Srimad Bhagavatam #13: The Lord in the heart
Srimad Bhagavatam #13: The Lord in the heart
The soul inside the body of Brahma is not different from the soul in the body of an ant. How come Brahma can be so powerful to the extent of creating an entire universe?
In this part:
The Lord of the Heart (chapter 2.2)
The path of renunciation
Worship of the Supersoul
The process of leaving one’s body
A yogi can choose where to go next
The extraordinarily long life of the inhabitants of the higher planetary systems
Life in the coverings of the universe
Devotional Service: The Change in Heart (chapter 2.3)
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The Lord of the Heart (chapter 2)
At the end of each day of Brahma, the universe is partially destroyed and has to be recreated at the beginning of the next day. From the scriptures, we learn that although Brahma is very powerful, he is a living being, just like us. The soul inside the body of Brahma is not different from the soul in the body of an ant. How come Brahma can be so powerful to the extent of creating an entire universe, while the ant can just lift a grain of sugar?
All empowerment comes from the Lord, therefore different souls may display various levels of empowerment according to their function, and their connection to the the Lord.
Brahma has a very important function, and at the same time is very strongly connected with the Lord, and therefore he can display power to the extent of creating a universe. Even ordinary yogis can display certain mystic perfections only after attaining fixed meditation in certain aspects of the Lord, just as a piece of wire becomes electrified when connected to the power grid.
At the beginning of each of his days, Brahma meditates on the universal form, just as described in the first chapter. In this way, he satisfies the Lord, regains his original consciousness, and becomes able to again create the universe as before. Sukadeva Goswami mentions this example to confirm the authenticity of this process of meditation.
In his purport, Prabhupada makes the point that every soul is meant to render a particular pattern of service to the Lord, but due to the influence of material energy, we forget this and accept different material bodies and identities under the influence of false ego. This forgetfulness of one’s original constitutional nature can be counteracted by the practice of Krsna Consciousness. Liberation means awakening from the sleep of conditional life and becoming situated in the eternal reality of the loving service of the Lord.
“Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Formerly, prior to the manifestation of the cosmos, Lord Brahmā, by meditating on the virāṭ-rūpa, regained his lost consciousness by appeasing the Lord. Thus he was able to rebuild the creation as it was before.” (SB 2.2.1)
Having concluded this description of meditation on the universal form, Sukadeva Goswami starts describing the process of meditation in the Lord in the heart. The first step in this process is to become disinterested in material happiness or life on the celestial planets. As long as one is interested in being happy in this material world, it’s very difficult to approach the transcendental Lord.
It’s a fact that the Vedas recommend different sacrifices, charity, and penances to elevate oneself to the celestial planets, and thus enjoy a long and opulent life there. However, this is offered to materialists to attract them to the path of the Vedas, so they can gradually receive spiritual instructions. As soon as one becomes interested in self-realization, elevation to the celestial planets becomes just a distraction.
The path of renunciation
As practical advice to Maharaja Pariksit, Sukadeva Goswami advises him to follow the path of renunciation, abandoning all hopes for material comfort or happiness:
“For this reason the enlightened person should endeavor only for the minimum necessities of life while in the world of names. He should be intelligently fixed and never endeavor for unwanted things, being competent to perceive practically that all such endeavors are merely hard labor for nothing.
When there are ample earthly flats to lie on, what is the necessity of cots and beds? When one can use his own arms, what is the necessity of a pillow? When one can use the palms of his hands, what is the necessity of varieties of utensils? When there is ample covering, or the skins of trees, what is the necessity of clothing?
Are there no torn clothes lying on the common road? Do the trees, which exist to maintain others, no longer give alms in charity? Do the rivers, being dried up, no longer supply water to the thirsty? Are the caves of the mountains now closed? Or above all, does the Almighty Lord not protect the fully surrendered souls? Why then do the learned sages go to flatter those who are intoxicated by hard-earned wealth? (SB 2.2.3-5)
The essence of these verses is that we should not endeavor to obtain more than necessary. A renunciant living in the forest, a householder trying to maintain a family and a preacher who uses different material facilities to perform his service may have different material requirements, but the principle is that one should be satisfied with what is necessary, and not endeavor to obtain more and more. By following this principle, we can simplify our lives, and in this way find time for our spiritual practice. In the last stage of life, especially, one should follow this principle in order to become free from material entanglement.
We tend to think time is less valuable than money, but Prabhupada makes the point that it is the opposite: time is more valuable because money can’t buy time back. Time is the only possession we have that can be converted into spiritual assets by the practice of Krsna Consciousness. Instead of working like a donkey, trying to transform our time into money under the illusion that more money will bring us happiness, we should use our time wisely to advance in Krsna Consciousness and attain real happiness.
Worship of the Supersoul
After advising against material attachment, Sukadeva moves into the positive, offering a process of meditation that is higher than the previous: worshiping in the Supersoul inside the heart. While pilgrimage to holy places is recommended, one can also achieve perfection just by meditating on the Lord situated in his own heart. The Lord is the ultimate goal of life and the only one who can award us liberation from conditioned life. Apart from the gross materialist, who else would reject the transcendental service to the Lord, seeing how people are suffering in this world as a result of their karma?
“Thus being fixed, one must render service unto the Supersoul situated in one’s own heart by His omnipotency. Because He is the Almighty Personality of Godhead, eternal and unlimited, He is the ultimate goal of life, and by worshiping Him one can end the cause of the conditioned state of existence.
Who else but the gross materialists will neglect such transcendental thought and take to the nonpermanent names only, seeing the mass of people fallen in the river of suffering as the consequence of accruing the result of their own work?
Others conceive of the Personality of Godhead residing within the body in the region of the heart and measuring only eight inches, with four hands carrying a lotus, a wheel of a chariot, a conchshell and a club respectively.” (SB 2.2.6-8)
The Lord in the Heart is sometimes described as being the size of a thumb, and sometimes more precisely as being the size of the measurement from the ring finger to the end of the thumb, approximately eight inches, situated in the region of the heart. The Lord is unlimited, but He assumes a transcendental form of this size for the facility of His devotees, who can thus accommodate the Lord in their hearts.
The Lord is also present in the bodies of all animals and other living entities, in a size proportional to the size of their bodies. However, in the case of other living entities, this is not very relevant information, because animals are not capable of practicing meditation. The purpose of this description of the size of Paramamtma is to allow the devotee to meditate in His form inside his heart.
In his purport, Srila Prabhupada explains:
“Because we are all part and parcel of the Lord, the Lord is always affectionate to us, and He always tries to get us back home, back to Godhead. But we, the conditioned souls, do not care for Him and run instead after the illusory bodily connections. We must therefore extricate ourselves from all illusory connections of the world and seek reunion with the Lord, trying to render service unto Him because He is the ultimate truth. Actually we are hankering after Him as the child seeks the mother. And to search out the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we need not go anywhere else, because the Lord is within our hearts. This does not suggest, however, that we should not go to the places of worship, namely the temples, churches and mosques. Such holy places of worship are also occupied by the Lord because the Lord is omnipresent. For the common man these holy places are centers of learning about the science of God.”
The next verses describe the form of the Lord inside the heart. Different forms of the Lord are described in the scriptures, and this allows one to worship the Lord in His personal form, be it mentally, or in the form of the deity. Although transcendental, the Lord accepts to be present in the deity, or in the mental image conceived by the devotee, in order to accept his service.
Both the Vedas and Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islan, etc.) condemn the process of idol worship (when one concocts an unauthorized form of God and worships it). The difference is that in the Vedas the true forms of the Lord are described, and an authorized process of personal worship is revealed, while followers of other philosophies have to be content in knowing simply that God is great, without any concrete information about His person.
Verses 9 to 13 describe the personal form of the Lord, as He appears inside the heart, and also the process of meditation on His form:
“His mouth expresses His happiness. His eyes spread like the petals of a lotus, and His garments, yellowish like the saffron of a kadamba flower, are bedecked with valuable jewels. His ornaments are all made of gold, set with jewels, and He wears a glowing headdress and earrings.
His lotus feet are placed over the whorls of the lotuslike hearts of great mystics. On His chest is the Kaustubha jewel, engraved with a beautiful calf, and there are other jewels on His shoulders. His complete torso is garlanded with fresh flowers.
He is well decorated with an ornamental wreath about His waist and rings studded with valuable jewels on His fingers. His leglets, His bangles, His oiled hair, curling with a bluish tint, and His beautiful smiling face are all very pleasing.
The Lord’s magnanimous pastimes and the glowing glancing of His smiling face are all indications of His extensive benedictions. One must therefore concentrate on this transcendental form of the Lord, as long as the mind can be fixed on Him by meditation.
The process of meditation should begin from the lotus feet of the Lord and progress to His smiling face. The meditation should be concentrated upon the lotus feet, then the calves, then the thighs, and in this way higher and higher. The more the mind becomes fixed upon the different parts of the limbs, one after another, the more the intelligence becomes purified.” (SB 2.2.9-13)
The process described in the last verse is also the proper process for receiving the darshan of the Lord when we visit the temple. When we see the form of the deity, we should first look at his lotus feet, and then gradually progress to His legs, belly, chest, neck, and finally, his lotus face, meditating on each part of His transcendental body in succession. This is also described as the process of studying the pastimes of the Lord in the Srimad Bhagavatam. The first two cantos are considered His lotus feet, and the confidential pastimes described in the 10th canto are His smiling face.
However, meditation on the form of the Lord is only possible for persons with some sense of devotional service. Gross materialists and impersonalists who are averse to this process are recommended to follow their prescribed duties and meditate in the universal form, as described in verse 14. The main point is that one should somehow or other reestablish one’s forgotten relation with the Lord.
The process of leaving one’s body
Next, in verses 15 to 21, there is a description of the process of leaving one’s body through the process of mystic yoga. Through this process, a yogi can choose where he wants to go after leaving his body. Naturally, this process is very difficult in the age we live, but in the Srimad Bhagavatam, we find descriptions of many great personalities who followed this process while leaving their bodies. As Srila Prabhupada explains:
“In olden days such practice was very common for the transcendentalist, for the mode of life and character in those days were favorable. But in modern days, when the influence of Kali Age is so disturbing, practically everyone is untrained in this art of bodily exercise. Concentration of the mind is more easily attained in these days by the chanting of the holy name of the Lord. The results are more effective than those derived from the inner exercise of the life air.”
The first consideration for leaving one’s body in the process of mystic yoga is the time and place. In the Bhagavad-Gita (8.23-26) the Lord describes the appropriate moments for one to leave his body, but in Bg 8.14 He clearly states that one who is advanced in devotional service does not need to be concerned with such details. Sukadeva Goswami concludes one that should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, focusing instead of advancing on the process of devotion. Leaving at an opportune moment is not as important as one’s being a successful yogī who can quit his body as he likes.
The next consideration is the process itself. One should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, control the senses using the mind. The next step is to merge his mind into the self by using one’s purified intelligence, and then merge the self into the Superself. By this process, one attains the stage of labdhopaśānti, where there is full bliss and cessations of all material hankerings.
In his purport, Prabhupada brings it closer to our reality by explaining that this state of labdhopaśānti can be attained by first purifying our intelligence by hearing from the scriptures, and then using this purified intelligence to remove our thoughts from materialistic activities and bring them to the service of the Lord. When our thoughts are fully absorbed in the service of the Lord, we re-attain our pure, unalloyed state as souls, and reach the same platform of bliss attained by pure yogis.
“O King, whenever the yogī desires to leave this planet of human beings, he should not be perplexed about the proper time or place, but should comfortably sit without being disturbed and, regulating the life air, should control the senses by the mind.
Thereafter, the yogī should merge his mind, by his unalloyed intelligence, into the living entity, and then merge the living entity into the Superself. And by doing this, the fully satisfied living entity becomes situated in the supreme stage of satisfaction, so that he ceases all other activities.
In that transcendental state of labdhopaśānti, there is no supremacy of devastating time, which controls even the celestial demigods who are empowered to rule over mundane creatures. (And what to speak of the demigods themselves?) Nor is there the mode of material goodness, nor passion, nor ignorance, nor even the false ego, nor the material Causal Ocean, nor the material nature.” (SB 2.2.15-17)
Reaching the stage of labdhopaśānti means one becomes again situated in his eternal position as a soul, ceasing to identify with the body. One may be still technically living in the body, but at this stage one becomes liberated. Material time and the three modes of material nature affect only the body, therefore when one sees himself as a soul, he becomes free from the influence of both time and the three modes. The body still becomes old and eventually dies, but at this stage, one becomes a dhira, who (as mentioned in Bg 2.13) is not affected by this change. “As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.”
The fact that one stops identifying with the body does not mean he ceases all activities. He may either stop all material activities or continue acting externally according to his duties, the main point is that there is no more identification or attachment. By giving up the false ego, the tendency to lord over the material world, one becomes situated in his original position of surrender to the Supreme Lord. In this stage, one develops a spiritual body and can join the Lord’s pastimes in one of the transcendental planets of the spiritual sky.
If however one is not able to accept a position of service to the Lord, like in the case of impersonalists, the highest one can go is the impersonal Brahmajoyti, a marginal position where one can be free of material contamination, but not directly engaged in the service of the Lord, however, because the impersonal Brahmajoti is not the eternal position of the soul, one has to eventually fall back into the material world.
The next three verses describe the process of leaving the body at the chosen time in the process of mystic yoga:
“By the strength of scientific knowledge, one should be well situated in absolute realization and thus be able to extinguish all material desires. One should then give up the material body by blocking the air hole [through which stool is evacuated] with the heel of one’s foot and by lifting the life air from one place to another in the six primary places.
The meditative devotee should slowly push up the life air from the navel to the heart, from there to the chest, and from there to the root of the palate. He should search out the proper places with intelligence.
Thereafter the bhakti-yogī should push the life air up between the eyebrows, and then, blocking the seven outlets of the life air, he should maintain his aim for going back home, back to Godhead. If he is completely free from all desires for material enjoyment, he should then reach the cerebral hole and give up his material connections, having gone to the Supreme.” (SB 2.2.19-21)
A yogi can choose where to go next
It’s described that the soul is situated in the region of the heart, floating on the five vital airs (Prana, Apana, Udana, Vyana, and Samana). Through the process of astanga-yoga, one can gradually learn to control these five airs, and when one becomes experienced in this technique, one can leave his body at the time he chooses. This is done by plugging the evacuating hole with the heel of the foot and then progressively moving the life air progressively through six places: the navel, abdomen, heart, chest, top of the palate, eyebrows, and finally the cerebral pit on the top of the skull. From there, the yogi can make the vital airs burst out of the body, carrying out the soul.
At this point, one becomes free to go whenever he desires. A perfect yogi, of course, goes back to Godhead, abandoning all material connections, but imperfect yogis who are not free from material desires are not able to leave the material mind and senses behind and are thus forced to take another birth.
“However, O King, if a yogī maintains a desire for improved material enjoyments, like transference to the topmost planet, Brahmaloka, or the achievement of the eightfold perfections, travel in outer space with the Vaihāyasas, or a situation in one of the millions of planets, then he has to take away with him the materially molded mind and senses.
The transcendentalists are concerned with the spiritual body. As such, by the strength of their devotional service, austerities, mystic power and transcendental knowledge, their movements are unrestricted, within and beyond the material worlds. The fruitive workers, or the gross materialists, can never move in such an unrestricted manner.” (SB 2.2.22)
There are 14 planetary systems in the universe. Each planetary system of formed by millions of different planets or stars, but they are categorized by the level of consciousness of the inhabitants. The first seven are the lower planetary systems, inhabited by the Asuras. We live in the 8th, called Bhu-Loka, the intermediate planetary system.
Upwards there is Bhuvarloka, inhabited by subtle beings, like Yakshas and Rakshasas under the control of Kuvera, and Swargaloka, the celestial system, where the demigods live. Still higher, are the planetary systems of Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapaloka, and Brahma-Loka, inhabited by highly elevated souls.
A yogi may take his next birth in any of these planetary systems, according to his level of qualification. This possibility of elevating oneself to higher planetary systems, where one can enjoy a very long duration of life and much better standards of living is also available for the yogis who meditate in the universal form.
In this way, perfect devotees are completely unrestricted. They can go to any planet they like, be it material or spiritual. Imperfect yogis don’t have access to the spiritual planets, but they can still transfer themselves to higher material planets, while materialists can’t go higher than Swargaloka, even if they are extraordinarily pious by material standards. More often than not, materialists just glide down to the lower planetary systems, where they become progressively more restricted. As the verse mentions, “The fruitive workers, or the gross materialists, can never move in such an unrestricted manner.”
People like to talk about the freedom of doing whatever they want, but this is not real freedom. When one is in conditioned life, “doing whatever one wants” means just following the dictations of the mind and senses, which is actually a form of slavery. Real freedom is attained when we cultivate spiritual knowledge and learn to control our senses. A pure devotee becomes completely free, just like perfect yogis.
“O King, when such a mystic passes over the Milky Way by the illuminating Suṣumṇā to reach the highest planet, Brahmaloka, he goes first to Vaiśvānara, the planet of the deity of fire, wherein he becomes completely cleansed of all contaminations, and thereafter he still goes higher, to the circle of Śiśumāra, to relate with Lord Hari, the Personality of Godhead.” (SB 2.2.24)
The circle of Susumara is the path of the Milky Way we can see in a clear night sky. The yogi follows this path to reach the higher planetary systems. After Susumara there is Maharloka, and then Janaloka and Tapaloka, culminating with Brahmaloka.
The extraordinarily long life of the inhabitants of the higher planetary systems
The next two verses and purports mention a few details that can be difficult to understand. Let’s first examine the first one:
“This Śiśumāra is the pivot for the turning of the complete universe, and it is called the navel of Viṣṇu [Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu]. The yogī alone goes beyond this circle of Śiśumāra and attains the planet [Maharloka] where purified saints like Bhṛgu enjoy a duration of life of 4,300,000,000 solar years. This planet is worshipable even for saints who are transcendentally situated.” (SB 2.2.25)
While life on our planet lasts just 100 years or so, life in Swargaloka (the planetary system of the demigods) lasts for 10,000 years of the demigods (3.6 million years of our time, since 24 hours for them equals 360 earthly days). When a yogi reaches Maharloka (the next planetary system after Swargaloka), however, he can live for an entire day of Brahma or 4.3 billion years.
According to other passages of Srila Prabhupada, the day of Brahma lasts for 4.32 billion years, and not 4.3, but we can understand that Srila Prabhupada just opted to use a rounded number, as he does in several other verses.
In the next verse, however, things become a little more complicated:
“At the time of the final devastation of the complete universe [the end of the duration of Brahmā’s life], a flame of fire emanates from the mouth of Ananta [from the bottom of the universe]. The yogī sees all the planets of the universe burning to ashes, and thus he leaves for Satyaloka by airplanes used by the great purified souls. The duration of life in Satyaloka is calculated to be 15,480,000,000,000 years.” (SB 2.2.26)
When the day of Brahma finishes, the fire emitted by Lord Ananta destroys all the lower planets of the universe (up to Swargaloka). Maharloka is not directly destroyed, but it becomes too hot even for the great sages who live there. The ones who are sufficiently qualified have at this point the possibility of ascending to the next planetary systems (Janaloka, Tapoloka, or Brahmaloka), according to their level of qualification, where they can live longer. The lifespan in Satyaloka is extraordinarily long since it’s tied to the life of Lord Brahma.
An attentive reader will notice that the number given in the English translation (15.48 trillion years) does not match the formula given by Srila Prabhupada in other passages. He explains that a day of Brahma lasts for 4.32 billion years (which he rounds to 4.3 billion years in the previous passage), and the same is the duration of his night. In this way, we calculate 24 hours of Brahma as 8.64 (rounded as 8.6) billion years. Brahma lives for 100 years of such days (360 x 100), and therefore we can calculate the life of Brahma as being 8.64 billion years multiplied by the 36,000 days of his life, a total of 311.04 trillion years (or 309.6 trillion years if we start with the rounded 8.6 billion years per day that Prabhupada uses in the previous verse)
There is however another detail here. Although Brahma lives for 311.04 trillion years, his life is divided into two parardhas or two halves. This is mentioned in SB 3.11.34 and a few other references. In his commentary to SB 3.11.37, Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura mentions that at the end of the first half of the life of Brahma, the Universe is completely destroyed (including Brahmaloka) and all the great sages living there have to enter the body of Maha-Vishnu and wait to the reborn in the next Kalpa.
In this way, the lifespan in Brahmaloka is only half of the 311.040 trillion years of the total life of Brahma, or 155.52 trillion years (or 154.8 trillion years using the rounded numbers that Prabhupada is using in this passage).
We can see that the verse gives 15.48 trillion years, and the correct rounded number, according to the calculation given by Srila Prabhupada is 154.8 trillion years. It seems that the difference is just the case of a zero missing. All volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam starting from the second canto were recorded by Prabhupada on tape and later transcribed by his disciples. It’s possible that Srila Prabhupada recorded the correct number on the tape, but somehow one zero was lost in the process is typing, revising, and editing (which is not surprising, considering it is such a big number).
Next verse describes life in Satyaloka (or Brahmaloka), the highest planet in the universe:
“In that planet of Satyaloka, there is neither bereavement, nor old age nor death. There is no pain of any kind, and therefore there are no anxieties, save that sometimes, due to consciousness, there is a feeling of compassion for those unaware of the process of devotional service, who are subjected to unsurpassable miseries in the material world.” (SB 2.2.27)
We have thus the following life expectancies for the inhabitants of the different planetary systems:
Earth: 100 years
Swargaloka: 3.6 million years
Maharloka: 4.32 billion years
Brahmaloka (Satyaloka): 155.52 trillion years
Life in the coverings of the universe
Starting from Maharloka, the inhabitants have very refined bodies, that are composed of subtle versions of the material elements. As one goes upwards, he acquires a progressively more refined type of body. By the point one reaches Satyaloka, there is no more gross body, only the subtle body, composed of mind, intelligence, and ego. However, this subtle body assumes a form similar to a gross body, which allows one to experience the different objects of sense gratification available there. With this subtle body, the yogi can gradually penetrate the coverings of the universe
After Satyaloka there are the seven elemental coverings of the universe, respectively composed of elemental earth, water, fire, air, ether, mahat-tattva, and false-ego, with each covering being ten times greater than the previous one. It’s described in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta that the personification of the material energy lives in each of these coverings, worshipping a different form of the Lord. Yogis who are in the ascending process can gradually go through each one of these coverings, where they have access to objects of sense gratification more refined and anything available inside the universe, enjoying lives without any trace of pain. In this way, the yogi can satisfy any remaining material desires he may still have.
An analogy that could be used to explain such a refined level of sense gratification is that a pig and a person eating in an expensive restaurant both enjoy eating, but the enjoyment of the pig is very gross, while the enjoyment of the person is more refined. While in the coverings, the yogi has the understanding that there is nothing better to be enjoyed anywhere in the material universe, therefore when he finally becomes tired of the enjoyment there, he doesn’t have any desire to return.
“After reaching Satyaloka, the devotee is specifically able to be incorporated fearlessly by the subtle body in an identity similar to that of the gross body, and one after another he gradually attains stages of existence from earthly to watery, fiery, glowing and airy, until he reaches the ethereal stage.
The devotee thus surpasses the subtle objects of different senses like aroma by smelling, the palate by tasting, vision by seeing forms, touch by contacting, the vibrations of the ear by ethereal identification, and the sense organs by material activities.
The devotee, thus surpassing the gross and the subtle forms of coverings, enters the plane of egoism. And in that status he merges the material modes of nature [ignorance and passion] in this point of neutralization and thus reaches egoism in goodness. After this, all egoism is merged in the mahat-tattva, and he comes to the point of pure self-realization.” (SB 2.2.28-30)
The last stage one has to go through is to renounce his ego, his concept of an identity different from one’s eternal identity as a pure soul, an eternal servant of Krsna. The false ego, our first and deepest layer of material conditioning is generated from the mahat-tattva, and on the way back the yogi merges it back to it, returning to his eternal identity as a pure soul. Thus, finally completely purified, the yogi is finally able to enter the spiritual planets, from where he never has to return.
“Only the purified soul can attain the perfection of associating with the Personality of Godhead in complete bliss and satisfaction in his constitutional state. Whoever is able to renovate such devotional perfection is never again attracted by this material world, and he never returns.” (SB 2.2.31)
We can see that a yogi who goes through this gradual ascending path can also achieve perfection, but only after an extremely long period, after passing through the different planetary systems and all the seven coverings of the material universe, a process painfully slow. Here we are not speaking about centuries or millenniums, but about trillions of years, a scale of time we can’t comprehend.
A devotee on the other hand can directly go to the spiritual world by just serving Krsna and concentrating his mind on Him. This direct process of devotional service is the most auspicious and effective way of deliverance. As Sukadeva Goswami concludes in verse 33:
“For those who are wandering in the material universe, there is no more auspicious means of deliverance than what is aimed at in the direct devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa.”
There is nothing higher in the Vedas than pure devotional service to the Lord, this is the ultimate conclusion of the scriptures. After scrutinizingly studying the Vedas three times with great attention, Lord Brahma came to the conclusion that attraction to the Lord is the highest perfection of religion. Simply by practicing Krsna Consciousness, one can achieve the ultimate destination, just like yogis can achieve after trillions of years.
On this note, Sukadeva Goswami concludes the 2nd chapter:
“O King, it is therefore essential that every human being hear about, glorify and remember the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, always and everywhere.
Those who drink through aural reception, fully filled with the nectarean message of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the beloved of the devotees, purify the polluted aim of life known as material enjoyment and thus go back to Godhead, to the lotus feet of Him [the Personality of Godhead].”
Devotional Service: The Change in Heart (chapter 3)
In the second chapter, the ascending process of gradually elevating oneself through the different planetary systems and then through the coverings of the universe is described so the conclusion that devotional service is the topmost process could be emphasized. The third chapter follows a similar logic, explaining different processes of worship and then concluding that unalloyed worship of the Supreme Lord is the ultimate process that should be adopted by all intelligent persons.
Sukadeva Goswami describes, in verses 2 to 9, that one who desires good children should worship the Prajāpatis, the great progenitors of the universe, one who desires good fortune should worship Durgādevī, one who desires money should worship the Vasus, one who desires a long life should worship the Aśvinī-kumāras, one who desires a good wife should worship the Apsarās, and so on. Even worship to the demons is recommended to one desiring victory over an enemy. Interestingly, worship of the Personality of Godhead for one who desires tangible fame is mentioned in the same list, because in this case the Lord is worshipped without knowledge, for one who desires a material result.
Most people have material desires, and the Vedas explain how one can fulfill his desires by worshiping a superior authority, like a demigod. In this way, one can gradually learn to submit to higher authorities, a process that may eventually bring him to the point of becoming a devotee of the Lord. However, this is a very long process and there is no guarantee that one will become a devotee by practicing it. Most demons worship Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma, but we can see that they remain envious of Lord Vishnu. Ravana for example, became very powerful by worshiping Lord Shiva, just to use this power to challenge Lord Rama.
Therefore, in verse 10, Sukadeva concludes that although the Vedas recommend these different types of worship for the satisfaction of material desires, any person who is intelligent should worship only the Supreme Lord. This equally applies to all, no matter if one is without material desires (akāmaḥ), full of material desires (sarva-kāmaḥ), or desiring liberation (mokṣa-kāmaḥ). This is a very important verse:
akāmaḥ sarva-kāmo vā
mokṣa-kāma udāra-dhīḥ
tīvreṇa bhakti-yogena
yajeta puruṣaṁ param
“A person who has broader intelligence, whether he be full of all material desire, without any material desire, or desiring liberation, must by all means worship the supreme whole, the Personality of Godhead.” (2.3.10)
How is that the same process of worship can work for three classes of people with different goals? The point is that all kinds of benedictions come ultimately from the Lord, therefore regardless of what one desires, he does better by going directly to the Lord, instead of worshiping different demigods. In this way, the simple process of hearing about the Lord and chanting His holy names can be practiced for all, regardless of inner motive, which excludes the necessity of other lesser processes, like pious materialistic ceremonies (karma-kanda) or dry cultivation of knowledge (jnana).
Prabhupada explains this point in his purport:
“One cannot obtain any result from demigods without getting sanction from the Supreme Lord. Therefore a person with a broader outlook can see that the ultimate authority is the Lord, even for material benefits. Under the circumstances, one with a broader outlook, even with the desire for material enjoyment or for liberation, should take to the worship of the Lord directly. And everyone, whether an akāma or sakāma or mokṣa-kāma, should worship the Lord with great expedience. This implies that bhakti-yoga may be perfectly administered without any mixture of karma and jñāna. As the unmixed sun ray is very forceful and is therefore called tīvra, similarly unmixed bhakti-yoga of hearing, chanting, etc., may be performed by one and all regardless of inner motive.”
Apart from being the source of all types of benediction, the Lord is the only one who can award the ultimate solution for the real problems of life. By practicing the process of bhakti one becomes blissful and attains eternal life, something that no demigod can give.
Nowadays of course most people are more interested in solving problems by scientific knowledge and economic development, but the principle is the same. No amount of money or technical knowledge can bring a solution for birth, death, old age, and disease. Even their potential for bringing happiness is very limited. Therefore, devotional service is the solution for both the demigod worshiper and the gross materialist. Devotional service can in turn only be learned from devotees, therefore association with pure devotees is the most important factor in life.
“All the different kinds of worshipers of multidemigods can attain the highest perfectional benediction, which is spontaneous attraction unflinchingly fixed upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by the association of the pure devotee of the Lord. (SB 2.3.11)
Concluding this session, the next verse brings our attention back to the topic of transcendental knowledge. The life of a materialist is compared to a whirlpool of material desires and the influence of the three material modes. A materialist may think he is free and is doing what he wants, but in reality, he is caught in this whirlpool, following the dictations of the mind and senses and acting according to the pull of the three material modes. Transcendental knowledge is capable of suspending this whirlpool and gradually bringing us to a position of peace and happiness in the devotional service of the Lord.
“Transcendental knowledge in relation with the Supreme Lord Hari is knowledge resulting in the complete suspension of the waves and whirlpools of the material modes. Such knowledge is self-satisfying due to its being free from material attachment, and being transcendental it is approved by authorities. Who could fail to be attracted?” (SB 2.3.11-12)
Back to Naimisaranya
With this, Sukadeva Goswami completed his answer to the three questions asked by Maharaja Pariksit at the end of the first canto, namely:
1- What is the process of perfection for all persons, and especially for one who is about to die?
2- What should a man hear, chant, remember, and worship?
3- What should he not do?
Now the conversation goes back to Naimisaranya. Saunaka Rsi wants to know more, and thus he asks:
“The son of Vyāsadeva, Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, was a highly learned sage and was able to describe things in a poetic manner. What did Mahārāja Parīkṣit again inquire from him after hearing all that he had said?” (SB 2.3.13)
This question will be answered in the 4th chapter. In the remaining verses of the 3rd chapter, Saunaka Rsi shares his realizations after hearing the instructions given by Sukadeva Goswami in the previous chapters. After the confirmation that devotional service is the supreme goal of life and that topics related to the Lord should be discussed in the company of devotees, he is eager to hear more.
“O learned Sūta Gosvāmī! Please continue to explain such topics to us because we are all eager to hear. Besides that, topics which result in the discussion of the Lord Hari should certainly be discussed in the assembly of devotees.” (SB 2.3.14)
The point that discussions about Krsna should be discussed amongst devotees is emphasized in this chapter. Sukadeva Goswami Mentioned it, and now Saunaka Rsi is also making the same point. While discussions about Krsna with pure devotees can quickly elevate us, hearing from non-devotees will plant mundane concepts into our minds and hearts that can be damaging. To achieve success, one has to be mature enough to distinguish between the two.
Having said this, he proceeds to describe the qualifications of Pariksit Maharaja and Sukadeva Goswami:
“Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the grandson of the Pāṇḍavas, was from his very childhood a great devotee of the Lord. Even while playing with dolls, he used to worship Lord Kṛṣṇa by imitating the worship of the family Deity.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, was also full in transcendental knowledge and was a great devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva. So there must have been discussion of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is glorified by great philosophers and in the company of great devotees.” (SB 2.3.15-16)
Even the greatest speaker has to speak according to the understanding of the audience, therefore a great speaker paired with an ordinary hearer will not be able to touch very advanced topics. Similarly, if the hearer is qualified, but the speaker isn’t, no great topics will come either. In this case, however, the most qualified speaker is meeting with the most qualified hearer. Srila Prabhupada reinforces this point in his purport:
“Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a great devotee of the Lord from his very birth, and so was Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Both of them were on the same level, although it appeared that Mahārāja Parīkṣit was a great king accustomed to royal facilities whereas Śukadeva Gosvāmī was a typical renouncer of the world, so much so that he did not even put a cloth on his body. Superficially, Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī might seem to be opposites, but basically they were both unalloyed, pure devotees of the Lord. When such devotees are assembled together, there can be no topics save discussions of the glories of the Lord, or bhakti-yoga.”
Being both such great devotees, we can be confident that the discussion between them will reach the highest level. Saunaka Rsi thus expresses his eagerness to go further.
Human life is a great opportunity for realizing our eternal relationship with the Lord, but our time here is limited, and each rising and setting of the sun reduces it further. However, time spent hearing and speaking about Krsna results in eternal benefit, by bringing us closer to our original position. One who becomes a perfect devotee by this process becomes immortal.
As Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-Gita, “a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear”. Not only that but devotional service is never lost. Having started in this life, we have the guarantee of another human birth, where we will be able to continue from where we stopped.
As Prabhupada explains: “The Lord is the complete spirit whole, and His name, form, quality, pastimes, entourage and personality are all identical with Him. Once a person comes into contact with any one of the above-mentioned energies of the Lord through the proper channel of devotional service, the door to perfection is immediately opened.”
Living in vain
Having emphasized the qualities of both Pariksit and Sukadeva Goswami and emphasizing the necessity of spending our time practicing the process of śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ, Saunaka Rsi goes then on another direction, and in verses 18 to 23 criticizes the ones who are not interested in hearing Krsna-Katha. He laments that mundane people are not interested in spiritual topics, preferring instead to hear about all kinds of mundane topics that serve only to bring death closer.
“Do the trees not live? Do the bellows of the blacksmith not breathe? All around us, do the beasts not eat and discharge semen? Men who are like dogs, hogs, camels and asses praise those men who never listen to the transcendental pastimes of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer from evils.
One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead and has not sung or chanted loudly the worthy songs about the Lord is to be considered to possess earholes like the holes of snakes and a tongue like the tongue of a frog.
The upper portion of the body, though crowned with a silk turban, is only a heavy burden if not bowed down before the Personality of Godhead who can award mukti [freedom]. And the hands, though decorated with glittering bangles, are like those of a dead man if not engaged in the service of the Personality of Godhead Hari.
The eyes which do not look at the symbolic representations of the Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu [His forms, name, quality, etc.] are like those printed on the plumes of the peacock, and the legs which do not move to the holy places [where the Lord is remembered] are considered to be like tree trunks.
The person who has not at any time received the dust of the feet of the Lord’s pure devotee upon his head is certainly a dead body. And the person who has never experienced the aroma of the tulasī leaves from the lotus feet of the Lord is also a dead body, although breathing.” (SB 2.3.18-23)
Trees live longer than human beings, the bellow of the blacksmith breaths much more soundly, and many animals are much more active in sex than humans. However, what is the purpose of their existence? Similarly, persons who are averse to listening to the transcendental pastimes of the Lord are compared to animals like dogs, hogs, camels, and asses, simply living without any higher consciousness.
The ears of such persons are compared to the holes of snakes, filled with filthy things, while their tongues are compared with the tongs of frogs, who croak very loudly, inviting the snakes to eat them, just like a materialist speaks so many things that just bring death closer. Because they decry temple worship, refusing to bow down before the Lord, their heads become just like heavy burdens that help them to drown faster in the material ocean. Because they are not engaged in the service of the Lord, their hands are useless, just like the hands of a dead body, and their eye are useless like the eyes in a peacock feather. In general, such a person lives in vain, and thus he is just like a dead body, although breathing, or in other words, like a ghost who just brings inauspiciousness to others.
Steel-framed hearts
Next, Saunaka Rsi describes the position of a neophyte devotee who, although trying, still does not have a taste for the practice of Krsna Consciousness:
“Certainly that heart is steel-framed which, in spite of one’s chanting the holy name of the Lord with concentration, does not change when ecstasy takes place, tears fill the eyes and the hairs stand on end”.
The whole process of devotional service aims at bringing a change of heart, bringing one back to his eternal position as a servant of Krsna. As one advances in devotional service, the false sense of lording over material energy is reduced, and the natural attitude of loving service to the Lord is awakened.
As Srila Prabhupada comments: “Therefore real, steady bhāva is definitely displayed in the matter of cessation of material desires (kṣānti), utilization of every moment in the transcendental loving service of the Lord (avyārtha-kālatvam), eagerness for glorifying the Lord constantly (nāma-gāne sadā ruci), attraction for living in the land of the Lord (prītis tad-vasati sthale), complete detachment from material happiness (virakti), and pridelessness (māna-śūnyatā). One who has developed all these transcendental qualities is really possessed of the bhāva stage, as distinguished from the stonehearted imitator or mundane devotee.”
Srila Jiva Goswami concludes that if this change of heart does not happen even after a long time of practice, it must be because one is still committing some of the ten offenses while performing his devotional service, and thus his practice is not bringing fruit. The ten offenses are directly connected to a lack of philosophical understanding about the Lord and His devotees, which regularly hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam helps us to mitigate. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura emphasizes also that envy, especially when directed towards other devotees also blocks our progress, and the medicine for it is assotiation with more advanced devotees.
After sharing his realization, Saunaka Rsi urges Suta Goswami to speak more:
“O Sūta Gosvāmī, your words are pleasing to our minds. Please therefore explain this to us as it was spoken by the great devotee Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who is very expert in transcendental knowledge, and who spoke to Mahārāja Parīkṣit upon being asked.” (SB 2.3.25)