Bhagavatam-daily 35 – 11.07.25 – Renunciation comes not from frustration but from illumination

Thank you Krishna is, the Uddhav Gita is describing about the Avatod Brahmana from whom Maharaj Yadu learnt lessons, so the background is that Krishna said that by using one’s intelligence one can learn lessons which will liberate one from eternal existence now normally dvijas brahmanas are expected to follow rules and regulations very strictly that’s how they maintain their purity but here this brahmana is described as avadhutam, that means avadhut refers to those who do not follow rules and regulations because they are, they may appear to be like mad, almost uninformed people but they are at such an advanced level of spiritual realization that just act in this transcendental level so avadhutam dvijam, such a brahmana that avadhut, whom Maharaj Yadu met actually saw in the forest charantam akutobhayam and he saw that he was wandering without any fear kavindrikshatarunam so now two characteristics Maharaj Yadu observed it’s interesting that Maharaj Yadu is a king and a king is normally noticed by others when the king walks in his or goes in his chariot or on his horse or even walks, the king normally associates with him the king becomes the center of attention wherever he goes but here he saw this brahmana this person, he was just akutobhayam, fearlessly going on in his way and he almost did not seem to take much notice of the king so the king however took notice of him and noticed that this person is tarunam, he is young and yes, it was clear that he was avadhut but he was not a reject renunciate in the sense that he was not a person who had simply out of frustration because of not being good for anything had taken renunciation, he was tarunam but along with that he was also kavim, he was wise so the wisdom was a result of illumination, sorry the renunciation was a result of illumination not of frustration, many people feel that let me just renounce the world because I am frustrated with life, some people think that they can have, they try to have a love affair with someone and when that didn’t work out they think oh now I will renounce the world but that sort of renunciation is arising from frustration and at one level we can say that anyway one becomes detached that is good but at another level the purpose is not detachment, our ultimate purpose is attachment to higher spiritual reality ultimately to Krishna and that attachment can come not from frustration, at least not sustainably, that attachment can come only from purification and the need for purification arises from illumination by wisdom so of course the more illumined we are the purer we already are and the purer we choose to become so sattvahat sanjayate jnanam krishnasiddhim when we are in goodness knowledge is produced by that goodness but another way of looking at it is these modes are not something which come automatically, a mode is something which you can cultivate also so by trying to live within knowledge that means knowing this is what I should be doing, this is what I should not be doing, by living in knowledge we can also cultivate goodness so in general as devotees we will all face frustration in our lives and should that frustration lead to renunciation yes, but the important point is the renunciation if it comes, it should come not because of frustration with one particular form of self gratification but it should come from illumination about the very nature of self gratification in general otherwise if one relationship doesn’t work out and so I think I’ll renounce the world then that frustration with the specific will last for some time but unless there is illumination about the generic nature of material reality and material relationships after some time the mind will start proposing that we enjoy something else and in that way the renunciation will be undercut from within and person will fall back to sense gratification so it takes one to know one it is said so Maharaj Yadu was himself a wise person and that’s why when he observed this Avadhoota he could see that he was Kavin Tarunam he was young, he was renounced, but now that renunciation was due to illumination, not due to frustration of any kind and Yadu praprachya dharmaved therefore what did Maharaj do? Yadu praprachya, he went to him to ask questions, dharmaved, knowing that now this dharmaved is used for Maharaj Yadu over here, so he said that now he was himself knowledgeable on dharma and yet he went and inquired because he felt that this person was very learned and the proof of his learning, now there were no external trophies of his learning suppose sometimes we decided to ask some questions, now we would like to know, does this person really know, if I am going to ask questions to someone, that person should have knowledge, only then it will be worthwhile otherwise my time will get wasted so we want to have some authentication of that person’s qualification to teach when we go to ask questions, but in this case, he decides no, so how does Maharaj decide that he should go, actually the qualification of this avadhuta is evident in his deportment, deportment means his behaviour in his conduct, so he is young he is learned, he is detached and he is fearless, so fearless here indicates that he is not too excited, caught up agitated about worldly things so this conduct, our actions often speak so loudly that they mute our words often times, of course the best is when our actions amplify our words and our words amplify our actions, that means we, what we live is illuminated by what we speak and what we speak is demonstrated by how we live, Prabhupada was like that he had just remained an old man in America doing his Bhagavatam translation doing his chanting, offering his bhoga to Krishna that alone might have attracted a few people but when along with that he preached also then people had an understanding, ok this is what you are doing and this is why you are doing it and then they became inspired to even dedicate their lives to him, so similarly for us, what is being demonstrated here is that, no faith can be awakened in others when they see a symbiotic harmony of between one’s actions and one’s words, then the faith becomes deep rooted and faith becomes transformational so here, Maharaj Yadu is attracted by this Brahmana and so on, we will ask him questions what, how the conversation unfolded, we will discuss in our next session, thank you