There is very little difference, a limited difference, between matter and Consciousness. At some particular stages, at some special stages or strata of crudification of the mental body arising from Parama Puruśa, matter comes into being. Thereafter, as a result of clash and cohesion within the material structure, citta [mind-stuff], subtle mind, etc., emerge. Later, due to the attraction of the Great and increasing subtilization, there arise jiivas, ranging from undeveloped to developed. In the modern world, humans are surely the most evolved creatures – that is, the creatures with the highest level of consciousness. On other planets also, there are creatures like human beings. Not only on other planets [of this solar system], but on other celestial bodies, there may be creatures like human beings, in some cases slightly more developed, in some cases slightly less developed. Whoever comes in the process of evolution, goes – Yah agacchati sah gacchati.

Human beings emerged on this earth about one million years ago. Perhaps some of you have seen the fossils of primitive human beings a few hundred thousand years old.⁽¹⁾ In outward appearance those primitive humans were not exactly the same as modern people; there was some difference. The humans of today have undergone a little change. Humans will remain on this planet for a little while longer, and they will undergo further change. On other planets and stars as well, the bodies of human-like beings have evolved in accordance with the particular amounts and ratios of the five fundamental factors in those places. Those amounts and ratios will not remain the same as they are now, either.

The intellectual expression depends to a great extent on the physical structure. If the head, that is, the cranium, is small, it cannot accommodate much intellect, because the brain in which the intellect resides must in turn be a little bigger. In primitive times, the dinosaurs, the brontosaurs, and the kaktesiyás had huge bodies but tiny brains. Some of you have seen the fossils of these animals.

Let me tell you a little story. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar of Bengal had a comparatively large head, which was the object of many a joke. Some people used to say appreciatively, “Without such a large head, how could one possess such a tremendous intellect?” Thus the more people advance, the more the body undergoes change. The greater the physical evolution, the more complex the physical structure becomes. The structure must necessarily become complex, because the body and mind are the vehicles of various thoughts and expressions of thoughts. A mind that wants to think of many things requires a developed brain, and a developed cranium (for the brain to reside in). Not only that, one also requires a nervous system capable of carrying the different thought-currents of the brain to different parts of the body. And besides the nervous system, there should be glands capable of thinking in a new way within a congenial structure. The presence of glands implies the secretion of hormones and that in turn presupposes the presence of various chemical substances in the body. Thus the human structure must become progressively more complex. Of all the structures of living beings on this planet, the human body is the most complex, for it has to act as the vehicle for a complex mind.

Nothing in this world is stationary; humans also do not remain stationary. This applies not only to our own planet, but to other celestial bodies as well. Everything will have to advance along the path of movement. Caraeveti, caraeveti [“March ahead, march ahead”] is the one watchword on the path of movement. No one has come to stay permanently in this world.

There are those who preach dogmas and say that whatever such-and-such mahápuruśa said in such-and-such year must not be changed. Whatever that person said a thousand years ago, or five thousand years ago, is the direct word of God, and that must prevail. No deviation is tolerated by them. These preachers of dogma are trying to impose their irrational and outdated doctrines on enlightened people, and thereby thwart the intellectual progress of humanity. However, their sinister attempts are bound to be frustrated. Perhaps dogma will succeed in landing some blows on the human mind, but ultimately those attempts will boomerang on them with redoubled energy and vigour, causing those dogmas not only to bend, but to break into pieces. Humanity has been advancing and will keep advancing in the future. Gradually the glandular structure will undergo further development, the hormone system will become more complex, the cranium will undergo changes in size, and so on. Through this natural process the human species will eventually become extinct on this planet and on others as well.

Whoever comes must also go. This is the inexorable law. The extinction of human beings from this planet should by no means leave anyone frustrated. The victorious humans who came to this planet long ago will move to other planets, towards a greater glory, a greater victory, a far greater enlightenment.

Controllers

The lower glands of the human body with their controlling points are controlled by the higher glands and their respective controlling points. So if the pituitary gland is well-developed, the lower glands will be equally well-developed and well-regulated. The pineal gland is the primary controller of all the other glands. The human body possesses fifty main glands, each having its own impact on the psychic sphere. Every gland works both internally and externally as well as in ten directions. 50 x 2 x 10 = 1000. That is why the pineal gland, being the controller of one thousand vrttis [propensities], is called the sahasrára cakra.⁽²⁾ The controlling point of human sentimentality is the unit consciousness, the átmá, and all unit consciousnesses in this universe are controlled by the Supreme Consciousness from this pineal gland. The human body is a yantra [machine] – the hands, feet, etc., constitute the crude physical machine, while the various thought-waves are psychic machines. The glands are also psychic machines. All these are controlled by the pineal gland, and Parama Puruśa is the Supreme Controller of all.

The Foundation of the Controllers

And what foundation do these controllers stand upon? Certainly not the Maháshúnya. Neither the small comets and meteors nor the huge stars and nebulae are without a foundation, or shelter; everything has a shelter of its own. Life also requires a shelter, a base. Shelterlessness means total annihilation, but there is no such thing as total annihilation in the universe. There is evolution and there is metamorphosis, but no annihilation. For example, when you see a two-year-old baby after eight years, you find that the personality of the baby has died. But is it really dead? No, through evolution it has been transformed into the personality of a ten-year-old child. In this way, things evolve with the changes in time, space and person. So there cannot be nor is there any entity without a shelter. If there is any such entity, it means it is dead. As there is no such thing as total annihilation in this world, it follows that everything and everyone has a shelter.

The human pineal gland, which is the seat of the jiivátmá [unit soul], can be described as the Krśńa of the jiivadeha [microcosmic body]. The entity who controls all the created beings from the universal nucleus and around whom all the jiivátma’s dance is none other than Krśńa Himself. Is that Krśńa of the microcosmic body the same Krśńa of the Macrocosmic body? Or is it some other entity connected with Krśńa and revolving around the Macrocosmic Nucleus? Actually, the unit consciousness seated in the pineal gland of the microcosm is beyond any doubt a creation of the Macrocosm. But since it revolves around the Macrocosmic Nucleus, it must feel some attraction to it. Without attraction, it would have dissociated from the nucleus and disintegrated. Through this process of movement human beings, and for that matter all jiivas [along with the controlling structures in their bodies], attain their respective shelters. The cessation of movement would mean loss of shelter and consequent disintegration, otherwise described in the sacred Vedas as mahatii vinaśt́i [total annilhilation]. A person who is moving away from Parama Puruśa is heading towards total annihilation, towards mahatii vinaśt́i.

Asúryáh náma te lokáh andhena tamasávrtáh;
Táḿste pretyábhigacchanti ye ke cátmahano janáh.⁽³⁾

[Sunless and steeped in darkness are those worlds to which all will go who deny their own souls.]

All microcosms are moving around the Supreme Entity. Why? Because they are all attracted towards Parama Puruśa, knowingly or unknowingly. Some people say that they like to flatter others. It means that their minds are connected with flattery. Others say that they do not like to flatter others, but their minds are still connected to flattery. One may say aloud that one does not like flattery, but actually one does like it. Either way, the mind is associated with flattery. In exactly the same way, all organic and inorganic entities are revolving around Parama Puruśa.

Sarvájiive sarvasaḿsthe brhante tasmin haḿso bhrámyate brahmacakre;
Prthagátmánaḿ preritáraiṋca matvá juśt́astatastenámrtatvameti.

[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.]

Knowingly or unknowingly everyone is moving around Him. Everyone is bound to move, otherwise they will lose their permanent shelter, they will dissociate from their permanent nucleus. This movement is a natural propensity born out of love for Parama Puruśa. Love for the Supreme is a natural propensity. Intelligent people develop their natural propensities through their sádhaná, their constant endeavour. The outlook of such people is called Rádhá bháva. But those who do not care to develop themselves drift away from the nucleus and move towards darkness. Their future is bleak.

Movement is the most important factor in this world. Whether you want to or not, you will have to move. If you do not want to move towards Parama Puruśa, then you will have to move towards annihilation. If you do not take the negative path, then you will move towards Parama Puruśa. The closer you move towards the Cosmic Nucleus through love, the greater you will become. Your whole being will be illumined with excellence, sweetness, and refined intellect; and thus moving, you will one day merge with Parama Puruśa. One day you emerged out of Parama Puruśa, you separated from Him, just as the earth came out of the sun (but did not go beyond the gravitational field of the sun); and now you continue to move around Him just as the earth moves around the sun.

Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda⁽⁴⁾

The fundamental difference between Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda and Vishuddha Advaetaváda is that Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda is qualified, or attributional. The difference lies in the fact that in Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda, the world has not been discarded as Máyá, and Parama Puruśa has been accepted as the nucleus of the universe. In Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda, Maháviśńuváda [the cult of the god Maháviśńu] is one of the more important doctrines.

I wish to avoid philosophical intricacies and will only discuss the important ideas. The fundamental idea behind Maháviśńuváda is that in the centre of the universe is seated [in the form of the god Maháviśńu] the Nucleus and Controller of the Cosmos. He is complete in all respects. He is full of all rasas [flows] – full of sweetness, full of valour. Sometimes He is bitter and sometimes He is sweet. Sometimes, just to save you from danger, He will fight or encourage others to fight. According to Maháviśńuváda, this Maháviśńu sometimes kills His enemies with His club, and sometimes forms a cakravyuha [encircling military formation] to trap them and return them to the right path; that is, he kills wrongdoers in order to give them a fresh start. But remember, His purpose is not the total annihilation of anyone. He is the very embodiment of softness, yet sends out His clarion call in a thundering voice. He is the one with the conch. He is Maháviśńu from whom hundreds of sparks fly outwards.

Ugraḿ viiraḿ Maháviśńuḿ jvalantaḿ sarvatomukham;
Nrsiḿhaḿ bhiiśańaḿ bhadraḿ mrtyurmrtyuḿ namámyaham.

[I pay salutations to Him whose power is everywhere, to solve all problems; who is brave, all-pervading, full of energy, compassionate towards all beings; who is the supreme authority, fear-inspiring yet gentlemanly; who is the death of death.]

He is ugra [extreme in everything]. He is valiant. He is fiery, because it is from Him that all draw their energy and their inspiration for all actions, big or small. The countless jiivas are His spark-expressions. This is the central point of Maháviśńuváda, which compares the jiivas to sparks emanating from Him. However, it is not stated that these sparks will necessarily return to Him. This is an argument against Maháviśńuváda.

Some of the sparks may return to the original source, but many of them may not. Many sparks, upon jumping from the original fire, may come into contact with air and be extinguished. These extinguished sparks are transformed into carbon particles, minute coal particles, which in the wintertime condense into smog. That part of Maháviśńuváda which likens Maháviśńu to a round mass of fire, from which the innumerable entities emerge, protected and inspired by Him, is acceptable. But that part which compares the unit entities to sparks is unacceptable, because sparks may not return to the original source. Such an illustration is not at all practical.

Now, what about my Vraja Krśńa? He calls one and all saying: “Come, come, come to Me. I am yours and you are Mine. You are not simply sparks which leap out of Me. You have come from Me and you will return to Me. You will never vanish like sparks in the void. Your future is not at all dark, it is resplendent. Your existence will merge in My effulgence, and thereby become all the more effulgent.” This is Vraja Krśńa. Maháviśńuváda has no relationship with Vraja Krśńa.

Neither has Vraja Krśńa any relationship with Vishiśt́ádvaetaváda, because any entity who comes into close proximity with Him becomes one with Him. Not only does a person’s spiritual entity merge into Vraja Krśńa, but his or her whole entitative existence will dissolve into Him one day. It may not be today, it may be a hundred years hence, but the merger must occur. Nishidin bharasá rákhis, ore man habe-i habe.⁽⁵⁾ The greatest thing about Vraja Krśńa is that He instills into human beings a tremendous certainty and fills them with the happy promise of a noble and glorious future. He convinces people that they are not merely sparks coming out of fire. “You have come out of Me and you are moving around Me. You all love Me, knowingly or unknowingly.”

Tomárei yena bhála básiyáchi
Shata rúpe shata bár yuge yuge anibár.

[I have loved You eternally in endless forms from age to age.]

The day that people come close to Vraja Krśńa, they are reminded of their past connection with Him. From deep in their memory, people realize that they had once been intimately related with Him: “My mind tells me that long, long ago I had a very close relationship with Him. I have been known to Him for ages. I somehow feel that He is my nearest relation.”

Whatever philosophy may say, it is a fact that human beings – their bodies, minds and jiivátmás (which control the minds and bodies from the pineal gland) – are all, willingly or unwillingly, moving around Him.

Juśt́astatastenámrtatvameti – “People attain immortality by His grace.” Humans may claim that whatever progress they make is due to their own efforts. This is true, no doubt, but humans gather the inspiration to make their efforts from Him. The first and last word is: “O Parama Puruśa, I am waiting for You. Whatever You say, whatever You do, will be done.”

Tomár rúpe mugdha ámi mugdha Tomár guńe
Párghát́áte base áchi Tomár nám shuńe.

[I am exceedingly charmed by Your beauty and by Your qualities, and I sit at the ferry ghat on the riverside, waiting for You.]

Footnotes

(1) Some fossils of primitive humans are to be found in the author’s Calcutta residence, Madhumálaiṋca.

(2) Sahasra means “thousand”. –Eds.

(3) Iśa Upaniśad. –Eds.

(4) Qualified Non-Dualism. –Eds.

(5) “O mind, rest assured that it will happen one day.” (Rabindranath Tagore) –Eds.