Other Than Shri Hari There Is Nothing Else
सर्वभूतस्थमात्मानं सर्वभूतानि चात्मनि
सम्पश्यन्नात्मयाजी वै स्वाराज्यमधिगच्छति
आत्मयाजी – who is Atmayaji? One whose yajna-yaga is internal. For him, every being exists in him, and he exists in every being. What is Svarajyam? Brahmatvam – the state of Brahma. One who realizes that everything is in him, and he alone is in everything, attains Brahmatva – Svarajyam.
सृष्टिस्थित्यन्तकरणीं ब्रह्मविष्णुशिवात्मिकां
स संज्ञां याति भगवानेक एव जनार्दनः
It is Janardana alone who assumes the roles and titles of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva while performing the tasks of Srishti (creation), Sthiti (sustenance), and Laya (dissolution).
तस्मान्न विज्ञानमृतेऽति किंचित्
क्वचित् कदाचित् द्विज वस्तुजातम्
तस्मादृते न किंचित् विज्ञानम् – Other than him, there is no knowledge. Other than him, there is not a thing anywhere or anytime.
विज्ञानमेकं निजकर्मभेदात्
विभिन्नचित्तैर्बहुधाभ्युपेतम्
Knowledge is the same for everyone. By knowledge, what is meant here is what is transmitted to you from the object known, in the form of light, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The object transmits this in the same way for everyone.
Coming back to the analogy of fish cooking – the smell that comes out is the same for everyone. For someone it is aroma, for someone else it is a pungent stink. It is said that this is because of karmabheda – the qualities, the filters, the viewing glasses that one possesses because of one’s own karma. These variations – the same smell stimulating two entirely different kinds of reactions and reflexes – it is because of one’s own karma, how you are evolved based on your karma.
Psychology calls it conditioning – conditioning of the brain based on the environment one grows up in. We say it is karma – the environment one is born into, the household one takes birth in – all that is decided by one’s own karma. The conditioning the brain is given depends on one’s own past karma.
There is a story. A boy from an orthodox Brahmin family who had a government job was posted on a seashore where fishing was the primary occupation. Such places have got that typical smell. After six months, one of his relatives visited him and exclaimed – how do you bear this foul smell? The boy said – this is nothing, it was much worse when I came here. This is karma – what you acquire, the changes in you due to your own actions, exposure, and environment.
So, knowledge is the same for everyone. How it is processed is different from person to person. That knowledge is Sri Hari.
And what is the nature of that knowledge?
ज्ञानं विशुद्धं विमलं विशोकम्
अशेषलोभादिनिरस्तसङ्गम्
एकः सदैकः परमः परेशः
स वासुदेवो न यतोऽस्ति किंचित्
Pure, without any blemish, without scope for any sorrow, without adulterations such as greed, pride, competition – that single knowledge, ever single, it cannot expand, it cannot change. Even after millions of years, it will be the same. That is him – Vasudeva. Other than him, there is nothing else.
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Vishnu Sahasranama
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