After a short round of introductions, Sri Narayananji from Bostondelivered a beautiful lecture on Bhishmacharya, in view of Bheeshmashtami that fell on the 11^th February 2011.

The Eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam speaks about how a true devotee of the Lord celebrates His Leelas. These Leelas are not confined to the ones performed during His incarnation, but also the ones that He does till date – about how He showers His grace and takes care of their own lives, instant by instant.  The Bhagavatha attributes every event in his life as a divine leela of Lord Krishna, not being a small boy in Brindavan but being as a small boy right in his own heart and as a small boy in his home as Srimad Bhagavatham. He thus extols every small incident in his life as the divine grace of the Lord. It is this quality of a Bhagavatha that is indeed liked by the Lord.

In Ajamila Charitra in Bhagavatam, after the episode at Ajamila’s, the Yama Dhutas go to Yama Loka and ask their Master for a clarification for about the events that happened in the residence of Ajamila. King Yama first meditated on the Lord and then replied to his servile followers that there is a very secretive dharma called Bhagavatha Dharma and there are twelve people who are conversant with this dharma Lord Brahma, Narada, Shiva, Sanatkumaras, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bheesama,Bali, Sage Sukha and Yama Himself.

When he annotated the path of Bhagavatha Dharma, he says “Guhyam Vishudham Durbhodam”. One would believe that this path is one of the easiest and simplest paths to attain the Lord since it involves chanting the Divine Names of the Lord even without thinking the Lord. On the contrary, King Yama turned it down and said that this path is indeed the most difficult [Durbhodham] to comprehend and also very secretive [Guhyam].  Right in the dhyana sloka where we meditate on Sage Suka and Veda Vyasa- “Purana Guhyam” which means Bhagavatha Purana is a very secretive purana. When Bhagavata Dharma (shown by Bhagavatam) is so open and clear in stating its import, what is so secretive about it?

In Gita Govindam, Sri Jayadeva says – “Keshava Keli Rahasyam”. He sings about the various leelas of the Lord and yet terms them as ‘secretive’!

There are three Granthas that are considered to give us the greatest truths. They are called “Rahasyatraya”. They are Brahmasutra, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. What is so Guhya about the three granthas?

When Sage Narada initiates Dhruva into ‘Dwadasaakshari’, he openly gives the Mantra to Dhruva (and to us through Bhagavatam!) and yet terms it as ‘extremely secretive’.(‘paramo guhyam’)

What is the meaning of secret here?
Something may be right in front of our eyes, exposed, as it were, and yet remain secret, if we don’t understand the utility or meaning of it, is it not?  The moment we relish its import and utility, the ‘rahasya’ is revealed.  – and that is the ‘secret’!

Yama identifies only 12 people as knowing Bhagavata Dharma, and interestingly, Bhagavatam is the story of these Bhagavatas! One in the dozen shows Bhagavata Dharma in a very beautiful way – Bheeshmacharya.

It is on Bhishmashtami that Bhishma shed his mortal coil and attained the holy feet of the Lord. When the Sun is oriented towards the North, it is Uttarayana.  It is said that Beeshma waited for the Uttarayana (which starts on the Rathasaptami day, which is the seventh day of the bright fortnight of lunar calendar).

A staunch keeper of his oath, Bheeshma demonstrated how a devotee should lead a life, by keeping up the promise of Bhakti and devotion. He had immense confidence [Drida Vishwasa] on the Lord throughout his life and that’s the key takeaway from his life. He had an inherent love for Krishna; he was from the same clan asKrishna-  He was the son of Mother Ganga which is verily the water from the feet of Lord Krishna!

Beeshma’s bhakti was concealed all throughout his life. It was once in his lifetime that he depicted his love for the Lord and it happened when Dharmaputra was performing a sacrifice. During the sacrifice, Shisupala started to bad mouth Lord Krishna. Beeshma stopped him and chided Shishupala expounding onKrishna’s glories – but he did it in a Asathsabha and hence he stopped short since it was not a satsang. He then understood the heart of the Lord that he wanted take Shisupala unto himself.

He was eventually waiting to pour his love for Lord Krishna and that is why he patiently waited for Lord Krishna to come right in front of him before he shed his mortal coil. That’s the truth behind Beeshma waiting for Uttarayana was only for the world, while truly, he was waiting for Lord Krishna to come and see him. This is akin to how Vritrasura concealed his love for Bhagawan and he never revealed it. Eventually Vritrasura demonstrated his love in four verses and Beeshmacharya exhibited his love for the Lord in eleven verses, in the midst of a satsang of great devotees, along with Dharmaputra who was the epitome of all Dharma, with Lord Krishna who being the end of all Dharma and along with all Devas, Yakshas, Gandharvas and Kinnars and Beeshma lying on the bed of arrows.

Beeshma called out all the Pandavas and revealed that Lord Krishna was indeed the Lord, whom the Pandavas were thinking as a mere cow-boy friend.

“Yam manyasae mathuleymam priyam mithram suhrutamam
Akaroho sasivam dootam sourudhadada saratim
Sarvathmana sama dhrusho hrudhyathasyana hankruthae
Thath krutham mathi vaishamyam niravadhyasya na  kvachith” [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.9.20 and 1.9.21]

Beeshma summoned the Pandavas and showed the Lord to them who is controlling the entire universe, the end of all quests, who is none but their uncle’s son, their most dear friend, a well-wisher and a charioteer.

One who leads someone to the Lord is indeed a Guru in which ever form they may be. Beesha now became the Guru to the Pandavas since he showed them the Lord. Dharmaputra, the personification of Dharma, knew that Beeshma was ready to take their questions and requested him to expound on all Dharmas.

“Dhaana Dharmaan raaja Dharmaan Moksha dharmaan vibhaagashah”
“Stri Dharmaan Bhagavat Dharmaan Samaasavyaasayogatah” [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.9.27]

“Dharmaarthakaamamokshaamscha sahopayan yathaa munae|
“Nanakyaanaethihaaseshu varnayaamaasa tatvavit||” [Srimad Bhagavatha 1.9.28]

Bhishma beautifully expounded on the different Dharmas, the Dhaana Dharma, Raja Dharma, Moksha Dharma, Stri Dharma and Bhagavatha Dharma with reference to the Vedas and the Ramayana and also by taking excerpts from the eighteen Puranas.  He also expounded on the four Purusharthas in detail. Dharmaputra not satisfied with Bhishma’s questions finally asked a question as to what it the supreme dharma of all and that dharma that needs to be followed by everyone.

“Ko Dharma Sarva dharmanam bhavata paramo mathaha |
Kim Japan Muchyate Jantur janma samsara bandhanath ||”

Bhishma beautifully replied that the supreme path of God Realization is indeed the path of chanting the divine names of the Lord and bestowed with thousands names as Vishnu Shashranama and by chanting the Divine Names it would lead one to the holy feet of Lord Krishna. One can satiate all the desires by chanting the Divine Names of the Lord along with the holy feet of the Lord.

After expounding on all the dharmas, Bhishma was satisfied that he had given all his discourses and was getting ready to depart his mortal coil and was getting ready to present himself in full form. In his momentous hour of leaving his body, even though Lord Krishna was standing in front of Bheeshma with a peacock feather on his crown, a flute in his hand and his face wearing a beautiful smile and his hands on his hips, Bheeshma however saw the beautiful form of Vishnu,with four hands and clad in a golden pitambara.

“Krishne lasatbita-pute chathurbhuje purah sthite amilitadrig vyadharayat”
“visudhaya dharanaya hatasubhaha tadikshayaivasu gata-yudhau vyathaha”                                         [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.9.30 and 1.9.31]

If we see in the life-history of Dhruva, he was immersed in the penance with the form of the Lord that Sage Narada had inscribed in his heart.  He was enjoying the form of the Lord to the extent that when the Lord came in front of him, he did not even open his eyes. He was in the divine ecstasy enjoying the form of the Lord within himself and so the Lord had to shake him and wake him up. The moment he removed the form of the Lord from Dhruva’s heart, he immediately woke up and was able to have the darshan of the Lord right in front of him. But in Bheeshmacharya’s case, he did not attempt to meditate on the Lord at all, being a Yogi of the greatest order. When he lay on the bed of arrows, he did not even close or wink his eye and his eyes were fully focused on Lord Krishna and got ready to do a beautiful stuthi on Lord Krishna in eleven verses, which is the epitome of Sadhya Bhakti and hence it starts with the term – “Ithi”. He embarked on the song of praise on Lord Krishna by saying –

“itimatir upakalpita vitrishna bhagavati satvatapungave vibhumnih
svasukham upagate kvacith vihartum prakritim upeyushi yadbhavapravahah”   [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.9.32]

 The term ‘Ithi’ connotes ‘thus’. In general the term ‘Ataha” is used to start any great verse and great compositions start with an auspicious term. Bhagavad Gita begins with “Dharmaha”, Srimad Bhagavatham starts off with “Janmadyasya” which is verily the Brahma Sutra, Ramayana beings with “Thapah”, Kunti embarked on her stuti with the term “Namaste”, Gajendra Stuti “Namo Bhagavathae Thubyam”.

The reason Bheeshma starts the stuti with the term ‘thus’ is because he is winding down all his thoughts, actions and other occupational duties. Now that the Mahabharata war is over which is a battle between divine [satvika] and demonic [rajasa] people, and with divine people finally with triumph, it is now time to offer myself to you, says Bheeshma.

 I have followed all the dharmas in my life and today I have the fruit of all Dharmas standing in front of me – Dharmasya Prabhurachyutah”. Having been a Yogeshwara – practicing strict vows like celibacy and the Ashtanga Yoga all my life, I am now here to enjoy the fruit of all Sadhanas.’

 He then offered himself to the Lord by offering his mind to the Lord. The moment we understand that the Lord is beyond one’s intellect, it is easy to attain the Lord.  He reminisces all the divine leelas of the Lord in his life , where He captivated Bhishma at his first sight. He also recollected the leelas of the Lord during the Mahabharatha war.

“bheeshma pratignya palana thae mangalam sukshma swarropa sundarathae mangalam” – A beautiful Mangalam kirtan of our Guru Maharaj, where he says “you protected the vow of Bheeshma by breaking your own vow”

He remembers the Gopis who are the greatest Bhagavathas, the epitome of Bhakti. ‘Let me think of them since they were in constant thought of you and they finally got merged in you.’

 lalitagativilasa valguhasa pranaya nirikshana kalpitorumanah
kritamanu krita vatya unmadandhahprakritim agan kila yasya gopa-vadhvah

He recollects all the divine leelas of the Lord since by fondly reminiscing the leelas of the Lord, will one focus their mind on the Lord. He is able to think about the Lord since he had led a life thinking about Lord Krishna always.

Lord Krishna thus takes Bhishmacharya unto him. Yoga means ‘communion’. He was a Yogeshwara not because he performed the Ashtanga Yoga but because his communion with the Lord was so touching. His submission to the Lord was so beautiful and divine. That’s why Bhishma was called as “Bhishma Yogeshwara”. He was a greatest devotee of the Lord.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan after reminiscing about Bhishmacharya.

He advocated the beautiful precept to continue doing ones’ Karma and Yoga and offer the fruits of Kharma to the Lord and surrender oneself to the Lord. In Bhagavad Gita, the Lord says- “Mamekam sharanam vraja”- ‘surrender unto me’. The intellect to surrender oneself to the Lord does not dawn in one due to one’s intellect but only by the grace of a Sadguru.

After the round of introductions, Aravindji fromOrlandocontinued his lecture on the four Purusharthas.

Moksha -  commonly understood as ‘liberation’ – actually denotes ‘relief’.  Lord Indra was relieved when Vrithrasura was defeated and Bhagavatam calls it as ‘Mahendra Moksham’.   Moksha is the last Purushartha because the remaining three Purushartha give only temporary relief and pave the way for the ultimate relief.

Let us assume that a  person has a bad dream where a ten headed lion was chasing him and finally he woke up to see that it was a mere dream. Waking up and knowing that his experience was a dream  was his ‘Moksha’ or relief.  When we continue to follow the path of Bhagavtha Dharma, we will wake up one day to realize the permanent relief and understand that life is a just an illusion. The beauty of Srimad Bhagavatham is that it takes us step by step to the path of liberation. It holds our hands and makes us understand the precepts of Dharma. Merely following the path of Artha and Kama without Dharma causes lots of trouble and is only a futile effort.

Srimad Bhagavatam is a Moksha Grantha since it takes everyone to that elevated state by elucidating the life-histories of different Mahans who had attained that quintessential state and by merely listening [Shravan] to their life-histories one will attain that epitome state. Prahalada places the path of Shravanam as the first means to perform bhakti to the Lord and it is verily because, listening to something ushers new desires in one. Listening to all the life-histories of Mahans will sprout a new desire in all the listeners and eventually that desire will fructify as Moksha. Srimad Bhagavatham is very beautiful wherein it takes about the “Pravruthi Marga” where it expounds on the life-histories of Uttanapada, Dhruva, King Prithu, Prachina Barhi and Priyavratha where all of them attained lofty goals in the world. The young boy Dhruva finally was crowned as the king. King Prithu chased Mother Earth to bestow the needed vegetation for crop cultivation. Once the worldly aspirations are satiated, then Srimad Bhagavatham bestows with the ultimate relief through Nivruthi Magra as depicted in the life-histories of RishabaYogishwara, Jadabharatha etc.

Srimad Bhagavatham elucidates the precept of “Moksha” through an allegorical story called the parable of Puranjana. Puranjana was a king of wide renown. He and Avijnata were close friends. Out of delusion, Puranjana wanted to go around the world to find a suitable abode and after roaming for many days, he came to a city called Navadwaarapuri. He met a damsel who had five companions. Enamored by her beauty, Puranjana married her and they lived happily for many years. While he was ruling Navadwaarapuri, all of a sudden he was besieged and attacked by an army comprised of Chandravega, Durbaga, Prajwara and Baya. They started to onslaught thekingdomofPuranjanaand completely devoured the city.  Puranjana succumbed to the attack and during his last moments, his mind was filled with thoughts about his wife. He took another birth as a woman as he was thinking about a woman when he shed his mortal coil. She was born as the daughter of King Vidharbha and was named as Vaidharbhi. As years passed by, she was married to a Pandya king called Malayadwaja. He was a pious devotee of Lord Hari. After some years he renounced his kingdom and proceeded to forest to perform penance. He soon got emancipated from his body and reached the holy feet of the Lord through Samadhi. Vaidharbi was unable to bear the separation of her husband and was about to fall in her husband’s pyre and she was stopped by a Sadhu from doing so. He was none other than Avijnata who was disguised in the form of a Sadhu. He enlightened her of her past birth as Puranjana. The moment the words came out of the Sadhu, Vaidharbi recollected her birth as Puranjana and how he left Avijnata in search of an abode since he was addicted to worldly pleasures. She realized her folly of the thought of jumping into her husband’s pyre and was immensely grateful to the Sadhu since she escaped another birth by not jumping in the pyre. Thanking the Sadhu for enlightening her on her true self, Avijnata and Vaidharbi went to their source and lead a happy life.

This parable shows that Puranjana is a Jeevatma. The term ‘Pura’ connotes body and ‘Jana’ means to live and hence the word ‘Puranjana’ means to live in this body. Navadwaarapuri is one’s own body that has nine openings. Puranjini, the beautiful damsel is verily the mind which has five attributes.  The couple Puranjana and Puranjani was leading a very happy life in the worldly plane and suddenly Chadravega, the time comes along with Durbhaga, the old age, Baya, the fear and Prajwara the fever and beleaguered the monarchy and it is very evident that one will never be able to escape these forces. At this juncture in one’s lives the Lord showers his grace by directing this soul unto a Sadguru. By being in the divine association with the Sadhu, one will realize the real purpose of the life and that will usher one to the supreme state.

Arjuna, in Bhagavad Gita questioned the Lord about “Stita Pragnya” to Lord Krishna. A Stita Pragnyan is one who is verily a Jeeva Mukta and whose mind will never falter in times of distress.

When Uddava asked the Lord to expound on Moksha, the Lord replied that there is nothing called as Moksha.

“Baddo muktaihi iti vyakya guna tho mae nanu vasthuthaha”
Gunasya maayam mulathvam namae moksho na bandhanam”

The Lord beautifully describes Moksha in the above sloka. Only when one is bound can he be unbound. If one is not fettered on the first place then there is no need to unshackle him.

There once lived a king who wanted his learned minister to bestow him with Moksha. The scholar was worried as he knew that he was not the one to give liberation. He confided his worry to his astute son who came up with a plan. The next day, both the son and scholar went to the court. The son tied both his father and the king. He then asked his father to untie the king. That’s when the king realized that his misconception that he cannot be liberated by the scholar who himself is not unbound yet.

Our Guru Maharaj tells his devotees that only a person who is awake can wake up a person in sleep state and it is only a liberated soul who can liberate all the people reveling in this mundane world. That liberated soul comes down to the earth by incarnating and gives us a Divine Name to chant. That Divine Name also known as “Shabda” will take one to the highest states. A person in his dream state dreams about a jar of water crashing on the floor. This will not be enough to wake him up from his sleep state. On the other hand, a real jar breaking on the floor is sure to wake up the man. That sound should be from a different world to wake one up and that divine sound is the Nama – “Chidakasanthanil Milirdhidum Namamaam…”

In the life-history of King Parikshit it is evident that when he approached the banks of the river, his eyes caught sight of numerous Mahatmas being seated there and he was bestowed with a satsang amidst these Sadhus. Once he was engaged in a divine communion, he was led to a Sadguru, King Sukha and he reached the highest state of liberation through his Sadguru. The serpent “Thakshaka” was none other than ‘Samsara’ and by divine communion, he was alleviated from Samsara. It is also said that the incarnation of Bhagawan and Sadguru is verily our Atma.

The Lord can bless us with Dharma, Artha and even satiate our desires but it is verily a Sadguru who can bestow liberation [Moksha] and one needs to perceive the Sadguru verily as the Lord.
“Yasya Shakshath Bhagavathi Jnana Deepae Prathigunou” says Bhagavatam. If one does not perceive the Sadguru as verily as the Lord, it is akin to “Sarvam Kunjara Souchavath”. An elephant likes to play in sand. The mahout scrubs the elephant and gives him a good bath. After the bath, he dries him and lets him wander while the Mahoop takes a quick shower. The elephant wanders it quickly puts sand all over its body. The same thing happens in our case too. Akin to this, one need to realize that the SadGuru is verily the Atma and once this realization dawns in that individual, he is sure to be bestowed with liberation.

It is verily our Sadguru who is verily the Lord himself and incarnated in this Earth, and takes one on the beautiful path of Bhagavatha Dharma and finally when he bestows one with the supreme relief – Moksha.

The satsang concluded with Prayers and NamaSankirtan.

mArodi tasya janani gautami patidevatA
yatAham mritavatsara rodInashrumukhI muhuh [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.7]

Draupadi bereaved the death of her sons who were beheaded by Aswattama and she did not want to put Gautami, the wife of Dronacharya in the same position as her and did not the Lord to inflict the same misery in Gautami by killing Ashwattama. She thus depicted the mutual respect to Ashwattama even though he was her worst enemy.  When King Parikshit failed to show mutual love and respect to Sage Samika, he was cursed by the sage’s son Shringi. This goes to show that the Lord does not forgive anyone who does not show mutual love and respect. The Lord protected King Parikshit from the curse of Ashwattama but did not protect him from the Shringi’s curse since he had showed disrespect to a Bhagavatha and failed to show mutual love and respect for learned men. This concept of mutual love and respect is clearly elucidated in all cantos of Srimad Bhagavatham. In the last canto when Lord Sri Krishna was about to depart to Vaikunta, he thought that his duties were not completed since he did not destroy the Yadava clan. So he devised a plan to extricate those who were protected by his own grace. The Lord can excuse anything but not lack of love and respect for Bhagavathas. So he decided to bring a curse on the Bhagavathas for their lack of respect and mutual love. He thus created a reason for destroying the Yadu clan. “Sathya Sankalpa Eswaraha Shaapadh vyaajena vipraanam sanjagruhae swakoolam vipuhu”- The Lord thinks that a curse by a Bhagavatha incurred due to disrespect can lead to their destruction.  Love and mutual respect is essential for our day to day life and is inculcated very beautifully in Srimad Bhagavatham. Sage Vyasa says – “Shusrushubihi Thakshanaath”. By merely listening to Bhagavatham, this great quality will be instilled.

Followed by a brief round of introductions, Aravindji fromOrlandocontinued his lecture on the four Purushartas with relevance from Srimad Bhagavatham. The first Purusharta called Dharma was explained through the life-history of Daksha Yagna. The Bhagavata Dharma is devoid of any conceit, deceit and jealousy and certainly has no parallels. Sage Narada preaches the fact that one attains the holy feet of the Lord irrespective of whether following this path or allowing others to follow the path. Such is the greatness of Bhagavatha Dharma. In this, the attitude matters more than the act itself.  One may be a butcher as was Dharmavyada, or a cobbler or tailor but it is the attitude with which one performs the act. As long as one does not lay stake over the fruits of the act and does it as a service to the Lord, it does not affect him. Bhagavatha Dharma is thus performing the act with service minded attitude. The next Purushartha was “Artha” – explained through Dhruva Charithra. Seeking wealth through earnest righteous means for the Lord’s service will eventually bestow the Lord Himself.

The third Purushartha is “Kama”. Unfortunately the term ‘Kama’ has been tainted with a wrong meaning of lust. But truth be said,Kama[desire] is very beautiful. Let us see what Srimad Bhagavatham talks about desire [Kama]. – It talks at three levels – the worldly desires that one has to satiate, the lofty desire of how one can benefit the world and finally the desire for liberation. And then something beyond as well!

Let’s explore. So the crux is ‘need’. By taking care of food, clothing and shelter for the family is the foremost responsibility of a house-holder. Without these worldly desires getting fulfilled, how can aspire for lofty goals, such as serving the humanity or attaining the lotus feet of the Lord. That is verily the reason for Sage Sukha to elucidate on the different worldly desires and also advises on the Lord to whom one should offer their prayers in order to satisfy them. If one wants to accrue lot of wealth, then he should pray to the Vasus. If one aspires to be a great hero for valor of the entire world, then one has to worship Rudra and one has to offer prayers to Lordess Aditi for large stock of grains. Why should Srimad Bhagavatham talk about what about these different deities? Srimad Bhagavatham is an avatar akin to an Avatara Purusha. Avatar connotes ‘descend’. Srimad Bhagavatham comes down to one level to expound on the worldly desires and makes sure these desires are quenched before exploring the lofty desires. This is what Sage Suka delineated to King Parikshit at the beginning of his discourse. A mother strives hard to fulfill her child’s desire. Vedas expound on the myriad human desires and also preached the righteous means through which one can satisfy their desires. Srimad Bhagavatham is the quintessence of the Vedas and has these concepts elucidated in detail.

When a person has worldly desires then a quandary creeps in him as to what he is trying to achieve by satiating all his worldly desires? Our Guru Maharaj says that only when one is confused then real answers will spring forth. When one satiates all the worldly needs and still experiences the emptiness and that is verily when the Lord will show him the path to the Sadguru and through him will attain the elevated state.

Chitraketu was an able king and had many wives. He however did not have a progeny and earnestly desired to have a son to take care of his riches. One day Sage Angirasa paid a visit to King Chitraketu’s palace. After providing a warm welcome to the Sage, Chitraketu bending low in humility, lamented about his lack of progeny. The sage helped him perform a sacrifice, the Prasad of which the king consumed and his eldest wife delivered a beautiful baby boy. The other wives, jealous of the mother, flustered by the king’s ignoring them, conspired and killed the baby. When the king heard the tragic news he was totally devastated and bereft of life. Sage Angirasa paid a visit to the king and learnt about the demise of his son. He told the king that he earlier came to preach the path of liberation but since he had a worldly desire he bestowed him with a son. The Sage then enlightened the king by igniting the torch of true jubilation. It is said that King Chitraketu attained liberation in his avatar as Vrithrasura.

King Vena was a great king but he was evil and cruel. The earth was bereft of any goodness during his tenure and hence Mother Earth did not allow the crops to flourish and so she disguised as a cow and went hiding. In the meanwhile King Vena was slained. When his left leg was churned, a black form arose from the churning, which was verily his bad sins and while churning his right shoulder, the good-natured Prithu emerged. He later became the king and during his reign he realized that the crops were not flourishing and the earth was in famine.  He was concerned on the welfare of his people and he chased Mother Earth to find out the reason. She replied “Oh King Prithu! I thought that King Vena was still ruling”. Even after realizing that it was King Prithu’s regin, she did not refuse to yield the crops. King Prithu then promised to be Mother Earth’s guardian and then she gave milk which contained all the needed vegetation for the crops. From then on, the earth was prosperous with bountiful crop growths. King Prithu had the welfare of his desires as his foremost desire and that all citizens should leave a comfortable life. And finally King Prithu was bestowed with Lord’s darshan and had the Lord’s grace to listen to the divine exploits of the Lord.

akAmah sarvakAamovA moksha kAma udAradhih
tIivrena bhakti yogena yajeta purusham param” [Srimad Bhagavatham 2.3.10]

Akama connotes ‘bhakta’ who is devoid of any desires and prays to the Lord to bestow him with more and more devotion. His love for the Lord is unconditional and earnestly desires to be in the service of the Lord. A person in the mundane world [sarvakama] also prays to the Lord to satiate his worldly needs. A person who seeks liberation also prays to the Lord. One needs to pray Lord Krishna to bestow the devotee with bhakti. When the desire to attain moksha creeps in, then the Lord directs him to a Sadguru through whom he attains the Lord himself.

Sage Narada says that one can reach the Lord through these four means – “KAmAth DveshAth bhayAth SnehAth”. He puts desire as the first means and here he refers to “Gopyah Kamath” – The desire of the Gopis. Their desire is so pure and pristine and is considered to be higher than moksha itself. When we are in a divine communion with a Sadguru, we no longer seek liberation and our only purport in life is to make our Guru happy. Rendering service to Sadguru will take one to the highest states of “Sadhya Bhakti”. Lord Krishna in the midst of Rasa Leela vanished suddenly and the Gopis out of sheer separation sing the Gopika Geetham.The Lord separated from the Gopis because their state of separation [Viraha] is the highest and cannot be compared to anything. Their devotion was very sacred since they snapped off their ties with family and friends. The Gopis enchanted the Lord by their pure love to Him and never thought of receiving anything from the Lord. The Gopis were only thinking how Lord Sri Kirshna would bear their separation. The state of Gopis cannot be comprehended by normal mortals. It is verily the state of Prema Bhaktas, and this state can be bestowed effortlessly in the association of such a Mahatma who is a prema Bhakta.

Lord Prahalada talks about the Shravanam as the first means to perform bhakti to the Lord and it is verily because, listening to something ushers new desires in one. Srimad Bhagavatham expounds on all desires right from mundane to spiritual and as we keep continue listening and follow the path shown by our SadGuru, we will also attain the highest state. Vedavyasa had a divine vision of people suffering in the age of Kali and hence gave Srimad Bhagavatham to alleviate the people in the age of Kali. His only aim was to save the people and to show the path ofKrishnabhakti to all.

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

“TirodAya pravistoham srimad Bhavatharnavam |
Thaeneyam vangmayem murthihi prathyakshA varthathae hareh||”

Srimad Bhagavatham is truly the Lord in the form of sound. When one communicates to the Lord through Srimad Bhagavatham, the Lord also talks to his devotees through the medium of sound.  The normal mortals might not totally comprehend this, but the Mahans experience this and the Lord plays with them always. 

The expressions made by the Mahans in their compositions are a little manifestation of the Bhavas. The kirtans composed by Mahans is an effort to put their divine elevated state into words as an exposition out of their hearts. The normal mortals need to sing the songs composed by these Mahans and by verily singing will make them experience the divinity which the great Sages are incessantly experiencing.

Saint Thyagaraja, through his kirtans, expressed his true love for Lord Rama in various different bhavas and attitudes towards the Lord. The crux of all kirtans of Mahans is that they not only talk about their spiritual state to the Lord but they also talk about their day to day activities to the Lord, akin to how a little child speaks to his mother about his events at school.  The Lord is the sole friend for all the Mahans.

Followed by a brief round of introductions, Sri Aravindji continued his lecture on the four Purushartas with relevance from Srimad Bhagavatham. Dharma is verily the way of life and there are different dharmas for men, women, saints etc. Dharma is multi-fold. In order for one to be in the right path of dharma, one needs to be in a divine communion with a Guru. The Lord Sri Rama shows us the path of Bhagavatha Dharma in Ramayana. He shows the precept through his very own life. Samanya Dharma is the path that one needs to follow when being a house-holder. When Lord Rama defeated Ravana in the battle and saved Sita Mata from the clutches of the demon king, he was the first one to order for an “Agni Pravesha” so that he can prove to the entire world that the divine mother is a personification of purity. On the other hand, in Balakhand when Lord Rama was a child, he obliterated the sins of Ahalya Devi. By the mere dust from Hhis feet, he revived the petrified Ahalya. The Lord showered his grace on her in spite of her possessing all bad qualities. After reviving her life, Ahalya was still lamenting her bad deeds which she had committed in her past. Lord Rama realized this and told to Lakshmana that Ahalya resembles their mother Kousalaya and so both of them prostrated unto Ahalya and got the blessings from her. The Lord not only obliterated her sins but also promoted her to the highest state of Vatsalyam. In the case of the divine mother Sita, the Lord demonstrated the path of Samanya Dharma whereas in the case of Ahalya Devi, the Lord depicted the path of Bhagavatha Dharma.

Samanya Dharma is the path of Dharma where the Lord governs using laws whereas in the case of Bhagavatha Dharma, the Lord governs through his grace and divine love. When a couple enters into the path of a house-holder [grihastha], without the grace of a Guru and satsang, it is akin to entering a whirlpool where they will swoon and fall down. On the other hand a couple embarking in the path of a house-holder with the grace of a Guru and satsang is analogous to entering a merry-go-round where one will enjoy the round. This is clearly depicted in the life-history of Swayambhuva Manu and his wife Shatarupa. They entered the path of a house-holder and they lead a happy wedded life for seventy one chatur yugas. In all these years they lead a happy life because they kept the Lord in the epicenter of their heart and held on to the path of Bhagavatha Dharma. This dharma is so simple and pragmatic for Kali Yuga.

Life becomes very difficult as each Yuga progresses. Earlier people had longevity for thousands of years and now it is very difficult to have a lifespan of seventy. When life was easier those days, the path to attain the Lord was very tough and unfathomable and on the other hand, when life is tough the path for god realization has been made easy since we have the path of Bhagavatha Dharma to follow and attain the Lord.

Sri Ramanujamji is one of his lectures used a beautiful analogy. He compared the path of Bhagavatha Dharma to Badminton. In Badminton we go from “Love all to Love one” whereas in the path of Bhagavatha Dharma, we go from “Love One to Love All”. That Love one is through which we see the entire world and embrace everyone. That one is verily the heart of the Lord Sri Krishna. When we offer our love and bhakti to the Lord, we then start to see the Lord everywhere. This is what is depicted in the life-history of Papa Ramdas. When he went in the quest for his Lord, he started to meditate the Divine Names of Lord Rama and after incessantly chanting, he saw Lord Rama everywhere.

In last week’s lecture Sri Aravindji talked about the Daksha Yagna which is in the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatham. Sage Sukha expounded on dharma with Daksha’s life-history as an example to enlighten Parikshit that one should not have any conceit or hatred towards other Lord before expounding on the divine exploits of Lord Krishna.

“Dharma Projitha Kaithavo atra paramo nirmathsaranam satham”

The path of Bhagavatha Dharma is a dharma devoid of any hatred. One can be a devotee of Lord Krishna but not have any hatred towards other Lords. When our heart is impure it is black in color and hence one will be unable to perceive Lord Krishna who has a black complexion. When one incessantly chants the Divine Names of the Lord, his heart becomes white and only then can he see the black dot called Krishna which starts to grow bigger and bigger when he adheres to the path of Bhagavatha Dharma.

The foundation for Bhagavatha Dharma is love and the bond of love gets stronger and stronger when one chants the Divine Names of the Lord and listens to the divine exploits of the Lord. One needs to continue the duties [the inherent qualities] and continue chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and listening to the divine stories of the Lord.

Artha connotes wealth and meaning. It means that one needs to acquire wealth in a meaningful manner or else it will be Anartha.

In Srimad Bhagavat Gita, Lord Sri Krishna says –

“Chaturvidaa Bhajante Maam Janaah Sukurthino Arjuna”

“Artho Jignasur-Artharthi Jnani Cha Bharatarshabah”[Bhagavad Gita 7.16]
He says “Oh Arjuna, Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas and all those people who come to me praying for anything, be it spiritual or worldly need only because they are blessed. But for some merits accrued in one’s previous birth, this does not happen otherwise.” The first of the kind is Arthis. They are the ones who are distressed in lives and have afflictions. They pray to the Lord to absolve all their problems. The second clan of people is the Jijnasus. They are the ones who always have a quest to attain Jnana. They offer their prayers to the Lord to bestow them with Jnana. The third faction of people is the ones who are not contended with their wealth and pray to the Lord to be bestowed with more riches. The fourth class of people is indeed the rarest of all. They are the Mahans [jnanis]. They have realized that there is nothing outside the Lord and everything is verily the Lord.

But people who just embarked in the path of bhakti, we still have needs and desires to be fulfilled. We have to fulfill our needs which are providing shelter, clothing and food to our kith and kin and need to accumulate wealth by dharmic means. So it is to be said that both dharma and artha go hand in hand. Once enough wealth is accured, one needs to spend it for dharmic purposes. This is clearly elucidated in the life-history of Dhruva. The fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatham talks about the four purusharthas in complete detail.

The young boy Dhruva went in search for his father, who was the then king Uttanapadan. His earnest desire to sit on his father’s lap was vetoed by his step-mother Surichi. She banished him and told him that he needs to be born in her womb in order to sit on his father’s lap and asked him to pray Lord Narayana in order to bestow his grace on him. The young prince Dhruva was very much hurt by this and approached his mother Sunithi. She requested him to pray to Lord Narayana who is their eternal father to seek his blessings and grace.

Dhruva wanted to sit on his father’s lap and that was the only wealth he ever sought. He immediately set out to forest to perform penance. He met Sage Narada en route to forest. Our Guru Maharaj beautifully says that the first indication that the Lord showers his grace on us is to lead us onto a Sadguru. That is clearly depicted in the life-history of Dhruva. Sage Narada saw some events in Dhruva’s life which were akin to his own life. He also went to forest to attain the grace of the Lord and was the same case in Dhruva’s life as well. Sage Narada was a personification of compassion and became his guru and taught him the twleve syllabled mantra. Dhruva went to the forest and performed intense penance. During the first month, he ate some fruits. He then only ate some leaves once in six days in the second month. During the third month, he only drank water once in nine days. In the fourth month, he inhaled air once in twelve days. In the fifth month he did not even breathe air and his penance was so strong that it started to shake the whole earth.  The Lord came in front of him and bestowed him with darshan. He started off with a desire to sit on his father’s lap but he got the lap of the Lord itself. He became the king and was the ruler for thirty-six thousand years. His wealth was his father’s lap and he finally attained the ultimate Lord. There is nothing wrong going behind wealth but one needs to have the Lord in the epicenter of one’s heart. We should go in search of wealth not with our own abilities but in the path shown by the Lord, the wealth that we accrue will be Anartha. Dhruva went out to satiate his need and the Lord granted his need and gave him more than what he needed. Dhruva became a pole-star when he shed his mortal coil. A pole star is the only stationary star and all other planets and stars revolve around it. In the world of Samsara where the devotees of the Lord are stranded unable to find the right path and afflicted with sorrows, it is verily the pole-star Dhruva who guides everyone to the pole-star.

Artha is the smallest wealth that one initially acquires and this finally leads us to the greatest of all wealth, the Lord himself. Dhruva attained the wealth because of his steadfast faith and devotion on the path shown by his guru.

Only if we feed our stomach with food can we even feed our heart with Lord.  Religion can be imparted to anyone and anybody only if their hunger is satiated.

Ambarisha, the ruler from Ikshvaku dynasty ruled the entire world. He felt that the whole world was but mere pieces of gravel!

“vaasudeve Bhagavati tat bhakteshu cha saadhushu
Praapto Bhaavam pranam vishvam enetam loshtavat smritham”

The whole world is mere stone and it belongs to the Lord. For a Bhagavatha, the terms “I and Mine” become “He and His”. This attitude will dawn in one when one has the attitude to listen and chant the Divine Names of the Lord and listen to his divine exploits.   In the life-history of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he started calling out “Pundarika Pundarika” in his Bhava Samadhi. Everyone thought that he was calling out the Lord of Pandarpur. But the next day, they started to hear “Pundarika Vidhyanidhi”.  A devotee, Mukunda knew  Pundarika Vidyanidhi and he immediately called his fellow-devotee Gadadhara and set out for Pundarika Vidyanidhi’s house. Gadhadhara was of the notion that Pundarika was a Bhagavata who was someone who led a frugal life and eschews all sensual desires like wealth  and comforts. They located Pundarika Vidyanithi in a big palace and was leading a very posh life. He was very delighted to see Mukunda and upon seeing him he requested to recite a sloka from Srimad Bhagavatham.  Mukunda recited the following sloka and upon hearing the sloka Pundarika was in ecstasy and he soon fainted.

‘aho bakIyam sthana kAlakUtam
jighAmsayApAyayadapi asAdhvi
lebhe gatim dAtruchitam tatonyam
kamvA dayAlum sharaNam vrajema [SB 3.2.23]

The sloka goes to speak of the compassion of Lord Krishna who gave Moksha to even the vile orge who tried to poison him! When Gadadhara saw this he immediately realized the greatness of Pundarika and prostrated  unto him.

It is verily through inner transformation that one can transform into a Bhagavatha and outer appearances do not matter.

To sum up Bhagavatam shows,
Wealth is not an end in itself, it is only a means for sustenance.  Bhakti done for wealth will take us forward, to perform Bhakti for the Lord’s sake.  With such a staunch Bhakti, wealth cannot shake one, no matter how affluent he is.

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Our Guru Maharaj in one of his Kirtans sings –

“arthamum kAmamum niraindadhu Prapanjamam”
verondrum kAnavillai Undi Para
vedanai vedanai undi para”

Our Guru Maharaj says that he only sees wealth and desire being given more weightage by people living in the age of Kali and that he doesn’t perceive anything beyond wealth and desire. And saying this, he commiserates these mundane people.

But friends, who are part of satsang, do not worry. Let’s see what Srimad Bhagavatham preaches us on the four Purusharthas.  Srimad Bhagavatham is a unique grantha since it is filled with both worldly and spiritual advice. It gives advice akin to a friend and one can never get overwhelmed by the proposition. One immediately takes the advice unto their heart – Shusrushibih Thakshanaat. A child can learn lot of good values by listening to life-histories of Prahalad and Dhruva to name a few. A learned person enjoys the doctrines of Uddava Gita. It is a grantha that is applicable to people of all Dharmas.

Suta Pouranika, started to expound about Dharma in front of all Maharishis.

Dharma projita kaitavo atra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastuhu shivatam tapatrayahunmoolanam

All the three types of miseries are obliterated by comprehending the term “Dharma”.

Dharma is very subtle. The inherent nature of a flower is to spread fragrance. The very nature of the sun is to give sunshine. The three fears are dispelled by comprehending dharma. Let’s look at the three kinds of fears – Aadideivika are the ones that are caused by the mind, while Aaadiboutika are the fears caused by extraneous elements like animals or nature and Aadhyathmika is inflicted by super-natural powers like the Gods and Devas.

Our Guru Maharaj absolves the fear of Samsara by feeding the nectar of Srimad Bhagavatham. By assimilating the essence of Srimad Bhagavatham, one can decipher the term Dharma. By following the precepts of dharma, all the fears are obliterated. Let’s take a practical example to substantiate this. A person enters a dark room and he perceives a big snake. He immediately switches the light and sees that it is not a snake but a big rope instead. The illusion is thus wiped out when he switches the light.

 dharmasya hyApavargasya nArthOthAyOpakalpatE |
nArthasya dharmaikAnthasya kAmO lAbhAya hi smruta: || [Srimad Bhagavatham1.2.9]

 kAmasya nEndriyaprItirlAbhO jIvEta yAvatA |
jIvasya tatvajignyAsA nArthO yashvEha karmabhi:  || [1.2.10]

The moment Srimad Bhagavatham inculcates the purpose of life, the three fears are absolved. How is this possible? By comprehending and following the Supreme dharma [paramo dharmaha], one can shed away the three fears. So what is this Supreme Dharma?

In order to understand the Supreme Dharma, let us first understand Sva dharma, which is verily our inherent nature. The Lord in Srimad Bhagavatham tells Arjuna -

sarva-dharman parityajya  maam ekam saranam vrajaa
aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moksayisyami maa sucah [Srimad Bhagavad Gita 18.66]

Oh! Arjuna, I will emancipate you from all the sins and bestow you Moksha if you give up all the dharma and surrender unto me.

In the above verse, the call to give up Dharma cannot be called as a message of inactivity. The Lord will never preach his devotees to not perform their duties. The Lord in the above verse says one not to renounce the act but to renounce the attitude. The beauty of Srimad Bhagavatham is that it shows us a path where we do not renounce anything by force but it makes people renounce on their own. If one goes to a mango tree and tries to pluck a mango that had not ripened, it starts to bleed from the stem. The Lord in our case has shown us a ripe mango and it falls off the moment one goes near to pluck it. The inherent nature [Svadharma] will be dispelled when one adheres to the path shown by Srimad Bhagavatham. One can relate this easily through the life-history of Sage Narada. Sage Narada was born as a son of a maid-servant. His mother earned her living by doing house-hold chores. One day a group of saints camped in the same village where Narada and his mother lived. Seeing the saints, his mother asked Narada to go along with them and also asked him to consume the left-over food from the plates of the saints. This little boy who was about five years old implicitly obeyed his mother’s orders. By doing service to the saints and by being in their divine company, the inherent nature of a five year old boy to play with his friends and his toys slowly started to recede away akin to how a ripe mango falls off on its own.

Lord Krishna in his expositions preaches one not to renounce their acts and duties and that by being in a satsang, they will dwindle on their own. From the numerous life-histories of the devotees of Lord Panduranga, we learn that one of them was a cobbler, a barber and one great devotee of the Lord, Vittobha whose profession was tailoring. Just by adhering to the path of Bhagavatha Dharma, our Sva dharma will inherently fall away. This is lucidly depicted from their life-histories. Lord Prahalada was incessantly chanting the Divine Names of the Lord Narayana. He was sent to the Gurukula and his preceptors were Chanda and Amarka who were Asuras themselves.  They taught him all the worthy topics and he studied everything and excelled in whatever he did since he was constantly catching the Divine Names of the Lord.

One should continue to perform his daily chores and when chant the Divine Names of the time upon the completion of his chores. By following this, the inherent nature [sva dharma] will soon depart from us leaving the path to paramo Dharma, the supreme dharma.

Srimad Bhagavatham expounds the great precept of humility.

Daksha was one of the prajapatis of Lord Brahma. The first and supreme position was held by Lord Narayana himself. The next in hierarchy was Lord Brahma. The third position was being held by Daksha. Hence he was in a very commendable position. We have seen that the higher one goes in the spiritual path, he should become more and more humble. Once a sacrifice [yagna] was being performed and everyone including the Devas including Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva also attended. Daksha also attended the event. Daksha being in a respectable position, everyone stood up and paid their respects to him. Lord Siva did not get up from his seat since he was deeply engrossed in his penance. This really irked Daksha and he immediately started to badmouth Lord Shiva. He started despising Lord Shiva’s appearance.  Lord Shiva an embodiment of patience and calmness was just patiently listening to the abuses by Daksha. Lord Shiva is an epitome of both positive and negative attributes. To substantiate this, he has the symbol of moon signifying the essence of nectar and has a snake tied around his neck that represents poison. His hand personifies fire, while on the other hand he has river Ganga flowing on his head. He has both Boothganas and Devaganas. He perceives both stuthi and ninda to be the same.

Sri Sri Anna in Vaishnava Samhita saya -

“Avamaanepi Sammane Sukhe Dukhepi Vaishnava, Pashyatyeva Harer Leelam Gunadoshau Na Pashyathi”

A Vaishnava never discerns honor or dishonor to be different and perceives both to be same and take it as a blessing from Lord Hari.

Daksha had married his daughter Dakshayini to Lord Shiva. Days passed by and Daksha performed another sacrifice in a pomp manner to exhibiting his pride. It was known as “Brihaspati Sthava”.   He invited everybody in town except Lord Shiva and Dakshayini. She noticed that all her friends were going for the sacrifice which her father was performing. She expressed her interest to attend the sacrifice and confided it to Lord Shiva. Upon hearing to her request, he gently advised her that one should not go to a place where one is not invited. In reply, Dakshayini replied that one should not expect any invitation to a place where the Lord is being worshipped.  But if the host does not look into the guest’s eyes and expresses his delight by your presence, then one should not make it to that host’s place, added Lord Shiva. The greatness of Mahans is that they won’t force their thoughts on their devotees. They would express their opinion and leave it to the decision of the devotee. Thus, Lord Shiva just forewarned Dakshayini that she should not go to a place without an invitation.  If she insisted on going to the sacrifice then that would probably lead to death.

Despite Lord Shiva’s advice, she decided to go since she had bondage to her parent’s home. She left for the sacrifice with some Lord Shiva’s supporters [Bhutaganas]. Upon reaching that place, she was very much welcomed by her mother and her siblings. Daksha, her father did not show his hospitality to her and did not welcome her. She did not pay much heed to her father’s act. But later Daksha started to show his grudge on Lord Shiva in a very obvious way. He stopped all oblations [havirbhagam] that was supposed to reach Lord Rudra. He also did not recite any vedic hymns related to Lord Shiva. This irritated Dakshayini beyond belief.  In an irked tone, she asked her father, “Oh Father! You are showing your hatred on Lord Shiva who has done no harm to you?. His name is so sacred that it purifies anybody who recites his name. The Divine Names of Lord Shiva bestow one with prosperity when chanted.

There was a hunter who was in his deathbed. His son was standing next to him. His son was seeking advice from his father as to how he should earn a living. In reply the hunter mentioned, “Prahara  Aahara Samhara”. Prahara means to hunt, Aahara means to bring and Saamhara means to kill and so the hunter advised his son to go for hunting. If we remove the prefix of all three words and only focus on the suffix, which is “hara”, it verily means Lord Shiva. Saying the three words, the hunter passed away. Immediately Lord Shiva’s sub-ordinates [Shiva Ganas] came to take the hunter to Kailasha since he chanted His Name, even though unknowingly, before he died. Such is Lord Shiva’s compassion and love.

Dakshayini added “Oh father, you have not only exhibited your hatred to Lord Shiva but to his Divine Name. You also not did pay any respect to Vedas since you did not recite the section of Vedas that referred to Lord Shiva.”. She repented for being born as a daughter to a father who did Shiva Dwesha. She immediately burnt herself in the Yoga Agni.

Lord Shiva was still in tranquil state which was his natural state. Mahans are Sankalpa-rahita – they don’t have a will of their own. Witnessing this gory scene, Sage Narada advised Lord Shiva to avenge Daksha. He immediately plucked a hair from his head and breathed life into the hair and there stood a Bhootagana by name Veerabhadra. This newly born Veerabhadra went to the place where Daksha was performing the sacrifice and killed Daksha. The sacrifice could not be completed since Daksha died and so all Devas went to Lord Brahma and requested to make sure that the Brihaspati Sthava Yaga be completed.

Lord Narayana also appeared in the Brishaspathi Shrava and said the following verse –

“Mat Bhakta Sankara Dweshi math dweshi sankara priyaha  Yavadh sankara divakaram”

A devotee of mine who speaks ill or demean Lord Shiva or a devotee of Lord Shiva bad mouths or despises me will end in an infernal region, says Lord Narayana in the above verse.

A devotee of the highest order should never possess any hatred towards Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma. Even a smallest level of ill-feeling would hinder that devotee to reach the highest states.

All kinds of conceit, hypocrisy, and deceit should be absolved in one who is in quest for the Lord.

Dharma projita kaitavo atra paramo nirmatsaranam satam
vedyam vastavam atra vastuhu shivatam tapatrayahunmoolanam

sa vai puḿsāḿ paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhokṣajeh

ahaitukyapratihatā yayātmā suprasīdati [Srimad Bhagavatham 1.2.6]

The supreme occupation [Svadharma] of all human beings is that which will usher into the path of supreme devotion to the Lord. Offer all the acts that one does to the Lord and by doing this one will attain the highest states of devotion to the Lord.  As long as we chant the Divine Names of the Lord, all our sins and fears are dispelled and one will attain the purpose of life which is verily the lotus feet of the Lord. By incessant chanting of the Divine Names of the Lord, our Svadharma will leave us and will lead us unto the holy feet of the Lord.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Nishaji from Houston delivered a beautiful lecture expounding on the greatness of being in the divine company of Sadhus.

Who is a Sadhu? One cannot proclaim someone as a Sadhu if he wears a Gopichandan and clad in a saffron cloth. Our Guru Maharaj beautifully defines who a real Sadhu is. A sadhu is one who always listens to the glories of the Lord, expounds on the glories of the Lord and sings the glories of the Lord. They know nothing other than these. On the other hand the normal mortals who even in spite of being in satsang who are not there to revel in complete supreme bliss sometime delve into mundane talks. Our Guru Maharaj by making Madhurasmaranam official, our compassionate Guru Maharaj wanted his devotees to gossip about him and gave all our little wagging tongue, his stories to hold on to. By reminiscing on the divine stories of our Guru Maharaj we get ourselves into the highest states of meditation of the Lord who is in the form of Guru. This is a classic example to elucidate the precept that the divine association of the sadhus makes everybody sadhus itself. This goes to show the power of satsang.

It is a fact that a person’s attitude is a median of the top five people with whom he/she interacts with. If we ponder on this without scratching the surface, we will realize that it is a star fact in all our lives. When we associate with people who are pessimists, we find ourselves doing the same thing and having lot of negative energy in us. On the other hand, if we are in the companionship with people who have a lot of positive energy, we are also in turn motivated and energized. Our Guru Maharaj says that one second acquaintance with a Mahan can transform an individual.

In one of the kirtans of our Guru Maharaj, he extols the greatness of satsangs –

“Aagacha Aagacha Sajjana Sangam Maa Gacha Maa Gacha Durjana Sangam”

In the above verse, our Guru Maharaj welcomes the association of holy men [sadhus], who are the very manifestation of the Lord himself.

“Sajjana Sangam bahusaaram Dur Jana Sangam Athi Goram”

The association of the sadhus is so sweet and filled with bliss. When Lord Krishna had incarnated in the holy land of Vraja, the Gopis and Gopas were always in the divine company of the Lord. As years passed by, Krishna became the ruler of Mathura and he had ordained his dear Uddava to go to Vrindavan to have a darshan of the Gopas and Gopis. He was moved to tears when he saw their love and prema for Lord Krishna and he rolled over the sands which contained the dust from the feet [Pada Rajas] of these Gopis.

Having proclaimed the power of Sajjana Sangam, let us know look into the consequences of having a bad company. If we take the people during Kamsa’s reign, they were in quandary and always filled with fear about Kamsa’s course of actions.

“Sajjana Sangam Dharma chinthanam Dhurjana sangam dhurbhodhanam”

The association of Sadhus leads one in the path of dharma. The Pandavas were always in the divine companionship with Lord Krishna. The Lord was always with them in flesh and blood. They never deviated from the path of dharma. On the other hand, Dhuryodhana solicited the company of his uncle, Shakuni. Karna, being the son of Kunti, who was the mother of the Pandavas, befriended Dhuryodhana.  When Arjuna and Dhuryodhana went to seek help and advice before the advent of the Kurkshetra War, Krishna was in the state of slumber. He woke up and had the glimpse of Arjuna at the first sight since he was near his feet. The Lord knew that both of them came for taking help for the Mahabharatha war. The Lord came out with a clause that he will give his entire army for one and that he himself will be with one of them. Duryodhana did not have confidence on the Lord and hence he culled the army while Arjuna who was also in company of the Lord opted for Krishna to be along with the Pandavas during the battle. The outcome of the battle was evident, with the Pandavas triumphed over the Kauravas and they were completely annihilated.

“Sajjana Sangam Hari Sevanam Dhurjana Sangam Parihasanam”

The divine communion with the holy men ushers one and all to the service of the Lord. On the other hand association with mundane people makes one repugnant. Let’s take some examples to substantiate this precept from the life-history of Sant Tukkaram. There lived a great Brahmin scholar Rameshwar Bhat. He gave a lot of discourses. One day, he found lot of people moving past his place and he enquired of those few who sat listening to him, “Where are all these people going?” They said that these people were going to listen to Tukkaram since his sings are rendered with full of devotion. Hearing this Rameshwar Bhat was furious and headed straight to Tukkaram. He told him that the Lord Panduranga cannot comprehend the kirtans composed in Marathi and that the Lord can only follow Sanskrit. Anybody else would have argued with the Brahmin, but Tukkaram being a Sadhu who are humility personified implicitly apologized to him and asked him for the next course of actions. The brahmin asked him to bundle up all his kirtans and throw them into the Chandrabaga river.

Rameshwar bhat said, “Bundle up your kirtans and throw them into the Chandrabhaga river. And from now onwards stop singing your kirtans.” Tukkaram bundled all his kirtans and threw them into the Chandrabhaga. He experienced deep pain as if he had pushed into the river a child of his whom he had brought up lovingly. He then sat on the banks of the river without food or sleep. After three days, when the Pandas (priests) in Pandarpur temple opened the doors of Lord Panduranga’s sannidhi they found a wet sack on the head of the Lord. It was dripping with water and the Lord’s garments were totally wet. Wonder struck they took the sack from the Lord’s head and opened it. They found innumerable writings with the stamp of ‘Tukkaram’ in them. They realized that it was the kirtans of the Sadhu who visited the temple from Dehu Road. They immediately took the kirtans to Tukkaram.
When Tukkaram saw them with his writings, he asked them, “It is I who had thrown them in the river. Why did you retrieve them?” The Pandas explained, “No! We did not retrieve them from the river. We found them on the Lord’s head this morning when we opened the door. Since they all carry your stamp we realized that they are all your kirtans. We, therefore, came to return them to you.”
Tukkaram’s joy knew no bounds as he realized that Panduranga had accepted his kirtans.
He asked the Lord, “If you approve of them why this delay in bringing them to me, Oh! Lord! I have been sitting here without food and sleep these for the past three days.”
The Lord said to him, “Tukkaram! They were so wonderful that I have been reading them for the past three days!” Learning about the incident, Rameshwar Bhat came running to Tukkaram and fell at his feet. “I did not realize your greatness. Please forgive me for the wrong done.” Tukkaram shrunk away pleading, “You are a great scholar. You know all the Shastras. How can you fall at my feet? Please do not fall at my feet.” Such is the humility of Sadhus.

“Sajjana sangam Aanandah Durjana sangae Alasyah”         

The ardent devotee of Lord Krishna, Meera grew up in her grandfather’s place. He used to invite lot of Mahans to his home. Meera used to eagerly listen to all the divine exploits of Lord Krishna with reverence and this was verily how devotion to Lord Krishna was sowed in her hearts. The satsang that she got gave her the bhakti and devotion to hold onto Lord Krishna all throughout her life. From our eyes, we perceive Meera to have been happy only in her childhood days. As she grew up, she was forced to marry someone whom she didn’t want to marry.  Her in-laws did not like her being devoted to Krishna. Her husband Rana who was earlier provided her support to perform bhakti to Lord Krishna did not like it later. She was in captive where she was in isolation and also underwent lots of trials and tribulations even threat to her life. This is the state of Meera as perceived by normal mortals.  But our Guru Maharaj clarifies this perception that it is verily the people around her who were under the impression that Meera was depressed, but in reality she was completely lost in the bliss of love for her dear Krishna. She was totally lost in joy. Krishna bhakti gave her the supreme bliss and hence she did not bother about the events happening around her.

In one of her bhajans, she expounds her enjoyment that she deuces by being a devout to Lord Krishna.

hari guN gAvat nAchUngI mei
prabhu guN gAvat nAchUngI

apne mandir me beit beit kar
gIta bhAgavata vAchUngI

“Meera Bai Sings- ‘I shall sit in the temple of my beloved Lord and read Srimad Bhagavat Gita and Srimad Bhagavata. I shall immerse myself in singing the Divine Names and plays of the Lord and dancing to its tunes! ’

On the other hand, bad company can lead us into loathsome and become indolent. A classic example is Kumbakarna.

The next verse goes – “Sajjana Sangae Mana shanthih Durjana Sangae Mano Branthih”

The divine company ushers in mental peace. Our little Prahalad was in acquaintance with Sage Narada even when he was in his mother’s womb. He came as his Guru and was bestowed with the Divine Name ‘Narayana’. Prahalad was incessantly chanting the Divine Name and hence he was an embodiment of peace despite all the harassments enforced on him by his father Hiranyakashipu. On the other hand, Hiranyakashipu was the most powerful ruler on Earth and had boons so that he wouldn’t die by any common means. In spite of this, his mind was always wandering and was always perturbed. This was because of the fact that he did not have any divine communion with a realized soul. Even though his son was a sadhu, he did not cherish his companionship.

“Sajjana Sangae Pramodhah Durjana Sangae Pramadhah”

The company of holy men leads us to immense happiness and joy and helps us to realize the purpose of our life which is verily attaining the holy feet of the Lord.

“Sajjana Sangae Sadhu Poshanam Durjana Sangae Sadhu Dhushanam”

The divine company with realized souls makes us perform service to Mahans. This act bestows one with all goodness. Sugreeva was in the divine company of Hanuman and that finally lead him to do service to Lord Rama. On the other hand, Ravana harassed and disrespected Sadhus and hence the consequences were obivious. Our Guru Maharaj in one of his discourses mentioned that at the beginning of Ramayana, Sri Lanka was a prosperous country with untold riches. At the end of Ramayana, Lanka was completely burned down. Sugreeva was a pauper at the advent of Ramayana but he was crowned as a king at the culmination of Ramayana. It was verily because Sugreeva cherished the company of Sadhus and was always in the divine company of Hanuman, whereas Ravana who abused the Sadhus destroyed his entire clan.

“Sajjana Sangae Krishna Katha Durjana Sangae Gramya Katha”

The divine company leads us to listen to the stories of Lord Krishna. Parikshit had the company of Sage Sukha who was his guru. He was bestowed to listen to the divine exploits of Lord Krishna.  He had the honor to be the first recipient to listen to Srimad Bhagavatham.

“Sajjana Sangae Muralidharah Durjana Sangae Mahisharudhah”

Our Guru Mahraj concludes his song by saying that by being in the divine company of holy men will lead us to Muralidhara. A good example to support this is Ajamila. Even though he was a good person initially, he later started to have the company of bad people and developed a lot of vices. In the last minute of his life, he called out his son Narayana and this was heard by our Lord Narayana in Vaikunta and hence he sent the Vishu Dootas. The second satsang that he had with the Vishnu Dootas bestowed him liberation. Such is the greatness of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and being in the divine company of Sadhus.

There was this person who had a vital question about purport of life. He went around the world seeking answer to his question. Finally he went to an enlightened Master and earnestly desired to seek his darshan. The master did not give him any darshan and this person waited patiently. One day he became very impatient and so he barged in and posed his vital question to the master. He received a resounding slap. He then talked to a devotee nearby and he clarified to him that every action of the master is loaded with meaning. A true shishya will learn from all these things and since this person was new to this master he failed to realize this. The other devotee continued to explain that the master gave him a slap to make you understand that one should not trade a good question for an answer outside. Spirituality ends when the question is answered and when the answer comes from outside, then our spiritual quest also ends. That is verily why all Mahans do not reply to devotee’s questions immediately. They strongly encourage the devotees to find the answers so that the devotees can be light to themselves. This knowledge which is our own nature cannot come from outside. The Mahatmas make the devotees probe deeper and deeper into the truth so that we will uncover the truth and when we unfold the truth ourselves, we will not have any doubts anymore. In the above example, if the master had answered his devotee’s question, that the purpose of life is Self Realization, then everyone will come out with different versions of the answer and the truth is already lost. The master gave him a slap so that he does not pose this to question to anyone else and rather start to ask the question within himself. He slapped him to answer the fact that “question is verily spirituality” and that the answer to the question is not spirituality. The answer to the question is an experience.

All our true mahans and Gurus never disclosed the answers and that they encourage to find the answers ourselves and they provide a path to find the answers. So when we try to decipher the answers, we have to define the purpose of life in our own light and get the Mahans help to define it the right way.

So what is purpose of life? It is very simple and we need not go and refer the shastras for it. Everybody in this world is seeking happiness right from a thief to saint chase happiness. But the path they take to find happiness is different. Some attain it while some are still searching. So let’s try to find out that happiness and the source of happiness. Let’s define happiness from our daily lives. We generally love things because we derive happiness by enjoying those things. Here Mahatmas give a beautiful interpretation that the dearest to one is one’s self. For everybody their self is what they love more than anything else. Since we love ourselves and we derive happiness through it, mahatmas say that happiness in our own self and nothing else. Spiritual journey is not towards north or south, but it a journey towards the self which is verily the innermost. So we need to find that happiness within us and that is verily the reason why all the Vedas and Puranas finally take us to the where we originated from which is our self, which is our happiness and which is our nature. So we are now mistaken by the precept that by my accruing more and more possessions one’s happiness is bound to increase. So why are we intrinsically greedy right from a sinner to saint. A saint wants to attain the higher levels of happiness and a sinner wants more possessions and so he pillages. So why are we greedy? It is truly because people are under the notion that happiness can be multiplied to infinity. Happiness has no bounds. We go through pain in the process of deriving happiness which according to the normal mortals is infinite. Seeking is desire and that is what is forcing us into desire and we know intrinsically that we can get connected to the infinite happiness and that is why we strive hard. We think happiness is outside and hence we are avaricious. Greed arises from the fact that we can get to higher happiness and that the mistaken notion of more possessions results in more happiness. We see people dying around us but we cannot imagine our death because intuitively we know that we are immortal. We know that we are beyond time. People need to realize that they are the embodiment of happiness.

In the state of deep sleep, we enjoy the bliss beyond all the extraneous things. Happiness is derived from deep sleep. SO what do we possess in deep state? Nothing! But we love that deep sleep which goes us to show that adding possessions is not going to increase our happiness. In deep sleep when there are zero assets we derive maximum happiness. So from our experience, more possessions leads to more happiness is disproved and that is verily why all scriptures say “Sanyasae sarvatha sukam”. The path of sanyasa is not to renounce anything but to leave the notion of owning possessions. When possessions have to come it will come but when it has to go, it will go and the take away point is that one should go not cling to these worldly assets. One just keeps watching what is coming and going. Sanyasa means mental acceptance of what is coming and going and to be a witness to all these with a faith that somebody above is taking care of all the mortals. When the lord can take care of all big phenomena’s like sun rise, to take care of the lives of Jivas is a small thing for the lord.  When there is somebody who is ready to take care of all our burdens, let us just leave it to him and let us do our job efficiently. This means that we need to take all the physical efforts and let us mentally leave all burdens to the lord. By doing this we enjoy the present moment to the fullest. Once we start to enjoy the present moment then we do not tend to worry about past and future. When we perform the path of bhakti intrinsically, all the bhaktas do not worry and it is to be said that the path of bhakti is not escapism and that only worrying is escapism from the purpose of life. The purpose of life is to lead a happy life and attain the lord’s feet. We need to remember that we have to go back to the source.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

The Moolavar in Srirangam is very manifestation of Parabrahmam. One can make out this by his countenance [Gambhiram]. When the Lord comes out of the temple, he is very amiable [soulabhya]. He comes out almost daily from the day only to bestow his divine grace on the people. Even if a normal mortal doesn’t go and seek his darshan, the Lord will make sure that he bestows him with his darshan. Such is the compassion of Lord Ranganatha.

After reminiscing Lord Ranganatha commemorating the auspicious day of Vaikunta Ekadasi, Sri Narayananji fromBostondelivered the satsang lecture.

A great Vaishnavite Saint, Parasara Bhattar, in his Sri Ranganatha Strotram sings -

“Saptha Praakara Madhyae Sarasija Mukulodh Bhaasa Manae Vimanae”

“Cauvery Madhya Desae Mruduthara phaniraad boga paryanga bagae” |

“Nidra Mudrabiraamam katini katashiraha paarshva vinyastha hastham”

“Padma Daaththri karaabhyam parichitha charanam ranga rajam bhajeham”|| [Sloka No 1 of Sri Ranganatha Strotram ]

In the above hymn, he meditates on Lord Ranganatha who is housed in a seven storied mansion and the Gopuram [vimana] is unique and is in the form of a lotus bud [Sarasija Mukulodh Bhaasa Manae  Vimanae]. This Vimana was the one that was brought and installed in Srirangam by Vibishana. One can perceive ParaVasudeva  by standing in a particular position in the vehicle. By verily having the darshan of Vimana, [the tall Gopuram] of Srirangam, one does not even need to come inside the temple to have the darshan of Lord Ranganatha.

“Cauvery Madhya Desae Mruduthara phaniraad boga paryanga bagae” |

In Srirangam which is situated amidst two Cauvery rivers is verily where Lord Ranganatha is happily resting in a snake [Adisesha] couch.

Paarasara Bhattar then continues to extol the beautiful countenance of the Lord.

“Nidra Mudrabiraamam katini katashiraha paarshva vinyastha hastham”

He starts admiring from head to toe. Descriptions are generally from head-to-toe [kesha di padam] or toe-to-head [paada di kesam]. The first thing that Paarasara Bhat perceives is the Lord’  right hand [hastham].He uses his right-hand as a pillow and the other hand on his body. He then enjoys the Lord’s Divya mangala Vigraham. He sees Goddess Mahalakshmi  Devi at the feet of the Lord, gently caressing his feet  -Padma Daaththri karaabhyam parichitha charanam ranga rajam bhajeham.

Many Azhwars have sung praises on Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam. It is said that Naalaira divya prabandam is known as “Tamil Vedam”. It has the essence of all Vedas. In spite of Lord’s ten incarnations on this earth, he was unable to liberate all the souls and so he decided to send Sadhus. Sage Sukha is of the opinion that Srimad Bhagavatham might not be an elixir to all since not everyone will possess this great scripture. Hence he sings –

“Kalau Kalau Bhavishyanti Narayana Parayanaha”

“Thamraparni nadhi yatra KruthaMala Payasvini”

Kauveri Cha mahapunya pratichi cha mahanadhi”

“Ye Pibanti jalam thaasaam manujha manujaeshwara”

Akin to how a Lord incarnated as ten avatars, there were ten Azhwars and our Andal and Madhurakvi Azhwar.

The only purport of the Azhwars was to bestow satsangs to everyone and they gave us the beautiful Nalaira Divya Prabandham, which is a beautiful collection of 4000 verses. It gives us the essence of all the four Vedas. The six Angaas of the Vedas [Vedaangas] are contained in Thirumangai Azhwar’s divine verses [Pasurams].  The great epic Ramayana is explained in ten verses in Kulasekara Azhwar’s Pasurams, where he exemplifies the entire Ramayana and eventually makes Lord Rama to sleep. If we delve into the works of Periyazhwar, we can see Periya Tirumozhi which is verily Srimad Bhagavatham itself.  Vishnu Puranam in also elucidated in the pasurams of Periyazhwar. All the shastras are contained in the 4000 verses of Nalaira Divya Prabandham.

Even though all Azhwars are revered by one and all, one Azhwar is celebrated very much. He is none other than our NamAzhwar. He has given the essence of Vedas and was a realized soul [Jeevan Mukta] himself.  All the other Azhwars went to Divya Desams to sing praises on the Lord. If we take the life-history of Thirumangai Azhwar he went to more than eighty Divaydesams to extol the greatness of the Lord, whereas in the case of NamAzhwar, he did not travel to any Divya Desam and sat in a hole in a tamarind tree and all the deities from the Divya Desams approached Nammazhwar to sing praises on them. He being a realized soul, enticed all the Devas and even the Lord and they came in front of him to give him darshan. There is one Azhwar who has a unique specialty. He did not want to be named and wanted to be called as “Dust in the feet of all Sri Vaishnavas”. He is none other than our Thondaradipodi Azhwar. He can be proclaimed as one of the greatest Azhwars. All the Azhwars had deep devotion to Lord Sri Hari and did not look at other deities whereas Thondaradipodi Azhwar considered only Sri Ranaganatha as the ultimate Lord and sang praises on Lord Ranganatha. He composed about forty Pasurams called Thirumalai. In addition to the forty pasurams, he has composes ten Pasurams for waking the Lord.  He has given the essence of the Vedas and the greatness of devotion and bhakti in a lucid manner in these ten verses and it is with these ten pasurams that the Lord of Tirupati, Balaji wakes up every morning. Each of the verse in Tirumalai has an inner equivalent Sanskrit Shastras as well. Thirumalai is a representation of a scripture called “Vishnu Dharmam” that came out before Vishnu Puranam. Vishnu Dharmam extols on the greatness of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. The Pasurams being composed in lucid manner is to enable people to comprehend the verses. That being said, it is also a fact that the normal mortals are not capable enough to interpret these Pasurams and hence Mahans come down to give the exposition of these verses. There once lived a great Mahatma, Periyavachanpillai who has given the dissertation for all the four thousand verses and from his treatise we see the greatness of Tirumalai which had forty pasurams glorifying the greatness of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.

We all know that there is one person [strotha] expounding the purana and another person [vakthra] listening to the exposition. Vishnu Dharmam is being narrated by Sage Saunaka to King Sataneeka. In Tirumalai, it is ThoNdaradippodiAzhwAr who narrates the verses and it is verily Lord Ranaganatha who listens to these hymns. The verses –

“Patchai Ma Malai Pol Meni”

“Pavala vai kamala sen kan”

“Achuta amar erare”

“Ayar tam Kozhunthay ennum”

“Acchuvai tavira yaan poy”

“Indira logam aalum”

“Acchuvai Perinum vendane”

“Aranga Ma Naguralane”

The pasurams in Tirumalai commences in the same way as Srimad Bhagavatham. The first sloka in Srimad Bhagavatham starts by meditating on the Lord and that meditation is verily “Satyam param deemahi”. It is on a plural and Tirumalai is also plural – ‘kaavalil pulanai…’

“Let us all chant the Divine Names of the Lord and meditate on the divine form” – sings Thondaradipodi Azhwar in his first verse in Tirumalai. Srimad Bhagavatham refers to meditating on the divine truth of the Lord whereas Tirumalai refers to meditating on the divine form and on the Divine Names of the Lord.

The second sloka in Srimad Bhagavatham refers to Dharma – “Dharma Projitha “ and in Thirumalai after the first few verses, he establishes Sanatana Dharma. He tramples on all other less merited Dharmas and established the greatness of Sanatana Dharma and then goes on to acclaim the greatness of Bhagavan Nama, which is verily the essence of all Vedas.

He enjoys the beautiful countenance of the Lord and describes it as a green mountain – “Pacchai ma malai pol meni”, enjoys resplendent red lips of the Lord – “Pavala vai kamala sen kan” and the lotus like eyes of the Lord, “achuta amarar are” the moment one meditates on the form of the Lord, he is bestowed with his Divine Names on his lips. The moment one thinks on the Divine Names of the Lord, he is blessed with the Lord’s Divine Form in our heart. The term ‘achyuta’ connotes to Him who does not make Himself slide away from our hearts. He takes Lord Ranaganatha to the greatest of all heights and considers him as the epitome of all Devas. He does not want to envision Lord Ranganatha as Devas since Devas remain only in heaven and not desire to come down to earth and so he Ranaganatha as Lord Krishna “Ayar tam Kozhunthay ennum”. He only rejoices the taste of the Lord’s divine form and his Divine Names and even considers Indra Loka as inferior and sings that Vaikunta and Srirangam are one and the same.

It is said that Indra Loka is no different from Srirangam, in a sense! In Srirangam people are forever immersed in chanting the Divine form of the Lord, sing and glorify the beautiful form of the Lord and once in a year they follow a tradition called “Angapradhakshanam”, which is rolling over the streets [Chitravidhi, Uthravidhi], after drinking the nectar of the Lord’s beauty. It is said in the world of Indra, people consume “Somapana” and they become intoxicated and roll on the floors. ThondaradipodiAzhwar prefers rolling on the streets of Srirangam by rejoicing the beauty of the Lord.

Periyavachanpillai gives a beautiful interpretation to this. He says that the Azhwar does not refer Indra Loka but only compares Vaikunta to Srirangam. He uses the example of Hanuman to substantiate this fact. It is said in Ramayana, that when Lord Rama was about to depart to Vaikunta, he was very compassionate to take all his devotees along with him and entered the Sarayu river. He did not spare a small worm too but did not take Lord Hanuman with him. It is verily because Lord Hanuman did not desire any other form of the Lord other than Lord Rama. He said to Lord Rama that the very moment he started to read Ramayana, he is blessed with the divine form of Lord Rama and Hanumanji yearns for that form of Lord Rama only. Akin to Hanumanji, our Azhwar also does not desire to have the form of the Lord who is always “sadA pashyanthi suraiyah”. The Mahatmas in Vaikuntam can only see the darshan but the Lord does not talk to anybody.

The Azhwar in his first pasurams sings –

kAvalil pulanai vaiththu kali thannai kadakka pAyndhu

nAvalittu uzhi tharuginrom naman thamar thalaigaL mIdhe

mUvulaguNdu umizhndha  mudhalva! nin nAmam katra

Avalippu udaimai kaNdAy  arangkamA nagaruLAne! [Pasuram 1 from Thirumalai]

The above pasuram has a beautiful meaning. Our Periyavachanpillai lucidly delivered three interpretations for the verse – ‘kAvalil pulanai vaiththu’. The term “kaval” connotes “in control”. But the term ‘ il’ means not and hence kaval il’ signifies ‘not in control’. So for those who do not have their senses [pulanai] in control [kAvalil pulanai vaiththu], the chanting of Divine Names of the Lord is the only path for attaining the holy feet of the Lord in the age of Kali. Secondly he says that by chanting the Divine Names of the Lord, the Lord will slowly absolve all the worldly desires from our and cleanse our heart and transform each one of us into a noble soul. Thirdly he says that the Lord slowly takes complete control of our senses when we chant his Divine Name and he finally controls our senses, thereby all the senses will be under control and our mind and heart will focus completely on chanting the Divine Names.

Let’s see the meaning of the next segment of the verse…

“”kali thannai kadakkappaiyindu” –In Ramayana, there is an eagle known as Sampathi and tells Jadayu that crossing hundred miles to reach SriLanka is not so difficult when we compare it crossing the ocean of samsara since no one can comprehend the length and breadth of this ocean.

Here our Azhawr says that when we chant the Divine Names of the Lord, one will be able to jump the ocean of samsara seamlessly.

“nAvalittu uzhi tharuginROm1 naman thamar thalaigaL mIdhE ” – Naval in tamil connotes victory. Here our Azhwar who has realized the greatness of Nama sings in ecstasy and his happiness is clearly seen in this verse NAvalittu vuzhitarukindrom. He claims victory over death. When a devotee of the highest order who has chanted the Divine Names of the Lord all his life,  gives up his mortal coil  it is said that King Yama will bow down and that this devotee will walk over Yama to enter into the gates of Vaikunta since all the sins have been absolved by his incessant chanting of the Divine Names of the Lord.

“Sri Harayae ityuchae muthyuchae sarva papakath” Says Srimad Bhagavatham.

“Dhruvasya vaikunta padAdirohanah” – In the life-history of Dhruva, we see that Dhruva entered into Vaikunta by stepping on the head of King Yama.

“ninnAmam kattra Avalippudaimai” – The phrase “Avalippu” meand pride. The Azhwar goes and stands in front of Lord Ranganatha and tells the Lord, “Oh Lord, You ate mud and sand when in your childhood “ and then says that his mouth is more fragrant the Lord’s since he incessantly chants the Divine Names of the Lord. Our Periyavachanpillai gives a beautiful interpretation to this.

There once lived a boy who was very obstinate and his actions really provoked his mother. Once his mother severely reprimanded him for his actions and the boy had a feud with his mother and left his home without eating.  At the end of the street there was a choultry and he took shelter there.  His  mother  meanwhile was terribly  sorry for  her son  and was worried that he will soon start to feel hungry.  She sleuthed her son and went to the choultry and gave some food to the manager of choultry requesting him to give it to her son and he promptly delivered it to him. The boy after consuming the food said with pomp, “My mother thinks that only she can feed me”. But he did not realize the fact that it was only his mother who still fed him. The Azhwars are akin to the boy. It is verily the Lord  who gave us all the scriptures and shastras. But we bickered with the Lord and did not follow it. He was still compassionate with us akin to this mother, who bestowed the Divine Names on our lips through these great Mahatmas.  The Azhwars reactions with the Lord are akin to the boy’s behavior with his mother. The Azhwar says that he only desires to have the Divine Names of the Lord and not the Lord himself. But it is verily the Lord who bestowed the Divine Names on our lips.

The moment we chant the Divine Names of the Lord, the Lord will forever be looking at us. ThondaradipodiAzhwar also extols the greatness of the names Govinda and Gopala in addition to Lord Ranaganatha’s names and he glorifies the greatness of chanting the Divine Names in all his Tirumalai pasurams.

The satsang ended with Namasankirtan and prayers.

Our Guru Maharaj says that there is one difference between the Lord and the Sadguru. If one goes to a Sadhu’s sanctum and puts forth his desire to talk about the Sadhu to everyone, the Sadhu would deny his request and instead request him to talk about the Lord to everyone. On the other hand the Lord would not be interested to hear about him and ask his devotee to sing praises of the Mahans and to extol their divine glories. It is a fact that it is easy to comprehend the Lord but very difficult to fathom the Mahan. The glories of the Lord can be told by Mahatmas only since they keep reveling in the bliss of bhakti and devotion to the Lord all the time through their divine hymns and divine experiences and expositions.  It is verily the Lord who can understand the Mahatmas. The Lord unfortunately is tight-lipped and hence it is impossible to perceive the Mahatmas. Our Guru Maharaj preaches the precept to everyone that one should not try to interpret a Mahatma by one’s intellect and instead believe his actions are for the welfare of the normal mortals.

Sant Ekanath extols the greatness of a Guru by saying that a Guru is verily a mother and a father.

“Guru Maatha Guru Pitha  Guru Amuchi Kuladevatha
Gora Patatha Sankatae Guru Rakshim Makemputae
Kaaya Vacha Aani Mana Guru Charanim Arpana
Ekajanarjanim charana Guru Eka Janardhana

I offer all my actions through my words, body and mind to the holy feet of my Sadguru, sings Sant Ekanath in his above Abhang. He says that he fails to see any difference between the Lord Janardhana and his Sadguru.

Sant Ekanath spent all his lifetime doing service to his sadguru Janardhana Swami. The Sadguru was very compassionate to him and decided to bestow the darshan of his Lord Dattareya. One day Janardhanaswami felt guilty for not having given anything to this attendant devotee of his. He was wonderstruck that this young fellow had nothing to ask of him. So, he himself decided to bestow darshan of his Upasana Murti, Lord Dattatreya, on the selfless Ekanath. He asked Lord Dattatreya to give darshan to Ekanath when the latter returned from his morning bath in the river. The next day when Ekanath stepped out of the river Godavari he found Lord Dattatreya under the nearby tree. Since one should not be disrespectful to God he prostrated before this Lord and circumambulated the Lord. Lord Dattatreya blessed him by placing His Feet on Ekanath’s head. Ekanath then returned home.

Here, at home Janardhanaswami was restless. He walked up and down awaiting Ekanath’s return. He kept rehearsing as to how he should handle the stunned Ekanath. It was not going to be darshan in a dream but a real one, just as one person sees another. Janardhanaswami thought, “Anyone who has darshan of the Lord would swoon. Ekanath would be in bliss. Full of joy he would come running and narrate the darshan breathlessly. I must calm him down.” But Ekanath returned home and carried on with his work as usual! The Guru waited for Ekanath to come and describe the darshan in an excited tone. But Ekanath did not! The surprised Janardhanaswami called his upasana devata and asked him, “Did you not give darshan to Ekanath?” Lord Dattatreya said, “I did! Just you had asked me I gave him darshan as he returned from his bath in the river”. The astounded Guru called the devotee. “How can you be so calm? Have you not had darshan of Lord Dattatreya this morning?” Ekanath simply replied, “I never desired this! Only if I considered someone other than you as God should I feel ecstatic! Since I consider you as God there is no new darshan of God to be had anywhere else. I never desired for it nor does this surprise me. I desire only you!”  “Ekajanarjanim charana Guru Eka Janardhana” – Sant Ekanath said that his Guru is verily his is Lord.  There is no difference between the Lord and the sadguru.  It is verily the Lord who sends the Mahans to rule the Jivas and liberate them eventually akin to how in a democratic country people elect their leader.

It is verily a Sadguru who grants liberation to the Jivas. Samartha Ramadas in one of his Abhangs sings that a Sadguru brings Lord Rama in front of his eyes. The life-history of Sabari is a classic example to substantiate this precept, where her Sadguru said that the person representing the Rama Naam will one day come in front of her and it is true that Sabari experienced it. Rama was indeed “Sabari Moksha Sakshibhuta”, which connotes that Lord Rama witnessed the Sabari’s liberation and the Moksha was bestowed on her by her Guru, Mathanga Maharishi. Such is the glory of a Sadguru and it is verily he who can bestow liberation to the Jivas.

After the wonderful exposition on the greatness of a Sadguru by Sri Narayananji fromBoston, Sri Zivanji fromChicagolectured on the greatness of a Mahan with excerpts from life-history of Samartha Ramadas and Sant Tukkaram.

It is only a mother who goes through all trials and tribulations to bring up a child. When the child grows up, the father proudly acknowledges his son to the world. A guru is akin to a mother since he absolves all the ignorance and makes him pure and pristine to reach the holy feet of the Lord.

How can a normal mortal identify a Jeevan Mukta? It is not possible for him to identify a Jeevan Mukta. Even the shastras, which is our reference to everything, fails to give a specific criteria or indications for identifying a Mahan. The way the Mahans conducted themselves is totally different from one another. We cannot call someone as a Mahan if he proclaims that he has seen god. One can only experience the god and not perceive him directly.  No one can actually mark the date as to when they experienced the Lord because the Lord resides in each one of the mortals and it only due to sheer ignorance of the normal mortals that one is unable to experience the Lord. Mahans on the other hand have torn apart their personal traits and merged with the Lord directly.

Once upon a time, there lived a king called Chatrapati Shivaji who was the ruler of what is now known as the state ofMaharashtra. One of his main objectives was to establish Hinduism across the state.  He was given blessed with the power of Tapas by his Guru Samartha Ramadas and he was trying to establish the Hindu religion in the state ofMaharashtrausing this benediction in his reign. It is interesting to see how Shivaji met his Guru, Samartha Ramadas.

Chatrapati Shivaji was once resting on the banks of a river on his way back from a hard-fought battle. He found peepul leaves with divine hymns on Lord Rama inscribed on them floating down the river. He read them and realized that the kirtans must have flowed out of a great Mahatma who has experience Lord Rama. One can realize if a kirtan or a sloka or a hymn has flowed out of a great Mahatma through the divine grace of the Lord or has been composed by a man by mere reading itself.  Shivaji traced back the leaves that were floating down the river and reached
Sanjanghat where Samarta Ramdas resided.  Shivaji shed off his attire and clad in simple clothing prostrated unto the holy feet of this Mahatma. The Mahatma welcomed Shivaji warmly as if he awaited his visit.  He offered a seat to Shivaji and the Mahatma asked him to have his food with them.  The king said that he was not by himself since he was returning from a battle. He had requested his battalion to stay away while he had the darshan of the Mahatma. Samarta Ramdas assured him that he was cognizant of the fact that the king would be accompanied by his entire army.  He said that food will be served to all including the elephants and the horses.  Shivaji humbly consented to the request.  The Mahatma then instructed his disciple to remove the huge boulder that covered the cave nearby and the sight that caught his eyes astounded Shivaji. The cave contained huge amount of various kinds of dishes that was more than adequate to provide a sumptuous meal for the king and his battalion. The King and his huge army had a great food. We all know that one should never question a Guru, but the flabbergasted King politely said that it was not possible for him, in spite of being a King to prepare this amount of food for a large number of people and humbly asked the Mahatmas as to how has this been made possible by the him.

Samarta Ramdas replied to the King’s question by saying “a Mahatma by name Tukkaram dwells in Dehu Roadand asked him to go and place his question before him and that he will give you the explanation.”  The king then left the divine abode of Samartha Ramadas after paying his reverence. Upon returning to his Kingdom, Shivaji forgot his meeting with Tukkaram, as he had to attend to various issues in his Kingdom. Many years passed by. One day while travelling with his army he found a signboard ‘Dehu Road’ inscribed in it. He immediately recollected his meeting with Samarta Ramdas and his words about Tukkaram. He proceeded staright to Dehu Roadand enquired Tukkaram. The people in Dehu Roadsaid, ” Tukkaram is a great Mahatma who is always immersed in singing the praises of Lord Hari and said that one can find him sitting on the mud pyol of a small hut which is his divine abode. “

Shivaji, stopping his army at a distance, walked all alone to the home of Sant Tukkaram who was poverty stricken. He was playing the ‘tamboora’, sitting on the mud pyol of his hut and was singing the glories of Lord Sri Hari.  Shivaji bowed down to him and humbly introduced himself. Tukkaram said, ” Oh! You are the great Chatrapati Shivaji. I am glad to meet you have you here and offered him a seat and requested him to have his food with him.”  Shivaji, said, ” Oh! Master! I have not come alone and I have left my battalion some miles away. “Tukkaram replied saying the he is very well aware that a king does not come alone and assured him that there is enough for all!”  Shivaji was aghast. Tukkaram lived in a small hut made of mud walls and his children wore torn clothes. There were only a few mud pots inside the hut. The roof had lots of holes and hence the sun’s rays were streaming inside the hut through them. Tukkaram then went inside and brought some wheat flour. He gave a pinch of it to Shivaji and to his huge army, including the elephants and the horses. No sooner has  every one of them  consumed the small pinch of wheat flour than they felt satiated that it seemed as if they would not need any food for  the next couple of days.

Shivaji thought to himself, ‘Samarta Ramdas being a single person, provided us all with a real sumptuous meal. But on the other hand Tukkaram being a householder living in utter poverty, gave just a pinch of wheat flour and it filled everyone providing nourishment for several days. Astounded by this miracle, he then hesitatingly and humbly asked Tukkaram as to how this has been possible by him. Tukkaram at once replied saying that there is a great Mahatma by name Samarta Ramdas and asked him to go to him and that he will provide an explanation for his question.
What does one need to decipher from this? It is not possible for a normal person to understand a Mahan. One needs to realize that only a Mahatma can understand another Mahatma. The way in which a Mahan is introduced to this world is only by another Mahan either in their lifetime or after their lifespan.

It is only by the ordinance of the Lord that one will have the divine association of a Mahatma.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Bhagavata Dharma was the Lord’s favorite dharma and He disclosed the dharma to everybody by Himself, whereas, He requested all Rishis and great sages to propagate other dharmas.  “Bhagavata Proktam iti Bhagavatam”. He earnestly requested all great mahans to spread the word of Bhagavata Dharma to the entire world. Bhagavatam mentions the twelve great people who knew the significance of Bhagavata Dharma.

Brahma, Narada, Shiva, Sanatkumaras, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bheeshma, Bali, Sage Suka and Yama.

Srimad Bhagavatam describes Rishaba Yogishawara was a shining example of a Jeevan Mukta. He was so compassionate and was very loving to everyone. He had many supernatural powers but did not make any use of them. Out of his sheer compassion he calls all his ninty-nine sons and gave them a valuable piece of advice. He gave an upadesha of Bhagavatha Dharma. First and foremost advice he advised them is to be in an association of Sadhus. He then taught the beautiful precept to keep doing one’s karma until the karma finally leaves them. The first indication that one will experience when one’s karma is going to be completed is verily the inclination to listen to the divine stories of the Lord. One’s thought should always be focused on to the Lord. A guru who does not show the lord is indeed not a guru. “Janani na sasyath janako na sasyaat gurur na sasyaat”

We also see that in Jadabharata’s life history where he (the son of Rishabha) renounces everything.  In his third birth he was born as Jadabharatha and imparted Bhagavata Dharma to Rahugana.

All these illustrious Mahatmas, being Jnanis of the highest order, have shown the path of Bhagavatha Dharma which is verily chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and listening to His Divine stories.

The Lord Sri Hari is incomprehensible by the senses. He can for sure attained only by grace. The Lord has taken innumerable incarnations and out of all the incarnations, there is one incarnation that can be found everywhere. It is verily Srimad Bhagavatham. It is grace incarnate. But people do not understand the importance and greatness of Srimad Bhagavatham. It is verily the Lord in the form of a book. It is said that every line in Srimad Bhagavatham is Lord Krishna himself and every line translates to Radha Rani who is the epitome of Prema Bhakti. Just like how a word cannot be separated from its meaning, the Lord and Bhakti cannot be separated.  If one follows the path of Bhakti, then one can attain the Lord. We know that Srimad Bhagavatham contains twelve chapters and eighteen thousand slokas. The first nine cantos merely act as a detergent to cleanse our mind to read the divine birth and glories of the Lord in the tenth canto. The tenth canto depicts the Ashraya quality which is verily the Lord himself.

“Dasamasya vishudyatham navanam iha lakshanam”

All the nine cantos cleanse one’s mind so that the Lord himself can come and reside in our hearts. Akin to how we dust the place before we take seat, the Lord resides in souls whose heart is clean.

The nine cantos extol the glories of the devotees of the Lord and by reminiscing the glories of the devotees of the Lord will instill bhakti in all. By reading the nine cantos, the negative qualities are absolved and the vacant spots created by the removal of these negative qualities are filled with bhakti.

“Yad bhAgavata mAhAtmyam bhagavat  bhakti vardhanam” Only if our heart is filled with bhakti we can relish and enjoy the glories of the Lord and his divine pranks and plays. Now one may ask as to how the first nine cantos prepare one to read the glories of the Lord in the tenth canto. It is indeed very beautiful to see how. The first canto talks about Sage Narada who is the quintessence of Bhakti. One of the easiest ways to attain the holy of the Lord is to chant his divine names. Sage Narada’s life-history lucidly advices one not to do any other yoga but to be in the divine communion of a great Mahatma. Be a recipient of a Sadhu’s grace and constantly chant the Divine Names of the Lord and this is the crux of Sage Narada’s charithra. The fourth canto talks about little Dhruva. The determination that one should possess to reach the Lord is described in detail. A strong urge to attain the Lord will lead us to a guru is sung in Dhruva’s charithra. Srimad Bhagavatham then goes to say how one should meditate on the form of the Lord. It is described in Rudra Geetha. Lord Rudra himself describes that beautiful form that one should meditate upon.

Swayambu Manu was the first king to rule the entire world.

Swayambu Manu had three daughters, Ahuthi, Prasuthi and Devahooti and two sons, Priyavrathan and Uttanapadan.The doings of Swayambu Manu’s son Uttanapada and his successors upto the Pracinabarhis are expounded in the fourth canto of Srimad Bhagavatham. In the fifth canto, The life-history of Priyvaratha, another son of Manu and his successors are described in detail in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatham.

King Parikshit says

” Priyavratho Bhagavatha Aathmaramaha katham munae |
Gruhaetha ramatha yaanmoolaha karmabandhaha paarabhavaha ||”

Oh! Revered sage, Suka, Priyavratha was a great devotee who is ever reveling in the the atman. Why did he then take the life of a house-holder which causes the bondage of Karma.

Mahatham kalu viparshae uthamaslokapaadayoho |
Chhayanivirtha chithanam na kudumbae spruhamathihi ||

King PArikshit also added that those who experience the bliss of divinity, the desire for a family can never arise. He also questioned Sage Sukha as to how people like Priyavratha who is so devoted to Lord Krishna can ever feel attached to home.

In reply to King Parikshit’s questions, Sage Suka started to reply,

“Baadamuktam bhagavatha uthamslokaysa shimacharanaravindhamuktha makarandhasya aavaeshitachaethaso bhagavatha paramahamsa dayitha katam kinchisdantharaya vihitam svam sivathamam padavim na prayena hinvanthi |”

He says, O King! What you have said is correct in one way! But it can happen that a devotee though his mind is deeply immersed in the imbibing the nectar of Lord’s lotus feet is for a short time obstructed in his devotional life by his own prarabdha.

So Sage Shuka embarked on the discourse of history of Priyavrata. Having instructed by Sage Narada, Priyavrata attained the knowledge of the atman  and had resorted to worship the lord by completely concentration of his mind on the lord. Priyavrata also possessed all the qualities required for kingship and administration and so he was called by his father to take the throne. A father’s order was never to be disobeyed. But yet, Priyavrata who was completely dedicated to the Lord did not accept his father’s orders since he was concerned that it might digress him from his spiritual path.

Priyavrata was in a confused state and just then, Lord Brahma appeared in front of Sage NArada, Priyvarata and his father Swayambu Manu.

They all at once stood up and prostrated to Lord Brahma and other devas and then Brahma said, “Oh Privavrata, no one can transgress the supreme and immeasurable being. We all carry out the will of the supreme being. He urged him to take the throne since he had already won over the six-fold enemy and that after completing his duties he can very well abandon everything and then focus on the all pervading Lord Sri Krishna.

After Brahma’s advice, the great devotee Priyavrata considered that it was the commandment of the Supreme Master agreed to take the throne. So by  Brahma’s advice, Swayambu Manu’s desires were fulfilled. So with Sage Narada’s help he enthroned his son Priyavratha to rule the whole earth and then Manu retired from his worldly life. Priyavrata was free from all the worldly desires even when he ruled the whole earth and it was only to honor the command of a great Personage Lord Brahma that he took control of the government and not for any personal ambition for power or position. He then married Barishmati, the daughter of Prajapati. They were blessed with ten sons who were very well mannered. Priyavratha and Barishmati were also blessed with a daugheter Urjaswati,. She was the youngest child. The ten sons had their names synonyms of Agni in all their names which are as follows: Agnidhra, Idhmajihva, Yajnabahu, Mahavira, Hiranyaretas, Gritaprishta, Savana, Medhadithi, Vitihotra and Kavi. Of these ten sons, Kavi, Mahavira and Savana were inclined in the path of spirituality and established their lives in supreme peace. While some of his sons resorted to the path of spitrituality, Priyavrata ruled the earth for about 1.1 billion years [11 crore years]. During that period, he destroyed Adharma by mere bow and arrow. He however, simultaneously wore the appearance of am ordinary man and enjoyed the delights of his wife Barishmati.

One day he observed that the glorious sun lights the earth’s surface in the course of its circuit round theMountSumeru. The sun shines only on one-half of the globe and leaves the other half in dark. He was however not happy with this. In order to overcome this and make the night equally bright as the daytime, he circumambulated aroundMountMeruin his chariot.  He could merely achieve this by his supernatural powers which he derived by intense worship to the Lord. The tracks that were sunk by the fellies of the wheels of his chariot came to be known as the seven oceans of the world. These seven oceans divided the earth into seven dwipas [mainaland].

In size, each outer one is double the size of one inner to it. They encircle the oceans yjat divide them.The seven oceans contain salt water, the juice of sugar-cane, wine, clarified butter, milk, fluid curds, and pure water and they serve as a moat [channel] for the dweepas. Priyavratha throned  one of his sons in every dweepas. He gave his daughter Urjaswati in marriage to maharishi Sukra and they were blessed with a daughter called Devayani.

Priyavratha once felt that he had been deprived of the divine communion with the Lord which he had when he was undergoing the spiritual austerities under the great divine sage Narada. And he gave away the kingdom to all his sons and resorted to the path of constant remembrance of the Lord.

Priyavratha’s son was Agnidhra, a very pious and noble ruler. His son was Nabhi a great and devout ruler to whom Mahavishnu  incarnated himself as his son. The son so born was called Rishaba one of the greatest among the rajarshis. The object of his incarnation was to set an example of an ideal house-holder and that of a Paramahamsa. He had several sons, of whom nine became the Nava Yogis, about whom is expounded in detail in the 11^th canto of Srimad Bhagavatham. The most  famous  Rishaba’s son was Bharata who succeeded Rishaba to the throne.  His impact on the country was so great that it came to be called as Bharathavarsha  Apart from being a great ruler, he was a devout and a great devotee of the Lord. Once an attachment to a fawn  brought on him a rebirth as a deer and afterwards again as a man with full enlightenment and was known as Jadabharatha.

Bhagavatham also talks about dispassion. Jadabahratha and Rishaba Yogishawara’s life histories lucidly talks about dispassion. One should start to inculcate dispassion with immense bhakti for the Lord. Dispassion is leaving everything to the wish and will of the Lord. This is shown in seventh canto in Prahlada charithra. Prahlada advised his friends to inculcate dispassion. Love for the Lord does not manifest as love for fellowmen. Seeing everything as the form of the Lord is the crux of Prahlada Charithram.

Srimad Bhagavatam speaks volumes about the glories of Bhagavan and the Bhagavatas.  This holy granta is Lord Krishna Himself [Swayam Krishna].

“Srimad Bhagavathakyoyam Prathyaksha Krishna eva hi”

The lord merged into Srimad Bhagavatam to benefit the people in this age of Kali. Every syllable in this Maha Purana connotes Lord Krishna.

Can the Unborn be born? And even if he does, can He be born in the form of a book?  When he can take the form of a boar, why not as a grantha!  And the reason for all of this is nothing but His infinite compassion.

One day Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was performing a Pooja to Radha-Kantha – his personalKrishnadeity, when he was bestowed with a divine vision – a divine jyoti (light) rises from the deity, enters his own body and leaves it to enter Srimad Bhagavatam granta- and then converges back into Radha Kanta.  Unable to decipher the divine message, he questioned the Lord and the Lord said that it was to show that Srimad Bhagavatam is verilyKrishna.

“Srimad bhagavthi suranaam athi durlabham” – Bhagavatam is difficult even for the Devas!

A person from the South wished to undertake a pilgrimage toNorth India.  At about the same time, he received an invitation from his friend to attend a Bhagavata Saptaham that the latter hosted.  He gently denied the invitation and set out on the trip.  After traveling hundreds of miles, he reachedVaranasi.  It was late in the night and he rested in the pyol of a householder’s place.  Someone came to enquire directions to go to theGanges, and the householder replied that he didn’t know.  Witnessing this conversation, the gentleman from the south thought, ‘Ridiculous!  How terrible a sinner this fellow is, that living inVaranasi, he doesn’t know the route to theGanges!  Its verily a sin to even rest in this person’s house!’ and he walked away.  The next morning, he headed for theGangesto take a dip, and surprisingly, even as he reached the banks, he was not able to see the river flowing!  Later he understood that he was not able to see the river because of the two sins that he has committed!  Contemplating on his acts, the man walked back and realized what happened the previous night and went to the householder’s residence.  As he approached, he saw a few women, dingy dark and dirty entering the house and then leaving the house in a gorgeous celestial form.

He was now confident that the householder was no less than a Mahatma and that an ‘apachara’ to the Mahatma has made the river invisible to him.  He entered the house and fell at the feet of the Mahatma – and asked him, who those women were.  They were indeed the holy rivers –Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswathi!  He wanted to know what kind of austerities / poojas the person was performing that the very holy rivers were getting cleansed at his home!  All he was doing was – placing a flower on a text of Srimad Bhagavatam every day! At once he realized, that the second sin was that of declining an invitation to Srimad Bhagavata Saptaham!

A similar incident happened in our Satsang as well. There was a person in the town ofAmburin Tamil Nadu and one fine day, our Swamiji went to their house.  The entire family was taken by surprise! It later turned out that the only pooja that they were doing was to keep a flower on the Bhagavatam Granta at their pooja room – not even aware of the fact that it was Srimad Bhagavatam!  Such is the greatness of Srimad Bhagavatam.

The first canto of Bhagavatam speaks of three women –Kunti, Draupadi and Uttara, in reverse order, each one being the daughter -in-law of the other!  After the Mahabharata War, Draupadi woke up to be pained to know that her five sons have been charred to death by Ashwattama, Drona’s son.  Unable to bear the grief, Arjuna vowed to kill the perpetrators of the arson and chased Ashwattama and brought him before Draupadi.  Draupadi immediately bowed to Ashwattama and pleaded to her husbands to let him off, for three reasons – Ashwattama was a Brahmin, the son of their Guru, and above all, she didn’t want Ashwattama’s mother Gautami to suffer the same pains as she was going through.  Indeed, the compassionate heart of a mother, a woman being portrayed here.

Following this, Ashwattama is let off, and he casts another Brahmastra on the womb of Uttara, who bears the only child of the Pandava lineage.  Uttara comes crying running to Sri Krishna pleading to protect the womb.  This episode depicts Draupadi’s immense love and compassion on one who had caused her lots of grief.  That child was verily King Parikshit, without whom there wouldn’t have been Bhagavatam at all!  Bhagavatam also speaks about Kunti who does a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving for everythingKrishnadoes for her, and surprisingly asks for more sorrows!

Bhagavatam then goes to speak about the Leelas of the Lord starting from the cosmic creation.  The incarnations of the Lord, the ‘Charitras’ of His devotees like Dhruva and Prahlada are narrated.  In Dhruva Charitra,  narada is seen as giving benedictions to Dhruva and the latter goes to entice the Lord through his tapas.  Prahlada Charitra shows the beautiful precept that steadfast devotion of the Lord can surpass myriad of obstacles that come by in life.  As a central piece of jewel comes the story of Ajamila – who was liberated at his last breath by the Divine Name, even after having committed the gravest of sins is elucidated.  The liberation of the elephant king Gajendra who is put into terminal danger shows us that one can be freed from the pangs of death by surrender.  The churning of the ocean of milk to get the divine nectar (Amrutha Mathanam) and the story of Balifollows.  Then Sage Shuka speaks about the story of Ambarisha, to underline the importance of ‘Vinayam’ (humility) – the absence of which makes one unfit to Krishna Leela – which is the sum and substance of the following, 10^th Canto, nay, the entire Bhagavatam!

In his Satpadi Stotra, Adi Shankara preaches about what one should ask for when offering prayers to the Lord –

“Avinayam Apanaya Vishno Damayam Manaha samaya visayayam
mhrihathdrishna Bootha daya vistaraya taraya samsara saarad taapad “

Humility is associated with a gentleman. The virtue of Vinaya constitutes humility, gentleness, consideration for others. The education that one acquires should inculcate this quality in all of us.

In Bhagavat Gita, while speaking about a scholar, says ‘vidyA vinaya sampanne…’ – underlining tha the trait of humility is the foremost.

Padmapada, a disciple of Adi Shankara in his hymns of praise on his guru Adi Shankara sings –

“Prathyasa Unmuka Vinitha Vinaya Bringah”

He calls the disciples of Adi Shankara as “Bringah” and that they are drinking the nectar of all commentaries from the lotus like lips of their Guru, Sri Adi Shankaracharya.

The expression used to indicate the disciples is “Vinitha Vinaya Bringah”. The disciples who have come to be equipped with humility have now been transformed into “Vinitha” which is verily the person possessing this virtue of humility.

So how is this possible?  It is verily the presence of the Guru that has bestowed the disciples with the virtue of humility. This goes to show that this important quality can only be bestowed by one’s own Sadguru. He would inculcate this important trait before placing his disciples unto the lotus feet of the Lord.

It is only with this virtue of humility that one proceeds to the 10^th Canto, which is prescribed for everyday reading ‘nityam dasamasya paataath’.  The Eleventh Canto is the essence of Bhagavata Dharma described in the conversation of Uddhava with Krishna.  The 12^th Canto speaks of the greatness of Nama Sankirtan  in this Kali Yuga!

“nAma sankirtanam yasya sarva pApa praNAshanam
PranAmo dukkha shamanah tam namAmi harim param”

So how is one bestowed with Srimad Bhagavatam? It is verily the grace of a Guru that will bless his devotees with this Srimad Bhagavatam.  When the Lord decides to take someone unto his fold, then the first indication is blessing his devotee with Srimad Bhagavatam.

The satsang ended with Namasankritan and prayers after reminiscing on Srimad Bhagavatam.

goes the kirtan of Sri Muralidhara Swamiji.  Parikshit who was suffering from the three kinds of ills and Srimad Bhagavatam was an elixir to him, which he listened to and that was his means to attain the feet of Lord Hari, which is the rarest of the rarest.

Further, it says that it contains the stories of Bhagavatas like Gajendra, and the story of the Lord’s incarnation as Lord Hari, who came down to protect these great Bhaktas.

Let us look at a situation.  A poor man needs some money for his daily bread.  So he approaches a home and calls for help and is refused.  Then he starts extolling the householder as the most generous person on earth.  Immediately the householder is happy and gives him some money.  On another instance this person wanted a bigger amount to treat an illness and he knows that the earlier householder would not donate such an amount, no matter how much he praised him.  So he would go to a wealthier person with the same encomium.  In general, one would assess the capability of a person before seeking his help.  You wouldn’t approach an old / fragile person for help with a physical activity.  Thus, for things that seem trivial, we go to people around you for help.  If the situation is out of control and the solution seems to be beyond the ken of our intellect, then we surrender to the Lord.  Bhagavatam shows us how one should approach the Lord for anything and everything.  One who can give a million dollars can also give you $100!  When one surrenders to the Lord, he saves us from all the trivial miseries of the world, as well as saves us from the huge ocean of transmigration.  This fact is beautifully expounded in Gajendra Moksham.

When the alligator caught the feet of Gajendra, his instinctive prayer was to get himself rid of clasp of the alligator.  But if that were his eventual motive, he could have called out to any and every deity that has the Siddhi to relieve him from the alligator.  But Gajendra realized that this is not the end-all.   Getting freed from an alligator doesn’t guarantee that he would be free from more dangerous entities, the most dangerous one being death!

Then Gajendra realized, ‘bhItam prapannam paripAti yatbhayAn mruthyuh pradAvatyaraNnam tamImahI’ – so he calls the one, who can allay that very fear of death!  The one who can bestow him the state of deathlessness – or Moksha, and indeed Lord Hari came down.

In the Kirtan, our Guru Maharaj says,

‘hariyai nambi kettavar purANaththilum illai’ – there cannot be a more trustworthy entity than Lord Sri Hari.

And how does Bhagavatam transform one? ‘paripakkuvam Akki hari bhaktiyaitharum’ – it transforms one to be fit to do Bhakti.  It transforms even a ruffian’s heart into a soft one and makes the flower of Hari Bhakti blossom in his heart.   Such is the glory of Bhagavatam which is nonpareil!

From such a nectar called Bhagavatam, let us continue with the 11^th canto lectures from where we left last…

The 11^th Canto starts with Navayogi Upakhyana.  Then Uddhava Gita starts.   In any transaction, the ‘adhikaritva’ (capability) of the giver and the receiver matters.  The giver is none other than the supreme being – Lord Krishna and in Bhagavat Gita, the receiver (listener) is Arjuna, who had been all along withKrishna since the time of Arjuna’s marriage and here the Adhikari is Uddhava.  Although Uddhava’s father andKrishna’s father Vasudeva were cousins,           they were not collocated and yet Uddhava thought about Lord Krishna all the time.

The word ‘Uddhava’ itself means ‘being happy / celebrating all the time ’ as Sri Swamiji’s kirtan goes – ‘Utsaaha uddhavam aham namAmi…’ .  Now, how could can separation fromKrishnabring happiness to Uddhava?  Uddhava would celebrate at the very thought ofKrishnaand His leelas.  Bhagavatam says, that when Uddhava was 5 years old, his mother would call him to take breakfast.  Uddhava would say, ‘Mom! I don’t want breakfast. I am busy herding cows.  Wouldn’tKrishnatoo be herding cows back in Brindavanam now? Wouldn’tKrishnabe playing with the Gopas in Gokulam now? I too want to play with Gopas…’.  Such was his ‘smarana’ Bhakti.

How could the Lord stand a devotee who thinks about Him always being separated from Him?  So when the time was ripe, He takes over such a Bhakta unto Him.  He summoned Uddhava whenKrishnacreated Dwaraka and made him the minister.

The listener of Uddhava Gita is such!

When Uddhava and Krishna meet at Prabhasa Kshetra, Uddhava pleads to Krishna with his questions whenKrishnadecides to leave this Universe.  Krishna convinces Uddhava that he cannot accompanyKrishnaand that he had to lead the life of an ascetic being on this earth.  To prepare him for such a life,Krishnaspeaks about the greatness of the Guru and narrates the Avadhoota Gita (the 24 Gurus).  Uddhava recognizes Lord Krishna as His Guru.  It is said in the Gita,

‘tadviddhi praNipAtena pariprashnena sevayA’

One may be ridden with numerous questions.  But when he goes to the sanctum of a Sadguru, all his questions will vanish.

Paul Brunton a European, was fascinated by the mysticism ofIndiaand came down to the South.  By God’s grace he chanced to meet his Guru – Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi at Tiruvannamalai.  He had a notebook full of questions to ask Ramana.  When he came to the precincts of the Ashram, the Sage recognized Paul Brunton and had him sit in His presence.  He didn’t even bother to beckon Paul Brunton to shoot his questions, although He knew that there were many.   Half a day passed that way and then, the Sage asked Paul to have his lunch, even warning that it could be a little too spicy for him!   When Paul was back from lunch, Bhagavan Ramana said, ‘Go ahead with your questions’.  At that moment, Paul Brunton closed his notebook and exclaimed, ‘No more questions’!

All his questions had vanished in the presence of the Mahatma, as Bhagavatam says:

‘Bhidyate hrudayagrantih chidyante sarva samshayA
kshIyante chAsya karmAni drushtayevAtmanIshvare’

‘all knots of the hearts are untied and all doubts cease…’.

But, still, if one has questions, then they are results of a true quest.

Someone, came and asked our Guru Maharaj ‘What is the purpose of my life?’.  Many great men have given various different answers – ‘to realize God’, ‘to attain His Holy Feet’ and so on.  But our Guru Maharaj’s answers are always unique.

He answered, ‘The purpose of your life hitherto was to ask this question.  Today you have come to a point where you have this genuine question in your heart and you sincerely seek an answer to this question.  That has been the purpose of your life!’  – The moment you attain a Sadguru, all your doubts will be cleared. But if there is still a question to ask, save the question and getting it answered – is verily the purpose of one’s life!  Indeed an esoteric message made simple!

All the questions that Uddhava poses to Lord Krishna in Uddhava Gita are such questions!
EarlierKrishna concluded, ‘Uddhava, you have now listened to Avadhoota Gita. Let me tell you how one should lead his life – one should lead a life quitting vices like pride, laziness, jealousy, envy and ego and should have staunch faith in Me, not being distracted by anything in the world and speak as less as possible.’

Then Uddhava askedKrishnato explain him as to who is bounded to the samsara (‘baddha’) and who is liberated (‘mukhta’).  He went further, requestingKrishnato expound on the characteristics of a liberated soul, how he walks, how he eats, how he sits etc.

With a smile,Krishnasaid, ‘Uddhava, your question is primarily flawed!’

He continued, ‘Who is bound? And who is liberated? There is no binding, and hence no relieving!’

‘baddho mukta itivyAkyA guNato me na vastutah
guNasya mAyA mUlatvAt na me moksho na bandanam’

One’s natural state is the state of being free – then where is the question of being bound and being liberated? It is only a figure of speech when we say one is bound in ‘samsAra’ and one has to be liberated.  To clarify this fact, Lord Krishna goes on to narrate a story, one that has been spoken about in detail in the Upanishads.

In a forest is a Peepul tree with numerous branches and on one of the branches, there are two beautiful golden-winged birds, that look exactly alike. They were very close friends. One of the birds feeds on the fruit from the tree and as it eats more and more into the fruit, becomes pale and emaciated.  The other bird keeps watching the feeding bird but not lets out a word, patiently waiting for the friend to turn unto it.  The feeding bird is so busy into eating that it has completely forgotten the existence of a friend nearby, and does not even realize that the fruit is making it lose its complexion and health.  This goes on for years and years together, and eventually there comes a point when the emaciated bird, gets bored of the fruit and stops feeding on it.  At this instant, it turns to the friend, who is still there, patiently waiting, and the moment it sees its friend, it realizes the true nature and there are no more two birds – just one, it takes flight from the tree.

The Jeevatma and the Paramatma are the two birds, that look alike – sitting on a tree called Samsara – the human body.  The Jeevatma is submerged in the ‘fruit’ of its activity (karma) and the Paramatma, although is the owner of everything, still looks on, as if it is disconnected from everything.  The Paramatma or the ‘tattva’ of the Guru, patiently waits on the Jeevatma to turn unto ‘it’.  Eventually, after births together, the Jeevatma, through ‘dukha doshanudarshanam’ – learning from experience the bane of the misery of the samsara and being frustrated by the sorrows through Guru’s grace, turns to the Guru / Lord.  The rest is history!

After narrating this beautiful story, Lord Krishna goes on… answering Uddhava’s other questions, expounding the qualities of the ‘baddha’ (bound person) and the liberated.

A liberated one would never identify himself with his body, just like one who is asleep might, in his sleep, dream of himself being a pauper.  The moment the dreamer wakes up, he knows that he is not the one who was personified in his dream.  He is indeed a wealthy person.  Likewise, one bound in samsara, identifies himself with his body and complains all the time that he is lowly, he is mean, he is entangled in the problems of the world and that he is a wreck.  A liberated one doesn’t identify himself to be a body and hence is sans complaints.

The sense organs (‘indriya’) are the sensors of the mind and the mind reacts to the stimulus given to these sensors.  Although a liberated one may physically possess all the senses (‘indriya’), he would not own them, or their responses.  Though the sense organs work, he doesn’t believe that they work for him, while the bound one, believes, relies on and owns completely his senses.

To the questions on how he would sleep, eat, walk etc., Lord Krishna told Uddhava that there was absolutely no difference between the acts of a liberated soul and an ignorant one.  By mere looks, one cannot identify a liberated one.  He never claims himself to be a Jnani either!  However, if you watch his activities closely, you may identify by his nature!

When someone badmouths him, he doesn’t care, and at the same time, when someone sings praises of him, he doesn’t care too, just like the child (in the 24 Gurus).  Jadabharata was an example! Some wanted to perform Puja to him and some wanted to slay him! In either instance he sat like a rock, unmoved.  Praises and abuses are alike to an insentient thing, can it?

Above all,Krishnasays, that by mere reading of the Vedas and the Upanishads, one doesn’t become liberated.  Anyone that gives a discourse on Vedanta doesn’t become a liberated being.  A liberated one brings into experience what is said in the scriptures.

Having narrated about all the qualities of a liberated soul, Lord Krishna makes us realize how lucky all of us are!  We have been bestowed with a Sadguru, a beautiful Satsangam, and Bhagavatam!

There was a household that had bought a calf considering it to be auspicious and started feeding her.  They waited for the calf to grow older so that she would give sufficient milk and so they could make a living out of it, as they suffered in penury.  The cow grew older and all their material wealth was depleted in feeding the cow, but alas, the cow wouldn’t give a drop of milk!  It was a non-milking cow!  At this point, the household would be helpless, as they wouldn’t get rid of the cow, just because it is considered auspicious, and the cow wouldn’t milk after all!  What a waste!

Then there was a couple who were married for a while.  The wife was the spendthrift of the highest order.  She would be involved in all kinds of social activity, spend all her time in meeting her friends, shopping, dressing up, attending parties and dinners.  But when her husband would ask her for a small favor, she would tell him all sorts of reasons and turn him down. Not limiting to this, the wife would even speak ill of her husband in utter disrespect to her friends and neighbors.  On the other hand, he would brag about the greatness of her wife to his friends!  How terrible the family life becomes!  What a waste!

God has blessed us with a beautiful human body so that we can perform Bhakti, Nama Sankirtan and Bhagavata Parayana.  But instead, we end up selling our body for mundane joys of the world.  What are the mundane joys?  We spend all our energy, resources and time with work and work alone – off-hours, extra-time, so much so that we boldly complain that we don’t ‘find’ time to chant the Mahamantra! The boss wouldn’t sanction vacation if we planned to go to Madhurapuri to witness the Brahmotsav of Thakurji.  Work, work and work all the time!  All, with money in mind!  Friends, haven’t we completely missed the point by making accessories as essentials, and essentials as optional? Haven’t we lost the wonderful opportunity given to us?  What a waste!

The parents in a household leave no stones unturned to educate their son.  They dedicate the prime of their lives in bringing up their son, sending him abroad for higher studies and seeing him well-settled.  After his retirement, the parents wish to settle in Madhurapuri Ashram to enjoy the bliss of our Madhuri Sakhi – Premika Varadan day in and day out, at least in their old age.  But they get a call from their son that they should fly to theUSto babysit his children.  They fly to the US and the elderly mother is busy taking care of the newborn, and as the father opens up a notebook to write ‘Rama’ Nama or starts reading Bhagavatam or dials into a telecon satsang, the son would quip, ‘Dad, why do you while away time like this?! I shall look for a good part-time job for you in a grocery store nearby – that way it will serve as a good income for our family now!’ How unfortunate!  Should not the son, as a duty, take care of his parents during their old age, or at the least, refrain from troubling them?  Should he not try to repay all that the parents had done for him?  What is the use of bringing up such kids! What a waste!

These four examples are cited by Lord Krishna to say, how one should not waste this human life of his.

Over and above these four examples,Krishnagoes on…

Every one has a mouth, everyone has a tongue.  If that tongue cannot chant the Mahamantra or speak / read Bhagavatam but would speak of all the worldly matters, it is the waste of the highest order!   Tulsidas Maharaj goes to say, the mouth that doesn’t chant the Rama Nama is like an anthill and the tongue is like a snake, spewing the venom of worldliness.  They would spend hundreds on all worldly matters, but would think a hundred times before buying a bouquet of flowers for the Lord or buying fruits for offering!

What is the difference between a music concert and a bhajan, when both are about music and singing?  A concert is about the claps of the people, while a Bhajan is about the claps ofKrishna.  A bhajan gives an opportunity for all to sing along… ‘raaga jnaanamum thevaiyum illai….’ Says our Guru Maharaj in a kirtan.  – No need of any knowledge of music, just requires devotion in the hearts.  However, one may say that the Bhajans are too complex, are in a foreign language etc. and cannot be sung!  That is why, we have the Namavalis, where the Divine Names are strung together in music and sung.  A few can not even follow and sing the Namavalis.  For those people, we have the Pundareekam ‘Gopika Jeevanasmaranam , Govinda! Govinda!’  Simply chant ‘Govinda’, ‘Govinda’.  No pre-requisites here, and yet a few feel shy to open their mouths and would bend their heads down!  A few would do it only in a large gathering (‘kootathoda govinda!’ in Tamizh) and a few keep mum!

Lord Krishna Himself feels sorry for such souls! ‘dukha dukhi’ He says!  ‘who can help such unfortunate souls’,Krishnasays to Uddhava.  ‘Truly fortunate are those who have gotten a beautiful satsang, who chant My Divine Names, who recount My divine glories all the time! They are indeed my true devotees’,Krishnaconcludes.

As we see,Krishnastarted off with the greatness of a Jnani and ends with a greatness of a true devotee – placing the true devotee at a higher pedestal than a Jnani!   Uddhava acknowledges Krishna, ‘Krishna! I now understand the qualities of a Jnani, his disposition and qualities. But please throw more light on a Bhakta!  What is the nature of a true Bhakta?  Who else can speak about a true Bhakta other than You,Krishna!’

The satsang ended with Prayers with Nama Sankirtan.

mA NishAda prathishtAntamagamahsAsvati SamA
yat kraunchamithunAdekam avadhI kAmamohitam

Even though the Vedas which are composed in Sanskrit came to be known before Ramayana, the Vedas are referred to be the voice of the Lord himself and hence the first sloka in Sanskrit is the one mentioned above which was recited by Valmiki.

It was only through this great Saint Valmiki that we got the Divine Name Rama. It was through his guru’s grace, Sage Narada and Lord Rama that he chanted the hymn “MaRaMaRa” and so we all could get the great name “Rama” and also get to know the beautiful Charitra of Lord Rama.

In Ramayana, the Lord was banished to the forest by his step mother Kaikeyi. He departed to the forest and the first river he crossed was Yamuna. The divine mother Sita and Lakshmana were very depressed with the sequence of events that happened before their departure to the forest. After crossing Yamuna, the Lord tried to dissuade their hard feelings and make them feel lighter and hence decided to show them different places in the forest. When they were en route to Chitrakutam, Sita Devi was enticed by the beauty of Yamuna river and she requested the Lord to spend some time in river Yamuna. Lord Rama exhorted to her request and said that it was not the right time to spend time in Yamuna since he being a “Eka Patni Vrita” and that their river was Ganga and politely said that they will spend not just one or two days but a lifetime in river Yamuna. He promised to Sita Devi that he will take another incarnation to spend the entire lifetime in river Yamuna. Since Lord Rama was a Sathyasankalpa his words would never go falsified and so in next incarnation of the Lord he came down as Lord Krishna and did many leelas on the banks of river Yamuna. The above dialogue between Lord Rama and Lordess Sita is not present in Valmiki Ramayana but it an exposition of the Mahans. The greatness of river Yamuna is that it is river of Prema [divine love untainted by any needs and wants]. Lord Krishna was so enticed by river Yamuna so much so that the Gopis were also jealous of river Yamuna.  Krishna never drank the water from Yamuna with a cup or bowl, instead he sucked the water through his mouth with his hands tied back akin to how a cow drinks water from a river. The Lord realized that the Gopis were envious about this and so he decided to please them as well.  During the fall season [Sharad Ritu], it was on this auspicious day of Sharat Poornima [aka Rasa Poornima], the Lord played Rasa Kreeda with the Gopis. The divine play, Rasa Kreeda was so enchanting that Sage Narada was the first one to witness this scene. He wanted to share this joy with everyone and hence proceeded to Mount Kailasha and requested Lord Shiva to come down and he also viewed the divine play of the Lord. This day also marks significance to Lord Shiva. In South India, all the Shiva Lingas are decorated with different food items. Such is the greatness of this day in which the three Lords namely Lord Rama, Krishna and Shiva are worshipped.

After reminiscing the glories of Lord Venkateshwara the previous week, Hemaji of Dallas spoke on one of His devotees….

We know that Perumal did Kamsa Samhara, Ravana Samhara and even Hiranya Samhara. But he was not able to do Kali Samhara and successfully win over Kali. But the devotees of Lord Hari by chanting the Divine Names of Lord Hari and by extolling his divine glories were able to win over Lord Hari. There was a disciple of Ramanujacharya and his name was Ananthazhwar.

akhilAtma guNAvAsam ajnAnatimirApaham |
AshritAnAm sucharaNam vande anantArya desikam ||

This hymn was composed by Lord Venkateshwarea Himself on Ananthazhwar where the Lord extolled his greatness, the one who possessed all the qualities and absolves the darkness of ignorance, the one who gives a safe aboard to dwell to those who surrender unto him and the Lord offers his prayers and obeisance to Anantharya.

Tirumalai was once in dilapidated state and the worship of Lord was not happening as expected. Ramanujacharya visited this place and shed tears looking at the state of affairs.  He called all his devotees and confided to the congregation the plight of the seven hills and posed them a question if anyone would be interested to serve the Lord on the hills on a day to day basis. Everyone was hesitant fearing the hard life up the hills.

There rose Ananthazhwaar, a silent devotee in the midst of the gathering and said “Oh revered Acharya, please bless me to serve the Lord of the seven hills” and he said that he will be immensely happy to take up the service. Ramanujacha was mightily pleased and happy and embracing Ananthazhwaar proclaimed in front of the gathering, “Oh Ananthazhwaar, You are the right man to undertake this service “.

Ananthazhwaar departed from Srirangam along with his pregnant wife and settled down in Tirumala to serve the orders of his guru. He served the Lord of the seven hills under Sri Arulalaperumal Emperumanar guidance who was another devotee of Ramanuja. In Tirumala, he started to grow a flower garden atop the hills. He would collect the flowers from the garden and make a beautiful garland and bedeck the Lord every day. This was the routine for Ananthazhwaar every day. He had to carry water for the garden from the down-hills and when it rain slammed the hills, it was extremely difficult for him to carry the water from the down hills. A thought struck Ananthalvar to build a water tank for his garden.  He started to digging up the earth to build the tank and he was assisted by his wife to empty the dirt to another place. The couple toiled hard to construct the tank. Since she was pregnant, she became tired very soon and the compassionate Lord of the hills was unable to see this. So he disguised as a young lad wearing a religious and requested Ananthazhwaar if he can be of any help to construct the water tank.

The couple toiled day and night to serve their Guru. Their only aim was service to the Guru.  Ananthazhwar quipped, and asked him to mind his own business since he wanted to build the garden and the tank all by himself.  The lad did not deter and proceeded straight to Ananthazhwar’s wife. She feared her husband but the young lad said to her that he will help her in running chores to build the water tank. She being a compassionate lady could not deny the boy’s offer to render help and so she took his help.  The boy’s help really started to expedite his wife’s work and hence the removal of earth was happening faster than ever before and she was now productive than ever. This really surprised Ananthazhwar and so he secretly followed his wife. He saw the young boy helping his wife and severely chastised the boy and hit him with a crowbar and the boy started to bleed started to ooze from his chin. He chased the boy away.

The Lord through Sri Arulalaperumal Emperumanar ordained Ananthazhwar to the sanctum sanctorum.  He said that he would come to the temple after stringing the flower garland. The Lord was not happy to hear this and belittled that he will not wear the garland. Upon hearing this, Ananthazwar said that it was his duty to serve his Guru and to obey his orders. The Lord then ordered him to leave the Divya Desam. Ananthazhwar refused to move out of the seven hills and humbly said that he would leave Tirumala if he is ordained by his Guru.  In the evening Ananthazwar went to the Temple to offer worship, he noticed that the Lord’s chin was hurt and was oozing blood and he immediately realized that the boy was none other than the Lord himself.  He pleaded to the Lord for forgiveness and the Lord replied that it was not blood but was indeed the tears of joy coming out from his chin. So he immediately took a flower and applied on the wound and the bleeding stopped. He then applied some camphor on the Lord’s chin. To remember this incident, some camphor is applied on the Lord’s chin even today. The crowbar with which Ananthazhwaar  hit the Lord is hung at the right-hand side of the temple Gopuram to remember the divine play of the Lord.

After finishing the water-tank construction, he started to grow a beautiful garden and named the garden with his Guru’s name- Ramanuja and grew a lot of flowers.

One day, the Lord of Tirumala decided to play a divine play with Ananthazhwaar. One night, the Lord along with his consort, Goddess Lakshmi visited the garden and plucked all the flowers. The next day, Ananthalwar was not very happy to see this. So the next day, he decided to keep a vigil in the night and during the middle of the night, he saw a young boy and a girl with glowing radiance playing in the garden. He started to chase them and the boy escaped but Ananthazhwaar caught hold of the girl. He tied her to a tree and she stayed there over-night. The next day when the Pandits opened the temple door they were surprised to see the goddess missing from the Lord. The Lord then directed them to go to Ananthazhwaar’s garden and requested them to bring Goddess Lakshmi along with Ananthazhwaar. The Pundits then rushed to Ananthazhwaar’s garden and explained the divine play of the Lord. Ananthazhwaar then realized that he had tied Goddess Lakshmi and immediately released her and accompanied her to the Lord to get her married. Ananthazhwaar is known as the father-in-law of the Lord.

Ananthalwar once decided to embark on a pilgrimage tour. He took some Prasad along with him for his trip and descended the Tirumala hills and came down to Tiruttani. He was hungry and so he opened the Prasad. As soon as he opened them, he saw some ants coming out of the Prasad. He immediately closed the Prasad and started to go back to the hills. He did not want to separate out the ants from the Lord and climbed the hills again to unite the ants with the Lord.

After expounding on the Lilas of Srinivasa on His devotee Ananthazhwar, the satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Before the advent of Kaliyuga, the Rishis headed by Kashyapa began to perform a sacrifice (yagnya) on the banks of Saraswati for the goodness of people in the Kaliyuga. Sage Narada and Sage Bhrigu visited them and asked them why they were performing the sacrifice and who would be pleased by it. The Rishis were unable to come to a conclusion and hence it was agreed that Sage Bhrigu should undertake the difficult task of finding out who is the most supreme of the trinity. Sage Bhirgu went to Satyaloka to meet Lord Brahma. At Satyaloka, Bhrigu rishi found Brahma was reciting the four Vedas and he did not notice Sage Bhrigu offering his obeisance to him. Sage Bhirgu concluded that Brahma was unfit for worship so he proceeded to Kailasha from Brahmaloka. When Bhirgu rishi went to Kailasha, he found Lord Shiva with goddess Parvati and did not notice the Rishi Bhrigu and hence he turned to Vaikunta. In Vaikunta Lord Vishnu was reposing on the bed of the Adisesha and Goddess Lakshmi was respectfully nursing his feet. When Sage Bhrigu’s eyes caught sight of this, he was in a state of anguish because he thought that Lord Vishnu was not really sleeping, but only pretending to sleep just so to insult him.The sage was infuriated and he kicked to Lord Vishnu on his chest, the place where Mahalakshmi resides. At once the Lord Vishnu hastened to the agitated Sage Bhrigu and said “ Oh Revered Sage, my chest is the strongest thing in the world, akin to a mountain, and your feet are so soft. You might have got hurt while kicking me and so  please forgive me for that.” Listening to this word of Lord Vishnu, Sage Bhrigu became very calm and felt very guilty and he decided that Vishnu was the most supreme of the trinity and informed the Rishis the same.

Therefore all rishis decided that Sri Vishnu was the fruit of the Yaga and sacrifice was thus offered to Lord Vishnu. The apologetic action of Lord Vishnu put  Goddess Mahalakshmi  in a state of distress. Being tormented by this action of the Lord she left Vaikunta and came to dwell in Karavirapur. After the departure of Goddess Mahalakshmi a forlorn Lord Vishnu also left Vaikunta, and came down to Earth. His quest led him to the Seshadri hills and took abode in an ant-hill under a tamarind tree, beside a pushkarini on the Venkata Hill. He started to meditate for the return of Lakshmi, without food or sleep.  Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva came to know about the separation of Vishnu and Lakshmi, and hence decided to intervene. Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva thus disguised as cow and its calf and went to live at the place of a Chola king. The Sun god came to know about the plans of Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva and thus confided this to Goddess Mahalakshmi about their plans.  He requested her to sell the cow and calf to the king of the Chola country after disguising in the form of a  lady cowherd. The goddess acted accordingly and the chola king bought the cow and its calf and sent them to graze in the Seshadri hills. On this hill, the cow would sneak away to visit the anthill where Vishnu was living without sustenance. Emptying her udder, the cow would then return to the palace. The queen was angry because cow never yielded any milk and chastised the cowherd. The cowherd thus decided to find out the reason for the lack of milk and followed the cow silently and saw the emptying her milk over the ant-hill. Incensed by the conduct of the cow, he aimed a blow with his axe on the head of the cow. But Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill to receive the blow and save the cow. When cowherd saw the Lord bleed at the blow of his axe she was very shocked.

The cow then returned bellowing in fright to the Chola king with blood stains over the body. The Chola king decided to find out the reason for the cow’s terror and thus followed her to the scene of the incident. The King found the cowherd lying dead near the ant-hill. He stood wondering how it had happened and in the meanwhile, Lord Vishnu rose from the ant-hill and convicted the Chola King that he was responsible for all this and thus cursed him that he will become an Asura for the fault of his servant. The Chola king entreated the Lord who pleaded innocent and then Lord Vishnu blessed him by saying that his curse would come to an end when he the Lord would be adorned with the crown presented by Akasha Raja at the time of His marriage with Sri Padmavati.

After giving benediction to the Chola king, Srinivasa decided to stay in the Varaha Kshetra. He hence requested Sri Varahaswami to grant him an hermitage for his stay. He readily agreed to the Lord’s request and lived there. Vakuladevi also lived with the Lorf and she attended to the needs of the Lord akin to a mother. In the realms of Varaha kshetra there was a king named King Akasha Raja and he did not have any children. He decided to perform a sacrifice for the same. One day while ploughing the fields, he found a beautiful baby girl sleeping on a golden lotus. The king was so happy to find a child and he gave it to his Queen.  The king christened her as Padmavathi. She grew up as a beautiful and accomplished girl. Padmavathy had earlier been granted a boon in her previous birth that she would be married to Lord Vishnu.

As years passed by Padmavati grew up into a beautiful maiden and she was attended by a host of maids. One day while she was picking flowers with her maids in her garden, Sage Narada approached her. He assured her that he was her well-wisher, he asked her to show her palm to adumbrate her future. He foretold to the princess that she was destined to be the spouse of Lord Vishnu himself.

At the same time, Lord Srinivasa went for hunting in the forest and chased a wild elephant in the forests surrounding the hills. During the pursuit of the elephant, he was led to the garden, where princess Padmavati and her maids were picking flowers. He was stunned and totally attracted by her beauty. Even the princess was drawn to Lord Srinivasa, but the angry attendants thought that he was a mere hunter and drove him away. Lord Srinivasa met with princess Padmavati and her maids and explained to them in detail about his birth and parentage. When he came to know that the princess was Padmavati, the foster daughter of Akasaraja, he decided to marry her and made advance to the princess but he was repulsed with stones by the maids.
Vakuladevi found him lying on his bed and she enquired the Lord for the cause of his sickness. The Lord confided in her that unless he secured Princess Padmavati, he would not be alright and he also told her all story of Padmavati’s previous birth and his promise to wed her. Vakuladevi thought that the Lord would not be happy unless he married Padmavati and so she offered to go to Akasha raja and his queen with the marriage proposal.

Meanwhile king Akasharaja and the queen became worried regarding the health of their daughter. They learnt about Padmavati’s love for Lord Srinivasa of Venkata Hill. Akasaraja went to consult Sage Brihaspati about the marriage and was informed that the marriage was in the best interests.

Kubera lent money to the Lord to do the arrangements for the marriage. On the day of the wedding, the Lord Lord Srinivasa was took bath in holy waters of Pushkarini tank and dressed in ornaments befitting a royal bride groom and then he set off in a procession to the court of Akasha Raja along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva.  In the palace of Akasha raja, a warm welcome was offered to the Lord and he was hailed with an arthi and led to the marriage hall. The queen and King washed the Lord’s feet while sage Vasishta chanted the Vedic mantras. Soon the wedding was over with all ritual and after that Padmavati and Srinivasa went to Venkatachala hill and lived there happily ever after.

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

After a short round of introductions, Sri Narayananji fromBostoncontinued his discourse on the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. The eleventh canto started with the Nava Yogi Upakhyana and was then followed by the Avadoota Gita that spoke the glory of the Guru.

After expounding on the twenty-four Gurus, Avadoota advised King Yadu that the knowledge one accrues from these Gurus will blossom in one’s heart only with sheer grace of the Lord. Avadoota took leave from King Yadu after expounding on the twenty-four Gurus.

Having narrated this story,Krishnaadvised Uddhava on how one should lead a life based on the tenets in the Shastras and perform Guru Bhakti. One should not forsake one’s Karma (one’s work) until the Karma, by itself forsakes him, addedKrishna.

Mahans give a beautiful analogy for this precept. When one is sick and seeks medical advice, the doctor prescribes medication to cure the ailment – thus medication is to be taken by the ill person as long as it gets him to the state where he doesn’t need to take medication anymore!

In the beginning of Uddava Gita, we saw that Uddava was asked to embrace the path of Sanyasa by Lord Krishna. Uddava was hesitant to take Sanyasa and hence Lord Krishna talked to him about the Avadoota Gita. After the completion of Avadoota Gita, Lord Krishna told Uddava that it was about time that his Karma is going to leave him. When one’s karma leaves a devotee, then his pride, ego, laziness will also leave him. His questioning mind will also leave him which will then instill more faith in him. All the dirty qualities will depart from a devotee when his karma leaves him and he thus reaches an elevated state and this is only possible by the sheer grace of a Guru! Krishnainstilled such a surrender to the Guru in Uddhava.  The knowledge [Jnana] that the Guru imparts to his disciple will take the devotee to this elevated state.

Continuing His talk about the good and bad Karma,Krishnatold Uddhava that the reason for one holding on to his body is verily because he is still engaged in the process of doing his karma. When one does good karma, he reaps good merits and reaches the world of Lord Indra or Lord Brahma. It is said that one gets to enjoy these lokas for a finite duration based on the amount of merits he accrues.  When this account is exhausted, he comes back to this world again.  Likewise, when one commits sins and accrues bad merits, he tends to go all infernal regions and after spending finite amount of time in all these naraka lokas, he also takes another birth in some lowly birth.

‘kshINe puNye martya lokam vishanti’

Once a teenager received a huge sum of money from his parents and embarked on a road trip with his friends. He started to spend the money in a lavish manner – renting the most expensive car, staying in the most exotic hotels etc. on the way and soon, he found himself in a state where he had spent all his money by the time he reached the destination and lo! He didn’t have a penny pie to help him get back! Then he stood on the road and got ride from people, and returned to his hometown, after having gotten many consecutive short rides!   The journey of the soul is likewise too!

When one amasses wealth, one can go only to a certain limit. This is well depicted in the life-history of Trishanku in Ramayana.  Sadananda, the son of Ahalya and Gautama speaks to Rama and Lakshmana about the glory of Vishawamitra before Seetha Kalyanam  and as to how the latter performed Tapas.  Trishanku aspired to go to Indra Loka with his material body. Lord Indra was however not very happy about this. So Vishwamitra decided to give all the good merits that he had accrued from his penance to Trishnaku so that he can thus reach the world of Indra. Lord Indra is also known as ‘Sahasraaksha’, one with thousand eyes. The reason he had thousand eyes was because he was adept at finding faults and not allow anyone to reach Indra loka and so he did not allow Trishanku to enter the heaven and hence he had to find a spot somewhere in the middle!

When one is bound by the results of his actions – by ‘I’ and ‘Mine’ – he is not free, but when he equates himself with the ‘Atman’, he is independent / free.  The moment Krishna said this to Uddhava, Uddhava was confused and requested Krishna to elucidate on the differences between a ‘Baddha’, the one who is caught in the quagmire of Samsara and a ‘Mukta’, the one who is a liberated soul.

“katham vartheta viharet kairvA jnAyeta lakshanaih”|
“kim bhunjIthota visrujechchayaithasitha yAti vA”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.10.36]

In Bhagavat Gita, Arjuna also questioned the Lord as to who was a “Stitha Pragnya” and requested the Lord to expound on his characteristics and his dispositions. [41.22]

Uddava Gita is akin to Bhagavad Gita. The former is the dialogue between Lord Krishna and Uddava wheras the later is between Lord Krishna and Arjuna. Uddava started the conversation with the lord since he did not want to embrace the path of Sanyasa and in Bhagavad Gita the discourse started when Arjuna since he did not want to fight the war. In both cases, they wanted guidance from the Lord and the questions they put forth to the Lord were also the similar!

Amused by Uddhava’s question, Lord Krishna said, ‘There is nothing called as Baddha and a Mukta! In fact there is nothing called ‘Mukti!’”

baddho mukta iti vyAkya gunato me na vastutah|
guNasya mAya moolathvAn na me moksho na bandanam|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.11.1]

This reply of the Lord puzzled Uddava andKrishnaexplained in detail…

‘Mukti refers to freedom.  When one is bonded / secured in a location, and one is freed, then that is called freedom, ain’t it Uddhava?’,Krishnasaid.  Continuing, ‘When one is not really bound, then where is the question of freeing him?’Krishnaasked.  It is only his perception that he is bound, and hence he seeks freedom.  The truth though, is that he is never bound!  One’s natural state is that of independence’,Krishnasaid.  He elucidated this with a beautiful example –

“Shokamoho sukam dukham dehApattischa mAayayA”|
“swapno yathAtmanah kyAthih samsruthirna tu vAstavi”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.11.2]

One was experiencing a terrible dream.  In the dream, he had committed a grave crime and, gasping for breath, was trying tried to run as fast as he could from the cops who were closely chasing him. But the cops managed to nail him down and secure him in prison. He has been suffering untold misery in the prison.  Suddenly he woke up, with sweat and fear all over his face!  Confused, he turned around and realized that everything was a dream! After all, he did not commit the crime at the first place and was not in jail confines either!  He was not undergoing any of the pains ipso facto, and so, where is the question of ‘freeing him from prison?’

Bandha (bondage) and Moksha are mere constituents of Maaya and are not part of the true Self [the atma]. The Atma remains a ‘Sakshi’(witness) to all the happenings, ever being free – and it is the body that undergoes all the sufferings (and hence the notion that it is relieved from the sufferings!)  The truth is that it was never bound and hence it need not be relieved!

To expound this a little further,Krishnanarrated a story.

 “SuparnAveto sadrusho sakhAyo yadruchayaito kruthanidou cha vrukshae|
ekasthayoh khAdati pipalAnna manyo nirannopi balena bhUyAn”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.11.6]

There was a Peepul tree and there were two birds of the same clan residing on the same branch in that tree. Their wings were made of gold. One of them was totally emaciated and had no sign of happiness on its face and was totally wretched whereas the other bird was blissfully smiling. The bird that was in dilapidated state was eating the fruit from the tree as it seemed very tasty. This is akin to a dog when it bites a bone and the bone pricks the teeth and hence it starts to bleed. The dog however thinks that the blood is the taste of the bone and relishes the bone.   The very fruit was making it weaker by the day, but nevertheless, the bird was enjoying it.

The healthy bird did not make any attempt to prevent its friend from eating the fruit; although they were thick friends, although they were on the same branch; although they belonged to the same noble clan!  The emaciated bird, not at one instance, turned to look at its healthy counterpart, for a mere look at it would make it regain its original state! Such was its interest in the fruit!

The healthy bird patiently waited for the other one to look at it.  It hoped with optimism, that some day or the other, the poor one would look at it.  Eventually, when the emaciated bird looked at its counterpart, they both flew away from the tree- there were no more two birds! It was one!

The Jeevatma and the Lord / Guru are the two birds on the tree called the human body / Samsara., the Jeeva eating the fruits of its actions, and becoming lackluster because of it repeatedly, while the Guru / Lord waits patiently for it to look upto Him.   Eventually, bitten by the pangs of pain and suffering owning to the fruit it was eating, the Jeeva turns towards the ever-patient Guru / Lord, who shows him his true nature.  That very moment, He takes over the Jeeva and they quit the Samsara / human body.    This supreme realization is possible only by the sheer grace of a Sadguru, who is patiently waiting!

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Prostrating unto the Guru and invoking his grace his really a mandate before one starts off to do any activity.   We need to remember the grace of the Guru all the time all throughout our lives. It is verily Guru Krupa that will usher Bhakti and devotion in all of us.

Our Guru Maharaj always acknowledges two paths that are sure to bestow liberation. The first path is Atma Vichara and the second is the path of Nama Sankirtan. Bhagavan Ramana in his composition called Akshara Mana Malai [The Marital Garland of letters], extols the greatness of Guru and Mahans and also acclaimed the glory of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. In his first verse he sings –

ArunA chalamena ahamE ninaip-pavar
Ahat-taivE rarup-pAi ArunachalA [1]

The easiest way to destroy the heart is to verily remember the divine name Arunachala.

Peiar-ninait tidavE pidit-tizhut tanai-yun
Perumai-yAr arivAr ArunachalA [70]

Oh Lord Arunachala, my merely thinking your Divine Names, has drawn me unto yourself.

Kuttra-mut trarut-tenai guna-maip panit-tal.

Guru-vuru vayolir ArunAchalA

Lord Himself came as a Guru and absolved all the sins!

After the prelude to Ramana Maharishi’s teachings by Narayananji, Sri Shankarji fromNew Jerseydelivered the satsang lecture on the message of Bhagavan Ramana. He gave a succinct introduction on Ramana Maharshi’s teachings to his disciples and then expounded on a verse from Ramana Geetha.

One of the first devotees of Ramanar was Kavyakanta Ganapathi He was a scholar adept in the Vedas. At the age of four, he exhibited his prowess in Sanskrit. He actually took birth with the divine blessings of Dundi Ganapathi of Kasi. At the age of fifteen he travelled toWest Bengalto take part in a Sanskrit conference where his adroit in Sanskrit baffled one and all, and thus he was given the epithet “Kavya Kanta” which connotes “one who spontaneously sings poems from his throat”. Ambika Bhatta, who chaired the Sanskrit conference advised him to develop devotion to reach the ultimate goal in life. Kavyakanta took this piece of advice and embarked in performing crores of Panchakshara Japam for the next ten years. He came to Thiruvannamalai in order to complete the Japa. Even though he had written many commentaries in Sanskrit and had transcribed the Vedas, he was not able to experience the real Tapas. This was lingering in his mind. He also heard about Ramana who was then known as Brahmana Swamigal.  Ramana was doing intense tapas since 1896 at various places. Kavyakanta had the first darshan of Ramanar in 1906 at Virupaksha cave.

Not being at ease with his lingering question on Brahma Jnana, he approached Bhagavan Ramana to get it clarified.  The latter, who never spoke to anyone for aobut a decade, decided to finally open his mouth! In a succinct terse reply he said that when the Vedas is chanted, while reciting it, if the attention is directed to the source of the Mantra dwani (the sound of the Mantras), the mind gets absorbed into it.  His reply was about thirteen minutes long. After hearing the answer Kavya Kantar became very emotional and sang lots of verses in Sanskrit praising the Swamigal. He conferred the name “Ramana Maharishi” to Ramana.

A conversation of Ramana with his disciples are encapsulated in a beautiful volume called “Ramana Gita” – the heart of Ramana Gita is the beautiful sloka of Bhagavan Ramana, exopounding his entire philosophy to Kavya Kanta Ganapati Muni at Virupaksha Cave – made in Sanskrit – this is also known as the “Ekasloki”  The first part of it explains the state of Brahman and the remaining talks about the paths to that state.

Hrudaya kuhara madhye kevalam brahma mAtram
hyahamaham iti sAkshAt Atma rUpeNa bhAti
hrudi visha manasAsvam chinvatA majjatA vA
pavanachalana rodAt AtmanishTo bhavatvam”

In the above verse, Ramana explains that the Brahman resides in the epicenter and there is no external force required to see the Brahman inside one’s heart. He further says that one need not perceive this Brahman through one’s eyes and it shows by itself.   He says that it can be realized by tuning the mind – shedding the sense of the ‘I’ within us and by control of breath.

Ramana  in his Aksharamanamalai quotes –

Kannkkku kannAi kan-nindrik kAnunaik
KAnuva devar-pAr AruNAchalA!

Kotam illadhu kulavum sempurul pootai viduthanan undi para – exclaimed Murganar.

Muruganar another devotee of Ramana extolled his Guru by saying that he was the one who showed him the path of self-enquiry [swayam-prakasam] thus and removed the lock.

Unnai nee pirindayayin unnaku oor kedum illai – is one of the favorite quotes of Bhagawan.

If you know who you are and you really realize yourself, then there is nothing in this world that one need to worry!

In the verse,

hrudi visha manasa tvam chinvatha maajata va
pavana chalana rodat atma nishto bhavatvam

Ramanar preaches three different ways to attain the Self

-           Seeking

-          Emotion

-          Breath-control

Let the mind enter the center of the heart and this can be accomplished when one’s mind is pure. When the pure and pristine state of the mind is accomplished, then the mind adheres to the pulsation of “I”.   One needs to embark in the path of self-realization in a manner akin to how a fish when out of water takes all efforts to get into the water again.

A quote from Kasi Panchakam by Adi Shankara – ‘Mano nivirthi paramopa shantih sa tirthavarya maNikarnikA cha gnAna pravAha vimalAdi gangA sAkAshikAham nija bhUta rUpa” – ‘I am kashika – the true form of Knowledge, the pacifier of the mind, the greatest consolation, the greatest among rivers”.   Kavyakanta Ganapathi Muni says that if one has attained the self-realization then it means he has mastered the entire Vedanta.

In Bhagawad Gita, Lord Sri Krishna says –  “Oh Arjuna! I am the self and is seated in the hearts of all living beings”           

aaham atmaa gudakesa
sarva-bhutasaya-sthitah
aham adis ca madhyam ca
bhutanam anta eva ca [10.20]

This is the state of a true Jnani / Jivan Mukta.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namsankirtan.

A lady attracts a man unto her by virtue of her gait, good looks, sweet words etc.   Likewise, Mahatmas attract the Lord unto them by virtue of their Bhakti.

In Ambarisha Charitram in Srimad Bhagavatam the Lord says, 

“vashIkurvanti mAm bhaktyA satstriyah satpatim yatAh” 

‘I am attracted to the Mahatmas just like a true wife would attract her husband’, He says.

A coy wife usually takes cues from her husband while doing anything – for instance, if there is a guest in the house, the wife looks at how her man behaves with the guest, and based on his demeanor, she acts too.  Likewise, the Lord first sees the Mahatmas to see how they recommend a ‘jeeva’! 

In a crowd of a thousand people, if we were to look for a person with a specific feature / behavior, our sight would obviously fall on a bunch of people around him too.  Likewise, amidst the million children of His, the Lord looks at the Mahatmas all the time, and hence standing in the shadow of a Mahatma will ensure that we also fall in line of His sight!  The greatest thing in the world is to please the Lord, and even greater than that is to please a Mahatma and Mahatmas get pleased when we sing the Divine Names and Divine glories of the Lord.

 The Vedas which are verily the Lord’s words, while declaring truths, state ‘iti brahmavaadino vadanti’ (thus speak the Mahatmas).  Such is the respect of the Lord towards the Mahatmas.   So the Mahatma’s words are golden and should be utmost respected and followed, be it an Upadesha, Mantra or even a simple mundane order.  More divine than the Upadeshas are the Kirtans / Granthas (works) that they produce.  Did not Vyasa, give out Srimad Bhagavatam – as verily the words of the Lord Almighty?  Likewise, when Mahans sing a kirtan, it is the Lord’s expression, will and word, coming out through them.  Any great scholarly composition with flowery words and precise grammar cannot stand anywhere in comparison with the outpour from a Mahan’s lips which beyond intellect and intelligence and are divine and filled with Bhava.  Bhajans by Mirabai, songs by Bhadrachala Ramadasa, Tarangams by Sri Narayana Thirtha, Kritis by Purandaradasa – all of these were outpours in highly elevated, divine state. 

Starting from this satsang, one Kirtan of Sri Swamiji is being rendered every week during the satsang.  Narayananji from Boston continued with Uddhava Gita…

Srimad Bhagavatam is a huge ocean.

‘tirodAya pravishtoyam srimad bhAgavatArNavam’.  If we look at Bhagaavatam as the different parts of the Virat Purusha, the 11^th canto is the crown  of the Lord, studded with precious gems – each advise being a gem, shining forth giving the nectar of Bhagavata Dharma in the 31 chapters of the 11^th canto.

In the beginning, the Nava Yogis speak about the qualities of Bhagavata Dharma, the qualities of a Bhagavata, about Maya, about the Sadguru, about what to do and what not to do, about the qualities of a Pauranika and the relevant Dharma in each age.  In Kali Yuga, the Lord is worshipped keeping Nama Kirtan as the primary mode of worship.  Further, the Devas prostrate to the Lord, reminding Him that His Avatara Karya has come to a close.  Then the Yadavas get a curse on them, and go to Prabhasa Kshetra (Somnath in Gujarat today  where the Moon God, after having been cursed by Daksha Prajapati prayed to Shiva here, and got rid of the curse) to perform ablutions there in order to atone for their curse as ordained by Krishna.

At this juncture, Uddhava comes and pleads that the Lord should take him along, and the Lord persisted, ‘Oh Uddhava! The world should have either Me, or a Bhagavata , in order to sustain.  ‘avaishnavo hato deshah’.  I can not remain in this form forever, so embrace Sanyasa and remain in this world.’   When Uddhava seeks direction in embracing asceticism, Krishna starts Uddhava Gita, remembering Yadu Maharaj’s meeting with Avadhuta, who was resided in the Sahyamalaka Kshetra, the place where Cauvery is born (even today, the Padukas of Avadhuta is worshipped there), and seeking the secret behind his happiness.  Avadhuta starts by saying that one’s intellect / viveka (discrimination) should be the teacher, followed by the 24 Gurus, 24 being the abstraction of the Infinite in various forms.

Avadhuta goes to speak of satsang – a crowd is a rattle, even three of us would make a banter, two would be a chatter.  Your Atma is verily your Satsang, Adi Shankara says.   Our Guru Maharaj would say, when one starts reading Bhagavatam, Narada, Pruthu, Gajendra, Ambareesha, Kunti, Dhruva, Bhishma, Prahlada, Uddhava, Gopis – they verily become our satsang.   In one of His Kirtans, our Swamiji says, human beings are attuned to being in a company.  What kind of a company do you need, He asks?  Of a little playful prankster? Be in the company of the Gokula Bala!  Of the wealthy? – our Shripathy is the wealthiest!  Of  the most powerful? Dwarakadeesha is the most powerful!  Of the most handsome? Krishna’s beauty far more than a million cupids put together!  Krishnawill become your company, whatever your taste may be!

Then Avadhuta speaks of the caterpillar / wasp, telling us that, by merely thinking of the Guru all the time, one gets elevated to that divine plane of the Guru.  Thus the Avadhuta Gita starts with the grace of the Guru and ends with the grace of the Guru, coming a full circle.  He then says that the human body is the 25^th Guru –

The body is the greatest Guru because it is the cause for my determination (virakti) – it is the cause of all my troubles– it is the most un-cooperative and loathsome and hence fleeting, which because the cause of my dispassion.  Its very nature is the cause of shedding its own self and getting beyond it!

We use our body to learn, study and acquire knowledge – to get a better job, to earn more, to have a family, to be in a bigger house, to live happily etc. – all for the sake of comforting the body! Just like a seed, which sprouts, grows into a plant, gives out leaves, grows into a tree, gives out branches, flowers, all – in order to produce fruits, which contains the seed, which transfer to another flower, pollinate and cause another plant! A Banyan tree grows huge and gives rise to multiple trees through its own branches, continuing its lineage.    The body too, wishes to continue its lineage, does numerous ‘karmas’, owns the ‘vasanas’ (impressions) that the karmas give rise to and transform into ‘punyas’ and ‘papas’, which verily become the reason for acquiring another body!

Bhagavatam says that the human body shows us the dharma of a tree (vruksha dharma).

While what is supposed to be the intent of the human body?

In the beginning of the Universe, the Lord created the plants.  Not being satisfied, , he created worms, lies, birds, snakes, rodents, fishes.  Still unhappy, He created pigs, donkeys, horses, cows, and yet, unsatisfied, he created man.  Now He felt happy, not because man is two-legged, not because of his two-eyes, or nostrils or two ears.  He looked at the man’s intellect and said ‘this intellect and body is capable of coming close to realizing the supreme Truth and attaining Me’.

Truly the human body is supposed to take us to the state of birthlessness, but ends up being the cause for more births!

Another beautiful sloka speaks of a beautiful story:

Jihvaikatomumapakarshati karhi tarshA
sishnonyatasvag udaram sravanam kutaschi

grANonyataschapala drik kvacha karmashaktir
bhavyah sapatnya iva gehapatim lunanti ||  (11:9:27)

The same sloka is also found in Prahlada Stuti.  In Bhagavatam certain slokas alone repeat, and this is one!  Perhaps because, Sage Shuka likes it very much!

There was a man in a huge palatial house with 10 wives.  During the day, he would go out for work and the ten wives would coexist peacefully.  But come evening, each wife would pull him unto herself. One wife would drag him by his shirt, another would pull his trouser!  Eventually, repenting for having married these ten wives, out of frustration, he would go outside the house and sleep in the verandah!

That is how our human body is!  The tongue would crave for tasty food and pull our mind in that direction, the skin would too!  The sense of smell would attract him to aromatic foods.  The organs of sensual pleasure pull the human body in that direction, the hands make the body do some work or the other.  The ten wives, the ten senses tear the body apart!

Avadhuta  concludes,

nahyetasmAat gururjnAnam susthiram syAt supushkalam |
brahmaitad advitIyam vai gIyate bahudarshibhih ||   (11;9:31)

‘Dear Yadu Maharaj, I have shared with you the greatest truth which is rare and sacred.  But this truth cannot be shared by hearsay. Unless one has Guru Krupa, the truth shall not blossom in one’s heart and remain there forever.’  Thousands of stories, hundreds of hours of lectures, will still be rendered futile, if it is not brought into experience, and that experiential knowledge can come about only through Guru’s grace.

Lord Krishna wraps up Avadhuta Gita, advising Uddhava to treat everything in this world as futile, just like in a dream,  one may see a huge palace, have a million things to eat and

all the luxury, but the moment he wakes up, he realizes that all of them are non-existent.

suptasya vishayA loko dhyAyato vA manoratah |

 nAnAtmakadvAd viphalastathA bhedAtma dhIrguNaih || [11:10:3]

A devotee should lead his life in a straightforward manner, following basic rules and tenets, worshipping the Guru as verily Lord Krishna.

amAnyo amatsaro daksho nirmamo druda sauhradah
asatvaro artha jignAsur anasUyur amoghavAk  [11:10: 6]

He should lead a life free from pride, jealousy, laziness and sense of ego and should have complete faith in me without being disturbed.  He should only crave for the knowledge of the Lord and be free from envy of other devotees of the Lord. Over and above all, he should not be a chatterbox!  His words should be limited to singing God’s Names.

He lets control of his family, life and household in the thought that the Lord takes care of them.  He sheds all his mundane desires and performs devotion for the sake of mundane pleasures.

Further,Krishnaspeaks about what happens to a soul.  When one strictly adheres to Dharma and follows the path of righteousness very sincerely without giving it a miss, he goes to the Indra Loka, where he will enjoy the pleasures of dance and song by beautiful maidens and singers, all commiserate with the ‘Punyas’ he has earned.  After all his merits are exhausted, he falls back to this Earth.

Likewise, when one commits sins, and walks on the path of adharma, has all the evil practices – will enter the hells and suffer there. When his sins have exhausted, he falls back on this Earth and is born as some plant or animal.

Krishnatells Uddhava, ‘never perform a Dharma aspiring for worldly pleasures or punyas.’  When Dharma is performed as an offering to the Supreme Truth, Lord Krishna who is the controller of all, including Lord Brahma, one is freed from all the attachments, and any kind of duality.

Finally Krishna says, ‘as long as one thinks he is bound, he is bound, and when he realizes that he is the unbridled Atma, unbound from any kind of attachments, he is free!

At this point, Uddhava is confused.  He asksKrishnato expound on who is bound and who is liberated!

It is something very phenomenal but not talked about very often. We have all been to a Samadhi of a Mahatma or at least heard about it. Adhistanams are the Samadhi of God-realized souls. When a Mahatma sheds his mortal coil, the mortal remains are buried in a place and that place is called as an Adhistanam. The actual meaning of an Adhistanam is truth [‘sathyam’]- “Sathyam Jnanam Anantham Brahma”. The Brahmam is Satyam. Anything that can be disintegrated or changed or perishes with time is untruth. The name of Lord Rama existed even before the incarnation of Lord Rama and continues to exist even today and is a classic example of permanence. Adhistanam also connotes truth and something that is eternal because the truth is undying which verily is the Lord.

Normal mortals are born alike through the process of reproduction. Even Mahan is born the same way but they have different ways while departing from the mortal coils. Bhakta Meera and Sridhara Ayyaval merged with the Lord in the form of a Jyothi. Andal became one with Lord Ranganatha in a similar manner. Jayadeva unified with the Lord of Puri Jagannatha. Sri Vallabha and Sri Chandrasekharendra Bharathi Swamigal attained Jala Samadhi. Even contemporary Mahans like Ramana Maharishi merged with the Lord in the form of a jyothi which left his mortal coil.  Other Mahans like Raghavendra, Sri Bodendra Swamigal and Sri Sadasiva Brahmendra attained Jeeva Samadhi. They are all still alive. It is said that in the divine sanctorum of Bodendra Swamigal, he still continues to live and the chanting of Divine Name of Lord Rama is still heard even today. It is believed that in the Adhistanam of Atma Bodendral in Vadambalam, people hear the chanting of the Upanishads. These illustrations show the greatness of Adhistanams and it is not a farce. It is a fact that in Sri Raghavendra Swamigal’s Brindavan, the sound of his sandals is still heard even today. Sabari and her Guru Mathanga maharishi sat inside an Agni Kundam and left for the Lord’s abode from there.  Vittobha was taken away in a divine chariot. Swamy Vivekananda and Vasudeva Thatha predicted the day when they would shed their mortal coil. Mahaperiva and Yogi Ramsurtkumar left their mortal coils like normal people.

It is a proven fact that when one visits the Adhistanams of a Mahan, their prayers are being answered. Moksha is said to be attained when one’s good and bad merits are exhausted. If they are not exhausted, then one takes births after births. This has been said to be true for humans since they possess latent expressions.  But in the case of Mahans, they accrue good merits in due course of life. But they don’t have to take another birth to exhaust their good merits since they possess Boga vasanas. The good merits remains along with them in their Adhistanams. When people go and seek blessings, they give away all their goodness. This goes to say why Adhistanams are a repository of goodness.

It is verily a form of blessing and Mahans due to their infinite compassion bestow goodness to whoever come to their Adhistanam seeking blessings. The Mahans show their presence in this way.

One very striking incident happened in the life of four Mahatmas namely Vikramaditya, Adi Shankara, Arunagirinathar and Thirumoolar. They left their mortal coil to enter the body of another being. Mahans undergo this to show a precept. Adi Shankara entered the body of a king in order to defend Mandana Mishra in a debate. Aruna Girinathar entered into a parrot’s body and Thirumoolar into a cow’s body. There was an incident from the life of Pinnavasal Periyava. He entered into the mortal coils of a Madhushri. It is believed that a curse was casted on him and hence he was born as a woman. However, there is a story behind it.

Pinnavasal, a city twenty-eight miles away from Trichy and is located in the proximity of a town called Lalgudi. There was a Siddha Purusha known as Ramakrishnananda. His hometown was Kallidaikurichi. He spent number of years in Avudaiyar temple. The beauty of this temple is there is no Linga[moorthy] and only contains the base, which is the actual meaning of Avudai. This shows the formless aspect of absolute truth of Brahman. Ramakrishnanda in his early years got married much against to his wishes. He earnestly desired to align himself in the spiritual world and hence he ignored his wife and set out to pursue his quest for god. For many years he performed intense tapas and his guru was Sadasiva Brahmendra. Initially Swami Sivananda was his guru and once when he requested his guru to bestow the path of Sanyasa, Sivananda declined it. Later Sadasiva Brahmendra who was not his contemporary became his Manasika Guru. He bestowed him the Navasakshari Mantra and he attained a lot of spiritual powers with this mantra. Sadasiva Brahmendra once appeared in his dreams and confided in him that he had to take another birth as a woman due to curse which was cast by his wife. On one hand, she being a pathivratha , her curse was bound to happen and on the other hand, Ramakrishnananda did not desire for any births. So Sadasiva Brahmendra advised him to make a hole in his Samadhi and assured him that he would help him get into the body of a woman at the appropriate time and saying so he disappeared from his dream. Ramakrishnananda continued to lead his life and when he shed his mortal coil his devotees made a hole in his Samadhi.

In Chennai, there was a lady who was known as Maragadavalli. She was born in a very pious family and was an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga. She had composed a lot of kirtans and even the Lord would appear in front of her and demand kirtans from her. She led the life of a house-holder but her mind was completely contemplating on Lord Muruga. In 1949, Maragadavalli was admitted in a hospital and it was declared that she succumbed to heart attack. Sadasiva Brahmendra appeared at the Samadhi of Ramakrishnananda and requested him to enter into the mortal coils of Maragadavalli who has led a pure and pristine life and Lord Muruga himself has resided in that divine body for many years. Upon the request of his Guru, Ramakrishnananda entered into the divine body of Maragadavlli in the month of Vaikasi and in Vishakha Nakshatra. Everyone at the hospital was now shell-shocked to see Maragadavalli being brought back to life. She opened her eyes and this completely baffled the doctors. Years passed by and Ramakrishnanda in the body of Maragadavalli continued to compose a lot of kirtans and she was known as “Andavan Pitchai”. Mahatmas entering into the mortal coils of another human being, has happened only four times.

It is said that Mahans can perceive the Devas, This has been depicted in the life-history of Seshadri Swamigal. It is believed that the Devas flew in the sky singing the in the Bilahari Raaga. Ramana Manarishi recognized that the Devas circumambulated the Arunachala Mountain in Tamil Nadu. Many Mahans have perceived Devas offering flower garlands and this is delineated beautifully in kirtans. In the life of Andavan Pitchai, Lord Muruga came in her dreams and requested her to sing kirtans –

“Vaadada pumalaiyaana pamalaiyaa en mel paadu” – Garland me with an ever fresh garland of kirtans.

Andavan Pitchai composed lot of kirtans on Lord Muruga, and once he plucked the feathers of the peacock and started scattering them all over the room. The word “pitchi” in tamil connotes the act of plucking. When Lord Muruga disappeared all the feathers were strewed all over the room. She was later conferred with the title “Pitchai”. The Lord performs such acts to instill some faith in us.

She composed a lot of Kirtans and we have learnt the wonderful truth that singing the divine glories of the Lord is very much acknowledged by the Lord.

Kalau Kalau bhavishyanti Narayana parayanah—in the age of kali, Mahans incarnate to propagate the path of Nama Sankirtan. It is seen that all Mahans have sung kirtans extolling the greatness of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.

It is a fact that a normal man uses his intellect to compose kirtans whereas Mahans compose kirtans in a language of silence. It is a Samadhi Bhaasha. When they go in deep thought of the Lord [bhaava], they come out with a kirtan which is nothing but the words of the Lord himself. Our Guru Maharaj preaches all his devotees to sing kirtans which are composed by the great Mahatmas. It is a true fact that the Lord relates to the devotee who extols and renders the kirtans which are composed by great Mahans.

In the songs composed by Andavan Pitchai, she never left a stamp is her kirtans. This is to show the beautiful point that the Lord himself has composed all her kirtans.

After this beautiful discourse, the satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan

In Ramayana as well, we see the path of Surrender (‘sharanagati’) shown in all the Kandas.  In the Balakand, the Devas surrender unto the holy feet of the Lord. Bharata surrenders to Lord Rama in Ayodhya Kand. The Rishis surrender in the Aranya Kand crying out to the Lord that they are akin to unborn babies and that it is the duty of the Lord to save them. In Sundarakand, Kakasura surrenders unto the holy feet of the Lord and then the Lord retracted the Brahmastra. Over and above we see the supreme Sharanagati in Yuddha Kanda – Vibishana Sharanagathi.  Can all normal mortals do such a Sharanagathi? It is close to impossibility since the basis of Sharanagathi is faith [maha-vishwasa].

But we have a beautiful episode right in the middle of Srimad Bhagavatam, the Ajamila Charithra which shows the path of Vachika Sharanagathi. It is not expected to even possess an iota of faith for one when starts on the path of Vachika Sharanagathi. What is verily expected is chanting the Divine Names at least once in a lifetime which is sure to bestow us with liberation.

After talking about the significance of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord, Sri Narayananji from Boston talked gave an overall introduction to Uddhava Gita.

Our Sanatana Dharma is akin to a banyan tree which has many roots and also gives rise to many roots from its branches. Banyan tree is unique because it can give rise to trees from its own branches. Our Sanatana Dharma has paved way for many other faiths from itself. Buddhism and Jainism sprung from Sanatana Dharma. For any faith, the final goal is the attainment of the Supreme Truth, and then there are intermediate destinations defined too.  A devotee of Ganesha attains Ganesha’s world.  An aspirant of heavens, performing the appropriate Sadhanas, attains the Swarga (Indraloka).  A Shiva Bhakta may attain Kailasha.  And then there is the destination – the state of deathlessness, and this is the ultimate purpose of life.   Unfortunately, this destination is oft-forgotten. It is like a traveler who wishes to take a train, and goes to the station asking for a train ticket, not knowing where he would like to go!  Don’t we need a direction? Don’t we need to know and understand the destination?

Not really!  There is this little child, who is completely unaware of the destination and the path, but firmly holds the hand of her father and walks along with him into the station.  The little one does not need to worry about anything at all, but as she is in the safe hands of her father, she enjoys the ride, and yet safely reaches the destination.  That is how one feels, when He tightly clasps the Guru’s Feet and sails in this Samsara!   This is the crux of Bhagavata Dharma that is mentioned in the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.

Knowledge doesn’t come easy. The Lord makes us undergo trials and tribulations, before He lets the devotee taste the sweet nectar of Himself!  Only after a seven-day rain did we get the Divine Name ‘Govinda’!  Only after He disappeared from the Gopis and caused them grief, that He showed His beautiful form during RasaKrida!  Only after the grief and misery of Vyasa did He come down as Srimad Bhagavatam! Likewise, the nectar of Uddhava Gita came after trials and tribulations too!

‘Govinda bhuja guptAyAm’ – Although Dwaraka was protected by Krishna’s own arms, it was subjected to a Brahmin’s curse!  And after the grief caused by the curse, we get the nectar of Bhagavata Dharma!  Sage Narada, after alleviating the concerns of Vasudeva, expounded the sermon of the Nava Yogis.  He expounded on ‘karma’, ‘akarma’, ‘vikarma’, ‘maya’ and elaborating the different forms of worships in different yugas, he speaks about Karabhajana’s upadesha – on the path to adopt in Kali Yuga:
krishNavarNam tvishAkrIshNam sAngopAngAstrapArshadam |
yagnaih sankIrtanaprAyaih yajanti hi sumedasah ||  [SB 11.5.32]

The Lord is dark in complexion and yet shines with luster, along with His weapons and His devotees.  And how should He be worshiped?

If there are thousands of people in a group, it is enough if we look at the smartest members of the group, we can get the idea about the group.  Here Karabhajana says, ‘ sumedasah’ – the most intelligent people in this Yuga, keep  Nama Sankirtana as the foremost (sankIrtanaprAyaih) when they do any offering to the Lord.  In other words, Nama Sankirtana will be the primary form of worship in the Kali Yuga, declares Karabhaajana, and other forms of worship are only accessories to the Sankirtana Yagna!

Then the 11^th Canto continues as a conversation between Krishna and Uddhava.  Troubled by the news that the Lord was going to depart to Vaikunta, Uddhava says,

nAham tavAnghri kamalam kshaNArdhamapi keshava |
tyaktum samutsahenAtha svadhAma nayanamapi || [SB 11.6.43]

Uddhava says, “Oh Krishna! Please don’t separate me from You! I cannot imagine living away from Your Divine feet. Please take me along with you. How can be separated from you for even a split second, for I have been serving you when you were awake or asleep?”

Lord Krishna in reply to Uddhava’s request, asks him to embrace the path of Sanyasa. Upon hearing this,  Uddhava had his own doubts whether he was indeed capable for Sanyasa. Arjuna wanted to flee the battlefield during Mahabharata and Krishna asked him to continue! And now, Uddhava wanted go go on, but Krishna asks him to embrace Sanyasa! Interesting, isn’t it!  It is the same person who instructs, but on the other side, Arjuna then, Uddhava now!  The Guru is the same, the disciples are different!   Why this different Upadesha?  Krishna is the Jagadguru (‘krishNam vande jagadguru’) and who knows better than Him? He knows better  about Uddhava’s capacity than Uddhava himself!

When a Jeeva is born in this earth to accomplish a particular task, the Lord makes that Jeeva capable.  He makes the Jeeva adept to succeed the task. Lord Krishna knows that Uddhava was as afraid and reluctant as Arjuna was. ‘Vedanta shravanam’ helps when one is crestfallen. Dridarashtra listened to Vidhura’s Vedanta when he was in distress.  Chanting of Vedas or listening to any amount of Vedantic truths would not yield any fruit if the devotee does not have the grace and benediction of a Sadguru. So Lord Krishna started to give an introduction on the Guru, speaking about the 24-Gurus. Secondly Lord Krishna desired to deliver an Upadesha on Guru to Uddhava elaborating on the path of Sanyasa. Uddhava was still in a confused state and unable to find a guru, Lord Krishna did not directly disclose himself as the Guru.  It is said that the Lord was very shy whereas in Bhagawad Gita it is said that the Lord disclosed that he was the birth-less Lord. He preaches Uddhava to consider his born intellect as his Guru.

“Atmano guru Atmaiva purushasya visheshah”|
“yat pratyaksha anumAnabhyam ksheyo sAvanuvandate”|| [SB 11.7.20]

Oh Uddhava! Treat everything that your eyes perceive as your guru all your experiences are indeed your Guru. However, there is one Guru beyond all this and it verily the Atma and the voice of the Atma is the Lord himself. Whatever one sees inside is usually perceived outside. When one recognizes the Atma has the guru, one will see everything as Guru outside. Everything is Guru Maya and will see Guru Tattva in it.

Lord Krishna then embarked on the Avadoota Gita, where Avadoota expounded his twenty-four Gurus. Twenty four is a very powerful number. It signifies various different things. Gayatri Mantra has twenty-four syllables. The essence of Gayatri Mantra is nothing but the ‘Pranava’ which is nothing but the Infinite Lord himself. The Infinite Lord is abstracted as the 24-syllabled Gayatri Mantra.

Valmiki calls Ramayana as an ocean of infinite dimensions (‘shatakoti pravistiram’), however, it is contained within twenty-four thousand slokas.   The Infinite is contained in 24 thousand!

In Bhagavatam, the Lord is said to take 24 Avatars.  Our Guru Maharaj gives a beautiful mathematical explanation as to why the Lord incarnated twenty-four times. It is said that the Lord has four arms and has one four objects in each of his arms. He wanted to exchange the objects in his four arms in each of his incarnation. So there are four factorial combinations which lead us to have twenty-four incarnations!

The Lord takes twenty-four avatars and even while describing these avatars, it is said that although twenty-four avatars of the Lord has been described, the Lord is not confined to these avatars. The Lord is infinite. “Avatarah hi asankeya” – The Infinite Lord takes 24 Avataras! Likewise

Sankya yoga speaks of twenty-four concepts. (the term Sankhya connotes numbers.)  The 5 bhootas (air, water, fire, sky, earth), the five tanmatras (sense of touch, Sense of hearing, Sense of sight, sense of taste and sense of smell), the five sense organs of the intellect (Jnanendriyas) (Eyes, Nose, Ear, Tongue and Skin), the five Karmendriyas – sense organs of action and the mind, and the  basic initial concepts of Avyaktam, Mahat, Ahankaram and Manas make it twenty-four objects.

The Lord who was infinite when he was unclear [Avyaktam] took the first form of ‘mahat’ and then he took the form of ‘Ahankraram’ in state of Taamas. In Taamas he created the five boothas, five tanmatras, the five Jnanendriyas and five Karmendriyas. Thus the infinite Lord created and became the twenty four entities!

Here, the Guru is Infinite. Still He is perceived as twenty four different precepts – and this is described by none other than Krishna!

Here Lord Krishna started off with Guru Tattva and ended His discourse finally showing Uddhava his Guru. In normal lives, people surrender unto a Guru and after a while realize the fact that the events happening in their lives is verily due to the grace of their Guru. They realize this fact, the Guru Tattva even though they are miles apart. We start with the physical experience of the Guru and end in Guru Tattva. It is however reverse in the case of Uddhava. Lord Krishna embarked in his discourse to Uddhava with Guru Tattva and ended the lecture by revealing to Uddhava that the Lord was indeed his Guru. He blessed Uddhava with his holy padukas at the end of eleventh canto.

Avadootar embarked on his discourse en-listing his twenty-four gurus.

Pritvi vAyurAkAsho ApognischandramA ravih |
kapotojagarah sindhuh patango madukrut gajah |
madhuhA hariNo mInah pingaLA kurarorbakah |
kumAri sharakrut sarpah oorNanAbhih supeshakrut || [SB 11.7.33-11.7.35]

The five boothas [Prithvi, Vayu, Aakashaha, Aapaha, Agni] are first mentioned by Avadootar. The Lord says, although we are speaking about Gurus, the five boothas which evolved as the first few things in this universe from the Lord Himself are the first Gurus. The Lord when evolved as the first five boothas, also evolved as five gurus! So the Guru’s form is no different from the Lord’s form!

“hariyum guruvum Veru Endru urapippadhu ariyAdavar pecchu” sings our Guru Maharaj.

In the Avadoota Gita, it beautifully extols the greatness of Sanyasa dharma and Grahastha Dharma in parallel since it is not restrictive to Uddhava alone but applies to all the normal mortals like us. The 240Guru episode shows how one should lead a life as normal mortals in family life.  It speaks about how the five indriyas (sense organs) are Gurus.  on the five indriyas [five senses]. The deer is a guru – which, unable to control the sense of hearing is trapped by a hunter. The elephant is another Guru, showing us how not to let our sense of touch uncontrolled.  Of all the five senses, Avadhoota says, that it is acceptable to not have control over hearing, touch, eye-sight and sense of smell but it is very important to have the control of palate. Control of the tongue is the most important to practice and Lord Krishna advices Uddhava to gain control over the sense of taste since by having control over the taste, one will gain command over other senses as well.

“Thavathjithaendriyo nas yath vijithanyaendriyaha puman”
“na jayeth rasanam yavajitham sarvam jithae rasae”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.8.21]

Pingala – the courtesan teaches another lesson – Desires are the root-cause for all evil.  Turn that very desire to the holy feet of the Lord and that is the elixir for all problems and takes us to Him.

 “ AshA hi paramam dhukkam nairAshyam paramam sukham”
“yathA samchithya kAnthashAm sukham shushvApa pingalA” [SB 11.8.44]

There was an ascetic who had two saffron clothes which he would alternate washing and wearing every day. He decided to get a few more clothes and put the spare clothes into a bag which he carried along.  In due course, mice started eating up the saffron clothes and he was shocked to notice torn clothes in his bag!  He didn’t have any more spare clothes fit to be worn thanks to the mice.  To keep the cats away, he brought in a cat.  The cat was not strong enough to run and catch the mice, so he had to feed it to make it fat and strong.  So he bought a big cow so that he can feed its milk to the cat. Slowly as days passed by, the cow started thinning down since it did not get good food. Seeing the plight of his cow, he decided to create a farm so that he can feed the fodder to the cow. He then started a farm and things were going smoothly for some time. After some time other animals started to stray in this farm and so he put a fence around his farm. The cow regained his weight and in due course of time gave birth to calves. Now he had cow-shed of cows. Being a single man he was unable to take care of all the animals.  So he decided to get married in order to take of all his animals and his life thus got completely changed. All this started with a desire to have more clothes. That small desire spoiled everything!  Such is the power of desire!

A spider builds a web from its own saliva and dwells in that web. It does not build the web from any outside material. It lives in that small web to entice small insects and catch them. When it is bored with its web, it swallows the whole web.  Akin to the spider is the Lord who created the Universe from His own Self. He created the universe by himself both from the knowledge and material perspective. Similar to how the spider catches small insects; out of compassion, the Lord attracts people unto Him. When he is bored of his creation, he simply destroys it. The spider’s appearance is never changed when it created the web and at the time it swallowed the web. It never became thin or fat. Akin to this, the Lord also does not undergo any change when he created and destroyed the universe.

“KIta peshaskrutham dhyAyan kudyAm thena praveshitah |
yAthi thathsAthmatham rAjan poorva rUpmam asanthyajan”|| [SB 11.9.23]

Avadootar ended his discourse on the twenty-four Gurus with the wasp! Once the caterpillar was caught by a wasp and it brought it to its nest. Then the wasp goes out to get hold of another insect. In the meanwhile, the caterpillar in the nest is contemplating on the wasp. The insect is very scared of the wasp and is of the opinion that it is going to be killed by the wasp and this thought is haunting the insect. Since the caterpillar is constantly thinking about the wasp, it got wings, became a wasp and finally flew away. When we are in constant thought of something, we are eventually transformed to that something!  This is called ‘bramara keeta Nyaya’ in Vedanta.

When one meditates on the Guru, he will attain the ‘Saalokya’ [same loka]. That is he attains to that world/loka, here.  Secondly the Guru comes closer to his devotee. He comes closer to his devotee’s heart and also in physical proximity. This state is called as “Sameepya” [proximity]. This is then followed by Saroopya. The devotee then attains the same form of his Guru where in the case of the worship of a Guru, his gait, talk and everything else becomes just like that of the Guru – ‘Saaroopya’ [same form]. And finally he becomes one with ‘It’ and that is ‘Saayujya. The devotee finally becomes the Guru akin to how a caterpillar became a wasp!

At the beginning of the discourse, Avadootar started by disclosing the beautiful precept to Uddhava, “See your Guru in your Atma and you will see Guru everywhere in this world”. There is no sorrow when one attains the state of ‘Saayuja’!

‘shrunvanti gAyanthi grunanthyabikshnasah smaranti nandanti tavehitam janah
ta eva pashyantyachireNa tAvakam bhavatpravAho paramam padAmbujam’ [SB 1.8.37]

Constantly chanting the Divine Names and listening and rejoicing His divine exploits are the only ways to get liberated from the cycle of transmigration, says Kunti.  When one develops such a Bhakti, he is instantly liberated and eternally enjoys this satsang  and the time is immaterial.  He will only yearn to do more Bhakti! Lord Thyagaraja was bestowed with the divine darshan of Lord Rama after he chanted ninety-six crores of Rama Nama. He was not satiated and wanted to chant more! 

After the introductions, Sri Prakashji from Boston continued the ‘Amruta Mathanam’ lecture.

As per the Lord’s sankalpa, the ocean of milk had to be churned by the Devas and Asuras.   He had advised the Devas, ‘Sign a truce with the Asuras and secure their help in churning the ocean for nectar and offer them a share of the nectar in return.’   He had said, ‘don’t fall for the riches that you may be provided as you churn the ocean; instead offer them in charity’ and ‘concede to mundane requests from the Asuras’.  The Mandara mountain was to be brought.  As the mountain was heavy to be lifted, they took the Lord’s help to station it as the churning rod in the ocean.

Vasuki, the king of serpents was summoned with a  promise of a share of the nectar.  The churning started with zeal, but not too long after, they observed that the mountain slipped into the ocean.  Once again, they went to the Lord for Help and the Lord incarnated as a tortoise [koorma] and went under the sea. He lifted the Mandara mountain on his back and brought it back to the surface of the sea. Bhagavatam says that the Lord in the form of the tortoise fell asleep as the churn of the mountain on its back served as a soft scratching of its back, soothing the itch, and his snores are, till day, seen as the waves on the ocean.

The churning resumed with the Devas at the mouth of the serpant Vasuki.  The Asuras felt that holding the tail was disrespectful and hence they had the Devas swap positions with them.  Now the Devas were at the tail and the Asuras at the head end of the serpent.  As they went on, Vasuki spat flames of fire and so intense heat was generated, affecting the Asuras.  At the Devas’ end, owing to the grace of the Lord, it was cool and pleasantly drizzling, giving them comfort!  Soon, a dreadful poison – ‘Haalahalam’ emanated which poisoned the entire environ.  All of them cried for help and went to Brahma, who led them to Lord Shiva.  When they requested Shiva to partake of the deadly poison, He, being humility personified Himself, conceded and turned to His consort, Parvati.

‘pumsah krupayato bhadre sarvAtma priyate harih
prIte harau bhagavati kriyai priyeham sacharAcharah || ‘ [SB 8:7:40]

‘Oh, beloved Devi!’, He said, ‘Lord Hari is the Antaryami to all, and so everyone loves Him, and He loves everything.  I shall do this act to earn His pleasure!’,  Getting the nod from Parvati, as if showing equality in gender, Lord Siva, consumed the poison, and soon, his neck swelled turning it blue, which gave him the epithet ‘Neelakanta’ [Neela – blue, Kanta – throat] .  Drops of poison that fell from His hands were consumed by creatures, and hence we have poisonous creatures like snakes and scorpions today, Bhagavatam says!

With a sigh of relief, the Devas and Asuras continued, and a divine cow, Kamadenu emerged.  The Rishis took the cow for it would give them sufficient milk required for their fire oblations.  Then, a celestial horse, Ucchaishravah emerged, which was taken by Bali, the King of the Asuras.  Then came, Airavata, the divine elephant, which excelled Mount Kailasha in greatness and Indra took possession of it.  Then emerged a rare gem called the Kausthuba, a special gem from the Padmaraga species, and the Lord adorned the gem on His chest.

‘kausthubhAkhyam abhUtratnam padmarAgo mahAdhadhe
yasminharih yortaih sashvad bhuvi yatA bhavAn [SB 8.8.5]’

The wish-fulfilling tree, Parijatha issued forth, which Devas took.  Then the Apsaras followed by enchanted maidens who were adept in satiating sensual pleasures arose from the sea. The Asuras clan desired to have the Apsaras.

“thataschAvirabhoot sAkshat  sri ramA bhagavatparA
ranjayanti dishah kAntyA vidyuth soudAmani yathA “|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 8.8.8]

Then came Goddess Mahalakshmi. Her brilliance was akin to lightning and she illuminated all the quarters of the ocean.  Everyone present there was attracted by her beauty and lost their hearts to her. She was holding a garland made of lotuses and was trying to find her suitable match – someone who would be perfect in all respects.  However, every individual that had a virtue, had a vice that balanced it out!

‘dharmah kvachit tatra na bhUtasouhridam thyAgah kvachit tatra na mukti kAraNam
vIryam na pusotyajaveganishkrutam nahi dvitIyo gunasangavisarjitah’ [SB 8.8.21]

Vavrevaram sarvaguNairapekshitam ramAmukundam nirapeksham Ipsitam [8.8.23]

One may tread staunchly on the path of Dharma, but lacked kindness to his fellowmen. One had longevity but wouldn’t be capable of controlling his senses.  Those who have prowess are subjected to the destructive speed of time.

As she was searching for her suitor, she found only One perfect Being and He stood not expecting anything.  He was the center of unabating virtues and he was devoid of any bad qualities. She thus garlanded him. She prayed to His holy feet to accept Her. It is said that Lakshmi resides in the Lord’s chest. This is verily because the divine mother is a personification of compassion and graces everyone who comes to the Lord. Any devotee who came to get the darshan of the Lord first has the darshan of the Divine Mother who then recommends that devotee to the Lord. Even though the Lord resides in Kshiraabdi, which is his in-law’s place, the Divine Mother decided to reside in the heart of the Lord, since she did not want to separate from the Lord for a split second as well and also grace everyone who came for His darshan.  It is said that the moon arose from the ocean and since Sri Lakshmi also came from the ocean, Sri Lakshmi and Sri Hari are considered as the Universal Parents, the moon is our uncle – Chanda Mama!

The churning continued and the next one to appear was Varuni who was the presiding deity of liquor. The Asuras took possession of her. Then arose a divine form from the sea with a unique and astounding form. He was verily an incarnation of Vishnu – Dhanvantri, carrying a pot of Amruta – the drink of Immortality.  The Asuras snatched the pot from Dhanvantri and the Devas and Asuras started to bicker on the Amrutha.

“aham purvamaham purvam na thvam na thvamithi prabho”  [SB 8.9.30]

Seeing the forlorn condition of the Devas and the Lord who was the grantor of the prayer of his devotees assumed the form of a woman as Mohini who was so wonderful that she defied description. The main intention of this incarnation was to deceive the Asuras and distract them from drinking the nectar of immortality. The Asuras were very much attracted to Mohini and enthralled by her beauty. In order to hoodwink the Asuras, the Lord enchanted them and they were totally infatuated by Mohini’s beauty. Mohini requested for the Amritha from them and their lustful attachment on her made them give up the Amritha to her. She in turn distributed the Amrutha to the Devas. But one Asura named Swarbhanu went into the midst of the Devas, disguised as one of them and drank a share of the Amrutha, But his identity was soon revealed and the Lord soon cut his head. Since the Anrutha had only gone upto his neck and not come into contact with the torso, the lower portion of his body fell dead. The head which gained eternal life was converted to a planet called Rahu. Rahu is known to be very antagonistic to the moon and sun deities.

It is seen from the whole leela that the Devas had full benediction of the Lord since they surrendered unto the Lord. It is also a fact that since they took refugee to Lord Brahma who is the Guru and he finally took them to the Lord.

After listening to the wonderful discourse of Amrutha Mathanam by Prakashji, the satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

“Satyashisho hi bhagawamsthava paadapadmaashisthathanubhajathaha purusharthamoorthae”|
“apyaevamarya bhagawan paripathi dhinan vashaeva vathsakamanugrahakaatharosman”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 4.9.17]

When one goes and prostrates unto the holy feet of the Lord, the divine mother requests the Lord to not look at their sins. She graces everyone out of sheer compassion and it is verily because of the divine grace of the mother that we enjoy the satsangs. It is said in Ramayana that when the Lord was away from the Mother, there was a problem. In Vibishana Sharanagathi, when Vibishana surrendered to the Lord, Lord Rama was in a dilemma whether to accept Vibhisana or not. This state of quandary could have been avoided if Mother Sita Devi had been with Lord Rama. Let’s take another incident from Ramayana. There was a place called Janasthana enroute to the forest. In the forest, the Rishis requested Lord Rama and Sita to protect them from the demons since they slew the Sages and their tapas and sacrificial fires in Janasthana. They go to Janasthana and see a big hill full of bones of Rishis. Lord Rama became very agitated seeing this gory sight. He was getting ready to kill the demons. At this juncture, Mother Sita Devi asked Lord Rama, “Oh Lord Rama, it is not a big thing to slain the demons.   It is their very nature to create trouble and so why should you go and harm them.” Such is the compassionate nature of the mother. She was put through a lot of torture by Ravana in Ashokavana. In Sundarkhand, we see that when Ravana came to meet Sita Devi, she smiled at him and said, “Oh Ravana! This is your last chance. Please surrender unto Lord Rama. You can always change.” Such is her compassion to even the one who had immoral love towards her.

Following a short round of introductions, Prakashji from Boston lectured on Koorma Avatar from Srimad Bhagavatham. Our Guru Maharaj in one of his kirtan, beautifully sings –

“srimad bhAgavatham swayam harireva”
“jnAna vairAgya bhakti dAyakam”
“prastAna chaturtham brahma vidhyA poshakam”

Srimad Bhagvatham is the fourth ‘Prasthana’, the Upanishads, Brahma Sutra and Bhagavat Gita being the first three. The ‘Samanya Dharma’ (standard rules / path)  that is taught in Srimad Ramayana is how one should lead a life. In Mahabharatha, we see how one should adhere to the path of Dharma and how a king should rule a kingdom. But in a very subtle way, Sage Valmiki extols the greatness of chanting the Divine Names of Lord Rama in Ramayana. When something is very hard to decipher, it is only by the grace of the guru, we unravel the secrets. Akin to Ramayana, in Mahabharatha, we see that the greatness of bhakti is extolled in many places. If we take the case of Srimad Bhagavatham, it appears to be a predominantly spiritually and bhakti oriented Text. It also preaches the path of Bhagavatha Dharma and teaches the precepts of Bhagavatha Dharma. Only when we understand Srimad Bhagavatham, can we then apply its precepts in our day to day lives.

The eighth canto in Srimad Bhagavatham starts off with the Manvantaras. Gajendra Moksham is the first charithra in the eighth canto where the elephant king Gajendra gets liberation. Gajendra’s foot was caught in the clutches of a crocodile and he performs penance for thousands of years and finally the Lord liberated Gajendra and bestowed him with Moksha. This signifies how much effort is needed to get the grace of the Lord. As the canto progresses, the Lord’s grace is extolled in the episode of Amrutha Mathana, the churning of ocean of milk. The next charithra in the eight canto is about the avatar of Vamana. Then came the Matsyaavatara which conveys the precept of taking refugee unto the Lord who is no different from the Guru and the greatness of guru’s grace.

Let us take a look at Koorma Avathara in detail. The Lord took the guise of a tortoise [koorma] to help the Asuras to imbibe the nectar of immortality. He used the golden Mandara Mountain as the rod and Vasuki, the king of serpents as the rope. He had the Devas and Asuras churn the ocean of milk during which the nectar was being produced. During the process of ocean churning, lots of treasures came out. This is the outline of Koorma Avatar.

Our Guru Maharaj expounds the upakhyana of ‘Amrutha Mathanam’ (churning the ocean of nectar) in three different levels – one, as a simple story, that can be retold to kids; the second, in the dimension of the Raja Yoga Marga, and third, as a excellent education in management and administration, providing insights and precepts in day to day management of one’s activities at home or work!

Why does He descend?  It is because He loves to sport! And the descent of the divine tortoise was a play too, and for this play, a stage had to be set, a theme had to be drawn.  And He plans these with extreme precision and élan!  More often than not, the foundation for the stage is a misdeed by a demonic entity or the incurrence of the displeasure of the devotee.  To put it in simple terms, when one exercises his discretion of discourteousness to a Bhagavata, the equilibrium is upset, and He comes down to set right the balance and drive home the point – bow to the Bhagvata!   A strong theme indeed!

Take the story of Jaya-Vijaya – the siblings that blocked the Sanatkumaras from entering the Vaikunta;  child-like in their looks and short in stature, the Sanatkumaras were mistaken for banal visitors by Jaya-Vijaya and cast a curse on the brothers. The Sanatkumaras were doomed to be born on the Earth 3 times and undergo trials and tribulations before they could be taken back by the Lord.  Accordingly, Krita Yuga saw Hiranyaksha-Hiranyakashipu, Treta Yuga saw them as Ravana-Kumbakarna and in their last birth, were born as Dantavaktra and Sishupala, and had the Lord come down as Varaha, Narasimha, Rama and Krishna to take them back!

Another example is that of King Parikshit, who, having lost control of his sanity for a split second garlanded Sage Sameeka with a snake.  The sage’s son Shringi came to know about the disrespect to his father and cast a curse on King Parikshit that a poisonous snake, Thakshaka would sting him on the 7^th days.  With that disrespect was born the beautiful avatar of the Lord, as Bhagavata Purana!

Now for the plot!   Once Indra, the king of the devas was taking a stroll in the garden where Sage Dhurvasa was doing his prayers. On seeing Indra, Dhurvasa garlanded Indra.  Drunk in his material opulence, Indra took off Durvasa’s garland from his neck and put it on an elephant.  An enraged Durvasa cast a curse on Indra – that he will lose all his material wealth as a reward for his act of disrespect.  Disrespect to the Bhagavata is bad, disrespect to Bhagavata Prasad is worse!  And Indra realized it instantly.  His entire clan felt weak and demoralized, giving way to the demonic forces, the Asuras to take control.   The equilibrium was disturbed enough for the Lord to descend and fix!

Very succinctly, in just two Slokas, Sage Shuka narrated this to Parikshit, giving him a sneak preview the taste of the story to unfold.   Parikshit couldn’t wait longer; he implored Sage Shuka to elaborate on the Lord’s descent.

Yatha Bhagavathaa Brahman mathihi  kshirasaagaraha |
yadartham va yathschardim dhadharambucharathmana|| 

“Yatha mrutham suraihi praptam kinchanyadabhavath thathaha”|
“Yaethadah bhagavathaha karma vadasva paramathbhutham”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 8.5.11-12]

Sage Shuka continued exuberantly….

The battle between the Devas and Asuras continued, and the Devas pondered on a way for breakthrough, and surely enough, they resorted to their helpline – Lord Brahma who was residing in Meru Mountain.  Having evaluated their plight, and sensing that the righteousness had touched the abyss, Brahma meditated on the Lord.

The wheel of Samsara – the continuous cycle of transmigration, has fifteen spokes – the 5 Karmendriyas, 5 Jnanendriyas and the five elements of the body.  The five elements of nature, ego, mind and intellect – totaling 8, are the entities that are on the rim of the wheel.   Sattva, Rajas and Tamas determine the rotation.    The Lord, who resides in the center of the wheel  can be attained only when one who rotates incessantly on this wheel directs his mind on the center with Bhakti.

Meditating thus on the Lord who is the epicenter of the wheel, Brahma beseeched the Lord to fructify the prayers of the Devas.  As an answer to the prayers, the Lord appeared and gave a few valuable pieces of advice to the Devas.

‘Sign a truce with the Asuras and secure their help in churning the ocean for nectar’, He instructed the Devas, and offer them a share of the nectar that can bestow immortality.  That very nectar was bound to bestow vitality and strength to the Devas.   ‘Don’t fall for the riches that you may be provided as you churn the ocean; instead offer them in charity’, the Lord said, asking them to concede to mundane requests from the Asuras.  This piece of advice gave them new strength and energy to fight on,  and they decided to follow the Lord’s advice verbatim.  The churning rod was the Mandara mountain and it had to be placed in position.  As it was too heavy for the Devas and Asuras, they beseeched the Lord for help.  The Lord came down on Garuda and helped them lift the mountain and station it in the ocean.

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

It is said that Ravana was bestowed with lot of riches. He was also one of the most knowledgeable people on all Vedas and scriptures. He had all the Parakrama and strength in the world but the Lord did not bestow him with a satsang. We see that Sita Devi pointed this out to Ravana in Sundarkand. The divine Mother who is filled with compassion, tells him that his mind is completely devoid of discrimination verily because he doesn’t have even half a second of satsang. On the other hand Sugreeva who did not have anything in this world, as he was deprived of his home, nation and his family, had the true grace of the Lord and hence he was bestowed with the satsang with our great Hanumanji. This divine association got him back all his wealth, family and nation and the Lord himself verily as a friend [Lord Rama]. The relationship between Lord Rama and Sugreeva started to grow and was strengthened by the divine association with Hanaumanji.

“Sugrivo hanuman rikshah gajo gridhro vanik patah” – Lord Krishna sings the following verse in Srimad Bhagavatam where all these great souls were delivered from samsara and attained great heights only because of satsang.

The basic prayer that one should have is to bestow us with more and more satsang.

After this wonderful introduction, Ramya fromSan Josecontinued on the Avadoota Gita lecture.

Kuraram [Osprey] – Once a small sparrow spotted a small piece of flesh and started to carry the meat in its mouth to fly back to its nest. On its way, the osprey spotted a lot of crows and eagles that also started to follow the osprey. An astute osprey having realized that the crows and eagles are following her for some reason, decided to drop the piece of meat that was in her mouth. As soon as she dropped the piece of meat, they went to eat the meat. The sparrow went and sat in her nest in peace. Akin to the osprey, when one has many materialistic possessions, there will be many people who want to par take the wealth.

“Saamisham kuraram jagnuhu balino yae niramishaha”|
“thadaamisham parithyajya sa sukam samavindata”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.2]

One who is really happy and contented in life is one who is totally devoid of any desires for any materialistic wealth.

Arbhaka [Infant] –

“Na mae Manavamano stho na chintha gaehaputrinaam”|

“Athmakridaha Aathmarathihi vicharamiha balavathu”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.3]

It is a known fact that the Mahans and Sadhus do not have any grudge or prejudice against anyone. There are two kinds of people who are free from any anxieties. The first of the kind is an infant who knows no honor or dishonor and the second of the kind are the Mahans. They are forever immersed in the supreme bliss since they have transcended the three gunas – Rajas, Satvik and Tamas and have realized the self.

Pingala [Coutersan] – There once lived a courtesan in the city ofMithila.  It is said that she gained Viveka by merely living in the city ofMithila. She was known as Pingala.

“Pingalaa naama veshayaasith videhanagarae pura”|
“thasya mae shikshitham kinchin na bodha nrupanandana”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.8.22]

Courtesans typically live with one person every day and everyday she would decorate herself and would sell herself to a wealthy person. One day as she was waiting, she let go the men who approached her hoping that she would find somebody else who was even wealthier than these men. Unfortunately nobody else came and she was frustrated as she kept waiting until it was mid-night. Her mouth was parched and she was dejected that she was unable to earn any money that night. However that sense of frustration in her led her to eternal happiness.

Pingala thought –

“Aho mae mohavithathim pashyathavijithatmanaha”|
“Yaa kaanthadashathaha kaamam kamayae yaena baalisha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.8.30]

She started to hate herself. She was pondering on her fate and thought that if she was married then she would have someone to take care of her. She spent the whole night contemplating on this fact and at one moment she developed dispassion and began to hate herself and the developed total dislike to the life that she was leading. That very moment a realization dawned in her that her eternal husband is none other than the real Lord residing in her heart. This clearly shows that even for a courtesan the rescuer is in only Lord Sri Krishna.  She then decided not to lead such a life and realized the fact that she was not alone and that the Lord is forever residing in her heart. She decided to seek that eternal Lord who always bestows eternal happiness instead of seeking an insignificant man who can only give her infatuation and grief instead.

“Santham samipae ramanam rathipradam vithapradam nithyamimam vihaya”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.8.31]

“Aasha hi paramam dhukkam nairashyam paramam sukam”|
“Yatha samchidya kanthaashaam sukam sushtaapa pingala” || [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.8.44]

Having cut asunder her desire to go and seek wealthy men to earn money on a daily basis and getting rid of the hope to get a paramour, Pingala enjoyed a peaceful sleep. Materialistic desire is undoubtedly the cause of greatest unhappiness and freedom from such desire is the reason for greatest happiness.

Thirumoolar says –
Aasai paada paada thumbam daanae Aaasai vidaa vidaa inbam thanae”
Aasai arumin Aasai aumin isanodaahinum aasai aarumin”

Thirumoolar in the above verse conveys a beautiful precept. He requests all to destroy the desires. It seems one should not even have any desire to even see the Lord. One should develop unconditional love for the Lord only for the sake of love. One should think of being of some use and should never expect anything in return even from the Lord.

Pingala thus became one with the Lord.  Even the Gopis reminisce her and that goes to show the greatness of Pingala.

Kumari [Maiden] – There once lived a maiden and she was at a marriageable age. Her parents were seeking alliances and she was not from a wealthy family. One day one of the prospective bride-groom came to see this maiden. Even though she was the bride, she had to help her mother to attend to the comforts of this prospective alliance. She wasn’t comfortable doing this but she did not have a choice. When she was pounding the patty to prepare food, the bangles that she was wearing started to make a loud jingling noise. It is generally uncommon that the bride does all the house-hold chores when the prospective bide-groom came to seek an alliance.  She felt embarrassed of doing this humiliating task, broke the bangles one by one and only retained two each on her wrists. As she continued pounding the patty, the two bangles produced sound and she then broke one each from each wrist and then finally the remaining bangles did not make any sound. So when we dwell together, quarrel ensues even when two people live together in the same room. If one lives alone akin to the single bangle that makes no sound, there is no quarrel and Avadootar having realized this fact, was living alone in peace.

“Vasae bhahunaam kalaho bhaveth vartha dvayorapi”|
“Aeka Aeva charaeth thasmath kumaryo iva kankanaha|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.10]

Sharakruth [Forger of Arrows] – There once lived a hunter with a bow of arrows.

“Mana aekathra samyujaajithashvaaso jithaasanaha”|
“Vairagyaabhyasayogena dhriyamaanamathandhriyaha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.11]

One should steady the mind on one thing by controlling the mind and the breath. This is verily possible with a stable pose and always being vigilant and being dispassionate and having full concentration in contemplating the self.

“Yasmin mano labdapadam yadaethachanaihi shanairmunjathi karmarenun”|
“sathvena vruthaena rajasthamascha vidhoya nirvaanamupaithyanindhanam”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.12]

The mind is steadied by controlling by slowly renouncing the desires of senses and by developing Sattva guna which will gain control over Rajasika and Tamasika impulses and will usher one into rapt concentration to contemplate on the lord.

“Thadaivamathman yavarudhachitho na veda kinchith bahirantharam vaa”|
“yathaepushkaro nrupathim vrajanthamisho gathatmaa na dhadharsha parshvae”|| [Srimad Bhgavatham 11.9.13]

The maker of arrows [a hunter] was totally engrossed in knocking down a bird and his total focus was to kill the bird. He was so focused in his work that he did not see the king pass by. After knocking the bird and when he was about to leave the place he spotted battalion just passing by. He enquired with the onlookers and learned from them that the king had just passed by. He did not notice the king as he was so absorbed in his bird hunt. Avadootar says that one should possess immense focus and concentration when one contemplates on the Self and when doing penance.

Sarpa [Snake] – A mahan or sadhu should wander alone and should possess no place [abode] for himself and he should completely focus on contemplating the lord.

“Aeka charya nikaethaha syadha pramatho guhashayaha”|

“Alakshyamana aacharaihi muniraeko alpabhashanaha”||  [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.14]

Why is snake considered a Guru by Avadootar?

“Sarpaha parakrutham veshma pravishya sukamaedathae”| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.15]

The snake happily inhabits in holes borrowed by others and also the serpent does not know to build a house of its own. Akin to a serpent, a Mahan who wanders everywhere and fraught with Lord visits someone’s house without any prior notice. They feed the Mahan and the Sadhu takes leave from that householder without uttering a word. It is known that the house-holder’s sins are absolved once he feeds a Mahan. This whole universe is their abode. The crux is that in the path of Sanyasa dharma, the sages should not own any home and not to mislead the readers that Sadhus will dwell in other’s homes.

Oornanabi [Spider] –

“Yathornanabi hrudayadhoornam santhasya vaktrathaha”|
“thaya vihruthya booyastham grasathyaevam maheshvaraha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.21]

A spider builds a web and dwells in that web. It does not build the web from any outside material. It spits the thread from its mouth and sports with the web. When it is bored with its web, it swallows the whole web. It lives in that small web to entice small insects and to catch them. Akin to the spider is the Lord who created the universe from his mouth. Similar to how the spider catches small insects, the Lord attracts people with a noble heart unto Him. When he is bored of his creation, he simply destroys it. The spider’s appearance is never changed when it created the web and at the time it swallowed the web. It never became thin or fat. Akin to this, the Lord also does not undergo any change when he created and destroyed the universe.

Supaeshakruth [A wasp] –

What did Avadootar learn from a wasp?

“Kithaha paeshaskrutham dhyayan kudyaam thaena pravaeshithaha”|  [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.23]

A wasp catches a tiny insect [kitah] and it brings it to its nest. Then the wasp goes out to get hold of another insect. In the meanwhile, the insect in the nest is contemplating on the wasp. The insect is very scared of the wasp and is of the opinion that it is going to be killed by the wasp and this thought is haunting the insect. Since the insect is constantly thinking about the wasp, it got wings and finally flew away. This is verily to show the power of meditation.  The Bramaram [wasp, wandu in tamil], always depicts a guru-shisya bhaava. It is said that –

“Guror moorthi sadha dhyayeth”
“Guror naama sadha japeth”

If one always contemplates on his guru, then he finally becomes one with his guru. This union is termed as Sayujya. Then the disciple is no different from his guru. He speaks what his guru speaks and all his actions are akin to his guru. He attains the Sannidhya of his guru similar to Uddhava.

Avadootar after talking about his twenty-four gurus to King Yadu, also mentioned about the twenty-fifth guru.

“Daeho guruhu mama virakthivivekahaetuhu”

So what is the characteristic of someone who you don’t like? We normally tend to say that they create some disturbance or the other. Isn’t it? Can there be any big nuisance other than our own body? It creates so much trouble to us on a daily basis. We have to bear the pain our body creates and we just can’t shed our body. We tend to bicker with people surrounding us but can we ever wrangle with our body. If we tend to renounce our body and oblige to the needs of our body, Avadootar says one will develop discrimination [viveka].

“Avadoota vacha shutva purvaeshaam naha sa poorvajaha”|
“Sarvasanga vinirmuktaha samachitho baboova”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.9.33]

Lord Krishna said to Uddava that King Yadu, after listening to Avadootar’s discourse renounced all his material attachments.

Lord Krishna after elaborating the sanyasa dharma to Uddava, revealed a secret to Uddava

Na rodayati maam yogo na saankhyam dharma eva cha
na svaadyaayastapas tyaago neshtapoortham na dakshinaa
vrataani yagnaschandaamsi thirthaani niyamaayama:
yatavarunde satsanga: sarvasangaapaho hi maam ||

‘Oh Uddhava! It is only satsang that entices me. Yoga, Svadhyaya, penance, meditation, renunciation, sacrifices, charity, recitation for the Vedas and undertaking pilgrimages, observing strict austerities – none of these allure me as does satsang’

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

“Akaramum ukaramum makaramum aana ooru ezhuthin saarathai iraga kondavanae”

In the above verse, our Guru Maharaj says that the whole Vedas form the wings of Lord Garuda. Two wings of Lord Garuda refer to Karma and Upasana and we see the Lord Garuda between these two wings. The Vedas are essentially Karma and Upasana. The beauty of Garuda is that he is quoted in various different places in all our scriptures. King Parikshit when comparing Lord Krishna and Rukmini Devi, he quotes the example of Garuda. Garuda’s mother was one imprisoned by the snakes [naagas] and that she would be released only if they were given nectar. Nectar is considered to be very sacred and was only served for the Devas. Garuda went into the realm of the Devas and took the entire pot of nectar against the will of the Devas and gave it to the snakes. This specific incident is mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam. The manner in which Lord Krishna carried away Rukmini Devi is akin to how Lord Garuda came to the home of the Devas to carry away the pot of nectar.

Since Lord Garuda is present with the Lord always, he requests him to bring the Lord unto us as earliest possible.  Garuda was born in the Swathi nakshatra akin to our Guru Maharaj and he is verily an incarnation of Vaayu [wind].  The 13^th of August 2010 was the fourth day of Shukla paksha which is called as Naaga Chaturthi and the 14^th of August 2010, the fifth day of Shukla paksha is known as Garuda Panchami.

After this, the satsang had a quick round of introductions and then Ramyaji from San Jose continued on the Uddhava Gita lecture –

Sindhu [Ocean] –

“samudhrakamo hiinova narayana paro munih
Nothasrpaetha na shushyaetha saridhbhiriva saagarah”

In summer the rivers dry up and there is no water draining into the ocean. In the rainy season, the rivers are overflowing and all the river waters join the ocean. The ocean however does not increase in their height and do not cross their limits when the river waters join the ocean during rainy season. Similarly the ocean does not completely dry up when it is devoid of river waters during summer. It is always in one state and is not perturbed in both summer and rainy seasons. Akin to oceans, Mahans always chant the Divine Names of the Lord Narayana and are oblivious of the surroundings.

Munihi prasabhagambiro dhurvigrahyo durathyahah|
Ananthaparo hyakshobyaha sthimithoda ivarnavah||

A Mahan is quiet akin to the sea and is unaffected by time, space and likes and dislikes. He cannot be conquered and is not troubled by anything. The ocean never desires that all rivers should flow into the ocean. It is verily the rivers who think that the ocean is their only refugee and gets eventually mixed in the ocean. Similarly even though one is destined to enjoy the pleasures due to the merits accrued in the past births, and when he goes behind the sensual pleasures, then it means that he likes to enjoy the pleasures. But when one is not bothered by the pleasures and since he is destined to enjoy them, they will come and seek him. There once lived a great Mahan known as Samarta Ramadasa Goswami and one of his disciple was Ranganatha Goswami. Samarta Goswami was very simple and led a very simple life. On the other hand, his disciple Ranganatha Goswami was very rich and led a very luxurious life. He had a battalion of people, horses which followed him wherever he went. The other disciples of Samarta Goswami however did not like the way Ranganatha Goswami came to meet his guru in a pomp manner and they slowly started to comment about Ranagatha Goswami which was also heard by their guru. The guru then decided to teach the other disciples a lesson. One day he called Ranaganatha Goswami and asked him to renounce all his materialistic wealth and asked him to stay with him. He implicitly obeyed his master’s orders and relinquished his riches the very moment. Days passed by and one day his guru and other disciples went around for biksha and Ranganatha Goswami was doing penance in a forest and King Shivaji crossed by Ranganatha Goswami. Shivaji immediately offered his salutations and prostrated unto his holy feet. King Shivaji immediately ordered his soldiers to build a tent and he also offered many riches with humility. In the meantime Samarta Goswami and his other disciples came back from biksha. That time their guru told his other disciples that even though Ranagatha Goswami was not inclined to any wealth, it was  verily his guru’s orders to enjoy the opulence due to the merits that he had accrued in his previous birth even though he does not desire for any wealth.

Pathanga [moth]

Mahans never get deceived by objects that are glowing and the ones that are in vogue. Their clothes are very simple to cover their body and they consume food in small quantities that is needed to sustain a living.

Drushtva striyam devamayam  thadbhavairajithendriyah|
pralobithaha pathathyanthae thamsyagno pathangavat||

A man who has no control over his senses is allured by all the gestures of his senses and falls into the darkness of hell akin to how a moth falls into the fire. A moth gets attracted by the bright glow of the fire and desires to get near to the fire. It slowly climbs the candle and when it is on the vicinity of the fire, the fire burns its hands. The moth is however not deterred by this loss and continues to go near the fire. The fire next burns the legs and the moth still determined to touch the fire, finally jumped into the fire and is eventually killed.  Akin to moth is an ignorant man who is allured by the various sensual desires which is verily a creation of the Maya and he loses his discrimination [viveka] and is finally destroyed akin to a moth.

Madhukruth [ Honey- bee] –
Anubhyascha Mahadbhyascha shastraebhyaha koshalo naraha|
Sarvathaha saaramadhadyath pushpaebhya iva shatpadaha||

The honey bee lives and dwells in various flowers and plants. The flowers are diversified in both color and fragrance. It is also a fact that each flower is unique of its own. The honey-bee goes around these flowers and it extracts the same nectar from all these variegated flowers. Akin to this honey-bee, a person should gather the essence of all the scriptures and Vedas which is verily the chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. If one is unable to extract the essence of shastras and Vedas, which is Nama Sankirtanam, then what is the use of following the Shastras.

Saayanthanam swasthanam vaa na sangrinitha bikshithah

The honey bee gathers the honey and stores it with much difficulty. It is a ‘madhuvrata’. It does not consume honey daily. It only consumes honey on a full moon or new moon day and hence accumulates the honey for the upcoming days. Suddenly a honey-gatherer comes and lit fire to the honeycomb thereby killing all the honey-bees and carries away the honey. Akin to the honey-bees, if we keep on gathering wealth and other materialistic possessions, a thief may come one day kill us and take away our riches. Having realized this fact, Avadootar said to King Yadu that he doesn’t keep anything in store even for that night and hence he is able to lead a life in peace.

So the key take-away from honey-bee is as follows –

• Don’t store wealth for a long time
• Gather the essence of all the scriptures and Vedas which is verily the chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.
• Practice non-violence and don’t shoo away the person who is feeding you
• Be as gentle as a honeybee sucking nectar from the flower.

When one has weaknesses try to use it as a means to do service to the Lord. Adi Shankara in Viveka Choodamani [sloka 76 ]  clearly expounded that one need to have control over his senses.

Gajaha [Elephant] –

“Sprushan kariva badhyetha karina anasangathaha”

Elephants are allured by touch [sparsha sukam]. There was once an elephant and was roaming independently and had lot of freedom in the forest. One day a hunter came to the forest to catch elephants. So he dug a big pit and attracted the male elephants with a female elephant as bait. This elephant which was roaming happily in the forest all by himself came running towards this female elephant and eventually got trapped in the big pit. He was not able to get out of the pit and was thenceforth chained and was tamed and was taken from one place to another by this hunter. Akin to this elephant are the jivas who are attracted by the materialistic worlds end up taking birth after birth and are bonded in this mundane world forever.

Madhuha [Honey-gatherer] –

“Madhuhaevaagratho bunkthae yathirvai gruhamaedhinaam”

A honey-bee works diligently to gather honey from flowers but a honey-gather comes and takes away the honey. Akin to this is a miser who tries to amass wealth and not do any charity but a thief comes and snatches away all the riches of the miser. A Mahan keeps roaming freely with his mind for ever immersed in the thought of Lord Narayana. He doesn’t worry about anything even for his biksha. But a noble man on seeing the Mahan cross his house will call him inside and offer his salutations and will provide food for the Mahan. By serving the Mahan with food his sins are all absolved.

Harinah  [Deer] –

gramya geetham na shrunuyath yathihi vanacharaha kvachit|
shikshetha harinath badhanmrugayogeethamohithath||

One should never become attracted by mundane sounds like sensuous music as it will only spoil the minds. One should always listen to the keertans of Lord Krishna and also those kirtans that are sung by the devotees of the Lord. The Mahans always listen to the divine exploits of the Lord and chant the Divine Names of the Lord. Their ears are always tuned to listen about the Lord. Those who listen to the worldly music and have no control to sense of hearing eventually cannot come out of the mundane world akin to deer. Deer are so fond of music that the poachers use it as a bait to catch them. They are lured by the violin notes of the hunter and they are eventually trapped in the net casted by the hunter. The deer is considered to be a foolish animal. But this foolish animal becomes a candidate for the Lord’s grace by merely listening to the flute notes of Lord Krishna in Brindavan. It is said that –
‘Dhanyasma mooda mathayopi harinya yetaah’ When one develops pure and pristine bhakti to the Lord, then one will never have any interest to satiate their sensual pleasures in this mundane world.

Meenah [Fish] –

Avadoota shared with King Yadu his learning’s from the fish. He learned to control his tongue (taste) from fish.

jihvayathipramathinya  jano rasavimohithah|
varjaithva thurasanam manirannasya vardhate||

A fish enjoys its life in the water. A fisherman in a quest to catch the fish, hangs out a piece of coconut and the fish comes out of the water to get the coconut and eventually gets trapped by the fisherman. The fish died since it was unable to gain control over its tongue. Akin to a fish when one is unable to control his tongue, he then becomes a victim for Lord Yama. One may have won over his other senses, but if he is unable to gain control over his sense of taste, then it means that he has not gained self-control.

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

“tapasa brahmacharaeyna shanena cha dhamenacha
thyagena sathya chouchabhyam yamena niyamena va ||
Deha vaag bhuddhijam dhIrA dharmajnaah shraddayan vitaah
kshipantyagham mahadapi venu gulmam ivaanalah” ||  [SB 6:1:13-14]

The above sloka describes the various paths that Sage Suka mentioned to King Parishit.

Tapas – By adhering to the path of meditation will slowly absolve the sins. Practicing celibacy  will lead one to control the sensual desires will reduce one’s sins. The other paths that Sage Suka explicated include charity, by adhering to the path of truthfulness, by being pure in body, mind and heart, by following simple rules of life and by following austerities one can reduce the sins. Having said all this, it is said that a true Master will only give the best of the best to his devotee. Sage Suka tells   Having said this, he then started to expound on the path of bhakti. If one does bhakti [devotion] to Vasudeva, by merely catching hold of the path called bhakti, and not needing to do any other sadhanas,  one’s sins will fly off akin to how dew drops dry off when the sun rises in the east and lastly their intention to sin will also be lost. By following the path of bhakti, one will transform all their emotions as love for Lord Vasudeva. One will experience this only after practicing bhakti for some time and it is not an instantaneous process he added. Perseverance and patience that one develops while when doing bhakti is only by Guru’s grace.  The easiest way for acquiring Guru’s grace is verily through the chanting of the Divine Names of the Lord.

After a brief round of introductions, Ms. Ramyaji from San Jose started to discourse on the 24 Gurus. The satsang after reminiscing the first five gurus, went on to expound on the next four gurus.

Chandrama [Moon] – We all know that the moon appears for 15 days in a month and disappears for the next 15 days. The waxing and waning of the moon occurs only to the digits of the moon.  During the waxing period, the moon slowly starts to be visible and on the full-moon day, it is fully visible. After the auspicious day of Pournami, it slowly starts to disappear and on the new moon day, the moon is totally invisible. It seems like the moon is born and dead every month. This assumption is however not true. It is verily due to the earth’s movement that one can perceive the appearance and disappearance of the moon. The moon is always known to be fat, glowing and complete and is called as Poornachandran. Akin to the moon is the Atma. It is always complete and the different states of growth starting from birth, boyhood, the youth hood, maternity, old-age and ending in death only implies to the body [sharira] and does not relate to the Atma. The atma is never born or dead and it is similar to the Poornachandran. This is what Avadoorata says he learned from the moon.

“Visargaathyaha smashanantha bhava dhaeasya nathmanah
kalanamiva chandrasya kalaenavyaktavarthmana”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.7.45]

Ravi [Sun]

It is a well known fact that the earth is one. But due to circumstances, it is demarcated as different continents, countries and cities. If we delve into this further, we would realize that the earth is only one but due to demarcation it looks different. Akin to earth is water. People try to quantify water, which is infinite by calling it with different names.  Even Fire [Agni] and Sky [Aakasha] are all only one. If we see from the window of our house we see only a portion of the sky and if we view the sky from our neighbor’s window, we see another part of the sky. But we eventually see only one sky when we come out of our homes. Akin to the sky is sun. As we all know there is only one sun. Even as the sun reflected in the reflecting substance is perceived to be a different sun, similarly Atma which is clothed in a body is perceived to be a physical body all though it is one by itself. In other words, the atma which is present in all of us is the same and it enters every being and hence we tend to personalize each being with a name. If we keep the name aside, then we can see that the atma that entered all the beings is one and the same.

Bhudhyathae swaena bhaedena vyakithisya iva thadgathaha|
Lakshyathae stoolamathibihi athma chavasthitorkavatha||

Kapotha [Pigeon] –

Nathisneha prasango vaa karthavyah kvaapi kenachit
Kurvan vindeta sandapam kapota iva dheenadhih”||

There was once a bird couple and they were leading a happy life. In a few days, the lady bird gave birth to their off-springs. They were deriving happiness by seeing their fledglings grow up. Every day the male bird went out to get food for his family and the mother bird was taking care of her younger ones in the nest. One day the chicks were playing and a hunter caught sight of this. He immediately trapped them in his net. Seeing this horrible sight, the mother bird rushed down to save her younger-ones. She was also eventually caught in the net. The male bird after collecting the food for his family returned home. As he approached his home, he was devastated to see his dear ones trapped in a net. The male bird tried his best to save his family but was in vain. Alas, he was also caught in the same net by the hunter. The female dove due to overwhelming affection on her younger-ones got caught in the net. The male dove due to his unstinting love for his wife and his fledglings also got caught by the hunter. Akin to the bird, we also get entangled in our family due to sheer love for our family members. Having blessed with a human birth, we need to use this birth in a wise way to attain the holy Feet of the Lord and attain the final beatitude.

Yapprapya maanusham lokam muktidwaaramapavrutham
gruheshu kagaath sakthasthamarudachyutham vidhuhu

The crux from the bird’s story is that one should never keep excessive fondness or attachment on any person or object. The mind of a man becomes so unhappy and comes to grieve akin to this dove upon losing its dear ones.

Ajagara [Python]

graasam sumrishtam virasam mahantham sthokamaeva va
yadhruthchayaevapathitam grasaedhajagarokriyahaha

Avadoota started to expound on his next guru. Ajagara is python. He says one should learn to eat food like a python be it sweet or bitter. Python is also known as ‘malai paambu’ in tamil. The snakes normally wander from one place to another in search of food. In the process, they get spotted by people and are eventually killed. The pythons are an exception. They never wander for food and they do not possess enough strength to roam around for food. They just remain in one place. Unless and until food comes somehow comes to python they won’t eat anything. It might just eat a frog one night and the next night it might have a sumptuous dinner which could be a rabbit or a deer. The following day they might not get anything to eat and hence they will starve. Sadhus are akin to pythons in this regard. They won’t go in search for food. There are two types of dharmas that are specified for sadhus. The two dharmas are Ajakara vrithi and the Madhukara vrithi. In the case of Madhukara vrithi, the sadhus go from one house to another like the bee for biksha. In the path of Ajakara vrrthi, the sadhus do not go from one place to another for biksha. They will have biksha only when it comes to them and they are extremely pleased with whatever they get. So Avadootar says that one should develop dispassion [nirapeksham] and should not have passion or affinity [apeksham] to anything in particular and should be contented with whatever they get.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

It is difficult to visualize the beautiful form of the Lord. One can never completely delineate the Lord’s form.  The chubby cheeks of the Lord, his splendid eyes and his bright tilak on his forehead, his red rosy lips and the glowing ornaments adorning his ears and the beautiful hair that flows over the back of his head, his finger nails reflect the brilliance of the Lord’s face and the beautiful finger that holds the flute. The lustrous jewels embellish the Lord’s neck. The mark of Srivatsa on his broad chest and this is the very indication of Goddess Lordess Lakshmi residing in the Lord’s heart. The shiny cloth that covers the Lord’s body and the yellow cloth [pitambara] that covers the Lord’s waist and the Lord’s cris-crossed feet [Vyathyasta paada] and the toe ornaments [Kankanas] in the Lord’s feet. It is indeed difficult to bring this form of the Lord in order to do meditation. The beautiful form of the Lord is described in various instances throughout Srimad Bhagavatam but still nobody has really seen that beautiful form of the Lord. Our Guru Maharaj says that it is almost impossible to get a glimpse of the finger nails of the Lord even for the Yogis who do a lot of penance.  So if one cannot meditate on the form of the Lord which one has not seen, then mediation is a futile effort. Here our Guru Maharaj in one of his kirtans makes the path of mediation very simplified. In one of his kirtans, he sings -

“Guru vuruvum  hari uruvum or uru aagumae”

If one is unable to bring the form of the Lord in front of him during meditation, then grasp a form that is equivalent to the form of Lord Krishna. One does not need to go in search of that form. That very form is verily the form of our Guru. So meditate on the Guru’s form, our Guru Maharaj sings. Each and everyone is blessed with the Guru’s darshan so many times during the day and seen him in bone and flesh. If one sets the mind on the form of his Guru [oor oruvil un manathai niruthinal]. This is verily the easiest path to supreme god-realization. [Oor oruvana andha oom kara porul sathya agnyanandhamai  brhamamai milirdhudumae] . If one meditates on that form of the Guru or Lord Krishna in our hearts, then one is bound to realize the truth in one’s own heart as well.

All the satsangs and other spiritual austerities are a means to bring the mind under control and to bring the mind to a state of unison. It is evident that how much ever practices any spiritual austerities; it will not bear any fruit if he does not have the grace of a guru or the Lord.

The end goal of all the satsangs is to make the devotee be a recipient of the Guru’s grace and accept the grace of the Lord which he showers eternally. Our Guru Maharaj says that if one desires to collect the rain-water but if he keeps the vessel inverted then he will not be able to collect the rain-water. So we need to keep our hearts open and in correct position so that we can be the recipients to the Guru’s grace. The one who receives that grace will be able to feel it forever and ever.

Sri Narayananji also outlined the significance of dakshinayana and this phase begins with Guru Poornina. We have all the auspicious functions happening in the Dakshinayana period. This phase lasts for six months.

The eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam talks about the beautiful precepts of Bhagavata Dharma. Bhagvatha Dharma is one of the simplest and easiest paths and is indeed rarest of the rare. It is kind of ironical that it is simple and common and yet rare. It is rare because it is simple. We are recipients of that dharma.

The eleventh canto then talks about Uddhava, who was as epitome of Bhakti. The Lord gave a discourse to Uddhava on the truths of life. He first elucidated the greatness of a Guru. He then speaks about Avadoota, on the path of sanyasa dharma. The Lord uses Avadoota as his mouth-piece to expound the greatness of Guru Krupa and how the teachings of a Guru manifest into various different forms.

The satsang then continued to reminisce Uddhava Gita, the discourse delivered by Lord Krishna to Uddhava when he asked the Lord to take him along with him to Vaikunta. The Lord declined his request and instead asked him to go to Badrikashramam and spent some time in recluse by renouncing everything. Upon hearing this, Uddhava asked the Lord if it was possible for him to do so. In reply to Uddhava’s question, the Lord discoursed on the Sanyasa Dharma to Uddhava.

The Lord in his discourse to Uddhava, advised him to renounce everything and that he will attain the Lord through a Guru. In the case of Uddhava, his Guru was Lord Krishna himself. It is said that “Krishnam Vandae Jagadguru :  Lord Krishna is the all pervading Guru for everyone”.

He started off by explaining the Sanyasa Dharma with reference to the dialogue that happened between King Yadu and Avadoota. It is said that by narrating the incidents that happened in our ancestral lineage would instill more faith and devotion.

King Yadu was a highly successful king and an able administrator. He was however not very happy and seeing his people being busy and fully immersed in the mundane world made him very restless. He was not able to find peace anywhere. He was travelling all over the world to see if he can find someone who is a personification of peace. As he was travelling he saw a brahmin on the banks of Thalai Cauvery who was in a state of tranquility and his face always wore a smile. King Yadu on seeing this Brahman immediately prostrated to the Brahman and enquired on the Brahmin. The Brahmin was none other than Avadoota. King Yadu confided to the Brahmin that he was travelling throughout the world and that he was unable to find someone who is very poised and is in the state of equanimity. King Yadu then questioned the Brahmin as to what made him so contented and happy and drove him to the state of aplomb? He also acknowledged that it was indeed the good merits that he had accrued in his previous births destined him to come to the Brahmin who is the embodiment of peace.

King Yadu earnestly requested Avadoota to explain the reasons for his happiness. In reply to his question, Avadoota lucidly replied that when happiness is tied to a reason than that happiness is indeed not real happiness and that very happiness will not last long. To paraphrase if a sukam (comfort) is related to a ‘haetu’ (reason) then that happiness is not real. There is one comfort that is devoid of any reason. That is verily the ‘swaroopam’ (true self). If one realizes that the Atma is the eternal Ananda Swaroopam, then one needs no external reason to be happy. Any happiness that one derives through his sensual pleasures will definitely lead to sorrow. One will be able to decipher this Swaroopa Lakshanam only with sheer Guru’s grace. Avadoota also added that since the grace of a guru was abundant on him that made him really happy. It is generally said that when one has abundant Guru Krupa, then amidst any situation he will be able to derive happiness since he sees everything as his Guru and every action in his life as his Guru’s action. This is verily the Guru Tattva. After listening to Avadoota’s reply, King Yadu was very much surprised. He then asked another question to Avadootar requesting him to talk about his Guru.

Avadootar embarked on his discourse and started off –

“Prithvi vayu Aakasha aapah agni chandrama ravih|
Kapotho ajagarah sindhu pathango madhukrut Gajah||
Madhuha harino meenah pingalaa kurarorbhakah |
Kumari sarkruth sarpah oornanabihi Supaeshakruth”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.33-11.7.35]

He explained what he learnt from the 24 gurus mentioned above. The twenty-four Gurus are Earth, Air [Wind], Sky, Water, Moon, Sun, Pigeon(bird), Python, river, moth, honey-bee, elephant, honey-gatherer, deer, fish, courtesan, small sparrow [Osprey], maiden, forger of arrows, serpent, spider and wasp. He acknowledged that the whole world was his guru. The greatness of Avadoota Gita is that it applies to both Sanyasa and Gruhasta dharma. The number 24 carries significance. Srimad Bhagavatam talks about 24 avatars in Canto three even though the incarnation of the Lord is infinite [asankeya]. Also there are 24 aksharas in Gayathri Mantra. The three aksharas of the pranava signify the infinite Brahman.

Prithvi [earth] -

“Buothairakramyamaanopi dhhero dhaivavashanugaihi|
Tadh vidwannachalen maargaad anvasiksham kshithervratam [SB 11:7:37]

The Earth sustains millions of people on its own and also bears their burden as well. The mother Earth [Bhoomi Devi] is very patient and enduring in spite of the troubles she undergoes. The key learning from mother Earth is that however one abuses or mocks at someone, one needs to be patient like Mother Earth and also one needs to stringently adhere to the dharma or the spiritual sadhana that he undertakes and should not give up for any reason. A pious and wise man should learn from mountain, which is a modification of earth that he should devote all efforts to the service of others and make the welfare of others the sole reason for existence. The self-servient  nature of Mother Earth is another attribute that we need to learn from Mother Earth. There is yet another great quality of Earth that applies to Guru and Mahans. The Earth takes all the weight of the people. Also it bears their wrong-doings and harassments as well and yet does not swerve from her determination. Akin to this a Guru takes all the burden of his disciples and alleviates him and makes him feel lighter. Avaddota thus explained his first guru to King Yadu.

Vayu [Air]-

Vishayeshvaavishan yogi  naanaadharmeshu sarvatah
guna dosha vyapetaatmaa na visajjeta vaayuvat  [SB 11.7.40]

He then embarked on his discourse about his second guru –Vayu.  The air is all pervading and goes all around the world. It however has no affinity to anybody. It does not carry anything nor gets implicated with anything. It even goes inside one’s body. Akin to Vayu, one should be friends with everybody but should not be bonded to anybody. The air carries with it different aromas without any discrimination or preference but it never mixes them and thus remain neutral in both auspicious and inauspicious situations. When one is surrounded by innumerable objects which possess both good and bad qualities, one should learn to live like the air by not getting entangled with all these objects. Mahans are akin to Vayu. They mingle with everybody and go around many places, but do not have affinity to anyone and anyplace in particular and remain unbiased. The atma which is the very manifestation of the Lord resides in each and every living being and when it leaves the body, it leaves without any bonding on that person. From the wind, one should learn to move in this material world without attachment.

Aakasha [Sky] –

Everything rests within the sky [aakasha], but the sky does not mingle with anything. The stars, moon, sun and earth all exist within the sky and the sky has a big family. One should learn from sky to be of help and provide service to everybody but should not be dependent on anybody in particular and should remain untouched and unaffected. Even though the sky helps all the other elements to exist within it, the sky does not have any binding to these elements. Mahans also do a lot of help to the jivas but they do never own that help. They forget the help they offered that very moment itself. Mahans and the Aakasha do not express themselves. Avadootar says that he accepted the Sky as his third Guru.

Aapaha [Water] –

Svacchah prakrititah snigdho maadhuryasthiirtha bhur nrunaam |
munih punaati apaam mitram eekshopasparshakiirtanaih || [SB 11.7.44]

Water is the universal solvent since it is pure [nirmalam] and cools anybody who tastes it and also cleanses them. Similarly Mahans are a personification of compassion, soft by nature and seat of purity and resolve problems and purify everybody who get acquainted with them. They are the universal solvent and purify people by Kirtana, Upasparshah and by their mere darshan. When one is in the divine satsang of a Sadguru, the Mahan when expounds on the glories of the Lord and when chanting the Divine Names of the Lord, absolves all the worries of his devotees and makes them feel lighter. By means of kirtan, he quenches the thirst of samsara. Akin to how the touch of water ushers in coolness, Mahans’ divine Prasad will bestow all goodwill.

What does ‘iikshopasparshakiirthanaih’ mean? Iksaha connotes “sight”. By merely seeing water one can experience happiness – “darshanaadeva sadhavah”. To substantiate this, let’s take the summer season where there is no rain. In the midst of hot summer months, when the sky pours down two drops of water, it makes everyone happy. Similarly the sight of Mahans [divine darshan] bestows immense happiness. Valmiki in Ramayana has elucidated the importance of water. One cannot dispense water and similarly one cannot dispense Mahans because of their immense love [prema] for their devotees.

Agni [Fire] –

Agni burns everything. It consumes everything, both good and bad and yet is always pure. Agni is not selective when it burns something to ashes and is still clean.  It is known as ‘Udara Bhajanam’. Akin to how stomach digests whatever one eats. Mahans mingle with all kinds of people who have all kinds of qualities in them and still they remain pure.

Fire is always glowing. Similarly Mahans also have a ‘tejas’ and the glow in them is because of the penance. 

After reminiscing on the first five Gurus of the Avadoota Gita, the satsang closed with prayers and Namasankitan.

“Naham Thavangri kamalam Kshanardamapi keshava |
Thayaktum samuthsahae natha svadhama naya mamapi ||  [ Srimad Bhagavatam11.6.43 ]
Thava vikriditam Krishna nrunaam parama mangalam |
Karnapiyushamasvadhya thyajansanyaspruhaam janaah||”  [ Srimad Bhagavatam11.6.44 ]

Seeing Uddhava in that state, Lord Krishna pacified him and enquired with Uddhava for the reason for his sadness. Lord Krishna said “Oh Uddhava, You never have any desires for yourself and so what is troubling you now?” Uddhava in reply to the Lord’s question replied – “Oh Lord! I now know your intentions. You are now going to depart to Vaikunta. Your birth in Yadu clan has reaped fruits.” Uddhava added, Oh Lord! I have one request for you. Can you please take me along with you to Vaikunta?

Uddhava is an epitome of bhakti to Lord Krishna. He never left the Lord even for a second. He requested the Lord to treat him as his Padhuka so that the Lord can lock him forever unto his holy feet akin to how one wears slippers before stepping out.

Uddhava, in a shivering voice confided in Lord Krishna that he had been listening to his divine Kalyana Gunas and witnessed the Lord’s divine leelas every day. I cannot live without you and cannot imagine a life being away from you. He further added “Oh Krishna! I do not have any bondage or attachment in this world. I don’t have any possessions in this mundane world. I have always worn the clothes that have been worn by you. I have always consumed your food remnants and have always worn your pitambara. I have always been living in the shadow of your holy feet. I will boldly say that I have won over Maya because I have always been consuming your Prasad and so please take me along with you, says Uddhava”. Aharam is food and it is not limited to the food that one consumes. For every sense organ the food has to be the prasasdam of the Lord. The ears need to listen to the divine glories of the Lord. The eyes must stay tuned to the Lord’s divine darshan and the mouth should consume the food that was offered to the Lord. If one adheres to this, then one can easily come over Maya.

Uddhava was one such ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. He was a great Bhagavatotama. Even though the Lord did Upadesa to Uddhava it is known as Uddhava Gita unlike other Gita’s. This goes to show the greatness of the Shrota, Uddhava. He was an epitome of Prema Bhakti akin to the Gopis of Brindavan. He was never separated from the Lord even for a second.

Krishna has also acknowledged that Uddhava was his favorite devotee and that he was very dear to him. He says that neither Lord Brahma (who is the Lord’s very own son), nor Lord Shiva (who is the Lord’s very own self), nor Lord Balarama (the Lord’s own brother) nor Goddess Sri (the Lord’s wife) nor the Lord’s very own personality are not so dear to the Lord. Uddhava is Lord’s favorite devotee. The Lord further insinuated that whoever sings his divine glories and chants the Lord’s divine names are indeed dear to the Lord.

“Na thatha me priyathama athmayonihi na shankaraha
Na cha sankarshano na shri naivaathma cha yatha bhavaan”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.15]\

The Lord also confessed to Uddhava that he desires to purify the material worlds with the dust of His devotee’s feet.

nirapeksham munim shaantam nirvairam sama-darshanam
anuvrajaamy aham nityam / puyeyety anghri renubhih  [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.14.16]

Our Guru Maharaj beautifully elucidates the fact that when a person does incessant chanting of a Naama in the same place, divinity is created in that place around him. This is verily ‘Saalokya’ [same loka]. That is he attains to that world/loka, here. He then attains the beauty of that Deity or in the case of the worship of a Guru, his gait, talk and everything else becomes just like that of the Guru – ‘Saaroopya’ [same form]. Then, the Deity comes into his heart, which is verily ‘Saameepya’ [proximity] and finally he becomes one with ‘It’ and that is ‘Saayujya. These are not really external factors as deemed but happen wherever the Nama is chanted incessantly in one place.’

Uddhava was one such devotee of Lord Krishna whose thoughts always revolved around the Lord. When he earnestly requested the Lord to take him along with him to Vaikunta, Lord Krishna did not adhere to his request. He said, “Oh Uddhava! Either I should be here or you should be here. I cannot be here for long and so you must stay here”. He further added that the impending Yuga is Kali Yuga in which the mind’s of the people is filled with tamas qualities and so it necessitates that there should be at least one Bhagavata in this earth and there by instill Satvik qualities and devotion in people’s mind. The Lord also mentioned to Uddhava that either one of their feet should be in touch with the earth to establish dharma.

Uddhava after listening to the Lord said “Oh Lord how can I live in this earth after your departure?”. So Lord Krishna acknowledged his concern and advised him to renounce everything and settle in Badrikashramam. The Lord said that by Uddhava’s mere presence satsangs will happen throughout the world. Uddhava being a personification of bhakti cannot mingle with normal mortals in this world.

“Thvam thu sarvam parithyajya sneham swajana bhandushu
Mayya veshya mana samyak samadrug vicharasva gaam”||

After listening to Lord’s order, Uddhava put forth another question to the Lord –

“Yogesa Yogavinyasa Yogathman Yogasambhava|
Nishyaeyasaya mae prokthaha thyaggaha sanyasa lakshanaaha”||

He said,”Oh Lord! You are a very embodiment of Yoga. You are a Karma Yogi. Do you think I am eligible to renounce everything and embrace the path of sanyasa?” He requested the Uddhava to go to Bhadrikashramam and remain there for some time and the Lord gave his holy padhukas to Uddhava. The crux of this is to show the greatness of the Guru Paduka. Guru Paduka is verily the Guru himself. Uddhava’s mind was in tranquil state when he received the Padukas. It is also seen in Ramayana that when Bharata was disturbed about Lord Rama’s departure to the forest and Lord Rama’s darshan to Bharata just bestowed him with immense peace. Such is the greatness of a guru.

Lord Krishna being the Guru knows what the right path is for his disciple. Uddhava being his disciple implicitly obeyed his guru’s orders verbatim. This applies to one and all. One should follow the Guru’s orders and no reasoning out the question at any cost. When one goes in search of the Lord, the Lord will lead that disciple to a Guru, who is verily a human form of the Lord. The Guru cleanses his disciples and throws them unto the holy feet of the Lord. The Guru tattvam is sheer guru’s grace and this Guru Tattvam is all pervading and is infinite. What is the indication that one has been bestowed with Guru’s grace? It is verily the thought in him that everything in this world is his Guru and each and every action is happening due to sheer grace of his Guru. Guru’s grace [krupai] will ensure that the Guru’s orders are followed. Such is the greatness of Guru and his grace.

The Lord in reply to his question started to discourse on the path of Sanyasa dharma. Sanyasa dharma is verily Bhagavata dharma. The sanyasis renounce everything and seek the Lord whereas the Bhagavatas (Gruhastas) lead a house-holder’s life and yet have no bondage to this worldly life. They do not perform any Kamyartha bhakti [bhakti to satiate their worldly desires]. Such is the greatness of a Bhagavata.

It is a normal practice to narrate the incidents that happened in our ancestral lineage as that would instill more bhakti and devotion.

“Yendai thandai thandai than moothappan ezhu paadi kaal thudangi”

Lord Krishna started to expound on the path of Bhagavata Dharma that Avadoota told to King Yadu.

The satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Sri Narayananji continued the talk….

The greatness of Bhagavata Dharma is that it is indeed a secret. The prowess of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord is akin to a normal shrub which grows amidst the weeds. For a normal person, it will seem to be a weed. Only those who know the secret of the weeds can identify this shrub which can be an elixir to life. Akin to this shrub is Bhagavata Dharma. Only those who know the import of it can cherish and relish it. Srimad Bhagavatam speaks about Bhagavata Dharma right from beginning to end. In the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam we saw the beautiful discourse of Bhagavata Dharma by Sage Narada to Vasudeva, Lord Krishna’s father. He expounded on Bhagavata Dharma by reproducing the dialogue between King Nimi of Videha Desha and the Nava Yogis, who are the sons of Rishabha Yogishawara who is verily the incarnation of the Lord. The nine sons were Kavi, Hari, Prabuddha, Anthariksha, Pippalayanar,Avirhotrar,Drumila,Chamasa and Karabhajanar. The nine yogis are great Mahans and devotees of the highest order. The names of the Nava Yogis are related to the discourses that they deliver. The first Yogi is Kavi. Kavi connotes poet. It is only a poet who can explain and articulate things in a beautiful manner. He expounds on the path of bhakti. The next Yogi is Hari. Hari refers to the name of the Lord. It is verily the Lord who can talk about the characteristics of a Bhagavotatama. Hari Yogi expounded on the characteristics of the Bhagavotama. The third Yogi is Antharikshar. He elucidated about Maya. Maya is related to sky [aakasha]. Antharisksha means Aakasha.  The next Yogi is Prabuddha. The term Prabuddha means one who is a realized soul. He explained how it is imperative to take the shelter of a guru. He outlined the need for doing bhakti to a guru and the greatness of listening to the glories of the Lord.  “doore hari kathah kechit doore cha achyuta keerthanaah”

A sleeping person cannot wake up another sleeping person. Only a person who is already awake can wake up the rest. The next Yogi Pippalayana, whose name refers to a Jnani, delineated the characteristics of Lord Narayana and also portrayed the greatness of Jaagrath, Swapna and Shusupti. It is only a Jnani who can bestow knowledge [Jnana]. The sixth Yogi is Avirhotra. Avirhotra means one who performs spiritual austerities [homam] and hence he explicated on Karma, Akarma and Vikarma. The next Yogi is Dhrumila and his name translates to a Dravida or a Pouranikar. He explained on the characteristics of the Lord and the innumerable incarnations taken by the Lord. The eighth Yogi is Chamasa. Chamasa means Ajnana. He expounded about the atheists [Ajnanis.] His discourse was a very powerful lecture as he lashed out the ajnanis who make fun of people who follow the path of Bhagavata Dharma. The last of the Yogis is Karabhajana and his name signifies to someone having a vessel in his hand. The Sanskrit meaning of Karabhajana is giving something in hand.  His discourse is all about the essence of the eight Yogis and finally gives on our hands what one needs to know. He gave the quintessence of Bhagavata Dharma which is verily the chanting of the Divine Names of the Lord for KaliYuga. The name Karabhajana also connotes another meaning.  He has his hands verily as his plate. Who is referred to as Karabhajana? It is verily the sanyasis. The path of Sanyasa Dharma is closest to moksha [liberation]. Adi Shankara says that the path of sanyasa is total renunciation. He will not even have a plate to take alms. He goes and stands in front of every house requesting for alms, “Bhavathi Biksham Dehi”. He only takes three hands full of alms and he gives the rest to charity. There are days when a sanyasi doesn’t get any alms. On those days he starves. This is called as “Ajakara Vrithi” akin to a python which kills anything that comes on its way and would not go out of the way to kill some animal.

Karabhajana has his hands as his plate and advocated the path of complete renunciation. He being an epitome of renunciation who has incarnated as Karabhajana has expounded on the greatness of Bhagavata Dharma. Dharma for a renunciate in the Kali Yuga is Bhagavata Dharma. The beauty of Bhagavatam is indeed the words which the Mahans deploy when they talk about some thing.

“Krishnavarnam Tvishakrsihnam Saangopaangastraparshadam”|
“Yagnaihi Sankeethirthanaprayaih yajanti hi sumedhasah”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32]

He expounded on the different yugas and preached on the path that one should adopt in Kali Yuga to worship the Lord who is black in complexion but brilliant as a sapphire. He beautifully outlined how the intelligent people propitiate the Lord. Yagna connotes sacrifice. One should perform all the karmas that are destined for him. Our Guru Maharaj advocated that everyone should do the karmas ordained for them and also chant the Divine Names of the Lord as when possible. Here Karabhajanar asserted that one should chant the Divine Names of the Lord with due diligence and outlined the greatness of Nama sankirtan and that all Yagnas and other divine activities should be followed after Nama Sankirtan. Any divine deed or otherwise should always be done with divine names chanting of the Lord. He extolled the greatness of Bhagavata Dharma in two beautiful slokas –

“Dheyam sadha paribavagnam abishtadoham thirthaaspadam shivavirinchinutham charanyam
Bruthyarthiham pranathapaala bhavapthipotham vande mahapurusha thae charnaravindham”

[Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.33]

Let us meditate on the holy feet of the Lord which the Devas, Brahma and Lord Shiva are struggling hard to keep their mind focused on.  It is verily the holy feet of the Lord which when meditated upon can deliver one from all discomfiture and will dispel the distress in the devotees and serves as a boat for crossing the ocean of samsara. He shows the path of Moksha dharma by worshipping the Holy Feet of the Lord which is an elixir for crossing the ocean of transmigration.

“Thyakthva sudhusthyajasurepsitha rajyalakshmim
dharmishta aaryavachasa yadhagadharanyam
Mayamrugam dhayithayepsithamanvadhavath
vandae mahapurusha thae charanaravindham”

[Srimad Bhagvatham 11.5.34]

In the above sloka, he acclaimed the greatness of Ramayana. Lord Rama sacrificed his whole kingdom for being in dharma. He chased a maaya deer to win the heart of Lakshmi and waged war against Ravana and Karabhajanar having glorified the life lead by Rama, he beautifully says that one should follow the life-style of Lord Rama and follow the foot-steps of Lord Krishna to take everyone ashore. He thus venerated the greatness of Ramayana and Bhagavatam in the above two slokas.

“Kalim sabhajayantharya  Gunagnya Saara bhaginaha
Yatra Sankirthaeniva sarvaha svarthopilabyathae“ [Srimad Bhagvatham 11.5.35]

Instead of always talking about the detrimental effects of Kali Yuga, let us all extol the greatness of this age, which is attaining the holy feet of the Lord by chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.  People who are born in the age of Sathya Yuga seek birth in Kali Yuga to enjoy the sweetness and melody of chanting the Divine Names of the Lord who are born in the banks of Tamraparani river.

“Kvachith KvachinMaharaja dravidaeshu cha boorishaha|

Thamraparni nadhi yatra KruthaMala Payasvini”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.39]

After giving the crux of Bhagavata dharma to King Nimi, Karabhajana ended his discourse. At the same time, Sage Narada also wrapped up is lecture to Vasudeva. Vasudeva then asked Sage Narada if there was anything else he had to do? Sage Narada replied that he doesn’t have to do anything and for that matter not even follow a word of Bhagavata Dharma. How strange isn’t it? Sage Narada says, “Oh Vasudeva, Lord Krishna was born as your son. The supreme personality of Godhead has come down and is born to you and Devaki. It was because you had asked for it.”.

“Aparae Vasudevasya devakyaam yachithobhyagaat”

Vaireyayam nrupathayaha shishupala poundra
shalvadayo gathivilasavilokanadaihi
dDhyayantha aakruthdiyahaha shayanasanaadhou
thathsamyamapuranarukthadhiyam punah kim “ [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.48]

He then added that Shishupala, Salva, Poundra and Dhantavaktra who are all Asuras attained the holy feet of the Lord by merely showing hatred, jealousy and envy to Lord Krishna. They were in constant thought of Lord Krishna even when they were asleep or awake. When our heart constantly thinks of Lord Krishna, the Lord then takes us onto His Holy Feet. It doesn’t matter in what bhava one performs bhakti. This is akin to throwing a dry grass or ghee into fire. The fire doesn’t care and just burns anything and everything. The Lord will remove our ignorance and take us onto his holy feet if one is constant thought of the Lord. Even though Shishupala, Salva, Poundra and Dhantavatra had complete hatred against Lord Krishna, they couldn’t bad-mouth about the Lord. They would talk about gracious gait, his qualities [laitha gati vilasa valgu haasa]. Sage Narada quoted these Asuras and mentioned to Vasudeva that they reached the holy feet of the Lord by mere hatred against the Lord and hence requested Vasudeva and Devaki to enjoy and admire Lord Krishna as their son and with that Sage Narada departed. Vasudeva and Devaki were enlightened.

The next chapter of the eleventh canto talks about a beautiful stuthi. Our Guru Maharaj would say that Srimad Bhagavatam is a lagu stotra maala. One stuti is done by the Vedas. Devas have done stutis in many different places. They did a stuti before Lord Krishna was born. They did one more before churning the Amrutha Matanam in the eighth canto. Stuti in other words is singing praises of the Lord. This time the Devas did not go to Kshirabdhi or Vaikunta. They all came down to Dwaraka where the Lord was residing. They got beautiful flowers from Chaitrakam, Vaibraajakam, Pushparatam and Nandavanam from the Deva Lokas and offered the flowers at the holy feet of Lord Krishna and prostrated unto the Lord. They then embarked to do a stuti in ‘Chitrapadam’ style, in sweet, gentle and lovable words…

“Nathaasma thae naatha padaravindam buddhindriyapraanamanovachobih
yachinthyathaeantharhrudhi bhavayukthaihi mumukshubihi karmamayarupaashath”
- [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.6]

In Dwaraka the Devas surrendered all the possessions, intellect and heart. It is verily because of the fact that the Lord had taught them numerous lessons all through His incarnation. Each Deva carried some sense of pride in them as a result of some accomplishment and Lord Krishna acted then and there to subdue the ego of the Devas. Lord Brahma was feeling elated about his creation and Lord Krishna pruned his ego by creation itself. Lord Indra was egoistic about his adroit in showering rain and Lord Krishna put him in place by showing that he could protect the people. Yama was the king of death and Lord Krishna revived the dead son of Sandeepani from Yama Loka and brought him back. So Lord Krishna subdued the sense of pride in each and every Deva by simply doing the same thing that they were proud about.

The Devas on seeing the Lord in Dwaraka started to sing praises of the Lord. “Oh Lord, It is verily you who created the Maya and from this Maaya sprang the universe. Even though you created this universe you do not mingle with everyone since you are verily an Atma Raam – Sa upa mupagathae viloka naathaih”.

thvam maayaya thrigunaathmani dhurvibhavyam
vyaktam srujasyavathi lumpasi thadgunasthaha
Naithairbhavanajitha karmabirajyathae vai
yath svae sukhaevyavaharhithaebirathonavadhyah

[Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.7]

Sudhirnrinaam na thu thadaethya dhurashayanam
vidhyasuthadyayanadhanathapaha kriyabihi
Sathvathmanamrushaba thae yashasi pravrudha
sachshradhaya shavanasambruthaya yathas syaath “ [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.8]

So who can get delivered from this vicious cycle called Maya. Those who want get freed from Maaya cannot do so by reading scriptures or by having a good intellect, by doing karma or by doing intense meditation or even by doing charity. So then how can one get out of Maaya? The Devas beautifully say that by listening to the divine exploits of the Lord with rapt attention, one can cross the cycle of transmigration. The Devas then continued to sing praises extolling the greatness of the Lord’s feet. Everyone has the Lord’s feet in their hearts of hearts when they do meditation, yoga or offer sacrifices and they added that it is verily the bhakti to the Lord’s feet that can make any spiritual path pure. The Devas then glorify one great avatar of the Lord, the Trivikrama Avatar. In that incarnation, Trivikrama had conquered all the three worlds and had brought Mother Ganga down to earth. One biggest feather to cap the Trivikrama avatar is that he conquered the soul of King Bali.

“Kaethusthrivikramayuthasthripathathpathako
yasthae bayaabayakarosuradevachamvoho
Swargaya Sadhushu kalaeshvitharaaya
booman paadaha punathu bhagawan bhajathamagam naha” [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.13]

The devas glorify the Trivikrama Avatar of the Lord, they acclaimed Hrishikesha, the driver of all senses and the Lord being the perpetrator in this universe and finally they sing praises about the holy Feet of the Lord and they applaud the path of bhakti and how this path absolves all the dirt from this universe.

Usually water is considered as a cleansing agent. There are two kinds of water that make the entire universe clear and pristine – “Theerthadwayam”. The first one is verily the water flowing from the Lord’s feet which comes down in the earth as Ganges. By mere thought of Ganges, one will be purified. The second one is “Kathamrutha”, the glory of the Lord’s divine leelas and just by drinking the divine nectar will usher instant purification. The Devas thus ended their Stuthi with praising the path of Kathasravana.

Lord Brahma then prostrated unto the Lord and thanked the Lord for his incarnation to destroy all the Asuras and also his desire to be born in the Yadu clan has also reaped the fruits. The Lord had glorified the Yadavas and Lord Brahma requested the Lord to come back to Vaikunta.

Srimad Bhagavatam then goes to show how the Yadavas were destroyed due to a curse by a Brahmana.  Nnot just scratching the surface, if we delve deeper into this, how can a Brahmana’s curse destroy a whole clan protected by Lord Krishna [Agavan api kopithaha]. It is only possible when the Lord wishes for it. The Brahmanas read the Lord’s heart that he wanted to annihilate the whole place and wanted to return to Vaikunta. The Brahmanas are the mouth-piece of the Lord.

A curse was cast on the Yadu clan by the brahmanas that they will be destroyed by a mortar [Musalam kula nashanam]. The arm of the Lord is protecting the entire Dwaraka from any calamity that is bound to strike Dwaraka. The Yadava clan started to slowly forget the Lord and satsangs and started in indulge in all nasty dealings like mocking at people and engaging in corrupt manners. The son of Lord Krishna and Jambhavati, Samban on the day of Janmastami went around feigning as a pregnant woman. Being Janmashtami day, the city of Dwaraka was flooded with great saints and mahans who had come to get the darshan of Lord Sri Krishna. Samban not only went around the Yadava clan in disguise as a pregnant woman but also in front of the great saints. The saints who were great Mahans and who could perceive the present, past and the future  cursed Samban that only an iron pestle would be born and not a human being. This scared Samban and the entire Yadava clan and yes an iron pestle did come out from Samban’s body. Instead of going to Lord Krishna for help, they went to Ugrasena. Per his advice, they crushed the iron rod into fine powder and threw it in the ocean. The tides in the ocean slowly brought the iron powder to the shore and more iron rods started to arise in the shore. They then went to Lord Krishna for help. He requested them to go to Prabaasa kshetra to cleanse all their sins. This place in today’s world is known as Somnath.  It is said that the Moon Lord [chandra] also got a curse from Daksha and that he went to Prabasa to take a holy dip. Saying so Lord Krishna left with the enitre Yadu clan to do perform ablutions in Prabasa and thereby absolve all their sins. When everyone was taking a holy dip in Prabasa, the Lord sat in a secluded place and was in intense meditation. At this juncture, Lord Krishna’s dear friend and devotee Uddhava approached the Lord.

Uddhava and Lord Krishna are of the same age. Right from his child-hood, he was in constant thought about the Lord.

“yah pancha haayano maatra praataraashaaya yaachitah
tan naicchad rachayan yasya saparyaam baala leelayaa”  [Srimad Bhagavatam 3:2:2]

Uddhava’s alias name was Bruhadbala and he was brought up in Mathura.Uddava’s father was Devabhaga and he was Vasudeva’sibling and hence Uddava was Lord Krishna’s cousin. Uddava was very much attached to Lord Krishna and he always wanted to enjoy his divine plays and pastimes. He would always mimic Krishna is every act of his and admired the Lord so much. Uddhava was a very intelligent person and he was waiting to have darshan of the Lord. The word Uddhava connotes happiness [utsavan]. He would forever be happy in doing utsava to his dear Lord and hence he was known to be called as Uddhava and not Bruhadpala. He was so intelligent that Bhruhaspati, the Guru of the Devas came down to take Uddhava from Mathura as his disciple.

“Vrishninam pravaro manti krishnasya dayita sakhaa
shishyro bruhaspathae saakshath uddhavo bhuddisatamah” [Srimad Bhagavatam 10:468:1]

Why did Uddhava get the highest education from Bhruhaspati? Was it because he needed that education to become a minister in Lord Krishna’s administration? The answer is no. He acquired all the knowledge to decipher the Bramara Geetham that the Gopis were going to recite. So that required him to enable him to understand that pure and pristine Krishna bhakti that the Gopis had for Lord Krishna. The moment he met Lord Krishna, he was with the Lord forever and never got separated from Him. Uddhava topped the list as being a prime most devotee following the path of Daasya Bhava. He was in constant thought of doing service to the Lord. He was a servant to Lord Krishna. He would wake up before the Lord and get everything set up. He would retire for the day only after the Lord slept. He used to accompany Lord Krishna wherever the Lord went. Uddhava was a minister in Lord Krishna’s administration. He gladly accepted it because he could do service to the Lord by being in hid vicinity always. He wanted to be a recipient of the Lord’s grace which was flowing through his beautiful eyes. Uddava and Lord Krishna were dear friends and he performed Dasya bhakti to his dear Lord.

Such an Uddhava went and approached the Lord in Prabaasa and confided in him that he could perceive many bad omens. He hailed the Lord’s incarnation and his divine leelas. In a worried voice he told the Lord that he could sense the departure of the Lord back to Vaikunta. Who can stop you Krishna? You are a Swacchandagatieshwara. You have a will of your own.

“Naaham Thavangri kamalam kshanadrdamapi keshava
thyaktum samutsahaenatha swadaama nayana mapi” [Srimad Bhagavatam11.6.43 ]

Uddava says, “Oh Lord Krishna! I have a request for you. Please do not separate me from you. I cannot imagine living away from your divine feet. Please take me along with you. How can I ever live without you when I have been doing service to your holy feet when you were awake or asleep?”.  Uddava added that he won over Maaya because he had always consumed the food remains [ucchistam] of Lord Krishna. He had worn the dresses and jewels that Lord Krishna had worn.

“Shaiya aasanaatanasthana snana kridashanadishu
katam thvaam priyamaatmanam vayam bhaktas yajema hi” [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.45]

“Thvayopa bhukta srag gandha vasolankara charchithah
Ucchishta bhojinodasah thava maayaa jayaemahi”  [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.6.46]

Uddhava begged to Lord Krishna and he was sitting patiently and listening to whatever Uddava said.  Lord Krishna is not going to accompany Uddhava to Vaikunta. He requested Uddhava to renounce all.

“Thvam tu sarvam parithyajya sneham swajana bhandhushu
maaya veshya maana samyak samadrik vicharasva gaam”  [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.7.6]

Renonunce everything and embrace the path of sanyasa. Perceive everything as a divine play of mine. He requested Uddhava to be in the earth for some time because if both the Lord and Bhagavata leave the earth the very same moment, the whole universe will be a haunted place to live. This beautiful precept that Lord Krishna advocated to Uddhava is called as Uddhava Gita.  Lord Krishna confided in Uddhava that he cannot find a greater Bhagavata than him and following this Uddhava put forth a series of questions to Lord Krishna which is part of Uddhava Gita.

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

In our satsang, we follow the path of Yugalam, the path of worship of Lordess Lakshmi and Vishnu and chant the Divine Names of the Lord and also listening to the divine exploits of the Lord.

Nithyaji from Boston continued on the discourse of Kurukshetra Samagamam.

Upon the request of Sage Narada, Vasudeva arranged for the grand austerity [yagna] that was going to last for the entire chaturmasya [four months]. Lord Krishna made all the arrangements for food and shelter for all the guests. All the Rishis, kings from different parts of the country and many other celebrities were present for this function. Many people from across the country came to take a holy dip in the Pushkarni that was created by Lord Shiva. People were slowly assembling for this grand function and now it was the time for the people of Brindavan to arrive.

They loaded their bullock carts with utensils, butter and they reached the place where this austerity was taking place. They were so eager to see their Krishna and eagerly enquired with everyone as to where Lord Krishna was. They were directed to where Lord Krishna was seated. He was seated among the great Rishis, the kings and other important people. When Krishna heard the faint voice of “Where is Krishna”, he immediately knew that it was Nandababa’s voice. He immediately stood up from his seat and ran out to see his loved ones. Ho completely forgot for a moment that he was the Nara Narayana Rishi, the king of all kings. He soon spotted Yashoda, Nanda and the Gopas and Gopis. As soon as He saw them, His eyes started to bloom like lotus and his heart was filled with joy. He sat on the lap of Yashoda and she started to fondle Him and fed Him with butter. Can we imagine Krishna who is one hundred and twenty years old was being fed with butter by Yashoda!

There was no spot of any cunning look on the Lord’s face and he still had the naïve and childish looks when Yashoda saw Krishna.  She told Him that all she yearned in her life was to feed her dear Krishna and nothing else. Everyone was watching this whole scene was amazed to see Yashoda’s divine love towards Lord Krishna and everyone’s eyes were flooded with tears of joy and all were agog witnessing the love between the Lord and His parents. Devaki thanked Yashoda for sending Lord Krishna to them. She fondly calls Krishna as “Gopala Ratnam”. After meeting his foster parents, Krishna slowly turned His head towards the Gopis. Sage Suka says – “Thaha thataboo thaha”. Lord Krishna is verily the Lord and so he possesses the same youthfulness [youvana]. The Gopis are also still youthful says Sage Suka. They were in the same state when Lord Krishna departed from Gokula in Akrura’s chariot. Lord Krishna calls on the Gopis and asked them “Api Smarathana Sakhyah”. He asked them if they remember the child-hood days that they all spent in the banks of Yamuna river. The Gopis’ life-line was to reminisce those good old days with the Lord.

“Brindavanantha Sanchara Venu Gaana Manohara”
Shyama Sundara govinda govardhana dhara prabho
Mayura baddha makuta pithambaradara prabho
Sridhaamotsanga Shayana Bala Bhadra sahodara
Yamuna dheera sanchara nikunja gruha kokila”

In the tenth canto in Venu Geetham the Gopis extol the glory of Yamuna River and they sing as to how river Yamuna enjoyed the Lord. It is said that Yamuna Devi performs pooja for the Lord. Krishna used to sit on the Tamaala tree and it is said that one of the branches lowers itself so much so that the Lord can be seated comfortably to play his flute. The branches lower themselves so much that the Lord’s feet touch the river Yamuna.  Yamuna Devi collects all the lotuses and brings it with her and with the waves as her hands she humbly offers them unto the holy feet of the Lord and performs pooja to the Lord. She lets the lotuses remain at the holy feet of the Lord for some time and then takes the flowers and heads to Samudhra Raaja. Samudhra Raaja on seeing Yamuna Devi enquires about her late arrival. She lucidly replied that she performed pooja to Lord Krishna and gave the lotuses to him as Prasad and he was so happy to receive them.

It is also said that Thiagarajar in his Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam exposition conveys the precept that Prahlada envied Samudhra Raaja. Prahlada tells Samudhra Raaja that the Lord was in Pralaya Samudhram in Varaha Avatar. In Koorma Avatar the Lord was in Ksheera Samudhram. In Rama’s incarnation, the Lord performed Sethu Bandhanam in samudhra and lastly the Lord is in samudhram in his deep sleep. Prahlada envies this and requested Samudhra Raaja to go as a messenger requesting to tell the Lord to give darshan to him. He asked him to go as His messenger to the Lord.

After seeing the Gopis, the Lord’s eyes slowly caught sight of Radhe. He fondly called out the name Radhe. Narayanabhatatri in Narayaneeyam lucidly depicted the discussion that happened between the Lord and Radhe. He says –

“Ripujana kalakaihi puna punasmae Samupagathai iyathi vidambana boothu
Ithi krutha pari ramba nae thvai Athi viva saa kalu radhika li lilyai”

Guruvayoorappan told Radhe that not a day passed without her thought and also added that the very thought of her was his solace and strength when dealing with issues. He also told her that He always wanted to come and meet her and was unable to do so because of His busy schedule.

When Lord Krishna called out the name “Radhe Radhe”, she is reminded of those good old days in Brindavan, where he called out “Radhe Radhe” while playing his flute -

“Kuzhalosai Seikindran Muralidharan”\
“radhe Radhe Radhe endru Kuva”
“Yamuna theerathil Kuzhaloosai Seikindran”

The word “Radhe” is so sweet and is filled with supreme divine love. When the Lord called out the name of Jagan Matha, Radhe, she was not very excited and said that the anxiety that the Lord underwent due to sheer separation [Viraham] from the Gopis outweighed happiness she derived on seeing the Lord after hundred years.

All the Ashta Sakhis [Rukmini, Sathyabama,Jambhavati, Kalindhi, Mirhravindha, Sathya, Badra and Lakshmi] of Lord Krishna came to meet the Gopis.  They were so excited to see them and their face lit up on seeing the Gopis. Lord Krishna had told so much about the wonderful Gopis to Rukmini. The Gopis and the Ashta Sakis met for the first time. All the queens also come to meet the Gopis. Draupadi, an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna was also extremely happy to see the Gopis.  People who had gathered were all extolling the greatness of Lord Krishna. Draupadi on seeing the Sakis eagerly enquired the reason for marrying Lord Krishna.

“Na vayam sadhvi samraajyam swaraajyam bhojam abyuthae”

The Ashta Sakhis beautifully replied to Draupadi’s question that they married Lord Krishna for merely doing service to the Lord and not for acquiring any wealth or even liberation. They wanted to marry the Lord not to enjoy the status of being a spouse, but so that they may be treated like a broom (‘gruha maarjani’) so that there is a nimble chance that He may shower His grace by looking at them in the passing.  Their main purport in life was to do service to the Lord and they clearly mentioned that they learnt this purport only from the Gopis who are verily the personification of godliness.  The Gopis are verily the gurus for the Sakhis.

All of them were reveling in satsangam extolling the greatness of Lord Krishna.  Kunti, Devaki and Yashoda were all praise for Krishna’s Vatsalyam. All the Ashta Sakis, the Gopis, Draupadi and all the queens glorified the Lord’s prema [love]. Krishna’s philosophies won the plaudits of the great Rishis who participated in the satsang. The kings and his ministers discussed about the Lord’s wealth.

The yaga thus started in this memorable satsang and everyone had a great time for those four months. Lord Krishna made all arrangements needed for the austerity. The Kings and other ministers left after staying there for few days. People who had come to take bath in the Pushkarni to absolve their sins also left Kurukshetra. The Lord’s devotees stayed back and they stayed for the whole four months. The Rishis were also stationed in Kurukshetra since they performed the Yaga. Time flew and before even anyone realized the four months passed by and the Yaga also came to an end. It was time for all the devotees and the Lord to depart. Their hearts choked and were unable to depart from the Lord. The Gopis and Radhe were akin to a stone at the moment of their departure. The Lord consoled them and even the Lord left Kurukshetra with a heavy heart. It is said that in Narayaneeyam that the Lord did not go to Dwaraka directly from Kurukshetra but went to Gurvayoor and spent some time there and then departed to Dwaraka.

The Lord’s desire was finally satiated by having a great satsang re-union with all his ardent devotees for four months.

After this wonderful discourse, the satsang closed with prayers and Namasankirtan.

tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah[Bhagavad Gita 4.34]

One cannot get the Jnana unless one is not in the association of a Jnani. Lord Krishna urged Arjuna to be in the divine association of a SadGuru. By surrendering unto him and doing selfless service to the master is the first step to acquire that Jnana, the Lord says. Once the Mahatma is pleased with his disciple’s services, he will allow him to clarify all the doubts. It is verily by clearing all doubts after which one will gain Jnana. He will clear all the doubts by bestowing his disciple with a Deeksha. “Pariprasnena sevaya” – translates to rendering service to Guru. This leads to lot of questions. How can one serve a guru, who is devoid of any desires and spends most of his time in solitude in wilderness? To answer this question, it is said that one does not need to serve a Guru but just the deep yearning desire in his mind to serve his Sadguru is more than enough. “Guru Sevva cha Sankalpa hemchi majjae purna thapa”.

One’s penance and prayers should be directed to nurture the desire to serve the Guru. So when one does service to a Guru, then he may start to ask questions. A guru may not directly answer your questions. He can bestow his disciple with a Deeksha. Our scriptures elucidate on three ways through which a Guru can bestow a Deeksha – Hastha Deeksha, Smarana Deeksha and by mere eye contact. Hastha Deeksha is by the mere touch of a Sadguru that one is blessed with divine knowledge. This is seen in the life-history of RamaKrishna Paramahamsa where he touched many of his devotees and they were instantly blessed with the divine knowledge or experience. The second way where a Guru can impart that knowledge is by merely thinking of that disciple. An apt example for this is from the life-history of Adishankara. By merely thinking about his disciple Giri, he imparted divine knowledge to Giri, who was later known to the world as “Thotakacaharya”.

We are indeed blessed to be part of this divine satsang, and the only wish for our Guru Maharaj is that he wants each and everyone to chant the divine names of the Lord. If one desires to do more service to him, then he needs to make one other acquaintance of his to chant the Divine Names of the Lord and the Jnana that he blesses one and all is taking all his devotees unto the holy feet of Lord Krishna.

Following a brief round of introductions, Nithyaji from Boston discoursed on one of the past-times of Lord Krishna, Kurukshetra Samagamam where he and his devotees met after a long time and reveled in a satsang. This episode is described in detail in the eighty second chapter of the tenth canto in Srimad Bhagvatham. One can see that there is a fine invisible link that connects all the God’s creation beings in this world starting from humans, animals, birds, and insects and all the way to the sea creatures in the ocean bed. They are strung like beads in a beautiful thread called divine love. It is this divine love that holds all the creations together. But in this mundane world, this love narrows down to selfishness in the beings. When selfishness creeps in, this thread called divine love disintegrates and the beads will be strewed in different directions. In order to preserve the thread of divine love, the Mahans pour their heart with soaring love towards God, because love when directed towards the Almighty will absolve the selfishness and then one can see the Athma Chaitanyam prevailing in all human beings everywhere.

Sant Tukkaram in one of his Abhangs sings -

“hrudayim akandita prema” – The heart is soaring with love for all human beings because Paramatma exists in all of them.

Our Lord Sri Hari gives himself to this divine love [Prema].

Nammazhwar in one of his pasurams “Patrudai adiyavaruku eliyavan”

The Lord himself sows the seed of divine love in all our hearts. This grows and blossoms very slowly. And when this seed of divine love is in the penultimate stage to bloom, the darshan of the Lord is the end result of that true divine love. In Srimad Bhagavatham, Lord Krishna elaborates as to how this divine love grows in all the jivas. It is through sheer separation [viraham]. Many Mahatmas like Krishna Chaitanya have wept all their lives on the separation of the Lord. He lifted both his hands and called out the divine names of the Lord in order to attain the holy feet of the Lord. He prayed to the Lord that he should weep all his life thinking about the Lord. NamAzhwar has also wept all his life and the tears that he shed is Thiruvazhimozhi. If we take an example from our daily mundane activities, we pray to the Lord for something earnestly. There is a fifty percent probability that we may be successful in our aspirations and there is another fifty percent probability that we might not get what we wanted. If we delve into this and look at this from a philosophical perspective, what we win and lose in the mundane world really does not matter for god realization. However, being in a spiritual path if we shed some tears for the Lord, unable to bear the separation of the Lord and yet not attain him, the tears that one shed for the Lord will itself resolve the sole purpose. The tears shed for the Lord are just enough. Uddava leaves Brindavan after his stint in Brindavan. The Gopis earnestly requested Uddava not to disclose the fact that they have been crying for Lord Krishna and instead requested Uddava to bless them so that they can shed tears to Lord Krishna forever.

The Lord and Mahans are compassion personified and they shower grace on all the mortals without any reason – “Kaarana rahita krupa nidhi”.  Their grace is unconditional. So can we not shed a drop of tear praising the Lord’s unconditional compassion on all the jivas?

He rose in the dust of the feet of the Gopis and came to meet Lord Krishna in Mathura. When he met Lord Krishna, Krishna immediately enquired on the Gopis. Uddava couldn’t reply. Uddava’s eyes were flooded with tears. He told Krishna, “Oh Krishna! I am crying now and that’s what happened. I have learnt to weep after seeing the Gopi Prema. I am a minister in your administration and have been your dear friend so long and always consumed the food-remains [uchistham] from your plate, always wore your clothes and ornaments. My mind always revels in your thought. Alas, I did not know to shed a drop of tear praising your unconditional compassion. You have bestowed me with everything but did not bless me with bhakti and devotion”.  Please bestow me with that bhakti. Saying so, Uddava was inconsolable. It is said that “Muktim Dhaadati Karhicith sma na bhakti yogam”.  It is generally said that the Lord will easily bestow mukti but he is very frugal in offering bhakti as a benediction since he goes running behind his ardent devotees.  He will be bound by the love of the devotee. Uddava came to know the epitome of bhakti which is Prema Bhakti from the Gopis of Brindavan. The Prema Bhakti in the Gopis was verily due to the sheer separation [Viraham] from Lord Krishna. The Gopis were separated from Lord Krishna for hundred years.

Even Lord Krishna fondly remembers the day when he departed from Brindavan in Akrurar’s chariot and how the Gopas, Gopis, Yashoda and Nanda all came running behind the chariot unable to bear the separation of Lord Krishna from them.

“Ramena Sardham Madhuraam Pranithae “
“ Swabaikinaa mai anurktha chithaha”

After Krishna departed from Brindavan, he moved to Mathura. He slayed Kamsa and took over the entire reign. The day he became the Mathuradipathi, he worked day and night to protect the kingdom and his people. His mind was however yearning for the soil of Brindavan, the cows and river Yamuna. His mind revels in the thought of Yashoda Ma, Nanda, the Gopas and the Gopis. He was not able to leave Mathura since all the neighboring kings have totally suppressed the Yadava clan and so Lord Krishna had to establish the Yadava empire again. Once the Yadava clan was re-established the neighboring kings again started to wage war and Lord Krishna had no amassed ancestral wealth and so he had to acquire wealth and army for fighting the war. He had the responsibility of protecting the other kings who were Mahans and also his friends.

One night, when he was resting he confided to Rukmini about how he used to spend his child-hood days in Brindavan. As he was narrating the good-old days in Brindavan, a thought just struck him where he wanted to bring all his devotees under one roof. He decided to organize a mela during the months of Chaturmasya and since a total eclipse of the sun was fast approaching he decided to use that as a reason for conducting this mela. The main reason for conducting this mela was for the Lord to revel in Krishnabhaktanubhavam. He cited the reason as solar eclipse since he wanted everyone to participate and just the Bhagavathas and he wanted to transform everyone into a Bhagavatha. All the kings from different parts of the country had been invited and many other principalities who were either Lord Krishna’a allies or enemies assembled for this great occasion.  For the residents of Gokula, this grand mela did not ignite any bit of excitement in them. For them the holy kshetra was Brindavan and the sacred river was Yamuna. However they were so excited to meet their dear Krishna so they also decided to attend this mela. This mela took place in Kurukshetra were Lord Parameshwara had consecrated a sacred spot to absolve one of all sins. All the people who came to this mela took bath in this sacred spot. All arrangements were made in a grand manner. All the Rishis, Vasishta, Vamadevar,Markandeyar, Dhurvasar, Atri, Vishwamitra, to name a few, had assembled. When Lord Krishna’s eyes fell on these great Rishis, he immediately stood up and prostrated to them.  Lord Krishna was overjoyed on seeing the Mahans and sang in praise of them. He extolled the greatness of Mahans who are the very embodiment of godliness and unfailing wisdom. Their mere presence can purify the whole environment and ushers in divinity. It is said that the deities in the “Garbhagraha” of the temples are said to be more sacred. It verily goes to show the fact that these idols are consecrated by great Mahans and they perform daily ablutions to the deity and hence the idols inside the temples are said to be more divine. It is verily the divine power of the Sadhus and Mahans that shows off as Sannidhya in the deities inside the temples. It is also said that a spiritual aspirant should read the discourses of scriptures by a Mahan. It is because he absolves the asaaram and gives only the crux of the scriptures, akin to how the clouds evaporate the sea water so as to give us the pure and pristine water. Shastras are akin to the salty water and the Mahans remove the salt from these shastras and give us only the crux of it. Seeing Lord Krishna prostrating to the holy feet of the great Rishis, other kings and other great personalities also followed suit.

Vasudeva on seeing the great Rishis put forth a great question. He requested them to explicate on the paths to attain liberation. The Rishis were amazed at Vasudeva’s question. Sage Narada’s face wore a smile. The Supreme Being in the Kshirabdi and Vaikunta, That which is unexplainable even by the Upanishads, That which resides only in the heart of great Yogis verily existed in the house of Vasudeva! Vasudeva did not realize the greatness of his son who is verily the Paramatma.  It is because of the fact that he considers Lord Krishna as his dear son.

There is a small Upakayana at the end of the tenth canto in Srimad Bhagavatham. There lived a Brahmin family in Dwaraka. For some reason every child that was born in that house eventually disappeared. So the Brahmin approached Lord Krishna and confided his problem to the Lord. He pleaded with Lord Krishna to find the root-cause. Arjuna, who witnessed this conversation immediately stood up and told that Brahmin, “Why do you ask Krishna to help you out? He is a cow-herd. He cannot help you.  I will come and help you out. I have my weapon Gandeeva with me”.  In the below mentioned sloka, Arjuna says, “I am not Sankarshana and am not Krishna. I am Arjuna and I have my weapon Gandeevam with me. “.

Naham Sankarshano brahman na krishna karshnir evacha
aham va arjjuno naama gandeevam yasya vai dhanuhu

When the Lord is available easily, we fail to realize the importance of him. That is the crux of the episode.

Similarly Vasudeva thinks of Lord Krishna as his dear son and requested the sages to advice on the paths for liberation. Sage Narada who was also present when Vasudeva asked this question replied immediately. He said that any Jivan when born in this world is indebted to the Devas, the ancestors [Pitrus], the Rishis, to all the creatures and the Boothas and to the humans. He further added that Vasudeva did not have any debts to his ancestors since he was blessed with a Satputhra. He also mentioned that he did not have any dues for the Rishis, since he was always listening to the Itihasas, Puranas and always propitiated the path of Shravana Bhakti and since he also did a lot of charity, Sage Narada told Vasudeva that he was not indebted to the creatures and the Boothas and the humans as well. He finally mentioned that he vowed to the Devas and suggested Vasudevar to perform a grand sacrifice which will last for four months [Chaturmasya].

All the Rishis who were present for this occasion started to perform this sacrifice and Lord Krishna did all the arrangements. At this juncture the Gopas and Gopis approach Kurukshetra.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

“ko Naama Loke Bhagavat padarthah”

The above verse means that can there be any other person who can give a definition to the term Bhagawan other than Lord Krishna himself. Hence the two grantas are named as Srimad Bhagavatham and Bhagavad Gita. Bhagavatas who worship Lord Shiva are called as Shaivites, but those who worship Lord Krishna are called as Bhagavatas. This again goes to show that Lord Krishna is indeed the Bhagawan.

“Krishnastu Bhagavan Swayam”

In Srimad Bhagavatham, we see the life-history of Markandeya. He was a great Vaishnavite but we also see the Bhakti that he performed to Lord Shiva. He had the complete benediction of Lord Shiva to be a chiranjeevi forever. But beyond that, Markandeya had the blessing of Lord Shiva to be a “Puraanachaarya”. Srimad Bhagavatham says,  “Puranaacharyataastuthe”.

Once Shiva and Parvati came on a Vimana and they happened to see Markandeya who had conquered Maya and he had also been bestowed with the Lord’s darshan on a beautiful ‘Vata Patra’ leaf. He was blissfully meditating on the Lord when Lord Shiva and Parvati came to have the darshan of this great Bhagavatha. He immediately prostrated upon seeing Lord Shiva and Parvati. They conferred on him the title “Puraanacharya”, and blessed him to discourse on the Puranas and expound on the glories of the Lord.  Earlier, Markandeya had the divine darshan of Nara and Narayana, who are verily the forms of the Lord. He also witnessed the Maya through the darshan of Lord (as an infant on a leaf). After having conquered the Maya, greed and lust, he spent his life by listening to the glories of the lord and by sharing it with others. One needs the grace of a Guru to share the glories of the lord with others. He had Guru Krupa through Lord Shiva’s blessings so that he could narrate the divine glories of the Lord to everyone in the world. It is also said that in the seventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatham, he was an exponent of Ramayana. It is said that the Pandavas have listened to Ramayana which was expounded by Markandeya.  Akin to this, Suta Pouranika had the benediction of Balarama Swamy who also narrated the Srimad Bhagavatham Purana.

In Ramayana also the purana extols the glory of Bhagavathas, not by Valmiki but by Lord Rama himself, akin to how Lord Krishna glorified the greatness of Bhagavatha Sage Narada when Nalakubara and Manigreeva were revived back to life.  In Aranyakanda, there are two places where Lord Rama falls,  one is by Nagapaasa, an arrow in the form of a serpent and to be relieved from Nagapaasa, Garuda Swamy, the prime most Bhagavatha himself comes to the rescue. This goes to show that even to protect the Lord, the help of a Bhagavatha is greatly needed. The next time when the Lord fell, Hanumanji, another great Bhagavatha lifted the Sanjeevini Mountain. These two incidents go to show that the Lord himself is to be resurrected when they are in trouble. Hanumanji did not show his prowess for his ability to lift the Sanjeevini Mountain, but he prostrated unto the holy feet of Lord Rama to bestow him with the ability to get the herb from that mountain. This goes to show the humility of Hanumanji, a great Bhagavatha. It also depicts the dependency of the  Bhagavathas on Bhagawan for anything and everything.

Following this Nishaji from Houston discoursed on the Nava Yogi Upakyana.

Vasudeva, Lord Krishna’s father asked Sage Narada for the path to get liberated from the cycle of samsara. In reply to Vasudeva’s question, Sage Narada started to expound on the path of Bhagavatha Dharma. It is a usual practice to expound on any dharma with reference to our ancestors as that would instill more faith and belief. So Sage Narada embarked on the path of Bhagavatha Dharma to Vasudeva by reproducing the dialogue that happened between King Nimi of Videha and the Nava Yogis, who are the sons of Risheba Yogiswara. Over the last few weeks, we have listened to the first eight Yogi’s discourses to King Nimi.

The Nava Yogi Upakyana gives the complete essence of Bhagavatha Dharma in very few chapters in the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. It looks at every aspect of Bhagavatha Dharma and it is very important for people following the path of Bhagavatha Dharma to read the Nava Yogi Upakyana. The names of the Nava Yogis are related to the discourses that they deliver. The first Yogi is Kavi. Kavi connotes poet. It is only a poet who can explain and articulate things in a beautiful manner. He expounds on the path of bhakti. The next Yogi is Hari. Hari refers to the name of the Lord. It is verily the lord who can talk about the characteristics of a Bhagavotatama. Hari Yogi expounded on the characteristics of the Bhagavotama. The third Yogi is Antharikshar. He elucidated about Maya. Maya is related to sky [aakasha]. Anthariksha means Aakasha.  The next Yogi is Prabuddar. The term Prabuddar means one who is a realized soul. He explained how it is imperative to take the shelter of a guru. He outlined the need for doing Bhakti to a guru. A sleeping person cannot wake up another sleeping person. Only a person who is already awake can wake up the rest. The next Yogi Pippalayanar, whose name refers to a Jnani, delineated the characteristics of Lord Narayana and also portrayed the greatness of Jaagrath, Swapna and Sushupti. It is only a Jnani who can bestow knowledge [Jnana]. The sixth Yogi is Avirhotrar. Avirhotrar means one who performs spiritual austerities [homam] and hence he explicated Karma, Akarma and Vikarma. The next Yogi is Dhrumilar and his name translates to a Dravidian/Pouranika. He explained on the characteristics of the Lord and the innumerable incarnations taken by the Lord. The eighth Yogi is Chamasar. Chamasar means Ajnanam. He expounded about the atheists [Agnanis.] His discourse was a very powerful lecture as he lashed out the agnanis who make fun of people who follow the path of Bhagavatha Dharma. The last of the Yogis is Karabhajanar and his name signifies to someone having a vessel in his hand. His discourse is all about the essence of the eight Yogis and finally gives on our hands what one needs to know. Karabhajanar embarked in his discourse by talking about the four Yugas. We all know that there are four Yugas, Krita [Satya] Yuga, the Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. In the Krita Yuga, the mind set of people was pure and pristine. They were Suddhaatmas. The prescribed path for Krita Yuga was dhyana [meditation]. In the age of Treta Yuga, the people’s mind was not as pure as in Kreta Yuga. The path of worship in Treta Yuga was sacrifices. In the Dwapara Yuga, the mind and hearts of the people deteriorated even further and hence the spiritual path advocated for Dwapara Yuga was Archanam [pooja], one step easier than the Treta Yuga. Finally in the age of Kali Yuga, which is the present Yuga, people are reveling in the mundane world and their minds are tainted with the sensual pleasures and they do not possess the strength to do meditation/spiritual austerity or pooja. So Lord Sri Krishna advocated a dharma for all the people living in the age of Kali. That path is chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. Karabhajanar, the last Yogi discoursed on the path of Nama Sankirtanam. He also elucidated as to how one should chant the Divine Names of the Lord,

“Krishna varnam Tvisha krishnam Saangopaanga astra parshadam”|
“Yagnaih Sankithirthanah prayaih yajanti hi sumedhasah”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32]

Karabhajanar in the above sloka says how one should propitiate the lord in the Kali Yuga. He lucidly says adore the Lord who is black in complexion but brilliant as a sapphire. The worship of the lord should be filled with recitals of the divine names of the Lord. This however does not mean that one cannot reach the holy feet of the Lord by doing penance or Yagna in Kali Yuga. One can definitely adhere to these paths, provided they have the strength and capacity in the age of Kali by scrupulously following to the dictates of Dhyana and Yagna dharmas. We do not have the time to do even our daily ablutions in this fast-faced life as prescribed in the Vedas. All our scriptures advocate the path of Nama Sankirtan for the age of Kali. The efficacy of Nama Sankirtan has been clearly elucidated in all the scriptures.

“harer namaiva namaiva mama jeevanam
kalau nastyeva nastyeva gatihr anyata”

Compared to the other ways of purifying the mind, the path of chanting the divine names of the Lord is one of the easiest and most pragmatic paths in this age of Kali.

Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita explicitly delineated as to when he takes an incarnation.  The Lord descends on earth in order to protect the virtuous people and restore the path of dharma when adharma rises.

Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkritam
Dharma samsthapana arthaya sambhavami yuge yuge (Bhagavad Gita 4.8).

Lord Krishna’s incarnation at the end of Dwapara Yuga and as soon as Lord Krishna left the world, it was the onset of Kali Yuga. So one may ponder as to why Kali Yuga was the worst of all Yugas even after the incarnation of Lord Krishna before the advent of Kali Yuga. Mahans give a beautiful explanation as to why Lord Krishna’s avatar happened before the age of Kali. The avatar of Lord Krishna is a panacea for all the jivas in the age of Kali. It is only after this avatar that one can chant the divine names of the Lord and enjoy his divine exploits.

So ‘Dharma samsthapana arthaya sambhavami yuge yuge’ refers to the path of Bhagavatha Dharma that the lord established before the onset of Kali Yuga. This was only possible due to His immense compassion since he had a vision of the quality of life of the people living in the age of Kali.

Srimad Bhagavatham shows how Sage Narada was petrified when he came down to earth during the advent of Kali and he eventually returned back to Vaikunta. The lord was very surprised as to why he returned very soon. It should be said that Sage Narada went to Kamsa and all Asura’s court yard’s and chanted the names of Lord Narayana without any hesitation. Such a person was so scared looking at the people in the Kali Yuga. Sage Narada upon his return to Vaikunta confided in the lord that while in the court of Asuras he would for sure know who is good and who is evil, he was not able to differentiate the same amongst the people living in Kali Yuga. Such a dreaded Yuga is Kali and it is only due to the immense compassion of the Lord that he has advocated the path of Bhagavatha Dharma for the Kali Yuga.

One may now ask that as per our Vedas and scriptures, lots of daily ablutions are enlisted that every Brahmana has to stringently follow. So why should one just chant the Divine Names of the lord without adhering to the Vedic rituals. In order to explain this, let us consider the following example. A mother has three sons. She ordered the first son to finish all his homework before he had his dinner. So the first son implicitly obeyed his mother’s orders. He completed all his home-work and then ate his dinner. She also had a similar regulation for her second son. He was asked to tidy his room before his dinner. He also met his mother’s expectation by cleaning his room before dinner. However, her third son is sick in cradle and is always crying. The mother cannot order this child since she is cognizant of the fact that he will not be able to do anything due to his age and ailment and all he knows is to only call out his mom’s name. So she does everything for him, right from his diaper change to feeding and all the way to putting him to sleep by showering love on him. So we, the ones living in this age of Kali are akin to this child in the cradle. Our minds are tainted and we are not adept and agile to do mediation or any spiritual austerity. In spite of all our short comings, the lord who is an epitome of compassion only wants us to chant His Divine Names and that will bestow bhakti and devotion in all of us.

All our scriptures explicate the greatness of Nama Sankritan.

kalau kalmasHa chittAnAm pApadravyOpa jIvinAm |
vidhikriyA vihInAnAm gathir gOvinda kIrtanam ||

In this Age of Kali, where the mind is impure and the living is earned through sinful means and where living by prescribed rules is difficult, the only way to liberation is singing the Holy Name of God!

This is the crux of Karabhajanar’s discourse and it is verily Namasankirtan – Chant the divine names of the Lord.

Kali Yuga is indeed great in two aspects. Firstly, by following the path of Nama Sankirtan in Kali, one can reach the holy feet of the lord. Secondly, the lord will take infinite incarnations in the guise of Mahans and Jeevan Muktas to propagate the path of Nama Sankirtan. In the age of Kali, it is said that there is just not one avatar of the lord. The Kalki avatar is said to happen at the end of Kali Yuga which still has about four more lakh years. It is hence said that the lord will take infinite [asankeya] avatars in Kali Yuga to spread the sweet fragrance of chanting the divine names of the lord. Sage Veda Vyasa was cognizant of this when he wrote Srimad Bhagavatham.  This was lucidly depicted by Sage Suka to King Parikshit about 5000 years ago as well.  Srimad Bhagavatham also highlighted the places where the Mahans will take birth.

“Kruthadishu praja rajan kaalavichanthi sambhavam”|
“Kalau Kalu bhavisyanthi Narayanaparayanaha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.5.38]

“Kvachith KvachinMaharaja dravidaeshu cha boorishaha”|

“Thamraparni nadhi yatra KruthaMala Payasvini”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.5.39]

“Kauveri Cha mahapunya pratichi cha mahanadhi”|
“Yae Pibandhi jalam thaasaam manujha manujaeshwara”|
“Praayo bhakta bhagavathi vasudevaeamalaashayaaha”||| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.5.40]

Sage Shuka when expounding Srimad Bhagavatham to King Parikshit mentioned that people who lived in Kruta Yuga possessed pure mind and manas and they will seek birth in Kali Yuga again and again.  It is said that Lord Rama and Krishna incarnations are complete [poorna] and they did both good [anugraham] to the mankind also destroyed [nigraham] their enemies. However, in the case of Mahans, they descend on the earth, only do for doing good [anugraham] to everyone.  They don’t even have an iota of bad intention and there is no negativity in them. Such is the greatness of Mahans and Jeevan Muktas. Karabhajanar in his discourse lucidly elucidated on the banks of the rivers where the incarnations of the Mahans will happen. Prime importance is given to Dravida Desa [Tamil Nadu]. He mentioned the rivers on whose banks the mahans will take avatars. The innumerable devotees of Lord Hari have descended on the banks of Tamaraparani river. Who are these devotees of Lord Hari who incarnated on the banks of Tamaraparani river? They are verily the Azhwars who first propagated the path of bhakti. They descended first and it is only after them that other devotees of Lord Hari took avatars. Karabhajanar does not say that the devotees of Lord Narayana will incarnate only in Dravida Desa, and he goes to say “Kvachith Kvachin Maharaja”. In this verse, it refers to the myriad of Lord Hari’s devotees who will be born in rest of India aswell. Namazhwar and Madhurakavi Azhwar were born in the banks of Tamaraparani, PeriAzhawar and Andal in the banks of Vaigai, Poigai AzhwAr, Phuthath AzhwAr, PeyAzhwAr, and Thirumazhisai AzhwAr were born on the banks of Paalaar river and Thondaradippodi AzhwAr, ThiruppanAzhwAr, Thirumangai Azhwar on the banks of the
river Cauvery, the best among the rivers. He says that one who takes a dip in the river Cauvery will be instilled with bhakti and devotion to Lord Narayana akin to how a dip in river Ganga absolves all the sins.

Bhakti Devi herself explains this in Padma Purana. She was born in Dravida Desa and grew up in Karnataka. This substantiates that the Azhwars were the first and foremost devotees of Lord Hari who incarnated in Dravida Desa. They preceded all the devotees of Kali Yuga. After the Azhwars came all the Dasa devotees in Karnataka, Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa and Govinda Dasa to name a few. Maharashtra is the home ground for all the numerous devotees of Lord Panduranga, Sant Namdev, Sant Tukkaram and the list goes on. In Gujarat, we have Narsimha Mehta and in Rajasthan we have Meera Bhai. Going to north, in Uttar Pradesh, we have Kabir Das, Tulasi Das and in North-East part of India, we have Krishna Chaitanya who himself  moved around in Assam and Bihar. In Orissa we have Jayadevar and in Andhra Pradesh we have Bhadrachalam Ramadas. If we do a Bharatha Pradakshina and come to Tamil Nadu, we have Bodendral, Sridhar Ayyaval. We can clearly see that the holy hand of Bharat grows Mahans after Mahans to help the people. The lord indeed takes incarnations after incarnations as Mahans out of his sheer compassion to help the people. All the Mahans propitiate the path of Nama Sankirtanam as shown below:

“Yatra Sankeerthaeniva sarvaha Swartophi  Labyathae”

NammAzhwar in his pasuram in Thiruvazhimozhi says-

kaNNan kazhaliNai naNNum manamudaiyeer!

eNNum thirunaamam thiNNam naaraNamE!   [Thiruvaaymzohi 10.5]

In the above verse, he urges the devotees of the lord to chant the name “Narayana Narayana” in order to reach the holy feet of the Lord.

PeriyAzhwar encouraged all the devotees of the Lord to name their children with Lord’s divine names. By calling out their names, one will reach the exalted state that Yashoda attained. The entire Naalayira Divya Prabandham expounds on the greatness of Prema Bhakti and Namasankirtan.

Purandara Dasa in one of his kirtans sings –
“kaliyugadali hari naamava gati” – In the age of KaliYuga, the only panacea is the chanting of the divine names of the Lord. All the mahans lived in different instant of time but propagated only path and that is verily NamaSankirtan. He further goes to say, that he doesn’t know how to do meditation, or any spiritual austerities and all other practices and all I know is chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.

The verse is mentioned below -

“ snAnava nEriyenu mounavanariyenu
dhyAnavaneriya nendhalaiyya bEdA
manthravaneriyanu yanthravaneriyanu
thanthrava neriyanenthu alaiya bEdA”

He goes one step further and says- Oh Lord, I don’t need You nor Your form. I only need to chant your Divine Names.”

neen yako, ninna hang yako, ninna namada bala ondiddarey sako

Sant Tukkaram in one of his abhangs says-
“Kaliyinchi kaama managathae Raama Naama”, translates to chant the divine names of the Lord in this age of Kali.
Kaalavela naama ucharitha nahi, sings Sant Jnaneshwar. There are absolutely no restrictions to chant the divine names of the Lord. Just keep chanting the divine names of the Lord and the Lord will come running behind the devotees.
Meerabai went one step ahead and requested even birds and animals to chant the divine names of the Lord in this verse- “Radhe Krishna Bolu thotimaina Radhe Krishna Bol”
The main crux of Ramacharitamanas, is to chant the divine names of the lord Rama.
namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-shaktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah [From Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's Siksastaka]

In the above verse, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu hails the greatness of chanting the Divine Names. He says that chanting the Divine Names can alone render benediction to all the mortals in this world.

Purandara Dasa says, “narajanma bandAga nAlige iruvAga krSNA ena bArade”- When one is bestowed with a human birth and a tongue, can you not say Krishna?

The Lord has thus given all the strength and prowess to His Divine Names and has gone to take rest. Our only refugee is to chant the divine names of the Lord. Chanting the Divine Names will also bestow dharma, artha,kaama and moksha. Purandaradasa says that there is no other greater dharma other than chanting the Divine Names of the Lord. If we see how NamaSankirtan can bestow Artha, it is clearly seen in the case of Pandavas and Sugreeva. After they chanted the Divine Names of the Lord, they regained their kingdom back.

KArabhajanar in his discourse says, -
“Devarshi bhootaatma nraunaam pithrunam na kinkaro nayamruni cha rajan|
Sarvathmana yah sharanam sharanyam gatho mukundam parihruthya kartham| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.5.41]
Svapadamoolam bhajatha priyasya thyakthanyabhavasya harih pareshaha|
Vikarma yachothpathitham kathanchithu dhunothi sarvam hrudhi sannivishtaha|| “ [Srimad Bhagavatha 11.5.42]

He says that one who has surrendered everything to Lord Mukunda, the Lord himself takes care of all his responsibilities and absolves him of all the sins of his duties. He does not have to indebted to any of the deities, the Rishis or any other living creature since the Lord will now take care of his devotee. And for a devotee who has the Lord residing in his heart, the lord by sitting in the heart of his devotee will completely erase all the sins of the devotees past birth.

The essence of Nava Yogi Charithra is the chanting of the divine names of the lord and Karabhajanar extols the greatness of Kali Yuga by having the benediction to chant the Lord’s Divine Names in this yuga, which is also the path shown by innumerable Mahans.

Finally Sage Narada requested Vasudeva not to worry since the lord himself is born as his son. What to speak of you to whom Lord Narayana himself is born to you as your son. Can there be anything greater than this? Ajamila attained the holy feet of the Lord, by just calling out the Lord’s Name in his last moments of his life.
The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtanam.

“Brindavanam saki bhuvo vidanothi kirtim
Yath devaki suta patham bhuja lapta Lakshmi”

There are so many different forests [vaanas] in different lokas. Each of the devas have their own garden. There is a garden called Nandanam in the Deva loka. There is a garden called Chaitraratham and Vaibrajakam in the different Deva Lokas. None of the scriptures have mentioned that the Devas wanted to visit these gardens. It is verily in Vrindavan that all the Devas line up and prostrate unto the Lord asking for a boon to be born as a blade of a grass in Vrindavan. Such is the glory of Vrindavan as extolled by the Gopis. The reason for the glory of Vrindavan is verily the Lord’s foot-prints, which are imprinted in Vrindavan.

One need not embark on a pilgimage to Vrindavan to do penance or any other spiritual austerity. Our Guru Maharaj says that it is more than sufficient to be just present in Vrindavan. Little Dhruva did penance in Madhuvana forest in Vrindavan and was bestowed with the Lord’s darshan. However, the serpent king Kaliya did not do any good deeds while he was in Vrindavan. He poisoned the Yamuna river and the cows who drank the Yamuna waters. Even after committing all these sins, the Lord blessed him. It is because he verily lived in Vrindavan. The wives of the serpent king hail their husband Kaliya that he was bestowed with a rarest of the rarest blessing, where the Lord himself danced on their husband’s head which even Goddess Lakshmi was not blessed with.

“Na Naaga Prashtam na sarva bhoumam”

Having said this, Our Guru Maharaj beautifully says that one need not go to Vrindavan. He says one’s own heart is verily Vrindavan – “Brindavanamae unn maname”. The beautiful path through which all our hearts will transform into Vrindavan is the incessant chanting of the divine names of the Lord, which will bestow the grace of a Guru. By the grace of a Guru, ones’ heart will become pure and pristine. This will lead the way to Lord Krishna’s exploits will always be happening in all our hearts and finally all our hearts will be merged with the Lord.

In one of Guru Maharaj’s kirtan it is said that –

“Brindavaname Unn Manamae”
“Leelaigal nadandidum dinam dinamae”
“guruvin arulal valardidumae”
“Oru naal avan idam ondridumae”

The shortest path to the get the Lord’s blessings is to chant the Divine Names of the Lord which will transform ones’ heart into Vrindavan by sheer Guru’s grace. This will lead the Lord to show up in all our hearts. Our Guru Maharaj lucidly gives all of us the essence of Bhagavata Dharma in the above verse.

Followed by a brief round of introductions, Sriramji from Houston discoursed on the Nava Yogi Upakyana.

Prabuddha, the fourth of the Nava Yogi’s discoursed to King Nimi on the path that one needs to follow to relieve from the ocean of samsara and that path is verily taking surrendering [Ashreya] unto a Guru and that Guru should verily unite all his devotees with Lord Narayana. As soon as King Nimi heard about Lord Narayana, he requested the Nava Yogi’s to expound on the Swaroopam of Lord Narayana. The next Yogi Pippalayanar started to expound on the characteristics of Lord Narayana. He starts off by saying that the swaroopam of Lord Narayana is verily Bhagavat Swaroopam. Our Vedas say that –

“Narayana paro jyothir atma Narayano pareheh”
“Narayana param brahma tattvam Narayanah parah”

Narayana is that Param Brahma tattvam. An Azhwar says that – “ Aadiyum jyothi urvai angu vaithu ingu pirandhu”. This means that the para Brahman is in the form of divine Jyothi. This Jyothi takes incarnations after incarnations akin to lighting lamps after lamps. When the Lord incarnated as Lord Krishna he was verily present in Vaikunta as well. He was one Jyothi and one lamp was lit from that Jyothi and was brought down to the earth in form of incarnations. This goes to show that the Lord is omnipresent and the Atma Swaroopam is akin to the divine Jyothi.

“Narayana param brahma tattvam” – The Brahma tattvam is verily Lord Narayana himself. So what is this Brahman? Is it something that can be perceived by the senses? The Upanishads have an answer to this question. They say that Brahman is something that cannot be perceived by the senses. The Brahman does not refer to the Upasana deity.

Brahman is an experience [anubhava] and can only be experienced. To substantiate this, in a way, this is akin to joy and sorrow. These cannot be perceived by the senses but can only be experienced. Brahman is similar to this and is not a sensory perception. It is indeed true that the Brahman who is the ultimate does exist. And how can we prove that?

Brahman is something that cannot be proven [Aprameya]. So one may ask, why should we believe on Brahman which cannot be perceived by the senses and also something that cannot be proven. Here comes Pippalayanar to expound on the characteristics of Brahman. He lucidly explains that while we cannot see Brahman, it is verily the Brahman that makes one see the world and this applies to all other sensory perceptions. This Brahman is the chaitanya that is present in each one of us that makes us enjoy all the sensory perceptions. The Atma Chaitanya or consciousness is the very proof for the existence of the Brahman. As long as this chaitanya is present in ourselves, we are able to dance, sing move around. The moment chaitanya leaves our body, we fall dead. The sense organs of the dead man might be intact but he is not able to use them anymore. It is the key inside every human and it is this that makes the sense organs do what they are supposed to be doing.

This Atma Chaintanya connotes to the Swaroopam of Lord Narayana, Pippalayanar says. When this is present everywhere [akandam] it is called as Paramatma. This Paramatma is responsible for the creation, sustenance and dissolution [Shrusti, Sthithi and Samharam]. The Chaitanya that is present in each one of the living beings is called as Jeeva Atma. This is verily responsible for the three states of consciousness – waking life, dream and deep sleep states of a living being [Jakrath, Swapna and Shishupti]. This is the very evidence for the Atma Chaitanya residing in every living being.

Pippalayanar says that this is Brahma Tattvam.

“Stithi udhbhava pralaya hethu ahethurasya yath swapna jaagara sushiptishu sad bahischa”|
“Dehendriyaasuhridayaani charanthi yena sanjeevithani thadhavahi param narendra”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.35]

He also advocated the path to gain knowledge on this Brahman. The path prescribed by him is to develop bhakti and devotion to the holy feet of Lord Padmanabha.

“Yaeryabjhanabhajacharanaishanayoorubhaktyaa chaethomalani vidhamaeth gunakarmajaani”|
“Thasmin vishuddha Upalabyadha Aatmathatvam Sakshath yathamaladrushoho savithruprakashaha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.40]

The knowledge in scriptures and other Vedic knowledge will not help one gain knowledge on Brahma Vidya. After Pippalayanar completed the discourse on the characteristics of Lord Narayana’s swarropam, the next Yogi Avirhotrar started to expound on the Karma Kanda. The term “Avirhotra” translates to one performing Vedic ritual [homam]. Karma is either Karma, Akarma or Vikarma.

“Karmakarmavikarmaethi vedavaadho na loukikakha”|
“Vedasya cha Isvarathmathvaath thatra muhyanthi soorayaha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.43]

Karma is defined as the good actions or duties enlisted in the Vedas and Shastras that one needs to perform. Akarma connotes to the Sanyasa karma. It refers to the duties that one needs to perform when one embraces ascetic life. Vikarma is defined as the bad deeds that one should not do. When one does good karma, the Sanyasa Karma is bound to follow. When one performs the duties not desiring to reap the fruits of his actions and instead offers the results to the lotus feet of the Lord, then that action will not count as karma but will only refer to Akarma. The transition from karma to Akarma will happen on its own accord and there is no need of an external force to make this happen.
The next Yogi, Dhrumila starts his discourse by explaining the ways one needs to perform Karma by offering the results of it to the lotus feet of the Lord. For one’s karma to yield fruit, one needs to perform Bhakti [devotion] to Lord Narayana. So how does one get Bhakti? It is verily by reading the life-histories of great bhaktas and Bhagavatas. By being inspired by the divine exploits of the Lord bhakti be instilled in all the jivas. This is exactly what Dhrumila says in this sloka-
“Yova Ananthasya gunananathanaukramishyan sa thu balabuddhihi”|
“Rajamsi bomargunayaeth kathanchithu kaalaena aivakilashaktidhamnaha”|| [Srimad Bhagavatham 11.4.2]

In the above sloka, Dhrumila uses a beautiful word, Anantham [infinite]. He beautifully describes the Lord as infinite. There is an alias name to the Lord as Ananthan, which is infinite.

The Lord has –
Anantha Nama, Anantha Leela, Anantha Gunas, Anantha vaibhavam, Anantha Moorthis, Anantha Charitram and Anantha Bhaktas.The list is endless.

The characterstics of the Lord and his divine exploits are endless. Sage Suka who wrote Bhagavatam says, “Yatha dheetam yatha mathih”. He says to King Parikshit that he will discourse on the divine exploits of the Lord to the best of his knowledge. This goes to show two facts. Firstly, it shows Sage Suka’s humility. Secondly, it goes to show that Srimad Bhagavatam is infinite [anantham]. Even the Lord himself says in Bhagavad Gita, that he himself does not know about his greatness.
hanta te kathayishyami divya hy atmavibhutayah pradhanyatah kurusreshtha na ‘sty anto vistarasya me [BhagavadGita 10.19]

He says “Oh Arjuna, I myself do not know the full extent of my manifestations and I will expound on the ones that are prominent to the best of his knowledge, since my opulence is limitless”.

Vedas themselves say, -
“Yo Angavae yadi vaa na veda”

Vedas are also not sure if the Lord is knowledgeable of all his manifestations.
So the question then arises whether the Lord cares about people who have very limited knowledge about his opulences. He answers this in Bhagavad Gita,

In Bhagavat Gita, the Lord says, ‘svalpamapi yasya dharmasya traayate mahato bhayaat’ [bhagavad Gita 2.40] –

A very small dharma can allay the greatest of fears. Even a little knowledge on the dharma or scriptures will give a taste of that whole dharma or dharma. And what is that small dharma- Nama Sankirtan. By chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and listening to the Lords’ divine exploits will lead to purification of the heart, and consequently lets the Lord reside permanently in our hearts.

The next question that King Nimi asked the Nava Yogis was about the nature of Ajnani. The next Yogi, Chamasar discoursed on the Ajnani. The Ajnani hates Bhagavatas. It is said that in the age of Kali, people are reveling in the mundane world and their spiritual health is very poor. It is also said that in the age of Kali, people will mock at people who chant the divine names of the Lord. The Lord accepts the people who performed bhakti whole-heartedly. He does not see if his devotee is a Jnani and Ajnani and only goes behind his devotee for the bhakti performed by his devotee. He has accepted the Brahmanas like Sage Vyasa, sage Suka, Kuchela who performed bhakti. Kshatriyas like Ambarisha, Rukmangada also reached the holy feet of the Lord. Birds like Jatayu and Sugreeva being a monkey reached the holy feet by performing intense bhakti to Lord Rama. All Asuras who did bhakti to the Lord attained liberation, to name a few Vrithrasura, Vibishana, .Tiruppana Azhwar and Nandanar being born in a low caste reached the Lord. The devotees of the Lord are endless and the Lord sees no disparity between the devotees. He showers his grace on all his devotees unconditionally as long as they do bhakti to the Lord.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Following this Nishaji discoursed on Nava Yogi Upakyana which forms a part of the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagvatam. We have seen the Upadesha’s of the first two Yogi’s Kavi and Hari in the past few weeks. Kavi Yogi expounded on the Bhagavatha Dharma. He lucidly explained that the ways to overcome the fear of samsara is take refugee on the Lord Achuta and one can accomplish this by chanting the divine names of the Lord. The next Yogi, Hari discoursed on the characteristics of a Bhagavatotama, who is the devotee of the highest order. A Bhagavatotama sees the Lord in everyone and everything.  He is also devoid of any desires [kaama] for lust, wealth, education etc. He sees everything in this world is a result of the Lord’s Maaya.  When one perceives everything to be the play of the Lord, then it can be clearly said that the Lord’s maaya cannot affect him. The crux is that a Bhagavatotama has overcome Maaya. Maaya has no effect on him.

King Nimi who was listening to the discourses of the Nava Yogi’s requested them to explain about Maaya. King Nimi, the ruler of Videha says, “I am not satiated by listening to the divine stories of the Lord. I want to keep listening to them again and again. I don’t want it to end”. Maaya is also a creation of the Lord. It is verily talking about the glories of the Lord. In the process of overcoming Maaya, it is important to know what the term Maaya connotes. Having said this, one cannot easily comprehend the term Maaya. It is invisible. Sureshwaracharya in his Dakshinamoorthy Ashtrotram, says that searching for Maaya is akin to searching for darkness with a torch-light in hand. We cannot say that there is no darkness if we have a torch-light in hand. Similarly, we cannot perceive Maaya directly but one can feel its presence by its mere acts.

When King Nimi asked the Nava Yogis to expound on Maaya, the next Yogi Anthariksha embarked on the discourse of Maaya. In his discourse he explained about Maaya which is verily the Lord’s power of creation, destruction and preservation. In the first two verses Anthariksha expounded on the term creation. In his next three verses, he talked about preservation. In the last nine verses, he delineated the destructive powers of the Lord.  One can feel the prowess of Maaya through its works. It is akin to the magnetic powers of a magnet. One cannot see the magnetic powers of a magnet. When a magnet is taken near a bunch of iron fillings, they get arranged in an orderly fashion based on attraction or repulsion of the magnet. So by this we can say that the magnetic powers exist even though we cannot perceive it directly.

“Aevirbhuthani Bhootatma mahabhutairmahabhujaa”|
“Sasarjochavachanyaadhyaha svamatrathmaprasidhayae”||  [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.3]

Anthrikshar says that originally it was only the Lord who existed. From him sprang the five elements. He in turn created the world from the five elements. So why did the Lord do this? He did this for Bhoga and Moksha. We need to first come to terms with this beautiful doctrine that the Lord is perfect and hence the world created by Him is also intact. He has made a lot of entertainments which our senses can enjoy. The Lord never asks anybody to come behind Him. If we decide to enjoy and revel in this mundane world, we need to understand that it comes with a package as well. Life in the mundane world is coupled with joy and sorrow. They go hand in hand. As we continue to enjoy the materialistic world, then one takes birth after birth forever and finally it will be the time for destruction [pralaya], where Antharikshar explained destructive power of Maaya.

The earth will be dissolved in the water where the ocean water engulfs the land and dissolves the water. The water gets burned in the fire of pralaya. The fire in turn gets consumed by the wind. The wind merges with the sky [akasha] and the sky coalesce with the Maaya. Finally Maaya becomes one with the Lord. In the end only the Lord remains. King Nimi after hearing the prowess of Maaya was totally shaken and earnestly requested the Yogis to describe paths that will lead one to not get affected by Maaya and also asked for ways to get out of it. After King Nimi posed this question to the Yogis, Prabuddhar started his discourse to King Nimi.

A sleeping person cannot wake up another sleeping person. Only a person who is already awake can wake up the rest. It is to be noted that the names of the Nava Yogis are related to the discourses they delivered to King Nimi. Prabuddhar refers to one who is a realized soul. He delineated the greatness of a Guru to King Nimi. A Guru is a realized soul who has already woken up and has come to wake up the normal mortals from their sleep.

Prabuddha did not embark on the significance of a guru right away. He first talked about the difficulties that every human encounters in his life. He explained this in three slokas. Only when one is cognizant of the difficulties in life, he can then realize the greatness of a guru. When a person is going through difficult times, he hopes for some relief from it. A guru knows what is best for his devotees. This fact cannot be well understood by his devotees until one is well acquainted with the difficulties in life. If we look into the perspective of life, one can see that it is filled with more sorrows than joy.

“Karmanyaarabhamaananam dhukhahathyai sukhaya cha |
Pashyaeth  paakaviparyasam mithunichaarinaam nrunaam||” [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3.18]

Prabuddha, in the above sloka, talks about people getting caught in karma. We do karma as a panacea for getting rid of sorrow when one is going through a difficult phase in his life. One can do karma when one is very happy and prosperous and yet he wishes to gain more happiness and wealth and is caught in karma in the process. When we go and try to seek happiness it only ends in more sorrow. In the second sloka, Prabuddha beautifully says that the world is built in such a way that when one does not have wealth, people would not respect them. Every human undergoes so many obstacles on a daily basis to earn wealth. There is so much hardship involved to earn money and when one earns money, he is in a quagmire as to how to preserve the wealth. Life is a package of sorrows. He added “Oh my friend, don’t think that it is only this  world which is filled with joy and sorrow. It is the same case in heaven and swarga.”. So then where should one go?

Prabuddha gave an elixir for everyone to free themselves from this world of sorrow –

“Thasmath gurum prapadyaetha jignasuhu ksheya uttamam” |
“Sabdae pare cha nishnnatham brahmanyupashamaashayam” || [ 11.3.21]

It is verily the path of surrendering unto the holy feet of a sadguru. It is the best way to alleviate from the cycles of transmigration . Prostrate unto the guru and be a servant of him and do not be a slave to the senses in this mundane world. Surrender unto the guru as he is verily the one who can bestow the highest state, the lotus feet of Lord Vasudeva. What are the characteristics of a Sadguru? The guru should be learned in the Vedas and the scriptures and he should be one who has realized the Lord and has experienced the Lord. He should have the experience of the essence of the Vedas. Sadguru is one who can verily see and be in communion with the Lord. Only such a great realized Mahan can bestow the highest state on his devotees. A Sadguru can only bestow the highest state of bhakti to his devotees.

Prabuddha in his next sloka continued to expound on the characteristics of a Sadguru in which he says, a sadguru is one who should adhere to the path of Bhagavatha Dharma.

“Thatra Bhagavatan dharman shikshaeth gurvathmadaivathahaa” | [11.3.22]

When one follows the path of Bhagavata Dharma then one no longer needs to depend on one’s capability to reach the holy feet of the Lord. Bhagavata Dharma is completely dependent on the Lord and it is the easiest path as there are no eligibility criteria to follow this path. The other paths need a lot of strenuous effort to reach the Lord but in Bhagavata dharma there is no such effort that is required and we need only the Lord’s grace. The grace of the Lord is abundant and the sadguru is the conduit to get the Lord’s grace. Prabuddha then advises on the steps that one should do after attaining the guru. He requests all the devotees to perform service to the sadguru. One should serve the Sadguru with humility and that will lead one to the highest state of bliss. A sadguru verily knows what is best for his devotees.

There was a devotee of Mathanga Maharishi by name Sabari. One day Mathanga Maharishi summoned all his devotees and asked them what they desired and asked them to enlist their wish list. All the devotees shared the wish-list with their sadguru. Then it was Sabari’s turn. She said that she did not have the skill-set to know what she wanted and she earnestly asked her sadguru to bestow what was right for her. It was then the sadguru initiated her into “Rama Nama”. She asked about it to adguru. He asked her not to worry about it and just asked her to chant it and told her that one day the essence of this mantra will stand in front of her. As we all know it was due to her Sadguru’s grace that she was bestowed with the darshan of Lord Rama and Lakshmana and she attained the holy feet of the Lord.

When one does service to the sadguru, then the Lord is indeed very happy. One should see the Lord as “Eshwara Swaroopam”. He is verily the Lord and pay our due respects to him.

“Guru Athma Deivatah”. Guru is the atman himself and worship him as Lord Hari and do service to him. Lord Hari likes Bhagavat Kainkaryam. He disguised himself as a small boy and did service to Sant Ekanath for twelve years. It was because Ekanatha did immense service to his guru.

Mahans say that when the Lord sees something very beautiful, they want to experience it themselves. The Lord had not seen any beautiful women at all. In the eight canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, in the Amrutha Mathanam episode, the Lord saw Lakshmi Devi. He was so attracted by her beauty that he wanted to experience of being a woman and he took the incarnation of Mohini.

When the Lord saw his devotees doing humble service to their sadguru he also wanted to experience it and hence did service to Sant Ekanath. If our actions are oriented in the direction of sadguru, then that leads us to eternal bliss [anandam].

Adishankara is known to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva himself.  He himself was a realized soul. However he still went in search of a guru when he was young and surrendered himself unto a guru and undertook the tutelage with his guru. Adishankara in his Guru Ashtotram elaborated on the significance of a guru.

In his first sloka in Guru Ashtotram he says, -

Sareeram suroopam thadha va kalathram,
Yasacharu chithram dhanam meru thulyam,
Gurorangri padme manaschenna lagnam,
Thatha kim Thatha Kim, Thatha kim Thatha kim.

Sri Adishankara says in the above sloka that one may be blessed with good appearance and one may be bestowed with a good-looking wife, lots of riches as huge as Mount Meru and one may be all famous throughout the world. Having said all this, what is the use of all these good attributes in life when one’s heart and mind does not fall under the holy feet of a guru.

Even though all Mahans and scriptures clearly outline the significance of a guru, it is our ego [Ahankara] that refuses to surrender unto a guru.

Sant Kabir in one of his dohas says –

“Kaun padaave paat guru bina kaun padaave paat “

In the above verse, Sant Kabir says, “Other than a guru who else can show you the way!”.

When we need a guru to educate the normal mortals in the worldly plane which are all well-trodden paths, then don’t we not a need a guru for attaining the highest state of eternal bliss.

Mahans give a beautiful analogy between bhagawan and a guru. A child knows its mother has the first relation. A mother gives birth to a child, takes care of the child and spends all the time with the child. She is the one who later shows the father to the child. Our Lord Vasudeva does not give himself to everyone. He has some eligibility criteria. The criteria is any spiritual path but for people following the path of Bhagavata Dharma , only the person who is the epitome of prema bhakti can reach the highest state of being one with the Lord. To paraphrase, only a devotee of the highest order can see Bhagawan.

A guru however goes behind people who are ineligible. A guru’s heart is filled with compassion for every single person. Guru is akin to a mother and the father is akin to the Lord. The Lord seeks eligibility whereas the guru seeks ineligibility.  A mother does all the hard-work right from giving birth, cleaning the child, feeding him, teaching him etc. When the child grows and is well placed, the father then proudly talks about his child. Similarly a guru cleanses all his devotees and makes them pure and then throws them unto the holy feet of the Lord Vasudeva.

Prabuddha very beautifully explained the greatness of a Guru and it is verily a Guru who wakes his devotees from the sleep of life and takes his devotees to the lotus feet of the Lord.

The satsang ended with prayers and NamaSankirtan.

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Sri Krishna talks about yet another way of classifying the devotees of the Lord.

chaturvidha bhajante mam janah sukrtino ‘rjuna
arto jijnasur-artharthi jnani cha bharatarshabha

Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O, greatest of the Bharata lineage.

The first of the kind is Arthis. They are the ones who are distressed in lives and have some afflictions. They pray to the Lord to absolve all their problems. The second clan of people is the Jijnasus. They are the ones who always have a quest to learn. They offer their ablutions to the Lord to bestow them with more jnana. The third factions of people [Artharthis]  are the ones who are not contended with their wealth and pray to the Lord to be bestowed with more riches. The fourth class of people is indeed the rarest of all. They are the Mahans [jnanis]. They have realized that there is nothing outside the Lord and everything is verily the Lord. They offer unconditional love and perform bhakti because they derive happiness by doing bhakti. They are verily the Bhagavatotamas like the Gopis of Brindavan who had immense love for Lord Sri Krishna. One great quality of Bhagavatotamas is that they perceive a great misfortune to be a blessing of the Lord.  A fitting example is one of the incidents from Sage Narada’s life. He had lost his parents  when he was five years old. In spite of doing service to great Bhagavatotamas he lost his mother to a snake bite. One who wonder how cruel was the Lord. But Sage Narada only took that has a benediction. Our Guru Maharaj beautifully says “Dukkam varuvathum iraivanin arulalae virakthi varavae undi para”. He lucidly says that it when one is in deep misery or misfortune, it is also an indication of the Lord’s grace to make one dispassionate and turn his focus unto the Lotus Feet of the Lord. When one is in grieving about a materialistic loss and he feels depressed, then that is a clear indication that the Bhakti that he performs to the Lord is not enough. On the other hand, if the Lord thinks about his devotee then that it is a hint that the devotee’s Bhakti on the Lord is complete.

Na yasya janmakarmabhayam na varnashramajaathibih |
Sajjathaesminahambhavo daehae vai sa harehae priyaha || [11.2.51]

A great quality of the Bhagavatotamas is that they are devoid of any ego in them. They are not affected by the religion they belong and they are least bothered about the money they earn to make a living. They see the Lord in everything. A fitting example to substantiate this fact is from the life-history of Tiruppan Azhwar, a famous azhwar from the southern part of India. He hailed from a town known as Uraiyur. This town is famous for the Goddess Mahalakshmi fondly called as Uraiyur Nachiyar. Tiruppan Azhwar was from a lower caste in the society. They are known as Panchamar. People born in the Panchamar caste were not allowed to go inside the temples. Tiruppan Azhwar never had the darshan of Lord Ranganatha. He was however a very devout person and was in constant reminiscence of the Lord. One fine morning, he was lost in the deep thoughts of Lord Ranganatha on the riverside of Cauvery. At that very moment, pundits from the temple came down to the riverside to take fresh water to wake up the Lord. Since panchamars were not allowed to come in sight of these pundits, they requested him to move out but he was oblivious to their requests. One of the pundits then pelted a stone on the forehead of Tiruppan Azhwar and that is when he realized where he was. He started to bleed profusely and sat on the road feeling bad for his actions. He felt remorseful for not being pelted by stone, but for making the pundits irritated. It was however no fault of his. Humility, that is verily one of the great qualities of Bhagavatotamas.

The pundits then proceeded straight to the temple carrying pots of fresh water from the riverside to wake the Lord, Sri Ranganatha. As they went inside the temple and looked at Lord Ranganatha, they were shocked to see the Lord’s face bleeding in the same spot where they pelted a stone on Tiruppan Azhwar . Lord Ranganatha came out of the idol and requested them to summon Tirupan Azhwar in front of him. –

“Bhanasya mama bhaktasya laanathae bhava sambhavaya”

The pundits ran in all directions to find Tirrupan Azhwar and after locating him, they requested him to come inside the temple premises and briefed with all the incidents that took place inside the temple. Hearing this Tiruppan Azhwar was even more inconsolable and refused to come inside the temple as that would be a violation of the shastras, because a person born in an untouchable caste cannot enter the temple premises. The pundits carried him straight to the temple premises and he was bestowed with the darshan of Lord Ranganatha. At that very moment he sang ten pasurams on Lord Ranganatha admiring his beauty from his head to foot.

koNdal vaNNanaik kOvalanAy veNNey
uNda vAyan en uLLam kavarndhAnai
aNdar kOn aNi arangkan en amudhinaik
kaNda kaNgaL * maRRonRinaik kANAvE

I have seen the Lord whose color is like dark clouds and he is indeed the one with the beautiful mouth who swallowed the butter of cowherds. He is verily the Lord of the Devas and he is  He is Lord Ranganatha, who is my life!
In his final verse, he says that “My eyes have seen my Lord and will not see anything else!”

After singing the ten pasurams, he instantly merged with the Lord. It is said that Tiruppan Azhwar and Andal were the two great Bhagavatotamas to merge and united directly with the Lord.

The Lord and the Bhagavatas do not differentiate between the castes and the life-history of Tiruappan Azwar stands as one of the testimony to the sloka mentioned below:

“Na yasya janmakarmabhayam na varnashramajaathibihi |
Sajjathaesminahambhavo daehae vai sa harehae priyaha ||” [11.2.51]

Even in contemporary lives, one can clearly see that the saints exhibit the same love and compassion for all jivas irrespective of their caste, creed and the position they hold in the society.

“Na yasya sva para ithi vithaeshvatmani vaa bidhaa |
Sarva bhoota samaha shanthaha sa vai bhagavathothamaha||”

The above sloka conveys yet another great quality of a Bhagavathotama. He who is the foremost of the devotees sees no distinction between his and others in the matter of his possessions and body. They see everything has the very property of the Lord. Their mind always ponders to do service to the Lord. When they need money to render some service to the Lord, they would not hesitate to ask others for money. One classic example is from the life-history of Bhadrachalam Ramadas. He built a magnificent Rama temple using the money that verily belonged to Nawab of Hyderabad. For bhagavatotamas, they do not see any difference in the wealth that people possess. They are of the thought that the entire wealth in this world belongs to the Lord.

The qualities of Bhagavatotamas are infinite. One could keep reminiscing about them for their entire lifetime.  Calmness [Shantah]  is another great quality of Bhagavatotamas. Let’s delve into this a little deeper. When does one become angry? Lord Krishna beautifully replies to this question in Bhagavad Gita. A person who has desires in his life becomes angry when his desire is not fulfilled. Bhagavatotamas are devoid of any desires and hence they are always calm and happy. There are lots of examples to substantiate this beautiful precept. If we look into the life-history of Sant Ekanath, we can see that he was immensely calm and composed when a person was profusely spitting on him for hours together. However, Ekanathar did not even look at that person and questioned him once. He went to the river and took a dip every time that person spit on him. Such is the greatness of Bhagavatotamas. Even if a Bhagavatotama is bestowed with the sovereignty of all the three worlds [thribuvana vibhava hethavae] he would not desire for it and would only desire to admire the Lord’s lotus feet for all his life.

Visrujathi hrudayam na yasya Shakshad ravasa bihithobhyagouganaashah |
Pranayarashanayaa dhruthangripadmaa sa bhavathi bhagavatha pradhana ukthaha||

It is verily the Lord who comes running to reside in the hearts of his devotees. The people in the mundane world run behind the Lord, but the Lord runs behind the heart of the Bhagavatotamas and becomes an eternal servant of that supreme devotee. That is one of the foremost qualities of a Bhagavatotama.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Paramacharya used to camp in Satara in Maharashtra. On one such visit, Mahaswami was enclosed by a gate made out of palm leaves. When it was time for darshan, he used to remove this gate and bless his devotees with his divine darshan. There lived a devotee of Paramacharya, who was proficient in playing veena. Hearing Paramacharya’s visit to Satara, he came to visit him. He desired to play veena in front of Periyava, the great master. It is to be told that Paramacharya was adept in all arts and fine-arts. There were crores of people waiting to have darshan of the mahan. After sometime, the veena player managed to have the darshan of Mahaperiyava. Upon having darshan, he requested the Mahaswami if he could play a small piece on his veena. Mahaperiyava agreed and he started to play. His performance was great and everyone in the crowd liked it very much. There was a brief silence following this and then Mahaswamiji picked up the Veena and played a small piece. Sri Swamiji’s performance was even better than the Veena player. After Sri Swamiji completed the performance, the Veena player’s eyes were inundated with tears. He immediately prostrated unto the holy feet of MahaSwamiji and kept on prostrating unto Him again and aagain. Maha Swamiji looked at him and he did not utter a word. After a while, Maha Swamiji went inside. Everyone witnessed the whole scene and nobody knew what was happening. When the Veena player stepped out, some of the devotees of Maha Swami enquired about what had happened. The Veena player told them that he had committed a grave sin and that Maha Swami had subdued his ego. When questioned by the devotees to elaborate on what had happened, he told them that he played a very rare set of notes in his Veena, and while playing, he forgot some of the notes in the middle of the performance. He added that he looked around the spectators and decided that no one really might know the notes and managed to play some other notes. Upon completion, Maha Swami picked the Veena and played the same notes that the Veena player had earlier fumbled upon. He said that he played a very rare piece on his Veena, the same notes which were played by Ravana to propitiate Lord Shiva in Kailasha and that he was drunk in ego that it was only he who knew that very rare notes.  The crux from this incident is that when one is blessed with an extra ordinary talent, one needs to learn to be as humble as possible. Satsangs are divine forums to invoke the Lord’s grace on all his devotees.

This was then followed by a brief round of introductions. Following this, Sriramji from Houston continued with the Nava Yogi lecture and expounded on the Upadesha of Hari Yogi to King Nimi.

The eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam can be viewed as the crown jewel of Lord Sri Krishna since it contains many profound Vedantic truths which are expounded throughout the eleventh canto. In the first upadesha of the Nava Yogi’s, Kavi Yogi gave the beautiful precept of surrendering all the fruits of one’s action to the Lord’s holy feet and in the process relieve one from the fear of samsara. One needs to take refuge onto the holy feet of the Lord. One should perceive everything and everyone as Lord Krishna. This is called as Karma Yoga. Practicing the path of Karma Yoga will instill in one the taste of Bhagavata Dharma which is verily singing the divine names of the Lord and listening to His divine stories.  This discourse was beautifully delivered by Kavi Yogi to King Nimi.

After listening to the discourse by Kavi Yogi, King Nimi said, “Oh Nava Yogis, among all men, what are the characteristics that differentiate these Bhagavatas from other men. King Nimi requested then requested the Nava Yogis to expound on the characteristics of Bhagavatas. He was very eager to know about their dispositions and as to how they conduct themselves.  In reply to King Nimi’s question, Hari Yogi started to expound on the characteristics of Bhagavathotamas.

Sarvae Bootaeshu ya pashyeth bhagavathbhaavamathmanaha |
Boothani bhgavathathman yaesha bhagavathothamaha || [11.2.45]

Gruhithvapi indriyairarthaan yon a dvaeshti hrushyathi |
Vishnormaayam idhampashyan sa vai bhagavathotamaha || [11.2.48]

Na Kaam karma bhijanam yasya chaetasi sambhavaha |
Vasudevaikanilayaha sa vai bhagavathotamaha || [11.2.50]

Na yasya janmakarmabhayam na varnashramajaathibihi |
Sajjathaesminahambhavo daehae vai sa harehae priyaha || [11.2.51]

People in general can be classified into three categories on any level of comparison.  They are verily Uttama, Madhyama and Adhama. Sage Suka lucidly elaborates that one should not use the term Adhama when describing any Bhagavatas. It is verily because even though he might be in the lowest step of the ladder in his life, as long as he prays the Lord for anything in his life can only be called as a blessed soul [bhagyawan]. Sage Suka coined a new term for the third category of the Bhagavatas as “Prakrutha”. The three categories for Bhagavatas are Praakruthan, Madhyaman and Uttaman.

Shri Sridhara Swamigal in his dissertation very beautifully describes the term Prakruthan.  It implies “Prakrutha Prarambhaha” which means he is in the very early stages of bhakti. The next category of Bhagavatas is called as Madhyama. They are in a little advanced state in the path of bhakti. They don’t feel jealous of others and don’t wish bad for others. They however pray to the Lord to satiate their mundane needs. The third category of Bhagavatas is Uttamas. They perform bhakti for attaining liberation from the cycle of samsra [mukti]. The Lord classifies this kind of Mumukshus as Satvikaas. The Bhagavatotamas are the rarest of all Bhagavatas. They perform bhakti for the sake of bhakti. They enjoy the divine plays of the Lord and derive happiness in chanting the Divine Names of the Lord.

The devotee of the highest order sees the Lord in every living organism in this world without an iota of difference. They celebrate everyone with love. There are infinite examples to substantiate this precept. Sant Jnaneshwar saw the Lord in a wall which is achetanam (insentient). He made the wall move.

In Bhagavad Gita, it is said that a humble devotee of the highest  order sees a brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog as the very Lord and does not show prejudice to anyone. He adheres to the path of Samadharshanam

vidya-vinaya-sampanne brahmane gavi hastini
sunichaiva sva-pake cha panditah sama-darsinah [Bhagavad Gita 5.18]

Mahans go a step further and say that to see the Lord in a Brahman who is self effulgent and is an embodiment of peace is not that great. Mahans paraphrase the term Samadharshanam as to one who sees the Lord in a poverty-stricken man. It show universal love to all living beings is indeed Samadharshanam, proclaim the mahans.

If we see the episode of Priyavrata, he took an ever-lasting vow to show love to everyone. Even when somebody came to slain him, he was still loving to the killer.

Namazhawar in his pasurams “vaada malar kondu vaarir adhan naamam veenae tharalamae”

Vaada malar connotes to a flower that has not lost its fragrance. Namazhwar in his above hymn refers to that eternal Lord who is ever compassionate in everyone has the vaada malar . To perceive love in everything and in everyone is one of the main characteristics of a Bhagavathotama.

Now, how do we know that someone is really exhibiting true love? There is a quick test and it is known as Paropakarartham.  Having the very thought  to be of some help to others constantly is a clear trait of exhibiting love, akin to how each  and every part of a tree is useful to everyone.

In the life-history of great devotees of the Lord Panduranga, Sant Ekanath saw the Lord in a donkey. Sant Gnaneshwar saw the Lord in a buffalo. He made the buffalo speak Vedas. Let’s start to reminisce another incident from a great Bhagavata in Puri kshetra. This great devotee took a vow to consume his meal everyday only after serving a sadhu. Puri was filled with sadhus and there was absolutely no shortage for sadhus. One day, the Lord of Puri, Lord Jegannatha decided to play a small prank on this devotee. There was no sadhu present in Puri and so this great devotee of the Lord could not feed anyone and hence was quite upset. His family was also waiting to be fed but this devotee was eagerly waiting to feed a sadhu before his family consumed the meal for the day. As he was patiently waiting, he heard someone on the street calling out the divine names of the Lord “Narayana Hari”. Hearing the sound of the divine names, he rushed outside and saw a sadhu. He was however inflicted with leprosy and was not in a presentable state. This devotee on seeing the sadhu in such a condition did not hesitate to welcome him. His family left the house once the sadhu entered the house. But this great devotee provided a warm hospitality. When he just touched the feet of the sadhu, the sadhu disappeared and there stood the Lord of Puri, Sri Jegannath Swami. That is verily how the Bhagavathotamas see everyone as the Lord himself.

Gruhithvapi indriyairarthaan yon a dvaeshti hrushyathi |
Vishnormaayam idhampashyan sa vai bhagavathotamaha || [11.2.48]

He who sees the whole universe as the very creation of Lord Maya is indeed a Bhagavathotama.  He only perceives the mundane world because of his senses, and he neither experiences delight nor repulsion. There is one connection between all the different creations in this world and it is the Lord in each and every creation.

Another classic characteristic of a Bhagavathotama is that they are not affected by happiness or sorrow. The testimony to this is the life-history of Jadabharatha. He was in tranquil state even when the tribal folks were about to cut off his head.

Na Kaam karma bhijanam yasya chaetasi sambhavaha |
Vasudevaikanilayaha sa vai bhagavathotamaha || [11.2.50]

Bhagavathotamas are not attracted by fame, money, women is another outstanding quality in them.

Let’s reminisce another incident from Sri Vedanta Deskiar. He was contemporary with that of Krishnandevaraya who was the king. He wanted to have Vedanta Desikar in his ministry and hence sent a word out through his assistants. Vedanta Desikar was an epitome of knowledge and led  a very simple life. The king had sent a palanquin to bring Vedanta desikar to the court. The ministers upon reaching the residence of Vedanta Desikar, told him that they had come to let him know that the king wanted him to be the minister in his court  and that they have come to take him along in the palanquin. At that very moment, after hearing the news, Vedanta Desikar composed “Vairagya Panchakam” containing five verses. He nicely folded the verses and placed it inside the palanquin and asked the ministers to take it back to the king.

One of the five verses of Vairagya Panchakam is mentioned below -

na me pitrArjitam kinchit na mayA kinchidArjitam |
asti me hastishailAgre vastu paitAmaham dhanam ||

In the above verse, Bhagavatotamas know that their ancestors are none other than the children of the Lord and that it is the responsibility of the Lord to take care of them. They don’t go out and ask for support from anybody since they consider it as a shameful act not for them but for their father who is none other than Lord Krishna himself.

That is the feeling that the Bhagavatotamas carry with themselves.

After the beautiful discourse, the satsang concluded with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Nishaji from Houston beautifully delivered a lecture on Nava Yogi Charithra from the eleventh canto. The eleventh canto is an important canto since it talks about the greatness and importance of Bhagavata Dharma. Srimad Bhagavatam is just not the work of Sage Veda Vyasa. It is verily Lord Krishna himself. –

“Srimad Bhagavthakyoyam prathyakshah Krishna eva hi”

The various cantos of Srimad Bhagavatam can be visualized as different parts of Lord Krishna. The eleventh canto is the crown of Lord Krishna’s head. One of the reasons for the eleventh canto to be known as the crown is because of the innumerable discourses and Upadeshas which are embedded in the eleventh canto. Swami Vallabacharya beautifully expounds the uniqueness of this canto. He lucidly explains that the eleventh canto talks about liberation to both the Lord and the common people [jivas]. The Lord became Srimad Bhagavatam to play in the hands of normal mortals and in the due course liberate the jivas. The Yadava clan who represent the jivas also attain liberation as shown in the eleventh canto. The eleventh canto lucidly delineated on Bhagavata Dharma for normal mortals. It starts off with a curse that was cast on the Yadava clan which is elucidated in the first chapter of eleventh canto. From second chapter onwards Sage Sukha embarks on the journey of expounding Bhagavata Dharma. Mahans explain great precepts referencing another Bhagavata. In this context, Sage Shuka elaborated on Bhagavata Dharma by narrating the discussion between Sage Narada and Vasudeva. Sage Narada used to frequent Dwaraka. During one such visit, Vasudeva confided to Sage Narada and told him that even though he was living with the Lord, the Supreme Being of the universe, Vasudeva admitted that he was deluded by Maya. He added that even though he knew the Lord in his previous three births, he asked for a boon to bestow him with a child, instead of requesting for emancipation and liberation.

So the Lord granted his wish and the Lord became Vasudeva and Devaki’s son. The Lord only maintained a father-son relationship and did become a guru to Vasudeva. He sent Sage Narada to give Upadesha and in the process free him from Samsara. Vasudeva took refuge in Sage Narada and earnestly requested him to elaborate on Bhagavata Dharma. After having heard the request put forth by Vasudeva, Sage Narada was immensely pleased since when somebody speaks about Bhagavata Dharma, the Lord is very happy. So sage Narada was very happy since he now had a chance to make the Lord happy. He started to explain Bhagavata Dharma by reproducing the dialogue between King Nimi of Videha Desha and the Nava Yogis, who are the sons of Rishabha Yogishawara who is verily the incarnation of the Lord. The nine sons were Kavi, Hari, Prabuddha, Anthariksha, Pippalayana, Avirhotra, Drumila,Chamasa and Karabhajana. The nine yogis are great Mahans and devotees of the highest order. They have completely won over the Lord and hence simply roam around without any limitations. They once arrived at a place where a sacrifice [spiritual austerities] was being performed by King Nimi. When the king saw the nine yogis, he was overjoyed and extended a warm welcome with all the paraphernalia. After having seated the guests, he put forth a set of questions to them.

He said that the human birth is indeed very rare and even if one is bestowed with a human life it is very short. Having said this, rarer than human birth is satsang amidst great devotees of the Lord. He was so pleased with the Nava Yogis presence and thought that he was indeed blessed by their visit and hence requested them to elaborate on Bhagavata Dharma.

The Yogis were very excited on hearing King Nimi’s request and each one of them started their parlance on different aspects of Bhagavata Dharma.

The first Yogi, Kavi started off his discourse. His upadesha which contains eleven slokas contains the entire quintessence of the scriptures.  Mahans lucidly convey the beautiful precept that the fruit that one reaps by reading these eleven slokas by Kavi Yogishwara is equivalent to that of reading the entire Bhagavad Gita.

Kavi Yogi embarked on his discourse.

“manyaekuthaschithbayamachyuthasya padambhujopasanamaatra nithyam  |

Udvignabudhaerasamathmabhavadhvishwathmana yatra nivarthathae bihi ||”  [11.2.33]

Here go the maxims of Kavi yogi. The only way to free oneself from the fear of samsara is take refuge in the Lord’s lotus feet. Whatever actions one performs, one has to finally take shelter in the Lord’s lotus feet. This is verily the crux of Bhagavata Dharma. Kavi added that when one follows the path of Bhagavata Dharma, all the obstacles in the path of the devotee will be absolved. He goes one step further and said that even when one follows the path of Bhagavata Dharma in a blind-folded manner, he will be taken to the lotus feet of the Lord even if he is devoid of any knowledge in the scriptures. Kavi Yogi also elucidated as to how one should follow the path of Bhagavata Dharma. One does not need to renounce his family, friends and can continue to do what he was doing. The one and only thing that one needs to modify is one’s mental outlook [mano bhava].

Kavi says –

“Kayena Vacaha manasendriyaiva bhudyathmana vaanusruthasvabhavath|
Karothi yaad yath sakalam parasmai narayanayaethi samarpayaethat||” [11.2.36]

Whatever one does with his mind, whatever one does utters with his mouth, all the actions emanating due to one’s senses [vasanas] which manifests itself as one’s swabhava should all be offered unto the holy feet of the Lord. The result of any action should be offered to the Lord. One should clearly come to terms with the fact that it is verily the Lord who is behind every action and everything in this world has the Lord in it. With this precept well understood one should then realize that whatever deed one performs does not matter as long as one offers the fruit of that action to the Lord. When one thus performs actions with a feeling of service mindedness [Seva Buddhi], it instills more dedication and as a result one derives happiness in doing whatever work one does.  Seva Buddhi is verily viewing every action as the work of the Lord and that everyone has the Lord in them. This mentality will dawn in one only if he offers the result of his actions unto the holy feet of the Lord. This beautiful precept is called Karma Yoga.  It can also be paraphrased as offering the fruits of one’s actions to the holy feet of the Lord.

By adhering to the path of Karma Yoga, it will instill the taste of Bhagavata Dharma and then one starts to enjoy the paths of Shravanam and Keerthanam which are the direct paths to reach the holy feet of the Lord. So Kavi Yogi says, -

“Shrunvan subhadraani rathangapanaerjaanmaani karmaani cha yaani lokae|
Geethani naamani thadarthakaani gaayan vilajo vicharethasangahah||” [11.2.39]

In Prahalada charithra, Prahalada expounds on the nine different ways to perform bhakti. Kavi Yogi  picks only Shravanam and Keerthanam out of the nine different paths because the other seven paths might require extraneous sources to aid that path. To substantiate, archanam might need flowers. The path of Atma nivedanam cannot be practiced by one and all. Only people who have completely surrendered to the holy feet are indeed eligible. In the age of Kali, there is lot of predicament in following the other seven paths. So Kavi Yogi picks the two easiest ways – Shravanam and Keerthanam. Our Guru Maharaj very beautifully conveys a fact that by following the path of Shravanam and Keerthanam, the other seven paths of bhakti will be bestowed on us. The other seven paths are artifacts of Shravanam and Keerthanam.

The path of Keerthanam is easier than Shravanam. Keerthanam is verily calling out the Lord’s name without any inhibition. Nama Sankirtan is singing aloud the Lord’s names and Nama Japam is doing penance on the Lord’s name. By incessantly complying in the path of Nama Sankirtan and Nama Japa, one will reach the exalted state of Nama Smaranam where the Divine Names of the Lord reverberates in one without any effort and that is bound to take one unto the holy feet of the Lord.

kalau kalmasHa chittAnAm pApadravyOpa jIvinAm |
vidhikriyA vihInAnAm gathir gOvinda kIrtanam ||

In this Age of Kali, where the mind is impure and where living by prescribed rules is difficult, the only way to liberation is singing the Holy Name of God!

It is a fact that the Lord grants liberation [mukti] to one and all, but instills bhakti for only a chosen few. The only way for the Lord to bestow bhakti on one is to follow the path of Namasankirtan.

SO Kavi says,

“Evamvratha svapriyanamakeerthya jaathanuraago druthachitha uchaihi |

Hasathyatho roditi routhi gaayathi  unmaadavannruthyathi lokabhahyaha||” [11.2.40]

Kavi Yogi requests one and all that if one chant the name of the Lord in a mechanical manner akin to the path of vratha, that will take one to the epitome of prema bhakti. A prema bhakta’s mind will melt away when he hears the divine names of the Lord and will have tears rolling over his eyes and also experience horripilation.  There is only one eye through which one can see the Lord. It is verily the eye of bhakti.

When the Lord incarnated as Rama and Krishna, everyone had a chance to see the Lord. But the key take away is nobody viewed Lord Krishna in the way Gopis of Brindavan did. It is not important if the normal mortals got a chance to see the Lord, but it is the vice versa. It is only through the path of Nama Sankirtan that will make the Lord see his devotees. When one reaches that epitome of prema bhakti, then one will see the Lord everywhere says Kavi.

“Kam Vaayumagnim salilam mahim cha jyotimshi sathvaani dhisho dhrumadin|
Sarithsamudhramcha hareha shariram yath kincha bootham pranamedhananyaha||” [11.2.41]

One will see the Lord in all the five elements of the universe [sky, wind, water, agni and land] and by reaching this state of bhakti, one will automatically be relieved from the fear of samsara.

Kavi Yogi  thus expounded on the Bhagavata Dharma in a succinct manner. To summarize, one should offer all the results of our actions to the holy feet of the Lord. By doing this, it will instill the taste of Bhagavata dharma in one which will eventually bestow the path of the divine name chanting in one. By practicing the path of Nama Sankirtan, that will take one to the highest state which is the state of viewing everyone and everything as an embodiment of the Lord. One we reach this state, the fear of samsara is absolved and one will remain in the joyful state forever.

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

The Vedas are the generally basis of our Sanatana Dharma unlike other faiths where a religious text is more sacred. The Vedas are infinite since the Lord is infinite. So what does the Vedas show us? Vedas show us two things. It first shows us the path of Dharma. Dharma in sanskrit translates to nature. Dharma can hence be para-phrased as the basic inborn quality [nature] for a particular thing. The dharma of a flower is to be colorful and the dharma for a tiger is to pounce on its prey. The dharma of an elephant is its ego and it thrives with that ego. Dharma is the very nature of a particular being or an entity.

Sanatana Dharma speaks about dharma in particular it speaks about human dharma [manushya dharma]. As we all know there are different stages of life for a human being and hence the Vedas talk about the nature of the different stages of this human being. It expounds the nature for a Brahmachari, Grihastha, Vanaprastha etc. The underlying human nature has some qualities. That nature is called as Bhagavata Dharma.

Vedas go to show the nature of a human being and we see that in each of these phases, the human being is seeking happiness. Vedas also talk about the supreme happiness. It talks about the nature of that human being, and in the due course when following the very nature, the end goal is to attain the Lord. The Vedas talk about the dharma and describe the infinite Lord. When describing the Lord, the Vedas themselves surrender unto the Lord as the Lord can never be fully described. We can take the whole of this earth as a sheet of paper and all the oceans as the ink to describe the Lord and even then the Lord’s glories cannot be fully described.

The brahmam is formless and cannot be comprehended. It is the source of everything but cannot give us anything. This is akin to a person having million dollar money in the bank but he will not be able to fully see the million dollar money in his hand. The brahmam needs to be stimulated in order to shower his grace. Lord Krishna is known as “Poornam brahma sanatanam”. He is considered as the ultimate Brahmam. But we worship Lord Krishna along with Radha Devi. She is an epitome of Prema bhakti. She can exhilarate Lord Krishna to shower his grace. Radhe Devi is called as “Brahma  prerana kaarini”

Srimad Bhagavatam talks about the Brahmam very beautifully. The brahmam wanted to do an creation  and hence took the colossal form.  –

“Jagruhae Pourusham roopam  bhagavan mahadibih”
“sambutham shodashakalam aadhou lokasisrukshaya” [1.3.1]

This colossal form has different incarnations. He was able to do the creation only after incarnating in this world. The brahmam is akin to raw gold. When raw gold is transformed into different ornaments people can use the ornaments.

In Srimad Bhagavatam, the process of creation is very well explained in the first sloka of Srimad Bhagavatam.  In the first sloka (…dhaamna svena sadaa nirasta kuhakam) it says that that the Lord is self-effulgent, all powerful, omnipotent and omnipresent.

So how does the creation happen?  The first sloka in Srimad Bhagavatam, says that creation happens in three steps, [Thejo Vaari Mriadam]. Tejo, vari and mridham represent the three qualities [gunas]. Tejo is fire which is Rajo guna, Vari  is water representing sattva guna and Mridam is earth and symbolizes Tamasa guna.  Rajo is red [since fire is red], Sattva is white and mritham is black. If it really represents the three qualities Sattva, Rajas and Thamas, then the order must have been Vaari, Tejo, Mritham, and not as it is in the sloka.

So, Tejo, Vari and Mritham do not mean the order of the qualities but only refer to the order of the creation. Tejo is fire from which came water [vaari] which in turn leads to the creation of the earth [mritham].

So in the first sloka of Srimad Bhagavatam it is lucidly shown that the Brahmam took various incarnations for sustenance. For sustenance the Lord adopted three philosophies. They are verily the time [kaalam], Vidhi and Prarabda. He delegated sustenance to the above mentioned artifacts.

What is Prarabda? It is defined as one’s karma which is a result of one’s actions in his past birth. In order words Prarabda is that big bag that we carry wherever we go. It is the bunch of latent impressions that one has been accumulated in his previous births. We generally have a perception that vidhi is fortune or fate. However, the actual meaning of Vidhi is Rule. The Lord handed over the artifact vidhi to Lord Brahma. Brahma is also known as vidhi. So how do we define  Vidhi? It is a set of guidelines governing each and everything in this universe. The third precept is time [kaalam].

It is said that the Lord does not go by his free will but only goes by these three doctrines. Anything event that happens in one’s life is based on these three guidelines [kaalam, vidhi and prarabdha].

Gajendra was an elephant, who in his previous birth was a king by name Indradyumna and was caught in the clutches of a crocodile, who was a Gandharva, Huhu in his previous birth. Gajendra and the crocodile were cursed in their previous birth by great sages and hence were born as elephant and as a crocodile in their next birth.

The curse that Gajendra and the crocodile were carrying from their last birth is called as Prarabdha. It is verily the prarabdha that made them born as an elephant and a crocodile. The alligator caught the elephant in its deep clutches. That is defined as Vidhi and that was the rule ordained by the sages in the previous births. Kalam in this case is the duration for how long the elephant was caught in the clutches of the crocodile before the Lord finally came and relieved the elephant.

In Mahabharatha, we have learnt about the Draupadi vastra-apaharana. Draupadi was ill-treated by Duschasana. The fact that she was ill-treated was due to her karma in her previous birth and also because she ridiculed at Duryodhana in her present birth for pillaging her. The rule [viddhi] was that she was destined to be ill-treated by Dhussahana and kaala is exactly the time when she was derided.

Another example to substantiate is that of Lord Prahlada and Hiranyakashipu. We all know that Hiranyakashipu performed lot of penance and other spiritual austerities. It is verily the prarabdha that he will meet his end in the very lap of the Lord. The boon that he bought from Lord Brahma was vidhi [rule]. Kalam is the duration for which one will accrue the good merits due to one’s penance.

“Yatha deveshu vedaeshu gooshu vipreshu  sadhushu
Dharma mayi cha vidweshaha sa vaa aashu vinasyathi” [7.4.28]

The Lord says that Whenever Hiranyakashipu commits a sin [apachara to the Vedas, cow, the brahmanas or to me], his end is going to be very near. Whenever an event [death] is destined to happen a some predetermined time, and if one performs  acts that are not part of dharma,  then the duration for which one is destined to enjoy the good merits due to penance is lowered.

In all the three examples elucidated above, the greatness of prayers is clearly explained. Even though there is going to be a rule based on which an even will happen, that event can happen very gracefully if one has the blessings of the Lord. That very blessing will be bestowed on one only through prayers.

Draupadi was abused by Duschasana and it had happened in an inappropriate moment, but since she earnestly prayed to the Lord, she was bestowed with infinite amount of clothing. In the case of Gajendra, when all his relatives deserted him, he prayed to Lord and because of his prayers he was liberated.

The Lord goes by rules laid down [prarabdha, viddhi and kaala], but he always has exceptions. He will favor those who chant his Divine Names and performs earnest prayers.

When one performs prayer which is establishing a contact with the Lord, he offers himself to the Lord, and the Lord then does a complete transformation both inside and outside. The first sign of showering his grace on us is by leading us to a satsang. By being part of a satsang one will understand that whatever happens in one’s life is to only a means to subdue the mind. A tumultuous mind can reach a tranquil state only with the help of a great Mahan.   Sage Vyasa’s mind which was in a wavering state was able to achieve a placid state when he met Sage Narada.

Another classic example is that of Ajamila Charithra which shows the prowess of the chanting of Divine Names of the Lord.

King Yama says, Ajamila did not have Lord Narayana in his mind in his death bed and he attained Mukti and so he ordered his assistants to stay out of places where people chant the Divine Names of the Lord. This episode also elucidates the glory of satsang [Kshana sangena sadhushu ]. When he saw the assistants of Lord Vishnu and Lord Yama talking about the glory of satsang, a new life dawned in him and that gave him viveka [discrimination] .

Ramana Maharishi was a great mahan and he had an ardent devotee by name Kunju Swamigal who was also a great mahan. He was from Kerala. When a great avatara purusha incarnates it is said that many great people also incarnate along with the avatara purusha.  When Ramanar descended in this earth, Kunju Swamigal also took birth. He got the upadesha from his guru and was following the path of Atma vichara.  Kunju Swamigal became Ramana’s disciple only a few days ago and hence did not want to be a burden to his guru and decided to go to his ashram to practice Atma vichara. He left his guru’s abode and reached his hometown. Upon reaching his hermitage, he started to practice Atma Vichara. On the first day, he was able to do it without any issue. On the second day he fumbled but he somehow completed it. Every day he saw some issues when practicing it and on the tenth day, he was not even able to do an iota of it. He was pondering over and over about this. He was able to successfully do it in the presence of his Guru Ramana because of his guru’s grace and divinity. The whole ambiance is filled with divinity and saanidhya. There is always an object associated with love. Whereas in the spiritual plane, great mahan’s love is just pure and pristine and love for the sake of love. One is bestowed with all auspicious qualities in the presence of a great mahan.

Srimad Bhagavatam says -“Darshanaad eva sadhavah”. By merely having the darshan of a great mahan will make one’s heart light and be filled with peace.

A devotee’s son of Ramana was once suffering from serious illness. He had sent a message to his guru. No sooner the message reached Ramana’s ears than the boy started to recover and was completely cured. A prayer conveyed to a mahatma will bear fruits because of his sheer divinity. Prayers are that powerful.

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

Brahma, Narada, Shiva, Sanatkumaras, Kapila, Manu, Prahlada, Janaka, Bheeshma, Bali, Sage Suka and Yama.

Srimad Bhagavatam describes Rishaba Yogishawara was a shining example of a Jeevan Mukta. He was so compassionate and was very loving to everyone. He had many supernatural powers but did not make any use of them. Out of his sheer compassion he calls all his ninty-nine sons and gave them a valuable piece of advice. He gave an upadesha of Bhagavatha Dharma. First and foremost advice he advised them is to be in an association of Sadhus. He then taught the beautiful precept to keep doing one’s karma until the karma finally leaves them. The first indication that one will experience when one’s karma is going to be completed is verily the inclination to listen to the divine stories of the Lord. One’s thought should always be focused on to the Lord. A guru who does not show the lord is indeed not a guru. “Janani na sasyath janako na sasyaat gurur na sasyaat”

We also see that in Jadabharata’s life history where he (the son of Rishabha) renounces everything.  In his third birth he was born as Jadabharatha and imparted Bhagavata Dharma to Raghugana.

All these illustrious Mahatmas, being Jnanis of the highest order, have shown the path of Bhagavatha Dharma which is verily chanting the Divine Names of the Lord and listening to His Divine stories.

Following this, Gayathriji from Boston gave a wonderful discourse on Daksha Yagna.

In Srimad Bhagavatam, Sage Suka says merely listening to the stories of the great devotees of the Lord would instill Hari Bhakti.

“Yath Bhgavatha Mahatmyam bhagavat bhakti varadanam”

Each canto in Srimad Bhagavatam carries a special significance and meaning. The fourth canto as the number indicates, talks about the four Purushartas and how they should be performed. The four Purushartas are Dharma, Artha, Kaama and Moksha. We all speak of dharma. How dharma should be performed and what should be the intent of dharma is expounded in detail in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.

“Dharma stanustithasya pumsam vishwaksena kathaasuyahah”
“Nothpaadayet yadi rathim shramayevahi kevalam”

Any Dharma that is performed should lead one to Hari Bhakti. If that does not lead to Hari Bhakti, then that effort is just a waste. Dharma should lead to compassion and forgiveness. It should lead to universal love for living beings and bring peace and harmony within us and outside. When this is accomplished, our Bhakti to Lord Hari increases which will eventually make us see Lord Hari in every living being.

Srimad Bhagavatam’s approach is wonderful. Instead of describing the ways of practicing a Dharma, it enlists the methods as how it should not be performed. King Parikshit questions about this to Sage Suka. He says “Oh Sage Suka, Now that I know when I am going to die, please tell me what I should do and what I should not do in order to make my remaining life  more meaningful and successful?”

Sage Suka very aptly replied that if one has desires or if he is devoid of any desires, or if he has desires for moksha, then it Lord Vishnu whom he has to worship. He also added that one should not have any hatred [dvesham] against other deities and other devotees of the Lord.
“Akaamah sarva kaamova Moksha kaamova…”

In order to substantiate how a dharma should be performed and what consequences one will face if he entertains the grudge of Lord Shiva and his devotees is explained in Daksha Yagna.

Daksha was one of the prajapatis of Lord Brahma. The first and supreme position was held by Lord Narayana himself. The next in hierarchy was Lord Brahma. The third position was being held by Daksha. Hence he was in a very commendable position. We have seen that the higher one goes in the spiritual path, he should become more and more humble. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says, “Thrunadapi Suneechena Tharorapi Sahishnuna”.  One needs to be humble as a blade of grass, says Chaitanya Mahapranhu.

Manu had three daughters and two sons. The daughters were Aahooti, Devahooti and Prasooti. The sons were Priyavratha and Uttanapada. Prasooti was married to Daksha. He was very boastful and did not entertain any humility in him. Daksha had married daughter Dakshayini to Lord Shiva.

Once a sacrifice [yagna] was being performed and everyone including the Devas including Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva also attended. Daksha also attended the event. Daksha being in a respectable position, everyone stood up and paid their respects to him. Lord Siva did not get up from his seat since he was deeply engrossed in his penance. This really irked Daksha and he immediately started to bad mouth Lord Shiva. He started despising Lord Shiva’s appearance.  Lord Shiva an embodiment of patience and calmness was just patiently listening to the abuses by Daksha. Meanwhile, Nandi, sub-ordinate of Lord Shiva was also witnessing the whole scene and he became furious and cursed Daksha.  Since Daksha was screaming like a goat, he imprecated that he will have the face of a goat. Words were exchanges between Daksha’s supporters and Lord Shiva’s clan and after sometime Lord Shiva left the place as he was not able to take it anymore. The sacrifice finally came to an end amidst the confusion.

Days passed by and Daksha performed another sacrifice. It was known as “Brihaspati Sthava”.   He invited everybody in town except Lord Shiva and Dakshayini. Daksha’s daughter was Dakshayini. She was married to Lord Shiva. She noticed that all her friends were going for the sacrifice which her father was performing. She expressed her interest to attend the sacrifice and confided it to Lord Shiva. Upon hearing to her request, he gently advised her that one should not go to a place where one is not invited. In reply , Dakshayini replied that one should not expect any invitation to a place where the Lord is being worshipped.  But if the host does not look into the guest’s eyes and expresses his delight by your presence, then one should not make it to that host’s place, added Lord Shiva.

The greatness of Mahans is that they won’t force their thoughts on their devotees. They would express their opinion and leave it to the decision of the devotee. Thus, Lord Shiva just forewarned Dakshayini that she should not go to a place without an invitation.  If she insisted on going to the sacrifice then that would probably lead to death.

Despite Lord Shiva’s advise, she decided to go since she had bondage to her parent’s home. She left for the sacrifice with some Lord Shiva’s supporters [Bhutaganas]. Upon reaching that place, she was very much welcomed by her mother and her siblings. Daksha, her father did not show his hospitality to her and did not welcome her. She did not pay much heed to her father’s act. But later Daksha started to show his grudge on Lord Shiva in a very obvious way. He stopped all oblations [havirbhagam] that was supposed to reach Lord Rudra. He also did not recite any vedic hymns related to Lord Shiva. This irritated Dakshayini beyond belief.  In an irked tone, she asked her father, “Oh Father! You are showing your hatred on Lord Shiva who has done no harm to you?. His name is so sacred that it purifies anybody who recites his name. The Divine Names of Lord Shiva bestow one with prosperity when chanted.

There was a hunter who was in his deathbed. His son was standing next to him. His son was seeking advice from his father as to how he should earn a living. In reply the hunter mentioned, “Prahara  Aahara Samhara”. Prahara means to hunt, Aahara means to bring and Saamhara means to kill and so the hunter advised his son to go for hunting. If we remove the prefix of all three words and only focus on the suffix, which is “hara”, it verily means Lord Shiva. Saying the three words, the hunter passed away. Immediately Lord Shiva’s sub-ordinates [Shiva Ganas] came to take the hunter to Kailasha since he chanted His Name, even though unknowingly, before he died. Such is Lord Shiva’s compassion and love.

Dakshayini added “Oh father, you have not only exhibited your hatred to Lord Shiva but to his Divine Name. You also not did pay any respect to Vedas since you did not recite the section of Vedas that referred to Lord Shiva.”. She repented for being born as a daughter to a father who did Shiva Dwesha. She immediately burnt herself in the Yoga Agni.

Lord Shiva was still in tranquil state which was his natural state. Mahans are Sankalpa-rahita – they don’t have a will of their own. Witnessing this gory scene, Sage Narada advised Lord Shiva to avenge Daksha. He immediately plucked a hair from his head and breathed life into the hair and there stood a Bhootagana by name Veerabhadra. This newly born Veerabhadra went to the place where Daksha was performing the sacrifice and killed Daksha. The sacrifice could not be completed since Daksha died and so all Devas went to Lord Brahma and requested to make sure that the Brihaspati Sthava Yaga be completed.

Lord Brahma then went to Kailash and request Lord Shiva to forgive Daksha and requested him to help complete the sacrifice. So per the request of Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva brought Daksha back to life with the head of a goat as per the curse ordained by Nandi.

After bestowing him with another life, Daksha did not complain for the goat face and from that very moment he became an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. The sacrifice was also completed in the presence of Lord Shiva. Lord Narayana who was witnessing this was immensely happy. He finally told the beautiful precept that worshipping Lord Shiva is nothing but worshipping me and that he is no different from Lord Shiva!

Dakshayini was born as a daughter to Parvatha Raja Himavaan in her next birth. She was named as Parvathi. Parvathi again marries Lord Shiva.

The satsang concluded with Prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

“Vani gunanu kathanae shravanau kathayam”
“Hasthou cha karma sumanas thava paada yonaha”
“Smrithyam sirasthava ivaasa jagat pranamae”
“Drishti satam darshanaestu Bhavath thanunnam”<

The reason for the Lord to bestow one with voice is to verily sing his glories and the ears that e has gifted everyone should be used to only hear his stories [shravanam kataayam]. Hands should be suitably used to do service to the Lord and to his great devotees [Bhagavatas]. The foot is to be used to visit the temples. The eyes should be used to see his beautiful form. Nalakubara and Manigriva earnestly prayed to the Lord to bestow them to use the senses for doing service to the Lord.

Following the introductions, Aravindji from Orlando gave a beautiful talk.

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Sri Krishna mentioned four types of devotees who perform bhakti to him.

chaturvidha bhajante mam janah sukrtinorjuna
arto jijnasur-artharthi jnani cha bharatarshabha

Four kinds of virtuous men worship Me, O Arjuna, and they are the distressed, the seeker of knowledge, the seeker of wealth, and the wise, O Lord of the Bharatas.

The first of the kind is Arthis. They are the ones who are distressed in lives and have afflictions. They pray to the Lord to absolve all their problems. The second clan of people is the Jijnasus. They are the ones who always have a quest to attain Jnana. They offer their prayers to the Lord to bestow them with Jnana. The third faction of people is the ones who are not contended with their wealth and pray to the Lord to be bestowed with more riches. The fourth class of people is indeed the rarest of all. They are the Mahans [jnanis]. They have realized that there is nothing outside the Lord and everything is verily the Lord.

There is a sloka in Bhagavad Gita that says “Vasudeva sarvam iti”. In Srimad Bhagavatam there are so many references to Bhagvathas. They are indeed the ones dear to the Lord. Bhagavathotama is the one who is constantly remembered by the Lord.

Vrithrasura was born out as a result of sacrifice [Yagna]. His only intent in life was to kill Lord Indra. Lord Indra had committed a great injustice by killing Vishwaroopa. So Vishwaroopa’s father had made sure that he completed the sacrifice and out came Vrithrasura out of the sacrifice.

As expected Lord Indra was not able to confront Vritrasura by himself. He went to a great sage who was called as Dadichi and requested for his back-bone. Sages who are compassion-personified gave away his back-bone and with that Indra made a weapon called “Vajrayuda” and with this weapon he went to accost Vrithrasura. As Indra and Vrithrasura were facing each other. On seeing Indra, he just laughed and said, “Oh Indra, Do you think I am a coward and will run away?  Oh! not at all. There is the Almighty who is very compassionate and he knows how to take our lives, he added. Vrithrasura continued,  “Oh Indra, You are not fit to even stand in front of me. You have committed a great sin by slaying my guru Vishwaroopa. What harm did he do to you”, questioned Vritrasura.

It is destined that you will kill me and it will happen that way, said Vrithrasura.  But, he requested Indra to wait as he had to complete his morning prayers. It was not a long drawn pooja routine. He had just four Slokas which he recited every morning. However, he did not disclose his prayers. Prayers done with love are not normally boasted about.

Oh my Lord, Let me always be in your service. If I am not able to be in your service then please bless to be in the service of your greatest devotees. If I am not fortunate enough to be in the association of your greatest devotees, then let me be in the divine satsang of their devotees (dasanudasa). When I am in the service of all your devotees, then I offer my body, mind and thoughts unto you.

And then in his second sloka, he says, let me always be in contact with you.

Na naga prushtam nacha parameshtyam nasarvabhaumam narasadhipathyam
Nayoga siddhir apunarbhavam samanjasatva virahaiya kaankshe || (6:11:25)

If you offer me anything that removes the contact with you, then I don’t need it even if it is the greatest heaven.  Lord Indra was totally awed at the devotion to Lord by an Asura.

Thondaradi Podiazhwar sings in Tirumalai.

pachai mAmalai pOl mEni, pavaLa vAi, kamala chengaNN,
achyuthA amarar ErE, Ayartham kozhundhE ennum,
ichuvai thavira yAn pOi indhira lokam ALum –
achuvaiperinum vEndEn arangamA nagaruLAnE!

ThondaradippodiAzhvAr, says  “Oh Lord Ranganatha, I am captivated by your beauty of your lustrous body [thirumeni] and even if you bestow me with Vaikunta, I would not prefer it. He says in the above hymn that he would like to live in Srirangam and enjoy the beauty of Lord Ranganatha. ThondaradippodiAzhvAr’s devotion and bhakti [love for the Lord] is akin to the bhakti of Vritrasura. These Bhagavatotamas don’t pray anything for themselves and only want to be in the vicinity of the Lord always.

One such Bhagavata is Sant Namadev- with whom the Lord played His leelas in the holy city of Pandarpur.  He grew up with a childhood friend who came to be known as ‘Sparshakall Bhagavatar’ in his later years.  Sparshakall is a touch-stone (a sorcerer’s stone) and it transforms any object into gold.  This friend of Namdev was conferred this title ‘Sparsha kaal Bhagavatar’ because he transformed any ignoble person by his mere touch into a very noble person. Sant Namdev and Sparshakall Bhagavatar were constantly immersed in the Divine Name chanting of the Lord in Rangasheela facing the Maha Yoga Peeta of Lord Panduranga in Pandarpur. But in the heart of hearts, Sparshakall Bhagavatar had a small doubt and he slowly started to feed that doubt and then it became to grow since he started to feed that doubt.

We as human beings have faults in all of us. Instead of dwelling on our ignorance, we should light the lamp of Nama. Sparshakall Bhagavatar perceived that people in Pandarpur were full of misery. He concluded that people who were devoted to Lord Panduranga whereas people who worshipped Goddess Saraswati were indeed very happy and prosperous.  So he slowly started to do austerities for Goddess Lakshmi and soon he was bestowed with a touch stone that would turn any piece of iron into gold. In due course of time, Sparshakall Bhagavatar’s wife was adorned in gold jewels and they were very prosperous.

Namdev’s wife and Sparshakall Bhagavatar’s wife were friends and they used to accompany each other to get water from a nearby well. One day, Rajayi, Namdev’s wife enquired as to how they enquired so much wealth. She mentioned about the touch stone and immediately Rajayi requested if she could have it for a day. Sparshakall Bhagavatar’s immediately gave it to her without any hesitation. Rajali took it to her home and she turned some iron pieces into gold and she used that gold to feed her kids and to buy some new clothing to her kids.

In the evening when Namdev returned home, he was surprised to see his kids wearing new clothes and enquired about it to his wife. She narrated the whole incident and upon hearing it, he went to Chandrabhaga river and threw the Sparshakall.

In the mean time, Sparshakall Bhagavatar’s wife was getting a little nervous since Rajayi had not returned the touch stone.  Her husband returned home in the night and enquired about the touch stone and she told that she had loaned it to Namdev’s wife and that she had not returned it.

So he set out to Namdev’s house and asked about the touch stone in a vehement manner to Namdev. Namdev very politely enquired as to why he was not coming regularly for the bhajans. But he did not pay any attention to Namdev and kept on only asking about the touch stone. Namdev immediately took him to Chandrabhaga river and jumped into nthe river and he came out with many touch stones in his hand. Seeing this, the Bhagavatar was so ashamed and feel at the feet of Namdev pleading for pardon.

We thus see a parallel between Vrithrasura, Thondaradipodiazhwar and Namdev. Vrithrasura in the following slokas says – “

Ajatha pakshad iva maataram khagah stanyam yata  vatsadhara ksudhartha: |
Priyam priyeva vyushitam vishanna Manoravindaasksha didrukshate tvaam” || (6:11:25)

In this sloka, he says, “Oh Lord, Take me unto you akin to how a small bird is being taken care by its mother bird, a calf craving for the love of its mother-cow and a fiancee waiting to join her fiance. A bird does not how to fly. Akin to this is a bhakta who cannot bear the separation of the Lord but doesn’t know how to reach the Lord. The bhakta says “Oh I cannot do penance like Dhruva, I cannot think of leading a life like Bheeshmacharya, I cannot be a sathya shanda like Harischandra.

His last sloka has a very deeper meaning. He knows that it is not easy to get the divine company of the Lord. So he says,

“Mamottama sloka janeshu sakyam samsara chakre bramtah smakarmabi: |
Tvan maayayaatmatmaja daara geheshu Asakta chityasa na naatha bhooyaat”

He says,”Oh Lord I know that I am caught deep inside the ocean of Samsara from which it is not very easy to be absolved. If at all you are an epitome of compassion then may I request you to do one thing? Please put me amidst a group of devotees in a satsang.

Vrithrasura beautifully teaches us the virtue of patience. Akin to how a bird waits for its mother to come and akin to how a fiancé waits for her lover even though this lover . The fiancé unlike the bird the bird who cannot go anywhere in search of its mother, can go out and search his lover, but she waits since her lover has told her that he would definitely come. Similarly the true devotees of the Lord wait patiently for the Lord to bestow their grace on him.

The satsang ended with prayers and Nama Sankirtan.

Gajendra calls the Lord as “Theertha shravah” because he was an epitome of all good merits [shravah]. The Lord who came in the form of Hari is also a form of all auspiciousness. He is glorious because, the very name ‘Hari’  is auspicious and sacred (‘shravana mangala naamadeya’). That is the glory of the Divine Name ‘Hari’.  He is an embodiment of all auspiciousness and love that by merely listening to his Name, one will be bestowed with all auspiciousness.

After the quick round of introductions, Hemaji from Dallas gave a beautiful lecture on Guru Bhakti and the significance of Guru’s grace in one’s life.

She narrated some incidents from Sant Namadev’s life. Namadev had immense bhakti and devotion to the Lord Vittala of Pandarpur. He was having immense bhakti to Lord Vittala at a very young age. In the same town of Pandarpur lived Gora Kumbhar, another great of the Lord. He was a potter by profession. One day he invited all the great devotees of the Lord to his house for a satsang. The whole village came to witness the satsang. They were so excited to see them all. Gora Kumbhar was preparing some dishes for his guests. Muktabai, the sister of Jnaneshwar who is believed to be an incarnation of Adi Shakti also came to attend the satsang and she saw a small stick on the wall. She asked everyone about the stick and nobody knew what it was. The she went straight to Gora Kumbhar and asked him about that stick. He told her that he used that stick to knock the pots right after they are baked. He used that for his stress test to see if the pots break when they are knocked by the stick. He told Muktabhai that he only sells the pots that don’t break when knocked by that stick.  Hearing this, her face wore a smile. She said “Oh uncle! I was waiting to hear that.” She then said, “Oh Uncle! Let’s go and knock each one’s head to see if they are completely baked or not”.  This really quivered Gora Kumbhar. He didn’t know what he had to do and with hesitation he accompanied Muktabhai.

She first went and knocked Sant Gnaneshwar’s head and told Gorakumbhar that he was perfectly baked. She then went and patted the head of Kabirdas’s head and proclaimed that he was perfectly baked as well. Namadev was witnessing the whole scene and was not really happy. It was then his turn and when Mukta Bai touched his head with that stick, Muktabhai said “Oh this pot is not baked!”.  People who had gathered there started to laugh. This really irked Namadev. Greatly mortified he immediately left the place and went straight to see Lord Vittala in Pandarpur. The Lord Panduranga always gave darshan to Namadev. He went and poured his embarrassment to him. The Lord at first pacified him and asked him to ignore what Muktabai had said. Namadev was not satisfied. He then asked the Lord if he had attained Jnana?. In reply to his question, the Lord replied that he had not acquired Jnana and that he needed to take tutelage under a guru. He also added that what Muktabai had said was indeed true. The Lord requested Namadev to adopt Visoba Khechar as his guru.

We need a Sadguru to guide us the correct path in our lives. A guru is one who understands us very well, purifies us without our knowledge, transforms everyone who surrenders unto his feet and throws us unto the holy feet of the Lord. Once we surrender unto his holy feet, then we don’t have to worry about anything and whatever actions we perform is actually what he desires one to do.

This spiritual journey is very new to us. Leading a life in this mundane world which is filled with Maya and travelling in a rental car called human body, Lord Sri Krishna has given some road maps which are verily our Scriptures to name a few Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhgavad Gita and Ramayana. Finally unable to drive alone and after sincerely praying to the Lord, he sends us his messenger who is verily our Sadguru and he drives us safely to the final destination.

Sadhus words are very powerful and indeed turn out to be true. One fact to substantiate this is how our Guru Maharaj’s vision came true. Two years ago in a Hanuman temple in Bangalore, our Guru Maharaj told everyone that a Namadwaar would soon be established in Houston. And yes, it indeed came true and in the month of February this year, a Namadwaar was opened in Houston.

Lord Krishna would just come and sit in our hearts eternally if one does service to such great Mahatmas. Chanting the divine names of the Lord is a very easy path and indeed a powerful one. It is by the sheer grace and infinite compassion of Sadguru to take the Nama Sankirtan to great heights and to spread all throughout the world. He wants everyone to be part of this holy service and it is he who will guide everyone in this path as he has experienced the power of the Divine Name of the Lord.

“guruvin malaradiyai endrum en kannal parthu ninrain “
“matrellam mayai poyienum kanavil kanda porul pol ularendain”
“Adhanal nimmadi adainthain ulagam marandhein”

“Anandam than adainthaein”

So let’s all surrender ourselves unto the holy feet of our Sadguru and lead our life without any fear.

The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.

Sanatana Dharma has a very unique quality that cannot be found in all other religions. All of us know that while other all faiths talk about a single god, Sanatana Dharma talks about multiple deities. If we get a little deep without scratching the surface, we find that it is only one supreme god who is held supreme in Sanatana Dharma as well. The reason why we have many deities is because of the fact that people are of different mentalities and they have to be given that kind of an ideal to follow so that they can eventually be lead to that supreme divinity. Hence we have different gods with different qualities [gunas] that finally leads one to supreme Brahman which is the supreme divinity of Sanatana Dharma.

“Brahmeti paramathmeti bhagawan iti shabdayatae” [1.2.11] , where Brahmam, Paramatma and Bhagawan are all the same. It talks about three different ways to reach divinity. Brahman is the name that the normal devotees refer to propitiate Lord Krishna. The devotees of Lord Krishna only see the Lord everywhere. They see the Lord as part of all their activities. That’s verily how normal devotees see the supreme god. People who adhere to the path of Atma Vichara and Jnana Marga see that supreme god as Brahman. There is this beautiful concept called “Nethi”, and its verbatim translation is “not this not this”. Brahman is infinite and can only be pointed in the direction of Brahman and by saying that it is not in that direction, and eventually if we remove all the different directions then he direction it finally points to is Brahmam. That’s verily how Atma Vicharis who do self inquiry realize their Brahmam.

The second great path that is explained is that of Yoga. The human body is indeed very auspicious and sacred and is used to attain the Lord. The body can be used for a Sadhana by proper practice of yoga. Our great Maharishi has devised this beautiful Ashtanga yoga, which comprises of eight steps. The first four steps refer to the control of the body [yama, niyama, asana, pranayama], the next set of four steps refer to the control of the mind, [dharana, dhyana and Samadhi]. The Swaroopa that he meditates in his heart, he calls Paramatma.

The devotees see the Lord [Bhagawan] everywhere and hence all of them are one and the same. This form of Brahman is beyond name, form and quality. So is this attainable at all? Srimad Bhagavatam elaborately describes the complex which is the form of truth, which is yet unchanging yet creates all the worlds. Brahman starts off by creating Lord Brahma and bestows him with all the knowledge, then creates the Maya which has all the three qualities sattva, rajas and tamas. From the Maya dawns the Ahankara and that leads to the creation of the Boothas [fire, water, Earth] and then the creation of humans. The truth is self effulgent and it is indeed the ultimate truth and so let’s meditate on all this ultimate truth says Srimad Bhagavatam in the first sloka.

The truth is indeed complex because of its nature, but Narayana Bhaatatri recognizes this Truth and says that the Truth is very profound and unclear [asphastam]. He says that he cannot explain it [avabhodatmakam]. He says that all the above qualities imply to the truth and yet it is reachable. He says that in the very first sloka of Narayaneeyam.

“Sandranandavabodatmakamanupamitam kaladeshavadibyam
Nirmuktam nithyamuktam nigamashatashasrena nirbhasyamanam|
Asphastam drushtamatrae punarurupurushartaathmakam brahma thatvam
Thatvadhbhato sakshaat gurupavanapurae hanta bhagyam jananam||”

It is unique [anupamam] and does not have a second. It doesn’t have the three dimesnsions [kala, desa and avadi] and is totally independent of the three dimensions. He is Nithya muktam [eternal] and even though the Vedas have a great job in comprehending the Lord, they were not able to describe the Lord to the fullest extent. The Lord cannot be explained and expounded in hundreds and thousands of verses in the Vedas [nigamashatashasrena nirbhasyamanam]. All these qualities are so profound and I am lucky says Narayana Bhatari. In the eleventh of Srimad Bhagavatham, Lord Krishna uses the word “Alas”

“Hanta te kathayishyami”- — Alas Uddava, let me tell you the easiest way. But in Narayaneeyam, Narayana Bhatatri uses the word “Hanta!” in the first line itself. He is so proud to be born in the holy land of Guru Pavana Puri [Guruvayoor], where the Brahman which cannot be expressed by words, has now taken a form of a little boy wearing a loin cloth, having butter in one hand and a banana in the other hand and smiling at us. And he says that such is my benediction!

It does not necessarily mean that when you see the Lord, you are instilled with bhakti. Shisupala was bestowed with the darshan of the Lord face to face. He went one step further and merged with the Lord. But did he get bhakti? Maricha, Soorpanaka and Hiranyakashipu saw the Lord. Did they all get bhakti? It is only by the sheer grace of the Lord that one is infused with bhakti and the Lord in Ekadasa Skandam says, “Oh Uddava! Let me expound on the three paths to attain me! He talks about Jnana marga, Nishkamya Karma, Bhakti. He talked in detail about Jnana Marga, the Nishkamya Karma where people do inquiry on the core of their heart where I live and they finally find me.

He then talks Karma where he says by doing karma one cannot attain me. Bhagawan Ramana in his Upadesa Saram which was supposedly penned by Lord Shiva himself says,

“Karmam payantharal undi para” By merely doing Karma, one cannot attain me. Whereas the moment one offers himself to me and then perform Karma and offer the fruits of Karma to me then he will attain Jnana. This fact is very beautifully substantiated in Ramayana and Mahaharata.

Sharabanga was a great sage and he has accrued a lot of good merits. “Swanushithasya dharmasya” – By doing Yaga, tapas or by offering ablutions to the favorite deity and also by adhering to the path of Samanya dharma [feeding the poor, education he poor] one will attain Sawarga. We have seen that many kings have attained Swarga due the austerities they have performed. Swarga is ruled by Indra and by doing dharma and karma will lead one to the world of Indra.

By adhering to celibacy and performing sincere austerities, practice of Pranayama and Praathyahara and by constantly mediating on the Lord and that will bestow good merits and will eventually ad one to the world of Lord Brahma.

Sharabhanga, a great sage had performed austerities and Anustahana of his Swadharma and Indra was very happy to take him to Swarga. He was a chaste and performed penance and prathyahara and Lord Brahma was eagerly waiting to take him to his world.

Great yogis like Sharabhanga had been bestowed with the ability to leave the mortal coils as per their wish [Swachanda Mrithu]. Leave alone Yogis, Lord Kapila says in Srimad Bhagavatam that my devotees can stay in this earth for however long they desire [Swachanda Mrithyu] and once they give up their body, they will attain me and perform bhakti in my world as well.

When the devotees of the Lord can have Swachanda Mrithyu, then what to talk about that of the great Sages?  So when Sharabhanga decided to forsake his mortal coil, Indra and Brahma came to invite him to their worlds. But he realized that Lord Rama who was ordained to go to the forest [Pitru Vakya Paripalana] was at Panchavati and Sharabhanga desired to perform Athiti Satrkaara before he abdicated his body. So he invited Lord Rama to his ashram. Lord Rama happily obliged to his request and visited his ashram. When Lord Rama came to Sharabhanga’s ashram, he had nothing to offer to Lord Rama. Even Sabari had some fruits to offer to Lord Rama but Sharabhanga had none to offer. He looked around and said I have accrued a lot of good merits by performing austerities and penance. He immediately offered his good merits [Punya] to Lord Rama and Rama happily accepted it. Lord Rama himself is a Swaroopa of Punya. The moment he gave all his good merits to Lord Rama, both Indra and Brahma left Sharabhanga. But since Sharabhanga had invited Lord Rama and gave away all his good merits to the Lord, he attained Parama Pada [the world of Lord Vishnu]. That is the fruit of doing one’s karma and by offering the fruits of Karma to the Lord, one will eventually reach Vaikunta.

In Mahabharatha, Indra visits Karna. Indra, the father of Arjuna was going to get the Kavacha and Kunadala of Karna. Even before Indra visited, Lord Surya came in the dreams of Karna and warned him about the impending Indra’s visit. Even in his dreams, Karna told Lord Surya that it was his Swadharma to offer his Kavacha and Kundala to the Lord. The next day as ordained, Indra came in the guise of a Brahmana. The reason he came in the guise of a Brahmana was because the Swadharma of a Brahmin was to do yachaka [to get alms]. It reminds us that Lord Vamana also came in the guise of a brahmin. In the later days of Karna, in the battle field of Kurukshetra, Karna injured Lord Arjuna and his group. The next day the Lord fights Karna and he is fatally injured. When Arjuna was about to take the life of Karna, the Lord realized that Karna’s good merits are protecting him and so the Lord took the form of a Brahmin and requested alms from Karna. He was so happy to see the Brahmin but had it been any other day, he would have happily given alms but today in the battlefield with his body torn apart, he had nothing to give to the Brahmin. He was afraid as to what the Brahmin was going to ask and when he asked for his punya, Karna happily gave it to the Brahmana. No sooner did he give his good merits than the Lord regained his original form and put Karna in his lap and comforted him.

The Lord told Karna that it was verily him who deceitfully came in the guise of a Brahmin to take away all his good merits that he had accrued. So the Lord asked him if he had any wish to be satiated and Karna says, “Janma labhah parah pumsaam anthae narayana smritih”. When the Lord is cuddling me at the time of my death, then am I a fool, to ask for a boon? The Lord was defeated by Karna’s reply and he automatically reached Vaikunta. This is another classic example where Lord Karna gave away all his good merits accrued by Swadharma and automatically reached the Lord’s abode.

When one offers everything to the holy feet of the Lord, he automatically reaches the Lord. This is known as Nishkamya karma. However, Both Sharabhanga and Karna have never tasted the sweetness of bhakti. They never knew anything about bhakti. By doing karma, one can attain knowledge [Jnana], but it is verily the Lord who can bestow bhakti. The Lord puts forth this beautiful term “yadricchaya”, where he says that “Bhakti to me is by my own grace”. “Jnanam vishudham aapnothi math bhaktim vayadhrucchaya”. Bhakti to me is only by my own grace. He says to Uddava that he cannot bestow bhakti to anyone and everyone.

The moment the Lord blesses one with bhakti, he needs to go and stand in front of the devotee always as an eternal servant.

“aham bhakta paradheenaha asvatantra ivadvijah
sadhu bir grutha hrudayoho bhaktaih bhakta jana priya “

The relationship of the Lord and the devotee is akin to a true husband and a wife, where they are bound by love. That’s verily why the Lord keeps bhakti to himself and gives to only a selected few based on their good merits.

The Lord conveys the beautiful fact that a person doing penance and other spiritual austerities [yaaga tapas, Ashtanga Yoga] for thousands for years will reach my holy abode, whereas a person who by being my ardent devotee [bhakta] will reach my abode in a matter of seconds.

Even though a devotee can be bestowed with whatever he wants, the greatness of a devotee is that he wouldn’t ask the Lord for anything.

“Na paarameshtyam na mahendra dishnam na saarvabhoumam narasadipatyam
na yogasiddhih apunarbhavam va maiyaarpitaatmechati mad vinaanyaat”.

The devotee will not even ask for Moksha. He is Nirapeksha and never asks for anything and derives the happiness by performing bhakti. He has won over his senses and his calm and a Swaroopa of Shanti (peace). He is at peace both inside and outside. There is no tumult anywhere. He is devoid of any enemies [Nirvaira]. He sees the whole world as Brahma Swarropam. By merely seeing me everywhere he has Samadharshana.

“Vanchanti yath paada raja prapanaha”. Nagapatni says the above verse to Lord Krishna in Kaliya Moksham. Who will ask for anything else but for singing your glories by remembering your holy feet.

“puuyeyet anghri renubih”. The Lord says to Uddava that the dust at the feet of such a devotee is so sacred that it can purify the material worlds. The dust from the holy feet of such a devotee is so sacred that I follow him. “Anuvrajami aham Nithyam”. I will follow that devotee eternally, says the Lord.

nirapeksham munim shaantam  nirvairam sama-darshanam |
anuvrajaamy aham nityam  puyeyety anghri renubhih  ||

The Lord, thus speaking about the glory of Bhakti, talks about the human life – which is indeed  rare (sudurlabham) , and yet easy (Sulabham).

It is easy when one attains a Sadguru.

A Guru who is an epitome of Prema bhakti is the sailor of the sip. The ship is the form of the human body that one has taken and Guru is sailing that ship.

The very moment one comes in contact with a guru, he is lead to me. If a guru who is just a teacher teaching the Vedas,Shastras ans Upanisads, then one needs to practice them in order o reach me. If it is a Guru Karna Dhara, then by mere Ashreya of that guru, by merely being in the company of that great Sadhu, will bestow me to you says the Lord to Uddava.

When the guru sails that ship, it is my grace that acts as the breeze that will set the ship sailing.

Those who take human birth and do not take the path to attain me have indeed committed suicide!

“nrudaham aadhyam sulabham sudurlabham plavam sukalpam guru karna dhaaraam mayaanukule nabasvatheritham puman bhavaabdim nataret sa aatmah”.

That man who has taken a human form and has taken the ashreya of a guru who can set the sail of the ship and it is indeed my anukoola [grace] that will steer the ship and will attain me and who has not made use of this birth to attain me to cross this Samsara is equivalent of committing a suicide!

The satsang ended with Prayers and Namasankirtan.