Friday, February 10, 2012

Sri Bhagavatam - Canto 11 (Skandha 11) chapter 29






























VedaVyasa
Praneetha

The Mad Bhagavatam


 
Canto 11
Chapter 29
Bhakti Yoga: the Most Auspicious way to Conquer Death
Thinking that the previously described spiritual practice, based on detachment, is too difficult, Uddhava inquired about an easier method. In reply, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa gave brief instructions on devotional service.
The fruitive workers and mystic yogīs, who are bewildered by the illusory energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and puffed up by their false identifications, refuse to take shelter of the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord. But the swanlike men, those who know how to discriminate between the essential and nonessential, always take shelter at the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Lord Himself — within the living entity as the caittya-guru and without as the spiritual master who teaches by example — eradicates all the misfortune of the spirit soul and reveals His own personal form.
One should execute all duties for the sake of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, keeping one's mind absorbed in Him. One should take advantage of the sacred abodes of the Lord, where His devotees reside, and one should serve the Lord and celebrate the festivals and holidays in His honor. By understanding all living beings to be Lord Kṛṣṇa's place of residence, one can attain the ability to see equally everywhere, and thus all faulty qualities of envy, false ego and so on will be removed. Bearing this in mind, the devotee should give up his proud relatives, his separatist outlook and his mundane embarrassment and should offer obeisances flat on the ground to all, even the dogs and outcastes. As long as one has not learned to see the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in all creatures, he must continue to use his body, mind and speech to worship the Supreme Lord in that manner of offering full obeisances to all.
Because this eternal process of devotional service to the Supreme Lord is transcendental and has been established by the Lord Himself, it can never, to the slightest extent, be defeated or prove fruitless. When one offers himself completely to the Supreme Lord with exclusive devotion, the Lord becomes particularly pleased, and thus the devotee achieves immortality, becoming qualified to obtain opulence equal to that of the Lord.
After receiving these instructions, Śrī Uddhava went to Badarikāśrama in pursuance of Lord Kṛṣṇa's order, and by perfectly carrying out the instructions of the Supreme Lord, he attained the Lord's transcendental abode. By faithfully serving these instructions spoken by the Personality of Godhead to Uddhava, the greatest of devotees, the entire world can become liberated.

11.29.1
yathāñjasā pumān siddhyet
tan me brūhy añjasācyuta

(1) S'rî Uddhava said: 'This process of yoga is, I think, most difficult to execute for someone not spiritual. Please o Acyuta, tell me in simple terms how a person easily may succeed [see also B.G. 6: 33-34].
11.29.2
yuñyanto yogino manaḥ
viṣīdanty asamādhānān


(2) Generally, o Lotus-eyed One, yogis get frustrated exercising the mind and grow, unable to find absorption, weary in the attempt to subdue the mind.
Without the shelter of the Supreme Lord, a yogī easily becomes discouraged in the difficult task of fixing his mind on the Supreme.
11.29.3
athāta ānanda-dughaḿ padāmbujaḿ
tvan-māyayāmī vihatā na māninaḥ

(3) For that reason, o Lotus eyed One, the swanlike delight to take to the source of all ecstasy, the shelter of Your lotusfeet, o Lord of the Universe. But they who take pride in the results of their yoga, do not and are defeated by Your material energy.
Śrī Uddhava emphasizes here that one can achieve spiritual perfection simply by taking shelter of the Personality of Godhead. Those who do so are called haḿsāḥ, the most discriminating human beings, since they are able to locate the actual source of spiritual happiness, the Lord's lotus feet. The word yoga-karmabhiḥ indicates that those who are attracted to or proud of achievements in the field of mystic yoga or ordinary material endeavor cannot appreciate the great advantage of obediently surrendering to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Generally the yogīs and fruitive workers are proud of their so-called achievements and are more attracted to their own endeavor than to the Lord Himself. By humbly taking shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one can advance easily and quickly on the path of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and go back home, back to Godhead.
11.29.4

(4) It comes as no surprise Acyuta, that You are a friend to all servants who, with no other shelter, are joined in intimacy with You, You who were affectionate with the animal-like [Vânaras] while the edges of Your footstool were covered by the effulgent helmets of the great controllers [like Brahmâ].
The devotees of the Lord become completely successful by the Lord's causeless mercy. Sometimes Lord Kṛṣṇa accepts a position of subservience to His great devotees, as with Nanda Mahārāja, the gopīs, Bali Mahārāja and others. Although demigods like Lord Brahmā were standing in line to touch their helmets to the Lord's foot cushion, still Lord Rāmacandra awarded His most intimate friendship to subhumans, such as the monkeys headed by Hanumān. Similarly Lord Kṛṣṇa's affection for the deer and cows, and even for the trees of Vṛndāvana, is well known. Further, the Lord gladly drove the chariot of Arjuna and acted as the messenger and faithful subordinate of King Yudhiṣṭhira. Such devotees have no need for the elaborate jñāna-yoga systems or the process for achieving mystic powers. All these devotees are represented here by Śrī Uddhava, who frankly informs the Lord that the sophisticated systems of philosophical speculation and mystic yoga are not appealing for one who has developed a taste for direct loving service to the Lord.
1.29.5
taḿ tvākhilātma-dayiteśvaram āśritānāḿ
 (5) Knowing the benefit You offer, o Supreme Soul, Bestower of All Perfections and dearest Lord to those seeking shelter, who would reject You or ever be devoted to anything else just to feel good and consequently forget [about You]? Would there be anything left for us to wish for when we serve the dust of Your feet [see also 10.44: 15, 10.47: 46]?
As stated in the Nārāyaṇīya of the Mokṣa-dharma, in Śrī Mahābhārata,
vai sādhana-sampattiḥ
puruṣārtha-catuṣṭaye
naro nārāyaṇāśrayaḥ
"Whatever among the four goals of human life can be achieved by various spiritual practices is automatically achieved without such endeavors by the person who has taken shelter of Lord Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all persons." Thus a Kṛṣṇa conscious person knows that he will obtain all perfection of life simply by surrendering to the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is the highest stage of yoga, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā.

11.29.6
naivopayanty apacitiḿ kavayas taveśa
yo 'ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaḿ vidhunvann

(6) Not even with a lifetime as long as that of Brahmâ the learned - despite of all their work - would be capable of expressing the gratitude [we owe You] o Lord. For You show us Your path in two ways: in the form of that [authority of the Supersoul] what is mentally conceived within in order to remember the joy and in the form of the âcârya outside of us who is there to dissipate the misfortune of one's being embodied [the caittya- and the paramparâ-guru].'
Lord Kṛṣṇa is ten million times more dear to a devotee than life itself. And according to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, even by rendering devotional service for the total duration of one thousand universal creations, a devotee cannot repay the debt he feels to the Lord for having awarded him loving service to the Lord's lotus feet. The Lord appears within the heart as the Supersoul and externally both as the spiritual master and as His literary incarnation — the supreme Vedic knowledge of Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

11.29.7
ity uddhavenāty-anurakta-cetasā
gṛhīta-mūrti-traya īśvareśvaro



(7) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus by Uddhava being asked who in his heart was most attached to Him, the Lord spoke lovingly with an attractive smile, He who has the universe as His plaything and by His own energies has assumed the three different personal forms of the Controllers [the guna-avatâras].
11.29.8
yān śraddhayācaran martyo

(8) The Supreme Lord said: 'Right here I will now explain to you the dharma in relation to Me that is most auspicious and by which a mortal being, executing with faith, conquers death so unconquerable.

11.29.9
mayy arpita-manaś-citto
mad-dharmātma-mano-ratiḥ

(9) Having offered one's mind and intelligence to Me, one should for My purpose stepwise [learn to] perform all work and thereto remember, by the grace of one's own loving spirit, the example of My respect of duty.
The words mad-dharmātma-mano-ratiḥ mean that all of one's love and affection should be devoted to pleasing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is not indicated here that one should try to relish selfish satisfaction in devotional service, but rather that one should be attracted to the Lord's own satisfaction, which one achieves by faithfully executing the order of a bona fide spiritual master coming in disciplic succession from Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Attachment to one's own satisfaction, even within devotional service, is materialistic, whereas attachment to the satisfaction of the Lord is pure spiritual emotion.

11.29.10
devāsura-manuṣyeṣu
mad-bhaktācaritāni ca


(10) One should take shelter of the holy places frequented by My saintly devotees and [follow the example of] the activities of My devotees operating among the godly, the demoniac and the human beings.
Nārada Muni is one of the great devotees of the Lord who appeared among the demigods. Prahlāda Mahārāja appeared among the demons, and many other great devotees, such as Ambarīṣa Mahārāja and the Pāṇḍavas, appeared among human beings. One should take shelter of the devotees' exemplary activities and also the holy places where devotees reside. Thus one will remain safe on the path of devotional service.

11.29.11
parva-yātrā-mahotsavān
kārayed gīta-nṛtyādyair

 (11) Either alone or in assembly one should with respect for the position of the moon, at special occasions and at festivals engage in singing, dancing and such and be generous with contributions.
11.29.12
īkṣetātmani cātmānaḿ
yathā kham amalāśayaḥ

(12) One should with a pure heart see Me within oneself as the Supreme Soul that alike the unlimited sky is present inside and outside of all living beings [see also B.G. 13: 16 and 1.7: 10].
the Lord has spoken the present verse to attract those who are inclined toward philosophical speculation about the Absolute Truth. Such transcendental scholars searching for the ultimate unity will be attracted by the Lord's manifestation described here.

11.29.13-14
sabhājayan manyamāno
sama-dṛk paṇḍito mataḥ

 (13-14) O brightest spirit, when one with My love thus is of respect for all living beings, one has with such an approach taken shelter of purely spiritual knowledge. When one this way regards the brahmin and the outcast, the thief and the man faithful to the brahminical culture, the sun and the spark, the gentle one and the cruel one equally, one may call oneself a wise person [see B.G. 5: 18].
A series of opposites is set forth here — namely the high-class brāhmaṇa and the low-class aborigine, the thief who steals from respectable persons and the respecter of brahminical culture who gives charity to brāhmaṇas, the all-powerful sun and the insignificant spark, and finally the kind and the cruel. Ordinarily, the ability to distinguish between such opposites qualifies one as intelligent. How, then, can the Lord state that ignoring such obvious differences establishes one as a wise man? The answer is given by the words mad-bhāvena: a wise person sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead within everything. Therefore, although externally perceiving and dealing with the varieties of material situations, a wise man is more impressed by and concerned with the overwhelming unity of all existence, which is based on the presence of the Supreme Lord within everything. As explained here, a truly wise person is not limited to superficial material discrimination.

11.29.15
puḿso bhāvayato 'cirāt
spardhāsūyā-tiraskārāḥ
sāhańkārā viyanti hi

(15) Of the person who constantly is meditating upon My presence in all men will quickly the rivalry, envy, disdain and false ego disappear.

We conditioned souls tend to feel rivalry toward our equals, envy toward our superior, and the desire to belittle our subordinates. These contaminated propensities, along with their very basis, false ego, can be quickly vanquished by meditating upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead within every living being.

11.29.16
praṇamed daṇḍa-vad bhūmāv

(16) Ignoring the laughter of one's friends and without being embarrassed about outer appearances one should throw oneself like a rod to the ground and offer obeisances to [all,] even [to] dogs, outcasts, cows and asses [see also s'ikshâshthaka-3].
One should practice seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead within all creatures. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu advised all devotees to consider themselves lower than a blade of grass and to be more tolerant than a tree. In such a humble position, one will not be disturbed in the prosecution of pure devotional service to the Lord. A devotee does not foolishly think that a cow or an ass is God, but rather the devotee sees the Supreme Lord within all creatures, and on this higher, spiritual plane he does not discriminate.
11.29.17
mad-bhāvo nopajāyate


 (17) As long as one has not developed the vision of Me being present in all living beings, one has to be of worship this way with what one says, thinks and does with one's body [see also tridanda].
Until one fully realizes the Supreme Lord within all beings, he should continue the process of offering obeisances to all creatures. Although one may not be able to actually fall on the ground before all creatures, at least within his mind or by his words one should offer respect to all living beings. This will accelerate the devotee's self-realization.

11.29.18
sarvaḿ brahmātmakaḿ tasya
vidyayātma-manīṣayā
paripaśyann uparamet
sarvato muita-saḿśayaḥ


(18) For the one who by knowledge and realization sees the Supreme Soul everywhere is everything based upon the Absolute Truth. Thus being freed from doubt there is for such a person the duty of retiring from worldly activities.
11.29.19
sadhrīcīno mato mama

 (19) This with the functions of one's mind, words and body going for the truth of Me within all living beings I consider the most appropriate of all processes.
11.29.20
na hy ańgopakrame dhvaḿso
mad-dharmasyoddhavāṇv api
nirguṇatvād anāśiṣaḥ


(20) My dear, because this by Me perfectly established method is free from the modes and has no ulterior motives there is, when one thus tries to be of service unto Me Uddhava, as a consequence not even the slightest loss [see also B.G. 2: 40].
Although great sages and authorities have established various methods of human progress, the Supreme Lord Himself has introduced the system of bhakti-yoga, wherein one directly takes shelter of the Lord in loving service. One who serves the Lord without personal motivation can never be defeated in his progress and will certainly go back home, back to Godhead, in the near future.

11.29.21
tad-āyāso nirarthaḥ syād
bhayāder iva sattama

(21) O best of the pious,  of whatever worldy exertion will the fear and all of that be futile, when it in being dedicated to Me, the Supreme, is religious in leaning towards activities that are performed without an ulterior motive, o pious Uddhava! [see also B.G. 18: 6].
Even the most insignificant activity, when offered to the Supreme Lord without personal desire, can elevate one to the perfection of spiritual life. Actually, Lord Kṛṣṇa always protects and maintains His devotee. But if a devotee cries to the Lord for protection or maintenance, desiring to continue his devotional service unimpeded, Lord Kṛṣṇa accepts such apparently unnecessary appeals to be the highest religious process.

11.29.22
eṣā buddhimatāḿ buddhir
yat satyam anṛteneha
martyenāpnoti māmṛtam

(22) This in one's life achieving of Me, the immortal, by means of the false and mortal, constitutes the cleverness of the clever and intelligence of the intelligent.
As described in this chapter, one who desires personal prestige in the Lord's service cannot be considered intelligent and clever. Similarly, one who is anxious to become a sophisticated transcendental philosopher is not the most intelligent. Nor is one who is expert in accumulating money. The Lord here states that the most intelligent and clever person is the devotee who offers his temporary, illusory material body and possessions to Him with love and without personal motivation. The devotee thus obtains the eternal Absolute Truth. In other words, real intelligence is to actually surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa, without personal desire or duplicity. That is the Lord's opinion.

11.29.23
eṣa te 'bhihitaḥ kṛtsno

(23) With this has both in brief and in detail the complete survey of the Absolute Truth been described to you which constitutes a science that even for the gods is difficult to access.
The word devānām indicates those living beings in the mode of goodness (such as demigods, saints and pious philosophers) who nevertheless cannot understand the Absolute Truth because they lack full surrender to the Personality of Godhead.

11.29.24
abhīkṣṇaśas te gaditaḿ

(24) Having properly understood this knowledge that repeatedly was explained to you with clear, logical arguments, a person will see his doubts destroyed and be liberated.
11.29.25
mayaitad api dhārayet
paraḿ brahmādhigacchati


(25) He who but concentrates on this question of yours that was properly cleared up by Me, attains to the eternal secret of the Vedas, the Supreme Absolute of the Truth.
11.29.26
tasyāhaḿ brahma-dāyasya

 (26) I will automatically lend him My authority who without any reservation disseminates this Supreme Spiritual Truth as the tradition for My devotees. 
11.29.27
sa pūyetāhar ahar māḿ


 (27) He who loudly recites this Supreme of Me that is so sanctifying and clear, will, because he with the lamp of knowledge forms My presence, day after day find purification.
11.29.28
ya etac chraddhayā nityam
avyagraḥ śṛṇuyān naraḥ


(28) The person who attentively and with faith regularly listens to this is of transcendental devotional service unto Me [is a bhakta] and will not get entangled in karmic reactions [see also B.G. 3: 9].
11.29.29
api te vigato mohaḥ
śokaś cāsau mano-bhavaḥ

(29) Uddhava, o friend, do you have a clear understanding of the spiritual now and has this lamentation and illusion that arose in your mind been removed [see 11.6: 42-49 and also B.G. 18: 72]?
Śrī Uddhava had been bewildered by considering manifestations of Lord Kṛṣṇa's own potency to be separate from Him. Uddhava's lamentation arose because he thought himself separated from Lord Kṛṣṇa. Actually, Śrī Uddhava is an eternally liberated soul, but the Lord placed him in bewilderment and lamentation so that this supreme knowledge of the Uddhava-gīta could be spoken. Lord Kṛṣṇa's question here indicates that if Uddhava had not perfectly understood this knowledge, Lord Kṛṣṇa would have explained the same thing again. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, since Śrī Uddhava is the intimate friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord's question here was in a friendly, playful spirit. The Lord was well aware of Uddhava's complete enlightenment in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

11.29.30
aśuśrūṣor abhaktāya

 (30) Do not share this with a hypocrite, an atheist or a cheat, nor with someone not willing to listen or an obstinate non-devotee [compare to B.G. 18: 67].
11.29.31
etair doṣair vihīnāya
sādhave śucaye brūyād
bhaktiḥ syāc chūdra-yoṣitām

(31) Share it with the person free from these bad qualities, the one saintly and pure, someone kindly disposed in dedication to the welfare of the brahmins, as well as with laborers and women if they are of bhakti [compare B.G. 9: 32].
11.29.32
naitad vijñāya jijñāsor
pātavyaḿ nāvaśiṣyate


 (32) For the inquisitive one fully understanding this there is nothing left to imbibe; what would there be left to imbibe once one has drunk the most palatable nectarean beverage there is?
11.29.32
naitad vijñāya jijñāsor
pātavyaḿ nāvaśiṣyate

(33) Whatever people who are of success with the four goals of life [catuh-vidah] may find in spiritual knowledge, in fruitive labor, in mystic yoga, in ordinary activities or in political ruling, you can equally find in Me.
Lord Kṛṣṇa is the basis of all that exists, and one who takes exclusive shelter of the Lord never suffers any loss whatsoever for his intelligent decision to surrender to Kṛṣṇa.
11.29.34
niveditātmā vicikīrṣito me
tadāmṛtatvaḿ pratipadyamāno


(34) When a mortal offers himself to Me and gives up all his fruitive labor in his desire for the special quality of Me, he qualifies in that process of attaining immortality at that time for the opulence associated with Me.'
11.29.35
tadottamaḥśloka-vaco niśamya
baddhāñjaliḥ prīty-uparuddha-kaṇṭho
na kiñcid ūce 'śru-pariplutākṣaḥ


(35) S'uka said: 'After he had heard the words of Uttamas'loka and thus was shown the path of yoga, Uddhava with folded hands said nothing because his throat was choked up with love and his eyes overflowed with tears.
11.29.36
viṣṭabhya cittaḿ praṇayāvaghūrṇaḿ
kṛtāñjaliḥ prāha yadu-pravīraḿ
śīrṣṇā spṛśaḿs tac-caraṇāravindam


 (36) Completely agitated with love restraining himself to steady his mind, o King, he, feeling grateful, spoke with his hands folded to the Great Yadu Hero and touched therewith His lotusfeet with his head.
the fear of separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa was continually entering the mind of Śrī Uddhava, and thus he tried to maintain his enthusiasm by remembering the Lord's great kindness upon him. He steadied his mind with feelings of gratitude toward the Lord.

11.29.37
vidrāvito moha-mahāndhakāro
ya āśrito me tava sannidhānāt
śītaḿ tamo bhīḥ prabhavanty ajādya

(37) S'rî Uddhava said: 'The great darkness of the delusion I fell into, has in the presence of the Sun that You are, been dispelled. What cold, darkness and fear could hold sway over the one who approached You, o Unborn Primeval One?
Although Śrī Uddhava feared separation from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, he now understands that in a fundamental sense the Lord is everything. Kṛṣṇa consciousness can never be threatened or diminished for one who has taken full shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord.

11.29.38
pratyarpito me bhavatānukampinā
ko 'nyaḿ samīyāc charaṇaḿ tvadīyam

 (38) By You who are so merciful in Your goodness was in return to me, Your servant, offered the torchlight consisting of Your wisdom. Who being grateful is able to abandon the base of Your feet and seek another shelter?

11.29.39
vṛkṇaś ca me su-dṛḍhaḥ sneha-pāśo

(39)  The because of Your mâyâ firmly binding rope of my affection for the creation [of the family] of the Dâs'ârhas, Vrishnis, Andhakas and Sâtvatas expanding to Your will, was severed by the sword of the correct knowledge about the soul.
Although the members of the families mentioned in this verse are eternal associates of Lord Kṛṣṇa and thus proper objects of affection, Śrī Uddhava had regarded them as his personal relatives rather than simply as pure devotees of the Lord. Influenced by the Lord's illusory potency, Uddhava had desired the prosperity and victory of these dynasties. But now, by hearing Lord Kṛṣṇa's instructions, he has again fixed his mind exclusively upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus he regards his so-called family members without any mundane conception — as eternal servants of the Lord.

11.29.40
yathā tvac-caraṇāmbhoje

(40) Let there be my obeisances unto You, o Greatest of Mystics, please tell me how I may find stability with the transcendental attraction at Your lotusfeet.'

11.29.41-44
gacchoddhava mayādiṣṭo
badary-ākhyaḿ mamāśramam
tatra mat-pāda-tīrthode
snānopasparśanaiḥ śuciḥ
īkṣayālakanandāyā
vidhūtāśeṣa-kalmaṣaḥ
vasāno valkalāny ańga
suśīlaḥ saḿyatendriyaḥ
matto 'nuśikṣitaḿ yat te
mayy āveśita-vāk-citto
mad-dharma-nirato bhava
ativrajya gatīs tisro

(41-44) The Supreme Lord said: 'Please, o Uddhava, accept My advice to head for My hermitage called Badârika. At the riverbanks there be purified by the touching of and bathing in the water emanating from My feet [see 5.17]. Be, with your eyes fixed upon the Alakanandâ [a tributary of the Ganges] cleansed of all impurities, wear bark My dear, eat from the forest and be happy free from desire. Exercise with your intelligence, spiritual knowledge and wisdom forbearance with all dualities, keep saintly to your principles, restrict your senses and live in peace and absorption. Believe in and meditate upon that what you from Me have learned to discriminate. When you with your words and mind absorbed in Me are devoted to realize My virtue you will, thus established crossing beyond the three destinations [the gunas], thereupon reach Me.'
11.29.45
sa evam ukto hari-medhasoddhavaḥ
śiro nidhāyāśru-kalābhir ārdra-dhīr
nyaṣiñcad advandva-paro 'py apakrame


(45) S'rî S'uka said: 'After thus having been addressed by the Lord of Understanding, Uddhava circumambulated Him keeping Him to the right and even though he at the time of his departure was free from the influence of material opposites, he drenched with a breaking heart with his head bowed down His feet with his teardrops.
11.29.46

(46) Finding it most difficult to leave he was incapable of abandoning Him so that he overwhelmed by the separation in great pain besides himself took leave, again and again offering his obeisances and placing the slippers of his Maintainer on his head [*].
According to the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.4.5), while Uddhava was enroute to Badarikāśrama he heard about the Lord's journey to Prabhāsa. Turning back and following Lord Kṛṣṇa from behind, he saw the Lord alone just after the withdrawal of the Yadu dynasty. After being again mercifully instructed by the Personality of Godhead (along with Maitreya, who had just arrived), Uddhava felt his knowledge of the truth reawaken, and then, by the order of the Lord, he went on his way.
11.29.47
gato mahā-bhāgavato viśālām
yathopadiṣṭāḿ jagad-eka-bandhunā

(47) Then installing Him in his heart the great devotee went to the illustrious place of pilgrimage [that as such is also called Vis'âlâ] the only Friend in the Universe had mentioned. There he attained, having properly executed the austerities, the Lord His destination [Vaikunthha].
Śrī Uddhava returned to Dvārakā in the spiritual sky,

11.29.48
jñānāmṛtaḿ bhāgavatāya bhāṣitam
kṛṣṇena yogeśvara-sevitāńghriṇā
sac-chraddhayāsevya jagad vimucyate

(48) Whoever in this world with honest belief accepts the service of this ocean of ecstacy, this nectarean sea of knowledge that by Krishna, He whose feet are served by the masters of Yoga, was collected for His devotee, will be liberated.
11.29.49
amṛtam udadhitaś cāpāyayad bhṛtya-vargān

(49) I am bowed down to the Greatest and First Personality named Krishna, who makes His many devotees drink the nectar from the ocean consisting of de essence of the Vedas, the essence of the spiritual knowledge and wisdom that He, as the author of the Vedas, like a bee delivers in order to take away the fear of material existence.'
 Just as a bee extracts nectar from a flower without harming the flower, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa extracts the essence of all Vedic knowledge without disturbing the elaborate system of Vedic advancement. In other words, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa establishes Himself as the goal of Vedic knowledge without destroying preliminary, inferior processes that may be applicable to grossly materialistic men. Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī thus concludes by offering his obeisances to the spiritual master of the entire universe, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Thus end  of the Eleventh Canto, Twenty-ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Bhakti-yoga."

Footnote:
*: The paramparâ adds here: 'According to the S'rîmad Bhâgavatam [3.4: 5], while Uddhava was enroute to Badarikâs'rama he heard about the Lord's journey to Prabhâsa. Turning back and following Lord Krishna from behind, he saw the Lord alone just after the withdrawal of the Yadu dynasty. After being again mercifully instructed by the Personality of Godhead (along with Maitreya, who had just arrived), Uddhava felt his knowledge of the truth reawaken, and then, by the order of the Lord, he went on his way.'



(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swamyjis, Philosophers, Scholars and Knowledge Seekers for the collection)




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