Worshiping Krishna as the substratum in all beings

I had to tend to other duties the past week or so and thus was unable to complete the article I started earlier. On thinking about Muralishwar's comment that my belief is that "human love IS Love Divine." Although I there said  "the natural loves can be sadhanas of Divine Love within the context of bhakti-yoga," the fact is that for a pure devotee human love and divine love are indeed one.

The reason for that is that Krishna is the ātmā of all ātmās, the soul of all souls, the Self of all selves, ātmānam akhilātmanām. In the previous article, it was said that the difference between kāma and prema is really centered on the Object of that love. If one loves Krishna, that is prema. If one loves someone else without any knowledge of the fact that there is nothing outside of Krishna, then it is kāma.

kṛṣṇam enam avehi tvam ātmānam akhilātmanām

jagad-dhitāya so’py atra dehīvābhāti māyayā

vastuto jānatām atra kṛṣṇaṁ sthāsnu cariṣṇu ca

bhagavad-rūpam akhilaṁ nānyad vastv iha kiñcana

sarveṣām api vastūnāṁ bhāvārtho bhavati sthitaḥ

tasyāpi bhagavān kṛṣṇaḥ kim atad vastu rūpyatām

Know this : This Krishna is the Self of all selves. For the benefit of the world, he has appeared here by his illusory potency, as though an embodied being. Those who know things in their truth see Krishna in all conscious and unconscious manifestations. They see everything as the form of the Lord and do not see any substance other than him. There is a meaningful essence present in all things, but the essence of that essence is the Lord Krishna. Please tell me if you can identify anything that is not He.

It was thus further shown in that article that the process of "dovetailing" or āropa can be applied to our natural loves, as stated in Bhakti Sandarbha 217.

I would like to concentrate in this article by discussing the all-important Anuccheda (section) 106 of Bhakti Sandarbha, where the verses from Kapila's instructions to Devahuti are analyzed at length by Jiva Goswami. I have cited some of these verses in previous articles: Sexuality and Spirituality: Dangers, Compassion and Bhakti-rasa and Raganuga Bhakti and Sahaja Sadhana. All of those articles are relevant to the present discussion.

The purpose of Anuccheda 106 is to show how worshiping the demigods can be legitimized by looking at them in relation to Krishna. It also deals with the way devotees are to see and worship Krishna in all living entities. It is a flaw, says Jiva, to worship the gods like Shiva separately from Krishna. However, in the Vaishnava āgamas, where such worship is recommended, it should be understood that the gods can be worshiped as Vaishnavas, as external shields in formal worship (bahiraṅga āvaraṇa), as associates (pārṣada), as vibhūtis of Krishna, or as his adhiṣṭhāna or substratum. Jiva tells the story of an ekants devotee who in this consciousness worshiped Nrisingha in a Shiva linga when he was forced to do so, and Nrisingha indeed burst out of the linga to protect him when it was necessary.

Any recommendation to see the gods as equal to Krishna is meant for those on the jñāna-mārga or in the śānta-rasa. The conclusion, repeated several times is not that worshiping them is wrong, but the flaw is to worship them independent of Krishna (svatantropāsanā). Even so, Jiva Goswami warns against disesteem or contempt of the gods (avajñā or nindā). At this point Sri Jiva Prabhu makes a transition with the words "what to speak of such great personalities, even ordinary living beings are not to be blasphemed because they are also not separate from Krishna who resides within them, i.e., their substratum (adhiṣṭhāna). It is here that the discussion of Kapila's verses begins.

ahaṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu bhūtātmāvasthitaḥ sadā |

tam avajñāya māṁ martyaḥ kurute'rcā-viḍambanam||

I am ever situated as the Supreme Indwelling Self in all living beings. If a mortal being disregards me there, his worship of my deity form is but a mockery. (3.29.21)

Let me interject here that although the word arcā is used here, in my opinion this refers to any kind of worship that is restricted to a God "out there", and this is being referred to elsewhere in this chapter of the Bhāgavatam as bhinna- or pṛthag dṛk, i.e., "separatist" or "one who sees something as separate from or independent of God."

yo māṁ sarveṣu bhūteṣu santam ātmānam īśvaram|

hitvārcāṁ bhajate mauḍhyād bhasmany eva juhoti saḥ||

One who out of foolishness abandons me who am present in all beings as the Self and Supreme Lord to worship the deity form, is pouring oblations into the ashes of the sacrificial fire. (3.29.22)

The parallelism is that just as God is present in the deity form, he is also present in the bodies of the living entities. If one sees Krishna in the deity form but not in the living entities, his worship is incomplete. As Jiva says, he is on the beginning levels of devotion. As one expands one's awareness through self-purification, one begins to see the presence of God in ever-widening clarity.

Our specific interest here is in going from the beginning state to the middle one. After all, one cannot possibly serve or worship all living beings with the single-minded devotion one offers to the deity, or to a guru. As a guide to this stage, which requires making distinctions between different behaviors and different entities, one is therefore advised to look at verses 28-33 in this same chapter:

O virtuous mother, sentient beings are superior to inanimate objects, and among them, those who breathe are better. Living beings that display consciousness are better than them, and better still are those endowed with sense perception. Those who have developed the sense of taste are superior to those who only have the tactile sense, and superior to them are those equipped with the sense of smell. Better yet are those who have developed the sense of hearing.

Better than them are those who can perceive the distinction between forms. Superior to them are those who have teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Superior to them are those who have many legs, and better still are the quadrupeds. Better than them are the bipeds [human beings]. Amongst them, those who follow the system of the four varṇas are the best. Among the four varṇas, the brāhmaṇas are the best. Those who have studied the Vedas are the best amongst the brāhmaṇas, and better than them are those who know the purport of the Vedas.

Better than the brāhmaṇas who know the meaning of the Vedas are those who can dispel all doubts, and superior to them is one who executes his prescribed duty. Better than that person is one who has given up all attachment because he is not seeking any sort of reward from his prescribed duties. Better than him is a person who has fully dedicated his actions, wealth and self to me without interruption. I do not see any being superior to one who has surrendered his self and his actions to me, who does not act for material gain and who has equal vision. (3.29.28-33)

So just as one should not blaspheme or disrespect any of the above entities, the topmost position is reserved for the devotee. In other words, Krishna is most present in his devotee.

dviṣataḥ para-kāye māṁ mānino bhinna-darśinaḥ|

bhūteṣu baddha-vairasya na manaḥ-śāntim ṛcchati||

aham uccāvacair dravyaiḥ kriyayotpannayānaghe|

naiva tuṣye'rcito'rcāyāṁ bhūta-grāmāvamāninaḥ||

A proud person who feels hostility towards me situated in all bodies, who is proud and views everything as being without a connection to me, who is fixed in enmity to other beings, can never have a peaceful mind. O sinless one, I am never pleased with a person who disrespects other living beings, even if he worships me in the deity form through various types of rituals performed with all manner of articles. (3.29.23-24)

arcādāv arcayet tāvad īśvaraṁ māṁ sva-karma-kṛt|

yāvan na veda sva-hṛdi sarva-bhūteṣv avasthitam||

So one should worship me in the deity form, performing his prescribed duties, for as long as he does not know in his heart that I am present in all beings. (3.29.25)

At this point Sri Jiva underlines that one should not give up deity worship at any time. This is exactly right. Although the nature of deity worship may change somewhat in the madhyama and uttama (or sādhaka and siddha) stages, on the bhakti path, one's recognition of God's presence in the individual soul does not preclude his separate existence: one and different. The mutual nature of the culture of bhakti to Radha-Krishna and the culture of love to the living beings in this world is necessary to understand. This will be further explained in an upcoming article.

"Seeing everything as being without connection" (bhinna-darśinaḥ) means "one who is devoid of the perception of the unity of all things, because of not perceiving God as the Paramatma within everything." Alternatively, [it can be read as abhinna-darśinaḥ, in which case it means] he does not see that Bhagavan Krishna, the son of the King of Vraja, is absolutely distinct from everyone else, and thus is actually unable to perceive distinction. [Because he is devoid of the vision of the underlying unity of all things and devoid of the perception of Krishna’s uniqueness] he is therefore proud and egotistical. Consequently, he also behaves inimically towards other beings. The opposite of this mentality is described in the Mahābhārata: "Bhagavan Krishna is quickly pleased with a pure-hearted person who does not disturb others and who treats them in the same manner that a kind father treats his son."

The process is one of simultaneous oneness and difference. This means that one's respect or love for the individual soul is not artificial, i.e., by projecting some Krishna-ness on individual, but accepts that this individual is enacting a specific lila on behalf of Krishna, the underlying purpose of which is always love.

ātmanaś ca parasyāpi yaḥ karoty antarodaram

tasya bhinna-dṛśo mṛtyur vidadhe bhayam ulbaṇam

To a separatist who makes a distinction between his own insides and those of other living beings, I allot horrible fear in the form of death. (3.29.26)

The words "his own insides" (antarodaram) refers to the process of empathy, i.e., one recognizes the hunger of the other being just as one has hunger oneself. Empathy is an essential element of compassion and also of the capacity to experience rasa.

The series concludes:

atha māṁ sarva-bhūteṣu bhūtātmānaṁ kṛtālayam

arcayed dāna-mānābhyāṁ maitryābhinnena cakṣuṣā

Therefore, through charity and offering respect to others, through friendship and by viewing others as non-different [from the Self], one should worship me, who have made my home within all living beings as the Supreme Self. (3.29.27)

So here we have the all-important recommendation of how to relate to other beings as the adhiṣṭhānas of Krishna. Different suggestions are being made. Vivekananda used this series of verses to promote his Daridra Narayan concept. Although it seems to be a relatively minor series of verses in the Bhagavatam, which promotes the idea of theistic worship, in the final analysis, here as in the Eleventh Canto, the teaching is that one must go beyond the external forms of theistic religion, indeed in order to completely understand the concept of God as existing in a human form, with human-like pastimes, one must learn to love God in the human. That is what the anarpita-carīṁ cirāt verse is really getting at: It is teaching a process whereby one can dovetail one's love for a sādhaka or sādhikā into a deepening of devotion for the Supreme Truth in madhura-rasa.

This is not spoken of directly in the Bhagavatam, but the Bhagavatam does open the door to this understanding through indirect statement.

After quoting in full verses 28-33 cited above, Jiva draws from them the conclusion that "extraordinary respect is to be given to my devotees." (mad-bhakteṣu evādara-bāhulyādikaṁ kartavyam). There is no need to belabor the point, as the glory of the devotees and the injunction to see Krishna's presence in them is widely known. And so the passage finally concludes:

manasaitāni bhūtāni praṇamed bahu mānayan |

īśvaro jīva-kalayā praviṣṭo bhagavān iti ||

Considering that Bhagavān Himself, the Supreme Controller, has partially entered within all living beings, one should bow down in one’s mind to all of them with great respect. (3.29.34)

In this final portion of the discussion Jiva Goswami draws a distinction between five kinds of devotees:

• beginners, for whom the injunction to respect all living beings is given;
• the sa-śraddha sādhaka, for whom such respect arises out of seeing all things as the vaibhava of the Lord, 
• the bhāva-sādhaka, i.e., one who is cultivating a relationship with Krishna in Vrindavan. Such a person cultivates relationships in this world on the basis of his culture and relationships in Gokula, and they thus arise naturally: vakṣyamāṇa-rītyā śuddha-bandhutvādi-bhāva-sādhakānām api bandhu-bhāva-siddha-śrī-gokula-vāsy-ādy-śīlanānusāreṇa tādṛśa-bhagavad-guṇānusaraṇena cāsau jāyate .
• the jāta-bhāva, for whom non-violence and detachment are innate,
• and the parama-siddha, as described in the Eleventh Canto 11.2.45ff.

Although the passage goes on to speak of the ultimate goal as devotion to Bhagavan, I think this statement is fairly clear in showing that the cultivation of different relationships with devotees is not only a legitimate process of cultivating that bhakti, but a necessary one for the  bhāva-sādhaka, which is the stage we are interested in here. It was already shown that it is the bhāva that one is cultivating and transferring or offering it up to Krishna.

Premature renunciation without understanding the ways of empathy, compassion, friendship and love will not result in any of the higher kinds of relationship with Krishna, because they will always be immersed in aiśvarya, i.e. bhinna-dṛk. Mādhurya means to bring prema into the realm of the human,, of human experience.

The secret of this sadhana is indeed to see Krishna's presence, i.e., the presence of the entire Vrindavan, in every person and experience, but especially beginning with those places where love relationships are already established spontaneously by Krishna's grace.

This is not to be done separately or abandoning one's awareness of bhakti to Krishna, or in our case, the Divine Couple. That is the purport of this passage from Kapila's instructions to Devahuti.