-The lecture was given by Swami Tattwamayananda on January 22, 2021.
-7th chapter: verse 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
-3rd verse: “Among thousands of people, very few strive for a spiritual life. Among those who sincerely strive for spiritual life, very few realize the truth.”
-Not many people can think beyond the immediate and empirical. Even when some incidents in life make them seek a higher meaning of life, it may not last long due to the effect of Maya. Only a small percentage of people genuinely ask “what lies beyond”, and with that, they begin their spiritual life.
-4th verse: “My lower prakriti – Apara prakriti or Kshetram - is eightfold. The first five are the subtle dimensions of the five elements: earth, air, water, fire and space. The remaining three are mind, intellect and egoism.”
-5th verse: “My higher prakriti – para prakriti – is the principle of consciousness by which the entire universe is sustained. Everything is made conscious by the presence of this inner, divine spark.”
-6th verse: “These two prakritis are the source of all. I am the origin and the dissolution of the universe.”
-Creator is present in his creation. As we evolve, our understanding of God evolves from a monotheistic God to its highest state as one all-pervading reality, that is present everywhere and in everything. It is the essential totality of the whole universe – everything is an expression of this divine reality.
-7th verse: “There is nothing beyond Me, and there is nothing distinct from Me. Everything in this world is strung in Me, like jewels on a thread. “
-Per Shankaracharya, long threads constitute a piece of cloth. The cloth and the threads are not distinct from each other. Without the thread, there is no cloth. Similarly, the creation and creator are the same. It is not a philosophical construct, but a matter of one’s own experience.
-Everything in this world is able to exist, and the essence of its existence is not distinct from this divine reality that is present everywhere. According to Satkaryavada, the cause and effect are not different – the effect pre-exists in its cause.
-Everything that we experience and perceive, using our mind and the senses of perception and action – all these constitute the divine reality, which is like an ornament made of jewels strung together on a thread.
-8th verse: “I am the sapidity in water, I am the radiance in the moon and sun, I am OM – the essence of the Vedas, I am the sound in akasha, I am the manliness in every man and the womanliness in every woman.”
-9th verse: “I am the sweet fragrance in the earth, I am the brilliance in the fire, I am the life in all beings, and I am the austerity in the ascetics.”
-10th verse: “I am the eternal seed of all beings, I am the intellect of the intelligent and heroism of the hero.”
-Every entity in the world has something within it that makes it what it is, and which gives it its identity. That essence in everything is an expression of the same divine reality. The great qualities, found in everyone, which constitute the identity of that person – they are an expression of this divine reality.
-Even in the greatness of the great, in an empirical sense, there hides within them the seed of their downfall. But great men, who understand the limitations of the empirical, realize that all their powers come from a higher source. That makes them spiritual.
-11th verse: “Of the strong, I am their strength that is devoid of desire and attachment. I am that desire in all beings, which is not opposed to Dharma.”
-True strength comes when it is devoid of pride and is enriched by a sense of renunciation and non-attachment.
-Shankaracharya says in Vivekachudamani that adharmic desires bring one’s destruction. A ball thrown from the top of a staircase won’t stop until it reaches the bottom. Similarly, adharmic desires act as a poison and bring one’s destruction.
-Higher, sublime desires are good and are the root of all creativity. The desire to do good for others – such a desire is a spark of the divine.