Chapter 1	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 3

On the 9th of January last year I told you something about the theory of Prakrti. Today I will tell specifically about Avidyá or the Extroversive Force.

Brahma is the composite of Puruśa and Prakrti. Prakrti is the Operative Principle and Puruśa is the Consciousness or the Cognitive Principle. Brahma is two in one. Jiiva or the unit manifestation of Brahma is also composed of Puruśa and Prakrti, that is cognitive and operative principles. The sense of ego or “Doer I” that exists behind all that a person does, says, thinks, understands, or hears is the product of Prakrti. And behind this ego, the “I know I am” that exists as the Supreme Knower is a human being’s cognitive force – the undistorted Puruśa. Not only humans, every entity, whether animate or inanimate, movable or immovable, consists of Puruśa and Prakrti. Sentience or insentience are only relative conditions. Truly speaking, there is nothing which is insentient or inanimate. Rather we do them injustice by calling and believing them to be so. Take, for instance, a piece of stone. Is it insentient? No, nothing is insentient from the spiritual point of view. Only those things appear insentient or inert, in which the influence of Prakrti or force over Puruśa or Consciousness is more in evidence. In other words, I would call only that inert, in which due to the greater influence of Prakrti, Puruśa is not manifest, or is lying dormant. In the Sun Prakrti is manifest but Puruśa is subdued. That is why the Sun, in spite of being the nucleus of the solar system – whose inhabitants, human beings, possess such a highly developed intellect – whose countless organisms are conscious of their respective egos – does not know itself as the Sun. But its progeny, human beings, very well know it as the sun. Not only that, they have tried to know and understand its functioning more and more deeply and have persevered and will persevere to possess and unravel all its mysteries through philosophical researches and analytical experiments. This conquest of human beings over the sun – the credit for this feat, does not belong to human beings but to the developed Puruśa or Consciousness. I cannot, from the spiritual standpoint, call anything inert or crude which looks apparently so under the greater crudifying influence of Prakrti, because the entity, which appears to be passive or crude, is actually the crude manifestation of Prakrti-influenced Consciousness. That is to say, in such a state the Consciousness is incapable of expressing its knowership, for its expression has been curtailed at the very outset by Prakrti. Thus a piece of stone which seems to be inanimate or inert, is not actually so. It only exists in a particular state of Consciousness and it too has the potentiality of transforming itself into a glorious human being like you one of these days. The dormant Puruśa in such seemingly inert objects will certainly one day awaken.

It is by the influence of Prakrti that Puruśa comes to be imbued with inertness, for to make the integral body of Brahma divided and diversified, everything has to be demarcated, and that demarcation is not possible unless the thing is crude. So to bring about such plurality in Puruśa, inertness has to be imposed on Him and this imposition is accomplished by Prakrti. Prakaroti iti Prakrti, that is, that, which [[has the]] multi-creative power or plasticity is called Prakrti.

This Prakrti has three constituent attributes or forces (guńas) – sentient (sattva), mutative (rajah) and static (tamah). Had there been no such multi-creative, triple-attributive Prakrti, the diverse manifestations of different animals and plants would not have come into being. In other words the entire universe would have remained purposeless and unvaried, unexpressed or unmanifested.

Prakrti and Máyá are almost synonymous, but in common usage there is a shade of difference in the meaning. In cases where the three guńas or attributes, sattva (sentient), rajah (mutative) and tamah (static), are in equilibrium, the word Prakrti, is generally used. Such equilibrated Mulá Prakrti (Primordial Force or Operative Principle) is unmanifest but where the three components are not in equilibrium, such a state is called Máyá (the Creative Principle). Where there is no equipoise or equality, where there is disparity – either sattva or tamah is predominant. The state of disparity in which sattva (the Sentient Force) is greater, is called Vidyámáyá or Introversive Force and the state in which Tamah (the Static Force) is greater, is called Avidyámáyá or Extroversive Force.

So you see, it is only due to the disparity in the trivalent factors of Prakrti that the world is conceived in the Cosmic Mind. Similarly when the unit mind races towards Brahma, it is also due to the same attributional disparity of Prakrti. If Prakrti had been in equipoise, no movement would have been possible in the primordial state where Prakrti is inexplicit and dormant in Puruśa – this state is a stationary state. Manifested Prakrti is of course dynamic, be that momentum introversive or extroversive. By the introversive momentum of Prakrti under the influence of Vidyámáyá, the unit beings (jiivas) proceed towards sublimity. But the stage when it reaches in that Sublime Uniformity, not only does the Avidyámáyá or extroversive force [[not]] exist, but even Vidyámáyá’s potential influence over the individuality of the unit also disappears due to her own super-exaltation. For the purpose of sádhaná (spiritual practices) sádhakas (spiritual aspirants) have to take the help of Vidyámáyá or introversive force though finally they have to forgo her also.

This Máyá (creative principle) is the Mother of the individuality of the unit entity, for without Máyá individuality does not come into being. The absence of motivity means the absence of creation. Had there been no Máyá, the potentiality of the individuality would have ever remained in Shiva or Cosmic Consciousness. Máyá is the causal matrix of the creation of this disparate, illusory world. Everything of this evolved world is the manifestation of her heterogeneous forms, her playful diversion.

Sarvarupamayii devii sarvaḿ deviimayaḿ jagat
Tato’ham vishvarupáḿ táḿ namámi parameshvariim.

–Márkańd́eya Puráńa

Máyá is of multifarious forms and all things of the entire world are nothing but Máyá. I bow to this Cosmos Mahámáyá.

Previously I told you that there existed a great Máyá-ic obscurity in between Cosmic Consciousness and unit consciousness, between the Cosmic individuality and unit individuality. It is due to this obscurity that there exists between them a sense of detachment; it is due to this obscurity that there results in the individuality of the unit such weaknesses as sense of despair, loss of confidence, etc., because whichever way the people turn, a perennial, cimmerian darkness stares them in the face and impairs their clear vision. As a result their eyes fail to grasp the real picture of things. They merely grope to become acquainted with them. To attain the valid cognition of reality and true vision we have to find out the means of escape from this Máyá. Does Máyá vanish of her own accord out of fear of human beings, or have we to develop some way to get rid of her?

Daevii hyeśá guńamayii mama Máyá duratyayá;
Mámeva ye prapadyante Máyámetáḿ taranti te.⁽¹⁾

–Shrii Krśńa

The one whose life’s goal is Brahma, the guiding-star in one’s path of progress, alone is capable of surmounting Máyá. That is why, one’s life should be based on Brahma – should be inclined to Brahma. A sádhaka’s sádhaná means struggle with Máyá (Creative Principle), and salvation means the subjugation of Máyá, in that event one will become the Lord of Máyá. In common parlance it is the unit entity which is under the influence of Máyá and Brahma alone who has sovereignty over her. When people attain supremacy over Máyá through their sádhaná, the veil of darkness moves aside from their minds and then there remains no difference between their own self-effulgence and the Brahmic effulgence – both are fused into one.

Sádhaná is a battle – a battle with Máyá, for the attainment of one’s objective. The object of this fight is somehow to thwart the force of Máyá. This battle can be fought in three ways.

Suppose you are walking alone through a vast forest with darkness all around you, and you see a dim light far away. Now, if you march on and on, treading through this darkness with your eyes fixed on that light, what will you finally see? As you proceed nearer and nearer towards the light, the density of darkness will become thinner and thinner, and when you reach very close to the light, you will find no darkness around you at all. Similarly, with Brahma as the goal, this proceeding forward, rending the darkness of Avidyá (the Extroversive Force), is one of the fights against Avidyá. It is called Madhyamácára or the Middle Course. Ananda Marga prefers this middle course, because without a goal how long can you go on fighting with the darkness? Is it safe to grope your way through darkness? Are not time and labour wasted for lack of a goal? Is it not fraught with an impending danger? The other two methods of the battle of Sádhaná are Dakśińácára and Vámácára.

Now, who will fight this battle against Máyá – Iishvara (Consciousness qualified by the Static principle) or Prájiṋa (the spiritually dormant microcosm)? When the Macrocosmic Consciousness witnesses the Static principle as His object, He is called Iishvara or the Lord of the Universe; and when the microcosmic or unit consciousness is the witnessing counterpart of the static principle, he is called Prájiṋa. This spiritual dormancy is the state of maximum crudeness and negativity, which the Prájiṋabháva alone has to fight against. Iishvarabháva, being the counterpart of the integral Puruśottamabháva or Nuclear Consciousness, does not have any particular necessity for sádhaná.

Tathá hi prájine saesavidyá jagat survamátamá paramátmáeva
Svaprakásho pyavisayajiṋátvájjánaneve hyatra na vijánati.

Being under the influence of the Static force of Prakrti, Avidyá, the spiritually dormant person (Prájiṋa) is incapable of deriving happiness from mundane objects. Here you must remember that the word, Prájiṋa, is not used in the sense of physical dormancy. The word here implies the Jiivátmá or the sentient soul which is asleep or quiescent spiritually. Such persons are concerned with heterogeneous entities, yet, in spite of their highly discerning refined discernment, they are unable to understand their true perspective – due to the spell of darkness of Avidyá. Nevertheless they abide in this very darkness with all their knowledge of the differences. The very fight against these disintegrating tendencies is their Sádhaná. In other words, Prájiṋa or the spiritually dormant persons will have to fight to rescue their Prajiṋá or discriminating intellectual self from the hands of the Static principle. In this fight, when the Prájiṋa comes out victorious, they will identify themselves with the Supreme Consciousness, for they are then no more under the bondage of Prakrti. I have said it before and I say it again, that Sádhaná means fight against Avidyá. This fight is internal, not external. External or ostentatious fight will achieve nothing. In such a fight one’s entire capability culminates in the acrobatics of dressing and decorating of one’s exterior with málá (a rosary or string of beads for saying prayers), tilaka (a conspicuous mark between the eyebrows with sandalwood-paste or vermilion, jholá (a little sack for the rosary) and candan-chápa (or the mark of sandalwood paste on the forehead, arms and chest). Instead, spiritual aspirants have to fight against their inner, base propensities, and when they will wear the crown of victory, they will then realize that there is absolutely no difference between them and Brahma – they have become Brahma Himself.

Now the question arises: when human beings are part and parcel of the omniscient Cosmic Consciousness, why don’t we then see the manifestation of perfect knowledge in them during their static bondage? Had there been perfect or complete knowledge in the unit beings, there would not have been any necessity for Sádhaná.

Actually the jiivabháva or the individuality of the unit imbibes quite a lot of knowledge in the basic condition. It also has the potentiality for infinite knowledge, but that knowledge is unobjective. Suppose you are sitting alone in darkness and around you there is the variegated discriminative world and within yourself you also have the power to observe this discriminative world. Yet you cannot see anything due to the darkness. All the entities have mingled and identified themselves with the darkness. The sight of the seer is intact, but the vision has become one with the all-devouring darkness. So in such a condition the knowledge of the seer is unobjective. Similar is the condition of the individuality of the unit entities. It cannot understand the real form of any entity due to Avidyá, so it goes on groping and forming its own arbitrary conclusions about things. That is why, I told you that it is incorrect to say that the Prájiṋa or the spiritually dormant human being has no capacity of knowing; in fact he or she does have a limitless capacity to know. The seed of knowledge is certainly present with its limitless potentiality. Only the knowingness is lacking substantiation due to the darkness. Hence the spiritually dormant person will have to do Sádhaná to drive away the darkness. With the disappearance of obscurity, all the things perceived during the spell of darkness and their cause will merge in the Prájiṋa itself, that is to say, their whole existence will vanish. So with the merger of the Prájiṋa-Sádhaka in Brahma this discriminative world also merges in the homogeneous Cause.

In the human mind Avidyámáyá (Extroversive Force) manifests herself in two ways: Vikśepátmaka (extroversive or centrifugal) and Ávaranátmaka (obstructive). Philosophically we call them Vikśepa Force and Ávarańii (covering) Force, respectively. Due to the remoteness of the original object to be known, a lack of valid knowledge results, that is, due to the remoteness of Brahmabháva, a lack of spiritual knowledge results, and with the increase of remoteness even the semblance of knowledge gradually vanishes. These are all the actions of this Vikśepa or Centrifugal Force. And in spite of the opposite condition, proximity, the lack of valid knowledge that occurs due to the darkness of ignorance is the act of the Ávarańii or the Obstructive Force. The reason why I call this an Ávarańii Force is that it works as a cover or lid over the original object.

In this heterogeneous world the sense of existence and acquaintance are the combined action of Vikśepa and Ávarańii forces of Avidyámáyá. Just as the real picture of a thing is not discernible in the darkness – appearing as a strange shadowy entity in this heterogeneous creation, too is similarly observed on the Cosmic Body due to the influence of Avidyámáyá. In other words, during the process of Saiṋcara (Extroversion) the Vikśepa and Ávarańii forces dominate due to the predominance of Avidyá in the macrocosmic thought-projection, and during Pratisaiṋcara (Introversion), they gradually dwindle into nothingness. In order to realize their own characteristic seity or self-hood, Sádhakas must try to establish themselves in the introversive state (Pratisaiṋcara) by banishing darkness of Avidyá which created this heterogeneous world – this is their Sádhaná. When the Sádhaná is introversive, it has to be assumed that the preponderance of Vidyámáyá or introversive principle is there. The two anti-Avidyá forces that exist in the Vidyámáyá are Samvit or the Introspective Force and Hládinii or the Sublimative Force. The force that awakens the consciousness of one’s present condition in a Sádhaka – the awareness that I am the highest evolved creature, a human being, and I have to cast away the darkness of the obstructive force of Ávarańii, I have to worship the nearest Entity by conquering the distance or chasm created by the centrifugal force of Vikśepa – such an introversive sense of realization that wakes up in the human mind is called Samvit. The meaning of Samvit, you all know, is sudden realization of the state of things. I call it the Samvit Force, for it awakens the sádhaka to reality.

And the propelling force, whereby sádhakas carry themselves to the Supreme Entity, fighting their way through the vikśepa or the centrifugal force, lifting themselves above all trifles and surging in the thought-waves of the Great, is called hládinii. I call it hládinii Force, for it escorts the Sádhakas through the path of ahlád or ánanda or divine ecstasy and establishes them in Absolute Bliss. This is the much-coveted Hládinii of the unit being – the Shrii Rádhá (the staunch devotee of Lord Krśńa, the personified Love Sublime) of the Vaeśńavas.

Where the two forces, Vidyá and Avidyá, are in equilibrium, none of the satellite forces like vikśepa, samvit, ávarańii or hládinii, are in evidence. In such a balanced state the microcosm undergoes neither regeneration nor degeneration. Such a condition is indeed rare. Yet in common terms I can say that such a condition does exist in most of the jiivas or units. The equilibrium of forces that causes this non-progressive and non-regressive condition is called tatastha shakti or the coastal Force. A man who is not depraved and abides by normal laws, and yet does not do Brahma-Sádhaná, is virtually within the realm of this coastal force. Right from the first stage of sádhaná, a sádhaka begins his journey from the borderline of a coast towards the victorious, all-pervasive, Macrocosm with the aid of the Sublimative Force (Hládinii). I call it Tatastha, because Tata means the shore where the water of a river or lake touches the bank. What is the state of the people who are Tatastha, right on the borderline of the Tata or shore? If they descend just a step down they fall into the river, and if they ascend a step up they stand on dry solid ground; so the first step of Sádhaná is situated on the borderline of the shore. Now in such a condition you may either cut adrift from your Brahmic sentiment, aided by the extroversive force of Vikśepa, and be swept away by the current of the river, or you may establish yourself squarely on the solid ground Brahma.

In spite of the cognitive potentiality in the Prájiṋa, such a person is deprived of the proper knowledge of objects during the darkness, which is sensed by him alone, very well. For instance, in the absence of objective knowledge of reality during sleep, there is in human beings a particular sensation, which is quite different from their feelings while awake. That sensation is the lack of the sense of reality. After waking up, when one recollects that preceding feeling of vacuity, then alone one realizes, “Oh, I was sleeping”.

Abhávapratyáyalambaniivrttirnidrá.

That is, sleep is the cognitive mental process of the experience of vacuity.

During sleep, in spite of the spiritual potentiality in fullest measure, it is the sense of darkness, that practically exists because in that state the cruder sheaths of the body and mind become inert due to the influence of the static force. As a result it is not only impossible for such a person to perceive or sense anything of the external world through the media of sensory or motor organs, but even [[ saḿskáramúlaka [reactive] or pratyayamúlaka [original] ]] dreaming becomes an impossibility. This is why, although physiologically there is a difference between sleep and unconsciousness, psychologically there is none.

Anubhútermáyá ca tamorúpánubhútesttade’tajjádaḿ mohátmakamanantaḿ tucchamidaḿ rúpamasya asya vyainjiká nityanivrttápi múd́haerátmaeva drśt́á.

Sleep is the condition of highest passivity. After this condition when dream comes, the sense of inertness diminishes. In this case the Manomaya Kośa or the subtle mind becomes active and only the Kámamaya Kośa or the crude mind remains inactive. In the wakeful state the sense of inertness is even less and so in this state the crude mind also is awakened. This awakened state is also under the sway of Prakrti or Máyá. The effort to reach the spiritual or supreme state of consciousness from this so-called awakened mental state, is called Sádhaná. The indication of this condition will come through the fight with Avidyá. After defeating Avidyá and finally giving up Vidyá too, you will have to establish yourselves in the Supreme state. There are two more methods of fighting against Avidyá, those of Vámácára and Dakśińácára.

What is Vámácára? It is the reason[[ing]] that “Target or no target I shall go on fighting against the darkness of Máyá and after her defeat She will help realize my cherished desire”. Such a sádhaka is called vámácárii. In such type of Sádhaná there is tremendous possibility of danger or downfall. In the majority of cases vámácáriis, before realizing their cherished desire, often abuse their power which was gained through their fight with Avidyá. As a result he falls an unwary victim to more darkness and more inertness until he is gradually reduced to the level of bestiality. Thus, it is meaningless to try to attain victory over Prakrti without a specific goal. What progress can one expect in individual or social life through such an aimless pursuit?

And what is Dakśinácárii: A Dakśinácárii wants to win over Prakrti through entreaties and importunities. He or she begs, “O Prakrti! Remove Thy darkness and make way for me.”

Tvaḿ vaeśńavii shaktiranantaviiryá
Vishvasya biijaḿ paramási Máyá
Sammohitaḿ devii samstametad tvaḿ vae
Prasanná bhuvi mukti hetuh.

“O Máyá! Thou art the power of Lord Viśńu – the all-pervading Power. Thou art the prime cause of the whole universe. This heterogeneous world is evolved by the Static Force. So thou art the seed of the world, the Supreme Force. Every entity of the world is hypnotized. May you be propitiated and become the cause of my emancipation (Mukti).”

You all know, that Sádhaná for emancipation means a struggle for freedom; it means the establishment of Svarája (one’s own kingdom) after rescuing ourselves from the onslaughts of Avidyá.

The true kingdom abides [[in]] the Soul Supreme
The urge for freedom is sought within
Nor pen nor sword nor brawn can dream of
The bliss of freedom ever so green.

Can this emancipation be attained through flattery? Certainly not. Flattery is the antic of cowards. A mighty personage, moved by flattery, may give the flatterers some concession, or may shower upon them perhaps a few grains of kindness as well: but they will certainly not be granted full freedom or even if he does orally with his tongue in his cheek, the cowards would decline to accept it.

This world is the creation of Máyá, the Creative Principle: its very existence is illusory. What significance can there be of this illusory form or this Máyá-ic entity? The Vedas have said, “This illusive entity – this relative truth is a trifling phenomenon, and so this illusory world must also indeed, be insignificant. Great is that Prájiṋa, who abides as the observer of this illusion (Máyá).” Puruśa is supreme, but His objects are of little value. Puruśa is an aseity, a birthless entity and His objects are the rhythmic heterogeneity of the birthless Prakrti, the plastic performer of the inconceivable. That is why they are not eternal but transitory. This rhythmic extravaganza is leading human beings forward every moment through the heteromorphic phenomena, none of which has any lasting permanence. The person who is a boy, becomes a youth after a few years, and the same person becomes old again after some time. After the death of the illusive forms of boyhood and youth, comes old age, and after the death of the illusive form of old age there occurs the worldly death. That is why, the form of Máyá is unimportant – so insignificant. It dies every moment.

This Máyá-ic manifestation is also perpetually being destroyed every moment. How could you account for the form of a five-year-old child after it has been transformed into a youth of twenty-five through the influence of time? Does not the gap between five and twenty-five wholly pertain to time? Between the two stands a piece of time, which we call twenty years. Within these twenty years at every fraction of a moment, or at some sort of a still shorter time, say, a micro-second, for example – one form of this child died and another form was created and each of those dead forms merged in the Puruśa and identified itself with the Supreme Knower. Suppose you are proceeding form Patna to Arrah. On your way you are thinking only about Arrah; that is your citta or mind is taking the form of Arrah. On reaching Arrah you start thinking about Mogal-Sarai. Again your citta takes the form of Mogal-Sarai. Now at this stage, where did the form of Arrah go, which had been previously created by your mind? That form has merged in you. Similarly this illusory world is also created by the Brahmic thought-projection, wherein the disappearance of one form is followed by the creation of another. This thought-process is evolved by the influence of Máyá, and it is through the help of this Máyá that we realize the self-manifested form of Puruśa. Saguńa Puruśa (the subjectivated and objectivated Puruśa) and Prakrti are like fire and ghee (clarified butter). To see the dazzling form of fire we have to pour ghee in it, similarly, to see Puruśa manifested in form, the presence of the active force of Máyá is unavoidable. This Máyá-influenced Puruśa is the Saguńa Puruśa, or else like the ghee-less fire He is “extinguished” for without the association of Máyá Saguńa Puruśa perishes – there remains only the Nirguńa or unattributed, unmanifested, Transcendental Entity. But there is one important thing to note here. By the influence of ghee the existence of fire is indeed realized but what is the result? To keep the fire burning, the ghee consumes itself. Likewise, in order to maintain the evolution of this created world, of Saguńa Brahma, she gradually gets merged in Puruśa. In other words, Saguńa attains salvation by degrees. You must have thoroughly understood now how Saḿskáras (past momenta) are being destroyed through Karmabhoga (suffering and enjoyment).

When sádhakas stand before the darkness of Prakrti they think that Prakrti is constant. A boy of five one day becomes a young man of twenty-five by undergoing a continued process of metamorphoses every day, every month, every year – in fact, every infinitesimal fraction of time – but those continuously changing forms of Prakrti can usually not be perceived. A person who always sees a child of five can neither discern nor understand Prakrti’s perpetually changing forms. One could only understand, seeing the young man of twenty-five, that gradual changes must have taken place during those twenty years.

Those who do not want to recognize this perpetually changing form of Prakrti, who think her to be unchanging, are devoid of intellect and judgment. Those who are convinced of the ever-changing character of Prakrti, cease to be under her domination. Until the conception of Puruśa-hood is roused - until the intuitional consciousness is awakened fully, it is not possible to properly understand Prakrti. It is for the awakening of this intuitional consciousness that sádhaná or spiritual practice is necessary.

The experience of the static force (Tamah) in life is a constant affair. To remove this darkness the light of your own soul will have to be lit, and by the splendour of that light all kinds of diversities will have to be wiped out. Until this is done, people will surely pursue the variety show of this heterogeneous world and enjoy or endure weal or woe but they will remain far from Ánanda or Bliss. They will become scapegoats at the hands of Prakrti, for they will be guided solely by the momentum of Avidyámáyá or the extroversive principle. But once they realize the true nature of Máyá and attain the state of Shiva Shakti or Cosmic Potence, they will finally be able to ensconce in their own blissful entities.

What fault abideth in this hapless mind of mine, -
O Shyámá, Thou, Daughter of the Magic-Mine!
That but danceth to the tune of Thine.

–Rámaprasáda

Individuality thrives on Avidyá and of Avidyá it is born. With the removal of Avidyá, the diversified world also disappears. In such an event no difference exists between microcosm and the macrocosm or the unit consciousness and the Cosmic Consciousness. Both fuse into one – there occurs a great reunion of Jiivátmá and Shivátmá or Seity and Aseity. As long as Prakrti exists, no perfect realization is possible. All experiences are gradually immersed in inertness under her influence. The Sádhakas feel that spiritual realization is tantalizingly elusive – playing hide and seek within himself. They thus find themselves in a quandary.

Asya sattvamasattvaiṋca darshayatisiddhatvá siddhatvábhyaḿ svatantrá svatantratvena saeśá bataviija-sámányavadanekabatashaktirekaeva.

It is due to Prakrti that the sense of “I am”, “you are” and the so-called hills, rivers, etc., are awakened and it’s due to her centrifugal (Vikśepa) and obstructive (Ávarańii) forces that the sense of heterogeneous creation and their diverse distinctions is awakened. Behind this sense of ego, “I am”, is what we call Puruśa or Átman (Soul)[[, “I know I am”;]] and the sense of “I am” which we call Buddhitattva or Mahattattva (the fundamental intellect), which is the object of Puruśa, is the trick played on Puruśa by Prakrti herself. As long as the “I” exists in conjunction with the sense of ego or the fundamental intellect, events like “I see”, “I hear”, etc., take place; and as a consequence of these actions the discriminative world also exists. But where “I’s” sense of ego does not exist, how can any action or object have a chance to exist? In other words, the heterogeneous world exists, as long as the Avidyá-created sense of ego exists. So when the influence of Prakrti passes away, the objective Buddhitattva also loses its independent existence. Then it merges in the Átman.

That is why, I say, when the Consciousness is achieved, the distinction between Sat (undergoing no metamorphosis) and Asat (undergoing metamorphosis) dissolves into air. The truth that Asat is not an eternal entity becomes crystal-clear in such a condition.

The greatest difference between individuality (jiivabháva) and transcendentality (Brahmabháva) is that jiivabháva is governed by Prakrti and Brahmabháva is the governor of Prakrti. So the Sádhaná of the Sádhakas is to triumph over their individuality, to get themselves established in Brahmabháva by defeating Avidyá. After being so established, the Sádhakas see with their second sight that the very same subjugated Máyá is the progenitress or the causal matrix of billions of organisms in the world. She is going on reflecting the many on the same single Entity of Puruśabháva – as though many mirrors have been dexterously placed before a single flower. As the mirrors are being added, the numerical strength of the flower increases also, but the original flower remains essentially one. Similarly behind the plethora of mundane diversities thrives only one Eternal Entity; all the rest are but the reflections on His mental plate. Just as without the Máyá-like mirror or its reflecting power, one flower remains single and does not have a chance to become multiplied into many – similarly, had there been no Máyá, there would have remained only one unmanifested Brahma – none of His attributive manifestations would have been there. The individuality of the unit is the reflection or simulacrum of the Brahmic Semblance. For the preservation of His own existence He has to accept the predominance of the mirrors. That is why in the Shástras or Scriptures Prakrti is called Pradhána or the chief operative principle. Yet the eternal Macrocosmic Entity does not find Himself obliged to accept His subjection to Prakrti at any stage. Rather Prakrti herself has to remain in His subjection, for in the absence of Puruśa her activities will come to a standstill; they will not come to fruition without the husbandship of Puruśa.

The objective of Sádhaná is to realize that very flower, the main object of the mirror – to know that Parama Puruśa or Supreme Consciousness.

So now you understand that the sense of I-feeling of the unit is but the simulacrum or the shadowy prototype of that Cosmic “I”, captured on the mirror of Prakrti and reflected by her reflecting power.

Just as a tiny banian seed inherits the potentials of a banian tree, whereby innumerable banian trees can come into being, similarly one Máyá, on account of her endless reflective capacity, creates innumerable lives on the one Puruśa. In other words Saguńa Brahma by the influence of the operative answer of Prakrti creates innumerable lives on His mental plate through His thought-projection, His imaginative power. The fight against this very Máyá that has created these countless individualities, these multiform cosmic manifestations, is what the sages call Sádhaná.

Tádyathá bat́abiija sámányamekamaneká Svávyatiriktán bat́án svabiijánutpádya tatra tatra ca sampúrńaḿ santiśt́hati evamevaeśá Máyá svávyatiriktáni paripúrnáńi kśetráńi darshayitvá jiiveshávábhásena karoti Máyá cávidyá ca svayameva bhavati.

In spite of there being countless numbers of banian trees, growing out of one banian seed, each of them is called by the name of banian tree, for characteristically out of the banian seed must come a banian tree. Just as at the pre-seed stage there was a banian tree and the result of the post-seed stage is also a banian tree, similarly we get innumerable semblances of Puruśa or individualities from His reflections. Prakrti, with the help of the Puruśa-like original cause, creates Puruśa-like objects. Now the question arises: Does the work of Prakrti end with the creation of Macrocosmic reflections[[, that is,]] microcosms? No, certainly not. Prakrti herself with the help of her own crudifying power does the work of demarcating both the flower and its reflected state, or she herself takes such forms. Suppose there is a reflection of a flower. Here the reflecting power belongs to Prakrti, the reflecting plate is also hers and the outline of the reflected object is also that of the crudifying Prakrti.

Is this protean master-artist, Prakrti, absolutely insignificant? An entity that takes the colours and forms of all things or has the capacity to do so, cannot be just dismissed as worthless. Prakrti is like a motion-picture, which can neither be held in hand as something tangible and existent, nor can it be dismissed as something non-existent. Prakrti is a passing show, a moving phenomenon, a changing reality. Although she is moving, there is enough firmness in her linear forms, and that is why people are so attracted to her, just as parents are attracted to the transient form of their child of five, in spite of their being aware of the changing nature of her forms and features. And then again, when that very form reaches its twentieth year through physiognomical changes, they are equally fond of that twenty-year-old form. Hence every momentary bit of the fragmentary forms of the quick-changing Prakrti is an object or cause of the unit’s great fascination. The cimmerian Prakrti with her darkening magic wand keeps humanity in darkness. This sombre Prakrti has to be removed at any cost from before our eyes. She will not go voluntarily. You will have to get rid of her influence through the Sádhaná of Puruśa or the Cosmic Consciousness. She will put countless obstacles and hindrances before you and yet you will have to fight against them and triumph over them. Wallowing in materialism one cannot reach the stage of supernaturalism. Living in the midst of Bhoga (sufferings and enjoyments) and indulging in and zealously practicing, Bhoga Sádhaná for enyoyment’s sake, one cannot give up bhoga or materialistic bent. For the sake of one’s profession or for any other reason, one who has to tell lies continually, will eventually turn a naturalized liar, if one does not take a vow of truthfulness. Many teachers of the old school, when they do not have canes in their hands, vent their habit of caning by brandishing their pencils. Grimacing in a paroxysm of rage or clenching their fists as if they were holding on tightly to the branches out of fear – these two apish characteristics – [[we human beings]] have not yet been able to relinquish. So if you exist [[in]] Bhoga (material enjoyments or sufferings), no harm; if [[you]] do the Sádhaná of Bhoga, no harm there either; but there should certainly not [[be]] bhoga for bhoga’s sake. Strange indeed is the ever-changing Prakrti!

Saeśá citrá sudrd́há bahvaunkurá svayaḿ guńábhinnáuṋkureśvapi guńábhinna sarvatra Brahmáviśńushivarúpińo caetanyadiiptá.

All the entities of Máyá are strange and variegated. No two entities are alike. Each one of them has its own specialties. There is nothing “identical” in this world. At most we can say that things are “similar”, for every one of them is the magic play of that multimorphic Prakrti. But Puruśa is one, not multiform. Multiformity is an attributed manifestation, such as thick, thin, long, short, etc. Puruśa is absolute – free from any quality or attribute and so there is no variety in Him.

If the Puruśa of the unit is the reflection of the Cosmic Consciousness, then seeing the reflection is as good as seeing the Original Puruśa. Yes, this observation is correct but it can only be correct if the mirror be perfect – if the reflector, Buddhitattva or Mahattattva (the fundamental I-feeling of the unit) is perfectly clear and free from all impurities. The persistent effort to rid Buddhitattva of all impurities is what is called Sádhaná. It is the Original Puruśa that is to be realized and to realize Him, Sádhaná is the only way.

Átmajiṋánaḿ vidurjiṋánaḿ jiṋánányanyáni yánitu;
Táni jiṋánávabhásáni sárasyanaeva bodhanát.

“Self-knowledge, that is the knowledge of Puruśa or intuitional knowledge, is the only real knowledge, all the rest are but its shadows or pretensions – the shadow of the flower, not the original one.” It is not always possible to know the essence of an object from its shadow or reflection. Due to the imperfections of the reflector even the reflection of a beautiful object may appear to be horrible and ugly. Sádhakas must bear in mind that their progress – their desired goal – does not lie in the direction of Prakrti’s mock show. All knowledge concerning things born of the principle of causality, is but a pretension or semblance of knowledge. Such knowledge is a relative truth, not an absolute one. It is, however, necessary for the preservation of existence. It is also true that during the progressive period of Sádhaná one has to progress keeping pace with it, but I cannot call it the supreme path. The spiritual Sádhakas shall accept that Eternal Entity as the sole Lord of their lives. They may make use of these semblances and reflections only according to necessity only. The investigation into the characteristics and transformations of these reflected things according to the principle of causality is what we call scientific research. The Saḿskrta equivalent of the English word Science, should be Sthúla Vijiṋána or Bhúta Vijiṋána (Physical Science).

I have already said that it will not do to resort to shadows and reflections, for although seeing reflections clearly in a clean, clear mirror is tantamount to seeing the original object it does not mean the attainment of the original object. Remember, you have no right to enjoy any of the things of this shadowy world. No matter how assiduously you try, you can never bring into your grasp any shadowy object. Your hands will rebound from the hard surface of the mirror. Yet still you rejoice at that reflection. Do you know why you get this joy or Ánanda? Because that is the reflection of that Super-exultation, that Brahma – the semblance of that Cosmic Flow.

Na vá are patyuh kámáya pati priyo bhavati átmanastu kámáya pati priyo bhavati. Na vá are puttrasyakámáya puttro priyo bhavati átmanastu kámáya puttro priyo bhavati. Na vá are sarvasya kámáya sarvaḿ priyaḿ bhavati átmanastu kámáya sarvaḿ priyaḿ bhavati.

One’s husband is not dear for the husband’s sake: the husband is dear because the attainment of a husband thrills the heart with an avalanche of joy. The son is not dear for the son’s sake: the possession of a son tingles the heart with a joyous exuberance. A profligate son does not arouse felicity in his parents’ hearts, and that is why they do not even hesitate to disinherit him. All things are not dear for their sake alone; their possession is dear and pleasing only when they fill the heart with a jubilant vibration.

I have already said that in spite of the Prakrti-evolved world being mutable and fickle, her delineation of forms and figures lacks no soundness and that is why even a learned person may be attracted to a particular short-lived form. This infatuation gradually becomes hardened and goes on increasing, for Prakrti is multi-formed. An oat sprouts but one germ, but from Prakrti emanates a countless number of germs. By creating thought-waves in one Cosmic Body, Prakrti takes on countless forms simultaneously and she goes on evolving germs in every unit-mind at every moment. The number of unit entities is also countless: from this point of view also Prakrti is multiparous.

By duplicating one original Entity into limitless numbers of replicas with her dexterous hands, Prakrti ensconces It in limitlessness. That is why the uniparous unit-mind, after coming in contact with the multiparous outer world, does not get an opportunity to turn any of its germs into one whole tree single-mindedly. Every moment it views the disintegration of its own thought-process.

Prakrti is the combination of three guńas or constituent principles and so she remains even when she is in a causal stage. Truly speaking, in such a causal state the potentiality of expression remains dormant. As long as there is no expression, we cannot call Prakrti omniparous, for in spite of the existence of attributes in her, she remains unexpressed.

Because of the disparity among the three attributes of the active Prakrti, the same Puruśa is known as Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara. It must, however, be borne in mind that in all these three conditions, the three gunas or attributes are there; the potencies may be dominant in one, middling in another and ordinary in the other. Out of the Sentient Force (Sattvaguńa) of the active Prakrti emanates creation. The same Puruśa, as the subjective counterpart of this Sentient Force, comes to be known as Brahmá. The work of preservation is carried out through the Mutative Force (Rajoguńa) of Prakrti. Here the same Puruśa, as the subjective counterpart of this Mutative Force, is known as Viśńu. The third attribute, the Static Force (Tamoguńa) of Prakrti becomes the cause of destruction. Here the same Puruśa, as the subjective counterpart of the Static Force, is called Iishvara or Maheshvara. Now you very well understand that Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara exist only so long as Prakrti is active or omniparous. Their existence is neither an absolute truth nor a spiritual truth, because during the unmanifested stage of Prakrti they are devoured by “Iishvaragrása”, the Objectless Nirguńa Brahma.

It is the Saguńa Brahma who has been carrying on the work of creation, preservation and destruction under the three names of Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara (Shiva). That is why the world is called Hari-Harátmaka, that is, identified with Viśńu and Shiva in their combined state. In every created object the Divine game of Hari and Hara, Viśńu and Shiva goes on. In the balanced state no action results. Action finds expressions only in the unbalanced state, when the equipoise is lost. Similar is our life, which is a constant effort to restore an unstable equilibrium[[. That is why in our lives]] the battle between Hari and Hara goes on unabated. So long as Hari wins, the heart is astir with excitement – all life-activities find avenues of expression. The moment Hara starts winning, the rhythm of life [[gets]] dimmed. With the establishment of Hara all briskness, knowledge, intelligence, name, fame, pride of lineage and family – all fevers and frets – come to a stop, frozen in the chill of death.

Prakrti is spiritually refulgent in the triunity of Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara. The Consciousness in which she is aglow is indeed the prime principle of all effulgences, the Transcendental Puruśa. Prakrti is going on imposing the state of multitudinousness – the bondage of demarcative distinctions. If the earth is Puruśa, the nomenclature of a pot is Prakrti, as also the creative force by which the pot is made. The Puruśa-earth remains in its own element, it does not care a hoot for the terminological bondage. No matter what name we call it by, it remains just what it always was. The forms created by Prakrti are verily the housewife’s gold ornaments – her necklaces, bangles, earrings. Taken them to any goldsmith and he will start appraising them and ascertaining how much gold there is in them. Discounting the dross or impurities he will make sure of the quantity of the gold content in the ornaments, weighing them on his sensitive scales, and then fix their value. He will not concern himself with the details of the ornaments, or which one is somebody’s sentimental momento. Puruśa is such gold, which we are putting out to market as guineas and mohars,⁽²⁾ stamped with a seal. “Rank is but the guinea’s stamp.”

Tasmádátmána eva traevidhyaḿ sarvatra yonitvamapyabhimantá jiivo niyanteshvarah sarváhammánii hirańyagarbhastrirúpa iishvaravat vyaktacaetanyáh sarvago hyeśa iishvarah kriyájiṋánátmá.

Brahmá, Viśńu and Mahesh are three manifestations of Puruśa contrived by Prakrti. It is because of His being the witness of the particularized, attributional manifestations of Prakrti that Puruśa is given such kinds of epithets. When the Cosmic Consciousness is the witness of Prakrti’s dominant Sentient Principle (Sattva), He is known as the Supreme Spirit, Brahmá. When He is the witness of her dominant Mutative Principle (Rajah), we call Him Hirańyagarbha or Viśńu, and when He is the witness of her Static Principle (Tamah), He is known as Iishvara or Shiva. It must be borne in mind that Brahmá, Viśńu and Shiva are not three different entities. They are the three circumstantial manifestations of the One Cosmic Entity. In all the three circumstances there is but one witness. It is according to the differences in objects or aspects that we have given different epithets to the objectivated Puruśa. Does the sense of ego in Jitendra Narayana change when his son calls him by the name of “father”, or [[when his father calls him by the name of “Jitu”, or]] when his student calls him by the name of “Sir”? No, certainly not. Whatever difference is there, is due to the angle of vision and the way of application. One’s unchanged sense of ego remains as a witness in every case. When in Sádhaná the Sádhakas are established in Cosmic Consciousness, they feel themselves to be Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara (Shiva) simultaneously. All the three states are immanent in the one and the same Saguńa Brahma, are vibrated in the one and the same oṋḿkára.

Prakrti is spiritually refulgent in the Brahmic Consciousness and Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara only represent particular aspects of that Consciousness. But is not the individuality of the unit sentient also, since it is the reflection of Cosmic Consciousness Itself? When the individuality is the reflection of Consciousness and if the mirror reflects everything whether crude, subtle or causal, then the individuality has to be spiritually refulgent as well. (In order to help make people to understand this philosophical principle easily, sometimes the Buddhitattva or the unit-intellect, and sometimes Puruśa, have been compared to mirrors, but this does not mean that Buddhitattva or Puruśa has any material relation with any earthly mirror).

The individuality also is not asleep or quiescent. Now the question arises, if the individuality is the reflection of the Cosmic Consciousness and if the former is also as much conscious, then who is lacking? Why can’t we realize it in its Cosmic maturity, as the full-fledged Brahma Himself? Why isn’t the reflection of omneity, evident in it in the fullest measure?

Sarvaḿsarvamayaḿ sarve jiiváh sarvamayáh Sarvávasthásu tathápyalpáh sa vá esá bhútániindriyáni virájaḿ devatáh kośáḿshca srśt́vá pravishyámúdho múd́ha iva vyavaharannáste máyayaeva.

Truly speaking, the individuality of the unit is as omni-present, omnifarious and all-pervading as the Cosmic Consciousness, because if the reflection is clear, we can know the original very well, because the reflection retains the full impress of the original. The Buddhitattva-like (Intellect-like) mirror also is capable of reflecting all the three states, crude, subtle and causal. But then I do not find any inconsistency in the fact of the individuality of the unit.

Practically the individuality is always its own characteristic self and it is certainly characteristically free Ciaráa Sahábe Mukal (that is, characteristically the microcosm is an emancipated entity). But we cannot catch the full reflection of Brahma on the unit-Mahattattva (I-feeling). For this Cosmic Consciousness is not at fault, the fault lies with the plate of our unit-Mahattattva. If the reflection of just a foot of an elephant is caught in a small mirror instead of its full figure, it will look like a pillar in that mirror. Now which of the two is to blame for this wrong impression of the elephant in the mirror – the elephant or the smallness of the mirror? So Sádhakas have to increase the dimension of the plates of their Mahattattva, and also they will also have to make it scrupulously clean, so that they may reflect the entire universe in themselves. Partial reflection makes the world appear to be disjointed and heterogeneous. But when you will be able to see this heterogeneous world fully on your mental plate the world will not any more appear to you as the world, but only as the product of your imagination. Then, possessed with such a vast mind, you will further realize that you are not “you” any more - your “you”-hood is being absorbed in the speckless, super-white effulgence of that Empyrean Splendour.

The receptacles of the individuality of the unit are the Paiṋcabhaotika or quinquelemental body and the organs. The Paiṋcabhútas or the five fundamental factors are wholly the products of the thought-process of the Supreme Spirit – the Cosmic Ego. The unit-body is made of these five ingredients and it is related with the Universe through its ten organs. Saguńa Brahma or the Subjectivated Transcendentality has evolved thirty-three kinds of primary manifestations (Devatá) in this universe with the help of Prakrti, and the individuality of the unit has evolved five Kośas (sheaths or receptacles of the mind) after imposing upon its sense of ego the crudifications of the five elements and the ten sensory and motor organs. But due to its smallness this five-sheathed and ten-organed body is unable to realize the Cosmic Consciousness. Its materialistic mental plate is totally unfit to grasp that Infinite Consciousness. So listen, O Sádhakas! You shall have to magnify the area of your subtle mind or Manomaya Kośa so that you may appropriate the Cosmic Consciousness in the fullest measure. The smaller the object of your mind, the smaller shall become your mental body in proportion. The greater the object of your mind, the greater and still greater your mental plate will become until finally you will be able to install yourself in the Supreme Cosmic Entity. That is why, no one of wisdom will ever take any limited crude object as the pabulum of their minds and thus lead themselves to animality. Those who do that are fools, they want to remain in the smug ignorance of their characteristic selves.

The difference between Aseity and Seity – Cosmism and individuality – is in name only. One is the subject of one’s Great Mind and the other of one’s small mind. It is due to such cognominal difference that Dasharatha Siḿha and Dasharatha Thákur are two different entities. But if we remove their surnames, the two are Dasharatha. This is as true of a metaphysical name as it is of a secular one. In the titleless condition both the transcendent unit and Brahma entities are identical. If Brahma is not the Witnessing Entity of His Cosmic Mind and if the unit also is not the subjective counterpart of his small mind, the two become one due to their objectlessness. Such a state is called Nirvikalpa Samádhi or the state of total absorption of the unit-mind in the Supreme Spirit.

So it is clear that due to its being a reflection of Consciousness, the individuality of the unit, too is omnipresent, omni-inherent and omniscient; but this individuality with its limitless cognitive potentials is unable to comprehend the state of Superperfection or Omneity due to its being the limited intellectual manifestation of the Máyáic mirror. With the disappearance of the influence of this Máyáic mirror, its reflected existence also disappears and it is then that it merges itself in the Original Entity – it regains its own characteristic self, its own homogeneous status.

In Nirvikalpa Samádhi or the stance of indeterminate contemplative contemplation, the causal mind is suspended due to the transcendency of Avidyá or Máyá and that is why that state is supersensible, beyond the comprehension of the senses. Following that state, after the break of that Samádhi or total mental suspension, when the faculty of senses and understanding returns, then alone one realizes that some unknown current of exhilaration from some unknown region has flooded one’s whole entity – is drifting it away to some ultra-sensual, pulsating realm of celestial bliss. Hence it is said that in a state of Nirvikalpa Samádhi the Sádhakas cannot understand whether they are in Nirvikalpa Samádhi nor can they say afterwards that they felt any such thing, for that state was a super-sensual ego-less one.

Tasya sthiti amánasikeśu

–Ánanda Sútram

After the break of that self-lost, ego-less abstraction, when the Sádhakas feel the return of their hazy egos drifting away in the current of exuberant joy, they then realize that their preceding state must have been a state of the loftiest ecstasy which is called Nirvikalpa Samádhi. The post-Samádhi condition is reminiscent of the state following a deep slumber. In a state of slumber people do not feel that they are sleeping. After waking up, when their Kámamaya Kośa or crude mind becomes active, they realize, as they think of their preceding state of void or insensibility, “I was so long asleep”. As much as the Sádhakas are able to establish their heroism after escaping from the Serpent-noose of Avidyá, the Extroversive Force, so much Ánandasvarúpa or Supreme Exultation they experience; they then become Ánandasvarúpa Himself, the Ánandamúrti or the very image of Ánanda or Bliss.

O how long doth my ego await Thy grace
To merge in Thy likeness without a trace?
When will Thy name so glorious divine
Bid warmest tear in these eyes of mine
And my body and soul with vibration reel
In joyous rhythm of blissful thrill?

Savikalpa Samádhi or the determinate suspension comprises the fullness of Vidyá Prakrti (Introversive Force); that is, the full establishment of the introversive momentum in the Sádhakas’ austere spiritual life – the absence of any Extroversive Force (Avidyá), and total cessation of their extroversive momentum. So in such a state the ego not only exists, it exists in its total fullness and completeness. This very ego in its Brahmá-ic mood evolves the universe, in its Viśńu-ic mood it preserves the universe and in its Shiva-ic mood it destroys the universe. In the three manifestations of this very ego lies the anchor of this universe – in this short-long-slow rhythm of creation-preservation-destruction lies the tether of space, time, and person.

Who is the causal factor of creation, preservation and destruction – Puruśa or Prakrti? Actually in the varied expressions of creation, preservation and destruction the all-knowing Consciousness remains unaffected and undistorted. All these expressions are but the dance of Prakrti herself in her own receptacle, the Cosmic Body – the scintillating sports of Energy on the bosom of Shiva or Puruśa. The immutability (aparińámitva) of the Puruśa entity never was, never is and never will be affected[[, for the word]] “immutable” (aparińámii) means to be beyond the purview of space, time and person. The waves created on the bosom of Shiva by the dance of Prakrti, have not changed and cannot change His true characteristic Self. The flower with its red colour is coming close to the mirror and going far from it. Such a sight makes one think that the mirror itself has become red and is moving forwards and backwards. But what is the reality? The mirror remains as motionless as it always was, does it not? Satya, Sat and immutability are indeed synonymous. He alone is the sympathetic reciprocator of all entities. In this reciprocation alone the relative existence of the entities is recognized. That is why He is the witnessing Consciousness of all the entities. Happiness or sorrow abides in the unit entities, the reciprocator only creates the suitable reflections. Hence He is beyond the compass of happiness and sorrow – He is the Bliss Absolute. So I say that the sweet, colourful, multi-expressive dance of Prakrti, on the bosom of Shiva, cannot influence Him at all. Shiva or Cosmic Consciousness is immutable: He is the witnessing entity. He is beyond the pale of pleasure and pain. Shiva is Sat (unchangeable), Cit (Consciousness), and Ánanda (Divine Bliss) – He is Saccidánanda.

Peace be with you.

Footnotes

(1) [[Mohar: A gold coin that was usually equivalent to about fifteen silver rupees. –Trans.]]

Chapter 2	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 3

Today’s discussion will be on “Vibration, Form and Colour”.

Vibration

From where does vibration come? Whenever an action takes place, its character is established by the nature of its waves and these waves are but vibrations, flowing through different channels. The relative transposition of objects is what we call action. And this is why every action has vibrations due to its movement. Just as action is of many varieties, so is vibration. Every action has its own vibrations. The vibrations of two actions are not identical. Had they been so, there would not have been any difference between the two actions. Vibrations occur according to the shock that emanates from a cardinal point, according to the type of action that takes place at that fundamental point. Have you ever thrown a stone into a pond and seen the result? According to the velocity or strength you apply of that stone, its vibrations also differ accordingly in wave-length and character. Here one more thing should be clearly understood and that is that the cause and controller of these vibrations also imbibes vibrations: it is also a vehicle of energy and not an inert, passive entity.

I will give you a good example of vibration in human body. Take, for instance, the case of anger. A great impact of a shocking provocation has taken place in your mind, as the result of which a great vibration or agitation has seized a particular portion of your brain. The next moment that agitation runs from your brain to your whole body through your nervous system with lightning speed. Then it can be understood that a paroxysm of rage has taken possession of your mind. As the result of this violent vibration in your nervous system, your face gets red and hot and your hands and feet tremble. None of your sensory or motor organs, particularly your motor organs, can function properly and your words become jumbled. Those who stammer a little in their speech, become conspicuously more stammering. People’s judgment and intelligence with which they keep mean propensities in check, become dulled by the impact of these violent vibrations. A furious man, regardless of place, time and person, resorts to wilful and indiscriminate vituperation. As an aftermath of this excessive physical and cerebral excitement, his brain becomes hot. He cannot think whether for right or wrong. His body and his internal glands begin to feel limp and depressed. His appetite forsakes him. Does it not happen like this?

Since in every action and in every entity there is vibration, human beings receive tanmátras (sensible or ultrasensible inferences) with the help of the vibrations emanating from an action as soon as it is performed, or from the presence of an object. Actually these vibrations themselves are tanmátras, for they carry the subtle, characteristic essence of an action or object and convey it to the sensory organs. Then again the vibrations of tanmátras of a sight or a scene which may sometimes be created by the motor organs, are received by the sensory organs of the perceiver. The various vibrations that we encounter in the world are divisible into five main tanmátras: sound, touch, form, taste and smell. We perceive them with the help of our sensory organs.

The perception of the difference in tanmátras is due to the differences in the vibrations, without the senses of sound, touch, etc. would lose their distinctive features. The vibrational lines in a record are made in a special way. When you bring into play those mute vibrational lines with the phonograph needle, a stir in the atmosphere is created which is but the reappearance of the original vibrations, the vibrations of sound waves, not those of touch, form, etc. That is why you hear the voice of the original reciter or singer, or the sound of the instrumentalists. As the form-waves were not recorded in the record, you cannot visually see the forms and features of the instrumentalists during their performance.

There is a sweet smell in the flower but it would have appeared odourless to you, had not the smell-tanmátras or waves been carried to the gates of your nose by the aerial vibrations. Then again you could not have sensed the existence of the airborne fragrance, had not sympathetic waves been created in your afferent nerves upon their contact with the fragrance-carrying breeze. Similarly you would not have sensed the sweetness of a delicious sweet, inspite of its contact with a particular region of your tongue, had not that contact created a particular type of vibration or sensation in your afferent nerves by means of your taste-organ.

The distinctiveness of vibrations or waves does not end here. After the contact of different types of things with the tongue, different types of contractions and expansions occur on different portions of the tongue and palate, as the result of which their respective vibrations are also different. It is because of these vibrational differences that chilli tastes pungent or hot, sugar tastes sweet and margosa tastes bitter. The interesting aspect of this is that we sometimes become confused and cannot distinguish one object from another if their vibrational differences are less. Such confusion sometimes arises between honey and molasses, among the seeds of tomato, chilli and brinjal, and between a genuine diamond and a fake diamond. In individual life many of you must have noticed that water tastes a little sweet after taking neem. Chemically, there is not very much difference between bitterness and sweetness. By the vibrational influence of the hydrogen in the water, the bitter vibrations of the neem are turned into those of sweetness and we think that the water is sweet.

All that is comprehensible and graspable in the world is but a vibrational play. Just as the tanmátras of sound, touch, form, taste and smell are creating vibrations in our nerves by coming in contact with the gates of our sensory and motor organs, so our mind, being also similarly vibrated by these vibrations or waves, goes on transmuting the citta (mental plate) into the same forms of these waves. As a result we “see” elephants and horses, “hear” Puravi and Bhaeravii rágas, “touch” hot and cold, “taste” bitter and sweet and “smell” shiulii and rajaniigandhá flowers.

Now consider this vast universe. What is the characteristic of this universe? The universe is the psychic manifestation of the Macrocosm: His mind stuff is the universe, which we call the visible world. How did this Brahmic Citta come into being? The Citta is the static result of mental action. The apparently static or stationary entity that comes into being, as opposed to those entities influenced by the sentient (sattva) and mutative (rajah) forces, is created by the static force (tamah) of Prakrti – which, whether it is original or born of saḿskáras (past momenta), is nothing else but citta. The characteristic of the static force is to give form, to create or evolve resultants, to bring inertness or staticity. So citta, the resultative place of he mind, is dominated by the static force and takes the form of objects in the external world or objects created by the mind.

Wherever there is form, it is of momentary duration and of limited demarcation. The same holds true for the Cosmic Citta also. Hirańyagarbha or the Subjective Entity of the subtle Cosmic Mind is superlatively vast and in this way evolves the different fundamental factors. So His mental plate is also limitless, but however great its manifestation, it does have a shape. There is an aura of thought-waves revolving around the Cosmic Nucleus or Puruśottama, the nucleus of the Saguńa Brahma, as the result of which energy particles are created. The five fundamental factors – ethereal, aerial, luminous, liquid and solid – are the sequential metamorphoses of these energy particles, so this quinquelemental cycle is the resultant of the Cosmic thought-cycle; but this thought-cycle, too is the resultant of pure consciousness. Every revolution of that cycle is the playful manifestation of Prakrti that produces vibration sometimes in consciousness, sometimes in thoughts, sometimes in energy and sometimes in the so-called inanimate objects. This though-cycle, evolved in the Cosmic Nucleus, Puruśottama, is what is called the elliptical universe. All revolving material objects are controlled by both the centrifugal (avidyá) and centripetal (vidyá) forces; and as a result their totality looks somewhat elliptical. No matter how enormous the Cosmic Cycle is, it appears to be elliptical and thus it is called Brahmáńdá (Brahma or Supreme Entity: plus ańd́a or “egg”). Within the Cosmic Cycle every entity represents a different vibration; those small or great cycles, which revolve in a concordant harmony, keeping intact all their rhythms and tempos, are all modulated and attuned to the vast universal vibration. Their microcosmic individual waves find their self expression and development in that very vast universal vibration.

How did this elliptical universe come into being? The Cosmic Citta is the material cause of the world. But the mind stuff or citta finds expression or takes shape only when it comes in contact with psychic vibrations. So we may say that universe is the manifestation of the Cosmic Citta, born out of psychic vibrations. All the tanmátras of sound, touch, form, taste and smell that are composed of different kinds of vibrational currents resulting from the gradually crudifying expressions of the Cosmic Consciousness under the influence of the static principle of Prakrti. They are the analytic expressions of those universal rhythms or vibrations. Thus the visible world is created through the gradual crudifications of His thought-projection. The thought-waves, metamorphosing from subtle to the crude manifestations and then, on their way back to their nuclear origin from the crude to the subtle, assuming the mentally developed human form, are indeed guiding the thought-wave cycles towards their ultimate fulfilment. Since the world is His thought-projection, it may be said that this visible world is only His act of thinking and abides only in His imagination. Due to the vibration of Cosmic Citta these variegated forms have blossomed forth through newer and newer thoughts, forms and waves, following one another in succession.

What is imagination? It is psychic action or saḿvedana. Every action or sensation is vibrative. This universe which is created as the result of the saḿvedana of the Cosmic Mind, must move in accordance with the vibrational law of the thought-process. The internal expression of the five tanmátras takes place in the individual mind in a vibrational flow. Similarly, the vibrations of the Cosmic Mind, also create the tanmátras which the unit entity receives or holds with its own sensory and motor organs and its práńendriya. (The five vital airs, e.g. práńa, apána, samána, udána and vyána). The unit entity receives from the outside world the various tanmátras which pulsate in that very universal life.

What is the nature of this visible world? Each and every object is moving; none is immobile. Not a single entity in this universe is stationary. All are progressing, for none can be static even for a fraction of a second. Whether the mind likes it or not, whether the soul wants it or not, one has to run after things to come, leaving the present behind – this is Prakrti’s inexorable course. No matter how dear a person may be to me, I cannot hold that person for ever. Death with its outstretched powerful fangs is fast approaching to snatch my dear one away from me with its vicious grip. No finite entity is capable of thwarting its onslaught, for all finite entities are subject to time and Máyá. Only the essence of all His evolved entities – His characteristic Self that remains as the unexpressed witness of all is supratemporal, beyond the orbit of time. The real awakening of any entity depends on its ability to realize its characteristic self, and in such a state of awakening, the question of station or motion, progress or regress does not arise.

I have already said that relative transposition of objects is action. An action imbibes motion, rhythm and vibrations, and out of these vibrations flow the tanmátras. The vibrations which are excited in the mind through the intake of tanmátras corresponding to one’s vrttis or particular bent of mind, will be just opposite to those created by tanmátras, which do not correspond to one’s particular vrttis. The former will be pleasant and the latter will be painful. Generally the easier the intake of the impact of vibrations, the more pleasant is the effect and the more difficult the vibrational intake, the more painful or sorrowful is the effect. So the vibrational state in which the citta seeks to remain is called happiness (sukham) and that in which it does not want to remain is called grief (dukham). Even when the object of happiness or sorrow that comes to us as the result of the past reactive momentum of our previous lives, creates any great vibration, we are very often incapable of receiving it at all. Finding someone in such a serious predicament, we say “The man’s mind has received a serious shock. Will he be able to endure it?” At times, as the result of a great shock and due to extreme tension in the nervous system, a person may even die of heart failure. Suppose someone’s dearest relative has died. Naturally, this news will give her mind a great shock. If her mind possesses even a little strength to check the inroad of such a vibration, she will be able to bear it. We call a person “tough” who has greater power of resistance and endurance. Even if a person who lacks such power of endurance survives, even if her heart does not stop, her mind will readily stop functioning. We then say that the woman has become unconscious or is in a coma. Hysteria in women with weak minds and nerves is due to some extent to this vibrational shock; but we call it a disease, for here the weakness is rather excessive.

Similar is the impact of happiness. This shock is also not easy to endure and absorb. If an abjectly poor man suddenly receives a lakh of rupees, the strong vibration of the news that arises in his mind, will violently agitate his whole nervous system. Such a highly vibrative news may even put an end to his life for his limited strength may not be able to bear such vibrational waves. Suppose while your mother is taking her dinner, you receive the news of her father’s death, a great vibration will arise in her mind. If she is informed of this news suddenly, her limited strength may not be able to endure that violent vibrational force. In such a case the news should be disclosed to her gradually, by slow degrees, so that her mind will be able to gain sufficient strength to withstand the vehemence of that vibration. You may start with, “No news from grandpa for quite a long time. I wonder how he’s getting on.” On hearing this, an ominous, premonitive vibration will arise in the corners of her mind but even this you should say after her dinner is finished. Then after a while, you may add, “Maybe grandpa is very ill and that is why there is no letter.” This will further strengthen her mind. Then you may say, “Perhaps he is no more. No wonder, he was quite aged, wasn’t he? But indeed his life is so precious to us.” At last you break the news slowly and cautiously.

The power of enduring different kinds of vibrations varies in the same person in different conditions. So you should never suddenly break any news of great joy or great sorrow to anyone. First prepare the ground – create the right atmosphere for the mind and then bring the news to their knowledge. If you can gradually create the right type of waves, the strength to withstand the strain of the vibrations will come by itself. Thus, you should first tell the poor man “If you get a hundred rupees, what will you do with the money?” Then you give him a stronger dose: “If you could get a thousand rupees in a lottery, what would you do with it?” In this way you go on creating more and more pleasant vibrations in his mind – you go on habituating him to greater and greater shocks of happiness, and then at last you tell him he has won a prize of a lakh of rupees in the lottery. You will then see that as a result he can maintain his mental balance to a great extent.

The stamina to stand vibrations differs in different people. Hence various degrees of happiness or sorrow are experienced by different people, and these differences depend on their respective mental constitutions. The subtle causes of these different mental constitutions are their acquired saḿskáras or reactive momenta, and the crude causes are their nerve cells, nerve tissues, glandular secretions, etc. The sudden vibrational impact on the body and mind makes the mind react violently, resulting in the cessation of the cardiac functions. This also explains the death of a person struck by lightning. The sudden contact of the eyes with an extremely dazzling radiance often results in the total impairment of vision. If we look directly at the brilliant sun for a few moments, our visual power becomes temporarily stunned and we cannot see anything for some time. Similarly, when some very high pitched or loud sound strikes the eardrum, the power of hearing may be destroyed. The sensitivity of every organ may be suspended by the impact of any violent vibration; this stupefaction, if the intensity of the vibrational impact is very great, may even become permanent. Yet sometimes powerful vibrations may help stimulate and restore the power of organs which have not been functioning for years. You must have heard of a person who had been blind or deaf and dumb since his childhood, regaining the lost power of his impaired organs in his latter years either by stroke of lightning or by being suddenly informed of an extremely happy or sad news.

In this visible world you receive tanmátras in accordance with your strength and ability. When the tanmátric vibration is more powerful than your strength or capacity, you are unable to receive it. Similarly, when the vibrational momentum is more slow and slack than your power of perception, you cannot receive it either. If people whisper in a soft voice, you cannot hear them – there you become deaf. Then again, if there is a very loud noise somewhere nearby, you cannot hear that either, for your hearing has been stunned – here too you are deaf. Your system may easily endure petty mental afflictions and in that case you do not cry before people. Then when you are filled with extreme grief you become so dazed and bewildered that in this case, too, you do not cry before people. You have seen a child suddenly stops crying in the midst of intense suffering. We call it “choked in crying”, for the child is unable to endure the violent sorrowful vibrations. You can tolerate a small pain with a smiling face and people cannot detect your hurt. An intense pain stuns you into unconsciousness and then, too, people are not aware of it. You are able to utter pathetic cries of “Ah” and “Oh” only in the intervening state to embellish your plight.

You cannot perceive the essences of ultra-subtle and ultra-crude entities: it is beyond your mental capacity to receive their vibrational waves and that is why, you cannot normally detect their existence. There are many birds and reptiles that can receive the premonitive vibrations of an event before its actual materialization. A frog detects the pre-indication of rains long before many other living beings do: it catches the premonitory vibrations beforehand and keeps croaking the announcement of the forthcoming happiness to the four winds. Normally humans, however, cannot know anything before the rain actually starts, for the requisite subtle mechanism to receive the pre-rain vibrations is not well developed in them. So for forecast they have to take recourse to meteorology and use a special type of scientific instrument.

A crow has a natural premonitive instinct regarding storms. An owl and to some extent a dog can sense beforehand the possible occurrence of an earthquake or some other unforeseen natural calamity of great magnitude. Such power of apprehending phenomenal vibrations exists not in ten or twenty but in innumerable species of birds. Such a power is indeed of paramount necessity in their rigorous struggle for survival. Such a power did exist, too, to some extent, among the prehistoric people. But today, in this age of so-called civilization, human beings, having become extremely ease-loving, have lost that power through misuse and lack of necessity; just as their tails, their ability to move their ears and their capacity to hold things with their feet have disappeared. Now the hairiness of their bodies and the strength of their teeth and nails are also becoming extinct. The greater the preoccupation of creatures with the struggle for existence, the necessarily greater must be their power of premonition or prescience of impending danger, or else their existence will be effaced from the surface of the earth – this is the law of nature.

Those creatures that pulsate in the darkness of the deep sea are blind due to the darkness; and hence by natural law, just as their bodies possess the power to radiate light, so as weapons some of them possess sensitive spines, some have glandular poison jets and some have attractive voices. With the help of these, they compensate for their lack of visual perception of form-vibrations and preserve their own existence by their subtler reception of other tanmátras or vibrations.

The capacity of an instinctively wicked person to absorb vibration differs somewhat from that of an average person. The amount of beating that might endanger the life of average people, may be easily borne by those who are instinctively wicked. Very often they remain quite unconcerned about the bleeding that pours out of their cuts and wounds – rather they feel relieved from such bleeding. Such people can also perceive the premonitory hints of nature. In other words in such matters their ways, to some extent, correspond to those of the sub-human creatures. Yet to attain such power even a virtuous person has to perform sádhaná or spiritual practice most diligently.

Living beings receive the vibrations of tanmátras according to their respective mental and physical constitutions. Take, for instance, a very tiny particle like an atom. From this also form tanmátras or vibrations emanate, but human eyes normally cannot perceive these extremely minute vibrations. So human beings have to bring them within the scope of visibility of their sight organs with the help of a microscope or other such instruments. Thus apprehending the vibrations of these minute entities is beyond the capacity of the human sensory organs. Remote sounds or inarticulate vocal expressions may not be normally heard by your ears; for this you will have to take the help of a microphone or a loud speaker, because perceiving these sounds is beyond the range of your ear-organ. There are several tiny creatures that produce faint noises: they are hovering all around you, yet you cannot hear their sounds. You cannot hear the sounds of Calcutta with your crude acoustic power, but through a radio you can receive them very easily, for your radio receiver has a far greater power than yours to receive distant sound-waves. You receive from the aerial vibrations what had been received by the radio receiver and then transmitted by it again into the ocean of air. So it is clear that there are distinctive differences in the vibrational reception of different instruments, and humans and animals receive tanmátras according to the respective capacities of their different sensory mechanisms.

Form

A diagram can be made of every kind of vibration which you can normally see with your eyes or with the help of a particular instrument. For example, when sound-waves are recorded in a phonograph record, you can see those lines on the record with your crude eyes. Then when these soundwaves are again vibrated in the air by the phonograph needle, you can then apprehend the sounds with your organ of ear.

Does only what you see with your eyes have a form and not anything else? No, not at all: all vibrations have forms. Every tanmátra has a form and this form is the resultant of its vibrational expressions. Viewing this vast Cosmic Citta, which we call the Universe, we exclaim in awe, “Oh how vast”. This, too, has a form – this, too, is the resultant of vibrations. Because of its vastness this Cosmic Citta is sometimes called formless, for its form has no limit. It is limitless not because it has neither beginning nor end, but because every infinitesimal fraction of it is flowing through innumerable forms, through countless vibrational expressions towards the inconceivable glory of the ocean of forms. It is a passing show – a panorama of transient phenomena – a changing reality. This vast vibration of the Supreme Spirit, this inconceivable expression of the Supreme Exultation – this thought-projection of the metempiric Entity, your ordinary organs have no power to apprehend. Your sight-organ cannot apprehend the vibrations of this Super-form nor can your crude ears receive its vast sound waves. Where there is vibration, there is sound. The universe is His imaginative thought-projection which is also vibrational, and so it has a sound also. But the amount of self-development that is required to perceive that supramundane sound is generally lacking in human beings. As long as they are aware of their individuality, they cannot receive the vibrations of the Great in the fullest measure, since all the powers of individuals are more or less limited. You can feel any object by touch but you cannot say, “I am touching the Supreme Brahma.” You do not have that sensory capacity, for the power that is required to touch Him is not so developed in you.

Sound

The vibration of the vast Cosmic Citta that has been flowing pauselessly through eternity is called Oṋḿkára. You have been hearing so many kinds of sounds and yet you are unable to perceive that eternal sound which is the seed of all sounds. To apprehend these sound waves, an extremely powerful instrument is necessary: the acoustic mechanism in your body at present is too pitifully weak for the purpose. Your instrument of hearing should be immeasurably more powerful than any radio-set that receives soundwaves from the air. Since your weak instrument is quite incapable of apprehending that sound, you are doubtful about the existence of such a phenomenon. But in order to receive the vibrations of the Infinite, you will have to identify your citta or mind and all your organs with that Infinite. Then alone will you be able to merge yourself in the Supreme Vibrational Exultation, surging through your theopathic trance. It is only when your “I” feeling and His, become one, that you can know and hear His mind – that you can experience His sound with every molecule of your being. Then your unit-mind will merge in the Cosmic Mind. In that auspicious moment when your “I” and the Cosmic “I” will meet in the supreme reunion, all your egotistic frivolities, fevers and frets will cease. An inexhaustible stream of symphony will then flow blissfully in the great void.

Now the question may arise whether the different varieties of sound that arise in the universe are the same or different from those of the Cosmic Mind. Are your footsteps, when you walk, the mute witness of your silence or are they the expression of your motivity? What you eat is also sonorific. Every small or great action of your life, every clash of vrttis (desires), every venous vibration is eloquent of a language. Tranquil mountain ranges, flowing streams and river, dense forests – none are mute, none are silent. They are all absorbed in an inexpressible sonorific meditation. Only those who have ears can hear them. None of these sounds is distinct from that Cosmic Sound, from that boundless sonic manifestation. All are Its inseparable flows. All are manifestations of one and the same Oṋḿkára. And yet due to our analytical minds we perceive these different manifestations to be different types of sounds. Consider, for instance, a village market place. What do you hear from a distance? A medley of howls, is it not? But as you approach nearer to the village, you will notice that the cacophony of sounds becomes differentiated into various meaningful sentences or words: “Give me a kilo of brinjals.” “Your potatoes are too small,” and so on. The some total of all these utterances becomes a howl. Just as all the sounds of the market place have been blended and united into one roaring soundwave, similarly all the sounds of the universe are merged into one Oṋḿkára, the unified form of all sounds. As every action is vibrative, so every expression of the Cosmic Citta is vibrational. Among all the vibrational tanmátras, the subtlest is the sound tanmátra. That is why the sound tanmátra is the first stage of crudification of the subtle mental sphere into the crude physical world. Oṋḿkára is the initial manifestation, the first supersonic expression of the Cosmic Citta; thus, it is called Shabda-Brahma or Sonic Consciousness.

Touch

When you touch some particular object, your individual ego derives pleasure. But your individual ego never feels, “I am touching Brahma”. To feel His touch, your power of touch has to be transported to the realm of infinity: Only if the petty “I” can lose itself in the infinite Cosmic “I” can one feel the touch of that Cosmic “I”. When you touch any object for your own pleasure (and generally you do touch objects for pleasure’s sake), your ego becomes limited to the desire of enjoying that particular object, and thus, you deprive yourself of the pleasure of Cosmic contact.

So now you can understand that as long as you crave for your own selfish happiness, the happiness of the Cosmic touch will continue to elude you. So take your small “I” with all its pettiness towards the Great – enlarge and broaden it. Be one with that Sublime Entity and then alone can you truly attain Him. When you attain that Cosmic Bliss, you will no longer desire any fragmentary pleasure of the world. When your entire identity is saturated through and through with the nectar of the Great, can your existence then remain as a separate entity? Can the waves of smallness ever overwhelm you?

Now the question arises: will human beings give up all their worldly occupations after the attainment of this Brahmic happiness? Why should they? Those whose lives are saturated with the sweet nectar of Cosmic Bliss. Will go on performing even more perfectly all their worldly duties as the cherished tasks assigned by Brahma Himself. They will not be concerned about their own happiness or pleasure in any work. For the collective happiness of all creatures in the universe they will continue to discharge all their responsibilities carefully and painstakingly, for the collectivity of the universe is the Life of their lives, the Soul of their souls – Brahma. They will employ their insignificant ego to further the happiness of the Great Ego:

Áma sukhadukha gopii ná kare vicára
Krśńa sukha hetu kare sab byábahár
Krśńa vina ára sabai kari parityága,
Krśńa sukha hetu kare’ shuddha anurága.

–Caetanya Caritámrta

[The milk maids forget their weal and woe,
For Krśńa’s joy they reap and sow.
All, save Him, doth repugnant seem,
Their purest love for His happiness trim.]

And what is the result? Those sádhákas or spiritual aspirants who forget their own happiness and sorrow and go on performing the desired tasks of Brahma, do not seek anything for themselves – they desire only to give Him happiness. But strange are the ways of God! As the result of such selfless love the Sádhakas themselves experience inexhaustible happiness: they feel in their heart of hearts how blessed is their little ego as an instrument of His Grace.

Gopi darshane Krśńer ye ánanda hay,
Tadapekśá kot́iguńa gopii ásvádaya.

–Krśńadása Kavirája

[The sight of Milk-maids is Krśńa’s joy
But multifold more do they enjoy.]

The human mind, small as it is, cannot apprehend the collective tanmátras of the supreme perfection. In order to realize that supreme perfection human beings will have to give up their “I”-ness – they will have to merge their petty “I”-feeling, in the great “I” feeling. And what is this petty I feeling? It is just like a pot full of water in a pond. Both the water in the pot and the water in the pond are intrinsically one. To unite these two waters, the intervening pot has to be removed. After the removal of the pot, there remains no distinction between the water of the pot and the water of the pond – both become one.

Jalameiṋ kumbhaka kumbha meiṋ jala hae,
Báhar bhitar pánii
Phat́á kumbha jala jala hi samáná
Yah tattva bujhae jiṋánii.

–Kabir

[Water in jar and jar in water
Waters both, yet separate surge;
None but the wise can see through better
Let the jar break, and the waters merge.]

The cause of this apparent distinction between Brahma and the unit entity is this pot, or the mind of the small “I”. If Brahma is the sky, then the petty “I” is the jar-like sky-let. The merger of this vast sky and the sky-let is the final realization, the fulfilment of all desires – the eternal death.

Veder ábhása tui ghatákásh
Ghater náshake marań bale.

–Rámaprasáda

[Proud of ken, as vast as the sky,
Knoweth ye, fool, thou, shadow of high
Thy body is but an earthen pot
Crumbling into dust is its final lot.]

If a salt doll goes to measure the sea, it will melt into it. Neither can it measure the sea, nor will it ever return, its existence will merge into the vastness of the sea, releasing it from all cares and worries. If one wishes to take the form of the sea, one will have to become the sea itself; there is no other way. None of His qualities has any limit. His fragmentary manifestations are all passing through unlimited forms, due to His ceaseless imaginative flow: none of them is an end in itself. So no one can hold any of these manifestations in his/her possession permanently. Any transformation means relinquishing the old form, willingly or unwillingly; if you do not forsake the old you will not be able to embrace the new. The essence of the matter is that He is infinite. If you want to realize His characteristic Self, you have to earn limitlessness yourself.

Colour

Among the vibrations in this created world, colour occupies the position of secondary importance after the sound tanmátra. All forms in this universe are chromatic and the distinction between objects is indeed discernible through colour, for colour indicates the attributional difference. The three binding principles of Saguńa Brahma, sattva (sentient), rajah (mutative), and tamah (static), are also colour. Whenever there is an excess of sattva in any particular entity, the vibrations emanating from that object will be sentient. If you perceive those sentient vibrations with your eyes, or through any other means, you will find that they have created a white colour on your mental plate or Citta. Thus, the vibration of colour indicates the attribute or quality of an entity. Sattva is white, rajah is red, and tamah is black. The greater degree of purity, the more predominance of sattva and proportionately whiter in colour. That is why in India whiteness and purity are often used synonymously. What is this white colour? White is not a colour; it is the combination of all colours. And what is black colour? Black is also not a colour; it is the absence of all colours. That is why black is the symbol of inertness, for it is the colour of the static principle. It is due to the absence of any vibration or one’s inability to apprehend them that an object appears black. In darkness we see everything as black.

A difference in forms means a difference in colours. While tamah is the prototype of staticism, sattva is diametrically the opposite. Although Saguńa Brahma possesses all three gunas, yet in Him, Sattva is dominant. Thus Saguńa Brahma appears to be effulgent white to the Sádhaka.

Hirańmaye pare kośam virajaḿ Brahma niśkalaḿ
Tacchubhraḿ jyotisáḿ jyotiśtad yadátmavidoviduh.

–Atharvaveda

But the question arises: Is Parama Puruśa or Supreme Consciousness characteristically coloured? The answer is “no”. All colours belong to Prakrti. The colour of that Parama Puruśa cannot be apprehended for He is beyond all colours.

Sa eko’varńo bahudhá shakiyogát
Varńánanekán nihitártho dahháti
Vicaeti cánte vishvamádao sa devah
Sa no buddhyá shubhayá samyunaktu.

–Yajurveda

He Himself is colourless. He has, however, emanated various colours with the help of Prakrti. Through Prakrti’s sentient, mutative and static principles, white, red, and black colours are created. That supremely benevolent entity is essentially sentient and this is intrinsically white. This white colour is composed of the seven component colours: violent, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. The universe is the play of these colours, like the seven-hued rainbow reflected in water, like the “Seven Horses” of the Puráńas.

The human mind is partial to appearances or forms of tanmátras and it is colour that impresses it most. You may recall that when your mind is attracted to any object, it is form that attracts you most. The science of chromatics is a wonderful science. The ploy of colours determines the affinity between object and object, animal and animal and between human and human. Due to this chromatic affinity we are attracted to an unknown person, even though we are not at all acquainted with him. You must have noticed in your individual lives that you like some people immediately without any apparent reason, and you hesitate to associate with other people, in spite of their widely publicized praise. Behind this experience is the same chromatic play, which you feel but cannot explain.

I have already told you that the sentient principle is white. So the people in whose minds white vibrations are flowing we call Sattvaguńii or sentient (also known as vipravarńa). The mutative principle is red. So those people whose minds are filled with red vibrations we call Rajoguńii or mutative. Due to the greater crudeness in the mutative principle, the Rajoguńii mind is more partial to crude activities than the sattvic one. Such mutative people are popularly considered to be of the Kśatriya Varńa or warrior temperament, possessing energy and valour. The sentient principle is cognitive, and the mutative principle is energetic. Vaeshyavarńa, the temperament of the business class is concerned with activities much cruder than those of the Vipra and the Kśatriya. Here the Citta or the mental plate is dominated by yellow vibrations, which are created by the combined influence of the mutative and static principles.

Those whose Citta is predominately influenced by the static principle, naturally possess a greater degree of inertness than others: they have neither the knowledge of the sentient persons nor the valour of the mutative ones nor the capacity for activating things of those dominated by the mutato-static principles. This static inertness or crudeness is black. Those whose minds are predominately black are popularly known as shúdras or the labour class. Thus all the colours are related to one’s mental waves, and according to these waves a person is called a Brahmin, Kśatriya, Vaeshya or Shúdra. But it should be emphasized that any person can achieve Vipravarńa by means of Sádhaná (spiritual practice). In order to change the form and colour of the vibrations, it is necessary to change the mental tendency. From the Puránas we know that the King Vishvámitra was a Kśatriya in the early part of his life, but he attained Bráhminic qualities through Sádhaná. Lord Krśna’s father, Vasudeva, was a kśatriya. His relative Nanda of Gokul, was a Vaeshya for he earned his living through dairy farming. Still another of his relatives, Garga Muni, who christened Krśńa was a Vipra.

The indication of colour is most glaring in the form-tanmátras. But it is not found only in the form-tanmátras. Whenever there is vibration there is tanmátra, and there is colour as well. If the proper instrument is used the colour and the subtle form of every vibration can be detected. Where there is a line, a form must necessarily be there. According to the rhythm of the vibration, sound must also be present. Any variation in the rhythm will cause variation in the sound and colour as well. The radiated vibration of an object in an object in the day will be quite different from that of the same object in the night due to differences in the light-waves, and so the object will appeal differently to your eyes. Why? Because it changes its colour. Since mundane vibrations are mainly dependent upon the sun, the vibrations of the human nervous system vary according to the presence or absence of the sun in the sky. Daylight imposes mutative influence on the human nerves and night-time imposes a static influence, causing the inertness of sleep in the body and mind. The periods of sunrise, sunset, moon and midnight (the sandhyás) bring about a sentient transparency in the Citta. Thus, it is clear how great is the vibrational influence of the variability of colour, sound and mood, and people are naturally disposed to such influences. Ladies are not inclined to choosing expensive saris or cloths at night, for the colour is not then properly discernible.

We apprehend phonic as well as alphabetical difference quite accurately due to these vibrational differences. Short, long or galloping intonations are merely degrees of vibrational differences. The differences in Svaravarńas (vowels) and Vyaiṋjanvarńas (consonants) are also totally dependent on the difference in their vibrational characteristics. In the Saḿskrta language, the letters of the alphabet are called Varńas or colours and all the consonants end in the first vowel “a”. So you see that Varńa-Paricaya (the first book of the alphabet) literally means “acquaintance with colour” and this colour is, of course, the colour vibration. The Giitá also says that the four Varńas or castes are evolved from the differences of attributes of activities. The differences in attributes account for the differences in activities and the differences in activities account for the differences in colours. With the change of attributive activity, the colour will also change. Hence the distinction of Varńa or caste in social life is not an unchangeable or inviolable institution. The varńa has evolved according to one’s activities and by changing one’s activities one can change the caste.

Paramátman or Saguna Brahma is a beginningless, endless, continuous flow. He is the Supreme Ocean of essences. You with your limited capacity cannot apprehend this Ocean in its entirety; you can only receive one or another of His limited unit manifestations, which you perceive with your mind through its vibrations. But such unit entities are not the whole Brahma. He is beginningless and His forms are countless and limitless. To attain Him you have to become beginningless and endless yourself and the only way to do this is to merge your little “I” into the great “I”. It is only in such a state that you will realize His characteristic Self, with the help of your subtle cognition – then you will always recognize your true essence in your own original Self. Always remember, “Where ‘I’ is, ‘He’ is not. Where ‘He’ is, ‘I’ is not.”

Incidentally, the question may arise why Ananda Marga does not support idolatry. You are endeavouring to realize that endless flow of joy, to evolve your own consciousness to that blissful state. How can you apprehend that endless blissful flow through a particular limited object? In the worship of idols the tendency of the human mind is extroversial, and in this way human beings gradually degrade their minds from the awareness of that Infinite Supreme Entity. Their extroverted minds run after the crude, and as the result of this persistent pursuit of crude objects, they themselves gradually become crude. Discarding all vagaries of pleasure and pain, human beings have to progress from the mortal world towards immortality, towards the touchstone of Absolute Bliss – and when this is attained, everything is attained. Their movement should be towards the calm tranquillity of the soul, forsaking the humdrum of external life. But they will never be able to attain this as long as they involve themselves with idols, apprehensible through the indriyas or organs. They will proceed more and more towards crudeness and negativity, enmeshing themselves deeper in worldly bondages, and ultimately reach a state of oblivion – instead of attaining the ultimate goal of introversion of the evolutionary flow. Their cosmic ideal will become blurred in the darkness of petty desires. Misled in the illusory sports, they will lose sight of the master Sportsman – they will lose their Divine Mother behind Her toys. In the Padma Puráńa, Viśńu says to Shiva, –

Svágamaeh kalpitaestvaiṋca janám madvimukhán kuru.
Maiṋcagopaya yena syad srstireśottarottará.

“O Shiva! You have turned people away from me by your imaginary scriptures (Ágama). And as I am kept hidden from the eyes of people, the lifespan of creation goes on increasing.”

The worship of crude idols makes the worshippers crude, and stimulates their lower sentiments. Such worship is like a child’s game going on in the name of Brahma. The Tantra says –

Bálakriidańavat sarvaḿ rúpanámádikalpanam,
Kevalam Brahmaniśt́ho yah sa mukto’nátra saḿshayah.

Worshipping a crude object as Paramátma is nothing but child’s play. Living beings can achieve salvation only by worshipping Brahma.

Na muktirtapanáddhomádupavasahshataerapi
Brahmaeváhamiti jiṋátvá mukto bhavati dehabhrt.

–Tantra

By observing such ceremonial fasts as austerities like Ekádashii (the eleventh day of the lunar month) or Purńimá (full moon) or by religious sacrifices (Homa), Brahma will never be realized. Human beings can achieve salvation only through knowledge, and true knowledge never recognizes such superficial rites and rituals as a means of attaining Brahma. Of course, if anyone fasts for his physical health, it is beneficial – but certainly not as a means of attaining Brahma. Is it not that the idol one worships is wholly an expression of the idolator’s fanciful imagination? That which is purely a human creation – that which owes its form to the handicraft of a potter or an imagemaker – is nothing but a crude object. No matter what its subtle emotional connations may be, its foundation is crude. Before our very eyes it becomes distorted decayed and destroyed, how can this vulnerable object, born of your imagination, give you salvation?

Manasá kalpitá múrtirnrnáḿ cenmokśasádhanii,
Svapnalabdhen rájyena rajáno mánavastada.

–Tantra

In the world of reality the imagined form of God has no existence at all, and so it has no power of activity. If someone inherits a kingdom in a dream, does he actually become a king?

Mrcchiládhátudarvádi murtaviishvarabaddhaya
Klishyantastapasa jiṋánam bina moksam na yanti te

–Tantra

Can you bind God to an image made of clay, rocks, metal or wood, infusing life into it by chanting mantras for show? Though the image is but a small thing, the temple is much larger and yet Brahma is far greater than even the temple – He is beginningless and endless. The image, the temple all are within Him. How can anyone confine Him in a crude form? Such idolatry will lead you to sufferings. Until you practise intuitional science sincerely your troubles will never cease. So you see, idolatry is not only accepted in the Puráńas as the proper way to worship; rather it has been opposed by them as well.

Some people say that in the first stage they will worship an image for concentration of mind and then gradually give up the practice later on. Such an approach is not correct, for they will eventually become attached to the image and it will be very difficult to remove the resultant Saḿskára (acquired momentum) of that attachment. You must have noticed at home how attached you become to your cats and dogs after having kept them for some time as your pets. Imagine, then, how difficult it will be for you to give up that image which you have worshipped as your beloved Lord with all the sweetness of your heart. So from the very start it is best not to indulge in image worship. Just as a flood after it recedes leaves behind a mark on the river-bank, so the staunch idol worshippers, too, find it painfully difficult to remove the impression of that Saḿskára, even when they learn the introversial worship of Brahma and attain the ability to reach Nirvikalpa Samádhi. You will find this in the biography of a recent great Sádhaka who had to face a similar difficulty. One should avoid this predicament from the very start.

Yet, only opposition to idolatry is not enough: the worship of Brahma should be done scrupulously, or else you will later regret and bemoan the futility of your life with the last drop of your tears at your last hour. You should make your life worthwhile through your Sádhaná. How much can your worldly friends and relations do for you? After your death your relatives may perhaps ask, “How much money has he left behind?” Your friends may go to the crematorium and indulge in flattering reminiscences about you. Your husband or wife may cry for you for about ten or twelve days and then regain their normal composure. Your lot will be only a profound sigh – a record of the futility and frustration of your life. So do not waste your time lest you later have to repent.

Vrthá janma goináyaluin hena Prabhu ná bhojaluin
Khoyáyalu soha guńanidhi,
Hamár karama manda na milala eka bunda
Premasindhu rasaka abadhi.

[

Fruitless, O Lord, has been my life
That sang not of glories Thine;
Lost in the worldly strife
And lost Thee, most precious treasure of mine.

Fate’s long and ominous hand
With compassion, cold and daft,
Strayed me out of Thy Love’s strand
Deprived, alas of a single Draught.

]

People may ask, “We are ordinary people. If we always keep ourselves absorbed in the thought of Brahma, can we properly attend to our worldly duties?” To this my reply is, of course you can, and you will do them still more beautifully. In the worship of Brahma there is a method by which easily and perfectly every worldly duty can be performed. For the ideation on Brahma a person does not have to become a hermit in the forest. Only go on behaving rightly and properly with every manifestation of Brahma in this universe – remove or rectify the mental disease of the criminals and reform their characters, cure the sick of their sickness, and arrange for their medicines and their diet. Just remember only this: that you have to behave properly and reasonably with every entity of this world. Pay special attention to the word “properly”. By “proper behaviour”, I mean that in which there is neither anger or jealously, neither attraction nor aversion.

You exist in a vast, limitless ocean of rasa or essences. A never-ending, radiant wave of manifestations is surging within and without you and radiating through all the ten directions – the indescribable vibrational expressions of small and great, accented and unaccented, eternally flowing thought-waves. Behave properly and reasonably with every expression, with every manifestation of the Cosmic mind. But always remember the One, Who is the essence of all these diverse vibrational manifestations. Train yourselves in the ideal of the lily, which blossoms in the mud and has to keep itself engaged in the struggle for existence day in and day out, parrying, bracing and fighting the shocks of muddy water and the force of storms and squalls and various other vicissitudes of fortune; and yet it does not forget the moon above. It keeps its love for the moon constantly alive. It seems but a most ordinary flower: there is nothing extraordinary about it. Yet, this most ordinary little flower has a romantic tie with the great moon. It has focused all its desires on the moon. Similarly, perhaps you are an ordinary creature – perhaps you have to pass your days in the ups and downs of worldly existence – yet do not forget that Supreme One. Keep all your desires inclined towards Him. Always keep yourself merged in His thought. Go deep into the mood of that Infinite Love. By this your worldly activities will not be hampered in any way.

Kumud candramá dúrete rahiyá yemati rákhaye priiti,
Temati Shrii Rádhá kánu páne cáhi grha káj kare niti.

[Farther from the moon, yet nearer to him Lily unquelled by her troubles grim; So’s Radha’s love for her Krśńa Her hand to work and her heart to Him.]

No matter what circumstances you are in, never lose sight of the Infinite One. Degradation is impossible for those who have accepted the Supreme Being as the Ideal of their lives. Indulging in mean thoughts only engenders crude vibrations in the Citta, as the result of which you will have to take rebirth in lower species in order to suffer the lowly Saḿskáras created by those crude vibrations. Thus you must arouse higher vibrations in your Citta. Even a man of King Bharata’s calibre had to take rebirth as a deer because at the time of his death he was deeply anxious about a fawn. Thus regardless of what you are at present or what you may possibly become in the future, do not digress from the ideal of the Great in any circumstances: do not stray even a step away from the path of realization of Absolute Bliss. Ananda Marga or the path to eternal bliss is the only path for you.

Ki e mánuś pashu pákhi kii e janmiye
Athavá kiit́a-patauṋga
Karama bipáke gatágati punah punah
Mati rahe tuyá parasauṋga.

–Vidyápati

[No matter whether myself a man
Or beast or bird or insect be
Through virtue or sin, according to Thy plan,
Take my all but leave my mind for Thee.]

No matter what I become as the consequence of my deeds – human, animal or insect, let my mind never forget you. Poet Chandidasa said:

Baṋdhu kii ár baliba ámi
Janme janme jiivane-marańe
Práńanátha haeo tumi.

[O Friend of mind, sublime and kind
Words fail to express my mind
In life and death in pleasure and pain
Through every life may I be with my Lord again.]

Whatever be the consequence of your past deeds, your upliftment is guaranteed, if you have unflagging zeal to attain Brahma. Do not look back, look forward. Never take any limited material object for your worship. Accept only the loftiest entity for your contemplation. If your love for Him is genuine, you will ever remain in an Elysian exuberance. Pain will then mean nothing to you, nor will happiness either. When one’s movement is towards the Great, when one’s ardour is only for the Great, it is called Prema or Divine Love.

The attraction between one object and another is always chromatic, pertaining to rága or colour. The word rága is derived from the root rańj which means “dyeing”. Anurága means to dye one’s mind with the colour of that Infinite Entity. Nothing will result from dyeing one’s clothes with saffron colour only for show. Dye yourself within. People of some particular religious creeds think that dyeing their clothes or bodies with a particular colour is a part of spiritual Sádhaná. But remember that is all useless, unless you are dyed within as well. Can a person become a shúdra only by wearing a dark dress, or a vipra by donning white garments? Mahatma Kabir used to say –

Mana ná ráuṋgáile ráuṋgáile yogi kápaŕá.

[Saffron and red do not a yogi make
With mind undyed he remains a fake.]

Dye your mind with His colour. Those who have not done so cannot attain Him, for this very coloration is Prema or Divine Love. The differences in colour are signs of distinction; without these differences there is identity. No external sign of Sádhutá or virtue is necessary. Became sádhu within. Behind the external show of virtuousness of many so-called sádhus exists a pharisaic state of mind. Preserve the true dignity of the word, Sádhu.

Múŕha múŕháye jat́á váŕháye masta phire jaesá bhaesá
Khalrii upar khák lágáye
Mana jaeśá to taesá.

[With shaven head or matted locks
And ashen body a Sádhu walks
With the swaggering gait of a well-fed buffalo.
And crude mind filled with thoughts mean and low.]

That is why I say that you must bring about a revolutionary change in the flow of your judgment and thought, and see how, after overcoming your fascination with external colour, your mind becomes tinged with the His glorious colour. In Ananda Marga Sadhana, the method of withdrawing the mind from degrading tendencies, and absorbing oneself in the colour of the Great, is called Pratyáhára Yoga (the yoga of withdrawal) or Varńárghyadána (the offering of colours). All people have a particular attraction for one or another object or activity and as soon as they become attracted to an object, then their minds become coloured with the colour of that object. You can withdraw your mind from the colour of that object and dye yourself in His colour by offering Him the captivating colour of the object that has attracted you: this is the real Pratyáhára Yoga. The word Pratyáhára means “to withdraw” – to withdraw the mind from its object.

The main object of the Spring Colour Festival (Vasantotsava) is not playing with external colours; it is meant to offer Him the colours of different objects which have dyed the mind. When this practice of offering your own colours – your own attachments, becomes natural and easy, you will then merge in Him. Then you will have no need for any colour, for you will become colourless – you will go beyond the reach of any colour. Your unit-ego will become one with the Cosmic Ego. Whichever way you look you will see only Him in His ever-surging glory. There is no “I” nor “you”. By an everlasting, mutual pact the final curtain will have fallen on all clashes of “I” and “you”. At that stage, if you call Parama Brahma as “I”, you are right in calling Him so; if you call Him as “He”, you are equally right; and if you call Him as “you”, again you are correct. The extent of your attainment of Him will be proportionate to your self surrender.

Remember, you have to offer your own identity – not money, rice plantains or other crude objects. The give-and-take of crude things is a business transaction. If you want to attain the bliss of Brahma, you must offer your own self. If you want to have the Great “I”, you must give away your own little “I”. You have to give the full sixteen annas, (the full rupee). Giving fifteen annas and holding back one anna will not do. You must completely surrender. To attain that Infinite One with the help of your mental concentration and strength, you have to surrender yourselves. But, remember self-surrender does not mean suicide. On the contrary, your soul will have its full expression. Your existence will not become contracted, for contraction is inert in principle. Hence in the Sádhaná of self-surrender the ego is expanded, not contracted. In the Mahábhárata, when Duhshásana was pulling the sari of Draopadii, she was tightly holding the cloth to her body with one hand beseeching lord Krśńa with the other. “Oh! My lord, save me!” But the Lord did not then come forward to save her from shame. When Draopadii found no means of escape, she then released her hold on the cloth and appealed to the Lord most piteously with both hands out-stretched, crying, “O Lord, I surrender my all to you. Do what you think is best”. And the Lord immediately rescued her. That is why I say that you will have to dedicate yourselves to His feet wholly and unreservedly. You will earn godliness in proportion to the extent that you surrender yourselves, and finally, after merging that acquired godliness of yours in His Entity, you will attain eternal bliss.

God bless you.

Chapter 3	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 3

The subject of my discourse today will be Brahma Vijiṋána or The Intuitional Science of the Krśńa Yajurveda. There is an educative story in the Kát́hopaniśada of Krśńa Yajurveda. I will tell you something from the story, which discusses mainly pará and apará, introversive and extroversive knowledge, and shreya (supreme benevolence) and preya (mundane pleasure).

Naciketa the son of King Vájashravas, had been to Yama, the god of death, to learn Brahma Vijiṋána or any Intuitional Science. Yamarája did not at first want to teach him the Science but afterwards, being impressed by his ardent zeal, he started slowly unfolding the science.

By way of elucidating the differences between introversive knowledge and extroversive knowledge as well as between shreya and Preya, Yamarája said –

Anyacchreyo’nyadutaeva preyaste ubhe nánárthe Puruśaḿsiniitah;
Tayoshreya ádadánasyasádhu bhavati hiiyate’rthád ya u preyovrńiite.

Shreya and preya are both completely opposite in principle. But inspite of their being at variance, their dual influence are sometimes discernible on the human mind at the same time. The mixed influence of these two agitates the human mind simultaneously, and those who, without having discerned the implication of this agitation, get caught up in the sádhaná of preya distract themselves from their Paramártha or spiritual goal. “Artha” means that which causes the cessation of pain. This cessation is of two kinds – one is the momentary or temporary and the other is permanent. In temporary cessation, the possibility of the recurrence of pain has not been extinguished; with the removal of the temporary cause of the cessation, the previous state of pain comes back again. That which causes momentary or temporary cessation is called artha, and that which causes its permanent cessation, which destroys pain at the root or consumes it with seed, is called Paramártha. Preya or extroversive tendency gives human beings artha or temporary pleasure and relief, but keeps them away from paramártha, from spiritual bliss. But shreya is essentially benevolent, for it relieves pain forever and thus it is called Paramártha.

Preya is a matter of mental enjoyment only, not a means for the expansion of one’s soul. Suppose, some one is hungry; in such a case, Preya of food will help appease his hunger pains momentarily, but will they be appeased permanently? Today after eating some sweets one’s hunger may be satiated for the time being, but tomorrow you will find that hunger is its hungry self again. Try giving a certain amount of money to a person who is “hungry” for money. Will his greed cease? He will achieve only a temporary satisfaction, and he will continue to nurture this “hunger” in his mind. Similar is the case with crude medicines: the patient is cured temporarily but not permanently. There are but few ailments that, once gone, never return.

So, you see, preya is that which provides the wherewithal for apparent happiness. Even a wise man, inspite of his knowledge that such fleeting happiness is only short-lived, still runs after it, because human beings in general are not far-sighted. They are concerned only with the near future. Inspite of having a presentiment of some misfortune in the distant future they prefer to keep themselves absorbed in the oblivion of the present and the dreams of the near future. Such is the nature of human beings: they prefer to grab anything good or bad that comes their way, leaving the consequence for the future instead of proceeding firmly and assiduously to successfully attain some long-range goal.

Consider government servants for instance. If they go on discharging their duties honestly, their promotion is ensured; and in this way they will benefit not only themselves, but the government and the masses as well. But for lack of proper moral education and mental strength, many such government servants have failed to resist the temptation of taking bribes out of greed, for their temporary pleasure. They do not consider their good name and future prospect, which they treat as something remote. Rather they try to harm those who are honest and conscientious workers, considering them to be fools or enemies. Only those who are very much afraid of possible suffering run after temporary happiness. It is the weak-minded people that adopt preya sádhaná on account of their cowardly minds. This fear of approaching sorrow is the root of all evils, the only stumbling block in the path of advancement. If you try to give neem (margosa) to a boy suffering from worms, he will refuse to take it. Although he knows that the neem will cure him of his worms still he will not take it, because he is afraid of its repulsively bitter taste; yet he will gladly take sugar, for it gives him momentary pleasure. Sugar is his preya. He does not care that this very sugar will aggravate his disease. The road to preya is an easy one and that is why human beings run after it, stretching out their longing hands to grasp it with ease. But this preya, which is one attained with little or no difficulty, will one day recoil on them with the fiery scourge of a thousand scorpion stings.

Slander or malicious gossip is mental disease. But do you know why those who suffer from this disease give indulgence to it? Evidently they get some pleasure out of it. Gossip-mongers are generally lazy people: they never have the opportunity of enjoying the pleasure of working, for they themselves do not work. Hence, they seek to fill the void of their minds, to some extent, by maligning others. They are the champions of preya, for they fear the slight difficulties that the practice of shreya entails. These cowards only unleash their own mental pretensions before the public, glossing over their own hidden faults with the colourful language of slander. The climax of their cowardice occurs when any one of them is asked, “Did you say such-and-such things?” They reply without the least hesitation, “Not I – someone else said so – I don’t remember who.” Here, too, the only reason for their falsehood is the fear of suffering, lest their role in the slander be revealed and they have to suffer some disagreeable consequence. It is only out of fear that they seek to hide their misdeeds behind the screen of falsehood.

A truly intelligent person will never give any indulgence to the baseness of preya, for after giving momentary happiness, it will only become a source of a million-fold troubles. In preya grief is postponed only for the time being, but not permanently – seeking the services of a doctor for the treatment of some chronic ailment, morning and evening, all the year round, like momentarily forgetting the trials and tribulations of life under the intoxicating influence of wine – like forgetting the hard realities of the world in the benumbing drowsiness of opium. A wise person will seek lasting deliverance from sorrow, and this is the ultimate result of shreya sádhaná, not of preya.

Shreyashca Preyashca manuśyametastao sampariitya vivinaktidhiiráh
Shreyohi dhiiro’bhipreyaso vrńiite preyomando yogakśemád vrniite.

What do the wise people do? First, they judge within themselves with cool heads which is shreya and which is preya. The way of discrimination and judgment is to distinguish shreya from preya after close analysis. Humans are not inanimate but conscious beings. Their dominant feature is their mind with its power of judgment, and through this judgment, their intellect finds proper expression. It is not the way of human beings to run heedlessly after things regardless of whether they are shreya or preya; in every human action there should be the appreciable stamp of their intellect.

That humans are mind-preponderant beings – that in this regard they are the greatest of all living beings, is substantiated by the facts of their day-to-day activities. Inspite of being given kicks and blows, a dog or a cat runs after dried crumbs as soon as it sees them. But after insulting a man you will find it very difficult to appease him, no matter how many delectable dainties you place before him; for although human beings are living organisms, they are certainly not beasts.

When foolish people fail to make proper use of their intellectuality, they do behave like animals to some extent, for they run after the readily-pleasing preya, instead of shreya, the true path of virtue.

A man thinks his wife and children, wealth and property are his life’s sole objectives – the essence of his life. And as a result not only he himself suffers untold miseries from his pursuit of preya – he becomes instrumental in causing misery to others as well. Wives, husbands, and children are not everything in life. This the preya-sádhaka refuses to understand, but the shreya-sádhaka does indeed realize it. The Yama says to Nachiketa, “You are truly wise, since you have chosen shreya not preya. You do not want to rob your life of its worth.” The Yama says –

Sa tvaḿ priyán priyarúpámshca
Kámánabhidhyá yáyánnaciketo tyasráksiih
Naetáḿ srunkáḿvittamayiimavápto
yasyámmajjanti bahavo manuśyáh.

Preya is of two kinds – priyabháva or endearing sentiment, and priyarúpa or endearing features. What is priyabháva or endearing sentiment? The paper-money or coin of aluminium and zinc of today has the same attraction as it had when money used to be of pure silver. An ungainly uncouth son arouses the same affection in his parents as a handsome son does. Does this attraction for money or son pertain to their features? No, this attraction is sentimental: it has nothing to do with external features.

On the other hand, people at times run after the external features of things, instead of taking into account their intrinsic worth. Generally it is noticed that people run more after charming and glittering objects: such attraction is not sentimental but superficial – they are running after extrinsic splendour. These sentimental and superficial affections are both preya, not shreya, for here the intrinsic factors are not taken into consideration: there is not desire for lasting peace. Those objects of preyas which are enjoyable by the unit mind, are fragmentary. Such attraction for fragmentary objects of pleasure is called káma or mundane longing. And the attraction for the integral One, for the Great “I”, is called Prema or Divine Love. The movement of káma is towards unit entities and hence it is extroversial; the movement of prema is towards the Soul, towards Supreme Peace, and thus it is introversial.

Átmendriya Priiti-iccá táre bali káma,
Krśnendriya priiti-iccá dhare prema náma,
Kámer tát parya nija sambhoga keval,
Krśńa sukha-bánchá hay premete praval.

–Caetanya Caritámrta

[Passion is towards the ego inclined
Passion divine is Love Divine
Passion’s aim is self-gratification
Passion for bliss is Love’s inspiration.]

Sensual objects are naturally crude and mean; and those who take these as their goals in life, naturally become crude and mean as well – they gradually turn into brutes. Often a man who appears to be a gentleman of refined taste, integrity, charm and position, is actually a rogue, a liar and a swine: although he seems to be a man from his outward appearance, he is actually a depraved brute. In modern society you will find a horde of such types. In a meeting a man delivers a lofty, heart-rending lecture, on the upliftment of the masses – all the while ruminating in his mind about the prospect of becoming a minister and gaining fortune. You will encounter many people who are not farmers or labourers themselves but shed a flood of crocodile tears for the woes of farmers and labourers, carefully hiding their own selfish motivations. These knaves who used to drench their breast with tears for the sufferings of the common masses, forget them in a trice the moment they get a powerful position – and then their true colours are revealed. Those who were deceived can then easily understand how terribly dangerous and vile are their deceivers’ minds. The Yama has said, “Many people in this world harbour in their hearts such base and crude desires and merge their minds in their sensuous pursuits.”

Attraction towards material objects is called káma or passion. Here káma does not mean the desire of any particular organ. Some psychologists have maintained that the sexual urge, a particular expression of káma is the root cause of all types of mundane attractions and activities. This statement is wrong, for attraction is the characteristic of all unit entities and such attraction will certainly not always be sexual. Those psychologists that give undue importance to sexual lust, betray their own vulgar and licentious mentality. As I have already said, not each and every attachment or attraction is born of sexual desire. Each unit being is vulnerable to attraction but the cause of this attraction is the imperative urge for self-preservation. It is only because of this urge for self-preservation that unit beings run after crude, subtle or causal expressions. And this urge for self-preservation, too, arises due to the desire for happiness in every living being. So it is clear that behind every attraction between one entity and another, which we call by the name of káma, lies the pure desire for attaining happiness. Happiness is the ultimate desire of life, not lust. It is not a matter of sexual or sensual passion at all.

Propelled by this urge for self-existence or desire for happiness, one who gives indulgence to káma, and runs after crude, subtle, or causal expressions (in other words, becomes a preya sádhaka) is a fool, because none of these crude, subtle or causal expressions can impart lasting peace or protection – for the simple reason that they are all fragmentary parts. For the sake of their self-existence if people give indulgence to preya, preya will eventually be unable to sustain them and their pyre of passion will reduce them to ashes. Those who seek final beatitude and eternal shelter, should strive for the achievement of spiritual perfection, then the urge for self-existence or happiness will find the ultimate consummation. They will live eternally; they alone will be truly immortal; they alone will establish themselves in deathlessness. The rhythmic peculiarities of the crude and subtle causes, the recurrence of birth and death – none of these will be any longer of importance to them. They will attain final emancipation and become established in the Infinite Entity of Supreme Shreya or Bliss.

There are some psychological causes behind the “endearing” attraction of one object for another, although the basis of all these causes is the desire for happiness and self-preservation. Why is there so much attraction between the hearts of a brother and a sister? The reasons are: living together in one environment for a long time, sharing the same kind of food and the same type of education in the family, sharing the bond of the same parental affection. The absence of any of these causes results in the lack of heartfelt attraction of the children for their parents or for each other. The tender affection for the parents or brothers or sisters of a girl who lives for a long time in a hostel or in a distant country away from her parents, is somewhat diminished; for in this case, her natural preya or desire for happiness and self-preservation, is not fulfilled by her family environment. That is why wise parents generally do not like to educate their children by keeping them in hostels.

I have already said that the desire for happiness does not depend on “endearing sentiment” alone; rather the attraction of an “endearing features” or a pleasing form confuses the general mass even more. The attraction of a pleasing form cannot be so easily eradicated by discriminating judgment as the “affectional attraction.” It is for this reason that many knaves in the gard of sádhus are being worshipped in today’s society. Their bestial mentality that is well-hidden behind their ashes, matted locks, tiger-skin and kuańdala, the common people cannot and do not want to discern. They merely remain awe-struck at the sight of a sanyásii’s saffron gard. When to speak of ignorant people – even so-called intellectual and refined people under the spell of superficial charm, very often become involved in crude, antisocial activities.

It is only when the Eternal Entity that lies behind superficial charm and affectional feeling, is recognized that really lasting attraction or divine love comes into being. In divine love the affectionate feeling is not merely enjoyed as an emotion but its essence is realized; and the veneer of superficial charm will not just impart an external dye to make a so-called yogii but, when its essential colour is realized, will transport sádhakas to profound spiritual meditation by dyeing their minds.

So you see, preya or káma remains busy with finite units only, and thus, the ego, who is the enjoyer of such fragmentary units, must be the small ego. It is impossible to develop such an ego which remains always absorbed in these units. Even people of wisdom, of high social status – even so-called intellectual and accomplished scientists and philosophers who are always concerned with earning high respect for themselves or saving their own prestige – even they pursue sensuous or fragmentary objects for the gratification of their egos. Perhaps they deliberately refuse to realize that these petty objectives of their egos will infuse their minds with meanness, as a result of which all their egoistic respect, prestige and status will ultimately be pulverized into dust.

A part is necessarily small and limited: it has a beginning as well as an end. After attaining it, people do not realize that the limit of the limited will soon be reached, and then the past memory of its enjoyment will heighten the pang of the loss a million-fold and consume their hearts in the fire of that loss. Those who do not try to attain shreya while there is still time, become so encircled by the wreathing flames of preya that it becomes almost impossible to escape.

The Object of shreya is limitless; It has neither beginning nor end. From beginninglessness to endlessness, the one unbroken current of pure Bliss that has been flowing eternally, is Brahma, the effulgent, indivisible essence of the Soul. There are many who could see, and yet do not seek to see Him – who could know, yet do not want to know Him. Without striving to see and know Him they try to remain in smug oblivion, in the darkness of passivity.

Dúramete vipariite viśucci avidyá yá cavidyeti jiṋátá
Vidyábhiipsinannaciketasammanye na tvá kámá bahavo’lolupanta.

Shreya and preya are totally divergent in principle – one is guided by vidyá or the introversive principle, the other, by avidyá or the extroversive principle; one leads to discrimination, the other to ignorance – one to light, the other to darkness.

Pará-vdyá that leads to shreya guides people towards perfection, towards the ultimate state of desirelessness; and Apara-vidyá that leads to preya propels them into dense darkness, the thrall of ultimate negativity and crudeness. Why do people prefer preya to shreya? Why do they deliberately adopt the worship of animality? The reason is very easy to discern: it is due to their gradual evolution from animal life by which they have today attained the stage of the human species. But the accumulated saḿskáras of their past animal lives are still present in them, inspite of their attaining human status. These saḿskáras repeatedly superimpose animalistic tendencies on their minds; and it is due to the vibration of these saḿskáras that people are impelled towards animal propensities, towards preya; the irresistible attraction of crude gratification is leading them astray. In their human bodies they repeatedly reveal their animality through their thoughts and actions. An animal is not a thoughtful creature, for consciousness is not clearly evolved in it. Being irrational it has no discriminating judgment regarding vidyá and avidyá. Yet the experience it has accumulated through its sensuous animal life is that of preya, not shreya – that of avidya, not vidyá. Human beings understand preya through the empirical knowledge of their past animal lives, but shreya remains absolutely unknown to them. Naturally people with weak minds would prefer to hold on to their familiar ways of life; they do not want to run the risk of embarking upon an unfamiliar path. So even those who know both shreya and preya very often follow preya due to their mental weakness, for the road to preya appears to be smooth and easy – a veritable highway, reinforced with concrete.

The followers of the path of shreya will naturally have to fight against their saḿskáras of preya, their animal propensities. They will have to control their crude tendencies like greed for money, craving for name and fame, desire to maintain a sanctimonious facade and longing for praise through misrepresentations and lies. That is why the Yama said, “O Naciketá, you are the real aspirant of vidya and thus you have not been attracted towards the sensuous world. You deserve to learn the madhu vidyá (the science of conversion of matter into spirit) and brahma vidyá or intuitional knowledge.”

Avidyáyámantare vattamánáh svayandhiiráh panditammanyamánáh
Dandramyamánáh pariyanti múdhá andhenaeva niiyamáná yathándháh.

Vidyá or Avidyá – select any one of the two and the other is sure to stand athwart. I will elucidate it a little more clearly for you. Whenever a person does something, there results a clash between two opposing forces and in this clash when the operative or actional force wins, then alone the action materializes. People sit down for rest after being tired of a long walk. What is the reason behind it? Their struggle with the opposing forces eventually dims their actional forces. Similarly, the avidyá force declares war on those whose desire or inclination is towards vidyá; this gives rise to a hostile tendency in the recesses of their minds, against which they have to struggle. At home the husband, wife or the other members of the family become dissatisfied with them, and create various obstacles. In the field of their activities the opportunities arise for depravity, meanness, bribes etc., and they have to maintain their self-control. The locusts of desires come swarming in to destroy the very bud of their sádhaná. So they must carefully avoid such temptations for their own safety. But those whose movement is truly towards vidyá, who are determined to follow the path of vidyá by sacrificing their all, will eventually become immune to all obstacles. No amount of scornful taunts or diatribes will be able to check their lightning speed. They will emerge victorious, weathering and defying all storms, and eventually stand firm and erect like the Himalayas; and the storms and squalls will rebound back in disappointment. For the bud will certainly not remain the same bud forever, will it?

When the Sádhaka or the spiritual aspirant will stand untrammelled and resolute, with the courage of his conviction, and self-confidence, all snags and dangers will gradually wither away – will timidly disappear from his path. Thus shall proclaim the Sádhaka thunderingly to the obstacles and dangers, “You do your work and I will do mine. I have no road behind to retrace my footsteps.” What fear of loss there can be for those who have sacrificed their all for the attainment of their goal? At whose threatening finger will they stop short?

Rukhá-shukhá gamká dáná loná aor aloná kyá?
Sar diyá to rona kyá?

[Dainty or coarse, salted or not
Hard-earned food, a welcome lot
Dedicated my all to the power Divine
Who cares what or which is mine.]

Obstacles are the concomitants of sádhaná, struggling is a good sign. By these obstacles sádhakas can understand that their spiritual practice is on the right track. Spiritual philosophy comes into being only when sádhakas struggling with avidyá’s hindrances, vindicates their move towards Brahma after defeating the base propensities of avidyá by their own intellect and judgment.

I have already said that without obstacles there is no action, and the victory of the operative energy over obstacles is the materialization of action. These obstacles are not solely the lot of sádhakas on the path of vidyá. Those who follow the path of depravity or avidyá, and run after preya are also confronted with obstacles, which issue from the force of vidyá as a warning to desist from such base activities. Those who steal for the first time, find their hands feet trembling and see nightmarish visions even after the commission of theft. Why does this happen? It is because the force of vidyá keeps dinning into their minds that the act which they are going to do or have done, is extremely base and low, and that its consequences are disastrous. But afterwards when the constant cultivation of avidyá makes that force take a strong root in their minds, then they smother the obstacles of vidyá in the first stage. And so after some time the experienced thief’s hands and feel do not tremble anymore, nor does he see frightful hallucinations of the dreadful consequences of his acts. The intermediate condition between an immature thief and a mature is there just the same as the intermediate condition between a struggling spiritual aspirant and one who has attained the divine goal. Thus, those who are on the path of preya weave a web of rationalizations in their minds to support their activities. With this mental attitude behind their tall talks, they produce their materialistic philosophies.

Just as in the constant pursuit of avidyá a force of invulnerability is created against the influence of vidyá, similarly in the constant sádhaná of vidyá, sádhakas gain immunity to the influence of avidyá. Those who are reared in the cradle of materialistic ideologies, feel shy or ashamed at first to sit in meditation in the presence of others. Overwhelmed by the influence of avidyá, they think, “People may perhaps think that I, an ultramodern boy or girl, am emulating the pre-historic mode of worship!” There are many who may try to conceal their devotion from others and there are many who try to maintain their position among their friends by feigning skepticism – and then mentally beg God’s forgiveness. But inspite of such an attitude of shame, after a few days of regular spiritual practice, they will acquire the strength to overcome the influence of avidyá; and finally casting aside all the vagaries of shame and shyness, they will then be able to freely express their genuine devotion to God.

Now the question may arise in your mind; why do some people seem to disregard the stumbling block of shame from the very first stage of their sádhaná? This is due to external pressure or internal urge. Suppose someone’s son or husband or wife or nearest relative has suddenly died, or he or she has lost an enormous wealth or had a providential escape from a dangerous calamity. Such a person, regardless of what others say or think, throws all consideration of shame, fear, prestige or insult to the four winds and turns into a strong-willed sádhaka of shreya within a very short time. This has a negative side also. Suppose someone is faced with starvation. Goaded by need he starts stealing openly, regardless of the consequences and shamelessly takes refuge in avidyá. And if those who, knowingly or unknowingly commit such a crime, then receive abundant materials for their enjoyment, they too, become shameless sádhakas of preya like the aforementioned thief. The collection of the thoughts and desires of this type of shameless preya-sádhaná form the Charvaka and other materialistic philosophies. In order to hide their own weakness they call the devoted and godly people weak or mentally diseased. Incidentally, the word “godly” and “god-fearing” do not have the same meaning. Behind godliness is a soul-stirring sentiment – an ardent zeal to realize one’s true Self; and the reason behind the fear of God is the important attempt to escape from the consequential suffering of one’s misdeeds. Yet the latter is still superior to the atheists, because at least for fear of divine punishment they refrain from sinful acts. The greatest advantage of the theists is that they do not endure the pangs of internal clash. But no matter how brazenly sceptics indulge in tall talks or sharpen the edge of their verbal weapons to win in an argument, there is always a fight going on in their minds. Reading a few pages of a book or listening to the eloquences of a few speakers, they seek to violate their own nature. With their fragmental external knowledge they try to struggle against the indivisible Supreme Entity, and in the end, being defeated, the say, “If He does exist, then why can’t we find Him?” Yet all the while their inner selves lament within them:

Mon bale tumi ácha Bhagaván
jiṋána bale tumi nái.

[Knowledge denies existence Thine
Yet mind insists – Thou art Divine.]

Here the curse of fragmental knowledge impedes the development of their mental characteristics. In such a condition they are constantly alert to hide the outward expression of their inconsistent, irrational minds. They masquerade as scholars in order to hide their weakness behind their high-sounding words. In our society we often hear of learned people professing atheism or materialism. Modern India also abounds in such so-called pańd́itas. But to call them pańd́itas is to abuse the word.

Ahaḿ Brahmásmiiti bhuddhirtámitah práptah pańd́itah.

The realization that “I am Brahma” is called Pańd́á and the one who has attained pańd́á is called pańd́ita. Hence nástika pańd́ita or “atheist-pandit” is a contradiction in terms. The Vedas have said that these materialistic apostates never walk a straight road. How can they? Straight forwardness in life is achieved only through sincere and dedicated sádhaná. In such atheists there is a clash between good and bad going on within them day in and day out in which the bad always emerge victorious, for their souls do not nurture the good. In order to satisfy their sensual desires they very often pretend to be pious. While pointing out the faults of others, they also have to project consoling hopes of comfort and good cheer to people or else no one will fall into their trap. But this constant inculcation of two opposing tendencies brings about an ugly distortion in their minds. The incongruity of their internal and external expressions ultimately turns them into crude beasts in human form. They scramble and scuffle madly among themselves to grab leadership in different spheres of life, and consider the ability to lead people their sole monopoly. But those who are misled by them into their vociferous trap progress from one darkness to another; for how can those who are blind themselves show the path to another blind person? How can a dull and inert mind awaken consciousness in another?

Na sámparáyah pratibáti bálampramádyataḿ vittamohena múdham
Ayaḿ loko násti para iti mánii punarpunarvashamápadyante me.

All people should have proper knowledge and understanding of what is shreya and what is preya, what is vidyá and what is avidyá, for lack of this knowledge causes their downfall, and with its help, they progress onwards through proper sádhaná. Behind human desires the sweetly benevolent inspiration that the soul imparts, leads human beings to consciousness, not crudeness. That is why the wise try to develop their wisdom and intelligence more and more. No one wants to remain a fool: not even a simpleton wants to be called an idiot. To acquire true wisdom, judgement is necessary and judgment involves discrimination. The proper applications of this discriminating judgement is wisdom. This is why the discriminating people take Brahma, the ultimate stage of their consciousness, as their objective. But the ignorant or foolish ones who do not utilize their discriminating judgement but are tempted on to the path of materialistic sádhaná for their temporary enjoyment, eventually become crude themselves. The Yama said, “Allured by the paraphernalia of enjoyment these fools do not understand nor do they want to understand, the Supreme Entity. They cannot even imagine a subtler world beyond this material quinquelemental world and so they totally deny it. Those who take the crude as their objective, have to come again and again into this material world in crude forms to enjoy and endure the crude. Trudging along a dark path they are gradually transformed into matter. Thus, they come under my sway again and again, for it is impossible for them to redeem themselves from the cycle of birth and death.”

The greatest drawback of materialistic thought is that materialists think that this visible world is the ultimate reality. They deliberately refuse to understand that their existence is completely transient, subject to time, space and person. They deliberately refuse to turn their eyes towards the original causal entity of the world, in whose body the rhythms of changes appear and disappear. Matter resides in energy and energy resides in thought; energy begets matter and thought begets energy. Rejecting this simple, obvious truth, their palsied minds cannot face all problems with courage. Thus, they become avidyá’s slaves by worshipping transience as eternity, impurity as purity, sorrow as happiness, and self-ignorance as self-consciousness. Truly speaking, any molecule, atom, electron or proton which is taken to be the fundamental stuff of this world, are but the manifestations of energy, for matter is nothing but bottled-up energy. But energy is not an original entity either; it is simply consciousness under the bondage of Prakrti. Hence for the true comprehension of the essence of matter one must accept the theory of Brahma composed of Puruśa and Prakrti. Whether He is considered in His all-pervasive aspect or in any of His individual aspects, His Macrocosmic State manifests the same characteristic that is manifest in His individual aspect also.

The Yama said, “The materialistic sádhakas are bound to take birth repeatedly in order to fulfil their materialistic saḿskáras. They cannot attain the supreme final death of the emancipated sádhaka.”

Sádhaná for the attainment of introversive knowledge or bliss is the path of final beatitude and human beings have to proceed on this path while adjusting their behaviour to the environment. With a feeling of scorn for the world, sádhaná is an impossibility. You may become superhuman in the eyes of the people – you may even achieve the reputation of a renunciate by rejecting this visible world that is all around you – but still your mental thirst will remain unquenched, and your heart will never be satisfied.

Why are human beings afraid of sádhaná – why do they hesitate to seek introversive knowledge? Let me tell you the reason. Human life is the result of evolutionary progress from animal existence. Energy is expressed through the clash of belligerent forces, and through these clashes the various so-called “inanimate” entities of this quinquelemental world such as sand, iron, stone, etc., are transformed into self-activated entities like primitive plants and unicellular protozoa. Indeed through these clashes they attain the power to gradually convert their passive energy into active mental energy. We encounter the manifestation of this mental energy in some particular plants and organisms. Where life is averse to struggle, no progress is possible. That is why in some countries we find pre-historic creatures of undeveloped intellect that are alive even today; and elsewhere creatures of developed intellect have come into being out of the dust of those very pre-historic carcasses. The intellect of a monkey is not in the same category of that of an earthworm.

Through these clashes animality has attained humanity. It is the residual momentum – this credit balance of the balance sheet of our pre-human struggles with animality – that has made us the possessors of human minds. That is why the momentum of animality can understand only in terms of material enjoyments, for that momentum does not imbibe the untasted joy of consciousness; and the attainment of that joy is inspired by the human soul, the subject of the mind – such an inspiration could not be properly utilized by the animal mind, but may be used to better advantage by the strong human mind.

Thus it is the empirical knowledge of previous animal life that leads human beings to material enjoyments on the one hand, while the more developed inspiration of their soul seeks to lead them to consciousness; and thus a constant clash is going on in the human mind between crudeness and consciousness, between vidyá and avidyá. Human beings are normally afraid of struggles; so it is hardly surprising that materialistic-minded people are averse to such struggles in the beginning.

To attain the opportunity to learn the esoteric practice of sádhaná, the secret strategy of psychic struggle, is a rare good fortune. Until such an opportunity presents itself, success in the struggle is impossible. The Yama said,

Shravańáyápi bahubhiryo na labhyo, shrńvanto’pi bahavoyannavidyuh;
Áshcaryo vaktá kushalo’syalabdháshcaryojiṋátá kushalánushiśt́ah.

Suppose there is a virtuous discussion going on somewhere. If you invite two hundred people to this discussion, you will find that only sixty invitees have turned up, at the most. Out of these participants about ten or twelve people at most listen with patience and devotion to the talks; and out of these listeners, only some properly understand the subject discussed. Then again, out of this small group that has understood, only a very few may retain in their minds what they have understood. Lastly, only one or two persons of this last group may practice in their daily lives what they have learnt and understood. This is only due to the clash between vidyá and avidyá in the mind, and in this clash the triumph of avidyá or the extroversive force means running from the introversive bent of vidyá. It is because of the saḿskaras of animality that the introversive momentum is rare in the average human mind. The sensuous desires of avidyá continue to infiltrate into every thought process. Such a situation continues for a long time in a sádhaka’s life.

Look into your minds and look at the visible world. Whenever you do something, you repel some opposing force. Through this repulsion you acquire greater strength to counteract still greater opposing forces. So you see, it is only through the clash between the two opposing forces that you are able to make your mind stronger.

The Yama said, “It is not only the disciples who are scarce, there is also a flagrant dearth of competent preceptors as well to teach the esoteric practices of sadhana.” Through the grace of a truly competent Guru, a meditative tendency of mind may be awakened in every human being. It is not only the scarcity of competent teachers that is hindering spiritual advancement on the world; there is also a great lack of true spiritual urge among the people.

Na nareńavarena prokta eśa suvijineyo bahudhá cintyamánah
Ananya Prokte gatiratranastyańiiyánhytarkyamańupramáńát.

What should these experienced teachers and intuitional masters be like who are supposed to guide people and teach them the practices of spiritual sádhaná?

The answer is very simple. The guidance must come from true human beings, not from those inferior, sub-human creatures, who are manifesting animality in their human frames. Who is a human being or “nara”? Nara means puruśa. Who shall we call puruśa? One in whom consciousness is prominent, in whom the manifestation of the soul is in greater degree, is alone the puruśa. Those who have not performed the sádhaná of that puruśabháva or Consciousness are not fit to teach others. Even if they do, their students will not be able to carry out their instructions properly, for their words are not able to touch their students hearts. How can such people teach? In their very own minds there is a stormy clash going on. They have not attained the serene calmness of the Great Sea. Some of them quarrel over the corporeality or incorporeality of God, some waste time in arguments whether God is white or black, some present a plethora of millions of gods and try to convince others from the pages of the scriptures of the might and power of these different gods, the various amounts of rewards for their worship and the dangerous curse of not performing such worships. Some want to shed human blood over the type of music or procession that is performed or over the type of food eaten, or over the question of untouchability regarding the use of food. They will try to convince others that these are the genuine ways of God and religion. These lowly sub-human creatures masquerading as human beings, take advantage of human sentiments and weaknesses and place all types of obstacles in the path of human progress. Their utterance, however, do not and cannot touch the core of anyone’s heart. With their lack of the universal vision, they remain extremely remote from Consciousness. They always seek to disintegrate the One into many fragments. That is why they want to see humanity divided into nations of British, Soviets, Indians, etc., or into many creeds of Hindus, Moslems, Christians, or Árya Samájists. Normally the words of those who are fanatic Britishers cannot move the hearts of those who are not British; and the words of those who think of Hindu interests certainly do not sound sweet in Moslem ears.

When people are initiated by those who have realized the divine Truth, they are around to universalism. They cease to regard any entity of the universe as separate from themselves. Every entity of the world is the limited manifestation of the one Cosmic Consciousness. Whom will you fight against, or whom will you flee from? You are undecaying, immortal and birthless. When you are established in your own true self, none of the belligerent unit entities can stand against you, nor can your mind be disturbed by their limited forms. Such an all-embracing Cosmic Sentiment cannot be inculcated in others by sub-human individuals with narrow views. That is why some people created divisions between human beings by combining religion with politics, with patriotism, or with idle metaphysical speculation. Under the pretext of preserving their religion and establishing peace, they encourage the genocide of millions of innocent people in the name of jihad or religious crusades. Propagating discrimination and discord in the name of religion, certain groups ruthlessly exploit the ignorant masses. They may keep some people blinded and confused for a long time but they cannot misguide the majority of people for long. People are already beginning to realize the truth, and they will realize still more in the future. Ananda Marga is sounding the clarion call for the sleepers to wake up. Those religious fakes will be compelled to quickly withdraw from their hypocritical role of religious hegemony, and at the time of their withdrawal they will have scandalization or malicious propaganda as their sole capital to fall back upon. You all know, where reasoning fails, vilification becomes the sole stock-in-trade. When you hear abuses from these frogs-in-the-well, you can take for granted that the grey matter in their frenzied brains have no functional residues left and that they have come to you only to convince you of their helpless and fey condition.

Brahma is the unarguable entity. He is beyond all arguments, for only an object which the mind can hold within its small compass can be the subject of argument. Your mind can comprehend such qualities like what is dark and what is fair, and thus you can also argue on such points. But regarding that Consciousness where your mind ceases to exist you certainly cannot say whether He is dark or fair. Brahma is unarguable, because He is beyond the ambit of mind.

If someone says that God came and told him, “Thou art my dear Son” or “Thou art the last Prophet” – these statements may command respect from the credulous but to those of discriminating judgment they will not be acceptable, for the one who appears in person, will immediately come within the scope of argument and logic and will naturally have a shape. On this point, there will be no correspondence with the Nirákáraváda or the doctrine of shapelessness or incorporeality of God. Human beings are conscious beings. As long as their mental apperception is functioning, they should not accept anything that is illogical or fallacious. Where mind does not exist, what will God say, and who will be there to listen to Him? Sound can only be received by a crude organ, otherwise it is audible only in the internal waves of the Cosmic Mind. Something which is formless is not perceivable by the organs and so His voice cannot be heard. The Cosmic Mind is devoid of duality and so there is no scope for anybody’s hearing anything about the Nirguńa or Objectless Brahma, whether “It is” or “It is not,” or “good” or “bad”. His disciples did, of course, ask him, if He existed: Buddha was speechless. When they asked him, “Does He not exist then?” Buddha remained speechless again. With the result some people assumed that Buddha wanted to say that God did not exist, and then again some inferred that He did exist. But those who were real intuitionalists understood that He was an Entity beyond the scope of the mind – beyond the purview of “Is” or “Is not.”

Jo mano goar álá jálá
Ágama pothi Iśt́á málá
Bhan kaese sahaj bola vá jáe
Káa vákcia jasu na samáe
Ále guru uesai shiiś
Vák pathátiita kahiba kiis
Já teṋi boli te tabi tál
Guru bob se shiiśá kál
Bhańai Káhńu jina raan bi kaesá
Káleṋ bob samvohia jaesá.

–Buddhist Sádhaka Krśńácárya

[Relative truth what mind compasses
Beyond philosophies, It all surpasses
Scriptures and myths are indeed but bricks
That make no sense, confounded tricks
The teacher and the taught, both in a mess
What is beyond discourses cannot be expressed
For whatever is said, mind must contribute
The disciple deaf, the teacher mute
“What is It” beyond verbal domain
Except deaf-dumb mimes in symbolic strain.]

That which comes within the orbit of the mind is but a relative truth, not an eternal truth, and so it will come and go. Scriptures and mythologies are like stacks of bricks: they are only arranged in layers, bearing no significance or intrinsic value. How can they describe or explain that ultimate entity which is beyond the scope of the mind? Here both the teacher and the disciple are helpless, because this subject, which is beyond the domain of any academic discourse and discussion, is simply inexplicable and inexpressible. Whatever is said and discussed comes within the scope of the mind and so it is a relative truth – true today, false tomorrow. That is why a teacher becomes mute when he or she is asked to explain Brahma Vijnána or the intuitional science and consequently the disciple, too becomes deaf. So Krishnacharya says that the best metaphor to describe this profound mystery is the soundless communication between a deaf and a dumb person for this intuitional science is so extremely subtle that the mind or the senses cannot adequately express it.

Naeśátarkeńa matirápaneyá proktányenaeva sujiṋánáya preśt́ha
Yántvamápah satyadhritirbatásitvádrunno bhuyánnaciketa praśt́á.

The Yama said, “But the minds of those who have the opportunity to learn this Supreme Science from a knower of Truth, are not agitated by irrelevant arguments,” for I have already said that Brahma is above all arguments. Those who have realized even a portion of true knowledge, even a semblance of the Truth, are not deluded by the false logic: arguments cannot distract them from their goal. For example, those who are convinced that ghosts are the play of the sub-conscious mind, are not afraid of them, nor do they ever experience any theophanic or demonical paroxysm or trance. But ignorant persons who believe in the existence of ghosts or various gods, develop such type of sentimental momenta or saḿskáras in their minds. When, either due to their intense concentration or in their weak moments, the activity of their crude mind is temporarily suspended that sentimental momentum is manifest in their minds’ eyes and they think that they are really seeing such-and-such spirit or god, or that a spirit or god has directly spoken to them. When the subtler kośa or layer of the mind is self-hypnotized, they think that they themselves have become such-and-such spirit or god: this is a temporary paroxysmal demonomania or theomania. But such superstitious saḿkaras cannot disturb the minds of those with developed knowledge, who have realized that spirits and gods are the visionary products of mental weakness due to ignorance; and so they will not see spirits nor be possessed by them. No matter how much they hear the tales of ghosts, they will never believe in their existence. Story-telling – the emotionally excitable language of the story-teller – may temporarily thrill them and make their hair stand on end – but nothing more than this. Similarly, there are many people who become terrified of ghosts, seeing extraordinarily strange things like a cat suspended in the air or bones being thrown by sorcery or black magic. But those who know that these are all merely but the plays of the atimánasa kośa or the astral mind, do not become at all disturbed; rather they try to expose these antisocial criminals to rectify their nature. Planchette (“ouija board”) also falls in the same category: it has nothing to do with spirits.

So said Yama, the Lord of Death, “With the attainment of true knowledge, all the extroversive tendencies of Avidyá disappear from the mind of human beings, O Naciketa! This true knowledge is introversive knowledge. You are eager to establish yourself in truth: so you are the fittest person to learn this introversive science and then you alone will be able to ensconce yourself in the Truth.

“Just as there is no difference between the sun and its radiance, similarly there is no difference between Brahma and Truth: both are immutable and imperishable, but know, Naciketa, that I am not imperishable or eternal. I am transitory.” Do you understand the meaning of the Yama’s words: Yama is the prototype of restraint: he is also the controller of this evolved world. Naciketa is a seeker of Truth, a seeker of Brahma and so he is the prototype of a sádhaká or spiritual aspirant.

Jánámyahaḿ shevadhirityanityaḿ na hyadhruvaeh prápyate hi dhruvantad
Tatomayá naciketashcitágniranitaerdravaeh práptavánasminityam.

Karmaphala or the consequence of an act, whether pleasure or pain, is transient. No matter how much sin or virtue you may commit or earn, it cannot be eternal and so you cannot endlessly enjoy or suffer the consequence of your sinful or virtuous actions. The unit entity is activated only by the help of a unit and since that activation or process of action cannot keep itself concerned with one unit alone for a long time, no action can be the cause of boundless pleasure or boundless pain. Hence the pursuit of transitory objects cannot give you everlasting happiness. Brahma is an eternal Entity: It is impossible to attain It only by paying lip-service to Brahma-Sádhaná. When the mind is all the while absorbed in external transactions. “So know Naciketá, that the rank of Yama – whatever I have not attained through the sádhaná of virtue – is not eternal.”

Although the sphere of Yama is extremely vast and pervasive, still it is not eternal: it is relative to objects. That which is dependent on objects is a relative truth – that is not an eternal entity. Analysed philosophically, it cannot be accepted as truth. Hence it is untruth – almost in the category of falsehood. The city of Patna exists today, but a few centuries ago it did not exist, and it will not exist a few centuries hence either. Thus, Patna’s existence is not an absolute truth. Similar is the case of Yama. When does the Yama or the controller exist, when the system of control is in force, or even if only a certain number of things are under control. So, if the Yama or controller exists, two or more entities – control and the controlled – will also have to exist. In other words, the existence of the Yama is completely dependent on those two entities: it is not a fully independent supreme post. That is why the Yama said, “Naciketá, this post of mine is absolutely short-lived.”

Kámasy áptiḿ jagatah pratiśt́haḿ kratorá nantyamabhayasya páram
Stomamahadurugáyaḿ pratiśt́háḿ drśtya dhrtyádhiironaciketo’tysráksii.

People generally act with some ulterior motive, and all their motives and desires end in Saguńa Brahma. This Saguńa Brahma is the only well-established Entity of the Cosmos. Limitless karmas or actions and their fruits are implanted and accumulated in His mental body for He is the ultimate refuge. He is the only worshipable and desirable Entity of every evolved being of the universe, and all the actions of all living beings end in Him. This great, vast Saguńa Brahma or Hirańyagarbha is omni-present and endlessly dynamic, for He is surging through all the regions of this vast universe through His mental momentum. “But, O Naciketá, even after having fully understood the status of the Hirańyagarbha with your intellect, you have relinquished your desire to establish yourself in it. You only yearn to attain true knowledge, and you are eager to merge yourself in that singular Truth, the Nirguńa Entity. Naciketa! You are great – You alone are great.”

Chapter 4	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 3

The subject of my discourse today will be: Intuitional Science as described in the Krśńa-Yajurveda.

The perceptible world is constructed with the cooperation of five fundamental elements. Ether (Vyoma) is the subtlest of these five elements. Due to its extreme subtleness the Vyomatattva is able to prove its existence only through its sound-Tanmátra. In order to understand this Vyomatattva or its sound-waves or its sound-radiation, a special type of Scientific instrument is necessary. Except this Vyomatattva the remaining four elements you can easily make out with the help of your crude organs.

The Supreme Consciousness or Puruśa, however, is subtler than all the five elements. How can the senses apprehend this Conscious Entity, when they cannot easily catch the subtle Vyomatattva? The Consciousness or Puruśa-Entity is beyond the scope of mental or supramental sphere, for the object of the mental or supramental sphere is matter – the five elements or their semblances. That is why, you are unable to reach the Parama Puruśa or the Cosmic Consciousness with the help of your mind. Your mind will have to come back disappointed repeatedly, if it tries to reach Him, for He is beyond the reach of your imaginative power. You cannot get to Him through any common knowledge. Yama said,

Yato váco nivartante aprápya manasá saha;
Ánandaḿ Brahmańo vidván na vibheti kutashcana.

The attainment of Brahma is not possible through mind, nor is it feasible through words. Frustration awaits both of them, if they are employed to attain Him. With the establishment in the Brahmic Bliss, mind, intellect, words – all get lost, for He is the self-same Happiness – the bliss absolute. One has to be established in Him through the exultant force of one’s consciousness. After reaching Him, mind being non-existent, the six enemies (lust, anger, avarice, delusion, pride and envy) also cannot remain there. The Sádhaka then becomes free from all fears.

Tandurdarshaugúd́hamanupraviśt́am guháhitaḿ gahvareśt́harampuráńam;
Ádhyátmayogádhigamena devaḿ matvá dhiiro harśashokao jaháti.

The Supreme Consciousness is unseeable, i.e., He is not perceptible by the sight-organ. One cannot apprehend nor can one understand an extremely vast and extremely subtle thing through one’s organs. Molecules and atoms are not apprehensible to man’s organs due to their being too subtle. In order to see them or understand them one has to take the help of Scientific instruments. Similarly the Supreme Consciousness is not visible (He is, however, not invisible), that is to say, one has to take pains to “see” Him. Just as intellectual and scientific vision is necessary for seeing molecules and atoms, similarly spiritual vision is necessary for seeing the Supreme Brahma, i.e., He is attainable only through spiritual knowledge. Hence in order to attain Him you have got to do upavaśa, which means worship.

The word, Gúd́ha means deep. He is deep. With superficial sentiment or thought it is impossible for you to know Him. To know Him you have to go deep inside – you will have to be introspective. External sight will not do. The one that you see as an ordinary man by your external sight, is actually a conscious entity, if you see him with your internal sight. The one that you see to be an animal or an inanimate object by your superficial sight, is really a sentient entity, if you apply your internal sight. That is why, I say, in order to see Him, one has to go deep into the seen object. He is deep – very deep and its is due to this intrinsicality that He abides in all the entities in an immutable form. While going to see Him in this state of supreme unicity, all distinctions of superficial objects thin away into air. In reality, the first and the last word of spiritual Sádhaná is to see the synthesis of many in One in a single form.

Physics is characteristically analytical. So the investigation or research on matter is carried out externally. But in the sphere of investigation and intuitive comprehension of what is characteristically unific or synthetic, there is no other alternative than to take recourse to introspection. This Puruśa Entity is inherent and permanent in all objects and so to “see” Him one has got to establish oneself in the subtlest of the subtle, deepest of the deep sphere. He abides in the innermost recess or the fundamental intellect as its Supreme Knower. He is the vital Entity of that cavity – that sense of ego, which is within you and that is why, He has been called “caverned” (Guháhita). In order to know Him you will have to proceed in a straight and simple way into the inner realm, making your thought subtler and yet subtler.

When one attains intuitional knowledge, all one’s troubles and woes disappear. Do you know why? Mind is the perceiver of pleasure and pain, but Brahma is even above the supramental stage. In order to attain Him you have got to outstep the limit of your mind and along with it you will have to leave behind all the pleasurable and sufferable junks of your distorted mind. He is ancient – He is beyond the scope of time. To Him the spatial, temporal and personal reputations are of no value, for each of these is a particular manifestation of the mind. You cannot possess Him through your worldly erudition or by the stamp of your degrees and diplomas for all worldly knowledge is subject to, time, space and person. Being spontaneous or self-manifest in spiritualism, He is not dependent on any second worldly entity. To achieve that Brahma who is the supreme goal of spirituality, one has to take recourse to spiritual sacrifice (Sádhaná). Not with the eyes of others – not with the spectacles of others, you will “see” Him within you with your own “eyes”. You will move inward, not on any other vehicle but by virtue of your own inspirational propulsion. A calm and collected individual, who is a genuine spiritual aspirant, attains Brahma in this very manner and with the attainment of Brahma one goes beyond the reach of pleasure and pain – one does not have those mental distortions like pleasure and pain. He attains a state which is called the state of supreme bliss.

Etacchrutvá samparigrhyámattyah pravrhya dharmyamańumetamapya;
Sa modate modaniiyaḿ hi labdhvá vivrta sadma naciketasammanye.

What is the result of learning this intuitional science from a competent preceptor? By dint of this intuitional science man learns to understand thoroughly what is temporal and what is eternal. The scriptures call this power of understanding the eterno-temporal discrimination (Nityanityá viveka). You will accept only the eternal and shun the temporal. It is on the strength of this intuitional science that man knows what is mortal and what is immortal, i.e., who or which is liable to destruction and who or which is established in indestructibility. With the help of this Nityánitya Viveka – this discriminating judgment about mortality and immortality, man pursues the path of virtue. What is the dharma or the characteristic of the living beings? It is the endeavour to attain happiness. Why does a living being crave for happiness? For self-preservation. Why do you eat and drink? To keep yourself alive – to attain happiness. From this you very well understand this too, that to love whatever little is lasting within your present entity – whatever is its essence, is your dharma. This dharma or sádhaná teaches you to keep your subtlest self aloof from all transitory objects, as the result of which your eternal self gets healthy nourishments - gets more and more developed on the path of progress. That is why, this true sádhaná of the self is defined in the scriptures as the path of nourishment (puśt́imárga). He who does not understand or recognize this true dharma or characteristic, verily regards the body as the sole factor. I don’t criticize those mentally undeveloped creatures, who regard their bodies as the summum bonum of their lives but for human beings to entertain such thoughts is nothing short of paying the mind a left-handed compliment. The funniest part of it is that such a person flouts the mind with the mind.

A display of such a perverse mentality we come across in the Cárváka philosophy. To them the transitory body is the supreme entity. The materialists are reluctant to give any importance to the mind in their philosophy. Not only that, they very often even hesitate to clearly admit mind’s apperception or self-consciousness. Yet these materialists sometimes want to publicize themselves as pragmatists or behaviourists. They want to say that they will not tread the path of logic and reasoning, for in that path people “make a day of night and a night of day” - “We are simple, toiling folk. We want to pass our days in peace with food to eat and clothes to wear and behind this simple demand the Supportology (!) or Practicology (!) that exists is our philosophy.” Even by making such observation they get caught in their own net.

In the practical field the utility of things is determined by the mind. The feasibility of the codes of procedure and conduct is also determined by the mind. “To live in peace with food to eat and clothes to wear” is also done for the satisfaction of mind. And above all, no matter what “logy” or “ism” is propounded, the supporting doctrine – the Supportology (!), must depend on imaginativeness (mental sanction). Every mental disease or every spiritual disease is not Máyáváda or illusionism. Even by keeping contact between the earthy world and the human mind, spiritual philosophy can be established. Ananda Marga is a philosophy of this type.

Some of those that are comparatively imaginative regard Kámamaya Kośa or the crude mind as the Rúh or soul. Some identify the astral minds like atimánasa, vijiṋánamaya and hirańyamaya kośas with it, but the real preceptor, possessed of the knowledge of the divine truth, from whom you will learn the Brahmic or intuitional knowledge, will make you understand that the soul is a lot subtler than these Kośas or shells of the mind, each of which is mutable and so evanescent or transitory - the soul alone is eternal. So the happiness that you will get in the worship of the spiritual knowledge, will be permanent happiness, and that is why it is called Ánanda or divine bliss. Ánanda is not to be had from transitory objects. The transitory or temporal objects will come and go; sometimes they will make you laugh and sometimes they will make you cry. No matter how endearing the temporal things be, one day they will surely and undoubtedly leave you in the lurch, and abjectly beggarly. But He will not make you wail He is an eternal, non-evolutive, immutable Entity. The Yama said, “O Naciketá, the broad gateway to the realm of God lies open before you. One who has acquired a thorough knowledge of mortal objects, has verily acquired the knowledge of the both the perishable and the imperishable ones.” With the development of mental faculties as one proceeds from the transient happiness to permanent happiness or Ánanda, one gets more and more inclined towards his mental happiness in preference to the physical joy. For the love of country or many such subtle happinesses, a person makes no bones to lay down his life. These are actually the signs of preponderance of the human mind. The happiness of cats and dogs is purely physical. In such receptacles as their mental happiness cannot have the priority. Beat them and then call them to eat some delectable food, they will come running after it. But human beings are reluctant to stand the least dishonour or any little blow to their mind. A person who serves you under circumstantial pressure and keeps your mind constantly humored by his sycophancy, is actually at heart not very pleased with you. He constantly tries to escape the bondage of slavery. You cannot conquer human mind through circumstantial pressure.

Through Aśt́áuṋga Yoga, as laid down in the Ananda Marga, a Sádhaka, conscious of his/her body and self, can gradually awaken the dormant mental power and with the help of this developed mind he/she can eventually establish himself/herself in spiritual self. In this seity – in this characteristic self he/she gets real Ánanda. So, I say, learn the intuitional knowledge from a proper preceptor. You cannot learn this through empirical knowledge. Intuitional knowledge cannot be gained from books. For this one has to go to a preceptor with devotion and reverence. Try to awaken your latent devotional sentiment. It will come to you, if you so wish. Once the devotion is awakened, you shall get divine mercy without doubt.

Mahad krpayaeva bhagavad krpáleshádvá.

–Nárada Bhaktisútra

With the attainment of only a wee bit of divine grace the ego starts disappearing from the crude human body, the Nityánitya Viveka gets awakened and this discriminating judgment establishes the sadhaka in the Brahmic Consciousness. Remember, in the path of meditation devotion is the paramount factor. Wherever there is devotion God’s mercy is there – it has got to be.

Physical attachments are very difficult to give up, they die hard. Preservation of the crude body and attachment to the body are not one and the same thing. But where the preservation of the body is not jeopardized, or does not stand in danger, even then people are surprisingly attached to their physical body. At the time of an earthquake a mother runs out of the house, leaving her sleeping child in bed and then half way down when the thought of her child arises in her mind, she runs back again to save her child. The quicker the mother’s remembrance of her child, the less her attraction for her own body. A mother who is above such attraction will think of her child first and take it away along with her. Through proper Sádhaná alone one is able to conquer such bodily and all sorts of attachments. All bondages of sensuous attractions of those that have been able to awaken their subtle selves through Ananda Marga Aśtáungika Sádhaná, are bound to be resolved.

Anyatra dharmádanyatrádharmadanyatrásmát krtákrtát;
Anyatra bhútácca bhavyácca yattat pashyasi tadvada.

What is Supreme or Parama Brahma? How does He look like? This you cannot know through the so-called, ritualistic religion. Shráddhakriyá or post-obit ceremonies and rituals for the souls of the dead, Shántikriyá or ceremonious propitiation of deities and evil planets, ceremonial fasts, sacrificial fire or oblation (Yajiṋa) and various other social and popular extroversive, ritualistic functions and ceremonies with flowers, Bilvapatra (Aegle folia), water of the Ganges etc. – none of these can attain you Brahma, for these ceremonies are external and showy. How can you reach the Life of your life, the Soul of your soul with these showy and superficial paraphernalia? Three entities eventually emerge, wherever these rituals take place – religious ceremony, the fruit or reward of such a religious ceremony and persons who organize the religious ceremony. For the sake of crude, external, material gains the authors of these so-called religious ceremonies; perform these rituals. Really speaking, the word, Dharma, should not be associated with these ceremonies. Dharma is the spiritual meditation that a sadhaka does for the attainment of Saguńa Brahma, the source of Infinite Bliss. And how about Nirguńa Brahma? Although I cannot but call the effort for the attainment of Nirguńa Brahma also dharma in the popular language, yet He is actually not conformable to dharma? Then is He conformable to adharma – the negation of dharma? No. He is not that, too, He does not come under any of the two categories. Dharma and adharma are both attributive (subjectivated and objectivated sentiments). All attributive sentiments fall within the scope of mind – fall in the net of causality. Nirguńa Brahma is beyond the ambit of causality. He is above Dharma and Adharma. He is none of whatever had ever been created, or of whatever have been or will be created. Each of these is the objectivated manifestation of Saguńa Brahma, but in Nirguńa Brahma exists neither antecedence nor impedence, neither gain⁽¹⁾ nor loss⁽²⁾ – nor accumulation either (there is no question of creation of the third as the result of the union of the two)⁽³⁾. Naciketá prays to Yama, “O Lord of Death! I want to get established in the Nirguńa Brahma, who is beyond all attributes – beyond to-be and not-to-be. Please tell me something about Him.” Yama replies,

Sarve vedá yat padamámananti tapáḿsi sarváńi ca yadvadanti;
Yadicchanto Brahmacaryaiṋcaranti tatte padaḿ saḿgraheńa vraviimyomityetat.

“In every veda the position which hath been the supreme factor of contemplation, for the realization of which the ascetics take to meditation, for the attainment of which the Brahmacáriis (Those who remain in constant cosmic ideation) take the vow of Brahmacarya (The act of a Brahmacárii) – in reference to that super-exalted Position, I pronounce to you the word Oṋḿkára, which stands for it.” Tasya vácaka prańavah.

Really speaking, there is no word in the language like Oṋḿkára, more suitable to the explanation of Brahma, for the state of Nirguńa is inexplicable. Although one may try to explain the state of Saguńa, yet there is no feasible way other than the use of oṋḿkára to explain His initial expression – indeed there is no other choice. Oṋḿkára as a term of expression is a wonderful unifying link between Nirguńa and Saguńa Brahma. In the written language only a dot (.) is used for Nirguńa Brahma. ওম (om) is used for the sonic manifestation of Saguńa Brahma and the phonic sign ([BENGALI CRESCENT SYMBOL]) is symbolic of the expression which is just about to take place.

 ওঁম

Etaddhyevákśaraḿ Brahma etadevákśaramparam
Etaddhyevákśaraḿ jiṋátvá yoyadicchati tasya tat.

This oṋḿkára is the first expression of the Brahmic glory and that is why, it is known as the Sound-Brahma. It occupies the topmost position, for the ultimate cause of Creation, Preservation, and Destruction is inherent in its three letters, viz., অ (a) + উ (u = oo) + ম (ma). One who has known and heard this oṋḿkára, echoing in the vast sky as the Macro-sonic phenomenon and the mental sky as the micro-sonic one, has indeed caught the very essence of essences right in the palm of one’s hand. Here one should bear in mind that when Oṋḿkára stands for sound, to know it then is to hear or pronounce it. When Oṋḿkára is pronounced or sounded in the Brahmic Mind itself, it is then meaningless for the Sádhaka to pronounce it during his meditation of Oṋḿkára. The sádhaná of Oṋḿkára means the endeavour to hear that sound.

That is why, in Ananda Marga Oṋḿkára is not a mantra (an incantation of invocation) for chanting but for hearing. Hearing or surrendering to this Oṋḿkára, which is the direct concomitant of the Brahmic nucleus, the Puruśottama, is to attain Him, and attaining Him means there is nothing else to be desired. Collectively or individually He is everything. Nothing is outside Him. He who seeks Him is really wise, for attaining Him means attaining all.

Incidentally there is a beautiful story in the Rámáyańa. Once Ráma and Lakśmańa were sailing in a boat towards Mithila across the Ganges. So far as the story goes, the boat turned into gold with touch of Rama’s feet. When the boat reached the other end of the bank, the wife of the boatman came to know about this miracle. Down she brought all the woods and timbers from the house and started turning them into gold by bringing them into contact with Ráma’s feet. Noticing the foolishness of his wife the boatman counselled her, “Look here, how long are you going to toil like this? Act wisely. Take refuge under those feet, which have such miraculous power. If you do so, you will be able to turn any worldly object into gold at will.”

Taking His refuge means merging one’s egotistic vanity in Him. The attainment of Brahma is difficult for those who want to work out the profit and loss of “what shall I get out of this attainment.” If a person, while trying to surrender him/her self to Him, is conscious of his/her petty ego’s profit and loss, then how can he/she dedicate his/her petty ego to Him? His worm-eaten mental flower shall not be worthy for worshipping the Lord. Entertaining no desire for sensuous happiness a man has to surrender oneself to the waves of the inscrutable Supreme Fountain-head, Brahma. This total dedication – this self-surrender – is the sentiment of Shrii Rádhá (the personified Love Sublime), her sole world.

“Gopiigań kare yabe krśńa-darshan;
Sukha-váiṋcá náhi sukh páy kot́ii guń.”
“Gopii darshane Krśńer ye ánanda hay;
Tadapekśá kotii guń gopii ásvádaya.”

–Caetanya Caritámrta

[Endless joy unsought-for lies
When Krśńa’s sight fills Gopi’s eyes.
The sight of milkmaids, Krśńa’s joy,
Multifold more do they enjoy.]

A selfless devotee, bathed in the purity of devotion, wants nothing for himself. He wants only Parama Puruśa in exchange of his own self. At the time of merger as he identifies himself with Him, he tastes of the boundless bliss. The pleasant waves of sensation take place in the psychic body of the Supreme Entity on getting back his devotee in His own state of Consciousness, are a lot more in evidence in that of the self-immolating Sádhaka.

Etadálambanaḿ shreśt́hametadálambanamparam
Etadálambanaḿ jiṋátvá Brahmaloke mahiiyate.

The foremost pivot of a living being is this Oṋḿkára. This Oṋḿkára – this super-exalted state of the microcosm, is verily the Brahma Himself. The one who has realized or held on to this prop, get gloriously installed in Brahmic sphere. This Oṋḿkára-Brahma is an Aseity. In no circumstances can He be lost.

Na jayate mriyate vá vipashcinnáyaḿ kutashcinna vabhúva kashcit;
Ajo nityah sháshvat́oyaḿ puráńo na hanyate hanyamáne shariire.

This Oṋḿkára-Brahma is not subject to birth or death. His existence is beyond the precincts of life and death. How is birth possible of an entity, who is supra-temporal? When will He take birth? Aren’t place and person necessary for a life to be born? That which is the Absolute Truth, can never be subject to time, space or person. That is why, the soul is free from birth and death. Death occurs to relative entities, not to consciousness. No birth is possible for the one, which is immutable, i.e., which has no second existence, and such an impeccable entity cannot be anything but the soul. The natural tendencies of worldly objects are: The death of one brings about the birth of another, the renunciation of one form begets the formation of another, the loss of one means the gain of another. In this endless process of building and re-building of the successive order the one that remains, we call, new or the new-born. We cannot call Brahma new, for He is not the effect of any previous cause. Through this process of building and re-building the whimsical hand of time has not been able to touch Him, for He is birthless, eternal and sempiternal aeon. Through the destruction of this physical body, i.e., through its metamorphosis He is neither destroyed, nor gets transformed.

Hantá cenmanyate hantuḿ hatashcenmanyate hatam
Ubhao tao vijániito náyaḿ hanti na hanyate.

When a murderer strikes to kill, he does not know or understand that he has no power to murder anybody. The doomed, dying man also thinks, as though he is just about to die. But both of them are wrong. Actually no one kills anyone nor anyone dies.

Ańorańiiyánmahato mahiiyánátmásya jantornihito guháyám;
Tamakratuh pashyati biitashoko dhátuprasádánmahimánamátmanah.

This Átmá, or Soul, which is indestructible – which is immortal – is smaller than the molecule or atom, smaller than the small ultra-microscopic. Due to its smallness you cannot feel it with your sensory power. In the language of science, if you take molecule as the English equivalent of Ańu, you will find a series of other things, even smaller than the atom, like proton, neutron, electron, etc., which are too subtle for your senses to grasp. Apprehension is possible only through the power of imagination. If you further try to analyse them, your imagination will stop functioning or will be compelled to get engrossed in a deep reverie. On the last Phálguńii Púrńimá (the full-moon of the month of Phalguna) I told you that the apprehending capacity of your organs for the small and the big things was limited. The organ concerned can apprehend only a particular wave-length, i.e., from one particular point of movement to another particular point, neither more nor less. Just as the soul is the molecule of the molecule on one hand, similarly it is greater than the great on the other. This being ultrasensual, you cannot apprehend it as it is. Just as you cannot see things properly in a dim light, similarly a blazing light dazzles your vision and you cannot see either. The soul abides in your mental horizon as the knower of your world of imagination and as the certifying witness or your existence. If you direct your sentimental entity towards Its great sentiment, then your emotion or thought, being on the higher plane, loses its pettiness. Your existence then is hardly distinguishable from It. If you direct your sentimental entity towards Its micro-atomic sentiment, then also your mind goes out of action. If you cherish the sentiment of attaining Him, you will have to be devoid of all sensuous desires by carefully and deftly bringing under control the selfish, individualistic frivolities of your mind. In such an event you attraction for the finite objects will disappear. You will bask in the sunshine of Macrocosmic favour. Your mind will then be installed in the super-celestial region of abiding tranquillity beyond the pale of weal or woe. Then alone you will be free from grief – then alone you will realize that Grand Glorious Brahma.

Ásiino dúraḿ vrajati shayáno yáti sarvatah;
Kastammadámadandevaḿ madanyo jiṋátumarhati.

He remains covert in your existential “I”-feeling. But does He really remain at one place? In your mind you go out to London or America in a jiffy. But who actually goes there? Your objective mind of course – the mind, which is His object. Along with the mental travel to and fro, His knowership also remains, does it not? Now you understand that, inwardly and on His own, He goes on traversing distant and yet more distant countries. When the mind sleeps i.e., when the organs are inactive and all epithymetic actions (desires) are also at a standstill, He is supposed to be asleep also in the mind, isn’t He? Well, does He have any movement? Yes, of course He has His movements. He is the Omneity – the all knowing seed. Even without an object He maintains His Supreme Existence. So you see, you cannot bind him with a single strand of quality. He imbibes different contrary attributes. Your mind, however, cannot have two contrary qualities like the refulgence of pleasure and the shadow of pain simultaneously. His mind being free from any singular bondage. He alone has been able to become the ultimate refuge of all kinds of contradictory objects. He is the wonderful conglomeration of pride and non-pride. The Yama said, “None but I can attain Him”. Yama means controller. The Yama is the prototype of restraint. Really speaking, without “Yama” or regulated sadhana, it is impossible to attain Him. Átma or Soul is not attainable by one devoid of control. You will certainly realize the significance of this observation after you have pursued the path of sádhaná for some time. But then I have already told you many a time and I repeat again that restraint does not mean running away, giving up everything. Adequate and proper use of everything is what is called restraint. You can honour adequately every obligation of domestic life but you must never lose your head. When the animal instinct of hunger is there, you must eat but you must not invite a disease by taking excessive food out of greed.

Ashriiraḿ shariireśvanavastheśvavasthitam;
Mahántaḿ vibhumátmánaḿ matvá dhiiro na shocati.

Brahma, Who has within Him the countless number of contradictory attributes, is an incorporeal entity due to His limitlessness. He has neither a body nor a receptacle. It just cannot be nor is there any need for it. But how about these countless fragmentary manifestations which do have their bodies and yet they are His manifestations and are all within Him? Yes, that is the reason why He is the possessor of countless bodies, being bodiless Himself. The spiritual entity is not subject to any time, place or person, but the finite unit entities are their cooperative creations. He, being beyond their purview, i.e., outside the scope of mind, is absolutely free from all sorts of mental modifications of pleasure and pain. So one who identifies oneself with Him after attaining Him, becomes free from all sorts of pain. His mind gets stilled. He merges in the Macrocosmic Consciousness.

Rúpátiita soi Prabhu lákhrúp dekháala,
Ava ham kekará heri.

–Ánandamúrti

[Have seen Thy countless forms, O Formless One! Now tell us, O Lord, what’s there to be seen and won.]

Now take His endless forms. Haven’t they got any utility? For the benefit and salvation of human beings, He has been teaching Him through the media of limitless forms. So the existence of every created thing in this world has its value – has its mundane as well as spiritual utility. None is useless – none is a burden on the world. Knowingly or unknowingly all are working together as one beautiful team and one mind for the collective good of all. All are beaming in their self-surging glory. The giver knows the efficacy of charity, since the receiver is there. The advanced person is getting an opportunity to serve, since the backward man is there. He has evolved so many forms as per necessity. In each of these forms we see the different contours of His love, get scope for learning many things and are getting impetus to move towards Him. His radiance is being refracted through the veins and venules, molecules and atoms of every evolved object. Treating every microcosmic tendency as His own object for the good of the world, He has been afflicting Himself day in and day out with the painful affliction of their lives – suffering for them, and His diverse, manifested organisms are bowing down in reverence to His glory. All the loquacity of these ignorant beings is getting silenced before His exalted greatness. What a non-sádhaka regards as his or her wealth, son, husband etc., are in the eyes of a sádhaka, but the waves or the brilliant, activated expressions of the Cosmic Sea, wherein the sádhaka feels himself/herself consciously installed. He knows that the very Sea, in which or on whose breast those expressions are waking up and dozing off, is to him the Truth itself – has been making the beauty of his soul more charming every moment by encompassing him form all the ten directions. In that Sea of Love he has fearlessly laid afloat the heavy onus of his own entity.

Náyamátmá pravacanena labhyo na medhayá na bahuná shrutena;
Yamevaeśa vrnute tena labhyastasyaeśa átmá vivrńute tanúḿ svám.

The Supreme dharma – the paramount act, of merging one’s self in the Absolute Entity in full realization of Its charm, will not be accomplished by mere listening to religious dissertations. You must have noticed, there are many people in our society that constantly keep track of great men and run up to them soliciting, “Give us some advice. Tell us something about religion.” Such religious discourses will cut no ice, if not substantiated by sádhaná. It is wrong to think that Parama Puruśa is realizable by man through empirical knowledge or through study of a few dozens of philosophical books, rather, there is a greater possibility of one’s receding from the path of spirituality. In such a case vanity becomes the chief characteristic of his nature. Brahma or the Supreme Entity cannot be attained through tall religious overtures to the human society nor through interesting recapitulations before it as to which and which great man said such and such things – as to how they walked, or through writing volumes of books. Do not entertain such silly ideas that you can hit the bull’s eye so cheaply by dint of your intellect, for you shall not achieve Him through such shady means. To attain Brahma you shall have to do Sádhaná or spiritual meditation. You should make Him the only goal of your life. For this you require integrity, devotion and singular and earnest love for Him. He is not attainable without reverence and unflagging and unflinching devotion. When the devotional depth will come, love, too, will be out-brimming with high sentiments - will be full and over-flowing. When love will reach its completeness – its saturation point, self-immolation will become easy and simple. In that state alone will come your final realization of the Supreme Consciousness. Where “I” is, “He” is not… where “He” is, “I” is not. Remember, devotion is the pre-requisite of Sádhaná. Maturity of devotion is love and maturity of love is He.

Sa iishvara anirvacaniiya parama premasvarúpa.

Only whole-hearted love can bind Him. When you will be able to do so, you will see, what you have in bondage is the Love Divine.

Paripúrńa Krśńaprápti sei prema haete;
Sei preme báṋdhá Krśńa kahe Bhágavate.

–Krśńadása Kavirája

[To Love sincere Lord Krśńa clings
Bound to love, so Bhágavata⁽⁴⁾ sings
Krśńa realized through such a love
For Love is Krśńa, Krśńa, Love.]

Návirato dushcaritánnánnáshánto násamáhitah;
Náshántamánaso vápi prajiṋánenaenamápnuyát.

Sensuous intellect is an inert intellect. Sensuous movements are efferent. So the intellect of the sensuous man is wasted over external objects. The human mind that has in it an unbridled desire for mundane pleasure is never at peace. In such a state no one can attain Brahma. When the mind preoccupied with finite objects, can one get the integrated whole? When your longing is towards the crude, you will undoubtedly become crudified yourself. Your mind will leap from one crude desire to another - will run form one object after another in a wild pursuit. Such is the way of the materialistic, isn’t it? But an aspirant, being in the midst of all and making the right use of everything, proceeds towards the supreme goal. Learn the Intuitional Science from the competent preceptor and proceed accordingly.

Yasya Brahma ca kśatraiṋca ubhe bhavata odanam;
Mrtyuryasyopasecanaḿ ka itthá veda yatra sah.

Nirguńa Brahma (or the Supreme, unsubjectivated Pure Consciousness) is your supreme goal. Even Saguńa Brahma (the Subjectivated Transcendentality) is devoured by Nirguńa. The Brahma-Sádhaka knows that Saguńa Brahma, who is a composite of cognitive faculty and operative principle – a combination of introversive consciousness and introversive force, eventually turns into food for the Nirguńa Brahma. That is to say, with His death all His feelings and emotions also disappear and so death serves as ghee (clarified butter) for the ultimate food of the Nirguńa. Just as flour alone does not make a good food by itself and it requires ghee to make eatable, similarly the ghee-like death makes the Consciousness-cum-principle like food delectable and palatable to the Nirguńa Brahma. So I say that this death too is a benevolent system. When the overall sentiment (the subjectivated and objectivated state) of Saguńa Brahma merges in the Nirguńa Brahma, that is to say, when a Sádhaka attains salvation, soleness or absolute identity with the Divine Essence, i.e., final liberation, all the onus of his ego lightens. Prakrti, the xylem or the root or plastic cause of creation, can no more throw him into the pit of pleasure and pain. So in order to attain Him – whom you cannot attain through empirical or worldly knowledge anyhow – get busy and be up and doing from this very moment and get proper guidance from a proper preceptor.

Footnotes

(1) Saiṋcaya in Saḿskrta.

(2) Apacaya in Saḿskrta.

(3) Upacaya in Saḿskrta.

(4) Scriptures of the Vaeśńava sect.