Srimad Bhagavatham

Gajendra continued:

Those who are entangled in worldly bondages cannot attain you (the Lord) who are beyond their reach. You are devoid of any sanga or attachments. Liberated beings after having got rid of all sanga realize you in their heart. You nature is pure Consciousness. Those who don’t want dharma, artha and kaama seek you constantly in their hearts through devotion. But you give them even dharma, artha and kaama that are required by them. Ekaantha bhakthas are those who contemplate on you alone not seeking anything else. They are always immersed in the ocean of bliss singing your glories all the while. I prostrate the poorna purusha who is called Jagadeeshwara and Para Brahman, who is realized through a subtle mind.

Explanation

The ultimate reality of Lord is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute (kevala sat chit ananda). There is nothing apart from the ultimate non-dual reality of Lord. That which is seen as different from the Lord is nothing but mere illusion in the reality of Lord. Those who are entangled in the bondages with the world cannot realize the ultimate reality of Lord who is the substratum of the things in the world. A person who is immersed in the name and form of gold chain cannot see through the names-forms and realize the reality of gold. Similarly a person who is immersed in the worldly objects cannot realize the ultimate reality of Lord as the substratum of the worldly objects. Thus for such people who seek the worldly objects and are entangled in the bondages, the Lord is beyond their reach.

Bhagavatham here is therefore telling that so long as a person is immersed in sensual pleasure enjoyment, he cannot realize the ultimate reality of Lord beyond those sense objects. Therefore seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord in the form of eternal bliss should stop seeking worldly objects and turn inwards seeking the ultimate reality of Lord at all times. It is only when a person renounces all attachment to sense objects that he will be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord who is one’s own very nature. So long as the mind is immersed in the external sense pleasures, it will not be able to contemplate inward on the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus those who seek control of the mind and realization of one’s own nature of Lord should renounce all attachment to objects in the world and contemplate on the Lord in their hearts.

Vedas speak about four purusharthas of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. These four are those that are to be sought or are sought by people in life. Dharma is following righteousness through words, thoughts and actions. Artha is seeking objects and sensual pleasures through the objects. Kama is desires in the mind to attain things in life. All these three of dharma, artha and kama give only temporary happiness because they are related to temporary, illusory objects of the world. Moksha in turn alone gives permanent bliss because it is attainment of the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature of non-dual Consciousness. Bhagavatham therefore here mentions that real devotees don’t seek dharma, artha and kaama – instead they seek the ultimate reality of Lord in the form of moksha or cessation of sorrow or rejoicing of eternal bliss.

Those devotees whose mind is always fixed in the ultimate reality of Lord are always immersed in the ocean of bliss which is the very nature of Lord. They always sing the glories of the Lord who is present everywhere as the substratum of Consciousness. The Lord alone is present in the entire world. The world of names and forms is a mere illusion in the reality of Lord. Those who seek the Lord ever rejoice in the bliss of the Lord. Thus whatever they see and know is but the Lord alone – therefore they always sing the glories of the Lord. They don’t know anything apart from the Lord to even speak or think about. Their each and every thought/words is about the ultimate reality of Lord alone. They are ever steadfast in the Lord contemplating all the while. Thus they are called as ekaantha bhakthas or devotees who are ever contemplating on the reality of Lord.

It is those devotees thinking about the Lord always who get eternal bliss which is moksha and that which we all are seeking each and every moment. There is but one and only one way to eternal bliss – which is getting detached from the illusory world and sensual pleasures thereby seeking the ultimate reality of Lord at all times. The Lord alone is permanent and full. Since the Lord is full, he is not limited by anything. Since the Lord is not limited by anything, therefore he is eternal bliss in nature. Those who contemplate on the Lord at all times thereby get eternal bliss which is the very nature of the Lord.

We will continue with story the next day.

Gajendra continued:

Devas and the Vedas are but a very small part (amsa) of the perfect and poorna Ishwara. Everything that we perceive is only names and forms in Ishwara. Fire sparks start from fire – in a similar way everything in the world comes from the ultimate reality of Lord. After coming from the Lord, they all again merge unto the Lord. But still these entities do not touch or affect the Lord. The Lord is not man or woman or man-woman. The Lord is neither existent nor non-existent. When everything is negated, there will remain only the Lord who is the negator and cannot be negated. I offer my prostrations to that Lord who illumines the entire world but still remains unaffected by the world and its activities.

Explanation

The scriptures speak about the entire world comprising of the smallest of the bacteria to the largest of Brahma to have been created from the Lord. Even as fire sparks come out of fire and merge into fire, the entire world has come from the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby merges unto him at the time of destruction. This explanation or analogy used to describe the relationship between the Lord and his creation is only an empirical explanation to show that the world resides in the substratum of the Lord. The world which is ever changing can never be created from the changeless Lord. But the world is a mere illusion in the reality of Lord even as various gold ornaments are mere names and forms of gold. As all illusions are not different from the substratum, the world is not different from the Lord. The analogy of fire-sparks is meant to show that the world is not different from the Lord even as fire sparks are not different from fire.

Bhagavatham here mentions that the world is but mere names and forms of the ultimate reality of Lord. Any name and form is not real but only an illusion in the reality. Similarly the world of names and forms is but an illusion in the reality of Lord. Names and forms are seen as different from the substratum only due to ignorance. When the ignorance about one’s own very nature of Lord vanishes, the names-forms are known to be mere illusions. Thus when a person realizes his own very nature of non-dual Lord, he realizes that the world of names and forms is a mere illusion in the reality of Lord. Yajnavalkya explains to Maitreyi in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that a person after realizing the non-dual reality of Lord doesn’t have anything to perceive apart from the Lord. But a person who perceives duality in the world sees things as different from one another not knowing the underlying non-dual reality of Consciousness.

The Lord as explained is the substratum of the illusory names and forms which are collective termed as jagat or world. Since the Lord is the substratum of the various names and forms, he is not at all affected by the names and forms. Therefore the Lord is unaffected by the activities in the world even as Sun is unaffected by the activities happening on Earth. The Lord is but a mere witness to all the illusory activities in the world even as the dreamer is but a mere witness to the dream world.

The Lord is not of any particular gender. Gender is either based on the body (physical) or on the mind (mental tendencies). The Lord is beyond the body and the mind because he is the Self or Consciousness distinct from the body and the mind. The Lord can neither be termed as existent nor termed as non-existent. This is because the Lord is beyond all dualities. When we speak about existence, non-existence automatically comes into picture. But the Lord is beyond all dualities whether it is of existence-non existence or happiness-sorrow.

The Lord is explained in the scriptures as realized through negating all that is objectified. This is the process of neti neti or “not-this, not-this” in the scriptures. The Lord is the Subject who cannot be objectified. Thus if we negate everything that can be objectified, what will remain behind is the ultimate reality of Lord alone. Therefore Bhagavatham mentions here that the Lord is the negator who will remain behind after everything has been negated. This is because the Lord is the Subject of all objects. The subject which experiences and illumines everything in the world is Consciousness. Lord or Brahman has been mentioned in the scriptures as of the nature of Consciousness. As the Lord of the nature of Consciousness is the subject-witness of all activities, therefore he remains behind after the process of negation of all that is objectified.

The Lord as the mere witness to all activities is thus unaffected by the illusory activities of the world. This Lord about whom we have been discussing in the past few days is not different from ourselves but is our own very nature of Consciousness. Hence once we realize our own very nature of Lord, we will not be affected by the activities in the world. All problems in life occur because of attachment to things, people and activities. Once we realize our own very nature of unattached and unaffected Lord, we will not be affected by the activities in the world. Thus we will always be immersed in the bliss which is the very nature of the Lord or our own very nature. It is this bliss that we are seeking each and every moment in the illusory world. We seek bliss and happiness in the world not knowing that our own very nature is bliss alone. Until we realize our own very nature of Lord who is unattached and unaffected by all illusions, we will still be seeking bliss and suffering in the illusory world. Thus the way out of all our sorrows and sufferings is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord through devotion and surrender. Real devotion is that in which the devotee knows about the Lord as the one and only real entity in the illusory dual world. This knowledge about the Lord as the only real changeless entity makes a seeker surrender completely unto the Lord thereby merging unto the Lord. Total and complete surrender alone can get rid of the ego or ahamkaara which causes the main problem in the world through creation of dual notions. The seeker who knows about the Lord and thereby is devoted to the Lord will not have ego at all as he has totally merged into the Lord even as rivers merge into the ocean getting rid of their particular names (which signifies ego here).

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Gajendra continued:

That Lord of the nature of Consciousness from whom the world has come, in whom the world resides & unto whom the world merges, I offer my prostrations and contemplate on that Lord. He who alone is the world and he who is beyond everything, I contemplate on that Lord. That Lord alone is the person who has created the world through his own Maya (power) and superimposing the world on himself. When the world is destroyed by Yama, there remains only darkness. The Lord is the one who is the witness to the darkness. It is not possible to realize the Lord by standing out of the Lord even by Gods and rishis. He can be known only as the witness and by the seeker who knows himself as the mere witness to all illusory activities. The Lord is one who loves all beings and treats them in the same way. That Lord alone is my sole resort for coming out of this ocean of samsaara.

Explanation

Gajendra’s praise of the Lord is so beautiful and full of concepts. A person who understands the qualities of the Lord who is being praised by Gajendra will very easily realize his own very nature of the Lord.

Who is the Lord? The Lord is the substratum of the changing, temporary and hence illusory world. The Lord is the substratum because it is the Lord from whom the world has come, in whom the world resides and unto whom the world merges. Even as the mud is the substratum of the pot as the pot has come from mud, resides in the mud and merges into the mud – similarly the world is but an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord.

Since the world is nothing but an illusion in the reality of Lord, therefore the world is nothing but the Lord alone. This is explained through the various scriptural statements of sarvam brahma mayam (everything is filled with Brahman), sarvam khalu idam brahma (everything is but Brahman alone) etc. This means there is nothing called the world but whatever exists is only the ultimate reality of Lord. The Lord as the substratum of the illusion of world is beyond everything that we can imagine about. Any imagination is but a thought in the mind. The Lord is the light which illumines even the mind – hence he is beyond the mind. As the Lord is beyond the mind, therefore he is beyond the thoughts of the mind. Thus the Lord is beyond everything. The entire experience spectrum is based on three limitations of time, space and causation. As we saw earlier, the Lord is not limited by any of these & hence the Lord is beyond all the three. Since the Lord is beyond all the three limitations, therefore he is beyond everything.

If everything is the Lord and the world is an illusion in the Lord, what is the cause of the illusory world & who created it?
The world is created by the Lord through his power of Maya. Maya is that power of the Lord which is responsible for the various names and forms. Maya is not a real power of the Lord but only an illusory power of the Lord. Maya is that illusory power which creates things that cannot be proved through logic. Maya can be considered as equivalent to the magic of a magician. As the magician seemingly creates things that defy logic, similarly the Lord through his illusory power of Maya seemingly creates things that defy logic. We cannot find any logic or proof for anything in the world because they are temporary and will vanish one day or the other. That which is subject to birth and death cannot withstand logic as it is not eternal. Maya is not a real power of the Lord because the Lord cannot have any such power as the Lord is one without a second. Thus the Lord creates the world out of his own Maya – hence Vedanta says that the world is controlled by the Lord as the creator.

The Lord creates the world which is illusory but we experience the world as existing. Any illusion cannot exist of its own but depends on the existence of its substratum. Similarly the world is dependent on the existence of the substratum of the Lord. As any illusion is but a superimposition on the substratum, the world is a superimposition on the ultimate reality of Lord. It is for this reason that Vedanta says that the world is but the Lord alone. The world filled with names and forms is an illusion whereas the world considered as its substratum is but the Lord alone of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.

When the world is destroyed, there is nothing but darkness alone or ajnaana alone. This is the same state that we experience during deep sleep where temporarily everything vanishes. There is nothing in deep sleep but ignorance and bliss. But this ignorance is experienced by a witness as the statement after waking up that “I was ignorant”. This experience is possible only if it was witnessed by the Consciousness or the Self. If we extend this to the case of the world, then the world after destruction leaves only darkness. This darkness is witnessed by the ultimate reality of Lord. Since the Lord is the witness to the darkness and everything, therefore it is not possible to realize the Lord staying apart from the witness. The witness in each one of us is the Consciousness which is none other than the Lord. Keeping aside this witness, it is not possible to realize the Lord as the witness alone is the Lord. Thus Bhagavatham through this points to us that realization of the Lord is realization of the witness of Consciousness. Once realization dawns, then everything is viewed as if it is a play or drama. Thus there would be no attachment to activities nor to the fruit of all activities. Thus there will be only eternal bliss which is the nature of witness as experienced in deep sleep.

As the Lord mentions in Gita, he doesn’t hate anybody. He cannot hate anybody because everyone is his own very nature. Hating others would be hating himself which is not possible. Thus those systems which mention that the Lord hates people who don’t worship him are all wrong and going against the Lord’s own statements in Gita. Thus we have to constantly remember that the Lord treats everyone in the same way as the mere witness to all activities.

Since the Lord is the controller of the world & the witness, he alone can save us from this ocean of samsaara. He who is not in samsaara can alone save a person in samsaara. WE all are the Ego which is immersed in the ocean of samsaara. In order to come out of this ocean of samsaara, we will have to take resort to the witness of the Lord (he who is out of the ocean of samsaara). Seeking the Lord alone can help a person from being endlessly immersed in the ocean of samsaara.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Gajendra continued:

There is no birth, action, names-forms and good-bad for the akhandaananda Lord but still for the creation-protection-destruction of the world, he accepts these through his illusory power of Maya. I offer my prostrations to that Lord. Brahman or the Lord is all-powerful; it is with form and yet formless; he shines by himself and is the witness to all activities; to such a Lord I offer my prostrations. I offer my prostrations to such a Lord who is beyond words and thoughts. But still jnaanis realize him through sanyaasa which is naishkarmya by the subtle mind. He who is absolute gives bliss as a blessing to everyone. I offer my prostrations to such a person who is the ultimate cause of the illusory world. Everything that is seen in the world is your form alone; therefore I prostrate each of those.

Explanation

Gajendra here beautifully explains about the ultimate reality of Lord. The Lord by nature is without any birth and death as he is eternal cause of the illusory world. Since he is without birth and death, therefore he is perfect. As he is perfect, he cannot perform any actions. Actions can be performed only when there is imperfection and perfection is sought. Names and forms are illusions in a reality even as name of gold chain and form of gold chain is only an illusion in the reality of gold. Since the Lord is the reality beyond all illusions, he doesn’t have any names and forms or he is not subject to names and forms. Good and bad is there only for that which has name and form or which is subject to changes. Since the Lord is changeless and without names-forms, he is beyond good and bad.

The lord of such a nature cannot create the illusory world unless he accepts all these qualities. Creation of the world is not possible from the non-dual Lord until he accepts change which is against his very nature. Thus he assumes all these qualities through his illusory power of Maya. Thus the Lord when seen as the cause of the world at the empirical level assumes all these qualities. These qualities are not his very nature but superimposed on him through the illusory power of Maya. Maya itself is something which is not real but only seems to be present. It is when we realize the nature of the Lord beyond all these qualities that we go beyond all these qualities. As long as we consider ourselves as part of the world and with a body-mind complex, we will be subject to birth-death. But once we realize our nature of the ultimate reality of Lord, we will realize that we never take birth or die but are ever present reality of Consciousness. Thus these qualities which are superimposed on the Lord are mere illusory creations of Maya which delude a seeker. Once the seeker seeks the Lord who is beyond the power of Maya, he overcomes Maya by the grace of the Lord. Such a seeker thus goes beyond all these illusory qualities to realize his own very nature of eternal Self.

The Lord is by nature formless as form causes limitation and is subject to change. The form of gold chain is subject to change (finally dying when it merges into the reality of gold) and limits the gold to the particular form. But the ultimate reality of Lord is changeless as he is eternal. The Lord is perfect and hence without any limitation as limitations cause imperfection. Thus the Lord is by nature formless. Even though the Lord is formless but still he takes forms through his illusory power of Maya. Thus whatever that we see is by nature the Lord alone as the substratum of all illusory forms. Hence the Lord is with form as well.

The Lord is mentioned in the scriptures as svaprakaasha or one who shines by himself. The Lord doesn’t require any other light to illumine himself because he is of the nature of ever-present Consciousness. The Lord in turn is the light which illumines everything else in the world. All the things that we see in the world are illumined by the light of the Lord alone.

The Lord is beyond words and thoughts because he is the subject of words-thoughts. The Lord is the illuminator of words and thoughts. Hence he cannot be known through words and thoughts. But still scriptures proclaim that the Lord can be known through the mind. The Lord is known only through that mind which is subtle and gained conviction about the reality. Such a subtle and sharp mind pierces through all objects and merges into the subject of Self or Consciousness. Thus even though the Lord is beyond words-thoughts but still he is known through a pure and subtle mind.

How is the Lord known through a subtle mind?
A subtle mind is one which is devoid of any attachments to things in the world. Attachments to things in the world vanish when a seeker does nishkaama karma (activities done without any desire for fruit). Nishkaama karma leads to naishkarmya or the state of activityless-ness. This is the state in which the seeker renounces the doer of ego. Sanyaas is renouncing of the doer which in turn is renunciation of everything. This renunciation leads the seeker to become a mere witness to all activities. This witness-hood is the very nature of the Self or the Lord. Thus the seeker realizes his very nature of Self through knowledge that I am a mere witness to all illusory activities.

Through this bhagavatham is indirectly telling us that real sanyaasa is naishkarmya which is achieved through nishkaama karma. Thus a seeker has to perform activities without any desire for fruit at all times. We will continue with Gajendra’s prostration to the Lord in the next day.

Shuka continued:

Gajendra who was caught in the grip of the crocodile started meditating. All of a sudden, knowledge dawned in the mind of Gajendra & he started thinking thus “the various male elephants could not save me from the crocodile then what to speak about the other elephants. This crocodile is the form of death (and time) which caught me through the will of the Lord. There is only one way out of this. The way is to surrender completely unto the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of eternal truth or existence”.

Explanation

As we learnt in the previous days that ignorant people consider themselves as in total happiness and peace until sorrows and sufferings come in the form of death and time. There is one thing which everybody except for realized saints fear which is death. Fear of death is inherent in beings irrespective of whether it is an animal or a human, a rich person or a weak person, a learned person or an ignorant person. It is keeping this in mind that Patanjali mentions fear as one of the five klesha or sufferings that obstruct a person to the state of Samadhi – he as well defines fear of death as something which is inherent in people both ignorant and the learned as well. Thus even if it is George Bush or Bill Gates or Osama Bin Laden, there is constant fear of death. This fear of death is in the form of cessation of one’s own existence. As long as the punya (good fruits) that one has accumulated in many births is there, he will be enjoying sensual pleasures in the world. He will be totally immersed in the temporary sensual pleasures thinking it to be permanent even as the fish caught in the net of a fisherman considers itself to be safe due to the dirt in the net. Ignorant people consider themselves in freedom or liberation until all the good fruits vanish. Punya accumulated will be exhausted one day or the other. It is just like a bank balance which when used will get negated or reduced. It is but foolish of a person to think that the sensual pleasure achieved from the worldly objects will give him eternal bliss. Eternal bliss can be achieved only through realization of the ultimate reality of Lord who alone is eternal – everything apart from the Lord is temporary as it is changing each moment. Any changing entity cannot give eternal bliss as the entity itself will cease to exist after a particular time. That which is not at all there cannot give happiness. Thus the temporary objects of the world cannot give eternal bliss. Eternal bliss can be achieved only from the ultimate reality of Lord who alone is real.

Until a person faces trouble in the world, the ultimate reality of Lord will be forgotten amidst the temporary but attractive pleasures of the world. This is what we saw in the case of Gajendra. But Gajendra had contemplated on the reality of Lord in his previous birth & hence all of a sudden, knowledge dawned unto him. It is for this reason that troubles are given for people in the world because those troubles will make them get back to the ultimate reality of Lord. It is for this reason that Kunti Devi asked the Lord to give her sorrow at all times. It is only at times of stress and tension that we take refuge in the Lord. We will try our level best to solve things because of the ego feeling that “I can solve this” – and once we understand that we cannot solve it, we take resort to the ultimate reality of Lord. But the wise takes resort to the Lord at all times knowing that the Lord alone can take care of the people at all times without any fail.

Even though we may consider ourselves as intelligent, rich etc. but still there is one person who cannot be cheated – he is Kaala or the Lord of Death, Yama. Nobody can cheat Yama because a person who is born in this world will become a victim of Yama at one point of time or the other. Some might be alive for 100 years or others might be alive for 1000 years but still death is inevitable for any person whether it is Lord Brahma or a beggar on Earth. If this is the case, how do we find various people like Hanuman, Vyaasa etc. as chiranjeevi (ever living)? These are people who have conquered death through realization of their very nature of Lord. Until we are associated with the body, we will be identifying death of the body with our death. But once we realize our very nature of the Self distinct from the body-mind complex, we will overcome death as death is for the body alone and not for the Self.

Thus through these various chiranjeevis, the Vedantic seers are telling us that the way to overcome death is by realizing the ultimate reality of Lord. The ultimate reality of Lord is one’s own very nature but still a person is ignorant of his nature of Lord. This ignorance can be removed only through constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus the way to realize the ultimate reality of Lord thereby overcoming death is through constant contemplation of the Lord.

Contemplation of the Lord in a particular form and having grudge towards other forms will not lead to realization – that will only lead to more and more bondages like the Vaishnavas and Saivas fighting amongst each other. Vedantic Contemplation is constant remembrance of the Lord as pervading all forms, as formless yet present in all forms as the substratum of all forms – present everywhere in the world as the substratum of the illusory world. Thus constant remembrance is achieved through seeing the world as nothing but the Lord alone. If a person is unable to apprehend the formless Lord present throughout the world, he can contemplate on a particular form as pervading everything in the world – seeing the form in everything (whatever is being seen should be seen as that form). Thus this form worship will also lead to one-pointed concentration wherein the seeker will find that the form alone is present everywhere & hence is nothing but formless reality of Lord.

As Gajendra mentions here, there is no way to overcome death than realization of the ultimate reality of Lord through constant remembrance and complete surrender to the Lord. Surrender is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord at all times & offering all activities as oblations to the Lord. We will continue with the knowledge that Gajendra contemplates on and how he is saved by the Lord in the coming days.

Gajendra continued praising the Lord in the mind thus:

That Ishwara who saves us from the fast-coming snake of time and seeing whom even Mrityu runs, we take refuge in such an Ishwara.

Explanation

We will discuss the nature of Ishwara as prostrated by Gajendra and the various scriptures. Even though we are discussing just a single statement, this very statement alone is enough to analyze and thereby overcome the illusion of samsaara.

That Ishwara or Lord who is beyond death alone can save us from death. Such an Ishwara since he is beyond death has to be beyond time as well. This is because time is the death which is killing each one of us every moment. A person who overcomes time overcomes death as well. Thus the Lord as prostrated by Gajendra is beyond time and thereby death. Thus the Lord is beyond all limitations of time, space and causation. He is beyond space because only that which is limited by time is limited by space. He is beyond causation because he is not subject to birth & death. Causation is being subject to birth in the form of an effect & death in the form of merging back into the cause. Ishwara is beyond causation as he is beyond death. Thus Ishwara is eternal. Such an Ishwara is termed in Vedanta as Brahman or the ultimate reality. If we analyze the nature of such an Ishwara, Ishwara has to be existent beyond time – thus his nature is that of Existence or Sat. Sat or Existence is that which never ceases to exist but is beyond time & present at all times. Ishwara has to be conscious about his own existence, else he will become insentient like a rock. Such an Ishwara would cease to be existent because he cannot experience his own existence. Thus Ishwara is of the nature of Consciousness – Consciousness is the one and only entity which can experience its own existence as well as illumine other existences. It is keeping this Consciousness nature of the Lord that scriptures speak that “there in the Lord, neither the Sun shines nor the moon nor any stars – it is due to his light that everything else shines”. Lord is thus of the nature of Existence and Consciousness. That which is ever existent has to be full or poorna because it is devoid of any limitations. That which is full is perfect in all aspects as imperfection is being subject to limitations. As Chandogya Upanishad proclaims, that which is full and perfect alone can be blissful – such a full entity is termed as bhooma. Thus the Lord as he is perfect is blissful or ananda in svaroopa. Thus we have the nature of the Lord as “Existence, Consciousness, Bliss and absolute or infinite or unlimited” (Sat, chit, ananda, anantha).

The Lord who is Consciousness in nature is the one and only entity existing as all other existences is dependent on the Lord for their existence. Any dependent entity is relative and relativity is just an illusion in the absolute. Even as a variable is only an illusion in the constant (each moment a variable is nothing but a constant alone), similarly the world of plurality in the form of names & forms is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus the Lord is absolute and only real existence. Since the Lord alone exists, we all have to be none other than the Lord as the Lord is one without a second (nothing apart from the Lord really exists). It is only ignorance about one’s own nature of Lord which causes us to think and see ourselves as separate from the Lord. Realization of the Lord as the substratum of the illusory names and forms is what Vedanta terms as liberation in the form of removal of ignorance. Ignorance can be removed only through knowledge that the Lord alone exists & constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord as pervading everything in and out.

Since the Lord is eternal and ever present, even death fears the Lord. Death fears the Lord because the Lord is beyond death. An officer doesn’t fear anybody except his boss – even if it is a DGP who threatens and makes others fear, he fears his boss. Similarly Death or Yama doesn’t fear anybody in the world except the Lord because the Lord is beyond death and the substratum even to the illusory name and form of Yama. Death is nothing but a seemingly disappearance of the non-existing body. What we know as death is not real death because we only see the body disappearing. We never know that the body alone vanishes but the Self continues its journey towards perfection by going to other worlds and coming back to Earth again. Thus death is nothing but a fear of losing one’s own existence in a particular world or place. We all can suffer anything but cannot suffer losing of our own existence. We cannot say that even as in the films, a lover will lose his own existence for the sake of his love, but how can a person lose his own existence for others???? Is it possible that losing of one’s existence is possible at any point of time? Even if it was possible, would anyone lose his own existence for others? It is not at all possible because such kind of love is also based on selfishness alone. A lover wants to see his love happy – why does he want this? Because if his love is happy, the lover also will be happy. Thus the lover doesn’t do things for the sake of his love but for the sake of his own happiness. It is keeping this in mind that Yajnavalkya said to Maitreyi that “the husband is loved not for the sake of the husband but for the sake of the Self”.

Yama or Death is what we fear at all times because nobody wants to lose his existence. This death or fear can be overcome only by realization of the ultimate reality Lord – he who is beyond death. Thus through Gajendra’s prostration, Bhagavatham is pointing out to each one of us that seeking the ultimate reality of Lord alone is the means to overcome death – that which when overcome alone would give us bliss, that bliss which we all are seeking each and every moment in the illusory world & its objects.

Thus if a seeker wants to get eternal bliss, then he has to totally surrender unto the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord as pervading the illusory world. Whatever is being seen has to be seen as the form of the Lord, whatever is heard has to be heard as the names of the Lord, whatever is being eaten has to be eaten as the prasada of the Lord and whatever is being done has to be an offering to the Lord. It is this what Vedanta calls as jnaana and bhakthi shastras speak as para bhakthi or pure devotion.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

One day Gajendra along with the troop of elephants was rampaging the huts in the trikootaparvatha. Sensing that gajendra was in that place, the various animals including lion ran away from the place. Gajendra along with the troop came near to a lake. Seeing water, the entire troop entered into the lake & started playing in the water. The elephants started playing sensually drinking water and throwing water over their counter-parts like a father fondling his family of wife & children. As a grihastha who is immersed in the ocean of samsaara (under the influence of Maya) gets deluded into worldly things, similarly the elephants also were deluded into sensual pleasures in the lake. As a person doesn’t know the big danger that is going to befall him while he is indulging in sensual pleasures, similarly Gajendra and the elephants did not know or realize the danger that was to happen to them.

Explanation

We learnt in the last day about how Indradhyumna by the curse of agastya was born as an ignorant elephant. This rebirth or curse is a kind of symbolic way of telling the truth behind birth and death in the world (or the worlds). Katha Upanishad beautifully propounds this thus:

Paraanchi khaanih vyatrinat svayambhoo
Tasmaat paraan pashyan na antharatman
Kaschit dheerah pratyagaatmaanam aikshat
Aavritta chakshuh amritatvam icchan

The sense organs which were going outside (seeking sensual pleasure in the sense objects) were cursed by svayamboo (one who is born by himself – or one who is not at all born). Therefore they see only the sense objects and don’t see the inner Self or the svayambhoo. Some wise person seeking the inner Self attains immortality by making the sense organs introverted.

The sense organs can be extended to point out the individualistic Self or jeeva (in vedantic terms). Jeeva or reflection of consciousness in the intellect is but an association and identification with the sense organs and the inner equipments (antah karanas). The sense organs are always extroverted and never introverted. The organs are extroverted because of the curse of the Lord. Why did the Lord curse the sense organs? The sense organs came from the Lord but forgot their own source of Lord (this forgetfulness is termed in Vedanta as ignorance-desire-action). Thus the Lord became angry and cursed the sense organs. What was the curse of the Lord? The curse was that you will not be able to realize me instead will be going outwards to sensual pleasures. It is because of this curse that the sense organs by nature are extroverted and constantly seeking pleasures from the sense objects.

If sense organs are always extroverted, is there no way of overcoming or coming out of the sin? There is a way out of this sin. The way out is through control of the sense organs. Control of sense organs through not letting them seek sensual pleasure & instead making them seek the eternal reality of Lord is possible only when there is strong desire to know the eternal reality. As long as the mind doesn’t apprehend the temporary nature of the entities of the world and the eternal nature of the Lord beyond the objects, there will be no desire to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as there is no desire to realize the Lord, there will be no actions done to realize the Lord. Such a person will always be indulging in worldly pleasures. But a person who seeks the Lord through control of sense organs achieves immortality through realization of the eternal Lord. This is what is termed in Vedanta as moksha or liberation.

Birth or janma is nothing but indulging in worldly pleasures. As long as there are desires for worldly pleasures, there would need a body to enjoy those pleasures. As long as there are actions and desires, bodies will be taken again and again. Even at the age of 100 or when a person is at the doorstep of death, there will be many desires in the mind. This particular body cannot be used to fulfill those desires because the body has been weak and mutilated & the time to leave this has come. Thus in order to fulfill the desires, there has to be another body to be taken. Thus the jeeva considering himself as limited by the body-mind complex and ever in ignorance takes bodies and bodies even as a person changes his dress frequently. There can be no overcoming of birth & death until desires are all satisfied. Desires are fully satisfied only by desiring the eternal reality of Lord – that by attaining which there remains nothing else to be attained. Thus the curse of the Lord becomes valid through the individual taking births and births getting deluded in the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. It is only when the person seeks liberation from this ocean of samsaara that he seeks the ultimate reality of Lord. Seeking of the Lord is through constant contemplation of the Lord in all places and at all times. Whatever is being seen is the Lord alone, whatever has been thought is the Lord alone, whatever is being done is only an illusory activity offered to the ultimate reality of Lord – thus is the seeking of the Lord propounded in the scriptures.

We find gajendra getting cursed by agastya which means that gajendra was deluded in the ocean of samsaara. Thus he took a birth in the form of an elephant fully ignorant about the ultimate reality of Lord. We all are almost in this state only. Sankara mentions in Vivekachoodamani that intellectual thinking and the capability to control desires-passions is what differentiates man from animals. Animals have nothing to do but eat, drink, sleep & mate. We all are animals until we utilize the discriminating intellect by the Lord to identify the eternal nature of the Lord & temporary nature of the world. So long as this intellectual discrimination termed in Vedanta as viveka (nitya anitya vasthu viveka – discrimination between real and unreal) is not there, the individual will be deluded in the ocean of samsaara. This is the state in which we see gajendra and his troop playing in the lake.

What is the problem of getting deluded in the ocean of samsaara? I am happy and hence no spiritual path is required.
These are words of ignorant people alone. He is to be considered an idiot who considers himself happy with the temporary pleasures of the world. Samsaara doesn’t signify happiness but it signifies sorrows & sufferings alone. A person might seem to be happy because of prior good actions but that happiness is short-lived. Real happiness is that where nothing is sought & there is total contentment-peace-satisfaction. This is possible only through realization of the ultimate reality of Lord – there is no other means to this. We will go on to see in the next day as to what is the problem of sensual pleasures in the world – that they will lead finally to sorrows alone as what we see even in the case of gajendra. We will see this the next day.

Shuka continued:

O Parikshit, what to tell except appreciate the strength of vidhi (fate). A crocodile which was angry with the elephants caught hold of the leg of Gajendra. This crocodile was the gandharva named hoohoo who became a crocodile because of the curse of devala. Gajendra who was caught by the crocodile tried his level best to come out of the grips of the crocodile. All the other elephants starting crying & other forest-elephants also came there to help Gajendra. They all tried their level best to bring Gajendra out of the clutches of the crocodile but were unsuccessful. Time passed by as the elephants tried to pull Gajendra out whereas the crocodile was still pulling Gajendra. With this, Gajendra was totally exhausted & all his strength was lost.

Explanation

As explained in the previous mail, sensual pleasures are seeds of sorrow & they can lead a person to sorrow and sorrow only. Sensual pleasures are such that they may seem attractive and giving happiness in the short run but in the long run, they can give sorrow alone. The Lord explains this beautifully in Gita thus:

Ye hi samsparshajaa bhogaah dukhayonaya eva the
Adhyanthavantha kaunteya na teshu ramathe budhah

The pleasures which are attained through the contact of the sense organs with the sense objects (sensual pleasures) are seeds of sorrow – because they have a beginning and an end – thus the wise never take resort to them.

Sensual pleasures are seeds of sorrow, because they have a beginning and an end. Anything that is not permanent cannot give long-lasting bliss. Bliss is possible only in eternal entity which stays beyond time. Sensual pleasure is achieved from sense objects. The sense objects as we see are constantly changing. The sense objects have a beginning as they took form sometime or the other. The sense objects also have an end because some day they will perish. Since the sense objects are temporary, they will vanish one day. If a person seeks the pleasure from a sense object, then he will be attached to the sense object. This attachment will cause trouble when the sense object perishes. A son is always attached to his father. This attachment leads to sorrow when the father dies. This is not just the case with people but the case with any sense object whether it is insentient or sentient. Thus since the sense objects will perish one day, they will lead a person to sorrow alone. They might seem attractive but are seeds of sorrow. As the sense objects are seeds of sorrow, wise person doesn’t take resort to sensual pleasures. The wise person instead seeks the eternal entity of Lord so that he gets eternal bliss – that ever-lasting happiness which is sought by each and every person in the world.

We see in this story as to what would happen when a person takes resort to sensual pleasures considering them as real & forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord. Gajendra was totally immersed in sensual pleasures & hence was caught by the crocodile. As explained earlier, Gajendra was immersed in the ocean of samsara characterized by avidya or maya. This maya of the Lord leads a person to get caught by the crocodile. What is the crocodile? Vedanta speaks about the six emotions of the mind which are desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride and jealousy as crocodiles. Once a person is caught by the emotions of the mind, that itself leads the person to sorrow. If we analyze all of these six emotions, they all lead to sorrow alone as there is always seeking happiness in the temporary in these emotions. Not only do these emotions lead a person to sorrow but they also affect the balance of the mind thereby making the seeker ineligible to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord or to concentrate in worldly activities.

Thus Gajendra who symbolizes the Jeeva was playing with his kith and kin (symbolizing the various sense objects). This Gajendra was caught in the net of Maya. This Maya made Gajendra fall into the trap of the crocodile signifying the six emotions of the mind. The jeeva when forgets his own very nature of Lord & gets into attachment with sensual pleasures develops the six emotions of the mind. When there is attachment to any object, this attachment when becomes strong leads to desire towards the object. This desire leads to anger when the object is lost or gets out of control. Thus all the six emotions of the mind are with respect to sense objects & the pleasure derived from them.

What if a person is under the clutches of the crocodile?
We see in this story that Gajendra was caught between his friends and the crocodile. The jeeva gets caught between his people-things & the emotions of the mind. Gajendra when was caught by the crocodile lost all his strength and became weak. Similarly when the jeeva gets lost in the six emotions of the mind loses his strength and becomes weak. We experience this loss of strength/power in our daily lives. Whenever we have strong desire or attachment, it requires more mental and physical activities from us thus making us weak. When we get angry, it takes off a significant amount of energy from us making us weak and unable to do anything for some period of time (just after the anger).

Thus a person who is under the clutches of the crocodile loses his strength. Losing of strength can be overcome by scientific means (medical means) & hence it is not a big deal – if somebody says so, this is wrong. Medical means are not only ineffective (to a large extent) but they make the body susceptible to future problems. It is well known that medical drugs have side effects and they destroy the defensive power of the person towards diseases. Thus it is not right to say that losing of strength can be overcome by medical aids. Losing of strength makes a person weak and more susceptible to the six emotions of the mind. When we get angry for a single reason, it extends to many more reasons & to all people around us. As long as there is no strength in the person, there cannot be contemplation of the Lord which requires concentration and strength of mind.

So long as we don’t preserve strength (both physical and mental), we will not be able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus it is essential for a seeker to preserve strength through not indulging too much into sensual pleasures.

There can be a doubt now as to the activities of a jeevan muktha or an advanced seeker as they are also seen as being subject to sensual enjoyment. We will see this doubt & answering of the same in the next day. There is also mention of fate in this part of the story. We will try to spend a day analyzing on fate as it is one of the most important & confusing topics in life.

Remembering the ultimate reality of Lord behind all illusory objects of the world and of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute, let us now enter into the next story in Srimad Bhagavatham. The next story we are going to learn is the story of gajendra. This story is quite popular and most of us would know the story already. There are rarely few children who haven’t heard this story as this was one of the most popular story for grandparents to narrate to the children. This story even though is a short one and known one is yet filled with profound truth about ultimate devotion of the Lord. We find in many stories of Srimad Bhagavatham as to how the Lord comes to the aid of his devotees. In the case of people seeking knowledge, the Lord appears as the Guru to impart the knowledge of Brahman through upanishadic exposition. Thus we have Lord Dakshinamurthy coming to impart knowledge to the ever-young sons of Brahma known as the Sanaka sages (Sanaka, sanandana, sanaatana and sanatkumara). The ways in which the Lord serves his devotees is very strange indeed. In the case of Vyaasa and Sankara, it was through exposition of the Brahma Sutras and various commentaries on the scriptures whereas it was through silence that the Lord taught the Sanaka sages.

If the Sanaka sages who sought knowledge of the eternal entity, we find Prahlaada seeking devotion which was granted by the Lord through none other than Narada. It was through exposition about the truth of karma that the Lord helped his devotee-friend of Arjuna. Thus we find that the Lord helps his devotees in whatever way they seek the Lord.

The Lord propounds thus in Gita
Ye yathaa maam prapadhyanthe taamsthathaiva bhajaami aham
Mama varthma anuvarthanthe manushyaah paartha sarvashah

Whoever worships me in whatever form, I appear to them in that form. All beings follow the rules set by me alone, O Arjuna!

Thus whoever seeks the Lord in whatever form, the Lord appears in that form. It is for this reason that those who have worshipped the Lord in the form of Vishnu have seen Vishnu and whoever has worshipped the Lord in the form of Siva has seen Siva. But those who know the ultimate reality of Lord as beyond all forms & pervading all illusory names-forms will seek the Lord as the one and only real entity. Such people realize their own very nature of Lord knowing which there nothing else to be known remains. In the case of bhakthas contemplating on the form of the Lord, they will see the Lord in that form attaining salokya mukthi (attaining the world of that particular form of the Lord – if Vishnu, then they go to Vaikunta & if Siva, they go to Kailas). It is but true that all forms end in the formless entity of Consciousness. The Lord himself mentions this in many places of Gita.

But those who worship the Lord as a particular form will also be progressively taken to the reality of formless Lord by the Lord himself. Thus a seeker need not worry about whether he is contemplating on the form God or the formless God – what is essential as we saw in the story of Prahlaada is constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord through ananya bhajanam. Whatever be the form that we are contemplating on, we should see the form as pervading everything. If we are contemplating the Lord as the form of Siva, we should see Siva as pervading the Lord. Whatever we see should be considered as the form of Siva. When a devotee sees everything as the Lord, he enters into the realm of pure devotion where the devotee doesn’t see anything apart from the Lord. The devotee has nothing to see or hear or think apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. This is similar to the state of a lover wherein the lover thinks about his/her love alone – nothing else. It is this pure devotion which alone can make the lord reveal himself to us. The Lord who is in the heart of all beings is veiled by the various mental obstacles such as desire, hatred, jealousy etc. Once we purify our hearts through constant contemplation of the Lord present in all beings, the Lord reveals his very nature of the non-dual reality of Consciousness & bliss. Once the devotee merges into the ultimate reality of Lord, there remains nothing else to be known. This is the state wherein the differentiation between the subject and object vanishes. When there is thus no duality, what is there is poornatva or fullness which is nothing but eternal bliss.

It is this bliss that we all are seeking each and every moment. That the Lord reveals himself as bliss absolute for his devotees who have pure devotion is depicted through this story of gajendra. This story is one wherein devotion of the Lord is put forth clearly & Vyaasa again emphasizes that the Lord takes care of his devotee’s welfare.

Parikshit expressed the desire to know the story where the Lord came from Vaikunta to save Gajendra who was in the clutches of a crocodile. Shuka thus started explaining the story in detail.

In dravidadesham (south india), there was a king named Indradhyumna who was a great Vishnu bhaktha. Once he was doing pooja of the ultimate reality of Lord through mounam in his ashram in Malaya parvatha. Suddenly the great sage Agastya arrived there with his disciples. Seeing the king observing mouna and thereby not doing proper service, the sage became very angry. The sage concluded that the king doesn’t know the reality and thereby is a bad person. Therefore the sage cursed the king thus “Since you discarded a brahmana, therefore let you be born as an elephant and thereby be in utter ignorance”. The curse became true. Indradhyumna was born as Gajendra and started his life by becoming the king of elephant troops.

Explanation

We find in Parikshit a devotee who is filled with utmost devotion to the Lord thereby wanting to know more and more about the Lord & his glories. Thus we find Parikshit expressing his desire to know in detail the story of Gajendra. As is the case with most of us, Parikshit had also heard the story of Gajendra (might be in his childhood days) and hence wanted to know it in depth. As the same statement made by different people has different impact, similarly story explained by none other than the atyaashrami (who is beyond all ashramas or any conditionings) Shuka has a different impact.

We all know the reality that “truth has to be spoken always, everyone has to be loved” etc. But when we mention it to our friends & when saints like AMMA mention it, there is a lot of difference. In our case, we speak from the intellect or the memory whereas for saints like AMMA it is a matter of experience & their words are from their experience.

Most of the people in the word “preach” whereas saints “speak through actions”. Vedantic preaching is quite easy because any person who has read the Gita or any of the upanishadic literature will easily be able to remember them & preach whether it is required or not. Thus we find many intellectuals preaching about the unpreachable through words & trying to attract followers. These are the many people whose goal is either name or fame or followers or arguments. It is keeping such people in mind that the Upanishads proclaim that there are many people who will be in utter ignorance still considering themselves as learned – they are people who will ever be entwined in the web of ignorance. Sankara himself mentions about such people in the Maya Panchakam that such people will be preaching hundreds of scriptures but still when it comes to their children or family, they will become totally ignorant.

It is very easy to find out through intuition and observation as to who is merely preaching and who is speaking out of experience. As the words of a graduate on the subject of mathematics and the words of mathematics professor have quite a different impact, similar is the case with a realized saint & a non-realized being. Shuka as we have already seen in the beginning of Bhagavatham itself was fully established in the ultimate reality of Lord. He was realized and in such a state that he went around as a digambara (whose dress is the various directions or who is not wearing any dress) and a madman. Thus Parikshit even though had heard the story wanted to hear it from the mouth of Shuka itself.

Other than the impact of words from a realized saint, there will always be emphasis on the ultimate reality of Lord in the words of a realized saint. Thus there is no chance of being distracted from the reality & being taken in the wrong direction. Thus this part of Bhagavatham emphasizes the truth being heard from realized saints which is very essential for a seeker. It is essential that a seeker seeks a Guru and hears from realized saint. Learning from the Guru doesn’t require much effort from the seeker as the words of the Guru automatically pierces into the heart of the seeker.

Thus Bhagavatham here emphasizes the importance of learning and listening to the words of realized saints. As the Upanishads proclaim, a saint is one who is established in the reality of Lord & whose words are in sync with the scriptures. For people who don’t know the scriptures, it is enough to know that the scriptures main import is the ultimate reality of Lord & thus any person who speaks about the ultimate reality of Lord from his experience is a saint. We find many such realized saints like AMMA, Sai Baba, Swami Tejomayananda (head of Chinmaya mission), Sri Sri Ravishankar etc. amidst ourselves. Thus we should not waste our lives by not imbibing the teachings of these saints and the presence of these saints.

Hearing the praise from Prahlaada, the Lord became calm & his anger ended. The Lord requested Prahlaada to ask for any boon that he wanted. The devotee-child replied that he doesn’t anything apart from Ekantha Bhakthi (one-pointed devotion). Then he spoke thus to the Lord:
“O Lord! Worldly desires shouldn’t touch me. It is fear of the worldly desires that made me seek you as the ultimate reality. He who seeks worldly pleasures is not a devotee. If you wish to grant me any boon, grant me the boon that worldly pleasures and desires don’t affect me. I also request you that my father attains the ultimate reality through poorna shuddhi (completely purity).

Hearing the words of bhaktha-prahlaada, the Lord with the permission of Brahma and other gods as well as the asura guru Shukracharya crowned prahlaada as a chakravarthi. The Lord knew that no chakravarthi position can harm the boy in any way (as those things will not touch the boy at all). The Lord vanished after abhisheka of prahlaada and all the devas also left the place.

Explanation

We thus come to the end of this beautiful story of bhaktha-prahlaada. In the last part, we see the request of the real devotee of prahlaada towards the ultimate reality of Lord. Bhagavatham here makes a strong statement that he who seeks worldly pleasures in not a devotee. A devotee is one who is filled with supreme devotion to the ultimate reality of Lord. Such a devotee will not want anything apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. Whatever he requires is the Lord alone. Any person who doesn’t seek the ultimate reality of Lord is not a devotee instead is just a worldly person in guise of a devotee. It may be possible to fool people in the world but the ultimate reality of Lord who knows anything & everything cannot be fooled. The Lord pierces through each and every person’s mind. If there is any small desire left in the mind, then the Lord will not reveal himself to the devotee. It may happen that whoever is praying the Lord but for worldly pleasures will be attaining those worldly pleasures. Such a person who goes to the Lord and seeks mere temporary worldly pleasure is but a fool as he doesn’t see the eternal bliss which is the very nature of Lord. Instead of asking for eternal bliss, he seeks worldly temporary bliss.

We all shouldn’t be such people who seek petty worldly things from the Lord whether they be related to money, power, fame, occupation etc. We should seek the Lord alone – whatever else is required for us will be given by the Lord himself as the Lord knows what is required for the devotee.

Sankara bhagavatpada in his Sanatsujaatheeya bhashya mentions that a person whose sense organs are diverted towards worldly sense objects cannot contemplate on the Self or Atman & a person who is introverted by contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord cannot seek worldly pleasures. Spirituality is introverted nature of the mind wherein the mind is taken away from worldly pleasures & it seeks the substratum of worldly objects whereas materialistic approach is extroverted nature of the mind where the mind instead of seeking the inner Lord seeks the external worldly pleasures.

Thus Prahlaada asks the boon of not getting distracted by worldly desires and passions. It is but very easy to get distracted and attracted to the worldly pleasures as they seem to be appealing. Yama in Katha Upanishad speaks about two paths (almost similar to what Sankara propounded above) – one is the sreyo margam which will lead to sreyas or liberation – the other is preyo margam or that which is appealing. Those who take to the sreyo marga get liberated from the bondage of samsaara wherein those who follow the preyo marga they fall again and again into the ocean of samsaara. Thus the wise follow the sreyo marga whereas the ignorant follows the preyo marga. He who doesn’t get distracted by the worldly pleasures will follow the sreyo marga and thereby attain the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus we find Prahlaada here asking the Lord of the boon that he may not be distracted by the worldly desires and instead will always remember the ultimate reality of Lord. As we all know, pure love is that in which there is no expectation at all. We see such love being portrayed in films as well as in our lives itself but all those love are not pure instead are propelled by one or the other desire. Pure love is only that in which there is no distinction between the person who is loving and the thing that he loves. This total merging is possible only in the case of devotion or knowledge through the spiritual path. As long as we are in the world perceiving sense objects, there will be duality & hence there cannot be any cessation of the duality. But for the devotee, duality totally vanishes & there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus there is no duality and hence it is pure unlimited and unconditional love.

We find Bhagavatham here pointing out such pure love wherein the devotee requires nothing but contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord alone – nothing else.

For a devotee who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord, nothing else can affect him as he has realized the ultimate reality behind all illusions. Even as a person who has known that there is no water in desert is never deluded into running behind mirage, similarly a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord can never be deluded into worldly pleasures. Thus the Lord crowned Prahlaada and left him to rule the asura vamsa as Prahlaada had realized the ultimate reality of Lord knowing which there remains nothing else to be known & there remains nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord.

We will see the summary of the story the next day and then start with the next story in Srimad Bhagavatham.

Conclusion

We thus come to the conclusion of the story of bhaktha prahlaada. This story in important in many aspects but the two important things that we learn from this story is the nava vidha bhakthi and the dvadasha lakshana of the Self. Let us in short try to recap the same.

Nava vidha bhakthi
Bhagavatham speaks about nine modes in which pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord can be achieved. These are:
1. Sravana – listening to the glories of the Lord
2. Keerthanam – singing the glories of the Lord
3. Vishnoh smaranam – thinking or contemplating on the Lord
4. Paada sevanam – worship of the feet of the Lord and his devotees
5. Archanam – chanting of the names of the Lord like Vishnu Sahasranaama, Lalitha Sahasranaama etc.
6. Vandanam – prostrating the Lord as present in all the beings in the world
7. Daasyam – being a servant to the Lord through service of his devotees
8. Sakhyam – being a friend to the Lord through disclosing everything to the Lord even as a normal person would reveal all secrets to his friend
9. Atma nivedanam – offering oneself to the Lord thereby merging into the non-dual Lord.

These are the various modes through which devotion towards the Lord can be developed. Through any of these, we will end up with atma nivedanam wherein we will cease to exist & the Lord alone would exist, one without a second.

This description of Bhakthi by Bhagavatham is special in that we can’t find any scripture other than this which would give so clear a definition. It can be doubted that if the Lord is one alone & the path to realization is constant contemplation of the Lord alone, then why these nine modes? These modes are mentioned so that they suite people having similar nature. Each and every person in the world is different from one another. This difference in the character requires different modes through which the all-pervasive Lord can be continuously contemplated. For people who cannot apprehend doing service or paada puja of the Lord, the sakhya bhaava is mentioned. This bhaava is easy as the devotee considers the Lord as his close friend even as Arjuna considered Krishna as his friend & Sundarar (one of the 63 nayanmaars or saivite saints) consider Lord Siva as his friend. Through all these modes, the devotee is able to contemplate on the Lord which is what is to be achieved through these modes. It is only constant contemplation of the Lord as the ultimate reality behind the dual world that can lead a person out of this ocean of samsaara thereby liberating him from the bondages of samsaara.

The next important thing that we discussed in this story is the explanation of the atman through the dvadasha lakshana by Prahlada to his co-students. Atman or Self is nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. We have already discussed the twelve characteristics of the Atman in depth & hence we will not delve it here.

We find in this story two contrasting characters of Hiranyakashipu and Prahlada. Hiranyakashipu was a Vedantin as is seen in the Yoga Vasistha but still doing his duty which is going against the Lord & his devotees. On the other hand, his very son Prahlaada was a devotee of the Lord even from his birth. We saw that this was due to Narada teaching Prahlaada’s mother when she was pregnant – the knowledge being totally grasped by Prahlaada. This brings the importance of the various ritualistic activities associated in our lives wherein a garbhini stree (pregnant lady) is made to always hear about the glories of the Lord so that when the baby comes out itself, its mind is fixed on the ultimate reality of Lord. We all as followers of this spiritual should make it a point to not just hear stories but try to implement the import of the stories in our lives. Thus whoever is pregnant (the wife) as well as young children should be made to hear about the glories of the Lord (not forcing but young children would be interested in these if we let the interest develop in them) at least a few times in day or at least once a week.

It is but interesting and good that even in the US, temples are filled with people & children coming during the weekends for arathi and other things. All these are not to be disregarded as religious activities. All these activities develop the interest towards the ultimate reality of Lord knowing which alone we will get eternal bliss – that which we all are seeking in the external world.

Thus Hiranyakashipu was against Vishnu whereas his son Prahlaada was a Vishnu Bhaktha. We also find in this story that whenever a devotee requires something whether it is help or material, the Lord is there to protect and save him. Thus Hiranyakashipu tried to kill Prahlaada in all ways but couldn’t do that as the Lord was there to protect his devotee. The Lord is so compassionate that he doesn’t ignore the nirishwaravadis (people who don’t believe in God) but he makes sure that these people also are shown the ultimate reality. Thus Hiranyakashipu was shown the ultimate reality that the Lord is present everywhere through his own son. We have to remember that even though the Lord helps his devotees, he is not against people who don’t believe him. We shouldn’t consider the Lord as having a mind like ours --- going against people who don’t trust us etc. The Lord proclaims in gita that “everybody is same to me whether it is a bhaktha or a abhaktha – but a bhaktha is close to me because he is in me and I am in him”.

Even though the Lord considers everybody as the same, the grace of the Lord who is in the heart of all beings is felt when we open our heart to perceive the all-pervasive Lord as pervading the objects of the world. Those systems or theories which propagate that the Lord will punish those who don’t follow him are to be renounced as the Lord sees everybody as his child & hence there is no difference in the attitude of the Lord towards anyone. This is quite clear from the Lord showing Hiranyakashipu the ultimate reality of Lord. Even though Hiranyakashipu had known the reality that everything is the Lord but still it takes time and practice to completely realize the Lord so that there remains no moment when the Lord is not contemplated upon which is merging unto the Lord. Hence Hiranyakashipu as Jaya-vijaya had to take a couple of more births to merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord.

A devotee need not bother about having to take a few more births to realize the Lord but for the devotee liberation is not required – what the devotee requires is constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times without the distractions of worldly pleasures and desires. This is what Prahlaada asked of the Lord – this is what we all have to learn and implement through this beautiful story.

Let us all try to imbibe the nava vidha bhakthi in our lives with the knowledge of the Lord as possessing the twelve characteristics so that we may realize our own very nature of Lord thereby merging unto the non-dual reality of Lord.
We will start with the next story after a brief look again into the ultimate reality of Lord in the next day.

The Ultimate Reality of Lord

After coming to the end of the story of Prahlaada and before entering into the next story, let us once again try to recap about the ultimate reality of Lord which is the import of all scriptures. Scriptural knowledge as well as puranic stories becomes mere myths if the import of the ultimate reality of Lord is forgotten. It is very easy to get deluded into either the stories or the glories of the Lord mentioned in the stories.

We should constantly remember that we are not trying to achieve the various siddhis of the Lord but our goal is the Lord himself of the nature of eternal bliss. We find many saints achieving different siddhis but still unable to apprehend eternal bliss & peace. Thus even they search for bliss through fame, money etc. We find mention of many such siddhis in the “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahamsa Yogananda. The siddhis have been mentioned in depth by none other than Patanjali in the Vibhuthi Yoga (3rd chapter) of the yoga sutras. But Patanjali himself at the end of explanation of those siddhis proclaims that siddhis are obstacles to Samadhi.

As long as there is dual perception, there cannot be absorption of the ultimate reality of Lord which is termed as Samadhi in Vedanta. Samadhi is total merging unto the ultimate reality of Lord through the direct path of constant contemplation often termed as nidhidhyaasana by jnaanis and bhakthi by bhakthas. This is mentioned in the Upanishads as “seeing the Lord in all beings and all beings in the Lord” termed as samatva by the Lord.

Following of sama bhaavana is possible only when a person sees the underlying reality behind the dualistic world. Thus in this case, there cannot be any dual perception. So long as dual perception is there, moksha is thus not possible. Since siddhis include dual perception as something which is created or something which is shown to others, therefore so long as siddhis are sought or exhibited, there cannot be moksha.

Since a person seeks siddhis also for the sake of eternal bliss, peace & contentment, therefore it is but true that siddhis have to be renounced for the sake of contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord. For the devotee, the world is a great siddhi of the Lord. The world is a place which is full of mysterious and inexplicable things. Science might try to explain things but science has a limit beyond which it cannot proceed whereas Vedanta reaches the ultimate state from where everything starts. The entire galaxy of stars, many many solar systems all roam around in space. Can science answer the question of where is space situated, from where space came, who is controlling space??? No, there can be absolutely no answer from so-called great scientists. On the other hand, the vedantic seers (who are beautifully termed by Chinmaya as vedantic scientists) sought this question and found the answer from time immemorial. The answers were found at a time when there were no equipments which we are endowed with for peace and happiness & which only lead to more and more wars among other things. The answers of the saints were not kept for themselves along but it was passed on from generations to generations. Space as we see is situated in the ultimate reality of Consciousness. Remove Consciousness and there is no space at all. This Consciousness is the very nature of the Lord. Thus space is present in the substratum of the Lord who created space (as the various sruthi statements like ATMANAH AAKASAH SAMBHOOTAM puts forth). The scriptures as well say that it is due to fear of the ultimate reality of Lord that the sun moves, the moon moves & the stars function. Thus everything in the world is controlled by the Lord who is the cause of the world.

Any entity has two causes – one is the material cause and the other is efficient cause. In the case of the pot that is created, mud is the material cause whereas potter is the efficient cause. In the case of the world that we see, the Lord is abhinna nimitta upaadaana kaaranam – the same material and efficient cause. The Lord is the material cause as the world has been created out of him. The Lord is also the efficient cause because he is the person controlling the creation. Since the Lord is the material and efficient cause of the temporary and changing world, therefore the world is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord even as the dream world is only an illusion in the dreamer.

Thus the vedantic seers answer all questions relating to the temporary world as well as to the ultimate reality of Lord. As to how to realize the Lord & who is the Lord, the scriptures proclaim that the Lord is the very nature of each and every being because there is nothing apart from the Lord. Thus realization of the Lord is realization of our own very nature distinct from the ego, body and mind. Realization of the Lord is possible only through constant contemplation of the Lord as pervading the illusory objects of the world. Thus this is possible through seeing everything as the Lord because everything is in essence the substratum of the Lord. The objects of the world are mere names and forms of Consciousness which is the Lord. Without the Lord, the objects have no existence at all.

Thus it is constant contemplation alone which can lead a person to moksha through realization of his own very nature of Lord. It is in order to develop constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord that Veda Vyaasa wrote the puranic stories wherein the Lord has been explained as the import of the stories. Thus the stories are not to be merely heard and forgotten but the stories are to be known to point towards the ultimate reality of Lord as their import. If we forget the import, then we are into the illusory dualities of the stories. Dual perception can lead only to sorrow as it is not a real vision but vision of illusory entities. Thus while learning each and every story of any puranas, we should remember the ultimate reality of Lord who is the import of the stories. The glory of the Lord propounded in the stories is to instill devotion towards the Lord so that it is easy to contemplate on the Lord. If a person is told that the Lord protects his devotees through taking forms, the devotee will consider all help in the world as done by the Lord. Thus he will be seeing all forms as the ultimate reality of Lord alone. This leads to nidhidhyaasana of the ultimate reality of Lord which is the direct means to moksha or eternal bliss through realization of one’s own very nature of Lord.
Let us try to remember this reality while learning the stories of the Bhagavatham so that are not deluded into the world and are able to contemplate constantly on the ultimate reality of Lord. We will start with the next story from the next day.

Prahlaada’s behavior was mentioned by the gurus to his father, Hiranyakashipu. Hiranyakashipu became very angry & thought that he himself had to kill his son. He called Prahlaada and asked as to depending on whose power you are doing such activities.

The vishnubhaktha prahlaada replied thus:
“O Father! He is not just my power; he is your power as well. He is the power of the entire world. Who is he? He is the supreme cause of all entities starting from a molecule to Brahma. He is the paramatman. He is the time which is beyond the world. He is the deha shakthi, manah shakthi and indriya shakthi. Why all this; he is the entire world. He through his own power creates the world, protects the world & destroys the world. O father! Renounce the asura bhaava. Fix the mind with stead thought of the Lord; know that here there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. This sama bhaava will lead you to the ultimate reality of Lord”

Explanation

The ultimate reality of Lord is the supreme cause of the world as the creator, protector and destroyer of the world. The world is in fact a mere illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. As the substratum of the illusory changing world, the Lord of the nature of Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the supreme cause of the world. Any cause is the power of the effect. Even as the pot which is created from the mud by the potter is controlled by the potter, similarly the world which is an illusion creation of the Lord is controlled by the Lord. Thus Prahlaada says that the ultimate reality of Lord who is all-pervasive (indicated by the word Vishnu denoting sarva vyaapitva) is the power behind everything in the world. This has been indicated in many ways in the Gita by the Lord that “I am the power behind all powers; I am the brightness in the sun etc.”

The world if we see is controlled by three factors of time, space and causation. All these three require a substratum in which these illusions seem to exist. Time is just a illusion because it is ever changing & any changing entity requires a changeless substratum. Thus Ishwara or Lord is that substratum in which time, space and causation seem to rise. Once these three rise in the ultimate reality of Lord, they lead to the dual perception through creation of the world that we currently perceive. The Lord who creates the three entities of time, space and causation has to be above these three. Hence he is beyond time, beyond space and beyond causation. The lord is beyond time because there is never a time when he was not there – he was there yesterday, he is there today & he will be there tomorrow. The Lord is beyond space because he is all-pervasive – there is no place where the Lord is not there. This is why the scriptures proclaim that the Lord is present inside and outside of all beings – hence the name of Vishnu meaning all-pervasive. The Lord is all-pervasive because he is the cause of space. Any cause pervades its effect even as the cause of mud pervades the effect of pot. In each and every place in the pot, there is mud. Similarly the Lord who created space is beyond space as he pervades space. The Lord is beyond causation because he is the supreme cause who is not at all cause – this is termed as the Uncaused cause in many systems.

Is it not possible that the Lord also was created?
In such a case, we will have to find out how the Lord was created & who created the Lord. Thus we will come to a conclusion that there is something which created the Lord. Now the question will arise as who created this “something”. This will lead on to a higher cause, higher cause etc. & thus to infinite regression. Thus we have to accept a cause which is never caused & is the cause for the illusory world. It is this supreme or first cause which Vedanta terms as Brahman or Ishwara or Lord.

Thus the Lord is beyond time, space and causation. Since the Lord is the controller of all beings, he is the power behind all powers in the world. It can be claimed that is Lord the controller of energy that science speaks about? Yes, of course. Energy is considered as a constant or that which is never created but just transformed. Any transformation is a change. Any change is possible only when there is a changeless substratum.

A car is seen as moving only because of the changeless road. A variable is considered as a variable only because of the various constants which it assumes at different times. Thus any change is possible only in a changeless substratum. This changeless substratum if we analyze is Consciousness. Without consciousness, there cannot be any energy. Energy is possible only when a person is conscious. It is this conscious principle that resides in the various beings in the world which is called as Brahman or Lord in Vedanta. Thus any power in the world is possible only because of the power of the all-pervasive Lord.

Since the Lord is the cause behind the illusory world, thus the world is the Lord alone even as the illusory snake seen in the rope is snake only. Thus scriptures in many ways speak about the world being filled with the Lord. If we really analyze and understand that the world is nothing but the Lord, then there will be no dual perceptions. When there will be no dual perceptions, there will be no likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes cause attachment and aversion. It is attachment and aversion which causes a person to suffer in life by doing more and more actions that leads to immersing in the ocean of samsaara characterized by birth and death. Thus if there is no dual perception, then there will be no more suffering. Thus Bhagavatham speaks about sama bhaavana or seeing oneness everywhere in many places. The Lord as well speaks about this in the 6th chapter of Gita wherein he says Arjuna to see everything in the Lord and the Lord in everything. Thus seeing oneness everywhere is the key to removal of sorrows and sufferings in the world. It is as a result of seeing the Lord as pervading the world that a person overcomes the ignorance of his own very nature Lord thereby realizing the ultimate reality of Lord as the non-dual entity (only entity that really exists).

Hearing prahlaada’s words, Hiranyakashipu spoke thus
“You are surely going to die. Only people who are about to die go on blabbering illogical things. Tell me where is your Ishwara; is he in this pillar? I am going to chop off your head. Let me see whether your Ishwara is going to save you or not”.

Thus Hiranyakashipu jumped from his throne and slightly hit the pillar. Suddenly there was a huge sound. It was as if the entire world was shattering to pieces. Hiranyakashipu trembled hearing the sound. In order to prove the words of his devotee and to prove his all-pervasive nature, the Lord came out of the pillar in a terrible form. This was the form of Narasimha – half man and half lion. Hiranyakashipu understood that the Lord has taken a form to kill me. But still he took his mace and attacked Narasimha. Narasimha caught hold of Hiranyakashipu, took him to the steps on the door – it was sandhya time (neither day nor night). Narasimha tore open Hiranyakashipu’s body with his nails and thus killed Hiranyakashipu.

Explanation

Here we find the promise of the Lord to protect his devotee as well as to show Hiranyakashipu the reality of all-pervasive Consciousness.

The Lord mentions in Gita thus:
Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah pari upaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyuktaanaam yoga kshemam vahaami aham

He who thinks about me alone (without any other thoughts) and sees me everywhere, for such a person who is steadfast in Me I take care of his yoga and kshema (good and bad).

Sarva dharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja
Aham tvaa sarva paapebhyoh mokshayishyaami maa shuchah

Renounce all activities & take refuge in Me alone – I will take care of all your sins, do not worry.

These are just some of the promises that the Lord makes towards his devotees. Scriptures speak about the Lord being a servant towards his devotees. We can find this compassionate nature of the Lord in the various puranic stories like this. A person who is really devoted to the Lord is always protected by the Lord even as a mother protects his son. The highest and pure relationship that we can think about in the world is that of a mother towards her children. Even higher is the relationship between Guru-shishya and the Lord-his devotee. In these two relationships, there is no tinge of personal desire. Love is so pure that one person thinks about the other only. If the devotee always thinks about the Lord alone, offering all actions unto the Lord and seeing the Lord as pervading everything, the Lord also sees to it that the devotee is thoroughly protected. The Lord is the controller of the entire world as the substratum of the world. Thus there is nothing that cannot be controlled by the Lord. Therefore it is but very easy for the Lord to do anything to protect the devotee.

Even though it is quite clear that the Lord pervades everything in and out & he alone really exists, still it is tough to apprehend this reality if a person is overcome by passions and desires. Such a person is ever engrossed in worldly pleasures instead of seeking the ultimate reality of Lord. A person whose mind goes behind worldly pleasures is called an asura. Asuric tendencies of the mind are those tendencies which tend a seeker to be diverted from the ultimate reality of Lord towards the worldly temporary sensual pleasures. As mentioned in the various puranas, the asuras are killed by the devas with the help of the Lord. As long as there is no devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord, there cannot be any overpowering the asuras. When there is pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord is present to give strength to the mind through the devas or good habits-qualities-activities. The devas then easily overpower the asuras through the help and power of the ultimate reality of Lord.

We see the Lord helping out those who seek him not just through the various stories in the puranas but through the lives of various saints as well in our very lives. Any person who is devoted to the ultimate reality of Lord can experience the presence of the Lord in his/her life each and every moment. Through these various stories, Bhagavatham is telling each one of us that if we really seek the ultimate reality of Lord leaving everything & just seeking the Lord alone, the Lord will reveal his benign form to us.

What is the form of the Lord?
The Lord even though is formless is all-pervasive as the cause pervading the effect. Thus the Lord is present everywhere. In order to prove the devotee Prahlaada’s words & to show Hiranyakashipu that the ultimate reality of Lord is present everywhere, the Lord came out of the pillar.

When the mind is filled with desire for worldly pleasures, it doesn’t apprehend the truth propounded by the scriptures that the Lord is present everywhere. The more and more a person indulges in worldly pleasure, the more and more he goes away from the Lord – he then disbelieves the Lord and doesn’t seek the eternal Lord. This mind or the ego is killed by the Lord through showing the seeker the validity of the statements in the scriptures. Thus for the ego of Hiranyakashipu, the Lord revealed his all-pervasive form. Seeing the form of the Lord, the ego was hurt as it was going to be killed. The ego is the individuality in each person. Even though we all are the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord alone but the ego exists separately so long as there is identification with the body-mind complex. This ego or individuality doesn’t like itself to be killed as when the Lord is realized individuality vanishes & all-pervasive Lord is realized. Thus hiranyakashipu was afraid. Once the Lord is sought and the Lord reveals his form there is no escape. Thus the Lord through showing Hiranyakashipu that he is present everywhere killed the ego thereby liberating the Self underlying the ego of hiranyakashipu.

Thus we don’t find here the killing of a person but killing of the individualistic ego in order to realize the universal Self or the ultimate reality of Lord. It is only through realization of the all-pervasive Lord that individuality vanishes – and only when individuality vanishes can the seeker get rid of the illusory bondages arising the world & causing sorrow-sufferings in the world. Thus it is essential for a seeker to seek the ultimate reality of Lord who is present everywhere so that the Lord kills the ego thereby making the seeker realize his own very nature of non-dual Lord.

We will see as to how everybody around reacted to the Lord’s avatar of Narasimha in the next day.

Seeing the roaring and raging Narasimha, everybody was afraid except Prahlaada. Prahlaada, the devotee-child, did a saasthanga pranaama and praised the Lord thus with shivering and wavering voice:
“O Lord! Here whatever is seen as the world, that all is you only. This world-leela is quite amazing. The pleasure in the heaven and other higher worlds are good indeed. People in the world all eye the pleasure in heaven. Those pleasures were available for my father by mere words as everything was under his control. Such a person as my father was killed so shortly by you. I know that everything in the world ranging from pleasures on earth to the Brahma Loka (the highest that a person can attain in all the worlds) are all temporary. Hence I only want you. Please take me close to yourself”.

Explanation

Any worldly person who is attached and associated with worldly possessions will be subject to fear. So long as a person considers himself as the body-mind complex, there will be fear of death among other things. A worldly person is afraid that he might lose his possessions which include wealth, power, people etc. People without much strength fear the mighty. People who are poor fear the rich. Thus everyone in the world is affected by the disease of FEAR.

Patanjali proclaims thus about fear in the Yoga Sutras thus:
Svarasavaahi vidhusho api tathaa rudo abhiniveshah
For an ignorant and a learned person as well, there is always fear of death.

Death here only means the state of non-existence of oneself or non-possession of worldly objects. Any person who is immersed in the ocean of samsaara and not acknowledging the ultimate reality of Lord thereby not progressing in the spiritual path will be subject to fear. But for the real devotee of the Lord, there is no fear at all. He doesn’t fear anything because he knows that the ultimate reality of Lord – the controller of the illusory world – is there to protect him. He doesn’t fear anything also because he knows that there is no duality whatsoever & there is only the ultimate reality of Lord present here. We find such a devotee in Prahlaada. When everybody around were afraid of Narasimha’s terrible form as well as his anger, Prahlaada went near to the Lord & prostrated.

Scriptures speak about how to treat a mahatma in the world – they speak about completely prostrating to such a Mahatma. Sa astanga pranaama is quite popular wherein instead of just prostrating through the hand, the devotee totally falls on the feet of the Mahatma. This total falling denotes total surrender of the Ego. The toughest thing for a person to do in the world is falling down at the feet of another person because of the Ego or individualistic thought. When it comes to prostrating the car/bus which helps in transportation, we find it tough as the EGO falls down during such actions. On the other hand we find great Mahatmas like AMMA prostrating to anything and everything as they are filled with the presence of the ultimate reality of Lord. What we in fact consider as falling is not falling but it is respecting the things in the world as forms of the ultimate reality of Lord. For such a devotee who prostrates to anything and everything, nature will be there to protect him. Whenever he gets into any trouble or requires any help, nature or Maya of the Lord protects him through different means.

It is essential for each one of us to understand this symbolic activity of prostrating everything in the world as respect to the ultimate reality of Lord. Through this prostration we not only keep the ego in check but we remember the Lord as pervading everything.

Prahlaada, the real devotee that he was, prostrated at the feet of the Lord and praised the Lord. A real devotee has nothing but praises of the Lord alone – whatever he speaks is praise of the Lord alone – a devotee doesn’t know anything other than the lord – thus his words will nothing but praises of the glory of the all-pervasive Lord.

As explained earlier, a devotee doesn’t require anything in the world ranging from pleasures on earth to heaven to brahma loka. Scriptures speak about the highest that can be attained in all the worlds as going to Brahma Loka. For a devotee even brahma loka is of no use. A real devotee doesn’t crave for anything other than the ultimate reality of lord. What the devotee requests from the Lord is constant remembrance of the Lord and merging into the ultimate reality of Lord. This is what we see Prahlaada asking the Lord. It is quite easy to get carried away by the sensual pleasures but it requires great strength to overcome the passions and seek the ultimate reality of Lord alone. It is only possible through vairagya or dispassion towards the world through the knowledge that the world is temporary & can give sorrow alone. When a devotee finds the world as a temporary creation of the Lord, he seeks the creator who is permanent & knowing whom there will be eternal bliss. Thus through vairagya rises constant contemplation or nidhidhyaasana of the ultimate reality of Lord.

The devotee doesn’t want anything other than the Lord but if he requests anything from the Lord then it is only this that the Lord may be present always with the devotee. We all, if we seek eternal bliss, should seek the ultimate reality of lord while renouncing and not going behind illusory worldly pleasures. The moment a person seeks the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord alone, the devotee realizes the ultimate reality of Lord knowing which there nothing else to be known remains.

Narada speaks thus about this:
Sa keerthyamaanah sheeghram eva aavirbhavathi anubhaavayathi bhakthaan

For a devotee who constantly seeks the Lord, the Lord soon reveals himself & makes the devotee realize his own very nature of Lord.

Lord speaks thus about the gati of a real devotee thus:
Ye tu sarvaani karmaani mayi sanyasya matparaah
Ananyenaiva yogena maam dhyaayantha upaasathe
Teshaam aham sammudhartha mrityu samsaara saagaraath
Bhavaami nachiraat partha mayi aaveshitha chetasaam

For the devotee who has renounced all actions by offering them to me, always indulging in my thought, always contemplating on me and having his mind totally fixed on me, I myself will become the savior for such a devotee from the ocean of samsaara & I will save him soon.

We will see as to what happened to Prahlaada thereby ending this beautiful story of Prahlaada and Narasimha in Bhagavatham in the next day.