ViBha Class Notes: January 16, 2022
Who is God? What is Bhagavan? Vivekji has always shared that divinity is in the details. Bhagavan or God is to be understood or appreciated to have five functions:
- Srishti — Creator
- Stithi — Controller
- Samhara — Consumer
- Nigraha — Corrector
- Anugraha — Conserver
If we reflect on our life in terms of creating, controlling, consuming, correcting and conserving — Has all of this been done to us? Has all of this been done for us? It has! So — Who is God? All is God! What is God? All is God!
Bhagavan Rama lived in Chitrakuta for sometime, and the river that flowed near there was the Mandakini. So Shri Tulalisdasa has shared that the Mandakini is our katha, whether it is the Ramayana, Mahabharata or Bhagavata. That river is a katha, so we are accessing Mandakini. Now Chitrakuta is Chitta Shuddhi. So where this river flows, that is Chitrakuta and where this katha is reflected upon, there is a purification of our personality. These details facilitate divinity.
Vivekji has shared that he acknowledges and appreciates this truth because today we celebrate Pujya Swami Tapovanam’s Mahasamadhi Dinam — the day he left his body. For us, our body is in control of us, for him, he was in control of his body. We are all most bhagya or fortunate to be drenched in this community which is drenched in Bhagavan and shastra and parampara. All that Vivekji has been sharing for over 110 classes is coming from Swami Tapasyananda’s writings in English and Swami Tejomayananda’s discourses in English. It is this parampara that is granting us access to feel what we are feeling.
We completed 2021 with Chapters 80 and 81. These are profound and practical chapters. From this section of Bhagavata — Bhagavan Krshna is holding Sudama’s hand and is asking him if he got married. But before He does, He shares with Sudama that there are some who give up desire, but still live in an environment of desire, and in such an environment they help others. They are dedicated to loka sangraha. And Bhagavan Krshna is sharing this with Sudama indicating to him that they both studied in the Gurukula and that He (Bhagavan) was still living in the Gurukula. His environment may have changed (the context), but His content had not, that He was still practicing not having desires, and still dedicating Himself to that which is higher. Why and How can we live like this? It is only because of the Guru. Bhagavan Krshna has shared that amongst the practices that people engage in, the highest seva is Guru seva. What is Guru seva? It is living like the Guru. How does a Guru live? Without desire for themselves. They are dedicated to loka sangraha. They are not dedicated to a generation, but they are dedicated to all generations. That is what a parampara is. They are enlivening this tradition.
Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4, Verse 34 is a most dynamic verse. All of Vivekachudamani is a commentary on this verse. In this verse, He tells Arjuna how he can know what Bhagavan Krshna knows. And the final component is Guru Sevaya, or practice living like the Guru. How do we do this? Simple living (our lifestyle) and High thinking. Our only relationship with our body should be of being healthy, and not of being a beauty. And high thinking is our vision. Whenever we go deeper into ourselves, we go deeper into others. The more we come to understand and appreciate our own mind, the more we come to accept others’ minds. Why has 2020 and 2021 been so difficult for us? It’s not Covid for most of us, but our own relationships. We don’t have an outlet to escape, so our relationships are becoming harder and harder. But the more we know our own mind, the more we will expect less and accept more. That is what high thinking is.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 9, Verse 26 is also in Bhagavata. Whatever one offers with devotion — one leaf (patram), one flower (pushpam), one fruit (phalam), water (toyam), Bhagavan says He focuses on the devotion, and not on the dravya or material. He says He accepts this wholly. Bhagavan Krshna is sharing this with Sudama because He is trying to compare Sudama’s wife Susheela and him. Susheela wants Bhagavan Krshna for Bhukti (pleasure, possession). Asking Bhagavan for Bhukti is quite ordinary, but Sudama wants Bhagavan Krshna for Bhakti, which is extraordinary as Bhakti includes bhukti. If we get the higher, doesn’t the lower come with it? That is what a lot of us fail to practice. If we dedicate ourselves to peace, then we will have more position, possession and pleasure in our life. When we are happy, doesn’t food taste better? When we are unhappy, food tastes worse. Everything is determined by that peace. Bhakti makes one independent. We come to feel why and how All is God.
Bhagavan Krshna had dressed up Sudama like Him, but the next day when Sudama had to leave, Bhagavan Krshna asked for His clothes back. The lighter vedanta perspective is so that Sudama is not distracted by possession. The higher vedanta is that Sudama is independent, whether he wears those clothes or not doesn’t matter. Whether he lived in his original home or the palace that came, doesn’t matter. Bhakti makes one independent.
What these Chapters are trying to bring our mind to is that our Bhagavan is sulabha (accessible or available). Bhagavan feels that what He gives us is trifling. He gives and gives and gives, but Bhagavan always feels that He never give enough. And whatever we give is matchless or incomparable, even if it is just a spoon of water or in Sudama’s case, some dried rice. So let us practice Bhagavan being sulabha. It is not about the dravya, but about the Bhakti.
Skanda 10:82:21- Bhagavan is about to meet the Gopis after a very long time. This is Bhagavan Krshna’s father Vasudeva who is speaking to his sister Devi Kunti and says- Please do not criticize us, as we are all toys in the hands of God. Sometimes Ishwara brings and sometimes Ishwara takes. Devi Kunti is complaining that Sri Vasudeva’s life has been so easy and her life has been so hard. But has Shri Vasudeva’s life been easy? His children were murdered, but for Devi Kunti, atleast her children are all alive, even if they may not all get along well. Vivekji highlighted this verse as we all feel like Devi Kunti. Why is this happening to me in reference to someone else’s life? And Shri Vasudeva is sharing that all of this is Deva krida, not an ordinary Deva, but Krshna krida.
This Chapter begins with the forecast of an eclipse happening. In our culture, an eclipse is symbolic of tamas or ignorance. Naturally, the sun is a symbol for knowledge. And that is why during an eclipse we always shelter. We are supposed to stay home, near our puja area, not stare at the sun without protective lenses. And after the eclipse we have to bathe and freshen up, the idea being that we should shelter from tamas and embrace sattva. The eclipse was forecasted to be long. As soon as the eclipse was over, all the people wanted to engage in more purification so they went to a place called Syamantapanchaka. What is significant about this place is that it is where Bhagavan Parushurama went after he had started to destroy the Kshatriyas. He went there to purify himself. So at this place which is known for its purity, the people from Dwarka (where Bhagavan Krshna is), Hastinapura (where Duryodhana is), Indraprastha (where the Pandavas are), and Vraja (where the Gopis are), they all come here for this festival, for this purification. And that is where Sri Vasudeva and Devi Kunti are meeting.
Vedanta: The notion of doership is an expression of ego. Is the ego real or unreal? It is unreal. Then, any notions from this unreal entity should also be unreal. If the source is false, then the symptoms should be false as well. The ego feels “I am doing, so I deserve”, and that is why Devi Kunti is complaining — I don’t deserve this. Notice the subtlety of doership. For us, how do we dismantle this intense identification with free will — I am the doer? It is to accept and adapt. All that happens to us is Deva krida or Krshna krida. This is Hari Iccha or God’s will. If it doesn’t happen to us, that is also Hari Iccha. So knowing all of this is being directed towards us by Bhagavan, which means this is a form of prasad. And what should our relationship with prasad be? To accept. Now there is a danger here, where accepting could mean becoming complacent. If there is racism, we should just let it be? So adapt where we ensure that our acceptance is filled with cheer and that we are also sharing that cheer. Racism is not cheerful, violence is not cheerful, but we should work on it, for us, for the community — accept and adapt.
The Chapter continues with Shri Vasudeva going to Shri Nanda and tearfully offering his gratitude to Shri Nanda because Shri Nanda protected Bhagavan Krshna. Imagine the sacrifice Shri Nanda had to go through as there was constant threat of murder because of this foster child. And Devi Devaki and Devi Rohini, they go to Devi Yashoda — they call her the Queen of Vraja — and they share the same with her. They share that their children Bhagavan Krshna and Shri Balarama are only alive because of her sacrifice. They use four very powerful words which are ‘Sataam na paraha svaha’. Sataam — those who are saintly or noble; na paraha svaha — do not live by the sense of you and me or yours and mine. Who were Shri Krshna and Shri Balarama to Devi Yashoda? They were her children, just like all the others. This course is important as we will never come across these details in a Bhagavata Saptaha.
Skanda 10:82:45- Bhagavan Krshna is speaking to the Gopis. Let us put ourselves in that position — when the Gopis watched Bhagavan Krshna leave in that bullock cart into that horizon and they couldn’t speak, as there was nothing to speak about. Bhagavan Krshna says “Devotion to Me is the catalyst to experiencing Amritatva or fearlessness. And seeing all of you, you have this devotion. You are fortunate to experience this Joy.”
The build up to this — All the Gopis are together and they see Bhagavan Krshna arrive in this area. And He has to go through all the formalities of meeting with His foster parents and others and what are the Gopis doing? Just staring at Him. With their eyes, they are dismantling His exterior and re-assembling this in their own hearts. And even if Bhagavan is outside, they feel that they are reuniting with Him in their own hearts and He feels that intensity. Eventually after the formalities, He meets with the Gopis in private and He asks how each one of them is doing. He asks about their welfare — Are you eating, are you sleeping? And then, He embraces every one of them. This exchange is so sweet. Bhagwan Krshna then starts to teach them. Very little did Bhagavan teach the Gopis while He was with them earlier. But here, instead of them being sakhya (friends), they become daasya (students).
Vedanta: Bhagavan Krshna shares that He only left all of them as He was compelled to protect them. They feel that He left as He was fascinated by the big city. But He shares that He left only to protect them. Imagine a disease in an urban area that would soon spread to a rural area as well. So we have to go to where the disease is and cut it and that is what Bhagavan Krshna did when He went to Mathura. He shares — Providence (fate or destiny) is responsible for uniting and separating people just like the wind does with nature. On a windy day, sometimes leaves come together and sometimes get separated. That’s what providence or fate does to people. When someone comes into our life, we should feel Hari Iccha. And then they will leave our life or we will leave their life — Hari Iccha. That is how we have to inhibit raga or attachment. Swami Chinmayananda used to share that when he went to someone’s home, he would share that he had come to leave, and that’s what he taught his students. We should be clear that we are not supposed to live there, that we are temporarily there and that we need to keep moving. And in this way, they also know that you are leaving as this attachment is very natural.
The final thought that Bhagavan Krshna shares is “I am the Jagat and I am the Jiva. Where you live and where I live, that is all Me. I am the Jiva who lives there. So have I left Vrajabhoomi?. I am Vrajabhoomi. Have I left you? I am You.” The one who is Jiva and Jagat is Jagadeeshwara. Bhagavan is openly sharing I am you, Atman, I am Brahman. This is such an amazing portion of Bhagavata because the only way to deal with missing another is through Adhyatma jnana which Bhagavan is sharing here. As long as we feel a sense of separation, we will always feel a sense of missing. But if we start to feel I am Jagadeeshwara and you are Jagadeeshwara, then that missing is ended. Attachment is ended. The Gopis listen to this shiksha because they are shishyas, and they never miss Bhagavan again.
Additional insights — Why is Sankranti celebrated? Sankranti is when we move towards the sun and in our culture, the sun is a symbol for knowledge first, and then Awareness. We have to know that we are Awareness and move towards that. That is why knowledge comes first. What this looks like in our everyday lives — we need to recommit to self-development which means to intensify whatever we are doing now so that we evolve more. That is moving towards the sun, knowing more, feeling more that we are Awareness. We shouldn’t make Sankranti just a ritual, instead of spiritual. Sankranti should not be just something we do, instead we should be “becoming” that. When we know the spirit of a ritual, then we are becoming whatever we are doing.
A Joyous Sankranti to all!
Discussion: How can you and society become more sacrificing?
Some thoughts shared — to nurture humility, clear priorities, shifting expectations, acceptance, to be compassionate, if not me then who mentality, understand another’s view, being more grateful, living more simply, focus on the Higher.
Vivekji shared that the festival Ugadi which was originally called Yugadi is to transition to live in Satyayuga, where we live in sacrifice instead of compromise. So in Satya Yuga, everyone is dedicated. It is an opportunity for everyone to be like this. Vedanta is most profound and practical.