SB 5.11.14 – Krishna is closer to us than the mind – seek his shelter to break free from the mind
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Srimad Bhagavatam 5.11.14 So here, how the Lord is on parvedi is explained through an example. It’s present in the moving and non-moving living beings, inside and outside. Similarly, atmaswaroopena, as a super-soul, the Lord is nirishta, he is residing, but at the same time he is ishe, he remains the controller.
The Lord remains transcendental. He is the same all-attractive, all-opulent Lord of Mathura, Vasudeva. Kshetrigyatmedham anupravishta So like the air, the super-soul is the knower and pervades the existence, anupravishta, enters into and pervades existence.
The mind seems to be very close to us, and Krishna can seem to be very far away from us, because the mind is right inside us, and it is capable of putting us into illusion at any moment, in so many different ways. In contrast to that, we may think that Krishna is in the spiritual world, and so he is far away from us. However, that is a misconception, because we are souls, and the Lord exists at the spiritual level of reality, whereas the mind is material after all, subtle material, but still material, and so the mind exists at a material level of reality, and actually the distance between spiritual and material is far greater than the distance between spiritual and spiritual.
So even at our conditioned level of existence, in fact, in truth, the Lord is closer to us than the mind, that the Lord exists right next to us in our heart, and he is at the spiritual level, and we are spiritual beings, so he is actually closer than the mind to us. We may not be able to perceive the proximity of the Lord, and we may be far more influenceable by the activity of the mind within us, but just by knowing that this Lord who is closer to me than everyone and everything else, even the mind, and that Lord is accessible to me through the medium of meditation, which becomes far easier when it is done through mantras, through the holy names, we can become inspired to break free from the clutches of the mind, and surrender to the Supreme Lord, and take shelter of him. So although the Lord is so close, he is pravishtha, anupravishtha, he is inside us, but still he is not affected, he remains transcendental, and his transcendence can be the basis of our resistance to the mind, and our persistence in our devotion, because we know that the mind is material, and the mind will not be able to combat the power of the mind, or power of the Lord, if we just perceive here.
And the Lord though transcendent, that means he is not affected by the mind or anything material, still he is also immanent, he is present right within us, and by his presence he helps us whenever we seek his help sincerely. So although we may chant in association, still it is true that we can feel very alone when we are battling with our mind, because it is a battle that we have to fight alone, but when we remember the Lord is right next to us, then we no longer feel so alone, and by taking shelter of the Lord we can transcend our conditionings, and the pulls and pushes of those conditionings, and stay fixed in attaining the connection with the Lord, and thereby one day through gradual purification, transcending the influence of the troublesome mind.