Bhagavatam study 79 1.15.25-30 Remember Krishna in his absence by remembering his message

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. So, at this point he speaks now.
Text 25 Text 26 is together with it. So, जिलोकसाम जिलेयद्वन It is just as in an ocean The जिलोकसाम, the aquatics महन्ता अधन्ति अनियशः The larger ones swallow the smaller ones. दुर्बलान बलिनो राजन् महन्तो बलिनो मिथः Similarly, The bigger, the Sangur Yadus kill the weaker ones and the bigger ones kill the smaller ones.
एवं बलिष्ठैरिय तुपेरि महद्विर इतरान्विभू So, it became like an animal kingdom. Just as in the animal kingdom, Maitri is right and whoever is stronger preys on the weaker. Something similar happened among the Yadus over here, Krishna.
Arjuna is telling Yudhishthir and that’s how they all fought and killed each other. The nature of the material world is it is a place of conflict. Darwin was right when he observed the principle of the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest.
That the smaller animals are prey for the bigger. Where he was wrong was to think that this is the complete reality. We all have bodies which are geared for surviving and for consuming others for our purpose of survival.
But beyond our bodies we have souls. And those souls have higher aspirations. The more we identify with the body the more we descend into the level of the animal world.
The more we identify with the soul the more we rise to the to a level of virtue. Humanity and spirituality. So while the whole action that happened with the with the Yadus was transcendental it appeared as if it was mundane.
And that is the illusion which Krishna had created so that people could people who wanted to be godless could continue to be godless by saying that if Krishna had Krishna’s own relatives died like this how could they be how could he be god and how could his associates be godly. But this is simply an illusion Krishna creates in this world for those who want to live in illusion. Text 27 As Arjuna is grappling to make sense of the devastation that has happened one bad thing happening is unbearable.
Three bad things happening. One is Krishna himself has departed. Second is his own abilities have departed and he was defeated by infidel coward men.
And people whom he loved and respected they fought madly against each other and killed each other. How can something like this happen? So Arjuna is just not able to make sense of it at all and he is grappling with it. So this is the time when Krishna’s instructions in the Bhagavad Gita come to his mind.
This is what we need to train ourselves that in time of distress we find the right shelter. देश कालार्थ युक्तानी that according to time and place instructions these are universal at the same time particular. That means Krishna’s instructions in the Bhagavad Gita are universal.
They apply at all times and circumstances. And also they are particular. Krishna has spoken to Arjuna at a very significant historical time.
Particular time. That time is the time of the Kurukshetra war. So that means he has spoken to Arjuna for the purpose of helping Arjuna to overcome a particular calamity.
At the same time the wisdom that he has given also helps us all to address whatever specific calamities we may face in our situation. So देश कालार्थ युक्तानी That means the message is universal at the same time it is particular. It applied at a particular situation and if we are absorbed in that message we will also understand how to apply it in our particular situation.
And what is the result of the application of this message? रुद्धाप उप्षमानी चान रुद्धाप उप्षमानी We all get afflicted by distress at times in our life and amidst such distress what do we do? रुद्धाप उप्षमानी The affliction of the heart the burning of the heart that is happening that becomes cool down. Krishna’s words act like a shower of nectar that cools down the burning fire of the heart. The burning fire of the heart may be because of desires, worldly desires may be maddeners or it may be because of distresses.
Horrible, horrible distresses in this world may madden us, may afflict us and we just don’t know what to do at that time. हरंति स्मरतः चित्तम् गोविन्दा भी तानिमे हरंति स्मरतः चित्तम् As he is remembering them, they are attracting his consciousness. चित्तम् So, there is a principle of reciprocation when Krishna speaks.
Rather there is a principle of reciprocation between us and Krishna that ये था मां प्रपद्यन्ति ताम सथाई वभजाम्यः That as all people surrender unto me, I reward them accordingly. So, we have to take an essential step towards Krishna by trying to remember his words. And when we remember his words स्मरतः, that is our endeavour.
And Krishna reciprocates by हरंति चित्तम् He attracts our consciousness. In this material world, there are many sense objects which attract our consciousness. भोगैश्वरिप्रसक्तानं तया अपहरितचेतसाम् अपहरित, this is 2.44 in the Bhagavad Gita.
अपहरित has the same root हर as in हरंति. Whatever gets our attention, gets us. In this world, if we give our attention to worldly sense objects, they will get us.
If we give our attention to Krishna, He will get us. So, Arjuna is thinking about the horrendous things that have happened and he is just not able to he is overwhelmed by agony, just not able to make sense of anything. At that time, he chooses to direct his consciousness towards Krishna and just by directing his consciousness towards Krishna, he gets relief.
गोविन्दा भीतानिमे He remembers that same Lord Govinda, although He is gone, He gave me instructions and those instructions helped me in the past when I was in great distress and they can help me now also. So, in this way, Arjuna is telling Krishna that, sorry, Arjuna is feeling Krishna’s grace, feeling Krishna’s guidance, feeling Krishna’s help by remembering the words of Krishna. For us, the Gita is not just something which we memorize or recite or sermonize on.
It is meant to be applied and to be cherished. We may give great talks on it and that is good, but more important than giving talks is that we be able to remember it when we need it and apply it at that time. To the extent we apply the Gita, to that extent we grow in our spiritual life.
To that extent, we become absorbed and we move towards Krishna. We find a way out of whatever perplexity life may throw our way and we will move towards Krishna. That my Chitta, my consciousness, which was now captured and tortured by contemplating the adversity that has befallen me.
Now, as I am remembering Krishna’s words, my consciousness is getting attracted to Him. Krishna, as I showed in the Bhagavad Gita, If you become conscious of me, you will pass over all obstacles by my grace. Now, the Bhagavatam takes a step back.
The conversation between Krishna and Arjuna and Yudhishthira is going on, but as there comes to a strategic point, something significant has happened, which Suta Goswami would like to elaborate on. So, then there is a step back and Suta Goswami speaks now in text 28. एवं चिन्तयतो जिष्णो क्रिष्णपाद सरोरुहं सौहार्धेन तिगाधेन शान्तासिद्विमलामतिः So, एवं चिन्तयतो जिष्णो जिष्णो is the name of Arjuna.
Sometimes the words Jishnu and Vishnu are used to describe Arjuna and Krishna together. In this way, Jishnu, Arjuna, he Of course, the word Jishnu can also, because ultimately all names refer to the Supreme. Jishnu can sometimes be used even to refer to the Supreme Lord.
It depends on the context, what name it is. Just like the word Krishna can be used for Krishna, it can also be used for Draupadi. So, एवं चिन्तयतो जिष्णो क्रिष्णपाद सरोरुहं Arjuna remembered the lotus feet of Krishna.
And He knew that Krishna was his great well-wisher. Krishna was with him always. And his consciousness which had become contaminated became free from all the contamination.
So, actually speaking, the mind itself is filled with many impurities and the world is filled with many impurities. So, when the world and the mind come together we have, what we could say, not impurity plus impurity but impurity into impurity, that is, impurity squared. So, when the world’s impurity joins with the mind’s impurity impurity squared completely corners us.
But at that time the way out is, if we look not at the world, not at the mind, but we look above both of them towards Krishna. The world exists at the physical level of reality, the mind exists at the subtle level of reality. But above both of them is Krishna.
And Krishna’s words stand always ready to take our consciousness to that higher level. When we do that, we look beyond the world and look beyond the mind towards Krishna, then what happens? Then, whatever is the anxiety, the agitation, the distress we will be going through, that we find it calms down. Ultimately, what we focus on determines the state of our consciousness.
If the football world cup is going on and we are attached to a particular team, or a cricket world cup is going on and we are attached to a particular team, we are going to think about that team, how they lost a match, we will be agitated. But if we can think of something else, that agitation will substantially go down. So, in this world we may have many things which we are attached to, which promise us pleasure, but they end up giving us trouble.
We all need a satisfying, safe, sublime object of thought and that object of thought is Krishna. So, here the Bhagavatam is going to show repeatedly how it is amidst adversity in this world, how higher spiritual consciousness can provide us solace. We can’t even imagine what kind of adversity it is for Arjuna to lose everything in one stroke, to lose his respected friend, to his dear friend, who is dearer than life, to lose the archery ability and just have nothing left with him.
So, text 29, वासुदेवांग्रेअनुध्यान परिब्रमित्रम्हसा भक्त्यानिर्मति आशेष कशायधिषनोरजुनह So, वासुदेवांग्रेअनुध्यान वासुदेवांग्रेअनुध्यान Lotus root of Vasudev, when he remembered by that, what happened? परिब्रमित्रम्हसा His devotion for the Lord increased with great speed. भक्त्यानिर्मत्ति आशेष And as the devotion increased, what happened? The commotion in the heart, the disruption in the heart, Prabhupada uses the word, dirt, kashaya, trash in the heart, kashaya dheeshe na, Arjuna, all the confusion, delusion, tribulation, all that was there within him, it started getting pacified. Krishna Surya sa maya hai andhkar, yaha krishna tahar, nahi maya radhikar, where there is Krishna, there can be no maya, normally we talk about this verse, to talk about how if Krishna’s presence is there, then there will be no temptation of maya, but maya comes upon us not just as temptation, she also comes as tribulation, she makes us feel that this distress is so great, this problem is so unbearable that I can’t survive it, I am ruined, but we are ruined not because of the problems that we face, but because of the forgetfulness of Krishna that is induced by the mind and that the mind can induce even in the presence of problems or in the absence of problems.
So here, when literally everything is ruined for Arjuna, but when he remembers Krishna, what happens? His bhakti increases in the kashaya dheeshe na, Arjuna, the garbage in the heart, oh this is wrong, that is wrong, that is wrong, that is in the mind, it all goes away, it all goes away. Life, the world determines our problems, but we determine the size of those problems. When we keep thinking of them again and again and again, the problems keep going bigger and bigger, but if we can just learn to focus on Krishna and not think about the problems so much, then we will be much better situated.
Text 30, Geetam bhagavata jnanam yathat sangramam urdhani kaalakarmatham urdham punar adhyagam atprabhuhu. Geetam bhagavata jnanam, the knowledge of the Gita which the Lord had given to him, yathat sangramam urdhani, in the midst of the battle, kaalakarmatham urdham, and it seemed as if at this particular time, according to the situation, Arjuna became overwhelmed by tamo, by forgetfulness, and that knowledge was no longer accessible to him, but punar adhyagam atprabhuhu, but again he became the master of his senses, he became the master of his, he became composed once again. The point is that in this world, we all may get temporarily diverted by the world’s complexities.
Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by having unrealistic expectations of ourselves. If we think that I should never ever get diverted or deviated from the right path, I am going to be fixed in Krishna and that’s what I am going to be. If we think that that is the way I have to live, and if we are not able to live like that, we feel exasperated, we feel frustrated, we don’t know what to do, if we are unable to live according to the standard that we have set for ourselves.
But we don’t have to be, we want to be inspired by standards, we don’t want to be burdened by standards. What is the difference? Standards are meant to help us grow towards Krishna and we would definitely want to live according to them. But more important thing is that we just keep moving towards Krishna, if the standards become a burden, oh I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it, and thinking like that makes us tormented, makes us bound, then it is better that we don’t think about that and instead focus on just doing what we can.
Prabhupada explains in the third chapter of the Bhagavad Gita that sometimes we are not able to follow particular standards, but if there is no resentment to the principle, then we are on the path of growth. So, punar adhyaga mat prabho, Arjuna regained his composure. So we may not be consistent, but at least we can be resilient.
Consistent means just steadily moving forward in the same straight path, but if we can’t move forward steadily, what do we do, we don’t have to lose heart because of that, we can just keep moving at whatever pace is possible for us. We go off course, come back again on course, we go off course, come back again on course. The straight path may be the best, but it may not be the best for us.
If we have certain conditioning which forces us to go off track, expecting that we don’t go off track is unrealistic. The life itself can bring us to such perplexities, such adversities, that we can’t even imagine what we will face. So, Krishna also says, yato yato nishchalati manas chanchalam asthiram tadastato niyam yaita tad atmanye vasyam nayate.
He doesn’t say that your mind shouldn’t wander anywhere. He says, when the mind will wander, get it back. So similarly, sometimes circumstances may overwhelm us temporarily, but that devotee being overwhelmed is a temporary situation only.
As soon as the devotee remembers Krishna, remembers Krishna’s instructions, starts seeing things in perspective, the devotee comes back on track. The problem may come if we just beat ourselves up for having gone off track. And then, even when we had the chance to come back on track, we don’t come back on track because we are so busy beating ourselves up.
So, there is no need to beat ourselves up for having gone off track. Rather, we pick ourselves up, not beat ourselves down further. If we are down, if we are pushed down, if we are knocked down, sometimes what do we do? We just get up and move on.
We just pick ourselves up and move on. So here, punar adyaga mat prabhu, for a great devotee like Arjuna, we understand that whatever happened to him was under yoga maya, it was orchestrated by the Lord for our edification. So in that sense, it was just apparent, his illusion.
But the point is, for us to learn, not to put Arjuna under a microscope and think that how can a pure devotee become overwhelmed like this. Instead, we learn what is to be learned for us. The characters given in scriptures, they are not meant, they are not for us to judge.
They are for us to take inspiration from, to learn from, and to grow in our lives. So with sangram murdhani, Arjuna got this knowledge on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Similarly, all of us have to fight a war.
Most of us don’t have to fight a physical war, but life itself is like a war. There is the war, sometimes if you’re traveling on the traffic, just to get to a destination, if you’re traveling in a crowded local, just to enter the local, sometimes to get a particular job, we have to go through cutthroat competition. And even if all these external battles are not there, still there is a big internal battle, that is the battle with our own mind and senses.
Whatever it is that we want to do in life, it is not easy to do. It is challenging, it is frustrating, it is exasperating, and our mind and senses will keep pushing us here and there, and we have to push back against them and move forwards. So the knowledge of the Gita just helps Arjuna fight his battle at the time of Kurukshetra.
Now there is no battle physically to be fought, almost all battles are over. Now is the time to retire from the world and focus on the Lord. But that time also there is a battle to be fought.
This is the battle to be fought against our own illusions, against our own misconceptions. In fact, we could say that fighting against the world’s illusions so that we can focus on the illumination provided by the Lord, so that we can move towards the Lord, that is the most important battle which any of us can fight. And it is that battle which Arjuna, after a temporary lapse, has now regained his composure