In so many rhymes, in so many rks and so many shlokas, it has been said that the only thing you may ask from Parama Puruśa is that He may guide your intellect along the path of bliss; and you should demand nothing else. In the Yajurveda it has been said,

Ya eko’varno bahudhá shaktiyogád
Varńánanekán nihitártho dadháti
Vicaeti cánte vishvamádao sa devah
Sa no buddhyá shubhayá saḿyunaktu.

“No buddhyá” – “Nah” means “asmákam”, “our”. “Let Him guide our intellect towards blessedness, towards human welfare.” “No buddhyá shubhayá saḿyunaktu” – “let our intellect be attached to public welfare.”

In the Savitr Rk it has also been said, “Dhiiyo nah pracodayát,” that is “Ya na dhiiyo pracodayát,” or “Ya asmákam dhiiyo pracodayát.” “Sadvidhánaḿ karotu.” “So that He may guide our intellect along the path of bliss.” “Pracodayát” means “Sadvidhánaḿ karotu”, “guide towards bliss”.

So the primary factor that deserves development or exaltation is the intellect, the human intellect. The intellect should be purified. When the intellect is purified, when piety is established in the intellect, everything is obtained. And then, what is to be the final goal of this intellect? It is to be purified, very good, but after purification, how is this intellect to be utilized? What should be the final desideratum of the intellect, where is it to go? It has been said,

Yathá darpańábháva ábhásahánao múkaḿ vidyate kalpanáhiinamekam;
Tathá dhiiviyoge nirábhásako yah sah nityo’palabdhi svarupeo’hamátmá.

The intellect is like a mirror, and Parama Puruśa is reflected on that mirror. That portion of Parama Puruśa reflected on that mirror is the jiivátmá.

Suppose there is a red flower and there are twenty mirrors in a room. You will see one original flower and twenty reflected flowers. The original flower is Parama Puruśa, and those reflected flowers are jiivátmá. The reflected flowers are jiivátmá, and the original flower is Pratyagátmá. Here the special name for Parama Puruśa is Pratyagátmá. The Entity that witnesses its reflected counterparts is Pratyak, pratyak+átmá=Pratyagátmá.

Now, when the reflecting mirror is free from all impurities, you will get a better reflection. The mental reflection of Paramátmá in you will be better if your mirror is in perfect condition. So you should keep your mental mirror always in perfect condition. And in order to do this, what are you to do? You are to purify it with the help of sádhaná and jana sevá. These two factors, sádhaná and jana sevá, will keep the mental mirror in proper condition, in good condition. This phase may be termed the phase of Savikalpa. But what is your final goal, what is the Supreme Desideratum? Savikalpa, or Saguńásthiti, is not your final Desideratum. You will have to go forward. It is not the Supreme Desideratum, it is not everything for you.

It has been asked, “If all those mirrors reflecting that original flower are taken away, what will happen?” The original flower will remain non-reflected. So if you remove your mental plate, you will be one with the Supreme. If the mirror comes near the original flower, and becomes one with the original flower, there cannot be any reflection. And that stage is the stage of Nirguńásthiti.

Now, how to do it? There is no alternative but to take the path of, to resort to, devotion. How are you to move towards the original flower, towards the original entity? You know, everything is moving around the Supreme Nucleus. How can you become one with that Nucleus? You will have to move towards the Nucleus, decreasing the length of your radius. And how to decrease the length of your radius? You will have to create devotion within your “I” feeling. So the rśi says that when the intellect is no longer in a position to bear the reflection, that is, when that mirror becomes one with the original Entity, there won’t be any reflection.

Now, how are you to convert your “I” feeling, or your mental mirror, into nothing? The only way, the only approach, is complete surrender.

“O Supreme Entity, You may be great, You may be the Nucleus of the entire world, You may be infinite, and I finite; You may be Great, and I may be small, You may be everything, and I may be nothing; but this much You cannot ignore, You cannot deny: You cannot deny that I am the child and that You are the Father. So I have a birthright to sit on Your lap. You cannot deny it.”

So each and every entity has the right to move towards Him, and to be one with Him. And when the mind becomes one with Him, the mirror is lost. There cannot be any more reflection. There cannot be any more Jiivátmá. Jiiva becomes one with Shiva. “Pásha baddha bhavet jiiva, páshmukta bhavet Shiva” – Jiiva will become one with Shiva. This is the human goal. This is the Desideratum.