Sunday, November 05, 2006
Story 37 – Story of Gajendra - 06
Bhagavatham is the purana which is filled with knowledge of the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord in each and every story. All the various stories of the puranas are meant to create sense of devotion and attachment towards the ultimate reality of Lord. The scriptures clearly point out that knowing the ultimate reality of Lord alone is the sole way to eternal bliss or moksha characterized by complete cessation of sorrow. Knowledge of the ultimate reality of Lord is synonymous with pure devotion to the ultimate reality of Lord. Mere devotion without knowledge leads to duality notion of oneself being different from the Lord. Knowledge without devotion leads to development and nourishing of the ego or ahamkaara eradication of which is essential for realization. Thus a seeker cannot do without either knowledge or devotion. AMMA mentions that knowledge without devotion is like a hard stone which cannot melt. Knowledge helps to strengthen the intellect whereas devotion helps to open and develop the heart. Once both are perfectly developed and strengthened, the seeker merely merges into the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the Lord as the one and only non-dual reality in the illusory world. The various stories of Srimad Bhagavatham help in developing devotion to the Lord who is all-pervading and the only real entity known as Brahman.
This particular story of Gajendra primarily points out that devotion to the Lord is essential for a seeker to come out of the bondages of the world. As long as a seeker is entangled in sensual pleasures, he will not be able to seek the ultimate reality of Lord. Even as the pig finds filth as heaven, a seeker also finds the various sensual pleasures of the world as heaven. But the sensual pleasures of the world will lead a person to sorrow and sufferings alone. Only when sorrows and troubles arise in our lives, will we be able to get away from the attachment to sensual pleasures. It is for this reason that Kunti Devi asked the Lord to give her troubles at all times so that she will not forget the Lord. Gajendra thus was immersed in sensual pleasures and hence forgot the Lord. We also learn from this story that once a person gains knowledge and devotion to the Lord, he might fall back to sensual pleasures but still will be made to come back to knowledge by none other than the Lord. Gajendra had taken the particular form because of a curse – before which he was immersed in devotion of the Lord.
Any sensual pleasure might seem attractive and giving happiness in the beginning but it will only lead to sorrow in the long run. Gajendra was thus caught by the crocodile while he was happily immersed in sensual pleasures. Once we enter into any sort of troubles, we will remember the Lord. This is what happened with Gajendra as well. Once Gajendra was caught by the crocodile, he remembered the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus came out of the mouth of Gajendra, the beautiful explanations about the Lord in the form of a sthuthi. When a seeker realizes the glory of the ever present reality of Lord, he develops pure devotion and knowledge towards the Lord that he cannot speak anything apart from the Lord. We find Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi among other saints always speaking about the ultimate reality of Lord alone. These saints are ever immersed in the ocean of amrita or Lord so that they cannot speak anything apart from the Lord even as the worldly people immersed in the ocean of samsaara cannot speak anything apart from worldly sensual pleasures. Thus we find Gajendra speaking about the ultimate reality of Lord – this sthuthi as we have been learning in the past days is filled with pure devotion and knowledge.
As explained earlier, pure devotion and knowledge are not different from one another. They are mutually contradictory. Both devotion and knowledge go together only. Wherever there is one, there will be the other as well. Wherever there is no devotion, there will be lack of knowledge as well.
These various stuthis help in putting forth the truth that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is real and everything apart from the Lord is only an illusion in the reality of Lord. The world that we perceive is only an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord. If we remove the Lord from the world, there will be no world at all. This is because the world has come from the Lord, is situated in the Lord and merges unto the Lord at the time of destruction. Thus the world is only an illusion in the Lord – therefore whatever is really present is the Lord alone, one without a second. Realization of one’s own very nature of Lord is the very aim of human life as this alone can lead to complete cessation of sorrow and eternal bliss, that bliss which we all are searching each and every moment. Realization of the Lord is only possible through constant contemplation of the Lord. Constant contemplation is remembrance of the Lord as the one and only non-dual reality of Consciousness and having pure devotion towards such a Lord. When a seeker develops pure devotion to the Lord, the illusory world vanishes & the seeker realizes his own very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord. He then realizes that there is nothing apart from the Lord here and that he himself is none other than the Lord alone. This is what Vedanta calls as moksha or liberation. It is this moksha which is the fruit of learning the various stories of Srimad Bhagavatham through developing devotion and knowledge of the ultimate reality of Lord thereby being ever immersed in the thought of the Lord.
We will continue with the next story in Srimad Bhagavatham from the next day.
Brahman of Vedanta, an analysis
Each and every person in the world irrespective of caste, creed etc. are seeking one and the same goal alone. A youth wants a love; a child wants some toys; a husband wants his wife; a mother wants her child; a professional wants good work and money; if we see from the outer perspective, the final goal of each person might seem to be different and distinct. But if we analyze this a bit deeper, we will realize that everyone is searching the same goal alone. The goal which we all are searching is ETERNAL BLISS. Eternal bliss is happiness which is everlasting and infinite. It is happiness qualified by complete cessation of sorrow that everyone is searching in wife, children, toys, money etc. We are thus searching for happiness alone in the worldly objects.
The world is ever changing and temporary. Sankara explains the world as so uncertain like the water in a lotus leaf. One moment the water will be in the lotus leaf and the next moment it will fall down. Similarly the world is full of uncertainty. This moment we see our friend and the next moment he passes away. This moment we see the house in which we are staying and the next moment it vanishes either through tsunami or a terrorist attack. We have to understand the temporary nature of the world. As the world is temporary and ever changing, it cannot give us eternal bliss. Eternal bliss can be achieved only from a permanent changeless entity. Such a permanent and changeless entity is mentioned in Vedanta as Brahman. The word Brahman means that which is huge and that which is seen as the world. Brahman is the ultimate reality of Consciousness from which the world comes, in which the world is situated and unto which the world merges at the time of destruction. Thus the world is only a mere illusion of names and forms in the reality of Brahman. Since Brahman alone is perfect, infinite, changeless and blissful, we can get eternal bliss only by realization of Brahman.
Brahman mentioned in the scriptures is mentioned in the puranas as Bhagavan or Ishwara or Lord. Brahman is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss (Sat, Chit, Ananda). The scriptures proclaim that Brahman is not different from our own very nature of Consciousness but the real “I” in each one of us is Brahman alone. This seemingly limited individualistic “I” is called Self. The Self is not different from Brahman but the same alone.
All efforts towards eternal bliss can be achieved only through realization of our own nature of Brahman or the identity of Self and Brahman. It is towards this that all scriptures including the puranas proceed. If we forget the import of all scriptures as realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman as one’s own nature, then the scriptures become futile. Scriptures are the mirrors through which we can see our own very nature of Lord. But if we tend to get lost in either the intellectual arguments of the Upanishads or the mysterious stories of the puranas, we will not be able to realize the ultimate reality of Lord thereby unable to get eternal bliss. Such people who follow the path of spirituality but fall down are termed by the Lord as yoga bhrastas in the Gita (bhrasta means one who has fallen off or forgotten). As various scriptures point out that human life is very rare indeed because only humans are endowed with discriminating intellect to seek the Lord amidst illusory and attractive sensual pleasures of the world, we shouldn’t waste this birth by forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord.
It isn’t enough to merely listen the stories of Bhagavatham and being wonder-stuck; after that going home and doing the same old eating-drinking-sleeping activities like an animal. We should be able to imbibe the teachings in the scriptures which is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation or nidhidhyaasana with the knowledge that whatever is present is the Lord alone, one without a second. This is what is the main import or real fruit of learning the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham. We have been repeatedly emphasizing on this in between each and every story of Bhagavatham. Emphasizing is really important because it is very easy to get lost in the story which seems really attracting and magical indeed. The mind is such that it gets lost into anything apart from the reality – thus we have to again and again remember the import of the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham as the ultimate reality of non-dual Brahman so that we are not lost and follow the right path to realization of one’s own nature of Brahman.
As we have been learning, each and every story of Srimad Bhagavatham is filled with the ultimate reality of Lord. Some stories point out the path to be followed to realize the Lord, some point out the path not to be followed and others point out the nature/characteristics of the Lord through beautiful explanation as we saw in the story of Gajendra.
All these stories are meant to develop pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the Lord as the one and only real entity as the substratum of the illusory world. The world is an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Instead of going after the temporary worldly objects, a seeker should seek the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord. Each and every moment, whatever is being done should be done as an offering to the Lord remembering the Lord alone as the real entity amidst the illusory objects of the world. Such a seeker who always remembers the Lord and does all activities will soon get rid of the illusory bondages thereby realizing his own very nature of Lord. This is what is termed in the Vedanta as moksha or liberation or realization of one’s own nature of lord. After realization, a seeker will ever be immersed in eternal bliss which is his own very nature. It is this bliss that we all are seeking each and every moment – it can be achieved only through realization of the Lord through learning of the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham without forgetting the import of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Remembering the import of ultimate reality of Lord, we will start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham from the next day.
This particular story of Gajendra primarily points out that devotion to the Lord is essential for a seeker to come out of the bondages of the world. As long as a seeker is entangled in sensual pleasures, he will not be able to seek the ultimate reality of Lord. Even as the pig finds filth as heaven, a seeker also finds the various sensual pleasures of the world as heaven. But the sensual pleasures of the world will lead a person to sorrow and sufferings alone. Only when sorrows and troubles arise in our lives, will we be able to get away from the attachment to sensual pleasures. It is for this reason that Kunti Devi asked the Lord to give her troubles at all times so that she will not forget the Lord. Gajendra thus was immersed in sensual pleasures and hence forgot the Lord. We also learn from this story that once a person gains knowledge and devotion to the Lord, he might fall back to sensual pleasures but still will be made to come back to knowledge by none other than the Lord. Gajendra had taken the particular form because of a curse – before which he was immersed in devotion of the Lord.
Any sensual pleasure might seem attractive and giving happiness in the beginning but it will only lead to sorrow in the long run. Gajendra was thus caught by the crocodile while he was happily immersed in sensual pleasures. Once we enter into any sort of troubles, we will remember the Lord. This is what happened with Gajendra as well. Once Gajendra was caught by the crocodile, he remembered the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus came out of the mouth of Gajendra, the beautiful explanations about the Lord in the form of a sthuthi. When a seeker realizes the glory of the ever present reality of Lord, he develops pure devotion and knowledge towards the Lord that he cannot speak anything apart from the Lord. We find Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi among other saints always speaking about the ultimate reality of Lord alone. These saints are ever immersed in the ocean of amrita or Lord so that they cannot speak anything apart from the Lord even as the worldly people immersed in the ocean of samsaara cannot speak anything apart from worldly sensual pleasures. Thus we find Gajendra speaking about the ultimate reality of Lord – this sthuthi as we have been learning in the past days is filled with pure devotion and knowledge.
As explained earlier, pure devotion and knowledge are not different from one another. They are mutually contradictory. Both devotion and knowledge go together only. Wherever there is one, there will be the other as well. Wherever there is no devotion, there will be lack of knowledge as well.
These various stuthis help in putting forth the truth that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is real and everything apart from the Lord is only an illusion in the reality of Lord. The world that we perceive is only an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord. If we remove the Lord from the world, there will be no world at all. This is because the world has come from the Lord, is situated in the Lord and merges unto the Lord at the time of destruction. Thus the world is only an illusion in the Lord – therefore whatever is really present is the Lord alone, one without a second. Realization of one’s own very nature of Lord is the very aim of human life as this alone can lead to complete cessation of sorrow and eternal bliss, that bliss which we all are searching each and every moment. Realization of the Lord is only possible through constant contemplation of the Lord. Constant contemplation is remembrance of the Lord as the one and only non-dual reality of Consciousness and having pure devotion towards such a Lord. When a seeker develops pure devotion to the Lord, the illusory world vanishes & the seeker realizes his own very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord. He then realizes that there is nothing apart from the Lord here and that he himself is none other than the Lord alone. This is what Vedanta calls as moksha or liberation. It is this moksha which is the fruit of learning the various stories of Srimad Bhagavatham through developing devotion and knowledge of the ultimate reality of Lord thereby being ever immersed in the thought of the Lord.
We will continue with the next story in Srimad Bhagavatham from the next day.
Brahman of Vedanta, an analysis
Each and every person in the world irrespective of caste, creed etc. are seeking one and the same goal alone. A youth wants a love; a child wants some toys; a husband wants his wife; a mother wants her child; a professional wants good work and money; if we see from the outer perspective, the final goal of each person might seem to be different and distinct. But if we analyze this a bit deeper, we will realize that everyone is searching the same goal alone. The goal which we all are searching is ETERNAL BLISS. Eternal bliss is happiness which is everlasting and infinite. It is happiness qualified by complete cessation of sorrow that everyone is searching in wife, children, toys, money etc. We are thus searching for happiness alone in the worldly objects.
The world is ever changing and temporary. Sankara explains the world as so uncertain like the water in a lotus leaf. One moment the water will be in the lotus leaf and the next moment it will fall down. Similarly the world is full of uncertainty. This moment we see our friend and the next moment he passes away. This moment we see the house in which we are staying and the next moment it vanishes either through tsunami or a terrorist attack. We have to understand the temporary nature of the world. As the world is temporary and ever changing, it cannot give us eternal bliss. Eternal bliss can be achieved only from a permanent changeless entity. Such a permanent and changeless entity is mentioned in Vedanta as Brahman. The word Brahman means that which is huge and that which is seen as the world. Brahman is the ultimate reality of Consciousness from which the world comes, in which the world is situated and unto which the world merges at the time of destruction. Thus the world is only a mere illusion of names and forms in the reality of Brahman. Since Brahman alone is perfect, infinite, changeless and blissful, we can get eternal bliss only by realization of Brahman.
Brahman mentioned in the scriptures is mentioned in the puranas as Bhagavan or Ishwara or Lord. Brahman is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss (Sat, Chit, Ananda). The scriptures proclaim that Brahman is not different from our own very nature of Consciousness but the real “I” in each one of us is Brahman alone. This seemingly limited individualistic “I” is called Self. The Self is not different from Brahman but the same alone.
All efforts towards eternal bliss can be achieved only through realization of our own nature of Brahman or the identity of Self and Brahman. It is towards this that all scriptures including the puranas proceed. If we forget the import of all scriptures as realization of the ultimate reality of Brahman as one’s own nature, then the scriptures become futile. Scriptures are the mirrors through which we can see our own very nature of Lord. But if we tend to get lost in either the intellectual arguments of the Upanishads or the mysterious stories of the puranas, we will not be able to realize the ultimate reality of Lord thereby unable to get eternal bliss. Such people who follow the path of spirituality but fall down are termed by the Lord as yoga bhrastas in the Gita (bhrasta means one who has fallen off or forgotten). As various scriptures point out that human life is very rare indeed because only humans are endowed with discriminating intellect to seek the Lord amidst illusory and attractive sensual pleasures of the world, we shouldn’t waste this birth by forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord.
It isn’t enough to merely listen the stories of Bhagavatham and being wonder-stuck; after that going home and doing the same old eating-drinking-sleeping activities like an animal. We should be able to imbibe the teachings in the scriptures which is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation or nidhidhyaasana with the knowledge that whatever is present is the Lord alone, one without a second. This is what is the main import or real fruit of learning the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham. We have been repeatedly emphasizing on this in between each and every story of Bhagavatham. Emphasizing is really important because it is very easy to get lost in the story which seems really attracting and magical indeed. The mind is such that it gets lost into anything apart from the reality – thus we have to again and again remember the import of the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham as the ultimate reality of non-dual Brahman so that we are not lost and follow the right path to realization of one’s own nature of Brahman.
As we have been learning, each and every story of Srimad Bhagavatham is filled with the ultimate reality of Lord. Some stories point out the path to be followed to realize the Lord, some point out the path not to be followed and others point out the nature/characteristics of the Lord through beautiful explanation as we saw in the story of Gajendra.
All these stories are meant to develop pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the Lord as the one and only real entity as the substratum of the illusory world. The world is an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Instead of going after the temporary worldly objects, a seeker should seek the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord. Each and every moment, whatever is being done should be done as an offering to the Lord remembering the Lord alone as the real entity amidst the illusory objects of the world. Such a seeker who always remembers the Lord and does all activities will soon get rid of the illusory bondages thereby realizing his own very nature of Lord. This is what is termed in the Vedanta as moksha or liberation or realization of one’s own nature of lord. After realization, a seeker will ever be immersed in eternal bliss which is his own very nature. It is this bliss that we all are seeking each and every moment – it can be achieved only through realization of the Lord through learning of the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham without forgetting the import of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Remembering the import of ultimate reality of Lord, we will start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham from the next day.
# posted by vedanta : 7:26 PM
