72 verses
The Supreme Lord said: O greatly fortunate Uddhava! You have accurately revealed my desire to withdraw the Yadu dynasty from the earth and return to my own abode in Vaikuṇṭha. Thus Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and all other planetary rulers are now praying for me to resume my residence in Vaikuṇṭha.
Answering the prayer of Brahmā, I descended within this world along with my portion, Baladeva, and performed various activities on behalf of the devatās. I have now completed my mission here.
Aṁśena means with Balarāma.
Now, due to the brāhmaṇas curse, the Yadu dynasty will certainly perish by fighting among themselves; and on the seventh day from today the ocean will rise up and inundate this city of Dvārakā.
O saintly Uddhava! In the near future I will abandon this earth. Then, being overwhelmed by the age of Kali, the earth will be bereft of all auspiciousness.
You should not remain here on the earth once I have abandoned this world. O sinless devotee! In Kali-yuga the people will be addicted to all types of sinful activities.
Now you should completely give up all attachment to your personal friends and relatives and fix your mind on me. Being always conscious of me, observing all things with equal vision, wander throughout the earth.
The Lord thought within himself. I have fulfilled the desires of my devotees on earth who desired to see me, by going to places like Indraprastha and Mithila and thus killing Bāṇa and other demons, marrying Rukmiṇī, and meeting friends. I have shown myself to those on lower planets such as Bali and Yamarāja when I went there to retrieve the six sons of my guru. I have shown myself to Aditi and Kaśyapa in Svarga when I stole the pārijāta tree and to Mahāviṣṇu and others in Vaikuṇṭha when I went there to retrieve the sons of the brāhmaṇa. But I have not fulfilled the longing of the great sages of Badrarikāśrama such as Nara-nārāyaṇa. And now the limit of my hundred and twenty-five years of manifested pastimes has expired. I should send Uddhava to Badarikāśrama since he is equal to me and is another form of myself. I will give hem bhakti-yoga, like valuable jewel, as a gift, along with jñāna and vairāgya which are expressed by the term bhaga, in my name Bhagavān. Then their desires will be satisfied. Though Uddhava already has jñāna and vairāgya arising from his full prema for me, and has no desire at the moment for separate teachings of jñāna and vairāgya taught by me, I will produce a desire in him since this is my desire. Though he should die in sudden separation from me, I will preserve his life by my strong icchā-śakti and send him to that far off place. I will then establish him by my side, invisible to the material eye. Considering in this way, the Lord then imparted the desire for bhakti-yoga along with jñāna and vairāgya in the heart of Uddhava.
There are two types of affection for relatives and friends. One is affection for them based on ones body, and the other is affection for them based on their relationship with me. It is possible to give up the first, and I will arrange that. But the second cannot be given up. It is impossible for you to do so, and you will not be criticized. Uddhava understood the Lords intention.
The material universe that you perceive through your mind, speech, eyes, ears and other senses is a temporary creation that is equivalent to what is made of māyā when you perceive in the waking state and to what is made of the mind when you perceive in the dream state.
What is this seeing equally? That is explained in this verse. What you perceive by the mind and senses in the waking state is equivalent to what is made of māyā, and what you perceive in the dream state is equivalent to what is produced by the mind.
An ignorant person perceives many illusory meanings with conceptions of good and bad. Thinking in terms of good and bad, the ignorant person sees differences in terms of prescribed actions, neglected actions and forbidden actions.
This verse explains the previous verse. There are various meanings endowed with good or bad qualities. An ignorant person (ayuktasya) perceives erroneously. For persons who have fallen into the current of the guṇas what is a good quality and what is a bad quality. What is a good object or bad object? Citraketu has said:
guṇa-pravāha etasmin kaḥ śāpaḥ ko nv anugrahaḥ
kaḥ svargo narakaḥ ko vā kiṁ sukhaṁ duḥkham eva vā
In the river of the guṇas, what is a curse and what is a blessing, what is Svarga and hell, and what is happiness and sorrow? SB 6.17.20
Are not good and bad expressed in the Vedas by injunctions and prohibitions? Yes. But even the Vedas speak of sense objects filled with ignorance. Karma is prescribed actions. Akarma is neglect of those actions. Vikarma is prohibited action. These differences belong to a person who thinks in terms of good and bad, a person in ignorance.
Therefore, bringing all your senses under control and thus subduing the mind, you should see the entire world as the object of enjoyment for the jīvas, expanded everywhere, and you should also see the jīvas as controlled by me, Paramātmā.
Controlling the senses and the mind, please see the world made of happiness and suffering as the object of enjoyment for the jīva (ātmani). And see that enjoyer, the jīva, situated in me as the controller, Paramātmā (adhīśvare).
Being fully endowed with conclusion of the Vedas and its realization, satisfied by realization of ātmā, being the object of affection by all beings, you will not be checked by any obstacles.
If one controls the mind and neglects to perform karmas, the devatās will create obstacles. Being fixed in understanding the real meaning of the Vedas (jñāna) and in realization of that meaning (vijñāna), consequently being satisfied in mind realization of ātmā, and thus being the object of affection (ātmā-bhūtaḥ) by all beings, you will not be checked by obstacles. Śruti says tasya ha na devāś ca nābhūtyā īśate ātmā hy evaiṣāṁ sa bhavati: the devatās do not create obstacles for the person who has realized ātmā. (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad1.4.10)
One who has transcended material good and evil automatically acts in accordance with religious injunctions and avoids forbidden activities. The self-realized person does this spontaneously, like an innocent child, and not because he is thinking in terms of material good and evil.
One who has attained jñāna acts as he pleases. The jñānī who has surpassed thinking in terms of good and bad, refrains from forbidden acts because of previous impressions of that nature, but without condemning such forbidden acts as bad. He generally engages in prescribed actions, but not thinking of them as good, just as an innocent child, devoid of conceptions of decisions and lack of decision, performs actions, and refrains from certain acts.
One who is the kind well-wisher of all living beings, who is peaceful and firmly fixed in knowledge and realization, sees me within all things. Such a person never again falls down into the cycle of birth and death.
Śukadeva Gosvāmi said: O King! The Supreme Lord thus instructed his pure devotee Uddhava, who was eager to receive knowledge from the Lord. Uddhava then offered obeisances to the Lord and spoke as follows.
Uddhava said: O master of all types of yoga! O teacher of jñāna-yoga! O embodiment of all yogas! O Lord, you make your appearance through bhakti-yoga! You have explained renunciation performed by sannyāsīs for the highest benefit.
O master of yoga! O lord of the karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga and bhakti-yoga! O presenter of jñāna-yoga to me, who am not qualified for it! O personification of yoga! If I attain you, I have attained all yogas. However, since you appear through bhakti-yoga and appear within your devotees, you should particularly teach me bhakti-yoga.
O Lord! O Soul of all beings! For those whose minds are attached to sense enjoyment, and especially for those bereft of devotion unto you, such renunciation of material enjoyment is most difficult to perform. That is my opinion.
O Lord! A fool, I am deeply absorbed in the concept of I and mine related to the body and its corollaries produced by your māyā. Please instruct me, your servant, so that I can easily accomplish the jñāna you have just explained.
I am absorbed in material enjoyment because I am deeply involved with sons and wife related to my body created by your māyā. I identify with the blind well of the body. Teach me how to give up that absorption, and deliver me. Teach me the first actions and then teach about jñāna.
O Lord! Among all the lords, I do not see anyone except you, who give benefit to your devotees, who know me, and who can explain this to me, since you are Paramātmā. Brahmā and others, embodied beings, thinking in terms of the external world, are all bewildered by your māyā.
The genitive case for satyasya and other words instead of the ablative is poetic license. I see no one other than you, who are the cause of al existence in time and space, or who gives benefit to the devotees (satyasya), and you have knowledge of me (sva-dṛśaḥ), who can speak to me, since you are the Paramātmā (ātmanaḥ) of me.
O Lord! Feeling disgust with material life because of being afflicted by suffering, I now surrender unto you, the perfect, unlimited, omniscient Lord, whose spiritual abode in Vaikuṇṭha is free from all disturbances. I surrender to you, the shelter of Mahāviṣṇu, the true friend of all living beings.
Therefore I surrender unto you. Though someone may have all good qualities, he performs bad activities. In order to dispel this doubt about the Lord, Uddhava says that his Lord is irreproachable in conduct (anavadyam). Some persons may be served, but at the time of giving results, they perish. But you have no limit in time or space (ananta-param). Some persons do not have complete knowledge, but you are omniscient (sarva-jñām). Some persons are incapable of giving complete protection, but you give complete protection as the controller of all (īśvaram). Some persons have inauspicious abodes, but you have an abode Vaikuṇṭha which is not worn out by time (akuṇṭha). O Lord (u he)! The word he should correctly be ha, to indicate respect. I have become indifferent to the world because I am afflicted with suffering. You are the supreme shelter of even Nāra, the creator of mahat-tattva. You are most merciful: you are the friend of all men (nara-sakham). You have appeared in the world to give mercy to everyone.
The Supreme Lord said: Generally those human beings who understand the actual truth are able deliver themselves from the desire for sense objects by their intelligence.
O Uddhava! You think you are a fool, but I do not see such intelligence as yours among all the devatās. Though people are fallen, they can know the truth by the strength of their intelligence, even without instructions of a guru. Thus, certainly you, the crest jewel of intelligent people, can know the truth taught by a guru like me. Being expert at judging the cause of auspiciousness and inauspiciousness in the world, such persons can deliver themselves from the desire for sense objects (aśubhāśayāt).
An intelligent person, acting as his own guru, can achieve great benefit by perception and logic.
One can attain benefit by sense perception to some degree and by reflection or inference to some degree.
In the human form of life, those who are without envy and are expert in jñāna and bhakti can directly see me endowed with all of my energies.
Though who have attained human life can generally know me. Those who are without envy (dhīrāḥ), who are expert in jñāna and bhakti (sāḍkhyam), see me. Śruti says
puruṣatve cāvistarām ātmā sa hi prajñānena sampannatamo vijñātaṁ paśyati, veda śvastanaṁ veda lokālokau martyenāmṛtam īpsaty evaṁ sampannothetareṣāṁ paśūnām aśanāpipāse evābhivijñānam
A person develops knowledge of ātmā in the human form. Endowed with intelligence he sees what he has known. He knows the future, he knows heaven and hell, and he desires immorality through his mortal body. In this way he is endowed. Others, animals, know only eating and drinking. Aitreya-āraṇyaka 2.3.2.4 -5
In this world there are many kinds of created bodiessome with one leg, others with two, three, four or more legs, and still others with no legsbut of all these, the human form is actually dear to me.
He praises the human form.
Engaged in bhakti, they search for me, the Lord, directly by processes like hearing and chanting. But I am not attained by inference using indicators and intelligence.
Situated in human form, engaging in bhakti-yoga (yuktaḥ), they directly search for me, Kṛṣṇa, by causes of bhakti such as hearing and chanting (hetubhiḥ). It is said bhakyāham ekayā grāhyaḥ: I am only attained only by bhakti. (SB 11.14.21) Can they see you be searching for you through inference, since you are the stimulator of intelligence? I cannot be attained by inference using the intelligence and various indicators (liḍgaiḥ). The dependent jīva is inferred by inference, since there must be a cause of the senses and intelligence, and the antaryāmī, who instigates the jīva, is somewhat inferred by inference. However Kṛṣna, Svayam Bhagavān, cannot be so inferred, since his form, qualities, pastimes and powers are inconceivable, beyond conception of the intelligence.
In this regard, sages cite a historical narration concerning the conversation between the greatly powerful King Yadu and an avadhūta.
Atra api here means on the topic of being realized as Paramātmā through inference the sages recite a story.
Mahārāja Yadu once observed a young, learned brāhmaṇa avadhūta, who was wandering about fearlessly. Being himself most learned in dharma, the King inquired from him as follows.
Yadu said: O brāhmaṇa! Where have you attained your great intelligence by which you wander the earth like a child, not engaged in work?
Generally human beings work hard to cultivate religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and also knowledge of the soul, to increase the duration of their lives, acquire fame and enjoy wealth.
People generally engage in artha, dharma, kāma and reflection on ātmā for long life, fame and wealth.
You, however, although capable, learned, expert, handsome and most eloquent, are not engaged in doing anything, nor do you desire anything; rather, you appear stupefied and maddened as if haunted.
You do not perform any actions. You do not desire anything. You are capable of doing things, and you have knowledge, skill and a good body. You can desire a beautiful wife. You can speak to anyone because you speak nicely. But you remain like a dumb person, not doing anything.
Although all people within the material world are burning in the great forest fire of lust and greed, you remain free and are not burned by that fire. You are just like an elephant who takes shelter from a forest fire by standing within the water of the Gaḍgā River.
Why are not afflicted with lust though you are young?
O brāhmaṇa! We see that you are devoid of any contact with material enjoyment and that you are traveling alone. Therefore, because we are sincerely inquiring from you, please tell us the cause of the great ecstasy that you are feeling within yourself.
Where does your bliss come from? He asks because hearing directly from a person is the best way to get the truth. You are devoid of material enjoyment (sparśa) and live alone.
Lord Kṛṣṇa continued: When the intelligent King Yadu, always respectful to the brāhmaṇas, asked and honored the brāhmaṇa, the brāhmaṇa replied to the humble King.
By his service, he brought the brāhmaṇa under control. His intelligence attracted the brāhmaṇa. For these reasons the brāhmaṇa replied.
The brāhmaṇa said: O King! With my intelligence I have taken shelter of many gurus. Having gained understanding from them, I now wander about the earth free from suffering. Please listen as I describe them to you.
I have taken shelter of intelligence, not instructions from someone else. I am liberated from the suffering of saṁsāra.
madhu-hā hariṇo mīnaḥ piḍgalā kuraro rbhakaḥ kumārī śara-kṛt sarpa ūrṇanābhiḥ supeśakṛt
ete me guravo rājan
catur-viṁśatir āśritāḥ
śikṣā vṛttibhir eteṣām
anvaśikṣam ihātmanaḥ
O King! I have taken shelter of twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon, python, the sea, moth, honeybee, elephant, honey thief, the deer, the fish, the prostitute Piḍgalā, the kurara bird, a child, a young girl, an arrow maker, a serpent, a spider and a wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned things to be known about the self.
By their activities, I have learned things that be known about the self.
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O son of Mahārāja Yayāti! O tiger among men! Please listen, as I explain to you what I have learned from each of these gurus.
A sober person, even when harassed by other living beings, should understand that his aggressors are acting helplessly under the control of karma, and thus he should never be distracted from progress on his own path. This rule I have learned from the earth.
I have learned tolerance from the earth. An intelligent person understands that all beings are under the control of devatās and Pitṛs.
A saintly person should learn from the mountain to devote all his efforts to the service of others and to make the welfare of others the sole reason for his existence. Similarly, as the disciple of the tree, he should learn to dedicate himself to others.
He speaks of the mountain and the tree, which also represent the earth. The mountain always devotes its efforts for others by holding up the earth, producing waterfalls and giving jewels. The devotee should learn this conduct from the mountain. As the disciple of the tree, he should learn to dedicate himself completely to others. One can take the tree from one place to another, plant it and water it. The tree accepts this, and does not protest. The yogī should be like that. This is the particular nature of the tree not seen in the mountain.
A learned sage should take his satisfaction with the actions of his prāṇa and should not seek satisfaction through the sense objects. In other words, one should care for the material body in such a way that ones higher knowledge is not destroyed and so that ones speech and mind are not deviated from self-realization.
There are two types of air: prāṇa and the external air. This verse speaks of what he learned from prāṇa. Prāṇa operates by eating and other actions, and is not dependent on the objects of the senses like form and taste (indriya-priyaih). By doing this he becomes a sage. Jñāna will be destroyed by disturbance of the mind, caused by disruption of the prāṇa. Therefore one should maintain the body by eating etc., but in such a way that speech and mind will not create disturbance. The mind will become disturbed by eating course or impure food. The mind and speech will be agitated by food which is too oily, because of increase in laziness and semen.
The yogī, indifferent to good and bad qualities, though contacting sense objects of various qualities, is not attached to them, just like the air.
Though one indulges in sense objects, one remains unattached to them. One learns this from the external air. The yogī contacts objects which are light or heavy, excellent or inferior, but is not attached to any of them. The air is not attached to either a dark cave or a blazing fire.
Although a self-realized soul may live in various material bodies while in this world, experiencing their various qualities and functions, he is never entangled by those qualities, just as the wind which carries various aromas does not actually mix with them.
One should learn from the air that one should remain unattached to the qualities of the body. The air does not mix with good or bad fragrance though it is aware of them by contacting them. Though the yogī is aware of his contact with the qualities of the body he is not those qualities because he sees that the ātmā is different from them.
The yogī should meditate on Paramātmā, spreading everywhere and undivided as the medium called Brahman in all moving and non-moving beings, inside and outside, similar to ether.
Seeing the ether, one learns that though Paramātmā is inside and outside everything, he is not attached to anything. This is explained in two verses. The yogī should meditate with intelligence on Paramātmā who is like ether, pervading everywhere inside and outside. Paramātmā is undivided, spreading everything as connecting medium in the form of Brahman in all moving and non-moving beings, just as ether though pervading everywhere, does not mix with the pot or other objects and does not become divided.
Just as ether is not touched by clouds blown by the wind, the jīva is not touched by the body made of fire, water, and earth by time.
The jīva is not touched by the body etc. (guṇaiḥ) which is created by time, composed of fire, water and earth, just as ether is not touched by clouds blown by the wind.
Like water, the devotee is pure by nature, affectionate to people, sweet in speech, and purifying to all people by being seen, touched or glorified.
He learns from water. Similar to water (apām mitram), the devotee is pure, by nature friendly to people, speaks sweetly, and purifies people by giving instructions on bhakti. Instead of apām, the word aghād is also found. The sentence then means He purifies a friend of sin. He is similar to water which has qualities of purity, friendliness, and purity.
He who is like fire, who glows with austerity, who cannot be agitated, who eats only enough to fill his stomach, and who is not contaminated though he eats everything, becomes a true yogī.
Three verses describe what he learned from fire. He cannot be agitated (durdharṣaḥ) and eats to fill his stomach. He becomes a yogi (yuktātmā).
A saintly person, just like fire, sometimes appears in a concealed form and at other times reveals himself, is worshipped by those desiring the highest benefit, and like fire he burns to ashes all the past and future sinful reactions of his worshipers by mercifully accepting their offerings.
Just as fire enters and manifests in pieces of wood of different sizes and qualities, the Supreme Soul, having entered the universe with its higher and lower life forms created by his own potency, manifests his form there.
Just as fire enters wood and manifests by rubbing, the Lord enters the universe and manifests by repeated hearing and chanting.
The various phases of ones material life, beginning with birth and culminating in death, are all properties of the body and do not affect the soul, just as the apparent waxing and waning of the moon does not affect the moon itself. Such changes are enforced by the imperceptible movements of time.
The conditions of birth and death are states of the body, not the soul, just as the appearance and disappearance of the moon belong to its fifteen phases, and not to the moon itself.
Because of time, which has the speed of the wind, the constant birth and death of living entities related to oneself are not seen, just as the appearance and disappearance of flames in fire are not seen.
He learns renunciation from fire. The order is reversed, and again fire is explained, in the manner of siṁhāvalokana (a lion glancing back). One does not see the birth and death of beings related to oneself (ātmanaḥ). Arciṣām means of flames.
The yogī accepts objects by his senses and at an appropriate time gives them away without attachment, just as the sun draws water by its rays and then disperses it without attachment.
Two verses explain what he learned from the sun. The yogī accepts sense objects by the senses, and when persons come with requests at some time, he gives away those items. He is not attached to them. He does not think This was obtained by me, this was given by me. He is like the sun, which takes up water using its rays.
Paramātmā is understood to situated along with his śaktis, just as the sun is situated with its śaktis. However unintelligent people consider the Paramātmā to be identical to his śaktis.
Paramātmā is understood to be situated with its parts--svarūpa-śakti, māyā-śakti and jīva-śakti, just as the sun is situated with its partsits globe, the clouds and its rays. Persons with no intelligence will consider the sun to be situated in its rays or the clouds, like a newly produced object. Paramātmā seems to be separate in different bodies due to visible coverings just as the sun appears to be a separate entity by water and other elements.
One should never indulge in excessive affection or concern for anyone or anything; otherwise one will have to experience great suffering, just like the foolish pigeon.
He learns from the pigeon. Prasaḍgaḥ means fondling etc.
There once was a pigeon who lived in the forest along with his wife. He had built a nest within a tree and lived there for several years in her company.
The two pigeons, attached to their household duties, their hearts tied together by affection, were bound together by the others glances, bodily features and intelligence.
Trusting each other, they carried out their acts of resting, sitting, walking, standing, conversing, playing, eating and so forth among the trees of the forest.
Whenever she desired anything, O King, her husband, with no sense control, would gratify her by faithfully doing whatever she wanted, even with great personal difficulty.
Then the female pigeon experienced her first pregnancy. When the time arrived, the chaste lady delivered a number of eggs within the nest in the presence of her husband.
When the time was ripe, baby pigeons, with tender limbs and feathers created by the inconceivable potencies of the Lord, were born from those eggs.
The two pigeons became most affectionate to their children and took great pleasure in listening to their awkward chirping, which sounded very sweet to the parents. Thus with love they began to raise the little birds who were born of them.
The parent birds became very joyful by observing the soft wings of their joyful children, their chirping, their lovely innocent movements around the nest and their attempts to jump up and fly.
Adīnānām means joyful.
Their hearts bound to each other by affection, the foolish birds, completely bewildered by the illusory energy of Viṣṇu, continued to take care of the young offspring.
They took care of their young (śiśūn) offspring (prajāḥ).
One day, the two heads of the family went out to find food for the children. Being very anxious to feed their offspring properly, they wandered all over the forest for a long time.
At that time a hunter who happened to be wandering through the forest saw the young pigeons moving about near their nest. Spreading out his net he captured them all.
He caught the young birds who were wandering about near their nest.
The pigeon and his wife, always anxious for the maintenance of their children, had gone to the forest, and, bringing food, they returned to their nest.
Poṣaṇam means food.
When the lady pigeon caught sight of her own children trapped within the hunters net, overwhelmed with anguish and crying out, she rushed toward them as they cried out to her in return.
Bound by the ropes of intense affection by the Lords māyā, the foolish female pigeon, forgetting the danger while looking at her captured children, became bound in the hunters net.
Seeing her children bound up, she became forgetful, and fell into lamentation and became caught in the net.
Seeing his own children, who were dearer to him than life itself, fatally bound in the hunters net along with his dear wife, whom he considered equal to himself, the poor male pigeon began to wail and lament in great grief.
The word ca indicates he lamented.
The male pigeon said: Alas, just see how I am now destroyed! I am obviously a great fool, for I did not properly execute pious activities and thus I could not satisfy myself, nor could I fulfill the purpose of life. My dear family, which was the basis of my religiosity, economic development and sense gratification, is now hopelessly ruined.
She was suitable and faithful, accepting me as her deity. But seeing her home empty, she has left me behind and gone to heaven with our saintly children.
Now I am a wretched person living in an empty home. My wife is dead; my children are dead. Why should I possibly want to live? Pained by separation from my family, I find that life itself has become simply suffering.
As the father pigeon wretchedly stared at his poor, motionless children trapped in the net and on the verge of death, he lost his intelligence also fell into the hunters net.
Seeing the motionless children in the net, he also fell in the net.
The cruel hunter, having fulfilled his desire by capturing the attached pigeon, his wife and all of their children, set off for his home.
In this way, one who is too attached to family life, having a disturbed heart, finds pleasure in dualities, and like the pigeon, maintains his family. The miserly person in this way suffers greatly along with his family.
The doors of liberation are opened wide to one who has achieved human life. But if a human being simply devotes himself to family life like the foolish bird in this story, then he is to be considered to be like a person who, having climbed to a high place, falls down.
Thus ends the commentary on Seventh Chapter of the Eleventh Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Seventh Chapter, desiring to give Uddhava jñāna and vairāgya, Kṛṣṇa speaks of the various gurus starting with the earth, mentioned by the avadhūta. Svar-vāsam means to Vaikuṇṭha.