Srimad Bhagavatham

At the outset of this mail, let me wish each and everyone “MERRY CHRISTMAS”. It may seem a bit weird about Christmas being spoken about in between bhagavatham postings. But it is a fact that all religions are various paths to the ultimate reality of Lord. Each religion has its own rituals. These rituals might be different but the basic theory propounded in the scriptures of each religion is the same only. For a Vedantin, the Bible is full of Vedantic concepts. Thus it is but essential to understand and acknowledge the theoretical and practical aspects of each religion. If each individual were to do this, there wouldn’t be any bloodshed in the name of religion.

Let us all today try to analyze the celebration of Christmas from a Vedantic perspective. We all know that Christmas or December 25th is celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ. Christianity considers Jesus Christ as the son of Lord, the savior, the redeemer of the people of the world who takes them from out of sins to salvation. If we analyze the life of Christ as well as his teachings, we will find only Vedantic concepts. Swami Prabhavananda of Ramakrishna Mission has already brought out a book titled “Sermon on the Mount” wherein he analyzes the teachings of Christ on the mount and finds a Vedantic interpretation to them.

We find in Christ a Jeevanmuktha, a realized saint, who lived merely for the sake of the world. The Lord propounds in Gita that the very purpose of realized beings in the world is “welfare of the world” (loka sangraha). It is to make the people of the world understand the basic teaching of the scriptures that Jesus Christ was born on earth. Christ was not a mere preacher but a practitioner. We can find many preachers of Vedanta preaching Vedantic concepts to others but when the time comes for them to implement the same, they fail to do so – instead they enter into the delusion of samsaara. Christ unlike normal preachers was a practitioner. He spent his entire life living the teachings of the scriptures. The basic preaching of Christ was to spread love, peace, compassion and forgiveness. This is only possible if the people of the world consider everybody as “mine” instead of considering a few people as “mine” and others as “somebody else”. This is the concept of removing the egoistic attitude & instead considering everything as “mine”. This is what Vedanta calls as globalizing the ego (which we learnt a few days back). Globalizing and considering everybody as “mine” is possible only when there is some common link between everyone. The common link is that of being children of the Lord. As the children of a father & mother will love each other & not have any hatred, the children of the Lord cannot but love everyone. It is this what the scriptures preach as “love thy neighbor”. As in the case of any theory, there will be wrong and false interpretations – this famous statement also has been interpreted as meaning to love only Christians and hate non-Christians. If the Lord propounded in the Bible created the world, then whether a person is a Christian or not he is the child of the Lord. The Lord propounded in the Bible is what Vedanta calls as Brahman or Ishwara. The Lord who created the world and the people in the world cannot but love the people. Thus the Lord ever loves his children and is wanting the children to realize the Lord’s nature. Christianity defines salvation as removal of sin and going to heaven. Vedanta defines moksha as removal of sorrow (ignorance) and attaining eternality. Thus both are but one and the same only.

Vedanta is impossible for a normal person to learn by himself and realize the Lord without any external aid. It is for this reason that Vedanta propounds that without a Guru, realization is not possible. The Guru is defined as one who knows the ultimate reality of Lord. This Guru is what is termed in Christianity as Jesus Christ. Christ is the one who knows the Lord and thereby can lead the people of the world to the Lord. Jesus is the savior who takes the people from sins to salvation. What is sin??? Sin in Vedanta is not knowing one’s own nature of Lord. To make it simpler, sin is not knowing the Lord. We all are thus sinners only because we don’t know the ultimate reality of Lord. It is only when we seek and surrender unto the Guru of Jesus Christ that he takes us out of the sins by making us realize the ultimate reality of Lord. Christianity says that the very aim of Jesus’s life was to save each one of us from our sins by dying on the cross. The Guru for the welfare of the disciple abandons everything and takes the sins of the disciples. We find in Paramahamsa Yogananda’s “Autobiography of a Yogi” the mention of his Guru taking the sins of his disciples. Most of the Hindu saints have been suffering from major diseases though they were realized and could control everything – this itself shows that they suffered the sins of their followers. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa suffered from tumour (pardon the incorrect memory – this might be a wrong info about the disease of Ramakrishna). Vivekananda died at a very young age. Sankara suffered from piles trouble. Tapovan Maharaj also suffered from throat cancer so was Ramana Maharshi. Thus we find in all these saints the same symptoms as that of Jesus.

It is true that Christianity considers Jesus alone as the son of God but if we consider all Gurus as nothing but sons of God, we can generalize it into one son of God taking different forms. Swami Vivekananda proclaimed that there will be an avatar who would be he and his Guru together taking a human form & the avatar would speak in the UN 100 days after the year which Swamiji spoke. This prophecy of Swamiji was fulfilled through AMMA speaking at the UN in 1993 (exactly 100 years after Swamiji spoke in 1883).

Thus we find Vedantic concepts in each and every theoretical aspect of Christianity. On this benign day of the birth of the son of the Lord amidst us to save us from the ocean of samsaara, let us seek and surrender unto the compassionate Jesus Christ in the form of various saints in the world.

Let the Lord save us all from the ocean of samsaara and lead us into eternal bliss.

Thanks
Hariram
Let a moment not pass by without remembering God

At this time, Vaamana renouncing his small form started growing to the form of Vishwaroopa. Everything including the sun and the moon became the parts of Vishwaroopa. When Vishwaroopa took two steps, the entire three worlds were covered with that. There was no place where Vishwaroopa could keep the third step. All the devas including Brahma circled Vishwaroopa and started praising him through stuthis. On the other hand, the asuras became afraid. They shouted out to Mahaabali thus “this Vaamana is not a brahmachaari; he is the maayaavi Vishnu who has taken the form of brahmachaari; he is our enemy; he has taken everything away from our chakravarthi who abides by truth through treachery; therefore we have to kill him”.

Explanation

Bhagavatham in this part is symbolically explaining the spiritual progress in the life of a seeker. A seeker when he is progressing in the spiritual path has a small ego which is very small like Vaamana. But once the seeker progresses, this small ego expands & becomes the Vishwaroopa or the person whose parts is this world & its objects. To put it in Sri Sri Ravishankar’s words, the local ego becomes a global ego. Ezhuthacchan, a Malayalam poet, in his work titled Harinaamakeerthanam prays to the Lord that there be no ego attitude & even if there is an ego attitude, let that be that everything is “mine”. This attitude of seeing everything as “mine” is the global ego which can be in a way termed in Vedanta as Brahma – the creator. Mandukya Upanishad speaks about the limited individual jeeva in waking state as vishwa and the unlimited cosmic being as Vaishwaanara or Viraat. It is this Virat form of the ultimate reality of Lord which is propounded in the Gita as Vishwaroopa while the Lord shows his all-powerful and all-encompassing form to Arjuna.

When the seeker’s limited individual ego grows, it realizes that everything that is present is “mine”. Everything inclusive of the sun and the moon are but illusions in the ultimate reality of Lord who is not different from the seemingly individual Self of the nature of Consciousness. Even as the dream objects seen in dream are parts of the dreamer alone, similarly the waking objects are parts of the waking Self (who is non-different from the ultimate reality of Lord). This attitude of seeing everything as “mine” is possible only when the seeker separates himself from the individual ego and identifies himself with the witness of kutastha. When the seeker identifies himself as the kutastha atman, he realizes that everything that is present in the world is only an illusion in the atman. He also realizes that it is this kutastha atman which is propounded in the Upanishads as Brahman and the puranas as Ishwara or Paramaatman.

Even though realizing one’s nature of Vishwaroopa (who is the cosmic jeeva – the Lord identifying himself with the entire world) might seem theoretically easy but it is tough to apprehend the same and implement in worldly life. As with any science, theory is easy to apprehend than practical experience. A seeker has to have total and complete surrender unto the ultimate reality of Lord and clear intellectual conviction that everything is but an illusion in the Lord. Only through this the seeker will be able to globalize the ego. Once the seeker identifies himself with the entire world and as Vishwaroopa, he then realizes that Vishwaroopa is also only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Vishwaroopa is the Lord when identified or associated with the world and its objects. The world itself is only a temporary appearance in the reality of Lord – hence Vishwaroopa also is known as an illusion in the Lord. Thus ths seeker realizes that the Self or Atman or “I” of the nature of Consciousness is one with the ultimate reality of Lord. The Lord is blissful in nature & hence the seeker realizes his very nature of bliss. Bliss is synonymous with unlimited and infiniteness. Thus the seeker realizes his very nature of unlimited and infinite being. Thus ends all sorrows/sufferings and seeking in the world. We all seek bliss associated with unlimited and infinite being. But we are seeking this in the illusory world. The world being an illusion is limited and finite. The happiness derived from the world also is thus finite and limited. But when the seeker globalizes his ego and realizes his very nature off the ultimate reality of Lord, he rejoices in the eternal bliss which is the very nature of Lord. There is no tinge of sorrow and suffering because there is only bliss, bliss and bliss. There is nothing apart from the Lord even to think upon or act upon – thus there is cause of likes and dislikes which in turn leads to temporary happiness and sorrow in the long run. Thus the seeker gets eternal bliss by realizing his own very nature of Lord.

It is very tough to globalize the ego because we all are ever identified with the limited ego associated with our body-mind-complex. Most of the times, we are associated with our body alone & at times we get associated with the bodies of dear ones. But when it comes to choosing just a single body, we don’t even mind to ignore the body of dear ones. Overcoming this body-consciousness is very tough indeed & a seeker has to constantly contemplate that “I am not the body but the Self which is one with the ultimate reality of Lord”. Constantly contemplating on this through logic alone will lead a person to overcome body-consciousness. It is tough to contemplate on this at tough times (when the body is in distress). Hence a seeker has to practice this during good times itself. When he practices it during good times, it becomes a habit like other worldly habits. Thus even during bad times, the thought that “I am not the body” automatically comes & thereby the seeker easily overcomes the body-consciousness.

As we have been learning, the spiritual path is like walking on the edges of a razor. There will be many testing situations in the spiritual path of a seeker. One such test is what we find in this part of Bhagavatham. The asuras became afraid and thereby plan to attack Vishnu. When we hear from the Guru or the Mahatma that “you are not the body but the Self”, we find it tough to disentangle ourselves from the body-consciousness. Hence naturally we try to defend the same and attack the concept. Instead of trying to attack any concept, we have to apply logic and intellect to analyze whether the words of a person is true or not. The Lord has given us intellect in order to ascertain things on the basis of proper logic. If we apply proper logic, we will have to conclude that “I” am not the limited and temporary body but ever-present Consciousness. The body changes in waking and dream state whereas “I” who experiences both the state is the same person only. We will see as to what Mahaabali does in reaction to the asuras planning to attack Vishnu in the next day.

Mahaabali stopped the asuras and said to them:

Happiness and sorrow for all beings is controlled finally by just one Ishwara. It is not possible to overcome this Ishwara by strength or courage. The Lord once gave us aishwarya and took it away from the devas; it is the same Lord who is taking the aishwarya from us now. This is the rule by which he works. It is not possible to transcend the rules of the Lord who controls everything through time by means of buddhi, strength, mantras, samaadhi etc. Asuras have many times defeated the devas but today the devas are proclaiming to have defeated the asuras. If the grace of the Lord is there, the asuras might be able to again defeat the devas. But until appropriate time comes, be calm and have patience.

Hearing the words of Mahaabali, the asuras went back to paatala instead of fighting with the devas (and vaamana).

Explanation

Everything in the world is controlled by one Lord. The Lord controls everything through the time, space and causation. Happiness and sorrow and similarly all dual notions are controlled by the Lord. To put it short, everything is controlled by the Lord alone. This is because the Lord alone is real and everything else is but an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. As long as the ultimate reality of Lord is known, the illusory world & its objects will seem to be real. For a person who is unaware about a magician’s trick, the magic is controlled by the magician. Similarly everything that we see/hear in the world is controlled by the ultimate reality of Lord. It is but foolish to either seek the Lord or try to overcome the will of the Lord in the illusory world. It is not at all possible to overcome or overpower the ultimate reality of Lord because he is omni-present, omni-present and omni-scient. Even if a person tries to control the Lord, it is futile because the aim of controlling the world or achieving material pleasures in the world will lead only to more and more sorrow. If a person tries to control the water seen in desert, it will only lead him to more and more sorrow when he finds its impossible to control the water. Similarly the world which never really has any existence cannot be controlled through power or intellect or by any other means.

Those who seek the ultimate reality of Lord will be able to control the world by knowing that the world is only an illusion thereby not being affected by the activities in the world. Thus for such seekers, there is no real world to be controlled. Such seekers will consider everything as but the presence of the Lord. If something good happens, they will consider it as the grace of the lord. If something bad happens, they will consider it as the will of the Lord. Thus for them there is nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord alone. As a person after waking up is not affected by the dream which he sees, similarly the jnaani doesn’t see anything apart from the ultimate reality of Lord once knowledge dawns. Here we find in Mahaabali such a jnaani who is not at all affected by the activities in the world because he has realized the ultimate reality of Lord along with the knowledge that there is nothing here but the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists, one without a second. It is this knowledge which gives the seeker calmness and equipoise at all times. Even though the asuras as is their nature to get agitated and angry were about to attack Vishnu, Mahaabali stopped them and explained to them that the ultimate reality of Lord cannot be won or overcome through anything.

If a person wishes to control the ultimate reality of Lord, then there is one and only one way. The way is to be fully devoted to the Lord. The scriptures and puranas proclaim that the Lord becomes a servant of his devotees. Thus the Lord himself is there to protect his devotee – this is what we find in the story of Ambariksha among other kings and saints. For a person who is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord is totally under his control. As the Lord is under the control of such a devotee, the world is also under the control of the devotee. Such a devotee never undergoes any tough or calamitous situation – even if the devotee seems to go through such a situation, the Lord will take care that the devotee is rescued from such a situation.

Such a devotee who is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord will not be seeking anything at all because he knows that in reality there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. As a result of this knowledge, the devotee considers everything as the grace of the Lord. The very aim of learning the scriptures and scriptural stories is to achieve this state wherein the seeker is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord thereby ever blissful and rejoicing in the ultimate reality of Lord.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Since Mahaabali didn’t heed his Guru Shukracharya’s words, Shukracharya cursed him. The curse was that since he didn’t heed his Guru therefore he will lose all aishwarya (glory). The curse didn’t affect Mahaabali’s mind even a bit.

Explanation

Since Mahaabali didn’t heed to Shukracharya’s words, Shukracharya cursed him that he will lose all glory and fame. What has glory to do for a person who has established in the ultimate reality of Lord? A person who has totally merged into the ultimate reality by constant contemplation on the ultimate reality of Lord has nothing to do with the asta siddhis or any other thing in the world. He is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord thereby ever rejoicing in the eternal bliss of the Lord. For such a person there is no worldly glory required nor can any curse touch such a person. Curses and sins are only for the person who considers himself the ego associated with the body-mind-intellect complex. But for the seeker or the realized saint who are ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own Self distinct from the body-mind complex, there is no curse at all. Everything is but the blessing of the Lord alone. As a father can never curse nor leave his children in a bad shape, the ultimate reality of Lord cannot curse or leave his children (which are all seekers and non-seekers) in a bad shape. Hence even if something bad happens in the life of a seeker it is only for the welfare of the seeker. A real devotee will ever consider everything as the blessing of the Lord. The devotee ever waits to be of any service to the Lord or his devotees. Hence Mahaabali considered this as a great opportunity to serve the Lord. Also since Mahaabali considered all worldly curses and even the Guru as secondary to the ultimate reality of Lord, he ignored the curse of his Guru Shukracharya.

Once there was a minister to a king. The minister was intelligent and learned but always used to say that “everything happens for the best”. Many of the kings people didn’t like this. Once the King the minister and other soldiers were going for hunting. At that time a branch fell over the head of the King and his head was hurt. They did bandage for the injury. Again the minister said that everything happens for the best. The king couldn’t tolerate this and ordered the minister to be executed the next day morning. The king and his soldiers again went for hunting. The king got lost going ahead. Suddenly some tribal people surrounded the king and captured him. The king became afraid. The tribal folks were getting things ready to offer the king to their goddess. They were dressing the king properly and at that time they found the injury on the king’s head. They stopped the process and released the king because people in injury couldn’t be offered to the goddess. The king then realized the statement of the minister that “everything happens for the best”. He then set the minister free and acknowledged the words of the king.

A seeker has to always remember that the ultimate reality of Lord is ever there to protect him and hence whatever is happening in the world is only for the good. The seeker just has to remember to be ever focused in the ultimate reality of Lord thereby constantly contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord at all times. If the seeker forgets this, that is the biggest sin and curse that can befall him. This curse of forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord will lead the seeker more and more into the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings in the world. Thus a seeker has to be like Mahaabali setting aside everything for the ultimate reality of Lord ever focused in the ultimate reality of Lord

Mahaabali filled water in his crown, offered it at the lotus feet of Vaamana and put a bit on his head (symptom of respect). Devas offered flowers on Mahaabali for the bold thing that he was doing of giving three feet land to Vaamana though he knew that Vaamana would destroy his clan by the same.

Explanation

It is very tough indeed to be bold enough to accept bad/tough situations as the grace of the Lord. It is during these times of distress that everybody succumbs to worldly passions. It is easy to propound and preach Vedanta when a person is in a good situation. But when the real test comes through tough or crisis situations, it is very tough indeed to remember the ultimate reality of Lord and consider the same as the blessing of the Lord. Those who consider everything as the grace of the Lord and seek the Lord at all times irrespective of conducive and non-conducive situation are DHEERAS or bold people. They alone can be called as bold because they are bold enough to withstand the pressure and temptation from the world and be focused on the ultimate reality of Lord.

Mundaka Upanishad openly proclaims that the Lord is not known through either preaching or listening to discourses or through one’s intellect but the Lord is known as one’s own nature of Consciousness through the strong desire of the seeker to realize the Lord which leads the seeker to be ever fixed unto the ultimate reality of Lord. Katha Upanishad proclaims that person to be a dheera who doesn’t succumb to worldly pleasures, thereby controls/diverts the sense organs towards the ultimate reality of Lord.

Swami Tejomayananda (the current head of Chinmaya Mission) once mockingly said: everybody likes sanyaasins except that they shouldn’t be their childrenJ. We can go on speaking about how to react when tsunami comes or when terrorists capture us etc. etc. But when the real situation comes, it is tough to remember whatever one has learnt and apply the same promptly. It is easy to console one’s friend when he hasn’t cleared the CAT but it is tough to stay calm when oneself has failed to clear CAT.

Maintaining calmness and poise at all times is possible only by the person who is ever fixed in the ultimate reality of Lord. This is possible for such a person because he knows clearly that there is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. He knows that the world is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus he merely witnesses all the activities of the world even as we witness the activities happening in a screen in front of the theatre where a movie is going on. This attitude of witnesshood doesn’t let the seeker identify/associate himself with the activities in the world and makes him focused on the non-dual reality of Lord (the substratum of the illusory activities). Thus the seeker is ever established in the non-dual reality of Lord thereby not getting affected by the temporary situations and surroundings.

AMMA says in many places that it is not the surroundings that has to be changed but the inner mental attitude towards the surroundings that has to be changed. Once a king was walking outside his palace in the kingdom. Suddenly a stone pricked his feet. He ordered the entire kingdom to be carpeted for avoiding the same. The minister then advised the king that the entire kingdom need not be carpeted (which is not possible) but the king could wear footwear and avoid the same. It is not possible to change the world because there is no real world at all. Changing the world is like trying to control the water that is seen in desert (mirage). It is because of this reason that powerful people like George Bush and Osama Bin Laden are trying hard to control the world but leading them to destruction of themselves and others alone. Instead of trying to control the illusory world, the seeker has to control the mind by making it strong through knowledge that everything is but an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. When the seeker gains intellectual conviction and constantly remembers this reality, then nothing really affects the seeker & he remains unperturbed by worldly events. This is what we find in Mahaabali in this part of the story. Even though his Guru Shukracharya advised him and even cursed him, Mahaabali was not at all affected. He was ever the same and happily (without any regret) decided to offer three feet of land to Vaamana knowing that it would lead to his destruction. Mahaabali knew that whoever sought the ultimate reality of Lord will never be lead to eternal destruction – it would seem to be leading to worldly destruction but world itself being an illusion, therefore such a destruction doesn’t matter to the real seeker of the Lord. There is and never will be any destruction spiritually for the real seeker of the ultimate reality of Lord – there is just one and only one goal achievable by the seeker of the Lord & that is eternal bliss characterized by complete cessation of sorrow. We will see in the next few parts of the story as to whether Mahaabali was lead to destruction or bliss.

We will continue the story in the next day.

Vaamana after hearing Mahabali’s words replied thus:

“O King! There is nothing in the three worlds which can satisfy a person who is under the control of sense organs thereby seeking sensual pleasures. Whoever somehow gets happiness, he becomes happy. A person who is sad cannot be made happy even if he is provided with the entire three worlds & their entities.

The reason for human being’s sorrow is not getting satisfaction from artha and kaamas (things and pleasures). This dissatisfaction is bondage. Liberation is being satisfied with whatever comes by chance. A saint who is happy with whatever he gets by chance, will always be immersed in the bliss of the ultimate reality of Lord. Brahmajnaana will vanish for a dissatisfied person even as fire is extinguished by water. Therefore I need three feet land alone; my aim will be fully satisfied by this surely.”

Explanation

Here we see Vaamana replying in beautiful sentences about the futility of worldly sensual pleasures and the emphasizing the importance of being satisfied with whatever is achieved by chance. As we discussed in the previous days, the worldly entities can never give eternal bliss because they are temporary. We find a thing today and tomorrow it is not there. Such temporary entities cannot give eternal bliss because they themselves are not permanent. If a person wants to get eternal bliss, he will have to understand that all the temporary things are nothing but mere illusions in the ultimate reality of lord. If a person understands this, he will be ever satisfied with whatever he gets & whatever he has.

Only when a person is satisfied with whatever he has, he can be happy. Happiness is possible only when there is satisfaction and contentment. Thus realized saints who know the worldly entities to be temporary & hence filled with sorrow are ever happy and content with what they have. If the saints get something bad, they consider that also as the grace of the Lord. If they get something good, then also they accept it as the grace of the Lord. Everything is but the grace of the Lord alone for them. The Lord whom they worship is not of a particular form and sitting in Vaikunta or Kailas but it is the ultimate reality of Brahman which is present everywhere and as the substratum of all illusions that are perceived.

Vaamana here clearly shows that the more and more a person tries to gain satisfaction from worldly entities, the more and more he becomes sad. The more a person enjoys things, the more craving he gets for the same. As long as there is craving for worldly pleasures, there will never be satisfaction as always there will be more and more craving. Thus such a person will never be happy and content with what he has. Whenever he gets something, he will crave for something else bigger – this goes on and on without any ending. A person who has a bicycle will crave for a motorcycle. A person with motorcycle will crave for a car. A person with a car will crave for a van. A person with a van will crave for an helicopter. This goes on and on without any end. It is for this reason that the Lord mentions in Gita that the worldly entities are the seeds of sorrow – they seem to give temporary happiness to the seeker but gives only sorrow in the long run. Therefore wise people never go behind worldly pleasures. Wise people will understand that the Lord alone is real and eternal. Hence they will be seeking the ultimate reality of Lord and considering everything as the Lord alone. Thus they don’t have anything to either get or lose. They will ever be immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord thereby being content with whatever worldly things and pleasures they get. They will not crave for happiness nor be sad with sorrow – they will ever be happy and content with whatever they get even if it is sorrow. It is this state of being content with whatever one has that a seeker has to develop and work towards. It is only through this that a seeker can get eternal bliss – that which he is seeking each and every moment.

A person who is not content with whatever he has will never be content even if he is the controller of the three worlds. We find the devas and other asuras never being content with whatever they have and ever seeking things. We have living examples of George Bush, Osama Bin Laden etc. among others who have everything they want to live happily but still not being satisfied with either themselves or the world.

It is another truth that if a person tries to control the world, he will end up in the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. This is because the world itself is not real but only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Trying to control the world is like trying to drink water from the mirage in desert. This is not at all possible and hence the seeker will become sad when he is not able to accomplish it. Thus trying to control the world or trying to get happiness from the world will only lead the seeker to more and more sorrow. The wise person should instead seek the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that everything is but an illusion in the Lord. He will thus be ever content with whatever little he has. It is such a mahatma that we find in Vaamana who didn’t want anything but just three feet of land and was content with the same.

We will see in the next day as to how should a person achieve this state of being content with whatever one has and what all obstacles he might face in the spiritual path.

Smilingly Bali decided to give the three feet of land to Vaamana. At that time, Shukracharya who was Bali’s Guru stopped him. Shukracharya told Mahaabali that Vaamana was the Lord using his Maya powers and that if he was given three feet of land that would be the destruction of the entire clan of asuras. And therefore Shukracharya told that Bali had lie in this case.

Shukra said that for keeping the wives under control, just for fun, to make the bridegroom happy during a marriage, for living, for saving one’s life, to do welfare for cows/Brahmins and to avoid bad for others a person can lie. Hence Bali should lie to Vaamana and get away from the daana; this was the advice of Shukracharya.

Mahaabali was not willing to head the words of his Guru in this case and thereby avoid the daana. Mahaabali replied thus “if it is Vishnu who has come in the form of Vaamana then who can stop him? It is Vishnu who is worshipped by saints like you through yajna and other things. Let him be my friend or foe, I have decided to give him three feet of land.”

Explanation

Different saints proclaim that traversing the spiritual path is like walking along the edges of a razor. The path is filled with lot of troubles and testing. In order to reach the goal of IIT or IIM, we go through a lot of struggle. If gaining worldly pleasures which are temporary itself takes so much effort, what to speak about the effort for eternal bliss? It is for this reason that Vedanta mentions Titiksha or forbearance as one of the mental qualities required in order to apprehend the ultimate reality of Lord propounded in the scriptures. Whatever be the situation and condition, a seeker should still stick his mind unto the ultimate reality of Lord. His mind should have the clear conviction that the Lord alone is real and everything else is temporary. That which is temporary will lead only to sorrows and sufferings whereas that which is permanent alone can give a person eternal bliss. The world as we see daily is changing every moment. The changing world is temporary and hence the seed of sorrow. The ultimate reality of Lord who is the substratum of the changing world is eternal and hence can give a seeker eternal bliss. Eternal bliss from the Lord can be achieved only by totally surrendering unto the Lord and constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord. There is no other way than this to eternal bliss and removal of sorrows/sufferings in the illusory world.

As explained earlier, the spiritual path is filled with troubles in all stages. In today’s world it is but natural to find many self-proclaimed Gurus. If a person gets into the clutches of these false-gurus, he would not only be lead in the right direction but will be taken in the wrong direction. These false-gurus are like a mathematics teacher who doesn’t know to count!!! These gurus are like a 1 year child who himself is unable to walk but claiming to younger children that “I will make you walk”!!!

It is for this reason that Vedanta and real Gurus of Vedanta give emphasis to the scriptures and the ultimate reality of Lord above everything. Even a Guru has lesser significance when compared with the ultimate reality of Lord. Swami Paramaarthananda Saraswathi of Chennai says that a Guru after teaching the student the way to interpret the scriptures says “Now you can directly access the scriptures. If you find some contradiction between my words and the scriptures, take the scriptures to be right & reject my words”. Here by scriptures what Paramaarthananda is emphasizing is the ultimate reality of Lord. It is this subtle point that Bhagavatham is making clear in this part of the story of Mahaabali. Even though the Guru told Mahaabali to tell a lie and not give land to Vaamana, Mahaabali didn’t agree to that. A real seeker will set aside the Guru as well when the Guru poses a threat in the spiritual path. A Guru who deviates from the ultimate reality of Lord is a Guru who has to set aside. Any Guru who proclaims himself to be greater than or equal to God is but a false Guru. Any Guru who proclaims everything as God is a real Guru because what he is propounding is the ultimate reality that everything is the Lord alone, one without a second. These are some of the simple ways in which we can identify a real Guru from a false Guru. A real Guru will always be detached from everything in the world and even the disciples. It will never matter for the Guru whether he has 100 disciples or one disciple or no disciple as he is ever established in the non-dual ultimate reality of Lord. For him, there is nothing but the Lord alone. Such a Guru is a Guru to be sought and worshipped equivalent to the Lord. We should identify and analyze a Guru as to whether he is real or false. This is not a wrong thing to do but the very right of a seeker. When the Lord’s own final advise to Arjuna was “vimrishya etat asheshena yatha icchasi tathaa kuru” – analyze this thoroughly and do as you wish, it is wrong to say that we cannot analyze a Guru.

The human intellect has been given only for analysis. But analysis has to be done as per the scriptures and not as per one’s own wish. Once a person finds a right Guru, he can rest everything else with the Guru as the Guru himself will take the shishya to the ultimate reality of Lord. But for people who are not able to get a realized saint as Guru, we need to analyze and focus our attention on the ultimate reality of Lord. Anything that is against the ultimate reality of Lord and the path to the Lord should be rejected outright even if it is propounded by the Lord himself. Such a seeker alone will reach the ultimate reality of Lord. We find Bhagavatham propounding here that a real seeker or a realized saint will always give importance to the ultimate reality of Lord above even the Guru as we see in Mahaabali. We will see in the next day as to what happens because of Mahaabali setting aside the Guru for the ultimate reality of Lord & we will also see in later parts as to the realized state of Shukracharya as well who was just doing his role of advising and further cursing Mahaabali.

Vishnu in order to save the devas thus took the form of Vaamana. Vaamana was a brahmachari with the sacred thread, deer-skin, danda (staff), kaupina, an umbrella, kamandalu, rudraksha etc. The face of Vaamana shone like the Sun.

Vaamana started directly walking towards the yajnashaala of Mahaabali. His walking was as if he was keeping each step carefully so as to not put weight on bhoomi devi (earth). People in the yajnashaala felt as if the Sun was entering the yajnashaala. Seeing him, everybody stood up and prostrated him. Mahaabali stood up and gave a seat for Vaamana to sit.

Explanation

As we discussed in the previous day, Bhagavatham here is emphasizing again on the witness-hood attitude of a person. The ultimate reality of Lord is never affected by the activities in the world. But whatever be the dress or the role that the Lord plays, his face will reflect the brightness which is in the very nature of the Lord. Unlike the four-hand Vishnu form, here the Lord has the form of a brahmachari (to be precise a dwarf) wearing no ornaments but still the face shone like the Sun. This is why the scriptures proclaim that the Lord is brighter than the Sun – the Sun itself gets brightness from the Lord alone. A person who knows the ultimate reality of Lord verily becomes the Lord and hence he also shines like the Sun.

Ramana Maharshi was an apt example for the same. He was clad in just a kaupina. He never used to speak; didn’t go outside Tiruvannamalai. He was ever situated in any of the caves in Tiruvannamalai. But the fame of Maharshi spread even to the west thus bringing people like Paul Brunton and others from various parts of the world to the small town of Tiruvannamalai.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa used to always tell that a saint is like a flower – it will automatically attract bees wherever it is situated. A realized saint will thus ever be attracting people seeking everything ranging from worldly petty things to spiritual glory of realization. As the Lord mentions in Gita, whoever seeks the Lord with whatever desire, his desire will be fulfilled.

Through all these statements and illustrations, the scriptures proclaim that if a person seeks things in the world whether it is worldly material or realization, he should seek the ultimate reality of Lord through the various realized saints and their words. It is only through this that the seeker will be able to apprehend the glory of the ever present Lord thereby realizing the reality that there is no duality whatsoever here & whatever exists is only the Lord alone, one without a second. We all thus have to seek realized saints in order to apprehend the truth embedded in the scriptures and to get guidance regarding the path towards the truth. As various saints have proclaimed, India is a blessed country where we will find many realized saints and their traditions. We have the various sankaracharyas who have been imparted the truth from Adi Sankaracharya and still keeping up the tradition. We also have the various missions like Chinmaya Mission, Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Ramakrishna Mission, Mata Amritanandamayi Math etc. (to name a few) who are propagating the ultimate reality of Lord and the way to the same through realized saints & their followers. It is but foolish if a person doesn’t seek these saints and still wants to get liberated from the ocean of samsaara. It is possible only for a very few like Prof. Balakrishnan Nair to get liberated without seeking any of the realized saints – this is possible only through strong intellectual conviction and punya karmas of previous births. For the normal people, realization is inevitable without seeking the various realized saints and following the path laid down by them towards the ultimate reality of Lord. Seeking the saints doesn’t mean that a person has to blindly consider them as God and follow them. This only means that the seeker has to tread the path towards the reality by having frequent satsangs with these saints.

Any realized saint will never proclaim himself as God and if he does so, he is not a realized saint. A person who acknowledges himself and everything as the Lord is alone a realized saint. A realized saint like Vaamana will not discriminate between things because for him everything is but the Lord with an illusory name and form.

It is very important in current times to not get caught into the hold of false Gurus. If a person is very fearful in following any of these Gurus, he can seek the saints who propound the truth in the scriptures through proper interpretation of the scriptures. It is very easy to find out a realized saint who will not at all go against the truth propounded by Sankaracharya and other acharyas like Chitsukha, Vidyaranya etc.

Let us all like true seekers of the reality of Lord seek the truth embedded in the scriptures through proper surrendering to the various spiritual saints (who are either in physical form or present as their teachings) thereby understanding the truth in the scriptures, gaining devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord and realizing our own very nature of non-dual Lord.

Mahaabali asked Vaamana what he wanted. Vaamana replied that he doesn’t have many desires but just wants space equivalent to three strides of his feet. Mahaabali replied “O Brahmachari! I guess you are not thinking much. I don’t want a person who has come to me seeking something to go to others for seeking. Hence ask whatever you want”.

Explanation

In this part of the story, we find Mahaabali having a large heart and generous enough to give everything he had to people. It is indeed very tough to get such a heart and mind which is ready to provide whatever is being asked or sought. This in itself shows the high and elevated state of mind of Mahaabali. A person will be able to give whatever is present with him only if he is not attached to the things that he possesses. This is possible only if the person is a mere witness to the activities and possessions which he has. This attitude of witness-hood is what we saw in the last few postings. The Self or real “I” in each person is in fact a mere witness to all activities. But it is ignorance of this nature of oneself as the witness of all illusory activities which causes a person to consider himself as the ego associated and identified with the body-mind-intellect complex. When a person wrongly identifies himself with the ego, he gets associated with things and possessions. This association causes him to be attached closely and dearly to the possessions. As he is attached to his possessions, he will not want to part with the possessions. This causes a person to keep his things safe and out of reach of others. Even though there are many rich people who have more than what is sufficient for them, they are unwilling to share the same with others because of the superimposition with the ego and attitude of attachment to the possessions.

As various saints point out, the toughest part in the spiritual path is wherein the seeker tries to split the ego and the Self thereby identifying himself with the witness of Self. It takes lot of effort either intellectually or through practice in order to overcome the illusion of identification with the ego. It is possible through scriptural learning and complete surrender to the ultimate reality of Lord. Through knowledge, a person gets the conviction that he is not the ego but the Self. This becomes strengthened when it is put into practice by the seeker completely surrendering unto the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus through knowledge and devotion, a seeker easily overcomes the ego. Realization is possible only when the ego attitude is removed and the seeker identifies himself with the witness of the ultimate reality of Lord.

We find Mahaabali as a person who had conquered his ego as there was no attitude of possessiveness nor was there any attachment to the activities in the world. We will seeing the realized state of Mahaabali in the coming days while continuing with the story.

Mahabaali’s reply to Vaamana about asking whatever he wants is a way of the scripture to point out to all seekers that even though a person might get whatever he wants in the world, he will not be peaceful and happy. Happiness is never in the external entities but it is only in the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own very nature of non-dual Consciousness. We find rich people in the world not being satisfied and peaceful with money like Bill Gates. We also find powerful people like George Bush and others still not being satisfied with the power that they have. All these show us that happiness, peace and satisfaction is never in the world but it is in the inner attitude of a seeker alone. Ramana Maharshi was happy with just a small piece of cloth – there are many saints in the Himalayas who are content with very little whatever they have. Vaamana will be answering Mahaabali’s reply in a beautiful way in the next part of the story which we will see in the next day.

Mahaabali was instructed by his acharya (Shukracharya) that everything is but Brahman or Consciousness or Lord alone. A person is just playing a role in the play of illusory world. The world is nothing but Brahman playing the role of many people. Mahaabali got the conviction that the role he was playing now was that of an asura chakravarthi. The duty of an asura was to fight the deva and hence he fought with the devas. He lost to the devas for the first time. But he didn’t become tired and after having pleased the Guru, he attacked the devas with still more power. The devas became afraid and sought Brihaspathi seeking a solution for the same. Brihaspathi told the devas that the time is not good for them now and hence it was better for them to stay in a place away from svarga. Heeding the Guru’s words, devas along with Indra fled from svarga. Mahaabali’s fame spread throughout the world. Mahaabali started doing many ashwamedha yajnaas.

Explanation

We find Bhagavatham as well mentioning that Mahaabali received instruction from his Guru of Shukracharya. What is the instruction??? The instruction is the essence of all the scriptures irrespective of whether it is sruthi (Vedas and Upanishads) or smrithi (gita, manu smrithi, yajnavalkya smrithi etc.) or puranas or the brahma sutras. The instruction is that there is no duality whatsoever here – whatever exists is only the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. The duality or differences that are seen in the world are only names and forms of the ultimate reality of Lord. Even as gold chain and gold necklace are mere illusions of names and forms in gold, similarly the various entities in the world are mere illusions of names and forms in the reality of Lord. Any name and form is not real and has no reality apart from the underlying substratum. The world also has no reality apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. It is thus one and the same Lord who is portraying different roles in this long world. It is very much similar to the dream world where the dreamer portrays the different characters appearing in the dream. Each role has its own dharma or rule to be followed. This is the reason why we cannot really define dharma as this or that. Dharma word itself signifies that which supports life – for an asura, the dharma is attacking devas. The dharma for a sanyaasin is contemplation whereas keeping up the generation through begetting of children is one of the dharma of a grihastha. Both are contradictory if we try to mix them. Dharma of different people is different.

What is important for a seeker is to follow his dharma (svadharma) remembering the ultimate reality of Lord and offering it as an offering to the Lord. This alone purifies the mind thereby making it easy for him to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. Constant contemplation of the Lord along with the knowledge that there is nothing apart from the Lord alone leads a person to realization of one’s own nature of non-dual Lord. We have discussed about dharma and adharma many times before but it is very important to remember that real dharma of human being is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. The very first dharma that we say of a child is knowing its name, its parents etc. Similarly until we know our own very nature of Lord, we haven’t or aren’t following any dharma. If we don’t seek the knowledge that gives us the answer to the question of “who am I”, we are not different from mad people who have forgotten their own state of human-hood. It is thus very necessary to understand and know clearly that the primary dharma of human life is realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. All other dharmas are only secondary when compared with this primary dharma of realization of the Lord. All sadhana or practices that leads a person to the ultimate reality of Lord are the actions to be given primary importance. We spend 18 hours in the world and only half an hour or even less for the Lord; instead we have to spend 18 hours for the Lord and half an hour for the Lord – this is the only way to realization of the Lord as it is possible only through constant contemplation and continuous effort from the seeker. This doesn’t mean that we have to quit from the world and take sanyaas – but this only means that even while we are doing activities in the world, we have to remember the Lord and offer the activities unto the Lord. This way, we are in fact sanyaasins renounced from the activities with respect to the fruits of actions and the ego. It is because of this that Janaka, Mahaabali and others were considered to be jeevan mukthas and even Vyaasa sends sanyaasins like Shuka to these kings for gaining knowledge.

It is to emphasize constant remembrance of the Lord that Bhagavatham is repeatedly giving the accounts of the lives of kings like Janaka and Mahaabali. On the contrary we find very few stories of sanyaasins in the puranas. The path of sanyaas is very tough indeed and a person can follow it only if he has strong conviction and is fit to follow the path. Hence sanyaas is not for all people – the path of offering all actions unto the Lord while remembering the Lord at all times is easy and can be followed by any person. There is no limitation whatsoever for this whereas even sanyaas has limitations. A sanyaasin cannot indulge too much in sensual pleasures – he cannot go after lust whereas there is no such restriction for a person in the world. Even though a person might be having lustful thoughts in the mind but if he is offering that also to the Lord while remembering the Lord, the lustful thought itself becomes a sadhana in the spiritual path. Though the person is succumbing to lustful thoughts, he is not at all being affected by those as there is no thinker in the person (because he has offering everything unto the Lord – even the lustful thought and thinker as well).

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Seeing her children suffering, Aditi (the mother of devas) became very sad. She started performing vratas. She prayed sincerely to Lord Vishnu that the sorrow of her children be removed. Thus the Lord was born as Vamana (the son of aditi) in order to remove the sorrows of the devas. The Lord who has four arms, is the form of Brahman and controlling the entire world took this particular form of Vaamana as a role in a big play.

Explanation

We find a couple of important things in this part of the story. One is that the Lord alone is the refuge for the people who are suffering in the ocean of samsaara. If the Lord is sought, then worldly problems as well as spiritual problems also will be solved. The Lord is so compassionate that he doesn’t stop with solving of worldly problems alone – instead he takes the seeker to the ultimate reality of eternal bliss. This is what is signified through the four weapons (equipments) that Vishnu has in his four hands. The Lord shows the blooming lotus which signifies the eternal reality of Brahman or Lord which alone can give bliss to the seeker. If the seeker fails to see the lotus, the Lord blows the conch to get the attention of the seeker. Still if the seeker doesn’t seek the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord takes out the mace and gives a blow to the seeker. If the seeker still doesn’t give attention towards the Lord, the Lord takes the disc (chakra) and kills the Ego. All these are valid only for the seeker who takes refuge in the Lord for one or the other thing. Hence it is mentioned by saints that a person who seeks the Lord even for worldly pleasures is greater and superior to the one who doesn’t seek the Lord at all. Such seekers who seek the Lord for worldly pleasures have been termed as arthis (wealth seeking person) in the Gita.

A person who seeks the Lord for worldly pleasures but still is devoted to the Lord will be shown the lotus of the Self. If the seeker doesn’t give much attention to the Self or the Lord but gives more attention to the worldly entities, the conch will be blown. This is in the form of messages and advises from all directions for the seeker to seek the Lord. The Lord as we have been learning till now can be realized only through pure devotion and knowledge. Both knowledge and devotion are not different but one alone. There needs to be scriptural study as well as devotion accompanied by surrender towards the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus for the seeker who is devoted to the Lord for worldly pleasures, there will be messages through friends and devotees of the Lord to study the scriptures as well as to spend more time in satsang related activities. If the seeker still doesn’t spend time in spirituality, the Lord will give small blows to the seeker. This will be in form of troubles and sorrows. It is but natural that a seeker who is devoted to the Lord for worldly pleasures will seek the Lord at times of distress. Thus these distress moments will be quite frequent for those seekers who fail to seek the ultimate reality of Lord. Even if still the seeker doesn’t seek the Lord, the Lord himself will kill the Ego of the seeker by forcefully making him study the scriptures and achieve devotion. It is thereby we find people being taken to such a bad situation that they cannot but totally surrender unto the Lord for solution to their problems. Thus those problems are not problems but ways in which the Lord is making the seeker come towards the ultimate reality of Lord. This is thus the way through which the Lord makes his devotee realize the ultimate reality of Lord. We find here thus the devas and aditi in distress thereby making them seek the ultimate reality of Lord. The Lord himself during the Krishna avatar mentions to his mother that this is the third time you are seeking me as the son – at least now stop. The Lord was first born as kapila to devahuti, then as vamana to aditi and finally Krishna to Devaki.

All these stories thus show that a seeker who has taken refuge in the Lord will be lead to the ultimate reality of Lord finally. Seekers who gain conviction about the futility of worldly pleasures and eternality of the Lord alone will be lead easily and directly to the Lord whereas those who tend to get attracted and deviated into the worldly pleasures will be lead slowly and progressively.

The second important point we get from this part of the story is that everybody is but the Lord alone playing one or the other role in this huge play of waking world. As the single dreamer plays different roles in the dream world, similarly the ultimate reality of Lord plays different roles of Krishna, Vaamana etc. in this huge play of waking world. It is knowledge of this reality that there is nothing here but the Lord alone that these avatars are not affected by the activities of the illusory world. It is for the same reason that the realized saints in the world also are unaffected by worldly activities and outcome of those worldly activities. Through this the scriptures point out that we all are nothing but the Lord alone but in one or the other role (which has a different form, name etc.). If we know this reality, we will not be affected by the activities but will be a mere witness to all the activities of the world. This witnesshood is what Vedanta terms as kutastha or sakshi. This is the real state of the Self which is our very nature of Consciousness. We have constantly remember that we all are not the ego but the witness of Consciousness – that which is the same as the ultimate reality of Lord. Once we remember this, we will not be affected by activities and will be constantly contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord thereby realizing our own very nature of non-dual Lord.

We will continue with the story in the next day

Remembering the ultimate reality of Lord as main goal of the study of the various stories of Srimad Bhagavatham, let us learn the next story. The next story is that of Mahaabali, the great asura chakravarthi. As we have learnt in many of the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham, there is a general wrong notion in the minds of people that the various asuras were not realized and against the Lord. That this is completely wrong is clearly shown in the various stories in the puranas like that of Prahlaada and Mahaabali.

There were a great set of asuras who were realized souls and ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord. These were jeevan mukthas unlike the devas who were often deluded into sensual pleasures as seen in the stories. The asura parampara starting from Prahlaada and ending with Mahabali shows us that it doesn’t matter what is the activity that a person does in life – what really matters is the attitude behind all illusory activities. So long as a person does actions remembering the ultimate reality of Lord and offering it unto the Lord, he is either a seeker or a realized saint only.

We have already seen while learning the story of Prahlaada that Prahlaada was a realized being ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord. Prahlaada’s son was Virochana. Virochana’s son was the great Mahaabali who is very famous in the clan of the asuras. We find the story of Mahaabali in the Bhagavatham as well as in the Yoga Vasistha. Yoga Vasistha’s narration and way of pointing out the reality is quite distinct. It will be very useful for seekers of the reality. Hence while learning the story of Mahaabali, we will also try to view the story from Yoga Vasistha as well.

It is but right that people who are not well learned in the stories or are not pure in mind to apprehend the meaning of the stories will bring out false imports of the stories. It is one of such wrong notion that Mahaabali was pushed into Paathala by the Lord. This is completely wrong. Bhagavatham beautifully describes as to what happened to Bali at the end. Mahaabali was not send to Paathala but to Suthala with the vow of the Lord that whenever he wants to meet the Lord, the Lord will be present there. Thus we should again and again remember that the action that a person does or the vamsa (clan) in which a person is born doesn’t matter – it has got nothing to do with spiritual progress. Spirituality is beyond the limitations of body. A person who is pure in the heart is a great bhakthi; he is a great yogi as his mind is pure and controlled; he is also a jnaani as he knows that the Lord alone is real & everything else is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord.

We will learn in the coming days that Mahaabali clearly catered to this kind of definition of a real bhaktha of the ultimate reality of Lord. Even though he was an asura by action, he was brahma nista by attitude. He was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. It is because of this that when Vaamana asked for keeping the foot on his head, Mahaabali didn’t go back on his word. He had already realized that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is real – the body and other limitations are only mere illusions in the reality of Lord. Mahaabali as he was aware of this knowledge, considered himself blessed that the Lord himself had come to ask something from him. Therefore Mahaabali didn’t even heed the words of his Guru Shukracharya who told him not to grant his words as Vamana was Vishnu. A real seeker of the ultimate reality of Lord will never let anything stop his progress in the spiritual path. Even if the Guru comes in the way of the reality of Lord, the seeker will keep aside the Guru and walk in the spiritual path. This is exactly what Mahaabali did. We may again think wrongly and come to the conclusion that Mahaabali was punished because he was cursed by Shukracharya for not heeding his advice – but this thought also is because of ignorance alone. Bhagavatham clearly points out three jeevan mukthas in the last part of this story – the three being Mahaabali, Vaamana and Shukracharya. Each person did what they had to do in the illusory play of the Lord not being affected by the surroundings and environment. It is because of contemplation of the reality of Lord that Mahaabali didn’t heed to Shukra’s words. Shukra cursed him because that was the role he had to play in this illusory play of the Lord. We will see this in detail when we learn that part of the story.

This particular story is a beautiful one because it brings out the essence of knowledge of the scriptures as well as tells us as to how to live in the world unaffected by the activities of the world.

We will start the story of Mahaabali today. As mentioned earlier, Mahaabali’s father was Virochana whose father was Prahlaada. Prahlaada was a jnaani and bhaktha of the ultimate reality of Lord. Prahlaada even made his father realize the reality that whatever is present is only the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus the tradition of knowledge was passed down from Prahlaada to Mahaabali. We find the Yoga Vasistha speaking about Virochana speaking about the reality to his son Mahaabali when he was young. When Mahaabali took over the charge of the kingdom, he remembers the advice of his father about the ultimate reality of Lord. Virochana had mentioned that the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists and whatever else exists is only an illusion in the Lord. But in order to confirm it from the Guru, Mahaabali thinks about Shukracharya and the Guru arrives at the place. Mahaabali puts forth his questions about what all really exists in the world and Shukra answers thus:

Chidiha asthihi chinmaatram idam chinmayameva cha
Chit tvam chit aham ethe lokaah chit ithi sangrahah

Consciousness alone exists here, there is nothing other than Consciousness. Everything is Consciousness alone. You are Consciousness, I am Consciousness and the world is Consciousness – this is the knowledge in brief.

Chit chetyakalithaa bandhah tanmukthaa mukthiruchyathe
Chit achetyaa kila aatmethi sarva Vedanta sangrahah

Consciousness when mixed with thoughts is bondage and removal of thoughts from Consciousness is liberation. Consciousness devoid of thoughts is called Atman – this is the essence of all scriptures.

He who understands the reality from this will realize the reality. He who cannot understand this will never understand and his learning will be like pouring ghee over ashes (for fire).

Keep this reality in mind and always contemplate on the reality. You will by yourself realize the ultimate reality of Lord in time.

The above is the teaching that Shukra gives to Mahaabali. As we can see, the instruction is crisp and easy to understand as well. He who cannot understand this brief instruction will never understand it at all. There is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. The dualities and differences that appear in the world are only mere illusions in the Lord. The scriptures speak about the Lord as prajnaanam or Consciousness. Hence Yoga Vasistha uses the word of CHIT to point out the ultimate reality of Lord. Chit is that which illumines itself and other illusory things. Without chit, there is no existence at all. If a person is not conscious, there will no world or things at all. Thus Consciousness or Chit alone is the essence of everything. That which we perceive in the world are in fact Chit alone as they are illumined by Chit alone. The duality is only names and forms of the ultimate reality of Lord. If we remove the illusory names and forms through constant contemplation of the reality that Lord alone exists, we will realize this ultimate reality. Realization of reality doesn’t require special sadhana or paths but it just requires constant contemplation of the reality knowing through the intellect that there is the Lord alone here. This is what Yoga Vasistha is telling that a person who remembers the reality that the Lord alone exists & contemplates on the Lord at all times will easily realize his own very nature of Lord in due time. Time depends on the strength of conviction and the time that a person uses for contemplation. IF a person is able to gain conviction that there is the Lord alone and contemplates on this reality at all times, he will realize the Lord within a day. It even doesn’t require a day also – it just requires a moment. Time constraint is not really there for realization because realization is knowing our own real nature of Lord.

Ramana Maharshi used to tell that the time for realization is the time taken for light to enter into a dark room when it is switched on. We all know that the time taken is very less – similarly when the light of knowledge and devotion arises in a person, that very moment he realizes the ultimate reality of Lord which removes the darkness of ignorance of one’s own nature of Lord.

Mahaabali after listening to Shukra’s words, analyzed the same and concluded that he will ever be established in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus he became always immersed in the Lord though externally he was into many activities.

This is the version that we find in the Yoga Vasistha. WE will start with the story of Mahaabali as found in the Bhagavatham from tomorrow.

The goal of human life is to attain immortality in the form of ever-present and unlimited bliss. This is what each and every being in the world is searching throughout day and night. We all are searching for happiness in the external world. There would be no place or area which has not been tested out by humans for happiness but the result of all such testing and search has been sorrow and sorrow only; humans haven’t been able to get eternal bliss which is being sought by them at all times. Eternal bliss cannot be achieved from the external world because the world is temporary. Anything that is temporary cannot give eternal bliss as the entity itself will vanish after some time. That which is not present after some time cannot give happiness after it vanishes. Hence temporary entities cannot give eternal bliss. Eternal bliss can be achieved only from eternal entity.

The scripture speak about Brahman or Lord as the one and only eternal entity. Everything else that we see and perceive is only a temporary appearance in the Lord. Since Lord alone is real and everything else is changing, therefore the Lord is called the ultimate reality. Ultimate means that which is permanent, eternal and absolute. Reality is that which is ever present as real or existent in all the three times of past, present and future.

The ultimate reality of Lord or Brahman is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. The Lord is existence because he exists beyond time and time itself is only a creation in the Lord. The Lord is consciousness because he is conscious of his own existence; he gives light to himself as well as other temporary existences of the world. If the Lord was not conscious of his own existence, then he will become like an insentient rock; such an insentient entity will not be able to illuminate either itself or other entities; hence such an entity will not be existent at all if not for any other light. The Lord is therefore mentioned a the light of all lights and the light that illumines everything and the light following which everything else becomes illuminated or get existence. The Lord is also bliss because he is infinite and unlimited. That which is unlimited will be full of bliss because there is no limitation.

Thus we can conclude that realization of the ultimate reality of Lord who alone is blissful can lead us to eternal bliss - lead us to the goal that we all are seeking. It is only through realization of the Lord that a person can get eternal bliss, there is no other way to eternal bliss. This Lord is not different from oneself because we all are conscious beings and of the nature of Consciousness. It is ignorance of one’s own nature which causes a person to think that he is different from the Lord and the limited ego. This ignorance can be removed only through knowledge and devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord. When a seeker constantly contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord as the only real entity and the world as a mere illusion in the Lord, he overcomes the ignorance which veils his very nature of Lord. It is this contemplation that is achieved through the various beautiful and miraculous stories of the Srimad Bhagavatham. If we tend to forget this aim of Srimad Bhagavatham in helping the seeker gain contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord, the study of Bhagavatham itself will be futile and of no use. It is very easy to get diverted in the stories about the glory, power and miracles of the Lord but a seeker should never get deviated into the stories instead he should ever remember the ultimate reality of Lord as the essence of the stories. All the stories help the seeker in gaining more and more knowledge as well as contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord; they also show the user as to how to progress in life overcoming the obstacles and finally achieving the goal of realization of one’s own nature of Lord.

It is always important to remember the goal of ultimate reality of non-dual Lord while hearing or studying the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham. It is for this reason that we have been trying to analyze and bring our attention back to the ultimate reality in between each and every story.

This might seem to be a repetition of the same thing over and over. But it is through constant repetition that focus is gained and it is ensured that the seeker is not distracted from the ultimate reality of Lord. When a small child is learning a rhyme, he/she repeats it tens and hundreds of time thereby making the mind focused and fixed on the rhyme. Through this the child becomes clear and can repeat the rhyme anytime. This is even true in the case of any subject irrespective of age. This is the same thing that is required and emphasized in Srimad Bhagavatham as well. Each story of Bhagavatham is not telling the glory of the Lord but shouting aloud that the Lord alone is there, one without a second. Each story is emphasizing in different ways the ultimate reality of Lord as one’s own nature and non-dual reality of Consciousness. We have to make sure that we don’t forget this reality amidst the beautiful stories.

Let us all try to be focused on the ultimate reality of Lord thereby constantly contemplating on the Lord as our own nature and gaining the ultimate goal of eternal bliss in this very birth itself.

We will start with the next story in the coming days keeping in mind the ultimate reality of Lord as the goal of all the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham.