Summary:

Lesson 80 revises 3 stages of understanding definition of Ishvara. Then we see how Bhagavan's glories are working in your mind every day. Purpose is to discover love for Lord in one's own self. Finally, verse 6 of about world's first sages in our current day of Brahmaji lasting 4.32 billion years.

Source: Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10: Verse 4, 5, 6

Revision:

• All scriptures say: Lord is the supreme CAUSE of the universe. Vedānta categorizes this understanding in 3 stages:
• STAGE 1: Īśvara is nimitta-kāraṇam Īśvara: Intelligent cause.
  • Śāstra Teaching: Lord presides in Heaven, Vaikuṇṭha, Brahmloka, etc.
  • Vital stage. Teaches general dharma, ethics, morals.
  • Religions generally revolve in this stage, because most are satisfied with Stage 1.
• STAGE 2: Īśvara is pariṇāmi upādāna-kāraṇam: Īśvara is a cause which undergoes changes, to produce effects.
  • Thinking intellect questions: If Lord is creator, where got materials from? EG: Mason needs cement.
  • Śāstra Teaching: Before material-universe emerged, Lord alone IS. Thus there’s no materials OUTSIDE Him.
    • Because “outside” can only come in reference to space. But space is also a SUBTLE material.
    • Therefore, no question of Lord CREATING universe. Because Lord is ALSO the material out of which Universe is made.
      • Meaning, Bhagavān evolves into THIS universe we are experiencing NOW.
        • EG: Just like seed evolves into tree. OR out of wood, furniture is manifested.
      • Therefore, Lord is both: intelligent & material cause (upādāna-kāraṇam).
• STAGE 3: Īśvara is vivarta upādāna-kāraṇam: Causeless cause. Unchanging (nirvikāra) / attributeless (nirguṇa) reality. Satcitānanda Brahman.
  • Doubt from Stage 2: Since Lord is infinite and beyond time/space, then no question of “becoming” Universe.
    • Because “becoming” or “transforming into” implies Bhagavān is limited by time/space.
  • Śāstra Teaching: Without undergoing transformation, retaining His svarūpa, Bhagavān appears as the world.
    • EG: The waker retains one’s nature, throughout the dream.
      • In dream, the waker’s mind (māyā) is transformed into dream-time / dream-space / objects / transactions / festivals, friends…
        • All the while, waker remains ONE same self that was present before the dream started, and WITHOUT undergoing any transformation.
        • In other words, in presence of ONE waker, that dream of multiplicity exists.
          • In same way, in presence of ONE Īśvara… His māyā power creates apparent multiplicity (creation, sustenance, destruction).
        • No matter how many times waker creates dream world, waker never affected by it.
    • NOTE: Human waker is ignorant of self WHILE dreaming a world.
      • Whereas Īśvara has full knowledge of self (unlike waker who becomes ignorant of person in bed while dream), despite the world. That’s the only difference.
• CH7-12 is STAGE 2. Hence Krishna says in CH10:
  • Through My māyā power, through my lower-nature of aparā-prakṛti, I project out of Myself.
    • Thus I (lower-nature; aparā-prakṛti), evolves into the universe.
  • Verse 4-5 talks glories within human minds.
  • Verse 6 talks glories of world’s first sages.

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10 – Verse 4 & 5:

buddhirjñānamasammohaḥ kṣamā satyaṃ damaḥ śamaḥ |
sukhaṃ duḥkhaṃ bhavo'bhāvo bhayaṃ cābhayameva ca || 10.4

ahiṃsā samatā tuṣṭistapo dānaṃ yaśo'yaśaḥ |
bhavanti bhāvā bhūtānāṃ matta eva pṛthagvidhāḥ || 10.5

4 & 5. Intelligence, knowledge, non-delusion, patience, truthfulness, sense-control, mind – control, pleasure, pain, birth, death, fear, Fearlessness, non-violence, equanimity, contentment, austerity, generosity, fame, and ill-fame — (all these) different dispositions of beings are born out of Me alone.

• I’m am Lord of all beings because, mattaḥ eva; all these are from Me. Any glory seen, all fame experience, belongs to Me.
  • All beauty we live for is Bhagavāns.
  • Any kind of worship/ritual for anything, goes to Me. Because everything is born and sustained by Me.
• Some of Īśvara’s Glories (Laws/Orders):
• Buddhi & Jñānam:
  • Buddhi: capacity of antaḥ-karaṇa to reveal SUBTLE things unavailable for perception.
    • EG: “Beauty/appreciation” isn’t available to senses. It is conclusion of the intellect.
  • Jñānam: Who have buddhi, can gain jñānam and deep meaning of words like “ātma”.
  • Because Īśvara is all-knowledge (sarva-jñānam), Buddhi never produces new knowledge. Buddhi only removes ignorance covering a SECTION of sarva-jñānam.
  • Thus knowledge and removal of ignorance-of-knowledge, only possible because of Īśvara.
    • Ahaṅkāra diminished when understand this.
• Asammoha: freedom from delusion. How? Taking time to deliberately look into things. Research into, with open mind.
  • Because you knows senses/mind distorts & deceives. Therefore asammoha makes you alert.
  • This discrimination/investigation ability possible because of Īśvara.
  • OPPOSITE (sammoha): Make hurried conclusion WITHOUT discrimination. Impulsive decisions.
• Kṣamā: state of mind which don’t internalize PAST verbal/physical abuse. (Police force)
  • EG: Becoming angry to someone’s anger is internalizing the problem. While objectively dealing with, is kṣamā.
  • Only possible because of Īśvara.
• Satyam: Recognizing value of truthfullness in spoken word.
  • 2 types of satyam in words:
    • Satyam vada: Words should be true to the object of experience. Conveyed exactly as experienced. Don't exaggerate what happened.
    • Priyam vada: pleasing to other’s ear. Doesn’t hurt. Honey on tongue!
  • Ability to speak truthfulness, only possible because of Īśvara.
• So far, asammoha / kṣamā / satyam belong to Īśvara’s universal moral order.
  • Thus to live in harmony with all 3, is to live in harmony with Īśvara, which is what leads to mokṣa.
• Dama: discipline reference to external organs.
  • Controlling your expression. Not carried away. Holding yourself back.
  • Capacity to refrain from extremes. Neither too happy nor too sad.
  • Only possible because of Īśvara.
• Śama: mastery over thinking.
  • Unyielding to harmul/useless thinking patterns.
  • If śama present, then dama is automatic.
  • Only possible because of Īśvara.
• Sukha: inner pleasure also born out of Īśvara.
  • Meaning any praiseworthy accomplishment is belongs to Īśvara and not you.
  • Hard to let go. Because ahaṅkāra wants to survive through pride of accomplishment.
  • Owning up makes pride impossible.
• Duḥkha: Also made possible by Īśvara.
  • How? All pain is according to cause-effect relationship (law of karma).
• Bhāva: Creation. EG: Child is not born of you. Born of Īṣvara.
  • We don’t create anything. Even own body is from: hormones, muscle, tissue, bones, food.
  • Anyone thinking “I am doer”, is meaningless. Īśvara’s order of cause-effect is real doer.
  • Hence Bhagavān is the supreme author.
• Abhāva:
  • Possibility for change, capable because of Īśvara.
• Bhaya:
  • Source of fear is vastness of creation and nature of irreversibility (irrevocable).
    • Death/time can’t be reversed. This causes fear.
  • Therefore, death/time is also Īśvara.
  • How to be free of fear? Hold onto Īśvara.
    • If think Lord is separate, fear guaranteed!
  • In Taittirīya Upaniṣad: Air moves because it fears Īśvara. Sun rises for same reason. Even Death is on the move from Īśvara.
• Abhaya: To look Īśvara as not-separate from self is abhaya.
  • If don’t know Īśvara, will fear harmless things: cockroaches, spiders, snakes.
• Ahiṁsā: not hurting deliberately.
  • Doesn’t need to be taught. Because known to all through common sense.
  • This universal moral order is Bhagavān’s.
    • Meaning following ahimsa is living in harmony with Bhagavān.
      • It’s primary Hindu reason for vegetarian culture. Today vegetarianism is for body-mind reasons, and not related to Lord.
• Samatā: sameness of mind, whether receive desirable/undesirable consequences.
• Tuṣṭi: Meaning, don’t want any more. I’m satisfied with what already have.
  • Sense of “having enough”.
  • What is a natural desire? Desire arising out of contentment (and not lack).
  • Reason for contentment? Predominance of sattva guṇa. Sattva is māyā, which is of Īśvara.
• Tapas: religious austerity. Disciplining body, backed by control of sense organs.
  • Any difficulty undertaken for sake of antaḥ-karaṇa-śuddhi, is tapas.
    • Therefore law which connects means (tapas) to end (śuddhi), is Īśvara’s.
      • EG: Strike matchstick, fire comes. Cause-effect.
• Dāna: Only give according to your capacity. Never cross your limit.
  • Giving requires maturity & humility. Leads to puṇya-karma.
  • Rule: Make sure recipient is worthy. Else not applying your viveka.
  • Capacity to perform dāna is because of Īśvara.
• Yaśas: fame. 2 Types:
  
  • Born of dharma (virtuous actions): EG: Give charity and help many > results in > FAME “Good man”. Means recognition of goodness is universally understood.
  • Born of adharma: Charity in form of distributing cocaine > results in > FAME to specific group (with distorted thinking), but not all people on earth.
• Ayaśas: Ill-fame.
  • Fame born of improper action. EG: Al Capone.
  • Even evil minds enjoy notorious-fame because of Īśvara.
• Bhūtānām bhāvaḥ: All listed glories are connected to human beings. And they are of Bhagavān alone.
  • How are they Bhagavān’s? They take place according to each person’s karma (efforts).

Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 10 – Verse 6:

maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrvē catvārō manavastathā |
madbhāvā mānasā jātā yēṣāṃ lōka imāḥ prajāḥ ||

The seven great sages, the earlier four (sages) and the (fourteen) Manus, who possess My nature and whose progeny are these in the world, are born of (My) mind.

• Bhagavān as the highest cause, speaks of first sages…
• Mānasāḥ lokaḥ: World is born of My mind.
  • From pūraṇās: In the beginning, out Lord Viṣṇu’s navel (Īśvara)… Brahmāji
  • What is Brahmāji? When Īśvara plays role of creator, we call Īśvara, Brahmāji.
  • Thereon, Brahmāji created lokās through His saṅkalpa (idea/thought/visualization).
    • How can Brahmāji create by thought/visualization? Humans do it daily in dream. Our thoughts manifest as a dream world, which is very REAL.
  • What did Brahmāji create by visualization?
    • 7 sages (sapta ṛṣis), including 4 earlier ṛṣis (pūrve catvāraḥ). Then rest of humans came.
    • 7 sages represent gṛhastha-paramparā (householder heritage). EG: Wife, children, etc.
    • 4 earlier sages represent sannyāsi-paramparā.
      • More info: Four Kumārās. Names: Sanatkumāra, Sanātana, Sanaka, Sanandana.
    • Out of these 11, other humans came. In which case: No question of monkeys evolving into humans.
• Why Brahmāji created another 7, when earlier 4 were suffice?
  • Brahmāji created 4 in hopes they would have children, and populate the human paramparā.
  • Because it was sattvic age of purity, His 4 children rushed to forest to meditate on Bhagavān.
  • For this reason, Brahmāji had to create another 7 of His children.
• manavaḥ tathā: And 14 Manus.
  • Manu means:
    • Thinking being.
    • Can also mean Mantra.
    • One who thinks or imagines, thus creates.
  • What role does a Manu play? Creates and governs the entire universe, for 1/14th of Brahmāji’s day – which is 4.3 Bil human years.
  • Order: Lord Viṣṇu navel > Brahmāji saṅkalpa > Manu saṅkalpa > 4/7 ṛṣis > Humanity.
  • Brahmāji’s day:
    • 1 Day lasts 4.32 Bil human years.
      • Day is divided into 14 time-frames called: manavantara. Thus manavantara means: duration of Manu.
    • Brahmāji creates (through saṅkalpa), 1 Manu.
    • How long does each Manu stay in charge of assigned time-frame (manavantara)?
      • 71 catur yugās. 71 x 4.32 Mil (catur yuga) = 306,720,000 years x 14 = 4.32 Bil (approx considering it’s not exactly 71, but more like 71.5).
  • Out of 14 Manus, this universe is presided by Vaivastva-Manu, who already presided for 28 catur-yugās.
    • Vaivastva-Manu will preside for another 43 catur-yugās (71 – 28). Then 8th Manu
    • End of 14th Manu = end of 1 day of Brahmā
  • In Sanskrit, root “√man”, means to think/consider/know.
    • English word “man” comes from same root.
    • Why called “man”? Because man is made with capacity to think.
• How are 14 Manus created? mānasā jātā, born out of mere saṅkalpa. Will of Brahmāji.
• Then Krishna says, madbhāvāḥ; All these manu/ṛṣis are of same nature as I, which satcitānanda.
• NEXT VERSE: Who knows glories of Bhagavān, is endowed with unshakable vision…

Keywords: abhava, ahankara, ahimsa, apara para parkriti prakrti, atma, ayasas, ayashas, bhagavan, bhava, bhava bhutanam, brahmaji, buddhi, catur-yugas, dana, duhkha, four kumaras, grhasta, grhastha, ishvara, isvara, jnanam, ksama, kshama, lokas, maya, nimitta karanam, nirguna, nirvikara, parampara, parinami upadana karanam, puranas, purve catvara, rishis, rsis, sama, samata, sanatkumara, sanatana, sankalpa, sannyasi, sarva-jnana, sastra shastra, satchitananda, satcitananda, shama, svarupa, tushti, tusti, vaikuntha, vishnu, visnu, vivarta upadana karanam, yasas, yashas

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• Afterclass work

Credit for help in Bhagavad Gita teaching given to Swami Dayananda of Arsha Vidya & Chinmaya Mission

Recorded 28 Jan, 2020