YV BKII CH12 The Greatness of True Knowledge

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book II – The Aspirant Who Longs for Liberation
Chapter 11: On the Qualifications of Student and Teacher
Book II, Chapter 12
The Greatness of True Knowledge
Vashishtha said:
1Rama, I honour you as one of a perfect mind. You
know what to ask and you understand what is
spoken to you. Therefore I will continue speaking to
you respectfully.
2Be still, keep your mind fixed in yourself, (a) and
attend to knowledge. Be (a) free of pride and
passions and (a) incline yourself to pure truth.
3You are possessed of all the qualities of an
enquirer, and I those of the speaker, in as much as
there are gems in the ocean.
4My son, you have (a) gained the detachment that
is closely related to reason, like the humidity of the
moonstone correlates to gentle moonbeams.
5Rama, your long and early practiced pure virtues
and good qualities have raised your fame, like the
long stretching white fibers of the stalk exalt the
spotless lotus.
6Now hear the words I tell you Rama, for you
alone are fit to receive them, as only the moon is
able to open the kumuda lotus petals.

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7Whatever business or investigation someone
undertakes, it must be brought to a happy conclusion
that tends towards his peace and tranquillity.
8If men of good understanding did not have the solace
of philosophy, what rational being could dare bear the
misery that ignorance brings in this world?
9All the faculties of the mind are absorbed in
contemplation of the Supreme, like solar heat dissolves
the rocks of (b) Boundary Mountains at the end of the
world.
10Rama, the intolerable stomach cramping pain caused
by this venomous world is healed only by (c) yoga
meditation, just like the poison of a snakebite is
removed by garuda incantations.
11One obtains the (c) capacity for yoga by discussing the
scriptures in the company of good people, which alone
can provide us with the great charm of spiritual
knowledge.
12It must be recognized that we lessen our sorrows by
acting with reason. Therefore reasonable men are never
to be disregarded.
13A reasoning man gets released from his worldly
sickness. He quits his frame which is full of diseases
just like a snake casts off his time-worn skin. He looks
with a placid mind and calm composure upon the magic
scenes of the world. Hence a fully wise man is not
subject to the misery of the imperfectly wise.

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14The rough and uneven pleasure of the world (samsara)
is a disease that stings like a snake. It cuts men like a
sword and pierces them like a spear. It binds them
tightly like a rope, and burns them like fire. It
blindfolds their understanding like the darkness of the
night. It makes them as prostrate and dull as a slab of
stone. It destroys one’s prudence and lowers his
position. It casts men into the pit of error and torments
them with greed. Thus there is almost no kind of
trouble which does not happen to worldly minded men.
15Worldliness is as dangerous a disease as cholera
which, unless it is healed in time, is sure to trouble its
patient with the (d) torments of hell: 16like eating stones;
wounded by swords and spears; pelted by stones; burnt
by fire; numbed by frost; dislocated limbs; body
smeared with blood like sandalwood paste; bored by
worms like worm-eaten trees; body pierced by pikes,
broomsticks and the fiery shafts and bolts continually
falling in battle; toil and drudgery under the sun; the
cold wetness of work in a summer fountain house;
dumb and deaf without rest or sleep; and, finally,
suffering decapitation.
17With thousands of such intolerable tortures of worldly
life, no one should remain negligent of his release from
this state but ought to think that only his reflection on
scriptures can produce his real good.
18Rama, look upon this assembly of great sages, rishis,
brahmins and princes who have fortified themselves by
the armour of wisdom and are liable to no pain or grief,

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yet they are engaged in the arduous affairs of this world
with minds as placid as yours.
19Moreover, there are many of the best of men who with
their spiritual light and pure understanding reside in
this world like the gods Hari (Vishnu), Hara (Shiva) and
Brahma above all concerns and fluctuating desires of
life.
20The journey of this world is delightful to one who,
after the removal of his errors and dispersion of the
cloud of his ignorance, has come to the knowledge of
truth.
21When serenity of the mind and calm repose of the
heart are secured, all the senses are subjected to peace
and everything is viewed in an equal light, and this
knowledge of the truth gives delight to our journey in
this world.
22Know also that this body of ours is the car, these
organs are its horses, our breaths are the winds blowing
upon it, and the mind is the driver who feels the delight
of driving. The minute, subtle soul is the rider who is
conscious of wandering about the world. Knowledge of
this truth makes our earthly journey a pleasant one.
*******
[Note: It is the conscious faculty of the soul that experiences the
Objective World through the senses and suffers due to illusion and
ignorance. The mind is the enjoyer and running after pleasures is not

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aware that we are living in a plane of duality and pain is also the part of
the enjoyment package. The rule is pain follows pleasure.
Soul is captive of the mind and mind is captive of the senses. Whereas
it should be otherwise such that mind is captive of the soul and the
senses are captive of the mind. And this reversal is not possible without
exercising right effort while living as human being that too under the
guidance of an adept who has himself controlled his mind. After death
we cannot effect this reversal.
Soul as the rider of the body has to take the reins from the mind now
while living as human being to know the truth and end its wandering
and suffering forever.]
*******
(a) Attend to Knowledge | Free from Pride and Passions
Incline yourself to Pure Truth |Gained the Detachment
Ignorance is the root cause of all our problems. Due to illusion
we are made to believe that we are the doer and this life is only for
pleasure and gratification of the senses.
Sage Vashishtha is advising Rama to free himself from pride
and passion and incline to know the pure truth. Rama had
already gained the detachment from this Objective World and he was
ready for the real knowledge. We should also imitate Rama and try
to understand who we really are?
Macrocosm and Microcosm
Our Universe is divided into fourteen spiritual planes. The
entire universe is body of God, the Cosmos, and Macrocosm. These
fourteen spiritual planes (seven upper worlds - lokas and seven lower
worlds – talas, which are actually nether or south poles of lokas)
correspond to the fourteen chakras that make-up the “world-egg of
God,” the Universe, called Brahmanda. Each loka (or tala) reflects or
involves a particular range of consciousness.

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God created man in His own image and these spiritual planes are
reflected in the causal, astral and physical body in every being. Man is
Microcosm of the Macrocosm and thus carries the entire
universe within him.
Within our body, distinction between lokas and talas has been
made as upper part and lower part of body at the base of spine. Lokas
above the base of spine are spiritual planes of increasing purity and
bliss. Talas below the base of spine are material planes of decreasing
purity and increasing suffering. The region above the base of spine
is the Upper House and the region below it is the Lower House.
Doubt predominantly prevails in the Lower House.
Of these seven loka-tala pairs, the three highest belong to the
relatively arupa (formless) or spiritual worlds, and are often called
arupa lokas and arupa talas. These are planes of energy.
The three lowest pairs belong to the rupa (form) or material worlds,
and are often called rupa lokas and talas. These are planes of form.
The fourth plane in between serves as a link between energy and form.
These lokas and talas are not placed in nature's structure above each
other like steps of a stair, but are within each other, interblending and
continually interacting. Each inner one is finer and more ethereal than
the next outer one; the inmost of either series is the most ethereal,
spiritual, and powerful of all.
The space between the crown of head and the base of spine
represents the seven lokas while the space from hips to under
the foot represents the seven talas.
Crown of Head is Satyaloka, forehead is Tapaloka, throat is
Janaloka, heart is Maharloka, navel is Svargaloka, pelvis is
Bhuvaloka, and base of the spine is Bhuloka. Correspondingly
hips are Atala, thighs are Vitala, knees are Sutala, shanks are
Talatala, ankles are Mahatala, over the foot is Rasatala, and under
the foot is Patala.

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Our consciousness keeps on moving between all loka-tala pairs
but it does not stay at higher lokas and drops down to their respective
nether poles i.e. talas. Virtue, purity, kindness, compassion are
signs that the entity possessing them is evolving the spirit
within, and therefore is ascending along the lokas. Selfishness,
impurity, unkindness, cruelty, and deception are the signs that the
entity possessing them is descending along the talas.
These lokas-talas are centers of force and consciousness located
within the inner bodies of man. In the physical body there are
corresponding nerve plexuses, ganglia and glands. The seven
principal lokas are situated along the spinal cord from the base of the
spine to the cranial chamber.
Additionally, seven talas, barely visible, exist below the spine. They
are seats of:
• Fear, desire, lust, illusion (Hips – Atala);
• Anger, wrath, viciousness and (burning) resentment (Thighs
– Vitala);
• Jealousy, revenge, impatience and covetousness (Knees –
Sutala);
• Stubbornness, greed, deceit, intolerance, frustration, grasp
(of the material world), instinctive wilfulness and cursing
and emotive nature (Shanks – Talatala);
• Unmitigated selfishness, self-centred, corrupt and
possessive nature, complaining nature of why ‘me’ – while
facing adverse conditions and why not ‘me’ – while seeing
others well-being (Ankles – Mahatala);
• Absence of conscience - cruel, ignorance, attachment –
infatuation, ill-will, taste, and theft – stealing nature (Over
the Foot – Rasatala); and
• Murder, malice, material enchantment, gratification of
senses, conceit (‘me’ or ‘mine’) (Under the Foot – Patala).
Murder here in general implies killing for gratification of senses,
self-preservation, safety of crops and possessions, riddance from
annoying elements or killing just for pleasure and so on.

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Talas constitute the lower or hellish world, called Naraka or
Patala. Our consciousness is mainly in the Lower House and the above
features inherently loaded in us automatically get evoked. For almost
all human beings, the consciousness is always in the lower
triangle of Ankles – Over the Foot – Under the Foot (Mahatala-
Rasatala-Patala) duly supported by the features of Shanks-
Talatala. We must use the discriminative faculty (vivek) of our soul to
avoid engagement of our consciousness in features of the Lower House.
Now back to Macrocosm, of the seven Lokas, our Earth-
Universe comprises of three lower Lokas complete with their
respective mountains, islands, oceans, suns, and planets:
• Bhuloka or Bhurloka (It is our Earth World, the physical plane,
the world perceived through the five senses, also called the gross
plane, as it is the densest of the worlds)
• Bhuvaloka or Bhuvahloka (It is a Plane of Atmosphere,
consisting of the two astral regions closest to the physical plane:
Pitriloka, "world of ancestors," (the upper region of Bhuvaloka) and
Pretaloka, "world of the departed," (the lower region of Bhuvaloka
and the realm of the earth-bound souls) and
• Svargaloka (It is a Celestial or Bright Plane, the mid-astral region
and Heaven-world). Heaven is a plane of enjoyment only. It is a
place to reap the fruits of one’s good Karmas done in the earth-plane.
One cannot do fresh Karmas there. One cannot attain Moksha or the
final emancipation from there. He will have to come down to
Bhuloka again for trying for his salvation. The sphere of influence
of Svargaloka is said to reach to the pole star.
The extent of God’s creation is limitless and it cannot be
understood even in hundreds of years of life. A description of the
names, form, measurement and characteristics of this Earth-Universe
only has been given in the Puranas. The description of the higher four
lokas i.e. Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Satyaloka is beyond
human comprehension and can only be known by actual experience /
realization within.

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The polestar or Dhruvaloka is 3,800,000 yojanas above the sun.
Above Dhruvaloka by 10,000,000 yojanas is Maharloka, above
Maharloka by 20,000,000 yojanas is Janaloka, above Janaloka by
80,000,000 yojanas is Tapaloka, and above Tapaloka by 120,000,000
yojanas is Satyaloka. Thus the distance from the sun to Satyaloka is
233,800,000 yojanas. The Vaikuntha planets begin 16,200,000 yojanas
above Satyaloka. That makes it 250,000,000 yojanas above the sun.
The distance from the sun to the earth is 100,000 yojanas
followed by another 70,000 yojanas for the lower planetary systems
called Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala and
Patala. Below these lower planets by another 30,000 yojanas, Sesa
Naga is lying on the Garbhodaka Ocean. That ocean is 249,800,000
yojanas deep. That makes it 250,000,000 yojanas below the sun.
Thus the total diameter of the Universe is approximately
500,000,000 yojanas as measured from the sun. The entire Universe of
500 million yojanas diameter appears to be so big and its realization is
the ultimate achievement of Hindu mythology.
However, according to saints like Kabir, Guru Nanak, Dadu, Paltu,
Tulsi Das, Tulsi Sahib, Swami Ji, Ravi Das, Sheikh Farid, Shams-e
Tabrizi, Rumi, Inayat Shah, Bulleh Shah, Dariya Sahib, Mira, Namdev,
Charan Das, Sarmad, Sultan Bahu, and many more; the real home of
our soul is much beyond Satyaloka and Vaikuntha planets.
[Note: One yojana is about 9 miles on the earth-plane and about 100
times on the atmospheric-plane.]
Every demigod has his own abode in our Earth-Universe. Indra,
the king of the demigods, has his own abode, as do Chandra, the lord of
the moon planet, and Surya, the predominating deity of the sun planet.
There are many millions of demigods, and the stars and planets are their
respective homes.
Those who worship the demigods go to their different planetary
systems. The life span of demigods is 36,000 human years. Materialists
who want quick results in the material world worship demigods. Those

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who desire beautiful wives, substantial wealth and many sons worship
the demigods, but an intelligent devotee desires to know only
his Creator – God.
Our earth world is the lowest of the seven lokas. The
corresponding tala is Patala. The field of influence of Bhuloka is
said to extend little farther than our atmosphere. We are placed at the
outmost Bhuloka-Patala pair surrounded by a powerful field of
fear, desire, lust, and illusion and our consciousness engrossed
in its nether pole Patala (positioned under the foot) with its prime
features of enchanting material world, malice, murder,
gratification of senses, and conceit.
Cruelty to animals is severely frowned upon in Hindu
Scriptures and there are specific guidelines about the manner in which
we should behave with lower creatures. Skanda Five, Chapter 26 of
Srimad Bhagavata or Bhagavata Purana has a passage that reads:
"God has given different forms of livelihood to different creatures.
Some of these may go against the interest of man. But man should
not retaliate against these creatures for two reasons. They are not
endowed with the capacity to know that they are doing injury to man;
and next, man knows that they will be injured if he retaliates.
A person who injures lower animals for selfish purposes goes
to the purgatory called Andhakupa and there he will have to live in a
low type of body, attacked by the creatures he had injured. In darkness,
without sleep and restless, he will have to drag out a wretched
existence."
Therefore, as long as we justify our interest ‘to kill to eat’ to
fulfil our selfish interest of taste (even if killing is done by others),
intend harm to all creatures (malice), and remain engrossed in
the gratifications of senses in this enchanting material world; our
consciousness will never rise to experience the peace and bliss of
higher lokas. We will always remain at the nether pole of
Bhuloka and hells below Patala. We must make an effort to lift our
consciousness to higher lokas to experience the real peace and bliss.

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There is another feature of Patala which is the major hurdle in
our way to liberation and i.e. Conceit. As soon as our feet touch the
ground, conceit (‘me’ or ‘mine’) gets activated and we are ready to
challenge one and all. There is a false notion that I know
everything and there is no God. I fail to heed the advice of
scriptures or spiritually realized persons. A lying person on the
other hand cannot challenge others and if bed-ridden due to
some illness or adversity is willing to believe in God. Here the
selfish interest of Ankles – Mahatala plays its part.
Now let us observe the life of Rama carefully. We know that he
had overcome the hold of the features of Patala – Under the Foot and
his detachment is complete. Now moving on to the features of
Rasatala – Over the Foot, his ignorance was removed by two great
sages of his time. His conscience was clear, there is no infatuation
or attachment and he had no ill-will.
Subsequently after gaining real knowledge from the two great
sages of his time, Rama overcame the features of Mahatala – Ankles
as he performed tasks that were beneficial to all mankind thus
overcoming selfishness. He was not effected by self-centred,
corrupt, possessive and complaining nature.
Breaking of Shiv Dhanush
Ankles – Over the Foot – Under the Foot form a triangle and both
feet joined together will form a bow and this is what is known as the
‘Shiv Dhanush’. We all know that Rama was asked to tie a string
to this bow. But instead of tying the string he broke the bow.
Breaking the bow signifies that he had broken free from the hold of
the features of this lower triangle of Mahatala – Rasatala – Patala
and he was ready to advance towards higher lokas to know pure truth.
Had he tied the string, the bow would have remained intact
and he was prone to the attack of the features of this triangle.
This is what sage Vashishtha was teaching Rama and the same teaching
applies to us. We must prepare ourselves to break this ‘Shiv Dhanush’.

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As human beings at Bhuloka, if we intend to seek liberation, we
have to withdraw our consciousness step wise from under the foot, over
the foot, ankles, calves, knees, thighs and hips and hold it at the base of
spine. Then we have to work our way up to sacral, navel, heart,
throat, Ajna (third eye), and then to crown of head and beyond. This
has to be achieved while living in human form at Bhuloka.
With our best efforts, we can at the most ascend to Svargaloka
(Navel) but it is a temporary sojourn and when the allotted time for our
good deeds is over, we will be pushed out and our past experience in
seed form will determine our next birth. Similarly, when the allotted
time for our bad deeds is over, we will be pushed out of hells and our
past experience in seed form will determine our next birth.
This cycle of birth, death and rebirth and the embodied state of
the soul will never end unless we practice Surat-Shabad Yoga
(conscious union with the creative power) for a long time while living
as a human being on Bhuloka through well-conducted deliberation
and truth under the guidance of a spiritual adept.
If the teacher has realization of only sub-astral or sub-causal planes,
he cannot take us to Bhuvaloka or higher planes of consciousness.
Similarly, if the teacher has realization up to say Maharloka, he
cannot take us beyond to higher causal worlds. In case we are
looking for absolute liberation, we must seek a teacher who
has realization beyond Satyaloka.
We cannot find a truly liberated teacher with our intellect. We
must seek help of God with a strong desire above all other desires to
know our Creator. The maxim is, “When the pupil is ready, the Master
appears.”
Depending upon the nature of our desire i.e. for things created
(not-self) or the power that works behind creation (self) we shall be led
to a suitable teacher. So, desire from God for His Understanding only
so that we can know Him while living and make best use of our sojourn
at Bhuloka. Remember there are no guarantees after death. So,
achieve whatever you have to while living.

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(b) Boundary Mountains
Brahma is the original creature born out of the energy of the
Supreme Lord (Brahmn), who is known as Hiranyagarbha. And from
Brahma all the seven great sages, and before them four other great
sages, named Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanat-kumara, and the
fourteen Manus, are manifested.
All these twenty-five great sages are known as the patriarchs
of the living entities all over the universe. There are innumerable
universes and innumerable planets within each universe, and each
planet is full of population of different varieties. All of them are born
of these twenty-five patriarchs.
The universe is created, destroyed, and re-created in an eternally
repetitive series of cycles. In Hindu cosmology, a universe endures for
one kalpa i.e. 4,320,000,000 years (12 hours or one day of Brahma) and is
then destroyed by fire or water elements.
During one life of Brahma 504,000 Manus (Vedic "Adams") are
changing, or 5,040 Manus are changing during one year of Brahma, or
420 Manus manifest during one month of Brahma. At the end of the
life of each Manu there are shorter dissolutions also.
Manvantara is Manu's cycle, the one who gives birth and governs
the human race. Before and after each manvantara there's a Sandhyakal
as long as Satya-yuga and in that time there is all water on earth.
After the dissolution of each and every Manu, the next Manu
comes in order, along with his descendants, who rule over the different
planets; but the seven famous sages, and demigods like Indra and their
followers, such as the Gandharvas, all appear simultaneously with
Manu.
In each Manu's period there are many changes in many ways.
It is understood here that Manu creates scriptural regulations for the
salvation of the conditioned souls, who come to the material world for
material enjoyment. The Lord is so kind that any soul who wants
to enjoy in this material world is given full facility for

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enjoyment, and at the same time he is shown the path of
salvation.
Of the fourteen Manu’s in a kalpa, Svayambhuva Manu and his
consort Satarupa (like Adam and Eve of the Bible) are the first couple
generated through Brahma. They are the progenitor of humanity being
the first human to appear in the world in an epoch after universal
destruction.
From Svayambhuva Manu and Satarupa, two sons (Priyavrata and
Uttanapada) and three daughters (Akuti, Devahuti and Prasuti) were
born, and from them all the population in different planets has sprung
up until now. Dhruva was the son of Uttanapada. The genealogical
succession from Manu is material, but it is on the progressive march
towards the same goal of Unity with the Ultimate Creator.
The Mountain known as Lokaloka is the Boundary Mountain
that has been installed as the outer border of the three worlds --
Bhuloka, Bhuvaloka and Svargaloka -- to control the rays of the
sun throughout the universe.
All the luminaries, from the sun up to Dhruvaloka, distribute
their rays throughout the three worlds, but only within the boundary
formed by this mountain. Because it is extremely high, extending
even higher than Dhruvaloka, it blocks the rays of the luminaries,
which therefore can never extend beyond it.
Manu rules over the Earth-Universe for a period of 71 Mahayugas
i.e. 71 x 4.32 million years or 306.72 million years. Svayambhuva
Manu entrusted to his son, Priyavrata, the responsibility for
maintaining and protecting all the planetary systems.
Planets in outer space are called islands. On the lines of the
Boundary Mountain Lokaloka, Priyavrata divided our Earth-Universe
(Bhu-Mandala) sphere into seven islands with their mountains, rivers,
forests, hills and planetary systems and separated their boundaries by
oceans of equal size.

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The names of the islands are - Jambudwipa, Plaksh, Shalmali,
Kush, Kronch, Shak, and Pushkara. Each island is twice as large as
the one preceding it and each is surrounded by a liquid substance,
beyond which is the next island. Thus Pushkara Island is 64 times
larger than Jambudwipa. These are all in outer space.
Jambudwipa is the smallest and lowest of these islands and its
breadth is 100,000 yojana. There are nine divisions (Varsh) of this
island. These divisions (Varsh) are divided by eight mountains. In the
centre of this is the Ilaavrit Varsh. In the middle of this Ilaavrit Varsh,
there is a mountain known as Sumeru, which is made of solid gold.
The other eight mountains are known as Neel, Shwet, and
Shringvaan; Nishadh, Hemkoot, and Himalaya; Gandhamadan and
Maalyavaan. Surrounding Sumeru Mountain are four mountains
known as Mandrachal, Merumandar, Supaarshwa, and Kumud
mountains, 10,000 yojanas high and wide each, as the base of Meru
Parvat.
Our earth is a part of Jambudwipa Island and to stop the
quarrelling among different peoples, Priyavrata marked boundaries at
rivers and at the edges of mountains and forests so that no one would
trespass upon another's property.
As indicated here, different classes of men are destined to live
in different areas; Priyavrata divided the surface of the globe (earth-
universe) into different islands so that each class of men would live
peacefully and not clash with the others.
Thus we see that in the process of creation, boundaries have been
marked with mountains and rivers and all these get dissolved during
various dissolutions.
The Vishnu Purana states that at the end of the daytime period
of Brahma, a dreadful drought occurs that lasts 100 years, and all the
waters are dried up. The sun changes into seven suns, and the three
worlds (Bhurloka or Earth, Bhuvarloka or the lowest heaven, and
Svargaloka or the next higher heaven) and the underworlds are burned
bare of life.

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The inhabitants of Bhuvarloka and Svargaloka flee to the next
higher heaven, Maharloka, to escape the heat; and then to the next
higher heaven, Janaloka.
Then mighty clouds form and the three worlds are completely
flooded with water. The characteristic of this destruction is that the
three worlds continue to exist but are made uninhabitable. The souls
of individuals also continue to exist to be reincarnated in the
next daytime of Brahma.
According to Vedic scripts, first 10,000 years of Kali Yuga is
considered as Golden period in this Iron Age; albeit first 10,000
years of Kali Yuga give sneak preview of remaining worst kind of
422,000 human years. Human population will explode to more than 1000
crores. They will multiply like insects.
Post 10,000 years of Kali Yuga, the relationship between mother-
son, father-daughter and so on will wither away and they shall start
living like animals; paying no respect for relationship. Humans will
fight among themselves; resulting in annihilation of several
civilizations.
The only solace in this Yuga is that divine blessing can be
attained with minimal effort. Only 5,117 years are passed out of
432,000 years of current Kali Yuga, and there are yet another 4883 years
left to take advantage of this Golden period of first 10,000 years.
There is still time to absorb all the faculties of the mind in the
contemplation of the Supreme and seek immediate (atyantika)
dissolution i.e. liberation (moksha) of the individual from the Wheel of
Time by paying heed to what is conveyed in the scriptures under
guidance of a spiritual adept.
It is the primal command of God – ‘Be it’ which is at the back of
everything that exists. Saints have called it the Shabd, Word, Logos,
Dhur ki Bani, the Sound of Silence and many such names. It is the
Creative Power reverberating in all that exists holding everything
together. The entire space is full of this Creative Power.

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He creates by connecting to this Power and dissolves by
disconnecting from this Power. There are no complications for God,
it is us, the human beings, who have become so complicated.
Devotional practice prescribed for the present age of Kali Yuga
is invoking of this Creative Power within us.
Let us see what lord Vishnu has to say on this in Garuda
Purana, Chapter 16:
“Ignorance (maya) prevalent in this world cannot be annihilated
by mere words of scriptures, as darkness cannot be dispelled by merely
calling lamp…Garuda! There is no liberation by the study of the
Vedas, or by the reading of the Shastras. Emancipation is by
knowledge alone, not otherwise. The four stages of life are not the
cause of liberation, nor are the six philosophies, nor are good deeds, --
knowledge only is the cause.
The word from the Teacher gives liberation; all learning is
masquerade. Among thousands of woods the Sanjivana (the plant
brought by Hanuman to restore Lakshman when killed by Indrajit) is
best. Repetition of the Name of God received as spoken (word)
from the mouth of a realized Teacher is the way to liberation.”
It is done in three simple steps beginning with:
• Simran – Repetition of God’s Nam, or holy names, received as
spoken word from the mouth of a realized teacher, to concentrate our
attention scattered in the Objective World to the third eye focus – the
Tenth Door of the Body that opens inside.
• Dhyana – Contemplation of the radiant, astral form of the teacher
at the third eye to train the soul to stay there.
• Dhun – Conscious attachment and listening to the Creative Power
– Shabd, Word, Logos within at the Eye Centre. This Shabd, Word or
Logos is already there in all living and non-living. We do not hear it
because our attention is scattered outside.

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(c) Yoga Meditation | Capacity for Yoga
Of the sixteen attributes of soul, the sixteenth is Yog. Yog means
union and due to this attribute the soul gets united to mind followed by
the causal, astral and physical bodies and subsequently the entire
creation perceived through the senses.
Mind, body, senses and the entire creation draw power from the
soul for its sustenance. The soul loses its charge to the creation through
attention. As human being we are now aware of our union with the
physical – the Objective World only.
There are two sides of this union of the soul:
• The outer side of the union of the soul to the Objective World
is invoked for us through the senses or nine outlets of the body that
open outward. We are experiencing it life after life since aeons and
it has become our second nature.
• We are completely oblivious of the inner link of the soul
with the Creative Power, which is the real prime mover of our
body. Attention, awareness, consciousness, by which we experience
the creation, are all features of the soul, not of mind or body.
The practice of Yoga Meditation here implies that method by
which we invoke the inner connection of the soul with the Creative
Power. The inner link is within the body and not without or outside it.
Therefore, the search has to be made within the body to invoke this link
while living and in full consciousness. It cannot be done after death.
But how do we enter the body to invoke this inner connection?
The answer is very simple. As we learn various sciences of the world
from the adept teachers of respective field, likewise we have to seek the
help of an adept living teacher, of our time, who goes within and has
achieved conscious union of his soul with the Creative Power.
Some of the Yoga systems being practiced are summarized
hereunder:

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1. Karma Yoga
This is not exactly a method of concentration. It is essentially a way of
living based upon the idea of duty, and renunciation of or indifference
to the fruit of actions. It may bring us a good reward after death, it
cannot give us true transcendent knowledge during our lifetime.
2. Upaasana Yoga
Upaasana means sitting near. Upaasana yoga is a method of worship
through acts of devotion and service. It has two forms: external and
internal.
• The outward way is to worship a material idol or image of one’s
deity externally, performing rituals with one’s physical body.
• The refined and advanced way is inner mental worship. This is
called maansik pooja, mental worship, and dhyana, contemplation
of the form of one’s deity.
3. Laa’i Yoga
In this mystic practice one tries to get absorbed in the inner light (or
sound) behind the eyes and sometimes above the third eye and thus, by
casting off one’s selfishness or egoism, have a taste of internal spiritual
bliss and attain some subtle supernatural powers, but it cannot take him
above the astral plane. For going further up, some other method has to
be adopted.
4. Raj Yoga
In this practice there are various factors such as – vairaag, the feeling
of non-attachment and indifference to the material world, and vivek,
the power of discrimination (of distinguishing between real and unreal,
good and evil and all forms of duality) – which help us in performing
the practice properly and successfully in taking us further up in the
astral plane. A notable example is Raja Janaka.
A few members of this school who had traversed the astral plane
adopted gyan yoga, which is a finer development of raj yoga, to gain
access into the causal world of Brahmn or Om.
5. Tapasya

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Tapasya or austerity consists in training the mind by persistence and
perseverance. Tapasya is a good action and brings a good reward after
death.
Tapasya may take someone after death to Swarga or heavens in the
astral plane and give him enjoyment of that place for a certain period,
but it cannot yield true knowledge of reality, nor take him up into
planes of pure spirituality, beyond good and evil and beyond all actions
and desires.
6. Hatha Yoga
Hatha yoga lays a great emphasis on the body, with precise cleansing
practices (karm), locks (bandh), postures or poses (asanas), and breath
control (pranayam).
6.1 Karm or cleansing practices
Six Major cleansing practices are - (1) Neti karm (2) Dhoti karm (3) Wasti
karm (4) Kunjar karm (5) Neoli karm and (6) Trotak karm.
Four Minor cleansing practices are – (1) Kapal bhati karm, cleansing
breath (2) Dhaunkni karm, air pipe cleansing (3) Baghi karm and (4)
Shankh pishal karm, conch cleansing.
6.2 Bandh or Locks
There are four bandhs or internal locks (muscular contractions) in hatha
yoga:
• Maha bandh, great lock
• Mool bandh, root lock
• Jalandhar bandh, neck lock
• Udiaan bandh, diaphragm lock
These locks are practiced to control inner bodily powers and to be able
to regulate the working of the inner organs.
6.3 Aasana
There are in all eighty-four lakhs Aasanas, out of which eighty-four
have been selected for practice. From among these, two, padam aasana
and sidh aasana, are important because they can be used in the practice

21
of meditation for spiritual enlightenment. The others are useful in
keeping the body healthy.
The practice of these postures is not easy, and though useful in
preventing disease of the body and clarifying mental vision, cannot be
relied upon for controlling the mind.
6.4 Pranayam, Control of the Breath
Pranayam is not merely the holding of the breath. There are certain
preliminaries to pranayam, including dhoti, neti, and wasti. Pranayam
is performed sitting crossed-legged in the lotus pose, padam aasana.
There are three parts to this practice:
• Purak, slowly filling the lungs with breath or inhaling
• Kumbhak, keeping or holding the breath in the lungs
• Rechak, slowly exhaling the breath out of the lungs
There are eight kinds of Purak, eight of Kumbhak, and eight of Rechak.
The relative duration of each of these, called matra, is regulated in the
ratio or proportion as 2: 8: 4 units of time respectively.
Gradually the period is increased to 16, 64, and 32 respectively, and in
the advanced stages of this practice the period of kumbhak, keeping the
breath within the lungs, is still further increased till one can hold it
there and remain in a trance or samadhi for practically any length of
time.
Along with this, the mind is concentrated within, first at the Ganesh or
perineal centre, called guda or mool chakra, by means of repetition of
the holy name corresponding to that centre.
After controlling this Ganesh centre, the practitioner comes up to the
indri chakra, the reproductive chakra, and then further up till he or she
crosses all the six centres of the material creation. Ultimately, the mind
is taken with the breath or pranas through the sushmana up to
Chidakash in the astral plane, the first stage of the materio-spiritual
creation.
In fact, pranayam is only a factor, although the most important one, of
ashtanga yoga, which is a comprehensive scheme of yoga.

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7. Ashtanga Yoga
As the name implies, ashtanga yoga has eight (asht) limbs or branches
(ang) or eight aspects:
7.1 Yam, restraint, self-control
The mental attitude and conduct associated with yam consists of ten
points:
1. Not injuring anyone, ahimsa
2. Truthfulness, satya
3. Non-covetousness, asteya
4. Chastity, brahmacharya
5. Forbearance, kshama
6. Patience, dheeraj
7. Kindness, daya
8. Humility, deentaa
9. Taking saatvik food
10. Cleanliness (of body and mind), shauch
Saatvik food, which nurtures a calm and peaceful disposition, is
vegetarian food – fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, and milk
products – taken fresh in small quantities, lightly prepared in a state
prayerful concentration.
7.2 Niyam, chief principles of life
There are ten aspects to niyam, all relating to self-restraint and religious
observance:
1. Control of the passions, indri vash
2. Contentment, santosh
3. Faith, aastikta
4. Charity, daan
5. Praying to God, eeshwar aaraadhana
6. Listening to good things only, shravan
7. Feeling of shame for one’s faults, lajja
8. Firmness in good deeds, drirrhta
9. Recitation, jaap
10. Sacrifice or renunciation, especially of one’s desires, tyaag

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7.3 Aasana, posture of the body
Of the eighty-four aasanas selected for practice, two, padam aasana and
sidh aasana, are important because they can be used in the practice of
meditation for spiritual enlightenment. The others are useful for
keeping the body healthy.
1. Padam Aasana: This is practiced sitting cross-legged on a firm
surface with the right foot on the left thigh and the left foot on the
right thigh, with the arms crossed round the back, the right hand
holding the big toe of the left foot and the left hand that of the right
foot, the body in that posture being kept vertically straight and
stable.
2. Sidh aasana: This is practiced sitting in such a posture that the left
foot comes under the rectum, the right foot is on the organ of
reproduction and the back is kept vertically upright.
7.4 Pranayam, control of the breath
There are eighty-four kinds of air in the body but ten are chief, out of
which two are the most important: praana and apanaa. Of these two,
prana, the breath that goes into the lungs, is the most important.
There are 72,864 energy channels, nadis or nerves (pulse), in our body,
the root of all being in the navel. Out of these ten are chief; five on the
right side and five on the left. Of these again three are very important:
1. Ida on the left
2. Pingla on the right
3. Sushmana in the middle
The most important is sushmana, through which the soul currents pass.
The process of pranayam has already been described above.
7.5 Pratyaahaar, withdrawal
This is stopping one’s senses from going towards any sensual pleasure,
and if they are carried away by the temptation, then bringing them back
from there and concentrating one’s mind inside. Just as a tortoise, when
it is frightened or exposed to danger, withdraws its legs and head within
its shell, similarly we withdraw our senses from external sensual objects
which attract the senses into their inner source in the mind.

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There are five human senses, each with a faculty and temptation of its
own:
1. Eyes see and like to behold beautiful objects.
2. Ears hear and like to listen to sweet songs.
3. The nose smells and like to scent fragrant things.
4. The tongue tastes and like to eat delicious dishes.
5. The hands and the whole skin give us the sensation of touch or
contact and like to feel soft and smooth surfaces.
7.6 Dhaarna, holding the pranas
Dhaarna is stopping or holding the pranas at a certain centre for a
certain period and bringing the material tattwa (prithvi, earth; jal,
water; Agni, fire; vayu, air; and Akash, ether) or element there under
control. For instance:
• Thaman: If pranas are held in the guda chakra for two hours or so,
then the earth element is conquered. This dhaarana is called thaman.
Similarly we have other dhaarnas:
• Drawan
• Dahni
• Bhramani
• Shankhani
By means of these, the other four tattwas in the higher centres in the
material plane are brought under control.
7.7 Dhyan, contemplation of the Lord
Dhyan is of four kinds:
1. Padasth dhyan: Contemplation of the holy feet of the Lord in one’s
mind.
2. Pindasth dhyan: Contemplation of the Lord with the whole body, by
passing through all the six centres of the material creation.
3. Rupasth dhyan: Contemplation of the form of the Lord in the astral
world, above the six chakras of the Pind.
4. Rupatit dhyan: Contemplation of the Lord in the Sunn, that is, Set
Sunn, high up in the astral plane, where all forms are transcended

25
and the devotee attains sayujya mukti, ‘salvation in union’. This is
the highest kind of dhyan.
7.8 Samadhi
Samadhi is a spiritual trance in which one goes beyond knowledge,
gyan, and contemplation, dhyan, and is absorbed in bliss. The
contemplation and the contemplated become one. There are four kinds
of samadhi:
1. Bhakti samadhi: By controlling all the senses, the devotee
contemplates the lotus feet of the Lord. When he is identified with
the Lord in his contemplation, then his samadhi is complete.
2. Yoga samadhi: By crossing the six chakras of the body by pranayam,
the devotee contemplates the Lord in Sunn in the astral plane. When
in contemplation the devotee forgets himself altogether, then it is
known as yoga samadhi.
3. Gyan samadhi: So long as one knows of diversity and multiplicity,
so long as by thinking one knows oneself as different from others,
the contemplation is imperfect; but when forgetting the difference
between ‘I’ and ‘you’, one falls naturally into a trance of spiritual
knowledge then it is known as gyan samadhi.
4. Vigyan samadhi: When one transcends the difference of the knower,
the known and the knowing, then it is known as vigyan samadhi.
Most Important facts about Yoga
One of the most important facts about yoga is that it cannot be
performed without the help and guidance of a competent contemporary
teacher; one cannot do it merely by the study of books.
A competent and efficient teacher of this yoga is rare nowadays.
Moreover, the final stage of this school, though above the six centres of
subtle matter, is not very high in the materio-spiritual regions. The
passageway of ascent in this practice is via the subtle pranas which get
absorbed in Chidakash in the astral plane and can go no further. The
last stage for this yoga is Niranjan Desh. It cannot take us into or even
near the purely spiritual realms.
Hindu rishis of olden times had very strong physiques and lived in
jungles. They had no household duties to perform and no cares or
worries of the world to bother them. They could devote their time and

26
energy to this practice. Still the fruit they reaped was much too
inadequate for the hardship they bore and the pain they suffered, for by
pranayam, as pointed out above, they could not go above the astral
plane.
Besides, pranayam is a very difficult and risky method. The perfect
adepts of this practice are rare these days, and the precautions essential
to this kind of yoga are hard to observe. One has to be extra careful about
the quality as well as the quantity of the food one takes, for even a slight
deviation from the fixed rule may be attended with very unpleasant
consequences.
Moreover, the strain of holding the breath for a long time involves great
risk to the lungs. In attempting it, several persons have impaired their
lungs and in some cases it has proved fatal. It is thus not a safe practice
at all and certainly not for the householder.
For people of today, whose bodies are weak and frail, pranayam is not
only unsuitable as a mystic practice but may prove positively harmful,
and there are other practices that are safer and more efficacious.
Pranayam was in fact meant for other yugas or cycles of time, when
people lived much more than a hundred years; not for Kaliyuga, when
the span of our life is hardly seventy or so and our strength and energy
are much reduced.
Pranayam as being taught by various practitioners of today is just the
preliminary steps of inhaling, holding the breath within and exhaling
with attention fixed on the breath.
As a result of this practice, our attention which is scattered in the outside
world by perpetual wilful participation in worldly activity is brought
within and it helps in providing proper share of life force to the subtle
material tattwas.
With the attention brought within, various organs of our body that are
connected to these tattwas chakras function properly and we are
healthy. It is basically the attention brought within that is doing all
these health wonders and there is no spiritual significance or gain. The
attention can be brought within by other safer meditative practices.

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8. Shughl-i naseera
In this practice the devotee first begins by steadying his gaze on the tip
of his nose or just in front of the nose. Afterwards he shifts the focus of
his eyes to the root of the nose, and then withdraws his attention
inwards into the astral plane. This is like the trotak karm of hatha yoga,
and the chachri mudra of yogis discussed later under mudra yoga.
After this, when the conscious current of the soul and mind is
concentrated and collected inside at the threshold of the astral plane, the
practitioner listens to the sounds coming from above. However, he does
not discriminate between different sounds, but listens to the Ghor
Shabd, ‘undifferentiated sound’.
Thus, by constant practice the devotee finds access into Niranjan Desh,
the first stage of the materio-spiritual creation, and listens to and gets
absorbed in the ten kinds of music there: the whistling sound of birds
in single and double tones, bells, conch, lute, cymbals, flute, drum, big
drums, and thunder of clouds. Absorbed in the music, the practitioner
does not go further up beyond the astral plane.
This music of ten kinds of the first materio-spiritual stage is mentioned
in Hamsa Upanishad thus:
Naad (music) is of ten kinds. The first is (the ringing sound of)
chini; the second is (the echoing ring of) chini-chini; the third
is the sound of a bell; the fourth of a conch; the fifth of a tantri
(lute); the sixth is the sound of tala (cymbals); the seventh of a
flute; the eighth of a mridanga (double drum); the ninth of a
bheri (drum); and the tenth of clouds or thunder.
Hamsa Upanishad
Sant Charandas mentions these sounds as follows:
In the heavens is the thousand-petalled lotus,
Where recitation is a thousand times performed,
And where manifesteth the powerful, radiant light.
Seek it though by the method of yoga
And behold it with the eye of the soul.

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Soundeth there ten kinds of Anahad (Un-struck Music),
Where mergeth thy being.
First is like humming of bees,
Second the tinkling of small bells;
Third the sound of conch, fourth of a big bell;
Of tala (cymbals) the fifth,
Sixth of a flute, seventh resoundeth the bheri (drum),
Eighth a mridanga (double drum),
Ninth the sound of a nafri (trumpet),
And tenth is like the roaring of a lion.
Listen thou, O Charandas.
Ten kinds of Anahad Soundeth
Where yogis get absorbed;
Senses stop and the mind stops, saith Charandas.
Charandas, Shri Bhaktisagar Granth, Page 127
It is not necessary that everyone should hear all these sounds and in the
same order. It depends on the degree of purity and cleanliness of the
mind of each individual as to which sound he will hear first and in
which order he will hear others.
But all mystics of this school count ten kinds of music on the astral
plane, where they have the impression of merging their being and it is
the final stage for them.
9. Mudra Yoga
There are five well known mudras. In each mudra, the practitioner
concentrates his attention while holding a position in a certain part of
the body.
9.1 Khechri Mudra
In this mudra, first the tongue is cleaned with water, and then honey
and other ingredients are rubbed under it. Afterwards by holding the
tongue with the left hand, the tissue connecting the tongue with the
lower part of the mouth is gradually scratched with a sharp instrument
such as a knife, so that the tissue may gently be cut off freeing the
tongue to be turned upwards and inwards.

29
Then by rubbing it with almond oil, and repeatedly pulling it out with
the hand, the tongue is made long enough to allow its tip, when turned
inwards, to reach the cavity of the throat and cover it.
This generally takes about six months. When, by constant practice, this
is achieved, then the devotee washes the cavity of the throat and, by
turning inwards, fixes its tip on the cavity and blocks it, so that the
nectar which may drop from the head or brain during practices like
pranayam may fall on the tongue and be tasted by the devotee to give
him happiness and bliss. This is the most important mudra; its place is
in the mouth.
9.2 Bhuchri Mudra
The place of this mudra is in the nose. There are two chief kinds of
praana (vital air) in the body:
1. The breath that goes into the lungs through the mouth and nose and
is then exhales is called praana.
2. The wind that passes out of the rectum is called apana.
By this mudra the second kind, apana, is brought up and mixed with
praana, the first kind. The devotee sits in sidh aasana and closes the
opening at the rectum with the heel of one of his feet. Then by
controlling apana air, he gradually brings it up and turns it into praana.
The good of doing this is that when air or prana is thus controlled, the
mind, which is ever shaking, becomes steady and collected. This mudra
gives the devotee some internal happiness and helps the devotee in any
further mystic practice.
9.3 Chachri Mudra
The place of this mudra is in the eyes, which are by constant practice
trained to keep open and gaze fixedly at a point about four to six inches
in front of the nose.
Then the focus of the sight is shifted to the tip of the nose and then
turned inwards into subtle planes. It is like the trotak karma of hatha
yoga. At that time the eyes of the devotee are automatically closed and
one beholds the inner sky, sun and moon and finds access into the astral
world. This mudra thus yields inner happiness and peace.

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9.4 Agochri Mudra
The place of this mudra is in the ears. By this the hearing power and the
knowing power are united, so that by turning them inside and listening
to the internal sound, the mind and senses become steady and yield true
peace, bliss and knowledge.
9.5 Unmani Mudra
The place of this mudra is in the tenth door or third eye, which is the
seat of the soul in the waking condition, midway between the two eyes
and inwards. That is the window opening into the astral plane.
By entering that window the devotee attains sidh samadhi during which
all worry and fear disappear and the soul feels the bliss of union with
the divine regent on the astral plane.
Extension of Unmani Mudra
A higher and subtler mudra
This is a sort of an extension of unmani mudra which was adopted by
some Hindu rishis of old for going from the astral plane to the next
higher stage, the causal creation. This mudra is a technical name for the
spiritual light rays which, coming down from Brahmn or Om, fall on
Chidakash in the astral plane of Niranjan.
Having reached Chidakash by pranayam or other means, those rishis
wanted to go further up. Seeing these light rays coming from above,
they concentrated their attention on these and riding on them, so to
speak, secured access into the higher stage, Brahmn Lok, from where
these light rays emanate.
Although the current and flow of these rays is downwards, yet the soul
can ascend upwards by riding on them, just as fish can swim up a
current of falling water. But even this very fine mudra cannot take us
above top of materio-spiritual creation, beyond Brahmn or Om into the
purely spiritual realms where alone we have absolute reality and
attainment of true salvation.
10. Gyan Yoga and Vedanta
This school believes in securing salvation and access to higher spiritual
planes through gyan, knowledge. Its followers try to impress deeply
and firmly on their minds the great mystic truths, such as about the

31
nature of the spirit or soul and its oneness with God, by dwelling
continuously and constantly on them.
Vedanta is the essence of gyan yoga. It is of two kinds: praacheen, ‘old’,
and naveen, ‘new’.
10.1 Praacheen Vedanta
Earlier Vedantists, by the practice of ashtanga yoga, pranayam and the
subtle unmani mudra, reached the stage of Brahmn or Om and identified
with Brahmn. After this realization they could truly say, “I am Brahmn”.
Such a one was Rishi Vyas, who had merged himself in and attained the
transcendent of oneness with Brahmn. But before this internal
realization, he had undergone the training of yoga in all its aspects and
passed through its earlier stages.
10.2 Naveen Vedanta
As with any religion or system of realization, practitioners can delude
themselves by equating their concepts with actual spiritual attainment.
Present-day Vedantists who do not do any practice or get any training
in yoga, who merely read the accounts of earlier Vedantists and begin
to say, “I am God”, may be philosophically correct but have not
spiritually realized what they claim.
To be really free from the bondage of maya and realize oneness with
God, a person has to adopt a proper mystic practice.
When we look upon ourselves as God – based only on theory and
intellectual understanding – we are just vaachak gyani, theoretically
enlightened ones. There is world of difference between theory and
practical realization.
By mere theory we do not get rid of our weaknesses and ignorance or
shake off pain and sorrow. As long as we are slave to passions, we
cannot become great like true mystics merely by uttering their words.
Those who remain content with theory and mere talk lower and degrade
true Vedanta and gyan yoga.
Fourfold training in Gyan Yoga
There are four factors for training in gyan yoga:

32
1. Vivek (Discrimination): Discernment and differentiation between
right and wrong, real and unreal, and so on, such as realizing that
the soul is real and the world is unreal.
2. Vairaag or vairagya (Detachment): Mental turning away from the
world or renouncing the unreal and thus, by elimination retaining
the positive real.
3. Khat sampadi: Six aspects of moral training:
1. Sam: Balanced mind
2. Dam: Control of passions
3. Titiksha: Forbearance
4. Upraamta: Indifference to worldly things
5. Saavdhaanta: Alertness of mind
6. Shraddha: Faith and devotion
4. Mamokshta: Selflessness and riddance from egoism.
Many so-called gyanis do not care for this fourfold training but try to
jump to the last stage of realization and transcendent knowledge all at
once. Therefore, they fail. Adepts among the earlier as well as among
modern Vedantists and gyan yogis can reach as far as Brahmn, but not
the purely spiritual planes higher up.
Gyan, inner knowledge, is the result of yoga or mystic practice, and
mystic practice cannot be successfully performed without bhakti or
devotion to the mystic adept. Hence, gyan and yoga both depend on
bhakti; bhakti is the real, essential component of mysticism.
[Note: All the above yoga practices may take one to the astral
or at most the causal region but not to pure spiritual realms.
The greatness of true knowledge is that we look for that yoga
practice which gives us union with the absolute Lord.]
11. Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti yoga is not exactly a yoga, but a way of life. Devotion, bhakti,
means our intense attachment to the beloved Lord and utter
surrender and resignation to his supreme will, consequent
upon our complete faith in his perfection, kindness and loving
nature.

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In bhakti yoga, whatever the Guru says the true devotee
accepts and obeys, even if the intellect does not understand it.
Our intellect is limited and frail, but the wisdom of the mystic adept is
infallible.
This complete submission is the ideal of bhakti, love and
devotion. It is called sharan, taking shelter or refuge – entire
dependence on the Guru. Faith and love are essential to mystic
realization. The more we do the mystic practice, karni, the firmer will
our faith be.
These two, sharan and karni, go hand in hand, but sharan is the
more important of the two, for it is based on love and devotion.
Love is all-embracing; it overwhelms the whole of one’s being.
Bhakti is of two kinds:
• Mixed bhakti, in which service on the part of the devotee is
accompanied by a lingering desire to get some reward or good in
return. This is sakaam bhakti and is of a lower order.
• Pure bhakti, in which there is no desire for any reward. It is
nishkaam bhakti, service for the sake of service, and devotion for the
sake of devotion. This is the highest kind of bhakti.
Of all methods of approach to the Supreme Being and of access into
subtle planes, bhakti is the highest path. On the physical plane, it is
difficult to understand true love; for here it is all a mixture – love mixed
with lower feelings and tendencies – and consequently it is not so
effective and powerful.
Of sixteen attributes of soul, love and kindness are the thirteenth and
fourteenth attributes respectively. Love is an inherent feature of the
soul. However, the pure essence of love begins from the stage of
Parbrahmn, where all covers are removed from the soul.
There it shines in its genuine radiance of twelve suns; in Sat Lok
it attains its union with the absolute Lord. Love is seen there in its full
bloom.

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Inner Realization Stages for Bhakti Yoga
The final stage for bhakti yoga is not any fixed point. As to how far the
devotee goes, this depends on the inner reach and access of one’s mystic
adept.
• If the Guru is confined to the six centres of material creation, the
disciple can go no further.
• If the Guru has reached up to Niranjan, the devotee will stop there
in the astral plane.
• If the Guru goes up to Brahmn or Om, his disciple can go up to that
point but not higher.
• If the Guru has access to Parbrahmn plane but not beyond, the
devotee will go up to that last point of his Guru’s stage.
• But if one is so fortunate as to find a Guru of the highest spiritual
stage of Satnam and Anami, then by devotion to him one secures
entry into that highest plane of pure spirituality and absolute
transcendence.
Thus, love and devotion alone to one’s Guru can take one to the final
stage of creation and unite with the ultimate Lord. This is the secret of
bhakti yoga, but the difficulty here is that, in the first place, true and
perfect Gurus are extremely rare and hard to find; and secondly, if by
some stroke of good luck we come across one, it is not easy to recognize
him as such and have faith in him.
For union with God, however, the devotee has first to merge himself in
the Guru before he can achieve oneness with God. The true essence of
love is the inner spiritual transcendent Sound, the music known as the
Shabd or Word, and as the Anahad Shabd, the unending Word, the
unstruck Sound, which is the real being of God.
Therefore, the mystic practice of the Word or Anahad Shabd, which
engenders and kindles love for the Lord in our hearts, is the key to the
highest bhakti yoga, and is termed Surat Shabd Yoga, meaning the
union or merging (yoga) of soul consciousness (surat) in the Word of
God or divine Sound (Shabd).
12. Surat Shabd Yoga or Sultan al-Azkar
In this practice, which is also known as Shughl-i Sawt-i Sarmadi, the
Practice of the Eternal Sound, and by several other names – such as

35
Shabd Yoga, the Yoga of the Word or Sound, Shabd Abhyas and so on –
the devotee begins by concentrating the attention at the third eye focus
above the six centres of the material creation and listening to the
internal sound of the bell.
Gradually traversing materio-spiritual realms, the devotee ultimately
reaches the highest and absolute stage of Satnam, the True Name, and
Anami, the Nameless. This is the method that carries one to the very top
of all creation, beyond all duality and relativity, beyond good and evil,
and above all ignorance and delusion.
Shabd refers to a subtle transcendent power which resounds in all
planes above the eyes and transports us to the highest regions. This
Shabd is not ordinary sound, for sound cannot exist where the medium
of air is absent; while this spiritual, transcendent sound reverberates
throughout all high stages, where there is no air and no material object.
In a well-known dialogue in the Adi Granth, Raag Ramkali, Sidh Gost,
the siddha yogis (yogis who have attained miraculous powers) ask Guru
Nanak:
Where doth that Shabd abide
Which taketh us across the ocean of the world?
Ten kinds of prana we have;
On which doth it depend?
Guru Nanak, Adi Granth, Page 944 – 9 to 12
Then the Guru answers:
That Shabd abides within;
Transcendent, I behold it wherever I look.
The source of all pranas is in Sunn,
But Shabd does not depend on anything.
Guru Nanak, Adi Granth, Page 944 – 12 to 15
There are two main kinds of mystic practice: varnatmak, relating to
words, and dhunatmak, relating to the inner sound. The Shabd practice
belongs to the second kind, which is beyond writing and speech.

36
It is called ajapa jaap, Unutterable Utterance; and akath katha,
Untellable Tale. Guru Nanak calls it baani, Word; gurbaani, Guru’s
Word; sach, Truth; or naam, Name. In the Bible, it is called the Word.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Bible, John 1:1
In the Vedas, it is termed naad, Sound; or aakash vani, Heavenly Voice.
Muslim mystics call it kalima, Word; kalaami-i Ilaahi, the Word of God;
nida-i aasmaani, Heavenly Sound; or ism-i azam, the Greatest Name.
This spiritual sound current, the Logos, the Divine Harmony, the
Heavenly Music or the Music of the Spheres, emanates from the
absolute Supreme Being and creates and sustains all planes and
universes.
If we compare the absolute Lord to an ocean of spirituality and
transcendence, and our soul to a drop of it, then this spiritual current
may be called a vast river which flows out of that ocean and waters all
the regions below.
Shabd is God’s unwritten law, his unspoken language, his
inexpressible word; it is his essence, his being, his very self. Shabd
reverberates in all planes and is the source of all life and the
fountainhead of all consciousness.
It is the omnipresent form of God. As, in essence, the soul and Shabd
are one, it draws the soul upwards as a magnet attracts a needle.
Therefore, this method is called Surat Shabd Yoga, union of the surat,
soul, with the transcendent Shabd. By listening to that internal music
God is truly known, and then all external worship appears futile.
Rumi tells us to take our soul to the firmament of the eye centre and the
listen to the music of Shabd coming from above.
Bring the firmament under thy feet,
O thou brave one,
And listen thou to the melodious song

37
Coming from the heaven above.
Rumi, Masnavi II: 1942
Listen thou to the Eternal Speech
That transcendeth birth and death.
Niyaz, Divani-I Shah Niaz Barelvi, Page 90
Without coming into conscious contact with that eternal music, we
cannot go out of the whirlwind of phenomena.
Without Shabd blind is our soul;
Say, where can it go?
Not finding the door of Shabd,
It wandereth astray again and again.
Kabir, Kabir Sakhi Sangrah, Page 93:15
The devotee of Guru knoweth the divine Lord:
In all the four yugas by Guru’s Shabd is he known?
Guru Amar Das, Adi Granth, Page 1054-55
By Surat Shabd do thou cross
The ocean of phenomena,
By uttering his Name, O Nanak.
Guru Nanak, Adi Granth, Page 938
How can the worldly minded find Surat Shabd?
Without Surat Shabd one keepeth coming and going.
Guru Nanak, Adi Granth, Page 1042
Through Shabd alone can we know the absolute Lord, and Shabd can be
had by performing Surat Shabd Yoga with the help of the mystic adept.
Guru is, of course, essential for any realization and success in
this method.

38
It is a path of devotion, bhakti maarg; it is devotion to the Satguru that
enables the devotee to effect an entry into the third eye focus and to
catch hold of the transcendent Shabd, which is the real inner essence or
being of the Guru, for he has merged his individuality in the
universality, the eternal Shabd, and thus become one with God.
12.1 Essential factors in Surat Shabd Yoga
Three things are needed for training in this mystic school:
• Satsang: Being in the company and listening to the discourses of
true mystics.
• Satguru: Devotion to a contemporary mystic adept.
• Shabd: Initiation into the secrets of the sound current by the Guru.
Of the sixteen attributes of soul, effect of company, jalrangi, is the
eleventh attribute and it is this feature that is used by true mystics to
motivate us to recover our lost heritage and free ourselves from the
never ending cycle of birth death, and re-birth.
By satsang we begin to feel the need of a living Guru of Shabd Yoga
and, when we find such a Guru and give him our devotion, he unites
our soul internally with Shabd.
12.2 Three parts of this method
There are three steps in this method:
• Simran: Repetition of the holy name or names given by the Guru at
initiation, to concentrate our attention on the third eye focus.
• Dhyan: Contemplation of the radiant, astral form of the Guru at the
third eye to train the soul to stay there.
• Bhajan: Listening to the Shabd internally, which will transport the
soul to higher spiritual regions.
Note: Radiant, astral form of the Guru, who initiates, will automatically
appear at the third eye focus when our concentration is complete by
Simran. Contemplation of the physical form of the Guru is prohibited.
Without coming into contact with the transcendent Shabd we cannot go
beyond karmas, beyond good and evil, beyond relativity and duality,

39
beyond birth and death, beyond the sphere of maya or phenomena, into
absolute reality.
This subtle method is the most effective, the most direct and has the
highest reach. Moreover, unlike pranayam, which is an artificial
method, it is natural, within everyone. It can neither be altered, nor
changed, nor modified. It is universal.
As compared with other practices, it is so easy that all human beings can
follow it, from a child of five to an aged person of ninety, without any
distinction of caste, creed, colour, country, nationality, religion or
position.
The light of truth is within everyone, and anyone who tries to find
it by this method under the guidance of a Perfect Guru can
achieve it.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened.
Bible, Matthew 7:7-8
This is the method which all can adopt: grihasthi, householder, as well
as tyaagi, renouncer; the educated as well as the uneducated; men and
women, all without any obstruction or hitch. What is wanted is
keenness and the guidance of a contemporary Satguru.
12.3 Four rates of speed in mystic ascent
There are four rates of speed in the mystic ascent of the soul:
1. In Pind: In this region, the six physical centres of the material
creation, the speed is very slow and is called cheenti maarg, the
path of the ant, because the ant moves slowly and can slowly
separate sugar particles from sand. Similarly, in Pind the conscious
current is very slowly separated from the body and drawn up into
the third eye by simran or repletion.

40
2. In And: In this region, the astral plane, the materio-spiritual realm,
the speed is less slow and is called makri maarg, the path of the
spider, because the spider comes down from the ceiling with the
thread of its web and then slowly goes up again by the same thread.
Similarly, in the astral regions the soul goes up and comes down
with the current of inner sound or light.
3. In Brahmand: In this region, the causal-spiritual realms below Sach
Khand, the speed is fast, and is called meen maarg, the path of the
fish, because the fish cannot bear separation from water and it is
also able to ascend along a current of water falling from above.
Similarly, the soul gets inseparably united with Shabd at the stage
of Parbrahmn beyond the causal region, and can easily go up and
come down with the current of Shabd.
4. In Sat Lok or Sach Khand: In this region, which the Muslim
mystics call Maqam–i Haq, the region of Truth, the ultimate,
absolute spirituality, the speed is the fastest, and is called
bihangam maarg, the path of the bird, because the soul at that
level of consciousness is like a bird that flies from the planes and in
an instant reaches the top of the mountain, and then flies down and
reaches the plains in an instant.
The person who has reached Sach Khand can collect the soul in the
third eye and transport it in no time into Sach Khand and bring it
back in no time into the body at will.
To summarize, one who finds access into the astral plane acquires the
method of the spider. One who goes above Brahmn or Om into
Parbrahmn, the causal-spiritual planes, acquires the method of the fish.
But the greatest mystics who go into the highest spiritual stages of Sach
Khand and Anami acquire the speed of the bird.
These terms indicate, however, four rates of speeds relative to one
another; the fastest thing in the physical world is light or electricity, but
the speed of pranas is faster, that of mind is still faster and that of the
soul is so fast that even to call it speed would be wrong.
12.4 Jyoti-jot, union with the Lord in different mystic schools

41
The final stage, jyoti-jot – the merging of the light of soul, jyoti, in the
Supreme Light, jot – where the individual is presumed to become
one with God, is different for different mystic schools.
1. Pranayam Yogis: These yogis go up to Chidakash in Niranjan
Desh and stop there. Hence, they look upon the sixth centre of the
material creation as the highest level of human experience and
Niranjan as God. Their jyoti-jot is there, in the astral plane or the
first stage of the materio-spiritual creation.
2. Yogishwar gyanis: These yogis go up to Brahmn or Om, and not
beyond. Hence, for them, Niranjan is the highest level of human
experience and Brahmn is God. Their jyoti-jot is there, in the causal
region – the second stage and the top of materio-spiritual creation.
3. Sadh mystics: Sadh mystics go up to Parbrahmn, a predominantly
spiritual region. Hence, for them, Brahmn is the highest level of
human experience, Parbrahmn is God, and their jyoti-jot is in
Parbrahmn.
4. Sant mystics: The Surat Shabd saints go up to Sat Lok and Anami.
Therefore, Parbrahmn is the highest level of human experience and
God is Sat Purush. Hence, their jyoti-jot is in Sat Lok or Maqam-i
Haq and Anami Desh, but not below Sat Lok.
That is the real and true jyoti-jot; for our soul is a drop of the ocean
of Satnam, and by merging in that ocean alone can it find eternal
salvation and attain the deepest bliss, truest knowledge and highest
love.
So, our ideal in life should be to reach that highest stage and to
be one with the final, ultimate absolute.
(d) Torments of Hell
All the hellish planets are situated in the intermediate space between
the three worlds and the Garbhodaka Ocean. They lie on the southern
side of the universe, beneath Bhu-Mandala, i.e. beneath Patala and
slightly above the water of the Garbhodaka Ocean. All these planets are
meant for punishing the living entities who indulge in sinful activities.

42
The foolish person thinks he is independent of any law. He thinks there
is no God or regulative principle and that he can do whatever he likes.
Thus he engages in different sinful activities, and as a result, he is put
into different hellish conditions life after life, to be punished by the
laws of nature.
There are twenty-eight main hells known as:
1. Tamisra
A person who appropriates another's legitimate wife, children or money
is put into the hell known as Tamisra. On this very dark planet, the
sinful man is chastised by the agents of Yama, who beat and rebuke
him. He is starved, and he is given no water to drink, thus causing him
severe suffering and sometimes he faints from their chastisement.
2. Andhatamisra
The destination of a person who slyly cheats another man and enjoys
his wife and children is the hell known as Andhatamisra. There his
condition is exactly like that of a tree being chopped at its roots. Even
before reaching Andhatamisra, the sinful living being is subjected to
various extreme miseries. These afflictions are so severe that he loses
his intelligence and sight. It is for this reason that learned sages call this
hell Andhatamisra.
3. Raurava
A foolish person absorbed in the bodily concept of life, who maintains
himself or his wife and children by committing violence against other
living entities, is put into the hell known as Raurava. There the animals
he killed take birth as creatures called rurus to afflict very severe pain
upon him. Not generally seen in this world, the ruru is more envious
than a snake.
4. Maharaurava
Punishment in the hell called Maharaurava is compulsory for a person
who maintains his own body by hurting others. In this hell, ruru
animals known as kravyada torment him and eat his flesh.
5. Kumbhipaka
Those who kill different animals and birds and then cook them are put
into the hell known as Kumbhipaka, where they are boiled in oil.

43
6. Kalasutra
The killer of a Brahmana is put into the hell known as Kalasutra, which
is made entirely of copper. Heated from below by fire and from above
by the scorching sun, the copper surface of this planet is extremely hot.
The killer of a Brahmana burns in that land for many years.
7. Asi-patravana
One who does not follow scriptural injunctions but who does
everything whimsically or follows some rascal is put into the hell
known as Asi-patravana, where they beat him with whips. Fleeing from
the extreme pain, he runs hither and thither and into palm trees with
leaves like sharpened swords.
8. Sukaramukha
A government official who poorly administers justice, or who punishes
an innocent man, is taken to the hell known as Sukaramukha, where the
most powerful assistants of Yama crush him exactly as one crushes
sugarcane to squeeze out the juice.
9. Andhakupa
By the arrangement of the Supreme Lord, low-grade living beings like
bugs and mosquitoes suck the blood of human beings and other
animals. Such insignificant creatures are unaware that their bites are
painful to the human being.
God has given consciousness to the human being. Therefore he can feel
the suffering and happiness of other living beings. A human being
endowed with knowledge certainly commits sin if he kills or torments
insignificant creatures, who have no discrimination.
Such a person is put into the hell known as Andhakupa, where he is
attacked by all the bugs, reptiles, mosquitoes, lice, worms, flies, and any
other creatures he tormented or killed during his life. They attack him
from all sides, robbing him of the pleasure of sleep. Unable to rest, he
constantly wanders about in the darkness. This way he receives proper
punishment from his victims.
10. Krmibhojana
Any person who does not receive or feed a guest properly but who
personally enjoys eating is put into the hell known as Krmibhojana.

44
There an unlimited number of worms and insects continuously bite
him.
11. Sandamsa
A thief is put into the hell known as Sandamsa. There his skin is torn
and separated by red-hot iron balls and tongs. In this way, his entire
body is cut to pieces.
12. Taptasurmi
A man or woman who has sexual relations with an unworthy member
of the opposite sex, is put into the hell known as Taptasurmi. There such
men and women are beaten with whips. The man is forced to embrace a
red-hot iron form of a woman, and the woman is forced to embrace a
similar form of a man. Such is the punishment for illicit sex.
Generally a man should not have sexual relations with any woman other
than his wife. The same principle holds for a woman also; if she enjoys
sex with a man other than her husband. Illicit sex life is always
forbidden, and any man or woman who indulges in it is punished in the
manner described above.
13. Vajrakantakasalmali
A person who indulges in sex indiscriminately—with animals—is taken
after death to the hell known as Vajrakantakasalmali. In this hell there
is a silk-cotton tree full of thorns as strong as thunderbolts. The agents
of Yama hang the sinful man on that tree and pull him down forcibly so
that the thorns very severely tear his body.
14. Vaitarani
A person born into an aristocratic or highly placed family, a member of
royalty or a government servant, who does not act accordingly and
neglects to execute his prescribed duties falls down at the time of death
into the river of hell known as Vaitarani.
This river is full of ferocious aquatic animals who begin to eat him, but
because of his extremely sinful life, he does not leave his body. The
sinful person constantly remembers his sinful activities and suffers
terribly in that river, which is full of stool, urine, pus, blood, hair, nails,
bones, marrow, flesh and fat.

45
15. Puyoda
The shameless husbands of lowborn women live exactly like animals,
and therefore they have no good behaviour, cleanliness or regulated
life. After death, such persons are thrown into the hell called Puyoda,
where they are put into an ocean filled with pus, stool, urine, mucus,
saliva and similar things. Lowborn persons who do not improve
themselves while living will have to meet this fate after death.
16. Pranarodha
A person who mercilessly hunts and kills animals is put into the hell
called Pranarodha. There the assistants of Yama make him their target
and pierce him with arrows.
17. Visasana
A person who kills animals in the name of religious sacrifice is put into
the hell named Visasana. There the assistants of Yama kill him after
giving him unlimited pain.
18. Lalabhaksa
A man, deluded by lusty desires, who forces his wife to drink his semen
is put into the hell called Lalabhaksa. There he is thrown into a flowing
river of semen, which he is forced to drink.
19. Sarameyadana
One who sets fire to others houses or administers poison to kill them is
put into the hell known as Sarameyadana. On that planet there are dogs
with teeth as strong as thunderbolts. Under the orders of the agents of
Yama, these dogs voraciously devour such sinful people.
20. Avici
A man who earns his livelihood by bearing false witness or lies while
transacting business or giving charity is severely punished after death
by agents of Yama. Such a sinful man is taken to the top of a mountain
eight hundred miles high and thrown headfirst into the hell known as
Avici.
This hell has no shelter and is made of strong stone resembling the
waves of water. There is no water there, however, and thus it is called
Avici (waterless). Although the sinful man is repeatedly thrown from

46
the mountain and his body broken to tiny pieces, he still does not die
but continuously suffers chastisement.
21. Ayahpana
A person addicted to drinking wine is put into the hell named
Ayahpana. Here the agents of Yama stand on their chests and pour hot
melted iron into their mouths.
22. Ksarakardama
One who violates etiquette by not showing proper respect to superiors
is thrown headfirst into the hell known as Ksarakardama. There he
suffers great tribulation at the hands of the agents of Yama.
23. Raksogana-bhojana
There are men and women in this world who sacrifice human beings to
Bhairava or Bhadra Kali and then eat their victims' flesh. Those who
perform such sacrifices are taken after death to the hell called
Raksogana-bhojana.
Where their victims, having taken the form of Rakshasas, cut them to
pieces with sharpened swords. Just as in this world the man-eaters
drank their victims' blood, dancing and singing in jubilation, their
victims now enjoy drinking the blood of the sacrifices and celebrating
in the same way.
24. Sulaprota
Some people give shelter to animals and birds and after making them
believe that they will be protected, such people pierce them with lances
or threads and play with them like toys, giving them great pain.
After death such people are brought by the assistants of Yama to the hell
known as Sulaprota, where their bodies are pierced with sharp, needle
like lances. They suffer from hunger and thirst, and sharp-beaked birds
such as vultures and herons come at them from all sides to tear at their
bodies. Thus tortured and suffering, they can then remember the sinful
activities they committed in the past.
25. Dandasuka
Those who in this life are like envious serpents, always angry and
giving pain to other living entities, fall after death in the hell known as

47
Dandasuka. In this hell there are serpents with five or seven hoods.
These serpents eat such sinful persons just as snakes eat mice.
26. Avata-nirodhana
Those who in this life confine other living entities in dark wells,
granaries or mountain caves are put after death into the hell known as
Avata-nirodhana. There they themselves are pushed into dark wells,
where poisonous fumes and smoke suffocate them and they suffer very
severely.
27. Paryavartana
A person who shows unwarranted wrath towards a guest in his house
is put into the hell called Paryavartana, where he is gazed at by hard-
eyed vultures, herons, crows and similar birds, which suddenly swoop
down and pluck out his eyes with great force.
28. Sucimukha
A person maddened by possessing riches and thus deeply absorbed in
thinking of how to collect money is put into the hell known as
Sucimukha. Such a person is not in any way able to obtain actual
happiness, and he does not know what it is to be free from anxiety. In
the Sucimukha hell, the agents of Yama punish him by stitching a
thread through his entire body like weavers manufacturing cloth.
Summation
In the province of Yama there are hundreds and thousands of hellish
planets. Here only important hells have been described. The impious
must all enter these various planets according to the degree of their
impiety. Those who are pious, however, enter other planetary systems,
namely the planets of the demigods.
Nevertheless, both the pious and impious are again brought to earth
after the results of their pious or impious acts are exhausted.
Whether one goes to the upper planetary systems or the hellish
planetary systems, he simply wastes his time. The problems of life
will only be solved when we no longer have to accept a
material body.
*******

YV BKII CH12 The Greatness of True Knowledge

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