SMELL AND MICROVITA official source: Microvitum in a Nutshell cross-references: none this version: is the printed Microvitum in a Nutshell, 3rd edition, version (spelling mistakes only may have been corrected). I.e., this is the most up-to-date version as of the present Electronic Edition. Gandhagokula. Gandha + gokula. Gandhagokula means "any living creature which emits a pleasant smell." You know that there are certain living creatures which emit a kind of smell -- whether pleasant or unpleasant -- from their bodies. This is nothing but the secretion of a particular type of hormone from specific glands. Moles emit a foul smell from the secretions from the hormones of their glands. When moles move, a kind of foul smelling secretion which seems repulsive to the human nose is emitted from certain lymphatic glands in their bodies. The repulsive smell that comes out of a tiger's body does not come out of a cat's body due to differences in the hormone secretions. Very little of this smell is emitted from the bodies of wild cats, and this sort of smell is not conspicuous in civet-cats, but the bodies of smaller creatures belonging to the same family emit this type of repulsive smell. The hyena, for example, though smaller than a tiger, emits this kind of foul smell. In the case of any male animal, fluids from the glands emit a bad smell, but when those animals are castrated they do not emit such a smell. Hence, the good or bad smell of animals means the good or bad smell of the fluids secreted by their glands. In the case of billy-goats, the foul smell emitted from their bodies is very prominent, but in the case of a castrated billy-goat, this smell is conspicuously absent. Those who consume a lot of onions, garlic, spinach leaves, unchewed vegetable stems and tough meat are bound to emit a foul smell while secreting hormones from their glands. Those who are careful about the food they eat but do not allow themselves to perspire, will also smell bad. (Usually perspiration has no bad smell of its own, but if it is not washed off the body within about 45 minutes after it is emitted, it putrefies and creates a foul smell. This is why it is best to wash one's body immediately after one perspires, or rub the body with a towel.) The physical bodies of those who practise sa'dhana' or do a lot of kiirtana (devotional chanting) secrete fluids from certain parts of the Ana'ha'ta Cakra, Vishuddha Cakra and A'jina Cakra. The smell of these secretions is somewhat, but not exactly, like a light smell of jasmine flower or ripe jackfruit. The bodies of those with a devotional nature or who regularly practise yoga usually emit this kind of fragrance. In fact, the emission of a sweet aroma is one of the criteria for ascertaining the degree of one's devotion to God. If a person sits for a while in a lonely place and tries to feel the presence of Parama Purus'a, one senses something like a sweet, light smell. This is nothing but the accumulation of an aromatic secretion on the tip of the nose. Although this experience is purely physiological, what else can it be called except an expression of divine grace? There are a few creatures whose bodies by nature emit a smell like the fragrance of ba'dsha'bhog or ka'n't'ha'liibhog (popular Indian varieties of fine rice used for preparing sweet delicacies). Gandhagokulas are such creatures. These wild animals are between a fox and a mole. Like owls, they cannot see clearly in broad daylight -- they are almost day-blind -- but they are not night-blind. As a rule, their visual capacity is very limited during the day, and in addition they do not dare to come out openly during the daytime due to fear of dogs. When they come out at night and sit somewhere for five or ten minutes, the next day that place will remain full of the smell of scented sun- dried rice for a long time. The gandhagokula is a creature of Ra'r'h (that part of Bengal to the west of the Bha'girathi river extending up to the Pa'rasnath Hills). There was a time when these creatures were found in abundance in Burdwan, Midnapore, Bankura and Manbhum districts. The cruelty of human beings is accelerating the extinction of these historic creatures. They are very mild by nature, which is why people can easily kill them. If proper steps are not taken immediately to ensure their survival, they may vanish from the face of the earth in the near future. Gandhasarpa. You know that although the cobra and the black cobra belong to the same genus, but they are of different species. Black cobras are comparatively thin, blackish and prefer to remain in jungles, bushes or the boundary ridges of fields, away from human habitation. Though their bodies are somewhat cool, their tempers are extremely hot. Their bodies do not emit a good smell; rather they emit a sort of pungent smell, perhaps due to their frayed temper... due to their easily excitable nerves. If one loses one's temper, one may experience a kind of pungent smell from one's body. Sometimes we get this type of pungent smell from the bodies of courageous people. If they are virtuous, their bodies emit a kind of sharp smell like that of many marigold flowers, but if they are not virtuous, they smell something like wet earth after a light shower in the early part of the rainy season. One of the differences between the nature a cobra and a black cobra is that a cobra likes to live in houses, particularly in abandoned houses. While they do live in bushes, the jungle or on the embankments of ponds and water tanks, their favourite haunt is dilapidated houses. A black cobra is more poisonous than a cobra but less poisonous than a shaunkhacur (the biggest variety of cobra). A cobra does not usually attack people, but if somebody accidentally steps on one, it will strike in self- defence. In old age when its tail drops off, it finds it difficult to move, and in that state it does not hiss or strike at any creature. It survives on overripe bananas, worms, insects, milk and food rich in fat. In rural Bengal these cobras are called "ba'stusa'p" (meaning snakes which reside in human dwellings). There are many people who do not kill these snakes if they are living in their homes, however it is not wise to knowingly allow poisonous snakes to remain inside one's house. Saha sarpen'a grhe na va'sah. "You may do whatever you like with your enemies, but do not live under the same roof with them." There are some people who leave overripe bananas, milk and other edibles in one corner of the house for snakes of this type. We say jokingly, "Milk and bananas for a good natured cobra." As they grow old, cobras and black cobras secrete a certain kind of hormone from their bodies which smells like sun-dried rice. If you notice this kind of smell in any room of a house, you should look to see if there is a hole somewhere with a snake hiding in it. As a rule, snakes cannot make holes by themselves. They occupy rat holes either by devouring the rats or driving them away. Anyway, the type of cobra (ka'ligokhro, padmagokhro, cakragokhro, etc.) which gives out a smell like that of sun-dried rice, is called "gandhasarpa". 21 August 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 18, pp. 57-61 *************** Gandhaghra'n'a. Gandha + ghra' + lyut' = gandhaghra'n'a'. Etymologically, gandhaghra'n'a means sensing any smell. The smell inferences vary from object to object. They vary more according to intensity and lightness, but they also vary according to extent or limit. After a living entity has died, the parts of its body separate from the main structure because of a lack of centralised control. The various parts become disconnected from one another. The different stages and sub-stages of separation continue till the fragments finally merge into their respective original sources (that is, painca ma'ha'bhuta -- the solid, liquid, luminous, aerial and ethereal factors). Through this process a corpse or carcass decomposes, and at each succeeding stage of decomposition, a kind of foul smell starts being emitted. The emission of stinking smells continues till the various parts of the corpse merge in the different quinquelemental factors. Whatever be the nature of the smell inferences -- whether pleasant or unpleasant -- human beings receive them according to their intensity or lightness and depending upon the capacity of the nostrils to sense smell. Whether the smell inferences are of a pleasing or offensive nature depends on one's inherent reactive momenta. According to some of those who like fish, uncooked fish smells offensive, but after the fish have been cooked, the offensive smell disappears and the cooked fish taste delicious. But those who do not like rotten or decomposed food say that when food smells repulsive, how can one even think of eating it! It is a question of reactive momenta. The vulture has no objection to eating rotten flesh, but the myna bird has much objection, and so does the dove. The act of assimilating or receiving the smell of an object according to the capacity of one's smell na'diis (psychic energy channels) as well as one's nostrils, is called "gandhaghra'n'a". Another meaning of gandhaghra'n'a is "that which helps one to receive smells" -- that is, the nostrils or the nose. The Latin words "nose", "nasal" and "nostril" came from the Vedic words "na'sa'" and "nastril". Gandhacelika'. Gandha + cel + kan + ta' = gandhacelika'. Literally, the words "cela", "celi", "celii" and "celika'" mean "attractive objects which draw people by dint of their attractive colour or smell or both." At weddings in ancient Bengal, young brides used to wear dazzling red saris made of simul cotton. These saris were not very durable, but for weddings the red celi made the small bride look quite attractive. The other meaning of gandhacelika' is "sweet scented musk accumulated in and around the navel portion of the musk deer." The musk deer lives in cold countries and looks ugly, but the hormone secreted from its glands gradually accumulates in the navel. Eventually the liquid portion evaporates and the remainder becomes hard, and the harder it gets, the stronger its fragrance becomes. The female deer does not have this musk scent. The male deer becomes so intoxicated with its own fragrance that it goes berserk searching for the source of the smell. It fails to realise that the source of the smell is its own navel. Ultimately, after much running, the exhausted musk deer falls down dead. Sometimes businessmen collect the dead bodies, cut out the navels and grind them into powder. Various medicines and cosmetics are prepared from the musk. These medicines preserve the heat in the bodies of dying people for a little while and help to keep them alive for a short time. 28 August 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 18, pp. 74-78 *************** Gandhaja. Gandhaja means "a very small worm born in a foul smell." Ancient people were not acquainted with microvita, otherwise they would have said that gandhaja means microvita carried by the smell inference. Smell -- whether pleasant or repulsive -- is an entirely relative factor. A smell is called "pleasant" or "repulsive" depending upon one's likes and dislikes caused by the inherent reactive momenta in the human mind. This is not only true for human beings. The vibrations of smell are conveyed to the nerve cells in the brain to produce the sense of smell in all creatures whose nostrils have the capacity to carry minute smell particles or the waves created by smell. The nature of a type of smell is determined by one's innate reactive momenta and the vibration of the smell conveyed to the sense organs. The capacity to carry smell vibrations is highly evolved in many undeveloped creatures. For instance, a tiger or a wolf is inferior to a human being in all respects, but the capacity to sense smell is not less developed in tigers and wolves than in human beings. So, living beings consider some odours pleasant and others repulsive due to their peculiar reactive momenta or the degree of the capacity of their propensities. When the corpses of dead animals are dumped in a boneyard, one avoids the place, and if one is forced to go there under the pressure of circumstances, one will cover one's nose with a handkerchief. But as soon as the foul smell from a decomposed corpse enters the nostrils of a vulture, it flies in the direction of the smell and easily locates the corpse. For the vulture, the smell of the corpse is not foul, and the rotting flesh of the corpse is not harmful for its health either. But if a human being eats rotten flesh, his or her death is inevitable. The differences between pleasant and repulsive smells amongst human beings depend upon their inherent reactive momenta. For example, an inhabitant of Ra'r'h is repulsed by the smell of dried fish, but there are many regions in the world where people think the smell of dried fish is like a fragrant bouquet. This difference between the sense perception of one person and another is due to differences in the inherent reactive momenta. There are people who cut slices of flesh off dead animals in order to cook and eat them. Once I observed a vulture eating part of the rotting corpse of a cow as a girl cut off another part and carried it away in a basket. Who knows if that rotten flesh was sold to a nearby restaurant or hotel! Was there any difference between the behaviour of the vulture and the girl? With my own eyes I saw the girl cut off the flesh with one hand and drive the vulture away with the other hand, and the girl was a human being! Although the flesh was not completely rotten at the time, but there was definitely a foul smell coming from it. So, a pleasant or repulsive smell depends on whether the type of vibration it produces in the mind is pleasant or repulsive. When the vital energy or pra'n'a'h -- the controlling force of the body -- wanes, and when the psychic force -- the controller of the vital energy -- also wanes, the physical body starts to decompose and disintegrate. One part of the body becomes separated from the other parts because the force that controls the vital energy is conspicuously absent in a dead body. If the vital energy or the psychic energy wanes and is lost, a person very quickly becomes inert and lifeless, and we say that the vital energy of the person has become dormant. In that state it is not possible for the person to connect one part of the body to another part and correlate one sense organ with another. Likewise, if the vital energy remains largely intact but the psychic power is considerably weakened, then it will not be possible to control the vital energy of the body because the vital energy is a material force -- a blind force. In the absence of proper directives by the psychic power to the vital energy, the person will find it impossible to control the physical body -- one cannot do anything. Vital energy is somewhat like the power of electricity. It is the psychic power of human beings that controls electricity, otherwise the electricity may cause serious problems at any moment. So, either there is first the death of the mind and then the death of the body, or there is the suspension of the vital energy in the body and then the death of the mind. When there is the death of both the body and mind, that is actual death. In many people, clear physical awareness persists to the last moment of breathing, so we say that they died a conscious death. In such cases, the mind functions for some time even after the death of the vital energy. Even if one is declared physically dead after clinical tests, the mind does not die simultaneously. If by some means or another the life force or the vital energy is revived, one may survive. Similarly, if one is declared mentally dead, the vital energy does not die simultaneously. A physician may be able to revive the lost psychic energy with the help of the vital energy. Hence, it is advisable not to cremate a dead body until the death of both the body and the mind. Usually people cremate a dead body after only one of the forces has left the body. As a result of the loss of control by the vital energy directly and the psychic power indirectly in the human body, the different parts of the body start to disintegrate and merge into the five fundamental factors. Until this process of disintegration and merger is complete, some kind of foul smell continues to be emitted during this process. When a sub-part of the body separates from the whole, at that point a huge quantity of foul smell is released. The smell particles enter the nostrils, and after they move through the smell carrying afferent nerves by producing a sympathetic vibration in the nerve fibres, which in turn creates a similar vibration in the nerve cells, one perceives the foul smell. The subtle entities which are created to consume the rotting objects and are carried by the medium of smell are negative microvita. Similarly, the subtle entities which are created to consume the sweet, pleasant smells are positive microvita. I have already said that both sweet and foul smells are relative. Just as a foul smell is produced as a result of internal disintegration due to the lack of vital energy and psychic power, a sweet smell arises when, as a result of the combination of physical energy and psychic power, two or more entities synthesize. Positive microvita come there. Sometimes even a static object is connected to various mutative or sentient objects through the process of disintegration, resulting in a pleasant smell. By static object, I mean that which comes within the scope of ordinary sensory perception. A mutative object means that which comes within sensory perception with a little effort, and a sentient object means that which comes within sensory perception after long or short mental concentration or meditation. Whatever can be attained through a brief period of meditation can certainly be attained through prolonged meditation or prolonged ordinary penance. When spiritual aspirants develop a certain degree of psychic concentration through incantation and thereby attract the blissful mood of Parama Purus'a, it is also a type of penance. This is called "incantation" or "japa". Similarly, when human beings surrender all their concentrated mental power into the cosmic infinitude and become free from microcosmic bondages, that is also a kind of penance, and is called "dhya'na yoga." In order to penetrate into the subtle world, static energy will have to be transformed and assimilated through the processes of incantation, japa yoga and dhya'na yoga. Thus, a spiritual aspirant will have to saturate his or her mental pabulum with the greatest amount of cosmic ideation. To ordinary people, this is usually conveyed though such terms as "japa yoga" and "dhya'na yoga". In fact, the terms "japa" and "dhya'na" represent the vastness of cosmic ideation only partially, not fully. It is disadvantageous for both the teacher and the disciple if cosmic ideation is not conveyed with immensely suggestive language, hence the custom of conveying ideas symbolically. Teachers are forced to convey the value of incantation through the term "japa". In the same way the word "dhya'na" has detailed explanations in karma yoga, dhya'na yoga, kriya yoga, karma dhya'na, anudhya'na, avidya' dhya'na, etc. For all these various aspects of dhya'na, we loosely use the common term "dhya'na". This japa yoga or dhya'na yoga which elevates human beings through constant self-analysis, obliterates the very existence of the non-spiritual, and expedites one's elevation into the supreme spiritual stance, is practised with the help of positive microvita by the grace of Parama Purus'a. Hence, whatever might be one's intellectual attainment, the essence of everything is prapatti or complete surrender. Without the wish of Parama Purus'a, not even the leaf of a tree moves -- not even a blade of grass grows. The gradual ascension of a unit being towards the supreme spiritual stance which is helped by positive microvita, brings a kind of very pleasant smell. Spiritual aspirants, at a particular stage, sense this smell. But it should be remembered that the sensation of smell is a minor thing -- it is a mere drop of cosmic grace. So, pleasant and unpleasant smells are relative matters. A standard which has been followed since ancient times is that a spiritual aspirant is required to concentrate on the A'jina Cakra or the pituitary gland, and to try and bring his or her mind under control. The pleasant smell that arises through this process of meditation is highly attractive. The group of smells that creates pleasant feelings in the minds of those engaged in this type of yoga sa'dhana' are good smells, and all other smells are bad smells. Microvitum, whether positive or negative, is a very subtle entity, hence it is conveyed through inferences. The subtlest of these inferences is sound (which is accepted and conveyed by the auricular nerves, and is vibrated naturally by dynamic objects such as aerial waves, liquid waves, electromagnetic waves, etc.). Cruder than the sound inference is the inference of tactuality (which arises due to the touch of other objects). Cruder than touch is the form inference (which is carried and received through light waves). Cruder than that is the inference of taste (which is the fluidity of a liquid substance). Cruder than that is the inference of smell (which is conveyed by smell particles). Usually, the subtler the inference, the easier it is for it to convey positive microvita, and the cruder the inference, the easier it is for it to convey negative microvita. Love for the supreme is an innate tendency in all living beings, including human beings. The sleeping divinity at the basal plexus or Mu'la'dha'ra Cakra has a natural tendency to identify with Parama Purus'a. But there is something more to this. The movement of positive and negative microvita is determined by the following principle. If smell, the crudest inference, is associated with something subtle, then it becomes an ideal carrier of positive microvita. If the same smell is associated with something crude, then it will ultimately create a wave of negative microvita. Again, if someone makes a sound like "ra, ra, ra -- cha, cha, cha," or if someone sings, "Follow my song! Let us sing and dance our way to hell," these are sound inferences, but they carry a very crude idea. Hence, each and every sound inference is not necessarily an ideal carrier of positive microvita only. Conversely, it cannot be said with certainty that each and every smell inference is an ideal carrier of negative microvita only. An intelligent person should select and absorb sound inferences associated with subtle ideas and avoid sound inferences associated with crude ideas. At the same time, they should effect the large scale emanation of subtle vibrations, and dissolve crude vibrations in the vast wave of cosmic ideas, leaving them to rest forever in the ocean of forgotten expressionlessness. The pervasive, stinking smell which results from the decomposition and disintegration of rotting animal or plant bodies attracts negative microvita. This negative microvita causes the creation of newer carbon atoms and other sub-atomic particles. These particles then create unicellar life, and sometimes, somewhere, multicellar heterogeneous life also. The origin, existence and disappearance of these entities are rooted in negative microvita. Similarly, in ascending order, is the path of high grade spiritual practice -- the path of supreme synthesis -- for many diverse elements and ideas. This happens in the highest world of wisdom -- in the highest world of intuition -- beyond the domain of all kinds of dialectics. This is the path which human beings will have to select. Those who opt for the path of synthesis are bound to enjoy some kind of spiritual aroma. This divine aroma can hardly be compared with any worldly smell. We can say that this divine aroma somewhat resembles the fragrance of a champak or magnolia flower, but people will have to remain satisfied with the description, "somewhat resembles". If a spiritual aspirant concentrates his or her mind on particular parts of the Sahasrara Cakra or A'jina Cakra (as learned from one's spiritual master) and practises meditation assiduously, one can and does enjoy the sweetness that lies in the different layers of the vast storehouse of divine aroma. But the most important thing to remember is this. Spiritual practice is not done to come in contact with divine smell -- rather spiritual practices are performed to attain Parama Purus'a. An ideal spiritualist will never ask for occult powers, which are devoid of even one percent of all the inferences. He or she will only ask for the controller of the cult, not the occult power. While mentioning the Sahasrara and A'jina Cakras, one more thing should be explained. All kinds of spiritual experiences, both from the higher world and the comparatively lower worlds, are attained through the divine nectar secreted from the Sahasrara Cakra and A'jina Cakra -- the pineal gland and the pituitary gland. Some people say that the spiritual realisations of the highest order are not attainable by women because the physical bodies of women are deficient. In this connection I wish to make it clear that there are some differences between the male and female bodies concerning certain crude physical propensities, but this is not the occasion to discuss this subject. If I ever get the scope to explain the nature of human propensities in detail, I may explain this topic in more detail. (See Yoga Psychology by P. R. Sarkar). It is a fact that there are differences between males and females concerning the lower glands and sub-glands, and the number of propensities also varies. As the direct controlling point of the lower glands and sub-glands, the A'jina Cakra and Sahasrara Cakra in the male and female bodies have some subtle difference, but as I said, only with regard to certain physical propensities, such as the propensity of attachment to objects and individuals (where a friend is an intimate friend, and an enemy is a mortal enemy). In the spiritual and psycho-spiritual or supra-mental spheres, there is no difference between men and women. That is to say, the highest spiritual realisation accessible to men is also accessible to women. There is no reason whatsoever to deprive women of the highest spiritual experiences or to impede their spiritual progress. Those who say that only men are entitled to liberation or salvation and that women will have to be reborn as males are saying something totally irrational. This sort of statement betrays their underlying exploitative sentiments, and is designed to promote their selfish individual and collective interests. September 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 18, pp. 84-92 *************** Gandhalalupa. I have already said that all living and non-living objects in this world have smell. In fact, every living being has a collective smell as well as an individual smell which is determined by one's inherent reactive momenta, food habits and physio-psycho-spiritual practices. Flies, being guided by smell, move to various objects. In the human body, the smell which emanates from a subtle part is different from that which emanates from a crude portion. The negative microvita of various diseases which are carried by smell also spread disease. Through smell, flies can easily understand where a wound or boil is located on the human body, so they start hovering around the ulcerous wound. This practice is more applicable to the large variety of flies which hover around overripe mangoes and jackfruits on rainy days in India, than to the small variety of flies. The large variety has a greater attraction for smell. If you break open a ripe jackfruit in the late spring, you will find that small flies will soon come buzzing around, but not the large ones. Large flies usually come on extremely damp, rainy days and hover around overripe or rotten mangoes and jackfruits. After the mangoes and jackfruit season is over, they move to other regions. This type of fly have a special capacity which is attracted by the smell inference and is called "gandhalalupa". 16 October 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 19, p. 22 Gandhabrhatii. Brhatii means "a type of eggplant." It is said that white eggplant is static and slightly bitter. According to some people, eating eggplant on the eleventh day of the solar or lunar month will cause a more severe attack of negative microvita than on other days of the month. Some of those who prepare almanacs express this opinion. Parama Purus'a attracts all living beings through His Vidya' Ma'ya' or introversial force. He wants to snap open the bondages of the microcosms. He wants to open the iron gate to their bondages. Human beings cannot easily attract the Supreme Entity, from whom all kinds of emanations arise. Parama Purus'a, by dint of the five types of inferences, eternally calls living beings to keep the gates of their sense organs open. In this case, the inferences, whether sound, touch, form, taste or smell, are not the causes of bondages, rather they are the causes of liberation. The smell which inspires the human mind to move into the subtler realm brings the human mind into the closest contact with the Supreme Entity, the repository of all smell. Parama Purus'a is sending out this call to the living beings through all the inferences. When He sends His call through the inference of smell, He fills living beings with a vast Macrocosmic resonance. This power of Parama Purus'a is called "gandhabrhatii." 30 October 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 19, p. 52 *************** Gandhapraka'shaka. Gandhapraka'shaka means "a particular type of sweet-scented wood." In ancient times, people would use this type of wood as a fuel in sacrificial fires to produce an aromatic smoke which would remove all odours, germs and diseases, and negative microvita. 13 November 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 19, p. 96 *************** Gandha'ks'a. There are certain diseases which are spread by the inference of smell. It is claimed that diseases are caused by various types of virus. The word "virus" is somewhat defective. Instead, the term "negative microvitum" should be used. Negative microvita cause various ailments in the human body and mind and spreads them. Negative microvita are not only carried by the inference of smell, but also by the other inferences of sound, touch, form and taste. They not only move on the planet Earth, but they also travel freely from one plant to another. Some diseases of this type are spread through vision. Some ocular diseases are contracted by looking at the infected eyes of a diseased person, while some other diseases are transmitted by the smell of the particular disease -- like cholera, for instance. Although the negative microvita that cause small pox and influenza are carried by all kinds of inferences, they are mostly transmitted by taste, colour and smell. This type of negative microvita is called "gandha'ks'a." 20 November 1988, Calcutta Shabda Cayanika' Part 19, p. 117