O seekers who meditate on the lotus feet of the Son of Nand, who is the absolute essence of sat, chit and anand! As is customary, let us chant the divine name for a while, then the subject will begin. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna!
Now please pay attention. Who am I? Who is Mine? While considering these two questions, I have explained to you up until now that ‘I’ can only be one of these two entities: divine or material. Why? Because in the world, there is no third entity described in the scriptures and the Vedas, nor is one perceptible among the insentient, sentient, movable, immovable, inanimate or animate. In other words, one entity is related to God and the other to maya. Therefore, we must either be an entity related to maya, or an entity related to God. Using logic, we deeply thought about this, and it was explained that we are not material beings; because in the world, when we see that someone has died, then we realize that there was a conscious entity within which left. So, the insentient entity, which is material, was left behind. Therefore, this body is material, and the entity which left is spiritual. This is evident.
So, what do we mean by spiritual? We seriously contemplated on this. The Vedas and Shastras stated that there is an entity called Brahm. We are His power, and we are a conscious power. Brahm has many powers. There is also an insentient power called maya. So, although we are a power of God and are conscious, at the same time we are also bound by maya. There are also powers of God that are beyond maya. So, all the souls under maya were made to forget their true nature by maya, that is, by avaranatmika maya. And vikshepatmika maya caused attachment to the world and made us believe that it is ‘mine’; that is, ‘I am the body and the world is mine’. In other words, my aim, or whatever I desire, will be attained in this world. That’s it! We started running.
And since no soul can remain inactive even for one second, we spent every second looking and searching for our happiness in this world with all our senses, mind and intellect. Every moment was spent searching! However, we are drifting further away from happiness. Instead of attaining happiness, our suffering is increasing. Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 3.5.2). What happened? Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 3.5.2). Our suffering is increasing.
Look, when you acquired a body and came into this world, in other words, when you were born, you had no worries. There was one. What? You wanted happiness. So, as soon as you came into this world, you cried. Why did you cry? You didn’t even know how to speak. So you cried to tell the world, “I don’t want the pain I had to undergo while being born. I just want happiness”. This is a practical slogan. It is not like the concocted slogans you hear these days. By crying, we are telling the world, “Give me happiness”. What is this? Suffering right from birth itself!
You have been given a human form. This is something exceptionally significant. It is desired by the celestial gods. And the Vedas have written about this human form in such emphatic words: Scriptural Verse (Kena Upanishad 2.5), “O humans! Understand the ‘I’ and the ‘mine’. Otherwise you will suffer a tremendous loss”. What loss will I suffer? This is in the Kena Upanishad 2.5. Then the Katha Upanishad said, “I will tell you what loss you will suffer”. Yes, please do. Scriptural Verse (Katha Upanishad 2.3.4). O humans! In this body that I have given you, if you do not understand ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who is Mine?’ then sargeshu: for thousands of kalp (eons) you will suffer, assuming body after body in the 8.4 million forms of life. You will not be given a human body again and again.
How long is a kalp? The length of Kali Yug (the current dark age) is 432,000 years. Dwapar Yug is double that of Kali Yug; Treta Yug is three times as long as Kali Yug; and Sat Yug is four times as long as Kali Yug. All these add up to 4,320,000 years. And these four yugas repeated 71 times is called one manvantar. How long is one manvantar? One manvantar is 306,720,000 years. Prahlad ruled as a king for one manvantar. And when fourteen manvantars elapse, that means 4,294,080,000 years pass. This time span is known as a sarg, also known as a kalp. That is one day of Brahma. And one night of Brahma is the same length. According to the length of this day and night, Brahma has a lifespan of a hundred years. According to the calculation of our year, Brahma lives for 3 quadrillion, 110 trillion and 40 billion (3,110,040,000,000,000) years.
So, in this human form that we have received so easily, we naively assume, “Alright, I didn’t achieve my goal in this lifetime, so I’ll do it in my next life”. Oh, but what if you become a donkey in your next birth, how will you do it? We have the right to perform fruit-yielding actions in the human form only, not also. Scriptural Verse (Garud Purana). The celestial beings have very exceptional bodies. Their power of knowledge is astounding. The god of fire and others have remarkable powers. However, they cannot engage in spiritual practice. They just expend the fruits of the past actions. That is, suppose we take a loan from the government or a money lender, say a hundred thousand or ten million, then through business, we increase it to 20 million, 40 million, 100 million, a billion and become a big billionaire. Ask these people, “How did you begin?” – “By borrowing money”. So, similarly, through this human form, we can even go far ahead of the celestial gods. We can end the cycle of birth and death forever. We can attain divine knowledge, divine bliss, through spiritual practice. So, this human form is something extremely rare. It is desired even by the celestial gods.
A naive person first engaged in rigid spiritual discipline and went to the celestial abodes. When he saw the state of things there, he thought, “Oh, this is just like our material world. Material desires do not stop pursuing us even here. There is greed here as well. There are different classes here too, each higher than the other. There is envy and animosity here too. Sensual desires are even more powerful here”. Once the three children of Brahma – the celestial gods, humans and demons – went to Brahma and said, “Father, please give all of us some guidance”. So, Brahma Ji gave them advice. He looked at all three and said, “Da, Da, Da”. And then he left. The lecture is over? Yes.
Now they were all perplexed, “What did Father do? He just said, ‘Da, da, da!'” They all went to their respective Gurus. Some went to Brihaspati; some went to Shukracharya. All of them went to ask their respective teachers. So, they explained the meaning. The celestial gods were told the instruction for them was ‘damyat‘. The humans were instructed “datt“, and the demons were instructed “dayadhvam“. This mantra is in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3. What does it mean? The celestial gods were told, “You are overindulging in sensual pleasures”. There are great luxuries in the celestial realm, aren’t there? Control your senses. These pleasures are short-lived toys which will be snatched away.
And the humans were told, “Hey! You are extremely attached to money”. “Even if your Guru tells you for your own benefit, ‘Donate for your own welfare; use your body, mind and wealth in the service of God,’ you say, “Oh, this Guru Ji only talks about money. Please talk about something other than money”. We are absolutely obsessed with money. All the sins that we commit are for money. In fact, 99% of our sins are committed to acquire more money. We lie to others, make excuses, manipulate others and cheat each other. We leave our own country and go to England, America, Canada for money! Money! Money! Hey! Do you know what money is? There is a synonym for it – arth. Arth means money, wealth. If you compound ‘na’ with ‘arth,’ it becomes ‘anartha’. What does it mean? It means ‘wealth leads to ruin’. artho narthasya karanam.
If one gets even a little extra wealth, that wealth does not let a human being remain a human. That is why Kunti asked for a boon from God … Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 1.8.25) … “O Lord, deprive me of all worldly opulence; do not give me the material world”. Why? Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 1.8.26). You are the strength of the weak. You are the support of the helpless. You are everything for the destitute. Even if I have a little … Even very small things! “How educated are you?” – “High school”. “What about you?” – “Fourth grade”. “Oh, I have passed high school”. Look! Just this has made him so pleased with himself. Then he asks someone next to him, “How educated are you?” He replies, “I am a D.Lit. (Doctor of Literature)” – “Oh! D.Lit.?” He is deflated.
And if someone has more of anything … Scriptural Verse (Tulsidas) … just a little wealth! What you have is only a little! After all, what is it? And it doesn’t take much time to lose it. You argue, “That’s not true, whatever wealth I have will remain with me forever”. This wealth doesn’t belong to anyone. It moves so rapidly … “What happened?” – “Oh, the share prices have fallen! I am doomed”. And the most important thing is that as long as wealth or riches remain, there is no one born in this world whom wealth did not intoxicate with pride. That is why Kunti asked for the boon. Bhagavatam 1.8.25, 1.8.26.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 11.23.17). One has to work hard to earn this money: he neglects his health, spouse, son, daughter, everything. Money! Money! “Oh, the prices have fallen!” He is awake night after night. And when the money comes, “What should I do with it? What should I do now? Where should I invest to quadruple it? And I must protect it. It could get stolen”. Oh, the more important a person is, the greater the risk of people killing him. There are defense personnel all around him. And nowadays even those in high positions are in this very state. From an M.L.A. (member of the legislative assembly) to a prime minister, everyone lives in fear. They are reluctant to give money to their own son. “If I keep giving my son money like this, everything I have will be spent, won’t it? My son, you are still young; make do with a bicycle for now”. He doesn’t want to spend money. He wants the money to increase, not decrease. Bhagavatam 11.23.17.
Valmiki Ji said: Scriptural Verse (Valmiki Ramayan). Listen, people of the world! No matter how rich you are, whatever you have accumulated will all end one day! Listen with open ears. patanantah samucchrayah. Every rise is followed by a fall. You will not remain the prime minister forever. Oh, even the body will not remain forever; what to say about the world? samyoga viprayogantah. Every union ends in separation. It will happen! It is inevitable. Were you born as twins? “Yes”. Was there some difference at the time of birth? “Yes”. When you die, there will be a difference again. “What if we take poison together?” Still you will not die together. There will be a difference. And do you know what will happen after death? You will go to hell according to your actions, and you will go to the celestial realm. Now you’re separated, aren’t you? “Yes, we are helpless. What can we do?” marananthara jivitham. One who is born will surely die. No one will be spared, regardless of whether he is a rishi, muni, yogi or gyani.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavad Gita 2.27. So, we wrongly considered ourselves to be the body and concluded that the material world would give us happiness. So we ran headlong after wealth. What happened then? Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 3.5.2). What to speak of attaining happiness, we attained more misery. However, we didn’t give up. In the world, people say that once a cat happened to sip some very hot milk and the poor thing burned its mouth. After that, wherever she even saw buttermilk, she first checked it to make sure that it wasn’t hot; then she drank it. And how shameless we are! We have lost countless lifetimes in this rehearsal. “I will get happiness this time. This time I will, this time I will. Let me graduate first, then do my masters”. Well, now you have completed that. “But I don’t have a job yet”. Now you have a job. “Yes, now I will be happy”. Hey, what happened? “There is a boss above me who scolds me every day! Well, once I have a wife, I’ll be happy”. Do you have a wife now? “Yes … I have a wife, but she is such a terrible wife; a shrew!” Saying all this, we left the world.
However … However, we did not leave the world with a decision that “When I come next time, I will not consider this world to be mine. I will accept that God is mine!” We do not make this decision. This is the most astonishing thing. Once a demigod asked Yudhishthir sixty questions. The first question was, “Kimashcharyam?” What is the most surprising thing in this world? He replied that people are dying every day: some as soon as they are born, some at the age of 10, some at the age of 20. However, those who are still alive don’t think that they too can die the next moment. “We are taking his body to be cremated, but we could also die on the way”. No one thinks about their own death. This is the most surprising thing.
And Kripalu says, “No, I will tell you something even more surprising”. Since the time of our birth in this human form, our mother, father, son, spouse rebuke us numerous times a day. And every time, we decide that they are all selfish. “I will not talk to my wife, my father, my mother”. Yet we keep going back to them. This is the most surprising thing. We do not become detached, not even partially. Our condition is just like a dog who is beaten with a stick. The poor dog cries and retreats. He glares at the person thinking, “I am weak, that is why you have hit me. Fine”. And the moment this dog is shown a piece of bread, he wags his tail and comes back. The dog is hit again. “He has hit me again! I will never go back to him!” But when he is shown the bread again, “Well, I’m hungry, so let me go back. He might not hit me this time”. He keeps beating him. Time and again we submit to the same mother, father, wife, husband, son and neighbor.
The Vedas say that these desires are such that when they are fulfilled, they become twice as powerful and increase further. Scriptural Verse (Narad Parivrajaka Upanishad 3.37). For example, when we pour ghee (clarified butter) onto a burning fire, the fire is at first subdued for a second; then the flames rise four-fold in intensity. In this way … Narada-parivrajaka Upanishad 3.37. It is mentioned in the Bhagavat too (9.19.14). We are running after the world, even though we are being deceived and thrashed repeatedly. “My wife is bad. His wife might be good. My mother is bad. His mother might be good”. Everyone is the same. What can you do? Everyone is selfish. Why? They want happiness. Do you want happiness? “Yes.” He also wants happiness. While he wants happiness from you, you expect happiness from him. You want to deceive him and he wants to deceive you. Why do you feel bad about it? “This fellow cheated me”. Don’t you ever cheat? “Yes, I do”. Then why do you feel bad? Everyone wants his own happiness. When everyone is doing the same thing, why do you object to the behavior of others? If you expect that others should not lie to you, then you too should not lie. Only then can you expect that from others. “I will lie, but no one should lie to me”. How can this be?
So, we have forgotten our true identity due to avaranatmika maya, and we became attached to the material world due to vikshepatmika maya. Therefore, we have forgotten Him who is actually ours. The Vedas and the Shastras say that you are a power of God. You are a part of Him. You have a relationship of difference and non-difference with God; you are His marginal power. Many spiritual masters have mentioned various characteristics of the ‘I’. Prahlad explained this point the best: Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 7.7.19. He mentioned twelve attributes. The description is very long; understand it in brief. This soul is infinitesimal and it resides in the heart. It spreads consciousness to the entire body. It is the one that sees, touches, knows, listens, thinks, decides, and is the doer and enjoyer. Such is the soul. And it is under the control of maya. And it is also referred to as a part of God. And it is an eternal servant of God. An eternal servant. It longs to attain its eternal servitude. In other words, it longs to attain happiness. However, due to ignorance, due to not knowing its true identity, due to not knowing its true ‘mine’, the soul is going far away from its goal. It is getting more and more bound by infinite actions and sins.
So, the Vedas and scriptures told us that the solution to this is to know who is really yours and to accept Him. You are a part of Shri Krishna; He alone is yours. However, He is beyond the grasp of the material senses, mind and intellect. You cannot grasp Him through these material means, i.e. this mayic matter. Acquire the divine means from somewhere. “Where will we get it from?” Go and ask Him for it. Ask God. Look, if someone wants something from somebody, what are the means of getting it? One method is to catch him, tie him up and forcibly take it from him. The second option is to steal it without him knowing. He has gone to a movie. Insert a duplicate key into his car’s lock and drive away with it. If either of these two are unsuccessful, there is one more method. Why? This is because no one is equal to God. Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.8. Scriptural Verse Bhagavad Gita 11.43. Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 3.2.21. Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 2.4.14.
When no one is equal to God, how can one rob Him? And you cannot steal from Him, because He is … Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.11. This mantra is also in the Gopalatapani Upanishad, 18. Meaning, He is omniscient, all-seeing, the controller of everything, the witness of all, the benefactor of all and the Lord of all. Such is God. You cannot steal from Him. The moment you plan to steal, it is noted down. In England, there are cameras on the roads. If someone goes over the speed limit, it is recorded and the person is caught. And here, you are seated right within Him. The moment you think, it is registered. So how will you steal? Scriptural Verse (Rig Veda). It has been mentioned in the Rig Veda that when two people talk in private, telling each other not to disclose the conversation to anyone, it is noted then and there by God. When thoughts are noted, what to speak of conversations between two people?
So, we cannot steal. Therefore, there is only one way left, that is to beg. Beg for it! Will anyone give just because you are begging? In the world, no one gives like this. And even if anyone does, he gives only insignificant things. In our world, rich people travel in big fancy cars, don’t they? And when a beggar turns up – someone with a missing hand or a missing leg – first they tell him to go away. And if they feel a little compassion because his condition is really woeful, they put their hands in their pocket looking for the smallest coin. Five cents. “Hey, take this!” He throws it with arrogance. Look at the pride. Even if it is five cents, give it to the poor fellow lovingly. It would have made him happy. “No sir, I am a rich man. I don’t give alms like this. Hey, take it!” And he also looks around to make sure people have noticed his act of charity. This is our condition.
The charitable service that your Guru has made you do has helped you progress spiritually. If you had not met him, you all would have been just the same. You would not have spent a rupee. Sitting in your car, firstly you would have avoided looking in the beggar’s direction. And even if you did look, you would have thrown the smallest coin at him. Our condition is so deplorable! And when it comes to your son, let’s say you are shopping and he says, “I want this thing”. – “Well son, it is very expensive”. He insists, “I only want this”. – “Okay, fine”. So, when someone begs, not everyone gives; and even if some do, they give very little. And what are you going to beg for? Eternal life, infinite knowledge, infinite bliss, everything infinite. Sat-chit-anand. Shri Krishna has one form – sat-chit-anand. Scriptural Verse (Brahma Samhita 5.1).
Shri Krishna’s body is sat-chit-anand, and Shri Krishna Himself is sat-chit-anand. Pay attention to this point. There are ten types of bodies. Some are material, some are subtle. And the ninth type of body is that of the Saints. That body is divine. However, God doesn’t have a body at all. He Himself becomes His body. Try to grasp this; all of you are so proud of your great intelligence. He Himself became His body. Scriptural Verse Padma Purana. There is no difference between Him and His body. Scriptural Verse (Padma Purana). His body itself is sat-chit-anand. Scriptural Verse (Ramayan). You cannot see that body until you receive divine vision. If Shri Krishna were to stand in front of you, you will see Him as a material being. “Oh, He is just like us. He’s a bit better, a little more attractive. Nothing else”.
And if you have a very sinful heart, then … Scriptural Verse (Brahma Vaivarta Purana) … God will appear even worse. “He is worse than I am!” Everyone will benefit from the same form according to their individual feelings. This is the wonder of His transcendental divine body. And the real benefit is derived by the Saints who have divine vision. They see Him; others cannot see Him. So, God’s body is God Himself. What is the proof? I shall tell you tomorrow. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna!
