Follow the breath of God

ViBha Class Notes | March 7, 2021

After the opening prayers, we continued to keep our eyes closed for a few moments to feel the presence of Shiva within us, without which we would be shava, a corpse. As the same applies to every human, animal, plant, and stone, so our nature is Shiva.

In a discourse by Swami Tejomayanandaji on Uthishtatha, Jagrata, which means to arise, to awake, Guruji has shared — Imagine we are sleeping and we feel something near our feet, and we open our eyes to see it is the wind blowing through the door or window, we then probably go back to sleep. However, let us imagine that we look down and instead we see a snake at our feet. We then move away as fast, as urgently as possible. In Sanatana Dharma, there is a snake that is always around us which is known as Kala or Kalasarpa, the snake of time that is ever devouring every facet of our experiences. The only way to be freed from Kalasarpa is to adore Mahakala, the Master of time.

In Sanatana Dharma, we have a system of study and all of it is owed to Rishi Vyasa. He has volumized the Veda, specifically the Upanishads. These are aphorisms for us to find Joy. The Upanishads have been further analyzed into the Vedanta Sutras, also known as the Brahma Sutras. The third system of study is the Bhagavad Gita which is the application of the analysis of the aphorisms. So we have -

• The Upanishads — Aphorisms
• The Vedanta Sutras — Analysis
• The Bhagavad Gita- Application

These are known as the Prastanatraya, and they help us to establish in Joy.

However, the last text that Rishi Vyasa wrote was Srimad Bhagavata which is not about the aphorisms, the analysis, or the application, but rather adoration of the subject, of the personality in the earlier scriptures. We tend to think of Vedanta as the end of the Veda, as the final subject, however the end may not be the most important message. Srimad Bhagavata is about adoration of Bhagavan, of Brahman. This is the fifth Purushartha, which is Bhakti, not Moksha, and Rishi Vyasa’s teachings and life show this.

Even Ramayana, which was first documented in Samskritam, was written by Rishi Valmiki. Then Tulsidasji wrote the Ramayana in Avadhi, which is a more simplified version of Samskritam. And who was Tulsidasji? The incarnation of Rishi Valmiki. Rishi Valmiki taught Dharma and Rishi Tulsi taught Bhakti. Rishi Valmiki needed to incarnate and write another text because Dharma is not the highest, is not the absolute. It is Bhakti or devotion.

The only way to be freed from the Kalasarpa is to adore the Mahakala, which is us, our Spirit, which is not subject to time, change. The vision of our course is to realize Infinity, nothing less.

Last time, the Gopas and the Gopis were preparing for Maha Shivaratri. It means engaging in ratri to rajas, which means not engaging in any activity which makes us more aggressive. And instead of drifting into tamas, we must lift ourselves by ourselves. With no more inputs coming from outside, we must still be uplifted through our own efforts, our own presence.

Until now, we have studied -

Chapter 21 — Venu Gita

Chapter 29 — Pranaya Gita

Chapter 31 — Gopi Gita

Chapter 35 — Yugala Gita also heard as Jugala Gita. Yugala means pairs, here pairs of verses where the Gopis are having a dialogue with each other. The philosophy behind it — the Gopis are engaged in Nidhidhyasana or contemplation — Nitaram Dhyayhi. Where are their minds? Nitaram — purposefully, perpetually, and personally in Bhagavan Krshna. Their bodies were not with Bhagavan Krshna, but their minds were. Our role models in life should be the Gopis. Bhagavan is love and the Gopis became the same.

10:36:38 — Akrura was speaking to Kamsa — Rajan, what you are sharing about saving yourself is appropriate. However, we should be balanced in our successes and failures because the main driver, the main controller of successes and failures is the law of Karma, is Bhagavan’s leela.

Kamsa was trying to get Akrura to save him. Akrura was saying that Kamsa was right. However, he was not the doer. Bhagavan Krshna was the doer.

The beginning of Skanda 10 began with Mother Earth, manifesting as a cow and sharing with Bhagavan Brahma and Bhagavan Narayana that she could no more bear the weight of those who were wicked and one of the primary personalities weighing down the Earth was Kamsa. And Kamsa, since listening to Rishi Narada, had been in fear, and now he had found out the real identity of Shri Krishna and Shri Balarama and he was finding ways to kill them.

In the meanwhile, another asura came to Vrindavana. His name was Arishtha, and he came in the form of an ox. His hump was so big that it was reaching the clouds and this wild ox was randomly excreting everywhere. As it was bellowing, the cows were getting scared and started calling out to Krshna. Bhagavan Krshna responded to them lovingly, appeasing their fears. When that ox started attacking Bhagavan Krshna, He put the ox under His feet and squeezed out what was in that ox, like one steps on a wet cloth to get the water out. Then Bhagavan Krshna grabbed the horns of the ox and finally destroyed Arishtha.

Who told Kamsa who Bhagavan Krshna and Shri Balarama were? Rishi Narada. He told Kamsa that these children were his death. Why did he do that? Because Rishi Narada’s purpose was to incite people towards devotion, towards Bhagavan. When Kamsa found out that this was Vasudeva’s and Devaki’s son, he went to kill them, but Rishi Narada convinced Kamsa to lock them up again. So now they were back in prison. Kamsa then told Akrura and others that they needed to come up with a plan to kill Shri Krshna and Shri Balarama. As it would be hard to kill them in Vrindavana, they would have to get them to their territory in order to succeed in their plan. So they decided to invite Shri Krshna and Shri Balarama to a wrestling match. He asked Akrura to go invite the two of them to a wrestling match, and if that didn’t work, then to invite them to an archery match. So Akrura left for Vrindavana. That is how Chapter 36 ends.

10:37:22 — Rishi Shuka is speaking to Raja Parikshita and sharing what Rishi Narada was saying to Bhagavan Krshna — You are Kalarupasya. You are of the form of time and part of Your responsibility is to reduce the weight of the wicked on this earth, specifically the weight of the Akshohinis (the units for the measurement of the armies in the Mahabharata war — 11 on the Kauravas’ side and 7 on the Pandavas’ side = around 4 million humans). And You achieved all this as the Sarathi of Arjuna.

Rishi Narada was the one who prophesied that Bhagavan Krshna would be born to destroy Kamsa and free the earth. The word Rishi means seer. He can see what ordinary people cannot see. In this section, Rishi Narada shares the entire biography of Bhagavan Krshna, from when He was born to His unmanifest condition. What was going to happen? — I am going to see You as the Sarathi of Shri Arjuna, I am going to see your marriage with Devi Rukmani, I am going to see the final destruction of Shishupala and Dantavakra. This section summarizes the entire life of the Avataras and of Bhagavan Krshna.

This shows how much Bhagavan loves us, the diversity of experiences, His efforts. We have the propensity to take for granted those who help us. So imagine what one person has done for you and condense that into 5 minutes, it would be quite moving then.

What Kamsa does is send more Asuras to try to kill Bhagavan Krshna with the hope that He doesn’t even make it to the wrestling match. This Asura is called Keshi and was in the form of a horse. This horse had a dark blue complexion like Bhagavan Krshna’s. It was quite frightening with blue eyes, blue mane and this horse’s mind was filled with evil. Just like the ox, it was wild and all over the place. This horse opened its mouth and came to swallow Bhagavan Krshna and Bhagavan Krshna just stepped back and stuck out His arm. The horse then bit down on His arm and broke all its teeth. Then Bhagavan Krshna enlarged His arm so much that the horse, Keshi suffocated and died.

The third Asura, Vyoma, was the child of Maya and he disguised himself as a Gopa. Maya means sorcery or magic. Bhagavan Krshna and His friends were playing a game where some acted as Gopas or the protector of cows, and some acted as animals and some acted as those who stole the animals. This Gopa kept stealing the Gopas and hiding them in a mountain. Eventually Bhagavan Krshna caught Vyoma and didn’t let go of him and Vyoma died. Then Bhagavan Krshna broke open the mountain and all of the Gopas came out.

Vedanta: These three asuras symbolize being pretentious. Why this vice? In Sanatana Dharma, an ox or a bull is a sign of Dharma. This horse Keshi, in an earlier form, was Hayagriva. At one point, Bhagavan Brahma had fallen asleep and what fell out of his mouth was the Veda. Hayagriva means the one with a horse’s head, and he took this Veda and hid this in the water. And it was Bhagavan as Matsya Avatar who brought the Veda back. And Vyoma came as a Gopa. This is all pretentiousness where one looks like something on the outside and feels differently on the inside.

Bhagavan’s breath and words are known as the Shastra. If we follow someone’s breath, then we must be close to them. So if we follow the Shastra, we will go to Bhagavan. The Shruti or the Upanishad was Bhagavan’s breath in Satya yuga. It was the period of time of creation when there was the most integrity in our personalities and we studied the Upanishad. In Treta and Dvapara yuga, when Bhagavan Rama and Bhagavan Krshna were present, we didn’t have that integrity, so we studied Smriti. Ramayana and Mahabharata are both Smritis. These texts are both historical and philosophical. Now in Kali yuga, we have the least integrity or focus. So how are we to follow the breath of God? It is through a Sadguru. We don’t know how to relate to the Shruti or Smriti so we have to relate to a Sadguru who can guide us through the Shruti, Smriti back to Bhagavan. A Sadguru’s description should be authenticity and depth. Authenticity is that they live what they know, and depth is that the vision of their life is Bhagavan, and not themselves. If we follow a Sadguru who is less pure in terms of authenticity and depth, then their navigation of the Shruti and Smriti will not be as potent. We may struggle, we may not reach Bhagavan. However, the more pure a Sdaguru is, then they are more in resonance with the Shruti and Smriti, so that they can guide us back to Bhagavan. These Asuras — Arishtha, Keshi and Vyoma, they were as if a Sadguru, but with no purity, meaning no authenticity and no depth, and Bhagavan Krshna broke that out of them. So we have to be vigilant about the same so that we can make it back to Bhagavan. We will only get consumed by Kalasarpa instead of reaching the feet of Mahakala. The more authentic and deep we are, the more we will follow one who is authentic and deep. We are attracted to personalities like our own.

Additional insights:

Our four Birthdays: Vivekji shared that we have four birthdays each year — Bhagavan’s, Shastra’s, Sadguru’s and Shishya’s. Bhagavan doesn’t have a birthday, but if He did, it would be MahaShivaratri. The Shastra that is most universal is Bhagavad-Gita, so Gita Jayanti. The original Guru is Rishi Vyasa, so Vyasa Poornima which is now called Guru Poornima. Then the birth of this body.

Speaking less: If we write more, we will talk less. If we just think it, then there is a lack of clarity and it comes out in our words. But when we write it, there is more clarity that is developed. It helps us slowdown. Chanakya has shared that we should think before we speak, then we should act, before we announce. His point being that we should start living it, before telling people what we are going to do. Speak more through actions than through words and people will resonate with that.

Relationship between Dharma and Bhakti: The Veda teaches us two subjects Dharma and Brahma — the means to the ends. Dharma is the means and Brahma is the ends. Why should we practice dharma or our responsibilities? As it is through dharma that we integrate to feel our divinity. Bhakti is the means and ends. When we engage in bhakti for example, being more compassionate or selfless, and when we get enlightened, will we give that up? The means is that we put in the effort and the ends is that it becomes our nature. This is the uniqueness of Bhakti as it is the means and the ends. That is why Rishi Vyasa’s last offering was the Bhagavata, not the Mahabharatha or the Vedanta sutras or any other scripture as the last thing one offers is love, that which is more meaningful.