Bhagavatam-daily 135 – 11.09.10 – Minimize the noise of conflict and gossip

Thank you Srimad Bhagavatam 11th Canto chapter 9 verse 10 of the Brahmana he is teaching what he has learned from the Kumari when recite when many people recite together the result is and there is Varta Varta is discussion mundane talks gossip waste of time when two people are together therefore certainly one should live one should live alone just as Kumari the Kumari lives just as the Kumari did with her bracelet just as the Kumari kept her bracelet only one bracelet in her hand and in that way there was no noise so here the Brahmana is saying that we can avoid noises by being alone and he interestingly talks about two different kinds of noises one is Kalaha and one is Varta so two people when they are together they can have discussion or they can have quarrel both involve talks it can be now of course it can be between two people or more than two people also but talks are of broadly because you have two kinds there are discussions and there are quarrels and these especially if they are called discussions are mundane then both of them are undesirable so here we see that lot of people are together at one place people need their own space and when not just space in terms of physical space but also in terms of emotional space just to be themselves and to act to just have to basically be themselves not in a bad sense but every person is individual and every person needs one’s own space and we see that sometimes when there are so many quarrels among people nowadays we may think that in the past when people were living in joint families wouldn’t they have quarrels how many quarrels there might be if people are living in joint families but actually when there is a culture of respect when people are cultured then they are sensitive they are respectful and especially in rural places it’s not that people used to live in cramped quarters everybody had their space so when the house is large enough there is physical space and when people are broad minded and accommodating then there is emotional space so when people when people are not broad minded they are narrow minded this is the only way things have to be done and it’s my way or the highway then people feel emotionally cramped so when there is a culture of sensitivity of respect of cordiality then the people get their emotional space and then the same bond that may seem sometimes encroaching they are actually heartening they help us get a sense of belonging to such a wonderful such a large and loving group but especially now if we look at the overall mood of the Gita over here of the Brahmanas Gita Bhikshu Gita that is called the focus is on Jnana in this section although Bhakti will be talked about and he has mentioned also earlier about Vishnu but the overall tenor of this is this section is not so much on just practicing Bhakti but it is on taking responsibility oneself for learning and thereby advancing spiritual realization so through this section the Bhagavatam is attracting Jnani Jnani type people to the path of Bhakti that means that if we look at the overall message of the Bhagavatam it’s clear that it’s a Bhakti message that is the whole tenth canto which is the heart of the Bhagavatam that is just past times of Krishna of course the very just is not to minimize just is to indicate that there is there are occasional philosophical instructions but there is no there is probably to be relished so it’s clearly the Bhagavatam and the tenth canto is practically between one fourth to one third of the book so it’s definitely the heart of the Bhagavatam biggest part of the Bhagavatam and the heart of the Bhagavatam Bhagavatam is a Bhakti book at the same time the Bhagavatam in its different sections speaks to different people and in this particular section in the Brahman Gita section it is speaking to those people who want to learn by observing so overall people who are of a Jnani bent of mind now it’s not that Jnanis cannot become devotees and it’s not that when Jnanis become devotees they have to give up their entire intellectual nature their intellectual nature has to be harmonized with and subordinated to the devotional purpose but their intellectual nature will stay so the Bhagavatam in this section often gives lessons which will be attractive for the Jnanis so accordingly it states over here that especially people who are Jnanis because they are intellectuals and they think deeply and after thinking deeply they arrive at their eye conceptions, they come up to certain positions so often they hold their opinions very strongly you know just as people in passion hold on to their possessions physical possessions so people in goodness often hold on to their intellectual positions that is their opinions intellectual positions or you could say intellectual positions so they hold on to their opinions quite strongly and because of this when many intellectuals live too closely to each other then there are quarrels so of course quarrels can happen between any kind of people also but in general intellectuals need their intellectual space otherwise there can be bitter quarrels so from the point of view of those who are in the Jnana Marg this lesson is valid and even among devotees, especially devotees who are intellectually oriented they may want to teach in different ways, they may want to write in different ways, they may want to even while presenting the same philosophy, emphasize one particular thing and present things in a particular way which is fine as long as it is conveying the message of Guru Sadhu Shastra it is fine and then different devotees can teach in different ways and they will attract different classes of people and that way more and more people and diverse groups of people will be attracted to Krishna through diverse kinds of teachers so we don’t need to have a homogeneity a complete homogeneity in terms of losing individuality among devotees what devotees share is a common purpose and in the devotee community to the extent the common purpose is emphasized then the Kalaha will be avoided but to the extent specific processes are emphasized if the purpose is to serve Krishna and this is the only way to serve Krishna if the specific processes are emphasized, preaching has to be done in this way only and no other way then the purpose is the common purpose is that we attract people to Krishna now different devotees depending on their inclination may decide that okay I would like to present things this way, I would like to do this way and then this will attract people to Krishna so when the process when the purpose is emphasized then there is harmony because as devotees we share a common purpose but when the process is unduly emphasized then there is conflict now in the case of Jnanis they often their conclusions are different or often basically they all come to hold different kinds of opinions about different things and in their case they don’t usually have a common purpose, we could say that they have a common purpose of pursuing transcendence but the transcendence is not a sheltering unifying reality for them because all of them, because different Jnanis can have different conceptions of what the transcendent reality is so because they don’t have a common purpose and although they may say that they are all following the same process of Jnana, 90-90 but even in that process of analysis they can analyze in different ways, different kinds of negations that they can do, so basically the Jnanis don’t have a common center either in the process or in the purpose and that’s why there is Vasanaam Bahu there is Kalaha Vase Bahu Naam Kalaha when there are many people living together then there is conflict because of that and even if there is not conflict, often when people are materialistic there is gossip gossip is a big big industry practically and there are what is called paparazzi cheap newspapers which flourish by selling sensational gossip so basically materialist people gossip so Bhavet Varta Dvayor therefore that sort of Varta needs to be avoided also now that’s why Jnanis think oh people are just anyway going to discuss materialistic things and if I go with intellectuals then they have different opinions and we have conflicts, so better ek eva vasetasma therefore better to stay alone and this is the lesson which he said that he has learned from Kumariya eva kankana so the Kumari’s kankana or bangles were creating sounds and the brahmana connects that with the two kinds of sounds that he has observed in his travels the sounds of needless chitchatting, now a days we see people they just talk on cell phone and we often wonder what is there so much, if you talk see the content of their talk it’s quite insubstantial and yet they are talking and talking and talking and if they are not talking now they are typing and messaging but it’s actually mostly mundane gossip, so bhaved vartad the sort of messaging and chatting goes on and sometimes there are heavy conflicts which happen also, kalaho as far as this is concerned the better be alone so if we have the association of like minded devotees where we share a common purpose and the common purpose is what is emphasized then devotees can also have relationship association but when there are people with whom we don’t share the purpose or the values or the process then better to be alone and avoid unnecessary dissipation of our mental energy and verbal energy and better individually or alone focus on Krishna of course if you can share Krishna with others that is the best but as I said here the focus is on attracting jnanis so some of the lessons that are given are jnana type lessons by which so this is one especially for jnanis they don’t like mundane waste of time gossiping and they don’t want conflict so they think let us stay alone and this is the lesson by keeping only one bangle in hand the kumari could avoid noise, similarly by staying alone we can avoid unnecessary noise, unnecessary conflicts or unnecessary chit chatting and gossiping.