Tag: BG 2.40

A great saint – bull in his last lifetime

Once upon a time there was a bull. Then there was a warrior. And then there was a great saint. The bull became the warrior who became the saint when reminded of his legacy… how come? How does a bull become a saint?

Picture this…

A wealthy, handsome young man in full armour on horseback. A hot day in South Central India, where temperatures routinely exceed 40 Celsius or 104 Fahrenheit. They’re thirsty, parched, both the warrior and the horse.

Warrior on horseback was very thirsty, as was his horse

Dhondo Pant Raghunath, our dashing warrior, suddenly chances upon a river. It’s cool waters were irresistible on the searing hot day. So, the young man rides his horse straight into the cool refreshing waters of the river, and both horse and man eagerly quench their thirst.

A sage sitting on the bank remarks “kim pashuh purva dehe? / किं पशुः पूर्व देहे?” or “why, were you an animal in your previous body?”.

Hearing this question instantly brought back a flood of past life memories in our young Dhondo Pant.

तत्र तं बुद्धिसंयोगं लभते पौर्वदेहिकम् ।
यतते च ततो भूय: संसिद्धौ कुरुनन्दन ॥ ४३ ॥

tatra taṁ buddhi-saṁyogaṁ
labhate paurva-dehikam
yatate ca tato bhūyaḥ
saṁsiddhau kuru-nandana

On taking such a birth, he revives the divine consciousness of his previous life, and he again tries to make further progress in order to achieve complete success, O son of Kuru.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/6/43/

In his former lifetime, Dhondo Pant had been a bull.

Yes, four-legged bovine with horns, used as a beast of burden. He was in the service of the great Ananda Tirtha, or Sripad Madhvacharya. The bull was engaged in carrying the manuscripts of various scriptural texts and commentaries.

Dhondo Pant, Raghunath had been a bull in his former life. No ordinary bull, but one engaged in the service of the great Madhvacharya!

Madhvacharya is famous for having written commentaries, “bhashya / भाष्य” on the various fundamental texts of Vedic literature. If you have come across the commentaries of Sripad Madhvacharya, you may have noticed that they are not very easy to understand, even for a well-educated reader. Many of his disciples therefore requested permission to write commentaries on the commentaries “teeka / टीका”… but Madhvacharya refused them all.

He said “This bull here shall write the commentaries on my works“.

Madhvacharya, the great teacher of Krishna Consciousness

And the great sage on the riverbank recognized the soul, he saw the soul who wore the body of a bull, now wearing the body of this rich young man. The sage was the great Akshobhya Tirtha, a spiritual descendent of Sripad Madhvacharya. Such is the mercy of the spiritual master, who appears at the right time, at the right place, to claim a soul on behalf of God.

I am fortunate to be initiated in the same line of discplic succession.

By the mercy of my eternal spiritual master His Grace Sriman Sankarshan Das Adhikari and his divine spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In a similar way, my spiritual master approached me through the Internet, and answered my questions patiently, writing over 600 replies, before I recognized him as my spiritual master. I offer my respectful obeisances to my spiritual master for helping me recognize who I am and be myself. However, I am still unworthy, to be honest.

In any case, our bull-turned-young man immediately decided…

To renounce his materialistic life in a rich family, and take Sannyasa, the monastic order of pure devotion to Sri Krishna. He was now known as Jayatirtha. His father, Raghunath Deshpande, like any rich father, tried his best to stop his son, but in the end had to acquiesce to the divine destiny that was unfolding before his eyes.

Sri Jayatirtha, the author of many great works in the Brahma Madhva tradition of Krishna Consciousness

Sri Jayateertha is famous as “Teekacharyaru / ಟೀಕಾಚಾರ್ಯರು”, or “The Master of the Commentaries. The word Acharya means one who teaches purely the instructions of God and personally lives those teachings. “Teeka” means commentary upon a commentary.

malkhed, kalaburgi district of karnataka, the location of the samadhi of sri jayatirtha

So, by the grace of Sri Jayatirtha…

the complex instructions of the Vedic literature of Madhvacharya was revealed to us, to study, understand, discuss, teach, and follow ourselves. His Samadhi still exists in Southern India, in Malkhed, Kalaburgi District, Karnataka. A saint who has entered Samadhi is not “dead”, one can go and receive their blessings just as one can receive blessings from a saint who still walks the earth amongst us. Near the Samadhi of Jayatirtha is the Samadhi of his spiritual master, Sri Akshobhya Tirtha.

The Samadhi of Sri Jayatirtha, great teacher of Krishna Consciousness

What can we learn from this incident…

Of the warrior turned sage who was a bull in his former lifetime? That no matter how we engage in the service of God, it is always beneficial. What is more, no matter how small a thing someone does for God, that soul benefits beyond our comprehension.

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

What are some examples?

The great Jayananda Prabhu is a perfect example… he would often call out to a passerby, “Hey can you just hold this nail for me?”, and before you know it, by service to Krishna, the dull, unclean passerby has transformed into a bright-faced Vaishnava devotee!

In a similar way, we request donations from everyone we speak to. The donations are not for us, we don’t need anyone’s money. Krishna has given us enough. But anyone who gives, they benefit.

दातव्यमिति यद्दानं दीयतेऽनुपकारिणे ।
देशे काले च पात्रे च तद्दानं सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् ॥ २० ॥

dātavyam iti yad dānaṁ
dīyate ’nupakāriṇe
deśe kāle ca pātre ca
tad dānaṁ sāttvikaṁ smṛtam

Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/17/20/

Sometimes we get a ride from someone, sometimes, we ask someone to help move some boxes or hold open a door… sometimes, we give an animal Krishna Prasada, or chant the Holy Name of Krishna loudly so they hear it.

प्रसादे सर्वदुःखानां हानिरस्योपजायते ।
प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याश‍ु बुद्धिः पर्यवतिष्ठते ॥ ६५ ॥

prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ
hānir asyopajāyate
prasanna-cetaso hy āśu
buddhiḥ paryavatiṣṭhate

For one thus satisfied [in Kṛṣṇa consciousness], the threefold miseries of material existence exist no longer; in such satisfied consciousness, one’s intelligence is soon well established.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/65/

Anyone who comes in contact with someone engaged in devotional service is benefited. Whether it is the ant who comes in contact with the dust from the altar, or the bee who was intoxicated on some leftover nectar offered to Krishna, or the cockroach who lives in Radharani’s kitchen and feeds on leftover Prasadam.

When I got out on Harinam, pigeons and seagulls sometimes surround me. I am 100% certain that all those souls will come back as devotees, and Krishna will help me serve them again. I can’t wait to see them again, as bright-faced Vaishnavas!

The birds and animals who get a bit of Krishna Prasada or hear Sri Harinam, the Holy Name of Krishna, will be freed from lower life forms and will get a chance to pursue Krishna Consciousness

There is also eyewitness evidence to the power of Prasada… food offered to the Lord, but more on that another day.

It doesn’t matter what your present condition is. Just engage somehow or other in Bhakti, pure devotional service. You will benefit beyond your wildest imagination! As one of my teachers, Vaisesika Prabhu, likes to say “do what you can, with what you have”

P.S: I found the writeup by His Grace Toshan Nimai Prabhu very helpful… please read it here if you’re interested in more details. https://flowers-of-grace.blogspot.com/2012/06/sri-jayatirtha.html

P.P.S: This is the disciplic succession with which I have received my spiritual knowledge and impetus to share this knowledge. Many branches and sub-branches of this disciplic succession have helped me, not to mention souls from so many other traditions from around the world. I am grateful to them all, too numerous to mention.

  1. Kṛṣṇa
  2. Brahmā
  3. Nārada
  4. Vyāsa
  5. Madhva
  6. Padmanābha
  7. Nṛhari
  8. Mādhava
  9. Akṣobhya
  10. Jaya Tīrtha
  11. Jñānasindhu
  12. Dayānidhi
  13. Vidyānidhi
  14. Rājendra
  15. Jayadharma
  16. Puruṣottama
  17. Brahmaṇya Tīrtha
  18. Vyāsa Tīrtha
  19. Lakṣmīpati
  20. Mādhavendra Purī
  21. Īśvara Purī, (Nityānanda, Advaita)
  22. Lord Caitanya
  23. Rūpa, (Svarūpa, Sanātana)
  24. Raghunātha, Jīva
  25. Kṛṣṇadāsa
  26. Narottama
  27. Viśvanātha
  28. (Baladeva), Jagannātha
  29. Bhaktivinoda
  30. Gaurakiśora
  31. Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī
  32. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
  33. Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Is your wealth safe?

Not long ago, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. With over $209B in assets, it still collapsed. Where is your wealth? What is your wealth really? Who or what can protect your wealth?

Not long ago, Silicon Valley Bank, a large American bank, with over Two Hundred and Nine Billion Dollars in assets experienced a meltdown situation, where depositors tried to withdraw forty two billion dollars in one day. This is called a “run on the bank” and resulted in the bank collapsing.

Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. The US Government eventually bailed them out. But if a $209B bank can collapse, how safe is your wealth anywhere you may try to stash it?

Why did the depositors of the bank scramble to withdraw their money so quickly? Banks take your money, and then they try to invest it, keeping some of your money in cash, but most of it locked away in various types of investments, making them (usually) handsome returns. The amount of money they keep as cash, divided by the amount of money they invest, is called a “liquidity ratio”. And that liquidity ratio is strictly regulated. Despite this regulation, clearly, sometimes, the bank may just not have enough money to pay out!

The external reason of why Silicon Valley Bank crashed is because they had their money invested in bonds, which were dropping in value as interest rates rose. So, the bank was selling their bonds at a loss, and they were short by a couple billion dollars. The news got out and it was mayhem after.

Now, to put all that into perspective you know how much US$209B is? That is more than the total wealth of 103 different countries… Belarus, Jordan, Serbia, Slovenia, 103 of them. And it is more than the collective wealth of the world’s 44 poorest countries.

Think about it. Silicon Valley Bank had more wealth than 44 countries put together!

Silicon Valley Bank had more wealth than 44 of the poorest countries in the world put together. The bank was richer than 103 of the world's poorest countries!

Ultimately the bank was bailed out by the US Government and purchased by another bank, but otherwise depositors would have lost a lot of money.

In this particular case, the US taxpayers were left holding the bill for the collapsed bank.

In general, people assume that such things, like banks, governments, police, armies, weapons, communities, families, wealth, and our own bodies and minds can be actually relied upon. But all of them are fallible soldiers, liable to fail at any moment without notice.

If a bank with that much wealth can collapse from one day to the next, what to speak of your wealth? Surely you don’t have US$209B to your name at a bank?

Where is your wealth? We read the Alexander the Great left all his material wealth behind. But even if death is not about to get you in the next little while, your wealth is not safe.

Will your family protect you? No one can save you, not your family, your money, your community, your strength, or your intelligence.

Neither will your wealth, nor your family, nor your community, society, country, your own personal strength or intelligence save you!

देहापत्यकलत्रादिष्वात्मसैन्येष्वसत्स्वपि ।
तेषां प्रमत्तो निधनं पश्यन्नपि न पश्यति ॥ ४ ॥

dehāpatya-kalatrādiṣv
ātma-sainyeṣv asatsv api
teṣāṁ pramatto nidhanaṁ
paśyann api na paśyati

Persons devoid of ātma-tattva do not inquire into the problems of life, being too attached to the fallible soldiers like the body, children and wife. Although sufficiently experienced, they still do not see their inevitable destruction.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/1/4/

Further, on a related note, Srila Prabhupada writes this…

Such persons complacently believe that their nations, communities or families can protect them, unaware that all such fallible soldiers will be destroyed in due course of time. 

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/6/3/28/ purport
The strongest military in the world cannot protect you

In other words, nothing that we have anywhere in this world is safe.

So how to protect what is ours?

There is only one way.

In general, only that which we give away, we get to keep.

Give away money? You will get it back in your future lifetimes. Give love? You will receive much love. What you have today is a sum total of what you have given away in the past.

What do I mean by that? That the credit for giving something away is what we take with us. As in the case of Alexander the great, he left his wealth behind upon death, but the results of his activities – all his conquests – the karmic reactions for so many killed, hurt, etc., that he took with him to suffer afterwards. For every death, he had to suffer a death, for every maiming, he had to be maimed himself, for every bit of gold stolen from others, he had to be robbed himself, and so on.

A boatload of gold is nothing when compared to the force of insurmountable time.

What is your real wealth, anyways?

यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं तत: ।

yaṁ labdhvā cāparaṁ lābhaṁ
manyate nādhikaṁ tataḥ

upon gaining this he thinks there is no greater gain

BG 6.22

What is it that will satisfy you so much that you will think there is no greater gain? It cannot be money or any other possession, because with money, no matter how much someone has, they are never fully satisfied by it. It cannot be posessions, because the satisfaction one gets from one’s possessions is a continuous downward trend. It cannot be sensual experiences, because when one has some sensual pleasure, they only hanker for more.

There must be something more, something on a completely different dimension!

What is that greatest wealth?

It is the wealth of the soul, which is spiritual in nature. Not material.

The example that comes to mind is that of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan. When Rupa Goswami retired, his wealth equalled a boat full of gold coins. The Goswamis were exalted in every respect, born in rich, aristocratic families, hobnobbing with the rich and famous, and yet, it is said about them…

tyaktva turnam asesha-mandala-pati-srenim sada tuccha-vat

who kicked off all association of aristocracy as insignificant

https://iskcondesiretree.com/page/shad-goswamy-ashtakam

Why is that? Who gives up something as insignificant?

Only one who finds something greater!

In the same song, Srinivas Acharya sings:

gopi-bhava-rasamritabdhi-lahari-kallola-magnau muhur

but they are always merged in the ecstatic ocean of the gopis’ love for Krishna and bathe always and repeatedly in the waves of that ocean

https://iskcondesiretree.com/page/shad-goswamy-ashtakam

So there you go, any wealth in any bank or locker or any kind of wealth we rely upon in the material world, whether it be our family, society, community, country, or any institution… we will have to leave it all behind, insurmountable time will take it all away.

What you will keep eternally is this:

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

Your spiritual advancement is your only wealth!

My dear spirit soul, please cultivate your spiritual wealth. Don’t waste a single moment! Act now. Ask me how!

What “the great” took with him

Alexander “the great” took nothing of his conquests with him, or did he!

Alexander the great was a great conqueror, great emperor, and is still famous.

His empire extended across large swathes of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

But time, inexorable time, took away his life one day, while away from home, in a camp, surrounded by his doctors and generals.

As Alexander the Great lay on his deathbed, waiting to breathe his last, he told his generals that he had three last wishes.

  1. That his physicians should bear his coffin
  2. That the path leading to the grave should be strewn with the treasures he had in his treasury
  3. That his hands were to be left dangling out of the coffin.

His generals tearfully agreed, but asked why the emperor made such strange last wishes.

Alexander explained that no one was able to stop death, not even the best physicians of the most powerful emperor on earth.

He then explained that all that he had accumulated, all his treasures, were left behind.

Finally, he explained that he was taking nothing with him, that he was going empty handed.

Those were profound realisations, but there is something he did not realize.

The soul who was called “Alexander the Great” came with a lot of pious credits, the karmic credits needed to become an emperor of the world. While fulfilling his karmic destiny, he accumulated a lot of karmic reactions too.

Think of all the soldiers who died fighting for him.

Think of all the soldiers who died fighting against him.

He also took with him the results of any acts of kindness.

All for what? Just so Alexander could be a great conqueror? What did Alexander really accomplish? As he fortunately realized, better late than never, he took nothing of his achievements with him. But yes, his karmic reactions, he will carry with him.

Soon after his death, the mighty empire that he had put together after all those battles in which he was unconquered, crumbled. His once mighty body, also disintegrated.

After all, there is no endurance of the body.

नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः ।
उभयोरपि दृष्टोऽन्तस्त्वनयोस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ॥ १६ ॥

nāsato vidyate bhāvo
nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ
ubhayor api dṛṣṭo ’ntas
tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/16/

While Alexander had some realizations on his deathbed, he did not have anyone to instruct him on this important truth…

आयुर्हरति वै पुंसामुद्यन्नस्तं च यन्नसौ ।
तस्यर्ते यत्क्षणो नीत उत्तमश्लोकवार्तया ॥ १७ ॥

āyur harati vai puṁsām
udyann astaṁ ca yann asau
tasyarte yat-kṣaṇo nīta
uttama-śloka-vārtayā

Both by rising and by setting, the sun decreases the duration of life of everyone, except one who utilizes the time by discussing topics of the all-good Personality of Godhead.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/2/3/17/

There is something else he could have taken with him. Anything spiritual he may have done. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, the illustrious student of Plato, who is widely regarded as one of the primary contributors to Western Religion.

You may feel blessed with many gifts, or you may feel impoverished. Whether you have been given a lot or you have somehow acquired a lot, please know that you will take none of it with you.

You will however take your spiritual assets with you eternally.

नेहाभिक्रमनाशोऽस्ति प्रत्यवायो न विद्यते ।
स्वल्पमप्यस्य धर्मस्य त्रायते महतो भयात् ॥ ४० ॥

nehābhikrama-nāśo ’sti
pratyavāyo na vidyate
sv-alpam apy asya dharmasya
trāyate mahato bhayāt

In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/

And what is this endeavor?

As Srila Prabhupada writes…

Activity in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or acting for the benefit of Kṛṣṇa without expectation of sense gratification, is the highest transcendental quality of work. Even a small beginning of such activity finds no impediment, nor can that small beginning be lost at any stage. Any work begun on the material plane has to be completed, otherwise the whole attempt becomes a failure.

https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/2/40/