Source
Texts:
Beyond
Renunciation and Knowledge
Text
1-2:
The Supreme
Lord said: 'Mysticism nor analysis, common piety, and also not
the study of the scriptures, penances, renunciation, desirable
and pious works, and charity neither; the following of vows,
ceremonies, vedic hymns, pilgrimage, general discipline nor the
basic rules do contain Me the way the sat-sanga [see
11.11:
25]
captures Me that removes all material
association.
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.
Text
3-6:
By just satsang
did many living entities as 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
treasurekeepers, the scientific among the humans and the
merchants, the laborers and the women, the uncivilized and the
ones of passion and slowness in each and every age achieve My
abode as also did Vritrâsura,
the son of Kayâdhû [Prahlâda,
see 6.18:
12-13] and
others, 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.
Text
7
They,
not having studied the sacred scriptures, nor having worshiped
the great saints, attained, without vows not having undergone
austerities, Me by 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.
Text
8-9:
Indeed
purely by love achieved the gopîs, the cows, the immobile
creatures, the animals, the snakes [like
Kâliya]
and others who were stunted in their intelligence, the
perfection quite easily as they came to Me, whom cannot even be
reached greatly endeavoring with yoga, analysis, charity, vows,
penances, ritualistic sacrifices, exegesis, personal study or
taking to the renounced order.
The
inhabitants of Vrîndâvana, 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.
Text
10
When
Akrûra took Me together with Balarâma to
Mathurâ were those constantly attached whose
consciousness was most profound of their love, seeing no one
else but Me to make them happy, of great anxiety upon the
separation [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.
Text
11
All the nights
they in Vrindâvana had spent with Me, their most dearly
Beloved, o Uddhava seemed to them just like half a moment, but
again bereft of Me they became 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.
Text
12
They with their
consciousness bound up in intimacy with Me were not aware of
their own bodies, just as sages in full absorption consider
something very near as names and forms as far removed as rivers
are, once they have entered the ocean [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.
Text
13
The women with
Me, a charming lover to their desire, a lover of another man's
wives, had no idea of the actual position of Me, the Absolute
Truth Supreme, whom they by the hundreds of thousands in
association achieved.
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.
Text
14-15
Therefore o
Uddhava give up the injunctions, the regulations about them and
the ritual culture for its own sake, that what you learnt and
will be learning; go for Me alone, the actual shelter of the
soul within all the embodied; with that exclusive devotion
should you 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.
Text
16
S'rî
Uddhava said: hearing Your words. o Lord of the Lords of Yoga,
has not dispelled the doubt that nestled in my heart and 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.
Text
17
The Supreme
Lord said: 'He, the living being Himself, is, along with the
prâna, manifest within having entered the heart with 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.
Text
18
Just as fire
confined within wood, with the help of air, kindled by friction
very tiny is born and increases with ghee, is it similar to
this indeed with My manifestation for sure so in
words.
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.
Text
19
Thus are
speech, the function of the hands and legs, the genitals and
the anus [the karmendriyas];
the smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing [the
jnanendriyas]
and the functions of the determination, the wisdom and and the
selfconcern [or 'mind, intelligence and false ego'] as
well as the primary of matter [pradhâna
or the thread, see 11.9:
19] and
the rajas, tama and sattva [the gunas]
there as the transformation [of Me].
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.
Text
20
Indeed this
living entity, one and unmanifest, that is concerned with the
threefold, is the source of the lotus of creation; He, being
eternal, in the course of time dividing His potencies in many
divisions, appears just like seeds do 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.
Text
21
Just as cloth
expands on 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] as this
material existence, of which this tree [this organic
body] existing since time immemorial is naturally inclined
to fruitive action [or karma] as it blossoming produces
the fruits.
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.
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 living in the forest with the
help of the worshipable [the devotees, the gurus] know
the One 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.
Text
24
Thus
of unalloyed devotional service developed by worship of the
guru, should the sober one by means of the sharp axe of
knowledge cut down the individual soul its subtle body of
attachment and with the greatest care living spiritually
achieve the Supreme Soul, after which 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.
