Bhagavatam tenth canto study 82 – 10.14.25-30 Devotion is the doorway and pathway to a life beyond illusion and liberation
We’ll continue this discussion in our next session. Thank you. तेनैवजातं निखिलं प्रपञ्जितं घ्यानेन भुयो पिछतत् प्रलीयते रज्ञामहेर भोग भवा भव यथा आत्मानम् यू ओ लोड एवा आत्मतया अविजानताम् That those who do not know you as the supreme soul, आत्मतया अविजानताम् तेनैवजातं निखिलं प्रपञ्जितं It is that they, for them the whole material existence expands with all its illusions.
तेनैवजातं निखिलं प्रपञ्जितं घ्यानेन भुयो पिछतत् प्रलीयते But by knowledge that existence is again that disappears. रज्ञामहेर भोग भवा भव यथा He gives the standard example in scripture of illusion, that is, just as a rope रज्ञामहेर, this is a rope may be misunderstood to be a snake. अहेर, so just as a rope can be mistaken to be, भोग भवा भव यथा and the appearance and the disappearance of the body occurs for them.
So here, Brahmaji is taking this discussion away from or is extending the principle that of his illusion and his illumination to a universal level by recognizing that what applies to his bewilderment applies to the bewilderment of all living beings. That those who seek to, those who do not know him, they know him, here him refers to Krishna not Brahma, they fall into illusion. And those who know Krishna stay free from illusion.
Such is the nature of the world whereby, प्रलीयते, that as long as we think that a rope is a snake, we live in fear. Similarly, as long as we think that this world exists as something separate from Krishna, then we think of the world as a source of pleasure and a source of trouble. But once we understand that this world is ultimately a representation of Krishna, then we move beyond this dynamic of pleasure and trouble to see that ultimately everything is an agency of Krishna’s purpose.
That whatever is happening is a means by which Krishna is furthering his purpose of furthering our spiritual evolution. So everything is an agency of Krishna’s purpose. And this perception is freedom from illusion.
And this perception is attained when we understand Krishna. So to know Krishna is not just to think of him as some God who exists high up in the sky, but to understand that God, the conception of God is inclusive, where all of material existence is an agency for his purpose, because it is all his energy. And that understanding is what Brahmaji has got and that is what he’s sharing here.
So text 26. So, out of ignorance, various designations manifest and bhava-bandha-moksha. These lead to material existence and these are seen as we see that we need to go beyond both of these.
It’s interesting that here the conception of God is being shown to be as declared to be transcendental to bhava-bandha and moksha both. So, if liberation that continues our conception of separation from the absolute, that separation, that is not very useful for us. That will not help us grow.
That will still keep us in illusion and we need to go beyond that. So, vicharya mani, we need to distinguish properly. So, both liberation and devote and bondage, if they keep us disconnected from the Lord, both are manifestations of illusion.
And here the example is given, vicharya mani tarana vivahni, just as for the sun, there is no such thing as light and day. Light and day is for those who are facing the sun or facing away from the sun. It’s a beautiful example.
Prabhupada would say that evil is not the opposite of God, it is the absence of God. So, just as darkness is not just the opposite of light, it is the absence of light. And because the sun is the source of light, so in the sun there is no darkness or evil.
So, here good and evil can also be equated with liberation and bondage. That once we understand that we are souls different from the body and we are parts of the divine, that is when we come in the light. And without that, even if we gain liberation, that is also still within the arena of illusion.
So, in this section, the importance of knowledge of the divine is stressed, that without such knowledge, we cannot move forward. Without such knowledge, we will stay bound within the frameworks that we have established for our particular existence. And that framework is something which may be increasingly elevated or increasingly degraded, depending on whether it is in goodness, passion or ignorance.
But overall, it is still that framework itself. Now, he is continuing this discussion. Let’s go to text 27.
- Just see the magnitude of the ignorance of the ignorant. What is that magnitude? तम आत्मानं परम्मत्व.
They start seeing for the real self beyond you. परमात्मानं एवज. Thinking of that the supreme must be something beyond you.
आत्मपुनर्भहिर्मुज्य. So, there are two kinds of illusions, that to think of God to be someone other than Krishna and to think of the self as something other than the soul. So, to think of some worldly power, phenomena, technology, mechanism to be the supreme or to think of the body within its particular powers, body or the mind to be the self, both are illusions.
And this is अहो अज्य जनत आज्यता. Just see the magnitude of the ignorance of the ignorant. It is said that many people stumble upon the truth accidentally, but they pick themselves up and keep walking on, neglecting the truth that they have stumbled upon.
So, this is what happens that because the conception of the soul may be seen by people as too abstract or too simple, whichever extreme you want to go to, or the conception of God as a person might be seen as sentimental, anthropomorphic or sectarian, being of a particular religious conception. So, because of that, we have the limitation that blocks everyone over here. And it is this limitation, it’s one thing to just be ignorant, not know the truth, but it is far more tragic to stumble on the truth and to not recognize the truth.
So, if somebody is on a treasure hunt, digging for gold, or digging for some jewels, and they find the jewel and then they mistake it to be simply ordinary stone, that is tragic, catastrophic. So, similarly, to know about Krishna and then to think about him as an ordinary person is a catastrophic ignorance. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, in every way, it is disastrously ignorant.
And such is the ignorance which Brahmaji has exhibited over here, when he saw Krishna, but he thought, how can this simple cowherd boy be God? God must be something bigger, something grander than this. And thus, he started looking for God. He started testing Krishna.
And as he is, while giving a general principle about the magnitude of the ignorance of the ignorant people, he is also acknowledging his own ignorance in being deceived by Krishna’s apparent simplicity and not acknowledging Krishna’s divinity, supremacy. So, Krishna’s apparent simplicity does not detract from his actual supremacy. So, Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, in the Bhagavad Gita, you can see text 28, antarbhave anantabhavantameva ye atat tijanto mrugayanti santah asantam apy antya ahim antarena santam gunam tam kim uyanti santah antarbhave anantabhavantameva that within the body, you reside who are unlimited.
Oh Lord, bhavantam is a respectful second-person address. ye atat tijanto mrugayanti santah So the santah, the saintly people, they give up everything which is temporary, everything which is separated from you, and mrugayanti, they search for you. asantam apy antya ahim antarena This is, the whole line has an alliteration of asantam apy antya ahim antarena and apya and antya have also a ya sound at the end in the alliteration.
So they do not, so the material nature and the illusion which is right next to them, which is around them externally and within them internally at the level of the mind. santam gunam tam kim uyanti santah So how can they know it to be an illusion unless they understand you to be the reality. Just as, as long as one is thinking of the rope to be a snake, one will be so averse to it that one will not be ready to even explore what it actually is.
So that’s why aversion towards life is not conducive to devotion. Attachment is also not conducive, but aversion is also not conducive. And we need to go beyond both towards pure devotion.
So here the point being made is that the two distinct points, one is that the saintly reject everything that is not you and search for you within their own bodies. And how can one understand the rope as long as they think it to be a snake? That means as long as we define the world in terms of its potential to give us enjoyment, till that point we limit our capacity to encounter the world in its reality. As long as we even think of God as the provider and protector of our enjoyment, again we limit our capacity to face the reality of the world and to grow within that reality.
So it’s important for each one of us to focus on cultivating devotion. Just as if someone has, as soon as somebody realizes what happens first, one realizes it is not a snake or one realizes first that it is a rope, either way will work as long as we get to the clear understanding. So for some people, they might realize that this world is not what it appears to be, but that may not tell them what it is.
They have to turn towards scripture to understand what it is. Simultaneously, even if they learn from scripture what the world is, they may not accept that, acknowledge that unless the scripture tells us God is the source of all pleasure and the world is the source of trouble. The pleasure of the world is trouble because it distracts us from God who is the source of all pleasure, supreme source of all pleasure.
They may not realize that unless they experience firsthand the trouble that the world brings. So we need to focus on moving forward whichever way we can. So does the egg come first or does the chicken come first? We have to begin with whatever we have first.
So similarly, if we have detachment from matter, we start with that as the starting point of our spiritual journey. If we have attraction toward God, we make that as the starting point of our spiritual journey. Either way, we keep moving forward.
So text 29. शापिते देव पदाम् भुझद्वय This is a oft quoted verse from these prayers. That, O my dear Lord, it is your lotus feet, O God, Deva, पदाम् भुझद्वय प्रसाद लेश अनुग्रिते वही If by the mercy of even the small dust particle of your lotus feet, if somebody becomes enriched by that mercy, जानाति तत्वं भग्वन्महिन्नो They come to know you.
They understand your reality. नचान्य एकोपि चिरम्चिन्वन् But apart from this, even if one exercises and exerts for a long time, one cannot understand the nature of God and the nature of the supreme reality. नचान्य एकोपि चिरम्चिन्वन् Here, Maharaj Ji is rounding off the discussion by stating that what is the way to knowledge of God or freedom from illusion about the world? It is the mercy of the Lord.
So, without mercy, even for a long period of contemplation, analysis, speculation, will not really help much. So here, Brahma Ji is recognizing that Krishna has showed very special mercy on him by giving him the vision of how, though he being a cowherd boy, still the supreme. The infinite has the power to make the infinite known even to the finite.
That is the infinite’s prerogative, not the finite’s. And this is Brahma Ji speaking that it is by revelation, not by speculation, that God can be known. Now, of course, we can use our thinking power to analyze and learn as far as possible because that can help us to move forward, to gain as much self-understanding as we can.
But ultimately, that’s not enough. So, if we do our thinking, our reasoning in a mood of service, not in a mood of conquest, we don’t think that we can conquer God with our intelligence is misconception. And that kind of thinking, speculating, contemplating will keep us in illusion.
But if we realize, if we do our thinking, analysis and all that in a mood of service to God, then surely He can elevate us toward a fuller, richer, deeper understanding. So we can think, analyze in a mood of service, not conquest. So, my dear Lord, you are my master, you are the bestower of the greatest fortune.
Bhave, in this world, in the birth, or some other birth, that means, now, the Gods are not exactly human beings. Although the Gods are considered higher than humans, but overall they fall in the category of humans in the sense that we consider humans as those with the potential for spiritual awareness. The Gods certainly have that potential.
We could say the active potential. Animals have the potential dormant while they are in animal bodies. So when they come to human bodies, then that potential becomes manifest.
So Brahmaji is saying that, whether I am born in this world or in this body or some other body, in this birth or some other birth, ye naam ekopibhava janana, I simply desire to become, pada pallavam, I want to engage in the service of your lotus feet, in whatever species it may be. So bhakti is the means to getting mercy. And in the previous verse, he has stated that, it is only by grace that the Lord can be known.
So he is beseeching that grace. Therefore, my dear Lord, for my wrongdoing, even if you want to punish me, you can punish me, but please don’t deprive me of your devotion. Please let me stay devoted to you.
And if I stay devoted to you, then I will be protected. And eventually I will be benedicted. So, devotion is the benediction that opens the door to the ultimate benediction.
And even if other benedictions like wealth or pious birth or others are lost, if devotion is retained, then the path to the supreme benediction still remains open. And thus, we can say that we are fortunate. And here, Brahmaji is therefore praying, that please let this door of devotion remain open for me.
Because it’s not just a door, it’s a door that takes us on a path, and that path takes us to knowledge of Krishna, absorption in Krishna, love for Krishna, and eternal life in Krishna. So, because devotion is the door to the path, devotion is the doorway as well as the pathway to knowledge of Krishna, absorption in Krishna, love for Krishna, and life with Krishna. And such a life is free from illusion and free from tribulation.
So, he is begging that may that opportunity for devotion always remain with me. Even if I need to be punished for my offense against you. That whatever birth I may take, still let me remain devoted to you.
In fact, this is the prayer of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also in the Shikshashtakam, where he is taking the mood of a seeker and declaring, O Lord, please, please bless me so that, let me attain you, O Lord. Let me remember you, let me cherish you. Such is the mood that is being depicted and displayed over here.