July 2017 archive

Bhagawatam 146: Kardama Prajāpati seeks permission from son Kapila Maharishi and leaves for forests.

Aniruddhāya namah

Seeing the infant, Lord Brahma said, “Srihari, the primordial being and the Lord who fulfills all desires of every living being, has using His own illusory powers, taken on a body and has incarnated as your son Kapila.

O daughter of Manu! This Lord who possesses golden hair, lotus eyes, lotus feet, who has the imprints of lotus on his feet and who is the destroyer of demon Kaitabhasura, has entered your womb and incarnated as Kapila.

He will shred the subtle impressions of past actions (vasanas) in those living beings who are desirous of understanding Srihari through Self-knowledge and who, through the Yoga known as dedication towards the Self, aim at reaching Him. Vāsanas are the root for all fruitive actions. They are responsible for binding the living entity. Shredding spiritual ignorance and tearing the knot of doubts i.e. the hridaya granthi in those who are desirous of Self-realization, he will travel across the globe.

This boy will be the Lord of all accomplished beings (siddha gaṇā). Sānkhya Shastra proves and validates Supreme Knowledge. He will be highly revered by exponents of Sānkhya Shastra. He will be famous as Kapila and will enhance your fame”.

Having said this, Lord Brahma left for his abode seated on his Swan vehicle. Maharishis Narada, Sanaka and other eminent saints followed him.

Thereafter Kardama Prajāpati offered his daughters in marriage to other Prajāpatis in accordance with the directions of Lord Brahma.

His daughter Kala was married to Maharishi Marichi, Anasuya to Maharishi Atri, Shraddha to Maharishi Angirasa, Havirbhava to Maharishi Pulastya, Gati to Maharishi Pulaha, Kriya to Maharishi Kratu, Khyāti to Maharishi Bhrigu, Arundhati to Maharishi Vashishta and Shanti to Maharishi Atharva. It is because of Shanti that all Yagnas attain prosperity.

Kardama Maharishi gave plenty of gifts to the newlyweds and pleased them. The saints, who were satisfied, took permission from Maharishi Kardama and together with their wives went to their respective hermitages.

After all of them had left, in a secluded place Kardama Maharishi approached his son Kapila, who was none other than the Supreme Lord, who makes himself visible only in the three Yugas and who is replete with the six auspicious traits.

He offered his obeisance to the Lord and said, “How astonishing! After such a long period of time, in this hellish samsāra where living beings suffer tremendously, the Devatas have obtained happiness. This is undoubtedly true.

Due to relentless practice of the discipline called Yoga across many births, Yoga becomes firmly established in the aspirant. As a result, the mind of the aspirant becomes completely pure. He will then sit in meditation in an isolated place, trying to obtain a vision of Lord Srihari.

Sa eva bhagavān adya helanaṁ na gaṇayya na

Gṛheu jāto grāmyāāṁ yaḥ svānā paka-poaa 

The Supreme Lord is always by the side of his sincere devotees. He eternally strengthens them. For this reason, leaving the company of accomplished yogis and without even hesitating that He would lose his respect, He has today taken birth in the home of ignorant people like us.

O Lord! You enhance the glory of your devotees. In order to propagate Sānkhya Shastra in this world and in order to fulfill the promise that You had earlier given to me, You have incarnated in my home. O Lord, inherently You are devoid of any form. Nevertheless, all those forms that are dear to your devotees are also dear to You!

You are that Divine Lord whose lotus feet are eternally worshipped by learned scholars who seek to know the Absolute Truth. You are the Lord endowed completely with the six traits of prosperity, fame, knowledge, dispassion, strength and beauty. I surrender totally to You!

Paraṁ pradhānaṁ puruṣaṁ mahāntaṁ kālaṁ kavi tri-vta loka-pālam

Ātmānubhūtyānugata-prapañcaṁ  svacchanda-śaktiṁ kapila prapadye

You are beyond Nature (Prakriti). You are the form of Nature which is the material cause (upadāna) for this entire creation. Mahat tattva i.e. cosmic intelligence; time that causes turbulence in this cosmic intelligence; egoism along with three attributes of goodness, passion and ignorance as well as Indra and all other Devatas are Your manifestations. You are omniscient. You are a witness for all the changes that take place in Nature. With Your own will You create the universe and then absorb it back into You. All the various energies reside within You. In You, O Bhagawan Kapila, I seek refuge.

You are the Lord of all living beings. O Lord, I seek your permission. As You are born as my son, I am freed from all types of indebtedness (ruṇam). With your blessings all my desires have been fulfilled. I am now going to take up sanyāsa ashrama. Focusing my mind wholly upon You, I will be peaceful and happy”.

Kapila Bhagawan was immensely pleased to hear these words. He said, “In all worldly as well as spiritual actions, My words are law. They are the authoritative dictates for all beings. Only to fulfill my promise to you, I was born as your son.

The subtle body binds the ignorant persons who have an impure mind. In order to free oneself from this bondage, it is imperative to have the discretionary wisdom of the Supreme Essence. Only through this, Self-realization can be attained. Only to impart the knowledge of this Supreme Essence (tattva) I have incarnated now.

Eṣa ātma-patho ’vyakto naṣṭa kālena bhūyasā

Taṁ pravartayitu deham imaṁ viddhi mayā bhtam

This path of liberation known as Self-knowledge is the most secretive one. It is subtle. Due to the passage of time, it has simply vanished. Understand that I have taken on this body purely to re-establish it back in this world.

I am permitting you to take up sanyāsa. Leave fearlessly. Although it is difficult to conquer death and obtain liberation, it can be attained by offering all actions to Me. Along with this, worship Me.

Mām ātmānaṁ svayaṁ-jyotiḥ sarva-bhūta-guhāśayam

Ātmany evātmanā vīkṣya viśoko ’bhayam ṛcchasi 

I am Self-effulgent. I am the one who resides within the cave called the intellect (buddhi) of every being. Using your intellect see Me as the Self (atma) that resides within you. Your grief will be dispelled in totality. You will be blessed with the ultimate liberation.

I will impart the knowledge of the Self to mother. She too will cut through all these bondages and will be freed from this fear called cycle of re-births”.

Kardama Prajāpati took the permission of his son Kapila. In immense happiness he circumambulated around Lord Kapila and left for the forests.

Aniruddhāya Namah.

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/bhagawatam-146-kardama-prajapati-seeks-permission-from-son-kapila-maharishi-and-leaves-for-forests/

Datta Maata 60: What is Guru dakshina?

Let us learn about the concept of Guru dakshina (offering made to Guru) with the respect to worldly and spiritual education. In the worldly life, the comfort levels between the Guru and student denote Guru dakshina. Hence, based on the mutual understanding, the Guru (teacher) is paid by the government and stipend is given to the student. How strange! Coming to the spiritual field, one has to undergo many obstacles during the process of sadhana (spiritual practice). The scriptures proclaim that the interest that the disciple exhibits towards overcoming difficulties encountered can be considered as Guru dakshina. In today’s world, just like in business, there is heavy competition even in the field of education. Currently, we see people being lured by advertisements like “we provide good education for high fees” or “we provide very good education for a nominal fee”, so on and so forth. In this way, such groups are increasing their strength and money. Simultaneously, they are increasing the competition for earning money. In order to avoid all such mess, elders have decided that government must play a role to decide the Guru daksina. When the government itself decides, they need not collect fees from the students.

Guru dakshina does not only take the form of money because when such a method of offering Guru dakshina is implemented without any rules, not everybody can be happy in the society. Hence, society must receive knowledge through education, service and humility. Disciple must never give up facing the obstacles and he must persistently go on with his spiritual practice. At the same time, Guru must have the belief upon the disciple that he would work hard to do the sadhana. When this happens, Guru will not care for any hard work that he has to put in for the sake of the disciple. The Guru only wants the disciple to do the spiritual practice and attain the pinnacle of spirituality. He considers this itself as the Guru dakshina. This is the quality of a spiritual Guru. Making Guru happy is the quality of a good disciple.

In today’s society, we must design the relationship between Guru and disciple in such a way that there is a balance between the worldly and the spiritual education. May this message reach the hearts of the intellectuals and let the relationship between Guru and disciple prosper in the society causing mutual benefits. When there is a mutual understanding in the field of education, then education reaches all. It is not just about merely opening schools and sending children to them. With a proper code of conduct and without expecting any fees from the students, the government must develop the sector of education. This is the real asset of the country. Any asset can be stolen except education. Any amount of money will go away but education cannot. May Lord Datta bless everyone with such intellect and enlightenment! The government must take care such that the worldly education also reaches all just like the spiritual education reaches to the disciples from the Sadguru.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-60-what-is-guru-dakshina/

Datta Maata 59: Selfless action (Nishkāma karma)

Doing any karma (activity) without even a single desire (Nishkāma karma) is not possible for the seeker at the very beginning. But, one must necessarily do it. Because, such karma performed in this birth will not go in vain. If we do such Nishkāma karma once, it will not create any obstacle in the future births. Say, some karma happens in the world.

The jeevi (being) always attaches doer ship to his/her self. Because of that, the jeevi experiences the fruits of that karma. He cannot escape the fruits of it. Attaching the fruits of karma to the jeevi is attaching the karma to the doer. When the fruits of karma are attached to a doer, it is said to be “sakama karma”. If it is not attached then it is known as “nishkāma karma”. This is what we must learn.

Lord Krishna told about Nishkāma karma thus:
If one tries for nishkāma karma, then such a person will not incur any loss even if the effort fails. Instead, the fruits of the spiritual practice will lead him to heaven. After experiencing the fruits of the merit accumulated, he will take re-birth on Earth. It is such a good topic from Bhagavad gita. We must practice it. We should read a chapter from it or at least a shloka every day. Such a person will get the energy without any efforts to continue the spiritual practice (sādhana) from where it stopped in the last birth. In this birth, he will be born in a family where he can continue the sādhana. We often see people with such fortune.

These were the words of Lord Krishna. There should not be any doubts regarding the words uttered by Krishna so clearly because he is Jagadguru. Nishkāma karma will not be finished in a birth. The efforts must continue. This is what we learn here. Many ask how it is possible to do karma without any desire. Because we do the karma with a desire, it is not fulfilled. Then, we will not have any interest on the karma. Hence, we must do any karma without any desire on it and without any expectation for the fruits thereafter. Many go to temple, Guru and follow yantras and mantras only if some good fortune comes to them. Holding onto yantra and mantra may be illusory but approaching a Guru is not so. If we feed the hungry, then we must do so as nishkāma karma. Instead, it is wrong to be egoistic for feeding the hungry. At the same, it is a big mistake to either insult the person or boast about oneself after offering the food. Nishkama karma is a very good penance for one’s life. It involves no expectation. You will emerge victorious for taking up any karma being duty-bounded.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-59-selfless-action-nishkama-karma/

Datta Maata 58: Disciplines of Yama and Niyama help the person enjoy real happiness.

The foolish people who want to become wealthy regard amassing wealth as the greatest virtue. Nay, they consider any path of earning as righteous (Dharma).

In colloquial language, it is said that the craving for money will not leave a person till death. Such kind of people will definitely reach hell post death. In this way, those who have the yearning for money regard the passion for name and fame as a virtue. We can identify such quality in others. But, we can never find it if such quality exists within our own self. How do we come out of this? The situation continues to be the same till the time of death. If it is so, then there is no solution for this problem. When there is no solution at all, then humans can’t be made responsible for it. Hence, we have to understand this in a different angle.

You might have heard of the qualities of Yama and Niyama. Out of these two, the quality of Yama refers to compassion, truth, cleanliness and non-violence. The Manu scripture proclaims:
Yamānaschevitassatatam nemansthu kadāchanā!

This means that as long as the human survives; he must adhere to the principle of Yama. When he goes away from this principle, he becomes thoughtless and deceives himself. Hence, there is one and only one solution.

Just like the darkness is dispelled by the brightness of the Sun, to get rid of such ill quality, we must follow the principles of Yama. We may follow any number of disciplines, but without the principle of Yama, everything goes in vain. The above verse tells us that keeping the Yama as the main quality, one can engage in great charities.

Yama and Niyama lead us to a good discipline in our life. Life becomes happy with that. By practicing them, man glows with radiance and peace. Many do not understand this concept. They merely want to be happy without that. By following Yama and Niyama to some extent, one gets good eligibility to experience the real happiness. Yama and Niyama are meant not just for happiness. It is meant to experience bliss along with the happiness. How does such happiness come? It does not come with money, name, fame etc. When a man is rich with all of those, he is in fact quite obsessed. He cannot sleep calmly. Hence, if you follow Yama and Niyama, you can be very peaceful even if you do not possess money, name or fame. This is the result of these two great virtues.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-58-disciplines-of-yama-and-niyama-help-the-person-enjoy-real-happiness/

Datta maata 57: Difference between Para-jnana and Apara-jnana

There are two types of needs – temporal and spiritual. The jnana (knowledge) or intellect with which one fulfills the temporal worldly needs is known as “Apara jnana”. The main goals of those who work to fulfill such needs are only to amass wealth and remain happy. They adopt several methods for that. Contrary to this, the intellect that is used to attain permanent happiness is known as “Parā jnana”. Those who put efforts to attain such jnana have no need for money. We know this.

But, in this Kali Yuga, it is the other way round. The scholars are earning money by selling the temporal and spiritual knowledge that they possess. It is very rare to find even a single person who has any interest in other’s benefit. This is the power of money and Kali Yuga.

There are two other important aspects that the seekers must observe here. We must understand that the reason behind contrariety is this Kali Yuga and that this world runs on money. Hence, it is an absolute mistake to cultivate feelings of hatred on the culprits. We only intensify our feelings of hatred towards such people. Instead, we never try to correct the mistakes in them. Even if mistakes happen, we must understand that it is because of the kāla (time). Many people commit mistakes unknowingly. It is merely the play of the God of Time. We must remind ourselves time and again that God makes such mistakes happen only to divert us towards the eternal principle of Time. Only the spiritual seekers can understand such concepts. There is also another important aspect that seekers must observe. The money and resources obtained through the worldly means carry least significance. Hence, one must never show interest towards those who wish to attract and teach about the sacred knowledge for money. Many people teach Yoga for money. They sell mantras, yantras, etc. We must be extremely careful.

Swamiji is telling us a secret to achieve Para jnana. That is “Parārthāsakti”. It is the interest that one has to help others. By sacrificing selfishness, one must utilize the entire energy to help others. We need not accumulate any external energy for this. It is enough to simply utilize the energy that God has given to us naturally. The question here is not about the number of energies you have utilized for the sake of others. It is about the interest that you show to help others. This is very important. I pray Lord Datta to bless you all with such wisdom.

Jai Guru Datta! Sri Guru Datta!

Permanent link to this article: https://puttugam.com/datta-maata-57-difference-between-para-jnana-and-apara-jnana/

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