PARAM PURUSHA

What is Puruśa? Puruśa means “Pure Shete Yah Sah Puruśah” or “Purasi Shete Yah Sah Puruśah”. The Sanskrit word Pura means settlement or township (Nagara). Therefore the entity which lies covert in each and every microcosmic structure is called Puruśa. It means that this quiescent entity or Puruśa lies hidden in each and every microcosm but doesn’t perform any action.

In the definition “Purasi Shete Yah Sah Puruśah”, Purasi means “in front of” or “before.” As in the sentence Purasi Hitaḿ Karoti Ya Sah Purohitah which means Purohita is one who moves in front of you to promote your welfare. One special attribute of Puruśa is that He always moves ahead of the microcosms. Whatever may be the speed of the microcosms, Puruśa is faster and so He is always ahead of them.

Puruśah akartá phalasákśiibhútah
Bhávakendrasthitah guńayantrakashca.

“Puruśah Akarta”. The word Akartá has been used in connection with Parama Puruśa. Why Akartá? When in a solid body a force operates in that special state the force is termed as “energy”. Action, or something that involves a changing of place, is originated by energy. Action, either physical or mental, is effected only because of the vitality in your body. During the state of ill health you will find that you cannot think for a long duration. It is only because of the lack of vitality. Doership is the Operative Principle, not Puruśa’s. Therefore, “Puruśah Akartá”.

“Phalasákśiibhútah”. Now let us see what is Phalasákśiibhútah. Puruśa is acquainted with all that is done by an entity. Whatever the unit mind performs is known to unit consciousness at once i.e. whatever your mind does is known to you’re átmá at once. Today’s discourse however is about Parama Puruśa, not about Jiivátmá or Jiivapuruśa. External activity is the actual expression of whatever you think on your psychic plane. So, whatever your mind is acquainted with, is done by your mind and hence your Átmá comes to know it. To what extent does your Átmá maintain its witnessing capability? Unit consciousness is Karmaphala bhoktá, i.e. whatever action – vice or virtue, is performed by your mind has its impression on Jiivátmá and the impression of the actions on Jiivátmá is at once conveyed to, Paramátmá.

Whatever action the Cosmic Mind does, that is not really action because everything is internal. But whatever the unit mind performs is both internal as well as external. For instance, if a desire for stealing is aroused in one’s mind, that can be internal when you don’t translate the same into action i.e. mental stealing can have external expression or it may remain in the psychic plane itself. But whatever the Cosmic Mind does is all internal, totally within His mental arena, there is nothing external for Him – all is within Him. Whatever He does, He does within Himself i.e. without your knowledge. For example He steals away your mind, your Átmá. One fine morning you will find that you have lost your mind. Your mind does not exist as He has stolen it away and just like a lunatic you begin dancing. How He has managed to steal it away is a mystery to you. Therefore He does everything inside Himself – everything is within, nothing without. Suppose your boss arrives, your superior arrives – you will welcome him and say, “Please come, take your seat and have something to eat.” You flatter him to the extent you know, but you say inside yourself, “What a trouble has arrived. When will he go?” This is not known to your boss. Hence a couple of “I’s” are within you – one performs action in the external world and the other is within with which you alone are well acquainted but others are not.

Sádhaná, therefore, is to unify the two into one – the internal “I” and the external “I”. Two-ness in one single personality is a disease. The more the gap between these two “I’s”, the more you will undergo psychic torment. You must remember that in this second half of the 20th Century people are feeling much gap in between their internal “I” and external “I”. Because of the trouble in adjusting these two “I’s” there is an increase in mental illnesses. This is the greatest disease in the 20th century. As regards Parama Puruśa there is no double personality. Everything is internal. The entire world is internal for Him. That which is external world for you is internal for Him. Whatever you think or do in your mind is also internal for Him. He enters your internal world, your mind and you don’t know that He has entered i.e., He will steal away your mind and you will not know. A person too wants that Paramátmá should steal away his mind. Therefore I remember to have told you that one of His names is Mákhanacora (Butter thief). Generally one says to God to come to him but actually God is already with him – He is simply unable to see Him. A Sádhaka may think with his conscious mind that when God appears before him, he will surrender completely to Him. In the most interior corner of his mind, however he feels that when God appears before him, he will certainly surrender to Him, but he will also seek God’s help for relieving the asthma from which he has been suffering badly. God, who is in the most interior corner of his mind, even knows this. Then He will not hear anything.

He will steal away the Átman of a person and his mind will not know it, Therefore, He is named Mákhanacora. As the cream is the essence of milk so is the Átman of the body. He steals away the Átman, so He is Mákhanacora.

Why Puruśa is Akartá? Action results when in the physical body vital force operates. Energy will not work away from material structure. It will always work from within. For Jiiva there is action, and also for Prakrti. Prakrti gets the action done, but Parama Puruśa is actionless.

“Phalasákśiibhútah”. Whenever a person performs some action there is an accompanying reaction. Action means creation of reaction also. For instance, if you throw a stone in a haphazard way, that will certainly have a result. Where there is action there is reaction. Both action and reaction take place in His Cosmic Body (Bhúmá Shariira). He immediately knows about the action performed by a person and its reaction too. But Parama Puruśa is not the enjoyer of the reactions.

Dvá suparńá sayujá sakháyá samánaḿ vrkśaḿse parisasvajáte.
Tayoranyah pippalaḿ svádvattyanashnannanyo bhiicákashiiti.

Two birds with beautiful plumage are seated on the same tree. One of them is tasting the sweet fruits of the tree, whereas the other is just looking on. The bird tasting the fruits is likened to jiivátman or unit consciousness. The bird which looks on without tasting the fruits, but which watches the other bird eating the fruits, is likened to Paramátman, the Supreme Consciousness. The tree, i.e., the body of a human being, has both jiivatman, which is karmopahata or that which receives the impression of all that the person does, and it also has Paramátma, who is the witnessing entity of jiivátman. Through Prakrti, the inherent energy of Puruśa, a human being performs actions and reaps their consequences. This “natural” set up has been arranged by Parama Puruśa. He makes the arrangements for actions and reactions to occur, therefore He is Phalasákśiibhúta.

They say that wherever there is action there is equal and opposite reaction. But there is one thing to be borne in mind here. Where there is action, the equal and opposite reaction takes place only when personal, temporal and spatial factors remain unchanged. But you know that personal, temporal and spatial factors do not remain unchanged. Just in the next moment time-factor is changed. If it is an inanimate object there is entitative change therein. If there is an animate object, the person remains unchanged but the mentality changes. Therefore, we do not find the exactly equal and opposite reaction of the action done. Generally the reaction is enhanced and is not lessened because the gap in inter-ectoplasmic stuff is increased for the reaction of an action done. For instance, you took a loan of rupees 1,000/-. When you return the amount you will have to pay the interest also. You will pay back Rs. 1020/- or 1030/-. Like-wise, if you have committed some sin you will be punished a little more than the reaction of the sin committed. Had the time, space and person remain unchanged the reaction would also have been the same. So get it in mind, while doing some thing immoral be prepared to pay the interest too. It is better not to take a loan, then alone you will not have to pay the interest.

“Bhavakendra.” This external world, this expressed world, which you see is full of action, full of rhythms. This actional world is both extroversial and introversial for you. There is a world inside your mind. That is your internal world, and the world which you see without is the extroversial world. Hence this internal world for you is ideational and the external world, actional. But for Parama Puruśa there is nothing like the extroversial world, all is introversial, and hence for Him this world is ideational or His thought projection, i.e., this world is Samkalpita for Him. Suppose you imagine Jodhpur in your mind. This is ideational. But when you see outside, you find that it is Jaipur, not Jodhpur. Then you realize that Jodhpur of your mind is ideational and Jaipur is actual. The same thing occurs in dream. While you dream you think it to be a fact because the external world does not exist there. For Parama Puruśa there is nothing like the extroversial world; just as for you when the internal world, which you take to be true in dream, is actually not there. For Him, the world exists in His ideation i.e., nothing is extroversial, rather all is introversial. And His imagination is called Samkalpa. Hence this world is a Samkalpita world for Him. There is a difference between Kalpatia and Samkalpana. Whatever you do in Kalpana is transitory and the Java concerned is only its enjoyer and none else.

God is a master magician who, by His magic spell, has created all and has hidden Himself inside His creation. If at all you want to know the creation, the trick of the magician that can only be done when you join Him and His party.

This world is ideational for Him and this ideational cosmos has Him in its centre. He is in the centre of this ideational cosmos. He has to control it. Have you ever seen a fisherman spreading his fishing net in a river or a tank? The fisherman does so and he has to manage the net also. Likewise, He has made the ideational world which He alone has to manage and control. He controls the idea, therefore, in common parlance, He is taken as inactive. If, however, people steal, rob and are corrupt, will Paramátmá say that He is Akartá and hence He has got nothing to do with them? No, He controls them indirectly through the Guńas. Actually He controls the Guńas which do the actions. Really it is Paramá-Prakrti that operates. For instance, the commander orders the soldiers to catch so and so. Who catches? It is the soldiers, the power of the soldiers. People see that the soldier has caught the offender, but the soldier does so only with the direction of his commander. Hence Parama Puruśa is just like the commander and Parama Prakrti just like the soldier. This control over Bliáva Kendra is Samkalpita Niyantrańa, and He who controls it is named Krśńa. Therefore, there is another name of Parama Puruśa i.e. Krśńa. Krsna means the attractor of this ideational world. This ideational world is made of ectoplasmic stuff or by ectoplasmic structure. For Parama Puruśa, the quinquelemental world is just the crudified form of His ectoplasm. His mental stuff is subtler than jiivas, and therefore contains speed (Gati), light (Dyuti) and rhythm (Chanda), and controls them. The mental stuff of Parama Puruśa with which the world has been created is something blissful (Svarasa). This very object is named Paramarasa. The unit mind does all with its mental stuff. Sometimes it creates money in the mind and seeing the mental bank balance it feels happy. Sometimes it makes itself a Prime Minister and feels happy, and sometimes it feels enemies are mentally beaten and it is overjoyed. All these are done only with an aim to satisfy its mental hunger, to quench its mental thirst. Ultimately we see that an individual’s mental stuff is transformed into worldly objects. For the unit mind, whatever it makes within itself is Vaesayika. It is all directed for personal pleasure, for material pleasure. The flow of the ectoplasmic stuff of the jiiva is called Viśayarasa and the flow of Cosmic Mind is Paramarasa. When, even for once, the unit mind happens to come in contact with Paramarasa, the material pleasure ( viśayrasa) seems dry and insipid. Just as one eating vegetables without salt, feels they are tasteless. But material objects are needed to maintain the physical existence. The wise make the flow of Viśayarasa parallel to the flow of Paramarasa. They convert the waves of viśayarasa into the waves of Paramarasa. This alone is a safe way.

Krśńa is the nucleus of the Paramarasa of Bháva Samudra and the unit minds are like boats in that MaháSamudra. As per the rise and fall of Paramarasa of Parama Puruśa, the unit minds are to rise and fall i.e. as boats rise and fall with the waves of the ocean. The unit mind intentionally or unintentionally has to dance according to the rhythms and waves created by Parama Puruśa. This they are bound to do, there is no escape. Even if someone says that he will not dance because he is ashamed of dancing, really he dances, anyway; he simply does not know it. Everybody dances in the Paramarasa-Samudra. The Viśayarasatmaka Jiiva has to dance. There is no way out, they are made to dance. This very thing is the Rasa Liilá of Krśńa. There is difference between Liilá and Kriidá. Kriidá is causal. Everything in this world of relativity is causal. But Parama Puruśa is beyond the scope of relativity. Why is He making the world dance? Why has He made Paramarasa-Samudra? The answer to this cannot be known in the world of causality. Why Paramátmá has done something has no answer because He is beyond the scope of causality. Hence that which is non-causal, that which is beyond the scope of causality is Liilá. Whatever Paramátmá does is Liilá, but what Jiiva does is Kriidá. The wise will do Kriidá in such a way as to adjust their waves with the waves of Liilá. They will not try to know why Liilámaya has done an action. They will simply try to know Liilámaya Himself. If you cannot know the cause of a trifling thing like dancing, how can you know the cause of the action of Liilámaya? Jiiva has a very small brain and a very small cranium. It is not possible for it to know the action of Liilámaya. Suppose someone is an MA in 20 subjects. If he or she is asked suddenly to appear in the MA examination, he will not pass – he will have to read again, then he will have to appear. This proves that the Jiiva fails even to succeed in its own Kriidá. So how can it understand the cause of the Liilá of Liilámaya? It cannot. The best approach is to love Him, is to join His party. If there is true love the Master Magician will certainly make you understand everything because the more the members of His party know, the more convenient it is for Him. Hence He is “Bhavakendrasthitah.”

There is a particular tune, a particular rhythm, a particular rága, a particular rágini, particular laya and a particular tála in the Paramarasa-samudra as per the vibration projected in the nucleus of the Paramarasa. One who gets one acquainted with these does not like visayarasa, and naturally leaving the Visayarasa, one goes into Paramarasa. Then the attachment with the rága and rágini of Visayarasa is lessened and one becomes like a lunatic. People say correctly that Rádha, hearing the melodious tune of the flute of Krśńa, started behaving abnormally. This was due to the bifurcation of the waves of Visayarasa and then sudden adjustment with the waves of Parmarasa. When a rural boy comes to the town and sees cinemas, then he does not like to see Rámaliilá. He says “Rámaliilá is outdated. Cinema is far better.” Is it not so? Likewise, when one comes in contact with the waves of Paramarasa, the charm of Visayarasa fades away.

Wherever there is wave, there is sound – there is the sound of the ocean, of the river. The sound of Paramarasa is Krśńa’s Muralidhvani. The sound of the Visayarasa is “Money, more money, more corn, more vegetables, more bank balance.” Don’t you hear this? The sound of first class first, the sound for extension after retirement are the sounds of Visayarasa. The sound for the wedding of the daughter with no expenses is essentially the sound of Visayarasa. The sound of Paramarasa is the muralidhvani of Krśńa. Hearing this, one does not appreciate the sound of Visayarasa. Parama Puruśa is Puruśottama – He is seated in the nucleus of Paramarasa.

Parama Puruśa is “Guńayantrakashca”. When Guńa acts in material body that is known as energy. Energy is controlled by Prakrti but Prakrti, being the innate principle of Parama Puruśa, is controlled and guided by Him. The actions are controlled by Prakrti, but Prakrti is controlled by Parama Puruśa. Hence Parama Puruśa should alone be the be-all and end-all of humans. One must bear it in mind always that the Visayarasa of the units is encircled by Paramarasa from all the ten directions. You are never away from Parama Puruśa. He is always with you and in no condition you are alone. Since your activity is within Paramarasa, whatever you think, whatever you do with your organs is all made known to Paramarasa samudra. Since Paramarasa samudra knows it, it becomes the duty of Parama Puruśa as the witnessing entity to take you to task as long as you are not mended. I told you, Parama Puruśa is the creator and operator. His is not a vow to punish you, but to mend you i.e. whatever He thinks proper for you He will do, and it is proper for you to let Him do His will. Parama Puruśa will take care of those who take His shelter. He will not help those who think that they can take care of themselves, however, as He lets them do the things on their own. Therefore, it is told that for Bhaktas, Bhagaván has special responsibility. It is the duty of Parama Puruśa to save the prestige of the Bhakta, and the duty of the Bhakta is to leave everything on Him. Whatever energy is working in Paramarasa or visavarasa is under Him. Therefore, when once you develop your love for Him you are not weak, not helpless and not alone. The victory is with you. Remember Him and march ahead – victory will be yours. You have not to be afraid of the worldly forces. Those who enjoy the highest force of Parama Puruśa are sure to succeed. Victory will surely be theirs.

Victory to you all.

Dagdhabiija

Yávanna kśiiyate karma shubhaiṋcáshubhameva ca;
Távanna jáyate mokśa nrńáḿ kalpashataerapi.
Yathá laohamayaerpáshaeh páshaeh svarńamayaerapi;
Tathá baddho bhavet jiivo karmábhiishcáshubhaehshubhaeh.

–Tantra

[Unless one’s good or bad saḿskáras (mental reactive momenta) become completely exhausted, one cannot attain mokśa (non-qualified liberation) even in crores of kalpas (aeons). Just as chains, whether of iron or gold, are still chains, so people bound by saḿskáras, whether good or bad, are nevertheless bound.]

Is the misery less even if one is bound with chains made of gold? No, bondage is bondage, be [the chains] made of gold or iron. The bondage of satkarma [good actions] is that of gold, and that of asatkarma [bad actions], iron. Either of them is to be broken off. One has to refrain from bad actions so that the chains of iron might not be forged; and good actions are to be effected, but what one has to do is to offer the chains made of gold at the feet of Paramátmá: “I do not desire the fruits of my good actions, O Lord! I offer them to Thee.”

As long as the physical body exists, some actions are bound to be performed. No one can help doing actions. [Respiration] is itself an action. Once I said that even if one does not desire to do any action and sleeps, then that sleep, too, is an action. Actions must be performed – not bad actions, but good ones, which too are to be offered to Him.

Nábhuktaḿ kśiiyate karma kalpakot́ishataerapi;
Avashyameva bhoktavyaḿ krtaḿ karma shubháshubham.

–Tantra

[Even after crores of kalpas, saḿskáras do not become exhausted. The requitals of all actions, good or bad, must be undergone: there is no exception.]

“Even after crores of kalpas [aeons] the reactions of actions are not exhausted. This continues to be so as long as the reactions have not been experienced.” How will the reactions of the actions be exhausted? Karmabhogena kśiiyate – “When the reactions are experienced, then only are they exhausted.” Avashyameva bhoktavyaḿ krtaḿ karmashubhá shubham – “one has performed good actions, so their fruits are to be enjoyed; so also is it with bad actions.” Hence one has to be cautious while performing actions. After that, repentance will fetch no benefit.

Avashyameva bhoktavyaḿ krtaḿ karmashubhá shubham. Now the question arises whether the reactions will be just [equal] to the actions, or less, or more. Equal and opposite reaction is [the rule], but then, whether the enjoyment of the reaction of actions is purely psychic or physico-psychic is to be seen. Where the action is purely mental, the reaction will be just [equal] to that. But if the action is physico-psychic, the question is, what will be the reaction? Still one thing is there, that if the mind is not affected by the physico-psychic action, nothing happens. But [usually] when the reaction is physico-psychic, it has more effect than the action performed.

If it is purely psychic, the reaction will be just equal to it. [But] the reaction of the physico-psychic action does not affect the mind cent per cent. A person enjoys [psychic] reactions just [equal] to the actions performed. If there be some quantity of the reaction of physico-psychic action [that affects the body], in that case, the reaction will be much more than the action performed. The mind will be affected just according to the psychic action – that is the case with psychic actions. [But] if the action is physico-psychic, some of the reactions [affect] the mind, some [do] not. That which affects the mind is a psychic reaction, that which does not is physical. Among these reactions, the one that is in the pure physical sphere does not affect the mind. The pure psychic coupled with the [physical] of a physico-psychic reaction add up to produce a greater reaction. So the quantity of reaction in case of a physico-psychic action becomes much greater. Hence one should be careful.

There are so many grades of sádhaka [spiritual practitioner]. Some say, “O Paramátmá, please get my saḿskáras exhausted as soon as possible. Give to me whatever is there.” [But] some say, “I am ready to bear the fruits of my own [actions] and I am also ready to bear the saḿskáras of others.” There are varieties of feeling. Some want to carry the burdens of others so that others might not be in trouble. Sádhakas are at different stages, and their feelings are just according to their stages. While doing sádhaná, a sádhaka reaches a stage where púrńa bhakti [cent per cent devotion] is aroused for Paramátmá. Then one remains unassailed even if a cyclone of misery attacks him or her. One feels maximum torture in the mind, but he or she little cares for it, taking it to be the benediction of Paramátmá Himself. Torture is there but he or she derives bliss from it. The sádhaka of that stage is called dagdhabiija [burnt seed]. A dagdhabiija comes within the range of psychic directly.

Biija means “seed”. Wherever a seed is sown, it [sprouts into] a plant; but where the seed is burnt, a plant is not produced. A sádhaka becomes dagdhabiija when he or she has no more pain or pleasure of his or her own. One who has surrendered in toto and has not kept in hand even a single paisa of it, is alone dagdhabiija. All carry their own burdens, but if a dagdhabiija sádhaka so desires, he or she can carry the burdens of others also. And those who want to carry the burden of others do lessen the burden of Paramátmá indirectly. You should remember this.

Do not remain worried about your individual problems at all. Be prepared to carry your own burden and be prepared also to carry the burdens of others. Then alone are you brave. Be dagdhabiija. Everyone has his or her own individual problems. Do not try to pass them on to others. On the contrary, bear the burdens of others. No one is your enemy. Be ready to bear the burdens of others.

You Live According to God's Desire

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Whatever object or idea there is in this relative world, there is a reason behind it. The reason may be known to you or may not be known to you, but there is a reason. When you get quite tired of worldly activities and sit in a lonely place, you think, “Why have I come into this world?” You might not know the reason, but He, the one who has manifested His liilá [play] everywhere, knows the reason. You might consider yourself inferior, but you are not so to Him.

Take, for example, your body, your mind, and the innumerable tiny cells of your body. Each cell gives rise to a particular thought. Such specialities there are in the human structure! The Creator has created this body carefully, with the utmost care; He even knows where a particular spot in your nerve is. You are not small. A doll may consider itself small, and it may be considered small by some, but the creator of the doll would never consider his creation valueless.

All that comes within the scope of relativity has a reason behind its existence. Even the existence of an eighty-year-old man or woman has a reason behind it. Parama Puruśa has kept you in the world; there is definitely a reason behind it. Never let inferiority arise in you. You are the children of Parama Puruśa – how can you be inferior? If someone says that you are low, or valueless, that will be absolutely wrong. Parama Puruśa, your Creator, is a great entity. How can He create anything inferior?

Many say that nature creates. But this is wrong. What can nature create? The style, the system in which Prakrti [the Operative Principle] operates is known as nature. There is a style of singing, of dancing; there is a style for doing each and every action. The style of the work of the Operative Principle is known as nature. How can the style create? Only the One whose style it is can create. Nature can do nothing. The Operative Principle operates according to the desire of Parama Puruśa. If Parama Puruśa did not permit it, then Prakrti would be unable to create. Ábrahmastamba – “Even a blade of grass would not move. Right from Brahmá to a blade of grass, it is all His desire.”

Brahmá means the stage of Saguńa Brahma when It is creating the universe. (Brahma + a equals Brahmá. A is the acoustic root of creation.) Brahmá, Viśńu, Maheshvara – these are not separate entities, they are all different functional forms of the same entity. A gentleman is a sweet-shop owner, a traveller and a man with a [cricket] bat – he is the same gentleman at different stages. Even Brahmá would be unable to create if He [Parama Puruśa] would not want. And the little blade of grass too would not move.

So forget the talk about nature. To talk of nature is to talk of a philosophy of [the time] when humans worshipped stones, trees, etc.

Without His desire, nothing will happen. Say you are speaking against Parama Puruśa in a meeting. You might want to say, “I challenge Parama Puruśa.” But after only having spoken the word “challenge” you might find that your raised fist remains raised and your voice is choked. Nothing can happen without His desire.

You have come according to His wish, and by no one else’s. Leave everything to Him. An astrologer predicts your death on a particular day, and advises you to wear lockets to counteract the effects of stars and planets. But doesn’t the astrologer himself die?

You will live according to His desire; you will die, too, according to His desire. He has given you your organs. Utilize them for Him. With your voice sing His name, His praise, His kiirtana. With your mind think of Him.

One who does not do this wastes one’s life.

THE DIVINE WILL

What is the meaning of sádhu [saint]? Really sádhu means those in whose contact others become good. One is not a sádhu simply by wearing saffron dress. Those who have the capability of attracting others alone are sádhus. One can be a sádhu even in a suit.

There are many persons who have energy but do not work. They are lethargic. But there are also persons who work hard even if they do not have energy. They are persons who die working. This is very good. But better would be to work even while dying.

It is action that makes a man great. Be great by your sadhana, by your service and by your sacrifice.

Where mind is operative in a structure, that structure is controlled by the mind; but structures in which mind is not expressed are controlled and operated by the mind of the Supreme Being. A man, for instance, moves from this place to that place by his mind; but the wind blows, and water flows according to the dictates of the Cosmic Mind. The movements controlled by the Supreme Being are all from inanimate to animate, and from crude to subtle. In other words, they are movements towards God. We may say that the Supreme Being is drawing everything unto Himself.

Human beings are moved and guided by their own unit minds, but even here where matters of collective importance are concerned, they are not absolutely free – there the Macrocosm asserts Its mind.

When a man moves in a line opposite the pull of the Supreme Being, this is movement towards degradation. Movement is a must, whether it is towards progress or degradation – whether towards hell or supreme. Those animals and inanimate objects whose minds are not developed have no chance of being degraded since they have no choice of movement except in the direction of the Supreme. But man has the freedom of choice between progress and degradation.

If only the movement according to the will of the Supreme Being is movement towards progress, the question arises how to ascertain the desire of God. Man’s small mind, enclosed in a box of bones, is incapable of knowing the secrets of the Cosmic Mind. It is difficult to know the unexpressed desire of the Supreme Self. But wherever there is difficulty, the solution lies nearby. Every disease has a curative herb near the source of the disease itself.

Suppose you have to ascertain what Mr. X would like to eat – rasagollas or gulabjamun [two types of Indian sweets]. How would you know this? Being a gentleman he will not express his desire. And God is also a gentleman – His desires are not all on the surface. A villager may blurt out his desires, but a refined man will not – and God is refined.

But there is one way out. Start loving Mr. X and your minds will meet and you will know his desires. This is the path followed by the devotees. They love God and know His mind; they tune their minds in the same wave-length and direction.

The difference between a sádhaka and a philosopher is this: the sádhaka learns philosophy for the sake of convincing others, not for himself. He is content to love God.

Imagine a devotee and a philosopher being in a mango grove. The philosopher will start counting the trees, their branches, and the mangoes in the orchard. While he is thus wasting his time, the devotee is enjoying the sweet juice of the mangoes. The devotee says, “God is mine – I shall love Him and understand His will and act accordingly.”

Those who do not love God are also not completely free to act. They have to follow the Divine Will perforce. Some follow Him out of love, others out of fear. There is some element of fear in love also. My slightest mistake may pain the person I love, and hence this fear keeps me straight on the path of love. Man alone has the chance to follow God with love; other beings have to do so compulsorily.

Those who are afraid of God are not sádhakas. All want to avoid fear. God is fear to fear. All are afraid of the terrible – and God is a terror to the terrible. Thus being our enemy’s enemy, God is our best friend.

Movement is life. God is the movement of the innermost vital energy [prána]. If God removes himself, one will no longer exist.

Even if a boy says something logical, it should be accepted; and even if the lotus-born Brahma [the mythological creator of the universe] says something illogical it should be rejected like a straw.

God is one who purifies the purification. He is the Purity of the pure. People consider a dip in the Ganges as a purifying act. If this were true, the fish and animals who live in the Ganges would be the purest of beings, since they live 24 hours a day in the Ganges!

God lives in every heart, and He is the Purifier of purity. So all that you have to do to be pure is to search your heart, contact the Supreme Being there and be pure. Why need you go outside for purification??

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Power without devotion is a force leading to degradation. You should not forget that God is the source of all ultimate power. He can snatch your power from you in a minute. This body of yours wherein you are a tenant belongs to the Supreme Law. He can evict you in a moment, without prior notice.

Knowing oneself is the real knowledge, serving all with the ideation of God is the real action, and the vow to please God the real devotion.

Now this sádhaná which is sádhaná for complete merger, for unification, starts with fearful love. Love must be there. Unless and until there is love there cannot be unification. So love must be there but it starts with fearful love and ends in fearless love; and the space between fearful love and fearless love is the space of sádhaná. What is sádhaná? Sádhaná is the transformation of fearful love into fearless love.

When the devotional depth comes, love, too will be brimming with high sentiments, full and over-flowing. In that stage alone will come your final realization of the Supreme Consciousness. Where “I” is, “He” is not… where “He” is, “I” is not. Remember, devotion is the prerequisite of sádhaná. Maturity of devotion is love, and maturity of love is HE

HE IS EVERYWHERE

The shástras [scriptures] say:

Sarvatah páńipádantat sarvato’kśishiromukham;
Sarvatah shrutimalloke sarvamávrtya tiśt́hati.

[His hands and feet are everywhere; His eyes, heads and faces are everywhere; His ears are everywhere; He exists enveloping everything.]

The palms – páńi – of the Lord are everywhere – sarvatah. Whatever is offered to Him, good or bad, He receives. And whenever and wherever it is offered to Him, He receives it.

Scriptures say that the ordinary human beings of the world use their power of discrimination before they decide upon what to receive and what not to receive when offered. They accept only that which they like and reject that which they do not like. Elevated beings – uttama puruśa – on the other hand, do not accept anything from anyone. But Parama Puruśa is entirely different from these two groups. He makes no discrimination whatever and accepts all that is offered to Him by any of His children.

People normally offer sentient things to different deities – white flowers are generally offered to them. But to Shiva many offer even red flowers such as the java, or Chinese rose, which is a flower of támasika [static] colour. This is because Lord Shiva, Parama Puruśa, has His palms ready to receive anything and everything. One may offer one’s reverence – shraddhá – or one’s abuse – hela. The Lord’s palms are ever-joined to receive it – Shraddhayá helaya vá [“With reverence or with indifference”].

Once Lord Buddha was camping in a mango orchard at Baishali. A large number of people used always to [come and] accept the path shown by the Lord. But a particular individual and his group were very much opposed to Lord Buddha. It so happened that the group, without the individual himself, came to the mango orchard where Lord Buddha was camping, and were influenced by the Lord and accepted Buddhism.

This news greatly agitated this man, and in anger he came to the orchard and started abusing Lord Buddha in all sorts of ways. Lord Buddha maintained his usual equipoise towards all this. One feels happy and encouraged in abusing someone only if he or she finds that person affected by the acts of abuse. This man found Lord Buddha undisturbed and was greatly disappointed, finding all his hard labour gone to waste. When he had done all the abusing [he could] for quite some time and his stock of bad words might have been coming to an end, the Lord urged the man to listen to him.

Lord Buddha asked the man, “Suppose you give something to somebody which he accepts; then the ownership of the thing is transferred to the receiver, isn’t it?” The man agreed. The Lord continued, “And if the man rejects the offering, will not the thing be returned to its owner?” The man again agreed. Lord Buddha concluded, “All the words given by you have not been accepted by me!”

But the Lord [Parama Puruśa] has His palms ever ready to accept all that is offered by His children anywhere in the world. The palms of human beings are so small – they can receive and contain so little. Their palms simply cannot receive more than this [indicates]. But the palms of the Lord are large enough to receive any quantity from all His children at the same time.

The Lord’s feet (pada) are also everywhere. There is no place which is inaccessible to Him. If a person is at a particular place and has to move to some other place, he or she will have to travel. But the Lord is everywhere, and He in reality does not have to move. In other words, He has so many feet that He is able to reach any place and be available at all places at all times. Elsewhere, scriptures say:

Tadejati tannaejati taddúre tadvantike
Tadantarasya sarvasya tadu sarvasyásya váhyatah.

[The Supreme Entity moves; the Supreme Entity is unmoving. The Supreme Entity is far, far away; no, the Supreme Entity is the nearest entity. He is the inside of everything; He is also the outside of everything.]

None of His children are ever alone. The Lord is ever with them at all moments.

Sarvato’kśi – “the Lord has His eyes – akśi – everywhere also.” The word akśa has two letters, a and kśa. From a to kśa, in the Nagari system of letters, there are fifty letters. These letters are the acoustic roots of the fifty propensities through which human beings function. The different sounds are only a mixture and combination in varying degrees of these acoustic vibrations. So in other words, akśa represents the whole set of the vibrations; that is, the creation. Since we see this creation with our eyes, the eye in Sanskrit is called akśi. The pronunciation of this word as per the Tantric and the [Yajurvedic] system would be akkhi.

The Lord’s eyes are everywhere. His eyes are even in a closed room where one may consider himself or herself alone. The story goes that once Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa gave a pigeon to Swami Vivekananda asking him to kill the bird in a place where he was alone. At the end of the day Swami Vivekananda returned along with the living pigeon and reported to Sri Ramakrishna that he could not find himself alone anywhere because wherever he went he found a pair of eyes – the Lord’s – watching him.

Yajiṋa and Karmaphala

Today’s subject is “Yajiṋa and the Fruit of Yajiṋa”. The word “Yajiṋa” is formed by the root “Yaj” and the suffix “na”. It means actions. Whatever a person does, we can call it a yajiṋa. What is the origin of actions? Where is the unmanifested potentiality of action? The doer of an act is the mind. Before doing an act a person thinks of it and the thought gets manifested as corresponding vibrations or sensations in his mind. Those mental vibrations are then transformed into the actions in the external world. That is, when after thinking about doing an act, the hands and feet begin to move, then the action being done is called an act or kriyá. Vibration exists in the mind or Sublime level and an act exists both in the crude and sublime levels, because all vibrations are not necessarily transformed into acts. Whenever there is an act, then the existence of a precedent thought is a certainty. That is why Karma or Yajiṋa is called psycho-physical.

Human beings cannot exist even for a moment without doing an act. Salvation means the eternal emancipation from this very Karma or Yajiṋa. Ordinarily Yajiṋa is of four kinds: Bhúta Yajiṋa, Nr Yajiṋa, Pitr Yajiṋa and Adhyátma Yajiṋa. Of these four Yajiṋas, the first three, namely Bhúta, Nr, and Pitr Yajiṋas, are psycho-physical, that is, both mental and physical, but Adhyátma Yajiṋa is one hundred percent internal. The origin of Bhúta, Nr and Pitr Yajiṋa is in mental vibrations and they take shape in the physical world. The actual origin of Karma, however, is in the arena of the mind. Suppose I donated ten rupees to a particular person. This is called Nr Yajiṋa. In the first instance I gave the donation mentally, and when this mental donation took the shape of a physical act, then I practically made the donation. As soon as the thought of giving the donation occurs in the mind, the physical act of donating flashes before the mind, that is, the act actually originated in the mental domain. Adhyátma Yajiṋa, on the other hand, originates in the domain of the soul and terminates in the soul.

(1) Bhúta-Yajiṋa: Bhúta Yajiṋa means services rendered to any created entity of the manifested world. For example, watering trees, serving cattle, undertaking scientific explorations and doing anything for the sake of welfare. In Saḿskrta, Bhúta means that which has been created. It does not mean ghost or spirit. The Saḿskrta synonym of the English words ghost and spirit is “Preta”.

(2) Nr Yajiṋa: Nr Yajiṋa is action for human welfare. In fact Nr Yajiṋa is a part of Bhúta Yajiṋa because human beings are also created beings, I will explain Nr Yajiṋa later on.

(3) Pitr Yajiṋa: Pitr Yajiṋa means remembering the ancestors and the sages. As long as a person possesses the physical body, he remains indebted to his ancestors. Those who are capable of working for their own emancipation, as well as of the society by virtue of the knowledge acquired through the austerities practised by the sages, are indebted to the sages. Sages are those who are helping and who have helped human society in numerous ways, such as the invention of new subjects. You enjoy the fruits of the inventor of railway engines. Is it not a fact that present intellectual currents originated from the fountain of their wisdom? Many people say that science is detrimental to civilization and an impediment to civilization, that the old world was indeed good. They forget that science also existed in the old world and, although it was very undeveloped, the people had adopted it according to their standard of wisdom and knowledge. We are progressing on the road constructed by them. We proceed and extend these roads by cutting down the jungles and the hills. Their bullock carts have given us the incentive for our railways and cars. We have converted the yachts constructed by them into submarines. That is why I say that there is no fault in the development of science. Time is also not to blame. The fault rests with us. Science does not tell us to use nuclear energy in destructive ways. To do so is to use science to establish our animality. Those who have invented destructive weapons with the help of science are not sages, because their Sádhaná does not contribute to the welfare of humanity. On the other hand, those sages who have looked to the well-being of humanity certainly deserve our revered memory. To pay homage to them is Pitr Yajiṋa.

(4) Adhyátma Yajiṋa: I have already said that Adhyátma Yajiṋa is one hundred percent internal. The impetus for Adhyátma Yajiṋa comes from the soul and this impetus becomes operative in the mental province. The mind performs the sádhaná and the Karma also terminates in the province of the soul. That is, the ultimate goal of mental sádhaná lies in the province of the soul. Adhyátma Yajiṋa is a liberating sádhaná and the remaining three, Bhúta, Nr and Pitr yajiṋa are both liberating and subjugating (Nivrtti Pravrtti).

Nr Yajiṋa is of four kinds: (a) Shúdrocita, (b) Vaeshyocita, (c) Kśatriyocita and (d) Viprocita. To serve the world by the physical body, to make others happy by one’s own sacrifice, or to alleviate the afflictions of others, for example by example by nursing the patients, comes within the scope of Shúdrocita sevá.

The services rendered by supplying food, money, etc. are termed Vaeshyocita sevá. Protecting others, even by risking one’s life is Kśatriyocita Sevá. Viprocita Sevá is to give expression of Adhyátma yajiṋa by imparting the spiritual knowledge you have gained. Instil in others the earnest desire to follow the path of virtue – only then will you justify your existence as a social creature.

Shúdrocita sevá is the backbone of society. Those who undervalue Shúdrocita sevá cannot render Vaeshyocita sevá. In the same way, one has to become a Shúdra, in order to be eligible for rendering Vaeshyocita-sevá. Exactly in the same way, one has to become a Shúdra, a Vaeshya and a Kśatriya in order to be eligible to render Viprocita Sevá. Hence only those who possess these four qualities are Vipras.

Although the excellence of all the different services is equal, Viprocita sevá is particularly glorious because it is directly related to Adhyátma yajiṋa. But it must be remembered that the value of a particular service depends on time, place and circumstances. Suppose a wayfarer is in distress in a lonely place and is about to die. In this situation viprocita sermons are entirely useless. While Shúdrocita sevá, i.e. nursing will be of great value. What will you do for a man who is dying of starvation? Will you nurse or preach sermons? Food must be arranged for him. In this circumstance Vaeshyocita sevá is of great value. In another situation, some men are attacking a helpless person. In this case neither sermons nor nursing is needed, nor is food to be offered; there you will have to render Kśatriyocita service. In this situation, Kśatriyocita Sevá is of greater value and other services are entirely meaningless.

Shúdrocita service is meaningless to a drunkard, so is Vaeshyocita, because giving money to him gives impetus to the addiction to drinking and does not encourage him or her to give it up, If you give the drunkard a beating then he or she will leave the place and go elsewhere to get a drink. Therefore, a drunkard has to be treated firmly with Kśatriyocita sevá and with Viprocita sermons. They must be emancipated from this bad habit by good counsel. The problem can not be solved just by simply inflicting punishment or enacting laws to close the liquor shop. In such circumstances the drunkard will seek to satisfy his or her bad habit in secrecy and consequently the whole society is affected. Thus we see that all the four types of services are important in particular circumstances. Still the effect of Viprocita sevá is stable whereas the effects of other types of service is not.

At the time of rendering service, you should feel that object of service is Náráyańa or God and that you are a spiritual aspirant. With such feelings there is no room for conceit. Conceit causes the fall of human beings. To get rid of conceit we will have to regard the object of our service as Náráyańa.

When you render service to anyone you must mentally address them with sincere devotion. “O Lord, O Náráyańa! Oblige me by accepting my services. You are merciful to me, and for this reason you have appeared before me as a living being to offer this very precious opportunity of rendering service to You.” By maintaining such sentiments, conceit will not arise in you, nor will you be bound by the reactions of your actions. The principal cause for bondage to the fruits of actions is conceit or the yearning for fame. Suppose a certain man donates one thousand rupees to a particular institution. The next day he looks anxiously for his name in the newspaper. If his name does not appear in the paper, then with an air of conceit he brags amongst his kith and kin. “I have donated a thousand rupees, but I do not desire recognition and therefore I have not published my name in the paper.” The desire for fame exists in a concealed form in that man’s mind. Clearly, he did not make the donation with the spirit of service. However, when you perform acts with the ideation that the person served is Náráyańa, there is no possibility of arrogance or the desire for fame growing in your mind. Then you will realize that through the grace of Náráyańa you have been given the opportunity of serving Náráyańa. Our hands and feet are not ours, they are His, and by serving Himself with those hands and feet, He sports with Himself. Such an action is an action without attachment. Only in this way can one attain salvation from the bondage of Karma. You must feel that the person served is Brahma. The person served is a finite manifestation of Him. Never, even by mistake, take the object as a human being. A devotee in ecstasy says:

Yáṋhá yáṋhá netra paŕe
Táṋhá táṋhá Hari sphúre.

Wherever I look Hari is visible. To attain this stage is the consummation of the aspirant’s efforts. By working with ideation of Brahma, you will gradually be able to perceive Brahma in everything. Why should ideation of Brahma or Hari be adopted? Before realizing this you will have to understand what Bháva signifies.

Shuddhasattvavisheśádvá premasuryáḿshu sámyabhak
Rucibhishcittamásrńya krdasao bháva ucyate

–Shrii Rúpa Gosvámii

Bháva is where the mind is sanctified. All the ten directions are brightened by the rays of the sun of Love, and love is developed for the Supreme Brahma. The mind develops gentleness or tenderness. This is the aim behind treating the objects of service with ideation of Brahma.

The development of ideas in a person’s mind takes place in three ways: direct imposition, indirect imposition and spontaneous idea.

Direct imposition: Suppose you are playing the role of Sháhjáhán in a certain drama. Though your mother tongue is Saḿskrta you speak in Persian. In that situation you have consciously thought, “I am Sháhjahán”, and having influenced the mind accordingly, you behave in that manner. Here your own personality is masked by that of Sháhjahán. This is known as direct imposition of ideas.

Indirect imposition: Here you do not knowingly assume any idea, but are influenced and hypnotized by another person. You act unconsciously. Your personal exclusiveness is drowned in the currents of another’s ideas. Under directions of a hypnotist, you will take sand for sugar and find it sweet as well.

Spontaneous idea: In this case, the ideas spring from within and only the true ideas get expressed. This occurs while you are in Iishvara Prańidhána. Initially the feeling of “I am” certainly exists in the aspirant’s mind. He or she feels that “I am practicing Sádhaná for a realization of Brahma.”

In the method of Sádhaná this feeling of “I am” having been developed and expressed spontaneously is then transformed into feelings of Brahma. This spontaneous idea is not easily understood by those who do not practice Sádhaná. For this very reason, more often than not, non-aspirants are overtaken with false apprehensions since they do not know the transcendental currents of happiness in which the Sádhaka is drifting. You don’t have to take the idea “I am Hanuman”, or “I am Rádhá”. Adhyátma yajiṋa is performed entirely in the mental arena and there is no necessity of any experiment or imposition.

But in Bhúta, Nr or Pitr Yajiṋa, experiment or imposition is necessary. One has to feel that the object of service is Náráyańa. If you do not adopt this feeling your efforts are in vain. It should be remembered that the reaction of an action is intimately connected with the action itself and when you perform an act you have got to bear its brunt.

The Giitá says: “Karmańyevádhikáraste má phaleśu kadácana.”

You are free to act, but you are bound to undergo the reaction. The moment you do an act you acquire the possibility of its reaction. Simultaneously with the performance of an act is being done, the seed for its reaction is also sown and its consequences have to be undergone. There is no escape from it. It is not within your right to get rid of it or to escape its fruits and consequences. You have a right only to the action. Just by wishing you may or may not do an act.

What we call Saḿskára is the reaction of Karma in potential forms, that is, it is the seed of the reaction to an action. The completion of a Yajiṋa lies in its offerings. Karma and Yajiṋa are the same and the accomplishment of the four varieties of Karma lies in offering one’s dearest thing, that is, in offering one’s own self. Ráma Yajiṋa signifies offering or surrendering unto Ráma. Viśnu Yajiṋa has a similar significance. The word Vishnu means all-pervasive. For this reason the accomplishment of Viśnu Yajiṋa lies in merging oneself into the Supreme Entity. Those who offer clarified butter in Yajiṋa are misguided. They think that by offering ghee in the fire, it will rain. Still today people are following such blind superstition. Science tells us that when ghee is offered in the fire, the ghee is burnt and the unburnt carbon particles evaporate in the form of smoke. Everyone knows that ghee is basically the chemical composition of hydrogen and carbon and that the water vapor generated by burning ghee is negligible. Therefore, what will be the magnitude of the cloud formed by burning even one thousand tons of ghee? It is an utter misuse of ghee. The proper use of ghee is to feed it to the weak so that they may have a good health. If you want rain you should perform Bhúta Yajiṋa. Scientific research comes within the purview of Bhúta Yajiṋa. Manufacture artificial clouds and make use of them wherever rainfall is needed.

O Sádhakas! Justify Ráma Yajiṋa by offering yourselves unto Ráma or Paramátman. Accomplish your Maháviśńu Yajiṋa by merging the arrogance of your “I” feeling in the all-pervading Paramátman. For this you need not go begging from door to door. Adhyátma Yajiṋa is an internal affair and money has no use. Only in the case of Bhúta, Nr and Pitr Yajiṋa are crude physical things needed and not in the case of Adhyátma Yajiṋa. By this the mind gradually obtains enlightenment and there is no need to entertain the idea of Ráma or any similar idea.

It is necessary to adopt a special sentiment in the case of Bhúta, Nr, and Pitr Yajiṋa, the sentiment that you will not be attached to Karma because the arrogance of your “I” feeling will not have any opportunity to arise. By Lord’s direction, you are serving Him, being a part and parcel of his manifestation. By maintaining such sentiments arrogance cannot arise. You know that the results of your actions will conformity to your intentions. If you submit the subjective feeling of your actions to the Lord, the reactions also appertain to the Lord. However, while taking this sentiment, one has to see that it is born out of love and not out of fear. Fear does not generate love. There is no service where love is absent and your Bhúta, Nr and Pitr Yajiṋa become meaningless. The sentiment must be surcharged with Prema or Love. What is Prema?

Samyauṋmasrńito svánto mamatvatishayáunkita
Bháva sa eva sándrátma budhaeh prema nigadyate.

–Shrii Rúpa Goswamii

Love must be selfless. Suppose you rear hens, you feed them rice and of course you love them also. If takes one of your hens you may fall out with him and even come to come to blows with him. But is that selfless love? Love must be untarnished, free from all caprice. How will love be untarnished? While rendering services you should think that you are serving for his or her comfort and well-being. This will make your service selfless and your love untarnished. Services rendered with a selfless motive are not without blemishes. You feed the hens for your benefit. You are motivated by the thought that one day this hen will lay eggs and you will earn money by selling them.

Nija sukha lági ye kare piriiti,
Se jáni’ garala kháe.

Inculcate divine sentiment by saturating love wherever you have to perform Bhúta Yajiṋa, Nr yajiṋa, and Pitr yajiṋa. It is meaningless to love out of fear. Where there is no love, there cannot be complete surrender of the self and the yajiṋa is fruitless.

Karma, tapa, yoga, jiṋána,
Vidhibhakti japa dhyána,
Ihá haite mádhurya durlabh,
Keval ye, rágmárge,
Bhaje Krśńa anuráge,
Tá’re Krśńa mádhurya sulabh.

–Caetanya Caritamrta

People’s life becomes mechanical, if they are overwhelmed with the sentiment that they must do such acts, must perform such yajiṋa, must rise in this manner and sit in this manner and get up in this manner and so on. Such a person is not happy and this type of ritualism cannot be called real Karma. To serve others at one’s sacrifice is called penance. In the absence of love any service or penance is for show and is therefore fruitless. All ritualistic devotion, sham penance, counting beads etc. are meant only for public show and true love and the Supreme goal are lost from sight. Brahma cannot be attained through actions, since the sweetness of joy is lacking in such ritualism. On the other hand the divine bliss is easily attainable to those who base their Sádhaná on love.

One has to see appreciate how the consequences of actions are annihilated through service. Where there is the arrogance of “I” feeling, then the consequences exist with the actions. Where the “I” is the doer then the same “I” is the receiver of the consequences. In detached actions the “I” is not the doer and is not therefore liable to reap the consequences. In an unattached action there is no bondage of the consequences because whatever the person does is consigned to Brahma, and therefore, the consequences of the actions are also consigned to Brahma. In other words, both the actions and consequences appertain to Paramátman. You should regard yourself as an instrument of Náráyańa and go on doing your work in a detached manner. Where a person is suffering from pain, you may ask whether they are only reaping the consequences of their actions and whether in these circumstances it is proper for you to serve them. The answer is very simple. I should not even think that he or she is reaping the consequences of actions. My purpose is to decide the intention with which I will act. I will have to think that in the pursuit of a particular design, Paramátman is suffering distress and in this way, He is giving me an opportunity to render service. Out of His grace He is obliging me by accepting my services. Náráyańa’s designs are inscrutable, so you must look upon the distressed with divine sentiments.

Just as vibrations take the shape of actions, so too counter vibrations bear exact opposite consequences of these actions. The nature of consequences is shaped by the tune of the nature of the intentions to act or vibrations. Then in the physical world the consequences of such an action are treated according to the status of the doer, irrespective of the magnitude of the action and is in consonance with his or her mental endurance. If there be no pain from a cut in the hand, that is, if the mind does not feel the consequence, the action then is not punitive. For those free from a debased mind and accomplished in universality the question of unitary suffering of the consequences of actions does not arise, since such individual do not work with unit feelings.

Where action yoga, penance or knowledge is affected with feelings of distinctions, arrogance is bound to come into play and individual distinctions are created. When an act is dedicated to Paramátman, its consequences are also dedicated to Him. The unit is neither the doer nor the bearer of the consequences. What is it to you then?

Occasionally, an affectatious vanity is seen in the aspirant which is not meant for his or her personal end, but rather for the sake of Paramátman. This is called Sáttvika vanity. The vanity associated with selfless service is not derived from the mean unit “I” feeling, but from the feeling of Universal “I”. Rádhá says,

 “I pride in You. This beauty that Rádhá has belongs to You. It is your beauty which has given comeliness to Rádhá. Is it not that I receive the inspiration to act from you? You are the doer and You alone are the enjoyer.”

You should act precisely with this sentiment. The more a person works with feelings of detachment, the greater is his or her Godward speed and the more the “I” feeling is annihilated. The Unit “I” feeling will be completely annihilated by the time you are completely established in the divine feeling. Detached actions are the fight against the unit self and for the attainment of the Universal “I”. The Unit “I” will go on abating in proportion to the decline of arrogance. By the same proportion, the mind’s sphere will get enlightened by refulgence of the Universal Self. Along with Adhyátma Yajiṋa, Bhúta, Nr, and Pitr yajiṋa also have to be performed and then the true sacrifice of the self in the fire of Brahma is accomplished.

The feelings of “I” or self work just like a mirror. The original entity is Paramátman or Cosmic Consciousness and its reflection in the mirror is the Jiivátman or unit consciousness.

Yathá darpańabháva ábhásahánao
Mukhaḿ vidyate kalpanáhiinamekam.
Tathá dhiiviyoge nirábhásako yah
Sah nityopalabdhi svarúpehamátma.

–Hastámalak

Where there is no mirror there cannot be any reflection. Where there is no mirror of the “I” feeling or Mahattattva or Budhitattva, there is no Jiivátman as the reflection. After annihilation of the ego, the condition in which one lives, is the initial form. He alone is the life of lives, the soul of souls, namely the Lord. Genuine spiritual practice is that which does away with the mirror of Buddhitattva and enables Jiivátman, in the shape of the reflection to get absorbed in Paramátman – the original entity. For this the inevitable requisite is detached action.

Yajiṋa is performed to achieve emancipation from the consequences of action and to annihilate the Unit “I”. The fourfold services enumerated under Nr yajiṋa can be easily be performed by anyone. Every human being gets more or less opportunity for rendering services. If a poor man thinks that he cannot render Vaeshyocita type of service because he is devoid of money he is wrong. The charity of a few paise of the poor has the same value as a thousand rupees from a millionaire. Indeed the charity of these few paise is greater. Lord Krśńa attached greater importance to a handfuls of grains from Vidura than to the sumptuous royal dishes of Duryodhana. Even so, everyone should render service to the world in accordance with their capacity and work for the welfare of the living beings to the best of their ability. Perform viprocita type of service by projecting your convictions to others as best as you can. Let every person perform the four kinds of service as much as possible. Adhyátma yajiṋa is an internal yajiṋa and ultimately it terminates in Paramátman, the original self. Therefore, your Sádhaná should be with a detached sentiment. All types of Yajiṋa begin and proceed in an externalized manner, but ultimately they will reverse their course towards the inner self and will gratify your innermost entity on the jewelled throne attained by your birthright. Remember, no one yajiṋa is inferior to another.

As long as you exist, you have got to perform Yajiṋa. The moment you cease from discharging duties, either due to incapacity or wrong choice you will fall into an abyss. You should not let this happen. It is your dharma to move from narrowness to vastness, from greatness to divinity. To allow yourself to fall into an abyss is against the characteristic of your existence. You long for eternal bliss and endeavour for eternal life. You are associated with that unending vitality in the blood circulation of your arteries and veins and in the rhythmic throbbing of your heart. You have been listening day and night the voice of eternal youth. Can you ever imagine remaining inert matter in an inactive state where there is no yajiṋa? Even in the state of supreme realization you will be infused with boundless knowledge. O human beings! be established in the radiance of divinity and the splendour of valour and chivalry, because yours is the path of revolution. Your path is not the path of extra caution and scheduled movement. You are the traveller of a rugged path. You are travellers of an impregnable path. You have no time to stagger or to look behind.