Bhagavatam-daily 240 – 11.11.46 – Specific details of Krishna’s forms are not to be transcended but to be treasured

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Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.46 in the way that is mentioned previously that means by seeing the various elements in nature the various sacred objects in nature as connected with the lord by worshipping the lord through those objects thereby spiritualizing one’s consciousness then we can focus on the form of the lord and Shankh Chakra Gadha so all these are important because they are in their own way transcendental everything about the lord is also transcendental his paraphernalia is not just in sentient objects, his paraphernalia is also in the sense of associates and their intimate exalted associates whom actually help the soul move onwards towards Krishna so just as by meditating on the lord we move closer to him similarly by meditating on his paraphernalia also we move closer to him and the paraphernalia is not just some additional adornment that he puts on that is paraphernalia is also integral to his eternal identity and his eternal nature so quite often whenever we meditate on the lord the scriptures give specific details and the reason for specific details is firstly the absolute truth is specific the absolute truth is not just some generic all pervading light yes there is an aspect of the absolute truth also but beyond that aspect is the aspect of the absolute truth that is universal the aspect that is all attractive the aspect that is universally to be cherished because that is the aspect which is the most lovable, the most loving, the most evocative of divine emotions within us inshallah Prabhupada gives the example that if we say god is infinite and then we look at the sky the sky also seems infinite to our perception but it’s very difficult, we may feel some awe for the sky but it’s very difficult to offer our heart in love, in constant ecstatic personal love to the sky similarly just the conception of god as a amorphous vastness which is non-specific which is completely generic that may in a vague sense stimulate some awe but it won’t in a specific sense kindle love that’s why whenever the devotees pray to the lord, glorify the lord whenever the scriptures describe how some devotees have darshan of the lord then there are very specific descriptions so in the third canto Bhagavatam in Kapila’s teachings in their specific verses they describe the different bodily attributes of the lord and it is said that this is how by meditating on these attributes one should meditate on the absolute truth so now if the specifics were just a product of the modes were material, were parts of illusion parts of the illusory energy then neither the great saints nor the scriptures would recommend that we meditate on them the higher it is said then meditate because generally the understanding is that meditation is for perceiving a deeper reality just by eyes we can see certain things we can see only the surface of things but to perceive deeper realities beyond the surface we need to look deeper we need to think deeper and that looking deeper, that thinking deeper is meditation in a very generic sense so when the scriptures tell us to meditate why would they tell us to meditate on something which is an illusion if at all it were an illusion why would the scriptures tell us to meditate on that they would rather tell us to meditate on that which is not an illusion that which is the reality because the purpose of meditation especially when it comes in scripture when it is a part of the process of enlightenment then clearly the purpose of meditation is to go from illusion to reality as the Upanishad says go from darkness to light go from illusion to light go from darkness to light go from illusion to reality and go from temporality to eternality so that is the journey that the scriptures urge us to take and when they are asking us to take such a journey at that time why would they ask us to meditate on something which is a part of illusion they would rather urge us to go beyond illusion and the very fact that they are urging us to meditate on something like this meditating on some specific details indicating the specificity of those details is not a product of illusion but it is a part of eternal reality so Krishna’s the specific details of Krishna’s personality are not something that is to be transcended by the progressive practice of bhakti but rather the meditation on them is to be perfected by the progressive practice of bhakti so we don’t think that we have to go beyond Krishna’s specific attractive details but we want to go deep into them and we go deep in not in the sense of merging but in the sense of absorbing our heart goes to Krishna and we become absorbed in Krishna in our consciousness not in a ontological sense of becoming one with him but in the emotional sense of having our desires harmonized in love with him and here Krishna describes to Uddhava how his specific attributes Shankha, Chakra, Gadha, Padma those are the four things that he four ayudhas that he holds in his four hands and especially when it is about when we are meditating on the Vishnu form at that time these attributes are important because Krishna and Vishnu are not different so often even while meditating on Krishna the vision of Vishnu is invoked because sometimes we may mistake Krishna to be ordinary because he just looks like an ordinary two handed person so to remember that Krishna is also extraordinary often it is said that meditate on Krishna as Vishnu also so overall the important thing is to recognize that we are all meant to direct our vision our attraction away from the specificity of this world and focus it on the supremely all attractive on the supremely heart winning heart capturing, heart charming beauty of Krishna in all its specific and mesmerizing detail thank you