Hare Krsna,
While meditating on this topic, a correlation with a specific verse from Srimad Bhagavatam stood out.
SB 1.2.11:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.”
This means that there are three levels of realization of the Absolute Truth – Brahman, Paramatma, or Bhagavan. The realization of these three levels could be in sequential phase or by each level independently of the other levels. I was reflecting that as we progress from Brahman to Paramatma to Bhagavan, our vision of the Absolute Truth progresses from the Universal Form to four-handed Visnu Form to two-handed form of the Supreme Lord.
For those who are very attached to material desires and have difficulty accepting the personal form of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa is an ideal technique in the beginning. Srila Visvanatha Saraswati Thakura comments on 2.2.14 that for those yogis who cannot concentrate on the spiritual form of the Paramatma, concentration on the Universal form for removing the continuation of attraction and repulsion is described. Srila Prabhupada affirms this by saying that this meditation is for person whose heart is still impure. He further states how by some way or other, one must try to reestablish one’s forgotten relation with the Lord. Thus, for those who can’t accept the personal feature of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa or universal form of the Lord will gradually qualify one to rise to personal contact.
Therefore Srila Prabhupada recommends that instead of wasting time on meditation on universal form of the Lord, we should aspire to see the two-handed Syamsundar form of the Lord by the process of Bhakti Yoga. Even Lord Krsna confirms the same thing to Arjuna. He explains the following process.
BG 11.54-55:
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa
“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.”
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava
“My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.”
“The Bhagavad-gītā is meant to show how one can understand his spiritual existence and his eternal relationship with the Supreme Spiritual Personality and to teach one how to go back home, back to Godhead. Now here is the verse which clearly explains the process by which one can attain success in his spiritual activity: devotional service.” (BG 11.55 P)
“Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by the process of undivided devotional service… One who has unflinching devotion for the Supreme Lord and is directed by the spiritual master, in whom he has similar unflinching faith, can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead by revelation. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by mental speculation. For one who does not take personal training under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, it is impossible to even begin to understand Kṛṣṇa.” (BG 11.54 P)
The universal form may seem wonderful to persons who are involved in elevating themselves by fruitive activities, but to persons who are engaged in devotional service the two-handed form of Kṛṣṇa is the most dear.
“In summary, the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, which is a temporary manifestation, and the form of time which devours everything, and even the form of Viṣṇu, four-handed, have all been exhibited by Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all these manifestations. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is a manifestation of the original viśva-rūpa, or Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all forms. There are hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇus, but for a devotee no form of Kṛṣṇa is important but the original form, two-handed Śyāmasundara. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that those who are attached to the Śyāmasundara form of Kṛṣṇa in love and devotion can see Him always within the heart and cannot see anything else. One should understand, therefore, that the purport of this Eleventh Chapter is that the form of Kṛṣṇa is essential and supreme.” (BG 11.55 P)
Therefore we should sincerely follow the practice of devotional service to reestablish our intimate loving relationship with this Supreme Person through the process of chanting and hearing about Krsna.
CC Madhya 22.107
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.”
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krsna,
While meditating on this topic, a correlation with a specific verse from Srimad Bhagavatam stood out.
SB 1.2.11:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.”
This means that there are three levels of realization of the Absolute Truth – Brahman, Paramatma, or Bhagavan. The realization of these three levels could be in sequential phase or by each level independently of the other levels. I was reflecting that as we progress from Brahman to Paramatma to Bhagavan, our vision of the Absolute Truth progresses from the Universal Form to four-handed Visnu Form to two-handed form of the Supreme Lord.
For those who are very attached to material desires and have difficulty accepting the personal form of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa is an ideal technique in the beginning. Srila Visvanatha Saraswati Thakura comments on 2.2.14 that for those yogis who cannot concentrate on the spiritual form of the Paramatma, concentration on the Universal form for removing the continuation of attraction and repulsion is described. Srila Prabhupada affirms this by saying that this meditation is for person whose heart is still impure. He further states how by some way or other, one must try to reestablish one’s forgotten relation with the Lord. Thus, for those who can’t accept the personal feature of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa or universal form of the Lord will gradually qualify one to rise to personal contact.
Therefore Srila Prabhupada recommends that instead of wasting time on meditation on universal form of the Lord, we should aspire to see the two-handed Syamsundar form of the Lord by the process of Bhakti Yoga. Even Lord Krsna confirms the same thing to Arjuna. He explains the following process.
BG 11.54-55:
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa
“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.”
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava
“My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.”
“The Bhagavad-gītā is meant to show how one can understand his spiritual existence and his eternal relationship with the Supreme Spiritual Personality and to teach one how to go back home, back to Godhead. Now here is the verse which clearly explains the process by which one can attain success in his spiritual activity: devotional service.” (BG 11.55 P)
“Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by the process of undivided devotional service… One who has unflinching devotion for the Supreme Lord and is directed by the spiritual master, in whom he has similar unflinching faith, can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead by revelation. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by mental speculation. For one who does not take personal training under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, it is impossible to even begin to understand Kṛṣṇa.” (BG 11.54 P)
The universal form may seem wonderful to persons who are involved in elevating themselves by fruitive activities, but to persons who are engaged in devotional service the two-handed form of Kṛṣṇa is the most dear.
“In summary, the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, which is a temporary manifestation, and the form of time which devours everything, and even the form of Viṣṇu, four-handed, have all been exhibited by Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all these manifestations. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is a manifestation of the original viśva-rūpa, or Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all forms. There are hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇus, but for a devotee no form of Kṛṣṇa is important but the original form, two-handed Śyāmasundara. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that those who are attached to the Śyāmasundara form of Kṛṣṇa in love and devotion can see Him always within the heart and cannot see anything else. One should understand, therefore, that the purport of this Eleventh Chapter is that the form of Kṛṣṇa is essential and supreme.” (BG 11.55 P)
Therefore we should sincerely follow the practice of devotional service to reestablish our intimate loving relationship with this Supreme Person through the process of chanting and hearing about Krsna.
CC Madhya 22.107
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.”
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Hare Krsna,
While meditating on this topic, a correlation with a specific verse from Srimad Bhagavatam stood out.
SB 1.2.11:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvaṁ yaj jñānam advayam
brahmeti paramātmeti
bhagavān iti śabdyate
“Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramātmā or Bhagavān.”
This means that there are three levels of realization of the Absolute Truth – Brahman, Paramatma, or Bhagavan. The realization of these three levels could be in sequential phase or by each level independently of the other levels. I was reflecting that as we progress from Brahman to Paramatma to Bhagavan, our vision of the Absolute Truth progresses from the Universal Form to four-handed Visnu Form to two-handed form of the Supreme Lord.
For those who are very attached to material desires and have difficulty accepting the personal form of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa is an ideal technique in the beginning. Srila Visvanatha Saraswati Thakura comments on 2.2.14 that for those yogis who cannot concentrate on the spiritual form of the Paramatma, concentration on the Universal form for removing the continuation of attraction and repulsion is described. Srila Prabhupada affirms this by saying that this meditation is for person whose heart is still impure. He further states how by some way or other, one must try to reestablish one’s forgotten relation with the Lord. Thus, for those who can’t accept the personal feature of the Lord, meditation on the virat-rupa or universal form of the Lord will gradually qualify one to rise to personal contact.
Therefore Srila Prabhupada recommends that instead of wasting time on meditation on universal form of the Lord, we should aspire to see the two-handed Syamsundar form of the Lord by the process of Bhakti Yoga. Even Lord Krsna confirms the same thing to Arjuna. He explains the following process.
BG 11.54-55:
bhaktyā tv ananyayā śakya
aham evaṁ-vidho ’rjuna
jñātuṁ draṣṭuṁ ca tattvena
praveṣṭuṁ ca paran-tapa
“My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding.”
mat-karma-kṛn mat-paramo
mad-bhaktaḥ saṅga-varjitaḥ
nirvairaḥ sarva-bhūteṣu
yaḥ sa mām eti pāṇḍava
“My dear Arjuna, he who engages in My pure devotional service, free from the contaminations of fruitive activities and mental speculation, he who works for Me, who makes Me the supreme goal of his life, and who is friendly to every living being – he certainly comes to Me.”
“The Bhagavad-gītā is meant to show how one can understand his spiritual existence and his eternal relationship with the Supreme Spiritual Personality and to teach one how to go back home, back to Godhead. Now here is the verse which clearly explains the process by which one can attain success in his spiritual activity: devotional service.” (BG 11.55 P)
“Kṛṣṇa can be understood only by the process of undivided devotional service… One who has unflinching devotion for the Supreme Lord and is directed by the spiritual master, in whom he has similar unflinching faith, can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead by revelation. One cannot understand Kṛṣṇa by mental speculation. For one who does not take personal training under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, it is impossible to even begin to understand Kṛṣṇa.” (BG 11.54 P)
The universal form may seem wonderful to persons who are involved in elevating themselves by fruitive activities, but to persons who are engaged in devotional service the two-handed form of Kṛṣṇa is the most dear.
“In summary, the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, which is a temporary manifestation, and the form of time which devours everything, and even the form of Viṣṇu, four-handed, have all been exhibited by Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all these manifestations. It is not that Kṛṣṇa is a manifestation of the original viśva-rūpa, or Viṣṇu. Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all forms. There are hundreds and thousands of Viṣṇus, but for a devotee no form of Kṛṣṇa is important but the original form, two-handed Śyāmasundara. In the Brahma-saṁhitā it is stated that those who are attached to the Śyāmasundara form of Kṛṣṇa in love and devotion can see Him always within the heart and cannot see anything else. One should understand, therefore, that the purport of this Eleventh Chapter is that the form of Kṛṣṇa is essential and supreme.” (BG 11.55 P)
Therefore we should sincerely follow the practice of devotional service to reestablish our intimate loving relationship with this Supreme Person through the process of chanting and hearing about Krsna.
CC Madhya 22.107
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.”
All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Krsna Katha 