Sandeha Nivarini
Swami: Oh! When did you arrive? You were not visible anywhere outside. Are you well?
Bhakta: ’Tis two days since I came. I see a huge number of people everywhere outside. I hear the incessant confusion of voices. Coming from my place to avoid that confusion, I find here too crowds everywhere. Therefore, I entered inside. There, it is fine, blissful, quiet. That is why I was in the hall inside. It is as quiet inside, as it is restless outside.
Swami: What is special in this? It is natural. Where there is jaggery, there gather the ants…and between outside and inside, this is the distinction! That is the characteristic. That is how it is.
Bhakta: Swami! I do not understand what You say. If You tell me in detail, I shall listen and be happy.
Swami: You yourself said, didn’t you, that there is an outside and an inside? Well. Those are what we call Bahya prapancham and Antar prapancham, the external world and the internal world. Now, which is the internal world, which is the external world? Give me your idea.
Bhakta: Do you want it to come from my mouth itself? It would be so good if You spoke, Swami.
Swami: Well! Making the questioner himself give out the answers is the Sanatana (ancient) method of teaching. If those who question, themselves give the answers, they would clearly understand the subject. The lecturing style is different from this method of teaching. In olden days, all the Rishis (Sages) enabled their disciples to understand Vedanta (section of the Vedas that deals with self-knowledge) only by this method. So, come on! Speak! Let us see.
Bhakta: Do you ask me to speak of the objects I have seen with the eye?
Swami: Not only the eye. Tell me all that you have experienced and known through all the senses of cognition, the eye, the nose, the ear, etc.
Bhakta: Earth, sky, water, sun, moon, wind, fire, stars, clouds, mountains, hills, trees, rivers, women, men, children, old persons, animals, birds, coldness, heat, the happy, the miserable, births, deaths, diseases… like these I have seen many.
Swami: Enough, enough...that’s enough! This is the Prapancham (Universe composed of five elements). Did you see it only today? Did it exist yesterday? Will it exist tomorrow?
Bhakta: Why do you ask me so, Swami? It has existed like this for ages, isn’t it? Who knows for how long it will exist, or since how long it has existed?
Swami: “Since how long it has existed!”, you said, isn’t it? That is what we speak of as Anadi, Beginningless. This external world is beginningless. When there is ‘external’, there must be ‘internal’ also, is it not? Well, have you ever seen a cinema?
Bhakta: Ever seen! Why, Swami, the cinema too is a part of the Prapancham, isn’t it? I have seen many.
Swami: What did you see? Tell me.
Bhakta: I have seen many wonderful ‘pictures’; I have heard numerous voices and noises; I have seen numerous experiences of joy and sorrow.
Swami: “I have seen,” you say. The screen is one; the ‘picture’ is another. Did you see both?
Bhakta: Yes.
Swami: Did you see the screen and the ‘picture’ both at the same time?
Bhakta: How is that possible, Swami? When the pictures are seen, the screen is not visible. When the screen is visible, the pictures are not seen.
Swami: Right! The screen, the pictures, do they exist always?
Bhakta: No. The screen is permanent; the pictures come and go.
Swami: As you say, it is clear that the screen is permanent, and the pictures come and go. For this ‘permanent’ and ‘impermanent’ we use the words, Sthiram (permanent) and Asthiram (impermanent), Nityam (timeless, eternal) and Anityam (timebound, temporary), Ksharam (destructible) and Aksharam (indestructible). I shall ask another thing: Does the picture fall on the screen or the screen fall on the picture? Which is the basis for what?
Bhakta: The pictures fall on the screen; so, for the picture, the screen is the basis.
Swami: So too, the external world, which is like the picture, has no permanence; it changes. The internal world is fixed; it does not change. The external has the internal as its basis, its substratum.
Bhakta: Swami! Have You mentioned these only as Ksharam-Aksharam and Nityam-Anityam?
Swami: Yes, my boy! You were speaking now of pictures; do these have names and forms?
Bhakta: Yes, they have 'Tis only because they have names and forms that the story is understood. Then only do we recollect Ramayana and Bharatam. There is no formless name and nameless form.
Swami: Good! That is well said! Where there is a form, there must be a name. Where there is a name, there must be a form. Both these are connected with each other. When we say, “Avinabhava Sambandham” (inseparable connection), it is this relationship that we refer to. Have you now understood the meaning of Prapancham?
Bhakta: I have grasped that it is identified with name and form, but Swami, I would like to hear You describe how it originated.
Swami: You should not fall into that tangle now. If we engage ourselves in describing that, it would be like getting into a mango garden and, without eating the fruit we have plucked, calculating the number of trees in the garden, the number of branches on each tree, the number of twigs on each branch, the number of fruits on each twig, and what the total price of all the mangoes would be if the price of one mango is such and such! Instead of senselessly wasting precious time in the collection of this information, we should, like the person who eats the fruit, find out what is of primary importance; and understanding that thing first, attain contentment and joy. Leave that alone! What did you say is the nature of this Prapancham? This Prapancham has another name too, do you know?
Bhakta: I said that the Prapancham is identified with name and form. I have heard that it is known by another name, Jagat (Universe – which becomes manifest and unmanifest continuously, cyclically).
Swami: This Nama-Rupa (name-form) Prapancham, this Jagat is like Indrajaalam or magician’s art, real only as long as you see it. So too, the world is real only so long as you experience it with your Indriyas or senses. That is to say, anything not experienced in the wakeful stage is taken as non-existent. Under such circumstances, we say ‘Sat’ for existence and ‘Asat’ for non-existence. Therefore, what do you say of this world? Is it ‘Sat’ or ‘Asat’?
Bhakta: It exists in experience in the wakeful stage, and so it is ‘Sat’; it does not exist in the deep sleep stage and so it is ‘Asat’.
Swami: Oh! Sat, Asat, did you say? When these two words are combined, we get Sadasat, isn’t it? This is what is spoken of by us as Maya, do you know?
Bhakta: Is that Maya similar to magic?
Swami: Is it not? “Indrajaalam Idam Sarvam”; all this is the magician’s work. That is what the Rishis (Sages) have been saying since ages.
Bhakta: Then, there must be a performer of all this Indrajaalam, isn’t it?
Swami: Certainly, there is. That magician is God. He is endowed with countless auspicious attributes. The Maharshis (great sages), have they not framed a name on the basis of each attribute and a form on the basis of each name and attained Realisation meditating on those forms, making the Attributeless Attributeful, and the Formless Formful? Is it not their experience that is being proclaimed through a thousand tongues? In the Shastras, the Vedas and the Upanishats, have they not declared how they have realised God in their Dhyana Samadhi (complete absorption in meditation), each in his own way, according to his attitude and devotion and worship; how each has been blessed with the Vision of the Lord and the actual consummation of Union with him?
Bhakta: Yes, Swami! I have understood that. But, You said that name and form are based on attributes. Kindly explain this to me.
Swami: Certainly. I must elucidate such important topics because these are beyond your own powers of imagination. Listen carefully! Since the Lord has the guna (quality) of pleasing all, He is known as Rama. So also He is Prema-svarupa, the embodiment of Love. He is Bhaktavatsala, full of affection to His devotees. He is Kripasagara, Ocean of Mercy. In each such name and form, He has vouchsafed Sakshatkaram (Direct perception of God) to Bhaktas and blessed them with Sayujyam (Merger in the Divine). The Formless God assumes all forms in order to bless Bhaktas.
Bhakta: I am happy! I am indeed so happy, Swami! Through Your Grace, I am understanding quite clearly. Just one doubt: The Formless Paramatma, you said, has countless names. Are all names and forms equal? Is there any difference?
Swami: What a question! All names and forms are certainly equal. Whichever name and form are worshipped, the Lord is of that Unique Real Svarupa (Embodiment) only. It is possible to realise Him through that name and form. But the Bhakta should pay attention to one matter. In whichever form the Lord is worshipped, the favour prayed for, the Sankalpam (purpose or wish), must be one.
Bhakta: What type of Sankalpam, Swami?
Swami: Mumukshutvam. Desire for Liberation. The Lord alone should be loved, nothing else. Love Him. Meditate on Him. Attain God-Realisation. Finally, resolve that you be merged in Him. That type of acute desire alone one should have.
Bhakta: True, Swami! I have understood well. As you said, I have heard many stories from the Bhagavata and the Ramayana, etc., of people who asked the Lord for all kinds of favours and brought about their own ruin. Hiranyaksha, Ravana and Bhasmasura and others are remembered for their ways from that day to this. You have said it clearly. It is something which Bhaktas should carefully consider.
Swami: Well! There is no use, simply nodding the head for everything, relishing them as ‘true’, ‘true’. If it is firmly fixed in your heart that this is true and this is good, thereafter, it is necessary to put it into practice. If you say that it is true, so long as I speak, and forget when you go away, this listening itself is useless. The food that is eaten is to remove hunger, not for keeping on the tongue, away from the stomach. Then, hunger will start again. So also, hearing and not acting accordingly, is useless.
Bhakta: Swami, so far you have told three important things, (1) Bahya prapancham (the External World) (2) Antar prapancham (the Internal World) (3) Bhagawan, the Lord who is the Karta (Performer) and Karana (Cause, Purpose) for (1) and (2). Are these then three separate entities? Or, are they connected one with the other?
Swami: Think about it yourself! For this, I have already sent the reply in ‘Prema Vahini’. It must have reached you at that time itself. Look into that. Look closely at what is said there of the relationship between ‘he that serves’, ‘He that is served’, and ‘the wherewithal of service’.
Bhakta: Swami, You said also Ksharam Aksharam; Nityam Anityam. Are there any other names too?
Swami: These two are known as Purushas (Purusha means that which fills everything) also. They are said to be Chetana (full of consciousness) and Achetana (non-consciousness) also. They are referred to as Jiva (“I” consciousness, individual) and Jada (Insentient, inert) also. The Kshara Akshara Purushas are named in another context as Apara Prakriti (Lower nature of the self; the immediate cause of all that is conceivable) and Para Prakriti (Higher nature of the self; the Ultimate cause). If you contemplate with a clear intelligence, you will find that only names change; the Thing does not change.
Bhakta: Then, Swami, just as Kshara Akshara have, as synonym Purushas, has Bhagawan, the Lord, have any such synonym?
Swami: Yes! Bhagawan is well known by the very appropriate name, Purushottama, since He is the Highest of the Purushas.
Bhakta: Oh! How sweet! What a sweet name! Did the Purushas originate from the Purushottama?
Swami: Here comes the big problem! Once before also you asked, did it originate? We must use correct words. Otherwise, we get wrong meanings. We should not say, “originating” from Purushottama. In Him, they shine. I told you before that these Purushas are indicated by the words, Para-Apara Prakriti, Jiva-Jada. This word Prakriti gives the sense of Svabhava (nature, characteristic), and Shakti (Divine energy), isn’t it?
Bhakta: It does. I understand; Purushottama is one, His Prakriti is the second.
Swami: No! You are mistaking. Think again! Is there any difference between a thing and its nature? Is it possible to separate and see the nature apart from the thing? Still, you said ‘two’.
Bhakta: ’Tis a mistake, Swami. It is wrong. No one can separate them. The two are one.
Swami: In colloquial speech we say: sugar is sweet, the Sun gives light, it is hot, etc. Sweetness is in sugar, light is in the Sun. They are not separate; they are one. Sweetness cannot be known unless sugar is placed on the tongue. Without seeing the Sun, light and heat cannot be known. Thus, Bhagawan has two characteristics; when we speak of them as two, they are referred to as Purusha and Prakriti; but they are really one. Prakriti in the Bhagawan (this is what is known by the name Mahamaya) is unmanifested and inseparable, like sweetness in sugar. Avinabhava Sambandham (inseparable connection) means just this relationship. By the mere Will of Bhagawan, this Maya envelopes and manifests in the form of Cosmos or Brahmanda. This is what is called Samashti Visvarupam, or Absolute-Full-World-Form. By the Divine Will, it is this Absolute that expresses itself as Jagat with names and forms, through the power of Avidya (ignorance).
Bhakta: What is this, Swami? It was all so clear so far, but this word, Avidya, newly used has upset my thought! I didn’t understand anything. Please explain.
Swami: Don’t be in a hurry! Have you heard the word, Vidya? Do you know its meaning?
Bhakta: Certainly. Vidya means study!
Swami: Vidya means Jnanam (Knowledge). When “A” is added to Jnanam, it becomes Ajnanam, Ignorance. Ajnanam is Avidya. Though one, Ignorance makes it appear in multifarious forms. Isn’t it?
Bhakta: Yes, Swami. How did this Avidya come about? Where did it come from?
Swami: You know, don’t you, of light and darkness. Do they both exist at the same time?
Bhakta: There can be no darkness when there is light, nor light when there is darkness.
Swami: When there is light, where does darkness exist? When there is darkness, where does light exist? Think well.
Bhakta: This subject is very difficult, Swami! Still, I shall, reply as best as I can. Pardon me if I am wrong. Darkness must be in light; light must be in darkness; how else can it be?
Swami: I will ask another small question. Answer me. This light and darkness; are they independent, or are they dependent on anything else?
Bhakta: They are dependent on the Sun. When the Sun rises, it is light. When the Sun sets, it is darkness.
Swami: Well, my boy, Vidya and Avidya are dependent on Bhagawan. Vidya has another name, “Chit.” I shall describe to you all that, if you come next month. This is enough for today. Go and come. If all is eaten at the same time, it won’t be digested. It would lead to bad health. What we have heard, what we have eaten, requires time to get digested and assimilated. That is why I have given a month’s interval. If within that time, all this is fully digested and practised, I shall tell you the rest gladly. Otherwise, you can imagine what that day would be like.
Bhakta: Namaskaram. I am indeed blessed. To digest what is heard, and what is eaten, the power to do this should be vouchsafed by You alone. When everything is the Lord’s, how can this alone be ours? But, I shall use the power and the knowledge You have endowed me with, as much as possible, without any waste. Beyond that, it is all my Prapti (Destiny) and Your Grace. I shall take leave, with Your permission.
Swami: Placing your burden on Destiny and keeping quiet means diminution of effort. With effort and prayer, Destiny can be attained. Without effort and prayer, Destiny and Grace are not gained. Start the effort from today! Well, my boy, go and come again, gladly.
III
Swami: Oh! When did you arrive? You were not visible anywhere outside. Are you well?
Bhakta: ’Tis two days since I came. I see a huge number of people everywhere outside. I hear the incessant confusion of voices. Coming from my place to avoid that confusion, I find here too crowds everywhere. Therefore, I entered inside. There, it is fine, blissful, quiet. That is why I was in the hall inside. It is as quiet inside, as it is restless outside.
Swami: What is special in this? It is natural. Where there is jaggery, there gather the ants…and between outside and inside, this is the distinction! That is the characteristic. That is how it is.
Bhakta: Swami! I do not understand what You say. If You tell me in detail, I shall listen and be happy.
Swami: You yourself said, didn’t you, that there is an outside and an inside? Well. Those are what we call Bahya prapancham and Antar prapancham, the external world and the internal world. Now, which is the internal world, which is the external world? Give me your idea.
Bhakta: Do you want it to come from my mouth itself? It would be so good if You spoke, Swami.
Swami: Well! Making the questioner himself give out the answers is the Sanatana (ancient) method of teaching. If those who question, themselves give the answers, they would clearly understand the subject. The lecturing style is different from this method of teaching. In olden days, all the Rishis (Sages) enabled their disciples to understand Vedanta (section of the Vedas that deals with self-knowledge) only by this method. So, come on! Speak! Let us see.
Bhakta: Do you ask me to speak of the objects I have seen with the eye?
Swami: Not only the eye. Tell me all that you have experienced and known through all the senses of cognition, the eye, the nose, the ear, etc.
Bhakta: Earth, sky, water, sun, moon, wind, fire, stars, clouds, mountains, hills, trees, rivers, women, men, children, old persons, animals, birds, coldness, heat, the happy, the miserable, births, deaths, diseases… like these I have seen many.
Swami: Enough, enough...that’s enough! This is the Prapancham (Universe composed of five elements). Did you see it only today? Did it exist yesterday? Will it exist tomorrow?
Bhakta: Why do you ask me so, Swami? It has existed like this for ages, isn’t it? Who knows for how long it will exist, or since how long it has existed?
Swami: “Since how long it has existed!”, you said, isn’t it? That is what we speak of as Anadi, Beginningless. This external world is beginningless. When there is ‘external’, there must be ‘internal’ also, is it not? Well, have you ever seen a cinema?
Bhakta: Ever seen! Why, Swami, the cinema too is a part of the Prapancham, isn’t it? I have seen many.
Swami: What did you see? Tell me.
Bhakta: I have seen many wonderful ‘pictures’; I have heard numerous voices and noises; I have seen numerous experiences of joy and sorrow.
Swami: “I have seen,” you say. The screen is one; the ‘picture’ is another. Did you see both?
Bhakta: Yes.
Swami: Did you see the screen and the ‘picture’ both at the same time?
Bhakta: How is that possible, Swami? When the pictures are seen, the screen is not visible. When the screen is visible, the pictures are not seen.
Swami: Right! The screen, the pictures, do they exist always?
Bhakta: No. The screen is permanent; the pictures come and go.
Swami: As you say, it is clear that the screen is permanent, and the pictures come and go. For this ‘permanent’ and ‘impermanent’ we use the words, Sthiram (permanent) and Asthiram (impermanent), Nityam (timeless, eternal) and Anityam (timebound, temporary), Ksharam (destructible) and Aksharam (indestructible). I shall ask another thing: Does the picture fall on the screen or the screen fall on the picture? Which is the basis for what?
Bhakta: The pictures fall on the screen; so, for the picture, the screen is the basis.
Swami: So too, the external world, which is like the picture, has no permanence; it changes. The internal world is fixed; it does not change. The external has the internal as its basis, its substratum.
Bhakta: Swami! Have You mentioned these only as Ksharam-Aksharam and Nityam-Anityam?
Swami: Yes, my boy! You were speaking now of pictures; do these have names and forms?
Bhakta: Yes, they have 'Tis only because they have names and forms that the story is understood. Then only do we recollect Ramayana and Bharatam. There is no formless name and nameless form.
Swami: Good! That is well said! Where there is a form, there must be a name. Where there is a name, there must be a form. Both these are connected with each other. When we say, “Avinabhava Sambandham” (inseparable connection), it is this relationship that we refer to. Have you now understood the meaning of Prapancham?
Bhakta: I have grasped that it is identified with name and form, but Swami, I would like to hear You describe how it originated.
Swami: You should not fall into that tangle now. If we engage ourselves in describing that, it would be like getting into a mango garden and, without eating the fruit we have plucked, calculating the number of trees in the garden, the number of branches on each tree, the number of twigs on each branch, the number of fruits on each twig, and what the total price of all the mangoes would be if the price of one mango is such and such! Instead of senselessly wasting precious time in the collection of this information, we should, like the person who eats the fruit, find out what is of primary importance; and understanding that thing first, attain contentment and joy. Leave that alone! What did you say is the nature of this Prapancham? This Prapancham has another name too, do you know?
Bhakta: I said that the Prapancham is identified with name and form. I have heard that it is known by another name, Jagat (Universe – which becomes manifest and unmanifest continuously, cyclically).
Swami: This Nama-Rupa (name-form) Prapancham, this Jagat is like Indrajaalam or magician’s art, real only as long as you see it. So too, the world is real only so long as you experience it with your Indriyas or senses. That is to say, anything not experienced in the wakeful stage is taken as non-existent. Under such circumstances, we say ‘Sat’ for existence and ‘Asat’ for non-existence. Therefore, what do you say of this world? Is it ‘Sat’ or ‘Asat’?
Bhakta: It exists in experience in the wakeful stage, and so it is ‘Sat’; it does not exist in the deep sleep stage and so it is ‘Asat’.
Swami: Oh! Sat, Asat, did you say? When these two words are combined, we get Sadasat, isn’t it? This is what is spoken of by us as Maya, do you know?
Bhakta: Is that Maya similar to magic?
Swami: Is it not? “Indrajaalam Idam Sarvam”; all this is the magician’s work. That is what the Rishis (Sages) have been saying since ages.
Bhakta: Then, there must be a performer of all this Indrajaalam, isn’t it?
Swami: Certainly, there is. That magician is God. He is endowed with countless auspicious attributes. The Maharshis (great sages), have they not framed a name on the basis of each attribute and a form on the basis of each name and attained Realisation meditating on those forms, making the Attributeless Attributeful, and the Formless Formful? Is it not their experience that is being proclaimed through a thousand tongues? In the Shastras, the Vedas and the Upanishats, have they not declared how they have realised God in their Dhyana Samadhi (complete absorption in meditation), each in his own way, according to his attitude and devotion and worship; how each has been blessed with the Vision of the Lord and the actual consummation of Union with him?
Bhakta: Yes, Swami! I have understood that. But, You said that name and form are based on attributes. Kindly explain this to me.
Swami: Certainly. I must elucidate such important topics because these are beyond your own powers of imagination. Listen carefully! Since the Lord has the guna (quality) of pleasing all, He is known as Rama. So also He is Prema-svarupa, the embodiment of Love. He is Bhaktavatsala, full of affection to His devotees. He is Kripasagara, Ocean of Mercy. In each such name and form, He has vouchsafed Sakshatkaram (Direct perception of God) to Bhaktas and blessed them with Sayujyam (Merger in the Divine). The Formless God assumes all forms in order to bless Bhaktas.
Bhakta: I am happy! I am indeed so happy, Swami! Through Your Grace, I am understanding quite clearly. Just one doubt: The Formless Paramatma, you said, has countless names. Are all names and forms equal? Is there any difference?
Swami: What a question! All names and forms are certainly equal. Whichever name and form are worshipped, the Lord is of that Unique Real Svarupa (Embodiment) only. It is possible to realise Him through that name and form. But the Bhakta should pay attention to one matter. In whichever form the Lord is worshipped, the favour prayed for, the Sankalpam (purpose or wish), must be one.
Bhakta: What type of Sankalpam, Swami?
Swami: Mumukshutvam. Desire for Liberation. The Lord alone should be loved, nothing else. Love Him. Meditate on Him. Attain God-Realisation. Finally, resolve that you be merged in Him. That type of acute desire alone one should have.
Bhakta: True, Swami! I have understood well. As you said, I have heard many stories from the Bhagavata and the Ramayana, etc., of people who asked the Lord for all kinds of favours and brought about their own ruin. Hiranyaksha, Ravana and Bhasmasura and others are remembered for their ways from that day to this. You have said it clearly. It is something which Bhaktas should carefully consider.
Swami: Well! There is no use, simply nodding the head for everything, relishing them as ‘true’, ‘true’. If it is firmly fixed in your heart that this is true and this is good, thereafter, it is necessary to put it into practice. If you say that it is true, so long as I speak, and forget when you go away, this listening itself is useless. The food that is eaten is to remove hunger, not for keeping on the tongue, away from the stomach. Then, hunger will start again. So also, hearing and not acting accordingly, is useless.
Bhakta: Swami, so far you have told three important things, (1) Bahya prapancham (the External World) (2) Antar prapancham (the Internal World) (3) Bhagawan, the Lord who is the Karta (Performer) and Karana (Cause, Purpose) for (1) and (2). Are these then three separate entities? Or, are they connected one with the other?
Swami: Think about it yourself! For this, I have already sent the reply in ‘Prema Vahini’. It must have reached you at that time itself. Look into that. Look closely at what is said there of the relationship between ‘he that serves’, ‘He that is served’, and ‘the wherewithal of service’.
Bhakta: Swami, You said also Ksharam Aksharam; Nityam Anityam. Are there any other names too?
Swami: These two are known as Purushas (Purusha means that which fills everything) also. They are said to be Chetana (full of consciousness) and Achetana (non-consciousness) also. They are referred to as Jiva (“I” consciousness, individual) and Jada (Insentient, inert) also. The Kshara Akshara Purushas are named in another context as Apara Prakriti (Lower nature of the self; the immediate cause of all that is conceivable) and Para Prakriti (Higher nature of the self; the Ultimate cause). If you contemplate with a clear intelligence, you will find that only names change; the Thing does not change.
Bhakta: Then, Swami, just as Kshara Akshara have, as synonym Purushas, has Bhagawan, the Lord, have any such synonym?
Swami: Yes! Bhagawan is well known by the very appropriate name, Purushottama, since He is the Highest of the Purushas.
Bhakta: Oh! How sweet! What a sweet name! Did the Purushas originate from the Purushottama?
Swami: Here comes the big problem! Once before also you asked, did it originate? We must use correct words. Otherwise, we get wrong meanings. We should not say, “originating” from Purushottama. In Him, they shine. I told you before that these Purushas are indicated by the words, Para-Apara Prakriti, Jiva-Jada. This word Prakriti gives the sense of Svabhava (nature, characteristic), and Shakti (Divine energy), isn’t it?
Bhakta: It does. I understand; Purushottama is one, His Prakriti is the second.
Swami: No! You are mistaking. Think again! Is there any difference between a thing and its nature? Is it possible to separate and see the nature apart from the thing? Still, you said ‘two’.
Bhakta: ’Tis a mistake, Swami. It is wrong. No one can separate them. The two are one.
Swami: In colloquial speech we say: sugar is sweet, the Sun gives light, it is hot, etc. Sweetness is in sugar, light is in the Sun. They are not separate; they are one. Sweetness cannot be known unless sugar is placed on the tongue. Without seeing the Sun, light and heat cannot be known. Thus, Bhagawan has two characteristics; when we speak of them as two, they are referred to as Purusha and Prakriti; but they are really one. Prakriti in the Bhagawan (this is what is known by the name Mahamaya) is unmanifested and inseparable, like sweetness in sugar. Avinabhava Sambandham (inseparable connection) means just this relationship. By the mere Will of Bhagawan, this Maya envelopes and manifests in the form of Cosmos or Brahmanda. This is what is called Samashti Visvarupam, or Absolute-Full-World-Form. By the Divine Will, it is this Absolute that expresses itself as Jagat with names and forms, through the power of Avidya (ignorance).
Bhakta: What is this, Swami? It was all so clear so far, but this word, Avidya, newly used has upset my thought! I didn’t understand anything. Please explain.
Swami: Don’t be in a hurry! Have you heard the word, Vidya? Do you know its meaning?
Bhakta: Certainly. Vidya means study!
Swami: Vidya means Jnanam (Knowledge). When “A” is added to Jnanam, it becomes Ajnanam, Ignorance. Ajnanam is Avidya. Though one, Ignorance makes it appear in multifarious forms. Isn’t it?
Bhakta: Yes, Swami. How did this Avidya come about? Where did it come from?
Swami: You know, don’t you, of light and darkness. Do they both exist at the same time?
Bhakta: There can be no darkness when there is light, nor light when there is darkness.
Swami: When there is light, where does darkness exist? When there is darkness, where does light exist? Think well.
Bhakta: This subject is very difficult, Swami! Still, I shall, reply as best as I can. Pardon me if I am wrong. Darkness must be in light; light must be in darkness; how else can it be?
Swami: I will ask another small question. Answer me. This light and darkness; are they independent, or are they dependent on anything else?
Bhakta: They are dependent on the Sun. When the Sun rises, it is light. When the Sun sets, it is darkness.
Swami: Well, my boy, Vidya and Avidya are dependent on Bhagawan. Vidya has another name, “Chit.” I shall describe to you all that, if you come next month. This is enough for today. Go and come. If all is eaten at the same time, it won’t be digested. It would lead to bad health. What we have heard, what we have eaten, requires time to get digested and assimilated. That is why I have given a month’s interval. If within that time, all this is fully digested and practised, I shall tell you the rest gladly. Otherwise, you can imagine what that day would be like.
Bhakta: Namaskaram. I am indeed blessed. To digest what is heard, and what is eaten, the power to do this should be vouchsafed by You alone. When everything is the Lord’s, how can this alone be ours? But, I shall use the power and the knowledge You have endowed me with, as much as possible, without any waste. Beyond that, it is all my Prapti (Destiny) and Your Grace. I shall take leave, with Your permission.
Swami: Placing your burden on Destiny and keeping quiet means diminution of effort. With effort and prayer, Destiny can be attained. Without effort and prayer, Destiny and Grace are not gained. Start the effort from today! Well, my boy, go and come again, gladly.