Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam Chapter Two: Die to Live

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

अहंकाराद्-अप्रपत्तिः--

अहंकारा-निवृत्तानां, केशवो नहि दूरगः

अहंकार-युतानां हि, मध्ये पर्व्वत-राशयः [५]

ब्र् वै

ahaṁkārād-aprapattiḥ--

ahaṁkārā-nivṛttānāṁ, keśavo nahi dūragaḥ

ahaṁkāra-yutānāṁ hi, madhye parvvata-rāśayaḥ [5]

Brahma Vaivarta Pūrana

EGO IS THE OPPOSITE OF SURRENDER 

AND THE PRINCIPAL OBSTACLE TO THE SIXFOLD PATH OF ŚARANGATI:

For those who are free from ego, Bhagavān Śrī Keśava is always with them; whereas there is a great mountain between the egoists who assert their independence and Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

 (5)

अद्वय-ज्ञानम् अनाश्रितानाम् एव जगद्-दर्शनम्—

यावत् पृथक्त्वम् इदम् आत्मन इन्द्रियार्थ

माया-बालं भगवतो जन ईश पश्येत्

तावन् न संसृतिर् असौ प्रतिसङ्क्रमेत

व्यर्थापि दुःख-निवहं वहती क्रियार्थ [६]

भागवत पूरन ३.९.९

advaya-jñānam anāśritānām eva jagad-darśanam—

yāvat pṛthaktvam idam ātmana indriyārtha

māyā-bālaṁ bhagavato jana īśa paśyet

tāvan na saṁsṛtir asau pratisaṅkrameta

vyarthāpi duḥkha-nivahaṁ vahatī kriyārtha [6]

Bhāgavata Pūrana 3.9.9

Those who avoid surrender to the One without a Second are lost without shelter. They shall wander forever in this world of birth and death.

"O Bhagavān,  as long as the jiva maintains this independence or false ego, and sees the world as a place for his exploitation and the body as a means for sense enjoyment, he cannot free himself of the entanglement of material miseries. As long as conditioned souls maintain their independence, separate interest, and false ego they will see the world as their playground, being influenced by Your external energy. Thus they remain trapped and wander forever in this world of birth and death. So, you will have to "die to live"- by dying to your false ego, your self-aggrandizing tendency, you can live, live in the world of service, divine service. "

The World of Birth and Death

Everyone is trying to live in this world avoiding death, physical death. They are trying to live without death, and that of course is not possible. Just as it is not possible in the ordinary sense to live without death, so you also, who are aspiring for divine life, don't try to live, without death! Die now! Die, to both your exploiting and renouncing tendencies, to really live in service divine.

Don't try to live in the plane of exploitation; that type of living, in our estimation, is to face death. 

But to die for Him, for Krsna, is really to live. The position of the Centre, and our relation with the Centre, is such. The Hegelian theory, that we should die to live, because Reality is by Itself and for Itself- it is very applicable in Vaisnavism.

 The World of Misconception

Reality is composed of unreal substance and real substance. We may see it like that. This is the world of misconception. Misconception means “I think something is mine, but really it is not mine.” Everything belongs to the Absolute. Everything belongs to him. But we say “it is mine,” and we quarrel with each other. Actually, everything within this world is the property of another. But as a result of misconception, we fight with each other and so many reactions result from that fight. The difficulty is that the soul is entangled in this mock fight.

Otherwise this world of fighting and misconception has no value. But the dust of spirit, a very infinitesimal part of the spiritual reality, is entangled in this world and concerned with this world of mock fighting. Without the spiritual energy within this world, nothing would remain. A magician’s sleight of hand is all based on misconception. It is false. Still we are perplexed by his tactics. That is also true. A magician or hypnotist can show what is not real to be real, and yet while we are under his spell we cannot deny its reality.

Separate Interest

Everything, including our own self, belongs to Krishna. But the difficulty arises when we see something other than Krishna. Separate interest. The consciousness of separate interest is the root of all evils. We are one with Krishna, but whenever the seed of separate interest sprouts, and we think we have some separate interest, that we are not included in the interest of Krishna, that is the root of such misconception.

False Ego

Our false ego should be dissolved, and the ego of self-searching should awake. And, God-searching is self-searching: to search for Krsna is really to search for our own interest, our own higher interest. If you search for Krsna, your own searching-interest is also included therein, it is represented there. So, only search for Krsna- and with the spirit of service, not with the spirit of enjoyment.  This is the idea here.

The ego, the false ego, must be dissolved. Ego means, the stored collection of separate interests of different types. Just as when an aeroplane has crashed, the authorities search in the wreckage, trying to find the black box; the record of the airplane's entire flight is there. 

The black box of Ego

Similarly, our material ego is like our black box; our plane is passing through different lives, but the box is there, with the recording. There we can trace in a person from where he is coming, and to where he will go.

Karma is recorded there; the result of karma in its most subtle form is reserved there, in that recording box; and examining that, it can be understood where from he has come. There are specialists who can read: "O, he came from the tiger species," or "He came from an insect," or "He came from the horse, his previous birth was as horse"; or from some other section, other species. 

And they can also see: "It is possible that in his next life he will have to go to such-and-such place, his destination will be there." This can all be traced, in the ego.

Die to Live: the soul's future destination

And that ego should be totally dissolved, so that our soul's future destination will be in the spiritual existence, and nowhere in the material world. There are so many planes of life in the world, in the universe of three dimensions- bhur-, bhuvah-, svah-, maha-, jana-, tapa-, satyaloka- but our goal, our destination, should not be in any of them. Neither should we go to viraja, the area beyond all the qualities of material nature, nor to brahmaloka, the non-differentiated world of spiritual light. Our aim will be only: "I want to have a ticket for Goloka, for Vrndavan. I want to go there to live; I have heard, and I feel, that there is my true home, the home of my previous generations."

Such kinds of feelings will come in us, when our inner self awakens, we will feel, "I only want to go there." And Mahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhu, they are distributing the ticket to that land.

अद्वय-ज्ञानम् अनाश्रितानाम् एव जगद्-दर्शनम्—

यावत् पृथक्त्वम् इदम् आत्मन इन्द्रियार्थ

माया-बालं भगवतो जन ईश पश्येत्

तावन् न संसृतिर् असौ प्रतिसङ्क्रमेत

व्यर्थापि दुःख-निवहं वहती क्रियार्थ [६]

भागवत पूरन ३.९.९

advaya-jñānam anāśritānām eva jagad-darśanam—

yāvat pṛthaktvam idam ātmana indriyārtha

māyā-bālaṁ bhagavato jana īśa paśyet

tāvan na saṁsṛtir asau pratisaṅkrameta

vyarthāpi duḥkha-nivahaṁ vahatī kriyārtha [6]

Bhāgavata Pūrana 3.9.9

Those who avoid surrender to the One without a Second are lost without shelter. They shall wander forever in this world of birth and death.

Prapanna-Jivanamritam continuation...

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

श्रुति-स्मृत्य्-आदि-शास्त्रेषु, प्रपत्तिर् यन् निरूप्यते
तद् उक्तं द्वितीयाध्याये, श्री-शास्त्र-वचनामृते [१]

śruti-smṛty-ādi-śāstreṣu, prapattir yan nirūpyate
tad uktaṁ dvitīyādhyāye, śrī-śāstra-vacanāmṛte [1]

In Śruti,  Smṛti and all the other śāstras the path of surrender is revealed; so in this second chapter, called Śrī Śāstra-Vacanāmṛtam, the nature of surrender is established and explained on the basis of those scriptures.(1)

प्रपत्तिः श्रुतौ—
यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति-पूर्व्वं यो ब्रह्म-विद्यं
तस्मै गाः पालयति स्म कृष्णः
तं हि देवम् आत्म-वृत्ति-प्रकाशं
मुमुक्षुर् वै शरणम् अमुं व्रजेत् [२]
तापन्यां (ब्र्. सं., टीका)

prapattiḥ śrutau—
yo brahmāṇaṁ vidadhāti-pūrvvaṁ yo brahma-vidyaṁ
tasmai gāḥ pālayati sma kṛṣṇaḥ
taṁ hi devam ātma-vṛtti-prakāśaṁ
mumukṣur vai śaraṇam amuṃ vrajet [2]
Tāpanyāṃ Br: Saṁ, Ṭīkā

Śaranāgati in the Śruti (Vedas):

He who created the creator, Brahmā and gave divine wisdom to the creator is the same Kṛṣṇa who is both the giver of the Vedas (gāḥ pālayati) and the Lord of cows, Govinda. Those who wish for something that makes liberation look poor by comparison should surrender to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful.  Such surrender (śaraṇam) reveals the true position of the soul (ātma-vṛtti-prakāśam), in other words, in surrender, the soul will find that his purest, finest ego, who he really is, also has a part to play in such a position. He will see his own soul in a particular place, a particular location there.  He will see, "In this exact spot, I am there; my self is there." In this way, the infinite wave will come.

Tapanyam (Br: Sam, Ṭika)

तादात्म्य-याथार्थ्यं स्मृतौ—
अहङ्कृतिर् म—कारः स्यान्, न-कारस् तन् निषेधकः
तस्मात् तु नमसा क्शेत्रि-, स्वातन्त्र्यं प्रतिषिध्यते [३]
भगवत्-परतन्त्रो ‘सौ, तद् आयत्तात्म-जीवनः
तस्मात् स्व-सामर्थ्य-विधिं, त्यजेत् सर्व्वम् अशेषतः [४]
पाद्म-उत्तर-खण्ड

tādātmya-yāthārthyaṁ smṛtau—
ahaṅkṛtir ma—kāraḥ syān, na-kāras tan niṣedhakaḥ
tasmāt tu namasā kśetri-, svātantryaṁ pratiṣidhyate [3]
bhagavat-paratantro ‘sau, tad āyattātma-jīvanaḥ
tasmāt sva-sāmarthya-vidhiṁ, tyajet sarvvam aśeṣataḥ [4]
(Pādma-Pūrana, Uttara-khaṇḍa)

Prapanna or  Śaraṇāgati according to  Smṛti (Puranas):

The Padma Purana gives the definition of namaḥ: "The syllable ma means Me and ma is a negation. Na-maḥ  means "No Me." Me is ahaṁkara, ego.  Namaḥ is the negation of ego, of independence. "Me" implies independence. We have fallen prey to our senses, so we are not independent. What we experience now is not fit to be called independence. It is a diseased thing, a diseased form of independence.

In Sanskrit and Bengali, the word for independence is svādhīnatā, which means submission to one’s own soul; it does not mean slavery to the senses. Lust draws us towards something, anger draws us towards another thing, and greed draws us towards another thing. In this way, the senses are our masters, and as they are quarrel with each other, our condition is hopeless. We are not independent. Our senses and so many different inclinations draw us in different directions, and we are their slave. We are helpless.

Independence proper must be understood. A part cannot claim the independence of the whole. So, independence has its jurisdiction. If I desire independence, then I can think that everyone desires independence. But if one independent person approaches another and attacks or consumes them, then the other’s independence is checked. When one person’s independence has encroached on the independence of another, then that type of independence is a diseased form of independence; it is not healthy independence. Healthy independence has limitations and means we must work together with others; it means we must have connection with a higher harmony.

When we seek independence, do we seek to encroach on the independence of others? Is freedom to destroy the independence of others independence proper? It can’t be. What we conceive of at present as independence—independence to harm others—is diseased independence. Does having more opportunity to exploit mean we have more independence? That is not independence proper.

I want independence, you want independence, he wants independence, everyone wants independence. Then, there must also be harmony. There must be cooperation amongst us for there to be healthy independence for us all. Independence and rowdiness are not one and the same. We should be educated to aspire for real independence.

So, what we think to be independence—to lord it over others, to acquire mastery—is not independence proper. Independence does not mean to increase one’s capacity, or have more power, to exploit others. There must be harmonious movement, and our aspiration must be towards harmony. So, we need to understand what is independence proper.

In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, independence ends in slavery. You are to conceive this. The māyāvādīs have much reverence for independence, and they seek to merge into the nondifferentiated area. Their idea is, “We don’t want anything, but we can’t give our independence to anyone. Rather, we shall sleep. We shall die. We can’t give our independence to anyone.” 

The Vaiṣṇava conception is that independence is slavery to the highest infinite. There, we will get the maximum. We will get the maximum when we come to realise the truth that I am a part of the whole, not a master of the whole. That is mania, madness, and that is not independence. 

We are to understand the concrete truth that we are a part of the whole. So, our independence must be part of the independence of the whole. Consequently, I must utilise my independence in accordance with the harmony of the whole. That is healthy independence. 

The reactionary school is māyāvāda: “We can’t give our independence to anyone. Rather, we shall commit suicide in Brahmaloka.” Seekers of independence are exploiters in this mundane world of action and reaction, and in withdrawal from that in Brahmaloka, one has no existence of one’s own, what to speak of independence. The concrete and realistic view of independence, that I am independent, you are independent, he is independent, and all others are independent, is that our independence should be that of a part within the independence of the whole, the independence of the absolute. So, we must cooperate with others and submit to the supreme independent being. That is a normal, healthy, wholesome thing. 

Otherwise, we what we seek is only for a madman: what is not, what cannot be the fact. We are after phantasmagoria: in the name of independence, we will be the master of the whole. This is impossible. We must come to a realistic way of thinking. So, many with independence must live together, and it is possible that all will enjoy independence if they are in a common harmony. Who is representing that common harmony? We should be a slave to Him. By submission to Him, the centre, we get the maximum independence.

तादात्म्य-याथार्थ्यं स्मृतौ—
अहङ्कृतिर् म—कारः स्यान्, न-कारस् तन् निषेधकः
तस्मात् तु नमसा क्शेत्रि-, स्वातन्त्र्यं प्रतिषिध्यते [३]
भगवत्-परतन्त्रो ‘सौ, तद् आयत्तात्म-जीवनः
तस्मात् स्व-सामर्थ्य-विधिं, त्यजेत् सर्व्वम् अशेषतः [४]
पाद्म-उत्तर-खण्ड

tādātmya-yāthārthyaṁ smṛtau—
ahaṅkṛtir ma—kāraḥ syān, na-kāras tan niṣedhakaḥ
tasmāt tu namasā kśetri-, svātantryaṁ pratiṣidhyate [3]
bhagavat-paratantro ‘sau, tad āyattātma-jīvanaḥ
tasmāt sva-sāmarthya-vidhiṁ, tyajet sarvvam aśeṣataḥ [4]
(Pādma-Pūrana, Uttara-khaṇḍa)

As a general rule, the prayers found in the Puranas begin with the formula "namaḥ." In this negation of ego, we find that the essence of all the good counsel of the Pūranas is surrender: śaranāṇgati.

Surrender begins with namaḥ: giving up the ego of independence.  As we are subservient slaves of the infinite, we must surrender. 

In other words the prayer to the highest degree that we find in Śruti and Smṛti is: "I want Your connection. You may utilize me. You may think me to be Yours and keeping me in Your connection utilize me according to Your sweet will. I have no particular claim nor aspiration that I must attain this or that, but only I want to be Your faithful servant and so You please utilize me in any way You like. Only that inseparable connection with You I want. I am Your slave: I want to be Your slave. Your connection I want: Your sincere connection, and You know best what connection that is. I do not know what is what, but You know what is best. Only consider me as Your own and utilize me." 

That should be the nature of our prayer. This is the internal meaning of all prayer beginning with the word namaḥ  as represented here by Padma Purāna. (3-4)




Prapanna-Jīvanāmṛtam: End of Chapter 1

श्री प्रपन्न-जीबनामृतम्

Śrī Prapanna-Jīvanāmṛtam

by
His Divine Grace

Jagat-Guru

Bhakti Rakṣaka Śrīdhara deva Goswāmī

In a new translation
compiled and edited with Sanskrit, Bengali
and Roman transliteration
by 
Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahāyogi

प्रथमो ऽध्यायः

Prathamo’dhyāyaḥ

First Chapter

श्रबण-कीर्त्तनादीनां, भक्त्याङ्गानां हि याजने

अक्षमस्यापि सर्ब्बाप्तिः, प्रपत्त्यैब हराब् इति [४०]

śravaṇa-kīrttanādīnāṁ, bhaktyāṅgānāṁ hi yājane

akṣamasyāpi sarvvāptiḥ, prapattyaiva harāv iti [40]

Even one who improperly practices the different forms of  bhakti:  śravanam, kīrtanam, and so on, achieves perfection on this path through surrender to Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Reality the Beautiful.

सख्य-रसाश्रित-प्राया, सेति केचित् बदन्ति तु

माधुर्य्यादौ प्रपन्नानां, प्रबेशो नास्ति चेति न [४१]

sakhya-rasāśrita-prāyā, seti kecit vadanti tu

mādhuryyādau prapannānāṁ, praveśo nāsti ceti na [41]

Some give priority to sakhya-rasa. They hold that this is the highest. But it is inaccurate to deny that one may gain entrance into madhurya-rāsa through surrender.   (41)

सकृत् प्रबृत्ति-मात्रेण, प्रपत्तिः सिध्यतीति यत्

लोभोत्पादन-हेतोस् तद्, आलोचन-प्रयोजनम् [४२]

sakṛt pravṛtti-mātreṇa, prapattiḥ sidhyatīti yat

lobhotpādana-hetos tad, ālocana-prayojanam [42]

Once one turns to Kṛṣṇa and takes shelter of Him, the longing for surrender is born within us. There is no turning back. Once we begin on the path of surrender we shall be drawn towards Kṛṣṇa. We might ask ourselves, "Where does this longing come from? Where and how does the search for Śrī Kṛṣṇa begin?"

(42)

अपि तद् आनुकूल्य्यादि-, सङ्कल्पाद्य्-अङ्ग-लक्षनात्

तद् अनुशीलनीयत्बम्, उच्यते हि महाजनैः

api tad ānukūlyyādi-, saṅkalpādy-aṅga-lakṣanāt

tad anuśīlanīyatvam, ucyate hi mahājanaiḥ [43]

Also, since surrender is based on accepting what is favourable to Kṛṣṇa and rejecting what is unfavourable, we should listen to the sayings of the great souls. Their teachings will guide us and help us to understand what is favourable and unfavourable on the path. (43)

भबाऋत्ति-पीड्यमानो बा, भक्ति-मात्राभिलश्य् अपि

बैमुख्य-बाध्यमानो ‘न्य-, गतिस् तच् छरणं ब्रजेत्

bhavāṛtti-pīḍyamāno vā, bhakti-mātrābhilaśy api

vaimukhya-bādhyamāno ‘nya-, gatis tac charaṇaṁ vrajet [44]

Who surrenders to Kṛṣṇa? The fearful, the downtrodden, those who are suffering in the material world and looking for escape turn to God. Those who have no other shelter also seek refuge in God Himself, Kṛṣṇa.  (44)

आश्रयान्तर-राहित्ये, बानश्रय-बिसर्ज्जने

अनन्य-गति-भेदस्-तु, द्बि-बिधः परिकीर्त्तितः

āśrayāntara-rāhitye, vānaśraya-visarjjane

ananya-gati-bhedas-tu, dvi-vidhaḥ parikīrttitaḥ [45]

Some who seek refuge have no other shelter. 

Others abandon their shelter and seek refuge in God. (45)

अपूर्ब्ब-फलत्बं--

The Fruits of Śaraṇāgati

मनो-वाक्-काय-भेदाच् च, त्रि-विधा शरणागतिः

तासां सर्व्वाङ्ग-सम्पन्ना, शीघ्रं पूर्ण-फल-प्रदा

न्यूनाधिक्येन चिअतासां, तारतम्यं फले ‘पि च [४६]

mano-vāk-kāya-bhedāc ca, tri-vidhā śaraṇāgatiḥ

tāsāṁ sarvvāṅga-sampannā, śīghraṁ pūrṇa-phala-pradā

nyūnādhikyena ciatāsāṃ, tāratamyaṁ phale ‘pi ca [46]

How does one surrender? Mind, word, and work are the ways of surrender. One may surrender to Kṛṣṇa with his words, with thought, or with action. This is the  threefold path of śaraṇāgati.  Complete dedication of mind, words, and deeds will yield the complete fruit of surrender. But there is gradation everywhere. The fruit of surrender will be ripened according to the gradation of surrender.(46)

बिनाश्य सर्ब्ब-दुःखानि, निज-माधुर्य्य-बर्षणम्

करोति भगबान् भक्ते, शरणागत-पालकः [४७]

apūrvva-phalatvaṁ--

vināśya sarvva-duḥkhāni, nija-mādhuryya-varṣaṇam

karoti bhagavān bhakte, śaraṇāgata-pālakaḥ [47]

The ripened fruit of śaraṇāgati: Kṛṣṇa, God as Reality the Beautiful, relieves the distress of his bhaktas out of love, filling the hearts of those surrendered souls with his own sweet divinity. (47)

अप्य् असिद्धं तदीयत्बं, बिना च शरणागतिम्

इत्य् अपूर्ब्ब-फलत्बं हि, तस्याः शंसन्ति पण्डिताः [४८

apy asiddhaṁ tadīyatvaṁ, vinā ca śaraṇāgatim

ity apūrvva-phalatvaṁ hi, tasyāḥ śaṁsanti paṇḍitāḥ [48]

Where there is śaraṇāgati one thinks, "I am His and He is mine." There is no independence. Where there is no śaraṇāgati,  this sense is absent.  I belong to Krsna, wholesale. I am His property, He can use me in any way. I am not free to leave Him; my fate is all within His service, within His area of service, and not outside. And  Krsna Himself gives us this assurance: "You are My own. Your interest is My interest; My interest is your interest."  The learned paṇḍitas welcome this understanding; it is considered the full fruit of surrender in the scriptures.  (48)

अथबा बहुभिर् एतैर्, उक्तिभिः किं प्रयोजनम्

सर्ब्ब-सिद्धैर् भबेद् एब, गोबिन्द-चरणाश्रयत् [४९]

athavā bahubhir etair, uktibhiḥ kiṁ prayojanam

sarvva-siddhair bhaved eva, govinda-caraṇāśrayat [49]

The statements in the scriptures praising surrender are plentiful. Why do they praise surrender so highly? It is because surrender leads to something far beyond liberation and all the other promises of the scriptures;  surrender leads to the to the highest perfection:  the lotus feet of Śrī Govinda.(49)

श्री-सनातन-जीवादि-, महाजन-समाहृतम्

अपि चेन् नीच-संस्पृष्तं, पीयूषं पीयतां बुधाः [५०]

śrī-sanātana-jīvādi-, mahājana-samāhṛtam

api cen nīca-saṁspṛṣtaṁ, pīyūṣaṁ pīyatāṁ budhāḥ [50]

Oh learned ones! This, then is the conclusion of all the great ācāryas, headed by Śrī Sanātana Goswāmī, Śrī Jīva Goswāmi and the other Goswāmīs as well as their followers. Erudite devotees: Drink!  Drink deeply of this tonic: it will cure what ails you. Oh you sons of nectar: Even though it has been touched by this lowly soul: Drink this nectar. (50)

इति श्री-प्रपन्न-जीवनामृते

उपक्रमामृतम् नाम प्रथमो ‘ध्ययः |

iti śrī-prapanna-jīvanāmṛte

upakramāmṛtam nāma prathamo ‘dhyayaḥ

Here ends the first chapter of 

Prapanna-jīvanāmṛtam, 

called "Preamble to Nectar"