Sunday, July 13, 2008
Story 50 – Story of Dwaraka Nirmaanam - 09
The Lord continued:
According to Brahma’s request, I took birth as Yadukula Vasudeva’s son in order to reduce Bhoomi Devi of her burden. People call me Vaasudeva. Many bad people including Kamsa were killed by me. And now Yavana got burnt to ashes by your anger-fire.
Explanation
Though the Lord has already explained that everything is him alone, still he tries to answer the question of Muchukunda from the empirical perspective so that Muchukunda will be able to understand it better. This shows the ever compassionate nature of the Lord.
AMMA (Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) says that compassion is a quality of the mind which is essential for a seeker to see oneness everywhere and lead him to the goal of realization. Sage astavakra also says to Janaka that daya or compassion is one of the qualities that we have to love like nectar in order to realization.
Though we have to strive for showing compassion, the Lord and Mahatmas are ever compassionate. It is very tough indeed for us to show compassion to people whom we don’t know – we generally have passion towards “our” people and term it compassion. Compassion is different from passion – passion is attachment towards a set of people who are near and dear to us; whereas compassion is when we show love towards the entire world. We have to learn to implement compassion in life by looking at the Lord and various Mahatmas.
The Lord instructed Arjuna just before Mahabharatha war in around 700 slokas. Arjuna kept on asking almost the same question but in a different perspective. Rather than just ignoring Arjuna’s questions by telling that “everything is an illusion of names and forms in me; everything is me only”, the Lord answered Arjuna in all the possible perspectives. Arjuna accepts at the end of Gita that his delusion is removed but after the Mahabharatha war (at a later point), Arjuna requests the Lord to instruct him again as he forgot the instructions. The Lord says that Bhagavad Gita was given from a yoga avastha and cannot be reproduced; but being compassionate the Lord instructs Arjuna again which is known as the Uttara Gita. If somebody approaches us with any sorrows or questions, we would just answer them by telling that “the world is an illusion – you are blissful Brahman – so why any sorrow or questions”. But instead we find the compassionate Lord and Mahatmas answering the same questions from different people in as many different ways as possible.
Firstly we have to understand and apprehend the compassionate nature of Mahatmas. It is not just enough to understand the compassion but we have to utilize the compassion by following their instructions. If a teacher teaches us and we fail in the test put by the teacher, the teacher will get angry and tell us to “quit from school”. The same applies to Vedanta as well; though compassionate Mahatmas will not tell us to quit yet we will not benefit even a little bit out of their teachings if we do the same mistake of not implementing their teachings in life.
Thus it is very important to apprehend as well as utilize the compassionate nature of the Mahatmas by implementing their teachings even if it is just 1% that we implement in life.
We will continue with the Lord’s reply in the next day.
Let us try to utilize the compassion of various avataras of the Lord so that we may be able to realize our very nature of non-dual blissful Lord in this very birth itself through implementations of the teachings of the Lord and various Mahatmas.
The Lord continued:
I have come to this cave in order to bless you. Many times previously as well you have prayed for my blessings. Ask whatever you want. Those who have taken refuge in me will never have sorrows or sufferings.
Explanation
Ramana Maharshi once said “the very presence of a Mahatma is beneficial for the entire world”.
Why is this so? Because from all perspectives, the Mahatma will only help a seeker (which means the entire world). A Mahatma is a person who is always blissful thereby sending across waves of bliss. Any person with a open mind can experience the bliss when he approaches or is near the Mahatma. It is for this reason that many of us visit saints like the various sankaracharyas, Mahatmas like AMMA and jeevan mukthas like Prof. Balakrishnan Nair. Their very presence radiates bliss in the vicinity. We just need some openness of mind at the particular time to experience the bliss emanating from these Mahatmas.
There are many people who come to AMMA (Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) though they don’t accept her to be a realized master – when asked, such people say “there is some power in her”J. This is just a way of escapism – they know that there is some divinity but they are either afraid or don’t want to accept the divinity as realization. Hence they just say “there is some power in her”.
But we have to remember that not everyone will be able to apprehend and acknowledge the bliss emanating from Mahatmas – this is because majority of us have preconceived notions about these Mahatmas and hence we miss out on the bliss emanating from them (which can be apprehended, acknowledged and experienced only with an open mind).
Emanating bliss and making seekers realize their very nature of bliss (taking the seekers to the same level as themselves) is the main aim of these Mahatmas. It is realization which is the greatest blessing that we can get in life as that alone can give us eternal bliss and make our life fulfilled. Thus the Lord says here that he has come to bless Muchukunda. In fact the very presence of the Lord in various forms in the world is for blessing the entire world though most of us fail to accept the blessing even if the Lord gives us free of cost.
There are many spiritual masters who give knowledge as well as the way to implement it through Vedanta free of cost – yet there are no takers. Even if there are takers many of us escape saying “I have take care of my parents, I have attachment” etc. But the Lord never gives up trying to bless others – as it is his very nature to bless others even as it is the nature of Sun to give light to others (though many people might sit inside their house and not accept sunlight).
The Lord not just gives hope through words but is a person who stands by his words. Therefore he says that whoever has taken refuge in me will never again suffer. This is a fact which we can easily apprehend by looking at the lives of various Mahatmas like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi among others. We also see it in Gita as to the Lord going beyond all limitations in order to protect people who have surrendered unto him – we find this in Kurukshetra when the Lord takes the chariot wheel as a weapon and pounces upon Bhisma though he had made a promise not to yield weapons in the war.
If this is the case, then many of us might think as to why we are not being protected by the Lord at times of sorrow and distress though we have surrendered to the Lord?
This can only be due to one of two reasons – one is that our surrender is not complete. As long as the surrender is not complete, the Lord cannot and will not protect us – this is shown through Draupadi calling out to the Lord while holding one hand to her saree (during vastra harana) at which time the Lord didn’t come to help her; only when Draupadi let go of her saree and called out to the Lord with both hands that the Lord came to help her. Second reason could be that the Lord is testing our surrender and faith. Many of the Ramakrishna Mission saints hold the view that if we are not facing any obstacles in the spiritual path, we can be sure that we are not headed in the right direction. A seeker who is in the right direction will face many obstacles each of which are just ways in which he can gain more and more surrender to the Lord – this will culminate with the seeker having surrendered completely to the Lord (upon which there remains no more obstacles or testing).
A seeker should analyze this and consider obstacles as a way to gain more devotion to the Lord – rather than walking out, he should proceed with more devotion towards the goal of realization.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us try to have complete surrender towards the Lord by always remembering him so that we may be able to apprehend and reside in the blessings of the Lord at all points of time.
According to Brahma’s request, I took birth as Yadukula Vasudeva’s son in order to reduce Bhoomi Devi of her burden. People call me Vaasudeva. Many bad people including Kamsa were killed by me. And now Yavana got burnt to ashes by your anger-fire.
Explanation
Though the Lord has already explained that everything is him alone, still he tries to answer the question of Muchukunda from the empirical perspective so that Muchukunda will be able to understand it better. This shows the ever compassionate nature of the Lord.
AMMA (Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) says that compassion is a quality of the mind which is essential for a seeker to see oneness everywhere and lead him to the goal of realization. Sage astavakra also says to Janaka that daya or compassion is one of the qualities that we have to love like nectar in order to realization.
Though we have to strive for showing compassion, the Lord and Mahatmas are ever compassionate. It is very tough indeed for us to show compassion to people whom we don’t know – we generally have passion towards “our” people and term it compassion. Compassion is different from passion – passion is attachment towards a set of people who are near and dear to us; whereas compassion is when we show love towards the entire world. We have to learn to implement compassion in life by looking at the Lord and various Mahatmas.
The Lord instructed Arjuna just before Mahabharatha war in around 700 slokas. Arjuna kept on asking almost the same question but in a different perspective. Rather than just ignoring Arjuna’s questions by telling that “everything is an illusion of names and forms in me; everything is me only”, the Lord answered Arjuna in all the possible perspectives. Arjuna accepts at the end of Gita that his delusion is removed but after the Mahabharatha war (at a later point), Arjuna requests the Lord to instruct him again as he forgot the instructions. The Lord says that Bhagavad Gita was given from a yoga avastha and cannot be reproduced; but being compassionate the Lord instructs Arjuna again which is known as the Uttara Gita. If somebody approaches us with any sorrows or questions, we would just answer them by telling that “the world is an illusion – you are blissful Brahman – so why any sorrow or questions”. But instead we find the compassionate Lord and Mahatmas answering the same questions from different people in as many different ways as possible.
Firstly we have to understand and apprehend the compassionate nature of Mahatmas. It is not just enough to understand the compassion but we have to utilize the compassion by following their instructions. If a teacher teaches us and we fail in the test put by the teacher, the teacher will get angry and tell us to “quit from school”. The same applies to Vedanta as well; though compassionate Mahatmas will not tell us to quit yet we will not benefit even a little bit out of their teachings if we do the same mistake of not implementing their teachings in life.
Thus it is very important to apprehend as well as utilize the compassionate nature of the Mahatmas by implementing their teachings even if it is just 1% that we implement in life.
We will continue with the Lord’s reply in the next day.
Let us try to utilize the compassion of various avataras of the Lord so that we may be able to realize our very nature of non-dual blissful Lord in this very birth itself through implementations of the teachings of the Lord and various Mahatmas.
The Lord continued:
I have come to this cave in order to bless you. Many times previously as well you have prayed for my blessings. Ask whatever you want. Those who have taken refuge in me will never have sorrows or sufferings.
Explanation
Ramana Maharshi once said “the very presence of a Mahatma is beneficial for the entire world”.
Why is this so? Because from all perspectives, the Mahatma will only help a seeker (which means the entire world). A Mahatma is a person who is always blissful thereby sending across waves of bliss. Any person with a open mind can experience the bliss when he approaches or is near the Mahatma. It is for this reason that many of us visit saints like the various sankaracharyas, Mahatmas like AMMA and jeevan mukthas like Prof. Balakrishnan Nair. Their very presence radiates bliss in the vicinity. We just need some openness of mind at the particular time to experience the bliss emanating from these Mahatmas.
There are many people who come to AMMA (Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi) though they don’t accept her to be a realized master – when asked, such people say “there is some power in her”J. This is just a way of escapism – they know that there is some divinity but they are either afraid or don’t want to accept the divinity as realization. Hence they just say “there is some power in her”.
But we have to remember that not everyone will be able to apprehend and acknowledge the bliss emanating from Mahatmas – this is because majority of us have preconceived notions about these Mahatmas and hence we miss out on the bliss emanating from them (which can be apprehended, acknowledged and experienced only with an open mind).
Emanating bliss and making seekers realize their very nature of bliss (taking the seekers to the same level as themselves) is the main aim of these Mahatmas. It is realization which is the greatest blessing that we can get in life as that alone can give us eternal bliss and make our life fulfilled. Thus the Lord says here that he has come to bless Muchukunda. In fact the very presence of the Lord in various forms in the world is for blessing the entire world though most of us fail to accept the blessing even if the Lord gives us free of cost.
There are many spiritual masters who give knowledge as well as the way to implement it through Vedanta free of cost – yet there are no takers. Even if there are takers many of us escape saying “I have take care of my parents, I have attachment” etc. But the Lord never gives up trying to bless others – as it is his very nature to bless others even as it is the nature of Sun to give light to others (though many people might sit inside their house and not accept sunlight).
The Lord not just gives hope through words but is a person who stands by his words. Therefore he says that whoever has taken refuge in me will never again suffer. This is a fact which we can easily apprehend by looking at the lives of various Mahatmas like Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharshi among others. We also see it in Gita as to the Lord going beyond all limitations in order to protect people who have surrendered unto him – we find this in Kurukshetra when the Lord takes the chariot wheel as a weapon and pounces upon Bhisma though he had made a promise not to yield weapons in the war.
If this is the case, then many of us might think as to why we are not being protected by the Lord at times of sorrow and distress though we have surrendered to the Lord?
This can only be due to one of two reasons – one is that our surrender is not complete. As long as the surrender is not complete, the Lord cannot and will not protect us – this is shown through Draupadi calling out to the Lord while holding one hand to her saree (during vastra harana) at which time the Lord didn’t come to help her; only when Draupadi let go of her saree and called out to the Lord with both hands that the Lord came to help her. Second reason could be that the Lord is testing our surrender and faith. Many of the Ramakrishna Mission saints hold the view that if we are not facing any obstacles in the spiritual path, we can be sure that we are not headed in the right direction. A seeker who is in the right direction will face many obstacles each of which are just ways in which he can gain more and more surrender to the Lord – this will culminate with the seeker having surrendered completely to the Lord (upon which there remains no more obstacles or testing).
A seeker should analyze this and consider obstacles as a way to gain more devotion to the Lord – rather than walking out, he should proceed with more devotion towards the goal of realization.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us try to have complete surrender towards the Lord by always remembering him so that we may be able to apprehend and reside in the blessings of the Lord at all points of time.
Story 50 – Story of Dwaraka Nirmaanam - 08
When Yavana was burnt into ashes, the Lord appeared in front of Muchukunda. Muchukunda thus asked to Krishna who stood in front of him in the form of Vishnu and with a smile: “who are you? Why have you come here in this forest filled with stones and thorns – that too with your lotus-feet? You are devadeva (light of lights) as you have removed the darkness in this cave with your presence. O Prabho! I am Ishvaku-vamsa muchukunda. I was resting after the war with asuras. One who woke me up got burnt into ashes by his own sins”.
Explanation
Here we find a person who has purified his mind through good deeds able to identify the Lord (not completely but to an extent). Though Muchukunda was not able to identify the Lord in his true nature (of nirguna para Brahman – the ultimate reality behind the illusory world) he was at least able to identify the Lord as shining like a light. We will try to analyze this characteristic of the Lord as light of all lights.
The Lord says in Gita:
Yadaadityagatham tejo jagat bhaasayathe akhilam
Yat chandramasi yat cha agnau tattejo viddhi maamakam
The light that is there in the Sun as a result of which the Sun shines the entire world; the light that is in the moon and fire, know that light to be my light.
The above sloka means that the Lord is the essence of all lights. In a way this also means that the Lord is the light of all lights – the light that gives existence to all lights. This becomes quite clear when we see it from the perspective of the Lord’s nature of Consciousness. If Consciousness is there, everything including the Sun exists. The Sun gives light to objects of the world but without the light of Consciousness even Sun doesn’t exist. We all experience this clearly in the state of deep sleep wherein we don’t experience the light of Sun yet Consciousness exists. It is also quite simple to imagine a state where Consciousness is not there – in such a state, the Sun or the moon all don’t shine. This is because Consciousness is that light which gives existence and the power of lighting to all other lights. This is made clear by the Lord in another sloka of Gita thus:
Na tad bhaasayathe sooryah na shashaanko na paavakah
Yat gatva na nivarthanthe taddhaamah paramam mama
There (in the state of the Lord wherein Lord alone exists) the Sun doesn’t shine; nor the moon nor fire; it is that state achieving which there is no return and that is my eternal state.
Thus Consciousness which is the very nature of Lord is the light of all lights as it is the light which is the basis of all lights – without which all other lights cease to exist. This is a concept which also leads us to the conclusion that everything that we see depends on the light of all lights – without the Lord everything just vanishes. This means that everything is dependent on the Lord whereas the Lord is independent and ever exists. If we apprehend this concept of Lord being independent and the light of all lights, we will stop seeking worldly pleasures and seek the Lord as the Lord alone can give us eternal bliss. Muchukunda due to his good deeds was able to identify these characteristics in the Lord – it is this identification (apprehension) which will make the seeker seeks the Lord with all fervor thereby realizing the Lord in this very birth itself.
We will continue with the story in the next day with the Lord’s reply to Muchukunda’s questions.
Let us always try to remember the Lord as the light of all lights so that we may seek the Lord and stop seeking worldly pleasures thereby realizing our very nature of blissful Conscious Lord in this very birth itself.
The Lord answered Muchukunda with a smile and clear voice thus:
Births, actions, names etc. are thousands for me. O King! Since they are many, even I don’t think I can count all of them. Various births, actions, names etc. continuously happen in the three time of past, present and future. How much ever we count, they will never end. Anyway I will let you know my current state.
Explanation
The Lord is starting to answer the question of Muchukunda as to “who are you” here. The Lord’s answer here is that the question cannot really be answered as there are infinite names for the Lord – since it is infinite, even the Lord cannot count it.
We know of the dasha avataras of the Lord and the 24 avataras explained in Bhagavatham, but why is the Lord telling that his names are infinite?
The names, births etc. of the Lord are infinite as everything that existed, everything that exists and everything that will exist in the future, all that are the Lord alone. It is for this reason that the Lord says in Gita that Purusha (himself) has thousand hands, thousand legs, thousand heads etc. wherein thousand is just a figurative way of telling that everything is the Lord alone. Even with technological advancements, it is impossible for science to count the number of galaxies in the entire universe. This is because universe is infinite and therefore there are infinite galaxies. We just know about our own galaxy of Milky Way and some nearby galaxies.
This statement of the Lord that everything is the Lord alone is a fundamental truth of Vedanta. All concepts of Vedanta are based on this concept. This is the foundational concept of Vedanta and is that concept remembrance of which alone can lead us to eternal bliss (known in Vedanta as moksha).
The Lord also gives this kind of explanation in many places of Bhagavad Gita wherein he says that he is the light in all, he is arjuna among pandavas etc. It is more than enough to say that “I alone am present as the illusory infinite names and forms of the world” but many of us cannot understand it as this statement seems to contradict our daily experience (of seeing duality in the waking world). If only we could compare this waking world with the dream world, we would easily apprehend this truth as the entire dream world is one dreamer alone. But most of us are unable to apprehend it and hence the Lord makes this truth explicit in his statements. There cannot be any better way to explain this than saying that “I am top, I am left, I am bottom etc.” (mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad).
The Lord knows this clearly as even after explicitly saying that “everything is me” by enumerating a number of items in the world, still many of us cannot understand or apprehend this truth.
The Lord is here following the same explicit way of explaining by telling that “my names are infinite” which means that everything is “I” alone. If we as seekers are able to understand this, then the dual notions of our mind will vanish through seeing oneness everywhere (in the mind and not necessary in our actions or externally).
As it is enough to apprehend this explicitly mentioned truth that “everything is the Lord”, still our intellect might temporarily need an answer regarding the nature of the Lord now. Being compassionate, the Lord thereby tries to pacify our intellect by explaining the purpose of his current name, birth, actions etc. (though all names, all births, all actions are the Lord).
But Bhagavatham is telling us through the Lord that all names, all forms, all actions, all births etc. or in short “everything” is the non-dual Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss – it is this Lord that pulsates in us as “I-exist, I-exist” and is devoid of names and forms as it is everything. This seeing oneness everywhere and remembering that the one Lord is our very nature of Consciousness will get rid of likes-dislikes, attachments-aversions and make us rejoice in bliss at all times (which is the ultimate goal of life).
We will continue with the Lord’s reply in the next day.
Let us always try to remember that everything is the Lord alone and names, forms, births, actions etc. are mere illusions in the Lord even as the dream world is an illusion in the dreamer; and that reality of Lord is our very nature of pure Consciousness untainted by names, forms, attachments etc.
Explanation
Here we find a person who has purified his mind through good deeds able to identify the Lord (not completely but to an extent). Though Muchukunda was not able to identify the Lord in his true nature (of nirguna para Brahman – the ultimate reality behind the illusory world) he was at least able to identify the Lord as shining like a light. We will try to analyze this characteristic of the Lord as light of all lights.
The Lord says in Gita:
Yadaadityagatham tejo jagat bhaasayathe akhilam
Yat chandramasi yat cha agnau tattejo viddhi maamakam
The light that is there in the Sun as a result of which the Sun shines the entire world; the light that is in the moon and fire, know that light to be my light.
The above sloka means that the Lord is the essence of all lights. In a way this also means that the Lord is the light of all lights – the light that gives existence to all lights. This becomes quite clear when we see it from the perspective of the Lord’s nature of Consciousness. If Consciousness is there, everything including the Sun exists. The Sun gives light to objects of the world but without the light of Consciousness even Sun doesn’t exist. We all experience this clearly in the state of deep sleep wherein we don’t experience the light of Sun yet Consciousness exists. It is also quite simple to imagine a state where Consciousness is not there – in such a state, the Sun or the moon all don’t shine. This is because Consciousness is that light which gives existence and the power of lighting to all other lights. This is made clear by the Lord in another sloka of Gita thus:
Na tad bhaasayathe sooryah na shashaanko na paavakah
Yat gatva na nivarthanthe taddhaamah paramam mama
There (in the state of the Lord wherein Lord alone exists) the Sun doesn’t shine; nor the moon nor fire; it is that state achieving which there is no return and that is my eternal state.
Thus Consciousness which is the very nature of Lord is the light of all lights as it is the light which is the basis of all lights – without which all other lights cease to exist. This is a concept which also leads us to the conclusion that everything that we see depends on the light of all lights – without the Lord everything just vanishes. This means that everything is dependent on the Lord whereas the Lord is independent and ever exists. If we apprehend this concept of Lord being independent and the light of all lights, we will stop seeking worldly pleasures and seek the Lord as the Lord alone can give us eternal bliss. Muchukunda due to his good deeds was able to identify these characteristics in the Lord – it is this identification (apprehension) which will make the seeker seeks the Lord with all fervor thereby realizing the Lord in this very birth itself.
We will continue with the story in the next day with the Lord’s reply to Muchukunda’s questions.
Let us always try to remember the Lord as the light of all lights so that we may seek the Lord and stop seeking worldly pleasures thereby realizing our very nature of blissful Conscious Lord in this very birth itself.
The Lord answered Muchukunda with a smile and clear voice thus:
Births, actions, names etc. are thousands for me. O King! Since they are many, even I don’t think I can count all of them. Various births, actions, names etc. continuously happen in the three time of past, present and future. How much ever we count, they will never end. Anyway I will let you know my current state.
Explanation
The Lord is starting to answer the question of Muchukunda as to “who are you” here. The Lord’s answer here is that the question cannot really be answered as there are infinite names for the Lord – since it is infinite, even the Lord cannot count it.
We know of the dasha avataras of the Lord and the 24 avataras explained in Bhagavatham, but why is the Lord telling that his names are infinite?
The names, births etc. of the Lord are infinite as everything that existed, everything that exists and everything that will exist in the future, all that are the Lord alone. It is for this reason that the Lord says in Gita that Purusha (himself) has thousand hands, thousand legs, thousand heads etc. wherein thousand is just a figurative way of telling that everything is the Lord alone. Even with technological advancements, it is impossible for science to count the number of galaxies in the entire universe. This is because universe is infinite and therefore there are infinite galaxies. We just know about our own galaxy of Milky Way and some nearby galaxies.
This statement of the Lord that everything is the Lord alone is a fundamental truth of Vedanta. All concepts of Vedanta are based on this concept. This is the foundational concept of Vedanta and is that concept remembrance of which alone can lead us to eternal bliss (known in Vedanta as moksha).
The Lord also gives this kind of explanation in many places of Bhagavad Gita wherein he says that he is the light in all, he is arjuna among pandavas etc. It is more than enough to say that “I alone am present as the illusory infinite names and forms of the world” but many of us cannot understand it as this statement seems to contradict our daily experience (of seeing duality in the waking world). If only we could compare this waking world with the dream world, we would easily apprehend this truth as the entire dream world is one dreamer alone. But most of us are unable to apprehend it and hence the Lord makes this truth explicit in his statements. There cannot be any better way to explain this than saying that “I am top, I am left, I am bottom etc.” (mentioned in the Mundaka Upanishad).
The Lord knows this clearly as even after explicitly saying that “everything is me” by enumerating a number of items in the world, still many of us cannot understand or apprehend this truth.
The Lord is here following the same explicit way of explaining by telling that “my names are infinite” which means that everything is “I” alone. If we as seekers are able to understand this, then the dual notions of our mind will vanish through seeing oneness everywhere (in the mind and not necessary in our actions or externally).
As it is enough to apprehend this explicitly mentioned truth that “everything is the Lord”, still our intellect might temporarily need an answer regarding the nature of the Lord now. Being compassionate, the Lord thereby tries to pacify our intellect by explaining the purpose of his current name, birth, actions etc. (though all names, all births, all actions are the Lord).
But Bhagavatham is telling us through the Lord that all names, all forms, all actions, all births etc. or in short “everything” is the non-dual Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss – it is this Lord that pulsates in us as “I-exist, I-exist” and is devoid of names and forms as it is everything. This seeing oneness everywhere and remembering that the one Lord is our very nature of Consciousness will get rid of likes-dislikes, attachments-aversions and make us rejoice in bliss at all times (which is the ultimate goal of life).
We will continue with the Lord’s reply in the next day.
Let us always try to remember that everything is the Lord alone and names, forms, births, actions etc. are mere illusions in the Lord even as the dream world is an illusion in the dreamer; and that reality of Lord is our very nature of pure Consciousness untainted by names, forms, attachments etc.
Story 50 – Story of Dwaraka Nirmaanam - 07
Seeing the Lord enter the cave, Yavana also entered the cave. Yavana didn’t see anybody in the cave except a person who was sleeping. Thinking that it is the Lord trying to delude him, Yavana kicked the person. The person who was sleeping woke up immediately. When the person woke up, fire from his eyes burnt Yavana into ashes. The sleeping person was the son of Mandaatha (who was born in Ishvaaku kula) named Muchukunda.
Explanation
We saw yesterday as to how tough it is to conquer the Lord in our heart though it is very easy. As Tapovan Maharaj used to say, Vedanta is easy to learn; preaching Vedanta is still easier; but it is very tough to practice/implement Vedanta. Similarly though it is very easy to speak about conquering the Lord, it is very tough indeed to implement in life.
We find in this part as to why it is very tough indeed to implement Vedanta by conquering the Lord in our hearts – it is because we are continuously being deluded by the divine illusory power of the Lord termed as Maya. Maya deludes people continuously so much into believing whatever is unreal to be real and veiling whatever is real.
Discrimination between real and unreal is very essential for a spiritual seeker as he should know as to what to seek and what not to seek; he should know as to what to go behind and what not to go behind. Now the question comes as to what is real and what is unreal? The Lord defines real as that which exists in the three times (of past, present and future) and unreal as that which never exists at all (in Bhagavad Gita).
To put it quite simple – real is that which is ever present and anything that is temporary can be considered as unreal. The ultimate reality of Lord alone is real as the Lord alone existed before creation, during creation and will exist after creation as Consciousness in nature. Everything else that we see is temporary and ever changing. That which is changing is subject to birth and death; that which takes birth and dies is not eternal; therefore that which is changing is not real.
Thus a seeker should always seek that which is unchanging and renounce all attachment/aversion to that which is constantly changing. The objects of the world (the world in itself) is constantly changing, therefore it is sorrowful as well (as that which will vanish in the future will give us sorrow when it vanishes). Any changing entity needs a changeless substratum for its existence even as a changing variable requires a changeless constant for its existence. The changeless substratum for the changing world is the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Thus instead of seeking the changing world, we should seek the changeless substratum of Lord. The world is of the nature of names and forms whereas the Lord is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. Even as various gold ornaments are mere names-forms in gold, similarly the entire world is an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord.
This is what the Lord beautifully summarizes in Gita as:
Anityam asukham lokam imam praapya bhajasva maam
Having attained this temporary-sorrowful world, take refuge in me.
This is nothing but renouncing the names and forms of the world by perceiving the substratum of Lord in everything. This is quite simple to say and very tough indeed to implement. This is because the world is so deluding and attractive that we often get distracted. Thus merely knowing the real and the unreal isn’t enough – we need to get away from the unreal and get passionate about the real. Until this happens, we will not benefit out of the discrimination between real and unreal.
This becomes more tough to implement due to the delusive power of Maya which constantly deludes a person into the unreal world making it appear as if real and veiling the reality of Lord thereby making it appear as non-existing. The one and only way to conquer Maya is to get pure devotion (along with the knowledge that the Lord alone exists here) towards the ultimate reality of Lord by completely surrendering to the Lord at all times and beyond all conditions. We see today as to how Yavana was deluded into thinking the sleeping person to be the Lord thereby getting completely destroyed rather than getting realized. Bhagavatham is thereby telling us that a person who forgets the Lord by getting deluded into the illusory world will end up only in destruction (which means a state of sorrow and suffering).
We will continue with the story in the next day as to the history of Muchukunda.
Let us all try to conquer the Lord through pure devotion along with knowledge about the reality of non-dual Lord behind the illusory world so that we may be able to get out of the delusion of Maya and ever rejoice in bliss.
Muchukunda (born of Ishvaku-kula Maandaatha) was a Mahayogi who was sought by the Devas to fight the asuras. Muchukunda went to heaven, fought and defeated the asuras. In return for his help, the Devas asked Muchukunda to request for any boon other than kaivalya (realization). Muchukunda who was tired after fighting asked for “long-time sleeping”. He also added that whoever wakes him up should be burnt into ashes. The Devas gave the boon. From that day, Muchukunda was sleeping in the cave. And it is thus that Yavana kicked Muchukunda and was burnt to ashes.
Explanation
There are two points that Bhagavatham is making here through the life-history of Muchukunda. First is about the state of yoga (wherein a person is ever established in equanimity and unaffected by the situation) in which Muchukunda was established and second is the devas not granting kaivalya or moksha to muchukunda.
We generally have quite a different meaning for the word Yoga as well as Yogi (Yogi is one who is established in Yoga). Patanjali defintes Yoga as “yogah chitta vritti nirodah” or “yoga is negating the thoughts of the mind”. In general we only know about hatha yoga (physical exercises) which is only one of the asta-anga yoga (eight-limbed yoga) defined by Patanjali. Yoga in Vedanta has quite a different meaning from Patanjali’s definition of Yoga.
The Lord defines yoga thus in Gita:
Siddhyasidhyoh samo bhootvaa samatvam yoga uchyathe
Maintaining equanimity during good and bad times; thus equanimity (samatvam) is termed as Yoga.
This Yoga means seeing oneness everywhere – seeing One Ishwara everywhere knowing that everything is but an illusion of names and forms in Ishwara. Seeing oneness gets rid of likes-dislikes. Likes-dislikes will lead to attachment-aversion which in turn will lead to happiness-sorrow. Thus a person who is in the Yoga of equanimity will always be without the dual notions of happiness-sorrow – it is this state that is termed as moksha wherein a person is always happy irrespective of situations, surroundings, environment etc. A spiritual seeker should always strive to achieve this state of being unaffected and always happy through seeing oneness and equanimity in the mind.
The Lord gives this beautiful sloka in Gita for seeing oneness:
Vidhyaa vinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hasthini
Shuni chaiva svapaake cha panditaah samadarshinah
In a Brahman endowed with knowledge and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog and in a dog-eater; a wise person (with knowledge) will see oneness.
This moksha of ever rejoicing in bliss and being unaffected by the empirical state cannot be achieved externally as it is our very nature of Lord (Self). But we have somehow forgotten our nature of ever-liberated (nitya-muktha) state. Thus we have to strive to achieve this moksha through yoga. For this external factors like environment, surrounding, Guru etc. will help but ultimately it is the seeker who has to take the step of realizing his very nature of Lord through yoga. Yoga cannot be achieved externally as it is a state of the mind wherein the mind is calm and ever blissful. Thus Bhagavatham through the devas granting any boon other than moksha is telling us that moksha is something that we have seek and nobody can really give it to us. The grace of Sadgurus and Ishwara will always help us in getting moksha but our effort is more important than anything else in the world (AMMA says that the sadguru’s or Ishwara’s grace is ever present like the rays of the Sun; but we sit inside our house closing all doors and windows claiming that the Sun rays are not there; what we have to do is open our hearts and we will apprehend the ever-present grace of the Sadguru/Ishwara). The famous saying “We can take a horse to the pond but we cannot make it drink water” is applicable here.
The Lord says thus about this in Gita:
Uddharet atmanaa aatmaanam na aatmaanam avasaadhayet
Atmaiva hi atmano bandhuh atmaiva ripuh aatmanah
A person should help himself and shouldn’t let himself down in the spiritual path; a person is his own relative and his own enemy (depending on the state of the mind and his activities).
Thus the one thing which is mainly required for realization is the strong desire for liberation (mumukshutvam) which alone is enough to get us everything that we need starting from purity of mind to the Guru in order for realization.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us always try to be in the state of yoga through our efforts and always have the strong desire for realization as this alone will help open our hearts thereby making us realize through the ever-present grace of Ishwara.
Explanation
We saw yesterday as to how tough it is to conquer the Lord in our heart though it is very easy. As Tapovan Maharaj used to say, Vedanta is easy to learn; preaching Vedanta is still easier; but it is very tough to practice/implement Vedanta. Similarly though it is very easy to speak about conquering the Lord, it is very tough indeed to implement in life.
We find in this part as to why it is very tough indeed to implement Vedanta by conquering the Lord in our hearts – it is because we are continuously being deluded by the divine illusory power of the Lord termed as Maya. Maya deludes people continuously so much into believing whatever is unreal to be real and veiling whatever is real.
Discrimination between real and unreal is very essential for a spiritual seeker as he should know as to what to seek and what not to seek; he should know as to what to go behind and what not to go behind. Now the question comes as to what is real and what is unreal? The Lord defines real as that which exists in the three times (of past, present and future) and unreal as that which never exists at all (in Bhagavad Gita).
To put it quite simple – real is that which is ever present and anything that is temporary can be considered as unreal. The ultimate reality of Lord alone is real as the Lord alone existed before creation, during creation and will exist after creation as Consciousness in nature. Everything else that we see is temporary and ever changing. That which is changing is subject to birth and death; that which takes birth and dies is not eternal; therefore that which is changing is not real.
Thus a seeker should always seek that which is unchanging and renounce all attachment/aversion to that which is constantly changing. The objects of the world (the world in itself) is constantly changing, therefore it is sorrowful as well (as that which will vanish in the future will give us sorrow when it vanishes). Any changing entity needs a changeless substratum for its existence even as a changing variable requires a changeless constant for its existence. The changeless substratum for the changing world is the ultimate reality of Lord of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss absolute. Thus instead of seeking the changing world, we should seek the changeless substratum of Lord. The world is of the nature of names and forms whereas the Lord is of the nature of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. Even as various gold ornaments are mere names-forms in gold, similarly the entire world is an illusion of names and forms in the reality of Lord.
This is what the Lord beautifully summarizes in Gita as:
Anityam asukham lokam imam praapya bhajasva maam
Having attained this temporary-sorrowful world, take refuge in me.
This is nothing but renouncing the names and forms of the world by perceiving the substratum of Lord in everything. This is quite simple to say and very tough indeed to implement. This is because the world is so deluding and attractive that we often get distracted. Thus merely knowing the real and the unreal isn’t enough – we need to get away from the unreal and get passionate about the real. Until this happens, we will not benefit out of the discrimination between real and unreal.
This becomes more tough to implement due to the delusive power of Maya which constantly deludes a person into the unreal world making it appear as if real and veiling the reality of Lord thereby making it appear as non-existing. The one and only way to conquer Maya is to get pure devotion (along with the knowledge that the Lord alone exists here) towards the ultimate reality of Lord by completely surrendering to the Lord at all times and beyond all conditions. We see today as to how Yavana was deluded into thinking the sleeping person to be the Lord thereby getting completely destroyed rather than getting realized. Bhagavatham is thereby telling us that a person who forgets the Lord by getting deluded into the illusory world will end up only in destruction (which means a state of sorrow and suffering).
We will continue with the story in the next day as to the history of Muchukunda.
Let us all try to conquer the Lord through pure devotion along with knowledge about the reality of non-dual Lord behind the illusory world so that we may be able to get out of the delusion of Maya and ever rejoice in bliss.
Muchukunda (born of Ishvaku-kula Maandaatha) was a Mahayogi who was sought by the Devas to fight the asuras. Muchukunda went to heaven, fought and defeated the asuras. In return for his help, the Devas asked Muchukunda to request for any boon other than kaivalya (realization). Muchukunda who was tired after fighting asked for “long-time sleeping”. He also added that whoever wakes him up should be burnt into ashes. The Devas gave the boon. From that day, Muchukunda was sleeping in the cave. And it is thus that Yavana kicked Muchukunda and was burnt to ashes.
Explanation
There are two points that Bhagavatham is making here through the life-history of Muchukunda. First is about the state of yoga (wherein a person is ever established in equanimity and unaffected by the situation) in which Muchukunda was established and second is the devas not granting kaivalya or moksha to muchukunda.
We generally have quite a different meaning for the word Yoga as well as Yogi (Yogi is one who is established in Yoga). Patanjali defintes Yoga as “yogah chitta vritti nirodah” or “yoga is negating the thoughts of the mind”. In general we only know about hatha yoga (physical exercises) which is only one of the asta-anga yoga (eight-limbed yoga) defined by Patanjali. Yoga in Vedanta has quite a different meaning from Patanjali’s definition of Yoga.
The Lord defines yoga thus in Gita:
Siddhyasidhyoh samo bhootvaa samatvam yoga uchyathe
Maintaining equanimity during good and bad times; thus equanimity (samatvam) is termed as Yoga.
This Yoga means seeing oneness everywhere – seeing One Ishwara everywhere knowing that everything is but an illusion of names and forms in Ishwara. Seeing oneness gets rid of likes-dislikes. Likes-dislikes will lead to attachment-aversion which in turn will lead to happiness-sorrow. Thus a person who is in the Yoga of equanimity will always be without the dual notions of happiness-sorrow – it is this state that is termed as moksha wherein a person is always happy irrespective of situations, surroundings, environment etc. A spiritual seeker should always strive to achieve this state of being unaffected and always happy through seeing oneness and equanimity in the mind.
The Lord gives this beautiful sloka in Gita for seeing oneness:
Vidhyaa vinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hasthini
Shuni chaiva svapaake cha panditaah samadarshinah
In a Brahman endowed with knowledge and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog and in a dog-eater; a wise person (with knowledge) will see oneness.
This moksha of ever rejoicing in bliss and being unaffected by the empirical state cannot be achieved externally as it is our very nature of Lord (Self). But we have somehow forgotten our nature of ever-liberated (nitya-muktha) state. Thus we have to strive to achieve this moksha through yoga. For this external factors like environment, surrounding, Guru etc. will help but ultimately it is the seeker who has to take the step of realizing his very nature of Lord through yoga. Yoga cannot be achieved externally as it is a state of the mind wherein the mind is calm and ever blissful. Thus Bhagavatham through the devas granting any boon other than moksha is telling us that moksha is something that we have seek and nobody can really give it to us. The grace of Sadgurus and Ishwara will always help us in getting moksha but our effort is more important than anything else in the world (AMMA says that the sadguru’s or Ishwara’s grace is ever present like the rays of the Sun; but we sit inside our house closing all doors and windows claiming that the Sun rays are not there; what we have to do is open our hearts and we will apprehend the ever-present grace of the Sadguru/Ishwara). The famous saying “We can take a horse to the pond but we cannot make it drink water” is applicable here.
The Lord says thus about this in Gita:
Uddharet atmanaa aatmaanam na aatmaanam avasaadhayet
Atmaiva hi atmano bandhuh atmaiva ripuh aatmanah
A person should help himself and shouldn’t let himself down in the spiritual path; a person is his own relative and his own enemy (depending on the state of the mind and his activities).
Thus the one thing which is mainly required for realization is the strong desire for liberation (mumukshutvam) which alone is enough to get us everything that we need starting from purity of mind to the Guru in order for realization.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us always try to be in the state of yoga through our efforts and always have the strong desire for realization as this alone will help open our hearts thereby making us realize through the ever-present grace of Ishwara.
Story 50 – Story of Dwaraka Nirmaanam - 06
Since Krishna was not having any weapons, Yavana decided to fight Krishna without any weapons.
Explanation
We find here Yavana (who is similar to an asura) following dharma or righteousness with respect to war. Dharma in a yudha is not to fight a person who isn’t holding any weapons – also the rule is to fight people who are equal in most aspects. In order to become one with Krishna, Yavana thereby dropped his weapons.
We find that in ancient times, even asuras used to follow whatever dharma is prevalent. It is only today that we find even spiritual people trying to back-stab and waiting for opportunities to misuse others. It is as a result of the asuras as well following dharma that they were privileged with the Lord himself destroying their Ego and making them eternal.
We generally speak about dharma when it comes to the point where we lose something and we are failing – at all other times, we don’t even care about dharma. The talks about dharma and following what the scriptures say comes only when things are going against us – in fact, the scriptures are a way for us to escape from our miseries and a way to blame our mistakes. We do this quite often that it backfires unto us. We think that the scriptures have everything and hence we can easily blame them but with each blame, we are veiling ourselves with another strong layer of ignorance. The stronger is the layer of ignorance, the farther we will be from the goal of realization. The farther we are from realization, the more we will be suffering and the lesser will be happiness in our lives.
Though we speak about dharma at the empirical level (which of course we never follow and speak of until the tide is against us), real dharma is wherein we are focused on the Lord. It doesn’t matter whether we love the Lord or the hate the Lord – the various asuras like Kamsa have attained realization through hating the Lord. Whatever is to be achieved is just constant contemplation of the Lord – if this is achieved, it doesn’t matter as to how we achieve it. We find this real dharma being implemented by asuras and Yavana in this story. Yavana remembered Narada’s description of Krishna and started seeking him out.
Fighting with the Lord can be understood as Yavana trying to conquer the Lord who is so tough to conquer. Conquering the Lord is as simple as putting the Lord in the jail of our hearts – a devotee (one who is always remembering the Lord) is one who has jailed the Lord. For such a devotee, the Lord himself will make clear the reality that everything is the Lord alone (which the devotee is following unknowingly as his entire world becomes filled with the Lord) and thereby make the devotee realize in this very birth itself.
Though it might seem to be simple to conquer the Lord, it is very tough indeed as we will see in the next day.
Let us all try to slowly day-by-day implement this devotion/knowledge towards the Lord irrespective of whatever we are doing externally so that we may be able to always rejoice in bliss like the Mahatmas.
Seeing Yavana, Krishna turned around and started running. Yavana also ran behind Vasudeva who is very tough even for yogis to realize. Running a bit slow as if Yavana would catch him immediately, Krishna deluded Yavana. Doing thus the Lord entered into a mountain-cave.
Explanation
We learnt the previous day as to how tough is to conquer the Lord though it might seem very simple indeed. The toughest thing to achieve in life is conquering the Lord in our heart (which means realizing that everything is essentially the Lord alone).
Paramahamsa Yogananda in “Autobiography of a Yogi” speaks about his seeking out a saint (if memory doesn’t fail me, the saint was called glowing or awake saint as he used to always be awake as well as his body used to glow like a light); on the way to the place of the saint, he asks the direction to a couple of passers-by who direct yogananda in the wrong direction. He roams for an entire day and finally meets the saint. The saint proclaimed “do you think you can meet me without my permission?” and smiled.
This is very much like trying to conquer the Lord. The Lord is the substratum of the illusory world – the entire world is his creation; the world is totally under the Lord’s control as it is his Maya power which controls the world. Though the world is an illusion yet at the empirical level, it is controlled by the Lord. Therefore without the Lord’s permission it is impossible to conquer the Lord.
We may be able to fool a lot of people in the world but fooling the Lord is not possible without his permission. We may be able to convince many as to our spiritual nature, knowledge etc. but we can never fool the Lord as he knows everything. Trying to conquer the Lord is like trying to conquer the Sun – it may be possible (some day) to conquer the president of any country but it is impossible to conquer the Sun (at least today).
We don’t need to get worried or sad that we cannot conquer the Lord as conquering the Lord is the only way to get eternal bliss; most of the time, the toughest thing is the easiest and simplest to achieve in life. As Arthur Conan Doyle used to say through Sherlock Holmes that a puzzle seems quite easy and very simple when we know the solution to it, similarly conquering the Lord though is the toughest is also the simplest thing to achieve in life if we know the way to do it.
Conquering the Lord is very simple indeed as the Lord has a weakness like all of us. The weakness of the Lord is bhakthi or devotion. Devotion isn’t just wanting moksha or going to meet Mahatmas or trying to do spiritual activities – devotion is seeking the Lord at all times beyond any limitations whatsoever. This devotion is what Sankara and other acharyas speak about as knowledge (the knowledge that Lord alone is present here). When devotion and knowledge are present in a person, then he is a real devotee who is always contemplating on that Lord who alone is present here. The Lord is a servant of such devotee – such a devotee has conquered and jailed the Lord. This is clearly shown in the story of Ambariksha (which we learned earlier) when even the Lord couldn’t help Durvasa who had attacked Ambariksha but was counter-attacked by the Lord’s chakra. The Lord said he couldn’t stop the chakra and only Ambariksha can stop it from killing Durvasa – because the Lord was a servant and jailed by his devotees. It is this devotion through which the gopis were able to conquer the Lord – they didn’t have anything in life except pure devotion and surrender to the Lord. This surrender purified them as the Lord settled in their hearts.
Thus conquering the Lord is as simple as becoming a real devotee of the Lord. Real devotion is as simple as totally surrendering oneself onto the Lord with the knowledge that the Lord is the substratum of the illusory names and forms of the world.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us all try to conquer the Lord through pure devotion (along with the knowledge that the Lord alone is present beyond the names and forms of the world) so that we may be able to rejoice in bliss at all times which is the goal of life.
Explanation
We find here Yavana (who is similar to an asura) following dharma or righteousness with respect to war. Dharma in a yudha is not to fight a person who isn’t holding any weapons – also the rule is to fight people who are equal in most aspects. In order to become one with Krishna, Yavana thereby dropped his weapons.
We find that in ancient times, even asuras used to follow whatever dharma is prevalent. It is only today that we find even spiritual people trying to back-stab and waiting for opportunities to misuse others. It is as a result of the asuras as well following dharma that they were privileged with the Lord himself destroying their Ego and making them eternal.
We generally speak about dharma when it comes to the point where we lose something and we are failing – at all other times, we don’t even care about dharma. The talks about dharma and following what the scriptures say comes only when things are going against us – in fact, the scriptures are a way for us to escape from our miseries and a way to blame our mistakes. We do this quite often that it backfires unto us. We think that the scriptures have everything and hence we can easily blame them but with each blame, we are veiling ourselves with another strong layer of ignorance. The stronger is the layer of ignorance, the farther we will be from the goal of realization. The farther we are from realization, the more we will be suffering and the lesser will be happiness in our lives.
Though we speak about dharma at the empirical level (which of course we never follow and speak of until the tide is against us), real dharma is wherein we are focused on the Lord. It doesn’t matter whether we love the Lord or the hate the Lord – the various asuras like Kamsa have attained realization through hating the Lord. Whatever is to be achieved is just constant contemplation of the Lord – if this is achieved, it doesn’t matter as to how we achieve it. We find this real dharma being implemented by asuras and Yavana in this story. Yavana remembered Narada’s description of Krishna and started seeking him out.
Fighting with the Lord can be understood as Yavana trying to conquer the Lord who is so tough to conquer. Conquering the Lord is as simple as putting the Lord in the jail of our hearts – a devotee (one who is always remembering the Lord) is one who has jailed the Lord. For such a devotee, the Lord himself will make clear the reality that everything is the Lord alone (which the devotee is following unknowingly as his entire world becomes filled with the Lord) and thereby make the devotee realize in this very birth itself.
Though it might seem to be simple to conquer the Lord, it is very tough indeed as we will see in the next day.
Let us all try to slowly day-by-day implement this devotion/knowledge towards the Lord irrespective of whatever we are doing externally so that we may be able to always rejoice in bliss like the Mahatmas.
Seeing Yavana, Krishna turned around and started running. Yavana also ran behind Vasudeva who is very tough even for yogis to realize. Running a bit slow as if Yavana would catch him immediately, Krishna deluded Yavana. Doing thus the Lord entered into a mountain-cave.
Explanation
We learnt the previous day as to how tough is to conquer the Lord though it might seem very simple indeed. The toughest thing to achieve in life is conquering the Lord in our heart (which means realizing that everything is essentially the Lord alone).
Paramahamsa Yogananda in “Autobiography of a Yogi” speaks about his seeking out a saint (if memory doesn’t fail me, the saint was called glowing or awake saint as he used to always be awake as well as his body used to glow like a light); on the way to the place of the saint, he asks the direction to a couple of passers-by who direct yogananda in the wrong direction. He roams for an entire day and finally meets the saint. The saint proclaimed “do you think you can meet me without my permission?” and smiled.
This is very much like trying to conquer the Lord. The Lord is the substratum of the illusory world – the entire world is his creation; the world is totally under the Lord’s control as it is his Maya power which controls the world. Though the world is an illusion yet at the empirical level, it is controlled by the Lord. Therefore without the Lord’s permission it is impossible to conquer the Lord.
We may be able to fool a lot of people in the world but fooling the Lord is not possible without his permission. We may be able to convince many as to our spiritual nature, knowledge etc. but we can never fool the Lord as he knows everything. Trying to conquer the Lord is like trying to conquer the Sun – it may be possible (some day) to conquer the president of any country but it is impossible to conquer the Sun (at least today).
We don’t need to get worried or sad that we cannot conquer the Lord as conquering the Lord is the only way to get eternal bliss; most of the time, the toughest thing is the easiest and simplest to achieve in life. As Arthur Conan Doyle used to say through Sherlock Holmes that a puzzle seems quite easy and very simple when we know the solution to it, similarly conquering the Lord though is the toughest is also the simplest thing to achieve in life if we know the way to do it.
Conquering the Lord is very simple indeed as the Lord has a weakness like all of us. The weakness of the Lord is bhakthi or devotion. Devotion isn’t just wanting moksha or going to meet Mahatmas or trying to do spiritual activities – devotion is seeking the Lord at all times beyond any limitations whatsoever. This devotion is what Sankara and other acharyas speak about as knowledge (the knowledge that Lord alone is present here). When devotion and knowledge are present in a person, then he is a real devotee who is always contemplating on that Lord who alone is present here. The Lord is a servant of such devotee – such a devotee has conquered and jailed the Lord. This is clearly shown in the story of Ambariksha (which we learned earlier) when even the Lord couldn’t help Durvasa who had attacked Ambariksha but was counter-attacked by the Lord’s chakra. The Lord said he couldn’t stop the chakra and only Ambariksha can stop it from killing Durvasa – because the Lord was a servant and jailed by his devotees. It is this devotion through which the gopis were able to conquer the Lord – they didn’t have anything in life except pure devotion and surrender to the Lord. This surrender purified them as the Lord settled in their hearts.
Thus conquering the Lord is as simple as becoming a real devotee of the Lord. Real devotion is as simple as totally surrendering oneself onto the Lord with the knowledge that the Lord is the substratum of the illusory names and forms of the world.
We will continue with the story in the next day.
Let us all try to conquer the Lord through pure devotion (along with the knowledge that the Lord alone is present beyond the names and forms of the world) so that we may be able to rejoice in bliss at all times which is the goal of life.
