From the lowest degree of manifestation, one has to gradually ascend step by step. The name of an object includes every kind of information about the object. Sanatakumar asks NArada to have a complete descriptive knowledge of objects. One has to master it, not by excluding it or disregarding it, but by having a thorough knowledge of it, to the extent their names and forms are concerned. A common mistake is that a seeker lacks patience and tries to skip the stages or does not finish the intermediary stages. Knowledge does not mean ignorance of any particular aspect of experience. It is a total comprehension. When I am bound, I must know the reasons of bondage. It is immaturity to say that I am concerned with freedom and not concerned with the stages of bondage. Freedom is the knowledge of the causative factors behind bondage. The cure is by removing the causative factors. Bondage is the devil which operates in a particular realm.
And as it is said I must pay the devil its due. Then only I can be free from its clutches. Sanatakumar does not reject ‘names’ as he has to start from where the student stands. The teacher prepares the student gradually. He therefore asks NArada to meditate on name as Brahman, the supreme reality. It is like people worshipping an image with the idea that it is Vishnu. Swami Krishnananda explains. “It is the first stage of meditation which is ideological or conceptual or theoretical. It is the operation of the mind in respect of an object. The object is not under one’s control. It is far away. We have a thought of the object and that is enough for the time being because we are in that level only. Every stage of meditation or transcendence mentioned here is a stage of the identification of the self with that particular degree of reality. This is very important to remember. What is implied is that the lower stage has already become a part of our own self in deep meditation and experience. It does not remain any more an object outside. When we have become that in self-absorption, then only we can be given access to the realm of a higher degree of reality.” Two types of benefits flow from meditation. If it is with some desire, it may result in material benefits. If it is without any desire, it results in purification of mind needed for gaining knowledge. Here Narada will be free to act as he wishes within the reach of name.
Anyone who meditates on name as Brahman, acquires freedom of movement within the range of the name like a king has within his kingdom. NArada asks if there is anything greater than name. Speech is greater than name. Sanatakumar glorifies speech and asks NArada to meditate on speech as Brahman. In this way, Narada wants to know a thing greater than the preceding one and Sanatakumar introduces, in stages, 13 more entities, namely, mind, will power, intelligence, contemplation, understanding, strength, food, water, fire, space, memory, aspiration, and prana. He explains the reasons of greatness of an entity compared to the preceding one, glorifies them and instructs NArada to meditate on them as Brahman at the respective stages. He also describes benefits of such meditations. Gradations of the entities and benefits from meditation are summarized.
In the absence of speech, there would be absence of study leading to absence hearing its meaning. Speech, i.e., uttering words, makes names known. Hence it is greater than name. He who meditates on speech as Brahman becomes free for movement in the domain of speech. The mind is greater than speech. It encompasses both speech and name like two fruits are enclosed in the palms. A person uses mind to learn scriptures and perform sacrifices. The thinking mind impels speech for what is spoken. He who worships the mind as Brahman becomes free to act as he wishes in the sphere within the reach of mind.
Will is greater than mind as it causes intention in the mind. Will is the determination after factoring what is to be done or not done. The worldly transactions are sourced from will power. The whole world, which is culmination of the results of rites, all that has will as the root. He who worships will as Brahman, he indeed, attains the worlds willed by him. He becomes free to act in the domain of will.
Intelligence is greater than will as it is the cause of will. Knowledge without intelligence loses its worth. On the other hand, if a man knowing little is endowed with intelligence, people desire to listen to him also. He who worships intelligence as Brahman, he reaches the worlds of intelligence and becomes free to act as he wishes in the sphere of intelligence. Meditation is greater than intelligence. Therefore, meditate on meditation. Greatness results from meditation. Meditation is uninterrupted flow of ideas with regard to deities etc in the scriptures which is not obstructed by different ideas. As a yogi becomes motionless after attaining results of meditation, similarly, earth seems to be in meditation.
Understanding is greater than meditation. By the power of understanding one knows the Vedas and other knowledges which NArada has spoken in his own context. All these things have meaning only because of the understanding behind them. The capacity to know is superior to the character of the object. Next stage is meditation on understanding. A person wields as much power as his mastery over understanding. It is superior to all other principles mentioned earlier. He, who worships understanding as Brahman attains the worlds of those who understand the Vedas, and of those who have the knowledge of other subjects. He becomes free to act as he wishes in the sphere within the reach of understanding.
NArada is inquisitive to know what is greater than understanding. Sanatakumar tells something very interesting. Mere understanding in a theoretical form is of no use. It should be connected with realities of life. The connection between one’s body and one’s intellectual capacity is well known. There should be a blend of the two. The teacher says that strength is superior to understanding. By strength he means a very general form of a blend of the functions of the mind with the functions of the body. It is the union of the power of the psyche with the power of the body, the union of consciousness with its object. Strength or power is superior to everything mentioned earlier. A person who is strong can defeat a hundred people who have mere understanding without strength, says the Upanishad. The earth, sky, heaven stand due to strength.
Contd Part 7(3)