"When the objective knowledge comes to an end, the Seer
does not survive as a Seer. At that moment, the pride of the `I' (ego) just
melts away". [Dasbodh, Chapter 6, Section 10.]
As long as objects are taken to truly exist, until then only the
seer remains. As the being is conceptual, so also is the seer. If you call this
city `Bombay', it appears as Bombay; if you call it earth, it will appear as
earth. It all depends upon the seer's concept. If you call an object a chair,
it is a chair; if you call it wood, it is wood. If you call the all as Brahman,
then the all is Brahman. If you call it the world, it is the world. All objects
depend on the concept of the seer. But Brahman is beyond concept and no concept
can conceive it.
There is a woman whom one man calls her his `wife', the other calls her
`sister', the third one calls her `daughter'. Actually she is nothing but a
lump of flesh and bones. Whatever you say happens. All is conceptual and
depends upon the concept of the seer. The world and the beings in it are
conceptual. The `seer' who calls the manifestation as truth is the ego and that
ego has to be eradicated. If the ego goes away, then only Brahman remains.
King Dhrutarashtra of Mahabharata was blind. He gave birth to a
hundred sons called Kauravas and had pride in them. The one who embraces the
body as oneself is the blind Dhrutarashtra. He is also the one who is called
Ravana, a demon in the mythological book Ramayana. One should have a feeling
that all the objects are untrue and Brahman alone exists. All objects are
demons and because you give them the status of the demons, you are King Ravana.
Ravana is not the rightful king. He is not the Lord. Because you consider the
objects as being true, you become Ravana. You have to get rid of this Ravana `I'.
The I does not exist. Getting rid of the `I' can be called a wishful death. In
the Ramayana it is stated that Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and on
the request of Ravana, Shiva gave him a boon of wishful death. Ravana rules
over fourteen regencies, i.e., the fourteen senses: five each of knowledge and
action, mind, intellect, consciousness and the ego. When God rules over the
earth, the demons go to the lower regions, and when the demons rule over the
earth, God goes away and performs penance. If the objects are taken to be true,
it means that the demons are ruling and God is not there. There is no trace of
Him. But when God becomes victorious (i.e. when the determination or the
feeling comes that all these objects are untrue), then the demon `I' also
disappears. When the ego is destroyed, then all is Brahman. One has to practice
that the I and all objects are untrue. A realized person feels all is Brahman.
The food, the wooden plank on which one sits while taking meals, for him or her
the spouse and water are all expressions of Brahman. All is Brahman. Your
subject of study should be as above. Then it will be God's kingdom. Brahman is
not color, it is not yellow or black, it is not music, etc. The ghee (purified
butter) which is liquid and the ghee which is solid are the same just as water
and ice is the same. When the earth meets earth it is all consciousness. All
that you see and perceive is nothing but the reality (Brahman). What you see is
only the qualified consciousness just as you see that bangles or armlets are
both made out of gold.
Stop insisting that good alone should happen to this body. You
have become the gross body because only one body is the object of your concept.
The servants and the attendants should be considered as God. There is no other
Brahman with or without quality. All is Govinda (God). Because we categorize
all objects, there is the ego (jeeva). You perceive the wife as wife, the
daughter as daughter, the horse as horse or the dog as dog. They are all
Brahman only. There is no need to change the form of the objects. Only the
attitude of the seer must change. Brahma is the same even when it is in a state
with attributes. You should see Brahma in whatever state He exists. Even the
atoms and molecules of a chair are all Lord Krishna (Brahman). Once this
attitude is taken, then he himself is Brahma. Even though one sleeps, awakens,
or goes about, one has not slept, awakened, gone about or taken a meal. When
all is Brahman who is eating and sleeping? The one who is without quality and
the one who is speaking (i.e. with quality) are both God. Whether a king is
sitting on the throne or hunting, he is always a king. The one who is walking
and talking is the idol of consciousness. One is a devotee when one gives names
to different objects as well as to him or herself and is a saint (sadhu) or
Paramatman when one looks upon the creation as Parabrahman. To forget
Paramatman and eat food is just turning the food into faeces. The silkworms are
better, as the silkwear made from their cocoons are used by priests while
worshipping God. Those who eat faeces can digest faeces. The gods and demons
are right here. The gods and the demons together churned the ocean of the world
which produced nectar and wine. Lord Vishnu gave the nectar to the gods and the
wine to the demons. To say "Vishnu did this" means the inner
sense-consciousness did this. Both nectar and wine are right here. It is within
our own hand to drink the nectar and to become immortal. One who
"awakes" will achieve this. All is God. Let all be happy. If you
practice this and take it to heart, then [the realization will be] all is
Brahman. One has to water a plant until it gets its roots. Then it will grow by
itself. You should persist in your practice until you achieve this
Chapter: 6,
Sub-Chapter: 5
Narration About Illusion (Maya)
and Brahman
Shri Ram
2.
Brahman is without attributes and is formless. Illusion has attributes and
form. Brahman has no boundaries or limits, Illusion does.
4. Illusion is seen, Brahman cannot be seen.
Illusion is perceptible, Brahman cannot be perceived. Illusion gets destroyed,
Brahman is indestructible, even at the final dissolution of all creation.
6. Illusion is
born, Brahman is not born. Illusion dies, Brahman does not die. Illusion can be
conceived, Brahman cannot be comprehended by the intellect.
7. Illusion
breaks, Brahman cannot break. Illusion can be cut off, Brahman cannot be cut
off. Illusion gets old and tattered, Brahman does not get old and tattered, as
it is indestructible.
8. Illusion is
subject to modification, Brahman is changeless. Illusion does everything,
Brahman does nothing. Illusion assumes many forms, Brahman is formless.
9. Illusion is
of the nature of the temporary Five Elements and is many, Brahman is eternal
and is one. The difference between Illusion and Brahman is understood by those
who utilize the power of discrimination.
10. Illusion is inferior, Brahman
is superior. Illusion is the non-essential, Brahman is the essence. Illusion is
on the side of the world, Brahman does not have sides.
11. Illusion is spread out covering Brahman. However, the sages have sifted out Brahman with discrimination.
12. Clearing away the moss on the surface, one should take the water. Throwing away the water from the mixture of milk and water, one should take the milk. Similarly, giving up Illusion, one's experience should be of Brahman.
13. Brahman is spotless like the sky, Illusion is muddied like
the earth. Brahman alone is subtle, while the Illusion is gross form.
