May 7, 2025

Vedanta Sara: Verses 15 - 16

Vedanta Sara: Verses 15 - 16
The player is loading ...
Vedanta Sara: Verses 15 - 16

Send us a text We continue our series on Vedanta Sara, exploring verses 15-16 which distinguish between the permanent (Brahman/consciousness) and the transient (everything else), a fundamental teaching for true spiritual understanding. • Discrimination between permanent and transient as essential spiritual practice • Only consciousness/awareness is truly unchanging and permanent • The formless cannot transform into form; forms appear and disappear within formlessness • Renouncing attachment ...

Send us a text

We continue our series on Vedanta Sara, exploring verses 15-16 which distinguish between the permanent (Brahman/consciousness) and the transient (everything else), a fundamental teaching for true spiritual understanding.

• Discrimination between permanent and transient as essential spiritual practice
• Only consciousness/awareness is truly unchanging and permanent
• The formless cannot transform into form; forms appear and disappear within formlessness
• Renouncing attachment to the fruits of actions as taught in Bhagavad Gita
• The six spiritual treasures supporting the path to realization
• Making Jivan Mukti (liberation while living) our primary spiritual goal
• Importance of surrendering material attachments while continuing worldly activities
• Understanding that Brahman alone is permanent, unlimited by time and space
• Confronting our mortality as necessary for understanding immortality
• Accepting our infinite, formless nature beyond the body

Please like, comment, and follow me on social media and Discord to join the conversation. Support my work through Patreon or YouTube membership if you feel called to do so. Stay tuned for updates on my upcoming course.


Support the show

00:00 - Welcome to Vedanta Sara Series

02:16 - Understanding Permanent vs Transient Knowledge

05:10 - Six Treasures and Desiring Spiritual Freedom

09:21 - Prioritizing Jivan Mukti Above All

12:53 - Brahman Alone Is Permanent

15:36 - Embracing Death to Achieve Liberation

WEBVTT

00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.913
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Bearded Mystic Podcast, and I'm your host, rahul N Singh.

00:00:06.913 --> 00:00:24.980
So let's continue on with our series on the Vedanta Sara, which is an important preliminary foundational text that can help us understand the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and even the Bhagavad Gita.

00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:36.491
Now it's very important that we have particular definitions and that we understand what things mean.

00:00:36.491 --> 00:00:41.692
So when we come across teachings, our understanding is clear.

00:00:41.692 --> 00:00:48.673
What can happen when we read text or when we read interpretations?

00:00:48.673 --> 00:00:52.329
We can sometimes get confused on what they mean.

00:00:52.329 --> 00:01:04.243
Sometimes some words are translated differently and, for example I'll just give one very quick summary the Bhagavad Gita.

00:01:04.243 --> 00:01:10.289
Now, the ISKCON version of the Bhagavad Gita is actually different.

00:01:10.289 --> 00:01:31.055
They change certain words in the Bhagavad Gita, so, as much as they say it's Bhagavad Gita as it is, it really isn't and it's been manipulated with whilst if, and there's evidence of this as well.

00:01:31.055 --> 00:01:35.487
So when it comes to um, you know that from.

00:01:35.487 --> 00:01:42.784
In my opinion, the ramakrishna math has the best translations and they are true to the meaning.

00:01:42.784 --> 00:01:45.126
They don't give their perspectives.

00:01:45.126 --> 00:01:58.849
Some people accuse them of being left-leaning and so forth, or giving Marxist perspectives, but you don't see that in the translation and that seems to be biases from particular people.

00:01:58.849 --> 00:02:06.900
So it's very important to understand that translations should be kept as translations or interpretations.

00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:09.348
That's fine, as long as we know the intention.

00:02:09.348 --> 00:02:17.054
So in chapter 1, which is obviously the preliminary, and we are on verse 15.

00:02:17.054 --> 00:02:21.992
We've already discussed the previous 14 verses.

00:02:21.992 --> 00:02:32.894
If you want to recap them, they're on the playlist on the on youtube, so it's very easy for you to go through them.

00:02:32.894 --> 00:02:39.288
And then, just in general, I would say that's the best way to to do that.

00:02:40.028 --> 00:02:40.270
Now.

00:02:40.270 --> 00:03:04.330
Verse 15 says the means to the attainment of knowledge, or jnana, are discrimination between things permanent and transient, renunciation of the enjoyment of the fruits of actions in this world and, hereafter, the six treasures, such as the control of mind and the desire for spiritual freedom.

00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:16.354
Now we need to know the difference between nitya and anitya, so that which is permanent and that which is impermanent or is transient.

00:03:16.354 --> 00:03:18.066
This is very important.

00:03:18.066 --> 00:03:25.076
Now some people will say well, you know this formless, it's contentless.

00:03:25.076 --> 00:03:38.716
Therefore, if we imply that that is permanent and then you know, then we are defining it in some way, we are binding it in some way.

00:03:38.716 --> 00:03:40.687
That's not necessarily the case.

00:03:40.687 --> 00:03:51.348
You're being pointed to here through words, but the actual experience will be beyond permanence and impermanence, and so that has to be understood.

00:03:51.348 --> 00:03:55.683
But initially you need to know what is permanent now.

00:03:55.683 --> 00:03:56.426
What is permanent?

00:03:56.426 --> 00:03:57.812
That which does not change.

00:03:57.812 --> 00:04:05.193
So whatever is changeless is essentially only consciousness, it it's only awareness.

00:04:05.193 --> 00:04:09.010
That's the only thing that is changeless.

00:04:09.010 --> 00:04:10.725
Same thing with the formless.

00:04:10.725 --> 00:04:12.506
The formless cannot change.

00:04:12.506 --> 00:04:16.468
The formless cannot just modify into a form.

00:04:16.468 --> 00:04:21.081
For that to happen, that means within the formless.

00:04:21.081 --> 00:04:31.000
If we truly look into the formless, that means that somewhere there is a form in the formless that would imply that it was never formless to begin with.

00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.418
So this needs to be understood.

00:04:33.418 --> 00:04:37.259
Now, the formless remains formless.

00:04:37.259 --> 00:04:46.759
Now, because of the formlessness, you can say it gives the room for forms to appear.

00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:56.797
You can say that that's fine, but remember that will be impermanence, that will be transience, because forms will appear and forms will disappear.

00:04:58.516 --> 00:05:08.564
Then the renouncing the fruits of actions and any other pleasures that will come by from the world.

00:05:08.564 --> 00:05:10.855
You know this is a massive thing.

00:05:10.855 --> 00:05:15.769
In the Bhagavad Gita it's one of the biggest teachings and one of the things that is easy to practice.

00:05:15.769 --> 00:05:20.141
You know, you do your actions and you don't think about the results.

00:05:20.141 --> 00:05:23.331
You let the results be as they are your actions and you don't think about the results.

00:05:23.331 --> 00:05:30.750
You let the results be as they are and you don't need to say whether this result was deserved or undeserved, or you should have done better.

00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:31.574
No, that's.

00:05:31.574 --> 00:05:37.050
That's then going into the mind and then getting manipulated by what the mind thinks.

00:05:37.050 --> 00:05:42.661
So, whatever the fruits of your actions are, just let them be, you know.

00:05:42.661 --> 00:05:47.579
You don't have to say you know I did this or because of this, I'm enjoying the fruits.

00:05:47.579 --> 00:05:56.889
That may be the case, but remember to Be as Beyond the fruits of those actions.

00:05:56.889 --> 00:05:59.975
Good things appear good, bad things appear good.

00:05:59.975 --> 00:06:04.079
No need to be either way, swayed either way.

00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.860
Yeah, the whole point is to have our mind centered on formless awareness.

00:06:08.860 --> 00:06:10.574
That's the whole point.

00:06:10.574 --> 00:06:13.497
Then there's the six treasures.

00:06:13.497 --> 00:06:31.019
The six treasures will be discussed in a bit, but remember one thing that those are, like you know, the control of the mind, the control of the senses and all, and the diksha, endurance and so on.

00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.163
You know shraddha, faith and so on.

00:06:33.163 --> 00:06:34.533
So those are the six treasures.

00:06:35.555 --> 00:06:37.338
And then the desire for spiritual freedom.

00:06:37.338 --> 00:06:45.223
As I always say, unless we are truly desiring jivan mukti, we are not really ready for the spiritual journey.

00:06:45.223 --> 00:06:51.583
So to be truly spiritual is to be truly desiring Jivan Mukti.

00:06:51.583 --> 00:07:08.810
I often say this, you know, whether that's in satsang, whether that's in the podcast, jivan Mukti has to be your number one goal, and it's best if you understand this earlier than later.

00:07:09.492 --> 00:07:19.483
I, when I was maybe in my 30s, I desired Jeevan Mukti, but I wish that I desired it earlier on.

00:07:19.483 --> 00:07:25.894
I always wanted to connect with God, you know, connect with the formless, connect with consciousness.

00:07:25.894 --> 00:07:27.377
That was always there.

00:07:27.377 --> 00:07:36.040
But to actually be liberated, to be free to be boundless, that was something that came in afterwards.

00:07:36.040 --> 00:08:08.115
So I wish that I was able to have those feelings, these feelings of Jivan Mukti, when I was earlier, when I was able to have those feelings, these feelings of Jeevan Mukti when I was earlier, when I was, you know, in my university days, you know, to be free, to be truly free, not free from just, you know, the mental construct, not just that, you know, that's one aspect, but to be truly free from even the Idea of Atman and Brahman yeah, where those concepts don't Drive me down.

00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:13.557
Or the concept, that Of non-duality, you know, sometimes people can get stuck on.

00:08:13.557 --> 00:08:16.295
Well, if it's not non-dual, then I don't want to know it.

00:08:16.295 --> 00:08:22.197
And what they don't realise, that very thought Brings you back into duality.

00:08:22.197 --> 00:08:30.648
Yeah, yeah, and this is an important teaching to remember.

00:08:30.648 --> 00:08:39.028
So one should really desire, jivan Mukti, that in this life, I want to be free.

00:08:40.395 --> 00:08:50.149
The problem with this now becomes that you then have to reduce or remove the desire for worldly things.

00:08:50.149 --> 00:08:55.322
Now, some people may want to be millionaires, you may want to be self-sufficient.

00:08:55.322 --> 00:09:07.865
I want to be self-sufficient, but does that desire appeal to me more than Jiva Mukti?

00:09:07.865 --> 00:09:12.465
No, jiva Mukti has to be something I can't compromise with.

00:09:12.465 --> 00:09:18.144
So that has to be the approach of the devotee.

00:09:19.488 --> 00:09:30.307
That's how, you know, in my approach to spirituality today is that I've surrendered everything that is material to my Guru, now to Narankara, to the formless.

00:09:30.307 --> 00:09:44.684
None of what I have is mine, and that is freedom.

00:09:44.684 --> 00:09:54.024
You know, just even practicing letting go of that, that's freedom.

00:09:54.024 --> 00:09:58.011
But, yes, does that mean that I stop working?

00:09:58.011 --> 00:10:04.201
No, does that mean I stop focusing on my job?

00:10:04.201 --> 00:10:12.552
No, does that mean that I don't work on my course, that I'm creating, that I don't work on my course, that I'm creating?

00:10:12.552 --> 00:10:31.763
No, yes, the course that I'm creating is there not just to make people ready for Brahm Gyan and ready for the wisdom, but it's also there to help me create a secondary income which will eventually become a primary income, and that's very clear, because there's going to be a cost to it.

00:10:34.181 --> 00:10:45.342
So I can do things like this that I enjoy, yeah, and there's no need for me to Pretend otherwise.

00:10:45.342 --> 00:10:48.841
Yeah, the authenticity has to be there.

00:10:48.841 --> 00:10:55.414
So this happens when we are Truly connected to spirituality.

00:10:55.414 --> 00:11:05.304
We then become very clear in what we want, and that can only happen if we are desiring the ultimate freedom, which is to be in the.

00:11:05.304 --> 00:11:10.327
To understand that our true nature Is formless consciousness, it is Nirakar, it is God.

00:11:10.327 --> 00:11:14.320
To understand that our true nature is formless consciousness, it is Nirakar, it is God.

00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.844
And not to shy away from that.

00:11:15.844 --> 00:11:22.936
Yes, I acknowledge that.

00:11:22.936 --> 00:11:44.801
You know, I'm initially a soul and what I didn't realize was that this soul was actually God itself, that the Atman is Brahman itself, and that only occurs when we have truly understood what spirituality is.

00:11:44.821 --> 00:11:52.687
Now, yes, so the next verse, verse 16, discrimination or discernment between things permanent and transient.

00:11:52.687 --> 00:12:05.123
This consists of the discrimination that Brahman alone is the permanent substance and that or things other than it are transient.

00:12:05.123 --> 00:12:06.767
So basically, what does it mean by permanent?

00:12:06.767 --> 00:12:10.625
It's unlimited by time and space, etc.

00:12:10.625 --> 00:12:13.020
Nothing can limit it.

00:12:13.020 --> 00:12:14.586
That's what's permanent.

00:12:14.586 --> 00:12:18.004
So if we know consciousness does not belong to space.

00:12:18.004 --> 00:12:26.246
It's not limited by space, it's not limited by time, it's not limited by name or form or anything like that.

00:12:26.246 --> 00:12:30.836
Consciousness can remain as limitless as it wants, anything like that.

00:12:30.836 --> 00:12:32.097
Consciousness can remain as limitless as it wants.

00:12:32.097 --> 00:12:38.384
And transient is that which is contained in some way, limited in some way.

00:12:38.384 --> 00:12:39.886
Time erodes it.

00:12:39.886 --> 00:12:41.369
Space contains it.

00:12:41.369 --> 00:12:43.191
Space limits it.

00:12:43.191 --> 00:12:46.178
You know, that is a thing.

00:12:46.178 --> 00:12:52.115
The span of control is less so.

00:12:52.135 --> 00:12:55.134
Here we have to understand that Brahman alone is permanent.

00:12:55.134 --> 00:13:05.744
Nothing else is permanent, just Brahman, just your Atma, just consciousness, just awareness.

00:13:05.744 --> 00:13:07.908
That alone is permanent.

00:13:07.908 --> 00:13:11.922
Do not accept anything else.

00:13:11.922 --> 00:13:18.674
The different energies of the universe although, yes, this is controlled by Ishvara, but it is not Brahman.

00:13:18.674 --> 00:13:23.339
Ishvara also is temporary.

00:13:23.339 --> 00:13:31.953
Yes, so everything other than Brahman is transient.

00:13:31.953 --> 00:13:35.687
Your job is transient.

00:13:35.687 --> 00:13:37.532
This life is transient.

00:13:37.532 --> 00:13:39.783
Tomorrow you may die.

00:13:39.884 --> 00:13:41.610
Are we comfortable with our own death?

00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:49.025
Are we comfortable that tomorrow could be our last day, or today could be our last day?

00:13:49.025 --> 00:13:51.923
This could be the last podcast I record.

00:13:51.923 --> 00:13:53.746
This could be the last podcast you hear.

00:13:53.746 --> 00:13:55.972
Are you comfortable with that?

00:13:57.160 --> 00:14:04.785
If we're not comfortable by our own mortality, how can we get to immortality when we haven't dealt with mortality?

00:14:04.785 --> 00:14:09.389
You know, when we think that death is the end.

00:14:09.389 --> 00:14:12.750
That means we do not know what the beginning is.

00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:17.846
If we know what the beginning is, we know death is never the end.

00:14:17.846 --> 00:14:28.850
But this only happens when we've truly experienced what Brahman is, when we understand what the permanent is, and this makes us strong.

00:14:28.850 --> 00:14:45.525
For this we have to spend time thinking about death, unless you have faced death in in a one to one battle where you fully understand what it is.

00:14:45.525 --> 00:14:47.645
Until then life cannot be lived.

00:14:50.186 --> 00:14:55.337
To be Jivan Mukti, to have Jivan Mukti understand what it is, until then life cannot be lived.

00:14:55.337 --> 00:15:02.346
To be Jivan Mukti, to have Jivan Mukti, one has to embrace death, and for that you have to devour it.

00:15:02.346 --> 00:15:04.971
The infinite has to devour the finite.

00:15:04.971 --> 00:15:08.529
For that to happen, you have to accept your infinite nature.

00:15:08.529 --> 00:15:11.701
You have to accept your infinite nature, you have to accept your timeless nature.

00:15:11.701 --> 00:15:15.707
So that is very important.

00:15:15.707 --> 00:15:20.134
So this is, uh, what we'll keep with today.

00:15:20.154 --> 00:15:24.004
My, for some reason my throat is not letting me continue on.

00:15:24.004 --> 00:15:36.582
You can probably hear it through my voice, but if there's one thing to understand in today's episode is that you are Brahman, nothing less.

00:15:36.582 --> 00:15:46.424
So tonight, when you go to sleep, remember that you are this formless consciousness, and that is permanent.

00:15:46.424 --> 00:15:48.668
This body is.

00:15:48.668 --> 00:15:52.455
This body will dissolve away, it will die.

00:15:52.455 --> 00:15:56.927
Nothing remains, only this Brahman remains.

00:15:56.927 --> 00:16:00.990
So with those few words, I take your leave.

00:16:00.990 --> 00:16:06.609
Do follow me on social media, do follow me on Discord.

00:16:06.609 --> 00:16:09.447
You can have conversations with me there.

00:16:09.447 --> 00:16:12.868
Do like this video, do comment.

00:16:12.868 --> 00:16:16.750
If you want to support me on Patreon, you can.

00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:20.431
If you want to support me on YouTube membership, you can.

00:16:20.431 --> 00:16:26.139
And look, I've started working on the course again.

00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:28.729
So back to the writing.

00:16:28.729 --> 00:16:34.269
So that's happening, uh, and more updates will be given in the future.

00:16:34.269 --> 00:16:37.585
Okay, take care, everybody, stay safe.

00:16:37.585 --> 00:16:38.587
Namaste.