In English
Nine lamps that can illumine the mind
What is the inner meaning of the expression, ? The say, "." (The principle is the same as , ). is the Ultimate, the Full. Bha means having full auspiciousness and prosperity. Ga means deserving praise and adoration. In the , is described in clear terms. He sustains the Universe using His creative power as the means. He creates and fosters what is created. So, He is or , He who raises, He who rules and saves. Bha also means light, splendour. is He who sheds and spreads Light. is , embodied Light, Effulgence. Since He can and does illumine all things and beings everywhere at all times, He is . When do we need Light? Not during the day, but when night prevails. Then we need a lamp, a flame, the Moon. So too, until wisdom enlightens us, we need ; until we experience the One Unified Divine, we have to accept and practise discipline, regulations and . Ignorance is the Night. Knowledge is the Light. There are nine lamps that can illumine the mind and free it from darkness - (listening), (adulation), (remembering), (showing respect by touching the feet), (ceremonial worship), (paying obeisance), (doing service), (friendliness), and (self surrender). We must shape ourselves into fit instruments for the spiritual pilgrimage. There are four classes of persons: those who pay attention to their own faults and the excellences of others (the best); those who highlight their own excellences as well as the excellences of others (the middlings); those who pay attention only to their own excellences and only to the faults of others (the worse type) and those who present their own faults as excellences and the excellences of others as faults (the worst). Each one can discover for himself the group to which he belongs. Remember this: when one is yearning to become aware of the Full, the Sacred, the , the , the , he has to prepare himself for the first and the best group - discovering his own faults and observing only excellences in others. This is the most desirable .