ViBha Class Notes: October 16, 2022

The original Ramayana is 24,000 shlokas and all of these verses are teaching a singular message — to be humble or humility. When Bhagavan Rama embodied Himself, He did this following Manava dharma. He acted in a way we should act, and He was most humble. When Bhagavan Rama’s father died, when Jayatu died, when Devi Sita was kidnapped, in all of those experiences, He felt the same sadness — not more for His father, nor less for Jatayu. He had the humility that all were important.

Shrimad Bhagavata, the original being four verses and the elaborated version being 18,000 verses, has a singular message of Surrender. Humility finds fulfillment in Surrender and evidence of this is in the last syllable of Bhagavata, which is Ta — meaning tarani — to cross or to surrender oneself to feel Divine. To nurture humility and to practice surrender requires us to be active. This cannot be intellectual, nor passive. It has to be active.

We have been investing in Bhakti for over six years. Vivekji shared that a diya symbolizes the body, mind, ego and knowledge. What we have been doing for the past six years, 200 hours, is our own personal Vijaya dashami. We are fighting our own inner enemies. This is our own personal Deepavali, and we are feeling that Bhagavan is more glorious than us.

In Skanda 11, this teaching is known as Mukti or freedom. It is because in this section, Bhagavan Krshna is leaving His particular form and name. This is called Mukti and we should also practice the same. When He leaves, Kali begins. And Vivekji has shared many times that the best way to live in Kali yuga is to get out as it will just become more sad. Bhagavan is leaving, and we should too.

• In Chapter 1, the main message is that the only relationship we have in life is with Bhagavan. Who knew that? The Devis and the Gopis knew that. That is why Bhagavan foreshadows that His entire family, generation after generation will engage in self-destruction. The only relationship or the only one we can depend on is Bhagavan.
• In Chapters 2–5, we have upadesha from the Yogis — guidance from those who are happy. The upadesha is — Start to offer what you do to Bhagavan. If we reflect on all the verbs that we engage in like sleeping, walking, talking, eating, we must offer that to Bhagavan, and when we are trained in that, that will help us to offer ourselves to Bhagavan. So first offer what we do, then the doer has to be offered. That is how one becomes happier.
• In Chapter 6, we are reintroduced to Rshi Uddhava who is Bhagavan Krshna’s Utsava murthi. Bhagavan is going back, but Bhagavan’s presence can be felt through Rshi Uddhava. Vivekji, after reflecting on Utsava murthis, feels that Shrimad Bhagavata is an Utsava murthi. If we reflect on Rshi Uddhava, we are feeling this through Shrimad Bhagavata. We are not strong in Sanskrit or the Katha, but really Vedanta in Bhagavata is like an Utsava murthi for us. How is Bhagavan’s presence being felt? Through this course. Vivekji would like us to really reflect on this, as he feels if we do, this will connect us back to Bhagavan Krshna.
• In Chapter 7, Rshi Uddhava is asking Bhagavan Krshna to teach him, to guide him to be like Bhagavan. Bhagavan shares Buddhi Upaashrita. Buddhi means intellect, and Upaashrita means to depend. It means that if we want to be like Bhagavan Krshna, we should depend on our own intellect. On the front of the Bhagavad Gita books, typically there is a picture with Prince Arjuna and Bhagavan Krshna. Prince Arjuna is the mind and Bhagavan Krshna is the intellect. So Bhagavan tells Rshi Uddhava that he should depend on his own intellect and when he does, then everything he needs to know he will know. Rshi Uddhava was trained by the Gopis, so he wants a simpler message, not for himself, but for the people. He is already prepared. He is an ideal student, but people are not, so he asks for simplicity.

In the same Chapter, Bhagavan Krshna gives precedent — he shares how Rshi Dattatreya depended on his own intellect, and how he felt that his intellect was divine. Bhagavan Krshna shares with Rshi Uddhava that only one who is detached can teach detachment. The one who is detached is practicing this, so all they share will be practical. So if we want to learn, we have to practice detachment, and once we start practicing detachment, we will learn lots. Rshi Dattatreya is an icon of this.

So how does Rshi Dattatreya’s katha begin? Raja Yadu, a king who is in the jungle, comes across Rshi Dattatreya who is this young boy who has nothing, but Raja Yadu feels that this young boy has everything — everything outside, everything inside. So he asks Rshi Dattatreya how he became so brilliant, inside and outside. And Rshi Dattatreya starts to speak like an Avadhuta — dhuta means to shake, and avadhuta means to be completely shaken, the implication being that Rshi Dattatreya has completely shaken off limits — what society thinks about him, how his body looks, and so on. He then shares with Raja Yadu how he can be as brilliant. Rishi Dattatreya shares 24 teachers or lessons, and Vivekji will share with us 24 virtues that we can practice to be less dependent externally, so we can depend on ourselves more.

Rshi Dattatreya’s first teacher was the Earth. Generally, what he learned from the Earth is to forgive. Viveji shared a personal example — When he worked in commercial real estate, he noticed that there was a lot of disintegration in business. People who were selfish, people who cheated, and so on. This was agitating as well. So he asked his father what he needed to do when the people around him were not following the rules, and his father had shared that it was not his job to teach principles. That helped Vivekji to be more accepting and forgiving of the wrongdoings in society. For all of us, we all feel we are teachers. We love to give advice, but if we know that it is not our job to teach principles, then we will become forgiving like the Earth. Specifically, what can we learn from the Earth? To serve. Rshi Dattatreya focuses on the mountains and trees, that they are always serving, and that we should also serve. How do we become more seva oriented? The more we become aware of our privileges, the more we will share.

Skanda 11:7:40 — For a Yogi, sense objects enter the sense organs and all of the qualities, the strengths and weaknesses of those sense objects do not touch that Yogi. This is how one can be happy. They go about living, but are not affected by what they input, just like the air. Rshi Dattatreya’s next teacher is the Air.

Shared in another way — When there is a tornado that goes through Florida or a hurricane through Mexico, does anything happen to the Air? The Air comes back to being exactly as it is. It is not affected. Air is pure, wherever it goes, and what Air does for us is to purify. Swami Tejomayananda always shares the uniqueness of the Air as compared to the Sun. The Sun is always working for us. We always see the Sun and offer prayers to the Sun. The Air is always working for us as well, but we don’t see it, and so it never gets any appreciation. For us, as we work hard, we want to be appreciated, but when we work hard and smart, we don’t do that for appreciation — just like the Air, just like the wind. This is the main teaching in terms of the Air, and this is about outside Air.

Rshi Dattatreya also shares about inside Air — The sage should be satisfied with as much food as is required to maintain his prana. To keep his knowledge bright and the faculties of his mind and senses intact, he should not crave for tasty food.

Eating should be functional, and not fundamental. We are always thinking about shopping, preparing, cleaning, cooking, eating and so on. Thirst and hunger should be treated like diseases. And how do we treat a disease? With medicine. If we take too much medicine, we get more sick. If we take too little medicine, we get more sick. When we have cancer, do we ask for tasty chemotherapy or tasty medicines?

Summarizing — Earth — forgive, Air — purify. With Air, we are supposed to practice purification, which means that we have to be pure ourselves before helping others to be pure, like the Air. As purification is an esoteric word, what we can practice is to talk about that which is important. When we talk about unimportant matters, it only creates more impurity, more negativity, more gossip and so on. But if we talk about that which is important like happiness, health, freedom, rights and scripture, then that is creating that purity. One more benefit — Those who talk about that which is important are not afraid of silence.

The next teacher is Space. Rshi Dattatreya says that Space like Brahman is limitless. Where is the end of space? The Earth is in space. Air is in space. Brahman or Infinity is the same way. And here is a subtle thought — What is Space doing? Space is not doing anything; it is just Being. Earth, Water, and Air are doing. That which is Infinite cannot be doing, it can just Be. The Sanskritam word for space is Akasha, and it comes from Avakashat. Kasha means to be visible, and avakasha means that which is felt. The idea is that Space is always accommodating us. It is not just visible, it is felt. Though our senses cannot perceive Space, Space is always there. How we can practice this is — to absorb. One who is accommodating will absorb change, will absorb negativity. Generally, we call such a person large hearted, one who is available and accommodates others. Try not to reciprocate negativity. When we interact with someone who is cranky, our default is to put them in their place.

The next teacher is Water. Bhagavan Krshna, through Rshi Dattatreya, teaches — Water is that which cools that which is burning, just like one uses Water to douse a fire. Now when we think about Bharatiya culture, there is a prevalence of rivers and oceans. Bharat is a peninsula. Wherever there were rivers, civilizations got established. Whenever this body is burning, Water cools it, but more philosophically, when our personalities are burning, burning for Existence-Awareness-Joy, then Water cools us through the Ganga. Ganga is symbolic for devotion, for knowledge. That is the only way to stop burning. In a more practical sense, our verb is to refresh. When we are thirsty and drink Water, we are refreshed. We can practice this by actively listening to people. Everybody wants attention, everybody wants to be heard, and nobody does that. Next time we are at a party, observe how many are talking and how many are listening. Listen and do not be dismissive.

Skanda 11:7:45 — Bhagavan Krshna shares — A Fire is tejasvi and it gets more tejasvi because of tapasa. A Fire is that which consumes food, referring to one’s digestive system, just like a happy person is one who keeps becoming better through tapa. A happy person is one who consumes all, and is not affected by it. Specifically, we can never make a Fire impure.

Fire is our fifth teacher. Vivekji is sharing what Bhagavata teaches factually, then makes this more relatable, then more practical. Rshi Dattatreya says that Fire is inviolable or it can never be violated. We can put a lot of garbage or impurity into a Fire, and it will purify it, as in it will burn it all down. In terms of how he relates this to our body — Fire has no possessions as anything we give to it, it will burn. Bhagavan Krshna is sharing that our stomachs should be the same way, that we should eat only what can go into our stomach, and nothing else. These are high thoughts for us to reflect on. He shares that Fire keeps replenishing itself. The more we give to it, the more it replenishes itself. The same goes with someone who is happy. They engage in tapa. Tapa means they practice, and become happier. And He finally shares that Fire is most captivating. Can we see space? Can we see air? What is the first element we can see? It is Fire. So that is why every time there is a Fire, everyone looks at it, and no one talks — like a bonfire. What is our new Fire? Television. If we go to a restaurant and there is a television, all the eyes drift towards it. Making this more relatable for us, a Fire is always moving higher. Similarly, in our lives we should always be going higher as well. We should always try to be a better person. And most practically, it is to accept — our fifth verb.

How can we practice being more accepting? It is by speaking of people’s strengths. When we assess someone, think about what they have done, and not about what they have not done. If they are weak, focus on their strengths. It helps us to be more accepting.

The one who is not ready to learn, that person cannot be taught even by the greatest teacher. The one who is ready to learn, they can have the worst teacher, and can still learn from all. For the one who is ready to learn, we have now completed going through the five elements — Earth, Air, Space, Water and Fire. Even these elements that we describe as inert, can teach us to forgive, purify, absorb, refresh and accept.