Narada Bhakti Sutras

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Sri Krishnaya Namah!

 

Sutra 6:

"Yagnathva mattho bhavathi; sthabdho bhavathi; athmaaraamo bhavathi."

Possessed by which a jeeva becomes mathha (sub conscious state),

sthabdha(nischala / sthanu / in daze) and then totally at peace/bliss

(athmaraama), is bhakthi.

 

Sutheekshna (a disciple of Sage Agasthya), upon hearing the news of Rama's

arrival to his ashram, becomes mattha and then he saw Lord coming towards

him, becomes sthabdha. He just can't come to normalcy, even after the Lord

approaches him, takes his name, shakes him and then sprinkles water on him.

He was dazed, but when he came to normalcy, he was in total bliss, i.e.,

aatmaraama.

 

Here matthha means an experience being experienced by bhaktha which is

devoid of ego. It is a stage where he becomes emotional and lose his

conscious, totally absorbed with the fact (of Rama's arrival, here).

 

Prahlada in SMB says - bhaktha, unmindful of external world, sometimes

laughs, sometimes cries, sometimes lost in himself in dhyana, does

namaskaram to the people around him, and with a deep sign, shouts 'Hare!

Jagathpathe! Narayana' and he won't feel ashamed of all these exhibition

of his eccentricities, as he is absorbed in His bhakthi. Thus, bhakthi,

bhaktha and bhagavan are synonymous to the various stages of experience

(matthha, sthabdha and aatmaraama).

 

For a whole week, Govardhana Giridhari lifts and bore Govardhana on his

little fingers thus gives shelter to vraja vasis (chara/achara). Once

Indra realises his faux pas, and withdrew from tormenting vraja vasis,

Krishna gently places the mountain in its original place, after sending his

people away from himself. All the while, Yashoda waits with bated breath

for Krishna and when Krishna has done with the effort, she was pleased.

She wanted to rush towards him and embrace him, but could not move her

legs an inch. She want to call him, but lips protest; she want to atleast

make gestures to him to come to her but hands won't move. Lastly, she even

can't smile at him. She experiences dazeness (sthabdho bhavathi) that

makes Krishna run towards her and embrace Yashoda. That is the magnitude

of vathsalya bhakthi that she has towards Him, that made her sthabdha, to

which God is attracted and He helps such souls by going towards them,

fulfilling their wishes. In vraja (Brindavan) all (chara/achara)

experience this jadathva/sthabdhatva, only because of the imminent presence

of Lord Krishna. Trees, Flowers, Rocks, Hills besides gopikas are in daze,

all the while, and thus are in bliss born out of the very thought that

Krishna is present in Vraja.

 

One may recall the example that was given in this earlier post, where

Bhagavan himself crosses the shore of the river, reaches bhaktha and takes

him, and crosses the river for bringing him to His abode. It is for the

bhaktha to become - mattha, sthabdha which actualises to become a

aatmaraama. God will wait for a bhaktha and if the bhaktha is mattha (like

Sutheekshna) or Sthabdha(like Yashoda) He will, without wasting time, help

them by gracing them with sayujyam.

 

 

 

Once Arjuna asks Krishna in Dwaraka as to why he always takes the name of

gopikas and talks highly about them. What is their significance when

compared to his astapathnis comprises of Rukmini and Sathyabhama. Krishna

says - Nijangamapiya gopyo mamethi samupasathe; Thabyaha paramname

Kinchinnigudapremabhajanam" -- "Gopikas consider their body as Mine and

decorate it thinking that they are decorating me; hence nobody qualifies

for my gupthaprema, except them". Gopikas are so absorbed in Krishna that

whatever they do, they do it for Him. They won't aspire for anything in

their life but want to give everything to the Lord.

 

 

Lord Narasimha, after Killing Hiranyakasipu and been pacified by His

bhaktha - Prahlada, showers him lot of love and ask him to seek anything in

return. The humility personified Prahlada says - "Aham thva kamasthava

bhakthasthvam cha svamyanapashrayaha; Naanyathehavayorartho

rajasevakayoriha" - (SMB 7/10/6). "I am your nishkama bhaktha and you are

my ananyashraya bhagavan; Barring your blessings on me to do seva to you, I

won't aspire for anything."

 

 

Goswami Tulasidas was staying in Assighat, Kashi, at that time when one

night a thief came to his home for stealing valuables. At the either side

of the entrance, he saw a fair person and a dark one guarding the house.

The thief was taken aback and leaves thinking that he can come back after

a while, after these guards go to sleep. But, to his disadvantage, when he

returned again, guards are still there, ever vigilant. This way, the thief

goes back several times and return only to see the guards guarding the

house wholethrough the night. Due to the darshanam which he is blessed

with, several times over, he became purified within, and in the morning,

when the guards are not there and Tulasidas woke up, he goes to him and

says - I have seen two guards guarding your house, wholethrough the night,

and I was not able to steal anything. Now that after seeing them, a sacred

feelings filled my heart which reformed me and now I won't crave for

anything, except that I want to see them once again. Hearing this,

Tulasidas was very worried, for, he still has some bare essentials in his

home which made Lord Rama and Lakshmana to be on guard to protect those

things. He immediately distributes those and was relieved that the Lord is

now free from this responsibility.

 

Thus, when Krishna says - "Ananyaschinthayanthomam yejanaha paryupasathe;

thesham nithyabhiyukthanam yogakshemam vahamyaham" , He will take the

responsibility of providing essentials(yoga) and guarding the same(kshema)

also. It is a promise by none other than the parabrahman.

 

Talking of the word in the above sloka from BG - "vahamyaham" there is an

interesting story. Sri Jagannatha Mishra, a devotee of Krishna, in those

days, was writing a bhashyam for BG. In this process, instead of

translating the word 'vahamyaham' he writes 'dadamyaham' thinking

emotionally that why paramathma should take the responsibility of the

things which he provides us. Just His blessing is enough and realises

yogakshema. Thus he changes the connotation and leaves home for the river

for bathing. That day, there was no food in his house(as is the normal case

with many bhagavathothamas) and his wife was happy seeing a beautiful boy

coming with a bag full of rice and drops it in front of her. She is

captivated by the beauty of the boy, but there was a deep gash on his

forehead, which makes her sad and she enquires the boy. Boy says that the

rice bag has been sent by her husband and the gash is the result of the

blow that he took from her husband and leaves. The furious wife of Mishra

shouts at her husband as soon he reaches home as to why he should hit the

beautiful boy. After hearing the facts that she had to tell, Mishra was

disturbed and realises his fault. He goes immediately and changes the word

as it is propounded by Lord Krishna. Such is the depth of the promise of

the Lord on this front. What we should promise to him in retrospect,

except deergha sharanagathi.

 

He is the only Purusha and rest are either His bhakthas and sevaks. In

Brindavan the indwellers are all His bhakthas and He was the only Purusha.

This is true for sentient & non sentient beings in brindavan. This has

been the order even during the Meera bai's days that when once Meera pays a

visit to Brindavan to have a darshanam of Sri Jeeva Goswami, she was not

given the darshanam by the santh on the grounds of her being a female and

that Goswami do not want to give darshan to a female. Hearing this, Meera

s says - In brindavan there is only one purusha and that is Lord Krishna

and rest of them are his bhakthas. Who is this purusha who is ignoring me.

Hearing this, Goswami comes out of his ashram and meets Meera Bai.

 

 

 

 

Sukumar

 

 

Sri Krishnaparabrahmane Namah