Demystifying a mysterious God – Bhakti Yoga 3

The third sloka of this chapter reads..

ये त्वक्षरमनिर्देश्यमव्यक्तं पर्युपासते |

सर्वत्रगमचिन्त्यञ्च कूटस्थमचलन्ध्रुवम् ||

ye tvaksharamanirdeshyaM avyaktaM paryupaasate
sarvatragamachintyaM cha kuuTasthamachalaM dhruvaM

Word Meanings: :
Tu – but : AksharaM – imperishable – as being without form and destruction : AnirdeshyaM – the undefinable : AvyaktaM – unmanifest : Ye Paryupaasate – one who constantly worships : SarvatragaM – all pervading : AchintyaM – unimaginable
Cha – and : KuuTastham – firm support of this world :
AchalaM – motionless : DhruvaM – the eternal

In this Sloka we are talking about the worship of the formless God. How is He described?

As AksharaM – or imperishable. In the last post, we took the example of Gold and we shall continue with that. Gold is aksharaM while ornaments are ksharaM. They can break or change. For e.g., we can buy one ornament. We cannot keep buying more and more and so after some time, we take the same ornament and change it into another one by using the same gold. First what was a beaded necklace is now made into a new fashion belt! In this only the form and name changes but not the gold. One who thinks of Gold thinks of formless God. One who thinks of ornaments thinks of God having form.

“ye aksharaM paryupaasate” means those people who worship the imperishable Lord. Let us take an example. When I was a small child, at that time I was so chubby and cute. Anyone could come and pick me up. Everyone who looked at me would smile. Now, even though in my mind, I have not changed, the people’s reaction is not the same. If I am coming in one road. they go the other way, just ignoring me. No person gets the feeling that they are getting old. How does this come to our attention? For e.g., When a little girl comes up to you and asks, “Aunty, what is the time?” our immediate reaction “Don’t call me Aunty, Call me Didi (sister)”. The girl replies, “How can I call you Didi, when you are looking like my Daadi (grandma)!!” We are so attached to our body, and we try to justify ourselves saying, “People might say that I am old, but I am young at mind”. The problem is the mind can never be old, but the body becomes old and this causes a mismatch! Sometimes when we are watching TV, the picture might be moving in “fast-forward” mode but the voice is moving so slow and is not synchronizing.

In our life, childhood came and went. Then teenage came and went. Youth also comes and goes. But when old age comes, then we must go.

Secondly, it is said, “ye AnirdeshyaM upaasate”. Anirdeshyam means that which cannot be estimated. If we talk about the earth we can say so many things in relation to its qualities. Because it has got the qualities of shabda (sound), sparsha (touch), roopa (form), rasa (taste) and gandha (smell). Then when we talk about water, it has only four of those five qualities, shabda, sparsha, roopa and rasa, but no gandha. When we next take fire, it has only three of those five qualities. shabda, sparsha and roopa. It does not have smell or taste, This is the reason why very hot food is served in a hotel. So that we eat it without knowing the taste. If we move on to vaayu. it has only two qualities shabda and sparsha. Akaasha is above this and it has only one quality shabda. Mind is above all of these and that is why Mind has no quality with which it can be described.

For e.g.. if you ask a person “Do you love her.”. he says -Yes”. but if you ask “How much‘?-. He can’t say. This is because words can’t describe love and no scale can measure this. God is even subtler and therefore when we have to describe God, we become silent.

God cannot be expressed verbally and so anything spoken cannot be the complete truth. Even if we put a spoon in the mouth. it is called -joota” and kept away. This is because the tongue has touched it. So anything that is talked about is only “Joota”. it cannot be the truth. Reality is beyond the tongue.

“MounaM vyaakya prakatita para brahma tattvam yuvaanaM’. This means that the only description of God can be through silence. No words can describe. If I ask you to show your eyes. you can do that. Similarly. you can point to nose. mouth etc. but where is the mind?. To explain where the mind is. we can think of some mathematics. If I ask what is 2+2 . You say 4. What is 4+4. You say 8. What is 8-8 and you say 0. Now, that place where you did all these calculations is the mind. You might say, -Oh I understand. 2+2=4. 4+4=8. 8-8=0, that is the mind, So mind is 0″ Therefore. whenever truth is to be described. words can’t reach and this is the meaning of “anirdeshyaM”.

Thirdly, the lord says “ye AvyaktaM upaasate”. AvyaktaM means “not manifest”. First look at a wall. Take your eyes off the wall and look at the beautiful picture of the Lord. Now we have established that our eyes have the power to see. Now using these eyes look at your own eyes – you cannot see it. If you cannot see, then you must be blind. Therefore, as long you try to see the eye using the eye itself nothing can be manifest. Eyes can see only if there is something outside to be seen. Similarly as long as the mind thinks of the outside world it is full of confusion and anger (kaama, krodha. lobha. moha, madha, maatsarya. But if the mind is turned towards itself, there is peace and then the mind becomes unmanifest.

SarvatragaM – that which is everywhere. There is not a single place where God is not there. If we are asked. “Where is God”, we can only answer, “Where is God not there?”. Once there was a great saint in Maharashtra by the name of Namdev, who could virtually converse with the Lord. But he had no guru and without a Guru even such a person is incomplete. Hence he was told to meet a saint and accept him as Guru. He went looking for him and found him in a temple. This saint was sleeping on the floor of the temple and having his feet on a Shiva lingam. Namdev was so upset and he screamed. “Take your feet off’. The saint said, you can do it yourself. Namdev removed his feet off the Shiva lingam, but when he placed it elsewhere, another Shiva lingam came there as well. The Saint asked “How is it possible to place my leg where God is not there?”. This is sarvatragaM.

In a Upanishad, a sage’s wife, Gargi asks her husband. Guru Jaagyaval. -Where is God?”. The sage asks her, “Where are you?”. She replies, “In this Ashram”. Where is the Ashram? “In Andheri”. Where is that – In Bombay, India. Asia, Earth, water Agni Vayu. Sky, which is inside mind This is why when we sleep at night the mind enfolds it completely and we don’t know whether we are in Bahrain or India, above the bed or below etc. etc. Without mind, there is no place or time or object. God who is the support for the mind is also beyond all these and is not restricted to these. Therefore He is inside us, but He is sarvatragaM or everywhere.

AchintyaM – one who can’t be thought of. Some might say. “Thank you very much”. I was just planning to think of God. Now you have told me that he is achintyaM.

How do you think of God’.”. As long as we think of outside objects, thoughts are worries, which burn us. If thoughts are directed within, it is aatma chintan. As long as we stop thinking about unnecessary things, there is automatically scope for thinking about the Lord, ln order to achieve this, there are two main Sadhanas that we can practice

I. Never have interest in another person’s personal affairs and don’t ask about it
2. Never reveal personal things about you to others.
“The longer the past, the longer the tongue”. Children’s talk is dissociated. because they have only two or three years to talk about. So they will say. “I don’t like you?. Then “Can I eat Ice-cream?. Third sentence. “Do you like TV”..’. Each thought is dissociated from the other. Which is why it is always a pleasure to talk to them.

On the other hand, if you talk to adults they will say. “In 1932, I went to Kabul to eat some channa”, If the poor gentleman’s wife is also there, she will say, “That was not 1932, but 1935. I was also there.”. “Oh! Yes, 1935, February 29th. Wife says. “How can it be 29th “. 1935 was not a leap year and so on and so forth”. Therefore. we should follow two simple rules. never talk to anyone about their past and never talk about your past to anyone. This way our mind will be free to think about the Lord.

KuuThasthaM – that which gives birth to all change without changing itself Just like a piece of iron called anvil, which is used by Goldsmiths. It is used for giving shape to gold and even though it gives shape to all ornament, the anvil itself doesn’t change.

When you see something with your eyes, nothing is added to the eye just because you are seeing. On the other hand, if you are alone meditating of God, the eyes don’t lose anything just because it is not seeing anything else. That which makes all manifest. but doesn’t change is KuThasthaM. If we understand this nothing about the world can affect us. In the battlefield, Arjuna was shivering and crying. The Lord was laughing.

AchalaM – means one who is stable, unmoved. What is unmoving? If we understand this, the world will be eliminated. Earth moves, so does water, fire etc.? Only the cloud doesn’t move, so it is constant. If we think of the Akaasha our mind becomes calm by itself. In the avadhuuta Gita, the lord says that He is like the sky. Without beginning, end or change. DhruvaM- One that does not change.

Who can meditate on such a Lord who is having these qualities i.e. aksharaM, anirdeshyaM, avyaktaM, who is achintyam, sarvatragaM, kuuThasthaM, achalaM and dhruvaM.

We shall see in the next post about what is required in order to mediate on such a lord..

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