Today, Vivekji will take us on a tour of all that has been covered since September in our last seven classes, in the study of Srimad Bhagavata. After each stop, seekers may ask questions. It is important that we be oriented towards the flow of Bhagavata. Otherwise, the transformation that Srimad Bhagvata can offer, will not manifest.
Class 1 — In Class one, we learned that the theme or vision of Srimad Bhagavata is Surrender, for us to surrender to Bhagavan, and Bhagavan will help us surrender to Brahman that is our Self, the Divine, the Infinite, Happiness. To surrender is easy to say, but extremely difficult to practice, which is why –
- In Skandas 3,4,5, the focus is on belief – to nurture belief in Bhagavan, in Brahman.
- In Skandas 6,7,8, presuming we have belief, the focus is to nurture this belief to faith. We believe in a lot of people, but we may not have faith in them. There is a closeness with Faith.
- In Skandas 9,10,11, the focus is to encourage trust and we are in Skanda 10 now. We have faith in lots of people, but we don’t trust lots of people. Anyone who has been involved in team building exercises, one of them is a trust fall where we fall backwards, trusting that others will catch us. See how the trust in the people around you allows you to surrender your weight in their hands?
Class 2 — In Class two, it was shared that Avatara means Avatarti or means to manifest. It does not mean to descend, but philosophically, it is to manifest. Brahman manifests as Bhagavan when there is maximum compromise. When the world has minimum compromise, then Sadhus can fix that. Imagine a few people in our house are sick in a light way, then our medicine cabinet can treat that. But if lots of people in our home are sick, then we need a physician or medical system to help us. If there is minimum compromise or asatya — Sadhu can guide and help, but if there is maximum compromise or asatya again — Bhagavan needs to manifest. Greater severity, greater authority is needed.
Class 3 — In Class three, Bhagavan Krishna manifests. Bhagavan Krishna first manifested in Vasudeva’s mind, who nurtured Bhagavan’s presence in his mind and then evoked that same presence into Devaki. Grace is when we have the thought that we need to change. So where does Grace manifest? Grace manifests in our mind, just like Bhagavan manifesting in Vasudeva’s mind. And he nurtured this and it went into Devaki’s body. In other words, Grace manifests as Guidance, if we nurture it. Our thoughts become our actions, if we nurture them. And undoubtedly Shri Vasudeva and Shri Devaki did, so that is why they gave birth to Bhagavan Krishna or Joy.
Vivekji’s thoughts in response to Questions –
- We should invoke toughness to evoke hope. A great service that we can provide to society is to be tough. Toughness means resilience, endurance or titeeksha, and most of all happiness. If we are happy or Sat-Chit-Ananda, we become immune to all stress, anxiety and depression. Only when the brain is relatively balanced, can Vichara or Vedanta work so if we are experiencing mental health issues, we must seek professional help.
- Grace is the thought that we need to change and if we are steady with this thought, this thought will solidify into Guidance. There is only one pursuit in life and that is Moksha or final evolution. Dharma means education, Artha means profession, Kama means relations. Evolution is the thread that connects these three. If we are in a profession where we are not evolving, that means we have broken away from purpose.
Only special parents are gifted with special children, and why are we gifted with special children is for our Sadhana — to be focused on our child. We should be steady and sincere with that and we don’t need to do anything else.
Class 4: In our fourth class, we were given insights into how much sacrifice Shri Vasudeva went through to see his wife be threatened with murder, physical and verbal abuse,and how much sacrifice his wife Devaki went through. Vasudeva was seeing it, but she was actually experiencing it — seven murders for the sake of the eighth child. What it actually represents is — Yajno vai Vishunuh. This is a term from the Upanishads meaning Bhagava Vishnu is Yajna. And yajna here meaning dedication. If there is dedication, there will be sacrifice. But we won’t even know that sacrifice as we will be so immersed in that dedication, and Bhagavan Krishna’s parents are icons of that. And we will see more of that in Shri Nanda, Shri Yashoda who are completely dedicated to Bhagavan Krishna. And what this dedication feels like is Joy. That is Bhagavan Krishna. To be dedicated, one has to be trained in Titeeksha or endurance.
Vivekji’s thoughts in response to Questions –
- Three ways to encourage resilience are — Exercise, Examples and Ethics. Exercise is obvious. If we breathe fresh air and are in the sun, it is good for our body and brain. Examples are Swami Chinmayananda, Heller Keller, Shri Ramana whose bodily illnesses did not touch them. As parents, we are like a farmer planting seeds and we just don’t know when the seed will grow. With raising our children, we should always focus on our effort, and not the result. Ethics is the third way to develop resilience. When we have a relationship with self development, we are naturally tougher.
- Everything we do, we should do with gratitude to Bhagavan. If we have Vanik budhi or exchange mentality, then our vasanas are not evolving, but are simply being replaced by another equally dangerous vasana or a more dangerous one. When we have the expectation that we are doing this for the purity of mind or evolution, that is still an expectation. And finally this should evolve to that we are doing this as gratitude to Bhagavan — from Vanik budhi to Dasi budhi or as servant of The Master.
Class 5: In Class five, we began seeing how Bhagavan was bringing out the worst in us, that is the Asuras, and the first Asura was Putana who is the symbol for Avidya or ignorance. Ignorance is destroyed when we hold onto Bhagavan or remember Bhagavan in all that we do in our day to day activities, like washing dishes, taking a shower, brushing our teeth. The next Asura Shakata is the symbol for materials. When we forget that we are happiness, we look around and get distracted. Shakata is destroyed by Bhagavan Krishna being placed above him. How we destroy Shakata or materials is by using them fully. If we use our materials fully, we are happy and if something is given to us, we give it away. We are not distracted or look around.
Class 6: In Class six, we studied the Asura Trinaavarta as the symbol for desire. Whenever we have a desire, it comes as a storm and it blinds us, just as Trinaavarta did to those who lived in Gokula. We reconcile desire by desiring desirelessness or desiring self-development. Two amazing changes that will happen in our life if we desire self-development are — 1. We will meet our best friend. 2. Our best friend is our own mind. When we work on our mind and watch it grow, it is the best feeling. A mind that is evolving is our best friend. We do not need any other friends then. We should first revolve around noble people, then revolve around noble words or books like Bhagavata, and then revolve around noble thoughts or our own mind. When our mind becomes sufficiently quiet, who will we find living there? Bhagavan Krshna, our Best Friend Forever. Our mind is not our BFF as eventually it will be enlightened and then we won’t have a mind. That is how we do away with Trinaavarta.
Class 7: In Class seven, we studied Bhagavan Krshna’s Namakarana and the etymology of his name. Rishi Garga describes Bhagavan Krshna as Krshnata or dark and it is also described as Karshanath or the One who Attracts. These mean the same. Darkness is symbolic of imperceptibility. Can we perceive faith? Can we hear it? It is only felt. The Infinite is imperceivable by the mind, intellect or the Ego, but it is most attractive. Happiness is the most attractive virtue. So that’s why Bhagavan’s name is Karshanath. Further in the class, we studied Bhagavan’s leelas or His naughtiness. Some of the highlights were His playing of tug-of-war with the cows. And how He would pinch the kids of the Gopis who were not in sync with him. He would make rude comments back to them or pee or poo in the yards of those Gopis. So naughty, but we laugh and we want to know more about these leelas.
Bhagavan Krishna and His katha are transcendental. Whatever opinions we have or conditions that we are going to put on Bhagavan Krshna and His katha are wrong, are not applicable as this is a leela. How do we know we are tuned into this leela? When we develop a Viraga or independence from our raga or attachment to articles, beings and circumstances, and this is only possible if we are holding onto something better or the best. And the best is Anuraga or love for Bhagavan.
The focus of the tenth canto is described as Ashraya by Swami Tejomayananda. We have to know that all has emerged from Bhagavan, exists in Bhagavan and will end with Bhagavan. The beginning, the middle and end is with Bhagavan and in the language of Bhakti, All Belongs to Bhagavan, including us. Ashraya means Surrender. We belong to Bhagavan, and when we know that, we do not have to renounce anything. If we belong to Bhagavan, then doesn’t everything we have also belong to Bhagavan? With such a bhava, All IS Bhagavan.
So from the language of Jnana — All belongs to Bhagavan, and from the language of Bhakti — All is Bhagavan. That is the completion of Surrender and is the fulfillment of Shrimad Bhagavata.
The more we know of Bhagavan, the more we will love Bhagavan. And whatever we love, whoever we love, we are always thinking about it. That intensity should always be with us.