Bhagavatam-daily 280 – 11.13.13 – Connect regularly with transcendence to prevent sliding into ignorance
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.13.13 Krishna is continuing to describe how to counter the contamination created by the modes in the previous verse he recommended careful observation and in this verse he takes things further and states that we can without becoming infatuated we should be carefully engaging the mind mano mayi arpayanchanai, mano mayi offer the mind to me, arpayanchanai by thus offering the mind to Krishna we will be able to deal with it and Krishna here talks about the power of regular routine this three column, three column refers to using it three times in a day that is he is referring to the three sandhya so Krishna is talking about sandhya prayers and he is clearly saying that don’t just see this as prayer to Surya, sometimes the Gayatri where it is seen, where people meditate on Surya, it is or that is what it is thought of, oh you are the giver of light please keep us in light, it’s a very rough paraphrase, but sometimes it is thought of as a prayer to Surya but actually it is to the illuminator as the Bhagavata 4.1 tells us that Krishna is the illuminator of the illuminator he is the he illuminates with knowledge that Surya who illuminates the world with light so the point is here Krishna is pointing to that ultimate object of contemplation he says three times fix the mind on me carefully and essentially the way to deal with the contamination of the mould is by getting regular connection with transcendence the more we can regularize our connection with transcendence the more likely we are to be able to counter the influence of the lower moulds to the extent we are not regular in our connection with transcendence to that extent we are likely to slip now if we are walking on a slippery ground if we have a supporting wall at some area we have to walk without any supporting wall and then after that again there is a supporting wall so even if we slip a little bit you know we can just we will reach the other side where there is a wall and that will prop us up but if there is a long distance between one wall and another wall then if we slip there will be no wall to save us from the fall we will just fall flat so in that sense the periodic devotional activities that we have that we bring into our schedule they are like props for us they will hold us up when our conditioning because of the moulds and the contamination because of the moulds starts dragging us down at that time these props the periodic connection with devotion Krishna through some regulated devotional activities that will enable us to avoid falling prey to avoid getting contaminated and getting misled so here the specifics may vary the principle is periodic and regular connectedness with Krishna so when we bring into our schedule periodically some activities that raise our consciousness and that will counter the inevitable drag on the consciousness that happens whenever we face whenever we face the challenge of engaging in engaging with the world and the resulting contamination of consciousness that happens because of engaging with the materialistic setting of the world that’s why Krishna Prabhupada there is a whole tradition of Bhagwat Saptaha and it’s at one level good that people are at least ready to hear Bhagwatam once a year for 7 days but what about the remaining 358 days? it’s just too long a break and during that time the contamination of the moulds can break havoc with their lives so that’s why we talked about what Shastra tells us is now we may not be able to come for the Bhagwatam class every day but we have some kind of connection with Shastra, now we have our sadhana in terms of our chanting and that is important but again the daily chanting can very well become a ritual and if it becomes a ritual then we are verbalizing the but we are not really connecting with Krishna because we are not calling out to him, we are not invoking his presence and so we are not connecting with him and when we don’t connect with him then we don’t experience the illumination, the empowerment that we need for countering the drag by the moulds so yes sadhana in terms of chanting is important, extremely important but along with that we also need to study Shastra daily actually at least for a few minutes we read some verse, meditate on the verse connect with some Shastric theme and that way we bring some stability to our consciousness now this doesn’t have to be a lot of time, yes if you are studying Shastra systematically we are doing some Bhakti Shastri, Bhakti Vaibhava course at that time we may need an hour or two or something like that in quality time but apart from that even if some verse which we find favorite, some sentence, some quote which we find illuminating so whatever it is that is available, whatever that is we know has inspired us and can inspire us that we keep for any reference so that whenever we start feeling that we are slipping then immediately we can raise ourselves up by the practice of connecting ourselves with Krishna through that particular activity so preparing resources for connecting with Krishna custom made resources at one level the daily program Sadhana that is a standardized program for spiritual connectedness and if we adopt that seriously we will stay well spiritually connected and despite having the modes influencing us externally as well as internally we will not be contaminated by them at the same time sometimes there are more intense attack by temptations, there are more stressful or tempting circumstances or just our mind is more agitated and for dealing with specific situations it’s ultimately, it’s not the responsibility of anyone else to protect us Krishna has given us the weapons, Guru Sadhu Shastra has given us the training and told us how to use those weapons and it is up to us to use those weapons so in what particular form of devotional service whether it is a song, whether it is a verse, whether it is a prayer, whether it is a quote, whether it is a DT image whatever way we can effectively connect with Krishna we can when our emotions are being materially triggered we counter that by triggering spiritual emotions by doing that we can protect ourselves from the contamination of the modes and keep moving onwards towards Krishna steadily this is the, so first in the previous verse Krishna talks about the strategy of intelligence and in this verse he talks about the strategy of connection with him and thus we can
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Srimad Bhagavatam 11.13.13 Lord Krishna is continuing to describe how to counter the contamination created by the moths. In the previous verse, he recommended careful observation. And in this verse, he takes things further and states that we can without becoming infatuated.
We should be carefully engaging the mind. mano mayi arpayanchanai Offer the mind to me. arpayanchanai By thus offering the mind to Krishna, we will be able to deal with it.
And Krishna here talks about the power of regular routine. This trikalam trikalam refers to using it three times in a day. That is, he is referring to the three sandhyas.
So, Krishna is talking about the sandhya prayers. And he is clearly saying that don't just see this as a prayer to Surya. Sometimes the Gayatri wherein people meditate on Surya, that is what it is thought of.
Oh, you are the giver of light. Please keep us in light. It's a very rough phrase.
But sometimes it is thought of as a prayer to Surya, but actually it is to the illuminator. As the Bhagavad Gita 4.1 tells us that Krishna is the illuminator of the illuminator. He illuminates with knowledge that Surya who illuminates the world with light.
So the point is, here Krishna is pointing to that ultimate object of contemplation. He says three times, fix the mind on me carefully. And essentially the way to deal with the contamination of the mould is by getting regular connection with transcendence.
The more we can regularize our connection with transcendence, the more likely we are to be able to counter the influence of the lower moulds. To the extent we are not regular in our connection with transcendence, to that extent, just like to that extent we are likely to slip. Now if we are walking on a slippery ground, then if we have a supporting wall at that some area we have to walk without any supporting wall.
And then after that again there is a supporting wall. So even if we slip a little bit, you know, we can just, we will reach the other side where there is the wall and that will prop us up. But if there is a long distance between one wall and another wall, then if we slip, there will be no wall to save us from the fall.
We will just fall flat. So, in that sense, the periodic devotional activities that we have, that we bring into our schedule, they are like props for us. They will hold us up.
When our conditioning because of the moulds, when the contamination because of the moulds starts dragging us down, at that time these props, the periodic connection with Krishna through some regulated devotional activities, that will enable us to avoid falling prey, to avoid getting contaminated and getting misled. So, here the specifics may vary. The principle is periodic and regular connectedness with Krishna.
So, when we bring into our schedule periodically some activities that raise our consciousness and that will counter the inevitable drag on the consciousness that happens whenever we face, whenever we face the challenge of engaging in, engaging with the world and the resulting contamination of consciousness that happens because of engaging with the materialistic setting of the world. That's why in Vishnu Prabhupada, there is a whole tradition of Bhagavata Saptaha and it's at one level good that people are at least ready to hear Bhagavatam once a year for seven days. But, what about the remaining 358 days? It's just too long a break and during that time the contamination of the bones can break havoc with their lives.
that's why we talked about Nityam, what Shastra tells us is Nityam Bhagavata Sevaya. Now, we may not be able to come for the Bhagavatam class everyday but we have some kind of connection with Shastra. Now, we have our sadhana in terms of our chanting and that is important.
But again the daily chanting can very well become a ritual and if it becomes a ritual then we are verbalizing the holiness but we are not really connecting with Krishna because we are not calling out to him, we are not invoking his presence and so we are not connecting with him and when we don't connect with him then we don't experience the illumination, the empowerment that we need for countering the drag by the moles. So, yes, sadhana in terms of chanting is important, extremely important but along with that we also need to study Shastra daily. Actually, at least for a few minutes we read some verse, meditate on the verse, connect with some Shastric theme and that way we bring some stability to our consciousness.
This doesn't have to be a lot of time. Yes, if you are studying Shastra systematically we are doing some Bhakti Shastri, Bhakti Vaibhava course at that time we may need an hour or two or something like that in quality time but apart from that even if some verse which we find favorite, some sentence, some quote which we find illuminating so whatever it is that is available, whatever that is we know has inspired us and can inspire us that we keep for any reference so that whenever we start feeling that we are slipping then immediately we can raise ourselves up by the practice of by the practice of connecting ourselves with Krishna through that particular activity so preparing resources for connecting with Krishna custom made resources at one level the daily program Sadhana that is a standardized program for spiritual connectedness and if we adopt that seriously we will stay well spiritually connected and despite having the modes influencing us externally as well as internally we will not be contaminated by them at the same time sometimes there are more intense attack by temptations there are more stressful or tempting circumstances or just our mind is more agitated and for dealing with specific situations it's ultimately it's not the responsibility of anyone else to protect us Krishna has given us the weapons Guru Sadhu Shastra has given us the training and told us how to use those weapons and it is up to us to use those weapons so in what particular form of devotional service whether it is a song, whether it is a verse whether it is a prayer, whether it is a quote whether it is a DT image whatever way we can effectively connect with Krishna we can when our emotions are being materially triggered we counter that by triggering spiritual emotions by doing that we can protect ourselves from the contamination of the modes and keep moving onwards towards Krishna steadily this is the so first in the previous verse Krishna talks about a strategy of intelligence and in this verse he talks about a strategy of connection with him and thus we can protect ourselves from the modes thank you.