Prahlad Prayers 3 Linking manisha with Hrshikesha makes us manisha

Narasimha Chaturdashi meditation on Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.39

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Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna. We will discuss one more prayer in Prahlad Maharaj’s prayers.
This is 7.9.39 naitan manas tava katha suvikuntanatha sampriyeta durita dushtyam asadhuti brahm kama duram harsha-soka bhayai shvanartham tasmin katham tava gatim vimrishyami dhinah He says, naitan manas, naitan, in this, mind is tava katha suvikuntanatha, oh Lord, tava katha su, in your pastimes, in your glories, you are the Lord of liberation, suvikuntanatha, but in your katha, sampriyeta, it does not find dear, it is not interested in, it is not pacified by, durita, dushtam, durita, it is misdirected, it is sinful, dushtam, it is wicked, asadhuti brahm, asadhum, it is not good, it is dishonest, tivram, it is very intense, its attack is very difficult to resist or control, kama duram, kama atura, atura means to be eager, to crave for, it craves for sensual pleasure, and in the pursuit of sensual pleasure, harsha, shoka, bhaya, ishanarthan, harsha, that is jubilation, shoka, lamentation, bhaya is fear, ishana is by desiring, artham, by desiring such pleasure, it is simply subjecting itself to distress, tasmin katham, tava gatim, vimrishyami dhinah, dhinah, thus I am very fallen, and tava gatim, making you my goal, how can I progress towards you, vimrishyami, how can I absorb myself in you, O Lord, please help me. So the katha of Krishna is the medicine for curing our bhava roga, we are all infected in this world by the disease of material enjoying mentality, and by hearing the katha of Krishna, we can be cured, bhava ushedad shrotramano bhiramad, in the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in a celebrated verse, Prahlixit Maharaj, he urges Shukadeva Goswami to glorify Krishna, continue glorifying Krishna, and he says, nivrtta tarshair upadiyamanad, bhava ushedad shrotramano bhiramad, kauttama shloka gunanuvadad, pumanvirajyet vinapa shuknad, he says, O Lord, bhava ushedad shrotramano bhiramad, bhava ushedad, your katha is bhava ushedi, it is a medicine for those who are in material existence, and for those who are being cured, then it becomes mano bhiramad, it gives great joy, so that, mano bhiramad, Prahlixit Maharaj is telling over here that actually my mind gets more raman in your katha, O Lord, my mind is so misdirected. Normally different medicines have different processes by which they are to be taken, so for example, some medicines, most medicines that we have experienced, they are ingested, that we take them through our mouth, sometimes there are some medicines which we apply on our skin, sometimes there are some medicines which may be given as injection into our bloodstream directly, so now there are different kinds of medicines, and each medicine needs to be taken according to its appropriate process, now if we eat a medicine which is to be given intravenously, that will not have much benefit, or for that matter, if we rub on the skin a medicine that is to be eaten, that is also not going to benefit us, so similarly, the medicine of Krishna katha, it is a medicine for the mind, pibam manah shri krishna divya ushidam, O mind, please drink the medicine of Krishna katha, pibam manah, so when the mind is to drink the medicine of Krishna katha, this means that the mind itself is to be attentive, so it is not just a matter of speaking the Krishna katha, it is a matter of hearing the Krishna katha, and not just hearing, hearing in a way that the mind gets connected, the mind gets absorbed, and here Prahlad Maharaj is admitting his helplessness in tackling with the mind, in tackling the mind, he says that, O Lord, what is my problem here, he says, durit dushtam asad dhutivram kamaturam harshashok bhaiyan shanatam, he says, O my Lord, this Krishna katha is meant to be manobhairamat, the mind is meant to delight in it, but nasampriyet, my mind does not delight in it, and he is actually describing the characteristics of the mind, and just as if a baby keeps the mouth closed, and the mother pours the medicine, but the medicine which is to be taken through the mouth, just goes around the lips and scatters over the baby’s face, but does not go inside, but the medicine will not benefit the baby, similarly, Prahlad is saying over here that, my dear Lord, because my mind is not focusing, vimrishami, I am not able to absorb myself in you, and therefore, how am I to benefit from Krishna katha, and in this, Prahlad Maharaj echoes our predicament, he echoes our predicament about how actually, we, when we try to hear Krishna’s holy names, when we try to study Krishna’s message, at that time, our mind runs here, there and everywhere, except towards Krishna, and the mind should be running towards Krishna, because he is the source of unlimited happiness, but instead of running towards Krishna, the mind runs everywhere except towards Krishna, and that is our tragedy, so instead of being Krishnatura, the mind is Kamatura, and what do we do about this predicament, when the mind, now the first thing is, one of the names, one of the ways to refer to the intelligence is Manisha, so Manisha is the controller of the mind, so people whose minds are controlled, they are called Manishina, but Manisha also refers to those who have strong intelligence, and Manisha also refers to the intelligence, so we have Krishna who is Rishikesha, he is the lord of the senses, and in the 10th chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna also says that, among the senses I am the mind, that means that the mind is also a sense, that among the senses, the mind along with the senses, in this way the six senses, the soul, struggling matter exists, the point is, the mind is also considered to be a sense, and Krishna is the lord of the senses, that means Krishna is the lord of the mind, so what we need is the marriage of the two Manishas, the mind is Manisha, Krishna is Rishikesha, so in that sense he is also the Manisha, he is the supreme Manisha, so when we marry the intelligence which is Manisha, with Krishna who is a Manisha, then we also become Manisha, Manisha, so when we harmonize our intelligence with Krishna, these two Manisha come together within us, then they make us Manisha, that means that even if we don’t have taste in Krishna katha, we use our intelligence to remind ourselves of its importance, when we take a medicine, we are not really concerned about the taste of the medicine, if the medicine is tasty, that is excellent, but that is a supplement, we take the medicine because we want its effect, its effect is to heal us, similarly we take the medicine of Krishna bhakti, we understand that practicing Krishna bhakti, remembering Krishna, hearing Krishna katha, chanting his holy names is a medicine, and we take that medicine to purify ourselves, because we want the effect, we want the curing of our deceased mentality, and keeping this in mind, we use our intelligence to try to focus on Krishna, even if the mind wanders here and there, and even if the mind wanders here and there, our very effort to focus on Krishna will be pleasing to Krishna, our very effort to focus on Krishna will take us closer to him, will enable us to attain him, and now moving further, now we can use our intelligence to control our mind in various ways, this is something I should not do, this is what I will not do, and by thinking like this we can focus on Krishna, but that is temporary, that is not sustainable, if we use the manisha intelligence to focus on the manisha lord, that means the Hrishikesh, the lord, that means we focus on Krishna, use our intelligence not just to control the mind, but use our intelligence to fix it on Krishna, and Krishna by his mercy, by his omnipotence, he purifies the mind, he helps us realize, and he helps our mind realize, that actually whatever we are craving for, is not going to be a satisfaction, the real satisfaction is to be found in Krishna alone, and Krishna reveals all attractiveness and charms us, he wins over our mind, at that time is the ultimate liberation for us, at that time our mind which is currently acting as an enemy, will become the friend, and this transformation of the mind from the enemy to the friend, is the ultimate inner miracle, different people can do different kinds of miracles, some people may claim that, oh I can convert this into this, I can convert that into that, and that may give us some pleasure, that may give us some fame, but true fulfillment will come when this inner miracle happens, our mind changes from enemy to a friend, and that miracle Krishna does when we practice bhakti, and that’s why as devotees, we should always be hopeful, never feel hopeless, no matter how reckless and dangerous, and uncontrollable the mind seems to be, it doesn’t matter, just try to fix it on Krishna, and Krishna will change the character of the mind, he will make it our friend, and till that miracle happens, we keep pushing on, we keep pushing on, keep pushing on everyday, try to fix the mind on Krishna as much as we can, as much as we can, drops of water accumulate to make a big ocean, similarly every moment that we are able to fix our mind on Krishna, sometimes we may chant Krishna’s name, we chant hundred names, and even one name or two names we are able to hear, that is also good, that is also administering the medicine of Krishna to the mind, and the mind is becoming healed, the mind is becoming transformed, so rather than being discouraged at what we are not able to do, we keep striving and doing what we can do, we may say that I can’t focus the mind on Krishna, I can’t hear Krishna katha, fine, but we may not be able to hear full Krishna katha, but we can at least try to hear something, try to focus and understand something within it, and as much as we can understand, that much we become purified, and as we become purified, our capacity to understand increases, our interest increases, our attraction to Krishna increases, and this gradual increase will ultimately lead to absorption in Krishna, and that absorption in Krishna will lead to purification and awakening of love for Krishna, and that love for Krishna will grant everlasting satisfaction, this is Prahlad Maharaj, few verses later he will say that my dear lord, I have absorbed in your glories, and your glories are like an unlimited ocean of nectar for me, we too will start appreciating Krishna’s glories as unlimited nectar, and we too will dive and delight in that unlimited nectar of devotion.
Thank you.