Srimad Bhagavatham

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.