Srimad Bhagavatham

Akrura replied thus to the Lord’s statement to remember that he is always there with him and not to get deluded into miracles – “O Lord! On Earth or in space or in water, whatever miraculous incidents are perceived I know all of them to be manifestations of you who are Vishwaroopa; therefore there is nothing that I haven’t yet perceived”.

Explanation

When we are speaking about the Lord and Mahatmas, all their activities can only be justified by the age-old saying “mysterious are the ways of the Lord”. We find this saying clearly proved in this part of Bhagavatham. The Lord knew Akrura’s state of mind but still wanted to test him and make sure he is not deluded into miracles.

And it is the Lord’s testing that brings out the beautiful response from Akrura. The response from Akrura shows the mental state of a real bhaktha. A real bhaktha doesn’t fall a prey or deluded into miraculous incidents.

The author of Ezhuthacchan in his work Hari Naama Keerthanam speaks thus about the Lord:

Yathonnu kelkilathu naarayana prathima
Yathonnu kaankilathu naarayana sruthikal
Yathonnu cheykilathu naarayana archanakal
Yathonnathaakilathu naarayanaaya nama

Whatever I see is Narayana’s prathima (idol or form);
Whatever I hear is praises of Narayana;
Whatever I do is archana for Narayana;
Whatever is there, all those I offer to Narayana (as he alone is present as everything).

Thus for a bhaktha there is nothing apart from the Lord. Therefore he doesn’t get deluded by miracles demonstrated by the Lord; rather everything is but the Lord alone for the bhaktha. Miracles are things that are out of ordinary. This means that there are things which regularly happen and things which happen suddenly (without any logic or expectation – in a way impossible). It is when we have this distinction that we get deluded into miracles. When everything is seen as a manifestation of the Lord, then there are no ordinary activities and miracles; this is a state of a real bhaktha who doesn’t get deluded into miracles as he sees everything as the ultimate reality of Lord.

In the Uddhava Gita portion of Bhagavatham when Uddhava asks Krishna as to how to gain the vision of the Lord, Krishna laughs saying that whatever is being seen is the Lord alone – thereby prostrate to everything that is present in the world. It is this attitude of prostrating everything by seeing Ishwara in them that AMMA does with each and every actions of hers; even if it is the place where she is sitting, even if it is the jaalara that is used for beats, even if it is her children, even if it is an insentient rock yet AMMA sees Ishwara in each one of them thereby prostrating it. AMMA doesn’t need to prostrate in order to remember that Ishwara pervades everything but she is setting an example so that all of us will follow it. Mahatmas don’t need to perform actions yet they do spiritual actions in order to set an example for seekers like us.

Through Akrura’s reply the Lord is thus pointing out to each one of us that a devotee is one who is not mesmerized by miracles even if it means curing people or giving darshan to thousands of people or creating items out of nowhere.

Let us all try to be real devotees of the ultimate reality of Lord so that we also are not deluded into miracles like Akrura – this alone will ensure that we rejoice in bliss which is our very nature of non-dual Lord.

Replying thus to the Lord, Akrura started the chariot. They reached Mathura by evening. Rama-Krishna (Balarama and Krishna) got out of the chariot. They instructed Akrura to go ahead of them. Krishna also promised Akrura that he will visit his house after the dhanur yaaga is over. As instructed Akrura informed Kamsa about Rama-Krishna’s arrival and then went home.

Explanation

It is one thing to speak about something and it is yet another thing to implement what we really believe in. Tapovan Maharaj (Guru of Swami Chinmayananda) used to say that Vedanta is very easy to learn; still easier to preach; but very tough indeed to implement.

Almost all smokers and alcoholics know that what they are doing is not right yet they are unable to implement it. Even more are people who just boast about things through words when not even one percent of what they are speaking would be implemented in life.

Vedanta is all about implementation as that alone can give us eternal bliss – the goal that we all are seeking. Mere speech of Vedantic thoughts will not give us eternal bliss instead it will only nourish the Ego more and more. Such a person will end up just speaking about the Lord thinking that he is realized when he is far away from realization.

This concept is beautifully brought out in the Upanishads as

Avidhyaayaam anthare varthamaanaah dheeraah panditham manyamanaah
Damdamryamaanah pariyanthi moodaah andhenaiva neeyamaanaah yathaa andhaah

Though immersed in the ocean of ignorance, yet few people consider themselves as learned pandits; such people always get deluded and churned into the ocean of samsaara; they will direct others like a blind person leading another blind person.

A person who just preaches concept while not practicing himself will neither help others nor himself. He will always be under the delusion that he is learned when he is really ignorant. He will have no progress whatsoever as he is ever deluded into thinking that he has already progressed. A person who thinks he knows swimming but doesn’t really know swimming will never be able to learn swimming due to his thinking himself to be learned.

A real devotee is one who follows the Lord completely. The Lord is one who does what he speaks – his actions and thoughts are in unison. This is very evident from the life of Lord Krishna itself. Whatever he preached to Arjuna was implemented by him in life. When the Lord spoke about uplifting the truth beyond everything, he implemented it for the death of Drona and Bhishma (wherein normally understood adharma was done by the Lord in order to kill Drona – but this was to uplift the truth and hence this action was a dharma). A devotee follows the Lord thereby implementing whatever he is speaking and speaking about only that which he implements.

This is demonstrated by Bhagavatham through Akrura’s actions. Akrura was just not speaking about remembering the Lord and doing all activities but implemented it. He did exactly what the Lord told him to do irrespective whether it was informing Kamsa about the Lord’s arrival (Kamsa who was looking for killing the lord). And the Lord blessed Akrura by ensuring to visit his house. This is the benefit that we will gain when we become a real devotee through not mere preaching but implementation of “remembering the Lord while doing all activities and offering them to the Lord”.

We will continue with the story the next day.

Let us all try to be real devotees of the ultimate reality of Lord through not preaching but implementation of devotion and surrender so that we also will be blessed like Akrura when the Lord will reside in our heart always.