Bhagavatam, day 189
Srimad Bhagavatam - day 189
Rudra prayed, “O Srihari! O bestower of boons! In this creation, everyone worships Your lotus feet. This includes both the deluded living beings who are full of desires and Maharishis who are absolutely desireless. My mind is exclusively and firmly fixed upon such holy feet. Hence, even if an ignorant person falsely accuses me, I do not attach any importance to it”.
Swamiji explains:
When my mind is totally fixed upon the Lord, where is the scope for feelings such as ‘I and mine’ to enter into it? Even if perchance the feeling of ‘I’ enters into my mind, then such feelings of ‘I’ also end up in Your feet, since my mind is focused upon them. I am merely an instrument.
Just like an electric wire that transmits electricity I am a wire that transmits everything to Your lotus feet.
When power supply is cut off, the electric wire has no role to play. Cut it off and throw it to the ground, it will gradually dissolve into the soil. It does not have an independent existence. Likewise, when my mind is totally and exclusively focused upon Your feet then like that wire I no longer function independently. Hence even criticisms directed at me, do not belong to me. Similarly if anyone applauds me, it does not belong to me. I transmit both the praises and the criticism to You.
Rudra continued, “As my mind is fixed exclusively upon Your lotus feet, all the worship done to me, belongs totally to You”.
Maharishi Bhrigu prayed, “O Supreme Lord, all beings beginning from Brahma are unable to cross Your illusion and are totally under its sway. As a result of this illusion, living beings are unable to understand their true form. This includes Brahma and other Devatas too, who are sleeping in ignorance due to which they are unable to know You, who exist as the Self (atma) within every living being.
Lord, You reside within the being. You are the existence. You are the movement within them. Although they acknowledge it verbally and to certain extent in their actions, from deep within their hearts they do not truly believe that You are everything”.
Swamiji explains:
Some preach the methods by which this ocean of samsāra (repeated births) can be crossed, some even help others cross this ocean but they themselves are unable to cross it. This is māya! ‘I have been able to help many cross the ocean, therefore I too can easily cross’ they say, but the truth is that they are unable to cross.
Hence it is better to first cross the ocean and then help others who are submerged in it. It is incorrect to try to help others when you are struggling to reach the shore. You should attempt to help others only if you have the right wisdom needed for your own journey. Not otherwise.
In the form of the Self, the Lord resides within us. We reside within Him. Here Bhrigu Maharishi asks the Lord ‘I am unable to recognize the Lord who is residing within me. How do I recognize You? In which form do you reside?’
He resides in all forms. This is the meaning of the hymn- yā devi sarva bhuteśu .. namas tasyai namas tasyai namas tasyai namo namah. This hymn states that the Supreme Mother exists within every living being in the form of his body, his mind, his intelligence, his action, profession etc. The list is long and it incorporates every possibility. To the Lord who exists as everything, I offer my obeisance, says the hymn.
Although we chant this hymn, we are unable to understand Him, who in reality exists within us. We do not even attempt to understand the significance of the hymn.
Maharishi Bhrigu continued, “You are the true friend and relative of all. You are the atma bandhu. May you be pleased with me”.
Thereafter Brahma prayed, “O Lord, the ignorant human being who sees the world through the medium of the senses, is able to perceive only the differences that exist within the objects. He considers objects to be separate entities. He segregates objects into big, small, heavy, light, bitter, opaque, transparent, sweet, solid, liquid and so on. Therefore he is unable to know the real essence. As long as the being focuses upon such differences in the objects, he will never understand Your true form and essence.
The truth is that there are no differences within You (abheda). You exist in all objects equally. Only when this knowledge is grasped, Your true essence will be understood. This is because You are the knowledge, You are the intelligence, You are the object and You are the sense *** that perceives the object. You are everything”.
Swamiji explains:
Light, dark, opaque, transparent, heavy, bitter, sweet – we should have the intelligence that these differences are ***. Even that intelligence through which the person is able to see differences within objects is ***. The person should develop feelings of non-duality towards the Lord. ‘You and me are one and the same’- he should think.
As the first step you acknowledge that ‘those’ objects are nothing but manifestations of the Supreme Lord.
Thereafter you need to realize that the knowledge about these objects as well as the ‘I’ which is seeing these objects also are ***. ‘I, You and that knowledge which teaches about You’- everything is ***. This realization should arise from within.
Kesavaya namah