Daily-Bhagavatam 71 – 11.07.61 – Don’t let love stop with this world
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.61 Sneha Anubandham Hrudaya Anyonyam Vishnu Mayaya Vimodhau Dheenu Dhiyo Shishun Kupushithu Prajaha Sneha Anubaddha With affection they became bound Hrudaya, their hearts Anyonyam Vishnu Mayaya Mutually Anyonyam They became bound to each other with affection and all this happened under Vishnu Mayaya, the illusory energy of the Lord. Vimodhau Dheenu Dhiyo Vimodhau, they were bewildered Dheenu Dhiyo They were very weak minded Dheenu, their consciousness, their intelligence, their consciousness had become well constructed Shishun Kupushithu Prajaha Shishun, they nourished Kupushithu Prajaha, their progeny So, the Avadhut Brahmana is continuing the description of the process of how he and she became deluded because of their attachment to their progeny because of their mutual attachment and that attachment which expanded when their progeny was born So, here Vishnu Mayaya the Avadhut Brahmana is telling that all this was happening under the influence of the maya of Lord Vishnu Now, in this world, all of us live to love Love is our innermost need and we may express it in different ways by which we object, we direct that love towards different objects, different people and seek some fulfillment So, the misdirection of our loving propensity is the result of Vishnu Mayaya and Dheenadhiyam What such illusion does is, it actually constricts our intelligence constricts our consciousness, constricts our mind Here, actually, is a complex word which cannot be translated very simplistically It basically refers to our inner life So, our inner conceptions that can be equated with the mind, it can be equated with the intelligence it can be equated with the consciousness at large and it actually includes all these So, basically, our consciousness becomes constricted by illusion So, when the soul is free from illusion then the soul's consciousness is directed towards Krishna and in that direction of the consciousness towards Krishna there is superlative happiness there is the ultimate fulfillment of love because Krishna is all-attractive but when that consciousness is attracted to anything else whereas Krishna is infinite, everyone else, everything else is finite So, actually, our consciousness usually gets caught in that which we are attached to So, cricket fans, consciousness, Dheenadhiyam becomes constricted within the happenings in the cricket field and in general, the cricketing world So, similarly, various things can constrict our consciousness when we get attached to them and stay away and don't become attached to Krishna Now, such attachments can be classified as Sattvic, Rajasic, Tamasic So, Tamasic attachments to destruction, to violence, to indolence all such are either harmful either to oneself or to others or both Passionate attachments are those where one doesn't, actually, in ignorant attachments when Dheenadhiyam has happened because of Tamoguna one actually somehow perversely delights in misery in inflicting misery to others or in just feeling sorry for oneself and staying bound with negative thoughts one doesn't get pleasure in that but somehow one feels that I should be doing it and we keep doing that In passion, we desire to enjoy, possess, control, enjoy and we just can't think of the things which we are no longer possessing controlling or enjoying So, this constricts our capacity for perception just as the soul is still a person who is attached to goodness or attached in goodness rather then that person likes maybe of some benefit to oneself or to others So, if somebody is attached to abstract thinking and does logic or writes books or something like that then there may be some fruitful positive channelization for such things but just as important, if not more is the reality that still the end result of such things of all such material attachments is disappointment, is frustration because they keep our consciousness constricted and restricted from its full development Dheenadhiyam is actually the extent we learn to love and serve Krishna to that extent our consciousness expands because Krishna is not just another object in this world which we may love Krishna is the source of everyone Krishna is the benefactor of everyone He is the lover of everyone So, when we love Krishna through our love for Him we love all living beings and by this love for all living beings we actually expand our consciousness we become sensitized, sensitive to others feelings and we start caring for them truly So, in our journey from self-obsession nowadays, today even family attachment has become impassive I first and I only live in an age of obsessive individualism So, many times family values especially in westernized cultures are trashed by many as a matter of practical expediency and often many spiritual religious traditions stress the importance of family values to help the people come out of obsessive individualistic selfishness because Bhagavatam is talking about people who are already above such obsessive individualism their obsession is that they are too caught up in family attachment and they don't let their consciousness expand further to let themselves become attached to Krishna So, the point is wherever we are in our present state of attachment at whatever level our consciousness is right now at whatever level of constriction or expansion if we devote ourselves to Krishna then we will experience the expansion of our consciousness we will see that our range of compassion our range of connection of things with Krishna will increase and then when we are connected with Krishna then the objects to which we are affectionate to which will be our family members, our relatives if not that we will stop loving them but rather we will not stop with loving them that means we will let our love expand beyond them to Krishna and we will include them in our love for Krishna and that way whenever there is inevitable separation as is going to happen in this world with our worldly relationships then we will be definitely distressed but still we will have the shelter of Krishna So, the purpose of the Bhagavatam in talking about how Snehana Vanna Krishna Maraya the bondage of affection which is caused by illusion the purpose of such description is not that we have to reject all such affection but rather we have to reject the restriction of our affection to only such things we love Krishna and we love our family members in relationship with Krishna as His parts who are interested in our care as His parts meant to be engaged in His service and that spiritualization of our relationships of our love ensures that even when there is inevitable disappointment or frustration at the material level still at the spiritual level our love goes on healthily and we find shelter and ultimately liberation to a life of expanded consciousness in connection with Krishna wherein there is no calamity and there is everlasting happiness.