Athapi te deva



athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-
prasāda-leshānugṛhīta eva hi
jānāti tattvaṁ bhagavan-mahimno
nānya eko'pi ciraṁ vicinvan

Brahma says: "O Lord, so only one who has received even a drop of the grace coming from your lotus feet can know the glories of your bhagavan feature. No one else, not even after making prolonged efforts."

So those of us, like myself, who are condemned by nature to go on trying have to think that the only reward for so doing is the effort itself.


śreyaḥ-sṛtiṁ bhaktim udasya te vibho
kliśyanti te kevala-bodha-labdhaye
teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate
nānyat yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām


The situation is a bit different for a devotee, however. Even in the deepest entanglement of trying to understand, there is so much sweetness, because bhakti is not abandoned. It is not "kevala" bodha-labdhaye, but something far more subtle than that.

In ascertaining specifically what the Lord's svarupa is for me, individually -- i.e., what is the nature of his revelation to me? how does he reveal himself to me? -- one discovers the depths of one's own unique individuality.

Love can only exist between unique persons, not poster cutouts or mock individuals who define themselves by the fads they follow. And on certain levels of religiosity, where one worships a cardboard cutout of God--or a list of commandments--the same thing applies.



Comments

Anonymous said…
The crowd applauded after Ramabhadracharyaji said some things. Sudama's wife sent her husband to see Krishna in Dvaraka. "Wife" means Wonderful Instrument For Enjoyment. That's what English speaking culture is about. Patni has two meanings, one pat = patanAt, ni = nayanam. "One who leads the husband away from falldown, i.e., protects the husband." Another, jagat-patim prati patim nayati. "One who leads the husband to the supreme lord of the universe." A bit hokey, but the audience got a good laugh.
..........................

What a turn off. With all due respect to his vaishnavatva, I'm really sick of Indians making derisive comments about "the west".

How would he know what "wife" means in "english speaking culture"???

Has he ever had a wife from any of those cultures?

How about this;

Patni.

P.A.T.N.I.

Put All To Nidra In (order to become a slave to your husband and his entire extended family).

PATNI

Nidra meaning sleep here and all meaning one's own personal hopes, dreams and aspirations.

Indians come across as really insecure in that they always have to compare their "culture" to the West.

If it's good, it will stand on it's own, no need for comparison.
Sunday, 22 March, 2009
Jagadananda Das said…
This comment has been reposted to Ramabhadracharya.
Sunday, 22 March, 2009
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