Bhagavatam-daily 22 – 11.07.12 – Devotional vision and benevolent intention protects us from fall

Thank You The place of Vipadhi and the place itself is a Vipadhi especially for those who have forgotten Krishna it’s a place of disaster so how will that not relapsing back into the material world happen that one becomes a well-wisher of all living beings shantah one who is peaceful, one who is the well-wisher of all living beings one who is fixed in knowledge and realization then pashyam means to see mad-atmakam is within me situated, the whole universe one who sees the universe as situated in me one who sees the universe as my energy such a person will not fall back so here Krishna is indirectly addressing Uddhava’s concern oh my lord if you go away now can I live without you this is how you can live even if I am not there you should have this vision towards the world and you will not fall even if I am away, even if Kali is there still you will stay safe Krishna is saying over here now sarvabhoota surat how does a devotee become the well-wisher of all living beings simply by becoming devoted to Krishna this will happen because Krishna is the well-wisher of all living beings by going close to God we become godly so God is surudam sarvabhoota naam is 5.29 in the Gita says and 12.30 in the same Gita says that the devotees are adveshta sarvabhoota naam maitra karunai vachor the devotees are friendly to all living beings now surat does not necessarily mean that the devotees behave in the same way with everyone, no there is the description in the Updesha Amrit about how a devotee should deal with different people in different ways that means with other devotees one becomes friendly with advanced devotees one renders humble service with the innocent one shows mercy and to the one offers neglect now actually if there is this diversity of behavior then how is one the well-wisher of everyone sarvabhoota surat actually there is uniformity of intention but there is diversity of expression the intention is positive towards everyone because one sees everyone as essentially similar to oneself as parts of Krishna just as one is and so in that sense one sees everyone especially one doesn’t see anyone in terms of sense gratificatory interests but one sees everyone as connected with Krishna and as objects of service even souls who are in ignorance and need knowledge a pure devotee doesn’t position himself as superior but rather as more fortunate and wanting to share the fortune so there is uniformity of positive intention but there will be variety in expression of that depending on the reciprocity of that person that means if the person is going to be blasphemous of Krishna at that time one should keep a distance but that keeping a distance is not because of hating that person that keeping a distance is also because of loving that person because one cares for that person one knows that if I speak about Krishna with this person this person because of the envy will become more envious more offensive and they will get more into trouble by that offensiveness so I will keep a distance and I will offer my prayers so in this way a devotee can reciprocate appropriately with different kinds of people but have a benevolent intention towards everyone and especially those people who trouble us rather than seeing them as troublemakers if we see them as troubled they themselves are troubled by something and that’s why they are troubled by lust they are troubled by anger they are troubled by envy and because of that they are troubling us and we see them as objects of prayer then a lot of our mental resentment and frustration will go away because rather than seeing them as victimizing us we will see them also as victims of their own aarthas and that’s how that resentment will go away and we will find shanta we will become peaceful now this does not again mean that we let those people keep hurting us we may even have to punish them or change our situation if they are hurting us but we know that this person is also a good soul at the core but this person is overcome by this anartha is tormented by the anartha but is not ready to fight the anarthas so then this person is going to succumb to the anartha repeatedly and is going to trouble me and others because of that then I cannot tolerate that passively in the sense that I have to take disciplinary action whatever is required but still that is also done with an intention to help that person to help that person see the necessity of fighting that anartha so we keep that benevolent intention and we express it appropriately depending on what is the best for that person and what is best for ourselves to Krishna so that benevolence of intention can create a tremendous amount of peace in our mind and in our heart which is chanta which is not possible if we are resentful or hateful towards anyone and how does this happen? jnana vidyana nishchaya one has knowledge that I am a part of Krishna and I am meant to serve Krishna and one has realization also vidyana that actually it is one has experienced that by serving Krishna I get real happiness and when I stop serving Krishna I become miserable and when I understand this then I no longer want to avoid serving Krishna, I want to serve Krishna joyfully and even when there are obstacles still I see them as an opportunity to increase my service to Krishna and that is why it is said here that such a person sees sees that actually the whole universe is pervaded by me, my presence is there everywhere so Krishna’s presence is there at multiple levels the universe itself is Krishna’s energy and at one level the energy is non-different from the energetic so that’s how Krishna is present, at another level he is present in the super soul in everything he is controlling everything, he is present in our heart also so this means that whatever is happening in our life it is not without Krishna’s knowledge it is allowed by Krishna and it is an opportunity for our growth so when we see the connection of other people with Krishna and connection of the world with Krishna and of course our connection with Krishna then we see that whatever situation comes in our life is also an opportunity for serving Krishna and that’s why it is I don’t need to respond to it by doing something major contrary to the principles of devotional service that I may not know how best to serve in the situation but I know that this is also an opportunity to serve and with, I take one step at a time I take one step, I don’t know what to do I chant intensely, I pray intensely then I take one more step and one more step and slowly, even if the full path is not clear, one step, one step one step we keep taking and gradually we will see that we are well on the right track so Navipadhyaya Punaha, which a person by seeing the Krishna connection of everything will not fall back into illusion, will not fall back into the cycle of birth and death and one definition of faith, there are many definitions one definition of faith is to take one step across the bridge even when one cannot see even when one cannot see the end of the bridge even when we cannot see how the road ahead is going to take us, but we take one step and know that Krishna will be there along with us in the journey and therefore we keep persevering in that journey and that way by having the right vision of the world and moving forward in the right consciousness we will stay safe even in this dangerous material world never relapsing back into illusion but progressing steadily towards Krishna’s abode