SB 2.9.36
TEXT 36
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TEXT
एतावदेव जिज्ञास्यं तत्त्वजिज्ञासुनात्मनः ।
अन्वयव्यतिरेकाभ्यां यत्स्यात्सर्वत्र सर्वदा ॥ ३६ ॥ etavad eva jijnasyam
tattva-jijnasunatmanaḥ
anvaya-vyatirekabhyam
yat syat sarvatra sarvada
etavat-up to this; eva-certainly; jijnasyam-is to be required; tattva-Absolute Truth; jijnasuna-the student; atmanaḥ-of the Self; anvaya-directly; vyatirekabhyam-indirectly; yat-whatever; syat-it may be; sarvatra-in all space and time; sarvada-in all circumstances.
TRANSLATION
A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, has to search it out up to this, certainly in all circumstances, and in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly.
To unfold the mystery of bhakti-yoga, as it is explained in the previous verse, is the ultimate stage of all inquiries or the highest objective for the inquisitive. Everyone is searching after self-realization in different ways, namely by karma-yoga, by jnana-yoga, by dhyana-yoga, by raja-yoga, or by bhakti-yoga, etc. To engage in self-realization is the responsibility of every living entity developed in consciousness. One who is developed in consciousness certainly makes enquiries into the mystery of the self, of the cosmic situation and of the problems of life, in all spheres and fields, namely social, political, economic, cultural, religious, moral, etc., and in their different branches. But here is explained the goal of all such inquiries.
The Vedanta-sūtra philosophy begins with this inquiry of life and the Bhagavatam answers such inquiries up to this point, or the mystery of all inquiries. Lord Brahma wanted to be perfectly educated by the Personality of Godhead, and here is the answer by the Lord finished in four nutshell verses, namely beginning from aham eva to this verse, etavad eva. This is the end of all self-realization processes. Men do not know that the ultimate goal of life is Visnu or the Supreme Personality of Godhead due to being bewildered by the glaring reflection in the darkness, and as such everyone is entering into the darkest region of material existence, driven by the uncontrolled senses. The whole material existence has sprung up by sense gratification, desires based principally on the sex desire, and the result is that in spite of all advancement of knowledge, the final goal of all activities of the living entities is sense gratification. But here is the real goal of life, and everyone should know it by inquiries put before a bona fide spiritual master expert in the science of bhakti-yoga, or from a living personality of Bhagavatam life. Everyone is engaged in various kinds of scriptural inquiries, but the Srimad-Bhagavatam gives answers to all of the various students of self-realization: this ultimate objective of life is not to be searched out without any great labor or perseverance. One who is imbued with such sincere inquiries must ask the bona fide spiritual master in the disciplic succession from Brahmaji, and that is the direction given here. Because the mystery was disclosed before Brahmaji by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the mystery of all such inquiries regarding self-realization must be put before such a spiritual master who is directly the representative of the Lord, acknowledged in that disciplic succession. Such a bona fide spiritual master is able to clear up the whole thing by evidences from the revealed scriptures, both directly and indirectly. Although everyone is free to consult the revealed scriptures in this connection, still one requires the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, and that is the direction in this verse. The bona fide spiritual master is the most confidential representative of the Lord, and one must receive direction from the spiritual master in the same spirit as Brahmaji received them from the Personality of Godhead, Lord Krsna. The bona fide spiritual master in that bona fide chain of disciplic succession never claims to be the Lord Himself, although such a spiritual master is greater than the Lord in the sense that he can deliver the Lord by his personally realized experience. The Lord is not to be found simply by education or by a good fertile brain, but surely He can be found by the sincere student through the transparent medium of the bona fide spiritual master.
The revealed scriptures give direction directly to this end, but because the bewildered living entities are blinded by the glaring reflection in the darkness, they are unable to find out the truth of the revealed scriptures. For example, in the Bhagavad-gita the whole direction is targetted toward the Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krsna, but for want of a bona fide spiritual master in the line of Brahmaji or the direct hearer, Arjuna, there are different distortions of the revealed knowledge by many unauthorized persons who just want to satisfy their own whims. Undoubtedly the Bhagavad-gita is accepted as one of the most brilliant stars in the horizon of the spiritual sky, yet the interpretations of the great book of knowledge have so grossly been distorted that every student of the Bhagavad-gita is still in the same darkness of glaring material reflection, and such students are hardly enlightened by the Bhagavad-gita. In the Gita practically the same instruction is imparted as in the four prime verses of the Bhagavatam, but due to wrong and fashionable interpretations by unauthorized persons, one cannot reach the ultimate conclusion. In the Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 18.61) it is clearly said,
isvaraḥ sarva-bhūtanam hrd-dese 'rjuna tisthati
bhramayan sarva-bhūtani yantrarūḍhani mayaya The Lord is situated in the heart of all living beings (as Paramatma), and He is controlling all of them in the material world under the agency of His external energy. Therefore it is clearly mentioned that the Lord is the supreme controller and that the living entities are controlled by the Lord. In the same Bhagavad-gita (Bg. 18.65) the Lord directs as follows:
manmana bhava mad-bhakto
madyaji mam namaskuru mam evaisyasi satyam te pratijane priyo 'si me It is clear in this verse of the Bhagavad-gita that the direction of the Lord is that one should be Godminded, a devotee of the Lord, a worshiper of the Lord, and must offer all obeisances unto Lord Krsna, and by so doing, the devotee will undoubtedly go back to Godhead, back to home.
Indirectly it is said that the whole Vedic social construction of human society is so made that everyone acts as the part and parcel of the complete body of the Lord. The intelligent class of men, or the brahmanas, are situated on the face of the Lord; the administrative class of men, or the ksatriyas, are situated on the arms of the Lord; the productive class of men, or the vaisyas, are situated on the belt of the Lord; and the laborer class of men, or the sūdras, are situated on the legs of the Lord. Therefore the complete social construction is the body of the Lord, and each and every part of the body, namely the brahmanas, the ksatriyas, the vaisyas and the sūdras, is meant to serve the Lord's whole body conjointly; otherwise it becomes unfit to be coordinated with the supreme consciousness of oneness. Universal consciousness is factually achieved by coordinated service of all concerned to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and that alone can insure total perfection.
Therefore even the great scientists, the great philosophers, the great mental speculators, the great politicians, the great industrialists and the great social reformers, etc., cannot give any relief to the restless society of the material world because they do not know the secret of success as mentioned in this verse of the Bhagavatam, namely that one must know the mystery of bhakti-yoga. In the Bhagavad-gita also it is said,
The so-called great leaders of human society, because they are ignorant of this great knowledge of bhakti-yoga and are always engaged in the ignoble acts of sense gratification, bewildered by the external energy of the Lord, are stubborn rebels against the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they never agree to surrender unto Him because they are fools, miscreants and the lowest type of human beings. Such faithless nonbelievers may be highly educated in the material sense of the term, but factually they are the greatest fools of the world because by the influence of the external material nature all their so-called acquisition of knowledge has been made null and void. Therefore all advancement of knowledge in the present context of things is being misused in terms of the cats and dogs fighting with one another for sense gratification, and all acquisition of knowledge in science, philosophy, fine arts, nationality, economic development, religiousness and great activities are being spoiled by being used as dresses for dead men. There is no utility in the dresses used for covering a coffin of the dead body save getting a false applause from the ignorant public. The Srimad-Bhagavatam therefore says again and again that without attainment of the status of bhakti-yoga, all activities of the human society are to be considered as absolute failures only. It is said:
parabhavas tavad abodha-jato
yavan na jijnasata atma-tattvam yavat kriyas tavad idam mano vai karmatmakam yena sarira-bandhaḥ (Bhag. 5.5.5) As long as one is blind to inquiring after self-realization, all material activities, however great they may be, are all different kinds of defeat because the aim of human life is not fulfilled by such unwanted and profitless activities. The function of the human body is to attain freedom from the material bondage, but as long as one is fully absorbed in material activities, his mind will be overwhelmed in the whirlpool of matter, and thus he will continue to be encaged in the material bodies life after life.
evam manaḥ karma-vasam prayuhkte
avidyayatmany upadhiyamane pritir na yavan mayi vasudeve na mucyate deha-yogena tavat (Bhag. 5.5.6) It is one's mind that generates different kinds of bodies for suffering different kinds of material pangs. Therefore as long as the mind is absorbed in fruitive activities, it is to be understood that the mind is absorbed in nescience, and thus one is sure to again and again be subjected to material bondage in different bodies until one develops a transcendental love of Godhead, Vasudeva, the Supreme Person. To become absorbed in the transcendental name, quality, form and activities of the Supreme Person, Vasudeva, means to change the temper of the mind from matter to absolute knowledge, which leads one to the path of absolute realization and thus frees one from the bondage of material contact and encagements in different material bodies.
Srila Jiva Gosvami Prabhupada therefore comments on the words sarvatra sarvada in the sense that the principles of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service to the Lord, are apt in all circumstances, i.e., it is recommended in all the revealed scriptures, it is performed by all authorities, it is important in all places, it is useful in all causes and effects, etc. As far as all the revealed scriptures are concerned, he quotes from the Skanda Purana on the topics of Brahma and Narada as follows:
samsare 'smin maha-ghore janma-mrtyu-samakule
pūjanam vasudevasya tarakam vadibhiḥ smrtam In the material world, which is full of darkness and dangers, combined with birth and death and full with different anxieties, the only way to get out of the great entanglement is to accept loving transcendental devotional service of the Lord Vasudeva. This is accepted by all classes of philosophers.
Srila Jiva Gosvami also quotes another common passage which is found in three Puranas, namely the Padma Purana, the Skanda Purana and Linga Purana. It runs as follows:
aloḍya sarva-sastrani vicarya ca punaḥ punaḥ
idam ekam sunispannam dhyeyo narayanaḥ sada. "By scrutinizingly reviewing all the revealed scriptures and judging them again and again, it is now concluded that Lord Narayana is the Supreme Absolute Truth, and thus He alone should be worshiped."
The same truth is also indirectly described as follows:
param gato 'pi vedanam sarva-sastrartha-vedyapi
yo na sarvesvare bhaktas tam vidyat purusadhamam. "Even though one may have gone to the other side of all the Vedas, and even though one is well versed in all the revealed scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, he must be considered to be the lowest of mankind." Similarly, it is also stated indirectly as follows:
yasyasti bhaktir bhagavaty akincana
sarvair gunais tatra samasate suraḥ harav abhaktesu kuto mahat-guna- mano-rathenasato dhavato yahi. One who has unflinching devotion unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead must have all the good qualities of the demigods, and contrarily one who is not a devotee of the Lord must be hovering in the darkness of mental speculation and thus must be engaged in the material impermanence.
It is also said in the Eleventh Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam:
sabda-brahmani nisnato na nisnayat pare yadi
sravas tasya srama-phalo hy adhenum iva raksataḥ "One may be well versed in all the transcendental literature of the Vedas, but if he fails to be acquainted with the Supreme, then it must be concluded that all of his education is like the burden of the beast or as one's keeping a cow without milking capacity."
Similarly, the liberty of discharging loving transcendental service to the Lord is invested in everyone, even the women, the sūdras, the forest tribes, or any other living beings who are born in sinful conditions.
te vai vidanty atitaranti ca deva-mayam
stri-sūdra-hūna-sabara api papa-jivaḥ yady adbhuta-krama-parayana-silasiksas tiryag-jana api kimu sruta-dharana ye (Bhag. 2.7.46) The lowest of human beings can be elevated to the highest stage of devotional life if they are trained up by the bona fide spiritual master well versed in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. If the lowest can be so elevated, then what to speak of the highest who are well versed in the Vedic knowledge? The conclusion is that devotional service of the Lord is open for all, regardless of who they are. That is the confirmation of its application for all kinds of performers of the service.
Therefore devotional service of the Lord with perfect knowledge through the training of a bona fide spiritual master is advised for everyone, even if they happen not to be human beings. This is confirmed in the Garuḍa Purana as follows:
kita-paksi-mrganam ca harau sannyasta-karmanam
ūrdhvam eva gatim manye kim punar jnaninam nrnam "Even the worms, birds and beasts are assured of elevation to the highest perfectional life if they are completely surrendered to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, so what to speak of those philosophers amongst the human beings?"
Therefore there is no need to seek properly qualified candidates for discharging devotional service of the Lord. Let them be either well behaved or ill trained, let them be either learned or fools, let them be either grossly attached or in the renounced order of life, let them be liberated souls or desirous of salvation, let them be inexpert in the discharge of devotional service or expert in the same, all of them can be elevated to the supreme position by discharge of devotional service under the proper guidance. This is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita as follows:
api cet suduracaro bhajate mam ananya-bhak
sadhur eva sa mantavyaḥ samyag vyavasito hi saḥ Even if a person is fully addicted to all sorts of sinful acts, if he happens to be engaged in the loving transcendental service of the Lord under proper guidance, he is to be considered the most perfect holy man without a doubt. And thus any person, whatsoever and whosoever he or she may be-even the fallen woman, the less intelligent laborer class or the dull mercantile type of men, or even men lower than all these-can attain the highest perfection of life by going back home, back to Godhead, provided he or she takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in all earnestness. This sincere earnestness is the only qualification that can lead one to the highest perfectional stage of life, and unless and until such real earnestness is aroused, there is a difference between cleanliness or uncleanliness, learning or nonlearning in the material estimation. The fire is always fire, and thus if someone touches the fire, knowingly or unknowingly, the fire will act in its own way without any discrimination. The principle is: harir harati papani dusta-cittair api smrtaḥ. The all-powerful Lord can purify the devotee of all sinful reactions, just as the sun can sterilize all sorts of infections by its powerful rays. "Attraction of material enjoyment cannot act upon a pure devotee of the Lord." There are hundreds and thousands of aphorisms in the revealed scriptures. Atmaramas ca munayaḥ. Even the self-realized souls are also attracted by the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Kecit kevalaya bhaktya vasudeva-parayana: "Simply by hearing and chanting, one becomes a great devotee of Lord Vasudeva." Na calati bhagavat-padaravindal lavanimisardham api sa vaisnavagryaḥ: "A person who does not move from the lotus feet of the Lord even for a moment or a second is to be considered the greatest of all Vaisnavas." Bhagavat-parsadatam prapte mat-sevaya pratitam te: "The pure devotees are convinced of attaining the association of the Personality of Godhead, and thus they are always engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord." Therefore in all continents, in all planets, in all universes, there is currency of devotional service of the Lord, or bhakti-yoga, and that is the statement of the Srimad-Bhagavatam and allied scriptures. Everywhere means in every part of the creation of the Lord. The Lord can be served by all the senses, or even simply by the mind. The South Indian brahmana who served the Lord simply on the strength of his mind also factually realized the Lord. Success is guaranteed for a devotee who fully engages any one of his senses in the mode of devotional service. The Lord can be served by any ingredient, even the most common commodities-a flower, a leaf, a fruit or a little water, which are available in any part of the universe and without any cost-and thus the Lord is served universally by the universal entities. He can be served simply by hearing, He can be served simply by chanting or reading about His activities, He can be served simply by adoring Him and accepting Him.
In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated that one can serve the Lord by offering the result of one's own work; it does not matter what one does. Generally men may say that whatever they are doing is inspired by God, but that is not all. One should actually work on behalf of God as a servant of God. The Lord says in the Bhagavad-gita: (Bg. 9.27)
yat karosi yad asnasi yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya tat kurusva mad-arpanam Do whatever you like or whatever may be easier for you to do, eat whatever you may eat, sacrifice whatever you can sacrifice, give whatever you may give in charity, and do whatever you may undertake in penance, but everything must be done for Him only. If you do business or if you accept some employment, do so on behalf of the Lord. Whatever you may eat, you may offer the same to the Lord and be assured that He will return the food after eating it Himself. He is the complete whole, and therefore whatever He may eat as offered by the devotee is accepted because of the devotee's love, but again it is returned as prasadam for the devotee so that he can be happy by eating. In other words, be a servant of God and live peacefully in that consciousness, ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.
It is said, yasya smrtya ca namoktya tapo-yajna-kriyadisu nūnam sampūrnatameti sadyo vandetam acyutam. I offer my obeisances unto Him, the infallible, because simply by either remembering Him or vibrating His holy name one can attain the perfection of all penances, sacrifices or fruitive activities, and this process can be universally followed. It is enjoined, akamaḥ sarva-kamo va moksa-kama udaradhiḥ tibrena bhakti-yogena yajeta purusam param: "A person, though he may be full of desires or may have no desires, may follow this path of infallible bhakti-yoga for complete perfection." One need not be anxious to propitiate each and every demigod and goddess because the root of all of them is the Personality of Godhead. As by pouring water on the root of the tree all the branches and leaves are served and enlivened, so by rendering service unto the Supreme Lord every god and goddess becomes automatically served without extraneous effort. The Lord is all-pervading, and therefore service unto Him is also all-pervading. This fact is corroborated in the Skanda Purana as follows: "arcite deva-devese sahkha-cakra-gadadhare arcitaḥ sarva-devaḥ syur yataḥ sarva-gato hariḥ." When the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, who carries in His hands a conchshell, wheel, club, and lotus flower, is worshiped, certainly all other demigods are worshiped automatically because Hari the Personality of Godhead is all-pervading. Therefore, in all cases, namely nominative, objective, causative, dative, ablative, possessive and supportive, everyone is benefitted by such transcendental loving service of the Lord. The man who worships the Lord, the Lord Himself who is worshiped, the cause for which the Lord is worshiped, the source of supply, the place where such worship is done, etc.-everything is benefitted by such an action.
Even during the annihilation of the material world, the process of bhakti-yoga can be applied. Kalena nasta pralaye vaniyam: the Lord is worshiped in devastation because He protects the Vedas from being annihilated. He is worshiped in every millennium or yuga, as it is said,
krte yad dhyayato visnum tretayam yajato makhaiḥ
dvapare paricaryayam kalau taddhari-kirtanat In the Visnu Purana it is written: "sa hanis tan-mahacchidram sa mohaḥ sa ca vibhramaḥ yan-muhūrtam ksanam vapi vasudevam na cintayet." If even for a moment remembrance of Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is missed, that is the greatest loss, that is the greatest illusion, and that is the greatest anomaly. The Lord can be worshiped in all stages of life. For instance, even in the womb of their mothers Maharaja Prahlada and Maharaja Pariksit worshiped the Lord; even in his very childhood, at the age of only five years, Dhruva Maharaja worshiped the Lord; even in full youth, Maharaja Ambarisa worshiped the Lord; and even at the last stage of his frustration and old age Maharaja Dhrtarastra worshiped the Lord. Ajamila worshiped the Lord even at the point of death, and the Lord was worshiped by Citraketu even in heaven and in hell. In the Narasimha Purana it is said that as the hellish inhabitants began to chant the holy name of the Lord they began to be elevated from hell towards heaven. Durvasa Muni has also supported this view: "mucyeta yan-namny udite narako 'pi." Simply by chanting the holy name of the Lord the inhabitants of hell became released from their hellish persecution. So the conclusion of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as given by Sukadeva Gosvami to Maharaja Pariksit, is: etad nirvidya mananam icchatam akuto-bhayam yoginanam api nirnitam harer namanukirtanam: "O King, it is finally decided that everyone, namely those in the renounced order of life, the mystics, and the enjoyers of fruitive work, should chant the holy name of the Lord fearlessly to achieve the desired success in their pursuits."
Similarly, it is indicated indirectly in various places of revealed scriptures:
1. Even though one is well versed in all the Vedas and scriptures, if one is not a devotee of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, he is considered to be the lowest of mankind.
2. In the Garuḍa Purana, Brhad-Naradiya Purana and Padma Purana, the same is repeated: What is the use of Vedic knowledge and penances for one who is devoid of devotional service of the Lord?
3. What is the comparison of thousands of Prajapatis with one devotee of the Lord?
4. Sukadeva Gosvami said (Bhag. 2.4.17) that neither the ascetic, nor one who is greatly munificent, nor one who is famous, nor the great philosopher, nor the great occultist, nor anyone else can achieve the desired result without being engaged in the service of the Lord.
5. Even if a place is more glorious than heaven, if there is no glorification of the Lord of Vaikuntha nor His pure devotee, it should be at once quitted.
6. The pure devotee refuses to accept all the five different types of liberation in order to be engaged in the service of the Lord.
The final conclusion, therefore, is that the glories of the Lord must be always and everywhere proclaimed, one should hear about His glories, one should chant about His glories, and one should always remember His glories because that is the highest perfectional stage of life. As far as fruitive work is concerned, it is limited to an enjoyable body; as far as yoga is concerned, it is limited to the acquirement of mystic power; as far as empiric philosophy is concerned, it is limited to the attainment of transcendental knowledge; and as far as transcendental knowledge is concerned, it is limited to attainment of salvation. Even if they are adopted, there is every chance of discrepencies in discharging the particular type of functions. But adoptation of the transcendental devotional service of the Lord has no limit, nor is there fear of falling down. The process reaches automatically to the final stage by the grace of the Lord. In the preliminary stage of devotional service there is an apparent requisition of knowledge, but in the higher stage there is no necessity of such knowledge. The best and guaranteed path of progress is therefore engagement in bhakti-yoga, pure devotional service.
The cream of Srimad-Bhagavatam in the foregoing four slokas is sometimes squeezed out by the impersonalist for different interpretations in their favor, but it should be carefully noted that the four slokas were first described by the Personality of Godhead Himself, and thus the impersonalist has no scope to enter into them because he has no conception of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, the impersonalist may squeeze out any interpretations from them, but such interpretations will never be accepted by those who are taught in the disciplic succession from Brahma, as will be cleared up in the following verses. Besides that, the Sruti confirms that the Supreme Truth Absolute Personality of Godhead never reveals Himself to anyone who is falsely proud of his academic knowledge. The Sruti mantra clearly says:
nayam atma pravacanena labhyo na medhaya na bahudha srutena
yam evaisa vrnute tena labhyas tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanum svam The whole matter is explained by the Lord Himself, and one who has no approach to the Lord in His personal feature can rarely understand the purport of Srimad-Bhagavatam without being taught by the bhagavatas in the disciplic succession.
[Madhya 25.123]
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