Bhagavatam-daily 307 – 11.13.40 – Purification is not the depriver of happiness – impurity is

Thank you Sāmyāsāṅgādayo guṇahā Sāmyāsāṅgādayo guṇahā māṁ bhajanti guṇahā sarve those who worship me knowing that I am the preserver of all qualities nirgunaṁ nirpekṣhakaṁ beyond the mode, beyond partiality the well-wisher, the lover the innermost core of all beings Sāmyāsāṅgādayo guṇahā being equal to everyone asanga detached they make me a guṇahā they make me their goal and they also so actually it says that such qualities are situated in Krishna so the point being made here is that in Krishna is described the elaborate process by which one can attain transcendence the question may come up what is the purpose of this? it’s not an easy process constantly remembering that this world is unreal like a dream thinking about how we should be misled by the persistence of objects here all this is a laborious process and the question may come up to what end is all this? so the answer Krishna gives over here is that beyond the three modes is the Lord himself who is situated and everything desirable is present in him guṇahā sarvā so all desirable qualities are there in him who is the supreme now in the condition stage also we have some qualities especially in goodness there can be many good qualities that a person has and even people in passion may have some good qualities but the problem is that in the overall analysis the disconnection from the spiritual disconnection from the eternal disconnection from Krishna is the one bad quality that makes things is the disconnection from Krishna that makes bad things that makes all good qualities ultimately futile that means that in the long run in the eternal run not much good will result if our heart is not directed towards the eternal so somebody may be a very good singer somebody may be very kind, humble so singing and those sort of things you may say they are more external qualities whereas they are more like abilities whereas humility, tolerance kindness, these are more inner to a person, they are like abilities they are like qualities rather so either way certainly these abilities and qualities can do us good in this life people who have abilities can become famous, can become successful can earn a lot not necessary of course sometimes talented people also don’t always become successful sometimes because of circumstances or sometimes because of their own lack of discipline talent doesn’t transform into achievement but the point is that talent can make a substantial difference in this life and similarly if a person has abilities sorry not abilities, talents we can equate with abilities and apart from abilities there are qualities if a person has qualities, person is gentle, kind tolerant, whatever, then these are also very good and living and working with such a person is quite pleasant so in such a situation we need to work for we need to work for recognizing that there has to be more to life so at one level the abilities and qualities are to be cherished and valued where they are present even if they are present at the material level their presence can make life better in this life but why settle only for that if we add the quality of devotion to Krishna of course we are not talking about merely dogmatic belief in some cult’s object of worship we are talking about here the very human search for transcendence the very human longing for meaning in life and how that longing for meaning when directed systematically and guided by scripture can help us to understand that Krishna is the embodiment and fulfillment of all that we aspire for so such a search for truth will enable us to attain Krishna and by attaining Krishna we will be able to slowly but surely move onwards towards towards him towards eternal life of course attaining Krishna can be at two levels at one level it is we attain the process for attaining him at a further level we actually attain him by getting to his abode so both levels of attainment are auspicious but definitely much more auspicious while much more auspicious is developing love for Krishna which essentially assures us that we will get to his abode sooner or later so the point here is that transcending the modes may seem to be very demanding but it is fulfilling, it is supremely fulfilling now this fulfillment of loving Krishna purely without being distracted it’s like Krishna is is the Sukhataram he is the supremely joyful person remembering Krishna like the supreme joy and when we understand this the more we can connect with him the more we can relish nectar and the impurities within us are interruptions to the relishing of that nectar so as we strive to become purified initially we may feel that we are actually in the process of practicing purification we are deprived of happiness but as we start tasting more and more of the sweetness of Krishna then we understand that it is not purification it is not the process of purification that is depriving us of happiness it is the impurities that distract us from practicing the process of purification that deprives us of happiness once we understand this then we practice the process of purification much more wholeheartedly and we more and more uninterruptedly relish the sweetness of Krishna that is what this verse is recommending here that such is the wonderful lord the abode of all qualities so he is filled with all auspicious qualities that is the lord we can attain by transcending the modes and attaining him all our aspirations for love, joy and life eternal are fulfilled