Beginning from 75th verse to 86th,
Gowdapadha is dealing with the cause of samsara.  Ignorance of the thuriya
atma, the fourth padha, which is our real higher nature is the cause of
samsara.  I am not viswa, taijasa, pragya; I am not kartha bothta or
finite.  Unfortunately, we have the problem of ignorance and we can’t
trace the origination of ignorance; The solution has to be removal of the
ignorance and it can happen only with thuriya gyanam.

Ignorance generates samsara through:

Ignorance produces ahangara or misconception
regarding my nature.  When I forget that I am the waker lying on the bed,
that ignorance becomes the cause for the dreamer.  Self-ignorance is
responsible for self-misconception.  This is in the form of sthurala
sareera abimana, becoming viswa or shukshama sareera abimana becoming taijasa
or karana sareera abimana becoming prgya.  These three put together is
ahangara.  For this ahangara I becomes real.  When paramarthika
sathyam is not known, vyavakariga sathyam becomes real.  When the higher
one is not known the lower one gets elevated.  Therefore, the physical
body becomes my real nature.  My physical personality becomes my
personality.  Old age, death etc. becomes serious issues.  Obsession
with the mithya dwaida prabanaja.  Once I identify with the body as the
ultimate, anything that gives security to the body, that also becomes very
important.  Mithya money, mithya people, mithya power – the entire mithya
jagradh prabanja becomes very important.  The original reality is gone,
and one runs after the mithya prabanja.   Mithya interaction becomes
addiction and no time for thuriya adhistanam.  Every person is trapped in
pravirthi of mithya vasthu.  The solution is to know the higher
nature.  Just like the dream body and dream world is falsified by waking
up, this body and this world should be falsified by knowing higher
nature.  Swapna prabanja and jagradh prabanja are both mithya – as good as
nonexistent.

There is a small different between
waking up from dream world and waking up from this world.  When I wake up
from dream world, dream world disappears.  When the spiritual waking up,
the physical world does not disappear.  Previously I experienced dwaida prabanja
and attributed reality to it but after gyanam I will continue to experience
dwaida prabanja but will not attribute reality to it.  The difference is
at the cognitive level.  This is similar to studying in school, we know
that the sun does not rise at all, but it is the earth that is rotating. 
We know that the sun rise is mithya; we don’t experience the earth rotating but
we experience the stationery earth.  Similarly, vedanta does not remove
dwaida experience but negates the attribute.  Because of this change in
understanding, one will not develop raga dwesha towards a mithya vathu. 
The attachments will be gone.  Once you understand the rope snake, it will
not threaten you.  Mithya prabanja can’t generate attachment. 
Running after mithya security will end and therefore mind withdraws from all
struggles.

Mirage water not only does not
quench the thirst, but because of running the thirst might increase.

Verse 80

The wise person does not seek mithya
vasthu; he also gets security in the form of thuriyum; similar to a person
discovering water right underneath.  He will no more run after mirage
water; he gets real water which removes thirst.  A wise person withdraws
from mithya struggle, but that withdrawal is permanent; there is no
repetition.  He will have peace which is inexplicable.  That peace of
mind is not describable.  That peace of mind is knowable only to wise
people.  It is accessible only for wise people.

In the scriptures, moksha is often
equated to Brahman, even though moksha is only a state of mind.  The
reason is a wise person does not look up on his peaceful mind different than
Brahman.  That moksha enjoyed by a wise person is none other than Brahman,
the never the same the never undisturbed.  The worldly peace of mind is
temporarily available.  The uniqueness of gyanam is that is ever
same.  2 + 2 is always 4; it never changes; gyanam never changes.  Therefore,
gyanam based peace will never change.  It is birthless; changeless and non-dual.

Verse 81

In this verse also Gowdapadha
equates Moksha to Brahman.  Moksha is a state of mind as a result of
gyanam.  That moksha is equated to Brahman because a gyani knows
everything is not different from Brahman.  That moksha is none other than dharma
or atma.  Usually dharma is either noble action or noble result. 
Here it means atma.  Birthless indicates not connected with sthūla
sareeram.  Dreamless means not connected with shukshma sareeram. 
Sleepless indicates not connected with karana saareerram.  Once I cut off
the three-fold relationship, I know that I am viswa taijasa pragya vilakshanam;
therefore moksha is no different than thuriyuam.  Its nature is pure
consciousness.  Viswa is associated with material sthula sareeram; taijasa
is associated with material sukshama sareeram; pragya is associated with
material karana sareeram; Thuriyum is not connected with any material sareeram
but pure consciousness.  Consciousness is:

• Not a part or product of body; not a
  product created by brain
  • Independent, invisible entity that
    pervades body
  • Not limited or confined by
    boundaries of body
  • Survives even after the body dies
  • Surviving consciousness can’t be
    recognized by us and is not available for transactions

Thuriyum is self-effulgent and is
ever effulgent.  it is every evident.  This consciousness’ sentient
not borrowed from anywhere, it is conscious by its very intrinsic nature. 
Sentience of physical body is borrowed from sukshma sareeram.  Atma does not
borrow consciousness, it is conscious by very nature.

Verse 82

The problem faced by every
seeker:  The moment I wake up and know that I am waker, the dream world
disappears and does not create a problem.  In the case of spiritual
knowledge, by sravana manana nidhithyasanam, a seeker recognizes that I am
thuriyum and everything else is mithya.  Even after waking up to this
thuriya knowledge, this mithya prabanja does not disappear because of the power
of prarabtha.  This is similar to fan rotating after being switched
off.  Because of the continuation of vyavakara, you get hungry etc. 
It is the nature of body that there is hunger, thirst, dirt.  Vyavakara
can be reduced but it can’t be totally stopped.  Transactions and ashrama
duties will continue.  Handling the body is common duty of gyani and there
are other duties associated with ashrama.  If one of grahastha gyani,
gragastha duties will continues.  One has to be extremely alert; every
transaction will invoke the viswa and ego personality.  When the child is
in front of me, I the parent is invoked.  Every transaction in sthula
prabanja will invoke a viwsa property.  The invoked viswa may become
prominent and it is possible that thuriya may become less prominent and go to
the background.  When the thuriyum is forgotten, this person starts to
behave as though he is an agyani.

Class
73

Gowdapadha is talking about the
problem and remedy for samsara.  When I happened to be ever free Brahman,
why is it I am caught up in the cycle of samsara?  ­In 75th verse, Gowdapadha says the cause is
ignorance which leads to chain reaction in the form of samsara.  Ignorance
never comes, it is there from anadhi kala.  The only saving grace is we
can put an end to ignorance; it is not ananda.  Ignorance of thuriyum is
the cause for samsara.  This ignorance by itself does not cause samsara;
but it leads to misconception of viswa, taijasa and pragya.  Once I have
come down to viswa plane, the sthula prabanja becomes very real, just as the
dream objects looks real for a dreamer.  Ahangara adhyasa or kama or
desire arises out of this ignorance.  As viswa I am finite that sense
leads to my desire to complete myself with the things in front of me.  Obsession
with the world which is really not there.  Avidhya leads to ahangara;
ahangara leads to kama or desire; kama leads to karma; karma lead to uthama,
madhyama and adhama karma palam in the form of punyam, pavam and misaram. 
This leads to punarabi jananam; you get ahangara etc. again in cycle.  You
can’t remove the cycle without removing the fundamental cause which is
ignorance.  First you remove avidhya, then ahangara goes away; I realize I
am viswa taijasa pragya vilakshanam.  Then kama goes; and then not new
karma.  When knowledge arises the gyani or jivatma never born again. 
When the cause is gone, then the effect is also gone.

Verse 77

When the karmas are destroyed by
knowledge, then one gets moksha.  This means moksha is a result obtained
in a particular time.  Such a misconception can arise in a student’s mind;
we should never think moksha arrives or happen at a particular time.  If
as a result of gyanam, samsara ends and moksha begins on a particular date,
then whatever has a beginning will also have an end.  Therefore, we should
never conclude that moksha should begin at a time.  Beginning of moksha is
a figurative expression for the removal of the notion that I am limited. 
Moksha is my very real nature.  Attainment of moksha is a figurative notion
for dropping the notion that I am bound.  Moksha is not an event happening
at a particular time.

Moon falling into well and being
pulled out by mulla is compared to getting moksha.

Jivatma attains birth lessness,
seemingly come to jivatma.  The jivatma free from all karma, which are
responsible for punar jenma.  Uthama, madhyama and adhama karmas are the
cause for punar jenma.  Really speaking, jivatma is free from all vikara. 
That atma alone appears as a pluralistic world.  That jivatma appears to
obtain moksha, but moksha was there all the time.  It is a freedom
existing all the time.  Dropping the notion that I am not free is
figuratively called moksha.  It is not divisible into past, present or
future.  It is uniform and ever available.  It is an eternal factor
because the bondage we talk about is not a real bondage; it is mithya.

Any object is mithya because it
doesn’t have an independence existence of its own; every object needs a subject
to prove its existences.  This samsara cycle is mithya and therefore we
don’t require a freedom; we only need waking up and realize there is no problem
requiring remedy.  You don’t solve the problem; you dissolve the problem;
you understand there is no problem to solve.  Mukthi is my swaroopam.

Verse 78

Viswa, taijasa alone kartha. 
The more I assimilate the fact that I am akartha the more I will realize I am
free from karma.  I don’t need to exhaust karma.  I am free from
sanjitha, agami and prarabtha karma all the time.  This is my real
nature.  Sanjitha karma is mithya; agami karma is mithya; prababtha karma
is mitha; kartha himself is mithaya.  Nidhithyasanam is not to obtain
moksha but realize moksha is my real nature.  Until this becomes clear
sravanam, mananm and nidhidhtyasanam must continue.  A seeker should know
that I am karma rehitha – free from karma.  I am not only free from karma;
I won’t accumulate fresh karma (agami) either.  I am not a kartha
therefore I can’t accumulate fresh karma.  When you see this fact and
clearly understood, you will attain moksha.  His struggles for moksha will
end.  Moksha is freedom from grief and all selfish desire which are born
out of apoornatvam the notion that I am incomplete.  There is not wants in
life.  If there are any desires, they are desires to contribute to other’s
poornatvam; non-binding desires.  Constant insecurity is the reason most
of human action.  Everything is driven by the fundamental insecurity and
it gets more intense as we get older.  As we grow old, our insecurity
increases.

the word budhwa used by Gowdapadha
.  Puja bakthi etc are glorious but none of them will solve the problem of
samsara.  They all will prepare the mind to come to sravana manana
nidhithyasanam.  All have to come to vedanta sravana, manana
nidhidhtyasanam.

Verse 79

How the persistence of agyanam will
keep the bondage going, is not said blindly.  Light alone destroy darkness
is not a phototropism but a fact.  For removing darkness there is only one
way – light.  Multi path theory is illogical.  We accept many paths
for chitha sudhhi – purifying mind.  As long as you are attached to the
mithya sareeram, the viswa will get strengthened.  From the standpoint of
mithya viswam, jagrath prabanja will not be seen as mithya and it will be seen
as sathyam.  Only from thuriya dhrishty jagarath prabana is mithya. 
From the standpoint of one mithya another mithya appears sathyam.  Viswa
can’t avoid raga dwesha and raga dwesha can’t avoid pravirthi and nivirthi
(going towards and going away).

When we ask is the world is real or
not, we should remember from which standpoint.  From the standpoint of the
body, viswa, karma etc.  world is real and capable of affecting the waker
also.  From vyvakarika dhrishti world is born and is real.  But in Vedanta,
we are trying to look at the world from the standpoint of thuriyum.  From
thuriya dhrishti, or paramarthika dhrishti, we say the world did not
originate.  Exactly like the dream world did not originate from the standpoint
of waker.  This world of duality is very much there from the standpoint of
mithya vyavakaraha.  From the vyvakarika dhrishti we do not naturally wake
up.  Ignorance never end by itself.  Every object in nature have a
natural death.  Other than Brahman, avigyanam will not die
naturally.  We require sastra, guru and students for avidhya or ignorance
to end.  Other systems of philosophy also do not have paramarthika
dhrishti.  Vedanta use logic, but it is subservient; it is sastram. 
For materialistc purposes tharka or logic may be required but not for vedantic
philosophy.  From dwaida philosophy or vyavakarika dhrishti they will
never understand the teaching from paramarthika dhsrishti.  They also
misunderstand us.  When we say world is unreal, it is from the standpoint
of thuriyum.  But from another standpoint, the world is very real. 
They get confused between vyavakarika and paramarthika dhrishti.

Verse 74

Up until now we are saying Brahman
is nondual and kariya karana vilakshanam.  It is beyond time as cause and
effect are subject to time.  Now Gowdapadha says, really speaking Brahman
can’t be called nirvikaram also.  The very name nirikaram is given only
from vyavakarika dhrishti.  Because from vyavakaika dhrishti, speaking talk
about Brahman as karanam or savikaram subject change producing effect. 
Since from vyakarika angle, they are looking up on Brahman, we are forced to
negate that notion by using the word nirivikaram.  From paramarthika
dhrishti, since savikaram itself is not there, we need not use the word
nirvikaram also.  Similarly, from vyavakirka dhrishti, they call Brahman
sagunam; because they use the word sagunam, advaidam uses word nirguranm. 
Every definition of Brahman is given only from the standpoint of vyavakarika
misconception.  Once the misconception is gone, we will withdraw all the definition
of Brahman.  If we have negated vyavakarika prabanja, we will negate all
the words like sathyam, sagunam, vikaram, gyanam.  From paramarthika
dhrishti, silence is the only definition of Brahman.  Amathra is the only
definition of thuriyum.  Thuriyum is also not the correct word, since it
implies the fourth, but when you negate the first three padhas, thuriyum can’t’
be called thuriyum.  From paramarthika dhrishti, it can’t even be called eternal. When
you negate the impermanent world, you can’t call it eternal.  This verse
is similar to 33rd verse of second chapter.  After negating dwaidam, we
won’t use the word advaidam.

Verse 75

With the previous verse, the
summarization of Upanishad is over for now.  In 75 to 86, Gowdapadha talks
about problems of humans.  What is the cause of sorrow when we are all Brahman? 
I can never become a samsari, because becoming is a change.  If this is
true, then why do you suffer.  The reason is avidhya or agyaam  The
unreal ignorance or Maya is alone is the cause of the problem.  Why did we
get this ignorance?  Ignorance never came, it is anadahi.  Because of
this anadhi avidhya, I have fallen without falling.  Because of ignorance,
we have fallen into viswa and taijasa.  From this standpoint, the
individuality, the world becomes very real just like the dream world is real
from the dreamer’s standpoint.  The more I get involved in it, the more
real it becomes, just like a movie.  Obsession with the mithya prabanja is
the cause of samsara.  Beginning with body mind complex, all the
relationships etc.  we get absorbed to such an extent, we do not believe
when vedanta says it is mithya.  It is not easy; one has to soak in
vedanta to get out of this mechanical life.

There is no duality born from
Brahman; There is only a very strong obsessive notion regarding a duality which
is really nonexistent.  In vedanta, dwaidam is samsara.  Duality
means time and space.  In deep sleep, there is not duality; there is no
time.  Once you accept duality, time comes; once time comes, decease, old
age etc. comes.  After knowledge, there is no cause for samsara: 
ignorance and obsession; once knowledge comes, ignorance goes away and then the
ignorance-based obsession goes away.  That gyani is no more reborn because
the word reborn itself is not relevant when there is no birth; therefore he
gets liberated.  Therefore, solution for samsara is gyanam.

Verse 76

Ignorance is the cause of samsara
and knowledge is the only solution.  Ignorance makes me think I am not
thuriyum.  Because this fact was not known, then I mistake myself as viwa
or taijasa or pragya.  From the standpoint of body, I become kartha and boktha;
As a kartha, I produce karma palam.

Agyanam causes dheha abimana; dheha abimana results in karma; karma results in karma palam.  Karma palam  can be uthama (punyam), madhyama (misram) and adhama (pavam).  Higher karma palam will take me to higher lokas and lower karma palam will take me to lower lokas, Madhya karma palam will result in punarabi jananm and punarabi  manam.  Gyani does not have dheha abimana and because of that his actions do not produce karma.  When the cause is not there, how can there be effect?

Please listen to Swamiji’s Special talk for 2020 at this link: Hinduism and Family Life

Mithyatvam of the world has been
established through several methods.  In these verses, Gowdapadha uses a
special reasoning:  Whatever is an object of an experience has to be
mithya, because its existence can be proved and is dependent on the subject,
the experiencer.  Then he divided the whole universe into three
categories:  Sakshi, chitham and jagat.  First, he established that
the world is mithya because it is an object of mind.  Three is now reduced
into two.  Now sakshi and chitham are the two left.  He applies the
same principle and says that mind is also mithya because it is an object of
sakshi.  Net result is prabanja is also dhrishyam from the standpoint of
mind; mind is also dhrishyam from the standpoint of sakshi.  Both are
dhrishyam and so both are mithya.  Sakshi is never an object, it is never
a dhrishyam; it is always dhrig or sathyam.

In 67th verse, therefore of these
three, two are mithya; consciousness alone is sathyam; mind and world are both
mithya.  He reinforces by giving one more reasoning.  Since mind and
world are both mithya, they do not exist independently and both of them depend
on each other.  You can’t prove world without mind; and you can’t prove
mind without world.  Only if the forms and colors are there, then and then
alone you can prove the existence of eye.  When in a room there is
absolute silence, you may get a doubt whether you have hearing ability or not;
only by making a sound you can prove that the ear is functioning or
existing.  The mind and the world are mutually dependent to prove the
existence of each other and therefore both are mithya.

Verse 68

Since the entire world and the four
jivas being mithya, you can never clearly talk about their arrival and
departure.  They only apparently arrive and apparently depart.  If
this is not convincing, there is the example of jivas seen within dream. 
If you try find out how they arrived, you will have difficulty.  The
moment you go to dream, they instantaneously appear.  On waking up, they
disappear, but you won’t be able to explain where they disappear.  But
during dream they appear real enough to give you experience.  They appear
and disappear without proper logic or reasoning.  In the jagradh prabanja
also, the more you probe into creation and resolution, or whether karma came
first or jiva came first. they will all became more vague and beyond logical
explanation.  We have one-word Maya, representing anything that can’t be
explained or indescribable of mithya.

Verse 69

In this verse second example is
given:  Maya or magical jiva.  Just as a magician able to create a
magical jiva, which is not there, but for you it appears as a jiva is created.

Verse 70

In 68, 69 and 70 the second line is
same.  In this verse third example, nirguna jiva created is by chidhi, a
materialized jiva.  The previous example is an illusion created by
magician pradhibadhika; this example is a thing created by special power by
chithda  in vyavakarika.

Common to all of them – swapna jiva,
maya jiva or nirmidhaka jiva – they are all mithya; either pradhibadhika mithya
or vyavakarika mithya.

Verse 71

If all these jivas (swapna, maya and
nirmidhaka) are not really born or apparently born, then which jiva is really
born?  No jiva or jivatma is really born because of every jivatma is none
other than birthless paramatma.  This verse is repetition of 48th verse of
third chapter.

If jivatma is a product or kariyam,
then we need a karanam.  We think paramatma is the karanam of jivatma, but
up on study we find paramatma is not a karanam but a karana kariya
vilaksham.  For this jivatma to be born there is no cause.  There is
only one highest reality which is paramarthika sathyam or thuriyum which is
greater than prathipadhika sathyam (swapna prabanja) or vyavakarika sathyam
(jagradha prabanja).  Jagradh prabanja is not available for a dream and
swapna prabanja is not available for waker and therefore they both are mithya
or relative reality.  The absolute reality is thuriya chaithanyam. 
It is in all the three and is also beyond the three.

Verse 72

If you say no jiva is born, and
therefore no jagat is not born, but why do I experience all of them?  Just
as your thought motion appears as tangible dream world the apparent motion of
consciousness appear as tangible waker world.  Modern science says
tangible products are made of violently moving intangible atoms, neutrons
etc.  Motion of the universe is indicated by the eternal dance of
Nataraja.

Duality indicates subject and
object.  Dualistic world consisting of subject object duality which is
nothing but consciousness in motion – which is both subject and object. 
The ultimate truth is consciousness does not really contact a world; it does
not have an object to contact; because there is no object separate from
consciousness.  Just as clay can never contact the pot, because there is
no pot separate from clay.  Wave can never contact water because there is
no wave other than water.  The world can never contact the consciousness,
because there is no world separate from consciousness.  In advaidam, there
is no relationship is possible.  Since there is no matter other than
consciousness, it is relation less.  That is why people are afraid of advaidam. 
We think that without relationship life will be miserable.  In advaidm,
there is no fear and a source of moksha.

Verse 73

Once you say that the world is
caused by apparent motion of consciousness, then the world is apparently born,
which means the world is really not born.  From one angle, it is
apparently born; from another angle it is really not born.  It is either
unreally born (vyavakarika sathyam) or really unborn (mithya). 
Vyavakiraka sahtyam and mithya are both same.  From the emperical angle,
relative angle the vyavakariaka prabanja is real.  From the angle of one
who is in dream, the dream world is very real.  This is relative
pereceiver’s angle or vyakariaka dhrishti, the jagradh prabanja or from the
angle of viswa, the world is very very real.  From the standpoint of Thuriyum,
which is paramarthika dhrishti, the world is not real it doesn’t even
exist.  This is similar to dream world nonexistent from the standpoint of
waker.  From the standpoint of other systems of philosophy, they are
looking from the vyvakarika dhrishti as they don’t accept or understand
paramrthika dhrishti.  When they ask the world is real or not, never
say the world is unreal.  Because other people are looking at the world
from viswa angle or from the standpoint of sthula sareeram.  You can say
world is unreal only after introducing thuriyum.  Only when a person
accepts nirguna Thuriyum, you can say the world is unreal.  Until then the
world is real.  You can’t say vyvakarika because it is meaningful only
when you know the paramarthika.  From paramarthika dhrishti, the world is
not real.

Beginning from 57th verse to 74th
verse, essence of vedanta is given.  Chaithanyam alone is sathyam and
everything else obtained in the form of matter is mithya.  That
chaithanyam is myself and therefore I am sathyam everything else is mithya.
   This has been conveyed by different methods.  From verse 63
up to 67, Gowdapadha uses a particular type of argument.  The summary of
method of discussion.

Gowdapadha divides the whole
universe into three portions:

1. Consciousness
2. Mind
3. Universe or the world.

In this group, we find that
consciousness happens to be the absolute subject, illuminator and never an object;
The external world is always an object and never the subject.  In between
the ever-subject consciousness and ever object world, we have the intermediary
mind which functions both as an object and a subject.  Mind serves as an
object sometimes and other times it serves as a subject.  Mind is not
absolute subject or absolute object; it is subject object.  With regard to
the consciousness principle, mind is an object.  This is because mind is
illuminated by consciousness only.  In this – consciousnesses- mind pair,
consciousness happens to be subject and mind happens to be an object. 
Illumined by the consciousness, mind the object becomes alive and becomes
capable of experiencing the world.  So, when take the mind-world pair,
mind becomes the subject and world becomes object.  With regard to
consciousness, the mind is the object and with regard to world it is the subject. 
It is similar to the father being father from the standpoint of son and son
from the standpoint of grandfather.

This is the first point: to remember
is that consciousness is always subject, mind is object and subject and world
is always object.

Any object can’t have an existence
independent of a subject.   Object depends up on the subject for its
existence; whereas the subject does not depend up on the object for existence. 
The second point is object has a dependent existence and therefore it is mithya;
Subject has an independent existence so it is sathyam.

The following discussions is based
on these two points.

First taking the mind-world pair,
where the subject is mind and the world is object.  Gowdapadha argues,
subject mind is sathyam and the object world is mithya because world can’t be
proved independent of the subject, mind.  If a good news or event happens
somewhere, until you come to know about it, it is as good as nonexistent. 
It does not give you pleasure or sorrow until you hear about.  Therefore,
mind is sathyam, world is mithya.  World does not exist independent of
mind.  Here Gowdapadha says that there is no world different than mind.

Taking the second pair,
consciousness-mind, the mind, which was subject previously, now is an
object.  Consciousness is the subject.  Gowdapadha argues, since subject
alone sathyam and object is mithya, mind the object does not exist separate
from consciousness the subject.  Therefore, consciousness is sathyam and
mind is mithya.  In the first stage world is mithya and mind is
sathyam.  In the second stage mind is mithya and consciousness is
sathyam.  Consciousness is never object and therefore it is the absolute
reality.

1. Introduce consciousness, mind, world and establish
   three pairs.
2. Subject is sathyam, object is mithya
3. Come to pair of mind and world and establish world is
   mthya
4. In the final stage, you say mind is also mithya because
   it depends on consciousness.

Apply this to dream world.  In
dream world, dream mind and dream world is mithya.  Similarly, in waker’s
world, mind and world is mithya as much as the world and mithya of dream. 
Consciousness which blesses both, that alone is sathyam.

In the dream contest, Gowdapatha
consciousness is called swapana dhriku (SD); the mind is called swapana dhrik
chitham (SDC).  The world is called swapna dhrik chitha dhrishyam
(SDCD).  Of these mind and world are mithya consciousness alone is
sathyam.

Dream observer, consciousness
principle obtained in dream, moving about in the dream world, experiences of
varieties of living being or world of objects.

All the living beings are
categorized into four varieties:

1. Andajaha jiva:  All living being born out of andam
   or egg.  example birds’
2. Swethaja:  All  being born out of
   moisture;  example insects, minute organisms;
3. Jarayujaha:  All being born out of womb; 
   example mammals;
4. Udbhijjaha:  All being born out of ground;
   example:  plants.

Verse 64

Here Gowdapadha takes the second
pair – mind and world.  That swapna world (consisting of all four
categories of life) is object and the subject is mind.  All the objects in
swapna, are objects of mind.  Mind is the subject with regard to those
objects.  Therefore object is mithya subject is sathyam; All objects of
dream world do not exist separate from the mind which is the subject. 
Dream world is mithya and dream mind is sathyam, for now.

Extending the same principle, when
you take the consciousness, mind pair:  The mind is an object with regard
to the consciousness or swapna dhriku.  Therefore mind is also mithya it
does not have an existence separate from consciousness; both mind and world are
mithya with regard to swapna.

Verse 65

Things are not different in jagradh
avastha.  This is similar to verse 63.  Instead of swapna, use
jagradh

In the waking contest, Gowdapatha
consciousness is called jagradh dhriku ; the mind is called jagrath dhrik
chitham.  The world is called jagrath dhrik chitha dhrishyam.  Of
these mind and world are mithya consciousness alone is sathyam.

Verse 66

This is similar to verse 64.  Take the mind and object and point out mind is the subject world is object; mind is sathyam and world is mithya.  The wakers world does not exist separate from the waker’s mind which is sathyam for now.  But when you come to consciousness and mind, the very same mind becomes an object of consciousness and therefore it doesn’t exist separate from the subject, consciousness so it is mithya.

At any state of experience mind is
mithya; objects are also mithya.  Sathyam is neither the mind nor matter;
consciousness alone sathyam; it doesn’t come under mind or matter; it is beyond
both mind and matter.  It useful for vyavahara but don’t rely on it. 
Both of them are made up of three gunas.

Verse 67

Gowdapadha concludes this discussion
by observing that mind is also mithya and the world is also mithya; since both
of them are unreal, both of them can’t exist independently.  Mind is
proved because of world and world is proved because of mind and they have
mutual dependence.  You cannot prove the world without the operation of
mind.  Moment mind goes to sleep, the world disappears.  The world
depends on mind; mind being mithya, you can’t have mind without world.  In
meditation, when you remove all the objects and when you remove all the
thoughts related to objects, the mind cannot have an existence independent of
the world.  Mutual dependence proves that they are mithya.  In sleep
both mind and world resolve; in waking when the mind rises, the world also
rises.  The mind and the world are both recognized because of each
other.  In mind world pair, mind is proved because of world and world is
proved because of mind.  Mind depends on world; world depends on mind. 
Appreciation of pot depends on pot cognition.  Appreciation of pot
cognition depends on pot.  You can’t appreciate pot cognition without
pot.  You can’t appreciate pot without pot cognition (thought).

Do I see a tree because the tree exists,
or does a tree exists because I see it?  This proves both of them mithya.

Mind does not exist without world;
world does not exist without mind; both of them do not have independent proof
for their existence.  The proof of mind depends on the world and proof of
world depends on mind.  This can be extended to sense organs.

Imagine a world free from all colors
and form.  We don’t experience colors and forms so they are negated. 
Can you prove the existence of a sense organ called eye if the world is free
from colors and form?  The proof of eye depends on forms and colors; 
If colors and forms negated, then you can’t talk about the existence of
eye.  The existence of eye and colors and form depends on each
other.  Each one is recognized because of the other.  Knowledge of one
is responsible for the appreciation of the other.  Appreciation of mind is
responsible for the appreciation of world; appreciation of world is responsible
for the appreciation of mind.  You can’t appreciate any one of them
independent of the other.  Mutual dependence for recognition.

The conclusion is mind and world are
both mithya.

Continuing his teachings
Swamiji said,

Shloka
15.5:

15.5 The wise ones who are free from pride and
non-discrimination, who have conered the evil of association, [Hatred and love
arising from association with foes and friends.] who are ever devoted to
spirituality, completely free from desires, free from the dualities called
happiness and sorrow, reach that undecaying State.

After
giving a description of samsara in the first few verses, Sri Krishna dealt with the samsara nivrtti upaya, the means
or methods for removal of samsara or attaining mokshaha.

What
are the disciplines to be followed to attain moksha were described. Four
disciplines were highlighted.

The first one is vairagyam or dispassion; the second one is sharanagathi, surrendering to the Lord in the form of any Ishta devatha; the third discipline is the acquisition or cultivation of healthy values, which we called sadgunaha also discussed in the 16th chapter as daivi sampathi. Cultivating healthy virtues is the third discipline and the fourth and the primary discipline are vedantic enquiry, Vedanta vichara, vedanta sravana manana nidhidhyasanam. And the word Sri Krishna uses for this vichara is parimarganam.

And enquiry into Brahman is possible only through Vedantic scriptures and therefore Brahman enquiry automatically means vedantic enquiry. Of these four, the first three are supporting sadhanas, and vedantic enquiry alone is the primary sadhana, which alone removes the self or Brahman ignorance. And if a person follows all these four disciplines, the seekers will benefit from becoming wise people or Gyani and they will attain Brahman.

Previously Brahman was presented as the root of the world and now Brahman is presented as the destination of the seeker. So what is the substratum of the world alone is the destination of the seeker, and that is why the word padam is a versatile word; it has got two meanings. One meaning is the substratum; the other meaning is the destination. So Brahman is padam, the support of the world and Brahman is padam, the destination of the seeker, that Brahman they attain.

Shloka
# 15. 6:

15.6 Neither the sun nor the moon nor fire
illumines That. That is My supreme Abode, reaching which they do not return.

In the previous verse it was mentioned that the seekers who follow
the four fold disciplines will attain that undecaying padam, which is called
Brahman, which is the root of the universe. Now in this verse, Sri Krishna tells
us the nature of that Brahman; which is the destination of the seekers; which
is the substratum of the universe.

So this verse is the Brahma lakshana shloka.
A shloka, which defines Brahman. Wherever Brahman is defined that verse is considered
important.

And
while defining Brahman in this verse, Sri Krishna is borrowing from a well-known
upanishad mantra. I
have often said that the entire Gita is a borrowed teaching,

Sri
Krishna does not give anything original rather the whole Gita is extracted
from the upanishads. That is
why you should remember the verse,  sarvopanishado gavo dogdha gopala-nandana, partho vatsa sudhirbhokta dugdham gitamrtam mahat. This
verse is based on a well-known upanishad mantra, which occurs both in the Mundaka
upanishad and Kathopaniṣad and it is so
well known that it is used in all the temples regularly, at the time of deeparadhana.
And that mantra is:

na
tatra suryo bhati na candratarakam

nema vidyuto bhanti kuto yamagnih |

tameva bhantamanubhati sarvam

tasya
bhasa sarvamidam vibhati || 2.II.10
||

It is one of the very important definitions of Brahman, which we use at the time of arathi. The essence of the shloka is that, any instrument of knowledge cannot objectify Brahman. Brahman is not objectifiable through any instrument of knowledge. Brahman cannot be illumined by anything. And to convey this idea, the Upanishad uses the example of light. Light in Vedanta is that in whose presence things are known. For example, this is called light, because in its presence I am able to know you are seated in front. Imagine light goes away; I will not know whether you are continuing to sit or quietly walk off. I won’t know. Therefore light is that in whose presence things are known. And keeping this definition, the Upanishads mention or point out that every sense organ can be compared to a light. Every sense organ can be compared to a light, because sense organ is that in whose presence things are known. Therefore ear is a light, in whose presence sounds are known; therefore ear becomes a light (light with quotation, it is figurative expression)’ nose is a light in whose presence smells are known; tongue is a light in whose presence, tastes are known and if you extend further, any pramanam or instrument of knowledge is called a light. Any pramanam; any instrument of knowledge; is also called light, because in the presence of instrument of knowledge the objects are known. Thus inference is also a form of light, through which you can know things and even words are a form of light. Even a lecture is a form of light. Hence the expression: Can you throw some light upon that particular topic?

Thus
even words are a form of light called shabda pramanam through which we come to know
things and the upanishads says that there are so many lights in the world. Sun is
a light; moon is a light; stars are light; fire is light. There are so many
lights, and there are many sense organs, which are also light and in addition
to that, there is shabda pramanam, which is light. Thus
there are so many lights and Brahman is that which can never be illumined by or
known through any light. No light can objectify that Brahman. To use a
technical language, anything that can be known through a light, an instrument
of knowledge, anything that is known through a pramanam is called a
prameyam. Anything
that is objectified, known, illumined through any pramanam is called a
prameyam. Sri Krishna
says Brahman is that which is not an object
of knowledge; it is not a prameyam at all.

And then
finally, we will have a question. If Brahman cannot be objectified through any
instrument of knowledge, does that Brahman exist at all?

If you say that it cannot be tasted, touched, seen, heard, etc.; if it cannot be inferred or described; if it cannot be known through any instrument of knowledge, does it exist at all? The upanishads however say that it does exist.

So while Brahman
is not an object of knowledge, Brahman does exist. If so, what is that Brahman?
You can have only one answer, if Brahman exists, and if it is not an object,
there can be only one answer; That, it is the very subject; it is the very
conscious being, which objectifies everything but which can never be
objectified.
Which is the experiencer of everything,
but which is never experienced. It is this seer of everything but never seen. The
unseen seer; the unseen hearer, the unsmelled smeller; the untasted taster, the
untouched toucher, these are all not my expressions. These are all upanishadic
expressions.

So
therefore, adrshto drashtaha asrto srota, amato manto, avijjato vijnata, this
subject that is never objectified and objectifiable is Brahman. In short, Brahman is the consciousness-principle.
It illumines the inert world; but it is not illumined by the inert world. It illumines
matter but; it is never illumined by matter. It knows the matter; but the
matter does not know it. So thus Brahma lakshana is finallychaitanya swaroopam brahma or Chid
rupam brahma. Satyam Gyanam ananthambrahma;
this is the essence of this verse.

And why do we use this mantra at the time of deeparadhana. We use this mantra to expose our foolishness. Oh Lord you are the illuminator of everything while I am using this miserable camphor light tri illuminate you. So therefore, the pujari says, I am trying to illumine you through this fire, but the fact is fire does not illumine you. On the other hand, it is you the consciousness, which is illumining this fire. And that is the significance of such a prayoga.

Now
look at the shloka. Sri Krishna says:

The
sunlight does not illumine the Brahma chaitanyam, the Conciousness; on the other
hand, the sunlight itself is known because of the Conciousness alone. The
moonlight does not illumine that Brahma chaitanyam.

So
the fire does not illumine that Brahman. On the other hand, Brahman illumines
the fire; illumines, means makes the fire known. In vedanta, the word illumine
is equal to making something known. So Brahman illumines the fire means,
Brahman alone makes
the fire known because the Brahman is the Consciousness principle because of which I am
conscious of the fire’s existence.

And in the original mundaka mantra, two more are added that means Stars do not illumine; flashes of lightening, do not illumine that Brahman.

And if that Brahman is Consciousness, which can never be objectified, I said that Brahman has to be the very subject itself. Now the question is if Brahman happens to be I, the subject; how many kilometers, I should travel to reach that Brahman?

I have to understand that Brahman is the subject, the Subject, I, the observer, the conscious-principle. In short the very atma. Once I know Brahman is the very atma, or aham, how far should I travel to reach Brahman? I need not travel even a millimeter, because by the very knowledge I have discovered the fact that there is no distance between Brahman and me. And therefore, we get a very important idea that we should know. Reaching Brahman is not a physical event.

Reaching Brahman is not a physical event, which requires a time or a process; reaching Brahman is an intellectual event. Reaching brahman is an intellectual event; what type of intellectual event is it? It is an event, which involves dropping a misconception. Dropping a misconception is that event; and what is the Misconception? That there is a misconception that between Brahman and me there is a difference; this is my false notion. This false notion, which is distancing me from Brahman, is neither a physical distance nor a temporal distance; rather it is a notional distance. What is that false notion? The false notion is that Brahman is somewhere and I should reach there. All the movies will reinforce our misconception. A Bhakta will die in the movie or the TV serial and you will see a jyothi rising from the bhakta, a flame from the body, the jivatma flame, and the flame will travel, come out of door, (all the modern technology are used), flame will be travelling, travelling, and will rise and rise and paramatma will be sitting there, and jivatma will travel and travel and merge. All these things will reinforce my misconception, that there is a distance between God and me. What Vedanta says is that if God is all pervading, there cannot be a distance between God and me. And if at all there is a distance, it is a distance caused by a false notion; that Bhagavan is in Kailasa or Vaikuntha.

If
the distance is caused by a false notion, how do you remove the distance? By removing
the false notion. And how do you remove
the false notion; only by knowledge.

Therefore knowledge is equal to merger. Other than Gyanam, there is no other merger with Lord. Therefore Sri Krishna says yat gatva, having merged into that Brahman; “merge” within quoting, by dropping the notion that there is a distance between Brahman and Me and knowing that I was never away from Brahman and I can never be away from Brahman, having removed the notion, na nivartante. There is no question of coming back to samsara once again. When merger is in the form of knowledge; it is permanent merger. If merger is in the form of a physical event, that merger will be temporary; you will merge and remain there for some time; thus, every union will end in separation. Any physical merger is not permanent. That is why we all have come together between 6 and 7 am. Samyoga at 6 o’ clock and viyoga at 7 o clock. Samyoga in svarga loka and afterwards what viyoga; any physical merger is temporary. That is why we say if merger is going to vaikuntha, you will go alright, but after some time, if merger is going to Kailasa, you will come back; Physical merger is temporary. But Vedantic merger is not physical. It is in the form of Gyanam. And knowledge based merger is permanent, because ignorance once gone, is gone for good.

And having merged into Brahman, that person does not come back again. That destination Brahman is nothing but, Sri Krishna says, my own higher nature; Hey Arjuna Brahman is my own higher nature. So, by saying higher nature, Sri Krishna indirectly indicates I have got a lower nature also. When you say that person is more intelligent, this person is less. When Bhagavan has got higher nature and lower nature and that has already been described in a previous chapter . And therefore Arjuna my body is my lower nature, and the Consciousness is my higher nature.

Para
Prkriti we defined as Nirguna,
nirvikara, satya, and
chetana tatvam. And apara prakrti
we defined as saguna, savikara, mithya, and chetana
tatvam.

Shloka : 15.
7

15.7 It is verily a part of Mine, which
becoming the eternal individual soul in the region of living beings, draws (to
itself) the organs which have the mind as their sixth, and which abide in
Nature.

So with the previous verse the topic of the moksha upaya
is over. The methods or disciplines to be followed for attaining moksha,
which is the four-fold discipline and by following that one will attain Brahman.
The second topic was called Brahma nirvanam. Nirvanam
means merger. So with that, the first part of the 15th chapter is over.

Now from the 7th verse onwards, Sri Krishna is entering into another very important topic and that topic is Brahman alone is in the form of the whole universe. Brahman alone is in the form of whole universe, which means there is no universe at all, other than Brahman. Just as saying there are no ornaments other than the gold, ornaments are nothing but different names that we use, but they are not substances. There is no substance called bangle. Substance is gold alone. There is no substance called chair; the chair is nothing but wood alone. Similarly there is no substance called world. Brahman alone is known by the name world. And this idea has been hinted in the fourth chapter of the Gita. In the well known shloka:

brahmarpanam brahma
havirbrahmagnau brahmana hutam

brahmaiva
tena gantavyam brahma karma
samadhina.

And
if we chant this verse, you will get hungry, because it is used for eating. But
the idea, the content of this shloka is: Brahman alone is in the form of
everything.

And to convey this idea, Sri Krishna divides the entire world into two parts; one part is the jiva rupa; jivas; so the conscious experiencers are known as jiva, and the second part is the inert objects of experience, called jagat. So universe is nothing but jiva plus jagat. The experiencer plus the experienced, if you remember the Mandukya Upanishad, it calls it, the pramata and the prameya, or the jiva and jagat. And Sri Krishna wants to say that one Brahman alone is appearing in the form of jiva and the same Brahman is in the form of jagat, the inert world as well.

And for this purpose, we should know what is the definition of jiva. What is the definition of jiva? For this purpose, you should remember tatva bodha. And Sri Krishna defines jiva as all pervading brahma chaitanyam, all pervading consciousness, which is reflected or manifest in our body mind-reflecting medium. In Sanskrit, we call it chaitanya prathibhimbam, jiva. The originalall pervading Consciousness is called Brahman or paramatma. In Tatva Bodha, weused the expression, OC. OC means original consciousness. And that original consciousness when it is expressing through the body, expressing through the mind that reflected or manifest consciousness is called RC; the reflected consciousness.

And this body
mind matter medium, is called the RM, the reflecting medium. So OC, RC and
RM.

And to understand this, I will give you an example, which also we have seen before; I am reminding you of that example. Imagine during the daytime there is the original sun in the sky, that we will call as OS. Original sun is OC and OS, or the original sun in the sky.  And imagine there is a room down below or a hall down below, and because there is roof and also the doors are closed, the room is dark within. There is no light. And original sunlight is not able to illumine the light because there is a roof obstructing the sunlight. And you take a mirror. A darpanaḥ, a reflecting mirror and you open one of the windows of the room, and you keep the mirror at a 45 degrees angle that you keep outside. You know that the mirror does not have a light of its own.

Therefore,
mirror is not an illuminating principle; it is not a luminous principle at all.
But when you keep the mirror down below, the original sunlight gets reflected
in the mirror and now the mirror has got Reflected sunlight (RS). And what is
the mirror? The mirror is the reflecting medium. Therefore OS, RS, RM. RM is
common to both and this RM which is not luminous by itself has now become
luminous because of the reflecting sunlight. And not only the mirror has become
bright, it is capable of illumining the dark room.

Now
I ask you a question; what is illumining the dark room; the mirror, or the
original sunlight? Suppose you say, original sunlight is illumining; not the
mirror, then I will ask you to remove the mirror and you will find that once
the mirror is removed, the hall gets dark. It cannot be illumined.

Suppose
another person says, the mirror alone is illumining, original sunlight is not required;
then I will ask you in the night you try. So, it is not the mirror alone nor
the original sunlight alone; but you require the combination of both. You
require the combination of both to illumine the dark room.

Now in this combination you can focus on any one of them. You can give importance to any one of them because both are equally important. In a particular context, you can highlight; like father and mother; who is important for the child to be born; both are required; But at some time, the mother takes the credit; at some time the father takes the credit.

Therefore,
you can focus any one of them.

Based on this, we have got two ways of presentation. One way is I say the mirror illumines the dark room; blessed by the original sun; so in this the importance is given to the mirror, when the mirror illumines the dark room; but I add quietly blessed by the original sun. But who is the illuminator? When the mirror illumines importance is given to the mirror. Or I can present in a different language also; the Sun alone illumines the dark room; not directly but through the mirror. The sun alone illumines the dark room, not directly; but through the mirror and therefore the credit of illumination goes to ultimately the sun alone.

In the same way, our body mind complex is like the mirror. The original consciousness is Brahman and the reflected consciousness is Jiva. The body-mind complex is RM; the reflecting medium, it does not have sentiency of its own; body is inert matter, mind is inert matter. Just as the mirror by itself is non-luminous and this body mind complex has got the reflected consciousness, we call the Jiva, and the reflected consciousness is possible because of the original consciousness called Brahman. And therefore we say: Brahman alone is available in the body-mind complex as the jiva. OC-Brahman alone is present in the body mind complex as the RC-jiva and as the jiva; Brahman alone illumines or experiences the dark room, what is the dark room? The entire world is comparable to dark room.

And
suppose you remove the mirror, what happens? Original sunlight will be there; but since there would not be
reflection, mirror is removed; the room will become darker. Similarly, during
sleep, what happens? The mind-mirror is removed, and therefore the reflected
consciousness is not available and therefore the world becomes what? Dark,
means during sleep, there is total darkness. Why there is darkness? Not because
Brahman is not there, the original consciousness is, but the reflecting medium
the mind has resolved, therefore the world is not illumined.

And
therefore in these verses, from the 7th up to the 11th, Krishna says Brahman the
OC alone is in the form of jiva,
the RC. Thus Brahman the original consciousness alone is in the form of Jiva, the
Reflected consciousness (RC).

And
now in the shloka, Sri Krishna says: Jivaloke, in the world
of Jivas, I, the
Brahman alone am in the form of reflection and this reflected-consciousness
alone makes the body mind complex alive and sentient. And once the RC is not
there; the body will become dead matter. So this is the description, which is
going to come, the details we will see in the next class.

Take Away:

Brahman
is that which can never be illumined by or known through any light. No light
can objectify that Brahman.

Brahman
is that which is not an object of knowledge; it is not a prameyam at all.

Brahman
is the very subject; it is the very conscious being, which objectifies
everything but which can never be objectified. Which is the experiencer of everything,
but which is never experienced. It is this seer of everything but never seen; the
unseen seer; the unseen hearer, the un-smelled smeller; the un-tasted taster
and the untouched toucher.

In
short, Brahman is the consciousness-principle. It illumines the inert world;
but it is not illumined by the inert world. It illumines matter but; it is
never illumined by matter. It knows the matter; but the matter does not know
it.

Reaching
Brahman is not a physical event, which requires a time or a process; reaching
Brahman is an intellectual event.

We have
the false notion that Brahman is somewhere and I should reach there.

And
how do you remove the false notion; only by knowledge. Therefore, knowledge is
equal to merger.

Brahman alone is in the form of whole universe, which means there
is no universe at all, other than Brahman.

With Best
Wishes,

Ram Ramaswamy

Gowdapadha extends aladha
dhrishtantha to show that there is no kariya karana sambandha between Brahman
and Jagath.  In general transaction, we use several words without really inquiring
about the meaning.  When you make an inquiry into gold and ornaments,
there is no kariya karana sambandha because there are no two things; gold and
ornament refer to the same substance.  We use two words for the sake of
communication; after using the words we assume there are two substances. 
But we get trapped and conclude there are several things; once we assume there
are several things, then we discuss the sambantha, the relationship.

Once you understand the truth that
world is nothing but Brahman with nama roopa, you will not talk about
creation.  The talk of creation is based on delusion or worldly
transaction.  The truth is there is no question of any creation.  In
reality, nothing is created out of Brahman.  Any experience of arrival of
creation it is nothing but myth like magic.  Cosmic maya is responsible
for vyavakarika jenma and individual maya is responsible for pradhipadhika
jenma.

Brahman is creating a seeming
universe because of the power of Maya and therefore the creation is myth cause
by the power of Maya.  But this creates a doubut that there is Brahman
which has the power of Maya.  This means duality – Brahman and Maya. 
If dream plant has to grow out of the seed, the seed also must also belong to
dream.  Therefore, the karanam seed as real or as unreal as karanam
plant.  Therefore, Maya is not paramarthika sathyam, but only vyavakarika
sathyam.  From the paramarthika dhrishti even Maya is not there. 
When we negate the universe, we negate maya is also.  Even that maya is
also not there from paramarthika dhrishti.  That is why maya is called
avidhya.  Brahman, Maya and prabanja:  of these three, two are
vyavakarika sathyam and one alone paramarthika sathyam.  In Brahman, the
paramarthika sathyam, there is vyavakarika Maya which is responsible for
vyavakarika sathyam.  Maya, and maya kariyam Prabanja is also
mithya.  They both are supported by the sathyam Brahman which is neither
karanam nor kariyam.

Verse 59

Cause is also as real as
effect.  Dream mother who produces a child both have the same order of
reality.  Similarly, Maya which is responsible for the creation, both have
the same order of reality.  Maya and creation both are unreal.  A
sprout which comes our unreal or magic seed is also unreal or magic. 
Kariyam is mithya; karanam is mithya; kariya karana vilakshanam alone is sathyam. 
Mithya is that which seems to exist as long as you don’t make an inquiry. 
It is like trying to find darkness while carrying a light on your head. 
Since the very mithya substance is nonexistent, you can’t use any
attribute.  To use attribute, you need a substance.  You can never
talk about the birth date of rope snake because it doesn’t exist.  You
can’t talk about the arrival or departure of the snake because it does not exist. 
Similarly, any attribute you describe to the world, is not correct as world as
a substance does not exist.  Is the world eternal – Vedanta cannot answer. 
No attribute can be given to the world because it is not a substance.

Verse 60

You can never give any attribute or
descriptions to the world, because there is no substance called world. 
Then what is there?  There is only one thing – kariya karana vilakshanam,
Brahman, the Thuriyum.  Can you give any attribute to Brahman?  We
can’t give any attribute to Brahman because Brahman is free from all
attributes.  I can’t talk about Brahman; I can’t talk about world. 
That is why gyani observe mownam.  When they try to talk about Brahman
they realize Brahman is free from all attributes; when they try to talk about
world, they realize that world doesn’t exist.  Words can be used only when
one of these conditions are fulfilled.

1. Roodihi means available for direct
   perception.  Once you identify an object
   with a word, then you can identify that object with that word.  Example sun; there is only one and that
   identified with direct perception.
2. Jadhihi; a species; suppose there is
   a tree outside.  e.g.  a tree belonging to the same class of tree
   that was perceived elsewhere with another tree.
3. Gunaha:  An object revealed through its property;
4. Karma:  Revealing through the function; e.g. cook,
   driver, wind.
5. Sambanthaha; revealing through
   relationship; father, brother etc.

Brahman does not fulfill any of these conditions and so Brahman can’t be associated with any verbal specification.  World is mithya vasthu and Brahman is sathya vasthu; I am the sathya vasthu, called Thuriyum.

Verse 61

When Gowdabadha consistently negates
the world, it will create a question in our mind:  How can we negate a solidly tangible world? 
But in swapna also we experience a world seemingly so solid, capable of creating
raga, dwesha, suga and dhukkam.  From the standpoint of waker, the dream
is mithya.  Simiarly we are negating the world not from the standpoint of
waker – which will be a big mistake – from the standpoint of Thuriyum. 
Never negate sthula prabanja from viswa dhrishti and shukshma prabanja from
Taijasa dhrishti.  Negate them only from Thiriyua dhrishti.

Verses 61, 62 and 63 are repetition
of verses 29 and 30 third chapter Advaida prakaranam.  Here the word used
is chitham and there the world used is manaha.

In dream whatever you tangibly
experience is nothing but thought vibrations from your mind.  In the same
way, the jagradh prabanja also is a mental disturbance at cosmic level. 
There is no tangible objects at all.  The cosmic mind is called eeswara or
maya.

Verse 62

The objects in the dream are not separate from your own mind.  The seeming duality is nothing but advaidam chitham.  One non dual mind alone appears as a pluralistic world; similarly one cosmic mind – Maya – alone is appearing as Jagraedh Prabanja.  The tangibility is a myth; there is really no tangible world on inquiry.  Dream or magic are the two examples of advaidam.  the limitation of the dream example is that when you wake up from the dream, the dream experiences will end.  But when I wake up from Jagrath prabanja by gaining wisdom, even after I become gyani, the jagrath prabanja experiences continue.  For a gyani it is like continuation of dream with the knowledge that it is a dream.

Verse 63

Gowdapadha graphically describes swapna
to show how it appears as very real.  This can be grasped only when you go
to your own dream mentally.  A dream subject is projected by me.  I
myself become the dream subject in the dream by acquiring a dream body, dream
sense organs and a dream mind.  The dream mind which experiences the dream
world, does not know it is a dream world.  There he comes in contact with
all types of objects.  The dream is
located in me, but I think I am located in dream.

Gowdabadha wants to establish that there
is no creation at all with the example of fire brand and pattern.  We
experience the seeming duality between fire brand and pattern and we also see
an apparent cause effect relationship.  Up on inquiry, we find that
patterns do not have separate existences and really speaking there is no such
thing called patterns.  Once you understood that there is only one nondual
ship, the cause effect relationship goes away.

1. First negate the pattern,
2. Consequently, negate duality,
3. Consequently, negate cause effect relationship
4. Consequently, arrive at nondual flaming tip which is
   beyond kariya and karana

Extend this to creation.  Once
creation is understood to be Brahman in seeming motion, then the duality is should
be negated.

1. First negate the creation
2. Negate duality
3. Negate kariya karana sambandha
4. Consequently, arrive at Brahman, the non-dual.

Viswa, Taijasa and pragya are all
mistakes; viswa and taijasa are kariya dhrishti and pragya is karana
dhrishti.  As long as you own up the thiruyum, you are beyond the realm of
time and not threatened by Yama Dharma Raja.

I get sucked into karma and palam
cycle which is cause effect cycle.  Therefore, I get into more and more
activity, lowkiga karmani; picking up more and more palam; and get sucked into
it more karma.  The cause effect cycle is a whirlpool; every ignorant jiva
is an helpless worm caught in the whirlpool.  Sometimes he gets out of the
whirlpool by dying, but he gets back into the whirlpool by birth again. 
Obsession with busier and busier pattern of life cycle only makes you busier. 
As long as you are obsessed with cause effect cycle, it will only produce more
and more karma.

What vedanta asks the question, am I
kartha – in short who am I?  When this inquiry is made you will transcend
viswa taijajasa prgya and own up that I am akartha and aboktha arrive at
Thiriyum.  Enjoy some part of the day without thinking of the past or
future; in short untouched by time; learn sit quite for some time.  Learn
to be in the present for some time.  Then you will find outThuriyum will
not produce fresh karma and palam.   A gyani alone lives every
moment.

Verse 56

Gowdapadha gives a strong warning,
as viswa as a kartha, you do lot of things expecting results.  As a result
, you look yourself in the future, with the new dream house etc.  Dreaming
as a better boktha; it appears that better boktha of tomorrow will be
satisfied.  This is our imagination.  All my struggles are only
change myself hoping tomorrow’s boktha will be better.  But when tomorrow
comes, they postpone the fulfillment  No future boktha will be satisfied
and comfortable.  Either you are ever comfortable or never
comfortable.  The future comfort is only a mirage water.  Learn to be
comfortable here and now.

Getting out of the obsessive cycle
of kartha and boktha (there is only one method of getting out of this – by
negating viwa, taijasa pragya and owning up Thuriyum) is possible only through
vedanta sravana manana nidhithyasam.  Mokshas prescribed by other
religions are within time, space, boktha and kartha.  When atma is known
by vedanta, the problem gets dissolved.

Verse 57

From this verse to verse 74,
applying this example, Gowdapadha summarizes the vedantic teaching.  Where
the firebrand tip is comparable to Brahman and all the patterns are comparable
to universe.  By comparing the two, he establishes Brahman Sathyha and
jagan mithya.

I see the origination of the
universe due to agyanam.  I see falsely the origination of the universe
because of avidhya; once avidhya comes, kala comes; once kala comes, kariya and
karana come.  Then I will be the victim and the world is a persecutor. 
Once kariya karana sambandha comes, then shristy and laya comes.  There is
nothing that is permanent in this creation.  Just as the ship needs an
anchor when moving around the sea, the human beings also need an anchor when
you move around in life and that anchor is thuriyum.  Everything is
impermanent from agyani’s dhristi and everything is samsara.  From gyani
dhrishti, everything is Brahman.  As Brahman, everything in creation is
eternal and birthless.  From nama roopa dhrishti it is perishable from brahma
dhristi it is imperishable.  If there is no mortality, then there is no
insecurity. 

Verse 58

Whatever is born due to ignorance is
not really born.  The dream creation is born because of the ignorance of
the sleep.  Philosophically sleep status is self-ignorance of
myself.  Moment sleep takes over and there is self-forgetfulness, the
dream world is created.   All the objects are falsely created. 
This world is also born out self-forgetfulness – my ignorance of thuiryum
status.  Whichever object is born because of ignorance, they are not
really born, ignorance creates false entity.  Rope ignorance creates false
snake.  Self-ignorance creates dream world.  Thuriyum ignorance
creates the universe.  They are born like magic.

This means they are two things – Brahman and avidhya or maya.  How do you say there is no dwaidam?

Vedanta sara is now being
established with the example of fire brand from verse 47 to 56.  First
Gowdapadha explained the example.  There is a firebrand with a flaming tip
which is advaidam.  When you move the flame brand, there is a variety of
patterns.  We do experience these patterns but after analysis we find out
that they have no substance.  The patterns do not come outside the fire
brand and do not come from inside the fire brand.  When the patterns go,
they do not go inside the fire brand; they do not go outside the
firebrand.  We do not know how the patterns come but we do
experience.  Similarly, consciousness alone is seeming motion because of
that only we experience the universe.  At the cosmic level, the
consciousness has seeming motion because of Maya, because of Maya there is the
experience of prabanja.  At the micro level, I am the consciousness being
and this consciousness has a seeming motion caused by thought at mental level.
and this results in experience of plurality.  It is caused by thought
because when the thoughts are present, there is experience of pluralistic
experience of the universe, but in deep sleep, when there are no thoughts,
there is no plurality.  One nondual entity in motion alone is experienced
as plurality and there is no reality of plurality.  We only negate the
reality of the plurality and not the experience of the plurality.  Without
consciousnesses, you can’t discuss dwaida prabanja.

1. Pluralistic world does not from outside consciousness
2. Pluralistic world does not come from conscientiousness
3. Pluralistic universe does not go outside the
   consciousness
4. Pluralistic world does not go inside the consciousness

Verse 52

Superficially looking, firebrand
seems to be karanam and patterns seems to be kariyam.  On inquiry, you
can’t talk about kariya karana sambandha.  To talk about any relationship,
we require two things.  If firebrand is one and patterns are the second,
but there are not two substance.  The patterns are the same firebrand when
in motion.  The firebrand and the patterns are the same substance; once
you understand that the substance is only one, then you will drop the kariya
karana sambandha.  This logic applies to clay and pot example as well.

Patterns do not have substantiality
of its own.  The substantiality of the patterns belongs to the firebrand
alone.  Similarly, the world does not have its own substantial; it is only
non-substantial nama roopa; the seeming substantiality of the world belongs to
one chaithanyam.  Since there are no two-independent substance, you can’t
talk about any sambandha at all.  There is no cause effect relationship
between world and brahman; world is another name for consciousness or brahman
in motion.  How nontangible consciousness can become tangible when in
motion?  The scientists also say the whole world and matter is nothing but
energy.  If energy can become tangible, why can’t the consciousness be
tangible.  Since you can’t explain how this world came (inside or
outside) it is mithya or maya; it is experienced, but not logically
categorical.

Verse 53

There is no cause effect
relationship between Brahman and world.  Any relationship requires two things;
Pot and clay are not two things; if they are, you can take away the clay and
the pot will continue to exist.  There are two words, but not two
substances.  Cause effect relationship is possible when the entities have
independent existence.  The dream objects also appear to have substantial
when you are in dream.  Similarly, the objects of this world appear
substantiality but it is mithya.  Therefore, they can’t be counted as
distinct entity as a product having a relationship.  World is not a kriyam
and Brahman is not a karanam.  There is only a kariya karana vilakshanam
which is explained in 7th mantra.  I am the kariya karana vilakshana
Brahman, if I can say that with confidence, Mandukya Upanishad has done its
teaching.

Verse 54

Nothing is born out of
nothing.  Consciousness is not born of material and material is not born
out consciousness.  Things and beings in creation are not born out of
creation.  Brahman is not the cause of jiva or jagat; boktha or boktham;
nor is the other way around.  Similarly, chaithanyam is not born out of
matter.  Materialistic philosophy is that previously there was only matter
before the big bang.  This matter has gotten condensed and gradually
became stars etc. and life and consciousness came out later.  There is
only consciousness mistaken as matter.  One who has understood this fact
are wise people and understand that I am the Thuriyum and have negated viswa,
the pradhama padha, Taijasa dwadia pada, and pragya the threithay padha,
sthula, karana and kariya padhas.  The first two padhas are called kariyam
and the third pada is karanam.  But I am kariya karana vilakshanam. 
Cause and effect exist within time.  Cause and effect are one and the same
substance, similar to seed and tree.  Transcending the cause effect is
transcending time.  I am beyond time.

Verse 55

As long as a person does not know that I am thuriyum, he cannot escape from samsara.  This gyanam alone will give moksha.  This is not one of the methods of moksha, this is the only way to mokhsa.  If it is extremely difficult to comprehend, there is no other way.  You prepare yourself to understand by studying.  If I don’t know that I am the fourth pada, then I will mistake myself as viswa, taijasa or pragya.  The moment I became a viswa, then I became a kartha, boktha or pramadha.  Then I will feel finitude.  Limitation is inevitable; limitation will lead to kamaha.  Avidhya will lead to sense to missing things in life and that will lead to kama or desire.  Desire will produce karma; karma will produce palam; until that palam comes, I become anxious.  Whatever is the palam, I will not be satisfied.  Because finite plus finite is finite.  You are sucked in kala chakra; karma pala chakra; Unless you discover, you are thuriyum you will be viswa, taijasa or pragra and continue to suffer.  There are no other solutions; All other solution will never offer complete independence.  As long as you are obsessed with cause and effect of karma and palam, there will be continuous cycle of samsara.  You can drop the obsession only when you drop the abimana thrayam – sthula, sukshma and karna.  You need not destroy the sareera thryam, only give up the obsession.   The false obsession with body is because of the ignorance of the thuriya swaroopam.  Once you wake up from the dream, you don’t have obsession with swapna sareeram.  Similarly, when you wake up to Thuriyam, you will not have obsession to physical bodies.  This is indicated by chin muthra.  For a circle, there is no beginning or end.