Passage 1

Tap any word for its meaning.

In plain words

Embodiments of Prema! In the world no object whatever comes to be made without a maker. Here is a watch; the person who made this watch must surely be somewhere, whether in Japan or in Germany, in Switzerland or in America. That person must be one who fully understood the nature of the watch. In just the same way, in creating the sun and the moon, whom the world worships and who protect the world, the countless stars and time, all of these, there must be One who knows that leadership, that authorship, a sacred art of making. Only when this Maker is all-knowing, all-pervading and endowed with every glory can He have the power to create the sun, the moon and the rest, the stars and time. Those learned in the śāstras have gone on worshipping this very Maker under many kinds of names, remembering Him and being saved; this Maker has the name Aprameya. Aprameya means the One whom no pramāṇa whatever can make known. Because He is known to the Vedas alone, He also has the name Vedavedya. To make a fitting effort to recognise such an all-knowing Maker is man's duty.

This Maker has two lakṣaṇas: (1) the taṭastha lakṣaṇa. (2) The svarūpa lakṣaṇa. Taṭastha lakṣaṇa means pointing out certain marks for the time being and so teaching that principle of the Ātma which is divinity. Pointing and saying, ‘The house that bird is sitting on is so-and-so's house,’ is taṭastha lakṣaṇa. That is, the bird sat on that house only for the time being, at that moment; it is not something that stays on that house for ever. In the same way, when certain good qualities, good conduct, good thoughts, good practices and holy thinking are present, pointing and saying, ‘This is godliness, this is divinity,’ is taṭastha lakṣaṇa.

Svarūpa lakṣaṇa means Sat, Cit, Ānanda. It is setting forth: Satyaṃ, jñānaṃ, anantaṃ brahma (that is, Satya itself is the form of Brahman, Jñāna itself is the form of Brahman, the infinite itself is the form of Brahman). These can also be called asti, bhāti, priya, rūpa and nāma. In every object asti, bhāti, priya, rūpa and nāma are mingled together. Asti means making known that an object ‘is’. Making that thing shine, and through that light showing this thing, is bhāti. Holding it dear according to our need is priya. All three of these are divine qualities of God. These are what supports. Rūpa and nāma, then, are what is supported. To establish these, asti, bhāti, priya, rūpa and nāma, there are three kinds of pramāṇa. The first, pratyakṣa pramāṇa; the second, anumāna pramāṇa; the third, śabda pramāṇa. Pratyakṣa pramāṇa means:

A small example: what is milk tonight turns into curd by tomorrow when a starter is put into it.