Yesterday some people became avadhúta.⁽¹⁾ Today I will explain the meaning of the names they were given.

Manomayánanda: Manomaya + ánanda. Where does the word manomaya come from? The word manomaya is derived by adding the suffix mayat́ to the root of the word manah. The suffix mayat́ is attached to indicate “that from which something is formed.” It is not a verbal affix (primary suffix) but rather a nominal affix (secondary suffix), that is, it is affixed to nominal root, not the root verb. Manah is a word. For example, dayá +mayat́ = dayámaya, which means “that which is formed of compassion”. Krpámaya means “that which is formed of grace”. Svarńamaya means “that which is formed of gold”. Mrńmaya means “that which is formed of earth”. Cinmaya means “that which is formed of consciousness”. So manomaya means “that which is formed of mind”.

Now a man has a body made of the five material factors. It has not been formed of mind, but that material body is operated by its mind. Mind is the director. So the body is not manomaya; it is material – páiṋcabhútamaya. But what is the case with Parama Puruśa? Parama Puruśa is not páiṋcabhútamaya but rather manomaya. He has a mind and that mind is operated by átmá [consciousness]. Nothing takes place at all through any material body. If He ever came in a material body then that material body would have to remain within His mind. It cannot go outside Him, that is to say, in this case also He is manomaya, not páiṋcabhútamaya. He has created that material body within His mind, so He is manomaya.

Now, whatever we see in this universe we call quinquelemental. Whatever we see in this material world is real to us in its quinquelemental form but to Parama Puruśa it is not. He thinks in this way. He thinks the palm tree, He thinks the mountain. To us these are all quinquelemental but to Him they are psychic, completely psychic. Hence Parama Puruśa is manomaya.

This manomaya entity is called manomaya for yet another reason; this being that Parama Puruśa is present in every cavity of the human mind. In other words, there is no way I can hide anything from Him because He is all-pervading. He is present within everything. Everything has been created by his thought process. Your material body has also been created by His thought process, and He is within your mind. And this individual mind of yours, which is within your body as a result of clash and cohesion and also functions outside the body, has also been created by His mind. He is present within it and within your átmá as well. Hence He is manomaya both within your mind and outside it as well. There is no way for you to hide anything from him. “Today I couldn’t do this work, it should have been done last night. Today I won’t go in front of Bábá because who knows what will happen. If He says something in front of the others, I’ll be cut to the quick. I won’t go today; I’ll go tomorrow.” You have thought all these in your mind, but He who is manomaya, He hears everything. It is better not to think in this way. Such thoughts are not proper. Rather one should say: “You know everything. Today I’m a little scared, so I’m not going.”

This is manomaya. The bliss that one derives by ideating on that manomaya Parama Puruśa cannot be gotten anyplace else. The name of that bliss is manomayánanda.

Jagadbhásakánanda: In Sanskrit the word jagat is derived by adding the suffix kvip to the root verb gam. How does the suffix kvip function? For example, mayat́, meaning “that from which something is formed,” is affixed to the verbal root, not the nominal root. With the word jagat, the suffix kvip is attached to the verbal root gam. Kvip is attached to the verbal root, the root verb, not the nominal root. What does the root verb gam mean? Here the suffix was used in the sense of “nature”, that is, “to show the nature of”. For example, adding the suffix kvip to the root verb śad prefixed by upa and ni yields upaniśad. Upa means “near”; ni means “deeply”. That which brings a human being profoundly near to Parama Puruśa is upaniśad. The suffix kvip has been used and meaning of it, is – “To bring near is its nature.” The root verb gam and the suffix kvip form the word jagat. Gam means “to move” and that whose nature is to move we call jagat. Therefore the suffix kvip has been used.

Everything on this earth is moving. Movement is its nature, it is a sign of advancement. There is no way, no scope, for anyone to stop. It cannot happen. A dead body also cannot stop, because it is on this earth. The earth revolves, it moves continuously. Whatever has been created in this universe, whatever is begotten by the imagination of manomaya, is moving. It is jagat.

The word bhásaka comes by adding the suffix śak or the suffix ńak to the root verb bhás. Let me say something about the suffixes śak and ńak. In order to accomplish some work, there is often the need of two entities. One is a person and the other the object this person uses in order to do the work. Imagine that someone is making an earthen jar. Who is the maker of the jar? The person, of course, and the earth as well. The suffix ńak is attached to the root of the earth. The suffix śak is attached to the root of the man who is making it, and the suffix ńak is added to the root of the object or the element with whose help something is made.

Let us say, for example, that something is being dyed. For example, some cloth is being stained with a dye. Here there are two things. There is the person who is applying the dye, and there is the dye which has been bought in the market. The pigment is raiṋjak – raiṋjak sáván [dying soap] – formed by adding the suffix ńak to the root verb rańj, and the man who is applying the dye we call rajaka, by adding the suffix śak to the root verb rańj. In Bengali the word rajaka is used to mean dhopá [washerman] because in the olden days the washermen used to dye clothes. The actual meaning of the word rajaka is “a person who applies dye”.

Now the meaning of the root verb bhás is “to illuminate”, “to make radiant”. He who has coloured the entire world – since it is coloured we are able to see it – he is bhásaka. So jagadbhásaka means we are able to see the universe. Why? Because He has made it shine, has made it radiant. Everything shines with His light, so He is jagadbhása. Jagadbhásaka and jagadbhása – both work – by adding the suffix al. One who knows this is a spiritual aspirant. He is that Parama Puruśa who is manomaya. So one will ideate on Him, will meditate on Him, will repeat His japa [repetition of mantra], will come close to Him, will heed His instructions. And what is that bliss that one gets by being absorbed in the thought of Him? It is jagadbhásakánanda.

A prefix, nand root verb + al suffix = ánanda. This ánanda gives a human being unlimited pleasure. No object gives a human being endless pleasure. For example, a sandesh [a type of milk sweet] gives pleasure as long as it is on the tongue, but once it is has been swallowed the sandesh comes to an end. But the type of pleasure we get from something that gives us endless pleasure is called ánanda. The ánanda or bliss that we get by ideating on jagadbhásaka, that pleasure which has no end, is jagadbhásakánanda.

Krśńapremánanda: In Sanskrit the root verb krś means “to culture”, “to cultivate”, “to till the land”. This root verb has another meaning as well: “to pull” or “to attract”. Á – krś + anat́ = ákarśańa [attraction]. Another meaning of the root verb krś is the thought of “I exist.” Everyone thinks “I exist”. “I am coming from New Barrackpore.” “I am going to the jágrti.” It is only after the thought of “I exist” that a person thinks of anything else. This sense of “I exist” is within everyone. Thinking of this “I exist”, this action, we call krś. We don’t think, “I don’t exist;” we think “I exist”.

Now the word Krśńa is derived by adding the suffix na to the root verb krś. The word Krśńa means “he who attracts everyone, whether we know it or not”. Knowingly or unknowingly, everything is being attracted, is being drawn towards him. That attraction is irresistible. It is no use saying that we won’t be moved by that attraction. We will have to rush towards him because Krśńa draws the mind and draws the legs also. If the feet say they won’t go, the mind will say that it has to go. And if the mind says that it won’t go, the feet will drag it in his direction, even if it does not want to come. Another meaning of the word Krśńa is “nucleus of the universe”. Sitting at the very center he attracts or draws everything.

The second meaning of the word Krśńa is “the colour black.” Of all colours in this world, people’s sight is first drawn to the colour black. In this sense the colour black is called Krśńa, that is, it attracts.

Every human being thinks “I exist, I exist,” but they can only think “I exist” when Parama Puruśa gives them the mental force to think it. If He would not give them that mental force then the thought “I exist” would not be thought. Bricks, stones and wood do not think, are not able to think, “I exist”. But living beings think this, especially human beings. The name of the one who supplies the force behind this thought of “I exist,” that is, I exist because He exists, is Krśńa.

Now the topic is Krśńaprema. Attraction is the law of nature, not repulsion. We may say that repulsion is negative attraction, but attraction is not negative repulsion. So attraction is the chief characteristic.

Say, for instance, a person is attracted to sandesh. Sandesh is something limited, so we cannot call this attraction prema . That attraction is a kind of mental weakness. However, when that attraction rushes towards the unlimited, that is, rushes in the direction of Krśńa, then we call it prema. It means mental and physical propulsion for that universal nucleus. When we feel attracted towards that nucleus, that Krśńa, whether it be mentally or physically, to the extent that we cannot resist, even if we wanted to, then it is called Krśńaprema. I cannot resist drinking liquor so I rush towards the liquor store – this is a limited thing. We call it ásakti [attachment, addiction]. Pánásakti, madyásakti [intemperance] – these are all ásakti, not prema. The bliss that lies behind this willingly or unwillingly rushing towards the Supreme is called Krśńaprema.

Footnotes

(1) Avadhúta – Avdhúta (male) or Avadhútiká (female) literally means, “one who is thoroughly cleansed mentally and spiritually”; a monk or nun of an order close to the tradition of Shaeva Tantra. –Trans.