Land means vasu. Vasu means “where one resides”; for example, a planet, a satellite, or any one of a number of such places where one can reside. There are eight of these, hence the word aśt́avasu [eight vasus]. Our earth is also a vasu. The one in whose vibration this vasu vibrates is called vásudeva. Vasudeva + ań = vásudeva. One name of Krśńa is Vásudeva because name of Krśńa’s father was Vásudeva. So vasu means “a place suitable for residing.” In one shloka it is said:

Bhú-bhúmi-dhará-dharitrii-sarvaḿsahá-vasumatii;
Gotrá-ku-prthivii-prthvii-kśamávanii-medinii-mahii.

[[Thirteen different names of the earth.]]

This is vasu. These vasus or lands are vibrated by the vibration of Parama Puruśa. Not only that, there is something else as well. The English synonym for vasu is “abode”. The Farsi word is ábád. Allahabad means “abode of Allah”. The word ábád has been added to the names of many cities, for example, Allahabad or Elahabad, Jahanabad, Farukhabad, Saedabad, Hyderabad, and so forth.

This Parama Puruśa is not only in vasu or ábád but outside it as well. For example, he is in a place measured by ten fingers. Here the literal meaning of the words “ten fingers” will not do, because it is not correct to always take the philological meaning of something; its inner meaning should be accepted. For example, a certain gentleman is walking along a path. Say his name is Paiṋcánan Jhá. We call him saying: “Mr. Paiṋcanan, come over here, please.” Does Paiṋcánan here mean a man with five faces? No, of course not. Paiṋcánan is the name of that man. Here one must not take the literal meaning but rather the inner meaning.

Similarly, beyond the vasu where Parama Puruśa is present, He is also there in a land measured by ten fingers. In a shloka we find: sah bhúmiḿ vishvato vrttvá atyatiśt́haddasháuṋgulam . This shloka has three different versions. In the Rgveda it reads: sah bhúmiḿ vishvato vrttvá atyatiśt́haddasháuṋgulam . In the Yajurveda it reads: sah bhúmirvishvato sprśt́vá atyatiśt́haddasháuṋgulam . And in the Atharvaveda it reads: : sah bhúmiḿ sarvato vrttvá atyatiśt́haddasháuṋgulam . However, since it is a rk of the Rgveda, here the Rgvedic usage must be accepted.

We have seen that vasu means a habitable place. I want to say one thing in this regard. In ancient India there was a king by the name of Dasharathi Vasu. He used to make living arrangements in his kingdom for destitute people, to give them a place to live, so he was called Dasharathi Vasu by the public. Today also Vasu is one surname.

In this respect, planets and satellites are also vasus because they reverberate with the vibration of Parama Puruśa. Here the vibrational expression of Parama Puruśa is not limited to the eight vasus; outside them as well its actional flow remains unimpeded. Beyond them exists the vast quinquelemental universe and the five sensory organs and five motor organs as well as various psychic planes, such as the conscious, subconscious and causal. The vibrational flow of Parama Puruśa is active everywhere. In the flow of Pratisaiṋcara the kárańa mana or causal mind is referred to as the sámánya mana or microcosmic causal mind because in the path of Pratisaiṋcara, the macrocosmic causal mind cannot remain since the microcosmic causal mind is the final stage of this path of Pratisaiṋcara while the macrocosmic causal mind is the first stage in the path of Saiṋcara. Causal mind means mind in seed form, subconscious mind [subtle mind] means mind in sprout form, and conscious mind [crude mind] means mind in fully expressed form. In causal mind also there are possibilities of vibration. Causal mind is a part of mind but turiiya [a stage of purely spiritual realization] is not a part of mind.

The combined name of these three states of cosmic mind – causal, subconscious and causal – is triloka. But for expression or the possibility of expression to exist, if a relation between turiiya and triloka is not established then that expression is not possible; in spite of some vibration existing it will be extremely limited, partial. Uninterrupted expression is not possible. For example, if you remove one potful of water, then two, then three from a pitcher of water, will any water remain in the pitcher at the end? Certainly not. However, if on the one hand, you keep taking out potfuls of water but at the same time an uninterrupted stream of water is pouring into the neck of the pitcher, then will the pitcher ever become empty? Of course not! Hence turiiya is a state of limitless potential.

In the Shaevatantra, dharma is compared to a four-legged ox. It is said: eśa dharma catuśpádah [this dharma has four legs] – conscious, subconscious, causal and turiiya. You may have noticed that an ox can remain standing still for a long time. The reason is that there is a certain nerve in the bodies of living beings called kúrma nád́ii. If one can gain control over this kúrma nád́ii then the body can remain motionless. You will see that apart from two particular animals, this is generally not the case. One of them is the ox. You can see oxen remaining as motionless as a stone in the road. At that time they keep their minds fixed in the kúrma nád́ii. Human beings can also do this. Another is the lizard. One has to maintain control over this kúrma nád́ii, the nerve that controls the thyroid gland.

Eśa dharma catuśpádah. That is, dharma is a four-legged entity (vistára, i.e., expansion, rasa, i.e., flow, sevá, i.e., service and mokśa or turiiya). We are familiar with three of these but not with the fourth. The effort to become familiar with that fourth leg is called dharma. Dharma is an all-round effort to become familiar with the state of turiiya.

Traelokye yáni bhútáni táni sarváńi dehatah. That is, whatever is present in the macrocosm is also present in the microcosm. If an entire ocean is filled with milk, then a drop of that ocean will also be milk. In the same way these eight vasus or eight places are also concealed within the human being and are vibrated with one or another vibration of Parama Puruśa. Just as there are various crude and subtle expressions within the cosmic mind, there are also different crude and subtle expressions within the human mind, and all these expressions are manifested through the medium of different vrttis. There are six cakras from múládhára to ájiṋá. These six cakras are controlled from different places in the body. Each cakra is vibrated in a certain way with the vibration of energy from the cosmic mind. In the same way, the seventh cakra or gurucakra is also vibrated by a special energy of Parama Puruśa.

Now this gurucakra or guru entity or form of guru is also him, that is, that Supreme Entity, and he is attracting everything in this universe towards himself with unparalleled affection from one controlling point. The space measured by ten fingers lying between ájiṋá and sahasrára cakras also belongs to him. This ten-fingered space is the abode of Niśkala Brahma or pure Brahma. So the spiritual aspirant will have to gradually rise up from the bottom to the top, through múládhára, svádhiśt́hána, mańipura, anáhata, vishuddha, ájiṋá, and there, after bathing in the confluence of three rivers [in ájiṋá cakra] and being vibrated by the grace of Parama Puruśa, they will gradually rise upwards to the highest point of the ten-fingered abode of Parama Puruśa⁽¹⁾ and arriving there they merge into and become one with Him, this being the highest stage of sadhana. This is nirguńa nirvikalpa samádhi [non-attributional supreme spiritual stance].

Footnotes

(1) He is ten finger-widths above the trikut́i located at the midpoint between the eyebrows (i.e., His seat is the sahasrára cakra located at the crown of the head). –Trans.