Bhagavatam-daily 295 – 11.13.28 – Spiritual is not just above goodness – it is way above

Thank you being thus bound but Turiya, Turiya is the fourth state the state of transcendence and Krishna says that I am situated in that Turiya stage and those who take shelter of Krishna those who take shelter of him they can also become transcendent situated they can become free from the influence of the moulds Sanskrit chants In the Bhagavad Gita in the 7th chapter, which is called as Knowledge of the Absolute, Vishnuprabhupada, in that chapter this is a defining verse which states that how while the modes and the illusion deludes everyone, but one who surrenders can get over it, while those who don’t surrender, they find it impossible to overcome the insurmountable influence of the material energy. The Uddhava Gita repeats many of the themes that are taught in the Bhagavad Gita, but it also goes much deeper. So, for example, while the essential message of this particular verse is the same as that of Mamamaya Durtyaya, 7.14, that illusion is very difficult to overcome, but by surrendering to Krishna it can be overcome.
That essential message is the same here also. But Krishna is here bringing much more philosophical depth to the discussion by stating that in this world, those who are situated in the three lower states of consciousness, Jagati, Swapna and Sushupti, they cannot get themselves out of that very easily, but if they take shelter of the one who is situated in Turiya, that one being the Supreme Lord, then they can come out of it with far lesser difficulty. In one sense, while these four states of consciousness are considered progressive, Sushupti is in ignorance, Swapna is in passion, Jagati is in goodness, then Turiya is in transcendence.
So while listing, let me just list all the four together and it may seem as if all four are progressive, but actually they are not progressive. There is a dramatic drastic difference between Jagati, Swapna, Sushupti and Turiya. Turiya is just way above material nature.
So we can consider these three lower states of consciousness to be like say three levels of a building. Ground floor, first floor, second floor. And Turiya is not like the fourth floor.
Turiya is like way up in the sky, maybe an airplane in the sky. But as an airplane, we could consider it more like a person residing on another planet itself. That means an airplane has to come down, but the other planet doesn’t have to come to earth, and the person residing on that planet doesn’t have to come to the earth.
So like that, the three modes and the three levels of consciousness corresponding to the three modes are within material nature, whereas the fourth state, Turiya, is entirely beyond material nature. I was saying that somebody is on the second floor and somebody is on the first floor. So maybe the person on the second floor can just stretch out and offer a hand.
The first floor person is trapped with a flood where the water is rising. The second floor person may pull the first floor person up to the upper story. But if this person is on another planet, that person cannot stretch the hand and pull somebody from this planet there.
But Krishna is omnipotent. In this verse 13.14, the Bhagavata states that everywhere are his hands and legs. Everywhere his ears.
Everywhere his eyes. Everywhere his head. Everywhere his mouth.
In this way, he exists pervading everything. So Krishna, all the students of the Turiya state, which is far, far above the other states, still makes himself accessible from the lower states, like offering his hand down to lift those who are below up. For such people, I am the deliverer.
From the ocean of material existence, Krishna says, I deliver them. So what Krishna is stating here is that he will lift the souls out of material existence. And that is our hope for liberation.
If we strive according to our capacity to stay connected with Krishna, for us to propel ourselves, say, from the top story of a building to another planet, that requires a phenomenal amount of energy. But if someone with that energy lifts us up, then all that we need to do is just hold on to that lifting hand. So yes, holding on requires energy.
But it requires far lesser energy than what is required for trying to propel oneself up. So similarly, trying to propel oneself up from the lower mode to the higher mode, from the higher mode of goodness to transcendence, it requires an enormous amount of energy. But if we take shelter of Krishna, then we can go beyond this by his merciful help.
Understanding that Krishna is situated in Turiya, we can redirect our heart towards him. We can focus on him. We can learn to love him.
And thus we will progressively attain him.