There exists in this world an endless variety of things which people call by different names, for example, mango. In Sanskrit it is called ámra, rasála, or sahakára. In other languages it is mango, mángá, ámba, ám, áṋb, ámbaj, ámbá, and so forth. One object has so many names. Similarly, Parama Puruśa is called by different names. Due to ignorance human beings fight over the names. When real knowledge arises they see the meaningless and unnecessary nature of such quarrels. As long as this knowledge is not present, people fight amongst each other and shed one another’s blood. Thus they should make efforts to acquire such authentic knowledge.

What is real knowledge? It is self-knowledge, to know oneself. The more that people progress towards this self-knowledge, the more the external clashes diminish.

Átmajiṋánaḿ vidurjiṋánaḿ jiṋanányanyáni jáni tu;
Táni jiṋánávabhásáni sárasya naeva bodhanát.

[Self-knowledge is the real knowledge – all other knowledge is a mere shadow of knowledge; and will not lead to realization of the truth.]

“Self-knowledge is the real knowledge; other kinds of knowledge are not knowledge at all,” and if self-knowledge is obtained then the rest are known. Brahmavid brahmaeva bhavati. One need not read thousands of books. One who has known Brahma, becomes Brahma. He knows everything; nothing remains unknown to him. He moves even where the sun’s rays cannot penetrate. He enters the innermost recesses of the mind and knows its hidden secrets, for He is omnipresent, omniscient and all-pervading.

The lack of knowledge or a failure to understand the underlying meaning of things, creates misunderstandings. Take, for instance, the following. Ráma is a prevalent name. The word Ráma has come from the Sanskrit root verb ram plus the suffix ghaiṋ. What does the word Ráma mean? The word is used for Parama Puruśa or God. Ráma means ramante yoginah yasmin — the one through whose ideation or proximity the yogiis get bliss.

Who can we call a yogi? Saḿyogo yoga ituktyah jiivátmá paramátmanah. One who merges his or her individual entity into the Supreme Entity, little “I” into the big “I”, unit consciousness into supreme consciousness, is a yogi. Such yogis do not get bliss from anything else, other than Parama Puruśa, because to such a person nálpe sukhamasti bhúmaeva sukham – He or she is not satisfied with a little, a bit; he or she wants more, more and more. Where does this wanting more end? When one attains the infinite, and not before.

Due to His endlessness the Lord is dear to one, because one wants to attain Him in such a way that this attainment has no end. Finite objects have a beginning and an end, hence after their end there is pain. One who loves to eat rasogollá experiences pleasure as long as the rasogollá remains in his mouth, not once it has disappeared down his throat. So one gets his pleasure from something which has no end, something which is beginningless and endless; for this reason the yogiis find their happiness in Parama Puruśa. So the word “Ráma” means Parama Puruśa.

Ráma – rá plus ma. What do intellectuals say about the meaning of this word rá? Ráti mahiidharah Rámah. Of all entities in this universe “Ráma” is the most luminous. Smaller entities are illuminated by larger ones. Planets and satellites are illuminated by sun. The sun receives its energy from various nebulae and from cosmic light and heat. The entity with whose help the various objects are manifested and illuminated is “Ráma”. The first letter of the word ráti [luminous] is rá, and the initial letter of the word mahiidharah [universe] is ma. Rá and ma makes Rámah — ráti mahiidharah Rámah.

What is the most luminous? The small atomic structure that we see in this universe is of fundamental importance. Electrons revolve around its nucleus, so the heart of the atomic structure is its nucleus. Similarly, as with our planetary system, all the planetary systems of the universe have, as their nucleus, a particular star and the respective planets revolve around it. In the same way, the heart of this universe is the Parama Puruśa, the Puruśottama. Animate or inanimate, all revolve around him, thus he is the source of all inspiration, the source of all light; he is the most luminous entity. Ráti mahiidharah Rámah. Hence the meaning of ráti mahiidharah or the word Ráma is Parama Puruśa. Different explanations bring us back to the same entity.

Then there is Rávańasya marańaḿ Rámah. The first letter of the word Rávańasya [of Rávańa] is rá and the first letter of the word marańaḿ [death] is ma. By combining them we get the word Ráma. What is Rávańa? Rao + ań = Rávańa. That mental flow which degrades a human being, which brings one to one’s lowest point, which crudifies one’s existence, is Rávańa, that is, depraved mental propensities, those which diminish one’s humanity, which destroy a human being’s existence.

It is said that Rávańa is a demon. Certainly he is a demon because the force which degrades a person in this way is certainly not insignificant; it is a veritable demon, a rákśasa. Who is this Rávańa for human beings? It is the depraved propensities of one’s mind. They are the reason for a person’s degradation. How do these depraved propensities of human beings function? They do so simultaneously in ten directions. North, south, east, west, up and down — these six are called pradish; and southeast, northeast, northwest, southwest, these four corners, are called anudish. Six plus four equals ten. The depraved propensities of human beings function in these ten directions. So it is said that this tenfold depraved propensities, Rávańa, has ten heads — dashánana. His depraved propensities function in ten directions. And what is necessary in order to destroy these depraved propensities, to annihilate them? Parama Puruśa’s special grace is needed. A human being’s own power is not sufficient. No matter how much they cry out, it won’t do. As long as they do not take shelter in Parama Puruśa they cannot gain deliverance from the clutches of that Rávańa.

This Rávańa functions within the human mind, within the state, within family, within society, everywhere. Human beings have to wage a ceaseless struggle against this Rávańa. There is no other way out. With the progress of civilization these Rávańas have been evolving more and more sophisticated ways to do great harm to human beings. In English I call them “polished satans”. It is easy to detect Rávańa in the form of Rávańa but it is difficult to recognize such polished satans as Rávańa. So human beings must be even more firmly prepared to fight against these kinds of demons.

The poet Rabindranath Tagore has said:

Náginiirá cáridike pheliteche viśákta nishvás
Shántir lalit váńii shunáibe vyartha parihás.
Vidáy nevár áge tái d́ák diye yái,
Dánaver sáthe saḿgrámer tare
Prastut hateche yárá ghare ghare.

“Serpents are spreading venom everywhere. Now at this critical juncture should I go on preaching the sweetly-worded gospels of peace? Certainly not. So before my final departure from this world I give my last call, the clarion call for those who are making necessary preparation for all-out fight against those demons.”

In order to appear in battle against this evil, this malevolent force, human beings will have to take the shelter of Parama Puruśa. Otherwise on their own human beings are helpless. They want to do great things but they are incapable of it. So they will have to resort to the shelter of Parama Puruśa. In order to kill this Rávańa the one whose shelter must be taken is Parama Puruśa – Rávańasya marańaḿ Rámah. The first letter of the word marańam is ma. Combining the two we get Ráma, that is, whichever meaning we accept as the meaning of Ráma, it means Parama Puruśa.

Now let us take Náráyańa. In Sanskrit the word nára has three meanings. One meaning is niiram — niram, udakam, pániiyam, jalam, kambalam, ka. There are various names for water, among them nára is one. Another is niira and yet another is ka. Ka also means “water”. The land which is surrounded by water is called kaccha [in Gujarat state of India]. Ka is surrounded, thus kaccha. The leafy green vegetable (shák) that lies extended (lambii) on the surface of ka or water is ka-lambii or kalamii shák.

Nára does not only mean “water;” another meaning is “devotion”. For example, he who distributes devotion, who gives devotion, is nárada. Da means “one who gives”.

Nára also means Paramá Prakrti, the Cosmic Operative Principle. Now Paramá Prakrti does not remain in a void. Everything in this universe requires a support or container (ádhára). Right now I am in a particular place. And where is this place? It is in Bengal. Where is Bengal? It’s in India. India is its support or container. The container of India is Asia and for Asia it is the earth. This earth’s container is the solar system. Everyone requires some container. Paramá Prakrti also requires some container. No one can be without shelter. Only Parama Puruśa is without shelter. He requires no shelter since He is the shelter of all. I have just mentioned that one name of Paramá Prakrti is nára. In Sanskrit ayana means “shelter” or “holder”. He who gives shelter to nára or Paramá Prakrti is Náráyańa. Who is Paramá Prakrti’s shelter? Parama Puruśa. Hence Náráyańa means Parama Puruśa. In every case we are getting Parama Puruśa and again Náráyańa also means Parama Puruśa.

A few days ago in a certain place I gave a talk about Hari. Hari means harati pápan ityarthe harih. In Sanskrit harańa means “theft”. The thing is, in society we condemn someone who steals. In Ananda Marga it is considered to be in violation of asteya [non-stealing]. Even mentally it is not condoned. However, one who steals we call Hari. It is not a good thing. It is against the sixteen points, but the word Hari means “one who steals”. What does He steal? He steals the sins of the devotee. The point is that his sons and daughters, his children, are very dear to Parama Puruśa. Children are dear to their father; it is quite natural. But not all of these children are equally well behaved. Human beings are characterized by their errors – “To err is human.” Now Parama Puruśa is not simply a judge. There is a domestic relationship as well. It would not be proper if He only acted as an administrator. There is a relationship of love and affection with Him.

Now, his sons and daughters, today they are conscious and refrain from committing any sins, but in the past they committed many. How will they cope with this burden of sins? For some people this burden [of sins] is so heavy that they will have to take birth five hundred times more in order to lessen it. So, will Parama Puruśa desire that His children carry this burden for five hundred more lives? Certainly not. Rather He will want them to be free, to have their burden lightened. So what should be done? What will he tell his children? He will tell them: “Do one thing. From now on follow the right path. Give me the sins you have accumulated up until now. I will carry that burden.”

Now the interesting thing is that the devotees also have a certain common sense. They have a sense of responsibility. They say: “How can I give you my sins? We will give you delicacies to eat, we will worship you, we will sing your kiirtana, we will try to make you happy. But how can we give you our sins? What a terrible idea! We cannot, we will not give you our sins.” But if they do not give Him their sins, then they will have to carry that burden for thousands of lives. He does not want His children to undergo so much suffering. Despite his son being a thief or dacoit, a father sees a lawyer in an effort to save him. It’s the same situation. So what does He do? Since they will not give them openly, He steals the sins of His sons and daughters without their knowledge.

You all know well, you have read in the second volume of Varńa Paricaya⁽¹⁾, that taking other’s things without their permission is theft. So He is also stealing. Of course, He is stealing for their good, but it is still theft. Since He is committing harańa, or stealing, one of His names is Hari. So whatever meaning of Ráma we accept, whatever meaning of Náráyańa or Hari we accept, it refers to the one and the same Parama Puruśa. It is out of ignorance that human beings fight.

Now the thing is that every human being will have to stick to one name [of Parama Puruśa], not innumerable names. Even though each name ends up being the same, they will have to take on one name only, not many, because they will have to become established in that name. For this reason human beings should never accept two names, only one – internally one name, externally one name, everywhere one name. In prosperity one name, in adversity one name, never two.

In the Rámáyańa, once Hanuman was asked: “Look Hanuman, Náráyańa has the same meaning as Ráma. Still you are mad for repeating the name Ráma; the word Náráyańa never comes out of your mouth, not even by mistake. Why is this so?” Hanuman replied:

Shriináthe jánakiináthe cábhede paramátmani;
Tathápi mama sarvasvah Rámah kamalalocanah.

“I know Náráyańa and Ramachandra are basically one, yet to me the lotus-eyed Ramachandra is dearer.”

I know that shriináth means Náráyańa and jánakiináth means Ráma and that there is no difference between the two, that they are, in fact, one entity. Cábhede paramátmani — paramátmani ca abhedah. They are one entity, not separate. Still I accept one and not many. I am not sahasrabuddhi or shatabuddhi; I am ekbuddhi. You all know the story that in a certain pond there were once three fish by the name of Shatabuddhi, Sahasrabuddhi and Ekbuddhi⁽²⁾. One day some fisherman arrived and decided that the next day they would catch all the fish. Sahasrabuddhi told his wife: “I will fight against these fishermen with a thousand tricks; they won’t catch me.” Shatabuddhi said: “I will fight with a hundred tricks.” And Ekbuddhi told his wife: “Look, it’s best we go to another pond during the night. My ekbuddhi is telling me this.” So they left, and the next day, when the fishermen had caught all the fish, Ekbuddhi told his wife:

“Shatabuddhih shirasyastyayam lambate ca sahasradhiih;
Ekbuddhirahaḿ bhadre kriiŕámi vimale jale.”

“ ‘See, O good lady, Sahasrabuddhi is in the fisherman’s basket and Shatabuddhi is dangling from the fisherman’s hand, but I, Ekbuddhi, am playing in pure water.’ ”

One should be Ekbuddhi. Hanuman said: I am one-minded, not many-minded. Although there is no difference between Náráyańa and Ráma, I don’t know anyone but Ráma. I don’t know any Náráyańa.

So you should always keep in mind that one should proceed ahead with one name, not many. Therein lies success, prosperity, everything.

Footnotes

(1) Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, Varńa Paricaya Parts 1-2, 1985. –Trans.

(2) Buddhi means intellect or talent. Sahasra means 1000; Shata means 100. Eka means one. –Trans.