Our worship reflects our mentality – SB 1.2.23-27 | Bhagavatam Study | Bhakti Shastri

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Bhagavatam 1, 2, 23 So after completing the description of the worship of the Supraheem through bhakti, now the Bhagavatam moves on to discuss other forms of worship So other forms of worship is that, that means yes, if bhakti is so potent but then unto whom should bhakti be done? In the previous section primarily the comparisons of bhakti to other processes, to jnana, to varnashram, to iragyam to all those processes, but now the Bhagavatam will focus on bhakti is to be performed to whom? In the previous text it was said Vasudeve Bhagwati, so why to Vasudeva alone, why not to others? That theme will be analysed in the subsequent verses, in the ensuing verses here Sattvam rajas tamitir prakritir gunas tair, sattvaraja tamadhi, these are the gunas of prakriti Yuktah parah purusha ek yas chidhapte, so there is a parah purusha, there is one supreme person who is transcendental to this world and this world which is made of the three modes of matter which is comprised of three modes, that parah purusha dhatte he manifests Sthithyadaye hari virinchi hare tisangya, so Sthithyadaye, Sthithyadaye means for the process of creation, maintenance and destruction Hari virinchi hare tisangya, that same lord that manifests as Hari, as Vishnu, for Sthithi Then there is virinchi, Brahma for creation, Sthithi, which is not mentioned, Adayas, Sthithyadaya means it includes all of them over here and Hareti, Hara is, Hari is Vishnu, Hara is Shiva, Harihara is the name often used to refer to a combined manifestation of Shiva and Vishnu So Hari virinchi hare tisangya, they are known, Shreyamsitatrakhalu sattvatano dhunamsu So that’s for the maintenance of this world which comprises three modes of material nature The parah purusha manifests in three forms, as Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva And among these three, Shreyamsi, for attaining the ultimate gain, Tatrakhalu sattvatano dhunamsu, Tatrakhalu, certainly among these, sattvatano dhunamsu People should worship sattvatano, the form which is manifested in goodness and that is referring to Vishnu So there are many important points in this verse Firstly that there is a sense of oneness among the devatas also, among the various This is not a simplistic polytheism where one is, there are different people who are, different cosmic deities are warring against each other No, it is clearly mentioned that parah purusha ek yas chidatte That one supreme person manifests in different forms So in the Shaitanjala Tamrita as well as in the Laghubhava Tamrita, these manifestations have been called as the guna avataras Sometimes if we focus excessively on the difference between the various manifestations, we may not realise that ultimately they are manifestations of the same one God Yes, there is difference among the manifestations also, but there is also a oneness So the oneness is pointed out in terms of their source They are all manifesting from that same one absolute truth That one absolute truth manifests in these forms Sithya de hari virinchi hare tisanya So that same lord manifests And now it’s interesting that sushti, sthiti, pralaya, these three are the activities which characterise the material existence So sushti, creation is in passion Sthiti, maintenance is in goodness And pralaya, destruction is in ignorance Now among these three, normally if you want to make a list of three janma adyas tyataha So janma adaya, the first one is mentioned And adaya it is said It should be understood, okay, remaining three Remaining are whatever they are included But here instead of the first, which we could say sushti Sushti adaya is not mentioned, it is sithya adaya So the idea is that this verse is focussing on the sattva manifestation as the most worshipable manifestation And correspondingly, maintenance is what is stressed And the duty of maintenance is going to be stressed So naturally, the activity of the duty of the maintenance is also being stressed over here So sithya adaya, hari vininci hare tisanya So the same deity manifests in different names And in different forms And among these, shreyam See, if one wants long-term good, there is shreyam and there is prayam Prayam is short-term good, shreyam is long-term good So sattva tanoor That form which is in goodness, that is what one should worship So the oneness is acknowledged in that source But the diversity is also acknowledged in terms of The fact that there is one particular object which is especially worshipable It is not that any and every object should be worshipped Rather, one particular object is to be worshipped And now again, through another analytical framework The relation between the various forms will be stressed over here parthivad dharunodhumas tasmad agnistrayi mayaha tamasasturajas tasmad sattvam yat brahma darshanam parthivad dharunodhumas So here it is stated parthivad Parthivad means from earth dharunodhumas That from the earth manifests Actually, from the earth manifests firewood Now parthivad is related with the prithvi So from earth, dharuna Jagannatha is called dharu-brahma The manifestation of brahma through wood So dharuna is wood Dhumas, so from the earth manifests fire Sorry, from firewood, from firewood manifests smoke And tasmad agnistrayi mayaha And then, from there manifests agni Trayi mayaha And with the agni, the agni is vital for performing The rituals which are mentioned in the Vedas Trayi can refer to the first three purushartha, dharma, artha, kama Which require agni primarily Or it can refer to the three Vedas evam trayi dharmamano prapanna Krishna talks about trayi dharma, the threefold path of dharma Which is talked about in three Vedas So, iksam yajurye vachyam So anyway, the fire is required for the performance of sacrifice So now fire ultimately manifests from the earth After going through the stages of firewood and smoke But it is fire that is the most auspicious When the agni is to be performed and the ahuti is to be carried to the devatas We cannot just offer them earth or firewood or smoke That same earth has to evolve through the stages of firewood and smoke To come to the level of fire And then through the fire, the ahuti, the offerings, the oblations Are conveyed to the higher beings, to the devatas and ultimately to the supreme lord devana paramo vishnu avamo agnir tad antara sarva devata As it is said that among the devatas, the topmost is Vishnu and the lowest is agni Lowest doesn’t mean in terms of power, it means in terms of accessibility So agni is accessible to us And to the extent we stay connected with him To that extent we move onwards towards him and we attain him So just as among these various manifestations It is fire which needs to be offered It is fire which is considered sanctified And it is fire which is used in the process of yajna Similarly, there are the manifestations in other modes also So tamasas turajas tasmat sattvam yat brahma darshanam So similarly, there is tamoguna and there is ajoguna But our consciousness has to come to the level of sattvaguna And then sattvat sanjayate jnanam As the Bhagavad Gita says that in sattvaguna knowledge manifests Sattvam yat brahma darshanam So here it is said that similarly in the mode of goodness Brahma darshanam one starts realising the absolute truth So correspondingly the implication will be that Just as it is goodness, fire is what is required for participation in yajna Just as goodness is what is required for perceiving the absolute truth Similarly, it is a deity which is a goodness that should be worshipped So the Bhagavatam is continuing here The theme of which form is to be worshipped bhejire munayo thagre bhagvantam adhokshajam sattvam shuddham kshe maya kalpante yen taniha So bhejire munayo thagre So therefore bhejire I have rendered service the sages thagre in the past bhagvantam adhokshajam And to that lord who is adhokshaja, who is beyond us in this sattvam shuddham kshe maya One who exists in sattva is vishuddham Is transcendental, is completely pure Is having no contamination of any of the modes Even not the mode of goodness kshe maya So Shreyam Singh was mentioned a couple of verses ago And now kshe maya is mentioned kshe maya means for the purpose of well-being kalpante yen taniha kalpante, they deserve to follow taniha in this material world So it’s the point of the verses Therefore, the sages, the wise people have done this in the past So that is what one should also do kalpante yen taniha So those who follow them So in the past great sages have worshipped The manifestation who is transcendental Who is supreme bhagvantam adhokshajam And by worshipping one can Just as in the past sages have attained liberation Therefore, one should also practise now in their Footsteps, following their footsteps And one will attain liberation thereof One will attain perfection thereof So the reasoning is given in the previous verses And the conclusion is given here That just as fire is what is used for worship Similarly, it is sattva that is what leads to brahma darshanam And therefore, that supreme person who is beyond sattva But we cannot access that person who is beyond sattva right now So we still are at the material level of consciousness So we should worship that manifestation which is in sattva And that manifestation which is in sattva Bhagvantam adhokshajam The lord is transcendental When he manifests in sattva we will be able to worship him And gradually attain transcendence 26th text umukshavo ghor roopam hitvabhootapatinatha narayanakalashyanta bhajantiya anasu yavah umukshavo ghor roopam umukshavo, those who desire liberation ghor roopam the fearsome forms ghor roopam the forms which are quite fearsome umukshavo, those who seek liberation hitvabhootapatinatha hitva, they put aside bhootapatin bhootapatin means they are the lords of people bhuta can refer to ghostly beings bhuta can refer to living beings in general so bhootapatin means those who are those who have the those who are masters of some people hitva, giving up those forms narayanakalashyanta so narayana the one who is the ultimate destination of narayana kalashyanta so ghor roopam are contrasted with kalashyanta the forms of narayana yashanta, which are peaceful bhajantiya anasu yavah bhajantiya they worship who are anasu yavah those who are non-envious so the stress of this verse is that umukshavo ghor roopam those who are seeking umukshavo liberation, the verse starts with describing a quality and ends with describing a quality of the seekers umukshavo, those aspiring for liberation and anasu yavah, those who are non-envious we cannot actually seek liberation as long as we are envious of others in material existence because there can be envy only when there is desire for something that someone else has and desire for that thing that I should have it more than what they have so and as long as we have such desire that means we are not seriously striving for liberation if if I am envious of others who have better house than me better car than me better pay than me then my desires are caught in that competitive frenzy and my desires are not free from material existence from matter and material things now this does not mean that we have to renounce these things yes we need financial security we need we need home, we need some facilities and working to acquire them and possessing them itself is not the cause of bondage what causes bondage is the illusion that having them will make us happy or having them more than what others have will make us happy so possession is not the problem disposition is the problem the disposition towards the possession is the problem to the extent our disposition is that oh when I get this I will become happier when I get something of this which is better than what others have then I will become happy that that is what will cause the problem but if you don’t have the disposition of the illusion that having these things will make me happy then you will not become bound so going further so moksha those who are seeking liberation those who are non-envious so what do they do those who they do not worship the grass grass so what is grass it can refer to the form of Kali for example Kali she has a garland of skulls on her neck and she sometimes is depicted as piercing a trident in the hearts of the demons so such a form especially the green garland sometimes Kali is depicted in a very fierce way she is even standing on the body of Shiva such depictions can be very very alienating in fact when western historians came to India and they saw not western historians just western people when they came to India and they saw how the how there were temples of Kali and Kali has such a ghastly form they thought what kind of worship is this and actually when they saw Krishna and they saw Krishna playing a flute and Krishna stealing butter you know Kali and Krishna such a wild way this is the same tradition but such a wide diversity in the form that are being worshipped in this tradition why is this difference there what does it signify is it the same tradition or are they different traditions actually both are true it is the same tradition at one broad level at another level there are so many differences that you could say it’s a different tradition substantially one tradition is meant for people who are meant to worship in Tamoguna another tradition is meant for those who are meant to worship in Sephaguna and in this way the substantial difference between the two takes subjects to a much higher level of higher level for comprehension it’s not simplistic that you can put everything under one rubric of Hinduism Bhagavatam itself talks about how serious seekers they hitva bhoota patiniha so they give up the worship of the ghastly forms and Narayana kalashanta they start worshipping Narayana manifestations which is peaceful kalashanta goes on 27th text rajas tamah prakritayaha samashila bhajantivai pitr bhoota prajeshadi shriyaishwarya prajep sabaha so rajas tamah prakritayaha those who are those whose prakriti those whose modes those whose mentality is of rajas tamoguna samashila bhajantivai they will worship samashila they will worship the deities who are similarly disposed who correspond with their mentality pitr bhoota prajeshadi pitr bhoota prajeshadi so pitra is forefathers bhoota other living beings prajeshadi praja ishya praja is people population ishya is the controller adi shriyaishwarya prajep sabaha and the water shriya is wealth aishwarya is affluence power prajep sabaha prajep sabaha is they desire children ip sabaha desiring so bhagavatam acknowledges the reality that our worship will correspond with our consciousness and even if we understand that there are various levels of worship it is not possible for people to suddenly give up one level of worship and to take up another level such transitions have to be done gradually and for doing such transitions gradually what is required is the recognition that there is there are different people with different mentalities and they will have to evolve through those mentalities so those who are at a particular level of consciousness now we need to understand that there can be rajoguna which is dharmic and there can be rajoguna which is adharmic and of course the highest or the best thing is to just go beyond rajoguna to sattvaguna and even go beyond sattvaguna to siddhasattva but that sort of evolution of consciousness will take time and even if a person is in rajoguna moving from adharmic rajoguna to dharmic rajoguna is itself a progression so what do we mean we may wonder if rajoguna is filled with uncontrollable desires its filled with cravings then can rajoguna be dharmic yes dharma is also of various levels and kshatriyas if we see even if we consider the Mahabharata the Ramayana the kshatriyas their goal is swarga they are interested in increasing opulence they spend in increasing their increasing their opulence and we see that they kings from various places come to some kingdom where a princess is to be offered in swayamvar so now they are always active to show that they are interested in worldly things whether in this world or in the next world then still why does the why does the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Bhagavatam talk about them and often talk about them not in a totally negative nor in judgemental sense because this is they are doing all this dharmically they have respect for romanical culture they perform yajna they they act more or less according to the kshatriya codes of conduct and in this way although they have rajoguna they cannot give up rajoguna but even while having rajoguna that rajoguna can be channelled through can be channelled according to dharma so raj so dharmic rajoguna is definitely better than non-dharmic rajoma and so we cannot condemn all rajoguna as bad of course from the transcendental point of view rajoguna is undesirable but even in rajoguna there can be there is a huge difference between that which is dharmic and that which is adharmic the adharmic rajoguna will lead to chaos and dharmic rajoguna will at least maintain some level of order in society because people despite having their desires are restrained to some extent in their desires by dharma so the bhakti world view is not just about bhakti bhakti is the culmination but the vedic world view is inclusive and includes accommodates and facilitates the gradual elevation of those people who are not yet ready to pursue transcendence and it does so by accommodating them within the broad framework of the vedic world view so here it is said that they will worship those who are of a similar disposition similar mentality certainly they will worship accordingly so those who are rajoguna when they hear about say how Indra is residing in opulence and is enjoying prosperity in heavens they feel attracted because these are their desires so so those who are the lords of praja those who are rajasik they want followers, they want adulation they need to be honoured by others but one can seek honour by doing honourable things which as they say which command respect or one can become a dictator who people detest but externally show respect because of fear that choice we all have how we want to be how we want to relate with others dharma when there is a culture of dharma then people act honourably and through such honourable actions they attract people people’s respect so here they desire they desire opulence, they desire wealth, they desire beauty they desire children, children of course means that they also desire sexual pleasure so all this they desire because they want to move onwards in their journey of towards material prosperity and the vedic culture accommodates that so samashila bhajanti samashila, those who are of a similar disposition those who are rajasik they will worship they will adopt those forms of worship which correspond with their mentality which facilitate their accomplishment of rajasik goals and thus they will be accommodated in the house of dharma and gradually they will become elevated, this will take time krishna talks about bhagavad gita how this is a very gradual process he talks about 9.20 and 21 how tri vidyamam somapaputapapa yajnerishtva svargatim prarthayante te punyam asadya suryendra lokam asnanti devyan divideva bhogante tam bhuktva svargalokam vishalam shirne punyam arthilokam vishanti evam triyarmonu prapannam vataagatam kama kama labhante so he says that they worship and they svargatim prarthayante they want swarga heavenly pleasures asnanti devyan divideva bhogan and they actually get and enjoy divideva bhogan celestial delights which are enjoyed by those who are in heaven but then shirne punyam arthilokam vishanti when their punya gets over they fall back to the earth so here this is a very inclusive statement where the bhagavatam is talking not only about the worship of the devatas here it is saying pitrabhuta prajesha prajesha is the word which the bhagavatam is using for the devatas pitra is the ancestors and bhuta is generic word to use for other living beings so we see in this world that people kouto to the influential so that they can get something done there are politicians who have their who have their flatterers, sycophants the chamchas as they say who are ready to do whatever these politicians tell so that the politicians will give them what they want so we could see the bhagavatam’s vision as explaining the religious worldview and also extending beyond the religious worldview so there where there is worship of the devatas and there is worship of others who are not devatas exactly but who can offer things similar to what the devatas can offer, for example in India people sometimes worship cricketers, some famous cricketer may be called as god what is the idea that people are interested in sense gratification and if the devatas can offer sense gratification they will worship the devatas if a cricketer can offer sense gratification then they will consider the cricketer as if he is god and this way when we understand this principle when we understand this principle that people worship according to their mentality then what people worship reflects not just what the teachings of their scripture are, it reflects what the consciousness of those people is so when people are rajasic they will find rajasic or tamasic they will find forms of worship which are compatible now of course if somebody is worshipping the devata, if somebody is worshipping a cricketer there is no benefit in that if somebody is worshipping the devata at least there is some adherence to scripture at some generic level and there will be some elevation by that, but whilst people who are mokshava who are anasuya yavaas as mentioned in the previous text they do not worship such forms, they worship the sattva form, the purusha purusha the param purusha is manifesting the sattva form as Vishnu, we continue this discussion in future talks