Bhagavatam tenth canto study 12 – 10.2-31-36 Krishna’s lotus feet make the insurmountable material ocean insignificant

Hare Krishna. He descends and gives shelter to the lotus feet. And now they continue.
So, swayam samutthirya You yourself, O Lord, that those who themselves cross, utthirya, those who cross over this material ocean, which is very difficult to ascertain, human. How? By Your grace, You who are like the supreme sun. bhavarnamam bhimam adab rasaurudha bhavarnavam This ocean of material existence which is bhimam.
Bhimam means very fierce, ferocious. Very difficult to cross over. adab rasaurudha Like those devotees who are tirelessly, who are unendingly, unfailingly well-wishers of everyone.
Those bhavatpadaam bhoroham naavam atrate bhavatpadaam bhoroham Your lotus feet, the boat of Your lotus feet, what do they do? Atrate, they leave it over here. nidhayatah sadhanu graho bhavan nidhayatah They go to the supreme destination but out of their mercy they leave it behind. So, it’s interesting.
If the Lord’s lotus feet are the boat, what does leaving the boat behind mean? Sometimes when a metaphor is used, while explaining, while using the metaphor, sometimes the metaphorical and literal senses may be combined and if the metaphor is deep enough, it allows for that combination while also maintaining the meaningfulness, maintaining the coherence. So here, what is the metaphor being talked about? Suppose there is a boat, we get into the boat and especially if we consider a situation, somebody is lost in the ocean or somebody is in a sinking boat or somebody is in an island where there is only one boat available. Then for them, that one boat is the sole way and those who take that boat and go, remaining people will sink and die.
In fact, if a ship starts sinking, sometimes fights break out between the crew members and the passengers about who will get on the boat. Because the boat is the only way to save and once the boat goes, others will simply sink. So in this case, it’s such an amazing thing that the boat goes, the boat crosses people over, takes people over but then the boat stays on, stays behind.
So how does it stay on like that? Actually, as it is said, the ocean itself shrinks into a tinier quantity and then one can easily cross over. So the ocean doesn’t shrink till one enters into the boat. So if one thinks, oh, I don’t need the boat, then the ocean is unsurpassable.
So if you think we don’t need Krishna, then Maya is insurmountable. But as soon as we recognize I need Krishna and I’m nothing without Krishna, then that very consciousness which brings intense dependence and absorption in Krishna, that causes the ocean to shrink. And then one crosses over.
If one crosses over, then what is the meaning that the boat is left behind? The boat is the Lord’s lotus feet. The great souls, before they leave this world and go to the spiritual world, they share the message of Krishna Bhakti. They inspire others to also take shelter of that boat.
They also, not just, they not only tell about the glory of the boat but they attract people towards the Lord by their association. In this way, by by announcing, proclaiming the glory of the Lord’s lotus feet, they themselves go out of this world and they build a path or they provide the facility for others also to go out of this world. Such is the glory of the great souls.
And now, here is the famous verse, which we can better appreciate in the context now. The context was that the Lord’s lotus feet are so wonderful. Now what about those who do not take shelter of the lotus feet? That’s text 32, 2nd chapter, So, but that Lord, Ambujaksha, Arvindaksha, same point, that Lord who is lotus-eyed, those who think they have already become liberated, but that actually they speculate in various ways, but they do not come to know about you.
They neglect you. Because their intelligence is not pure. Then, even if they rise by great effort to the higher level of reality, the supreme abode, they fall back.
Because, these lotus feet of yours, they have neglected. So, the lotus feet of the Lord are their shelter. If those lotus feet are neglected, then actually people are lost.
Then they cannot get out of this world. So, actually, the Vaishnav Torshani commentary explains that actually, why is the Lord repeatedly giving you Ambujaksha, Arvindaksha? The significance of these words is that, actually, He just by His glance can dissipate all distress from our lives. Actually, those who follow the path of Jnana, Patantyadho.
Now, here, Param Patantata means what? Krishna has said very clearly that those who attain His abode don’t fall back. So, what this means is that even if one attains the state of liberation in terms of becoming free from worldly attachment, they don’t get Videha Mukti, they get Jeevan Mukti. That means, Jeevan Mukti means that they attain the, they actually become free from material attachment, but still, they again come back to this world.
And they descend to this world. So, the whole stress of this section is, the Lord alone is our shelter. And without the Lord, we are lost.
Without the Lord, even if we make great endeavors, even if we are very intellectual, even if by all our intelligence, we rise to a very exalted level, but still, we will not be able to stay there for long. From there, we will soon fall back into this world. And therefore, the Lord’s Feet are what we absolutely need.
So, this is talked about by positive and negative assertion over here. By positive assertion, it is said that, by taking shelter of the Lotus Feet, it’s so easy. Anybody can attain liberation.
But, the other way is, that by, the other point that is talked about is, that by rejecting the Lord, even if somebody is very elevated, they cannot move forward. They cannot do much. They cannot be elevated.
So, in this way, by talking in both ways, the stress is on the first point that we all can become elevated and liberated. It’s not by taking shelter of the Lord. That’s the stress over here.
So, let’s go on to the next verse now. Text 33. Text 33.
Oh Lord! Oh Lord of the Gods of Fortune! now somebody may say, a question may come based on the previous verse that, Actually, you are saying that those who are not sheltered in you will fall. But sometimes those who are sheltered in you also fall. Those who are devoted to you also fall.
So what about them? But those who are your beings, those who are devoted to you, O Lord, certainly, they also may get deviated from the path. They may also fall down. But because they had been attached to you, because they had developed attachment to you, they always remain protected from all dangers by you.
They travel fearlessly in material existence. Vinayaka Anikapa, Vinayaka Anip, that those who are Anikapa, those who are opposed to the path of devotion, and they actually, instead of Murda Suprabho, they actually put their head on their, they actually traverse the heads of their opponents. That means they overpower their opponents.
Their opponents cannot overpower them. Even if they fall down, they remain protected by you. And then they ultimately attain you.
So actually, devotees do not have fear because they are sheltered in the Lord. This is a very sublime point that in this world, nobody can be guaranteed to never fall down. Because the nature of this world is that it is filled with so many illusions and being filled with so many illusions, anytime it is just possible that easily temptation may come and temptation may overcome us.
So then what can we do? If still overall our determination is that I want to take shelter of my Lord and whatever happens I am going to take shelter of Him, then despite the ups and downs we will keep moving forwards. So it is interesting that the point of stepping on the head of someone, this is the image that is used to indicate total victory. It is said that Dhruv Maharaj when death personified approached him, Dhruv Maharaj stepped on the foot of death, ascended the Vaikuntha airplane and departed from the world.
But actually speaking, this imagery is not just literal, it is also symbolic. Symbolic means, some of us, sometimes our opponents, opposition may not be, we may have various anarthas and we may not even be able to see that those anarthas are our opposition. They may not be physical, tangible enemies.
But whatever those enemies are, they all can be overcome. Because a devotee is much much bigger than the Lord. A devotee actually takes shelter of the Lord and by taking shelter of the Lord the devotee goes beyond whatever illusions may be there in this world.
The Lord who is Achyuta, that Lord is the guarantor of the devotee’s eventual redemption. Not immediate redemption because we always have free will and we may misuse our free will and we may fall. But the eventual redemption is guaranteed because the Lord is always with the devotees.
That was said in the previous verse, they fall down. But that same destination doesn’t come to, certainly for those who are your being, those who are devoted to you. Although brahshan, timargat, although they may get deviated from the path, tvayi baddh saurda, Prabhupada once said to a devotee who had left the Krishna consciousness movement, because you have chanted the names of Krishna in Vrindavan, therefore Krishna will never forget you and Krishna will get you back to his lotus feet.
So Prabhupada had that confidence, even if others did not have, Prabhupada had that confidence by which he ensured that people, that the lost souls will come back. Taya bhi gupta. That’s why devotees don’t constantly live in fear, what if I fall down, what if I fall down.
Devotees live vicharanti nirbhaya, devotees fearlessly march forward, not fearlessly in the sense of reckless fearlessness, but devotees are always concerned that I don’t do anything by which I tempt fate, that I deliberately provoke and go into temptation, but if temptation comes on its way, devotee does not feel paranoid thinking what will happen to devotee, simply serves the Lord and in due course material nature guides us, sorry the Lord of material nature guides us to safety, to eternal safety. So text 34 no, sattvaṁ viÅ›uddhaṁ Å›rayate bhavān sthitaṁ Å›arÄ«riṇāṁ Å›reya upāyanaṁ vapo veda-kriyā-yoga-tapasamādhi-bhÄ«s tavāraṇam yena jana-samehate, so sattvaṁ viÅ›uddhaṁ Å›rayate bhavān sthitaṁ sattvaṁ viÅ›uddhaṁ My dear Lord, your existence is beyond material nature, in pure transcendence, in purified goodness, sthitaṁ, Å›arÄ«riṇāṁ Å›reya upāyanaṁ vapo, my dear Lord, for the Å›arÄ«riṇāṁ, for those who are embodied, to connect with them, to attract them, you appear in a body in this world, Å›reya upāyanaṁ, Å›reya is long term good, upāyanaṁ is the remedy, the benefit, veda-kriyā-yoga-tapasamādhi-bhÄ«s, and through various ways, tavāraṇam, you are to be worshipped, jana-samehate, so whatever is talked about in the Vedas, the study of the Vedas, there is kriyā, there is the prescribed ritualistic performance in the Vedas, yoga, the practice of yoga, tapas, austerity, samādhi-bhÄ«s, there is the absorption, all these are meant for people to connect with you. One of the glories of the Bhāgavatam is that it reveals how everything in this world is connected, or all forms of dharma are ultimately meant for the Lord of dharma, who is supreme, who is Krishna.
To the extent we understand this and to the extent we become devoted to him, to that extent our devotion becomes one-pointed. Bahunśāstra bahuvākya, citta-brahma haya, sādhana-sādhyas-reṣṭa-nāhaya-niścaya. Sometimes, oh, this word, this says that, that says that, we all get confused, this scripture says that, that scripture says that, so how will we know what is the actual reality? That by understanding vedaiś-sarvairahamevabhedyo, that by all the Vedas, it is the Lord who is to be known.
Sattvaṁ śuddhaṁ śrayate bhavān sthitau. My dear Lord, you are situated in transcendence, but out of your compassion, there is your emanence, you manifest. Sharīrṇāṁ śreya upāyanaṁ vibhūpapohu.
You take on a form to help those who are sharīrṇāṁ, those who are having an embodied body, to help them you take this form. Vedakriyā-yoga-tapah samādhi-ves, and through various practices in this world, it is you who are to be worshipped, it is you who give the results of whatever is to be done, whatever is sought in this world, whatever religious activities are performed, you are the giver of the results of that. So text 35, sattvaṁ na cheda dhātaridam nijambhaved, nijñānam ajñāna-vid-āpamārjanam, guṇa-prakāśe ranu-mīyate bhavān, prakāśate yasya chaye nava-guṇa-hāṁ, sattvaṁ na cheda dhātaridam nijambhaved.
So here, the point that is being made is, my dear Lord, you who are situated in transcendence, dhātaridam nijambhaved, actually you are the reservoir of all energies, sustainer, nijambhaved, that you, if your body was not beyond this world, then actually if you did not manifest in such a body in this world, nijñānam ajñāna-vid-āpamārjanam, so ajñāna-vid-āpamārjanam, actually in this world we can see only material bodies and we get attracted to the material bodies, but it’s only when you manifest your transcendental supremely attractive body that we can know it, that we can get attracted to it and thus we can get elevated and liberated. So it is your compassion because of which you manifest such a body. Without your manifesting such a body, we would not know that there is any transcendental.
guṇa-prakāśe ranumīyate bhavān. So by that, there is something beyond material nature, we infer ranumīyate. So prakāśate yasya chaye nava-guṇa-hāṁ prakāśate.
Illumination happens. So he says that now you are transcendental and if you were not transcendental, if your form were not transcendental, then actually speaking we would not know anything about transcendence. Now can you be known? He says here actually you can be inferred by the intelligence.
guṇa-prakāśe ranumīyate bhavān. You can be inferred, you cannot be conclusively known, but you can be inferred from this world. prakāśate yasya chaye nava-guṇa-hāṁ prakāśate.
That you are the source of intelligence and you are the goal of intelligence. That actually where does the intelligence come from? It comes from Krishna. And where is the intelligence meant to take us? It is meant to take us to Krishna.
The source and the goal of intelligence. And now text 36, another well-known verse. Again this verse also focuses on how the Lord is transcendental and how He manifests in this world.
nānāma-rūpe guṇa-janma-karma-bhēr. nirūpa-tave tava tasya sākṣiṇaḥ mano vachā-bhyāma-nume yavartamano deva-kriyāyāṁ pratyajan yathā pihit. nānāma-rūpe guṇa-janma-karma-bhēr.
Actually speaking, my dear Lord, your name and your form, your qualities, your appearance, nirūpa-tave tava tasya sākṣiṇaḥ mano vachā-bhyāma-nume yavartamano deva-kriyāyāṁ pratyajan yathā pihit. Actually, they cannot be understood. They cannot be realized.
So, mano vachā-bhyāma-nume yavartamano. They can only be inferred. Actually, now there’s a beautiful commentary here given in the Vaishnava Toshani.
For example, it is said that if the Lord is transcendental, then how can we actually know Him? How can we understand Him? So, if we consider His name that expresses His qualities is Bhakta-vatsala. A name that describes His form is Shama-sundara. A name that describes His action is Govardhan-dhari.
A form that expresses His action is Veeru-vadhana or Tribhangal-lita. A name that expresses His appearance is Deva-kilandhar. And a form that expresses His birth is Matsya.
So now, actually speaking, because you are transcendental, you are the observer of everything in this material world and you exist at a different level of reality. And existing at that level of reality, you cannot be known by anyone in this world. If you cannot be known by anyone in this world, then what happens? That actually the result is that the only way somebody can know you is through scripture and logics you can be inferred.
But ultimately, it is only by your grace. It is only by your grace that you can be revealed. We all need your grace, O Lord, by which we can move towards you, by which we can attain you.
So this is what is being stressed over here, nirupita-uvyata-vatasya-sakshina. So let’s try to understand what is being said over here. The Lord exists at the spiritual level of reality.
Our capacity to think of form, our capacity to think of qualities, to think of activities, all this is at the material level because our senses and our mind are material. Therefore, we cannot actually know Him because He exists at the spiritual level of reality, although we can infer Him. So Shamsundara, when we utter this name, there is some thought that comes in our mind, some image that is formed in our mind and that gives us some indication of what the Lord is.
Although that is not complete and although that doesn’t help us to know the Lord fully, but that anumeya-vartamano, it points towards Him. But then ultimately how is this to be known? Deva-kriyayam pratyantya-thapihi. Deva-kriyayam means by the deva-kriya, by the action of the devatas, we can be known.
By the action of the devatas, that means by the devotional service, the Lord can be known. Without the devotional service, He cannot be known. But the point being made over here is that the transcendence of the transcendental Lord is pursued through bhakti.
And how is it pursued through bhakti? Because bhakti raises our consciousness to a transcendental level. So at the material level, there is inference, but it is devotion that gives us experience. So you could say analysis can give us an inference about God, but it is devotion that gives us experience of God.
And thus deva-kriyayam pratyantya-thapihi. Deva-kriyayam, that is a divine activity, that is activity of devotional service and those people engage in that, that’s when they actually can know you, O Lord. Such is your transcendental glory.
And it is through bhakti