die as a human being than to live as an animal.]

“A man should die as a man, but must not encourage the propensities of animality.” Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah – “it is better to die as a human being, but not to live as an animal.” Paradharmo bhayávahah – paradharma means “that which is not the dharma of human beings”.⁽¹⁾

Footnotes

(1) The second half of this discourse, which has less relevance to the topics of Krśńa and the Giitá, appears as “The Ten Characteristics of Dharma” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8. –Trans.

Chapter 12	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Shreyán svadharmo viguńah paradharmatsvásvanuśtitát
Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah.

Human beings should die a glorious death, a death worthy of a human being. They should never give indulgence to the crude animal propensities. “Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah”. It is better to die a glorious death than to continue living a life of carnal pleasure. “Paradharmo bhayávahah.” It is dangerous to follow the characteristics which are only fit for non-humans. Here paradharma means that type of dharma which is unfit to be followed by human beings.

One of the meanings of the word “dhrti” is “patience”. In its larger connotation, it also means “dharma”. Dharma has ten characteristics.

Dhrti-kśamá-damo’steyaḿ-shaocamendriyanigrahah,
Dhiirvidyásatyamakrodho dashakaḿ dharmalakśańam.

In this shloka the ten characteristics of dharma have been mentioned. The first one is dhrti or patience. Every human being should be patient. Suppose, immediately after planting some saplings and seeds, someone digs them up to find out if they have taken root or sprouted. That would not be considered wise. Similarly, in the spiritual sphere, if someone expects immediate results after starting the practice of Tantra, that would not be realistic. You should never do that.

Each action had an equal and opposite reaction provided the three relative factors of time, space and person remain unchanged. Whatever you do is an actional expression determined by your past actions. Your actions will certainly have reactions, but you may have to wait some time for their expression. Thus, dhrti is the first characteristic of dharma.

The second characteristic is kśama or forgiveness. I have already said that each and every action produces an equal and opposite reaction provided the three relative factors remain unchanged. But these three factors often change – change becomes a necessity. This change is a transformation from one state to another. Suppose someone has started doing some mischief by hitting you: this action will certainly have a reaction. In the third stage, this reaction will itself have an opposite reaction, and in the fourth stage, there will be yet another reaction against the previous action. Suppose Rama insults Shyama. Shyama’s son will insult Rama’s son, and Rama’s grandson will insult Shyama’s grandson. In this way, a vicious cycle of action and reaction is set in motion. But this seemingly endless cycle must come to a halt somewhere: an end point must be reached. When the time comes for you to take revenge, you should not express any reaction yourself. In this way you will break the continuity of the chain. This point at which the cycle of action and reaction stops, due to your initiative, is called forgiveness. This is the second characteristic of dharma.

The third characteristic is damah or control. There is a story that one day, while standing in a certain place, some beings saw something miraculous: a radiant entity. In that expression there was a great vibration that was glittering with tremendous brilliance. Those beings went near the effulgent entity and asked, “Who are you?” It gave no reply. “What’s your command?” they asked. That effulgent entity gave a monosyllabic command: “Da”. Some of those beings, those who were more evolved, interpreted that monosyllabic sound as “damanam kuru” – “regulate” or “control”. The second group consisting of the general mass, interpreted it as “dayám kuru” – “show mercy on others”. And the third group, the demons, interpreted it as “dánaḿ kuru” – “donate”. So in this shloka it is said, “damo’steyaḿ”. Here damah means “damanam” or “regulation” or “control”.

In every place one has both friends and foes. When one fights against external enemies and brings them under one’s control, it is called an act of “shamanam”. One who has the quality of shamanam is called “shánta”. Sham + anat́ = shamana. Sham + kta = shánta, which means “a person who has achieved control over the external world.” Similarly, dam + anat́ = damana. Damana is the state of achieving control over the internal enemies or the depraving or debasing propensities or activities. Dam + kta = dánta, which means “one who has control over the internal enemies.” According to Indian mythology, the duty of the God of Death or Yama (Pluto) is to keep the world’s population to a limited number. Thus, he is also called “Shamana”. “Namah Shiváya Shántáya”. One who establishes control over each and every entity is called “Shánta”. So the virtuous people, the spiritual aspirants, will have to attain control over their debasing propensities.

The fourth characteristic is asteya. I think you are all conversant with the meaning of the term. Asteya literally means not to steal anything physically or mentally.

The fifth characteristic is shaoca. As you know, shaoca is of two types: external cleanliness and internal cleanliness. External cleanliness means cleanliness of one’s body, clothes and surroundings. Internal cleanliness means cleanliness of mind.

The sixth characteristic is indriyanigraha. In Saḿskrta, indra means “controller”, “headman” or “patriarch”. The Persian word is “sardár”. Sar means “head” and dár means “owner”. So Sardar means a person who gets the work done while remaining at the helm of affairs. There are ten organs (indriyas): five sensory and five motor. As they exercise control over the physical activities, they are called “indra”, which literally means “dominating entity”. The subtler mind or atman is superior to these organs. You will have to keep the indriyas under control with your mental and spiritual power. This is why in dharmic life the control of the organs is an imperative necessity. In the spiritual sphere one will have to exercise control over the sensory and motor organs.

The seventh characteristic is dhii. Dhii means “benevolent intellect”. If human intellect is not channelized along the proper path it becomes destructive; it corrupts and exploits the society. It may even become a demoniacal force. Dhii means that intellect which can be utilized for the regeneration of society, which can benefit not only human beings but the entire world of living beings. This is dhii in the true sense of the term.

The eighth characteristic is vidyá. Vidyá is derived from the Vedic root-verb “vid”, which means “internal assimilation of external objectivities”. It is of two types: vidyá and avidyá. Avidyá is mainly concerned with external life whereas vidyá is concerned with internal life. According to Ananda Marga philosophy, we cannot afford to ignore the external world, and thus ours is a subjective approach through objective adjustment. You should also know what avidyá is. Here avidyá means “modern science”. You should not ignore modern science in your lives. Just as some people are trying to abolish the English language in India, one should never strive to abolish modern science.

Vidyáiṋcávidyánca yastadvedovahayasaha
Avidyayá mrtyuḿ tiirtvá vidyámrtamashnute.

You should know what avidyá is – what is its scope and content – and you should know what vidyá is, too. With the help of avidyá one may develop in the physical sphere, and with the help of vidyá, one may strive to attain liberation. Vidyá and avidyá will help human beings achieve success in the material and spiritual spheres.

The ninth characteristic is satyam or “truth”. You should know the inner import of the word, you should remember it, and you should observe this principle in your individual and collective lives.

The tenth and final characteristic is akrodha or non-anger, a very subtle propensity. You should not be misguided or swayed away or unduly influenced by krodha or anger. Anger means to remain under the influence of the nerve cells and fibres instead of under the influence of the subtler layers of mind. It is therefore very dangerous. You may show anger to stop the unholy activities of the sinful people in society. This is called “sentient anger”. But you should not allow the instinct of anger to take control of you. If this happens it is called “static anger”.

These are the ten characteristics of dharma: dhrti (patience), kśama (forgiveness), dhamah (self control), asteya (non stealing), shaoca (cleanliness), indriyanigraha (control of organs), dhii (benevolent intellect), vidyá (spiritual knowledge), satyaḿ (love of truth) and akrodha (non-anger).

When the word dhrti is used in the sense of dharma, it contains these ten characteristics.

Chapter 13	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

What is the meaning of the word Gauṋgá? “Gaḿ gacchati ya sa gauṋgá.” The entity which goes far is called Gauṋgá. Here “ga” means “a far-off land”; “gaḿ” means “towards the distant land” and “gá” in feminine gender means “the entity which goes”. So the river which flows in India toward a very distant land is called Gauṋgá. Now, does it only refer to the geographical river Gauṋgá which has its source in a mountain? The river Gauṋgá is limited to a particular geographical area – she does not even flow in Maharastra state of India. But Lord Shiva who is called Gáuṋgádhara exists everywhere. This Gauṋgá has another meaning: “id́á nád́ii”. In the human body there are three main nád́iis candra, súrya and shúnya. These three nád́iis are also called lalaná, rasaná and avadhútiká; Gauṋgá, Yamuná and Sarasvatii; and id́á, piuṋgalá and śusumná, respectively.

Shiva has his seat in the pineal gland or sahasrára cakra. All the actional faculties and actional urges are controlled from the controlling point of the pineal gland. That point is called Parama Shiva or Gauṋgádhara. The different glands have different characteristics according to the varying degrees of their development. One’s nature depends on the condition of the various glands in the body. A person may be totally free from the instinct of greed, but often affected by the instinct of hatred. A person may be able to go without rice for five or six days at a stretch, but cannot spend even one day without taking tea. The various types of weaknesses in human beings are caused by the different vrttis which are rooted in the human glands. The sahasrara cakra or pineal gland is the controlling point of all one thousand vrttis. And the controlling entity or Parama Shiva, who remains at the zenith point, is above all attributions and qualifications. It has been said;

Prabhumiishamaniishamasheśaguńam
Guńahiinamaheshagańábharańam.

Here “Prabhu” means the Supreme Lord. “Pra” means “in an established way”; “bhú” means “one who becomes established over everything”. So Prabhu is the Lord of lords. Another meaning of Prabhu is “Pratibhú” – the Supreme Representative. In this universe there are many different lords, but the Lord of all these lords is Prabhu or Iisha, the Supreme Lord. The root-verb “iish” means “to rule” in Saḿskrta. So He is the Controller of all other lords, the Controller of all the qualities and urges of the living beings in the world.

Everything in this universe is controlled by Him. Nothing is beyond Him, nothing is outside Him. He is both Lord of heaven and Lord of hell – neither are outside Him; neither are beyond His jurisdiction. That is why I have said that spiritual aspirants should never be unnecessarily worried about heaven and hell. If one does noble deeds or sings spiritual songs in hell, it is the bounden duty of the Lord of hell to be there, too, and thus it automatically ceases to be a hell. By forming a Hariparimańd́ala gośt́hii, you can transform a hell into a heaven.

“Iisham aniisham.” Aniisham is one who has no one to control him. “Yadanye nádhirohati”. There is none to command Him. So, He is both Iisha and Aniisha. How many qualities has he? He has unlimited qualities. “Asheśa guńam”. No one can count the number of qualities He possesses. To even attempt that would be utter folly as the number of His qualities will never come to an end. So, it is totally useless to even attempt to know the exact number of his qualities.

He is also described as Guńahiina, because He is beyond all qualities. Guńa or quality is a special type of bondage. By saying that Mr. So-and-so is a donor, we bind him with the bondage of the word “donor”. Otherwise, how could we distinguish a donor from a non-donor? The One who cannot be bound by any sort of bondage, who cannot be qualified in any way, is called Gunáhiina. From time immemorial spiritual aspirants have been saying:

Tava tattvaḿ na jánámi kiidrsho’si Maheshvara
Yádrsho’si Mahádeva tádrsháya namo namah.

“I do not know what You are, Oh Lord, but You must have a form of some type. Alas, it is unknown to me. However, whatever You may be, in whatever form You may have assumed, I offer my salutations to You.”

Why is he called Mahesha? Everywhere there are so many controllers, so many officers: the controller of roads, the controller of cow-dung and hundreds of other controllers. Maheshvara is the Controller of all these controllers, the Supreme Controller.

As I was explaining, He is Gunahiina, the One beyond all qualities. It is useless to even attempt to count His qualities. One day a number of people went to see the poet Padmadanta and asked, “Being such a great poet, could you compose something about Sadashiva? About His innumerable qualities?” It is usual for the gods and goddesses to be paid eloquent tributes in the form of eulogies. Some gods and goddesses hold conch shells, some hold clubs, and some wear ear-rings. Some are generous and some are always angry. There are so many things which could be written about them. Padmadanta agreed to their proposition and composed the following poem on the spot:

Asitagirisamaḿ syát kajjalaḿ sindhupátre
Suratarubarashákhá lekhanii patramúrvii
Likhati yadi grhiitvá Sárádá sarvakálaḿ
Tadápi tava guńánámiisha páraḿna yáti.

“If the ink tablets (ink tablets produce black ink when soaked in water) were as big as the Himalayan mountains, and the ink pot as large as the as oceans (such as the Atlantic and the Pacific); and if one of the branches of the divine tree párijáta [the biggest tree in the divine garden of Indian mythology] was used as a pen, and if the Earth’s lithosphere was used as a sheet of paper; and if Sárádá, the Goddess of Learning, agreed to write through all the ages, even then, O Lord, all Your qualities could never be described.”

So even Sárádá, the Goddess of Learning, cannot describe all His qualities. And perhaps she would not agree to attempt that, anyway.

Sadáshiva is so vast that He is beyond description. Thus, if you go near Him, you will surely develop an inferiority complex. In comparison to Him you will feel so tiny. When those who are inferior stand before those who are superior, they naturally develop this sort of inferiority complex. When the poor stand before the rich, and when the illiterate stand before the scholars, they naturally feel so ordinary in comparison. In the scriptures the state of feeling insignificant beside the vastness of Parama Puruśa is called “mahimnabodh”. One is uncertain how to approach Him, unsure how to speak to Him. This is a natural feeling. Yet spiritual aspirants should not give this sort of inferiority complex and scope to develop in the mind.

Shiva has been described as “Gańábharańam” (one whose ornaments are his followers). The Puráńa (mythological treatises), describe the gods as being adorned with various ornaments. Different gods have different types of ornaments. Sadáshiva also wears some ornaments: His devotees. Thus, ordinary human beings should not suffer from any sort of inferiority complex because they are neither ordinary nor insignificant entities: they are the valuable ornaments of Lord Shiva. Therefore there is no reason why one should allow any inferiority complex to take root in the mind. Do you know what “gańábharańam” means? Human beings are usually afraid of tigers. But do tiger cubs fear their parents? No, never, because they know that their parents are their own, are members of their own family. Suppose a great scholar has a son who is illiterate: will the son dare to speak with his parents? Of course he will. He will certainly chat freely with them. But illiterate outsiders would never dare to do that.

Thus, should anyone be afraid of Parama Puruśa, Sadáshiva, the Father of all created beings? No. One should be free of any fear or doubt as He belongs to one and all.

Chapter 14	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Sukhaḿ váiṋchati sarvo hi tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharma sadákárya sarvavarńae prayatnatah.

The urge for happiness is a natural instinct for every created being. Every living being strives to attain happiness and avoid sorrow. All of the world’s created beings are engaged in a constant endeavour to attain peace and happiness.

Humans are the most developed, the most intelligent of all beings. They most certainly cannot be classified as animals. What is the fundamental difference between human beings and animals? An animal’s pleasure is predominantly body-centred. If they are given good food and a comfortable place to sleep they are very happy. Very few animals bother about the pursuit of mental peace. This is not true of humans, however, as they are intelligent beings. They know that worldly happiness is limited and will not provide them with eternal happiness. From time immemorial, since the advent of human life, they have been on a quest for eternal happiness. This quest has taught them that mundane pleasures – good food, comfortable accommodation, etc. – will never last long. A person who loves rasagollas may get some pleasure when a rasagolla is first placed in the mouth but will get nothing once it is swallowed. Rasagollas are finite: their taste will not stay long on the tongue.

What is the source of permanent happiness? Only that object which is itself unlimited can provide unlimited and permanent happiness to human beings. How can a finite object give infinite happiness? Today it exists; tomorrow it disappears. “Yah ágacchati sah gacchati” – Whatever comes, goes. Every finite object comes and ultimately goes. When you come in contact with an infinite entity you will continue to enjoy eternal happiness even though you are a finite entity. How much mundane knowledge will a person in quest of knowledge be able to absorb? Mundane knowledge is limited to books. Suppose there are a billion books in the world: the amount of knowledge they contain is limited. Even if there were two billion books, the knowledge they contained would still be limited. But intuitional knowledge (brahmavidya or brahmavijiṋána) is unlimited. In the scriptures, brahmavidya is called vijiṋána (spiritual science). The other branches of science from which people obtain mundane knowledge are termed avidyá in Saḿskrta. Unless people attain that infinite entity, they will never be able to attain permanent happiness.

“Sukhaḿ váiṋchati sarva hi tacca dharmah samudbhútah.” In their search for happiness, human beings formulated the concept of dharma. With the help of their limited intellect they realized that to run after finite objects is foolish. Wise people will never do this, but will rather move along the path of dharma sádhaná in quest of the infinite entity. Dharma sádhaná or spiritual cult is mandatory for every human being, both old and young. Some of those who are young today may never see old age; they may die at the age of twenty-five. If they postpone the practice of dharma sádhaná until their old age, they will miss their chance to practice it in this life. Dharma sádhaná does not depend on age. It is advisable for people to start practising the spiritual cult at the age of five or six. If one lives a long life, so much the better, as one will get ample scope to explore the spiritual cult for a longer period. If, however, one unfortunately dies a premature death, it will not matter as one will have already started the spiritual cult in early childhood and continued it while one was alive.

“Tasmáddharmah sadákáryah”. The practice of dharma is mandatory for all human beings: for young and old, rich and poor, male and female.

You all know there was a great devotee of Narayan called Dhruva who started intense meditation at the age of five. Seeing such a young boy absorbed in deep meditation, the older devotees felt threatened – their hearts missed a beat at the thought that this young devotee, having started his meditation so early, would surpass them spiritually, would make more progress than them by the time he had grown up. So Narayan asked Narada, “Can you go and test the boy and find out how ardent a devotee he is?” Narada went to where Dhruva was meditating and said, “Why do you bother doing such deep meditation? Why don’t you wait until you’re older?”

Dhruva replied, “First, some boys die when they are still very young. It would therefore be unwise for me to wait until I have grown up. Second, it is rare to attain a human body. The worms, insects, flies, birds and animals are all expressions of Parama Puruśa. The problem with them, however, is that due to their small intellects, they do not feel the necessity of practising spirituality. But I, having attained a human body, strongly feel the need to follow dharma. Why should I waste my time? Narada, your words are incorrect. Being an elderly person, why do you misguide me? You shouldn’t do that.”

The human body is the rarest of all, and thus the most difficult to acquire. Only after passing through millions of lives, through constant clash and cohesion, does one attain a human body. Human life is rare, but rarer still is the person who has realized the meaning of life through spiritual practice. Thus, Narada, human beings should start spiritual practices as early as possible in their lives. They should not waste time by waiting until old age. That would not be wise. Hence it has been said, “Durlabhaḿ mánuśaḿ janma tadapyadhruamurthadam”.

Sukhaḿ váiṋchati sarva hi tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharma sadákárya sarvavarńae prayatnatah.

Those who are intellectuals, those who are intelligent, should realize that spiritual practice should be started from this very moment. Those who are not well-read, not intellectual, but who are heroic people or kśatriyas (represented by the colour red) also feel the necessity to start dharma sádhaná at a young age as the physical strength and capacity of human beings does not remain constant. Physical strength reaches a peak and then fades. The business-minded people (vaeshyas) also feel they should commence spiritual practices early in life as all the wealth they possess today will not remain with them after death. The only thing which accompanies a human being after death is dharma.

“Ekameva suhrdharma”. Human beings have but one faithful friend: dharma. Dharma remains faithful even after death. What should we do to ensure that dharma accompanies us after death? While carrying out our worldly duties we should do spiritual practices.

The last class of people, the labour class, the toiling masses who depend upon manual labour for their livelihood, should also remember that they, too, have attained a physical body by the grace of Parama Puruśa. When they lose this body there is no guarantee that they will get it back again – they may be reborn as a goats, dogs, cows or bullocks. So it is also mandatory for them to undertake spiritual practices.

Hence it has been said, “Tasmáddharmah sadákáryah sarvavarńae prayatnatah.” For people of all classes and vocations, for every human being, spiritual practice is a must – it is mandatory for all.

Chapter 15	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

Yá Bhagavatá giitá sá Giitá – “The word giitá means ‘that which has been sung by the Lord’.” In the Giitá it has been said:

Shreyán svadharmo viguńah paradharmát svanuśt́hitát;
Svadharme nidhanaḿ shreyah paradharmo bhayávahah.

The commonly-accepted meaning of the shloka [couplet] is that even if one’s own dharma lacks qualities whereas others’ dharma is full of qualities, one should not give up one’s own dharma. Rather, one should die for one’s own dharma instead of accepting another’s dharma. To embrace the dharma of others is dangerous.

But what is the actual meaning of the shloka? What is the real dharma of human beings?

In this world, every entity and idea has its own distinct characteristics by which it can be recognized. Water has the property of making things wet. As long as it has this property, people will call it water. Similarly, as long as fire has the property of burning things, it will be called fire. When it loses this property, it will no longer be called fire. Humans also have a particular dharma of their own which characterizes them as human. It is not enough to have a human body. It is said: Ácarańat dharmah – “Dharma is reflected through one’s conduct.” A pandit whose conduct is not exemplary will not be accepted as a dharmic person.

There are certain characteristics which are common to plants, animals and humans; some which are common to animals and humans; and some which are common to animals and plants. Some people have defined human beings as “rational animals”, but I do not accept this definition. In my opinion, human life is an ideological flow. Human beings should identify themselves with that flow. If a human being is considered to be a rational animal, then could not an animal be defined as a “moving plant”? No, we can never say that animals are moving plants. Animals have their own distinct characteristics. Human beings also have their own distinct characteristics, which are collectively called dharma – mánava dharma [human dharma] or Bhágavata dharma [divine dharma]. With its characteristics such as vistára [expansion], rasa [flow] and sevá [service], this mánava dharma is the true identity of human beings. And those in whom mánava dharma is not expressed are not worthy of being called human beings; they are human in form only.

The first characteristic of mánava dharma is vistára. All human beings want expansion: expansion of body, expansion of mind, in fact expansion of everything. Through physical exercise they seek to develop the physical body, through mental exercise they seek to develop the mind, and through spiritual exercise they seek the expansion of the soul.

The expansion of the physical body takes place as a result of certain special exercises. By means of ardent practice there may be physical development to a certain extent. From birth to the age of thirty-nine, the human body expands naturally. In Sanskrit, the word tan means “to expand”, and thus the Sanskrit term for the physical body for the period from birth to the age of thirty-nine is tanu, which means “that which has a tendency to expand”.

After the age of thirty-nine the body starts to wear out. In Sanskrit, that which has a tendency to wear out is called shariira. So in the second phase, tanu becomes shariira. The body of an old person is called shariira, and the body of a youth, tanu. As long as the nerve cells and nerve fibres remain healthy according to natural laws, the human mind remains alert. The mind of a seventeen-year-old boy is more alert that the mind of a young child. At the age of twenty-four or twenty-five the mind becomes much more alert, but over the age of fifty both the body and the mind start their decline. The power of memory diminishes and people start to forget things. This is the rule.

Through exercise this process of decline may be checked. An eighty-year-old person will be able to keep the memory as fresh as the memory of a fifty-year-old person. In the mental sphere the result may be much more evident than in the physical sphere. By nature, people hear, learn and forget. But after constant mental practice, when the nerve cells become nourished, dhruvásmrti⁽¹⁾ develops. Then one does not forget anything. In exactly the same way, by dint of spiritual practice, one can bring about the expansion of one’s self. Tatra niratishayaḿ sarvajiṋatvabiijam [“The seed of omniscience lies in that stance”]. Human beings become omniscient, become one with Parama Puruśa. This is vistára, the first characteristic of Bhágavata dharma. Nothing is impossible through the practice of sádhaná.

Human beings are the progeny of Parama Puruśa, and thus all His infinite qualities are lying latent in them. If human beings practice meditation they can develop these qualities. A tiny banyan seed will one day become a huge tree. Similarly, a human being can develop into an extraordinary person through the process of sádhaná. This is the spirit of expansion.

The second characteristic is rasa, or flow. An infinite Cosmic flow is in continuous motion in this universe. When humans think they are petty and limited, and allow themselves to be goaded by petty ideas, they become victims of pain and pleasure. But when they let themselves drift in the eternal flow of consciousness, when the human psychic thought-waves flow in parallel rhythm with the Cosmic thought waves, the finite human merges in the infinite Cosmic flow. This is called the rasasamudra – that is, the little human being experiences the taste of the Infinite.

Footnotes

(1) Infallible, permanent memory, particularly of the Supreme. –Trans.

Chapter 16	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

What does the term “diikśá” mean? During the DMC discourse in Madras, I said that the Saḿskrta word “diikśá” and the English word “initiation”, do not have quite the same meaning. But as there is no exact English equivalent for diikśá, the word “initiation” is generally, used. According to the scriptural meaning, diikśá is derived from “dii” and “kśa”. Dii is the first letter of the word “diipajiṋána” (light of knowledge) and kśa is the first letter of “kśayam” (exhaustion of saḿskaras).

Diipajiṋánaḿ yato dadyát kurhát pápakśayaḿ tatah
Tasmát diikśeti sá proktá sarvatantrasya samnata.

Diikśá is the process which leads to the attainment of the light of knowledge and the exhaustion of accumulated saḿskaras. There is no difference of opinion amongst the different schools of Tantra on this point. Suppose you have to travel to a certain place in the dark along a path strewn with sharp stones and boulders. If you attempt to take even one step forward you might fall down and injure yourself. So, you should take a lamp with you. This is called “diipajiṋánam”. When people are given dikśa they gain momentum to move along the spiritual path through mantra caetanya (conceptual understanding of the psychic meaning of mantra) and mantraghat (striking by incantation). All human beings possess a set of saḿskáras. When they receive dikśa according to their saḿskáras, mantraghat occurs. That is, the incantation strikes at the sleeping divinity (kulakuńd́alinii or coiled serpentine) and arouses it. This results in the aspirant’s spiritual progress. People cannot make any spiritual progress prior to initiation due to a lack of diipajiṋánam. “Dii” is the first letter of diipajiṋánam, and [[the second is [the “kśa” letter of] pápakśayam.]] Pápa means “saḿskaras” and kśayam means “exhaustion”.

What do we mean by the exhaustion of saḿskáras? According to natural law, each action has an equal and opposite reaction provided the three fundamental factors of time, place and person remain unchanged. However, there is almost always a change in these relative factors. Hence, an action does not always have an equal and opposite reaction. Suppose you have borrowed a thousand rupees from someone. If you return the money after a few months or even after a few years, you will have to pay some interest. If you return the loan immediately, however, there is no change in time, place and person and you will only have to return the original amount. If an action’s reaction is immediate, it will be equal and opposite. But if the reaction occurs after a change in time, place or person, its magnitude will increase. Some people suffer the reaction immediately, some after two years, some after one hundred years, and some after twenty lifetimes. The more the delay, the greater the reaction. That is, some “interest” will have to be added to the reaction of the original action. This is the natural law.

Nábhuktaḿ kśiiyate karma kalpakot́i shátaerapi;
Avashyameva bhoktavyaḿ krtaḿ karma shubhá shubham.
Yávanna kśiiyate karma shubhaḿ cá shubhamaeva ca;
Távanna jáyate mokśo nrńáḿ kalpa shataerapi.
Yathá laohamayaerpáshaeh páshaeh svarńamayaerapi;
Tathá baddho bhavejjiivo karmá bhishcá shubhaershubhaeh.

But when this is the law, how does initiation lead to the exhaustion of one’s accumulated saḿskáras? Everyone has to carry the load of his or her saḿskáras. Now, if the reactions of one’s actions occur quickly, one will not have to carry the load for a long period – the mind will not be burdened for long. People will experience mental peace and will advance happily along the path of life. After learning sádhana, even if there is a change in the relative factors of time, place and person, the payment of extra “interest” will not be necessary. That is, the reactions will be equal and opposite to the original actions. What is the reason for this? Another of Parama Puruśa’s names is Hari. What is the meaning of Hari? “Harati pápáni ityarthe”. One who steals one’s pápa (here pápa means “saḿskáras”) is called Hari. But why should Parama Puruśa steal anything? He already has everything. He does not need anything from anyone. Yet Parama Puruśa steals from His devotees – not directly but indirectly. This is a sorrowful matter as it goes against the principle of asteya, which tells us to refrain from theft. Parama Puruśa Himself steals. How shameful! How deplorable! Actually, He is compelled to steal. Why? He steals because He dearly loves His devotees.

In this world it is almost impossible to find people who have never committed sins in their lives. Whether one is a confirmed thief or a petty thief, whether one is a pátakii, an atipátakii or a mahapátakii, one should not worry, as all are equal in the eyes of Parama Puruśa. All belong to Him, all are sitting on His lap. No one is different from Him. Even the worst sinners on whom society spits are not an object of hatred for Parama Puruśa. They, too, are His dear children. He cannot hate anyone. He desires the spiritual progress of all. Society may declare that women are not entitled to do certain things and should not enjoy certain rights, but should remain confined within four walls. In this way society lays down different injunctions for different individuals. But Parama Puruśa does not discriminate in this way : His daughters are as worthy of love as His sons. When a father plays with his children he does not differentiate between his son and daughter. He takes both on his lap. Both are treated equally. But today’s society is a villain which continues to exploit women.

In the eyes of Parama Puruśa all are equal. One who has become an ardent spiritual devotee of Parama Puruśa today may have been a wicked person in the past. Parama Puruśa will think how His devotees may get final liberation from the burden of their accumulated saḿskaras. He is bound to think in this way. After all, it is the duty of a father to think about the future of his children. So Parama Puruśa says to His devotees, “Just see how difficult it is for you to carry such a heavy load of saḿskaras. You are small children. The load weighs more than you. How long will you be able to carry such a burden? You have accumulated so many saḿskaras that you will have to carry the load for many lives, for thousands of years. One life will certainly be insufficient. So I have a proposition. Give me the entire load of your accumulated saḿskaras. I will carry it for you”.

The devotees reply, “How can we possibly give our heavy burden to You? No, we must carry the load ourselves. We will sing songs and dance for you, but We will never give you such a heavy load of sins”.

But Parama Puruśa knows that His dear devotees cannot carry such a heavy load of sins. If they do not give away the load it will be a constant strain for them. So what does Parama Puruśa do in such circumstances? He takes their sins without their permission. If someone takes things from others without their permission, what is it called? It is called theft. Thus, as Parama Puruśa takes the load of sins from the devotees without their permission, He is certainly a thief “Harati pápah yah sah Harih.” One who steals others sins is called Hari. So, one of His names is Hari.

To receive diikśá means to come into the shelter of Parama Puruśa, the Supreme Father. It is the mandatory duty of the Supreme Father to steal the saḿskáras of His favourite children. Hence it is said, “Kuryát Pápakśayaḿ tatah”. That is, after receiving diikśá one’s load of accumulated saḿskáras gets exhausted. So diikśá is a must for everyone. This is why the scriptures place so much importance on diikśá.

Chapter 17	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

In ancient times there was a renowned scholar named Rohita. He was a great scholar, no doubt, spending the whole day absorbed in the study of the scriptures, but he abhorred mundane tasks. His father tried hard to rectify him, but unsuccessfully, as he was totally preoccupied with the acquisition of bookish knowledge.

His father said, “Look Rohita, a hard-working person’s face often drips with the perspiration of labour. The beauty that radiates from such a face is incomparable. Even the king of the gods enjoys the company of such people who earn much reputation and prestige in society due to their dedicated actions. In fact, society advances due to the contributions of such noble people. So Rohita, move on, move on. Don’t be idle. Do more and more work. The fate of those who languish lazily in bed also lies down with them. When a person sits up, their fate also sits up. When they stand, their fate also stands. When they move forward, their fate also moves forward. Therefore, Rohita, move on, move on. Don’t be idle.”

“Kalih shayáno bhavati.” As long as human beings remain steeped in the darkness of staticity, they are said to be in Kali Yuga [the so-called “Iron Age”]. “Saiṋjihánastu Dvápara.” But when they wake up and realize that they must do something, they must move forward, they are said to have entered Dvápara Yuga [the so-called “Copper Age”]. “Uttiśt́han Tretá bhavati”. When they stand up and prepare themselves for work, they are said to have entered Treta Yuga [the so-called “Silver Age”]. “Krtaḿ sampadyate carań.” When they move forward they are said to have entered Satya Yuga [the so-called “Golden Age”]. “Therefore, Rohita, move on, move on.”

Whatever Rohita said to his son is quite true and the message carried by his words is to be followed even today. I, too, repeat that under no circumstances should you give indulgence to laziness. Always keep yourself busy in some activity or other and always move forward.

Do not dwell upon past events: it serves no purpose whatsoever. Move on with your knowledge of modern, no, ultra-modern science, technology and thought. Advance as a vanguard leading the way for others to follow. This is the true spirit of life, and this is the path upon which your glory will be established.

Chapter 18	Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 8

In their personal lives human beings are very weak, possessing hardly any strength at all. In the world there are many animals who are physically stronger than humans. Humans are generally stronger mentally than animals, although sometimes, due to extreme pain and suffering, the mind also becomes very weak. What should people do under such circumstances? How can people increase their strength? When people consider themselves to be separate from Parama Puruśa, they become weak. But when people consider themselves to be His progeny, and thus very close to Him, they are never weak – the strength of Parama Puruśa remains with them.

How can people increase their strength? How can they feel that they are getting strength from Parama Puruśa and will continue to get strength? Human beings should make the fullest utilization of their inborn strength. Unless they do this they will have no right to ask Parama Puruśa for more strength. If one continues breathing, if one continues to move, to eat and to speak, it means one still has strength. If you have exhausted all your strength, will you be able to do anything? When you move, eat and breathe with the strength previously given to you by Parama Puruśa, how can you complain that He did not give you enough strength? First, make the fullest utilization of the strength you already have. When you consider that this strength is all but exhausted, you may ask Parama Puruśa, “Oh, Lord, the strength you have given me is not enough to complete my assigned task. If you expect me to complete my work, please give me extra strength.” Remember, you have no right to ask for extra strength if you are not fully utilizing your own inherent strength. One attains this strength in exchange for one’s devotion, not in exchange for one’s knowledge.

What is devotion? Every individual has two I’s: the small “I” who may be Ramesh, Umesh, Tom or Dick; and the bigger “I”. That is, each human being has a small individual “I”, and is part of the one big “I”, which is Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa is not an external entity for you, but is your big “I”. To fully understand this truth is devotion. When people are established in devotion, they attain a state called “iśt́a niśt́a” – devotion for one’s goal. In that stage there is but one dominant thought: “Whatever I do, be it social, political or socio-economic service, the motivating thought in my mind will be to please Parama Puruśa”.

Why should we please Parama Puruśa? Why should political and socio-economic service for the masses please Him? All beings on this Earth are His progeny. If one serves His progeny, He will certainly be pleased. If you wish to please a mother, take her baby from her lap and give it much love and affection. Thus, if you wish to please Parama Puruśa, serve all His children. Please Him by helping His progeny. You have only one goal: to please Parama Puruśa in all possible ways whenever an opportunity presents itself. Perhaps you know the following short story which illustrates this point.

Once Lord Krśńa fell seriously ill. Many remedies were tried, but nothing would cure Him. Eminent allopathic and homoeopathic doctors attempted to cure him, but they, too, were unsuccessful. Even the best hospitals were unable to help. When everything had failed, the devotees approached their Lord, saying, “Dear Lord, please tell us which remedy will cure you.” Krśńa explained, “There’s only one remedy. If you bring dust particles from my devotees’ feet I shall be cured.” It was a very difficult task. Narada was given the duty to travel across the Earth in search of disciples from whose feet dust particles could be collected. Unfortunately, whoever Narada approached said, “My goodness, how can I agree to such a proposal? How can I possibly give dust particles from my own feet to be smeared on my Lord’s forehead? I won’t give you any dust from my feet. I will not. I categorically refuse.” Narada’s mission took him across the face of the Earth, but nowhere could he find devotees willing to part with their dust particles. Finally he came to Brindavana where he saw some cowherds looking after their cows. When they saw Narada approaching they asked, “How is our dear Lord Krśńa?” Narada replied, “The news is not very good. The Lord is sick.” “What’s being done to cure Him?” asked His concerned disciples. Narada told them, “So far everything we have tried has failed. Lord Krśńa told us that only if dust particles taken from the feet of His disciples are smeared across His forehead, will He be cured. Would you be willing to give me some of the dust particles from your feet?” They quickly replied, “Narada, we don’t know whether we are worthy to be called His disciples or not but please take the dust particles from our feet and smear them across our Lord’s forehead. If we are worthy of being His devotees, the dust will certainly cure Him.” Narada burst out, “How dare you give the dust particles from your feet to be smeared across our Lord’s forehead. That would be an act of great sacrilege.” “But Narada,” said the cowherds, “our Lord is in great trouble. If dust particles from our feet can cure Him, what else can we wish for? We don’t care if it is an act of great sacrilege for which we will be doomed to live in hell. We shall happily go to hell. It’s all the same for us. We have so much love for the Lord that He too, will have to come to hell to be with us. We don’t make any discrimination between heaven and hell or between virtue and vice. All that matters to us is that the Lord should be pleased.”

Thus the only knowledge that devotees require knowledge of iśt́a niśt́há. That is, devotees will act in such a way that the Lord will always be pleased. They desire nothing more than this.