0:03 oṃ bhadraṃ karṇe bhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ bhadraṃ paśye mākṣabhir yajatrāḥ sthirair aṅgais tuṣṭuvāgam̐sas tanūbhiḥ vyaśema devahitaṃ yadāyūḥ
0:22 svasti na indro vṛddhaśravāḥ svasti naḥ pūṣā viśvavedāḥ svasti nastākṣaryo ariṣṭanemiḥ svasti no bṛhaspatirdadhātu
0:37 oṃ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥi
0:44 Om O Vedic Gods, may we hear auspicious words with our ears.
0:51 While engaged in sacrifices, may we see auspicious things with the eyes.
0:56 While praising the gods with steady limbs, may we enjoy
1:00 a life that is beneficial to the gods.
1:02 May Indra of ancient fame be auspicious to us.
1:06 May the all-knowing Pusha, God of the earth, be propitious to us.
1:10 May Garuda, the destroyer of evil, be well disposed towards us.
1:15 May Brihaspati ensure our welfare.
1:18 Om Peace Peace Peace.
1:24 So we have started studying the Mundaka Upanishad.
1:30 A quick summary of where we are
1:31 and then we shall proceed.
1:33 What we have seen so far is; this ancient knowledge
1:37 was transmitted from guru to disciple
1:40 since ancient times.
1:42 And where the text picks up is, a disciple Shaunaka, comes to the guru
1:48 Angiras, and poses a question.
1:50 The question is, kasminnu bhagavo vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavatīti.
1:56 Oh revered sir, by knowing what,
2:00 one thing...
2:01 By knowing which one thing, is everything here,
2:05 here meaning in this universe, whatever I experience, everything that
2:08 I experience in life, all of it, will be known?
2:11 So what is that one thing?
2:13 What's behind this question?
2:15 Behind the question is the idea that if I know
2:17 the cause, I'll know the effect.
2:19 Or the material cause, I know the effect.
2:22 If I know what gold is, I know essentially what golden ornaments are.
2:27 Essentially.
2:28 If I know what water is, I know what waves and foam and surf and raindrops
2:33 and the water in the glass, all of that, what it is, I know.
2:36 If I know wood...so on
2:39 I know what wood is, so I know all the wooden furniture,
2:41 I understand what it is, essentially.
2:43 In its substantial nature, in its reality.
2:47 Not in detail.
2:49 So, a variety of ornaments may be produced.
2:52 Who knows what will be produced today or what has been produced in the past.
2:55 I may not know the details, the forms of those ornaments, nor their names,
2:59 but I know what they really are.
3:01 They really are nothing other than the gold which I know.
3:04 So, if you know the cause, you know the effect.
3:07 And what Shaunaka is asking the Guru; Is there
3:11 one cause for this entire universe?
3:15 And of course, Vedanta says Brahman is the cause of the universe.
3:19 There is one cause.
3:20 And it can be known.
3:21 In fact, the most remarkable thing is that you are that Brahman.
3:25 So, the Guru starts instructing him.
3:27 First of all, he makes a distinction, based on the question.
3:30 There are two kinds of things to be known.
3:34 There are two kinds of knowledge,
3:36 Paravidya and Aparavidya.
3:38 The supreme knowledge and the relative knowledge.
3:40 Transcendent knowledge and relative knowledge.
3:42 Higher knowledge and lower knowledge.
3:45 Knowledge of the cause is the higher knowledge.
3:48 And knowledge, the detailed knowledge of the effects, is the lower knowledge.
3:52 Spiritual knowledge of the one reality is the higher knowledge.
3:56 And all the sciences and the arts and the humanities, whatever we do in
4:00 this world, that is the lower knowledge.
4:02 So, he makes this distinction.
4:04 Then, he says that, that by which, and he gives
4:10 a list of all the lower knowledge,
4:12 the four Vedas, the six auxiliaries and everything.
4:15 And that by which we know the one imperishable, that's the higher knowledge.
4:20 Thereby indicating that there is an ultimate cause of the universe,
4:24 which he calls Akshara, the imperishable.
4:27 And then he goes on to explain what this, or indicate what this imperishable is.
4:32 He uses a string of negatives.
4:34 It can't be seen or heard.
4:35 It's not an object of the senses.
4:37 It's not an object of the motor organs.
4:40 You can't see it, hear it, smell it.
4:42 You can't walk to it or catch hold of it.
4:44 And by extension, our instruments also can neither know it
4:48 nor can they manipulate it and so on.
4:52 And then the question would be, all right, suppose such a thing is there.
4:57 Suppose Brahman is there, pure consciousness, pure being.
5:01 But what about the question that the student asks?
5:04 The student might think; I ask, tell me one thing
5:06 by knowing which I know everything here.
5:09 So, if you say that there is some imperishable reality,
5:12 okay, there might be.
5:14 How does that help me?
5:15 Because I want to know one thing by which I can know everything here.
5:19 And then the teacher says, Tat bhutayonim paripashyanti dheera.
5:25 That one Brahman, which I indicated through negatives, not this,
5:31 not that, is also the source of all the things in this universe.
5:36 The entire universe emerges from Brahman.
5:39 Brahman is the cause and the universe is the effect.
5:44 The wise, the enlightened, here in this life, by living this life,
5:48 they see that cause in and through everything, just
5:51 as you might see clay in all pots, just as you might see gold
5:55 in all golden ornaments.
5:57 Exactly like that, the enlightened one sees Brahman in
6:01 and through all the effects.
6:03 What are the effects?
6:04 This universe.
6:06 What's that like?
6:07 How is this one Brahman the producer of this entire universe?
6:12 Then the teacher replied with three examples.
6:15 He says, as a spider produces the web from its own body.
6:22 So, for the web, the spider is the material cause, because the web
6:27 is produced from its own body, and also the intelligent cause,
6:30 because the spider is a sentient being spinning a web.
6:32 Similarly, Brahman, the god of religion, Saguna Brahman, Brahman with attributes,
6:39 is the material cause of this universe and the intelligent cause
6:44 of this universe.
6:45 That's what that spider example means.
6:48 Now, one might question there that, all right, spider, but spider puts in
6:54 a lot of effort in making a web.
6:57 So, does God have to work really all that hard
6:59 to make this universe?
6:59 And also, the web example is a little inadequate, because the web
7:06 is just one kind of thing.
7:07 The spider makes a web.
7:08 That's it.
7:09 But the universe is diverse, is enormously diverse.
7:14 So, the next example answers these two questions.
7:17 Just as from the earth, herbs and plants and trees emerge, of a variety,
7:23 and they emerge effortlessly,
7:25 the earth doesn't have to work hard.
7:27 Just they emerge from the earth, all sorts of plants
7:31 and herbs and trees and so on.
7:33 So, a variety, the universe of tremendous variety,
7:37 emerges effortlessly from Brahman.
7:41 So, is Brahman like a force of nature?
7:45 Many people, when they hear Advaita, they try to match it, not their fault,
7:49 but they try to match it with their knowledge of science.
7:51 They say, oh, it's some kind of energy
7:54 or it's some kind of something.
7:56 They match it with super strings or quarks.
7:58 No, no, no, all that is matter.
8:01 That's matter and energy.
8:02 That's not Brahman.
8:04 Or that's not Brahman in itself.
8:08 Then, so, just like the earth is an insentient thing,
8:14 and plants emerge from that, is it like that?
8:18 Is Brahman an insentient thing?
8:20 No.
8:21 The third example is, just like from the living human body, hair
8:25 and nails and all that, they emerge.
8:28 Similarly, Brahman is consciousness, is awareness,
8:33 in fact, the source of all sentience, and from that emerges
8:37 a non-sentient universe.
8:40 Universe which is... borrows its existence and awareness from Brahman.
8:46 Existence, awareness and purpose. Sat, chit, ananda, borrowed from Brahman.
8:51 So the universe emerges
8:52 just like the...hair, it's not a living thing, emerges from a living body.
8:56 Nails, not a living thing, they emerge from a living body.
8:59 Similarly, the universe, which is diverse, emerges from the one Brahman.
9:05 The universe which is non-conscious, jada, emerges from
9:08 the consciousness, Brahman, chetana.
9:10 Universe which is impermanent, anitya, emerges from the permanent.
9:15 You see, from Brahman, a very dissimilar universe appears.
9:20 That's the meaning of that example.
9:24 So the words used are, yatha, tatha, yatha, just like, just like what?
9:30 yathor ṇanābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca, the spider.
9:34 yathā pṛthivyāmoṣadhayaḥ saṃbhavanti, earth and shrubs and herbs.
9:41 yathā sataḥ puruṣātkeśalomāni as from the living human body
9:46 emerges hair and nails and so on.
9:50 Hair, basically.
9:52 tatha - tatha means like that.
9:54 So these are examples, like that.
9:57 tathā'kṣarātsaṃbhavatīha viśvam like that.
10:02 From the imperishable appears, emerges this universe.
10:11 Now, next, he's going to give details about the emergence
10:17 of the universe from one Brahman.
10:21 See, the way this teaching has been structured, the question was;
10:25 Tell me one thing by which I'll know everything.
10:27 Now he has told you that one thing.
10:29 The teacher has told you that there's one imperishable reality.
10:31 But he has to show how this everything has come from that one thing.
10:36 Therefore, if I don't understand the connection between gold and ornaments,
10:41 I won't understand what is meant by; By knowing gold,
10:44 you know all the ornaments.
10:46 I have to see how that gold is these ornaments, how the goldsmith carved
10:51 or molded these ornaments out of this gold.
10:55 So how does from Brahman...how is this universe crafted
10:59 or how does it emerge?
11:01 Basically, a very...the story of creation, but in a very philosophical way.
11:05 Now, onto the next mantra.
11:07 More details about the emergence of the universe.
11:12 Eighth mantra.
11:14 tapasā cīyate brahma tato annam abhijāyate
11:19 annātprāṇo manaḥ satyaṃ lokāḥ karmasu cāmṛtam
11:26 A very melodious Sanskrit.
11:28 Through knowledge, Brahman increases in size.
11:31 From that is born food, the un-manifested.
11:35 From food evolves prana, the Hiranyagarbha.
11:38 Thence the cosmic mind.
11:40 Thence the five elements.
11:41 Thence the world.
11:42 Thence the immortality that is in karma.
11:46 What's all this?
11:48 All right.
11:49 The point is that there is a sequence.
11:53 When from the one, the many comes,
11:56 from Brahman comes this universe,
11:59 there is a sequence.
12:00 It's not accidental or it's not random.
12:04 Shankaracharya in his leading commentary to this mantra, before the mantra
12:10 starts, he makes an observation.
12:14 yadbrahmaṇa utpadyamānaṃ viśvaṃ tad anena krameṇa utpadyate
12:20 So the whole universe is going to come from Brahman,
12:23 but it comes in a sequence.
12:25 And the sequence is going to be mentioned.
12:27 na yugapad badaramuṣṭi prakṣepavaditi krama niyama vivakṣārtham ayaṃ mantra ārabhyate
12:39 So, it's not like you have a handful of berries, jujubes, you know,
12:47 that's a little fruit, like a small berry.
12:50 So if you take a handful of that, Shankaracharya says, a handful
12:52 of these small berries and you suddenly scattered them,
12:55 just a random scattering;
12:56 Does the universe appear like that?
12:59 Just like a blast, you know, suddenly everything comes all
13:02 at the same time, like that?
13:05 Or is there a sequence?
13:08 And he says, the Upanishad says there is a sequence.
13:10 And what's that sequence?
13:11 We're going to see that now.
13:13 I'll tell you what the sequence is first,
13:16 and then we will go into the mantra itself.
13:22 There are two views on this.
13:23 There is a more radical non-dualistic view,
13:26 which actually says the universe appears, just like that.
13:30 Because it's not a real production,
13:32 nothing has really come.
13:33 The universe is Brahman, existence, consciousness, bliss all the time.
13:38 There is no particular sequence because there is no emergence anyway,
13:41 it's an appearance, like a dream.
13:44 So you might be in a dream walking around, talking with people,
13:47 things might be happening.
13:48 And in the dream also, there might be a story, that the world evolved like this...
13:54 You know, the universe started and the worlds were created,
13:57 life evolved and, you know, human beings came on this planet and history,
14:03 and then finally we are here talking with each other and walking around
14:07 on the streets, here in Manhattan.
14:11 And that's the sequence.
14:13 But is that true?
14:16 It's not true.
14:17 Because we know when we wake up, none of that happened.
14:20 It was just a dream.
14:21 It appeared all by itself.
14:23 There was no multi-billion year old evolution
14:27 to come to that point in the dream.
14:29 It was a projection of the mind.
14:33 Similarly, there is a radical non-dual view, which says
14:36 that the entire universe appears like that.
14:38 There is really no, I mean, it's all a story within that appearance.
14:42 Really, these things did not happen because world after all is an appearance.
14:47 In that appearance you can tell the story of a sequence and everything.
14:51 That's a radical view.
14:54 All that is not taken into account here.
14:57 If you go to the Upanishads, in general the Upanishads speak about a sequence.
15:02 So what is that sequence?
15:05 I'll tell you, I'll give you the finished product first.
15:07 But here we are going back to the construction materials, you know.
15:09 The finished product which you come across in later texts.
15:13 So, we studied Vedanta Sara.
15:16 There in detail this sequence was talked about.
15:19 I'll sum up in a couple of minutes,
15:21 but remember, Vedanta Sara is a much later text.
15:25 It was written about 700, 800 years ago.
15:28 Where did they get all that from?
15:30 They got it from the Upanishads.
15:32 But not from any one Upanishad.
15:35 All these Upanishads, most of them, they talk about a sequence.
15:39 In the emergence, creation, whatever, projection,
15:42 whatever you want to say of the universe.
15:44 So studying all of that together, putting it together, using reason,
15:47 you have a model, like a standard model which is taught to Vedanta students.
15:52 So what's the standard finished model, the finished product?
15:55 It goes something like this,
15:57 Brahman is existence consciousness Bliss.
16:00 Maya, which is the three gunas, Satva, Rajas, Tamas which is neither ultimately real,
16:06 because only Brahman can be ultimately real in Advaita Vedanta.
16:10 Maya is a set of potentialities, names and forms.
16:14 And this Maya projects Brahman as the five elements,
16:22 the space and air and fire and water and earth,
16:28 the cosmic elements.
16:31 And these elements are in what is called, a subtle form.
16:34 And these subtle elements combined together, they form mind.
16:40 Mind is formed of the sky, air, fire, water, earth and so on,
16:46 but they are in the subtle form.
16:47 They are not in the physical form which we see.
16:50 So mind is formed of that.
16:51 Mind, intellect, prana, all of that is formed.
16:55 Then these subtle elements combine together
16:58 to make more gross elements.
17:01 Out of the gross elements, these worlds are produced.
17:04 They talk about 14 worlds being produced,
17:07 and in that our bodies are produced, living bodies.
17:10 And the minds come to reside in these living bodies,
17:13 and the sentient beings who are basically reflections
17:17 of Brahman in these minds,
17:19 they continue.
17:22 Where do the sentient beings come from?
17:24 They had their seeds in Maya.
17:27 In Maya, all of our past universes, our samskaras, our karma is all recorded.
17:34 They are just inscribed onto the minds when the minds are produced.
17:39 These bodies, living bodies, they are born, they age, they die,
17:42 and there are many, many such bodies.
17:44 We go through... these sentient beings, which are none other than Brahman
17:48 limited by Maya, each with their own destinies
17:52 formed by past karma,
17:54 they are downloaded, let's say, into these minds,
18:00 and the minds are downloaded into these bodies, each time a body is born.
18:03 And then they go through their destinies on these 14 universes which are created by
18:08 Ishwara, by Saguna Brahman.
18:12 Until they, attain their enlightenment
18:15 and they are released from these cages, of mind-body cages
18:19 and they attain their realization as Brahman.
18:21 And the universe goes on for some time.
18:23 And finally, Saguna Brahman, or God, dissolves this universe,
18:28 withdraws the physical universe into the subtle,
18:30 subtle universe back into Maya.
18:32 Maya is the causal universe.
18:34 That's the story.
18:35 So that's what we saw in Vedanta Sara.
18:42 Now, where did this standard model of, it's called cosmology,
18:48 Vedantic cosmology, where did it come from?
18:51 Vedanta claims, everything that we speak about comes from the Upanishads.
18:54 So, how do you ground these theories in the Upanishads?
18:58 Take a look at the Upanishads.
19:00 Various Upanishads, they have these ideas, these teachings
19:04 about creation in a different language.
19:07 Mundaka Upanishad is one of the more clearer ones,
19:09 but even here you will see there are arcane words and terminologies.
19:15 They don't exactly match the standard model.
19:18 But remember, standard model has been put together by consulting
19:21 multiple Upanishads and coming to a consensus about...
19:24 The general pattern is, you will recognize here;
19:26 What's the general pattern?
19:27 The general pattern is, ultimate reality is Brahman.
19:32 That's always there.
19:34 Now, in association with Maya, which is not ultimate reality,
19:38 according to Advaita Vedanta
19:39 it is part of the projection, part of the movie, part of the fiction,
19:43 in association with Maya... Maya is like a seed state,
19:47 Maya is basically the set of names and forms which will come out,
19:52 it's like a potential state,
19:53 in association with Maya, Brahman is called God.
19:58 I mean, the name in Vedanta would be Saguna Brahman, Ishvara,
20:03 Bhagavan, multiple names.
20:05 It corresponds to the God of all theistic religions.
20:09 Why does it do that?
20:10 Because the idea of God in all theistic religions is;
20:14 God is the creator of the universe.
20:16 That's the one common definition.
20:18 So, creator of the universe.
20:20 But also, the repository of all great qualities, blessed qualities,
20:26 omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent,
20:30 all loving, all powerful, all of that.
20:33 So, maximum of good qualities.
20:35 So, all of that is found in Saguna Brahman, Ishvara, Bhagavan.
20:40 So, this is called the causal state.
20:42 What's the causal state?
20:44 Brahman plus Maya.
20:46 Why is it called causal state?
20:47 Because it's like a seed.
20:49 All the names and forms which we will see as this universe,
20:53 this entire universe of variety, is found in that Maya,
20:57 but in an indistinguishable state.
21:00 Just as a tree, with all its branches and leaves and flowers and fruits,
21:06 is actually that one little seed.
21:08 If you examine the seed, you won't find fruits
21:10 and flowers and leaves.
21:12 But the potentiality is there.
21:13 All the information and power for generating a tree
21:16 under suitable circumstances is there in the seed.
21:21 So, that's why, Maya is like that,
21:23 Maya is called the causal state.
21:24 The seed is the causal state of the tree, future tree.
21:28 Another beautiful example, which you find used in
21:31 Kashmiri Shaivism, is of the peacock.
21:34 The peacock has a dazzling display of feathers.
21:37 Some of the most magnificent color found in nature
21:41 is found in the tail of the peacock
21:43 when it dances, it unfurls the tail and dances.
21:48 But the Kashmiri Shaivaites say that all that display of amazing color
21:52 and beauty, magnificence, it's all there in the egg of the peacock.
21:57 The yolk of the egg, which is colorless fluid, or just one color maybe,
22:04 that in potential form, it contains all the magnificent display of colors
22:10 which you find in the feathers of a peacock.
22:12 Similarly, in Maya, you find this tremendously variegated universe.
22:18 But in Maya, you will not find the differences.
22:20 It's just in a potential form, in a seed form, in a causal form.
22:25 Then what happens?
22:27 This Ishwara, which is Brahman plus Maya,
22:30 in technical terms, to be precise here, Brahman not plus, is limited by Maya.
22:36 maya avacchinna chaitanya, consciousness limited by Maya.
22:40 What does it do?
22:41 It produces a subtle universe.
22:44 A subtle universe of mind, of subtle elements and mind.
22:49 Prana, mind, all of that.
22:52 And then, from that comes the physical universe
22:56 of the worlds and bodies and all,
22:57 so the gross universe.
23:00 So here are the stages.
23:01 The sequence is like this.
23:02 Brahman, always there.
23:04 Brahman plus Maya is Saguna Brahman, Ishwara, Bhagavan, causal state.
23:10 Then, mind, the cosmic mind, Hiranyagarbha, subtle state.
23:16 And then, the physical universe, Virat or Vishwaroopa.
23:20 So this is the sequence of creation.
23:23 One way of understanding this very clearly in our own experience is to look at
23:28 our experience of deep sleep, dreaming and waking.
23:33 Our deep sleep state is like the causal state.
23:36 It's like Brahman plus Maya.
23:39 Everything that we experience in this world, our whole personality
23:42 is there in that causal state.
23:44 But we don't experience any difference there, any uniqueness there.
23:47 Just blank.
23:50 There's no distinction between subject and object in deep sleep.
23:54 But in potential form, everything is there.
23:56 That's why when we fall asleep, we are not destroyed.
23:59 We come back again, the same person again.
24:01 So the deep sleep state can be called the causal state, Karana.
24:06 In Sanskrit, Karanavastha, causal state.
24:09 And our dream state can be called the subtle state.
24:12 We have an entire world, which is all in the mind.
24:16 It's all in imagination in the mind.
24:17 In Sanskrit, Sukshmavastha.
24:20 And then we wake up into an apparently physical world,
24:24 solid world out there.
24:25 We are in the middle of it with a physical body in a physical world.
24:28 That is called the gross state or physical state.
24:31 In Sanskrit, Sthulavastha.
24:34 Exactly like that, in the cosmic level, Brahman proceeds through a causal state,
24:40 subtle state and gross state to create this entire universe.
24:44 The causal state is called Ishwara or Saguna Brahman.
24:48 The subtle state is called Hiranyagarbha, the cosmic mind.
24:53 And the physical state is called Virat, the cosmos basically.
24:58 All right.
24:59 Now, same thing, but with unfamiliar terms.
25:06 Let me go to the actual mantra and we will see.
25:10 So, Tapasachiyate Brahma.
25:15 Tapasa.
25:17 What happens in this creation?
25:19 By Tapah,
25:20 Tapah means austerity,
25:22 you know, all the spiritual practices we do are called Tapas or Tapasya.
25:27 Brahman undergoes this Tapasya.
25:29 But what is this Tapasya of Brahman?
25:31 This is a poetic way of putting it.
25:33 So, Shankaracharya says.
25:37 jñānena utpatti vidhijñatayā bhūtayonyakṣaraṃ brahma
25:46 The Tapah, the austerity, the practice of Brahman which Brahman
25:50 undergoes, supposed to, quote unquote, before the creation
25:53 of the universe is just knowledge.
25:55 So, Ishwara or God or Saguna Brahman has the knowledge of creation,
26:01 has the knowledge of how to create this universe
26:05 and the power to create this universe.
26:07 So, that is called jñānena utpatti vidhi jñatayā
26:12 So, vidhi jñatayā
26:15 That means the one who has the power of, who knows
26:19 the way of creating this universe.
26:23 cīyate, expands.
26:25 Brahman, again within quotes,
26:27 as if, it is as if Brahman expands,
26:31 you know, at the moment of creation.
26:33 And Shankaracharya gives two examples to explain this.
26:37 One is a seed.
26:39 So, just before the seedling sprouts, it swells up.
26:42 The seed swells up just a little bit.
26:45 And Shankaracharya uses this example.
26:51 Just before the seedling sprouts, the seed swells up a little bit.
26:56 So, this, just before the universe is created,
27:01 as if Brahman swells up a little bit.
27:04 The second example he says, Shankaracharya says, just like parents are
27:10 delighted as they produce a child.
27:14 In the birth of a child, the parents are delighted.
27:16 So, Brahman, harshena, he says, as if Brahman
27:20 with delight, as if, swells up.
27:23 Of course, there is no physically swelling up
27:24 or mentally.
27:26 There is no physical universe yet.
27:27 There is no mental universe yet.
27:29 But as if.
27:30 But swells up with what?
27:32 He says, tato annam abhijayate
27:38 He gives an example.
27:40 Shankaracharya explains,
27:42 sarvajñatayā sṛṣṭisthiti sangāraśakti vijñānavattaya upacitāt
27:50 Has swells up with the, this omniscience, the knowledge of creation, maintenance
27:57 and dissolution of the universe.
27:59 And knowledge and power, he says, shakti vijnana.
28:02 It's not just theory.
28:04 Ishwar or Bhagavan has the, this omniscience of creating the universe
28:08 and the power of creating that.
28:09 What happens then?
28:13 In God, at this causal state itself, he makes a distinction.
28:17 Annam Abhijayate.
28:19 Literally, if you translate it, it means food appears.
28:23 But food here means, Shankaracharya explains, bhujyate iti annam.
28:29 That which is consumed is food.
28:31 So whatever in future all sentient beings will experience, the worlds,
28:37 our own bodies, our thoughts, our... you know, see, hear, smell, taste, touch,
28:42 and actual food also which we will eat.
28:44 All of that is contained in a potential form in Brahman now
28:48 as a set of names and forms.
28:50 You know, as the all, set of all possibilities.
28:53 Like all the colors and dazzling colors in a peacock's tail is contained in
28:58 that colorless yolk of the egg.
29:00 In the same way, all these possibilities, this is called annam.
29:04 Literally, annam, of course, in Sanskrit and in Indian languages means food.
29:09 But food here means all the consumable, all objective manifestation.
29:14 Now that is still in the causal state.
29:17 It's just a set of names and forms, which...Sri Ramakrishna put it
29:22 in his inimitable way, very simple way.
29:24 He says, at the end of a harvest, the old lady
29:27 of the house, he uses the term budhi.
29:30 So she goes, she goes out into the fields
29:32 where everything has been harvested.
29:34 She collects the seeds, the seeds, and she puts it into little cloth bundles.
29:41 Because those will be, they will be sown for the next harvest.
29:45 Who is that lady, old lady?
29:47 She is Maya.
29:49 And what are all the seeds?
29:50 This is annam, which she will take out of a pot.
29:53 The next time, they are going to sow the field and start a new crop.
30:00 Similarly, it's like the old lady now rummaging around in her pot
30:03 and getting ready to pull out the seeds.
30:06 So that's the causal state,
30:07 that is the state of annam.
30:08 Nothing has been done yet, but everything is in a potential form.
30:11 Tato annam abhijayate.
30:16 Then what happens?
30:18 annātprāṇo manaḥ satyaṃ lokāḥ karmasu cāmṛtam
30:24 From annam, from that potentiality, from the causal state,
30:28 the subtle state appears.
30:30 What is the subtle state?
30:32 Here two things have been mentioned, prana and mana.
30:35 Prana is a technical term often found in the Upanishad.
30:39 It refers to Hiranyagarbha, the cosmic mind.
30:43 One good way of understanding this is, when we emerge from deep sleep
30:47 in our daily experience, when we emerge from deep sleep
30:49 into a waking, into a dream, when dreams kick off
30:54 again, we have not woken up
30:58 but we are not in deep sleep.
31:00 Dreams are happening.
31:01 Similarly, the cosmic mind awakens.
31:03 In iconography, this is shown as Vishnu, who is always reclining on
31:08 the cosmic serpent, Sheshanaga, in his navel, what happens?
31:13 A lotus blooms and Brahma, not Brahman, Brahma is depicted sitting there
31:19 with four heads looking in the four directions.
31:26 So, Brahma emerges.
31:28 Who is Brahma?
31:29 Prana or Hiranyagarbha, the cosmic mind.
31:34 So, that's the second stage, that Hiranyagarbha, the subtle creation
31:39 has started now, cosmic mind.
31:43 Another way of looking at the same thing is the five sheaths,
31:47 the five sheaths of the human personality.
31:49 The physical body, which is called annamaya, the food sheath.
31:52 The pranic body, which is called pranamaya.
31:55 The mental body, called manomaya.
31:58 The body of the intellect, called vijnanamaya.
32:01 And the causal body, which we experience in
32:03 deep sleep, called anandamaya.
32:06 So, when anandamaya is there, that's the causal state.
32:11 When vijnanamaya, manomaya and pranamaya are produced, that's
32:16 the subtle state, which is where we are now.
32:18 And finally, when the annamaya, the food sheath is produced,
32:22 that's called the physical state.
32:24 Same thing, I'm telling you in different ways.
32:27 So, when Hiranyagarbha appears, Shankaracharya says, jñānakriyāśakti adhiṣṭhita jagatsādhāraṇa
32:37 cosmic mind appears, for the first time you find the powers, threefold power,
32:43 power of knowing, power of willing and the power of doing.
32:47 These are powers, which emerge with the emergence of the mind.
32:51 In maya, all the powers are there.
32:53 Maya itself is power, but those powers are not active.
32:56 In deep sleep, all your powers are there, which are not active.
32:59 When you dream, activity begins.
33:02 When you think, activity begins.
33:05 So, jnana, kriya-shakti,
33:12 here he has just mentioned the power of knowledge and power of doing.
33:17 Jagat sadharana, this Hiranyagarbha is common to the entire universe,
33:21 because from that Hiranyagarbha, all of us have come.
33:23 So everywhere, another name for Hiranyagarbha is sutra, the thread.
33:29 You know, in a garland, when you weave a garland of flowers or a garland
33:33 of pearls, there's a thread running through all the flowers.
33:37 There's a thread running through all the pearls.
33:39 Similarly, in this vast universe, there's a thread running through
33:42 all of us, a thread of divinity,
33:44 that's the cosmic mind, Hiranyagarbha.
33:47 Jagat sadharana, common to the entire universe.
33:51 And what will happen next
33:53 in this subtle creation? Sentient beings will emerge.
33:58 The seeds, which the old lady has planted, now
34:02 they will start sprouting,
34:03 and that sprouting seeds will all be different.
34:06 Till now, it's all common, but they'll all be different from each other now,
34:09 when the sprouts emerge.
34:10 Who are the sprouts?
34:11 Us.
34:12 But in what condition?
34:14 As mental beings, as sentient beings, not yet with bodies.
34:18 So we have, he says, avidyākāmakarmabhūta samudāya bījāṅkuro jagat
34:27 So the entire collection of this world, all sentient beings, with their ignorance,
34:33 with their old samskaras and desires, and the action they're about to engage in,
34:39 in this life, in this universe, they all begin to sprout.
34:44 But they're still at the mental level, at the subtle level.
34:47 They don't have bodies or worlds yet.
34:50 Then what happens?
34:52 Annat prana, mana, Cosmic mind and individual minds have emerged.
34:58 And then, satyam.
35:00 So it already means that the subtle elements
35:03 That's how the cosmic mind and individual minds have been created.
35:06 Now he says satyam.
35:08 Satyam here means...literally if you translate
35:10 it means truth or reality.
35:12 But what it means here?
35:14 The five elements.
35:15 Bhuta panchakam abhijayate Akashadi. Shankaracharya says,
35:22 the five well-known elements, you know, he says, satyākhyam ākāśādi
35:28 which are space and air and fire and water and earth,
35:33 These are called satyam.
35:37 You know, it's interesting,
35:38 Advaita Vedanta will end up calling all of this mithya, appearances.
35:42 Like a snake in the rope.
35:45 And here, originally in the Upanishad, they are all called real.
35:49 And later, Brahman will be called, not in this Upanishad,
35:52 in another Upanishad, Brahman is called satyasya satyam,
35:55 the reality of all real things.
35:58 Anyway.
36:00 So then, all these elements emerge,
36:02 five elements.
36:04 And then what happens with these five elements?
36:06 Lokaha,
36:07 the universe emerges.
36:08 The 14 worlds emerge.
36:11 According to Vedanta, Vedantic, old Indian cosmology,
36:15 there are 14 universes.
36:17 But the physical, basically the physical universe,
36:19 which we experience now,
36:20 that emerges.
36:22 And then what happens?
36:24 In that physical universe, there are living bodies,
36:27 and all these sentient beings, which existed in Maya,
36:31 as the little seeds, which the old lady had put in her pot.
36:35 And then they sprouted in the cosmic mind
36:38 as individual beings like us.
36:40 In the mind.
36:42 And then now they are downloaded into these physical bodies,
36:44 as the physical bodies are created.
36:47 It could be, initially there will only be a set of bacteria or viruses.
36:52 And then there will be multicellular organisms.
36:54 There might be aquatic beings.
36:56 Then there might be amphibians and dinosaurs and so on.
36:59 And then, finally, maybe at this present time,
37:03 we've got human bodies.
37:04 But the same beings are going from body to body over millions of years.
37:09 So he says, living beings...
37:15 Now living beings, what do they do?
37:16 When they come to human form, they engage in further karma, in action.
37:22 Why do they engage in karma?
37:23 Due to kama, desire.
37:25 Why do they have these desires?
37:26 Due to avidya, ignorance.
37:28 They don't know that they are Brahman.
37:29 So because of that, avidya-kama-karma, Shankaracharya's famous equation,
37:34 they engage in action.
37:36 And once they engage in action, actions give rise to results.
37:40 And this is what the Upanishad says,
37:42 karmasucāmṛtam
37:44 These results are called immortality.
37:46 What do you mean immortality?
37:48 Shankaracharya explains here.
37:50 kalpakoṭiśatairapi na vinaśyanti
37:52 They will not be destroyed for eons to come,
37:55 until they give rise to their results
37:57 and you experience the results of your own actions, good and bad.
38:00 That's why it's a kind of immortality.
38:02 It's the fuel which propels this universe.
38:05 Why does this universe continue?
38:07 It's because of causality.
38:09 Causes are set into motion,
38:10 they're bound to give rise to effects.
38:13 Actions will have consequences.
38:16 So because of this, the universe is going on.
38:18 It's not real immortality,
38:20 this is continuous change, continuous birth
38:23 and death, and continuous suffering,
38:25 until you realize the truth.
38:28 So this is the grand view of the universe.
38:34 Basically, ultimate reality still continues to be the same.
38:37 Think about it like gold and gold ornaments.
38:40 Gold continues to be the same.
38:42 But the goldsmith has a whole set of ideas,
38:45 which he wants to make into ornaments.
38:48 And those ideas are the annam, the food, the causal state.
38:52 They are not manifested yet.
38:53 When he puts them down, let's say in a diagram or a computer-aided design
38:58 or something like that,
39:00 that's the subtle state.
39:01 Ornaments haven't been produced yet,
39:02 but there are plans now.
39:04 And then when he actually carves or molds those things into gold,
39:08 And then you have the actual ornaments.
39:11 So you have gone from a causal state,
39:13 the goldsmith's own skill, talent, potential to create ornaments,
39:18 to the subtle state where he actually makes designs
39:21 for future ornaments.
39:22 And then the physical state where he actually makes those ornaments,
39:26 and puts the names and forms on the gold.
39:28 What about the gold itself?
39:30 Continues to be gold.
39:31 It was just gold earlier.
39:33 And when the plans were going on to make necklaces and bracelets,
39:35 it was just gold.
39:37 And when they were formed into necklaces and bracelets,
39:40 it's just gold.
39:42 Similarly, Brahman continues to be Brahman.
39:45 When associated with Maya,
39:47 now you can call it a new name,
39:49 Bhagavan, Ishwar or God,
39:52 Saguna Brahman.
39:54 And when it produces
39:56 and it takes out its set of
39:59 you know, plans, potentialities
40:01 you give it a new name.
40:02 Annam.
40:03 You know.
40:04 The set of potential names and forms.
40:08 And when it produces a cosmic mind,
40:10 you give it a new name,
40:11 Hiranyagarbha.
40:12 And when it becomes a physical universe,
40:15 you give it a new name,
40:16 Universe.
40:18 But it's still the same Brahman.
40:19 And you are that Brahman.
40:21 Not a bit has changed
40:22 as far as Brahman is concerned
40:26 or as far as you are concerned.
40:29 Now, one more mantra
40:31 and I will conclude this chapter.
40:38 Why is he saying all this?
40:40 Because we want to know
40:41 how this universe is connected to this one reality.
40:44 How you're talking about one
40:46 having...
40:47 is appearing as the many,
40:48 the many have come from the one.
40:50 How?
40:51 So
40:52 give us a theory.
40:54 And here's a theory.
40:55 Advaita will finally say it's a story.
40:57 You asked,
40:57 so you're getting a story.
40:59 The real,
40:59 the true, true story is that there's no story.
41:01 Brahman alone remains.
41:03 But anyway,
41:10 one observation here.
41:13 Advaita Vedanta is often talked about as
41:15 Brahmasatya Jagatmithya.
41:16 Brahman is real,
41:17 the world is false.
41:18 But notice,
41:19 all this time when we have been discussing in
41:21 the Upanishads,
41:22 there's no hint of the falsity of the world.
41:26 Brahman.
41:27 From Brahman has emerged the world.
41:28 How?
41:29 Like web comes from the spider.
41:31 Like herbs and shrubs come from the
41:34 earth.
41:35 Like hair emerges from your living body.
41:37 Just like that from the imperishable,
41:38 all these perishable entities. Variety.
41:40 From the one many have come. From the imperishable,
41:43 the perishable have come.
41:45 From
41:46 limitless pure being,
41:48 existing things,
41:49 limited things have come.
41:51 Nowhere is it said that
41:52 all that you are seeing here is false,
41:54 and Brahman alone is real.
41:55 All that is the later development.
41:58 It's only when you want to make sense of it
42:01 through logic.
42:02 Then you are driven to the position,
42:04 the ultimate reality alone,
42:06 that must be the ultimate reality.
42:07 That alone is real.
42:08 And the rest of it,
42:10 what is being spoken here
42:11 must be of a lower grade of reality.
42:13 Otherwise you can't make sense of this.
42:17 Now
42:18 one more mantra
42:19 and then we will stop.
42:21 yaḥ sarvajñaḥ sarvavid yasya jñānamayaṃ tāpaḥ tasmādetadbrahma nāma rūpam annaṃ ca jāyāte
42:33 I'll read the translation from Swami Gambhirananda.
42:37 From him who is omniscient in general,
42:40 and all knowing in detail,
42:42 and whose austerity is constituted by knowledge
42:44 evolves this Brahman,
42:46 derivative Brahman,
42:47 name, color and food.
42:53 So what is being said here,
42:55 sarvagya, sarvavid,
42:56 Two words have been used here.
42:59 Sarvagya means all knowing.
43:00 Sarvavid means all knowing.
43:03 But they have two different meanings.
43:06 The sarvagya and sarvavid.
43:08 I'll give you a simple clear answer first.
43:11 What does it mean?
43:12 Why is the same thing said twice?
43:16 They are in two different senses.
43:19 Sarvagya means knowing the cause.
43:23 Sarvavid means knowing the effects individually.
43:27 Sarvagya means you know gold,
43:30 Sarvagya means all knowing.
43:31 So all knowing in the sense of knowing the gold.
43:34 Sarvavid means all knowing in the sense of knowing the ornaments in detail.
43:40 Suppose you know it's all gold.
43:41 But you go to the jewelry shop and you read the catalog.
43:47 Or somebody gave a box of chocolates.
43:51 Chocolates you just eat,
43:52 but then nowadays there are fancy things,
43:56 you know, like we open the box,
43:58 Even to eat the chocolates you have to read.
44:00 And there is a list of different chocolates,
44:03 and they all have different names,
44:04 And there are of course different ingredients.
44:06 But basically if you know it's a box of chocolates,
44:09 so even without reading you know one thing,
44:11 they are all chocolate.
44:13 But when you read you know,
44:16 You come to know;
44:16 Oh they have all these fancy names,
44:19 And they have different shapes,
44:21 and different taste and so on and so forth.
44:23 So the first one is Sarvagya.
44:26 All-knowing in the sense of knowing the cause,
44:28 the material,
44:28 the reality itself.
44:30 And the second one is Sarvavid,
44:32 knowing everything in detail.
44:34 It's an approximate example.
44:40 The first one is realizing you are Brahman.
44:44 Aham Brahma asmi.
44:45 And you realize that.
44:46 The enlightened one is Sarvagya in that sense.
44:49 But to know everything in detail
44:52 you have to be the cosmic mind-
44:54 Hiranyagarbha,
44:54 or Ishwar or Bhagavan.
44:56 God knows everything in detail.
44:59 So it's like you know the entire library.
45:03 You read up everything about everything,
45:06 you know every subject.
45:08 And whatever has been written you read it up
45:09 then you are knower of everything in detail.
45:12 So these are the two meanings of the word omniscient.
45:16 The first one,
45:17 the enlightened one,
45:18 you, I, we will all be omniscient when we are enlightened.
45:20 In that sense that, we know everything is Brahman.
45:23 But the detailed knowledge of everything,
45:25 of every being, that only God has
45:29 or avatars, incarnations have.
45:31 In the Bhagavad Gita,
45:34 Arjuna asks this question;
45:36 You were born recently just like me.
45:39 Krishna says no,
45:40 we have had many many lives before.
45:43 You and I and all these kings.
45:45 I know them all.
45:47 You have forgotten everything Arjuna.
45:49 So, I know,
45:50 I know them all,
45:51 that means Krishna knows all,
45:53 all his past incarnations.
45:55 And he knows in detail all of Arjuna's past lives,
45:59 whatever has happened to him.
46:01 And this present life,
46:02 and whatever is going to happen to him in this life.
46:04 And all his future,
46:05 if there are any future lives at all.
46:07 So Ishwara knows everything about us in detail.
46:11 We know only one thing,
46:12 if you become enlightened.
46:13 Don't become enlightened then you don't know anything.
46:15 But if you become enlightened,
46:17 then you know one thing,
46:19 one thing in reality
46:20 that everything is Brahman,
46:21 I am Brahman.
46:22 And I am that Brahman.
46:23 And that's the saving knowledge
46:24 that's the real knowledge.
46:26 So in Vedantic text.
46:28 Ishwara is called Sarvagya
46:29 All-knowing.
46:30 And we are called Alpagya,
46:32 little-knowing.
46:33 So our knowledge is very frail.
46:35 We struggle to get a little bit of knowledge
46:37 from kindergarten to PhD. And that after struggling
46:42 we promptly forget most of it.
46:44 And later in old age,
46:45 we sort of forget all of it.
46:47 So that's the state of our knowledge,
46:49 terrible.
46:52 But God knows everything in detail.
46:55 Sri Ramakrishna, asks M; Tell me,
46:59 tell me in truth;
47:00 that I know everything about you,
47:02 your past, present and future.
47:04 And M's actually suddenly overcome
47:06 and he holds his hands,
47:08 and he bows down,
47:09 and he says,
47:09 It is true.
47:11 You know my past, present and future.
47:13 Now what is that knowing the past, present and future?
47:16 That is Ishwara or Bhagavan,
47:18 knowing everything in detail.
47:22 Then,
47:23 Gyanamayam Tapa.
47:24 So a little more explanation is given
47:26 for the word austerity
47:27 which was used in the earlier mantra.
47:30 Brahman undergoing austerity
47:32 to produce Tapasya
47:34 to produce the universe.
47:35 What does it mean?
47:36 Gyanamayam.
47:38 It's austerity
47:39 of the nature of knowledge.
47:40 Brahman has the knowledge.
47:42 It reflects on its past knowledge.
47:44 Of how...
47:45 Alright,
47:46 it's time to create a universe.
47:48 So how do I do that?
47:49 Well,
47:50 you pull up all those old files
47:52 from your hard drive.
47:53 And you can;
47:54 What did I do in the past universe?
47:56 So that's the austerity of Brahman.
47:58 It's of the form of knowledge.
48:02 From this Brahman,
48:03 What happens?
48:04 From this Brahman,
48:05 the other Brahman is born.
48:06 What is the other Brahman?
48:09 Hiranyagarbha.
48:09 That means from Saguna Brahman
48:11 Hiranyagarbha is born.
48:12 That's what was said earlier.
48:15 And from that
48:16 what happens?
48:17 Names and forms,
48:18 Nama Roopa.
48:19 The entire universe of names and forms
48:21 is formed.
48:22 Basically,
48:24 the jeweler,
48:26 he puts into
48:28 action,
48:29 he has designed...
48:30 he has made designs for lots of ornaments,
48:32 now he pulls out the gold
48:33 and puts those names and forms on the...
48:35 this one is shaped like this,
48:37 it's called a bracelet.
48:38 That one is shaped like that,
48:40 it's called a necklace,
48:41 And so on.
48:42 This universe is produced.
48:44 Annam.
48:45 Here the word annam means actually consumable.
48:48 All names and sights
48:50 and the forms...
48:51 and the smells and tastes.
48:53 Everything that we can refer to by language,
48:55 and even down to the actual literal meaning of the word.
48:58 The food that living beings dwell on,
49:00 which gives them energy
49:01 to carry on the activities of life.
49:03 All of that is produced.
49:05 All right.
49:08 So this ends the first chapter
49:10 which is very dense,
49:12 lot of things have been said.
49:14 Now things will be expanded
49:15 over the next few chapters.
49:17 Let's see what
49:20 reactions and questions we have here.
49:23 Ekajiva vada dristi-srishti vada
49:25 Step one.
49:28 As a concession to a daily experience and requiring one of the.
49:32 None. Endorsed by.
49:34 From direct realization by Ramana Bhagwan,
49:36 as well as Gaudapada.
49:37 Why not accept this definitive cosmology
49:39 instead of going down the rabbit path of theories?
49:42 All right.
49:43 So what he's asking here is a very profound and deep question.
49:46 It's that, you said,
49:47 Universe is created in a sequence;
49:50 That's a theory, right?
49:51 It's a cosmological theory.
49:52 And you yourself admitted,
49:54 just a story. You ask...
49:56 you're asking for a cause.
49:57 You're asking for how all this happened.
49:59 The real answer is, it didn't happen.
50:02 But if you want an answer...
50:04 It's like you're running from a lion.
50:06 I give this example;
50:07 Sometimes in a dream, you don't
50:08 know it's a dream and you're running and running.
50:10 And then a wise man turns up
50:13 and you say, save me.
50:14 And the wise man says, just wake up,
50:15 nothing's happened.
50:17 And you say; No, that's terrible.
50:18 Can't you see the lion?
50:20 Then what will the wise man do?
50:21 The wise man will tell you,
50:22 all right, climb a tree.
50:24 He shows you the tree and you climb the tree.
50:27 And then you have a question;
50:27 Where did the lion come from?
50:29 You can see the wise man rolling his eyes.
50:31 The lion came from its lion dad and lioness mom.
50:35 Where did they come from?
50:36 Well, they came from their lion dad and their lioness mom.
50:38 From grandfather lion and grandma lion.
50:40 None of it is true.
50:42 The real answer is to wake up.
50:43 But you need these.
50:46 Just yesterday in a class, somebody was asking,
50:49 why not give them the direct truth
50:50 from the Buddhist perspective? Why go down these theories?
50:56 So the answer is; this is the way of giving them the direct truth.
51:00 After all, what is all this?
51:01 What's all this going on?
51:02 Whether it's Upanishads or whatever, you are trying to lead people
51:07 The masters are trying to lead us to enlightenment.
51:10 Now, for many of us, if you directly tell me; look,
51:14 just wake up, you're Brahman.
51:16 Forget all this samsara.
51:17 Just give it up,
51:17 it's all nonsense anyway.
51:20 That's too much.
51:21 I can't swallow that.
51:23 I will not listen to you.
51:24 I'll think you are crazy.
51:26 Give up all this entire world?
51:27 Well, I won't give it up.
51:28 I'll give you up,
51:29 but I won't give up this world.
51:31 Then you need to show me that there is an ultimate reality.
51:36 All right, there's an ultimate reality which has to be realized.
51:38 Fine.
51:39 But what about this world?
51:40 This is real.
51:41 You're saying some ultimate reality,
51:43 this is real for me.
51:44 Well, then you have to show me how this reality
51:46 has come from that reality.
51:48 And for that, stories are necessary.
51:51 Or theories are necessary.
51:53 Cosmological theories.
51:56 So that's why you have to.
51:57 And the aim is still the same, to lead people to enlightenment.
52:03 Very few people can digest very strong, you know, like strong coffee
52:12 or something like that.
52:13 You know, it can upset the tummies of most people.
52:16 So you need... Sri Ramakrishna said, the mother cooks
52:20 various kinds of dishes for the children.
52:23 She knows which child has a sensitive stomach, which child
52:27 doesn't like spices, which child likes spicy food.
52:29 And she makes this out of the same fish.
52:32 She makes five varieties for the five children.
52:37 So here, what he has asked is, in Advaita Vedanta, there are
52:42 these three approaches to the universe.
52:46 I have to explain what is this universe, right?
52:48 Three approaches.
52:49 One is called Srishti Drishti Vada.
52:56 Third one is called Ajata Vada.
52:58 If I literally translate, the first one means creation and then seeing.
53:04 That's the theory.
53:05 The second one is seeing and then creation, or seeing is creation.
53:10 Third one is nothing happened theory, the theory of no birth,
53:15 Ajata, no birth, no creation.
53:17 What do they mean?
53:18 The first one says that, yes, there was this one reality,
53:22 but from that, by a process, which I will explain,
53:26 this entire universe has come.
53:28 Oh, do explain the process.
53:30 Well, then comes in all these ancient cosmologies
53:33 from the creation stories, you know, in the scriptures of the world,
53:38 to the more philosophical approaches you find, multiple approaches,
53:41 which you find in the different Upanishads.
53:43 Basically, a causal state, then a subtle state,
53:47 and then a physical state.
53:49 Science does the same thing, cosmology
53:52 on much more empirical grounds, much more rational grounds, using data
53:56 and mathematics and all of that, to argue your way back to that there's
54:00 a possibility of a Big Bang at the beginning of everything.
54:03 And then what happened?
54:05 The whole sequence.
54:06 So sequential creation.
54:08 Universe was created, and now you are here and seeing the universe.
54:14 Creation first, then seeing.
54:16 Srishti-Drishti, Srishti creation, projection.
54:19 And then seeing, Drishti to see.
54:20 So now, universe was there, and now we are seeing this universe.
54:24 We are born into this world, and we are experiencing this universe.
54:28 You can see this is a very common sense way of looking at it.
54:30 That's how we feel.
54:32 We feel this.
54:34 And almost all the Upanishads texts, they all take this position, but not all.
54:40 Some are more radical.
54:42 The more radical view is Drishti-Srishti.
54:45 Drishti-Srishti is the second one.
54:47 Seeing first, and then creation.
54:50 Not that the universe was created.
54:52 You are seeing it,
54:54 that's what creates the universe.
54:56 You, the conscious being, you see first
54:59 and then the universe is created.
55:00 That seeing itself constitutes the creation of the universe.
55:03 What does that mean?
55:05 One very good way of understanding is dreaming and waking.
55:09 In the waking world, what do we all feel?
55:11 All of us,
55:12 whatever our theory is,
55:14 What do we actually feel?
55:15 We feel the world existed, and I have come into this world.
55:18 I am looking around.
55:19 I am sort of passing my time in this world,
55:21 having all kinds of experiences.
55:23 But the world existed.
55:24 I didn't exist,
55:25 I was born into it.
55:27 And very soon I won't exist, but the world will continue to exist.
55:30 This is called Srishti-Drishti Vada.
55:32 Universe was created, then we have all come into it,
55:35 and we are experiencing it.
55:37 Theory one, common sense theory.
55:41 But in our dreams, what do we feel?
55:43 When you wake up from a dream, what did you feel?
55:45 The places you went to, the people you met, the good
55:48 and bad things which happened.
55:50 You realize, oh, I actually didn't go to... those places don't exist outside my mind.
55:54 Those people don't exist outside my mind.
55:56 Those events did not happen outside my mind.
55:59 It was all the dreaming mind.
56:01 The dream itself was the universe.
56:04 Dreaming created that universe.
56:07 It's not that the universe was there
56:08 and I went and saw it.
56:10 It was dreaming itself that generated the universe,
56:12 like a virtual universe.
56:15 So, that equivalent is Drishti-Srishti Vada.
56:20 That's in a dream.
56:22 Advaita claims in the waking world also exactly the same thing is happening.
56:26 This world you are seeing around, it doesn't exist.
56:29 You are seeing, that's why it exists.
56:31 Stop seeing, it won't exist.
56:32 And the proof of it is, as long as you are there as the seer
56:36 and experiencer, in the waking, in the dreaming, there is samsara.
56:40 The moment you, the ego, the individual being, goes to sleep
56:44 in deep sleep, samsara also disappears.
56:47 You, the experiencer, and your experienced world,
56:49 they arise together and they fall together.
56:52 When do they arise?
56:54 Dreaming, waking.
56:56 When do they disappear?
56:58 Deep sleep.
56:59 But all three are appearing before you, the reality, pure consciousness.
57:04 So, that's the Drishti-Srishti example.
57:08 The Drishti-Srishti has some consequences which you must be ready to bear.
57:12 Which means, in this waking state also, you'll have to regard this universe
57:15 as a dream, as an appearance.
57:18 Just like you regard your dreams.
57:20 You are not bothered by your dreams.
57:21 You should be ready to be not bothered by this waking universe also.
57:25 Also, the big metaphysical consequence, an epistemological consequence
57:29 of this theory is that you are the only being then.
57:33 We are all appearing in your dream.
57:35 Just as in your dream, who is really there?
57:38 You are there, nobody else.
57:40 Although the whole universe seems to be there.
57:42 So, this leads to a kind of, in philosophy,
57:46 what is called, a kind of solipsism.
57:47 One knower, you are the knower.
57:50 Eka Jiva Vada.
57:51 There is one sentient being, you, in ignorance.
57:54 And when you realize that you are Brahman, there is
57:56 no more sentient being, you are Brahman.
57:59 That's it.
58:00 This is called Drishti-Srishti Vada.
58:02 And some, like Prakashananda and some later Advaitins,
58:07 they held on to this belief,
58:09 this way of looking at the world.
58:15 It's easier if you are an all-renouncing monk.
58:19 You know, just imagine, you have simply cut yourself
58:22 away from everybody.
58:23 You live in a forest or a mountain cave, and you hardly see a human face.
58:27 It's all rocks and wind and ice.
58:30 I'm literally, I'm talking from personal experience.
58:33 Not a mountain cave, but I lived in a mountain hut
58:35 for days and days on end.
58:37 So, I just stayed for a few months, couple of months at one time.
58:40 But I was imagining, if somebody... I've seen monks like that
58:42 who stayed for 30 years, 40 years.
58:45 Now, the world very soon becomes dreamlike.
58:49 The world in the plains, which I was there, in the big cities
58:51 of India, soon become dreamlike, like some faded memory.
58:55 And you are living in this extraordinary place,
58:58 so it helps you to dismiss the world as an appearance.
59:02 That solid feel of the world begins to fade away.
59:07 And you have no connection with anybody in the world.
59:12 So, you have to be that kind of an extremely, you know,
59:17 of what is called a high degree of vairagya.
59:20 In the Himalayas, they say, Bahut Phakkad Mahatma Hai.
59:25 That means a person of tremendous renunciation.
59:31 Vivekananda, I'll just read out to you.
59:34 I was just remembering, but sometimes Vivekananda is in that mood,
59:40 extreme renunciation.
59:42 It says here, this is the lecture called The Free Soul.
59:51 And there, in volume three of the complete books of Vivekananda,
59:55 in The Free Soul, he says, he says here; Deny that there is any life at all,
60:07 because life is only another name for death.
60:11 What a... I mean, to many people it will be a horrifying statement.
60:15 Everything that we hold to be real, worthwhile,
60:18 he's just dismissing at one sweep.
60:21 Deny that there is any life at all, because life is
60:24 only another name for death.
60:26 Deny that you are a living being.
60:28 Who cares for life?
60:31 Life is one of those hallucinations and death is its counterpart.
60:35 Be careful, it is not recommending suicide.
60:37 One who commits suicide is deeply mired in ignorance.
60:41 Because what is the logic behind suicide?
60:43 If I destroy this body, I won't exist anymore.
60:46 That means I am very solidly convinced
60:49 I am this body, not even a mind.
60:51 I'm just this body.
60:52 If I destroy this body, I won't exist anymore.
60:54 So suicide is absolutely not being talked about here.
60:58 Life is one of these hallucinations and death is its counterpart.
61:02 He said life and death both are hallucinations.
61:04 Joy is one part of these hallucinations and misery the other part and so on.
61:09 What have you to do with life or death?
61:13 And we just say; what does he mean?
61:16 We think all that we have to do is life and death.
61:18 We are concerned with life and holding on to life like anything
61:21 and we are terrified of death.
61:22 That's everything life's all about...
61:24 That's the best description of all living beings,
61:26 including all human beings.
61:27 He said, what do you have to do with life or death?
61:30 These are all creations of the mind.
61:34 And he says, this is called giving up of desires of enjoyment,
61:41 either in this life or the next.
61:43 You can see. If you have that kind of renunciation, then this next one is,
61:49 this Drishti-Srishti Vada is for you.
61:52 This one more, though I'm saying it's a post Shankara development, it is
61:55 a radical form of Advaita. Generally in the Upanishads,
62:00 you will find Srishti-Drishti Vada, the more conventional approach,
62:05 like you found just here, what we read just now.
62:07 It talks about it like a real sequence of things happening one after another.
62:10 And we as individuals appearing at some point in time.
62:17 And life and death being very important.
62:19 Life is where you work out your enlightenment.
62:21 Death is the problem you're trying to solve,
62:24 attain immortality.
62:26 The Drishti-Srishti Vada completely dismisses all of that.
62:28 It's just a dream.
62:29 It's foolishness.
62:30 It's hallucination.
62:31 Step out, stop it immediately.
62:32 It's like you're being chased by the lion and the wise man comes
62:36 and says, wake up from this.
62:37 No, if I stop running the lion will eat me.
62:41 Let him eat you.
62:42 Nothing will happen.
62:42 Just see.
62:44 Like that.
62:45 They literally mean that.
62:46 And there are people who practice this.
62:48 But it is difficult.
62:49 It's easy to talk about.
62:50 It's a cool theory.
62:52 But if you try to do it, it's very difficult.
62:55 And it's not recommended for people in the world.
62:57 It's recommended only for, if you have that kind of a mindset,
63:01 only for extreme renunciants.
63:04 And there's one more beyond this,
63:07 this is called Ajata Vada.
63:08 Not even a dream.
63:10 Not even that the world is appearing to you in a dream.
63:13 The way to understand it is deep sleep.
63:16 So the way to understand Srishti-Drishti Vada is our waking state.
63:19 The way to understand Drishti-Srishti Vada is the dream state.
63:22 And the way to understand Ajata Vada is our deep sleep state.
63:28 In the deep sleep state; We talk about world or dream or whatever,
63:32 nothing is there.
63:33 No world, no dream, nothing.
63:36 Brahman alone exists.
63:37 And you are that Brahman.
63:40 So that's even more extreme.
63:42 And then some Upanishads, like the Mandukya Upanishad famously,
63:45 it supports the Ajata Vada or at least the Drishti-Srishti Vada.
63:49 I must mention, though I'm saying that it is a radical, these are
63:53 very radical theories, very rare and very, mostly not supported by the Upanishads,
63:57 but however, someone, one of the greatest Advaitins,
64:01 Madhusudana Saraswati, in his commentary on Shankaracharya's Dasha-Shloki,
64:06 the famous commentary called Siddhanta Vindu,
64:09 which is the Advaita teachings in a drop.
64:14 It's not a drop,
64:15 it's a big commentary.
64:16 But anyway, there he says, Drishti-Srishti Vada
64:19 mukhya siddhanta eva.
64:22 The real teaching of Advaita Vedanta is Drishti-Srishti Vada, is that second one,
64:26 to consider the universe as a dream,
64:28 what Vivekananda just said here.
64:33 Oh, one more thing.
64:38 By any of these means, this is the answer to what the question which Sriram asked,
64:42 by any one of these means, you can attain realization.
64:45 By, you know, an extraordinary cool theory,
64:49 Drishti-Srishti Vada, Ajata Vada, you don't get a better, improved Brahman,
64:52 Brahman plus, because I went, took the more difficult road.
64:56 No, you don't.
64:59 It is the same Brahman you reach.
65:00 If you reach it by Srishti-Drishti Vada, if you reach it
65:03 through simple dualistic devotion also, it's
65:06 it's the same reality which you are touching.
65:07 It's the same elephant which you are touching.
65:10 So that's the beauty of it.
65:12 Then one might say, then why take up these extreme positions?
65:17 One is, if you are willing to cultivate that very high level of Vairagya,
65:22 detachment, these positions will make your path
65:26 to enlightenment dramatically shorter.
65:29 It's just one step away then.
65:32 All right.
65:35 Sandhya; how can Brahman be limited by its own potential?
65:38 Because it's not limited really, and it's not even a potential really.
65:44 Potential is when something is less, and it's a potential you manifest it,
65:48 it's become bigger or greater, final.
65:50 I mean, I have a lot of potential, and if I work hard at it,
65:54 then I can become more learned, more artistic, more musical,
65:58 better orator, more rich, whatever.
66:01 Those are my potentials.
66:02 So I clearly have become better.
66:05 I manifested my potential.
66:06 Brahman is not like that.
66:08 Even when this entire universe is manifested,
66:11 so-called Brahman's potential is this vast universe,
66:14 Brahman is exactly the same.
66:15 Not one more thing has happened.
66:17 If you have a movie screen, and on that movie screen you play
66:20 the best movie, the Oscar-winning movie, has the movie screen
66:24 become a little better by that?
66:26 No.
66:27 If you play the worst movie, nobody wants to see it,
66:31 has the movie screen deteriorated by the playing of that awful movie?
66:35 No.
66:38 So what is meant by limitation?
66:40 Limitation just means apparent association with Maya from our perspective.
66:45 It veils the real nature of Brahman. In that sense.
66:53 The more greater danger is to think that association with Maya
66:57 and the production of the subtle universe, production of the physical universe,
67:01 gross universe, all of it is... somehow Brahman is expanding,
67:04 becoming bigger and bigger and better and better.
67:06 Not at all.
67:07 It's exactly the same Brahman.
67:10 Patrick says; What explains the huge difference
67:15 between enlightened person and a sincere seeker who
67:17 is convinced there's only Brahman?
67:21 So the sincere seeker is still struggling, doesn't know it yet.
67:25 We are still looking.
67:26 An enlightened person has found it and then feels, it becomes a living reality
67:30 for that person; That I am Brahman. And then they can behave accordingly.
67:34 So that behaving accordingly shows. That's what makes for the enormous difference,
67:39 which Patrick is talking about.
67:40 Jivan Mukta and the Sadhaka.
67:42 Sadhaka is improving himself or herself, trying to become a better,
67:47 less selfish person, more devoted to God, deeper meditation,
67:53 and trying to understand and live as if, that I am Brahman.
67:57 It's all a struggle because the deep feeling
67:59 is, I'm still this limited being.
68:01 But for the enlightened person, that feeling itself is gone forever.
68:05 The enlightened being clearly sees without the slightest effort, slightest doubt,
68:09 slightest hesitation, that one limitless Brahman,
68:12 and I am that Brahman.
68:13 It's always available to that enlightened person.
68:16 And so they really have no problems at all in life.
68:23 Shivapriya says, enlightened one, Sthitapragya is living always
68:28 with knowledge I am Brahman, but spiritual seeker,
68:31 knowledge cannot live with this always.
68:32 Yes, is that it Swamiji?
68:34 Yes, yes, that's it.
68:36 Subrata says, a swelling of Brahman can be explained as the Ananda,
68:39 the union of Para, Shiva and Shakti.
68:41 That's also true from the Shaiva perspective.
68:48 Pradeep Bose says, the sequence of steps described implies time,
68:52 in which step, is time created?
68:55 Yes, so time, space and causation, causality are all in Maya.
69:02 So they are deployed in the creation.
69:05 So there's a sequence and the sequence implies time.
69:08 Krama means time only,
69:09 and that time is already there,
69:11 it's the basic structure of Maya.
69:13 Maya is Satva, Rajas, Tamas.
69:16 Maya is time, space, causation.
69:25 Amira says, after realizing the nature of the self, when we are surrounded by
69:29 the inexplicable power of Maya on a daily basis, there's
69:31 a choice to witness it and step away.
69:34 If we decide to engage in the material creations of life, career,
69:37 relationships, how do we play our own roles in the mind
69:40 also, not to get trapped in this illusion?
69:41 Yes, that is why Nididhyasana is very important.
69:47 You realize it and you stay with this realization for some time
69:50 until it becomes effortless.
69:54 There'll always be a tendency to get swept away.
69:56 But what you're talking about is a pretty advanced stage
69:59 where already clarity has dawned.
70:01 Then how to make that clarity a part of our daily life?
70:05 Live it.
70:07 For that first stage would be Nididhyasana,
70:09 Vedantic or non-dual meditation.
70:12 To immerse yourself in clarity and stay with it, before you take it
70:16 out for a spin in the world.
70:20 Rajendra says, Swamiji, how is Vivartavada different from Avikrita-
70:26 Parinama Vada, Vallabhacharya?
70:29 They are actually different.
70:31 Vivartavada is a theory of causation held by Advaita Vedanta.
70:35 And this Avikrita Parinama Vada of Vallabhacharya is a theory
70:38 of causation held by Shuddhadvaita Vada.
70:42 Shuddhadvaita means pure Advaita, but basically it's pure dualism, dvaita.
70:47 What it says is that ultimately Vishnu or Krishna is non-dual.
70:54 And this entire universe is nothing but Krishna.
70:57 And it's real.
70:59 Krishna has become this universe.
71:03 You take what the Upanishad says, take it literally.
71:06 Krishna became the causal creation, subtle creation
71:10 and then this physical creation.
71:12 Really?
71:13 Yes, really.
71:14 But then in that case Krishna has changed.
71:16 No, Krishna has not changed.
71:19 How can something change without changing?
71:21 Literally, you're saying this.
71:22 That is the meaning of Avikrita Parinama Vada.
71:25 Avikrita without change, Parinama change.
71:29 The theory of without change, change.
71:31 And there's an answer to that.
71:33 He says you are thinking about worldly things.
71:36 Worldly things cannot change without changing.
71:38 They don't, they lose their nature if they transform them.
71:41 You know, yogurt, milk can become yogurt.
71:43 It's no longer milk.
71:44 It's transformed.
71:45 The seed can sprout into a tree.
71:46 It's no longer a seed.
71:47 It's transformed.
71:49 But Krishna can become or Vishnu can become
71:53 this universe without being transformed.
71:54 And that's because he's divine.
71:58 I can see some of you rolling your eyes.
72:00 Yes, that is the right response.
72:04 That's a theory.
72:06 See, that's the whole question is how do you reconcile
72:10 what the Upanishad just said?
72:12 Everyone accepts this Upanishad.
72:13 The Shuddhadvaita, Dvaita-Advaita, Advaita of Shankaracharya, Vishishta Advaita
72:19 of Ramanuja, Dvaita of Madhava, they all accept this Upanishad.
72:24 But you can clearly see if you really dig into this,
72:29 that imperishable, completely unchanging, it swelled
72:34 and then it produced a subtle universe, Hiranyagarbha.
72:38 And then it produced a physical universe of tremendous diversity.
72:42 All the examples of a spider, of a human body, of the earth
72:46 producing herbs and shrubs, they're all examples of actual change.
72:51 But yet the imperishable cannot undergo these actual changes because,
72:55 first of all, the very nature of pure being, pure consciousness,
72:57 how can there be a change?
72:58 Second, if there is a change, then the divine has lost its divinity.
73:03 See, there is a clear reason why the religions, dualistic religions,
73:08 Christianity, Islam, they say God is transcendent
73:12 and they deny that God can be immanent in this universe.
73:15 If God is immanent in this universe, if God transformed in
73:19 this universe, then God is no longer God.
73:21 That's the problem with pantheism.
73:24 How do you reconcile these two?
73:27 Either you have to sacrifice God, that God is separate and this universe
73:31 is separate, to protect the transcendent perfect nature of God.
73:35 Or you can divinize this entire universe.
73:37 You'll have to explain how God is this entire universe
73:39 without losing God's divine nature.
73:41 One answer might be what Vallabhacharya said and defended,
73:44 defended with a lot of logic.
73:46 God is not like your ordinary things, can be transformed into the universe
73:50 while retaining its divinity.
73:52 All right.
73:55 How do I make sense of that?
73:57 Well, because it's God.
74:01 Well, Advaita Vedanta gives, answer is, talk about two layers of truth.
74:06 Ultimate truth, untransformed Brahman and the lower truth is like fiction.
74:12 So all sorts of things can happen in fiction without affecting
74:15 the ultimate truth.
74:16 On the same paper you can write lots of stories.
74:19 The stories can talk about many things, but it all remains the same paper anyway.
74:23 Same movie, movie screen, can play lots of movies.
74:26 But the movie and the movie screen, the story and the paper
74:29 are not at the same level of reality.
74:31 Then you can have change and changelessness.
74:34 There is a world of changing universe, but they are appearances
74:38 in Brahman which is changeless.
74:40 Appearance and reality can coexist together, even if the appearance
74:44 contradicts the reality.
74:46 The reality is unchanging and the appearance is changing.
74:49 They can exist together if one is real and one is appearance.
74:53 But if two are real and they're contradictory,
74:56 they cannot coexist together.
74:57 It can't be both really changing and really unchanging.
75:04 So there are a lot of these theories.
75:06 Another theory is that parts. In part God is unchanging,
75:10 in another part, God is changing.
75:12 Immediately you'll see the problem.
75:14 So God, Brahman has parts.
75:16 Anything that has parts is compounded.
75:17 Anything that's compounded is subject to change and destruction.
75:20 So God will die someday.
75:22 So these are all problems.
75:24 I think Shankaracharya's approach, Advaita approach is the most logical, which is
75:29 why it is accepted philosophically.
75:32 The rest are relegated to theology.
75:35 Subrata says, can material cause be characterized as Sat
75:37 and intellectual cause be characterized as Chit?
75:40 No.
75:41 Sat, Chit, Ananda are the very nature of Brahman and they're
75:44 the very nature of Ishwara also.
75:46 Then the intelligent cause is Ishwara plus Maya.
75:54 Kaustubhi says, thank you for your time and generosity.
75:57 Kaustubhi here.
75:58 Do you teach the Upanishads from an Advaitic philosophical basis?
76:00 Absolutely.
76:01 This is one thing we must be clear about.
76:04 So what we are doing here, all these texts, for example,
76:07 Gambhiranandji's translation.
76:12 It's a translation of Shankara's commentary.
76:17 So I'm explaining Advaita, the Upanishads on the basis of Shankara's commentary.
76:21 Shankara's commentary is an Advaitic commentary,
76:24 classical Advaitic commentary.
76:26 So non-dualistic.
76:29 That you always have to keep in mind.
76:32 Kiran says, the austerity of knowledge, is it in reference to Saguna Brahman?
76:36 Nirguna Brahman has no attributes.
76:38 Yes.
76:39 See in this mantras, how smoothly he shifts from
76:42 Nirguna Brahman to Saguna Brahman.
76:44 Akshara, beyond all qualities, is Nirguna Brahman.
76:48 And the next he says, Bhutayonim, the source of all beings,
76:51 that is Saguna Brahman.
76:53 So it is Nirguna Brahman, which itself appears as Saguna Brahman.
76:57 Saguna Brahman is Ishwar or God.
77:00 Parul says, last lecture you did excerpt on Vairagya.
77:03 Yes, this is what I read.
77:04 Just now again I read.
77:08 Motherhood and faithfulness of opposites, I feel sometimes.
77:11 Oh yes.
77:12 So that's why motherhood,
77:15 if you are a parent, you are helplessly tied, you know,
77:18 by the bonds of affection to your own children.
77:20 Don't struggle against it.
77:21 Use that as a doorway to spiritual development
77:24 by seeing God in them.
77:27 Not by saying they don't exist, they are figments of my imagination.
77:30 You can't do it.
77:32 And it would be disastrous to try it.
77:34 Rather do it in a skillful way.
77:36 What Vivekananda says, see divinity in everybody.
77:39 See divinity in the child, in the people around you.
77:44 That's a much better way of… and that's also true.
77:48 Siddhartha says, is there a dreamer or only a dream?
77:51 The individual being who is a dreamer...
77:54 Is there a dreamer or only a dream?
77:56 Answer is in your own dreams.
77:57 Think about your own dreams.
77:59 You are there in your own dreams.
78:02 And that you, the person in the dream and the world of the dreams
78:05 are both appearances, part of the dream.
78:08 So from that perspective, there's only the dream.
78:10 Really there is no individual dreamer and the individual dream world.
78:16 However, there is an underlying reality to this whole dream, which is
78:22 the dreaming mind, which throws up the dream.
78:25 When it throws up the dream, a world is created
78:27 and then you are put in the world.
78:29 Both you in that world and the world, both are appearances
78:31 of an underlying mind.
78:34 So the underlying mind is reality, that's like Brahman.
78:37 And we, the individual being and the world which we experience,
78:40 both are appearances of Brahman.
78:41 Like Vivekananda said, one only exists.
78:43 It appears as nature, soul.
78:48 Object, subject.
78:50 But both of them are only one thing,
78:52 Consciousness or Brahman.
78:55 Swami Brahmananda, when he went to Vrindavan, did spiritual practices,
78:59 was following Drishti-Srishti Vada?
79:00 I don't think so.
79:03 All right, we'll leave it here.
79:05 Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi. Hari Om Tat Sat Shri Ramakrishna Arpanam astu.
