SB 01.05.11 – Those who let the peripheral distract them from the central live at the periphery of life

Transcript

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Bhagavatam 1.5.11 tadvāg viṣargo janatāg viplavo yasmin pratiślokam avadhavaty api nāmāṅganantaśyaśyam kitāniyat śrīmanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ tadvāg viṣargo that those words which are a creation what is the purpose of that creation? janatāg viplavo viplavo is destruction revolutionary change which brings out destruction and eventually some sort of reconstruction also but janatāg viplavo the sins in the life of people are destroyed by these words yasmin pratiślokam avadhavaty api yasmin in which every word it might have faults also nāmāṅganantaśyaśyam kitāniyat but in those words the glories of the supreme lord are being depicted nāmāṅganantaśyaśyam so śrīmanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ that the sādhus, saintly people they hear it, they sing it and they accept it so this verse urges us to always remember the essence it is very easy for us to find faults in things similarly when we come to spiritual life then we can very easily find faults in spiritual things also in things connected with Krishna we can easily find faults in the way say some devotees speak or even certain books are written or even certain contents which may seem to be disturbing to our preconceptions annoying or offensive to our sensibilities and we have to understand that everything is presented according to time, place, circumstance although there is an essence that is universal but there is also a context that is specific and this verse recognizes that we have to go beyond the context to the content, to the core content to the essence and yasmin pratiślokam avadhvaty api so sometimes we say that scriptures are free from the four defects but then here it is also said that even if every word is faulty say scriptures are free from four defects how can every word be faulty what is indicated over here is that actually it is not that every word is faulty it is more of a rhetorical expression even if it is like that so when Prabhupada asked this question Prabhupada said that your vision is material that means Prabhupada himself would sometimes pronounce some verses wrong or put kaunteya where there was partha or do something like that when Jayadvaita Maharaj asked Prabhupada about that Prabhupada said that that is not an error, it is your vision is imperfect your understanding of perfection is incorrect your vision is material so the point is scriptures are not being presented to us as specimens of material flawlessness or perfection that is not the purpose of scriptures the purpose of scriptures is to present us the attractiveness the all attractiveness of the flawless supreme personality of Godhead and to help us access that all attractive supreme personality of Godhead the scriptures convey His glories and those who understand that it is only by loving the Lord that our hankering for love will be fulfilled those who understand that without Him there cannot be real happiness in life then they focus on that essence they know that everything else may be there but it is all temporary it is all contextual, it doesn’t ultimately matter because the context in the world keeps changing and in that way they keep moving forward they hear, they chant and they accept so in our spiritual life also if we want to keep moving forward steadily it is vital that we be able to recognize the difference between the peripheral context and the core content this applies not just to what we are studying in scripture but in our own life also so many things keep happening so many things keep changing and when these things these sort of changes occur they naturally disturb us they naturally make us feel concerned, worried, what is happening why is this happening, what should I be doing at such times unless we are careful in understanding what is essential yes, things will always keep changing in life but in general whatever is happening in life is at the periphery somebody says something to us something goes wrong in our job this happens, that happens actually this is at the periphery at the core is our soul and the soul’s relationship with Krishna so to the extent we can keep the peripheral, peripheral and we can keep the central, central to that extent we will be able to make steady spiritual advancement and to the extent we start thinking of the peripheral as the central that means we start thinking of the material ups and downs as all important or as extremely important and to that extent we will not be able to pay due attention to the central our focus will get distracted towards the peripheral and then we will live at the peripheries of our life our real life is in immersion in Krishna absorption in Krishna but when we are distracted being caught up in things which are there today, they appear to be huge concerns and tomorrow they are gone so in this sort of things when we ourselves get caught up then we deprive ourselves of the opportunity to live fully because we live in fleeting things which come and go and that’s why it’s important for us to always keep reminding ourselves whatever is happening, this is peripheral this is central my relationship with Krishna my devotion to Krishna that is what is connected with my eternal being and that is what I will focus on and by focusing on it I will become purified and I will be able to experience lasting fulfillment and that is life’s ultimate perfection just as we need to separate between peripheral and central in scripture and accept the central while neglecting the peripheral, similarly in our life’s ups and downs, in our life’s course we have to neglect the peripheral ups and downs and focus on the central relationship with Krishna and then that will keep us in a permanent up, steadily moving upwards, upwards, upwards till we finally attain Krishna