Bhakti Shastri (010) – Sri Isopanisad Mantra 08

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so now we start with the 8th verse of the Isopanishad this is the last verse in the second section and in this second section we are understanding how to understand the Ishvara who possesses inconceivable attributes so let’s look at the section overview quickly so 4 to 8 section was understand Ishvara by spiritual vision the first part of that was 4 to 5 how Ishvara has inconceivable attributes 6 to 7 was first develop spiritual vision towards worldly objects, things, events and then direct that spiritual vision towards the supreme lord towards that absolute truth and understand him this vision developed further and direct to the Ishvara helps us to understand him this is actually not a translation this is a summary which gives a inkling of the flow which gives overall understanding of the flow so let’s look at the verse now let’s see what the mantra actually says so so refers to that person who is that person? The seeker that person was referred to in the previous two verses that such a person sees such a person who sees everybody as spiritual, as soul, as parts of god now how does that person see god? such a person should be able to see like this is omnipotent, extremely powerful Prabhupada translates as unembodied let’s see what this means and who is not reproached he has no veins, he is pure, he is not contaminated by sin so such a person is Kavi, that means a wise person, Manish is philosopher Paribhu is the greatest of all, Swayambhu self-sufficient that means just in pursuance of, just in proportion to as much as the person offers the desirables, Artha Artha gives Yadadach award Shashvatibhyah Samabhyah Shashvat means eternal, forever so from time immemorial this person has been doing this Samay is Hindi, Samabhyah is Sanskrit time so the person is understood as having all these properties these are the characteristics, the absolute truth that are described in this verse as the Mahabhagavata understands the absolute truth such a person must factually know Saparyagach, the greatest of all Saparyagachukram, Akayamavranam so the personality of Godhead, Shilabhrova makes it clear in his translation itself, that what the verse is talking about is not an impersonal absolute, it is the personality of Godhead who is unembodied, Akayam Avranam Ashnaaviram so Avranam is beyond reproach, omniscient without waves Ashnaaviram Shuddham Apapvidham Ashnaaviram is without waves, pure, uncontaminated then Kavir Manishi Paribhu Swayambhu so Kavir Manishi is philosopher self-sufficient is Swayambhu and then Paribhu the greatest of all, Shilabhrova has put first and foremost in the translation, such a person must actually know the greatest of all Saparyagachukram and Paribhu, Shilabhrova has put both of them together here the self-sufficient philosopher who has been fulfilling everyone’s desire since time immemorial Vedadhaash Shashvati Bhyaha Sama Bhyaha so let’s look at the overview of the verse here, so Akayam is unembodied and Ashnaaviram is without waves, so what does it mean that we’ll look at the significance of these two words in combination later then Shukram, so the first two paragraphs talk about how the absolute truth is unembodied and without waves and Omnipotent is Shukram, that’s described in paragraphs 2 to 4 so when a paragraph comes in both, that means in the middle of the paragraph that point changes and the next point starts being developed and the fulfiller of desires that is 5 to 6 paragraphs Paribhu is supreme described in 7th paragraph Svayambhu is described in the 8th paragraph and Shuddham Apapavidham, antiseptic and prophylactic is described in the 8th paragraph so let’s look at all these one by one so now here seems to be the most clear point that the absolute truth is impersonal how can one infer that one word that might lead to that inference is Akayam Akayam, now Kaya means body Akayam means without body, so does Akayam actually mean this or does it have some other meaning let us look at it now, so there is a famous verse in the Shvetashutra Upanishad which also comes in part of the Vedas, so Natasya Pratimahasti so many people who want to try to prove that absolute truth has no form they try to quote this verse and they say that absolute truth has no, Natasya Pratimahasti no representation of that absolute truth so actually speaking, if you look at the full context of the Shvetashutra Upanishad where this comes, no one can grasp Mabhava across or in the middle, there is no likeness of him his name is great glory so actually what is said over here is not that he doesn’t have a form, there is no likeness of him and Baldevidyabhushan used the translation in a more explicit way, he says Natasya Pratimahasti means nothing can compare with the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, so the Lord’s form is so great, Pratimah is so great that nothing can compare with it, so now sometimes the Lord’s form is compared for giving us an idea of what it means, so for example sometimes it may be said that the Lord’s eyes are like lotus his face, his lips are like bimba fruit now these are just given as indications for us to get some idea but in the Lalita Madhava which is written by Rupa Goswami, a devotee he said my dear Lord, in the past I thought that I was glorifying you with choice poetry but now that I have actually beheld your beautiful form now I understand that what I spoke earlier was not actually glorification, that was actually an insult because it is like glorifying the emperor of the world to be the landlord of the village so actually you are so much greater than any glorification that we can offer the glorification we offer becomes like an insult for you because the glorification becomes like a minimisation so in this way the great devotees when they get experience of the Lord’s beauty and they understand it is so great that nothing compares with it so these sort of negative descriptions that are there which sometimes seem to say that the absolute truth does not have a form have to be understood properly in their full context and they have to be understood from the Acharya so Akayam, let us see what it means this will be a major part of the discussion so in general there has to be a hermeneutic hermeneutic means a method of understanding so for example one of the methods of understanding is Arthapatti Arthapatti means postulation so for example there are two contradictory statements if they are to be resolved one has to think of a third statement which resolves the two so somebody says Ravi does not eat food throughout the day and then we find Ravi’s weight is increasing so these two statements are contradictory if he is not eating then how can the weight increase? then you need a third statement which reconciles the two what is that? Ravi eats secretly at night so when Ravi eats secretly at night then both statements are true, Ravi does not eat throughout the day Ravi’s weight is increasing so of course this is a humorous example but the point here is serious that when two statements seem to be contradictory and when both statements are known to be true then we have to understand that there has to be some third statement which reconciles both the statements and only then can the truth of both the statements be maintained while resolving the contradiction between them so how does this apply to scripture study? so we discussed earlier about Gajendra’s prayers where Gajendra is saying Arupaya Urupaya Nama Aschare Karmane so he says the Lord has no form, Arupaya and he says also that he has many forms, Urupaya so how do we understand that both these two can be reconciled? so the point is God has no material form but he has many spiritual forms so the Arthapatti is the no form refers to material form many forms refers to spiritual form so the Arthapatti is very important because it is understood in the Vedic hermeneutics as I mentioned earlier, hermeneutics is the art of studying and understanding scripture in Vedic hermeneutics it is understood that the Vedas give us the absolute truth so if some statements seem to be contradictory that is because our understanding of those statements is incomplete when we gain a complete understanding then those statements will no longer be troublesome for us we will be able to see and reconcile them properly so how do we do Arthapatti? For that we need Guru Sadhu Shastra now you may say isn’t this just what we are imposing on scripture is this actually the truth of the scripture? yes it is, let us see how so there is a verse in the Shreya Tashruta Rupanishad which actually gives this directly again, so earlier it was Bhagavatam Puran now it is from the Shreya Tashruta Rupanishad अपानि पादो जवनो ग्रहिता पश्चति अचक्षो थश्णो त्यकरण so he has no eyes, but he sees, how? so पश्चति अचक्षो हो पश्चति sees, but अचक्षो he has no eyes how is it possible that Arthapatti has spiritual eyes he does not see with material eyes, he sees with spiritual eyes so in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit also Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu does a similar Arthapatti in his discussions with both Sarovmattacharya as well as with Prakashanand Saraswati there the Lord makes the point that it is told in the Vedas that सह एक्षितः that absolute truth glanced सह एक्षितः सह असुरुज्जिता that absolute truth glanced and that absolute truth created, so now we know that only after all the whole creation began that in a later stage all the senses come about, when all the senses come later that means all the eyes will also come later so if all the eyes have come later in the creation then what were those eyes which glanced, that started off the creation so if all eyes are material and all eyes come at a later stage in the unfolding of creation then when we say that the glance some glance of some eyes started the creation what were those eyes, so those eyes couldn’t have been material because at that time nothing material was manifest, the Mahat-tattva was there only in an agitated form, unactivated form that means those eyes are transcendental so in this way we reconcile scripture by postulation so now Srila Prabhupada as I said here differenti-akaayam, he differentiates the word from unembodied Srila Prabhupada uses a very specific translation, he doesn’t use unembodied, he uses unembodied not disembodied what is the difference between unembodied and disembodied body is the physical body, embody means to give a body, so when the soul is given a body the soul becomes embodied now when the soul’s body is taken away then the soul is said to be disembodied so for example ghosts are disembodied living beings disembodied means that they had gross body but they committed suicide or because of some similar incident they lost the body and now they have not got a new body so the gross body was here, subtle body and the soul have come out and the subtle body and the soul now have no gross body so they are called disembodied disembodied, the word dis is a negative describer which says that something was there but was taken away, dispossessed that means somebody had possession of something it was taken away, so disembodied means that that which somebody had but was taken away from that person, so Srila Prabhupada is translating akayam not as bodiless, not even as disembodied but he is translating it as unembodied unembodied means that the soul was never, that the absolute truth rather here, not the soul, the absolute truth was never made embodied, the absolute truth eternally has a body the soul is here, the body is here and at the time of conception onwards the soul becomes embodied to embody means to give a body to disembody means to take away the body but for the lord there is no embodiment, there is no disembodiment why? because that lord’s body is transcendental it is eternally with him, so Srila Prabhupada is very meticulously translating akayam as unembodied, that means there is no conception of the lord getting embodied at all, the lord is eternal, transcendental and he always has his own transcendental form so then if that is the case then why does the word akayam have to be used at all to describe the absolute truth, the reason for that is that the word kaya kaya has many connotations connotations means implied meanings there is a denotation is a direct meaning, connotation is the implied meaning, so many words acquire connotations based on their context, so for example the word gay 50 years ago, the word gay just meant cheerful, so if somebody said I went to a gay party what it would mean is I just went to a cheerful party but now today because of the changes in the cultural demographics the word gay has an entirely different meaning so if somebody says I went to a gay party it has an entirely different connotation, so the word gay in a dictionary it has both meanings it has cheerful, it also has the meaning of somebody who is homosexual, but the words have acquired certain connotations, for example Srila Prabhupada used the word ass, ass basically means a donkey but nowadays the way vocabulary change, the word ass brings in mind actually that is often used to refer to a particular part of the bodily anatomy, so words have meanings and they have connotations and the connotations depend on that past person’s culture, so somebody who has always seen the word ass used to refer to a donkey and that person considers modern usage and finds the word ass and these people looking strange they use the word ass, so people may not understand but the word has some connotations, so the connotations develop based on the hearer’s past conceptions so like that the word kaya brings certain conceptions in the mind, so those are the connotations that come and those do not apply to the Supreme Lord and that is why the Upanishads use the word akayam, so what are the connotations that do not apply to the form of the Supreme Lord let’s look at them so normally the kaya, the body is separate from the real person, the soul my kaya is different from me, the soul, your kaya, your body is different from you, the soul, but that is not the case with the Supreme Lord, similarly my kaya is not only separate from me in its nature but it will be separated from me even physically right now I am inside the body but in the distant future when death comes my kaya, my body will be separated from me now this doesn’t happen to the Supreme Lord’s kaya, his form is eternal and it is there in the spiritual world and that is the meaning of avatar, that which is there in the spiritual world descends here then the kaya also tends to degrade the soul by stimulating bodily desires so when we have a body then bodily desires come up not just the needs of the body but even the desires which come up, for example sexual desires come up when a person becomes of the time of puberty, so these degrade the soul, so the word kaya has a connotation which does not apply to the Lord’s body because the Lord’s body being transcendental is not affected by any material desires and lastly the kaya the body is a product of the soul’s past karma so some people have a good looking body other people don’t have such a good looking body why is this difference there? because those people those souls have different kinds of karma and as per their karma, one person is being given a good looking body, another person is being given not such a good looking body, so this difference is inevitably there with respect to various bodily attributes and this is because of the person’s bad karma or karma, whichever it may be, past karma, good or bad so this does not apply to the Lord it is not that the karma of the Lord has led to the particular body coming up, no the Lord’s body is eternally with him and he himself is entirely beyond karma, so actually speaking the word akayam has a very profound meaning now somebody may say actually speaking this is just your interpretation, actually you are just because you are personalist and you want to believe that God has a form, so the Upanishad is saying that the Lord is akayam, he does not have form and still you are saying that you are implying that he has form, that’s why you are giving all this interpretation yes that may be possible but we have to look at the full verse to see what is it saying, the mantra is saying vijitliya phir asna viram so now he has no veins now if somebody does not have any body what is the point in saying that the person does not have any veins? if you want to say that person has no clothes if I say the person has no clothes then there is no point in saying the person does not have any tie the person does not have any clothes, so he does not have anything at all if we say person does not have a house then it is implied that person doesn’t have a hall or a bedroom or whatever. So if there is, A is a bigger set that is Kaya and Ashnaaviram.
Veins are a smaller set. So veins are a part of the body. So once we have said that there is no body, then there is no need to say there are no veins again after that.
So what is the need for saying that there are no veins after it has been said that there is no body? That is actually indicative that the word Akayam cannot be simplistically translated as having no body. Actually Akayam, Prabhupada precisely translates as unembodied. That means the soul is not given a body, the Supreme Lord is not given a body like the soul is given.
So the Supreme Lord is entirely transcendental. And being transcendental, the Supreme Lord is eternal and His form is also eternal, it is eternally with Him. And then Akayam, when it is understood in this way that the Lord is unembodied, then we understand Ashnaaviram to mean He has a special kind of body which does not have veins.
So He has a body no doubt, but His body does not have veins. So Saparigachukram Akayamabhranam Ashnaaviram. So He is unembodied.
Now, okay, so let’s move forward. Now there are several words we have been talking about. Saparigachukram Akayamabhranam Ashnaaviram Shuddham Apapavidham Kavir Manishi Paribhu Swayambhu Yatha Ticho Arthas Vidhah Shashvati Bhya Samabhya.
So Srila Prabhupada now talks elaborately about this. Yatha Ticho Arthas Vidhah Shashvati Bhya Samabhya. Let’s look at that before we go back to the earlier points.
So Prabhupada mentions the point that when somebody is to get something, the person has to acquire the qualification, but along with that, the authority has to reward, only then the person gets the result. So there’s qualification plus bestowal, only then the result comes out. So for example, Prabhupada gives the example that when a person becomes qualified in terms of passing the exams to become a judge, after the general step, the government awards the position of the judge to that person.
So there is the acquisition of qualification, but along with that, there is the bestowal of the result or the reward or the post, whatever it may be. So like that Prabhupada says, it is not that just by our acquiring qualification we will get the result. We have to acquire qualification, but along with that, the Lord has to bestow His grace, only then the result comes out.
So Prahlad Maharaj gives this example in his prayers, where he says that, बालसिनेहशरणंपित्रोंनर्सिन्मा नार्तसिचागत्मुदन्वतिमज्चितोणव् तप्तसितत्प्रतिविधिरिहाँजसेश्टस् तावद्विभोतनवृताम् तदुपेख्षितानाम् So he says over there that the apparent protector is not the actual protector. So he used three examples, बालसिनेहशरणंपित्रोंनर्सिन्मा नार्तसिचागत्मुदन्वतिमज्चितानाम् तदुपेख्षितानाम् तदुपेख्षितानाम् My dear Lord Narasimha, when a child is in trouble, the child will naturally take shelter of the parent, of the father, but the father cannot always protect the child. Sometimes a child may still get sick and die, a child may get nabbed, many things can happen by which the father, even despite all desires and intentions, may not be able to protect the child.
And similarly, he says that चार्तसिद्वुदन्वतिमज्चितिनाम् So he says that, for example, when a person is sick, the doctor gives a medicine, but sometimes the medicine works, sometimes the medicine doesn’t work. So medicine alone is not enough to cure, the doctor alone is not enough to cure. Sometimes the best doctor, most competent to cure a disease of a patient, and still the patient grows sicker and sicker and dies.
There may be a person drowning in an ocean, the person sees the boat, but sometimes the person may not be able to reach the boat. The person may be in a boat and the boat may capsize and the person may die. Or like there was Titanic, considered to be a boat that no one could sink, a ship that no one could sink, and it sank in its first voyage.
So what was the point over here? The point is that the Lord is saying, it is just, this bishop was saying that, just our acquisition of the necessary material arrangements is not enough to get the necessary result. So just the child having a father is not enough for the protection. The patient going to the doctor is not enough for the protection.
The person in the ocean seeing a ship, seeing a boat is not enough to be protected. There has to be the higher arrangement, sanction of the Lord. Then alone we get the results.
या था त्यो तो अर्थान. Now how does the Lord give the results? He is reciprocal. Reciprocal means, depending on how the person actually is qualified, the Lord gives the results.
The Lord does not give results arbitrarily. He gives based on how a person has done karma in the past and how the person has endeavoured in the present. So now let’s look at these two ideas, कर्मवाद and दैववाद.
So actually speaking, how do we get results? कर्म and दैव, when both come together, that leads to फल. Let’s understand this here. So this is, as we know, a traditional symbol of justice or कर्म.
So कर्मवाद is the idea that everything is in my hand. I will study and I will become the topper. I will play well and I will win the championship.
I will do my business so shrewdly that I will become the wealthiest business person in the country. This is कर्मवाद. Everything is in my hands.
So कर्मवाद, that is the idea. कर्मवाद is the secret of success. That’s what people feel.
Now the opposite of that is दैववाद. दैववाद is the idea that nothing is in my hands. I am simply unfortunate.
I am simply unfortunate because some people say that, Oh, my fate is only rotten. What can I do? Nothing works for me. So such a person now becomes fatalistic.
Fatalistic means here we see the person thinks that my fate is only broken. Person doesn’t study only. Person is not working, is sleeping.
Other person is morose. So the point is, how do things work? Is everything in my hands or is nothing in my hands? Actually neither are two. Both are required.
My endeavour is required and a higher arrangement also is required. So कर्म and दैववाद, when both come together, then there is फल. When a farmer wants to get good crops, the farmer has to sow the seeds and plough the land.
That is the कर्म. Then after that, the farmer has to ensure that after he has made the arrangements, he has to wait. This is what he can ensure.
But beyond that, he has to wait for the rains to come. The rains coming is दैववाद. When rains come in time, in proper quantity, then कर्म and दैववाद, when they come together, that leads to the फल, through the crops coming.
So Ishla Prabhupada is emphasising the point over here that without the दैववाद, we cannot get the results. So he is saying, what is that दैववाद? That दैववाद is ultimately the Supreme Lord. It is He who is the provider of the results.
So in the Mahabharata war, for the first ten days, the commander was Bhishma. Then when Bhishma fell, Dronacharya became the commander. Actually Dronacharya was expecting that Duryodhana will make Karna the commander because Duryodhana loved Karna.
And actually Duryodhana went to Karna. But then Karna said, Drona is senior, you should make him the commander. So when Drona was approached by Duryodhana, Drona felt honoured because he was expecting that he will have to obey a Suta Putra now.
He considered Karna to be a low-born person, a charioteer’s son. And he suddenly was honoured. So he said, what can I do for you? I am pleased with your offering me this honour.
And Duryodhana said, please arrange for Yudhishthira to be captured and brought alive in front of me. So at that time, Dronacharya’s eyes opened wide. Dronacharya said, Yudhishthira is such a Ajata Shatru that even you don’t want him dead, you want him captured alive.
So Dronacharya, Duryodhana smiled saradonically. And he said, if we kill Yudhishthira, Bhima and Arjuna will go mad and they will wreak havoc on my troops. My plan is, if we can get Yudhishthira captured alive, then I will challenge him for another gambling match.
And he will get defeated by Shakuni and then we will send him off to the forest on exile again. So Dronacharya shook his head. He said, Duryodhana will never learn.
So for two full days, vigorously, Dronacharya tried to capture Yudhishthira. Dronacharya had asked Yudhishthira that Arjuna is in every way my equal. So as long as Arjuna is there, I will not be able to capture Yudhishthira.
You ensure that Arjuna goes elsewhere and then I will capture him. So he tried his best and nothing happened. He was not able to capture.
So at that time, he decided what to do. So finally, Dronacharya was approached by Duryodhana and Duryodhana said, you have promised that you will capture Yudhishthira. Why will you not be able to capture? Dronacharya said, you have seen that I have exerted myself to my fullest capacity.
I have endeavoured the fullest, but even after endeavouring the fullest, ultimately, only endeavour is in our hands. Results are determined by destiny. And the lord of destiny is sitting on the chariot of Arjuna.
So what can we do? So Dronacharya recognised that Krishna is the lord of destiny and fighting against him was ultimately not going to be successful. So the same point Ropal is making over here that ultimately the results are determined by the grace of the supreme lord, by the arrangement of the supreme lord. We can only endeavour.
And after our endeavour, whether the results come or not, they are bestowed by the supreme lord. This of course does not mean that nothing is in our hands, that everything is determined by the lord. No.
The lord wants us to endeavour. If we don’t endeavour, the results won’t come. The opposite is illustrated also in the Mahabharata when Vidura is trying to stop Dhritarashtra from fighting the fratricidal war.
He wants to stop Dhritarashtra. He wants to get Dhritarashtra to stop Duryodhana from fighting the fratricidal war against the Pandavas. And despite the protestations and remonstrations of Vidura, Dhritarashtra remains weak-hearted and doesn’t stop.
His son. So finally when Vidura insists and begs and tries to convince in every possible way, at that time Dhritarashtra finally says, If it is the will of destiny that I, that our dynasty be destroyed, that this war take place, then if it is the will of almighty destiny, who am I, a tiny mortal, to do anything about it? So at that time Vidura snaps back, cuts through his illusions, and he says that destiny determines the consequences of our actions, not our actions themselves. Your actions, O king, are in your hands.
So we have the control over our actions. So whether a student studies for the exam or not, that is in the student’s hands. But whether a student gets the marks or not, that is not in the student’s hands.
So both the factors have to be recognised. Karma is the study, daiva is the eventual result that comes out. So karma contributes to daiva, karma contributes to the phala, but karma alone doesn’t determine the phala.
So daiva factor is very important. When we understand the daiva factor, then we can accept things calmly. That even if some things don’t work out well, I understand the absolute truth.
When supreme lord is arranging something, and his arrangement will be for my good. Srila Prabhupada writes in the first canto that when things go wrong beyond human control, then there is nothing to regret. That means we try to do the best, but despite our best effort, things went wrong, and there is nothing to regret.
The lord’s plan was something that this should not happen, or this should happen this way, and that’s how it has happened. So now let’s look at the remaining points here. Shuddham apapavidham.
This is something which is very important for us to understand. Absolute truth is shuddham. The absolute truth is all-pure.
So now how is the absolute truth all-pure? Srila Prabhupada talks about Krishna performing his various pastimes, and he talks especially about Krishna performing rasleela. And he also correlates this with avaranam. Avaranam means beyond reproach.
So if the lord is beyond reproach, that means nobody can correct him, chastise him for what he does. So he actually called the gopis by playing the flute, and he danced with them. So he was not reproached, and he further said he is apapavidham, he was not contaminated by sin.
And shuddham is pure. He is not only pure, but he is purifying. So Prabhupada translated shuddham and apapavidham as prophylactic and antiseptic.
These are very interesting translations. So antiseptic means what? If I have got some cut, and the infection is likely to be there, and infection is likely to spread, so then at that time I apply some antiseptic ointment or antiseptic liquid with which I wash the wound. So by that, whatever infection is there, that goes away.
So when infection is there, that which takes away the infection is called antiseptic. And prophylactic means that when an infection is expected to come, preventive medicine is given so that no infection comes. So for example, if there is fear that a malaria epidemic is going to break out, then the doctors may give some medicines, take this medicine, take this medicine, and by this you can prevent the infection.
So prophylactic and antiseptic. So like that, the Lord is both. That means we could say in simple words, preventive and curative.
Prophylactic is preventive, and antiseptic is curative. So the Lord is both preventive and curative. Now, when we talk about prevention and cure, the question that comes up, what is the disease that we are being saved from? Either through prevention or through cure.
That disease actually is material contamination. It is material attachment. It is called in the Vedic parlance as bhava roga.
Bhava roga, the attachment of the soul to the body and to bodily enjoyment. That is the cause of bondage and suffering. That is the cause of the repetition cycle of birth and death.
And just as any other disease causes suffering, this bhava roga also causes suffering. So the bhava roga has to be cured. And the way to cure it is by taking shelter of the Lord.
So now when we take shelter of the Lord, two things happen. So whatever contaminations we may have had from the past, we had lust, anger, greed, envy, pride, illusion. So these have been there in our consciousness because of our past indulgences.
These will go away by the potency of the Lord. So whatever contaminations are present, they will go away. The existing infection will get cured.
And along with that, if we are doing strict sadhana, cultivating remembrance of Krishna, then that will also have a prophylactic or preventive effect. That means if we do our morning programme properly, morning sadhana we do well, and then we go out in the day. Even if we come across situations that are tempting, even if we are tempted by lust, anger, greed, still we will be able to resist those temptations because we will have a higher taste which has been cultivated, which has been cherished, which has been relished by our morning sadhana.
So what is happening in the morning sadhana, it’s not just a mechanistic utterance of some words or performance of some rituals that will bring about protection. What brings about protection is the connection with Krishna. So sadhana is meant to act as a means to connect with Krishna.
So when we connect with Krishna through chanting, through hearing, by that connection we become purified. We become purified of past infections and whatever future infections may come, we will stay purified of them also. In this way Krishna is prophylactic and deceptive.
Now this is with respect to his effect on us. Now the Bhagavatam also uses this logic to talk about the same point in a different way. The Bhagavatam says that actually by chanting the names of Krishna and remembering Krishna the great sages become purified of lust and some of them even become freed from lust.
So if the Lord can purify and free people from lust, then how is it possible that actually that Lord can come under the contamination of lust? That is not at all possible. And it’s sound logic called Bhagavatam. So now let’s look further.
So now we have talked about Krishna being pure from the perspective of his effect on us. That he will purify us. But now let’s look at how Krishna is pure in his own glory.
That Krishna is never contaminated no matter what he does. So in that connection is the Rasleela pastime. So in the Rasleela pastime, the last verse at the end of the 33rd chapter, at the end of the Ras Panchadhyay is So he is praying here that my dear Lord Actually this is not exactly a prayer.
This is a phalashruti. This is a glorification. But that glorification is done in such a way that a prayerful mood is included in that.
What is the glorification here? That When one understands the vikrida, the krida, the play of the Lord with his vrajavadrus, that means with the devotees of Vrindavan. With Lord Vishnu. So instead of using the word Krishna, the word Vishnu is used to indicate, to remind us that don’t think of this Krishna to be an ordinary materialistic person.
He is himself the Supreme Lord. So if somebody hears and speaks about them with faith, anushrunaya, like we had anupashyati, anushrunaya, systematically based on guru sadhu shastra. So then what will happen? So one will get bhakti to the Supreme Lord.
And what is the result of that bhakti? One will get transcendental bhakti. And by the result of that transcendental bhakti, once you get the pratilabhya, that kama, lust, which is the disease of the heart, rudhroga, apahinoti, they will be quickly and thoroughly destroyed. Achiren, not after a long time, soon it will be destroyed.
This is what is talked about in this verse. So now this raises the question, the Rasleela and the whole pras panchadhyay is actually the description of an intimate pastimes with the Lord. So with his gopis.
Normally if we hear about a man and a woman doing some things together, privately at night, naturally that raises a suspicious antenna in our mind. And we think that doesn’t invoke any holy thoughts within us. And especially if somebody reads the novel or sees a movie where there is male-female interaction in an intimate way, then that actually contaminates us with lust.
So, how is it that the Bhagavatam is saying that lust will go away by hearing Rasleela? This indicates something special is going on over here. This cannot be an ordinary description. And beyond that, the next point which Prabhupada would often make is, why do the sanyasis glorify it? Why do the great sages who have renounced everything, Prabhupada gives the example of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his purport, he says that Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a strict sanyasi, but still he glorified the pastimes of the gopis and especially the exalted level of the devotion of the gopis.
So, why would he do that? That indicates that this is not ordinary. Something special is happening over here. So, what is that special that is happening here? That special is, which keeps the Lord Shuddha is that there is material contamination, then there is neutrality, there is impersonalism and there is transcendental reality.
So, the sanyasis understand that everything of this world is a reflection. It is a false. It is not ultimately real.
It may be real temporarily, but it will soon be destroyed. So, they are not attracted to any of these things. But they understand that in the realm of transcendence, there is a higher reality, there is personal reality.
And actually, once they understand that personal reality clearly, they cannot but fall in love with that reality. So, the point is made over here. The sanyasis, they give up the reflection, but they don’t give up the reality.
The activities of this world are the reflection. The activities of Krishna with his devotees are the reality. So, the sanyasis, when they see this rasa leela, they don’t think about the reflection, which most people think about.
They think about the reality. How Krishna is performing wonderful intimate pastimes with the devotees. And that remembrance frees them from the material entanglement, the material anxieties, the material attachments, and inspires them to, enables them to actually become enlivened in meditating on rasa leela, inspiring others to get a proper understanding also.
So, in this way, the shuddham part is illustrated. Let’s look at the purport once again. So, first as I said, Prabhupada talks about how the Lord is not formless.
The Lord is, the anatomy of the material body must have mechanical construction like weight and so forth. But the transcendental body of the Supreme Lord has nothing like this. So, asna viram.
And then it is described the deity form of the Lord. So, now Prabhupada gives the explanation that what is this in the fourth line over here. Clearly, the Lord’s transcendental body is completely different from ours.
Thus, He is sometimes described as formless. Vinata-sapati-mahashti. This is how we understand it.
And Prabhupada quotes Ajakshob Vishwanathi. Now, foolish people who have no knowledge of Shri Shopanishad or any of the other Shruti mantras, consider the archa-vigraha which is worshipped by pure devotees to be made of material elements. So, we discuss this elaborately.
People mistake the deity to be made of matter. That is their error. That happens because they are using material vision to see a spiritual object, instead of seeing spiritual vision to see the spiritual object.
So, these Shraddhikaris cannot understand the reality. Actually, Prabhupada gives a very interesting word over here. In Bhagavad Gita 9, 11, 12, the Lord regrets the fallen condition of men without knowledge who deride Him because He descends like a man into this world.
So, the verse actually here is So, here it is The moodhals do not understand me. When they think that I have taken shelter of a human-like form and I have come in that, but actually my reality is transcendental. So, here Prabhupada is quoting that to demonstrate the point that the Lord ultimately is transcendental.
But Prabhupada is saying the Lord regrets the fallen condition. Regrets the fallen condition means when Krishna is chastising also. It is not Krishna delights in chastising.
All these impersonals are so foolish. Jananti, Maa, Muda. They are foolish that they do not understand.
No, the Lord regrets. The Lord does not want anyone to suffer. And the greatest suffering is caused by the misconceptions that we carry in our mind.
Those misconceptions alienate us from Krishna and thereby keep us trapped in unhappiness. But when we connect with Krishna, then that unhappiness goes away. So, the Lord regrets those misconceptions who have turned away from him and he wants to get all of them back towards Krishna, towards himself.
So, the fallen condition of living entities is due entirely to forgetfulness of their relationship with God. So, why are we all suffering? We are suffering in material existence because we have forgotten Krishna. And to the extent we can remember him, to the extent we can become free from suffering.
The Lord wants us to become free from suffering. The Lord does not want us to suffer in material existence. And that is why he manifests as Riti, as the holy name in so many other facilities.
And then Prabhupada talks about … … … And then he concludes by saying that … … … … … … … … … … Living entities under the influence of material nature ask for many things. But spiritual intelligence is one. So, that means, instead of trying to ask the Lord, please give me this, please give me that, focus on one thing.
My dear Lord, please allow me to serve you. So, actually, as souls we have two options we can have either infinite longings or we can have longing for the infinite. We can have infinite longings.
Infinite longings means, oh I want this dress, I want this car, I want this house, I want this spouse, I want this, I want that, and this will just go on and on and on. If I get one dress, I will be happy for a few days, then after that I want another dress, another dress, another dress. And there is no end to this.
This is infinite longings. It’s the only way we can become free from these infinite longings. Now what are these infinite longings? Actually we are working, working to get it and we are also begging to the Lord, please give it to me.
But instead of the infinite longings, we have another alternative, longing for the infinite. That means we direct our power of desiring away from the things of this world and concentrate on Krishna. Krishna, you are my only ultimate desirable object and I do not desire anything apart from you.
So when we think like this, then that desire for Krishna frees us and purifies us of other desires. So as long as the intelligence is played or distributed, it’s not one-pointed and the person just wanders here and there, maybe asking for this from this person, then asking for that from that devata, hoping to get this or that. But once a person becomes fixed in the service of Krishna and starts longing for the infinite, then the infinite longings go away and a person becomes free to focus on the Lord, become more energised in the devotion of the Lord.
Otherwise it is like chewing the chew. Now Prabhupada makes an interesting point. If a living being wants to go to hell, the Lord allows him to do so without interference.
Now we may say, who wants to go to hell? Nobody wants to go to hell because either people don’t believe in hell or if they believe in hell, they know that hell is a place of suffering, so they don’t want to go there. So who would want to go to hell? So actually Prabhupada makes a deeper point over here. Our wanting is not just necessarily our conscious desire.
Our wanting is also spoken much louder through our actions. So through our actions we are showing the Lord that I want to enjoy this, I want to enjoy that. Then what happens is the karmic reactions are going to come and we will have to suffer those karmic reactions.
So if a living entity wants to go to hell means the living entity wants to engage in hellish enjoyments. Then the Lord allows him to do that without interference. The Lord says okay, I will not intervene.
But if he wants to go back home, back to God, the Lord helps him. Why? Because that’s what the Lord also wants. Because the Lord wants that, then he will help the living entity in doing that.
Now it’s interesting over here, actually Prabhupada uses the word Lord repeatedly. He doesn’t use the word Krishna so much. Why? Because as I said, the Isopanishad is written to attract people with impersonal inclinations and those impersonal inclination people should not feel right from the beginning that we people are biassed against Krishna.
So Prabhupada is taking care of that and he is using the word Lord repeatedly instead of using the word Krishna. Now Prabhupada makes another memorable statement in the Purport. Real liberation means going back to Godhead.
Bhakti hitvā nithā rūpam svarūpe naiyāsati. That is good enough. Bhakti means to be situated in our eternal position, original position, eternal position.
But then Prabhupada makes a heavy statement. Liberation as conceived of by an impersonalist is a myth. How can impersonalism be a myth? We know Brahma Jyoti is a part of the Absolute Truth.
But Shrila Prabhupada is careful to qualify his statement, impersonalism, as conceived by an impersonalist. So what is the conception of an impersonalist about impersonalism? The conception is that actually I will become God. One day I will merge into God and I will become God.
That is a myth. And begging for one’s gratification has to continue eternally. Bhakti mukti siddhi kāmi sakal e āśyānta.
Desires will never go away. One will just be trapped in infinite longings. So now the verse goes on to talk about the gopis and how the Lord is pure and antiseptic.
So then finally Prabhupada concludes by saying that actually when we understand all these words then we can gain clearer understanding of the Lord’s properties. This is how the seeker becomes the seer. The seeker who wants to harmonise with the Lord gains spiritual vision towards the things of this world and then eventually directs the spiritual vision towards the Lord and then he sees contradictions.
But when he sees contradictions he understands that beyond those contradictions there is some invisible reality which when postulated will be able to give a conclusive understanding to this. And overall the Mahabhagvat understand the Lord to be the greatest and we understand Him to be the greatest when He actually falls wholeheartedly in love with Him. So in the next sections, once one has understood how to understand the Lord, that is by, this is the conclusion that we should come to.
Now what is the process that we should follow for that? Vidya will be described and then the comparison between Vidya and Vidya will be done. That is the next section. We will continue that in the next class.
Thank you very much.