Srimad Bhagavat, Canto 11, part 3

The eleventh canto of the Bhagavat is the most philosophical one. Apart from the disappearance pastimes of Sri Krishna there is practically only philosophy in it. Most Bhagavat-verses that are quoted by the acaryas in their philosophical books come from the eleventh canto. Like in the previous 11th canto blog, this time too we briefly hark back to earlier verses that were not thoroughly discussed yet.

11.6.30 Bhanu Swami translates the tika as saying “Earth could not even bear the weight of Krishna”, but the tika does not speak in such extreme terms. It just says pRthivyA duHsaha eva, the weight was hard to bear for mother Earth.

11.10.12 The guru is the wood base, the disciple is the wood on top, and the teachings are the kindling stick. It is not that the Guru needs to be put on fire [figuratively of course] – the fire is present within the wood but it needs to be kindled with pariprasnena sevayA, humble service and submissive inquiry. A better and more popular example is the sugarcane. It has a very hard bark, so one cannot extract the sugar-juice from the cane with one’s bare teeth. A mill is needed to crush the cane to extract the sugar juice. That mill is the submissive service the sisya renders to Guru. It is not enough that there is just a Guru and a sisya – there must be interaction between them, a rubbing of wood which produces spiritual knowledge, leading to the sisya’s enlightenment.

11.10.30 As mentioned in the previous blog, while discussing SB 11.21.23, shastras sometimes entice simple souls, for their own benefit. Visvanatha’s tika: yac ca tuSyatu durjana iti nyAyenAGgIkRtaM svargAdInAM nityatvaM tan nirAkaroti—lokAnAm iti | svarga-lokasya tat-pAlAnAM ca naiva nityatvam ity Aha—lokAnAm iti. There is a nyAya (maxim): „ Let the wicked be satisfied” , so sometimes the shastras proclaim the heavens to be eternal, to satisfy materialistic people, but actually they are not. The shastras do this in order to regulate society, enticing people to act piously and not be a menace to society, by promising them mountains of gold in the afterlife. This is not on the platform of pure selfless devotional service, but if such simpletons come to Mount Govardhan to do parikrama for their heavenly rewards, they may get attracted to Krishna bhakti too, even.

A second important point of this commentary is that one should not take all promises of shastra of rewards in the afterlife too seriously - „As a reward for digging a well here for thirsty people one goes to Vaikuntha for billions of kalpas, along with billions of generations of one’s ancestors”, or „ Anyone who snorts his nose in a mile’s distance from a brahmin goes to hell for as long as the sun and the moon hang in the sky”. Parents use the bogey-man too to frighten their children into good behaviour.

11.21.36 Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti discusses the 4 levels of sound in his tika - The Veda is difficult to understand regarding its true nature and function. It has two forms, gross and subtle. The subtle form of the Vedas is difficult to understand. First, the Veda is parA, related to prANa, situated in the mUlAdhAra-cakra. Then it becomes pashyantI, related to mind, situated in the navel in the manIpUra-cakra. Then it becomes madhyamA, related to intelligence, situated in the heart in the anAhata-cakra. Then it becomes vaikharI, related to the senses. In using speech, the sense organ called the voice is prominent. Moreover the Veda, made of material and spiritual prANa, is infinite, not divided by space or time.

11.22.39 explains why one cannot remember one’s previous lives: viSayAbhinivezena nAtmAnaM yat smaret punaH jantor vai kasyacid dhetor mRtyur atyanta-vismRtiH Since the jéva does not remember his previous body because of absorption in his new body, the forgetfulness of that body by the jéva because of termination of present karmas is called death.

11.22.47, Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti’s tika - yauvanam A-paJcacatvAriMzataH, tato vayo-madhyam A-SaSTi-varSAt, tato yAvaj jIvanaM jaraiva tato mRtyur iti – „Youth lasts till forty-five years. Middle age continues till sixty years. The rest of life till death is called old age.”

11.22.56, Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti’s tika - Though things related to imposition by false identity have no factual existence, the suffering arising from relationship with saMsAra does not disappear. It does not disappear for a jIva who meditates on sense objects with intelligence directed at enjoying. An example is given of something which gives real suffering, though it is insubstantial. In a dream, one is bitten by a snake and feels pain.

10.25.24 Knowledge in the mode of sattva is not about Brahman, because Brahman is transcendental (SB 1.2.11), rather all the acaryas comment on this verse that knowledge in the sattva mode is knowledge about the difference between body and soul.

11.27.25-26, in their comments, Jiva Goswami and Visvanatha Cakravarti mention the yogapith puja with an 8-petalled lotus - tan-madhye navabhiH zaktibhir vimalAdyAbhiz ca mamAsanaM yoga-pIThaM tatrASTa-dalaM padmaM ca kalpayitvA veda-tantrAbhyAM vedoktena tantroktena ca. The original blueprint of the yogapitha features Lord Narayan’s 9 shaktis, nowadays it has the eight sakhis surrounding Radha-Krishna. This means the practise was not a later concoction by Bengali Vaishnavas.

11.28.14 - Sridhar Swami and Sri Visvanatha Cakravarti comment: nanu tarhi vivekino jIvan-muktasyApi yat kiJcid viSaya-dhyAnaM durvAram ity anirmokSa-prasaGgas tatrAha—yathA hIti | prasvApaH svapnaH bahUn anarthAn bibharti, pratibuddhasya prApta-jAgarasya na mohAya, tasya mithyAtva-nizcayAt - “Even a person with discrimination, a jIvan-mukta, has difficult avoiding some meditation on sense objects. This means he cannot get liberation.” Though a dream produces many bad experiences for the sleeper, for a person who has woken up, the dream does not produce bewilderment since he understands the dream was false.

11.28.17 ahankara is called amula here, without root. Causeless and beginningless, so no prior fall or envy of Krishna. Jiva Goswami comments that ahankara is cut by the sharp sword of worshipping the Guru.