Arsha Vidya CenterVyalIFStmsa n veiÄ b÷xa s zi´mRhTyav&it>. 114. prajïävänapi

Arsha Vidya Center

Swami Tattvavidanandaji’s Visit, August 2011 1

ArshaVidyaCenter has been formed to introduce, promote and establish study of Vedänta for students

and seekers in the San Francisco Bay Area in a traditional way through an unbroken sampradäya, that

began with Lord Dakñiëämürti, uplifted and maintained by Veda Vyäsa and Ädi Çaìkara, now handed

directly to us by Püjya Swami Dayananda Saraswati.

Activities: Adult classes • Children’s classes • Celebration of special occasions • Gétä Home Study

Groups • Annual visit of Swamiji’s to the Bay Area • Annual trip to the ashram in Salylorsburg, PA •

Annual trip to the ashram in Rishikesh, India.

Please visit AVC website arshavidhyacenter.org for all the information and latest updates.

http://www.arshavidhyacenter.org/

Arsha Vidya Center


` g//[ana<š Tva g/[p?itg!< hvamhe k/iv< k?vI/namu?p/mï?vStmm!,

J/yeó/raj</ äü?[a< äü[Spt/ Aa n>? z&/{vÚU/itiÉSsId/ sadnm!.

` mhag[pty/e nm>

oà gaëänäà tvä gaëapatigà havämahe kavià

kavénämupamaçravastamam

jyeñöharäjaà brahmaëäà brahmaëaspata ä

naù çåëvannütibhisséda sädanam

oà mahägaëapataye namaù

Oà Gaëapati we invoke your grace, You are the Lord of all beings,

the most renowned Seer among Seers, the Supreme Lord,

the Lord of the Vedäs. Hearing our prayers,

may You be seated in our hearts and protect us.

sdaizvsmarMÉa< z»racayRmXymam! , ASmdacayRpyRNta< vNde guéprMpram! .

sadäçivasamärambhäà çaìkaräcäryamadhyamäm, asmadäcäryaparyantäà vande guruparamparäm

I salute the lineage of teachers, beginning with Çiva, the Lord,

(linked by) Çaìkaräcärya in the middle, and extending down to my own teacher.

` pU[R/md/> pU[R/imd/< pU[aR/TpU[R/mud/Cyte, pU[R/Sy pU[R/mada/y pU[R/mevaviz/:yte.

` za/iNt> za/iNt> za/iNt>.

oà pūrṇamadaḥ pūrṇamidaṁ pūrṇātpūrṇamudacyate, pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamevāvaśiṣyate

oà śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ

That is fullness. This is fullness. From fullness fullness comes forth. Having perceived the fullness,

fullness alone remains. Oà peace, peace, peace.

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Selected Verses from Vivekacüòämaëi

ivvekcUfami[

iv;ya[amanukªLye suoI Ê>oI ivpyRye,

suo< Ê>o< c tÏmR> sdanNdSy naTmn>. 105.

viñayäëämänukülye sukhé duùkhé viparyaye,

sukhaà duùkhaà ca taddharmaù sadänandasya nätmanaù.(105)

105. When the sense objects are agreeable to the mind, it is happy, when they are not, it is not happy. So

happiness and suffering are its attributes, not of the self, the nature of fullness.

AaTmawRTven ih àeyaiNv;yae n Svt> iày> Svt @v ih sveR;amaTma iàytmae yt> ,

tt AaTma sdanNdae naSy Ê>o< kdacn . 106.

ätmärthatvena hi preyänviñayo na svataù priyaù svata eva hi sarveñämätmä priyatamo yataù,

tata ätmä sadänando näsya duùkhaà kadäcana.(106)

106. The sense objects are dear only for the sake of oneself, not for their own sake. The self is most dear

of everything. Therefore the self always remains the nature of fullness, and never suffers.

yTsu;uÝaE inivR;y AaTmanNdae=nuÉUyte,

ïuit> àTy]mEitýmnuman< c ja¢it. 107.

yatsuñuptau nirviñaya ätmänando'nubhüyate,

çrutiù pratyakñamaitihyamanumänaà ca jägrati. (107)

107. That we experience the fullness of the self, free from the sense objects in deep sleep is attested by

scriptures, direct perception, traditional teaching and by inference in the waking state.

AVyńaçI prmezzi´> Ana*iv*a iÇgu[aiTmka pra,

kayaRnumeya suixyEv maya yya jgTsvRimd< àsUyte. 108.

avyaktanämné parameçaçaktiù anädyavidyä triguëätmikä parä,

käryänumeyä sudhiyaiva mäyä yayä jagatsarvamidaà prasüyate. (108)

108. Mäyä, called Unmanifest, is the power of Éçvara, beginningless, of the nature of ignorance,

consisting of three qualities (guëäs), superior to and inferred from its effect by the wise, and one that

gives birth to the entire world.

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sÚaPysÚaPyuÉyaiTmka nae iÉÚaPyiÉÚaPyuÉyaiTmka nae,

sa¼aPyn¼a ýuÉyaiTmka nae mhaÑ‚ta=invRcnIyêpa. 109.

sannäpyasannäpyubhayätmikä no bhinnäpyabhinnäpyubhayätmikä no,

säìgäpyanaìgä hyubhayätmikä no mahädbhutä'nirvacanéyarüpä. (109)

109. It is neither the nature of existence, nor of non-existence, nor both. It is neither different, nor non-

different, nor both. It does not have parts, nor is partless, nor both. It invokes wonder and is

indescribable.

zuÏaÖyäüivÉaexnaZya spRæmae r¾uivvektae ywa,

rjStm>sÅvimit àisÏa gu[aStdIya> àiwtE> SvkayER>. 110.

çuddhädvayabrahmavibhodhanäçyä sarpabhramo rajjuvivekato yathä,

rajastamaùsattvamiti prasiddhä guëästadéyäù prathitaiù svakäryaiù. (110)

110. Mäyä can be negated by a clear understanding of pure, non-dual Brahman, just as the false notion

of a snake on a rope is negated by discrimination. Its qualities are rajas, tamas and sattva and they are

well known by their effects.

iv]epzÍ rjs> i³yaiTmka yt> àv&iÄ> às&ta pura[I,

ragadyae=Sya> àÉviNt inTy< Ê>oadyae ye mnsae ivkara>. 111.

vikñepaçakté rajasaù kriyätmikä yataù pravåttiù prasåtä puräëé,

rägädayo'syäù prabhavanti nityaà duùkhädayo ye manaso vikäräù. (111)

111. The power to project comes from rajas, it being the nature of activity. All creations have their

origin from that. From this, attachments, pain etc. are invariably born, these being the modifications of

the mind.

kam> ³aexae laeÉdMÉa*sUya Ah<kare:yaRmTsra*aStu "aera>,

xmaR @te rajsa> puMàv&iÄ> ySmade;a tÔjae bNxhetu>. 112.

kämaù krodho lobhadambhädyasüyä ahaàkärerñyämatsarädyästu ghoräù,

dharmä ete räjasäù pumpravåttiù yasmädeñä tadrajo bandhahetuù. (112)

112. Desire, anger, greed, pride, jealousy, ego, envy etc., these are the terrible characteristics of rajas

and are inducements of human beings to actions. Therefore, this rajas is the cause of bondage.

@;a==v&itnaRm tmaegu[Sy zi´mRya vSTvvÉaste=Nywa,

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sE;a indan< pué;Sy s<s&te> iv]epzé> àv[Sy hetu>. 113.

eñä''våtirnäma tamoguëasya çaktirmayä vastvavabhäsate'nyathä,

saiñä nidänaà puruñasya saàsåteùvikñepaçakteù pravaëasya hetuù. (113)

113. The power to veil belongs to tamas. It causes things to be taken differently (from what they are). It

is the root cause for the projecting power and causes transmigration of beings from one life to another.

à}avanip pi{ftae=ip cturae=PyTyNtsUúmaTm†g!-

VyalIFStmsa n veiÄ b÷xa s<baeixtae=ip S)…qm!,

æaNTyaraeiptmev saxu klyTyalMbte tÌ‚[an!

hNtasaE àbla ÊrNttms> zi´mRhTyav&it>. 114.

prajïävänapi paëòito'pi caturo'pyatyantasükñmätmadåg-

vyäléòhastamasä na vetti bahudhä saàbodhito'pi sphuöam,

bhräntyäropitameva sädhu kalayatyälambate tadguëän

hantäsau prabalä durantatamasaù çaktirmahatyävåtiù. (114)

114. Even a person of wisdom, learned in the scriptures, clever, possessing subtle discrimination does

not know the self even though well and clearly taught, if he is overcome by tamas. He considers what is

superimposed by his projecting mind as true and attaches himself to its qualities. Alas, the concealing

power of tamas, which makes for untold hardships, is great indeed.

AÉavna va ivprItÉavna As<Éavna ivàitpiÄrSya>,

s<sgRyu < n ivmuÂit Øuv< iv]epzi´> ]pyTyjöm!. 115.

abhävanä vä viparétabhävanä asaàbhävanä vipratipattirasyäù,

saàsargayuktaà na vimuïcati dhruvaà vikñepaçaktiù kñapayatyajasram. (115)

115. Non-understanding, wrong understanding, doubtful understanding and opposite understanding does

not ever release from its hold a person who is affected by this concealing power. Then, the projecting

power always destroys the person so affected.

A}anmalSyjfTvinÔaàmadmUFTvmuoaStmaegu[a>,

@tE> àyuáe nih veiÄ ik<icn! inÔaluvTStMÉvdev itóit. 116.

ajïänamälasyajaòatvanidräpramädamüòhatvamukhästamoguëäù,

etaiù prayukto nahi vetti kiïcin nidräluvatstambhavadeva tiñöhati. (116)

116. Ignorance, apathy, sloth, sleep, negligence, foolishness etc. are the effects of tamas. One subject to

these does not understand anything, but remains in sleep, as though a pillar.

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sÅv< ivzuÏ< jlvÄwaip ta_ya< imilTva sr[ay kLpte,

yÇaTmibMb> àitibiMbt> sn! àkazyTykR #vaiol< jfm!. 117.

sattvaà viçuddhaà jalavattathäpi täbhyäà militvä saraëäya kalpate,

yaträtmabimbaù pratibimbitaù san prakäçayatyarka iväkhilaà jaòam. (117)

117. Even though sattva is pure like clear water, yet in combination with the other two qualities projects

an ever-changing world; just as the sun illumines the world, the self also gets reflected in the entire

inanimate world.

imïSy sÅvSy ÉviNt xmaR> Tvmainta*a inyma yma*a>,

ïÏa c Éi´í mumu]ta c dEvI c sMpiÄrsiÚv&iÄ>. 118.

miçrasya sattvasya bhavanti dharmäù tvamänitädyä niyamä yamädyäù,

çraddhä ca bhaktiçca mumukñatä ca daivé ca sampattirasannivåttiù. (118)

118. From sattva, mixed with the other two qualities, are born humility, restraint, truthfulness, faith,

devotion, longing for liberation, spiritual tendencies and withdrawal from the unreal.

ivzuÏsÅvSy gu[a> àsad> SvaTmanuÉUit> prma àzaiNt>,

t&iÝ> àh;R> prmaTminóa yya sdanNdrs< sm&CDit. 119.

viçuddhasattvasya guëäù prasädaù svätmänubhütiù paramä praçäntiù,

tåptiù praharñaù paramätmaniñöhä yayä sadänandarasaà samåcchati. (119)

119. The characteristics of pure sattva are contentment, self-understanding, lasting peace, fulfillment,

joy, and abiding in the self of all, which ensures the enjoyment of timeless fullness.

AVy´metiTÇgu[EinRé´< tTkar[< nam zrIrmaTmn>,

su;uiÝretSy ivÉ®yvSwa àlInsveRiNÔybuiÏv&iÄ>. 120.

avyaktametattriguëairniruktaà tatkäraëaà näma çaréramätmanaù,

suñuptiretasya vibhaktyavasthä pralénasarvendriyabuddhivåttiù. (120)

120. This Unmanifest is said to be made up of the three qualities, is the causal body of the self. Deep

sleep is its distinct aspect, and is characterized by dissolution of all activities of the sense organs and the

thinking faculty.

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svRàkaràimitàzaiNt> bIjaTmnaviSwitrev buÏe>,

su;uiÝretSy ikl àtIit> ik<icÚ veÒIit jgTàisÏe>. 121.

sarvaprakärapramitipraçäntiù béjätmanävasthitireva buddheù,

suñuptiretasya kila pratétiù kiïcinna vedméti jagatprasiddheù. (121)

121. In deep sleep there is cessation of all forms of thoughts. The faculty of thinking remains in a seed

form. Thus there is the universal experience ‘I did not know anything’ in sleep.

deheiNÔyàa[mnae=hmady> sveR ivkara iv;ya> suoady>,

VyaemaidÉUtaNyiol< n ivñ< AVy´pyRNtimd< ýnaTma. 122.

dehendriyapräëamano'hamädayaù sarve vikärä viñayäù sukhädayaù,

vyomädibhütänyakhilaà na viçvaà avyaktaparyantamidaà hyanätmä. (122)

122. The body, the sense organs, the vital functions of the body, mind, the I-thought, the sense objects,

forms of pleasure, all elements such as the space air etc., the entire universe up to the Unmanifest – all

these come under the category of the not self.

maya mayakay¡ sv¡ mhdaiddehpyRNtm!,

AsiddmnaTmtÅv< iviÏ Tv< mémrIickakLpm!. 123.

mäyä mäyäkäryaà sarvaà mahadädidehaparyantam,

asadidamanätmatattvaà viddhi tvaà marumarécikäkalpam. (123)

123. Know all these, mäyä and its effects, beginning with the great cause to the body are not the nature

of truth; it is the nature of the non-self, like a mirage.

Aw te s<àvúyaim Svêp< prmaTmn>,

yiÖ}ay nrae bNxaNmu´> kEvLymîute. 124.

atha te sampravakñyämi svarüpaà paramätmanaù,

yadvijïäya naro bandhänmuktaù kaivalyamaçnute. (124)

124. Now I will tell you clearly the nature of the self of all by knowing which a person attains non

duality, free from all bondage.

AiSt kiíTSvy< inTymh<àTyylMbn>,

AvSwaÇysa]I sNpÂkaezivl][>. 125.

asti kaçcitsvayaà nityamahaàpratyayalambanaù.

avasthätrayasäkñé sanpaïcakoçavilakñaëaù. (125)

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125. There is something which exists by itself as the substratum of the I-thought. Being the witness of

the three states, it is distinct from the five sheaths.

yae ivjanait skl< ja¢TSvßsu;uiÝ;u,

buiÏtÖiÄsÑavmÉavmhimTyym!. 126.

yo vijänäti sakalaà jägratsvapnasuñuptiñu,

buddhitadvåttisadbhävamabhävamahamityayam. (126)

126. That awareness that knows everything in the waking, dream and deep sleep states, and the presence

and absence of the thinking faculty and its actions - that is the self.

y> pZyit Svy< sv¡ y< n pZyit kín,

yíetyit buÏ(aid n t*< cetyTyym!. 127.

yaù paçyati svayaà sarvaà yaà na paçyati kaçcana,

yaçcetayati buddhyädi na tadyaà cetayatyayam. (127)

127. That which perceives everything, but which nothing can perceive, that which illumines thoughts

etc. but cannot itself be illumined – that is the self.

yen ivñimd< VyaÝ< y< n Vyaßaeit ikÂn,

AÉaêpimd< sv¡ y< ÉaNTymnuÉaTyym!. 128.

yena viçvamidaà vyäptaà yaà na vyäpnoti kiïcana,

abhärüpamidaà sarvaà yaà bhäntyamanubhätyayam. (128)

128. That by which this universe is pervaded; that which nothing else can pervade; that effulgent one on

which all this inert world depends upon for its shining, that is the self.

ySy siÚixmaÇe[ deheiNÔymnaeixy>,

iv;ye;u SvkIye;u vtRNte àeirta #v. 129.

yasya sannidhimätreëa dehendriyamanodhiyaù,

viñayeñu svakéyeñu vartante preritä iva. (129)

129. By whose very presence, the body, the sense organs, the mind and the intellect function in their

own spheres, as though controlled, that is the self.

Ah»araiddehaNta iv;yaí suoady>,

ve*Nt e "qvdœ yen inTybaexSvêip[a. 130.

ahaìkärädidehäntä viñayäçca sukhädayaù,

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vedyante ghaöavad yena nityabodhasvarüpiëä. (130)

130. That by which, being the nature of timeless knowledge, all things from ego to the body, including

sense objects, pleasures etc. is known like a pot – that is the self.

@;ae=NtraTma pué;> pura[ae inrNtrao{fsuoanuÉUit>,

sdEkêp> àitbaexmaÇae yenei;ta vagsvíriNt. 131.

eño'ntarätmä puruñaù puräëo nirantaräkhaëòasukhänubhütiù,

sadaikarüpaù pratibodhamätro yeneñitä vägasavaçcaranti. (131)

131. That is the innermost self, the primordial Puruña, ever abiding in the body, of the nature of non-

dual fullness, ever the same, accompanying every mental modification and by whom speech, the vital

forces etc. perform their respective functions.

AÇEv sÅvaTmin xIguhaya< AVyak«takaz %zTàkaz>,

Aakaz %½E rivvTàkazte Svtejsa ivñimd< àkazyn!. 132.

atraiva sattvätmani dhéguhäyäà avyäkåtäkäça uçatprakäçaù,

äkäça uccai ravivatprakäçate svatejasä viçvamidaà prakäçayan. (132)

132. Here itself, in the cave of the intellect which is the nature of sattva, the space spoken as the

Unmanifest, the resplendent self shines like the sun in the sky illuminating this entire universe by its

effulgence.

}ata mnae=h<k«itivi³ya[a< deheiNÔyàa[k«ti³ya[am!,

Ayae=i¶vÄannuvtRmanae n ceòte nae ivkraeit ikÂn. 133.

jïätä mano'haìkåtivikriyäëäà dehendriyapräëakåtakriyäëäm,

ayo'gnivattänanuvartamäno na ceñöate no vikaroti kiïcana. (133)

133. The self is the knower of the modifications of the mind, the ego and the activities of the body, the

sense organs and the vital forces. Accompanying them all, like fire in an iron ball, it neither acts nor

changes in any way.

ïuitSm&itpura{aanam! Aaly< ké[alym!, nmaim ÉgvTpad< z»r< laekz»rm! .

çrutismåtipuräëänäm älayaà karuëälayam, namämi bhagavatpädaà çaìkaraà lokaçaìkaram.

I bow at the feet of the Lord in the form of Çaìkara, who is the blessing for the humanity,

who is the abode of all the Vedās, the småtis and the puräëas,

and, who is the abode of compassion.

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Viñëu Sahasranäma Stotram (Introduction) Püjya Swami Dayananda Saraswati

Who is a normal person? Who is to decide that this is a normal or abnormal human being? Human

beings have to decide what it takes to be a normal person. It is relative. Assume that in a given society

all are abnormal from the standpoint of a different society. People in that society would never know that

they are not normal. Therefore it is normal to be abnormal. So if it is normal to be abnormal then you are

normal. Who is to decide?

Suppose from another planet where people are, let us say, aware of what Vedänta talks about, one fellow

comes here. What will he think about us? This normal person will say we are all crazy. Let us look at

what the Vedic åñis think about us. Different people think about us differently. Someone thinks we are

born of sin and some think of us as a bunch of particles. But the Vedic seers don’t say that we are normal

or abnormal. They don’t make any judgment. They tell us, acknowledging a certain self-identity

confusion as a universal fact, that the self as it is construed is not true. What you think about your self is

not true and what is true about you is exactly what you would like to be – universally. Self-confusion is

universal on this planet.

The åñis have a drastically opposite vision of what one thinks about one’s self. What they say is

something I have no choice to know or not know. Because what I want to be is exactly what I am. I want

to be free from being small, to be without any form of limitation, unhappiness, fear and so on. If I had a

choice before knowing what they said, I now lose all my choices. In fact the more you come to know,

the fewer are the choices. The ignorant have more choices. So we lose choice now. I need to know.

What the åñis say about you is just the opposite of what you think you are. It seems to be sane to think

that you are as good as your body, mind, and senses. There is nothing abnormal about it. This body and

mind have their limitations, therefore your emotions are not going to be very positive. There will be fear,

disappointment, a sense of failure, rejection, etc. All this will be your lot and what you are not will be

vast. Even if you have not seen the world, it is vast for you. So what you are not is always more than

what you are. It is humbling to know that you have no say over a lot of things. In the universe this earth

is not even a pinhead. A pinhead is a size that you can see, but in the map of the universe the earth will

not be visible. So that you are small and insignificant is not any strange abnormal feeling. It is sane and

objective. It is normal to feel insecure, frightened, unhappy, etc. Everything is normal. It is normal until

you come across a åñi.

The åñi has a version of you that is just the opposite. He doesn’t say that your body is limitless or the

mind and senses that you talk about as small and insignificant. The åñi doesn’t alter that at all; he

confirms that. He says that the body is time-bound, insignificant, never the same the next moment and is

subject to time. Everything is in a flux. Your body, senses, and mind are limited; knowledge, powers,

pervasiveness and strength are limited. But the åñi says that in spite of your body-mind-sense complex

being limited, as you know it, and even though it becomes more limited as you come to know more

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about it, as you come to know about what is all there in the scheme of things, still, you are free from

limitation.

When you come to see your position with a proper background, more objectively, the limitation only

grows. It doesn’t shrink. Confirming this, the åñi says that in spite of this body-mind-sense complex

being limited, you are free from limitation. You can only ask, “How?” He seems to have a vision

because he doesn’t contradict the limitations at all. But he negates your thinking, “Therefore I am

limited.” Instead of ‘therefore’ he says that in spite of the body-mind-sense complex being limited you

are free from limitation. What choice do you have? There is nothing to contend with. You can only ask

for further discussion about it like Çvetaketu did in the Chändogya Upaniñad.

After twelve years of brilliant study when Çvetaketu returns home his father Uddälaka stuns him by

asking, “Did you ask your teacher for that knowledge gaining which everything is known?" Çvetaketu

replied “If my teacher had known he would have taught me. Is there such a thing?" His father tells him,

“There is such a thing. What ‘is, is one thing and that is you – tattvamasi.”

The first statement what ‘is,’ is one thing is upheld, is proven, by saying that there is a material cause

out of which a lot of things are made like from gold different ornaments are made. They have different

names and forms and different uses, but all of them are gold. A chain has no being without the gold. The

weight of the chain is weight of the gold. The quality, dharma is gold. All that is there is only gold –

before, now, later. Knowing that gold, everything made of gold is known.

Similarly all that is here is one conscious being whose knowledge alone is this world including your

body-mind-sense complex. The being of this conscious being is not different from consciousness

because consciousness is being. There is no being without being consciousness. Consciousness is the

being. Being consciousness is called in the Upaniñad sat and cit. Everything ‘else’ is sat cit so it is sat

cit ananta. That consciousness is you and that is truth of not only your mind and senses, but also, every

mind and sense organ and everything that is there — all have their being in this one consciousness

alone. That which is limitless, whole, that you are, tvamasi. Çvetaketu’s father went on telling him this

nine times from different standpoints “tat satyam sa ätmä tattvamasi çvetaketo”, that is satyam that is

the whole, the truth, and the self.

Uddälaka says that all that is here is one thing. That one thing was there before this entire jagat came. To

say that there was a being before the entire jagat and that being created the jagat is one way of looking

at it. But Çvetaketu’s father presented the whole thing in a way that cannot be presented better. He said,

viditam aviditam idam sarvam, all that you see and know—sun, moon, earth, stars, life forms, means

and ends, causes and effects—and all that you don’t know, before it came in to being, it was. How can

you say the jagat was there before it came in to being? Where was it? Where was space for space to be?

Everyting came together. How can it be? It can be.

Uddälaka said, “This is a Banyan tree. What do you think of it? It is a vast tree. Where did it come

from? It came from the seed. Pick up a fruit and open it. What do you see?”

“I see seeds and seeds and seeds.”

“Did this tree come from one of those seeds?”

“Yes.”

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“Open the seed. What do you see?”

“Nothing.”

“You can’t say ‘nothing’ because you said that the tree came from the seed. So it must be in the seed.

Do you believe it was there?”

“It must be there.”

“How? You don’t see but it is there?”

“Yes, it must be there.”

Everything is the same in seed form. Everything is sat cit ananta; that limitless consciousness alone is

that limitless knowledge. That limitless knowledge is this entire jagat, known and unknown, non-

separate from consciousness. In the beginning there was word, knowledge, and the word was with God.

In fact it is not that word was with God, the word was God. Word was not separate from that God.

We don’t say that God created this world; the world was and is God. In this form or that form all that is

there is only God. It is not one God but only God. One has no meaning. It is a member of a set and

subject to fraction. There is only God. If this is the truth how can you be normal without knowing this?

When a doctor visits a residential institution all the fellows join together and call him abnormal! So we

pass ourselves as normal thanks to good company. Until the åñi comes and disturbs, everything is okay.

Then only we begin to look at the whole thing. There is no way of anyone being normal without this

confused self-identity. Understanding the facts about all that is here is pure pragmatism. You have to be

alive to what is then you are real whatever reality it has got.

The discussion that we are going to have is to look into what is. What is, is Éçvara. What is, this God, we

are going to see through words, by unfolding the words and understanding the words.

When one wants to recognize what is, whatever that exists, then it is imperative we understand the

reality of what is. What is, is the question and the answer is only what exists. Whatever exists is there.

What is it that exists? Is it one thing? ‘Knowing which everything is known’ talks of one thing. When

everything is known, then that everything is reduced to one thing without resorting to reductionism.

Just for the sake of understanding we can say that there are two orders of reality. In that example of gold

and chain, if you say that what exists is gold, the various ornaments are counted in numbers. If you

reckon the substance as one, the manifold forms need not be counted at all. If you don’t have a

commitment to forms and you want to count only what is, then you end up counting one, one, one. What

is there is a chain that is gold and the next one also is gold and so on. So one one one means gold gold

gold. It is non-dually one. It is only one. Here your way of looking at it reduces the number of forms into

one substance—what is one thing. This is not reductionism, reducing everything into one thing. What is,

is one thing.

But what creates the necessity to look at all of them as one thing? The occasion is because there are so

many forms. Here the chain itself has a count. If it has a human mind and thinks, “I am only a chain,”

then it has a sense of limitation and inadequacy. In the Chändogya Upaniñad it is said, "tat satyam sa

ätmä tattvamasi". The chain is addressed; in this world of ornaments the adjective golden is not an

adjective. It is satyam, truth and it happens to be ätmä of the chain. Therefore there is no difference

between satyam and ätmä. The chain, bangle and ring have a being and it is satyam, ätmä. When you

use the word 'I' it means ätmä. Therefore tat satyam tvamasi. That satyam being non-separate from

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ätmä, being ätmä, what you refer by the word 'I,' is satyam. “O chain you are the shining gold. So there

is no question of you not being a ring or a bangle, because the ring and bangle are also you". This is not

a transcendental reality. It is just reality. Whatever you see is gold, so what do you transcend? Neither

you can transcend gold when you recognize chain nor when you recognize gold do you need to

transcend chain. You don’t need to transcend anything. When you say, “Touch wood,” you don’t

transcend the chair.

The occasion for discussion is because of the confusion “I am a chain.” That is abnormal. There is a

confused self-identity. If there is confusion with reference to one object, that confusion may not cost you

much. Sometimes it may. Suppose, having listened to Vedänta, you take a rattle snake as a rope, then it

could become very costly! The mistakes are not very costly usually, so we get away with it — but it is

costly.

Whatever is yourself, whether small or big, if you have confused self-identity it is a loss. This is the

argument they give. When Vedänta says that you are the whole, limitless, the fellow wants to prove that

he is small and not limitless. He spends all his time and his capacity to argue, all his logic and language

to prove the point. The argument is, “If I am small, I don’t want to be confused and deluded into

thinking that I am not small". In fact you don’t require any delusion because that you are small is very

clear, and that you don’t like it also clear. Even arguing with me is not to be small.

Suppose the self is mistaken for something else, then it is not an ordinary mistake. It is a loss. It is self-

confusion. There is so much subjectivity that one can’t be objective. If one has to be objective then one

has to know the self. If the self is limitless and the only thing that exists, then the loss is infinite. If you

are the limitless, then the loss is limitless to think that you are subject to limitation. Limitless cannot be

separate from you. You plus limitless doesn’t exist; limitless plus you doesn’t exist. If it does, then there

is limitless confusion with reference to the limitless. The confusion is limited because now and then you

do forget your confusion. That is the time you are happy.

The whole issue is that the “I” is limitless. If it is limitless then it has to be recognized as such, and then

alone you are normal. Till then we accept each other and suffer each other. There is nothing else we can

do so we need a support system. When the confusion is more, then the requirement of a support system

becomes very important.

Tat satyam sa ätmä implies two things – what is and what we encounter. There is somebody who

encounters, the subject, and something that is encountered, the object. Subject/object, knower/known is

accepted as a reality. Not as a second reality but as a reality drawing its existence from the reality that

we are talking about. The subject/object division doesn’t really bring about a second thing. Object

becomes whatever you know through various means of knowledge; objects recognized through the

senses, and whatever we are able to infer based upon the data. What you believe to exist out there

because of some basis is also an object. You the knower, and all the means of knowledge, and all the

objects of knowledge—all three are the same one limitless alone. One plus three is equal to one. What

is, is only one. It is not a melting pot one. To say that the entire bunch of ornaments with different

shapes and names and values are gold you don’t need to melt them. If one has to melt them to make

someone understand, then both will need to be melted. A lot of melting has to take place. The concept is

too crystallized. You don’t need to do anything to understand. That all that is there is one is to

understand this subject/object.

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Subject is that which is centered on your body-mind-sense complex, the knower/known and the location,

that is adhyätma. What you come across by the means of knowledge is adhibhüta. Light travelling at

180,000 and odd miles per second is adhibhüta reality. Related to that is the calculation of motion, time

and distance that you study in different disciplines of knowledge. But when you study all these you find

that there is so much knowledge involved. There is a pair of eyes in me, in an owl, and a crow, to see.

The owl’s eye sees and the crow and your eyes also see. Wherever there are eyes they see. From its own

standpoint it is adhyätma. An ophthalmologist, an optometrist and a retinologist deal with adhyätma, but

what they study is not your eyes alone. Suppose in the creation every pair of eyes is made differently,

then there will be no ophthalmology. But that is not so, which means there is total knowledge, an order.

Eyes, ears and other senses imply a certain knowledge. You see different orders. When you recognize

the total order it is not just adhibhüta alone. You see adhidaiva also. In terms of eyes, ears and any gland

also, there is adhidaiva. You need to have a devata for a gland because it will come under vaiçvänara.

Digestion is included in that.

aham vaiçvänaro bhütvä präëinäm dehamäçritaù,

präëäpänasamäyuktaù paccämyannam cathurvidam (Gétä:15.14)

Having become the digestive fire obtained in the bodies of living beings, endowed with präëa and

apäna, I cook the four-fold food.

This is the specialty that we see in the Vedic discussion of Éçvara. When you include this adhidaiva,

adhibhüta and adhyätma then you have Éçvara the Lord. Understanding of adhidaiva makes you feel

connected.

The sense of alienation is loss of objectivity. To be objective is to be normal and to be normal means

you have to be objective. To be objective is to include adhidaiva. Pragmatic, practical, objective, sane

and normal are considered irreligious words. They have no connotation of religion. The words do not

imply any god or religion. “I am a practical person. I don’t believe in all this.” I say you are not practical

because you have not included ‘what is’ in your understanding of what is. Unless, in your vision of

reality, there is completeness, where is the question of practicality? You are living in your own

subjective world, edited and abridged and that too confused. You are living in a hazy, foggy, vague,

nothing world with no touch with reality. Any little change makes you go out of gear. So they want to

address the sense of alienation, anxiety and concern in psychology, as though they are practical people.

It is true that they have to address it, but the basic reality is one whole. You need to understand

adhidaiva, adhibhüta and adhyätma. If you recognize the adhidaiva, the total that includes adhibhüta

and adhyätma then you can say that all that is here is Éçvara. Then you are practical. The benefit in that

is that you are sane and there is no more alienation.

If everything is Éçvara then in how many words can we recognize this Éçvara? One word is enough—

Éçvara. What is Éçvara? One more word, then one more word, one more word, and so you have a

thousand words. This is called Viñëu Sahasranäma. These words talk about the svarüpa as satyam the

ätmä. You are that whole. These are one set of revealing words. The satya ätmä is all that is here, but

how did it become all that is here intelligently? You have to say that this satya ätmä is sarvajïa. It has

not become, but continues to be whatever it is. Gold did not become a chain; it continues to be gold. The

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chain is ‘as though’. Similarly, the adhibhüta, adhyätma, your body-mind-sense complex and

everything known and unknown, is the same whole. With all knowledge it manifests in this form. The

unmanifest software, and manifest software, and ‘as though’ hardware is there. This is called Éçvara, the

Lord.

[Excerpt from talks on Viñëu Sahasranäma by Püjya Swami Dayananda Saraswati

in Saylorsburg, PA 2004, transcribed and edited by Swamini Srividyananda and June Rosenthal.]

Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Profound thinker, philosopher, teacher and writer. From humble

beginnings in Manjakkudi, a village on the Kaveri delta, in 1930, to a world renowned spiritual leader is

in itself no small achievement. Compound that with taking centre stage at the United Nations, ordaining

over 200 disciples dedicated to teaching Vedänta, founding Arsha Vidya Gurukulams in India and the

United States, and students spread across the world, from Australia to South America, from Canada and

the United States to the Reunion Islands, and the list would by no means be exhaustive.

A sweeping look at his contribution to spiritual civilization as a whole – continuing the teaching

tradition of Vedänta, creating an official voice of Hindu consciousness – striving for mutual respect,

equality and freedom for all religions through dialogues at the international level, as understanding of

cultures is the key to global peace – creating avenues to reach help to people in need – initiating projects

to strengthen Vedic dharma / culture – brings us to a master, whose concern and vision encompass the

individual, the nation, and the world.

He does not seek praise nor does he encourage his disciples and devotees in that direction. Averse to

publicity to the point of self-effacement, never does Swami Dayananda the person, intrude. He works

behind the scenes like true leaders do, encouraging the talents and skills of people who come into

contact with him. He always finds ways to help, reaching out to those in need, no matter how slight or

serious their problem. His approach is “how to address their problems, and not how to answer their

questions or turn them away.”

If compassion, intellect, erudition, wisdom and quiet self-assurance, imbued with humbleness, were to

take a human form, then it would certainly be Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He travels extensively

spreading the message of the ancient åñis of this country, convinced that the Vedic vision is as essential

and valid today as it was thousands of years ago.

Arsha Vidya Center


Works of Swami Tattvavidanandaji Books

Sanskrit:

1. Dakñiëämürti añtottara sat nämavaliù – Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

English:

1. Science in Kåñna Yajurveda

2. Sri Dakñiëämürti Stotram - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

3. Äditya Hådayam - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

4. Gaëapati Upaniñad - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

5. Essentials of Hinduism (booklet)

6. Heart is the temple (booklet)

7. Pancikaranam with Varttikam - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

8. Vedänta Òiëòimaù – Tattva Prakäçikä ÖTéka

9. Vaidika Sükta Maïjaré

10. Prärthana Ñaöpadi - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

11. Advaita Makaranda (Çri Laksmidhara's)

12. Inner Growth Through Devotion (Bhakti Yoga)

13. Kaivalyopaniñat

14. Spirituality and Science in India

Telgu:

1. Viväha saàskaramu

2. Çrimad Bhägavatham - Tattva Prakäçikä Öéka

3. Çri Dakñiëämürti Stotram - Telugu Öéka

4. Çri Devi Mahatyam - Telugu Öéka

5. Brihadaranyakopaniñat - Tattva Prakäçikä Téka (3 Volumes)

6. Suta samita sarah with Tattva Prakäçikä

Translations into Telugu:

1. Itinta Gétä adhyayanamu (4 volumes)

2. Çri Çiva Mahapuranam (4 Volumes)

3. Dakñiëämürti (booklet)

4. Sädhana Sadhyamulu

5. Vedänta Bhümika

6. Dhyanamulu(booklet)

7. Gétä Saramu

8. Brahmanubhuti

Unprinted:

http://books.arshavidya.org/cgi-bin/process/shop/display/item?prrfnbr=25125












Arsha Vidya Center


1. Çrimad Bhägavatham - Tattva Prakäçikä Öéka (Volume 6)

2. Chänogyopaniñat - Tattva Prakäçikä Öéka

3. Bhägavata Saptahamu

4. Dahara Vidyä - Tattva Prakäçikä commentary

Audio/Video

CD

Dhruvopakhyanam (12 CDs) 12 Classes - Sept.'05 Retreat

Dhyana Yoga (8 CD) - 2005 Thanksgiving Retreat

Dhyana Yoga II (8 CDs) - '07 Thanksgiving Retreat

Guided Meditations-'07 (2 CDs) 3/30 min.meditations-Nov. camp

Guided Meditations-'07 (4 CDs) 7/30 min.meditations-Dec. camp

Guided Meditations-'07 (4 CDs) 7/30 min.meditations-Xmas

Guided Meditations-'08 (2 CDs) 3/30 min.meditations-Nov.camp

Guided Meditations-'08 (3 CDs) 7/30 min.meditations

Guided Meditations-'09 Labor Day Weekend I -2 Session

Guided Meditations-'09(2 CDs) 3/30 min.meditations-Nov.camp

Kasi-Pancakam-CDs 3 Classes

Lakshmi Narasimha (3 CD) '08 Karavalamba Stotram-Labor Day

Meditation & Yoga (8 CD)-2008 Thanksgiving Retreat--8 talks

Narada Bhakti Sutra II--CDs One Week Retreat-2009

Narada Bhaktisutra- CDs 2009 Patrons' Retreat I

Niyama & Asana '08 (7 CDs) (Suta Samhita II - 7 talks) Sep, 2008 - 1 week Retreat.

Panchadasi - Ch.10 (14 CDs) 14 Classes- 2-Wk/ 2004 Retreat

Pratassmarana Stotram - (4 CD) 2007 Labor Day Camp - 4 Talks

Ramayana- '08, Part 7 (7 CD) 7 classes - Xmas 2008

Ramayana- '09, Part 8 (9 CD) 9 classes - Xmas 2009

Values & Attitudes - (5 CDs) 5 talks - Aug.1995 Retreat

Yama Niyama '06 - (8 CDs) Thanksgiving Camp (8 Talks)

Yoga & Sound '02 (Niyama-8 CD) 7 Talks from Sept. 2002 Camp

Yoga Darsanam (8 CD)-2009 Thanksgiving Retreat--8 talks

DVD

Aditya Hrdaya Stotram (3 DVDs) (7 Classes)

Atmajnana-Upadesha-Vidhi-5DVDs 15 talks-2003-2 Wk.camp

Bhagavad Gita - Ch.2 (3 DVDs) Vss.55-72- '03 Retreat-8 talks

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 15 (11 DVDs) 43 Talks

Bhagavad Gita Ch. 4 (2 DVDs) 6 Talks from 2000 Camp

Bhagavad Gita Ch.07 ‘04 (4DVD) (11 Talks)





























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Bhagavad Gita Ch.6 -'09 (DVDs) Six week Course , 41 talks

Dakshinamurti Stotram (5 DVDs) 13 talks- 2002 Vedanta Retreat

Dattatreya Gita (2 DVDs) 7 classes - Dec. 1998 Retreat

Dhruvopakhyanam - (4 DVDs) 12 Classes - Sept.'05 Retreat

Dhyana Yoga - 2005 (3 DVDs) 8 Discourses-Thanksgiving Retreat.

Dhyana Yoga II- (3 DVDs) '07 (8 Discourses-Thanksgiving Retreat)

Gajendra Moksha '06 (3 DVDs) 2006 Sept Camp-9 Talks

Inner Growth Through Devotion 2 DVD-4 Talks- Oct.'03 Retreat

Kaivalyopanisad (5 DVDs) 17 Classes - Oct. 2004

Kapilopadesha (1 DVD-3 Class) Nov.1998 (From Bhagavatam)

Laghu Vakya Vritti (4 DVDs) 13 classes-'99 - 2 week couse

Laghusiddanta Kaumudi - DVD 24 classes (8 DVDs)

Lakshminarasimha (1 DVD) '08 Karavalamba Stotram-(3 Talks)

Mandukyopanishad- '09 (14DVDs) 65 talks (Advaita Prakaranam)

Meditation & Yoga (3 DVD)-2008 Thanksgiving Retreat--8 talks

Mind Merger (2 DVDs - 4 Talks) (Upadesha Sahasri - Ch. 8)

Narada Bhakti Sutra II--DVDs One Week Retreat-2009

Narada Bhaktisutra- DVDs 2009 Patrons' Retreat I

Niyama & Asana '08 (3 DVDs) (Suta Samhita II - 7 talks)

Pancadasi Ch. 3- ’06 (5 DVDs) 2006- 2 week camp - 15 talks

Panchadasi - Ch.10 (5 DVDs) 14 Classes- 2-Wk/ 2004 Retreat

Physics and Vedanta-'02(3 DVD) Seminar w/ Sw.TV & G.Sudarshan

Prarthana Satpadi - (2 DVDs) 5 classes

Pratassmarana Stotram- (2 DVD) 2007 Labor Day Camp - 4 Talks

Ramayana- '02, Part 1 (5 DVD) 15 Classes - Xmas 2002

Ramayana- '03, Part 2 (2 DVD) 6 classes - Xmas 2003




Ramayana- '09, Part 8 (3 DVDs) 9 classes - Xmas 2009

Tripuri (2 DVDs) (Dec. 2002 Retreat - 7 talks)

Upadesa Pancakam (1 DVD) 3 Classes - Thanksgiving- 1999

Vedantic Insights (1 DVD) (Interview with Swami TV)

Vedic Heritage - '05 (3 DVDs) Samskara,Puja&Prayers-10 Talks

Yama Niyama '07 (3 DVDs) (Suta Samhita - 7 talks)

Yoga & Sound '01-2 DVD-6 talks B.Gita Ch13-Self-Growth&Values

Yoga Darsanam I (3DVD)-2009 Thanksgiving Retreat--8 talks

Yugal Gitam (Krishna on Flute) plus Transit of Planet Guru (Jupiter)

MP3







































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Bhagavad Gita Ch.1-2 (2 MP3s) w/Bhasya-2005 course, 84 talks

Bhagavad Gita Ch.1-2&3(3 MP3)T w/Bhasya (Telugu)

Bhagavad Gita Ch.3- '06-(1MP3) w/Bhasya, 6 Week Course Oct- Nov '06, 38 Talks,plus

Brihadaranyakopan

Bhagavad Gita Ch.4 (1 MP3) T w/Bhasya (Telugu)

Bhagavad Gita Ch.5 -'08 (MP3) w/Bhasya, Seven week Course Oct/Nov 2008

Bhagavad Gita Ch.6 -'09 (MP3) Six week Course , 43 talks

Bhagavad Gita-Ch.3 MP3 2009 Retreat III- 9 talks

Chandogya Up. Ch. 8 w/Bhasya 58 talks '03 -1mo.Course-1MP3 'Dahara Vidya' (Asarira atma)

Guided Meditations-'06(1MP3) Long Course (30 Meditations)

Guided Meditations-'07 (1 MP3) Long Course (33 Meditations)

Isavasyopanisad w/Bhasya-1 MP3 54 talks 2006 Long Course

Kathopanisad Bhasya - (2 MP3) 78 talks '99 - 2 mo. Course

Kenopanisad & Glory of Universal Mother -57 talks '04

Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi-MP3-1 Vol. 1 (Sanjna and Sandhi + Prakaranam - 20 Classes)

Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi-MP3-2 Vol. 2 (Subanta Prakaranam for + Ajanta Sabdas - 31

Classes)

Laghu Siddhanta Kaumudi-Set -3 (MP3 - 3 Vol. Set)

Mandukyopanishad '07 - 2 MP3s 73 talks (Agama Prakarana) (with Gaudapadakarika &

Shankarabhasya),

Mandukyopanishad '08 - 2 MP3s 70 talks (Vaitatya Prakaranam) (with Gaudapadakarika &

Shankarabhasya)

Mandukyopanishad '09 - 2 MP3s 65 talks (Advaita Prakaranam)

Meditations 2005 (1 MP3) 2005- 2 mo. Course- 50 meds.

Meditations-'08 (1MP3) 37/30min.meditations-6wkCourse

Morning Meditations'09(1MP3) Guide Meditation-6 Wk (30 Med)

Mundakopanishad & (2 MP3s) Panchikaranam-98 talks (2002 One Month (Oct/Nov) Course).

Narada Bhakti Sutra II--MP3 8 talks-One Week Retreat-2009

Nitisatakam of Bhartrhari-2MP3 (24 talks- basic life values)

Panchadasi-Ch.14 (MP3) 15 Talks- 2007 2-week Retreat

Panchadasi-Chapter 4 (1 MP3) 18 talks- 2008/ 2 week camp

Pratassmarana Stotram-MP3 Aud. Audio book-est.1.5Hr.Narration

Ramayana - '02 thru '07 (1MP3) 54 talks (Parts 1 through 6)

Ramayana- '08, Part 7 (1 MP3) 7 classes - Xmas 2008



































Arsha Vidya Center


Spirituality and Science in India Püjya Swami Tattvavidanada Saraswati

The culture of India has always nurtured and encouraged the spirit of enquiry in religion and philosophy.

Hinduism has readily embraced and celebrated healthy debates in these fields, and both the proponents

and opponents of any idea or belief have enjoyed the right to champion and pursue their convictions.

This has encouraged many philosophers and saints, like the Buddha, to live in peace and spread their

wisdom, even if their teachings and beliefs have not been in keeping with the traditions espoused by

incumbent rulers and priests. As a result, many different beliefs and diverse traditions have blossomed

and co-existed in India through the ages, like nowhere else in the world.

In the west, religious beliefs and practices have historically been dictated by centralized authorities, such

as the Vatican, which wittingly or unwittingly constrained and even penalized any thinking that

countered Church orthodoxy. As a result, both philosophical and scientific thought were stifled.

However, as the power of church waned, people increasingly enjoyed the freedom to think or exercise

individual choices, resulting in the highly evolved, open, and unconstrained societies of the West today.

Even Swami Vivekananda, the great Vedäntic philosopher, marveled at the social and personal freedom

in America, in contrast to the restricted, stratified, and hierarchical social system in India.

There are three aspects to every dharma or culture: Karma, the rituals, bhakti or upäsanä, the

mythology, and jïäna, the philosophical wisdom. Ritualism and mythology together constitute what is

called religion or theology. In Indian culture, or, more specifically, Hindu dharma, all three elements

merge to constitute what is called spirituality. In the West, however, religion, consisting of ritualism and

mythology, and philosophical thought remained independent of each other. The ideology of great

western philosophers and thinkers like Aristotle has had little to do with religion. In fact, some of them,

like Nietzche and Bertrand Russel, have clearly opposed organized religion. In western societies, we see

that religion has continued its allegiance to rituals and mythology, but is often suspicious of or even

hostile to the philosophic or spiritual wisdom.

In contrast to the culture of the West, Hindu dharma is a natural synthesis of philosophy and religion.

Hindu religion has never been opposed to philosophy, and the philosophers have had little conflict with

religion. Hindu spirituality and the Hindu religion have always coexisted and supported each other;

Vedänta or the philosophy validates karma and bhakti, the rituals and mythology that are utilized by

seekers as stepping stones to spirituality, the higher wisdom. The three elements of ritualism,

mythology, and philosophy are so beautifully integrated in the framework of Hindu dharma that it is

difficult to tell one from the other. This perfect synthesis is evident in the works of Śré Śaìkara, one of

the greatest philosophers of all time. He was very accommodating of rituals meant for the purification

of the mind and composed several encomiums depicting the rich mythology of Hinduism. In fact, in

Hinduism, if the doctrine of philosophy is not integrated with rituals and theology, it is regarded as a

serious disadvantage. The word yoga, meaning communion with God, is frequently used in the Hindu

scriptures. When the practice of rituals and spirit of devotion are divorced from spirituality, there is no

yoga or means to such communion; when theology or mythology is not validated and enriched by the

doctrinal philosophy, it degenerates into mere blind faith and superstition. Similarly, when rituals are not

integrated with philosophy, they become mechanical, and religion, instead of being a stepping stone to

spirituality, becomes but an impediment to the spiritual pursuit. The beautiful integration of all the three

elements in Hindu culture has prevented any such hostility between philosophy and religion.

Arsha Vidya Center


The important point is that separation of ritualism and mythology from doctrinal philosophy results in a

gulf between religion and science. In the absence of integration with philosophy, religion or theology is

fated to remain hostile to the rational or scientific temper. This invariably results in antagonism between

science and the religious establishment. The West continues to lead in scientific establishments that

benefit mankind, yet even a casual observer of the history and development of western societies can see

that science and religion have been at loggerheads much of the time.

Galileo, the 17th century Italian scientist, constructed one of the world’s first telescopes to peer into the

skies and made important observations about the planetary system. He was the first in the West to

discover that the Earth is spherical and not flat, and contradicted the existing geocentric notion by

declaring that the Earth revolved around the Sun. While these are the most basic facts of astronomy

today, Galileo’s discoveries were considered profane and heretical in his time. He was thus thrown into

conflict with the Catholic Church, even though he was a devout Catholic. The religious establishment

threatened him with punitive measures. They humiliated him and forced him to recant his views in a

public forum. His beloved daughter is said to have prevailed upon him not to be intransigent and to

withdraw his findings. The Church banned his books and condemned him to a life of seclusion.

Giordano Bruno, the 16th century Italian scientist and philosopher is also regarded as an early martyr for

his scientific beliefs. He placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the center of the solar system. The universe, he

thought, was infinite in size and ever changing. He was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition.

These are cases in point of the serious distrust between religious authority and science. Similarly when

Darwin published his theory of evolution, he met with the disapproval of the organized religion and was

considered anti-God. However, by that time, 19th

century society had made much progress and the

theocratic governments had been replaced by secular government. Therefore, Darwin did not face any

serious personal consequences as a result of the schism between science and the religious establishment.

Yet this schism is not entirely absent even now in the 21st century.

Indian society has had a long and rich cultural heritage. It is one of the most ancient cultures, and is a

few thousand years old. In ancient India, there prevailed a wonderful culture of scientific thought that

encouraged many great thinkers and intellectuals. Religion, spirituality, and science coexisted and, in

fact, complemented each other. Modern historians have uncovered substantial evidence in recent times

to prove that the Greek, Egyptian, and Roman cultures borrowed heavily from the doctrines and

philosophy of India. Many archaeologists and historians of the West including Arnold Toynbee and Will

Durant, have written extensively about this. The early civilizations of India, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

had a great impact on the countries of the Middle East and ancient Europe. Yet, in this long history,

spanning millennia, there is not a single instance of the scientific temper being persecuted by the

religious establishment. The ordeals suffered by Bruno and Galileo, or the continuing controversy here

in U.S. regarding creationism as opposed to evolution, are inconceivable in the context of Hindu culture.

The social and cultural milieu of present day India is a reflection of its glorious past. For example, such

issues as whether cloning violates religious values simply do not rise in the Indian context. India may

lag behind in stem cell research, but it is not because of religious or social opposition to stem cell

research. It may, instead, very well be on account of India’s own peculiarities, such as inadequate

private industry funding or investment in the areas of research and development (R&D). The

government does indeed spend a lot of money on R&D, but the efforts do not produce optimum results

because of corruption and inefficiency. Therefore, while India has its own share of such disadvantages,

they seldom point to any distrust between science and spirituality. Yet what is the reason for such amity

between science and religion or such harmony between science and spirituality as is evidenced in India?

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I believe that it is because Hindu dharma has uniquely achieved the perfect synthesis of its rich cultural

endowment of ritualism, mythology, and philosophy.

Vedänta has a definitive answer to the age-old philosophical question pertaining to matter and

intelligence. Which came first? Vedänta proclaims that intelligence appeared prior to matter, matter

arises out of intelligence. Matter is seen to be an epiphenomenon of intelligence. In the Gétä, Çré Kåñëä,

says, “Yaà yaà väpi smaranbhävaà tyajatyante kalevaram, taà tamevaiti kaunteya sadä

tadbhävabhävitaù.” (8-6), whatever be the value system, thinking, and philosophy of life one inculcates,

and with whatever vision of life one leaves the mortal frame, a new body conductive to that vision,

understanding and insight, will be gained in the next birth. Therefore, the body, or matter, is a product of

intelligence. The opposite school of thought, which maintains that matter existed prior to intelligence

and that intelligence is the epiphenomenon of matter, also thrived in India centuries ago.

In modern neuroscience, the major premise of all study and discovery is that the intelligence is an

epiphenomenon of matter or that the grey matter of the brain is the origin of intelligence or

consciousness. The hypothesis is that the elaborate molecules of the neuron cells in the brain give birth

to intelligence. Thus, matter is seen to come first and intelligence to come subsequently. This theory is

also known as materialism. The supporters of this school of thought are called materialists. Although the

philosophy of materialism flourished in India long ago, it was contrary to the established doctrine of

Vedänta.

The earliest proponent of the philosophy of materialism was Cärväka. Despite his opposing views, he

was not denigrated by Indian society. Instead, he was given the title of ‘Maharñi,’ meaning a great seer,

one who sees the truth. What one perceives with the sense organs and understands with the mind is but a

relative truth or an apparent truth; it is not necessarily the ultimate truth; what appears need not be real

all the time. One who knows only the apparent truth is not called a maharñi. A maharñi is one who sees

through appearances and discovers the truth that lies behind. Cärväka was regarded as a great seer

because of his intellectual rigor and ethical way of life. Indian society did not cause him any suffering in

spite of his atheistic doctrine. In ancient India, there were also great astronomers and astrophysicists,

like Aryabhata and Varähamihira. Aryabhata is recognized as one of the greatest scientists and

astrophysicists, and Varähamihira was a great mathematician. There have been others, like

Bhäskaracärya, who was also a renowned mathematician, and Leelävati, a respectable mathematician of

her time. In tribute to them, some of the man-made satellites that India has put into outer space are

named Aryabhata I, Aryabhata II, etc. If Newton and Einstein had been born in India, they would also

have been hailed as maharsis, seers or those who see the truth. In this context, I would like to quote a

verse from Varähamihira’s Båhatsaàhitä. It goes, “mlecchhä hi yavanästeñu samyak çästraà

pratiñöhitam, åñivatpüjanéyaste …” Mlecchä was a geographical term with reference to the subcontinent

of India, meaning a foreigner. At that time, cultural India extended into Afghanistan, which was then

known as Upagaëasthän. Kandahar was known as Gandhära. People who lived beyond that border or

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present-day Europeans were referred to as the mlecchä. Thus, it is the yavanas or Greeks that

Varahämihira refers to as mlecchäs. He says, ‘these people of Greek Society have the science of

astronomy. (Although they are not scholars of the Vedas) we should revere these scholars as maharñis

(because they know the truth of astronomy).’ The ancient Indian sages were thus clearly open-minded

and deeply grounded in the scientific spirit and readily recognized the value of knowledge.

The Swarëayuga or ‘Golden Age’ of Hindu Dharma began several centuries before Christ. Ancient

Indian civilization produced outstanding saint-philosophers, like Çré Çaìkara, the Buddha, and

Mahävira. It also produced great astronomers and astrophysicists, as well as great poets like Kälidasa.

The world’s first plastic surgeon, Caraka, belonged to that period. Bodhäyana, one of the ancient sages,

was the earliest to enunciate in verse what we now know as the Pythagorean Theorem: The square of the

hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides. Bodhäyana’s

verse, in the anuñöup meter, is prominently displayed at the Swaminarayan Temple Museum in Toronto.

The ancient Indian sages and saints were embodiments of knowledge and their glorious vision reflected

the wonderful consonance of spirituality and science.

The remarkable synthesis of the secular and spiritual in Indian culture did not develop overnight. Rather,

it was ‘injected’ into its cultural ‘veins’ over millennia, by the ancient seers and sages who regarded all

knowledge as sacred, whether the knowledge of nature or the knowledge of Éçvara. In fact, in the Indian

perspective, there is no partition of knowledge into the secular and the spiritual. Any such division is

artificial at best and would indeed be ‘un-Indian.’ Many mahätmäs describe the modern sciences as the

Bhägavata. The Bhägavata is mostly a description of the léläs or playful exploits of the Lord in various

incarnations. There is much philosophy too, but the léläs of Bhagavän take the center stage. From the

perspective of the wondrous nature of the sciences, it can be said that all of science is the lélä of

Bhagavän; thus, the science of physics is the Bhägavata, and the science of chemistry is the Bhägavata

as well. This cultural point of view explains how all knowledge is considered sacred. There is thus little

resistance to the scope of education expanding to include the study of the modern language or sciences,

as opposed to the traditional study of the scriptures or religious literature. All knowledge is seen to be

sacred.

The Vedic wisdom offers powerful therapy not only to modern India, but also to the conflict-torn world

of today. In the Vedäntic vision, the world is an organic whole, in which the things and events perceived

by the senses do not constitute an independent realm; they are all interconnected, diverse aspects of the

one reality. The Vedic tradition demonstrates that it is possible for all religions and all forms of worship

and divergent viewpoints to coexist in peace, if only the spirit of universality and catholicity were

embraced by the world.

Hariù oà, tatsat, Çré Kåñëärpaëamastu

[Excerpt from the booklet “Spirituality and Science in India” by Püjya Swami Tattvavidanada Saraswati]

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Éçvaropäsanäm Püjya Swami Tattvavidanada Saraswati

In the Vedic culture, worshipping of Éçvara – Éçvaropäsana – is very characteristic and unique, and

probably slightly different from what we come across today in the Hindu society. Here, Éçvara is

worshipped in a form, which is readily available for our perception as part of the nature before us. For

example, Éçvara is worshipped as the Fire. The Åg Veda, the foremost of the Vedas, starts with the

invocation:

AiGnmIfe puraeihtm! ,

agniméòe purohitam

I praise the glory of agni, who is the foremost as a benefactor.

Here agni is Éçvara. Aurobindo explained the word agni as the divine will and wisdom. In the Vedic

culture, fire is universally taken as the symbol of Éçvara. We relate to, or worship Éçvara in the form of

fire. Another such altar described in the Vedas is the Sun. Vedic people regularly practice a particular

mode of worship called sandhyä-vandanä. It is the most well-known mode of worship in the Vedic

culture even today.

Vandanä is upäsanä or worship. Sandhyä means the junction between the night and day when the Sun

rises, or between day and night when the Sun sets. Vaidikas worship Éçvara at that time in the form of

the Sun. They offer water (arghya) thrice to the rising and setting Sun, and then meditate upon Éçvara as

the presiding deity of the solar orb by reciting the famous Gäyatré- mantra.

Gäyatré is the name of a meter. In the Gétä (10-35), Bhagavän says:

gayÇI CDNdsamhm! ,

Gäyatré cchandasämaham

I am the meter Gäyatré among the meters.

The meter Gäyatré has three lines of eight syllables each. Thus, it has twenty-four syllables in all. Every

mantra describes the glory of a devatä. Devatä means a particular manifestation of that Para Brahman

(or Éçvara). Thus, the recitation of a given mantra amounts to the worship of Éçvara in the manifestation

of that particular devatä. The devatä of the Gäyatré mantra is the Sun.

` ÉUÉuRv/Sv?> , tTs?iv/tuvRrše{y</ Éga?eR d/evSy? xImih ixyae/ yae n?> àca/edyašt! .

Oà bhürbhuvaÞsvaù× tatsa×viÞturvar÷eëyaàÞ bhargo× deÞvasya× dhémahi dhiyoÞ yo na×ù pracoÞdayä÷t

Oà is the basis of everything, earth, the space in between and the heavens. We invoke that Lord who

is the most venerable, the Sun. We meditate upon the supreme light (awareness) of the Lord, who

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creates and nourishes this universe. That Lord alone illuminates and inspires our thoughts.

Para Brahman is essentially without any form or shape, because intrinsically it is not possible for the

Supreme Reality to have a given form or shape. If Brahman were to have a given form, then it would

become yet one more form subject to a given space, and hence unreal. If Éçvara were to have a given

form, however exalted that form may be, it would be limited in space and time. Space and time are

always together. Whatever is limited in space is necessarily limited in time. Éçvara, who is the originator

of space and time, cannot be really folded into space and time. Therefore, Éçvara is the attributeless

infinite awareness. Bhargaù means that caitanya, awareness. It is the origin of the (energy, potential or

expressed in the form of action) and (the power of knowledge). This entire universe is nothing but a

combination of kriyä-çakti and jïäna-çakti. All the matter comes under the category of kriyä-çakti alone.

Bhargaù, the awareness is the origin of these two. Bhargaù, the caitanya which is Para Brahman is

called tat, tat bhargaù. Tat is sarvanäma, a pronoun. The word sarvanäma means the name of

everything. Everything is a manifestation of Para Brahman. Hence, the name of everything also

represents the origin of everything. Worship of the Para Brahman in a given altar is called saguëa

(säkära) upäsanä. Saguëa means having attributes; säkära means having a particular form. There is a

problem in worshipping the Para Brahman in its attribute less formless nature. Bhagavän says in the

Gétä (12-5):

Klezae=ixktrSte;amVyásćetsam! ,

AVyá ih gitdR>o< dehviÑrvaPyte. 12-5.

kleço’dhikatarasteñämavyaktäsaktacetasäm,

avyaktä hi gatirdaùkhaà dehavadbhiraväpyate.

The affliction is greater still for those whose minds are committed to what cannot be objectified,

because an end which cannot be objectified is reached with difficulty by those who are identified with

the body.

For a limited being (jéva) rooted to the body, identified with the body, appreciation of formless attribute

less Para Brahman straightaway is a very hard task, for the mind is accustomed to dwell upon names,

attributes and forms. Therefore, Bhagavän advises that the devotees may start with the worship or

meditation of the saguëa. Saguëa meditation is also called as apara-brahma-upäsana, in contrast to

para-brahma-jïäna (knowledge of Para Brahman). So, to make meditation easy by taking to an altar of

worship, saguëa-säkära has to be superimposed on the attribute less Para Brahman. This idea is

summarized in the statement:

n te êp< n cakarae nayuxain n caSpdm! ,

%paskana< kayRaw<R äüa[ae êpkLpna .

na te rüpaà na cäkäro näyudhäni na cäspadam,

upäsakänäà käryärthaà brahmäëo rüpakalpanä.

O Lord, You do not have fixed attributes, or form. You do not really wield any weapons. There is no

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location for you. Yet, for the benefit of meditation upon You by the devotees, a particular form is

superimposed on the attribute less Brahman.

Meditation on the saguëa helps the seeker to purify the mind and thereby gain a higher level of

understanding of the Para Brahman.

In the Gäyatré-mantra, the Sun god is introduced as savitur devasya. This word savitä appears in the

Äditya Hådayam also. Éçvara is called savitä because he creates, protects and sustains the entire life in

this universe. For this reason, the Gäyatré-mantra is also called savitä. With reference to meter it is

Gäyatré and with reference to devatä it is savitä. There is one more point of interest in Gäyatré in the

context of Çrémadrämäyaëam. If we divide this great epic of 24,000 verses into 24 units of 1000 verses

each, then each unit starts with a successive syllable of Gäyatré This incorporation of Gäyatré in the

verses of Çrémadrämäyaëam makes the latter particularly auspicious. Quite often people ask me a

question: Swamiji, can women recite Gäyatré- mantra? I quote a verse from yama smèti as the answer to

that question.

pura kLpe tu narI[a< maEÁjIbNxnim:yte,

AXyapn< c vedana< saivÇIvhn< twa .

purä kalpe tu näréëäà mauïjébandhanamiçyate,

adhyäpanaà ca vedänäà sävitrévahanaà tathä.

In the earlier times, the investiture with the sacred thread, teaching of Vedas and recitation of the

Gäyatré was allowed (desired) for the women.

Sétädevé was described by Välméki as performing the sandhyä meditation in the Açoka forest, where she

was held captive by Rävaëa. One should relate to Éçvara every morning at the time of Sunrise,

irrespective of the situation in which one finds oneself, whether one is in prosperity or in adversity. This

daily worship called sandhyä-vandanä should not be dispensed with.

The cosmic person (Éçvara), who brought out this universe out of himself, is often called in the vedic

literature by the name hiraëyagarbha from the standpoint of the universal power and omniscience. In the

puraëic literature, Éçvara is referred to as Viñëu (one who pervades all) or as Çiva (the auspicious). That

hiraëyagarbha is worshipped in the altar of the Sun, because, in this solar system where we live, it is the

Sun that is the source of all energy, all activities and all life. That Éçvara, who is manifest in the form of

the Sun before us, is also present in us in the form of ätman, the awareness, thereby illuminating our

thoughts, and making all varieties of knowing possible. If that awareness were not to manifest, then

there would have been no faculty of thinking. The power of thinking (dhé-çakti) is the basis of human

existence. A human being is nothing but his ideas and understanding (buddhi). The difference between a

person in a coma and a normal person is the power of thinking alone. In fact, all the metabolic processes

such as regulation of body temperature, heartbeat, etc., go on even for a comatose person. The only

difference is that his intellect is not functioning. That is also the reason why he is not moving or doing

anything. We think that the buddhi is present inside the body. But that is wrong. The body exists in the

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buddhi, and that buddhi exists in ätman, the awareness, which is that Para Brahman. That awareness

(caitanya) manifesting in this body-mind-sense complex in the form of consciousness, inspiring the

buddhivåtti-s, is also present before us in the form of the solar orb, the abode of hiraëyagarbha. That is

the meaning of Gäyatré-mantra in a nutshell.

In Rudrädhyäya (1-7), Lord Çiva is presented as Nélakaëöha (the one with a blue neck):

AsaE yae=vspRit nIl¢Ivae ivlaeiht> ,

asau yo’vasarpati nélagrévo vilohitaù.

Lord Çiva is blue in the neck, but red in the rest of the body. That Lord is rising before us as the Sun.

There is a popular story in the puräëas. When the ocean of milk was churned by the gods and the

demons, what initially arose was the most virulent poison. On their request, Lord Çiva devoured it and

held it in his throat without gulping it, imparting blue color to the neck. But, we may not cite a puräëic

story to explain a Vedic usage, since it is the puräëa that follows the Veda, and not the other way

around. The word Nélagréva can be understood differently from the point of view of the cosmic person.

The words néla and lohita respectively refer to the blue and red colors of the sky. In fact, Lord Çiva is

the cosmic person hiraëyagarbha, and the Sun is the adhibhüta (the gross or the physical) or adhidaiva

(pertaining to the presiding deity) symbol of the Lord. This mantra is describing the rising Sun (asau

yo'vasarpati). At the time of Sunrise and also Sunset, the horizon is all red with patches of blue. That

horizon is visualized as the neck of the cosmic person.

It is normally understood that Éçvara is known only to a select few called åñis. Common people are not

supposed to have the säkñätkära (direct visualization) of Éçvara. But then the Veda has the opposite to

say:

%tEn< gaEpa A†zÚ†zÚudhayR>,

%tEn< ivña Éutain s †:qae m&fyait n> . (éÔayay> tEiÄrIy s<ihta, 4-5-1)

utainaà gaupä adåçannadåçannudahäyaù,

utainaà viçvä bhutäni sa dåñöo måòayäti naù. (Rudräyäyaù taittiréya saàhitä, 4-5-1)

Even the cowherds and the women folk carrying water pitchers see this Lord in the form of the Sun.

Indeed, all living beings see Him. He is also seen by us. May He protect us.

The cowherds and the women carrying water pitchers on their heads represent the illiterate masses of the

countryside. Even they see Éçvara. Not only that; every bird, creature, and animal knows the arrival of

the viçvabandhu, the protector of the entire universe. When the Sun is rising in the east, it is an event

recognized by almost every life form, excepting of course, a few people who choose to sleep at that time

also! By praying to Éçvara in the altar of the rising Sun, the devotee will gain robust health both

physically and mentally.

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Swami Tattvavidanandaji’s visit 2011 26

Understanding Éçvara

Püjya Swami Tattvavidanada Saraswati

Invocatory Prayer

zarda zardaMÉaejvdna vdnaMbuje,

svRda svRda=Smak< siÚixSsiÚix< i³yat!.

Çäradä çäradämbhojavadanä vadanämbuje,

sarvadä sarvadä’smäkaà sannidhissannidhià kriyät.

May the Goddess Sarasvaté, with face resembling the autumnal lotus, abide at all times in our lotus-

like faces (speech). She, the abode of truth, bestows all (upon Her devotees).

This is a beautiful prayer to Goddess Sarasvaté, the mother of all knowledge. The beauty of this

verse lies in the rhythmic arrangement of its words called yamaka or alliteration. In this, a word or

part thereof that occurs earlier is taken up again in the next part of the verses. The repetition of the

sound adds to the beauty of the meaning.

Çäradä, çäraà ajïänaà dyati khaëòayati iti, is the one who destroys ignorance. The tense of the

verb kriyät in the verse is unique to the Sanskrit language. It means äsiù, blessing. The teacher

blesses the students by saying, ‘May Çäradä devé manifest in you as well in me.’ Without the

blessings of the Goddess Çäradä, one cannot hope to gain the profound knowledge of Vedänta.

The countenance of Çäradä devé resembling the autumnal lotus, radiates love and affection towards

her progeny. ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’, said the poet Keats. The devé’s form is a beautiful

sight to behold and fills the heart of the devotee with joy. ‘May she be with us when we speak and

when we study’. She is sarvadä, bestowing everything in bestowing knowledge upon us, for,

knowledge is power and knowledge is wealth; also, the knowledge of the Self redeems the

individual from the bondage of ignorance. Interestingly, sarvadä also means ‘always’. She is also

the sannidhi or repository of Truth, the source of all existence. We pray that the Goddess may abide

in our hearts.

The human being is fundamentally a pramätä, a knower. To know, or understand anything, one

needs a means of knowledge. Such a means is called pramäëa, pramäyaù karaëam. Pramä means

precise knowledge and karaëam is the means thereof. We are intrinsically endowed with two means

of knowledge. The first is called pratyakña or perception. We have five sense organs: The eyes to

know form and color; the nose to identify smells; the ears to hear sounds; the tongue to discern

taste, and the skin to sense heat, cold and texture. These five sense organs constitute the means of

cognition called pratyakña. Perception and observation lead to understanding. It is through

observation right from childhood that every human gains the knowledge of things one after another

and sheds his or her ignorance gradually.

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There is another pramäëa or means of cognition, called anumäna, inference. This is the function of

the intellect. For instance, wherever we see smoke we conclude the presence of fire as well, even

though we do not directly see the fire because it is our common experience that there is no smoke

without fire. Such a means of knowledge is called inference. We constantly observe this kind of

invariable concomitance or constant association of one thing with another. Thus, we all have the

ability to know things not only through our sense organs, but also our intellect, through inference or

association.

Perception and inference are the two basic pramäëas that we are all endowed with from birth. These

two pramäëas are fundamentally related because inferential knowledge depends on observation

through the sense organs. For instance, to conclude that there is a fire, one would first have to see or

smell the presence of smoke. Thus, perception and inference are the basic means by which we gain

knowledge. However, both pramäëas are subject to various limitations because the mind and sense

organs are not infallible in their functioning. Also, there are times when the mind superimposes

something else on what the senses perceive. For example, if the eyes cannot recognize a rope in

poor light, we might see a snake instead. Therefore, quite often, the pramätä or knower is misled

and may continue to make mistakes with regard to perception and inference.

There exists a body of knowledge that is not available to us through either of the two pramäëas. We

call it the external pramäëa. This helps us where perception and inference fail. As a simple

example, take the human eye, which can probe microbes and other minutiae through a microscope

as well as peer through space and examine stars and entire galaxies through a telescope. This eye,

however, has to depend upon external scrutiny to detect a mere speck of dust that falls upon its own

surface. Thus, there are times when you come to know only when another person tells you of

something. Often, you can never gain such knowledge through your own senses or intellect. This

shows that not all knowledge is acquired through perception and inference alone. That body of

knowledge, which is beyond the pale of both perception and inference, is called çabda. The Vedas

are a body of knowledge in the form of çabda.

The word Veda come from the verbal root vida, which stands for knowledge. The etymology of the

word is vedayati iti vedaù, meaning ‘that which helps to know is the Veda’. The Veda, therefore, is

a body of knowledge. The Veda is defined thus:

àTy]e[anuimTya va yStUpayae n buXyte,

@n< ivdiNt veden tSmaÖedSy vedta.

pratyakñeëänumityä vä yastüpäyo na budhyate,

enaà vidanti vedena tasmädvedasya vedatä.

The means (to the ultimate good) that cannot be ascertained through perception and inference can

be readily understood through a study of the Veda. Thus, the word Veda (a body of knowledge) is

indeed significant.

Therefore, the Veda is an independent pramäëa. It is called çabda-pramäëa, trustworthy verbal

testimony. Äpta väkyaà çabdaù; çabda means a statement or teaching of the benefactor. Thus, the

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Veda, or, in particular, the concluding portion of Veda called Vedänta or Upaniñad, gives us the

knowledge of Éçvara.

Vision of Éçvara

The Vedic vision of jagat, the universe, and of Brahman, the Godhead, has no parallel in the history

of mankind. In this vision, Brahman is the spaceless and timeless Reality that manifests as the

universe. Thus, Brahman the attribute less Being (nirguëa) apparently becomes Éçvara with the

universe as an attribute (saguëa). However, the universe is not an intrinsic attribute of Brahman.

The çruti presents Brahman as satyaà jïänamanantam brahma (Brahman is Existence, Awareness

Infinite). We are only aware of a limited existence in terms of space, time, and form, the deça-käla-

paricchina. For example, when we say that there ‘is’ some object, we mean a particular type of

existence, which is bound by being ‘here’ and not obtaining elsewhere (deça-paricchinna), bound by

‘now’ and not obtaining at some other time (käla-paricchina), and bound by a specific form and no

other form (vastu-paricchina). It does not occur to us that there could be Existence (sat) that

transcends these three limitations. The space, time, and name and form rise together and set

together. They resolve into us when we fall asleep and re-surface when we emerge from sleep. Even

theologians take these limitations for granted. According to Albert Einstein, the entire universe is

seen against the fabric of space-time. There can be no universe or world of objects except against

the background of space-time. It is a package deal in which one exists because of the other.

The world, as we know it, is nothing but Existence, taken to be some object or the other. To

understand this better, let us take the example of a golden necklace or golden bangle. Is the necklace

or bangle an attribute of gold, or gold the attribute of the ornament? The suffix –en in ‘golden’

seems to indicate that gold is an attribute of the necklace and the bangle. This is a wrong

understanding. In reality, the ornaments are the attributes of the gold; it is essentially gold that

obtains in the form of the necklace, and it is gold we are looking at in the form of the necklace, and

it is gold we are looking at it in the form of bangle. An ornament is none other than gold in one

form or another. Similarly, when we say that there ‘is’ a pot, (ghaöa asti), we have understood

existence in terms of an attribute called pot. As in the case of gold and ornaments, we imagine that

existence is an attribute of the pot (san ghaöaù), while, in truth, it is the pot that is an attribute of

existence.

We are unable to visualize pure Existence. The mind always relates to things in terms of their

näma-rüpa or form with a given name alone. Our minds build a ‘prison cell’ in which we all live. It

is a cell within three walls: space, time, and causation. That is the reason why we can only look at

existence in terms of space and time. That is how the mind understands existence; it cannot

conceive of it any other way.

The mind also has the tendency to impute the attributes of one thing to another. We have seen how

we can appreciate existence only in terms of the name and form of a perceived object, which, by

nature, is limited in space-time. Thus, the name and form become an upädhi or limiting adjunct to

the Supreme Reality. The pot, which is but a shape that exists in the here and now, has not always

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been there. It did not exist before it was made and, at some point of time, will also cease to exist.

We should understand that all the limitations of space-time are incidental (aupädhika) and belong to

the upädhi or limiting adjunct alone. The existence that is known, experienced, and called the jagat

is the saguëa sat. Saguëa implies that the guëas or attributes of the upädhi seem to limit the reality.

In other words, they are superimpositions alone.

When properly understood this existence that we appreciate in terms of upädhis is but Brahman or

Existence-Absolute alone. This is the most fundamental way of looking at Brahman. This existence,

which we perceive as the world, the world of names and forms, is in reality the Existence-Absolute,

Brahman, When all the attributes of names and forms with which we identify Existence as in ‘pot-

existence’ or ‘cloth-existence’ are totally negated, what remains is the Existence-Absolute that is

Éçvara, above and beyond every manner of existence and its counterpart, non-existence.

The world and ‘me’ are not two separate or independent entities. The limited existence that we

perceive implies a separation from the whole. In perceiving the ‘Being’ in terms of names and

forms, we disconnect the person, the individual, from the whole. This apparent separation of ‘me’,

the drañöä or subject, from the whole, the dåçya or object is an error in our understanding. We

cannot have an object without a subject; neither can we have a subject without an object. Therefore,

the moment we have the dåçya-jagat, we also have the limited being, the drañöä. Thus both the seer

and the seen are superimpositions on the one non-dual Existence-Awareness absolute that is Éçvara,

and the separation is unreal.

Do you want proof of Éçvara’s existence? When you say that there ‘is’ a pot, it is proof enough of

Éçvara’s existence. The idea is that whenever and wherever we recognize something as ‘is’ or

existent, the ‘is-ness’ or existence is indeed Brahman. That ‘something’, however, is a name and

form, and is hence unreal. A discriminating devotee sees the clouds and rains, and therefore

understands that Éçvara exists. He sees a peacock dancing and understands that Éçvara exits. What

an artist Éçvara must be! There are infinite aspects of the glory of Éçvara present before us that can

readily signify Éçvara to an observant mind. However, to a saint all existence is Éçvara; he

recognizes Éçvara in all that exists. A verse from the Kaöhopaniñat (2-3-13) reflects the vision of

Éçvara:

AStITyevaeplBxVyStÅvÉaven caeÉyae>,

AStITyevaeplBxSy tÅvÉav> àsIdit.

astétyevopalabdhavyastattvabhävena cobhayoù,

astétyevopalabdhasya tattvabhävaù prasédati.

One has to recognize the ätmä, which is Brahman, alone manifests as the ‘being’ (of the objects of

the world). Brahman is the ‘is-ness’ from the point of view of a given name and form while, in

itself, it is the Being-Absolute. To the one who focuses his attention on the ‘is-ness’ of the world-

objects, the being reveals itself.

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Éçvara is the efficient-and-material cause of the universe

The vision of Éçvara as the abhinna-nimitta-upädäna-käraëa, the efficient-and-material cause of

this universe, is unique and marvelous. Understanding Éçvara as the nimitta-käraëa, the efficient

cause, the One who has created this universe, does not require much insight. All other presupposes a

sentient maker; even a child can infer with his limited knowledge that there must be a maker of the

toy with which he plays. We look at the universe to infer that Éçvara must have created it. There is

such symmetry and order everywhere that one can only conclude it to be the handiwork of a sentient

maker. Science and technology do not create anything new. Science is a study of the order and the

symmetry of this universe, while technology is reorganization of the things of the word to suit our

need and comforts. If there were no order, there would be no science. Thus, science is itself a proof

of Éçvara’s glory.

Much insight, however, is required to know that Éçvara is the material cause of the universe. We can

look at any aspect of the universe and say, “This is Éçvara’s glory”. When it rains we could say,

“Oh! Éçvara sent these clouds”. We could then imagine Éçvara as sitting somewhere and issuing an

order to the clouds to go ahead and rain. Another way of looking at this is to say that Éçvara did not

order the clouds to rain, but came in the form of clouds and rained. An even better view of

understanding that Éçvara first came in the form of clouds and then came successively in the form of

rains, crops, food, hunger and enjoyment. Every aspect and every facet of this universe is the

manifestation of Éçvara. This is how Éçvara as being the material-and-efficient cause of the universe

is to be understood. It is to be known that Éçvara is not just the maker of the universe or even the

power behind the maker; He is the universe itself. To understand this better, let us take the example

of a moving car. What is the power behind the movement of the car and where does it come from?

It comes from the gasoline that is in the car. It is not as if the gasoline only supplies the power that

moves the car. It becomes the power, which drives the car. In fact, not only does it become the

power that drives the car, but it becomes the power that is the very motion of the car. We have three

ideas here; gas, power, and the motion of the car. These are not really three, but a single

phenomenon manifesting in three different forms. One particular form is gasoline, the other is

power and the third manifestation is the mechanical motion. It is the tendency of the mind to create

a division or distinction where none exists!

Let us look at yet another example. There was a time when the scientific community had not arrived

at equivalence of mass and energy. In fact, they were very certain that mass and energy were two

different facets of the universe. There was mass and there was energy; they were neither created nor

destroyed. In 1896, when Swami Vivekananda visited the United States, he met Professor Tesla

who was one of the great physicists of his time. On being asked about the possibility of a

relationship between mass and energy, Tesla said that he had a few calculations that indicated that

the potential energy of a body is related to its mass. After listening to Professor Tesla, Swami

Vivekananda said (Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 5 p.101), ‘In that case, the

Vedäntic cosmology will be placed on the surest of foundations. I am working a good deal now

upon the cosmology and eschatology of the Vedänta. I clearly see their perfect unison with modern

science, and the elucidation of the one will be followed by that of the other.’ Even by 1896 Physics

had not grown to the level of Vedänta! We had to wait a few more years for Einstein to work out

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that mass and energy are two facets of the same vastu, the Reality. That Éçvara is the material and

efficient cause of the universe is truly profound vision of Vedänta.

In the Çré Dakñiëämürti Stotram, Çré Çaìkara says that the entire universe is nothing but deça-käla-

kalanä-vaicitrya-citrékåta, the Reality differentiated within the framework of space and time. Are

space and time absolute? Sir Issac Newton formulated the Laws of Motion by assuming that they

were absolute. As a scientist, he knew that he could not dissociate objects from space and time; he

was not a theologian to conveniently forget about space and time and talk only about the world. He

postulated that the motion of objects takes place in absolute space and in absolute time and follows

certain laws. It is the glory of Çré Dakñiëämürti Stotram that space and time are not absolute and

are but movements in the consciousness; they are entirely mäyäkalpita, categories of the human

mind.

Space and time are nothing but superimpositions upon the Awareness that is Brahman. Time is the

awareness of the motion of an object in space. In the absence of the cognition of motion, there is no

time. Time is not an entity; it is a notion. Time exists in the mind of the observer alone; there is no

time without the observer. Newton thought that time was absolute. Einstein pointed out that time is

relative and depends upon the observer. Vedic seers and Çré Çaìkara knew this all the time! When

we observe and interact with the world, it is Éçvara that we are really looking at and Éçvara we

interact with. God is not extrinsic, but intrinsic to this world. In the vision of the Vedic seers, this

universe is the glorious manifestation of Éçvara.

Relating to Éçvara in many differnet ways

This universe appears to be insentient. Did it originate from an insentient source? In fact the

division into sentience and insentience, or life and non-life is not a result of any rigorous

investigation and is hence superficial. If we explore the origins of the universe, the division we

perceive at the gross level will not stand scrutiny. In Quantum Physics, there is no such division as

‘living’ and ‘non-living’. This division exists only at the intermediate level, in the manifest or gross

form. The entire universe has originated from Consciousness that is Brahman. Modern Cosmology

says that the universe has originated from an insentient primordial ylem. The Vedic vision goes

forward one more step and declares that the entire universe is the manifestation of the sentient

Brahman. This means that every aspect of this universe is a superimposition on the sentient

Brahman of Éçvara alone.

In the Ågveda (1-164-46), it is said:

#NÔ< imÇ< vé[miGnmahurwae idVySy sup[aeR géTman!,

@k< siÖàa bhuxa vdNTyiGn< ym< matirñanmahu>.

indraà mitraà varuëamagnimähuratho divyasya suparëo garutmän,

ekaà sadviprä bahudhä vadantyagnià yamaà mätariçvänamähuù.

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This infinite ätmä, the Supreme Reality, the Existence-Absolute, is One-without-a-second. Yet the

seers call it by different names such as Indra, Mitra, Varuëa, Suparëa (the divine eagle),

Garutmän, Agni, Yama and Mätariçvä.

There is only one sat, Existence-Absolute. Being One indivisible undivided sat, it has neither

beginning nor end. That is Brahman. When we say ekaà, One, it is not the number one, one-third of

three, etc. This One is non-dual, the One-without-second. However, this One is described in various

names and forms. Why should the sages describe it in different names and forms? It is to facilitate

our relating to that sat, that Éçvara, through the different aspects of his manifestation. Every aspect

of the universe is a manifestation of Éçvara. If we do not understand its connection with Éçvara, the

manifestation becomes saàsära and binds us.

mn @v mnu:ya[a< kar[< bNxmae]yae>,

mana eva manuñyäëäà käraëaà bandhamokñayoù (Païcadaçé 6-68).

The mind alone is the cause of both the bondage and liberation of human beings.

Proper knowledge alone liberates us. Wrong ideas in the mind only serve to bind us. Every glory of

this universe and, indeed every aspect of this universe can help us relate to Éçvara. There is no

aspect of the universe that cannot signal the presence of Éçvara.

When we want to relate to Éçvara as the ultimate cause of the universe, we can do so through any

one of His many facets. We are familiar with the saying that there are many paths to the same

destination. Whichever aspect of the universe we consider finally leads to Éçvara alone. Nothing in

this universe is apart from Éçvara. The Lord has not ‘borrowed’ the raw material for the creation of

the universe from somewhere else. Indeed, there is no raw material other than the Lord himself. The

Taittiréyopaniñat (2-6) describes the manifestation of the Lord as the universe as follows:

sae=kamyt, bhu Sya< àjayeyeit ,

so’kämayata, bahu syäà prajäyeyeti.

That Brahman desired; May I become many. May I be born.

According to the model of creation presented in Vedänta, Éçvara manifests as this very creation.

Therefore the apparent plurality is but a superimposition upon Éçvara. If we want to see gold in a

jeweler’s shop, we can see it in any one of the ornaments there because the underlying reality of all

ornaments is gold alone. Similarly, every aspect of this universe reflects Éçvara and, whichever way

we relate to it, we are really relating to Éçvara.

The concept of the devatä

The underlying reality of every aspect of this universe is Brahman. This is an important proposition

and is known and understood well. The entire universe is a superimposition upon ätman the

Awareness-Absolute. Suppose a child pulls my finger, is he not pulling me? Should he pull all of

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me to attract my attention? That is not necessary. Similarly, whatever be the aspect of Éçvara you

relate to, whatever be the name of Éçvara that you utter, whether Räma, Kåñëa or Gaëeña, and

whatever be the form you worship, it leads to the One non-dual Brahman.

The word devatä means the illumination of the consciousness. A lifeless insentient thing can never

be termed a devatä. Everything that we perceive is an aspect of Brahman and, therefore, not

different from Brahman. Therefore, it can be termed as devatä. We revere each of the infinite

aspects of Éçvara’s manifestation as a devatä, deity, and one can relate to Éçvara through any devatä

that appeals.

Take the example of a rupee coin. It appears to be merely a piece of insentient metal. The

underlying reality of the coin, however, is its purchasing power, which, in abundance, can help a

sentient being lead a comfortable life. So the piece of metal is not so insentient after all! Wealth is

an aspect through which one can appreciate the glory of Éçvara. Wealth is invariably associated with

beauty. The beauty in nature and beauty in wealth are but glories of the Lord. Thus, the combined

aspects of wealth and beauty are called Çré or Lakñmé devatä. No aspect of Éçvara’s manifestation

can ever be separate from him. Therefore, we say that Çré devatä, the Goddess of wealth, is never

away from God. In this manner, every aspect of the universe is seen as a devatä.

One can relate to Éçvara through any of his manifestations. For instance, if it is a river or a

mountain, Éçvara becomes a river-devatä or a mountain-devatä. Look at the river Gaìgä or, for that

matter, any river. To an undiscerning eye, it may appear as a lifeless body of flowing water. In the

vision of Vedänta, however, the river is but a näma, name, and a rüpa, form, which is superimposed

on Brahman, the Existence-Awareness-Absolute. Indeed, the underlying reality of the river is its

power and influence on life, which are the aspects of the manifestations of Brahman. If we are able

to understand that truth, the river Gaìgä is no more an insentient river; it is a devatä, Therefore, we

call it Gaìgä devé.

Think of the splendour of the Himalalyan range. What a beautiful range it is. It is the mountain

range in which the Gaìgä and many other rivers have their origin. In the very first verse of the

immortal poem Kumärasambhava, the poet Kälidäsa says:

ASTyuÄrSya< idiz devtaTma ihmalyaee nam ngaixraj>

astyuttarasyäà diçi devatätmä himälayo näma nagädhiräjaù.

There, in the north, is the king of mountains, called Himälayas. It is essentially a devatä (a

manifestation of the Awareness-Absolute).

In the Vedic vision, Himälayas are not a lifeless mountain range but truly manifestation of Éçvara

and we regard it to be a devatä. All natural phenomena are devatäs.

In life, there are always some hidden parameters that are not within our control. We take these

unknown factors into account when we relate to Éçvara as the one who takes care of them and helps

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us succeed in our endeavors. Éçvara then becomes Gaëeña or Vijaya Gaëapati. Knowledge is

another of the manifestations through which one can appreciate Éçvara. Knowledge then becomes

another devatä. The name of the devatä is Sarasvaté.

The human body itself is called a devälaya, a temple. It is the abode of Éçvara. There are many

devatäs in the body. For example, the hands are a sentient faculty. They possess the faculty of

holding objects. Therefore, there is a devatä representing this faculty. The name of the devatä is

Indra. The eyes are the faculty of vision, grasping the forms and colors of various objects.

Therefore, there is a presiding devatä for the eyes; Sürya, the sun God. The nose has the faculty of

discerning smell. There are twin devatäs for the nose, the Açvinés. Agni is the devatä of the faculty

of speech. The devatä of the mind, the faculty of thinking, is Candra, the Moon. these adhyätma

devatäs, pertaining to the body-mind-sense complex, have counterparts in the adhibhüta, the

cosmos created from the five elements, Thus, we can extrapolate this microcosm to the macrocosm

and vice versa. In this context, Éçvara is called the Viräö Puruña, the Cosmic Person. Every aspect

of the cosmos is like His limb. He has various limbs and each limb is a devatä. All these are

manifestations of that Éçvara alone. Thus, every aspect of life or the universe can signify Éçvara and

is looked upon as a devatä, this accounts for the apparent plurality of devatä.

Éçvara transcends gender

Éçvara has no gender and is needed beyond gender, even though the words that are used to describe

Éçvara have a gender associated with them. Gender is the property of the body alone; beyond the

body, there is no gender. In fact, all our faculties such as the sense organs, the mind, and the

intellect, as well as the ahaìkära or ego, the säkñé or witnessing Awareness, and ätman transcend

gender.

That which sets the language of Sanskrit apart from most languages is that the gender of a word is

not always connected to its meaning. There are three words that have the same meaning, but are

different in gender. For example, there are three words taöaù, taöé, and taöam in the masculine,

feminine, and neuter genders respectively, all of which mean the bank of a river. There are other

words such as däräù, wife, in the masculine gender, which illustrates that the linguistic gender and

biological gender can be different. In many instances, such as the word Rämaù, the two genders

coincide. It is interesting that the term caitanya, awareness has three synonyms: daivam, devä and

devatä; daivam is in the neuter, devaù in the masculine, and devatä in the feminine. From the

viewpoint of vyäkaraëa, Sanskrit grammar, you can use any of these words. For example, you can

say, “Rämo mama daivam” to mean that ‘Lord Räma is my (personal) God.’ Here, daivam is in the

neuter gender. You can also say, “Rämo mama devaù”, or “Rämo mama devatä”. Therefore, we can

use any one of the three words, even though their genders differ.

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The Upaniñads always present Brahman as ätman, the innermost reality of the individual.

Brahman, however, is beyond the scope of language. The description can never be the same as the

described. Yet words are used to indicate the ineffable Brahman. While using words, the

grammatical gender cannot be avoided. For example, consider the mahäväkya, the great statement,

of the Mäëòükyopaniñat (2)

AymaTma äü ,

ayamätmä brahma.

This ätman is Brahman.

In this statement, the words ayaà, this, and ätmä are both masculine in gender. However, this

supreme reality is described in feminine terms in Chändogyopaniñat (6-3-2):

sey< devtE]t ----- namêpe Vyakrvai[,

seyaà devataikñata ----- nämarüpe vyäkaraväëi.

That this Brahman visualized (desired) ---- that I would manifest (as) names and forms.

Here the words seyaà, that this, and devatä, Brahman, are in feminine gender. Ätman is described

in the neuter gender as well in the mahäväkya of the Chändogyopaniñat (6-9-4):

tTsTy< s AaTma tÅvmis,

tatsatyaà sa ätmä tattvamasi.

That is the Truth. That is ätman. That art thou.

Here, the words tat, that, and satyam, truth, are in the neuter gender. Whatever be the words used to

point to Brahman, the fact is that Brahman transcends gender; only the physical body has gender.

Hinduism is not polytheistic

There could be a number of deities and shrines in a temple, representing the Räma parivära, Çiva

parivära, Viñëu parivära or Devé parivära, parivära meaning family. The temple seems to represent

many Gods. Do we worship a multitude of Gods? It is not so. Unless properly understood, this form

of worship may be misinterpreted as being polytheism or paganism; one could look at the myriad

names presented in the literature and label Hinduism as polytheistic. Some Hindus are themselves

confused and unable to explain properly to others. Advaita is not monotheism. People translate

dvaita as dualism or polytheism and adviata as monothesim. This kind of translation is simplistic

and misleading. It is the Abrahamic faiths that are monotheistic. They maintain that there is One

God, who is external to this world, and say that there are many Gods in Hinduism. However, this is

not what Hinduism represents. In fact, in Hindu Philosophy, there is no ‘one’ God; there is ‘only’

the Godhead. This is the highest truth. Thus the Chändogyopaniñat (3-14-1) declares:

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svR< oiLvd< äü tJjlan!,

sarvaà khalvidaà brahma tajjalän.

All this originated from Brahman, all this exists in Brahman, and all this resolves in Brahman.

Therefore, all this, indeed is Brahman.

This being so, where is this plurality of Gods? How can the Vedic seers deny the plurality of the

entire universe and, at the same time, maintain the plurality of Gods as a reality? We can relate to

the glory of Éçvara through any of the aspects of his manifestation. When you look at a child, you

are looking at Brahman; when you look at fire, you are looking at Brahman; when you look at the

the water in the ocean, you are looking at Brahman, when you look at the Himälayas or the Poconos

in USA, you are looking at Brahman. We consider each of these aspects to be devatä. In doing so,

we adore the glory of Éçvara through that aspect of manifestation. We also have a mantra, a sacred

hymn or utterance of the Veda, in praise of his glory through that aspect.

Notwithstanding the apparent plurality, Brahma, One-without-second, is the reality of the universe

and this message is aptly conveyed by the Vedic declaration ‘sarvam khalvidam brahma’. Brahman

has manifested in the form of this vast universe, including you and me. How many facets could

there be in the manifestation of Éçvara? infinite! Therefore, we have infinite modes of relating to

Éçvara. In Hindu culture, it is indeed said that each seeker has his or her own personal God, which is

that form or aspect of the Godhead most appealing to his mind for worship and contemplation. As

Lord Çré Kåñëa declares in the Bhagavad Gétä (10-12):

AhmaTma gufakez svRÉUtazyiSwt>,

AhmaidZc mXy< c ÉUtanamNt @v c.

ahamätmä guòäkeça sarvabhütäçayasthitaù,

ahamädiçca madhyaà ca bhütänämanta eva ca.

O Arjuna! I am the innermost reality abiding in the hearts of all living beings. I am the beginning

(origin), middle (substratum of existence), and end (the substratum of resolution) of all the things of

the universe.

[from Vaidika Sükta Maïjaré with the commentary Tattva Prakäçikä by Püjya Swami Tattvavidananda Saraswati]

guéäRüa guéivR:[u> guédeRvae mheZvr>, guérev pr< äü tSmE ïIgurve nm>

gururbrahmä gururviñëuù gururdevo maheçvaraù,

gurureva paraà brahma tasmai çrégurave namaù

Salutations to that guru who is the creator, the sustainer

and the destroyer and who indeed is the limitless Brahman.

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Aae< nmae Égvte di][amUtRye mý< mexa< à}a< àyCD Svaha .

oà namo bhagavate dakñiëämürtaye mahyaà

Oà. Salutations to Bhagavän Dakñiëämürti.

Please bless me with medhä, memory and prajïä, wisdom.

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Swami Tattvavidananda is a true paëòita in both the classical and modern sense. His Vedic studies

began in childhood, first under the tutelage of his father, a well-known scholar, and later in a

traditional päöhaçälä. He excelled in his Vedic studies and at the age of 11 was encouraged to begin

modern academic studies. A brilliant student, he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry, and enjoyed a

successful scientific career.

Swamiji continued to retain the connection to his Vedic roots, and at the instigation of colleagues,

presented some of his thoughts on the Veda as a formal Ph.D. dissertation. This won him a Gold

Medal and a second doctorate, this time in Sanskrit. Although steeped in traditional Vedic learning,

Swami Tattvavidanandaji considers his search for understanding Vedänta was fulfilled when he met

and studied under Püjya Swami Dayanandaji. Since then he has grown as an äcärya through his

tireless work under Arsha Vidya Pitham. He recently completed the translation of the Bhagavad

Gétä home study program into Telegu. With his rich store of knowledge, his cheerful unaffected

manner, and his eagerness to share, Swami Tattvavidananda is a highly appreciated and beloved

teacher at the Gurukulam. He is that rare combination of knowledge (vidyä) and humility (vinaya).

Swamiji has been visiting the Bay Area regularly. He has given series of talks on Gajendra Mokña,

Vedänta Òiëòimaù, Bhagavad Gétä, Bhakta Hanumän and has conducted Meditation Retreats. It is

indeed a great blessing to have teachers and mahätamas like Swami Viditatmanandaji and Swami

Tattvavidanandaji visit us each year and continue this great teaching tradition. For this we are

honored, grateful and very thankful.

Ao{fm{flakar< VyaPt< yen cracrm! , tTpd< dizRt< yen tSmE ïIgurve nm> .

akhaëòamaëòaläkäraà vyäptaà yena caräcaram, tatpadaà daçitaà yen tasmai çrégurave

namaù

Salutations are to that guru who showed me the abode, the one who is to be known, whose

form is the entire universe and by whom all the movable and immovable are pervaded.

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