Bhakti leads to realization of the Absolute Truth SB – 1.2.9-1.2.15 | Bhagavatam Study | Bhakti Vaib

Hare Krishna. Welcome back to our Bhagavatam study of the first canto. We continue with our discussion in the second chapter.
We will start with 1.2.9. We will discuss till now, in this chapter, about how Suta Goswami offers obeisances to his spiritual master, Shukadeva Swami, Narayana Rishi Saraswati Devi. And, then he offers his respects to the questioning sages. And, then he starts answering the questions.
So, first he says, the paradharma is that which is pure, unmotivated, uninterrupted devotion. Then, he says that, as compared to that, other things. What are the other things? He is analysing them.
So, first, he takes up analysis of jnana and vairagya. And, he says, these come automatically in bhakti. Then, what about vanashram dharma? He says that these, this is actually, the purpose of doing vanashram dharma is to develop bhakti.
Without that, it is not of much use. And, now, he will talk about the purusharthas, dharma, artha, kama, moksha. In this, in the next verse.
So, 1.2.9 dharmasya apavargasya nartho arthayopakalpate narthasya dharmai kantasya kamo labhaya hismata So, dharmasya apavargasya. Normally, the four purusharthas are considered to be sequential or chronological. Dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
So, by the practise of dharma, by doing specific religious activities, as well as by doing one’s swadharma, one’s prescribed duty, what happens by that? It leads to artha. One is able to gain artha, that is, holistic prosperity, not just financial gains, and then artha leads to kama. Kama means that one is, gets a lot of, one’s desires fulfilled.
It doesn’t refer only to sensual gratification, it refers to general fulfilment of desires. And then, as one goes through these three purusharthas, then gradually one comes to the level of seeking moksha. Understand that this level of religiosity is not going to satisfy me.
Dharma, artha, kama is not going to satisfy me. Therefore, I need to seek something higher. And then one seeks moksha.
So, dharma, artha, kama and moksha are progressions, are progressive, one by one by one. And that is what is talked about over here. In general, in the Vedic tradition, these four purusharthas are there, and now the Bhagavatam talks about, connects these purusharthas with their ultimate purpose.
So, it says the practise of dharma is not for artha. dharmasya apavargasya apavarga refers to transcendence, the attainment of an eternal destination, the attainment of the state of existence that is beyond pavarga, pa-pa-bhava-hama, that these are the, just as we have acronyms in English, so like that there are various ways in which concepts can be condensed. So, in a rough sense, pavarga is some kind of acronym equivalent in Sanskrit, where pa-pa-bhava-hama refer to states of, refer to states within the bound material existence.
So, pa refers to parishram or fena. So, when the work labours very hard and one sweats at the mouth, it’s like a donkey sweats at the mouth after carrying a huge amount of load, parishram, pa-pa. So, pa is parishram, pa is fena, ba-bhama, so these are all, in Sanskrit there are different sets of alphabets which are grouped together according to their phonetics, and this is called as pavarga.
So, in the pavarga there are these sets of alphabets and they are also used over here to refer to the Sanskritic, to certain philosophical concepts. So, pa-fa-ba-bhama, ba is bandhan. So, when we seek material enjoyment, the result of that effort for getting material enjoyment is that we become bound in this world.
And there is bha, bha is bhai, bhai is fear. We feel fearful because when we become attached to certain things there is always the anxiety that what we are attached to may go away. And then there is bha and then vyarthata.
Vyarthata is everything will go away, bha-bhama. So, now what happens is, ultimately there is mrityu, and mrityu means everything is lost. Everything, especially whatever we accumulate materially, it is lost.
So, what is important in such situations to recognise is that we are not alone in this world, in our fate, that there is a higher transcendental reality God and if we connect with him for not improving ourselves materially but for elevating ourselves spiritually, then we can go beyond this pavarga, and that talks, that is apavarga. So, the Bhagavatam radically challenges existing notions by stating that dharmasya apavargasya. Rather than saying that dharma is for artha, it is dharma is for apavarga.
It is for going beyond material existence. So, then is the Bhagavatam neglecting artha and kama? Is it like there is a, if you consider the four purusharthas, dharma, artha, kama and moksha, is the Bhagavatam sort of taking a long jump or leapfrogging from dharma to moksha directly without considering artha and kama? Not exactly. We will see that the Bhagavatam will connect all three to moksha and we will also later see as the Bhagavatam’s thought flow evolves that it is focussing not so much on moksha in the conventional sense of liberation from material existence alone.
It is talking about moksha in a devotional sense of being engaged eternally in the service of the Lord. So, dharma becomes connected with that evolved sense of moksha that is aware that it is of parabhakti, of kevala bhakti, of pure love for the Lord. Now, dharmasya apavargasya and then na artho arthayop kalpate.
So, further it says na artho arthayop kalpate. That means one should not let dharma be underused for the purpose of artha. Yes, dharma will produce artha.
Again, when we use the word dharma, not in a restricted sense of religious activities but in terms of seeing all our activities as our prescribed duties, as our dharmic duties. dharmasya apavargasya na artho arthayop kalpate Don’t see this as meant for financial gains alone, for worldly gains also. na arthasya dharmai kantasya kamo labhaya ismita Now, the Bhagvatam continues its connection with transcendence by stating that artha is also not meant for kama.
Artha should also be used for transcendental purpose. So, even when one is doing dharma for a transcendental purpose, if at that time one gets artha, rather than using that artha for sensual purposes, we should use it for transcendental purposes. na arthasya dharmai kantasya kamo labhaya ismita That one should not use it for satisfying kama.
So, the Bhagvatam sort of cuts the chain over here. Dharma is not for artha, artha is not for kama. Dharma is for transcendence, artha is for transcendence, and even kama is for transcendence, that’s what will be mentioned in the next verse.
So, kamasya na indriya pritir labho jiveta yavata jivasya tatva jijnasa na artho ishcheha karma bhi So, in 1 to 10, the Bhagvatam states here that kamasya na indriya pritir that kama when we have, we should not use it for indriya priti, we should not use it for sense gratification, rather we should use it for labho jiveta yavata that we should use it for self-preservation, rather than using our desires for aggrandising more and more, we use it for self-preservation, and then na arthasya, and then jivasya tatva jijnasa The purpose of life, what should we make it for? Most people, the purpose of life, including even the purpose of dharma is to get artha so that kama can be fulfilled. So, we think that satisfying our desires will lead to satisfaction. But actually, satisfaction of desires is not the pathway to satisfaction.
Because our desires are innumerable and expandable. That means the desires are reproducible as well as expandable. There are many many desires, so if we try to satisfy all the desires, we will never become satisfied.
Secondly, each desire, when we satisfy it, it expands and becomes more and more. It becomes bigger and longer. And not only that, that desire is reproducible.
That same desire expands into some other desire also. So, in this way, if we seek satisfaction through the satisfaction of desires, we sentence ourselves to a life of dissatisfaction. Instead, if we seek the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, then in His satisfaction, we get the supreme satisfaction.
Then it says, Don’t use desires for gratifying the senses, because the desires associated with the senses are endless. labho jivetayavata and this jivetayavata labha, labham is whatever gains we get in our pursuits. We use it for maintaining our body.
Certainly, the Bhagavatam, although it’s transcendental, it is not impractical. It is not urging us to neglect our bodily needs. It’s actually telling us to connect our bodily needs with our transcendental purpose.
So yes, the body has to be maintained. jivasya tattvajijnasa labho jivetayavata jivasya tattvajijnasa jivasya That for the jiva, the important purpose is tattvajijnasa. What is the meaning of life? What is the ultimate truth of life? What is life’s supreme objective? jivasya tattvajijnasa Enquire in this direction.
naartho yascheha karmabhi naartho There is no other purpose that is to be achieved apart from this. naartho yascheha karmabhi There is no other purpose apart from this. So now, moving onwards, if we look at this naartho yascheha karmabhi So Krishna, in the Bhagavatam, what is it stated? It has connected dharmarthakama with its transcendental vision of the ultimate purushartha.
na appavarga So now after this, he is saying that we should enquire about tattva. Tattvajijnasa is similar to brahmajijnasa. The concept of what is ultimate truth.
So are tattva and brahma equivalent? Tattva is generally truth substantive principle and brahma is the transcendental reality. So now what that tattva is will be mentioned in the next verse. So 2.11 is vadanti tattva vidas tattvam yajnanam advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagvanati shabdyate The Bhagavatam here states that vadanti tattva vidanti It is known as tattva vidas tattva vidas means those people who know the truth.
tattvam yajnanam advayam tattvam yajnanam advayam They know the tattva which is the advayajnan which is non-dual truth. What is that? That absolute truth is non-dual knowledge. brahmeti paramatmeti bhagvanati shabdyate It is known by these three names brahman, paramatma and bhagavan.
So the Bhagavatam here gives us multidimensional conception of the absolute truth wherein the absolute truth manifests by multiple names and with multiple names referring to its multiple features. So the multidimensional aspect of the absolute truth essentially means that the Bhagavatam is giving us tattva which is inclusive that is the personal and the impersonal aspect of the absolute truth and the Bhagavatam includes both of them. So the specific meanings of the words brahma, paramatma and bhagavan or their internal progression in terms of bhagavan referring to the fullest manifestation of the absolute truth all that the Bhagavatam doesn’t talk about over here.
That will be revealed in its subsequent flow and in its in the exposition in the Bhagavatam given by its commentators. Here Sukta Goswami is answering specific questions and in its answer to these specific questions the Bhagavatam focusses on on universal principles over here. It is not going into technical details right now.
So what it states here is that patantitattva vidas that and that the previous text was that what is the tattva. So tattva vidas those who are knowers of tattva they say that that patantitattva that tattva is what? So that tattva is advaya jnana Now advaya is not necessarily referred to advaitavad. You have to understand that terms have different meanings in different contexts and advaitavad is not the same as advaya jnana.
Advaya jnana simply refers to the point that in the absolute truth there is pure cognisance there is no differentiation there is one absolute truth and that absolute truth is cognisant and that advaya jnana that tattva which is advaya jnana manifests in multiple ways as Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. So the Gaudi Acharyas has explained to us as conveyed by his followers the acharyas that actually there is there are the absolute truth manifest in these three which is Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagavan. Brahman refers to the all pervading impersonal manifestation of the absolute truth.
Paramatma refers to the localised immanent immanent manifestation of the absolute truth who acts as a companion and guide for the soul vanishing into existence and Bhagavan aspect refers to the transcendental personal aspect who resides in his own kingdom. We will discuss these conceptions later in more detail. Now after talking about this conception of the absolute truth the Bhagavatam moves on and states okay how is this absolute truth to be realised? So it says So that is Shraddhadhana with faith Munaya the sages equipped with Gyan and Vairagya they see within themselves by hearing, by practising bhakti according to what they have heard.
So this is a power packed verse lets uncode unravel what all is being packed over here so now Shraddha is required that this is the understanding of the absolute truth was mentioned and that bhakti is the bhakti is the means to realising this absolute truth so the 10th verse said that searching for the absolute truth is the essential purpose of life what are absolute truth was mentioned in the 11th verse and 12th verse gives in a condensed way what is the process for realising the absolute truth so here the word is munaya previously the word was used tattvavidh those who are knowers of the absolute truth munis are not necessarily knowers of the absolute truth munis are serious seekers they are sages they are who have dedicated their life to seeking the absolute truth so those munis who are Shraddhadhana over here are seriously inquisitive not necessarily as having great faith it’s simply serious inquisitiveness faith also means serious inquisitiveness because initially we cannot be expected to have faith in everything that we hear from scripture but what we can have is an open minded and serious inquisitiveness what is this scripture what is this spiritual stuff what is this spiritual reality is there something beyond the pursuit that I am seeking in life what is it that is there so serious inquisitiveness not just casual inquisitiveness Shraddha that itself indicates that we are in for the long haul and one seeks this with gyana and vairagya that means again the point is not that gyana and vairagya are rejected they are used equipped with gyana and vairagya now earlier in the 7th verse it was said that by the practise of bhakti, gyana and vairagya will come and this verse will also state that if we go forward the last line says if we practise bhakti, gyana and vairagya will come so devotees, Bhagavatam is telling us that as seekers it’s not that we neglect gyana and vairagya but rather we focus on practising bhakti properly and then by the practise of bhakti when gyana and vairagya come we use that gyana and vairagya we don’t neglect that we don’t think that bhakti only means sentiments sentiments are important in bhakti but there is much more to bhakti than just sentiments because sentiments often make us sentimental and sentimental is often not very desirable if you want committed practise so bhaktya shita gruhitaya not just bhakti which is sentimental when bhakti that is scripture shita gruhitaya that means shita refers here in general to scripture that hear scripture, understand scripture and hear and then gruhitaya accept it and practise accordingly when we practise scripture in this way bhaktya shita gruhitaya then that bhakti will actually lead to gyana and vairagya and when bhakti leads to gyana and vairagya then what happens pashyanti atmani cha atmanam when we practise bhakti seriously according to scripture with gyana and vairagya with shraddha then gradually it will lead to pashyanti we will get transcendent perception of the absolute truth within ourselves atmasyanti atmani cha atmanam, within ourselves we will realise the transcendental truth we will perceive the atma and we will perceive the paramatma so in this way the bhagavata is saying that the tattva can be realised by the practise of bhakti and so after establishing the supremacy and the adequacy of bhakti and connecting and showing how all other forms of dharma are connected and subordinated to it, harmonised with it now the bhagavatam shifts on it moves on to explaining how the process of bhakti will work so here it is said that in a condensed packed verse the process of bhakti was summarised in 1 to 12, now from 1 to 13 onwards that is unpacked so the practise is that when we practise, when we do varnasana dharma we do it for the satisfaction of the lord and then it becomes productive so the difference between the two is largely in terms of understanding what is the context, understanding what is the focus so there it is said the same thing can be said by assertion and deviation so there the through negation it is stated that varnashram disconnected from bhakti is not of much use and here through assertion it is said that varnashram becomes useful becomes fruitful when it is connected with bhakti so a brahmana works for the satisfaction of Vishnu and we don’t exactly have varnashram in today’s society so we understand varnashram here in terms of in our today’s society whatever prescribed duties we have we do them for the satisfaction of lord Vishnu we do them for the satisfaction of lord Hari and in this way these will become spiritualised they will lead us towards perfection devya pujascha nityada so 1 to 14 it goes on tasmad eke namanasa therefore with one pointed intelligence eke namanasa what should one do? bhagwan sattvatampatihi bhagwan who is sattvatampatihi who is the who is the lord, who is the deliverer who is the master the protector of sattvatas sattvatas are those who are living their life in pursuing of the sattva, of the absolute truth tasmad eke namanasa bhagwan sattvatampatihi hearing about him speaking about him devya pujascha nityada devya is meditating on him, pujascha is worshipping him so basically making him the centre of our heart and life tasmad tasmad is therefore whatever activities we do whatever our prescribed duties we do them for the satisfaction of lord Vishnu tasmad eke namanasa in this way the bhagwan is taking us from the lower level is connecting the performance of varnashrama with the connection with transcendental truth tasmad eke namanasa bhagwan sattvatampatihi with one point of intelligence even when whatever activities we are doing rather than getting caught in those activities and the material results that may come from those activities we focus on the transcendental pursuit and the transcendental lord and through our hearing, through our speaking through our meditating and through our praying we devote ourselves to that lord and in this way we can move towards transcendence we can move towards life’s ultimate perfection so this is the way the bhagavatam connects the prescription the performance of varnashrama with the transcendental lord by pervading our consciousness with transcendental truth with transcendental reality eke namanasa one-pointed intelligence eke namanasa means normally mind but the point is that the mind becomes eke na devasaya apni kahabuddhi eke hakur nandana so eke na, it requires a strong intelligence to make the mind one-pointed and that intelligence will come to us by hearing the bhagavatam and by becoming purified by hearing the bhagavatam and that will be talked about in the next verse so 1.2.15 is yad anudhyasina yuktaha karmagranthini bandhanam chinnanti kovidastasya konakuryat katharatyam yad anudhyasina yuktaha yad anudhyasina one who hears with faith one anudhya sorry anudhya is meditates on asina asina is swore yuktaha, yuktaha is being equipped so being equipped with the swore of knowledge karmagranthini bandhanam the bond of karma nibandhanam, cutting it off sorry karmagranth, that is very entangling which binds us, karmagranthini the knot of karma chinnanti, one who cuts it off kovidastasya, the wise do this tasya, konakuryat katharatim so this verse concludes the rhetorical question konakuryat, therefore who will not do, what? katharatim, who will not have taste for the katha of the lord now the verse is in two parts first is that by remembering that lord whose remembrance is like a sword wise people will cut off the bondage of karma so therefore who will not hear about such a lord who will not delight, get taste in hearing about such a lord so what’s going on exactly in this verse the previous verse stated that hear with one pointed intelligence hear, speak, remember, hear speak, meditate and worship such a lord now worship that lord so this was goes on and says, what is the benefit of hearing like this, that his remembrance acts like a sword, now it’s interesting remembrance acting like a sword, what does it mean a sword is that which cuts and that cutting point is not just metaphorically but also explicitly stated in this verse with chinnanti so it cuts so what is this cutting referring to karmavandhan, now when we say the bondage of karma, what exactly is that bondage it’s not physical ropes that we can see, it is the attachments and attachments are what exactly do we mean by attachments actually attachment essentially means our gullibility to the promise of pleasure when we think that certain things will give us pleasure then we become gullible, we become susceptible we become vulnerable to those promises and thereby we get caught, we get trapped we get entangled and the way to come out of this entanglement is by purification is by elevation, is by liberation so when we focus on that transcendental absolute truth and pursue that transcendental absolute truth meditating on him then then we are no longer seduced by the promises of pleasure in this world so we can conceive it this way that there are invisible ropes which catch our consciousness and drag it towards the objects of our attachments but if we remember Krishna then we are attached to some sense object we remember Krishna, chant his holy name, pray to Krishna meditate on his deities, meditate on his pastimes, the ropes get cut how do the ropes get cut they get cut because there is the there is a higher satisfaction, a higher wisdom that awakens whenever we remember Krishna and that higher wisdom and satisfaction frees us from the captivation by the lower pleasures by the lower desires, by the lower indulgences and thus we rise upwards so this is the karmagranthi nibandhanam karmagranthi, the knot of karma will be cut off by remembering the lord and this is what the wise people do, kovida and it’s recommending that the bhagavatam is through a rhetorical question recommending here that who will not hear remember about, who will not hear about his lord who will not take interest, who will not delight in the katha of his lord because only by hearing about him can we remember him we cannot remember in a vacuum just where all that we have is our our fantasised concept, concoctions other we need to have some substantial basis for our recollection and that basis will come by hearing so by taking interest and delight in hearing about the lord we too will become equipped with the sword of his remembrance by which you can cut off the ropes of karma, sometimes hearing may seem to be very passive activity, sitting for hours and hearing something no we have to see we can get this exciting martial vision of the activity of hearing, every time we are hearing attentively we are actually equipping ourselves with the sword of remembrance and every time we are hearing attentively, not only our grip on the sword of remembrance strengthening but also we are becoming more and more expert in wielding that sword, in using that sword to cut, to cut, to cut and not only are we becoming more expert in uses of sword remembrance also sharpening the sword sharpening the sword by which that sword becomes very effective to cut so hearing equips us trains us and sharpens our sword and in that way when we have if hearing starts being passive to us, the bhagavatam offers us this enlivening martial vision by which we can stimulate ourselves in our hearing and we all experience the battle with temptation within us and we need resources to conquer, to win the battle of temptation and if we think of hearing not just as a passive activity but as a use this martial metaphor to galvanise ourselves to fight and win the inner war then we can take to hearing with much more seriousness and with much greater fruitfulness in terms of becoming equipped and enriched internally with devotional remembrance of the lord we will continue our discussion in our future talks, thank you Hare Krishna