SB 11.23.57 – By firmly holding on to Krishna, we automatically let go of material existence

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
thank you shlok bhagavatam 11.23.57 this is a famous verse which is often quoted as a sannyas verse Chaitanya Mahaprabhu recited this verse after taking sannyas when he was moving towards Vrindavan this is expressing the conclusive determination of the avanti brahmana after his deep contemplation and herein is the first place where in this second analysis he talks about the supreme lord so he has concluded that the mind is the cause of suffering mind causes the transcendental soul to identify with the body and therefore causes suffering and if one comes to the transcendental level then there will be no suffering but how can one come to the transcendental level? that is told in this verse and the essence of sannyas is to actually come from the material level to the spiritual level to not necessarily reject the material level entirely but to reject the attachment to the material level and reject the desire to enjoy the material level sannyas essentially means to use everything including whatever material is available to us whatever material things are available to us for serving Krishna and thereby going to the transcendental level so etāṁsāsthāya parātma-niṣṭhāṁ so parātma-niṣṭhāṁ niṣṭhā is faith so parātma that soul which is parā transcendental so this can refer to the ātmā also but in the later part of the verse it is referred to Mukunda Amrit the lotus feet of the supreme lord Mukunda so in that context this can also refer to the parātma, the supreme ātmā this is also transcendental, that is supreme lord so niṣṭhāṁ, with faith in the supreme lord etāṁsāsthāya when one becomes situated like this how situated? at the transcendental level or aspiring for the transcendental level and then ādhyāsitaṁ pūrvatamair mahārīṣibhī ādhyāsitaṁ means that supreme lord who was mahārīṣibhī by the great souls worshipped in the past ādhyāsitaṁ pūrvatamai in the past worshipped so that lord who was worshipped by the supreme lord that lord who was worshipped by the previous ācāryas if one becomes situated in firm faith to firm faith in that lord then one can also become transcendental and he says that ahaṁ tariṣyāmi durantapāram I will cross over tariṣyāmi that which is durantapāram very very difficult to cross over so the word tariṣyāmi also comes in the Bhagavad Gita 18.58 machittaḥ sarva-durgāṇi mat-prasādaḥ tariṣyasi tariṣyasi actually means almost like tairna, floating so one, although the material ocean is very stormy and very vast and very dangerous a devotee gets lifted above this material ocean eventually the devotee is lifted out of the material ocean but even when we are in the material ocean if we keep practicing devotional service steadily it is as if we are lifted above the waves so ahaṁ tariṣyāmi durantapāram that material ocean which is very difficult to cross over I will float over it, how? tamo mukundaṅgri-niśevaiva so tamo is that ocean of ignorance, nescience mukundaṅgri the lotus feet of lord Mukunda niśevaiva niśevaiva so niśevaiva means that actually by worshipping by rendering service so just as the previous ācāryas had done ādhyāsita and they have worshipped, similarly I will also worship and I will cross over the insurmountable material ocean so the whole process of bhakti is not about giving up but it is about taking up we don’t have, if we centre everything on giving up this giving up that the whole focus becomes negative and giving up is never easy because we feel I lose so much but bhakti is about taking up, taking up something new if I am holding a thorny flower in my hand and somebody gives me a soft rasgulla then I don’t have to I’ll happily give up that thorny object and just take up the rasgulla it’s soft, it’s succulent, it’s delicious so material enjoyment is like a thorny object but somehow it seems pleasurable to us and giving it up is very difficult so if we focus on giving up then that negative focus will make life difficult but if we have positive focus that I want to take up I want to stay connected with Krishna and by staying connected with Krishna steadily I will make spiritual advancement and that is the focus even during our praying to Krishna, chanting and connecting with Krishna we shouldn’t focus on what all our anarthas are, what our attachments are what all are the wrong things the mind is going to rather focus on bringing the mind back to the right thing to Krishna to Krishna’s holy name, to Krishna’s pastimes to Krishna’s glories and Krishna’s message and the more we try to positively connect with Krishna the negative will automatically fall aside and we’ll be able to steadily move forward in the positive direction and that is the determination sometimes we make a negative determination I will never again engage in this form of sense gratification I will never do that sinful activity that sort of things are good we also have that in the four regulative principles which we take at the time of initiation vows but the more there may be many people who are born in cultured families who may never break the four regulative principles but that does not make them automatically qualified to go beyond material existence no and the positive is more important if we chant Hare Krishna attentively and practice devotional service seriously then we will get such a higher fulfillment that the negative will easily become possible on its own accord so here also the Avanthi Brahmana expresses the determination that by staying connected connected with the positive by being firmly situated in the service of the Lord who is the giver of liberation Mukunda I will be able to go beyond material existence so by remembering Krishna we will be able to go beyond material existence and get free from all our attachments and the opportunity for remembering Krishna is easily provided by Krishna’s holy name