Self-destruction strategies 3 – Treat the peripheral as the essential

Seminar at ISKCON. Seshadripuram, Bangalore

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna.
So today we are discussing from the second chapter of Vishnu’s Bhagavatam about the universal form. The Virata Rupa. So I will talk about the Virata Rupa in three main points and then I will move on to a discussion about how we might self-sabotage ourselves in our spiritual life.
In a point, relationship with this. So I have been taking this series on strategies of self-destruction. How many of you were present for the earlier classes? I can have some idea.
Around 50-60% Thank you. So here in this section the universal form is described. And the Virata Rupa described in the Bhagavatam is different from the Vishwa Rupa described in the Bhagavad Gita.
The Vishwa Rupa in the Bhagavad Gita is a revelation. It’s something which is revealed by Krishna. Divyam Nidami Tenchakshu Pashyame Yogam Aishwaram Krishna tells Arjuna in 11.5-8 what he is going to see.
And then 5-6-7 he describes and then he says Arjuna you are not going to see this. Therefore I give you the eyes to see. So it’s a revelation coming from God.
Whereas the Virata Rupa which is described in the Bhagavatam it is a conceptualisation done by the soul. It is conceptualisation done by the sadhaka. And that is pointed out in the next verse in the same section.
Now Kalpana is often translated as imagination. In fact the word Kalpita is used twice before that. So it is conceived that Bhuvar Lokas are the Papadhyaha.
Basically in this way the whole universe is conceptualised. Sometimes we use the word imagination in a very negative sense, it’s just imaginary. It doesn’t exist.
But imagination itself is actually a very powerful human faculty. It is by imagination that we can actualise that which does not exist now. Isn’t it? Prabhupada imagined that there will be temples all over the world.
And then, we don’t use the word imagine, we use the word envisioned. Prabhupada envisioned that those temples will be there. But whatever word we use, some words may have positive connotation, some words may have negative connotation.
But the point is, imagination is the faculty of the human mind to conceive something which does not exist. And by that, we can bring it into existence or we can get a deeper grasp of things or in various ways. So, imagination itself is not necessarily negative.
Imagination is a faculty. And it can be used for positive purposes, it can be used for negative purposes. So, when we do Manas Pooja, Manas Pooja means, say, if we are not able to come to the temple, if we are not able to come for taking darshan, then we visualise, I am going to the temple or if we are not able to offer something nice to Krishna, we visualise in the mind that I am offering it to Krishna.
That’s a valid form of worship. Of course, it is not a substitute for the normal form of worship. It is not that if I can come to the temple, I don’t go to the temple and I think I am just doing Manas Pooja.
That is not appreciated. But the point is, the mental faculty can also be used in Bhakti. An important aspect of the mental faculty is imagination.
So, we can and should use our imagination in devotion service. And this Virat Rupa, which is described in the Bhagavatam, is one way in which our faculty for imagination is used to develop our God Consciousness. So the idea is, we know there are 14 planetary systems and now in this description it is given how the different planetary systems are situated on different parts of the body of the Vishwa Rupa, of the Virat Rupa.
Say, one planetary system is on the thighs, another on the knees, another on the shanks, other on the ankles, like that. And then prior to that the upper planetary systems are also described. Now as far as the Bhagavatam itself describes the universal structure, it describes 14 planetary systems.
Now apart from that it does not describe any Virat Rupa who exists and who has actually these 14 planetary systems as parts of his body. So this is a conceptualisation. What is the purpose of that conceptualisation? To get a sense of how great God is.
How great is God? Normally somebody has very strong biceps, you know, a very powerful person. Somebody very tall, that’s impressive. But the idea is, somebody can be so big that the whole universe, that God is so big that the whole universe is his body.
The mountains are like the bones on his body. The trees are like the hair on his body. The rivers, they are like the pores on his body.
The oceans are like his navel. Just how big he must be. So the idea is, those who conceive of bigness in material terms, those who want to understand how big God is, for them the Virat Rupa is given as a conceptual exercise by which they can get appreciation of God’s greatness.
So it’s a way in which the material consciousness can be directed towards appreciation of God. That we think of bigness in material terms, just think of how big God is. So in this way the Bhagavatam actually helps us to move from matter towards spirit.
In fact, the Bhagavatam analyses matter in three ways. The second canto is the Virat Rupa. The third canto is Sankhya.
And the fifth canto is the Cosmology. And all three forms of analysis, the purpose is to direct the mind from matter to God. So if in this world I see very very big things, think how big God is, that’s the Virat Rupa conceptualisation.
Then I look at this world and I try to divide it into elements. Okay, now what is this made of? Okay, this is metal. So metal it was probably heated with fire and shape and maybe some liquid was put for a while, whatever.
So I just analyse this and decide what its components are. So that is analysis of matter into its components. So that is Sankhya.
And through such analysis also, ultimately the point is there are all these elements, but beyond all these elements, sustaining all these elements is God. So that is another way we analyse matter into its components and then go beyond them to its sustainer. That is also another way to direct the mind from matter towards God.
And in the fifth canto when the cosmology is described, again the purpose is that we analyse this world, we observe the universes and then understand how all these universes are ultimately sustained by the Lord. So the point of all this is to raise the consciousness from matter to spirit, from the world to God, that is the purpose. And in fact later on we will see in the Bhagavatam it is stated that this envisioning of the universe as the body of the Lord, that is actually at a preliminary stage in Bhakti, in spiritual life.
The advanced sages don’t have to meditate on this. And actually Prabhupada also says this in his eleventh chapter parport. In one of the parports in the eleventh chapter, Krishna is displaying his universal form.
It is huge. There are many faces, there are many hands, there are many legs, there are many bellies, there are many teeth, hands are out, out some form that is described. As long as I can’t see the beginning, I can’t see the middle, I can’t see the end, I understand this is the Vishwaroopa and I bow down to it.
So now Prabhupada writes in the parport that the devotees are not interested in such a godless display of opulence. Now actually this is a very radical statement. Now God is displaying his opulence.
And Prabhupada is saying this is a godless display of opulence. What is going on over here? Actually, yes, God is displaying his opulence. But in that display of opulence, there are just majestic sizes, astonishing, mind-boggling variety, so many forms.
It doesn’t naturally, it can engender some amount of reverence for how great God is. But it doesn’t engender affection. And we can’t have a personal, one-to-one relationship with the Virat Rupal.
Virat Rupal is too big. If I go and look at the sky, I love you, sky. And what do you do? So you need a person to relate with.
So when Prabhupada is saying a devotee is not interested in a godless display of opulence, he is not minimising the universal form. He is saying that for developing a personal relationship, we need a person. And just seeing the greatness of somebody, that does not necessarily invoke a personal relationship.
Then it is an admiration. But if you want a personal relationship, we look at the pruhandhir form of Krishna, Swami Rupa, not the Virat Rupa. So in that sense, the Virat Rupa is a progression on the awakening of God consciousness.
So whether it is the Virat Rupa of the Bhagavatam or the Vishwa Rupa of the Bhagavad Gita, both are ways in which we can connect material consciousness with divine consciousness. Our consciousness is matter, and from matter we raise our consciousness towards the Supreme. So these are both, the Virat Rupa is a conceptual tool for raising our consciousness from matter to God.
And that’s why we see in the Bhagavatam itself at different places when many times the devatas offer prayers. So at that time they talk about, they refer to this Virat Rupa. But they describe some details differently.
In some descriptions of Virat Rupa, it may be described that this planetary system is the shoulders. Another Virat Rupa description in the Bhagavatam itself, it may describe that same planetary system is the chest. Another description may say that planetary system is the belly.
So there is no difference because it’s a conceptualisation. And that conceptualisation can be done in different ways. The purpose of the conceptualisation is to understand that this universe is sustained by God.
And ultimately without God nothing can exist. Just as the body cannot exist without the soul, similarly the Virat Rupa and the Vishwa itself, universe itself cannot exist without God. So that is the point.
The specific details are not all that important. What is important is the essential purpose. The essential purpose is to direct the consciousness from matter to God.
Can we move him? Ok, it’s here. So I will discuss about how sometimes, even in the study of scripture, we may neglect the essential points and we may go to some peripheral points. And when we go to peripheral points, we just get caught in details which are not all that important.
So when we study scripture, we have to know the purpose of scripture and study that. Intelligence means to know the difference between the essential and the peripheral. Intelligence means to know the difference between what is essential and what is peripheral.
What is central? What needs to be held on to? Now when Srila Prabhupada went to America, there was a traditional convention that sannyasis are not meant to travel abroad. So there was a traditional convention that sannyasis are not meant to cross the oceans and go abroad. But Prabhupada went abroad.
So now that is a valid caution. The purpose of that is protection. It is said that the western world is degraded and if sannyasis go there, then they may not be able to practise the principles of sannyas.
When Prabhupada was going abroad, he was aware of this injunction. But he considered a higher injunction. Higher injunction is the instruction of a spiritual master.
The prophecy of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu that the holy name should be spread all over the world. So then he took that higher principle as more important. He took that principle as higher and he followed that.
So that is also an injunction that sannyasis should not go abroad. But that is not the central message of scripture. That is peripheral.
So there is, actually to understand Mahabharata, this is a big issue, but I will just paraphrase here. There is a moral crisis and there is an ethical crisis. See moral crisis, I have two choices.
One is moral and the other is immoral. And actually to resolve a moral crisis, I simply need moral strength. Say, somebody has a positive to some cheating.
And they decide, should I cheat or should I not cheat? And then the temptation to pay quick money by cheating. That is immoral. They say, if I stay honest, I will not get the money.
So this is a moral crisis. Where one course is right, another is wrong. But one has to choose and that choosing depends on one’s moral strength.
But there is another kind of crisis that is ethical crisis. In ethical crisis, there are two choices, both of them are moral. But which is the higher morality? That has to be decided.
Suppose somebody says, I will always speak the truth. That is a good principle. But then in the Puranas, there is a story that, it’s a whole long story.
But the point is, once the Brahmana had spoken about that, I will always speak the truth. But then he was sitting on a road and he was under a tree and a cow was running along. And there was a fork, the cow went left.
And then after that, behind him, a slaughterer came. He was pulling his knife. Where did this cow go? And he was caught in a crisis.
What should I do? If I speak the truth, the cow will die. If I don’t speak the truth, then I am breaking my vow. So what should I do? He thought, where did the cow go? Finally, he decided that I cannot speak a lie.
So he did not speak, he just pointed at the cow. He pointed at the cow. And the butcher went and actually killed the cow.
And then it is described in the next life, it’s a whole long story. But the point is, next life, his hands got cut. So because he pointed wrong with the hand.
So the point is, it was a violent concern. But speaking truth is an important principle. But actually, speaking ultimately to protect life is a higher principle.
So sometimes there is an ethical crisis. At that time, we cannot just stick to one principle. We have to have a broad understanding and know which principle is higher.
So like that, everything in scripture is important. But some things are much much more important than others. And we should not lose the more important principles for the less important principles.
So you know, in Manusettial tradition, when we try to live a tradition, there are two aspects, there is adopting and then adapting. So we have to be adept to adopt and adapt. What that means is, adopt means we accept things as they are and bring them into our life.
Adapt means according to time and circumstance, there are things which need to be changed. And what can be changed, what cannot be changed, that requires expertise, that requires adeptness. So the both are always there.
No tradition stays unchanged always. Even in the Gaudiya Vishnu history, if you see the way Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the Goswamis practise Bhakti and the way Bhaktivinoda Thakur practised Bhakti, it is very different. Bhaktivinoda Thakur was in an official government position and he taught and shared Bhakti.
It’s a whole different subject now, but the point is there is always change. So there is in every tradition, there are two aspects. There is fidelity and there is flexibility.
Fidelity is faithfulness. So if you consider a tradition as a long chain extending backwards, then fidelity is what connects us with the predecessors. That is what connects us with the tradition.
But flexibility is what connects us with the contemporary situation. The contemporary world also we need to connect. Otherwise, if we don’t connect with the contemporary world, then the tradition becomes a museum.
The things that are in a museum, they are simply there for show. They are not of any use to anyone. The tradition is meant to be a garden, not a museum.
A garden means, things are growing, flowers are blossoming, fruits are coming. So like that, the Bhakti Lata Veej has to grow in the hearts of people. And that requires the tradition to have both these aspects.
There is fidelity and there is flexibility. And both together is what enables the tradition to move on. Like Prabhupada, when he went to America, he initiated people who were not at all in the conventional sense a part of the Vedic culture.
Some people may call them Lechas, Yavanas. But Prabhupada said if they are interested in Krishna, then these material designations don’t matter. If they are interested in Krishna, they will get into it.
Some people criticised Prabhupada. Prabhupada said no. That they are? No.
You said after Bhagavatam and before the Srimad Bhagavatam. So should I stop you? So the fidelity and the flexibility. So I was talking about how Prabhupada, he gave initiation and engaged people from all walks of life.
And the purpose was that ultimately it is Krishna’s message is for everyone. Mujayadevi Mahaprabhu said, Everybody in the world will chant the holy names. So is it that people from India will go all over the world and they will populate the whole world and they will chant? No, that is not the point.
It is that wherever people are, from whatever background they are, they will all chant. So they also have to be included in the Vedic font. So there is fidelity and there is flexibility.
And both are important. And to the extent, there are both. To that extent, it stays a living tradition.
When Prabhupada went to America, the first 1-2 months, he wrote a diary in which he described the way. So the first 1-2 months, Prabhupada was basically observing American civilisation. How do people do? How do they live? How do they act? And then he started presenting things accordingly.
Now I will give a couple of examples of how Prabhupada was brilliant in this flexibility aspect also. Normally we think of Prabhupada saying, you know, I didn’t change anything. I kept everything as it is.
Yes, that is true. But that as it is is in essence. As it is is not that everything is kept like a museum piece as it is.
Once a hippie came and asked Prabhupada, Swamiji, what is the happiness in Vaikuntha like? So Prabhupada said, So Prabhupada was asked that how is the bliss in Vaikuntha like? Prabhupada said, it is like an ocean of LSD. Ocean of LSD. Now LSD is a narcotic drug actually.
And now somebody from a very traditional background will say, you know, this is aparat. The happiness of LSD is tamasic. The happiness of bhakti is transcendental.
So what is Prabhupada doing over here saying that this happiness is like the happiness of LSD. But the point of teaching scripture is not just to get it right. The point is to get it across.
It is not just to get it right, it is to get it across. That means people have to understand. So if people, they were hippies, they were complete devotees of drugs.
They thought that there was a widespread conception at that time that drugs are the gateway to spiritual realisation. So in that situation, they actually used to consider a drug-induced trance as a sacred state. As a sacred state through which revelations would come out.
So for them, in their language, Prabhupada had to present. So what did Prabhupada do? Prabhupada said, yes, the happiness of Vaikuntha is like the happiness of an ocean of LSD. Ah, very good.
I want that ocean. So the point is, you have to attract people to Krishna and present things accordingly. So Srila Nityananda Prabhupada in Bhagavatam Parpot, in the seventh canto, the prayers of Prahlad, he says that, you know, Prahlad is saying how the different senses drag us in different directions.
He says, the eyes drag in one direction, the nose drags in another direction, the tongue drags in another direction, the ears drag in another direction. And in this way, the conditioned soul is pulled here and there. So now Prabhupada says, in the translation itself, he says, the ears are attracted to radio songs.
Actually, somebody who is very critical may say, you know, at the time of Prahlad Maharaj, there was no radio. There were no radio songs at that time. So what is Prabhupada doing when he says the ears are attracted to radio songs? So actually, for Prabhupada, scripture is not just a set of texts, which are to be preserved as it is.
For Prabhupada, scripture is a set of principles that are to be lived. And the principle is the ear is attracted to various material sounds. So now, Prabhupada was living at a time when the radio was quite popular and radio songs were, people were hearing them.
So Prabhupada presents that in contemporary terms, that the ears are attracted to titillating sounds, titillating sounds of radio. Like Prabhupada had been now, he might have translated, the ear is attracted to jukebox songs, isn’t it, or whatever. So the point is, scripture is a living book and it has to be presented accordingly.
So flexibility means, not that the essential message changes, but the essential message is presented in a way that helps people come closer to Krishna, that helps people to attain Krishna. And first of all, even before they can attain Krishna, they have to understand the message and making it intelligible is very important. So now, sometimes, some things may be very difficult for people to understand.
And when those things are very difficult to understand, they don’t have to be highlighted. So, I’ll give one example of something which is a detail, which is not very important. So now, in the Bhagavatam, it is said that Chitraketu had 10 million wives.
Now, somebody asks, how can one man have 10 million wives? Is this to be taken literally, that 10 million wives? Somebody will say, no, everything in the Bhagavatam is absolute truth. So 10 million is also written. Fine, that is one attitude towards scripture.
But is it that to go back to Krishna, I have to have faith that one man can have 10 million wives? It’s not necessary. See, the Bhagavatam is spiritual truth, but it is revealed in a poetic form. And if we look at the message of the Bhagavatam itself, the point of that story is that Chitraketu Maharaj had so much arrangement for material enjoyment, but still he was not happy.
He wanted a son, but he could not get a son. So now, the point of the Bhagavatam is that no matter how much material arrangements a person makes, that does not lead them to happiness. And therefore, one should not just rely on material arguments, one should raise one’s consciousness.
So there are three points I’ll talk about this 10 million figure. Firstly, Prabhupada himself in one of his purports later, he says, Chitraketu had hundreds and thousands of wives. He does not say hundreds of thousands of wives.
It’s hundreds and thousands. The exact number is not important. Hundred into thousand is not like that.
It’s hundreds of thousands. It is hundreds and thousands of wives. It doesn’t go into a specific mathematical number.
Secondly, it is said that Chitraketu, later on, after he got a son through one of his wives, he started neglecting his other wives. That means he was paying attention to his wives earlier. So if one man has to pay attention to 10 million wives, how much time is it going to take? How is it practically possible? How is it practically possible? Somebody will say, no, for God anything is possible.
Yes, for God anything is possible. But Chitraketu is not God. In fact, with all due respects, Chitraketu does not even have any mystic powers.
In fact, at that particular stage, you know, he is himself not even able to get a son. So he doesn’t have any mystic powers. So at this point, this in the Chetan Chaitanya also it is said that, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says the great poets have glorified the Supreme Lord using many different poetic ornaments, such as Atishoyakti.
Now Atishoyakti is sometimes translated into English as exaggeration. But the word exaggeration has a very strong negative connotation. When the truth is small, for no reason you are just making it big.
It’s not like that. When the ornament of Atishoyakti is there, it is positive. It is something which adds beauty to the message.
So I will give an example of positive and negative connotations. Now, in English there are two words, there is thin and there is slim. Now thin actually means bony, the bones are coming out and it is not considered very attractive.
Slim is attractive. So basically both may refer to something similar, but there is a positive connotation and a negative connotation. Somebody says you are very thin, that is almost like somebody says you are very bony, it is not considered a very good compliment.
You are slim, that is considered a compliment. So now this is not just a matter of, the point is words have connotations. So Atishoyakti has a positive connotation.
It is poetic beauty that is conveyed over there. Exaggeration, which is the English translation, has a negative connotation. That means you are just blowing things up.
It is not like that. So in poetry quite often Atishoyakti is used as a beautiful ornament and that conveys the emotion more powerfully. So for example, now this sort of rhetorical usages we find in the Bhagavatam, where in the Puranas it is said that Vishnu says to Narada that naaham vasami vaikunta yoginam rudenshiva yatra gayanti van bhakta tatratishtham narada He says I am not present in Vaikuntha, I am not present in the hearts of the yogis.
I am present where my devotees chant my glories. Now is this a literal statement? Is Krishna not there in Vaikuntha? He is there in Vaikuntha, isn’t he? Is he not there in the hearts of the yogis? He is in the hearts of everyone, he is in the hearts of the yogis also. So this is not a literal statement.
This is a poetic statement. What is the purpose of the poetic statement? The purpose is that Krishna is there in Vaikuntha, Krishna is in the heart of the yogis, But He is not perceivable for us there. But Yatra Gayanti Madh Bhakta Tatra Dheeshtha Kama Dheenarayana.
Where my devotees glorify me, that is where I am present. That means when devotees hear Krishna Katha, when devotees do Kirtans, at that time even ordinary people can feel some spiritual experience. They can experience something higher.
And in this way, actually the transcendental becomes accessible. So the point of this verse, if we make it into a factual statement of truth that Krishna is not present in Vaikuntha, it is completely contradicting to the whole philosophy. The whole message is Krishna is present in Vaikuntha.
This is not a literal statement. It is a poetic statement and the emphasis is that Krishna is present easily, accessibly, relishably, where His glory is enchanted. So somebody says, if you don’t have faith, that you are a fakeness doubter, that is not the case.
If somebody wants to accept that and they can accept that, that is fine. But if somebody says, how can a person have ten million lives? And then if a person has a poetic ornament, what it means is he had many, many queens and he tried in many ways to beget a child, but he could not. But the exact number is not important.
Neither for the conclusion of Chitra Ketu pastime, nor for the Siddhanta of the Bhagavatam, is the exact number important. Isn’t it? The Siddhanta of the Bhagavatam is that we have to develop Bhakti for Krishna. Now to develop Bhakti for Krishna, how many queens Yatruvedu had, how does it matter? Isn’t it? And similarly, to learn the lesson that material things cannot make us happy, material arrangements cannot make us happy, again for that exact figure is not important.
The important thing is, he had so many queens, but still he was not happy. So, the point is, there are certain things which are peripheral. And these, if somebody has too much doubts about this, you know, we don’t reject Shastra, but we can put statements which we don’t understand in a bracket of suspended judgement.
You know, I don’t understand it. I can’t accept it. I have to be honest with myself.
Ultimately it is Krishna who has given me my head, it is Krishna who has given me my intelligence and I have to understand things using my intelligence. If I don’t understand it, if it is given in scripture, you know, I don’t reject it. But if I can’t accept it, I can just put it in a state of suspended judgement and then appropriately I meet senior devotees whom I can ask and who can give explanations.
So, if somebody just takes this peripheral point that Bhagavatam says that there were 10 million queens, this was important. That is not important. That is not important.
In the first canto of Bhagavatam, Prabhupada says that actually Krishna, in the 11th and 12th chapters, Krishna is leaving Dwarka, is leaving Hastinapur and coming to Dwarka. And the path is discorrect, how he comes. So, now there in Manparpur, Prabhupada says that, you know, some historians, they may try to trace the exact path by which Krishna came.
But he says, this is an impossible task. Because the geology of the earth is that things always keep changing. As far as we are concerned, we are simply satisfied that Krishna has reached Dwarka and he is going to perform pastimes with his devotees there.
So, you know, Prabhupada, he has a particular purpose. The Bhagavatam, yes, somebody can trace a historical route and if they can, that’s fine. But that’s not the point for everyone.
The point is how Krishna reciprocates love with his devotees. And so, when we recognise that this is an essential point, this is a peripheral point. And then in the peripheral, we don’t understand, it doesn’t matter so much.
We focus on that which is essential and we move forward accordingly. Thank you very much. Hare Krishna.