Srimad Bhagavatham

Bharatha, the compassionate Guru as he was, replied thus to Rahugana’s question:

Boasting ‘I am the protector’ you make a bad presence in the society of the learned, simply being rude! Being fat, meager, tiny or big all are impermanence and bound by time and space. These are the illusions arising out of duality. The ultimate reality of Vasudeva is what is to be known by seekers and it is of the nature of existence and peace.

The ultimate reality is not known through penance, duty, worship or austerity but instead it is known only by the grace of the Guru. Wherever there is contemplation of the world as the Lord, worldly concerns are put to an end.

Explanation

A Sadguru will make the disciple realize the ultimate reality of Lord in one way or the other. The disciple will have no option but to follow the spiritual path - if he doesn’t follow it voluntarily, he will be made to follow the path by beatings and other sufferings.

Thus Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to say that a person who has come to a Sadguru is like a person who has in the mouth of a lion (there is no chance of escape at all).

Here we find Rahugana surrendering to the Sadguru of Bharatha by questioning about the reality with the real and earnest desire to know about the ultimate reality of Brahman. A Sadguru treats his disciples and cures them of the diseases of kaama, krodha, ahamkaara etc. even as a doctor treats his patients. Here Bharatha attacks Rahugana directly by pointing out that he was making himself a fool while speaking about himself being the protector and controller of all beings. The things that we perceive in the world are nothing but mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. They are not at all different from the objects that a person sees in dream. The things are present today and will vanish tomorrow or even the next moment. In such a case, how can a person say that he is controlling the things of the world??? There is only one controller for the illusory world which is the Self or the Lord. The Lord doesn’t require to control the world because he knows very well that there is no world but everything is only an illusion. Until a person realizes this ultimate reality that there is nothing here but the Lord alone, he will fall a prey to the various diseases of mind like attraction, aversion, ego etc. These are very dangerous that these take the seeker away from the reality and make them fall deep into the ocean of ignorance. They cause a person to forget the ultimate reality behind the illusory world and its objects.

Thus once a person falls a prey to the various activities and qualities of the mind, he is constantly attracted to those qualities even as a drunkard is attracted to drinking. Thus initially the person gets ego about his own position in the illusory world. But slowly this ego becomes addictive and out of control. Thus the illusory mind which should be under the control of the THINKER of Self is in itself controlling the seeker. This is what Vedanta calls as bandha or bondage. Once a person gets out of the clutches of the ego and other enemies, he fully concentrates on the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus he is always contemplating on the Lord thereby taking him more and more towards the goal – he thus realizes his own very nature of Lord in a very short time.

The best and easiest way to kill the Ego is to strike it strongly which Bharatha does here. Even though Rahugana’s ego was vanquished by the silence and no-reaction of Bharatha, but still there was some residue of the Ego in Rahugana and there are possibilities that this residue will become strong and rise again. Thus Bharatha wanted to remove it completely - therefore he attacks the egoistic attitude or statement of Rahugana. Thus we find that a Sadguru treats his disciple in the most odd fashion which is beyond apprehension. We may think that how a compassionate Guru can attack his disciple in such a way? But it is only for the welfare of the disciple that the Guru attacks the disciple. The Guru who has realized the ultimate non-dual reality of Brahman has nothing to gain from the disciple or through teaching the disciple but it is only for the welfare and spiritual progress of the disciple that the Guru treats at times harshly with the disciple.

Bharatha explains that it is out of the illusion of duality that all problems arise. Out of duality arise likes and dislikes – these in turn lead to attraction and aversion. Thus if a person gets rid of the thought and notion that duality is real, he gets rid of attachment and aversion. Thus his mind is always in a state of equipoise and hence he is able to fully contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord without any disturbances.

Bharatha says here that the reality of Lord is not known through any amount of activity – instead it is realized only through the grace of the Guru and following of the Guru’s teachings/instructions in turn implementing them in life. Action arises out of desire which in turn is propelled through ignorance about one’s own perfect and complete state. A person forgets that he is nothing but the non-dual reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. This ignorance makes the seeker think that he is imperfect & therefore strive for perfection. Thus he gets the desire to become perfect. This desire is converted into action. Thus action arises out of ignorance - thus it cannot remove ignorance and thereby make a person realize his own very nature of Lord.

Thus any action will not lead to realization – instead realization happens only by knowledge of the reality of Lord. Knowledge is possible only through following of the words of the Guru - thus Guru is inevitable for a seeker. By the mere grace of the Guru, a person gets rid of ignorance which veils his own very nature of non-dual Lord.

Lord Siva thus says to Parvathi in Guru Gita:

Na guror adhikam bhaavam na guror adhikam tapah
Tattvajnaanaat paratharam naasthi tasmai sree gurave namah

There is no greater thing or reality than the Guru - there is no greater austerity than service to the Guru - there is no knowledge greater than the knowledge of TAT TVAM ASI or THAT THOU ART which the disciple is instructed by the Guru - my prostrations to such a Guru.

Bharatha continued:
In a previous birth I was known as a king named Bharatha who found liberation through personal insight and association in worship of the Supreme Lord. But I became a deer being closely associated and attached to a deer. Thus I neglected the primary duty of a human being to contemplate constantly on the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman.
Despite being a deer, I had remembered my previous birth and thus was able to contemplate on the Lord all the time. For the same reason of not getting attached to anything in the world, I keep myself afar from association with ordinary folk and I move about unseen.
Therefore can every person, by means of the sword of knowledge detaching and associating with good company, even in this world, cross over the ocean of samsaara.

Explanation
Bharatha here explains to Rahugana what he has learned from his prior experience about the truth that the one and only action which can lead a person to the ultimate reality of Lord is constant contemplation on the reality of Lord. The moment a person deviates from the reality, he enters into the world of illusion wherein there is nothing but sorrow and suffering alone.

The world can be split into two distinct parts – one is the real part of the Lord and other is the various names-forms. Beyond the illusory names and forms is the ultimate reality of Lord. Forget the names and forms; a person contemplates on the reality of Lord. Such a person never is deluded into the names and forms. Instead he is always contemplating on the reality of Lord and thus will realize his own very nature of Lord who is eternal bliss. But if a person forgets the underlying reality of Lord, he enters into the illusory names and forms. Names and forms keep on changing and are prone to die one day. When the particular form dies off, if a person is attached to that particular form, he gets sad as a result of that. Hence the scriptures proclaim that a person should never get attached to the illusory names and forms instead should contemplate on the underlying reality of Lord.

Vedanta gives the example of gold ornaments to prove this point. There are several gold ornaments kept in front – gold chain, gold necklace, gold ring etc. A normal person sees them as different and gets deluded into the name of chain and form of chain. He forgets that one day the name and form will die. Thus when by time, the chain loses its form he gets sad. Instead a goldsmith is not at all deluded into the name and form. He always perceives the gold beyond the name and form. Thus he never gets sad as he is always contemplating on the reality of gold beyond the illusory names and forms.

Similarly a seeker should always see beyond the illusory names and forms of the world and contemplate on the underlying reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.

Bharatha initially when he was a king was not really aware of the underlying reality of Lord and hence passion overcame him. Thus he became attached to the name and form of a deer. Thus he forgot the underlying reality and instead contemplated on the name-form of the deer. Therefore he fall down from the path of spirituality and was born as a deer. But since he had spent a lot of time contemplating on the reality of Lord, therefore he remembered his mistake and took a decision not to get deluded into the illusory names and forms of the world. Thus he was always contemplating on the Lord – thus he got a better life and realized his own very nature of Lord. Even though he was realized in the jada bharatha life, still he didn’t want to get attached to anything illusory in the world. Once a person realizes the futility of illusory things, he never gets attached to them. When a person knows that there is no water in desert but what he is seeing is only mirage, he never runs after the water. Similarly once a person realizes his own very nature of eternal bliss, he never gets deluded into the illusory names and forms. Thus Bharatha was ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord.

Bharatha here stresses Sadhu sangama or sat sanga for realization. Each and every person in the world when he/she is initially in the path of spirituality, he will find it tough to overcome the obstacles of sensual pleasure/attraction in the world. The simplest way to overcome this is through association with good people. The very presence of a Mahatma will ward off evil thoughts and induce positive waves so that the seeker will be easily able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord.

Sankara thus says beautifully as to how Satsanga leads to realization in Bhaja Govindam:

Satsangatve nissangatvam
Nissangatve nirmohatvam
Nirmohatve nishchalattattvam
Nishchalatattve jeevanmukthi

Satsanga leads to nissanga or dissociation with things in the world.
Dissociation leads to removal of delusion that the world is real.
Removal of delusion leads to mind being steady and constant (without any ripples or vibrating thoughts).
Steady mind leads to jeevan mukthi or liberation while living.

The analysis of the above sloka is deep but we will try to analyze it in brief over here. Satsanga or association with good people will lead a person to dissociation with the illusory things in the world. Association with good people will lead the seeker to contemplate more and more on the reality of Lord rather than the illusory things of the world. Since the seeker contemplates on the reality of Lord, therefore dissociation with things in the world automatically happens. The seeker is no longer contemplating on the illusory things of the world. This dissociation leads to removal of delusion caused out of attachment to worldly things. Delusion is the thought that the worldly things are real and will give eternal bliss. Instead when the seeker gets himself dissociated from worldly things, the delusion that the worldly things are real vanishes. The seeker realizes that the worldly things are mere illusions and will never be present eternally. Thus moha or delusion completely vanishes. When delusion vanishes, there is no more contemplation of the illusory worldly objects even when there is association with mahatmas. Thus all the time, the seeker is contemplating on the reality of Lord alone. Thus his mind is steady on the Lord – without any ripples or vibrating thoughts caused due to contemplation on the illusory objects of the world. This again leads the seeker to liberation which is nothing but the realization that I am the Lord and there is nothing but the Lord alone here, one without a second. Thus the seeker realizes the ultimate reality and rejoices in the eternal bliss inherent in the Lord or his own very Self. This eternal bliss is the very aim of life and is achieved only through association with good people.

Thus various scriptures and saints give great emphasis to association with good people or mahatmas. We will continue with the story tomorrow.
Let us all try to offer our prostrations to the various Sadgurus amidst us thereby making us follow the spiritual path and realize our own very nature of Lord through the Mahavakya of TAT TVAM ASI or THAT THOU ART.

Bharatha finished his teaching thus:
King Rahûgana, you, surely also on this path of material existence, will, once you have given up the stick of chastising and are acting friendly towards all beings, by means of service to the Lord be someone who in his mind is no longer drawn to the untrue; taking the sharpened sword of knowledge in hand now cross over to the supreme of the other side!'

King Rahugana replied thus: Alas, o best one among the born, being born into the human form, of what use is it to be but of a higher birth? Indeed there is nothing superior about it if we in a new life cannot enjoy the abundance of association with the truly great ones whose hearts are purified in the glory of Hrisîkesa [the Lord and master of the senses]

Let there be my reverential homage unto the great personalities, whether they appear as boys, as young men or as total forsakers; let there, from all those selfrealized of transcendence who walk this earth under different guises, be good fortune over all the dynasties!

Suka thus concluded the story: The king of Sauvîra sure of an elevated position, came to a full understanding of the truth of the oversoul; within himself he managed to completely give up the conception of a bodily self that he erroneously in nescience had attributed to his person and thus, o King, followed he on the path of disciplic succession to the Lord.

Explanation

We come to the end of this wonderful story told in Srimad Bhagavatham which is full of imports and things to be understood, implemented by each and every seeker in the world.

We have to constantly remember that the very aim of listening and learning of the various stories mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatham is just to remove doubts and confusions about the ultimate reality of Lord so that we will be able to contemplate on the Lord without any break or continuous. Thus if the analysis of these stories don’t lead us to more and more contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord, then there are of no use and are very similar to a rock on the road which doesn’t help the passers-by but hinders their progress.

The various stories in Bhagavatham have deeper import and meaning than we can imagine. Hence there can be many interpretations and explanations for the same. But all these explanations will lead to the ultimate truth that there is nothing here but the Lord alone, one without a second. Whatever is temporarily seen is only an illusion like the dream world. The world never really exists – it is a mere illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord. Whatever exists is the Lord alone. Thus realization of one’s own very nature of Lord is the very aim and purpose of life. Until this purpose is fulfilled there will be no happiness in life. Life will be full of sorrows and sufferings due to temporary happiness derived from the objects in the world. Since we all are searching for eternal bliss irrespective of caste, creed and other distinctions, thus the one and only way to get that is by realizing the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus even while listening to these various stories, even while doing some activities whether they be worldly or spiritual, a person has to constantly remember the ultimate reality that there is only Lord here, one without a second. This constant remembrance alone can lead a person to realization of his own very nature of Lord. There is no other path to realization or eternal bliss. Those who consider themselves as enjoying and happy are not at all different from pigs in the story of Uddhava where the pigs refused to go to heaven because they wanted filth and other stuff which is “their” happiness. We consider ourselves happy but forget that this happiness is temporary and will vanish any moment.

The moment a person loses something in the world, he becomes sad. A person thinks that he is happy with his children. But the moment his children take decisions against him, he becomes sad. This is the state of happiness achieved from external sense objects. The realization of one’s own very nature of Lord alone can give a person eternal bliss. Other things will seem to give happiness but they will be giving sorrow alone.

Thus the Lord clearly says in Gita:
Ye hi samsparshajaa bhogaah dukha yonaya eva te Adhyantha viheenah kaunteya na teshu ramathe budhah

That happiness which is derived from contact with sense objects is the cause of sorrow only. As they are devoid of beginning and end, wise people never take resort to them.

That which is not there in the beginning and end is only an illusion that seems to be there in the present or middle. Dream worlds are not there in the beginning and in the end after a person wakes up – therefore they are not there in the middle also. Similar is the case with the objects in the world. We didn’t see our child yesterday and he is there today. But tomorrow, he will surely not be there – thus the child is also an illusion only. Thus analyzing and understanding, wise people never take resort to worldly objects. Instead they always contemplate on the eternal entity of Lord who alone is present as the substratum of the illusory world and its objects.

Let the analysis of various stories in Srimad Bhagavatham lead us to constant contemplation on the reality so that we will realize the ultimate reality of Lord this very second itself.

Bharatha continued:

The knower or the person having thoughts is unaffected by all the activities of the mind (thoughts of the mind). As long as a person is not relieved from attachment towards the sensual pleasures of the world, he will wander again and again in this material world. The mind is very powerful growing so from neglect of the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord; he who, free from illusion applies the weapon of worship to the lotus feet of Guru and the Lord and thus conquers the ignorance which has veiled the Self.

Explanation

Here Bharatha speaks about the way out of the problems caused bymind.
Vedanta speaks about liberation and bondage thus:

Man eva manushyaanaam kaaranam bandha mokshayoh
Bandhaaya vishayaasaktham muktaih nirvishayam smritam

Mind alone is the cause for bondage and liberation of a person.
When the mind is extroverted and running behind sensual objects, it is in bondage.
When the mind is introverted and devoid of running behind sense objects, it is in liberation.

Thus mind when it is full of thoughts and it is seeking the temporary pleasure in the external sense objects, it is in bondage. The same mind when devoid of thoughts and concentrate unto its own source of Self or Lord is in liberation. Thus the way to liberation or permanent happiness is also clear. The path is nothing but removal of thoughts completely through constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord alone. When the mind is focussed completely on the ultimate reality of Lord, other thoughts are warded off - thus there will be a single thought of the Lord alone. When this single thought about the ultimate reality of Lord is continued for some period, that thought also vanishes & there remains nothing but the thinker of Lord alone. This is what Vedanta calls as realiization - this is the state when there is only eternal bliss, nothing but bliss alone.

Thus it is upto the seeker as to whether he wants sorrow or happiness. If he concentrates on the external sensual pleasures, he is going to get sorrow alone as they are temporary and will not last for long. But if he concentrates on the ultimate reality of Lord as the Subject of all objects & residing in the heart of all beings, he gets eternal bliss. Thus the path to liberation and bondage both are open to a seeker. It is upto the seeker as to what he chooses - if he wants liberation, he has take his attention away from the illusory worldly objects & contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord.

It is but natural that when a person contemplates on the illusory objects of the world, he gets likes and dislikes towards the objects. These likes and dislikes leads to attachment and aversion. These in turn lead to happiness and sorrow depending on the situation and environment. Thus a wise person will never take resort in the temporary and illusory entities of the world - instead he will always be contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord alone. And thus he will be ever happy and blissful. This constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord will remove the ignorance veil which has veiled his own very nature of eternal Lord. When this veil is removed, he realizes the eternal bliss which is inherent in himself - and thereby rejoices in the eternal bliss experiencing nothing but bliss, bliss and bliss alone.

This is what is the goal of human life. Each and every person is working towards that happiness which is eternal and ever lasting. But he searches for this happiness in the external world never to get it at all – but being satisfied temporarily with the temporary happiness in the external world. This search continues until he realizes that this search will become successful only if it is directed towards the ultimate reality of Lord instead of the external worldly objects. When this realization dawns, he realizes his own very nature of eternal Lord and thereby all search ends. As Sankara beautifully puts this in Bhaja Govindam, such a person "nandhathi, nandhathi, nandhathi eva" - rejoices, rejoices and verily rejoices.

There are two distinct factors which help a person in realizing his own very nature of eternal lord - these are the scriptures and the Guru. The scriptures give intellectual knowledge about the reality whereas the Guru teaches the disciple as to how to make this intellectual knowledge one’s own very experience itself.

There are three graces required for a seeker to realize his own very nature of Lord. These three are the grace of the Lord, grace of the Guru and grace of the Self. The grace of the Lord is ever present – similarly the grace of the Guru is also always there but what is required by a seeker is to open up his heart to become eligible for the ever present grace of the Guru and the Lord. This is what is called or termed as Self-grace. The seeker becomes eligible for the grace of the Guru and the Lord when he follows the spiritual path and tries to realize the ultimate reality of Lord and not going behind the temporary illusory entities of the world. This is what Bharatha calls here as worship of the lotus feet of the Guru and the Lord. Real worship of the Lord is constant remembrance of the reality of Lord and offering all actions unto the Lord. This is real worship and all other worships are just external thrusts to make a seeker concentrate on the reality of Lord. Thus when a person really worships the Lord, he always contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord thereby getting rid of the ignorance veil and conquering the mind – thus he ever rejoices in the eternal bliss which is inherent in him and his own very nature itself.

We will continue with the discussion between Bharatha and Rahugana next.

Bharatha continued:
The various people in the world all are searching for happiness in the external world but not getting it struggle and suffer. They who without much of a mind managed to conquer giants of other heroes, are all caught in this world in the concept of ‘mine’ and lay down their lives in their battle with the enmity created - but they do not reach the reality of the staff of renunciation that without enmity does lead to perfection.More and more attached sometimes do they who enjoy in the arms of their wives. Cheated by them but not finding satisfaction in contact with the beloved, approach they in their behavior the monkeys with whom association they are quite at ease with their senses and looking after one another’s faces they being forgetful approach death.Enjoying up their tree are they, attached to wife and children and poor of heart, unable to give up being bound to the consequences of their own actions, at times beset in fear for the elephant of death falling into a cave in the mountains getting trapped there.

Somehow or other getting out of this danger they again, o killer of the enemies, take up the same life, that path of enjoyment that the conditioned soul under the influence of mâyâ travels, up to his death not understanding a thing.

Explanation:

Bhagavatham through Bharatha is speaking about the futile search for happiness that human beings are doing in the world. We all are trying in vain for eternal bliss in the external world. We search it in whatever we can but we are unable to get it – we think that we can get happiness through money and thus work towards it but soon we find that money cannot give eternal bliss but it can only give sorrow in the long run. When a person understands that he cannot get happiness from money, he searches happiness in some other thing. Again that some other thing is an entity in the world. Thus his search goes on and on the external world. So long as a person realizes that he cannot get eternal bliss in the world and searches for bliss in the ultimate reality of Sellf, he cannot get eternal bliss. He will still be getting temporary happiness which will in turn lead to sorrow and sufferings alone. This is th reason why Vedanta gives prime importance to Vairagya or dispassion towards the sensual pleasures. As long as a person’s attention is directed to entities in the world, his attention is always extroverted and cannot be introverted into the ultimate reality of Self - the subject of all objects. Thus he searches and searches – this goes on and on – not in one birth but births and births.

Adi Sankara thus gives this beautifully in Bhaja Govindam

Punarapi jananam punarapi maranampunarapi janani jatare shayanam
Iha samsaare bahudustaareKripayaa paare paahi muraare

Again birth, again death and again into the womb of the mother - thus this ocean of samsaara is tough indeed to conquer. But it is conquered easily by those take refuge in Muraari or the ultimate reality of Lord (one who killed the demon mura is called Murari - the Lord kills the demons of the six bad qualities of the mind like anger, attraction etc. and thus is referred as Murari).

We have to thus remember that this search for eternal bliss has been continuing for births and births. This search goes on and on until the seeker directs his search into his own very nature of Self or Lord. Once this search is directed towards the ultimate reality of Lord, there will be glimpses of eternal bliss throughout the path to the reality which is called as state of trans. These are nothing but momentary glimpses of eternal bliss - which may be for one sec or a min or an hour depending on the level of the seeker. This trans also is not eternally real but it is just showing the seeker that bliss is very near by.

Thus a seeker who really wants to get eternal bliss should come out of the ocean of samsaara by taking resort to the ultimate reality of Lord instead of the temporary entities of the illusory world. Until he does this, there will be sorrows and sufferings alone.The power of the Lord which deludes each and every person in the world is called Maya – Maya means that is not at all present really but seems to exist & thus is indescribable. Every person is in the clutches of Maya and thereby doesn’t realize his own very nature of Self. But once he directs his attention towards the ultimate reality of Lord, Maya is easily overcome as Maya is the power of the Lord & the Lord controls Maya.

The Lord says thus in Gita

Daivi hi esha gunamayi mama maaya duratyayaa
Maameva ye prapadhyanthe mayaam etaam taranth te

My Maya is divine and possessed of the three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas. This Maya is tough indeed to conquer but those who take refuge in Me alone, they overcome this Maya easily.

Thus the Lord clearly gives us the way out of this Maya too – which is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord at all times and at all places. When a person constantly contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that there is nothing here but the Lord alone, then the differences between various objects is overcome - thus he has neither likes nor dislikes - thus he has not attraction or aversion - thus with a one-pointed mind, he meditates on the Lord alone. Thus slowly the ignorance veil which veiled his own very nature of Self is removed & he realizes his own very nature of Self or Lord.We will continue with the discussion between Bharatha and Rahugana in next.

After hearing to Bharatha, Rahugana spoke thus:
My respectful obeisances unto you who has hidden his realization of the ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman. Now, please explain to me the reality again in simple words so that I may clearly understand the path of realization and the ultimate reality.

Explanation :


As far as realization is considered, it cannot be had without the Guru. The ultimate reality of knowledge or Brahman can be attained only through a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Brahman. AMMA gives a beautiful example to show this: a lamp can be lighted by another lamp only. Similarly realization can be had only through the grace of a realized saint. Thus Guru is inevitable for a person to realize his own very nature of Lord. Ramana Maharshi here says that Guru is nothing but the Self manifested itself in order to make the seeker realize his own very nature of Lord through pushing the seeker’s mind to become introverted and enquiry into its own very nature of Lord.

Thus all scriptures speak about getting a Guru in order to realize one’s own very nature of Lord or Self or Brahman.

Scriptures speak about how a seeker should approach a Guru and the activities he has to do in order to get the knowledge of the Lord from the Guru.

This has been summarized beautifully by Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita 4th chapter thus:
Tadviddhi pranipaathena pariprashnena sevayaa
Upadeshyanthi te jnaanam jnaaninah tattva darshinah

To know about the ultimate reality of Lord, a seeker has to approach a Guru and do the following three activities:
1. Do service to the Guru
2. Offer prostrations to the lotus feet of the Guru
3. Question the Guru about the ultimate reality

We find the scriptures mention about various seekers staying years in the Guru’s ashram doing service to the Guru in order to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. These service include everything from cleaning the toilet and looking after the clothes of the Guru etc. All these are not required for a Guru but these are required for the disciple so that he overcomes the body-conscious feeling and egoistic approach. A person forgets the ignorant thought that I am the body when he is fully busy with physical activities. And as the saying goes “An empty mind is devil’s land”, it is not good for a seeker to give free time for the mind. Moreover when a seeker does all types of activities, he overcomes the conscious feeling of Ego that “I am so and so, I am great” etc. Thus he conquers Ego by doing service (selfless) to the Guru.

Prostrations to the Guru’s feet is important as it helps the seeker to progress faster and offer everything unto the Guru. A person bends his body most when he touches the feet of the Guru - thus here the Ego is completely conquered. Moreover, yoga system believes the feet to the place where bad powers are accumulated. Thus when the shishya touches the feet of the Guru, all the evil powers and activities in the shishya is transferred to the Guru. Since the Guru is one with the ultimate reality of Lord, this doesn’t affect the Guru at all - but the disciple is benefitted by getting rid of so many sins and evil deeds. Thus whenever a person gets the opportunity to touch the feet of a sadguru, he shouldn’t miss the opportunity. Also the feet is the part which supports the entire body. The Guru is supported in the ultimate reality of Lord - thus feet symbolizes the ultimate reality of Lord. Prostrations to the feet of the Guru is prostrations to the ultimate reality of Lord.

The third activity of questioning the Guru about the reality is very important as this is where the disciple really starts into the path of Brahman or Lord. The other two activities are meant for removal of those things which are hindrance or obstacles to the spiritual path whereas this activity is what helps the seeker directly to progress towards the Lord. Thus scriptures also speak about dialogues between the disciple and the teacher. We find the disciple of Shaunaka questioning the guru of Sage angiras in the Mundaka Upanishad as to “what is that by knowing which everything becomes known”. We find Narada questioning Sanatkumara about the knowledge of Brahman – that which is pure and complete. We find the disciple of Arjuna asking the guru of Lord Krishna about how to conquer the mind and do activities properly in the world. Here in Bhagavatham itself we find the disciple of Rahugana questioning Bharatha in a similar way.

The best question and the only question that is to be directed towards the Guru is the question about the ultimate reality of Lord and as to how to realize the Lord. All other questions are futile and of no real use to the seeker. The other questions as to what is the world, how it came etc. are futile because the world itself is only an illusion – and this doesn’t help the seeker in progress towards the Lord. It is the question about the reality which is required as this will directly lead the seeker towards the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord and make the seeker realize his own very nature of Lord.

Thus Bhagavatham is pointing out to each one of us to ask the question about the reality of Lord alone to the Guru and not any other futile questions or desires like “what will happen to my promotion, when will my marriage happen, when will my son marry” etc.

It is when the seeker puts forward the question about the ultimate reality that the Guru answers about the reality and the way to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. It is also when the seeker wants to know about the reality that he has entered into the spiritual path & thus really progresses in the path to the Lord. Thus we all have to put forth this question to the Guru or the scriptures and try to find out the answer to the same.

We will see the answer that Bharatha gives to Rahugana on the same next.

When Rahugana said to Bharatha as to whether he is a living corpse and that he will control Bharatha like Yama, Bharatha who was a realized being replied thus:
"I must tell you that, to the person of self realizing residing within the body, the body is not a subject matter of discussion because it never really exists at all. The body, mind and its modification of disease, decay, anger etc. are valid for the ignorant alone but for me, they for sure do not exist.
As you said, I too see lot of corpses walking here and there – but amidst them, there is only the Self that I perceive.
When there is nothing apart from the Self, who is the master and who is the controller?"

Explanation

Bhagavatham here is explaining the subtle concept of body and its illusory nature.
The entire experience in the world is split by Vedanta into two distinct parts – one is the Subject or Drik or Seer who is of the nature of Consciousness & one’s own very nature of Self. The second is the Objects or Drishya – everything that is objectified is part of the drishya. Any object is dependent on the Subject of Consciousness. Anything that is dependent is an illusion in the independent entity of Consciousness. Thus the Drishyas are nothing but mere illusions in the reality of non-dual Drik or Subject.

Subject or Drik cannot be multiple as in that case, the Drik itself will become Drishya - one drik being the drishya of other drik and vice versa. This is not at all possible as it is illogical and will lead to lot of faults (fault of cyclic dependency or relativity which shows that it is only an illusion). Thus Drik is one alone and non-dual Consciousness or Lord or Brahman.

This Drik is each and every person’s very nature. But this is not known due to ignorance & thus drishya is what is seen and perceived. As long as the seeker has his mind extroverted to the Drishya, the Drik cannot be known. Drik is independent and hence eternal whereas Drishya is dependent and hence temporary. Any temporary entity cannot give eternal bliss - thus drishya cannot give eternal bliss but can give only temporary happiness which will in turn lead to sorrow alone when the drishya vanishes after a particular time period. Thus a person seeking eternal bliss will have to make his mind introverted and realize the ultimate reality of non-dual Drik.
The body is also a drishya as it is changing and it is objectified by the Subject or Seer or Consciousness. Thus body is temporary and illusory like water seen in desert and objects in dream world. An ignorant person who doesn’t know the ultimate reality of Lord amidst the temporary entities will see bodies and physical entities everywhere but will not see beyond the illusory names and forms. But the realized saint goes beyond the illusory names and forms – viewing the underlying reality of Consciousness. This is like the goldsmith viewing gold in all gold ornaments whereas an ignorant person sees gold necklace, chain etc. not really going beyond the names and forms to the reality of gold.

Thus Bharatha says that for a realized person, body is not at all a subject matter of discussion because he clearly knows that there is no body at all – but whatever really exists is the Lord alone (one without a second). This doesn’t mean that only realized saints perceive that way – we all are that reality alone & hence we all are essentially realized only but just that we don’t realize our own very nature of ever-realized Self. The moment a seeker realizes that he is nothing but the Lord alone, one without a second – there is nothing but the Lord alone for him. He neither sees the physical bodies nor the insentient objects of the illusory world. There is only the Lord for such a person.

We all are that reality alone but forgotten our own very nature of the reality – thus we have to contemplate on our own very nature of the Lord and realize it this very moment itself.
When Rahugana had criticized Bharatha as a living corpse, Bharatha replies from the real perspective that everything is a corpse only – without the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. As long as a person doesn’t realize his own very nature of Lord, he is nothing but a living corpse alone as the body is only a corpse and such an ignorant person thinks himself as the insentient body.

Here we find two different people both externally and internally. Rahugana was a king externally but internally he was as ignorant as a rock - he didn’t know his own very nature of Lord, instead was considering himself and others as the body alone. Whereas Bharatha externally was insentient but internally he was shining with the knowledge of the Lord continuously remaining in his mind. There was nothing but Lord or bliss alone for Bharatha whereas Rahugana, forsaking the eternal bliss which is present in himself, was seeking bliss in the external world.

It is only due to ignorance and utter arrogance that a person thinks himself as controlling the entire world – when a person is unable to control his own body, what to speak about controlling the world??? It is like a person trying to control the dream world or the water seen in the desert – which never really exists but is only an illusion. These are clear signs of ignorance when a person says that he has duty, he is controlling other people etc. Only fools speak in such a way – wise people never speak about the illusory world which never really exists - instead they will always be immersed in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. They will never have any thought of controller or master because for them there is nothing but the Lord alone. But the ignorant person thinks himself as someone great and someone having control or power over others. The ignorant person as we see Rahugana in this position is like the foolish lizard in a short story famous in Vedanta. Once a lizard came into a particular house and found another lizard hanging on to the top part of the room. The lizard said to the lizard hanging on the top to come out for roaming. The lizard hanging on the top replied thus "what are you saying!!! don’t you see? If I come out of here, the wall will fall down!!!"

Ignorant people like Rahugana are like this trying to do things to the world which never really exists. No amount of social service will really help a seeker if it is not associated with the ultimate knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone. Krishna and Christ couldn’t do social service and save the world – so what to speak about normal people? What we have to learn from Krishna ’s and Christ’s life is that they knew this reality and hence were unaffected by the activities in the illusory world. We have to learn that and implement in life. Instead of being an ignorant person, we have to work towards realizing the ultimate reality of Lord by contemplation on the reality that there is nothing here but the Lord alone.

We will continue with Bharatha Rahugana Samvaada in the next.

Bharatha continued:

Intelligent people never talk about the impermanent things of the world. Those who consider worldly material pleasures do materialistic rituals of the Vedas and they never progress spiritually as they are not concentrating on the absolute reality of Brahman.

Even though Vedas speak about Brahman, still they are also unable to reach and speak clearly about Brahman as Brahman can only be experienced through aparoksha anubhava or direct experience.

As long as the mind is under the control of different passions, so long it is like an elephant that is roaming freely. Being under the control of mind and getting into happiness and unhappiness from the worldly objects, a person enters into the cycle of action and reaction. Thus saints speak about the mind as the cause of all problems.

Explanation

Here Bharatha is speaking about aparoksha anubhava of one’s own very nature of Brahman or Lord and its relation to the knowledge that a person gains out of the Vedas. Vedas also are working at the empirical level only. Vedas are as impermanent as the entities in the world. Sankara clearly mentions this in his Brahma Sutra Bhashya that the Vedas too work in the sphere of ignorance alone. The Vedas are considered indirect knowledge whereas the Guru is considered direct knowledge. But both these knowledge have validity only in the plane of ignorance.

A person is sleeping. Suddenly he sees a lion and thereby wakes up. The lion is the Guru who was responsible for waking the person. The lion is as illusory as the dream world itself. Similarly the Vedas and the Guru also are illusory alone – since they are in the plane of ignorance, they cannot really speak about Brahman or the Lord. They can only point out the reality as the Subject of all objects and experiences – they thus point out the Lord as the experiencer of all experiences and the substratum of all illusory existence itself remaining real and unaffected by the illusory objects. Thus the knowledge got from Guru and Vedas are termed as paroksha jnaana or indirect knowledge – it is only intellectual knowledge that a seeker gets from the Vedas. This knowledge has not been turned into intuitive and direct experience of one’s own very nature of Lord. When a person puts the knowledge gained from the Vedas that everything is Brahman or Lord alone, he gains direct experience of his own very nature of Lord - this is aparoksha jnaana or direct experience or realization. Once a person realizes his own very nature of Lord, he realizes that there never was a Guru or shishya or the vedas – whatever existed was only the Lord, one without a second. He realized that whatever he was perceiving was only an illusion – the perception of being in ignorance itself was only an illusion alone – he never was in ignorance but only seemed to be in ignorance.

Bharatha also says here that a person cannot realize the ultimate reality of Lord from the materialistic part of the Vedas. The Vedas are broadly split into two parts - one being the Karma Khanda or ritualistic portion and the other being the Jnaana Khanda or knowledge portion speaking about the ultimate reality of Lord. The ritualistic portion helps a person to get a bit higher sensual pleasures in the worlds of Svarga etc. But these are all illusory like the pleasures in the bhoo loka. This is why most of the Puranas clearly speak about Indra, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva etc. all suffering at times from some or the other demons (asuraas). Thus we clearly find that the pleasures whether they are in Vaikunta, Kailaas, Svarga or Bhoo loka are all illusory only. A person cannot progress in the spiritual path unless he gets rid of all actions either by renouncing them completely or by offering it to the Lord. Unless he does this, he will always be doing actions for enjoyment. He will enjoy for doing more actions. This cycle of action-enjoyment continues without any end. Similarly action-reaction chain continues and a seeker is entangled in this vicious circle of action. Thus a seeker should refrain from doing any actions by offering all the actions to the Lord and renouncing the doer-ship that I am doing – instead he should offer all actions to the Lord and have the feeling that everything is being done by the Lord – I am a mere instrument in his hands – there are nothing here but only the Lord, one without a second.

Thus when a seeker gets rid of doer-ship, there is no action at all – but there is only constant remembrance of the Lord. When this is there, the seeker always is immersed in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord – thereby ignorance veil which veils his own very nature of Lord is removed & he realizes his own very nature of Lord. Thus if a seeker wishes to progress in the spiritual path and gain eternal bliss which he is constantly seeking, he should renounce all actions and always contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord.

Bharatha also speaks about the mind being the cause of all problems. The mind is nothing but a bundle of thoughts. Mind arises from the ultimate reality of Lord. As long a person doesn’t contemplate on the reality of Lord, the mind is there to distract him from the thought about the reality. Thus the mind is being compared with an elephant. Mind like an elephant if left freely will roam here and there irrespective of place and time. Thus it will fall into troubles and take a seeker into more and more troubles. Thus it is essential to control the mind. It is hard indeed to conquer the mind which is compared to a drunken monkey by Swami Vivekananda. But conquering or controlling the mind becomes very easy for a devotee - this is by way of offering all actions to the Lord and always having the thought of the Lord. Thus the mind is always focussed on the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus slowly the mind becomes focussed and concentrated rather than being distracted into various thoughts. Thus it is indirectly controlled. When the mind is made quiet and calm, it merges into its source of Self - thus mind ceases to exist. This is what Vedanta calls as realization - that state where there are no thoughts in the mind, there is no mind at all but the Lord alone exists. This is what Chinmaya speaks as "an ocean without waves".

We will see as to what Bharatha speaks about the mind and its control next.

Bharatha thus became a youth and since he was used to eating whatever others would give, he became very fat and a fit person. Thus one day when he was sitting on the road side, King Rahugana who was the ruler of Sindhu and Sauveera was going through the same way to meet a saint. Rahugana had no real peace of mind and hence was meeting various saints for peace of mind. Rahugana’s palanquin required one more person to carry it. Thus he sent his soldiers to find out a person to carry the palanquin. The soldiers then came across Bharatha, who was very fit, and decided to call him for the same. They called out to him & without uttering a single word he went with them. He was asked to carry the palanquin with the other soldiers – he did as told without any reaction.

Explanation

This part of the story will seem to have no real import but it has an important point which is to be understood and implemented in life by each one of us. Rahugana was seeking peace in the external world. We all are doing the same only. Life has only one ultimate goal whether it is for a king or a beggar. The ultimate aim of life is HAPPINESS which is ever lasting. We can say that we have different goals in life but all those goals can be traced back to ETERNAL BLISS. This is the goal of human life. This ultimate goal was put forth by the Vedic rishis or seers. They then sought out the goal and ultimately found it. Thus we have in Vedanta, the source of ultimate bliss and the way to attain it.

Vedanta splits the entire spectra of experience into two – the Subject who experiences the world and the Objects of experience. The Subject is of the nature of Consciousness because devoid of Consciousness, there is no existence at all. This Consciousness when it is devoid of any linking or attachment with the body or objects in the world is the source of eternal bliss. This bliss we all experience during the state of deep sleep where there is no dream as well as no external object that we currently perceive. Thus it is clear that when the objects are merged into the Subject and they just vanish, there is eternal bliss. Thus if a person wants eternal bliss, he has to seek the Subject of Consciousness devoid of any mingling with the body or the mind or the objects of the world. The more and more a person seeks peace or happiness in the external world, the more and more he suffers. This is because the objects of the world are temporary - we see a thing today and tomorrow it vanishes. Thus if a person gets attached to a woman, today he will be happy because the woman exists. But tomorrow the woman will surely vanish and when that happens, the person becomes sad. Thus all the objects in the world are a source of sorrow only in the long run. Thus a wise person who wants eternal bliss will seek out happiness in the Subject who is called as Self or Lord or Brahman. This Subject is not the body nor the mind but it is the Consciousness or "I" devoid of any attachment to the temporary and illusory body and mind.

Unless a person seeks the Consciousness, he will suffer again and again – as suffering is the very nature of external sensual objects. In this story of Bharatha, we find Rahugana seeking bliss in external sources. Rahugana goes to meet various saints hearing to their discourses and thinking that he will get eternal bliss from them. We have to remember that eternal bliss cannot be bought at any cost – it can never be given or gifted by any person whether it is a Mahatma, avaataar or even Lord himself. The Lord can only show us the path to eternal bliss – any of the realized saints cannot gift us bliss. If we need eternal bliss, we have stop seeking it in the external world – instead we have to seek it in the Subject of Lord residing in the heart of all beings as Consciousness.

Yoga Vasistha beautifully explains the search of human beings for bliss through a story. An old woman was once searching something under the shade of lamp on the road. She was searching and searching. At that time, a passer by asked her what she was searching for. The old woman explained that she was searching for her needle. The passer by asked her where did she lose it. She replied that she lost it in her house but since there is no light there, she was searching under the shade of the lamp!!!

This is how our searches are going. We search for eternal bliss in temporary objects of the world. The more and more we continue the search, the more and more we will suffer. This is why we find people doing Sandhya Vandanam while failing to understand the import of Gayatri mantra as pointing out to the effulgent Sun of Lord shining in the heart of all beings – such people after doing Sandhya Vandanam for years suffer like anything at the end of their life. How do they suffer? They suffer because at the end of their life, they will be unable to do Sandhya and thus they become sad. They then blame the eternally present Lord saying "O Lord! I did Sandhya daily and you are cursing me like this!!!". Isn’t this the height of foolishness? We do Sandhya, bhajans, rituals, pooja etc. just to make our mind concentrated on the reality of Lord. The more we do such things, it is to bring us focussed to the Subject of Lord. Thus the very aim of such external saadhanaas is to lead the seeker from the external world to the inner Atman or Self or Lord. If such sadhanas don’t lead us to the inner Self, then it is of no use & it is almost the same as doing other worldly activities.

Thus we have to constantly remember that there is no happiness in the external world but happiness is in the subject of Consciousness who is the Lord.
It may then be doubted that "what is the use of going to various avataars like Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Sai Baba etc". The answer is pretty obvious - these saints help us by leading our mind to the inner Self or Atman. The more time we spend with them, the more we find our mind concentrated and focussed on the Lord. When the mind focusses on the Lord, it becomes calm. When the mind becomes calm, it merges into the ultimate reality of Lord or Self. It is during that time that we experience the bliss of the Self. This merging and destruction of the mind is what is the aim of life through external sadhanas. The very aim of going to saints is to always be focussed on the Lord - even when we are not amidst the saints. If we forget the reality that no external object can give us eternal bliss, we are surely going to suffer more and more. Nobody, not even the Lord can save us from suffering in such a case. This is the reason why Lord Krishna says in Gita that the Self helps the Self itself (a seeker has to be help himself - "a person can take a horse to the pond but cannot make it drink water).

Thus Bhagavatham at this particular point in the story tells us that always remember that the goal of external sadhanas is to get focus or concentration on the ultimate reality of Self or Consciousness. Unless this goal is achieved, there is no particular use of the sadhanas. It is not that a person shouldn’t do external sadhanas but just that while doing external sadhanas, the seeker should always remember the ultimate reality of Lord behind all such sadhanas and the goal of all such sadhanas.

We will see next another important import of this particular story and then enter into the discussion between Bharatha and Rahugana.

When Bharatha and others were carrying the palanquin, Bharatha was walking a bit slow so as not to step on the ants which were going in front. Thus Rahugana asked his soldiers as to the reason why the palanquin is not even. The soldiers replied telling that it was due to the fourth person whom they had got to carry the palanquin. Rahugana became angry about the same and started speaking to Bharatha mockingly thus "O friend! You seem to be very tired and it seems that your co-carriers are not of any help in carrying the palanquin".
Bharatha was unmoved by the comments as he was fully immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord and being devoid of "I" and "Mine". Seeing this that Bharatha was unmoved, Rahugana got even more angry.
Rahugana thus angrily said to Bharatha "O fool! what nonsense is this! You, living corpse, ignore me overriding my reproach! Are you out of your mind? Like Yamaraja with common folk, I will teach you a lesson so that you will know where you should stand out here".

Explanation

This part of the story explains the problem and obstacle of anger. As AMMA says anger is a knife with both ends sharp. The person who is holding it also will get hurt and the person towards whom it is directed also will get hurt. The person who is getting angry is also falling down from his natural state of calmness as well as he is affecting the mental of the other person also (towards whom he is getting angry). The other person doesn’t get affected only if he is a realized saint like Bharatha. Here we find the characteristics of a realized saint being clearly defined. He is not at all affected by things in the world but always wants does good for the world. Thus Bharatha was walking and making sure that he doesn’t walk on the ants – a realized saint will always seek the welfare of the people and trying to do good for the world. Ramana Maharshi used to say that the very presence of the realized saint is good for the society and the world.
It may be objected here that there is no world at all for the realized saint and how come it will be good for the world?? But this question itself is out of ignorance only. The question implies that the questioner is ignorant as so long as there are doubts, there will be questions and objections. The realized saint might or might not see the world. His state is inexplicable – it an only be experienced by oneself. Until a person experiences the state, he cannot know how that particular state is.

Thus we find here that Bharatha wanted the welfare of the world but at the same time he was unaffected by anything in the world - ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. Bharatha was asked to carry the palanquin and he did it without any sign of expression either anxiety or aversion. When Rahugana mocked at Bharatha, Bharatha was unmoved. This is the state of a realized saint. Even though he might be seen as acting and doing actions in the world but still he will not be affected by the activities in the world as he will always be immersed in the ultimate reality of non-dual Brahman. He sees only the Lord everywhere. This is what Sankara summarizes in Siva Maanasa puja as "Yad yad karma karomi tad tad akhilam sambho tava aaraadhanam" - whatever activities I am doing are all offerings to you O Siva!.

Even when Rahugana mocked and got angry with Bharatha, Bharatha was unmoved because he knew clearly that there is nothing here but Brahman alone. Whatever really exists is Brahman alone – Rahugana is Brahman, I am Brahman and anger is also Brahman only – thus Bharatha was established completely in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. A person whose mind is ever fixed in the ultimate reality of Lord and never internally deviates from the reality is called a realized saint or jeevan muta. His mind is calm and like an ocean without waves (as Chinmayananda beautifully puts it).

On the other hand Rahugana was a seeker who didn’t really know where is the ultimate reality of Lord. Even though he was seeking the Lord but didn’t know the reality that Lord is present everywhere and as everything. A person (a seeker) who is trying to see the Lord everywhere will not get angry as there is nothing other Lord to get angry with. But normal seekers are always unaware of the reality that everything is the Lord alone - thus they seek the Lord in temporary things in the world. Therefore they are prone to anger due to "I" and "Mine" which is called as Ego or ahamkaara. Thus Rahugana got angry as the palanquin was not moving in good pace. He could have very well ignored it or asked politely to Bharatha as to why he was moving slow. Instead he started mocking at Bharatha. He thought himself very great and hence when Bharatha didn’t react at all, he got angry. This is the state of normal people in the world – when they feel that people are not listening or heeding to them, they get angry. While getting angry, they themselves are getting affected by getting away from the calm state of the mind which is required and essentially for realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. And also they are affecting the mind of the other person also. As AMMA says, when a person gets sad, that particular wave comes to the person getting angry and this poses as an obstacle to spiritual progress. It cannot be argued that everything is an illusion because in such a case, anger itself wouldn’t have occurred. Thus the seeker will get affected by the waves of the other person. Thus he himself is affecting himself by getting away from the calm state of the mid – and also causing more obstacles by affecting the mind of the other person. Thus we have to make sure at all times that we don’t get angry. Anger is one of the most affecting obstacle for a seeker. A seeker should always remember that everything is the Lord alone. Thus he will never be affected by anger. Even if he is about to get angry, the normal tendency of remembering and repeating that everything is the Lord will come to his mind & thus he will not get angry.
Each one of us should thus remember not to get angry at any time by always thinking that everything is Brahman alone. AMMA’s one of the sanyaasin disciple once told an experience of her devotee about getting angry. The devotee used to get angry always. So the swamiji gave the devotee a photo of AMMA and told her that everytime you get angry, remember this photo and get angry on this photo. Initially the devotee used to forget about the photo but eventually started remembering the photo whenever she used to get angry. She couldn’t thus get angry because she couldn’t get angry with AMMA as AMMA was the Lord as well as her mother. Thus she overcame anger.

There are different ways thus to overcome anger but all these are based on the final truth that everything is the Lord alone. When a seeker has this thought in mind, he will never get angry and even if he gets angry externally he will be as calm as an ocean without waves internally. He will be getting angry externally only for the welfare of others or to protect himself from dangerous people in the world.

We will start with the discussion and reply of Bharatha to Rahugana’s statement that he will take care of Bharatha like Yama takes care of people and that Bharatha was a corpse only next.