Bhagavatam-daily 44 – 11.07.34 – Learning attitude ensures that we learn not just occasionally but constantly

Shrimad Bhagavatam, 11th, 7th, 34th. Madhuha, that refers of course to the honey thief, Harinaha, deer, Meenaha is the fish, Pingala is a prostitute, will be referred to in the next chapter, Kuraro, Kura is a particular kind of bird, Arbhakaha is an infant, a baby, a small child, Kumari, the girl, Sharakrat, the arrow maker, Sarpa, snake, Purnanabhi, that refers to the spider, Supeshakrit, that refers to the wasp. So, here the Avadhut Brahmana is continuing his description, his listing of his gurus.
So, he listed some in the previous verse and now he is listing the remaining. So, here he is listing 11 and earlier he listed 13, that’s 24. So, Madhuha, Harinaha, Meenaha.
Now, if we look at the gurus that he talks about, it’s significant that he’s not referring to exalted spiritual persons who are steeped in wisdom and who share that wisdom very compassionately with others. That kind of people, yes, they definitely are gurus, but not even one of those is included in these. Now, if we could say, if we look at it from one level, we could say that actually he is a Brahmana and Brahmanas are the teachers of all other classes of people.
So, it could well be said that this Avadhut Brahmana could have considered that, oh, I am meant to be the guru of everyone else. What can others teach me? So, now what to speak of having that kind of attitude? This Brahmana is learning from others, even when others are not making any conscious effort to teach them. If you see, when we discuss each of these gurus, we’ll see that many of these people, for example, the Sharakrit, the arrow maker was just going about doing his own work.
And just by observing him, the Avadhut Brahmana learned a valuable lesson. And what to speak of, at least the Sharakrit Brahmana, the arrow maker was doing something, the arrow maker was a human being. But he includes in the list of his gurus, not just human beings, but also sub-human beings, and includes animals, birds, and even includes the great elements like in the previous verse, he talked about the earth, the wind, the fire.
So, here he talks about fish. So, that means the key for learning is not just meeting a very learned person. The key for learning is having a learning attitude.
Of course, we do need to associate with an enlightened person, so that we can learn the ultimate truth, as Krishna tells in the Bhagavad Gita, that we should go to the… 4.34 in the Gita states that we should go to those who have seen the truth, and we should learn the truth from them. At the same time, the point is that even when we get to associate with such enlightened souls, we can learn from them only when we have a learning attitude. And if we have a learning attitude, then our learning will not remain restricted to the time when we are associating with or hearing from the enlightened souls.
If we are hearing Bhagavatam, we are hearing Krishna Katha, real hearing is not the hearing that ends when the class ends. So, real hearing is the hearing that continues even after the class has ended. That means when we read the Bhagavatam, we hear in the Bhagavatam class, that we cherish in our heart, we keep repeating in our mind.
And then as we go around in the world, we see, we view, we interpret events, according to what we have heard, we see through the eyes of Shastra. And in that way, we realize what we have heard. So, the learning attitude is vital for internalizing our learning.
So, the Acharya has explained that the Brahmana did have a spiritual master. And he had learned the truth from the spiritual master. But in this particular conversation, he is conveying a different lesson.
The example of going to a spiritual master and learning from the spiritual master is, has been exemplified repeatedly in the Bhagavatam, in its very setting. Parichit Maharaj leaves the kingdom and goes to Shri Uday Goswami. The sages are inquiring from Shri Uday Goswami.
And here itself in the Uddhava Gita, Uddhava is inquiring from Krishna. And Maharaj Yadu is inquiring from this Avadhut Brahmana. So, that theme that we have to go to a spiritual master and inquire, that has been repeatedly and indubitably, indubitably means beyond any doubt, indubitably established in the Bhagavatam.
Now, in the 11th canto, where it is now going towards its climax, the Bhagavatam is demonstrating through the tale of the Avadhut Brahmana, another principle. The principle of continuing our learning, even after our interaction with our learned spiritual teachers has ended. Nowadays, many people participated in, participate in, say, continuing learning programs, continued learning programs.
They may join some extra courses. They may participate in some online or correspondence courses so that they can keep learning. Now, some of them do that because in the professional world itself, the fields and the knowledge is changing so fast that they have to keep up with the times.
Or some people may do it because of a curiosity to want to know more. So, this is an expression of the human faculty of Chit. Sat Chitananda, that is the faculty of the soul.
These are the three faculties of the soul. And these faculties are expressed far more in the human body than in the lower species. So, in the soul, the soul’s Chit capacity, that means the capacity to be aware and the desire to be aware, the need to be aware, that is what drives the human quest for knowledge for our whole race and for us as individuals.
Humanity wants to know more and more what is there outside in the space, what is there deep inside the atom. So, science has moved forward because of the humanity’s quest for knowledge. Prabhupada says in one conversation that we are not against the scientist’s spirit of inquiring and knowing.
We are against their godlessness. Prabhupada actually even used science and its products, technology in Krishna’s service. So, he opposed science when science opposed god or rather when science was misused by atheists to propagate atheism.
So, the same inquisitive spirit that has led to scientific progress, when that inquisitive spirit is directed not just externally towards things, science primarily inquires about how do things work? Okay, Newton saw a fruit falling, how does it fall? The science looks at the external world and tries to discern how the order in that world works. When that same inquiring spirit is directed towards the inner world, towards understanding who I am and what makes me work, what makes me tick, what makes me happy, not in a self-centered superficial bodily sense, but in a deep spiritual sense, what makes me truly, lastingly happy, that inner inquiry leads us to the spiritual quest and that learning mode is essential for serious spiritual seekers. And to go inwards, to understand the nature of our own consciousness and our own self, we use scripture as a torchlight for our inner journey.
And what scripture teaches us, we can confirm that by observing the world carefully, not uncritically, because if we observe the world uncritically, then we will be deceived by its promises of pleasure. But if you observe the world carefully, then we will see how the truths that scripture teach are demonstrated in the world. And whatever principles we need to practice to progress in our inner journey towards realizing the soul and ultimately towards realizing Krishna, whatever principles we need to internalize, those principles we will not only learn from scripture, but we will also learn from nature.
In that sense, the scripture is one book of God and nature can also become another book of God. If we learn to see nature according to scripture, then whatever is taught in scripture becomes vindicated, becomes demonstrated, becomes reinforced in nature and that’s how our scriptural learning becomes internalized. So here, by learning even from insentient beings, even from what would be considered by a sanctimonious person, self-righteous person, that which are low class people, I don’t even want to look at them.
I don’t want to even look at a prostitute, I’ll contaminate my eyes. He doesn’t think like this. He learns even from a prostitute.
And so this learning attitude is the greatest insurance for our ongoing learning. And by that, we can learn through nature what is taught in scripture and thereby progress