Geeta Vahini

“The Apara prakriti (Transient Nature), about which I speak, is just a manifestation of My Shakti, My Glory, remember. Seen superficially, with the gross vision, the sthuladrshti, the Universe might appear as Many. But that is wrong. There is no Many at all. The yearning of the Inner Consciousness, the Antahkarana, is towards the One; that is the real Drishti (vision, point of view). When the inner Vision is saturated with Jnana, the Jagat, or Creation, will be seen as Brahman and as nothing else. Therefore the Inner Consciousness must be educated to interest itself only in Jnana. The Jagat is saturated with the Jagadisha (Lord of the Universe). Creation is nothing but the Creator in that Form. Ishavasyam Idam sarvam, it is said. (All this is God).

Though there is only One, it appears as Many. Let us remind ourselves of an example with reference to this statement of Krishna. We walk in the thick dusk of evening when things are seen but dimly. A rope lies higgledy-piggledy on the path. Each one who sees it has his own idea of what it is, though it is really just a length of rope. One steps across it, taking it to be a garland. Another takes it to be a mark made by running water and treads on it. A third man imagines it to be a vine, a creeper plucked from off a tree and fallen on the path. Some others are scared that it is a snake; is it not?

Similarly, the One Para Brahman, without any change or transformation affecting It, being all the time It and It only, manifests as the Prapancha (created world) of manifold names and forms, the cause of all this seeming being the dusk of Maya (delusion). The rope might appear as many things. It might provoke various feelings and reactions in various people. It has become the basis for variety. But it never changes into the Many. It is ever One. The rope is ever the rope. It does not become the garland or the streak of water or the creeper or the snake. Brahman might be misinterpreted in a variety of ways, but it is ever Brahman only. For all the various interpretations, Brahman is the One Real Basis. Like the string for the garland, the foundation for the building, Brahman is the string that penetrates and holds together the garland of Jivis; it is the foundation for the structure of Prakriti. Note this. The string and the structure are not visible; only the flowers and the building are evident. That does not mean they are non-existent! In fact, they support the flowers and the building. Well, you can know of their existence and their value by a little effort at reasoning. If you do not take that trouble, they escape your notice. Reason, examine—and you can arrive at the string that holds the flowers together and the foundation, hidden in the earth. Do not be misled by the Adheya (the Contained, the Thing held) into denying the Adhara, the Holder, the Container, the Basis, the Support. If you deny it, you miss the Truth and hold on to a delusion. Reason and discriminate, then believe and experience.

For the Seen, there is an Unseen Basis. To grasp the Unseen, the best means is inquiry, and the best proof is experience. For those who have experienced, no description is needed.

The nature and qualifications of individual beads are not important at all. They should not distract our attention. Concentrate rather on the inner Reality, the basis of all the beads, the Brahman; that is the essential quest. There may be many varieties of flowers in a garland, even trivial ones (Tamasika Jivis) or flashy ones (Rajasika Jivis) or nice pure ones (Satvika Jivis) but the string, the Basis, the Paramatma is independent of all of them. It is unaffected; it is Satya, Nitya (unaffected by time), Nirmala (pure, unaffected by desire).

Flowers cannot become a garland without the string; so too, Brahman unites all Jivis. You cannot separate the two in all things and substances. Brahman fills everything. The five elements are but Its manifestations. It is the inner motive, unseen by those who look only at the surface. It is the Antaryamin (God spirit in all creation), in other words. That is why Krishna said, “I am Rasa (taste) in water; I am Effulgence, Prabha in the Sun and Moon; I am the Pranava (Om, the original sound) in the Vedas; I am Sound in the Akasha (space); I am Paurusham (Heroism, Adventure and Aspiration) in man.”

Let us consider the topic of Pranava, which has been mentioned. Krishna said that the Pranava is the very Life of the Vedas, is it not? The Vedas are reputedly “Anadi” or “Beginningless.” Pranava is spoken of as the very life-breath of the Vedas, which are themselves beyond all beginning. Take it that the Pranava is the subtle essence, the underlying Form of every particle and substance in the Universe.

There are two parts in every single substance in the Universe: Name and Form, Nama and Rupa. Take away these two and there is no Prapancha or Universe anymore. The Form is conceived and controlled by the Name. The Rupa is dependent on the Name. So if you reason out which is more lasting, you will find that the Name is Nityam (eternal) and the Rupam is Anityam (evanescent). Consider the case of persons who have done various good works, achieved meritorious deeds, constructed hospitals or schools or temples or places of worship. Now, even when their form is absent from the world for men to see, their Names with all the associated fame are ever present in human memory, is it not? The Rupam (form) lasts but for a brief time. But the Namam (name) continues.

Names are countless and so are Rupams. But there is one matter that you have to take into consideration here, a matter that is within the daily experience of all, from the Pandit down to the ignoramus: Aksharas or letters. In Telugu, there are fifty-two letters; in English, there are just twenty-six. Even if you pile up the entire literary output in Telugu or in English and the piles rise mountain high it is all composed of either the fifty-two Telugu letters or the twenty-six English ones, not a single letter more.

Similarly, in the human body there are six nerve centres, all in the form of the lotus flower. All the six lotus-forms have one letter or sound attached to each petal. Like the reeds in the harmonium, when the petals are moved, each one emanates a distinct sound. Those who follow this statement intelligently may get a doubt. If the petals are said to move, who or what is moving them? Yes, the Force that moves them is the Anahatadhvani, the Primeval Sound, the Undistinguished Indistinguishable Sound, emanating without Effort, irrespective of Conscious Will. That is the Pranava. As beads in the string, all letters and the sounds they represent are strung on the Pranava. That is the meaning of the statement that He is the “Pranava of the Vedas.” Krishna’s teaching is that you should merge your mind in the Pranava, which is the Universal Basis.

The mind has an innate tendency to merge in whatever it contacts. It craves for this. So, it is ever agitated and restless. But by constant practice and training, it can be directed towards the Pranava and taught to merge with it. It is also naturally drawn towards sound. That is the reason why it is compared to a serpent. The serpent has two crude qualities: one, its crooked gait and two, its tendency to bite all that comes in its way. These two are also the characteristics of man. He too seeks to hold and possess all that he sets his eyes on. He too moves crookedly.

But there is, in the serpent, one praiseworthy trait. However poisonous and deadly its nature might be, when the strains of the charmer’s music are played, it spreads its hood and merges itself in the sweetness of that sound, forgetting everything else. Similarly, man too can, by practice, merge himself into the Bliss of Pranava. This Shabdopasana (Worship through sound) is a principal means of realising the Paramatma, who is “the Pranava of the Vedas.” He is not other than Shabda (sound). That is the reason why the Lord said that He is the “Paurusha of Man.” Paurusha is the vitality, the Prana of Man. Without it, Man has no manliness. However strong may be the force of the drag of previous births, it has to yield to the strength of adventure and achievement emanating from Paurusha. Unaware of this potentiality, foolish man is misled into cursing his fate; cursing the “inescapable” effects of what he dreads as “Prarabdha (present Karma)”!

Everyone has to exercise Paurusha; for, without it, life itself is impossible. Living is struggling, striving, achieving. God has created man so that he might wield the talent of “Paurusha” and achieve victory. His purpose is not to make man a consumer of food, a burden upon the earth, an animal that is a slave to its senses. He does not aim at creating a horde of idlers and loungers, who shy at hard work, and accumulating fat, grow into monstrous shapes. He does not create man with the idea that he should, while alive, ignore his Creator and deny Atma and wander about like animals, allowing both intelligence and discrimination to go to waste, moving about without an iota of gratitude to the Giver of all the gifts which he consumes and enjoys!

Prakriti (nature) too punishes those who exploit it for self-aggrandisement, saying “This is mine, that too is mine, that belongs to those who belong to me.” She punishes heavily those who break her code. That is the reason why Krishna describes to Arjuna the way of Upasana or Worship in great detail, for, Upasana is using Prakriti, to reach the Lord who transcends it.

“Arjuna! Many people anxious to offer uninterrupted worship to Me go into the thick forest. That is an insane step. There is no need to seek the jungle as if I am only there. There is no place where I am not. There is no Form that is not Mine. I am the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether! Where can you find a place devoid of one or other of these Five? To experience My Presence and My Glory, there is no special place, for I am everything, everywhere, ever. The fiery nature of Fire is I, Myself. I am Life in all living beings. I am the strength of the strong, the strength that is free from greed and lust. Mine is the nature which prompts beings to desire Dharmic things and means.

“Of course, when I say strength, I mean the strength of the intellect, Buddhi-balam. For the world knows many varieties of balams (strength, fortitude): Dhana-balam, born of wealth, Vidya-balam, born of scholarship, Jana-balam, coming from the consciousness that one has a large following, Mano-balam, arising from one’s determination; Deha-balam, which is just muscular force, etc. All those are to be considered as Mine for I am the Parameshvara. Only, all forms of strength have to be free from Kama and Raga, desire and attachment. If Kama and Raga adhere, then it becomes bestial strength, not Divine; it is Pashu-balam, not Pashu-pati-balam.

“Kama means, the desire to possess a thing, which is so strong that even when there is no chance of securing it, the mind hankers for it. Raga is the feeling that a thing must be in one’s possession, even though it is evident that it cannot be there for long, for it is after all an evanescent thing. Ranjana is the root of the word, Raga. Ranjana indicates the capacity to give pleasure. Any form of strength, that is polluted by either of these two, cannot claim the dignity of Divinity.

“Some forms of Balam (strength) attain height or depth, according to the status they are allotted by the owners. For example, riches. If riches reach a wicked man, they create vanity, pride, cruelty and contempt. If they are with a good man, they are directed along the paths of charity and good works. Physical strength is used by the wicked to injure others while the good use is to protect others from harm.”

Another point has to be noted here. Krishna said that even Krodha (anger) and Lobha (greed) which are not opposed to Dharma are forms of expression of the Divine. Therefore, why repeat it a thousand times. All feelings, all forms, all things and beings are born out of the Para (higher) and the Apara (lower) nature of the selfsame Divine Essence. But to have higher feelings and emotions, he must accustom himself to see My Form in the higher feelings, higher forms and higher beings. Still, you must not get away with the idea that only the higher is Divine and the lower is not. That is not correct; the objective world with all its Satvika, Rajasika, Tamasika things, reactions, impulses—all originate in God. This conviction can grow in you and get firmly fixed only by reasoning it out and getting its truth affirmed.

The Lord Himself declared: “Arjuna! All this originated from Me, all this exists in Me, but I am not dependent on all this; remember. I am unattached to all this.” Here, there are two points of view: the Jivi point of view and the Lord’s point of view. The Jivi has the dual experience of good and bad, the Lord has no duality at all. When all is God, when God is the inner Atma in all, how can there be two, one good and another bad?

Now, ordinary folk may get some doubts on this point. The Lord says that all things both good and bad originated from Him and that He is the Prime Cause. But at the same time, He declares that He is neither bound nor affected by the effects or defects of all that has thus originated! He says He has no relationship with them and that He is above and beyond that for which He is the Cause.

You might infer that man too is not in the least responsible for the good and the evil that is done through him by the Divine, that his real nature is beyond both good and evil, that his acts, however evil, were basically prompted by the Lord Himself, for man has nothing he can claim as his act. True, but faith in this attitude that “nothing is done by you,” that “it is all the Lord’s will that is being worked through you,” must be steady, sincere, deep and unshaken. There should be no trace of ego. If that is so, then certainly such a one has attained the highest goal of life. He is blessed to the uttermost. That reality has to be known. That knowledge has to be stabilised. Indeed he, who has the conviction that all this is God, that he has no sort of relationship or kinship with the objective world, that he is above and beyond it, is the Satya-jivi, the individual whose sojourn here has been worthwhile.

Words however are futile. You may repeat like a parrot that which has been taught for long, certain set phrases, like, “Everything is the Lord’s,” “I am but a puppet; He pulls the strings and I dance as He wills,” “Nothing is mine; I am just carrying out His Will.” But what do you usually do? When a praiseworthy act is done, you claim it to be your own. When a blameworthy act is done, you ascribe it to the prompting of the Lord! You shout from platforms till your throats get dry, that you won by your own effort, honour, fame, status and standards, authority and position, property and possessions, attainments and achievements. But when it comes to confessing your share in earning ill fame and defeat, evil and wrong, you conveniently transfer the responsibility to the Lord, saying, “I am but an instrument in His Hands, He is the Master, I am but a Tool”! This has become the habit of man today. Nay, it has developed into a fashion. People swing from “I” to “He” like the pendulum of the clock. This is sheer deceit, hollow spiritual sham.

Mind, word and act, all three must be filled with the belief that all is His Play. That is the genuine path. It is a human frailty to separate things as good and evil. To impute this to God is sacrilege. It might appear sometimes that the Lord too has that weakness, but it is a passing phase, a cloud that hides His Glory, not a blemish that adheres to Him.

Though Gunas emanate from the Lord, He is unaffected: smoke arises from fire, but fire is unaffected. Clouds form in the sky and move about in the sky, but the sky is unaffected by them. All are attached to Him, like beads. But He is free, unattached. The universe is based on Him but He has no need for the universe as a base.

Take the example of cloth. Cloth is based on yarn, it is dependent on yarn. But yarn does not depend on cloth; it is unaffected, unattached to cloth. The pot depends on clay, but clay is independent. Again, cloth is yarn, pot is clay. Clay is Brahman, the pot is Prakriti. Yarn is Brahman, cloth is Prakriti, (the Universe of Namrupa, of Manifold Variety). Ignore the shape, the form and the name—the pot is just clay. Ignore the form of the cloth and the name; observe the basic thing that stays in and through the cloth, then you know it is but yarn. Without clay, you can have no pot. Without yarn, there can be no cloth. So too, without Brahman, there can be no Prakriti. It is truer to say that all is Brahman than to say, “Brahman-is-in-everything.” It is grander to picture Brahman as Sarva-adhara, the basis of all, rather than to conceive It as Sarvabhuta-antaratma, the Inner Reality of all beings. That is the Truth.