Man! Know thyself. 1.

(Self realisation.)

V.M.Upadhyaya.

Before beginning.

Advancement in science and technology has brought

about a lot of appreciable physical changes in our society. There
has

been

remarkable

changes

if

lifestyle.

Meanings

of

necessities, comforts and luxuries are fast changing. Education is

spreading to every nook

and corner of the country. More and

more schools, colleges and universities are being setup to

produce

more

and

more

educated

population.

There

is

an

explosion of knowledge. The word freedom has become the

slogan of the day. This is all well and good. Did all these make
us happier? Is our society free from internal and external threats?
Is everybody really free from hunger, threat and ignorance?

We

see moral degradation everywhere from top to bottom. Civilisation

has come to mean increase in usable materials and unrestrained
sensuality. Barbarism in the form of fiscal, brutal, muscular
powers is threatening us. Crime and terrorism occupy dominant
palace in medias.

Moral principles and

religious faiths are being

ridiculed. Leaders of society demand an urgent increase in

number of prisons and strengthening the police force. Why all
this? It is because in the middle of imported ideas of building a
strong

and

negligence

wealthy
and

nation

disrespect

there

regarding

has

been

building

continuous

morally

stable

personalities. It is like building a colossal structure with raw

bricks.

No

external

enemies

are

required

to

demolish

it.

Negligence in building morally well built personalities through

proper education needs atonement in the form of reconciliation
with the barbarians.
In ancient times laws were not bifurcated from religion or
morality. Even administrators owed their allegiance to religion.
Political laws were a nonentity. Morality and ethical principles
were

guidelines

to

individual

behavior.

Justice

meant

subordination to morality. Time consumes everything. Whenever

there

appeared

existence

of

breach

true

of

religion

morality
were

in

large

scale

and

the

endangered

there

appeared

reformers to establish harmony in society as a hole. Religions are

reformations. Every man-made religion is an attempt to bring
about reformation in the prevalent evils in society. Though the
founders of religions had noble ambition of setting up concord
and unity in society, it is an irony that establishment of every
religion or reformation invariably resulted in dividing the society
into still further unwanted segments. This resulted in generating
different branches or divisions or sects in religions. The sects
thus resulted instead of bringing unity and peace jeopardized the
prevalent condition in society.

It is a paradox that the dreams of

bringing about unity and harmony in society were realized in the

form of shattering the society into still further rival sections.
Dream of harmony and peace begot inequality and hostility. The

very necessity of a religion came to be questioned. As a result

religions lost hold on society.
What could be the reason behind this pathetic failure?
Neither man-made religions nor advanced knowledge in other
fields has succeeded in realizing the dream of making -The
whole world a nest of birds 35 ;<. In this little book I
have tried to show how the ancient Vedic sages had tried to
build the society of their choice through infusing permanent
values in the individuals through proper education. It is true that
both method and language of the ancient times are not in vogue
now, but still we are fortunate enough to be left with that
knowledge. This is my humble effort to convey the intrinsic
meaning of personality the knowledge of which would make
reconstruction of valuable personality possible and feasible.
The doctrine of Adwaita, hidden in the Upanishats, with the
support of the commentary by Shankaracharya,

evolving

through

these books culminates at the later half of the fourth book. For
this reason only I preferred to name the books as Man! Know
thyself-1,2,3, and 4.
Though there has been a laudable increase in reading
public as a result of spread of education, ironically enough I
could hardly find a publisher to publish my books. I welcome the
opinions of the readers.

V.M.Upadhyaya.
Ph: 08385-266349.
email: upadhyayavm@gmail.com.

Index.

Page.
1.

The fourfold goals of life. -Purushartha.

7.

2.

Strata of individual

26.

3.

Creation of the universe and body. -Srashti.

37.

4.

Social strata. -Varna.

50.

5.

Skills of working. -Karma-yoga.

66.

6.

Coordination of the three.- Upasana-yoga.

81.

7.

Path of knowledge.- Jnana-yoga.

91.

8.

Death and Salvation Marana Moksha.

108.

life.- Ashrama.

1.
Fourfold goals of life.
Purushartha.
In my school days it was in vogue to encourage students to
write essays and so many topics we assigned. A common topic
given was, My ambition in life. When I was asked to write on
the matter I could think of nothing to write as I had no ambition
as such. My fellow students had expressed their ambitions of
becoming

a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, a bus driver, a pilot, a

prime minister of our country, etc. I am sure many of them did

not

become what they had aspired to. But the topic of the

essay

continued to linger in my mind even throughout my

student

life

necessary
have

and even after it.

I asked myself whether it is

to have an ambition in life.

any ambitions

I know many do not

at all. What is the difference between

having an ambition and not having any? But before deciding it,
what is the meaning of ambition in life? Can a person have
more than one ambition or aim or goal in life? We may have
many

aims or goals.

Ambition is a strong desire to get

success. We may have two types of ambitions, temporary goals,

and ultimate or absolute goals. We all work to achieve our aims,

and

aims are many and changing. All successes achieved with

efforts may be called aims or ends. After the achievement of

every
us.

temporary goal the question, What next? appears before

We do not have answers to this question. We are attracted

by something

else and

fix it as

another ambition and strive to

get success.

But the same question repeats immediately after

that success. A game of hide and seek; that is what life is.
It is because most of us do have only temporary goals
only, and do not have ultimate goal. If we fix an ultimate goal of
life it works as an under current and saves us from chasing
unworthy goals. Absolute goal is the ideal before us towards
which we need to progress. It means our ambition should
influence
the

and

destination

guide all our thoughts and efforts. It should be

of life. I define temporary ambition as an end

to achieve which we work, and

which

we

utilize

ultimate ambition to attain

our leisure to think and know. Temporary

goals may provide wealth, power, and entertainment; but an

ultimate goal gives value to life and meaning to living.
It is necessary to have aims from time to time. Aims
indicate

the necessities or comforts. We work and get success

in having what we want. Until we attain it, it remains to be our

aim, and as soon as we have it, it ceases to be the ambition.
Then we hope for something else and fix it as another aim. We
work to get to the aims. Means to attain aims are wealth and
toil.

Without money and work no aim can be attained. All works

are means to earn money, yet money is not an end in itself.

Money is means to have happiness

or pleasure. All roads lead

to Rome. We may conclude that our ultimate aim is happiness

only.
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future, is a
proverb. Today
tomorrows

was yesterdays

tomorrow and that tomorrow is

yesterday. Man is the architect of his future, it is

said. Our future is planned, designed, and worked out not

through our activities but in our leisure. We spend much of our
time in working

and less in leisure. Usually we care much our

works but less our leisure and give more importance to our
works

and

less

to our leisure. We often say that we are fed

up with our works and do longing

but do not plan our leisure

for rest. We plan our activities

because of our conviction that work

to be fruitful needs proper planning and that is why forbid our

leisure to fructify.

How great a person is must be judged on the

basis of his activities and achievements. How great a person

would be is to be estimated on the basis of how the person
spends his leisure time. I am sure that you are at your leisure
now otherwise you could not have picked up this book and
opened this page to glance. The second thing that I guess is that
you are interested

in self knowledge

or spirituality. The name of

the book should have attracted your attention. No sooner than

your eyes saw the title of the book which perhaps lay among
others than your hands did automatically pick up the book and

10

began to turn the pages. Either you should have chosen the
book purposefully or even
whether

inadvertently. It is you to decide

you have consciously and intentionally began to read it

or involuntarily

began to turn the pages. If you are sure that it

is your deliberate action it means that you have some previous

knowledge in the matter. If you find that this act of going through
these lines is an accidental one, I prophesy that inherent faith in
higher values that was latent in you is attempting to manifest
itself

and

that itself marks the silent thirst for more knowledge

in the subject. You have now both leisure and inclination so you
may with ease and convenience go through the pages till the
end, not necessarily at a stretch.
We have different inherent inclinations to various matters.
For our convenience we may classify them into four categories:
spirituality, fine arts, administration -management, hoarding and
securing wealth. No one works without intention. It is said that
even fools do not act without profit- W\ ]5 3
Wa.

Today

Advancement

our

lifestyle

is

not

harmonious

with

nature.

of

science and technology and influence of

foreign culture are necessitating us to do jobs not in accordance

with our talent and aptitude but to cater to the need of money
which is believed to be the solo means to achieve all ends. No
doubt

money or wealth

is the very life energy. Poverty is

looked down upon as a curse and even poor hate it. Wealth is
named Goddess Lakshmi in our culture. Our scriptures define

11

wealth- a as one of the four goals or ideals of life- e

a. But
it is not the only goal of life. Every one must earn
with

his living

dignity. Money is not, and must not be an end in itself. It

is, and

should only be a means to achieve

the other two

ideals- e
a namely- virtue or righteousness - a and pleasure
and entertainment- . This is the injunctions of the scriptures.
As many of us are not exposed to our own culture and scriptures
and blindly have enslaved ourselves to the imported detestable
vanities we have become strangers in our won ancestors abode.
Anyway, when we realize this truth we have every right and
freedom to put ourselves in the right place and march on the
right path.
Job, post, position, designation, are all more wisely and
skillfully coined sweet coated coinages than employment which
differs only in sound but not in meaning with slavery. Many
become conceited in their positions. The most

dreadful thing in

our dealings is truth. We avoid meeting with truth because we

are not

accustomed to it and do not like it. We expect everyone

we deal with to be truthful but we dont hesitate to tell a lie even

for paltry gains without

sense of shame. Under whatever

circumstances we do whatever works we may come out of the

stress and strain of work if we understand one simple true
meaning of our labour. We may define our jobs as our physical
toil to meet out physical demands. It is practically and principally
true.

An individual

means not only a physical entity. Individuality

12

is a set of body and intellect or mind. Every one has his own
both physical and emotional or mental needs. If we demarcate
between

the two and

estimate the motivation behind

our jobs,

we need nobodys help to solve our problems. Much of our

problems

and

difficulties

are the products of our ignorance of

or confusion with our two Is; one physical body and the other
emotional

or

intellectual

being.

Though

they

are

seemingly

inseparable neither they are one nor the same. Better we

differentiate

between physical I and mental I. In accordance

to this all our wants, comforts and luxuries may be divided and
decided as to which I they belong to.

Anatomy, physiology,

pathology and many other studies declare that physically all

human beings are equal. Maintenance of body is an end and to
achieve that end money is the means. When money is decided
to be the end

whatever job we do should be looked upon as

the means to achieve that end. If we understand this clearly we

are saved from becoming conceited. We may also evaluate our
jobs and

fix the role they should play in our mind. This

minimizes

overestimation

of ourselves and undue attachment

to the work we do. As every worker works with the same

objective all are equal. We should stop to be the horse of the
cart (body) and act as the driver (mind) of the cart.
This analysis is the first step towards understanding our
personality. The act of demarcating between our interest or
inclination and our necessity to work enables us to escape from

13

being trapped in and mentally confined to our works. Instead of

loathsomely

being immersed in the works we can raise

our

heads above our jobs. We should be able to justify our works,

then only we can do justification to our works and work
best of our capacity because we know why

to the

we work and what

should be done. So long as we work mind cooperates with it.

When we stop working our mind stops its dealing with the matter.
By leisure generally we mean being free from doing
work. But change of work is leisure because

physical

at the end of any

work neither our body becomes inert nor our mind stops thinking.
Even in leisure work is there but the concept of it is changed.
Understanding of the change in the concept of work changes the
definition of leisure. We are fatigued more
job than with the

actual

with the concept of

toil. We feel busier in leisure than at

work and because of this we fail to be leisurely

at our leisure,

and so do not plan and enthuse to utilize our leisure beneficially

enough. Body may enjoy rest between

two

does not. Therefore work while you work and

works but mind

think while at

leisure. Please give me your leisure. If we do not plan our future

as per our desire we are sure spend the whole life struggling
against a life which we do not desire to live.

As already said all of us have inherent inclinations towards

spirituality. Degree of inclination may seem to vary from person to
person but the matter of interest is the same. First of all we

14

should mark its existence in us and then foster it with love and
care. The beginners may ask,

Why should we

growth of only spirituality neglecting the others?

problem

care to the
Yes, the

is a genuine one. It is quite possible that we may have

innumerable

goals in life. Getting a good job, becoming a

doctor, lawyer, engineer, minister, millionaire, wedding with the

beloved, etc. are also set as goals. When one becomes what
one

wanted to be immediately his goal ceases to be a goal. We

have to stop to know that the goals go on changing, the older

ones vanish, and the new ones germinate incessantly. That itself
proves that first of all none of them are permanent. Secondly it is
necessary to discriminate between wants

and goals. Ambition

different from desires. Buying a car or some property

is

is not

termed as goal, such desires are wants only. Apart from wants
we may have goals proper. To be short, all other goals may be
classified as means to achieve only tow ends wealth, and fame.
The sages have classified all possible human activities as means
to achieve four goals of life. They are called fourfold goals of life . We may say the first one is wealth- , the second one
is happiness or pleasure , the next goal is righteousness ,
and the final goal is salvation or absolute liberation- , though
the well thought of

traditional sequence is , , , and

.
All our works are inspired by the desire to earn wealth
either in the form of money or moveable and immovable assets

15

because of the conviction that wealth guarantees safety and

pleasure. Those who look upon wealth not as a means but as an
end in it

self are called misers or penny-pinchers. There are

others who know that wealth is only a means to achieve wants,

comforts
meaning

and

luxuries; in a word pleasure. The classical

of wealth or

a e
a is fulfillment of the necessity of

safety. Though the Freudian psychologists hold that sex is the

first

instinct, it is not;

the

first natural instinct is to live. Fear

of death and food are the basic instincts. To live means to

escape from death. The Upanishat says
means hunger is death. Yes, hunger kills; hunger
negatively and positively.

kills

which
both

If no food is earned hunger kills;

hunger of one kills the other for food. To escape from becoming
the food of others one should eat food. So a primarily means
food. It also refers to the means of earning food. Money or any
other asset that can be exchanged for food, shelter and clothing,
is wealth- . After food, shelter and clothing are necessary to
live, and therefore a includes them to the extent that they
support living. Animals are gifted with natural weapons to protect
themselves against their anomies, but man is not. Therefore such
thing that help fight out the enemies include in . All necessary
things used for safety come under . Then comes the
natural instinct to propagate or proliferate. The aim of fulfillment
of the urge to proliferate is included in .
When safety is assured

man hopes for the satisfaction of

senses, and this hunt for the sensual satisfaction drives man from
choosing the better from good.

Increase in wealth results first in

the need for comforts and then for the luxuries. The things that
provide comforts and luxuries and all kinds of entertainments

16

come under

. Civilization has provided all sorts of

pleasures to make life happy and gay. All the activities

directed

are

towards making man happy and happier. It is the nature

of man to hope to enjoy more and more and to

become

happier than what he is. Pleasure hunters wish for all sorts of
pleasure in this life and also hope for the enjoyments in the
worlds after death. They know that the heavenly pleasure
can be had only through the rituals prescribed in the
scriptures and ambitiously engage in doing such performances; all
of them put together we may call .
The

objects

perceptible but

of

wealth

and

pleasure

are

that of righteousness- is imperceptible.

Generally means good luck or

fortune.

wealth and pleasure can be sought, but

to contribute to individuals well

The

objects

righteousness

of

seems

being and to the progress of

spirituality. Man has to produce by appropriate means. Good

luck or fortune is not accidental,
apposite

means prescribed

but has to be achieved by

in the scriptures. It is also called

. The results of our actions or deeds are of two types

visible and invisible. The effects
invisible are called fortune
effect- "# is of
malevolent - .

of deeds- that

or good luck -"# .

two

The invisible

types, benevolent- %

They are also called

effects of deeds that affect positively

benevolent

, %
,

malevolent- a, .

and

and . The

for our wellbeing here in

this world and that contribute to the spiritual progress

called

are

and the opposite are

are
called

Since the ultimate aim of life is absolute

17

liberation from all sorts of sufferings- , it becomes

responsibility of every sane individual
guidance of

the

to act strictly upon the

the scriptures - & which

authentically

dictate

the duties. Those who immerse

in the attainment and enjoyment

of wealth and pleasure without

heeding to & are sure to

fail, therefore

the other two aims of life- wealth and pleasure-

must be subordinated to this goal of life- .

One may doubt

how a becomes the cause of wealth in

this life i.e. -a and pleasure , and life after death or on

rebirth. It is general conviction that the objects of the world give
pleasure and we are free to obtain the objects of pleasure at our
will. But the scriptures say that a or

k
means individuals

inherent right to enjoy, and a or is nothing but the

inherent right to suffer. It was already told that a work is done on
two layers, physical work, and mental setup. Though work is
finished

and over, results of a persist. Some effects of deeds

done in this life may fructify in the near future but they will not
exhaust as deeds are being done till death.
of deeds at the end of life is called

The stock of effects

( .

The scriptures

say that the sufferings and enjoyments that we are experiencing

now in this life are the results of our m a.
begins to give fruits it is called

+-.

When m a

Therefore whatever we

are experiencing now is the fruits of our +- . We may not

finish all the effects of past deeds (

and so

some are

reserved to be experienced in this life only and they are called

/ or / .

18

After death the load of ( a

will be with us and

waits for a chance to fructify. This results in taking rebirth

1

and to experience ( in the form of all sorts

of experiences. We do not know the place and time and

circumstances
the next

of the next birth. What would we experience in

birth we cannot

our next birth

scriptures
our

friends,
is

and the circumstances in which to live. But the

say

rebirth.

that our deeds here are solely responsible for

It is said that parentage, circumstances, relatives,

poverty or

the

foresee. We are not free to choose

riches, education, inclinations, etc. of a child

result of its past deeds. And we know that childhood

forms a major role in the life of a person. We see many people

suffering all the life in spite of their hard struggle. There are
many

who work from morning

difficult
profits
are

till midnight and still find it

to meet both ends. Everybody works to make large

but

some

religious

they

find

bankruptcy awaiting them. Though many

and generous for no perceptible fault of theirs

suffer from diseases, imprisonments, loss of property,

family and relatives. They say difficulties come in battalions.

There
life with

are others who enjoy all sorts of pleasures throughout

out working and worrying.

We may not find out

physical or psychological causes behind these paradoxes. The

scriptures say that the reason behind them is the fruits of their
past deeds +-. is subtle and the most powerful one which
influences and regulates the other two and and so it is
enumerated first.
There are some others who

determine that absolute

freedom is the greatest happiness and hope to attain it- .

19

Salvation or < means absolute liberation from bondage. We

actually need not get free from any outside things; we have to
free ourselves from inner bondage. What is bondage? Anything
that binds or entangles us with other than what we are is
bondage. The first three goals of life i.e. righteousness -a,
wealth -a, and

enjoyment - ,

bind us with physical objects

and sense enjoyments. < is freedom from

goals of life.

slavery to the other

While the other three goals are external, < is the

only internal goal.

While the

ignorant are enslaved by the other

three goals and slavishly struggling under their dictations, the

wise is the master because he is not governed by anything. To
make it clear, external objects enslave us in both the ways either
with their presence or with their absence. When a particular thing
or person is not with us we feel the absence deeply and suffer a
sense of emptiness, dejection, worthlessness and depression. We
have a strong feeling of loss and vacuum. On the other hand the
very

presence

of

things

and

persons

can

cause

dislike,

impatience, irritation, burden, stress, strain and tension. Wealth

brings with it responsibility, worry and restlessness; and the
absence of wealth begets desire, avarice, humbleness, shame
and

pessimism.

contentment

means the ultimate happiness or saturated

that results

from perfect immunity to either

presence or absence of any worldly or other worldly things.

Accomplishment of human life

is to achieve

is the injunction

of the Vedic sages.

No amount of wealth, power, and fame can make a person

fully and permanently satisfied. In Katha Upanishat Nachiketa

20

remarks, Human beings never feel fully satisfied with wealth,-

3 # . Similarly no amount of power and fame can
make a person permanently happy. That means whoever chases
the other goals is definitely running after the mirage. Satisfaction
or happiness got through other achievements kindles more and
more hopes and hopes are unbridled horses. One principle hiding
behind all ambitions is to have happiness. It means all other
ambitions are not real goals or ideals but they serve as means to
attain

happiness.

ambitious

efforts

The

real

goal

is

happiness.

So,

all

our

are destined to meet happiness. Happiness

that we get through such goals is proportionately limited and

fleeting. Therefore whichever goals we choose they are just
means to attain the end called happiness, and this is the wise
decision of the scriptures. Though we temporarily conclude that
happiness is the only goal of life a thorough examination of the
meaning and nature of happiness is necessary. What do we
mean by happiness?

Happiness is a sense of satisfaction is

mind. It is an emotion, a sensation, a feeling. We get happiness

thorough sense organs. Bodily comforts make us happy. Our
physical body has natural chemical urges. Through the five sense
organs we contact outer physical objects and the very contact
brings satisfaction to the sense organs. Sense of satisfaction
generated in mind is called happiness.
the end of

Happiness provided at

long and eager anticipation is

more than

the

happiness derived by the actual contact of sense organs with

21

outside objects. The needs of satisfaction of our sense organs

are

recurring.

permanently
fleeting.

This

recurrence

satisfied

never

allows

anyone

to

be

and happy. Therefore happiness is

It fades with the passing of time and a passage of time

gives birth to new yearnings. So yearning and happiness are two

different

points of a circle. They repeat again and again. Now

we may conclude that satisfaction of physical urges through

sense organs which we call happiness is found even in animals
and so cannot be an ambition of life of man which means that
we should not fix it as the goal of life.

When
is

we find that neither wealth nor fame nor happiness

worthy to choose as goal of life, the problem arises as to

what should be chosen as the goal of life, and why. Even those
who are physically strong wrestlers or mountaineers may have to
be helped to get on staircase, walk, and even sit at old age.
Their titles, medals, certificates, shields, presentations, fame, and
money may give very much happiness when they are bestowed
on

them.

But

in

due

course

they

cease

to

give

either

contentment or consolation. Not only physical strength but also

the emotional, intellectual qualities, talents
worldly

and knowledge of

subjects are not permanent. All those physical and

mental capacities are not found in childhood and are acquired

later and again they fade away. They come and go and keep
changing so our clinging to them is sure to disappoint us one

22

day or the other. We always think, like, love and feel proud of
the changing ones. We fail to understand that they are all our
attributes.

We dont discriminate between attributes and I. As a

result of this ignorance and negligence we fail to discover the

truth.
We want happiness, no doubt; but what kind of happiness?
No sane person can choose short-lived happiness; we all hope
for unending happiness. If at all we should fix a valuable and
grand goal in life and wish to strive to attain the highest and the
noblest happiness 781
fixing it on ourselves

we should not take the burden of

since we do not know what is the nature

of it and where could it be found. It is desirable to seek the

advice of the scriptures in which the great sages whose sole aim
was

to

help

mankind

to

march

to

the

goal

of

unending

happiness, have marked it with good reason. Therefore let us see

the opinions of the great men. It is a pity that we know very little
about ourselves. The scripture tell us what we are and guide us
to the noblest goal. The only thing required of us is to patiently
and carefully listen to them.

The chance of having this human body is a very rare

opportunity and a great good luck when compared to the other
beings. 1
. The sages benevolently tell us to
realize

first the importance of having the chance of being born

23

as a human being. All the animals and birds have physical

bodies

like us and it is not a matter of pride to have one such

body, one may argue. Yes all beings have bodies. On the same
ground do we agree that we are perfectly equal to the other
animals and birds?

No. Why? The sages say that it is a rare

gift to have a human body -

. The structure of
human body is quite different from those of other beings. The
very

structure

enables

man

to

activities that others cannot do.

perform

many

more

skillful

Body is not the criterion to

judge equality. All other beings do live but do not and cannot
make them better than what they are. They are animals and
continue to be animals only. To some extent man is equal to
animals, we many agree.

By birth we are equal to animals, it is

said. We are not only given a human body; we are endowed with
intellect,

wisdom

which the animals are denied. The other

beings cannot make them better than what they are, why? It is
because they lack wisdom.
It is said that man is a thinking animal. It means we are
gifted with some animal tendencies along with an intellect which
could, if properly used, curb them and make us live like human
beings. This capacity which lacks in other beings is inherent in
us. No animal can make it a super-animal but man can make
himself a super-man or even god-man. Therefore the proper use
of our intellect

is the most important thing that we may start

with and the scriptures advise us to think - 3 =.

24

Thinking is necessary, but what to think is the question. Before

us there are two channels of thought, one that makes us better
and

the other that makes us worse. If we do not distinguish the

one

we want from the other there is a danger of being a prey

to the animal

instincts inherent in us and getting degraded in

the days to come. Therefore thinking about our future is very

much needed. We should make the best of us. We must grow
better

and

better

and

never

allow

us

to

get

worse.

? . Then the question is how to get

better or in other words we should think in to which we should
grow or what should we become. The simple answer is that we
must be the happiest; the most content, and never slip down
from

that status.

Does such a state really exist?

If so what is

it that makes us the happiest for all times? The scriptures

answer: The possible highest happiness is Knowledge of self. In
Sanskrat
cannot

self is called Brahma. Whatever we achieve they

be achievement-saturated, because desire to achieve

more and more will not be quenched. No other happiness can

make us permanently the happiest. No other knowledge is perfect
because whatever knowledge we acquire there remains the
instinct
can

to know many more things and all of them put together

not make us the wisest and omniscient.

But the knowledge

of self alone provides all these things because there is nothing

greater than Brahma or self. -@1
1

B1

B CD8 Therefore we should fix self-

25

realisation as our goal and be ambitious of attaining it. We

should

utilize

our leisure

to achieve that ideal. It is O.K. But,

how to utilize our leisure is the problem. We already know that

thinking

is a must. Let us spend our leisure in thinking. Again

the problem

is

what should be the matter of thought and how

to think. Thinking is different from daydreaming or guessing. Fist

we should collect the data and then analyze, grade, compare,
contrast, distinguish, label, and decide and apply the selected
ones. The scriptures advise us to do this in three steps listening,
understanding, and assimilation - E, , F ? . Now we
know that we need not do any physical work, need not spend
money, need not fast and pray except make most of our leisure
to achieve the highest goal of our life and make ourselves the
noblest and the happiest.

26

2.
Strata of individual life.
Ashrama.
As

the process of systematic thinking involves three steps -

listening, understanding, and assimilation we are ready to think.

The first thing is to listen. The problem is what to listen, where
to go to listen, and who should be approached to preach us.
Before

proceeding further I congratulate you because in you I

see

a rarely gifted and lucky person and my greetings are due

to

that

intrinsic inclination hidden in you. You may be

wondering

as to how I come to know of it even without looking

at your face. It is not a magic. The very

on to this second

fact that you passed

chapter of this book, having read the first one,

means that you have sustained the curiosity to know more about
self realization. That curiosity and zeal to know more about the
matter

itself is the indication of manifestation of your enthusiasm,

interest, and ambition. It is said that the three, life of a human

being,

opportunity

keen

interest

to

have

self

knowledge

and

the

of living with the knowledgeable are very rare to

have and are the gifts only of God

to those who have them.

Z
&

#

It is

27

well and good. Now coming to the matter, let us see how to
undertake E, , and F ?.
The

first requirement is E which means listening. It may

be noted that neither reading nor writing is mentioned. We may

go a bit detail to know why only listening is prescribed, who are
eligible to listen, where to listen, who should be approached, who
are eligible to impart, what to

listen, and what is the purpose of

listening. Nowadays we get education at schools, colleges, and

universities. The one who gets education is called a student. In
olden days about the age of eight or so after celebrating a
religious ceremony called to mark the beginning of
education the child was sent to the home of his teacher - .
The word

literally means that which leads to the Self,

or absolute knowledge. On this occasion the child was initiated to

the absolute knowledge through a holy mantra called Gayatri[&. Meaning and the importance of initiating with this mantra
will

be dealt with in the pages to come at the suitable occasion.

In olden days the one who gets education was called pqr.
The word Brahmachaari literally means the one who marches
towards the Absolute Knowledge- 78.

Generally he was called

78, and the position

Duration of education was called

of the learner was named

78E. The instructor or the

guide was called , and the word means the great one. The
learner, better say listeners had to stay with the teacher at his
home called- e
. There were many sages or hermits and

28

many disciples

used to live with them in hermitages. The

educators -e were eager to have more and more good disciples

with them and they used to pray, Let disciples come to me. 1 78\ Let different types of disciples come
to me. - 3 1 78\

Let disciples who have self-

control come to me.- 1 78( Let disciples

with serene mind come to me.- 1 78\ | Like
waters flowing down to the valley and like months joining the
year, let learners come to me from all directions. -
+1, , 78\ May my tongue
be as sweet as honey.- 8

The disciple

Let my ears listen a lot of noble things.- ` \

wished,

3E
Relation between the teacher-

and the taught - /#

was very pious. As selling knowledge was abominated and

condemned the students were in no need of money. The
students were treated like the members of his family by the
teacher.
Students
serving

Teachers were given the place equal to the father.

had to stay for a

long period with the teachers

him to his satisfaction

to complete education. To the

one who enters pqav Guru himself is the father and Gayatri
mantra itself is the mother because though biological parents give
birth to physical body Guru was to give birth and bring up in his
/# all the healthy qualities and knowledge which constitute his
mental or spiritual personality and Gayatri continues to remains
ones

source of inspiration and guide throughout life.

The end

29

of a disciples education was marked by the celebration of a

ceremony, convocation, called . Only at the end of their
education they were given the opportunity of expressing their
gratitude to the teacher through offering whatever they could.
Today education means supplying information. But in olden
days
socially

education was a process of forming individually and

wholesome

and

noble

personality.

Therefore

the

technique used was quite different from that of modern days.

Memorization

of theories and dexterity of handling apparatus

may create a machine like man. Today education has come to

mean training of persons for different types of works. In the
chase for technicality humanity and spirituality are miserably
ignored. The teachers are not prepared to set themselves

as

models or ideal personalities whose behaviours the students

should emulate.

But in olden day the eager learners were

guided to approach great men and so the learners having

approached a noble, great scholar 1
/, used to
beseech to be accepted as disciples. The Guru would accept
them if only they faired well in the test they were put into. A
variety

of

subjects

like

Vedas,

scriptures,

branches

of

philosophy, medicine and so on were taught to the deserving.

The disciples used to sit in front of the Guru mostly under the
shade of a tree and listen attentively what was delivered through
the mouth of the master. Repetition of what is heard results in
memorization. Whatever is learnt or inculcated before and at

30

teenage becomes the permanent asset of the learner. At that age

nature of enquiry and criticism is seldom expressed. Cordiality,
obedience, harmony, love, sense of service, cooperation, hard
work, alertness, chastity, celibacy, faith, selflessness, compassion,
will to help and good manners were in the very air of the
hermitages and they used to influence and mold the young
minds. The inmates were unknowingly assimilating the good
qualities

even

as

children.

Todays

children

are

tomorrows

citizens.

Neither writing nor reading was in vogue as there was no

need. All the Vedas are heard and memorized. From the world
meaning listen the word EF is derived and it means the Vedas.
Reading
good

and writing the Vedas was banned but not without

reasons.

Calligraphy

or

scripts

are

written

and

read.

Languages are meaningful sounds. Scripts are not languages

because they are not sounds, they only symbolize sounds. Scripts
may represent sounds, letters, or words. Apart form words and
sentences speech

include intonation, stress, notation, declension,

conjugation, accents and many other things peculiar to each

language. No language is sluggish; every language is subject to
change. To maintain similarity and uniformity of pronunciation in
all parts scripts are not useful and are sure to hamper the
spoken language. To maintain the originality of a language in
future times and in different

geographical areas prohibition of

31

the script was necessary. Ban of writing and reading is justified

on this ground. Therefore listening was the only way of acquiring
knowledge.

For this reason we find

in poetry and in variety of

ancient

literature largely

meters. Memorization of poetry is

easier than that of prose. Things were taught with examples and
descriptions.
questioning

Full scope was provided to get doubts clarified and

was

encouraged. In many contexts subject matter is

itself in the style of well guided discussion. It means listening

was

backed by logical reasoning and an opportunity to decide

the truth. The disciples were not simply subjected to listen to the
Guru, they were helped to digest whatever they listened. This is
called

the

processes

of

understanding

-.

Four

Vedas,

Ragveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda were taught.

Shiksha, grammar-Vyakarana, prosody- Chandas, Nirukta, Kalpa,
and Astronomy

and Astrology- Jyotisha were called the limbs of

the Vedas. Then there were different types of scriptures like

Sankhya, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa, and Vedanta etc. Many
more subjects were taught according the need and aptitude of
the students. E is predominant in 78E.

Before sending off form Gurukula abiding commandments

were given to each and every future citizen. Some of them are:
Tell only the truth-

Do only the right things -a

Dont

?1+

neglect

self-study-

discontinuity of your

Dont

allow

progeny- + =b Never be

32

negligent of truth - 1+ =
righteousness -1+ =

Never be careless about

Dont neglect your duty of self-

protection- 1+ =

Never be inattentive to do the

deeds that cause your development and abundance -

+ = Never be careless about the duty towards Gods and
your ancestors

- 3
` + =

Let mother

be your

god-
Let father be your god - 3

religious instructors be your god-a

Let

Let guests be

your god -F( Do only those works which are not

denounced - 1CF d F 3F Dont do other than
those

works.

Whatever

you

give,

give

wholeheartedly( with due respect)- Ef These and many

such

other guidelines helped the young individuals to live

harmoniously in society with dignity.

After the convocation ceremony thus well informed, suitably

trained,

enthusiastic, optimistic, humane, young orthodox citizens

used to come out of Gurukula after the

education.

completion of their

After getting married they settle as maintainer of

family -Z .

At wedding the bride and the bridegroom are

considered to be the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and Goddess

Laxmi and decorated suitably.

At the time of marriage the

bridegroom has to take an oath. The brides father demands of

his would be son- in- law that his daughter must accompany him
(should have equal share) in the achievements of the three goals
of life (she must not be betrayed.)

h h

33

F\= To this condition the man must agree and vow that
he would never breach the pledge- (I dont betray her) F/.

This shows the equal status of both man and wife in

family life. Then there is

Seven

Steps- i

indicates

j.

another famous
This

meaningful

procedure called
ceremony

clearly

that married life- Z E is a joint venture. It may be

presented in short like this: This first joint step is for food,
decisions and efforts- j. This second joint step is for
health and energy- C3j. This third joint step is for
wealth and means of goals- [&j. This fourth joint
step is for pleasure and happiness- = # j. This fifth
joint step is for propagation of noble successors - +`
j. This sixth joint step is for truthful and honest life`

mj.

This

seventh

joint

step

is

for

love

and

friendship- ij.

Duration of the responsibility of maintaining and enjoying

the family is called Z E. A person with a family is called
Z E/. The institution is home- y

and the centre of the

institution is -Z d. Only in one sentence

the importance of

woman is defined - Z Zb
- which means Home means
the mistress- Z

of home Z E is the most important

one as the responsibility of harmony and wellbeing of whole

society rests on the shoulders of Z E/ and that is why
family

life is praised as the choicest and the most contented

one- 1 Z E. Along with the ownership of wealth, power

and

status in the society, energy and enthusiasm, love of family,

34

relatives

and

the Z

friends, and pleasure of all sorts of enjoyments

couple is obliged to maintain strict discipline in

performing the righteous quotidian duties called B . He is to

feed and help the people of all other E. A householder is the
patron of the people belonging to all other v. He has to do
only the prescribed duties and abandon the prohibited ones. The
act of dominates Z E because in this stage the
responsible individual has to do duties with understanding the
importance and fixing the values of works.

It was in vogue among the individuals to handover the

responsibility of the family to the grown up children and retire at
the age of fifty or so or whenever a persons prefers to do so.
Many used to go into the forests with their wives to lead their
rest of life in seclusion.

They would either setup a hermitage of

their own or stay with other sages. Though some preferred to

stay at home, they too would lead the life equal to that of a
hermit. This

stage of life was called + E. After the

enjoyment of family life and having achieved the three goals of

life , , and , this is the life of leisure in which they had
ample

opportunities

to fulfill their ambition of attaining fourth

goal of life self-knowledge

the sages

with the help and guidance of

and hermits living like them. In this stage there is full

scope for F ? . The last stage of life was to enter into the
life

of

complete

renunciation

1 .

There

are

different

35

categories in 1 such as j, , \o, ,

, [& , and so on. The life of a Sanyasi is completely
dedicated to the attainment of self knowledge 78B. This is
the brief picture of the life style of our ancestors.

Though different subjects were taught to the deserving and

specialization in many branches was the need of time all were
imparted commonly with the knowledge of why to live and how to
live a meaningful and valuable life. Every disciple was convinced
of the need of the four goals of life- , , ,

and

Necessity and meaning of the goals and the proper means to

achieve them were made clear. The first three goals were the
means to achieve the last one. Therefore self-realisation

or <

is the ultimate goal of every individual. Behavior and works of

individuals were set and guided in accordance with this aim.
Meaning and importance of different stages of life and the
meaning and the necessity of social life were taught so as to
develop a good and dynamic personality. This E = was
the means of developing a spiritual personality right from the
beginning. An individual has to acquaint with the knowledge and
performances of duties prescribed for each v and thereby
strive to accomplish the goals of life. Each v and each
was to serve as a step to reach the fourth and final goal of life

without which life is imperfect and fearful.

36

If we compare the surroundings we are living in with the

surroundings

in which we had spent our childhood we are sure

to find remarkable difference between the two. The very memory

of childhood is always a source of joy. With this we may
conclude

that past is happier. If we apply this theory and

imagine that the childhoods of our parents could have been

happier than that of ours, and the childhoods of our grandparents

could have been happier than those of our parents, and

the childhoods of our great grand- parents could have been

happier

than those of our grand- parents, and so on, though our

imagination
the

other

may please us it may be far away from truth. On

hands

if

we

consider

the

riches,

conveniences,

comforts, luxuries, freedom, importance, dignity, care and love

that our children are blessed with in their childhoods undoubtedly
our own childhoods cut a miserably sorry figure before theirs.
With this we have to understand not to cry over spilt milk and
realize that a fruit in hand is better than hundreds inside others
bags. Change is the nature of universe. My life cannot be
exchanged

with any others. Circumstances do change but not

life; circumstance is no life. Wherever it is served honey is honey

only.

37

3.
Creation of the universe and body.
Srashti.
The scriptures open up the knowledge of self very tactfully.
We know that we have a body. Many branches of modern
science deal with the knowhow of the body and the evolution of
the world.

But the way the scripture deals with is quite different.

Taittariya Upanishat describes the process of structure of the

world like this: First, space or sky was created by the Brahman
or God. Out of space air was created, and out of air fire was
created, and out of fire water was created, and out of water the
earth was created.
C q
q C` ( 3.

Each one of these five is called

gross

element
. The modern science says that everything is
made up of fundamental elements. Even fundamental elementals
are made up of atoms. Atoms are the structures of still smaller
particles like electrons, protons, and neutrons etc. In the same
way some scriptures say that

each

gross element

space etc. are built up of many subtle elements

like

r

. Each

subtle element is the result of the combination of still finer things

called 1&. All of them are structured systematically.

38

The word 1&

means

the purest (also the smallest part)

form of an element uncontaminated with other elements. It is the

original state of an element. Therefore originally there are five
types of {| of space, air, fire, water, and earth. Out of the
mixture of these {|

five subtle elements r

are formed.

These subtle elements are not perceptible as they are too fine to
be grasped by the sense organs. Out of the mixture of

these

five r

in various proportions gross elements -
are
formed. It means that

each perceptible gross element is not

pure and contains other elements as well. So what we see like

earth, water, air, etc. are not pure because they contain other
elements as well. The formation of these gross elements is a
systematical one. If each element is a mixture of all others why
should we call them specifically and separately as earth, water,
fire, etc.? The scriptures explain that the naming is done due to
the predominance of the elements.

We
beginning

may

easily

understand

that

the

gross

elements

from earth to sky are comparatively subtler and

subtler. Water is subtler than earth; fire is subtler than air, air
subtler than fire and sky subtler than air. It is assumable that
each element is a mixture of all others. The process of formation
of these gross elements is called fivefold formation- . In

39

this process-

fifty percent of an element is a mixture of

the remaining four elements in equal proportion. This may be

explained with an example. The gross earth means fifty percent
pure earth and the remaining half is composed of 1/8 of or
12.5% of the other four elements. This rule applies to all the
gross elements. Even gross sky is only fifty percent pure and half
of it is composed of 12.5 % of other four elements.

The bodies

of plants, animals, birds, and human beings are composed of

these five elements in varying degrees. All the bodies

are formed out of and biodegrade into gross elements only. This
gross

universe -
3s is also composed of

five gross

elements.

The Vaisheshika school of philosophy founded by Kanada

holds that the universe is made up of atoms- .

The Jain

thinkers said that the world is built up of C

. Some Buddhists
are of the opinion

that bodies are composed of five fine

elements and they called them- . Sankhya school of Kapila

has a different explanation. The Sankhya say that out of the
substratum called Pradhana -+ or the fundamental nature-

W of which

the properties are three subtlest elements called

- namely, , and

the

world has

manifested. What

we call nature- W is the gross form of the unmanifest

+F or +.

+ is the equilibrium state of the three Gunas-

40

, and . The disturbance caused in the equilibrium state

disturbs the three Gunas and as a result

they

another and influence each other and manifest first

overlap one
in the form

of the greatest called or 3 f. {| are the manifest form

of 3 f.

The scriptures say that we have not one but threefold

bodies. To put it more clearly we are made up of three folded
body- j &. This perceptible body or physical body or gross
body is called
and

j. This gross body is only an outer cover

inside there is another body made up of mind etc. and is

called subtle body- r

j . Subtler than this subtle body is
causal body called -j. It is interesting to note that the
scriptures say that like our bodies even the world is three folded
one and the three layers are called physical or gross world-

3s, subtle world- r

3s, and causal world - 3s. That is
not all, three bodies are corresponding to the three worlds. The
causal world is called Maya. Maya is also the causal body
because both body and world find their source in Maya only.

It is said that

out of Maya - which is the unmanifest

world has manifested. It is said that Maya is composed of three

41

qualities Guna, , and . These three Gunas manifest in

the form of five elements, sky, air, water, fire, and earth. This
gross world is made up of five gross elements. The bodies are
also built up of these gross elements. Fundamentally the qualities
or
are not physical elements. They are abstract, not concrete.
Out of these three
five subtle elements r
are formed,
and then the combinations of the subtle elements result in the
formation of gross elements-
. Each of the five elements
has all the three Gunas as its components. So there is Satva
component of space, Rajas component of space and Tams
component of space. The other four elements do also have the
three Gunas in them. This is the first phase of creation of subtle
elements and it is called r

#. Gross elements are formed
out of these subtle elements and the process of formation is
already described. The important thing to note is that our gross
or physical bodies are made up of elements with whichever name
they are called.

We are not just our bodies; we are something more than

our bodies. We have different powers or faculties. Not only in us
but also in the whole universe we may observe different powers.
All

these powers are unmanifest in Maya, it is said. We know

the three qualities or

which are the components of Maya. To
be frank the word

must not be translated as quality. The

word is a technical term in Indian philosophy and hence may not

42

be translated

into any foreign language without doing injustice to

it. The three Gunas, , and are identical with three

powers or faculties: knowing faculty or sensory faculty Bt,
faculty of action or dynamism uvt, and inertia- "=t.
Inertia means the absence of knowing faculty and absence of
acting faculty. Its speciality is that neither can it act nor can it
know. Technically these three faculties are the three Gunas.
Satva is B t,

Rajas is uv t,

and Tams is "=t.

These three Gunas are the components of Maya and so Maya is

described as container of three Gunas- [& .

The next point to consider is mind. Mind and body are

interlinked. We should remember that our five sense organs1"

have two parts, the outer organs

81", and the

centers of them -r
1" in the mind. The technical term for the
outer sense organs in Sanskrat is . So we may say that
outer eyes are and the action centre of eyes in mind is
1".

The same is applicable to all other sense organs.

Outer organs or are made up of gross elements and the

inner organs or 1" are made up of subtle elements.

This world is the manifestation of Maya, it is said. What

does actually mean? We know that three Gunas, Satva, Rajas
and Tamas

are the components of Maya. Each element is

43

composed of these three Gunas. Space has Satva, Rajas and

Tamas; air has Satva, Rajas, and Tams, and the rest may be
understood on the same line. The Satva Guna

components of

the five elements are responsible for the generation of five sense
organs

of

knowledge.

Therefore

ears

component of space; skin acquires

acquire

Stava

Guna

Satva Guna component of

air; eyes have Satva Guna of fire; tongue has Satva Guna of
water; and nose has Satva Guna component of earth. The mind
which coordinates and controls all the sense organs is composed
of Satva Guna component of all the five elements. Mind is
behind the activities of all the organs and it is quite natural that
mind should be composed of all the Gunas.

Five organs of action h1" are: mouth- speech- ,

hands grasping- d, legs- movement- , anus- cleanse- ,
and genitals- reproduction- . These five sense organs of
actions are composed of five subtle elements but the component
is the dynamic power- Kriya Shakti which is the manifestation of
Rajas Guna. So generation of five actions may be described as:
Rajas Guna of space causes speech; Rajas Guna of air causes
actions like grasping with hands; Rajas Guna of fire generates
movements through legs; Rajas Guna of water causes drainage
through anus, urinary organs and sweat; Rajas Guna of earth is
responsible for the actions of genitals.

44

Our subtle body or r

j is composed of subtle five
elements r

. The entire subtle body is composed of five
Satva Guna and Rajo Guna of the five subtle elements. So we
now have understood the process of the creation- # of subtle
body -r
j and subtle elements.

We have seen Stava and Rajo guna are responsible to the

creation of subtle body and subtle world. Of the three Gunas the
one left is inertia- Tamas. It is said that components of five
elements

alone

get

grossified

to

become

the

five

gross

elements. It means that five elements are the manifest form of

Tamo Guna of the five subtle elements. It is also said that until
grossification

each elements remains isolated and pure, they are

not adulterated or mixed up with others. But when grossification

takes place the Tamo Guna of these five elements get mixed.
Only at the level of grossified

state each element gets mixed up

with the other four. In the gross level an element means only a
mixture of all the five elements. Every thing that we see in the
universe is composed of five gross elements and the physical
things are of Tamas or inactive nature. Movements of naturally
inert matters or objects predominantly composed of Tamo Guna
are caused by the Rajo Guna found in subtle elements. The
process of mixture of these five elements to generate physical

45

objects is called . After death decomposition takes place

and it is also called .

Gross and subtle bodies are the creations of causal body. It

means

that the substratum of them must be in causal body.

The raw materials of all the elements are the three Gunas, we
have seen. Causal body is called Maya in which all the three
Gunas exist before creation. We generally use the word creation,
but it is a wrong word because nothing can be created anew
according the principle of conservation of energy. Therefore the
correct
the

word to be used is manifestation. Now we may say that

world

manifests

manifestation

out

of

Maya.

In

other

words

before

the world exists in Maya without any form because

without form there can be no world. We may say that Maya is

potential

world. Maya is the causal form of matter and matter is

causal form which is the source of all types of energy. Therefore

Maya is the first principle in which all maters and all types of
energies are latent. Maya is the causal body of all beings and
the world as well.

But self or soul is distinct and is not this

Maya.

Till now we have seen different opinions or theories of the

creation of our three types of bodies and the world. We may see
in greater detail the procedure of the growth of human body in

46

different

layers

scriptures.

and

phases

since

conception

till

birth

in

Some of the reader may grumble that they dont

understand it. What is understanding? Those who have even a

little bit of the knowledge of modern science know that everything
is made up of atoms. The things we see around us, the food we
eat,

the drinks we drink, the air we inhale, even our bodies are

no

exceptions to that rule. Does anybody object the statements

of scientists in the matter? No. Do we feel that we are built up

of atoms? Do we experience that our bodies are the structures of
atoms or fundamental elements? Do we really see, taste, smell,
touch atoms?

Do we eat and drink atoms? Do we feel like that?

At least are we convinced of it? Do we have any tangible

experience of atoms? No. In spit of all these we do not hesitate
to explain to our youngers about the atom. Why? It is because
we are given that conception. We believe in the statements like
there is carbon, carbohydrate, iron, lead, proteins, variety of
vitamins, salt, sugar, and such other things in our body. We dont
have any objections against it. We force our children to eat
eatables rich with vitamins and other things and ban cholesterols.
It is because we have got that conception. In the same way what
all we know as the components of our bodies are the opinion or
theories of some people. If all these help us understand that our
bodies are not really ours, they are simply units of ever changing
substances
we

are

of the world,

that is enough. If we remember that

in search of self-knowledge and are not discovering the

47

truth about

body and the world which can never be established,

we may stop bothering.

Interestingly

enough

there is an explanation of five

sheaths in Taittariya Upanishat. Our self or soul is

hidden

inside five sheaths which mask the self one after

another. The outermost sheath is made up of food and so it is

called 1 . It is a common knowledge that food is
digested

and gets transformed

into cells of our body. A child at

birth is only about three kilo of weight and as a result of food

taken

in its body grows and at about twenty years the body

may weigh
increase

forty kilo or so. The increase of the weight is due to

in new components constructed out of

intaken food. It

is true that body outside is food and food inside is body. One
body is anothers food. Whatever helps the growth of the body is
food. Food and body are just two points on a cyclic motion.
Therefore body grows

for some time and then perishes. After

death body is turned into food of someone else. Even when

alive, body is being eaten by parasites. This material body has
six characters: it exists- , it has birth- ,
metamorphoses-3\, degenerates- ,

it grows- ,
and dies

s. However much we try we cannot save this body from all

these

inherent

qualities of change.

this physical unit as I.

So it is vain to boast of

48

The second sheath is system of breathing called

+ . +

is vital energy. This is energy generating or

fuel-converting system. There is +%t

behind all the organs to

energise and regulate their works. It is five-folded; +, ,

=, , and

. We may call W as oxygen which goes

to lungs and is absorbed by blood and causes blood circulation

throughout the body. regulates the function of evacuation or
waste-removal. circulates the nutrition generated in the
stomach to various parts of the body. converts eaten food
into a large variety of nutrition

like carbohydrates, minerals, fats,

salts, proteins, vitamins etc. is the reversing system that

operates at the time of death. It functions at emergencies. It
poisonous food is taken in does not allow that food to go
down to the normal process but it reverses the function and
makes us vomit. Al five together make + . + is
inside 11 means it is finer than the outer one.

is inside or finer than + and it means

mind. Only some faculties like recognition, emotion, volition,
desire etc. of mind are termed as sheath of mind. is
distinct form 3B which is said to be inside it and has
the faculties like logical thinking, discriminating, comparing and
contrasting, decision making etc. To be clearer 3B
symbolizes

wisdom or intellect. The inner most sheath is

which

represents

the

greatest

happiness

or

49

beatitude. It has no faculties but itself is the purest happiness.

This happiness is called the highest one- 781. This is
considered to be the highest happiness because it is neither
contaminated

nor

limited

by

any

thing.

We

enjoy

sensory

happiness but they are limited to the capacity of the sense

organs and the capability of the qualities of objects enjoyed.
Sensory organs of children are subtler and more acute than
those of the aged persons. A thing may not produce the same
level of happiness in different individuals. It is said that even the
greatest

happiness we enjoy in mundane world is not even

equal to

a very small part of this highest happiness 781. It

is said that the self is not even this sheath; it is even different
from

this subtlest sheath.

We have seen mainly two ways- one,

three-fold body and the other five sheaths- of describing our

tangible structure.

50

4.
Social strata.
Varna.
Society is nothing but a group of individuals. A society is a
whole built up of parts, and its parts are individuals. A machine
is also a whole built up of parts. For the smooth and proper
running of the machine its various parts are set is different
places and each part does a particular work. Though the places
and functions of parts are different all of them are essential and
perhaps nothing is unimportant and unwanted. We cannot think of
a whole without its parts. Though the work that a particular part
does differs

from that of others its contribution is unique and

unavoidable to the

function of the machine as a whole. Just the

same way in any society of any social beings ranging form ants
to human beings
contribute

division of labour is a must. Micro occupations

collectively to the Macro function. Each individual has

a life of his won, and demands and likings of his own. Each
individual is a complete unit in himself. But at the same time he
is dependent directly or indirectly on each and every individual of
the society. Individuals take birth, grow, learn, work, enjoy,
proliferate, and perish. But the society as a whole is not short
lived, it perpetuates.

51

The Vedic sages looked upon society as a living being.

They conceived society as an individual.

An individual has a

material body and a sprit as well. Just like an individual a society

has human beings as its body and a spirit of its won. Man and
society are two forms of the spirit: form of man- and
form of universe- 3sw. Both man and the universe are the
creations of the one Big-Egg 78%. Out of 78%
emerged

Golden Embryo \ka. Ragveda mantra says: Before

the creation there was one Golden Embryothe father of all beings - %

there

\ka who was

gave birth to Universal From- 3m-

3m- is none other than

society- universal society. Society

is the Universal form of spirit. As human beings have different

limbs to perform different functions the imaginary body 3m-
is also described as having different limbs. The whole society or
all human beings are his body and he has also his own limbs.

All the functions that individual parts of a machine do

may be classified and broadly grouped into some units.

body like that of an individual,

has a face-
,

arms-

His
,

thigh- , and feet- . All individuals of society represent

different limbs of the Universal From- 3m- . The Vedic sages
classified the individuals of society into four broad groups and
called each group a . The social infrastructure is called-

52

= . This

a is based mainly on two criteria,

individual inclination or bent of mind and their participation and

contribution to the society.

As every individual is born of the same source i.e.- %

all of us inherit the qualities -Guna , , and latent in it.
These qualities are called , /, and / and they
are the very properties of all the living and non-living objects of
the universe, it is said. Although all the three qualities are
inherent in varying degrees in everyone, the beings can be
classified in accordance to predominance of each quality present
in them. As far as human beings are concerned some technical
terms are sued to specify the predominance of each quality.
human beings

In

gives rise to spirituality,

gives vent

to heroism and leadership,

manifests in the form of

lethargy and inertia. On this basis the abundance of

spirituality is called-

pq, preponderance of heroism and

benevolence-
is called -<| . Entrepreneurship is slightly
different from heroism -
and lack of benevolence is

malevolence

or

selfishness

and

the

predominance

of

these

qualities is called -5. Disinterestedness in all the above due

to inherent
- lethargy is called
. Thus human beings
according to the inherent nature in them may be classified
broadly into four categories: Guna-Brahmana, Guna- Kshatriya,

53

Guna-Vaishya, and Guna-Shoodra. As all these are the limbs of

3m- all are natural and necessary in a society.
Though all these Guna are inherent in every individual the
qualities are not equally distributed by nature. Predominance of
each Guna expresses in the form of personal inclination or
gravity to different matters or different types of bebaviours.
Abundance of makes the individual like spiritual pursuit,
withdrawal from socio-economical attachments, solitude, silence,
contemplation, pondering over ultimate reality or principle of God
etc.

Renunciation

appeals

him.

The

qualities

like

seclusion,

introversion, serenity of mind, austerity, chastity, truthfulness which

appear to others as dreadful, depressing, and detestable are
found natural in him. He forms the face-
of 3e
.

Guna

Kshatriya who is equal to the arms- of 3e

is he who
inherits
planning,

prominently Rajoguna and by nature is dynamic, active,

highly

motivated,

selfless,

beneficent,

imposing,

commanding, leading, brave, expressive, aggressive, adventurous,

and

extrovert.

He

is

good

administrator,

lovable

and

extravagant, and likes to live among followers and to be flattered

by them. He is eager to do the greatest deeds

and contributes

to the good of society as a whole. He prefers fame to wealth. He

finds pleasure in dedicating

his strength and ability to the good

of society or nation. Guna-Vaishya who is called the thigh - of

3m

is he who has many qualities of Rajoguna but is

selfishly

motivated and as a result takes keen interest in

54

earning, hoarding, and securing wealth. He is an entrepreneur,

enthusiastic, ready to face risks, talkative, judiciously prodigal,
planned worker, optimistic, courageous, and has balance of mind.
His deliberate contribution to

the society is negligible as he is

more cautious about his own well being and prosperity but the
service he renders to the growth of trade and economic field is
remarkable. Guna Shoodra is described as the feet- of
3m . In him Tamoguna predominates and hence he is
lethargic and less motivated. The main difference between the
former three categories and this one is that he with Tamoguna is
not intellectual

whereas the others are. Lack of intelligence,

planning, foresightedness, leadership, courage, and self judgment

and the presence of laziness, disinterestedness, timidity, slyness,
and innocence resulted in his placement as the assistant to the
other three categories. But unknowingly he contributes greatly to
the well being of the whole society and to that extent his part is
matchless. The others depend on his service. But for him no
society could be complete and well established. This is how the
Vedic sages classified each individual of society in accordance
with his orientation or inborn predisposition or tendency. In every
society we may observe the presence of individuals belonging to
the above cited four types of personality. It must be remembered
that these are only general traits of people and in any individual
non-existence of other Gunas can never be thought of. This is
called temperamentwise division- 3 v.

55

Whatever may be the temperament of an individual he

has to earn his living and to earn his bread he must do some
job. Though individuals are free to choose and undertake any job
they like it may not be right to judge the inclination of an
individual on the basis of his work only for various reasons. For
good reasons an individual may have to keep aside his personal
feelings and emotions and do some job demarcating it from his
volitions. Therefore society as a whole is considered as having
four limbs as has already been shown, and all the workers of it
are divided into four groups .

Each individual lives and works

with others in the society and in doing so similarity of work leads

to grouping of workers having identical interests or predisposition.
On the basis of works they do society is divided into four parts.
In

modern

days

we

have

trade

unions

and

such

other

organisations. This is division of labour and it is called a

. Inherent nature may be called- a.

In individual level it

is quality of an individual and it is called-

and in social

level it becomes infrastructure and is called- = .

All the possible professions are broadly classified in to
four main groups and they are not water tight comportments.
On the basis of the work, job, profession, or contribution done to
the society by an individual each individual composes one of the
four groups of works. This is division of labour called 3.
The most important, yet the most neglected division of present

56

day society is the work of teaching and learning of scriptures.

Mastery over scripture is the most needed thing is a society and
it

requires

specialization

through

long

and

hard

study

and

dedicated pursuit. Our scriptures are both extensive and intensive.

Extensive in the sense that the scriptures include

a wide range

of Vedas, Vedangas, Shahstras, philosophy, astrology, astronomy,

medicine, rituals, ethics, laws, grammar, and many others; and
intensive in the sense that as the original literature is a hard nut
to crack there have been profuse commentaries on them and the
commentaries

are

followed

by

sub

commentaries

and

sub

commentaries are still further commented widely. It takes many

years of devoted involvement to master even a branch of
scripture. So unless some enthusiastic and clever individuals
dedicate their lives to master and preserve the scriptures the
scriptures would not be available to the future generation. Not
only the study of

scriptures is enough it is also the need of

time to interpret them in changed circumstances

and pass on

them to the posteriors without hampering the original ideas.

Though general study of scriptures seems to end with the
termination of 78E

it takes a whole life to master and

maintain them. Therefore those who engage in such activities

cannot and should not entangle in other activities. Knowledge of
scriptures is essential to maintain and perpetuate peace and
prosperity in society. But every one in a society may not be in
need of all the details hidden in the scriptures. So everyone

57

cannot

and

need

not

study

scriptures

in

detail.

This

necessitates a group of people to do the job on behalf of the

society as a whole. Even in modern society specialization and
expertise in each and every branch of knowledge is in vogue.
Every one cannot and need not study either medical science or
law or engineering or surgery etc.; he is guided and helped by
those who have dedicated their lives to the study of those
subjects. Scriptures guide and help the people who are in
difficulties

and depressions. So the scholars in various branches

of ancient

knowledge guide and help and console them and they

act as psychologists. The person who is engaged in such a

profession is called Brahmana

and the technical term used is

78.
A good

and peaceful atmosphere in society is a must for

all to live and work harmoniously. To maintain peace, harmony,

and law and order in society strong, powerful, adamant, brave,
unbiased,

thoughtful,

and

adventurous

person

is

necessary.

Anarchy and chaos hamper the very structure of society. All

should be able to live without fear. To rescue the society from
internal and external threats dedicated brave persons are needed.
The individual who possesses all

these qualities and does the

work of administration and maintenance of law and order is called

[&. As far as his work is concerned he is <|.

In a society everyone works and produces food and other

materials needed for the people. Conveyance and distribution of

58

all goods from the place of production to the consumers is very

essential. The person involved in this task should have a wide
knowledge of the availability and demands of food grains, other
useful things, and apparatus of fine arts, necessities, comforts
and luxuries of the people and should be capable of supplying
the demands of all levels of people. The individual who engages
in trade and commerce should be well-versed in the field of
demand and supply system. Such a person is called s. He
is 5 on the basis of his work.
A considerable part of the population of a society consists
of uneducated or undereducated, unskilled or semi-skilled workers,
people shirking from responsibility, and not self-motivated persons.
They are not intellectuals. They lack leadership quality. They
have no far-reaching plans for their future. They are utilized by
other groups to assist them in their works. Such persons are
called a
. He is

on the basis of his work. This is work

oriented grouping.
A a pq depends on <|

to help him live and work

in peace in society; depends on 5 to supply his food and all

necessary things, and needs the help of
to grow his food and
assist him in many more ways. A <| as he has no mastery
over scriptures and the religious rituals is in need of pq to
guide and help him to do religious rites and to educate his
children; depends on 5 to supply him food grains and all other
materials he needs; in need of
who grows food and assists

59

him in many other ways. In the same way 5 and

also
depend on others for different services. No one is independent of
others. An individual requires a very long time to qualify himself
as a Brahmana. He has to learn the knowhow of various yajna
and religious rituals and memories a lot of mantras concerning
his profession. As every individual of a society can not devote
himself to such a tedious study only qualified Brahmana was
authorized to conduct the Yajna and other rites for himself and
help and guide others who wish to do them. This is the reason
behind authorizing Brahmana in six fold works: learning and
teaching, performing

Yajna (all sorts of religious rituals) and

guide the people of other a in doing them; giving alms and

accepting offerings. People of other three a were authorized to
do only three fold works: learning, performing Yajna and giving
alms. So the difference between them are, only Brahman is
m/ and others are [&/. Thus the society maintained perfect
balance.

Man may have two personalities, one worldly personality,

and the other spiritual personality. The Vedic sages had both of
these in mind in forming both mind and body of individuals
perfectly congenial to the accomplishment of the ultimate goal of
life.
social

Four v were on the individual level and four a on

level.

E -

The

word

and .

is

preferred

to

system-= :

60

Though every one is free to do any job he likes the

circumstances may influence the choice. Familiarity breeds liking,
is a proverb. What a child listens, it speaks it. Imitation is
natural.

The works done at home and surroundings influence the

child and makes the learning easy. Home is the first and best
school for a child to learn. The child imitates and learns the skills
of

parents

and

elders.

Tendency

to

imitate

leads

to

the

inheritance of jobs. This naturally results occupation oriented

family. Therefore in selection of job family used to play an
important role for thousands of years. The word F

is derived

from the root of the verb which means to take birth. This is
called F 3. There is a clear distinction between F and
. We should remember that there are only four Varna but
hundreds

of

Jaati.

Nowadays

family

scarcely

influences

the

individuals in selection of their occupations. More than family

money plays the decisive role in the selection of works. But still
the advantages of inherited jobs may not be neglected. The word
and meaning of a

has faded and importance of is

vanishing. It has become customary to identify an individual with

the family or

in which is born. was a word to

indicate the job a family was engaged in.

All a were equally important to the safety, prosperity, and
harmony in society. a was the established infrastructure
of the society of Vedic period. Later on = gave way to

61

F = . For many centuries

was the established

structure of society. mainly corresponds with the works a

family is engaged in. Every village or town consisted of people
doing all sorts of necessary works and on the basis of those
works the families were named after the home-industries. Even in
modern days in many towns we may observe different areas
being named after different occupations. With the advent of
science and technology the necessity and original meaning of
began to disappear. Now an individual may say that
he do belong to a particular . By telling so what does he
mean? By knowing the name of his what do you estimate
him to be? It is clear that has got no meaning but the
words survive meaninglessly. Someone may even now be proud
of his , and some other may feel ashamed of even uttering
the name of his . Both are equally ignorant. We may meet
some individuals in some parts of our country who hailed from
royal families and inherit such names. In them you do not find
either wealth or power of a king. They are left with neither
crowns nor thrones, nor chariots nor horses. We see them not in
palaces but in ordinary houses. A person whose forefathers were
potters may not be using a single pot in his bungalow let alone
producing one. The successors of great and well-known priests
may not be able to just read the mantras which his predecessors
were well-versed in.

62

Tow points must be noted; first which do we consider

our selves to belong to, and secondly to which do others
consider us to belong. Others have no reasons to impose on us
any kind of and call us with that name since such
industrially oriented castes are inexistent now. Some names may
have been tagged to our families indicating the occupations;
those

names

have

become

surnames

now.

If

we

are

not

practicing those works such names are invalid. After all we are
already born and so we cannot change the names we inherit.
Even change of name has been legalized and we are free to do
it if we want. At present no one meaningfully prefixes or suffixes
the name of F to ones name.
If so what is the use of telling all these good old
things?

The

words

have

become

superficially

old

but

not

intrinsically. How an individual should identify himself is the

problem of the day. It is a truth that we have become foreigners
in our own motherland. Why? There are two reasons, first
ignorance of our precious and noble tradition and secondly the
imported

information

of

foreign

culture.

Many

have

been

converted to other religions just in exchange to a handful of

money. Did it make them better? Perhaps not. All that has
become possible only because of the ignorance of our own
culture. If at all our lives should be useful to our children and
grand-children if we hope them to live worthy lives we must
serve in two ways. Knowledge hidden in our scriptures should be

63

handed over to the next generation, may be through translations.

We should help and encourage them to learn Sanskrat. Many of
us may not be able to teach Sanskrat as we ourselves have no
knowledge of it. For the same reason we may not translate the
old texts. It means we cannot directly do that service. But
indirectly

we can

help to the two causes. What should we do?,

may be the question. Dont think about it when you are at work.
Utilize leisure to think, exchange ideas, discuss, form a group,
solve the problem, and then act. Every action we do in that
direction becomes our valuable contribution to the noble cause of
serving our culture as well as nation.
Before stepping to help the future generation it is necessary
to enable ourselves to be helpful. Instead of directly teaching it is
better to be a model which others could emulate. At present we
may feel that we are helpless in the matter. To the question
Who am I? the probable answer is , I am the out put of my
past. The past is dead. Let the past burry its dead. What have
been our goals? Whatever might have been the goals, they were
just wants but not ambitions. What should be our ambition? What
do we want to be? What do we want to attain? We wish to
attain self realization. The present designs the future. Therefore
we should decide first what do we be? We have seen different
types of individuals with predominantly inherited qualities of Satva,
Raja, and Tama. We need not bother about others estimations.
The old standard of naming after the profession is dead and

64

gone. Let us find out which of the three qualities prevails mainly
is us. Which qualities do we admire most? In doing so we must
not consider our present jobs or crafts. We already know that we
work for money, but we think in leisure for our future. God has
kept our heads far above our stomachs. Hands dangle down but
head is erect. Hands do not go into the mind. I am sure that you
admire the qualities.

It is not mesmerism. The very fact

that you are going through these lines is the criteria to decide
that you sustained interest in it.
It is very important to understand that each and every
individual is gifted with all the three Guna. Dominance of Guna
expresses in the form of thoughts, speech, and activities. Family
and surroundings may have their share in enriching the qualities.
Dull witted are easily influenced and molded by others. Wise,
though undergoes influence, comes out of it when he is at
himself. Maturity means the ability of self-management. The very
fist step of self-management is to stop self-degradation. Stoppage
of self deterioration means pulling ourselves away from the
wicked thoughts and actions. Thoughts express themselves in
actions. Actions stimulate thoughts. Actions are manifest thoughts.
Therefore it was already told that we should separate our works
from thoughts. Every one is aware of what is right and what is
wrong. Our thoughts are contaminated and need purification. If
there is no harmony between thoughts and actions watchful
consciousness marks it. Mind knows the secret of every thought

65

and action. Mind does not cheat itself. Our covetousness may
hush up the inner cry for the time being, but it never dies. It tells
heavily both on our physical health and mental health. This is the
reason why should be guided by our scriptures in our thoughts
and works.

66

5.
Skill of working.
Karma-yoga.
The Concept of Varna generated by the Vedic sages is a
peculiar one because it has two folded aims; one is to satisfy the
physical needs or to attain the worldly goals and the other to
attain spiritual goal. So both E and are designed
to attain the four human goals- . Though the first three
human goals are set to satisfy the physical and emotional
aspirations care has been taken to subordinate them to the final
goal- . To be short, all prescribed thoughts and works are
enabled to achieve directly the worldly aims and indirectly the
spiritual goal. All human thoughts and actions are made to grow
healthily and culminate in spiritual accomplishment- < because
without

< human life is incomplete. Therefore the Veda has

set material achievements as incidental goals and the spiritual

perfection as the ultimate goal of human life. Spirituality is the
knowledge of intrinsic value of life and it gives the individual the
sense of fulfillment and makes the death fearless.

One who

attains it receives life and death equally and is not disturbed

either by their presence or by their absence.

67

As no goal is independent of the fourth one for their

attainment

scriptures have prescribed a course of discipline

which may be called the means or approach -. Goal is

called ?. The person who aspires

and makes efforts to attain

the goal is called . The individual who has achieved the

goal and is accomplished is called /f.

The success achieved is

called /3f. Therefore Sadhaka through Sadhana should achieve

Sadhya and the accomplished becomes Siddha. For the sages
life is a journey from through

to ?. The first

three goals reform otherwise an ordinary man into a . All

the works that are prescribed are designed to change a worker
into a attainer-. But for the will to achieve the goal all
works are mechanical movements or actions; the will to achieve
the final goal changes all the works into means -. All the
goals

which do not

subordinate the final

one end in

the

satisfactions of animal instincts. End infused with spirituality

changes the nature of satisfaction. If we just listen to the
scriptures all our actions will be channelized and guided to the
achievement of the greatest goal of life. Each and every work
that we do has three aspects, knowledge, intention, and action.
On this basis is three folded: , , and B. When
these three are treated as means to the fourth goal of life
specific meanings are attached to them and they are meaningfully
called: , , and B

68

The word is a
words, Karma

compound word consisting of two

and Yoga. Karma indicates physical action which

means movement of physical objects in space. Work means

movement of body. We work means we move other bodies with
our bodies. But we dont work without a purpose. There is some
intention behind every work. In this context Karma means proper
action or appropriate work to suit the need. The word Yoga is
derived from the Sanskrit word yuj which means to join or unite.
Scriptures propose to join or unite the Sadhaka- with
Sadhya- ?

through the means of Sadhana-. Therefore

means appropriate action or work with apposite attitude.

We do many works to meet our needs. Works are means to
achieve our ends. Normal principle is end justifies the means.
This is the materialistic or utilitarian conception of work. But our
culture looks at works from two distinct angles, one materialistic
gain and second is spiritualistic attainment. That is why all
possible human actions are divided in to two sections. The
scriptures prescribe only those works which exert maximum
spiritual

effect

positively.

Such

works

are

called

duties

or

obligatory works -3(. The scriptures condemn the works

which either do not influence positively to the growth of spirituality
or damage the growth of spirituality and they are called forbidden
works. F3?. Now it is clear that we should consider and
evaluate all our attainments only on the basis of the impact they

69

have on the growth of our spiritual personality but never on the

materialistic benefit.

How to demarcate the works that influence positively from

those which effect negatively on the spiritual field? The effects
the works cause are of two types, visible and invisible. If we
grant some food to the needy hungry the effect of our action is
exhibited on the face of the beneficiary in the visible form of
pleasure and satisfaction. This is the first type of effect which is
perceivable and it is called "# . The effect of a cultivators
work is visible in his farm.

The effects of injustice or injury done

may be seen either in the reactions or in the heavy hearts of the

recipients. Apart form these visible effects

every work causes

invisible effects also and they are called -"# .

The invisible

effect- "# is of two types, benevolent -%

and malevolent .

They are also called and respectively. We may

see only the visible effects- "# of our works but not the
invisible effects- "# because they are imperceptible. If we
want to attain the highest goal of life we have no other go
except

accepting

the

scriptures

as

our

sixth

sense.

In

Bhagavadgita Shri Krashna throws light on secrets of Karma. The

two types of works are defined in the simplest form with these
words. Noble works are those which benefit others, and ignoble
works are those which torture others. %

70

So greatest care must be taken not to hurt other beings either

with words or with actions.
In order to ease the burden of the ardent aspirer the
scripture has classified the possible works broadly under three
heads: daily duties- F , occasional duties -/ , and
works to fulfill special wants- . Quotidian duties- F
are of five categories. They are called Yajna with a tinge of
religious holiness and the scripture warns that non-performance of
them results in adverse effect called- + . The five duties
called -B are designed to cover a host of feelings of nobility,
compassion, and gratefulness to the rest of the world.
The first of five sacred duties- B is B which we
may roughly call as worship of or duty towards God. In a ritual
of worship we see a lot things being offered to God along with
chanting of mantras. As the mantras are in Sanskrat language
their meanings are not generally understood by the people. Those
who do not know either Sanskrat or mantra need not feel being
deprived of the chance of offering their gratitude and devotion to
God since language is a media only among human beings.
Unsung mantras carry deeper feelings to God. Heard melodies
are sweet but unheard are sweeter, says John Keats, the poet.
Performance of Pooja or worship may be classified into three
parts: the articles chosen for the purpose, the actual act of
offering, and the prayer. It is customary to visit children, patients,
pregnants, kings, sages or monks and temples with some gifts.

71

Our culture encourages gifts, donations- ; but discourages

grabbing, confiscating, cheating and hoarding. At the time of
visiting temples or starting worship at home we should have
some chose best gifts to God. Whatever is naturally available
may be given to God. It is a good practice to offer food to God
before we eat. God is the creator, sustainer, and the destroyer of
this world. It is only because of the will of God we are living
here. We are blessed to live in this beautiful world. Everything is
a gift of God. Whatever we offer to God it is really not ours
because we are not the creators. It is just a media of submission
and expressing our thanks to God. The thoughts or devotion that
we have counts more than the articles we offer. To God, what is
given matter little for he is in no need of it, how humbly is it
given is important. Worship is a time to remember that

our

riches, power, strength, wisdom, dexterity and all are the gifts of
God and we are the humble enjoyer of them. God does not use
anything we give,

but the very act of giving makes our mind

and heart clean by eradication our pride and malice. With this
attitude worship should be done. Every

worship should be ended

with a prayer. Prayers are of two types: requests to bless us

personally with our wants or demands, and beseech for the
wellbeing of the whole world. Of the two the second one is better
as it includes the first one invariably. Language of the prayer is
not important but the intention matters. { a{ a{
3 { etc. or { {

72

5{ 5] or {
etc. make noble prayers. All other Yajna other than Deva Yajna
encompass only a limited jurisdiction to influence, but Deva Yajna
as it is a service rendered to God, the creator, reaches nook and
corner of the creation and nothing remains outside its ambit.
The second Yajna is remembrance of our ancestors, called

It is also called

3
B.

3
.

Should we not be grateful to

our forefathers but for whom we could not live so happily in this
beautiful

world?

If

we

remember

our

childhood

days

and

remember the care and selfless -service our parents had blessed
upon us when we were entirely helpless, without even thinking of
its repayment, we dont find a befitting thing to offer them as a
token of repayment to their compassion and benevolence. While
parents are alive it is our bounden duty to look after them with
all love and care. Parents are the living Gods, the scriptures say.
Even

after

their

death

we

must

remember

their

gifts

and

goodness, and so the scripture has prescribed some duties

towards them. Every day we have to express our gratitude to
them in the form of offering . On their death anniversary a
special rite called Ef must be performed. To remember and to
express our honour to the ancestors in general fifteen days are
fixed in a year in the lunar month of Bhadrapada- and the period
is called 3

or . Daily and on all these occasions

apart form all other rites

offering

a is essential. The word

means that which satisfies. Through we not only

73

honour our own forefathers

but also ancestors in general.

Possibly there are many deceased having no successors to do

their 3
. There are many ungrateful successors who do not
do their 3
a. To all such orphan-deceased we offer a

with

this mantra: &

[&

h i1 &
F# This is the greatest thing to do the good to the
greatest number who are said to live in 3
.
The

third

one

Brahma

Yajna-

78B

scriptures and the receivers of the Vedas

in

and the

which

the

authors of

other scriptures are remembered gratefully and our duties are

dedicated to their noble cause.

Here Brahma means the Vedas

and so Brahma Yajna means Veda Yajna. In this we express our

gratitude to the ancient sages-3. It has two parts, one is to
offer Tarpana and the other is to study, preserve, and propagate
the knowledge bestowed upon us by the sages. It helps us to
remember our heritage and feel proud of our culture. Even after
the completion of the study of the scriptures revision of what is
studied

is

must

because

it

refreshes,

perpetuates the knowledge. Studying is not

equally important is its preservation

strengthens,

and

the only duty,

and safe handover to the

next generation because it is the only way to save our scriptures

from obliteration. Therefore it is everybodys duty to learn and
teach, or help to teach, the scriptures in original form because
translations may fail to do justice to them. If not possible to study
in original Sanskrat language a thorough knowledge of them

74

through mother tongue must be had. Together with acquiring the

knowledge all possible efforts must be done to reach it to as
many as possible and whatever is done in this direction it is sure
to fulfill the aspirations of the sages. So this work is divided in
tow parts self-study - ? and teaching or preaching- +.
The fourth Yajna is thankfulness to humanity- # B or

B. It includes all sorts of services to the society like feeding

the needy, arranging shelter to the houseless, setting schools,
running

orphanages,

hospitals,

libraries,

and

arrangement

of

drinking water etc. We are fostered and helped by the people

and we must repay it. Let all be happy and comfortable- h
d 1; No one must grieve- s
; Let
everyone be free from diseases- h 1 F, should be the
slogan behind our works. The most important duty is to feed the
guests at home with all honour and happiness. Tradition holds
that before we take our meals we must wait at the door quite for
some time anticipating the arrival of unexpected persons to
accompany them in meals. It must be remembered that, as some
are propagating, social services can not replace all or any other
B.
The fifth Yajna is to express thanks through deeds to all
other beings around us-
B . Suppose what would have
happened if there were no tanks, wells, rivers, lakes, seas,
forests, flowers, fruits, bees, parrots, crows

dogs, sheep, cows,

the earth, the sun and moon, the stars and all. The very

75

existence of them is the greatest of our fortunes. Without them

there is no beauty, meaning, and life. We get everything from the
nature, but in return what is our contribution to the nature?
Though we cannot help the forests to grow, rivers to flow,
animals to have food and proliferate, trees to give shades and
flowers to look beautiful and bees to collect honey, it is not a
matter of regret. It is enough if we do not disturb them and their
way of living. We need not produce them let us just let them
live. Cant we put some plants near our dwellings or plant a
Tulasi in front of our house and water them everyday? Though
we cannot feed all animals cant we gratefully share a mouthful
of our food

by keeping it outside the doors so that a crow, a

cow, a dog or any others may happily accept it? If we abstain

ourselves from making

misuse, disuse, and pollution, nature

would thank us silently. So let us pray at least, 1 1

1 3 i 1 etc. There are many prayers in
beautiful verse forms composed by our ancestors to help us
remember the names of rivers, forests, hills, holy places etc. Let
us chant them and help other to sing them aloud everyday. Let
our children be familiar with names and fames of them all. These
five are the daily duties-F .
There

are

occasional duties called / . Where as

daily duties are personal works the occasional rituals are religious
and social celebrations. Then there are rites conducted in order
to attain worldly or other worldly wants- . If there is

76

drought or famine the performance of a Yajna called j\ which

causes rainfall is prescribed. To attain life of Heaven Agnistoma
is prescribed. &
# may be performed by those who need
children.
Any work ritualistic or non-ritualistic may possibly have any
of the three forces or Guna , /, / stimulating
them. Works having force create noble temperament and
influence the growth of spiritual personality. Those that are
stimulated by Guna generally end in attaining worldly
needs, but still with proper understanding may motivate spirituality
to some extent. But works guided by nature are sure to
jeopardize the growth of spirituality. God is the creator and
sustainer of this world and the nature obeys his commands and
we call it law of nature. Everyone has his share and is provided
with what one deserves. Greed arises when one forgets the
presence of God and becomes faithless. This results in sense of
insecurity and it causes fear. So hope to ascertain the availability
in future expresses in the form of voracity and aggressiveness in
mind and looting or confiscation in action. Malevolence rules and
guides both will and work. Human turns to be inhuman and
endangers the existence of other beings. We can enrich the
quality in us through proper knowledge and constant
practice. The easiest way to infuse nobility and sacredness in all
our thoughts and desires and make all our either ritualistic or

77

non-ritualistic actions brim with Guna is to do all the

works as service rendered to the God.
Each and every work causes some effect and the
result is called the gain or fruit - . We have seen that there
are two types of effects or fruits of works; perceptible- # and
imperceptible- #. We are to look upon the scriptures as the
sixth sense that gives us the knowledge of the imperceptible
results of our works. Every effect has a corresponding cause is
the law accepted by even the scientists, but it is related only to
the physical activities. Unseen effects produced by the actions
either

ritualistic

or

non-ritualistic

do

not

come

under

the

jurisdiction of material science. The scientists have discovered

many laws of nature. But what is that nature? Has it an intellect
to form laws and to execute it? Does nature mean only a set of
laws?

Is that nature inside the objects or the world or outside of

them? Has it an independent existence? Is it material or nonmaterial? Does it undergo changes or not? Did it create the
world, or is it only implementing its laws in the created world? All
these questions are not satisfactorily answered.
Generally people worship God with the intention of attaining
what they want. For them God is a means to achieve their ends.
The Vedic sages looked upon nature not from the materialistic
view. Behind the rhythmic, regular and connected activities

going

on in the world the sages conceived the existence of a superintellectual law-giver and called him God. Nothing is accidental in

78

nature; there is no chaos or anarchy.

Every action has equal

and opposite reaction, is a law. No work dies in vain. Every work

returns to the doer in the processed form. This return of work in
a changed form and with an interval of time is called the fruit of
action- a. Movement of objects is the resultant of both work
and its effect. a is nothing but movement of objects. Enjoyment
or suffering is caused by either presence or absence of objects
relatively to the individual. a is felt or experienced either with
possession

or dispossession of things. It means movements of

things in relation to the individual cause either enjoyment or

suffering. a cannot create any new thing, it can cause the
things move. Mere movements of objects may not cause either
happiness or unhappiness unless they are admired or hated. The
mind behind the work or cause and the mind that receives the
effect or reaction gives

values or meanings to the movements of

objects or actions. So, more than work, the purpose behind it is

important. We give the necessary things to the needy and
helpless. When we give things we send off two items, the
material object, and a feeling with it. The beneficiary receives the
both. The physical things do not return to us as they are
consumed, but the feelings do return to us. But they dont return
singly, they return being accompanied by those of the recipient.
Both blessing and curse return doubled with those of the
recipients.

All the minds put together make the mind of God. As

we saw so we reap. Therefore it is the injunction of the

79

scriptures:
gifts

whatever we give we should give with faith- E ;

should not be given without faith- E ;

be appropriate to the status of the donor -(E ;

given humbly- ;

gifts should
should be

should be given with fear(the final goal

would not be attained without renunciation)- / ; should be

given with proper understanding -3 . Every word coated
above is pregnant with deep meaning. Ponder over them.
All the works be submitted to God. Whatever the physical
concept and purpose of the work be, means to whomsoever we
work, mentally it should be offered as service to God so that we
feel that we toil to serve the God. For example a clerk of a
private company materialistically works for his boss; he may
convert the same work into a service of God and gain spirituality.
The owner of the company may treat

his employees with the

same sense and whatever he gives them may be considered as

the gift to God.

This makes the existence and use of the body

a means to attain the blessings of God. Each and every work

should become the service to God. This fights against selfishness
and meanness and brings about nobility and grandeur to works.
Then

whatever we receive as the fruit of the work it will have to

be looked upon as the boon or + of God.

What we

experience now is the fruit of our past deeds. The deeds we do

now will bear fruit in future. It means all our experiences
enjoyments or sufferings are repayments to our won actions. This
makes the fruit of actions boons -+

granted by the God-

80

# . A proper understanding of this theory checks us first of all

from doing injustice and secondly from blaming others as either
the cause of our sufferings or as the cause of happiness. The
God

never

comes

in

the

form

of

an

individual

to

give

presentations or punishments. In others works we should see the

unseen hands of God. This quickens the elimination of ego and
provides us with a new prospect.

This is the ethics. This

mentality results in balance of mind, calmness, satisfaction, everhappiness, and irradiates malice, anger, pressure, mental strain,
guilty-consciousness, and dissatisfaction. This is the morality. The
aim of is to attain perfect balance of mind which results
in serenity of mind, and one who achieves it becomes (.
The aim of the practice of a is to do only good deeds in
the beginning and the final aim is

to free ourselves from the

bondage of either doing or not doing the work, and this becomes
possible when anticipation of the fruit of action is renounced. So
the methodology of works enables detachment to the gains or
fruits of works. Physical works are made means to modify the
natural tendency of mind so that spirituality is enhanced.

81

6.
Coordination of the three.
Upasana-yoga.

converts our works into predefined, thoughtful, goal

oriented censored
spiritual

actions which determine and influence the

growth. The propriety of works are not governed by

utilitarian conceptions but are estimated in terms of their power of

beneficence

to

the

evolution

of

spiritual

strength.

Right

predisposition changes the quality of works and the quality of

work decides the result of work. Therefore right perspective is
more important than the work itself. The works we do yield
twofold

effects. The first is the material gain and the second is

the modification of personality. By change of personality I mean

mental attitude. By seeing our works others estimate us. The
wise observe more carefully the intention of the work than the
result of work. Quality of a work is judged on the basis of its
effect.

Good works breed good works. Practice results in

formation of habits. Habits form personality. Personality generates

goals. Goals decide the value of life. Works are done by the
body but are generated in mind. Works to be fruitful should purify
the mind. Therefore invariably includes the reformation of
mind. It means is a stepping stone to .

82

is a process of reformation of personality and

hence it involves conditioning of three aspects of personality,
body-, speech-

and mind . This physical body is

mortal, but it may be used to attain immortality. Sound mind is in

a sound body. Health of body should never be neglected. Yoga
means

to

set

up

coordination

between

body

and

mind.

Psychological personality is subtler than physiological personality.

Material body is an instrument or vehicle to achieve both material
and spiritual goals. If the vehicle is efficient the journey to the
goal will be easier and quicker. To make the body healthy and
vigorous many postures- are prescribed. Other exercises
may strengthen the muscles, increase burliness

and make the

body robust. It should be carefully noted the difference between

the two. Other forms of exercises are stimulated with the aim of
aggression and conquering the opponents. Our aim is not to
defeat others but to overcome our own weakness and lethargy.
However strong we may make the body it is sure to dwindle.
Body influences mind.

provide both physical and mental

health. Daily practice of some possible Asanas is conducive to

spiritual progress.
An individual who outbursts anger and shouts at others
requires a lot of time to calm down his mind.

Our speech not

only conveys our ideas to the listeners it also influences our

mind. We should speak with pleasing sound, slowly, gently,
politely, softly and audibly so as to express clearly our intentions

83

and emotions. Speech should be harmless. Care must be taken

to be non-violent in speech. Abusing, criticizing, tingling, irritation,
harsh words must be avoided. Truthfulness should govern the
speech. Empirical truth is verbal discipline and ultimate truth is
God. Empirical truth is an instrument to win over the ultimate
truth. So to tell a lie - means to go away to that extent
from God. Truth should come out effortlessly and it becomes
possible only if we coordinate our works with speech. We should
speak only what is beneficial to the listeners otherwise it will be
a sheer waste of

time and energy of both. Our talk may

entertain others but it is interesting to note that generally no one

expects to learn from what we speak.
The most important purpose of is to reform or reset
mind. All are not equal but we generally ignore this factor. Every
one cannot learn everything with the same ease. Everyone finds
it impossible to learn some subjects which others master easily.
Physically weak cannot lift a unit of weight which a strong person
can easily lift. Mind should be made eligible to understand the
higher reality. Ordinary people do not have mental capacity

to

study philosophy or metaphysics. Mental weakness is expressed

in the form of dislike to the subject. Rejection of mind comes in
disguise of criticism, disinterest, indifference, heedlessness, and
hatred which promote antipropaganda. Our mind often betrays us.
It proves very mischievous and it is hard to handle it. We cannot
control our minds directly. Proper habits should be inculcated with

84

regular practice. Indirect method of control of mind is to control

body and speech. So, verbal and bodily discipline is very
important.
The knowledge of Vedanta can dawn only upon very pure
minds. There are various types of prescribed to reform
ordinary human minds to enable acceptance of Adwaita principle.
Training the mind is to reset and reform the mind. Though body
rests

mind does not, it keeps working continuously. The first

thing to do is to give rest to mind. Body is made of inert

materials so inertia is inherent with it. But that is not the case
with mind. It is always active whether for good or bad. Relaxation
is not a nature of mind. So, first relax mind. Sit in a suitable
posture keeping spinal cord and head erect. Close eyes. Take
deep breaths quite for some time. Keep watching the breath.
Dont think of anything. Observe that breath gradually gets slower
and slower. The slower the respiration the quieter the mind. This
should be practiced daily either in the early morning or at night,
better both times. Another way to pacify the mind is to repeat the
name of God - of your liking without wavering. Dont utter the
word loudly. This is focusing or concentration

of mind or making

mind one pointed-Z. Practice either of these for pretty a

length of time. You are sure to confront with the problem of
fluctuation of mind. You may realize that steadiness- Z is
not easy to achieve.

85

Observe what is going on at that time. Though you keep

either observing respiration or repeating the names or Japa of
God

mind is found engaged in some other field. If you still more

analyse the ongoing you may find that along with the sound or
Japa you try to utter, some other sounds and appearance of
pictures or visualization is going on. It means mind does not
cease to think or work of its own accord.

Now you must admit

that your mind is not under your control; and therefore you may
not claim your mind as my mind. Understand clearly and
unhesitatingly accept that what all you have been doing and
saying

hitherto were not under your control; they were the

outputs of a mind which you believed to be yours. So, see that

your mind is different from your I. Your ego has kept
you in dark.
The next step is to visualize the form-w of God of liking.
While doing so visualize starting from the crown down to the feet
slowly and as comprehensively as possible. This strengthens the
power of concentration. The next step is to offer worship to the
visualised God with all prescribed items. This is called
.
This is a very good exercise to bring mind under control. This is
called worship of form-
. This may be done with or
without mantras. Remember, this is not actual worship done
physically; we are dealing only with forms of mediations. What
greater benefit does it prove than Japa? This is expansion of
mind in a desired channel. Mind is nothing but a bunch of subtle

86

sense organs. Among them sense of sound is the strongest and

sense of sight occupies the next place. While we practice
repetition of names or Japa only sense of sound is engaged in
work and the others are left to idle. In visualization of from of
God both sense of sound and sight are engaged. Still better is
the

speculative worship
since it exploits thoroughly

almost all the subtle sense organs. The nature of mind is to

wander or to jump form one thing to another perpetually. This
nature of mind cannot be eradicated, but we may use the fickle
nature for good by canalizing it.

Let this practice consume a

long time because as long as we are engaged in it our minds

remain peaceful, happy, and contented. Serenity pervades even
after the speculative worship is over.
In Z E when the individual is young and full of desires
he tries to earn money, wealth, fame, and what all he needs.
When he finds his capacity is limited to get what he wants he
approaches God with the hope of

making his dreams a reality.

In other words he finds God as an instrument or means to

achieve his ends. No God can supply all that an individual
requests for his demands are unending. When the individual is
mature enough to introspect and retrospect he realizes that many
of his wishes are unfulfilled. This may persuade him to reestimate and renew his understanding of God. At this time he is
attracted by the logic in philosophical

theory

that God cannot

be the creator of the world because there could be no material

87

cause for him to make use of before the creation of the world.
Therefore he finds some meaning in the doctrine that God did
not create the world as nothing could be there before the
creation to be used as material cause since whatever is believed
to be used as raw material it must have been a created thing
which could be nothing but the world in a different shape.
Therefore God is not a creator of the world; God is both material
and efficient cause of the world. In other words, God manifests in
the form of world. World is nothing but the form of God.
The next step is to visualize the whole universe as the form
of God. Remember, in advanced stage it is taught that God as
such has no form of his won. Therefore the whole universe with
everything in it is nothing but the body or from of God. The
stars, the sun, the moon, the oceans, the rivers, mountains, all
animals, birds, plants, all are the parts that compose the body of
God. This is expansion of mind to the limit of the universe, universal

form of

God-

3sw.

This

practice of

meditation

enables the mind to shatter the ego or , and all other

infirmities to pieces and get purified. We should involve so much
in this mediation that at other times also we should be able to
recognize every thing and everyone as components of God.
Purity and holiness is thus made to flood the mind and it takes
place silently. Gradually our individual mind gets reformed into
universal mind. When God presents I absents.

88

In our daily affairs we contact many people. If we wish to

reform our minds truly we must fix undeniably sincere answers to
only two questions. The first question is why do we meet other
people? The second question is why do other people meet us?
The truest and simplest answer to the first question is that we
hope to grab as much as possible in any possible manner even
without heeding to ethics and moral codes to meet our demands
at the cost of others. The true answer to the second question is
that people come to us hoping to get some plausible help or
some worthy advices. I need not go in detail in this matter.
Avarice largely governs our behavior because our minds are
tethered to

ego or I. This is the natural formation of mind.

Reformation of mind means to shatter the shackles of mind.

Bondage of worldliness- means limitedness of the really
unlimited mind. Our mind is limited to achieve the fulfillment of
necessities, comforts, and luxuries of our body; all our dealings
and relations are relative to the body only. Let us make our
preys sit on the altar of our mediation and see them as the
components of the body of Universal Lord. Let the mind repent
the deeds done and be purged. The very idea of exploitation
should hurt us so deeply that even thousand times of the
material profit it could snatch should not heel the wounds. Limited
mind is an individual

and unlimited mind is God. In this

universe everything is fundamentally God only. Our lust which is

ignorance of truth makes us see something else instead of God.

89

A tree is a tree in itself. To the children it is beautiful and fruit

giving. To the weary traveler it is cool and shady place to rest.
To a timber merchant it is a source of money. To the carpenters
it is a raw material for producing furniture. To us it is a chair or
table or shelf, or bat etc. Our mind finds all these things in a
thing generally called tree but is really God. In the above case
nothing is true except tree. It is all difference in perspective. God
takes different forms of objects relatively to our sense of I, or
better we impose different meanings on God or absolute truth.
Ordinary human minds are contaminated ones and so we have
all sorts of thoughts. First identify good thoughts and bad
thoughts, then discard the bad ones, and in the final stage we
will have to leave away the good ones also. This is the way to
purify the mind because God is good and everywhere. Mediation
on universal form- 3sw

is the way to shift the mind from my

body to the universal form -3sw of God.

The aim to is to achieve coordination among
body, speech, and mind. Only simple two vows are enough to
master it; the one is truth and the second one is non-acceptance.
If we vow

to tell

unwaveringly, that

nothing else than truth and practise it

itself is strong enough to lead us to the

ultimate goal on the right road. Non acceptance of anything which

is not ours saves us from being covetous, immoral, and inhuman.
Every thought, action and sentence should be guided by these
tow principles. The very resolution -@ of getting what is not

90

legally and ethically ours guards against acquisitiveness which is

the cause of misbehavior. This is called .

Upasana Yoga

links work - with knowledge-B. Work without knowledge

becomes animal-action -. Works should be done only
thorough understanding of the purpose and the results of works.
A work may be done if both means and end are morally
satisfactory and if only it elevates the spiritual personality.
should strengthen the ability to do and not to do the work with
the same ease. In Geeta the Lord says, Do the works with
equilibrium of mind.-
empowered to do the

d; and

Your are only

works, but have no rights on the results

thereof.- %(

. This encourages

detachment to worldly affairs. Each and every work must be done

with understanding. What is to be understood? The scriptures
have decided that the purpose of action- a is to attain liberation
from the bondage of doing it and bearing the load of the results thereof. To put it in a single word salvation

or t.

91

7.
Path of knowledge.
Jnana-yoga.

B means the way to realization of self or Atman.

Every

human

materialistic

being

or

has

worldly

two

different

personality

and

personalitiesthe

other

one

spiritual

personality. How can the knowledge of Atman be attained? We

already know that Atman is said to be inside fivefold sheaths. We also know that we have three folded body, gross
body-
j, subtle body- r
j, and causal body - .
These

are

personality.

only

different

perspectives

of

understanding

j is made of gross matters-

the

therefore

it is called -1. Matter is not energy- and is not

self conscious -+B. Matter is inert- . But we see that our
bodies are full of energy. But we cannot conclude that body is
energy because after death though body is there it doesnt
remain energetic. So energy is different from body.
+ is called vital energy. W is also a part of our
personality and so it is called +.

r
j includes three

92

+, , and 3B. We know that this

r
j is made up of subtle elements. Subtle elements are
elements

only

and

are

not

energy

and

do

not

have

consciousness. Though W energises the gross body, it just

transfers energy to the gross body because W is also made up
of

subtle

elements

and

is

not

energy

and

has

no

consciousness. Mind- , and intelligence or wisdom3B are also the constituents of subtle body and are
made of subtle elements and therefore they are neither energy
nor consciousness. Therefore gross body
body r
j
they

appear

j and subtle

are not energy and are not consciousness though

to

be

energetic

and

self-conscious.

Therefore

is also inert- or and not consciousness+B.

Then there is causal body- j. is causal
body. Causal body is the potential subtle and gross body. Like a
tree is unmanifest in the seed, gross and subtle bodies are latent
in causal body. Therefore causal body is the subtlest form of
matters only, because it is only the seed form of gross and
subtle bodies. Before gross and subtle bodies are generated they
must exist in potential form in causal body by law of conservation
of matter and energy. Potential gross body and subtle body is
called

causal

potential matter.

body,

and

therefore

causal

body

must

have

Therefore this causal body or j is not

energy and not consciousness. Now it is clear that all the three,
gross, subtle and causal bodies are matters or matters in

93

different degrees , .
energy. They

As they are matters they are not

are not consciousness and do not produce

consciousness. All the three bodies are intrinsically insentient,

non-conscious, and inert. It means that not only the body is inert
and insentient the mind is also inert an insentient. Mind does not
have its own consciousness and cannot produce consciousness.
For lack of proper knowledge, for us it may be difficult to agree
with this, but it is the decision of the scriptures.
Even if this is logical corollary, our own experience is
contrary to it. Even though the three bodies must be logically
insentient our experience is that the bodies are sentient. We
experience the body as a conscious body because we are
conscious of our surroundings. Our mind, we feel, is much more
sentient because we experience, think, understand, and express
our

ideas

experiences

and

emotions.

are untrue

So

the

question,

whether

our

or the verdicts of the scriptures are

wrong, arises. It is not impossible to reconcile the both. Vedanta

solves this problem with an example. Though iron is a matter
and is neither hot nor self-incandescent

by nature, its contact

with fire makes it both hot and luminous. Cool water appears to
be hot because of borrowed quality form the fire. Therefore
though energy -1 and consciousness-+B or B appear to be
the qualities of the bodies they are distinct and independent of
bodies. So the three bodies do not have natural energy
1 and natural consciousness

3 +B or B, they are

94

their borrowed properties 1

(. To be true

energy -

1 and consciousness-+B or B are not two different things,

they are one and the same, is the decision of the Vedas.
By nature the self or soul- is energy -1

and

consciousness +B or B. It must be noted that energy and

consciousness are not the properties or qualities of the soul, in
their purest form energy and consciousness are one and the
same and it is the soul- . Scientifically we say there are
different energies like electricity, gravity, magnetic energy, heat
energy, light energy, atomic energy etc. But no scientist agrees
that all of them or any of them is conscious. Therefore they are
only forms or manifestations of energy. Pure energy is the source
of all other energies and that pure energy is Atman or soul. Pure
energy is pure consciousness and that is

Atman. Atman

energises matters and makes them conscious. Remember, we are

conscious,

but

not

consciousness

itself.

We

say

we

have

consciousness, but not we are consciousness. We say we have

energy, but not we are energy. I can have only what I am not; I
cannot have me. It means we know that we are not Atman. But
we do not know that we know it. That is what the ignorance is.
Eliminate this ignorance, and there will be Knowledge i.e. Atman.
What is the difference between energy and matter? The
difference is the difference between soul- and body- j;
spirit- and matter- ;

non-element - and element-

; energy- 1 inertia- ; knowledge- B ignorance- B ;

95

consciousness- W consciousless-W . Bodies or elements or all

objects are subject to six types of changes, and we have already
seen it- , , , 3\, ,

and 5. These

are inherent in all the three bodies and every object of the world.
Nothing in the universe is exempt form these effects. But the
soul is not affected by any of these modifications. It means that
the soul neither takes birth nor dies. So while all other beings
are impermanent soul is the only permanent entity. How can it
be? It may not have perceivable forms since any thing that has a
form is perceptible and is impermanent. If so where is this
Atman? Is it outside us? If so where is it located? To be placed,
at least two things are necessary, a place or space and a body
or form. Atman can have neither of them which

must be in the

universe and must undergo modifications. Therefore Atman is not

outside.
It is right, but outside of what? Outside of us. Dont we
mean by this outside our body? Yes we mean. Yes, we have
seen that Atman cannot be outside of our body. Then logically
He must be inside the body. We know that we have three
bodies; inside which body He should have hidden? We have no
doubt He is inside the body, but we have no knowledge where
He is. We know that Atman is inside the body but are ignorant
of His existence. We have knowledge of Atman and ignorance of
His being.

96

Now, we are given the knowledge of Atman and our

ignorance of His existence is exhibited. A question now comes to
me, What happens if I do not get rid of this ignorance, or I do
not have the knowledge of Atman? I think. Who is asking this
question, I or Atman? Atman cannot, it must be I only. If so who
is this I? Now it is clear to me that I am not Atman. Then, who
am I? Though the scriptures say that we have three layers of
body, I can make out that I have gross and subtle bodies only. If
I remain ignorant, what happens to me? As long as I live I may
live like others. But death is inevitable. What happens at death? I
dont know. The scriptures say that death means separation of
gross body from subtle and causal bodies. At death subtle and
causal bodies leave off gross body and the gross body decays.
The other tow bodies do not die. At the time of death outer
organs become one with the inner organs- 1" and 1"
dissolves into mind ,-

F and mind

dissolves into causal body. That means after death I will be in

causal body.
Now it is the proper time to understand the meaning and
importance of our actions or deeds and the results of works. It was already told that a work is done on two layers,
physical work, and mental setup. Though work is finished and
over, results of a persist. After death the load of ( will
be with us and waits for a chance to fructify. This results in
taking rebirth and to experience all sorts of experiences. We do

97

not know the place and time and circumstances of the next birth.
What would we experience in the next birth we cannot foresee.
The scriptures describe different kinds of heavens and hells. We
would have to experience them also. Nobody may be sure to
attain only heaven. We generally do not think about the possibility
of our rebirth, and do not hope for one. To conclude, we are not
prepared to go to hells and have rebirths. But the scriptures say
that such things do not depend on either our consent or
permission or conviction. Suppose a wire is dangling in my room.
Do I directly touch it? No, I hesitate. If it is not a live wire there
is no harm, it is true. In case it is a live wire! I should be
prepared to handle it in a prescribed manner lest I should be in
danger.

We should guard against our ignorance!

To escape

from both of them we cannot undo what we have already done.

Is there no way out? Yes, there is a way, the scriptures assure.
We may wonder what we shall do to escape from bothrebirth and experiences thereafter.

In the beginning only it was

said that our future is to be designed in our leisure. In the fourth

chapter of the Geeta Lord Krashna says, Different Yogis worship
Gods differently and call it Yajna. But the knowledgeable do
Yajna in the form of knowledge of identification of self with God.
B (
, 78q B B
8F

To the people who are immersed in chasing wealth and

worldly pleasures the Veda presents God as

the creator,

sustainer, and destroyer of the world and as the chief justice who

98

passes laws and rewards or punishes people whichever they

deserve. They look upon God as a means to attain their worldly
aims. This presentation of God withdraws them from immoral
works and saves from becoming pessimistic. A common man is
made a devotee. They meditate upon God as having a form w
of their liking. They meditate upon the noble qualities of
God -. The God with qualities and form is helpful for
worshipping with all sorts of offerings. Here God is made tangible
and is given names. It is the first step towards spiritual growth.
This level consists of majority of people.
Then

there

are

others

who

apart

from

enjoying

the

pleasures in life can think about God. They argue that god
cannot be in the created world because before creation the
creator must exist, and he cannot live in the uncreated world. So
in this second stage the Vedas depict God not as a creator,
sustainer, and annihilator, but God is said to manifest in the form
of the world. In the beginning God is described as having a form
or body like those of the credulous. But in the second stage God
is denied of any kind of form and is said to be formless- wF. As he has no form of his won he is in every form that
appears since he himself manifests in the form of the world. Here
we see universal form- 3sw of God. The presentation of the
universal form of God helps the mediators to meditate upon
formlessness w- F F. God is described as having
no qualities- F.
This helps the grown ups to raise their mind

99

above the unreality of the apparent world. As God is omnipresent

to them they look upon all beings as representatives of God.
They begin to see

individuals in two levels, as superficially

human beings and intrinsically God. Not only human beings, they
see every object of the world in the same perspective. To them
God is not a means to achieve any ends. Their ambition is to
become one with God.

Suppose on the table before you in a

jewelers shop there are different kinds of ornaments and you are
looking at them with interest and is prepared to bye some of
them. Suppose at that time, picking up an ornament

if I

ask

you, What is this? What can be your answer? You are sure to
say that it is a ring or a bangle or an earring or a necklace etc.
as the case may be. You have no doubts about your answers.
But the reality is that a ring, a necklace, a bangle etc. are all
names and forms only and what you are looking at is only actual
gold. You agree now that they are all gold. Now tell me whether
a particular ornament is

gold or a ring? You have now two

perspectives. Understand that the particular ring or

bangle etc. is

gold; but gold is not either a ring or a bangle or anything. In the

same way you look at a pot and call it a pot, but what you
really see is only earth. You cannot say that it is no earth at all.
For convenience and practical purposes you may use it as a pot,
a ring, a bangle etc. Reality is different from what appears. What
appears is not reality, and what is real does not appear, it is
said. The ring, bangle etc. appear. The gold exists. There can be

100

no inexistence of gold, but the existence of ring, bangle are not

permanent and do change. In the same way the world appears
but does not exist. What exists but not appears is God.

This

goal helps them to estimate and evaluate the place of their body
and mind since they are able to conceive God in everything.
They are thus helped to treat their body and mind as external to
them. This is the indication of their reaching the state of
comprehension of causal body.
Their knowledge is not the result of any of their works- .
They listen or read and think; think logically. Their interest is
shifted form worldliness to spirituality.
knowledge
F .

from

reading,

their

If they have attained that

interest

shifts

from

to

The Lord also says, The Yajna which is attainment of

knowledge is better

than the Yajnas performed with the use of

money and materials.

E "=CB BB . Yajna is

performed with the use of fire and mantras. Whatever is offered

in Yajna is burnt down. This material Yajna is for those who
desire to fulfill their aims through the blessings of Gods. Worldly
objects are offered to God and prayed for blessings. This is
called outer Yajna- 8B. The performer dedicates his wealth
in various forms during a Yajna. Dedication of wealth or anything
is not an easy thing to do because it is against the natural
tendency of hoarding. Natural propensity is overcome with the
practice of renunciation through Yajna.

The next step is inner

Yajna -1B in which no external materials are used.

101

Every transaction, giving or receiving originates in mind and

then it results in the transfer of objects. Naturally to give anything
gives pain. Therefore dedication makes its impact on mind or
trains and tames mind. Man becomes ready to give anything only
if he is assured of receiving the better ones. So Yajna tames
mind

through

training in dedication and positively selflessness.

It leads to detachment and indifference to wealth which saves

man from a great calamity. No external objects or wealth come
of their own accord and grasp seize us; we cling to the objects
mentally and that clinging is called attachment, desire, liking,
aspiration, ambition etc. When we give away a thing it does not
actually go out of us, and when we receive a thing it does not
come into us either. Things are there in the external world and
they are really external objects only. By giving or receiving the
thing maybe shifted form one place to another. Any object cannot
become a part of us. If we understand this we cannot call any
thing as mine. We foolishly become one with things and it is
called 1. Becoming one with outer objects like money, gold,
movable, and immovable properties, relatives, friends etc. is
called

1 F or
/F. We feel, if money is lost I

am lost, if property is destroyed I am destroyed, if a relative is

dead I am dead, and so on. This is the fate of ordinary people
because they dont know who they really are. This is the result of
ignorance of self . Should we be one among them and
suffer like them?

Everything is manifestation of the God. Virtually

102

nothing is lost and nothing is gained. Mind madly suffers or

enjoys the movements of things in space.
of understanding - and

This is the meaning

assimilation- F ? . This is for

the . It is said that neither (good) deeds, nor children or

other people, nor wealth can help us to attain

immortality; we

become immortal only through renunciation. +

.
At the end of the Vedas, also called Vedanta or Upanishat,
we see the path of knowledge B or B. In the first step
God is described as the creator of the world and as having a
form and qualities - to have worships.

In the second

step it is told that God manifests in the form of the world 3sw.
Now, in this third and last step Vedanta describes God as the
substratum

of

the

appearing

world.

We

cannot

deny

the

appearance of the world, but only on the basis of its appearance

we should not decide that what appears is real because it is
illusory perception.

It means God does not become the world

but He manifests as the world. This statement may appear to be

somewhat difficult to understand. Sometimes we see a snake in
place of a rope. Here the snake is perceptual illusion. A snake is
an appearance or superimposition- (#

but the rope is

substratum- (# and it is real. In the same way the world is

a superimposition- (#

and God is the substratum- (#.

We see a silver coin which is illusory perception in place of a

shell. The coin appears but not exists, though the shell exists it

103

does not

appear. Shell is the substratum- m of the coin

a superimposition- (#. In the same way the God is the

substratum of the appearing the world. The world is perceptual
illusion. To understand this it is desirable to recollect what was
said about the universe and its creation.
It was said that we have threefold body: gross, subtle, and
causal body -j &. The universe has also three layers or
bodies: gross, subtle, and causal -+&. Our gross body is
composed of matters and in the same way the gross matters
compose

the

perceptible

universe-
3s.

consists of vital power-+, mind-

Our

subtle

body

, and intellect- 3B. This

is the conscious state of us and we call it as spirit . This is

called . The subtle body of the universe
35 is
composed of the same three components but they are of greater
size and the total of them is called God or 3 e
or .
An individual or or is micro-consciousness
is

macro-consciousness.

has

and the

limited

body,

strength, consciousness, knowledge and life; but has

universal body, universal power and limitless duration. It means
individual and God are composed of the same things but in
different degrees and sizes. Individuals have limited knowledge
and this results

in the formation of ego or

therefore individuals

Iness in body and

have mean qualities like selfishness, greed,

jealousy, etc. God is not limited and has full of noble qualities.
This is the difference originated through the gross and subtle

104

bodies of and . This limited knowledge about God

is called Dualism- C .
We know that our gross body is made up of gross materials
or elements and subtle body is made up of subtle elements and
subtle elements originate from causal body. So all the gross and
subtle elements are unmanifest

causal body.

The world is also

made up of gross elements and subtle elements. Gross and

subtle elements of the world emerge form causal world - %.
Therefore individuals and the world differ as far as gross and
subtle bodies are concerned because elements have size and
shapes. But in unmanifest state elements cease to be elements
and so there is no question of volume, size or shape. Therefore
as far as causal body is concerned there is no difference; it
means there is no separate causal body for human beings than
that of the world. We already know that death means separation
of subtle and causal bodies from gross body. After death gross
body perishes but the subtle body continues to live with causal
body. At rebirth subtle body emerges from causal body and finds
a befitting gross body to live in so that the ego should enjoy or
suffer its # or . There is creation- # and annihilation+ of the world as we have births and deaths. After annihilation
the gross and subtle matters of the world become one with
causal body of the world and in the next creation they emerge
again out of the causal body of the world. We have j & and
the God or or 3m has also + & or &. If that

105

be the case what is the ultimate reality? This is the key question
of the Upanishats.
In Katopanishat Bhrugu the son of Varuni asks his father to
impart him the knowledge of Brahman. The Upanishats call the
ultimate reality as Brahman. The father gives some clue to
decipher the Absolute Reality and advices his son to ponder over
the matter or make penance- . In another Upanishat Narada
approaches Lord Prajapati and requests him to bless him the
knowledge of Brahma. All the Upanishats are engaged in the sole
business of imparting the knowledge of Brahman - 78B. The
Brahman

is

pure

energy,

consciousness.

It

is

omnipresent,

omnipotent, and omniscient. Brahma is beyond the bondage of

threefold bodies

of human beings

and &. When pure

energy or Brahman functions through j &

it is called

and when it functions through & the same comes to be

recognized as 3m or . We must understand that all
the three types of bodies are made up of matters and none of
them is energy. When pure energy or Brahman appears through
those bodies it is recognized as either individual or world.
Therefore and are just tow names depending on
the bodies; but for the difference of bodies both of them are
intrinsically Brahman only. Neither knowledge of nor that
of is the knowledge of Absolute Reality - Brhaman78B.

106

So one Brahman is called Jeevatma or Paramatma just from

the

standpoint

of

mediums

through

which

it

appears

and

functions. Both these mediums are not spirit- Brahman or Atman

and so they are called matter-Anatma. When the Anatma medium
is removed there is neither nor . That state is
called or 78. Therefore only one or 78 functioning
through matters- or 78 and gets the two names
and . are many; is really one, but both of
them are different from Brahman. Now we know that and
are one and same but for the media in which they are
expressed. The media is matter or or 78. Then what is
the relation between Atman and Anatman
Abrahman or spirit and matter, 1
that it is depended

and

or Brahman and
? Vedanta says

and dependent relationship. It is equal to

the relation between a supporter and the supported.

To explain

this relation a general example given is that of clay and pot. Pot
depends upon clay to have its existence but clay does not
depend on pot to exist. Ornaments like ring, bangle, necklace etc.
depend on gold to exist but gold does not depend on ornaments
to exist. Brahman or spirit is pure consciousness or energy.
Matter

is

not

consciousness

and

does

not

generate

consciousness. Matter is dependent on energy but energy does

not depend on matter. To make it clearer see that there is a
book in front of me. I have to see the book to prove whether it
is or is not. The book does not know that I am. To prove the

107

existence of anything in the world I should sees it directly

know it indirectly. Whereas to show or know

or

or to prove that I

am existent, I do not require any other proof because my

existence is very evident. My body is also made up of elements
and

so

the

existence

of

this

body

depends

upon

my

consciousness, but I who am consciousness do not depend on

this body either to prove or to know that I exist. This
not conscious of itself.

body is

This means that matter depends on

consciousness. To prove its very existence and for functioning,

matter depends on consciousness. But consciousness does not
depend

on

matter

to

prove

its

existence

and

functioning.

Therefore consciousness is real - and matter is unreal /.

Consciousness is independent-

1& but matter is dependent-

1&. Therefore Vedanta proclaims, Brahman is real and the

world is unreal, individual is none other than Brahman. 78

1 78 . The gist of Vedanta is that identification

of ourselves with consciousness or pure energy which is none
other than Brahman is the Absolute Knowledge- 78B. Before
this realization we wrongly identify ourselves with our body and
mind; and that is the ignorance.

Brahman is the substratum and

ego or I is a superimposition on Brahman. The Isense is

perceptional illusion. We sometimes equate ourselves with gross
body or subtle body (mind) or sometimes with both without
realizing the truth. Vedanta helps to get rid of this ignorance
B

or 3C and have the absolute knowledge-78B. To

108

believe that a superimposition -I am real is ignorance; to know

that the substratum Brahman is real is knowledge.

109

8.
Death and Salvation.
Marana Moksha.

Nobody wants to die. The most unwanted thing is death.

Everyone is afraid of death. Why? Is it possible to conquer
death? Yes, it is. What is the meaning of conquering death? We
already know that death means separation of subtle and causal
bodies from gross body. To the one who believes that he is the
gross body death is inevitable. Identification of self with gross
body is ignorance-B or

3C.

Gross body which is

composed of matters may be compared to a waterfall which

appears to be constant but every drop of water of which it is
formed ceaselessly changes. Though continuously changing it
appears to be changeless. Just the same way body appears to
be lasting in spit of the continuous change of its components.
Identifying
We

immortal I with fleeting, mortal body is ignorance.

cannot truly say that the body that we had at the age of

two or three is the same that we have now.

sadly

that we have lost that

Now we do not cry

little body. It is equally true that

we may not be in the same body which we have today after

110

some years. After a year we dont cry for the loss of todays
body. Though we know that each component of this body is
dying

every minute, we are not bothered about it. Nobody

weeps

for the loss of his yesterdays body or for his inability to

live in this present

body tomorrow.

Why do we not feel the

loss of earlier bodies? It is because we are aware of the

changing nature of body. The change going on in the body is
apparent

and still we ignore it and foolishly equate ourselves

with the mortal bodies. It is like believing that a structure like

machine remains the same even after all of its components are
replaced. This is called the greatest ignorance. Therefore it is
clear that by conquering death the scriptures do not mean the
perpetuation of mortal physical body; conquering death means
eradication of this ignorance. Is it so? If we understand that this
body is mortal and we are not this body, do we become
immortals? Is it the way to conquer death- ? Can we
escape

from rebirths

not escape

as a result of this knowledge? If we do

from rebirths we are sure to have many more

deaths in the lives to come.

We say that memory of death pinches us now and then.
But how far is it true? Can we have the memory of our death?
We may have the memories of perceived things or experienced
incidents. Our death cannot be an incident in our memory since
we

cannot have the experience of our death. The name of

death exasperates everyone but nobody weeps over his death.

111

Everybody is worried about death but nobody is worried about

the

decay of the present body either through cremation or burial.

Everyone says that he must not die, but no one says that he
must not be separated form his body. Why? It means that
everyone

has

the

inherent

existence which means

he

awareness
is

not

the

of

his

body.

independent
This

inherent

knowledge is neither recognised nor appreciated nor cherished,

but weakened, destabilize and hushed up. The awareness or
inner cry, I am not this gross body is muted to such an extent
that no one is ready to either believe or heed even if the
authorities

proclaim,

You

are

not

this

gross

body.

The

scriptures say that the non exhibition of this inbuilt intrinsic

knowledge is ignorance- B or
knowledge- B or 3C

3C.

Whatever is not this

is not-knowledge - B or

3C.

What we boast of as our knowledge is other than this knowledge.

Our knowledge is. I am this body. Our knowledge is not true
knowledge and so it is called ignorance- B or 3C.
At the time of Upanayana the individual is blessed
with a sacred mantra called Gayatri- [&, and it becomes his
unavoidable duty to repeat it everyday in the prescribed manner
throughout

his life. Of course a boy of eight years or so may

not understand either the meaning or the importance of that holy

mantra. Many books are written to describe the meaning and
importance of that one anthem called

[& which is composed

of only twenty four letters. The name of the ceremony in which

112

this mantra is imparted is called initiation to the knowledge of

absolute reality- 78 . This is enough for the learned readers
to evaluate the holiness of | mantra. Whatever may be the
detailed meaning of that mantra, it is enough now to understand
that it is an anthem and the gist of it is, O God! Stimulate our
intellects. Notice the generosity that it is a prayer not to
stimulate,

My

intellect

but

to,

Our

intellects. The

proper

understanding of this one point is enough to wither all our

meanness

and selfishness. That is enough for a common man

to become a great-man- .
The Gayatri mantra which is to be chanted or better,
meditated

upon

throughout the life is defined, That which

saves the meditater from the calamities is Gayatri.- 1 &

F [&. One may wonder which calamity does it save from;
and

how

can

the

meditation

save

an

individual

from

the

catastrophe. The greatest and unending calamity is the ignorance

of the true nature of self. This is the seed of all other disasters
in life. Mark it well that through this mantra neither wealth nor
pleasure is prayed for. With this the individual prays for the
elimination of ignorance or the blessing of ultimate knowledge.
The feeling I am this body persists all time and in no other way
it may be overcome. Though this awareness or feeling is called
knowledge it is only a formality;

the correct word should be

used is grammar of life or paradigm. This is called paradigm

because it is usually invincible. There is no alternate way of

113

thought for any being. Nobody can get out of this paradigm
unless he is initiated with the knowledge of absolute reality
78B. Initiation to the knowledge of ultimate reality formally
commences with Upanayana or 78 and the knowledge of
ultimate reality is imparted through the study of Upanishats by the
knowledgeable- e. In Chandogya Upanishat, to Shwetaketu, the
enquirer of God or Brahman, the answer given is Thou art That.
- /. You

are Brahman or the Absolute Reality. It means

that the enquirer himself is the Brahman or the ultimate reality.

Through Gayatri mantra we pray for the stimulation of our
mind or for inspiration of intellect. The intrinsic meaning of this is
that our wisdom or intellect as such is incapable of understanding
the ultimate reality or the existence of our soul. It is beyond the
jurisdiction of human intellect. We equate ourselves if not with
body, at the most with our mind or wisdom. We cannot think or
even imagine farther than this. But the reality is away from our
ambit. We perform sacrifice -B through offering

speech to Her

whose existence was discovered by the sages who were the

receiver of mantra through penance- with a great deal of
efforts.

1& 3 1b E

3 The existence of Atman or God or Brahman was

discovered by the sages through austerity and they are the
receivers of mantra- 1& "#. Their intellect is not like those of
ordinary people which can grasp knowledge only through senseorgans. The capacity of or the very structure of intellect is to be

114

changed to receive the higher reality and then only ordinary

intellect may escape from the hold of paradigm. All are not equal.
A

school

going

child

why,

even

many

graduates

cannot

understand higher mathematics or principles of aerodynamics.

Children are interested in games; young men are fascinated by
the beauty of opposite sex; the aged are immersed in their own
worries,

but

no

one

is

involved

in

Higher

reality.

vt t f
bq 7d
3 q.

Though a chosen few are capable of studying and

discovering many other things their minds do not raise above

material things. Those who do not understand this reality uphold
the slogan of equality.
Through

Gayatri

mantra the individual must seek to gain

the ability of entering into the sophisticated phase of thoughts.

This is possible if only the seeker understands the limitedness of
the jurisdiction of his thought-process. We are tethered with the
rope of intellect. This is the paradigm. The belief that we can
understand

everything is a vain narcissism. Our thought process

in not sovereign, it owes it vitality to some higher principle or

energy and that is called Brahman. Brahadaranyaka Upanishat
says: Understand

that He is your soul or Atman, though your

mind cannot not grasp him who is the indweller of mind and
whose body is mind, who being inside the mind controls and
regulates all the activities of mind. / F# 1
j 1F 1

He is

115

beyond mind and its activities. Gayatri is a mantra though

formally it appears as a prayer addressing Him to grant required
subtlety to mind to grasp His existence, in reality it is a method
of breaking down the shackles of paradigm. Gayatri is compared
to a sword which cuts off the paradigm or wrong conception,

am a bodied and minded individual and thereof makes way to

the realization, I am Brahman. It culminates in realization of the
soul when identification with gross and subtle bodies fades away
as a result of deciphering the secrets hidden in Vedanta. To
discover that ego or Iness is a superimposition, and to realize
that

Brahman is the reality, is the aim or accomplishment of

human-life.

When an individual in his sickbed worriedly groans, I am

going to die, what does his anguish express? Does it mean that
he is worried because his gross body will perish? No. Does it
mean that he is going to be deprived of his knowledge of
mathematics,

physics,

anatomy,

history,

geography,

or

the

languages? No. He never utters such words; he simply says, I

die. It means that though he does not consciously articulate
through his words it expresses the inherent awareness of the
meaning of I which is neither gross body nor subtle body. In no
way we can learn this; there is none to teach this. At the time of
death love of body withers, love of erudition vanishes; but still
love of self or soul remains. All love ends in self or soul because

116

it is the dearest of all. We are neither body nor mind, we are the
soul. The Upanishats tells, Children are loved not for the sake
of children, but for the sake of myself; wife is loved not for the
sake of wife, but for the sake of myself; husband is loved not for
the sake of husband, but for the sake of myself; wealth is loved
not for the sake of wealth but for the sake of myself; God is
dear not for the sake of God , but for the sake of myself, etc.
Nothing in the universe is dearer than me! And that I am neither
this body nor this mind. I am the soul- Brahman.
What is the difference between death and salvation? When
an ordinary individual dies his subtle and causal bodies depart
from the gross body and the physical body decays. Gross body
is a whole made up of gross elements. Subtle body is made up
of subtle elements, it was said. What are the subtle elements
like? They do not have physical existence. One of you may ask
if they have no physical existence how do we know that they
are. Understand that we dont see even the physical matters as
such in their original states; what we see is only the objects
made up of gross elements. Just the same way we do not
perceive the subtle elements as such but we may have the
experience of their being in the form of recollected objects. When
we remember a thing or a person we do have a picture of them
in mind. Mind has no eyes to see; so the pictures are not
perceived. But we experience their forms or being. Though we
may call them pictures for our convenience they are not pictures

117

in true sense of the word. So

we call them ideas. Experiencing

them is called visualization. In dream we see things, we say.

Do we actually see them? No. We know them that they are.
Therefore these pictures or ideas or images are made up of
subtle matters. Physical objects consisting of gross elements have
perceivable physical existence; they are called gross bodies.
Subtle bodies made up of subtle elements are there though they
do not have physical existence. As our gross body is nothing but
the construction of physical elements, subtle body or mind is
nothing but a structure of pictures and sounds having no physical
existence.

Our

memory,

feelings,

emotions,

knowledge,

imagination and all make up our subtle body. It is said that

dreams are composed of subtle matters. Not only are the objects
of the dream world but also our own dream-body is composed of
subtle

matters.

We

see

our

gross

body,

and

have

the

knowledge of subtle body. As the components of the gross body

keep changing constantly, the components of the subtle body also
modify incessantly.

Though it is generally said that after death

the subtle body submerges in the causal body, the truth is a bit
different. After death gross material of the body dissolve into the
gross world and as a result the body looses its form and we call
it decomposition. Just the same way after death components of
the subtle body also dissolve into subtle world and the subtle
body ceases to exist.

118

In the beginning, for convenience sake, it was said that at

death subtle and causal bodies depart from the gross body as it
was
the

not feasible to explain the meaning of the dismantling of

subtle

will be

body at that time. Now we know that after death we

left with neither gross body nor subtle body. At rebirth

we do not regain either this gross body or this subtle body.

Therefore memory, knowledge etc. of the past life is not regained
at birth. By now we understand the meaning of the statement
that we are neither this gross body nor this subtle body. Then,
Who am I? We know we have three bodies. If we are not gross
and subtle bodies, logically we must be the causal body. But the
scriptures

say that we have threefold body, but not we are

the causal body. The Upanishat says, Thou art That. /.

Here That indicates Brahman. It means we are not even the
causal body. No more than three bodies are referred to in the
scriptures.

If so, if we are not the three bodies, the question,

Who am I? persists, and our enquiry does not stop.

What is that which is not even the three bodies? That is
Brahman or soul. We know that the two, gross and subtle bodies
assemble and dissemble or appear and disappear as they are
composed of either gross or subtle elements and so they are
foreign to I. If causal body is also a body or covering what is
it made of? Unless we understand this secret we cannot realize
the existence of self or soul as different from this causal body.
Causal body is composed of unseen fruits of deeds- #

119

a.

We know all our works cause some effects good or bad

as the case may be. As the effects are to be experienced or

enjoyed by the doer they are called fruits of action- a.
Though some of the fruits are experienced in this life only the
rest remain deposited to be enjoyed and that deposit of fruits is
called (.

Causal body bears this load of m a or

better we may say that causal body is the storehouse of fruits of

deeds- ( . To be clearer, causal body is composed of
deposited or reserved fruits of deeds.-( . Therefore
causal

body is figuratively called the seed of subtle and gross

bodies. So, causal body may be rightly called potential gross and
subtle body. It should not mean that gross and subtle bodies do
actually emerge from casual body. After death though both gross
and subtle bodies decompose causal body survives death. This
casual body causes rebirth in a befitting circumstances, the
scriptures say.
When a common person dies his gross and subtle bodies
decompose and perish, he continues to live in the form of casual
body

or the reserve fund of fruits of deeds, it is said. This is

the death

of commoners. So after every death rebirths are

inevitable.

Birth life-death- rebirth- make the cycle of worldliness

and all the sufferings. The sages advise us to get rid of this
vicious cycle and to have permanent liberation or salvation- .
The knowledge that I am the doer and enjoyer of ( is
itself

ignorance and it services death in the form of causal body.

120

As we are really none of these three bodies it is possible and

desirable to free ourselves from the bondage of life and death.
Since we are none of the three bodies we really do not have
births and deaths. Normally we do not have this knowledge and
so ignorantly identify ourselves with the personality or individuality
which is only a set of gross and subtle bodies. When everyone
says I he either means his body or his mind or subtle body or
both of them, but he never means the causal body because he
has no excess to it. We have no knowledge of the existence of
our casual body is the first type of ignorance. The Upanishats
tell that we are not even the casual body. We are really the
soul- Brahman. We dont know this reality and this is the second
type of ignorance. Ignorance of our real nature Atman or
Brahman- is the cause and the effect is the identification with the
bodies. Vedanta declares that we are not threefold body, and
imparts us, Thou art That- /. The way of teaching this is
technically called litotes- F F v.
The

scriptures speak of three-bodies in different contexts.

We may say the first one is the set of gross, subtle and causal
bodies. Secondly, Aitareya Upanishat says that the wife carries
the very soul of her husband in the form of a child in pregnancy.
In support of it is said, The husband enters into
(womb) his wife. - a W35 Fathers very soul takes
birth in the form of a son.- 3 \ |

O son!

You are none other than me.- |

The soul of the
man enters into his woman and when takes birth he will be

121

called the son or daughter. The same is true in his case also.
Father is none other than his father. It means to say that
father- father- son

grand-

appear to be different as song as bodies

concerned but they are not three but one.

are

Though the bodies

are different the soul is one and the same. Eternity of the soul is
maintained in the form of succession. The continuation of human
(all) life is made possible in the world through marriages and
propagation. The purpose of marriages and

yajnas is the

perpetuation of the world only but not the attainment of salvation

or Moksha.-

|
W
\ a3

a < a The

intention of the Vedas is to convince that one soul is in the form

of father and son. Like his father the son also departs from here
after transferring his duties to his son and takes rebirth. What is
said of one applies to all because only one soul appears both as
a father and as a son. 3|
3;< 3
|
W{
a

3 | |3

v 3|

Now the third type of tri-bodiedness may be seen. The
tradition and the scriptures say that man gets rebirth to reap
what is sown by him in this life. To enjoy the fruits of his deeds
man have to take rebirth

after his death, it is said. The fruits of

deeds cause the next birth. It is quite logical to think that this life
is the result of the past deeds done in previous lives. It is clear
that man has three lives, previous life, present life and the next
life. In all the three lives man must have different bodies. Even if
we ignore the possibility of many previous and many forth coming
lives possession of three a body of the previous life, present
body and

the body after rebirth- bodies cannot be denied. When

122

I say that I am enjoying the fruits of actions done in my previous

life it comes to mean that I must have a body without which no
action can be done. Now I am not that body of the previous life.
I may not be the body of the future life as well. It is equally true
that I am not even this body. I am none of these three bodies.
The three bodies are called three states. The existence of the
three

bodies

are

stated

by

the

Scriptures

to

prove

the

separateness of the soul from all types of bodies. Appearance

and disappearance of the three bodies show that man is drowned
in the ocean of life and death. In whichever state he listens to
the Scriptures and realizes that he is Atman then he gets rid of
the bondage of bodies and becomes accomplished and attains
absolute freedom.

{-

W
a

Now it is clear that whenever we

speak of threefold bodies it includes the body of previous life,

present life and the body at rebirth; the body of grandfather, son
and grandson; and gross body, subtle body and causal body. All
this is stated in the scriptures not to prove the truthful existence
of all types of bodies but to prove the existence of soul which is
none of the bodies explained and thereby stimulating

us to find

out that we are not the bodies but invariably the Atman. The
sages

apply litotes to help us realize the Atman.

Litotes is a way of expressing a thought by its opposite,

especially

by the use of not. It is the way of telling something

by way of negation. Though generally this method is not used in

everyday

affairs

litotes

becomes

unavoidable

to

impart

the

123

knowledge of Absolute Reality which is beyond perception and

inference. Although it may not be denied that very rare gifted
genius may grasp the existence of soul through litotes it is
equally true that ordinary wits find it beyond their ambit. It is a
pity that this difficulty has generated a general notion that the
principle of Adwaita is just a theory and can never be realized.
To be frank, the cause of mistake lies not with the doctrine of
Adwaita but in the method applied to communicate it.
In

Indian

Vedic

tradition

there

are

six

disciplines

or

Darshana Shastras, Sankhya, Yoga, Vaisheshika, Nyaya, Poorva

Mimamsa, and Vedanta which deal with Absolute Reality. Then
there are Jaina and Boudha schools. In all these philosophical
systems we may see elaborate theoretical aspects of Absolute
Reality. Is Ultimate reality one or more than one is a problem.
Though

the others

differ the Vedanta proclaims that the

Ultimate Reality is one. The Vedanta says that The Absolute

Reality

is

Immortal,

Atman,

Brahman,

Omniscient,

The

Omnipresent,

Immutable, Attributeless,

Existence,

One,

Omnipotent,

Eternal,
Formless,

Partless-whole. How to realize

existence of this One reality?

the

Is it not a paradox that many

take refuge in Yoga system, which is not in agreement with

Vedanta

and is opposed to non-duality (Adwaita), to achieve

the experience of the existence of non-duality Brahman?

Upanishats
can be had
and

unanimously

declare that Knowledge of Brahman

only through listening, mentaiton and assimilation;

realization of Brahman is to

Upanishat

The

proclaims,

The

Knower

Brahman. - 783iF

become Brahman. The

of

Brahman

becomes

He who is none other than

124

Brahman becomes Brahman.- 78 78iF Then how to

know Brahman, or become Brahman?

What is the gain of

knowing or becoming Brahman? He who realizes Atman or

Brahman sets himself free form all sorts of sorrows.- F
3

The

Upanishats

insinuate

realisation. We all experience

another

method

of

self-

three states: waking, dream, and

sleep. Out of these three which one is real? Why? When we say
I, experience of which state does it imply inherently? We do
dream, and we say, I dreamt a dream and experienced such
and such things.

Is that I or the dreamer me or not? If yes

why, and if no why? Am I the dreamer, or not?

Do we exist in

sleep? If yes, how do we live or stay in sleep? If inexistent,

where do we go or what will we be then ? Who experiences
sleep? Who is the real I? Are we limited strictly to the waking
state only? Is the waking state entire I? By comparing and
contrasting the three states we may realize the self or discover
the meaning of the sacred sentence- /. Though this
method is found in the Upanishats and Shankaracharya

has

given elaborate comments on the matter, due to the negligence

by the post Shankara

scholars the method remained oblivious. I

have tried my best to discover the secrets behind the three

states authentically.

A description of the same may please be

seen in my books, Man! Know thyself.

in the next three parts.

125

If the meaning of this seminal sentence, Thou art That. / is deciphered through the power of intellect

the

paradigm gives way to the knowledge or awareness, I am

Brahman- 78 . Neither wealth, nor work, nor people or
helpers, nor religious rituals can give the awareness of self or
knowledge of ultimate reality. When the conviction, I am this
body is replaced by the awareness, I am Atman the life
becomes accomplished.

Only the knower of Brahman becomes

Brahman,- 783C 78 F; He who is none other than

Brahman becomes Brahman.

783iF ; is the decision

of the Vedas.
.

Books in English by the same author:

Man! Know thyself.-2.
Man! Know thyself.-3.
Man! Know thyself.-4.
Books in Kannada by the same author:
1. - - !" ?
2. %"'(*.
3. +!..

126

4. 0(%.
5. 0(%6.
6. 7.
7. 9"9 < >?. @A6..
Except the third one all are published by Shri Bhagavatpada
Prakashana. Swanavalli Mutt. Sonda. Sirsi. Karnataka. India.
The third one is published by Shri Ramakrishnashrama.
Mysore. Karnataka.