FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Gita 7.19, and 7.3, Bhakti Shatak. 25

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Jaya Sri Radhey! Namaste all.

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....."In the process he gets bound and entangled instead, like

a cocoon, never be able to get out of it birth after birth, until at

last he comes to realize the worthlessness of his acquisitions.

 

Eventually after many many births, by the Grace of the Lord Almighty,

he starts questioning the purpose of his human existence."

 

radhakutir

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'bahUnAM janmanAm ante jnAnavAn mAM prapadyate,

vAsudevaH sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH'

 

(Bhagavadgita 7.19)

 

The Blessed Lord said:

 

'At the END of many, many births,

the man of WISDOM takes REFUGE in Me,

REALIZING that Vaasudeva (Lord Krishna)

is ALL that IS.

RARE indeed is that GREAT soul.'

 

Vaasudeva connotes the 'pratyagaatman' - that which is immanent in

everything sentient and insentient, movable, and immovable, good and

bad.

 

Quite a number of 'sadhakas' take innumerable births BEFORE they GAIN

COMPLETE REALIZATION and get FIXED in the TRUTH.

 

The man who has ATTAINED this ACME of REALIZATION is indeed RARE in

this world. He is verily GREAT SOUL among men.

 

'Beholding diversity is born out of delusion; beholding unity is born

of ENLIGHTENMENT'- Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

 

The GREAT SOUL is referred also in the third stanza of the same

chapter.

 

'manuSyANAM sahasreSu kazcid yatati siddhaye,

yatatAm api siddhAnAM kazcin mAM vetti tattvataH'

 

(Bhagavadgita 7.3)

 

The Blessed Lord said:

 

'Among thousands of men SCARCELY

ONE strives for PERFECTION, and

those WHO STRIVE and SUCCEED,

SCARCELY ONE KNOWS ME IN TRUTH.'

 

The HIGHER the IDEAL, the HARDER is the ACHIEVEMENT of it.

Pitfalls are too many in the path of Divine Perfection.

COMPETENCY for IT is rarely found among men.

 

The RIGHT ATTITUDE,

the RIGHT UNDERSTANDING,

the RIGHT ADJUSTMENT,

the RIGHT APPLICATION -

these fourfold INDISPENSABLE VIRTUES

that lead the aspirant to Divinity.

 

Men who are FULLY EQUIPPED with ALL these Divine qualities are RARE

INDEED.

 

(Adapted from the translation of Bhagavadgita by Swami Cidbhavananda

of Sri Ramakrishna Mission)

 

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'brahma praapti-patha jnaana hai, paramatma-patha yoga,

krishna praapti-patha bhakti hai, adhikaari saba loga'

 

'Jnana' is the PATH to REALIZE BRAHMAN and

'Yoga' is the PATH to ATTAIN PARAMATMA.

 

'Bhakti' Divine Love, is the Path to ATTAIN Bhagavan,

Lord Krishna and each and every ONE is ELIGIBLE to

follow this Path, UNLIKE the other TWO which impose

severe restrictions on the sadhaka (seeker)

even for the qualification and eligibility.

 

(Bhakti Shatak, Verse- 25, Sri Kripaluji Maharaj)

 

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"vadanti tat tattvavidas tattvam yajnAnam advayam,

brahmeti paramAtmeti bhagavAniti zabdyate"

 

(Bhagavatam 1.2.11)

 

The knowers of Truth declare Absolute Knowledge

alone as the REALITY, - that Knowledge

which does not admit of duality

(the distinction of subject and object),

in other words indivisible and

one without a second, and

which is called by different names such as

Brahman (the Absolute) Paramatma (the Supreme Spirit)

and Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality).

 

 

Jaya Sri Radhey!