Bhagavatam-daily 296 – 11.13.29 – Rejection of illusion brings release from anxiety

Thank you. ahamkara-krtambandham ātmano artha-viparyayam vidvān nirvidhya-saṁsāra-cchintāṁ tūryet siddhas tajet So, here Krishna is continuing his description of how we are trapped in material existence and how we can come out. So, ahamkara-krtambandham.
So, because of ahamkara, because of the ego, there is bondage-krtambandham. And what is the nature of this bandham? ātmano artha-viparyayam. And the soul gets the exact opposite of what it desires-artha-viparyayam.
The soul thinks that sense gratification will make me happy and sense gratification actually delivers suffering. So, Krishna talks about ātmano artha-viparyayam in 18th chapter when he talks about different kinds of happiness. Then he states in 18.37-38 that yatha-dagre vishamiva parināmayaṁ ruto-pamam tat-sukhaṁ sātvikam proktam ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam This is that which tastes like poison in the beginning but tastes like nectar in the end.
tat-sukhaṁ sātvikam proktam That is happiness in the mode of goodness. ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam And it awakens our spiritual intelligence. So, see in the perspective ātmano artha-viparyayam that which provides ātma-buddhi-prasāda-jam that which provides spiritual intelligence that which takes us closer to our spiritual nature that which enables us to experience lasting spiritual happiness that is good for us.
But because of the initial layer of poison yatha-dagre vishamiva because we get caught in seeing appearances so ātmano artha-viparyayam that which is relishable we feel oh it will be intolerable I can’t endure it there is so much austerity that I have to perform I cannot perform this austerity In this way ātmano artha-viparyayam So, this can also be seen to mean that artha-viparyayam means artha can be said to meaning So, the conditioned soul deluded by ahankara-ktam-bandham because of ahankara the conditioned soul thinks the meaningful to be meaningless and the meaningless to be meaningful Krishna also talks about this in the 18th chapter when he talks about that intelligence in the mode of ignorance he says sarvārtha-viparita-amśca-buddhi-sāpārtha-tamasi that intelligence sees things to be the opposite of what they are that intelligence is in the mode of ignorance sarvārtha-viparita-amśca-buddhi-sāpārtha-tamasi in all ways it is just the opposite of what it really is So, now here what is the ātmano artha-viparyayam that is being talked about here it is being said that under the influence of the modes if we see the material to be valuable and we see the spiritual to be not so valuable ok, what difference does the spiritual side of life make to me in the material life which side that matters but that is actually the distortion of reality the fact is that we are spiritual beings and spiritual connection with god is what we need for happiness just as a fish needs water so when we come under illusion like this thinking that things of this world will provide us happiness then we neglect the lord who is our eternal master who is our eternal friend and well-wisher present in our own heart and who desires our greatest well-being we forget him, we neglect him and thus we stay bound and the way out of this bondage is by surrender to Krishna of course, surrender is a very high level surrender to Krishna but surrender is also quite simple as described except that which is favourable, reject that which is unfavourable so, now when we understand that our intelligence is vulnerable, is prone to be deluded by perceptions by the ego and the ego driven perceptions then surrender means we subordinate our intelligence to Krishna’s intelligence we see things from Krishna’s perspective and by seeing things from his perspective we learn to focus on Krishna we learn to see what is actually going to be our true long term good we don’t let ourselves be carried away by the mind’s feelings by our temporary material feelings which are coming which actually come and go which don’t last which create more and more delusion in the material world, when we desire to enjoy things then that causes anxiety because material things are not in our control so, chintam aprimeyam chyapralayantam pashyatah kamo pabhog parama etavaditi nishyatah chintam aprimeyam chyapralayantam that’s immeasurable anxiety and we all face anxiety, stress when really big big problems come in our life and it’s natural, we are not just when there are worrying situations in our life it’s natural to be concerned about it, to be worried about it but here Krishna is talking about not the anxiety that the world creates but he is talking about the anxiety that our own mind creates because the mind is always with us and the mind is filled with insatiable desires then that anxiety is unrelenting it continues till the moment of death pralayantam pashyatah till pralayam that’s all this world is a place of anxiety, no doubt but when our desires are wild and and regulated and we want more and more sense objects for our gratification then the anxiety becomes multiplied even more so if we discipline our desires then the anxiety will still be there when worldly upheavals happen but our own mental upheavals won’t multiply that anxiety so here Krishna is telling that if we not let ourselves be deluded by atmano artha viparyayam by false perception which makes us think of that which is going to be miserable as pleasurable then we won’t let ourselves be caught in the pursuit of all these things rather we will hold on to Krishna and by thus holding on to him we will stay steadily in the transcendental situation under Krishna’s shelter thank you