WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:09.119
<v Speaker 1>Suta Ugrashrava, the son of Romaharshna and a distinguished expert

2
00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:13.279
<v Speaker 1>in the Puranas, stood before the Rishis gathered in a

3
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.800
<v Speaker 1>Namesha forest during the twelve year sacrifice that was led

4
00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:22.199
<v Speaker 1>by Sonaka Kulapati. He had pursued the study of the

5
00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:28.199
<v Speaker 1>Puranas with rigorous commitment and had acquired exhaustive knowledge of them.

6
00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:34.799
<v Speaker 1>With hands clasped in respect, he addressed the sages courteously saying,

7
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.240
<v Speaker 1>I have presented the story of Utanka in complete detail,

8
00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.679
<v Speaker 1>and his narrative was one of the catalysts for King

9
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.840
<v Speaker 1>Janimajaya's Sarpai Yagna, or the ritual sacrifice of serpents. What O,

10
00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:55.560
<v Speaker 1>revered ones, do you wish to hear next? What shall

11
00:00:55.600 --> 00:01:02.640
<v Speaker 1>I recount for you? The Rishi's answer, son of Roma Harshina,

12
00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:06.280
<v Speaker 1>We will pose the questions we most wish to explore,

13
00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:12.280
<v Speaker 1>and you must narrate the accounts sequentially. Our leader Sonica

14
00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:17.319
<v Speaker 1>is presently performing worship in the sacred Agnigriha. He is

15
00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:22.239
<v Speaker 1>thoroughly acquainted with the divine narratives of the devas or

16
00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:27.599
<v Speaker 1>demigods and the Asuras or demons. He possesses in depth

17
00:01:28.040 --> 00:01:37.000
<v Speaker 1>understanding of the histories pertaining to humans, the Nagas and gandharvas. Moreover, Sothi,

18
00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:42.159
<v Speaker 1>the scholarly Sonica, holds the position of chief priest for

19
00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:47.959
<v Speaker 1>this sacrifice or yugna. He is competent, adheres flawlessly to

20
00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:54.359
<v Speaker 1>his fasts, demonstrates exceptional wisdom, excels in the shastras and

21
00:01:54.599 --> 00:02:02.159
<v Speaker 1>the aranyaka, upholds truth unwaveringly. Foster's peace, exercises self mortification,

22
00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:09.360
<v Speaker 1>and conducts tapasia in strict accordance with established ascetic guidelines.

23
00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:14.599
<v Speaker 1>We all accord him the utmost respect. It is fitting

24
00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:19.120
<v Speaker 1>that we await his return, and when he occupies this

25
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:24.639
<v Speaker 1>seat made of dharba grass or dharbashna, you shall address

26
00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:29.879
<v Speaker 1>whatever that pre eminent Vidya or twice born individual inquires

27
00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:35.560
<v Speaker 1>of you. Sati responded as you wish. When that illustrious

28
00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.479
<v Speaker 1>soul is seated among us and directs me to do so,

29
00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:44.599
<v Speaker 1>I will relate sacred narratives covering a broad spectrum of topics.

30
00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:50.560
<v Speaker 1>Soon after having completed all prescribed rituals, offered prayers to

31
00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:56.000
<v Speaker 1>the demigods and performed tarbana for the pitters or ancestors.

32
00:02:56.520 --> 00:03:01.199
<v Speaker 1>The eminent Brahmana Sonka returned to the hall where the

33
00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:06.400
<v Speaker 1>sacred fire rituals take place, where other Rishis of firm

34
00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:11.039
<v Speaker 1>resolve sat comfortably with sought the positioned before them all.

35
00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:15.800
<v Speaker 1>And when Sonica took his seat among the Rithvics and Sadhyas,

36
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:20.240
<v Speaker 1>he spoke to them. This is the fourth section of

37
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.400
<v Speaker 1>the Mahabharata, the fourth canto. Now, I am going to

38
00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:28.599
<v Speaker 1>proceed to provide you my reflections, my analyzes of this

39
00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:32.560
<v Speaker 1>specific section in this same episode, because it's a rather

40
00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:37.280
<v Speaker 1>small section of story or poem that I just read

41
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.479
<v Speaker 1>to you. Before the story of wars and kings, before

42
00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:46.639
<v Speaker 1>the cries of Dropadi, or the council of Krishna, or

43
00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:50.120
<v Speaker 1>the surrender of our Juna, the struggles of our Juna,

44
00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.680
<v Speaker 1>there was silence in a forest in the Mahabarata. The

45
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.840
<v Speaker 1>Mahabharata does not begin with battle. It begins with listening.

46
00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:04.599
<v Speaker 1>Here in Nimesha forest, sages gather for a twelve year sacrifice,

47
00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:09.280
<v Speaker 1>a sacrificial ritual of twelve years. It's not of animals

48
00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:14.520
<v Speaker 1>or wealth, but of attention. They sit fasting, watching the

49
00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:19.560
<v Speaker 1>sacred fire and waiting for stories that purify thought. And

50
00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:26.120
<v Speaker 1>standing before them is Soti or Suta or Ugra Shrava, Suta, Ugrashrava,

51
00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:29.399
<v Speaker 1>the son of Romaharshna. Those are all the ways in

52
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:33.680
<v Speaker 1>which Soti is referred to in the Mahabharata. He's a

53
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:38.000
<v Speaker 1>man whose very name means one whose hair stands on end,

54
00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:43.399
<v Speaker 1>as if forever in awe. Suta has inherited the art

55
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:48.079
<v Speaker 1>of sacred narration, which is the ability to hold fire

56
00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.199
<v Speaker 1>in his words, to hold power with the words that

57
00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:55.480
<v Speaker 1>he speaks or conveys to others. Now, to those of

58
00:04:55.519 --> 00:05:00.120
<v Speaker 1>you who have read plenty of Hindu stories from Hindu mythology, yes,

59
00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:05.600
<v Speaker 1>this beginning in the Mahabada that might be very redundant

60
00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.800
<v Speaker 1>to you. It might be highly familiar, very repetitive. It

61
00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.600
<v Speaker 1>just seems very ceremonial. But we are watching a lineage

62
00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:18.639
<v Speaker 1>of storytelling awaken here. This is what we have to remember.

63
00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:23.240
<v Speaker 1>The forest scene in the Mahabada that at the beginning

64
00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.439
<v Speaker 1>is not just filler. It's not a filler scene. It's

65
00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:32.000
<v Speaker 1>the DNA of Hindu thought on knowledge. It says truth

66
00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.240
<v Speaker 1>is not found in isolation, it is transmitted. So we

67
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:41.560
<v Speaker 1>must continue this lineage of storytelling very actively. And Ugra

68
00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:48.600
<v Speaker 1>Shava he bows right. The Rishi's question sonica praise. Each

69
00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.199
<v Speaker 1>character represents a link in a chain between silence and speech,

70
00:05:55.040 --> 00:06:00.800
<v Speaker 1>a chain. This chain defines storytelling. In our modern world,

71
00:06:00.839 --> 00:06:05.079
<v Speaker 1>we might call this just simply data transfer, right, information transfer,

72
00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.399
<v Speaker 1>knowledge transfer, But what's really happening is energy transfer. You

73
00:06:09.480 --> 00:06:14.800
<v Speaker 1>have to realize that Ubra Shava has this power where

74
00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:19.560
<v Speaker 1>his words hold energy. They are fire, right, That's how we,

75
00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.600
<v Speaker 1>maybe the young people in the modern world would refer

76
00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.319
<v Speaker 1>to his words. They fire, they have fire to them.

77
00:06:26.759 --> 00:06:31.240
<v Speaker 1>So it is actually shukti moving through sound when we

78
00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:39.240
<v Speaker 1>engage in Hindu mythology, storytelling or Hindu storytelling recounting these

79
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:44.720
<v Speaker 1>stories of Hindu ancient Hindu scriptures. So shakti is moving

80
00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:49.839
<v Speaker 1>through sound. Shakti is functioning. Power is functioning through sound

81
00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:56.199
<v Speaker 1>through verbal storytelling. And notice the structure here. The storyteller

82
00:06:56.480 --> 00:07:00.720
<v Speaker 1>saw thee asks what do you wish to hear? The

83
00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:04.240
<v Speaker 1>listener say, we will ask okay, and you will answer

84
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:08.879
<v Speaker 1>all right. That's so conditions are being set here. This

85
00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:13.160
<v Speaker 1>isn't like bureaucracy or leader like follower command, kind of

86
00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:18.560
<v Speaker 1>like domination taking place. It's actually teaching us these conditions,

87
00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.680
<v Speaker 1>these rules, so to speak, that are being set between

88
00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.879
<v Speaker 1>the storyteller and the listener, that not every truth can

89
00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:30.879
<v Speaker 1>be uttered without sacred alignment, without the listener being ready,

90
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:36.240
<v Speaker 1>the space purified, the intention clear. Okay, not every truth

91
00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:40.199
<v Speaker 1>can be uttered without sacred alignment. It cannot be uttered

92
00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:43.920
<v Speaker 1>without the listener being ready for that truth, without there

93
00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:48.480
<v Speaker 1>being a sense of purification and clear intention. These are

94
00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:53.399
<v Speaker 1>the requirements for every truth to be uttered. Okay, this

95
00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:56.959
<v Speaker 1>is why you know we we don't offer up our

96
00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:01.519
<v Speaker 1>opinions and advice to p when they're truly not ready

97
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.279
<v Speaker 1>for it, because we're just going to be facing obstacles anyways.

98
00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.439
<v Speaker 1>In some ways when we give advice, inherent to the

99
00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:15.319
<v Speaker 1>advice that we give are stories that have demonstrated the

100
00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.319
<v Speaker 1>power of that advice, the effects of that advice, and

101
00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.360
<v Speaker 1>the value of that advice. But when the listeners are

102
00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:26.000
<v Speaker 1>not ready for that advice, then we should not really

103
00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:30.199
<v Speaker 1>be offering it up so freely, so liberally. But so

104
00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:34.759
<v Speaker 1>this is why conditions are set here. The storyteller demonstrates, well,

105
00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:36.519
<v Speaker 1>what do you want to hear? I'm ready to give

106
00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:40.720
<v Speaker 1>you the truth, and the listeners these reshe's in the forest.

107
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.360
<v Speaker 1>They say, wait a minute, we are going to ask

108
00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:45.840
<v Speaker 1>you what we want to hear. Okay, we'll tell you.

109
00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:48.519
<v Speaker 1>We'll tell you basically what we want to hear, and

110
00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:55.000
<v Speaker 1>you will answer. So there's a demonstration here of receptivity. Okay, reception, receptivity.

111
00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:59.960
<v Speaker 1>Shukti is able to move through this scene. She's able

112
00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.960
<v Speaker 1>to move through sound. She's able to be received and perceived.

113
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:09.240
<v Speaker 1>You know, in today's world we consume stories endlessly, so

114
00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:14.360
<v Speaker 1>many podcasts, reels, opinions, noise. But the Mahabadata opens with

115
00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.919
<v Speaker 1>a warning. Sacred speech requires a ready listener, not just

116
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.159
<v Speaker 1>a ready listener, a sacred ready listener. And what is

117
00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.639
<v Speaker 1>a listener or what qualities does a listener who is

118
00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:33.840
<v Speaker 1>sacred have? That individual has clear, clean intentions, not any

119
00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:38.559
<v Speaker 1>intentions to hurt the provider of advice, the provider of wisdom,

120
00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.080
<v Speaker 1>No envy, no jealousy. We see in the Baga ad Ghita.

121
00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.840
<v Speaker 1>When we're going to get to that later on. You know,

122
00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:51.279
<v Speaker 1>Krishna says that this information, in this spiritual discourse of

123
00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:54.360
<v Speaker 1>the bug of ad Ghita is not to be provided

124
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.279
<v Speaker 1>to those who are envious of me. So the a

125
00:09:58.360 --> 00:10:05.000
<v Speaker 1>listener who is sacred, who will consume shukti through sacred

126
00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:09.840
<v Speaker 1>listening is an individual who is clear of jealousy and envy,

127
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:15.399
<v Speaker 1>especially toward the master teacher or the master advisor. And

128
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:21.320
<v Speaker 1>that individual is also truly open and willing to receive. Okay,

129
00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:24.639
<v Speaker 1>willing to receive the truth no matter how harsh it

130
00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.399
<v Speaker 1>is or how beautiful it is, does not matter. That

131
00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:31.159
<v Speaker 1>individual is willing to receive. So there's a sense of

132
00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:37.759
<v Speaker 1>wise surrender within the sacred listener. To here, to listen

133
00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:43.960
<v Speaker 1>correctly in itself is a form of yoga. Okay, Now,

134
00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:47.480
<v Speaker 1>why is there this twelve year sacrifice? Why? Twelve years

135
00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:51.480
<v Speaker 1>twelve is a very important number, right, Twelve marks completion

136
00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:56.080
<v Speaker 1>twelve sons, twelve cycles, twelve months of the inner zodiac.

137
00:10:56.879 --> 00:11:03.879
<v Speaker 1>The sages long fire ritual mirrors the human psyche's long

138
00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:11.279
<v Speaker 1>journey through ignorance into illumination, and the fire they tend

139
00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.879
<v Speaker 1>in the forest is not just a flame, its awareness.

140
00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:20.960
<v Speaker 1>In psychological terms, this forest scene in this fourth section

141
00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:25.679
<v Speaker 1>of the Mahabarata represents the preparation of the psyche before

142
00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:32.440
<v Speaker 1>deep inquiry, deep self inquiry. The ego or Soughty, as

143
00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:37.679
<v Speaker 1>a metaphor, awaits until or waits I should say until

144
00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:43.440
<v Speaker 1>the higher self, meaning Sonica returns from worship. Only then

145
00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:49.919
<v Speaker 1>can revelation begin. And that is because the revelation occurs

146
00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:53.480
<v Speaker 1>not in the realm, when everything is pure and of

147
00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:57.000
<v Speaker 1>the highest state. It has to occur where there's still

148
00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:01.360
<v Speaker 1>more learning and healing and fix seeing left to do.

149
00:12:02.440 --> 00:12:08.519
<v Speaker 1>Sonica is returning from this deep agnigriha what I describe

150
00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:13.759
<v Speaker 1>as a sanctum of consciousness, but it's a very deep sanctum.

151
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:20.679
<v Speaker 1>It is a place of extraordinarily deep self inquiry. That's

152
00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.960
<v Speaker 1>the area or depth of our psyche that Sonica represents

153
00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:30.399
<v Speaker 1>prior to him stepping into the worship hall in front

154
00:12:30.440 --> 00:12:34.679
<v Speaker 1>of Sothi to listen to Soughti. In that place of

155
00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:39.919
<v Speaker 1>being where everything is of the highest, deepest self, there's

156
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.960
<v Speaker 1>not a lot there that can be that is left

157
00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.480
<v Speaker 1>to be revealed. It's only when we step back into

158
00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:49.600
<v Speaker 1>sort of the like the real world and we start

159
00:12:49.639 --> 00:12:53.440
<v Speaker 1>engaging with others, and in this case Soughti is that's

160
00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:56.919
<v Speaker 1>where the ego begins. That's where the ego is activated,

161
00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.000
<v Speaker 1>and that's where the ego is alive. That ego is

162
00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:05.600
<v Speaker 1>represented by Sthi in this very small scene in the Mahabharata,

163
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.559
<v Speaker 1>and that is exactly where the revelation begins. It's going

164
00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.799
<v Speaker 1>to begin from Sothi's mouth, right, We already know that

165
00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:17.600
<v Speaker 1>he's going to start answering the requests for stories and

166
00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:23.159
<v Speaker 1>the lessons from the Rishi's So that's what Sathi is

167
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.879
<v Speaker 1>going to do. He represents that ego. That's where the

168
00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:30.519
<v Speaker 1>place where revelation begins exactly there, because there is a

169
00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:36.720
<v Speaker 1>lot there to be healed. Okay, the place that Sonica,

170
00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:43.159
<v Speaker 1>being a highly spiritually advanced individual, comes from, that place

171
00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:48.679
<v Speaker 1>is already mostly purified or nearly purified. Revelation learning can

172
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:52.720
<v Speaker 1>only happen where the ego is active and playing. That's

173
00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:56.799
<v Speaker 1>the meaning of these character placements in just this small

174
00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:01.279
<v Speaker 1>scene of the Mahabharata. So how is that relevant for

175
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:05.039
<v Speaker 1>you in the postmodern world? Well, so many times in

176
00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:08.519
<v Speaker 1>life we find ourselves saying, how many lessons do I

177
00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:10.879
<v Speaker 1>have to learn? God? Like? Why do I keep facing

178
00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:14.480
<v Speaker 1>problems all the time. You have to understand that you

179
00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:18.399
<v Speaker 1>are playing, in a sense, in the field of ego,

180
00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:23.440
<v Speaker 1>and in that field there's always going to be obstacles

181
00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:26.440
<v Speaker 1>and problems, right kind of like you know, imagine like

182
00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.279
<v Speaker 1>soccer players almost in front of each other trying to

183
00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.639
<v Speaker 1>obstruct each other from making a goal, from reaching a goal.

184
00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:38.399
<v Speaker 1>That's always going to be the place, but one can

185
00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.519
<v Speaker 1>quickly gather the intelligence or the revelation that they need

186
00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.360
<v Speaker 1>as they are playing on this field to be able

187
00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.759
<v Speaker 1>to quickly bypass the obstacles and reach or score the

188
00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:52.480
<v Speaker 1>goals that they want to reach. So that's the meaning

189
00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:55.159
<v Speaker 1>of this. But first we have to be prepared for

190
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.559
<v Speaker 1>that transmission. We have to be receptive. We have to

191
00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:03.600
<v Speaker 1>be sacred listeners for those powerful words that Soughty is

192
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.919
<v Speaker 1>going to speak to us that will help us gather

193
00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:12.559
<v Speaker 1>develop that intelligence we need. When every time there is

194
00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.960
<v Speaker 1>another player in front of us in this field of ego,

195
00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:20.039
<v Speaker 1>ready to obstruct us from our goals, ready to keep

196
00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:23.840
<v Speaker 1>us from reaching our goal or from scoring our goals. Okay,

197
00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:28.240
<v Speaker 1>we have to be ready for that transmission. And how

198
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:33.159
<v Speaker 1>often do we rush also into our own introspection without

199
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:38.159
<v Speaker 1>preparing the field, without cleansing intention, without sitting in silence

200
00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:41.879
<v Speaker 1>long enough for wisdom to approach us. This reminds me

201
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:44.240
<v Speaker 1>of what I write in my book Who God Really Is,

202
00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:47.240
<v Speaker 1>where I say most humans and this is actually in

203
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.000
<v Speaker 1>the free Preview chapters in the very beginning of the

204
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.960
<v Speaker 1>book that you can preview, you can read on Amazon

205
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:57.320
<v Speaker 1>dot com rite for free. I say, you know, we

206
00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:01.799
<v Speaker 1>most humans begin their journeys for truth, for real knowledge,

207
00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:07.679
<v Speaker 1>for expansive knowledge, with pre existing biases. They still hold

208
00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:12.200
<v Speaker 1>on to biases. That impacts a lot of atheists too,

209
00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:17.200
<v Speaker 1>It really does, and that prevents us from really gathering

210
00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.480
<v Speaker 1>the knowledge and intention that we excuse me, the knowledge

211
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:24.000
<v Speaker 1>that we need to have, the real knowledge that we

212
00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:28.799
<v Speaker 1>need to have. Even as we are gathering knowledge, it

213
00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.960
<v Speaker 1>prevents us from reaching the most powerful or useful or

214
00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:38.519
<v Speaker 1>valuable knowledge easily, quickly fast. The mob Hadata begins with

215
00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:42.960
<v Speaker 1>a pause. It tells us the story of human conflict

216
00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:47.919
<v Speaker 1>cannot be heard in haste. The Rishi's interrupt Sothie even

217
00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:50.960
<v Speaker 1>before he begins, in a way they say, wait, let

218
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:56.200
<v Speaker 1>Sonica return. Let this chief priest who embodies discipline and

219
00:16:56.279 --> 00:17:00.200
<v Speaker 1>stop us, who is of the highest spiritual being, Let

220
00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:04.759
<v Speaker 1>him return. Okay, So before we make our requests to you,

221
00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:09.480
<v Speaker 1>let this being return. This interruption itself is symbolic. It

222
00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.519
<v Speaker 1>reminds us that even the sacred must be timed. That

223
00:17:13.640 --> 00:17:18.319
<v Speaker 1>insight forced too early becomes chaos, or can be even

224
00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.720
<v Speaker 1>lost because it's not being transmitted first and foremost to

225
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:29.160
<v Speaker 1>the wisest amongst us, the most wise listener amongst us,

226
00:17:29.799 --> 00:17:35.680
<v Speaker 1>being present, due to proper preparation beforehand, that listener is

227
00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.079
<v Speaker 1>wise enough to pass on though that stories, or those

228
00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:44.480
<v Speaker 1>stories of wisdom, down right through a hierarchy, so to

229
00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.920
<v Speaker 1>speak amongst the people. So that individual is very important,

230
00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:52.240
<v Speaker 1>because that individual is wise enough to know that it

231
00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:56.960
<v Speaker 1>must that storytelling, that shukti that is transmitted through sound,

232
00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:04.480
<v Speaker 1>must be passed on. Sonica returns right. He has prayed,

233
00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:08.440
<v Speaker 1>he has offered, and he has cleansed himself. Only now

234
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:12.200
<v Speaker 1>does he sit upon that sacred seat made of dha

235
00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:16.759
<v Speaker 1>daba grass. In Yogic symbolism, the dah daba grass is

236
00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:23.119
<v Speaker 1>the stable mind, where no wind of emotion can disturb concentration. Okay,

237
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.599
<v Speaker 1>Sonica's re entry represents the re entry of divine order

238
00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:33.359
<v Speaker 1>into the human conversation. He has honored the demigods and

239
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.759
<v Speaker 1>the ancestors, which means that he has balanced the future

240
00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:42.200
<v Speaker 1>and the past. Sonica is now ready to hold the present.

241
00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:46.440
<v Speaker 1>When we do not honor both meaning our lineage and

242
00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:54.640
<v Speaker 1>our aspirations, our storytelling becomes reactive, not revelatory. Sanica sitting

243
00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:58.079
<v Speaker 1>amid fire and sages is the image of the inner

244
00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:04.039
<v Speaker 1>witness and the wisest sacred listener. He is the consciousness

245
00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:08.440
<v Speaker 1>that listens to our own chaos without judgment, first and foremost.

246
00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:12.720
<v Speaker 1>And once he sits the narrative of the Mahabharata, which

247
00:19:12.759 --> 00:19:18.680
<v Speaker 1>is of chaos, destiny, dharma and destruction can begin because

248
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:23.319
<v Speaker 1>now the wisest of the wise is ready, or I

249
00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:28.119
<v Speaker 1>might even say the wisest of the wisest listener is ready,

250
00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:33.039
<v Speaker 1>and so the Shakti can begin to truly move through

251
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:37.680
<v Speaker 1>sound without obstruction, and then it will be truly transmitted

252
00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:43.839
<v Speaker 1>down even amongst all the different rishis and generations, because

253
00:19:43.880 --> 00:19:48.240
<v Speaker 1>the wisest of the wisest was present, and he knows

254
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:55.519
<v Speaker 1>that this storytelling must be passed on. Soughty, on another level,

255
00:19:55.799 --> 00:20:01.119
<v Speaker 1>represents the voice a symbol or a or the seat

256
00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:09.000
<v Speaker 1>of creative expression, a seat of creative expression. Sonica represents

257
00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:14.759
<v Speaker 1>the mind symbol of awareness, ritual discipline, a mind truly ready,

258
00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:18.119
<v Speaker 1>a mind who understands the value of what the voice

259
00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:23.000
<v Speaker 1>Sauty is about to convey. The sacred fire ritual. The

260
00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:29.000
<v Speaker 1>fire itself is the heart, purified, charged, ready, but truly

261
00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:37.960
<v Speaker 1>truly purified, transformational. Together they form the trinity expression, creative expression, awareness,

262
00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:43.400
<v Speaker 1>and transformation. The story will flow when these three are aligned,

263
00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.839
<v Speaker 1>and they are now aligned in this fourth scene in

264
00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:51.480
<v Speaker 1>the Mahabarata. In the modern psyche, these often fall apart.

265
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:56.240
<v Speaker 1>Our voices speak before, our minds are still, Our emotions

266
00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:02.839
<v Speaker 1>burn without ritual form, Our words lack sacred gravity. Many

267
00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:06.559
<v Speaker 1>people just use words for the sake of using words.

268
00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.079
<v Speaker 1>You know what I mean, So this scene becomes a

269
00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:15.599
<v Speaker 1>spiritual diagram. Here from the Mahabada, the section four, don't

270
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.680
<v Speaker 1>begin your storytelling your inner storytelling to yourself meaning your

271
00:21:20.680 --> 00:21:24.519
<v Speaker 1>self analysis. You're healing your shadow work until your inner

272
00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:29.119
<v Speaker 1>Sonica has returned from worship, until you have actually used

273
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.759
<v Speaker 1>the Hindu mantras to purify your mind. Right, Sonica represents

274
00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:38.759
<v Speaker 1>the mind, the highest awareness, So don't beginner your self

275
00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.519
<v Speaker 1>analysis your shadow work until you have used the Hindu

276
00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:48.039
<v Speaker 1>mantras to purify your mind much more to you know,

277
00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:51.039
<v Speaker 1>to bring it closer to the kind of mind that

278
00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:57.240
<v Speaker 1>Sonica Kulapati has. Otherwise, your your voice, your sauti, your

279
00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:02.599
<v Speaker 1>creative expression will speak still from womb and misunderstanding, not

280
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:07.279
<v Speaker 1>from understanding and wisdom, as I explain in my book

281
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:11.160
<v Speaker 1>Who God really is, which I encourage you all. I

282
00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:16.279
<v Speaker 1>encourage you all to pick up on Amazon today. So

283
00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:21.119
<v Speaker 1>what is this all leading to? These symbols that are

284
00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.680
<v Speaker 1>lost often, or these meanings that are lost often under

285
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:31.240
<v Speaker 1>the surrealism and longevity of the Hindu myths, or even

286
00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:35.559
<v Speaker 1>like the Mahabadata itself long world's longest epic poem, what's

287
00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:39.839
<v Speaker 1>it all leading to? Here? The Mahambadata is itself a

288
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.759
<v Speaker 1>sacrificial fire into which various characters egos, kings, and gods

289
00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:50.880
<v Speaker 1>are all offered. But this scene here in section four

290
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:55.319
<v Speaker 1>reveals something that the rest of the epic only dramatizes.

291
00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:59.920
<v Speaker 1>Every act of storytelling is in itself a sacrifice. Right

292
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.079
<v Speaker 1>when Sothi speaks, he burns his breath into the offering.

293
00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:09.440
<v Speaker 1>That's the fire, and that fire itself will be purifying

294
00:23:09.880 --> 00:23:14.920
<v Speaker 1>not just himself, but it purifies the sacred listeners. When

295
00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:19.119
<v Speaker 1>the rishis listen, they offer their silence in return as fuel.

296
00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.720
<v Speaker 1>But they know not only offer their silence, their attention,

297
00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:27.839
<v Speaker 1>That's the key attention. They are willing to be attentive

298
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.119
<v Speaker 1>to what Soti is going to or how Soughty is

299
00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:36.960
<v Speaker 1>going to deliver on their requests. Okay, so together they

300
00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:42.720
<v Speaker 1>create a cycle of shruti, hearing as worship, hearing itself

301
00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:46.160
<v Speaker 1>as worship a form of worship. This reminds me a

302
00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:49.599
<v Speaker 1>lot of what I write in the chapter on worship

303
00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:53.240
<v Speaker 1>in my book Who God Really Is. That's all in

304
00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:55.920
<v Speaker 1>the book. You have to read the book Who God

305
00:23:55.960 --> 00:24:02.640
<v Speaker 1>Really Is by me Sana Katiagi to understand that important

306
00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:09.599
<v Speaker 1>distinction between various forms of worship or activities of worship. Now,

307
00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:13.039
<v Speaker 1>every conversation can be a form of sacrifice if we

308
00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:17.240
<v Speaker 1>approach it with the same reverence, if we speak truthfully,

309
00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:20.680
<v Speaker 1>if we speak words that are meant to help others,

310
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.759
<v Speaker 1>to assist others rather than to waste their minds, waste

311
00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:30.160
<v Speaker 1>their time. Unfortunately, a lot of that is happening in

312
00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:35.240
<v Speaker 1>our world, in our hypersocial media world, where people just

313
00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:40.079
<v Speaker 1>you know. It reminds me on Twitter, somebody just said,

314
00:24:40.160 --> 00:24:43.519
<v Speaker 1>you know, tweeting to just tweet right or posting just

315
00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.480
<v Speaker 1>we just post stuff like stuff that doesn't help your

316
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:51.440
<v Speaker 1>mind grow, It doesn't create great conversation, it's untruthful, it's

317
00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:54.880
<v Speaker 1>not truthful. But they're just posting to post right, to

318
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:59.200
<v Speaker 1>get monetized, and that's a lot of what we have

319
00:24:59.279 --> 00:25:01.319
<v Speaker 1>in this world. So one has to really be able

320
00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:05.319
<v Speaker 1>to distinguish between information that is worth having and information

321
00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:09.880
<v Speaker 1>that is mind wasting. That's very, very important we can

322
00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:13.839
<v Speaker 1>strive in our post modern world to you know, have

323
00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:17.519
<v Speaker 1>every conversation that we begin and engage in be a

324
00:25:17.559 --> 00:25:22.559
<v Speaker 1>form of sacrifice in the for the highest good. And

325
00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:27.119
<v Speaker 1>notice that the type of conversation that I am advocating

326
00:25:27.200 --> 00:25:33.400
<v Speaker 1>for here, based on the analysis and spiritual meanings of

327
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:40.160
<v Speaker 1>this small section section four of the Mahabarata, notice that

328
00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:47.680
<v Speaker 1>that type of communication actually ends up building communion develop

329
00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:53.359
<v Speaker 1>allowing community communion to develop. And so when we wonder

330
00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:56.720
<v Speaker 1>why are we humans so fragmented in this world, because

331
00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.119
<v Speaker 1>we are very fragmented, you know, if you just think

332
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:03.559
<v Speaker 1>about it broadly, and not to just think about just

333
00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:05.799
<v Speaker 1>the community that you are a part of, but when

334
00:26:05.799 --> 00:26:08.920
<v Speaker 1>you think about the bigger world, there is this fragmentation

335
00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:12.119
<v Speaker 1>that defines us. And a lot of that is because

336
00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:16.559
<v Speaker 1>we are not using we are not being sacred communicators,

337
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:21.519
<v Speaker 1>and therefore we are not receiving sacred listeners back. Okay,

338
00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:25.079
<v Speaker 1>we're not putting sacred communication out. Therefore we are not

339
00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:31.319
<v Speaker 1>receiving sacred listening. Okay, we are not receiving sacred listening

340
00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:34.680
<v Speaker 1>as the result. That's why there is so much fragmentation

341
00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:42.440
<v Speaker 1>rather than communion. Naymesha forest is not a place. It

342
00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:45.880
<v Speaker 1>is a state of consciousness, the moment that we are

343
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:51.759
<v Speaker 1>fully present before the divine conversation begins. The Rishi's sitting

344
00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:57.000
<v Speaker 1>around the sacred fire are our thoughts in meditation. Sonica

345
00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:02.839
<v Speaker 1>is the highest being, spiritual being and just a fun

346
00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.839
<v Speaker 1>fact to close off. In Sanskrit metrics, I believe, if

347
00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:12.160
<v Speaker 1>I'm correct here, that twelve years equals one complete cycle

348
00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:19.200
<v Speaker 1>of Jupiter, the guru planet whose orbital resonance regulates monsoon cycles,

349
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:26.119
<v Speaker 1>crop yields, and civilizational memory. Okay, civilizational memory. What we preserve,

350
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:31.400
<v Speaker 1>what we choose to preserve, what we value now. In

351
00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:37.519
<v Speaker 1>the previous episode, I had mentioned Janamajaya's ritual genocide or

352
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:42.079
<v Speaker 1>ritual sacrifice eyes I should say not genocide but sacrifice

353
00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:47.599
<v Speaker 1>of serpents, and that was in Mahabadata section three that

354
00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:51.799
<v Speaker 1>was discussed in the previous two episodes. This you know,

355
00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.680
<v Speaker 1>this is a monarch's grief, right Janamajia being a king,

356
00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:03.119
<v Speaker 1>that's a monarch's grief weaponized in two ecological collapse or disaster. Spiritually,

357
00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:09.759
<v Speaker 1>the Nagas guard groundwater and Kundalini shakti. Their mass sacrifice

358
00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:15.839
<v Speaker 1>metaphorically fracts the subtle body of the earth. Now the

359
00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:23.000
<v Speaker 1>most wise sacred listener Sonaka Kulapati, he embodies an eightfold

360
00:28:23.160 --> 00:28:28.599
<v Speaker 1>Dharma operating system. The rishis tell us this in Mahabadata

361
00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:35.119
<v Speaker 1>section four. These are his qualities. Competence, flawless adherents to

362
00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:42.039
<v Speaker 1>fasts or sacrifice, self sacrifice, exceptional wisdom, mastery of shastras

363
00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:48.720
<v Speaker 1>and aaranyaka, unwavering truth, fostering peace, self mortification and the

364
00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:52.920
<v Speaker 1>basia right. So he has. It's almost like he's a

365
00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:58.759
<v Speaker 1>system or code, a nearly per near perfect code, almost flawless,

366
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:03.279
<v Speaker 1>and he's capable of leading or upholding a twelve year

367
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:08.400
<v Speaker 1>ritual without crash so to speak, or glitch so to speak.

368
00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:15.799
<v Speaker 1>That's another way to look at Sonica Kulapati. Now Sothi

369
00:29:16.200 --> 00:29:22.599
<v Speaker 1>is awaiting Sonica's direction his request. When Sonica speaks next,

370
00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:27.039
<v Speaker 1>the universe will download more than one hundred thousand verses

371
00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:32.680
<v Speaker 1>of the Mahabarata. Until then, we are all meant to

372
00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:39.880
<v Speaker 1>sit in Naimisha forest with hands clasped, breath synchronized, awaiting shuck.

373
00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:41.720
<v Speaker 1>These movement through sound