O devotees, who like bees, seek the nectar of the lotus feet of Shri Radha Govinda which are adored by hosts of celestial gods!
As is customary, let us chant the divine name for a while, after which the subject will begin.
All glories to Shri Krishna!
Now, please pay attention. Who am I? Who is Mine?
Ko ham? (Who am I?)
Ko mama (Who is Mine?)
While solving these two questions, through detailed discussions you were told that this entity named ‘I’ is accepted in the entire world in two different ways. Some people consider the ‘I’ to be something material, while others consider it to be spiritual. There is no third category in the world. There never was, nor is, nor ever will be. The Vedas say, “Listen, just use your common sense to consider: who am I?” Who is this ‘I’? As long as you are alive, you respect your father, mother, elder brother, etc. You do not speak a single insulting word. And if someone does, he is condemned. The religious scriptures condemn him, and he is also condemned by society.
That is why: Scriptural Verse Chhandogya Upanishad 7.15.1
This entity within, the ‘I’ which is spiritual – that ‘I’ alone is the real ‘I’. The one outside, the ‘I’ in the form of the material body, is not the real ‘I’. The one whom you call your father is actually the one within. “The one within? Oh no! When we say our father, we mean his body.” Alright, if you mean that your father is his body, then when the one within leaves the body, when it comes out of this body – that is, when someone dies – then how cruelly you treat that body, using a bamboo stick to perform kapal kriya. Kapal kriya. That is, the son hits the father’s head with a bamboo stick and everyone gets together to set him on fire. So, if you consider the body to be your father, isn’t this a grave insult to your father? Why do you do this? “No, sir. He departed at 4 o’clock.” Yes, this is exactly what I am saying. The Vedas are saying that the one who departed at 4 o’clock was your father, wasn’t he? “Yes, what you say is right.” “If I did not consider him to be my father, I would have kept the body all dressed up in the house, just as it was before. ‘Oh, where are you taking my father? This is my father.'” – “Your father has gone.” This is what we say, and we actually burn the body in practice. This proves that the ‘I’ is some entity within which the Vedas and scriptures refer to as the jiva (soul). And the jiva is eternal. The Vedas and scriptures also state this. It is eternal.
Even today in our world, there are examples of people who remember their past lives and on investigation, they are found to be true. Okay, tell me something. If there were no past lives, then when a baby is born, does the mother feed him milk? So, the mother must teach the newborn child the art of drinking milk. All the mother does is put her breast in the baby’s mouth. That’s all! But where did the child acquire the skill of sucking milk? The milk doesn’t start flowing on its own from the mother’s breast. He has to suck it out with his mouth, doesn’t he? Where did the child get this knowledge from? No one can teach or explain anything to a newborn baby. And not just human babies, but the offspring of cows and buffaloes start drinking as soon as the teat is in their mouth. Amazing! The child just starts crying by himself; he starts laughing on his own without any reason. All this is related to his past.
So according to the scriptures and the Vedas, this jiva, known as the ‘I’, is eternal; and it has a source who is the possessor of the power. It is a part of Him; it is His power. That all-powerful entity is known by infinite names in various countries and in various religions. In our country, He is referred to as Brahm, as Bhagavan or as Paramatma. And there are two names that are necessary for you to understand. One name is Brahm, the other is Bhagavan.
It is stated in the Bhagavat: Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 1.2.11)
The same thing has been stated in the Vedas. One is the attribute-less, non-distinct, formless Brahm. The other is Bhagavan with qualities, distinctions and form. So, Brahm and Bhagavan: these two names are used as per their functions. There are not two Gods. What is meant by function? Look, there is water. There is ice. There is also steam. There are these three things. All three have different functions, don’t they? If you need ice and someone gives you steam, you say, “Hey, have you gone crazy?” And if you need warmth and someone puts ice on you, then what will people say? “Hey, it’s already zero degrees, and you’re putting ice on me!” So, although all three are the same, they have different functions. The water itself turned into ice, and when it was heated it turned into steam.
Similarly, one personality, one Supreme Power, assumed two forms. One form is that which manifests very little power. Pay attention to each and every word. He who manifests! All the powers are present but are not manifested. How? For example, take wheat. Or take chickpeas. Are they stored in a sack? All year round? “Yes, sir.” Are they in the same condition when they are taken out after a year? “Yes, they are.” Okay, okay. Now these grains were sown in soil. Farmers do this in October, don’t they? “Yes.” Now, the fertilizers – super-phosphate, ammonium sulphate and potash – were added to the soil, and the sun provided warmth from above. The air played its part and the water contributed as well. So? So, in four days, the seed sprouted. Within a month, it grew into a plant. In two months, it started bearing fruit. In three months, one grain of wheat became a hundred grains of wheat. All the powers manifested themselves; they were inside that same seed. It is not that the grain of wheat inside the sack has no power, and it is meant only for eating. No, not at all. Within it are branches, leaves, flowers and fruit. Plant it in the soil and see.
Similarly, within the entity called Brahm, which is God’s own form, very few powers are manifested. One power is to preserve His existence, and one is for His essential nature of bliss. Nothing else. That power of Brahm does not perform any work. Shankaracharya was a follower of this same Brahm. He said, “O my Brahm! You are motionless. You are attribute-less. You do not possess any qualities. You have no relationship with anyone. You neither love nor hate, nor do You have a form or name. What should I ask from You? What can You give? All the same, I request this of You – …”
Scriptural Verse (Shankaracharya)
“… come and reside in my heart.”
Look, I am a follower and a devotee of Shankaracharya. I consider him to be a descension of Lord Shankar. Please do not misunderstand me. However, I want to ask Shankaracharya, my dear brother, just explain to me; when Brahm does not do anything, how can you ask Him to come and reside in your heart? You say to Him, “You do not do anything. What should I ask from You? Okay, I do not ask for anything else; just reside in my heart.” Basastva. And secondly, I want to ask Shankaracharya, You acknowledge the authority of the Vedas, don’t you? “Yes, of course.” There are so many Vedic mantras proclaiming that He always resides in our heart; in the heart of every individual soul.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavad Gita 4.6)
Then why are you saying, “Come and reside in my heart”? He already resides there, regardless of your request to Him. Even if someone abuses Him, still He resides in his heart. He even resides in the heart of a demon like Hiranyakashipu, and also in the heart of Ravan. He is omnipresent and He resides in His divine abode, Golok, too.
Scriptural Verse (Shri Govindashtakam, Shankaracharya)
He undoubtedly resides in everyone’s heart.
So, the attribute-less, formless Brahm does not do anything. Therefore, the worshipper of the attribute-less, formless Brahm will neither be freed from maya, nor will he attain the bliss of Brahm.
“But there have been so many great gyanis in the past; didn’t they attain the bliss of Brahm?” They did. “How did they attain it?” They learned from their Guru that you will not receive grace from the attribute-less, formless Brahm as He doesn’t possess any qualities. Another form of the same Brahm is Shri Krishna, endowed with attributes, form and qualities. Beg from Him. Take refuge in Him and tell Him, “I am a worshipper of Your other form. I do not want Your love. I practice non-dualistic devotion, and I want to merge into You.” So? Why would God object to this wish? He will be very happy. “If you merge into Me, I will be free. Now I don’t have to do anything for you. But if you had remained separate from Me, I would have had to remain your servant forever.” So, God very willingly grants liberation.
God with qualities and form is also all-pervading. Do not forget this point; I am repeating this over and over again. Just as the attribute-less, formless Brahm is all-pervading and also resides within, the Brahm with qualities and form is also all-pervading.
Scriptural Verse (Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.16)
The Vedas declare this. Shvetashvatara Upanishad 3.16
The Gita also says the same thing at 13.13. And Shankaracharya has also said the same thing.
Scriptural Verse (Shankaracharya)
Yes, He is omnipresent; He is the Supreme Soul, and He is sat-chit-anand. Shankaracharya accepts this. And he himself wrote in his commentary that Shri Krishna has a sattvic body. A material body? Yes! Sattva guna is mayic. Shri Krishna’s body is sattvic. Brahm does not have a body at all. And he himself says that this Shri Krishna, who has a body, is sat-chit-anand and omnipresent, and is the soul of all beings.
So, we are parts of that Shri Krishna in whom all powers are manifest. We are His power. In some respects we are non-different from Him, while in most respects we are different from Him. And this difference and non-difference is a separate issue. The main point is that we have been under the control of maya for eternity.
Scriptural Verse Shvetashvatara Upanishad 4.9
We have always been under maya. So, what was the result of being under maya?
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 11.2.37
As a result of being turned away from God, we have been under maya for eternity. Therefore, we are suffering from abhinivesh. What does abhinivesh mean? We have forgotten our true identity. We considered ourselves to be the body. That’s it! Now our efforts for the pleasures of the physical senses began, and the bondage caused by both sinful and virtuous actions kept increasing. Countless actions of infinite lifetimes have accumulated. They are known as sanchit karm.
So, what should we do now? The cure for this was mentioned in the same verse. abhajet tam (Bhagavatam 11.2.37) Practise devotion to the one who is the governor of maya, keeping your Guru alongside you. guru devatatma (Bhagavatam 11.2.37) Practice devotion considering God and Guru to be one. He will bestow His grace after the mind is purified. Then He will drive maya away. That’s all; after that, you do not have to do anything. Maya has gone.
Look, this is the soul and this is Brahm. The soul is facing maya and is searching for happiness in the material world. Brahm is sitting right behind the soul. He says, “Just look towards Me.” “I am the ocean of bliss. I am your source, your everything.” – “That’s not true!” It is written in the Vedas! He says, “You just have to turn around, that’s all. You do not have to do anything for Me like massaging My feet. Simply turn around.” Turn around. And if you do not turn around, then infinite lifetimes have passed and infinite lifetimes will continue to pass by.
So, because of this state of material bondage, we engaged in infinite sinful and virtuous actions, thus entangling ourselves in bondage, enjoying a picnic in the 8.4 million species of life. A picnic? Yes! Oh, we are excited! Someone asks, “How are you?” The other replies, “Alright.” We consider ourselves to be the body, don’t we?
Let me tell you something amusing.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 3.30.4
In whichever body the soul enters, it considers that body to be the ‘I’ everywhere. Not only humans – dogs, cats, donkeys, pigs and mosquitoes are all just as attached to their bodies as humans are. They do not get detached from their bodies.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 3.30.5
No one wants to leave even the body that is acquired in hell. Such is the attachment to the body.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 3.30.4
Whichever life form the soul enters, it accepts that body as the ‘I’. And one loves it so much that if someone were to grab it saying, “You have such a dirty body, and you are suffering in this filth. Let me end your life.” – “Hey! Don’t kill me! Why are you crushing my body?” Try to crush a fly or mosquito, or throttle a dog or other animal. See how it reacts. “Hey! What are you doing? I don’t want to die.” It is not only humans who scream upon being strangled, “I don’t want to die!” No matter how seriously ill someone is, just try to strangle him and see. Don’t actually do it, just pretend to, and observe how he moves his hands and legs. “What are you doing?” Such attachment to this filthy body! You might say that the body of a human is special. Fine, let’s take the body of some other creature and try to crush it, if you think your body is so extraordinary.
So, we have reflected on this and learned that we are not the body; this body is ours and it is the opposite of us. All its qualities are opposite. We are eternal and the body is temporary. It has a beginning, in the mother’s womb. But we don’t have a beginning. It will perish, but we will not perish. na jivo mriyate
Chhandogya Upanishad 6.11.3
Scriptural Verse Brahma Sutra 2.3.18
Scriptural Verse Katha Upanishad 1.2.18, Bhagavad Gita 2.20
Thus, there is great disparity between us and our body; they are complete opposites. The bliss that we desire and the bliss the body desires are completely opposite. We desire the bliss of God. Our material mind wishes to beguile us by repeatedly giving us material happiness. Please pay attention. Mothers beguile little children with toys, don’t they? “Take this.” Mothers put a pacifier in the child’s mouth. “Take this. I have work to do.” And the innocent child keeps sucking on it. It joyfully sucks it as if it is actually suckling its mother, but the entity called the ‘I’ gives its judgement every time. “This is not my happiness.”
Why? First of all, this happiness is limited. There is a happiness greater than this. Secondly, this happiness comes to an end. The same thing results in suffering. The same mother, the same father, the same wife, the same husband are in no way related to our happiness. Our judgement is so strong that infinite lifetimes have passed; we have been to the celestial realm countless times, and each time the ‘I’ declared, “This is not mine.” Then what is yours? “That I do not know; however, when I get what is mine, I shall declare, ‘That’s it!’ The research is over! All of you are released.'” However, until we attain it, not a single servant will be freed. “O mind! Listen carefully. You have to serve me at every moment. Bring me my happiness.” The senses are your servants, aren’t they? “Take those senses wherever you go, and bring me happiness!”
So, our true happiness is infinite. Secondly, it is for infinite time. Thirdly, it is ever-increasing. The happiness we get from the material world diminishes at every moment. For instance, the river Ganges has a lot of water. A large canal branches off from it. A small canal branches out from the large one. Then from the small canal, an even smaller canal branches out, turning into a stream. And then that canal ends. This is exactly how love is in the world. The happiness here is the same, whereas spiritual happiness is ever-increasing.
Scriptural Verse Narad Bhakti Sutra 54
In the morning when you stand facing the sun, how long is the shadow? Very long. And if you keep standing until noon, the shadow disappears. It becomes one with your body. This is exactly how worldly love and worldly happiness is. You eat the first sweet rasgulla (an Indian sweet). You say, “How wonderful! How delicious! I feel like kissing the hand of the one who made it.” You eat the second one. “Yes, it’s very tasty.” The third, “It’s good.” The fourth, “It’s okay.” The fifth, “Have mercy on me!” Have mercy on you? You should continue eating. You have to eat. Out of fear you say, “Okay, I’ll eat it.” You eat it and throw up. Hey, what happened to you? “I don’t know what happened. You kept feeding me, what could I do? I forced myself to eat and vomited.” And God’s love? Now stand facing the sun at noon. The shadow grows, and keeps growing and growing. In the evening at sunset, it is so long that you cannot see all of it. So, here the shadow ends, but there it does not. Divine love continues to grow endlessly.
So, how will we attain that bliss? We gave serious thought to this as well. We shall get it from God, and we will have to attain God. But how will we attain Him? He is beyond the senses, mind and intellect. No, it is not that. The one He bestows His grace on and grants His power to, can know Him and attain Him. His grace is based on the condition of the purification of the mind. This is referred to as complete surrender. We will have to purify our mind.
For this, the path of karm was described. The Vedas and scriptures rejected it, saying that ritualistic actions cannot purify the heart.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 6.2.17)
The heart is not purified.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 6.2.17
Although ritualistic actions can destroy sins, the heart is not purified. Bhagavatam
Scriptural Verse (Taittiriya Aranyak)
The Vedas are saying this. Therefore, Veda Vyas has written in the Bhagavat:
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 4.29.46
The one God bestows His grace on does not care about the world, nor is he concerned with Vedic injunctions. And what does he say?
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 4.29.49
Karm is that which pleases Shyamsundar, Shri Krishna. That’s all. I have told you several times what dharm is.
Scriptural Verses Bhagavatam 11.21.42-43
That action which is performed for the sake of God alone is called karm.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 1.2.13
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 1.2.8
That alone is dharm which pleases God, attracting His grace. It should be for His sake.
Didn’t God Himself explain the four dharmas, the varna (social order) and the ashrams (four stages of life) in detail in the Vedas? Why did He do this? And Veda Vyas also has composed the Mahabharat consisting of 100,000 verses. Let us suppose someone desires only the celestial realm. Then our religion should not refuse him, saying, “There is no place for your desire in our religion. Go to the other religions.” Our religion is a wish-fulfilling tree. I told you this earlier as well, that our religion gives you sattvic happiness, rajasic happiness and tamasic happiness. God will grant you whatever boon you ask for.
Once the innocent Lord Shiva was deceived by a demon. The demon was infatuated with Lord Shankar’s hladini shakti, His consort Parvati, and so he asked for a boon: “The person on whose head I lay my hand should turn to ashes.” Shankar Ji said, “Okay, so be it.” So, he started chasing Shankar Ji in order to get hold of Parvati. Poor Shankar Ji fled. He went to Lord Krishna. Shri Krishna smiled and asked him, “What happened?” – “What happened? Look at the demon chasing me. I granted him a boon.” “Oh Bholenath (the Lord of simplicity)!” Then Shri Krishna took the form of a beautiful woman and made a fool out of the demon. He said to him, “How did you believe the words of this drunkard, that if you place a hand on someone’s head, he will turn into ashes? He takes intoxicants such as dhatura and bhang. He lives in a cremation ground. Does he have any sense? You must first test any boon that he grants. Place your hand on your own head and see!” The demon agreed, “Yes, yes,” and he turned into ashes. Shri Krishna told Lord Shiva, “Oh innocent one! Now don’t ever grant such a boon.” Still, they all do. Brahma granted a boon to Hiranyakashipu and got into trouble. Such things have happened everywhere.
So, that is why God has revealed all kinds of dharm for everything that is attainable. One person desires one thing, another something else. Tell a drunkard that Jagadguru Ji is giving a lecture. “You cannot gain this knowledge even by studying the scriptures for millions of lives.” He will say, “What are you saying? Can the lecture give you what I get from my bottle?” He will not be convinced by your words.
Scriptural Verse (Ramayan)
It’s extremely difficult to turn towards God. Very few aspirants make time for spirituality. Therefore, only those ritualistic actions which are related to God are karm.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 11.29.34)
Abandon all actions and take refuge in Me.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 11.29.34)
He will attain Me and become equal to Me. However, his surrender must be complete.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 11.29.34)
Completely surrender yourself.
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 11.29.34
So, whatever the ritualistic actions may be …
Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 1.5.17
… after taking refuge in God, even if he happens to do something wrong, God supports him. And the slightest error in ritualistic actions can reverse the result. Vritrasur was killed instead of Indra. Mithya Vasudev (Paundrak), the King of Kashi, made plans to kill Shri Krishna but he himself was killed. The dharm that was done in order to kill Prahlad resulted in the death of his teacher’s son instead. Look at Holika who had received a boon – she was burned while Prahlad was saved.
So, ritualistic actions will not fulfill our goal. “If you do them properly, you attain the celestial realm, which is material, temporary. We also contemplated upon gyan, the path of knowledge, and were informed that it will lead only to atmagyan (self-realization). After that it will give up, saying, “I cannot go any further.” And the atmagyani will fall again. No one can escape.
And if one becomes a brahmagyani (one who has knowledge of Brahm) with the grace of the personal God – pay attention – then the genuine brahmagyani will practise devotion towards Shri Krishna alone.
God Himself has declared: Scriptural Verse Bhagavatam 11.19.2
That is the reason Lord Krishna also told Uddhav: Scriptural Verse (Bhagavatam 11.19.5)
“When you acquire complete knowledge, practice devotion to Me.”
God said to Arjun: Scriptural Verse (Bhagavad Gita 7.19)
“When, after many lifetimes, one acquires complete spiritual knowledge he surrenders to Me.” Bhagavad Gita 7.19
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavad Gita 15.19)
“One who attains complete knowledge practices devotion to Me.” Bhagavad Gita 15.19
All the scriptures unanimously declare that first, without the grace of the personal God, one can never attain knowledge of Brahm; and the proof that one has attained knowledge of Brahm is that he will practice devotion to Shri Krishna.
Scriptural Verse (Bhagavad Gita 15.19)
Shankaracharya’s disciple, Madhusudhanacharya, who belonged to his lineage, is saying this. Just as many characteristics of a brahmagyani have been mentioned, there is also this characteristic: it becomes his nature to practice devotion to Shri Krishna. And if someone says he is a brahmagyani, and so he doesn’t believe in Shri Krishna, this is like trying to laugh and puff your cheeks at the same time. He is trying something impossible. He is not a gyani. What kind of a gyani is he? Shall I explain?
Scriptural Verse Muktika Upanishad 2.65
The Vedas are saying this.
Scriptural Verse
It is like a ladle made of iron or steel which women use in the kitchen for cooking. It goes into the sweet dish, the halva, as well as the savory dishes. However, it cannot taste anything. It is stirring the delicious halva, but it cannot taste it. Nor can it know that there’s too much salt in the curry and it tastes awful. It just keeps on stirring. What concern does it have with all this? It is made of iron. 99.9% of the gyanis in our country are like this.
Scriptural Verse (Ramayan)
Once I was delivering a lecture in Raigarh. A lady showed up, accompanied by another 20 to 25 women. She was a popular preacher there. People told me that a sannyasini (female ascetic) was coming to see me. Her name was Brahmandi. She arrived and sat down in front of me with great arrogance. So, I asked her, “What do you do?” She replied, “I instruct people on brahmagyan.” I said, “What instructions do you give them?” She replied, “I advise people to recite a mantra.” – “What do you advise them to recite?” She said, “Tattumasi.” I asked her, “What is tattumasi? I have heard about Isamasih (Christ).” She said, “Don’t you know?” I said, “No, tell me; where is it written? In which Veda, which Upanishad, which scripture is it mentioned?” – “Let’s go!” She signaled to her disciples and left. There is that one Vedic mantra, tat tvam asi. She was pronouncing that as tattumasi. She was just an illiterate woman. Tat-tvam-asi (You are Brahm). This is a mantra from the Upanishads. Let’s assume that her Guru taught her the correct mantra. So, when she memorized it, the mantra was distorted.
The gyanis in our country are like this. Wherever you go, there are groups of sannyasis (renunciate). They all worship the formless Brahm. They do not even know the meaning of the word. So, such knowledge will not serve our purpose and never has.
So, our last resort is devotion, bhakti. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna!
