Bhagavatam-daily 79 – 11.07.69 – What we lament about reflects our consciousness level

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And this particular passage that comes within this pastime. Thank you.
And he is telling what he has learned from the pigeon and the pigeon is now seeing his children as well as his wife trapped in the hunter’s net and is lamenting. So Anurup, Anukulaja, Anurup, suitable, Anurup whose form, whose life, whose disposition was suitable for me, Anukulaja, he was favorable, Anukula means faithful over here, so what is favorable in a wife is faithfulness. यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्यमे पतिदेवता यस्य Why has it become empty? माम संतेज पुत्रई So, she is thinking that, oh! My children have left me.
My children are trapped in the net. And seeing that, she has also, संतेज, left me and स्वर्याति She has gone to heaven. सादुभी She was actually a saintly lady.
So, she has attained heaven. So, here, the bird is lamenting grievously. Oh! Now, the hunter’s net trap is so deadly that there is no hope of getting, of escaping.
It’s as good as already dead. And it’s a general human culture, almost universal feature of human culture, that one does not speak bad about those who are dead. We say, let the dead past, bury its dead.
So, even if somebody has done something bad, generally, we don’t speak about it and perpetuate it. In general, there are condolence meetings or there are memorial services. Then, we speak good about the person who has departed.
And, by that, the idea is, let our memories of one who has passed be positive. That is a basic part of human culture. So, now, the pigeon is seeing that, you know, my family is devastated.
So, he is thinking that my wife is enlisting her good qualities. Anurupa Anukula. Oh, she is suitable for me.
She was faithful to me. And what was the extent of her faithfulness? Yasyame Pati Devata. My husband is my God.
So, this was a traditional understanding in the Vedic culture that we see the connection with the Divine in all our relationships. So, the husband was considered to be like a God by the wife. And, when a new bride would come in a home, it is often thought that in the form of this bride, Lakshmi Devi has come.
So, the women were considered to be like goddesses and a part or a remnant of that is even today, when devotees, Matajis get initiated, they have the name Devi associated with it. So, seeing the higher side of our relationships, by seeing the higher side, our higher connections, that is important, of course. Additionally, the husband is expected to be advanced.
And, just as the spiritual master acts as the Guru for the husband, so, similarly, the husband acts as the Guru for the wife. So, there was that there was that spiritual hierarchy where the spiritual master is connected with God and the disciple is connected with the spiritual master and the wife is connected with the disciple, with her husband, who is the disciple and the children are connected with the wife. And in this way, everyone gets pulled upwards towards Krishna.
So, the principle is that we all need to be spiritually connected. So, the the practical instructions the wife cannot take from the spiritual master directly because in all serious spiritual cultures there is always some level of gender separation. So, now, the spiritual master instructs the disciple and the disciple internalizes the instructions, assimilates them, realizes them and then, after living in the Guru’s ashram, becomes, returns back to become a Grihastha.
At that time, the disciple who has now become a Grihastha acts as a spiritual guide for the wife. So, that was the traditional social dynamics. And, now, here the bird is speaking that he is remembering that he is not praising himself here by saying oh, I was a Devata for my wife.
The husband is not meant to think like that. The husband is to we have to identify ourselves in relationship with our seniors as their subordinates. Not in relationship with our juniors as their superiors.
So, the husband should not think oh, I am the God of my wife. The husband should think I am the disciple of my I am the servant of my Guru. So, he is thinking this that the tone is clearly not self-congratulatory.
It is glorificatory of his wife. She was so Dharmic that she would follow the principles of Dharma which were meant for her. That principle for her was to treat her husband like a God.
So, she followed that. And, because she lived so Dharmically, now, she is actually going to Heaven. She has gone to Heaven.
Swaryati. And, what has what has been her thinking? She says, Shunyagrihe. My house has become empty.
My children have left me. Maam Santyajya Putrayi. My children have left me.
And, now, she feels that she has no duty in her life. And, that’s why she is leaving Sadhvi. She is a saintly woman.
And, she is saintly female. And, she is leaving me. So, at one level, we can see even in the expression of lamentation, there is the stamp of culture.
But, what we are seeing is he is expressing his appreciation for his wife also in terms of her dharmic qualities. And, in that way, he is lamenting. how a person laments also reflects one’s culture.
Or, what one laments about, that also reflects one’s level of consciousness. So, those people lament about, say, nowadays, oh, India lost this cricket match. Or, oh, this happened, that happened.
So, small, small things people lament and make a huge lament about that. Or, when a person dies, now often the lament is, oh, who will take care of me now? The lament is not about, the concern is not about what will happen to, what is the destination that person is going to that, and what can I do for that person. But the lament is very self-centered.
So, of course, here, the pigeon, this has been depicted, is not dharmically ignorant and vikarmic. The pigeon is not doing sinful activities. The pigeon is representing here a householder who is attached, although not sinful.
So, the householder who is doing his duty is quite well. He is taking care of the children and his wife also is glorifying a sadhu, bee. So, despite having such a, such a culture, wherein one understands the necessity of dharma and appreciates the qualities of dharma in others, still, if that practice of dharma is only at the material level.
So, the concept also here is that she is going to swarga. She is not getting liberated and going to the spiritual world. So, the concept of dharma is entirely material over here.
And, such a material concept of dharma cannot save one from the frustration that comes with material destruction. And, that’s why the Bhagavatam leads us towards that param tattva, that supreme truth, which, on hearing of which, we become freed. The miseries of material existence are completely uprooted.
And, that truth is the supreme lord and pure love for him. Without which, even a materially religious life, materially pious life, dharmic life, will end in frustration. That is the message that this Bhagavatam section gives us.