April 2017 archive

Now I will explain how the Universal Lord (Virāt puruśa) Nārāyaṇa divides that single energy of creation into three energies.

From the manifold forms of the energies of action (kriya śakti) that emanate from space within the body of Universal Lord, the sense energy (indriya shakti), mental energy (mānasika shakti), bodily energy (deha shakti) and from them the life-force (prana-devata) which is the form of all actions, emerged.

Just as the attendants abide by the orders of the king, the senses began to engage in actions in accordance with the orders of the life-force (prāṇa-devata). When the life-force halts its actions, these senses also stop their activities in totality.

Due to the movement of the life-force in the abdomen of the Universal Lord, hunger and thirst are born. When the Virāt Puruśa desired to eat and drink, he opened his mouth, with this jaws were created. In it a tongue emerged. After this the six tastes were born. The tongue relishes these six tastes.

When the Virāt Puruśa desired to speak, the organ of speech (vāgendriya) as well as Fire God, its presiding deity was born from His face. Speech which is under both their control was also born.

After this Virāt Puruśa continued to remain in the waters for a long period of time.

Due to the increased intensity of the movement of vital airs within Him, nostrils emerged. When He desired to smell, nose (the organ of smell) was created along with wind, its presiding deity which carries the smells.

In the initial period, His body was lusterless. He then desired to see himself due to which eyes, the power of vision (netrendriya) and Sun, its presiding deity, emerged. With this He was able to see Himself.

The Universal Lord now wanted to hear the description given about Him in the Vedas. With this two ears, the organ of hearing which grants the capacity to hear manifested along with Vag-devata, their presiding deity.

The Universal Lord now desired to check the characteristics of physical matter such as its lightness, heaviness, delicateness, heat and cold. With this, skin was created along with pores containing tree-like hair. Also, air which is both within and outside the skin, and the sensation of touch (sparshendriya) emerged.

When He developed the desire to engage in multifold actions, hands emerged along with their presiding deity Indra. Strength (energy) and actions also manifested.

The Universal form, now desired to walk. Instantly, two legs manifested together with Vishnu, who is the presiding deity for legs. The human beings move with these two feet and using hands gather with their energy material that is needed for performing sacrificial rituals (Yagna).

For the purposes of enjoying bodily sensual pleasures, for begetting children and for enjoying heavenly comforts, genitals and organs of reproduction emerged. These two take shelter in sensual desires.

When the Virāt Puruśa desired to eliminate the wastes from the food he had eaten, organ of excretion, anus and Mitra, their presiding deity, were created. The action of excretion was also born. The excretory matter and the organ of excretion take shelter in their presiding deity Mitra.

The Virāt Puruśa decided to move from one body to another endlessly by exiting a body through its apāna mārga (downward moving air). With this His navel which shelters apāna came into existence along with the downward-moving apāna wind. Mrtyu is the presiding deity for apāna. Death takes shelter in apāna and in its presiding deity.

Abdomen, intestines and nādis were created In the Universal Lord, who desired to eat and drink. Rivers and oceans are their presiding deities. Eating sumptuous food and good health are dependent upon their presiding deities.

To that Puruśa who desired to know in totality about the illusory power (māya), heart along with its sense organ (indriya) called mind and Moon, the presiding deity of mind, were created. With this, the Puruśa attained the complete knowledge about objects. Desire towards them also emerged.

Then in the body of the Virāt Puruśa the seven body-building elements viz., the outer skin, the inner skin which lies just below the outer skin, muscles, blood, fat, bones and bone-marrow were formed using earth, water and fire elements. Life-force (prana) was created through the medium of the space, air and water elements.

Sense organs grasp sound and other subtle perceptions that are born from egoism (ahamkara). Mind is the originating source for anger, desire, jealousy and other disturbances. Intellect (buddhi) causes the experiential knowledge of all objects.

O Emperor! I have explained to you the gross form of the Lord who is enveloped with the 8 elements including earth.

Ataḥ paraṁ sūkṣmatamam avyaktaṁ nirviśeṣaṇam

Anādi-madhya-nidhanaṁ nityaṁ vāṅ-manasaḥ param

The minutely subtle body, which is the cause for this gross body, is beyond the understanding of the senses. It is beyond comparison with any known object. It has no beginning, no middle and no end. It is beyond time. It is eternal. It is beyond the scope of speech or mind. This is the subtle form of the Lord.

I have described to you both the gross and subtle forms of that Lord. Both of which are His illusory creations. Therefore supremely knowledgeable Jnanis do not accept either of them as the true essence of that Supreme Lord.

The Supreme Lord is devoid of all actions. Even then, taking on the form of the creator, He appears as if He is involved in actions. Srihari, who is the form of that Supreme Lord, is creating sound and the objects that can be known through sound.

Om Narayanāya namah!

The Supreme Lord continued, “O Brahma! With absolute concentration fix your intellect upon this initiation that I have now imparted to you. By doing so, even though you are involved in the process of creation, under no circumstances will you be troubled by delusion and infatuation”.

In this manner the Supreme Lord who is birthless instructed Brahma, the Lord of all the beings who are subject to birth, and then suddenly disappeared.

Brahma offered obeisance to that Supreme Lord who had withdrawn his form and vanished in front of his eyes. He began creating the universes just as they had existed in the past creations.

Lord Brahma, who is the Lord of righteousness, once sat down and began to deeply contemplate about the welfare of all beings. With the intent of causing auspiciousness to all beings, he laid down regulations called Yama and Niyama.

The five Yamas specified by Him are: non-violence (ahimsa), truthfulness (satya), physical as well as mental non-stealing (asteya), walking on the path of God and maintaining celibacy (Brahmacharya), non-inclination towards material comforts (aparigraha). The five Niyamas are: inner as well as outer purity (soucha), being content with one’s possessions (santosha), undertaking austerities and penance (tapas), studying scriptures that lead towards liberation (swādhyaya) and complete Self-surrender (Iśwara pranidhāna).

To Lord Brahma, Nārada with his profound devotion is the dearest amongst all his sons. He is exceptionally modest. Maharishi Nārada once decided to know about the Lord’s illusory energy (māya)  and understand about it in minute detail. With this intent he served his father, Lord Brahma, with utmost devotion and humility and pleased him through his services. Upon realizing that his father was deeply pleased with him, Nārada in all humility put forth his doubts to his father just as Parikshit questioned Maharishi Śuka. At that moment, Brahma who was supremely pleased with his services, explained to him, Bhagawatam which contains the ten characteristics and which was taught to him by Lord Srihari.

Once when the supremely radiant Maharishi Vedavyasa was seated on the banks of River Saraswati meditating upon the Supreme Lord, Maharishi Nārada paid him a visit. He preached to Maharishi Vyasa the sacred Bhāgawata purana.

O Emperor Parikshit! You sought to know how this universe emerged from the Supreme Lord. I will answer not just this question but all your other questions in complete detail. Please listen.”

With this the ninth chapter of the Second Canto of Srimad Bhagawatam comes to an end.

Second Canto Chapter Ten

In this chapter, the characteristics of Puranas as well as the origin of the presiding deities of the senses (indriyas) from the Universal form are explained.

Maharishi Śuka explained, “In this Bhāgawata Purāṇa, the 10 topics of sarga, visarga, sthānam, poṣaṇam, ūta, manvantara, the stories pertaining to the Supreme Lord, nirodha, mukti and āśraya have been explained.

In order to understand the absolute, factual essence of the tenth topic i.e. āśraya, Maharishis explain the other nine topics in Bhāgawatam, either using syllables that factually explain those subjects or through inferences.

Due to the transformation within the three attributes of nature (trigunas), the following emerge from the Supreme Lord: the five basic elements, the subtle sense perceptions (tanmatras), senses (indriyas), Mahat tattva (fundamental principle of total material creation) and ahamkara (egoism). This emergence is known as Sarga.

This entire material world created by Hiranyagarbha, the Lord of all living beings, and which consists of animate and inanimate objects, is known as Visarga.

Srihari upholds this entire created world by laying down the rules of righteousness. Through this He ensures that this created world is not destroyed. He alleviates the sufferings of his devotees. These supreme deeds of the Lord are known as Sthānam.

The blessings that He showers upon His devotees are known as Poṣaṇam.

The disciplines and the rules of righteousness abided by the Lords of the Manvantara time periods, who are supremely noble beings, are known as Manvantara.

Due to the fruitive actions of the individual he experiences likes-dislikes, hatred and other subtle tendencies which turn into bondages. They are known as ūtaya.

Explaining the glories and wonderous pastimes of the Supreme Lord as well as the stories of his ardent devotees are known as īśa katha.

At the time of annihilation, īśwara will be immersed in Yogic sleep (Yoga-nidra). At that time all living beings merge into him, along with their bodies. This is known as Nirodha.

Due to Supreme Knowledge obtained, setting aside the earlier notions such as ‘I am the doer’, ‘I am the enjoyer’, that had earlier arisen due to spiritual ignorance (ajnana) and now stabilizing in the supreme existence-knowledge-bliss (Sacchidānanda) state is called Moksha.

That pure self-illuminating Supreme Lord, who is the cause of the creation, sustenance and annihilation and of their illumination, is the sole shelter and hence He is āśraya. To realize this Absolute Truth, the person should understand the other 9 subjects.

The conditioned soul who sees (dṛṣṭa) the world through the medium of eyes and other sense organs is ādhyatmika. Each of these sense organs has a presiding deity who controls them. For instance, the Sun is the presiding deity for the eyes. Such presiding Lords of the senses are called ‘ādhi-daivika’. Although a single Self exists this gross body causes this segregation known as ‘ādhyātmika’ and ‘ādhi-daivika’.  Hence this gross body made of five basic elements and which is the cause for this segregation is known as ‘ādhi-bhoutika’.

That inner witness which observes them all is the Self-sufficient and Self-illuminating Lord! It is purely due to His grace that everything, including the ādhyātmika, ādhi-daivika and ādhi-bhoutika, illumines!

As explained in the previous chapter, the cosmic egg (Brahmānda) broke open and the Universal form of the Lord (Virat Puruśa) emerged. He wanted a residence for himself. As He is an embodiment of purity, at first He created the ever-pure waters. In these waters of the ocean that He had created, this Universal Lord spent thousand years.

The Universal Lord is also known as Nara. As water was born from Him, it got the name Nāra. As He lives in those waters, this Universal Lord was called Nārāyaṇa. Hence Nārāyaṇa is the Lord who has made water His home.

In this universe that consists of animate and inanimate objects, time (kāla), illusion (māya), actions accrue to all living beings purely due to the grace of Lord Nārāyaṇa. It should be clearly understood here that in the absence of His grace, these would not accrue.

The non-dual and omnipotent Lord Nārāyaṇa, who woke up from His Yogic-sleep, desired to see himself in varied divine, human and other forms and which consists of varied principles. Through the medium of his illusory powers (māya shakti) he released the powerful energy of creation (srishti shakti). This energy split into three viz., ādhyātmika, ādhi-daivika and ādhi-bhoutika.

Narayana!

Lord Brahma continued, “I seek to know Your gross and subtle forms, O formless Lord. Just as a spider spins a web and pulls it again back into itself, with your powerful determination You have manifested in the form of the Universe. With the help of your illusory power (māya shakti) using the 25 principles You have created innumerable universes. You create, sustain and then absorb them back into Yourself.

Having manifested in the form of these universes, You are the one who plays within them. Please grant me the knowledge pertaining to Your universal form.

O Supreme Lord, please bless that in accordance with Your command I should be able to create without any obstacles. Also please bless that I, who am thus engaged in creation, do not develop any bondage with the created world.

O Parameshwara! You are my dearest well-wisher. You treat me respectfully as one treats a friend. I seek that with a mind devoid of impurities, I should be engaged in the creation of differing living beings! Even though I am engaged in creating innumerable living beings, may I be free from the shackles of birth. May I eternally be free from the arrogance that I am an independent entity”.

This topic that we are about to speak is one of the most important topics in Bhagawatam. It is known as Chatusśloki Bhāgawatam. In 4 verses, Lord Srihari initiated Brahma into the entire essence of Bhāgawatam.

Hearing Brahma’s prayer, Lord Srihari replied as follows, “O Brahma! With feelings of devotional experience, please attentively listen to the Supreme Knowledge and to the method of sadhana, that I am about to impart to you. What I am about to teach you is the most confidential knowledge.

Yāvān ahaṁ yathā-bhāvo yad-rūpa-guṇa-karmakaḥ

Tathaiva tattva-vijñānam astu te mad-anugrahāt

O Brahma, everything that I am i.e. my form, my existence, my nature, my qualities, my actions-  due to my blessings may you too attain that true inherent state! May you obtain the exact real knowledge of objects!

Aham evāsam evāgre nānyad yat sad-asat param

Paścād ahaṁ yad etac ca yo’vaśiṣyeta so’smy aham

Before creation I alone existed. There was nothing apart from me. Neither these gross forms, subtle forms, nor their causative factors existed at that time. Even after creation, this entire visible world is nothing but Me! After annihilation whatever will be left behind is also Me”.

In other words, after the destruction of the total samsāra (worldly bondages) that which remains is also the Supreme Lord. This web called worldly bondages or repeated cycle of births and deaths is nothing but His illusion. After its destruction, only the Supreme Lord remains!

Re ‘terthaṁ yat pratīyeta na pratīyeta cātmani

Tad vidyād ātmano māyāṁ yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ

Illusory objects, such as existence of two moons in the sky, do not have any real existence. Yet they appear to exist. Yet at the same time there are objects, like rāhu, which although existing are not visible. Realize all this is nothing but my illusory energy (māya).

Yathā mahānti bhūtāni bhūteṣūccāvaceṣv anu

Praviṣṭāny apraviṣṭāni tathā teṣu na teṣv aham

Earth and the other basic elements appear as if they have entered into the objects created by them, although in reality they have not entered into them and are differently situated. In the similar manner I exist within everything and yet at the same time I am outside of them too”.

For the purposes of our understanding it is said that the Supreme Lord has entered into this created world. But in reality the Supreme Lord is the only true existence! Therefore to say He has entered the creation is technically wrong. This same message the Lord is explaining in the above verse.

If to a litre of Yoghurt another litre is added, then the end product is two litres of Yoghurt. Going by this logic, if the Lord were to enter the created world, what should happen? Hence it should not be interpreted that the Lord enters into the created world. To explain in this manner is going against the dictates of the scriptures.

There is a pot. Space exists within the pot (ghatākāśa). When the pot is broken, what happens to the space within it? The space continues to exist. The outer covering called pot was broken, that’s all, but the space within the pot cannot merge into total space (mahākāśa). Likewise, it is the same with God. For understanding purposes, the space within the pot (ghatākāśa) was addressed as mahākāśa. Please understand this difference clearly.

“Etāvad eva jijñāsyaṁ tattva-jijñāsunātmanaḥ

Anvaya-vyatirekābhyāṁ yat syāt sarvatra sarvadā

That which is the cause of all objects, at all times, in all situations and in all places, and yet remains distinctly separate from those objects, is the Self (atma).

It is enough for those who seek to understand the Self, to understand this above point”.

With this the chatusśloki Bhagawatam comes to an end.

Srihari Krishna!