Bhagavatam-daily 228 – 11.11.34 – The infinite by his infinite mercy becomes accessible in a finite form to the finite

Thank you sparshan archanam paricharyastati prahava gunakarmano kirtanam krishna is now glorifying the path of bhakti the process of bhakti and he is also describing the process of bhakti here in his instructions to uddhava and he is saying that with all our senses which are normally the sources of bondage and illusion in this world we can use those senses for perceiving the supreme lord through the process of bhakti yoga by serving him by serving him through the senses by learning to engage our consciousness in him and thus move closer and closer to him so here darshanam the word darshanam is used in a philosophical context and in a deity worship context in the philosophical context it usually means a system of thought a way of looking at the world you get in first so here the process of bhakti is being described through various limbs the word linga refers to form so darshan, sparshan archanam now broadly speaking there are two ways in which bhakti can be two broad ways in which bhakti can be performed these two broad classifications we will talk by Bhaktisiddhanta Thakur especially and there is pancharatra vidhi and there is the bhagvat vidhi the bhagvat vidhi centers on the performance of hearing and chanting and that will be mentioned in this is the next verse second part of this verse and the next verse first part we will talk about darshan sparshan darshan sparshan sparshan archanam now what will transform our heart from its default pursuit of worldly experiences is an experience of Krishna and you can of course get a spiritual experience of God from anything you might get it by as just suddenly some vision might come to some people some dream might come to some people but these are all unpredictable, unreliable unrepeatable with paranormal visions are unpredictable, unrepeatable unreliable but the process of deity worship helps us get direct experience of Krishna through our through a study program of service and especially because the deity is Krishna manifested as a materially through a materially perceivable form whose Krishna’s eternal form is transcendental but when Krishna manifests as a deity his spiritual form which cannot be perceived by our material senses is now manifest through a form that is made of material objects and that form is what so through the medium of deity worship bhakti gives us sensory experience of the transcendental and thus here there is darshan, smaran, archana three ways in which we can connect with the deity we hold the deity we look at, we attract many beautiful things in the world but when we understand that and we know all the beautiful things in the world Krishna through his form as the deity gives us the opportunity to relate with him as a person Hilailokacharya one of the prominent exponents of Sri Vaishnavism after Rishi Ramanacharya is an example of how the infinite out of his infinite mercy makes himself accessible to the finite by manifesting in a finite form you just take a small child to be fascinated by a giant elephant the child no matter how much it touches its hands it cannot touch the head of the elephant but if it can somehow if somehow the elephant sits down and moves its head forward then the elephant can be accessible, touchable for the child similarly Krishna is so high up his highness is not physical but it is not a matter of dimension in terms of physical dimension it is a matter of ontology in terms of nature of his existence being spiritual so the word dimension can be used to refer to the size of something what are the dimensions of an object you may ask and the word dimension can also refer to a level of reality just as you may say that you know superstring theory proposes 11 dimensions or 27 dimensions or whatever and that way the idea is that there exist higher levels of reality beyond what are perceivable to us by our ordinary senses and those levels are what we as sadhakas struggle to so those higher levels cannot be understood even by ordinary students of science to conceptualize them requires a lot of training in science so like that when we say Krishna exists in a higher dimension yes at one level we could say his virata rupa is of a stupendous dimension is greater than the greatest but along with that there is also the understanding that Krishna is in accessibility not just because he is so big but because he is beyond the conception of bigness itself so he is the concepts of big and small as we understand them apply to sizes or sizes of material objects Krishna is not material he is transcendental and so such conceptions don’t apply to him and yet even contemplating Krishna even contemplating Krishna’s existence was impossible for us then it would be very difficult if not impossible for us to develop love for him and therefore out of his great mercy for us Krishna manifests in an extremely attractive form as the deity attractive and accessible form by which we can connect with him and by treating the deity as a person by serving him as a venerable person by loving him as a lovable person we can all march forward in raising our consciousness to a higher dimension where a higher spiritual level of existence where we can relish everlasting happiness in eternal ecstatic love for him Thank you

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Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.34 Malinga Madh Bhakta Jan Darshan Sparsha Sparshan Archanam Paricharya Stuti Prahava Gunakarmanu Kirtanam Krishna Is now glorifying the path of Bhakti The process of Bhakti and he's also describing the process of Bhakti here in His instructions to Dawa and he's saying that With all our senses which are normally The sources of bonding and illusion in this world we can use those senses for Perceiving The Supreme Lord through the process of Bhakti Yoga Serving him by Serving Him through the senses by learning to engage Our consciousness in him and thus move closer and closer to him So here Darshanam the word Darshanam Is used in a philosophical context and in a deity worship context in the philosophical context it usually means A System of thought a way of looking at the world So here the process of Bhakti is Being Described through various limbs The word linga refers to form month so Darshan Parashan Archanam now Broadly speaking there are two ways in which Bhakti can be two broad ways in which Bhakti can be performed These two broad classifications will talk by what this is answered awkward especially and then Pancharatravidhi and there is the Bhagavad-gita Centers on the performance of Hearing and chanting and that will be mentioned in This is it as the next verse second part of this was in the next verse first part We'll talk about Darshan Parashan Darshan Parashana Parashan Archanam What will transform our heart From its default pursuit of worldly experiences is an experience of Krishna and you can of course get a spiritual experience of God from anything you might get it by as just Suddenly some vision might come to some people some dream might come to some people, but these are all Unpredictable unreliable Unrepeatable ways paranormal visions are Unpredictable unrepeatable unreliable but the process of deity worship Helps us get direct experience of Krishna Through our through a study program of service and Especially Because the deity is Krishna manifested as a materially through a materially perceivable form Whose Krishna's eternal form is transcendental But if Krishna manifests as a deity His spiritual form which cannot be perceived by our material senses is now manifest Through a Form that is made of material objects and That form is what? So through the medium of deity worship Bhakti gives us Sensory experience of the transcendental and thus Here there is Darshan Smaran Archanam Three ways in which we can connect with the deity. We hold the deity We look at attract to many beautiful things in the world But And you know all the beautiful things in the world Through his form as the deity gives us the opportunity To relate with him as a person like Lokacharya You know the prominent Exponents of Sri Vaishnavism after Rishi Ramavacharya Use example of how The Infinite out of his infinite mercy Makes himself accessible to the finite by manifesting in a finite form We just take a small child Will be fascinated by a Giant elephant the child no matter how much it stretches its hands It cannot touch the head of the elephant But if it can Somehow Somehow the elephant sits down and moves its head forward then The elephant can be Accessible touchable for the Child similarly Krishna is so high up His highness Is not physical But it is is not the matter of dimension In terms of physical dimension, it is a matter of ontology in terms of nature of his existence being spiritual So The word dimension can be used to Refer to the size of something what are the dimensions of an object when you ask And the word dimension can also refer to a level of reality Just as we may say that Super strength theory proposes 11 dimensions or 27 dimensions or whatever and That way the idea is that There exists higher levels of reality Beyond what are perceivable to us by our ordinary senses and those levels Are what we as sadhakas Struggle to So So those those those levels higher levels cannot be understood even by ordinary students of science I'm going to conceptualize them requires a lot of training in science So like that Krishna when we say Krishna exists in a higher dimension Yes at one level we could say his virata rupa Is of a stupendous dimension Is greater than the greatest but along with that There's also the understanding that Krishna is in accessibility not just because he's so big but because He is beyond the conception of bigness itself So He is he is the concepts of big and small as we understand them apply To sizes that are sizes of material objects Krishna is not material is transcendental and so such conceptions don't apply to him and yet Even contemplating Krishna's existence was impossible for us Then it would be very difficult If not impossible for us to develop love for him And therefore out of his great mercy for us Krishna manifests In an extremely attractive form As the deity Attractive and accessible form By which we can connect with him And by treating the deity as a person By serving him as a venerable person By loving him as a lovable person We can all march forward In Raising our consciousness to a higher dimension Where the higher spiritual level of existence where we can relish Everlasting happiness In eternal ecstatic love for him Thank you.