February 24th 2026

Whenever we are presented with a decision, the decision most often flows through the filter of “what will the bottom line be”. This bottom line most often relates to finances.  Pujya Swami Tejomayananda has taught differently – when it comes to decisions, the filter that should be applied is “what will the top line be”. The top line does not have to do with finances but rather has to do with peace. To make decisions that lead to more peace! When one starts to make this transition from bottom line to top line, there is a very natural reorientation to why one lives, that being “sarva bhuta hitakara”. When we live for the bottom line, we live for “me and mine” but when we live for the top line which is peace, this is not selfish but is most development oriented. ‘Sarva’ means all, ‘bhuta’ means beings, ‘hita’ means that we feel for them and act for them, ‘kara’ means it becomes one’s purpose. For some of us this Manah Shodhanam course may be offering a utility (a utility where we don’t live by the bottom line as much) , but for some for who this is more than utility, this is transformative and a training for us to actually live for the top line. Depending on how open we are, this is either providing utility or it is providing us training. 

Vivekji asked the class to share the practicality of this course and the number was high. When Vivekji asked the class to rate how much we are practicing that which is practical, the number dropped. Vivekji reminded the class to apply more and give more of ourselves.

Review:

In verse 7 , the teaching is on resolution. Peace can only be felt if it is cultivated and not by accident. That is why one of the final words in this verse is vrata (to promise oneself that one will cultivate away from the bottom line to the top line).

In verse 8, the teaching is on inquiry. Purity is for the equipments, inquiry is for the ego. First purity is needed and then we engage in inquiry. When it comes to inquiry, it becomes real in one’s life through grace. When one is a sincere seeker (ripe and mature), inquiry is not abstract or part-time. It becomes who one is! People who are pessimists are critical rather than having a growth mind-set. When it comes to inquiry, for those who have grace in their lives and are mature, it is just what they do! 

In verse 9, the teaching is on revealing. For one to be deep, guidance has to come from that which is deep. That is why Pujya Swami Tejomayananda references Bhagavad Gita. 

In verse 10, there is a shift from inquiry to inquiring (from the scrimmage to the game). Vivekji shared that the Dakshina that can be offered to the tradition of teachers from this course is to make inquiring a part of our day! 

In verse 11, the teaching is on vices. A vice is a limit in our lives. The word ‘adaya’ is used two times in this verse. It means ‘this will continue on’ unless we actively try to be better. Vices will not fade when we get older or when we are working, it does not ‘just happen’. We need to work on these limits. 

In verse 12, the teaching is on locus. Vices don’t just float in the ether, there is a locus to the vices. These vices are within the equipments. The equipments are an effect, the ego is the cause. Likes and dislikes, desire and anger, are all effects which live in the equipment. If there is an effect then there is a cause. That cause is the ego, so the original vice is ignorance (forgetting that one’s nature is happiness). This results in desire, anger , likes and dislikes. 

In verse 13, the teaching is on beyond. Beyond the equipments is the ego, but beyond the ego is existence. Vivekji asked the class to reflect on “Past, Present and Potential”  – past is before we were seekers, present is we are seekers but that is not enough, our potential is to be a savior. There is a process that will take us from the present to our potential. What helps this process along is to start to feel what it feels like to be a savior. Those days when we feel light, are messages from the divine to keep encouraging us to follow the process. This is like  – for someone who is regularly healthy and is unwell for sometime,  and then there are glimpses of feeling normal , this feeling of glimpses of normalcy helps one to endure more. This is with our physical health, but the same goes for our mental health too. 

Verse 14: 

Effects have a cause. 

tasmād-ajñānam-evātra sarvadā duḥkha-kāraṇam

tatsvarūpaṁ hi jñātavyaṁ vicāreṇādhunā mayā

Tasmaat – there is a definitive conclusion that has come from being rational, from following this flow of thought. 

Ajnaanam – ignorance. Ignoring or forgetting ‘eva’

Eva – is that alone indeed

Atra – is here, with us right now

The divine (Bhagavan) has a very special quality which is ‘ahetuki’. The devotional way to understand ‘ahetuki’ is ‘the divine’s compassion for us’, ‘the divine’s sharing of grace’ is uncaused. Sanatana Dharma is a universal path. God’s grace is not calculated, it is causeless. This is why in our culture there are such strong teachings about prayer and serving and surrender. Shifting this to a knowledge-based orientation: the divine (Bhagavan) is uncaused. Scientifically then, the divine (Bhagavan) cannot cause. So everything we are experiencing right now, we are experiencing with a strong filter of ego, which leads us to this hallucination that ‘i am an individual’. It is ajnaana which makes us feel all of this. For the one who really reflects on the nature of the divine, ignorance is not possible and so all that has come from ignorance is not possible as well. One cannot jump into this revelation and this is a process, there are 3 touchpoints in this process. 

• For the beginner, their contact with this multiverse is one of fear. Multiverse is a scary place and so i don’t want to have any relationship with it. 
• For the one who is in the middle of their journey/evolution , their relationship with the multiverse is – ‘its there- its fine’, ‘its not there- its fine’
• For the one who is mature and near to the end of their journey, their relationship with the multiverse is that they are festive towards all of this because they understand that all of this is simply a leela. I fear the multiverse when i try to get from it, but if i am not trying to get anything from the multiverse, then i wake up with a smile, i sleep with a smile, and all is festive! We need to reflect on where we are in this game (fear, fine or festive) !

Sarvada – comprehensively

Duhkha – it can be experienced at three level – stress , deeper is anxiety and deepest is dejection

Karana – is the cause of 

Forgetting divinity and awareness is comprehensively the cause for any and all stress, anxiety and dejection. There is a famous teaching from Bhagavan Buddha – ‘Sarvam duhkham duhkham’. Those who don’t know bhagavan Buddha will feel that His message is one of fear. It is not one of fear, but the message is, if we interact with the multiverse with the hallucination of ignorance, then it is only going to lead to stress, anxiety and dejection. If we know that the multiverse is not separate from the creator, but is an extension of the creator, then the feeling of duhkha directs us to find the sukha. If we remember the first time we may have got burned by a stove, that pain protected us! If we did not sense that pain, then we could have been burned up! When we know ‘sarva duhkha duhkha’, it can guide us to find sukha! 

Forgetting makes us feel separate and when we don’t understand this, the fall continues where after the ‘forgetting’ there is ‘vasanas’ (personality prints) that make us feel small. Then we fall more into our intellect which makes us feel sad. It is the intellect from which desires come from, and the untrained intellect keep going into instructing (that we have to do this and that to be happy). So first we feel separate, then we feel small, then we feel sad! If there is no feeling of separation, then we will never feel sad. 

Tat – refers to the ajnaana 

Svarupa – understand that it is an entity (like a cup or paper)

Jnyaatavyam -indeed know more about this

If we know more about this, then we can do something about it otherwise we cannot do anything about it. We have to be open and ready to know this more and for the ignorance to go away. In chapter 7 verse 2 of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna shares ‘yat jnyaatva na iha bhuyaH’ – for the one who know what Sri Krishna is teaching 

‘anyat jnyaatavyam avashishyate’ –  there is nothing else you need to know 

If we know ignorance, then we will know that ignorance is temporary. 

Vicharena adhunamaya – i am starting right here right now to inquire! 

‘adhuna’ means without pause or procrastination. 

In the Mahabharata, there is a scene where a bhikshu comes to Karna (Vasushena) and says ‘bhikshaam dehi’ and Karna who was resting picked up a bowl of oil and gave it to the bhikshu. The bhikshu accepted this and called him a ‘daanaveera’ and told him that in our culture we don’t give with our left , we give with our right. But Karna explained that he gave it with his left because by the time it would take to transfer the bowl to the right , he may have changed his mind! That is ‘aadhuna’ – no procrastination, hesitation or calculation. Just give yourself to inquiry!