Think Choose Relish: 3-point essence of the first three verses of Srimad Bhagavatam

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This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
It’s wonderful to be here amongst all of you today. And I heard that for four years many of you have been coming and studying the Bhagavad Gita systematically. That’s laudable to have that much interest and commitment to study the Gita.
And I’ll speak on the first three texts of the Srimad Bhagavatam today. And the theme I’ll focus on is the universality and the confidentiality of Srimad Bhagavatam. The universality means how the questions that it answers are universal questions.
And confidentiality means that how it gives us confidential, specific, distinctive answers to universal questions. And this talk will be in three parts. One part related with each of the verses.
And the theme I’ll take is think, choose, relish. The first verse in the 1.1.1 Srimad Bhagavatam is a call to think deeply. The second verse is a call to choose wisely.
We think, okay, this is the issue, this is the issue, ready? Choose a course of action. So choose wisely. And the third verse is a call to relish perennially.
To relish forever. So think, choose, relish. These are three broad universal questions that will be answered in a specific confidential way by the Srimad Bhagavatam.
So the first verse is a call to think. Dhimahi. Dhimahi.
Dhimahi means meditate. Contemplate deeply. In the broad dharmic traditions, one of the most well-known mantras is the Gayatri Mantra.
And the Gayatri Mantra centers around that. Dhimahi. Meditate deeply.
So the Bhagavatam says, Satyam param dhimahi. That is meditate on the ultimate truth. So think means think what is really of value.
What is the truth? Now sometimes in our schools, we may have true or false questions. It is true or it is false. So now that might just be useful for us to get good marks.
But actually the question of what is truth is of importance to every one of us. If we sell a product and somebody gives us some currency. If that currency is fake, then we will be cheated.
So you want to know what is the true currency. If you want to form a relationship with someone, then we want to know what is the true character of that person. Does that person truly care for me? Or is that person just faking it to get something from me? So truth is what we search for always.
Now searching for truth is not always easy. And it requires intelligence. So one of the fundamental truths which all philosophical traditions talk about is that we need to look for the substance beyond the appearance.
The things in life are not the way they appear. There is the appearance and beyond that there is the substance. So all that glitters, what do they say? It’s not gold.
But most people look at the glitter and they get caught. So satyam param dhimati. Meditate on the ultimate truth.
Now the opposite of that, why do we need to meditate? Isn’t the truth obvious? No. Because this world is a place of maya. Now maya, what does it mean? Yeah? Illusion.
Yes, thank you. Now, actually I gave a lecture in an American university. The name of that institute was the American Institute of Illusion.
So it was basically an institute for training people to make movies. So how to do videography and all that. It was called American Institute of Illusion.
So now, illusion itself, what do we exactly mean? The word maya means ma-ya, not this. What it means is things are not the way they are. Things are not the way they appear to be.
So the scriptures tell us that if we want to perceive the truth, we need to look beyond the appearance of the substance. So it’s a long verse which gives the attributes of that ultimate truth. Now when we talk about satya, of truth, there are multiple levels of truth.
You know, if somebody is a very attractive person, say maybe Miss America or Miss Universe or whatever. Now if we look at their face through a microscope, we will see hills and trenches and canyons and boulders and rocks. In the smoothest looking face, when it is seen from a different scale of reference, scale of observation, will look different.
So now, is that person attractive? Yeah, they are. But it is at one level of perception. At the level of our eyes, they are attractive.
And their attractiveness needs to be recognized. But at another scale of perception, it is not real. So the satyam param means what is the ultimate truth.
Some truths are true at some scale of perception. But not at another scale of perception. Some truths are true for some time.
But not after that. I met a friend from Zimbabwe. And he was telling me he lived in Zimbabwe for a long time.
And one time, the currency of Zimbabwe got so devalued that people would go to the market with buckets to get some grains or some food. They would go with buckets filled with Zimbabwean currency. And the shopkeeper would throw away the currency and take the bucket.
And give them products based on the value of the bucket. So now, we consider money to be of great value. Of course, money is important.
No doubt. But its value is also temporary. If the currency gets devalued, the value will no longer be there.
So what is it that is truly of value? The Bhagavatam begins, think about it. So janmaadhi ase taha That which is the source of everything. So janmaadhi In the world that we observe, the only thing constant is change.
The only constant thing is change. The only thing that doesn’t change is that things keep changing. So because of this, now where does this change all come from? Is there some ultimate reality from which all these changes are coming? Some people say that there is no absolute truth.
There is no absolute truth. Now, nowadays people are very relativistic. You have your ideas, I have my ideas.
You stay happy with your ideas, I stay happy with my ideas. Now, okay, we don’t want to impose one person’s ideas on another. But truth itself is not relativistic.
If somebody, say, jumps off a 10-story building, it’s not a matter of relativity whether what will happen to them next. They may not believe in gravity. But still, what is going to happen? Gravity is going to act.
They may forget gravity, but gravity will not forget them. So there are certain truths which are undeniable. So the idea of relativism, there are no ultimate truths.
But this is to say that there are no ultimate truths. There is no absolute truth. There is no ultimate truth.
This is a self-contradictory statement. It’s like saying, I don’t know a single word of English. What’s wrong with that? Yeah? You won’t be able to speak in a place where English is not a main language.
Yeah, that’s true. I won’t be able to speak in a place where English is not a main language. Anything else? If I say, if I tell right now, I don’t know a single word of English.
I’ve already spoken in English. So, I’ve already spoken eight words in English. So the statement contradicts itself.
So similarly, when somebody says there is no absolute truth, there is no ultimate reality, in English we can ask them, is this statement an ultimate reality? Is this statement an ultimate reality? If no, then that means there can be an ultimate reality. And if yes, then that means that this statement is an ultimate reality. So therefore there is an ultimate reality.
So we cannot function without having some conception of foundational truths. So is there an ultimate reality? So the Bhagavatam says, that which is the source of all the changes that happen in the world. Janma Adi, Janma is birth.
So we go through constant changes. Broadly speaking, the Dharmic texts say that we go through six changes. Does anyone know what are those six changes? And these six changes differentiate living beings from non-living things.
If you consider non-living things, say this monk, its existence basically has three phases. Creation, deterioration and destruction. So if you build a house, it’s creation, then by the law of entropy, it keeps getting deteriorated and eventually it’s destruction.
So non-living things go through these three changes. But wherever there is a living being, then there are three more changes that happen. What is that? After creation, there is growth.
Say, if you buy a small house, and as we live in it, it grows. And when we saw that, we live for 20 years and we have a bigger house. It doesn’t happen like that.
All living things, living beings, grow. Not only there is growth, there is also maintenance. If somebody hits this mic and the mic cracks, then the crack will just be there permanently.
But if our hand gets cut, immediately it will clot and heal itself. So there is maintenance. And then there is reproduction.
If we have two mics, they won’t unite and produce a baby mic. But living beings, they reproduce. So reproduction is also kept.
Then after all, of course, our bodies will deteriorate and we will also die. So creation, deterioration and destruction are common. But growth, maintenance and reproduction, these three differentiate life from matter.
And where does this come from? Where does this motive force, this transformation, how does it come from? It comes from the Supreme Spirit. So how can we infer? Is there some higher non-material reality? The question which we are discussing right now is think. Think, what is ultimately real? What actually counts in life? And to understand that, we need to look beyond appearance of the substance.
So we are looking at it in different ways. So one way is that we look at physical things and we look at living beings. There is some difference.
Now where does this difference come from? The Bhagavad Gita says it comes from the soul. When soul is present somewhere, the soul infuses matter with certain properties by which matter grows, maintains itself and reproduces. When there is no soul present, then the matter doesn’t have these properties.
And this property of the soul comes from the Supreme Soul. The Supreme Soul is, that is God. Known by different names and different traditions.
And the Bhagavatam in its first verse is, you could say, non-sectarian. In the sense that it does not identify a particular deity as the Supreme. Of course there is an invocation mantra, Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
But that is not exactly a part of the first mantra. That is an invocation before that. Here the Bhagavatam is dealing with the universal question.
So look at the world around you. You see things that are changing. But where do those changes come from? There must be some source.
There is some. In the Greek philosophy it is called the unmoved moor. Things are moving.
But how do they move? Who puts them in motion? There must be some source which causes them all to move. That is the unmoved moor. Something beyond everything that we observe.
And the Bhagavatam says that that is what is of ultimate value. That unchanging source of everything. Because if you hold on to the changing, what will happen? If you hold on to the changing, things will change and then we will be left with nothing.
But if we hold on to that which is unchanging, then we will have something tangible with us. Just like say if a child goes to a beach or a bank and they are building a sand castle over there. Now children can spend a lot of time building something.
Oh, I want to have a tower over here. I want to have a turret over here. I want to have this over there.
And they can build quite artistically. Spend a lot of time doing that. But they are so caught in that, they don’t realize that a wave is going to come.
So for them it is extremely important. But now as adults, how many of us will spend time building sand castles? We won’t because we understand that life is meant for something bigger. So what happens, as we grow, our capacity to pursue things beyond the immediate increases.
So children, this is a toy, this is food. That’s what I want. I’ll enjoy this.
But as we grow older, we start recognizing that what is of value may not immediately appear to be of value. So a child may not value a currency much. The mother may tell the child, basically any trash in the paper is fallen on the ground.
Tear it and put it into a dustbin. And then that day when the father is going to office, a $100 bill from the pocket has fallen on him. And the child says, oh, paper.
The child goes and starts tearing it. Hey, don’t tear it. He says, what? You only told me to tear it.
This is not paper. This is paper. He says, this is Lakshmi Devi.
Really? But how? This is just paper. He says, oh, that paper I told, you didn’t say anything. I’m tearing this paper.
Why are you upset? Then the mother takes the child to a supermarket store. And then the child wants some chocolates. And she gives $100 and he gets $200 chocolate.
Oh, just by this you get $200 chocolates? Oh, this is valuable. So what happens? The value has to be perceived in terms which the child values. So what happens? The child will not value the paper itself.
But when the child values the toys or chocolates, then, oh, this is valuable. So similarly for us what happens? As we grow, we start perceiving the value of things beyond their immediate appearance. For a child, what do you do with a piece of paper? With a toy you can play.
With a toffee you can eat. What do you do with a piece of paper? But you can get much more. So that pursuit of what is of value as it takes us deeper and further, ultimately the Bhagavatam says that there is an absolute truth.
So, tejo vāni vṛdāṃ yathā vinmayo yath tisar goṃ vṛṣā that the illusion that is there in this world, beyond the illusion, there is a reality. And that reality is the absolute truth. So I will conclude my description of this verse with one more last point.
And then if you have any questions or any comments, you can ask and then I will move to the next verse. There are many different kinds of illusions. There is something called hallucination.
Does anyone know what is a hallucination? Yes. That is not there. Some people say that.
I have seen some person over there. There is no one there. I have seen someone.
So that means hallucination means perception in the absence of stimulus. There is no stimulus but you are perceiving it. That is hallucination.
Now illusion normally means we talk about there is stimulus but there is a false perception of the stimulus. That means, say, if there is nothing and we think there is some person over there. That is hallucination.
But if there is a rope lying on the ground and someone says there is a snake in my room. That is illusion. So, now this is illusion of perception.
But maya is something deeper. Maya is not simply illusion of perception. All that is a part of it.
Maya is primarily not illusion of perception but illusion of conception. Illusion of conception means how we conceive things. How we think about things.
So, what is maya? Is the world maya? Do you think the world is maya? So, if something is very attractive. Is that thing maya? Yes, okay. Yes, what do you say? That feeling.
Now, it is interesting that the Bhagavad Gita says say, for example, one of the forces of illusion is lust. Say, if we see somebody who is very seductive, some desire might trigger within us. But the Bhagavad Gita is clear that lust, that selfish desire, doesn’t reside in that person.
Indriyanimano buddhi asyadishthanu uchyate etai nivohe tesha jnanamavrttidehinam It is in the senses, the mind and the intelligence that lust is situated. Somebody might be a very attractive looking person and somebody else sees them and they feel very, they feel desire, craving rising within them. But you know, that person might be a mother and a baby might be on their bosom.
But the baby doesn’t feel any of that desire. Why? So, that desire is not just present in that form. That desire is present in our own mind, intelligence.
So, that form, that object may be the trigger for the desire. But that object is not the source of the desire. Another example, say, if two people are staying at a hostel or in a room here and they are going to work here.
And along the way, there is a bar. Now, one of them is a habitual alcoholic. And the other has never drunk alcohol, has no interest in drinking alcohol.
Now, both of them pass by that bar. As soon as the first person who is an alcoholic passes, they think, maybe I should drink. No, I should not drink.
I want to go to drink. No, I can just take one drink. No, I don’t want to take one drink.
I want to go to drink. No, no. So, they get pulled, and they resist, and they get pulled.
Now, is that bottle of alcohol pulling them? Is that mine? If it were, the other person may not even notice there is a bar. He just walks by. So, the bottle is a trigger.
But the bottle is not the source of the desire. So, why am I talking about this difference? I am talking about what is Maya. And this is very important to understand the next two verses.
To know that Maya, that certain objects that tempt us, they are not Maya. Those objects may be the trigger of the desire. But the desire, the impressions are present within us.
So, Maya is not the illusion of perception. It is the illusion of conception. Because alcoholic and non-alcoholic, both of them are perceiving that object.
But why is one person seeing it as irresistible, desirable, while the other person is not even noticeable? That’s because of the conceptions in their mind. So, to become free from illusion, what we need to do is change our conception. Change our conception.
So, Maya is illusion of conception. Not so much illusion of perception. And what is the conception that we need to change? That we will mention in the future verses.
So, this illusion is also created. Created or rather it originates from that ultimate source. तेजो वारि विदानिथा निमेनु यत्र त्रिसर्गो विषा यत्र From whom illusion comes? I was in Melbourne a few years ago.
And I was giving a question answer session. So, somebody asked a question that if God wants us to choose the right path, then why are the right choices so less and the wrong choices so many? So, I replied that’s the way it always is in any multiple choice exam. Multiple choice exam is that say if it’s 5 choices, all the 5 choices come from the teacher.
But all 5 choices don’t take you to the teacher. Isn’t it? So, although all the 5 choices are coming from the teacher, the teacher is not responsible if we make a wrong choice. Because the teacher is also given as education.
And if we have assimilated that education, then we won’t make the wrong choice. We won’t make the wrong choice. So, the wrong choices also come from the teacher.
So, everything that is there in this world that comes from the ultimate law. So, in the Vishnu’s asana naam it is said that many different names of Vishnu and different acharyas are explained in different ways. So, one of them is Kamaha, Kamada, Kamyo.
So, Kamaha means he is himself desire. Kamada, he is the giver of desirable object. Kamyo, and he is the ultimate desirable object.
So, what it means is, if we consider it as a multiple choice exam, that it is he who is the giver of the choices. He is Kama. Kamada, he is also the giver of the reward after we select a particular choice.
And Kamyo, he is himself the best choice. So, the process of purification, the process of spiritual growth, the process of liberation is basically moving towards becoming free from the illusion of conception. Moving towards that which is the ultimate reality.
So, the first text of the Bhagavad Gita talks about this. Think what is the ultimate reality. And that ultimate reality is the Absolute.
What that will be, will be revealed next. But think about it. Satyam param dhimahi.
Any questions or comments about this? When we are saying that the world exists, we are also thinking that that makes the world as a maya. Yes, the world is not maya. The world is value neutral, you see.
We can serve God in this world also. And for that, there are resources available. So, say right now, you have come here.
You are using your ears to hear this message. I am using my mouth to speak the message of God. And by this, the senses are taking us closer to God.
But we could use those same senses to hear immoral, sensual, obscene things. Look at those things. And then that will take us away.
So, these are value neutral. The world itself is value neutral. It can be used to take us toward God.
It can be used to take us away from God. The world is not illusion. But depending on us, it can become a source of illusion.
It can become a trigger for illusion for us. Thank you. So, another reason why the world is not false is that the world has also come from God.
Janmaadhyasyaata. Everything comes from God. And for a wise person, if somebody is watching a movie.
Now, some movies, or somebody is reading a novel. Some movies or some novels are so boring that while watching the movie, people are watching. When does this get over? When does this get over? They are looking at each other.
They are looking at other things. But if somebody has made a movie and is completely engrossing, we just pin drop silence as soon as the movie starts. Everybody is absorbed in watching it.
Then, the power of that illusion can also be a pointer to the power of the maker of that illusion. So for us, if we get lost in a book. I think the author is a very good writer.
Isn’t it? So for us, even when we get captivated by the illusion, we see that the apparent reality of illusion also points to the glory of God. Now, of course, there is a difference. If God has only made all the attractive things in the world, so what’s wrong with enjoying it? Yeah, you could say it that way.
But then God has also made poison. What’s wrong with eating it? Isn’t it? The key thing over here is that everything attractive comes from God. But everything attractive doesn’t take us to God.
So some of the attractive things in the world, they will make us forget God. Somebody can be singing sensual, obscene songs, and their singing ability also comes from God. But their singing ability will take us away from God.
But if somebody is singing devotional songs, and they sing it very sweetly, their singing ability also comes from God. So everything attractive, the singing ability of a spiritual person and singing ability of a sensual person, both come from God. But both don’t take us towards God.
Different things will take us in different directions. So we don’t absolutize this world saying that it’s all illusion or it’s all reality. We have to see, accept those things in the world which can take us towards reality and keep a distance from those things which will drive us towards illusion.
Okay. Thank you. Okay.
That’s a good question. So is the illusion necessary in this world so that we can rise above it? Yeah. We are in this world where we have free will.
And the very necessity of free will requires us to have options to choose from. And just like an exam that tests the knowledge of the students. And you see, what happens is, through the exam, the serious students are promoted.
The non-serious students who have not learned, they are checked. Similarly, illusion separates the spiritually serious from the spiritually casual. So those who are serious, they will resist the illusion.
So in that sense, the tests are for the good of the student. Although the tests don’t feel good to the student. Oh, I have to prepare for the test.
But the test is for the good. Similarly, illusion in this world is also for our good. It forces us to focus on the good.
Okay. Any other questions or comments? So now, your question was a very good segment. We will link to the next verse.
I said I will be talking about three points. Does anyone remember three points? Think. Choose.
Relish. Relish. Thank you.
So now we will talk about choose. So the second verse of the Bhagavatam is about choose. dharmam projeetakaitavocha paramo nirmatsaramsatam It’s a very interesting… dharma projeetakaitava Kaitava means cheating or deceptive.
And dharma, religion. So it’s interesting. Normally we think that there are so many deceptive things in the world and we reject them and we go towards religion.
That’s how we can go towards the reality. But the Bhagavatam is saying even religion can cheat you. Now what does it mean exactly by that? Of course in today’s world we can say that there are so many godmen and there are so many swindlers who may cheat people.
That’s true. No doubt. But the Bhagavatam is talking about something deeper.
It says that when we approach God for what purpose are we approaching? So choose means what are we choosing? There are some people who approach God but their purpose is not God. Once a person took a lottery ticket and he was going to it’s worth 1 million dollars the first prize. And he went to God and prayed to God Oh God if I win this lottery I’ll give you 50 bucks.
And after one week he was going to get it. So every day he was praying. And Allah! When the results came out he found his name was there in the prize winner’s list.
He became elated, jubilant. And then he looked carefully and noticed he had won the second prize. And second prize was half a million dollars.
So he thought about it then he went to the temple and prayed to God. He said, Oh God you are so clever. You took your section before me.
So what has happened over here so normally if some people try to do business in business we want to give as less prize as possible and get as much product as possible. So in business you are not really so much interested in who is the seller and what they are selling. So there is a concept called a low resolution conception or a low resolution picture and a high resolution picture.
Now of course most of you know about in images if you click a picture with your selfie or whatever with your phone, you want to send someone. You send a low res image. So like that all of us can have a low resolution conception of others.
So for example there is an experiment done that is you go to a supermarket and in the supermarket you have bought a lot of things and people have come to the counter to pay the bill. So then they show the list of items that they have got. Maybe they hand over a list or something.
And then they hand it over and then they give their credit card or whatever and then while they are looking around what they did was the person at the counter changed. That person went down and another person came over. But almost 90% of people didn’t even notice that the person changed.
They did quite dramatic changes also like from a young woman to an old man came over. But still most people didn’t notice. Why? Because their focus was not on the person.
Their focus was on the transaction. As long as if I give the money and they give me the bill. As long as that person does what they are expected to do, who that person is doesn’t matter.
So their interest is not in the person. Their interest is what that person is giving me. So many people have that transactional attitude even when they approach God.
When we have a transactional attitude, then that person is not of interest to us. It’s only what they are doing for us. So that is a low resolution conception of that person.
And so most people even when they come to religion they have a low resolution conception of God. God is a protector. God is a provider.
That’s all. They are not interested in God per se. They are interested in what God will give me.
And they have that attitude. Then that approaching religion with that attitude. Not with no interest in God but interest in what God is going to give me.
That the Bhagavatam says is cheating religion. So religion done not to get God but to get things from God. That is cheating religion.
Now why is it called cheating religion or deceptive religion? Because we are settling for something far smaller than what we could actually get. This verse builds on the previous verse. Satyam param dhimati.
If we understand that God is himself the supreme value then why seek something of lesser value from that person? Seek the supreme value. So if we go to God and seek something of lesser value from him then we are cheating ourselves. We are adopting religion but we are undervaluing the practice of deceptive religion.
We are not getting the full result that we could get. In that sense, if we are attracted and captivated by the religion that promises us worldly goods then that religion is deceptive religion. And this can happen in many different ways.
At one level say most religions operate at this level. Now again religion is a very complicated multi-level thing. Different people practice religion with different ideas.
So we could say that within religion most people are at this level. Whether it is Hinduism or Christianity or Islam or whatever it is. The communists in Russia they wanted to make people into atheists.
There was terrible poverty. So the communist utopia was that if we distribute wealth equally among everyone then everybody will become equally wealthy. But what happened was everybody became equally poor.
And only those who were in power they had a lot of wealth. So it said about communism all people are equal but some are more equal than others. Some are more equal than others.
So what they did, they were very strongly against atheism. Against theism of any kind. I was in Hawaii and there I met a lady who had been in USSR earlier.
And she came from there to America, to Australia and then she came to America. She is a bhakti yogi now. So she was telling me that at that time when she was introduced to Bhagavad Gita and started practicing it so there were informers practically in every house.
Every third person was an informer. And nobody could trust anyone. And then when they came to know that she was going for this Bhagavad Gita classes and she was chanting they started threatening her.
You will not get any job. Your father will be fired from the job. Your sister will be kicked out of the school.
And then she had to choose. Ultimately she chose Krishna. So she left the home.
And she came to America. So the point I am making is they persecuted. They persecuted people.
Persecution was just one thing. But other thing that they did was they said, what does God give you? Please give me that. So the Christians would go to church and in Christianity there is a prayer.
Oh father, thou art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Give us our daily bread.
So they would go to the priest and say, okay do you want Why are you going to God? What are you going to pray for? For bread. So they would go in and pray. And then they would come out.
And they would ask it, did he get the bread? He said no. So pray to us. Oh come in.
And they would have taklas of bread ready with them. And they would give it. See who fulfills your desire? Oh you know.
Therefore reject God, accept us. Now if they had gone deeper, they would understand where did the communists get their bread from? They didn’t produce it magically. They got it from nature.
And nature, it ultimately comes from God. So the point is that if we understand God is the source of everything, then they would have understood that the God whom they prayed to in the church for bread, that God provided them bread through the communists when they came out. But they couldn’t see beyond the immediate causes.
So nowadays in the western world what has happened, most people don’t have much anxiety about bread. People may have anxiety about butter on the bread. People are not really worried about bread.
Especially many of the countries in the western world are welfare states. So even if you don’t have a job, the government will provide you some support at least. So what has happened, God has become redemptive for Muslims.
So there is an increasing number of people, if you ask them their religious affiliation, they say none. They say, I don’t care about it. So what has happened, if we think of God as a source or provider of material good, then if you don’t get that thing, you think, what is the use of God? And also if we get that thing from someone else, think what is the need of God? Of course, there is a resurgence of religion that is happening.
Because people are seeking something else from God. People are coming to religion for seeking peace. I was in Australia as a part of an interfaith panel, there was a debate, and the topic of the debate was, Why has God not died till now? What that meant was, there was a prominent German theologian, German thinker, Friedrich Nietzsche, he said that God is dead.
His point was that, by scientific rationality, no rational person will believe in God. So the idea of God is dead. But the idea of God has remarkable resilience.
In fact, America is one of the most religious countries in the world. A lot of India is also religious, the Middle East is religious. So, religion has that remarkable staying power.
That’s because religion is still providing people something. It’s not prayer, but it is peace. When people come and pray, even atheists, if they come to a temple, or a sacred place, they feel some peace over there.
They don’t attribute the peace to God. There is some vibration over there, something which makes people peaceful. So there is something beyond which we all seek.
But the point is, that if we think of God as the provider of material goods, then we cheat ourselves. Why? Because if we don’t get it, we think God is useless. God is unnecessary.
And if we get it from somewhere else, we think God is unnecessary. But even if we get those things, whatever it is that we need, we get it. What next after that? But you know, things are important, no doubt.
But what we live with is different from what we live for. Suppose you come out of your house, and you see a neighbour just rushing towards their car. You ask them, where are you going? He says, I’m going to fuel my car.
Okay, but where are you going after that? Oh, then I’ll go to the next gas station and fuel my car over there. Oh, okay, but what about after that? He says, then I’ll go to another gas station and fuel my car over there. No, but where are you driving? No, I’m driving to the gas station.
What? That doesn’t make any sense. Obviously, to drive a car, you need gas. But gas, it’s what you drive with.
It’s not what you drive for. We drive for some other purpose. Okay, I want to go and meet this person.
I want to go to my job. I want to do this. Similarly, what we live with is different from what we live for.
Food is what we live with. Money is what we live with. Health is what we live with.
But what do you live for? That is important. So, what we live with is not what we live for. Unfortunately, in today’s world, most people are just thinking that the more I can get, the things I live with, the happier I look.
But, this is a, the Bhagavatam here says that actually, this is misdirection. These are anarchas. These are deceptions within, which misdirect us from that which is the real purpose of life.
So, we mentioned that we live for what happens. Now, actually, that’s both true and not true. Because, if we simply want pleasure in our lives, now, there are some small children over here, suppose somebody wants to have some fun with children, then they might just start tickling their belly.
Now, if their belly is tickled, what happens? If somebody is tickled, what happens? They laugh. They laugh, isn’t it? Now, is that laughter happiness? What do you think? Well, we’ll call it a kind of happiness. But, if that is all we were looking for, then, no.
You could get a perpetual tickling machine. And, you could keep tickling us for the rest of our life. Would that make you happy? Or, let’s say this physical is boring, you might just decide, okay, I like to watch comedies.
So, now we have so many channels, so many internet sites, we could keep watching comedies for the rest of our life. Suppose we had no financial worries, we had enough money, then, watching comedy for the rest of our life, would we be happy with that? So, actually, pleasure is too cheap a purpose to make our life move. Pleasure is too cheap a purpose to make our life move.
We want something challenging, something uplifting, something fulfilling, which we do. And, happiness is best experienced as a by-product, not a product. That means, we do something meaningful in our life, and then, that meaningful thing gives us fulfillment as a by-product.
If we do something simply to seek pleasure, after some time, it becomes tiresome. It just becomes boring. It isn’t work.
So, I would say, in a sense, when a couple has a baby, actually, when you have a new baby, your peace goes away. The baby may cry at any time, wake up at any time, but then, in taking care of a baby, as the baby grows, through all the phases of life, learn walking, learn talking, there is joy about it. And that joy is a deeper level of joy.
So, now, if the mother is thinking, oh, my baby should give me joy, but the baby is waking up and crying at night, the baby is not giving me joy, forget it. It won’t work like that. So, the primary purpose of the mother is to take care of the baby, and as she takes care of the baby, a sense of fulfillment comes as a by-product.
So, happiness is, if we make pleasure or happiness itself the purpose of our life, that is not a worthy, it’s too cheap. What we want is, we want to do something meaningful. And by doing something meaningful, happiness comes as a by-product.
So, actually, this happiness is going to be a part of the third point of relish. But, it’s related over here, choose. Choose means, the Bhagavad Gita says that, the most attractive thing is God Himself.
He is the source of everything attractive in this world. And if we go to God for something other than God, then we are cheating ourselves. Many of you may know this story from the Mahabharata.
Before the Kurukshetra war, both the parties were trying to form alliances. And when they were forming alliances, both of them knew that Krishna and the Dwarkavasis were powerful rulers. So, both Krishna, both Arjuna, now Duryodhana himself went.
This is a very powerful part. So, he went himself. And for the Pandavas, they decided to send the person who was most dear to Krishna among them.
So, among the Pandavas, who was most dear to Krishna? Arjuna. So, both of them went. And then, when Duryodhana reached there first, and Krishna was lying down, he was resting.
So, Duryodhana went and stood at Krishna’s head. He stood near Krishna’s head and waited. And then, Arjuna came a little later.
And Arjuna stood near Krishna’s feet. He was meditating on Krishna’s feet. And he was giving devotion.
And then Krishna woke up. And as soon as he woke up, whom did he see first? Arjuna. Because when he lied down, he could not see him.
Oh, Arjuna, welcome. And then he got up. Oh, Duryodhana, you are also welcome.
Thank you. He said, what can I do for you? And Duryodhana said that we are having this war and we want your support. Well, I also come to the same purpose.
Duryodhana was trying to push Arjuna. He said, I came first. So, Krishna said, actually, both of you are related.
Both of you are related to me. Therefore, I will not take sides myself. I don’t want to take sides.
So, I will not fight. So, I will be on one side as a counselor, as a friend, as an advisor, and on the other side with my army. So, what do you want? And Duryodhana said, I came first.
I should choose first. But then Krishna said, no. He is younger than Duryodhana.
I survive first. So, let him choose. Duryodhana didn’t physically go, oh, I lost it.
And then he said, Krishna. Arjuna said, Krishna, I want you. Arjuna said, oh.
Duryodhana thought of Krishna. Arjuna is such a fool. Such a fool.
He said, he lost it. He lost the opportunity. Why? What a fool.
He said, no. Then he said, oh, then just put on a face. Oh, then I have to settle for the army.
And he went away. I got a good deal. Then Krishna came to Arjuna and he said, no, why did you choose me instead of your army? He said, my dear lord.
He said, what is the use of Narayan Sena without Narayan? If I have Narayan, then I have everything. So, he chose Krishna. So, we approach God to seek God himself.
Shri Prabhupada, who wrote a prominent commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, he said that, how do we know whether we are, our devotion is genuine, it is deep-rooted? How can we know that we are truly God-conscious? He said, when we go to a temple, if at that time, when we go in front of God, we feel that God is asking us, what are you doing for me? We are the sevak and the Lord is our Swami. So, what if we feel that God is asking us, what are you doing for me? Then, if that seva bhava is there, then that is devotion. Now, most people go to a temple and they ask God, what are you doing for me? I have this problem, I have been praying for the last three months, you have not solved the problem, what are you doing? So, the dynamic is exactly the opposite.
So, choose means, choose God, choose to connect with God. And, I am running out of time, so the last part I will complete with you. So, the last part is, what was the third one? Relish.
So, relish is, the Bhagavatam says, that actually is God himself, is revealed through the Bhagavatam. And he is the all attractive source of everything. So, whatever is attractive in the world, it is like a drop.
A drop, if we are in the ocean or in a desert, even a drop looks life-giving to us. The drop is attractive. But, the ocean is much, much more attractive.
The ocean can quench our thirst. So, everything attractive in this world is like a drop. We don’t deny that its attraction is there.
So, the idea is, say, we are somewhere here right now, and here is the desert. So, this whole area is the desert. And, this is the ocean.
And there are many drops all around us. So, some drops take us away from the ocean, some drops keep us at the same distance from the ocean, some drops take us away from the ocean. So, Bhagavatam says that whatever it is that you are attracted to, if somebody is, say, a champion cricketer, now even the best cricketing player sometimes goes out of form.
Now, nobody wants to go out of form, isn’t it? Why do they go out of form? Because their ability is not only their ability. Somebody can bowl very well, bat very well, that is actually God’s gift to them. And periodically, that gift is temporarily taken away from them.
And then they realize, this is not mine. This is not really mine. That’s what they are meant to realize.
If you look even in the western traditions, in the Greek tradition, nowadays somebody may say, you are a genius. So, in the past, the way they would say this, you have genius. That means there is some higher expertise that is manifesting through you.
If somebody sings very well, speaks very well, draws very well, it means you have a genius within you. You know that you are a genius. So, the point here is that everything attractive manifests a spark of God’s splendor.
So, the Bhagavatam says, So, the Bhagavatam says, if you find something attractive, say somebody finds cricket attractive, somebody finds robotics attractive, somebody finds movies attractive, somebody finds sky attractive, somebody finds money attractive, somebody finds some attractive, some good looking people attractive. All these are attractive to you, but this is just a drop. And God is the ocean.
So, if you become attracted to the ocean, you will relish constantly. So, the process of Bhakti Yoga, which is pure Dharma, Paraha Dharma, it is basically meant to shift our attraction from the drop to the ocean. It is not that we reject the drop.
If I am here, there are drops all around me. We do need to reject those drops which take us away from the ocean. But those drops which take us towards the ocean, we move along them and get to the ocean.
What does it mean, the drops which take us towards the ocean? Say, we like to hear music. But if there is devotional music, then that’s a drop. That drop is taking us towards the ocean.
So, we want society, we want a social circle around us. We can associate people who are drunkards, who are into bad things, and that will be like a drop, a social sense of belonging that will take us away from the ocean. But if you come and satsang like this, there, you are associating with people who are spiritually minded.
Then you get a sense of belonging, a sense of society and community around you. But there is a drop that is taking us towards the ocean. So, essentially, everything that gives us shelter in the world, we connect that with God.
… … … … … … So, in our life, we get shelter from our mother, from our father. As we grow older, we get shelter from our siblings, from our friends. As we grow older, we get shelter from our knowledge, we get shelter from our wealth.
We get shelter, strength, satisfaction from many of these things. But see the connection of all of them with God. … … … … When we have that understanding, with that understanding, we move toward God.
Then, everything of value in this world can be used to move towards that which is of eternal value. You don’t reject it, but you connect it. Maya is the illusion, not of perception, but of conception.
If I start thinking this drop itself is satisfying, then that’s it. This drop is a pointer to the ocean. So, this drop, this is so attractive, how much more attractive? So, let this drop immediately go to the ocean.
So, when we see the attractive objects of this world as connected with God, then we won’t be deluded by them. We won’t be deceived by them. Rather, they will become a stimulus for us to move toward God.
And the more we become devoted to Him, the more we can relish life in this world as well as the next. When we connect with God, the purpose of the connection is not joy. The purpose of the connection is service.
Because whenever there is a loving relationship, we want to serve the person. We want to care for the person. When we do that as a by-product, joy, fulfillment, joy eternal will come upon us.
That is the process of bhakti. Relish life eternally. Quickly summarize.
I spoke on the universal and confidential message of Bhagavatam in three parts. Think, choose, relish. Think means, what is ultimate reality? What actually counts? Those people who are relativistic say there is no ultimate truth.
They are just making a statement of ultimate truth. It’s a self-contradictory statement like saying I don’t know a single word of English. So, to understand what is truth, we need to look beyond appearance to substance.
Things are not the way they look. That requires intentions to perceive. Truth appears different in different scales of perception, different time phases.
And beyond all the changes in the world, the changes that non-living things manifest or changes that living beings manifest, beyond all those changes is the unchanging reality. So, think about what is that unchanging reality. And that unchanging reality is also the source of illusion in the world.
The objects in the world are not maya. They are triggers. The maya, the illusion is present in our own consciousness.
It’s an illusion of conception. So, the illusion comes from God but that is to test us so that we can go towards God, like a multiple choice exam. And God gives us the wisdom by which we can make the right choice.
The second point I spoke was truth. That is, even when you practice religion, if you practice it for material gain in the world, then if you don’t get that gain, you think, what is the use of God? Or if you get it by some other means, you think, what is the use of God? So, God is not a tool to something desirable. God is Himself the supreme desirable.
And we understand that that’s where we move from cheating religion to genuine religion. It’s called cheating religion because we undervalue ourselves. Instead of getting the eternal, we get something temporal.
And then relish means we understand that whatever is attracted in this world is like a drop and God is the ocean. So, instead of seeking a drop, we seek a connection with the ocean. And in the connection with the ocean, there is eternal joy.
So, we don’t seek joy or happiness itself. Happiness is too cheap a purpose to make our life meaningful. We rather seek to do something meaningful.
Say, connect with God and serve God. And happiness comes as a by-product. So, to make our bhakti steady, our driving question should be not what God is doing for me, but what am I doing for God? Because if we keep trying to serve God and service with our connection, and through that connection, supreme satisfaction will flood our heart, enabling us to relish it forever.
Thank you very much.