Nityam Bhagavat sevaya

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MATERIAL MISSERIES TO THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF HAPPINESS – BHAGVAN SRI

KRISHNA

 

FROM

 

SRIMAD BHAGVATAM CANTO 6 CHAPTER 4 TEXTS 27–28

 

manisino 'ntar-hrdi sannivesitam

sva-saktibhir navabhis ca trivrdbhih

vahnim yathä däruni päncadasyam

manisayä niskarsanti güdham

 

sa vai mamäsesa-visesa-mäyä-

nisedha-nirväna-sukhänubhütih

sa sarva-nämä sa ca visva-rüpah

prasidatäm aniruktätma-saktih

 

SYNONYMS

 

manisinah—great learned brähmanas performing ritualistic ceremonies and

sacrifices; antah-hrdi—within the core of the heart; sannivesitam—being

situated; sva-saktibhih—with His own spiritual potencies; navabhih—also

with the nine different material potencies (the material nature, the total

material energy, the ego, the mind and the five objects of the senses);

ca—and (the five gross material elements and the ten acting and

knowledge-gathering senses); trivrdbhih—by the three material modes of

nature; vahnim—fire; yathä—just like; däruni—within wood;

päncadasyam—produced by chanting the fifteen hymns known as Sämidhené

mantras; manisayä—by purified intelligence; niskarsanti—extract;

güdham—although not manifesting; sah—that Supreme Personality of Godhead;

vai—indeed; mama—toward me; asesa—all; visesa—varieties; mäyä—of the

illusory energy; nisedha—by the process of negation; nirväna—of liberation;

sukha-anubhütih—who is realized by transcendental bliss; sah—that Supreme

Personality of Godhead; sarva-nämä—who is the source of all names; sah—that

Supreme Personality of Godhead; ca—also; visva-rüpah—the gigantic form of

the universe; prasidatäm—may He be merciful; anirukta—inconceivable;

ätma-saktih—the reservoir of all spiritual potencies.

 

TRANSLATION

 

 

Just as great learned brähmanas who are expert in performing ritualistic

ceremonies and sacrifices can extract the fire dormant within wooden fuel

by chanting the fifteen Sämidhené mantras, thus proving the efficacy of the

Vedic mantras, so those who are actually advanced in consciousness—in other

words, those who are Krsna conscious—can find the Supersoul, who by His own

spiritual potency is situated within the heart. The heart is covered by the

three modes of material nature and the nine material elements [material

nature, the total material energy, the ego, the mind and the five objects

of sense gratification], and also by the five material elements and the ten

senses. These twenty-seven elements constitute the external energy of the

Lord. Great yogis meditate upon the Lord, who is situated as the Supersoul,

Paramätmä, within the core of the heart. May that Supersoul be pleased with

me. The Supersoul is realized when one is eager for liberation from the

unlimited varieties of material life. One actually attains such liberation

when he engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord and

realizes the Lord because of his attitude of service. The Lord may be

addressed by various spiritual names, which are inconceivable to the

material senses. When will that Supreme Personality of Godhead be pleased

with me?

 

PURPORT

 

In his commentary to this verse, Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti Thäkura uses

the word durvijneyam, which means "very difficult to realize." The pure

stage of existence is described in Bhagavad-gitä (7.28), wherein Krsna

says:

yesäm tv anta-gatam päpam

janänäm punya-karmanäm

te dvandva-moha-nirmuktä

bhajante mäm drdha-vratäh

 

"Persons who have acted piously in previous lives and in this life, whose

sinful actions are completely eradicated and who are freed from the duality

of delusion, engage themselves in My service with determination."

Elsewhere in Bhagavad-gitä (9.14) the Lord says:

 

satatam kirtayanto mäm

yatantas ca drdha-vratäh

namasyantas ca mäm bhaktyä

nitya-yuktä upäsate

 

"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing

down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion."

One can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead after transcending

all material impediments. Therefore Lord Krsna also says in the Gitä (7.3):

 

manusyänäm sahasresu

kascid yatati siddhaye

yatatäm api siddhänäm

kascin mäm vetti tattvatah

 

"Out of many thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of

those who have achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth."

To understand Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one must undergo

severe penances and austerities, but since the path of devotional service

is perfect, by following this process one can very easily come to the

spiritual platform and understand the Lord. This, too, is confirmed in

Bhagavad-gitä (18.55), wherein Krsna says:

 

bhaktyä mäm abhijänäti

yävän yas cäsmi tattvatah

tato mäm tattvato jnätvä

visate tad-anantaram

 

"One can understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead as He is only by

devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of the Supreme

Lord by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God."

Thus although the subject matter is durvijneyam, extremely difficult to

understand, it becomes easy if one follows the prescribed method. Coming in

touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is possible through pure

devotional service, which begins with sravanam kirtanam visnoh. In this

regard, Srila Visvanätha Cakravarti Thäkura quotes a verse from

Srimad-Bhägavatam (2.8.5): pravistah karna-randhrena svänäm

bhäva-saroruham. The process of hearing and chanting enters the core of the

heart, and in this way one becomes a pure devotee. By continuing this

process, one comes to the stage of transcendental love, and then he

appreciates the transcendental name, form, qualities and pastimes of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, a pure devotee, by

devotional service, is able to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead

despite many material impediments, which are all various energies of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Easily making his way through these

impediments, a devotee comes directly in contact with the Supreme

Personality of Godhead. After all, the material impediments described in

these verses are but various energies of the Lord. When a devotee is eager

to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he prays to the Lord:

ayi nanda-tanuja kinkaram

patitam mäm visame bhavämbudhau

krpayä tava päda-pankaja-

sthita-dhüli-sadrsam vicintaya

 

"O son of Mahäräja Nanda [Krsna], I am Your eternal servitor, yet somehow

or other I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please pick me up

from this ocean of death and place me as one of the atoms at Your lotus

feet." Being pleased with the devotee, the Lord turns all his material

impediments into spiritual service. In this connection Srila Visvanätha

Cakravarti Thäkura quotes a verse from the Visnu Puräna:

 

hlädini sandhini samvit

tvayy ekä sarva-samsthitau

hläda-täpa-kari misrä

tvayi no guna-varjite

 

In the material world, the spiritual energy of the Supreme Personality of

Godhead is manifested as täpa-kari, which means "causing miseries."

Everyone hankers for happiness, but although happiness originally comes

from the pleasure potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the

material world, because of material activities, the pleasure potency of the

Lord becomes a source of miseries (hläda-täpa-kari). False happiness in the

material world is the source of distress, but when one's endeavors for

happiness are redirected toward the satisfaction of the Supreme Personality

of Godhead, this täpa-kari element of misery is vanquished. An example

given in this connection is that extracting fire from wood is certainly

difficult, but when the fire comes out it burns the wood to ashes. In other

words, experiencing the Supreme Personality of Godhead is extremely

difficult for those devoid of devotional service, but everything becomes

easier for a devotee, and thus he can very easily meet the Supreme Lord.

Here the prayers say that the form of the Lord is beyond the jurisdiction

of material form and is therefore inconceivable. A devotee prays, however,

"My dear Lord, be pleased with me so that I may very easily see Your

transcendental form and potency." Nondevotees try to understand the Supreme

Brahman by discussions of neti neti. Nisedha-nirväna-sukhänubhütih: a

devotee, however, simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord, avoids such

laborious speculations and realizes the existence of the Lord very easily.