Class notes by Sharmila

Swami Sharadananda shared that he was once sitting with Pujya Swami Chidananda (who also studied under Pujya Swami Sivananda along with Gurudev). A young man came and asked Pujya Swami Chidananda about the reality of free will and God’s will, and when He was asked this He stopped what He was doing ,and entered Samadhi and after sometime came out of Samadhi and answered the question. He shared with the seeker ‘put in your maximum effort and eventually you will come to know it is not your effort’! It is grace that is catalyzing the effort. There is no ‘you’. He is speaking from the reference of His own enlightenment. This is the exact message of the Upanishad, specifically the ‘Sad’ part. ‘Sad’ means to destroy, to put in the maximum effort to destroy the notion that –  ‘we’ are putting in the maximum effort and that ‘we are’!

The more we rise as a seeker, the more Maya can see us and try to poison the seeking. It will try to infuse the seeking with what we are trying to destroy, which is the ego, making one more egotistical. So one needs protection, and this protection is to pray to our Rishis/Rishikas (those who are able to escape Maya) so they can protect us and help us escape from the same. This is what the Upanishad course is about. ‘Upa’ means to be near and ‘Ni’ means with determination and dedication. 

Recap: Lesson 19 focused on Sambandha. Sambandha means well-connected. The message here is, when the Adhikari and the Vishaya (mantras of Upanishad) come together there is Prayojana (purpose, result). Sambandha is that which explains all this.

In Lesson 20, the expression of prayojana becomes more clear and that is Jivanmukta (free while living). In this lesson, the first two portions highlight how for someone who is free while living, they are free from paapa (sin) and kaama (desire). Paapa and kaama make us reborn.  The third portion of this lesson, is the mantra from Taittariya Upanishad (3.10.6) 

Etat saama gaayannaaste. Haaavu haaavu haaavu

ahamannam ahamannam ahamannam

ahamannaado hamannaado hamannaadaH

aham shlokakrdaham shlokakrdaham shlokakrt

ahamasmi prathamajaa rtaaasya

purvam devebhyo’mrtasya naaabhaayi

yo maa dadaati sa ideva maaavaH

ahamannam annamadantamaaadmi

aham vishvam bhuvanamabhyabhavaaam suvarna jyoteeH

ya evam veda 

The one who is free is past (atita) paapa, kaama and dvaita (twoness, separation). Ahamannam means ‘i am food’, i is the subject, annam is the object – there is a oneness in subject and object. How a free person is and lives becomes the sadhana or path for those who are not free. Our relationship with the one who is free is to support them, serve them and surrender to them. The love we offer to the one who is free, that love is saved meaning we are saved.

This Class – Lesson 21: The theme is Videha mukti. In the Upanishad there is a common phrase ‘yato vacho nivartante’ – words cannot touch/describe what they are trying to touch/describe. Words are finite, and in the Upanishad the words are trying to describe the infinite! But for the one who is not experiencing infinity, we need words. This is because for someone who is infinite, ‘jivan’ does not apply, ‘mukta’ does not apply, ‘deha’ does not apply, ‘videha’ does not apply. Jivanmukta and Videhamukta are just for us.

Kathopanishad (2nd adhyaya, 5th valli, 7th mantra) 2.5.7:

Yonim anye prapadyante shareeratvaaya dehinaH 

Sthaanum anye anusamyanti yathaakarma yathaa shrutam

Yoni – womb

Anye prapadyante – others go into a womb

Shareeratvaaya dehinaH – it is for the jiva or ego to have a body

Sthaanum – that which moves less, referring to plants 

Anye anusamyanti – they continue with this process 

Yathakarma yathaa shrutam – it is determined based on our print (vasana) that we go into another body, and our vasana is determined by what we know. 

The lesser we know, the more we have to be in bodies where there is less access to inquiry. The more we know, we will have embodiments where there is more inquiry. 

We have to think about our body, which is the context we are born into, and how we are bombarded with opportunities to inquire. This shows how high ‘yathakarma yatha shrutam’ is for us. Swami Sharadanandaji has shared that even to chant Bhagavan’s nama is Bhagavan’s kripa. Even if we chant mechanically , it is an intense amount of kripa on us. For the one who cannot evolve anymore (that is for the one who is awakened) , they don’t need a yoni or embodiment. When we are not enlightened we will be reborn, when we are enlightened we will not be reborn and that is what Videha means. 

Our Upanishads use the example of pot/space a lot. If the pot breaks, then it is like the inside space has now joined the outside space. This shows how we are stuck with names, and particularly forms. With inquiry, there is no inside or outside , there are no directions, infinity is not subject to any of these orientations. We should inquire into why we don’t feel that the inside and outside are one! ? The most obvious reason is the ego. The ego separates, it turns the infinite into many finites. This is not possible, and so this is called Maya.

One of the prayers that is often offered to Devi is a prarthana for rupa – “rupam dehi”. If taken literally, it means praying to become the most beautiful. But for any seeker who is approaching this with a narrative of Vedanta, the ‘rupam’ is humility! The most humble person is the most beautiful. They feel they are an instrument, and feel all that they have in life is an opportunity! Vairagya is the way to nurture such humility where we don’t identify with this body. Vairagya means to be without likes/dislikes. Likes and dislikes only solidify the reality of separation. 

Mundaka Upanishad (3rd Mundaka, 2nd khanda, 5th mantra) 3.2.5:

sampraapyainamrshayo jnaanatrptaaH krtaatmaano veetaraagaaH prashaantaaH 

te sarvagam sarvataH praapyadheeraa yuktaatmaanaH sarvamevaavishanti

One is a rishi based on gaining the knowledge that they are joy (jnaanatrptaaH) , it is like they become the Atma (krtaatmanaH) , so they have transcended lives (veetaraagaaH) so there is no effort anymore and it is natural, they are shanti (prashaantaaH). The one who is free, they are everywhere (sarvagam sarvataH), they have experienced all of this because they are dheeraaH , that is deeper than names and forms, they are one with the spirit (yuktaatmaanaH), they have entered all (sarvamevaavishanti). 

Krta means to do/ to create. Atma cannot be done or created. So krtaatmanaH means ‘they are the Atma’ which means ‘they are joy’.  So they are veetaraga which means one who is completely free of raaga (likes/dislikes). 

Etymology of veetaraga is ‘visheshena itaaH raagaaH ebhyaH’ – this is a special vairagya in which there is no effort. 

In the experience of oneness, there cannot be likes or attachments. In the end of chapter 11 of Bhagavad Gita in verse 55, Bhagavan Krishna shares to not have attachments or likes (sangavarjitaH nirvairaH sarvabhuteshu). We should try to practice less likes and less attachments all with a trajectory of leading us to oneness, that is mukta.