Bhagavatam-daily 310 – 11.14.2 – Diversity of paths accommodates variety of desires

Thank you ye natvai aavishe manaha so here Krishna speaks our Uddhava says he gives a summary understanding of what Krishna has spoken till now and he states that O Krishna you have explained till now the process of bhakti by which one can transcend material existence so aavishe manaha by fixing the mind on you O Lord one can cross over all obstacles and attain perfection Krishna mentions something similar in the Bhagavad Gita in 18.58 he states if you become conscious of me you will cross over all obstacles by my grace Krishna is saying here mada idea machittaha so aavishe manaha now if we look at the overall message of the Uddhava Gita it’s undoubtedly giving due importance priority to bhakti and Uddhava indirectly is herein answering the question which he has raised in the previous text in the previous text he said that in the Vedas many processes have been taught have been recommended so is there any supreme process among them and he is venturing his own understanding here based on what he has understood by hearing from Krishna till now bhavato dhartha oh lord bhavata is a respectful second person reference so he is stating here that oh lord you have explained how process of bhakti enables one to attain perfection in the best possible way now sometimes the question comes up in our context that if bhakti is the best way then why do other processes need to be talked about at all that’s because Krishna as he says in the Bhagavad Gita 4.11 that he reciprocates with our desires yathvamam prapadyante tam sathai bhava bhajamyaham mamuvartamanuvartante manushyah partha sarvasaham so he says mamuvartamanuvartante mamuvartama, my path, anuvartante people follow manushyah partha sarvasaham for Arjuna in complete respect people follow my path what he means by this is that there is no particular no one is excluded from Krishna’s path at the same time along the path how far people go on the path that will vary depending on the disposition of the person and that Krishna indicates in the first line yathvamam prapadyante tam sathai bhava bhajamyaham that as all people surrender unto me I reciprocate accordingly so when different people have different desires Krishna accommodates those desires at various levels for example the many different species that are present in material existence those species also reflect the variety of desires that the souls have so different species provide a facility for the soul to fulfill different kinds of desires and even when one comes in human life human life is ultimately meant for spiritual inquiry and that is the ultimate purpose of spiritual life not everybody focuses on that purpose because the momentum for worldly gratification that one has got from the lower species is carried over into the human species and even in the human body people often seek lot of self gratification and when that is their focus then they can’t then they can’t pursue spiritual life and certainly they can’t pursue spiritual life as their primary goal often people don’t even want to give any time for spiritual life what to speak of giving maximum time and what to speak of giving full life to Krishna so in the human form also the souls have different kinds of desires and even when people get connected with God or get some sense of life spiritual side even then they don’t necessarily or automatically realize that Krishna is the ultimate purpose of their life so what the Vedas do is they provide various processes to accommodate different desires of the souls and as such desires get accommodated then the souls move onwards in their spiritual journey toward the Supreme Lord so they are on Krishna’s path now Uddhava is among those supremely fortunate souls who has understood that Krishna is the ultimate goal who has made Krishna his be-all and end-all and through whom Krishna is enlightening us all stating that this is how we can all attain perfection while there are variety of desires we have there are less auspicious and more auspicious desires and the devotional desire is the most auspicious desire and Krishna encourages us to develop and make that desire the defining desire of our life