Bhagavatam-daily 9 – 11.06.48 – Krishna manifested through his pastimes acts as a sword and a magnet

Thank you.
We Tva means a comparison. The previous verse had talked about Those who are austere renunciates, who wear nothing except the dress of air. That means those who follow the path of renunciation.
They attain Brahman, but with great difficulty. In contrast with them, Vayamtva So here, how Krishna can provide a greater result is described through the path that he is a Mahayogi. Those who are wandering on the path of karma.
By your discussion with your past times. They will be able to cross over. What? Those who are this, they are your people, they are your devotees.
That is very difficult to cross over. The darkness of material existence. So, the verse essentially says that In contrast to those yogis, who do severe austerities to attain Brahman.
Your devotees will be able to cross over material existence, simply by Discussing your past times. So now Although there may not be explicit words, such as Here, describing that this path is easy and that path is difficult. But still, Uddhava is making it very clear.
It’s self-evident. That actually discussing the Lord’s past times is not at all difficult. Living without any clothes, living in a forest, living as a shramana.
These are all not very practical things for most people. Even in past ages, what to speak of the present age. But Here Uddhava is pointing out that Karmavartis, that actually Brahman is the Karmavartis.
We are all wandering on the path of karma in the cycle of birth and death. And While we are caught up in the cycle We are pushed towards activities to suddenly break off that cycle and To Focus on inactivity and meditation and renunciation is not easy. It’s extremely difficult.
But We have a tendency to speak, we have a tendency to hear, we have a tendency to Do things and we do all those things in relationship with Krishna. We discuss his past times. Then This Tarang, that Jyotamaha, that material existence is very difficult to give up.
But we will be able to give up. So how exactly Will we be able to give up? By the practice of Discussing his past times. Now, this raises a question.
How exactly does discussing the past times of Krishna Liberate us? Actually What Is bound or what is What defines whether we are bound or whether we are liberated Is our desires. If we consider an alcoholic Physically speaking, the alcoholic may be just like any other person. May be wearing a shirt pant, going to a job, riding in a car.
But internally there are desires that bind the alcohol to the bottle of liquor. Alcoholic to the bottle of alcohol. And those ropes May be constantly tugging gently, but sometimes they tug forcefully and it’s almost impossible to resist.
And those two ropes are able to tug because That alcoholic has the desire to enjoy alcohol. Others who do not have that desire Are not troubled. So bondage is caused by our desires To enjoy the things that are actually not enjoyable but miserable.
Now what applies to alcoholics applies to all of us also. Because we are all attached to temporary things which also Intoxicate us with temporary pleasure as does alcohol. But then these things give us the hangover of A lifetime or more of bondage in material existence.
So we need to direct our desires away from these things towards Krishna. Towards something that will liberate us. And that Higher reality manifests in its fullest most attractive form as Krishna.
So when we hear about Krishna It is not just the act of discussion But what manifests In the discussion about Krishna among devotees Is attraction for Krishna. When devotees speak about Krishna They Help us see him Not just as some mythological person or historical person But we see him as a transcendental person. The supreme person, the all attractive lord.
And We start becoming attracted to him. And the more we become attracted to him The more we become free From attachments to the things of this world. The more we become Unbound.
Now Krishna Accelerates this process of our unbinding From material nature because he acts not just like a sword That he as the Bhagavatam first can to state that Remembrance of Krishna like a sword which cuts off our material attachments and material bondages. But Krishna also acts as a magnet. As Prahlad Maharaj says in the 7th Canto.
And so not only does Krishna help us break free from material attachments But Krishna also helps us to become attracted to him. Because he is so all attractive And he said all attractive is especially revealed in the association of devotees When they glorify Krishna. So in this way Dushtharantamaha Darshami That material ocean In which we are, that darkness of material existence In which we are trapped because of our own desires To enjoy the things in this material existence.
We become liberated from that Because of our desires We get a better object for desiring. We find that Whatever happiness I might get in the sense objects in this world I can get all that and much much more Infinitely more In Krishna That All opulent, beautiful and glorious Things Manifest with a spark of Krishna’s splendor 10.41 in the Bhagavad Gita So when a devotee understands this Then and Actually hearing Krishna’s pastimes As the Bhagavad Gita says Tattvataha With a proper philosophical understanding That helps us to become attracted to him And the more we become attracted to him The more Our attractions to the Sources of bondage in this world Fall away And that’s how We become liberated So though acknowledging The validity Of Krishna’s personal meditation Leading gradually to Brahman attainment He strongly Prefers And recommends Prefers means for himself he is saying this is what we will do And he is placing himself In the community of devotees And he is in that sense saying that On behalf of all the devotees this is what we will do So he is telling us That what we will do is We will cross over this Very formidable material existence Simply by discussing your pastimes So actually He is glorifying Krishna And Through this He is instructing us also That we should also Absorb ourselves in discussing his pastimes Without worrying too much about other processes And in fact the whole Bhagavatam Demonstrates and facilitates Such discussion of Krishna’s pastimes It demonstrates because It shows through the example of Parikshit Maharaj Hearing the discussions of Krishna’s pastimes And it also itself contains so many pastimes That it becomes a substance of discussion For Future generations of devotees For millennia to come In this way the Bhagavatam Makes The supreme liberation Accessible Through its narration Of the liberating pastimes of Krishna And it is that Krishna Whom we take shelter of When we hear about him Through the Bhagavatam Thank you