From the Vedas, the essence of the Vedas is known as the Upanishads.
From the Mahabharata, the essence of the Mahabharata is the Gita.
And the third book, the Brahmasutra.
These three text books together,
there is a special name attributed to these three,
it is known as Prasthanatrayi.
Trayi means three.
Prasthana means...
What is prasthana?
Exit.
Suppose you come to the hall, there is an entry, you leave the hall or exit, it is prasthana.
praveśa prasthāna.
Now what does it mean?
Why these three books are known as the books for exiting, or leaving?
We have come to this world.
Why did we come?
We don’t know really.
Why did you come?
Sometimes we ask ourselves or we think: “Oh, God why did you bring me to this world?”
There is one Hindi song maybe in some movie which I heard in my childhood,
“duniyā banāne vāle kyā tere mana mem samāyi tūne kāhe ko duniyā banāyi.”
“Oh, Creator of the universe,
what came to your mind and why did you create this universe?”
Let us think. We are in this world.
Some say this world is beautiful, some say this world is painful.
Some say this world is the place of liberation, some say this world is full of misery the place of misery.
Some people they are busy in pleasure, enjoyment;
some people are sitting like you and me,
here to contemplate or to think something higher and something noble.
Why? What is going on in this world?
But now the question is no matter,
why this creation or why I am here, but we are already here.
Accept it.
You have to accept, “I am here”.
Okay?
There is no way out.
Second thing, we all have come to this world,
forget about everybody first, “Now I will think me.
I have entered this body.
I chose this body.”
Who chose?
You chose your body, I chose my body.
You chose your play I chose my play.
You chose the play to sit down there I have chosen for sometime to sit here.
It is a play going on.
So anyhow we have entered the body.
“I don’t want to stay in this body longer. Why should I stay?
I want to be free.
This body is a limitation.
I want to be limitless.
The body is finite, I have to experience my infinite nature.”
So this is exit.
“I have entered the body”, yatkiñca tat sṛṣṭvā tadeva anuprāviśat.
Having created everything the Lord permeated into every living being.
Now, yes I entered I want to exit.
You have joined this course one day you have to complete the course.
When you will exit?
Gurudev gave the example.
Have you seen pumpkin?
Have you seen cucumber?
Have you seen these fruits or vegetables in the plant?
If you see the plant you will be surprised to know before the flower comes there is fruit.
Yes or no?
Before the flower blooms already there is a cucumber, a tiny cucumber,
already there is a tiny pumpkin or there is a tiny zucchini.
So before the flower blooms the fruit is already there.
Now the flower is blooming, now the flower is to drop.
When the flower will be detached from the fruit, or the plant?
Do you know when?
When the fruit is matured.
When the fruit is growing bigger and bigger
the flower is drying, drying, drying, drying, drying, drying, drying, drying and dropping.
Similarly we should mature so that we can exit.
We need human maturity.
Okay?
What type of maturity?
It is not physical maturity.
A dog is also mature grown up youthful or a cat is also youthful and matured.
We don’t think of that.
Physical maturity is animalistic.
We need intellectual, spiritual maturity.
We need that.
We want to be mature.
How?
These three scriptures help us.
The Upanishads, the Gita, the Brahmasutra.
They are known as the Prasthanatrayi.
And with the help of these three we can really exit
from this world, from this body and when we exit where will we go?
It is said, when we exit where to go?
If we exit with realization or with the help of these three scriptures,
their teachings and practice...
When the pot is broken what happens to the space?
You think of a clay pot.
Inside the pot there is some space within.
Now the pot is broken.
What happens to the space?
It merges in outer space.
It was with outer space but we thought, “It is a pot.
I am carrying the pot.”
But now the pot is broken, the space is merged in infinite space.
Similarly I will leave such a life when this body pot will break.
I will not think of any other pot anymore.
I will merge in cosmic consciousness.
I will merge in the supreme.
I will merge in the divine.
This is what the Prasthantrayi.