9. Chapter 9 — Rājavidyā-Rājaguhya Yogaḥ · The Yoga of Royal Knowledge and the Royal Secret

9.1

श्रीभगवानुवाच | इदं तु ते गुह्यतमं प्रवक्ष्याम्यनसूयवे | ज्ञानं विज्ञानसहितं यज्ज्ञात्वा मोक्ष्यसेऽशुभात्

śrī bhagavānuvāca idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave / jñānaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ yajjñātvā mokṣyase’śubhāt / / 9.1

Kṛṣṇa says: Dear Arjuna, because you trust Me and you are not envious of Me; I shall therefore impart to you this profound and secret wisdom and experience; This will free you of all miseries of material existence.

śrī bhagavān uvāca — the supreme personality of godhead says · idaṁ — this · tu — but · te — unto you · guhyatamaṁ — the most confidential · pravakṣyāmi — I am speaking · anasūyave — to the non-envious · jñānaṁ — knowledge · vijñāna — realized knowledge · sahitaṁ — with · yat — which · jñātvā — knowing · mokṣyase — be released · aśubhāt — from this miserable material existence.

9.2

राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् | प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम्

rājavidyā rājaguhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam / pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam / / 9.2

This knowledge is king of all knowledge and the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, sacred, and because it gives direct perception of the Self by Self-realization, it is the perfection of religion, dharma. It is eternal, easy and it is very joyfully performed.

rājavidyā — the king of education · rājaguhyaṁ — the king of confidential knowl- edge · pavitraṁ — the purest · idaṁ — this · uttamaṁ — transcendental · pratyakṣa — directly experienced · avagamaṁ — understood · dharmyaṁ — the principle of religion · susukhaṁ — very happy · kartuṁ — to execute · avyayaṁ — everlasting.

9.3

अश्रद्दधाना: पुरुषा धर्मस्यास्य परन्तप | अप्राप्य मां निवर्तन्ते मृत्युसंसारवर्त्मनि

aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa / aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani / / 9.3

Those who have no faith in this knowledge cannot attain Me, O Parantapa, conqueror of foes. They will return to the path of birth and death in this material world.

aśraddadhānāḥ — those who are faithless · puruṣāḥ — such persons · dharmasya — of this process of religion · asya — of it · parantapa — O killer of the enemies · aprāpya — without obtaining · māṁ — Me · nivartante — come back · mṛtyu — death · saṁsāra — material existence · vartmani — on the path of.

Kṛṣṇa assures Arjuna with these verses. He says, ‘My dear Arjuna, because you are never envious of Me, I shall impart to you this most confidential knowledge and realization, knowing which, you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence.’ śri bhagavān uvāca idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ pravakṣyāmy anasūyave I jñanaṁ vijñāna-sahitaṁ yaj jñātvā mokṣyase ‘śubhāt II 9.1 Beautiful lines! He says, ‘Because you are never envious of Me.’ Depending on the context, this verse can be taken to mean ‘Because you are not envious of Me’ or ‘Because you have trust in Me.’ We may wonder how Arjuna could be envious of Kṛṣṇa. Please listen, you don’t know the ways in which the human mind works, especially since in our generation, we always think of Arjuna as being human and Kṛṣṇa as Divine.

We accept Kṛṣṇa as God. However, when Kṛṣṇa was alive, when He was in the body, people did not always accept that He is Divine. In addition, Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa were friends. They were close friends, so Arjuna treated Kṛṣṇa as a human and related to Him with human emotions. We should first understand the atmosphere, the background. Only then will we intensely understand this whole chapter as it is expressed. The Ultimate Secret The very idea that Arjuna might be envious of Kṛṣṇa may surprise us. Understand, whenever the Masters were in the body, people never respected them. This problem always existed. Only after they left the body did people accept and worship them.

Actually, it is easy to worship a photograph. There is no sacrifice or transformation required. However, it is never easy to worship a living being. The living person will always be questioned and envied. There is a beautiful one-liner: During his life, the grandfather is forced to live in the family outhouse. After his death, he is brought into the house and respected as a photograph! As long as he is alive, he lives in the outhouse. Especially in India, every villagehomehasafrontporch.Whenheisdead,hisphotoiskeptinsidethe prayer room. When he is alive, he has no place inside the house! However, once he dies, his photograph has a respected place inside the home. It is the same way with the enlightened Master.

When a Master is alive he is never understood. He is never respected and he is never received. When he has left the body, when he is no more in physical form, it is easy to worship him. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 639 A beautiful incident: A group of devotees from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s (an enlightened Master, Incarnation from East India) birthplace, Māyāpur, came to Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa. They told him, ‘Oh Master, we missed Caitanya Mahāprabhu. We could not see him. If we had that fortune,wewouldhavebecomeenlightened.Wewouldhave experienced devotion to Kṛṣṇa.’ Rāmakṛṣṇa laughed and said, ‘When Caitanya was alive, many people went to him and complained, ‘Oh Caitanya!

We missed Kṛṣṇa. We could not see Kṛṣṇa. If we had seen Kṛṣṇa, we could have enjoyed the devotion, the energy!’ Rāmakṛṣṇa says, ‘Open your eyes and see. Caitanya is here. Just as people went to Caitanya and talked about Kṛṣṇa, you come here and complain that you have missed Caitanya.’ Whenever Masters are alive, it is difficult for people to accept their divinity. However, once they leave the body, people say, ‘We missed Rāmakṛṣṇa,’ ‘We missed Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi,’ and so on. We complain about what we missed. We never realize what we have. HereKṛṣṇasays,‘BecauseyouareneverenviousofMe—pravakṣyāmy anasūyave, I will give you the ultimate secret—idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ (9.1).’ Here, please understand, Kṛṣṇa is giving the ultimate secret, guhyatamaṁ.

Once we know this secret, then there is no difference between the Divine and us. Here He gives us the straight, ultimate secret. In the business world, the leader usually never gives secrets to anyone, whatever they may do, however close they may be. Corporate people maintain secrets. Here Kṛṣṇa says, ‘I am not going to maintain any secrets. I am going to open the whole thing.’ He says that knowledge is free. It is up to us to use it. Now, modern day IT companies declare that knowledge is free. Yet five thousand years ago, Kṛṣṇa declared that knowledge is free. He says, ‘I am opening all the secrets—idaṁ tu te guhyatamaṁ.’

He decides, ‘I am giving you this secret because you are never envious of Me—pravakṣyāmy anasūyave.’ There is an important thing that people who go near the Master should know, especially people who live around the Master. By and by, these disciples, instead of trying to achieve the state of the Master, they try to achieve the status of the Master. State is different from status. The enlightened state of the Master should be achieved, not the status that His Enlightenment confers. When we work for status, we are in trouble. Once I went to a college for a public lecture. It was a meditation program in Tamil Nadu. One young boy questioned me, ‘Why should you be respected so much?

After all, you are my age.’ Of course, it is true. I am barely a few years older than him. He asked, ‘Why do they shower so many roses at your feet when you come?’ In India, spiritual masters are usually received with flowers wherever they go. The first thing I told him was this: ‘I tried my best to avoid these arrangements. However, they have done it out of devotion. Next thing, you only see the flowers that are showered now. You don’t know how many austerities this body has endured. You don’t know how many thorns these feet had to cross to come to these flowers. So don’t be envious for the status.

Be envious of the state. Try to achieve the same state in which I live. Then, not only will you be showered with flowers, you will be showered with everything. Achieve the state, not the status.’ When you see the status, you will always be caught in jealousy. If you see the state in which I live, I will become a source of inspiration for you Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 641 to achieve the same state. I will be a role model. You will think, ‘When he can achieve this, why not me?’ I become an inspirational source for you! I tell people that the one and only difference between an ordinary person and an enlightened being is that an ordinary man is sleeping while an Enlightened person is awakened; that’s all.

The Consciousness is the same. Again and again I repeat, ‘Whether you believe it or not, accept it or not, realize it or not, you are God. You are Divine. You have two choices. You can either sleep as long as you want without experiencing this truth, or you can make the conscious choice to experience your Enlightenment, your Completion. But the truth is, ‘You are That.’ Here, Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Because you never try to achieve My status, I am trying to give you My state.’ The person who never tries to achieve the status of the Master achieves the state of the Master. First, state comes; then status follows.

If we try to create the status, the state will never be achieved. Rāmakṛṣṇa says, ‘First God, then the world.’ The world is like a shadow. Status is like a shadow. Try your best to run after the shadow. Can you catch it? No. If we run after it, we can never grab it no matter how much we chase it. However, if we walk on the path, it simply follows. The outer world is like a shadow. Go towards the state, status will follow you. Here Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Because you are never jealous, never envious of My status and Me, I give you the ultimate secret of this state.’

And I tell you, this is the ultimate secret. Really, this is the ultimate secret. And He says, ‘Knowing which, you shall be relieved of the miseries of material existence—yaj jñātvā mokṣyase aśubhāt (9.1).’ What are the miseries of material existence? Whether we have something or not, it is misery. If we don’t have, then the misery is, ‘I don’t have.’ If we have, then we have the misery, ‘I must protect it.’ RĀjavidyĀ, King of All Knowledge Yoga means achieving. Kṣema means protecting. Both are miseries. Whether we have or not, it is misery. Kṛṣṇa says that the miseries of having wealth and not having wealth, both miseries that are caused by material existence disappear by knowing this secret.

And I tell you honestly this is the ultimate secret that needs to be understood. Knowledge of this secret liberates you. He says, ‘This knowledge is the king of all knowledge. The greatest secret of all secrets, it is the purest knowledge and because it gives direct perception of the Self by realization, it is the perfection of religion. It is everlasting and it is joyfully performed.’ rājavidyā rājaguhyaṁ pavitram idam uttamam I pratyakṣāvagamaṁ dharmyaṁ su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam II 9.2 See, religion or a spiritual path should have three characteristics. First, it should clearly describe the goal of life. Next, it should clearly give you the path to achieve the goal.

Third, it should make you happy to travel in that path. The path itself should be joyful, blissful. A small story: One herbal doctor’s billboard said he could cure all diseases that we know the names of, as well as all diseases that we don’t know the names of. He put up a billboard with all these claims. One person came with a disease. The doctor asked, ‘What is your disease?’ This person said, ‘I don’t know the name. Please diagnose it yourself.’ The doctor tried his best to diagnose. However, he was unable to determine the disease. But he had put up the big advertisement, so he had to cure.

There was no other way. So he gave some medicine. The medicine was: ‘Swallow a crowbar without it touching your teeth and drink three liters of water. You will be cured!’ What kind of medicine is this? The medicine clearly shows that the Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 643 person will not be cured! In the same way, our solution or the path we are shown should not be impractical. If it is impractical, naturally, we cannot practice. There was once a yogi in the Himalayas. When disciples came to him, he gave a technique: ‘Hold your nose for two hours and sit.’ Can anybody sit like that?

He said, ‘If you do that, you will become Enlightened.’ Who can travel that path? Nobody can travel it. The path must not be complicated. It must be simple. So here, Kṛṣṇa says, ‘It is eternal—avyayam’, meaning that the result that we achieve is everlasting. He uses all the advertising terms! And it is joyfully performed—su-sukhaṁ kartum. It is easy. We don’t need to struggle or suffer for it. It is the deepest secret. All we need to do is to realize the secret. Understand the secret. Why is it a secret? If it is going to enrich so much then why is it a secret? Why not let the whole world use it?

Please listen! The ultimate secret, the ultimate knowledge is not for the masses. Masses always get stuck with small things and shallow entertainment. That is why, if we run a cinema theatre, you can see how such a big crowd gathers! Only a few hundred people are here today because we built only a temple. Temples are for the chosen few, not for all. We need intelligence to come to a temple. We need intelligence to enter spirituality. It is not for everyone. Yesterday one lady asked, ‘Swamiji, my husband does not accept or understand the path I am traveling. Coming to this program is important to me. But, it is difficult for my husband to come to terms with it.

Do you have a suggestion to help bridge this gap?’ Honestly, the answer is that it cannot be done. It only has to happen on its own from within the person.’ I can say one thing: Don’t give up on people! Listen. If you have to learn just one thing from me, learn this one thing. I never give up on people. Whether you give up on me or not, I don’t care. I will not give up on you! Understand, I am a person who has no individual family. But thousands see me as their family member! Even on Facebook, I get so many family requests! Don’t give up on people based on their past record.

Earlier your spouse may not have listened to you, because you yourself may not have been integrated and authentic to your spiritual path. Now, bring that integrity and authenticity. And don’t give up on people! Enrich people, enrich people and enrich people. If you give up on people, you will give up on yourself. You will lose your confidence. Not giving up on people is life! People are life. If you give up on them, you are giving up on life. Whenever you give up on people, you commit partial suicide. Enrich him with some intelligence about life. You cannot directly give spirituality. Please don’t ask him to meditate or come to the temple.

Listen, authentically listen to him and don’t give up on him. That’s all. Nothing else can be done. Only by intelligence can a man come to spirituality. That is why this is preserved as a secret. If this spiritual intelligence is given to all, without bothering about the qualifications of the receiver, the person who receives will harm himself and others also. First, he harms himself if he has not completely understood it. For example, what will a criminal do if he is told, ‘You are God?’ He will think, ‘I am God. So let me do whatever I want. I don’t have to bother.’ He misuses the knowledge. He abuses it.

That is why I say he harms himself. A person who experiences God radiates compassion. He radiates simplicity. He radiates innocence. Divine qualities express through him. He never hurts anybody. We see a beautiful innocent shine in him and such simplicity. He never hurts anybody. He never harms anybody. If we are relaxed, blissful, in a good mood, and our employee or co-worker makes a mistake, do we shout at him? No. We will say, ‘Alright, leave it. What can be done?’ However, if we are in a bad mood, an irritable mood, nobody needs to make any mistake. We shout at everyone for no reason. We are waiting to rant and rave.

We are waiting to shout. Our mood, our inner space decides our action. If we are in the space of completion and blissful, we never do anything wrong. If we are in in- Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 645 completion with a hellish mood, we always make mistakes. Please don’t think people go to hell after making mistakes. No! We make mistakes because we are in hell. We do the right action because we are blissful. Someone who experiences that he is God never makes a mistake and never harms anybody. If this knowledge is given to all, including those who don’t have the maturity, naturally they harm themselves and they harm others.

They say, ‘I am God. Come here. I will do whatever I want.’ That is why this knowledge is kept as a secret. That is why He says, ‘this king of secrets is the king of knowledge— rājavidyā rājaguhyaṁ.’ Kṛṣṇa reveals the secret only to qualified people. In this chapter Kṛṣṇa says, ‘I am not even God; I am something more than God. Whatever you think of as God rests in Me. All created beings rest in Me.’ He declares, ‘I am God.’ We need to see whether a person is mature enough or not to receive the truth before we share it. Here, Kṛṣṇa says it is a secret, because it can be delivered only to a person qualified to receive it.

You see, in the first two to three chapters, He speaks about śāstra, intellectual knowledge that can be given to anybody. However, these chapters are intimate secrets, delivered only from a Master to a disciple, only to a disciple who is qualified, who is really interested to receive the knowledge and who really wants the knowledge. One person asked me, ‘Swamiji, please teach me about God. Give me Enlightenment.’ I told him, ‘See, it is time for prasād (food offered to God and eaten by devotees with His blessings). Please go and take prasād in the ashram. I will talk to you in the evening session.’ He immediately said, ‘No Swamiji!

I must leave by the next bus. I have half an hour left. In this half an hour please tell me about God.’ In half an hour what can I tell him? What can a person understand in half an hour? Naturally, God cannot be given out like instant coffee! Coffee can be instant, but not God! We cannot have God instantly. We need to realize God; we need a little patience and intensity. The more we hurry, the more we will delay. Please understand that speed is not the technique of the inner world. In the inner world, the more we hurry, the more we delay. The hurrying, the tension, the stress, postpones the process, postpones the experience.

It will not let us relax. That is why Kṛṣṇa says that these secrets can be told only to a person who is really integrated and interested, who is really intimate, and who really desires to know. Beautiful words! All our scriptures are called Upaniṣad. Even Gītā is called Upaniṣad—Śrimad Bhagavad Gītāsu Upaniṣatsu...’ The word Upaniṣad literally means ‘sitting down near someone’. It refers to the teaching style of a traditional Vedic school or gurukul of ancient India where students sat by their Master to learn. Knowledge was transmitted in close groups in a trusted environment. It was knowledge not merely through intellect as verbal communication. It was a communion of beings wherein the experience of one was experienced by the other.

JÑĀna YagÑa-Path to Self-realization In our home we keep everything prepared for our outwardly life. Whatever we need is there: a bed for sleeping, the kitchen for cooking, a dining table for sitting and eating. Then we also collect luxurious things like jewelry. Our jewelry changes according to the color of our sari (traditional clothing of Indian women). Sometimes, the shoes also change! We have everything to match each other. Whatever we need for the outwardly life and comforts, we collect and store. However, we forget an important fact. In the same way that we collect things for outward Existence, for the outer space, we need to collect knowledge for our inner space: life solutions, solutions for our inner space.

If we feel depressed or low, if we face some adverse situation, how are we to react? How are we to handle it? We need this knowledge to Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 647 handle our inner space. Like collecting things for the outwardly life, we need to collect life solutions for a happy, blissful life. Collecting life solutions is what Kṛṣṇa calls jñāna yajña. What is nitya (eternal) and what is anitya (temporary)? What is satya (truth) and what is asatya (falsehood)? Acquiring all this understanding is jñāna yajña. If I literally translate this word jñāna, it refers to higher knowledge or wisdom and yajña refers to the purification process that leads to this higher knowledge.

What Kṛṣṇa means through jñāna yajña is the spiritual path that leads one to Self-realization. It is the path that creates awareness in us about our Divinity. This realization of the deepest truths about oneself happens in many cases through a combination of two things: understanding about similar spiritual experiences by observing others and our own efforts to contemplate upon these experiences so that they are reproduced within. Please focus on the life solutions offered by great Enlightened Masters while gathering knowledge. I request that people to read books that enrich you with life solutions as experienced by Enlightened beings, for at least for half an hour every day: books of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa, Vivekananda, etc.

We have the books like ‘Guaranteed Solutions’, ‘Living Enlightenment’, based on my teachings in my meditation programs and daily morning satsangs, and over ten-thousand hours of life solutions available on my YouTube channel. Spend at least half an hour every day reading, watching truths based on the teachings of Enlightened Masters. If we can’t spend half an hour reading, then listen to audio CDs in the car. In the USA and even in Indian cities, we spend at least one hour a day driving. Don’t waste that hour. Always listen to some audio that gives life solutions in the car. It is not that it must be my satsangs (discourses).

Read, watch or listen to anything that enriches you into leading a better, complete life. However, let it come from an Enlightened Source, which experientially gives solutions for your life. Let that hour become your jñana yajña, your spiritual journey. Add more and more life solutions into your inner space. I tell you one thing: A life solution may suddenly come up from your inner consciousness at the time of need and can reduce the depth of depression you experience. That is why I am telling you to make driving your jñana yajña. Whether you understand everything or not, listen, listen and listen! Let listening become your habit. Automatically those life solutions, those powerful words, uttered directly from the enlightened consciousness, stay in your inner space.

You will be surprised how they will come as knowledge weapons to your aid when you need them! If we don’t do that, when we drive we will think about our worries. If we don’t spend time finding life solutions, we spend time finding problems. Even if we don’t have problems, we will create problems! Whether we have problems or not, we worry. Better not to allow the mind to worry and create incompletions. Listen to something that enriches with life solutions. Let that hour become jñana yajña in our lives. Kṛṣṇa says that doing jñana yajña is one step. Understanding that the whole Cosmos is energy is one step.

If we understand that whatever exists is energy, automatically, fear will be taken away from our being. The next question is, ‘How can we say that whatever exists is energy, Swamiji? How can we say whatever exists is God? That is impossible. All these things are good to listen to, but are not practical to practice!’ Our mind never accepts that these things can be practiced and experienced. So Kṛṣṇa continues; He goes on and comes out with the basic secrets. Who Can Know The Ultimate Secret Here Kṛṣṇa gives the qualification of people who can attain Him. He clearly describes the people who can reach Him. When I say ‘Him’, it is not the form named Kṛṣṇa that I speak about.

When I say Nithyānanda, I do not mean this six-foot Nithyānanda. I mean the Universal energy, the cosmic energy called Nityānanda—eternal bliss. In the first two verses He says, ‘It is a great truth that I am going to Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 649 tell and it is a secret that I am revealing to you.’ Now He lets Arjuna know what kind of people can know the secret. He says people who do not have śraddha, faith in dharma or His teachings go back to the path of rebirth without Enlightenment, without attaining Him. He says the qualification required is to have faith in His teachings.

Only those people can come out of the vicious cycle of birth and death. You see, having authentic faith, śraddha is one of the most important things, especially in the spiritual path. Whenever an Enlightened Master speaks, every word he utters is the Absolute Truth. That is why I always add the words, ‘Whether you believe it or not, accept it or not, understand it or not’, whenever I talk about some Truth. When I say we are part of the same Consciousness, when I say that we are all one, and each one is infinitely powerful, our mind cannot accept it because it tries to find a logical solution, an intellectual answer to everything.

So you must have śraddha, faith in me to understand what I speak. Śraddha, Authentic Faith in Master There are three possible levels in which you can put faith in what a Master says. With the first level or group, you can have doubt. That is obvious. You doubt what I say, what an enlightened Master says, because you can’t comprehend what I say. See, you can have doubts. In fact, you should have doubts, only then you question what I say. However, you should look-in to find out if those doubts are genuine. If they arise out of ego, then it is your mind playing a game. Your mind creates a wall between you and Me.

As long as your doubts are genuine, as long as you question to know the Truth out of curiosity, it is fine. In my discourses, I encourage people to ask questions and to raise doubts. Only then can you fully internalize. The second group or level is when you believe whatever I say. This is dangerous. Believing whatever I say without intranalyzing, cognizing, and experiencing it for yourself is dangerous. When I say that ‘you are God’, if you just straightaway believe me it is dangerous, because you have not experienced it. If someone questions you on your belief, you will be unabletostandbyit.Youwillstammerandstumbleanddoyourselfharm. I know lots of people who call themselves my devotees.

When I ask whether they watch the daily satsang, meditate, do completion and enrich, they stammer, ‘No Swamiji. There is so much work. There is no time.’ Then they say, ‘But I pray to you everyday, Swamiji. I offer fresh flowers and incense sticks.’ They talk as if they do me a big favor. They are believers. Their foundation is weak. Only when they meditate and do completions, with integrity and authenticity, will they experience what I speak. The third approach is trust. When you trust me, you accept what I say. You still have doubts. However, you are willing to break that wall and try to see and experience what I am saying.

You build your foundation and you make it strong because you trust me. This is the way authentic faith, śraddha should develop. Faith should arise from a strong foundation of integrity and authenticity. First you trust me, then you try exploring the truths I share and when you have a glimpse of the truth, you believe me with a stronger foundation. Now nobody can shake you because you have developed a strong base. You have done the work yourself. Here, Kṛṣṇa talks about faith in dharma, His teaching. You see, we are different from animals because we can have faith in dharma, meaning the higher levels of consciousness. Without dharma, we are the same as any animal.

It is completely controlled by instincts. It does not make a decision consciously, based on right or wrong. However, a human being has one extra power. He has free will to follow dharma, to live with integrity, authenticity, responsibility, and enriching. He has free will to do or not do, to accept or not accept. When Kṛṣṇa says dharma, He means anything that leads us to a higher level of Consciousness. Man without consciousness is an animal, a dānava. In Hindu epics there are two types of people, mānava and dānava, humans and non-humans. The first category has faith in dharma and a higher level of consciousness. Dānava are noth- Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 651 ing but animals.

They do not have faith in any dharma, so their level of consciousness is low. Listen. The only difference between man and an animal is the seed of Consciousness implanted in us. We must water this seed and allow it to germinate. We must nurture this sapling to flower into a fully-grown tree. We need authentic faith, śraddha in dharma for this tree of Consciousness to happen in us. Kṛṣṇa clearly says that if we do not have faith in dharma, we go back to the cycle of birth and death. He gives it straight. aśraddadhānāḥ puruṣā dharmasyāsya parantapa I aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani II 9.3 He says we must allow consciousness to flower in us and in order to do that we must have faith in dharma.

When our faith is complete, when we have internalized His dharma, with integrity and authenticity, in everything that we do, our consciousness automatically blossoms. When we reach that state of consciousness, we merge with Universal consciousness and then we are free from the cycle of birth and death. So, Kṛṣṇa gives a technique. He says, ‘Have śraddha, faith in dharma and it will lead you to the Ultimate.’ All Rest In Me

9.4

मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना | मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थित:

mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam jagadavyakta mūrtinā / matsthāni sarvabhūtāni na cahaṁ teṣv-avasthitaḥ / / 9.4

By Me, the entire Universe is pervaded in My formless form. All beings are based in Me, but I am not in them.

mayā — by Me · tataṁ — spread · idaṁ — all these manifestations · sarvaṁ — all · jagat — cosmic manifestation · avyakta mūrtinā — unmanifested form · matsthāni — unto Me · sarvabhūtāni — all living entities · na — not · ca — also · ahaṁ — I · teṣu — in them · avasthitaḥ — situated.

9.5

न च मत्स्थानि भूतानि पश्य मे योगमैश्वरम् | भूतभृन्न च भूतस्थो ममात्मा भूतभावन:

na ca matsthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram / bhūtabhṛnna ca bhūtastho mamātmā bhūtabhāvanaḥ / / 9.5

And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Look at My mystic powers! Although, I am the Creator and Sustainer of all living entities, I do not depend the Cosmic manifestation; for My Self is the very source of all creation.

na — never · ca — also · matsthāni — situated in Me · bhūtāni — all creations · paśya — just see · me — My · yogaṁ aiśvaraṁ — inconceivable mystic power · bhūtabhṛt — maintainer of all living entities · na — never · ca — also · bhūtasthaḥ — in the cosmic manifestation · mama — My · ātmā — Self · bhūtabhāvanaḥ — is the source of all manifestations.

9.6

यथाकाशस्थितो नित्यं वायु: सर्वत्रगो महान् | तथा सर्वाणि भूतानि मत्स्थानीत्युपधारय

yathākāśasthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatrago mahān / tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni matsthānīty upadhāraya / / 9.6

As the mighty wind, blowing everywhere, always rests in eternal space, all beings rest in Me.

yathā — as much as · ākāśasthitaḥ — situated in space · nityaṁ — always · vāyuḥ — wind · sarvatragaḥ — blowing everywhere · mahān — mighty · tathā — similarly · sarvāṇi — everything · bhūtāni — created beings · matsthānī — situated in Me · iti — thus · upa- dhāraya — try to understand.

9.7

सर्वभूतानि कौन्तेय प्रकृतिं यान्ति मामिकाम् | कल्पक्षये पुनस्तानि कल्पादौ विसृजाम्यहम्

sarvabhūtāni kaunteya prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām / kalpakṣaye punas tāni kalpādau visṛjāmyaham / / 9.7

O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), at the end of every age all beings merge into Me, at the beginning of every new age I create them again.

sarva bhūtāni — all created entities · kaunteya — O son of Kuntī · prakṛtiṁ — nature · yānti — enter · māmikām — unto Me · kalpakṣaye — at the end of the millennium · punaḥ — again · tāni — all those · kalpādau — in the beginning of the millennium · visṛ jāmi — I create · ahaṁ — I.

9.8

प्रकृतिं स्वामवष्टभ्य विसृजामि पुन: पुन: | भूतग्राममिमं कृत्स्नमवशं प्रकृतेर्वशात्

prakṛtiṁ svāmavaṣṭabhya visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ / bhūtagrāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam avaśaṁ prakṛtervaśāt / / 9.8

The whole Cosmic order is under Me and My material nature creates the beings again and again, and it is controlled by My material nature.

prakṛtiṁ — material nature · svāṁ — of My personal Self · avaṣṭabhya — enter in · visṛjāmi — create · punaḥ punaḥ — again and again · bhūta grāmaṁ — all these cosmic manifestations · imaṁ — this · kṛtsnaṁ — total · avaśaṁ — automatically · prakṛteḥ — by the force of nature · vaśāt — under obligation.

It is time to reveal the secrets. Śrī Kṛṣṇa starts: mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyaktamūrtinā I matsthāni sarva bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣvavasthitaḥ II 9.4 ‘By Me, in my formless form, this entire Universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.’ Before entering further into this verse, the meaning of the verse should be understood. I want to tell you about my meeting with Charles Townes, a Nobel Laureate and a great scientist. He discovered some secrets related to Laser and Maser. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 653 I asked him, ‘How did you discover? How did this truth happen in your being?’

He answered, ‘Swamiji, to tell you honestly, I was relaxing in a park in Washington. It was early morning about six a.m. I was supposed to give a lecture on this subject to a group that day at nine a.m. I tried my best to recollect everything. I was completely frustrated because I could not achieve much. Suddenly like a revelation, as an intuition, the conclusion was revealed to me! The whole truth came into my consciousness. I discovered it! I immediately penned down what I got.’ And he says, ‘I then realized I had a difficulty: I knew the conclusion. I knew the truth, however, I didn’t know the logical steps to arrive at that conclusion!

I would not be able to present it unless I knew the steps. So after that, I needed to think and develop the logical steps. Only then could I present it to others. Like an intuition, suddenly, it had been revealed to me.’ Actually, even this experience is not a big thing. The truth, the important thing is this: I asked Charles Townes, ‘How did you feel when it happened to you, when the revelation happened to you?’ Because what he experienced was intuition just as our sages experienced. He said, ‘Swamiji, I don’t know how to exactly express; however one thing is certain: from that moment onwards, I know for sure that the whole Universe is intelligence!’

This is the truth! The whole Universe is pure intelligence. The whole Universe is not dead matter. The Universe is not an accident. It can respond to our thoughts. Please understand, the whole Universe, planet Earth, air, oceans, rivers, earth, fire, or the space, sun, moon, this whole Universe, is intelligence. It can reciprocate. It can respond. It can react to our thoughts. This is an important, basic understanding. The moment we understand that we are this energy that is intelligence, the moment we are aware that we are inside the energy that is intelligence, at that moment, we immediately settle into a deep relaxation. The moment we experience, we understand: we are under the guidance of an intelligent energy.

We are taken care of by an intelligent energy, we are part of the Cosmic intelligence and we don’t need to struggle or stress ourselves. We don’t need to torture ourselves with insecurity problems, unnecessary worries. Actually, all our problems, tensions and stresses arise because we think we do everything. We think the Universe runs because of us. Understand that the Universe runs in spite of us! We should understand that the Universe is intelligent and it responds to our thoughts. If we trust the Universe, we experience how light we are. We can unload all our troubles including the extra responsibility of thinking that we do everything. This does not mean that we just sit and relax and say, ‘Okay, the Universe is intelligence.

It will take care of everything.’ This is laziness and escapism. We must still work; however we can enjoy the process. You see, we think of the result all the time. Our thoughts arise out of fear or greed: fear of whether we will get the results or greed of wanting more and more. However, we never enjoy the process of doing that work. When we enjoy the process and trust the Universal intelligence, thoughts arising out of fear and greed will disappear. We will enjoy the process of doing and we will let the Universe take care of the results. Kṛṣṇa says elsewhere, ‘You do what you have to.

Do it, but surrender the results to Me.’ When He says ‘Me’, He refers to the Universal consciousness or intelligence. This is what Kṛṣṇa means in the next verse when He says that the beings do not depend on Him, nor does He depend on them. Of course, it is clear that the Universe does not depend upon us; yet how can He say that we, the beings created and sustained by the Universe, do not depend upon it? What He means is this: it is not a passive and lazy dependence of letting everything happen while we sit idle. It is an active understanding. One does what one must do as part of his life process but without attachment and ownership.

Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 655 One way or the other, we are in this Universe. Because the Universe is intelligence, it responds to our thoughts. It makes things happen. Since we are part of this Universe, just flow with the energy of the Universe. Do not resist it. If this understanding penetrates our life, it is enough! If we know the Universe is intelligence, we never question how life unfolds. We don’t say, ‘I am moral. But I see people who don’t live morally living luxuriously, happily. Yet I always suffer!’ We never have these frustrations, these incompletions with others and with life, because we know the Cosmic intelligence will take care ultimately.

Whoever is immoral or whoever goes around and disturbs others will naturally face the consequences, because intelligence takes care. In the same way, if we are integrated and authentic, living a spiritual life, we will live a beautiful life. We are rewarded because the whole Universe is run by an intelligence that responds to this. Don’t think the Cosmos is just matter. If we think the Cosmos is matter, we are materialistic. If we understand that the Cosmos is intelligence, we are spiritual, that’s all. The only difference between the materialistic and spiritual person is that the materialist thinks the whole thing is material: ‘Let me acquire more and more material things.’

The spiritual person understands that the whole thing is spirit, energy. If we understand that the whole thing is spirit, energy, intelligence, then a tremendous relaxation and bliss consciousness happens to us. Please understand, bliss is not just a mood. Bliss is our very Consciousness. If it comes and goes as a mood, we are only having one or two experiences. One devotee asked, ‘Bliss comes and goes, what to do?’ I explained, ‘You are having initial glimpses of bliss. Through your mind, you are trying to touch the bliss. Nothing needs to be done; just relax, that’s all.’ Once we understand this secret, a deep relaxation happens to us.

In such a deep relaxation, we straighaway experience bliss consciousness. Once we experience Bliss Consciousness, it is everlasting. The bliss mood comes and stays. Bliss Consciousness is everlasting. Kṛṣṇa declares, ‘By My formless form, this entire Universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me—mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyaktamūrtinā.’ He speaks of Cosmic intelligence. Be very clear, such a big Universe is moving and happening. All the planets move around the sun. Each planet has its own moons. There are so many suns, moons and planets. Yet, each one travels in its route properly. No traffic police! Accidents are rare. Unless intelligence runs the whole thing, do you think things can happen so beautifully?

And even on this planet Earth, see how the whole thing is beautiful! The whole thing happens in an order, in a complete way. Only wherever human beings live, there is chaos! Except human beings, nobody creates chaos. Even in chaos, the Divine creates order. Understand, the whole Universe is intelligence and it operates out of intelligence. This intelligence responds to our thoughts and we can relate with this intelligence. When we internalize this truth, then we naturally experience a deep peace. Rest, a real, ultimate rest and confidence to live, happens within us. As long as we think the world is matter or material, there is no use living.

Nothing matters. Even if we become the president of one country, other countries will not be under our control. So naturally, we can never achieve the whole matter. As long as we believe the world is material, we create more and more violence because we live materially. Materially means that we must snatch from others. One way or another; violence will exist. Only a person who experiences, who understands that the whole thing is energy, intelligence, only he can relax. Let me repeat the next verse. yathākāśasthito nityaṁ vāyuḥ sarvatrago mahān I tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni matsthānīty upadhāraya II 9.6 He says, ‘Understand that as the mighty wind blowing everywhere rests in the sky, all created beings rest in Me.’

Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 657 Please understand this principle: He says, ‘Just as the wind rests in the sky energy.’ Please understand how the Earth is energy. We know earth is Energy. Take a stone. If a stone is thrown at us or if we throw a stone, we know the energy behind that stone. Next, consider water. We know the energy of water. Whoever knows about the waters that devastated New Orleans knows the energy of water! Or, if it floods, we know what water does; water is energy, we can understand that. Next is agni, fire. All of us know the power of fire. Next, air: storms, hurricanes, and tornados.

We know the power of air. In the same way, ākāśa (space or ether) is also energy. We do not know the power of ākāśa because it does not directly create impacts and effects in our lives. Ākāśa is disturbed by our collective negative thoughts, collective poison. The collective energy of the Universe is ākāśa. When the earth element is disturbed or poisoned, only one person suffers. For example, if our food is poisoned, we alone suffer, that’s all. If water is poisoned, the whole region suffers. Whoever uses the water supply, suffer. If whatever creates fire in us is corrupted, a big group suffers. We can use medicines as an example for fire because medicines keep the fire inside us alive.

If medicines are corrupted, people who take the medicines suffer. If chemicals pollute the air, the whole country suffers. If air is corrupted, if the air is polluted, the whole society suffers. But if space, ākāśa, is polluted, the whole world suffers. Corruption at higher levels of energy creates suffering for more and more people. The higher the level of energy that is corrupted, the number of people suffering is more. Our thoughts corrupt space. Space is energy. Because ether or space is so subtle and so sensitive, we cannot feel the happenings in the space of ether. We feel the happenings in the other four spaces: earth, water, fire and air, so because of that we can understand the happenings in them.

However, we fail to understand that space, ether, is also energy, a power. It is more subtle and more powerful because the subtler it becomes, the more powerful and energetic it becomes. Levels of Space, ĀkĀŚa There are three levels of space. The first level is when we are limited to what is inside this skin. This is Ghaṭākāśa, what is contained within our body. We limit our whole understanding of everything around us to this body. We become conscious of how this body should look, how it should be maintained. We think we are only this body and nothing else. This is the lowest level. The next level is Cidākāśa.

This space refers to what our mind perceives as the world. Let’s say we are sitting here but our mind is in Los Angeles. Then that (Los Angeles) becomes our cidākāśa, the space perceived by our mind. The next moment our mind shifts to Bangalore. Then that becomes our cidākāśa. The space that our mind operates in is cidākāśa. The third and final level is Mahākāśa. The whole Cosmos, everything that is outside and that is inside forms mahākāśa. This is the ultimate level. This is the level where everything that we see as different becomes One. Please clearly understand these three spaces. Our body, everything that is inside this skin is ghaṭākāśa.

Next, the space governed by our mind, by our thoughts, is cidākāśa. Finally, the whole Universe, the whole cosmos, forms mahākāśa. Now, if something happens inside our body, we immediately feel it. If we are hurt, we clearly see the blood flow. We see a rash or a cut. We clearly see and feel any disturbance or event in ghaṭākāśa at a gross level. When we go to the next level, cidākāśa, events that disturb or change this space are subtle. Our thoughts affect cidākāśa. Listen! Whether we believe it or not, our thoughts have a huge effect on the external world. Whatever thought comes, don’t think that it simply comes and goes.

Every thought is energy. It manifests as something in the external world. The problem is that we are unaware of the effect. The effect is subtle so our mind cannot see that what happens is because of those thoughts we entertained. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 659 Our mind thinks something. It affects this cidākāśa, our inner space. These changes are projected into the external world, yet our mind is unable to recognize that all it sees is because of itself. So, as we advance one level higher, the changes become more subtle but the effect is more powerful. In ghaṭākāśa, the effect is limited to our body.

In cidākāśa, our thoughts affect the space around us. The effect is seen in a bigger space. The effect is more widespread. Now the highest level is mahākāśa. This level is subtler than cidākāśa. Any change here affects the whole Universe. When something happens in this space, the whole Universe responds. When we enter this space, we realize the ultimate Truth. We merge with everything, with the whole Cosmos. The fifth element, ether, is like mahākāśa. Actually they are the same. Ether is everywhere. Mahākāśa pervades everything. We are just not aware of it. This space takes any shape and any form. Even in vaccum, it is there. Understand this: If water is compressed by a compressor, it becomes energy.

If air is compressed by a compressor, it can even move a train; it becomes energy. In the same way, if ether is compressed in a particular space, in a particular shape, again that becomes energy. An iron piece; if it is a square piece, it is different. If it is an ‘I’ shape, it is totally different and can be used for a different purpose. The same iron, one kilogram of iron, if it is a rectangular bar, the effect or power is totally different. Do you understand? It is a subtle concept, but if we understand, we realize the great gift of the great research that our Vedic Masters accomplished.

They did a great enriching sacrifice by doing all this research and enriching us selflessly with all this wisdom. Like earth, ether, ākāśa can be used to create the space we want. It can be used in different forms and shapes. Certain techniques allow us to use the ether energy at its best, to its maximum level. When ether is put in one particular size – inside that room or inside that space—whoever lives there will be controlled by that ether and the ether is in turn controlled by them. Their thoughts affect the ether and the ether affects their thoughts. This science of using the energy of space or ether is the basis of Vāstu Śastra, an ancient Vedic science related to the science of architecture.

We can live in harmony with the Universal energy by constructing dwellings in a manner that fits in with the spatial energy of the Universe. Vāstu Śastra lays down details for where various activity spaces should be located in a dwelling, as well as the direction. It tells where the kitchen should be located in a house, where fire resides, and so on. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘How the wind rests in the space, in the same way the Universe rests in Me, tathā sarvāṇi bhūtāni matsthānīty upadhāraya.’ Don’t think space is emptiness. It is energy. Just because we are not able to see, we can’t say it is emptiness. It is energy.

Just as the air rests in the space, our being, the whole Universe including our being, we all rest in the Divine. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘All beings rest in Me, mat-sthānī.’ Can you see why Kṛṣṇa calls all that He is speaking of a secret? He is being very careful as to whom He is telling this secret knowledge. He wants to tell all this to a qualified person, Arjuna, who is both a friend and a disciple. He knows now that Arjuna is ready to take in this secret. Actually, till this point Kṛṣṇa has slowly prepared Arjuna. Now He knows Arjuna is ready to take in some truths, some secrets of this Universe.

If Kṛṣṇa had told these strong truths in the beginning of the Gītā, Arjuna would not have understood. In these two verses, Kṛṣṇa talks about the creation and destruction of the Universe. He makes bold statements. Only an Incarnation can make such bold statements because he speaks from experience. Some people do not agree with what I say. They think their own understandings are correct. When they tell me, ‘Swamiji, how can you say that? In so-and-so book, it is written like this,’ I laugh and let it pass. First of all, they did not understand what exactly was written in those scriptures and then they tell me I am wrong.

What can be done? Even if I argue, they won’t listen. All the old people are dangerous! In the first verse Kṛṣṇa says, ‘The whole material manifestation enters into Him when the Universe is destroyed and He projects it again Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 661 to create the Universe.’ Understand that when Kṛṣṇa says, ‘The Universe enters Me,’ He refers to the Cosmic Kṛṣṇa, the Cosmic consciousness, and not the Kṛṣṇa we see in human form. Let us understand this very deeply. For a long time, the Big Bang theory was used to explain the creation of the Universe. It said that there was a big ball of fire and an explosion.

After the explosion some smaller parts cooled down to become planets, meteors and asteroids. Bigger parts stayed on as stars and suns. In the theory of evolution on planet Earth, Darwin talks about how life originated. However, modern science disproves these theories. Modern scientific findings go towards what ancient Indian scriptures, the Upaniṣads said thousands of years ago. According to the Taittirīya Upaniṣad, first there was ether. From ether, came air. From air came fire. Then water appeared and finally earth appeared. From earth, other living beings appeared. Actually, this order shows the process of evolution from a subtle form of energy that is ether, to a gross form that is Earth.

We feel gross forms through the senses; however as it goes to subtler forms of energy, we must experience it. Can we hold water like we can hold earth in our hands? Can we feel fire the way we feel water? Can we see air like we see fire? No. As the energy goes from gross to subtle, the way we experience it changes. Earth is tangible matter; ether is intangible energy. The subtlest form of energy is ether, ākāśa and we can only experience this through meditation. Kṛṣṇa says at the end of each age, called a kalpa in Saṁskṛit, the materially manifested Universe with all its creations merges back into Him.IfweanalyzetheBigBangtheory,thefirstquestionweaskis,‘Where did the ball of fire come from?’

The Big Bang theory does not answer this fundamental question. You see, the so-called scientists have no answer to this question yet. Here Kṛṣṇa, the inner scientist, answers this question in these verses. Science has now proven that the vacuum has something in it. The subtlest form of energy, ether, is present in the vacuum. See how science is tending towards spirituality. This whole Universe was created from ākāśa, ether and it goes back into ether again. All that we see outside as the material world is the manifestation of this subtle form of energy. The material world is the gross form of energy that we can see. When Kṛṣṇa says, ‘All material manifestation enters Me,’ He means, it enters the Universal Consciousness.

Everything we see and feel using our senses is part of the Universal Consciousness. The problem is that we see it only as matter. If we see things as matter, we are in the gross level and we run after them. Our mind says, ‘These things will make you happy; go and get them.’ When we get this thought, the rat race starts, and our suffering starts. When we understand that whatever we see and feel are only material manifestations of the subtle energy, we operate in a different plane. We see the futility of the race we are running. We realize that all material things are a projection, a manifestation of our own inner self.

Our desires and thoughts are projected as the materials that we see. In actual fact, there is no such thing as material, separate and independent. Everything is one; everything is energy. Kṛṣṇa says that only He can create and destroy this Universe at His will. This whole Universe is a manifestation or a projection of our own self. Please listen: We make our own world. We create the reality what we want. We create our world through our needs or desires. We don’t see what IS! We are only seeing what we want. Only an Enlightened being sees the real truth, as it IS. Once we understand everything is a mirror image of our own self, we become enlightened.

Once we realize that we, along with everything else around us, are part of the same energy or Consciousness, we become enlightened. In these two verses, Kṛṣṇa says this truth clearly. Every material manifestation is created by Him and goes back into Him. He says only He can create and destroy it at His will, which means the world that we see, the Universe that we perceive, is a projection of our own Self. How To Be Unattached

9.9

न च मां तानि कर्माणि निबध्नन्ति धनञ्जय | उदासीनवदासीनमसक्तं तेषु कर्मसु

na ca māṁ tāni karmāṇi nibadhnanti dhanañjaya / udāsīna-vad āsīnam asaktaṁ teṣu karmasu / / 9.9

O Dhanañjaya, all this work does not bind Me. I am ever unattached from these activities, seated as though neutral.

na — never · ca — also · māṁ — Me · tāni — all those · karmāṇi — activities · nibadhnanti — bind · dhanañjaya — O conqueror of riches · udāsī navat — as neutral · āsīnaṁ — situated · asaktaṁ — without attraction · teṣu — in them · karmasu — in activities.

9.10

मयाध्यक्षेण प्रकृति: सूयते सचराचरम् | हेतुनानेन कौन्तेय जगद्विपरिवर्तते

mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sacarācaram / hetunānena kaunteya jagad viparivartate / / 9.10

The material nature or prakṛti works under My direction, O Kaunteya, and creates all moving and unmoving beings through My energies. By its cause, this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.

mayā — by Me · adhyakṣeṇa — by superintendence · prakṛtiḥ — material nature · sūyate — manifests · sacarācaraṁ — with the moving and the nonmoving · hetunā — for this reason · anena — this · kaunteya — O son of Kuntī · jagat — the cosmic man- ifestation · viparivartate — is working.

9.11

अवजानन्ति मां मूढा मानुषीं तनुमाश्रितम् | परं भावमजानन्तो मम भूतमहेश्वरम्

avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā mānuṣīṁ tanumāśritam / paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta-maheśvaram / / 9.11

Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord [maheśavara] of the entire creation.

avajānanti — deride · māṁ — Me · mūḍhāḥ — foolish men · mānuṣīṁ — in human form · tanuṁ — body · āśritaṁ — assuming · paraṁ — transcendental · bhāvaṁ — nature · ajānantaḥ — not knowing · mama — Mine · bhūta — everything that be · maheśvaraṁ — the supreme proprietor.

9.12

मोघाशा मोघकर्माणो मोघज्ञाना विचेतस: | राक्षसीमासुरीं चैव प्रकृतिं मोहिनीं श्रिता:

moghāśā moghakarmāṇo moghajñānā vicetasaḥ / rākṣasīmāsurīṁ caiva prakṛtiṁ mohinīṁ śritāḥ / / 9.12

Those who are thus deluded are demonic and atheistic. In their deluded condition, their hopes for liberation, their result oriented actions and their culture of knowledge become false and useless.

moghāśāḥ — baffled hope · moghakarmāṇaḥ — baffled in fruitive activities · mogha jñānāḥ — baffled in knowledge · vicetasaḥ — bewildered · rākṣasīṁ — demonic · āsurīṁ — atheistic · ca — and · eva — certainly · prakṛtiṁ — nature · mohinīṁ — bewil- dering · śritāḥ — taking shelter of.

Being attached or bound to what we do or what we have is a major hurdle in realizing our Self. Kṛṣṇa says He is not bound to this Universe. This is the reason, He says, that keeps Him unaffected when the Universe is created and when it is destroyed. The whole Universe is being born out of Him and it is getting destroyed. Even then He is not affected because He is not bound to the Universe. It is because He is a mere spectator. Let us understand this in the context of daily life. When we start to internalize these great truths in small things that we do, a great change happens in us.

Kṛṣṇa speaks of a divine play. He talks in terms of the Universe being created and destroyed from Universal consciousness. If we understand His words, we can apply them to day-to-day activities. That is why Bhagavad Gītā is a beautiful scripture, which can be easily internalized and applicable for any age or generation. When we understand this truth, we feel a great sense of liberation. You see, we become attached or bound to what we have. We think that all we have is ours. When we create that attachment, we create a strong bond. Be very clear, now the problem has started. Drop Your Attachments, Be Unclutched Our material possessions create greed and fear in us.

We are either in fear of losing them or we want to get more and more of them. We attach so much importance to them that getting more and more of them becomes our only goal. Naturally when we have so much, we create a fear of losing them. The problem is we associate ourselves with material possessions. Again and again, we run after them and forget who we are. So many people are in the rat race. They spend their lives accumulating money, bungalows and cars. And at the end of their life, they regret; they wonder what they have done in their lives. We are in a state of continuous fear.

This is one kind of attachment. There is another kind of attachment. We are attached to people. We create strong bonds in relationships. These are also attachments. We start possessing people. The possessiveness grows so strong that we suffer when someone leaves us or dies. We become so dependent on persons that our whole life seems to lose meaning when they die. Actually, in this kind of bondage we define ourselves based on the opinions of other people. So we constantly hold on to that relationship because it gives us energy; that relationship helps us define ourselves. So when a person dies, we feel depressed because whatever we were holding to very tightly was the source of energy for us.

That was defining us till now and now it is no longer there. It has disappeared. So our whole system is shaken. Now there is the third kind of bondage or attachment. It is related to Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 665 our thoughts and emotions. Whenever something happens, we start linking it with our past and start fantasizing about the future. Be very clear, a thought arises because our mind jumps from the past to the future. When a thought arises, we link up that thought with other thoughts and create thought patterns. None of the thoughts are linked to each other. We create a shaft binding all these thoughts.

Each thought is like a bubble in a fish tank. If you see bubbles rising in a fish tank, they are unrelated, unconnected and disjointed. However we create an illusory shaft and link them up. We attach ourselves with that shaft and start experiencing them. We let the thoughts control us. In the same way, we deal with our emotions also. We create a shaft of all our pains and all our joys and associate with it. If we see that our pain shaft is longer than the joy shaft, we conclude that we had a painful life; we had a miserable life. Otherwise, we say we have a happy life.

Yet if we look deeply, each of the pains is completely unconnected, disassociated, and disjointed. For example, the headache that you experience today is not associated to the headache that you had one week ago. The headache that you had one week ago is not associated to the headache that you felt one month ago. But what do we do? We associate and connect all these and say we have always had headaches or migraines. We fail to see that all the events were independent events. We create a shaft through all these pains and come to a conclusion. In the same way, if we have a joful experience, we want to hold onto it.

We want to experience that joy again. We look for that source of joy and continuously run after it. This again leads us into the rat race. Please understand, don’t associate yourself with your incompletion. One of the great things my yoga guru, Yogirāj Yogānandapuri (lovingly called Raghupati Yogi) did is—he broke my laziness pattern. When I was a boy, he made me do surya namaskār from morning sunrise to sunset! Please understand, these happenings are all literally true. I am talking with integrity and authenticity. Then, when I would almost be dead and lie down, he will tell me, ‘Eh! Don’t associate yourself with your body! Don’t associate yourself with your incompletions!

Don’t associate yourself with your laziness!’ I tell you, it really, really, really worked on me. When you don’t associate yourself with your incompletions and the tortures you need to go through because of your incompletions, moving towards completion and getting enlightened becomes such an easy job. Don’t associate yourself with your incompletions. Tell yourself, ‘Yes, I had this incompletion. This is the way my system was functioning. Now it is time. Let me say ‘bye’ to my incompletions!’ Understand, your incompletions get more and more powerful as long as you associate yourself with them. Don’t associate yourself with your incompletion. Don’t even own up! Just disown! Disowning incompletions is complete Completion!

If you are convinced you have disowned these incompletions, you are complete! Here Kṛṣṇa says He is neutral. Kṛṣṇa is in the space of complete completion, the eternal completion! How do we get ourselves unconnected from these attachments? Please understand that being unconnected from material possessions does not mean you leave everything and go away. Being unconnected from relationships does not mean breaking your relationships, forgetting your children, parents and others. Please understand this very deeply. Being neutral or unconnected has a deep meaning. Being neutral means being a spectator. It is like this: When you watch a movie, you watch something on the screen. Do you become an actor in that movie?

No. You watch it and let it go. In the same way, we need to watch attachments. When we watch them as a spectator, we get detached from them and complete with them. What do I mean by that? When we watch our materialistic wealth, we will not run after it. We do our job because we love it, not because we want to accumulate wealth. A scientist should do research because he likes to do Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 667 it, not because he wants something out of it. When that is the attitude, the Universe starts showering. The results happen of their own accord. The materialistic wealth comes on its own.

In relationships also, we must be a spectator. When we stop seeing someone as a possession and when we become a spectator to the relationship, our dependency on that person and expectations from that person drop. When dependencies and expectations drop, there is no give and take in the relationship. There is only giving, only enriching. The relationship becomes stronger and completion with other happens. When we become a spectator to our thoughts and emotions, we feel a great sense of liberation. All we have to do is break the shaft that we create between different unconnected thoughts and emotions. We have to ‘unclutch.’ When we see thoughts like passing clouds in the sky, we stop associating ourselves with them.

We are no longer controlled by them. Listen, being a spectator to thoughts does not mean that we suppress or destroy thoughts. We are not Brahma, the Creator, or Viṣṇu, the Sustainer, or Śiva, the Rejuvenator. When we become a spectator, we go beyond these three states. We transcend the trinity. By being a spectator, we remain unaffected and unattached to what happens in and around us. This is the truth. If we can internalize this completely, we will be enlightened this very minute! Kṛṣṇa says that although He is a mere spectator, everything happens under His supervision. Here He shows His authority. He says the material world is created and annihilated according to His will through the power of prakṛti, Nature and the energy of māyā, Illusion.

Actually, Kṛṣṇa is repeating what He said in the previous verse. Kṛṣṇa wants to clearly get this idea across to Arjuna. The whole material manifestation is a projection of the energy of Universal Consciousness. This is what is reflected within us in our individual Consciousness. We create and project the reality what we see and what we wish to see. It is like this. You stand in front of a mirror and see yourself. Now all that you see outside you is a projection of what you have inside you. Power of Our Inner Self Kṛṣṇa says, ‘I am the supreme power. The material nature of prakṛti works under My direction—mayā adhyakṣena prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (9.10).’

Everything happens under His supervision. What He says is simple. Whatever happens is a drama of creation and annihilation through Nature and Illusion. Kṛṣṇa, the director and producer of this cosmic drama, stands unmoved as a spectator. This truth is reflected within us, too. We create and destroy ourselves. Everything, our happiness, our pains, our fantasies, our sorrows, our relationships are created by us. If we see from a higher level, we influence the whole Universe. Kṛṣṇa shows how powerful we are, how powerful our inner Self is. Whether we believe it or not, it is the truth. We create everything that we see, feel and hear. That is the power of our inner Self.

Yet we do not stay detached the way Kṛṣṇa does. Our thoughts and words have a tremendous impact. The Cosmic consciousness responds to our thoughts. All the Enlightened Masters have talked about the power of thinking and words. What we think and how we think affects what happens around us. You have seen people who always shout and yell at others. Some people keep shaking their legs. All this happens because of inner restlessness. Instead of looking inside, we blame others. We see negativity around us because there are negativities inside us. Because of such thoughts inside us, we project them outside. You see, this is how we create our own world.

Understand the power of thoughts. A person is blissful not because of what happens outside him; it is because of what is inside him. There is a difference between being happy and being blissful. Happiness happens inside because of external factors. If we feel joy inside because of something happening outside us, that joy is happiness. The problem with Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 669 happiness is the source. If suddenly the external source disappears, our happiness also disappears. The outer world is affecting our inner world. However, bliss is not like that. Being blissful does not depend on external sources. If we are at peace internally, we express that bliss.

No external event or happening affects this state. Bliss is eternal; however happiness is temporary. When we are powerful and blissful inside, we project the same power and bliss outside. We enjoy the external material manifestation because we are blissful inside as spectator. However, when we try to possess that bliss, that bliss is gone. Be very clear, when we think and enjoy something from our mind, it is not bliss. So in this verse Kṛṣṇa tells us clearly that we create our own world. The material manifestation is solely because of our inner Self and nothing external is responsible for it. Fools Deride an Incarnation In the next verse Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form.

They do not know My ultimate nature, eternal nature, as the supreme Lord of all that is.’ avajānanti māṁ ṁūḍhā mānuṣiṁ tanum āśritam I paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto mama bhūta maheśvaram II 9.11 Here Kṛṣṇa uses a strong word: ‘Fools, ṁūḍhā’. Incarnations, Enlightened Masters don’t edit their words. They speak the truth as it is. Usually, normal people edit because they fear others’ opinions. See, normally in all your minds, three processes happen: first, words are created, then edited and then finally presented. In Masters, these three processes don’t happen. Straightaway what is created is presented. That is why, whatever words they utter become reality. Listen. The world does not create words in them.

Their words create the world around them. They express integrity, the power of words, vāk śakti. The words you utter towards you and towards others can do so much to your life. If you want to harness the power of words, the practice you need to do is integrity. Bring Integrity. Align all your words more and more towards completion. Please understand, I am defining integrity. Integrity means aligning your words, internal and external, more and more towards completion; that is integrity. Aligning the words you utter inside and outside you towards completion is integrity. One American University professor who attended many of my discourses, said, ‘Swamiji, you are speaking continuously for hours without notes?’

Listen, here also in front of me, only the Gītā verses are there, no other notes. I see these verses so that the original pronunciation is not lost. I can say that the Vedas is the purest and most unadulterated scripture. Even the chhandas (vedic meter), the tune in which they are chanted, cannot be changed. Just to preserve the purity, I read the Saṁskṛit verses from the original. He asked me, ‘How are you able to continuously speak?’ I told him, ‘Because the process is easy and integrated in me. I don’t edit. My internal and external words are aligned. I don’t have the three mechanisms: creating words, editing and presenting.

Usually, for all people, these three mechanisms have to happen.’ Then he put one more question, ‘Swamiji, speaking for hours is different. For me, I must prepare three hours before even for a one-hour lecture!’ In my meditation camps, sometimes the program is eighteen hours long per day; people listen to my talks and meditate. I told him, ‘You prepare because it has not become your authentic experience.’ Then I asked him, ‘If somebody asks your name, do you prepare? Your name has become your experience, your being. So you immediately respond. Similarly, whatever I speak is from my experience. So I don’t need to prepare, I spontaneously express it.

One more thing, why do people fear public speaking? Why do they again and again prepare and rehearse? They fear that they may speak what they really think inside! They do not want to express what is going on inside them. They want to express polished words. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 671 Only for an integrated person whose inner chatter has become pure, not only his words, his thinking becomes pure. That person can talk in a relaxed way for hours in public. To speak in public, that too in a relaxed and casual way, we need our inner being to be in pure integrity with our words and pure authenticity with our thinking.

Only then can we talk whatever comes and be relaxed and complete. Otherwise, continuously we must edit. If we edit and speak, within half an hour or one hour, we are tired and drained. We do not radiate the same energy. Understand this truth! When we practice integrity, we will experience the power of words. But the power of thinking is deeper than the power of words. The power of thinking will be available to us when we practice authenticity. Masters don’t edit; they express whatever they think. With authenticity, their thinking has become so pure, they simply harness the power of thinking and words, and so they don’t need to edit.

Even if they use sharp words, they are spoken to awaken you. Here Kṛṣṇa uses the word, ‘mūḍhaḥ’, meaning ‘fool’. ‘Fools deride Me.’ He gives a jolt to the ego. ‘Fools deride Me when I descend in the human form. They do not know My eternal nature as the supreme Lord of all that is, mama bhūta maheśvaram.’ He says, ‘When I land in the world in the human form as a Master, people, fools, deride me. They don’t understand.’ Why Masters Descend? He again and again tells this to Arjuna, ‘Don’t think that just because I am in the body, I am your friend. Don’t think that I am the person who was sitting in Briṇdāvan (the forest place where Kṛṣṇa spent his infant years), who is your own friend.

I am the energy that takes care of the whole world. I have come down in this form to liberate all of you. So only fools deride Me, fools miss Me. Don’t miss, Arjuna, understand the Ultimate nature of Me and liberate yourself.’ In these verses, Kṛṣṇa tells some interesting truths. These were true during His time and they are true today. When an enlightened Master lives in his body, people do not accept him, people ignore him, and some even abuse him. In fact, people do not even want to accept that he can be an Enlightened Master. People stay away from the living Master. However, when the Master is no longer in the body, people visit his final resting place, offer flowers, and do all kinds of things.

This has happened to all enlightened Masters. Rāmakṛṣṇa was considered a mad priest. When Rāmakṛṣṇa entered into an ecstatic mood, people said that he was acting. However now, if you go to Kolkata, Dakśineśvar has become a pilgrimage center. People worship Rāmakṛṣṇa; they keep his photo in their home, in their wallets. They call him an Incarnation, God. You see, over time nothing has changed. When I am in the ashram in Bidadi, many people come with speculation. They have questions about what I say, what I wear and everything I do. They say, ‘You are so young. How can you be enlightened?’ Some say, ‘If you are enlightened, why do you wear a golden rudrākṣa necklace?

Why do you charge money for courses?’ These same people will come to my final resting place after one hundred years and offer flowers on it. They will accept me as their guru when I am not in human form. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Fools lose Me when I come in human form—avajānanti māṁ ṁūḍhā mānuṣiṁ tanum āśritam (9.11).’ He calls them fools. This is the truth. When an enlightened Master is in human form, we do not accept him as a Master. Only after the Master leaves the body do we pay our respects to the Master. Why do people again and again do this? You see, when the Master is in his body, in human form, our mind sees him as another human being.

Then our ego comes between him and us. It reasons, ‘He is another human like me. Why should I listen to him?’ All these questions come. We decide we don’t have to follow another human being and go back. A simple act of ego makes us miss a living enlightened Master. Our being wants it; however our mind and ego create a strong wall of questions between the Master and us. We miss the opportunity. And one more thing, some people know that a person is a Master and what he Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 673 says is good for them, yet they escape. This is because they know that the Enlightened Master can see through them.

They do not want anybody to know what a mess they have created in themselves. We should understand why an Enlightened Master, an Incarnation happens on planet Earth. If we know this, we will not be fools. We will not miss or run away. If we understand, then we can break the wall between the Master and us and let our being experience the Master’s energy. A small story from Rāmakṛṣṇa: Three men walk near a village. They see an orchard. One of them jumps into the orchard to see what is happening. He sees a big party going on inside. He sees so much joy and bliss inside the orchard.

This man also starts enjoying. He forgets about the two men outside the orchard. After some time, the two men who stand outside get impatient. The second man says, ‘Let me go and see what happened.’ He enters the orchard. He sees people dancing, singing, enjoying. However, before he joins the party, this man thinks he should tell the third man standing outside the orchard about what he has seen. He has concern for the third man. So he tells the third man what is going on inside the orchard and runs back into the orchard and joins the party. Now this third man goes in. He sees the bliss everyone is in.

He thinks, ‘I should tell everyone in the village about this; everyone should enjoy.’ So he goes out, tells everyone in the village and brings them into the orchard. Enlightened Masters are like the third man. They have experienced the truth, the bliss. They are the embodiments of compassion. Be very clear, the only mission of an enlightened Master is to get everyone to Live Enlightenment. There is no ulterior motive of the Master. People ask me lots of questions. Why this? Why that? People look at me with suspicion. They think by telling them something, I make some profit. If I suggest to them to attend some meditation course, they think I will make money.

They run away thinking I want to make them a Sannyāsi. They do not understand that an Enlightened Master is beyond all that. They miss the opportunity of being with a Master because of their own ignorance. Whenever Enlightened Masters save mankind, people try to make their life hell, due to their ignorance and self-doubts. Understand that an Enlightened Master does not have desires. So He does not have any vested interests. All He wants is everyone should experience the bliss that He has experienced. In the case of a normal man, when he takes birth, he carries over desires from his previous birth. These are called vāsanas. However, an enlightened Master does not have desires or vāsanas; he is in a no-mind state.

His spirit can merge directly into the Universal energy. Whenever there is a need on planet Earth, the energy of the Enlightened Master is sent down to Earth with a mission to fulfill. Be very clear, nobody can help when we create a wall of doubt between the Master and us. The Master can help only if we break the wall, only if we allow the Master to take charge. As long as we hold onto our ego, we remain a fool. If we meet an Enlightened Master, that is the best happening that can happen to us. Now it is up to us to enrich ourselves with Enlightenment or miss it.

Kṛṣṇa tells everyone: if you miss an Enlightened Master, you are a fool. Kṛṣṇa does not ask us to follow His form. He asks us to follow His energy. He wants us to internalize Him and follow Him. Follow Kṛṣṇa by understanding Kṛṣṇa Consciousness, not by following what you imagine to be your understanding of the form of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Consciousness is the same as Śiva Cosciousness or Buddha Consciousness or Nithyānanda Consciousness. There is no difference. That is why Kṛṣṇa says, ‘These fools mock at Me when I come in human form. Don’t mock the form, follow the Consciousness. You will no longer be a fool. You will be in eternal bliss!’ Worship Me In Any Form But With Devotion

9.13

महात्मानस्तु मां पार्थ दैवीं प्रकृतिमाश्रिता: | भजन्त्यनन्यमनसो ज्ञात्वा भूतादिमव्ययम्

mahātmānastu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtimāśritāḥ / bhajanty ananya-manaso jñātvā bhūtādim avyayam / / 9.13

O Pārtha (son of Prithā), the great souls, who are not deluded, are under the protection of My Divine nature. They are fully devoted to Me with a single-pointed mind as they know Me as the origin of all creation, the unchangeable.

mahātmānaḥ — the great souls · tu — but · māṁ — unto Me · pārtha — O son of Pritha · daivīṁ — divine · prakṛtiṁ — nature · āśritāḥ — taken shelter of · bhajanti — render service · ananya manasaḥ — without deviation of the mind · jñātvā — knowing · bhūta — creation · ādiṁ — original · avyayaṁ — inexhaustible.

9.14

सततं कीर्तयन्तो मां यतन्तश्च दृढव्रता: | नमस्यन्तश्च मां भक्त्या नित्ययुक्ता उपासते

satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ yatantaśca dṛḍhavratāḥ / namasyantaśca māṁ bhaktyā nityayuktā upāsate / / 9.14

Always chanting My names and glories, fully striving with great determination, bowing down onto Me, these great devotees of firm resolve, perpetually worship Me with devotion.

satataṁ — always · kīrtayantaḥ — chanting · māṁ — Me · yatantaḥ ca — fully endeav- oring also · dṛḍha vratāḥ — with determination · namasyantah ca — offering obei- sance · māṁ — unto Me · bhaktyā — in devotion · nitya yuktā — perpetually engaged · upāsate — worship.

9.15

ज्ञानयज्ञेन चाप्यन्ये यजन्तो मामुपासते | एकत्वेन पृथक्त्वेन बहुधा विश्वतोमुखम्

jñānayajñena cāpyanye yajanto māmupāsate / ekatvena pṛthaktvena bahudhā viśvatomukham / / 9.15

Some worship Me by acquiring and spreading wisdom of the Self [jñāna-yajña]. Others worship Me in My non-dual form in oneness, in My infinite form as many, and in My Universal form.

jñāna yajñena — by cultivation of knowledge · ca — also · api — certainly · anye — others · yajantaḥ — worshiping · māṁ — Me · upāsate — worship · ekatvena — in oneness · pṛthak- tvena — in duality · bahudhā — diversity · viśvato mukhaṁ — in the universal form.

Kṛṣṇa speaks about bhakti or devotion in these verses. You see, devotion can be one of the most powerful ways to reach God. Many saints showed the world the path of devotion. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was devoted to Kṛṣṇa. He sang songs and danced in ecstasy while singing Kṛṣṇa’s glory. Mīrā was another devotee of Kṛṣṇa who loved with Him. Mīrā’s devotional songs, Mīrā bhajans, are sung even today to show her devotion towards Kṛṣṇa. Devotion is one of the most powerful ways to reach God; however it depends on how we express devotion. Many people have a habit of going to a particular temple every week. If somebody asks, they say, ‘Oh, every Saturday I pray to Lord Venkaṭeśvara.

Every Tuesday I go to the Hanumān temple.’ Going to temples becomes a fashion statement. Making mechanical visits to the temple is not devotion. It is just a sort of ego. We mostly go to temples to ask for something. Our devotion is dependent on how much Venkaṭeśvara answers our prayers. If we ask for something and He gives it, then Venkaṭeśvara is great; otherwise we switch Gods! This is our devotion! We make business deals. We pray to God, but not with devotion. As long as God gives what we want, he is our God; otherwise He is no longer God. Prayer should express our devotion, gratitude, and love to God.

All great devotees of Kṛṣṇa and Rāma showed complete gratitude and love. When devotion reaches that state, they reach the Ultimate Consciousness. Devotion or Knowledge? Prayers are powerful; however, we should not get stuck at prayers. Prayers are powerful in the initial stages when we pray as we go towards God. Let the prayers express devotion rather than asking for boons. We should go beyond words. When we pray, we are stuck in words. Our devotion should enrich us to see the ultimate energy behind the idol of Kṛṣṇa, Rāma, or Śiva. Actually, complete devotion puts us in a completely different plane. When we show our devotion to someone, we surrender ourselves to him or her.

Have you heard the story of the great child devotee, Prahlād? He was a young boy less than ten years old. His father Hiraṇyakaśipu, a great devotee of Brahma (the creator), does intense penance and asks Brahma for a boon to be made immortal; however Brahma says that is impossible. Hiraṇyakaśipu then comes up with lots of conditions such as: he should not be killed by an animal, a bird, a human, or anything living or non-living, either during the day or the night. Brahma grants him that boon. Hiraṇyakaśipu thinks his boon covers all the ways in which he might be killed. So he declares himself to be God.

He asks all the people in his kingdom to worship him as God. So people worship his idol. However his son, Prahlād, turns out to be a great devotee of Lord Viṣṇu. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 677 Obviously his father is not happy about this. He tries to persuade Prahlād; but it is of no use. The more he talks to his son, the more intense Prahlad’s devotion becomes. He then tries to get Prahlād killed through various ways. Prahlād worships Viṣṇu with such great devotion that Viṣṇu saves Prahlād every time. Prahlād prays to Viṣṇu every second, with every breath. His devotion is deep. Even when he is about to be executed, he prays to Viṣṇu with gratitude and love.

His devotion is that of surrender rather than a prayer asking Viṣṇu to save his life. This is the story of Narasiṃha avatār, the Incarnation of Viṣṇu in which He is half-lion and half-human. Kṛṣṇa continues to explain to Arjuna the ways in which people worship Him. Here he talks about the path of jñāna, knowledge: Those following the path of knowledge try to worship Me by acquiring and propagating knowledge. Understand that mere accumulation of knowledge only increases ego. It does not give enlightenment. Internalize the knowledge by authentic listening, by meditation, and contemplation, and by enriching others and yourself with the experiential wisdom. Then the breeze of joy will flow into your life.

How can we internalize knowledge? Do meditation. When you are alone, think and contemplate upon great truths. Deeply immersing ourselves in contemplation is a meditation. Question those truths and try to find answers within yourself. Swami Vivekananda beautifully says, ‘Even if we sit day in and day out, and memorize all the books in all the libraries, nothing happens, except that our head becomes a little big, that is all! Just know one single dimension of the truth and imbibe that completely, that is more than enough. It can do wonders. Take any one teaching and internalize it fully.’ Meditation helps us internalize our experience and process it into wisdom.

It is an alchemy that happens internally, an alchemy that transforms our lives. Meditation helps us experience the truths. Please understand, acquiring knowledge can be done in another way. Many people read many books and scriptures. They have shelves filled with books. These people take great pride in showing off their knowledge. Many people discuss spiritality and have debates over this subject. Debates are not wrong; however the motive with which they discuss should be correct. If they discuss to show others how much they know, then they are debating purely out of ego. Please be very clear, if we use our knowledge just to show how much we know, there is no use of that knowledge.

The only way knowledge in the scriptures enriches us is through experience. Instead of debating and showing off knowledge, apply it in day-to-day activities. See the results on yourself first. Experience completion in your own life. Only when we experience it, we have the right to speak about it to others. Till then, they are mere words. Meditation enriches us here, especially in the path of jñana or knowledge. You see, the path of knowledge is not an easy path. In the path of devotion, all we have to do is pray to some form: either Kṛṣṇa or Rāma or someone, have complete devotion to that chosen God. We must completely surrender.

Actually, total surrender is difficult; however, in the path of devotion, at least we have someone to talk to, pray to and look up to. However in the path of knowledge, there is no reference point. No one is in front of us. In this path, there is nothing called you and He. In the path of devotion, there is a clear separation between Kṛṣṇa and us. In the path of knowledge, Kṛṣṇa says that everything is Kṛṣṇa. There is no duality. When we meditate, we experience the great truths. Through meditation we connect to our inner space and learn to create the space of completion. All the knowledge in the scriptures, the Upaniṣad, talks about microcosm and macrocosm.

If we talk about this knowledge Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 679 without experience, all our knowledge is bookish knowledge, nothing else. The difference happens when we experience that truth. During meditation, we merge with the cosmic energy. Meditation helps us enter that space where our inner space merges with the outer space: microcosm merges with macrocosm. Actually, all paths are one and the same. Even if we meditate on the form, after a point we will see that there is nothing like a form. Everything is the same. So even in the path of devotion, we experience the same thing as in the path of knowledge. Be very clear, nothing is better than the other.

Everything is the same. The greatest enlightened master Śaṅkara who spoke the greatest truths on non-duality, advaita wrote poems on devotion also. Swāmi Vivekānanda was an intellectual being, yet he bowed down to the devotion of Rāmakṛṣṇa’s disciple, Gopale Ma, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. This is what Kṛṣṇa says in this verse. In the previous verse, He talked about the path of devotion. Here He talks about the path of knowledge. He says, ‘Some worship the form, some worship the formless. There are many ways to worship Me.’ There are many different ways people worship the Divine. We have customized paths for our personal growth. So naturally wherever one is, one can grow and reach the level we are supposed to reach.

There are all sizes of ladders, all kinds of steps. We are continuously given choices, options. So, naturally one tends to take up something or the other. He gives options among the different paths; satatam kīrtayanto mām (9.14)—worshipping through singing the glories of the Lord or jñāna-yajñena cāpy anye yajanto mām upāsate (9.15)—cultivation of knowledge and offering everything at the feet of God. I Am Immortality And Death!

9.16

अहं क्रतुरहं यज्ञ: स्वधाहमहमौषधम् | मन्त्रोऽहमहमेवाज्यमहमग्निरहं हुतम्

ahaṁ kraturahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhāham ahamauṣadham / mantro ’hamahamevājyaṁ aham agnir ahaṁ hutam / / 9.16

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

ahaṁ — I · kratuḥ — ritual · ahaṁ — I · yajñaḥ — sacrifice · svadhā — oblation · ahaṁ — I · auṣadhaṁ — healing herb · mantraḥ — transcendental chant · ahaṁ — I · eva — cer- tainly · ājyaṁ — melted butter · ahaṁ — I · agniḥ — fire · ahaṁ — I · hutaṁ — offering.

9.17

पिताहमस्य जगतो माता धाता पितामह: | वेद्यं पवित्रमोङ्कार ऋक्साम यजुरेव च

pitāhamasya jagato mātā dhātā pitāmahaḥ / vedyaṁ pavitram oṁkāra ṛksāma yajureva ca / / 9.17

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

pitā — father · ahaṁ — I · asya — of this · jagataḥ — of the universe · mātā — mother · dhātā — supporter · pitāmahaḥ — grandfather · vedyaṁ — what is to be known · pavitraṁ — that which purifies · oṁkāraḥ — the syllable om · ṛk — the Rig Veda · sāma — the Sama Veda · yajuḥ — the Yajur Veda · eva — certainly · ca — and

9.18

गतिर्भर्ता प्रभु: साक्षी निवास: शरणं सुहृत् | प्रभव: प्रलय: स्थानं निधानं बीजमव्ययम्

gatirbhartā prabhuḥ sākṣī nivāsaḥ śaraṇaṁ suhṛt / prabhavaḥ pralayaḥ sthānaṁ nidhānaṁ bījamavyayam / / / 9.18

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

gatiḥ — goal · bhartā — sustainer · prabhuḥ — Lord · sākṣī — witness · nivāsaḥ — abode · śaraṇaṁ — refuge · suhṛt — most intimate friend · prabhavaḥ — creation · pralayaḥ — dissolution · sthānaṁ — ground · nidhānaṁ — resting place · bījaṁ — seed · avyayaṁ — imperishable.

9.19

तपाम्यहमहं वर्षं निगृह्णम्युत्सृजामि च | अमृतं चैव मृत्युश्च सदसच्चाहमर्जुन

tapāmy aham ahaṁ varṣaṁ nigṛhṇāmy utsṛjāmi ca / amṛtaṁ caiva mṛtyuśca sadasac cāham arjuna / / 9.19

I am the ritual, I am the sacrifice, I am the offering, I am the herb, I am the mantra, I am the clarified butter, I am the fire, and I am the oblation. I am the supporter of the universe, the father, the mother, and the grandfather. I am the object of knowledge, the sacred syllable “OM”, and also the Ṛg, the Yajur, and the Sāma Vedas. I am the goal, the supporter, the Lord, the witness, the abode, the refuge, the friend, the origin, the dissolution, the foundation, the substra- tum, and the immutable seed. I give heat. I send, as well as withhold, the rain. I am immortality, as well as death. I am also both the Eternal and the temporal, O Arjuna.

tapāmi — give heat · ahaṁ — I · ahaṁ — I · varṣaṁ — rain · nigṛhṇāmi — withhold · utsṛ- jāmi — send forth · ca — and · amṛtaṁ — immortality · ca — and · eva — certainly · mṛtyuḥ — death · ca — and · sat — being · asat — nonbeing · ca — and · ahaṁ — I · arjuna — O Arjuna.

He tells Arjuna that everything we do, everything we see, everything we feel, everything we know is because of Him. He says everything has come from Him. He is the seed of everything. Everything that we see is Parāśakti or universal energy. This is Kṛṣṇa’s message here. ahaṁ kratur ahaṁ yajñaḥ svadhānam aham auṣadham I mantro ‘ham aham evājyam aham agnir ahaṁ hutam II 9.16 Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 681 Great Masters lived in this realization. Ramaṇa, Rāmakṛṣṇa, Sadāśiva Brahmendra, Raghavendra and many masters lived in this consciousness of being one with the Universal Consciousness. Many people could not relate to the experience or the expression of their experience; so they considered these Masters mad.

All Are Brahman A small story: A disciple returns to his ashram. From a distance he sees a huge crowd. Getting curious, he pushes his way through the crowd and he is shocked. A dog is trying to eat food kept in his Master’s vessel and his Master is sitting on the dog! The disciple does not understand. ‘What nonsense is going on here? Oh Master, what are you doing?’ he asked, utterly confused. The Master calmly replied, ‘Don’t you see? Some Brahman has kept some Brahman on a Brahman. One four legged Brahman tries to eat it. Another Brahman rides on it. Many Brahmans stand and watch this event.

That’s all.’ On hearing this, the crowd disperses saying, ‘What is this madness?’ However the disciple feels that nothing his Master utters can be untrue. He sits under the nearby tree and contemplates. The potent words ‘plate, food, dog, master, people are all Brahman rings again and again in his ears. As the power of his Master’s words sinks in, the disciple realizes that all things surrounding him are the same Existence, Brahman. He realizes and understands that divine energy blissfully moves about in each and every thing. In a moment everything changes for the disciple. The thought of ‘I’ drops; instead, the feeling of ‘Self’ dawns. The fulfilling feeling of completion that ‘All is Brahman, everywhere is Brahman, Brahman is within me too’ is born.

He has the first experience of enlightenment. We are all Brahman; we are all divine. God is everywhere. Divine energy fills and overflows in all the places. This is what Kṛṣṇa says in these verses. This is the basic truth. Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, understand it or not, this is the truth. We can call ‘It’ God—Kṛṣṇa, Śiva, Universal Energy, Cosmic Energy, Parāśakti or Brahman. Whatever we may call It, It is present everywhere. When we worship some idol or form, we actually worship the formless energy behind that idol. People ask me, ‘Why do we keep your photo in front of us and pray to it?

Why can’t we meditate on the formless?’ I tell them, ‘First start meditating on the form, then you can go to the formless.’ Our mind is continuously jumping everywhere. In such a state, we first need a form to bring our mind to the present. A form is necessary in the initial stages for the mind to calm down. Once we Master this, meditating on the formless becomes easier. We should understand that we are worshipping through that idol and not the idol itself. The basic truth in spirituality is that God is in the form of energy and He is formless. God cannot be an individual. He must be energy.

Religions give shapes and forms to this divine energy. It is a good beginning, but not the end. You can start with idol worship and move into worshipping the formless energy. Thousands of years ago, our sages clearly said in the Upaniṣad that everything is energy and everything arose from energy. The formless God is nothing but space, ether, or energy. Now it has been proven scientifically that there is ether even in vacuum. This energy is all-pervading. It is there everywhere. We now know with the help of powerful tools that 99.99% of an atom is empty space. Continuous vibrations go on in that empty space. Only these vibrations exhibit themselves as energy.

Each and every body is filled with energy. Today science says, ‘Everything is Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 683 filled with energy.’ Our Enlightened Masters expressed it this way, ‘God is energy and He fills all space and is omnipresent.’ Kṛṣṇa says this clearly in these verses. This energy cannot be destroyed. It can only change form. You see, when we switch on a light, electrical energy is converted into light energy. Electrical energy is not being destroyed. It has only changed form. In the same way, Universal Energy is everywhere. It is in everything around us and I tell you, it is within us also. Once we realize this great truth, we see that everything around us is the same as us.

Only the form in which everything exists is different. Kṛṣṇa tries to explain this great truth through these verses. When I say everything, I mean everything is Kṛṣṇa, everything is Brahman. Reside In Me, I Give And Preserve

9.20

त्रैविद्या मां सोमपा: पूतपापा यज्ञैरिष्ट्वा स्वर्गतिं प्रार्थयन्ते | ते पुण्यमासाद्य सुरेन्द्रलोक मश्नन्ति दिव्यान्दिवि देवभोगान्

traividyā māṁ somapāḥ pūtapāpā yajñairiṣṭvā svargatiṁ prārthayante / te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam aśnanti divyāndivi devabhogān / / 9.20

Those who practice the vedic rituals and drink the soma juice worship Me indirectly seeking the heavenly pleasures. They go to heaven and enjoy sensual delights.

traividyāḥ — the knowers of the three Vedas · māṁ — unto Me · somapāḥ — drinkers of soma juice · pūta — purified · pāpāḥ — sins · yajñaiḥ — with sacrifices · iṣṭvā — after worshiping · svargatiṁ — passage to heaven · prārthayante — pray · te — they · puṇyaṁ — virtue · āsādya — enjoying · surendra — of Indra · lokaṁ — the world · aśnanti — enjoy · divyān — celestial · divi — in heaven · devabhogān — pleasures of the gods.

9.21

ते तं भुक्त्वा स्वर्गलोकं विशालं क्षीणे पुण्ये मर्त्यलोकं विशन्ति | एवं त्रयीधर्ममनुप्रपन्ना गतागतं कामकामा लभन्ते

te taṁ bhuktvā svargalokaṁ viśālaṁ kṣīṇe puṇye martyalokaṁ viśanti / evaṁ trayīdharmam anuprapannā gatāgataṁ kāmakāmā labhante / / 9.21

Once they have thus enjoyed heavenly sense pleasure, they are reborn on this planet again. By practicing vedic ritu- als as result oriented actions, they are bound by the cycle of birth and death.

te — they · taṁ — that · bhuktvā — enjoying · svargalokaṁ — heaven · viśālaṁ — vast · kṣīṇe — being exhausted · puṇye — merits · martya lokaṁ — mortal earth · viśanti — fall down · evaṁ — thus · trayī — three Vedas · dharmaṁ — doctrines · anuprapannāḥ — following · gatāgataṁ — death and birth · kāma kāmāḥ — desiring sense enjoyments · labhante — attain

9.22

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जना: पर्युपासते | तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्

ananyāścintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate / teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yogakṣemaṁ vahāmy aham / / 9.22

When you reside in My consciousness, always fixed in undivided remembrance, whatever you lack I give [yoga]. And whatever you have, I preserve [kṣema].

ananyāḥ — no other · cintayantaḥ — concentrating · māṁ — unto Me · ye — who · janāḥ — persons · paryupāsate — properly worship · teṣāṁ — their · nityābhiyuktānāṁ — always fixed in devotion · yogakṣemaṁ — requirements · vahāmi — carry · ahaṁ — I.

9.23

येऽप्यन्यदेवता भक्ता यजन्ते श्रद्धयान्विता: | तेऽपि मामेव कौन्तेय यजन्त्यविधिपूर्वकम्

ye’pyanyadevatā bhaktā yajante śraddhayā’nvitāḥ / te’pi mām eva kaunteya yajanty avidhipūrvakam / / 9.23

Even those who worship other deities, they too worship Me, O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), but without true understanding.

ye — those · api — also · anya — other · devatāḥ — demigods · bhaktāḥ — devotees · yajante — worship · śraddhayā anvitāḥ — with faith · te — they · api — also · māṁ — Me · eva — even · kaunteya — O son of Kuntī · yajanti — sacrifice · avidhi pūrvakaṁ — in an improper manner.

9.24

अहं हि सर्वयज्ञानां भोक्ता च प्रभुरेव च | न तु मामभिजानन्ति तत्वेनातश्च्यवन्ति ते

ahaṁ hi sarvayajñānāṁ bhoktā ca prabhureva ca / na tu mām abhijānanti tattvenātaścyavanti te / / 9.24

I am the only enjoyer [bhokta] and the only Lord [prabhu] of all sacrifices. Those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature are born again and again.

ahaṁ — I · hi — surely · sarva — of all · yajñānāṁ — sacrifices · bhoktā — enjoyer · ca — and · prabhuḥ — Lord · eva — also · ca — and · na — not · tu — but · māṁ — Me · abhijānanti — know · tattvena — in reality · atah — therefore · cyavanti — fall down · te — they

Kṛṣṇa says that people who read scriptures, the Vedas, and who perform pious ritualistic activities based on scriptural injunctions with the aim of acquiring merits, enjoy heavenly pleasures; however they fall back into the cycle of life and death after they finish enjoying these pleasures. You see, many people do lots of rituals and read scriptures. Kṛṣṇa says this surely helps elevate them to a higher plane of consciousness; however they are still caught in the cycle of saṁsāra, birth and death. He says we should go beyond momentary pleasures that we get by reading and Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 685 practicing Vedic injunctions. Understand these verses.

By reading scriptures and performing different rituals, we will enjoy the pleasures of Indra loka, the heavenly pleasures; yet when the rituals are performed with that objective, we will again enter the vicious circle of birth and death. Kṛṣṇa speaks about the attitude or the context from which we read Vedas and Upaniṣads or how we perform rituals. Scriptures have immense knowledge. Rituals have immense power. They are meditations; however they are useless if done with the wrong context of fear and greed. Many people fear that if they do not perform certain rituals, they will go to hell and miss their place in heaven. In India, after a person dies, certain rituals are performed.

People perform these rituals fearing that without these rituals the dead person will not gain a place in heaven and the living will not live in peace. Another class of people operates with greed. They donate large sums of money thinking that the gates of heaven will be eternally open for them. Their names get carved on temple walls. They donate electric bulbs to light up temples, but half the bulb will have their name written on it. What is the use? Please understand, even when performing rituals and sacrifices, if you feel powerful, excited, energetic and blissful, and you think the external happening is the reason for that joy and powerfulness, then for that bliss, you are having joy out of the wrong context.

It will not stay in you. It is not going to become lifestyle in you! When we do pious activities with the wrong context of fear or greed, though we see improvement, some transformation, we will go back to where we started. That is what Kṛṣṇa means by Indra loka, the momentary transformation or elevation of our state. Understand, not only the right experience, but also the right context is needed. So, whether you feel powerful or powerless, excited or depressed, rich or poor, healthy or sick, nothing comes from the external happening. If you think that the external happenings contribute for you feeling powerful or powerless, that is what I call wrong context, it is an incompletion.

When we perform certain rituals, be it pūjā or prayer or reading scriptures, it should become a meditation. It is the experience of you that you are having about you. Our ego, our fear and our greed should not come in the way. It is like this: when we perform rituals, do them with integrity and authenicity, out of the right context of completion. What You Lack I Give, What You Have I Preserve Now, please come to the space of listening. The next verse is the main core that reveals the secret of secrets. Kṛṣṇa tells Arjuna and all of us: ‘Those who always worship Me, those who always reside in Me, those who have ananyāś cintayanto—means the non-dual mood, the space of Advaita, means those who have become Me, people who have experienced eternal consciousness, those who reside in eternal consciousness—to them, I carry what they lack and I preserve what they have.

I personally take care of them.’ ananyāś cintayanto mām ye janāḥ paryupāsate I teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yogakṣemaṁ vahāmyahaṁ II 9.22 Please be very clear, no other Incarnation has revealed this truth so clearly. He says, ‘If you reside in eternal consciousness, divine energy, bliss consciousness, I take care of you in all ways.’ Yoga and kṣema: I give them whatever they want spiritually and materially and I take care that it stays with them. I take care that nobody takes it away from them. This is a beautiful statement and assurance. Please understand, it is not only an assurance; it is a promise. Kṛṣṇa gives a promise, ‘If you reside in My consciousness, if you reside in eternal consciousness, whatever you lack will be given and whatever you have will be preserved.’

The strange thing is that He says we will have everything and nothing will be lost. It is difficult to believe! At least for people trained in so-called Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 687 present day education, it is difficult to believe! ‘How can I have what I want by meditating?’ This will be the immediate question. Now in the modern day, especially after the breakthrough with the principles of quantum physics, science clearly proves our thoughts create the whole Universe. If we reside in Eternal Consciousness, we create our own Universe. Not only that, the Universe responds to our thoughts. A small but important experiment report that I read: A professor did an experiment using three rose bushes kept in different rooms.

They were the same height, same kind. He entered the first room and used beautiful words, ‘You are beautiful. You are nice. You are great. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Why do you need thorns?’ He gave assuring and caring words. He created a loving mood. Next, he went to the second plant. He did not do much; he looked and came back: neither negative nor positive. To the third plant, he cursed, ‘What nonsense are you doing? You are ugly.’ He created negative energy with his words. He continued this experiment for twenty-one days studying how plants respond to thoughts as a research. The report, the end result, is shocking.

The first plant that received positive words doubled in size and had no thorns! I saw photographs of that plant. There were no thorns on that rose plant just because he gave the assurance, ‘I’ll protect you. Why should you protect yourself? Don’t bother. There is no need for thorns.’ Can you imagine a rose plant without thorns! The second plant to which he spoke neither positive nor negative words grew just as a normal rose plant. It experienced normal growth, that’s all. The third plant, to which he spoke negative words, died. Not once, but several times he repeated the same experiment in different places and in different ways.

He says the third plant, that received negative thoughts, died at all times. Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, an Indian Nobel Laureate, proved that plants are alive with ‘feelings’. They are capable of responding to our thoughts and emotions. This experiment proves that Existence, the outer world, responds to our thoughts. I tell you, many times my gurukul kids give me the confidence on this truth, when I see them playing with the Nature, bringing rain or stopping rain without failing even once! Please understand, it is not that they can play with rain only in the rainy season. They practice a unique process of completion of healing themselves and healing others.

Each child has this own rose plant. The child talks to that plant and gives security to that rose plant. Automatically, the rose plant drops all the thorns! Once, from a distance I stood at the Nithyananda Gurukul, to see exactly what is happening. Please understand, if a hundred priests, Śivācāryas sit and do ādī rudra yajña (enriching sacrifice offered to Lord Śiva) with integrity, what amount of positive energy will be released, I saw so much of energy being released just by these few Gurukul kids! Of course, nowadays you don’t need to believe all these ideas of energy. Unique photography methods have come like kirlian photography, where you can photograph all the energy released and the energy expansion.

Please listen. Existence responds to our thoughts. Each of us is not an island. We are not isolated. Don’t think we can think whatever we want in our inner space and that our outer life will be different. Our outer life and inner life are deeply connected. If we live a spiritual life, we automatically attract only spiritual friends. Our outer world also becomes spiritual. All other relationships drop by themselves. We do not even feel like relating. Many devotees tell me, ‘Swamiji, nowadays I am unable to go to a party. Even if I go, what is there to talk about at a party? Same stock market or who ran away with whom, who is going with whom.

Nothing useful.’ Understand, Existence responds to our thoughts. It does not need this network. People who enter spiritual life can’t indulge in the same Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 689 old talks. Only based on our thoughts, we create relationships, friends, society, our circle and naturally, our whole world. Again and again, Vedānta says, dṛṣti-sṛṣti, we create what we see. We create the Universe from the angle of our vision. When our dṛṣti (vision) changes, the sṛṣti (world around us) changes too. We project our world and see. It is the truth. See, whatever we place in front of a projector, whatever slide we position there, that will appear on the screen.

If we place the slide of God, the picture of God appears on screen. If we place an actress, that actress appears on the screen. The screen represents the physical planet Earth. Whatever we keep in front of our consciousness, we project that in our life, our world and our experience. A small change in our inner space changes our whole world. The backdrop screen remains the same; however the scene changes. Similarly, if the words, thoughts and feeling in our inner space change, the whole Universe changes. The whole of Existence responds to our inner space. Don’t think that each of us is a separate island. We are part of this whole Existence.

We are not alone here. If we think we are alone, we will continuously fight with Existence, with the whole Universe. We will see the rest of the Universe as an enemy. The part can never see the whole as enemy. We are a part. This is the Whole. If we see this as an enemy, we can never rest. Only a person who understands that the Whole is his own being, that he is part of the Whole, realizes tremendous relaxation and bliss. Kṛṣṇa says beautifully: ‘When you reside in My consciousness, whatever you lack, I give and whatever you have, I preserve.’ ananyāś cintayanto mām ye janāḥ paryupāsate I teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yogakṣemaṁ vahāmyahaṁ II 9.22 You may think, ‘Yes Swamiji, we understand when you say the Universe responds to our thoughts.

However, how can we get what we want?’ Please understand, the moment we bring integrity into our thinking and complete with all our incomplete thoughts and all our negative commitments, the moment our inner space changes into the space of completion, automatically we attract good things. It is like: if we tune our television to BBC, we see the BBC channel. If we tune it to Nithyananda TV, we see the Nithyananda channel. Similarly, if we tune our consciousness to completion and bliss, continuously even material wealth will shower on us. All I am telling you is, when you create the space of completion in you, so much of unimaginable, auspicious, and good things happen in your system which are incomprehensible.

Please listen! If I say: I am making a statement that if you acquire the space of completion in you, all your problems, externally and internally, melt away; all the moments of powerlessness, externally and internally, disappear from your life, you may think that it is too big a promise, too good to be true. I tell you, it is too small promise! Because, when you create the space of completion, whatever I promise like your external and internal problems will melt away, will be only a small benefit you will be having. We may think, ‘How can this be possible? How can this happen? What kind of words is Swamiji giving?’

But I tell you, it may feel it is difficult to understand. But start experimenting with creating the space of completion. I tell you with integrity and authenticity, I declare from my own authority, this verse is the solid truth. I can say this with authority because I experienced this truth for nine years. I tell you, this is a promise by the Divine. Nine years I lived in utter insecurity. I know Kṛṣṇa still proves His words. His words are guaranteed—yogakṣemaṁ vahaṁyahaṁ, He does! I can quote thousands of incidents from devotees’ lives. From so many devotees’ lives, Tukarām, Tulsidās and so many masters’ lives I can quote to support these words.

I can quote numerous incidents from my own life, from the life of people I have met. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 691 Let me tell you a small incident that happened in my own life during my days of spiritual wandering before the happening of enlightenment. I was staying in Hardiwar at a place called Kankhal. I was doing spiritual practice. Every day morning, I went for alms to places where they feed monks. In so many ashrams, they give alms to monks. I used to get my food, eat two or three rotis (Indian bread) and then start meditating. Suddenly, one day, I fell sick. I had a high temperature and diarrhea.

I was unable to walk. I thought, ‘What can be done? Alright! Let it be.’ Suddenly, a young Sannyāsi came from nowhere and gave me food. Not only for one day but continuously for three to four days, he came; he brought food for me. Not only food, he brought medicine also. I asked him, ‘Who are you? Where have you come from?’ He said, ‘Oh, my name is Śaṅkar. They call me Śaṅkar Mahārāj. I stay at a nearby ashram called Sādhana Sadan.’ He pointed towards a distant place and said that is where he stayed. Everyday he brought me food and medicine till I recovered. He came for at least four days.

Because he came everyday, I talked with him. We became acquainted. I saw that he wore a beautiful pen with a diamond in it. I was surprised at how a monk got a diamond pen. I asked, ‘What is this, Swami?’ He said, ‘This is a diamond pen. Some devotee gave it to me. It looks nice, so I wear it.’ Anyhow, I did not bother about it. After several days, when I returned to normal, he stopped coming. By then, I was okay. Then I thought, ‘I must go and see him. Now I can walk and move, so I should go and see him.’ I felt a little connected to him because he served me.

I felt I must thank him. After a week, when I became completely alright, I started walking. I went to this ashram and asked an elderly person sitting there, ‘Swamiji, I want to see Śaṅkar Mahārāj.’ The Swami said, ‘Śaṅkar? Who are you talking about?’ I said, ‘I want to see Śaṅkar, a young swami. I met him two to three days ago. He came everyday and brought me food. Is this Sādhana Sadan?’ This Swami replied, ‘Yes, this is Sādhana Sadan. In our ashram, there is only one Śaṅkar. Go to the temple and see. He is the only Śankar Mahāraj we have!’ He pointed towards their temple. I tell you, what I am telling is the truth.

When I entered the temple, I saw a Śiva deity as a white marble statue with a cloth draped on His upper body, and wearing the same diamond pen on Him! Of course, tears rolled down from my eyes. So much gratitude overflowed. Later, I asked the temple priest, ‘How did this pen come to Śiva? Who put a pen on Śiva’s statue?’ He said, ‘One week ago, a devotee came and offered the pen. It looked nice and he said it was a diamond pen. We just wanted to decorate Śiva with diamond jewelry. So we put the pen on Him.’ It was the same pen! The very same diamond pen!

I asked, ‘Who gave a pen to Śiva?’ Other jewelry, we can understand, but a pen? He replied, ‘I don’t know. A devotee came and offered this pen. I asked, Why should a Sannyāsi have a diamond pen? I will give it to God instead. So I put it on Śiva. I just inserted it into Śiva’s clothes.’ He then continued, ‘For the last few days all the food of- Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 693 fering, prasād that we place in front of Him, disappears. I suspect that rats have been eating the food. So now I am careful. I sit for a while after placing the food for Śaṅkar Mahārāj.’

I did not want to tell him that I was the rat who ate Śaṅkar Mahārāj’s food! During the 2006 Himalayan trip I searched for this ashram and Śankar Mahāraj’s temple with my devotees. After many years, it was still the same, the same temple and the same Śankar Mahāraj; but no diamond pen now! Of course, I do not ask you to believe the whole thing because of this one incident. But you can experiment in your life. You may say, ‘This is your experience. How can this be truth for us, Swamiji?’ An ordinary mind doubts. Let me tell you that your consciousness, your inner space has the quality to create miracles in your lives.

Miracles can happen in your life. What you need, you will receive. Continuously, miracles are happening. Let me try to show you how miracles might have happened in your lives. You might have noticed, when the telephone rings, you suddenly remember a friend’s name. When you pick up the phone, that same friend is on the line. Or at times, you remember a person and when you open the door, that very same person stands there. This is what I call the power of coincidence! These are miracles in their own way. In each one of us, the power to create the space, exists. All we need to do is create that space.

Understand that we have the power to create the space and cause our reality. Trust that your Consciousness is connected to the Universe. Continuously, the Universe cares for you. The Divine waits for you. It responds to your thoughts. We create what we want. Just as we create the whole world in our dream, we have the power to create the world when we are conscious, when we are in the waking state. When we can create a world in the dream state, can’t we create that in the waking state? We can do it. Even now, we create our world. Next question, ‘If we are creating our world, why do we create so many miseries, Swamiji?’

The answer is simple. We do so because we have vested interests in our sufferings. Please be very clear. We have vested interests in our sufferings. Somewhere we feel comfortable when we suffer. So we create the whole thing. Bliss Attracts Fortune When our inner consciousness changes, when we reside in eternal consciousness, we automatically attract the power of coincidence. We attract the power of creating the space and causing our reality. The moment we understand, that the whole Universe is pervaded by the Existential energy of Viṣṇu, we attract Lakṣmi, Viṣṇu’s Consort who represents wealth! When we understand that the whole Universe is Divine, when we experience Viṣṇu, meaning when we experience eternal bliss, we attract Lakṣmi, wealth!

There is a beautiful mantra in tantra śāstras: ‘ānanda kamaprānaḥ’ that means ‘bliss attracts fortune.’ When we create a blissful inner space, automatically we attract external wealth. Tell me, what creates wealth? We need three things: clear integrated thinking, a creative authentic mind that aligns our thoughts and words, and the ability to make spontaneous decisions. The ability to respond spontaneously to any situation with the truth, that we are responsible for everything happening inside and outside us, is responsibility. Just let your inner space be completely integrated with the words you utter. If we are able to respond spontaneously to any situation standing with the strength of integrity and authenticity, we take that responsibility.

We need integrity, the power of words that brings the experience of completion with ourselves and with life. We need authenticity, the power of thinking that expresses as the peak of our creativity and the power of feeling to take responsibility. Only these three Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 695 create wealth and preserve wealth. If we enter the bliss space, if we keep our inner space blissful, if we enter into bliss consciousness, all three automatically happen to us. Automatically, these three powers: integrity, authenticity and responsibility happen to us. Then wealth will be created around us and it will also stay with us to enrich us and others.

It is not that we should be showered only by a lottery. Wealth can come simply by creating a blissful inner space and such wealth stays with us, it is everlasting. Please listen, whomsoever wins through a lottery never preserves it! Without knowing the value of it, they simply blow it away. Wealth comes by intelligence. When it comes by intelligence, it stays with you. When we take care of our inner space, automatically, the outer space showers on us. We become a blessing for planet Earth and it blesses us by showering on us. Existence responds to our inner bliss and blesses us. Never think that Existence is not alive.

Never think that the Universe is mere matter. It is live intelligence. People ask me, ‘Swamiji, I am searching for a Guru. I feel inspired to do spiritual practice. But I need a Guru.’ I tell them, ‘If your search is intense, God sends you the Guru. He never misses His responsibility. If you do not have the right Guru, the right Master, it means, something is seriously wrong with your seeking.’ If our seeking is authentic, straightaway the Master happens in our life. He never delays. He has a much faster system than UPS or any other overnight delivery service. He can deliver in seconds. He never delays. The Divine never delays.

Please listen! All we need to do is transform our inner space to the space of completion, the space of eternal bliss. The first thing is to understand this secret. Whether we believe it or not, it is the truth: a basic secret. Once we enter spiritual life, once we decide we want to lead a spiritual life, all our worldly things are taken care of by the Divine. It responds to whatever we need and it takes care of whatever we have. We may ask funny questions, ‘Swamiji, from today onwards if I stop working, will I have everything?’ If we enter the spiritual mood, if we enter the meditative life, we will never think of dropping our work.

Why would we think of dropping our work? We will only drop our worries about work. Then we will work in a much better way to our peak capability. Automatically we will work out of completion. We will have tremendous confidence, ‘The whole of Existence protects me. The whole of Existence is my friend. I am not an enemy of this Whole. I am a friend of this Whole.’ When we understand that we are a friend of the whole of Existence, even after death we will not disappear because we know we will be there in the Universe in some form; that there is nothing to worry about. I tell you this from experience: It is practical.

From experience I tell you, we never perish. We continue to exist, in some form, somewhere. Even if we become enlightened, we become a pure conscious energy. We will be there, everywhere. We never die when we understand that Existence is intelligence. Life After Life

9.25

यान्ति देवव्रता देवान्पितॄ न्यान्ति पितृव्रता: | भूतानि यान्ति भूतेज्या यान्ति मद्याजिनोऽपि माम्

yānti devavratā devān pitṛān yānti pitṛ vratāḥ / bhūtāni yānti bhūtejyā yānti madyājino’pi mām / / 9.25

Those who worship the deities will take birth among the deities; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; those who worship ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship Me will live with Me.

yānti — achieve · deva vratāḥ — worshipers of demigods · devān — to demigods · pitṛÃn — to ancestors · yānti — go · pitṛ vratāḥ — worshipers of the ancestors · bhūtāni — to ghosts and spirits · yānti — go · bhūtejyāḥ — worshippers of ghosts and spirits · yānti — go · mad — My · yājinaḥ — devotees · api — also · māṁ — unto Me.

9.26

पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति | तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मन:

patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati / tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ / / 9.26

Whoever offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flow- er, fruit or water, I will accept and consume what is offered by the pure-hearted.

patraṁ — a leaf · puṣpaṁ — a flower · phalaṁ — a fruit · toyaṁ — water · yaḥ — whoever · me — unto Me · bhaktyā — with devotion · prayacchati — offers · tat — that · ahaṁ — I · bhaktyupahṛtaṁ — offered in devotion · aśnāmi — accept · prayatātmanaḥ — of one in pure consciousness.

9.27

यत्करोषि यदश्नासि यज्जुहोषि ददासि यत् | यत्तपस्यसि कौन्तेय तत्कुरुष्व मदर्पणम्

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat / yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kuruṣva madarpaṇam / / 9.27

O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, give them as an offering to Me.

yat — whatever · karoṣi — you do · yat — whatever · aśnāsi — you eat · yat — whatever · juhoṣi — you offer · dadāsi — you give away · yat — whatever · tapasyasi — austerities you perform · kaunteya — O son of Kuntī · tat — that · kuruṣva — make · mat — unto Me · arpaṇaṁ — offering.

9.28

शुभाशुभफलैरेवं मोक्ष्यसे कर्मबन्धनै: | संन्यासयोगयुक्तात्मा विमुक्तो मामुपैष्यसि

śubhāśubha-phalair evaṁ mokṣyase karma-bandhanaiḥ / sannyāsa-yoga-yuktātmā vimukto māmupaiṣyasi / / 9.28

You will be freed from all reactions to good and evil deeds by this renunciation, You will be liberated and come to Me.

śubha — good · aśubha — evil · phalaiḥ — results · evaṁ — thus · mokṣyase — free · kar- ma — action · bandhanaiḥ — bondage · sannyāsa — of renunciation · yoga — the yoga · yuktātmā — having the mind firmly set on · vimuktaḥ — liberated · māṁ — to Me · upaiṣyasi — you will attain.

We should study and understand these verses very deeply. Kṛṣṇa talks about the life that we lead now. He talks about the birth that we will take next. Understand that our present life is a result of our previous life. Whether we believe it or not, accept it or not, this is the truth. There is life after death as long as we are not enlightened. Once we are enlightened, we merge into Universal Consciousness. Until then we take birth and go through the process of life and death. Kṛṣṇa talks about the kind of life that we lead now. The last thought that we have at the time of death determines our next birth, next life.

Please listen, our next life is completely dependent upon our last thought at the time of our death. If we think of money, we will be reborn as a rich man or as a dissatisfied man who always thinks about money. If we think of food, we will be reborn as a glutton or a pig. If we think of lazily elaxing, we will be reborn as a buffalo. This is the truth. Our last thought determines our first thought in our next life. Actually we need not go to the extent of life and death. We see this in daily life itself. Our last thought affects our first thought.

Every night we die and every morning we take birth. During the day, when we are in the waking state, we use our gross physical body or sthūla śarīra to carry on with our activities. When we sleep, if we have dreams, we use the subtle body or sūkṣma śarīra to travel to the places that we see in our dreams. When we are in deep sleep, when we have no dreams, then we are in our causal body or kāraṇa śarīra. When we sleep at night, we actually change bodies. We are not aware that this happens. When we dream, we see ourselves doing various things in the dream.

We run, talk, eat, and do everything in the dream. In our dream, we have created a world in which we live. If our body is on the bed, then who is this body in the dream? Our gross body is on the bed, while our subtle body is active in the dream. In the same way, the causal body is active during the deep sleep state. Now, when we sleep, we actually die and are reborn in the gross body in the morning. We see that our last thought before sleeping affects our first thought upon waking. If we come back from the office with a frustrated mood about our boss, we wake up with the same mood in the morning.

If we sleep with a blissful smile on our face, we will be happy the next morning. This is the reason I tell anyone who think that they are following me or want to follow me: do completion for forty-two minutes before you sleep every night. Always sleep in the space of completion. If you have a dreamless sleep, I guarantee, you will have birthless life! If you have dream-free sleep, you will have birth-free, death-free life! That’s all! Because, even to have a dream, you need incompletions! If you don’t have incompletions even to have dreams, how will you have Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 699 incompletions to have one more body?

So, whether you are going to have a body or not, is going to be decided only based on whether you are going to have dreams at night or not! While you sleep if you have a dream, you are going to have a body after death, unless the Master interferes and liberates you. If you don’t have dreams, be assured, you are already liberated, and you are going to be liberated once you leave the body, completely! When we do completions every night with full awareness, we enter a meditative state. In the meditative state, we can only be blissful. When we sleep in a blissful state, we wake up in the same state.

Whatever feeling we wake up with in the morning, that same feeling stays with us throughout the day. Listen, the first thought we have in the morning stays with us throughout the day. How many have felt this? If you wake up dull in the morning, you will be dull throughout the day. If you wake up energized, you will be active and energetic throughout the day. I tell people, ‘When you wake up, dance your way to the bathroom! Feel the toothpaste on your teeth, feel the water on your body when you bathe. Bring in full awareness to every action. I am telling you, start the day every morning with heavy yoga, heavy weight-lifting, like your whole body should really sweat!

That kind of heavy yoga and weight-lifting! Start the day with a blissful thought. For that we must sleep in the space of completion, in a blissful mood. Every night do completion and every morning do heavy weight-lifting and yoga! I tell you, just these two will make you enlightened. Because, every night completion will lead to vedic mind and every morning heavy yoga will lead to yogic body. And these two will take care the whole day that you will have enlightened living. That’s all! You don’t need any other spiritual practice. Exactly what happens everyday during sleep is exactly the same thing that happens during the time of death.

Be very clear, the process of sleep and the process of death are not different. During the process of death, the soul passes through seven energy layers. The next body it enters depends on the vāsana, or the carried-over desires, the root patters that it comes with, from the previous life. It takes up a body that can help shed that vāsana in the next life. Our soul always tries to merge with the colorless and formless universal consciousness. However, the vāsana creates a slight tinge on the soul and it cannot completely merge with the Universal consciousness. So the soul takes up another body that can help remove this tinge and help it merge.

Now it is up to us how we make use of this lifetime. We can either fulfill our unfulfilled desires of the previous life by completing with our root patterns or we can build new desires in this life and stay in the cycle of birth and death. The kind of life that the soul chooses in the next life depends entirely on the vāsana and the last thought at the time of death. People ask me, ‘Swamiji, I was not inclined towards spirituality at all. I was not into meditation; however, when I did the meditation I felt like I had been doing this for a long time. Why is it like that?’

Understand that you see only this life. You may not have done any meditation in this life. But you see a deep connection with meditation because you might have meditated in your previous life. You might have been a seeker in your previous life.You see, our next life depends on our last thought in this life. That does not mean that throughout our life we can think about money and food and suddenly at the time of death, we can say, ‘Rāma, Kṛṣṇa or Śiva.’ If we think about money, name and fame throughout our entire life, how can we expect to think about God when we leave our body?

Naturally we will only think about money. This is what Kṛṣṇa says in the first verse. When we are continuously aware of the Existential energy, when we continuously meditate on It, when our thoughts are on it all the time, whatever we may call it: Kṛṣṇa, Rama, Buddha, Universe, Parāśakti or anything, we will have only the same thought when we leave the body also. That is enough. We will start living with this energy. And It will ensure that our next birth takes us closer to this energy and liberates us from the cycle of birth and death. Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 701 In Simplicity Lies Greatness He says next: ‘If one offers Me with love and devotion, a leaf, flower, fruit or water, I will accept it,’ He says, ‘The Existence, the Divine is so alive that It responds to even simple things.’

Listen, He doesn’t say, I accept only big things. He says, even simple things, I accept. patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati I tadahaṁ bhaktyupahṛtam aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ II 9.26 ‘If one offers Me a leaf, flower, fruit or water with love and devotion, I will accept it.’ This is the greatness of the Divine. The greatness of the Lord is that He is simple. Simplicity is the greatness of the Lord. Listen, simplicity is the real greatness. To be big, you don’t need intelligence. Any one can show himself as big. Simplicity is the great quality of the Divine. He says, ‘Just a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a little water... simple things are enough.

I accept it. I am pleased. I respond to it.’ He says in the fourth verse of this chapter: mayā tatam idam sarvaṁ jagadvyaktamūrtinā I am all-pervading, great, ultimate, divine. Now, He says even though He is all-pervading, even though He is big, He accepts any small thing given with love and devotion. One major problem: Even if we know somebody is big or great, we can’t relate with him unless he relates with us, unless he comes down to our level. Real greatness is not only being great. He must be able to relate with everybody. Otherwise, even if he is great, what can be done about it? Many people in India know that great Masters are there.

Again and again, they tell me, ‘Yes, I know they are there, Swamiji. But how can I relate with them? They are somewhere. They are great, no doubt. Yet I have no way to relate with them. I have no way to establish communication with them.’ Here, Kṛṣṇa creates a way, even for ordinary people to relate with Him. On the one side, He shows His greatness. He declares with authority His greatness. On the other side, He shows us how to relate with Him. He says, ‘Even if you offer a leaf, flower, fruit or water with love, I accept it. I relate with it.’ That is why, from time immemorial, enlightened masters are requested to live by begging, so that people can relate with them.

In India, Sannyāsis live by begging. Even Buddha lived by begging. See, Buddha didn’t beg because He wanted food. He can sit in His place and kings will bring food for Him! He comes down to beg so that we can relate with Him. We will feel He is a human being. When we give food, we talk to Him, we relate with Him, we feel that He is like us. To make us feel comfortable, He comes down to our level. Modern day psychology has a beautiful term, ‘zeroing down the distance’. To zero down the distance, Buddha begs. Here Kṛṣṇa zeroes down the distance completely. The distance between the Divine and us is zeroed down.

That is the next important truth Kṛṣṇa reveals. First thing Kṛṣṇa reveals is: He proves that the whole Cosmic energy, the whole Universe is intelligence. Next, the moment we understand it is intelligence,werelaxfromalltension,worry,fearandinsecurity.Hemakes us understand that He is next to us and we can relate with Him easily. See, as long as we think the world is material, matter, we feel like protecting ourselves from it. We feel that is the Whole and we are part. We fight with the Whole. That is why we feel deeply uprooted. We don’t feel connected and relaxed. We don’t feel homely because we fight with the Whole. The moment we understand we are part of the Whole, the Whole is the intelligence that responds to our thoughts, to our being, which responds to our consciousness, we relax into enlightenment!

I tell people, this verse is the lazy man’s guide to enlightenment! If we are lazy, if we want enlightenment, this verse is the right way! The only way! Understand that the Universe is intelligence. It responds to our thoughts, words, actions and consciousness. When we understand this, Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 703 we immediately relax and rest and enter divine consciousness, eternal consciousness. Next, He says, ‘When you drop yourself into the Eternal Consciousness, I take care of your yoga and kṣema. I take care of whatever you lack. I will supply what you lack and preserve what you have.’ Next He says, ‘Even a simple leaf, water or a fruit or flower when you offer with love and devotion, I accept it.’

Please be very clear, He is not asking because He doesn’t have these things. When you give a pack of cookies to your child and he opens it, you say, ‘Give one to mummy!’ It is not that we don’t have a cookie or we want it. But if the child opens the pack, picks up a cookie and gives it to us, how happy we feel! We brought the cookies. However, when the child gives it back to us, we feel beautiful. We feel connected. And we know he wants to connect and relate with us. Similarly, when we offer something to the Divine, don’t think that He does not have and so you are offering.

He is the one who gives everything to us in the first place! But when we offer, we show to the Divine: I want to connect to you. We show the Master, ‘Oh Lord, I want to connect to you.’ And the Master feels, ‘When he wants to connect to Me, let Me connect to him.’ We show a green signal for the Divine to enter into our space. I tell people, ‘Don’t go to the temple empty-handed. Take at least two or three fruits. At least, take a few dollars. Take whatever you have. Always offer something to the Divine. Never think that the Divine doesn’t have and so I am asking you to take these things.

By giving to the Divine, you express a willing attitude to relate with Him. When you offer it to the Divine, He accepts it and He relates.’ Again and again, out of His compassion Kṛṣṇa reveals truths and techniques to Arjuna to liberate him. That is the job of an Incarnation. He comes down to the Earth to liberate as many as He can. Enlightened Masters are compassionate. They want everyone to become enlightened, liberated. In these verses, Kṛṣṇa asks Arjuna to surrender everything to Him. I tell you, surrendering to an Enlightened Master, an Incarnation is the easiest way to become enlightened. Be very clear, if we can surrender completely to the Universal energy or an Enlightened Master, we become enlightened.

If we can surrender every action to the supreme Self, we experience a great sense of liberation. We constantly worry. We are always tense. Again and again we think of the future or past. Why do we do that? Why do we always have a long face? We take too much on our shoulders. We think we do everything. We boost our ego when we do things successfully. When they do not go according to our plan, our ego is hurt. We think, ‘How can I go wrong? How can my plan go wrong?’ Our ego is working continuously. It is either getting excited or getting hurt. In this process, what do we do?

We think, ‘How can I keep the ego continuously excited or how can I stop the ego from getting hurt?’ We again and again think of ways to keep our ego in the excited state or look for ways to stop our ego from getting hurt. We do not understand that by letting go, by surrendering to the Existential energy, we will be free, completely free. All our burdens will be gone. We do not realize this. All Enlightened Masters have spoken about surrender. It is the easiest way; however we make it the most difficult due to our ego. Levels of Surrender There are three levels in which we can surrender to the Existential energy.

The first level or basic level of surrender, is that of our actions. Whatever we do, whatever our actions are, surrender them to the Universal energy. All our actions, whether good or bad, when we surrender, will be taken care of. This is the basic level. Kṛṣṇa clearly says this in these verses, ‘All your reactions to good and evil will be taken care of, if you offer all your actions, all your austerities to me.’ So many people offer worship every day in the temple. If they do Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 705 that with the ego that they are doing it, then all they do is chant some verses mechanically and throw some flowers on the deity, that’s all.

When worship is done, when you chant verses, do it with full surrender to the Divine. Do it as if it were your last prayer. Feel the prayer. Put in your complete awareness and surrender it to the Divine. That should be the feeling when you do anything. Not just prayers, everything that we do should be done with that level of surrender. When we surrender, we feel light. You see, when we surrender, our efficiency goes up. This is true! When we surrender our actions, we are not bothered about what will happen in the future. We know that now the ball is in His court; He will take care of whatever is going to happen; He knows best.

When we surrender our actions, we put our entire burden on His shoulders. Whatever good or bad happens, He is now responsible and we also know that He can never do anything wrong. The second level of surrender is that of intellect and mind. The first level is easier compared to this. When I say surrender our actions, we can say, ‘Okay, I have done it.’ But surrendering our mind is more difficult because it is not in our hands. You see, we can see our actions. We can say, ‘O God, I have surrendered my actions to you.’ But now will our mind keep quiet? No. It will keep saying, ‘No, no, no.

How can you do that? How can you not think about your future?’ Our mind continuously analyzes! One more thing, when I speak great truths, your mind analyzes them using its limited intellect. It thinks, ‘What is He saying? Maybe it is possible for Him; but it is not for me. I can’t think of completely surrendering myself to the Divine.’ Your mind always looks for opportunities to hold you back. It logically analyzes using the intelligence it has. When I say there are eleven dimensions in our system, you think, ‘What are you saying, Swamiji? How is it possible?’ This is what I mean by surrender of mind and intellect.

When you surrender your mind and intellect to the universal energy, you experience great truths. When you do not surrender, your intellect continuously stops you from moving forward. Once you surrender, you experiment and you see quantum progress. You go beyond words. You start to experience. The third and the most difficult level of surrender is that of the senses. A history from Mahābhārat illustrates this: Once, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were walking outdoors. While they walked, Kṛṣṇa suddenly pointed at a crow on the tree and told Arjuna, ‘Hey Arjuna, can you see that green crow?’ Arjuna replied, ‘Yes Kṛṣṇa, I see it. I see the green crow.’ After some time, Kṛṣṇa pointed to another crow and said, ‘Arjuna, can you see that black crow?’

Arjuna immediately replied, ‘Yes Kṛṣṇa, I see the black crow.’ Kṛṣṇa asked Arjuna, ‘Are you a fool? Earlier when I showed a green crow, you said you can see a green crow. Now when I showed a black crow, you say you can see a black crow. Are you a fool? How can a crow be green?’ Arjuna replied, ‘O Kṛṣṇa, I don’t know all that. When you asked me to see a green crow, I saw a green crow. Now when you asked me to see a black crow, I saw a black crow.’ This is surrender of the senses! Arjuna had surrendered completely to Kṛṣṇa. He had surrendered even his senses to Kṛṣṇa.

If the Master says something, the disciple takes it as it is. That is the level of surrender. When we reach this level of surrender, we are one with the Divine. The Divine takes cares of us. Kṛṣṇa says this clearly. Every Enlightened Master makes this promise. When we surrender ourselves to the Master, to the Divine, to the Universal energy, it takes care of us. When we offer all our actions to the Universal energy, It takes care of us. The entire burden on our shoulders is offloaded. This is the promise of every Enlightened Master. Anyone Can Reach Me

9.29

समोऽहं सर्वभूतेषु न मे द्वेष्योऽस्ति न प्रिय: | ये भजन्ति तु मां भक्त्या मयि ते तेषु चाप्यहम्

samo’haṁ sarvabhūteṣu na me dveṣyo’sti na priyaḥ / ye bhajanti tu māṁ bhaktyā mayi te teṣu cā’pyaham / / 9.29

I am equal to all beings. No one to Me is hateful or dear. But, whoever worships, offers enriching service onto Me in devotion, is in Me and I am also indeed in him.

samaḥ — equally disposed · ahaṁ — I · sarva bhūteṣu — to all living entities · na — no ne · me — Mine · dveṣyaḥ — hateful · asti — is · na — nor · priyaḥ — dear · ye — those · bhajanti — render transcendental service · tu — yet · māṁ — unto Me · bhaktyā — in devotion · mayi — unto Me · te — such persons · teṣu — in them · ca — also · api — certainly · ahaṁ — I.

9.30

अपि चेत्सुदुराचारो भजते मामनन्यभाक् | साधुरेव स मन्तव्य: सम्यग्व्यवसितो हि स:

api cet sudurācāro bhajate māmananyabhāk / sādhureva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ / / 9.30

Even if the most sinful person engages himself in devotional service, He is to be considered saintly because he is properly situated in his determination.

api — in spite of · cet — although · sudurācāraḥ — one committing the most abomi- nable actions · bhajate — engaged in devotional service · māṁ — unto Me · anany- abhāk — without deviation · sādhuḥ — saint · eva — certainly · saḥ — he · mantavyaḥ — to be considered · samyak — completely · vyavasitaḥ — situated · hi — certainly · saḥ — he.

9.31

क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति | कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्त: प्रणश्यति

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvacchāntiṁ nigacchati / kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati / / 9.31

He quickly becomes righteous and attains lasting peace. O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.

kṣipraṁ — very soon · bhavati — becomes · dharmātmā — righteous · śaśvat śāntiṁ — lasting peace · nigacchati — attains · kaunteya — O son of Kuntī · pratijānīhi — justly declare · na — never · me — Mine · bhaktaḥ — devotees · praṇaśyati — perishes.

9.32

मां हि पार्थ व्यपाश्रित्य येऽपि स्यु: पापयोनय: | स्त्रियो वैश्यास्तथा शूद्रास्तेऽपि यान्ति परां गतिम्

mām hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye’pi syuḥ pāpayonayaḥ / striyo vaiśyāstathā śūdrās te’pi yānti parāṁ gatim / / 9.32

O Pārtha (son of Prithā), anyone who takes shelter in Me, women, traders, workers or even sinners can approach the Supreme destination.

māṁ — unto Me · hi — certainly · pārtha — O son of Prtha · vyapāśritya — particu- larly taking shelter · ye — anyone · api — also · syuḥ — becomes · pāpayonayaḥ — born of a lower family · striyaḥ — women · vaiśyāḥ — mercantile people · tathā — also · śūdrāḥ — people considered low-born · te api — even they · yānti — go · parāṁ — supreme · gatiṁ — destination.

9.33

किं पुनर्ब्राह्मणा: पुण्या भक्ता राजर्षयस्तथा | अनित्यमसुखं लोकमिमं प्राप्य भजस्व माम्

kiṁ punar brāhmaṇāḥ puṇyā bhaktā rājarṣayas tathā / anityam asukhaṁ lokam imaṁ prāpya bhajasva mām / / 9.33

How easier then it is for the learned, the righteous, the devotees and saintly kings who in this temporary miserable world engage in loving service unto Me.

kiṁ — how much · punaḥ — again · brāhmaṇāḥ — brahmanas · puṇyāḥ — righteous · bhaktāḥ — devotees · rājarṣayaḥ — saintly kings · tathā — also · anityaṁ — temporary · asukhaṁ — sorrowful · lokaṁ — planet · imaṁ — this · prāpya — gaining · bhajasva — are engaged in loving service · māṁ — unto Me.

9.34

मन्मना भव मद्भक्तो मद्याजी मां नमस्कुरु | मामेवैष्यसि युक्त्वैवमात्मानं मत्परायण:

manmanā bhava madbhakto madyājī māṁ namaskuru / māmevaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ matparāyaṇaḥ / / 9.34

Fix your mind on Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me, and bow down to Me. Thus, uniting yourself with Me by setting Me as the supreme goal and the sole refuge, you shall certainly come to Me.

manmanāḥ — always thinking of Me · bhava — become · mad — My · bhaktaḥ — dev- otee · madyājī — My worshiper · māṁ — unto Me · namaskuru — offer obeisances · māṁ — unto Me · eva — completely · eṣyasi — come · yuktvā evaṁ — being absorbed · ātmānaṁ — your soul · matparāyaṇaḥ — devoted to Me.

An Enlightened Master wants nothing from this world. After realizing the supreme knowledge, he is beyond material pursuits, what can he want from anybody? He is here out of his compassion to awaken mankind into this reality. A true Master is never envious of anybody. Envy enters us when we think that somebody else has something we do not have and something that we want. There is nothing wrong with desiring something because we need it. See, each one of us is born with a certain set of desires and we bring with us the energy to fulfill them also. Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi says beautifully, ‘The Universe has enough to satisfy each man’s needs; however it does not have enoughto satisfy a single man’s wants.’

Our needs become wants when we look at others and accumulate their desires into our own list. If you notice in life, most of our actions are governed by comparing our lives with others. Buddha says, ‘Nothing exists but in relationship.’ See, all adjectives of good, bad, tall, thin, ugly or beautiful, come when you compare with others, right? Something is good because something else is bad in comparison to that. So, our lives are run by constant comparison with those around us. When we have a clear context about what we really want, then we will spend all our energies in fulfilling those needs, without worrying about what others want or think.

In this verse, Kṛṣṇa says that he does not dislike anybody. He also says that He is not partial to anyone. Normally, in our lives we are partial to those who are helpful to us. From childhood, we are taught to love those who are potentially useful in our lives, based on what we get back in return. Everything has been reduced to a business transaction. If someone is nice to us, we are nice to them. If someone says something that hurts us, they become our enemies. We are vulnerable to the outside world, to what others say and do. As long as we are beggars, we differentiate a rich man from a poor man.

A beggar is constantly seeking, begging. A beggar is on the road begging money; we are in temples begging God for something or the other. There is no real difference! This is what we do all the time, with or without our knowledge. My Devotee Never Perishes An Enlightened Master wants nothing. He gives constantly. He radiates love because that is his true nature. He does not care who receives it; he simply gives. A river flows happily from one region to the other all the way from the hills to the ocean. It meets various kinds of stones and grass along the way. All kinds of people bathe in it; even buffaloes bathe in it.

Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 709 Doestheriverdifferentiate?Doestheriversay,‘No,Iwillgivewateronlyto such and such a person?’ No! A river flows continuously, happily without bothering about who comes in contact with it. The same is the case with an Enlightened Master. Now Kṛṣṇa says, ‘If one is engaged in devotional service, then even if he commits the most abominable actions, he is considered saintly. He quickly becomes eternal and attains Eternal consciousness. O Kaunteya (son of Kuntī), declare it boldly, that My devotee never perishes.’ He goes on to say that His devotee never perishes. He says, ‘Not only I am declaring to you, you declare to the whole world, My devotee never perishes.’

He says in the verse: kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati I kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati II 9.31 ‘He who quickly becomes righteous and understands this truth, enters into eternal bliss, eternal consciousness, O Kaunteya; declare it boldly, pratijānīhi means ‘declare it boldly’, that my devotee never perishes, na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati.’ Understand that Existence is intelligence. You will never perish, you will never die because you will be in Existence somewhere in some form. This body may move; however you will be there forever. When we understand the whole Cosmic energy is intelligence, our whole life will be blessed with what we want. Whatever we lack will be supplied and whatever we have will be preserved.

And I tell you a practical thing. Consciously decide, ‘From today I will live in the space of completion and bliss, in a blissful mood, in a blissful way, in utterly relaxed consciousness.’ I promise you will attract Lakṣmī (goddess of wealth). You will attract wealth. You will create much more than a goldsmith. When we really, intensely understand this truth—the whole Universe is energy, the whole Existence is energy—please listen, yoga (success) and kṣema (protection) happen in our life. Let me tell you from my personal experience. I can quote so many great devotees’ lives, where the Divine came down and served them, where the Divine took care of them.

When Mirābāi was poisoned, Sri Kṛṣṇa came and protected her. So many millions of stories I can narrate! But let me tell you about my own life. Since I left home, when I was seventeen, I have lived without touching money. With one water pot, with this two-piece robe, walking the length and breadth of India, living under trees, begging and eating, I have lived. I tell you, whether you want it or not, accept it or not, believe it or not, the Divine always protects. This is the solid truth. When we understand this truth, not only in this world, wherever we go, we are protected. We relax into the consciousness that Existence continuously protects us, takes care of us.

When we think that the Whole is our enemy, we will be continuously antagonizing it. When we understand that the Whole is our friend, we will relax and enjoy the whole of Existence. Making our life into hell or heaven is dependent upon understanding this single verse, understanding Existence and trusting it. Understanding Rituals The whole chapter reveals this single secret, that is—the Cosmic energy, the whole Universe is intelligence. It responds to our thoughts, again and again. It answers our dreams, our thoughts and our very consciousness. Again and again Kṛṣṇa talks about the correct understanding and context of rituals and sacrifices to God. We see many people going to the temple.

They take one hundred and one coconuts and break them in front of the deity. In the Tirupati temple of Lord Venkaṭeśvara (incarnation of Śrī Viṣṇu), people offer their hair as a sacrifice. If we offer hair and pray Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 711 and come back home, nothing is going to happen. When we offer something, it represents the surrender of our ego. When we sacrifice our hair in Tirupati, we surrender our ego to Lord Venkaṭeśvara. When we break a coconut, the shell of the ego is broken into pieces. But what generally happens? When we do some sacrifice, we think we did something great.

All the sacrifices that we make are only to boost our ego. Listen, if a sacrifice is made with complete gratitude and surrender, it is an enriching sacrifice. Sacrificing in temples has become a two-way business. People who act out of ego make a business deal with God, ‘I will donate so much money for the temple; leave one spot for me in heaven.’ Another class of people sit outside the temple and make money from sacrifices. People ask me, ‘Are sacrifices wrong? Is worship and sacrifice for a particular deity wrong?’ No, it is not wrong; but understand that we are not worshipping or sacrificing to that one particular deity.

We must go beyond that. When we make a sacrifice from our being, we merge with the Existential energy. Every deity will then appear the same. Everything is Kṛṣṇa or Rama, Śiva or Buddha. This is what Kṛṣṇa says here. He is the only enjoyer of all sacrifices. When we understand His transcendental nature in everything around us, any small thing that we give from our whole being to even a rock becomes a sacrifice. That rock need not be carved into a statue of Kṛṣṇa or Śiva. We need not name it because we see the energy behind that rock. These two verses must be carefully understood. If not, they can be conveniently used as a justification to do whatever one wants.

See, Kṛṣṇa does not give a license to do whatever we want here. If we are classifying an action as good, bad, saintly or sinful based on guidelines laid down by society or someone else, then be very clear we operate at the conscience level. No action is good or bad in itself. The entire situation, the whole context should be considered. The act may remain the same; however, the situation and the context might have completely changed. A small story: There was a snake that lived in a village. It bit the villagers even if they didn’t disturb it. Nobody dared to go close to it. The entire area where it used to stay was feared.

Nobody entered that area. One day a monk passed by that village and saw that the villagers did not approach that area. On enquiring, he understood the situation. He asked the snake, ‘Why do you bite everyone? What do you gain from being so violent? Everyone fears you!’ On listening to the monk’s words, the snake promised he would mend his ways from that day onwards. Days passed by. Slowly, there was a change in the scene in the village. The snake stopped bothering everyone. It lay quietly in one place. People started to test it by poking it with a stick to confirm that the snake had really softened up.

The snake never reacted. They now started torturing the snake. Kids from the nearby village threw stones at it. They ill-treated the snake and played with it. The snake quietly allowed all of this without uttering a word. Soon, the snake was reduced to almost a pulp and lost all life and vigor. After a few months, the monk once again passed by that village. He was shocked to see the condition of the snake. He enquired what happened and the snake told him all that had happened. The monk asked, ‘I told you only not to bite; did I tell you not to hiss?’ You see, this is what happens when we operate from our conscience, from the wrong context.

Because somebody said something, if we apply it blindly without considering the present situation and context. We invite trouble for ourselves. In this case, the monk’s advice was taken literally Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 713 and the snake ended up suffering. There is a deeper layer of operation called Consciousness. In Consciousness, we become spontaneous. When consciousness flowers, we know what is the context, what needs to be done at that point in time. When this happens, whatever is done is for the good of everyone. Even if an action seems to violate the norms of society, it is always for the good of humanity. Kṛṣṇa killing demons may appear like the act of a criminal.

Yet He established truthfulness and justice by doing it. Please listen. When devotion matures, consciousness flowers. Devotion may seem different from knowledge when it is not ripe. Kṛṣṇa says that His devotee never perishes. Devotion is not simply offering worship daily to Kṛṣṇa’s photo, lighting camphor, lamps and offering garlands. When one is a true devotee of Kṛṣṇa, he becomes Kṛṣṇa. He experiences Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The ultimate consciousness is where no good, bad, evil or virtue exists. Devotion, knowledge and wisdom appear to be different when they are not ripe. When they mature, they become the same. One experiences true wisdom at the peak of devotion or peak of knowledge.

Let me tell you about Triveni Sangam, what is called Prayag in India. It is a confluence of three sacred rivers—Gaṇgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī, near the city of Allahabad. While Gaṇgā and Yamunā are visible, the third, Sarasvatī flows underground and becomes visible only at the point of merging. Gaṇgā is the river of Lord Śiva and stands for knowledge or jñāna. All Śiva temples are on the banks of river Gaṇgā. Yamunā is the river of Lord Kṛṣṇa and stands for devotion or bhakti. All Kṛṣṇa temples are on the banks of river Yamunā. When Gaṇgā and Yamuna merge, when knowledge and devotion merge, Sarasvatī or wisdom automatically happens!

Unless this merging happens, we cannot see or experience wisdom. That is why Sarasvatī remains hidden until the point of merging! The last two verses can be misunderstood if misinterpreted. Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Anyone can reach Me through devotion, whether they are women, traders or workers, or even sinners.’ He makes a point that there is no pre-qualification. Even in the age of Kṛṣṇa, there was a distinction between various trades as well as between men and women. Kṛṣṇa is pragmatic in acknowledging this fact and is not trying to justify the distinction. Someone asked Ramaṇa Mahaṛṣi whether he was qualified to enter a spiritual path. Ramaṇa asked him, ‘Are you still breathing?’

Taken aback the man said, ‘Yes.’ Ramaṇa said that was qualification enough; if he was alive, he was qualified. Kṛṣṇa’s message is the same. All one needs is devotion to attain Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Nothing else is needed. In the Vedic system, the caste system was a scientific practice to enable each one’s potential to radiate. The varṇa or caste system practiced by Hindus from time immemorial had its roots in the gurukul education. Actually varṇa meant vocation, which was determined by the Master for each child. It was not based upon birth as birthright, rather it was based upon aptitude. Unfortunately, over time this practice became a birthright. This corruption of such a scientific practice has led to many social inequalities and injustices.

The son of a brāhmaṇa has no right to call himself a brāhmaṇa, unless he has the aptitude. In our ashram, we have brahmacāri priests, who are of faiths other than Hindu. In no way are these young priests inferior to any brāhmaṇa. The point Kṛṣṇa makes here is that irrespective of caste, a person who has faith and devotion to Him can attain Him. Even if a person does not lead the life of a brāhmaṇa, he can reach and experience the ultimate consciousness. A person may follow any profession; however, if his inner space is cleansed, he can attain and experience Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Now, a brāhmaṇa is exposed to the scriptures and is trained to attain the knowledge of the ultimate Truth.

He is exposed to the atmosphere that is conducive for meditation and other spiritual practices in the ashram. How much easier it is for a brāhmaṇa! See, if Kṛṣṇa is so accessible for anybody, then imagine how much more accessible He is for a person constantly engaged in His thoughts! Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 715 All practices, like meditation and rituals, cleanse the inner space and allow the space of completion to flower. When this space is cleansed, transformation automatically happens. Many times people tell me, ‘Swamiji, I have been meditating for twenty five years.’ They tell me this proudly. I tell them, ‘What a shame, if even after twenty five years of meditation, this remains your state!’

Always Think Of Me In the last verse of this chapter Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Engage your mind, always thinking of Me.’ Please understand that the whole Universe, the whole Cosmos is intelligence and it responds to our thoughts, it responds to our consciousness, to our very being. man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru I mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam ātmānaṁ mat-parāyaṇaḥ II 9.34 Let me narrate an incident from my life: Some time after Enlightenment, I was sitting in a forest in Tamil Nadu. There was a big snake lying just next to me. I had my eyes open but was resting in the universal consciousness, in a meditative mood of restful awareness.

Several hours must have passed before I came out of my meditative state and the first thought that came to my mind was, ‘Oh, it is a snake.’ As long as I was in the meditative state, I did not think of the snake. You will be surprised that as soon as the thought of the snake came to my mind, the snake began to realize that I was a man! It looked up, put down its hood and moved away. The fear in me triggered the fear in the snake. The entire Universe responds to each and every thought that we have. It is pure intelligence. So we must be careful and integrated to what we think.

When you start listening to you, integrity happens in you. We are careful when we talk to others to make sure nobody is hurt. However when it comes to ourselves, we treat our inside worse than a garbage can. Almost all the time, you use very loose words inside you and outside you. A continuous stream of random thoughts, worries, fantasy, etc. goes on all the time. It is like a continuous television going on inside and we have misplaced the remote control to stop it! Please listen! Integrity does not mean only fulfilling the word you utter in front of people. Integrity is honoring the words and thoughts that happen inside you, even when you are in your bedroom or bathroom.

For example, suppose you utter a word, ‘I commit with me that I will do morning yoga properly.’ Then, you should give your life to fulfill it. Listen, the commitment you make to others is word, the commitment you make to yourself is thought. Whenever some people come and tell me, ‘I surrender to you,’ I laugh at them. We use loose words; we speak so casually. Each word you utter and honor integrates you, strengthens you. Each time you don’t respect or honor your word, you are weakened. Understand, each time you honor the words you give to others, their confidence in you grows. Each time you honor the word you give to yourself, your confidence in you grows.

Success is nothing but you having confidence in you and others having confidence in you. That is all. Life is complete. See, our inner space reflects the outer incidents. The entire Universe responds beautifully to each and every thought. That is why it is so important to keep our inner space cleansed and complete. The thought patterns that happen inside can be cleansed with integrity and kept in the space of positivity. When the thought patterns are positive, only positive incidents are attracted. Listen! Take the words you utter in your inner space very seriously. The most powerful being in your life is telling you, ‘tathāstu! tathāstu (so be it)!’ to whatever words you utter.

Who is that being? YOU! He is sitting inside you as the antaryāmi (inner being) and saying ‘tathāstu! tathāstu! tathāstu!’ to whatever you utter. If you utter the words, ‘I am the most healthiest person, I am going to live until Swamiji lives in the body,’ the inner most being says, ‘tathāstu! Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ Secret Of All Secrets 717 tathāstu!’ If you think, ‘I am sick, I have back pain. I cannot do this, I cannot do that. I am broke. I am really having tiredness. And if I can do the work, they will exploit me.’ Then, your being inside says, ‘tathāstu! tathāstu!’ See, it is like this.

If we are constantly worried and fear that we will fall ill, we attract incidents that make us fall ill again and again. Similarly, if we are constantly happy and blissful, we attract blissful events and happy people in our lives. When Kṛṣṇa says, ‘Engage your mind in always thinking of Me,’ He speaks about cleansing the inner space. When our mind is engaged in thinking of the Divine, we become Divine. The moment we understand this, we relax into eternal bliss. The moment we relax into eternal bliss, the Divine takes care of us. Whatever we lack is brought to us and whatever we have is preserved for us.

Naturally, we will experience, enjoy and enrich both the inner space and the outer space. This is the ultimate secret that Kṛṣṇa reveals to Arjuna. Let us pray to the Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, the Divine consciousness, the Cosmic intelligence to make us understand this secret of all secrets and experience the outer space and the inner space with eternal bliss, Nityānanda. Thank you! Thus ends the ninth chapter named Rājavidyā Rājaguhya Yogaḥ, ‘The Yoga of Supreme Knowledge and Supreme Secret,’ of the Bhagavad Gītā Upaniṣad, Brahmavidyā Yogaśāstra, the scripture of yoga dealing with the science of the Absolute in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇārjuna saṃvād, dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.

You Are The Ultimate I am the Creator, the Created and the Creation. I Am the beginning, the middle and the end. All else is illusion. He who knows this glory and power of mine, is fully united in Me. Know Me and be liberated. c h a p t e r Vibhūti Yogaḥ This chapter, the tenth chapter of the Bhagavad Gītā, is called Vibhūti Yogaḥ, the yoga of Divine manifestations. In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa explains His glories. In the last chapter, Kṛṣṇa gave the technique or the understanding of feeling deeply connected with the Whole, with Existence. He told Arjuna that He is revealing the greatest of all secrets to him because Arjuna is His dear friend.

Now He explains the next step. He goes on at length and in great detail explaining how He is the ultimate and how He expresses Himself. People often see me observing and appreciating my own photographs. They see me listening to songs in my praise and enjoying them. They see me dressed in finery at times and think I am admiring myself. To me, this body, ‘I,’ is not reality. My skin is foreign to me, leave alone what I wear on top of my skin. An enlightened being has no identity. His only identity is the merged identity with the Universe. When Kṛṣṇa, the ultimate Master, talks about Himself in this chapter, He talks from the perspective of Parabrahma Kṛṣṇa, the cosmic Kṛṣṇa and not Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa, son of Vāsudeva, the embodied Kṛṣṇa.

The entire Gītā is delivered from Kṛṣṇa’s Cosmic consciousness. In this chapter especially, He is at the peak of His Cosmic consciousness, before He reveals Himself as that consciousness to Arjuna in the next chapter. Every word that the great Jagadguru, the universal Master utters here, is a gift to Arjuna and to humanity. The verses in this chapter are the authority on which the Bhagavad Gītā rests. It is these verses that make the Gītā, a sacred scripture. You Are The Ultimate Because You Are My Dear Friend

iti śrīmadbhagavadgītāsūpaniṣatsu brahmavidyāyāṁ yogaśāstre śrīkṛṣṇārjunasaṁvāde rājavidyā-rājaguhyayogo nāma navamo’dhyāyaḥ