Shloka # 35:

बृहत्साम तथा साम्नां गायत्री छन्दसामहम्।
मासानां मार्गशीर्षोऽहमृतूनां कुसुमाकरः।।10.35।।

I am also the Brhat-sama of the Sama (-mantras); of the metres, Gayatri. Of the months I am Marga-sirsa, and among seasons, spring.

Continuing his teaching, Swamiji said, Sri Krishna, enumerating the glories of Ishwara in shloka # 35 said, “ I am Sama among Vedas; I am Gayathri among mantras.” Gayathri is a representative of Vedas. Veda is also called Brahman. That is why Gayathri Upadesha is called Brahmupadesha or Veda Upadesha. In Chandogya Upanishad, Gayathri is presented as Brahman for meditation. Brahma sutra also analyzed it, as well. The mantra occurs in Rg, Yajur and Sama Vedas, as well.

Among all months I am the period between Dec 15- Jan 15, known as Margashirsha. This month is considered important because at that time land is full of crops, grains are plentiful, and prosperity on earth is high. Other commentators say that it is the dawn of the Devatas. Devatas one day equates to one year of human beings.  The time before start of such a day is called Brahma Muhurtha. Brahma Muhurtha is a satvic period. Hence that month is important for spiritual practices.

Among six seasons I am Vasantha. The six seasons are: vasantha, varsha, sharat, hemantha, shishira and grishma. Vasantha Ritu is the period when flowers blossom and people are happy; the most pleasant season, when I am Kusumakaraha, meaning I am the abundance of flowers.

Shloka # 36:

द्यूतं छलयतामस्मि तेजस्तेजस्विनामहम्।
जयोऽस्मि व्यवसायोऽस्मि सत्त्वं सत्त्ववतामहम्।।10.36।।

Of tricksters I am the game of dice; of the vigorous I am vigor; I am victory, I am resolution; of the virtuous, I am virtue.

Dhyutam:

Among those activities that rob us of our discriminative powers, I am gambling. Gambling makes one addicted. Kalidevata resides in several places and deludes human minds says, Bhagavan. In entire Mahabharata the message is that if we are not careful, gambling can suck us down. Dharmaputra got hooked on it and lost his sense of propriety and lost his wife and brothers. He knew Dharma and yet lost his balance. In our younger days parents used to tell us not to play cards because of this.

Tejas:

I am internal brilliance amongst all brilliant people. Brilliance is one who resists temptations. It is easier to say no the first time as it becomes more difficult later. Therefore I am that brilliant discrimination that resists temptations.

Satva:

I am Satva guna among Satvic people.  I am the satva guna, which represents spiritual inclination; rajo guna represents materialistic inclination; Artha-kama inclination is caused by rajo guna; Dharma moksha inclination is caused by satva guna; and tamo guna obstructs our inclination for both of them; tamo guna makes a person lazy with neither materialistic inclination, nor spiritual inclination.

Scriptures say Tamasic person must cultivate material desires and then go to Spiritual desires. That spiritual desire is Satva Guna.

Vyavasayaha: means prayatna or effort. This effort is to fulfill spiritual desires. Thus Pancha Maha Yagna is important for Chitta Shuddhi. It is industry as a character of mind where I will lead one to victory or success.

Thus, Satva Guna triggers Vyavsayaha victory. I am That. If we get spiritual success we should not be arrogant as even that is due to the Lord. Pull of free will should be backed by Ishwara anugraha.

Shloka # 37:

वृष्णीनां वासुदेवोऽस्मि पाण्डवानां धनंजयः।
मुनीनामप्यहं व्यासः कवीनामुशना कविः।।10.37।।

Among members of the Vrsni clan, I am Vasudeva; among pandavas, I am Arjuna. Among the contemplative sages, I am Vyasa; among the seers, I am seer Usnaha.

Among descendants of Vrishni’s (Yadava Vamsha) I am Vasudeva. One of Sri Krishna’s names is Varshneya.

Why does he claim he is greatest here; because Sri Krishna is an avatara of God. Why is Sri Krishna most glorious among avataras? In Sri Krishna avatara alone God performs as a liberating Acharya, as Jagat Guru. Therefore Sri Krishna’s teaching of the Bhagavat Gita is one of the three main textbooks of Vedanta shastra. These three books are known as Prasthana Trayam. First one, the Upanishads, is called the shruti prasthana; the second one is bhagavad Gita called the smrti prasthanam; and the third one is brahma sutras, the nyaya prasthanam.

The Gita, even now is fresh and valid; it is not an obsolete textbook; rather it is a valid teaching; and since Krishna is the Gitacharya, he is the greatest one.

Among Pandavas I am Arjuna himself. Why is Arjuna the greatest and not Dharmaputra? If Gita is the grestest shastra, Arjuna was the first receiver of this greatest teaching. He got teaching from Narayana himself.  Why was Arjuna chosen for giving Gita teaching? Several reasons are given but most obvious one is that Arjuna asked Sri Krishna for the teaching.

Among Muni’s, I am Vyasa Acharya. Why so? Sri Krishna is the greatest Acharya as he is a brahma vidya acharya. Among prastahna Trayam one contribution is by Sri Krishna and other of the Brahma sutra is by Vyasa. Vyasa, within Mahabharata, did even the compilation of Gita. He contributed to both Gita and Brahma sutra. During amaniavattam tarpanam there is a prayer offered to Krishnadvaipayana or Vyasa. Therefore, among Rishis, I am Vyasa. He got name Vyasa as he compiled the Vedas as well. He called four disciples and asked for their assistance. Vyasa’s original name was Krishnadvaipayana; he was also called Vedavyasa and thus became known as Vyasa.

Among great seers, who can see all three kalas, I am Shukracharya; or Usana, the asura guru. Here Kavi does not mean a poet rather he is a Kranta darshi or one with ESP; who sees beyond sense organs.

Shloka # 38:

दण्डो दमयतामस्मि नीतिरस्मि जिगीषताम्।
मौनं चैवास्मि गुह्यानां ज्ञानं ज्ञानवतामहम्।।10.38।।

Of those who chastise, I am the rod; of those who seek victory, I am the tactics. Of secrets, I am the silence, and of the learned, I am knowledge.

Among disciplinarians or orderliness, I am Danda, the rod of punishment. The process of discipline can include: Requesting, education and punishment. Sri Krishna says generally people are immature and gross; and therefore education, good words, etc. do not work; generally, what works is, dandah or punishment.

Here Sama, Dana, Bheda and Dandam come to mind. Danda gives instantaneous results. Nowadays corporate punishment is prohibited in schools.

Among causes of victory, among victors I am Nitihi or diplomacy. It leads to success.

Among secrets, I am, maunam. Maunam also represents Brahman. In silence there is nothing but Consciousness. In Mandukya Upanishad it says, nothingness is witnessed by consciousness.

Among or in wise people, I am wisdom. When you perform namaskrara to a gyani, you are doing namaskara to his Gyanam or God himself.

Shloka # 39:

यच्चापि सर्वभूतानां बीजं तदहमर्जुन।
न तदस्ति विना यत्स्यान्मया भूतं चराचरम्।।10.39।।

And that which is seed of all beings, I am, Arjuna! That which is without Me, mobile or stationary, exists not.

Here Sri Krishna concludes enumeration of his glories. He says I am the seed or material cause of creation. Clay is material cause of all earthenware; gold is material cause of all ornaments; wood is material cause of all furniture etc. Material cause expresses as effect or existence. When I say an ornament “is”, the “Is” ness belongs to Gold alone; while ornament itself is just a nama and rupa. Remove gold from ornament, it loses its existence.

Therefore when you say wall is: Isness belongs to me; when you say: fan is: Isness belongs to me; In short, I am the Sat in the creation; I am existence in every being. Therefore, there is nothing in creation, moving or stationary that exists, without my blessing. Who is God? Is ness is the God; all others are nama rupa only.  Thus he started with chit, ended with sat; chit and sat are nirguna Ishvara vibhuthi; and all others are saguna Ishvara vibhuthi; vibhuthi means mahima.

Shloka # 40:

नान्तोऽस्ति मम दिव्यानां विभूतीनां परंतप।
एष तूद्देशतः प्रोक्तो विभूतेर्विस्तरो मया।।10.40।।

Scourge of foes! There is no limit to My divine powers. What has been stated by Me is only illustrative of the extent of that puissance (power).

Here Sri Krishna says, Arjuna, I have stopped enumerating my glories. If I have to list all of them it is inexhaustible. My intention is to give a sample of glories. My divine glories have no end. Why then enumerate them? This enumeration is only a random sample of my glories. How to extend this list? Sri Krishna says, I will tell you how to do it by yourself.

Shloka # 41:

यद्यद्विभूतिमत्सत्त्वं श्रीमदूर्जितमेव वा।
तत्तदेवावगच्छ त्वं मम तेजोंऽशसंभवम्।।10.41।।

Whatever being has power, glory, or energy, know (each of them) to be born of a part of My splendor.

Sri Krishna says you can make your own list. When you see creation in daily life, if you see something that is wonderful (natural or artificial) that makes you awe struck or rich or abundant or powerful, like energy of sun; anything beautiful, when you see it, remember Me. When you see such a thing you prostate and hand it over to temple. Powerful, rich, etc are all an infinitesimal part of god’s glory; that is why we worship nature.

Shloka # 42:

अथवा बहुनैतेन किं ज्ञातेन तवार्जुन।
विष्टभ्याहमिदं कृत्स्नमेकांशेन स्थितो जगत्।।10.42।।

O Arjuna! Wherefore should you know so much of all these? Encompassing this entire world by a fragment of My power, do I abide, eternally.

Sri Krishna says, Arjuna! you can look at all this from a different perspective as well. Thus water being present in every wave; bubble or drop is one way of looking at water. Really speaking, all waves, bubbles and drops are all in water.

In a similar manner the whole creation is in Me. I remain supporting this creation or another way of seeing it is, that this entire creation is in Me.

Space is not within this hall; that is not the correct statement; rather all the Halls are in space. Similarly Bhagavan is not in the living beings; but all living beings are in Bhagavan; and that too they do not occupy the whole Bhagavan; I am only sustaining them; in one corner of Me; So the whole cosmos is only occupying a part of Me; so how big I am; so the whole cosmos is like a bubble in Me; the ocean; So with this Krishna concludes the description of His glories.

Take away:

Tamo guna makes a person lazy with neither materialistic inclination, nor spiritual inclination.

A tamasic person must cultivate material desires and then go on to spiritual desires. That spiritual desire is Satva Guna.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 33:

अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च।
अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताऽहं विश्वतोमुखः।।10.33।।

Aksaranam, of the letters; I am the akarah, letter a. Samasikasya, of the group of compound words, I am the compund (called) Dvandva. Besides, aham eva, I Myself; am the aksayah, infinite, endless; kalah, time, well known as ‘moment’ etc.; or, I am the supreme God who is Kala (Time, the measurer) even of time. I am the dhata, Dispenser, the dispenser of the fruits of actions of the whole world, visvatomukhah, with faces everywhere.

Akshara:

Continuing his teaching, Swamiji said, we are seeing Sri Krishna continue enumeration of the glories of Ishwara. In Shloka # 33, he said that among Aksharas I am Aa. Sarasvati Devi is in the form of Alphabetic letters. Even among all letters Aa is most sacred. It is sacred because it is a basic letter that emerges from our mouth without doing anything to the mouth. Thus sounds such as E, U come about by some modification to the mouth whereas Aa is an effortless sound of the mouth. Akara is also a flexible sound that can be modified into other alphabets. Hence Aa kara is considered Karana aksharam, causal sound, while all other alphabets are considered Karya Aksharam, the effect. Vedas say that A Kara manifests as all other letters. It says all letters are a modification of Aa. In our tradition every alphabet has a presiding deity. The presiding deity of Aa is Brahmaji, the Creator of the world. Since Aa is the cause of all letters, Sri Krishna says, I am letter Aa.

Samasha:  Are compound words that are properly arranged. By compound words I save prepositions. Citing an example, in the sentence, I bought puja material really means I bought material for puja. Puja material is thus a compound word. Similarly, the sentence, I went to Shiva temple, really means I went to a temple where Shiva is worshipped. Similarly, Ganga water really means water from Ganga.

And how do you know what preposition is to be used; you know it from the context thus Ganga water means water from Ganga; Pooja material means material for pooja. And Adayar class does not mean classes

From Adayar rather it means classes conducted in Adayar. So in which place, which preposition is to be used, we get to know from the context.

Similarly, when I say I went to Birla Mandir, what I really mean is that I went to a temple built by Birla, which is the context.

This compound formation is very systematic. Four basic compounds are enumerated and these four are later expanded into 7 types of compound, then these types of compounds are further expanded into 35 types of compounds; Thus we have many compounds called samasaha; and these group of compounds are called

Saamasikam. Samasikam means samasanam samuham; the group of compound are:

tatpurusha samas; bahuvrihi samasa; karmadharaya samas; Dvigu samas; dvandva samas; avyayibhaava samas.  In Sanskrit we can compound words, which can contain tens of words joined together.  Thus, Kalidasa’s Shyamala Dandakam has many samasaha words. Therefore, among compounds I am Dvanda samasaha, says, Sri Krishna.

Kala Tatvam:

Sri Krishna says I am Kala Tatvam that puts an end to everything however kala itself has no end, meaning it is inexhaustible time. Even in pralaya, kala continues into the next creation. And because of the continuity of kala

alone, the next cycle of shristi is possible. Therefore Sri Krishna says I am the kala tatvam, which is inexhaustible.

Dhata: means karma phala dhata. One who gives appropriate karmas at right place, at right time, to right person, for all beings in the Universe. Sri Krishna says I am Karma phala dhata.

Vishvatomukhah

He also says, my face is turned in all directions, so I can see everywhere.

Shloka # 34:

मृत्युः सर्वहरश्चाहमुद्भवश्च भविष्यताम्।
कीर्तिः श्रीर्वाक्च नारीणां स्मृतिर्मेधा धृतिः क्षमा।।10.34।।

And I am Death, the destroyer of all; and the prosperity of those destined to be prosperous. Of the feminine (I am) fame, beauty, speech, memory, intelligence, fortitude and forbearance.

Mrtyu:

I am greatest robber, Kala, who will take away everything from a jiva. We can’t take anything at time of death. What you can carry at death is only one’s papam and punyam. Thus, death, or Yama, takes everything from you.

Citing a story, a man had a lot of property. He wanted to give it away. He challenged that one has to run as far as possible from sunrise to sun set, the distance, in land, covered would be given as a gift to runner. One person took the challenge and ran; as he came to closer to sunset, he wanted to get more distance and ran the last few minutes very hard and in doing so, he collapsed and died. So, what happened to all the land he acquired?

So, I am destroyer, samhara tatvam, Says Sri Krishna.

Udbhava:

I am Udbhava, meaning source of future prosperity or wealth. The resource or source of all the future prosperity or future wealth; because if you have to

produce anything in future, they all must be there potentially; we can never generate anything if that provision is not there and Sri Krishna says that provision is myself.

Kirti, Sri, Nari, Smriti, Medha:

Female Devatas such as Mahalaxmi, goddess of wealth; Sarawati, goddess of knowledge and Parwati, Goddess of Shakti are called adhishtana devatas. Why do we have these devatas? Some universal laws govern everything. Such laws govern even our organs. These laws function because of an intelligent principle. For every government law too there is an officer required to maintain it. Any law is governed by an intelligent principle.

Thus it flows as follows: Higher Intelligence> Laws> Object.

Adhishatna devatas include Bhumi devata, alphabet devata etc are all aspects of Ishwara or God or Total intelligence.

So God for Kirti, name and fame, is called Kirti devata. Similarly we have Vak devata, Smriti devata, and Medha devata. Vedas have prayers for all such Devatas, thus there is a medha suktam.

Dhriti: means Perseverance or will power or continued effort despite failures. It is the resilience like a rubber ball that bounces back. There are several types of people. One who upon failing renounces every thing. The other type is a person, who upon failing, keeps trying again and again.

I am Dhriti says Sri Krishna.

Medha:

Medha means intelligence principle; we do not know why some brains are very intelligent and others not. So there are again laws governing this and that devatha is called medha devatha; and we have got Vedic prayers directed to medha such as  medha sukhtam; a special prayer for medha devi;

Kshama: means Patience or the capacity to wait. It is often tested at traffic stops where we have to wait. I am Kshama says, Sri Krishna.

Shloka # 35:

बृहत्साम तथा साम्नां गायत्री छन्दसामहम्।
मासानां मार्गशीर्षोऽहमृतूनां कुसुमाकरः।।10.35।।

I am also the Brhat-sama of the Sama (-mantras); of the metres, Gayatri. Of the months I am Marga-sirsa, and among seasons, spring.

Sama Mantra:

Among sama mantras, I am Brihat Sama, a mantra, a very suspicious one, glorifying the Lord. This mantra praises God; hence it is known as Brihat or infinite one. I am Brihat Sama mantra, says Sri Krishna.

Gayathri Mantra:

I am gayathri mantra among all Veda mantras, says Sri Krishna. The word Chandas has two meanings; one is it is a Vedic meter and second one is, it is a Vedic mantra as well. Chandas provides rules of poetry. There are many chandas such as Anushtup, Trishtup etc.

Among Vedic mantras I am Gayathri. Gayathri has two meanings. Gayathri is a meter consisting of three lines, with 8 letters in each. Gayatri is also a mantra. Why is Gayathri glorius? Its main glory is that it is Veda saraha. Brahmaji wanted to take essence of vedas (Rg, Yajur and Sama) and he got gayathri.

Thus, we have:

Rg veda sara: Tatsavitha varenyam

Yajur Veda sara: Bhargo devasya Dhimahi

Sama Veda sara: Dhiyo yonaha prachodayat.

This mantra was originally called Savitri mantra. Savithri is name of Surya devata. It was set in gayathri meter hence it is called gayathri.

Also, Om Bhur Bhuvaha is not part of Gayatri mantra, it was added to aide the chanting of the mantra.

Since it is essence of Vedas, it is called Veda itself. Hence father teaches Gayathri to son and it continues on.

Gayathri mantra protects one from all papams or invisible negative effects. How come all people are not allowed to chant Gayathri?

Only one’s who are initiated can chant Shrauta Gayathri.

Shrauta Gayathri is from Vedas.

Smartha gayathri can be chanted by anyone. Smartha Gayatri is from Smriti’s.

Smartha gayatri is as follows:

yo devah savitasmakam dhiyo dharmati gocarah|

prerayet tasya yat bhargah tatvarenya mupasmaheh ||

Essence of Gayathri mantra:

The meaning is very simple: we are meditating upon the sacred efflugence of Sun God.

And why are we meditating and worshipping Gayathri? What do we get out of it? Gayathri is that effulgence which activates our intelligence or buddhi. So therefore, I worship the solar effulgence, because it is supposed to activate my brain; my medha shakti increases, memory power increases; and that is why for brahmacharis, or students, gayathri was emphasized; because it gives every student memory power.

Gayathri activates buddhi shakti; and therefore Sri Krishna says, I am Gayatri Mantra; if a person does not chant the gayatri; he loses all the advantages of being a vaidika purusha.

And it is said in our tradition that without chanting gayatri; whatever other mantras one chants, they all will not be that effective; on the other hand, if he chants gayatri, then no other mantra is required at all.

And furthermore, gayathri itself is divided into two based upon how it is read; thus,one says, tat savithu varenyam while other says tat savithu vare niyam; Second one has 24 letters, while first one 23 letters. One with 24 letters is called gayathri. Second one with 23 letters is called nichir Gayathri. During sandhyavandhanam; one is supposed to chant nichir gayathri;

Margashirsha:

Among 12 months of the year I am Marga shirsha or the period from Dec 15 to January 15.

Take away:

Gayathri: Its main glory is that it is Veda saraha.

Gayathri’s meaning: We are meditating upon the sacred efflugence of Sun God.

If a person does not chant the Gayathri, he loses all the advantages of being a Vaidika purusha.

Once you chant Gayathri, you don’t need to chant any other mantra.

During sandhyavandhanam we are supposed to chant the nichir gayathri with 23 letters.

Smartha gayatri is as follows:

yo devah savitasmakam dhiyo dharmati gocarah|

prerayet tasya yat bhargah tatvarenya mupasmaheh ||

Smartha Gayathri can be chanted by anyone.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Karika # 23:

अकारो नयते विश्वमुकारश्चापि तैजसम् ।
मकारश्च पुनः प्राज्ञं नामात्रे विद्यते गतिः ॥ २३ ॥

The sound letter A helps the meditator to attain a well-developed waking personality (vishva). The meditator on U attains a well-developed Taijasa (mind and intellect) and for one who meditates on M reaches Prajna. In the “ soundless” state, after Mkara, there remains no attainment.

 Swamiji said the Upanishad is analyzing Omkara from mantra # 8 onwards. The Upanishad talked about Omkara and A U M was equated to first three padas of atma. It also gave three Upsanasas to practice for the unprepared students. Thus meditating on Akara symbolizes Virat, U kara symbolizes Hiranyagarbha and M kara symbolizes Pragya or Anataryami, respectively.

After practicing the upasana for some time one comes to Omkara Vichara and then resolves A U and M. An example of this process of resolution was provided by our discussion of Bangle, Chain, Ring and Gold. We found there is no substance called bangle, chain or ring respectively. We found that in all of them gold alone is the substance. This understanding that there is no bangle, chain or ring is called padartha-nisheda or negating substantiality of all three ornaments except gold. Padartha Traya Laya, this dissolution of all three, occurs by clear thinking. Once this dissolution occurs question may come up as to why when three padarthas are not there anymore why do we still have the three words? Now, existence of a word is relevant only if there is a corresponding object. First substance, bangle was negated; then we found there is no relevance for word ring as well and in a similar manner relevance of chain was also negated. Padatraya nisheda, means negation of corresponding words. Thus padartha and padatraya, that is all three padas (Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Pragya) and respective three matras (A U M, are negated and then only advaitam gold remains.

Similarly we have to negate sthula, sukshma and karana prapanchas just as we did for padarthas. Once we negate three padarthas only Turiyam remains. There are no more stula, sukshma, and Karana prapancha substances as well. The relevant words also have no more relevance; hence A U M also has no relevance. We have to keep in mind that A U M corresponds to sthula, sukshma and karana prapanchas. Thus A U M are also gone. What is left is Amatra the only substance or only truth of all three and this has to be revealed by an enquiry. This Amatra is now revealed in Mantra # 12.

Mantra # 12:

अमात्रश्चतुर्थोऽव्यवहार्यः प्रपञ्चोपशमः

शिवोऽद्वैत एवमोङ्कार आत्मैव

संविशत्यात्मनाऽऽत्मानं

य एवं वेद ॥ १२ ॥

That which has no parts, the soundless, the cessation of all phenomena, all blissful and non-dual AUM, is the fourth, and verily it is the same as the Atman. He, who knows this, merges his self in the supreme Self, the individual in total.

By negating Prapancha Trayam we come to Turiyam. By negating Matra Trayam (Omkara) we come to Amatra. Amatra is silence following Om. Amatra is the fourth matra. There is no dimension to this silence known as Amatra. This silence is also not finite like A U M. Definition of Amatra: It is exactly same as Turiyam as defined in mantra # 7.

As per this definition, Amatra or truth of Omkara, equals Turiyam, truth of universe. Also, Amatra is fourth part of Omkara even as Turiyam is the fourth pada of Atma. You can never talk about Turiyam and Silence.

When one talks, you know his language, but when a person is silent there is no language spoken; it is attributeless. It is free from pada prapancha, A U M. While Turiyam is free from padartha prapancha or world of objects, Amatra is free from world of names.

Shivaha, in mantra means Amatra or auspicious. Advaita means Amatra is non-dual. In this manner Omkara and four padas of Atma are identical. If I know this, what is the benefit? If a man knows that he is not Vishwa, Taijasa and Karana prapancha but that he is Turiyam, he enters into Atma.

Here, we have to remember that Amatra, the fourth matra, can be translated as silence. This silence is not mere absence of sound or its non-existence; rather, it is Consciousness principle that illumines absence of silence. This silence is Consciousness principle. This silence is not blankness; it is presence of Chaitanyam. This Chaitanya silence is the fourth matra of Omkara. The beauty of this silence is that it can co-exist with sound that is A U M while normal silence cannot. Consciousness can co-exist with A U M. Therefore; Amatra is Chaitanya Tatvam which is Turiyam as well. With this phala shruti of Omkara Vichara is complete.

Thus:

By enquiry into Atma we come to Turiyam

By enquiry into Omkara we come to Amatra.

Through this enquiry we come to pure consciousness.

With this the Upanishad is over. Gaudapada now further explains mantra # 12 in Amatra Karika.

Karika # 24:

ओंकारं पादशो विद्यात्पादा मात्रा न संशयः । 
ओंकारं पादशो ज्ञात्वा न किंचिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥ २४ ॥

The AUM syllable should be known quarter by quarter. There is no doubt, indeed, that the quarters (of the Self) are the same as the morae (letters of AUM). Having grasped thus the entire significance of Omkara, nothing else whatsoever should be thought of.

While writing his commentary Gaudapada consolidates his teaching of his previous karikas as well. He says, one has to clearly understand that the four padas of Atma equate with four matras of Omkara; thus every pada equates to a specific matra. Having clearly known Omkara and Atma, thereafter he should not have any other thought; he should arrive at Turiyam and abide in it.

(My Note: After understanding the four equations clearly, one should practice nididhyasanam with the Omkara mantra. Omkara can be used as a support for nididhyasanam. How do you meditate? Chant OM and

when you come to silence, you have to dwell upon the knowledge that there are two components in that

silence, one is silence and the other is consciousness. Then turn your attention from silence to

Consciousness then you claim that you are that Turiyam consciousness. This is called silence meditation.)

Karika # 25:

युञ्जीत प्रणवे चेतः प्रणवो ब्रह्म निर्भयम् । 
प्रणवे नित्ययुक्तस्य न भयं विद्यते क्वचित् ॥ २५ ॥

Soak the mind with the roar of AUM; Identify the mind with the sound of AUM; AUM is Brahman the ever fearless. He who is always unified with AUM shall know no fear whatsoever.

Having studied Mandukya and equating Omkara to the four padas of Atma, one must dwell on this through nidhidhyasanam.

Thus when one meditates on first pada Gross Cosmos comes up.

When he meditates on second pada Sukshma Prapancha comes up.

When he meditates on third pada Karana Prapancha comes up.

When he meditates on fourth pada, Turiyam comes up and he should see that other three prapanchas are non-substantial.

With Turiyam he should know that other three do not have any substance just as bangle (sthula prapancha), chain (Sukshma prapancha) and ring (karana prapancha) do not have a substance. This process of assimilation is nidhidhyasanam.

Similarly, A becomes meaningless as does U and M as well. In silence word disappears; there will only be silence consciousness. Student must perform this nidhidysanam. Now sound part of Omkara is saguna Brahman while silence part of Omkara or Amatra is nirguna Brahman. Pranava in the karika means Omkara.

This one has to learn to see in the sadhana. This will provide freedom from all insecurities. All these shlokas are nidhidhyasana shlokas. Gaudapada says you have to dwell on Omkara as often as possible as it will help in arriving at the “silence awareness”. Through Om one comes to this silence.

Advantages of this nidhidhyasanam: Once I know I am silence awareness, I am not afraid of death anymore. Sthula shariram is mortal, Suskhma shariram is mortal and Karana shariram is also mortal but I, the silence, am free from mortality.

Karika # 26:

प्रणवो ह्यपरं ब्रह्म प्रणवश्च परः स्मृतः । 
अपूर्वोऽनन्तरोऽबाह्योऽनपरः प्रणवोऽव्ययः ॥ २६ ॥

AUM is verily the lower Brahman and it is also declared to be supreme Brahman. Pranava is without any cause preceding It, without subsequent manifestation, without anything inside and outside, unrelated to any effect and changeless.

All these karikas are Omkara dhyanam related. Omkara is both Nirguna Brahman (without attributes) and Saguna brahman (with attributes).

A U M represents Saguna Virat, Hiranyagarbha and Anataryami while the silence following OM represents Nirguna Brahman.

The fourth matra of Omkara is without any second thing either inside or outside.

It is like the bangle; is it inside or outside of gold? Bangle, in fact does not even exist, as such where is the question of inside or outside?

When there is no world, where is the inside or outside to it? Thus, there is no matter inside or outside of Atma, the Consciousness. There is no matter inside or outside of Atma. In fact there is no substance called matter. Matter is just a word we use.

In Karika: Purva means karanam; Aparam means Karyam; Apurva anaparaha means beyond cause and effect.

Now, Padas one and two come under Karyam; Pada three comes under karanam; while Turiyam is karya karana vilakshanam as detailed in Karika # 11.

Consciousness is beyond matter, time and space. Avyaya means free from changes.

Karika # 27:

सर्वस्य प्रणवो ह्यादिर्मध्यमन्तस्तथैव च । 
एवं हि प्रणवं ज्ञात्वा व्यश्नुते तदनन्तरम् ॥ २७ ॥

AUM is verily the beginning, the middle and end of all. Knowing AUM as such, verily one attains immediately to that supreme Reality.

Gold is the only truth. It is the substance that pervades all ornaments. It is substance of ornaments. If you seek gold in ornaments in beginning, middle and in the end it is all pervading, as it alone gives existence to all three ornaments.

Similarly the beginning, middle and end of creation are borrowed from Turiyam. Prana vaha means silence, awareness part of pranava. It is beginning, middle and end; this is true both spatially and time wise. Turiya Chaitanya is content of all.  Owning up to Silence Awareness is Me. At that time there is blankness, there is stillness that is you, as witness of silence. I am that Chaitanyam, Instantaneously one becomes one with Turiya Chaitanyam.

Karika # 28:

प्रणवं हीश्वरं विद्यात्सर्वस्य हृदि संस्थितम् ।
सर्वव्यापिनमोंकारं मत्वा धीरो न शोचति ॥ २८ ॥

Know AUM to be Isvara, the Lord, ever-present in the hearts of all; the man of discrimination realizing AUM as all-pervading does not ever grieve.

Omkara has two meanings. Direct meaning is it is the sound of Omkara; second meaning is the implied silence that follows Omkara.

Silence is the consciousness that makes blankness known. Therefore, Omkara implies Consciousness or it means awareness of Silence. It is Paramatma. Where is he, the paramatma, residing? Lord resides in mind of all and Omkara consciousness is in mind of all, as witness of presence and absence of thought. So consciousness is all pervading. For one who can understand this there is no grief (samasara) in life. He is a Muktaha.

Karika # 29:

अमात्रो‘नन्तमात्रश्च द्वैतस्योपशमः शिवः । 
ओंकारो विदितो येन स मुनिर्नेतरो जनः ॥ २९ ॥

One who has known AUM, which is moraeless and of multiple morae (meaning AUM which is soundless and of infinite sounds) and which is ever peaceful because of negation of all duality in it, is the true sage; none other.

In this concluding karika Gaudapada reminds us of mantra number twelve’s definition of Amatra.

Definition of Amatra: Amatra is one without any limitation; either related to space or time. A is limited; U is limited; M is limited; but Amatra does not have any limitation. In meditation we should not work for relative silence; here sound comes and it displaces silence. However, Vedanta says this is not the truth. The true silence is Chaitanyam that is absolute silence; which is free from duality. It is present in silence and sound. It is ever auspicious; it is never disturbed by sound, just as waker’s silence is not disturbed by dreamer’s noise. This person who recognizes Omkara in this manner is a real Seer, a wise person. With this the Amatra karika is over; Chapter # 1 is over; and Upanishad is also over.

Take Away:

Omkara meditation:

Chant OM and when you come to silence, you have to dwell upon the knowledge that there are two components in that silence, one is silence and the other is consciousness. Then turn your attention from silence to consciousness and claim that you are that Turiyam, consciousness. This is called silence meditation.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Mantra # 11:

सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा

 मितेरपीतेर्वा मिनोति ह वा

 इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति

य एवं वेद ॥ ११ ॥

Pragya, whose sphere of activity is deep sleep, is M the third letter of AUM, because it is both the “measure” and also “ that wherein all become one”. One who knows this identity of Pragya and M is able to know the real nature of things and beings, and also come to realize as being the Self of all.

Swamiji said the Upanishad is in Omkara Vichara from mantra # 8 onwards. In Mantra # 8 it pointed out that the four padas of Atma could be equated to four matras of Omkara; that is A U M and the silence following M is known as Amatra.

From mantra # 9 onwards, each matra was equated to each pada in progressive order. Thus Aa was equated to Vishwa or Virat. In Mantra # 10 the second pada Taijasa or Hiranyagarbha was equated to matra U.

In mantra # 11 the third pada of Pragya and Ishwara was equated to M kara.

Incidentally, after equating, the Upanishad prescribed three upasanas. Aim of Upanishad is not upasana but Vichara. Assuming some students may not be ready for Vichara the Upanishad prescribes the three upasanas. Shankaracharya says upasana is not main topic of the mantras.

The main two features of each of the three upasanas were then pointed out as:

Upasana # 1: it is Aptehe and adimatva.

Upasana # 2: Utakarsha and Ubhayatvat

Upasana # 3: Mithi and Apithi .

Once a nishkama upsana is performed by a manda bhakta his mind will be prepared.

Now, instead of going to fourth pada and fourth matra, Goudapada gives us a break in the following karikas where he talks of the three upasanas.

Karika # 19:

विश्वस्यात्वविवक्षायामादिसामान्यमुत्कटम् । 
मात्रासंप्रतिपत्तौ स्यादाप्तिसामान्यमेव च ॥ १९ ॥

When identity of Vishva and the A sound is  to be described, the common features between them are “being the first” in their respective positions as well as similarity of all pervasiveness.

In this karika Gaudapada is summarizing the Mantra # 9. Sampratipathi means identified with a particular mantra. In such a meditation, Vishwa is equated to Atvam or Amatra. Vishwa is Akara. Vishwa also includes Virat, Jagrat prapancha and Sthula prapancha. The entire jagrat prapancha is thus visualized on Aa.

Here the common features are:

1. Aadi: Virat is primary and Aa is also primary.
2. Apte: Both Aa and Virat are all pervading in nature.

This is upasana #1. Its phalam is mentioned later on by Guadapada.

Karika # 20:

तैजसस्योत्वविज्ञान उत्कर्षो दृश्यते स्फुटम् ।
मात्रासंप्रतिपत्तौ स्यादुभयत्वं तथाविधम् ॥ २० ॥

It is clearly seen that Taijasa is of the same nature as U in AUM, the common features being “superiority”. Another reason for fixing such an identity is “being in the middle”.

It is a summary of mantra # 10. Here upasaka is equating matra U with Taijasa, Hiranyagarbha, sukshma prapancha, invisible worlds; and in doing this, all minds must be visualized. With that the U is taken as a part of Omkara. Two common features here are:

1. Utkrishaha: In mantra # 10 superiority of subtle universe is described. It is cause of gross universe. Even as mind is more powerful than body, so is U superior to Aa at time of chanting. Aa resolves in U. U is resolution ground of Akara.
2. Ubhayatvam: means being an intermediary stage or in the middle. Thus, sukshma prapancha is between sthula and pragya. Similarly U is between Aa and M. This is also an aide to meditation.

Phalam will be discussed later.

Karika # 21:

मकारभावे प्राज्ञस्य मानसामान्यमुत्कटम् । 
मात्रासंप्रतिपत्तौ तु लयसामान्यमेव च ॥ २१ ॥

The identity of prajna and M is upon the clear common feature that they are the “measure”. The other reason for such an identity is because “ all become one” in both prajna and M.

Here  M is equated with the third pada that is Pragya or Antaryami, or Karana prapancha or the Universe in its unmanifest form. Before big bang too there was a condensed universe, an unmanifest universe. This is to be visualized on sound M. To aide with this meditation two common features were described.

1. Mithi: Also called Manam in karika, meaning measure. Sthula, sukshma prapancha enter the measure and then come out of it as well. Utkatam means evident. Measure-ness.
2. Laya samanya; Gaudapada uses laya instead of Apithi as used in mantra # 11. Laya is resolution ground; Karana Prapancha is also resolution ground and upon dissolution it goes back to its potential state.

Law of conservation of energy is actually described in Upanishad. It says that sthula suskhma parapancha go back to Laya.

Also Aa and U resolve in M. When we say M is resolution ground it is from a practical point of view as technically M cannot be resolution ground; it has to be Aa alone. By nature of Aa it is the material cause of all other sounds, their karanam; as such all have to be resolved back in it alone.

Upanishad is indicating a practical reality that Mm is end of all talking. This is third Upasana prescribed for the unprepared students.

Karika # 22:

त्रिषु धामसु यस्तुल्यं सामान्यं वेत्ति निश्चितः । 
स पूज्यः सर्वभूतानां वन्द्यश्चैव महामुनिः ॥ २२ ॥

He who knows without doubt what the common

features are in three states, is worshipped and adored by all beings; and he is indeed the greatest sage.

Normally Upasana is for manda adhikari’s. This may give the student an inferiority complex; hence Gaudapada is trying to boost the student by glorifying the upsaka.

That meditator who clearly knows the equation based on common features in all three upasanas becomes a revered one. The three upsanas correspond to the three states of experience. Thus Akara is Jagrat; U kara is Swapna and M kara is Sushupti. This upasaka becomes a revered person among human beings. He becomes worthy of worship. In our culture Upasakas’s are worshipped. Maha muni means great upasaka. What is phalam of this? Phalam was not described.

Karika # 23:

अकारो नयते विश्वमुकारश्चापि तैजसम् ।
मकारश्च पुनः प्राज्ञं नामात्रे विद्यते गतिः ॥ २३ ॥

The sound letter A helps the meditator to attain a well-developed waking personality (vishva). The meditator on U attains a well-developed Taijasa (mind and intellect) and for one who meditates on M reaches Prajna. In the “ soundless” state, after Mkara, there remains no attainment

Therefore this upasana can be practiced as nishkama or sakama upasana. Nishkama makes him ready for Turiyam Gyanam. For Sakama upsaka there also benefits in this life as well as in after life.

Ihaloka Phalam:

As stated by mantra # 9, he will become superior to others and become a common person acceptable to all. For third upasana he will be able to measure and judge. He will become one with God.

Paraloka phalam is not described in Upanishad. Gaudapada says, Akara Upasana does not mean meditating on Akara alone, it means Akara Pradhana Omkara Upasana and how to practice it has not been described. Shankaracharya also does not give importance to upasana.

This upasana will take upasaka after death to Vishwam or Virat Aikyam or oneness with Virat Ishwara. It is like a river merging in ocean. He will lose individuality temporarily until his punyam lasts.

Similarly U kara pradhana Omkara Upasana is when U is equated with Hiranyagarbha. It will lead after death to Taijasa or Hiranyagarbha aikyam. Shikshavalli also describes this aikyam.

Third is M kara pradhana Omkara Upasana will lead after death to Pragya or Antaryami Aikyam. He will merge into God. It is not a Gyani’s merger. Upasaka’s merger lasts only until his punyam and then he starts again while Gyani, after merger, do not come back.

How about Amatra and Turiyam? One who comes to Amatra does not travel after death as he becomes one with Brahman here and now. This is fourth matra.

Let us assume one has practiced this Upasana and prepared the mind for enquiry. How to do the enquiry? What is difference between Upasana and enquiry?

Aa is invoked as sthula prapancha and U is invoked as sukshma prapancha. Normally a word is used to reveal an object. Word is padam and object is padartha. Every padam represents a padartha.

Vedanta asks us to enquire into truth of this, asking us in effect to perform a Vichara.

Padam is a word. Four words are used: Bangle, Chain, Ring and Gold. Each padam must reveal a padartha. Bangle reveals bangle padartha. Ring reveals ring padartha. Chain reveals chain padartha while Gold reveals Gold padartha. Thus four padams reveal four padarthas. But upon enquiry I find gold is substance in front of me, but in the word bangle there is no padartha. Ring also has no padartha, chain too has no padartha. Therefore, upon enquiry three padarthas are dismissed; that is bangle, chain, ring; thus substance is dismissed. Once three padartha’s are negated the corresponding padam’s are also negated as they have no object to reveal. Therefore enquiry leads to dismissal of padartha and later padams as well.

Enquiry leads to resolution of padams and padarthas. So other than Turiyam, the only substratum, all other substances just do not exist. There is no substance called Sthula, Sukshma, Karana Prapancha and correspondingly sthula, sukskma karana Padams are also not there. What is left is Pada padartha vilakshanam or Turiyam. This Turiyam can be represented by silence. So, enquiry leads to dismissing of padam and padartha.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 30:

प्रह्लादश्चास्मि दैत्यानां कालः कलयतामहम्।
मृगाणां च मृगेन्द्रोऽहं वैनतेयश्च पक्षिणाम्।।10.30।।

Daityanam, among demons, the descendants of Diti, I am the one called Prahlada. And I am kalah, Time; kalayatam, among reckoners of time, of those who calculate. And mrganam, among animals; I am mrgendrah, the loin, or the tiger. And paksinam, among birds; (I am) vainateyah, Garuda, the son of Vinata.

Continuing his teaching, Swamiji said, we are seeing Sri Krishna enumerate the glories of Ishwara. The entire creation is a manifestation and glory of the Lord. Sri Krishna chooses a few specialties as his glory. They can be chosen to invoke God. Even though all rivers are glorious, Ganga can be used to invoke god. Hence Ganga is considered scared. Everyone enumerated can be an alambanam. Many are identified from mythological stories. Thus he cites in shloka # 30 about Prahlada. Prahlada stuthi in the Bhagavatham is a very well known sthothram; in which we find the highest

Vedanta talked about. In the Bhagavatham there are many stuthis or sthothrams; Dhruva stuthi; Prahlada sthuthi; Kunthi sthuthi; Bhishma sthuthi; each character

glorifies the Lord and the beauty is, in those sthothrams not only the puranic glories are there; the highest Vedanta is also packed in those stuthis and among them Prahlada is also a great one.

It is an important one because even though Prahlada is born an asura, by his spiritual sadhana he could change his character and become a Gyani. Therefore one need not feel bad about one’s janma; jati does not indicate superiority or inferiority;

He was son of an Asura who changed. His jati did not matter. It was his guna that finally mattered. Karma with proper attitude makes one a guna Brahmana.

I am also Kala tatvam to ripen karmas at the right time. Karmas of groups of people also fructify at the same time. A sick person’s papam fructifies. Another person serving me (sick person) is my punyam; while it is his papam that he has to serve me even while losing his sleep. So God becomes kala delivering the right karma at right time to right person.

Among animals I am Lion. Among birds I am Garuda, son of Vinata. Garuda is Vahanam of Vishnu. In Vaishnavism there is a Garuda Alwar or a great devotee.

Shloka # 31:

पवनः पवतामस्मि रामः शस्त्रभृतामहम्।
झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी।।10.31।।

Pavatam, of the purifiers; I am pavanah, air. Sastra-bhrtam, among weilders of weapons, I am Rama, son of Dasaratha. Jhasanam, among fishes etc; I am the particular species of fish called makarah shark. I am jahnavi, Ganga; srotasam, among rivers, among streams of water.

Among purifiers (ganga jalam, fire, wind etc) I am Vayu. Hence we worship Vayu; we also worship Agni. Among Gods who wield weapons I am Rama with the bow Kodandapani. Thus, gods have weapons to protect dharma.

Thus, Lord Shiva has got his parashu hastha; he has got parashu; he is called Pinakapani; the one who has got a bow called Pinakam; and Rama is called Kothandapani; Vishnu is called Sarngapani; not Sarangapani.

Initially one protects by non-violence. Only as a last resort is violence used. Even Rama gave Ravana one last chance. Even in Mahabharata Sri Krishna met kauravas one last time to avoid war. For Kshatriya dharma yudha is a dharma. It is like a doctor amputating a limb to save a person. In case of devotees, how will god use his weapon? Here too God uses weapon to destroy our inner enemies (kama, krodha, moha etc). So with Sudarashana chakram, right knowledge, Lord destroys Agyanam.

Among water animals I am Makara, the whale. Among rivers I am Janhavi or Ganga. Ganga is a papam remover as well. According to Vedanta Ganga symbolizes flow of spiritual knowledge. Thus following are common features:

1. Ganga originates from Lord Shiva’s head. Brahma Vidya also comes from Lord Shiva.
2. River flows from higher level to lower level. Generally Guru’s are seated at higher level and knowledge flows from Guru to Shishya.
3. Ganga is a perennial river. Brahma vidya also is perennial. What is proof of this? The fact that we are able to learn this Vidya is the proof.
4. When you dip in Ganga you feel refreshed. In same way, Vedanta teaching is also refreshing to one.
5. Even though Ganga flows from Gomukh to Calcutta, you can take a dip in it only at Ghat with steps. So also Brahmavidya, you can only dip at Guru’s Ghat.

Shloka # 32:

सर्गाणामादिरन्तश्च मध्यं चैवाहमर्जुन।
अध्यात्मविद्या विद्यानां वादः प्रवदतामहम्।।10.32।।

O Arjuna sarganam, of creations; I am the adih, beginning; ca, and ; he antah, end; ca eva, as also; the madhyam, middle-I am the origin, continuance and dissolution. At the commencement (verse 20) origin, end, etc. only of things possessed of souls were spoken of, but here the mention is of all creations in general. This is the difference. Vidyanam, among knowledges; I am the adhyatma-vidya, knowledge of the Self, it being the foremost because of its leading to liberation. Pravadatam, of those who date; aham, I; am vadah, Vada, which is preeminent since it is a means to determining true purport. Hence I am that . By the word pravadatam are here meant the different kinds of date held by dators, viz Vada, Jalpa, and Vitanda. [Vada: discussion with open-mindedness, with a view to determining true purport; jalpa: pointless date; Vitanda: wrangling discussion. [Jalpa is that mode of date by which both parties establish their own viewpoint through direct and indirect proofs, and refute the view of the opponent through circumvention (Chala) and false generalization (Jati) and by pointing out unfitness (of the opponent) tobe argued with (Nigraha-sthana). But where one party establishes his viewpoint, and the other refutes it through circumvention, false generalization and showing the unfitness of the opponent to be argued with, without establishing his own views, that is termed Vitanda. Jalpa and Vitanda result only in a trial of streangth between the opponents, who are both desirous of victory, But the result of Vada is the ascertainment of truth between the teacher and the disciple or between others, both unbiased.

Among creations, I am beginning, end and middle. Sri Krishna said the same in shloka # 20. How to reconcile this? One indicates spatially while second looks at time wise; Srishti, Sthiti and Laya karanam.

Vidya means any disciple of knowledge; any science is called Vidya and there are so many branches of

knowledge in our tradition such as: the four vedas; shiksha, kalpa, vyakaranam, niruktham, chanda, jyothisham etc.; there are so many branches in the sciences and the modern sciences are many as you know, and among all of them, I am the spiritual knowledge.

Among sciences, I am Atma Gyanam. In chapter # 9 it was called Raja Vidhya, self-knowledge that says Atma is the only reality, all others are unreal.

Thus, Apara Vidya is Avidya and Paravidya is Gyanam.

It is only self-knowledge that liberates a human being from our limitations.

The sense of physical limitation is expressed in the form of our desire to accumulate more and more and more because with myself I feel I am limited; So I have a sense of physical limitation, I have a sense of emotional limitation, that I am not loved by all; I am not loved by own children; no one enquires about me; they do not even check whether we are there or not; so all these are all what; emotional deprivation; emotional sense of limitation; Then the next level of limitation is intellectual; any amount I know, I know that I do not know much; the greater I know, the greater the ignorance is exposed; and therefore, this sense of limitation is samsara and any branch of knowledge other than self-knowledge will not remove this limitation; In fact, not only it will not remove, it will create only further limitation; like Newton said; thousands of discoveries he made and at the time of death, he declared that I was playing with a few pebbles on the shore, while the vast ocean of truth is in front. Therefore, material sciences will only increase the sense of limitation; whereas this is the only knowledge give me poornatvam.

No other branch other than self-knowledge can remove these limitations. Material science will increase sense of limitation while self-knowledge alone will give Poornatvam.

This is also the rarest of knowledge. Many don’t come to this knowledge. The number of people who know this are indeed very rare.

Then the next one Vadaha means a discussion for arriving at the truth. In our tradition, they talk about several types of discussions; anything you take, they have studied thoroughly; they talk about vadaha; they talk about jalpa, they about vithanda; they talk about jathi; they talk about chalam; these are all different types of discussions, And vadaha or samvadaha between guru and Shishya, both are meant for only one purpose and that is arriving at the truth; whereas in all other discussions, arriving at the truth is not the aim, winning the argument is the aim; and hence the expression heated argument.

Doing namaskara to teacher means I will set aside without my ego or notions.

Whenever I am in agreement with you, you accept me; which means what; you hold on to your view alone; this is called filtered listening; whichever is convenient you take and the other things you are not able to drop. That means I lack intellectual honesty; therefore a discussion wherein I set aside my ego; wherein I am ready to openly accept, not mentally verbally accept my mistake and I am interested in listening to other persons; it is the most difficult thing in any discussion or dialogue; our mind is itching to talk; and we are waiting for that person to take a breath; at that time you enter and you finish off your arguments; So if I can listen in a relaxed manner to the other person and similarly I talk, that is called vada or samvada; that alone will lead to discovery of truth; and therefore Sri Krishna claims that I am vadaha.

Shloka # 33:

अक्षराणामकारोऽस्मि द्वन्द्वः सामासिकस्य च।
अहमेवाक्षयः कालो धाताऽहं विश्वतोमुखः।।10.33।।

Aksaranam, of the letters; I am the akarah, letter a. Samasikasya, of the group of compound words, I am the compund (called) Dvandva. Besieds, aham eva, I Myself; am the aksayah, infinite, endless; kalah, time, well known as ‘moment’ etc.; or, I am the supreme God who is Kala (Time, the measurer) even of time. I am the dhata, Dispenser, the dispenser of the fruits of actions of the whole world; visvatomukhah, with faces everwhere.

Among letters I am letter Aa. In English language Aa does not exist. In all Indian languages Aa is first letter. It is most fundamental sound, because when you open your mouth, the sound that comes is Aa. All other sounds are modified versions of Aa alone. By changing your mouth you can show teeth and it becomes Ee .Thus Aa’s modifications result in other sounds. Thus, Aa is Karana Aksharam while others are Karya Aksharani.

Take away:

1. It is only self-knowledge that liberates a human being from our mental, emotional and intellectual limitations.
2. Sri Krishna emphasizes non-judgmental and relaxed listening. We need to improve our listening skills.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Mantra # 9:

जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः

प्रथमा मात्राऽऽप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाप्नोति

ह वै सर्वान्कामानादिश्च

भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ९ ॥

He who is Vaishvanara having for his sphere of activity the waking state is Aa the first letter of AUM, on account of its “ all pervasiveness” or on account of “ being the first”- these two are the common features in both. One who knows this surely attains the fulfillment of all his desires and becomes the first or the foremost among all.

Swamiji said from Mantra # 3 to Mantra # 7 the Upanishad analyzed chatushpada atma; Here we travel gradually from Vishwa toTaijasa to Pragya to Turiyam. In Vishwa, I am the consciousness, which is the witness of gross universe. In Taijasa I am consciousness that is witness of subtle universe. In Pragya I am consciousness that is the witness of the causal universe, which I experience as total blankness. In Sushupti when I am experiencing total it is the experience of whole universe in potential form.

In Vishwa my attention is on object I. In Taijasa I am conscious witness of sukshma prapancha. In Pargya, I am witness of Karana parapancha. In Turiyam I turn my attention to I the observer who am there even as sthula, sukshma and Pragya are all changing. Thus Vishwa, Taijasa and Pragya are stepping stones to land in Turiyam.  This Turiyam was described in mantra # 7.

Now we are starting to turn out attention to Chatur matra OM kara; travelling from A to U to M where I turn my attention to consciousness, one that is aware of silence. Thus sound is an object of my awareness; then Silence is an object of my awareness then to the awareness itself that is a witness of the silence. Thus when sound is not, awareness is still there; when silence is not, awareness is still there; when silence is there, it is the awareness of silence. So starting with awareness of sound, awareness of silence, thus Omkara Vichara is travelling from sound to silence to awareness of silence. Here sound is an object; silence is an object while the awareness is not an object. This awareness continues in silence and sound. Awareness and witness are used synonymously.

So, how to do I make use of Omkara upasana to land into my own awareness?  To develop the skill of Omkara Vichara initially I learn to equate the four padas to the four matras and let the mind absorb this equation completely.

Now we move to mantra # 9 where Vishwa and Aa kara are equated.

Here, Vishwa (Vaishwanara) and Aa kara are equated. Upanishad prescribes a meditation to equate and assimilate the knowledge. Sound Aa is taken as symbol to meditate upon. Aa represents Virat or Vishwa rupa; thus during meditation the whole gross atma comes up. Thus shaligramam is an object of reverence for an Indian. This perspective comes from generations of association, while a foreigner just sees it as a piece of art.

Two common features of Aa and Virat are:

1. Virat is first gross creation and after Virat all other creations came about. Among alphabets too Aa is the first letter.
2. The pervasion of both. Aa sound has transformed into all other letters. Aa inheres in all alphabets. Sri Krishna says in chapter # 10, I am Aa kara. Virat and Aa kara are both all-pervading or Vyapti.

Phalam for this Upasana is:

Worldly results: In mantra, Veda means Upasana. Here Upasaka attains all kamas and pervades his possessions or expands them. His family expands; property and possession all expand. One who meditates on Aa kara and Vishwa in life will become foremost in any field he enters, hence the word Aadishcha Bhavati is used.

Above were the material results of the Upasana.

Spiritual benefits are: His capacity to equate Aa with Vishwa expands. In meditation, when he practices Vedantic meditation, mind thinks of Vishwa, Taijasa, and Pragya; it also goes to Hiranyagarbha, Antaryami and Chaitanya adhishtanam. The silence will not be blankness; it will represent consciousness behind silence. The stillness in Omkara meditation will land in Consciousness.

Mantra # 10:

जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारःप्रथमा मात्राऽऽप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाप्नोति

ह वै सर्वान्कामानादिश्च

 भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ९ ॥

He who is Taijasa, having for his sphere of activity in the dream state, Is U the second letter of AUM; on account of “superiority” or on account of “ being in between the two”. He who knows this attains to a superior knowledge and is treated equally by all and finds no one in his line of descendants who is not a knower of Brahman.

Now comes equation of second pada, Taijasa (Vyashti) or Hiranyagarbha (Samashti) is equated with U kara. In Sanskrit, joining of alphabets Aa and U creates O. It is a symbol for meditation on second pada or Swapna or Taijasa. Here too there are two common features between them; they are:

1. Hiranyagarbha, the subtle, is superior to Virat, the gross. So also the sound U is superior to Aa. Why is it superior? Subtle is always superior to gross. From Hiranyagarbha comes Virat. Sukshma is a Karanam while Virat is a Karyam. Virat is born from Hiranyagarbha. At destruction, Virat goes back into Hiranyagarbha.

U is Utkrshat or superior to Aa. Aa becomes U which then become M. Thus U swallows Aa as such it is superior.

2. Ubhayataha: intermediary status. In Vishwa, Taijasa and Pragya; among them Taijasa is in the middle; U too is in the middle. May you learn to meditate on these two. Try to see subtle universe, the cosmic mind, all packaged in U. This is U kara Hiranyagarbha Upasana.

What is benefit of this Upasana? By practicing Sakama upsana, following benefits accrue:

1. Because he meditates on Gyana Shakti, it is an upasana on Saraswati or Samasto Gyana Upasana. This person will become learned. Santati means extent of knowledge. Utkrashati means increases.
2. Samanascha Bhavati: He will become a common man to all. He will be accepted by all groups; he will not be a part of any camp; he will be liked by all; a mediator.

His knowledge will influence his family; his family will also be learned or will be Brahma Gyani’s.

If a person practices Nishkama Upasana, this equation will help him in Omkara Uapasana. In his mind whole universe will come up and resolve itself into silence.

Mantra # 11:

सुषुप्तस्थानः प्राज्ञो मकारस्तृतीया मात्रा

 मितेरपीतेर्वा मिनोति ह वा

 इदं सर्वमपीतिश्च भवति

य एवं वेद ॥ ११ ॥

Pragya, whose sphere of activity is deep sleep, is M the third letter of AUM, because it is both the “measure” and also “ that wherein all become one”. One who knows this identity of Pragya and M is able to know the real nature of things and beings, and also come to realize as being the Self of all.

The third mantra is M kara; this M is equated to Pragya or Antaryami or Ishwara. In Upanishad, the fifth and sixth mantras described Pragyaha as obtaining in deep sleep. At cosmic level it is called Pralayam and at individual level it is called Laya or sleep. These two also have two common features.

They are:

1. Apithe: ground of dissolution or merger or disintegration. Pragya is sleep state, when whole universe dissolves, just as in pralayam. My worries, knowledge etc, dissolve in sleep. At Samashti, Ishwara dissolves everything in him. Apitihi is Laya sthanam.

M is also Laya sthana. When you close mouth the sound that comes out is Mm. Mm is thus resolution ground for all alphabetic letters.

2) Mithihi: A measuring vessel. Pragya is compared to a measure. Mm is also compared to a measure.

When people measure, say in a village, the grain disappears in the measure and then, when, one pours out the grain becomes visible again; this is similar to un-manifesting and manifesting.

Pragya is also like a measure. When I go to sleep, my world goes into Me, the Pragyaha and becomes invisible. When I wake up, it all reappears again. It repeats when I go to sleep again. So, Pragyaha is also a measure.

It is same with letter M. After speaking, I close my mouth with M. All other sounds are resolved. They again come back when I talk again. Thus, it is similar to a measure as well.

This measure-ness is a common feature. So during meditation see the M sound and visualize the hidden universe.

The benefits of this meditation are that one who practices M kara Antaryami Upasana gets two worldly benefits.

1. Because of the “measure upsana” he will be able to measure everyone and everything; and make the right judgment.
2. Apitishcha Bhavati: everything is resolved into him. He becomes one with Ishwara. All problems disappear into him.

Spiritual benefit: is developing skill for Vedantic meditation or Omkara meditation.

Take Away:

Omkara meditation: Meditating upon the letters of OM (AUM) and the corresponding universes will help in arriving at Turiyam. As the letters get resolved into silence, the three universes will get resolved into Turiyam in Vedantic meditation. This dhyanam is mentally resolving the entire universe into me, the consciousness. Chanting OM helps in visualizing the universe arising out of me. The silence following the chanting helps in visualizing the universe resolving into me. OM chanting is creation, its duration is sustenance, and the following silence is dissolution. Having chanted OM a few times, I remain silent with the knowledge that everything arises out of me and everything resolves into me.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Karika # 18:

विकल्पो विनिवर्तेत कल्पितो यदि केनचित् । 
उपदेशादयं वादो ज्ञाते द्वैतं न विद्यते ॥ १८ ॥

If any one has ever imagined or projected the manifold ideas, they might disappear. This explanation is for the purpose of teaching. Duality in the explanation ceases to exist when the highest Truth is Realized.

Swamiji said in these karikas beginning from # 10 to # 18, Guadapada made an analysis of mantra # 7, the most significant mantra of the Upanishad. He also did a comparison and contrast of the four padas as well.

He said Turiyam has to be known. What is its significance? Once I know Turiyam, immediately Ignorance is removed, just as light removes darkness immediately and automatically.

Once Ignorance is gone, Error and misconceptions along with it also go away. Once rope is not known clearly we see a snake. Once we know it is a rope all misconceptions of rope such as snake, crack in the floor etc go away. There may be many misconceptions; they all go away. Therefore knowledge removes Ignorance and Error. Once both are gone; I know I am the consciousness that is Turiyam, free from Ignorance and Error. As per Vedanta, Turiyam, by definition is, Consciousness free from Ignorance and Error. If Ignorance and Error are there it is Vishwa or Taijasa. If Ignorance alone is there it is Pragyaha. So Ignorance alone can make me an Agyani in all three padas. Once Ignorance goes, one becomes a Gyani with awareness that he is Turiyam.

Once I know I am Turiyam, I can claim all features of Turiyam as my own. One main feature of Turiyam is that it is Shantam, Shivam and Advaitam. In my vision there is no duality at all; all are gone.

Even the idea that I am Gyani has duality in it. As a knower, I am a subject who knows something as an object; this involves dvaitam. With knowledge this duality goes and I am no more a knower. Self-knowledge removes the idea of knowerhood. A gyani loses the idea that he is not even a Gyani?? Then who am I? I am not pramata, prameya or pramanam; but I am Turiyam without all three features of Vishwa, Taijasa and Pragya.

A side point here is when a Gyani says I am non-dual advaitam; dvaitam continues for him; he just does not attribute reality to it.

If this were not true a Gyani cannot even be a Guru, as he has to see at least one Shishya, which means Dvaitam. When we say Gyani is in advaitam, perceptual dvaitam continues but he does not attribute advaitam to it. Sky is perceived as a blue dome over earth. Knowledge is that there is no blue dome, but perception continues even while knowing it is a perception alone. I know ocean water is colorless, but eyes will still report it as with color; however, I will know it is a perception only.

Similarly, sun does not rise rather it is the earth that moves. My perception sees sunrise and sunset, but I know the sun does not rise or set.

I perceive the stationary earth but I know it moves violently around the sun. As per Vedanta, perception does not prove reality.

You see pure blue water, blue dome in sky and a stationary earth. Gyani also perceives these dualities, but he knows the perceived reality is not real.

He knows water is colorless and moving earth is really moving at 60,000 MPH. Our sense organs are not designed to know reality. They are meant to give us a working knowledge of world. Hence newspapers report daily, the sunrise and sunset times. This is for the working knowledge alone. What is working knowledge; it is that, there is duality. Real knowledge is that there is no duality.

Working knowledge is Vyavahrika Satyam. Paramarthika Satyam is Shantam, Shivam, and Advaitam; I alone am; there is nothing else there. I am non-dual Turiyam. The topic that perception does not prove reality is discussed in chapters 2 and 3 elaborately.

This concludes analysis of mantra # 7.

Mantra # 8:

सोऽयमात्माध्यक्षरमोङ्कारोऽधिमात्रं

पादा मात्रा मात्राश्च पादा

अकार उकारो मकार इति ॥ ८ ॥

The same Atman is again Aum from point of view of the syllables. The AUM with parts is viewed from the standpoint of its sound or letters. The quarters are the letters (morae) and the letters are the quarters. The letters here are A, U and M.

 I had told that this Upanishad has two types of enquiries.

1. Chatushpada Atma Vichara.
2. Chaturmatra Omkara Vichara.

Omkara analysis is composed of four components to it. We have completed the # 1, Chatushpada Atma Vichara with Mantra # 7. The first mantras from # 2 to # 5 dealt with this including the 18 Karikas.

Now we are in second phase of Upanishad related to Omkara Vichara. The “kara” attached to Om means the word Om. This analysis is from mantra # 8 to # 12.

These are the final mantras of the Upanishad. Word Om is a monosyllable or one sound Om. It has four parts like atma. For atma they were called the four padas; in same manner Om is a compound syllable with four parts to it.

In Atma each was called pada while in OM each is called matra or letter.

1. Akara Matra: In English there is no akara at all. In Indian languages Aa is first and significant letter. Scriptures say Aa is most significant alphabet of all. It is the sound that comes automatically from mouth.
2. U kara Matra: There is no U in English language as well. Hence Om can’t be written in English. In Sanskit, as per grammar or Sandhi rules, Aa+ U=O.
3. M kara matra: It is a consonant.
4. Amatra: is the silence that follows the Om.

We can equate Atma and Om in all respects. Atma is a compound with four parts to it as is OM. Since both have four parts, one can equate each part to a part of Om respectively. What is the advantage of this equation? Once you equate Om and Atma, we can use it for meditation. When we chant OM all four padas of atma come up by association. Then we can claim Turiyam. For Turiya Dhyanam, Omkara is an ideal symbol.

Atma analysis leads to pure consciousness while Omkara analysis leads to pure silence. The silent consciousness is my inner most nature while all our talking is Samsara. This is the analysis.

This atma with four padas is Omkara.

Thus: Total Atma= Total Omkara.

If you dismantle the components of both, each pada equates to each matra and vice versa.

Om has A U M and Silence (amatra). Silence is discussed in mantra # 12. Amatra means the silence that follows.

What about the four padas of Atma? We already discussed the four padas from mantra # 2 to 5, both at macro and micro level.

Mantra # 9:

जागरितस्थानो वैश्वानरोऽकारः

प्रथमा मात्राऽऽप्तेरादिमत्त्वाद्वाप्नोति

ह वै सर्वान्कामानादिश्च

भवति य एवं वेद ॥ ९ ॥

He who is Vaishvanara having for his sphere of activity the waking state is Aa the first letter of AUM, on account of its “ all pervasiveness” or on account of “ being the first”- these two are the common features in both. One who knows this surely attains the fulfillment of all his desires and becomes the first or the foremost among all.

In this mantra each matra is equated to each respective pada. The sound Aa is hidden in Om and is the first letter of Om. It is equated to First pada of Atma or Jagrat Sthana, the Waker principle or Vaishvanara.

Aa equals Waker “I”.

Why is Aa the first pada or Vaishwanara or Virat? In Shastra there is a rule that when a symbol is used for an object, both should have common features. Green is shown in Indian flag for prosperity. Why so? Prosperity means a lot of wealth, a lot of greenery etc. Without greenery it will indicate draught conditions; hence association with green.

What connects Aa with Virat? Because of its pervasion it connects with Virat. All-pervasive is the character of Virat and alphabet Aa.

Virat is all pervading or Vishwa Rupa Ishwara or cosmos; hence all pervading AA is also all pervading.

How do you say so? In Phonetics or Shikshashatram, Aa is the basic sound produced just by opening the mouth. The very same Aa becomes Ee when you show your teeth by modifying the mouth. Aa becomes Uu by spouting the mouth. Aa is basic material that is transformed into all other letters. Aa is the material cause, karana akshara, while others are karya aksharani. Thus one gold becomes many jewelry. The cause pervades all effects. Gold pervades all ornaments. Letter Aa pervades all alphabets. All alphabets are manifestations of Aa. For each alphabet there is a devata. For Aa, it is Brahma as Karanam for whole creation. Aa is Sarvavyapi; Virat is also Sarvavyapi. Apte in shloka means Sarvavyapi.

There is a second common feature. Virat is born first before creation of individual being. Macro is born first then individual being(s) come about. Aa is also first born sound. Adimatva means Primary. So, both are all pervading and primary. May you meditate on Aa as a symbol of Virat just as we meditate on a Linga as a symbol of Lord Shiva. So, perform Akar Virat Aikya dhyanam.

Take Away:

When a Gyani says I am non-dual advaitam; dvaitam continues for him; he just does not attribute reality to it.

As per Vedanta, perception does not prove reality.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Mantra # 7; Karika # 14:

स्वप्ननिद्रायुतावाद्यौ प्राज्ञस्त्वस्वप्ननिद्रया । 
न निद्रां नैव च स्वप्नं तुर्ये पश्यन्ति निश्चिताः ॥ १४ ॥

Vishwa and Taijasa, the former two are associated with the conditions of dream and sleep, Prajna is the state without dream. Those who have known the Truth do not see either sleep or dream in Turiya.

Swamiji said in these karikas beginning from # 11 Guadapada is comparing and contrasting the four padas by making use of presence or absence of Ignorance and Error in them. Ignorance is self-ignorance while error is self-delusion.

Ignorance is indicated by words such as: Agrahanam, Nidra, Karanam and Beejam, all mean self-ignorance.

Error is indicated by words such as :Anyathagrahanam, Swapna, Karyam and Ankuraha; all indicating error or self-delusion.

Of the four padas, the first three are associated with Ignorance, while Turiyam, the fourth pada, is not. With respect to error, of the four padas, two are associated with error while two are not. Thus we can say the following:

First pada has Ignorance and Error.

Second pada has Ignorance and Error

Third pada has Ignorance without Error

Fourth pada has no Ignorance or Error.

Next in the Karika #15 Gaudapada arrives at an important corollary.

Karika # 15:

अन्यथा गृह्णतः स्वप्नो निद्रा तत्त्वमजानतः ।
विपर्यासे तयोः क्षीणे तुरीयं पदमश्नुते ॥ १५ ॥

Dream is the misapprehension of Reality, while sleep is the state in which one is in a state of non-apprehension of Reality. When the erroneous knowledge in these two states disappears, Turiya is Realized.

This Karika reinforces the same ideas as last Karika but with a new set of words.

Swapna belongs to that pada associated with anyathagrahanam or wrong perception or error. When self-delusion is there, it is swapna. The self-delusion is that I am a Jivatma. Why is it a delusion? In reality, I am Paramatma and not Jivatma; this is the delusion. Such a person is in a dream. If one has a self-delusion even in waking state, Vedanta calls it Swapna; thus even jagrat avastha is a Swapna.

Nidra: First and second padas are associated with Error; hence swapna belongs to them. On the other hand Nidra belongs to that pada which is associated with Self Ignorance. Therefore Nidra, sleep, belongs to the pada associated with Self Ignorance. This is the third pada. In Pragya state there is Nidra or self-delusion. So sleep, philosophically, means Self Ignorance. In waking state if we are Self-ignorant, we are asleep. Philosophically, in sleep, if we are self-ignorant, we are asleep as well. Thus in sleep too, in philosophical sense, sleep is Self Ignorant.

So sleep, philosophically, belongs to all three padas. Both, waking and dream states are associated with self-delusion.  In deep sleep there is ignorance but no self-delusion.  Turiyam has not ignorance or self-delusion.  As long as Ignorance and Error exist, I am away from Turiyam because Turiyam is free from both.

(Note: My association with the three states is only a seeming one. Once I understand the association to be a seeming one, I am free. The stick under water only seems to be bent. If I take the bend to be real, I have to do something to straighten the stick. When I know the bend to be only a seeming one, I do not need to do any sadhana to straighten the stick. Let the stick be in water and appear to be bent. But it is straight all the time. Similarly, I appear to be a waker, dreamer or a sleeper. Even when I appear as all these three, they are only appearances. I am always Turiyam and this I have to know in the waking state.)

How can I attain Turiyam? Gaudapada says definition of Turiyam is freedom from Ignorance and Error.

If you have freedom from Ignorance and Error you can claim status of Turiyam. Therefore he comes to a corollary that a seeker can attain status of Turiya Padam when error backed by ignorance, self delusion and self ignorance, is eliminated from me.

Why so? If I am associated with Ignorance and Error, I am in first or second pada. With Ignorance alone I am in third pada. When I eliminate both, Ignorance and Error, I become Turiyam.

Thus Ignorance and Error have to be eliminated in first three padas to attain Turiyam.

Stated as an equation:

Vishwa minus ignorance and error equals Turiyam

Taijasa minus ignorance and error equals Turiyam.

Pragya minus Ignorance equals Turiyam.

Turiyam minus nothing equals Turiyam.

Thus, Vishwa, Taijasa and Pragya are all Turiyam without ignorance and error.

If so, how to remove Ignorance and Error?

You can never directly remove Ignorance, even as darkness can’t be removed. Darkness goes when light comes in; even so, only Gyanam can remove Ignorance. What Gyanam removes Ignorance? By gaining Turiya gyanam Ignorance may go, but how about Error? When ignorance goes, Ignorance caused Error also goes. Thus when rope Ignorance goes snake delusion, the Error, automatically goes.

So, only knowledge is needed to remove Ignorance as well as Error. How to get Gyanam? We have to start with Karma Yoga for Chitta shudhi; then go to Upasana Yoga for Chitta Ekagritha; then go to Gyana Yoga to obtain Gyanam. What is Gyana Yoga? It is sravanam, mananam, and nidhidhyasanam.

Karika # 16:

अनादिमायया सुप्तो यदा जीवः प्रबुध्यते । 
अजमनिद्रमस्वप्नमद्वैतं बुध्यते तदा ॥ १६ ॥

When individual soul sleeping under the influence of the beginingless maya is awakened, then it realizes in itself the birthless, sleepless, dreamless and non dual (Turiya).

I realize that Ignorance and Error are obstacles between me, and my Turiyam status. How did Ignorance and error come? Why did they come? Who created me with Ignorance and Error? When did he create it?

Gaudapada says nobody created Ignorance, as such all three questions are wrong. It was there from the beginning of time. The Jiva is in state of philosophical dream, with Error or self-delusion, because of Maya or Nidra, the beginning-less Nidra or philosophical Nidra or Self Ignorance.

Jiva is a Self-delusion because of beginning-less Ignorance. Generally a Jiva does not try to remove the Ignorance. How to remove it? Some rare Jivas try to remove it. The word Prabudhyat in shloka means wake up. If a Jiva wakes up to his real nature, philosophical awakening, it is knowledge. Suppose a Jiva knows Turiyam nature by karma yoga, upasana yoga and gyana yoga, then he understands that I am not Vishwa, I am not Taijasa, and I am not even Pragya as well; rather I am Turiyam; advaita Turiyam; or Turiyam free from anidram, that is without nidra or self-ignorance.

Pure Nidra is associated with third pada. So, I am different from third pada, Aswapnam or Self –delusion; Turiyam is free from Swapna or free from second pada.

Ajam: means birthless or janma rahitaha.

Turiyam in first pada is associated with physical body or sthula shariram. Birthless means free from physical body associated with Vishwa, the Waker; also called Vishwa vilakshanam. This the seeker recognizes.

Karika # 17:

प्रपञ्चो यदि विद्येत निवर्तेत न संशयः । 
मायामात्रमिदं द्वैतमद्वैतं परमार्थतः ॥ १७ ॥

If the perceived plurality were real, then certainly it would disappear. This duality that is cognized is a mere illusion, or maya. Non-duality alone is the supreme Reality.

In this karika gaudapada is assuming a possible question that can come up from previous karika.

If one knows through knowledge that I am Turiyam the adviatam, in wake of knowledge there is advaitam. Thus, with knowledge it eliminates Dvaitam. Then question comes, can knowledge eliminate world of plurality?

Can knowledge eliminate anything at all? If knowledge of table can eliminate table, then table should get eliminated while in reality we don’t see this happening. Can knowledge of a disease eliminate the disease? Reality is that it is not knowledge rather it is the medicine that eliminates disease.

Secondly, even if we assume knowledge eliminates dvaitam then advaitam comes. In wake of knowledge dvaitam goes and advaitam comes. If so, will advaitam also go and dvaitam come back later? Thus, advaitam and moksha wont be permanent. So, can knowledge eliminate dvaitam?

Gaudapada answers in next three karikas these questions. He says question of elimination of dvaita prapancha to arrive at advaitam itself is wrong. If there is dvaita prapancha, it may go or not go, but fact is, there is no dvaita prapancha at all to talk about or its going and coming. It is like in waker, with rope knowledge, will snake knowledge go away? This question itself is wrong, as there is no snake to begin with. If there is a dvaita prapancha existent it may perhaps go away, there is no doubt about it. Really speaking there is no dvaita prapancha to go away, just as there is no snake to go away with rope knowledge.

Then, in wake of knowledge, what goes away? Dvaita prapancha (phenomenon) does not go away as it was not there to begin with rather it is Dvaita Brahmyam, delusion of Dvaitam, that goes away. This dvaita prapancha is only a delusion, a brahmyam, and a maya. If at all, it is this brahmyam that goes away. Thus, dvaita nivrithi is dvaita brahmya nivrithi.

In swapna you saw a thief entering your house; upon waking there is no thief; what has gone is the thief delusion or thief brahmyam. If dvaitam is brahmyam, what is fact? Really speaking, there was always advaitam, there is always advitam and there will always be advitam as well; there was only dvaita brahmyam.

Karika # 18:

विकल्पो विनिवर्तेत कल्पितो यदि केनचित् । 
उपदेशादयं वादो ज्ञाते द्वैतं न विद्यते ॥ १८ ॥

If any one has ever imagined or projected the manifold ideas, they might disappear. This explanation is for the purpose of teaching. Duality in the explanation ceases to exist when the highest Truth is Realized.

In previous Karika it said that Gyanam eliminates Dvaitam and it takes you to advitam; it eliminates dvaitam Brahmyam. Here Gaudapada adds more to the previous idea of knowledge of eliminating dvaitam.

He says, when knowledge eliminates dvaitam it includes the dvaitam that is the very basis of Gyanam. The very idea of Gyanam presupposes duality; thus the question comes who is the knower and what is the subject of knowledge. Gyanam eliminates all duality; it also eliminates knower and known duality. Can Gyanam eliminate knower known duality? Gaudapada answers, if there is a knower known duality then one can talk of its elimination perhaps; but in reality knower known duality does not exist; the question itself is wrong. It is similar to rope knowledge that eliminates snake. If there is duality (subject, object) created by someone, perhaps, it may or may not go, if it exists, but fact is that there is no knower known duality to go away.

Then what goes away? It is the notion, delusion, that there is a knower and known. This duality goes away. After knowledge, I will not even claim I am a Gyani, because to claim I am a Gyani I have to have a knower and known duality. I am Turiyam, free from knower and known duality.

If knower and known division are not there, why do scriptures talk about it? In Taittiriya Upanishad it says, Knower of Brahman attains liberty. The scriptures temporarily accept knower known division for sake of teaching. Once teaching is successful then there is no more duality; the knower known duality; the teacher student duality, all of them go away.

Take Away:

Thus when rope Ignorance goes snake delusion, the Error, automatically goes.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Shloka # 24:

पुरोधसां च मुख्यं मां विद्धि पार्थ बृहस्पतिम्।
सेनानीनामहं स्कन्दः सरसामस्मि सागरः।।10.24।।

O son of Prtha, know me to be Brhaspati, the foremost among the priests of kings. Among commanders of armies I am Skanda; among large expanses of water I am the sea. 

Continuing his teaching, Swamiji said, I was in midst of narrating a story of Ganga Avatharanam in last class about how Bhagiratha brought Ganga from heaven to earth. He came to know from his father Amshuman that his ancestors were burnt to ashes by sage Kapila. He came to know that Ganga jalam could save their lives yet. So, he decided to bring Ganga to earth. Hence we call a person of great determination as Bhagiratha and such effort is called Bhagiratha Prayatnam.

The question soon came up if Ganga decided to descend to earth, who would receive the mighty fall of ganga on earth.  He learnt that only Shiva could receive ganga. So he had to perform tapas to Lord Shiva for 1000 years. Lord Shiva agreed to receive ganga; he also wanted to teach ganga a lesson for her arrogance. Finally ganga came down and Shiva received her in his jatas. After receiving her he covered his jata, thus Ganga was completely hidden. Then Shiva went back to his tapas. But this posed a problem for Bhagiratha as he had wanted ganga to flow down and bless his ancestors. Now with ganga caught in Shivas jata, this did not happen. So, Bhagiratha again performed tapas to Lord shiva. Then Lord shiva let a small stream of ganga to flow to earth. Symbolically Ganga Devi is considered Brahma Vidya coming out of Lords wisdom. It indicates the knowledge coming down to the earth from the Lord’s wisdom.

Now as ganga flowed on earth it passed through the hermitage of Rishi Janvi. The story says it flooded the hermitage. Rishi Janvi got upset at Ganga, so he drank ganga up. Again Bhagiratha’s goal was not accomplished. So, now he did tapas to Sage Janvi. Finally the sage relented and allowed ganga to flow from his ear. From Shiva, ganga came out of his forehead. Now she came out of the ears of Janvi. Symbolically Brahma Vidya is a Karna parampara, hence Ganga is also called Janvi. At last ganga came to patala and the 60,000 Sagaara’s were saved. The place where they were burnt is known as Kapilaranyam in patala and as per Kanchi Shankaracharya it later became California. Nearby there is also an island by name of Ash island supposedly representing ashes of Saagaras. That is why ocean is called sagara.

Based on this story Brthhari wrote a shloka. He says there are three types of people.

• First type, manda purusha, who never undertake anything; they are afraid of failure; however,they declare they have never failed.
• Madhyama purusha are ones who have courage to start but once they face obstacles or failures they withdraw,
• Uttama Purusha are ones who try again and again until they get succeed like Bhagiratha. He is an ideal example of perseverance.

Shloka # 10.25:

महर्षीणां भृगुरहं गिरामस्म्येकमक्षरम्।
यज्ञानां जपयज्ञोऽस्मि स्थावराणां हिमालयः।।10.25।।

Among the great sages I am Bhrgu; of words I am the single syllable (Om) [Om is the best because it is the name as well as the symbol of Brahman.]. Among rituals I am the ritual of Japa [Japa, muttering prayers-repeating passages from the Vedas, silently repeating names of deities, etc. Rituals often involve killing of animals. But Japa is free from such injury, and hence the best.] of the immovables, the Himalaya.

Among Maharsihi’s (Sapta Rishi’s) born from Brahma’s mind or manas putra’s, Brghu is the preeminent one. I am Brghu the greatest among them, says, Sri Krishna.

A story about Brghu is that he tested the Trimurti’s once to see who had most patience. Brahma lost his temper; Shiva also lost his temper; but Vishnu alone did not lose his temper.

Bhrgu and went and kicked Vishnu’s chest; and instead of getting angry, Vishnu asked Bhrgu, is your leg alright, is it paining; and they say because of that alone, Vishnu got the mark in his chest. Imagine if somebody should conduct an examination of Trimurthi themselves; certainly he must be greater; Therefore that Bhrgu, the great examiner, I am.

Among all monosyllable words I am Omkara. Why is it greatest? It is essence of entire Vedas. Taittiriya Upanishad says, just as butter is churned from milk similarly Brahmaji churned the Vedas to obtain Om, hence it is considered Veda Sara. It is the most efficacious of all mantras. It is used in all karma kanda mantras. All rituals start with the word Om. Omkara is an alambanam. Karma kanda, Upasana kanda and Vedanta, all start with Om.

Omkara Vichara is considered essence of entire creation  says Mandukya Upanishad. So we begin and end with Om. I am most sacred Omkara, says Sri Krsihna.

Ghiram means among words I am monosyllable Omkarara.

Among all types of spiritual sadhanas I am Japa Yagya. He chooses japa because, it can be practiced by all people, despite caste, creed and other differences. Thus only a Grihasta can chant agnihotri; a Kshatriya alone can perform Raja Suya Yagya; only people with sacred threads can perform other rituals.

Some Japas are Varna, ashrama, upasana, male, female etc., specific. Japa Yagya is one which can be chanted anywhere, at any time, in all conditions, by anyone; hence it is considered the greatest sadhana. Benefit of japa yagya is that there is no himsa involved as no sacrifice of an animal is done. Gautama Budha turned against Hinduism because he was against animal sacrifice. Japa Yagya has no Himsa. There is also no expenditure of money and things involved in japa yagya. It is also as efficacious as other rituals. Hence a Vedic person must perform at least one ritual of japa everyday.  So, japa is recommended by chanting god’s name at least 108 times. Japa obtains all sadhana chatushtaya sampathi’s.

In japa the first two letters ja indicates what janmavicchedaha; the end to the cycle of birth and death. And the next letter pa indicates papa nasha. Since this sadhana will remove all the papams and through that will put an end to the cycle of samsara; therefore japa is a great sadhana.

What is Japa?  It is recitation of sacred word. It is different from parayanam such as reading of Gita etc. In japa same word is repeated. So, Sri Krsihna says, among sadhanas, I am Japa.

Among mountains I am Himalaya, the abode of Shiva.

Shloka # 26:

अश्वत्थः सर्ववृक्षाणां देवर्षीणां च नारदः।
गन्धर्वाणां चित्ररथः सिद्धानां कपिलो मुनिः।।10.26।।

Among all trees (I am) the Asvatha (peepul), and Narada among the divine sages. Among the gandharvas [A class of demigods regarded as the musicians of gods.] (I am) Citraratha; among the perfected ones, the sage Kapila.

Among all trees I am Ashwatha tree, abode of the Trinity, says Sri Krishna. A pradarshanam of Ashwatha tree is considered a pradarshanm of Trinity. The root of tree symbolizes Brahmaji, Vishnu the trunk and the Shiva the top. In ch # 15 Ashwatha tree is shown as Samsara or bondage.

Among Deva Rishi’s, I am Narada. All puranas mention Narada. Even Chandogya Upanishad mentions Narada as disciple of Sanatkumara.  In Chandogya upanishad; Narada is the disciple of Sanath kumara. And Narada receives Brahma vidya from Sanatkumara and that teaching is a very famous one; and it is called bhuma vidhya; so in the seventh chapter of the Chandogya upanishad; brahman is called bhuma; Brahma vidya is called bhuma vidhya and that is received by Narada from Sanatkumara and therefore Narada is a great Gyani as well. He distributed knowledge to all people; Naram means knowledge; Da means Giver.

Among Gandharvas, citizens of heaven, or of Gandharva loka, one’s who know performing arts, I am king of Gandharvas, Chitraratha. In mahabaharta this gandharva raja appears.

Among great sidhas, people with extraordinary powers, I am Kapila. Miraculous powers and spiritual knowledge have no connections. There are four types of Sidhas:

1. No self-knowledge with Sidhi.
2. Self knowledge with no sidhi.
3. Self knowledge with Sidhi.
4. No self-knowledge with no sidhi.

Those who have Gyanam without Sidhi are liberated Gyani’s. Gyani with sidhi are also liberated. One’s without Gyanam are not Gyani’s. Kapila had both Gyanam and Sidhi. In Bhagavatha purana Kaplia is supposed to be one of the avatharas of Bhagavan; Kapilavathara is very well known in Bhagavatham.

He taught his mother Vedanta. There is another Kapila Rishi, a philosopher who propounded Sankhya philosophy. Here Sri Krishna is talking about Vedanta teacher Kapila.

A person can get Sidhi by several methods. They include:

1. Money (precious stones etc.,)
2. Aushadam (herbs),
3. Mantras. With certain type of mantras you do purscaranam; What is purscaranam? You have to find out how many letters are there in the mantra; suppose Om Namashivaya; OM, Na, Ma, Si, Va, Ya; 6 letters; You have to multiply it with lakhs, that means 6 lakhs time minimum you have to chant; This is minimum. What is maximum? Multiply by crores; therefore five crores times, 12 crores times; then the potency of the mantra is released; like through nuclear fission or fusion; the energy within the atom is released, how much energy, it can destroy a Hiroshima or a nagasaaki. So much power is there in a small atom; similarly, every mantra has got tremendous potency, that potency is released by purscaranam of the mantra; through that also a person gets siddhis.
4. Meditation by focusing mind called Yoga also gives Sidhi.
5. Janma, by birth, also gives Sidhi. Purva punya and papam also can determine sidhi. Thus we see some people can withstand electric shock and some others can withstand acid burns.

Among Sidhas I am Kapila Muni, says Sri Krishna.

Kapila means yellow colored one.

Shloka 10. 27:

उच्चैःश्रवसमश्वानां विद्धि माममृतोद्भवम्।
ऐरावतं गजेन्द्राणां नराणां च नराधिपम्।।10.27।।

10.27 Among horses, know Me to be Uccaihsravas, born of nectar; Airavata among the lordly elephants; and among men, the Kind of men. [Uccaihsravas and Airavata are respectively the divine horse and elephant of Indra.]

In previous shloka I forgot to mention that Kapila is same one from Ganga avatharanam.

Now there is another story I wish to narrate. First we discussed ganga avatharanam. The second story is churning the milky ocean. Both teach fundamental lessons that perseverance is most important virtue in an individual. Failure should not deter you; it should trigger greater effort.

Gods and demons brought vasuki as the rope and they churned the ocean with Manthara parvatham as churning rod. There were differences of opinion as to who should hold the head of the snake. Once the churning rod went down and Lord Vishnu came in Tortoise form to lift and support the churning rod. A lot of things came out of the churn such as: Kaustubha, Lakshmi, Dhanvantari, Hala hala, the poison etc,. Symbolically the churning indicates Brahma Vidya and churning of our mind, as in Vedanta class. Mind is the kshira sagara and  white represents satva guna and satva guna represents the mind which is satvic and when you do the churning with the rod of scriptures, scriptural statements, varieties of things arrive.

Take away:

A Vedic person must perform at least one ritual of japa everyday.  So, japa is recommended by chanting god’s name at least 108 times. Through Japa, one obtains all sadhana chatushtaya sampathi’s.

Vedanta considers perseverance is a most important virtue in an individual. Failure should not deter you; it should trigger greater effort.

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Mantra # 7; Karika # 11:

Swamiji said in these karikas beginning from # 11 Guadapada is comparing and contrasting the four padas. This study is for clarifying the karika. This clarification is called Svadhanya Vaidhanya Vichara. It shows the study of common and uncommon features. Two specific factors are studied for comparison. They are: 1) Ignorance and 2) Error, or misconceptions born from ignorance.

When you do not recognize a rope, as a rope, it is called Rajju Agyanam; where it is mistaken as something else; hence called an error. Error is always born out of ignorance; with knowledge there can be no more error.

Ignorance is the cause while error is its effect. Ignorance is referenced by four expressions of Gaudapada. They are:

1. Nidra: Ignorance is figuratively called sleep. When you are asleep to a fact, you are ignorant of the fact.
2. Agrahanam: Non-perception of fact. Rope ignorance is non-perception that it is a rope.
3. Karanam: Ignorance is referred to as cause or karanam. Why is it a cause? Because it is cause of error, cause of mistake or misconception, hence it is karanam.
4. Beejam: or Seed. Why seed? Just as from a seed sprout comes out, from seed of ignorance, error or mistake arises. Rope misconception is born from rope ignorance. Some mistake it as snake, some as mala (garland), some as a crack in the earth, yet others as a stick. All misconceptions are born from one seed of ignorance.

Following four factors provide reference points for Ignorance. Errors too can be referenced by these four factors.

The four factors are:

• Swapna: Error is swapna; thus in dream we have a non-factual experience.
• Anyathagrahanam: Misperception. In error we always perceive things wrongly, thus we see snake in a rope.
• Karyam: Error is born of ignorance; it is an effect born of ignorance; hence it is called Karyam.
• Ankuraha: Sprout or a plant. Error is a sprout that comes out of the seed of ignorance or Beeja ankuraha.

Using these four expressions Gaudapada is going to compare and contrast the four padas.

Karika # 11:

कार्यकारणबद्धौ ताविष्येते विश्वतैजसौ ।
प्राज्ञः कारणबद्धस्तु द्वौ तौ तुर्ये न सिद्ध्य्तः ॥ ११ ॥

Vishwa and Taijasa are both conditioned by cause and effect. But Prajna is conditioned by cause alone. Both cause and effect exist not in Turiya.

Vishwa, the waker, the first pada, is associated with Karyam (error) and karanam (ignorance). Waker has both ignorance and error. What is the Waker ignorant of? He is ignorant that I am Turiyam, the Paramatma. Since he is ignorant, he makes a mistake that I am the Jivatma, the limited sorrowful individual; that I am limitless, is not known; in error, I only know I am a limited individual. Every Waker looks at himself as a limited “I”.

The dreamer also has same pair of problems or as Taijasa. Taijasa also has karyam and karanam. During dream, I am ignorant of fact that I am the limitless paramatma or Turiyam; I commit a mistake that I am limited individual or jivatma suffering from dream samsara. This is the second pada is also associated with ignorance and error.

Pragyaha is the third pada; the sleeper associated with only Karanam, or ignorance. A sleeper does not make a mistake; he has only got ignorance. It is called pure ignorance. What does it mean? Error free ignorance is called pure ignorance; even though I am ignorant that I am limitless; I don’t create any mistake because the mind is in a resolved state; as such it cannot commit mistakes. Hence called Total ignorance or also called Bliss. Ignorance becomes a problem only when it is mixed with erroneous perceptions.

Say a rope is lying in a shadow (half-lit area) and you see it partially; hence you see it as a snake causing to be frightened. Had the rope been in a pitch-dark area, and then there would have been rope ignorance, as I don’t see the rope to begin with. Here Ignorance exists, but there is no wrong perception of snake. Here Ignorance is there without an error. Hence, in Total Ignorance, one knows no Samsara or there is no error. It is only in partial ignorance that the error comes in.

In deep sleep also there is no samsara. Gyani and deep sleep both don’t have samsara. Only Waker and Agyani have samsara.

Shankaracharya in his Brahmasutra commentary talks of this error and calls Adhyasa. So, Gaudapada says, a sleeper has only “ignorance without error”.

In Turiyam also there is neither ignorance nor error. It is free from both. It is pure Consciousness alone. It is the illuminator of ignorance and error. Why so? Several reasons are given:

1. Pure consciousness is asangaha; it is relation-less like space. Space is everywhere but not connected to anything including ignorance and error.
2. Consciousness is a higher order reality or Paramarthika Satyam. While ignorance of error is Vyavaharailka Satyam. Both can’t be connected. Thus, a waking person can’t be hurt by dream water, fire etc. Waker is higher order reality while dreamer is a lower order reality.
3. Prakash Tatvam: Illuminator of a thing can never be polluted by anything. Light can’t be contaminated by whatever it shines on.

Karika # 12:

नाऽऽत्मानं न परंश्चैव न सत्यं नापि चानृतम् ।
प्राज्ञः किंचन संवेत्ति तुर्यं तत्सर्वदृक्सदा ॥ १२ ॥

Prajna does not know anything of the Truth or the untruth., nor does Prajna know anything of the Self or of the not-Self; Prajna knows nothing. But Turiya is ever and it is  always the all-knowing , the all-seeing.

In these two shlokas gaudapada is contrasting Pragya and Turiya and their uncommon features.

Pragya is associated with ignorance.

Turiya is not associated with ignorance.

This contrast is in both shlokas 12 and 13.

Pragya does not know anything. It is absolutely ignorant. Pragya is errorlessly ignorant and hence blissfully ignorant. Pragya does not know himself. I don’t know the object or the subject. Nobody says, “I am sleeping”, nor does he say, “I am Turiyam”. How about others? He does not know others as well. He does not know Atma or anatma. Neither does he know reality nor the unreal world. It is state of Total Ignorance.

What about Turiyam? It is pure Consciousness, the illuminator of everything including ignorance, the state of  “I don’t know anything”. If asked, do you know that you don’t know anything, and then I am conscious of my ignorance. Consciousness is illuminator of ignorance and error; hence it is called Sarva Dhriti. Illuminator is not tainted by whatever it illumines. Imagine if light that illumines my body becomes a part of my body; when I leave everything will be dark, as light will leave with me. Light falls on body but is not connected to body. So, Turiyam is free from ignorance, while Pragya is associated with ignorance.

When is Turiyam free? It is ever free from ignorance and error.

karika # 13:

द्वैतस्याग्रहणं तुल्यमुभयोः प्राज्ञतुर्ययोः ।
बीजनिद्रायुतः प्राज्ञः सा च तुर्ये न विद्यते ॥ १३ ॥

The non-cognition of duality is equal in both sleep and Turiya but the sleeper conditioned in his sleep, is in the form of the cause and this- the sleep or cause (avidya) does not exist in Turiya.

In this shloka also Gaudapada is studying Pragya and Turiya. Here he talks of similarities and dissimilarities. In previous shloka only dissimilarities were discussed.

What are the dissimilarities?

Pragya is associated with ignorance.

Turiya is not associated with ignorance.

Bija nidra means ignorance. Pragya is ignorance ridden. Contrastingly in Turiya Bija nidra, ignorance is not there.

What are the similarities?

Common factors are that both are free from error.

A sleepy person has no error; he does not have notion of a limited person; it is not there in Turiyam or a Gyani as well. So Gyani and Turiyam are identical. Therefore moksha and sleep are very similar.

In Brhadaranyaka Upanishad Yagyavalkya compares moksha with sleep. Unfortunately with problems we have today, we don’t get sleep.

Here dvaitam means error or perception of the limited “I”. Why is it an error? It is an error because advaitam is a fact. Agrahanam means absence. Absence of dvaitam or error is common to both Pragya and Turiyam. So, in sleep, I am in advaitam. Turiyam is also a state of advaitam. So, error abhava (absence) is common to both.

Karika # 14:

स्वप्ननिद्रायुतावाद्यौ प्राज्ञस्त्वस्वप्ननिद्रया । 
न निद्रां नैव च स्वप्नं तुर्ये पश्यन्ति निश्चिताः ॥ १४ ॥

Vishwa and Taijasa, the former two are associated with the conditions of dream and sleep, Prajna is the state without dream. Those who have known the Truth do not see either sleep or dream in Turiya.

This shloka is similar to # 11. Shlokas # 11 and # 14 are similar. All four padas are compared in them. In shlokas # 12 and # 13 only two padas are compared.

First two padas, Vishwa (waker) and Taijasa (dreamer) are associated with nidra or ignorance and error. Waker is associated with ignorance and error; it is same for Taijasa as well; whereas Pragya is associated with ignorance or it is state of error-less ignorance or Total ignorance.

In Turiyam there is neither nidra (ignorance) nor swapna (error). Both are not there. Wise people don’t see ignorance or error in Turiyam.

This is the comparison and contrast. To be liberated you have to become Turiyam. In Vishwa and Taijasa, you will not get liberation. How to become Turiyam will be topic of next class.

Take Away:

With Best Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy