Sunday, January 08, 2012

Śrīmad Bhāgavat, Canto 11, part 2

In this second installment of the 11th canto review we return briefly to verse 11.6.31, where Śrī Jīva and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī (inspired by ancient commentator Vaṁśīdhara) interpret the word ‘nāśa’ to mean nigūḍhāyāṁ dvārakāyām praveśa, that Kṛṣṇa entered an invisible Dwārkā Dhām after disappearing from this world. This may hint at the prakaṭāprakaṭa state Śrī Jīva tells us about (the station of Kṛṣṇa and His associates in this material world in which He eternally revels outside of the view of anyone who is not on the level of bhāva bhakti or higher)

11.13.8  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - “Those who have no knowledge enjoy material life. But even those who know that one can attain the ultimate goal by employing sattva, still enjoy material life. They enjoy just as a dog, though scolded, eats leftovers, just as a donkey though kicked, enjoys a female donkey, and just as the goat, though about to be killed, enjoys the grass.

11.13.35  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - “Will saṁsāra recur because of inability to withdraw continuously from the state of duality while possessing a body?” Even if one observes the world in necessary daily actions, one will not be bewildered again by what one has given up, based on previous mistaken identity (avastu-buddhyā). However, until death of the body, remembrance, a shadow of saṁsāra, will remain. deha-pāta-paryantaṁ smṛtir iva smṛtiḥ saṁsāra-mātreṇāvabhāso bhaved.

11.14.18   Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - Though the devotee is distressed by (attached to) sense objects, he is not overcome. Because both verbs are in the present tense, it implies that even while being harassed by sense objects, he is not really harassed since bhakti is present. A person who is attacked by the weapons of an enemy cannot be defeated because of the presence of his bravery. Or, on the day that a powerful medicine is taken to prevent fever, though the fever still causes suffering, it is not a real cause of suffering, since the fever is in a state of being destroyed and will be completely destroyed the next day.

11.16.26   Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - Śruti says ardho ha vā eṣa ātmano yat patnī: half of his self is his wife. (Baudāyana śrauta-sūtra 29.9.381.2)

11.17.22 Śrīdhar Swāmī and Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī comment - dvijas traivarnika - the three upper castes are dvijas.

11.17.27 The most famous ācāryaṁ māṁ vijāniyan śloka, glorifying the Guru as Bhagavan Himself, carries no ṭīkā at all by any ācārya – most astonishing!

11.17.38 gṛhaṁ vanaṁ vopaviśet pravrajed vā dvijottamaḥ “A second born person (brahmacārī) becomes a householder, vānaprastha or sannyāsī, in the case of a brāhmaṇa”.
From this it’s clear that sannyāsa is only for Brahmins and it explains the almost unanimous falldown of low-caste or outcaste sannyāsīs.
 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - "One should not enter the āśrams in a reverse order, and one should not be without   āśram, unless one is my devotee. If one is a devotee, then one does not have to follow the rules of āśram. This will be explained later. If the devotee enters āśram in a different order, or has no  āśram, there is no fault.“
Still Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu banished Chota Haridas, who paid with his life for transgressing the law of the vairāgī āśram, so one cannot just give up sannyāsa to marry.

11.17.51 yadṛcchayopapannena - A householder should comfortably maintain his dependents either with money that comes of its own accord or with that gathered by honest execution of his duties.

11.19.7 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī 's ṭīkā - "It is also well known that the relationship of the jīva with avidyā is without beginning, through the power of māyā. One could argue that if the ignorance was without beginning it would mean this ignorant condition would be the svarūpa of the jīva, which could therefore not be removed even by jñāna. The jīva`s svarūpa would have to be destroyed to destroy avidyā. But the idea that liberation means destruction of the jīva`s svarūpa is not accepted by the authorities."

11.20.11 If one attains association with karma-miśra-bhaktas or jñāna-miśra-bhaktas, by that type of bhakti one attains śānti-rati.

11.20.17 mayānukūlena nabhasvateritaṁ Means pushed by the favorable wind of serving me
In his tika of 11.20.31,  Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī  quotes Bhakti Rasāmṛta Sindhu 3.1.15, anujjhita-mumukṣā ye bhajante te tu tāpasāḥ - The practitioners of austerity in bhakti are those who worship the Lord while practicing yukta-vairāgya without giving up the desire for liberation, since obstacles to bhakti are destroyed by attaining liberation.

11.21.15 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - “Purification of mantra is described. Suitable knowledge from the mouth of the pure Guru purifies a mantra.“ In other words, one must take dīkṣā in person, not by sms, skype, youtube or e-mail.

11.21.23 phala-śrutir iyaṁ nṛṇāṁ na śreyo rocanaṁ paraṁ śreyo-vivakṣayā proktaṁ yathā bhaiṣajya-rocanam - The rewards promised in scripture are not the ultimate benefit for man but are merely enticements for liberating him. They are like promises of candy spoken to induce a child to take beneficial medicine.
 Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī's ṭīkā - “How can one fall from one’s interest from hearing results like Svarga in the Vedas?” The results described in the scriptures for performing karmas are not beneficial for man. Nārada says: śreyas tvaṁ katamad rājan karmaṇātmana īhase duḥkha-hāniḥ sukhāvāptiḥ śreyas tan neha ceṣyate O King! What benefit do you want for yourself by doing these karmas? It is not possible to destroy suffering and attain happiness by performance of karma. SB 4.25.4 “One hears that the results of karma are eternal: let us then enjoy with the Apsarās.” This is only enticement. Wanting to liberate material people, by stating intermediate results (enjoyment), people develop a taste for doing karmas. Similarly a doctor entices a person to take medicine. The father says “If you drink the neem juice I will give you a sweet.” The child drinks the juice. However the goal is not to eat the sweet.

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