Srimad Bhagavatham

Krishna grew up along with various plays with the gopis and gopas. At the same time, he also made entire gokulam to become engrossed and amazed by his various miraculous incidents.

Explanation

In the last day, we saw the attitude of fear and anger towards the Lord which the asuras cultivated which in turn lead them to realization of the ultimate reality that the Lord alone exists here. Today we will see in brief the attitude of gopis and gopas towards the Lord.

We may think that the Lord didn't have any consideration before choosing the town of gokula for his childhood but this is wrong. We find in gokula innocence and pure love of the people. It should definitely because of this child-like attitude of the people that the Lord chose gokula for his childhood. As AMMA says in her discourses, we need to develop the innocence in us so that our mind becomes very pure. Only such pure and innocent mind can apprehend the ever-present Lord everywhere. A child is ever innocent and hence it is also able to enjoy life to its full. Though the child plays here and there, still it is always happy. One moment we see the child playing with the sand and the very next moment, it runs away chasing a cat. Innocence helps the child to be in the present moment and thereby experiencing the bliss of the all-pervasive Lord. A mind which is pure and is at the present moment alone can apprehend the Lord in one's heart. If we see the corollary of the same, this means that the Lord is present only in an innocent mind. It is this beautiful idea that has been driven by Bhagavatham through telling that the Lord chose to stay in gokula thereby entertaining everybody in the place.

Thus Bhagavatham is pointing out to all the seekers that if we seek to have the Lord in our hearts, we need to develop innocence of a child. That alone will make our mind so pure that we will instantly see the presence of the Lord. Presence of the Lord brings in bliss which is the very nature of the Lord. Thus such a seeker will be ever blissful from that moment onwards.

Another important point that Bhagavatham portrays through mention about the Lord's plays with the gopis and gopas is their pure love towards the Lord. The love that they had towards the Lord was unconditional. They would leave out everything for the sake of the Lord. AMMA gives a beautiful story to portray this. Once all the gopis were in their house serving their respective husbands. At that time, somebody shouted to all the houses that Krishna had come to the shore of Yamuna. All the gopis started running towards Yamuna - some leaving whatever activity they were doing and leaving their husbands as well behind. At that time one gopi's husband stopped her from going out. He blocked the door by which the gopi was not able to go. The gopi was struggling at the door to go out but was blocked by her husband. The gopi shivered and trembled. Finally the gopi gave her life like a fish giving its life in shore. This is the love of the gopis - the love is so pure that the gopi even gave up her life as she couldn't go and see the Lord. It is this pure love that we find in the gopis. If only we had such love towards the ultimate reality of Lord, we would realize the ultimate reality of Lord this very moment itself.

Everybody is generally attracted towards miracles. Miracles are things
that require some extra power which is not present in normal people.
Hence these attract everybody including seekers. Since we are going to
deal with the miracles of Bala Krishna, let us today once again try to
analyze miracles so that we don't get deluded into the miracles instead
of focusing on the ultimate reality of Lord.



We all know very well that Patanjali's Yoga darshan speaks about various siddhis or vibhuthis which we generally call as miracles. Patanjali devotes an entire chapter of the 4 chaptered Yoga Sutras to explain as to how to achieve these siddhis and as to what are the benefits of these siddhis. But while explaining the siddhis, Patanjali gives a warning in a sutra thus:

Te samadhau upasargaah vyutthane siddhayah

Those siddhis which arise out of thought-rising are obstacles to Samadhi.

Realization or the ultimate reality of Lord is beyond thoughts. Any thoughts whether it is that of a worldly entity or that of a form of the Lord is an obstruction to the normal state of thoughtless absorption in the Lord. Thus anything that arises out of thoughts is also an obstruction to spiritual goal. The ultimate goal is to be ever absorbed in the ultimate reality of Lord so that the seeker is ever contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord alone.

Miracles or siddhis are out of thoughts of the mind. When the mind becomes concentrated on a particular entity or a particular point in the body, then we get certain siddhis. This is very similar to a person getting into IIM or getting into MIT for MBA. These are smaller siddhis but are siddhis only. What we thus consider as greater siddhis like reading another person's mind, giving pleasures to followers etc. are mere siddhis arising out of concentrated thought. Any person if he is able to spend dedicated time in practicing it can perform the same siddhis. But those siddhis are arising out of thoughts and hence will pose obstacles to the spiritual goal. Not only that, since the siddhis are considered something great at the empirical level the Ego will be nourished. Once the ego is nourished, then there is no scope for realization of the Lord beyond the ego as the witness of the activities of the ego. Thus the siddhis are always obstacles to the spiritual goal of realization.

These siddhis as they are born out of thoughts are not eternal but will end one day or the other. The physical body itself has a limitation of 100 or more years. Hence what to speak about the siddhis performed by the mind through a physical body? Thus these siddhis are not eternal; hence they cannot give us eternal bliss as well.

It is eternal and everlasting bliss that we all are seeking every moment of our life. If we don't get bliss out of the siddhis, of what real use is the siddhis & how is it different from the sensual pleasures of the world? It is for this reason that Patanjali very clearly says that these siddhis are obstacles to the state of thoughtless existence which is termed as Samadhi in Yoga shaastra.

While learning the miraculous incidents in the life of Krishna, we should always remember this reality. If we forget that the miracles cannot give us eternal bliss and instead will be obstacles to our spiritual path, we will be lead in the wrong direction getting deluded into the miracles. Those miracles will only lead to our downfall in the spiritual path thereby making us suffer in the ocean of samsaara for many more births to come.

Remembering that the miracles are not eternal and that they will only lead us to sorrow, we will continue the story with a beautiful miracle of the Lord.

After knowing that the child destined to kill Kamsa was already born, Kamsa sent his soldiers through the place to search for new-born babies. He ordered all the new-born babies to be killed. A demon named Pootana came to Nandagopal's place to kill Krishna. Instead she was killed by Krishna who bit her nipples (she had decided to give milk to Krishna which was poisoned thereby trying to kill Krishna). Thus it was almost certain that the child who was destined to kill Kamsa was Krishna.

Explanation

We see here Kamsa again trying his best to get rid of the Lord. There is one thing that we all fear in the world and which is beyond our reach - that is death or mrityu. Even if a person is as rich as Bill Gates or as powerful as George Bush, still he cannot overcome death. There will be a time when any person will be taken away by death or yama. As we learnt yesterday, the one and only way to overcome death is by totally surrendering unto the ultimate reality of Lord. When we surrender completely to the Lord, we will come to know that there is only the Lord present here - that the duality of names and forms that we see is only an illusion in the reality of Lord. Thus there is no body or birth or death - therefore there is nothing to be afraid of.

It is keeping this truth in mind that Upanishad proclaims that fear arises out of duality. As long as there is nobody apart from oneself, what to fear and whom to fear? It is therefore that saints who have realized their very nature of ultimate reality of Lord are never afraid - instead they are ever blissful as they know that only the Lord exists here, one without a second.

But ignorant people on the other hand don't realize or heed to the truth that there is only Lord here - those are people who either are too bound into their eyes or intellect that they don't believe anything apart from that. It is foolish to believe one's eyes as the eyes may seem to show water in desert when there is no water at all. But the wise will not merely heed to one's eyes - instead he will use his discrimination faculty to find out what is real and what is not real. Though the discrimination faculty of intellect is there for each of us, still very few use it to discriminate between real and unreal. Real is that which is eternal and without any changes. Unreal is that which is temporary and thereby constantly changing. The world of objects that we perceive through our five senses is constantly changing and temporary. We see people and objects this moment and the very next moment they all vanish. It is this truth that the Lord tries to make us realize through the harsh way of natural calamities like earthquake, tsunami etc. There were many people and places that were there just before tsunami hit. The moment tsunami hit, everything vanished leaving no trace at all - as if they never really existed but only seemed to exist.

Man is a special being endowed with intellect to discriminate between real and unreal; as well as the free-will to choose his actions instead of animals which don't have any choice but to do the regular activity of barking or roaring etc. As long as we don't use our intellect to discriminate and our free-will to work towards the real entity, we are but one with animals. It is through these stories that the Lord proclaims the futility of worldly activities. They will not lead us anywhere but finally only to death. Therefore wise people should completely surrender unto the Lord by knowing that the Lord alone exists. Thereby wise people will be always contemplating on the Lord.

After it was sure that Krishna was the boy who would kill Kamsa, Kamsa's followers came to kill Krishna but it ended up by Krishna killing all of them.

Explanation

In the past few days we looked at the perspective of man trying to overcome death by fighting against the Lord. Today we will look at this from a different perspective and as to how through the stories of asuras getting killed, we find the way to get liberated from the bondages of the world.

The Lord proclaims in one sloka about Maya and the way to overcome it:

Daivi hi esha gunamayee mama maayaa duratyayaa
Maameva ye prapadhyanthe maayaam etaam taranthi te

This divine power of mine which is called Maya and is composed of the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas is tough indeed to overcome. But those who take refuge in me by totally surrendering, they overcome this Maya.

In another place the Lord proclaims that this Maya is very tough and deceiving; everyone is under the clutches of Maya whether they want it or not.

Thus the problems in our life are due to being under the control of Maya. Maya is that power which makes the impossible possible, the non-existing existing and existing non-appearing. Maya makes the impossible possible by making the world appear to be fully logical so much that the scientists of all times think that everything in the world is perfectly explained. But a little bit of analysis will show us that the world is totally illogical. People and things take birth and die. We don't know from where they come or where they go. We don't know as to what is ruling the world - whether it is the intelligent humans or nature or some other supernatural power. Though laws have been proclaimed by Newton and others, those are deviated depending on time and space. Time and space are termed eternal as we are unable to find out their source. Thus the entire world is filled with illogicalities only. It is Maya that makes this impossible and illogical world possible and logical. The world is impossible because there cannot be any such world arising out of Consciousness (upon which the world depends). It is Consciousness or Lord which makes the world exists and appears as if real. Thus it is Consciousness from which the world has come. The world is ever changing whereas Consciousness is changeless. How is it possible for the changing world to have come from a changeless source of Consciousness? It is impossible. Maya not only makes the impossible possible, but it makes the non-existing or unreal world as existing or real. The world is unreal because there cannot be any such world existing. That which is not there in the beginning (even as the dream world is not there before dreaming) and in the end (once the dreamer wakes up) but only seems to be present as changing in the middle cannot be real. But it only has a temporary existence and thereby is ultimately unreal. Maya makes it as if this unreal world is real. Try speaking to a worldly person about the world being unreal and the Lord being real, he will laugh at you and tell that the world is real whereas the Lord is unreal. This is the power of Maya. Maya also makes the real Lord as if unreal - thereby we don't perceive the real Lord but perceive the unreal world. We consider the unreal world as real whereas the real Lord as unreal or non-existing.

All problems in life arise out of the effects of Maya. When we consider the unreal world as real, we depend on the world. This dependency leads to expectations which finally end up in sorrow as the world is not real. It is like running after the water in desert expecting water (as water is considered real). This will end up only in sorrow when we don't find water. Instead the problems are solved if we apprehend the reality of desert or the reality of Lord beneath the unreal changing world.

Thus the way out of all problems in life is by overcoming Maya which is through seeking the ultimate reality of Lord. Even as the delusion of water is overcome when we seek the substratum of desert, similarly when we totally surrender unto the Lord remembering that the Lord alone exists here all sorrows will vanish.

We find in these asuras the thirst to seek the Lord even if it is for killing the world. The attitude with which we seek the Lord doesn't matter; what matters is constant seeking of the Lord - that thirst like the fish on land seeking water. It is this thirst that lead the asuras to seek the Lord trying to kill the Lord. Instead when they seek the Lord, the Lord overpowers them and kills them. This killing is not killing of the Self as the Self is the Lord alone (the Lord is the indwelling Self of all beings). The killing is killing of the Ego or jeeva which perceives the world and is under the control of Maya. When the Ego is killed, the effect of Maya vanishes thereby only the Lord remains behind. The Ego then merges into the Lord thereby ever rejoicing in bliss. It is this killing of the Ego when we seek the Lord that is symbolically pointed out through the killing of the asuras by the Lord. If only we had the thirst of the asuras towards the Lord, we would be instantly liberated from the bondages of Maya thereby rejoicing in bliss.

The aspect of killing the Lord is one among the various aspects towards the Lord which finally leads to constant contemplation and thereby to realization. Similarly another attitude is that is pure love which we find in the Gopis. We will see this in the next day.

Introduction

Before entering into the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham, let us once again remind ourselves to focus on the ultimate reality of Lord who alone exists here, one without a second. The moment we forget this, we will be ending up in the ocean of samsaara thereby suffering in sorrow and pain. The one and only way to get eternal bliss is to constantly remember the ultimate reality of Lord and that the Lord alone exists.

The avatar of Vishnu as Krishna is one of the beautiful and most popular one. This is mainly because of the bliss that emanates from each scene of the life of Sri Krishna. This is also the reason why Bhagavatham speaks about Krishna as a poorna avatar of Vishnu. After the advent of Krishna, next is the childhood of Krishna. Krishna avatar has been given very great importance in Bhagavatham as each and every moment of Krishna's life has something or the other to show to the various seekers of the world. Thus we are now entering into the childhood plays of Krishna. This Krishna who is in childhood or a boy is quite famous and popular as Baala Krishna. Again though we all are familiar with the story but still here we are trying to view it from a Vedantic perspective and focusing on the ultimate reality of Lord rather than the story in itself.

There is a very famous Bala Mukunda ashtakam attributed to Madhusudana Saraswathi which speaks about Bala Krishna as nothing but the ultimate reality of Brahman.

We have to remember while learning the plays or miracles of Krishna that any miracle is also an illusion in the reality of Lord. The miracles of Krishna unlike other miracles of the world are meant to point out the import of the ultimate reality of Lord. If we tend to emphasize and remember the miracles, then we will be lead into a miraculous world which has no beginning and no end. This will only lead us to sorrow and sufferings. But if we remember the import of the ultimate reality of Lord and the way to realize the Lord, then we will end with bliss - that which we have been seeking all our lives.

When Kamsa came to know that Devaki had given birth to a child, he came running to the jail. Though he saw that it was a baby girl, he didn't stop. He took the child and tried to kill it by hitting it on the stone. But the girl slipped from his hand and vanished into space. The girl said through sound that his killer was born in some other place and would kill him. Kamsa then released Devaki and Vasudeva from jail - he become very afraid and deluded.

Explanation

It is well known that the girl that was born in place of Krishna or rather was present there was none other than Maya devi. Man like Kamsa tries to overcome death through all means. But what man doesn't know is that he cannot outsmart death as that which is born will always die. Death is inevitable for that which is born. The body that is born will die - that which dies will be born again. Birth and death is a vicious never-ending cycle. The one and only way to come out of this cycle of birth and death is to know that I am the unborn Lord. Birth and death of the body is only an illusion in the Lord as body itself is only an illusion and not real. There is only one thing which is real - that is the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.

Everything else that is seen as distinct and apart from the ultimate reality of Lord is only an illusion of names and forms in the Lord. Even as various gold ornaments are mere illusions of names and forms in gold, similarly the names and forms of the world is only an illusion in the reality of Lord. The Lord alone really exists. The Lord is the indwelling Self in all beings that pulsates each moment as "I-exist, I-exist".

When we forget our very nature of Lord, we enter into the illusory world of names and forms. Thereby we consider ourselves as having a body, name, parents etc. This illusion leads us to nowhere except sorrow. The delusion of Maya is so strong that Maya makes thing appear as if real. If a normal person is told that the duality that is seen in the world is an illusion in non-dual Lord, he will consider the words as crazy.Instead what the person is believing is really crazy. Thus Maya makes thing seem real and possible. It is this Maya which is the power of the Lord that makes people delude into thinking that they are different from the Lord and are associated with the body-mind-intellect complex.

As long as a person is deluded into thinking that he is the body-mind-intellect complex, he will consider the birth and death of the body as his birth and death. Thus a deluded person seeks all means to get rid of death as death as per his definition is a state of non-existence - a state where he will cease to exist. What he person doesn't know is that he is eternal and ever-present; it is the body that alone ceases to exist. The person forgets that he has taken innumerous bodies entering into a long chain of births and deaths. This forgetting of one's nature of Lord as distinct from the body-mind-intellect complex makes a person to try to outsmart the laws of Maya.

A person thereby tries all means to overcome the law of birth and death - the law that whatever is born will die one day or the other. It is thus that we find Kamsa trying to outsmart the divine by putting devaki-vasudeva in jail and killing all of their children. The divine play of Lord through Maya is beyond all outsmarting and beyond any mistakes. There can be mistakes in coding or in management of things in life but there cannot be any mistake in the law governed by Maya. Thus we find the baby Krishna escaping from the jail and Maya devi taking his place. When Kamsa tried to kill the baby girl, the baby girl escaped. This is what happens when we try to break the laws of Maya. We can never break the laws because Maya itself is an illusion. Trying to break the laws of Maya is like trying to swim through the water seen in desert; there is no water at all and hence we can never even think of swimming.

But a wise person will understand that the Lord alone is real and Maya is just an illusion in the Lord. Thereby he will completely surrender unto the Lord - thus he will easily overcome Maya as he is contemplating on the substratum of Maya.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Experiencing the ultimate reality

Since we finished the story of Sri Krishna's advent on Earth, before starting the next story let us spend a day focusing on the ultimate reality of Lord. We have been always trying to focus on the ultimate reality in between stories - the importance of this is so much that the moment we forget the ultimate reality of Lord; we end up in the illusion of names and forms. Names and forms are not real but mere illusions in its substratum. Any illusion can give us nothing but sorrow alone in the long run. Initially the names-forms might seem to be giving happiness but the happiness derived out from them is temporary and seeds of sorrow. This is what we experience in our day-to-day life - getting only sorrow in the long run from the worldly objects.

But as long as we are able to contemplate and focus ourselves on the reality of Lord, we will be in the right direction towards immortality or bliss - that which is the goal of each and every being in the world.

Thus if we remember the Lord we will get bliss and if we forget the Lord we will end up in sorrow. Thereby its very important that we remember the Lord in order to get bliss which is being sought every moment.

We have been concentrating on the reality from a logical perspective. Logic is limited to the intellect. Mere intellectual knowledge cannot give us eternal bliss. Put in Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's beautiful words, jnaana or intellectual knowledge is knowing milk whereas vijnaana or experience is tasting milk. Unless we get experience of bliss, we will still have a sort of void-ness in our spiritual path. We are all the time experiencing things in the world and hence want to experience bliss of the Self. We think that this is the only way to ensure that there is something called the Lord of the nature of bliss.

Thus let us today try to see as to how we can experience the Lord who is beyond all experiences. Any experience is of an object - only objects can be experienced. The experiencer who is the Subject of all experiences can never be experienced. But the Subject can only be intuitively experienced as one's own nature - this experience of the Subject is not an experience (yet we can call it nothing but experience alone - quite a misnomer).

How can we experience the Lord???

The more and more we do sadhana, the more and more we will experience the Lord. Experiencing the Lord is nothing but being blissful. Being blissful is nothing but a sense of completeness or a sense of perfection - that state wherein a person doesn't seek anything at all and is happy/content/satisfied with whatever is there with him. The sadhana that is to be done for being blissful is not mantra japa or dhyaana or keerthana but remembering the Lord at all times. We can go on chanting the
sahasranaama daily but still be without remembering the Lord. There are many people who chant sahasranaama daily yet don't know who is Vishnu preached in the sahasranaama. While chanting the sahasranaama, the father asks "what are you doing" and we reply back "I am chanting sahasranaama" - the real sadhana of chanting sahasranaama is when the seeker is merged into the Lord who is the content of the sahasranaama - such a seeker cannot reply anything in between chanting as he is merged unto the Lord. This is not the case - nor is the seeker remembering the Lord in his real nature. Chanting is done because it is considered good, it is considered as spirituality etc.

There are many of us (rather most of us) who consider themselves spiritual just because they discuss spiritual content, read spiritual mails and do such sadhanas. All these doesn't make a person spiritual. Spirituality is not doing external activities seeming to be engrossed in them.

Sankara beautifully provides a sloka regarding this in Maya Panchakam:

Sruthi shatha nigamaanthashodhakaanapi a haha dhanaadhi nidarshanena
sadhyah
Kalushayathi chathushpadaadi abhinaan tu aghatitha ghatanaa pateeyasee
maayaa

There are many who give discourses on hundreds of scriptures but still are bound by wealth etc. - those are people who are deluded in Maya which makes them in par with four-legged creatures - such is Maya which makes the impossible possible.

Many of us consider ourselves spiritual when we are bound by our parents, our friends, our partners, our children and our instincts - all the while not remembering that the Lord alone exists. A person who remembers that the Lord alone exists will set aside all limitations without any fear. We have already learnt the story of Prahlaada who set aside his father and Mahabali who set aside his Guru for the sake of the ultimate reality of Lord. Yet we don't do it but still claiming ourselves to be spiritual - Such is the power of Maya.

As long as we are deluded in Maya, we will not be able to experience bliss. We will still lack experience which is the final testimony to being spiritual. A spiritual person will ever be blissful and bliss will emanate from him at all times. The one and only sadhana for this experience is constant contemplation of the reality of Lord with the knowledge that the Lord alone exists, one without a second.

If we do this sadhana of remembering the Lord, it doesn't matter what worldly activity we do. It doesn't matter whether we do chanting or dhyaana but slowly we will start experiencing bliss - the state wherein we will feel completeness, satisfaction and contentment. That is the real experience to show us that we are in the right path towards eternal bliss. This is only way to judge and find out whether we are following the right sadhana.

Let us all try to analyze for a day (24 hours) as to whether we are doing the right sadhana so that if we aren't doing it, we will try to implement it in our life rather than claiming ourselves to be spiritual when we are far away from it.

The rest of the story of Sri Krishna being taken from prison to Nandagopal's place is known to all of us. This entire story clearly shows us that the world is Mayamayam - it is beyond apprehension as it is unreal yet seems to be very real. But for any person who analyzes and uses vichara (discrimination), the reality will dawn that there is only Brahman of the nature of Consciousness here and everything else is a mere illusion in Brahman or Lord.

Explanation

With this we come to the end of this beautiful story about the advent of the Lord. This story very clearly propounds the illusory nature of the world and the happenings in the world. A person will little discrimination will find out that anything about the world is a mystery. We don't know from where this world comes, where it stays and what is happening in the world - everything is mysterious and miraculous. If the answer is that the world came from the Lord and everything in the world is controlled by the Lord, this is also illogical - the Lord is eternal and
blissful whereas the world is ever changing and sorrowful. Such a changing and sorrowful world can never be created out the blissful Lord - if this is possible, then we should be able to get amrita and bliss from snake which we don't get but only get death in the form of poison. Similarly if we say that the Lord is controlling the world, such a Lord will have to be sadistic as we find only sorrow around us - all the various natural calamities like earthquake, tsunami etc. will also be controlled by the Lord. Thus instead of giving bliss to the people in the world, the Lord only gives sorrow which would make him a sadist.

Thus anything and everything about the world is illogical. This is shown in this story of the advent of the Lord as Krishna. How can any child have the form of Vishnu? How can a child who has just taken birth speak out? Yes, there have been many children who have spoken - Sri Sri Ravishakar is mentioned as being able to chant the entire bhagavad gita at an age of 3 but that is not what the Lord does here. He doesn't chant the Gita but gives instruction to Vasudeva and Devaki on Vedanta which is the base of Gita. This is as impossible as a child being born of a
barren woman. Thus this only shows the miraculous, mysterious and thereby illusory nature of the world.

Any illusion cannot be logically explained or analysis. The water seen in desert can never be explained logically. There is no similarity whatsoever between water and desert but still water is seen in desert. If answered that water is seen when Sun shines, then we have to answer as to what is the similarity between water and sun as well as desert and sun which makes the Sunlight show water in desert. Thus whatever way we analyze, we will only end up with illogical conclusions about an illusion. This is the case with all illusions including snake seen in rope, dream world and the waking world.

Any person who seeks bliss and removal of sorrow from an illusion must realize that there is no illusion at all and the substratum alone exists. The substratum for the illusion of waking world is the ultimate reality of Lord. Thus we have to realize that the world is nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord. The world is just an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. If we remove or forget the ultimate reality of Lord, then we will end up with sorrow alone as the
illusion is capable of giving us sorrow alone. Instead if we remember the ultimate reality of Lord behind the illusions, then we will get bliss which we are seeking each and every moment of our life. This doesn't mean that we have to get away from the world, take sanyaasa etc. This has nothing whatsoever to do with worldly activities. A person who knows there is no dream world can still dream but he is aware that the dream is an illusion - thus he knows that dream will give him sorrow alone. As he is aware about the reality of the dream world, therefore he will not be
affected by it. A person who knows that there is no water in desert but still runs after water will not end up in sorrow when he doesn't find water - because he always knew that there is no water.

Thus Vedanta only requests seekers to remember that the world is an illusion in the reality of Lord thereby doing all actions with this knowledge and as an offering to the ultimate reality of Lord. This alone can lead us to bliss which is the very base for Sri Krishna's entire life.

Summary

This story of Krishna's advent on Earth is known to each and every one of us. But Bhagavatham gives quite a beautiful import out of this story. The main import of this story is that the ultimate reality of Brahman or Lord alone exists; everything else that is seen or heard is only an illusion of names and forms in the Lord. The ultimate reality of Lord is beyond all names and forms. Thus any form that we see
whether it is the form of Krishna or Siva or Sankara is only an illusion in the reality of Lord of the nature of Consciousness. Unless we understand this truth, we will be attached and averted to various names and forms of the world. This is what has been causing issues between the followers of Siva and Vishnu - because they believed the form to be real. Any form whether it is that of an avatar or a normal person will finally end us up in sorrow only.

Instead if we keep in mind the reality of Lord beyond all forms yet still being attached to a form, we will be ever blissful and slowly we will realize our own very nature of Lord. This is what we have to seek and perform in the world. It doesn't matter what activities we do but it is very important to remember that all forms are mere illusions in the reality of Lord. If we forget the reality of Lord, we will end up in an illusory world which can lead us to sorrow and sorrow alone. This is what
the Lord reminds his parents when he is born. We like most of the people in the world seek worldly things including a particular form of the Lord. Devotion to the Lord is not seeking a particular form and saying that "I don't want to merge with the Lord but be different from the Lord" - such a state of difference can never lead us to bliss because bliss is not there in difference. Bliss is our very nature of Lord. But unless we realize our very nature of Lord through knowledge that there is
only the Lord present here, we will end up in difference which will lead us to sorrow. Finally when the time comes to end up life, we will be crying over things we have missed in life. This crying for something or the other at the end of our life has been continuing for births. It is this lack of fulfillment of all desires by realizing the ultimate reality of Lord that causes us to take more birth thereby getting deluded again and again in the ocean of samsaara. But a wise person will analyze the nature of the world and understand that the world is a mere illusion
in the reality of non-dual Lord - thus such a person will end up his life happily as he is ever immersed in contemplation of the Lord. For a person who knows that the dream world is an illusion, dreaming is not at all an issue. Dreaming is an issue only for those who take it to be real. When a person takes dream to be real, he will start crying and brooding over happenings in the dream state. Such brooding will give us sorrow and ensure that we again dream.

There is one and only way to come out of this ocean of samsaara characterized by sorrows and sufferings - that one way is to realize our very nature of non-dual Lord and that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't have attachments and should live life like a seclude going to the forest and taking sanyaas. But this only means that we have to constantly remember that the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists here and everything else is only an
illusion in the Lord. This constant contemplation and knowledge will make sure that we are not deluded into the activities of the world. Such a person will live in the world like the lotus leaf on water - the lotus leaf though is in water but isn't wet even a little bit; similarly the jnaani will live in the world without getting affected by the world. He will thus be ever blissful - it is this bliss that we all seek and is shown in the life of Sri Krishna. The very life of Krishna is a means of
pointing us as to how to live in this world blissfully.

Seeing the Lord born as their child, Devaki also praised the Lord. Hearing the praises of father and mother, the Lord spoke thus:

In previous births, you were Prishni and Sutapa. You did lot of tapas keeping me in mind. Being pleased with your tapas, I appeared in front of you in the form of Vishnu. I thereby asked you for a boon. You both requested that I be born to you as your son. And you didn't ask apavarga or moksha as the boon which would have taken you out of the maya. I was thus born as your son. You both were deluded into worldly pleasures and enjoyed them. After that birth, you both were born as adithi and kashyapa. Thereby I was born to you as upendra (Upendra is the famous Vamana). And now I am taking birth as your son. I have taken this divya form in order to remind you of your previous births. I will tell you one thing that you should love me not just as a son but remembering me as the form of Brahman - this will finally lead you to the ultimate goal of moksha. You should never again request for worldly needs like getting me as your son in human form.

Explanation

Here the Lord speaks about the ultimate goal of human life which is realization of one's own very nature of Lord and that the Lord alone exists here, one without a second. Anything else that we concentrate or focus on will only lead us to more and more troubles. Everything except realization of the ultimate reality of Lord will only ensure that we are immersed more and more in the ocean of samsaara. Such a person will get more entangled in samsaara thereby suffering in the vicious circle of birth and death.

Devaki and Vasudeva sought the Lord as their child. This is similar to any worldly desire. Any worldly desire whether it is possession of worldly objects or seeing the Lord in a particular form will only obstruct the progress in the spiritual path. We should understand the ultimate reality of Lord is beyond all forms as form only limits the unlimited Lord. Any form is only an illusion in the reality of Lord - an illusion cannot give us eternal bliss and instead will only give us sorrow in the
long run. Thus the more and more we concentrate on forms of the world whether it is of worldly objects or that of Vishnu, the more and more we will be getting away from the goal of eternal bliss. It is bliss that we have been seeking all our lives. If we really want to get eternal bliss, we should focus our mind on the ultimate reality of Lord as beyond all forms and as the substratum of whatever is seen in the world. This alone will lead us to the goal of eternal bliss. As long as we don't
get eternal bliss, we will not be satisfied with life and thereby we will be seeking something or the other in life. All such seeking show imperfection and as long as imperfection is there, we will be ever in sorrow. The only way out of this state of imperfection is knowing that the ultimate reality of Lord alone is present and by focusing ourselves on the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute.

When we always remember that the Lord alone exists and the world is only an illusion in the reality of Lord, then the ignorance about our nature of Lord will be removed. When ignorance is removed, we will realize our very nature of Lord. Once we realize our nature of Lord, we will be ever blissful. This blissful state is the goal of human life. As long as we don't achieve this goal, we will be always in a state of temporary happiness and sorrow. As long as we don't realize our very nature of
Lord, we will be entangled in the vicious circle of birth and death. The Lord here thus clearly says that we should not be deluded into the various forms and seek only one thing from the Lord - which is realization of our own very nature of Lord. This alone will make us realize that our very nature is bliss thereby making us ever rejoice in bliss.

After advising Vasudeva and Devaki, the Lord shed the form of Vishnu and took the form of a normal child.

Explanation

It is just one line that we are going to discuss today. It is in this part that we find the compassion of the Lord fully emanating out. We find that the various Mahatmas in this world are embodiments of compassion and love. The current day saints like AMMA or Ramana Maharshi are clear examples of this. Though Ramana Maharshi didn't want to speak anything or help others as for him he didn't see anything apart from the ultimate reality of Lord, still he came down from his level to help others.

Yoga Vasistha speaks about brahma jnaanis (knowers of Brahman) as of four types. The four types are brahma vid, brahma vidvara, brahma vid varya and brahma vid varista. Brahma Vid is one who is a knower of Brahman but still living in the world and doing activities like a worldly person. Brahma Vidvara is one who knows Brahman and strives to be always immersed in Brahman but still giving the bare necessities for the sustenance of the body - he doesn't do any activity except the basic needs in
the world. Brahma Vidvarya is one who doesn't want to even look after his body but still he will be brought down to the worldly level by his disciples and devotees so that he is not ever immersed in Brahman. Brahma vid varista is the highest level wherein the jnaani goes into union with Brahman - he doesn't see the body nor the activities of the world - such a jnaani can never be brought down from his level to the level of the world. Activities are basically impossible for such a jnaani. A
Brahma Vidvarista cannot thus return back to the level of the world - Sadgurus and avatars are those who are at this level but still come down to the worldly level in order to help out people of the world.

Are there any people to help once a person realizes that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists?

Even as a person sees water in desert after realizing that there is no water; even as we all daily dream though we know that there is no dream world; similarly a jnaani might also help the world as he might see the world at the empirical level. But the difference between the jnaani and the ajnaani is that a jnaani knows clearly that there is no world at all - thus whether he helps the world or not, he is ever blissful. His very presence is helpful and blissful to the world. Whoever comes in
contact with the jnaani will experience bliss emanating from the jnaani.

Avatars and Sadgurus are those who are always immersed in Brahman or Lord but still they can come down any time unlike the brahma vid varistas. It is only compassion that makes them help the world though they gain nothing from the world. They are here not to take anything but to give bliss to the people of the world and make them realize their very nature of Lord.

When Emperor Shantanu was suffering and in bad condition, Veda Vyaasa went to see him (Veda Vyaasa's mother was the wife of Shantanu). When Bhishma saw Vyaasa, he asked him as to what he wants. To this, Vyaasa replied "I have not come to take but to give". Bhishma thought that this guy was foolish and mad. But then Vyaasa requested to meet Satyavati upon which Bhishma came to know of Vyaasa's real nature. The story goes that Vyaasa then cured Shantanu by chanting of Atharva Veda mantras
thereby proving his words that he came to give and not take.

The Mahatmas in the world are not there to take anything from us; instead they are here to give us bliss that we are seeking each moment of our life. If the Mahatmas takes anything from us, then it is only our ego and our sins. It is out of compassion that these Mahatmas help us in the spiritual path - thereby we should understand the importance of being in the presence of such Mahatmas. Our life will become futile if we don't seek out these Mahatmas. We should not waste our opportunity of being guided to the ultimate reality of Lord through the compassion of these Mahatmas.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Vasudeva continued:

If a person sets aside Consciousness from the various names-forms and considers the names-forms to be real, then he is a person without discrimination. This is because he rejects Consciousness which makes things to be existent and without Consciousness those names-forms are never existent. If he doesn't accept Consciousness, then he is accepting that which has been rejected previously (accepting names-forms which was
rejected by not knowing Consciousness - not knowing is rejecting - if Consciousness is rejected, then names-forms also are automatically rejected as they are illusions in Consciousness).

Explanation

We find here Bhagavatham through Vasudeva proclaiming one of the profound truth in Vedanta. It might seem a bit tough to apprehend but once we understand it, it will be very simple. If we are aware of this truth that Vasudeva is proclaiming, then there will be nothing else to be known.

Vedanta starts with the disciple asking the Guru to tell him that by knowing which everything is known - that by knowing which, knowledge will culminate and bliss alone will remain. The Guru then propounds Vedanta from the external world to the ultimate reality of Lord. The Guru finally says that it is by knowing the ultimate reality of Lord that knowledge culminates. This knowledge of the Lord is not mere knowledge about the Lord but the knowledge that there is only Lord present here and that everything else is only an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord.

The objects that we perceive are illusions of names and forms in the reality of Lord of the nature of Consciousness. If Consciousness is not there, then the world itself becomes non-existent. If Consciousness is there, the world exists. Therefore Consciousness is independent and eternal whereas the objects of the world are dependent on Consciousness and are temporary.

If we accept the names and forms of the world as existing, then we would have to accept Consciousness as also existing. If we don't accept Consciousness, we cannot accept the names and forms as existing. This is as good as telling that if we have to accept water seen in desert, we will have to accept desert first. If we just accept water seen in desert without accepting desert as existing, it would be like first rejecting (not accepting) desert but still accepting water. Thus a person who
sees names and forms will have to accept the underlying substratum of Lord. Without the Lord, the names and forms don't exist. If we forget to accept the underlying reality of Lord, then it is foolish to accept the names and forms as existing though they are always changing and temporary. Since the names and forms are always changing, therefore they are only mere illusions in the underlying changeless substratum of Lord. Vasudeva here after proclaiming that the Lord is really without forms but only appears to be with forms even as water appears to be in desert though not really present in desert proclaims that a person who accepts names-forms without the ultimate reality of Lord is a person without discrimination, intelligence and thereby a fool.

Thus whenever we see the names and forms in the world, we have to constantly remember that those are mere illusions in the reality of Lord who alone exists. If we don't accept the Lord or don't see the Lord beyond the names-forms, then we are fools. It is thereby upto an individual as to whether he wants to be a fool or an intelligent person. If we choose to be fools, we will end up in sorrow as the illusory names and forms can give us nothing but sorrow alone. But if we become intelligent people, always remembering the reality of Lord beyond the illusory names and forms then we will get eternal bliss that which we have been seeking each and every moment in this and every other birth. This is the one and only way to get eternal bliss in life.

Vasudeva continued:

O Lord who are of the nature of Consciousness; you are Nirguna and thereby nishkriya (without any activity) as well. Hence in reality there cannot be any creation-protection-destruction in you. But still people go on telling that creation etc. happens in you through Maya.

Explanation

The Lord is of the nature of Sat-Chit-Ananda or Existence-Consciousness-Bliss. The Lord alone exists as there cannot be anything apart from Consciousness to really exist. Since the Lord alone exists, he cannot have any qualities or gunas. Gunas are possible only when something is either limited or something is related in some way to another generic entity or quality. Thus the Lord is mentioned in the scriptures as nirguna or without any qualities. Since the Lord is without any qualities and
he alone exists, there cannot be any action possible in the Lord. Action is possible only when there is duality and there is some quality in the entity which in turn leads to action. But since the Lord alone exists and he is without any qualities, therefore no action is possible in Consciousness.

Action is possible only with entities that have parts. We cannot have any action in space as space is part-less. This is because action requires association between entities and association is possible only when the entities have parts. Any entity that has qualities alone can have parts. Here qualities are similar to height or weight of a body. Since the Lord is without any qualities (as Consciousness is without any qualities he doesn't have any parts. Since the Lord is part-less, he is
without any action.

As there cannot be any action possible in the Lord, therefore there cannot be any creation or protection or destruction in the Lord. This means that there is no real world created from the Lord. But the scriptures do speak about creation - this creation is attributed to Maya or the illusory power of the Lord. It is Maya that makes us feel that the world is really created. But in reality, there is no world created as such a creation is not at all possible. This is also proved as the world is only an illusion (as it keeps on changing). Any changing entity is only
an illusion in its changeless substratum. Any illusion is not really created but only seems to be created when we perceive it. The water seen in desert is never really created but only seems to be created when we see it (if we see it, it should be created). Thus as long as we perceive the world, the world seems to be created; but in reality the world is not at all created. This theory that the world is not at all created and such a creation is not at all possible is called Ajaathi vaada
propounded clearly in Gaudapada's Mandukya Karika. This is the ultimate reality
behind the world that there is no real world created at all.

But for most of us, it is impossible to understand or apprehend this theory of no-creation. It is as good as a dream person saying to the dreamer in dream that there is no dream world - he will not be able to apprehend or understand it. But once the dreamer wakes up, he will understand that there was no real dream world created. Thus as long as we are in the world and not out of the world, we will not be really able to understand the theory that the world is not at all created. But once we get a glimpse of the Lord or are realized, we will be able to experience that the world is not at all created as such creation is not at all possible.

Since creation is not at all possible at the ultimate level, therefore there is no sorrow for each one of us as sorrow is from the worldly objects alone. Since there is no sorrow, therefore we are ever blissful and one with the Lord as there is nothing apart from the Lord. This means that we are never suffering and are never different from the Lord. This knowledge at the intellectual level itself will give us immense bliss that we are blissful Lord alone (who is non-dual). But once our
intellect gains conviction and we always contemplate on this truth of no-creation, we will slowly get out of the illusory world thereby realizing that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists. That state is when we will be rejoicing in bliss and bliss alone. This state is what we all are knowingly or unknowingly seeking.

The Lord in the coming part emphasizes that we should seek only eternal bliss or the Nirguna Lord and nothing else as seeking anything else will only lead us to sorrow. We will see this in the next day.

The time of Krishna's advent in the world came. All of a sudden, one night Devaki's garbha was filled with brightness and the Lord had entered into it. The Lord then took birth. The form that the child took was that of Vishnu having four hands etc. Since the child was in the form of Vishnu, Vasudeva started praising the Lord.

Explanation

Here we find the advent of Lord as the child of Devaki. We see that the birth of the Lord is not like any ordinary child but is extra ordinary. It is often accepted that avataaras have maayika shareera or mayic body which is quite different from the physical body that normal beings have. We find here Devaki being conceived all of a sudden without undergoing the normal process of conception. This is the difference between the advent of the Lord and birth of normal beings.

Though birth whether it is by Maya or by normal means is only an illusion, at the empirical level we can differentiate the birth of the Lord and the birth of normal beings. The Lord is the controller of everything in the world as the world itself is caused by Maya which is the power of the Lord. Since Maya is under the control of the Lord, therefore everything in the world can be controlled by the Lord. Though everything can be controlled and changed by the Lord, still the eternal rule of
karma is not broken even by the Lord. It is the karma of sins accrued by Kamsa which caused Krishna to descend to the world. It is the same karma which finally lead to Kamsa getting focus of the mind towards the ultimate reality of Lord. It is this focus which again brought the Lord into the world for the two-fold purpose of killing the ego of Kamsa which had done sins and liberating (giving experience or realization) for that Kamsa who was totally fixed on the ultimate reality of Lord.

That Krishna avataara is a poorna avaataara is again proved through the Lord taking the form of Vishnu after being born and not taking a normal human form.

When a normal person sees the Lord, he will ask lot of boons seeking worldly pleasures. But here we find as to what a devotee would do when he sees the ultimate reality of Lord. A real devotee will praise the Lord - he will need nothing but mere vision of the Lord is enough for a devotee to be exalted to blissful state. Thus when the devotee of Vasudeva sees the ultimate reality of Lord in front of him as a child, he starts praising the Lord. We will see as to how Vasudeva praises and what the Lord replies to Vasudeva-devaki in the coming days.

Vasudeva praised the Lord thus:

O Lord! You have temporarily taken this form. In reality you are beyond prakrithi and are of the nature of indivisible Consciousness. That Purusha through his Maya has made this duality appear and is present as well as not present in them. In reality, there is neither inside nor outside as the purusha is the indwelling Self of all beings. There is nothing apart from that Purusha who you are.

Explanation

In this part, we find Vasudeva praising the Lord who has appeared in the form of Vishnu and his child. Any form whether it is that of Vishnu or Siva or Krishna is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Consciousness. Any form is subject to changes like the various forms that we see. Even as the various names and forms of gold chain, gold necklace, gold ring etc. are mere illusions in the reality of gold similarly the various names and forms that we see in the world is only an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Consciousness. It is this Consciousness that is proclaimed in the Upanishads as Brahman and in the puranas as Ishwara or Paramatman or Bhagavan or Lord. In reality the Lord is of the nature of Consciousness and beyond all forms as the Lord is unlimited whereas forms are always limited in space and time. Thus Vasudeva here says that the Lord is beyond prakrithi and therefore all forms.

Vasudeva also gives us a brief way as to how the duality has appeared from the non-dual reality of Lord. That which causes the non-dual reality to appear as the dual world is called Maya which is an illusory power of the Lord. Maya is that which is inexplicable and ultimate unreal. Since Maya is ultimately unreal, therefore it cannot be defined or explained like things in the world. But Maya is the cause of the duality in the world. Maya makes us feel as if there is duality present here. The duality that we see is not real as it is not permanent (like in deep sleep where we don't see any objects of the world). Maya makes it seem as if the duality is real. This is like the dream state wherein there is only the dreamer but the entire dream world seems to be present. Similarly here the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists but Maya makes it seem as if there are many things present here. Since this duality has for its substratum the ultimate reality of Lord alone, therefore the Lord is present in the duality (as the underlying substratum). Also since the
duality is unreal whereas the Lord is real, therefore the Lord is not really in the duality. Thus Vasudeva says that the Lord is present in the duality as well as not present in the duality. This might seem a bit contradictory but as explained the Lord is present in the duality as the substratum and as the names-forms, he is not present in the duality.

Only when there is duality present, can be have inside and outside of things. But there is only the ultimate reality of Lord present here; hence there is neither inside nor outside. Since we are ignorant of the reality that the Lord alone is present here, we think that there is inside and outside. For people who see duality as existing, the scriptures proclaim that the Lord is present inside and outside of all things. This is only a way of telling that there is neither inside nor outside but the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists here. Once we apprehend at least intellectually that there is only the ultimate reality of Lord present here, then we will not be having likes and dislikes as there is no duality present. When there are neither likes nor dislikes, there will be not be any happiness or sorrow arising out of attachment and aversion. We will thereby realize our very nature of the ultimate reality of Lord. Since the Lord is of the nature of bliss, thereby we will be ever
rejoicing in bliss. This eternal bliss is the goal of life; we will be able to achieve it only through realizing that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists, one without a second.

Through the study of scriptures and puranas like Bhagavatham, we learn that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists. Once we understand this intellectually, we will be able to always contemplate on this reality that the Lord alone exists here; this will finally lead us to be ever immersed in the natural state of bliss.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

After the seventh lost was lost, Devaki became pregnant again. Kamsa became very frightened and afraid. Thereby he put Devaki and Vasudeva in jail. Kamsa had heard from Narada that Bhagavan Vishnu was taking birth as the eighth child of Devaki and would kill him.

Explanation

We see here the man of Kamsa trying all means in order to overcome death. Bhagavatham is here symbolically pointing out that the goal of all beings is to overcome death and attain immortality. This nothing but being in a state where there is no cessation of existence. As we are quite familiar that Existence is bliss (sat and ananda), therefore all beings fight for survival and existence in this illusory world. Thus there is knowledge in us to seek eternality as that alone can give us bliss. But the problem is the way and place where we seek this eternality. We try
to get eternality through possession of worldly things and people. This only leads us to more and more sorrow rather than leading us to bliss. We tend to forget that the external world is temporary and constantly changing. Such a temporary and changing world is only an illusion and not real. That which isn't real cannot give us eternal bliss instead it will only lead us to sorrow in the long run.

We just tend to forget this and thereby search eternality in the external world and trying to control things outside us like Kamsa trying to control the external factor of Krishna. Once we become experienced in the futility behind the search for eternality in the external world, we become afraid and fear takes control. When fear takes control, we tend to do all sort of weird and foolish things.

Kamsa in this part of the story thought he could control the situations or birth of Krishna by controlling devaki and vasudeva. Out of fear, he even put them into jail so that nothing goes wrong. But as the famous statement goes "man proposes and god alone disposes", we know what happened to Kamsa's environmental control and the birth of Lord Krishna.

Fear is something that arises when we think that we will cease to exist some day or the other. The Upanishads give quite a beautiful definition of fear as that which arises out of the notion of duality. When there is something apart from ourselves, then only we will fear that. Thus fear arises out of the notion of duality - the notion that there are many things here which are different from one another. This notion that there are different things here is only out of ignorance of the real nature of the world. The world that we see is only an illusion of names and
forms in the reality of Lord who is the substratum of all names and forms. It is this ignorance of the illusory nature of the world which makes a person to consider the duality which is perceived as real. Considering duality as real causes a person to fear things which are distinct and apart from oneself. It is this fear that causes a person to do things wrong and finally ends up in self-destruction as in the case of Kamsa.

Fear is also something which can in turn lead us to the ultimate reality of Lord. Most of us will agree on this that when we fear something, the first thing we do is call out the Lord. We will see as to how this aspect of remembering the Lord at times of fear leads a person to the state of eternal existence in the next day.

Kamsa's mind became focused on the Lord due to fear of death at the hands of the Lord. Whatever is the worldly attitude with which a person is focused on the Lord, finally the attitude will vanish and the person will merge unto the Lord. This is the rule.

As for kamsa, while sitting or sleeping or eating or wandering, he was thinking about the Lord alone and thus for him the entire world became filled with the Lord.

Explanation

We are all familiar with nava vidha bhakthi mentioned by Prahlaada in Bhagavatham as well as the ekaadasha vidha bhakthi mentioned by Narada in Narada Bhakthi Sutras. Here we find the basis of such different ways of devotion towards the Lord proved by Bhagavatham through kamsa's life itself.

The attitude with which he contemplate the Lord is not important; what is important is the attitude of constant contemplation. A person who is always contemplating on the Lord will merge unto the ultimate reality of Lord as his mind is ever focused on the Lord. The rule of contemplation or focusing is very simple - that which we contemplate always, we will become that. If a person is always contemplating on worldly things, he will in turn merge into the worldly things - thinking that he is one with them. But with contemplation on the ultimate reality, we will not think that we are one with the Lord but we will realize our very nature of Lord (as that is our true nature which has been forgotten).

Thus it doesn't matter as to how we are thinking about the Lord but it matters as to how many times or hours in a day are we thinking about the Lord. There are certain devotees and sects of people who claim that we have to develop a particular type of attitude only towards the Lord. This is in fact proved wrong by Bhagavatham in this part of the story. It doesn't really matter as to with which attitude we are contemplating on the Lord. What is required is constant contemplation of the Lord and seeing the Lord as pervading the entire world. It is this attitude that
Kamsa developed out of fear. Even though Kamsa wasn't a devotee in the normal definition of the word, but still he was a devotee whose attitude towards the Lord was fear. When we fear something very much, we always contemplate on it. It is natural for those who fear ghosts to think about ghosts during night. It rarely happens that such people are able to forget ghosts while sleeping. Similarly since Kamsa feared the Lord, he was always contemplating on the Lord. He was always thinking about the Lord and that the Lord will appear before him in some form and kill him. Kamsa also knew about the tricky nature of the Lord and his Maya
power to assume any form. Hence whatever Kamsa saw, he saw that as the Lord appearing in a different form. Thus whatever was seen was seen as the Lord. Whatever be the activity that Kamsa was doing, he was always thinking and seeing the ultimate reality of Lord. This attitude of constantly contemplating on the Lord will make us realize the entire world to be filled with the Lord alone.

Thus Bhagavatham through Kamsa's experience is in turn telling each one of us to constantly contemplate on the Lord and focus our mind always on the Lord. This will ensure that we see the entire world as the Lord alone. Thus the dual world will be seen as the non-dual reality of Lord. This non-dual vision will make us take everything as not different but the Lord alone. Such equanimity of vision will in turn take us away from likes and dislikes which in turn causes us to be whirled into
happiness and sorrow. Thus through constantly thinking about the Lord, we will be able to overcome the dual notions of the world or samsaara itself. Once we overcome samsaara, we will be experiencing nothing but the Lord alone as the world.

This vision of the world as Lord will in turn make us realize our very nature of Lord thereby taking us from mortality to immortality as was the case with Kamsa. We will continue with the story in the next day.

We saw in the previous day as to how people seek the Lord at times of distress. We as ardent seekers of the reality of Lord need to seek nothing but realization of the ultimate reality of Lord alone. The Lord himself speaks about different types of bhakthas or people in the world thus:

Chathurvidhaa bhajanthe maam janaah sukrithino arjuna
Aartho jijnaasuh arthaarthi jnaani cha bharatharshabha

Four types of people worship me O Arjuna. The four are seeking money,
seeking relief, seeking realization and a jnaani (realized one).

Majority of the devotees of the ultimate reality of Lord are either seeking money or seeking relief from troubles. There are very few who are realized and who seek realization. We have to shift ourselves from seeking money or relief and instead be seekers of realization or jijnaasus. The Lord himself proclaims in Gita that whoever seeks whatever, he gets that by the grace of the Lord. Thus if we seek money or relief, we will only get that. Money or relief from current scenario cannot give us
eternal bliss as more such situations or scenarios will happen. This samsaara is an illusion which can be overcome only through realization of one's own very nature of Lord. Until we do that, we will have troubles again and again. There will be no cessation of sorrow or contentment or satisfaction until we realize that the world is only an illusion and the ultimate reality of Lord alone exists. Our ultimate goal in life is nothing but happiness that is everlasting and eternal. This can be
achieved only through realization of our own very nature of Lord - who alone exists here, one without a second.

We found in this story people going to Vishnu seeking relief from worldly troubles. We will see in the coming day as to what Lord clearly explains in his birth of Krishna. But we have to always remember that we should be seeking nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord alone. We shouldn't seek money or material benefits or relief in the world. It is but funny that we go to the Lord who has eternal bliss and seek petty things of the world. Isn't it enough if we seek the Lord himself (who grants everything) so that we get whatever we want? Such seekers are wise people as they don't seek petty things of the illusory world but seek the ultimate reality of Lord knowing which everything else becomes known and there is nothing else to be achieved in life.

Devaki who was the sister of Kamsa married Vasudeva. At that time, an ashareeri was heard that the eighth child of Devaki will kill Kamsa. Upon this Kamsa was about to kill Devaki. Vasudeva pacified Kamsa saying that he would give the entire children to Kamsa as they are born. The first six children who were given to Kamsa were thus killed by Kamsa. The seventh child was disturbed in the womb of Devaki by DeviMaya and transferred to Rohini who was another wife of Vasudeva. Thus was born Balarama who was the seventh child of Vasudeva.

Explanation

This is a story which we are all quite familiar with. But still we need to understand the import behind the story and relate it to the ultimate reality of Lord. We all have been listening to this story since our childhood, have been seeing this in many TV serials/films, have been listening to this as part of Bhagavatha sapthaham etc. but still many of us are either attracted to either the form of Krishna or the plays of Krishna. This in turn blinds us from the real import of the story as well as leads us to attraction towards either form Krishna or the miracles
performed by Krishna. In order to understand the real import of the story, we need to view this from the perspective of Vedanta keeping in mind the ultimate reality of Lord as the goal.

Any form whether it is that of Krishna or Vishnu or AMMA or any Mahatma is temporary and thereby illusory. These are not "my" personal words but the words of Lord in Gita as well as in Bhagavatham which we will see in the coming days. Any form is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord even as various gold ornaments like chain, necklace etc. are mere illusions of names-forms in gold. For a goldsmith, all gold ornaments are gold alone. But for normal people, the various gold ornaments
are different. For ignorant people, the world filled of different forms is different from one another. But for the wise person, the world is a mere illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Unless we realize the futility of all forms, we will be attached to a particular form. History speaks about the various fights (both verbal and physical) between Saivites and Vaishnavites (followers of Siva and Vishnu resp.). Direct
evidence is clearly found in works of Appayya Dikshitar where he shows that such distinctions of decrying Siva were prevalent during his time. These distinctions are prevalent even today. People consider that Vishnu alone is great and yet others consider Siva alone as great. Any word about other God than their Supreme God will be dealt with harsh words. Such is the foolishness and stupidity of people who get attached for mere forms instead of the ultimate reality of Lord who is beyond all forms.

It is not at all different to be attached to a person in the world or Lord Krishna. The only difference is that if there is real devotion towards Krishna, then the Lord himself will forcefully take such a devotee from form-devotion to formless God. This is only if there is real devotion which is nothing but seeing such a form Lord as pervading all the forms in the world which means that there is nothing but that form
alone. Most of us are bereft of this form devotion. If it is possible, why not directly try to apprehend the formless God who is the substratum of all forms rather than going indirectly through a form God???

Yes, the Lord does proclaim that formless meditation is tough in the bhakthi yoga of gita. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try towards it - anything and everything possible through practice in the world. This story of Krishna is a testimony to this truth as the Lord himself will be proving to his parents in the next parts of the story.

In this particular part of the story, we find Kamsa trying to go against the creator of the world. If we accept a world, we have to accept a creator who is in total control of the world. If we instead accept the world as an illusion, there is no question of going against creation or crying for things in the world. Kamsa was neither of these two and hence tried to control the world. We find people like Alexander, Hitler, Napolean among others trying to gain control of the world. All such people were utter failure as they failed to apprehend the truth that they
are trying to control an illusory world. What is the best way to control water seen in desert? The best way is to know that there is no water. There cannot be any other way of controlling water - though we may try different methods, all of them will be utter failures only as there is no water at all in desert. Thus such people who try to control the world will utter failures - even if it is trying to purify the world through social service like Jesus, Buddha etc. did.

This part of the story shows how futile was Kamsa's efforts to go against the Lord. If only had Kamsa realized the futility of the temporary world, he would have easily realized the ultimate reality of Lord than going for controlling the world and his existence in the world.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Remembering the ultimate reality of Lord as the import of all the stories of Srimad Bhagavatham, let us enter into the next story. This is one of the very important stories of Srimad Bhagavatham and very close to bhakthas as well as jnaanis. This is very important in that it portrays the necessity of knowledge as well as drives forth the truth behind avataaras.

We ourselves have learnt previously while dealing with avataaras that Krishna is considered a poorna avataara. This is because of the way in which Lord Krishna lived. Even when Krishna was enjoying with 10008 wives or when the Mahabharatha war killed lot of people or when his entire clan killed themselves, he was ever blissful. This is the nature of the Self that is portrayed to perfection by Lord Krishna - the Self is ever blissful. The Self is a mere witness to all activities. Whatever activities happen whether they are good or bad, the Self is ever blissful as it cannot have any kind of attachment with fruits or objects of the world.

Why can't the Self have attachment to things or fruits?

The Self cannot have attachment as association is impossible for the Self which is partless. Anything that has parts is subject to birth and death as it changes like the tree and the body. Since the Self is eternal, therefore it has to be part-less. The scriptures speak about the Self as the source of space. We also know that space exists only when there is Consciousness. Thus Self of the nature of Consciousness is the source of space. As space is part-less, therefore its cause of Self also has to be part-less. Thus the Self is part-less and hence association or attachment is impossible for the Self. Since there is no association or attachment for the Self, it has to be non-dual and everything else has to be an illusion in the Self. Thus the Self alone exists, one without a second. Therefore the Self is blissful. It is this blissful Self that is portrayed in each and every moment of his life by Lord Krishna. This is not the experience of Lord alone but it is the experience of each
one of us. Most of us are ignorant of our very nature of bliss - that bliss which we experience in the deep sleep state. But once we realize our very nature of Self, the experience of blissful Self will not be just for the Lord but for each one of us. Thus through living the truth propounded in the scriptures, the Lord also shows us in this avataara that bliss is our very nature and if we want to, we can also live blissfully whatever be the situation or surroundings or environment is.

Since the Lord not only gives advice in the form of teachings to Uddhava in Uddhava Gita of Bhagavatham and the very famous Bhagavad Gita portion of Mahabharatha, but he also shows us the goal of realized existence through living it his entire life. Not even for a single moment was the Lord non-blissful. We cannot find in any of the puranas a description of Lord Krishna being sad. This in itself proves Vyaasa's
proclamation of Krishna avataara as a poorna avataara. JWe are not here to compare
avataaras of Vishnu but just to learn as to how to live blissful through the life of Lord Krishna.

We have already seen previously as to that avataara itself means descend from the natural realized state of Brahman or Lord. Thus any avataara is only another name and form in the reality of Lord. But it is these avataaras that show us as to how to live blissfully. This bliss or Lord-ship is not only for the avataaras but for everything in the world as everything is an illusion of names and forms in the ultimate reality of Lord. This everything includes us as well and hence description of the life of Lord Krishna is not just his life but it is our natural state
of Self - just that we are ignorant of the Self thereby becoming sad and sorrowful due to association and superimposition of the body-mind-intellect complex on the Self.

Though most of us know the birth of Lord Krishna, we will see certain aspects of this that Bhagavatham beautifully portrays. Though many of us have attended many Bhagavatha sapthaaham, many of the deeper aspects in this story has been either hidden or given less importance by the various sapthaaha speakers. We are not here to criticize those speakers but just to learn the various stories of Bhagavatham as a means of realizing the ultimate reality of Lord through focusing on the Lord at all times. It is thereby important for us to learn those aspects of the various
stories that involve things which we have to perform in the world in order to reach our goal of Lord.

We will start this story from the next day keeping in mind that our focus is not the form-Lord of Krishna but the ultimate reality of formless non-dual Lord who is the essence of everything ranging from Lord Krishna to a bacteria.

Due to the atrocities of asuras, Bhoomi Devi became very sad. Devi with creator Brahma went to the shore of paalaazhi and poured her worries to Bhagavan Vishnu. The Lord consoled them by telling that he will be born to Devaki and Vasudeva and thereby will get rid of the problems of Earth.

Explanation

The Lord proclaims in Gita thus:

Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavathi bhaaratha
Abhyuttaanam adharmasya tadaatmaanam srijaami aham

Wherever dharma is lost and adharma rises, I will appear myself there in order to change the same.

What is dharma and adharma?

Anything that is associated with remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord is dharma. Any activity that is done forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord is adharma. Even if we chant the sahasranaama or rudra or do gayatri but forgetting the ultimate reality of Lord, then such an activity is an adharma. It is not the activity that determines whether it is dharma or adharma but it is the attitude of remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord that determines whether such an activity is dharma or adharma. It is for this reason that the Lord in his Krishna avataara did many things which are considered adharma but still all of those are dharma only.

It is our general notion that has been handed down from the so-called traditional believers that certain activities like gayatri, chanting, meditation etc. are dharma and other things are adharma. Dharmavyaadha was butcher but he was considered a realized saint by the Lord because he did the action with remembrance of the ultimate reality of Lord. Though Yudhisthira was always following dharma but still he failed in many places as he characterized dharma-adharma based on the activity rather than on the attitude.

We have to make this point clear in our mind that if we kill a person but remembering the ultimate reality of Lord and offering the action to the Lord, we are doing dharma and not adharma. JBefore anybody doubts and accuses "Hariram" of making such false statements, this is not "my" words but the very words of the Lord in the 18th chapter.

Yasya na ahamkrithirbhaavo buddhiryasya na lipyathe
Hatvaapi sa imaan lokaan naayam hanthi na hanyathe

If a person is bereft of ego and his intellect is attached to things,
then even if he kills the entire world he is not a killer nor does he die.

When we do an activity as an offering to the Lord, then there is no sense of doership. Thus there is no ahamkaara or ego attitude. When we do action remembering the reality of Lord, we remember that the world is only an illusion in the reality of Lord and that the Lord alone exists here - therefore there is no attachment in the intellect as attachment is caused only when there is something different here (but here there is only the non-dual Lord). Thus such a person who remembers the ultimate reality of Lord and offers the actions as an offering to the Lord is
doing dharma only whatever be the action that he does. This is what is clearly illustrated in the life of Lord Krishna.

Since dharma is activity done with the right attitude, adharma is activity done without remembering the Lord. When dharma is not followed and adharma rises, the Lord appears them. How does the Lord appear? The Lord appears then in the form of sorrows and sufferings which are so unbearable that the seeker is forced to seek the Lord at that time. It is thus that the Lord appears to us and attracts ourselves to him so that we follow dharma thereby realizing the ultimate reality of Lord.

We will see more of this analysis in the coming days.

Summary:

Let's today try to summarize this story of Rantideva so that we know what to take from this story and implement in our lives.

The goal of human life is eternal and ever-lasting bliss. This is what everybody is seeking irrespective of the various distinctions of caste, creed etc. Until we achieve this goal of eternal bliss, we will still be lacking something or the other. This sense of lacking will make us feel as if we are not perfect, satisfied and content. Our life can be fulfilled only by getting our goal of eternal bliss. This goal of eternal bliss cannot be achieved from worldly entities as the world is constant changing. Anything that is changing is temporary and hence cannot give eternal bliss. That which is temporary can only give sorrow in the long run and hence the Lord proclaims the world to be sorrowful in Bhagavad Gita. Anything that is changing should have a changeless substratum. This changeless substratum is nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. It is through realization of our very nature of Lord that we will be able to attain our goal of eternal bliss - this is because our very nature is that of Lord as the Lord alone exists here, one without a second. Our inner Self which pulsates each moment as "I-exist, I-exist" is nothing but Consciousness which is the ultimate reality of Lord.

Realization of our nature of Lord is not an activity but just the knowledge that "I am none other than the Lord who alone exists here". This knowledge is required because we are currently ignorant of our very nature of Lord thereby considering ourselves as the body-mind complex and suffering in this illusory world. Ignorance can be removed by knowledge alone even as darkness can be removed by light alone. Thus the ultimate reality of Lord can be realized only through knowledge that the Lord alone exists and constantly contemplating on the non-dual reality of Lord.

Any action that is performed is arising out of ignorance as the action is done seeking a particular fruit. An action that is done without seeking any fruit (which is termed as selfless action) is not at all an action as action is that which involves an Ego and a fruit which both are absent in the case of selfless action. Thus all actions will only lead us to more and more ignorance considering ourselves as limited and suffering. Even selfless action cannot lead us to realization of our nature of Lord as realization is possible only through being aware of our nature of Lord which is termed as knowledge. Since realization is not possible through actions, therefore any action whether it is worldly or vedic or spiritual will not lead us to the goal of eternal bliss. Selfless action will only purify our mind thereby making us eligible to grasp the truth about the ultimate reality of Lord. Since action cannot lead us to our goal of Lord, therefore a seeker should renounce all actions and try to constantly contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord. Renouncing doesn't mean inaction but just that the seeker will remember that there is no action happening as the action is offered to the ultimate reality of Lord.

Unless we get rid of all actions whether it is daana or dharma, we will be lead into misery like Rantideva was lead to. There will always be a time when we will feel that any amount of daana or dharma is not giving us perfection neither is it making the world perfect. It is impossible to make the world perfect through social service as the world itself is only an illusion even as the dream world is an illusion in the dreamer. Thus an ardent seeker will learn from the story of Rantideva that
actions are not the solution or path to realization but knowledge about the ultimate reality of Lord and constant contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord alone is the path to realization.

O Parikshit, the intellect of Rantideva which removed the notion that there is something else and thereby was focused on the Lord alone, got rid of the gunas of Maya and like a dream merged into the Self.

Explanation

We find Shuka here saying to Parikshit the fruit of ekaantha bhakthi that Rantideva achieved through focus on the Lord alone and remembering that everything else is only an illusion in the Lord. Once a person knows the world to be a mere illusion in the reality of Lord and that the Lord alone exists (one without a second), then he always contemplates on everything as the Lord. For such a person, there is no dvaita bhaava or thought that there is something different - as for him there is only one thing which is the ultimate reality of Lord. The duality that we see is only an illusion in the reality of Lord. In fact, there is no many things here - it is only various names and forms of the reality of Lord. Even as various gold ornaments are mere names and forms of Gold, similarly the world is only names and forms of the ultimate reality of Lord. Any name and form is not real but only a temporary existence in the reality - thus the world is not real but only temporary apparent existence in the ultimate reality of Lord. If we set aside the ultimate reality of Lord, there will be no world at all. If we remove the names and forms of the world, we will find them to be the Lord of the nature of Consciousness. This is the real vision of the world as its substratum of Lord even as the real vision of dream world is seeing it as the substratum of dreamer.

As long as a person considers the world to be real and duality as real, he will not be able to contemplate on the non-dual reality of Lord. This will only lead him to like certain things and dislike certain other things. Likes and dislikes lead to desire and anger. This in turn leads to state of tension and finally to sorrow. The goal of each human being is to be ever happy - attain bliss which is ever-lasting and
changeless. This bliss is synonymous with satisfaction, contentment, peace and happiness. This bliss can be achieved only through realization of the non-dual reality of Lord through contemplation on the Lord along with knowledge that there is no duality whatsoever here. The happiness that we get from worldly objects is temporary as the objects themselves are temporary. Moreover the happiness in worldly objects is filled with sorrow even while achieving it or after it has vanished. Thus a wise person will get away from sensual pleasure and will always be contemplating on the ultimate reality of Lord.

When the seeker knows that there is no duality whatsoever here and thereby contemplates on the ultimate reality of Lord, everything merges into the Self or the Lord. This is as if a dream person has woken up from his long dream. When a person is dreaming, he sees many things and considers each of them as real. But once he contemplates on the truth that there is no dream world at all, he wakes up and the entire dream world merges into the one dreamer. Similarly when a seeker contemplates on the non-dual reality of Lord, everything merges unto the ultimate reality of Lord even as the dream world merges into the dreamer upon waking up.

When the seeker wakes up from this long dream of waking world wherein he sees things as many, he will be ever blissful as there will be nothing but the ultimate reality of Lord alone. We are almost reaching the end of this short story of Bhagavatham. We will see as to what happens to Rantideva in the next day.

Thus Rantideva after having merged the intellect/mind unto the Self ever rejoiced in the bliss in the Self.

This story of Rantideva was a lesson of advise to all yogis who were getting deluded into thinking that various activities like daana, dharma etc. would lead to liberation. Any person who knows this story will never get deluded into activities but will always be immersed in contemplation of the non-dual reality of Lord alone.

Explanation

We come to the conclusion of this short story of Rantideva here. We find Bhagavatham here concluding by telling that Rantideva's story is an advice to all yogis - what advice? The teaching that any activity whether it is worldly or spiritual will not lead us to liberation. All activities are born out of ignorance and hence will lead us to ignorance alone. The more a person tries to do activities in the world, the more entangled he will be in this ocean of samsaara. In order for a person to come out of this ocean of samsaara characterized by ignorance, a person has to seek the ultimate reality of Lord through constant contemplation of the Lord along with the knowledge that there is nothing here but the Lord alone exists. This alone can lead a person to his ultimate goal of happiness which is crossing over this ocean of samsaara.

There are many people in this world including Mahatmas who recommend doing service to the world. There are even people who following Swami Vivekananda proclaim that "we cannot do help to the world but only service". Thus these followers proclaim that a person is spiritual if he is doing service to the world, if he is serving the poor, if he is following these saints by living for others rather than themselves - we should never fall into the trap of such followers who though claim to be following Vedanta are in fact far apart from Vedanta. These followers though proclaiming to be knowing and following Bhagavatham are only getting immersed in the ocean of samsaara without understanding the real import of Bhagavatham. We should remember to not fall into the trap of such followers or saints. If we do so, then we will befall the same fate that Rantideva befell due to his thinking of doing service to people.

Shouldn't I listen to the words of saints like Swami Vivekananda and others as they are realized?

Bhagavatham following Vedanta says that everybody is realized. There is nobody who is not realized here because there is only one entity here which is ever-realized Atman or Lord. We all are the Lord alone - some know it, some don't - that's the only difference between such saints and ourselves. Just because a person speaks fluently or is able to attract people or has experienced God doesn't make him great and others low.

Real saints who are ever immersed in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Lord will never proclaim themselves to be realized. If any saint proclaims himself to be realized and others to be ignorant, we can outright reject such a saint as false-saint. Swami Vivekananda himself proclaimed - "Glad I did big blunders". It is but a pity that the so-called followers of Vivekananda including current day saints of the mission don't bring out this essence of Swamiji's words. Instead they take the words of service that Swamiji proclaimed. Such people are not to be believed nonetheless followed.A real Vedantin will never ask any person to blindly follow him or the
scriptures. He will tell the disciples and devotees to follow what they feel as right and what is logical. The Lord himself at the end of Gita proclaims to Arjuna to thoroughly analyze his words and then follow whatever seems right to Arjuna.

If we don't analyze the words of any person (even if it is Bhagavatham or AMMA or Sankara himself), we will only end up in the trap of false-saints leading us to more and more action when the scriptures clearly proclaim that actions will only lead us to sorrow whether it is worldly selfish action or spiritual service to the world.

We will see the summary of this story in the next day and start with another story of Srimad Bhagavatham.

Rantideva continued thus:

Hunger, thirst, tiredness, bodily pain, sorrow etc. make people in the
world really pitiable. By spending time for them and giving my entire
life, let all these be removed from the people of the world.

Explanation

As we saw in the last day, let us once again try to analyze what is
wrong with this attitude of Rantideva to serve and save the world.

The Lord in Gita proclaims the world to be temporary and ever changing.
Any changing entity is only an illusion in a changeless substratum
where it seems to appear for some period of time. The scriptures proclaim that the world came from the ultimate reality of Lord, resides in the Lord and merges into the ultimate reality of Lord after destruction. Thus the world is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord even as water seen in desert is only an illusion in the desert and the dream world is only an illusion in the dreamer. Trying to save a person in dream or trying to do fishing in the water seen in desert is futile as they aren't real at all. Similarly trying to save or serve the world is futile as the world itself is an illusion.

If this is so, why do we see Mahatmas as doing service to the world?

The Mahatmas never proclaim themselves to be doing service. If any
so-called Mahatma proclaims to be doing service to the world, then we can be very sure that such a Mahatma is not a Mahatma. We have to better stay away from such a Mahatma as he/she will only lead us more and more into the delusion of samsaara.

Isn't Mahatmas like AMMA proclaiming that they are doing service to the
world?

This question is only due to utter ignorance. If any person can show
me as to where AMMA proclaims that she is doing social service to the
world, the question can be accepted as valid. On the contrary if we read AMMA's discourses or the books of AMMA, we can clearly find AMMA
speaking in par with scriptures in terms of illusory nature of the world. There are places where AMMA openly speaks about the world being an illusion and Brahman alone being real - such words are said not to the general public but to her disciples or devotees who are capable of apprehending this truth. It is true that the scriptures start with explanation of the creation process though finally negating creation itself. This is because we see the world as existing and hence initially cannot apprehend our experience of the waking world as unreal. Only when our minds are purified and intellect gains logical strength, will we be able to apprehend the illusory and unreal nature of the world that we experience now.

Thus it is clear that Mahatmas never proclaim that they are doing
service to the world. Though the Lord proclaims in Karma Yoga that a seeker should do actions unattached considering worldly welfare in mind and that a Mahatma does actions for the welfare of the world, this
explanation is not from the perspective of the Mahatma but from the perspective of the ignorant seeker who sees the Mahatma as doing activities and hence requires an explanation for the same. The Lord says clearly from the perspective of a Mahatma quoting himself that "there is no duty whatsoever for me in the entire three worlds".

If we see the very great service-doers or savers of the world, we will
see that all of them were utter failures in this aspect. Whether it is
Lord Krishna who couldn't stop the Mahabharatha war or whether it is
Jesus Christ who couldn't & haven't been able to stop the fights between Christians themselves or whether it is Buddha whose words have become the various fighting sub-schools of Buddhism, all were utter failures in the aspect of serving and saving the world.

It is not this aspect of saving or serving the world that makes these
saints Mahatmas but it is the attitude with which they dealt even this
action of social service. They internally knew that the world is an
illusion and the action of social service is also an illusory action in
the world. It is for this reason that whatever happened in Mahabharatha, Lord Krishna was ever blissful - even when his entire clan fought amongst themselves and died, Lord was blissful. Even when Jesus was crucified, he was happy and blissful. Similar is the case with Buddha as well.

If we see the current day social service doers, wherever we find a
Mahatma we also find a Osama Bin Laden. This in itself shows the futility of such social service. But all these Mahatmas including AMMA are ever blissful and unaffected by the activities of the world though externally they seem to be affected. When Tsunami killed thousands of people in the world, AMMA was sad. But for her disciples who went near her and were contemplating on her, she was blissful and unaffected though she did many activities for the welfare of the people at that time. For a ignorant devotee, such Mahatmas might seem to be doing activities getting entangled with them like us. But for an analyzing disciple, he will find such Mahatmas to be mere witness to all the activities even as an actor is a mere witness to his action in a film.

Speaking thus Rantideva gave the water left in the porridge to the
chandaala. With this the Devas, who give fruits to those seeking
karmaphala, appeared in front of him. With the sight of the devas who are mere illusory creations of Vishnu (Lord) Maya, Rantideva became more detached. How? Because he realized that there are many other people to protect the world than myself. With this whatever Saattvika ego was left in the king vanished. The King thus attained paraa bhakthi towards the ultimate reality of Lord.

Explanation

We find Bhagavatham here mentioning as to how Rantideva came out of the
final illusion of Saattvika ego. The attitude of doing service to
others is good in that it helps us to remove the individualistic ego as ego is very tough indeed to conquer. Through knowledge, the jnaana marga seeker removes Ego through continuous assertion that "I am not the Ego but the Self". This way is very tough for normal people. It is quite easy to always try to be of service to the people in the world as this automatically removes individual Ego. But this also is not final as we have clearly seen in the last few days about social service. The world and its people is only an illusion in the ultimate reality of Lord. If we forget to remember the illusory nature of the world, we will end up trying to do service and become sad when we aren't able to do service to the world. This is the problem with almost all the paths of spiritual progress unless it is associated with knowledge that the Lord alone exists and that everything else is only an illusion in the Lord.

There are people who become very sad if they don't do sandhyaa
vandhanam in a day or don't chant sahasranaama or don't meditate. All these are due to lack of knowledge that the Lord alone exists here and everything else is an illusion. As long as we don't apprehend the illusory nature of the world, we will try to do all sorts of things in the world. When we will be ending up our life in this birth, we will still have n number of things to do to the world. Thus such a person will have to take birth again in order to serve the illusory world. Trying to serve and cleanup the world is as good as trying to purify the water seen in desert. The water never exists and hence all efforts to cleanup will be failures. Similarly any effort to cleanup the world will only end up in failure. This failure in turn will make us dejected and make us delude in the ocean of samsaara again and again. Thus the very social service which should have helped us in removing the ego makes us attached to the world and service-attitude. This attachment to the world even if it is for cleaning up the world has to be removed in order for a person to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord.

As long as we see the world of names and forms, we will not be able to
apprehend the underlying reality of Lord. Thus a seeker should always
try to remember that the Lord alone exists here, whatever is seen as the world is only an illusion in the Lord. Such a seeker will be doing
service to the world like the various Mahatmas of today; but he will not be affected by the outcome of the activity. Even if the world is not purified, he will not be sad as he knows that the world is only an illusion and his efforts to cleanup the world is also an illusion in the long play of waking world. We find Rantideva finally realizing this reality that the world is only an illusion through seeing many devas and others who are there to protect the world. The attitude that I should serve the world is there only when we don't realize the ever-present creator. If the creator created the world (even if it is an illusory creation), he can control the world as well. The dreamer who created his dream world can control his dream world. Unlike this dreamer, the ultimate reality of Lord who is the creator of the waking world is all-knowing and all-pervasive thus requiring no help from ignorant people of the world.

Isn't it God who is telling me to do service to the world through
showing me the miseries of the world and speaking through saints like Sri Sri Ravishankar?

It is the same God who is shouting at the top of his voice in Gita and
other scriptures to realize our very nature of God. The world has God
shouting that he is only present as the substratum of the world even as
the desert is always shouting that I am not water but desert. The
various saints proclaim us to do social service only to remove individual Ego - if we stick on to this social service, we will still have ego left in us which will hinder our progress and lead us to sorrow only as in the case of Rantideva.

Once Rantideva realized the futility of social service (even if it was
through seeing that there are many others to serve the world), he was
able to contemplate on the ultimate reality of Lord beyond the illusory
world.