Priti Sandarbha 8: External Bhagavat-sākṣātkāra Is Superior To Internal


I am afraid that I am going to have to revise the way I do this project. Babaji is starting to pressure me to go more quickly, and it is true that at this rate it will take forever. So I will have to cut back on the manana a bit more and get more pages done.


Anuccheda 8: External Bhagavat-sākṣātkāra Is Superior To Internal

īdṛśe’pi bhagavat-sākṣāt-kāre bahiḥ-sākṣātkārasyotkarṣam āha—

Although Bhagavān realization is such (internal and external) yet Mārkaṇḍeya spoke of the superiority of the external realization to Nara Nārāyaṇa sages:

gṛhītvājādayo yasya śrīmat-pādābja-darśanam |
manasā yoga-pakvena sa bhavān me’kṣi-gocaraḥ || 

Bhagavān, obtaining the vision of whose lotus feet in their mind, matured through the practice of yoga, conditioned beings can attain the post of Brahmā, has become the object of my eyes. (SB 12.9.5)

ṭīkā ca—yasya tava śrīmat-pādābja-darśanaṁ manasāpi gṛhītvā prāpya prākṛtā apy ajādayo bhavanti sa bhavān me’kṣi-gocaro jāto’sti kim ataḥ paraṁ vareṇety arthaḥ ity eṣā | 

Śrīdhara Svāmī comments: "After attaining the vision of Your feet even through the mind the conditioned beings also become Brahmā and so on, that very Bhagavān (You) has become visible to my eyes, what further boon can I choose?"

atra "yat-pāda-pāṁśur bahu-janma-kṛcchrataḥ" [bhā.pu. 10.12.12] ity-ādikam apy anusandheyam | ata eva—

In this regard the verse Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.12.12 should also be considered:

yat-pāda-pāṁsur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato
dhṛtātmabhir yogibhir apy alabhyaḥ |
sa eva yad-dṛg-viṣayaḥ svayaṁ sthitaḥ
kiṁ varṇyate diṣṭam aho vrajaukasām ||

How can the great fortune of the residents of Vraja be described?
The dust of the Lord's feet cannot be had even by adepts of yoga
who have controlled their minds by rigid austerities through many lives, became the object of their vision. (10.12.12) PritiS 9

itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā
dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena |
māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa
sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ ||

Having a storehouse of merit accumulated in the past the cowherd boys sported in this way with Kṛṣṇa, who appears as pure bliss and consciousness personified to the saints, as the supreme worshipable to the servants and as a mere human child to those who are influenced by māyā. (10.12.11) PrītiS 100

Therefore (ata eva)--

pragāyataḥ sva-vīryāṇi tīrtha-pādaḥ priya-śravāḥ |
āhūta iva me śīghraṁ darśanaṁ yāti cetasi ||

How can the great fortune of the residents of Vraja be described? That Bhagavān Himself, the dust of whose feet cannot be had even by great yogīs who have controlled their mind by severe penances performed in many lives, became the object of their vision. (SB 10.12.12)

Therefore about Śrī Nārada who had such sentiments as:

When I sing of the heroic activities of the Lord whose glory is delightful to the ears and whose feet are the source of all sacred waters, He quickly appears in my heart as if called by me. (SB 1.6.34)

ity evaṁ-bhāvavān api—

govinda-bhuja-guptāyāṁ dvāravatyāṁ kurūdvaha |
avātsīn nārado’bhīkṣṇaṁkṛṣṇopāsana-lālasaḥ || [bhā.pu. 11.2.1] ity uktam |

Śrī Suka said:

O best of the Kurus, eager to worship Śrī Kṛṣṇa Nārada regularly lived in Dvārakā, which was protected by the arms of Govinda. (SB 11.2.1)

|| 12.9 || mārkaṇḍeyaḥ śrī-nārāyanarṣim || 8 ||

Commentary by SND

The realization of Tattva is internal in the mind and external through the senses. Although external realization also happens in the mind, the distinction is made between the two because in the first, the external senses are not involved. The realization of Tattva is further of two types, that of Brahman and Bhagavān. Brahman realization can only be internal because Brahman cannot be perceived by the external senses, being without form and attributes. In the previous anuccheda it was said that bhagavat-sākṣātkāra is superior to brahma-sākṣātkāra. This implies that external sākṣātkāra is superior to the internal. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī makes that clear in this anuccheda. It is superior because it involves both the internal as well as the external senses. For this reason, although Nārada could have the internal vision of Bhagavān at any time, he would go and spend months in Dvārakā to witness first-hand the divine play of Kṛṣṇa in family life.

—o)0(o—

Comments

Prem Prakash said…
Thanks to Babaji for making Jagat post more!
Saturday, 27 June, 2020
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