Srimad Bhagavatham

When Durvaasa came to Vishnu for protection, Vishnu replied thus:

I am under the control of real devotees; I have no freedom of my own. Great seers who have contemplated upon me as the only entity present everywhere have conquered and bonded me in their hearts. O Brahmana! These are people who have renounced everything seeking shelter in me alone; how can I not help them?

Explanation

In this part of Srimad Bhagavatham, the Lord mentions as to what is his weakness and how we can easily get the grace of the Lord. The statement of the Lord is not over yet and we will continue the same the next day as well.

The only weakness of the Lord is his devotees. Truly speaking, there is no weakness for the Lord because he is the one and only entity present. But from the empirical viewpoint, there is only one way to realize the ultimate reality of Lord. The way to realize that is through pure devotion. The Lord is bound by the devotee even as a worldly person is bound to sensual pleasures. This is because a person who is a real devotee of the Lord has the Lord in his heart at all times. The devotee always thinks about the Lord only – there is not even a single moment that passes by without remembrance of the Lord. Even as a father is bound by his child because of pure devotion of the child; similarly the Lord is bound by the devotee because of pure devotion of the devotee. As it is the responsibility of the father to look after his devoted child, it is the responsibility of the Lord to take care of his devotee who has renounced everything for the sake of the Lord. Thus there are multiple reasons of weakness of the Lord towards or about his devotees.

Therefore what Bhagavatham means here is that the Lord’s primary duty is to protect his devotees. Anything else comes second only for the Lord. In this particular story, the primary duty of the Lord is to protect his real devotee (who in this case is Ambariksha). That protection was given by the Lord through his own chakra. Saving Durvaasa was secondary for the Lord because Durvaasa was not a real devotee; instead he was just a siddha egoistic about his limited and illusory siddhis. Thereby the Lord says clearly over here that he cannot protect Durvaasa because Ambariksha was his real devotee saving whom was the main priority of the Lord. This is keeping in sync with the Lord’s own words in Gita that “I will take care of my devotees”. Thus for a real devotee, there requires nothing else. If a person has real devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord, then there is nothing else that is required in life. As the Lord mentions in the bhakthi yoga chapter that he himself will take the devotee through the ocean making the devotee cross the ocean of samsaara thereby realizing the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord.

Crossing over the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and realization of the blissful Lord is the very aim of all beings irrespective of caste, creed etc. This can be achieved only through pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord remembering that the Lord alone is present here & everything else is only an illusion in the Lord. We all as seekers knowingly seeking the ultimate reality of Lord should strive to become pure devotees of the Lord which alone can make us achieve our goal of eternal bliss. Through these various stories of Bhagavatham which depict clearly that pure devotion towards the ultimate reality of Lord is the only way out of the ocean of samsaara, we have to cultivate pure devotion. Pure devotion is constant contemplation of the Lord at all times remembering that the Lord alone is present as the substratum of all illusory names and forms. This is possible even while we are working in office or are driving back home or doing any other activity. There is nothing that we need to show externally that we are devotees; internally we just need to remember the Lord at all times, offering all our activities at the feet of the Lord. This alone is real devotion. Mere wearing of sacred marks, going to temple, singing the Lord’s names in bhajans – these are not real devotion. Real devotion is constant contemplation of the Lord in the mind whatever be the action that a person is doing externally. As Sri Ramakrishna gives the beautiful example of the maid in a rich house who looks after everything in the house but still her mind is always thinking and attached to her child at her house. Similarly we have to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord who alone is present as the substratum of all illusory names and forms in the world. Once we follow this, we are real devotees of the Lord and then the Lord is there to protect us from the ocean of samsaara thereby leading us to eternal bliss.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

The Lord continued:

Real devotees of mine are my very nature and I am their very nature. They don’t know anything apart from me and I also don’t know anything apart from them. I will tell you the way out of this problem that you are into now. This problem has been caused by you alone due to your anger. Therefore go back to Ambariksha and seek refuge in him. Know that if you try to show your siddhis to my devotees, it will only lead you into trouble.

Explanation

The Lord proclaims in Gita:
kaama esha krodha esha rajo guna samudhbhavah
Mahaashano mahaapaapma vidhi enam iha vairinam

Desire and anger, these are born out of rajas (the quality of activity) - these bind a person and thereby cause him to do sins - therefore know these to be the enemies of seekers.

We find the Lord mentioning to Durvaasa that anger was the cause of the problem that Durvaasa was into. Anger and desire are caused due to likes and dislikes. When a person likes laddoos and doesn't get it, he becomes angry. Instead if he gets laddoos, he becomes attracted to it. Similarly if a person gets something which he dislikes, then he becomes angry. Thus anger is caused out of likes and dislikes. In this story, Durvaasa was egoistic about his siddhis & hence disliked what Ambariksha had done. If only Durvaasa had accepted Ambariksha's drinking of water as a means of breaking the vratha, all the running that he had to do would have been avoided. What was the great fault that Ambariksha did??? He just drank water in order to break the vratha.

Bhagavatham is here pointing to the likes-dislikes of each one of us. We have one or the other likes and dislikes in life. We not have have these but are totally attached to them. Situation is such that we cannot live without them. This bonding is the main cause of all problems. Only if we realize the futility of the entities of the world and have such strong bonding towards the Lord, we would be soon liberated from the ocean of samsaara. We are all Durvaasas in one way or the other getting attached to and averted from one or the other thing in the world. For some, it is job that is the object of bondage. For others, it will be family. Yet others, it is money. Thus one or the other way, we all are in bondage with the objects of the world not realizing that the objects are temporary and illusory. Since they are temporary and illusory, we tend to forget that they will lead us only to sorrows and sufferings as Durvaasa was led to. There will surely come a time when the object that we are bonded to will be lost -- during that time, we will become angry like Durvaasa. This anger will be directed towards the Lord in the case of believers of God. In the case of athiests, this will be directed towards either the parents or somebody else in the world. In the case of believers, the Lord will take care that they come to know the futility of bondage as Durvaasa was explained to by the Lord. In the case of athiests, the sorrow of other people will lead them to more and more sufferings. Since the activities in the world is all linked to the mind, therefore if the mind of one person is afflicted or affected that would in turn affect the mind of all other people. It is because of this that if we are in a hospital or a death-place, we will be sad even though we are not really sad. Similarly if go to a party where everyone is happily dancing, we will also feel like dancing.

Thus when athiests shout at other people, a sad vibration travels from the people towards the athiest. This in turn leads the athiest into more and more sorrow as a result of the action (every action has an equal reaction to it similar to Newton's third law). When the athiest faces more and more sorrow, he will finally end up believing the all-pervasive entity of Lord. Thus finally he will also be made to realize the futility of the bondage towards worldly objects by the Lord.

Isn't it better to seek the Lord than the worldly objects once we know the futility of the objects??? Yes, it is. If we dont accept this, we will be made to accept the same even as Durvaasa is made to accept by the Lord in this part of the story.

Durvaasa said thus to Ambariksha:

See the adharma done by this self-proclaimed Vishnu bhaktha. I will let u experience the effect of inviting a guest for food and having food without the guest.

Saying thus, Durvaasa took a hair from his head and hit it on the ground. Out of the hair came a Krittika, who was looking fearful and whose each steps where as if the earth was shaking. Krittika advanced towards Ambariksha to kill him. But Ambariksha didn’t move at all from the place he was standing. At that time, the chakra appointed by Vishnu to protect Ambariksha moved towards Krittika and killed her. The chakra then moved towards Durvaasa to kill him.

Explanation

We clearly see the difference between an ignorant siddha and a jeevan muktha in this part of Srimad Bhagavatham. Siddhis are as good as any worldly possessions – they might be something greater than normal abilities of beings but still they are at the empirical level. Ultimately any siddhi is also an illusion as it depends on duality and is at the empirical illusory plane. Moreover as Patanjali clearly mentions in the yoga sutras, siddhis becomes obstacles to Samadhi or realization. These siddhis cause a person to become more egoistic thereby forgetting the ever-present ultimate reality of Lord. The moment a person forgets the ultimate reality of Lord, he enters into the illusion of samsaara. Samsaara has nothing to offer but sorrows and sufferings. It is into this samsaara that Durvaasa was lead because he forget the ultimate reality of Lord and became egoistic about his siddhis. Siddhis might be attractive to worldly people and it would attract few followers, money, fame etc. But these don’t affect the jeevan muktha who has realized the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord. For a person who knows that there is nothing here but the Lord alone – and that the duality that is perceived is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord, there is no fear or fluctuation of the mind. As the Lord mentions in Gita that such a yogi’s mind will be steady like the flame of the lamp when there is no wind.

Thus here on one side, Durvaasa was egoistic on his siddhis thereby getting angry and attacking Ambariksha – and on the other side, we have the realized Ambariksha who was not at all moving because his mind was ever fixed in the ultimate reality of Lord. For a person who has surrendered unto the ultimate reality of Lord, there is nothing apart from the Lord – thus he doesn’t have any happiness or sorrow or fear but is ever blissful in the contemplation of the Lord. For such a person, worldly afflictions and sufferings are mere illusions and like dream happenings. Even then, the Lord who is a servant of his devotees protects such a devotee at the empirical level. Thus though Ambariksha didn’t request for any help still the Lord had appointed the chakra for his protection. When the Krittika progressed towards Ambariksha to kill him, the chakra killed the Krittika. This is what happens for devotees who have surrendered completely unto the Lord. Whatever be the situation, the Lord will be there for protection. Though some situations might seem as if the devotee is struggling or suffering, still those sufferings are only for the good as the Lord takes care of the well-being of the devotee.

Through this part, Bhagavatham is telling each one of us that if we also surrender completely unto the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord will take care of everything for us. Nothing can touch us if we are real devotees like Ambariksha. Not even the siddhi power of Durvaasa could affect Ambariksha even at the empirical worldly level. We will see in the next day as to what happens for the person who tries to attack the jeevan muktha – such a person will be suffering a lot if he tries to attack the jeevan muktha. We know of such real-life incidents in the lives of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Mata Amritanandamayi where people have tried to attack them but finally unable to do so surrender to them. We will see a few of these real-life incidents in the next day.

Seeing the chakra coming towards him, Durvaasa started seeking shelter in wherever he could go to as he wanted to save his life. He hid in the ocean; he went to svarga; but all those places, the chakra followed him. Finally he sought shelter under the creator Brahma. Brahma said that he including all beings is dolls in the hands of Vishnu and hence I cannot help you from the Vishnu chakra. Durvaasa then ran from there to Kailas seeking shelter under Lord Siva. Siva replied that he was only a person working as per the instructions of jagadeeshwara Vishnu. And Siva said to Durvaasa that Vishnu alone could help him from the chakra. Hearing this, Durvaasa ran to Lord Vishnu and asked himself to be saved because even a person in Naraka would be saved by mention of the name of the Lord.

Explanation

We see here the state that a person is lead to if he provokes and attacks jeevan mukthas or real devotees of the Lord. Such a person cannot be saved by anyone including the Lord (which we will see in the next day). Any amount of siddhis will not help a person in overcoming the fear of death. When Durvaasa sent Krittika to kill Ambariksha, Ambariksha was not at all moving because he didn’t have any fear of death. Death is as the Lord clearly mentions in Gita only for the body. As long as a person is associated with the body, he will consider himself as being subject to birth and death. But once a seeker realizes that he is not the body but the sentient & conscious Atman, then fear of death will vanish. For such a person, there is neither birth nor death. Such a person is ever immersed in the eternal entity of Lord – thereby he fears nothing. Thus death is overcome only by pure devotion unto the ultimate reality of Lord remembering that everything is but an illusion in the Lord. Such a seeker then realizes his very nature of eternal Lord apart and distinct from the illusory body-mind-intellect complex. Once a seeker realizes this, then there is no fear at all for him. Even if Mrityu comes towards him, he will welcome Mrityu with open hands because he knows that Mrityu is only coming to take the illusory body; and that Mrityu cannot even touch him as he is the non-dual reality of Lord, the substratum of the illusory Mrityu as well.

Since Ambariksha through pure devotion and contemplation had realized the ultimate reality of Lord as the one and only real entity amidst the dual illusory world, therefore he didn’t fear anything. Durvaasa on the other hand had only attained some illusory and temporary siddhis. The thought of body-consciousness was still there for Durvaasa who hadn’t realized his very nature of non-dual Lord. Thus when he saw the chakra advancing against him, he became afraid and started running away.

The chakra that is depicted here can be a symbolic representation of time or death. Both these advance towards a person at the end of one life on earth. Those who are afraid of death and haven’t realized the ultimate reality of Lord will fear it and run away. Even if they have attained some siddhis, still they will not be able to escape from death. Escape from death is possible only through constant contemplation of the Lord. In this story, we will see in the coming day that even the Lord cannot help such a person who has attacked devotees. Such a seeker can be helped only by the devotee. The devotees that we find in the world today are avataara purushas or jeevan mukthas. Even if the Lord is unable to save us from death, these devotees will be able to save us. It is enough for a seeker to surrender completely unto these devotees. Such devotees are Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, AMMA etc. These saints were tried to be killed by enemies but all those efforts were nullified either by the attackers becoming paralyzed or they becoming devotees of these saints. There have been many such incidents in the life of AMMA. Once a person came to kill AMMA with a knife standing in queue for her darshan. He came nearby to AMMA and took the knife raising his hand to kill AMMA – he became paralyzed and fell down. Another person was standing in the queue to kill AMMA but when his turn of darshan came, he fell at the feet of AMMA becoming her devotee. Such are the power of the devotees of the Lord that even the Lord is a servant of them – if we try to attack them, then not even the Lord will be able to save us. There is a very popular saying of AMMA which goes thus: “If the Lord is angry with us, the Guru can save us; but if the Guru is angry with us, not even Lord can save us”. The Guru mentioned here are jeevan mukthas or real devotees who are ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord (brahma nistaas).

Let us unlike Durvaasa try to seek shelter and surrender to these masters of wisdom who are amidst us today so that we will be saved from death thereby making us realize our very nature of non-dual Lord.

In the last day we saw how the Lord had appointed the sudharshana chakra to take care of Ambareeksha. Today we will try to discuss in detail about this feature or promise of the Lord to take care of his devotees.

The Lord in many places in Gita makes promising statements to take care of his devotees. Few famous quotations are:

Ananyaaschintayantho maam ye janaah paryupaasathe
Teshaam nitya abhiyukthaanaam yogakshemam vahaamyaham

Those who seek me in all ways and without thinking about anything thing, their regular activities as well as good-bad I take care.

Sarvadharmaan parityajya maam ekam sharanam vraja
Aham tvaa sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyaami maa shuchah

Renounce everything and take refuge in me alone; I will take care of all your sins and liberate you; do not worry.

The Lord has to date kept this promise of helping his devotees in all ways. Now the important question comes as to who is a real devotee. The Lord himself said in the above verses that he who thinks about the Lord alone & seeks the Lord alone renouncing everything is the real devotee. Renouncing everything here doesn’t mean that a person has to go to the forest after renouncing everything and meditate; but this only means that the Lord has to be given higher priority than everything else in the world. When it comes to thinking the Lord and one’s job, a person has to keep “thinking the Lord” as high priority. This doesn’t require a person to quit one’s job – it is wrong to think it that way and interpret the Lord’s statement that way. Vedanta never tells a person to quit whatever activity he is doing – instead Vedanta tells him to constantly think the ultimate reality of Lord while doing the activities thereby offering all activities unto the Lord.

Thus a real devotee is one who always thinks about the ultimate reality of Lord even while doing worldly activities – his mind is ever focused on the Lord (maam ekam sharanam). Whatever be the activity that he does in the world, his mind will be fixed on the ultimate reality of Lord. Such a devotee follows ananya bhajanam (seeking the Lord without any other thought). All other thoughts merely come and go but the thought about the Lord is constant and always present in the devotee’s mind.

The Lord here promises to protect and thereby liberate such a devotee. For those who are part-time devotees thinking about the Lord only when there is time and giving the Lord a lower priority, the Lord will not liberate them. Even if the Lord wants to liberate such a devotee, it is not possible because such a devotee will be ever immersed in worldly activities. The story of Uddhava and the pig highlights this point clearly. Once Uddhava asked Krishna as to why he didn’t give moksha to everyone – the Lord replied that very few want moksha & moksha can be given only for those who really seek it (mumukshus). Uddhava didn’t believe and started arguing with Krishna . Upon this the Lord said to Uddhava that he is willing to give moksha – go on your way and ask the first 10 beings you meet about moksha – if they are willing to have it, I will give them moksha. Uddhava started and he found a pig coming his way. Uddhava had the divine power of communicating with animals. Thus he asked the pig whether it wanted moksha. The pig asked him as to what is moksha??? Uddhava said that it is a state wherein there will eternal bliss. The pig replied by saying that I don’t want bliss and all – will I get filth there for me and my children to play? If yes, I will take the moksha – else I don’t want it. Uddhava ran back to Krishna and apologized. It is keeping this in mind that the Lord proclaims in Gita thus:

Manushyaanaam sahasreshu kaschit yathathi siddhaye
Yatataamapi siddhaanaam kaschit maam vetti tattvatah

Of thousands of people, few seek me; of such thousand seekers, very few know me in reality.

Thus the Lord can give moksha only to those who really seek it. For those devotees who are not really devotees but just seekers of worldly pleasure in one or the other form, the Lord will give them those worldly pleasures. But we have to remember that the worldly pleasures are the seeds of sorrow – hence alone with these pleasures, sorrow will also have to be borne by the seeker. Thus the seeker seeking worldly pleasure gets sorrow – he seeks further pleasure to get rid of the sorrow – thus the vicious circle continues without any end.

Instead if a seeker is a real devotee seeking the ultimate reality of Lord at all times, then the Lord will be always there to protect such a devotee though the devotee will not want any protection. The devotee doesn’t require any protection at all because he knows that everything is pervaded in and out by the Lord – thus whatever is really present is the Lord alone. If everything is the Lord alone, for what and from what is protection required???? But the grace and compassion of the Lord is so great that the Lord is ever ready to protect such real devotees (who are jeevan mukthas) at the empirical level if they come across any problems in the world. For them even problems at the empirical level are only illusions and like problems in dream world but the Lord is there to protect such devotees.

Thus the Lord appointed sudharshana chakra to take care of Ambareeksha and Ambareeksha himself was unaware of this because he didn’t request anything from the Lord as his mind was ever immersed in the non-dual Lord alone.

Bhagavatham through this story is telling each of us that we have to be real devotees of the ultimate reality of Lord so that the Lord will take care of all our needs. We will continue with the story in the next day.

Thus being ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord, Ambareeksha once with his wife was observing the dvaadashee vratham for a year. When Ambareeksha was about to end the vratha (as the time for ending the vratham was nearing), Durvaasa arrived there as the guest of Ambareeksha. Ambareeksha after treating the saint properly invited him for food. Durvaasa replied that he will have bath in Kaalindi river and be back.

The time to end the vratha was almost getting over and the sage was not back. Ambareeksha discussed this with Brahmins and decided to end the vratha by drinking water. The Brahmins told him that drinking water was like eating food and not eating food as well.

Durvaasa came back from his bath and came to know that Ambareeksha had drunk water. Durvaasa became very angry at this.

Explanation

We will see as to how a siddha purusha who has attained few siddhis in life and a jeevan muktha react to worldly activities in the next day. But in short we see Ambareeksha doing the ideal thing of breaking the vratha but still not eating without his guest of Durvaasa. On the other hand, Durvaasa was very angry that Ambareeksha had drunk water!!!!

This is the way those who think they have attained something in life (out of arrogance) react to things in the world. If somebody is not invited to any particular discussion or is left over, it becomes an insult. This goes to such extent that various sanyaasins fought over as to who should be the Sankaracharya of Jyotir Math with few people claiming that they are the successors to the post!!! To think that these sanyaasins who follow the dasha naami system created by Sankaracharya and being part of the renounced sect still get attached to the post brings a seeker to remember that the power of Maya of the Lord is very tough indeed to conquer.

Sankara proclaims thus in Maya Panchakam:

Sruthi shatha nigamaantha shodhakaanapi
A haha dhanaadi nidarshanena sadhyah
Kalushayathi chathushpadaadhi abhinaan
Tu aghatitha ghatanaa pateeyasi maaya

Maya, that which creates things which are impossible to proven through logic, makes even a person who has been giving hundreds of discourses similar to the four-legged creatures clinging to worldly pleasures.

It is important for us to remember that all siddhis whether it is the siddhi of taking sanyaas or siddhi of being able to give beautiful discourse on any topic, all are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Lord. These siddhis depend on the world and hence are illusions only. The reality is the non-dual Lord alone – everything apart from the Lord is a mere illusion of names and forms in the Lord. Remembering this, we have to always remember that Maya is ever looking for an opportunity to push the seeker into the ocean of samsaara. It is very tough indeed to conquer Maya – the one and only way to overcome Maya is by constantly seeking the ultimate reality of Lord. Such a seeker who is seeking the non-dual reality of Lord will always remember that the Lord alone is real & everything else is an illusion in the Lord. Thus whatever be the activity in the world, the seeker will not be affected by it. If something good happens to the seeker, then he considers it the grace of the Lord. If something bad happens, he considers it as the will of the Lord. He is not at all affected by worldly activities because he knows that the world is just an apparent appearance like dream in the ultimate reality of Lord.

The dialogue between Durvaasa and Ambareeksha is interesting – the way both react to this situation is more interesting. We will see this in the next day.

Ambariksha was a king who considered everything as filled in and out with the ultimate reality of Lord. He did all actions as an offering to the Lord. But even though he was ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord, he didn’t renounce actions. He did all actions but detached from the actions – as a mere witness to those actions.

He did many yajnas including ashwamedha for the welfare of the world. He would also personally attend those yajnas – but he would not ask for anything from the devas. For a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord, all siddhis and prosperity would be ever present whenever required. He whose all desires have been fructified by getting eternal bliss, what else can he desire???

Thus following the bhakthi yoga of offering everything unto the Lord all the while remembering that the Lord alone existed, Ambariksha was leading a pious life being detached from all the activities that he was doing as an emperor.

Explanation

In the previous posting instead of Ambariksha, Ajaamila was mentioned. Seeking pardon for the same and getting people confused over the same.

As we have been learning, activities doesn’t matter – what really matters is the attitude of surrender towards the ultimate reality of Lord. Even if we commit mistakes in life, those cease to be mistakes when we offer it to the Lord remembering that everything is only an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Such action is not at all action but an offering to the Lord. Such an offering purifies the mind thereby making the intellect clear about conviction that there is nothing here but the Lord alone. This in itself leads the seeker to realize his very nature of the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord – realizing which there remains nothing else to be sought.

We find in the puranas and other places that jeevan mukthas are people who don’t have any desire and thus don’t seek anything – they are ever immersed in eternal bliss – they even share this eternal bliss which any person is able to experience while in their presence. This is possible for jeevan mukthas because they have known that by knowing which everything is known – they have realized that by realizing which everything is realized & there remains nothing to be sought. We go on seeking things in the world because we are content with whatever we get. Contentment is not there because we don’t get eternal bliss – ever-lasting happiness. The happiness that we get from worldly objects is temporary. The objects themselves are constantly changing and hence we don’t get eternal bliss from them. It is for this reason that we keep on seeking things thinking that we might get eternal bliss from any of those. We are ignorant of the fact that we cannot get eternal bliss except from the ultimate reality of Lord. Until we realize the fact that the worldly objects will give sorrow and sorrow alone, we will keep on seeking the worldly objects. But once we realize that the worldly objects will give sorrow only, we will start seeking the eternal entity that can give us bliss. Such a seeker is called a mumukshu who desires liberation or salvation in the form of complete cessation of sorrow and enjoyment of eternal bliss.

A mumukshu after realizing the futility of happiness from worldly objects seeks a Guru and learns the scriptures. From the scriptures, the mumukshu realizes that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is permanent and that realization of the ultimate reality of Lord alone can give us eternal bliss. Thus he follows the spiritual path of constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord and offering all actions unto the Lord. Following this, he realizes that the Lord alone exists – thereby all distinctions of “I”, “mine”, “you” etc. vanish. Such a seeker thus ever rejoices in the eternal bliss which is the very nature of the Lord. After getting eternal bliss, there is nothing else that is to be achieved for the seeker. Hence he doesn’t want anything at all from and in the world. He is ever content with whatever is there. If he is given something to eat, he will be happy – if he is not given anything to eat, still he will be happy. If he is given a boon, he will be happy – if he is cursed (like Shukracharya cursing Mahaabali), he will still be happy.

It is this state of being ever blissful which Vedanta terms as moksha or culmination of all desires. We will see in the coming days as to how Ambariksha is able to remain steadfast and unaffected by activities so that we may also try to realize the ultimate reality of Lord & be ever blissful.

Ambariksha considered everything starting from his wife, the kingdom, the soldiers, the people of his kingdom, the various jewels etc. as unreal because he knew that the ultimate reality of Lord alone existed. But still he nourished and looked after each of these considering all of these as filled in and out with the Lord (as per the upanishadic dictum of Ishavaasyam idam sarvam – everything is filled with the Lord).

Following such an attitude, Ambariksha was ever steadfast in the ultimate reality of Lord gaining supreme and one-pointed devotion towards the Lord. The Lord always looks after the needs of his devotees. The Lord therefore, without Ambariksha knowing it, had instructed the sudarshana chakra to look after Ambariksha and protect him from enemies and other things.

Explanation

What is the reality behind the temporary and sorrowful world???
The reality behind the world can be explained in two ways (both meaning the same thing). One is jagan mithyaa or that the world is an illusion. The second is that everything is pervaded in and out by the Lord. As any illusion is nothing but an apparent perception in its substratum, the world as an illusion of names/forms is an apparent appearance in the ultimate reality of Lord. As the illusory water seen in desert is pervaded in and out by desert, similarly the entire world is filled in and out with the Lord. Both these ways of seeing the world are true and right. It is but wrong if a person says that “everything is pervaded by the Lord” is real and “the world is an illusion” is not right – this is the attitude that we find I many bhakthas following the bhakthi schools of Vedanta.

Accepting one is accepting the other – both cannot live without the other. One leads to the other. The world is an illusion as the names and forms but it is the ultimate reality of Lord as the substratum. If we see the world from the perspective of changing names and forms, then it is an illusion and thereby unreal. But if we see the world as an appearance in its substratum of non-dual Lord, then the world is real and pulsating each moment with the Consciousness that is the nature of the Lord.

Thus we all as seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord should consider this world as pervading the Lord in and out. What this means is that whenever we see anything in the world, we should contemplate in the mind that it is filled with the Lord & hence is the Lord alone. When we see the monitor in front of us, we should understand that the monitor is also the Lord only. This doesn’t mean that we have to catch hold of the tiger in the zoo and say that it is the Lord!!! This only means that though externally we see things as different internally we know that everything is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus dvandva bhaava or the notion of duality slowly vanishes from our mind through the contemplation that everything is the Lord alone. When duality vanishes, likes-dislikes vanish. When likes-dislikes vanish and we know everything as the ultimate reality of Lord, there is nothing to get attached to or averted from. When there is no attachment or aversion, there is no happiness or sorrow. Such a seeker then ever rejoices in contemplation of the Lord. As is the object of contemplation, so is person – thus when the seeker always contemplates and rejoices in the ultimate reality of Lord, he becomes the Lord and enjoys the bliss which is the very nature of Lord. When the seeker realizes thus his very nature of Lord and rejoices in the bliss, this state is called the state of realization or moksha avasthaa or jeevan mukthi. It is this state that is the culmination of all seeking worldly as well as spiritual. Once such a state wherein the seeker rejoices in the eternal bliss of the Lord, then there is nothing to be aspired or attained.

Then there is only bliss, bliss and bliss alone. This is what Sankara beautifully brings out in the Bhaja Govindam thus:

Yogaratho vaa bhogaratho vaa
Sangaratho vaa sangaviheenah
Yasya brahmani ramathe chittam
Nandhathi nandhathi nandhathi eva

A person might be doing yoga; or enjoying sensual pleasures; getting attached to people or being totally detached – but for the person who is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Brahman (or in whose mind is ever fixed on the Lord), such a person rejoices, rejoices and verily rejoices.

It is this state that we find Ambariksha in – though he knew that the world is an illusion, he didn’t either run away from it or ignore it – instead he considered it as the ultimate reality of Lord. Though he was doing all activities, yet his mind was ever contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord – thereby he was ever blissful.

To such a devotee who is ever immersed in the Lord and is a muktha purusha, the Lord himself is present for protection. We will see this aspect in the next day.

The next story that we are going to go through in Srimad Bhagavatham is the story of King Ambariksha. This story is quite popular and many of us would already know the story. We have also touched upon the story while dealing with other stories. This story is one different and important story in that it portrays as to how a jeevan muktha will be living in the world doing all actions as if he is a worldly person though ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord.

The Lord mentions to Arjuna as to how to live in the world doing actions though ever being immersed in the ultimate reality thus:

Sakthaa karmani avidvaansah yathaa kurvanthi bhaaratha
Kuryaad vidvaansasthatha aasakthah chikeershur loka sangraham

As an attached worldly person does activities being attached to worldly objects, similarly a learned wise person should perform activities but unattached to worldly objects and for the welfare of the world.

So long as a person sees the world or considers the world as existing, he should do activities without being attached to them and as welfare of the world. For a jnaani there is no world at all because he knows that there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord – he knows that the duality that is perceived is only an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. A seeker who knows that there is nothing apart from the Lord but hasn’t yet experienced this ultimate reality of non-dual Lord should do actions considering that they are for the welfare of the world. Actions can be performed only when duality is considered as existing – thus the person who sees duality should do actions for the welfare of the world.

We find in Janaka and Ambariksha such jnaanis who were ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord all the while performing activities for the welfare of the world. We recently learnt the story of Mahaabali where he was performing yajnas for the welfare of the world though he knew that there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. This way of explaining that the activities of a realized saint are for the welfare of the world is only for the ignorant seeker who is asking the question. The ignorant seeker will not be able to understand and apprehend the state of the jnaani who is ever immersed in the non-dual reality of Lord thereby doing no actions (as there is nothing apart from the Lord for the jnaani). Therefore to pacify the seeker, the explanation given is that the realized saints do activities for the welfare of the world – many saints have explained that the very presence of a realized saint is beneficial to the world because bliss and peace emanate from such a saint. We all can feel the bliss and peace if we go and sit in the hall in Ramana Ashram, Tiruvannamalai where Ramana used to stay even though Ramana’s physical presence is not there now – so what to speak about going to saints who are living in physical body amongst us???

Thus the Lord propounded that “abhitho brahma nirvaanam varthathe viditha aatmanaam” – bliss emanates from a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord.

We find in this story another jeevan muktha in the form of Ambariksha – doing all activities but ever being immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. We also find that the Lord protects such jnaanis though they don’t require any protection – for a person who knows that there is nothing apart from the Lord, what protection is required and from whom is protection required? But at the empirical level, the Lord is ever there to protect such a jnaani because the Lord is servant of such realized saints as we found in the story of Mahaabali. Thus we find an angered non-realized yogi of Durvasa conflicting with Ambariksha in this story – Ambariksha on the other hand was ever blissful as he was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. But when Durvasa tries to harm Ambariksha, the Lord protects Ambariksha through his sudarshana chakra which then goes behind Durvasa to kill him – Durvasa finally gets back to Ambariksha who being ever blissful forgets everything and saves him. We will see the story in the days to come.

As of now, we can know for sure that the Lord is ever there to protect the devotees who have surrendered to the ultimate reality of Lord and are always immersed in the thought of non-dual Lord. Thus we have to strive to be such a devotee so that the Lord is there ever to protect us from worldly troubles and lead us to eternal bliss – that which we all are seeking each and every moment.

We will start the story in the next day.

Let us all try to be real devotees of the Lord so that the Lord is there ever to protect us from worldly troubles and leads us to eternal bliss.

Ambariksha was the son of Naabaaga who was in the clan of Vaivasvatha Manu. He was a Brahmanista who was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. Therefore even the curse of Durvaasa couldn’t affect him. Though he had all the aishwarya at his mercy but still he considered them as similar to dream entities. He who had realized the advaita vasthu considered everything else as a mere illusion in the advaita vasthu. He knew that the entities of the world and the happiness derived from the objects in the world will lead only to darkness of ignorance (and thereby to sorrows and sufferings).

Ambariksha had knew and realized that the Lord and the jnaanis alone were real in the illusory world. Therefore he considered the jada drishyas (the insentient entities of the world) similar to pieces of mud.

Explanation

Who is a brahmanista???
A person who is established in the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord is called Brahmanista – other words for such a person is jeevan muktha, jnaani etc.

Merely remembering the Lord alone is not jeevan mukthi – jeevan mukthi is when the seeker knows that there is nothing apart from the Lord. The jeevan muktha knows that the duality that is perceived in the world is merely an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. As a person who has woken up from dream doesn’t consider the objects in the dream seriously, similarly a person who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord doesn’t consider the objects of the world seriously. Such a person considers the worldly objects & the pleasure derived from worldly objects similar to mud pieces – as any person is not interested in mud pieces, such a jnaani is not at all interested in worldly pleasures. Once a person gets eternal bliss, why would he go behind worldly objects that can give only temporary happiness??? As the Upanishads ask “aaptakaamasya kaa spriha” – what desire can a person whose all desires have been satisfied by realization of the ultimate reality of Lord have???

There are only two entities in the world when we analyze it clearly – one is the ultimate reality of Consciousness which is sentient and can feel its own existence. The other is the insentient entities of the world starting from the objects, bodies, minds, intellects etc. – these cannot experience their own existence but depends on illumination of Consciousness for their existence. These entities are thereby called jada or insentient because they cannot experience their own existence. The monitor in front of us doesn’t have any existence of its own – it gets its existence only when the light of Consciousness falls upon it & “I” recognize it as existent.

The insentient entities which are dependent on Consciousness for their existence are mere illusions of names and forms in the reality of independent Consciousness. The Lord is termed in the scriptures as Consciousness. The saints who have realized the ultimate reality of Lord as their very nature of Consciousness are none other than the Lord – thus the Lord and jnaanis alone are real amidst the illusory entities of the world. When Bhagavatham says this, it doesn’t mean to say that the Lord and jnaanis are different from each other but they are one and the same Consciousness – hence they both are real. There is nothing real apart from Consciousness because Consciousness alone is self-existent thereby existing beyond time.

Once a person realizes this that the ultimate reality of Lord which is the same as one’s own nature of Consciousness alone is real, then he stops seeking pleasure from the illusory world. Sorrows and sufferings are caused only when the seeker considers the world as real and seeks pleasure from the world. Thus a seeker who has realized the reality of the Lord alone and everything else to be unreal will be ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. At the empirical level, he might be doing actions and activities like an ignorant worldly person – but internally he is ever immersed in the knowledge that there is nothing here but the ultimate reality of Lord, one without a second.

We will see this state of the jnaani through the interaction between durvaasa and Ambariksha in the coming days.

Before entering into the next story, let us for some time analyze and focus our attention on the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord. Realization of the Lord being the primary goal of Srimad Bhagavatham itself, we should always remember and not forget the ultimate reality of Lord while listening and learning the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham.

Bhagavatham itself says at the end about the subject and goal of the stories in it thus:

Sarva Vedanta saram yad brahma atma aikyatva lakshanam
Vasthu adviteeyam yannistam kaivalya eka prayojanam

The identity of Brahman and Atman which is the essence of all Upanishads, realization of that non-dual entity and being established in the reality is the goal of Bhagavatham.

We all irrespective of caste, creed etc. are searching of one and one thing alone – eternal bliss – that happiness which stays forever. It is for happiness that we are seeking people and objects in the world. We don’t go near the snake and touch it because we know that it will bite us and give us sorrow. Instead we seek the opposite sex all the while because we think that it will give us happiness that is everlasting. Thus the primary goal of human life is eternal bliss (happiness which stays forever) characterized by complete cessation of sorrow. This eternal bliss is what Vedanta calls as moksha or liberation from the bondages of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. Moksha is not possible through attainment or possession of worldly objects because the worldly objects themselves are temporary. As happiness from the dream world is not permanent because the dream world itself is temporary, similarly the happiness derived from worldly objects is not permanent because the objects are not permanent.

The Lord thus proclaims this in Gita
Anityam asukham lokam imam praapya bhajasva maam

The world is temporary and sorrowful. The Lord doesn’t stop here but gives the solution for the same as well – having attained such a sorrowful world, seek me as the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord.

Thus the way to eternal bliss and liberation from the bondages of samsaara is through realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. This is the one and only way to eternal bliss – there is no other way to eternal bliss.

Realization of the Lord is possible only through constant contemplation of the Lord remembering that the Lord alone exists, one without a second and that everything else is only an illusion of names-forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. This constant contemplation will remove the ignorance in the seeker which makes him think that he is different from the Lord and that he is suffering in the world. The suffering in the world is not for the “I” which is pure Consciousness but for the ego which is associated with the objects of the world. We all are not the ego but pure Consciousness which is the ultimate reality of Lord. Realization of one’s nature of the ultimate reality of Lord is possible only through constant contemplation of the Lord which removes the ignorance veil veiling one’s nature of eternal bliss.

Constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord as all-pervasive and as the substratum of the illusory world is very tough – it is not possible for all people to remember the Lord amidst sorrows in the world. Thus in order to make it easy for seekers, the ultimate reality of Lord and remembrance of the Lord was made easy through stories about the glory of the Lord. It is here that the puranas take over from the Upanishads though they also propound the truth in the Upanishads only but in a way easy for everybody to understand and remember. If we forget the ultimate reality of Lord as the goal of all the stories in the puranas, then we are led into the ocean of samsaara. Even if we forget that there is only the Lord here, then also we fall into the ocean of samsaara through differentiation of things. The duality that is perceived is only an illusion of names and forms. Any illusion will only lead to sorrow as the water seen in desert leads a person to sorrow when he doesn’t find water. Thus if we don’t remember the Lord all the while & don’t remember the nature of the Lord as the one and only entity present, we will be entering into sorrows and sufferings thus not getting our goal of eternal bliss.

Let us all try to remember the ultimate reality of Lord as the goal of all the stories in bhagavatham thereby making us unveil the ignorance veil & realize our very nature of Lord. Remembering this, we will start with the next story in Srimad Bhagavatham from the next day.

We see in this part of Bhagavatham the three jeevanmukthas of Mahaabali, Vaamana and Shukracharya. It is but rare to find Jeevanmukthas. The Lord himself proclaims in the seventh chapter of Gita that out of thousands of people, very few strive for realization. Out of thousand such strivers, very few know the Lord in entirety. It is thus very rare indeed to find a Jeevanmuktha in the world. When finding a jeevanmuktha itself is rare, what to speak about three jeevanmukthas at the same time?

Before we analyze on the nature and state of these three jeevanmukthas, we need to understand who is a jeevanmuktha???
Jeevanmuktha is one who is ever liberated even while seemingly living in the body in this world. Liberation is nothing but complete cessation of sorrow and ever rejoicing in eternal bliss. This is possible only through realization of one’s own nature of the ultimate reality of Lord. Realization happens when the seeker constantly contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord at all times remembering that there is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord – the seeker knows and remembers that there is no duality whatsoever here. He knows that the duality that seems to be present is only an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Since the seeker knows and contemplates that there is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord, there is neither liking or disliking to anything as everything is known as an illusion of name and form in the Lord. Since there is neither liking nor disliking, therefore there is no attachment or aversion. As there is no attachment or aversion, there is no happiness and sorrow for such a seeker. Thus the dual notions of the mind itself are not there. It is the dual notion of the mind which causes a seeker to get attached or detached to things thereby getting deluded in the ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings. When something that the seeker is attached to is in trouble or sorrow, the seeker also becomes sad. But when the seeker remembers that everything is but an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord, he is ever immersed in the eternal bliss which is the very nature of the Lord. Being ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord, the seeker is not at all affected by illusory activities of the world – but he is ever steadfast in the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that the duality that seems to be present is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. It is this state that is mentioned as moksha in the Upanishads. A person who is ever established in this state of being ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord is called a jeevan muktha (one who is liberated though seemingly living in the body).

We find in the three people of Mahaabali, Vaamana and Shukracharya this characteristic of a jeevan muktha. These three people were ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. Vaamana was an avatar of the Lord and hence he was ever a jeevan muktha. Mahaabali had learnt about the ultimate reality of Lord through Shukracharya and his father – thus he was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. The activities of the world causing sorrows and happiness didn’t affect Mahaabali even little. This is only because of the knowledge that everything is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. Such a person who knows that everything is but an illusion in the Lord and thereby is ever immersed in the Lord is called a jeevan muktha. Thus Mahaabali was a jeevanmuktha who was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. Shukracharya was the Guru of Mahaabali who instructed him into Brahmavidya (knowledge about the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord). Thus Shukracharya was a jeevan muktha. We find in this story that when the Lord asks Shukracharya to complete the yajna that was started by Mahaabali, Shukracharya does that without any thoughts. This wouldn’t be possible unless Shukracharya is a jeevan muktha because else he would have thought that “I will not do this because this was started by my disciple who didn’t hear to me”. At one time, Shukracharya curses Mahaabali (the role required him to do so and therefore he does that) and at the other time, he completes the yajna on the request of the Lord (who was the enemy of Mahaabali, his disciple whom he was protecting from the devas). Thus Shukracharya was not at all affected by the activities or state at the empirical level – instead he was ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord and therefore a jeevan muktha.

Bhagavatham here is showing three jeevan mukthas each acting in their own way – this is in order to show us that it is possible for each one of us to become jeevan mukthas as that is our very natural state. It is only due to ignorance that we have forgotten our very nature of the Lord. In order to realize our state of the Lord, we have to constantly contemplate on the Lord remembering that there is nothing here apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. This will make us jeevan muktha – the state wherein there is bliss, bliss and bliss only.

With this, we come to an end of this beautiful story of Mahaabali in Bhagavatham. We will see the summary of the story in the next day.

Let us all try to be jeevan mukthas so that we may ever rejoice in the eternal bliss which is our very nature & that which we all are seeking each and every moment.

Story of Mahaabali - Summary

As we discussed in the earlier parts of this story, this is one of the best story in Srimad Bhagavatham. This is also a story which is “my” (personal) favorite among all bhagavatham stories & “I” got so much attached to Prof. Balakrishnan Nair’s beautiful way of exposition of this particular story of Srimad Bhagavatham. This story is one of the rare stories where we find three jeevan mukthas of Vaamana (an avataar), Mahaabali and Shukracharya coming together each playing their part in the world to perfection. Vaamana came to give the devas their empire after snatching it from Mahaabali but instead ended up blessing Mahaabali with the statement that “I will be there with you always”. This blessing is the blessing that we all are seeking in the form of eternal bliss. Eternal bliss is only possible as long as the thought of the ultimate reality of Lord is present in the mind (along with the knowledge that this Lord is the one and only reality in the illusory world). Shukracharya tried to protect his disciple from the Lord’s play by warning him – this warning was from a asura Guru whose swadharma was to protect the asura clan. Once this warning was not headed by the disciple, Shukracharya cursed Mahaabali that all his aishwarya will be lost. What is aishwaryas other than the part of illusory world and how can it affect the seeker who has been blessed with the presence of the Lord at all times??? But without keeping this grudge in mind, Shukracharya finished the yajna started by Mahaabali on the advice of the Lord.

Thus we find three jeevan mukthas each doing their swadharma but still being ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord – thus not at all being affected by the activities in the world.

In this story we first find Shukracharya instructing Mahaabali into the reality behind the world that everything is the Lord alone – all the duality that is perceived is only names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus I, you and we all are the ultimate reality of Lord alone. Having a clear conviction about this and remembering this, a seeker should live in the world as if he is playing a role in the huge drama of waking world. When the seeker does thus, he will realize that he is a mere witness to all the activities of the world thereby realizing his very nature of non-dual Lord.

Once a person progresses in the spiritual path, there will be obstacles in each and every form. The obstacles can be in the form of money, power, fame, women or even Guru. The extreme case of Guru becoming a hindrance to the seeker’s spiritual progress is what we see in this story. Current days are days wherein we find many self-proclaimed Gurus who are mere bonded people in the world. These Gurus are those who cannot live without disciples who speak high of them. Such Gurus cannot tolerate the disciple going away from them. This would happen if the disciple progresses in the spiritual path thereby becoming independent after realization of the ultimate reality of Lord. As a lamp after being used to lit another lamp is of no use, similarly the Guru’s role ends once the disciple realizes the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord. Thus such Gurus fear that the disciple might leave them – hence they make sure that the disciple doesn’t progress much in the spiritual path.

But a disciple whose goal is fixed unto the ultimate reality of Lord will not stop at any point. Whatever forms an obstacle in his path, the disciple will set it aside & move further in the spiritual path. This is what we find Mahaabali doing in this story. He didn’t heed the Guru’s words when the Guru told him to take back his word of giving three feet land to Vaamana. Mahaabali instead was happy that the Lord himself had come to ask something from him. He knew that everything is but the Lord & hence he happily accepted the curse from the Guru. But in the end, Mahaabali achieved that which even the devas find tough to achieve – realization of the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus Bhagavatham is warning us to stay away from false Gurus and instead keep our focus fixed on the ultimate reality of Lord. This reality shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of Guru – we can very well say that Gurubhakthi is required, Guru ninda is not good etc. etc. The Guru is just another illusion in the world – in individual who helps us in the spiritual progress. As the Lord proclaims in Gita, the Self can be helped by the Self alone – the Guru can only guide us and cannot make us realize the Lord. Remembering the reality is more important than being with a Guru. Thus a seeker should always be fixed unto the ultimate reality of Lord and the Lord should be of prime importance for the seeker.

Such a seeker like Mahaabali will realize the ultimate reality of Lord knowing which there is nothing else to be known and the seeker gets eternal bliss – that which he has been seeking since births in the external world.

We will start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham starting from the next day.

The Lord continued and proclaimed thus: “I will always protect you and your family. I will be there always as a servant and you will be able to see me anytime you want“.

Explanation

We find here the Lord asserting the same statements that he makes in Gita as to protecting his devotees. The Lord is a servant to his devotees who have totally surrendered unto him and are ever immersed in contemplation of him. It is very tough to realize the ultimate reality of Lord by constant contemplation but once a person is able to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord is bound to protect & save the devotee.

The devotee who has realized the ultimate reality of Lord is a jeevan muktha who doesn’t have any desire in the world and thereby doesn’t need any protection at all. A person who knows that there is no world at all will need no protection as he knows that there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality of Lord. When there is nothing apart from the ultimate reality, what to protect from and whom to protect???

A person who knows that he is dreaming doesn’t require any protection of any dream Lord in dream. Similarly a jeevan muktha who lives in the world with the knowledge that the world is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord who alone exists doesn’t require any protection. But since a jeevan muktha has realized his very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord, the Lord is bound to protect him. At the empirical level, the jeevan muktha is protected always by the ultimate reality of Lord in one way or the other. We find starting from Sankara’s life history itself as to how the Lord comes to protect his devotees who have realized their very nature of non-dual Lord.

Once Sankara was approached by a kaapalika who had taken a vow to offer 100 human beings to kali. The rule for the sacrifice of the 100th person was that the person should be willing to be sacrificed. The kaapalika struggled a lot but couldn’t find a person who was willing to be sacrificed. Finally he met Sankara & Sankara agreed to the same. Sankara said that he would come to the kaapalika during night as then his disciples would be sleeping. Sankara thus started at night towards the kaapalika’s place. Somehow Padmapada, one of the four main disciples of Sankara, woke up and saw Sankara going somewhere. Padmpada followed Sankara. Sankara went to the kaapalika’s place & said that he will meditate for sometime & after that he can be sacrificed. As Sankara was meditating, Padmapada came there and saw what was happening. At that time, Narasimha came into Padmapada’s body and killed the kaapalika thus saving Sankara. Sankara woke up and saw Narasimha in Padmapada’s body thereby prostrating the Lord.

Thus we find here the Lord coming to protect the jeevanmuktha of Sankara though Sankara didn’t request for any help or protection. What can a jeevan muktha ask from the Lord other than constant contemplation and ever being immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord as he knows that everything apart from the ultimate reality of Lord is illusory?

Here we find in Mahaabali a jeevan muktha who was blissful and without any change though everything was being taken from him. This is possible only through the knowledge that there is nothing here but the non-dual reality of Lord which is one’s own very nature of Consciousness. It is this state of ever being established in the ultimate reality of Lord which alone can give eternal bliss and complete cessation of sorrow. This is the ultimate goal of human life. As long as a person doesn’t achieve this goal or work towards this goal, his life itself is futile and without of any particular use. Such a person who doesn’t work towards this goal of realization will be ever deluded in the ocean of samsaara (birth and death) characterized by sorrows and sufferings.

We are coming to the end of this beautiful story of Mahaabali – we will see as to what happened to Mahaabali after the words of the Lord in the next day. Let us all seek refuge in the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby be ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord so that we may overcome the tough-to-conquer Maya of the Lord.

Thus the Lord send Mahaabali to Sutala. The Lord then doubting that Shukracharya will not finish the yajna started because of his disciple not listening to his words said Shukracharya to finish the yajna. Shukracharya replied back “O Lord! I do not have any grudge and hatred. I just played my part of Guru that’s it. I will very well finish the yajna”. Saying thus Shukracharya finished the yajna.

Explanation

Unlike the common hearsay that Mahaabali was sent to Paatala, we find Bhagavatham clearly mentioning that Mahaabali was sent to Sutala with the promise from the Lord that he will always be present with Mahaabali as a servant and protector. This is one of the promises that the Lord makes in Gita that “renounce everything and seek me alone; I will save you from all sins; do not worry”. This is a promise that the Lord has been keeping in the various puranic stories as well as in the lives of many people in the current time. It is not necessary to be a jeevan muktha or avatar to have the grace of the Lord in one’s life. Even a normal person will find the Lord coming to his help during times of distress and trouble. There requires nothing from the seeker for the protection of the Lord except constant remembrance and surrender unto the ultimate reality of Lord.

In the world, if we need protection from someone either we have to hire bodyguards or get help from the police. Both would cost us money and require power, fame etc. in order to get such support. If we need promotion or worldly benefits, that also would require money in the form of service to one’s boss or the local ministers. But these protections from worldly people are not permanent. If a person gives 10,000 for a job and another person offers 20,000 then one’s job is gone because the other person has given higher money. Thus worldly protections always have their limitations. Bodyguards can protect a person during day but not completely during night when one is sleeping. But if a person gets the protection of the Lord, then there is nothing to be feared in all the three worlds because the world itself is controlled by the Lord (the world itself being a mere illusion in the substratum of Lord).

It is for this reason that the Lord clearly mentions a person to renounce everything and seek him. It is not possible to keep attachment and dependency with worldly things still seeking the Lord. The Lord will not be able to protect such a seeker even as the Lord didn’t protect draupadi initially when the kauravas were removing her dress while she was holding one hand to the end of her dress. In order to seek protection from the Lord, the seeker has to renounce everything and seek the Lord alone. If a person goes to the King seeking something and in the meanwhile seeks help from a minister as well, the King will not help him because of him seeking help from the minister. Similarly as long as we cling on to worldly things, the protection from the Lord will not be there completely.

Is it necessary to cling on to worldly things while seeking the Lord?
Not at all – if we seek protection from the Lord, then there is nothing that can stop us from proceeding towards eternal bliss. The Lord is equivalent to everything known and unknown in the world – thus seeking the ultimate reality of Lord alone is enough to grant us whatever we want worldly as well as spiritual. It is for this reason that we find that sincere seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord are given everything they want in life.

Thus Bhagavatham is clearly pointing and directing each and every seeker in the world to seek the ultimate reality of Lord alone renouncing everything else. Renouncing everything else doesn’t mean taking sanyaas and going to the forest. We find in Mahaabali perfect renunciation though he didn’t renounce anything externally. Renunciation is nothing but considering the ultimate reality of Lord as the primary aim and goal of life – everything else should be set aside for the ultimate reality of Lord. When it comes to giving priority to things in life, the first priority should go for the ultimate reality of Lord and realization of the Lord. This is what is real renunciation that the Lord propounds in Gita. Mahaabali renounced even his Guru for the ultimate reality of Lord who had come down on Earth to take away worldly possessions. Thus what a seeker needs to do is not external renunciation but internal attachment to the ultimate reality of Lord and having the Lord as the primary priority in life. If we do this, then we are assured of protection from the Lord at all times & the Lord will ensure that we realize the ultimate non-dual reality thereby getting eternal bliss – that which we all are seeking each and every moment.

We will have a short analysis of the three jeevanmukthas of vaamana, mahaabali and shukracharya in this story in the next day with which we will come to an end of this beautiful story of Bhagavatham.

Let us all renounce everything by giving first priority to the ultimate reality of Lord so that we may be always protected and guided to eternal bliss by the ultimate reality of Lord.

Mahabali continued:

My grandfather, Prahlaada, attained liberation by ekaantha bhakthi (one-pointed and concentrated devotion). Now I also have been brought to you who is considered as my enemy due to the flow of karma. This life is always temporary and waiting to be caught by death (mrityu) but those who have fixed their minds unto the insentient entities of the world fail to understand and realize this.

Explanation

The world is filled with only two types of people (excluding the realized saints who are beyond the world as they have realized the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord who is the substratum of the illusory world) – one is the ignorant people and other seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord.

Sankara propounds in Brahmajnaanaavaleemala that there are only two entities when analyzing the world and its reality status – one is drik or Seer of Consciousness or Lord or Brahman, the other is drishya or seen or insentient entities of the world. The Seer or the Subject of non-dual Consciousness who gives the light of existence for insentient entities alone is real. The seen or objects of the world is a creation of maya – it is that which seems to be existing but doesn’t have any existence at all. The objects are like water seen in desert – they seem to be present because of ignorance of the substratum of non-dual Lord. They are illusory because they are ever changing, temporary and insentient. Any changing and insentient entity requires a changeless, sentient substratum. This changeless sentient substratum is the Seer of the ultimate reality of Lord.

Those are ignorant people who consider the world of objects as real. Since they consider the world as real, they fail to apprehend the real substratum of the Lord. As long as a person considers the water seen in desert to be real, he cannot realize the substratum of desert which alone is real in this case. Similarly a person who considers the world as real cannot apprehend the substratum of the ultimate reality of Lord.

It can be questioned that what is the problem of considering the world as real??? This is what Bhagavatham is answering over here. The world since it is temporary will lead a seeker to sorrow and sorrow alone. If a person considers the water seen in desert as real, he will run behind the water for quenching his thirst. But finally, he will end up with no water. Since he expected water to be there & didn’t find it, he will become sad & even die of the expectation to find water. If a person considers the world as real, he will get attached to the world. The world which is temporary will vanish one day or the other. The entities of the world and the relationships that a person has towards the entities of the world will vanish one day or the other – when they vanish, the person will become very sad as he considered them to be real and eternal. Thus the ignorant person who considers the world as real will end up with sorrow and sorrow alone. This sorrow is what Vedanta terms as mrityu or non-existence. When entities of the world become non-existent or enter into mrityu, the seeker who is none other than the ultimate reality of Lord but considers himself as associated with these entities will become sad. This sorrow makes him stressful, in distress, non-peaceful, discontent with everything & finally will lead the seeker to a life full of miseries alone. It is but a pity that when the seeker is of the very nature of the ever-blissful and eternal Lord, he fails to realize the same & becomes sad due to being lead into the delusion of samsaara.

But the seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord knowing the temporary and sorrowful nature of the world seek the ultimate reality of Lord not giving much emphasis and importance to the entities of the illusory world. This doesn’t mean that such people discard the world because we find many of the realized saints as householders and kings leaving in the world all the while ever being established in the ultimate reality of Lord. Such jeevan mukthas knowing the world to be an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord consider the entire waking state as a long dream and play – thus they play their role in this illusory world to perfection still being ever fixed on the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus it depends on an individual as to whether he wants to be an ignorant person seeking the entities of the world thereby leading him to sorrow alone or an intelligent seeker of the ultimate reality of Lord seeking which he attains eternal bliss which is his very nature itself.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Seeing the Lord’s Virat form & Mahabali’s brave-ever steadfast state in the ultimate reality of Lord, all devas including Brahma came there. The Lord proclaimed thus to them: “this asura chakravarthi has conquered my Maya which is very tough indeed to conquer. He is not succumbing to sorrow even when everything is being lost for him”.

Explanation

The Lord proclaims in Gita thus

Deivi hi esha gunamayee mama maaya duratyaya
Maameva ye prapadhyanthe mayaam etaam taranthi te

My divine Maya composed of the three gunas of sattva, rajas and tamas is tough indeed to conquer. But those who seek refuge in me alone, they easily overcome this delusion of Maya.

What is Maya??? Maya is the delusion of considering the world of names-forms to be real and forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord who is the substratum of the world. When a person considers the world of names-forms to be real, he enters into the ocean of samsaara. Samsaara cannot offer anything apart from sorrows and sufferings. Samsaara is so deep that it deludes a person into the vicious circle of birth and death.

Since everyone is seeking eternal bliss (which is ever-lasting) each and every moment, samsaara provides the seeker with exactly the opposite of sorrow alone. Thus a wise seeker analyzing the temporary and illusory nature of world shouldn’t seek the objects of the world. Instead he should seek the ultimate reality of Lord who is the one and only real entity present amidst the illusory world. The Lord himself mentions in Gita that “anityam asukham lokam imam praapya bhajasva maam” – having attained the temporary and sorrowful world, seek refuge unto me.

Maya of the Lord can be conquered by seeking refuge in the Lord. Seeking refuge is nothing but constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord remembering that there is nothing apart from the Lord here. A seeker has to always remember that the world of names-form is only an illusion and the ultimate reality of Lord alone is the reality and substratum of this illusory world. As long as a person remembers this reality, he will not seek temporary happiness from the illusory world. Instead the person will seek eternal bliss in the ultimate reality of Lord. As a person who knows that there is no water in desert will not run after water, similarly a seeker who remembers that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is real will not run after the illusory world. When the seeker constantly seeks the ultimate reality of Lord knowing that the Lord alone exists & there is really no difference between the Lord and himself, the delusion of samsaara vanishes. Thus the seeker realizes his very nature of Lord as the mere witness to all the activities in the world. Even as the witness of a movie is not affected by the state of the stars in the movie, similarly the seeker who has realized his nature of witness-hood will not be affected by the activities in the illusory world. Thus the seeker will ever be happy and without any change in expressions.

How can a person know whether Maya has been conquered?
This is one of the toughest question and on par with the question as to “whether I am realized or not”. The one and only criteria for this is whether a person is ever blissful and without any sorrow. Realization or moksha is rejoicing in eternal bliss and complete cessation of sorrow. If a person is able to be happy always whatever be the situation he is in the world, then he is realized.

Even when everything was taken away from Mahabali, he was without any sorrow and blissful. The Lord by his proclamations himself is surprised by the realized state of Mahabali. It is very easy to speak about the realized state but experience of the state is very tough indeed. It all matters when a person encounters bad and tough times – that’s when all knowledge and advises vanish. But a realized saint is not at all affected by the activities in the world – he is ever blissful as being situated in the natural state of the ultimate reality of Lord. Such a state is what is to be aspired by each and every seeker in the world. Realization and being in such a state alone is the way to eternal bliss – that which we are seeking each and every moment in the illusory world.

Let us all seek refuge in the ultimate reality of Lord and thereby be ever established in the ultimate reality of Lord so that we may overcome the tough-to-conquer Maya of the Lord.

At this time, Vaamana called up Garuda. As Mahaabali couldn’t keep up his promise of giving three feet of land, Vaamana caught Mahaabali with Varuna Paasha (rope of Varuna). Even after he was bonded with rope, Mahaabali’s face was shining with the same happiness (that is seen in the face of a person who is ever in equipoise). Vaamana made lot of verbal statements against Mahaabali for not keeping up the promise. Bali still was without any change of expression in his face.

Explanation

Ramana Maharshi used to say again and again that peace is the sole criterion for finding a Mahatma. Here we find in Mahaabali a perfect jeevanmuktha and Mahatma. A jeevan muktha is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. He always contemplates on the ultimate reality that there is nothing apart from the Lord. As he knows that there is nothing apart from the Lord, he sees everything as an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. For a person who sees everything as the Lord, there is neither likes nor dislikes. As a result, there is neither happiness nor sorrow for such a person. Therefore such a jeevan muktha is unaffected by the activities in the world. He is a mere witness to all the activities of the world. Thus there is no sense of “I” and “mine” which cause happiness and sorrow. Thereby the jeevan muktha maintains his calm at all times – nothing can affect or disturb the equanimity of the mental state of the jeevan muktha. Sankara calls the mind of a jeevan muktha as an ocean without waves. Ocean is the mind where the waves of thoughts come and go. But for the jeevan muktha the waves have subdued and thereby it is ever calm. Whatever thoughts arise in the mind of the jeevan muktha will be associated with the thought about the ultimate reality of Lord with knowledge that everything is but an illusion in the ultimate reality of non-dual Lord. Thus there is no disturbance or turbulence in the mind of the jeevan muktha.

All problems at the empirical level arises when there is a turbulence in the mind. This is caused by some or the other thoughts causing a ripple in the mind. This is in the form of either happy or sorrowful thoughts. When something good happens, it causes a happy ripple causing the seeker to become excited and overly happy. On the other hand, when something bad happens it causes a bad ripple making the seeker get sad and disappointed. When the mind enters into such turbulence and ups-downs, it becomes disturbed from its natural state. As the pendulum string is disturbed when it is moved to one end & this disturbance continues until it comes back to the equilibrium state, similarly when there are thoughts in the mind of the seeker, it becomes a disturbance and subdues only when the mind rests with those thoughts vanishing.

Bliss is rejoiced only when the mind is in natural state of calmness and without any turbulence. This is what we enjoy during the state of deep sleep as there are no thoughts at all in that state. But in the waking state, our mind goes through different types of thoughts & thereby we tend to become either happy or sad. When the seeker remembers the ultimate reality of Lord and that there is nothing here apart from the Lord, the mind is ever calm with this thought about the Lord. The mind never gets into any kind of turbulence or disturbance. Since the mind is ever in its natural and calm state, there will ever be happiness and bliss in such a seeker. The face is the mirror of the mind – hence the face of such a person will always shine with bliss whatever be the situation and mental state the seeker is in.

Thus Bhagavatham mentions here that Mahaabali’s face was ever shining with bliss even when the Lord bound him with the rope and the Lord treated him harshly with words. It is this calm and ever blissful state that we all are trying to develop. This is possible through one and only one way which is constant remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists, one without a second.

We will continue in the next day as to what Bali replies to the Lord’s harsh statements.

Hearing the Lord’s harsh words, Mahabali replied without any change of expression thus:

O Lord! If you think that I am not true to my words, I will make sure that the words become true. Place your feet on my head as the third feet of land. You who behave as an enemy to the asuras are in fact their hidden Guru because you show them the temporary and futility of the world. If they are able to contemplate on you in their minds even by enmity, still they will be liberated. In such a case, what to speak about the state of devotees who are always contemplating on you through love???

Explanation

We saw in the last day the Lord using harsh words to Mahabali for not keeping his word of giving three feet of land as the Lord has covered the entire world with two strides of his feet (as Virat). The Lord had then bound Mahabali using Varuna paasa (rope) and called Garuda as well. All of this didn’t have any effect on Mahabali who was ever the same – there was not even the slightest of change in expression in the face of Mahabali. This is the state of a realized saint – he is ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord. He knows that the world is only an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Therefore he is not at all affected by the activities in the world – instead he is ever rejoicing in bliss which is his very nature of Lord. It is only when we consider the world as real and get associated with it that we tend to become affected by the activities in the world. But for Mahabali, he knew that everything is but an illusion & the world is temporary appearance of names/forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. Therefore there was no question of getting affected by the activities in the world.

It is this state of a realized saint that we all as seekers are striving to achieve. It is this state of being ever-immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord thereby remaining unaffected and a mere witness to all the activities of the world that Vedanta calls as moksha or liberation. Liberation is not going to a particular place like Vaikunta or Kailas to enjoy sensual pleasures & thereby escaping from the bondages and sorrows in the bhoo loka. Liberation is realization of the non-dual reality of Lord as the one and only entity existing – and as the substratum of the illusory world. It is the state that we find kings like Mahabali, saints like Sankara etc. ever established in. Even though Mahabali was bound by the Lord and the Lord used harsh words, Mahabali was unaffected by the activities because he knew that all these are mere illusions in the ultimate reality of Lord which is his very nature of Consciousness. If Mahabali wanted, he could have counter attacked the Lord by telling that he had offered to give three feet of land to the dwarf Vamana and not to Virat form of the Lord. But Mahabali didn’t do that. A worldly person if he was in Mahabali’s position would have done the same because he considers the body, the activities in the world as real. Mahabali was a realized jeevan muktha who knew that all these are mere illusions in the non-dual reality of Lord who alone existed, one without a second. It is this knowledge and liberated state which made Mahabali maintain equipoise and happy at all times.

Mahabali also here is making a strong point that what is important for a seeker is constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord. It is not important when the seeker contemplates on the Lord as his love or as his enemy. Whatever be the attitude of contemplation, the effect that the seeker will get is liberation from the bondages of samsaara. Kamsa among other asuras is a perfect example of a person getting liberation by constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord by vidvesha or enmity.

What is required by the seeker is remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord at all times & thereby ignoring the activities of the world as temporary, futile and illusory. The world which is ever changing cannot give eternal bliss to the seeker because it is not permanent. Thus a seeker after knowing the world to be changing and temporary seeks the eternal and changeless reality of Lord. This seeking of the Lord is nothing but constantly remembering the ultimate reality of Lord at all times without any break.

If the Lord has been realized through enmity, then what to speak about the attitude of devotion? It took years for kamsa to realize the Lord (when the Lord killed the ego of kamsa) but for a devotee like Prahlaada it took hardly any time. Thus Bhagavatham here is pointing out that the attitude is not as important as contemplation but if a seeker is able to contemplate on the Lord by devotion and knowledge that is the best action by a seeker towards realization.

We will continue with the story in the next day.