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Monday, June 27, 2016

The Tonic of Sweet Surrender for Dedicated Souls

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam

The Tonic of Sweet Surrender for Dedicated Souls


तृतियोऽध्यायः

CHAPTER III

श्री भक्त वचनामृतम्
Śrī Bhakta-vacanāmṛtam
Soul-tonic-words from the bhaktas
continued...
Acceptance of what is favorable.

3.11

gurupadāśraya eva mukhyaḥ
गुरुपदाश्रय एव मुख्यः
Service to the holy feet of the sad-guru is the best form of sādhu-saṅga

तस्माद् गुरुं प्रपद्येत जिज्ञासुः ष्रेयः उत्तमम्
शाब्दे परे च निष्णतम् ब्रह्मन्य् उपशमाश्रयम्
श्रि प्रभुद्धस्य
tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ ṣreyaḥ uttamam
śābde pare ca niṣṇatam brahmany upaśamāśrayam
Śri-Prabhuddhasya (SB 11.3.21)

Therefore one should seek out a bona fide spiritual master, one who knows both the scripture and God Himself and who is not charmed by this material world. He should surrender to him and make sincere inquiry about the ultimate goal of life.


Śrīdhara Mahārāja explains this verse in his book, Śrī Guru and His Grace:

Māyā means misconception. We are living in the midst of misconception. Our understanding of the environment is based on a completely misconceived set of ideas and thoughts. We have no proper conception of anything in the absolute sense. Our ideas are all relative. Provincial selfishness has been imposed on the environment, and we are living under that misconception. When one comes to the conclusion that everything around him is mortal and that everything will vanish, then, with that mood, he will feel the necessity of approaching the Guru, the divine guide and preceptor, with the purpose of enquiry. “What is the highest good for me?” With this enquiry, he will approach the Spiritual Master. 


“And who will he approach? One who is not only well-versed in the precepts of the revealed scriptures, but who has also come in contact with the revealed truth. One who is conversant with the very object of the scriptures, and who has practical experience, who is established in pure consciousness, is a genuine Guru. 

One should approach such a guide for his own relief, to understand what is the highest benefit in the world and how to attain it. This is necessary. It is real. It is not imaginary. At the same time, it is difficult. The Absolute Truth must be sought out through a real process; otherwise we shall go the wrong way and then say, “Oh, there is nothing here; it is not real.” So, only if we follow this real process of understanding the truth will we experience the real nature of divinity.”

Śrīdhara Mahārāja gives further light on this verse in his book, "The Loving Search for the Lost Servant"

"One seriously inquisitive to search for his highest prospect should
take complete shelter of a guru who has deep realizations of the
Supreme Lord and the inner meaning of the scriptures. Such spiritual masters have left aside all relative considerations in favor of the supreme absolute consideration.
We should be very attentive to these things. We should try to
understand through self-searching whether we are really approaching divinity through faith. We must also see to it that our faith is real.


Proper faith and credulity are not the same. Whether one is a bona fide searcher with real faith or one whose faith is adulterated must be considered. And there are symptoms of real faith. We have to consult higher authorities to guide us, because faith is a most important thing.

If we are searching for truth, we are dissatisfied with our present
acquisition. We are taking a risk to jump into a higher prospect. We
must therefore take guidance carefully. We must be attentive as far as possible. We are told that our present reason is not sufficient to help us; that more than reason, śraddha is needed, and śraddha also has its symptoms. Still, as far as possible we shall apply our reason.
When I first came to the mission, I thought, "The transcendental truths that I hear from these devotees do not come within the clutches of worldly intelligence, but still, when I want to throw myself into that association, I shall use my reason and intellect as far as possible, understanding that I am going to jump into something which will be beyond my control, beyond my calculation." So we must carefully understand what śraddha is, with guidance from saints, scriptures, and gurus.





Saturday, June 25, 2016

Tónico para el Alma Dedicado

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam





तृतियोऽध्यायः
CHAPTER III
श्री भक्त वचनामृतम्
Śrī Bhakta-vacanāmṛtam
Tónico para el Alma Dedicado:
Palabras de los bhaktas
continuación...


3.10
साधु-सङ्गत् सर्व्वम् एव सुलभम्
sādhu-saṅgat sarvvam eva sulabham
Con sādhu-sanga todo se facilita.


तुलयाम लवेनापि स्वर्गं नापुनर्-भवम्
भगवत्-सङ्गि-सङ्गस्य मर्त्त्यानाम् किम् उताशिषः
tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya marttyānām kim utāśiṣaḥ

श्री शौनकादिनं
śrī śaunakādinaṁ
Los sabios de Naimiṣaranya encabezados por Śaunaka dicen:
(El siguiente extracto es una traducción de Śrīla Prabhupāda y su significado, el cual no puedo mejorar. )
TEXTO 13
tulayāma lavenāpi
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
SINÓNIMOS

tulayāma — para equilibrarse con; lavena — por un momento; api — incluso; na — jamás; svargam — planetas celestiales; na — ni; apunaḥ-bhavam — liberación de la materia; bhagavat-saṅgi — devoto del Señor; saṅgasya — de la compañía; martyānām — aquellos que están destinados a morir; kim — qué hay; uta — que hablar así; āśiṣaḥ — bendición humana.
Traducción:
El valor de tener por un momento la compañía del devoto del Señor, ni siquiera se puede comparar con el hecho de alcanzar los planetas celestiales ni con liberarse de la materia, y ni qué decir de compararlo con bendiciones mundanas en la forma de prosperidad material, la cual es para aquellos que están destinados a morir.
Significado:
Cuando hay dos puntos similares, es posible comparar una cosa con la otro. Uno no puede comparar la asociación de un devoto puro a nada material. Los hombres que son adictos a la felicidad material aspiran alcanzar los planetas celestiales como la luna, Venus e Indraloka, y quienes están avanzados en la especulación filosófica material aspiran por la liberación de todas esclavitud material. Cuando uno queda frustrado con todas las clases de avance material, uno desea la clase de liberación opuesta, la cual es llamada apunar-bhava, o no renacimiento. Pero el devoto puro del Señor no aspira tras la felicidad que se obtiene en los planetas celestiales, ni aspira por la liberación del cautiverio material. En otras palabras, para los devotos puros del Señor el placer material que se obtiene en los planetas celestiales es como fantasmagoría, y porqué ellos ya están liberados de todas las concepciones materiales de placer y sufrimiento, están de hecho liberados incluso en el mundo material. Esto significa que los devotos putos del Señor se ocupan en una existencia trascendental, es decir, en el servicio amoroso del Señor, tanto en el mundo material como en el espiritual. Tal como un funcionario del gobierno es siempre el mismo, ya sea en la oficina o en el hogar o en cualquier otro lado, así el devoto no tiene nada que ver con nada material, pues está ocupado exclusivamente en el servicio trascendental del Señor. Puesto que no tiene nada que ver con nada material ¿Qué placer puede derivar de las bendiciones materiales como reinos y otro tipo enseñoreo. Los cuales se acaban rápidamente cuando llega el final del cuerpo? El servicio devocional es eterno; no tiene fin, porque es espiritual. Por lo tanto, puesto que los bienes de un devoto puro son completamente distintos de los bienes materiales, no hay comparación entre estos. Sūta Gosvāmī era un devoto puro del Señor, y por ellos su asociación con los ṛṣis en Naimiṣāraṇya es única. En el mundo material, la asociación con materialistas es ampliamente condenada. El materialista se llama yoṣit-saṅgī, o quien está muy apegado al enredo material (mujeres y otra parafernalia). Tal apego es condicionado porque ahuyenta las bendiciones de la vida y la prosperidad. Y justamente lo opuesto es bhāgavata-saṅgī, quien siempre está en asociación con el nombre del Señor, su forma, sus cualidades, etc. Esa asociación siempre es deseable; es adorable, digna de elogio, y uno puede aceptarlo como la meta máxima de la vida.
Un verso similar es pronunciado por el Señor Śiva con una leve variación en la primera línea en donde tulayāma levenāpi se convierte en kṣabārdhenāpitulaye. De nuevo, la traducción e interpretación de Prabhupāda merecen estudiarse.
A very similar verse is spoken by Lord Śiva with a slight variation in the first line where tulayāma lavenāpi  becomes: kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye. Again, Prabhupāda's translation and purport are worth studying.

TEXTO 57
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
SINONIMOS
kṣaṇa-ardhena — la mitad de un instante; api — incluso; tulaye — comparar; na — nunca; svargam — planetas celestiales; na — ni; apunaḥ-bhavam — fundirse en el supremo; bhagavat — la Suprema Personalidad de Dios; saṅgi — relacionarse; saṅgasya — el que se beneficia de la relación; martyānām — del alma condicionada; kim uta — qué hay; āśiṣaḥ — bendiciones.
Traducción:
El que tiene la fortuna de relacionarse con un devoto, aunque sólo sea por una fracción de un instante, se libera de la atracción por los resultados del karma y del jñāna. ¿Qué interés puede tener entonces en las bendiciones de los semidioses, que están expuestos a las leyes del nacimiento y la muerte?
Significado:

De las tres clases de hombres -karmīs, jñānīs y bhaktas- el bhakta es descrito aquí como el más exaltado. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī ha cantado: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate(Caitanya-candrāmṛta).  La palabra kaivalya significa emerger hacia el brilo de la Suprema Personalidad de Dios, y la palabra tridaśa-pūr se refiere a los planetas celestiales en donde viven los semidioses. Entonces, para un devoto, kaivalya-sukha, o emerger en la existencia del Señor, es infernal porqué el bhakta considera suicida perder su individualidad y emerger hacia el brillo del Brahman. Un bhakta siempre quiere conservar su individualidad con el fin de rendir servicio al Señor. De hecho, considera que la promoción hacia los sistemas planetarios superiores no es mejor que un fuego fatuo. Temporalmente la felicidad material no tiene valor para el devoto. El devoto está en una posición tan exaltada que no se interesa en las acciones del karma o jñāna. Las acciones que resultan del karma y jñāna son tan insignificantes para un devoto situado en una plataforma trascendental que no tiene el mínimo interés en ellas. Bhakti-yoga es suficiente para darle al bhakta toda la felicidad. Como se declara en el Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6): yayātmā suprasīdati. Uno puede ser entereamente satisfecho simplemente a través del servicio devocional, y ese es el resultado de la asociación con un devoto. Sin ser bendecido por un devoto puro, uno no puede satisfacerse completamente, ni puede alguien entender la posición trascendental de la Suprema Personalidad de Dios.
El Segundo verso se halla en el Bṛhād-Bhāgavatamṛta de Sanātana Goswāmī, traducido por Gopiparanadhana Prabhu: 
Acerca de esta sección del Bṛhād-Bhāgavatamṛta de Sanātana Goswāmī hay un comentario largo acerca del valor de la asociación Vaiṣṇava.
Śrīdhara Mahārāja ha comentado:
“Entonces, cualquier despertar de consciencia que tengamos, debemos utilizarlo para colocarnos al cuidado de personas de Dios; sólo ahí hay valor a la devoción por Dios. Aquellos que conocen el valor de la devoción hacia Dios, no nuestras relaciones cercanas. Ellos apreciarán este despertar interno, y ellos se harán cargo de mi ser devocional. Este es el beneficio último de sādhu sanga: cuando la medicino o nuestro propios intentos no pueden sanarnos, el doctor nos aconseja hacer un cambio. Entonces el aire y el agua naturalmente podrán llegar a ayudar a mejorar nuestra salud. Entonces, también, la atmósfera de las personas santas nos ayuda en la salud espiritual”.
http://www.bvml.org/SBRSM/tmoss.html

Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Mahārāja escribe en “La Verdad Revelada:
Podemos ver que las propias escrituras siempre nos aconsejan acerca de la posición y necesidad de un maestro apropiado, el sādhu. En el Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī nos aconseja:

যাহ, ভাগৱত পড ৱৈষ্ণৱের স্থানে
yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 5.131)
“Ve hacia el Vaiṣṇava, el devoto, y escucha de él significado del Śrīmad Bhāgavatam; solamente lee el Śrīmad Bhāgavatam en asociación de los Vaiṣṇavas.”
Sin el Vaiṣṇava no podemos entender el significado del Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, y sin duda podremos proceder hacia la dirección equivocada. Es necesario escuchar la explicación del Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, o de cualquier escritura, de alguien experto. Únicamente cuando escuchamos de alguien experto, podemos entender el significado verdadero del Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Nuestro conocimiento es muy limitado. Nadie puede decir, “Estoy lleno de todo el conocimiento”. Incluso Śrīla Guru Mahārāja nos dijo, “Soy un estudiante. ¿Ustedes se consideran a sí mismos maestros? Yo me considero un estudiante, y a todos ustedes como estudiantes. Nadie es maestro”.
Esa era la concepción de Śrīla Guru Mahārāja la de que todos nosotros somos estudiantes. Por lo tanto debemos intentar entender cuáles son nuestras lecciones de un maestro apropiado. A través de quien entiende la esencia de la lección aprenderemos, podremos fácilmente entender cuales son nuestras lecciones. Es muy difícil entender de otra manera”.


Saints

Prapanna-Jivanāmṛtam

Soul-tonic for the Dedicated souls



तृतियोऽध्यायः

CHAPTER III

श्री भक्त वचनामृतम्
Śrī Bhakta-vacanāmṛtam
Soul-tonic:
 Words from the bhaktas
continued...

3.10
साधु-सङ्गत् सर्व्वम् एव सुलभम्
sādhu-saṅgat sarvvam eva sulabham

With sādhu-sanga everything becomes easy.



तुलयाम लवेनापि न स्वर्गं नापुनर्-भवम्
भगवत्-सङ्गि-सङ्गस्य मर्त्त्यानाम् किम् उताशिषः
tulayāma lavenāpi na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya marttyānām kim utāśiṣaḥ

श्री शौनकादिनं
śrī śaunakādinaṁ

The sages of Naimiṣaranya headed by Śaunaka said:
[The following excerpt is from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport which I cannot improve upon.]




TEXT 13
tulayāma lavenāpi
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
SYNONYMS
tulayāma—to be balanced with; lavena—by a moment; api—even; na—never; svargam—heavenly planets; na—nor; apunaḥ-bhavam—liberation from matter; bhagavat-saṅgi—devotee of the Lord; saṅgasya—of the association; martyānām—those who are meant for death; kim—what is there; uta—to speak of; āśiṣaḥ—worldly benediction.
TRANSLATION
The value of a moment's association with the devotee of the Lord cannot even be compared to the attainment of heavenly planets or liberation from matter, and what to speak of worldly benedictions in the form of material prosperity, which are for those who are meant for death.
PURPORT
When there are some similar points, it is possible to compare one thing to another. One cannot compare the association of a pure devotee to anything material. Men who are addicted to material happiness aspire to reach the heavenly planets like the moon, Venus and Indraloka, and those who are advanced in material philosophical speculations aspire after liberation from all material bondage. When one becomes frustrated with all kinds of material advancement, one desires the opposite type of liberation, which is called apunar-bhava, or no rebirth. But the pure devotees of the Lord do not aspire after the happiness obtained in the heavenly kingdom, nor do they aspire after liberation from material bondage. In other words, for the pure devotees of the Lord the material pleasures obtainable in the heavenly planets are like phantasmagoria, and because they are already liberated from all material conceptions of pleasure and distress, they are factually liberated even in the material world. This means that the pure devotees of the Lord are engaged in a transcendental existence, namely in the loving service of the Lord, both in the material world and in the spiritual world. As a government servant is always the same, either in the office or at home or at any place, so a devotee has nothing to do with anything material, for he is exclusively engaged in the transcendental service of the Lord. Since he has nothing to do with anything material, what pleasure can he derive from material benedictions like kingship or other overlordships, which are finished quickly with the end of the body? Devotional service is eternal; it has no end, because it is spiritual. Therefore, since the assets of a pure devotee are completely different from material assets, there is no comparison between the two. Sūta Gosvāmī was a pure devotee of the Lord, and therefore his association with the ṛṣis in Naimiṣāraṇya is unique. In the material world, association with gross materialists is veritably condemned. The materialist is called yoṣit-saṅgī, or one who is much attached to material entanglement (women and other paraphernalia). Such attachment is conditioned because it drives away the benedictions of life and prosperity. And just the opposite is bhāgavata-saṅgī, or one who is always in the association with the Lord's name, form, qualities, etc. Such association is always desirable; it is worshipable, it is praiseworthy, and one may accept it as the highest goal of life.

A very similar verse is spoken by Lord Śiva with a slight variation in the first line where tulayāma lavenāpi  becomeskṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye. Again, Prabhupāda's translation and purport are worth studying.

TEXT 57
kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye
na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya
martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
SYNONYMS
kṣaṇa-ardhena—by half a moment; api—even; tulaye—compare; na—never; svargam—heavenly planets; na—neither; apunaḥ-bhavam—merging into the Supreme; bhagavat—the Supreme Personality of Godhead; saṅgi—associate; saṅgasya—one who takes advantage of associating; martyānām—of the conditioned soul; kim uta—what is there; āśiṣaḥ—blessings.
TRANSLATION
If one by chance associates with a devotee, even for a fraction of a moment, he no longer is subject to attraction by the results of karma or jñāna. What interest then can he have in the benedictions of the demigods, who are subject to the laws of birth and death?
PURPORT
Out of three kinds of men—the karmīs, jñānīs and bhaktas—the bhakta is described herein as the most exalted. Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has sung: kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate(Caitanya-candrāmṛta). The word kaivalya means to merge into the effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the word tridaśa-pūr refers to the heavenly planets where the demigods live. Thus for a devotee, kaivalya-sukha, or merging into the existence of the Lord, is hellish because the bhakta considers it suicidal to lose his individuality and merge into the effulgence of Brahman. A bhakta always wants to retain his individuality in order to render service to the Lord. Indeed, he considers promotion to the upper planetary systems to be no better than a will-o’-the-wisp. Temporary, material happiness holds no value for a devotee. The devotee is in such an exalted position that he is not interested in the actions of karma or jñāna. The resultant actions of karma and jñāna are so insignificant to a devotee situated on the transcendental platform that he is not in the least interested in them. Bhakti-yoga is sufficient to give the bhakta all happiness. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.2.6): yayātmā suprasīdati. One can be fully satisfied simply by devotional service, and that is the result of association with a devotee. Without being blessed by a pure devotee, no one can be fully satisfied, nor can anyone understand the transcendental position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.


Within this section of the Bṛhād-Bhāgavatamṛta of Sanātana Goswāmī is a long commentary on the value of Vaiṣṇava association. 

Śrīdhara Mahārāja has commented:

"So, whatever awakening we have in consciousness, we shall utilize that by placing ourselves in the care of Godly persons; only then there is value of devotion to God. Those who know the value of devotion to God, they are our near relations. They will appreciate this inner awakening, and they will take care of my devotional self. This is the penultimate benefit of sadhu-sanga: when medicine or our own attempts cannot heal us, the doctor advises us to make a change. Then the air and the water will naturally come to help improve our health. So, also, the atmosphere of saintly persons improves our spiritual health."

Śrīla Bhakti Sundara Govinda Mahārāja in "Revealed Truth," writes:


"We can see that the scriptures themselves always advise us about the position and necessity of the proper teacher, the sādhu. In Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta, Śrīla Kṛṣṇadās Kavirāj Goswāmī advises us:

যাহ, ভাগৱত পড ৱৈষ্ণৱের স্থানে
yāha, bhāgavata paḍa vaiṣṇavera sthāne

(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 5.131)
“Go to the Vaiṣṇava, the devotee, and hear from him the mean-

ing of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam; only read Śrīmad Bhāgavatam in the association of the Vaiṣṇavas.”
Without the Vaiṣṇava we cannot understand the meaning of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and we will undoubtedly proceed in the wrong direction. It is necessary to hear the explanation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, or any scripture, from some expert. Only when we hear from an expert can we understand the real meaning of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Our knowledge is very lim- ited. Nobody can say, “I am full with all knowledge.” Even Śrīla Guru Mahārāj told us, “I am a student. You consider yourselves masters? I consider myself to be a student, and all of you to be students. Nobody is a master.”
It was Śrīla Guru Mahārāj’s conception that we are all stu- dents. Therefore we must try to understand what our lessons are from a proper teacher. Through one who understands the essence of the lessons we are to learn, we can easily understand what our lessons are. It is very difficult to understand otherwise."