15424549 Decoding The Hymns Of Up Ani Shads

INTRODUCTION The given hymn is from Brhdaaranyaka Upanishad! Upanishads abound with such mysterious incantations in every chapter. Can any one make any sense out of these words? Of course not! These hymns are not meant to be understood by anybody and everybody. They are as obscure as any equation or formula from the world of Maths or Physics. Only one who is thoroughly trained in the subject can understand the vague terms. They were not even written in a well worded script. They were sounds which passed on from a Rishi’s mouth to the ear of another Rishi. They were Secret Knowledge not to be revealed to ordinary denizens of the world. Even Devas had to serve a Rishi with extreme devotion to get a glimpse of these Truths. Each word was phonetically coined and the Truths were transferred using commonly known words. Any one who just understood the surface meanings of the words would get a completely misconceived Knowledge and miss the real meaning of the words. This work is intended to help the Seekers of Knowledge in decoding the ancient Knowledge. The most misinterpreted subjects in this world at recent times are the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Life-stories of Avatars! Vedas are a mix up of Karma (Ritual) section and Knowledge Section. Upanishads are mysterious Knowledge coded in ordinary language. Avatars are some higher world beings taking on the human garb to lead the humans towards higher goals. Vedic verses are nowadays recited mechanically without any idea about the truths conveyed by them. Upanishads are understood at their face value with no Knowledge of the coding method used by the ancient sages. Anyone and everyone twists and turns the real events of the avatars that now their life stories are just fairy tales filled with magical feats and weird shaped demons. In the hectic pace of the modern world no one has time to study the original scriptures; very few have an expertise in Sanskrit language; very few understand the Vedic language; realized souls who alone can convey the true purport of the scriptures are a rare category. And even the printed versions of the scriptures we now have are mostly corrupted versions of the originals. The lives of avatars are also so muddled up by the literary works of the devotees of Godheads who in their emotional heights visualized imaginary events and sang about their adored God. Reason remains buried alive; recitation of verses has become more important than understanding them; parrot like repetition of God’s names is considered to be devotion; the story tellers of God’s lives vie with each other to excel in imagination and the true events that occurred in the lives of those great men have never found light. The two Godheads we adore even after thousands of years are Rama and Krishna. Nobody knows Rama was a realized Sage. They only know that he killed a demon with ten heads. Nobody knows Krishna was a Sannyasin in royal robes. He is picturized only as a womanizer. He is supposed to have amorous relationship with the young girls of

Gokul. He is supposed to have married sixty thousand princesses he rescued from Jaraasandha. One of the widely popular Sanskrit poems of a devotee even describes in detail the sexual union of Krishna and Radha. The very Bhagavata Purana does not mention the name of Radha. The Bhagavata is not just the story of Krishna; it is about the greatness of Lord Naaraayana. It abounds in various philosophical discussions, Creation theories etc. According the even this greatly acclaimed book, Krishna was eight years old when he left Gokul. To describe that little child as a psycho running after women is the most heinous act ever done on Earth. Picturizing Krishna the greatest Master of renunciation, in amorous poses with Gopikas is the height of idiocy. Reciting Gita in rhythmic tones instead of understanding its meaning is an insult to the Great Teacher. Reading verses of Puranas without correct phonetic intonations and that too without an iota of an understanding what the Sanskrit words mean is a parody. Studying Upanishads without ever understanding the hidden Truths in their words is like parading equations like E=MC2 on T-shirts never ever knowing what they mean actually. This work is intended to decode the E=MC2 of the Vedas, Upanishads and the character of Krishna.

Salutations to all the Vedic Seers Salutations to all the Realized Sages Salutations to the Great Yogi Krishna OM TAT SAT.

VEDAS, UPANISHADS AND KRISHNA VEDAS The word ‘VEDA’ is coined from the root letter –‘VID’ – ‘to know’. The word VEDA means Knowledge. Vedas were not written. They were transferred from Guru to disciple in spoken language only. They were known as ‘SHABDAS’ –‘SOUNDS’. These Vedas are not the work of one person. Any one, who had a revelation of the Supreme Truth, just passed it on to his son or disciple. There were two classes of Truth-Seekers; those who performed sacrificial rites to please the Gods through hymns; and those who lived in forests contemplating on the mysteries of Existence itself. Only close disciples of the Great Sages had access to the Knowledge of the Self and even they never ventured out of their forest dwellings to reveal these Truths to others. Only seekers very keen on learning and who could gain confidence of these Sages were taught the sacred Knowledge. They had to face a lot of hardships of the forest life before any Sage condescended to explain his personal revelations. That is why we find that most of the Upanishads contain dialogues or discussions revealing the Knowledge of Brahman.

VYAASA Sri Krishna Vaasudeva was a contemporary of the venerable Sage Krishna Dvaipaayana Vyaasa. The Sage was named Krishna because he was dark; he was Dvaipaayana because he was born in an island; he was Paaraashara because he was the son of Sage Paraashara; he was Vyaasa because he edited the Vedas. The dark handsome youth assisted the ugly dark old man in the compilation of all the ‘spread out revelations’ of all known Sages at that time. It was not an easy job. They had to collect all written and non-written hymns; understand the inner meaning of all revelations and sort them out. Since Krishna Dvaipaayana was respected among one and all, everyone offered him any Knowledge they possessed. Both Krishnas sorted out the huge pile of all available data. They separated the ‘Ritual portion’ from the ‘Knowledge portion’. They divided the Vedas into two categories – one filled with descriptions of rituals accompanied by appropriate hymns - Karma Kaanda and the other devoted to only discussions on ParabrahmanJnaana Kaanda. If Karma Kanda portion gives a detailed description of ASHVA MEDHA – Horse Sacrifice to be performed by Kings, Upanishads will have sections describing in detail as to how the entire perceived world is a horse and how to cut it asunder.

UPANISHADS Knowledge section of the Vedas was known by the name - Upanishads. According to Adi Shankara, the word Upanishad is made of three root letters. Upa - close or near; Ni - to carry; Shad- to destroy. The complete meaning of the word Upanishad according to Shankara is – ‘That which takes you near Truth and destroys ignorance’. Upanishads are also known as VEDANTA –the concluding portion of Vedas.

KARMA/JNAANA The Karma Kaanda believers were opposed to Jnaana Kaanda followers. The former category believed that ‘Karma’ (Sacrifices -Rituals performed with hymns), was capable of fulfilling all their desires and take them to Swarga – Heaven, and bestow on them eternal pleasures after the death of the mortal coil. The word ‘Karma’ as used in Bhagavad-Gita refers only to the ‘Rituals performed with hymns’. In modern times, Karma is translated as any action performed by one, or ‘Fate’, or the actions of previous births, as per the context. The Knowledge-seekers were not after heavenly or Earthly pleasures. They stayed away from crowded cities, lived a life of contemplation and realized the Para Brahman as their own Self. They never bothered much about the Gods or Heaven.

CODES At the time of Swami Vivekananda, most of these unseen scriptures took a printed version and were brought to the purview of public, with great effort by his followers. But it was a literal translated version that was made available to the public. Nobody knew the hidden meanings of the Vedic statements. Since the Rishis were not there to explain them, all Sanskrit words used in the Scriptures were taken at their face value. Even the word Karma was given the translation as ‘Action’, any general action performed by body, mind and intellect by any person.

The Upanishads were actually written in a ‘code-language’ so ordinary people would never grasp the meaning. The reason was that the Knowledge of Brahman was considered too sacred to be offered to any person who had not qualified himself by the rise of dispassion and discrimination. The seeker had to prove his intense desire for liberation through strenuous ascetic practices and please the Guru; otherwise he could beg and plead; no Sage would explain anything to any ordinary seeker. All truths were supposed to be learnt at the feet of the Rishis who had direct experience of the state of Brahman. But in the modern era, the Upanishads were translated into all popular languages, just taking the literal meaning of the words used there. They were never decoded in the correct way. The key was lost.

PURANAS PURANAAS composed by Sage Vyaasa

were not actually a fairy tale of Heavens. The phonetic vibrations which invoked the powers of respected deities through sound were hidden inside the ordinary looking words of the Puranas. Only few trained ones could recite the Puranas in the prescribed tones to reveal the hidden phonetic vibrations or sound waves. These Puranas also like Upanishads were translated in a word to word format just taking the literal meanings of the words and we now have a pile of miracle-stories, which are supposed to be the occurrences in a God-world abounding in magical mumbo jumbo.

DEVAS ‘Div’ means light or shine. The Devas have bodies made of light or shine of different hues. They are residents of a world of a better design. They might have interfered in the Earth-World just projecting their ‘Light-forms’. They might be projected ‘computer avatars’ playing around in a parallel Universe like ours. They have created our world and programmed our existence and are in full control of our world. Maybe the ancient world of Rishis had the courage to interact with them. Maybe the Sages were intellectually at par with those God-world residents. But now, in the 21st century, lacking the actual Knowledge of anything and misled by the portrayal of the media, the Earth residents might not be intellectual enough for the God-world residents to bother about contacting us. Why would a God or a Scientist of the next world visit a slum like ours? Why should he care? Whereas in the ancient times Rishis cared not for these projected Light-forms! Their search was more for ‘THAT SUPREME TRUTH’ which makes ‘all these perceptive worlds’ possible! This is how the Teacher and the Taught offered their Prayers to the Supreme:

OM SAHANAAVAVATU SAHANOU BHUNAKTU SAHAVEERYAMKARAVAAVAHAI TEJASVINAAVADHEETAMASTU MAA VIDVISHAAVAHAI OM SHANTIHSHANTIHSHAANTIHI Let both of us be protected together. Let both of us experience together. Let us both raise the valor together. Let the ever shining one be attained by us both. Let there be no cavalry between us. OM Peace Peace Peace.

LOST KEY TO THE TREASURE HOUSE OF VEDAS How do we open the treasure box of Knowledge? Where is the key? Here is an attempt to decode the sayings in Upanishads, the Concluding portion of the Vedas! Hope this will open the door to THE SUPREME TRUTH. Try replacing these code words for the ordinary words of the Upanishads and understand the Meaning! These Codes were mentioned in a worn out palm-leaf said to be the instructions of a Sage Visvaamitra to his close disciples. Sage Visvaamitra gave the Sacred Gayatri Mantra also to the World.

Salutations to the Compassionate Sage May He lead all the sincere seekers of Knowledge towards Self-Realization. OM BHURBHUVASSUVAHA TATSAVITURVARENYAM BHARGODEVASYA DHEEMAHI DHIYOYONAH PRACHODAYAAT OM SHANTIHSHANTIHSHANTIHI

AUM (OM) Everything originated from AUM. AUM - AA+U+M is the symbolic sound representation of ‘all the sounds emanating from the region below the throat ending in the labial region’. AUM is the ‘Beginning’. AUM is the First Vibration in the Vibration-less BRAHMAN. AUM is the First Wave in the Ocean of PARABRAHMAN. AUM is the First Manifestation of the Unmanifest. AUM is the First Gross manifestation of the Subtle CHIT. CHIT is Pure Awareness. AUM is the throne for the CHIT to sit and act.

AAKAASHA From AUM arises AAKAASHA. AAKAASHA is the idea of space-time. AAKAASHA is the first vibration in the manifest world. AAKAASHA is not the blue sky above your head. The word-derivation in Sanskrit is as follows: AA – whole, complete; KAASHA – contains. AAKAASHA contains within it everything that has existence. Space and time are the co-ordinates of any object that is perceived in the world.

refers to the ‘idea of space-time’ which contains all the perceptions conceived by our brains. AAKKASHA

SHABDA AAKAASHA is connected to SHABDA - SOUND. SOUND is the gross manifestation of CHIT. A ‘HELLO’ from the UNMANIFEST! SHABDA is the symbol of ‘individuality’. SHABDA is the symbol of ‘duality’. SHABDA is the symbol of ‘I’ and the ‘world’, SHABDA is the symbol of the ‘arising’ of JEEVA,

the LIFE PRINCIPLE.

JEEVA JEEVA is again the collection of all ‘UNMANIFESTED VAASANAAS’. JEEVA is one who lives; one who experiences a particular span of life

events within particular space time boundaries. JEEVA is the expression of VAASANAAS. VAASANAA – means ‘THAT WHICH RESIDES’ Since VAASANAAS are countless, JEEVAS are also countless. Each JEEVA manifests a single VAASANA at one instant, in his own ‘space time bubble’. In the scriptures this JEEVA, who acts only as medium for the manifestation of a Vaasana, is referred by the name JANTU. JANTU means – organism – a creature which is born, lives, reproduces and dies. As long as a person, even if be in a human garb, acts as just a bio-chemical organism, only reacting to outer circumstances, he is only a JANTU. He has no ‘Essence’. He has no ‘Atman’. He is just a collection of living cells randomly formed in the evolutionary cycle. There is no after-life or identity for such human shapes. They are only gene carriers on the physical side and Vaasana-carriers in the psychological side. They live only at the animal level of intelligence, even if they are acclaimed persons in the world-story. They have no control over their actions or emotions. The chemicals in the brain and body control them. Their Vaasanaas decide their fate. They are always slave to their Vaasanaas. Like an Earthworm which reacts to a pin prick, the JANTU reacts to the outer circumstances. He [or she] RE-ACTS; DOES NOT ACT! This JANTU becomes a JEEVA, through the rise of ‘self-awareness’ and ‘self analysis’; it gets trained to ACT in this world. AAKAASHA GIVES RISE TO SOUND; ‘SPACETIME IDEA’ GIVES RISE TO THE ‘LIVING’ IDEA.

VAAYU VAAYU means

that which blows. Next one to rise after Akaasha is VAAYU- WIND -the ‘CONTACT PRINCIPLE’. VAAYU gives rise to SPARSHA - TOUCH. VAASANA needs an arena to manifest. VAAYU arranges it. VAAYU makes the FIRE burn.

SPARSHA CONTACT – SPARSHA - arises out of the JEEVA principle - towards the fulfillment of the VAASANA. TOUCH is the ‘CONNECTION’ to the things around us. TOUCH is the ‘Dividing- Line’ in CHIT, which creates a ‘duality’. TOUCH gives rise to ‘I, YOU, WORLD’ and innumerable relationships with everything. TOUCH gives a ‘solid experience’ of the world around oneself.

AGNI VAAYU gives rise to AGNI. AGNI means that which keeps rising high. AGNI is FIRE; the ever unsatisfied principle. AGNI symbolizes the gross individual Ego with Vaasanaas. AGNI symbolizes Vaasanaas getting ready to manifest. FIRE arises. EGO arises. INDIVIDUALITY arises. ‘I’ arises.

ROOPA FIRE gives rise to the principle of form. ROOPA is form; shape. ROOPA means ‘to appear’. FIRE -EGO is provided with a ‘suitable form’ to

‘fulfill the Vaasanaas’. The individual ego has to perceive forms and get perceived also as a form by others. FIRE needs FUEL to survive. FIRE needs FIREWOOD. EGO needs Perceptions to survive. EGO needs FUEL.

AAPAH FIRE gives rise to WATER. AAPA means to attain, to obtain. AAPA means water. WATER is the Experience. WATER is the continuous flow of experiences. WATER is the potential Vaasana turning into gross

experience similar to the water vapor in

the cloud ready to burst into a downpour. WATER symbolizes Vaasana changing into DESIRE. Vaasana is the potential desire; Water is the grossified Vaasana. Vaasana is just a potential state; unmanifest vibration. Desire is the actuality of the Vaasana; manifest wave. Desire fulfillment needs a space-time arena. WATER is the experience of fulfillment or un-fulfillment of desires. WATER symbolizes arising of ‘Desire and its fulfillment’. WATER is the EXPERIENCE arising out of DESIRE.

[NAARAAYANA- the word is derived thus: AAPAAH are known as NAARAAH; AAPAAH means Human clan; He is their abode; So He is Naaraayana. Humans are Experiencers of Vaasana fields; Naaraayana is the abode of these subtle Vaasanaas; His son Lord Brahma creates the rules and channelizes these Vaasanaas.]

RASA RASA means Essence, Juice. WATER has ‘TASTE’ – ‘RASA’. WATER has different tastes. EXPERIENCES are also variegated.

The world around you is nothing but water with different tastes.

PRTHVEE PRTHVEE means ‘to spread out’. PRTHVEE is EARTH - BHU spreading

out (not the planet Earth, but anything you can perceive in any space time boundary). TASTE in WATER gives rise to EARTH. EARTH is the field created for experiences to occur. EARTH is the ‘platform’ where the ‘VAASANAAS’ wear the costume of EGO and ‘dance’.

OSHADHI EARTH has OSHADIS. OSHADI means PLANTS and TREES. OSHADI means that which ripens. OSHADI is Nature. OSHADI is ‘nourishing food’. OSHADI belongs to ‘BHU’. BHU is NOT the ‘Planet Earth’ BHU means ‘that which becomes’. BHU is anything that changes into something BHU is this UNIVERSE. BHU is the EARTH.

else.

There is no solid Earth around us. There is only a space time perception which keeps changing continuously. This flux is BHU, the Universe around us. Each person has his own Universe around him. (The word ‘He’ in Upanishad verses always refers to PURUSHA – one who resides in the city of nine gates; both women and men are referred to by the term ‘He’) There is no absolute space, no absolute time and there is no solid Universe around us. Each person’s time perception is different from that of the other person. Everything is just a perception of the brain. Vaasana creates a new Universe every second for its manifestation. Every fraction of a perceiving moment, the brain creates a new Universe bound by space and time. The Universe which spreads out through the senses is BHU.

The Brain is like the projector with the small reel of the film of Vaasana-possibilities inside it and it projects out the film through the senses and the world-film is screened in the space time theatre. Adi Shankara explains this fact in detail in his UpadeshaSaahasri. We do not experience the world already outside us, through the senses. On the contrary, we create a Universe ‘as if outside us’, through the senses. Senses are not the physical organs; but the faculties which create a particular form of perception. The Akaasha Principle in the Chit creates a projection of space and time. The Vaayu Principle in the Chit creates the ability to contact. The Agni principle in the Chit creates the visual Universe. The Water Principle in the Chit creates the Experiences. The Bhu Principle in the Chit creates the perceived Universe around the Jeeva. With all these principle acting at once, we see a world around us; rather we create a world around us every moment. PRTHVEE means

spreading out. The Universe spreads out as much as the Chitta is able to project out. Chitta is the thinking faculty. Universe expands if the Akaasha principle in the Jeeva expands. Universe of the cat is the rat-hole and the milk bowl. Universe of a homosapien stretches out beyond the stars. As per the capacity to think, that much is the Bhu arises in our mind-screen. OSHADI is the plant-life of the Universe. OSHADI is the variegated perceptions of the Jeeva.

GANDHA has SMELL - GANDHA. Bhu is the field where the plants and trees arise. Bhu is the field where perceptions arise. Bhu is the arena for experiences. Waters help the plants to grow. Desires keep the perceptions well nourished. Experiences give rise to memories. Plants and trees give out smell. Smell is good or bad. Memories are good or bad. Smell persists even after the object disappears. Memories persist even after the experience is over. The faculty of smell – NAASIKA (a combination of tongue and nose) is necessary to distinguish the qualities of objects so that we avoid the bad and seek the good. Memories are a like the persisting smell of the perceptions. Memories help us to evolve. Memories help us to avoid the bad and seek the good. EARTH

PARJANYA PARJANYA is THUNDERING CLOUD.

Clouds are unmanifested desires. Rain is a continuous grossification of water vapor into water. Water Vapor becomes water due to a slight Variation in temperature. The Want, the anxiety that accompanies the Vaasana to get manifested, the Hunger is the heat which makes the manifestation possible.

NAKSHATRA NAKSHATRA means STAR. NA+KSHARATI – does not perish.

Stars are ‘Fixed ideas’! These Stars namely ‘fixed ideas’ in the brain as programmed by the Creator Brahma make us perceive a Universe in which we are all common inhabitants. We all see the same objects because we are all programmed in the same way to see the same objects. This common perception gives rise to the delusion that there is a solid world outside us with absolute space and time. Ideas which we are certain to be true are -Space time idea; the ‘Up/down idea’; ‘Directions’ idea; ‘I am a person different from the other person’ idea, etc etc. Actually all our world consists of ‘ideas’ only. It is enough for the brain to have just the idea-‘there is tree in the garden’; the tree need not exist as a solid object outside; because there is no ‘outside’, unless you yourself take the trouble of walking a few steps and perceiving the tree and check out its existence. Only the ideas exist as the proof of a world external to us. When we move our hands and feet, the space gets formed. Self cannot move; because there is no space for it to move. We, who are Vaasana manifestations of the Self, create the world by moving our hands and feet. The Karmendriyaas create the space-time arena by movement; Jnaanendriyaas cognize it as a solid world. Star is the code word for the ‘ideas’ common to all selves of one particular Universe. Planet is the code word for our particular personal ideas of family, etc. as connected to our gross body of nine holes. That is why the nine-planet idea is in vogue; these nine planets - the nine holed city alone controls our lives; not the gross planets of the solar system. If we learn to have full control of our body and practice dis-identifying with it, we will no more be controlled by these NAVA-GRAHAAS. GRAHA means that which holds you in its grasp; the nine holes of the body keep you in their grasp forcing you to chase pleasures in the world; not the planetary system! Space contains within it all the stars and planets. Space time idea – AAKAASHA contains within it all the ‘ideas of existence’.

CHANDRA/SURYA CHANDRA!

The glittering Moon! Moon gets its shine from the Sun.

The Mind is a perturbation in CHIT. Moon waxes and wanes! Either it is full moon or it is new moon. Mind also waxes and wanes; either it is happy or sad. Moon circles the Earth! The mind constantly perceives the world and experiences pain and pleasure. - the Sun. Sun prompts the people to engage in actions continuously. The Sun by its very existence makes the Earth alive with beings. All activities on Earth are due to the existence of the Sun. Sun is the witness consciousness. The Parabrahman is aware of the perceptions but remains un-affected by them. Sun appears to move but does not actually move. Self appears to act; but does not act. Awareness is just a witness; the light by which all lights shine. But for the Awareness nothing exists. Whatever be the actions of the mind or the body, Awareness forms the silent support for everything. SURYA

FIVE ELEMENTS Beautiful blue sky like canopy spreads above hiding the infinity behind it. Sun looks on unperturbed by anything that happens anywhere like a mute witness; yet is the cause of all activities on Earth. Earth spreads out with countless varieties of plants and trees. Water pouring from the clouds helps the seeds to sprout and grow. A raging fire, a symbol of the Sun continuously swallows all that appears in front of it. As waters make more fuel, the fire consumes more and more fuel. The winds fan vigorously increasing the capacity of the fire. The process is never ending. The sky is ever expanding. Air never stops blowing. Fire never stops burning. Water never stops pouring. Plants never stop growing. Sun looks on silently. Fire crawls further and further consuming everything as its fuel. Fire changes form as its fuel changes. Jeeva continues its unending journey assuming different forms experiencing all the perceptions created by its Vaasanaas! The Witness Consciousness CHIT silently exists as the Supreme cause of all the Universes.

Where is the UPANISHAD – the Truth which destroys ignorance and leads towards the Supreme? All around you! Just analyze the characteristics of the world around you. Nature silently teaches you the structure of this perceived Universe like Sree Dakshinaamurthy, the Manifest Brahman. The Sages were not Nature worshipers as the history text books inform; they used the simple workings of the Nature to explain the Highest Truths. Ordinary people could not grasp the hidden meanings in the Upanishads. The surface meaning was only understood and the theory of five elements forming the world arose. So it was stated in the texts of Hinduism, that Hindus believe that Earth, water, fire, air and sky are the five elements which make up the world; and so on. Of course the gross bodies are a combined form of the five elements. However Upanishads give instructions about how Brahman appears as this perceived world and not about the formation of gross bodies. Understand the code-language taught by Sage Visvaamitra and decode the Upanishad-words properly and grasp the hidden Truths.

BRHADAARANYAKA UPANISHAD: NEIVEHA KINCHANAAGRA AASEET MRTYUNEVEIDAM AAVRTAM AASEET ASHANAAYAYAA ASHANAAYA HI MRTYUHU TAN MANO KURUTAAT MANVEE SYAAM ITI SOARCHAN ACHARAT TASYAARCHATAAPOAJAAYANTA ARCHATE VEI ME KAMABHUDITI TADEVAARKASYAARKATVAM KAM HA VA ASMAI BHAVATI YA EVAM ETADARKASYAARKATVAM VEDA || BrhUp_1, 2.1 || IN THE BEGINNING NOTHING EXISTED. IN THE BEGINNING NO PERCEPTIONS EXISTED. PARABRAHMAN ALONE EXISTED. PARA means TRANSCENDENCE; BRAHMAN means GREATEST. THAT STATE CAN BE ONLY DENOTED AS ‘TAT’ – ‘THAT’! IN THE STATE OF ‘NIRVIKALPA PARABRAHMAN’ NO VIKALPAS (No Perturbations) EXISTED. IN THAT STATE NOTHING WHATSOEVER AS A SECOND OBJECT EXISTED. THERE WAS NO PERCEIVER, PERCEIVED OR PERCEIVING PROCESS. THIS WAS AS IF COVERED BY DEATH. DEATH IS CESSATION OF PERCEPTIONS. IT WAS AS IF THE PERCEPTIONS HAD CEASED. SINCE THERE IS NO ‘TIME’ IN THIS SUPREME STATE, IT WAS AS IF NO PERCEPTIONS WERE THERE ANYMORE. BUT SINCE PARABRAHMAN EXISTS AS ‘SAVIKALPA BRAHMAN (with perturbations)’ AND ‘NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN’ (without perturbations) SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE NIRVIKALPA STATE WAS AS IF THE PERCEPTIONS HAD CEASED TO EXIST. DEATH IS NON-PERCEPTION; BUT THE POTENTIALITY OR POSSIBILITY OF PERCEPTIONS HAD NOT CEASED TO EXIST. HUNGER WAS THERE; THE VAASANAAS EXISTED IN THE UNMANMIFEST STATE. HUNGER IS THE DESIRE TO EAT. HUNGER IS THE DESIRE TO EXPERIENCE. ALL VAASANAAS EXISTED LIKE SPARKS READY TO BURST INTO FLAMES. ALL POSSIBLE STATES EXISTED READY TO BECOME POSSIBILITIES. THERE WAS ONLY POTENTIAL ENERGY. THAT STATE WAS BUBBLING ENERGY FLUX. THAT STATE WAS ENERGY IN EQUANIMITY. THAT STATE WAS BLISS ABSOLUTE. THATSTATE WAS KNOWLEDGE ABSOLUTE. THAT STATE WAS EXISTENCE ABSOLUTE. THAT STATE WAS THE UNPERTURBED STATE WITH ALL POSSIBILITIES OF PERCEIVED WORLDS IN UNMANIFEST STATE. A VIBRATION AROSE FOR NO REASON. A WILL AROSE FOR NO REASON. RATHER ‘WILL’ IS THE BORDER-LINE AS IF BETWEEN THE NIRVIKALPA AND SAVIKALPA STATES.

IT WAS THE VERY NATURE OF THE NIRVIKALPA PARABRAHMAN TO BE SAVIKALPA. SAVIKALPA STATE IS THE MANIFEST STATE OF THE NIRVIKALPA STATE. NIRVIKALPA IS UNMANIFEST VAASANAAS. SAVIKALPA IS MANIFEST VAASANAAS. BOTH STATES EXIST SIMULTAMNEOUSLY IN THE PARABRAHMAN, AS THE PARABRAHMAN. THIS VIBRATION WHICH MAKES NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN APPEAR AS SAVIKALPA IS THE WILL. MIND AROSE. PERTURBATIONS AROSE. EGO MANIFESTED. THE ‘I’ IDEA AS A SEPARATE IDENTITY FROM PARABRAHMAN, MANIFESTED. EGO WAS THE CHANNEL FOR VAASANAS TO MANIFEST. THE EGO MOVED ABOUT FULFILLING ITS DESIRES. IT WORSHIPPED ITSELF. ALL ACTIONS WERE PERFORMED FOR SATISFYING THE DESIRES OF THE INDIVIDUAL SELF CALLED ‘I’. THERE WAS NO ‘I’ IN THE NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN. ‘I’ IS THE SAVIKALPA BRAHMAN. [AHAM BRAHMAASMI] AS ‘I’ WORSHIPPED WATER AROSE. AS THE EGO WENT ON SATISFYING THE DESIRES, EXPERIENCES AROSE. THAT IS THE ‘WATER-NATURE’ OF THE ‘WATER-CREATOR’. THE EXPERIENCER EXPERIENCES THE ‘FULFILLMENT OF THE VAASANAAS’ AND IN TURN CREATES MORE VAASANAAS WHICH NEED MORE EXPERIENCES. THE PROCESS GOES ON WITHOUT CEASING. ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS THIS ‘WATER-NATURE’ OF THE ‘WATER-CREATOR’ WILL GET WATER. HE WHO UNDERSTANDS THE PRINCIPLE OF PARABRAHMAN IN THIS MANNER WILL EXPERIENCE THE PARABRAHMAN AS HIS OWN SELF. WORSHIPPING ONESELF GIVES RISE TO ‘KAM’ WATER, THE EXPERIENCE. THAT IS WHY THE NAME ARKA CAME ABOUT. ARKA IS THE EXPERIENCER, THE INDIVIDUAL SELF. IF ONE STOPS EXPERIENCING, IF ONE STOPS WORSHIPPING ONESELF, WATER DOES NOT ARISE. THE STATE WHERE NOTHING EXISTED ALONE REMAINS; AS IF COVERED BY DEATH; DEATH OF THE INDIVIDUAL SELF; DEATH OF PERCEPTIONS; DEATH OF VAASANAS; CESSATION OF VAASANAA MANIFESTATION ‘AT THAT POINT OF THAT EGO’. ‘THAT EGO’ BECOMES A JEEVAN MUKTA. HE REMAINS AS THE NIRVIKAPLA BRAHMAN ACTING AS A WITNESS TO THE SAVIKALPA STATE. HE IS ARKA. HE IS THE SUN. WHEN HE WORSHIPS HIMSELF AND ACTS AS THE EGO, HE PRODUCES KAM THE WATER, THE EXPERIENCE AND BECOMES ARKA. THIS IS THE ARKATVA OF ARKA. HE WHO KNOWS THE ARKATVA OF THE ARKA GETS WATER. ONE WHO REALIZES THIS TRUTH, EXPERIENCES THE STATE OF NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN.

AAPO VAA ARKAHA | TAD YAD APAAM SHARA ASEET TAT SAMAHANYATA | SAA PRTHVYABHAVAT | TASYAAASHRAMYAT | TASYA SHRANTASYA TAPTASYA TEJORASO NIRAVARTATAGNIHI || BrhUp_1, 2.2 || Verily water is Arka. And what was there as the froth of the water, that was hardened, and became the earth. On that earth he (death) rested, and from him, thus resting and heated, Agni (Virat) proceeded, full of light. EXPERIENCE ITSELF IS THE EXPERIENCER – THE INDIVIDUAL SELF; JEEVA. AS THE EXPERIENCER COMPLETELY BECAME DELUDED AS A LIMTED SELF, THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE SOLIDIFIED; THE UNMANIFEST VAASANAAS GOT FULFILLED IN THAT ARENA OF EARTH; AS THE PROCESS OF VAASANAA MANIFESTATION WENT ON, HEAT AROSE; EGO MANIFESTED AS THE EXPERIENCER; THE PROCESS OF VAASANA FULFILLMENT CONTINUED WITHOUT A BREAK WITH THE CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE SUPPORT OF ALL.

SA TREDHAATMAANAM VYAKURUTAADITYAM TRTEEYAM VAAYUM TRTEEYAM | SA ESHA PRAANAS TREDHAAVIHITAHA | TASYA PRAACHEE DIK SHIRO ASOU CHAASOU CHEMAU | ATHAASYA PRATEECEE DIK PUCCHAM ASAU CHAASAU CA SAKTHYAU | DAKSHINAA CHODEECHEE CHA PAARSHVE | DYAUH PRSHTAM ANTARIKSHAM UDARAM IYAM URAHA | SA ESHO APSU PRATISHTITAHA | YATRA KVA CHAITI TAD EVA PRATITISHTATY EVAM VIDVAAN || BRHUP_1, 2.3 || That being divided itself threefold, Aaditya (the sun) as the third, and Vaayu (the air) as the third that spirit (Prana) became threefold. The head was the eastern quarter, and the arms this and that quarter (i. e. the n. e. and s. e., on the left and right sides). Then the tail was the western quarter, and the two legs this and that quarter (i. e. the n. w. and s. w.) the sides were the southern and northern quarters, the back heaven, the belly the sky, the dust the earth. Thus he (Mrtyu, as Arka) stands firm in the water, and he who knows this stands firm wherever he goes. THAT INDIVIDUAL SELF, THE JEEVA, THE EXPERIENCER, THE EGO, THE FIRE –THAT BEING – IS THE PURE AWARENESS – THE SUN, HE IS THREE FOLD- SUN, VAAYU AND PRAANA; PURE AWARENESS, THE CONTACT, AND LIVING SPIRIT. THE PURE AWARENESS CONTACS THE INERT EXPERIENCE AND JOINTLY BECOMES THE INDIVIDUAL SELF WITH NAME AND FORM. SPACE IDEA MANIFESTS AS THE WORLD WITH DIRECTIONS; AS BEGINNING AND END; AS BIRTH AND DEATH.

[(This is the description of the perceived world of the individual self as a horse-ASHVA – one who is not stable the next instant). As the horse moved the directions appeared.] THUS ARKA, THE EXPERIENCER STANDS ESTABLISHED IN EXPERIENCES ALONE. THUS MRTYU – THE UNMANIFESTED VAASANA GETS FULFILLED IN EXPERIENCES; HE WHO KNOWS THIS TRUTH AND REALIZES HIS SELF AS PARA BRAHMAN WILL STOP EXPERIENCING THE VAASANA FULFILLMENT AND BE FREE OF DEATH; HE WILL BE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED IN HIS TRUE NATURE OF NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN.

SOAKAAMAYATA -- DVITEEYO MA AATMAA JAAYETETI | SA MANASAAVAACHAM MITHUNAM SAMABHAVAD ASHANAAYAA MRTYUHU| TAD YAD RETA AASEET SA SAMVATSAROABHAVAT | NA HA PURAA TATAH SAMVATSARA AASA | TAM ETAAVANTAM KAALAM ABIBHAR YAAVAANT SAMVATSARAHA | TAM ETAAVATAH KAALASYA PARASTAAD ASRJATA | TAM JAATAM ABHIVYAADADAAT | SA BHAAN AKAROT | SAIVA VAAG ABHAVAT || BRHUP_1, 2.4 He desired, 'Let a second body be born of me,' and he (Death or Hunger) mated Speech in his mind. Then the ‘seed’ became the year (moving course of seasons - Samvatsara). In the past there was no year. Speech bore him so long as a year, and after that time sent him forth. Then when he was born, he (Death) opened his mouth, as if to swallow him. He cried Bhân! And that became speech. A COUPLE MATED AND THE ‘VEERYA’ (VIRILITY) OF THE MAN PRODUCED THE CHILD. MAN HERE IS DEATH – UNMANIFEST VAASANA. FEMALE IS VAAK- DIFFERENTIATIONS – NAMES AND FORMS. THE POWER OF PARABRAHMAN IS THE VEERYA. THE CHILD BORN IS THE LIMITATIONS OF SPACE AND TIME. BEFORE THIS MATING THERE WAS NO CHILD – NO SPACE AND TIME. PARABRAHMAN WAS NIRVIKALPA, BEYOND SPACE AND TIME. THE CHILD WAS IN THE WOMB FOR A YEAR, THEN WAS DELIVERED. A PAST, PRESENT FUTURE DELUSION APPEARED. BEFORE THE CHILD DIED, BEFORE THE SPACE AND TIME BOUND WORLD BECAME UNMANIFEST AGAIN (BEFORE DEATH SWALLOWED IT UP) THE CHILD CRIED – BHAAN – SHINE OR LIGHT; THE AWARENESS LIGHTED UP THE ENTIRE WORLD OF PERCEPTIONS. THAT IS HOW DIFFERENTIATIONS APPEARED. THAT IS HOW NAME AND FORMS AROSE. THE MANIFEST BRAHMAN DESIRED A BODY- A FORM TO FULFIILL THE VAASANAAS. A MATING OCCURRED BETWEEN DEATH AND SPEECH IN THE MIND. VAASANAAS AND DIFFERENTIONS MATED; WORLD AROSE. THE VAASANAAS CREATED A SUITABLE BODY FOR THEIR EXPRESSION. SPEECH AROSE. NAME AND FORM AS ASSOCIATED FACULTIES AROSE. DIFFERENTIATIONS AROSE. HIS POWER BECAME THE ‘YEAR’.

THEN THE SPACE AND TIME AROSE AS LIMITATIONS TO HOLD THE NAME AND FORM. BEFORE THIS OCCURRED THERE WAS NO TIME-SPACE PRINCIPLE IN THE PARABRAHMAN. BUT WITH THE RISING OF DIFFERENTIATIONS, PRINCIPLE OF TIME MANIFESTED. PAST PRESENT FUTURE AROSE, ENDLESS AND BEGINNINGLESS. UNMANIFETED VAASANAAS STARTED SPROUTING; CONSCIOUSNESS LIGHTED UP THE WHOLE PROCESS; DIFFERENTIONS WERE PERCEIVED.

SA AIKSHATA YADI VA IMAM ABHIMAMSYE KANEEYOANNAM KARISHYA ITI | SA TAYAA VAACHAA TENAATMANEDAM SARVAM ASRJATA YAD IDAM KINCHA – RK YAJUMSHI SAAMAANI CHANDAAMSI YAJNAN PRAJAAM PASHUN | He observed ‘if I kill him, I shall have but little food.' He therefore brought forth by that speech and by that body (the year) all whatsoever exists, the Rik, the Yajus, the Sâman, the metres, the sacrifices, men, and animals. THE FATHER THOUGHT, IF I KILL HIM I WILL HAVE NO FOOD; AND THROUGH DIFFERENTIONS OF NAME AND FORM, AND SPACE-TIME BOUNDARIES, HE CREATED THE ENTIRE WORLD OF PERCEPTIONS. UNMANIFEST PARABRAHMAN WAS NOW THE MANIFEST VAASANA; NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN STATE WAS NOW THE SAVIKALPA STATE. TO FULFILL THE COUNTLESS VAASANAAS THROUGH DIFFERENTIATIONS AND SPACE TIME BOUNDARIES – EVERYTHING AROSE – VEDAS, RITUALS; INSTRUCTIONS, PEOPLE AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS.

SA YAD-YAD EVAASRJATA TATTAD ATTUM ADHRIYATA | SARVAM VA ATTEETI TAD ADITER ADITITVAM | SARVASYAATTAA BHAVATI SARVAM ASYAANNAM BHAVATI YA EVAM ETAD ADITER ADITITVAM VEDA || BRHUP_1, 2.5 || And whatever he brought forth, that he resolved to eat verily because he eats everything, therefore is Aditi called Aditi. He who thus knows why Aditi is called Aditi, becomes an eater of everything, and everything becomes his food. IN WHATEVER WAY THE VAASANAAS BECAME MANIFEST, THE INDIVIDUAL SELF EXPERIENCED THEM AS THE EGO. AS FIRE HE CONSUMED EVERYTHING. ATTI – EATS – SO HE IS ADITI. THE JEEVA WHO IS A CHANNEL FOR THE MANIFESTATIONOF THE VAASANA IS ADITI – THE EATER OF EVERYTHING. HE WHO KNOWS WHY ADITI IS CALLED ADITI STOPS EXPERIENCING EVERYTHING; HE STOPS EATING; HE DOES NOT BECOME THE CHANNEL FOR THE VAASANA FULFILLMENT; HE REALIZES HIS OWN SELF AS PARABRAHMAN AND HE SEES THE WHOLE PERCEIVED WORLD AS HIS OWN SELF. AS THE SUPREME HE IS THE EXPERIENCER OF EVERYTHING AS EVERYONE.

|SOAKAAMAYATA -- BHUYASA YAJNENA BHUYO YAJEYETI | SOASHRAAMYAT | SA TAPOATAPYATA |

TASYASHRAANTASYA TAPTASYA YASHO VEERYAM UDAKRAAMAT | PRAANAA VAI YASHO VEERYAM | TAT PRĀNESHUTKRAANTESHU SHAREERAM SHVAYITUM ADHRIYATA | TASYA SHAREERA EVA MANA AASEET || BRHUP_1, 2.6 He desired to sacrifice again with a greater sacrifice. He toiled and performed penance. And while he toiled and performed penance, glorious power went out of him. Verily glorious power means the senses (Prana). Then when the senses had gone out, the body took to swelling (sva-yitum), and mind was in the body. SOAKAAMAYATA – MEDHYAM MAIDAM SYAAD AATMANVY ANENA SYAAM ITI | TATOASHVAHA SAMABHAVAT | YAD ASHVAT TAN MEDHYAM ABHUD ITI TAD EVAASHVAMEDHASYAASHVAMEDHATVAM | ESHA HA VAASHVAMEDHAM VEDA YA ENAM EVAM VEDA | TAM ANAVARUDHYAIVAAMANYATA | TAM SAMVATSARASYA PARASTAAD AATMANAALABHATA | PASHUN DEVATAABHYAH PRATYAUHAT | TASMAT SARVADEVATYAM PROKSHITAM PRAAJAAPATYAM AALABHANTE He desired that this body should be fit for sacrifice (Madhya), and that he should be embodied by it. Then he became a horse (Ashva), because it swelled (Ashvat), and was fit for sacrifice (Madhya); and this is why the horse-sacrifice is called Ashva-Medha. Verily he who knows him thus, knows the Ashva-Medha. Then, letting the horse free, he thought and at the end of a year he offered it up for himself, while he gave up the (other) animals to the deities. Therefore the sacrificers offered up the purified horse belonging to Prajaapati, (as dedicated) to all the deities. HE DESIRED TO PERFORM MORE SACRIFICES. HE DESIRED TO FULFILL MORE AND MORE VAASANAAS. HE SUFFERED AND BURNT. AS HE SUFFERED AND BURNT POWER AROSE. PRAANA IS THE VEERYA; PRAANA IS THE POWER. LIFE- FORCE IS THE POWER. WITH THAT POWER THE SENSES COGNIZED THE WORLD. THE SENSES COGNIZED MORE SPACE AND MORE TIME. THE BODY SWELLED UP. ‘SHVA YITUM’ – SWELLED UP. MIND FILLED THE BODY. AS THE DIFFERENTIATIONS AROSE, MORE AND MORE VAASANAAS BECAME MANIFEST. ANXIETY SROSE; COUNTLESS DESIRES AROSE; AS THE EGO THE FIRE BURNT TO EAT ALL EXPERIENCES; MORE AND MORE FIELDS OF EXPERIENCES WERE FORMED; SENSES GATHERED MORE EXPERIENCES; THE WORLD EXPANDED. THE WHOLE PERCEIVED WORLD OF THE INDIVIDUAL IS HIS BODY; THE MIND FILLS THE BODY EXPANDING IT EVEN MORE. AS THE WORLD KEEPS ON EXPANDING, THE BODY ALSO SWELLS UP; SO IT IS ASHVA- THE SWELLING ONE. THIS HORSE NOW WAS FIT FOR SACRIFICE; IT HAD TO BE SACRIFICED; SO THIS PROCESS IS CALLED ASHVA MEDHA, THE HORSE SACRIFICE.

THE INDIVIDUAL SELF WITH HIS EVER EXPANDING FIELD OF EXPERIENCES IS THE ASHVA; HE HAS TO BE SACRIFICED; HE HAS TO BE KILLED. SO LEAVE THE HORSE FREE; DO NOT BIND IT BY DESIRES; STOP EXPANDING THE UNIVERSE; STOP THE HORSE FROM SWELLING UP. THE INDIVIDUAL SELF SACRIFICED THE PERCEIVED WORLD TO THE RESPECTED DIETIES; THE INDIVIDUAL SELF CEASED TO COGNIZE THE WORLD. HE SACRIFICED THE HORSE TO HIMSELF. THE INDIVIDUAL SELF OFFERED HIMSELF AS A SACRIFICE TO HIS OWN SELF.

ESHA VAA SHVAMEDHO YA ESHA TAPATI | TASYA SAMVATSARA AATMAA | AYAM AGNIR ARKAHA | TASYEME LOKAA AATMAANAHA | TAAV ETAAV ARKAAŚVAMEDHAU | SO PUNAR EKAIVA DEVATAA BHAVATI MRTYUR EVA | APA PUNARMRTYUM JAYATI | NAINAM MRTYUR AAPNOTI | MRTYUR ASYAATMAA BHAVATI | SARVAM AAYUR ETI | ETAASAAM DEVATAANAAM EKO BHAVATI || BRHUP_1, 2.7 || Verily the shining sun is the Ashva-Medha-sacrifice, and his body is the year; Agni is the sacrificial fire (Arka), and these worlds are his bodies. These two are the sacrificial fire and the Ashva-Medha-sacrifice, and they are again one deity, viz. Death. He (who knows this) overcomes another death, death does not reach him, death is his Self, he attains the life of all and he becomes one of those deities. THIS ‘BURNING ONE’ IS THE TRUE ASHVA AND HAS TO BE SACRIFICED. THIS ASHVA HAS THE SPACE AND TIME AS ITS ‘ESSENCE’. THIS ASHVA IS THE ARKA, THE EGO WHO EXPERIENCES. THE WORLD PERCEIVED BY THE JEEVA IS HIS ESSENCE. THESE TWO ARE THE ARKA AND ASHVA MEDHA. THESE TWO ARE THE EXPERIENCING FIRE AND THE SACRIFICE OF THE SWELLING WORLD OF PERCEPTIONS. THEY ARE THE SAME AS THE UNMANIFEST VAASANA. HE WHO KNOWS THIS IS NOT DELUDED AS THE EGO. HE NEVER DIES; HE NEVER AGAIN BECOMES THE CHANNEL FOR THE UNMANIFEST VAASANA TO MANIFEST. HE ATTAINS THE STATE OF NIRVIKALPA BRAHMAN WHICH HAS NO PERTURBATIONS. HE HIMSELF IS NOW THE UNMANIFEST. HE NOW IS THE SUPREMACY; THE VERY POWER WHICH MAKES THE UNMANIFEST MANIFEST. HE IS THE STATE OF NIRVIKALPA. HE IS ALL. [OMSHANTISHANTISHANTIHI]

ASHVAMEDHA SACRIFICE This is the Horse Sacrifice mentioned in the Brhdaaranyaka Upanishad. It is like a satire of the Karma Kaanda Horse Sacrifice. Here the entire perceived world is sacrificed through Knowledge.

If you know what is the goal the Upanishads lead to, then all the analogies can be decoded to mean the same truth- ‘Self-realization’. Reciting these hymns with perfect intonations, understanding the meaning truly raises one to the state of realization instantly. If the meanings are not understood, it is just a hotch potch of nonsense. This is just a little hint in understanding the mysterious hymns of Upanishads. But a seeker after Self can surely understand these sacred scriptures by sincere efforts and hard work. All that all Upanishads declare is AHAM BRAHMAASMI -I AM BRAHMAN. AND

TATVAMASI- THAT THOU ART.

Truth is very simple; but explanations are varied! But all explanations have only one target - AHAM BRAHMAASMI AND TATVAMASI! The Upanishads may sometime contain the Karma Kaanda portions also describing in detail the rituals to be performed desiring some result. They need to be ignored by the seeker of Knowledge.

PURPOSE OF THE HYMNS Actually what is the purpose of such analogies and allegorical representations about the one and only Truth of the ‘oneness of the individual Self and the Supreme Self’? Just reverse the whole hymn and think backward; it becomes a step by step contemplative process to the state of Self-Realization! For example, we can start from ARKA state- the Experiencer. You are ARKA; analyze the whole of your life from birth to until the present instant as much as you can remember. What is life, but a collection of experiences within some space time boundary! Instead of identifying with the experiences, segregate yourself as an audience of all episodes that happened in your life! Be a witness to all your life events; contemplate it as ASHVA; how it expanded from the tiny world of a baby to the present world you are experiencing as an adult, with the scope for more expansion still. Lose the KAM of ARKA. Firmly decide no vaasanaas shall act through you; firmly realize that there is no person or persons in the world but only Death married to Vaak. Unmanifested vaasanaas manifesting to produce differentiations of name and form! Realize the whole world as an unreal picture drawn by the senses. From Arka state, recede back to Death state; swallow the Samvatsara-baby – the space/time principle; Baby dies! See Time and space as also just illusory principles created by the brain. Recede back to what existed before ‘before and after’! Nothing existed; the world did not exist then, like it does not exist in deep sleep state! Remain silent in that nothingness; the realization will occur that you alone exist as the Nirvikalpa Brahman; remain as THAT alone! JUST BE as Ramana says. Every hymn of Upanishads is a helpline offered to contemplate in the reverse way and realize the Self. You can just play with contemplation practices of all Upanishads and reach the same state of BRAHMAN! That is why these hymns are known as UPANISHADS – that which destroys ignorance and leads you closer to Knowledge.

OM TAT SAT.

CHIT – PURE AWARENESS CHIT! THAT CHIT! CHIT means

- to be conscious of, to be aware of, to perceive etc. This Awareness alone existed even before the perceptions were perceived. The Pure Awareness where nothing is perceived is CHIT. Since it is not a person, it is referred to as TAT – THAT! It is similar to a canvas without pictures; a mirror without reflections. But the potentiality of reflections exists as its inherent nature in the mirror. The potentiality of paintings exists as the inherent nature of the canvas. The potentiality of perceptions exists as the inherent nature of the CHIT! THAT is Existence – SAT! THAT is Knowledge – CHIT! THAT is Bliss- AANANDAM! THAT CHIT - exists ‘before’ the ‘beginning’! THAT CHIT - is beyond ‘Space and Time’! THAT CHIT - out of which AAKAASHA arose – VAAYU arose – AGNI arose – AAPA arose – BHU arose! THAT PURE AWARENESS SPACE TIME arose – CONTACT arose – JEEVA arose – WANTS arose – FIELD [Stage] arose!

– out of which

THAT CHIT out of which SPACE TIME IDEA with SOUND arose – CONTACT PRINCIPLE with TOUCH arose EXPERIENCER with FORM arose – WANTS with TASTE arose – STAGE with SMELL arose!

–

SELF-REALIZATION WITHDRAW the extending arms of FIRE; Leave the FUEL alone. The STAGE disappears. WATERS stop forming. WANTS lessen gradually and stop arising.

DESIRES vanish. VAASANAS die out. EGO disappears. SPACE TIME IDEA vanishes. MIND dies. CHIT ALONE REMAINS! PURE AWARENESS ALONE REMAINS! SILENCE ALONE REMAINS! THE

‘throne’ of AUM vanishes.

As the Yogi meditates on the ‘AUM’ … AUM suddenly is no more. Only SILENCE Remains! With the ‘death’ of the false ‘I’, the real ‘I’ alone remains! The false ‘I’ was just a ‘CHALANA’ – ‘Fluctuation’ in ‘CHIT’. The false ‘I’ was just a WAVE in the OCEAN of CHIT. WAVE belongs to The OCEAN. WAVE is the Ocean.

Waves are Many! Countless! Infinite! Universes are Many! Countless! Infinite! As many Egos – so many Universes! So many Space-time bubbles! ALL exist simultaneously! TIME is an illusion. SPACE is an illusion. EGO is an illusion. THAT ALONE IS THERE! THAT ALONE EXISTS! OM TAT SAT!

CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD: om iti etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta | om iti hy udgāyati | tasyopavyākhyānam || ChUp_1,1.1 || eṣāṃ bhūtānāṃ pṛthivī rasaḥ | pṛthivyā āpo rasaḥ | apām oṣadhayo rasaḥ |

oṣadhīnāṃ puruṣo rasaḥ | puruṣasya vāg rasaḥ | vāca ṛg rasaḥ | ṛcaḥ sāma rasaḥ | sāmna udgītho rasaḥ || ChUp_1,1.2 || sa eṣa rasānāṃ rasatamaḥ paramaḥ parārdhyo 'ṣṭamo yadudgīthaḥ || ChUp_1,1.3 || katamā katama rk katamat katamat sāma katamaḥ katama udgītha iti vimṛṣṭaṃ bhavati || ChUp_1,1.4 || vāg evark | prāṇaḥ sāma | om ity etad akṣaram udgīthaḥ | tad vā etan mithunaṃ yad vāk ca prāṇaś cark ca sāma ca || ChUp_1,1.5 || tad etan mithunam om ity etasminn akṣare saṃsṛjyate | yadā vai mithunau samāgacchata āpayato vai tāv anyo 'nyasya kāmam || ChUp āpayitā ha vai kāmānāṃ bhavati ya etad evaṃ vidvān akṣaram udgītham upāste || ChUp_1,1.7 || tad vā etad anujñākṣaram | yad dhi kiṃcānujānāty om ity eva tad āha | eṣo eva samṛddhir yad anujñā | samardhayitā ha vai kāmānāṃ bhavati ya etad evaṃ vidvān akṣaram udgītham upāste || ChUp_1,1.8 || 1. the syllable Om, called the Udgitha, should be meditated upon; for people sing the Udgitha, beginning with Om. Now follows the detailed explanation of the syllable: OM is Udgitha- the Higher Sound Principle – a synonym for OM – the word to denote Parabrahman. 2. The essence of all these beings is the earth; the essence of the earth is water; the essence of water is plants; the essence of plants is a person; essence of a person is speech; the essence of speech is the Rig—Veda; essence of the Rig—Veda is the Sama— Veda; the essence of the Saama —Veda is the Udgitha which is Om.

Stage for the Vaasana manifestation> Experiences> Perceptions> Embodied Self> Differentiations>Rch (worshipping hymns) (gratification of desires)>Equanimity (witness state) (Savikalpa consciousness)>OM (Nirvikalpa Parabrahman) 3. That Udgitha (Om) is the best of all essences, the supreme, deserving the highest place, the eighth. 4. What, then, is the Rk? What is the Saaman? What is the Udgitha? This is to be considered. 5. Speech, indeed, is the Rk; the vital breath (Prana) is the Saaman; the syllable Om is the Udgitha. Speech and the Prana, or the Rk and the Saaman, form a couple. Speech is Rk. Rk is all the Knowledge of the perceived world. Cognition of Differentiation is the Perceived World. Praana is Saaman. The Individual Self is the Witness Consciousness. Speech and Praana form a couple. Differentiation and Individual Self form a unit. Individual Self means the Perceiver of Differentiations. Rk and Saaman form a couple. Knowledge of the Perceived World and the Witness Consciousness form a unit. All Knowledge is nothing but the Pure Consciousness which is Absolute Knowledge. 6. And that couple become united in the syllable Om. When a pair comes together they fulfill each other’s desire. Speech is there because of Praana; Praana is there because of Speech. Differentiations exist because of Perceiver; Perceiver is there because of Differentiations. Both are co-existing units. One causes the other to exist. Knowledge of the Perceived World is there because of Awareness. Awareness is the Knowledge of the perceived World. Both are co-existing units. One causes the other to exist. Om is the Praana of the Praana. Om is the perceiver of differentiations. Om is Witness consciousness. Om is the Brahman who is aware of the perceived world. 7. He who knows this as stated above and meditates on the syllable Om, the Udgitha, becomes, indeed, a fulfiller of desires.

One who realizes his own Self as Udgitha becomes, indeed, a fulfiller of desires. 8. This syllable Om is used to give assent, for wherever one assents to something; one says Om (yes). Now, what is assent is gratification. He who knows this and meditates on the syllable Om, the Udgitha, becomes, indeed, a gratifier of desires. OM means

Existence; when you say OM to anything, it means it exists. Om is Udgitha. One who realizes himself as Udgitha becomes, indeed, a gratifier of desires. ESSENCE of PRITHIVI is OSHADHI. ESSENCE of OSHADHI is AAPA. ESSENCE of AAPA is AGNI. ESSENCE of AGNI is VAAYU. ESSENCE of VAAYU is AAKAASHA. ESSENCE of AAKAASHA is AATMAN. AATMA is the ESSENCE OF ESSENCES. RASATAMAHA! ESSENCE of ‘SPREAD OUT ARENA’ is ‘PLANTS’! ESSENCE of ‘PLANT- LIFE’ is ‘WATER’. ESSENCE of ‘WATER’ is ‘FIRE’. ESSENCE of ‘FIRE’ is ‘AIR’. ESSENCE of ‘AIR’ is ‘SPACE’. ESSENCE of ‘SPACE’ is ‘AATMAN’ [CHIT]. ATMAN is ‘ESSENCE of ALL ESSENCES’.

STUDY OF UPANISHADS In Upanishads many words are used which have to be understood according to the context of the ‘Teaching’. BRAHMAN {GREATEST} ATMAN [SELF] OM [MANIFESTED BRAHMAN] UDGITHA

All these three sounds -refer to the same thing. Why ‘Sounds’? Vedic language is sound based. Vedic language is phonetic based. It had no script as such. All communications were verbal. Vedas are also known as Shabdas; Sounds! A slightest mistake in pronunciation and the meaning would change drastically. Memory had to be perfect; Hearing had to be perfect; Sound producing mechanism in the body – throat and mouth section had to be perfect. That is why AUM is considered as the complete sound principle which contains all the possibilities of all sound effects.

Women were not banned from the Vedic world. Female Sages like Gaargi, Maitreyi were well versed in all the Vedas and were equal to male Sages in the Knowledge of the phonetic Science of Vedas. Vedas were not written. It was not so rigidly bound by grammar rules. Since it was a chemistry of sounds, any Sage could utter any new sound and create a desired effect. Mantras were also sounds perfectly coined which could affect the brains of the other organisms and create a change in the perceived worlds. After all it is not a solid world out there. Everything that is perceived is just a conception of the mind. So by affecting the brains of less intellectual brains, the whole world could be made to change. Rains could be caused by a Mantra; Fire could be caused by a Mantra and so on. The brains perceiving a rainless world had to see a world filled with rains; that is all. Anything could become a perception by the power of the Mantra and create the illusory effect. If one is cursed to become a fish, his brain and the other brains which perceive him will see the fish-form; that is all. The curse gets redeemed by changes in brains. There is no solid world out there. Brains only create perceptions. Mantras or phonetic waves create changes in brains to perceive particular things in a particular way. So Mantras were considered to be powerful. But these Mantras cannot be recited like songs or repeated parrot like. Only a person who is well-trained in phonetic emanations of the throat can utter a Mantra and create an effect. The phonetic science is as dangerous and as powerful as chemistry lab concoctions. An ordinary person without the Knowledge of the chemicals inside the lab cannot be adept in creating wonders like a chemistry Professor; nor will he be safe in the midst of such dangerous chemicals and acids. However nowadays no one is adept in this science and no one can perform any magic with Mantras. The present day homosapiens do not have such sound producing systems like the Sages of the yore. When any sound is recited as a Mantra, it is supposed to affect the whole physical and mental system of the person who utters it. The whole body vibrates to the sound of the Mantra. Gayatri Mantra is a very powerful Mantra which can improve one’s intellectual capacity only if the phonetic pronunciation is perfect; otherwise just muttering it like a ‘nama-japa’ does not serve the purpose of the Mantra. If a Sage curses a person with a Mantra, the brain of the victim remains still and changes its configurations as per the sound waves emanating from the mouth of the Sage. You cannot just scream – I curse you and get anything to happen. You need to be trained under a perfect Master of phonetics and learn the secrets from him. But the science cannot be reinvented now as the present physical structures do not have the capacity to make perfect sounds like the Sages of the yore.

SHABDA [SOUND]; VAAK [SPEECH] Both words refer to the same thing. VAAK is just modified sound. Any perturbation in the CHITTA>appears as a Thought in the mind>appears as sound in the mouth>appears as language in the mouth. Vikalpa is the Unmanifest Vaasana in Brahman>is perturbation in Buddhi>a thought in the Mind>sound in the mouth>language in the World.

In Nirvikalpa state of Brahman, no Vikalpa exists; no perturbation in Buddhi; no thought in the mind; no sound in the mouth; no language! Only THAT exists! Silence alone exists! Other than Mantras, words have to be invented which is commonly understood by all the people and so language evolved. The Vedic Language which was the secret coded sound system of the intellectuals and divinities was brought under the disciplinary rules of Grammar in the recent times by Panini, the great scholar who invented SAMSKRTAM- ‘well- modified’ Language – Sanskrit as we say now. Dammed for the general good like the uncontrolled River Ganges, Sanskrit was perfected with strict rules of Grammar. Coded Vedic language vanished into oblivion. The true meanings of Vedas were lost! One should also have a ‘thorough Knowledge’ of Sanskrit language before one starts studying the Sacred scriptures. ‘Each word’ has to be understood thoroughly. ‘Each word’ is a derivation of a particular ‘root-letter’ with its own unique meaning. Translated words in English do not covey the full-meaning of the Sanskrit words. English does not have so many words as can be formed in Sanskrit. To give an example –The word LOTUS is the same ‘translated word’ for – Jalaja – water born Pankaja – mire-born Saroja – lake-born Kamala – water decoration Neeraja- water born Padmam - attractive Every Sanskrit word is a ‘coined word’! Countless new words can be formed by using the ‘root letters’ according to fixed rules made by Panini. For example‘da’ means ‘to give’ ‘ja’ means to ‘to get born’. Adding these ‘verb roots’ to all the ‘synonyms of water’ produce many synonyms for ‘cloud’-‘water giver’ and ‘lotus’-‘water –born’! Take the word ‘cloud’ - Jalada, ambuda, abda etc. All these words mean ‘rain bearing cloud’! Vedic language was sound-based; but no rules. Sanskrit is letter based; bound by rules. If ordinary literature in Sanskrit language can abound in such abundance vocabulary, what can we speak of Vedas and Upanishads!

Even in a simple sentence of the Upanishad, which says for example, ‘cut the head of the Ashva’- the ‘translated English’ gives the ‘literal meaning’ and may explain it as ‘horse Sacrifice’! Though such ‘Sacrifices’ were in vogue in ‘royal families’, Upanishads, the ‘treasures of Knowledge’ have no need to advocate such rituals. The word ‘ashva’ is coined by two sounds; ‘A’ and ‘shva’. ‘Shva’ means ‘next time event’ or ‘tomorrow’. ‘A’ is a ‘negative letter’. ‘Ashva’ means ‘what does not exist in the next time event’. As the horse moves very fast, the word ‘ashva’ suits the ‘horse’ also! In Upanishads, ‘Ashva means that which swells’; ‘Ashva’ refers to the ‘Universe around us’. ‘Cut the head of the horse’ means, ‘cut the illusory world around you’. Gender is not important for recital of Vedic hymns. Vaani is the female deity who instructs Lord Brahma about Vedas. The Upanishads speak of MAITREYI, GARGI as ‘female Sages’. Even SITA, the ‘beloved daughter’ of King Janaka was well-versed in all Upanishads. She was present always in the countless intellectual debates held by her father in his court. Even Rama had attained the ‘Essence of Knowledge’, at the feet of Sage VASISHTA, before he even left with Sage VISHAVAAMITRA to fight the demons. Even so, unless one at least has a basic Knowledge of Sanskrit, it is difficult to study Upanishads. More than that, one should have the Knowledge of the ‘secret codes’ employed by ‘Rishis’ who hid the ‘Supreme Knowledge’ in ordinary words. When studying Upanishads understandFirst – the ‘word meaning’; Next the ‘denoted meaning’; Then, the ‘context’. Then, the ‘hidden meaning’. Then ‘chant in correct meter’, to get the phonetic effect. ‘Upanishad hymns’ have to be chanted in exact phonetic measures. They can’t be sung in filmy tunes. They need special training. Women are not banned from reciting any Mantras. If their voice can have unfaltering flow of sound from the stomach to the mouth, they can also chant! But if it is a ‘shrieking soft mellowed’ voice, one cannot recite hymns; even if it be a male voice. If one understands the general ‘concept’, then it is easy to follow any Upanishad easily.

A PASSAGE FROM SOME UPANISHAD: Gaargi, the daughter of VACHAKNU, and the Great Sage YAAJNAVALKYA, once faced each other in a discussion on BRAHMAN. Gaargi, the mischievous Seer wanted to test Sage Yaajnavalkya’s ability to comprehend the hidden meanings of the Upanishad Truths. She asked many questions and he answered them all immediately.

G: What are these world filled up with? Y: Waters, O Gaargi! [Experiences] G: What are the waters filled with? Y: Winds, O Gaargi! [Attachments] G: What are the winds filled with? Y: Worlds of space, O Gaargi! [Space time conceptions] G: What are these world covered with? Y: Dimensions, O Gaargi! [Boundaries] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: Worlds of Gandharvas, O Gaargi! [Illusions] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: Worlds of Sun, O Gaargi! [Conscious observer – witness] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: Worlds of Moon, O Gaargi! [Mental faculty] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: World of Stars, O Gaargi! [Fixed conceptions or ideas] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: By the world of Gods, O Gaargi! [Thoughts –Flashes in Consciousness- Perturbations in the brain] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: Worlds of Indras, O Gaargi! [Sense perceptions] G: What are these worlds covered with? Y: By the world of Prajaapatis, O Gaargi! [Individual worlds created by Vaasanaas] G: What are these worlds covered with?

Y: World of Brahmas, O Gaargi! [Jeevas –Individual Creators of their own worlds] G: What are these worlds covered with? Yaajna valkya lost patience at her impudence. The argument had gone too far. Yaajnavalkya spoke: O Gaargi, do not question any further! You are asking about that which is beyond reasoning! Be silent lest thy head fall off! Gaargi remained silent! If the codes for these simple words are not known, the whole passage will appear to be some tribal explanation of reality! If the hierarchy is known asParabrahman > Manifestation as Jeevas>Individual worlds> Sense perceptions> Thoughts>fixed ideas>Mind>Witness Consciousness>Illusions>Boundaries> Space Time conceptions>Contact>experiences - it makes better sense! What is the world around us? Experiences! How does it occur? Contact through the Praana! What is the result? There is some space around us and some sensation of past present and future. What does it lead to? The conception that we live in a solid world of a fixed time and space. What are these worlds bound by space and time? Just Illusory worlds! Who perceives them actually? Pure Consciousness which is a silent witness, unaffected by all experiences. Then who is affected? The mental Faculty! Why it gets affected? Because of confirmed conceptions about the world. What is the nature of the mind? Flashes of unceasing thoughts or perturbations. How is the world cognized? Through Senses! What is the result of all this? Each perceives a world based on his own mental conceptions. Who is the perceiver? The individual Self! Who is the individual Self?

ParaBrahman, the Unmanifest. What is this based on? Since the intellect is incapable of comprehending the nature of the Parabrahman, it will shatter into million pieces if it ever tries to reason out the Parabrahman. All analysis stops at this point of understanding.

ATMAN What is ATMAN? Soul? Ghost? A ‘white-light’ residing inside ‘you’, or as ‘you’? When you die, does this ‘white light’ hover around cremation grounds? Is the world filled to the brim with ‘these white ghosts’? The word ATMAN- used in Upanishads does not mean an apparition. ATMAN means ‘Essence’- RASA. What is ‘Essence’? Think- what is ‘your essence’? What is the ‘real you’? Are ‘you’ part of the surrounding patterns? Or, Are ‘you’ different from ‘all’ that is around you? Start removing all that is around you-like peeling the onion. The method of removing all that is ‘not you’ is called the NETI method. NETI is a two-letter word; NA and ITI; meaning –‘Not so’ What am ‘I’? Am I the ‘World around me’? “No”! Am I the ‘house’? “No”! In this way, one by one, every thing that is perceived by you is discarded as ‘Not You’! Family, relatives, objects that belong to you, your physical limbs, mind, intellect, thought, all are marked of as ‘Not You’! [‘Not I’!] Well- you have come to the dead end. There is nothing there now to give you any identity. Everything gets branded as ‘Mine’! But there is no trace of ‘I’! Everything is ‘Mine’ only!

My city, my house, my family, my body, my hand etc, my mind, my intellect, my thought…….! A Sanskrit poet finds humor in this ‘mine’ of the ignorant ones! The Sanskrit word for ‘mine’ is ‘mey’! He says that the lamb which went on bleating ‘mey mey’ [mine mine], “this wife is mine, these sons are mine, these animals are mine, etc.,” was carried away by the wolf called ‘death’! What happens if any of your ‘Mine’ is removed from you? You suffer! If your vehicle gets a scratch you flare up! If you son leaves you, you cry! If your wife dies, you collapse! If your house is destroyed, you feel lost! Even if your pen is lost, you feel as if a part of you is missing! You seem to be made up of only ‘Mine’s! Does all the things which you own as ‘mine’, own you instead? Are you just a ‘pattern’ among ‘patterns’? Are you just a ‘pattern’ which disintegrates when patterns related to you disintegrate? All patterns are in a state of constant flux. So, if you are just a ‘pattern’ made up of only ‘mines’, then you are also an ever-changing pattern. There is no ‘I’ at all! There are only ‘mines’! Without your body, family and world – you are a ‘nothing’. You have peeled the onion and found ‘nothing’ there. The world, family, body and even neural actions in the brain are just changing patterns! Then ‘you’ also must be a ‘changing pattern’. If you are just made of ‘parts’ like radio, then you will not exist as ‘you’ without parts. If you are just made of ‘mines’, then you will not exist as ‘you’ without the ‘mines’. So where is this renowned ATMAN? What is your essence? Are you just a bio-chemical organism? But, all bio-chemical organisms are not the same! One likes to dance; one likes adventures; one likes to find the origin of the Universe; one may even like to see God! Everyone is different! Your ‘I’ might be this most cherished desire of yours. Just a Vaasana! That is your essence. That is the essence of your individuality. So you now have identified the “I” as the deepest Vaasana which programmes all the events of your life! If no obstacles arise to block your Vaasana fulfillment, then everything is fine! But any slightest obstacle, immediately negative vibrations like anger, frustration, anxiety, etc arise leading you to utter destruction! Are you just a Vaasana then?

Are you just a ‘latent tendency’ of the Unconscious? Is that all your essence? Once the desire is fulfilled, you will cease to exist as the individual you. Some other Vaasana will start manifesting as you and your essence! You will be only a Vaasana carrier like your body is a gene carrier. What is the origin of this Vaasana which is ‘you’? From where did this ‘Vaasana’ arise? From CHIT! THAT is the Atman! THAT is your true essence! THAT is ‘I’! THAT is YOU! You are not the Vaasana manifestation as individual Self bound by space and time. You are THAT which transcends space and time. The Upanishads instruct the studentTHINK OF PARABRAHMAN AS ‘YOU’.

The Upanishads, as their very name suggests, take you near he TRUTH! From the state of acting blindly as led by the ‘Vaasana’, you realize ‘THAT STATE’ from which the Vaasana originated! You realize the TRUTH that, this ‘pattern-you’ is not your ‘Essence’! You realize that your ‘True-Essence’ is CHIT! You realize that all others around you are also just ‘vaasanaas’ masquerading as people! You realize that ‘you are the CHIT’ from which those other vaasanaas also originated. You realize, “I AM THAT”! You realize, “I AM ALL”. Well, it is not as easy as it sounds! You are not the manifestation of one single Vaasana! Countless vaasanaas are standing in queue to get fulfilled through the ‘pattern-you’! They keep rising without a break! There is no time to stand back and think-‘Who am I?’ From the ‘early morning waking-up Vaasana’ to ‘night sleep-Vaasana’, countless vaasanaas prompt your actions every moment! You are a ‘bundle of vaasanaas’ acting as ‘you’! In a waterfall, continuous movements of water drops create an illusion of a picture of the waterfall! You are also an ‘illusion of a person’ created by the continuous manifestations of vaasanaas! To stop this Vaasana-flow and ‘know’ the ‘CHIT as YOU’ is not an easy job! It is like asking the ‘darkness’ to realize itself as ‘light’! It is like asking the shadow to be its origin! The purpose of the Upanishads is to make this possible! Upanishads instruct you to contemplate on this ‘Truth’ always and realize the ‘Truth’!

Upanishads instruct you the ‘Truth’ in various ways! Upanishads have no words to describe this ‘Truth’, which transcends any ‘description’! They take ordinary words like water, air etc, and try to explain the Grand Truth of CHIT! Lest ignorant people corrupt their instructions, Upanishads hide the Truths in ordinary words! Only the real self seekers sought the realized Sages residing in forests and learnt from them the ‘Knowledge of Brahman’! Later Sri Shankaraacharya chose to simplify these instructions and wrote treatises on them. He started his instructions from a kindergarten level and simplified the Upanishads. He advised his students to ‘discriminate’ the ‘real’ from the ‘false’ and analyze the Upanishad truths logically. Many saints of the later ages simplified these instructions to the utmost level, so students could easily understand them. Simple, or complicated, the ultimate purpose of human life is to realize the SELF!

What happens to a man who realizes his SELF? Does he get all the supernatural powers? No! Does he get the Knowledge of future? No! Does he get all the wealth and glory of the world? No! Does he get the power to change his life at least? No! Does his face shine like a ‘Sun’ or ‘Moon? No! Does he at least get a ‘halo’ round his head? No! He just lives like anybody else; looks like anybody else; talks like anybody else! So, why should one realize oneself? What for? To be free! To be out of the slavery of vaasanaas! To stop acting blindly as just a bio-chemical organism! To be in control of your own actions and thoughts! To be an ‘observer of patterns’, than being a ‘pattern among patterns’! To be ‘yourself’ and ‘act’, than cry and weep like a TV serial character! To be awake, rather than keep on dreaming ‘incessant wasteful dreams’! So, what will the ‘realized man’ look like, act like? How to find out whether anyone is realized? How to know whether you are in the state of realization? Arjuna once asked this question to Krishna! He was living with a ‘realized man’ as his closest friend all throughout his life! He never even had a hint, even for a second that his friend was acting from a ‘higher level’! Krishna patiently explains to his friend, the characteristics of a ‘Sthitaprajna’!

STHITA-PRAJNA- ONE OF STABILIZED INTELLECT A person who is ‘stabilized’ in the ‘Knowledge of the Truth’ is known as STHITA PRAJNA.

[The reader is requested to understand the word ‘he’ in this passage as referring to ‘she’ also. The word ‘he’ refers to ‘Purusha, the SELF’, so the ‘masculine pronoun’ is used.]

A STHITA-PRAJNA knows the ‘Truth’! A STHITA-PRAJNA knows ‘who he is’!

He has realized that he is not a ‘pattern among patterns’! He is a single person who is ‘awake’ when all others are ‘dreaming’! He is a single person who is ‘seeing’ when all others are ‘blind’! So, how does he ‘act’ in the world? Normal! He eats, sleeps, talks like we all do! But a ‘minute change’ has occurred unknown to all his acquaintances! He has stopped feeling anxious about anything! He does not get angry and frustrated at anything that happens in his life! He is ‘almost perfect’ in any role he is placed in the family! He does not get irritated at all! A unique ‘expression of love’ lurks in his eyes, whenever he looks at anybody1 He ‘sees’ all as his own Self! He always acts from the ‘Self’ level only. He is an ‘actor’ now in the drama of life. He never reacts, but always knows how to ‘act’ in any situation. His emotions are under complete control. To correct his children, he may get angry; but the anger is an emotion employed by him. He does not pounce on his children like a lion attacking rabbits. He may even slap the children, if necessary, but his hand does not wound their bodies. It is just a gesture of anger, somewhat like what a filmy hero may act like, in such a situation. Or, he may deal more patiently with his children and guide them in the right way. He understands the feelings of everyone around him. He perfectly understands the pros and cons of any situation and acts accordingly. For all others he looks normal, but in his inner mind, a unique peace prevails. His mind is always overflowing in ‘bliss hitherto unknown’! He is equanimous in all circumstances. He does not get too much excited by any happy event and does not collapse if any tragic event occurs. His desires have died as it were. He just maintains a facade of wants. He lives in the world without any attachments. Not that he pretends or cheats everyone in the world. His emotions act in the ‘finest level’. But any world event does not affect him in the least. He is like a rock in the midst of ‘dashing waves’. He does not hanker after wealth. But he can amass wealth acting as a ‘perfect businessman’ also. He can do anything, act any role, but he always ‘acts’ with a predetermined calmness. Any pattern can be his, as his world around him. But patterns are just patterns! Dream is just a dream whatever the pictures might be! Life in this world is just a ‘phase of Vaasana- fulfillment’! When he sees any name and form, he knows that they are all the manifestations of the nameless formless CHIT, which is actually his own SELF! Then how can he act as if there are differences?

Like a play! Like an actor who plays all the roles in the Drama! Or, like an author who watches all the characters of his novel with equal vision. He is so bliss-filled that nothing can either increase it or diminish it! Like the ocean which remains always of the same measure, he remains in the same blissful state always. Like the ocean never increases in size, by the countless rivers flowing towards it or never decreases by its waters evaporating to form clouds; the realized man is not affected by loss or gains in his world of experiences! If any happy event occurs, it is nothing compared to his inner bliss state, like a handful of water in front of the ocean! If any tragic event occurs, it does not affect him like the darkness which can never exist in ‘light’! He is always blissful! A question someone may ask: Is it not a too selfish state, that when the whole world is suffering in many ways, one realizes the SELF and is always happy? Well, if every dreamer is crying in a dream world, does the waking person appear selfish, because he woke up and escaped the sufferings of the dream world? Or, as Sage Yaajnavalkya explains to his devoted wife, Maitreyi, - ‘Who is not selfish?’ A husband loves his wife, not for the sake of his wife, but because he loves himself or his own self! A wife loves her husband, not for the sake of the husband but because she loves her own ‘Self’! Everyone loves their own ‘Self’! Only they don’t know what that ‘Self’ is! A ‘Realized person’ knows his own ‘Self’ and acts from that level! So where is the ‘selfishness’ that has to be condemned here? It is as unfair as condemning a man for using a torch in a dark road, when others are walking without torches! Enlightenment is not a sin!

DEATH So far so good! But what happens after death? How to escape death? ‘Death’ does not exist for the ‘realized person’! Who is there ‘to die’? Suppose you take a mud pot and drown it in the ocean! The pot as it falls down inside the ocean is filled with ocean water inside and outside! A realized person is similar to that pot! Or, rather, he is the ‘ocean water’ inside ‘the pot’! He has realized, he is not the ‘pot’, but that he is the ‘ocean-water’ inside and outside! Actually there is no ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ for the ocean water! It does not even feel the presence of the pot drowned inside it! The pot travels down to the bottom floor of the ocean and breaks to pieces. It is as if the inside water of the pot and the outside water of the ocean mixed up! But did they?

What is inside and outside for the ocean? Pot never exists for it! The realized person is always in the state of the CHIT! The body-identification does not exist for him! When ‘death of the body’ occurs, he never knows it! The other pots ‘not drowned’ in the ocean of ‘CHIT’ will cry for the pot which broke inside the ocean! But, why does not he die, when he realizes the Self? He can’t die! He can’t die ever! When he realizes that ‘he is deathless’, how can he die? From the ‘dream of the body’ which gets born and dies, he has woken up to the ‘reality of CHIT’! The body remains alive, as long as that ‘particular Vaasana manifestation’ finishes its course! Like an arrow already shot, his body exists as long as necessary and dies! Well, leave the realized person alone! What happens to people who have started on this spiritual journey, but die before their goal of ‘Self-Realization’ is achieved? Another question put forth by Arjuna to Krishna! DEATH! Is it an end? No! The vaasanaas are the cause of births! If one ‘form’ disappears, they can easily manifest as another ego, as another ‘form’ or as the ‘same form’ even! There need not be a chronologically ordered births and deaths for an individual! Simultaneously one can finish off one’s vaasanaas in the same form existing in many similar space-time bubbles! The main issue here is not how many births or how many lives! Vaasana-fulfillment is the problem here! As many vaasanaas, so many lives! Every time one dies, we see only cessation of body-cells! His vaasanaas may just start acting in another space-time existence, which we are not aware off! Nobody has experienced death! As long as you are alive, there is no death! And you will never ever stop living for sure! Every night you fall asleep, you experience a mini-death! You wake up and start acting, based on your own memory data! If you had actually died in one world and started living in another world, you will never be aware of it! In such a case, you would have just fallen asleep to get up in a new life, with memories fixing your identity! You can ‘die’ at any age! You can get ‘born’ at any age! Every scene in your life might be a new life you are experiencing to get the Vaasanafulfillment done! Don’t be afraid! There is no ‘you or ‘I’ as persons anywhere! It is just random fulfillment of vaasanaas that is going on!

Any wave can disappear to arise as any wave anytime! Any ‘you’ can be any ‘you’ anywhere anytime! Today morning you got up! Any guarantee, that you did not die the previous night? You are only a ‘bundle of vaasanaas’, not the ‘cellular colony’ called the body! Awareness plus Vaasana can appear in any pattern and can get fulfilled! So, if you have developed Mumukshutva, ‘the desire to realize’, then that very Vaasana will create conducive worlds in some space-time, helping you to achieve the goal! The trick is to have fewer desires! Already this birth is there to fulfill some particular vaasanaas! But as you experience the world, you create more and more vaasanaas! And if by chance this body ceases its existence, the Vaasana creates new bodies for its fulfillment! If ‘hoarding wealth’ alone is your Vaasana all your life, the Vaasana may just get finished off in a rat’s life! If shouting at others is alone your identity, a future life of a dog is the best way for its expression! Why future? Maybe the street-dog shouting at you might be your own Vaasana manifesting as a dog! Are the cockroaches in your cup-board your own dirty thoughts? Is the unclean garbage dump yard, the unclean thoughts of the people who live there? Anything around you is just a Vaasana expression! Yours, or some one else’s! Your reading Vaasana creates books! Your sex Vaasana creates call-girls! Your service Vaasana creates the sufferers! Your curing Vaasana creates patients. Your teaching Vaasana creates students. Your love for beauty creates flowers! Your desire to realize creates a world of saints for you, who will guide you! The world is nothing but units of threesome; The Vaasana as experiencer and experienced and experiencing! The Vaasana as perceiver, perceived and perceiving! Nothing else is there! There is no ‘solid world’ out there! A ‘thought’ of the world alone is there! Even hundreds of properties you own all over the world are nothing but ‘thoughts’ in your brain; perturbations in the mental faculty. Every inch of the world every moment gets newly created by your Vaasana! Vaasana predicts your future, not the astrologer! Reduce the vaasanaas, you have fewer experiences! Lessen the vaasanaas, less are the ego-experiences!

Hate your wife; you will get her ‘same copy’ repeatedly in many lives to fulfill the ‘hatred Vaasana’! Love your wife; you will get her ‘same copy’ repeatedly in many lives to fulfill the ‘love’ Vaasana! Get rid of both hatred and love; be unattached; develop a desire to realize the self; you will get a world of Ramana or Ramakrishna! There is no past, or future! If your Vaasana to be with a Shirdi baba is so great, the Vaasana will create such a world! Yes even now! Past and present do not exist. A Vaasana can create any space time boundary! If you want to be in Ramayana times so much, no problem; you will get to be in that space time boundary of Rama’s life, even if you of 21st century think now that Rama lived thousands of years back in the past. Vaasana is a powerful magician. Just desire and it will happen. [There is an ancient folktale where a man wandering in a forest lost his way and sat of under a huge tree hungry and tired. He visualized in his mind a lot of exotic delicacies and cried! When he opened the eyes he found all the delicacies he had imagined in front of him. Enthralled he went on wishing for gold, silver, diamonds etc. All appeared instantly by the magic of the tree. But suddenly the man wondered, suppose a tiger came and ate him up? Well the story ends there!] If every want of yours will create its fulfillment, every thought of yours leads to its fulfillment, then think why anxiety in the mind is capable of creating negative worlds for you forever. Will it happen? Will my son die? Will I pass? Will I meet an accident? Will my plane crash... Any such thought creates the world you wanted. Why blame fate or God? It does not mean you should not be prepared for calamities and tragedies. But do it with a calm mind. Do not act with a doubtful mind! As Dalai Lama aptly comments, trust in God; but lock your car door! A realized man is a perfect man! He is never anxious. He does not create new vaasanaas. He is ever satisfied. His ego has died already. He is like a burnt seed. He will no more sprout! He is like a burnt rope, only maintaining a show of life, but never really involved in the play. Replace all your worldly vaasanaas with one single Vaasana of ‘wanting to realize the SELF’! Very soon, as Krishna suggests you will attain your ‘goal’ no matter whether you believe in the myth of ‘death’ or not!

YES! DEATH IS A MYTH! There is a favorite story of Vivekananda, taken from some Upanishad! In some forest, there was a fruit tree!

It had countless fruits on its far spreading branches. Some fruits were fully ripe, some half-ripe, others were in many stages of ripening! On the topmost branch of the tree, there rested a beautiful golden-hued bird! It had a very peaceful state of existence. It never bothered to taste the fruits of the tree! On the lower branches was another bird hopping here and there. This bird was forever searching for ripe fruits. Since it could not differentiate between good and bad fruits, it tasted every fruit it could find access to! When it bit the unripe fruits, it would suffer a lot. It would stop tasting the fruits for some time. When it by chance got the ripe fruit, it would be very happy. Again filled with greed, it would start tasting the fruits again. This process went on for a long time! Screams of pain and exclamations of joy repeated incessantly! Suddenly, the lower branch bird got the glimpse of the golden-hued bird! Attracted by its peaceful look, this bird slowly started to climb up. It had to stop eating fruits in order to climb up. But soon it fell a prey to greed and started eating fruits. Again it remembered the golden-hued bird; again stopped eating the fruits. After a long time, it managed to reach the top branch! It looked around for the golden-hued bird. There was no sign of the other bird. The bird looked at itself! Aha! It was the ‘golden hued bird’! It was never the ‘fruit eating bird’ any time! There were never two birds! There was only this ‘one’ bird! As Shankara saysNEHA NAANAASTI KINCHANA! There is not at all ‘MANY’ here!

TIME -KAALA Absolute Time is a myth. It is just a measurement like length or breadth or height. Just like we measure space, we can measure time also. It is just a number. Absolute space also does not exist. There is no simultaneity of events occurring at the same time. There is no one ‘Now’ for everyone. Everyone’s time conception differs from one another. Your ‘Now’ is never my ‘Now’. Similarly space also differs. There is no solid same space where we walk about. Space and time are relative to each other. We just perceive objects with some time measurement and space measurement.

Objects themselves are just constantly moving atoms. The brain has the capacity to draw pictures of the world very fast. Every fraction of a second the retina captures just a tiny bit of the World-picture in front of us; but the brain somehow manages to present us a full picture of a solid world in a solid time. That is why Akaasha is considered as the first step in the manifestation of the perceived world. Each Vaasana creates its own space time co-ordinates for its fulfillment. Each ego perceives its own world based on the Vaasana it is channeling out. Each individual Self carries its own world in its mind. The world that is perceived is a network of vaasanaas all acting at once. Some perceptions are common for some egos and a certainty in a solid world comes into vogue.

Just think for a few minutes what the world around us is like! We the embodied ones who are certain that we are the gross bodies which gets born and dies, act only from the body-level, think only from the body-level. These bodies are just various groups of cells acting together just for survival. They have no thoughts. These cells are nothing but atoms which are just moving in and out of our body area. The light which is moving at a speed of 300,000 Km per second connects these atoms to our retina and instantly the brain draws lines and gives an audio visual presentation of the world. Colors and sounds and solid shapes do not exist out there. They are created by the magic wand of the brain; of course the magician is as Shankara says – Parabrahman! But for the brain, this world is bereft of colors and sounds. Moreover we the atom-piles are constantly on the move on a supposedly bigger pile of atoms called Earth which is circling the Sun at the speed of 67,000 miles per hour. Sun itself rotates and is a tiny part of a gigantic galaxy moving around in space. Where are we solidly situated in this world? What is the meaning of our tiny identities and the ‘mine’ ‘mine’ which we hold on to? Neither are we real; nor is the world around us real! Upanishads do not give us all the data science presents us now; but they do not differ in their conceptual Knowledge from Science. ‘Space and time are just illusory concepts of the brain’ – this fact is repeatedly discussed in Upanishads, Vaasishta Ramaayanam and Tripura Rahasya and Physics. The perceived world is nothing but a brain signal getting its fulfillment. Suppose two persons decide to visit a temple some two kilometers away. The Vaasana or the brain signal is ‘going to the temple’ in both of them. Do they go to the same temple? No! If you go by car, the time is short, space is short; if you walk, time taken is longer, and space is more. Time is elastic; Space is elastic. Time can stretch or contract; space can stretch or contract. Clock is another illusory pattern deluding us to believe that we all experience the same world in the same time.

‘Going to the temple’ can become a three hour movie or a five minutes flash scene. The man who walked to the temple and one who used the car do not visit the same temple as we commonly believe. Car-man goes to his own temple in his own world created by his own brain. Walking man also goes to his own temple in his own world created by his own brain. Both temples are not the same; they are similar copies of the temple presented by their brains. When they both meet they can synchronize their experiences and believe that they visited the same temple. But the experiences for both of them are different. ‘Waters are different’. They visited different temples of their own separate brain created words. They existed in different space-time dimensions. Every moment, whatever we perceive, be it our own homes or other objects, each person, each ego perceives a different world based on his own brain. Each Vaasana creates a world around us what we perceive as a huge world! The mind just believes that a solid world exists and we feel certain that the world exists outside our body whether we exist or not. Even the body is just an idea in the brain. The whole existence we perceive is just a collection of ideas. Even the rainbow we see adorning the sky is not the same rainbow for everyone. Each sees a different rainbow as per the space he is located. Everything is just a perception created by the brain; time and space are just illusory measures holding our perceptions together. Our life stories are nothing but made-up stories of the brain. Even the TV programme seen, say at 6PM is not the same 6PM for the two neighbors. Neither do we as egos have real existence; nor does the world we perceive has real existence. As Shankara saysNEHANAANAASTI KINCHANA.

There is not in the least differentiations; Just patterns in the Parabrahman!

KRISHNA – THE STHITAPRAJNA Sri Krishna was the disciple of SAGE KAPILA. He mastered ‘Saankhya Philosophy’ under his guidance. He had attained many ‘Siddhis’ at the feet of SAGE VYAASA. He had mastered sixty four ‘LEARNING’ [VIDYAA], and was awarded the title of ‘Bhagavaan’ by the ‘community of Sages’! BHAGAVAAN – means one who possesses BHAGA –‘Great Learning which adds luster to oneself’! Krishna had earned the title by years of hard work and practice. His life from his childhood was a ‘fight’ against ‘fate’! Yes! Fate! A higher being who descends down to the Earth in a human garb has to struggle a lot every moment of his life to reach his goal like a mega serial hero character! He cannot have an ordinary life! Every event of life is an important episode. He has to be a winner always. He is fated to have only bad cards, yet triumph over others. All the magical powers of a God are left behind in the God world back at his Cozy home and he enters the world arena enveloped by the worst possible circumstances. Though he might be a PHD at home, he has to start from the Kindergarten ABC here! He has to practice contemplation and realize the Self! He has to train himself in austere practices under the

strict surveillance of a Guru, if he has to attain the Siddhis! He has to work harden than others, he has to struggle more than others and prove that any human can reach the greatest heights in life, if they only Will it! Nothing is impossible if one just puts his efforts sincerely to its achievement. It was a long and hard climb from the cowherd ‘Gopala’ state to the acclaimed position of ‘Vaasudeva Krishna, the ‘King of Dwaaraka’! King of Dwaaraka had eight wives! But no happiness! All his marriages were politically oriented. He had to protect the little community of his Yaadava clan from many strong enemies. The only way to get help from other neutral kings was alimony with their daughters! He had also become a close friend and advisor for Paandavas, his cousins of Kuru dynasty! His life was a constant struggle! But, he never lost his balance of mind at any stage of his life! He was a ‘Sthitaprajna’- ‘the man of stabilized intellect’! But, not even his closest friend or wife knew of his ‘greatness’! He was a ‘Sage’ hidden in royal robes! Krishna was not a ‘Sage’ by birth! Life’s tragedies had carved him to become a stone idol! Krishna? His life, a tragedy? A ‘God’ lost in the ‘stormy waves’ of the world? Yes! Before his birth itself, he was marked for death by his uncle! After birth, though of royal blood, he had to grow with the cowherd children of Gokul. Instead of getting educated in weaponries and higher sciences, he learnt to tend cows, and milk them. His childhood was of course joyous and adventurous - playing in fields, grazing cows in the forests etc; but his precious childhood years just wasted away in these routine works. As he was getting attached to the villagers and their way of life, he was suddenly taken away to Mathura and introduced as the prince to all the citizens. Though he had not taken much effort to kill his uncle, Kamsa had collapsed in the mind the moment he set his eyes on Krishna! An astrology freak, he had already lived all his life expecting death from his little nephew. Fear had made him half insane. He had imprisoned his own sister and brother-in -law out of fear. He had tried his best to kill Krishna. But the villagers had spread the rumor that this little dark boy was a God in person. The killers sent by Kamsa had succumbed to these rumors and had fled at the sight of the little boy. They were also attacked by Krishna and his gang of boys in the forest and had been caught in the traps set by them. Anyhow the story spread that God had killed these soldiers! And God cannot kill ordinary soldiers; so they were weird shaped demons as Krishna himself boasted! Krishna was an intelligent child. He was hailed as the chieftain’s son. Whatever he did nobody questioned him. Whatever he said, every one believed him. That is how his mother Yashoda had seen the world in his mouth! He had been having a competition with his friends as to who will hold the breath for long. He had turned purple in the effort. His mother saw him in that state. She thought he was about to die. Other friends tried to put her off saying that Krishna had eaten mud. But she had fainted away. The playful scene became very serious. When Yashoda woke up, she saw Krishna hale and hearty. She called him a miracle child and lost no time in exaggerating his greatness. She told everyone he was her world and life. The rumor spread to Mathura that Krishna had the whole world in his mouth! What world can an uneducated woman see in the mouth of a child? What does her brain know of the three worlds, Vishva roopa etc.? An Avatar’s mother need not necessarily be a divine

being with all Knowledge and Understanding. She was just a cowherd woman, that too not of royal genes like Krishna. Why should a playful scene in a child’s life be picturized as some great magical event? Thanks to the devotional poetries; whatever that happens in an avatar’s life is ‘MADHURAM’ sweet and miraculous! Krishna had understood the intelligence level of those innocent villagers. He lost no time in building up the stories of demons and his acts of magical valor! These stories kept the villagers away from forest regions and he and his friends including his dear Radha spent their time there time playing there undisturbed by anyone! But his ‘godhood’ ended when he entered Mathura. Does anybody wonder why the demon clan ended at Gokula and never appeared after he left Gokul? Because they were never there! Kamsa was not a demon; he was an ordinary Yaadava Prince; how can he be a Lord of demons? These demons existed only in the imaginary world of the illiterate cowherds! The citizens of Mathura were not as gullible as the cowherd families of Gokul! Krishna had to train himself as a prince now. His playful lazy life had to be left back. He was sent to Saandeepani’s hermitage school by his parents. He was eight year old, yet had not learnt even the basic lessons till then. He was too backward. Other boys outwardly showed respect to him due to a prince. But he knew that all of them talked low of him in their own chambers. He did not know how to dress up like city-boys, he did not know proper manners, and he did not know even the language used by royalties! And he knew they even called him in their circles as the cowherd boy or the cow dung cleaner. That name stuck to him all through his life; Gopala – the cowherd! Any where he went, when people wanted to curb him could only insult him in those words. He had got used to it so much; he never bothered to even react to such ridicules. Here now in Saandeepani’s ashram, he was very new to such a cruel selfish world. He missed his cowherd friends, his adopted parents, and his dearest friend Radha. So many times he wished she would come and punish all those boys who were hurting him like this. Many a night he woke up crying out her name and calling for her help! She never came. He was never allowed to go to Gokul again as his parents felt anxious that he may fall back into playful truants. He complained to his brother about his loneliness! But Balaraama was too strong and heavy to be bothered about these small things. He was a hero there with his muscular body and strong personality. He had gathered his own admirers now. Krishna cried many a times alone in some obscure corner of the hermitage unseen by anybody. That is how he became friends with Sudaama, the poor Brahmin boy! Sudaama was able to understand the plight of this dark boy and was glad to have him as his friend in the midst of royal kids. He taught Krishna all that had to be learnt to equal his co-students. Being highly intelligent, Krishna soon was ahead of all the students of his class with the tutorship of Sudaama. He over threw everyone by just keeping ahead of everyone in studies and games. He was soon the admired student of the Sage. He became the pet assistant of his teacher and his good heart soon won him the company of many Sages. He studied anything and everything worth learning. He practiced contemplation and was very easily able to reach the ‘Self state’! He sought Sages here and there and mastered all yogic powers. He studied Vedas and understood their meaning. He sat with Vyaasa and helped him to sort out the Vedas. He mastered sixty two types of learning and was awarded the title- Bhagavaan by the community of sages. He learnt to dress so beautifully, that soon he became the fashion-model of the youngsters. He fought all

enemies by careful strategies and conquered them. He rescued the sixty thousand princesses imprisoned by Jaraasandha. His friendship with Paandavas strengthened his position as a minority king. That is why he had to marry here and there. However, he was a Sannyasin inside. He used the power of illusion and hypnotic powers –to keep his wives satisfied. He actually never enjoyed any pleasure with his wives. Nobody except Sage Vyaasa knew about his secret. Sage Vyaasa also helped him to beget children without actual closeness with his wives. Forget all the vivid colorful myths associated with his life. Look at the whole thing rationally. Let us reconstruct his story according to his personality. Krishna’s life occupies only a small section of Bhagavata. It is just one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu and there is just a brief account of his life mentioned there. Bhagavata is a gigantic discourse of Shuka Muni covering all the descents of Lord Naaraayana. It abounds with many philosophical discussions and creation theories. What we now have as the life events of Sri Krishna are mostly imagined versions extracted from the poetries of the devotees of Sri Krishna. Though as a spiritual practice these works may help in the contemplation of the deity, they do not present the true facts of Krishna’s life. Presenting Krishna as a romantic personality attracted one and all and the trend continued in that direction so much so that even many dance forms borrowed the idea of Krishna as a lover and enhanced their popularity. Girls started acting the role of Krishna adorned with colorful dresses and peacock feathers. The dances became highly colorful with many blue hued Krishnas dancing with colorfully attired young girls. (By the way, he was not blue colored like a monster; he was dark hued like any other Yaadava-clan child) Krishna looked like a ‘feminine-male’ born to dance with girls! The flute which he never played after he left Gokul became a constant decoration in the hands of Dancing lady-Krishnas and filmy Krishnas making it a symbol of Krishna! A picture of blue hued ‘feminine looking’ Krishna adorned with green peacock feathers on a golden crown and a gold flute in a blue hand pressing against red lips ; pretty teen age girls dressed in colorful attires dancing around him is a picture good for calendars and for stage presentations; but can this be true? Was he so feminine looking personality, that every female dancer dresses up as Krishna and degrades his true personality? Let us start from MAHABHARATA. We can at least believe some war took place somewhere. Let us believe that. We have to start somewhere. There is the description of Krishna acting as the chariot driver to Arjuna. And of course he held all the reins of five horses in one hand, and a whip in the other hand. Think for yourself, what the strength of his hands would be. The horses were trained for warfare. He had personally taken care of his horses. To control them all together in a Warfield was not done by playing flute. He must have been very strong and muscular. His hands must be tightly gripping the reins and the muscles protruding.

And where would he get peacock feathers to adorn his crown, in that war-field? He must have worn heavy armor, and a war helmet. What would he look like? Bred on butter all his childhood and pampered by Mother Devaki later on, he would be slightly heavier in build- a little on the plump side. Regular in exercise, he might have kept his body in perfect shape. He was equal to Arjuna in age. He might have even held wrestling matches with his close friend Arjuna. After all wasn’t he the brother of the mighty Balaraama? A broad chest, muscular arms, deep eyes of a Yogi, majestic gait – a perfect man he was! How could he look feminine even in imagination? How could he have danced with pretty girls in Gokul? He was just about eight years of age when he left Gokul. Gopis all must have been elderly married women. Their children must have been his friends. How could that child be romantically connected to these older women? Would he know of sex so soon? Was he deranged? A psycho? No! He was just a child. But, a clever child; an intelligent child! YAADAVAAS –COWHERDS.

They lived by selling milk and milk products. They were not educated. Their life was centered on cows; tending cows, cutting grass, milking, making butter etc . And their children - if girls, they must help in butter making and boys would take the cows out to far away fields for grazing. Girls, if we believe Indian history, would be married even before they crossed their eighth year! They would be busy acting daughter-in-laws in their husband’s family. And how would the boys spend time? Grazing cows in the far-away jungles! May be playing, climbing trees, collecting all feathers and flowers of the jungle. Maybe they all decorated themselves with any feather or flower available. Maybe Krishna and his gang got into this habit by the company of the one and only girl member of the gang Radha. She must have taught them to make garlands, decorated her darling Krishna with most colorful feathers. Discarded by her husband she must be the only one girl who had time to play around with boys. She surely must have been thrice the age of the boys. She must have been the unanimously chosen leader of the gang! Krishna was a child who admired her for being different from the rest of the girls. NANDA AND YASHODA!

Though glorified as God’s parents, you can’t ignore the fact that Nanda and Yashoda belonged to the cowherd clan; gullible – trusting every astrologer and saffron robed Vagabond who visited their village. Krishna was not actually a cowherd by birth. His genes were different. He belonged to the royal family. He might have looked quite handsome in the midst of the cowherd boys. He also was the adopted son of Nanda, the chieftain- PRADHAN. He might have used his position as a chieftain’s son for his advantage.

All the myths of him being a God might just be rumors spread by the illiterate cowherd clan. But Krishna indeed evolved into a God by sheer hard work and sincere efforts. His wisdom and manner brought acclaims to him from one and all! Let us appreciate and admire him for what he really was – a perfect man; not because he carries a flute and wears a peacock feather on his crown! Let us follow the footsteps of this Great Man and learn to act Gods in the garb of human. Let us realize the true nature of our Self and become perfect like the Great Yogi! Let us stop the mechanical chanting of the Gita and follow the instructions offered by the Great Master!

Salutations to the Perfect Man Krishna! Salutations to Lord Naaraayana who perfectly played the role of Krishna on Earth! Salutations to the Realized Yogi Krishna! Salutations to Krishna, the Sthitaprajna! Salutations to my own Self who is Krishna! OM TAT SAT