Actions and their results (Karma and Karmaphala)

* The author uses "Brahma", the nominative case of "Brahman", throughout his writings.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti - Mághii Púrńimá 1955 DMC, Bhagalpur

The creation of the Universe is sustained by actions or Karma. Where there is expression, there is invariably vibration and behind the vibration there is action. Where the active capacity is dormant, motionless or quiescent, there are no waves, and there is no expanding evolution of life and spirit. Under these circumstances the Cosmic consciousness is lying in blessedness as if it were a tranquil, serene and boundless ocean. When the surface of this ocean is agitated by a gust of wind, surging waves are created. Hence, when the unmanifested Cosmic Consciousness is tossed by Prakrti, the refulgence of expression begins. This Universe, full of fleeting shows and wonders, is the crude manifestation of Cosmic Consciousness. This crudeness results from the domination of Prakrti over Puruśa.

In situations where Cosmic Consciousness is less intense, the influence of Prakrti is proportionately more pronounced. The bondage of Prakrti on finite objects is much greater than the bondage of Prakrti is in the limitless field of activities of Universal Puruśa, otherwise called Saguńa Brahma. What, after all, is a piece of stone? It is a finite manifestation of Puruśa where tamoguńa is extremely dominant and as a result of this, the Consciousness in the shape of Puruśa appears crude. Prudent people will consider Puruśa dominated by tamah as crude or Jad́a.

Names are assigned to different objects according to the variation in the degree of crudeness of consciousness. Every object in this perceptible world is pervaded by tamoguńa for the simple reason that nothing is free from the bondage of Prakrti. Why are human beings said to be the highest creature? It is because the Consciousness of human beings is very highly developed. Humanas desire to attain happiness from within the subtle entity rather than from the crude objects. This insatiable hunger leads human beings towards divine happiness. In those unit beings where the consciousness is moderately developed, that is to say, where the entire consciousness has not been overpowered by crudeness, there is the endeavour for self-evolution and for achieving happiness. The strong display of rajoguńa in Prakrti is an outcome of this effort.

For the sake of self-preservation, one cannot remain in the state of inaction, because inaction is indicative of death, not of life. Now, the question may arise that since every entity is composed of the three guńas does not the dead body also contain them? All the signs of what is called crudeness exist in the dead body; tamoguńa predominates while sattva and rajah are only indistinctly expressed. Therefore, there is no propensity for action and far less the capability for action. Thus we arrive at the conclusion that everything existent is pervaded by the three guńas, but in accordance with the variation of their proportion, Prakrti is dynamic in certain situations and inert in others.

According to both Science and Philosophy, every action has a reaction which is co-existent with the original action, whether the action be a physical one or only a psychic vibration. For example, suppose you have stolen something with your own hands. In this instance there is no doubt that you have committed an act of theft. But supposing that for fear of public scandal or state punishment, you only conceived of the theft but did not carry it out. Alternatively you arranged for the theft to be committed by another person. Are you not still committing this theft from behind the scene? If you think that you will not reap the consequences for a theft committed mentally, you are wrong.

This potentiality of reaction or Saḿskára that you get through physical or mental action, has to be endured by some other act inevitably. But when you perform one act which is reaping the consequence of a previous act, you are not acting independently. In such a case you act mechanically, propelled by the reaction of the previous act, and you may be obliged to do some undesirable acts that bring to you disgrace, accusation and affliction. You upbraid yourself and regret at leisure for it. It is as if your hands and feet are fettered and you are unable to avoid such actions.

So long as you consider your identity separate from Supreme Brahma and so long as you are engrossed with the individual “I”, you will have to continue to perform actions and inevitably earn their reactions, which in potential form are known as Saḿskáras. In order that these seeds of reaction can germinate, you will have to select a new physical form. In other words, you will have to subject yourself to the cycle of birth and death in this revolution of Karma, like the oil-mill bullocks. Both Mokśa and Mukti (emancipation and liberation) will remain remote from you, beyond your access. If you make your mean ego the object of your Átman, your actions will be a source of your enjoyment but not of your salvation.

Ásana máre kyá huyá, yo gayii na mankii ásh;
Jyon' teliká boyelko, gharhii kosh pacásh

Does not the oil-mill bullock move on? It keeps going around in circles all the day. But though it may walk more than fifty miles, it does not advance in the least, since it is tied to the pillar of the oil-expressor. Likewise, those working with the Unit “I” as their object are similar to the bullock of the oil-expelling machine.

Yávanna kśiiyate karma shubhaḿcáshubhameva ca
távanna jáyate mokśo nrńáḿ kalpashataerapi
Yathá laohamayaeh páshaeh páshaeh svarńanmayaerapi
tathá baddho bhavejjiivo karmábhishcáshubhaeshubhaeh
–Tantra

In other words, until the actions, whether good or bad are annihilated, human beings cannot attain salvation or Mokśa. Can the gold chain be looser and less torturing than the iron chain to someone in bondage? Similarly, the bondage of bad actions is exactly as tight as the bondage of good actions.

Nábhuktaḿ kśiiyate karma kalpakot́ishataerapi
Avashyameva bhoktavyaḿ krtaḿ karma shubháshubham

Therefore, for salvation or emancipation, it is necessary to be liberated from the bondage of Saḿskáras. The question is, how to attain salvation? When it is essential to act for maintaining one’s existence, how is it possible to avoid the cycle of action and reaction?

It is known from philosophic propositions that the attainment of Mukti (liberation) or Mokśa (salvation) is possible only through spiritual practices or sádhaná. It therefore follows that there is certainly some means to attain liberation from saḿskáras.

There are three processes for attaining freedom from the bondage of action: (1) relinquishing any desire for the fruits of action, or Phalákáḿkśá Tyága, (2) Abandoning the vanity of performing an act, or Kartrtvábhimána Tyága, and (3) surrendering all actions unto Brahma. All of these have to be followed in the individual life, but it must be kept in mind that they all have to be strictly observed. To be more explicit, these rules are the different aspects of one and the same process.

Relinquishing the Desire for the Fruits of Actions

Phalákáḿkśá Tyága: – A man performs each act with a particular objective or other in mind. No act can be accomplished without an objective. For example, someone is studying for an MA then their aim is to graduate? But if he or she only broods over the aim and does not strive to attain it, can they be successful? What is the significance of reflecting over or striving to achieve an aim? For instance, suppose a piece of iron is tossed upwards. The higher it will go, the more it will gain the force of coming down, and as soon as its force for going up is exhausted, it will come down with the same force as it went up. This is natural, an invariable law of Prakrti. Similarly, with every thought or deed the reactions in potentiality will inevitably have to be accumulated. As soon as any act is accomplished, the growth of the potentiality of reactions is stopped and this potential energy is invariably transformed into the reactions of the actions performed. Therefore, it has been said in the Giitá –

Karmańyevádhikáraste má phaleśu kadácana.

Human beings can only control their deeds but not the fruits thereof. When we have no command over the results of our actions, it is vain to brood over the attainment of certain objectives. There is no use in brooding. Is it not reasonable to keep on working only for the accomplishment of an act? To continue to work in this way is to relinquish the desire for the fruits of action or Phalákáḿkśa tyága.

Abandoning the Vanity of Performing an Act

Kartrtvábhimána Tyága: Ordinarily people perform actions with certain objective in view, but still there are many who perform actions not with a view to the result, but only for the sake of self-satisfaction or to feel elevated with vanity because they have done their duty. Suppose a particular person has donated one million rupees to a certain institution. However their mind is not at peace until they find the news of the donation published in the newspapers the following morning. All through the night he or she restlessly waits for the morning and then feels gratified to find the news of the donation in the newspapers.

Mere renunciation of the fruits of actions will not do. The vanity of having performed an act, for example the desire to see the news of gift published in the newspapers, all contributes to the formation of mental vibrations. Saḿskáras will continue to multiply as before.

Karmakleshavipákáshaeraparámrśt́ah Puruśa visheśo
iishvarah.

The term “Iishvara” means Puruśa uninfluenced by actions, afflictions, results or objectives.

For this reason one has to be actions-free in order to merge into “Iishvara”. But we have seen above that so long as Prakrti’s dominance prevails, it is not possible to be actions-free. By merely relinquishing the desire or pursuit of the fruits of action it is hard to get rid of the vanity of a doer, of the idea that “I do”, in so far as we cannot extricate ourselves from the objects of our actions or from the contemplation of accomplishment. To avoid these, one has to always contemplate that one is a machine and Brahma alone is the machine operator who gets the work done through this machine. But even this is not sufficient to eradicate the vanity of a doer. The reason is that one may believe that although a machine, yet he or she is he is superior to others having been selected by the machine operator for that particular action being performed at that point of time.

To avoid such thoughts, the belief has to be developed that Brahma is only served or chosen by Brahma. That is, Brahma inspires us to donate and again receives the same through others. It is simply by the grace of Brahma that we act and have the favourable opportunity of performing this act. It is possible to avoid the doer’s vanity or kartrtvábhimána tyága by developing this belief.

Surrendering all actions unto Brahma

However all is not over by renouncing the desire or abandoning the doer’s vanity. So long as Prakrti is active, rajoguńa is there, causing actions. Doing any act means being caught by the cycle of action and reaction. What is the way out? The only way is to surrender all actions to Brahma and to ideate that every action is performed by Brahma. Such actions will not be called our own. The actions have been performed by Brahma alone and their consequences, whether good or bad, will be borne by Brahma alone. In that case we have no separate identity.

Many people do not do anything out of fear of reactions, and they become indolent. But can they really become devoid of actions? Though they do not act externally, their heart and other organs continue to function. Moreover, inactivity or apparent inaction can never be commended. Those who have surrendered all actions unto Brahma have no reason to fear to act. It also keeps the mind completely engrossed in Brahma. Sannyása means surrendering the mind to the Supreme Object or Brahma. Those who have surrendered their mind to Brahma are the real Sannyásins.

In this connection, there is a befitting illustration in the Mahábhárata.

Draopadii inquired from Yudhisthira why he was undergoing the privations of exile in spite of his virtuous actions, while according to ordinary laws of nature he ought to be rolling in happiness. To this, Yudhisthira replied –

“Karmakari yeijan phalákáḿkśii hay;
Bańiker mata sei váńijya karay.
Phal lobhe karma kare, lubdha bali táre;
Lobhe punah punah paŕe narak dustare.
Ámi yáhá karma kari, phalákáḿkśii nai;
Samarpańa kari sarva Iishvarer t́háin' (1)

[“Those who solicit the fruits of their actions are no better than merchants. He or she who acts for a gain is called a greedy person and acting under the influence of greed they are carried to the dark hell. I do not act for any fruit, rather I surrender all my actions unto Brahma.”]

It is invariably true that the separate identity of the soul is completely dissolved by totally submitting the mind to Brahma. As a consequence of this, human beings qualify for the attainment of liberation (Mukti) or salvation (Mokśa).

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti - Mághii Púrńimá 1955 DMC, Bhagalpur
* The author uses "Brahma" (the nominative case of "Brahman") throughout his writings.
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Footnotes:
(1) Kashiramdas, Mahábhárata. –Trans.

Published in:
Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 1 [a compilation]
Ananda Marga Karma Yoga in a Nutshell [a compilation]
Subháśita Saḿgraha Part 1

The meaning of the word “Krśńa”

This speech was given by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti on the 12th January 1980, in Calcutta. It is pubblished in the book Discourses on Krśńa and the Giitá [a compilation]. This book is designed to compliment Discourses on the Mahábhárata and Namámi Krsnasundaram – the author’s two existing books on Krśńa, The Giitá and The Mahábhárata.

«We shall discuss one of the shlokas [couplets] of the Giitá today. This particular shloka may be taken as the guiding or controlling shloka of the Giitá. We will deal with the subject rather elaborately. Here is the shloka – Dhrtaráśt́ra uváca [“Dhritarastra said”]:

Dharmakśetre Kurukśetre samavetá yuyutsavah;
Mámakáh Páńd́avashcaeva kimakurvata Sainjaya.

[“O Sanjaya, now that my children and the children of Pandu have gathered on the battlefield of Dharmakśetra, of Kurukśetra, eager to fight, what is taking place?”]

This is the first shloka of the Giitá, about which I have spoken to you before. Today I will give you only an introduction.

The name of the book is the Giitá. The root verb gae means “to sing”. Hence Giitá means “that which has been sung”. It is in the passive voice. But the passive voice always carries a sense of something remaining inarticulate in the statement. So it becomes necessary to make that implicit idea explicit. Something has been sung. Who then has sung it? Yá Bhagavatá giitá, sá Giitá [“That which has been sung by Bhagaván, the Lord, is the Giitá”]. In this case, since that which has been sung by Shrii Krśńa is the Giitá, Bhagavatá means Krśńena, “by Krśńa”. Who then is Krśńa? That also should be explained in this introduction.

Three Interpretations

The word krśńa has three different interpretations. The word can be derived from the root verb, one of the meanings of which is “to attract”, “to draw everything to one’s self”. The root verb krś plus na gives us “Krśńa”; that is to say, the being which attracts everything of the universe towards its own self, calling out: “Come, come… come to me… you have nothing to worry about… come to me. I am your shelter. I will save you from all dangers. There is nothing to be afraid of, nothing to fear; I am here.” The speaker of these words, who is attracting everybody towards Himself, is indeed Krśńa. Our mind does not want to go to Him, but even then it runs towards Him.

A Vaishnavite poet had this to say: Ucát́ana mana ná máne várańa, Shudhu tári páne chut́e yáy. [The restless mind defies restrictions, and runs only after Him.]

I do not have a mind to go to or to look at Krśńa, but even then, it is as if something keeps pulling me. Thus the word “Krśńa” means “the supreme attractive faculty”.

Again, krśńa has the meaning “black”. The colour black has the greatest attraction for human mind. Among all colours, our attention is drawn first by black. This is the reason why the colour black is called krśńa. It should be remembered, however, that the complexion of the historical Krśńa who lived in Dvápara Yuga(1) was not black.

There is also a third meaning of “Krśńa” krśi bhúh or krśibhúh–. The root verb krś means the feeling “I am”. Don’t you all have a feeling such as this, “I exist”? In fact every individual has the feeling “I am”, myáy hun, ahaḿ asmi. Whenever that “I” feeling is struck a blow, people get irritated, worried, angry or frightened. Now this feeling “I am” [is represented by] the root verb krś, and the meaning of the root verb bhú is “to be”. Hence the meaning of the word “Krśńa” is “I am because He is.” In other words, it is only because of Krśńa that the world exists and living beings exist. If Krśńa had not been there, living beings and the world would not have been there either.

Krśńa is Parama Puruśa (Supreme Counsciousness). In the absence of Parama Puruśa, neither living beings nor the universe would have existed at all. The world is, only because He is. That is why He is called “Krśńa”. My individual existence is dependent on His existence. For instance, because Bengal is there, Calcutta is there. The existence of Calcutta as an entity is dependent on the existence of Bengal. Hence it may well be said that Bengal is the Krśńa of Calcutta. Similarly, because India is there, Bengal is there. Thus India is Krśńa to Bengal. Or, because Asia is there, India is there. Thus Asia is Krśńa to India. And because the world is there, Asia is there. So the world is Krśńa to Asia. Then there is the solar system with the sun, the planets and the satellites – because it is there, our little world is there. Thus the solar system is Krśńa to the world. And because Parama Puruśa is there, this solar system, the planets and satellites, stars and nebulae, and the milky way – all of these entities are there. Hence Parama Puruśa is Krśńa to the entire universe. This is the third meaning of “Krśńa”. Krśibhúh – the existence of the root verb bhúh dependent on the existence of the root verb krś; that is, one existence dependent on another existence.

About 3500 years ago, in Dvápara Yuga, a great personality was born in Mathura. His father’s name was Vasudeva. Because He was a son of Vasudeva, one of his names was Vásudeva. One of his uncles was Nanda, whose profession was cattle-rearing, and his father Vasudeva was a superintendent of jails in Mathura. One elder brother of his father was Maharshi Garga. When the child was born, Maharshi Garga noticed in him a number of extraordinary qualities, and after much thinking and cogitation, christened him “Krśńa”. The Krśńa whom we will discuss, that is, the Krśńa of the Giitá, is this Krśńa of Dvápara Yuga.

Soon I will continue with an analysis of Krśńa’s three roles simultaneously, in order to demonstrate that ultimately they all coincide at a certain point and that the three Krśńas are one and the same. As you know, Narottama Das Thakur composed Aśt́ottar Shatanám [“The One Hundred Eight Names”] of Krśńa. In one place he says:

Ananta rákhila nám anta ná páiyá;
Krśńa nám rákhen Garga dhyánete jániyá.

[Failing to find any limit, Garga named the baby “Ananta” (“Limitless”); and, enlightened by his meditation, gave Him the name “Krśńa”.]»

12 January 1980, Calcutta
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Footnotes:
(1) In mythology, the four ages occur in the order Satya Yuga (Golden Age), Tretá Yuga (Silver Age), Dvápara Yuga (Copper Age), and Kali Yuga (Iron Age), and correspond step by step to a decline of morality and spirituality.

Published in:
Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 17 [in Bengali, unpublished in English] and
Discourses on Krśńa and the Giitá [a compilation]

(^__^)

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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Discourses on Lord Krśńa

Krśńa, the Nucleus of the Universe

Lord Krśńa said:

Ye yathá máḿ prapadyante táḿstathaeva bhajámyaham;
Mama vartmánuvarttante manuśyáh Pártha sarvashah.

[I appear before a person according to his or her desires. His or her whole being will be filled with My being. All the jiivas of this universe are rushing towards Me, knowingly or unknowingly.]

Who is Krśńa? What is Krśńa? The word krśńa has so many meanings. One meaning of krś is “to plough the land”. And another meaning of krś is “to attract”. He who draws, He who attracts, everybody towards Him, the Nucleus of the Universe, is “Krśńa”. “Krśńa” means the Nucleus of the Universe. The third meaning of Krśńa is bhurvácak – “the Entity who lives within one’s ‘I’ feeling”. “I am, because Krśńa is – I exist because Krśńa exists.” This is the meaning. That is, if Krśńa does not exist, I also do not exist. My existence, my very existence, depends upon His existence.

You know, for each and every entity there is an acoustic root; that is, each and every entity creates a special type of vibration in this universe, and that special type of vibration is known as the acoustic root. In Sanskrit it is called a biija mantra. Now, the acoustic root of Krśńa is klrḿ (= ka + la + anusvára [aḿ]). Why is klrḿ the acoustic root of Krśńa? Ka is the acoustic root of the objective world. Parama Puruśa (the Supreme Cognitive Faculty, that is the Supreme Counsciousness) creates the world from His divine body, and that’s why I say each and every existence is the divine existence. Each and every boy, each and every girl, and each and every living creature is an avatára [incarnation] of the divine entity, so nobody can be hated or ignored. You are all divine children.

When Parama Puruśa creates something, in that phase as Creator, Parama Puruśa is Kárańa Brahma, because He is the cause. [Kárańa = “cause”.] He is the Causal Entity, and the created universe which He creates is Kárya Brahma, because He is the effect. [Kárya = “effect”.] Now, for Kárańa Brahma the acoustic root, the biija mantra, is omn, and for Kárya Brahma, the created universe, the acoustic root is ka. That is why ka is the first letter of our consonants. In the Sanskrit alphabetical order, ka is the first consonant, because ka is the acoustic root of this created world, of Kárya Brahma, the Effect Brahma, the creation.

In Sanskrit the word ka has several meanings. First, it is the first consonant. Secondly, ka means “water” – jalaḿ, niiraḿ, toyaḿ, udakaḿ, pániiyaḿ, kambalam, ka. Ka means “water”. One day I told you that the land covered with water, surrounded by water, is kaccha, or “kutch”. (Ka + chad + d́a = kaccha.) Kutch is a part of India that is [covered] with water. The third meaning of ka is the Effect Brahma, Kárya Brahma, the objectivated Brahma. The acoustic root of Krśńa is klrḿ. The first letter is ka, because He controls this expressed universe, He attracts this expressed universe, He loves this expressed universe; so the first letter of His acoustic root is ka.

And where does He stand? Does He stand on ether or water or something luminous? No, He lives with all living creatures; that is why He lives in bhútatattva, kśititattva [the solid factor]. The acoustic root of kśititattva is la. Controlling the ka and standing upon this la, that is, kśititattva, is klrḿ, that is, ka + la + anusvára [aḿ]. Krśńa is the Lord of the Universe.

Krśńa says: Ye yathá máḿ prapadyante – “Whatever we touch, whatever we see, in this universe, is of Krśńa.” According to your desires, according to your propensities, whatever you want from Him, you will get. Whatever you demand, He supplies. “Whoever worships me with whatever desires, I serve him accordingly.” If you want money from Him you may get money, but you will not get Him, because you wanted money, not Him. If you want name and fame you may get name and fame, but not Him, because you did not want Him, you wanted something from Him.

Perhaps you wanted that He should destroy your enemies. If you are on the path of dharma, that is, if your demands are justified, He will kill your enemies, but you will not get Him, because you did not want Him. If you want mukti [liberation] or mokśa [non-qualified liberation] from Him, if you are a suitable candidate then you may get it from Him, but you will not get Him, because you did not want Him. So an intelligent spiritual aspirant will say: “I want you, I do not want anybody else. And why do I want you? Not because your presence will give me pleasure, but because your presence will give me the scope to serve you, because your presence will give the chance to give you pleasure – not to give pleasure to myself.” That is why an intelligent spiritual aspirant will say: “I do not want anything from you, I want you.”

There is a story that once Rama and Lakshmana were crossing the Gaungá [Ganges] with Maharshi Vishvamitra and were going to Mithila. Upon reaching the other bank of the river, the boatman saw that the boat was not wood, it was gold. “Certainly that little boy Rama is not an ordinary boy,” he thought. “It is because of his touch that the wooden boat has become gold.” Then the boatman’s wife came with all the wooden furniture – whatever wooden furniture was in the house was brought. She brought everything and got the things touched, and they all turned into gold. Then the boatman said, “O my lady, you are a foolish lady, you do not know what to do. You are not at all practical. Now you see, the attributions lie with those feet. If you are intelligent, take those feet to your house and get everything converted into gold. This is the secret. There lies the secret.” So what will an intelligent spiritual aspirant say? He will say, “I do not want anything from You. Everything cometh from You, so You be mine.” And what for? Just to serve Him. Why to serve Him? Not to get pleasure but to give Him pleasure. The man who wants to give Him pleasure is called gopa in Sanskrit.

Gopáyate yah sah gopah – “He whose only duty is to give pleasure to others, is called a gopa” – and not those who rear cows. [Cowherds are popularly also called gopas.]

Ye yathá máḿ prapadyante taḿstathaeva bhajámyahaḿ – “Whoever wants whatever from me, I supply him with that thing. That is my duty. It is up to you to demand according to your necessity, according to your requirement, according to your mental propensities.” Mama vartmánuvarttante manuśyáh Pártha sarvashah – “But one thing you should remember, Arjuna, is that the path, the route, chalked out by Me, is to be finally followed by everybody without any exception. It is the path of pratisaincara.(1) One cannot avoid this path of pratisaincara, and one will have to move round me with a short radius or a long radius. The radius may be short, the radius may be long, but one will have to move round me. There is no alternative.”

In the atomic structure electrons will have to move round the nucleus. Similarly, in this expressed universe, everybody will have to move round the Nucleus of the Universe. Krśńa is that Nucleus, and all living beings are just like electrons.

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Footnotes : (1) In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to the Nucleus Consciousness. (Prati means “counter” and saincara means “movement”.) –Trans.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti - 26 September 1968, Patna
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Mahásambhúti Krśńa

Lord Krśńa was essentially a spiritual entity, but fortunately the common masses had a chance to see Him in human form. Even in that capacity He controls all other physical entities. Each and every structure has a centre (kendra) of its own and a good number of sub-centres (upakendra).

The major part of human existence is mental; only a minor part is physical. An undeveloped human being is a big problem. It’s not enough for a person to have a human body. He or she must have an evolved mind; otherwise he or she cannot be called human.

All these sub-centres are controlled by the Cosmic Nucleus, that is, Lord Krśńa. But all the sub-centres are not Lord Krśńa. The pineal gland or sahasrára cakra controls the entire human body. Each and every entity, whether unicellular or multicellular, has certain substations which are basically ideational. The piithas affect the nerve-cells and nerve-fibres, and these affected nerve-cells and nerve-fibres affect the mind in their turn, and thus the crude mind affects the subtle.

Sometimes in the course of sádhaná a deliberate and conscious relationship is established between mind and Consciousness. The closer the relationship, the better it is for spiritual realization. This is the fundamental difference between a spiritual aspirant and a non-aspirant, and the scientific and systematic endeavour to establish the closest relationship between the unit mind and Cosmic Consciousness is termed “yoga.”

Depending upon the difference in the controlling points of the cakras, spiritual sádhaná can take either of two forms:

(1) Controlling the hormone secretion of the glands and strengthening the controlling points of the cakras is the system known as hatha yoga, because it is more physical in character. This science is more extroversive in character and consequently part of avidya tantra.

(2) To surrender one’s mind to Shrii Krśńa – This is introversive or ideational in character and is part of Vidyá Tantra. This is the real sádhaná, where the entire psycho-physical entity surrenders itself to Parama Puruśa.

The meeting point between Lord Krśńa and the jiivátma is just below the pineal gland or sahasrára cakra.

Each sub-centre is related to the next sub-centre. Of the two cakras, the lower one is comparatively crude. The physical control of any cakra is exercised by the controlling point of that cakra, but its ideational control is exercised by the controlling point of the next higher cakra. For instance, the svadhisthana cakra cannot have full control, both physical and ideational, over all the nerve-cells and nerve-fibres attached to the svadhisthana cakra; rather the ideational aspect of the control remains with the manipura cakra. The sahasrara cakra of pineal gland exercises no crude physical control, that’s why it is absolutely spiritual in character.

This point is the subtlest mental point. It is, as it were, the minutest, the subtlest, point, the pure “I” feeling is the causal matrix or Rádhá shakti. By dint of sádhaná this causal matrix or Rádhá shakti comes in contact with Lord Krsna, that is Parama Puruśa. Shrii Krśńa utilizes the pituitary gland of any human framework. Whenever a direct contact between Krśńa and the unit mind is established, human beings attain salvation. For this the mind must be absolutely pure. In certain different stages ajina cakra comes in contact with Parama Puruśa. Krśńa controls the centre and the sub-centres both directly and indirectly. Paramátman Krśńa controls all the pure spiritual ideation, and Jiivátman Krśńa controls psycho-spiritual ideations. For sádhakas, the only mission is to surrender at the feet of Lord Krśńa by strengthening the physical sub-centres. He maintains His association with the microcosms either as Mahásambhúti or as Cosmic Nucleus.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti - 5 May 1968, Ranchi
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Both discourses are published in: << discourses on Mahábhárata >>

(^__^)

Kiirtana: the panacea for all afflictions

The Supreme Father is the Absolute Truth, the only Truth of the Universe. His creation undergoes transmutation, and thus it may be a moving reality, a relative truth, but not an absolute truth. The Absolute Truth is a singular entity; there cannot be two Absolute Truths, there cannot be two Fundamental Truths.

In the hub of this Absolute Truth there is no change and no movement, no absolute pause, no relative pause. But in the outer arena of the Hub, of the Causal Matrix, there is movement, but there is no second entity. This internal movement, although a movement, is as fundamental as the Absolute Truth.

But in the realm of creation there is relativity; and because there are relativities, that is why there are pains, pleasures, sorrows and afflictions. All human beings reside in that portion of the Supreme Body. But whether plants, animals or human beings, the goal of all is the Supreme Hub. And this pauseless movement towards the Supreme Nave is human progress, progress in the proper spirit of the term. This is spiritual life, and this life is the real life. It is the only path for human beings to follow; no other path can be accepted as the path of progress that does not lead to intellectual growth and spiritual elevation. Only that can be termed as genuine progress which elevates all aspects of human existence – physical, mental and spiritual – and makes them one with the Supreme. This is the path of Sádhaná.

In this path of your movement – and remember, movement is essential for you – sometimes obstacles arise, and in future will arise also. In this manifested world, different forces are acting and reacting; some of these forces help humanity in accelerating its movement, whereas some thwart the progress toward the Supreme. Spiritual aspirants will have to advance by fighting all these opposing forces. One should not be concerned about these; rather one should proceed on with greater firmness, smashing all obstacles and continuing tirelessly towards the Supreme Entity. One is sure to reach one’s destination. And what is the destination? To merge into Parama Puruśa, to sit on His Lap.

Along with the obstacles, there will also be certain forces which will assist you. Whatever worldly difficulties might obstruct your path, the best positive or auxiliary force is Kiirtana. Kiirtana helps a devotee to accelerate the speed towards the hub of the Universe. Kiirtana will help you all circumstances; if any mental trouble arises, kiirtana will help you.

People have to pass through so many relativities, so many troubles and afflictions, before attaining that supreme hub. Human beings are subject to triple afflictions – physical, psychic and spiritual – and the psychic and spiritual miseries are as painful as the physical ones.

Why do the spiritual afflictions arise? You know that you are the loving sons and daughters of Parama Puruśa. But you don’t feel Him always close to you, you cannot get the chance to sit on His Lap, and because of this you suffer from spiritual afflictions.

The supreme panacea to surmount all these triple afflictions is sádhaná. So all human beings must do sádhaná as much as possible; it is the main duty of the human life. If sádhaná is omitted, then one should omit one’s food and sleep also. Just as food and sleep are essential for human beings, similarly kiirtana, the most essential aid for sádhaná, should also be done whenever there is opportunity and time. The educated and uneducated alike should do it.

One must do kiirtana not only to surmount physical afflictions, but psychic and spiritual afflictions as well. It is the best medicine for all physical, psychic and spiritual ailments. It will bring about not only improvement in worldly life but success in the psychic and spiritual spheres. Kiirtana will help you in all circumstances, in all possible ways.

If people do kiirtana with distinct expression of the mantra, their mouths become pure, their tongues become pure, their ears become pure, their whole bodies become pure – and when so many parts of the body become pure, the átmá (self) also becomes pure. By kiirtana you become as pure as if you have taken a “holy dip in the Ganges.” What does a holy dip in the Ganges mean for a sádhaka? It means doing kiirtana constantly.

So instead of wasting your time in gossiping, in useless idle pursuits, you should do kiirtana even for two minutes or five minutes, whenever you get the opportunity. It is foolish to waste one’s valuable time in gossiping. One who has been blessed with a human body is not a fool but an intelligent person. Such people feel internally that they are the children of Parama Puruśa. Why should they waste their time?

By kiirtana you will always feel that you are not an insignificant creature, you are not inferior or low. Kiirtana will always remind you that you are the affectionate children of the Supreme. In kiirtana there is no restriction regarding time, place or person, no distinction between educated and uneducated, between black and white.

So do Kiirtana, sing kiirtana, chant Kiirtana, whenever and wherever possible.

- SHRII SHRII ANANDAMURTI - 15 May 1982, Calcutta

Published in:
Ánanda Vacanámrtam Part 22 [unpublished in English]

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Param'piita Baba ki, jayyy!!!

(^__^)

Ánanda Sútram (chapter 5)

This version is the Shrii Shrii Anandamurti's Ánanda Sútram chapter 5, 2nd edition, 2nd printing, taken from present Electronic Edition.
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Chapter 5

5-1. Varńapradhánatá cakradháráyám.

[In the movement of the social cycle, one class is always dominant.]

Purport: Since no well-knit social order had evolved in the distant past, we may call that age the Shúdra Age; in those days all people survived by their manual labour. Then came the age of clan leaders – the age of the strong and the brave – which we may call the Kśatriya Age. This was followed by the age of intellectuals, which we may call the Vipra Age. Finally came the age of capitalists, the Vaeshya Age.

When the warriors and intellectuals are reduced to the level of manual labourers as a result of exploitation during the Vaeshya Age, shúdra revolution occurs. The shúdras have neither a well-knit social order nor sufficient intellect to govern society. Hence, the post-capitalist administration passes into the hands of those who provide the leadership in the shúdra revolution. These people are brave and courageous, so they begin the second Kśatriya Age.

In this way the Shúdra, Kśatriya, Vipra and Vaeshya Ages move in succession, followed by revolution; then the second cyclic order begins. Thus, the rotation of the samája cakra [social cycle] continues.

5-2. Cakrakendre sadvipráh cakraniyantrakáh.

[Located in the nucleus of the social cycle, sadvipras control the social cycle.]

Purport: Those who are staunch moralists and sincere spiritualists, and who want to put an end to immorality and exploitation by the application of force, are called sadvipras. They do not belong to the periphery of the social cycle because they are to control society remaining firmly established in the nucleus of the social cycle.

The social cycle will no doubt rotate, but if, due to their dominance, the warriors in the Kśatriya Age, the intellectuals in the Vipra Age or the capitalists in the Vaeshya Age degenerate into rapacious exploiters instead of functioning as benevolent administrators, the sacred duty of the sadvipras shall be to protect the righteous and the exploited and subdue the wicked and the exploiters through the application of force.

5-3. Shaktisampátena cakragativardhanaḿ krántih.

[Accelerating the movement of the social cycle by the application of force is called “evolution”.]

Purport: When warriors degenerate into exploiters, sadvipras will establish the Vipra Age by subduing the exploiting warriors. Consequently, the advent of the Vipra Age, which should have occurred through a natural process, is expedited by the application of force. A change of ages in this way may be called kránti [“evolution”]. The difference between evolution and svábhávika parivarttana [natural change] is only this: in evolution the movement of the social cycle is accelerated by the application of force.

5-4. Tiivrashaktisampátena gativardhanaḿ viplavah.

[Accelerating the movement of the social cycle by the application of tremendous force is called “revolution”.]

Purport: When a particular age is replaced by the successive age within a short time, or when the application of tremendous force is necessary to destroy the entrenched hegemony of a particular age, then such change is called viplava [“revolution”].

5-5. Shaktisampátena vipariitadháráyáḿ vikrántih.

[Reversing the movement of the social cycle by the application of force is called “counter-evolution”.]

Purport: If any age reverts to the preceding one by the application of force, such a change is called vikránti [“counter-evolution”]. For instance, the establishment of the Kśatriya Age after the Vipra Age is counter-evolution. This counter-evolution is extremely short-lived. That is, within a very short time this age is again replaced by the next age or the one after it. In other words, if the Kśatriya Age suddenly supersedes the Vipra Age through counter-evolution, then the Kśatriya Age will not last long. Within a short time either the Vipra Age, or as a natural concomitant the Vaeshya Age, will follow.

5-6. Tiivrashaktisampátena vipariitadháráyaḿ prativiplavah.

[Reversing the movement of the social cycle by the application of tremendous force is called “counter-revolution”.]

Purport: Likewise, if within a very short time the social cycle is turned backwards by the application of tremendous force, such a change is called prativiplava [“counter-revolution”]. Counter-revolution is even more short-lived than counter-evolution.

5-7. Púrńávartanena parikrántih.

[A complete rotation of the social cycle is called “peripheric evolution”.]

Purport: One complete rotation of the social cycle, concluding with shúdra revolution, is called parikránti [“peripheric evolution”].

5-8. Vaecitryaḿ prákrtadharmah samánaḿ na bhaviśyati.

[Diversity, not identity, is the law of nature.]

Purport: Diversity, not identity, is the innate characteristic of the Supreme Operative Principle. No two objects in the universe are identical, nor two bodies, two minds, two molecules or two atoms. This diversity is the inherent tendency of the Supreme Operative Principle.

Those who want to make everything equal are sure to fail because they are going against the innate characteristic of the Supreme Operative Principle. All things are equal only in the unmanifest state of the Supreme Operative Principle. Those who think of making all things equal inevitably think of the destruction of everything.

5-9. Yugasya sarvanimnaprayojanaḿ sarveśáḿ vidheyam.

[The minimum requirements of an age should be guaranteed to all.]

Purport: Hararme pitá Gaorii mátá svadeshah bhuvanatrayam. That is, “Supreme Consciousness is my father, the Supreme Operative Principle is my mother, and the three worlds are my homeland.” The entire wealth of the universe is the common patrimony of all, though no two things in the universe are absolutely equal. So the minimum requirements of life should be made available to everybody. In other words, food, clothing, medical treatment, housing and education must be provided to all. The minimum requirements of human beings, however, change according to the change in ages. For instance, for conveyance the minimum requirement may be a bicycle in one age and an aeroplane in another age. The minimum requirements must be provided for all people according to the age in which they live.

5-10. Atiriktaḿ pradátavyaḿ guńánupátena.

[The surplus wealth should be distributed among meritorious people according to the degree of their merit.]

Purport: After meeting the minimum requirements of all in any age, the surplus wealth will have to be distributed among meritorious people according to the degree of their merit. In an age when a bicycle is the minimum requirement for common people, a motor vehicle is necessary for a physician. In recognition of people’s merit, and to provide the meritorious with greater opportunities to serve the society, they have to be provided with motor vehicles. The dictum “Serve according to your capacity and earn according to your necessity” sounds pleasing, but will yield no results in the hard soil of the earth. (1)

5-11. Sarvanimnamánavardhanaḿ samájajiivalakśańam.

[Increasing the minimum standard of living of the people is the indication of the vitality of society.]

Purport: Meritorious people should receive more than the amount of minimum requirements allocated to people in general, and there should be ceaseless efforts to raise the minimum standard of living. For instance, today common people need bicycles whereas meritorious people need motor vehicles, but a proper effort should be made to provide common people with motor vehicles. After everybody has been provided with a motor vehicle, it may be necessary to provide each meritorious person with an aeroplane. After providing every meritorious person with an aeroplane, efforts should also be made to provide every common person with an aeroplane, raising the minimum standard of living. In this way efforts to raise the minimum standard of living will have to go on endlessly, and on this endeavour will depend the mundane development and prosperity of human beings.

5-12. Samájádeshena viná dhanasaincayah akartavyah. (2)

[No individual should be allowed to accumulate any physical wealth without the clear permission or approval of the collective body.]

Purport: The universe is the collective property of all. All people have usufructuary rights but no one has the right to misuse this collective property. If a person acquires and accumulates excessive wealth, he or she directly curtails the happiness and convenience of others in society. Such behaviour is flagrantly antisocial. Therefore, no one should be allowed to accumulate wealth without the permission of society.

5-13. Sthúlasúkśmakárańeśu caramopayogah prakartavyah vicárasamarthitaḿ vańt́anainca.

[There should be maximum utilization and rational distribution of all mundane, supramundane and spiritual potentialities of the universe.]

Purport: The wealth and resources available in the crude, subtle and causal worlds should be developed for the welfare of all. All resources hidden in the quinquelemental world – solid, liquid, luminous, aerial and ethereal – should be fully utilized, and the endeavour to do this will ensure the maximum development of the universe. People will have to earnestly explore land, sea and space to discover, extract and process the raw materials needed for their requirements.

There should be rational distribution of the accumulated wealth of humanity. In other words, all people must be guaranteed the minimum requirements. In addition, the requirements of meritorious people, and in certain cases those with special needs, will also have to be kept in mind.

5-14. Vyaśt́isamaśt́isháriiramánasádhyátmikasambhávanáyáḿ caramo’payogashca.

[There should be maximum utilization of the physical, metaphysical and spiritual potentialities of unit and collective bodies of human society.]

Purport: Society must ensure the maximum development of the collective body, collective mind and collective spirit. One must not forget that collective welfare lies in individuals and individual welfare lies in collectivity. Without ensuring individual comforts through the proper provision of food, light, air, accommodation and medical treatment, the welfare of the collective body can never be achieved. One will have to promote individual welfare motivated by the spirit of promoting collective welfare.

The development of the collective mind is impossible without developing proper social awareness, encouraging the spirit of social service and awakening knowledge in every individual. So, inspired with the thought of the welfare of the collective mind, one has to promote the well-being of the individual mind.

The absence of spiritual morality and spirituality in individuals will break the backbone of the collectivity. So for the sake of collective welfare one will have to awaken spirituality in individuals. The mere presence of a handful of strong and brave people, a small number of scholars or a few spiritualists does not indicate the progress of the entire society. The potential for infinite physical, mental and spiritual development is inherent in every human being. This potentiality has to be harnessed and brought to fruition.

5-15. Sthúlasúkśma kárańo’payogáh susantulitáh vidheyáh.

[There should be a proper adjustment amongst these physical, metaphysical, mundane, supramundane and spiritual utilizations.]

Purport: While promoting individual and collective welfare, there should be proper adjustment among the physical, mental and spiritual spheres and the crude, subtle and causal worlds. For instance, society has the responsibility to meet the minimum requirements of every individual, but if it arranges food and builds a house for everyone under the impetus of this responsibility, individual initiative is retarded. People will gradually become lethargic. Therefore, society has to make arrangements so that people, in exchange for their labour according to their capacity, can earn the money they require to purchase the minimum requirements. In order to raise the level of the minimum requirements of people, the best policy is to increase their purchasing capacity.

“Proper adjustment” also means that while taking service from a person who is physically, mentally and spiritually developed, society should follow a balanced policy. Society will take physical, intellectual or spiritual service from a person depending upon which of these capacities is conspicuously developed in that person. From those who are sufficiently physically and intellectually developed, society will follow a balanced policy and accordingly take more intellectual service and less physical service, because intellectual power is comparatively subtle and rare. From those who are physically, mentally and spiritually developed, society will take maximum spiritual service, less intellectual service and still less physical service.

As far as social welfare is concerned, those endowed with spiritual power can render the greatest service, followed by those endowed with intellectual power. Those having physical power, though not negligible, cannot do anything by themselves. Whatever they do, they do under the instructions of those endowed with intellectual and spiritual power. Hence the responsibility of controlling the society should not be in the hands of those who are endowed only with physical power, or in the hands of those endowed only with courage, or in the hands of those who are developed only intellectually, or in the hands of those with worldly knowledge alone. Social control will have to be in the hands of those who are spiritually elevated, intelligent and brave all at the same time.

5-16. Deshakálapátraeh upayogáh parivarttante te upayogáh pragatishiiláh bhaveyuh.

[The method of utilization should vary in accordance with changes in time, space and person, and the utilization should be of progressive nature.]

Purport: The proper use of any object changes according to changes in time, space and person. Those who cannot understand this simple principle want to cling to the skeletons of the past, and as a result they are rejected by living society. Sentiments based on narrow nationalism, regionalism, ancestral pride, etc., tend to keep people away from this fundamental principle, so they cannot unreservedly accept it as a simple truth. Consequently, after doing indescribable damage to their country, their fellow citizens and themselves, they are compelled to slink away to the backstage.

The method of utilization of every object changes according to time, space and person. This has got to be accepted, and after recognizing this fact, people will have to progressively utilize every object and every idea. For instance, the energy which a powerful person utilizes to operate a huge hammer should be utilized through scientific research to operate more than one hammer at a time, instead of wasting the energy to operate just one hammer. In other words, scientific research, guided by progressive ideas, should extract more and more service from the same human potential. It is not a sign of progress to use outdated technology in an age of developed science.

Society will have to bravely confront different types of obstacles, large or small, that are likely to arise due to the use of various resources and materials created by progressive ideas and developed technology. Through struggle, society will have to move forward towards victory along the path of all-round fulfilment in life.

Pragatishiila upayogatattvamidaḿ sarvajanahitárthaḿ sarvajanasukhárthaḿ pracáritam. [This is the Progressive Utilization Theory, propounded for the happiness and all-round welfare of all.]

1962 Published in: Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell Part 2 [a compilation], Ánanda Sútram, Prout in a Nutshell Part 4 [a compilation], Proutist Economics [a compilation],
Universal Humanism [a compilation]

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Footnotes

(1) On 13 October 1989 the author gave the discourse “Minimum Requirements and Maximum Amenities” (Proutist Economics, 1992), and instructed that the essential ideas contained in this discourse should be added to the present chapter. These ideas were summarized by the author as follows: “ (1) Minimum requirements are to be guaranteed to all. (2) Special amenities are for people of special calibre as per the environmental condition of the particular age. (3) Maximum amenities are to be guaranteed to all, even to those who have no special qualities – to common people of common calibre. Maximum amenities are to be guaranteed to all as per environmental conditions. These amenities are for those of ordinary calibre – the common people, the so-called downtrodden humanity. (4) All three above are never-ending processes, and they will go on increasing according to the collective potentialities. This appendix to our philosophy may be small, but it is of progressive nature and progressive character. It has far-reaching implications for the future.” –Eds.

(2) In 1959 the author gave five principles in English known as the “Five Fundamental Principles of Prout”. They were published as part of the discourse “The Cosmic Brotherhood” in Idea and Ideology. Subsequently, in 1961, the author dictated Ánanda Sútram, whose fifth chapter contains, as we see here, sixteen Sanskrit sútras, or aphorisms. Aphorisms 12 to 16 correspond to the Five Fundamental Principles given earlier in English. In this edition of Ánanda Sútram, the author’s original English of each of the Five Fundamental Principles has been printed below the corresponding Sanskrit aphorism. (Though in each case it is the author’s English, it has been presented in square brackets because it was not originally given in the context of this book.) What follows every other Sanskrit aphorism in this chapter and other chapters is a translation of the aphorism rendered by the editors. Thus the bracketed English below the Sanskrit in each of Aphorisms 12-16 is not a translation as such. Note that the word samája in Sútra 5-12 is normally translated “society”; “collective body” appears in the English. Parivarttante in Sútra 5-16 is normally translated “does vary” (present indicative); “should vary” appears in the English. –Eds.

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