O souls who are desirous to know about the philosophy of divine bhakti! As is customary, let us chant the divine name for a while, after which the discourse will begin. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna! Who am I? Who is Mine? It has been explained that Brahm (God), jiva (the individual soul) and maya (the material energy) are the only three eternal entities. The entity ‘I’ is referred to as jiva or the soul, that which is ‘mine’ is referred to as Brahm, and the third entity, whose deception we are under and which we have accepted as ‘mine’, is maya. Jiva is a power and a part of Brahm, having a relationship of difference and non-difference with Brahm. Jiva and maya are both powers of God. Brahm, jiva and maya are beyond our material senses, mind and intellect, and therefore, despite countless births and ceaseless efforts, we have neither known the ‘I’, nor the ‘mine’, Brahm, nor maya.
The Vedas say, “Know Him, that is, know Brahm, then ‘I’ and maya will be automatically understood.” Knowledge of the Vedas is beyond the intellects of even Saraswati and Brihaspati, let alone humans, because the word of the Vedas is beginningless, endless, the eternal word of Brahm, the word of God. However, it is possible for us to know Brahm through those who have understood the Vedas. The Vedas declare that whoever God bestows His grace upon, and grants His senses, mind and intellect to, that fortunate soul can know God and see Him. He can interact with us, love us, and He is our everything – our mother, father, brother, beloved. Therefore, with whichever sentiment we want to connect with Him, He meets us, has met us, and will meet us. God does have conditions for His grace, and according to the Vedas, Shastras, Puranas and Smritis, there are three paths: karm, gyan and bhakti, by which we can know Him and attain Him.
Karm can only take us up to the celestial realm provided we strictly adhere to all the six conditions of karm, and therefore it proved useless for us. The path of gyan also did not bring success. Even among billions, no one is qualified for the path of gyan; even if one is qualified, it is difficult to follow, and even if one follows it, he will fall down again and again. Even if he reaches the end, he can only attain the knowledge of the soul, not the knowledge of Brahm. The grace of God is necessary to attain the knowledge of Brahm. Therefore, the path of gyan also proved to be useless for us. That leaves the third path – the path of bhakti.
To arrive at a conclusion about a path, five factors must be considered. First, the path should enable us to attain our goal, which is eternal freedom from suffering and the attainment of infinite, divine, indescribable, immeasurable supreme bliss – liberation from maya and the attainment of God. Secondly, without it, the goal should not be attainable; there should be no other path. Thirdly, the path should have no need of anything else and should not be dependent on anything else. Fourthly, the path should be for everyone and not only for a few who are eligible. Fifthly, the path should take us right to the end and not leave us somewhere along the way.
The path of karm dharm, which is referred to as varnashram dharm, took us up to the celestial realm and then ended. It neither liberated us from maya nor gave us divine bliss. Even the path of gyan only gave us knowledge of the soul and did not give us knowledge of Brahm. Therefore, neither karm nor gyan gave us liberation from maya or the bliss of Krishna, Ram, divine love and God. Now, the third is the path of bhakti (devotion).
The Vedas declare through various mantras that selfless devotion to God and Guru, loving devotion to Lord Shri Krishna, surrender to God, constant meditation and devotion with the senses, mind and intellect can liberate us from maya and enable us to attain divine bliss and God-realisation. The Vedic mantras repeatedly explain that the supreme being, that divine entity, is attainable only through devotion and that there is no other path that goes that far. All others – karm, gyan, yog – take us to the abode of Brahma and then return. Whoever chants God’s name, qualities and pastimes, meditating on His form, can attain Him. Shankaracharya, Sayanacharya, Shripadacharya and Shridharacharya also gave the same interpretation of the Vedic mantra. Without devotion, God-realisation is impossible even if one engages in rituals, knowledge, austerity or yog for millions of years. God is moved only by devotion. Then He showers His grace and grants His power. Maya goes away, and He makes our senses, mind and intellect divine. Then we see His divine form, hear His divine words, feel His divine touch and attain every divine property He has.
Reference to the Vedas may make people nervous, so the subject is also explained through the Puranas and Smriti Prasthan. Veda Vyas composed the Mahabharat, the Gita, the Brahma Sutra and the Puranas, yet he was restless and disturbed. Narad Ji told him that he had not sung or described the glories and pastimes of Shri Krishna. He advised Veda Vyas to first practise devotion to Lord Krishna, attain His divine vision and then write the Bhagavat. Veda Vyas practised devotion, attained the vision of God, perceived His fractions – the souls – and His power maya, and after that wrote the Bhagavat. The Bhagavat is described as the explanation of all the Vedas and Upanishads and the meaning of the Vedant, and the essence of all the Vedas and Shastras was compiled in the Bhagavat.
In the first chapter of the Bhagavat, Shaunak and other sages, who were paramhansas and beyond maya, asked Sut Ji, “Where does the absolute welfare of humans lie?” They wanted a path that would lead to everlasting happiness rather than temporary welfare. Temporary happiness is experienced even in deep sleep, when one is oblivious of the world and free from worldly misery. But the sages wanted everlasting happiness for human beings. They also explained that Kali Yug was approaching and people would be extremely dull-witted, have a short life span, be lazy and have little spiritual inclination. Therefore, they asked for a path that would be spiritually beneficial forever and would give the divine supreme bliss of the soul.
They also pointed out that the scriptures and Saints appear to give different and sometimes contradictory paths. One advises karm dharm, another says that those who follow karm dharm are great fools, while yogis advise pranayam and other paths are also suggested. An ordinary human being under maya may therefore be unable to decide which path is correct. Tulsidas also explained that many methods have been described in the scriptures and that studying them can create confusion because different things are said at different places. Uddhav also asked Lord Shri Krishna about the different and contradictory paths prescribed for human welfare.
The disease of maya cannot be cured by physical work alone. The disease is in the mind, which is firmly attached to the world, and therefore the mind has to be cleaned. One happiness is related to the mind and another is related to the soul. The mind is made of maya and receives happiness from material objects, food and relatives of the body. But for the soul, God is everything and God is our relative. We are part of Him, and a part of something only loves what it belongs to. The example of the river Ganges and other rivers flowing towards the sea explains that once they attain their whole, they are at peace and the flowing stops. In the same way, we too will be at peace once we attain the One we are a part of. Misery, restlessness, dissatisfaction and incompleteness come to an end, and this is the bliss of the soul.
The happiness of the mind is experienced every day and is material pleasure. Even the happiness that an atmagyani experiences in samadhi is described as the happiness of sattva guna. Samadhi is similar to deep sleep in that one does not think of anything, but when one comes out of samadhi, the world of maya is there again, with desire, anger, greed and attachment. Therefore, Shaunak and the other Saints asked Sut Ji to consider all these points and suggest a path that would give the bliss of the soul, would be spiritually beneficial forever, would eternally remove misery and would grant supreme bliss forever. Sut Ji replied, “Okay! It is a very good question.” I will explain tomorrow. All glories to Shri Radha Krishna!
