Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The Subháśita Saḿgraha (“Collected Discourses”) series assembles all the Dharma Mahácakra (DMC) discourses given by Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. Dharma Mahácakras, large spiritual congregations addressed by Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, were held in cities and towns all over the world. They were an important feature of Ananda Marga throughout most of Ánandamúrtijii’s long life as its preceptor. The first DMC was held on 1 January 1955, and within less than two years, that DMC discourse and ten more appeared in book form as Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 1.

As far as possible throughout the publication of the Subháśita Saḿgraha series, the chronological order of the discourses, both within each part and among the various parts, has been maintained. Only in a few instances have pressures, such as those occasioned by the Emergency, caused departures from this system.

The present volume, Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21, contains nine discourses. The discourses were given by the author on diverse occasions over a period of fourteen years, but they have not been published before in authorized book form. Most of them were originally published in Ananda Marga magazines and newspapers. For one of the discourses, “Niiti and Dharma”, two existing translations were found, the earlier of the two in both Cosmic Society and Education and Culture and the later of the two in Bodhi Kalpa. In preparing this edition, both translations were extensively used.

To assist researchers, it is our policy to indicate here – in addition to the original language of each speech, the date and place, by whom it was translated, and where, if at all, it was originally published – whether or not a tape of the speech is in existence. At the time of this printing, however, not all the cataloguing of tapes has been finished. Further information as to tapes will be given in future printings.

In all cases where a tape was in existence for a discourse given in English, we have re-edited the published discourse with reference to that tape.

Footnotes by the editors have all been signed “–Eds.” Unsigned footnotes are those of the author.

Square brackets [   ] in the text are used to indicate translations by the editors or other editorial insertions. Round brackets (   ) indicate a word or words originally given by the author.

The author used a certain shorthand for explaining the etymologies of words. Under this system, a minus sign (–) follows a prefix, and a plus sign (+) precedes a suffix. Thus ava – tr + ghaiṋ = avatára can be read, “the root tr prefixed by ava and suffixed by ghaiṋ becomes avatára.”

[There was a paragraph here that does not apply in this electronic edition.]

“Dhruva and Adhruva”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Dhruva o Adhruva” in Prajiṋá Bháratii, Vol. 14, No. 12, Jan.-Feb. 1994. Tr. from the original Bengali by Ácárya Vijayánanda Avadhúta and Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhúta. Tape.

“Nityánitya Viveka”. Discourse in Hindi. First published in English in PROUT Weekly, Nov. 27, 1971. English re-editing by Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhúta.

“The Liberation of the Devotee”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Mukti o Bhakter sáthe Tár Samparka” in Natún Prthivii, November, 1966, with the note, “Gist of DMC Speech Delivered in Calcutta on 24-10-66”. Tr. from the original Bengali by Ácárya Vijayánanda Avadhúta and Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhúta.

“Niiti and Dharma”. Discourse in Hindi. First published in English in Cosmic Society, Aug. 1967. English re-editing by Ácárya Acyutánanda Avadhúta.

“The God of Human Beings”. Discourses in English. The original cyclostyled copy gives the title “Man and His God” and bears the note, “The following article is composed of several speeches delivered by Bábájii in the Philippines.… The speeches, including the speech delivered during Dharma Mahácakra, were combined, rearranged, and edited to form a connected whole.”

“Jaeva Dharma and Bhágavata Dharma”. Discourse in English. Originally published in English in Cosmic Society, Ánanda Púrńimá Special, with the note “This is the transcription of the tape-recorded discourse delivered in English. At places it has become inaudible.”

“Náma and Námii”. Discourse in Hindi. First published in English in Cosmic Society, Jan.-Feb. 1978, tr. by Ácárya Cidghanánanda Avadhúta and Ácárya Amitánanda Avadhúta. English re-editing by Ác. Acyutánanda Avt.

“Unit Spirit and Cosmic Spirit”. Discourse in English. Originally published in English in Bodhi Kalpa, Number 1, 1972, Feb. Tape.

“Human Life and Its Desideratum”. Discourse in English. Tape.

Chapter 1	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

What is Dhruva? That which is ever-fixed, which is a certainty, that which undergoes no metamorphosis, no change, is called dhruva. That is, dhruva is that which is not subject to mutation or decay, which does not change its position, which does not deviate from its original stance.

All the objects of this universe – crude and subtle, physical and psychic – are always on the move, there is an inherent dynamism in them. This universe originates under the eternal inspiration of Kaośikii Shakti and the constant impetus of Bhaeravii Shakti.⁽¹⁾ Hence every object of this quinquelemental world is always moving, mobile. Everything is basically dynamic, nothing can be static. Whether microcosmic minds like it or not, they will have to keep moving – mobility is a universal phenomenon. And for the entities that reside within the scope of time, place and person, staticity means annihilation. Hence movement, or mobility, is essential, movement is a must.⁽²⁾

The beauty that is writ large on the sweating body of a person who is on the move, has no comparison. Even Indra, the king of the gods, longs to have such a person as his companion. He prefers to move in step with such an industrious person. Therefore, O human beings, move on.

Since movement is the very characteristic of the universe, a person who will move as much as he or she can is destined to be victorious. As long as a person keeps lying in the darkness of delusion, that person’s fortune also continues to lie asleep. When the person sits up, the person’s fortune also sits up. When the person stands, his or her fortune also stands. And when the person starts moving, his or her fortune also starts moving. Therefore, O human beings, move on, move on.

As long as a human being lies inert in staticity, that is, remains engrossed in the worship of mundane things, it is said to be the Kali Yuga of that person’s life. When on waking from sleep the person realizes that he or she has to get up, this awakening or awareness is compared to Dvápara Yuga in his or her life. When the person gets up from bed, about to start moving, that is compared to Tretá Yuga in his or her life. And when he or she starts moving, he or she is said to be entering into Satya Yuga.⁽³⁾ O human beings, move on.

Hence moving ahead is the dharma of time, is the dharma of yugas, is the dharma as well of place and person. As everything in this universe is moving ceaselessly, this world is called jagat. The root verb gam plus the suffix kvip make up the word jagat, which literally means “that whose very characteristic is constant mobility”. A synonym is saḿsára, which is derived sam – sr + ghaiṋ. Saḿsára also means “that entity whose very characteristic is relentless or unceasing movement”.

As everything in this universe is always in a state of motion, nothing is dhruva, everything is adhruva. Even what we call the dhruvatárá [polestar] is not dhruva, because it is not really fixed. Thus this entire creation is adhruva. The only entity which is dhruva is Parama Puruśa, who is the creator of this dynamic creation. Whatever you witness in this universe is only that aspect of the creation which is within the scope of time, place, and person, that is, within the three strands of relativity. The only entity which remains beyond time, place, and person, is the impersonal entity Parama Puruśa.

Whichever way we look, we see only the external dynamism of everything, and as we witness this external dynamism, we feel pleasure when we get something, we feel pain when we lose something. If we try to discover the ultimate reality hidden within the apparent reality, we shall feel neither the momentary pleasure of gain in the mundane world, nor the sorrow of loss in the mundane world. The Supreme Entity which is neither to be obtained nor to be lost will remain always with us, and we shall remain absorbed in the eternal bliss of the companionship of that Supreme Entity. Now, this unmoving Entity alone is dhruva; all other entities, all of whom are searching for that Supreme Entity, are adhruva.

Now the question arises why all persons do not attain this dhruva entity. The answer is, in order to attain this dhruva entity, three things are required – jiṋána [knowledge], bhakti [devotion] and karma [action].

Jiṋána – Understanding

Suppose you see ice floating on sea water. If you look at the situation from the analytical point of view, you will say that ice is floating on water. But if you look from the synthetic point of view, you will say that water and ice are basically the same. Both are made from hydrogen monoxide. So knowledge is a necessity. And how do people attain knowledge about different entities?

First, there is some difference between knowing and understanding. Whatever information regarding some object we gather through the medium of the sense organs is what we “know” about that object. But when the basic or ultimate nature of the object is fully subjectivized, then we “understand” the object. When you ask somebody if they know Mr. So-and-so, they will say, “Yes, I know him” – but it may not be so easy to understand Mr. So-and-so. To understand that man, one will have to enter into his mind. So when human beings try to get some object under the guidance of their external propensities, the result of that sort of endeavour will be an instance of simple knowing, nothing more than that. The sense organs will move in an external direction, and what they will sense in the external world will all be adhruva.

Now we know from above that if the indriyas [sensory and motor organs] run after external mobile objectivities, it follows that they are running after adhruva objects of the world. They will utterly fail to attain the Dhruvasattá [Unchangeable Entity]. When you look at a big star, since that star is a moving object, you will not get the unmoving Supreme Entity. You will get the moving star, but you will simply know it, you will not understand it.

To know the dhruva we have to merge the indriyas into the citta [objective mind]. That is, the indriyas should move inwardly, not outwardly – should be introverted, not extroverted – and in the process of introversion, all the faculties of the different indriyas will be merged in the citta. Because if the indriyas move inwardly, they will find only one thing. If externalized, the indriyas will find the diversified world, but if internalized, the indriyas will find only citta and no second entity.

There are some people who have the mistaken notion that when the indriyas are internalized and directed towards the citta, that may lead to the death of the indriyas, because the very nature of the indriyas is to associate with the outer world. This is a defective idea. True, the indriyas always need some kind of object. But if, for example, the eyes do not perceive a physical elephant in the outer world, they may visualize an internal elephant – that is also a kind of object for them. So in any case there is an object.

When indriyas are engaged with an external object, they lose their own identity. For instance, when our eyes see an elephant in the external world, the [tanmátras, or inferential vibrations] from the physical elephant strike the optical nerves, and as soon as the optical nerves become vibrated in this way, their original nature becomes lost to some extent. The vibrations of the optical nerves become nothing but the reflected [inferential vibrations] coming from the elephant in the outer world. Likewise, when the indriyas are engaged with the objects of one’s internal world, they become vibrated with the vibrations of the internal objects. It can be compared to a railway engine being placed in the rear instead of in front. So the indriyas get merged in the citta, and at the next step the citta becomes merged in the ahaḿtattva, the “I do” feeling. Thereafter the ahaḿtattva will become merged in the [mahattattva, or] existential “I” feeling, and the mahattattva, the existential “I”, will merge in the átmá [pure cognition]. This is átmajiṋána [self-knowledge]. In order to attain this self-knowledge, one is simply to divert the extroversial movement of the indriyas towards the inner world.

Thus when, in the process of introversion, all the faculties of the indriyas become pinnacled to their last point, the realm of the citta begins. Similarly, all the faculties of the citta will also get pinnacled or apexed, and that will be the last point of the citta, as it merges into the ahaḿtattva.

All the faculties of the ahaḿtattva will reach their last point, and the mahattattva will begin. In the same way the pinnacled mahattattva, or “I” feeling, will reach its last point and merge in the átmá. The last point of the mahattattva is called the agryábuddhi [pointed intellect]. Through this pointed intellect, spiritual aspirants can come in closest proximity to Iishvara [the Supreme Entity as Controller]. That is, human beings attain Iishvara through their pointed intellect. Iishvara means the Dhruvasattá [the Unchangeable Entity]. As the indriyas run after external objects, they virtually run after the adhruva; to attain the Dhruvasattá, people will have to move inward.

So in Sanskrit, an object which the indriyas find in the outer world is called viśaya (which may also mean “place” or “country”). And the object which the indriyas attain in the final process of introversion is called aviśaya. There is only one aviśaya, and that is Paramátmá, the Dhruvasattá. Thus in the scriptures it has been said,

Eśa sarveśu bhúteśu gúd́ho
Átmá ná prakáshate;
Drshyate tvagryayá buddhyá
Súkśmayá súkśmadarshibhih.

[In all objects the Supreme Entity lies covert; usually It is not visible from outside. Only by dint of subtle pointed intellect can one visualize It.]

When human beings channelize all their indriyas extroversially only, and want only to see, taste, smell, eat or drink things, they will never attain the Dhruvasattá.

If ever a person decides that he or she wants to see the Supreme Entity with open eyes, this is based on a mistake. He or she will have to look within. If a person has not tried to introvert the extroversial propensities of the indriyas, he or she will never attain the Supreme Entity. So the question naturally arises, who is in fact capable of knowing the Supreme Entity? The answer is, the one who moves introversially and develops his or her pointed intellect. Only through that pointed intellect can one hope to attain Iishvara. Therefore spiritual practice is nothing but a sustained endeavour to develop that pointed intellect.

Those who are lacking in proper philosophical knowledge may think that once the extroversial tendency in life is curbed, human life may be difficult to live. This is also a defective notion. Even certain ancient rśis [sages] made some wrong statements which have caused harm to society. I will give you an example. There is a shloka in the Upanishads,

Paráinci kháni vyatrńat Svayambhústasmát
Paráun pashyati nántarátman;
Kashciddhiirah Pratyagátmánamaekśad
Ávrttacakśuramrtatvamicchan.

[It seems that the Self-Created Lord has killed the extroversial indriyas. They run after external objects, not the internal One. Only those wise persons who seek immortality, withdraw their senses from external objects and realize the Supreme Entity lying covert within.]

The shloka argues that the indriyas, as a general rule, have a natural tendency to move outwards, whereas to attain Iishvara the indriyas must move inwardly. From this it may appear that Svayambhú, the “Self-Created” Lord, the Supreme Entity, does not at all like the indriyas. That is, that in evolved human beings the indriyas should be annihilated – that this is what Svayambhú wants. But this is not true. The underlying spirit [of the shloka] is that the indriyas should move inwardly, not outwardly, as I already explained.

Mortality and Immortality

But those who want amrtatva [immortality], what will they do? They will just reverse the movement of their indriyas. A question may be asked here: what is amrtatva? But before that we should explain what marańa [mortality, death] is.

Marańa means change. Death is nothing but a change. A five-year-old child is transformed in due course into a fifteen-year-old boy. In ten years the child becomes the boy. Thereafter you will never be able to find the body of the five-year-old child. So the child’s body has certainly died. So marańa means change. Because of the physical transformation, the earlier body has become difficult to trace. Likewise, after another ten years, the boy will be transformed into a youth; after some time more, the same youth will become a middle-aged man. And still later he will become an old, infirm man. The same one entity has moved through a series of transformations, and in the process every earlier form has undergone change, metamorphosis, some kind of death. When finally the physical body of the old man undergoes a still more radical transformation, he will be reborn as a new baby. This stage of radical transformation we call death. The previous changes we did not consider death, because we could link the earlier stages to the later stages. We could say that the fifteen-year-old adolescent had grown up into a twenty-five-year-old youth. We could find the link. But when an old, infirm gentleman becomes reborn as a child, we cannot find the link. That is why we give the last change of the body of the old man the name “death”. The rest of the changes we do not call death; but in fact all the changes qualify as death.

And this is not all. You know what death is; death means the total cessation of all the vibrations of the human body. The heart has ceased to function, the lungs have ceased to function; the veins, the arteries, in fact every organ of the physical body, has stopped functioning, pulsating, vibrating. Every organ has stopped vibrating. The afferent nerves and efferent nerves have stopped receiving any order or sensation. This is a kind of pause, which in common parlance may be called death.

But if it is considered death, then we will come to see that human beings are dying every day, many times a day. All the movements taking place in us in life – movements in nerves, veins, arteries, the brain – are always systaltic. That is, speed is followed by pause, which again is followed by speed. The movement is not continuous.

When you walk along a road you never walk ceaselessly. While you lift one foot, the other foot is on the ground. There is a slight gap between the placing of one foot on the ground and the lifting of the other foot. There is a time gap between the two. During that intervening period you remain in a motionless state. Thus while you are walking you are not walking all the time. Similarly, when you are running, you are not running all the time. You are running and pausing, running and pausing. When both your feet touch the ground, that is a state of motionlessness. And if not for a similar brief motionlessness, nobody could hop on one foot. When we see somebody hopping on one foot, we will see that after that foot has come down, there is a pause before it comes up again. So no motion is unbroken. It is always broken by certain gaps.

In the case of respiration also, after human beings inhale, they do not immediately exhale. They retain the breath inside for a while, and then they exhale. Similarly, after exhaling, they do not immediately inhale. They stop for a little while, and then only do they inhale. So in both cases there is a pause for a short while. The first pause, after inhalation, is called púrńa kumbhaka, and the second pause, after exhalation, is called shúnya kumbhaka. These are states of pause, not of speed. A state of pause is nothing but a state of death, because in that state of pause every function is suspended, every vibration is suspended. At that time the vibrations of all objects of this universe remain in you in seed form, but not yet fully accepted or assimilated. The vibrations have no doubt reached you in seed form, but the understanding of them, that is, the acceptance of them, will come later.

Every day, every human being dies approximately twenty-four thousand times. The breath is taken in but not released, then it is released but not taken in. So everyone dies about twenty-four thousand times a day. But in what we actually call death, what happens is that once the breath has been released, it comes back again after an interval of one year, or one month, or one day, or one hundred thousand years – instead of one second. This is the only difference. So death means a kind of change. And through the extroversial movement of the indriyas we perceive only that world which is changeable.

But those who want to realize the unchangeable, the immortal, must transcend these winds of change. Only the Entity which undergoes no change is the immortal Entity. In philosophy we know that any object coming within the scope of relativity, that is, within the scope of time, place, and person, is subject to change. What is the Entity which is beyond the scope of time, place, and person? That Entity is Paramátmá. So except for Paramátmá, all objects of this universe are mortal. So to be established in immortality, what will one have to do? One will have to awaken one’s pointed intellect, and in due course that awakened pointed intellect will merge into Supreme Consciousness, Parama Caetanya. This is the state of attainment of immortality. And one who attempts to attain this supreme immortal stance is called a dhiira. Dhiira means one who introverts his or her indriyas for the purpose of attaining the highest goal. Dhiiras are the only really intelligent people, not others.

Freedom from Saḿsára and the Death Noose

It has been said in the scriptures,

Krśńa nám Harinám baŕai madhur;
Ye jan Krśńa báje, se baŕa catur.

–Narottamdas

[The name of the Supreme Lord is very sweet, very elevating. Those who take His holy name are very clever indeed.]

Those who take the name of the Lord are really intelligent and clever, because thereby they accelerate the speed of their spiritual progress. Those who do not do so, continue to move in the vicious circle of lives and deaths. This cyclical order of movement from life to death to life again is called the saḿsára cakra.

Atha dhiirá amrtatvaḿ viditvá
Dhruvamadhruveśviha na prárthayante.

[Wise persons, knowing the path of immortality, seek only the dhruva – not the adhruva – entities.]

What will be the fate of a person who directs all his psychic propensities towards crude materiality? He or she will be caught again and again in the serpentine noose of death. According to the scriptures, the mrtyupásha [death noose] consists of three-and-a-half coils.

The first occurs just after birth. The baby has undergone great trouble in its mother’s womb. As its birth approaches, it becomes more and more anxious in its heart to get out. And when it finally does issue forth and experiences the light and air of the world, its reaction on the one hand is, “Ah, I’m saved, I’ve come to a nice place.”

Yet on the other hand, in spite of the suffering the baby [underwent in the womb] for such a long time, tears come to its eyes at having to leave all that behind. The situation is likened to that of a dog when it chews a dry bone. The bone contains nothing – no marrow, no flesh, nothing. While chewing that dry bone, its lips get cut and blood oozes out, and when the poor dog tastes the blood, it thinks that it is tasting blood from the bone, and licks even more. If you forcibly snatch the dry bone from the dog, the dog will whimper, because it will feel that its food is being taken away. The dog fails to understand that actually you have done something good for it. The suffering of birth is like the suffering of the dog at that moment.

The second coil is the suffering one undergoes throughout one’s life. There is some pain, some clash, hidden in everything. In your own life you will experience very few days which are free from mental pain, few days in which there is not at least a little sorrow, a little suffering.

And the third coil is the suffering of death. There are many people in the world who have never seen days of happiness at all. And yet they do not want to die.

So we have the affliction of birth, the affliction of life, the affliction of death; when people recognize the affliction, yet are unwilling to part from it, that attachment is the last half coil. These three-and-a-half coils constitute the mrtyupásha. Pásha means “that which binds”.

Parácah kámán anuyanti bálaste
Mrtyoryanti vitatasya pásham.

[Unintelligent people run after extroversial objects. Thereby they fall into the all-entangling death noose.]

Those persons who are dhiiras by nature know where immortality lies, and as such they know how to distinguish the dhruva from the adhruva. They never run after transient objects, discarding the supreme eternal treasure.

This world of ours is adhruva, yet some human beings aspire to amass huge fortunes. They want to have fat bank balances. They expect all these transient objects to be their permanent treasures. But these things are all fleeting and temporary. How can human beings possess them permanently? It is foolishness to think they can possess them permanently.

Another person wants permanent name and fame. The person will build a huge building and have his or her name engraved on a marble slab, saying that Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so has donated the building. Maybe that so-called donor is the descendant of bandits or robbers, smugglers or black marketeers. Yet that person wants to see a few words engraved, hoping that his or her name will live on forever in letters of gold. But maybe one day that building will collapse. Nothing will last long.

The ruthless hands of time will ravage everything. Yet some foolish people will buy costly garments and ornaments. They may use those things once or twice in a year, though a lot of money has been invested therein. They wrongly think that those commodities will remain with them forever.

Dhiiras will always keep their minds away from the adhruva and direct them towards the dhruva Entity which resides within. So the best course is to seek only the dhruva, not the adhruva.⁽⁴⁾

Footnotes

(1) In the Cosmic Cycle, the energy of the Cosmic Operative Principle at the stage of “homomorphic evolution” (before the actual expression of the Operative Principle) is known as Kaośikii Shakti. The same energy in the first stage of actual expression is known as Bhaeravii Shakti. –Eds.

(2) The author here quotes a shloka, of which only a fragment is audible on the tape of the discourse. As the book goes to press, research is still in progress to reconstruct the whole shloka. Some of the text that follows refers to the shloka. –Eds.

(3) In mythology, the four ages occur in the order Satya Yuga (Golden Age), Tretá Yuga (Silver Age), Dvápara Yuga (Copper Age), and Kali Yuga (Iron Age), and correspond step by step to a decline of morality and spirituality. –Eds.

(4) The tape of this discourse ends with these words. It is possible that the actual discourse was slightly longer. –Eds.

Chapter 2	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The discerning faculty with which you distinguish between ephemeral and eternal is called nityánitya viveka. The term nitya connotes “eternal”, and anitya “transient”. Everything in this mundane world is moving in the Cosmological order. Movement implies change in the spatial realm, and where there is spatial change there is temporal change also, for time is nothing but the psychic measurement of the motivity of action. Everything in this visible world is ephemeral. Only that which is in the nucleus of these transitory objects of the perceptible world is eternal. The Eternal Entity is present in every mundane objectivity as its witnessing counterpart. Change and decay occur only in the witnessed entity and not in the Witnessing Entity, for the former is ephemeral and the latter eternal.

The Apparatus of Measurement

The nature of a thing determines the apparatus to measure it with. A sensitive balance is required to weigh subtle objects, whereas a crude balance is needed to weigh crude objects. A balance for measuring gold cannot be used to measure coal. Weighing gold requires a sensitive balance, whereas weighing coal requires a crude one.

Subtle objects cannot be measured with a crude apparatus, but the reverse is possible. Though gold cannot be weighed with a coal balance, coal can be weighed with a gold balance. Similarly, a mental entity cannot be measured with a physical balance; the Cognitive Faculty can be measured with neither a physical nor a psychic balance.

There are three types of objects in the world: (1) physical, (2) abstract [psychic], and (3) cognitive. You perceive physical objects through your [sense] organs. When your organs come in contact with the physical world, the waves emanated by the physical objectivities strike the gates of the organs and create a sympathetic vibration in the nerve fibres, the nerve cells and the ectoplasmic stuff – which carries them finally to the cognitive plate. The reflection of these vibrations on the cognitive plate is called bodha kriyá, the phenomenon of knowing. The capacity of our organs is limited. Their grasping capacity is confined to particular wavelengths. Naturally the mind, being subtler than the subtlest physical objectivities, cannot be known through the organs. Mind can be understood only by mind. One can understand someone else’s mind only by touching the latter’s mind with one’s own.

A less sensitive mind cannot understand the humour or the weal and woe of others. Persons with such a mentality try to wound the sentiments of others.

The mind, owing to its subtlety, cannot be demonstrated or shown. But at the same time no one can deny its presence, for everyone knows in their heart of hearts that it exists within. No logic can convince you that you are without a mind. You know its presence, and through your own mind you understand its presence in others.

For instance, suppose two sisters quarrel about some point. At dinner-time one goes to the other and says, “Dear sister, come have your meal.” And the other sister replies, “No, I shall not have it, I am not well.” The first sister will at once understand the cause behind this refusal on the part of the second. Under normal circumstances she would have taken her sister’s words as true, but now she cannot. Here language has failed to reveal the true mental feelings. The first sister has known them only by touching her sister’s mind with her own.

And next, how are we to know the átmá [unit consciousness, soul]?

Neither the organs nor the mind can understand the átmá. Both are cruder than the átmá. The átmá can be known only through the agryábuddhi, that is, the pointed intellect. It is only through this agryábuddhi that the mind becomes merged with the átmá. (Our mind expresses itself in different directions with the help of the organs. But if these expressions of the mind converge on a particular point, that mental faculty is known as the agryábuddhi.)

It is said that the movement of the organs is extroversial, so if the pointed intellect is awakened, the organs will die. The external world exists within the bounds of time, space, and person. These factors are changeable, and naturally the universe based on them is also changeable. [If] the flow of the organs is diverted from that ephemeral world to the internal world, the organs will die.

But such thinking is quite wrong. First, the organs can be divided, according to their nature, into two types: (1) motor and (2) sensory. The movement of the sensory organs is introversial. Though the natural movement of the motor organs is extroversial, during the period of receiving waves or vibrations it becomes introversial. When we work through our mental hands, for instance, the sensations are carried up to our brain. The movement is from crude to subtle and from subtle to the subtlest.⁽¹⁾

You see, for instance, an elephant. The light waves being emanated by the body of the elephant are received by your eyes, optical nerve fibres, nerve cells, and ectoplasmic stuff, respectively. At last they are reflected on your cognitive plate. At that time nothing remains there. Only after performing that action does another come into existence. The organ dies for the time being. The indriya is converted into its object. Even during spiritual meditation the organs die temporarily.

Dhiiras

Dhiiras try to know Pratyagátmá. The term dhiiras means “those who convert their extroversial movement into an introversial one”. The term Pratyagátmá means “All-Knowing Átmá”. Pratiipaḿ vipariitaḿ aiṋcati vijánáti iti pratyak [“That which takes a stance opposite to the jiivátmá and witnesses the jiivátmá is pratyak” (and pratyak + átmá = Pratyagátmá)]. Whatever you do is known to your citta [mind-stuff]; whatever your citta knows, your [aham, doer “I”] also knows. Your mahat knows all that your [aham] does. Whatever efforts you may employ to conceal your actions, nothing that you do is hidden from you. Your actions may, due to the time factor, be forgotten even by your mahat, but cannot be forgotten by your átmá.

When dhiiras try to know Pratyagátmá, they divert their external movement towards internal pursuits. Bliss lies in Pratyagátma. This world is changeable. Too much change means death. (At every moment change takes place in the objects of the world. But the change is really perceptible only when the small changes result in a great change. Changes in the body of a child of five are not noticed until they result in a great change, that is, until the child becomes an adult of twenty-five.) To attain Pratyagátmá, dhiiras divert their organs into internal pursuits. Their movement is from the ephemeral to the eternal.

Those who are not dhiiras allow their organs to be extrovert. Such persons are fools. They by their actions bind themselves in the noose of death. According to the shástras [scriptures], the death noose has three-and-a-half rounds:

• the first round – the pain of birth
• the second round – the tortures of life
• the third round – the pang of death
• the last half round – moha (desire) for birth

Those who don’t try to make the movement of their organs introversial are verily in the noose of death.

Our organs grasp the anitya. But even this process is possible only in the presence of the nitya. When the waves emanated by the anityas are reflected on the nitya cognitive plate, their existence becomes known. Though a dead body still has eyes, perception is not possible there. The existence of the anitya, therefore, is witnessed only by the nitya. Movement towards this nitya entity is the human dharma.

Dhiiras understand well that behind all anityas lies the nitya, the Transcendental Entity beyond the scope of time, space, and person. So they never run after anityas. This keeps their mind in a balanced state. Those running after anityas cannot find peace of mind in their lives.

Everything cometh from the realm of invisibility and goeth back to invisibility. In between these two spans of invisibility there is a span of visibility. What we call “ours” or “others’” is only what we or they own in the momentary phase of visibility. It is like the coming parallel of two trains for a few moments. Your contact with the mundane objectivities is also for only a few moments. Everything is moving with its own speed and velocity. You have your own[, and everything else has its own]. Naturally the contact is for a very short span of time. This is why dhiiras do not care about what has come in contact with them or what has passed on.

In the wakeful state, things become known to us because of their reflections on the cognitive plate. In the state of dream, the vibrations received in the wakeful state, digested by the nerve cells, are aroused in some form in the ectoplasmic stuff and then released onto the cognitive plate. These reflections appear to be real.

What we call the wakeful state is also a kind of slumber similar to dreaming. When you awake from this slumber you will realize that you were dreaming. That is why dhiiras are neither cowed by misery nor carried away by great pleasure. They know well that Mahat Vibhu, that is, the Transcendental Entity, is the Átmá.

A reaction to an action is an inevitability. Whatever you do is reflected on your cognitive plate whether you like it or not. Whenever you come before a mirror your reflection appears there, for that is the nature of the mirror. Your willingness or lack of willingness has nothing to do with it. The reflecting plate is always with Him. The reaction will occur in a natural way due to the presence of the reactive momenta.

And where is that reflecting plate? The answer is that it is your jiivántika. [The term jiiva means “individual”,] and the term antika connotes “nearest point”. (There is no difference in Sanskrit between nikat́a and antika. Nikat́a means “near”, while antika connotes “nearest”.) It is not possible to say what your nearest point is; you will have to know your own point for yourself. It is the jiivántika which is your nearest point. It is your great fortune that Iishána bhútabhavyatyám – that “Iishána is your nearest point.” Iishána is the controller of what will happen in the future. He is the controller of both the past and the future waves of this Cosmological order. That Supreme Controller is your nearest point. But since you don’t know your point you fail also to know your nearest point.

The question comes up, “If Iishána is the controller only of the past and the future, then He has no concern with the present. Why then should we think about the present?” But actually the present is the moving phase between the past and the future. The adjustment Cosmically within the scope of the past and Cosmically within the scope of the future is called the present. When I am speaking it is not that you are also listening at the same moment. My speaking is future for you whereas [it] is past for me. We have adjusted some portion of the past and the future.

Thus the controller of the past and the future is our nearest point, so nothing can be concealed from Him. That is why there cannot be any hypocrisy in dhiiras. Hypocrites may be traders of religion, but the dharmic cannot be.

If a person does not try to know the Eternal Entity which is his or her nearest point, will it not be his or her absurdity? The wise will always want to be dhiiras; they will want to realize the eternal Entity hidden within. They also know that this realization is not feasible without a very strong desire to know Him. He can only be known by pariprashna [spiritual questioning] and not by logician’s philosophy. Knowledge, intellect and bookish methods cannot help you in your march towards Him.

Ápti and Prápti

Direct acquisition from somebody is called ápti, and indirect acquisition, that is, acquisition through a particular medium, is known as prápti. The instructions of Paramátmá to jiivas [unit beings] are therefore áptavákya [vákya means “speech”], whereas instructions by jiivas are called práptavákya. Naturally what we acquire through intuitional practices will be ápti. The secrets and the art of these practices are called áptavákya. So the parama jiṋána (ultimate knowledge) cannot be had through books.

Those who are not lured away by the attraction of the colourful external world will always fix their attention on the ultimate reality. Differences among forms mean nothing to them. Neither the [forms of] ornaments nor the sentimental aspect attached to them has any importance for a goldsmith. He is concerned only with the gold.

The formal differences among objects are external. Internally the objects are the same. The wise run after the One and not the many. That Singular Entity can be attained only through proper knowledge, action, and devotion.

Proper knowledge means to know what is what, which is which, how to do and why to do. But this alone is not enough; you will have to act according to the knowledge you have acquired. And last but not least, you will have to arouse the sentiment of devotion within you.

Devotion means to merge all the rivulets of sentiment into one. The purpose of sádhaná is to arouse devotion. Remember always that all your efforts should be aimed at arousing devotion. Devotion aroused, nothing remains. If even the most degraded person succeeds in awakening the agryábuddhi, that person becomes able to realize Him. Don’t be disheartened. Remove the mist of doubt and be fearless.

Footnotes

(1) A sentence misprinted in the original translation (in a newspaper) omitted here. –Eds.

Chapter 3	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

Everyone longs for liberation, because bondage is not conducive to happiness. But not all persons possess the necessary courage to ask for liberation. Hence they have to undergo the tortures of bondage; they have to surrender to bondage. But while surrendering to bondage, they realize at heart that they are not doing the right thing. Thus all long for some kind of mukti [liberation] – some in terms of freedom of action, some in terms of freedom on the intellectual level. The question of liberation arises due to the tortures brought about by bondage.

We hear many a person say, “We are very ordinary people; will it ever be possible for us to attain mukti, or to attain mokśa [non-qualified liberation, emancipation]?” In my opinion, this sort of thinking is altogether defective: in fact, the pursuit of liberation is all the more necessary for a person who thinks of himself or herself as a very ordinary person.

Usually there is much dissatisfaction, much pain and worry, in the lives of ordinary microcosms. People want to get away from these bondages of dissatisfaction and pain. And in order to achieve that condition, they will have to follow the path of liberation. As they are in bondage, they will have to try to get rid of the bondage. Hence it is an imperative necessity for everyone to follow the path of liberation.

Human beings are in chains in this quinquelemental world of Máyá. What type of bondage is this? Who has brought about all these bondages? These bondages are the creation of Máyá.

Now bondages are not all alike, they are not equally harsh. Some bondages may be very harsh, hard as iron, and some relatively soft. For instance, suppose you are bound in iron chains, while another person is bound with a rope. Both of you are in bondage, but the severity of the bondage is not equal for both. The greater the bondage – the harsher the bondage – the greater the struggle that is necessary to attain freedom. A person in iron chains has to struggle harder than a person bound with a rope. Hence there are sure to be differences in the degree of intensity of the struggle, due to the differences in the degree of the bondage.

We in the quinquelemental world suffer bondage of various types – social bondage, economic bondage, the bondage of injustice, etc. But the worst bondage of all is spiritual bondage. As people struggle for liberation, they will have to struggle against all kinds of bondage.

For a person who has no food to eat, who suffers from the cold weather due to want of clothing, who is forced to live under the sky due to lack of shelter, will it ever be possible to turn to spiritual practices? How can such a hapless person think of spiritual liberation? Where there is a question of freedom from social bondages, you should struggle collectively. But in the case of psychic bondages you should struggle individually. The final stage of a person’s struggle for liberation will occur in the spiritual sphere.

Human beings are also subject to certain limitations in the world of the mind and the world of sense perceptions, and the spiritual domain remains hidden from them. The indriyas [organs, in this case sense organs] are the crude media of human feelings, but the capacity of the indriyas is very limited. The indriyas find it difficult to receive all the tanmátras [inferential waves]. Human beings’ auditory organs, for instance, fail to capture both very loud sounds and very soft sounds – because the auditory organs can function in between one specific wavelength and another specific wavelength, but not beyond that. Human beings, however, should not say that what does not come within the purview of the sense organs does not exist in the outer world.

Furthermore, the capacity of the sense organs varies between one person and another; it also varies between humans and animals. For instance, a tiger⁽¹⁾ can smell something from a distance even of a mile. Human beings do not have that sort of capacity. So in point of capacity of sense perception, there is a marked difference between human and human, and between humans and animals.

Therefore it follows that in matters of perceptive ability, humans suffer from some sort of limitation; that is, that in that sphere also they are in bondage.

Next comes the question of thought-waves or contemplation. When we engage our minds in crude thoughts, our minds lose their capacity for subtle thinking. When our minds constantly entertain animal-like thoughts, that is a sort of crude thinking. Conversely, when we think subtle ideas, our minds distance themselves from mean or petty thoughts. A person can keep his or her mind engrossed in a crude thought up to a certain limit, which limit depends upon his or her mental constitution. If a person is told to think of his pet dog for twenty-four hours, that person will surely be able to think of the dog for some time, but after that period, he or she will feel bored and start contemplating something else. It is a psychological fact that that person’s human mind will not be able to keep itself engrossed in the crude thought of a dog for a long time. Likewise, if an ordinary person is asked to contemplate subtle ideas for a long time, his or her mind will feel repulsed after some time, because his or her mind is not used to adjusting itself to subtle vibrations for a long time. Thus the human mind functions within a limited scope of actions of certain specific types and durations. Here also the mind has to function within certain limitations, certain bondages.

There is another problem also. You think of so many things, but how much of what you think can you articulate? You can express at most only a fraction of what you feel. That is, if your thoughts and feelings measure one hundred thousand parts, what you will be able to express may be one part. The capacity of expression of the [motor] indriyas is far, far less than the faculty of thinking. If a burning match touches your body somewhere, you say, “Ahhh!” When again a red hot iron is forcibly pressed against your body somewhere, you say, “Uhhh!” But was the degree of pain in the two cases really so similar? Certainly not. There was a big difference. But you cannot give proper expression to the difference through verbal articulation. So the power of expression of the indriyas is very little in comparison to the vast world of ideas and feelings. The capacity of lower animals for thinking and feeling is very meagre, so the power of expression of their organs is even less than that. But the various mental faculties of human beings are considerably developed. That part of the mental power which is related to somewhat cruder things can be expressed, but the subtler part of the mental power remains mostly unexpressed. Poets and literatteurs give expression to only a very microscopic portion of what they think. Writers and artists, through their pens and brushes, can articulate only a minor portion of their inner thoughts, feelings and emotions. This is a matter of feeling, a subject of internal realization, it is not a matter of debate and discussion. Thus the world of ideas, the world of contemplation, is circumscribed by limitations. Here also human beings are in bondage.

Then comes the spiritual sphere. The world of spirituality is far subtler than the world of intellectual ideation. The cruder aspect of the mental world comes within the power of expression of the indriyas, but the spiritual world is totally beyond the scope of externalization. The subtler the feeling, the greater the difficulty in expressing it. Ideas which are moderately subtle by nature may somehow be expressed through gestures and postures. Even subtler ideas can also for the most part be expressed. But the very subtlest ideas (spiritual ideas) cannot be expressed at all. Hence the scriptures say that Brahma will never be polluted by words. If someone asks how the concept of Brahma can be conveyed, my reply will be that Brahma can be communicated about as well as a deaf person and a dumb person can communicate with each other. Thus the spiritual world is beyond the scope of verbal externalization.

Human beings represent a mixed state of animality and divinity. We can say human beings are like a stage between water and land, that is, on the one side there is land, on the other side there is water. The path of human life extends along the subtle midline between the two. Standing on this delicate precarious line, most human beings lean towards animality: because human beings carry over the full experience of past animal life, but they do not have the experience of divine life.

Humans do not fear to tread a known path, but they always hesitate and fear to travel unknown paths. The path of divine life is unknown to humans. As they have no previous experience of divine life, they lack courage to move along that path, but once they do gather courage to move forward, they realize the greatness of that path of eternal bliss.

Sense experiences can lead the human mind toward the world of psychic ideation. The world of psychic ideation will lead the mind toward the world of cognition. And the world of cognition will ultimately merge into the world of pure spirituality. This is what is termed samádhi. Thus step by step the world of the indriyas becomes suspended in the psychic world, and the psychic world in the spiritual world. If explained in another way, sense perceptions are merged into citta, citta into ahaḿtattva, ahaḿtattva into mahattattva,⁽²⁾ and finally mahattattva into the calm and serene world of pure spirituality. This is what is called mukti. A genuine sádhaka or bhakta [devotee] should aspire for this sort of liberation.

The word bhakti [devotion] is derived from the root verb bhaj plus the suffix ktin. When all the thoughts and propensities of the human mind are exclusively channelized towards one’s Iśt́a [Supreme Goal], this is called bhakti. One should remember that only nirguńá bhakti [non-attributional devotion] is true devotion; that is, a sádhaka will not expect anything more than this from Parama Puruśa. Only by dint of this sort of devotion can a devotee attain Parama Puruśa.

You will notice that some people say, “If we attain liberation, then we will remain far away from Parama Puruśa.” One should remember that once all one’s thinking becomes merged in Parama Puruśa, the mind will become pinpointed; and when the mind becomes pinpointed, it will merge in pure spirituality. Human beings will then forget their individual identities altogether. At this stage a devotee may not want to go deep into samádhi, may want only to remain absorbed in Parama Puruśa – but since his or her thinking has merged in pure spirituality, he or she will have to merge in that waveless ocean of blissful samádhi, whether he or she wants to or not.

The spiritual aspirant should always bear in mind that to attain liberation, bhakti is indispensable. Jiṋániis [followers of the path of knowledge], even if they beat their heads against the wall, but remain devoid of devotion, will never attain liberation. Before their deaths they will realize that their so-called knowledge was only garbage, a burden that they carried. The life of a jiṋánii devoid of devotion is a veritable desert.

In the heart of a human being, karma [the path of action] is like plowing a field, jiṋána [the path of knowledge] is like sowing the field, and bhakti is like watering the growing plants. Hence one should always remember that there is no clash between devotees and liberation. Devotees are destined to get liberation whether they want it or not.

Footnotes

(1) A tiger is called in Sanskrit vyághra, derived vi – á – ghrá + d́a – meaning that it has an extraordinary capacity to smell from a long distance.

(2) Citta is the objective mind, which takes the shape of objects. Ahaḿtattva is the “I do” feeling, and mahattattva the “I exist” feeling. –Eds.

Chapter 4	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The subject of today’s discourse is “Niiti and Dharma.”

Niiti

What is niiti? Kśemárthe nayanam ityarthe niiti. The word niiti has been derived from the root verb nii and the suffix ktin. It means “that which has the capability to lead”. But “to lead” to where?

The definition is Kśemárthe nayanam ityarthe niiti. Nayana means “to lead” – as for instance the organ of the body which leads people toward external objects [the eye] is called nayana – and niiti is that which leads a unit being towards kśema.

And what is kśema?

There are a number of words that seem to have the same meaning as kśema. But there is some subtle difference among the various words. For instance, there is a word hita whose colloquial meaning is “good”, but which actually means the desire for physical, mental and spiritual progress. But since no real progress is feasible in either the physical or the intellectual realm, the word hita has no meaning. Another word is shubha. It is used for progress in the intellectual and spiritual realms, but since there cannot be any progress in the intellectual realm, this term also becomes meaningless. And as regards spiritual progress, there are two words, kalyáńa and kśema. Kalyáńámastu means “Let there be spiritual progress” – and kśema means the same as kalyáńa.

So, Kśemárthe nayanam ityarthe niiti – that is, “That which leads you in a particular direction for your kśema is called niiti.” That which teaches you how to thieve, how to rob, and how to take bribes, is not niiti, for there is no intention of kśema there. This is the definition of niiti as in the scriptures.

In common speech niiti means simply “that which leads”, or “the entity which possesses the capability of leading”. So in common speech we can use terms such as kuniiti, durniiti, suniiti, satniiti, rańaniiti, etc. But in a spiritual [context] the words suniiti [niiti conducive to welfare] and kuniiti [niiti conducive to harm] cannot be used, since the word niiti means only Kśemárthe nayanam ityarthe; that is to say, since niiti [is automatically conducive to welfare and] can never be harmful.

The word “morality” is generally used as the English synonym for niiti (niiti as scripturally defined). Morality is that effort or idea which keeps a person away from sin – sin being that which is not prescribed in the Bible. Niiti is different from morality. There is no exact synonym for niiti.

Pápa and Puńya

Another thing to bear in mind is that “sin” in the English language is not the pápa of Sanskrit. As already said, “sin” means to go against that prescribed in the Bible. But pápa is explained in the phrase Paropakárah puńyáya pápáya parapiid́anam – that is, “Any action by one individual which leads to the development of others is puńya [virtuous deeds], and any action which does the opposite is pápa.” Bhagaván Shankaracharya has said,

Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ bhaja sádhusamágamam;
Kuru puńyamahorátraḿ smara nityamanityatám.

[Avoid association with the wicked and associate with the virtuous. Do good twenty-four hours a day, and remember the eternal.]

Tyaja durjanasaḿsargam – avoid association with the durjana (wicked). Who are durjana? Those who bring about the spiritual degeneration of others are durjana. But durjana is also a relative term. A particular individual may be wicked for one person (i.e., the cause of that person’s degeneration), yet may not be wicked for another person.

In a unit there are both righteousness and unrighteousness. Suppose that in one person the righteousness is twenty percent and the unrighteousness is fifteen percent – the resultant five percent will be righteousness. But if in another person the righteousness be ten percent and the unrighteousness two percent, then the resultant eight percent will be that person’s righteousness – which means that that person turns out to be a greater moralist, though he or she is possessed of only ten percent righteousness. What counts is the [resultant quantity] of righteousness, not the righteousness in itself.

Now suppose that in Mr. X [the resultant] unrighteousness is fifteen percent, and in Mr. Y it is ten percent. If a third man possessing less than ten percent resultant righteousness comes in contact with them, he will become degenerated. But if in this man the righteousness is twenty-five percent, he cannot become unrighteous in contact with X and Y, on the contrary he will make those two righteous. Therefore one person cannot be durjana for all other persons. A person may be durjana for those who possess less of righteousness than he or she does of unrighteousness, but the same person cannot be durjana for those who possess more of righteousness than he or she does of unrighteousness – rather the latter persons will make the former person good.

If, when making an effort to reform a person, your righteousness is not much more than the unrighteousness in that person, you should take with you a few other moralists when you go to reform the person. The collective righteousness will gain in strength, and it will have its impact on the person, and the person will be reformed. The person could be reformed not by the influence of one good person but by that of an assemblage of good people. So, Tyaja durjanasaḿsargaḿ bhaja sádhusamágamam.

And what is the meaning of the word sádhu [in the shloka]? Really sádhu means “those by whose contact others become good”. One does not become a sádhu simply by wearing saffron dress. Those who have the capability of leading others towards sádhutá [saintliness] are alone sádhus. One may be a sádhu even wearing a suit. So, “One should associate with sádhus.”

Then, Kuru puńyamahorátram – that is, “Do puńya to others all day long and all night long.” What is puńya? Paropakárah puńyáya [“Any action by one person which leads to the development of others is puńya”].

The real service is the service that you render to others for their spiritual upliftment, and that is known as viprocita sevá. But other services such as shúdrocita sevá [physical service], vaeshyocita sevá [economic service] and kśatriyocita sevá [martial service] help you in rendering viprocita sevá to others. When someone is dying of some ailment you cannot preach spiritual gospels to the person, rather you should help that person with medicines and physical services. Then when the person gets well you should teach something spiritual to him or her. Then the person will have been permanently benefited. Hence, Kuru puńyamahorátram.

What is the ahorátra? The ahorátra means the time stretching from one sunrise to the next. The time from one sunrise to the sunset is called a dinamána, and the time from that sunset to the next sunrise is called a rátrimána. The dinamána combined with the rátrimána is called the ahorátra.

The European system of time measurement starts from twelve in the night, whereas the Indian system starts from sunrise. In the Indian system the date changes with the rise of the sun.

So do puńya, ahorátra – all day long and all night long. Here someone may ask how it is possible to do puńya while sleeping. Let me explain it to you.

Among all puńya karmas [virtuous actions], the best is the performance of pracára [spiritual propagation]. (Pracára can be done only by those who themselves are spiritual aspirants.) Doing sádhaná and rendering social service are also puńya karmas. But for ordinary people who work in [government] offices or in businesses (not very spiritual activities), what is the way out? Even while working in the world, they should take their worldly work to be the work of the Lord. The worldly work as well will then become a puńya karma. If they keep their minds engaged in the thought of the Supreme, they will not be able to do anything wrong. The feeling of rendering service to others will remain in their minds. And what about during sleep? Before sleeping take His name – sleep too will become a puńya karma.⁽¹⁾ That is why it is said, Kuru puńyamahorátram.

Then, Smara nityamanityatám. Nityam means “always” – “Remember always the transitory nature of things.” [Anityatám means “the ephemeral”, “the transitory”.] That which was in the past, is in the present and will continue to be in the future is nitya. If even one of these three aspects of time be absent, the thing is not nitya. For example, that which is in the present and will continue to be in the future, but was not in the past, is not nitya, but anitya. From among beginning, middle and end, if even one is not there, then that is not nitya. A thing which was born will die one day; that which is unborn will not die. That which comes within the scope of the spatial, temporal and personal factors will alone be born and die, but that which is beyond these three and is the base of them all will neither be born nor die. And that alone is nitya.

This [physical universe] is anitya because it was born. It will die one day. That which is in the universe is anitya, and that which contains the universe is nitya. Hence this world is transitory. It was born one day and it will surely die.

A person who keeps this always in mind, [using] the discerning nityánitya faculty [nityánitya viveka], will not commit any wrong deed. Since the time of yore sádhakas have liked cremation grounds for their sádhaná, because the final end of the human body is most vividly manifested there. So one will tend not to perform any work improperly, and one’s mind will not be attached to crudity.

Dharma

Niiti has a very close association with dharma. What is dharma? That which sustains the jiiva is dharma. And the practical side of dharma is expressed in the words Ácárańát dharmah, that is, “Dharma is the assemblage of all your conduct” – the way you eat, the way you speak, the way you perform sádhaná. If your conduct is good, dharma is with you; if your conduct is not good, dharma is not with you. And if dharma is not with you, what comes about is your sarvanásha, or sarvátmaka vinásha – that is, your physical, mental, and spiritual ruin. Now you may say that your átman cannot be ruined. That is correct, but your átman will not remain in the form of átman. It will become crudified.

In the first stage of dharma, the greatest helping factor is niiti. In other words, the function of niiti is to help dharma, to help dharmácarańa [practice of dharma]. Therefore niiti plays a vital role in the life of a sádhaka. But niiti is not the culminating point of life, it is simply a starting point. In order to enter a house one has to pass through the gate, and this passing through the gate is niiti. But one has not gotten into the house simply by passing through the gate; to get in, one has to knock on the door. The entering into the house after knocking on the door is dharma sádhaná. Just to be a moralist is not enough, it only provides one with a passport to enter the house. As said above, Ácárańát dharmah [“Dharma is the assemblage of all your conduct”], and the first phase of your conduct is niiti. Therefore those who are bereft of niiti cannot be dharmic, and those who are dharmic cannot go against niiti.

Now the question crops up whether niiti is a relative factor or an absolute factor. Niiti is not cent percent relative, but it is not absolute, either, because niiti does not have any direct relation with Paramátman – it cannot by its own force help one attain Him. Niiti is a happy blending of relative and absolute.

The final goal of dharma is Paramátman, so for a dharma sádhaka there can be no other end. Those sádhakas who think that through sádhaná they will acquire occult powers, are wrong. Or, they may attain supernatural powers, but those powers will not help them to attain Paramátman. Those powers will not satisfy human longings, because even those powers are something worldly. That which we call supernatural is not really so, “supernatural” is rather loose terminology; any power or object which has come within the bondages of the world is not supernatural, but natural. Those who think that sitting in sádhaná they can obtain ańimá, laghimá, mahimá, prápti, prakámya, etc. [names of occult powers], are in delusion. They are simply wasting their valuable time. A devoted sádhaka never aspires for these things. Even if Paramátman comes to such a sádhaka and says, “My child, take all these powers,” the sádhaka will reply, “Paramátman, keep those powers for Yourself. I don’t need them. I want You, and You alone. I long for You and not for Your powers.”

A mother tries to coax and cajole her crying son, and offers him some toys to divert his attention, so that she can work in the kitchen. The child stops crying and forgets his mother for the time being. But if he is a bit naughty, he will again resume his effort to reach the breast of his mother. He will throw away the toys and cry for Mother only. And the mother ultimately has to come and take the child on her lap. A devoted sádhaka is like this child. He or she will say, “O Father, this world that I see all around is a plethora of toys. This world took its birth at a certain time, so it will also come to an end at some time or other. This world has not been given permanently to anybody.” If God is asked whether He has given this world-toy to anybody forever, He will not be able to answer, for He does not give things forever. He gives with the right hand and takes away with the left.

Lord Buddha has said, Konuhása kiimananda nittam pajjalite sate. This means that Paramátman has given you a rope, one end of which you are holding, and on the other end of which He has lit a fire. Sooner or later the fire will burn all of the rope and your hand as well. Hence one should not ask anything from Paramátman.

Niiti and Dharma

In niiti there is a happy blending of the relative and the absolute. So niiti is based on certain mundane and supra-mundane principles. Dharma, on the other hand, is ácárańa [conduct] – Ácárańát dharmah. It is, therefore, something practical. It is a cult. It is not a theory but a desire, a will to do something.

But the question arises, what to do. As regards niiti, one can deliver some speech, say something on Yama and Niyama, and that too can be understood. But as regards dharma, one has to actually do something. So what to do and what not to do? What are people’s dos and don’ts?

In the case of niiti, indeed, there are certain dos and don’ts. In Sanskrit these dos are called vidhi, and the don’ts are called niśedha. The collection of dos and don’ts is niiti. But as regards dharma there are no don’ts, everything is do; that is, everything is a conduct which has to be performed.

For example, “Serve the patient,” “Don’t steal,” “Speak the truth,” “Don’t tell a lie” – such a combination of [observances and restrictions] is niiti. Dharma, on the other hand, is ácárańa, not anácárańa – that is, it is only “do this,” “do that.” “Do sádhaná for Paramátman like this,” “Sing bhajans like this,” “Do práńáyáma like this,” “Do nyása [a kind of breath-control] like this” – there is only vidhi and no niśedha. This is the fundamental difference between dharma and niiti.

So in dharma there are only dos. Now common people will naturally ask, What is it that we are to do?

Shrutayo vibhinnáh smrtayo vibhinnáh
Naekamuniryasya mataḿ nábhinnam;
Dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guháyáḿ
Mahájano yena gatah sa pantháh.

[The scriptures differ, the social codes differ; each sage has a different opinion. The essence of dharma lies deep in the mind; the realized one follows the true path.]

Shrutayo vibhinnáh – Among the different Vedas and shástras there are mutual differences. There are differences even between the mantras of the Rgveda and those of the Yajurveda. In the one it says pitrasva and in the other pitrastám. The one says sarvatomukha and the other says vishvatomukha. So the Rgveda and the Yajurveda are not identical. They have differences wide and deep. So what should common people do? Which should they accept? Similar is the case with niiti. One person will say that sádhaná must be done facing the east, and another will say facing the north – will say that instead of facing the sun while meditating, one should face the polestar. Yet another person will say that sádhaná should be done facing the west [from India], that is, facing Mecca. Only poor south has not received anybody’s sanction. But really Paramátman is in all the directions. Do not all these directions belong to Paramátman? How could Paramátman be only in the east and not in the west? But niitivádiis (exponents of principles of niiti) will quarrel among themselves. As said earlier, there is something relative in niiti.

As far as the controversy regarding the four directions is concerned, sádhakas will say,

Eśo ha deva pradisho’nu sarvá;
Púrvo hi játah sa u garbhe anta.
Sa eva játah sah janiśyamána;
Pratyaiṋjanaḿstiśt́hate vishvatomukha.

[The Singular Entity has manifested Himself in the form of the ten directions. He has been born in the past as the offspring of different living beings, and will continue to be so born in the future. He inheres in every object and is the witnessing counterpart of those objects.]

Eśo ha deva pradisho’nu sarvá – “The Singular Entity, Paramátman, has manifested Himself in the form of pradisha and anudisha.” Six of the ten directions – north, south, east, west, up, and down – are known as pradisha, and the remaining four – northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest – are known as anudisha. So this one Paramátman appears in the form of the six pradisha and the four anudisha. Which directions will you accept and which reject? If you speak in favour of the east, it means you are speaking against the west – and haven’t you then gone against the Lord manifested in the form of the west? So it is very difficult to talk about this. Dharmic people will not say anything about this. They will say,

Káko nindo káko vando
Dono pálŕá bhárii.

[Whom should we criticize, whom should we worship? Between the two there is an even balance.]

So we see that there are differences of opinion even in the shrutis – shrutayo vibhinnáh. The smrtis also differ. What is a smrti? That which controls the worldly life of a person is called smrti, and that which controls the spiritual life of that person is called shruti. Shruti means dharmashástra (spiritual code), and smrti means samájashástra (social code). In ancient times there were the Parashar Saḿhitá, the Nárada Saḿhitá, and the Manu Saḿhitá; and today you will find the Hindu Code. All of these are smrtishástra. Smrtishástra is more relative than shrutishástra, for society changes with the change of time. But there are differences among the shrutis also, and, Naekamuniryasya mataḿ nabhinnam – “There is no muni [saintly intellectual] who does not differ from other munis.” Some munis will say to offer pińd́á [oblations] in a particular way, and some in some other way. (But actually, not all of these people are [even] real munis. Only “those who have merged their minds” in Paramátman are real munis – Munih dugdhabálakah munih saḿliinamánasah.)

A modern person might ask whether it is really possible to merge one’s mind in this way. It is a difficult task, but since dharma consists in doing something in practical terms, one should make the effort. But with the shástras and munis differing so widely, what are common people to do?

Dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guháyám;
Mahájano yena gatah sah pantháh.

[The essence of dharma is hidden in your own “I” feeling; the path pursued by practical saints is the real path.]

“The essence of dharma is hidden in the guhá.” The term guhá in Sanskrit has two meanings. The first is “cave”. So does the shloka mean that Paramátman is concealed in a cave in some mountain; does it mean that to realize Him one will have to leave the world and go to the wilderness? No, it would not be wise to leave the world, to leave off service to humanity, and go to the Himalayas to attain Paramátman. This world itself is Paramátman’s – where will you go if you leave it? In the world one may believe that one will be unable to concentrate their mind because of the din and bustle; but in a cave in the Himalayas, one will start thinking that one was unable to get sweet fruit in a particular jungle, and that hence tomorrow one would have to go get ripe plums in a different jungle two or three miles away. Either in the world or in the wilderness one will not necessarily be free. If Paramátman does not want you to know Him, then you will not be able to attain Him in either place; whereas if He wishes you to attain Him, you can get Him here and now. What He sees is your aspiration for Him. Remember that at every step of your life He is testing you to see whether or not you have been able to arouse love for Him in your mind. He is testing you as to whether you want Him or want worldly objects.

There should be oneness in thought and speech. If there is some difference between the two, one will not be able to arouse love for Him. Suppose that in sádhaná one says that one requires only Paramátman. If then, when before the Lord, that person prays for the cure of his or her asthma, that will not serve the purpose.

The other meaning of guhá is “I am.” Dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guháyáḿ – “The essence of dharma, that is, Paramátman, is hidden in your own “I”-ness.” Is it essential for you to go to the Himalayas in search of that which is hidden in your own “I”-ness? Do you require the help of a mirror to see the wristwatch on your wrist? No, and neither for Paramátman, who is hidden in your “I”-ness, do you need go to the Himalayas. Live in the world and put forth your entire self for the service of society, and then you must attain Paramátman. Paramátman is hidden in you, and He is witnessing all your activities, physical or mental, and seeing whether you aspire for Him or for worldly objects. So what will sádhakas do? Mahájano yena gatah sa pantháh. The cover of “I”-ness is to be removed [from Paramátman, the essence of dharma] – those who try to remove it are mahájanas, practical people, practical sádhakas. And whatever these practical sádhakas have done and are doing, you have to follow. This cannot be brought about with niiti. This is entirely a spiritual cult. You are sádhakas, you have to follow the mahájanas, and achieve your end by removing the cover of your “I”-ness. You will find that your goal is hidden in your own “I”-ness.

Hence niiti will help you, but only through dharma sádhaná will you be able to attain Paramátman. That is why it has been said, Ácárańát dharmah – “Conduct is the principal factor in dharma.” Be a sadácárii, a person of good conduct, and you will surely attain Paramátman. What to speak of getting Him in the future – you have already got Him, you simply are not able to see Him.

Footnotes

(1) In “Under the Shelter of the Guru”, in Yoga Psychology (1994), the author explains how ajapá japa and adhyáná dhyána can go on during sleep. –Eds.

Chapter 5	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The yogi says there is hardly any difference between the terms “God” and “bliss”. It is just like two names, “water” and agua, used for the same entity. The yogi says, “What is God? He is bliss. He is ánanda.” And the functional side of this Supreme Father is, everything cometh from Him and goeth back to that Supreme Entity. And what is that Supreme Entity? It is ánanda.

God is the Generator, He is the Operator, and He is the benevolent Destructor: G-O-D. What is God? As Operator He is the controller also. The operator of a machine must have control over that machine. He must be a controller. And this controller is not only an ordinary mechanic, He is a great Magician, because He creates everything in His mind.

The magician creates so many things in his mind, and the spectators say, “Oh, he is a great magician.” But actually, these spectators are befooled. Their mental attachment goes toward the created objects and not toward the magician. But they should know that those created objects are of temporary nature. The magician is the truth.

So this controller is a great Magician: He is creating every- thing within His mind. And for those created beings, the mental world of this Magician appears to be a physical one.

Suppose you create a candle in your mind and a man in your mind. You know that both the candle and the man are of mental creation, are purely mental, not physical. They are within your mind. But for your mental man, your mental candle is a reality. Similarly, for you this world is a physical reality. But for that Supreme Magician, everything is transitory. So He is a magician and has control over the entire universe.

Now what is God, again? The yogi says, “He who has got occult powers, all the occult powers, all the faculties, is God.” Unless and until one possesses all the occult powers, how can one control the universe? The occult powers are eight in number. He who is the owner of all these occult powers is known as Iishvara in Sanskrit. And why is God called Iishvara? He can see [and do] everything. He can go to any place without the help of any organ.

Another explanation by the yogi regarding who God is: “He who remains unassailed, unaffected, by actions and reactions. He who requires no shelter, He who is the shelter of all, of everything – He is God.” Another explanation by the yogi is that the universe is a collection of so many electrons, protons and positrons, and the Supreme Controller is God.

You have only two eyes, and those eyes can function only where there are light waves in the external world. Where light waves are lacking you cannot see. But He has infinite eyes, and all those eyes are functioning within, because there is nothing without Him. Everything is within Him. In order to see your mental picture, do you depend on external eyes? No.

For you there are two worlds, internal and external. But in His case everything is internal. You are within His mind, and whatever you are seeing, whatever you are doing, whatever you are going to do, everything, is being done within His great mind. There is nothing external. “Oh, my child, oh, my little child, why did you commit such a sin?” You cannot say, “No, Father, I didn’t commit a sin,” because you are in His mind. He sees internally without the help of any eyes, because you are His mental creation, you are within His mind.

He is omnipresent; He is everywhere. The movement of a grain of sand is as important to Him as the movement of an atom bomb, as the movement of a megaton bomb. For Him there is nothing unimportant. You cannot be unimportant for Him. The Father is always with you. And because of His omnipresence there is one advantage and one disadvantage. What is the advantage? The advantage is, the Supreme Father is always with you, you are never alone. You must not be afraid of anybody because He is always waiting to save you. And the disadvantage is – that He is always with you, and therefore it is very difficult for you to do anything unpleasant, anything undesirable. This is the difficulty. The universe is surrounded by Him. Whatever you do, your doing is witnessed by Him. You cannot think secretly.

Máyá is that force which creates the illusion of this physical reality. It is the Operative Principle of God. Now this Máyá, it is insurmountable for an ordinary human being, for a non-sádhaka. A person who is not a spiritual aspirant is to serve Máyá as a slave. This is the case with all animals, with all brutes, and with all people of an animal temperament. Now, what is intuitional practice? What is yogic practice? Its purpose is just to overcome the influence of Máyá. This Operative Principle, the influence of Máyá, is just like a satanic chain, just like a serpentine noose, of afflictions and predicaments. One has to free oneself from this serpentine noose. And this is done through yogic sádhaná. When the yogi comes in close contact with the Supreme Father, the Lord says, “Oh, my child, it is very difficult for a person to overcome the influence of this Máyá. Máyá is insurmountable. But he or she who has taken shelter in Me, who has [ensconced] himself or herself in Me, who has taken shelter on My lap, will surely go beyond the influence of this Máyá.”

Unless and until you have developed implicit faith and sincere love for that Supreme Father, you will not become one with Him, you will be bound by this Máyá. Now, when do people begin to feel that they should love the world? When they free themselves from evil, from egotistic sentiments. But they will say, “They say God is gracious, but I am an unfortunate person, I am not realizing His grace”. There are many persons who talk like this, but you know, my boys, you know, my daughters, there is no partiality in Him. His heavenly shower of grace is for all. He is for every creature. But one feels His grace and another does not. What is the reason? There is a heavenly shower of grace. But suppose that you are holding an umbrella over your head. Will you be drenched by that shower? Oh, no. They who want to enjoy this shower of grace must remove this umbrella of ego over their heads, and they will be drenched by the divine shower. So spiritual aspirants, yogis, must give up all their egotistic sentiments. And in the next moment they will be in the proximity of the Supreme Father.

One is to get Him, to come in contact with the Divine Father, through jiṋána, karma and bhakti. What is jiṋána? Jiṋána is spiritual knowledge, not mundane knowledge. Mundane knowledge is distorted knowledge. It is not knowledge at all. Spiritual knowledge is the real knowledge. But what is spiritual knowledge? One must know what one is, what one’s goal is. This is the spiritual knowledge. Then comes karma. Karma means “action”. But if one knows what one is, what one’s desideratum is, then one will have to move towards one’s goal. One will have to do something practical and move towards one’s goal. This movement, this practical approach, this actional approach, is called karma. And then when, after karma, one comes near to Him, one will be united or unified with Him. This process of unification is devotion, bhakti.

Bhakti yoga can be divided into two broad categories: one is attributional devotion, and the other is non-attributional devotion. In attributional devotion there are three stages. The first one is the stage of static devotion. In static devotion, the devotee says, “O my Lord, I am your devotee. Mr. Y is my enemy. Please destroy Him.” In the case of static devotion, the devotee doesn’t want to be with the Lord. The devotee wants something bad or harsh done to his or her enemy. That is devotion of the worst type. As it was not the person’s longing to become one with the Father, that person never will become united with the Father. And also, the Supreme Father is the Supreme Father of the enemy also. So He may or may not kill that enemy. Static devotion is no devotion.

Then comes mutative devotion. In this case the devotee says to the Lord, “I am your devotee. Please give me money. Please give me name and fame.” A boy wants toys from his mother. If the boy starts crying for his mother, the mother must leave her duties and attend to the child. But if the child just wants the toys, he will never get [the mother]. Here also, the devotee in the example didn’t express the desire to become one with the Father, so he won’t attain salvation. He won’t become a devotee. (Yogii means “one who finally comes into unification with the Supreme Self”.) Also, this person asked for worldly property. Now you know that worldly properties are limited. The number of dollars in the world is very large, but it is not infinite. So the Lord may or may not fulfil such a desire. He has to look after the interests of so many children. He cannot fulfil your unjustified demand. So this mutative devotion is not devotion at all.

Now comes the third kind of devotion – of attributional devotion – called sentient devotion. In this case the person says, “I am your devotee. But, oh, Lord, I am an old man. Give me something concrete. I want salvation. And You know I am disgusted with the world. My digestive organs have become disordered. I can’t eat anything. Please give me peace. Please give me peace.” It is a sentient devotion because here the aspirant, the devotee, does not want anything physical. So it is better than static or mutative devotion. But it is also a very bad type of devotion. It is no devotion, because the person wants salvation from the Supreme Father, but he doesn’t want the Supreme Father. So he is not a yogi. A yogi has to unify himself with the Father. A yogi will not demand any toys from the Father.

Then there comes non-attributional devotion. In non-attributional devotion there are two phases. One is called rágánugá bhakti; the other is called rágátmiká bhakti. In rágánugá devotion, the devotee says, “O my Lord, I love You because in loving You I get pleasure. I want nothing from You. I want to love You because I get pleasure.” It is non-attributional devotion, but it is still not the highest form of devotion.

The highest form of devotion is called rágátmiká. In rágátmiká the devotee says, “O Lord, I love You. I want to love You. And why do I want to love You? Because I want my love to give You pleasure. I love You not to get pleasure but to give You pleasure.” This is the highest form of devotion. And by dint of this type of devotion, rágátmiká devotion, the yogi comes in closest contact with the Supreme Self and becomes one with Him. When the devotee’s love is to give pleasure to the Lord and not to enjoy pleasure for himself or herself, the person’s mind gets subjectivated. That is, the mind gets metamorphosed into the mind of the Lord. And that’s why this rágátmiká devotion is the only devotion. And through this devotion, the yogi gets established in the stance of supreme beatitude. The person and the person’s God become one. It is the only goal of human life – to become one with Him.

When one comes near the Supreme Father, he or she has to address the Father, “O Father, give me shelter on Your blissful lap, on Your graceful lap.” To say this, one has to establish a relationship of implicit faith and sincerest love with the Father. This implicit faith blended with spiritual zeal is called devotion. So knowledge and action are to help you in developing devotion, but your unification with the Supreme Self will be established with the help of devotion only. So where there is action and where there is knowledge but where there is lack of devotion, nothing can be done. So in the life of a spiritual aspirant, in the life of a yogi, nothing can be done if there is want of devotion. So you daughters, you sons, you must remember that you will have to develop devotion, implicit devotion blended with spiritual zeal. And that devotion will help you. Devotion is the only faculty to help you, to establish you in the supreme beatitude.

Now this supreme Puruśa, for the blessed, for the virtuous, He is their Father. He is their supreme shelter. But for those who are not virtuous, those who are sinners, for them is He not the Father? Certainly He is the Father. He is the Father of the sinners also. Otherwise where are the sinners to go? He must give shelter to the sinners also. He knows the past of all His daughters and all His sons. Even then He loves them, doesn’t He? Suppose the Supreme Father says that He is the Father of the virtuous only, not the Father of the sinners – then is He justified in this? Has He got the right to say this? Then the sinners will challenge His authority. They will say, “No, Supreme Father, you have no right to say You are not the Father of the sinners” – because when He is the Father of the universe, then do the sinners live out of the scope of the universe? No. Then the sinners may say, “O Father, if you are not the Supreme, if you are not our Father, in that case please expel us to some place outside the universe.”

The Supreme Father, the Lord of the entire universe, is the Witness of all witnesses. He is the King of all kings.

“If even sinners ideate on me, accept me as their only object of ideation,” sayeth the Lord, “they will be freed from all worldly fetters, all worldly bondages.” Sinners must attain salvation, must be freed from all sins, all bondages of sin, by the Supreme Father. So for the virtuous and also for sinners, the Supreme Father is the only shelter. The Supreme Father is the only object of ideation. What are sinners to do? They are to forget their past, and they are to move ahead on the path of spirituality to attain that supreme stance. To come in direct contact with the Supreme Father, you are to serve the universe as the ideal daughters and sons of the Supreme Father. You needn’t be anxious. You must not have any worries and anxieties about your personal problems. Your problems are to be solved by the Supreme Father. You serve the children of the Supreme Father as the ideal daughters and ideal sons of that Father.

Chapter 6	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The subject of today’s discourse is “Jaeva Dharma and Bhágavata Dharma”. You know, wherever there is dharma there is some rule. An object may be animate, it may be inanimate, it may be human, it may be animal, but everything will have to follow a certain dharma. Nobody, no entity, can go beyond the jurisdiction of dharma. Oxygen follows a certain dharma, gold is guided by a certain dharma, a cow is guided by a certain dharma, a human is also guided by a certain dharma.

And what is dharma? You see, in the greater sense dharma means Bhágavata Dharma, and that is the dharma to be followed by humankind. What is the root meaning of dharma? The root verb dhr plus the suffix man equals dharma. Dharma means “holding entity”, “controlling entity”; dharma means svabháva, “characteristic property”. Dhryate dharma ityáhuh sa eva Paramah Prabhuh – “The holding entity, the containing entity, the controlling entity, is dharma. So for each and every living being, dharma is the Supreme Lord.” You will have to follow the dictates of dharma.

You see, the order of dharma, the dictates of dharma, are above all. Suppose a physician says, “As a human, you require animal protein for your health;” but suppose dharma says, “No, a human should not take carnal food;” then in that case you will have to follow dharma and not the physician, because the order of dharma is above all other orders. Dharma is the highest Lord, the highest authority.

Sukhaḿ váinchati sarvo hi
Tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharma sadákárya
Sarvavarńae prayatnatah.

[All living beings long for happiness. Dharma originates from that innate propensity. Hence dharma should always be observed meticulously by all people.]

You know, so far as people’s mental condition is concerned, one person is a shúdra, another person is a vaeshya, another a kśatriya, another a vipra and still another a sadvipra. People are classified as above according to their mental fitness, not according to complexion or birth. It has been clearly stated by Lord Krśńa that varńa [mental colour, psychological type] is decided not according to birth but according to action and attribution – Cáturvarńyaḿ mayá srśt́aḿ guńakarma vibhágashah – “According to guńa and karma (attribution and action) it is decided.”

Everybody wants happiness, and this desire for happiness has enabled humans to come in contact with dharma and to discover dharma. They have not invented dharma, they have only discovered it, because dharma was there before the creation of the human being. Humans cannot invent it, humans can only discover it. Its presence, maybe, was unknown to humans in the beginning.

Tasmáddharma sadákarya sarvavarńae prayatnatah. So for all varńas, whether a person is mentally a shúdra or a vaeshya or a kśatriya or a vipra – dharma is a must.

Now Bhagaván Krśńa says,

Sarvadharmán parityajya
Mámekaḿ sharanaḿ vraja;
Ahaḿ tváḿ sarvapápebhyo
Mokśayiśyámi máshucah.

[Set aside all other dharmas and take shelter in Me alone; I will save you from all sin, have no fear about that.]

What do the words sarvadharmán [“all dharmas”] denote? Just now it has been said that each and every entity has its peculiar dharma. It will have to follow that dharma. Now, so far as this expressed world is concerned, we may divide dharma into three broad categories.

One may be termed vastu dharma. It is a dharma that belongs to all created beings, animate or inanimate, oxygen or monkey. According to this vastu dharma you have to keep a particular gas or a particular medicine under certain climatic conditions, otherwise it will be destroyed. You will have to follow that rule. The substance will be produced at a certain temperature, and it will be used at a certain temperature; it will be found not everywhere, but only in certain environments. These conditions are all part of vastu dharma. At a particular temperature iron will become liquid, at a particular temperature iron will turn into gas. These things are all part of vastu dharma.

The second category is jaeva dharma – the dharma for living beings and elevated objects. They are to take food, they are to see, they are to die, and they are to maintain their families. These things are all part of jaeva dharma. For this jaeva dharma they are to follow certain codes. (It has already been explained that vastu dharma also has certain codes which scientists know and which are dealt with in books on physics and chemistry. If one doesn’t follow those codes, one will not be able to utilize those vastus (material objects). You know the dharma of electricity, so you have to follow certain codes if you want to utilize electricity. You cannot go beyond those codes. You may say that those codes are vastu shástra. Physics is a vastu shástra, chemistry also is a vastu shástra.) Similarly with jaeva dharma, you have to follow certain shástras. You cannot go beyond the codes of those shástras [scriptures].

What is a shástra? Shásanát tárayet yastu sah shástrah parikiirtitah [“That which controls the society by shásana is a shástra”]. Shásana has so many meanings. Actually shásana means “to control” and to impose the codes of discipline. Do this, don’t do this – to prescribe these dos and don’ts of life is the duty of shástra. And why does the shástra prescribe those things? For salvation and liberation shástras prescribe these dos and don’ts of life.

Then there is Bhágavata Dharma, the third category. This Bhágavata Dharma is mánava dharma [human dharma]. There is no difference between Bhágavata Dharma and mánava dharma. Human beings are to follow jaeva dharma for their physical maintenance and for a certain portion of their psychic elevation, and beyond the scope of this jaeva dharma they are to follow Bhágavata Dharma, mánava dharma. This is the actual dharma, the true spirit of the term “dharma” is in it.

Áhára-nidrá-bhaya-maethunaiṋca
Sámányametad pashubhirnaránám;
Dharmo hi teśám adhiko visheśah
Dharmena hiináh pashubhih samánáh.

[Food, sleep, fear, procreation – these are the common properties of humans and animals. But humans possess an especial dharma (Bhágavata Dharma), in the absence of which they are as bad as animals.]

This Bhágavata Dharma differentiates a human being from a beast. A human being who does not follow Bhágavata Dharma is a beast. That is, in the above shloka it has been said that he or she is a beast. But I say that he or she is worse than a beast, because the beast does not know what to do and what not to do, but a human being knows what to do and what not to do. So if a human does not follow the codes of Bhágavata Dharma, that person is worse than an animal – not pashubhih samánáh [“the same as an animal”], but worse than an animal.

Now, since this Bhágavata Dharma is a must for all human beings, a human being should follow the doctrine of Bhágavata Dharma from his or her very childhood. There should be maximum utilization of his or her human existence, human calibre, human mind, and human spirit. Dhruva says,

Kaomára ácaret prájiṋah
Dharmán Bhágavatániha;
Durlabhaḿ mánuśaḿjanma
Tadapya dhruvamarthadaḿ.

Dhruva says, that is, “A person should follow this Bhágavata Dharma, here in this world.” (The word iha means “here”, “in this world”.) “One should follow Bhágavata Dharma from one’s very childhood, because human life is rare and is very precious.” Even the devatás,⁽¹⁾ if they want to do something good or great, will have to come in human frame to work. A devatá as devatá cannot do anything good; the devatá requires a human framework. So human life is very precious, very rare; “and such life is still more rare, still more precious, if it has become successful by dint of Bhágavata Dharma, or by dint of sádhaná.” So a wise person should get initiated and should start sádhaná in his or her very childhood, or kaomára.

Lord Krśńa gave the above sermon [Sarvadharmán…] in the Bhagavad Giitá. And why the name Bhagavad Giitá?

Because it has been expressed by Bhagaván. Yá Bhagavatá giita sá giitá – “That which has been sung by Bhagaván is giitá.” Gae + kta, striyáḿ [feminine gender] t́á: the root verb gae means “to sing”, kta means “done”; that is, [the word means] “sung”. Striyáḿ t́á makes it feminine, giitá. And the derivation of the word Bhágavata is: bhaga + matup = Bhágavata. What is Bhagaván? Bhaga plus the matup suffix in the nominative case becomes bhagaván. The word is bhágavata, but in the nominative case bhagaván. And what is the meaning of bhaga? In Sanskrit bhaga has many meanings. But two of the meanings are important: one meaning is “fortune” and the other meaning is “the collection of six attributes”.

From bhaga we say bhagya or “fortune”. In Vedic Sanskrit “fortunate” was expressed as bhagadhara; dhara means “holder” and bhaga means “fortune”. The bhagadhara of old Sanskrit became bahadhara in old Persian.

From bahadhara it became bahadar in Punjabi, bahadar in Urdu and báhádur in Hindi. But the actual word is bhagadhara, it means “fortunate”.

Now, the other meaning of the word bhaga is:

Aeshvaryaiṋca samagraḿ viiryaḿca yashasah shriyah;
Jiṋána vaerágyaiṋca śańáḿ bhaga iti smrtah.

[Bhaga is a collection of six attributes: aeshvarya, viirya, yasha, shrii, jiṋána, and vaerágya.]

Bhaga is a collection of six attributes. Number one is [in turn a collection of] all the occult powers: ańimá, laghimá, mahimá, ishitva, vashitva, etc.

Number two, viiryam, denotes “command”. Bhagaván should have command over the general public, because He is to guide them; that is why He should have command over them. In Urdu “command” is hukumat.

Then there is another word, yasha; it means “reputation”. One should remember, here “reputation” has been used both in the extremely positive and in the extremely negative sense. There is positive reputation and there is also negative reputation. Lord Shiva came to this world about 7000 years ago; even now there are many who are His admirers, there are many others who are His opponents. The Iyers in South India will say, “Oh! Lord Shiva was great;” the Iyengars will say, “No, Lord Shiva was not great.” Lord Krśńa came about 3500 years ago; even now you will see there are so many admirers and so many opponents of Krśńa. That is, when Táraka Brahma comes, the entire intellect of the world gets polarized – one north pole, another south pole; one admirer, another opponent. There were the gopabálákas [cowherds] of Vrindavana who loved Krśńa very much, and there were Kansa, Putana Raksasi, Bakasur and Aghasur who were His deadly enemies. So during Krśńa’s time there was polarization.

Now let the word shrii be defined and explained. What is the meaning of the word shrii? It means “attraction” or “charm”. Sha + ra – ii = shrii. In very old Vedic language there was only one sa, dantya sa [dental “s”], and that was pronounced by touching the teeth from inside. But from the Dravidians (old inhabitants of India), the Aryans (who came from Central Asia) learned the use of tálavya sha [palatal “s”] and múrdhanya śa [cerebral “s”]. Dantya sa is the acoustic root of the sentient principle, or sattvaguńa; that is, it is the biija mantra of sattvaguńa. Tálavya sha is the acoustic root of the mutative principle, that is, rajoguńa. It is the biija mantra of rajoguńa. Múrdhanya śa is the acoustic root of the static principle, it is the biija mantra of tamoguńa. Now, ra is the acoustic root of energy. (Remember, when a binding principle functions within the arena of matter then it is known as energy, otherwise it is to be known as principle. A guńa becomes balam [energy] when functioning within the scope of matter. It (balam) cannot function without matter.) And the [suffix] ii makes this word feminine.

So the entity that has the charm of the mutative principle and the activating faculty of energy is shrii; actually shrii means “attraction”, “charm”; rather, “attraction and stamina”.

And what is the meaning of jiṋánam? It means the subjectivization of external objectivity. When the external objectivity is subjectivized by you, then you have acquired jiṋánam of that entity, of that object. But for this subjectivization there should be three entities – the knowing entity, the subject; the known entity, the object; and the activating faculty that connects subject with object. So for jiṋánam three entities are prerequisites – the knower, the known, and the activating faculty.

There may be a defect in the knower; there may be a defect in the emanation of the known; or there may be a defect in [the] activating faculty, or jiṋána-kriyá. So in the case of this jiṋánam or jiṋána-kriyá, there is every possibility that it will be imperfect due to certain distortions. But what is actual jiṋána? Actual jiṋána means the complete assimilation of external objectivities. It is átmajiṋána, and in this jiṋána there is no scope for distortion, because in the case of átmajiṋána the three entities mentioned above will not remain. The knower and the known are the same entity in the case of átmajiṋánam. When you know that you yourself are the knower, the jiṋátá, and you yourself are the known, there will remain no linking faculty; so all the three entities – the known, the knower and the activating faculty – become one in the case of átmajiṋánam (complete assimilation of external objectivities). But in the case of the other jiṋánam, as already found, there remain three entities. So átmajiṋánam is the only jiṋánam, it is the proper knowledge; it is, in the true sense of the term, jiṋána.

Átmajiṋánaḿ vidurjiṋánaḿ jiṋánányanyáni yánitu;
Táni jiṋánávabhásáni sárasyanaeva bodhanát.

“Átmajiṋánam is true knowledge, others are the distortions of knowledge, the shadow of knowledge, or you can say the umbra and penumbra of knowledge; hence they are not proper jiṋána.”

Vi – ranj + ghaiṋ = vaerágya. Another faculty of bhaga is vaerágya. Do you know what vaerágya is?

Whenever you come in contact with different objects, physical or mental, under the spell of physical pabulum or mental pabulum, those objects have pictorial colours. Those colours may or may not be visible, but the colours are there. Similarly, whenever you come in contact with any thing, or any external object, those objects have their peculiar acoustic waves also, and those acoustic waves may or may not be audible, but those waves are there. Now when a sádhaka, by dint of his sádhaná, establishes mental equilibrium – a mental equipoise – then what happens? The sádhaka remains in this world and does all his or her mundane duties with mundane objectiv[ities], but the sádhaka’s mind is never assailed by the colours of those entities. Since his or her mind is not affected or assailed by those entities, then we will say that that sádhaka has established himself or herself in vaerágya. Vaerágya does not mean “renunciation”. That is a defective explanation and interpretation of the term vaerágya. You should remain in this world and do your duty with a balanced mind. So the collection of these six faculties – all the occult powers, command, reputation, charm, self-knowledge and mental equipoise – are known as bhaga, and the owner of this bhaga is Bhagaván.

Now, Bhagaván Krśńa says, “You leave aside all other dharmas.”⁽²⁾ All other dharmas are vastu dharmas and jaeva dharma. You need not do anything for vastu dharma, because it is automatic. Nor need you do anything for jaeva dharma, because it is automatic. You feel hungry before a meal, so you feel the urge to satisfy your hunger; you feel thirsty before drinking water, and that is why you try to quench your thirst. You need not do anything particularly for that purpose. But for Bhágavata Dharma you have to do. That is why it has been said above, “Ensconce thyself in Me, come under My [shelter], that is, follow the path of Bhágavata Dharma.”

What is Bhágavata Dharma? It has already been said that Bhágavata Dharma and mánava dharma are the same thing. A person, in human framework, must follow Bhágavata Dharma, otherwise it is not a person, it is an animal in human framework.

In another discourse, I already explained that there are three essentialities in Bhágavata Dharma – vistára (expansion), rasa (flow), and sevá (service). Everybody wants expansion. Now for this psychic expansion one is to do spiritual sádhaná. It is the speciality of the human mind, and also of all other minds, that it takes the form of its object. Now, the Cosmic Puruśa is the object, so naturally the mind will also become like Him. Brahmavid Brahmaeva bhavati [“One who realizes Brahma becomes Brahma”].

So the first essentiality of Bhágavata Dharma is vistára. To quench this thirst for vistára, one is to do sádhaná regularly, and this sádhaná will expand the person’s mental arena. In this way a day is sure to come when the person’s mind will become one with the Cosmic Mind. This is called vistára.

The second essentiality is rasa. Rasa means “flow”. You know, whether there is any expression or not, in the Cosmic Citishakti there is a never-ending flow. That flow has no curvature. It moves on just like a straight line. This Citishakti is known as Shiva, also. (When the Citishakti is the Transcendental Entity, Its activating power is Its innate principle. Now when the innate principle or binding principle or activating principle gets the chance to create something concrete, then the Citishakti is known as Shiva. When within the transcendental scope of the Citishakti the activating force does not get the scope to create something concrete, in that case the Citishakti is known as Parashiva, and the nucleus of this Parashiva is known as Ádishiva. For Shiva the English term will be the “Attributed Consciousness”, for Parashiva the “Non-Attributed Consciousness”, and for Ádishiva the “Supreme Noumenal Subjectivity”.) Now in the case of Shiva, that is, in the case of this expressed universe, there is force, there is wave, but those waves are not straight waves. They are not straight lines. There are curvatures in those waves due to the influence of the binding principles of Mahámáyá [the Supreme Operative Principle]. But in the case of Parashiva, the movement is there, but it is in a straight line. So wherever there is Shiva, wherever there is the Cognitive Faculty, wherever there is Citishakti, there must be flow, there must be rasa. That is why it has been said for Him that He is sarvadyotanátmaka akhańd́a cidaekarasah – an “all-vibrating, unbroken flow of cognition”.

In the Vedas it has been said, Rasa bae sah [“The Supreme Entity is the embodiment of the flow of bliss”]. What is His speciality? He is a flow, a rasa, and His devotees were able to dance according to the rhythm of that rasa. Devotees always dance, either physically or mentally, according to a certain rhythm, a certain chandá. So the devotees dance according to the rhythm of His flow. And Parama Puruśa, Krśńa – Ádishiva as the hub, as the Noumenal Subjectivity – is in the centre, and the devotees, all human beings of the entire universe, of Hariparimańd́ala, dance around Him according to those rhythms. In the centre or the hub Parama Puruśa exists, and His devotees are dancing around Him according to the rhythms of the waves emanated from His body. It is the rásaliilá of Parama Puruśa, it is the rásaliilá of Bhagaván Krśńa – the dancing in tune with the rasa, or Cosmic flow.

Vistára was the first item of Bhágavata Dharma, and the second one is rasa. Through kiirtana, while dancing, you enjoy that Cosmic rasa, and you attain vistára through dhyána and japa as you learn from your ácárya.

The third factor of Bhágavata Dharma is sevá. You know that there are two words, sevá and vyavasáya. The meaning of vyavasáya is “business”. Business is always mutual. If you want one kilo of sugar you will have to pay for it: you give something and they will give you sugar. So business is mutual, not unilateral. But sevá [service] is always unilateral; you give something in sevá but take nothing in return. This is sevá. In the advertisements of certain business concerns, you can find written: “We have been serving the nation for fifty years.” No, no, that is not sevá, it is vyavasáya, because they are being paid for it. The railways are not rendering service to you, because you are paying for your journey by train. If it were unilateral, then only could you have accepted it as service. You should understand clearly the difference between sevá and vyavasáya, between service and business.

Your relationship with Parama Puruśa is that of sevá. Now in sevá, while doing your sádhaná in your mental arena, in your psycho-spiritual arena, or mentally while you are uttering the incantation or repeating it, you should mentally serve your object of adoration, or object of meditation. Simply uttering the mantra won’t suffice; mentally you should serve Him. Again, in this world of physicality you are to serve Náráyańa physically – Náráyańa in the form of people in deep [trouble]. This is service, selfless service. Service always is selfless, because it is unilateral; it is not mutual, but one-sided.

So vistára, rasa and sevá – these are the three essentialities for Bhágavata Dharma. Bhágavata Dharma is a must for every human being. This Bhágavata Dharma one should practise from one’s very childhood.

Lord Krśńa also advised people to follow this Bhágavata Dharma only. And to follow Bhágavata Dharma, you are also to follow the shástra of Bhágavata Dharma. You are to follow Yama and Niyama, you are to follow the code of discipline, you are to attend Dharmacakra weekly. These are all codes of discipline as prescribed by Bhágavata Dharma. You must follow these codes. There cannot be any concession in this respect, rather concession is dangerous. Atha yogánushásanam. “One must follow anushásanam. One must follow the code of discipline.” One may be a king or may be a very poor man, but the code of dharma is equally applicable to all. In this matter, nobody can claim any special concession or favour. Lord Krśńa says, “You follow me, that is, you follow my word, follow Bhágavata Dharma, because you are a human being.”

What is the meaning of Krśńa? Krś means “to attract”. So Krśńa means “One who attracts the whole creation”. He is the nucleus of the entire Cosmological order.

Another meaning of krśńa is [krśibhuh]. It means “I exist because He exists.” So He is called Krśńasvarúpa. A fish exists because water exists. In that sense, water is krśńa for a fish. Why does a fish exist? Because water exists. Similarly, all living beings exist because He exists. That is why He is Paramasvarúpa for all. This is the real meaning of the word Krśńa. He says: “You leave all other dharmas, give up all other isms, you just follow me, you just follow Bhágavata Dharma, because you are a human being.” Lord Krśńa again says, “Suppose you are a sinner, you are a degraded person, your past was black; even then, if you follow Me, I will liberate you from all the fetters of all sins – all the reactive momenta. I am with you, I am to help you, I am to liberate you.”

Api cet sudurácáro bhajate mámananyabhák;
So’pi pápavinirmuktah mucyate bhavabandhanát.

[If even the most wicked people worship Me with a concentrated mind, I will liberate them from the three bondages.]

You know, sinners are of different standards. A pickpocket and a murderer are not of the same standard. Sinners belong to different standards. Now sudurácára means “the worst sinner”; such a person is even hated by other sinners – is the sinner of sinners. Yet, “If even a sudurácára takes the shelter of Parama Puruśa” – bhajate mámananyábhák – “ensconces himself or herself in Me, surrenders at My altar” – “then that person also will be freed from the bondage of sin” – so’pi pápavinirmuktah. He or she will definitely be freed from the reactive momenta of all sins. “He or she will be freed from all the bondages of bhava”⁽³⁾ – mucyate bhavabandhanát. Then that person will become one with Me, will be in Me. A devotee must remember that for him or her, there is only one dharma, and that is Bhágavata Dharma. Through this dharma he or she is taking the shelter of Parama Puruśa. In the past, it may be that that person was a sinner or may be that that person was very good; but that question does not arise here; that person is to take shelter in Parama Puruśa. So a devotee has no other dharma but to take shelter in Him.

One should know the story of when Krśńa once became very ill. He was treated in so many hospitals; there were so many blood tests and urine tests. He was treated in Mathura hospital, in Dwaraka hospital, in Indrapastha hospital, and in many other hospitals, but doctors failed to cure Him. Then the devotees approached Him gracefully: “Oh, Lord, we have failed, the physicians have failed, now You prescribe some medicine.”

Krśńa said, “I need only one medicine. If the foot-dust of my devotees is collected and I get a chance to touch that dust with My head, only in that case will I be cured. The carańarajah of my devotees – if that is touched by My head, then only will I be cured.”

Hearing this, the bhaktas said, “No, no, no, we cannot give our foot-dust to you, how can we give our foot-dust to Lord Krśńa? It will be a great pápa, it will be the action of a sinner, we will be sinning then. No, no, we cannot do it, we cannot, that will be our mahápápa [great sin].”

Then everybody approached Maharshi Narada, because he can settle the unsettled facts and can also unsettle the settled facts. So he was the most efficient man for this purpose. He went everywhere from America to Russia, from China to Japan, just to collect a single iota of foot-dust. But everybody replied to him, “No, no, it will be mahápápa, we cannot do it.”

Then Maharshi Narada approached the vrajabálákas of Vrindavana. They were very plain and very simple village boys and devotees of Krśńa. They said, “Oh! Krśńa said this? He wants our foot-dust? Yes, yes, take it, take it, take it. Let our Lord be cured first.”

Narada then cautioned the boys, “Do you know it will be mahápápa for you?” The boys replied, “Let there be mahápápa, but let our Lord be cured first. You see, Maharshi Narada, we do not know whether we are actually devotees or not. But today let there be an experiment. Let the dust be touched, and if He is cured, then well and good; and if not, it will be proved that we are not devotees. But what is the harm if you take the dust? Let our Lord be cured. We don’t know pápa or puńya – we know only the Lord. We are ready to live in naraka, hell, if the Lord is there in naraka. We are not ready to go to svarga, heaven, if the Lord is in naraka.”

This is the proper mentality of a devotee. Devotees do not consider pápa or puńya. They only know the Lord. And everyone should remember this fact.

Footnotes

(1) Devatás, in the literal sense, are the vibrational expressions emanating from the Macrocosm. Figuratively they are gods and goddesses, who in mythology crave human birth. The author also sometimes used the word in a poetic way to denote devayonis, or “luminous bodies”, beings whose bodies have no solid factor or liquid factor. –Eds.

(2) Sarvadharmán parityajya, quoted previously. –Eds.

(3) That part of one’s saḿskáras which carries one to the next life. –Eds.

Chapter 7	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

To call a person or a thing, a name is needed. And what is a name? A name is not just a word. The bháva, or ideation, for an object goes together with its name. And it is essential to bear in mind that one cannot name oneself, somebody else does the naming.

There is an old problem – which is more powerful, Parama Puruśa or His name? Before leaping across the ocean, Hanuman consulted Rama about it. Rama replied, “Go ahead, Hanuman. You can jump across the ocean. But I cannot.” Hanuman said, “Yes, I will be able to cross the ocean.” And Rama asked him, “How will you be able to cross it?” Hanuman replied, “With your power.” Rama asked, “How [will you get My power]?” And Hanuman replied, “I will take your name, then I will jump.” Hence the náma [name] is more powerful than the námii.⁽¹⁾ Why is it more powerful? A scientific explanation is needed here.

The named, before being named, remains nameless. When there were no devotees, God had no name – He was nameless. When there came to be devotees, then God became named God.

I was saying in Delhi that the fight between God and devotees is an old fight, a sweet fight. And what is that fight? God says to devotees, “It is you who are superior. Because of you, I have been named. Had it not been for you, who would have called me by the name of God? Even if I was God, I was not ‘God’. Because of you, I have become God.” And devotees say, “You are the base of my life. In Your absence, the existence of my life becomes jeopardized. You have created, and You alone are the base.” Devotees consider God to be superior, and vice versa. This fight to make the other superior has no end.

Now, let us see why the name is more powerful than the named. The shakti, or energy, in the name is kendrita – centralized. It is stambhita – latent. But when a name comes into being, it means a namer has come, and through the name, the named is addressed. In that situation, the latent power in the name gets activated. You know that from the beginning there has been a system of writing oṋm in which there is a dot and a crescent. The dot represents energy [in potential form], it represents cognition in potential form. There is no expression. And this mark [the crescent] represents expression. When the latent energy becomes activated, this mark will be the symbolic representation of the activation – that is, energy is now no longer latent, rather it is translated into action. As long as energy is latent, it is as good as not being energy. When the energy is activated, when it is expressed, then people will take it as energy.

Rabindranath was a great poet. Had the poetic genius in him not got expression and remained latent, the world would not have taken him to be a great poet. Had he composed his poems in his mind and not written them, he would not have won acceptance by the people as a great poet.

In the same way, when the namer does not name, the named is powerless. Therefore it is said that the name has greater power than the named.

For example, Parama Puruśa – He is the beloved of all. In [old] Sanskrit there is a word bapra. Bapra means “dear”. Bapra became bappa in Prákrta. In Ardha Prákrta it first became báppá, and then changed to bapu and then to bábá.

So the meaning of the word bábá is “dear”. As Parama Puruśa is the beloved of all, so all are beloved for Parama Puruśa. So when Parama Puruśa is “Bábá” for units, for Parama Puruśa the units are also bábá. This is because the relationship is that of love, in which there is no scope for superior or inferior, higher or lower – all are equal. Whether the devotee is greater or God is greater, each is bábá for the other. Why wait for the decision of the fight?

A person addresses Parama Puruśa as he or she wishes to. Therefore the named has to be named. [But as regards the extent to which a name is] ideational (bhávaváhaka) – the name Parama Puruśa cannot be so very ideational. [Whereas] the more [an ideational] name is taken, the more the bliss increases. Is it clear?

And what should be [that ideational] name? The most proper name for Parama Puruśa, the most suitable name, the most activating name that a person can use, is that person’s own Iśt́a mantra.⁽²⁾ For that person, other names of Parama Puruśa are no name at all. This is the correct attitude. As you have heard before, once Hanuman was asked, “You are well-versed and you know one thousand and one names for Parama Puruśa, yet you keep repeating ‘Rama, Rama’. Why?” To this Hanuman replied – and his reply was full of teaching –

Shriináthe Jánakiináthe cábheda Paramátmani;
Tathápi mama sarvasvah Rámah kamalalocanah.

“I know that Shriinátha and Jánakiinátha are one from the spiritual point of view.⁽³⁾ From the spiritual point of view Shriinátha and Jánakiinátha are one and inseparable.” Tathápi mama sarvasvah – “Nevertheless, Rama is everything for me, and I do not recognize Náráyańa or anybody else. For me the word ‘Náráyańa’ has no value.”

So you must remember, the Iśt́a mantra of a person is everything for that person; other mantras are no mantra for that person.

Hence human beings must name Parama Puruśa. If somebody says, “Don’t name Parama Puruśa, simply do dhyána [meditation],” you will discover something while meditating, also – that one has to address Parama Puruśa by name, otherwise one is not satisfied. When you meditate you have a wish to address the meditated, to say something to that party. That is, again the name comes up. Though the name is something limited, the human mind cannot help using it. Ultimately the name and the namer will no longer remain, only the named will remain. But as long as the namer and name do remain, the name has to be used – simply because one can’t help it.

People see the liilá [play] of Parama Puruśa all around. The whole universe is expressed because of His liilá. What does liilá mean? Where you see the effect but not the cause, that is liilá. Where you see the effect together with the cause, that is not liilá.

A human cannot do liilá, only Parama Puruśa can do it, because a human’s mind cannot grasp the liilá’s cause. If someone considers himself or herself to be very wise and traces different causes behind different effects, that person will still not be able to reach the first cause, because the theory of causality works only in the arena of mind and the arena of time, space, and person. So when at the last point the effect is found within the scope of time, space, and person, but the cause remains beyond that spatio-temporo-personal boundary, one will not be able to catch the cause, as one’s mind will not work there – the cause has gone beyond the boundary of the mind. The theory of causality was founded by Maharshi Kanada. Kanada said, Kárańábhávat káryábhávah – “Where there is no [cause] there is no [effect].” The theory is correct, but a human can only find those causes which are within the scope of the mind – that which is beyond the scope of the mind cannot be found. That is, one’s intellect is limited.

So a person gives a name to Parama Puruśa to the extent that he or she understands within the scope of time, space, and person. And when, while [repeating] that name, they reach the named, they find that the named is beyond relativities. Then the mind tries to catch Him by [transcending] the relativities, and when it goes beyond them, it is absorbed in samádhi. The samádhi is in Parama Puruśa, because the samádhi is beyond the relativity. This is the science of samádhi.

The language of humans and the capacity of that language is greatly limited. Whatever you feel in the mind cannot necessarily be expressed in language. If you are given hard candy, rasagollá, and peŕá, you will call them sweet. But are these sweets really similar? No. The sweetness of everything differs. But you do not have separate words in your dictionary for the separate kinds of sweetness. If you are pricked with a small pin, or a cut is made on your body somewhere with a knife, you will utter, “Uhhh!” in both cases. But it is difficult to understand which “Uhhh!” is indicative of which pain. Therefore language is more limited than bháva [feelings]. And bháva is very, very limited in comparison to mahábháva [eternal bliss]. And when people are established in mahábháva, they become bliss itself. How can this be expressed through language? So where there is less bliss, people will talk a lot, and where there is a maximum of it, people will be silent. Language has no place where there is a maximum of bliss, because it has no capacity there. Still people try to the best of their capacity. They continue to search for different adjectives for Parama Puruśa. Therefore the poet Padmadanta said about Parama Puruśa:

Asitagirisamaḿ syát kajjalaḿ sindhupátre;
Surataruvarashákhá lekhanii pátramurvii;
Likhati yadi Sáradá sarvakálam;
Tathápi tava guńánámiisha páraḿ na yati.

You must have seen ink tablets. (Nowadays they are not used, but previously they were. People used to make ink by mixing it in water.) Take an ink tablet. You want to describe the qualities of Parama Puruśa. (By explaining the qualities, the name will come. As per the description of the qualities, you will develop the name. You have decided to write the qualities first and the name later.) In order to write, you require ink, an ink tablet. “Suppose you get an ink tablet as big as the Himalayas” – Asitagirisamam syát kajjalaḿ sindhupátre – “and your ink pots are the oceans.” Surataruvarashákhá lekhanii – “the imaginary párijáta tree, which spreads from heaven to hell, is taken as a pen.” “And the entire earth serves as the paper” – pátramúrvii. “Now if Sáradá [the goddess of learning] writes for eternity” – likhati yadi Sáradá sarvakálam – “even then she will not be able to describe all the qualities of Parama Puruśa” – tathápi tava guńánámiisha páraḿ na yati. Still people try because they cannot help it.

Now, you see that sometimes people do actions which they should not do. Does that mean that Parama Puruśa will become dissatisfied with those people?

When that which should not be done is done, it is known as pápa [sin of commission]; and when that which should be done is not done, it is known as pratyaváya [sin of omission]. For example, service to society should be done, and if it is not done, it is pratyaváya. Stealing should not be done, and if it is done, it is pápa. But is it pápa? No, your relationship with Parama Puruśa is beyond vice and virtue. It is your personal relationship with Him. A two-year-old child may sit on the lap of its father, may even pass stool or urine – the father is quite respectable and learned – but does the father kick the child out and say that the child has committed a sin? No. Your relationship with Parama Puruśa is entirely personal. Suppose on some whim you have said something bad about Parama Puruśa, why should He get angry? So do not think that Parama Puruśa will get angry. Whatever you do will be to the satisfaction of Parama Puruśa.

Why do you worship Parama Puruśa? [Because the gift of your mind pleases Him.] Why will you do social service? The world is His creation, so if you serve the world, Parama Puruśa will be satisfied. Whatever you do, you do for the satisfaction of Parama Puruśa. People should not forget this. There is no question of vice and virtue with Parama Puruśa.

There is a story about the cowherds and Lord Krśńa. Once Lord Krśńa fell seriously ill. All the doctors of all the hospitals of Mathura treated Him, but in vain. Ultimately people asked Krśńa Himself for the remedy of His disease. He said, “If some devotee will give the dust from their feet, and if that is rubbed on my forehead, I will be cured.”

So Narada was asked to go about and procure the dust from the feet of a devotee. But people refused to give the dust from their feet, as they did not want that dust to be rubbed on the forehead of the Lord. They said that even to listen to such a thing was sinful.

Narada could not get any dust from anywhere. Then he went to Vrindavana, where he saw many cowherds tending the cows. They gave the dust from their feet and told Narada to use it if it would help the Lord. They further said that if the dust did not work, that would prove that they were not devotees.

But Narada said to them, “What kind of devotees are you? Will you give the dust from your feet to be put on the Lord’s forehead? Will that not be a sin?”

The cowherds replied, “We are not concerned about these things. We are concerned about giving the Lord relief. If He gets relief, we will consider that we have done the greatest virtuous deed. If we acquire a sin in the process, that does not matter, as long as God gets relief. If God is in hell and we are in heaven, that heaven will be worse than hell for us. But if God is in hell, we can remain there with Him till eternity. We want to remain with God, whether in heaven or in hell.”

So the relationship with God is personal, and quite mutual. People speak to God because they cannot help it. It is said of the Lord,

Ugraḿ viiraḿ Maháviśńuḿ
Jvalantaḿ sarvatomukham;
Nrsiḿhaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhadraḿ
Mrtyurmrtyu namámyaham.

[I pay salutations to Him whose power is everywhere, to solve all problems; who is brave, all-pervading, full of energy, compassionate towards all beings; who is the supreme authority, fear-inspiring yet gentlemanly; who is the death of death.]

Ugram. “O Parama Puruśa, You are ugra, udagra; that is, You come ahead of all. In our social, personal, national, and human lives, what we want is God in front, and ultimately our problems will get solved.” Parama Puruśa is ugra, udagra; He takes the lead in every work. Therefore one of His names is Puruśa.⁽⁴⁾ He is always in front of us. Wherever we look, He is there.

Viiram. There is no problem in the world which is not tackled in the presence of Parama Puruśa. So nobody is as viira [brave] as Parama Puruśa. So Parama Puruśa alone can be termed viira.

Maháviśńu. Viśńu means “that which is inside an object and is all-pervading”.

Vistárah sarvabhútasya Viśńorvishvamidaḿ jagat;
Draśt́avyamátmavattasmádabhedena vicakśańaeh.

–Viśńupuráńa

[This manifested universe is the expression of Viśńu, the latent all-pervading entity. Therefore a wise person should look upon everything as his or her own, from an integral viewpoint.]

This world is the expression of Viśńu. And Maháviśńu is both the expressed, and the latent wherein lies the potentiality of expression. Mahaviśńu means not only “who is all-pervading”, but also “who has the potentiality to be all-pervading where there has not yet been any expression or manifestation”.

Jvalantaḿ sarvatomukham. In the human world, whatever activating force exists is obtained from Parama Puruśa. You take food, and you get energy from air and water. And all of these get their energy from Parama Puruśa. All the five fundamental factors get their energy from Him alone. People get energy from the sun, and the sun gets it from Parama Puruśa.

Na tatra súryo bháti na candratárakam;
Nemávidyuto bhánti kuto’yamagnih.
Tvameva bhántamanubháti sarvam;
Tasya bhása sarvamidaḿ vibháti.

[Before Him the sun does not shine, nor do the moon and the stars, nor does the lightning – what to speak of the fire! It is his radiance that makes all entities radiant.]

Therefore He is jvalantam, “burning”, full of energy. If you want energy, ask Parama Puruśa. Say, “I act according to your directions. For that I require energy, much more energy.” And you will continue to get energy. He is the perennial source of energy and power.

Vishvatomukham [or sarvatomukham]. He has an attachment for every object of the universe; that is, He takes care of each and every object – an ant or a mammoth, an illiterate person or a literate one. Nothing is hidden from Him. Humans cannot conceal anything they do from Him. If you say to somebody, “Don’t tell anyone about this,” Parama Puruśa hears you saying privately not to tell anyone. Therefore it is said that He has a separate face for each unit being, with which He sees everyone. Na antariikśe na samudramajjhe⁽⁵⁾ – “Neither in the sky, nor in the ocean,” nor in a cave, can you hide yourself. Nowhere in the Cosmos can you hide from Him. Therefore He is vishvatomukham.

Nrsiḿham. Nrsiḿha does not mean “half man and half lion”. [Though nr can also be interpreted as “man” and siḿha as “lion”.] Nr means Puruśa, and siḿha means “best”. (The word siḿha has many meanings, and one of them is “best”.) So nrsiḿha does not mean “half man and half lion”. It means Puruśottama, Parama Puruśa.

Nrsiḿhaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhadraḿ. Nrsiḿha is bhiiśańa, “terrible”. Why terrible? He scolds and punishes considerably. In order to carry out ordinary administration, one has to be strict. And to administer the whole universe, one has to be terrible. A little fear is also essential. Then all will do their work. Yes, the love should be more than the fear, but there must be fear also. It is said in Hindi, Binu bhay hoin na piriti – “No fear, no love.”

Take the sun. The sun has to do its duty punctually in all seasons. It cannot delay, it has to do it. It has no holiday. It feels fear.

Bhiiśasmádvayuhpavate bhiiśodeti suryah
bhiiśasmadágnishcendrashca; mrtyuh dhávati paiṋcamah
tasmáducyate bhiiśanamiti.

–Atharvaveda

[Out of fear of Him the wind blows, the sun rises on time. Out of fear of Him the fire-god, the moon-god, the god of energy and the god of death carry out their duties faithfully. This is why He is called Bhiiśańam, The Terrible.]

Parama Puruśa has been called bhiiśańa [fearful] in this shloka. This is because “out of fear of Him the sun rises, the wind blows.” One of the Sanskrit names for “wind” is anila. In Sanskrit, anila means “not stationary”, “moving”. (There is a similar Sanskrit word, aniila, meaning “not blue”.) “The wind has to blow, the fire has to burn, Indra⁽⁶⁾ has to work.” All are working according to their natures. It is all because of the fear of Parama Puruśa. Mrtyuh dhávati paiṋcamah – “Death reaches the right person at the right time.” It goes into the palace and into the hut. It has to go, no one can stop it. It does its work out of fear of Parama Puruśa. Death also fears Him.

Nrsiḿham bhiiśańaḿ bhadram. “Nrsiḿha is bhiiśańa, but He is bhadra too.” Bhadra means “good”, “gentle”. He is a gentleman. He is one of the family members.

Mrtyurmrtyu namámyaham. “If salutation is to be paid to anyone, it is to be paid to Him. He is the death of death, because death fears Him as much as you fear death. Just as death is threatening to living beings, so Parama Puruśa is threatening to death.”

There is another meaning of mrtyurmrtyu. Normally a person is born and dies, and this goes on and on – life follows death, and death life. But if a person takes the shelter of Parama Puruśa, that person dies a final death and is never reborn. Therefore Parama Puruśa is “the death of death”. That death is the last death. So if salutation is to be paid, it is to be paid to Him alone – Tamekaḿ namámah.

How to pay salutations to Parama Puruśa? Namastubhyam or namaste. Namah plus tubhyam make up namastubhyam, and namah plus te make up namaste – “We do namah to You.” To jiivas [unit beings], it is namaskára – short for Namah karomi – “I greet, I salute.” Here there is no tubhyam or te, that is, “you”. To jiivas, namaste or namastubhyam should not to be said; namaskára should be said. But to Parama Puruśa you can say anything you like – namaste, namastubhyam, namaskára. And if you do not wish to say either namaste or namaskára, it does not matter. After all He is only a member of your own family.

Footnotes

(1) “The named”. The particular connotation of námii is “the Lord who is called on with a special name”. –Eds.

(2) Mantra leading one to the Supreme Goal. It is learned in a lesson of Ananda Marga meditation. –Eds.

(3) Shrii means Lakśmii [goddess of fortune] and nátha means “master”, hence Shriinátha means “Master of Lakśmii” – that is, Náráyańa. Jánakii means Siitá and nátha means “master”, hence Jánakiinátha means “Master of Siitá” – that is, Rama.

(4) Pura = “in front”. –Eds.

(5) From a discourse of Buddha, not from the Ugraḿ viiram shloka. –Eds.

(6) The king of the gods, also representing energy. –Eds.

Chapter 8	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The subject of today’s discourse is “Unit Spirit and Cosmic Spirit”. Here I did not use the words “universal spirit”, I used the words “Cosmic Spirit” – because you know, our universe is very big, but it is not infinite. That is why I did not use the words “universal spirit”. The spirit of the Supreme Cognitive Faculty is a Cosmic one.

This universe is a creation of three fundamental binding principles – sentient, mutative, and static – and wherever there is the binding influence of the static principle, the objectivity, that is, the phenomenal counterpart of the noumenal subjectivity, becomes limited. A line of demarcation, a boundary line, is created. And where there is a boundary line, it cannot be infinite. It may be very, very big, but it is not infinite. And it is to some extent, not exactly, elliptical – oval-[shaped] – and that is why in Sanskrit it is called Brahmáńd́a – Brahmá plus ańd́a – “the oval creation of Brahmá”. Brahmá means the creative faculty of Parama Puruśa.

Now the Supreme Cognitive Entity, rather the Cognitive Faculty, when It creates something, when Its creation comes within the jurisdiction of the static principle, that creation is very big, though not infinite. And when the unit cognitive faculty creates something, it may be big, but it is not like the creation of the Supreme Cognitive Faculty. And another difference is that the creation of the Supreme Cognitive Faculty is an external physicality for all. But the creation of the unit cognitive faculty is the world of that unit only, nobody can come in contact with that world. It is purely an internal psychic [creation].

Now all units, all unit cognitive faculties, are within the arena of Cosmic existence, and that’s why all creations of the Cosmic are crude realities for units. A creation of a unit is its personal work. Now when the unit comes in contact with external physicality, the unit tries to know the external physicality according to its own mental capacity, but when the Cosmic comes in contact with the created universe, He is not to know anything, because for Him there is nothing external. Everything is internal, psychic. And that’s why it has been said,

Dvá suparńá sayujá sakháyá
Samánaḿ vrkśaḿ pariśasvajáte;
Tayoranyah pippalaḿ svádvattyan
Ashnannanyo abhicákashiiti.

[Two birds of golden plumage are perched together intimately in a tree. One of them is tasting the sweet fruits, the other just witnesses without tasting.]

A unit is a witnessing entity. Similarly, the Supreme Entity is the Witnessing Faculty. But in the case of the unit, what happens? The unit wants to enjoy those created entities [created by the Supreme], but the Supreme remains purely as a witnessing entity. He remains balanced, He always maintains His equilibrium, His equipoise is never disturbed.

Now in the case of the Cosmic Spirit, what happens? In the entire Cosmological order, the Cosmic Faculty is a transcendental one, is a transcendental entity; but the faculty that creates something – the Binding Faculty, here, the innate principles, the binding faculties – can function only in a restricted arena, so allotted, so allocated, by the Transcendental Entity. But in the case of the unit, the unit is under the fetters of those binding principles, it doesn’t enjoy any liberty in this respect. And that’s why it has been said,

Ajámekáḿ lohitashuklakrśńáḿ
Bahviih prajáh srjamánáḿ sarúpáh;
Ajo hyeko juśamáńo’nushete jahátyenáḿ
Bhuktabhogámajo’nyah.

–Muńd́akopańiśada

[Prakrti, the all-creative and all-constructive force, has no progenitor. She is composed of three colours, red, white, and black. The unit consciousness is under the bondage of Prakrti, but Supreme Consciousness is the Lord of Prakrti.]

The Cosmic Cognitive Faculty is infinite and causeless, a non-causal entity, and similarly, “the Cosmic Binding Faculty is causeless” – that is, It is non-causal. You know, regarding Parama Puruśa and Paramá Prakrti, there is no alternative but to say that they are non-causal. Now, why?

In this universe of ours, everything that comes within the scope of our organs or our mind is guided by the cause-and-effect theory. And amongst philosophers, the first philosopher who spoke regarding this cause-and-effect theory was Maharshi Kanada. He was a great scientist. His was the original atomic theory. Maharshi Kanada said, Kárańábhávát káryábhávah – “Where there is no causal factor there cannot be any effect factor.” Wherever we see something or experience something, that something must have a cause. Something cannot be created by nothing. Everything must have a cause. Kárańábhávát káryábhávah. But this cause-and-effect theory functions within the scope of three fundamental relativities: time, space, person. This cause-and-effect theory must have, must have, these three relative factors to function within. But these three factors – time, space, and person – are creations of the Cosmic Mind, that is, a psychic creation. And where there is mind, there is time, space, and person. Without mind, there cannot be time, space, and person.

Some people are of the opinion that space is eternal, space is infinite. It is a defective idea. Space is never infinite. Just now I told you that it is a creation of the static principle, and when it is a creation of the static principle, it cannot be infinite. It must have boundary lines. Anything big but having boundary lines is known as vishála in Sanskrit; and anything big having no boundary lines is known as virát́a in Sanskrit. Parama Puruśa is virát́a, but this universe is vishála, not virát́a. So space is not infinite. It is a causal entity, and what is the cause? What is the causal matrix? The Supreme Mind.

Then time. Time is not an eternal factor. It is also a causal entity, which is purely a relative word. What is time? Time is a mental measurement of the motivity of action. There must be a mind, and there must be speed, there must be motivity. Without motivity and without mind there cannot be any time. The earth is there, the sun is there, the earth moves, and there is the human mind to measure the movement. So there is time: 365 days make one solar year; 29 to 30 days make one lunar month; 12 lunar months make one lunar year. They are all mental measurements. So time is solely dependent on the human mind; so it cannot be the causal matrix, it cannot be infinite.

And person. At the very start, in the primordial phase of creation on this particular earth, there were no persons, no created beings. So when there were no created beings, certainly there was no time.

Now, Ajámekáḿ lohitashuklakrśńáḿ.

Parama Puruśa is the creator of time, space and person. So regarding Parama Puruśa and Paramá Prakrti, regarding the Cosmic Cognitive Faculty and the Cosmic Binding Faculty, there is no alternative but to say that they are non-causal, because their cause is beyond the scope of mind, beyond the scope of those three fundamental relative factors – time, space, and person. And that is why the word ajá [non-causal] has been used for the Cosmic Binding Principle. “Just like the Cosmic Cognitive Principle, She is ajá.”

Lohitashuklakrśńáḿ. According to wavelengths, several colours are created, as you know: Bahviih prajáh srjamánáḿ sarúpáh. Now She [the Cosmic Binding Principle] creates varieties in this universe. She creates varieties according to the waves of different lengths emanating from the Cosmic Hub, emanating from the Cosmic Nucleus. Ajo hyeko juśamáńo’nushete jahátyenáḿ bhuktabhogámajo’nyah. But you know, in case of the unit spirit, this unit spirit is under the bondage of the Cosmic Binding Principle. But another ajá, that is, the Cosmic Spirit, is jahátyenáḿ bhuktabhogámajo’nyah. He is the Lord, and the Cosmic Binding Principle does according to His wishes, according to His desires – rather according to His whims.

Now, the unit cannot be treated as the noumenal cause because of its certain bindings; so the noumenal subjectivity is the Cosmic Puruśa, Parama Puruśa. And that’s why He should be the only object of meditation, the only object of adoration, for all created beings. And there cannot be more than one noumenal subjectivity. You may say that these numerals – one, two, three, four, five – are all certain mental projections: mánasika saḿkalpa tatha vikalpa [psychic internalization and externalization]. So then what is the harm if I use the word “two” or “three” or “ten” or “a thousand”? Because He is beyond all mental projections, all mental saḿkalpas; so for Him there is no difference amongst one, two, three, or ten, or a thousand.

But in the shástras [scriptures] it has been said, Eko’haḿ bahu syám. “Originally He was One, the Noumenal Entity was one; but the phenomenal entities are many.” Why? Why not more than one? Ekah devah sarvabhúteśu. Everywhere it has been said eka, eka [one]. Ekah sadviprah bahudhá vadanti. Why eka? Now you know, when the mind becomes pointed, when the mind gets pinnacled, under such circumstances you come in contact with the Supreme. The pointed, the pinnacled, conscious mind comes in contact with the subconscious. Then the apexed subconscious mind comes in contact with the unconscious. And then the pinnacled unconscious mind comes in contact with the Cognitive Faculty. So when your mind becomes one, you come in contact with Him; that’s why if any numeral is to be used for Him, that numeral should be one, and not any other numeral. So that noumenal cause is a singular entity; but the phenomenal effects are many. Ajo hyeko juśamáńo’nushete jahátyenáḿ bhuktabhogámajo’nyah. But for that Noumenal Entity, the Binding Faculty is a very unimportant faculty. Tasmin drśt́e parávare…⁽¹⁾ [“When that supreme para (subjective) and avara (additional) entity is realized…”] In the expressed world the role of the Binding Principle is important, but in the supra-mundane world Her role is avara. In Sanskrit avara means “additional”. Parávare. Not vara is avara – parávare.

Now, the unit spirit, with the help of the unit mind and with the limited capacities of the physical organs, and with the limited capacity of the unit citta, or ectoplasmic structure, has a limited world: ocular or tactual, whatever it may be. But the Supreme, the entire transcendental structure being the objectivity, enjoys everything internally; nothing remains secret, nothing remains covert for Him, and that’s why it has been said, Tatra niratishayam sarvajiṋa biijam [“Therein lies the seed of total omniscience”]. You cannot do anything secretly; you cannot do anything confidentially; you cannot think anything secretly or confidentially. Everything is known to Him. For Him everything is an open book.

Now we see that for the unit spirit and the Cosmic spirit, the difference between the subjective side and its objective counterpart, is: the objective counterpart of the Supreme is the entire Cosmos, and the objective counterpart of the unit is a limited world, not the entire quinquelemental expression. And that’s why it has been said,

Tayorvirodho’yam upádhikalpito
Navástavah kashcidupádhireśah;
Iishádyamáyá mahadádikárańaḿ
Jiivasya káryaḿ shrńu paiṋcakośam.

[The difference between the two (unit consciousness and Supreme Consciousness) really lies in their respective upádhis, differentiating faculties; there is no other substantial difference between the two. Prakrti acts upon Puruśa in order to bring about the creation from the “I exist” feeling down to the state of crudest matter. O human beings, this is what the unit should remember.]

The difference lies in the objectivity, in the objective pabula, in the objective counterpart; and that objective counterpart is also a psychic creation, rather, is a Macro-psychic conation. And that’s why it may be a relative truth or temporarily real for the unit, but for the Cosmic Entity, it is purely imaginary. The entire world of ours is something imaginary for the Cosmic; not for the unit. If the unit, before such a realization, says that this universe is an imaginary one, then he or she is nothing but a hypocrite.

Etávupádhi Para jiivayostayo
Samyagnirasena Para na jiivo;
Rájyaḿ narendrasya bhat́asya khet́aka-
Stayorapohena bhat́o na rájá

[These upádhis, differentiating marks, are characteristics of both the Supreme Subject and of the unit. Once these marks are obliterated, the microcosm will become the Macrocosm – just as a single individual will be considered a king if he has a kingdom, a warrior if he is holding a club. Take away these differentiating marks, and it will be difficult to distinguish between the two.]

Now, what does one enjoy by dint of sádhaná? When one withdraws one’s mind from one’s psychic objectivity, then one becomes free. Similarly, when the Cosmic Entity withdraws Himself from His objectivity, He becomes nirguńa. Similarly, when the jiivas [units] withdraw their minds from their own worlds, they also become nirguńa. They become one with Nirguńa Brahma. That’s why it has been said, Brahmavid Brahmaeva bhavati [“One who realizes Brahma becomes Brahma”]. And that is your sádhaná.

Now I have already told you that the fundamental difference between unit spirit and Cosmic Spirit lies in the standard of objectivity; and according to the standard of objectivity, the stance of the Noumenal Entity is decided. The unit functions within a restricted arena; but regarding the Cosmic it has been said,

Sahasrashiirśá Puruśah sahasrákśah sahasrapát;
Sa bhúmiḿ vishvato vrtvá’tyatiśt́haddasháuṋgulam.

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yadbhútaḿ yacca bhavyam;
Utámrtatvasyesháno yadannenátirohati.⁽²⁾

The unit functions with its unit brain, a collection of several nerve cells within a small cranium. But the Cosmic – the Cosmic being everywhere, the Cosmic being the Transcendental Entity – “has innumerable minds, innumerable brains.” So where there is an intellectual fight with the Cosmic, when you challenge the intellectual standard of the Cosmic Entity, it is sure that you will be defeated. So units, rather intellectuals, should not have the audacity to challenge the right and power of the Supreme, because that will be a sure case of defeat. One has no alternative but to surrender at the altar of the Supreme.

And wise people, what will wise people do? They won’t waste their valuable time in meaningless altercations and arguments. They won’t be logicians, they will be devotees, because they know that finally theirs will be the sure defeat.

Sahasrashiirsá Puruśah sahasrákśah sahasrapát. A human has two eyes, but “He has innumerable eyes,” because the human’s very existence is nothing but a small wave emanating from the supreme hub. So what can a human do, or understand, or see? But Parama Puruśa sees everything: what the human does, what the human thinks, what the human did or will be doing.

Sahasrapát [“innumerable legs”]. You require two legs to move, or you require vehicles – a motor car, an aeroplane, a rocket – but you’ll never be able to conquer space or conquer time. And moving from one place to another, certainly you will require some time. You won’t be able to go from one place to another in no time, in nil time; you will require some time. But for Him, the time factor has no value, because He is present everywhere. A person one of whose feet is here in Ernakulam, and the other foot in Madras, does that person need to go from Ernakulam to Madras? No, that person will not go from Ernakulam to Madras, because that person is present both in Ernakulam and in Madras. But you will require some vehicle. And that is why it has been said, sahasrapát. You have your limited capacity.

Sa bhúmirvishvato vrtvá atyatist́haddasháḿgulam. “He is everywhere on this earth, He is the all-pervading entity. He is Viśńu, He is Maháviśńu.” Viśńu means “All-Pervading Entity”.

Vistárah sarvabhútasya Viśńorvishvamidaḿ jagat;
Draśt́avyamátmavattasmádabhedena vicakśańaeh.

–Viśńupuráńa

[This manifested universe is the expression of Viśńu, the latent all-pervading entity. Therefore a wise person should look upon everything as his or her own, from an integral viewpoint.]

“Everything is the expression of Viśńu.” There is no vacuum in this universe. “Viśńu is there everywhere.” Everything is full of cognition. There is no vacuum in inter-molecular space, inter-atomic space, or intra-atomic space. The Cognitive Faculty is there everywhere. But beyond this universe, He is where there is no expression. In that unmanifest Cosmos, He is present, because those nebulae, or anything else, are the physical expression, the cruder manifestation, of the Cosmic ectoplasm. Sa bhúmirvishvato vrtvá atyatist́haddasháḿgulam. “He is all-pervading not [only] in this quinquelemental universe, but in the psychic world, in the supra-psychic world, everywhere – in what we can think about, and what we cannot think about.”

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yad bhútaḿ yacca bhavyam. He is Puruśa. There are two interpretations of Puruśa. Pure shete yah sah Puruśah – “He who is present as the witnessing entity” (shete here means “present as witnessing entity”) “in this pura” (pura means nagara [town]) “in this physical structure or psychic structure, is Puruśa.” Pure shete yah sah Puruśah. Another interpretation is Purasi shete yah sah Puruśah – “He witnesses everything by being present before you.” That is, whenever you see, whatever you see, He is seeing just before you: He is Puruśa.

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvam. “This Puruśa knows everything;” the unit does not know everything; because unit knowledge is always a distorted knowledge. As I have already told you, unit knowledge is a distorted knowledge, because the unit is imperfect. And your sádhaná is a process, rather a movement, from imperfection towards perfection.

He is all-knowing. Puruśa evedaḿ sarvam. This Puruśa knows everything. Why? Because this Puruśa is all-pervasive, all-pervading – because for Him everything is internal, psychic. When the entire town of Ernakulam comes within your mind, no space remains a secret for you, you see everything. Similarly, this entire universe is within His mind; that’s why He sees everything, He knows everything. And nothing of the past, nothing of the future is a secret for Him. There cannot be an iota of secrecy or an iota of confidentiality for Him.

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yadbhútaḿ yacca bhavyam. “Whatever did happen in the past and whatever will be happening in future.” Now you may say, “But there is no reference here to the present. He knows the past, He knows the future, but does He know the present?” Here the word “present”, that is, vartamána, has not been used. Why? In the true spirit of kála [time], there is no vartamána, there is nothing vartamána. I am speaking. When I am speaking, you are not hearing. You will be hearing after some time. Let the air go from this place to that place, then you will hear. When I am speaking, what happens? It is past for me, it is future for you. So in the true spirit of kála, there is nothing present – there is either past or future. But what happens with us? The immediate past and the close future, these two things, these two happenings, can be easily assimilated by us with our original human faculties. And that’s why that small space within which there exist the immediate past and the close future – that small span of time – is treated as present by us. So here in this rk [verse], the word vartamána has not been used. Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yad bhútaḿ yacca bhavyam.

Utámrtasyesháno yadanyenádhirohati. “He is the Lord of all, because He has created everything.” He controls everything, so He is the Lord, He is the only Lord. There cannot be any second Lord. His Lordship will always remain an undisputed one. Nobody can challenge it. So, Utámrtasyesháno. Suppose you are a degraded man, a depraved man: the society hates you. Then suppose you are an elevated man: the society respects you. But both these persons, the elevated person and that depraved person, that degraded person, all are within the mental arena of Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa cannot say, “Oh, you are a degraded person, so just quit my mind!” Parama Puruśa cannot say this, can He? No, because everything is within His mind. So a pápii [sinner] is within His mind, just as a puńyavána [virtuous person] is within His mind. So a pápii can never be hated by Parama Puruśa.

Once I told you that Parama Puruśa is omnipotent no doubt, all-powerful no doubt. But He cannot do two things. You may do those things, but Parama Puruśa cannot do them. And what are those two things? One thing is, He cannot create a second Parama Puruśa – this is one defect. And the second defect is, He cannot hate you. He cannot hate anybody. But you people, you can hate others, so in this respect you are greater and nobler than Parama Puruśa! If you so desire you can hate others, but Parama Puruśa cannot hate; even if He so desires, He cannot hate others.

Utámrtasyesháno yadanyenádhirohati. “And nobody in heaven or on this earth can control Him.” He is the Lord of all, He has no Lord.

Prabhumiishamaniishamasheśaguńam;
Guńahiinamahesham gańabharańam.

“O Lord, O Prabhu, Thou art the Lord of everything, but Thou art aniisha, You have no Lord. And each and every created entity is an attributional one, but You are the Non-Attributed Entity.”

And each and every entity of this world tries to adorn itself. You use a Terylene shirt, you use good clothing, you always try to keep yourself looking nice. [Even] the different gods and goddesses and deities have each their own [decoration]. “But for you, Lord, your gańas [devotees] are your only decorations.”

One becomes established in bhakti through Bhágavata sevá, by serving Bhagaván. So what should be the spirit of a devotee? What should be the spirit of the unit? Átmamokśárthaḿ jagat hitáya ca. “One will meditate on the Supreme to become one with the Supreme, and at the same time, to purify one’s mind, one is to render selfless service to human society.” Without rendering selfless service to society, one cannot come in close proximity to the Supreme. And without practising meditation, one cannot render selfless service to the society. So one should remember that one’s motto in life is Átmamokśárthaḿ jagat hitáya ca.

Now suppose there is some article in water, and the water is stirless and clear. Then you will be able to see the article. But if the water is not transparent, you will not be able to see the article even if the water is stirless. So to see Parama Puruśa within the mind, the mind should be transparent and acaiṋcala – there shouldn’t be any movement in it. In order to check that movement one is to practise concentration, and for purifying the mind and making it transparent, one is to render selfless service to the society. A sádhaka must remember this fact.

And what is the relationship between the unit and the Cosmic? The unit is the child, and the Cosmic is the Father. The relationship is purely a family relationship. So one must not be afraid of that Supreme Father. The relationship is a very sweet relationship. He is not the judge and you are not a criminal. You know, a sinner may be hated by society, but for Parama Puruśa, that sinner is also a loving son; that sinner is not to be hated by Him. As I have already told you, He cannot hate you. You may hate Him if you so desire, but He will never be able to hate you.

Footnotes

(1) The author here quotes a fragment from the same scripture as the shloka above, but coming two lines after that shloka. –Eds.

(2) Rgveda Puruśasúktam. –Eds.

Chapter 9	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

The subject of today’s discourse is “Human Life and Its [[Goal]]”. Humans come to this earth for a very short span. And within this short span they are to do so many duties. When the span is short, not a moment should be wasted. And it is desirable that they know their goal and the path from the very beginning of their life. One must not wait for old age. That is, one should know the correct path, one should know the correct destination or desideratum, from an early stage of one’s life. But what is the goal, and what is the path? – that is the question.

So many books, so many scriptures, say so many things: “Do this.” “Do that.” So what should one do? A common person fails to understand what to do and what not to do. There are so many social codes – what to do and what not do. There are so many dos and so many don’ts. Spiritual aspirants fail to know what to do. The great men who reached the goal say, “Don’t be misguided by so many books and so many theories and so many dogmas. Be guided by the established yogis.”

Who is a yogi? And what is yoga? There are so many definitions by so many scholars. But the accepted principle regarding yoga is Saḿyoga yoga ityukto jiivátma Paramátmanah.

Other people say that yoga means Yogashcittavrttinirodhah, and that one who has become established in this practice is a yogi. And what is Yogashcittavrttinirodhah? Nirodha means “suspension”. That is, cittavrttinirodha means “suspension of all psychic propensities”. You know, if all psychic propensities are suspended, the mind becomes actionless. But actionlessness of mind doesn’t mean that you have achieved the goal. Because when a person is in a senseless condition, in that case also the mind remains actionless. So this definition of yoga cannot be accepted.

Another definition of yoga is Sarvacintáparityágo nishcinto yoga ucyate. “When there is thoughtlessness, that stage is yoga.” But when the mind becomes free from all thoughts, that is also a stage of vacuum. That cannot be yoga, because the word yoga means “unification”, and thoughtlessness is a negative stage. Cittavrttinirodha, that is, suspension of propensities, is also a negative stage.

The correct interpretation is, “Yoga means ‘unification’.” Unification by whom, with whom? Saḿyoga yoga ityukto jiivátma Paramátmanah. “Unification of the unit self with the Cosmic Self is yoga.” When your little “I” becomes one with your great “I”, that state is the state of yoga. And the spiritual aspirant who has attained that state, that stage, is a yogi. You will have to follow the path of the yogi.

And where doth lie the desideratum, the goal of life? It is hidden within your “I” feeling. It lies covert within your “I” feeling.

What is the “I” feeling? Everybody has a sense of “I”. “I am doing.” “I am Mr. Kennedy.” “I am such-and-such.” “I belong to Iceland.” “I am Josephine.” “I am the owner of this house.” “I go to the airport to receive Bábá.” [laughter] So many “I”s; a crowd of “I”s.

Now what is “I”? When you come in contact with something, something external, in the first phase your eye is the subject – this eye [gestures], not the pronoun “I”. Your eye is the subject, and that object which you see is the object. So in the first phase, your eyes are “I”.

Then what happens? These eyes are mere gates of your sense of vision. And the optical nerve is the medium. So then this particular point in the brain becomes the subject, and these external eyes are the objects. So in the second phase, a particular portion of your brain is your “I”, and these physical eyes are the object.

Then in the third phase, your doer “I” – “I am doing,” “I am seeing,” “I am eating” – becomes the subject. That “I” is your “I”. And that particular portion of the brain is the object “I”.

That object “I” cannot see without your support. Suppose you are moving along the road, and thinking something – that is, your doer “I” is engaged in some other business. In that case, if an elephant comes in front of you, you won’t see it, because you are engaged in thought. So that doer “I” is the “I”, the inner “I”, with whose permission that portion of the brain sees the external object with the help of your eyes, your gates of vision.

And finally the feeling that “I exist,” “I am,” becomes “I”. But that “I” is not the Supreme “I” either. “I exist” is not the Supreme. Behind that “I exist” feeling there is another “I”, “I know that I exist.” This “I” of “I know” is the actual “I”. Everybody knows that he or she exists. That knowing entity is the “I”, and the existing entity is the second phase of “I”, not the final “I”.

And then there is the universal Supreme “I”, who knows that you know that you exist. Who knows that you know that you exist. That “I” is the Supreme “I”, that “I” is Supreme Consciousness. That “I” is Parama Puruśa. And for that “I”, common people use the term “God”. Nothing can be done secretly. That “I” sees everything. And if you always remain conscious of the fact that that Supreme “I” is seeing whatever you are doing – and not only whatever you are doing, but whatever you are thinking – you won’t become depraved, you won’t get degenerated in your life. And that “I” is the desideratum, that “I” is the final terminus of all your marches through different [expressions] of propensities. So suspension of mind, or making the mind free from all thoughts, is not the last word of yoga. The last word is: moving your individual supreme “I” towards that universal Supreme “I”, and unifying your individual supreme “I” with that universal Supreme “I”. That is the final word of yoga.

Now regarding the goal, regarding the desideratum, that is the final word. But what should be the path? What should be the mode of our thoughts? How to do it? How to come in close contact with Him? How to become one with Him – how to become unified with Him?

Some people say, “Go on doing good work, you will come in contact with Him. You will become one with Him.” But let us see what is what.

That is, some people say, “Follow the path of the actional faculty and you will become one with Him.” What is action? What is the actional faculty? Action means change of place. The bolster is here… now it is here. There has been a change of place. So I have done some action. Action means change of place. Now in the physical stratum, you are always engaged in actional faculties and in changes of place. We are moving, we are loving, we are eating, we are laughing – we do so many things. All are actions. But how can one come in contact with Him by dint of one’s actional faculty? And there is another thing: action may lead you towards the goal, towards the Universal Self, or action may drift you away from the Universal Self. There may be bad actions. So one may or may not reach the destination by dint of the actional faculty. So through the actional faculty, one may or one may not reach the goal.

And some people say, “By dint of one’s knowledge, spiritual knowledge, one will attain salvation, one will reach the goal.” Now let us see. What is knowledge? The word “knowledge” is a very old word, about fifteen thousand years old. The [original] word is jiṋánam, a Sanskrit word, an old Sanskrit word – about fifteen thousand years old. Jiṋánam. From jiṋánam it developed into g’e’no [pronounced “kyahno”] in old Latin. From g’e’no it has become “know” in modern English. Although the “k” is silent, mute, still the “k” is there, because the root word is “kenow”. K-E-N-O-W. Now what is jiṋána? What is knowledge? Knowledge is subjectivization of external objectivity. Suppose you are in front of an elephant. When you subjectivize that elephant through extro-internal projection, that is, when that elephant becomes an internal object by extro-internal projection, and you have subjectivized that elephant, we will say you have “known” the elephant. This process of subjectivization may be extro-internal subjectivization, or may be pure internal subjectivization. When it is pure internal, then it is proper spiritual knowledge. But this phase of pure internal is the second phase. The first phase is extro-internal. And in this sphere of knowledge there can be degradation, because in the first phase, when it is extro-internal, that external object may or may not be good. It may lead you towards the crude world of crude enjoyment, and in that case there will be degradation. You will go below the standard of humanity. So through knowledge, or the faculty of subjectivization, the result may or may not be in your favour. The result may or may not be of a spiritual order.

Now there remains the third course. It is the course of devotion. What is devotion? Devotion is withdrawing all your propensities from all external objects, and also from all psychic objects or psychic pabula, and goading that collective propensity unto the Supreme Universal “I”. “O Supreme Entity, O Parama Puruśa, I love nothing else, I love You.” And why do I love You?

In the first phase the spiritual aspirant, the spiritual devotee, says, “O Lord, I love You. Why? Because by loving You I get pleasure. And for nothing else. I want nothing from You. I want nothing from You. I want You. I don’t want anything from You. Because if I want something else from You, that something will be something external, something of the objective world. And everything of the objective world is finite. And that finite object, or those finite objects, cannot give me pleasure of permanent nature. But, O Supreme Entity, O Parama Puruśa, You are infinite. You are of infinite attributions and qualifications. So if I get You I’ll get infinite pleasure from You. That’s why You are my goal, and not the objects that I expect, or expected from You in the past.” This is the first phase of devotion.

But in the final phase of devotion, the devotee says, “No, no, no. I love You not because I get pleasure by loving You. I love You because I want that You should get pleasure by my love. That is, my love is just to give You pleasure, not to give me pleasure. In order to give You pleasure, I love You. I want nothing. And I don’t want You – I want that I should be Yours. I don’t want You – I want that I should be yours.”

This is the final phase of devotion, and this is the final word of bhakti, or devotion. So the path of spirituality is very simple, it is not at all complicated. Your goal is the Supreme “I”, the Supreme Universal “I”, the Supreme Creator. I said just now, devotion for whom? In ordinary language we use the word “God” for the Supreme Entity – the Supreme Generator, Operator, and Destroyer. For “Generation”, you use “g”, for “Operator” you use “o”, and for “Destruction”, “Destroyer”, you use “d”. G-O-D. He is the goal. And nothing else in this universe can be your goal or desideratum.

Once I said that the word “desideratum” should always remain in singular number and never be “desiderata” – because the goal is a Singular Entity. There cannot be any plural form of “desideratum”. And the second thing is that your approach should be the approach of devotion. You cannot get Him by going through volumes of books or by becoming worms of books.

There are so many worms in books. And do they get salvation? Do they come in contact with the Supreme Entity? No, no, they are ordinary insects, dirty insects. Mmm. And those who think that they will get Him through the actional faculty are finally engaged in actional infighting. “I did this, I did that, I’m not an ordinary man” – like this.

In devotion there is no scope for being puffed up with vanity. Because in devotion finally you want to surrender yourself. You want, finally you want – “O Lord, I love You just to give you pleasure. And, O Lord, I don’t want You, You just take me as Yours.” One must follow the path of the yogi, and one must accept that Universal Entity as one’s supreme goal. There is no alternative. As the universal “I” is the Supreme Creator, Supreme Generator, everything in this universe is His progeny, and He is the progenitor. He is the Supreme Father. You have a family relation with that Supreme Entity, and not a relationship of external formality. He is yours, and you should also remember that nothing is external for Him. Everything is within, nothing is without. So you have been created by Him and you are in Him, and, because He is your supreme goal, finally you will be with Him, you will be one with Him. For this you require no special education, no knowledge of philosophy, and no other external attributions. Supreme love for the Supreme Universal Entity will make you one with Him.

	Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 21

ÁCÁRYA or ÁCÁRYÁ. Spiritual teacher qualified to give initiation and teach all lessons of meditation.
ADHRUVA. Changing, transitory.
AGRYÁBUDDHI. Pointed intellect.
AHAḾTATTVA. Doer “I”, ego.
ÁNANDA. Divine bliss.
ANITYA. Transient.
ÁTMÁ, ÁTMAN. Soul, consciousness, PURUŚA, pure cognition. The átman of the Cosmos is PARAMÁTMAN, and that of the unit is the jiivátman.
ÁTMAJIṊÁNA. Self-knowledge.
AVADHÚTA or AVADHÚTIKÁ. Literally, “one who is thoroughly cleansed mentally and spiritually”; a monk or nun of an order close to the tradition of Shiva Tantra.

BHAGAVÁN. Lord.
BHAJAN. Devotional song.
BHAKTA. Devotee.
BHAKTI. Devotion.
BHAKTI YOGA. Devotional form of spiritual practice.
BHÁVA. Idea, ideation, mental flow.
BRAHMA. Supreme Consciousness, Supreme Entity.

CAKRA. Cycle or circle; psychic-energy or psycho-spiritual centre; psychic-nerve plexus.
CITTA. Done “I”, objective “I”, objective mind, mind-stuff.

DHARMA. Characteristic property; spirituality; the path of righteousness in social affairs.
DHIIRA. A person with discriminating faculty.
DHRUVA. Unchangeable.
DHRUVASATTÁ. Unchangeable Entity, BRAHMA.
DHYÁNA. Meditation in which the psyche is directed towards Consciousness; seventh limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.

GUŃA. Binding factor or principle.

IISHVARA. The Supreme Entity as Cosmic Controller; literally, “the Controller of all controllers”.
INDRIYA. One of the ten sensory and motor organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin; and hands, feet, vocal cord, genital organ and excretory organ). The eye indriya (for example) comprises the eye itself, the optical nerve, the fluid in the nerve, and the location in the brain at which the visual stimulus is transmitted to the CITTA.

JAPA. Repetition of mantra.
JIṊÁNA. Knowledge; understanding.
JIṊÁNA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which emphasizes discrimination or intellectual understanding.

KARMA. Action.
KARMA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which emphasizes selfless action.

LIILÁ. Divine sport.

MAHATTATTVA. “I” (“I am,” “I exist”) feeling, existential “I”.
MANTRA. A sound or collection of sounds which, when meditated upon, will lead to spiritual liberation.
MÁYÁ. Creative Principle, PRAKRTI in Her phase of creation. One aspect of Máyá is the power to cause the illusion that the finite created objects are the ultimate truth.
MOKŚA. Spiritual emancipation, non-qualified liberation.
MUKTI. Spiritual liberation.

NIITI. Principles leading to one’s spiritual welfare.
NITYA. Eternal.

PÁPA. Sin.
PARAMA PURUŚA. Supreme Consciousness.
PARAMÁTMAN. Supreme Consciousness in the role of witness of His own macropsychic conation. Paramátman comprises: (1) Puruśottama, the Macrocosmic Nucleus; (2) Puruśottama’s association with all creation in His extroversial movement (prota yoga); and (3) Puruśottama’s association with each unit creation individually (ota yoga) and (4) with all collectively (prota yoga) in His introversial movement.
PARAMÁ PRAKRTI. Supreme Operative Principle.
PRAKRTI. Cosmic Operative Principle.
PRÁŃÁYÁMA. Process of controlling vital energy by controlling the breath.
PUŃYA. Virtue.

QUINQUELEMENTAL. Composed of the ethereal, aerial, luminous, liquid and solid factors, or elements.

RASA. Cosmic flow.
RŚI. Sage; one who, by inventing new things, broadens the path of progress of human society.

SÁDHAKA. Spiritual practitioner.
SÁDHANÁ. Literally, “sustained effort”; spiritual practice; meditation.
SAMÁDHI. “Absorption” of the unit mind into the Cosmic Mind (savikalpa samádhi) or into the ÁTMAN (nirvikalpa samádhi).
SAḾSÁRA. The world as a dimension of relentless, unceasing movement.
SAḾSKÁRA. Mental reactive momentum, potential mental reaction.
SHÁSTRA. Scripture.
SHLOKA. A Sanskrit couplet expressing one idea.
SUBHÁŚITA SAḾGRAHA. Collected Discourses.
SVABHÁVA. Characteristics, one’s own nature.

TANMÁTRA. Literally, “minutest fraction of that”, i.e., of a given rudimental factor of matter. Also translated “generic essence” or “inferential wave”. The various types of tanmátras convey the senses of hearing, touch, form (vision), taste and smell.

YAMA AND NIYAMA. Moral code.
YOGA. Spiritual practice leading to unification of the unit ÁTMAN with PARAMÁTMAN.