Bhagavada Vahini - Chapter 33

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Bhagavada Vahini by Sathya Sai Baba

 

Chapter 33

The Bhagavatha Purana

 

 

 

When the sage Suka heard this answer, he said, " King! Since your heart

is merged in Syamasundara, the Lord Krishna, I am pleased so much that

you can ask me all the questions that trouble you; I shall give

appropriate answers and explanations. I shall thrill you and heighten

your yearning for Syamasundara, the Charming Lord with the Complexion

of Dark Rain-heavy Clouds. "

 

Parikshith was filled with delight at these words of the Master. He

said, " Illustrious Preceptor, what qualifications have I which entitle

me to put questions to you? Instruct me as you think best; tell me

what I most need during these critical days; teach me what is most

beneficial, most worthy of attention, most important. You know this

more than I. Discourse to me, irrespective of my asking and desire. Of

course, doubts pester me off and on, since I am bound by the

temptations of delusion and ignorance; when such arise, I shall

communicate my doubts and misgivings and receive from you curative

explanations. I pray that you should not attribute other motives to

me. Do not weigh my attainments. Treat me with affection as if I were

a son; transform me into a quiet restful person.

 

Let me present before you however, one doubt that has been with me

since a long time. Are the experiences of the individual in this body

directed by his own nature or are they directed by the sum of the

consequences of deeds in the past? Then, there is another: You said

that from the Navel of the Primal Person (the Purana Purusha), a

lotus arose and bloomed,and that all creation originated from that

Lotus. Now, did God appear with limbs and organs like the individual

Jivi? Is there any distinction between the Jivi and Brahma (the

individual and the Personified Absolute)?

 

Let me ask also another question: On what basis are the past, the

present and the future differentiated? And, the fourth: Which deeds of

the Jivis lead to which results and consequences, which statuses, in

the future? The fifth: What are the characteristics of the great (the

Mahapurushas)? What are their activities? By what signs can we know

them? The sixth: What are the stories of the amazing and charming

incarnations of God? The seventh: How are we to distinguish between

the Kritha, Thretha, and Dwapara yugas or ages? How can we name a

yuga as such? The ninth: What are the disciplines that one must

practice in order to merge in the inner Soul, which is the Over-soul,

the Universal Soul? And, finally, the tenth: What are the Vedas and

the Upavedas? Which Upavedas are attached to which Vedas?

 

Please tell me the answer to these as well as other subjects deserving

attention. Master, I surrender to you. There is no one else who can

enlighten me on these and other points. Therefore, save me from the

perdition of ignorance. " The King fell at the Master's Feet and prayed

for grace.

 

With an affectionate smile, the Sage said, " Rise up, 0, King! If you

pile up these many questions all in a heap, how can you understand the

answers? Moreover, you have not slaked your thirst or eaten any food,

since long. Come eat some fruits and drink a little milk, at least.

They are the privileges, the rights of the physical body. With a

famished body, you may pass away in the middle, with your doubts

unresolved. So,take some food, " he ordered.

 

The King replied, " Master! Those whose last days have come, should not

prefer the food that nourishes falsehood, to the food that grants

immortality, isn't it? How can I pass away in the middle, though the

body may be famished, when I am imbibing the nectar of immortality and

when you are filling me with the exhilaration of tasting sweet panacea

for the illness of Death? No! It will not happen. Even if the angry

Sringi had not cursed me, even if the snake Thakshaka had not been

deputed to kill me after seven days, I would not pass away in the

middle while listening to the stories of the Lord. I listen to them,

without thought of food and drink. My food, my drink, are the

nectarine stories of Krishna. So, do not think of my food and drink;

make me fit for the Highest Bliss, the Supreme Stage of Realisation.

Save me from downfall.I am prostrating at your feet. "

 

The King shed tears of contrition and sat praying to the Perceptor.

The sage said, " Listen, then. In the beginning, Brahma shed light on

the world manifested by Maya, or Delusion. Brahma willed that

creation might proliferate. But, a voice from the void above (the

Akasa) warned, 'Thapas is the essential base for everything'. Through

Thapas, Delusion will disappear! " At this Parikshith intervened. He

asked, " What is the meaning and value of Thapas? Please enlighten me. "

 

Suka took this interruption kindly. He said, " Son! Thapas means

Sadhana, Discipline, Spiritual exercise. It is through Thapas that

the great processes of Creation, Preservation and Destruction are

happening. Thapas is the cause for the Realisation of the Self. That

is to say, when the mind, the intellect and the senses are subjected

to Thapas or the crucible of disciplinary exercise, the Self will

stand revealed. I shall tell you about this technique of Thapas,

listen. The mind, the intellect and the senses are ever bent towards

exterior objects; they are perpetually turned outward. When some

sound from the external world strikes it, the ear hears it. As soon

as the ear hears it, the eye attempts to see it. When the eye sees

it, the mind desires it. Immediately, the intellect approves the idea

and sets about to acquire it, as quickly as possible.

 

Thus, every sense runs after external objects one after the other, one

supporting the other, restless and miserable. One must bring under

control the mind, the reasoning faculty and the senses which roam

aimlessly behind objective pleasures; one must train them to take on

the task of concentrating all attention on the glory and majesty of

God to follow one systematic course of one-pointed discipline. Bring

them all and lead them towards the higher Path. Their un-licensed

behaviour has to be curbed; they must be educated by means of Japa,

Dhyana or Good Works, or some other dedicatory and elevating activity

that purifies.

 

This process of purifying the inner equipments of man in the crucible

of single-pointed speech, feeling and activity, directed towards God

is called Thapas. The inner consciousness will be rid of all

blemishes, and defects. When the inner consciousness has been

rendered pure and unsullied, God will reside therein. Finally, he

will experience the vision of the Lord Himself, within him.

 

O King, what can one picture, grander than this? The great sages, the

Mahatmas, all engaged themselves in Thapas and as a result gained

continuous and rare spiritual splendour. Why, even the wicked demons

Ravana, won mastery over the material world and acquired their

tremendous powers of destruction through the arduous discipline of

Thapas, directed along aggressive channels. If only their efforts were

directed along Sathwic paths, instead of the Rajasic path they

preferred, they could have attained the Peace and Joy of

Self-realisation. On the basis of the underlying urge, Thapas is

classified into three groups: Thamasic, Rajasic and Sathwic. Of these,

for the visualising of God, the Sathwic is the most effective.

 

Vashista, Viswamithra and other sages acquired amazing powers through

their Sathwic Thapas, performed with pure unselfish motives. They rose

at last to the status of Brahma-rishis too. Thapas is classified into

another series of three: mental, physical and vocal. You may ask which

is the most important of these three. I must tell you that all three

are important. Yet, if the mental thapas is attended to, the other two

follow.

 

The person bound by objective desire will strive in various ways to

fulfill them. He is a slave to his senses and their pursuits. But, if

he withdraws the senses from the world and gets control over their

master, the Mind, and engages that Mind in Thapas, then, he can

establish Swarajya or Self-mastery or 'Independence' over himself. To

allow the senses attach themselves to objects - that is the bondage.

When the mind that flows through the senses towards the outer world

is turned inwards and is made to contemplate on the Atma, it attains

Liberation or Moksha.

 

O King! All things that are seen are transient unreal. God alone is

eternal, real. Attachment with objects ends in grief. God is one's own

Reality. That Reality, the God in you, has no relationship with the

changing transitory objective world; He is Pure Consciousness only.

Even if you posit some relationship for it, it can only be the type of

relationship that exists between the dreamer and the objects seen and

experienced in dreams. "

 

At this, the King started questioning this wise: " Master! On this

matter a doubt is bothering me. In dreams, only those things that

have been cognised directly while awake appear and so there must be

reality as the basis of the false appearances, isnt't it? While

experiencing the dream, all the objects are taken as real; on waking

from sleep, it is realised that they are all unreal. But, this is the

experience of us, men. Can God too be deluded? Again, if objects are

one and of uniform type, then,it can be said that Maya deludes and

this is the effect. But, they are manifold and of multifarious forms.

They all appear real and true. How can these be compared to the dream-

experiences? "

 

Suka was induced to laugh at this question. " O King, Maya itself has

caused the multifarious forms. This is clever stage play, a kind of

fancy dress. The objective world or Nature assumes manifold forms

through the manipulations of Maya, the Deluding Urge. On account of

the primary impulse of Delusion or Ignorance, the Gunas arose and got

intermixed, and Time manifested with the change, and all this

multiplicity called the Universe appeared. So, the Jivi must dedicate

himself to the Master of this delusion, the director of this play the

manipulator of this time, the actor who sports the Gunas (types of

behaviour, groups of qualities, bundles of attributes), the mother of

all the worlds (Maya); he must fill himself with the understanding of

the immeasurable Power and Glory of the Imperishable Absolute (Akshara

Parabrahma); he must immerse himself in the Bliss derivable there

from. Then, he sheds all Ajnana and can be unattached, even when he

uses the creations of Maya! "

 

The King was struck with wonder at these words of the Sage. He said,

" Lord! How did this Creation first happen? What is the original

substance which Maya caused to proliferate? " Suka elaborated these

points. He said, " Creation is happening from beyond the beginning of

Time. First, the lotus arose from the Navel of the Primal Person,

called in the scriptures Narayana. From this Lotus, the Lord Himself

manifested as Brahma; Brahma felt an urge to look at all the four

quarters; so, he developed four faces.

 

Brahma became aware that he must activate Himself, so that creation

can happen; so He seated Himself in the Padmasana posture of Yoga and,

entertained the Idea of all this Creation. Parikshith, the mystery of

Creation cannot be unraveled so easily, or understood so quickly.

There can be no Cause-Consequence chain in the activities of the

Absolute. No one can examine or inquire successfully into the

creative faculty and achievements of the Supreme, which is omni-

potent and omni-scient. King, when I was just attempting to answer

the questions you had framed earlier, you came forward with another.

Perhaps, you felt that I might forget to give you the answers for

those in my eagerness to answer the latest. No, you will certainly be

enlightened on all the points, during the ensuing narration of the

Bhagavatha story. All your questions are within the bounds of the

Puranas. "

 

When these consoling and satisfying words were heard by him,

Parikshith queried, " Master! What are the Puranas? What are their

contents? How many are they? " Suka replied, " The texts that elaborate

the terse truths that are enshrined in the Vedas are called Puranas.

They are numberless in extent, But, at present, 18 of them are

outstandingly famous. These were collated and edited by my father,

Vyasa . They have ten common characteristics: the supplements to

these Puranas, called Upa-puranas have five characteristics only. You

may ask what those ten are. I shall relate them to you, even before

you ask! They are: Sarga, Visarga,Sthana, Poshana, Uthi, Manvanthara,

Isanucharitha, Nirodha, Mukthi, and Asraya. The Asraya is the most

important of these ten. "