Each and every object of this universe, whether animate or inanimate, moves. Movement is not only the order of life, it is the order of the universe. Everything is moving. And in this created world, each and every being has something to do with the three fundamental relativities [time, place and person]. There cannot be any absolute cessation or absolute pause. Cessation is a relative phenomenon. Everything moves; this earth also moves. The sun with its planets, and all the stars, move. Nothing can be made stationary. Nothing is fixed.

Human beings are also moving. But wherever there is movement, there must be some goal. Goal-less movement is abuse of movement, abuse of rotation.⁽¹⁾ The unit mind, the mind of the microcosm, moves along its internal path [according to] its many desires, aspirations and instincts. And it will continue to move like this until the goal is reached. What is the goal?

Sarvájiive sarvasaḿsthe brhante
Tasmin haḿso bhrámyate Brahmacakre;
Prthagátmánaḿ preritáraiṋca matvá
Juśt́astatastenámrtatvameti.

–Yajurveda

[All unit entities, all unit structures, revolve around the Nucleus Consciousness in the Cosmic Cycle of creation. This rotation of theirs will continue as long as they think that they are separate from their Creator. When they become one with the Nucleus, they will attain immortality.]

“The movement is towards the Universal Hub. So many units, so many microcosms, attached to so many quinquelemental structures, are moving towards that Universal Hub.” They are moving knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or unconsciously. And a very, very few are engaged by the Cosmic centripetal force, or vidyá shakti in Sanskrit. When a microcosm moves with the aid of this centripetal force, what happens? The internal structure is metamorphosed into the Cosmic Soul. First its cruder [elements] get powdered down, then its quinquelemental expressions are metamorphosed into ectoplasmic structures, and finally those ectoplasmic structures are converted into cognition. At that time the unit cognition, detached from bases and crude entities, becomes one with the Supreme Cognitive Faculty. That stage is the state of salvation, the state of supreme emancipation.

Sarvájiive sarvasaḿsthe brhante [“All unit entities, all unit structures”]. These microcosms have different physical structures [and] different psycho-physical structures according to their reactive momenta. They are moving with so many thoughts, so many ideas, so many aspirations. Their movements come to an end when they come in closest contact with the Supreme Entity.

How does one come in closest contact with the Cosmological Mystery? The rśi [sage] says, juśt́astatastenámrtatvameti – “a microcosm does so when it feels that it is a blessed being, that it has been blessed – its existence has been blessed – by Parama Puruśa.”

Now, this movement is a phased path and there are four main phases. They are known as yatamána, vyatireka, ekendriya and vashiikára.

Yatamána: The microcosm wants to move forward. There are so many obstacles, so many mundane bondages, both external and internal. As you know, these internal bondages are known as ripus [enemies] and the external fetters are known as páshas [bondages]. One will have to look forward, [fighting] these internal and external bondages. [All those bondages on] the unit cognition are of baser nature. When a microcosm wants to move a step forward, so many inimical entities assemble and try to defeat that microcosm. So sádhaná requires a sort of fight, rather it is a fight, against all the [degenerating agencies]. In this first stage, the microcosm tries its best to fight against these internal and external enemies and tries to move forward. This stage is known as yatamána.

How does this fight take place? How can one fight against these enemies? Certainly one moves forward with the blessing of the Supreme. Without this blessing, one cannot move a step forward, because those inimical forces, those degrading forces, are very strong.

Vyatireka: The second phase is called vyatireka. The aspirant establishes his control [over] a particular internal or external enemy but [is] still defeated by certain desires. Suppose there is a man who never takes bribes. He has established his control over the propensity of lobha [greed]. But he may be addicted to drink, so there he is defeated. Or that man may be a miserly fellow. Again he is defeated. Or that man may have some special attraction to some house, land or other property. In this phase, one has established oneself [over] certain propensities or [over] certain degrading elements or enemies, but is defeated by some other elements or enemies. This second phase of human approach is called vyatireka. Here also one cannot move a step forward without the grace of the Supreme, because one’s fighting stamina gets inspiration from the Supreme.

Ekendriya: The third phase is ekendriya. In this phase, one establishes control over certain degrading propensities or over certain fetters related to a particular sensory or motor [indriya, or organ,] of one’s structure; but one is still defeated by other enemies related to other sensory or motor organs. For instance, a person may establish control over all the propensities related to the eyes or related to the tongue, but be defeated by other propensities related to the ears or the nose. He or she will not see anything bad because he or she has established control over his or her eyes, but will still be defeated by smell. The person is master over the taste or tactual organs, but is a slave to the smell organ or the ears. When that person gets the smell of, say, tea or coffee, he or she will ask for one cup. Here the person is defeated. Do you not feel like this [sometimes]? So this third phase is called ekendriya. One has established control over a particular indriya, or over a few indriyas, but not over all. This is called ekendriya.

Vashiikára: The fourth and final phase is vashiikára. When one establishes control over all the fifty controlling propensities of the human structure and also over all the motor and sensory organs, it is called vashiikára. When is this vashiikára stage [attained], and what does one do to [be established in it]? A person is established when that person establishes his or her proximity to the Universal Hub. He or she becomes one with the Supreme. This is the human approach towards the cognitive stance.

Now one must remember that during this movement on the path of righteousness, one needs stamina, needs vitality, and [for this] one gets inspiration from the Supreme Father, from Parama Puruśa. By His mercy one can [do] anything and everything. Without His mercy even a blade of grass cannot move.

In the history of our human society sometimes it so happens that a major portion of the people, [who used to get inspiration from their enviroment, cannot, due to the influence of antisocial elements,] get that inspiration. When such a situation is created, it is the duty of the nobler and better portion of the human race to guide others so that they may not feel any difficulty due to unfavourable environmental pressure. These people are the samája gurus [gurus of the society]. They help people at times of such adverse environmental conditions. But sometimes it so happens that the socio-spiritual and the psycho-physical environment gets so polluted that even those samája gurus can do nothing for the weak and suppressed mass. The mass becomes helpless. Then what to do? People must not feel afraid of such environments. Lord Krśńa said,

Yadá yadá hi dharmasya glánirbhavati Bhárata;
Cábhyutthánamadharmasya tadátmánaḿ srjámyáham.

–Bhagavad Giitá

[O Bhárata, at a time when dharma is distorted and adharma is ascendant, I create myself out of my own fundamental factors.]

“O Bhárata”. Here Bhárata means Arjuna. Bhara in Sanskrit is a root [verb] that means “to feed”, and ta means “that which helps you in your all-round development”, so bhárata⁽²⁾ is the entity that feeds you and also helps you in your all-round development. And such a country is called “Bháratavarśa”. Varśa means country. This is the exact meaning of the name of this country [India]. This is the spirit of the land. Here Arjuna was a king and was addressed as king. That is why he was called Bhárata.

Whenever such an environmental degradation takes place, whenever the position of dharma is degraded, is degenerated, and goes below its normal standard, and the common people cannot get any help or any encouragement from the environment; when to become good is a crime, to become a moralist is foolishness; that is, when common people are not getting any encouragement from the environment and when hypocrisy is the biggest and highest qualification; then what is a common person to do? There the samája gurus will fail to help the mass. They fail to guide the mass because they also get degenerated. When the leadership is degenerated, the mass becomes blind. The blind cannot lead the blind. But the common people must remember that Parama Puruśa is always with them and will take the necessary steps under such [circumstances].

[Lord Krśńa said,] “When the leadership fails, I come. I come with the quinquelemental structure of a human being. I create Myself, make Myself.” So under no circumstances, under no environmental pressure, should a person be afraid or nervous, or encourage any sort of defeatist complex or complex of helplessness or hopelessness.

People under circumstantial pressures, under environmental pressures, [sometimes] resort to falsehood or resort to antisocial activities, but even their future is not blocked forever, not sealed forever. Lord Krśńa said,

[Api cet sudurácáro bhajate mámananyabhák;
So’pi pápavinirmuktah mucyate bhavabandhanát –

“If even the most wicked people worship Me with a concentrated mind, I will liberate them from the three bondages (physical, psychic and spiritual).”]

Footnotes

(1) The movement of a unit being in relation to the Supreme is often depicted as a rotation around the Supreme. The unit’s spiritual progress is depicted as decreasing the radius of its rotation. –Eds.

(2) Bhara + ta + the suffix an. Under Sanskrit grammatical rules the addition of an causes bharata to become bhárata. –Eds.