Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.14 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Chennai | 7 May 2021
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 11 Verse 14.
ŚB 11.11.14
yasya syur vīta-saṅkalpāḥ
prāṇendriya-mano-dhiyām
vṛttayaḥ sa vinirmukto
deha-stho ’pi hi tad-guṇaiḥ
Synonyms
yasya — of whom; syuḥ — they are; vīta — freed from; saṅkalpāḥ — material desire; prāṇa — of the vital energy; indriya — the senses; manaḥ — the mind; dhiyām — and of intelligence; vṛttayaḥ — the functions; saḥ — such a person; vinirmuktaḥ — completely freed; deha — in the body; sthaḥ — situated; api — even though; hi — certainly; tat — of the body; guṇaiḥ — from all of the qualities.
Translation
A person is considered to be completely liberated from the gross and subtle material bodies when all the functions of his vital energy, senses, mind and intelligence are performed without material desire. Such a person, although situated within the body, is not entangled.
Purport
The material body and mind are subject to lamentation, illusion, hunger, lust, greed, insanity, frustration, etc., but one who remains active in this world without attachment is considered vinirmukta, or completely liberated. The vital energy, senses, mind and intelligence are purified when engaged in the devotional service of Lord Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed throughout Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So this verse again is speaking about that, a liberated person who is detached from all of the activities of his body. So, one is free from these various influences, so there is a list here, prana, indriya, mana, dhiya, etc, which refers to the life airs, the senses, the mind and the intelligence. So, as long as one has the body, these things function. And of course, the body is gross, but the elements here mentioned are actually subtle. But actually, it’s associated with the subtle body. We have the five major pranas and five minor pranas. And if these don’t function, our body doesn’t function properly. At the same time, these pranas go with the subtle body when one leaves the body and goes to another body.
So, we can learn this from the story of king Puranjana. Okay, so the pranas go out of the body when the atma leaves and the subtle body leaves. So, the senses also are actually subtle. And they leave the body also when the body dies. That may sound strange [Not audible]. This is also stated in the story of Puranjana. The pranas go, but the ten senses also leave the body. So, if we look at the elements in the creation when Maha Vishnu glances, the ten senses are there as elements. And they are separate from the gross elements, ether, air, fire, water and earth which make up our senses, our eye and our ear, etc. Therefore, we actually have in one sense two sets of senses, the gross senses that we usually think are our senses and we have our subtle senses. So, when you go out of your body, you take your senses with you. Therefore, you can have experiences with those senses, even if you don’t have the gross body.
So, here the senses and the pranas are mentioned, then the mind and intelligence, these are actually also subtle. So the mind and intelligence are considered elements also. So all of these are functioning along with the gross body. And when you get a new body, the same mind, intelligence, pranas and senses go into the new body. So the jiva is very attached to this subtle body because it goes with him as long as he is in the material world. We give up the gross body in each lifetime, may be 80 years or 100 years, but the subtle body is not given up. So the jiva is very attached to his subtle body. But it is this subtle body that causes the jiva to get his gross body.
So if one wants to become liberated or as it says vinirmuktaḥ, then one has to stop not only attachment to the material body, but also attachment to the subtle body. So it is difficult to become detached from the gross body. But it is even more difficult to become detached from the subtle body. So in any case, it is difficult to get liberation. But it is also necessary if one wants peace. So while we are in this body, we have to become totally detached from both the gross body and the subtle body. If we cannot become detached when we have the gross body, definitely we are not going to become detached when we leave the body. Therefore it requires some practice. In order to reach this state, one has to do certain types of activities. Once we have established that we have to become detached from the gross and subtle bodies, then we have to determine the process to do that. And of course, we have various sadhanas as well. But as I mentioned, they are not all absolute. They are all steps towards the process of bhakti. So bhakti is the absolute practice. It is absolute because it is never given up. Of course, if we have prema, we give up sadhana, but we never give up the bhakti.
So the process of bhakti is the way in which we can develop this detachment even while in the body. However, if we make detachment from the material body, gross and subtle as the goal, that is not complete. We can become completely detached from the gross and subtle bodies and this we call liberation. And we can attain that state by first practicing karma yoga and then practicing jnana or astanga yoga. However, simply to be free from the gross and subtle bodies is not the actual final goal. Liberation or mukti is only one step towards prema.
So in Caitanya Caritamrta there Lord Caitanya says, we have artha, dharma and kama and then we have moksha. So these are famous as the four purusharthas or goals for humanity. But there the fourth goal is the end, liberation is the final goal. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu says no, prema is the final goal. Therefore he says we don’t have four purusharthas, we have five purusharthas and the final one is prema. Liberation is peace for the jiva, no more suffering. Prema means bliss for the jiva. However, to get prema, we have to realize and become fixed not only in atma but in the Supreme Lord. So therefore, if we want complete satisfaction in prema, we have to follow the process of bhakti. Jnana and yoga will lead us only to liberation.
So the freedom from the material body, the gross and subtle bodies, we can call liberation or mukti. But in getting prema and going to the spiritual world, that is also a type of liberation from the material world. But we can distinguish it by calling it vimukti or vinirmukti. So vimukti means special liberation. And mukti is just ordinary liberation. So, of the two, we should choose the special liberation. Because this is more satisfying to the jiva. So to attain that state, we have to have prema and prema is simply the perfect form of bhakti. So it is the process of bhakti that will give this special liberation. If one attains that prema or special liberation by the will of the Lord, that devotee may be sitting in his body still. So the pranas and the senses and the mind and the intelligence and the gross body still function. But they do not act for getting enjoyment for the jiva. They are all saturated with prema. And therefore, that jiva with prema, he sees the world and interacts with the world in terms of prema, not in terms of sense gratification.
Q & A :
1.) Maharaj, is there any subtle difference between vimukta and prema bhaktas?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Is there a difference?
Devotee: When you said the special mukti which is vimukti and premis, pure devotees, is there any difference between vimuktas and the premis?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: I was saying that vimukti refers to the prema bhakta. Of course, we have an intermediate state also [Laughs]. We have of course, the liberation in Brahman where you don’t, no senses at all function. We have persons who practice mixed bhakti and they attain spiritual world. They have a spiritual body. They get sarupya and salokya and they have some slight relationship with the Lord. But it does not really manifest as full prema. Then we have those who do pure bhakti and they attain prema. So they develop relationships in dasya, sakhya, vatsalya or madhurya. So there is difference there even in prema.
2.) Maharaj, if the subtle body also travels along with the jiva, then there is a great danger of all the undesirable vasanas carrying over life after life.
Yes, that’s exactly what happens [Laughs]. So what do we do? Within one lifetime as a human being, then we have to start changing those vasanas. So in this way, in the varnashrama system, there is a gradual transformation from tamo-guna to rajo-guna to sattva-guna vasana. However, the process of bhakti destroys all the vasanas, all the karmas and everything.
3.) What is the state of samadhi mentioned in 6th chapter of Bhagavad Gita? What does it mean for a devotee?
Samadhi is a general term. We see that Sukadeva Goswami was in samadhi, which means he was fixed in Brahman. For a person in prema, it means that he is participating with the Lord in pastimes in the spiritual world. So we can say that the samadhi means, the superficial meaning is that person stops all of the external functions of his senses.
4.) Maharaj, a devotee who has attained 5th purushartha, namely prema, how will he act? He will see only Krishna everywhere, is the question.
Yes, just as it’s explained in 11th canto also about the uttama adhikari. He sees everything in relation to Krishna. So the example is given of the, in Vrindavan, the Gopis, they see the trees as having great love for Krishna and offering their fruit, bowing down and developing ecstatic symptoms. They see the rivers getting ecstatic symptoms of serving Krishna. They see the cow and the deer serving Krishna. So they see even the rocks and the earth, they see everything as having ecstatic symptoms for Krishna.
5.) Hare krishna Maharaj. How does the jnani or yogi experience when he is liberated? Because normally they don’t accept senses for the atma.
If they still have a material body, they are called jivan-mukta. So they are still related to the body and to a very limited degree, they use their senses. If they leave their body with complete detachment for body, then, the atma separates the gross and subtle bodies and remains in the state of Brahman. So it (atma) does not have material body or material senses. It also has not developed spiritual senses. So it is merely conscious.
6.) Maharaj, what is the second subtle body apart from mind, intelligence and false ego? Can we request you to explain?
Well, we have, here we have pranas as part of that subtle body also. And citta or material consciousness is considered to be part of that body also. So the senses include not just the eye and the ear, but also the hands and the feet. So these are also part of your subtle body. So your subtle body has a form and it can perceive with the different senses. However, usually it is very closely attached to material body, so it does not operate independently. However, the yogis who practice and even though utilize the subtle senses perceive different levels of reality.
7.) Just as we see the devotees are surrounding a Vaishnava and praying for him when he is departing from this world. Similarly, is there a grand reception for the Vaishnava in the next world?
So of course, Krishna promises that the devotee never has to fear any disturbance in bhakti. So whatever condition he is born into, as long as he takes another body, he preserves that bhakti. So according to the arrangement of the Lord, he takes a certain birth in a certain family, in a certain country, that will be favourable for his development. So favourable situation is not always materially favourable. So that is the choice of the Lord.
8.) Maharaj, what is the recommendation for a grhastha to attain vinirmukta status?
So like anyone, whether he is brahmachari or grhastha, vanaprastha or sannyasi, the only process is to practice bhakti and chant the holy name.
9.) Maharaj, if one consciously tries to get out of certain anarthas and see the positive effect in the present life itself, does it mean those anarthas will continue in next life or like in the case of Ajamila, though one is not consciously doing bhakti, like the pattern of karma remains, the devotee also does not realize but factually it is gone.
So the, definitely through the process of bhakti, all the different anarthas, karmas, vasanas etc will get destroyed. However, if we also commit aparadha, that destruction will not be complete. So therefore, we may have to suffer the effects of these different anarthas. If we have no aparadhas, then of course, as in the case of Ajamila, all the karmas can get destroyed. But it may not be apparent as in the case of Ajamila. And as well as the karmas, then desires, vasanas, etc also get destroyed. But that also is a gradual process.
10.) Maharaj, Rupa Goswami has mentioned that among the rasas, santa, dasya, vatsalya and madhurya, the super most is madhurya bhava, by showing the example of earth containing other material elements. But Krishna does not give prema to every jiva. Some jivas enjoy vatsalya bhava or sakhya bhava. For instance, Murari Gupta is satisfied with dasya bhava to Sri Ram. It looks like that Krishna is partial. How to understand this?
So Krishna simply responds to the desires of different devotees. For instance, Murari Gupta, Lord Caitanya said, oh, you should worship Radha and Krishna. But he chose something different. So Lord Caitanya said, very good.
11.) Maharaj, you said a yogi merged in Brahman has only consciousness left. So what do they experience in Brahman through their consciousness? Can we request you to explain?
They have no experience. They just exist.
Devotees: Thank you so much Maharaj. Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!! Nitai Gaura premanande Hari Haribol!!!