Bhagavatam study 70 1.13.51-60 Determination directed towards renunciation brings spiritual elevation

Bhagavatam 1.13.51 Narada Muni is continuing his instruction information session with Yudhishthira and after giving a philosophical explanation of how we cannot be the protectors of anyone because we ourselves need protection now he is going to describe what has practically happened whereas Yudhishthira’s relatives gone Narada has many extraordinary abilities by the lord’s arrangement he can have expansive vision and thus by his mystic powers he knows what is happening where so here he says Dhritarashtra’s brother that Dhritarashtra along with his brother that is Vidura Gandhariya’s wife along with Gandhari his own wife these are three persons about which Yudhishthira had asked, I don’t know where they have gone Dakshinena Himavat they have gone towards the north Himavat towards the Himalayan mountains Rishinam Ashramamgataha towards the ashramas towards the hermitages of the sages the idea is he is informing him that he is renounced the world so when there is the saintly people give consolation they just don’t focus on the practical alone and they don’t focus on the transcendental alone they combine the transcendental and the practical in some situations if a person is very agitated then the practical information may be given first and then the transcendental may be given where the person will be receptive for the transcendental on the other hand if somebody is of a philosophical bent of mind like Yudhishthira Maharaj is then the transcendental can be given first by which the person gets is able to see how the philosophical wisdom can help address the situation and then after that then we can take things forward and we can say that they can look at things in a practical way that we also further clarify the situation so here with Yudhishthira he adopts that approach his first almost 10 verses given the philosophical understanding and now he will give the practical understanding of what has happened so they have gone towards the north traditionally in the Vedic literature going towards the north is considered a standard way of signifying that one has renounced the world the mountains the Himalayas are considered to be the place where auspiciousness can be attained by living in the renounced order of course Uttarastra has gone with Gandhari so it is not exactly the renounced order you could say the retired order where he has taken vanaprastha with his wife but he has because he has left his home he is almost like a renunciate so text 52 so he is now telling in the north can be a very big place so where in the north has he gone so at the place where there will be 6 divisions 7 divisions the flow or the current was divided into 7 parts swardhuni the name of the Ganga that as the Ganga flows those with mystic hearing capacities can hear extraordinarily sweet melody coming from that swardhuni so it is known by the name swardhuni accordingly another name of Ganga that division happened at that place saptanam prithye nana why was this division done that because there were 7 different sages who had their hermitages at that place near that area and they all wanted the Ganga next to their hermitage so the Ganga was divided into 7 parts so that they all would be pleased saptanam prithye nana and therefore that place is called as saptasrotah prachakshate saptasrotah the place where there were 7 sources we could say there were 7 divisions and the water was coming in 7 different places that is called saptasrotah so this is a verse in which the word sa is coming 7 times in the first letter itself srotobhi saptabhir swardhuni saptadha saptanam saptasrotah in fact we also see a symmetrical kind of rhyming srotobhi saptabhir is in the first line and saptasrotah is in the last line also so this is the poetic nature of the bhagavatam artistic ornaments of alliteration and inverse alliteration also srotobhi saptabhir and saptasrotah so the words are order is reversed, all these are being seen over here and they enhance the sweetness of what is depicted in the bhagavatam the message is sweet but the mood in which, the way in which the message is conveyed that is also sweet the sweetness will especially be seen in the Gopi Gita which will come in the 10th canto where poetic alliterations are used to convey the most exalted of emotions here Narada will continue the description of what has happened to Dhritarashtra text 53 snatva anusavanam tasmin hutva chagnin yathavidhi abhaksha upashantatma saaste digatai shanaha so he is taking now what is Dhritarashtra doing over there he is snatva anusavanam tasmin anusavanam that refers to three times in a day so after taking snatva, after bathing thrice a day he is hutva chagnin yathavidhi he is performing the agnihotra sacrifice giving oblations to the fire abhaksha upashantatma abhaksha abh is water abhaksha is eating so rasoham apsukam teya so apsu is water root is abha abha or apa so that is signified here by that root word abha, so abhaksha is water drinker upashantatma so he is performing austerities austerities that he is only drinking water and he has become very peaceful by that he has given up all feelings of moroseness or vengefulness and upashantatma he has become peaceful how because it is not that automatically at a particular point the mind will become peaceful peace is often the result of control so peace is often a result of control because say for example there is insurgency in some area then a peace keeping force is sent and when the peace keeping force curves the unruly elements then peace is established so similarly here it is stated that peace is established by Yudhishthir by Dhritarashtra within him by controlling upashantatma which is controlled his atma refers to his what he what we in the conditioned sense consider as our atma that is the body and the mind so he has learnt to control the body and the mind and saaste vigat aishanha saaste so he is well situated in this way vigat aishanha so he has become free from devoid of thoughts of aishanha of family welfare so he has become detached from the thought that his sons were killed he has become detached from all family members and he is focussing simply on his spiritual well being this is a remarkable achievement which Yudhishthira’s potent words which cut through Dhritarashtra’s illusions and brought about renunciation within him have now succeeded in achieving so he is freed from his attachment to his thought of that attachment to his sons who are long deceased and he is no longer dependent on Dhritarashtra on Yudhishthira because he has also recognised his his personal position that he is alone in this world and he has to pursue his journey alone so he is pursuing that and the implication there is aishanha just as he is pursuing that journey so you also should pursue your journey alone you give up Narada’s implication to Yudhishthira is vigat aishanha you also become detached from family members and he has come to a significant level of austerity to be able to ababhaksha Kshatriyas do have a determination and if determination is applied for purification or for renunciation then it can bring about tremendous purification and if determination is applied for devotion it can bring about the fastest purification text 54 described here now so Vritrashtra who has been performing renunciation his future destination will also be described in future verses by Narada but now here he goes on to describe briefly the process of yogic meditation and elevation towards liberation the process similar to which Vritrashtra is following so he says over here so one who see the body has a tendency to slouch to lean back to sit in relaxed postures but jita asano means when one fights back and overcomes the body’s tendency towards laxity and sits in a erect yogic posture jita shvasaha when the breath comes out in random disorderly ways one fights that off and gets the breath out in a steady way pratyartha sanendriya turning back from the six senses so now the senses are constantly directing our consciousness and even dragging our consciousness towards the outer world where we get captivated by whatever they are displaying to us and sanendriya of course refers to the mind also so the mind doesn’t just go to the external world the mind also goes to the fictional world the senses drag us to the external world and the mind drags us to the fictional world which then we try to search or create in the external world and thus we stay caught in illusion by the mind and the senses so he has fought back the force within the six senses which drags the human consciousness outwards and what is he doing? haribhavanaya dvasta haribhavanaya he has absorbed himself in lord hari dvasta means defeated, conquered again so rajasattvata mamalaha the contamination of the lower modes he has fought it off the renunciation which Dhritarashtra has achieved is by all standards remarkable because it’s not easy for a person to renounce the world especially after one has lived in the world for a long time enjoying it that person who lacked the determination to control his son has now learnt to control his senses the children are also product of the senses so we can say that uncontrolled senses lead to the kind of procreation that attracts souls who also become uncontrolled so uncontrolled senses lead to the creation of progeny also with uncontrolled senses and at one level controlling our senses is difficult but controlling other senses is even more difficult especially if they grew up if a parent has some habit of smoking or drinking it’s difficult to give up but if the child is getting into drugs or into drinking or smoking then to control the child is even more difficult so he although he couldn’t control his sons now at least that Dhritarashtra has learnt to control his senses and he has become absorbed in the absolute truth in Lord Hari and thus by such absorption he has transcended the influence of the modes, he has cleansed himself of the influence of the modes, this is the process which is to be followed and this is Dhritarashtra is aiming to follow this so what further what all we will be doing in this process text 55 vijnanaatmani sanyog kshetragya pravilapyatam brahmanyaatmanam aadhare ghatambaram ivambare so vijnanaatmani sanyoga so vijnanaatmani he will understand or realise within himself by his purified intelligence sanyoga sanyoga, yoga is connection sanyoga is proper full connection perfect absorption kshetragya pravilapyatam kshetragya kshetra is the body kshetragya is the knower of the body pravilapyatam he will merge it brahmanyaatmanam aadhare brahmanya into the brahman in the absolute truth atmanam his pure self aadhare in that reservoir he will absorb himself ghatambaram ivambare so just like if there is a block of wood or a block of wood or in which some air is present and there is the vast atmosphere in which the air is present so if the block of wood is broken then what will happen is the air within the blocked block within the block which is blocked over there that will come out and that will merge with the totality of the air in the sky so the sky is also used to refer to ether so this can refer to ether also so the ether present in the ether of the sky which is also another term to refer to it so so the ether present in the box and the ether present in the sky they will merge when the box opens so like that here the point is that by self-reflective contemplation in search of one’s innermost self Dhritarashtra will slowly but surely realise his own eternality and by that realisation he will transcend the illusions of worldly existence and thus he will attain transcendence now in this process especially sought by those who are of a monistic school of thought those who think in terms of merging with the absolute they follow this process and others also follow no doubt especially sometimes the naiti naiti process of conceptually merging one’s external senses of the self so that one can come to the core self that means one withdraws conceptually the elements of the body into the subtler elements from which they have come out and ultimately as one reaches one’s core self then that core self is merged with the supreme self this process of progressive progressive we could say involution of consciousness evolution is going is improving arising from up or down evolution is going towards better devolution is going towards the worse but here we could talk about the devolution the involution so involution means that actually it moves inwards so that’s what is the process of such involution is being described over here and this is one way in which spiritual perfection can be attained so one realises one’s oneness with the absolute and thereafter if one is fortunate to get a personal conception then one will realise the sweetness of the absolute and develop sweet loving relationship with the absolute also text 56 so the maya refers to the force of illusion which primarily is embodied through three modes of material nature so when one breaks free from that the shackles of the material body which encases and encages the soul when one gets out of it the the we have the senses in the body senses in the mind which are referring to the the primary agents of the body through which souls transmigrate to journey continues because the mind and senses are filled with desires we move onwards from there towards spiritual purification so nivartita khila ahara nivartita khila ahara nivartita means one suspends the existence of the soul in the body by not feeding the senses ahara refers here not just to the food the body is going to take but in general the food that the senses crave for the eyes want to look for beautiful forms then there is a hunger within the eyes for those beautiful forms we refuse to feed that asthe stanur ivachalaha ivachalaha ivachalaha I like a immovable being one should become fixed so sthavar and jangam or chara and achara are considered two categories of living beings for pursuing spiritual perfection one needs to become sthanu, immovable achalaha these are described in the bhagavad gita as characteristics of the atma achaloyam sanastana sanatana avyaktoyam achintoyam avikaryoyam uchyate sarvatragam achintyam chukutas achalam dhruvam so the point here is that that which is described as all pervasive is now that which is described as immovable that is the soul’s nature so similarly one has to by detachment act according to soul’s nature and realise that soul’s nature tasyantarayo mayivabhu so all antaraya antaraya is all obstacles hindrances mayivabhu one will not be satshikan by any of them sanyasta khilakarmanaha one gives up all one’s material desires, material duties sanyasta by renunciation one just focusses on transcendence so Sri Prabhupada explains in the purport that that this idea that he is asked he says he is so fixed like this Dhritarashtra is following this process which requires this kind of fixity and he is trying for this kind of fixity indicates that Yudhishthira should not go there and try to disturb Dhritarashtra let him stay focused in his pursuit of transcendence text 57 savaatitanadrajan paratha panchamahani kalevaram hasyati swam tachchabhasmi bhavishyati sava that person in all probability quite likely adhyatanad from now onwards rajan king paratha panchamahani from the coming 5th day panchamahani from here kalevaram hasyati swam he will give up his body tachchabhasmi bhavishyati and his body will be burned to ashes and at one level this can be a very distressing news that one of your relatives is going to quit his body but he is going to acquire mystic powers by which he is going to voluntarily leave his body and his body he is going to set his body on fire and the soul being purged of worldly attachments will go beyond the body to its next destination this kind of mystic departure is not ordinary it is extraordinary and from the material perspective a person dying because of fire being set on their body is tragic but for most people after they die somebody else sets light to their funeral pyre and burns their body the body burning on death is inevitable but if somebody has the mystic power by which they can set their own body on fire rather than needing someone else to set their body on fire that indicates significant capacity of renunciation and perfection in mystic powers so in the Ramayana also when Ravana touches Vedvati and she uses her mystic he catches her hair wants to drag her she cuts off her hair with her mystic power using her hand like a sword and then she says because this body has been defiled by your touch your sinful touch so I will not offer this I cannot offer this body to lord Vishnu so I will shed this body and I will get another body and I will offer that to lord Vishnu and she right in front of Ravana’s astounded eyes she sets her body on fire not by using a matchstick but by igniting mystic power from within herself Dhritarashtra also is going to have this kind of mystical departure from this world text 58 dahiya maane agni bhir dehe patyu patni sahota je bahi sthita patim sadhvi tap agnim anuvekshati so dahiya maane agni bhir dehe while his body is burning like this patyu patni sahota je when she went his wife will see that her husband is burning like this and sahota je that it’s not only his body is burning but he by the flame that is coming out from his body has set even his cottage on fire bahi sthita patim sadhvi that the chaste wife who is situated outside the cottage who had gone out for some work, she will see this and tam agnim anuvekshati she will enter attentively into that fire so she who has lived with her husband throughout her life will also leave the world with her husband and thus by they said they have voluntarily renounced the world by going to the forest they will voluntarily renounce life also and it is not out of fear anuvekshati that she will do it with great attention so that she can also attain an elevated destination thereafter this is the practise of sati which was voluntary and which was meant to bring about auspiciousness in terms of the elevated destination the husband gets the wife will also get that way this was not at all never forced on anyone nor was it mandatory for everyone those who could do it they did it because they felt that separation from their spouse from their husband was far more difficult than the pain of the fire and that’s how they would embrace the fire so text 59 so and Vidura will see this as astonishment Mr.Rashtra was so attached he has been able to orchestrate such a significantly significant way of departing seeing this the word Kurunandana can refer to Dhritharashtra can refer to Vidura can refer to Yudhishtira also so on seeing this oh Vidura on seeing this or oh Dhritharashtra oh Yudhishtira Dhritharashtra I am telling you this or Dhritharashtra who entered into the fire Nishamiya Nishamiya Kurunandana Harsha Shoka Tasmad Harsha and Shoka there will be Harsha because there was success in bringing about detachment in his brother but Shoka because his brother had lived a life of animosity towards those who were devoted to the Lord and thus he could not give thus Dhritharashtra could not attain pure devotion. He had definitely attained exalted spiritual destination Ganta Teerthani Sheva Kaha so when he was distressed now his brother has departed Vidura had already renounced the world.
He had gone to the forest and he had no inclination to go back home. For him in fact the forest in association with the sages was his home so on seeing the departure of his brother and his sister-in-law he again went to the forest. So implication again for Vidura is that as Prabhupada says that for Yudhishtira is that you cannot even call Vidura back Dhritharashtra has departed from the world but Vidura has departed back into the forest and now after giving this information Narada will again depart.
That is described in text 16 Iti Uktva Tharoohat Swargam Naradahasa Thumburu Yudhishtiro Vachastasya Rudhikrithva Jaha Chushuchaha So Iti Uktva after having spoken this Aroohat Swargam he rose towards the heavens Naradahasa Thumburu Narada had string instrument So playing that he rose towards the sky and departed So Narada is a very He is like a transcendental cosmonaut who goes from planet to planet and he is there at the right time to give the right information the right instruction and as soon as that is done he departs So Yudhishtiro Vachastasya Rudhi He took those words in his heart, contemplated on them Krithva Jaha Chushuchaha and when he Rudhikrithva kept them in his heart that means not just memorise them but internalise them Scriptural knowledge is not just to be memorised it is to be internalised Memorisation can be an aid for internalisation Nowadays when you say I have got this by heart, actually we have got it by head, most of the time when we use the word by heart because we have memorised it we got the facts right for us we say I got it by heart that means that I can repeat it in the exam or in any other time when I want but really getting it by heart means that it enters into our heart and we internalise it and we mould our life according to it that’s what Yudhishtira has done over here Rudhikrithva Jaha Chushuchaha Jaha and he gave up his shuchaha, his lamentation his grief so Narada has started his instruction with the word maa shuchaha and do not lament and he had given Yudhishtira reasons philosophical reasons as well as practical information about why he should not lament and his mission that means Narada’s mission was successful in terms of freeing Yudhishtira from lamentation is conveyed here by the fact that he was Jaha shuchaha he gave up lamentation so this way Dhritarashtra’s successful renunciation of the world is conveyed in this chapter of the Bhagavatam Thank you