Video 15

15. Katha Upanishad | Mantras 1.2.14 - 15 | Swami Sarvapriyananda

may the lord protect us both teacher and taught together may the lord give us the result of our study may the lord make our study illuminating maybe not careful at each other om peace peace peace so we are studying the qatar punition and we are at an interesting uh place in the dialogue the dialogue between the little boy nachiketa who's the student and the lord of death yama or yama raja who's the lord of death the god of death and he's the teacher and we remember that he the little boy asked for three boons i mean he was offered three boons and he asked three things one was to take care of his worldly affairs that his father who was mad at him that he shouldn't be angry with me anymore i'll go back home and meet my father everything should be fine in our family and the second boon he asked for was the best possible vedic ritual which will give him the highest heaven possible that's the kind of religion he was familiar with he had seen all his parents and everybody in the community doing those rituals the vedic karma kandahar the ritualistic portion of the vedas and the best possible karma khanda ritual and yama teaches him that and then finally he asked the question which really sets the ground for the upanishad the upanishad is actually concerned with the third question the third question was that what happens after death so it's very dramatic there's this little boy who's asking the god of death what happens after death is a perennial question for all of humanity this is whether you are philosophical or the most materialistic person whether you're spiritual or not whether you're hindu muslim christian or whatever or an atheist death is one certainty we confront it all the time either in individual you know tragedies in our own families or in um in a mass tragedy like like a pandemic we confront it all the time and so this is the question that this little boy asks yama now after that we saw yama tests the student make sure that the student is qualified to be a vedanta student does he have dispassion for samsara does he have an intense quest for freedom for knowledge does he have the necessary discipline all of that he tests he attempts and tests until he's satisfied now he's ready to reveal the ultimate secret the uh secret about brahman about the ultimate reality of the universe and the reality about ourselves and you know advaita vedanta that's the amazing thing about advaita vedanta the reality of the universe and reality of ourselves is one and the same reality so he will talk about vedanta now and he has already said in the mantra number 13 that i consider ownership may there may be other students like you and i consider that the house of brahman is open to you house of brahman in the sense of brahman is open to you enlightenment god realization moksha nirvana whatever you call it it's open to you now naji keta who has been patiently based waiting for this time he restates his question so the 14th mantra we're going to do the 14th mantra we're going to start from there the 14th mantra is nachiketa's question it's not a new question it sounds like a new question it is the same old question but you will see it's put in an entirely different way we'll do that first and then we'll see the speciality of this question so in the 14th mantra naji keta asks he says oh lord of death since you think that i am fit for this knowledge now tell me that which i had asked for what had i asked for he says that reality which you know yet you know it you see it we don't see it you see this reality what kind of reality is it anita dharma dharma which is beyond dharma and adharma let me give you the translation then i'll explain it that reality which you see which is krita akritat which is beyond cause and effect that reality which you see which is other than the past and other than the present other than the future the timeless reality which you see you see it you know it you have realized it tell me that speak of it what does it mean notice the question is the same question which has been dramatically restated what was the original question that um what happens after death my question is about that among human beings among the immortals too there's this great confusion about what happens after death you are the right teacher to tell me about it please tell me what happens after death and here the question is being put in a much more philosophical much more precise technically correct way much more vedantically we'll see what what it means but notice the importance of putting it in both these ways the original way was so dramatic here is the little boy who's asking this question which is common to all humanity at all times in all civilizations what is death what happens after death everybody we we confront it either theoretically but ultimately every one of us we have to face death we have to see it in the case of those who are close to us and in our own case also so we have everybody has this question every human being has this question for all times in all civilizations so narcica is our voice so it's so dramatic and it's good that he asked it that way i doubt whether this question which he's asking now is technically more correct it's a more vedantically well phrased question but if he had asked this instead of the original question if he had been yama said ask for the third moon and if nachiket at that point had said well oh lord of death tell me that which is beyond dharma dharma beyond cause and effect beyond which is timeless which you see that you tell me that that would have sounded so abstract and philosophical i doubt this story would have been so famous this story is famous because it's put in that dramatic poetic fashion which appeals a question which appeals to everybody anybody who has not even come to philosophy come to spirituality even then the most materialistic person also it will the question will appeal to him but that has been said now it has been it is being stated in a much more technically correct fashion why technically correct fashion because the answer there could have been what happens death well you are a sentient being you believe in heaven you have asked for those vedic rituals which will take you to heaven after death you know what happens after death after death you the sentient being this this physical body will die propelled by your past karma you will go on to another life maybe you will spend some time in heaven go back to another life all because of your past karma and this will go on each life you will earn some karma good and bad and the results of that you will get in future lives and that's it that's what happens after death you know it what are you asking or at least you believe it so this is what people in nachiketa's community at that time the ancient vedic people they believed this that's why they performed all those vedic rituals if they did not believe that we exist after death then what is all this project of going to heaven and perform performing these rituals so that you get enough good karma to go to heaven and get a good birth afterwards that means you know that you survive death so that would have been the answer but no that is not the question it's not a general question of what happens after death it's a much more precise question and that precise question is now being asked um he says what is that reality which is beyond dharma and adharma what is this dharma dharma this is the law of karma cause and effect we set into motion certain causes and its results are certain effects causes have consequences actions have results so if the actions are moral then the results will be good karma if it is dharma dharmic karma it leads to something called punyam punyam means merit good karma and that punyam is manifested in our life future lives as sukha happiness a more pleasant life things go our way our wishes are fulfilled we have an easier life of it more pleasant and successful life if you have a lot of good karma if the actions are adharma um you know against morality against ethics uh sinful deliberately done immoral action then the result will be something called papam papa means with sin or demerit the opposite of merit so that and the result of that that is manifested in our future lives as dukkha as dukkha unhappiness so our lives are a bundle of sukkah and pleasure and pain and these are produced by our past good karma bad karma and it's a general mixed thing for us that's that's how we experience life now this is what propels the cycle of life good and bad karma dharma and adharma but what is nathi keta asking is that all that there is cause and effect dharma and adharma but is there something beyond it vedanta says there is something beyond it it's not just you live this life and yes the straight answer to the question is what happens after that you are a sentient being the physical body dies at death and you the sentient being that is consciousness plus the mind you know the the mind intellect memory ego plus the five pranas the five powers of senses the five powers of the motor organs what is called the sukshma sharira karna sharida sukhmashadhira atma plus karna sharida plus sukhmashar reader is this sentient being which we are individual being limited small being you will go on you do not die after death this is the belief not only in vedanta in not only in all of hinduism but in buddhism also in jainism also sikhism and in fact in all the religions except that in the abrahamic religions one does not believe in multiple lives but one certainly believes in um in the in good and bad the moral and the immoral and the results of good and bad and that we survive death you can't have religion where you don't survive death so there is some kind of postmortem existence all of those all that is believed in every religion but here is asking is it any is there anything beyond that or is it just this endless cycle then what is the point of all of all of spirituality one should just do the good karma recommended in the karma kanda portion of the vedas just be moral plan for a good life plan for a heavenly life and then come back and plan for another good life on earth and that's all that there is no vedanta says this is an appearance this is not the reality there is something beyond this there's a higher reality there's a deeper reality beyond this and that has to be realized and that is the purpose of all of this life this entire cycle of birth and death that god realization enlightenment moksha nirvana whatever you call it that is called anya other than dharma other than adharma literally almost this language swamiji vikrant puts it in english in his poem good good bad bad none escape the law whosoever wears a form wears the chain but far beyond name and form is atman ever free whosoever wears the form wears the chain that is law of karma before that good good bad bad that is dharma dharma good dharma then second good good good two goods are there first good dharma second good punyam the puniam will be produced and that will lead to sukham the bad bad the first good is uh first bad is adharma the second bad is the papa or the dukkha which is produced by that and it would that wouldn't have been good poetry to say good good good bad bad bad good and the results are good bad and the results are bad and he says none escape the law as long as you are in the movie you're stuck to the script made by the director as long as you have set forth certain powers we set into motion these powerful forces of karma and then we are trapped by them it's like the silk worm which spins or you know the you know the butterfly the caterpillar which spins the cocoon and if it can't break free from the cocoon it's trapped in that but the goal is to break free from the cocoon and become a butterfly similarly for us is to break free of the cocoon of karma and to realize what we are so none escape the law yes within the samsara none can escape you can't violate this law but there is something beyond this law and you can realize that and you can be free of this law you don't break it you you are free of it so in vivekananda also says another place you can't run away from samsara you learn how to work the machine it will set you free you can't run away from the consequences of karma but you learn how to work the machine freedom from bad karma comes through good karma and freedom from good and bad karma comes through enlightenment moksha vedantic knowledge so anya dharma first is good good bad bad that is the law of karma then the result of karma is whosoever wears the form where's the chain too what is the form body which body the one which you have got now which i have got now where did it come from it came from past karma and it is bound by karma it will live only for a certain period of time which is filled by the that portion of karma which has been activated called prarabdha karma that is the chain which we are wearing and so our freedom is actually little limited our parents we already decided for us our physical body is already decided for us in fact our lifetime lifespan is already decided for us and certain major events in the life are already decided for us but of course how we play the game in this limited arena we have some freedom there and we generate new karma depending on how we play the game here so that is the chain which we are wearing now what is vedanta that is what nachiketa is asking apart from dharma apart from the law of karma is there is a certain reality and you know it tell me what is it and vivekananda is saying that far beyond name and form is atma never free no thou art that that's basically going to be the teaching throughout the qatar nation yama is going to tell us about the reality which is beyond karma beyond good and bad beyond birth and death free from limitation free from sorrow and how to realize it that that's going to be the theme that's the theme of vedanta anyway another way he puts it more philosophically this reality which is beyond krita is the effect and um akrita is the cause which is beyond cause and effect it's not here no longer law of karma he is talking about the cause of this universe and the effect of this universe in vedantic terms the cause of this universe is saguna brahman and the effect is also what is known as the hiran behind the virat the physical universe and the subtle universe so basically if you remember that's why you know vedanta is very useful all of these are neatly set out there basically what is the framework in order to understand these things the framework is ultimate reality is pure consciousness that is called nirna brahman now that pure consciousness in association with maya you should if there is only one reality where does maya come from it doesn't come that's the paradox of it it is not a separate reality which has to be accounted for so in a limited by maya that ultimate reality appears to be does not become appears to be saguna brahman nir guna brahman now appears as saguna brahman what is the relationship between them actually no relationship because it's an appearance nir guna brahman is nothing other and saguna brahman is nothing other than ergonomic through the lens of maya through the lens of time space and causation time space and causation um then this this this saguna brahman is god is the god of religion another name is ishwara name is bhagavan this is the one which in various ways is understood in hinduism as shiva or maheshwara as vishnu as devi the divine mother durga kali all of them they are not separate realities they are all this saguna brahman pure consciousness plus maya the power of maya now what happens next next from this power of maya a subtle universe is produced and how it's produced i will not go into that all that is vedanta details are there you know from which the five elements emerge subtle elements and from those five subtle elements our minds are formed our pranas are formed and all of this so this entire subtle cosmos that same pure consciousness limited by maya plus further limited by this subtle cosmos the subtle cosmos is called the cosmic mind is now called hiranyakarpa from this further comes the physical universe which we see now and our physical bodies this is called virat same pure consciousness limited by maya limited by cosmic mind now limited by the cosmic body is called virat so this hiranja garbha and virat are called the effect brahman karya brahman and ishwara saguna brahman is called the the karna brahma what is the cause the cause is issue consciousness plus maya what is the effect the effect is our subtle universe and physical universe behind which lies hiranyakarba and virat remember when i say subtle universe and physical universe that's not exactly the same as hiranyakar behind virat because consciousness plus the subtle universe including the causal universe also is consciousness limited by the causal power of maya limited by this subtle universe limited by the physical universe is virat it's like the man in himself is not a police officer but when he puts on the uniform of the police officer that man plus his uniform the police officer now has the powers the form and the powers in the name of a police officer that uniform is not a police officer similarly the physical universe is not virat the cosmic mind in itself is not hiranyakaraba consciousness plus cosmic mind is it indicative consciousness plus cosmic mind plus entire physical universe is virat again all of this sounds very complicated but we experience it every day just look at our own experience our own experience in deep sleep is like the causal universe it's blank yet the seed of who we are is there because every morning we wake up to the same old life so we are in the seed form in deep sleep that's like at the individual level and the cosmic level it is called ishwara or sagana brahman when we go into a dream state we are dreaming we are there i the consciousness limited sentient being with my mind i'm generating dreams that's the dream state at the cosmic level that's the hiranyakara and then when i wake up this physical universe i have a physical body and sense organs to interact with the physical world this is at the individual level at the cosmic level it is called virat so it's not difficult to understand what do you mean by causal why causal we mean something like what you experience in deep sleep what do you mean by subtle universe is something that you experience in dreams and also now when you think within yourself that's the subtle universe you think you perceive you feel you desire you know understand remember all that is a first person experience going on within us that's the subtle universe and what is the gross universe in this physical universe which would be the public universe which we are inhabiting all right why am i saying all this the causal one is called the cause and the other the causal brahman or karna brahma and the other two hiranya garbha and virat are called the effect brahma cardia brahma all this explanation is just everything is compressed by nachiketa and to say saying that i am not interested in this universe i am not interested in the mind also i am not even interested in that cause of all of this god not even that what is other than cause and effect what is other than god and universe what is other than the creator and the created you know that tell me that it's the most profound of questions see where does science go up to the effect universe karya brahma where does religion go up to because causal universe that is the cause of this universe god karana brahma but where does advaita go up to karyakaran or and the stunning thing about it is that cardio current of election abram that that brahman the ultimate reality beyond cause and effect is you that's the amazing thing at the root of the universe you find yourself with the self-capitalist all of this he says beyond the cause and beyond the effect that which is timeless not in the past not in the present not in the future beyond past present and future not limited by time in other words he's saying not limited by maya that which is not limited by space that which is not limited by time that which is not limited by object the another name for this is infinite that which is not limited the infinite other than the finite is the infinity what is the finite past present and future what is in the past and not in the present what is in the present will not be in the future what is in the future is not yet here now this is limited similarly what is here is not there that is limitation in space limitation and object what is this thing is not that thing this person is not that person this planet is not that planet all these divisions these limitations this little little fractured universe which we are seeing other than this transcending all of this what is that unlimited universe or unlimited reality that you tell me so this is the same question what is beyond death but put in a precise way put in pedantic language put in technically correct philosophical language this is something that a vedantic student will appreciate um all right now we are on subject this has been stated so well good now yama answers this question it is a feeling we know which this when he says to yama what you see it tell me you often get that feeling when you're a spiritual seeker and you know that this person knows that which is my the search which i have in my life and maybe many time lifetimes i've been searching for it now i've at last met a person this guru and this master who knows your reaction will be please tell me please tell me please give it to me there's a term in christian theology it's called holy envy it's envy it's a holy envy i wish i had what you have i felt it when i saw it swami bhutah and the ones i was a young brahmacharya suddenly what a strange reaction to seeing your own guru you feel jealous or envious you have something i can clearly sense it i'm too young to understand it i'm and i was barely reading the qatar finisher that this time and all of it sounded very high and lofty and technical but you felt the same thing what you see please tell me that speak of it now yama gives the answer to what has been asked he's giving an answer mantra number 15 [Music] yama says to him surveilla what all the vedas the all the vedic sentences the vedic texts what reality they revealed they all revealed one reality tapang see sarvani chaya badanti all the spiritual practices all spiritual practices whatever is considered religious spiritual what they are all meant for ultimately what they are all spoken for ultimately for which people enter into the brahmacharya state here it means be being a spiritual disciple become a spiritual seeker or it means the other meaning also is there who do practice sense control celibacy for which purpose you practice this people practice this that reality i'm telling you which reality which you have asked for that reality it is the reality which all the vedas declare it is the reality for which all spiritual practices are meant for it is the reality for which one becomes a disciple brahmacari once again once again means i'll explain again when we come to it one becomes a disciple that reality i will tell you but first i'll tell you tell it to you in brief in the briefest possible way sangra compressed brief as possible be it is the answer to your question is om so that's the beauty of advaita vedanta all these texts all these these arguments and stories and whatnot examples and practices theories all of this can be compressed in one sentence can you tell me in one sentence yes brahman is the reality the world is an appearance and you are none other than brahma still too big can you make it smaller yes tattwa masih you are that can you make it even smaller yes om can you make it even smaller yes silence so you can't make it any smaller than silence all right so it can be compressed but then it has to be unpacked what is the meaning of om ambram has me i am brahmana what is the meaning of mahasmi you have to go to the upanishads to study all that and understand what is harmful so that i'm telling you in brief it is om now let's quickly go through all this um so all the vedas and by which it means all the scriptures because in hinduism all scriptures are based on the vedas they claim to be an expansion of explanation of elaboration of application of what is given in the vedas anything that contradicts the vedas is is not acceptable so when you say all the vedas speak of it when the vedas speak of it then you mean all the scriptures are speaking about this what they all declare yet ultimate reality uh and the commentator says gamaniem that means which it can be attained it's not an unattainable thing it is something that is set up for us as vivekananda says very simply in this day and age in our language the goal of human life is god realization to manifest the divinity already present within us that is the goal of human life now here the question may be raised survey veda all vedas but no you may say that the upanishads speak about brahman atman i am but if you look at the rest of the vedas there are so many things it's it's uh it's like so messy so many things are there look at the upanishad itself look at this katopinisha itself it starts with a story the little story of the little boy um nachiketa and his quarrel with his dad and the sacrifice and the giving away of the cows and then the journey to the to the house of death then they talk about settling his family quarrels and then about vedic rituals where is brahman in all of this where is home in all of this where is realization of i am the ultimate reality it's not there and if you look at the entire vedic corpus most of the vedic texts except the upanishads most of the vedic texts are concerned with rituals and what are the rituals for are forgetting wealth and for defeating your enemies for getting rainfall and a plentiful crop and protecting your cattle getting children um you know and for rituals for going to heaven after death all sorts of desires worldly and otherworldly otherworldly in the sense heavenly you go to heaven after all but all of it is pretty materialistic let alone realizing i am brahman is not particularly spiritual either so how are you saying all the vedas declare om declare that this ultimate reality brahman our real nature because here is this thing to be known about the vedas and about all religion when the vedas give us various rituals we're fulfilling our typical desires i want to be rich i want to be famous i want to be prosperous i want my family to be fine i want to avoid death as long as possible when i can't avoid that i want to go to that nice place and and so on all of this the vedas say yes yes yes you can do it and this is the way you do it all of this you can attain but please attain it um you know through religion through morality through ethics so what the vedas why they are doing this is they are helping us to rise above an instinctive life among an above and animalistic life the characteristic of the vedas is they don't teach us what we already desire it is a rule in purum saka that which is natural for human beings which need not be taught you don't have to teach people to be greedy and lustful and and angry and scared of each other and no that's natural but what has to be taught is what is good for us but we won't do it otherwise that has to be inculcated yes and the skillful way of doing it is you will attain the goals which you want which you desperately want and why do we want it past lives life after life of conditioning this is a born of our natural ignorance the ignorance of our real nature leads to desire for fulfillment leads to karma and we are trapped in the law of karma because of that we have so many desires the vedas say you can attain those desires please follow these moral religious means to attain your desires not otherwise as one follows these one begins to get a certain control over one's life life of material material desire one it helps us to rise above it krishna puts it in a more simple way in the gita that my devotees are of four kinds those who are in trouble they take the help of religion there are no atheists in the foxholes there is a saying there are no atheists in hospitals also you know always you will see many places airports hospitals and some hotels also now you have meditation rooms in prayer rooms mostly empty in hospital rooms generally not empty because you're in in serious trouble and then you grasp at whatever can help so god yes your desires will be fulfilled but hold on to god you rise that way the second kind of devotee is again worldly authority not in trouble but wants something they are also devotees and the third one is the enquirer the spiritual seeker and the fourth kind of devotee is the enlightened one that enlightened one is still a devotee loves god now what is the meaning of this those who come to god for worldly reasons also either they are in trouble or they want something more and they will also come develop in spiritual life they will get a belief in god a faith in god and slowly they'll begin to see what they wanted from god it's not worth it the little things in the world they're all you will get it they're all temporary they leave a bad taste in their mouth and they're gone soon so then you begin to see what is really worthwhile is god for the sake of god not god for the sake of what i what god can give me so then the child wants the mother not the choice not the mother for the toys and not just the tiles themselves but now wants to be in the lap of the mother now wants god that is the purpose of all those vedic rituals they guide us towards from karma kanda to gyanakanda um there is this a story about a young monk who was uh swami madawan and the jetting asked him long many many decades ago what are you reading he said i'm reading karma yoga of swami vivekananda so after reading that what do you think and i think i'm really inspired i have to do a lot of work you know for the benefit of humanity then the swami said well you haven't understood anything if you really understand karma yoga your all your spriha your thirst for action and doing would go away that is the ultimate purpose of karma yoga is to take you beyond action through action beyond action through the satisfaction of desires with the help of god within the limits of morality and decency to beyond this hankering for worldly desires that's why all the vedas say that so the vedas are pointing towards the upanishads the anakanda which teach you about brahman so even by while they are satisfying our worldly and other worldly desires they are pointing us towards that which is beyond desire beyond um worldly and other worldly desires that is the purpose of the vedas if suppose that does not divide if they directly told us you are brahman give up everything well when we won't give up everything we'll give up the vedas then but we won't give up everything we will we need to be skillfully guided into the higher reality otherwise um there is a saying there is a it's a it's a medicine which is coated in um good that is sugar candy or molasses and it's given to a little child who doesn't want to take medicines and the mother gives this it's sweet it's nice take it but actually inside it there's a medicine and who gives this example sure in one of his vartikas gives the example what is the what's going on in the vedas it's exactly like that it promises nice things whatever we want but is actually it's a trick it will bring us to vedanta ultimately if it works properly so should we go into the karma khanda not us those who have already come to vedanta never go back to the karma kanda karma khan is meant for those who are religious but they are primarily still religious for worldly purposes who are they you are surrounded by them you are in a minority there are people you go and sit in a temple people who are sitting all around you can guarantee nine out of ten of them are their karma kandi's who are there are for this purpose and nothing wrong with that but if you have already risen above that you have because you are here you have already risen above that and then don't go back to that even all spiritual practices the pongs is arvani truth satyam ahimsa um non-violence brahmacharya sense control aparicraha non-acceptance of you know non-accumulation of possessions astaya non-stealing so all of these practices the fundamental practices which are necessary for a yogi plus all the other practices you know like somebody is fasting somebody performs long pujas and rituals somebody chants the gita so so many kinds of practices that we do and here he is saying yama is saying all practices everything without exception whatever you see in religion all the practices are ultimately meant to bring you to enlightenment so whatever practices people do all over the world in every you know in all vedantic traditions yogic traditions tantric traditions physical practices like rituals or you know yogic practices or verbal practices like chanting and mantras or mental practices meditation visualization mindfulness what not kundalini yoga everything he says here all of them are finally meant to bring you to this teaching i'm going to give you now brahmacharyam is what commentator says guru kula vaasa lakshana annadwa or just the sense control celibacy sense control that brahmacharya or going to a guru and staying with the guru notice there's a certain point to be made here it you know when you talk to somebody who has the traditional structure of life uh in mind you have studentship which is called brahmacharya then you have a householder life which is grihastha then you retire step back from the householder life to con spend time in uh spirituality that is uh vanaprastha literally going to the forest and finally sannyasa come life completely dedicated to enlightenment god realization now to such a person when you say brahmacharyam charanti does that mean i have to go back to school or college again that's the thing in the mind brahmacari is the first stage of life no here brahmacarya means becoming a student of a vedanta teacher so going to a guru and learning vedanta for which purpose people become a disciple in a more general sense you say when you're a spiritual seeker you seek out a spiritual teacher and you start following a spiritual teacher it could be any tradition you could be a devotee it could be a tantric you could be a meditator it could be buddhist jain whatever you follow a spiritual tradition and you'll have a spiritual teacher and you become basically a seeker a disciple once again disciple is important that idea seeker also is a very vague thing disciple is most fixed that you follow the disciplines of being a disciple and you are committing to a particular way of life and a particular tradition you're following it up otherwise seeker also is you know in today's day and age i'm a youtube seeker nothing wrong with youtube but then there's so many things there supermarket of religion and spirituality one must commit and follow one when one commits and follows a particular tradition then you are a seeker that you you are a disciple before that not a disciple so for which purpose people become disciples become spiritual seekers and disciples all of that i'm going to tell you in brief it is called om now it's very well selected because the most important mantra in all of hinduism in all of vedanta is om in all of hinduism is om all mantras you start with ob all rituals and pujas and you have to use om you find that in the religious iconography in all hindu temples whatever the tradition it doesn't have to be vedanta it could be any kind of tradition any part of india any kind of hindu um you know tradition has om and that's most important all the texts of various traditions have om not just hinduism all the religious traditions which have come out of india so most ancient religious traditions like in buddhism one of the central mantras is om in jainism one of the central mantras is om if you look it up you'll see jainism they have different connotations different interpretations so om in sikhism the highest reality is called om ik one ohm is the highest ultimate reality so om is central to the entire spirituality of india since the most ancient times that's why it's very well chosen by yama he says it is om now um i will explain a little which needs to be known before we go into the rest of it um shankaracharya here in his commentary he says what you wanted to know it has been said to you see all that you asked what happens after death tell me that reality which is apart from dharma dharma which that means which is not subject to the birth and death cycle which is not even god not even this universe apart from the creator and the created apart from cause and effect which is timeless which is beyond not limited by time space object which is the infinite that reality tell me i'm telling you it is all all right now two things are meant here so it's so compressed little explanation is necessary shankaracharya just uses one word one long sanskrit word he says om the meaning of om and the symbol that is o so what is this meaning of om and the symbol that is o now one must realize that in vedanta the code is of course that ultimately there is one non-dual reality existence consciousness place and you are that somehow you don't know it we don't know it and we have to realize it and vedanta will show us how to realize it so that's the core of um of vedanta and om stands for that where do you find it mandu kyo punish it the classic place is bantu kyopanisha there you remember om is used but how is om used it is used for vedantic inquiry in the mandoc upanishad primarily all these words are being used very carefully because primarily in one sense the secondary in another sense primarily in the mandu kyopanishan om is used for vedantic inquiry how if you remember um om the word can be decomposed into three sounds in sanskrit grammar if you join a and ooh by the rules of grammar it becomes o and you have the ma at the end then you put o and ma together you get om so that's how om comes but actually it is three sounds uh um and by the way don't ever chant it as um that's wrong it's just just for the silly om is the correct chanting but it consists of a uma now so what the way it has been used in the manduka is this you remember our waking experiences i the waker and my making world i don't denote it by ah and i fall asleep i the dreamer and my dream world denote it by ooh denote it means call it call it ooh and the deep sleep blankness call it my so the three sounds of om er uma are now the names or the they mean waking dreaming deep sleep maker dreamer deep sleeper and the silence beyond om when you say om [Music] silence beyond om just after you finish chanting om that silence denotes the the consciousness in itself which is neither waker not dreamer not deep sleeper but the waker dreamer and deep sleeper are not apart from it remember the golden ornaments example the necklace and the bracelet and the ring and gold itself so gold itself is not a necklace not a bracelet not a ring but necklace bracelet ring in their golden ornaments they cannot be apart from the gold similarly waker dream or deep sleeper cannot be apart from consciousness but in itself consciousness is not a waker or a dreamer or a deep sleeper it is ever shining now that consciousness in itself is the fourth the first one is waker second one is dreamer third one is deep sleeper fourth is the consciousness but that fourth is not a separate forth just as gold is not a fourth ornament gold is the reality of three ornaments underlying the three in and through those three is the reality called gold underlying waking dreaming and deep sleep in and through this waking dreaming and deep sleep is just consciousness itself that is the theory or the fourth and this fourth turia is is indicated by the silence after om so this is how om was used in the mandook upanishad the meaning of om is turya and if you break it up further it means waking dreaming deep sleep [Music] physical subtle causal physical is virat hiranyakarba is the subtle and causal is ishwara at the cosmic level at the i'm just summarizing all of uh mandu i'm just rushing through it at the individual our individual level the waking and dreaming the waker is called taija the baker is called the the vishwa and the dreamer is called taijasa and the deep sleeper is called pragma pragma virat hiranyagarwa ishwara and underlying all of this is one reality theory or pure consciousness this is the structure and the whole thing was indicated by om by an analysis of om or rather by analysis of our conscious experience what we get that is all summarized by om that was the meaning of om here shankaracharya just says let's say finished what is meant by om all of mandukka what we studied and the four chapters agama prakarana vita [Music] all of that profound philosophy is just oh no that's not all that there is there is another use of very important use of code om can be used as a symbol symbol of what of god of saguna brahman so om denotes shiva or durga or kali or vishnu or brahma vishnu maheshwara so god the god of religion is now denoted by om om is a symbol for it stands all of that is om and that that is a symbol symbol means what so for example there are symbols which have which are forms so durga or this picture of shiva or the image of durga this is with a physical form with hands and feet and a face and an iconography whole art is there behind it so that is called pratima and that stands for saguna brahman it's a symbol similarly instead of a physical symbol with hands and feet and all just take om the sound om and worship it as god you meditate on om knowing it or believing it to be god understanding it to be god you meditate on the sound om which is different from the analysis which we did in mundo kyopa nation this is called om shabda pratika i think what what did he use [Music] yes so om shabda om can be used as a pratik as a symbol you just sit and meditate on o you can visualize a flaming arm or chant the om actually generally chant it deer gabran about charana is recommended long prolonged chanting of om for a long time it's the most powerful meditative practice and what are you chanting this is the name of god the yoga sutra says it denotes god analysis of om gives you the highest reality aham brahmasmi which you realize actually that is advaita vedanta that's the core but this is also vedanta this is the vedanta where you realize will meditate on om and what will be the result will you realize i am brahman eventually but right now as a result of that meditation on om you will go to what is called krama mukti krama mukti means you will not realize you you if you do not realize your brahman in this very lifetime you will go to brahmaloka the highest heaven and stay there until you get that enlightenment so two kinds of results are there if you do vedanta vichara and you realize you are brahman you will get mukti freedom here and now what rajikita is asking for then you will become jeevan mukhta as long as the body is alive when the body dies you will become bodyless liberation and the game is over for you but suppose we're doing that we are trying to realize we are brahmana it's not working we have not yet realized we are brahmana but the chanting of om the meditation on om as a symbol of brahman based on all that we have read and we have faith in that meditation will result will give a result and the result is after death you go to the highest heaven brahmaloka which is the heaven of religion the heaven that vaisnava is called vaikuntha heaven that shaivas called kailasha christians call it heaven muslims call it jannat the buddhists call it pure land so there is a certain state it's also a state of existence still you're an individual which is the most exalted state possible and you never come back from that from there your journey continues up to realization but those who become enlightened here itself they are free all of that is contained in shankaracharya's half a phrase this is the meaning of the word om which yama said to all of vedanta's com is compressed in that yama said that to nachiketa so he's right when he says what you are asking for i am telling you that now don't worry he will expand on all of it he will make it clear for all of us uh over the rest of the qatar nation rest of the qatar nation is now going to teach us all of this especially the core of vedanta that how to realize i am brahmana in this life and be free good now let me look at the comments dima says appears to whom is the observer also a manifestation same level of the observable apparent reality yes so the subject and object both appear in reality if you say the subject is the reality an object is an appearance that becomes subjective idealism and that's not advaita vedanta advaita vedanta says subject and object both appear and to the subject the object appears but subject and object are both appearances in one reality if you say subject is the reality and the object is an appearance then the buddhist logic will act upon you and it will be able to dismiss this theory as a construct prabhu says prabhu vasu says when you say at the root of the subtle universe and gross universe is you i'm confused confused shouldn't it by my real nature yes your real nature is what you say shouldn't it be my real nature yes you and that's what vedanta is trying to convince us make it a habit to claim instead of saying my real nature and my false nature then who am i i am when you say my real nature what does it mean that is who i really am so yes you are what you really are is at the root of all appearances so your real nature is at the root of all appearances but be careful about the use of language language again and again tricks us into duality what i mean is you are your real nature you are drama shavani says if the reflected consciousness is limited only to the waking state no it's not limited only to the waking state it's limited it's in the waking state it's in the dream state in the deep sleep it is dormant what lights up our dream call objects and experiences is what it's just like the face reflected in the mirror as long as the mirror is there there will be a reflected face as long as the mind is active there will be a reflected consciousness when is the mind active waking dreaming and that's why in deep sleep it feels like i am not there we are so tremendously completely caught up in the reflected consciousness that as long as that shines i feel i am there when that switches off i feel i am not there or when i reflect back i felt i was not there in that but it seems logical it seems illogical would you say that i exist in waking i exist in dream then i disappear in deep sleep and i come back every time i wake up every time you go to sleep you disappear every time you come back you wake up you come back then who's in deep sleep who comes back if you're not there you are there in deep sleep you must admit it is my waking my dream my deep sleep then who is that one who says it is my deep sleep um patrick says what is the reason we have the ignorance that prevents us from realizing that we are brahman desires seeing some things better than others desires seeing something said better than others these are the effects of that ignorance the cause of ignorance you cannot find because i have talked about this many times see how deep it goes when you say cause of ignorance you're asking for cause of maya but maya itself is causality so you're asking of cause of a cause moment you ask for cause you have accepted causality you think about it look at what the question that nasi keta is asking see how deep it is that which is beyond cause tell me that sravani says did karma and ganak and karma khan and ganaka they revealed sequentially in time to the veda vedic sages are these reflective of human evolution in time from pleasures to renunciation higher pursuits or did they always coexist to appeal to different kinds of people you know historians or scholars would say that upanishads came after the ritualistic portion but really the traditional view is they all coexist together because all of this is supposed to be revealed to rishis and it is true the knowledge of the reality must be there and the skillful ways of bringing people to the reality which is basically the karma kanda of the upanishads that also must have always been there notice this karma khanda and gyanakanda the spiritual part of it core spirituality and the general religiosity of trying to satisfy your worldly and otherworldly desires through religion this is found in every religion and recently i was reading this book um that supreme secret or ultimate secret i keep mixing it up um by the way the one who rhonda rhonda byrne she wrote the book the secret and then the um the supreme secret or ultimate secret but basically what is that is very popular tremendously popular book the secret but what's it about it's karma kanda how by you know affirming your desires and giving it to the universe the universe will fulfill your desires that's one side of it that's the karma khanda and then she it's interesting that look at her the evolution of her thought she writes this book about the one reality that we are which takes you beyond this samsara all this desire and trying to fulfill desires that is the anacanda for our 21st century secret and the ultimate secret jai shri says are family members part of one soul agenda who have come together due to past karma yes jennifer says swamiji is it necessary to have special instruction of the goat charon of om no om is a general mantra anybody can chant home anybody can chant home in fact the sannyasis is monks in in uttarakhand in the himalayas advaithic monks if there's one practice that they are supposed to do that is a prolonged chanting of om deergha pranava urana prolong chanting of home you see it's not easy to grasp what vedanta is saying if you listen to what vedante is saying and say yes yes i get it but now what do i do you haven't got it if the question persists now what do i do you haven't got it the only answer is listen again come to the class again listen again that's not satisfactory for many including monks so i remember very instructive one young monk he had just become a monk a traditional monk going to ramananda saraswati and he asks so i've become a monk and yes yes i understand vedanta and all of that but now what do i do a lot of things that involve that becoming a sannyasi means you have given up your earlier religious practices the ritualistic puja that you used to do the gayatri mantra used to chant all of those have been given up now what do i do so ramanuja chuckles he says you're right what do you do now well what can you do he says chant o that's a general instruction if you want to do something you can chant home i've also shared this with you something that swami atma priyanji shared with us when he became a monk the he leading the group of newly minted monks went to their sannyasa guru swami gambhira anandaji was the 11th president of our order in fact this book the translation is by swamigandhiranji there's many wonderful translations of the upanishads and the gita when i was at harvard two years back it is his translation that was being used there so anyway they went to swami gandhi ranji who was famously you know he was not locatious he was laconic very few words so atma priyanji is asked a question that we have received the mahavakya profound sentence from you aham brahmasmi i am brahman how many times should we repeat this does the first thing that comes to our mind when you get like a mantra you repeat it how many times are we supposed to repeat this one and swami gambhiranji sit with his eyes closed he said it is not for repetition it is for realization any other questions no you may go but you see here what shankaracharya indicates that which is a symbol that which is used as a mantra you repeat it prolong chanting of om with many benefits but the core idea is not repeating not chanting o is to analyze om to realize i am the witness consciousness that is the point anyway rick says some spiritual masters such as brahmana saraswati former shankaracharya of jyotirmat taught that om is a recluse mantra meditating on home alone will make one reclusive he didn't recommend it for householders it's the subject of debate in hinduism yes it is among traditional pundits i i don't know how acceptable it'll be in today's day and age i used to know one monk very traditional monk when monks would offer water you know after shivatri puja he would guide us he would chant the mantra for that home such and such thing repeat and we would repeat that and offer water to shiva after that when the devotees householder devotees would come to offer water to shiva he would start not with om but with namaha so that is a traditional debate but doesn't matter but that point is right if you dedicate long hours to chanting of om will it make you reclusive it will and that's a good thing gaurav says in the mandukka lectures you mentioned that some people may get the truth after listening to these lectures are you acting as guru teacher even though it is youtube or social media source absolutely i'm asking because many times he said that one needs a guru to realize the truth so can you enlighten others through zoom youtube etc i don't know what the traditional thing will be there was no zoom and youtube in those days but you listen to the teachings through a qualified teacher it is supposed to have an effect so we just leave it at that and it does have an effect the greatest secret rich is correct greatest secret and rick actually interviewed ronda i recommend that you should watch this interview the link is here it's on bad cap sangeeta says i have heard the same by a pundit during trade ceremony ritual of my brother as what's mentioned by rick above correct so that's a debate tamika also says i also heard the same thing with rick mentioned it was mentioned by uh by dr wassenklad about om yes so there is this debate look don't be afraid of om it can only do you good but these issues are there i can tell you what happened to that monk who wouldn't let householders especially women repeat oh what happened to him was outside his vedic school those are in india you know that there's this well-known singer anuradha podval a lady she has sung many devote devotional songs and one of her songs is the sing-song repetition of the guy three mantra omg you see it's played often in temples and all but she's a lady so it's in a female voice and what happened to this poor monk was ultimately in out just outside his vedic school this you know the shopkeepers would incessantly play that so we pointed it out to him this is for your bad karma you prevented women especially householders especially women from repeating the home now you have to listen to the chanting of om throughout the day in a woman's voice all right on that note let's end [Music] [Music] foreign very good but if anybody has it as a hesitation there are so many other mantras you can chant om nama shivaya if you don't want to chant only om um namaste which one can chant generally you don't even have to be initiated in these general mantras you can start chanting that it will have the same effect [Music] you