Lecture by Sri Chanchalapathi Dasa
Srimad Bhagavatam Canto – 1.15.49
viduro 'pi parityajya
prabhase deham atmanah
krsnavesena tac-cittah
pitrbhih sva-ksayam yayau TRANSLATION Vidura, while on pilgrimage, left his body at Prabhasa. Because he was absorbed in thought of Lord Krishna, he was received by the denizens of Pitrloka planet, where he returned to his original post. PURPORT The difference between the Pandavas and Vidura is that the Pandavas are eternal associates of the Lord, the Personality of Godhead, whereas Vidura is one of the administrative demigods in charge of the Pitrloka planet and is known as Yamaraja. Men are afraid of Yamaraja because it is he only who awards punishment to the miscreants of the material world, but those who are devotees of the Lord have nothing to fear from him. To the devotees he is a cordial friend, but to the nondevotees he is fear personified. As we have already discussed, it is understood that Yamaraja was cursed by Manduka Muni to be degraded as a shudra, and therefore Vidura was an incarnation of Yamaraja. As an eternal servitor of the Lord, he displayed his devotional activities very ardently and lived a life of a pious man, so much so that a materialistic man like Dhritarashtra also got salvation by his instruction. So by his pious activities in the devotional service of the Lord he was able to always remember the lotus feet of the Lord, and thus he became washed of all contamination of a shudra-born life. At the end he was again received by the denizens of Pitrloka and posted in his original position. The demigods are also associates of the Lord without personal touch, whereas the direct associates of the Lord are in constant personal touch with Him. The Lord and His personal associates incarnate in many universes without cessation. The Lord remembers them all, whereas the associates forget due to their being very minute parts and parcels of the Lord; they are apt to forget such incidents due to being infinitesimal. This is corroborated in the Bhagavad-gita (4.5).
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This verse describes Vidura’s state of consciousness when he left this world while on a pilgrimage. Krsna avesena, avesa means overwhelmed, absorbed. As spiritualists, it is very important for us to know the state of consciousness of great personalities as described in the Vedic literatures, because spiritual life is all about culturing our consciousness.
In the Bhagavatam and other Vedic literatures there are descriptions of people who are considered to be very exalted in spiritual life and what was the state of their consciousness. We can also mould our consciousness in that direction, as we are not interested in molding our body like materialists are interested in.
So here is said - viduro 'pi parityajya prabhase deham atmanah – he gave up his body –deham parityajya – and at that time - tac-cittah krsnavesena – his consciousness was absorbed in Krishna. Krsnavesena – generally when we have materialistic consciousness, we also have some avesena. But it is mostlykamavesena, some lusty desires.
In the Bhagavad gita, in the seventh chapter, very first verse, Krishna begins to say, how one should practice yoga, because in the sixth chapter it was all about dhyana yoga – you must go to a solitary place and you must become a yogi this way. Very nicely Prabhupada describes - if you open your eyes fully when doing meditation, material world will distract us, if we close our eyes fully we will go to sleep. So ayogi is said to keep his eyes partially open. Krishna develops these ideas in the Bhagavad gita and towards the end of the sixth chapter, he says -
tapasvibhyo 'dhiko yogi
jnanibhyo 'pi mato 'dhikah
karmibhyas cadhiko yogi
tasmad yogi bhavarjuna
So a yogi’s position has been highlighted and Krishna has said - tapasvibhyo 'dhiko yogi – a yogi is better than a tapasvi. Tapasvi means one who is doing a lot of tapasya, but his mind is not like a yogi, focused on Krishna. jnanibhyo 'pi mato 'dhikah – greater than a jnani, karmibhyas cadhiko yogi – and definitely better than a karmi. Krishna after having said how a yogi is better than a tapasvi, jnani, karmi – His recommendation is – tasmad – therefore yogi bhavarjuna – in all circumstances be a yogi. And in the next verse which is the concluding verse of the sixth chapter, He says -
yoginam api sarvesam
mad gatenantar atmana
sraddhavan bhajate yo mam
sa me yuktatamo matah
Of all the yogis - yuktatamo matah – Krishna is making further discrimination, among all the yogis, mad gatenantar atmana sraddhavan bhajate yo mam, mad gatah – always abiding in Me, antaratmanah – always thinking of Me, sraddhavan – in full faith, bhajate – renders transcendental loving service unto Me, such a person is yuktatamo matah. He is considered by Me to be the foremost yogi.
 Now seventh chapter, there is always a link from the last chapter to the last idea that Krishna had developed. He is further describing how yoga should be practiced – yogam yunjan. He has given two indications, one is - mayy asakta manah partha – mind attached to Me. mayy asakta manah partha yogam yunjan mad asrayah – and mind under the shelter of Krishna. When one practices yoga in this way, what is the result? asamsayam samagram mam yatha jnasyasi tac chrnu – you will understand the Absolute Truth fully.
So sometimes we come across people who practiceyoga, but have nothing to do with becoming attached to Krishna and sometimes people say, yes; Prabhupada has written very nice commentary but he has written very devotional - as if there are other non devotional legitimate commentaries possible. Bhagavad gita means this is the way yoga has to be practiced. It is not our point, this is Krishna’s explanation. Krishna is saying yogam yunjan mad asrayah mayy asakta manah – if you have to practice yoga, it is with attachment of Krishna and under the shelter of Krishna. That is why anasuyave – Krishna says, those who are envious of Me, they avoid.
There is yet another verse in the Bhagavatam which discloses the mind of one of the greatest devotees - Sukadeva Goswami, because he is an exalted spiritualist and he was made the speaker of the Bhagavatam and he is the son of a great father, Vyasadeva himself. An interesting verse of the first canto of the Bhagavatam says - harer gunaksipta matir bhagavan badarayanih, badarayana is Vyasa,badarayanihi is Vyasa’s son, bhagavan badarayanih meaning spiritually powerful son, Sukadeva Goswami. What was his consciousness? It is said - harer gunaksipta matir, matih means mind or consciousness, and how was his mind? One of the explanations Prabhupada gives – aksipta matih means his mind was charmed with - harer guna – the transcendental qualities of Hari.
Just compare our situation. Some material quality, beauty, attraction, these things charm us. We run towards that, just like the insects they are all charmed by the fire, and they go mad. In fact in another lecture on this harer gunaksipta matir verse, Prabhupada says – aksipta matih means – mad after Hari - such a beautiful state of consciousness we should aspire for instead we are mad after materialistic things.
harer gunaksipta matir
bhagavan badarayanih
adhyagan mahad akhyanam
nityam visnu jana priyah
Because Sukadeva Goswami was formerly an impersonalist, monist, so it is described how that change happened because when he heard about Hari and his qualities, he was so much influenced - aksipta matih- very deeply affected by harer gunaksipta matir and so he took up adhyagan mahad akhyanam.Bhagavatam is described as mahad akhyanam – a great literature and adhyagan means – he seriously started studying nityam – very ardently and he became very dear to visnu jana or to the devotees of Krishna.
These are opportunities for us to get a glimpse at the consciousness of very special personalities who came to this material world and practiced the highest states of spiritual consciousness. It is also described in the Brahma samhita, that this subject should be actually very motivating for us. There Lord Brahma says - ananda cinmaya rasa pratibhavitabhis – he is describing the residents of Goloka Vrindavana and how their consciousness is. Pratibhavitabhis means what are they absorbed in. In the material world people are absorbed in IPL cricket match, some business – so many different things. The consciousness of those in the spiritual world is - ananda cinmaya rasa pratibhavitabhis – so the rasa, it is referring tobhakti rasas, a description of the state of consciousness of the associates of the Lord in the spiritual world. Prabhupada says, when you see Krishna embracing a cow or a calf in the spiritual world, don’t think it is an ordinary cow or a calf, it is a very exalted spirit soul. Krishna is absorbed in embracing those who are great devotees in different rasas. Madhurya rasa is the highest siddhanta of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. When Srila Prabhupada or the acharyas described about madhurya rasa being the highest, it is not that the other rasas are any less. Krishna enjoys all of these different rasas.
 Like for instance, I came across a very interesting story in the Sundara Khanda of Ramayana when Hanuman met Ramachandra in the forest. Hanuman saw Rama was in a dejected state, Sita was kidnapped. Rama wanted help and the vanaras were supposed to help Him and Hanuman was one of the vanaras, and he was dispatched to Lanka because they knew that Ravana took Sita in that direction. So Hanuman leaped across to Lanka and he got information that Sita was in captivity in Ashoka vana and because he was a monkey, he jumped up on some tree and he was searching and finally at one point he had darshan of Sita devi. First time he was seeing Sita, he is in dasya rasa, he was filled with devotion and he recalled Rama with Sita – how wonderful it must be. Sita was in ordinary robes, not dressed like a queen because she was in vana vasa and she was kidnapped, but Hanuman was meditating – how was Rama and Sita in Ayodhya and then Valmiki writes in the Sundara Khanda that Hanuman meditated and performed again the marriage of Rama with Sita in his heart. So when we talk about dasya rasa, it is very deep, very sweet – all of these rasas -ananda cinmaya rasa pratibhavitabhis – so when the cow or the calf or the grass in Goloka Vrindavana – all of them are absorbed in such deep consciousness of Krishna.
Prabhupada says, when he coined the word Krishna consciousness in English, what was the import that he wanted to convey? Prabhupada says, Rupa Goswami uses the word - krsna bhakti rasa bhavita matih, bhavita means, charmed, deeply absorbed in – matih – state of mind. So it is a very exalted state of consciousness that Srila Prabhupada had in mind, Rupa Goswami had described, that is the state of consciousness which the residents of the spiritual world have, as described by Lord Brahma. Actually we are all ordinary people, but what we are aiming for is something extraordinary, that is what Krishna consciousness is all about.
So here Vidura’s description - krsnavesena tac-cittah – just like harer gunaksipta matir bhagavan badarayanih ananda cinmaya rasa pratibhavitabhis mayy asakta manah partha – the state of consciousness that Krishna is recommending point out to that of a very exalted spiritualist. Prabhupada talks about in the purport that how Vidura was ardently devoted to Krishna because Vidura’s originally personality is Yamaraj and Yamaraj is considered one of the mahajanas, authorities in devotional service. In other parts of the Bhagavatam purport Prabhupada mentions that some thieves were being chased by the king’s soldiers and Manduka Muni was in his hermitage and these thieves came and took shelter inside. Manduka Muni didn’t know who these people were, and he allowed them to stay and soon after, the king’s soldiers stormed the hermitage and captured all the thieves and the Muni also.
A severe punishment was given to the thieves and even Manduka Muni was going to be punished; with a trident, soldiers were about to pierce him. Just then the news reached the king and immediately he rushed to Manduka Muni, fell at his feet and said, I am really sorry for what my men have done to you. Manduka Muni was very angry. He asked why did this happen? When Yamaraj who keeps account of all the sinful activities of all the doings of the jivas, he said when Manduka Muni was a small child he took a blade of straw and was poking some insects and giving pain. So the laws of karma are like that, you give pain, you will get it back. So that is why you had to go through this experience. Manduka Muni was still not satisfied, he was very angry that Yamaraj did this to him, and he cursed him for hundred years to be born as a shudra. So that is how Yamaraj became Vidura.
Then here Prabhupada mentions another very important point – how powerful Vidura was, because he was a krsnavesa tac-cittah he could convert a materialistic person like Dhritarashtra to the path of salvation. Dhritarashtra always encouraged his son Duryodhana to perform so much mischief against the devotees. Prabhupada mentions a similar point in the previous purport also. Hari bhakti vilas says that whatever a person may be he can attain the perfection of a twice born brahmana by undergoing the spiritual disciplinary actions under the guidance of a bonafide spiritual master exactly as a chemist can turn gun metal into gold by chemical manipulation. It is therefore the actual guidance that matters in the process of becoming a brahmana. That is why it is said, we hear about so many god men in this world but all of them are far from the standard of Krishna consciousness that Srila Prabhupada has taught. The path of spirituality can be very confusing.
tarko 'pratisthah srutayo vibhinna
nasav rsir yasya matam na bhinnam
Tarka is 'pratisthah - you can’t use logic to establish what is the truth; srutayo vibhinna – there are many Vedic literatures, somebody asked me some days back – my mother reads daily Bhagavatam a lot. She says Devi is the supreme, what do I tell her about this Bhagavatam? So how do we make out all these things? There is this Bhagavatam, there is Devi Bhagavatam, there is Shiva Purana, that purana, this purana – how many Vedic literatures are there? We can become thoroughly confused and - nasav rsir yasya matam na bhinnam - and there are rishis and teachers and all of them have differing opinions. There is one spiritualist who will say my religion is about happiness, no God. So they talk about religion without God. How do we get the right guidance? Because Prabhupada has mentioned here, right guidance is very important. That is why it is said - dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam, dharmasya tattvam – the truth about spirituality, it is residing in guhayam, in the heart of a self realized soul.
So Dhritarashtra was fortunate. Vidura was such a great personality who had that - dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhaya – in his heart resided the principles of dharmasya tattvam – Prabhupada translates in one place – the secrets of Krishna consciousness reside in the heart of a pure devotee and we must follow in his footsteps and we will be able to make advancement. Srila Prabhupada who is such an exalted devotee and to impart this actual guidance nihitam guhaya – he has written books and he has created an institution to disseminate that right guidance to the human society. That is the mission of Srila Prabhupada.
So we see what has happened to Dhritarashtra by Vidura’s instruction, what has happened to Parikshit Maharaj through Sukadeva Goswami’s instruction, what happened to Arjuna because of Krishna’s instruction. Srila Prabhupada has institutionalized that in a contemporary society so that, the same knowledge with the same potency can continue to influence ordinary people like us and we can aspire to hope for that very elevated state of consciousness that these great personalities have displayed. |
