हिरण्मये परे कोशे विरजं ब्रह्म निष्कलम् ।
तच्छुभ्रं ज्योतिषं ज्योतिस्तद् यदात्मविदो विदुः ॥ ९॥
hiraṇmaye pare kośe virajaṃ brahma niṣkalam .
tacchubhraṃ jyotiṣaṃ jyotistad yadātmavido viduḥ .. 9..
There the stainless and indivisible Brahman shines in the highest, golden sheath. It is pure; It is the Light of lights; It is That which they know who know the Self.
Commentary:
The knots of the heart have already been explained—Brahma-granti, Rudra-granti and Vishnu-granti. They are actually avidya, kama and karma: ignorance, desire and action. These knots are broken at once by the rise of the knowledge of Brahman. Chidyante sarva-saṁśayāḥ: All doubts are dispelled in one second. You will have no doubt in your mind; everything is so clear, as if in the midday sun. Kṣīyante cāsya karmāṇi: All the karmas will be destroyed. All the effects of karma that cause rebirth will be burnt into ashes. Tasmin dṛṣṭe parāvare: When does this happen? This happens only when you behold the Great Being which is high and low combined.
Here the word ‘karma’ is used in the plural. A controversy has arisen by commentators interpreting the word ‘karmāṇi‘ as plural. How many karmas are there? Plural implies more than two. In Sanskrit grammar, plural is not dual, it is more than dual. In the English language, more than one is plural. But in Sanskrit, more than one is dual, and more than dual is plural. Here karmāṇi is plural, which means more than two. Does it mean that more than two karmas are destroyed, or are only two karmas destroyed? There are three kinds of karma—sanchita, agami and prarabdha. Usually it is said that prarabdha cannot be destroyed, and only sanchita and agami are destroyed, which are the store of karma and also the effects of karma that are performed in the present birth. They are destroyed, but the karma that has given birth to this body cannot be destroyed as long as the body lasts. This is the usual view of philosophers.
Then why is the word ‘karma’ used in the plural? Some commentators say that prarabdha is also destroyed. By saying that, they imply that though the jivanmukta purusha actually appears to be living in a body, moving about, speaking, eating, and doing things like anybody else, he is above this body. To others, the body may look like a moving vehicle; but for his own self, his consciousness has spread throughout all bodies. The jivanmukta does not see himself in one body only. The consciousness of “I am going”, etc., has been transcended by him. The jivanmukta purusha’s consciousness is in everybody’s body, and there-fore whether or not the prarabdha karma is working is immaterial for him because it is virtually destroyed. So, all the three are destroyed. This is another meaning that is given to this word ‘karmāṇi‘. However, it matters little for us because we have all the three karmas with us. Tasmin dṛṣṭe parāvare: Having reached that Supreme Being, your karmas are destroyed.
Sri Ramakrishna was in his room with Rakhal, Balaram’s father, Beni Pal, M., Mani Mallick, Ishan, Kishori, and other devotees.
MASTER: “Liberal-minded devotees accept all the forms of God: Krishna, Kali, Siva, Rama, and so on.”
BALARAM’S FATHER: “Yes, sir. It is like a woman’s recognizing her husband, whatever clothes he wears.”
14.13 Unwavering devotion to God
MASTER: “But again, there is a thing called nishtha, single-minded devotion. When the gopis went to Mathura they saw Krishna with a turban on His head. At this they pulled down their veils and said, ‘Who is this man? Where is our Krishna with the peacock feather on His crest and the yellow cloth on His body?’ Hanuman also had that unswerving devotion. He came to Dwaraka in the cycle of Dwapara. Krishna said to Rukmini, His queen, ‘Hanuman will not be satisfied unless he sees the form of Rama.’ So, to please Hanuman, Krishna assumed the form of Rama.
“But, my dear sir, I am in a peculiar state of mind. My mind constantly descends from the Absolute to the Relative, and again ascends from the Relative to the Absolute.
“The attainment of the Absolute is called the Knowledge of Brahman. But it is extremely difficult to acquire. A man cannot acquire the Knowledge of Brahman unless he completely rids himself of his attachment to the world. When the Divine Mother was born as the daughter of King Himalaya, She showed Her various forms to Her father. The king said, ‘I want to see Brahman.’ Thereupon the Divine Mother said: ‘Father, it that is your desire, then you must seek the company of holy men. You must go into solitude, away from the world, and now and then live in holy company.’
“The manifold has come from the One alone, the Relative from the Absolute. There is a state of consciousness where the many disappears, and the One, as well; for the many must exist as long as the One exists. Brahman is without comparison. It is impossible to explain Brahman by analogy. It is between light and darkness. It is Light, but not the light that we perceive, not material light.
“Again, when God changes the state of my mind, when He brings my mind down to the plane of the Relative, I perceive that it is He who has become all these — the Creator, maya, the living beings, and the universe.
“Again, sometimes He shows me that He has created the universe and all living beings. He is the Master, and the universe His garden.
“‘He is the Master, and the universe and all its living beings belong to Him’ — that is Knowledge. And, ‘I am the doer’, ‘I am the guru’, ‘I am the father’ — that is ignorance. ‘This is my house; this is my family; this is my wealth; these are my relatives’ — this also is ignorance.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)