Bhagavatam-daily 126 – 11.08.42 – We become our protectors by accepting Krishna’s protection

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.8.42 Pingala is now speaking the last verse of her song which is filled with astonishing realizations astonishingly deep realizations so atma eva a soul is atmano gopta certainly here so the soul is the protector of the soul gopta is a protector so the soul can protect the soul soul can deliver the soul when nirvidhyet yada akhilat nirvidhyet when one is detached yada akhilat from all material things everything in material existence apramatta idam pashet apramatta means without being infatuated intoxicated idam pashet one sees this world how does one see grastam kalahina jagat grastam one sees it is seized caught kalahina by time a hina serpent by the serpent of time this universe and everything in it is caught so one can deliver oneself when one is able to see that the whole universe is caught by the serpent of time and that vision brings detachment so here the most striking thing is atma eva atmano gopta that the soul is the protector of the soul now how is it possible that we can protect ourselves don’t we need krishna to protect us yes and in fact that is what i said in the previous verse ko anyata tu madheshvara who apart from the lord can deliver us and in that verse he’s talking about how grastam kalahina so that we are all caught by time so in that verse he had said actually that we are trapped in the well of material existence and we are in that dark well further we are blinded by the sense objects and captured by the serpent of time now in this verse the same one aspect of the metaphor remains the same that there is a serpent of time talked about but here the serpent of time instead of catching the soul she is saying the serpent of time has caught the world the whole material existence what is the difference the difference is that this we are also in the world we means our bodies are in the world and naturally when we are caught in the world we will be we are going to die so the two metaphors are related but when we see that the whole world is under the clutches of the serpent of time is sees that means it’s all temporary it’s all going to be destroyed you know seeking security seeking position seeking satisfaction seeking happiness here it is all a lost cause there is no need for me to delude myself by searching for something like this let me focus instead on the eternal spiritual truth on my own spiritual identity and on my relationship with the lord when we understand this and based on this understanding when we seek the shelter of the lord that is the time when we can when we can become our own protectors when we become detached so now is the lord our or are we our own protectors actually we shouldn’t think of things in terms of one or zero our rescue is certainly primarily dependent on the lord but along with that our own role our own responsibility in it is not unimportant it is also quite seriously important in terms of the we have to accept the lord’s mercy when the lord gives the opportunity to practice devotional service which is his mercy we have to accept it so otherwise if it is all dependent only on the lord’s mercy then we can say the lord is to be blamed because we are not delivered because he has not given his mercy to us no he gives the mercy but it is up to us to take the mercy so it is also important for us to take responsibility for our own spiritual protection and our spiritual growth and not just pass the buck onto the lord saying that it is your up to the lord to rescue me without him i can’t do anything yes without him we can’t be rescued but even with him we can’t be rescued if we don’t want to be rescued so it is our responsibility which we cannot neglect now when we talk about our responsibility when do we actually become responsible we may say material life just like a child maybe building a sand castle on the on the coast of ocean and then the child may take the sand castle very seriously but when the high tide comes the child the castle is going to be destroyed and the child takes it seriously but the child grows up in the understand that this sand castle i shouldn’t be taking it so seriously so similarly when we grow up spiritually then we understand that i shouldn’t take the material world so seriously that in this material world ups and downs are inevitably going to happen and ultimately everything is going to be destroyed so i need to i need to become sober i need to look for something more seriously worth really worthwhile in life something which is beyond this material world and that ultimately is the lord so when we um so we become our protectors when it is said over here that does not mean that we outgrow the need for the lord it simply means that we recognize that there is more to that we have to seek something beyond this world and when we start seriously seeking something beyond this world then we reciprocate with the lord’s attempts to help us to rescue us and that way we become freed from material existence we so here the soul becoming the protector of the soul means that the soul accepting the protection of the lord it is the lord who is the protector but it is we have to accept the protection and in the sense of accepting that protection we become our protectors just like when a patient is sick then the doctor is the curer doctor is the healer but along with that the patient also has to take the medicines regularly and the patient has to avoid taking the substances which will worsen the disease so without that it is not possible for the patient to be cured so when the patient at least recognizes okay this is the cause of the disease and this is the cure and i need to take it then we can then the patient becomes one’s own protector and protects the treatment that the doctor is giving by which the patient becomes cured so like that when we develop detachment then we protect we become our own protectors in the sense that we protect the mercy that the lord is giving us we protect the opportunity for devotion that the lord is giving us and by that by thus protecting his mercy by protecting the mercy that he has given us by carefully responsibly practicing devotional service we move onwards in our journey towards krishna and ultimately we attain the safety of the spiritual world so to the when we to the extent we realize that oh everything in this world no matter how secure it seems is temporary it is destructible none of it is going to offer me shelter then by that we become apramatta we become de-intoxicated and by that that is a state of detachment this kind of stage that pampingala has got and the kind of state that we all can get and then to the extent when we are detached like this then we are not allured by the world and we don’t let the temptations of the world make us loosen our hold on the lord we don’t give up our devotional service we don’t slacken our devotional or abandon our devotional service because we think oh in material life i can get better enjoyment but we stay firm in our.