Ágatam Shivavaktrebhyo gataiṋca Girijá shrutao,
Mataiṋca Vásudevasya ágam tasmát ucyate.

Vasudeva’s son [[is]] Vásudeva. It means “one who protects the created beings”. It is His duty to protect others. He is also known as Viśńu. It is Viśńu’s duty to propound Tantra Shástra, Dharma Shástra, and all those scriptures which are meant to educate people.

Doctors are of three types – superior, mediocre and inferior. What do the inferior doctors do? They administer medicine and then forget about the patients. What do the mediocre doctors do? They give medicine and also ask their patients at intervals whether they are using the medicine. And the superior doctors also ask their patients whether they are taking the medicine or not; and when they say that the medicine is sour and unpalatable, this type of doctor administers the medicine forcibly.

Gurus are also of three categories. One category of guru just whispers the mantra in their disciples’ ears and then leaves them to their fate. They do not care about the actions of the disciple. The middle category of guru asks, “Are you living the right type of life, as you should?” – and there the matter ends. The superior type of guru gives shikśá or punishment as well. (In Hindi “shikśá” means “education”, but in Marathi it means “punishment”.) This last is the approach of Vásudeva. The path of Tantra is one of strict discipline; the disciple will have to go through strict anushásana.

What is anushásana? In Yoga Shástra Pataiṋjali has said, “Atha yogánushasánam”. And the scriptures say, “Hitartham shásanam iti anushásánam” – “Discipline imposed for welfare is called ‘Anushásana’”. The ideation of welfare is a must in anushásanam.

Átmajiṋánaḿ vidurjiṋánaḿ jiṋánányanyáni yánitu;
Táni jiṋánávabhásáni sárasyanaeva bodhanát.

In the phase of Prati-saiṋcara, life was created out of matter, and from life the mind gradually evolved. With the gradual process of evolution, the mind continues to evolve, and the reflection of the átmá thereon grows greater and greater. What is the átmá? The átmá is reflected on every object. And the greater the expression of mind, the greater the reflection of átmá, Even plants have átmá even in the crudest matter there is the reflection of átmá, but due to the mind being in latent form, sleeping form, the átmá doesn’t get expression. Only where there is an evolved mind, does the reflection of the átmá take place properly. The mind is just like a looking-glass, a mirror. (In Saḿskrta it is called “darpań” or “ádarshi”.) The mind is just like that.

The Átmá is reflected on the mind. Suppose there is a red flower surrounded by five hundred mirrors; there will be five hundred reflections. Those five hundred reflections are the jiivátmás, and the original red flower is Paramátmá. Now that reflected red flower in so many mirrors is the jiivátmá, and that reflecting Átmá, that original red flower, is known as “Pratyagátmá”. It is Paramátmá, but it is known as “Pratyágátmá”. “Pratyak” means “opposite number” – “Pratiipam vipariitam aiṋcati atak vijanáti ityarthe pratyak.” One who knows everybody, every entity, is Pratyágátmá, The jiivátmás are the objective or objectivated counterparts of Paramátmá; so His duty is to know everybody, to look towards everybody. His reflection falls on everybody. That’s why He knows the mental ideation of every entity. Since these ideations are reflected on Him, any of the mirrors’ defects are readily known to Him. This is His nature. That’s why He is also known as Jiṋánasvarúpa. It is His duty to know and so He knows better than anyone else. That’s why it is said,

Darpanábháve ábhásahanao;
Mukham vidyate kalpaná hiinamekam.
Tathá dhiiviyoge nirábhásako’yam;
Nityopalabdhisvarúpo’yamátmá.

Suppose you take away the mirror, what will happen? The flower will no longer be reflected and the jiivátmá will not exist. In that case, where will the jiivátmá go? It has no other place to run than to Paramátmá. So what should you do? You should go nearer and nearer to Paramátmá, like the mirror approaching the flower, and become one. The mirror too no longer remains separate from the flower: the reflection disappears. Without the mirror there can be no reflection. There remains only the original flower. The face of Parama Puruśa only remains. Human intellect ceases to reflect, and surrenders. In that condition the jiivátmá no longer exists; it has merged in Paramátmá. That’s why Shiva said, “Átmá jiivanam idaḿ devi parama mokśaeka sádhanam”. Only when the átmá merges in Paramátmá, does átmajiṋánam occur. Till then there is the feeling of separation; átmajiṋánam is not possible.

What is jiṋána, or knowledge? Subjectivization of an external object is knowledge. To know external objectivities is knowledge. Átmajiṋánam, knowledge of the self, implies the attainment of the goal. The endeavour for átmajiṋána is an endeavour to attain permanent liberation. Sukrtaermánavo bhútvá jiṋániicenmokśamápnuyát. The mind has emerged through the gradual process of pratisaiṋcara. When the mind emerged, the jiivátmá gets reflected on it. Actually it is also reflected everywhere the mind has not emerged, but it is not evident. It is not perceptible. The reflection of Parama Puruśa on the entire universe is known as “prota-yoga”, and His reflection on the individual mind, on the small mirrors, is called “ota-yoga”. So Parama Puruśa is associated with every entity through ota- and prota-yogas. Thus we say “Ota-prota bháva.”

Parama Puruśa is reflected on each individual entity. As it marches ahead, the mind gets developed through clash and cohesion and the reflection of the átmá gets stronger. The more developed the mind, the greater the reflection. Mind develops through this clash and cohesion and through the attraction of the Great.

This development through clash and cohesion occurs in several ways. For example, when an animal lives near a person whose mind is developed its own mind will develop more quickly. A monkey is a more developed animal than a dog or a cow, but as it does not live with humans, its development – the speed of its development – is less. Dogs and cows, who live with humans have a speedier evolution. A monkey which lives in the proximity of humans also has a speedier development.

Thus gradual evolution leads to the emergence of intuition, or bodhi. In humans, this awareness exists – the awareness that one is a human being – but the dog is not aware of its own existence. That is the specialty of humans.

Humans should not be slaves to external objects. A rupee is a crude object. A rupee is not aware that it is a rupee, but a human is aware that it is a rupee. Humans have given the rupee a value. The rupee does not give itself a value, nor can the rupee do so. It neither contains the capacity to think nor possesses intellect. If a man continues to ideate upon a rupee, his developed mind will get crudified and will gradually be converted back into matter. If the goal of ideation is a rupee, the person will gradually become a rupee. In the past a rupee was a silver coin, but now it is paper; so a person continuously ideating upon rupees will become enslaved as a paper note in the cash box of some business person. If after passing through many lives one attains a human body and keeps Parama Puruśa as the object of ideation, the mind will gradually become subtler, and the reflection of Parama Puruśa will increase. Ultimately, when one understands that complete surrender is the only way out, one will merge in Him. Jiivátmá will become Paramátmá. “Páshabaddha bhavet jiivah páshamukta bhavet Shivah”. The ideation before surrendering to Paramátmá is “Nivedayámicátmanam tvaḿ gati Parameshvara.” When the entity is in bondage it is jiiva, and when it is liberated from the bondage it is Shiva.

In Saḿskrta “su” means “virtuous”, and “sukrtae” means “virtuous acts”; but in the Vaedik Saḿskrta of 5000 years ago, “sukrtae” also meant “self”. In Laokika Saḿskrta, “madhu” means “honey” but in Vaedik Saḿskrta it also means “wine”. “Sukrtaermánavo bhútvá” means “actions done by oneself”. After so many phases of clash and cohesion, one attains a human mind, and consequently a human structure for the proper expression of all the mental propensities of the human being. The moment the mind evolves, it gets a human body, and no longer remains in the body of a monkey or a dog. It attains a human body according to its reactive momenta.

In the human mind there are one thousand propensities. The pineal gland is therefore called “sahasrára cakra”⁽¹⁾, because it controls the movement of one thousand propensities. Actually there are fifty propensities in the human mind, an all fifty are working internally and externally. So, how many expressions are there? 50 x 2 = 100. And there are ten direction: púrva, peschima, uttar, dákśińa, úrdha, adhah – the six dik, or disha – and iishán, agni, naerta, vayu – the four corners, or anudisha – so six pradisha and four anudhisha equals ten directions. One hundred propensities working in ten directions becomes one thousand: that’s why it is called “sahasrára cakra”. And human propensities are actually one thousand in number.

So, as soon as the mind develops all these propensities, it will attain a human structure, a human framework. And if one acts like a brute, like an animal, one will naturally return to animaldom. It is quite natural.

“Sukrtaermánavo bhútvá jiṋániicenmokśamápnuyát.” Then a person becomes a jiṋánii: jiṋánii not in the sense of “intellectual”, but in the sense of átmajiṋánii. You must not think that those C-grade people are jiṋániis. They are not jiṋánii.

They are very dangerous. Regarding such people Shiva has said, “Lokavyamohakáraka” – they themselves are misguided people and they are always misguiding others. “Vyámoha” means “psychic disease”. “Lokavyámohakáraka” – they are very dangerous people. “Jiṋánii cenmokśamápnuyát.” After attaining a human body, a fully-fledged human body, a person becomes a true jiṋánii, that is an atmajiṋánii. The person acquires self-knowledge. Mokśamápnuyát – the person attains mokśa. “Mokśa” means “salvation” which is liberation or emancipation of a permanent nature.

Párvatiijii asked the question, “What is the minimum qualification required to become a spiritual aspirant?” And Shiva replied, “one must have a human structure”. A person who has a brain like that of a person, an entity, a microcosm, which possesses a brain and a body like that of a human being that is, like you all – is requisitely qualified to become a spiritual aspirant. “If you have a human body, you have the requisite qualifications. You may or may not know ‘álif, be, pe, te’,⁽²⁾ you may or may not know ‘a, b, c, d,’ you may or may not have an intellect, you may or may not have any physical strength, but if you have a human framework, you have the minimum qualifications.” This was the reply of Shiva.

And you know, the progress towards the Cosmic Nucleus is your spiritual progress, and if you allow yourselves to be misguided by an intellectual and try to go back to where you came from, that is, towards crudeness, the result is dangerous. It will be negative pratisaiṋcara. You will move back towards beasthood. So, you boys and girls, be careful of the serpentine noose of those so-called intellectuals.

Footnotes

(1) “Sahasra” means “thousand”.

(2) “A, B, C, D”, in Arabic.