Bhagavatam-daily 2 – 11.06.41 – Submission is the way out of confusion

Vishnu Bhagavatam 11.6.41 vivikta upasangamya jagatameshwareshwaram pranameshirasahapadau pranjalistam abhashatam so this is the beginning of the Uddhavita Uddhava is approaching Krishna vivikta in a secluded place upasangamya comes close to him jagatameshwareshwaram that lord who is the Ishwara of all the Ishwaras of the Jagat the supreme Ishwara pranameshirasahapadau he falls at his feet puts his head at his feet offers obeisances pranjalist then folds his hands in front of him and speaks this so Uddhava has just Udrishtva and Svitva has seen and heard about the inauspicious things that are going to happen now he has heard the gods like Brahma and Shiva are telling Krishna that now your pastimes are over come back and Krishna is also told the Yadus that there is going to be destruction of our dynasty because of the Brahmanaskar so we have to go to Prabhash to try to do to bathe there to try to purify ourselves so now just before they are about to go Uddhava approaches Krishna in a moment when Krishna is slightly alone he approaches vivikta upasangamya now Uddhava has grave doubts and fears even you could say terrors in his heart think that everyone he knows and loves is going to depart and along with that his beloved lord is also going to depart and he senses in his heart that actually the lord does not want him to depart the lord is going to give him some other instruction some other plan and he will have to stay on over here and it will be very difficult for him to do that although it is not the lord has not explicitly told it to him but still he senses that impending doom and needs some shelter some guidance, something to make sense of it something to find out what he should be doing so he goes and although at one level Krishna and Uddhava have a fraternal relationship they are friends but Uddhava always is conscious of his beloved lord and that mood of one with whom one normally relates as a friend but now will relate to as a lord that mood is being seen just as Arjuna surrendered to Krishna in 2.7 in karpanya doshopahata swabhava now there is no description that Arjuna actually got off his chariot and fell down and offered obeisances Arjuna was on chariot it was more of a disposition now he was a friend initially and they always remain friends but in that particular conversation Arjuna took the role of a subordinate of a disciple and he heard from Krishna he enquired from Krishna so now because it was the middle of a battlefield and it was an emergency situation so the battle conversation took place in public view itself action stopped but they did not go to a private place but here there is also an emergency coming but it is not as critical in the sense that it is not in the middle of a battlefield so Uddhava approaches him separately Krishna separately and then he realizes this person who he remembers very forcefully although he knows it always now he remembers very forcefully this person who always treated me like a friend is the Supreme Lord and he is going to depart now so he falls down at his feet and Jagatameshwareshwaram so he is the Eshwar of the Eshwaras just now I have seen Shiva and Brahma come here and this person who is in front of me is the Eshwara of them also so in this Jagat something very vichitra something terrible is going to happen but no matter what happens ultimately this person in front of me is the Eshwareshwara he is not just the Eshwara he is the Eshwareshwara he is the lord of the lords of this world so whatever happens no matter how senseless it may seem to be actually this lord is still in control and he will help me to regain a sense of control and he will give me wisdom by which my path will become clear and in a mood of utter submission knowing that he desperately needs to make sense imagine a situation when you know that everybody around you everybody you love in the very city and everything is going to be destroyed you alone are going to be the survivor what will you do so the situation is going to be something like that he falls at the feet pranam nishirasa padau he offers obeisances at the feet of the lord then he gets up pranjalis folded hands tamabhashata and he speaks so there are times in our life when our intellect can’t make sense of things certainly we can and should use our intelligence as much as possible in the service of Krishna we try to make sense of the philosophy we try to make sense of life using the philosophy and in this way we try to lead our life according to shastra but just as at times we cannot understand certain things in the philosophy with our intelligence similarly there are times when we cannot understand certain things in the in life the way things happen why they happen what should I do we just can’t just can’t understand it so at that time we just have to offer obeisances to the lord Krishna please guide me please tell me what to do how to make sense of it so Prabhupada writes in a purport that a devotee may be perplexed but a devotee is never discouraged perplexed means to not know what to do discouraged means to not feel like doing anything at all to feel that everything is worthless a devotee doesn’t feel like that feel that everything is worthless everything is pointless because the devotee knows that Jagatameshwareshwaram that no matter what happens the lord is the controller of everything and he is always in control so no matter how much things seem to be going wrong one thing is right always that he is in control and I am his servant so I shall find out how I am to serve him in this situation so the perplexity is there no doubt because the situation seems to be so confusing so hostile that how I am to serve the lord is also not clear in such a situation but if I keep trying if I keep praying then Krishna will guide me how to how to continue serving and for that we need guidance so we sometimes have to fall at the feet of Krishna when there is confusion and Krishna pranamme shirasapadu so Uddhava is in that situation now he is falling at the feet of the lord and he is going to speak pranjalis so actually there is multiple signals of submission bowing down is a sign of submission but completely bowing down to the feet putting the head at the feet that is a sign of even greater submission and it is not just a momentary submission even after he gets up still his hands are folded which also further indicates submission so he is going to ask some questions make some statements and ultimately hope and pray that the lord will give him wisdom by which he can make sense of the impending calamity now we don’t need calamity to actually turn towards the lord and take shelter of him whatever situation we may be in if we just try to pray to him even our normal life our journey will be smoother and our path will be clearer if we have a submissive disposition towards him and if we pray to him for guidance it is not just only when we face obstacles and road blocks that we need his guidance yes at that time we need it all the more but even when the road seems smooth and the path seems clear at that time also if we take his guidance then we will be in proper devotional consciousness and we will move in a way that will take us closer to Krishna so in calamity in normalcy in prosperity in all times we can take shelter of Krishna and seek guidance from him so the time when we chant the time when we study scripture time when we hear classes we need to go beyond the specifics of who is giving the class what book I am reading where am I sitting and chanting beyond it all actually we go to the universes universal principle underlying all these activities is that I am a soul lost in material existence and I am seeking the shelter the guidance of my lord oh lord please guide me I bow down to you I seek guidance from you please illumine me so what Uddhava speaks and what Krishna responds we will discuss in our future sessions