Jun 25: Nava Yogi Upakhyana – 6

Srimad Bhagavatham and Ramayanam are two major Granthas that show us light as we tread on our spiritual journey. Our Guru Maharaj, Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji stresses these two scriptures as they ratify the path of Bhagavata Dharma. If we see in Srimad Bhagavatam, it starts off with a life-history of a great Bhagavatha, Sage Narada and culminates with the life-history of another great Bhagavatha, Markandeya, who is a great Vaishnavite. Even though Srimad Bhagavatham expounds on the life-history of Lord Krishna it is named as Srimad Bhagavatham and not as Krishna Bhagavatham or unlike other deity’s Bhagvatham. It is verily because of the fact that Lord Krishna is verily Bhagavan. Sage Shuka brings out this phrase very beautifully in the first canto –

“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.

June 18: Nava Yogi Upakhyana – 5

Sri Ramakrishna says that there are three things in this world that are equivalent to Brahman. The first of them is the sacred waters of river Ganga. The second in the list is the holy Prasad of Puri Kshetra and lastly the soil of Brindavan. It is said that the soil of Brindavan is so holy that it is compared to supreme Brahman itself. It is verily why people undertake pilgrimage to Brindavan. When the Gopikas expound on the glory of Brindavan, they envy Brindavan.

“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.

June 11: Nava Yogi Upakhyana – 4

Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita says that there are different ways to attain him. He specifically gave four different paths to attain him. One among them is the Jnana Marga, which is enquiry about the self. There have been many Mahans and Jnanis in this world. But most of them have gone unnoticed because they do not like to mingle in this ocean of samsara. One contemporary mahan who spread “Atma Vichara and Jnana Yoga” is Ramana Maharishi. He radiated the rays of divinity by his mere presence. It is not only normal mortals who are reveling in the world of samsara became his devotees, but also great Mahans, saints, pundits and scholars became his ardent devotees and have been elevated to a very high state by Ramana. His original name was Venkatraman and he hailed from Thiruchuzhi. There was a great Mahan by name Ganapathy Muni who was a disciple of Ramana. He was born in Andhra Pradesh and was verily an incarnation of Lord Ganesha himself.  He had tremendous scholarship and learnt all the Vedas, Sanskrit, Puranas and Ithihasas at a very young age. One of his ambitions was to become a poet like Kalidasa. At the age of twelve, he wrote volumes of poetry in Sanskrit and because of his scholarliness he was known as “Kavya kanta Ganapathy Muni”. He also used to chant the Panchakshara at various different places. His other ambition was to have the darshan of Lord Shiva. He embarked in intense penance but still could not get the darshan of Lord Siva. He was feeling terribly upset and one day he happened to meet Bhagavan Ramana. On seeing Ramana, he immediately prostrated and confided his desire to have Lord Shiva’s darshan to Ramana. After hearing this, Bhagawan Ramana looked into the eyes of Kavya Ganta Ganapathy Muni and gave a discourse on Atma Vichara. The whole place was established in dynamic tranquility. It is called as dynamic because, that silence was verily established in the presence of a Sadguru. With the sheer blessings of Ramana, his Sadguru, Ganapathy Muni was able to go into that divine tranquil state and practice Atma Vicahara. This was again made possible only by the blessings of a Sadguru. It is very evident that by virtue of one’s skills one cannot attain that supreme state and it is only by the blessings of a Sadguru that one can reach that exalted state. Kavya Ganta Ganapathy Muni was also fondly called as “Nayana” by his devotees and he passed away in Kharagpur. Many of Bhagawan Ramana’s works have been translated in Sanskrit by Ganapathy Muni. It is he who took the message of his guru, Bhagawan Ramana far and wide.

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.

 

June 4: Navayogi Upakhyana – 3

The eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is known as the crown of Bhagavatha Purusha who is verily Lord Krishna. In the previous lectures we enjoyed the first two Nava Yogis Kavi and Hari Discourses to the king of Videha, King Nimi. The first Yogi, Kavi in his concise discourse of eleven slokas, conveyed the beautiful precept that the path of Bhakti Yoga. He expounded the Bhakti yoga in simple terms which is chanting the divine names of the Lord and listening to the glories of the Lord and that will indeed lead one to the holy feet of the Lord. He gave the essence of Srimad Bhagavad Gita in just eleven slokas. After the discourse of Kavi Yogi, Hari Yogi started to discourse on the characteristics of Bhagavatotamas. Who are Bhagavatotamas? They are verily the devotees of the highest order. Prahalada, Hanuman, Azhwars to name a few are Bhagavatotamas. People in general can be classified into three categories on any level of comparison.  We have seen earlier that the devotees of the Lord are classified into Uttama, Madhyama and Prakruthas. Another way of classifying the devotees is by the gunas, namely Sathvikas, Rajasika and Tamasika based on the deity they worship. That will lucidly show the qualities they possess. People who possess the tamas quality mainly perform sacrifices [bali]. People who adhere to the path of Rajasika path follow the Karma Anushtanas and worship the fore-fathers [pitrus] and  perform vedic austerities. Devotees of the Lord who worship the Lord with sheer love and perform bhkati with unconditional love possess the sattvika quality in them.

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.

 

 

 

 

May 28: Nava Yogi Upakhyana – 2

The term Acharya connotes someone who is more than a guru and the  Supreme in Acharya is called as Paramacharya. The prime reason for a Guru acquiring an individual’soul is to subdue his ego and take him unto to the holy feet of the Lord. It is evident from the life of Paramacharya who is omniscient; the quality of humility has been his hallmark. His vast knowledge was used in the right path to subdue the ego of his devotees and thereby taking them to the holy feet of the Lord.

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.

May 21: Nava Yogi Upakhyana – 1

In Srimad Bhagavatam, the tenth canto starts with King Parikshit requesting Sage Shuka to expound on the exploits of Lord Krishna. Suka being enthralled by King Parikshit’s request confers on him the title of “Rajarshi” and embarked on the discourse of Krishna Leela.   If we see how the Tenth Canto ends it is indeed very beautiful. The festival of Holi is talked about in the Tenth Canto. The Lord is “sthiracharavrijinagnaka”. He is all powerful and His Names can destroy all misfortunes [yannaamamangalaghnam] and the Divine Names of the Lord can destroy the sins of all living being [‘sthira’ and ‘chara’]. His Divine Names and explois are all powerful and will absolve the sins of everyone. One should do incessant chanting of his Divine Names and listen to His glories. The Tenth Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam closes with this beautiful message.

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.