EE7.5 - Supramundane Heritage and Supramundane Desideratum

Supramundane Heritage and Supramundane Desideratum

Published in:
Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 31
Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 11

Notes:

official source: Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 11

this version: is the printed Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 11, 1st edition, version (obvious spelling, punctuation and typographical mistakes only may have been corrected).

This discourse originally appeared in Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 11 as “Supramundane Heritage and Supramundane Desideratum”, and then, inadvertently, in Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 31 as “The Cosmic Inheritance and the Cosmic Desiderata”. It will be omitted from Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 31 when that book is reprinted.

Online additional information

The subject of today’s discourse is “Supramundane Heritage and Supramundane Desideratum.” I wrote long ago that the supreme law of human unity is that human beings have come from a common source and they all will return to the same culminating point, the same destination. No one is an exception to this rule. If due to confusion arising from superiority complexes, people think otherwise, they will land in trouble because there is no alternative.

Yato vá imáni bhútáni jáyante yena játáni jiivanti
Yat prayantyabhisaḿvishanti tad vijijiṋásasva tad Brahma.

Here the Veda says that all the created objects have come from one source, all are established in one and the same structure, all will have to move towards one and the same destination. And that One is Brahma: He alone is to be realized.

Mayyevaḿ sakalaḿ játaḿ mayi sarvaḿ pratiśt́hitam
Mayi sarvaḿ layaḿ yáti tad Brahmádvayamasmyaham
Jágrat-svapna suśuptyádi prapaiṋcaḿ yad prakáshate
Tad Brahmáhamiti jiṋátvá sarvabandhaeh pramucyate.

Out of this Supreme One, all have emerged. Hence this Supreme One is called brhat. The word brhat literally means “One who is very vast, who is beyond the scope of all limitations, who is immeasurable and unfathomable.” The Himalayas are very large, no doubt, yet they can be measured in miles. As they come within the scope of measurement, they cannot be called brhat in philosophical terminology. We may say that the Himalayas are vishála-very large-but certainly not brhat, immeasurably vast.

From the word brhat the word Brahma has come. Brahma literally means the Entity who is Himself very vast, and whose ideation makes others vast like Him. Brhattvád Brahma Brḿhanatvád Brahma. Brḿhanatvád means making others vast. He himself is very great, and hence he is called Brahma; but this is not enough. Besides that He has the capacity to make others equally great like Him, and that is why He is Brahma. The “many” have come from the “One”, and finally merge back into the “One”.

Now the fundamental question is, why have the “many” come from the One? Why is One metamorphosed into many? This is something beyond human imagination, because the mind functions within a particular periphery and with a particular upádhi. When the internal or external projection of the mind does not find a physical base, and the mind loses its capacity to think, it may be said that there is something beyond the scope of the mind. The state where the mind cannot reach, is called the metempirical state, the anavasthádośa of mind. Where the mind is non-existent, how can it perceive or conceive anything? It cannot.

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

Ánandaḿ brahmeti vyajanát, Ánandadhyeva khalvimáni bhútáni jayánte, Ánandena játáni jiivanti. Ánandaḿ prayantyabhisaḿvishanti iti te. Saeśá bhárgavii váruńii vidyá. Parame vyomni pratiśt́hitá. Sa ca evam veda pratiśt́hati. Annavánannádo bhavati. Mahán bhavati prajayá pashubhih Brahmavarcasena. Mahán kiirtyá.

Feelings of joy and sorrow lie within the mental arena. But those feelings which transcend the arena of mind are called ánandánubhuti, the feelings of bliss. Philosophers do not find any answer to the question of why the singular Brahma is metamorphosed into many. A philosopher, a jiṋáni, has no answer to this question. No one can know the answer because the original stance of Brahma is beyond the periphery of mind. All argumentations, all logic, lie within the scope of mind. Hence the jiṋániis fail to find the answer.

The karmiis or people of action also try to find the answer, but their capacity is still more limited, for karma or action is the change of position of an object. Now the question is, where can the relative change of position of objects take place? Only within the scope of the quinquelemental factors; it is difficult to go beyond that.

In the mental sphere such a change of place can indeed occur but for such a change of place, there must be a witness or a measurer as well to give an idea of time – the temporal factor. Hence karmiis cannot know on the physical level why Brahma created the manifested world. In the same way, they cannot get the answer in the mental world either because the mind cannot function outside the ectoplasmic structure. Hence karmiis are helpless in this regard. When the jiṋániis and karmiis failed to provide the answer, the poet Rabindranath wrote:

Prashna jáge mor mane
Pratham diner súrya prashna karechila.
Sattár nútan ávirbháve, ke tumi?
Meleni uttar.
Vatsar vatsar ket́e gela
Divaser sheś súrya
Sheś prashna uccárila
Pashcim ságartiire
Nistabdha sandhyáy, ke tumi?
Pela ná uttar.

[The question arose in my mind. The first morning sun put the question to the new arrival: Who are you? There was no answer. The last setting sun repeated the last question on the banks of the western sea, in the silent evening, Who are you? And again there was no answer.]

Bhaktas or devotees are simple and straightforward; they like to steer clear of complications and intricacies. In their characteristic simple way they say:

Sa vá eśa tadádraśt́á na pashyaddrśt́mekrát́
Me ne santamevátmánam suptashaktirasuptadrk.

“My Lord was alone. You know how troublesome it is to be all alone. Anyone who is forced to remain alone for five years together will either die or become mad. In the same way my Lord was all alone when there was no universe, no expression – only a state of complete vacuity. No one can imagine what a terrible situation it was! Hence, to break the monotony, to remove the dullness of loneliness, He started to create the universe to play with His own children.” There is no other reply besides this.

Thus the Supreme Cognitive entity became metamorphosed into many-the One Universal Father, the One Supreme Progenitor, continuing His divine sport with His innumerable children. To some people, this divine sport is very painful, while to others it is extremely sweet and pleasing. But this is His liilá, a great drama. In a drama, some people must play the parts of unhappy people, and some must play the roles of happy ones, otherwise the drama becomes dull and boring. Likewise this world too is a great drama. Parama Puruśa is directing a great dramatic performance, and according to His sweet will, He may call anyone and take them in His vast macrocosmic body.

During the enactment of a drama, all the characters, the dramatis personae (some are acting as great scholars, some fools, some as extremely happy and some as wretched beings) should bear in mind that they are simply playing the roles allotted to them. They should always think, “In reality, I am neither very happy nor very miserable, I am not an erudite scholar nor a fool. I am merely acting a particular role-be it Emperor Shahjáhán or Aurangzeb.” If people remember this, they will neither be afflicted with sorrow nor elated with joy. This is what is called cosmic inheritance, cosmic heritage.

All have come from one and the same Entity; no one is inferior, no one is small, mean or untouchable. No one is born high or low: all are bound by fraternal and sororal bonds. If people support casteism, it should be understood that they do not accept the Universal Father because the children of the same Father cannot have different castes. So one who believes in casteism does not believe in Parama Puruśa; and conversely, one who believes in Parama Puruśa does not believe in casteism. This is all hypocrisy. Those who were extremely cunning, balkanized human society into numerous fragments merely to promote their self-interest.

Upon emerging from Brahma, human beings began their long evolutionary journey. But where can they go? They cannot go outside of the Entity beyond whom there is nothing. If Parama Puruśa says in anger to anyone, “I don’t like you, you scoundrel-get out!” Then that person can say, “Oh Lord, you want me to get out, but kindly tell me where to go? There is nothing outside You. So wherever I go, I shall remain within You. You are infinite. If you cannot tell me where I should go, then please change Your name. If there is anything outside You, then You are not infinite.”

The poet Vidyapati also said, “Adi anándika nátha kaháyasi ab tárańa bhárańa tumhárá.” “You are the Lord of the beginning and the Lord of the end also. I am somewhere between the beginning and the end, and so You are also my Lord. Thus it is Your duty to save me, to redeem me, to protect me from danger. You are bound to do that.”

In the world of thought, two forces operate – the centrifugal and the centripetal. Similarly, regarding the immanent power of centripetal Parama Puruśa, it has been said, Shaktih sá Shivasya Shaktih. Shakti, the Supreme Creative Principle, operates in two ways-vidyá and avidyá. The force of avidyá repulses and the force of vidyá draws the entities towards Parama Puruśa. This is how Parama Puruśa is continuing His perpetual divine sport. That means that none of the entities can go beyond Him, for they are all moving around Puruśottama.

Sarvájiive sarvasaḿsthe brhante
Tasmin haḿso bhrámyate Brahmacakre
Prthagátmánaḿ preritáraiṋca matvá
Juśt́astatastenámrtatvámeti.

All the created objects are revolving around Puruśottama. Some are rotating at a greater distance with a long radius, and some are moving at a shorter distance with a short radius. The nature of the ideation and inherent saḿskáras of entities varies from one to another, and accordingly the physical structures of individual entities also vary. And all the entities with their respective mass and wonts are revolving around the nucleus. This movement continues as long as they think, “I and my Lord, I and the Universal Father are separate entities.” As soon as they think, “No, I and my Lord are not separate entities – just as the ocean and its drops of water are not separate entities. The drops of water are part of the ocean”-then they are no longer misguided. They rush towards Puruśottama and merge in Him.

This becomes possible only when people get the opportunity and proper training due to His grace. Muktyákáunkśaya sadgurupráptih. Whenever anyone develops an intense desire to merge in Him, Parama Puruśa immediately arranges to impart lessons how to move towards Him, how to merge in Him. That is, Brahmaeva Gururekah náparah. No one else except Parama Puruśa knows how to become one with Him. This is why in the form of preceptor He teaches the sádhakas seeking liberation. Besides this, there is no other way of returning to Him.

I used the term “desiderata” in plural number. But the nucleus of the cosmological order is one, not more than one. So the term “desideratum” should be used in singular number because the Supreme Goal is one, not many. In order to reach the Singular entity, the aspirant must proceed with single-minded devotion, ekabuddhi. To proceed with divergent mental flows means to invite trouble, to risk annihilation.

Now, all the microcosms originate from Him and finally return to Him. Their existence during the intervening period also comes within His scope, for He is continuing His divine sport with His microcosms. They will have to constantly remember that howsoever small they may be, they are the fragments of the Infinite One.

With a small brain in a small cranium of the human body, a human being thinks. How much capacity can the brain possess? People sometimes do acquire non-cerebral memory (the memory of past lives) in the new bodies, but under ordinary circumstances people retain their memories of the past in the brain of this body. Anubhútaviśayásamprasmośa smrtih: perception is carried out through the nerve fibres. And with only a few nerve fibres, how much capacity do human beings possess? Katat́uku bal dhare mánavár kata bal dhare vidhátá. How powerless is a human being, and how powerful is the Supreme Lord! There is no comparison.

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

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yadbhútaḿ yacca bhavyam;
Utámrtatvasyesháno yadannenátirohati.⁽¹⁾

A person has a small brain with a little intellect and a little memory. Those who got their Master’s Degrees only ten or twelve years ago will not be able to answer a single question if they are asked the same today. There “pass” certificate is their only capital, nothing else. Such is the small capacity of the poor human beings! Whereas Parama Puruśa possesses infinite knowledge and infinite wisdom. Where was the seed of intellect that found manifestation in different microcosms? It was certainly hidden in Parama Puruśa Himself. His cognitive faculty is metamorphosed into physical objects, which in turn, through clash and cohesion, evolved into microcosms which gradually develop their latent intellectuality and finally become intellectual giants. Hence, with limited human intellect, it is futile to enter into useless debate on Parama Puruśa.

Sahasrákśa: How far can human beings see with their two eyes? Not very far. But can anyone hide anything from such an Entity who can see everything of this universe, in whose mind the entire universe is vibrating-the Entity who is always hearing each and every secret word hidden in the innermost part of everyone’s mind? Hence it is better not to dare to compare Parama Puruśa with the unit living beings, the Macrocosm with the microcosms.

Sahasrapáda: If you want to go physically to Calcutta from Siliguri, it will take at least some time. But it will not take any time at all to go from the Siliguri in your mind to the Calcutta in your mind; and in this universe everything is within the Cosmic Mind. This whole universe is His mental world, and so He does not take any time at all to move from one place to another within His mind. And thus it is said that He has innumerable legs and does not have to go from one place to another, because He is present everywhere.

Sah bhúmiḿ vishvato vrtvá atyatiśt́haddashaungulum: He is lying covert in each and every particle of this universe. Not only that; He is also residing in the arena ten fingers above the pituitary gland. He is equally present in the subtle expressions, in the psychic and astral worlds lying above the quinquelemental factors. And He is also above even that. The pituitary gland is the location of the human mind; mind is controlled from that point. So Parama Puruśa is both above the physical, and above the mental world as well. And even the spiritual world is also within His grasp.

Whether He blesses someone, or grants salvation to someone, entirely depends on His grace. No one has anything to say about it, nor has anyone any justification to say anything. For the justification does not exist within the ambit of the small minds of the microcosms, and beyond their minds they can know nothing. Thus He controls everything from sahasrára cakra (related to the pineal gland); this is the location of Parama Puruśa. The distance between the pituitary and the pineal gland is ten fingers; hence it is said, atyatiśt́haddashaungulam; that is, He resides ten fingers above the pineal gland. Obviously in this universe there is nothing which is not within His control.

Puruśa evedaḿ sarvaḿ yadbhútaḿ yacca bhavyam;
Utámrtatvasyesháno yadannenátirohati.

Pure shete yá sah Puruśah: The Supreme Entity is lying covert in you. If you are awakened by dint of sadhana He will also be awakened, and then the unit being will become one with the Supreme Being. The Cosmic Consciousness knows everything; He does not need to study books to learn or understand anything. Some may question how he can be so well versed in all branches of knowledge. Human beings always read and forget; in fact they learn only to forget. But how does Parama Puruśa remember so many things? Here lies the difference between human beings and the Supreme Entity; He does not learn only to forget; in fact He does not even learn – He just knows. Everything is within His mind.

What is the knowing faculty? Knowing means subjectification of external objectivity, and as there is nothing outside of Him, so the question of subjectivisation does not arise at all. For Him everything is internal; He does not know things by turning the pages of books to see what is written therein. As everything is within His mind, He already knows everything. Tatra niratishayam sarvajiṋabiijam: rtambhará tatra prajiṋá: Whatever was and whatever will be in future is all known to the Supreme Cognitive faculty.

Utámrtatvasyeshána yadanenátisoham: Does the Supreme Consciousness reside in heaven or Vaekuńt́ha above the seven realms of existence? No. He is omnipotent: He is in Vaekuńt́ha as well as in the lowest hell. In fact, any place where Parama Puruśa is non-existent, cannot itself exist. Hence to substantiate the existence of anything, the presence of Parama Puruśa is essential. So if so-called sinners complain that Parama Puruśa does not look at them, they are mistaken. He does look at them – He is with them. The moment those sinners will say with tears in their eyes, “O Lord, please, take me in Your lap.” He will immediately lift them upon His lap and brush the dust off their bodies and say, “I am cleansing all the dirt and dross of your sins.”

Hence under no circumstances should anyone think that Parama Puruśa can remain far away from them, because He cannot remain away from His created beings at all-it is contrary to his very nature. I have already said numerous times that if anyone ever complains that Puruśa is showering His grace on such-and-such person but not on me, it is wrong to say so. Those who complain thus are in fact holding the umbrella of ego on their heads. The Supreme Entity is surely showering His grace on all, but those who hold the umbrella of ego on their heads cannot be drenched by the rains of His grace. What is sádhaná? Sádhaná is the systematic endeavour to remove this umbrella of ego from over one’s head.

The main thing is that the fundamental essence of humanity is that all have come from the same source and that is Parama Puruśa. Hence no artificial distinctions should be recognized among human beings. To recognize such distinctions means to impair the underlying unity of the human race, to act against the cosmic unity of the human race, to act against the cosmic will – to act like a demon in human form. Such demons should have no place in human society.

The existence of living beings is within the vast Macrocosmic body of Parama Puruśa, not without. So whatever Parama Puruśa has given to the human race for its collective use should be utilized by all human beings. To act contrary to this is to act against the Cosmic Will. To fatten oneself beyond all proportion by exploiting others is neither good for individuals nor for the collective body. Parama Puruśa is the Supreme Desideratum of all humanity. To help all human beings bound by these cosmic bonds of fraternity and sorority to move towards their Supreme Goal and not allow anyone to lag behind – here lies the supreme fulfilment of human life. This Parama Puruśa is the ultimate goal of existence, and only to attain Him have human beings come onto this earth. If they fail to do so, then they do not deserve to be called human beings. Hence life devoid of dharma is worse than animal life.