Śrī Śāstra-Vacanāmṛtam Continued...

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam


द्वितियो ऽध्याय

Dvitiyo ‘dhyāya

Second Chapter

श्री शास्त्र-वचनामृतम्

द्वितियो ऽध्याय

Dvitiyo ‘dhyāya
Second Chapter

श्री शास्त्र-वचनामृतम्

Śrī Śāstra-Vacanāmṛtam
Holy Scriptural Nectar

CHAPTER II

हरि-प्रपन्नानाम् अन्य-निस्तार-सामर्थ्यम्-आत्मारामाणाम् हरि-पद-प्रपत्तिश् च

यत् पाद-संश्रयाः सूत, मुनयः प्रशमायनाः

सद्यः पुनन्त्य् उपस्पृष्टाः, स्वर्धुन्य्-आपो ‘नुसेवयाः [२६]

भा. १/१/१५

hari-prapannānām anya-nistāra-sāmarthyam-ātmārāmāṇām hari-pada-prapattiś ca

yat pāda-saṁśrayāḥ sūta, munayaḥ praśamāyanāḥ

sadyaḥ punanty upaspṛṣṭāḥ, svardhuny-āpo ‘nusevayāḥ [26]

bhā. 1/1/15

Even those who are self-realised and self-satisfied take shelter of Hari. Such surrendered souls can deliver others from birth and death.

While the Ganges purifies only those who are fully submerged in her waters, mere proximity with peaceful surrendered souls grants complete deliverance from all evils.(26)

Bha: 1/1/15

श्री-कृष्णैक-शरण नैव विधि-किङ्कराः--

देवर्षि-भूताप्त-नृणां पितृनाङ्

न किङ्करो नायम् ऋणि च राजन्

सर्व्वात्मना य शरणं शरण्यं

गतो मुकुन्दं परिहृत्य कर्त्तम् [२७]

भा. ११/५/४१

śrī-kṛṣṇaika-śaraṇa naiva vidhi-kiṅkarāḥ--

devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāṃ pitṛnāṅ

na kiṅkaro nāyam ṛṇi ca rājan

sarvvātmanā ya śaraṇaṁ śaraṇyaṁ

gato mukundaṁ parihṛtya karttam [27]

bhā. 11/5/41

Surrendered souls are not subject to scriptural rule (viddhi):

Those who have surrendered to Mukunda, (Or "He who gives that which makes liberation look awkward") have no debts or obligations. 

They are automatically  free from considerations of dharma, duties to the gods, sages, living entities, family members, human society, and ancestors, śāstric  injunctions and priests, by following the path of śaraṇāgati. 

He no longer owes anything to anyone.

 By surrendering to the Supreme soul all other duties are taken care of. As such, all obligations, scriptural or otherwise, are automatically fulfilled through surrender to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. 

तद् अनुगृहीता वेद-धर्म्मातीता एव—

यदा यस्यानुगृह्णाति, भगवान् आत्म-भावितः

स जहाति मतिं लोके, वेदे च परिनिश्ठिताम् [२८]

भा. ४/२९/४५

tad anugṛhītā veda-dharmmātītā eva—

yadā yasyānugṛhṇāti, bhagavān ātma-bhāvitaḥ

sa jahāti matiṁ loke, vede ca pariniśṭhitām [28]

bhā. 4/29/45

Those who are surrendered to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and who receive His mercy transcend Vedic dharma.

The surrendered souls live in the land of mercy, beauty, charm and affection; the plane of absolute surrender, or "Die to Live." That is the highest plane of our life. Nothing less than wholesale surrender is required there. And Kṛṣṇa states, "If you give yourself wholesale to Me, then I will give Myself wholesale to you." Vedic dharma has no place in that divine realm.  Kṛṣṇa's mercy is available to the surrendered souls.  They always keep him in their hearts through dedication.  Such surrendered souls have no further need of Vedic religiosity and abandon such ritualistic dharma. Progress means elimination and new acceptance. So, when there is a clash between the relative and the absolute standpoint, the relative must be left aside, and the absolute accepted.  The absolute and the relative are two different classes of interest. And we find more importance in the absolute interest. We must be sincere to our own creed. 

The form is necessary to help me in a general way to maintain my present position. At the same time, my conception of the higher ideal will always goad me to advance, to go forward, and wherever I do, I must follow the greater model, the greater ideal. Spiritual life is progressive, not stagnant. The ideal is all in all. The highest ideal in a man is his highest jewel. Our most precious gem is our ideal.

Many things are recommended in the scriptures, but they are meant to promote us towards the truth in an indirect way (sva-dharme nidhanam sreya ). [Bg 3.35] It is recommended at a certain stage that for the sake of our close friends, we should give up our ideal. But in the Bhagavad-gita, Krsna's final instruction is sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja: "If it is necessary to maintain the highest ideal, you must give up your friends. Surrender to me. I am the real purport of the scriptures." The highest kind of idealists give up their country, their family, their friends, and everything else, but they can't give up their ideal.

In the Bhagavad-gita, [3.35] Krsna says, "It is better to die while performing one's duty that to try to do another's duty." That is one stage of understanding: the relative consideration. The absolute consideration is also given in the Bhagavad-gita: sarva dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja [Bg. 18.66]. Krsna says, "Give up everything. Come to Me directly." 

This is the revolutionary way. This is absolute. And this is relative: "Stick to your own clan. Don't leave them." That is the national conception. There is nation consciousness and God consciousness; society consciousness and God consciousness. God consciousness is absolute. 

Society Consciousness

If society consciousness hinders the development of God consciousness, it should be left behind. This is confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.18):

gurur na sa syat sva jano na sa syat
pita na sa syaj janani na sa syat
daivam na tat syan na patis ca sa syan
na mocayed yah samupeta mrtyum

Even a spiritual master, relative, parent, husband, or demigod who cannot save us from repeated birth and death should be abandoned at once."

What to speak of ordinary things, even the guru, may have to be abandoned. One may even have to give up one's own spiritual guide, as in the case of Bali Maharaja, or one's relatives, as in the case of Vibhisana. In the case of Prahlada, his father had to be given up, and in the case of Bharata Maharaja, it was his mother. In the case of Khatvanga Maharaja, he left the demigods, and in the case of the yajna patnis, (the wives of the brahmanas ) they left their husbands in the endeavor to reach the Absolute Personality. 

We need society only to help us. If our affinity to the society keeps us down, then that should be given up, and we must march on.

There is the absolute consideration and the relative consideration. When they come into clash, the relative must be given up, and the absolute should be accepted. 

If my inner voice, my spiritual conscience decides that this sort of company cannot really help me, then I will be under painful necessity to give them up, and to run towards my destination, wherever my spiritual conscience guides me.

Any other course will be hypocrisy, and it will check my real progress. 

If we are sincere in our attempt, then no one in the world can check us or deceive us; we can only deceive ourselves (na hi kalyana-krt kascid durgatim tata gacchati ) [Bg. 6.40]. 

We must be true to our own selves, and true to the Supreme Lord. We must be sincere.(28)

bha: 4/29/45

श्री कृष्णस्वरुपमेवा परमाश्रयापादाम्—

दशमे दशमं लाक्ष्यमाश्रिताश्रयाविग्रहम् ।

श्री कृष्णाख्यं पारं धाम जगद्धाम नमामि तात।।२९।।

भावार्थ दिपिका भा: १०/१/१्﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽﷽riniśṭhitām [28]

śrī kṛṣṇasvarupamevā paramāśrayāpādām—

daśame daśamaṁ lākṣyamāśritāśrayāvigraham |

śrī kṛṣṇākhyaṁ pāraṁ dhāma jagaddhāma namāmi tāta||29||

bhāvārtha dipikā bhā: 10/1/1

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful, is the emporium of all rasa  and the Supreme Shelter. 

The 10th Canto of the Bhāgavata establishes Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his divine abode as the home of the surrendered souls. I bow down to Kṛṣṇa and His supreme abode as the shelter of shelters, the centre of the universe. Krishna represents beauty and HIs harmonising capacity supersedes everything. There is nothing He cannot harmonise;  all enemies become friends in that harmony. The Lord is the centre of the highest harmony. He is Sweetness. He is our Master. And He is the divine love of us all.

 (29)

Bhavartha-Dipika, Bha:10/1/1