Second
edition, loaded April 27, 2009
Source
Texts:
Beyond
Renunciation and Knowledge
Text
1-2
The
Supreme Lord said: 'Mysticism nor analysis, common piety nor
the study of the scriptures; penances, renunciation, desirable
and pious works nor charity; respecting vows, ceremonies, vedic
hymns, pilgrimage, general discipline nor the basic rules
contain Me the way the sat-sanga [see
11.11:
25]
contains Me that removes all attachment to sense
gratification.
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, by
associating with My pure devotees one can destroy one's
attachment for all objects of material sense gratification.
Such purifying association brings Me under the control of My
devotee. One may perform the ashthânga-yoga system,
engage in philosophical analysis of the elements of material
nature, practice nonviolence and other ordinary principles
of piety, chant the Vedas, perform penances, take to the
renounced order of life, execute sacrificial performances
and dig wells, plant trees and perform other public welfare
activities, give in charity, carry out severe vows, worship
the demigods, chant confidential mantras, visit holy places
or accept major and minor disciplinary injunctions, but even
by performing such activities one does not bring Me under
his control. (Vedabase)
Text
3-6
By means of
sat-sanga only many living entities, like the sons of
Diti, the malicious ones, the animals, the birds, the singers
and dancers of heaven, the excellent and perfected, the
venerable and the treasure keepers, the scientific ones among
the humans and the merchants, laborers and women, the
uncivilized and the ones of passion and slowness, in each and
every age achieve My abode. And so did Vritrâsura,
the son of Kayâdhû [Prahlâda,
see 6.18:
12-13] and
others like them, Vrishaparvâ [see
9.18:
26],
Bali,
Bâna,
Maya
as also Vibhîshana [brother of Râvana],
Sugrîva [leader of the Vânaras]
and Hanumân,
Jâmbavân,
Gajendra,
Jatâyu,
Tulâdhâra,
Dharma-vyâdha,
Kubjâ
and the gopîs in Vraja, as also the wives of the
brahmins [see 10.23]
and others.
In
every yuga many living entities entangled in the modes of
passion and ignorance gained the association of My devotees.
Thus, such living entities as the Daityas, Râkshasas,
birds, beasts, Gandharvas, Apsarâs, Nâgas,
Siddhas, Câranas, Guhyakas and Vidyâdharas, as
well as such lower-class human beings as the vais'yas,
s'ûdras, women and others, were able to achieve My
supreme abode. Vritrâsura, Prahlâda
Mahârâja and others like them also achieved My
abode by association with My devotees, as did personalities
such as Vrishaparvâ, Bali Mahârâja,
Bânâsura, Maya, Vibhîshana, Sugrîva,
Hanumân, Jâmbavân, Gajendra, Jatâyu,
Tulâdhâra, Dharma-vyâdha, Kubjâ, the
gopîs in Vrindâvana and the wives of the
brâhmanas who were performing sacrifice.
(Vedabase)
Text
7
They,
not having studied the sacred scriptures, nor having worshiped
the great saints, attained, without vows and not having
undergone austerities, Me through My
association.
The
persons I have mentioned did not undergo serious studies of
the Vedic literature, nor did they worship great saintly
persons, nor did they execute severe vows or austerities.
Simply by association with Me and My devotees, they achieved
Me. (Vedabase)
Text
8-9
Indeed
through love only
the gopîs, the cows, the immobile creatures, the
animals, the snakes [like Kâliya]
and others who were stunted in their intelligence, achieved
perfection quite easily because they came to Me, I who cannot
even be reached by greatly endeavoring with yoga, analysis,
charity, vows, penances,
ritualistic sacrifices, exegesis, personal study or taking to
the renounced order.
The
inhabitants of Vrindâvana, including the gopîs,
cows, unmoving creatures such as the twin arjuna trees,
animals, living entities with stunted consciousness such as
bushes and thickets, and snakes such as Kâliya, all
achieved the perfection of life by unalloyed love for Me and
thus very easily achieved Me. Even though one engages with
great endeavor in the mystic yoga system, philosophical
speculation, charity, vows, penances, ritualistic
sacrifices, teaching of Vedic mantras to others, personal
study of the Vedas, or the renounced order of life, still
one cannot achieve Me. (Vedabase)
Text
10
When
Akrûra took Me and Balarâma to Mathurâ were
the inhabitants constantly attached [to Me] with minds
steeped in the deepest love. With Me as the only one to make
them happy were they most miserable after being separated from
Me [see
10:
39].
The
residents of Vrindâvana, headed by the gopîs,
were always completely attached to Me with deepest love.
Therefore, when My uncle Akrûra brought My brother
Balarâma and Me to the city of Mathurâ, the
residents of Vrindâvana suffered extreme mental
distress because of separation from Me and could not find
any other source of happiness. (Vedabase)
Text
11
All the nights
they spent in Vrindâvana with Me, their most dearly
Beloved, o Uddhava, seemed to take but half a moment to them,
but again bereft of Me they appeared to take as long as a
kalpa.
Dear
Uddhava, all of those nights that the gopîs spent with
Me, their most dearly beloved, in the land of
Vrindâvana seemed to them to pass in less than a
moment. Bereft of My association, however, the gopîs
felt that those same nights dragged on forever, as if each
night were equal to a day of Brahmâ. (Vedabase)
Text
12
They with their
consciousness bound to Me in intimacy had lost the awareness of
their own bodies, just as sages who fully absorbed lose the
awareness of matters as close as names and forms, when they
like rivers entering the ocean moved far [in the beyond,
see also B.G. 2:
70].
My
dear Uddhava, just as great sages in yoga trance merge into
self-realization, like rivers merging into the ocean, and
are thus not aware of material names and forms, similarly,
the gopîs of Vrindâvana were so
completely attached to Me within their minds that they could
not think of their own bodies, or of this world, or of their
future lives. Their entire consciousness was simply bound up
in Me. (Vedabase)
Text
13
The women with
Me, a charming lover to their desire, a lover of another man's
wife, had no idea of the actual position of Me, the Absolute
Truth Supreme, whom they by the hundreds of thousands achieved
in association.
All
those hundreds of thousands of gopîs, understanding Me
to be their most charming lover and ardently desiring Me in
that way, were unaware of My actual position. Yet by
intimately associating with Me, the gopîs
attained Me, the Supreme Absolute Truth. (Vedabase)
Text
14-15
Therefore o
Uddhava give up the injunctions, the regulations about them and
the ritual culture for its own sake, give up that what you
learned and will be learning; go for Me alone, the actual
shelter of the soul within all the ones embodied; with that
exclusive devotion you should by My mercy have nothing to fear
from any side [compare B.g. 18:
66].'
Therefore,
My dear Uddhava, abandon the Vedic mantras as well as the
procedures of supplementary Vedic literatures and their
positive and negative injunctions. Disregard that which has
been heard and that which is to be heard. Simply take
shelter of Me alone, for I am the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, situated within the heart of all conditioned souls.
Take shelter of Me wholeheartedly, and by My grace be free
from fear in all circumstances. (Vedabase)
Text
16
S'rî
Uddhava said: 'Hearing Your words, o master of all yoga
masters, has not dispelled the doubt that nestled in my heart
and because of which my mind is bewildered.'
S'rî
Uddhava said: O Lord of all masters of mystic power, I have
heard Your words, but the doubt in my heart does not go
away; thus my mind is bewildered. (Vedabase)
Text
17
The Supreme
Lord said: 'He, the living being in person, is manifest within
along with the prâna, for He entered the heart
having His place in the subtle sound vibration that fills the
mind in the grosser form of the different intonations of short
and long vowels and consonants.
The
Supreme Personality of Godhead said: My dear Uddhava, the
Supreme Lord gives life to every living being and is
situated within the heart along with the life air and primal
sound vibration. The Lord can be perceived in His subtle
form within the heart by one's mind, since the Lord controls
the minds of everyone, even great demigods like Lord S'iva.
The Supreme Lord also assumes a gross form as the various
sounds of the Vedas, composed of short and long vowels and
consonants of different intonations. (Vedabase)
Text
18
Just as fire
confined within wood, with the help of air, kindled by friction
is born very tiny and increases with ghee, I similarly
manifest Myself in this spoken [vedic]
word.
When
sticks of kindling wood are vigorously rubbed together, heat
is produced by contact with air, and a spark of fire
appears. Once the fire is kindled, ghee is added and the
fire blazes. Similarly, I become manifest in the sound
vibration of the Vedas. (Vedabase)
Text
19
Thus there are
as [My] transformations speech, the function of the
hands and legs, the genitals and the anus [the
karmendriyas];
smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing [the
jñânendriyas]
and the functions of one's determination, wisdom and self
concern [or 'mind, intelligence and false ego'] as well
as the primary of matter [pradhâna
or the thread, see 11.9:
19] and
rajas, tamas and sattva [the
gunas].
The
functions of the working senses - the organ of speech, the
hands, the legs, the genital and the anus - and the
functions of the knowledge-acquiring senses - the nose,
tongue, eyes, skin and ears - along with the functions of
the subtle senses of mind, intelligence, consciousness and
false ego, as well as the function of the subtle
pradhâna and the interaction of the three modes of
material nature - all these should be understood as My
materially manifest form. (Vedabase)
Text
20
Indeed this
living entity, one and unmanifest, that is concerned with the
threefold, is the source of the lotus of creation. He, eternal
as He is, in the course of time dividing His potencies in many
divisions, appears just like seeds do having fallen in a
fertile field.
When
many seeds are placed in an agricultural field, innumerable
manifestations of trees, bushes, vegetables and so on will
arise from a single source, the soil. Similarly, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, who gives life to all and is
eternal, originally exists beyond the scope of the cosmic
manifestation. In the course of time, however, the Lord, who
is the resting place of the three modes of nature and the
source of the universal lotus flower, in which the cosmic
manifestation takes place, divides His material potencies
and thus appears to be manifest in innumerable forms,
although He is one. (Vedabase)
Text
21
Just as cloth
expands along the warp and woof of its threads, is the whole of
this Universe, expanding long and wide, situated in Him [on
His thread, see also 6.3:
12 and B.G.
7:
7]. Of
this material existence is there since time immemorial this
tree [this organic body] which, blossoming producing
the fruits, is naturally inclined to fruitive action [or
karma].
Just
as woven cloth rests on the expansion of lengthwise and
crosswise threads, similarly the entire universe is expanded
on the lengthwise and crosswise potency of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and is situated within Him. The
conditioned soul has been accepting material bodies since
time immemorial, and these bodies are like great trees
sustaining one's material existence. Just as a tree first
blossoms and then produces fruit, similarly the tree of
material existence, one's material body, produces the
various results of material existence. (Vedabase)
Text
22-23
Of
this tree extending in the sun there are two seeds [sin and
piety], hundreds of roots [the living entities],
three lower trunks [the modes], five upper trunks
[the elements], five saps produced [sound, form,
touch, taste and aroma], eleven branches [the mind and
the ten indriyas];
two birds having a nest [jîva and
âtmâ], three types of bark [air, bile
and mucus] and two fruits [happiness and distress].
The lusty one living in a household enjoys one fruit of the
tree, whereas the other swanlike ones who live in the forest
with the help of the worshipable ones [the devotees, the
gurus] know the Oneness of Him who by dint of His
mâyâ appears in many forms.
This
tree of material existence has two seeds, hundreds of roots,
three lower trunks and five upper trunks. It produces five
flavors and has eleven branches and a nest made by two
birds. The tree is covered by three types of bark, gives two
fruits and extends up to the sun. Those lusty after material
enjoyment and dedicated to family life enjoy one of the
tree's fruits, and swanlike men in the renounced order of
life enjoy the other fruit. One who with the help of the
bona fide spiritual masters can understand this tree to be a
manifestation of the potency of the one Supreme Truth
appearing in many forms actually knows the meaning of the
Vedic literature. (Vedabase)
Text
24
Thus
being of an unalloyed devotional service that developed
worshiping the guru, should the sober one by means of the sharp
axe of knowledge cut down the individual soul its subtle body
of attachment, so that he with the greatest care living
spiritually achieves the Supreme Soul. Thereafter he should
relinquish the means by which he attained.
With
steady intelligence you should develop unalloyed devotional
service by careful worship of the spiritual master, and with
the sharpened ax of transcendental knowledge you should cut
off the subtle material covering of the soul. Upon realizing
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you should then give up
that ax of analytic knowledge. (Vedabase)