The Intuitional Science of the Vedas – 2

This discourse was given by Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji on Bhádra Púrńimá 1955, during DMC.

« The Vedas are the unique manifestation of human intellect. The etymological meaning of the word “Veda” is knowledge. This knowledge is of two types. One type is subject to time, space, and person, and the other is the realization of the self, independent of all subjections. The former is called Relative Knowledge or Aparájińána, because it is related to objects, and the latter, Spiritual Knowledge or parájinána. Here the word, Veda, is of course used in the sense of spiritual knowledge.

Last Shrávańii Púrńimá I told you some thing from the Shukla-Yajurveda. Today I will tell you something from the Atharva Veda. Learned persons say that there is nothing important in the Atharva Veda. It is only a collection of mantras or incantations about ghosts and spirits, composed by people in prehistoric times. It is up to you to judge the veracity of the opinion.

One day, Vaedarbhi, the son of Bhrgu, asked the learned sage Pippaláda, “My Lord what is Intuitional Science (Brahmavijinána)? What is the relation between Brahma and the world? Please tell me something about them.” The sage replied:

“Aráiva rathanábhao práńe sarvaḿ pratiśt́itam
Rco yajúḿsi sámáni yajinahkśatraḿ Brahma ca.”

Just as the spokes are attracted to the hub of a wheel, similarly every object in this universe is Brahma-centric and thus has kept up its individual existence. The nucleus of the Cosmic System is the source of all entities from the highest of created being down to the lowest insect. Rk. (Incantations), Yaju (invocations), Sáma (songs) or the individuals engaged in Viprocita or Ksátrocita service (i.e. service befitting a Brahmin or a Kśatriya) – all are dependent on Brahma, the source of their existence.

Prajápatishcarasi garbhe tvameva pratijáyase
Tubhyaḿ Práńa prajástiimá baliḿ haranti yah práńaeh pratitiśt́hasi.

The word, Prajá, means evolved objects. Brahma is of course Prajápati or the Lord of evolved objects for He is the controller of all of them. Prajápati-Brahmá moves about in the womb as the embryo and when it is born, the event, in fact, should actually be called the reflex birth of Brahma instead of His birth, because all created entities are merely manifestations of Brahma Himself. For instance, there is only one moon, but its reflection falling in the countless footprints of cows (Gośpada) appears as countless moons. No new moons are created. The same moon is being reflected in several receptacles. Similarly one Brahma is manifesting Himself over an infinite number of units in countless mental receptacles. Brahma is Absolute Bliss. That is why the units or microcosms are always racing with the help of their sensory and motor organs towards their inner selves, i.e. towards the attainment of happiness. So it is said that knowingly or unknowingly the units are moving towards Him to attain Him, filled with inspiration from Him. (Several times in the Atharva Veda the word, “Práńa”, has been used to mean Puruśa and the word, “Rayi” to mean Prakrti).

Devánámasi bahńitamah pitrńaḿ prathama svadha
Rśiińáincaritaḿ satyamatharváungirasámasi.

Here the word, Deva, means the carrier of sensations, i.e., organs and nerves. Through the organs and nerves the body expresses a sensation or feeling and that is why they are called Devas or gods of the microcosmic body. But these organs and nervous systems are completely dependent on the spine for their existence and functions. Sensation is transmitted along the spine and that is why without a spine the unit would be a motionless, inert, fleshy mass. The above Shloka declares that, what spine is to the unit, Brahma is to the universe. Without Brahma the universe would be utterly destroyed, the seed of the imagination would be completely obliterated. According to an ancient custom, the death rites in honor of the deceased used to be performed by using Svadhá mantra (i.e., an invocation chanted while offering a sacrifice to the spirits of the dead). That is why, it is said that Brahma, as the first and foremost point in order of succession, is as important to all mundane objects as the first recipient of obsequial oblations is to the subsequent ones. To the sages He is as sacred as the vow of truthfulness. By Rśis or sages I mean those who have hastened the advancement of human civilization by inventing or discovering things through their Sádhaná or spiritual practices. Such sages make the base of their lives on truth; without truthfulness intellectual expansion towards the Supreme is not possible. Let us here discuss the meaning of the word, Truth. People generally use four words, Satya, Tothya, Samyak and Rta synonymously or in an identical sense. But in reality there is a great difference in their meanings. The English equivalents of Tathya, Samyak and Rta are “Fact”, “Correct”, and “Truth” respectively. But in other languages “Satya” (Truth) has no equivalent. The Philosophical meaning of the word “Satya”, is unchangeable, i.e., that which has no distortion, that which is beyond distinctions of time, space, and person. Human life progresses through different stages – from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to youth, youth to old age and old age to senility. It is through these changes that people progress. That is why human life or its receptacle, the body, is not Satyá or Truth. There is yet another philosophical meaning of the word, “Satya”, which is Citsvarúpa (the Supreme consciousness) or Puruśa. In the field of Sádhaná or intuitional practice the meaning of “Satya” is “Parahit́arthaḿ váunmanaso yathárthatvaḿ satyam” i.e., Satya is the benevolent use of words and the mind for the welfare of others. No matter what meaning of “Satya” we accept, a benevolent sage has got to be truthful. The creation of one who has not learnt to regard the blissful, unchangeable Entity as the ultimate goal is no creation – is a veritable negation of creation.

The great sage, Maharśi Atharvá, who lived in ancient times, while he was practicing Brahma-Sádhaná, was the first to gain intuitional knowledge by the grace of Brahma. He taught that knowledge to Maharśi Aungirá, who taught it to Satyaváha. Satyávaha in turn taught Áungirasa. So the sage says, Brahma, the source of all existing entities, is as important to them as Atharvá, the expounder of intuitional science, is to Aungirasa and his other students.

Indrastvaḿ práńa tejasá rudro’si parirakśitá;
Tvamantariikśe carasi súryastvaḿ jyotiśámpatih.

The word Indra means great or a king. Brahma is the controller of the vital force which keeps the organisms alive; we call Him Indra, when He controls our lives and our energies through His expressions. We call Him Rudra or the God of thunder, when He, as our friend, saves us from the jaws of calamities through His affectionate and tender touch. He exists everywhere; He is present about us sometimes as a sound, sometimes as a thought or emotion and sometimes as a crude individual entity. There is not a place in the universe where He is not manifest.

What we take for a void is also full of Him. He is even in places where the intellect cannot reach, from where the imagination bounds back thwarted and baffled.

Jale hari sthale hari anale anile hari,
Graha-tárá-súrye hari harimaya e trisámsár.

[He is in water and in land and fire and the ether He is in the sun and the stars and planets. He is in all the three worlds.]

In the planetary world it is His glory that shines as the sun. Take for instance, the backbone of the nervous system, the Svadhá of departed ancestors, the satya of the sages or Indra, Rudra, the sun – are all these separate entities? No, all is He, all is He, all is He. The person whose apparent name is Dhruvajyotih, whom a son calls “father” for he sees in him a father-like manifestation, a father calls “Dheva”, for he sees in him a son-like manifestation, a school boy, “Sir”, for he sees in him a teacher-like manifestation, and a tongawalla, “Hey, Topee”, for he sees the Topee (cap) as the all-important thing, in reality, are these addresses such as “father”, “sir” or “hey topee”, so many different persons? Actually, they are the result of looking at one Dhruvajyotih from different angles of vision.

Yadátvamabhivarasasyathemá práńa te prajáh
Ánandarúpastiśt́hanti kámayannaḿ bhavisydiiti.

There is nothing inanimate or insentient in this world; everything is animate and sentient. In some places consciousness is condensed and in other places it is uncondensed. Where consciousness is condensed, we say “animate” or “sentient”, and where it is uncondensed, i.e., where the influence of Prakrti is more predominant, we say, “inanimate” or “insentient”. The difference between this so-called sentience and insentience is that the so-called sentient, due to its consciousness being condensed, is capable of controlling itself, but due to the uncondensed state of consciousness the so-called inert or insentient is entirely dependent on the wishes of Prakrti, i.e., it is compelled to behave according to the thought-process of the Macrocosmic Mind. This may stimulate a question in our minds. If the so-called inert object is subject to the wishes of the Cosmic Mind, then the Cosmic Grace must necessarily have to be on it only. If the sentient is capable of thought by itself, why should Brahma think for it at all? There is hardly any ground for Brahmic mercy to be showered upon it. The world is crude, and that is why He has kindly regulated its course of movements, so that it may not be smashed to smithereens by the impact of a comet. But to a sentient person He has allowed discretion to take poison or nectar. Is this consciousness then a curse to the living? No. To Him “animate” and “inanimate” make no difference. He has no partiality for one or the other. The insentient do not work by themselves, and so they are not vulnerable to punishment or eligible for reward for vices or virtues, but the sentient attain the good or bad consequences of their acts… they experience pleasure and pain. Let one suffer or enjoy according to one’s deed. He stands by His duties, why shouldn’t He? With the birth of a child He provides milk in the mother’s breasts, affection from the father and love from friends. Aren’t these His mercies? After the scorching summer of the month of Vaeshájha come the showers of the rainy season. These merciful showers are also His. From such changes rocks, iron or gold do not perceive pain or pleasure. It is living beings who endure or enjoy them. It is through these showers for their enjoyment that various things grow, and through them they all feel and enjoy the self-same Bliss Absolute, which Parama Puruśa Himself. And so He has not only forgotten you, rather He gives you compassion and mercy for no compulsive reason – much more mercy perhaps than you even deserve.

Brátyastvaḿ Práńaeka rśiratta vishvasya satpatih
Vayamádyasya dátárah pitátvaḿ mátarishvanah.

The word, “Brátya,” means “fallen”. According to the social code if a Brahmin does not follow the principles worthy of a Brahmin, he/she will fall into the category of the Brátya. Similarly if a Kśatriya or a Vaeshya does not act according to his Varńa (color), he will be categorized as Brátya. The question of being Brátya or fallen does not arise in the case of a shúdra, for all apostates are known as Shudras. Brátya Brahmin, Brátya Kśatriya and Brátya Vaeshya, due to their acts being inconsistent with their respective Varńas, are regarded as meaner than the Shúdras who belong to the Varńáshrama (Institution of social order). Here Brahma has been called Brátya, for He is above all the Saḿskáras or prejudices of this social system, Varńáshrama. No Saḿskára can bind Him. All Saḿskára-bound powers bow to His Glory. The Ajinána Bodhinii Tantra also says, –

Varńáshramábhimánena shruti dásye bhavennarah;
Varńáshramavihiinashca vartate shruti múrdhańi.

So long as there are Varńa prejudices (caste-disparity, financial disparity, regional disparity, educational or other disparities) in human beings they can never realize or feel the non-distinctive, incessant flow of the Cosmic Essence, the integral Brahma – never, never can they do so. As long as they keep this caste-vanity as the trademarks, they will keep themselves enslaved to scriptural injunctions, because they regard one or the other Varńa as the chief prop or mainstay of their mind. When a person through this spiritual and mental development or through their merger in the Supreme Being, identifies himself with Brahma who is above the Varńas, they attain a position above scriptural injunctions whereupon to be bereft of Varńa or color is the real Sádhaná.

There is a reference in the Vedas to a sacred fire called “Ekarśi.” This fire used to be preserved with meticulous care. That is why the people in general held this Ekarśi fire in great esteem and paid greater respects to it than they did to any other fire. Now imagine, on one hand the Supreme Entity has been called Brátya or fallen, and on the other He has been revered as Ekarśi. Being beyond the confines of all Saḿskáras or prejudices or consequential momenta, He remains unconfinable to or by any attribute, and the purity or Ekarśi, being considered the highest at the top of society, also remains immeasurable.

This Brahma is also the devourer or destroyer of all objects of the universe, for this universe is being conceived and lost in His mind-stuff. That is to say, just as He is continually creating His mentally conceived world in His Brahmábháva (or creative mood) on the one hand, similarly He is continually devouring it mercilessly as the Saḿhartá or Destroyer on the other. All objects, all entities of the world are His pabulum, His food and some day they all have got to offer their respective structures as oblations to Him. That is why it is said that the units are the givers of His food. What are they giving Him? They are giving away to Him their sense of ego – their pain-laden identities of petty selfishness.

This very Supreme Being is the Father of Váyu or air. These Váyus, according to their internal and external distinctions, are preserving the existence of the unit through their tenfold transformations. So these Váyus or práńáh, are the foundations of all the senses of the units, and Brahma is the Director or Father of these Váyus or práńáh. Váyu is the life of the unit, and Brahma is the Life of life.

Yá te tanúrváci pratiśt́háta ya shortre yá ca caksuśi.
Yáca manasi santatá shiváḿ tán kuru mortkramiih.

What I speak is only a manifestation of Thy form. What I hear – that also is the sonic manifestation of Thy form. Whatever and whenever I see with the help of my eyes is but Thy form-manifestation. Whatever I think within myself, judge or decide about evil or virtue are all only Thee, Nothing exists outside Thee I, whatever my sensory organs perceive, comes from the world permeated by Thee, and whatever my motor organs activate or shun are but Thy different expressions. O Merciful Brahma! Let Thy inspiration guide my movements towards the virtuous path – towards Supreme Consciousness. Let whatever I say, hear or see be charged with Thy thought and transformed into sublimity. Let me not see nor hear any mean entity nor give it a verbal form. Let me realize and understand every moment that thou art all that is seeable, hearable or utterable by me. O Great One, Be not miserly towards me. Lead me to the auspicious path – to the path of good. Control my moments properly.

Práńasyedaḿ vashe sarvaḿ tridive yat pratiśt́hitam
Máteva puttráń rakśasva shriishca prajináinca videhi nah.

All created objects that exist in this universe are under the sway of the Supreme Being. He is controlling every thing of this world, whether crude, subtle or casual. The world has dedicated itself to His Glory. O Soul Supreme! Teach us the intuitional science and lead us to the path of well-being. We are entirely under Thy shelter. Just as a mother protects her son, protect us from baseness, poverty and pettiness. Establish us in prosperity and wisdom.

Pippaláda had told Sukeshá, the son of Bharadvája, –

Aráiva rathanábhao kalá yasmin pratiśt́hitáh;
Taḿ vedyaḿ purúśaḿ veda yathá ma vo mrtyuh parivyatháh.

Just as the hub of a wheel controls the spokes, similarly the Supreme Brahma is controlling the sixteen basic factors of this universe, i.e., the ten organs (sensory and motor), five vital principles or práńáh (i.e., Práńa, Apána, Samána, Udána and Vyána), and ego. All these sixteen factors (Kalás) are completely sheltered in Him and are the causes of life and death or fluctuations in lifespan. Try to know Him. Know Him through the Spiritual Knowledge or Parájinána. If you are able to do so, you will be able to overcome death and all kinds of degeneration easily. You shall conquer death. The Supreme One is the only remedy for this. The preventor of death is that ambrosial Cosmic flow. That is why the Vedic sages prayed to that Ocean of Nectar and Deathlessness Brahma.

Asato má sadgamayo tamasomá jyotirgamayo
Mrtyurmá amrtorgamayo ávirávih mayaedhi.

O Supreme Brahma! Lead us to the world of deathlessness from this mortal world.

Avih sannihitaḿ guhácarannáma mahat padamatraetat samarpitaḿ
Ejat práńannimiśacca yadetajjánatha sadasadvareńyaḿ
Paraḿ vijinánád yadvariśt́haḿ prajánám.

Elsewhere in the Atharva Veda much has been said about the Supreme Soul. He is Self-effulgent – Autophanous, i.e., His effulgence is not derived from any other source. He is inherent in everything good (There is nothing bad in the world. What we think to be “bad”, is only the transformed condition of “good” under the influence of Máyá, the Creative Principle). In other words all “good” objects are He. Hence my ego is not devoid of Him.

He is the Life of my life, the Ego of my ego, the Soul of my soul. There is nothing so close to me as He. He is the Guhácara or Heart-dweller. Here the word Guhácara does not mean mountain cave-dweller. Here Guhá means heart. Hence the one, who is Guhácara is the heart-dweller – the controlling Lord of the heart.

An individual always seeks out a safe refuge, but no refuge can give lasting shelter. Only He is the Supreme Refuge. Nothing is greater or more noble than Him. He is dynamic. Here a question may arise: whence does movement come for One Who is all-pervading? But really He is moving. His motivity lies in the thought-process of His psychic body. This world is His fanciful imagery, born out of His psychic body. This world would not have come into being if He really had no imagination or if the thought-wave of imagination had not awakened in His Psychic Body. The five Váyus (Práńa, Apána, Samána, Udána and Vyána) that feature in a living body according to their respective distinctive functions, as the result of which the units are kept alive – those vital forces or Váyus, also are only He. The twinklings of the eye-lids that have kept alive the power of inferential apprehensibility of human being every moment are also He. Really speaking, behind all these vital forces or twinklings it is His existence alone that revibrates in the unit-mind as the latent absolute Truth. It is through the inspirations of His existence that the veins and nerves are being sensitized and vibrated. All that we think good or bad in this world is but His different circumstantial distinctions. Brahmabháva or divine bearing is not limited to the Puruśa entity alone, it is the basis of whatever is virtuous and good. The great Prakrti, who is seemingly transforming the Puruśa entity into transitory objects, is also He. Brahma is the composite name of Puruśa and Prakrti.

Tvamekodvitvaḿpanno Shivashakti vibhágashah.

Brahma is the greatest of all. Nothing is greater than Him. “Yadanye nádhirohati”. Brahma is not attainable through common knowledge, nor can pedantry or erudition touch or hold Him. He is metempiric, transcendental beyond the scope of knowledge or cognition, whereas human knowledge is only a partial knowledge. He is venerable to all. He abides in His own Glory above all creations. He is the One Who is the Knower even of your sense of ego. Try to know Him.

Yadarcimad yadańubho’ńu ca yasmin loká nihitá lokinashca.
Tadetadakśaraḿ brahma sa práńastadu váunmanah
Tadetat satyaḿ tadamrtaḿ tadveddhavyaḿ somya viddri.

He is luminous. He is the molecule of molecules, the atom of atoms. He is so subtle that mind cannot apprehend that subtlety. Yet from another angle, He is so vast that the entire universe lies within Him. He is indestructible, He is unfallen, He is the Life, the Truth, the Nectar, O Saomya (Tranquil)! O Sádhaka! He is your speech. He is your mind. Pierce through Him by dint of your meditative concentration – by dint of your own spiritual force.

Dhanurgrhiitavaopaniśadaḿ mahástraḿ sharaḿ hyupásánishitaḿ sandhayiita;
Áyamaya taddhávagatena cetasá lakśyam tadevákśaraḿ somyaviddhi.

“O Tranquil Sádhaka! Sádhaná is your great bow”. (Here Upaniśad means the austere method of Sádhaná, for that which attains the proximity of Brahma is called Upaniśad). Set your worship-sharpened mind-like arrow on this bow. Now inclining your mind towards Him, pluck and twang the string of the bow and pierce through your target – that indestructible Supreme Soul. (This is the state of Savikalpa Samádhi or determinate absorption).

Prańavo dhanuh sharohyámá brahma tallakśyamucyate
Apramattena veddhavyaḿ sharavat tanmayo bhavet.

O Sedate One, Onḿkára is the image of your bow. Here the twanging or plucking of the bow means the act of Práńáyáma ( a yogic method of breath-control), i.e., stirring up the vital or spiritual force. If you use your soul as an arrow and shoot it aiming at the Brahma-like target with a deeply concentrated (absolutely unwavering) mind, then your soul will certainly merge in the Supreme Soul just as an ordinary arrow sticks in its target.

Yasmin dyaoh prthivii cántariikśamotaḿ manah saha práńaeshca sarveh
Tamevaekam jánatha átmaramanyáváco vimuincathámrtasyaeśa setuh.

Try, O Sádhaka, to know only Him, in Whom are held the sky, the world and the void, in whom are ensconced the mind, the five vital forces and the sensory and motor organs. Shun all other pointless considerations except your efforts to know Him. You are mortal, subject to death. Your desire of establishing yourself in deathlessness has been with you from eternity. And that very Brahma is the bridge leading to that state of deathlessness. So you will reap the real good, if you can only know Him.

Aráiva rathanábhao saḿhará yatra nád́yh sa eśo’ntashcarate bahudhá jáyamánah
Onmityevaḿ dhyáyatha átmánaḿ svasti vah paráya tamasah parastát.

Just as the spokes of a chariot are embedded in the hub of the wheel, so all the nerves, veins and arteries are sheltered in Him. The soul that is situated in the Sahasrára (the uppermost plexus of the human structure) of the unit-body is their refuge. In other words all the spokes of this world – this Cosmic System, are situated in that (that eternal sonic expression) – that Cosmic Nucleus, the Puruśottama. Carrying emotions and ideas is what the word “nerve” stands for. The nucleus of all emotions and ideas is He – that Supreme Soul, the Soul of souls. Concentrate on that Onḿ, His characteristic Self. You have come into the field of Sádhaná in order to enter the kingdom of light beyond the shores of darkness. May your journey to the empyreal region be glorious and triumphant. Bon voyage to you.

Yah sarvajinah sarvid yasyaesa mohimá bhuvi
Divye brahmapure hyeśa vomnyátma pratiśt́hitah;
Manomaya kámashariitanetá pratiśthitenne hrdayaḿ sannidháya
Yadvijinánena paripashyanti dhiirá ánandarúpamamrtaḿ yadvibháti.

That Supreme Puruśa, who is Omniscient, all-knowing – Whose Glory is all-aglow in all the worlds, is resplendent in His different characteristic forms in the land of Bliss. The unit shall realize that Entity in the firmament of his soul through his sádhaná (spiritual meditation). He is the Life of the unit. He is the Leader of the crude and the subtle worlds etc. Right in the heart of the unit – in his existential feeling, i.e., along with his sense of ego – He is ensconced as its knower. The serene and tranquil individual, the Sádhaka, gets His real darshana, His visual perception through a special type of intuition or cognition. He is Bliss Absolute, effulgent in His characteristic deathlessness.

Bhidyate hrdayagranthischidyante sarvasaḿshayáh
Kśiiyante cásya karmáńi tasmin drśt́e para vare.

He is parávara (He is paramount as the Effect and not so as the causal). He is Consciousness. When one realizes Him, all the accumulated Saḿskáras or the reactive momenta of one’s heart thin away into nothing. All the doubts of one’s mind disappear. All the auspicious and inauspicious deeds of the Sádhaka get destroyed.

Hirańmaye pare kośe virajaḿ Brahma niśkalam
Tacchubhraḿ jyotiśáḿ jyotistad yadátmavidoviduh.

Hirańyamaya kośa or the astral mind is the subtlest of the five sheaths or shells of the human structure. Just above it resides the integral, imperishable Brahma. He is integral, for He is intransmutable, flawless, devoid of the decaying quinquecellular or Paincakośatmaka manifestation. His luminosity is white. He is the radiance of all radiant objects. All radiances pale before His radiance.

Na tatra súryo bháti ná candratárakaḿ
Nemá vidyuto bháti kuto’yamagnih
Tameva bhántamanubháti sarvaḿ
Tasya bhásá sarvamidaḿ vibháti.

Not even the Sun looks bright in His presence; it too pales before Him. It is the same with the moon and the stars. The flash of lightning is unable to express itself, what to speak of fire. All entities are radiant, because He is radiance itself. It is due to His radiance that all objects are radiant.

Brahmavaedamamrtaḿ purastád brahma pashcát
Brahma dakśińatashcottareńa
Adhashcordhvainca prastraḿ brahmavedaḿ
Vishvamidaḿ bariśt́ham.

The deathless Brahma is Omnipresent. Front or back, north or south, top or bottom. He pervades everywhere. The three worlds are His greatest manifestation. That is to say, it is He, who is manifest as the Greatest Entity in the three worlds.

Dvá suparńá sayujá sakháyá saḿanaḿ brkśaḿ pariśasvajate
Tayorańyah pippalaḿ svádvattyanashnannanye Bhicákashiiti.

What is the relationship between the unit soul and the Supreme Soul? It is as though on a tree there are two birds with beautiful wings perched together intimately, one is eating the tasty fruit of the tree and the other is only witnessing it as the knower and not eating. Here the fruit-eating bird is the jiivátman or the unit soul, for the unit-soul is taking the exact impression of whatever auspicious or inauspicious (good or bad) fruits that grow in the mind-like tree, or is getting smitten by them, and the Supreme Soul, as the Knower of all mundane entities, is also perched on the same psychic tree, but He is not eating its fruit. He is just continuously witnessing as the Omniscient Entity. He is the Original Manifestation, and the jiivátman is His psychic reflection.

Samáne brkśe puruśo nimagno’niishayá shocati muhyamánah
Juśt́aḿ yadá pashyatyanyaniihamasya mahimánamiti viitashokah.

The jiivátman or the unit consciousness of this very tree is being assailed by troubles and sorrows due to its limitations. But when it receives the blessings of the Supreme consciousness; when it is benefited by Him i.e., when it is given an opportunity to learn the secret processes of intuitional practice), it becomes free from pain, being enlightened in His glory, as it realizes His majestic Lordliness, i.e., His Limitlessness.

Yadá pashyah pashyate rukmavańaḿ kartáramiiyaḿ puruśaḿ brahmayonim
Tadá vidván púnyápápe vidhuya nirainjanah paramaḿ sámyamupaeti.

A Sádhaka gradually realizes the Self-effulgent Puruśa as the result of his/her progress on the path of Sádhaná or intuitional practice. This Puruśa, as the Immutable Entity is the Supreme Lord or controller of all mutable entities. Brahma is the composite of both “mutalable” and “immutalable” – kśara and akśara.

One who remains as the original cause of this Cosmic System, as the Nucleus of kśara and akśara Brahma, is the “Brahmayoni” or the “Cosmic Womb”. This Nucleus (Puruśottama) can be explained briefly thus; Suppose you are thinking of Monghyr internally. Now a part of your consciousness is changed into mind-stuff, and this mind-stuff takes the form of Monghyr. The remaining part of your mind-stuff remains as the witness of your mentally created Monghyr. Now the part of your consciousness which plays neither the role of a witness nor of being witnessed and yet remains as the knower of your observation, that subtle part or bearing, if taken in the Brahmic or theistic context, will be regarded as Puruśottama. If this effulgent entity of Brahma be realized, the imperishable Brahma or nuclear sonic expression can also be known. The person of calm and sedate intellect becomes Nirainjana or flowlessness itself after gradually giving up both virtue and vice. At that time there comes in him the proper equilibrium – there remains no frivolity of any sentiment nor the high waves of any manifestation. All the clashes merge in the ultimate tranquillity of the fathomless Ocean of Brahma.

Práńo hyeśa yah sarvbhútaervibháti vijánan vidvan bhavate nátivádii
Átmakriid́a átmaratih kriyáváneśa brahḿavidám bariśt́hah.

The Brahma is manifest in all units. The person of wisdom, who has known this Self-radiant, Autophanous Entity, ceases to be charismatic and loquacious. Such a person does not want to waste his/her time and breath unnecessarily over frivolous and pointless arguments. (Shrii Rámakrśńa used to say: To the one who has known Him all the things of the world will appear as Aluni or saltless). Such a one then plays with his/her soul, transported and lost in spiritual ecstasy. And so all his/her thought-waves or emotions that manifest themselves as mundane activities are benevolent and beneficent. Such acts of benevolence, which are commensurate with spiritual practice, attain a high place of honour in the society of persons conversant with intuitional knowledge.

Satyena labhyastapasá hyeśa átmá samyagjinánena brahmacaryena nityam
Antahshariire jyotirmayo hi shubhro yaḿ pashyanti yatayah kśiińadośáh.

This Brahma is attainable only through truth, penance, valid knowledge and regular intuitional practice. Those who take to such Sádhaná or spiritual austerity, observe the white effulgence of Brahma within themselves. The Yati or austere Sádhaka (one who follows the principles of Yama and Niyama rigidly and strictly), who has His darshana (view) thus, becomes pure and free from sin.

Satyameva jayate nánrtaḿ satyena panthá bitato devayánah
Yenákramantyrśayo hyáptakámá yatra tat satyasya paramaḿ nidhánam.

It is Satya that ultimately wins. I shall call only that Satya, behind which there is a sentiment of benevolence for others. Falsehood or untruth never triumphs. It never can. It may succeed for a time but that success is only prognostic of dire defeat. Satya widens and smooths the most difficult and thorny path of salvation. It is through such a path that a desireless sage attains proximity to that most sublime treasure of Satya – the Supreme Spirit.

Brhacca taddivyamacintyarupaḿ súkśmácca tat súkśmataraḿ vibháti
Dúrát sudúre tadihántike ca pashyatsvihaeva nihitaḿ guháyám.

What is this most sublime Treasure or Fountain-head of Truth like? The sage says that this abode of Truth, Brahma, is so vast that He is unthinkable. He is an eternal Empyrean Splendour. Then again He is smaller than the small, smaller than a molecule or an atom or even an electron, so very small that mind cannot comprehend Him. But He is luminous even in His small bearing. He is far, far away from the one who thinks Him to be remote, and He is nearer than the near to the one who thinks Him to be close. The one who has eyes to see who has known Him even a wee bit, knows that He abides in his or her very sense of existence – in his or her very heart’s desire as the Supreme Radiance. To seek Him – to attain Him – it is not at all necessary to run from one place to another. “He is not elsewhere but right within.”

Na cakśusá grhyate nápi vácá nányaerdevaestapasá karmańá vá
Jinánaprasádena vishuddhasattvastatastu taḿ pashyate niskalaḿ dhyáyamánah.

Neither can eyes see Him, nor words explain Him. The senses cannot perceive Him either through asceticism or deeds. When a Sádhaka establishes him or herself in the valid knowledge through the kindness and blessings of a true and well-conversant Preceptor, i.e., the Sadguru, when he or she does His Sádhaná with a devotionally saturated heart, such a subtle-minded Sádhaka alone can realize that formless Absolute Entity.

Eśo’ńurátmá cetasá veditavyo yasmin práńáh paincadhá saḿvivesha
Práńaeshcittaḿ sarvamotaḿ prajánám yasmin vishuddhe vibhavatyeśa átmá.

This soul is smaller than the mole. It can be known only through consciousness. This absolute consciousness manifests itself only in the innermost recess of a Sádhaka. A Sádhaka gets opportunity for Sádhaná for the realization of Brahma as long as the five vayus like Práńa, Apána etc., are active in his or her physical body. But generally such an opportunity only rarely comes to the lot of human beings, for the minds of most people, being extrovertive, run after external objects due to the propulsion of the senses. So when a human being’s mind gets purified through Sádhaná, he or she becomes free from their sensual influences, and then alone do they realize within themselves the super-effulgence of the Supreme Being. The self-realizer is one who sees the Supreme Soul in his or her soul.

Yaḿyaḿlokaḿ manasá saḿvibháti vishudhasattvah kámayte yaḿshca kámán
Taḿ taḿ lokaḿ jayate táḿshca kámáḿstasmádátmajinaḿ hyarcayedbhútikamah.

The knower of the Soul or the Self-realized person gets whatever he or she sets his or her mind on. The object takes exactly the same form in accordance with his or her desire. Hence he or she does not have to run unnecessarily about the external world in search of any object. He or she is all-satisfied and fully contented. That is why every ambitious person desirous of all-round progress and development, adores the one who has realized his or her Self. »

Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji - Bhádra Púrńimá 1955 DMC
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Published in:
Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 2 [a compilation]
Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 2

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