Samvada for lasting joy
Class Notes | April 28, 2019
How we live determines how we will die and how we will be born again. It is not just karma, it’s also based on what we know. Knowledge is power. What we know today will affect what one will do tomorrow. When one knows that they are alive to be enlightened, then in their next lifetime, they will be more geared towards enlightenment.
A Purana has a singular purpose — to nourish bhakti. Bhagavat akara is one whose nature is filled with Bhagavan. In this course, we are working hard and smart by studying a Purana to become Bhagavat akara so that If we are born again, we will be born in the trajectory to gain enlightenment. Even better is we are not born again!
Each skanda of Bhagavata has a particular focus. In the first skanda, the focus is Adhikari. Raja Parikshita is the ultimate Adhikari. When he was born, he was always searching for the source, where he came from. This is very similar to River Ganga for whom / which we have a reverence for in the Indian tradition. River Ganga goes back to her source in two places and then again flows east. Those two places are Kashi and Uttarakashi, which have become holy places. There is also Ganga the knowledge. Knowledge is that which helps us to go back to our Creator, our source. Raja Parikshita is the epitomy of Ganga, the river, of Ganga, the knowledge.
The second skanda focuses on Sadhana. Only when one is an Adhikari, when one is sincere, will one be taught sadhana. At the end of the second skanda, we learned that the five parts to any Purana are sarga, visarga, sthana, poshana and ooti. And to become a Mahapurana, there are an additional five parts which are manvantara, ishanukatha, nirodha, mukti and ashraya.
Raja Parikshita knows that these ten facets of a Mahapurana are just words for Bhagavan. All of creation is just the Creator. The Creator willed creation. He imagined the organ, from which came the element, from which came the controller or organiser or devata. He willed to see, so the organ that came about was the eyes and the element associated with eyes is fire and the devata for fire is Agni devata. Similarly, for the other organs.
The third skanda has 31 adhyayas. In the beginning of this skanda, Rishi Vidura shares with Rishi Maitreya that everyone is trying to find happiness, but instead is only finding unhappiness. So he wants to know how to be happy. Vidura neethi or statesmanship is being shared here — how to be a mediator.
Rishi Vidura liked to go on yatras. He was the brother of Raja Dritharashtra, who was responsible for propagating adharma towards the Pandavas. Raja Dritharashtra was physically blind and mentally deaf as he never heard the words of Rishi Vidura who always warned him that Duryodhana was selfish and was going to be the cause of destruction of their entire kula. Frustrated, Rishi Vidura would leave on a yatra.
Once during his wanderings, Rishi Vidura met Rishi Uddhava. He asked him so many questions about the Pandavas, Lord Krishna and Guha. It is shared that Guha was an incarnation of Subramanyamswamy (son of mother Parvati). He incarnated to help Bhagavan Krishna. Rishi Vidura asked how the brothers Nakula and Sahadeva were, who were like eyes and Arjuna, Bhima and Yudhishtira were like eyelids never letting their younger brothers feel any discomfort or hurt.
Rishi Vidura shared with Rishi Uddhava that after his wanderings in the world, nothing surprised him anymore as change no longer affected him, as he realized that change was constant. Rishi Uddhava told him that Bhagavan Krishna took incarnation in this world as all the fierce creatures he had created were persecuting the mild creatures he had created. So we should have faith in God, as He will always be there for us. He is always watching and will restore balance for us.
Rishi Uddhava also described Bhagavan Krishna’s last day on this earth, before He let go of all His names and His forms. He is sitting near the Saraswati river, leaning on a Ashvattha tree, and His right leg is resting on His left thigh and He is absorbed in joy. This beautiful description of our Lord should be visualized by us. Bhagavan Krishna’s life is shared in brief in this skanda and later in detail in the tenth skanda.
It is said that when Rishi Uddhava was 5 years old, he would refuse to eat as he didn’t want to stop worshipping Bhagavan Krishna even though it was just in play. He imagined washing the Lord’s feet and offering Him flowers. Rishi Uddhava was to Bhagavan Krishna what Hanumanji was to Bhagavan Rama. That’s how close he was to Bhagavan Krishna who left all His knowledge and teachings to Rishi Uddhava, whose purpose was to carry on this knowledge and teachings. He also told Rishi Vidura that before leaving, Bhagavan Krishna had specifically instructed Rishi Maitreya to share this Brahmavidya with Rishi Vidura which showed that the Lord was thinking about Rishi Vidura.
Rishi Vidura was overjoyed and left on yet another yatra to find Rishi Maitreya. He met Rishi Maitreya near Haridwar and asked him to tell him everything about the Lord. He said that — everyone is engaged in karma for sukhaprapti, but when one doesn’t experience joy, one tries to engage in dukhanivritti. But instead, one gains more and more sorrow. So how can one be happy once and for all?
Rishi Maitreya explained that Bhagavan’s maya is so infinite that even Bhagavan doesn’t know Bhagavan’s maya. Maya makes the impossible possible. When we are in a dream, we don’t know we are dreaming. Only when we wake up from the dream, can we know that it was just a dream. Maya is similarly finite, but feels like it is infinite as long as one is in maya. But this maya can end, and we can be free from this infinite maya.
Another highlight of this samvada — Rishi Maitreya said that according to the devas, the path of knowledge, the veda, is like following a bird to its nest. This path will eventually lead us to Bhagavan, the One who gave us this knowledge. Since that is hard, the devas say let us follow Mother Ganga instead. Let us submit to Mother Ganga as she will lead us back to Bhagavan Narayana, her source as she comes from His feet. This is the path of bhakti — we are not interested in Bhagavan’s mouth, but prefer to be at His feet. It is much easier to follow Mother Ganga than a bird.
Rishi Maitreya also shares that Paramatma incarnates as Virat, the first incarnation of the infinite, and all of us are born from Virat. This means we are also avatars. So we shouldn’t have doubts about ourselves.
This samvada that all our Rishis are engaged in is their sadhana. It is meaningful conversation. The conversation we have during parties, at work, is just vada. Samvada leads us deeper, out of maya. Guruji says this samvada is our escape plan. We need to live by the upadesha of our Rishis and this will be our way to happiness. Knowledge from this Guru-shishya parampara always remains. The Guru-shishya parampara thus leads us to that lasting joy.
Discussion Question: Knowledge from the Guru-shishya parampara lasts. True or False, and why? Try to put this in the context of social media.
CM Fairfield: True provided there is samvada, intention and readiness.
Vivekji: A speaker can be attractive, but if the content lacks meaning or artha, it doesn’t serve any purpose.
RAW: Reflect on what is our intention throughout the day.
