How Bhagavatam takes Sankhya from impersonal to personal, Christchurch, New Zealand.

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Chapter 33, Activities of Kapila, text 23. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 33, Activities of Kapila, text 23. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 33, Activities of Kapila, text 23.

Dhāyati, meditating, Bhagavad Rūpam, upon the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Yath, which, Aha, He instructed, Dhyāna Gocharam, the object of meditation, Sūtaḥ, her son, Prasannavadanam, with a smiling face, Samasta, on the whole, Vyasta, on the parts, Chintaya, with her mind. Translation, Thereafter, having heard with great eagerness, and in all detail from her son, Kapiladeva, the eternally smiling Personality of Godhead, Devahuti began to meditate, constantly upon the Vishnu form of the Supreme Lord. So we'll read on till we have a verse with the purport.

She did so with serious engagement and devotional service, because she was strong in renunciation, she accepted only the necessities of the body. She became situated in knowledge due to realization of the Absolute Truth. Her heart became purified, she became fully absorbed in meditation upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and all misgivings due to the modes of material nature disappeared.

Her mind became completely engaged in the Supreme Lord and she automatically realized the knowledge of the impersonal Brahman. As a Brahman-realized soul, she was freed from the designations of the materialistic concept of life. Thus, all material pangs disappeared and she attained transcendental bliss.

Purport, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swamishla Prabhupada. The previous verse states that Devahuti was already conversant with the Absolute Truth. It may be questioned why she was meditating.

The explanation is that when one theoretically discusses the Absolute Truth, he becomes situated in the impersonal concept of the Absolute Truth. Similarly, when one seriously discusses the subject matter of the form, qualities, pastimes, and entourage of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he becomes situated in meditation on Him. If one has complete knowledge of the Supreme Lord, the knowledge of the impersonal Brahman is automatically realized.

The Absolute Truth is realized by the knower according to three different angles of vision, namely, impersonal Brahman, localized Supersoul, and ultimately the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, if one is situated in knowledge of the Supreme Person, this implies that one is already situated in the concept of the Supersoul and impersonal Brahman. In Bhagavad Gita it is said, Brahma Bhuta Prasannatma This means that unless one is freed from the material entanglement and situated in Brahman, there is no question of entering into the understanding of devotional service or engaging in Krishna Consciousness.

One who is engaged in devotional service to Krishna is understood to be already realizing the Brahman concept of life because transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead includes knowledge of Brahman. This is confirmed in Bhagavad Gita. Brahmanohi Pratishtham The concept of the Personality of Godhead does not depend on Brahman.

The Vishnu Purana also confirms that one who has taken shelter of the all-auspicious Supreme Lord is already situated in the understanding of Brahman. In other words, one who is a Vaishnava is already a Brahmana. Another significant point of this verse is that one has to observe the prescribed rules and regulations.

As confirmed in Bhagavad Gita, Yukta Aahaar Bihara Sya When one engages in devotional service in Krishna Consciousness, he still has to eat, sleep, defend and mate because these are necessities of the body. But he performs such activities in a regulated way. He has to eat Krishna Prasad.

He has to sleep according to regulatory principles. The principle is to reduce the duration of sleep and to reduce eating, taking only what is needed to keep the body fit. In short, the goal is spiritual advancement, not sense gratification.

Similarly, sex life must be reduced. Sex life is meant only for begetting Krishna Consciousness children. Otherwise, there is no necessity for sex life.

Nothing is prohibited, but everything is made Yukta, regulated, with the higher purpose always in mind. By following all these rules and regulations of living, one becomes purified and all misconceptions due to ignorance become nil. It is specifically mentioned here that the causes of material entanglement are completely vanquished.

Sanskrit statement Anartha Nritya indicates that this body is unwanted. We are spirit soul and there was never any need of this material body. But because we wanted to enjoy the material world, we have this body.

Through the material energy, under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as soon as we re-establish in our original position of servitorship to the Supreme Lord, we begin to forget the necessities of the body, and at last, we forget the body. Sometimes in a dream, we get a particular type of body with which to work in the dream. I may dream that I am flying in the sky, or that I have gone into the forest or some unknown place.

But as soon as I am awake, I forget all these bodies. Similarly, when one is Krishna conscious, fully devoted, he forgets all his changes of body. We are always changing bodies, beginning at birth, from the womb of our mother.

But when we are awakened to Krishna consciousness, we forget all these bodies. The body necessities become secondary, for the primary necessity is the engagement of the soul in real spiritual life. The activities of devotional service in full Krishna consciousness are the cause of our being situated in transcendence.

The word Bhagwatya Atmasamshraya denotes the personality of Godhead as the supreme soul or the soul of everyone. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says, bhījaṁ mām sarva-bhūtānām I am the seed of all entities. By taking shelter of the Supreme Being by the process of devotional service, one becomes fully situated in the concept of the personality of Godhead.

As described by Kapila, One who is fully Krishna conscious, situated in the personality of Godhead, is immediately saturated with love of God as soon as he hears about the transcendental qualities of the Lord. Devahuti was fully instructed by her son Kapildev on how to concentrate her mind on the Vishnu form in full detail. Following the instructions of her son in the matter of devotional service, she contemplated the form of the Lord within herself with great devotional love.

That is the perfection of Brahman realization or the mystic yoga system or devotional service. At the ultimate issue, when one is fully absorbed in thought of the Supreme Lord and meditates on Him constantly, that is the highest perfection. Bhagavad Gita confirms that one who is always absorbed in such a way is to be considered a topmost yogi.

The real purpose of all processes of transcendental realization, Jnana Yoga, Adhyana Yoga or Bhakti Yoga is to arrive at the point of devotional service. If one endeavours simply to achieve knowledge of the absolute truth of the Supersoul but has no devotional service, he labours without gaining the real result. This is compared to beating the husks of wheat after the grains have already been removed.

Unless one understands the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be the ultimate goal, it is valueless. Simply to speculate or perform mystic yoga practice. In the Ashtanga Yoga system, the seventh stage of perfection is Dhyana.

This Dhyana is the third stage in devotional service. There are nine stages of devotional service. The first is hearing and then comes chanting and then contemplating.

By executing devotional service, therefore, one automatically becomes an expert Jnani and an expert Yogi. In other words, Jnana and Yoga are different preliminary stages of devotional service. Devahuti was an expert in accepting the real substance.

She contemplated the form of Vishnu in detail as advised by her smiling son, Kapiladeva. At the same time, she was thinking of Kapiladeva, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And therefore, she completely perfected austerities, penances and transcendental realization.

Srimati Bhaktivedanta Swami Iti Namine Namaste Saraswati Devi Gauravani Pracharine Nirvishesha Shunyavadi Ashyatya Deshatarine Vancha Kalpataru Bhyasya Kripaadhe Asindhu Bhyevacha Patitanam Pavanebhyo Vaishnavebhyo Namo Namaha Jai Shri Krishna Chaitanya Prabhu Nityananda Shri Advaita Gadadhara Shri Vasadhi Gaurabhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare My dear lord, please guide us all so that we can understand the highest levels of spiritual reality and become devoted to you. Hare Krishna So today morning, we are now coming towards the conclusion of the past time of Kapila and Devahuti and after Devahuti has received and applied the instructions that Kapila has given her, what is the result is being described. And Srila Prabhupada gives one of his longer purports over here, explaining the various dimensions of spiritual life and giving us the conclusion of Bhakti.

So, today, like yesterday, I'll use the same framework for discussing this verse, the Chit framework to expand our consciousness. So we'll look at the context, then we'll look at some insights and then we'll have some takeaways. So yesterday, I discussed the context from the perspective of the structure of the book.

That how, we discussed yesterday how there are 335 chapters and this is the fourth level conversation within the book. So, we have the outer level conversation between Suta and Shaunaka. Then, the second level, anyone remembers? It's Shukadeva Goswami and Parikshit Maharaj.

Third level, Maitreya and Vidura. And the fourth level is, what is happening here between Kapila and Devahuti. So it's a nested level of conversation.

So that is the context from the perspective of the structure of the book. That what is happening over here, this is the second largest conversation after the Uddhavitha in the single conversation of the Bhagavatam. Now, I will look at it from the concept of the book.

See, a structure of a book means, okay, how many chapters are there, how this chapter flows into that chapter. The concept refers more to what is being discussed in the book. Not how the subject is structured and organized and arranged, but actually what is being discussed.

And broadly speaking, the Bhagavatam has a overall way of approaching the Lord. See, we know the Bhagavatam is spoken to Parikshit Maharaj when he is about to die and he is told that he should remember Vishnu and then he is provided guidance to remember Vishnu. So the Bhagavatam has two broad, so basically if you consider Krishna consciousness, remembrance of Krishna is the purpose of the Bhagavatam.

Ante Narayana Smriti At the end of our life, we want to remember Narayana and therefore what we need to do is, we need to remember him throughout our life. Tasman ekena manasa Bhagavan sathatampati Shodhavya kirtitavyasya Dheya pujyasya nityatha That, therefore always remember him. So now, the remembrance of the Lord can be done in two distinct ways.

One is, we bring Krishna into our consciousness. This is what we normally think of as Krishna consciousness. That means, say, we chant the holy names, we come and take darshan of the Lord, we hear Krishna Katha.

That is, we bring Krishna into our consciousness. Now this is essential, indispensable. But it is not the only way to be Krishna conscious.

The other way is, bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. What is in our consciousness to Krishna? What does this mean? That, before we come to Krishna consciousness, there are lots of things which we have learnt. There is language, maths, nature, so many subjects we have learnt.

So now, is it that all those subjects have to be rejected? Not necessarily. So what we have learnt, we can bring that to Krishna. So, for example, if somebody has learnt music, then that knowledge of music, those musical instruments, they can use in Krishna's service.

So, we bring Krishna into our consciousness, and we bring our consciousness to Krishna, that is, we bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. So, if somebody has, for example, learnt architecture before, then they can help construct a temple, or they can help some construction of some projects associated with Krishna. If somebody has learnt cooking, then they can use it in Krishna's service.

So bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna. So the Bhagavatam uses these two approaches. So especially, if we consider, within the Bhagavatam, the tenth canto is directly this approach of bring Krishna into our consciousness.

That is, simply Krishna Leela. Just relish it, delight it. So, just relish it.

Now, before that, there are various other avatars and other pastimes, which are also preparing the ground for that. However, the second canto, the third canto, and the fifth canto, they exhibit this other approach in the Bhagavatam. What is that? Bring what is in our consciousness to Krishna.

So, whenever we study scripture, scripture always has two distinct aspects to it. So all this, I am talking in terms of the concept now. That in scripture, there is a timeless message, but there is also a timely message.

The core message of scripture is eternal. It is timeless. It is talking about principles that transcend time and space.

And yet, that message is spoken at a particular time. And it is spoken to a particular audience. So, for example, if we consider the Gita.

In the Gita, the timeless message is Sarva Krishna. It's harmony with the divine will. It's harmony with God, harmony with the divine will.

So, Sarva Dharmaan Parityajya, Maam ekam sharanam vraja. So, Arjuna also says in response, Karishe vachanam tava. This is the timeless message.

But the timely message is fight. Fight the war. Now what happens is, that fight the war is an important message of the Bhagavad Gita.

But is it that throughout history, everybody who is studying the Bhagavad Gita, today if we are studying the Bhagavad Gita, we have to take up weapons and start fighting the war? No. That is the application of that timeless principle to the timely context Arjuna was in. So, scripture has a timeless message and a timely message.

So now, why are we discussing this right now? Because this whole discussion, the third canto, between Kapila and Devahuti, it is on a subject called as Sankhya. Now Sankhya was a very respected system of knowledge present at the time when the Bhagavatam was spoken. Thousands of years.

As I said, there is a timeless message and a timely message. So, now, what is Sankhya? The Sankhya is basically analysis of the world. Sankhya is analysis of the world.

The word Sankhya in Sanskrit means to count. And the idea Sankhya is that branch of knowledge which counts the elements in the world, which analyzes the world into its components and thereafter it explores what remains essentially. So Sankhya often analyzes the world into 24 elements.

Now the word elements that is used over here is different from the way it is used in chemistry where elements are the basis of compounds. Elements simply means components over here. There are 24 elements of material nature.

Krishna also refers to this in the Bhagavad Gita. Mahabhutanyahankaro buddhiravyaktamevacha Indriyani dashaikamcha panchachendriya gocharaha So there are these 24 elements that are discussed. But the point is, why is it being discussed? Because this is already in the mind of Parikshit Maharaj.

So, as I said, second canto, third canto and fifth canto. In the second canto, the universal form is discussed. So Parikshit Maharaj was not a spiritually ignorant person.

He lived in a culture where there was a lot of spiritual knowledge. And now we may say, if there is a lot of spiritual knowledge, then why is he undecided about what to do when he is cursed? Now why does he consult all the sages to know what to do? So yes, there is a lot of spiritual knowledge, but it was not necessarily conclusive. Just like in today's world, there might be a lot of medical knowledge.

But if somebody has some serious cancer, what to do at that time? At that time, if it's a life-threatening disease and it's a very big person, maybe the Prime Minister of a country or a very big VIP is there, then there might be a panel of doctors who would come. All of them have medical knowledge, but now through that medical knowledge, one specific plan of action has to be given for that patient. What are we to do now? Should we do chemotherapy? Should we do radiotherapy? Should we do naturopathy? What should we do? So Parikshit Maharaj had a lot of spiritual knowledge.

And there are many sages also who had lots of spiritual knowledge. But what is the conclusive spiritual knowledge? Parikshit Maharaj had some idea of it. He was devotionally minded and his grandparents, Pandavas, were great devotees.

So he was naturally inclined towards devotion, but still he wanted that confirmation. Is devotion the best thing to do? And that's what Shukdev Goswami tells. So now naturally, say, if we have been taking a particular set of medicines, say if we are taking allopathy, and within that we have a particular conception.

Okay, you know, if you take this particular food, it will increase your sugar. Or if you take this particular, if you follow this kind of diet, what happens? How will you get proteins? Many people shift from non-vegetarian food to vegetarian food. They think, okay, how am I going to get my proteins? So what happens is, based on our previous knowledge, when we adopt something new, we have certain questions.

And those questions may be explicitly asked or they might be in the background of our mind. And they need to be addressed. So Parikshit Maharaj already has certain conceptions of the world.

He has heard about it. Not necessarily that he has adopted it, but they are there in his mind. And either they have to be rejected or they have to be connected with the knowledge of bhakti that he has been given.

So what the Bhagavatam does, Shukdev Goswami could have within the seven days, see he was not given any syllabus by anyone. It's not a bhakti shastri course where you have to cover this book, this book, this book, this book. No, he can choose in those seven days that Parikshit Maharaj has to speak whatever he feels is appropriate.

And then what does he choose? He chooses what will best help Parikshit Maharaj to fix his mind on Krishna. So in the Bhagavatam, there are two distinct kind of messages. In the Bhagavatam, there is tattva and there is leela.

Tattva is philosophical analysis. It's philosophy only. And then there are pastimes.

Now this is not a black and white categorization. Why? Because if we consider the Kapila Vyasa, Kapila and Devotee discussion, the pastime is much less and the discussion is much more. The pastime, the events happening are only for maybe two or two and a half chapters.

The discussion goes on for five, six chapters. So similarly if we consider the Prahalad pastime, there are elaborate prayers by Prahalad to Narasimha Dev, there are instructions by Prahalad to his friends. So there are those which are important but pastime.

So those pastimes are also there. So now some of the pastimes like Vamana or Varaha, it's mostly pastime, very little philosophy. But broadly these two things are there.

And through both of these, the point is Parikshit Maharaj is aided in fixing his mind on the Lord. So now which philosophy is discussed? Say if I come here, I am now in the western world, New Zealand, so I am going to, if I speak something. Now if I am speaking to new people completely.

And say I just, one last weekend I was in Taiwan. And in Taiwan there is a lot of influence of Taoism and Buddhism. So when we had a talk for new people, then I basically spoke on how from Buddhist and Taoist thought, what is there in that which naturally opens people to bhakti.

So the idea is that we start with where people are and we get them to Krishna. So Prabhupada himself explains what is realization. He gives a beautiful explanation of that in the first canto, in the Narada Vyasa Samvad, where he describes, yeah, what is realization.

So would anyone like to read this sentence, personal realization? Yes, thank you. So we could put this visually as an interesting intersection of two broad spheres. One is scripture and the other is audience interest.

Scripture and audience interest. And where the two intersect, that, understanding that and presenting scripture accordingly, that is realization. So I was giving the example, if say I had a college program in New Zealand.

If there is a university program, I have done it in some New Zealand program that happened over there. So now if there is a university program, I say that I will speak on the achintya bhedave tattva tattva chaitanya mahaprabhu. And now the college student, who is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu? What is his teaching? Why should we be interested in it? So that may not be very relevant.

But if I speak on something, how spirituality can help you to deal with distractions. Or how it can help you to deal with unhealthy self-image. How it can help you to calm your mind.

These are topics that are relevant for them. So when we speak, now just because something of interest to the audience doesn't mean we start speaking about it. We don't want to be, in the name of speaking of interest to the audience, speak that has nothing of scripture in it.

At the same time, if we speak what is given in scripture, but what is not relevant to the audience, then also we will not be able to connect with it. So now for Parikshit Maharaj, why am I talking about this again? That for Parikshit Maharaj, the concept of Sankhya was already there in his mind. And now that Sankhya, Shukdev Goswami is connecting with Bhakti.

He is describing how it naturally evolves into Bhakti. The idea is, this part might be slightly technical, but I will move through it quickly. See Sankhya, there are broadly two conceptions of Sankhya.

That is, there is the personal or the devotional conception of Sankhya and there is the impersonal conception of Sankhya. Why I am talking about this is, in this purport, Srila Prabhupada talks about the impersonal and personal conceptions and that's what we are going towards. So these Sankhya are called as 24 Sankhya, 25 Sankhya and 26 Sankhya.

What do I mean by that? 24 Sankhya means there are 24 material elements. So there is some analysis of the world which is simply non-spiritual. It is just analysis of the material world and that's all.

There is 24 elements and there is nothing beyond it. So it is almost like materialism. It is a relatively uninfluential branch of Sankhya.

But the much more widespread branch of Sankhya is the impersonal. So there are 24 material elements plus the one Brahman, one spiritual element plus 24 material elements. So that is the 25 Sankhya.

Now if you study Indian philosophy and in Indian philosophy if you decide to study Sankhya, this 25 Sankhya is the prominent Sankhya that is studied. The Bhagavatam actually says that there are the material elements and there are two spiritual elements, not one or two spiritual truths we can say. What are the two spiritual truths? There is the Jiva and there is the Bhagavan.

So the Sanskrit word used for this is Prakriti and this is Purusham. But the Gita also says that there are two kinds of Purusham. There is the Anupurusham, the small Purusham and there is the Vibhupurusham.

There is the supreme person. So what is happening is in many ways Parikshit Maharaj has heard at his times about the impersonal Sankhya. And Shukadeva Swami is taking him from impersonal Sankhya to personal Sankhya.

So the Bhagavatam's journey is from we could say from here to here. The Bhagavatam and Bhagavatam Sankhya takes Parikshit Maharaj on this journey. That it takes him on this journey from impersonal Sankhya to personal Sankhya.

And what is this meaning? Let's move beyond these technicalities. Now let's move towards something more relatable for us. Because we don't want to get caught too much in names.

See the idea is everybody at some time or the other. So I have finished the discussion of C now. I am going towards insights.

We have discussed the context in conceptual terms. See all of us get the question in life what is real? What really matters? That question comes to everyone sooner or later. And broadly that is the time when a person turns towards the spiritual.

So what really matters? Now we grow up. Our first reality when we come into the world is that food matters. I need to survive.

So baby cries and the mother gives the breast milk and baby feels comfortable. So I need to survive. That's the first truth of life.

And for most animals their truth of life is I need to survive. So if we consider the hierarchy that what has survival value that matters. This food is poisonous.

I should not eat this. This food is nutritious. I should eat this.

That's survival value. Now that is for all living beings. But we human beings as we move forward we don't just want things that have survival value.

We want things that bring value to survival. Not just how shall I live or what will ensure that I live. But what will ensure that my life is worth living.

So we want things which bring value to our survival. So survival value this is the baseline for all living beings. But specially for human beings we look for what has value in the sense that it brings value to our survival.

Now in human society it could be various things. Somebody think okay if I have family taking care of my family brings meaning to my life. Serving my country brings meaning to my life.

Nowadays among young people there is a lot of activism. Environmental activism or wildlife protection activism or this activism that activism. Why? Because they feel that will bring value.

So we all may have different conceptions of what brings value to our life. And ultimately what brings value has two characteristics. That what will bring value is if it is enduring.

So for example if somebody is hungry and we give them food. That's good to do. But after a few hours again they are going to be hungry.

If we can educate them so that they can hold a job and they can feed themselves regularly that has greater value. So what is more enduring has more value. Now therefore what is most enduring will have the most value.

So value is not just in terms of the immediate relief that is provided but what the Sanskrit word is Artyantik Dukh Nirvana or Artyantik Dukh Nivrutti. What will bring about removal of distress at the most long term level. And in this analysis one gradually comes to recognizing that there is something spiritual beyond the material.

Because the material is temporary. Around us whatever exists it may be very attractive but whether it is the flowers that seem so attractive every morning or whether there is skyscraper buildings or whether there is majestic mountains all of it is temporary. Na sato vidyate bhavo.

Of the temporary there is no endurance. The Gita says in 2.60. Is there something beyond it? Na abhavo vidyate satah. There is something eternal of which there is no cessation.

So gradually in this search for what is what really matters one moves from the material to the spiritual. That's how Sankhya is the analysis of things into their components. But then beyond the things that I see is there something more.

And then that's where a person comes to the idea that there must be some substratum to reality that is enduring. That is spiritual. So in the normal spiritual journey when from material when one is so spiritual the first stage is Brahman realization.

Now when we say Brahman what we are referring to here is within our devotional philosophical context we think of it as the effulgence coming from the Lord. And that is true. But in the general spiritual evolution Brahman refers to basically the enduring spiritual substratum of reality.

Substratum means what? Substratum is different from substance. Substratum is that which exists below. That which founds and underlies everything.

So it is like an endless ocean of light. So everybody on their spiritual journey when they start thinking is there something that lasts? The first realization that they come to is that there is some spiritual substrate. That is Brahman.

Now for many people this idea of a white light of an ocean of light or a spiritual substance this actually seems much more universal. And it seems much more grand. On the other hand you say okay Krishna is a supreme person.

He is Bhagwan. He is higher. And some people think Krishna is a Hindu God.

He is just one person. He is at one particular place. How can he be greater, grander than this whole spiritual substance which is like an ocean of light? That seems petty.

See what happens is in the common mind, in the general western mind and the westernized mind what happens is specific is equated with sectarian. And generic is equated with universal. So anything specific.

God has a specific form. That is the belief of one particular sect. Oh the ultimate reality is like a vast light.

That feels universal. Why? Because it is generic. It is not specific.

And people are very much against sectarianism. So what happens is because there are so much fights happening because of various sects and various groups. So for them to appreciate the personal conception becomes slightly difficult.

So the last 5-10 minutes what I will talk about is how do we explain this personal conception as the highest level of reality. Now Jeeva Goswami in the Sandarbhas gives a very interesting analysis. He says that the absolute truth has 3 characters.

The Atma is Sat, Chit, Ananda. Now Sat means it is enduring. Sat means it is enduring.

Now I used to use a text to speech software, speech to text software where when I was writing some article I would dictate and then it would transcribe. So whenever I would dictate the soul is Sat, Chit, Ananda. The transcription software would make it the soul is Saturday, Chit, Ananda.

So it would just not get the idea of Sat. So Sat would be Saturday. But Sat means enduring.

Then it is conscious. And then it is joyful. Ananda.

So what Jeeva Goswami explains is if we consider Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan. So Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan. So when somebody or let's put it as level of realization.

When somebody realizes Brahman, at that time they have realized the Sat aspect. Now all these 3 are features of the absolute truth. The absolute truth is the ultimate reality.

That it is Sat, it is Chit, it is Ananda. So at the Brahman level they have realized only the Sat aspect of the absolute truth. Not the Chit, not the Ananda.

That there is some existence beyond this world which is enduring. But that existence is conscious of us. That existence is conscious.

That existence is not just a passive reality beyond this world. That we have to reach. See it's like the Brahman conception is say if somebody is in New Zealand and they feel okay New Zealand is not so comfortable I am going to go to Australia.

So I want to emigrate to Australia. So Australia is a place. The place Australia is not going to come to us.

So Brahman is like that destination which is eternal. But it is not conscious of us. It is not calling to us.

It is just existing. And we have to reach it. So that is the Brahman realization.

Now when there is a Paramatma realization, there is an understanding that the absolute truth is not just conscious, is not just enduring, but it is also conscious. That there is an enduring reality which is also conscious of us which is overseeing this world. So that conscious aspect of the absolute truth is understood when there is Paramatma realization.

But that's all. So here it is just like a destination. There is some destination which is enduring and I have to reach that.

At the Paramatma level it is more like it's a judge. There is a person and that person is conscious. And that person is rating me, judging me based on my actions.

So that conscious feature is there. But the Paramatma, one of the adjectives used to describe the Paramatma is Udasinavadasinam. Udasin means like detached, neutral.

So the judge doesn't really care at a personal level for the accused. If you have done something wrong, you will be punished. If you have not done anything wrong, you will be released.

But that's all. The judge is not personally invested in the person who is being tried. But the Bhagawan understanding is that the Lord is a lover.

This is where we realize the Sat, Chit and Ananda. All three aspects of the absolute truth are realized. There is not only a reality that is existing far beyond this world.

And yes, it does judge us. But that judging is not in a court of law. It is like at home.

At home the parents also judge the child. Are you trustworthy enough? I will give you some pocket money now. But will you use it to get something harmful for yourself or use it something good for yourself? The parents are also judging.

When does the child become trustworthy? When can I count on my child? But there is an underlying foundation of love to that relationship. So that specific aspect of the absolute truth is called as Bhagawan. It's a personal aspect.

So the Sankhya journey is from the Brahman to the Bhagawan. This is what the third canto, some conversation of Kapila and Devahuti is doing. And that's why it is described that Devahuti was Dhyayati.

She was meditating on the Supreme Lord. Why? Because although the Lord taught her about Sankhya, the conclusion of Sankhya was Bhakti. Now let's understand this example, this point of Brahman, Paramatma, Bhagawan with one example and then I'll conclude.

Have any of you heard of this Indian sweet? It's called Gulab Jamun. So Gulab Jamun is like a sweet ball, you can call it. Now I will use the Gulab Jamun as an example to illustrate Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan.

Now the Gulab Jamun has three characteristics. There is, the first is the smell, the fragrance. The Gulab Jamun is very safe, the kitchen Gulab Jamun is being made.

Right now we are sitting here and the fragrance will come to all of us. Then there is the sight. It's attractive looking small balls in a nice liquid, sweet liquid.

So it looks attractive, sight. And then finally there is the taste. The word smell often has a neutral connotation.

So let's use the word fragrance over here. So there is fragrance, there is sight and there is taste. So now let's imagine that there is a sweet shop.

It's a Gulab Jamun shop over here. So there is this Gulab Jamun shop and next to that there is a tall wall and here there is a prison. Now in the prison there is a prisoner.

So the smell of the Gulab Jamun, the fragrance goes over the wall and comes to the prison. So now this prison, the walls are so thick that they can't see the Gulab Jamun. The prisoners cannot go out of the Gulab Jamun, out of the prison to get the Gulab Jamun.

So their only experience of the Gulab Jamun is the fragrance. And say based on the fragrance, what is the substance that smells so nice? They come up with a name. Let's say they call it Gula.

Gulab Jamun Gula. Now say, now next to this is a road. And on this road, say, this archand walks by, a poor child.

Now he smells the Gulab Jamun. He also sees the Gulab Jamun stored in the shop. But he doesn't have money.

So what happens is for him, there is both the smell and the sight. So his experience of the Gulab Jamun is slightly more. But still he has not experienced the Gulab Jamun fully.

Now if there is a customer who goes inside the shop and here inside the shop, he experiences the smell, sight and the taste. So all, so say this archand, he calls this as a Jamun. What is the substance which looks so good? It's a Jamun.

Now all three are talking about the same substance. But their experience is different. The prisoner is experiencing only one aspect of the Gulab Jamun.

It's fragrance. The archand is experiencing the fragrance and the shape, the sight. He is saying the shape.

But the customer who is going in is getting the fragrance, the shape and the taste. So this prisoner is the person who is realizing the Brahman level. They realize only the Sat aspect of the Absolute Truth.

This archand is the person who realizes the Paramatma aspect of the Absolute Truth. He is seeing the Sat and the Chit. But the customer who is going inside is the person, is the Bhakta, is the devotee who realizes the Bhagwan aspect of the Absolute Truth.

That is Sat, Chit and Ananda. All three aspects of the Absolute Truth are realized. And this is the highest, the most complete realization.

See the Brahman realization is not wrong. It is also a very exalted level of realization. Most people are caught in the illusions of the world.

And the few people who can see beyond the illusions of the world, to some reality beyond it, they are laudable. But unfortunately if they think that their level of realization is the highest level, then it becomes a problem. So what is intermediate if it is considered to be the ultimate? Then what happens? The intermediate becomes the enemy of the ultimate.

Because that's where the person becomes stuck. And that's where the Brahman realization becomes an obstacle to Bhagwan realization. But when we have devotee association, say the Prabhupada explains in the Purport, that somebody who gets Bhagwan realization automatically gets the Brahman realization.

What does that mean? If somebody is eating the gulab jamun, they are getting the taste, they are also getting the fragrance, they are also getting the sight of the gulab jamun, they are seeing the shape of it. So in that sense this is the most complete realization. And it is that realization that we have the fortune of getting through the Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition, through the Bhakti tradition, by the mercy of Sri Prabhupada.

So what is the takeaway for us through all this? That when we are practicing Bhakti, that Bhakti is offering us the highest vision of the spiritual reality. And the highest vision of the spiritual reality is a very very rich vision. The Supreme Lord is all attractive.

It is not just a passive destination that we have to reach. It is a loving person who is seeking us, who wants us to come to him. It is, the Brahman doesn't descend to this world.

It is the Bhagwan who descends to the world. yadā yadāhi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānam sujāmyama I appear. So what Bhakti tells us is the absolute truth is not just a passive destination to be sought.

That it is to be sought and to be reached. That is not our understanding. It is a living loving person.

And living living person, what do we do? It is to be pleased. When we practice our Bhakti in a mood of wanting to please Krishna, then Krishna will pull us out of this world. Why? Because Krishna wants us to come out.

Krishna loves us and Krishna wants us to come to him. So for us it is not that we are in a fallen deep dark well and we have to pull ourselves out. No.

It is Krishna who is throwing a rope and it is Krishna who will pull us out. But we just need to show Krishna that we want him more than the things of this world. So if we just show Krishna that every moment of choice that we have.

Should I watch TV or should I read Bhagavatam? Should I do some gossip or should I talk about how to serve Krishna? Every choice from the world's point of view it may be insignificant. But through every choice we have the opportunity to show Krishna, Krishna I want you. Krishna I want you.

And if we show Krishna that I want you and I want you more than anything else in the world. Then Krishna will draw us to him. See the relationship between Krishna and us, Krishna and the soul is fascinating.

See Krishna is all complete. Krishna is all pure. So it's like Krishna if we consider to need someone and to want someone.

So Krishna does not need us but he wants us. Krishna is complete in himself. He is not incomplete if we are not there.

But still out of his love he wants us. Now in our case we need Krishna but we don't want Krishna. We need Krishna in the sense that if Krishna does not provide the sun, Krishna does not provide oxygen, Krishna does not provide air, Krishna does not cause our heart to beat, Krishna does not cause our belly to digest food, we will survive.

So we need Krishna but we don't want Krishna. Krishna does not need us but he wants us. So what we want to do is this is from not wanting to wanting.

If this is the transformation that we can do, if we can start wanting Krishna then we will see that Krishna will draw us rapidly towards him and each one of us can start advancing spiritually, steadily, swiftly and smoothly towards Krishna. That is what Srila Prabhupada had this want for Krishna. He not wanted Krishna for himself, he wanted that everybody should have Krishna.

And Krishna reciprocated in the last 10 years of life. His life Prabhupada was able to open up more than 100 temples, write over 70 books, inspire millions of people. That is Krishna reciprocating with Srila Prabhupada.

Of course Prabhupada is the Acharya, the preeminent Acharya of organization. He is in a different league. But that principle of we loving Krishna, we wanting Krishna and Krishna reciprocating with us that is the magic of Krishna consciousness that can happen in the lives of each one of us.

So I can summarize quickly. The theme I discussed today was about from Sankhya to Bhakti. We are discussing the journey of Devahuti and the journey within the Bhagavatam.

So I talked about three main points, context. In the context I talked about the conceptual context of the Bhagavatam. The concept was that we can be Krishna conscious in two ways.

Bring Krishna into our consciousness or bring our consciousness to Krishna. And this third canto is a illustration of the second principle. So here third canto, what is it describing? I talked about how realization means that what is scripture and what is of interest, audience interest.

We need to find the intersection of that. That is realization. So in this realization for Parikshit Maharaj it is Sankhya.

He has already heard of Sankhya. So now the Sankhya he has heard of is impersonal. So from impersonal to personal, how to do that? That is what Bhagavatam is describing.

So we discussed about Sankhya as two types that there is the 26 Sankhya and the 25 or 24 Sankhya. 24 Sankhya is simply materialistic, 25 Sankhya is impersonal and 26 Sankhya is personal. So the Bhagavatam's journey is to take Parikshit Maharaj from this impersonal Sankhya to personal Sankhya.

So what does it mean? It means that all of us we have this question in life what really matters? And for us humans initially we start with things which have survival value. But from there we move to things which bring value to survival. And among the things which bring value to survival we look at those which are enduring.

And then I discussed about within the conception of the absolute truth how Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan these are three levels of realization of the same ultimate reality. So Brahman, Paramatma and Bhagawan, we discussed the Gulab Jamun example to understand this, that it is the same substance but different degrees of realization. So if we realize the Sat, Chit and Ananda.

If we realize only the Sat that is the Brahman realization. Sat and Chit that is the Paramatma realization. Sat, Chit and Ananda all three are the Bhagawan realization.

That is the way. The Gulab Jamun we understand its fragrance, its shape and its taste. All three when they are appreciated.

And the take away for us is that in each of these case the level of Brahman the ultimate truth is simply a destination that exists far away and we are to reach it. The Paramatma level it is like a judge. But Bhagawan level that ultimate reality is a lover who wants us to come.

So for us the take away is that the absolute truth it's not just that we want to seek it. It's not a passive destination. It is dynamic.

It is loving. It is not a passive place. It is a dynamic person.

It is a living loving person who seeks us. So all that we want to do is we need to want to be with Krishna. We need to want Krishna.

So I discussed about how Krishna and us our relationship is that Krishna doesn't need us yet Krishna wants us. We need Krishna but we don't want Krishna. From here if we can come to the level of wanting Krishna then there will be magical seeming spiritual growth will happen for us because Krishna will take us out of this world.

Thank you very much. Hare Krishna. Is there any quick question or comment? Yes.

Not at all. No. I am not saying that he is a Sankhya Bhakta.

What I am saying is that there are these conceptions that were present at that time. And his heart was devoted to Vishnu. But still there are many different sages at different times and those sages would come to his place and he would hear from them.

So because he was a busy king he did not really have time during his kingship to focus exclusively on discussing the spiritual truths. So now what is being done is okay he has heard something about Sankhya. How is that Sankhya connected with Bhakti? That's what is explained over here.

If you see in the fifth canto there is a discussion of the universe. Now there Parishad Maharaj also himself asked some questions. Okay what about this planet? What about this? I have heard about that.

Because at that time Jyotisha, astrology was common. And he also had considered astrologers. But how does all this gel with Bhakti? So it is not that he is a Sankhya follower.

But he has heard about Sankhya and he wants to know how Sankhya is connected with Bhakti. It's not that in the fifth canto when he is asking cosmological questions. Parishad Maharaj knows he is going to die in 5 days, in 7 days.

By that time it could be 4 or 5 days remaining. By that time he has come to the fifth canto. So why would he be asking about cosmology at that time? He is not interested in getting a PhD in cosmology.

So it's that in every possible way he wants to remember Krishna. So there is direct remembrance of Krishna by just hearing about Krishna. And you could say there is somewhat indirect remembrance of Krishna.

That is, what is already in my mind, either I drive it out of my mind or I drive it towards Krishna. So that is what. So, you know, for example, if you look at Srila Prabhupada, Srila Prabhupada studied in the Scottish Church College in Bengal.

So Prabhupada would quote sometimes William Cowper or Shakespeare or some other Western authors whom he had studied. So now Prabhupada did not come to the West to teach about Western authors or Western poets to the people. But that was what he had.

He knew. And that probably the audience also had heard about it. So Prabhupada was using that.

So like that there are certain subjects which are already in the mind. They are just being clarified and spiritualized. Thank you.

Yes, please. No. OK, let me be careful about what I said.

That is the impression that can come up. Did I say that Paramatma does not have the quality of joyfulness? No. What I said is the person who has realized the Paramatma does not realize that this particular being also has a dimension of loving, of personal reciprocations.

So that's why I gave the example of the gulab jamun. See, the gulab jamun has all attributes. It has fragrance.

It has shape. It has taste. But the person who has never entered into shop and eaten the gulab jamun, that person doesn't know about the taste.

So those who are Paramatma realized, for them the Paramatma is primarily like a judge. And the judge is fair and, OK, fair means just, fair means impartial. And they may meditate on the Paramatma also.

But that meditation is primarily in the shantaras, passive meditation. That there is a spiritual world like Vaikuntha or Goloka where there is active reciprocation. That the Paramatmavadis are not aware of it.

See, it's a, it's a, in Chetan Charita Amrit, it's described that even the shantaras has two fundamental characteristics. And that is complete detachment from matter and complete attachment to spirit. So that itself is a very, very high level of realization.

But at that point, the idea is, the ultimate truth is so vast, so glorious, so powerful. What can I do for it? I can only venerate it. I can only admire it.

That's why I say, if we consider the Gayatri Mantra, if you see in the Bhagavatam itself in the first few verses, there is evolution. The first verse is dheemahi. Dheemahi is meditate.

Satyam param dheemahi. But then two verses later it is, pipat bhagavatam rasamalem, pipat, drink. So dheemahi is much more passive, meditate.

Drink is much more active. So at that level, generally the Paramatma level of realization, the ultimate truth is so magnificent, so glorious, so vast, so expansive, that what can I do for it? So that's why it is when the shantaras moves to the dasyas. That's when the idea is that, yes, the absolute truth may be the greatest, is the greatest, but still I want to express my love by doing something for it.

So when that service attitude comes in, then that shanta rises to dasya. So now Vishwachakra Thakur in his Gita commentary explains that if the Paramatmavadis, so normally there is no Paramatma loka. Brahma Jyoti is the destination for the Brahmavadis, for those who are Brahman realized.

What happens to the Paramatmavadis? So the Brahman realized go to Brahman and they stay there as long as they can over there, as long as they are peaceful over there. But the Paramatmavadis depending on how they see the Paramatma. The Upanishads give the example of there are Samana, Rukshe, Purushoni, Magno.

On the same tree there are two birds. One is a watching bird and the other is an eating bird. So now the Upanishads themselves are a bit, you could say ambiguous about the ultimate destination.

It just says that If this bird which is constantly eating this fruit and that fruit, if it just turns towards the other bird and understands the glory of that bird, then it will become free from all distress. Now the idea is, okay, you turn towards the other bird, but what next after that? There are two possibilities. The Paramatmavadis may think that actually I am that Paramatma.

Or they may think I am the servant of that Paramatma. So if the Paramatmavadis move towards the idea that I am the Paramatma, then they may go to the Brahmajyoti. If they can get the association of some devotees, by which they understand I am the servant of the Paramatma, then they will move towards Dasya Ras.

Okay, thank you. Any last question? Okay, two questions. Bhagavatam, the first nine cantos, material consciousness.

For those who have material consciousness, they have to perform cantos. Would all those nine cantos deliver whatever we have to Krishna? Not entirely all the nine cantos because there also the past tense of the Lord are described. So the idea is that what is already in the world, we observe the world.

And we have some thoughts about the world. Can we connect them with Krishna? But then the Lord himself descends to the world. So there is the Prahlad pastime.

There is the Vamanda, Varaha pastime. So all these are not just study of the world. They are study of those dramatic moments in the history of the world when the Lord had descended to the world.

So specifically second canto, third canto, fifth canto. These three are sections where from matter to spirit or from matter to the divine. The others are the divine in matter or divine who has descended to the material world.

So yes, from the material also we can go to the spiritual and say if we have interest today in some subjects. So for example, somebody may, nowadays mindfulness is popular. So devotee may approach mindfulness.

And then we can see how we can spiritualize the idea of mindfulness. Or nowadays yoga is popular. Now we can look at yoga in two different ways.

One is that people are just, people are doing yoga, they have no interest in spirituality. They are simply there for improving their fitness and their looks and losing weight and becoming. They, there is, I saw one book called Yoga for Better Sex.

So that defeats the whole purpose of yoga. It's all mundane. And that's true.

But the people who are coming to yoga, they at least have enough sattva guna that even if they want to improve their fitness and their looks, they are adopting a sattvic way. They are not just pumping chemicals into their body. They are not just using Botox and cosmetic surgeries for their purposes.

So from there, through yoga we can bring people to bhakti. So in that sense, what is already in people's minds, it's not that everything that is in people's mind can be brought towards Krishna, can be connected with Krishna. That's difficult.

Prabhupada says in the book On the Way to Krishna that if somebody is an alcoholic and they cannot give up alcohol. He says, if they, Prabhupada explained that was rasoham apsu kaunteya and the taste of water. So he says Krishna is also the taste of alcohol.

So if somebody cannot give up alcohol, if they just think that this taste of alcohol is Krishna, by thinking like that, one day they will become devotees. He is not saying by drinking alcohol they will become devotees. He is saying that okay, that's already in your mind, you cannot give it up.

But at least connect with Krishna. Why is alcohol so irresistible? Because that alcohol is manifesting one drop of the supreme attractive taste of Krishna. But that is just a drop.

So how attractive will be the ocean that is Krishna? In that way move towards the ocean. Okay. Yes, last question.

Okay, quickly. So yeah, you can tell it. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So do the Brahmavadis not know about the Paramatma? Well, one thing is knowing and the other is appreciating or aspiring for something.

So what happens is every philosophy eventually tries to prove that it is the highest. And it will reinterpret all of reality in a way to prove that it is the highest. So it is the Brahmavadis, they may also accept that there is Bhagawan.

But they consider the Bhagawan to be just a temporary manifestation of the Brahman. So technically as it is classified as the Brahmavadis or let's use the word impersonalists. Impersonalists fall in two distinct categories.

They are called as the Brahmavadis and the Mayavadis. So the Mayavadis are referred to in the Bhagavad Gita for example 9.11 and 12 or 7.24 where Krishna says avajananti mam mudha manushim tarum ashritam or avyaktam vyaktimapannam manyantimam buddhaya. So the Mayavadis are very different from the Brahmavadis.

The Brahmavadis, Krishna talks about it in 12.456 where he says especially 12.325 klesho dhritratesham avyakta asakta chetasam. So the difference between the two is that both of them are drawn to the impersonal aspect of the absolute truth. But the Brahmavadis, they just aren't attracted to the personal aspect.

Why are they not attracted to the personal aspect? Because they have not met a devotee. Because bhakti sanjayate bhakti. It is from one who is attracted to Bhagawan that others get attracted to Bhagawan.

Whereas the Mayavadis, they minimize or they you could say denigrate or what is they they reduce Bhagawan to what sometimes in philosophy is called as a useful illusion. What do you mean by a useful illusion? Their idea is that ultimately only Brahman Now this is not the correct understanding but this is their understanding that Brahman is the only reality. Brahma satya jagan mithya.

Now when the Brahman comes in touch with sattva that gives rise to Ishwar. This is their conception. When Brahman comes in touch with rajas that gives rise to jiva.

And when Brahman comes in touch with tamas that gives rise to jagat. So sometimes we present Mayavad as Oh I am God, you are God, everyone is God. So if we meet hardcore Mayavadi they will say you are misrepresenting our philosophy.

We never say that we are God or we will become God. Because according to them the idea of God itself is an illusion. So many Prabhupada calls Mayavadis atheistic and they become very angry.

We are not atheistic. But what they claim is we are trans-theistic. We are trans-theistic means we go beyond theism.

So the idea is that the jiva is normally attached to the jagat. We want to enjoy power and prestige and sex and all those things. So now while the jiva is here if the jiva develops an attachment to Ishwar.

This color is not visible. If the jiva develops an attachment to Ishwar then what will happen is this attachment to jagat can be reduced. So that's why they have the idea of ishtarupa or the ishtadevata.

Whichever form of the absolute we like to worship we worship that. Because ultimately all forms are illusion but they are useful illusions. See the jagat, the attractive forms of this world, they are harmful illusions.

Because they will keep you entangled. So the more this is developed, more our attachment to Ishwar is developed, the more we will start realizing jagat is maya. But eventually what we have to realize is not just the jagat is maya, even the jiva is maya, even the Ishwar is maya.

The only reality is Brahman. So this is where they consider Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says in the Chaitanya Charita Amrit that because they consider their form of Bhagawan to be maya that is why they are aparadhis. That's why they are offenders.

So when Prabhupada is strongly critical of impersonalists, he is primarily critical of the mayavadis who declare the form of the Lord to be an illusion. So there is one famous mayavadi who says, see sometimes in mayavadi places of worship also you may have deities. And they may also seem to worship the deities very diligently.

But their idea is bhakti is for less intelligent people till you can come to the level of jnana and realize Brahman. So their idea is you worship the deity, you sit in front of the deity and meditate for hours on the deity. They say that is wonderful, that's a nice level of deity worship.

But their idea is that when you meditate very very strongly on the deity, your meditation will become so powerful that by the power of that meditation the deity will crack into pieces. And when the deity cracks into pieces that means you have gone beyond the form to the formless reality. So their idea is that Ishwar is also maya.

And that's why it's offensive. Now Shukdev Goswami, he was a brahmavadi, not a mayavadi. He was already a very spiritually evolved soul and he already knew this world is maya.

And there is some reality beyond this world. And that's what he was seeking. But when he heard from Vyasdev, he understood that that reality is not just like a passive substance that is existing.

It's a living person. And that is the supreme reality. So see, once somebody has become a devotee, their past history does not matter.

So the story of Shukdev Goswami moving from being an impersonalist to a personalist is told simply to highlight the potency of Krishna katha. That that Shukdev Goswami who had no attraction to this world was attracted to Krishna katha. That's why there is a famous verse, atmaramasya munayo nirgrantha purukrame.

Although they are nirgrantha, they are not attracted to anything in this world, there in spite of that they are attracted to the Supreme Lord. Ittham bhuta guno hari. That such are the wonderful qualities of Lord Hari.

Thank you very much.