Bhagavatam study 22 – 1.5.33-40 – Action with devotional recollection leads to liberation

Shri Mata Bhagavatam, 1.5.3 आमयो यश्च भूताना जायते ये न सूब्रता तदेवया आमयं द्रोव्यं नपुनाति चिकीत्सितं Narguni is continuing his instruction to Vyasadeva. Narguni is overall talking about how bhakti is the paradharma, bhakti is the most recommended course of action. Therefore, Vyasadeva should focus on glorifying bhakti and bhagwan.
He should write a book that does this glorification. So, while analysing and explaining the potency of bhakti, here, he states that आमयो यश्च भूताना जायते ये न सूब्रता तदेवया आमयं द्रोवयं नपुनाति चिकीत्सितं That which has caused it, तदेवया आमयं द्रोवयं That very thing becomes the cure for the disease, नपुनाति चिकीत्सितं Does it not become a cure? So, here the standard example is given that sometimes when somebody eats too much milk That causes an upset stomach. Now, that same milk when transformed into curd can be eaten for curing the upset stomach.
Similarly, here the point is being made that no cure is varied, that the material existence in which we are suffering, our actions are the cause of our bondage But our actions themselves can become the cause of our liberation if the actions are therapeutically transformed Just as milk can become and transform to curd, cure. Similarly, our actions will become a cure. They will relieve us from material existence if we become devoted to Krishna.
Just like if there is a tape, in the past there would be tapes which would have reels and the reel from one side will get exhausted and as the tape is played, the reel from one side comes off and goes on the other side. So, like that, the same activity which is done by Duryodhana and Arjuna, both of them might be on a chariot, both of them may be fighting, but in the case of Duryodhana his karmic load is increasing He is becoming more and more bound by his actions whereas Arjuna is becoming unbound, he is becoming liberated And the reason that action can lead to this is dramatic transformation, opposite of entanglement. How can action lead to that? Because this action is imbued, is transformed, the intention animating it is transformed.
The intention is bhakti, it is the intention to love and serve Krishna. So this argument now gradually Narada Muni will make and he starts by saying that you know this very well, this principle, the same object when transformed becomes a cure. The way Narada Muni is asking this, he is presuming that oh Vyasa, you know about this already.
For people, the activity, the yoga of action, the very things, all those things, that which cause bondage. So in this way, kriya yoga, the yoga which involves kriya, which involves action, is primarily referred to as karma yoga and bhakti yoga. And actually, if a person might be externally acting at the level of karma yoga, but if the intention is devotional, that person knows Krishna is the ultimate goal and is aspiring to achieve Krishna, then the difference between karma yoga and bhakti yoga becomes very less.
So kriya yoga in this context, as we will see in future verses, how the person is devoted to Krishna, in such a context, it’s actually referring to bhakti yoga. So that which causes bondage, the eva atma-vinashaya, kalpante kalpita-pare. So that everything destroys the bondage of the person and that person moves forward towards transcendence.
kalpante kalpita-pare. yadatra kriyate karma bhagavad paritoshanam dhyanam yathad adheenam bhakti yoga samanvitam So yadatra kriyate karma, in this way, one who performs karma, bhagavad paritoshanam, for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. In the second chapter also of this Srikanto, the word toshanam, samsiddhir hari toshanam, toshanam means to satisfy.
So here the same word is talked about, bhagavad paritoshanam. yadatra kriyate karma bhagavad paritoshanam, so one who performs work for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord. Now normally when do we work for satisfying someone? Either when we love that person or when we are dependent on that person and we are dependent on that person’s satisfaction.
So for example, we may try to satisfy our boss in office because our pay cheque, our raises, our promotions, it depends on that person. Now that satisfaction is motivated primarily by the desire for material gain. Whereas when we try to satisfy a loved one, that is for a more elevated purpose.
It is more for the reciprocation of love. So initially we may start practising bhakti or start doing some kind of religious worship for the sake of getting some gain from others. Bhagavad paritoshanam, we may try to satisfy the Lord so that the Lord will provide us certain things that we need.
But gradually we will start realising that reciprocating with the Lord is far more satisfying than relishing the loving remembrance of the Lord. That is far more satisfying than any material thing that we might gain. And in this way we can actually move closer to Krishna and our desire to satisfy him will become motivated less by the desire for some gain and more by the desire for the deepening of reciprocal love.
gyanam yathad dhinam hi bhakti-yog samanvitam When one acts in this way for the satisfaction of the Lord then gyanam yathad dhinam hi Gyan becomes a subordinate element that comes with it automatically. Krishna talks about this in the Bhagavad Gita 10.10 When he says that Those who thus act Those who act thus for satisfying, for pleasing me with a loving intention Then for them I give them the By which they can come to me. Then Krishna uses the word gyanam specifically in the next verse When he says I am giving mercy on them.
What do I do? The darkness which is caused by ignorance Which is born from ignorance I destroy that I am situated in their heart. And how do I destroy it? With the torchlight of knowledge With the lamp of knowledge So gyanam yathad dhinam hi Gyan becomes an automatically achieved subordinate factor bhakti-yog samanvitam This is called as bhakti-yoga Which is a bhakti-yoga When one tries to satisfy the Supreme Lord One does an endeavour to cultivate knowledge independently The bhakti itself has an element where we cultivate knowledge But actually Our purpose is not to cultivate knowledge Our purpose is to cultivate devotion And for the purpose of cultivating devotion We strive to cultivate some amount of knowledge So this knowledge is Actually in bhakti we cultivate knowledge Knowledge is of the greatness of Krishna And the smallness of all of us Whereas In gyana In impersonal gyana The focus is on cultivating knowledge of our oneness So This is a defining difference between The gyana of the The dry knowledge of the gyanis Which is disapproved of in devotional circles And the relishable knowledge of the bhaktas Which focusses on Relishing more and more glories of the Supreme Lord So As we grow in bhakti We say that we get more and more taste in Krishna’s glory That means That we understand that we are small and Krishna is great And we want to delight in his great and infinite glories 36th text kurvāṇā yatra karmāṇi bhagavad-shikṣa-yāsa-kṛta-guṇanti-guṇa-nāmāṇi kṛṣṇa-iśvānu-smaranti-ca kurvāṇā yatra karmāṇi So till now This section started By saying that One Works For The pleasure One The same work which causes bondage can bring about liberation And how is that? If it is done for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord And Now how does one ensure that the work is done for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord? It’s not just a matter of intention It’s also a matter of Of recollection and glorification So one kṛṣṇa-iśvānu-smaranti-ca So intention is sustained by recollection and glorification Or rather by glorificatory recollection So So So the Sādhaka Does one’s prescribed duties But While doing those prescribed duties one remembers kṛṣṇa-iśvānu-smaranti-ca This is similar to Bhagavad Gita 8th chapter Where Krishna says And What does one remember about Krishna? How does one remember Krishna? According to the instruction, the will of the Lord Asakrit Continuously One engages in the Glorification of the Supreme Lord And this way One moves onwards Towards the Supreme Lord So Externally a devotee May be engaged In the material world And In many ways the activities of a devotee May seem similar to the activities Of karmis Who get bound in material existence But internally because the devotee’s motivation is different The devotee doesn’t get bound Rather the devotee progressively Moves towards Purification and liberation By The Inner recollection and glorification of the Lord And now in the 37th text An example is given of how One does kṛṣṇa-iśvānu-smaranti-ca So one mantra is told over here Which a devotee can recite And in this way A devotee can remember and glorify the Lord Om is usually used Whenever you want to invoke the absolute truth And Namo Like we have mantras Om namo nārāyaṇa The famous mantra which Ramana Mahācārya Received As a confidential mantra from his Spiritual master and he delivered it Widely to the whole world So that everyone could be delivered So Om namo Bhagvate tubhyam So here Just as there are many other mantras Om namo bhagvate vāsudevāya is there That is the mantra which Narada Muni will later give Dhruva In the fourth canto as we will see So There are different mantras Which stress the Glorification of the Lord Which stress the Meditation on the Lord Which stress Our Inner and verbal Connection with the Lord And all these mantras Are meant to act as tools that Elevate our consciousness Of course the mantras are not just tools The mantras are manifestations Of Krishna himself But we don’t have that Realisation initially We can see the mantras as Elevators for our consciousness So here Om O Lord Om namo bhagvate tubhyam Vāsudevāya dhīmahi Vāsudevāya dhīmahi Dhīmahi means to meditate And because this is a mantra, the meditation is done by chanting So Prabhupāda translates dhīmahi as chanting Dhīmahi comes famously In the Gayatri Mantra And it comes in the first verse of the First chapter of the first canto of human bhāgavatam And that is where Ācāryas correlate The Bhāgavatam With The With the Gayatri Mantra So dhīmahi And then pradyumna Anuruddhāya So here while talking about the Supreme Lord, the four Chaturveya Expansion, yugas Are talked about Now the avatāra and yuga Are both In one sense expansions of the Lord The general sense of difference Is that avatāra Avatāra refers to Avatāriti iti avatāra, one who descends From the spiritual level of reality To the material level of reality That is avatāra Whereas The Vyūha The vyūha is referred to Those who expand At the spiritual level of reality itself Chaturveya is We know that from Nārāyaṇa And actually the Chaturveya expansion Vāsudeva, Sankarsanurudhya and Pradyumna So these four manifestations of God Of the Supreme are being Offered obeisances here In this way Here Nārāyaṇa is giving an example Of how a mantra can be chanted By which one can Move onwards And go closer to Krishna One can attain Krishna One can internally Recollect Krishna while externally Doing one’s prescribed activities What are the Significance of such mantras that is told in the next verse The 38th verse Ityā mūrtya abhidhānena Mantra mūrtiṁ amūrtikaṁ Yajate yajña puruṣaṁ Sasamyak darshana pūmān Ityā mūrtya abhidhānena Mantra mūrtiṁ amūrtikaṁ So The word Mūrti There is a poetic alliteration That the word Mūrti comes three times over here Ityā mūrtya abhidhānena Mantra mūrtiṁ amūrtikaṁ So abhidhāna Has multiple meanings Here it refers to the manifestation And it has to be manifestation through sound Ityā mūrtya abhidhānena In this way In the manifestation as sound Mantra mūrtiṁ amūrtikaṁ That lord Who does not have form He becomes manifested In the form of mantra Mantra mūrtiṁ amūrtikaṁ And when he becomes manifested Which it does Yajate yajne purusham Yajate What is the purpose of this Manifestation Yajate one can worship that lord Who is yajne purusham So in the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says Yajjana yajne smi The japa Chanting of the names is a yajna So Krishna Confirms that over here Sorry the Bhagavatam confirms Or reiterates that part here Krishna says that the japa is a yajna Similarly it is said that By the chanting of mantras That unmanifested lord has become Manifested and in this way One meditates Not just meditates on the spiritual sound But one worships The yajne purusha So this is a verse which stresses that Chanting is also like a And This verse is so Clearly Assertive about this Non-difference of yajna and japa That it concludes By stating that That one who Sees thus Such a person is the complete seer So There is In the Bhagavad Gita The usage is made One who sees thus Is actually seeing Others are not seeing So similar kind of usage is One who sees thus is the complete seer That means others see incompletely Here Krishna here the Bhagavatam is not talking about People who are in ignorance It is talking about People who are having partial knowledge So those who appreciate yajna as sacred But the Bhagavatam is spoken In an age when Yajnas were very prominent We see in the Ramayana And in Mahabharata The yajna is given Great importance So even today in Traditional Indian society Yajna is considered to be a major religious activity Whereas japa is considered To be quite common Chants of mantra, what is so great about it But here the Bhagavatam is clearly stating That One who sees That this chanting of mantras Is actually The Yajateyagyapurusham Is actually the Performance of sacrifice for the Yagyapurusham Which is the complete seer Samyagdarshanapuman And Mantramurthinamurthika So just as in the yajnas Frequently when the Devatas are offered sacrifices They don’t usually come to see But The sages can sometimes see them And sometimes if the devatas are especially pleased They may grant their vision even to the Vegeman One who is responsible to sacrifice But Usually the devatas are invisible Similarly Amurthikam Amurthikam doesn’t mean That the lord does not have a form The word Purusham is used Purusham again means a person Amurthikam refers to the fact that The lord does not have a material form Or Doesn’t have a materially perceivable form So That lord who is materially not perceivable Earlier the Bhagavatam has Referred to him as Anokshaja That lord who is Amurthikam Who is Anokshaja He becomes accessible through the mantras And in this way The yajnas are one way to reach The normally Accessible higher beings Similarly mantra Is an equally potent way To reach The To access the supreme being To worship the supreme being So So Imam Swanigamam Brahman Swanigamam The Knowledge of scripture About the confidential section of scripture Which talk about the supreme Avetya Madanushtitam Was Avetya knowing this Madanushtitam I came to know about this Adanme Gyanam Aishwaryam The supreme lord Bestowed Adan Gyanam Aishwaryam In this way as I Learned the confidential Knowledge of scripture about the supreme lord Gyan Aishwarya So the opulence I became enriched with the opulence Of knowledge. This is the knowledge of The glory of the supreme lord And this knowledge what does it do? Swasmin Bhavam Chakeshava Swasmin Bhavam That Unto that supreme lord affection Personal relationship Of affection Bhavam Intimate affection Chakeshava To lord Keshava Krishna also talks about this In 10.8 that Those who understand Krishna’s position Become Favourable to him in disposition Not just favourable they become Devoted to him in disposition Imams So he says Aham sarvasya prabho mattah sarvam pravattate Iti mattwa bhajante maam Budha bhava samanvitah Iti mattwa those who know him thus They Become utterly devoted to him Bhajante maam budha bhava They totally Devote themselves to the supreme And similarly here is Narayani is saying That in this way now actually this One line is in He is again going back To the narrative so here we see Narada Muni Is giving narrative And analysis and Appropriately he is switching from Narrational frame To analytical frame and then again Returning back to the narrational frame And this Quick summary that in this way I became Enriched with knowledge This is what Will become the basis Of Yasadev’s question In the next chapter When Narada Muni will impart his story Further So here Narada Muni just talked about how in this way When the sages went at that time He became enlightened That he developed Taste for the supreme But further what happened after he developed The taste and how things progressed That Will be mentioned In the next chapter In response to a question that Yasa will raise So here this Summary So in this summary This is not a analytical summary It is narrational summary Means he is not talking about the analysis He is talking about the conclusion Of the analysis is that one should perform Bhakti and that was the conclusion of the Narrative also So he is saying that how That analysis applied to him In summary in this verse And then So therefore So Narada Muni He knows that his disciple is very learned And we see that so many Places where Narada Muni refers to his Disciple in a very respectful way Vibho is a great one So Of course here Sorry here the word Vibho refers to The Supreme being the word Brahman He is referring to Narada Muni Respectfully In That those That There is vast many scriptures You have heard about them and from hearing about them You have understood the glories of the almighty lord Vibho That lord About whom How he needs To be satisfied and learning about whom The great sages Focus on that And Describe this by which People who are suffering Arditaatmanam means Those people who are suffering masses As Prabhupada translated Sanklesha nirvana Sanklesha nirvana is Sanklesha’s Distress nirvana is to end So Nirvana is often thought of as a Buddhist term which means Extinction and Many Buddhists general conception Of nirvana is the extinction of Existence but Sanklesha nirvana Here refers not to the extinction of existence But the extinction of Distress of tribulation of misery Ushantinanyatha Tanyatha There is no other way That people can Get relief From misery in this way And Prabhupada categorises in his purport The four kinds of people are Dushkruti from Bhagavad Gita 7.16 Those are people Who do not surrender to Krishna Krishna talks about those who surrender to him in 7.14 And in 7.15 he talks about those four Who don’t surrender … … … So all of us we fell in one of these categories We might have fallen in one of these categories earlier But somehow By devoting mercy to Krishna’s mercy We are following the other four categories … … And this journey which has happened to us It has happened ultimately because The instruction That Naramuni gave to Vyasadev That has been carried down in parampara By compassionate devotees By compassionate acharyas And by generations of devotees Who have been Assisting these acharyas And through all of them Through that chain Of compassion We have got the key To liberation from misery And to the extent we can hold on to this key, to the extent that we can stay fixed in the practise of bhakti, devoting our lives to the glorification of the Lord while doing our prescribed duties, so our action itself, if it is done with recollection of the Lord and His glorification, will pave the way to liberation.