Srimad Bhagavatham

Let us today start with the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham. The story is the epic of Krishna displaying the Vishwaroopa (before killing Kamsa).

There is one entire chapter of Bhagavad Gita titled Vishwaroopa darshanam where the Lord explains about vishwaroopa before displaying it to Arjuna.

Before we enter into the story, let us today try to analyze as to what is Vishwaroopa or the form encompassing the entire world. Vishwaroopa as defined in the previous statement is nothing but vision of the Lord as pervading the entire world. This is how the scriptures perceive the Lord as pervading the entire world. In fact the scriptures speak about the Lord as one who is the essence of all beings (the entire world). It is our limited intellect and wrong knowledge which makes us forget the real nature of Lord thereby restricting him to a particular form like that of Vishnu or Siva or Krishna.

The very famous hymn Purusha Sooktha speaks about the reality of Lord (termed as Purusha – poornam anena sarvam ithi purushah “one who is pervades everything that we see here is called Purusha”) as pervading the entire world. Narayana Sooktha (hymn speaking of the glories of Narayana) is more specific thus:

Yat cha kinchit jagat sarvam drishyathe srooyathe api vaa
Antharbahischa tat sarvam vyaapyat naarayana sthithah

Whatever we see in the entire world and whatever we hear in the entire world, everything is filled in and out by Narayana.

The Lord himself says in Gita thus:

Aham aadischa madhyam cha bhoothaanaam antha eva cha

I am the beginning, middle and end of all beings.

Thus Vishwaroopa is not seeing the Lord as having a huge form but it is realizing that the entire world is an illusion of names and forms in the Lord. This is the ultimate reality that everything that we see is but the Lord (devoid of names and forms). The moment we apprehend this truth intellectually, then whatever we see will be seen as the Lord even as goldsmith sees all gold ornaments as gold alone. It is this vision that the scriptures speak of as Vishwaroopa Darshanam. Vishwaroopa is not the Lord taking a huge and fierce form (a form which is bigger than all other forms) but it is the knowledge that the Lord pervades everything and thereby seeing everything as an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord.

What is the advantage of this Vishwaroopa?
The moment we see the Lord everywhere then we get beyond the duality that is perceived. Once we get beyond duality there is nothing to either like or dislike. When there is no like and dislike, then there is neither attachment nor aversion. It is attachment and aversion that leads us to happiness and sorrow. The sufferings that we experience in the world are only due to this attachment and aversion. Thus by seeing the Lord as pervading everything, we get rid of sufferings. Such a vision of oneness (seeing the Lord as present everywhere) is real Vishwaroopa and this vision will take us from our bonded and sorrowful state to a state of liberation and bliss. Such a person who views everything as the Lord will ever be blissful irrespective of situations, conditions, environment and mental state.

This Vishwaroopa Pradarshanam story (story wherein the Lord displays his Vishwaroopa) thus means that the Lord enlightens us to view him everywhere rather than seeing him in an idol or a particular limited form. And thereby the Lord takes us to the state of eternal bliss (that bliss which we all are seeking).

Remembering this view of seeing the Lord everywhere, let us all try to have such a vision through learning of this story starting tomorrow so that we may go beyond attachment-aversion and sufferings to the state of eternal bliss.

Kamsa became convinced that his enemy was Krishna alone as he was informed of the miracles and activities happening in Gokula. At the same time his intellect got convinced that Krishna was Ishwara.

Explanation

We have learnt previously in many stories of Bhagavatham as to how even anger towards the Lord can lead us to realization. This is possible because when anger is vented on an object who we are convinced is the Lord, then such an anger also will lead us to seeing the Lord everywhere thereby to realization.

Narada supports this view by telling in the Narada Bhakthi Sutras thus:

Kamakrodhaadhikam tasmineva karaneeyam

Have attraction, anger etc. towards the Lord alone.

It is always good to know the Lord as the substratum of the entire world and be attracted to the Lord but it may happen that such an attraction is not possible for us. In such cases it is fine if we are able to have any emotion towards the Lord even if it is anger. What is important is not the emotion towards the Lord but the intellect becoming convinced of the Lord and seeing the Lord everywhere. It is anger that took Asuras like Mahabali, Hiranyakashipu etc. to perceive the Lord everywhere. Once we see the Lord everywhere (even though this vision of oneness is due to anger or attraction or any other emotion), then all emotions vanish as duality vanishes. As long as we see differences between objects, we will not be able to go beyond dual notions of the mind like attraction, aversion etc. but the moment we are able to go beyond the duality by perceiving oneness everywhere we get rid of all dual notions. Thus any emotion when followed completely will take us beyond the world when the object to which the emotion is applied is the ultimate reality of Lord.

Thus it isn’t important whether we are devoted to Krishna or averted to Krishna, what is important is getting the intellectual conviction that Krishna is not the form that we see but the ultimate reality of Lord and pervading the entire world. When Kamsa was convinced about Krishna being Ishwara, he started seeing Krishna everywhere. His each and every moment was spent in contemplation of Krishna – in between sleep he would get up thinking that Krishna is standing in front of him and about to kill him.

Thus the entire life of Kamsa became filled with Krishna. This is implementation of the Upanishadic statement “sarvam brahma mayam” (everything is filled with Ishwara). Through Kamsa’s story from the state of sins to the state of bliss through intellectual conviction about the Lord and seeing the Lord everywhere Bhagavatham is consoling us if we think that we have committed many sins and thereby will never be able to get out of the bondages that have entangled us like a spider’s web. It doesn’t matter how much sins we have committed or how many desires we have in life but what matters is whether we are able to gain the intellectual conviction about the Lord and see the Lord everywhere – in such a case, all other desires and bondages will automatically fall off. Thus the only things that a seeker needs to do in order to realize the ultimate reality of Lord is gain the intellectual conviction about the Lord pervading everything and see the Lord everywhere. This isn’t that tough to follow as we are always used to being attached to one person or the other (our parents or brothers or friends or partners or children). We just need to add another attraction or aversion towards the ultimate reality of Lord and make it more and stronger as day passes. Slowly we will see the emotion of the Lord overshadowing other emotions and finally the Lord pervading everything that we see, hear, eat etc. Then we will experience bliss which is the very nature of the Lord pervading our life – it is this bliss that is the goal of life and this is the one and only way to experience bliss by pervading the Lord everywhere with the knowledge that the Lord is the substratum of the illusory world.

We will continue with the story and see as to how Kamsa slowly progresses from intellectual conviction to perceiving the Lord everywhere and finally realizing the Lord in the next few days.

Let us all try to always remember to keep the emotion of the Lord as strong as possible so that it overshadows all other emotions and leads us to the goal of Self-realization (eternal bliss).

Since we concluded the story of Raasa leela the previous day, we will summarize the story before entering into the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham.

We need to always remember that the import of any scriptures and words of Mahatmas is the non-dual reality termed in the scriptures as Brahman and in the Puranas as Lord, Ishwara, Paramatman etc. All these are synonyms of the non-dual reality whose nature is Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. Whatever really exists is this entity of Lord alone. The duality that we perceive in the form of the world is but an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord. It is for this reason that the scriptures proclaim that everything is the Lord & that the Lord is the essence of all beings.

If everything is in essence and reality the Lord then we also are of the nature of Lord alone. It is this truth of realizing our own nature of Lord (who is the substratum of the illusory world) that is termed as the spiritual path and the goal of always being established in the reality of Lord is termed as moksha.

If we forget this one truth about everything in the world as the non-dual reality of Lord, we will not be able to gain moksha even though we may follow various Mahatmas like AMMA, Sai Baba etc. Even though we may learn the scriptures even in the traditional way or sing bhajans, we will not be able to get moksha unless we realize our nature of non-dual reality of Lord. Thus it is very important to remember this truth that everything is but an illusion in the reality of Lord – and realizing our own nature of Lord beyond all dual notions of happiness-sorrow, cold-heat, like-dislike etc. is the goal that we all are seeking.

Irrespective of whether we know or not, we all are seeking the non-dual reality of Lord alone. This is because we all are seeking bliss in one form or another. Some think that bliss (ever lasting happiness) is in money and they thereby seek money; others think that bliss is in power and thereby seek power; yet others think that bliss is in marriage and thereby seek a partner; yet others think that bliss is when you have children and thereby seek progeny. Thus irrespective of caste, creed, money etc. (all distinctions), we all are seeking bliss alone.

It is but a misfortune and sad that we don’t know the abode of bliss; hence we are lead to the illusory world seeking eternal bliss. The temporary world can never give us permanent and eternal bliss even as illusory water in the desert can never quench our thirst. Thus as long as we seek bliss in the external world, we will never be successful. Instead we need to understand that bliss is our very nature of Lord – the Lord who is our Self (of the nature of Consciousness) is alone blissful. It isn’t that tough to get bliss as bliss is our very nature. But as of now we are ignorant of our nature of bliss and hence need to realize our own nature of Lord through knowledge and devotion. Knowledge is knowing the reality behind the illusory world and that the entire world is but an illusion in the non-dual reality of Lord (who is our very nature of Consciousness). Devotion is when we apply this knowledge in order to completely surrender and implement knowledge in our life. When both knowledge and devotion go hand in hand for a seeker, he will finally get the non-dual knowledge that “I am the Lord whom I was seeking” – this knowledge is of the nature of bliss as it is direct intuitive experience of the Lord as one’s own Self.

It is this goal of bliss that we have to attain through learning of scriptures including Bhagavatham. The moment we forget this reality, we will end up with one form or the other in the illusory world. This will then only lead us to more and more sorrow. This is what causes people to argue as to whether bhakthi is greater or jnaana is greater, is Vishnu greater or Siva, is AMMA greater or Sai Baba etc. We have to always remember the final goal to be achieved in life is non-dual knowledge that “I am the Lord who alone exists here” – it doesn’t matter whether we follow bhakthi or jnaana, we will have to remember the knowledge about “the Lord alone existing here”.

It is implementation of the spiritual path in day-to-day life thereby taking us to the state of bliss that is demonstrated beautifully in this story of Raasa Leela. Many of us might have earlier thought that gopis were following bhakthi wherein here we find that the basis of gopis bhakthi was jnaana that the Lord alone is present here as the illusory world. Thus the goal of raasa or bliss and as to how to achieve that goal has been beautifully demonstrated through the gopis life. The gopis were like each one of us – having many worldly activities, responsibilities and duties yet they gave priority to the Lord alone. When they had to make a choice between the Lord and other things, they choose the Lord – this choice took them to the state of bliss. Thus we will also be able to get eternal bliss if we give the Lord the highest priority in our life and implement it in life.

Let us all try to implement the gopis bhakthi and jnaana in our day-to-day life so that we may also be able to rejoice in bliss like the gopis (as bliss alone is the ultimate goal of life).

Before entering into the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham let us today try to focus ourselves on the ultimate reality so that we don’t get deluded into the names and forms of the illusory world.

There is only one entity which is real amidst the illusory world. Everything else that is seen as existing in the world is but an illusion of names and forms in that real entity. That real entity is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. It is of the nature of existence because it is real (and always exists). It is of the nature of Consciousness because only Consciousness can experience its own existence in the form of pulsation “I exist, I exist”. It is also of the nature of bliss because it is eternal, perfection and full (poorna).

It is this entity that is termed variously as Brahman (in the Vedas), Paramatman, Ishwara, Lord, Bhagavan etc. in the puranas. Bhagavatham thus summarizes this:

Vadanthi tat tattvavidhah tattvam yat jnaanam advayam
Brahma ithi paramaatmethi bhagavaan ithi shabdhyathe

Knowers of the reality which is of the nature of non-dual Consciousness term it variously as Brahman, Paramatman, Bhagavan etc.

Thus the duality that we currently perceive is but an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord. Realization of this entity alone can give us bliss because everything else is temporary and can give us only temporary/momentary happiness. Realization is knowing that the reality of Lord is our own very nature of Consciousness (unassociated with the body-mind-intellect and a mere witness to all activities of the body-mind-intellect complex). This is possible only through seeing oneness everywhere with the knowledge that everything is but the Lord alone and surrendering completely unto the Lord through pure devotion.

It is this devotion that is instigated in a person through miraculous stories or siddhis in the form of stories in the various puranas. These stories are not real as they are dependent on duality. When there is only one entity of Lord existing, how can we have stories about the Lord’s glory? Thus the glories of the Lord are just meant to instigate devotion in us thereby making us surrender and seek the Lord with ardent desire. If a seeker is able to get the ardent desire to realize his very nature of Lord and get liberated from the ocean of samsaara (characterized by sorrows and sufferings), then he will be able to rejoice in bliss this very birth itself.

Those are fools and cowards who would worship the Lord in the external world (in vaikunta, kailasa, temples etc.) forgetting that the Lord is in our own heart – Yoga Vasistha compares such people to those who seek money having the syamantaka jewel (wish fulfilling jewel) in their neck. Those are also cowards who say that they will seek the Lord when it is time to leave the body – by that time the intellect will have lost all its power, the mind will be so worried and the body will be as if ready to split into pieces – during such a time we will only be able to think about our family, desires etc. and not about the Lord. Moreover it is foolish to miss the opportunity of realizing the Lord while living and seeking moksha after death.

It is making us bold, brave and learned so that we will be able to realize our very nature of Lord in this very birth itself that Bhagavatham accomplishes through various stories speaking about the glory of the Lord and the import of realizing the non-dual reality of Lord embedded in these stories.

Let us all try to realize our very nature of Lord and rejoice in bliss in this very birth itself through remembering the import of Bhagavatham to be realization of the non-dual reality of Lord and thereby achieving it through learning of the stories. Remembering this we will start with the next story in the next day.

Explanation

Shuka concludes the Raasa leela story by giving a conclusive explanation regarding what we should be taking and not taking from the activities of various Mahatmas or avataras in the world. But before seeing that (in the next day), we will try to address the third aspect of Parikshit’s question as to why the Lord does dharmic and adharmic activities (Shuka will be explaining this as well but here we will try to analyze just that aspect alone).

Each and every action of the Mahatma is for the benefit of the seekers of the world. Their actions are not tainted by good and bad fruits. They have neither association with the doer nor craving for the fruit of the action – but still they perform actions which are for the welfare of the people of the world alone.

A mother kisses her child, feeds him and plays with him. But when it is required, the mother also scolds the child. If the child is trying to eat mud or play in dirt, then the mother scolds the child. With the respect to the activities of the mother towards her child, the mother has no selfish motives whatsoever. But still the mother does all those activities even though she doesn’t gain anything out of it. And all those activities are to ensure that the child is safe – those are for the welfare of the child.

JWe may now object that our mother takes care of us just because we will take care of them in our old age and hence it isn’t a selfish approach. Yes, this has become true as of today due to lack of knowledge, devotion and pure love. Parents object to their children’s choices & children in turn disrespect the parents. Children are sent to boarding schools and parents are sent to old-age homes. Time has completely changed since the ancient vedic period – when the love between people was pure. The reason it was pure in those times and not pure during now is lack of scriptural knowledge. Scriptural knowledge that everything is pervaded by God will make us love everyone as our own Self – we will not differentiate between ourselves and others. It is the differentiation that causes us to like and dislike people – and then try to figure out as to how “relations will help us”.

But here the example speaks about true love – which can be felt even today when we meet AMMA. Though AMMA is as simple a person and normal person like anybody else in the world, yet her pure love attracts people from all walks, all cultures, all nations, all religions and all beliefs. It is her pure love that attracts people beyond all limitations. Even as a mother loves her child with pure love, the Lord loves his devotees with pure love. It is this love that is responsible for the Lord and Mahatmas to do activities which might seem against dharma but still help us in the spiritual path.

We have already seen as to why the Lord vanished from the midst of gopis and re-appeared – that itself shows that all activities of the Lord are for the welfare of the devotees alone. As the saying goes “mysterious are the ways of God”, similarly we can judge neither the Lord nor his activities. We just need to understand that all activities of the Lord are for the welfare of his devotees (his children that we all are).

If this is the case, then how should we follow the Lord? It is this question about choosing the teachings and instructions of the Lord rather than blindly following his activities that Shuka explains in the next part of Bhagavatham which we will see in the next day.

Let us try to remember as to not to follow the activities of the Mahatmas blindly as it will only lead us to our destruction; instead we should follow the words of the scriptures and the Mahatmas which will in turn lead us to eternal bliss through constant contemplation of the Lord.

Shuka concluded:

O King! The words of Mahatmas (Lord and various people who have realized the Lord) are truth; few of their actions can be followed by seekers; a seeker should use his intellect to listen to the words of the Mahatmas with concentration (sraddha) and then follow it in his life as well.

Whatever activity the Lord does, there will not be any tinge of selfishness in it. On the contrary if a selfish person tries to imitate the Lord’s actions then it will only lead to his destruction. The Lord is one who lives knowing that he is the indwelling Self of all beings – therefore for them there is nothing good or bad to be achieved through actions. By abiding in contemplation of the ultimate reality of Consciousness various munis are ever content and do actions by perceiving oneness everywhere. If this is the case with munis, then what to speak about Krishna who is the poorna avatara of the Lord? Krishna is the Lord who is residing in the hearts of gopis and their husbands without any differentiation at all. Krishna is the ultimate reality of Brahman having taken a form for playing (leela).

After raasa leela, the gopis returned back to their home with their mind not agreeing to get away from Krishna.

Explanation

Bhagavatham is concluding the raasa leela in this part. Most of the words of Shuka are self explanatory. But we will try to discuss two points mentioned – one is as to what a seeker should take from the Mahatmas (to implement in his life) and two about the Mahatmas activities with respect to selfishness.

All activities of the Mahatmas are not tainted by selfishness in any way. Their activities are for the welfare of their devotees and for the entire world. Why is this so? This is because the Mahatmas are self-content people who have realized the underlying reality of Brahman – there is nothing else for them to attain and hence they are content with whatever they have. But still this doesn’t prevent them from doing actions because they are compassionate to help striving seekers and take them beyond the illusory world. Moreover these Mahatmas see oneness everywhere knowing that the entire world is but an illusion in the reality of Lord – since they don’t see any differences, therefore there is no scope for actions (actions are based on differentiation saying that I am different from money, therefore let me earn money through actions). If this is the case with Mahatmas, then we don’t even need to doubt about Krishna as Krishna is the Lord himself. Mahatmas and jeevan mukthas are people who are abiding in contemplation of the Lord whereas Krishna is the Lord himself.

If Krishna is the Lord himself then why take a particular form (avatara)? The Lord takes various forms to play with his creation of the world. This play also helps him liberate people who are in the world. The Lord is always remembering the truth that the world and its people are only illusions – thereby if somebody doesn’t heed to his advice, he still isn’t affected by it. He does activities like the world is a big play in which he the role of savior. This is the case with all saviors whether it be Krishna or Jesus or Buddha or AMMA – they are well aware that it is but a role that they are portraying. It is because of this that they are not affected by people following them or not following them.

The next point that Shuka mentions here is as to how we should follow the Mahatmas. We may not be able to follow the activities of Mahatmas as that would lead to our own destruction (as illustrated in previous day example of Siva drinking kaalakoota poison). Thus we should listen to the instructions that we get from Mahatmas. Their instructions are truth alone – therefore we don’t even need to doubt them. We should listen to the instructions of the Mahatmas with concentration, analyze it with our intellect and then implement it in our life. This way we will be lead to the state of the Mahatmas as their instructions are the door to liberation for each one of us.

Thus instead of blindly imitating the activities of the Mahatmas, we should listen to their instructions with devotion and concentration. Once we surrender to the ultimate reality of Lord with devotion, our intellect with gain immense strength to differentiate as to what is real & what is unreal, what is right & what is wrong etc. With this intellectual strength, we will be able to gain intellectual conviction as to what is to be implemented in life. Finally with the intellectual conviction, the implementation will be automatically performed with perfection in our life. This will then take us to the state of eternal bliss.

If we need to know as to whether the words of Mahatmas are true or not, we just need to compare it with the Vedantic truth of “BRAHMA SATYAM, JAGAN MITHYA, JEEVO BRAHMAIVA NAPARAH” (Brahman or Lord is the ultimate reality, the world of differences is but an illusion in Brahman, the individual Self in each one of us is Brahman alone). All implementations of this truth will have vision of oneness in one way or the other. Thus with this we will be easily able to judge whether the Mahatmas and their words are true or not.

If we follow the instructions of Mahatmas after filtering them through our intellect, we will also be able to rejoice in bliss like the gopis thereby ever be blissful.

We have come to the end of this story of Raasa Leela. We will see a summary of this story in the next day before starting the next story of Srimad Bhagavatham.

Let us listen to the instructions of the Mahatmas with devotion and concentration so that our intellect will be able to get convinced and we will then be able to implement it into action thereby leading us to the state of eternal bliss.

Shuka answered thus to Parikshit:

O King! The Lord (and his various avataras) at times might do things against dharma and which are very bold. But they are not affected by it even as fire isn’t affected though it consumes everything (both good and good). Even as fire is untainted by the impurities consumed by it, similarly the Lord isn’t tainted by the adharmic activities performed by him.

Explanation

While analyzing and explaining about the Lord’s activities with the gopis, there are three different aspects to be explained.


1. Explaining whether it is dharma or adharma which means whether the activities affect/taint the Lord
2. whether we can copy the same (or justify our such adharmic activities by quoting the Lord)
3. why did the Lord perform such activities even though he is the role-model as well as executioner of dharma to perfection in the world

It is these three aspects that Bhagavatham would be explaining through Shuka’s words. The first aspect of whether it is dharma or adharma is what we dealt the previous day – we saw as to how dharma and adharma depends from person to person & ultimately remembrance of the Lord is dharma and forgetting the Lord is adharma irrespective of the activity we do. Now as to whether such adharmic activity affects or taints the Lord is being explained in this part (and first by Shuka).

Shuka gives a beautiful analogy to explain whether such activities taint the Lord or not. We use fire to burn anything. Though we may put good things as well as bad things, nothing ever taints fire. Fire purifies everything that it comes in contact with by burning them into ashes. As fire which comes in contact with things doesn’t get affected by the impurities, similarly the Lord doesn’t get affected by activities though they may be dharmic or adharmic.

This is because the Lord remains a mere witness to all activities with the knowledge that the objects of the world as well as the activities in the world are mere illusions in the reality of Consciousness. It is for this reason that even when he was praised or abused or his entire clan died, Krishna was ever blissful. This is possible only when a person remains a mere witness to activities around him. Since the Lord is a mere witness to all activities the activities doesn’t affect or taint him.

Seeing this from a different perspective, a person who does an action alone will enjoy the fruits of the action (be affected by the reaction). This means that a doer alone will be the enjoyer. The Lord does all actions by knowing that the Ego is the doer and he is a mere witness to the activities of the Ego. Since the Lord isn’t the doer he isn’t the enjoyer as well – thereby remaining unaffected and untainted by activities and their fruits.

The Lord through his witness-hood is thereby instructing each one of us to realize our true nature of witness Self (distinct from the doer Ego). If we are able to be a witness to all activities, then we will also not be tainted or affected by the activities (like the Lord). It is this state of being a sakshi or witness to all activities that Vedanta terms as moksha or jeevan mukthi (the state wherein a person is ever blissful irrespective of the situation or surrounding or environment).

We will continue the next day when Shuka answers the second aspect.

Let us all try to be mere witness to all activities like the Lord (always remembering our nature of witness Self or Consciousness) so that we may also be unaffected and untainted by activities whether they are dharmic or adharmic.



Shuka continued:

Considering that the Lord might do adharmic activities yet be unaffected by it, a normal person (who isn’t the Lord) shouldn’t do such things even mentally. If it is done in utter ignorance then it will lead to total destruction of the person. The state of the person would be similar to the state of a person who decides to drink poison as Siva drank Kaalakoota poison.

Explanation

We discussed in the previous day that there are three aspects to be dealt in Parikshit’s question & analysis of raasa leela played by the Lord. The three aspects are:


1. What is really dharma and adharma? Will the Lord not be affected by adharmic activities?
2. Can we follow the Lord by doing adharmic activities (still maintaining that we will also be unaffected)?
3. What is the purpose of the Lord doing such adharmic activities as he is the upholder of dharma and a role model for the people of the world?

We saw the explanation to the first aspect in the previous day through the beautiful analogy of fire burning everything yet remaining untainted – similarly though the Lord might at times do such adharmic activities, he will be unaffected and untainted by the activities.

If this is the case, can we also follow the Lord by doing adharmic activities? It is this second aspect that Shuka explains here beautifully.

Krishna speaks about the Lord and jeevan mukthas being role model for normal people thus:

Yat yat aacharathi srestah tad tad eva itharo janaah
Sa yat pramaanam kuruthe lokah tat anuvarthathe

Whatever a great person does, all others follow it. His rules become general rules for people.

Hence though the Lord is not bound by actions at any point of time, he will not do adharmic activities (activities that are generally adharmic in nature meaning that generally take us away from the Lord and his contemplation). It is taking into consideration that adharma is forgetting the Lord that adharmic activities like drinking, smoking, adultery etc. have been prohibited and dharmic activities like going to temple, visiting Mahatmas etc. have been prescribed. But it is a sad situation today that all the dharmic activities instead of taking us to the Lord is taking us away from the Lord.

Just because the Lord is ever free and thereby breaks away from dharmic activities, we should not take it as a message for each one of us to escape from dharmic activities. Even mentally also we should not enter into adharmic activities. If mentally we commit adultery it means that our mind will become impure thereby unable to contemplate on the reality of Lord.

Shuka here gives a beautiful analogy to explain this point that we should never enter into adharmic activities though the Lord does it at times. Siva drank the kaalakoota poison but lived. If we think we should follow the Lord and thereby drink poision, we will only die. Thus activities done by the Lord and his avataras are not meant to be practiced by normal people. We should always try to do activities prescribed by the scriptures and the Lord (of always doing activities which help us in remembering the Lord – and not going behind worldly miraculous activities of the Lord).

AMMA gives a story to illustrate this point. Once there was a Guru who used to daily have bath in boiling oil. The burning oil never afflicted his body even little. Seeing this, one of his disciples wanted to follow what the Guru does. Thereby he poured the boiling oil over his body and his entire body was burnt! Thus we should never try to do things that the Lord does – but only what the Lord instructs us to do.

It used to often happen that during darshan (while AMMA embraces people) AMMA used to vomit, have headache, neck pain etc. though there will nothing faulty with her body. This used to happen quite often and hence Venu (now Swami Pranavaamritananda Puri – one of AMMA’s senior sanyaasi disciples) asked AMMA about it. AMMA replied saying that she is taking the pain of her devotees who are surrendering themselves completely to her. Hearing this Venu asked AMMA as why she is not sharing it with them. AMMA replied that they will not be able to bear the pain. Venu laughed and said that he is strong to take some body pain. AMMA again replied that he will not be able to bear it. But Venu wouldn’t agree. Hence AMMA said “here take some pain”. Immediately Venu started vomiting. He couldn’t withstand the pain and within 2 minutes he cried to AMMA to take it back. AMMA laughed and took it back from him.

This incident also clearly shows us that Mahatmas might do activities which are not normal or dharmic but we should never try to implement it in life – we will be the loser if we try to do it (will get destroyed completely). Hence we should only try to implement the instructions that we get from these Mahatmas (which all boils down to constant contemplation of the Lord and doing our daily normal activities as an offering to the Lord with the knowledge that the Lord alone is present here as the substratum of the illusory world).

If this is the case, then why did the Lord do such adharmic activities? What is the purpose of the Lord to occasionally stray from dharma (when most of the time he sticks to dharma)? We will see this third aspect of Parikshit’s question in the next. It would be good to remember that the Lord, Mahatmas and jeevan mukthas all are the sameJ (any person who has realized Brahman as his own nature of Consciousness). We don’t need to differentiate and say that the Lord is different from Sankara; the Lord is different from AMMA etc.

Let us try to remember as to not to follow the activities of the Mahatmas blindly as it will only lead us to our destruction; instead we should follow the words of the scriptures and the Mahatmas which will in turn lead us to eternal bliss through constant contemplation of the Lord.

The gopis thus touched, embraced, showered love to Krishna. The Lord as well was enjoying the gopis presence. How? Even as a child plays with his own shadow, Krishna played with the gopis.

Due to the bliss emanating from the touch of Krishna, the gopis weren’t even able to tighten their hairs, cover their breasts with cloth and properly wear ornaments (which they were wearing initially).

Explanation

Bhagavatham mentions in depth as to how the Lord played with the gopis. It might appear that this playing is very similar to lustful activities that we often view and experience in life. But the blissful experience due to contemplation of the Lord and due to Samadhi is very much different from lustful activities. Though external symptoms might seem as if both are same yet the gopis weren’t able to come out of the ecstasy to properly take care of their body whereas in lust we will not be able to come out of the activity as a result of desire.

The blissful experience with the Lord is when all desires vanish and the devotee merges unto the Lord whereas lustful experiences are when desire for lust is so strong to overpower everything in the world. Blissful experience with the Lord will get rid of all cravings whereas lustful experiences will make us crave for more and more. Blissful experience with the Lord is something from which the devotee who once merges cannot ever return but lustful experiences are those from which we return yet want to go again.

It is in order to make it clear that when the devotee merges unto the Lord there is no difference whatsoever that Bhagavatham mentions that gopis weren’t able to look after their own body as they had already gone beyond such a differentiated state.

Bhagavatham also gives a very beautiful analogy of the blissful play between Krishna and the gopis. It is like a child playing with his own shadow. This shows that though empirically the gopis are different from the Lord, they don’t have any separate existence apart from the Lord thus ultimately they are one with the Lord. This is a perfect example that clearly mentions that the Lord is one with his devotees – thereby that the reality is that the entire world is but an illusion in the Lord whether we accept it or not.

The moment we accept it, we merge unto the Lord. We merge internally unto the Lord whereas empirically the individual might exist different from the Lord. But the individual’s existence isn’t totally apart from the Lord as his existence is a mere illusion and completely depending on the Lord. Even as the shadow enjoys the bliss emanating from the Lord, similarly if we become devotees of the Lord we will also be able to enjoy the bliss emanating from the Lord (yet being different from the Lord empirically).

In short the scriptures say that the Lord is the essence of all beings and is situated in the spiritual heart of all beings. This means that in essence we are all the Lord but empirically different due to the limitations of body-mind-intellect (which are ultimately unreal). Even as the shadow is not really different from the Lord, we are also not really different from the Lord.

When we realize this truth that our individual existence is just a shadow of the Lord, we will be able to rejoice in bliss internally all the while doing activities externally. Then externally activities will not be able to taint us and get us away from bliss into sorrows and sufferings. It is this blissful state untainted by sorrow that we all are seeking. Bhagavatham through the raasa leela story is thus pointing out to each one of us that we will be able to get bliss only when we become real devotees of the Lord through total surrender & seeing the Lord everywhere.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Let us all try to realize that we are in fact not different from the ultimate reality of Lord thereby seeing the Lord everywhere and surrendering completely unto him so that we may rejoice in bliss like the gopis.

When the gopis became tired, they alone with Krishna took bath in the Kalindi river. After this they came back to the shore and started resting even as a male elephant rests with a group of female elephant after enjoying for a period of time.

At this point Parikshit questioned Shuka thus:

O Maharshi! What is this I am hearing? The Lord took birth in order to protect dharma and destroy adharma. Thus the Lord who instructs and follows dharma is doing activities completely against dharma here. He went against dharma by behaving in such a way with other ladies. Why did he do so? Why did the Lord who is an apthakama (all desires have been fulfilled as no desire is left) do such bad activities? What is the meaning of this? Please clear my doubts.

Explanation

Parikshit is echoing a doubt that we all would normally had while reading and learning the raasa leela portion of Bhagavatham. Bhagavatham would be answering this beautifully through Shuka – which we will see in the next day.

Today we will try to get back to the ultimate goal rather than getting deluded into worldly entities. Dharma and Adharma is a concept which is very deep indeed to understand and thereby many people get deluded into it.

Dharma and Adharma is always different for different people. We cannot generalize this in any way. The dharma of asuras is to attack devas – whereas attacking is the adharma for devas. It is the dharma of a King to rule whereas it is adharma for a sanyaasi to rule. It is the dharma of a sanyaasi to take bhiksha whereas it is adharma for the king to take bhiksha (as that would make him a beggar).

Thus we cannot really generalize dharma and adharma. If we do want to generalize it, we have to get away from the definitions of these based on actions. Ultimately as per the scriptures anything that a person does remembering the reality of Lord is dharma. Any activity that takes us closer to the goal of realizing the Lord is dharma. Any activity which doesn’t involve contemplation of the Lord (alone with the knowledge that everything is but the Lord) and which takes us away from the goal of realizing the Lord is adharma.

Thus majority of us do adharma though we consider it as dharma. We go to the temple and curse the person standing in front of us as he obstructs our vision of the deity. The very activity of going to temple is dharma but here for the person it becomes adharma. Thus it is not the activity that really determines as to whether it is dharma or adharma. It is the attitude behind the activity which determines it. The right attitude of remembering the ultimate reality of Lord while doing any activity makes the activity a dharma.

Thus Mahabali was doing dharma and thereby the Lord sent him to Sutala with the blessing and promise that he will always be there for Mahabali (at any point of time).

If we understand this deep essence and definition of dharma & adharma, most of our doubts and confusions will vanish. Not only this but then following dharma will lead us to the goal of eternal bliss. Else when we end up our life we will start wondering as to what has dharmic activities like sandhya vandhanam, sahasranamam, going to temples etc. has helped us achieve. And that will take away our belief in the spiritual path thereby making us an atheist (or at least reduce our faith in the Lord) in the next birth.

But if a person is really doing dharma by remembering the Lord while doing any activities, he will be able to end his life smiling and happily as he knows that the thought of the Lord will always be there with him (even in next birth if there is such a birth).

Remembering this dharma and adharma definition basing itself on the ultimate reality of Lord, we will Shuka’s beautiful explanation about the activities of the Lord in the next day.

Let us all try to understand that dharma is nothing but constant remembrance of the Lord with the knowledge that he alone is present here in the illusory world and thereby live each moment of our life in dharma – which in turn will make us blissful every moment of our life.

Listening to the Lord’s words, gopis were relieved. Catching hold of each other’s hands, the gopis got immersed in bliss characterized by raasa leela. The Lord of all yogis, Krishna, became many. There appeared one Krishna standing in between two gopis.

Explanation

We should always remember what the Lord proclaimed in the previous day – that it is our effort that gets converted into Lord’s grace. If there is no effort on our side, then we will not be able to progress though the Lord’s grace is always flowing to anyone and everyone in the world.

As a result of the gopis pure love and complete surrender to the Lord, they entered into a state of bliss. This blissful state is what the scriptures call as moksha and Bhagavatham terms it as raasa leela or playing in the essence of the entire world (which is Brahman). The Lord who is all-pervasive but temporary limited in the particular form of Krishna became many.

Is this really possible that one form becomes many?
The most miraculous thing in the entire world is the world itself. The world which is temporary and sorrowful is proclaimed as having come from the permanent and blissful Lord. Any analysis on the world will only lead us to more and more illogicalities. Thus the world itself is a big miracle which cannot be explained in any way except that it is a mere illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord.

Thus the world which is an illusion in the Lord can be seen as pervaded by the Lord (as that is the right vision of knowledge – seeing everything as the Lord). It is this vision of seeing the Lord everywhere that is symbolically mentioned by Bhagavatham wherein it says that the Lord became many.

In fact whatever is present here is the Lord alone. Thus he is always one but the substratum of the many. Remove the illusion and we will be able to perceive the substratum. The gopis who realized the ultimate reality of Lord thus were able to have right vision of the world as pervaded by the Lord.

It is this vision of oneness which is propounded in the Gita as samadarshanam (seeing oneness). This is also termed as Yoga by the Lord wherein a person doesn’t differentiate between objects of the world thereby getting rid of likes and dislikes. It is vision of duality and considering duality as real that causes likes and dislikes. Likes and dislikes in turn lead us into sorrow and happiness. Thus man due to likes and dislikes gets whirled between sorrow and happiness thereby seeking more and more in the world – which in turn makes him go around in the ocean of samsara characterized by birth and death. This has been thus aptly said by Sankara as “Punarapi Jananam, Punarapi Maranam, Punarapi Janani Jatare Shayanam” – again birth, again death and again into the mother’s womb. This samsaara chakram is thus very tough to conquer.

But for a seeker who surrenders unto the Lord knowing the entire world to be an illusion thereby renouncing it and seeking the Lord everywhere (seeing the Lord everywhere), the world and problems arising out of the world are completely removed. Thus he ever rejoices in bliss of the Lord (as he is ever situated in the Lord).

Thus seeing oneness everywhere with the knowledge that everything is but an illusion of names and forms in the Lord is the way to eternal bliss – it is this way that has been beautifully explained as the Lord becoming many.

We will continue with the story in the next day.

Let us all try to see oneness everywhere with the knowledge that the Lord alone is present here so that we may also be able to dance in bliss like the gopis thus being content, satisfied and peaceful.

Krishna appearing in between two gopis & as many is like the mind mixing all thoughts with Krishna alone (thinking about Krishna alone). The Devas all stood in space in their vimaanas in order to view the raasa leela – this is like the mind of the yogi who is in samadhi with the Atman seeing bliss (the nature of God) in the chidaakaasha (the space of Consciousness which is our very nature). Various sounds echoed – this is like various sounds (echoes of divine syllables) echoing in the mind of the yogi.

Krishna shined in between the gopis like a big king jewel shining in between various jewels. The gopis went into a state of ecstasy by looking at Krishna, kissing him and embracing him.

Explanation

Bhagavatham is here speaking about the raasa leela in depth. In short as we have been learning, raasa leela is nothing but the ecstasy state wherein a devotee merges unto the Lord thereby sees the Lord alone everywhere. A person who sees the Lord everywhere (oneness everywhere) has been termed a yogi in the Gita by the Lord himself. Therefore Bhagavatham here compares the activities that are happening around the gopis with respect to the activities in the mind of a yogi.

The gopis here are in par with yogis who strive through rigorous practice in order to be always established in the reality of Lord (or Samadhi). Becoming a yogi can be achieved through asta anga yoga but a real yogi is one whose mind is ever in equanimity and this is because he sees the ultimate reality of Lord alone everywhere. For him there is nothing different from the Lord. But in order to achieve this state of seeing the Lord everywhere we need to negate the illusory world of names and forms from the substratum of Lord. Thus we have to renounce everything in the world (duality or differences) thereby going more and more towards the Lord. Then finally realization dawns that everything is but the Lord alone. This state of oneness isn’t merely a thought or vision in the mind but a matter of experience as this is always present in the mind. The yogis mind is ever contemplating on the Lord with the knowledge that everything is the Lord alone. Thus whatever he sees will be converted into the Lord internally in the mind. The mind knows nothing but the Lord alone.

In order to become a yogi, we may need to practice oneness for a long period of time as the mind is very tough indeed to conquer. The Lord says in Gita that the mind is controlled through abhyaasa (practice of always seeing the Lord everywhere) and vairagya (dispassion which is lower and higher – lower dispassion is getting away from the world and higher dispassion is getting attached to the Lord). But for the gopis, this wasn’t needed as their pure heart had completely surrendered to the Lord leaving everything for the sake of the Lord. Thus complete surrender and considering the Lord as the ultimate goal to achieve in life indirectly makes us get the virtues of abhyaasa and vairagya thereby making a yogi out of us.

As a yogi is ever rejoicing in bliss which is the very nature of the Lord, the gopis as well were rejoicing in bliss each moment as has been beautifully described by Bhagavatham. Various Gods of svarga stand in queue in order to view this raasa leela – this is a symbolic way of telling that wherever there is a yogi, the entire world will be ready to help him out – as they stand watching in dismay the blissful state of the gopis. This means that each and every entity of the world will be there to help us if we achieve the state of a yogi (as a person in that state doesn’t need anything but everything is available for him).

We will see as to how the gopis interact with Krishna in the next day in depth.

Let us all try to see oneness everywhere with the knowledge that the Lord alone is present here so that we may also be able to dance in bliss like the gopis thus being content, satisfied and peaceful.

Krishna continued:

O Gopis! At times I behave with people whom I love as if I don’t love them. If you ask me why, I will explain it. This is in order to ensure that the seeker always loves me without forgetting me at anytime.

Imagine that a poor person loses some money. At that time he cannot but think about the money alone at all times. In order to make you (who forgot even your relatives and friends for me) love me always I disappeared and loved you by standing apart. I was always witnessing your search and songs. Therefore do think that I have done a sin.

Explanation

Krishna is here justifying as to why he disappeared from midst of gopis when they loved him after renouncing even their relatives and friends.

It is a fact that we don’t know the value of things until we lose them. Once we lose something we will not be able to stay away from the thought of the object. Thus in order to make the gopis always remember the Lord, the Lord vanished from their presence. It is only when we yearn deeply for an object that we seek the object. In order for us to realize our very nature of Lord we always have to be immersed in thought about the Lord; this is easily possible only when we gain a vision of the Lord and then start searching for him as he has vanished from our presence.

AMMA gives a beautiful story explaining this. Once a wealthy person went to a saint asking for peace and happiness. The saint explained that he already had wealth thereby could be peaceful and happy at all times. The wealthy person wanted something new and hence wasn’t content with the saint’s reply. Immediately the saint snatched the person’s purse and started running very fast. The person ran behind the saint but couldn’t catch up. After pursuing the saint for a period of time, the person found the saint sitting with a smile under the shade of a tree. The person found the purse in front of the saint. Grabbing the purse the person become peaceful, satisfied and happy. The person always had the purse but when he lost it and again regained it, he become happy. Thus in order for us to realize our very nature of Lord we need to get a glimpse of the Lord and then if the Lord vanishes from our presence, we will yearn deeply for the Lord to realize our very nature of Lord.

The gopis were never separate from the Lord as the Lord alone is present here as the substratum of the illusory names and forms of the world. But when they realized that they didn’t have peace and happiness without being with the Lord, they sought the Lord. After seeking the Lord, it might have happened that they forget the Lord after some period of time. In order to make the thought of the Lord continuous and permanent the Lord vanished from their presence. This in turn made the gopis seek the Lord with ardent desire and strong yearning. Thus they finally were able to see the Lord who then became one with them (never being separated from them). It is for this reason as well that Radha was never married to Krishna but was ever immersed in bliss ensuing from oneness with the Lord.

This in short gives us a blueprint of the spiritual path wherein the seeker initially realizes that he is ignorant about his very nature of Lord. Thereby he starts searching for the Lord through knowledge of the scriptures and spiritual practices. Then he gets a glimpse of the Lord in the form of temporary bliss when in intense meditation or during constant contemplation of the scriptural truth (that Lord alone is present here). But this temporary bliss is also not permanent or realization as the seeker feels the bliss only if he is contemplating and not while working or doing any other worldly activity. Thereby the Lord plays with the seeker making the seeker seek him ardently. Finally when the seeker’s desire is so strong that he will never ever live without contemplation of the Lord, the Lord appears in front of him revealing the seeker his very nature of Lord.

Thus it may happen that the Guru might stay away from the disciple. This doesn’t denote that the Guru doesn’t love the disciple but just that the Guru due to his intense love for the disciple wants the disciple to become a Guru (being ever immersed in the ultimate reality of Lord).

When I had asked AMMA about joining AMMA’s mission, AMMA replied back saying that I should stay away. She said that staying from AMMA is good as if I am near to AMMA I will use my intellect more and when I am far from AMMA, there will be intense desire and yearning for always thinking about AMMA (and the ultimate reality of Lord who is the basis of AMMA’s very presence). This is exactly what Krishna did to the gopis.

At times of distress we should strengthen our faith and yearning for the Lord as that is what is to be achieved due to the testing of distress shown by the Lord due to his love for us.

Let us all try to be ever seeking the Lord with earnest desire and yearning so that we may realize our very nature of Lord in this very birth and in this very moment itself.

Krishna continued:

I cannot even in a long time make the love you are demonstrating through your pure hearts successful. But you have renounced all bondages in order to show love towards me. May that pure love help you in your goals.

Explanation

In the previous day Krishna said to the gopis that he wasn’t to be considered a sinner as his disappearance was just a way to enforce the gopis love. Here he expands that explanation by giving an eternal rule of spirituality in a very beautiful way.

Krishna mentions this eternal rule in Gita thus:

Uddharet atmanaa atmaanam na aatmaanam avasaadhayet

A person should uplift the Atman by his own effort and not let his Self fall down.

This is also the same as the age old saying that “a horse can only be taken to the pond; it cannot be made to drink water”.

We may think that Krishna or Ishwara or any avatara like AMMA will be able to give us moksha. But we have to understand that ultimately it is our effort that really matters. For devotees with pure devotion, AMMA helps them tread the spiritual path – this is not because of AMMA’s help but the devotee is able to apprehend the ever present grace of AMMA when he opened his heart (through pure devotion). Thus even when we surrender completely to the ultimate reality of Lord, it is our effort of surrender that purifies our mind, makes us contemplate on the Lord and thereby makes us realize our own very nature of Lord.

Thus though we say that the Lord’s grace is required, it is our effort to open up our hearts which makes us apprehend the ever present grace of the Lord. AMMA beautifully says that God’s grace is like sunlight or rays of the Sun. Sunlight is always there but if we sit inside our house closing all windows/doors and complain that Sunlight is falling on us, who is to be blamed? Even as Sunlight is always there but we need to open our doors/windows in order to apprehend the ever-present sunlight, God’s grace is always there but we need to open our hearts through complete surrender in order to apprehend the ever-present grace of the Lord.

Just by repeating daily that “God’s grace is there, he will guide me, he will give me signals”, we are not going to get any guidance at all. We need to put effort in opening our hearts by renouncing everything and completely surrendering to the ultimate reality of Lord. This surrender will then show us the way which can be only one thing – constant contemplation of the Lord beyond anything and everything in the world. If we think that we have to take care of our family and thereby need some message from the Lord, we are not going to get any message. The message of the Lord is always there – and the message is that we need to always remember the Lord whether we take care of our family or not.

Those who try to put the onus on the Lord haven’t surrendered completely to the Lord and are trying to make the Lord as a scapegoat to escape from spirituality. Once we completely surrender to the Lord (like the gopis), then we will have no option but to remember the Lord and remember the Lord alone (as we have surrendered completely – there is nothing but the Lord for us). This means that all worldly activities will go on but contemplation of the Lord will be ever there & it will supersede any actions. The highest priority in our life will be the Lord. It is this effort from oneself which leads us to realize our very nature of Lord.

Thus a person who just waits for messages from the Lord or falls a prey to worldly delusions instead of considering the Lord as the ultimate goal, he will not be able to realize his nature of Lord or rejoice in bliss.

We will continue with the story the next day.

Let us all try to put our effort in complete surrender and always contemplating on the Lord considering this as the highest priority in our life so that we may also realize the bliss which is the very nature of the Lord like the gopis and ever abide in that bliss.