Bhagavatam-daily 306 – 11.13.39 – Unity of purpose underlies diversity of processes

Thank you so here Krishna is giving a conclusion of more or less he is moving towards the conclusion of his teachings and here he is stating that he is the conclusion of the supreme shelter the supreme purpose of yoga I am the true purpose of them all everything is devoted to me beauty, fame and self-control are all ultimately meant to be offered to me so here we see the same theme that the Bhagavatam started with in its first canto Vasudeva Paramita Vasudeva Paramaka so like that it is described in the first canto Vasudev is the purpose of everything and that same theme is now being repeated here when it is stated that there is no purpose higher than him there is no purpose beyond him our primary center our ultimate goal needs to be Krishna there are diversity of processes but there is unity of purpose underlying the diversity of processes and understanding that unity of purpose is the is the understanding that can bring harmony amidst confusion now there are six systems of philosophy within the Lord Indian tradition and from those the Bhagavatam of course is a Vedantic book the Vedanta is the sixth and the culminating system of philosophy but the Bhagavatam presents Vedantic truths often using Sankhya terms and concepts and also drawing into drawing in insights from Yoga so that different sages have looked at the absolute truth from different directions and just as one sage or one observer of a mountain peak may see it from one side and focus on one particular feature of it and another may see from another side and focus on another feature so like that different seers have seen differently and have seen from different perspectives and thus described different features of the absolute truth but just as the mountain being beheld is one similarly the ultimate goal of the various paths is one so there are many different purposes that people may ascribe to their own to whatever they are doing just like nowadays when people practice Yoga they primarily practice it as a bodily tool as a tool for shaping their body for stuffing, strengthening, shaping their body now this can be an Artha and that Artha may also be fulfilled but that Artha is temporary and that is not the Satya Artha the purpose of Yoga in the ultimate sense is to connect us with the Lord of Yoga and that connection with the Lord of Yoga is best established through the practice of Bhakti Yoga so Krishna here is revealing to the Kumaras that He is the ultimate goal just like in the process of Jnana Krishna says now the point is that Krishna is not there in referring to Krishna is there in referring to the point that the culmination of knowledge is in surrender to Him and similarly so He says that most of the Yogis Yogis who are most intimately united with me are the Yogis who are who are connected with me in devotion who meditate on me within their heart in devotion so in this way the process of Karma the process of Jnana, the process of Yoga they culminate in Bhakti and Krishna in the 7th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita also talks about the Sankhya analysis Sankhya mode of analysis wherein the elements are the material nature is analysed into its constituent elements but while analysing it into its constituent elements Krishna states further that these are His energies so essentially Sankhya is not always theistic but Krishna reveals the reveals how that Sankhya framework can be as ultimately meant to help souls to connect with Him and that understanding can help people to overcome whatever obstacles they may be facing in their lives and to move onwards towards Krishna and to ultimately attain Krishna so as sadhakas this conviction that there is one absolute truth who is being perceived and pursued by different observers, different seekers with different seeing capacities different seeing interests different progressing capacities Krishna talks about this unifying at the same time reciprocating principle in so there is reciprocity that Krishna reciprocates as all people surrender I reveal accordingly I reward revelation of myself accordingly at the same time He says that that on my path exist all living beings so the important thing for us to recognize is that we are pursuing that one path sometimes when we practice bhakti we feel oh am I missing out something which might be available in the path of jnana or it might be available in the path of yoga no, all those paths are meant to take us to the same ultimate goal Krishna who is the goal of bhakti so we are not missing anything rather that same ultimate goal is most easily accessible through bhakti and that’s why those who practice bhakti are most fortunate and by taking shelter of bhakti we can attain Krishna most easily such as the glory of bhakti and such is the unifying nature of the revelation that Krishna is giving here in the Uddhava Gita