Bhagavagd Gita - Session 41- Track 4109

The only thing that has to be known in the world or anywhere is “That which exists”. The only thing that has to be known or which can be known is only “That which exists”. You cannot know “What is not” because “That is not”, so, it cannot be known. So, the only thing that is to be known and that can be known is “That which exists”. That is why it is said in Indian philosophy: “Have the knowledge of ‘That which exists’, ‘That which is’”. Sat is the real object of knowledge: Sat is “That which exists”.

Now, what is the nature of this “Sat” which is the only thing to be known? And the answer is: “Know this Reality as the originator of all that is there”. This Reality, this “Sat” is not only “Sat that which exists”, it is also the originator of all that you see. That is the first answer.

Second, it is not only the originator of all that is there, it is also the “Essence” and the “stuff” of all that is there. A carpenter may be the originator of a chair, but he himself is not the stuff of the chair; he is the originator of the chair, but this Reality, this Sat is of such a nature, it not only originates, it is also the stuff of all that is originated, it is itself the chair, you might say.

Thirdly, it is also the Lord and Master of all that is there. When you know the Reality in these 3 aspects, then you have the Knowledge, that is the true answer of India. The Reality is the originator of all that is, Reality is the essence and stuff of all that is, and Reality is Lord and Master of all that is.

As the originator the word that we use in India is Purusha. The Reality as the originator is called Purusha. Instead of using these 3 words: ‘originator’, ‘stuff’ and the ‘Lord’, we have 3 words in Sanskrit: the Reality, the Sat as the originator is called Purusha. The Reality as the stuff of all things is Brahman. The Reality as the Lord is Ishwara. So, when you know that Reality is Brahman, Purusha and Ishwara, you have the complete understanding of it. But when you say this all the complexity is involved in it. The reality is one, but the moment you say: it is Brahman, Purusha, Ishwara, all the complexity is present in it.

Question: Shiva and Purusha are the same thing or…,

No. Shiva is Ishwara or even Purushottama, He is the supreme Lord. Purusha is only the originator.

Question: Would you call Purusha also the experiencer?

Yes, that is a subordinate aspect: because it is originator, so as an originator it then looks at what is originated and it experiences it. Originator, Experiencer and Enjoyer, these three things are correlated. So whenever we speak of Purusha: Purusha is originator, experiencer and enjoyer; it is the specific demarcation of the word Purusha.

Question: Who has propounded this as a whole philosophy, - only Sri Aurobindo?,

Only Sri Aurobindo. You have all…so confusing, yes, that is why the Vedic philosophy, the philosophy of Upanishads is fully brought out by Sri Aurobindo, because Veda is not written as a book of philosophy; Upanishad is not written as a book of philosophy. It is only in philosophy that all elements are related very clearly: that is the speciality of philosophy.

Philosophical knowledge is the knowledge of all the terms in that inter-relationship and their significance. So, even if you have this experience, but if you don’t know the relationship with other experience, the two experiences will stand in your consciousness as still unrelated; then you try to relate them: this is the task of philosophy.

Or when the two experiences are experienced simultaneously, then when you connect them intellectually, then intellectual manifestation is only a play for you, because the relationship is known to you in experience, but when you described it, it is only a play for you.

So, philosophy can be either an effort to relate or it can only be a kind of a joy for you to express the relationship that you have known.

That is what Sri Aurobindo did,

That’s right. That’s what Sri Aurobindo did.