Extract from: http://www.swami-
"Tell me about the Atman," said Narada.
"Tell me about the Atman," said Narada.
By a long-drawn discussion – stage by stage, step by step – the sage Sanatkumara took the mind of Narada to the apex point.
"The great Truth alone is the source of peace and bliss," said the sage.
"Tell me the Truth," asked Narada.
"The Truth is the Infinite," said Sanatkumara.
"Tell me what the Infinite is," asked Narada.
"Where you see nothing else outside you, where you hear nothing else outside you, where you are not thinking anything outside you, that is the Infinite. Where you see something outside you, where you hear something outside you, where you are thinking something outside you, that is the finite. The Infinite alone is bliss. Know that!" replied Sanatkumara.
"Where is that Infinite?" asked Narada further.
Sa evadhastat, sa uparistat, sa pascat, sa purastat, sa daksinatah, sa uttaratah, sa evedam sarvam (C.U. 7.25.1). "Where is the Infinite, you are asking me. It is in front of you. It is behind you. It is to the right. It is to the left. It is above. It is below. It is everywhere. It alone is. One who knows this has freedom in all the worlds," replied the sage. No passport is necessary; no visa is necessary to move in the realms of being.
Such a person who knows this secret becomes the Self of worlds galore. He becomes the Self of all beings. He becomes everything! Such a person is the centre of gravitation for everything in the universe.Yathaika ksudhita balah mataram paryupasate evam sarvani bhutany agni-hotram upasate ity agni-hotram upasata iti (C.U. 5.24.5). If that person who knows this secret eats food, the whole universe is satisfied. In earlier days there was a concept of feeding Brahmins.
The idea is that a Brahmin is one who knows Brahman.
and if he eats, everybody is satisfied. This knowledge makes you such a potentate in the cosmos that the worlds – all beings – gravitate around you for blessing in the same way as children sit around their mother for food. "Mummy, give me food. Give me something to eat," so children cry around the mother. So all beings, all creation – everyone will rally round you and seek your blessing because what you are, they also are. What you eat, they eat, and what you feel, they feel. Your joy is their joy. Your existence is their existence.
The idea is that a Brahmin is one who knows Brahman.
and if he eats, everybody is satisfied. This knowledge makes you such a potentate in the cosmos that the worlds – all beings – gravitate around you for blessing in the same way as children sit around their mother for food. "Mummy, give me food. Give me something to eat," so children cry around the mother. So all beings, all creation – everyone will rally round you and seek your blessing because what you are, they also are. What you eat, they eat, and what you feel, they feel. Your joy is their joy. Your existence is their existence.
This is the import, finally, of this one wondrous story I mentioned to you of the six great people going to Ashvapati, the king, for the knowledge of the Atman, which is not outside and not somewhere, and that Atman about which Yama, the Lord, refused to speak.
Ascaryavat pasyati kascit enam (B.G. 2.29), the Bhagavadgita also reiterates. "Wonder is this thing that you are speaking. It is a wonder!" The teacher who can explain this is a wonder. The student who can understand this is a wonder. The thing that is explained is a wonder. The whole thing is a wonder. The greatest wonder is the Ultimate Being called God Almighty, the Absolute. May this wonder bless you, is my prayer!
