VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Canto 11
Chapter 20
Trikânda Yoga: Bhakti Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment
The processes of karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga are explained in this chapter, in terms of the presence of different good and bad qualities in particular candidates.
The Vedic śāstras are the words expressing the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In these Vedic literatures is found an outlook of duality, based on such concepts as the varṇāśrama system, and at the same time the Vedas reject this dualistic vision. Uddhava, desiring to understand the reason why the scriptures contain such conflicting ideas, and how these might be reconciled, inquired from Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa about this matter. In response the Supreme Lord replied that the Vedas describe the processes of karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga for facilitating the attainment of liberation. Karma-yoga is designated for those persons who are not detached and who are full of gross desires; jñāna-yoga is for those who are detached from the fruits of activity and have given up material endeavors; and bhakti-yoga is for those persons who have taken to the principle of yukta-vairāgya, appropriate renunciation. As long as one has not become uninterested in enjoying the fruits of one's work, or as long as one's faith in the topics of discussion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the path of devotional service has not awakened, then one must continue to fulfill all the prescribed duties of his karma. But neither the renunciant nor the devotee of the Supreme Lord need carry out ritualistic duties.
Persons who follow their own duty, who abandon that which is forbidden and who are free from greed and other unhealthy characteristics attain either monistic knowledge or else, if they are fortunate, devotion to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Such knowledge and devotion can be achieved in the human form of life, which is therefore a desirable object both for those living in hell and for the demigods. The human body, even though it awards the whole purpose of existence in the form of knowledge and devotion, is ephemeral; therefore one who is discriminating should soberly strive for liberation before death comes. The human body is like a boat, Śrī Gurudeva is the helmsman, and the mercy of the Supreme Lord is the favorable breeze. If the person who has attained such a rare boat in the form of the human body does not desire to cross over the ocean of material existence, he is in fact the killer of the soul. The mind is fickle, but one should not indifferently allow it to act as it will. Rather, one should conquer the senses and the vital air and by intelligence endowed with the qualities of goodness should bring the mind under control.
Until the mind finally becomes stable, one should continue to meditate about the process of the creation of all material things in sequence from subtle to gross and of their destruction in reverse sequence of gross to subtle. One who has a sense of detachment and renunciation can give up false identification with the body and other sense objects by constantly studying the instructions of his spiritual master. By the yoga practice of yama, niyama and so forth, by cultivation of transcendental knowledge and by worship of and meditation upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one can remember the Supersoul.
Virtue, or guṇa, means to remain steadfast in the object of one's particular platform of qualification. By developing the desire to reject one's accumulated material association by pursuing the injunctions of what is good and what is bad, all of one's inauspicious material activities become diminished. By devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead all perfections are achieved. Anyone who renders service to the Supreme Lord by constant devotional service will be able to steadily fix his mind upon the Supreme Lord, and thus all desires for sense gratification sitting within the heart will be destroyed to the root. When one directly perceives the presence of the Supreme Lord, his false ego becomes completely eradicated; all of his doubts are shattered, and heaps of material activities become diminished to nil. For this reason the devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead do not consider knowledge and renunciation to be the means for achieving the highest benefit. Only in the heart of a person who is devoid of material desire and disinterested in material things can devotional service to the Lord arise. The piety and impiety that result from ritualistic injunctions and prohibitions cannot be applied to the unalloyed pure devotees of the Supreme Lord.
11.20.1
nigamo hīśvarasya te
avekṣate 'raviṇḍākṣa
(1) S'rî Uddhava said: 'To the honor of You the Controller, o Lotus-eyed One, focus the sacred texts, that contain the positive and negative injunctions, upon the virtue and vice of karma [akarma and vikarma].
At the end of the previous chapter, Lord Kṛṣṇa stated, guṇa-doṣa-dṛśir doṣo guṇas tūbhaya-varjitaḥ: "Focusing upon material piety and sin is itself a discrepancy, since actual piety means to transcend both of them." Śrī Uddhava now pursues this point so that Lord Kṛṣṇa will give a more elaborate explanation of this difficult subject matter. Śrī Uddhava here states that the Vedic literatures, which constitute the laws of God, deal with piety and sin; therefore, it must be clarified how one transcends activities recommended in the Vedas. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Uddhava suddenly understood Lord Kṛṣṇa's purpose in the words He had just spoken, and to induce the Lord to elaborate upon this interesting point Uddhava outwardly challenged the Lord's statement.
11.20.2
pratilomānulomajam
(2) They also discuss the varnâs'rama system wherein the father may be of a higher [anuloma] or a lower [pratiloma] class than the mother, they are about heaven and hell and expound on the subjects of having possessions, one's age, place and time [see also 4.8: 54 and *].
Pratiloma indicates the combination of a superior woman with an inferior man. For example, the vaidehaka community consists of those born of a śūdra father and brāhmaṇa mother, whereas the sūtas are those born from a kṣatriya father and a brāhmaṇa mother or from a śūdra father and kṣatriya mother. Anuloma indicates those born from a superior father and inferior mother. The mūrdhāvasikta are those born of a brāhmaṇa father and kṣatriya mother. Ambaṣṭhas are those born from a brāhmaṇa father and vaiśya mother, and they often become medical men. Karaṇa indicates those born of a vaiśya father and śūdra mother or of a kṣatriya father and vaiśya mother. That such mixing of castes is not very much appreciated in the Vedic culture is demonstrated in the first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Arjuna was very worried that the death of so many kṣatriyas on the battlefield would lead to the mixing of superior women with inferior men, and on those grounds he objected to fighting. In any case, the entire Vedic social system is based on distinguishing between piety and sin, and Śrī Uddhava is encouraging the Lord to explain more elaborately His statement that one should transcend both piety and sin.
11.20.3
(3) How is it possible for human beings who cannot tell the difference between virtue and vice to find liberation without Your prohibitive and regulatory words [compare 11.19: 40-45]?
11.20.4
vedaś cakṣus taveśvara
śreyas tv anupalabdhe 'rthe
(4) The Vedic knowledge emanating from You offers the forefathers, the gods as well as the human beings a superior insight in the not for everyone that evident meaning of life, that for which we strive and the means to be employed.
11.20.5
nigamenāpavādaś ca
(5) The difference between virtue and vice is realized with the help of Your Vedic knowledge, it is an insight that does not arise of its own, but it are also Your Vedas that cancel such a difference and thus clearly confuse the issue....'
11.20.6
nṝṇāḿ śreyo-vidhitsayā
nopāyo 'nyo 'sti kutracit
(6) The Supreme Lord said: 'The three ways of yoga that I have described in My desire to grant the human being the perfection, are the path of philosophy [jñâna], the path of work [karma] and the path of devotion [bhakti]; outside of them there are no ways to be found [see also B.G. contents and trikânda].
11.20.7
nirviṇṇānāḿ jñāna-yogo
teṣv anirviṇṇa-cittānāḿ
(7) For the ones who disgusted with fruitive labor forsake that kind of activities, there is the yoga of spiritual knowledge and for those who consciously have not turned themselves away and do feel for material happiness there is the path of karma-yoga.
11.20.8
yadṛcchayā mat-kathādau
(8) When it happens to be so that one developed belief in My narrations and everything thereto, will for such a person who is neither averse nor very attached, the path of bhakti-yoga be awarding the perfection.
11.20.9
(9) As long as one is not fed up with profitminded labor and attaches no faith to My discourses or hearing etc. [7.5: 23-24], one will have to continue that way [see also 1.2: 7, 11.5: 41].
Unless one has developed firm faith in Lord Kṛṣṇa by association with pure devotees and is thus engaged full time in the devotional service of the Lord, one should not neglect ordinary Vedic principles and duties. As stated by the Lord Himself,
mad-bhakto 'pi na vaiṣṇavaḥ
"The śruti and smṛti literatures are to be understood as My injunctions, and one who violates such codes is to be understood as violating My will and thus opposing Me. Although such a person may claim to be My devotee, he is not actually a Vaiṣṇava." The Lord here states that if one has not developed firm faith in the process of chanting and hearing, one must comply with the ordinary injunctions of Vedic literatures. There are many symptoms by which one can recognize an advanced devotee of the Lord. In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.7) it is stated,
janayaty āśu vairāgyaḿ
One who is actually engaged in advanced devotional service immediately develops both clear knowledge of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and detachment from nondevotional activities. One who is not situated on this platform must comply with the ordinary injunctions of Vedic literature or risk becoming inimical to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. On the other hand, one who has developed great faith in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa does not hesitate to do anything that will further the mission of the Lord. As stated in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (11.5.41),
"Anyone who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, the giver of liberation, giving up all kinds of obligation, and has taken to the path in all seriousness, owes neither duties nor obligations to the demigods, sages, general living entities, family members, humankind or forefathers."
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out in this regard that when a person fully surrenders to Lord Kṛṣṇa, he takes shelter of the Lord's promise to liquidate all other responsibilities and debts of the surrendered soul. The devotee thus becomes fearless by meditating on the Lord's promise of protection. Those, however, who are materially attached are frightened by the prospect of full surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, thereby revealing their inimical mentality toward the Lord.
11.20.10
(10) Someone will not go to heaven, nor will he land in hell, Uddhava, if he doesn't do anything else but cling to his prescribed duties and, free from ulterior motives, worships with performing sacrifices [see also B.G. 8: 16].
The perfection of karma-yoga is described here. One who does not desire fruitive rewards for his religious activities does not waste time going to the heavenly planets for celestial sense gratification. Similarly, one who does not neglect his prescribed duty or perform forbidden activities will not be bothered by going to hell for punishment. Thus avoiding material rewards and punishments, such a desireless person can be promoted to the platform of pure devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa.
11.20.11
(11) When one, existing in this world, free from sin clings to one's duties and is pure [in one's motives], one obtains transcendental knowledge and eventually, given the fortune, My bhakti [compare 1.5: 23-31].
11.20.12
(12) Just as the residents of hell, do even the residents of heaven desire for this planet earth which is so conducive to the spiritual knowledge and devotional service that in both positions appear to be of little value.
11.20.13
dehāveśāt pramādyati
(13) A human being should never desire to reach heaven or wish to go to hell, nor should a wise person desire this planet earth because based upon such an involvement with the body one becomes a fool.
11.20.14
(14) Knowing this someone should, before he dies, dilligently endeavor for transcendence being conscious of the fact that, even though [the body is] subject to death, the perfection of one's life purpose is within reach.
11.20.15
chidyamānaḿ yamair etaiḥ
(15) A bird giving up the nest it built in a tree that was cut down by some messengers of death, achieves happiness on account of not being attached.
Here the example is given of detachment from the bodily concept of life. The living entity resides within the body just as a bird dwells within a tree. When thoughtless men cut down the tree, the bird, without lamenting the loss of its previous nest, does not hesitate to establish its residence in another place.
11.20.16
aho-rātraiś chidyamānaḿ
nirīha upaśāmyati
(16) Knowing that with every day and night one's life span is shortened, one, beset with fear, understands the transcendental position, and reaches free from desire perfect peace.
11.20.17
mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaḿ
(17) The human body, which is the source of all blessings, is easily obtained even though that rarely happens [considering the enormous variety of life forms on this planet]. It is a ship extremely well equipped for its duty, given a spiritual teacher for its captain and the favorable winds that represent Me to propel it. But when someone fails to cross the ocean of material existence with it, he is a killer of his own soul.
11.20.18
yadārambheṣu nirviṇṇo
viraktaḥ saḿyatendriyaḥ
abhyāsenātmano yogī
(18) A yogi, who fosters no hopes in material endeavors, is in full control of his senses and is detached. He must concentrate to steady the mind in the discipline he has with the soul.
11.20.19
bhrāmyad aśv anavasthitam
atandrito 'nurodhena
(19) Narrowed down to the spiritual platform the mind should, when it upon an impulse is drawn away from its position, carefully, according the rules of the game, be brought under the control of the self [see also B.G. 6: 26].
11.20.20
jita-prāṇo jitendriyaḥ
(20) One should, when one endowed with goodness conquers one's breath and senses, not forget what the actual purpose of the mind is. It should always with the help of one's intelligence be brought back under the control of the soul [to be its servant, see B.G. 3: 42].
11.20.21
damyasyevārvato muhuḥ
(21) This truly supreme yoga process entails that one carefully and constantly observes the mind in order to achieve full control over it. It should be treated inspiring with confidence the way one tames a horse [see also B.G. 6: 33-34].
11.20.22
pratilomānulomataḥ
bhavāpyayāv anudhyāyen
(22) Through the analytic study of how the different elements and principles of spiritual knowledge cohere and are in conflict, how they originate and how they are lost, the mind should be kept attentive until [spiritually] satisfied.
11.20.23
puruṣasyokta-vedinaḥ
manas tyajati daurātmyaḿ
cintitasyānucintayā
(23) Of the person who sufficiently disgusted gave up on the material interest, the mind, which guided by vedic precepts is kept busy with the analysis of everything it was occupied with, will give up to falsely identify itself with that subject matter.
11.20.24
yamādibhir yoga-pathair
mamārcopāsanābhir vā
(24) To reach the goal of yoga one must direct one's mind by no other means than the austerities and procedures of the [eightfold] yoga method, with the logical analyses of the spiritual vision or by means of the exercises of respect for My form [karma, jñâna and bhakti-yoga].
11.20.25
yogenaiva dahed aḿho
(25) If a yogi out of negligence is of a reprehensible deed, he should by the process of yoga only burn up that sin. In matters like these he should never at any time operate differently [compare B.G. 1.5: 17, 4: 19, 9: 30].
11.20.26
karmaṇāḿ jāty-aśuddhānām
sańgānāḿ tyājanecchayā
(26) The steady practice that is maintained by each with his own method constitutes a praiseworthy virtue, but because of the karmic, fruitive nature of one's activities one is not engaged in a pure way. In respect of this virtue and vice are the disciplinary observances established [of niyama] according the desire to relinquish the different kinds of attachment.
11.20.27-28
parityāge 'py anīśvaraḥ
(27-28) When in him the faith in my narrations has awakened and he is disgusted with all karma he [the âtmânandi bhakta] who knows about the misery that is constituted by the lust should - even though he's not fully in control of the process of renouncing - by that insight strengthened in his conviction engage in glorifying Me [bhajana]. Thus he remains happy in his faith and repents thereto the sense gratification that led to the unhappiness.
11.20.29
bhajato māsakṛn muneḥ
(29) All the lusts a sage has in his heart are destroyed when he, constantly worshiping Me in the bhakti-yoga as described, has firmly established his heart in Me [see sthita-prajña].
The material senses are engaged in gratifying the concoctions of the mind, causing many types of material desires to become prominent, one after another. One who constantly engages in the devotional service of the Lord by hearing and chanting the Lord's transcendental glories with firm faith gets relief from the harassment of material desires. By serving the Lord one becomes strengthened in the conviction that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the only actual enjoyer and all others are meant to share the Lord's pleasure through devotional service. A devotee of the Lord situates Śrī Kṛṣṇa on a beautiful throne within his heart and there offers the Lord constant service. Just as the rising sun gradually eliminates all trace of darkness, the Lord's presence within the heart causes all material desires there to weaken and eventually disappear. The words mayi hṛdi sthite ("when the heart is situated in Me") indicate that an advanced devotee sees Lord Kṛṣṇa not only within his own heart but within the hearts of all living creatures. Thus a sincere devotee who chants and hears the glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa should not be discouraged by the remnants of material desires within the heart. He should faithfully wait for the devotional process to naturally purify the heart of all contamination.
11.20.30
(30) The knots in the heart are pierced, all misgivings are cut to pieces and the chain of his fruitive actions has ended when I am seen as the Supreme Soul of All.
11.20.31
(31) For that reason is for a yogi who, connected in My devotional service, established his mind in Me, the path of knowledge nor the path of detachment [from fruitive actions] generally the way to become happy in this world.
11.20.32-33
śreyobhir itarair api
mad-bhakto labhate 'ñjasā
svargāpavargaḿ mad-dhāma
(32-33) When he somehow or other desires heaven, beatitude or My abode is all that is obtained by fruitive action, penance, the cultivation of knowledge and detachment, is indeed all that is attained by mystic yoga, charity, religious observances, auspicious actions or otherwise, easily by My devotee achieved in loving service unto Me.
The word itaraiḥ in this verse indicates visiting holy places, accepting religious vows and so forth. Several auspicious processes of elevation are mentioned in the verse preceding this, but all the auspicious results of these processes are easily achieved by loving service to the Lord. Thus all devotees of the Lord, in whatever stage of advancement, should dedicate their energy exclusively to the Lord's service, as affirmed in the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī:
"A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead." (Bhāg. 2.3.10)
11.20.34
(34) The saintly who are sober, the devotees who are one of heart unto Me, indeed never desire that I grant them enlightenment or freedom from birth and death.
11.20.35
nairapekṣyaḿ paraḿ prāhur
tasmān nirāśiṣo bhaktir
(35) It is said that it is best not to desire anything, and thus may of him who, not seeking any personal reward, is desireless, as the highest stage of liberation the bhakti unto Me may manifest itself [see also 2.3: 10].
"A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead." In this statement by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the words tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena are very significant. Śrīla Prabhupāda remarks in this regard, "As the unmixed sun ray is very forceful and is therefore called tīvra, similarly, unmixed bhakti-yoga of hearing, chanting, etc., may be performed by one and all regardless of inner motive." Undoubtedly, in this age of Kali people are generally very fallen and polluted by material lust, greed, anger, lamentation and so forth. In this age most people are sarva-kāma, or full of material desires. Still we must understand that simply by taking shelter of Lord Kṛṣṇa we will achieve everything in life. The living entity should not engage in any process except the loving service of the Lord. One must accept that Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure and that only Lord Kṛṣṇa within our heart can fulfill our real desire. This simple faith that one will achieve everything by approaching Lord Kṛṣṇa is the essence of all knowledge and carries even a fallen person over the painful hurdles of this difficult age.
11.20.36
(36) With Me unfavorable qualities sprouting from weaknesses cannot [again] manifest in pure devotees, because they, free from desire, under all circumstances are stable in their consciousness. They now belong to those who moved beyond that what can be understood with a materially motivated intelligence [see also B.G. 9: 30].
11.20.37
(37) Those who follow these methods I have now instructed, achieve the security of My abode in the direct perception of that what is the Absolute Truth.'
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Pure Devotional Service Surpasses Knowledge and Detachment."
Footnote:
*: The vaidehakas consist of those born of a s'ûdra father and brâhmana mother, the sûtas are those born from a kshatriya father and a brâhmana mother or from a s'ûdra father and kshatriya mother. The mûrdhâvasiktas are those born of a brâhmana father and kshatriya mother. Ambashthhas are those born from a brâhmana father and vais'ya mother [these often work in the healthcare business]. Karana indicates those born of a vais'ya father and s'ûdra mother or of a kshatriya father and vais'ya mother.
Canto 11
Chapter 21
On Distinguishing between Good and Bad
There are persons who are unfit for all three of the forms of yoga — karma, jñāna and bhakti. They are inimical to Lord Kṛṣṇa, attached to sense gratification, and are dominated by fruitive activities aimed at fulfillment of material desires. This chapter describes their faults in terms of place, time, substance and beneficiary of actions.
For those who are perfect in knowledge and devotion to the Lord, there are no materially good qualities or faults. But for a candidate endeavoring on the platform of karma to achieve cessation of material life, execution of regular and special fruitive duties is good and the failure to execute such is evil. That which counteracts sinful reaction is also good for him.
For one on the platform of knowledge in the pure mode of goodness and for one on the platform of devotion, the proper actions are, respectively, cultivation of knowledge and practice of devotional service consisting of hearing, chanting and so forth. For both, everything detrimental to their proper actions is bad. But for persons who are not candidates for transcendental advancement or who are not perfected souls, namely those who are completely inimical to spiritual life and are devoted exclusively to fruitive work for fulfillment of lusty desires, there are numerous considerations of purity and impurity and auspiciousness and inauspiciousness. These are to be made in terms of one's body, the place of activity, the time, the objects utilized, the performer, the mantras chanted and the particular activity.
In actuality, virtue and fault are not absolute but are relative to one's particular platform of advancement. Remaining fixed in the type of discrimination suitable to one's level of advancement is good, and anything else is bad. This is the basic understanding of virtue and fault. Even among objects belonging to the same category, there are different considerations of their purity or impurity in relation to performance of religious duties, worldly transactions, and the maintenance of one's life. These distinctions are described in various scriptures.
The doctrine of varṇāśrama codifies precepts of bodily purity and impurity. With respect to place, purity and impurity are distinguished by such facts as the presence of black deer. In connection with time, there are distinctions of purity and impurity either in terms of the time itself or in terms of its specific relation with various objects. In connection with physical substances, distinctions of purity and impurity are made in terms of sanctification of objects and words and by such activities as bathing, giving charity, performing austere penances and remembering the Supreme Lord. There are also distinctions of the purity and impurity of the performers of actions. When one's knowledge of mantras is received from the lips of the bona fide spiritual master, one's mantra is considered pure, and one's work is purified by offering it unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If the six factors of place, time and so forth are purified, then there is dharma, or virtue, but otherwise there is adharma, or fault.
Ultimately, there is no substantial basis in distinctions of virtue and fault, because they transform according to place, time, beneficiary and so on. In regard to the execution of prescribed duties for sense gratification, the actual intent of all the scriptures is the subduing of materialistic propensities; such is the actual principle of religion that destroys sorrow, confusion and fear and bestows all good fortune. Work performed for sense gratification is not actually beneficial. The descriptions of such fruitive benefits offered in various phala-śrutis are actually meant to help one gradually cultivate a taste for the highest benefit. But persons of inferior intelligence take the flowery benedictory verses of the scriptures to be the actual purport of the Vedas; this opinion, however, is never held by those in factual knowledge of the truth of the Vedas. Persons whose minds are agitated by the flowery words of the Vedas have no attraction for hearing topics about Lord Hari. It should be understood that there is no inner purport to the Vedas apart from the original Personality of Godhead. The Vedas focus exclusively upon the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. Because this material world is simply the illusory energy of the Supreme Lord, it is by refuting material existence that one gains disassociation from matter.
11.21.1
(1) The Supreme Lord said: 'They who give up on these means of achieving Me, consisting of the devotion, the knowledge and the work to be done, are by the insignificance of the flickering lusts they cultivate with the senses, confronted with the finality of a material existence.
11.21.2
(2) The steadiness each one has in his own position is declared to be the actual virtue and the opposite [of being unsteady] is indeed the vice; this is the final conclusion about the two [see also B.G. 2: 16].
11.21.3
dravyasya vicikitsārthaḿ
dharmārthaḿ vyavahārārthaḿ
yātrārtham iti cānagha
(3) What would be pure or impure concerning the religion, what would be vice or virtue in normal affairs and what would be favorable or unfavorable for one's physical survival are matters one must evaluate from the same category of elements, o sinless one [what is good for the body e.g. is not necessarily good for the religion].
11.21.4
darśito 'yaḿ mayācāro
(4) This approach [of distinguishing between good and bad] I put forward for the sake of those who suffer the burden of religious principles.
Ordinary religious principles, prescribing innumerable rules, regulations and prohibitions, are undoubtedly a great burden for those bereft of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.11) it is stated, bhūrīṇi bhūri-karmāṇi śrotavyāni vibhāgaśaḥ: there are countless religious scriptures in the world prescribing countless religious duties. The authorized scriptures are those spoken by the Lord Himself or His representatives, as stated in this verse. In the last chapter of Bhagavad-gītā (18.66) Lord Kṛṣṇa states, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaḿ śaraṇaḿ vraja: [Bg. 18.66] one should give up the troublesome burden of mundane piety and directly take to the loving service of the Lord, in which everything is simplified. Lord Kṛṣṇa also states in Bhagavad-gītā (9.2), su-sukham kartum avyayam: the bhakti-yoga process, which depends completely upon the mercy of the Lord, is very joyful and easily performed. Similarly, Locana dāsa Ṭhākura sings,
rather than bearing the burden of artificial austerity, one can directly take to the Lord's service, cleansing one's heart and immediately experiencing transcendental bliss. Those who have taken strictly the spiritual principles to follow four basic principles: no illicit sex, no eating of meat, fish or eggs, no intoxication and no gambling. They rise early in the morning, chant Hare Kṛṣṇa and spend the day happily engaged in the Lord's service. Those who follow the ritualistic karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas, however, are burdened with innumerable regulations, rituals and ceremonies, which must be personally performed by the worshipers or performed on their behalf by qualified brāhmaṇas. At any moment there is danger of discrepancy resulting in the total loss of their accumulated piety. Similarly, those on the philosophical path must painstakingly define, refine and adjust philosophical categories, a process that generally ends in confusion and hopelessness. The practitioners of mystic yoga undergo grueling penances, subjecting themselves to severe heat and cold, near starvation and so on. All such materialistic persons have personal desires to fulfill, whereas the devotees of the Lord, who desire the Lord's pleasure, simply depend upon the Lord's mercy and go back home, back to Godhead. In the previous verse the Lord mentioned that in the material world there are endless distinctions and value judgements to be made in the course of one's life. A devotee, however, sees Kṛṣṇa within everything and everything within Kṛṣṇa, remaining humble, simple and blissful in the Lord's service. He does not perform elaborate religious ceremonies, nor does he become antisocial or immoral. The devotee simply chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and easily achieves the highest perfection of life. Ordinary persons endeavor for bodily maintenance, but a devotee is automatically maintained by the Lord's mercy. A devotee's ordinary dealings and religious activities are also all dedicated to the Personality of Godhead; thus there is nothing but Kṛṣṇa in a devotee's life. Kṛṣṇa gives all protection and maintenance, and the devotee gives everything to Kṛṣṇa. This natural liberated situation is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. It is the ultimate absolute good, as explained by the Lord throughout this canto.
11.21.5
bhūmy-ambv-agny-anilākāśā
ā-brahma-sthāvarādīnāḿ
(5) Earth, water, fire, air and ether are the five basic elements that, from Lord Brahmâ down to the nonmoving creatures, constitute the bodies of the living beings who are all connected in the Supreme Soul.
11.21.6
viṣamāṇi sameṣv api
dhātuṣūddhava kalpyanta
(6) Although they consist of the same elements and in that sense are equal, assign the Vedas different names and forms to them in service of their self-interest [see varnâs'rama].
11.21.7
(7) What would be the right and wrong considerations concerning the time, place, the things and so on, is established by Me with the purpose of restricting materially motivated activities.
11.21.8
abrahmaṇyo 'sucir bhavet
kīkaṭāsaḿskṛteriṇam
(8) Among all places are those places spoiled where there is no respect for the brahminical and the spotted antelopes are missing. And even when there are spotted antelopes [left, viz. not all being killed] is a place that is without saintly, cultured men, an uncivilized place where the practices are unclean and the earth is barren [see mleccha and *].
11.21.9
karmaṇyo guṇavān kālo
(9) That time is correct and suitable which either by its own nature [viz. not manipulated against nature] or understood according to the person [the Lord, but also according the season, the money - the lakshmî -, the availability of something] is suitable for executing one's prescribed duty. Wrong and not suitable is the time which impedes someone in the performance of his duty, the time that is not fit for doing work [a lust motivated, arbitrary notion of time, see 11.20: 26, kâla and kâlakûtha **].
Having discussed pure and impure places, the Lord now discusses different qualities of time. Certain times, such as the brāhma-muhūrta, the last few hours before sunrise, are always auspicious for spiritual advancement. Other times, not auspicious in themselves, become so by achievement of material prosperity that facilitates one's mission in life.
Political, social or economic disturbances that obstruct the execution of one's religious duties are considered inauspicious times. Similarly, a woman is considered contaminated just after childbirth or during her menstrual period. She cannot perform ordinary religious activities at such times, which are therefore inauspicious and impure. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura explains that the most auspicious of all times is the moment one achieves the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. If one neglects the loving service of the Lord, being carried away by sense gratification, he is certainly living in most inauspicious times. Therefore that moment in which one achieves the association of the Supreme Lord or the Lord's pure devotee is the most auspicious time, whereas the moment of losing such association is most inauspicious. In other words, the perfection of life is simply Kṛṣṇa consciousness, by which one transcends the dualities of time and space caused by the three modes of material nature.
11.21.10
saḿskāreṇātha kālena
mahatvālpatayātha vā
(10) The pure or impure of a thing [or of a substance] is determined with the help of another thing, in respect of what one says about it, by means of a ritual performance, by the reference of time or according the relative magnitude [see ***].
11.21.11
deśāvasthānusārataḥ
(11) Depending one's power or impotence, intelligence and wealth, condition and place, imposes it [viz. the quality of a thing] accordingly upon a person a sinful [or pious] reaction.
11.21.12
pārthivānāḿ yutāyutaiḥ
(12) By a combination of time, air, fire, earth and water or by each of them separately [are matters purified like] grains, things made of wood, clay and bone, thread, skins, liquids and things won from fire.
The word kāla, or "time," is mentioned here, since all purificatory processes take place within time.
11.21.13
tac chaucaḿ tāvad iṣyate
(13) That is considered purifying which by touching the impure removes a bad smell or dirt and so restores the original nature of that object.
Furniture, kitchen utensils, clothing and other objects are purified by application of abrasion, alkali, acid, water and so on. One thereby removes the bad fragrance or impure coating of such objects, restoring them to their original clean appearance.
11.21.14
(14) By bathing, charity and austerity, by virtue of his age, his heroism, ritual purification and his prescribed duties a twice-born man [being the doer] should, in the remembrance of Me, perform according to the pure, the cleanliness of the [original] self.
11.21.15
dharmaḥ sampadyate ṣaḍbhir
adharmas tu viparyayaḥ
(15) The purification derived from a mantra is a consequence of the correct knowledge about it and the purification by a certain act is the consequence of one's dedication to Me. Religiosity is achieved by [the purity of] the six factors [as mentioned: the place, the time, the substance, the mantras, the doer and the devotional act], whereas the irreligious is there as a consequence of the contrary.
11.21.16
kvacid guṇo 'pi doṣaḥ syād
guṇa-doṣārtha-niyamas
(16) Sometimes a virtue turns into a vice though and a vice turns by the power of vedic instruction into a virtue. Respecting the regulative principles one is thus faced with the fact that the distinction [between that what is proper and improper] factually is effaced by them [4*].
11.21.17
samāna-karmācaraṇaḿ
autpattiko guṇaḥ sańgo
(17) The same karma because of which someone fell down is not the cause of another falldown. Someone who fell [in love...] doesn't fall further; for such a one the natural attachment changes into a virtue.
11.21.18
yato yato nivarteta
(18) Whatever one desists from one is freed from - this is for human beings the foundation of religious life that takes away the suffering, fear and delusion.
"Renunciation is the basic principle sustaining the lives of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's devotees. Seeing this renunciation, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is extremely satisfied."
11.21.19
viṣayeṣu guṇādhyāsāt
(19) Presuming the objects that gratify the senses to be good rises from that assumption the attachment of a person, from that attachment originates the lust and because of lust there is quarrel among people.
11.21.20
kaler durviṣahaḥ krodhas
tamas tam anuvartate
(20) From quarreling there is the anger difficult to handle and the consequent ignorance; thus is someone's consciousness quickly overtaken by darkness.
11.21.21
tato 'sya svārtha-vibhraḿśo
(21) O saintly one, a living being bereft that way [of clear understanding] becomes empty-headed so that, consequently fallen away from his goals in life, he similar to dull matter is as good as dead [compare B.G. 2: 62-63].
11.21.22
viṣayābhiniveśena
nātmānaḿ veda nāparam
(22) Overly absorbed in the sensual he, vainly living the lifestyle of a tree, fails in knowing himself and knowing the other so that his breathing is nothing but pumping air.
11.21.23
śreyo-vivakṣayā proktaḿ
(23) The awards promised in the scriptures are for man not the highest good; they are merely enticements to create a taste for the ultimate good, similar to what one says to make someone take a medicine.
11.21.24
ātmano 'nartha-hetuṣu
(24) Simply by their birth alone strive mortals against the interest of their souls, because their minds are entangled in the care for the objects of their desire, their vital functions and their loved ones.
11.21.25
natān aviduṣaḥ svārthaḿ
bhrāmyato vṛjinādhvani
tāḿs tamo viśato budhaḥ
(25) Submissive [religiously] wander they unaware in regard of their real self-interest the path of disaster. Why would the intelligent [the vedic authority] lead those who enter the darkness further into sense engagement [see also 5.5: 17]?
11.21.26
evaḿ vyavasitaḿ kecid
avijñāya kubuddhayaḥ
(26) Some people, they who this way with a perverted intelligence do not understand the actual conclusion, speak in flowery statements of the material awards about which he who really knows the Vedas doesn't speak [see also B.G. 2: 42-44].
11.21.27
(27) The lusty, miserly and greedy ones take the flowers for the ultimate truth; bewildered by the fire do they, suffocating by the smoke, not know their position [of being an individual soul instead of being a body].
11.21.28
(28) They, armed with their expressions, My dear, do not know Me who is seated within the heart and from whom this universe has risen that is also Me - they, self-indulgent, are like people staring in fog.
11.21.29-30
parokṣaḿ viṣayātmakāḥ
(29-30) They without understanding My confidential conclusion [see also 10.87 and B.G. 9] are, being absorbed in the sensual, attached to the violence that may be [an itegral part of nature], but certainly never is encouraged for the sacrifices. In reality taking pleasure in being violent with the animals that in the desire for their own happiness were slaughtered, they are in their ritual worship of the gods, the forefathers and the leading ghosts, mischievous people.
11.21.31
(31) That unholy world [they uphold] can be compared to a dream that, sounding nice, is about mundane achievements with which they, imagined in their hearts like they were businessmen, have forsaken the actual purpose [of realizing the soul].
11.21.32
(32) Established in the mode of passion, goodness or ignorance they worship the gods and others headed by Indra who likewise delight in passion, goodness and ignorance. But I am thus not worshiped the proper way [see also B.G. 9: 23 and 10: 24 & 25].
11.21.33-34
iṣṭveha devatā yajñair
tasyānta iha bhūyāsma
(33-34) 'When we here with our sacrifices to the gods are full of worship, we will enjoy the pleasures of heaven and next on earth all live in a barn of a house and be high-born.' With their minds thus bewildered by the flowery words [of the Vedas] they despite of these words, as proud and most greedy men, are not attracted to My topics.
Real pleasure is found in the transcendental form of the Lord, who is the supreme Cupid, engaging in pastimes of love in the spiritual world. Neglecting the eternal bliss of the Lord's pastimes, the foolish worshipers of the demigods dream of becoming like the Lord, but they achieve exactly the opposite result. In other words, they continue perpetually in the cycle of birth and death.
11.21.35
vedā brahmātma-viṣayās
(35) The trikânda divided Vedas have the spiritual understanding of the true self, the soul, as their subject matter but also the vedic seers who more esoterically privately express themselves are dear to Me [the 'other gurus'].
11.21.36
(36) The transcendental sound [the s'abda-brahman] manifesting itself in the prâna, the senses and the mind [of the self-realized, enlightened person] is something most difficult to understand, it is unlimited and is as unfathomably deep as the ocean.
11.21.37
mayopabṛḿhitaḿ bhūmnā
brahmaṇānanta-śaktinā
viseṣūrṇeva lakṣyate
(37) The groundless, changeless Absolute of endless potencies that I promote [as My nature, see Omkâra], is represented within the living beings in the form of soundvibrations, the way a lotus stalk is represented by a single strand of fiber [see also 11.18: 32 and 6.13: 15].
11.21.38-40
yathorṇanābhir hṛdayād
ākāśād ghoṣavān prāṇo
svaroṣmāntastha-bhūṣitām
(38-40) Just as a spider from the heart weaves its web through its opening, is the breath of God [the prâna] from the ether manifesting the soundvibration through the mind in the form of the different phonemes. Full of nectar comprising all the shapes that branch out in thousands of directions, has the Master, decorated with consonants, vowels, sibilants and semivowels, expanded from the syllable om. By the elaborated diversity of expressions and metrical arrangements that each have four more syllables, He creates and Himself withdraws again the great unlimited expanse [of the vedic manifestation of sound, see also B.G. 15: 15].
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has given an elaborate technical explanation of these three verses, the understanding of which requires extensive linguistic knowledge of the Sanskrit language. The essential point is that transcendental knowledge is expressed through Vedic sound vibration, which is itself a manifestation of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. Vedic sound emanates from the Supreme Lord and is vibrated to glorify and understand Him. The conclusion of all Vedic sound vibration is found in Bhagavad-gītā, wherein the Lord states, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: [Bg. 15.15] all Vedic knowledge is simply meant to teach us to know and love God. One who always thinks of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who becomes the Lord's devotee and who bows down to and worships the Lord with faith and devotion, chanting His holy name, has certainly achieved a perfect understanding of all that is indicated by the word veda ("knowledge").
11.21.41
triṣṭub jagaty aticchando
hy atyaṣṭy-atijagad-virāṭ
(41) For instance the metres Gâyatrî, Ushnik and Anushthup; Brihatî and Pankti as also Trishthup, Jagatî, Aticchanda, and Atyashthi, Atijagatî and Ativirâth [have each in this order four more syllables].
The Gāyatrī meter has twenty-four syllables, the Uṣṇik twenty-eight, the Anuṣṭup thirty-two, and so on, each meter having four more syllables than the previous one. Vedic sound is called bṛhatī, or most expansive, and thus it is not possible for ordinary living entities to understand all the technical details in this matter.
11.21.42
(42) What they [karma-kânda] enjoin [to be done], what they [upâsana-kânda] indicate [as being the object of devotion], what aspects they describe or what alternatives they [jñâna-kânda] thus literarily offer [as philosophy], the heart of this matter is in this world not known by anyone else but Me [compare 11.20, B.G. 4: 5, 7: 26, 10: 41].
11.21.43
vikalpyāpohyate tv aham
(43) I am the object of worship, the concern of the enjoined action and the alternative that is offered and explained away [5*]. The transcendental sound vibration of the Vedas establishes Me as being their meaning and elaborately describes the material duality as simply being the illusory one has to emasculate to ultimately become happy.'
Within the Vedic literature there are various injunctions stating that at a particular stage of life one should give up fruitive rituals and take to the path of knowledge. Similarly, other injunctions declare that a self-realized soul should give up the path of speculative knowledge and take directly to the shelter of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. But nowhere is there an injunction recommending that one give up the loving service of the Lord, because that is the eternal constitutional position of every living entity. Different philosophical theses are presented and rejected in the Vedas, since one who is progressing must give up each previous stage in the advancement of knowledge. For example, one who is addicted to sex enjoyment is taught to accept religious marriage and enjoy sex pleasure with his wife. Such ritualistic knowledge is to be given up when one attains the stage of detachment, whereupon one is recommended to take the renounced order of life. In that stage of life one is forbidden to see or speak with women. When, however, one reaches the perfection of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, wherein the Lord is manifest everywhere, one may engage all living entities, including women, in the loving service of the Lord without danger of spiritual falldown. Thus different injunctions based on progressive stages of spiritual vision are presented and refuted in Vedic literature. Since all such injunctions and processes are ultimately meant for the achievement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the loving service of the Lord, they are not different from Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. The conditioned soul, therefore, should not prematurely stop his progressive march back home, back to Godhead, by foolishly mistaking an intermediate or preliminary stage of advancement as the actual goal of life. One must understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, is the source, maintenance and resting place of everything, and that every living entity is the Lord's eternal servant. In this way one should continue on the Vedic path all the way back home, back to Godhead, for eternal life of bliss and knowledge.
Thus end of the Eleventh Canto, Twenty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Lord Kṛṣṇa's Explanation of the Vedic Path."
(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swamyjis, Philosophers, Scholars and Knowledge Seekers for the collection)
No comments:
Post a Comment