Talk 9

ekānte sukhamāsyatāṃ paratare cetaḥ samādhīyatāṃ

pūrṇātmā susamīkṣyatāṃ jagadidaṃ tadbādhitaṃ dṛśyatām

Once the mind is prepared for this subtlest kind of meditation, then Bhagavān Śaṁkarācāryaji
advises that one should sit in a solitary place or in solitude and slowly withdraw the attention of the
mind from the sense objects to the sense organs, from sense organs to the mind and from the mind
to the pūrṇātmā or caitanya ātma. And then look out (at the world)…what will you see? Earlier what
you thought as only a multitude of names and forms, and which alone you thought was reality, but
now you see that this pūrna paramātma called brahman, that alone is! The names and forms are all
divinised by this vision. Otherwise, they were enjoying their own independent reality, as it were. But
now you see divinity everywhere!

What will be the result of this?

It is said in Upaniṣads that one who realises one’s own brahma svarūpa, then that person becomes
completely freed from all bondages of karmas. kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi. All karmas, all bondages are
cut asunder. Why? Because the knot of the heart which was there in the form of ignorance, that is
cut off. Because of which there were so many doubts. All saṁśayas are also gone. All karma
bandhanas are also gone. How many types of karmabandhanas are there? Here, it is said,

prākkarma pravilāpyatāṃ citibalānnāpyuttaraiḥ śliṣyatāṃ

This citibalān is put in the middle. On the strength of the knowledge of this caitanya svarūpa,
prākkarma pravilāpyatāṃ – dissolve all your earlier karmas, prākkarmas. And, on the strength of
this:

nāpyuttaraiḥ śliṣyatāṃ
Do not get contaminated by future karmas, uttara karmas.

prārabdhaṃ tviha bhujyatām

and while living here in this world, go through all the prärabdha karmas and then

atha parabrahmātmanā sthīyatām

just be here as Brahman.

You are at home, sweet home! Journey back to home, guided by none other than sarvajña Bhagavān
Ādi Śaṁkarācāryaji!

And the GPS is sādhanā pañcakam!

pg. 1
Now what are all these karmas?

The existence of a jīva, you and me, who thinks of himself/herself as only as a limited being,
identified only with the body, mind and intellect, considering himself as a doer of an action and
experiencer of the result as kartä-bhoktä bhāva. The existence of this jīva is because of ignorance,
which is beginningless. Ignorance of his own true Self.

It is said, for every action there must be opposite reaction. When an action is performed by the jīva,
don’t think that just because the action is performed, that is the end of it. The jīva must have
performed countless karmas and the results of all those karmas will be there. All karmas will not
bear the same fruit. All results cannot be enjoyed in the same body at one time. Therefore what is
said is very logical …

There is a jīva and there is an account like a bank account. Everything is automatic. In the jīva’s
account, all the karmas that the jiva is doing, gets deposited (continuously). The jīva may not be
aware or know, but it gets deposited. Nowadays for traffic (control), they have hidden cameras.
Sometimes they even let you know that there is a hidden camera. And someone might think that
nobody has seen and they can pass through that, but the camera has already taken a picture. You
then get the notice of whatever it is that you have to pay. This hidden camera which takes a picture
is called ‘gupta chitra’. In our Hindu religion, there is a Chitragupta who keeps the account. That is
Chitragupta and this is ‘gupta chitra’, that is all.

We go on doing – seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, thinking, feeling, doing, enjoying,
experiencing….everything gets deposited. Whataver are all the karmas that are done, those karmas
are deposited, and they are called sancita karma. Sancita means very well accumulated. This is what
is called here as prākkarma. prākkarma means karmas of earlier lives, not just one or two lives.
Countless lives. aneka janma saṁprāpta karmabandhan. All these karmas get accumulated and is
known as sancita or it is called here as prākkarma. prāk means ‘done earlier’.

All karmas cannot fructify at one and same time and their results also will be different. They cannot
be enjoyed and experienced in the same body. Therefore it is said, the jīva has accumulated so many
karmas. Then a part of that sancita becomes matured.
You also keep money kept in a fixed deposit which has a maturity date. Or you collect so many
fruits. Some are unripe and some are ready to eat. So the accumulated ones which are kept there
are called sancita, and you take the ready-to-eat fruits. Those are called prārabdha. Those karmas
which are ripe, mature and ready to give their results, they are called prārabdha. prārabdha means
ārabdha – already started giving results.

We do not know which karmas mature, what will be their results and in which body that result can
be enjoyed or experienced. Therefore, so many kinds of bodies are there – creepers, trees, insects,
worms, germs, birds, animals and human beings. There are also devatā, gandharva, yakṣa, kinnara
apsarā, siddhas, cārana, and so many different rākṣasas and asuras and so many bodies are there.

pg. 2
So, which karma will give which body, according to that the jīva comes into that body. Whichever
body is there, we then call that jīva by that name – cow, buffalo, monkey, donkey, elephant, tiger,
cheetah, lion, snake, cockroach. lizard… Why are you taking all these names?

Remember, we do not know which jīva has come in which body, and because of which karmas and
how long that karma will take to complete its course. We do not know. And when that karma is
finished, then that body is dropped.

So now, suppose there are one thousand karmas, for easy calculation. One hundred karmas became
matured, and nine hundred are still there. Because of those one hundred karmas that jiva became a
cockroach…. ‘but why do you have to mention a cocroach only?’
‘Alright, you can think of something else. It doesn’t matter. You don’t like cockroach, because you
can’t approach? Okay, peacock!’
(‘Yes, that sounds much better.’)

Now, the peacock does not do good or bad karmas. The jiva is already there in that peacock. And
when that jiva is in an animal body or such bodies, there is only a ‘minus’ (reduction) from the main
account (of prārabdha karma). But when that is exhausted, that jīva leaves that body. But then the
other karmas are still there.

This is what the śāstra says. We can know all this only from the śāstra pramāṇa. That says, in these
bodies, the karmas are only exhausted and new karmas are not added. We should not think that
always we should be born as animals only and we will thus finish all the karmas like that, and we
don’t need to study Vedānta. Do you know, while passing through these lives, some karmas will be
such that you will have to be born as a human being only. Then what to do?

What happens in a human being’s life, out of the nine hundred remaining karmas, because of five
hundred karmas (which mature) the jiva is born as a human bring. As we go through these
prārabdha karmas, and because in this human life free-will is also given; as we are exhausting the
earlier karmas, we can create new karmas also. And it is very difficult to find the line of demarcation,
whch are the earlier karmas and which are the new ones being added. Also, in this human life, we
can put an end to this whole chakra of karma. That is the beauty of human life. prārabdha karma.

It is said in the śāstra, the scriptures : if pāpa is too much, then all other kinds of animal life, etc will
be there; if punya karmas are too much, then denizen of heaven or such kind of life; when pāpa and
puny are more or less equal, then human life.

That’s why in everybody’s life, there are sukha and there are dukham. Because it is a mixture of pāpa
and punya. You cannot avoid. But somehow, whenever we go through some difficult time, we say –
‘what to do, my prārabdha’ …! The prārabdha karma word we always use as though it is something
negative only.

pg. 3
So many wonderful things happen in our life. So I will tell you a simple thing, what prārabdha is.

Prārabdha karmas are those that have becomes matured, they have started giving results – pleasant
or unpleasant. When a person puts forth all efforts and still does not get the desired result, then that
is some prārabdha which is obstructing. That also is prārabdha’. And sometimes, not putting much
effort, all results and everything is happening just like that, then that also is prārabdha. In spite of
putting in so many effotrs, if you don’t see the result, what else can we say – prārabdham!

I did not do so much. I don’t know how everything is so wonderflly happening! That also is
prārabdha. Then we say good prārabdha.

But in human life, as we go through this, we create new (karmas) whose results will come in the
future. Therefore they are called uttara karma, or bhaviṣya/āgāmī. āgāmī means future.

The new karma that I am doing now is caled kriyamāna karma, as it is being done. But the result will
come in the future. Therefore it is called āgāmī.

Thus there are three types of karma – bhūta, vartamāna, bhaviṣya. bhūta means already done in the
past. vartamāna, what we are all going through now.

And in the human body, we can create new karmas, or put an end. How to put an end to all the
karmas?

It is said that the locus of all karmas is that jīva who has got a sense of doership and enjoyership. As
long as the jīva has that (sense of doership and enjoyership), which is born of ignorance alone, he
will be bound to go through all these results. Therefore, at one place Bhagavān Ramana Maharishi
said,

karomi karmeti naro vijānan

bādhyo bhavet-karma-phalaṃ ca bhoktum

As long as the person performs the karmas with a sense of doership, then he will be compelled to go
through the result. Because you have done it; what can you do? You should have thought of that
before doing (the karma).
 sometimes we don’t think and do (the karma)
 sometimes we think but not completely
 sometimes we are not able to see the consequences of that (karma), because (we are more
focussed on the) immediate gain, immediate comfort, immediate pleasure; and we are not
able to see what will be its consequence; and when the result comes, we wonder ‘Bhagavān,
what wrong did I do?’ God says, ask what right did you do!
Bhagavān, I met with an accident and broke my leg. What pāpam have I done Bhagavān?
Bhagavān asks, what punyam had you done that you did not die?
Bhagavān, you should not answer in that way, you know!

pg. 4
 Think! It is all prārabdha.

And everyone’s prārabdha is different, and we do not know. Some people enjoy all pleasures in
early life, but suffer a lot in old age. Some suffer a lot earlier and afterwards it is all comfortable.
Some get a major dose of all this regularly – some difficulties and some good alternates from
childhood through middle age, etc.; never too much of suffering or too much of pleasure, but
measured doses all through. This also happens

Sometimes you feel, when a little child dies, ‘What bad did that child do that it died early?
Remember, the child did not do anything, but it was the jīva who came into that body because
of some karmas. Those karmas were only that much and got finished quickly.

Those who understand the whole thing, the law of karma, do not get perturbed. Because, it is
like this. We do not know because of how many karmas the jiva has come here and how long we
have to stay.

Therefore what Bhagavān says, when you gain this Self-knowledge, the very doership and
enjoyership of jīvabhāva ends. The past karmas are gone, the future also doesn’t get
continaminated by that (they don’t stick to him). And what to say about the prārabdha krams, it
has already started.

So, the wise person doesn’t get impatient and says, ‘Let it comeplete its own course’. It is like,
the switch is on and the fan has been rotating for more than two hours. Even when you switch it
off, it keeps moving. The person who understands this, doesn’t get impatient and keep
wondering why it hasn’t stopped even after switching it off; he doesn’t bring a stool (to climb on
the stool and stop it from rotating). It will stop. You have switched off which is alright. But the
fan has already started (slowing down) and the momentum will slowly (lose itself till it stops).

prārabdhaṃ tviha bhujyatām

Some person’s prārabdha, a wise person’s or a realised person’s, and different jnānis are there.
some of them go through some difficulties and all, but their mind has already left everything,
because as far as they are concerned, they are already free from all the three karmas. Only a little
prārabdha karma remains, which is alright. Wht difference does it make?

Those who are ignorant or those who are very devoted to that person, when they see that person,
they say ‘Our guru is suffering’. Where is guru’s mind? yasya brahmaṇi ramate cittaṁ. His mind is
revelling in brahman. We all see him still only as his body. But he says, ‘Whatever is the prārabdha of
the body, let it continue’.

pg. 5
atha parabrahmātmanā sthīyatām

But, as far as a man of realisation is concerned - brahmavid brahmaiva bhavati. He is brahma-

svarūpa.

We started with : We leave our home, and keep wandering, getting lost here and there. But when
we come back home, all is well that ends well. Here, our Kabiradāsji said amara vaha desavā jahān se
āyo.

That immortal, eternal is brahmasvarūpa – from where you have come! But you forgot that, you lost
contact. Even though the aeroplane also flies, it has to keep the contact with the ground, but when
they lose that connection, we don’t know where the plane goes.

Similarly, you lost that contact and have been going here and there. we don’t know how many
wombs you have gone through. But by your good prārabdha alone, that you met the sadguru and
then he started guiding.

And then here, Bhagavān Śaṁkarācāryaji gave forty sign-posts or steps or roadmap. And then, as I
had said on the very first day, even though there are forty instructions, but actually they are only
two. Because the earlier steps are meant for purifying our mind, gaining concentration of mind. Then
started all śravaṇ, manan, nididhyāsan for gaining clarity of knowledge. Therefore actually it is purity
of mind, which takes a very long time, and then the clarity of knowledge. These two things are here,
all the forty instructions can be (classified into these two).

And, what is the final home?

atha parabrahmātmanā sthīyatām

Now, remain as brahman!

As Brahman means what? Brahman is ānando brahmeti vyajānāt, ānanda brahma. Then, I am
ānanda. My ānanda does not depend upon any external factor - deśa kāla vastu vyakti paristhiti….
nothing.

yogarato vā bhogarato vā
saṁgarato vā saṁgavihīnaḥ

And ānanda ahamasmi !

I am not happy, I am Happiness itself! In this way, this is the realisation!

I told you all these forty instructions are actually for purity of mind and clarity of knowledge.

pg. 6
What is the first instruction? vedo nityamadhéyatäà
What is the last instruction? atha parabrahmätmanä sthéyatäm
Your study of veda is fulfilled if you realise your brahmasvarūpa! That is it! In between, there are so
many things.

vedo nityamadhīyatāṃ
. Why?
parabrahmātmanā sthīyatām. So that I realise parabrahma!

The study of veda is fulfilled. In the language of baseball, you have made the home run! Home!

In India, in cricket they say, he hit a century. It is a matter of great joy!

Here, this is our journey back home. Our GPS is the vedas. The vedas are so vast, so beautifully
condensed. Only a great master can do this! That is what Bhagavān (Ādi Śaṁkarācāryaji) is!

By Lord Jagadīśvarā’s grace, by the blessings of Bhagavān Śaṁkarācāryaji and our Param Pūjya
Gurudev we have completed this study of sādhanā pañcakam. It has given us a complete picture of
where we came from, where we got lost and how we have to trace back and reach our
brahmasvarūpa. Again and again prostrations to them. May their blessings be always with us. More
importantly, may we remain aware of their blessings!

Hariḥ om!

Let us sing the name of the Lord!

pg. 7