Saturday, April 28, 2007
Story 43 - Story of Yayati - 08
Yayati thereby renounced everything, left his wife under the control of his youngest son Puru, gave Puru youth and took back his old-age. After this, Yayati renounced all the sensual pleasures which he had been enjoying for a long period of time easily and simply even as a bird whose wings have been formed renounces the nest. He thereby renounced all sangas (attachments) there. He then got experience of the Self thereby leaving aside the gross, subtle and causal bodies. He became blessed by merging unto the ultimate reality of Brahman known as Vasudeva. Devayani who had heard the story from her husband realized that everything is an illusory play of Maya; she thereby fixed her mind on Krishna and got liberated.
Explanation
We have come to the end of this story of Bhagavatham. We saw in the previous day as to how a person becomes learned when he realizes that there is nothing here but the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists, one without a second. This knowledge of the ultimate reality of Lord as the substratum of all illusions of names and forms will make a person get rid of the bondages and attachments to the things in the world which leads him to sorrows and sufferings in the world. Thus through knowledge alone, we can overcome the bondages and sufferings of the world. As long as we are ignorant of the ultimate reality of Lord who alone exists, we will think the illusory world to be real. When we consider the illusory world to be real, we will be either attached or averted to things in the world. It is these attachments and aversions which leads a person to sorrows and sufferings.
Thus once we get rid of attachments through the knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists, we will not be suffering anymore in the illusory world. We find Yayati instructing Devayani in knowledge. That showed that Yayati had attained knowledge about the ultimate reality of Lord. This knowledge thus made him to renounce everything. Earlier he had thought that sensual pleasures will give him bliss and contentment but experience showed him that sensual pleasures will only lead to sorrow and more desires which have o ending at all. Therefore Yayati realized the futility of sensual pleasures and went away to spend time in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Realization has two distinct steps to it. The first is intellectual conviction that the Lord alone exists and everything else is only an illusion in the Lord. Mere intellectual conviction alone will not lead a person to realize his nature of Lord - realization requires intuitive and direct experience of one's own nature of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord. If we at least get intellectual conviction, we will be saved from many births and delusions in the ocean of samsaara.
Yayati had got intellectual conviction which was seen in his explanations to Devayani. Once he got intellectual conviction, then he had to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord through renunciation of everything (both internal and external). Thus he renounced everything and totally contemplated on the Lord. This constant contemplation thereby lead him to merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord. Once a person merges unto the non-dual reality of Lord, then he will be ever rejoicing in bliss alone as that is the very nature of Lord. Bliss is what is the goal of human life - it is that which we all have been and are searching but in the illusory world. Bliss can be achieved only through realization of our very nature of Lord by the two steps of intellectual conviction and constant contemplation.
The greatness of knowledge is that it not only helps a seeker realize the Lord but it also helps in realization of other people. The knowledge that Yayati got not only helped him to realize the ultimate reality of Lord but helped his wife Devayani as well to realize the Lord. This is the greatness and uniqueness of knowledge it automatically leads a seeker to realization and helps others as well to the goal of realization.
We all being ardent seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord thereby have to seek knowledge so that not only we realize our nature of Lord but we also become instrumental in helping others as well to realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
We will see the summary of this story in the next day and start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham.
Explanation
We have come to the end of this story of Bhagavatham. We saw in the previous day as to how a person becomes learned when he realizes that there is nothing here but the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists, one without a second. This knowledge of the ultimate reality of Lord as the substratum of all illusions of names and forms will make a person get rid of the bondages and attachments to the things in the world which leads him to sorrows and sufferings in the world. Thus through knowledge alone, we can overcome the bondages and sufferings of the world. As long as we are ignorant of the ultimate reality of Lord who alone exists, we will think the illusory world to be real. When we consider the illusory world to be real, we will be either attached or averted to things in the world. It is these attachments and aversions which leads a person to sorrows and sufferings.
Thus once we get rid of attachments through the knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists, we will not be suffering anymore in the illusory world. We find Yayati instructing Devayani in knowledge. That showed that Yayati had attained knowledge about the ultimate reality of Lord. This knowledge thus made him to renounce everything. Earlier he had thought that sensual pleasures will give him bliss and contentment but experience showed him that sensual pleasures will only lead to sorrow and more desires which have o ending at all. Therefore Yayati realized the futility of sensual pleasures and went away to spend time in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord.
Realization has two distinct steps to it. The first is intellectual conviction that the Lord alone exists and everything else is only an illusion in the Lord. Mere intellectual conviction alone will not lead a person to realize his nature of Lord - realization requires intuitive and direct experience of one's own nature of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord. If we at least get intellectual conviction, we will be saved from many births and delusions in the ocean of samsaara.
Yayati had got intellectual conviction which was seen in his explanations to Devayani. Once he got intellectual conviction, then he had to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord through renunciation of everything (both internal and external). Thus he renounced everything and totally contemplated on the Lord. This constant contemplation thereby lead him to merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord. Once a person merges unto the non-dual reality of Lord, then he will be ever rejoicing in bliss alone as that is the very nature of Lord. Bliss is what is the goal of human life - it is that which we all have been and are searching but in the illusory world. Bliss can be achieved only through realization of our very nature of Lord by the two steps of intellectual conviction and constant contemplation.
The greatness of knowledge is that it not only helps a seeker realize the Lord but it also helps in realization of other people. The knowledge that Yayati got not only helped him to realize the ultimate reality of Lord but helped his wife Devayani as well to realize the Lord. This is the greatness and uniqueness of knowledge it automatically leads a seeker to realization and helps others as well to the goal of realization.
We all being ardent seekers of the ultimate reality of Lord thereby have to seek knowledge so that not only we realize our nature of Lord but we also become instrumental in helping others as well to realize the ultimate reality of Lord.
We will see the summary of this story in the next day and start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham.
# posted by vedanta : 9:57 AM
