Bhagavatam-daily 242 – 11.11.48 – Association sustains devotion

Thank you we cannot sustain our practice of Vinah Uddhava Krishna without this, without the practice of Bhakti Yoga which is done in the association of devotees actual shelter doesn’t exist I am, because I am the ultimate goal of life, I am the shelter of the devotees, Rayanam. So here Krishna is going towards the conclusion of this chapter and therein he explains that the sadhya and sadhana are to be properly determined in order to achieve success and achieve success on the transcendental path without unnecessary complexity and difficulty. So he makes it clear that the sadhya, sadhya is he himself, aprayanam, aham, there is no goal other than or higher than Krishna which is to be attained, matah paratara nanyat kinchidastidhananjaya.
Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, there is no truth other than me, kinchidasti, not even a slightest possible way, that is this is 7.7 and later in 15.19, Krishna repeats this when he states, yo mam eva sammudho janati purushottamam sarvavidbhajitimam sarvabhavena bharatam, that one who, yo mam eva sammudho, that person who being beyond illusion, sammudho, janati purushottama, understands me to be purushottama, supreme person, sarvavidbhajitimam, such a person is sarvavid, is the knower of everything, bhajitimam, such a person worships me, how does that person worship me, sarvabhavena bharata, with the whole heart, whole hearted, so essentially what is being told over here is that it is Krishna who is the all attractive supreme person, it is he who is the ultimate destination and Krishna says in this Bhagavad Gita verse in 15.19 that, sarvabhavena, who are the people who know, who are the knowers of everything, they are those people who sarvabhavena, those who with all the emotions of their heart, janati purushottama, they know me to be the supreme person and bhajitimam and they devote themselves to me, so knowledge of Krishna and whole hearted love for Krishna, so undiluted knowledge of Krishna, samodha, janati, undiluted knowledge of Krishna and uninhibited love for Krishna, so sarvabhavena, whole heartedly, that is what characterizes, Krishna says the state of enlightened, sarvabhavena, such a person knows everything, now moving onwards what is the point that Krishna is making through this, when he is speaking this to Uddhava over here, first thing he makes clear that it is he who is the ultimate destination and it is by attaining him that one attains not just liberation but the supreme liberation, because liberation may take one to Brahmajyoti, where yes one is free from the miseries of but what is not free for relishing eternal love, because the Brahmajyoti is not a place of relationships and activity and reciprocation, it is a place of passive, passive, passive inert sort of focus, meditation that’s all, yes definitely it is a liberated state but from the ecstasy that is available in reciprocal relationship with the all attractive supreme Krishna, as compared to that ecstasy, the whatever pleasure or relief one feels in Brahman is limited, you find the great saints compare it to, compare it to just a little puddle of water as when compared to ocean, in fact some Vaishnavacharis even compare it to hell because they feel that their attraction to Brahman, to impersonal Brahman can deprive them of attraction to this all attractive personal supreme and thereby deprive one of the nectar of devotion and anything that deprives one of nectar of devotion, the devotee is considered to be hellish, so Kaivalyam Narakayate, Prabhudanand Saraswati also says that, that Kaivalya liberation is like hell because it deprives one of the taste of the sweetness of Krishna Bhakti, so Krishna makes it clear here that it is he who is the highest destination to be attained and then the next thing he states is that not only is he the highest destination to be attained but he is also the highest, it is devotion to him that is the best means for attaining the highest destination, the infinite cannot be attained by the finite by the finite’s efforts alone, the finite’s efforts are meant to, the finite’s efforts are definitely required but they are meant to satisfy the infinite and thereby invoke the mercy from the compassionate heart of the infinite and thereby because of that mercifulness the infinite by his infinite potency makes himself visible to the finite, accessible to the finite and thus it is that one attains the supreme perfection of life, so essentially Krishna states here that when we render Bhakti then we can become attracted to Krishna, we can develop love for Krishna, we can realize in relation as the highest reality and thus we can joyfully move towards the supreme liberation but if I does not practice the process of devotion for whatever reason it may be because one thing that the devotion is a lower process or one thing that Krishna is a lower reality that we need to transcend or one thing is that all this world itself is an enjoyable place why do I need to go beyond this world for whatever reason if I does not practice Bhakti so the reasons will broadly fall into two categories because one is attached to this world and does not want to go beyond this world or one thinks that there is yes I want to go beyond this world but I don’t know what is beyond this but I think that there is something higher than Krishna beyond this world and therefore that has to be approached by something some process higher than Bhakti so both these misconceptions about the nature of this world and the nature of the other world both these can keep the soul trapped in material existence and Krishna states over here that you know that if there is no practice of Bhakti then there is practically no means for getting liberation so very strong categorical unambiguous statement that Krishna is making of course he gives some leeway when he says prayena mostly so I just translate it in some ways for all practical purposes for a few exceptional people it may be possible that by practicing the other processes they may be able to attain liberation but it is extremely difficult and that is why the Bhavad Gita also is very emphatic there is no other way I can get it not by the study of Vedas and not by doing austerity nor by giving charity nor by doing worship you cannot see me as you are seeing me this is 11.53 and then 11.54 states that it is only by Bhakti that one can attain him so the same principle same essential message is being given by Krishna to Uddhava over here where he asserts that he the personal absolute is the highest reality and pure devotion