Feb 4: Purushartas in Bhagavatam – 4 : Moksha

The Lord’s incarnations though infinite, are defined to be ten in number – ranging from fish to a human, and each incarnation establishes the Dharma unique to that form.  A fish devoid of water dies immediately and shows its immense love for water.  One’s devotion should be such.  The Lord then incarnated as a wild boar [Varaha] to get back Mother Earth and Vedas from the demons and also slayed the Hirayaksha and established the path of performing austerities [Yagna] and the avatar is also known “Yagna Varaha Moorthy”. The Lord came down as Varaha to show that none of the Lord’ incarnations had to be detested and hated. The boar is one of the wretched animals. In Varaha Avatar the path of sacrifices and ablutions is preached by the Lord. The Yoga Marga is advocated in the Koorma Avatar.  In one avatar, he came down as a small boy and in another avatar he took the disguised as Parasurama, a Rishi who destroyed the entire Kshatriya clan. The Lord in his next avatar came down as Lord Rama, as a Kshatriya, reinstating the clan and re-establishing the Rajya Dharma.  AsKrishna, He was born in a cowherd’s family.  In the incarnation of the Lord as Rama andKrishna, apart from upholding all the various Dharmas, these two avatars also embrace the beautiful path of Bhagavatha Dharma – the path of Sharanagathi.

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.

Jan 28: Purushartas in Bhagavatam – 3 : Kama

The path of Bhagavatha Dharma encompasses every other Dharma in itself. It encompasses all the beauties in normal life, which in turn makes us more and more satvik and makes us recipients of Bhagawan’s grace. It teaches the values of human life. One great precept that it teaches us is the mutual love and respect for others. This virtue has been clearly depicted in all the cantos of Srimad Bhagavatham. In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatham, Draupadi shows us the path of Bhagavatha Dharma.

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.

Jan 21: Purushartas in Bhagavatam – 2 : Artha

Mahabharata is a battle between the righteous and the evil.  The 100 Kauvavas signify the umpteen vices in us and the 5 Pandavas stand for the limited virtues.  The term ‘Pandu’ connotes white, which delineates the Sattvik qualities and they were only five in number.Krishna’s role in Pandavas’ victory signifies the role of God’s grace in our triumph of good over evil and once that ascendancy is accomplished, it will usher to the path of bhakti and devotion and that’s verily when one is bestowed with Srimad Bhagavatham. By listening to stories in Srimad Bhagavatham, our hearts transform into tender, soft and pristine one will lead one to the path of pure and pristine bhakti. Aptly enough, the story in Bhagavatam starts with the end of Mahabharatha war.  When we view Srimad Bhagavatham in this manner, then the LLord starts to play with his devotees.

“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.