Srimad Bhagavatam – day 238
Note: In this episode Lord Rudra continues to praise Lord Srihari. A beautiful description of the Lord’s form is given. Swamiji says that devotees who are desirous of purifying their mind should eternally focus on this form!
Krishnāya namah
Lord Rudra continued, “Srihari’s elongated and beautiful eyes resemble lotus petals. His equally proportioned, exquisitely decorated ears add to the beauty of His face.
His face is illumined by His charming smile filled with affection, His tender gaze, the shining black curly locks and the glistening golden earrings. He wears golden-yellow soft clothing that glows like the lotus pollen.
His long shoulders decorated with many golden ornaments resemble the lion’s shoulders. The glow on His chest is further multiplied due to the presence of the Kausthuba gem. On His chest, Goddess Lakshmi eternally resides in the form of golden rays. The radiance of His chest puts to shame the glittering touchstone.
With its three folds, His abdomen resembles a fig leaf. When He inhales and exhales the three folds look beautiful. His deep navel resembles a whirlpool. Its illumination makes one wonder if it is ready to withdraw into itself the world that had emerged from it.
His waist is of bluish-black complexion. It glows with the golden silken waistband. His feet, ankles and calf muscles are symmetrical and beautiful. His knees are proportionate and not raised. For all these reasons, His form is delightful to the eyes.
Padā śarat-padma-palāśa-rociṣā nakha-dyubhir no ’ntar-aghaṁ vidhunvatā
Pradarśaya svīyam apāsta-sādhvasaṁ padaṁ guro mārga-gurus tamo-juṣām
O father! You are the Guru who shows the way to those who have got trapped in this darkness known as spiritual ignorance. Your toe nails, which glitter like the winter lotuses, wash away the dirt that has accumulated in our mind. These lotus feet drive away from us the fear of worldly bondages. Please bless us with Your darshan.
Devotees who are desirous of purifying their mind should eternally focus on this form of the Lord. The path of devotion (bhakti yoga) shows the way to those who diligently abide by their own dharma (swadharma).
Bhavān bhaktimatā labhyo durlabhaḥ sarva-dehinām
Svārājyasyāpy abhimata ekāntenātma-vid-gatiḥ
It is not possible for every living entity to reach You. Even Indra, the Lord of heaven, is desirous of obtaining You. Through obtaining absolute oneness with You, Self-realized persons alone reach You! You are obtained only by such steadfast devotees.
Those who are totally inclined towards these worldly desires find it impossible to worship Srihari. Even noble persons find it very difficult to develop firm steadfast devotion towards Him. Why will a person, who really serves You with total devotion, ever seek any external worldly pleasure? He will seek nothing except Your holy lotus feet!
O Lord, in the amount of time Yama takes to blink his eyelids, You destroy the entire creation! Such is Your prowess! Even then You never show Your might against that ardent devotee, who has whole-heartedly surrendered to You.
Kṣaṇārdhenāpi tulaye na svargaṁ nāpunar-bhavam
Bhagavat-saṅgi-saṅgasya martyānāṁ kim utāśiṣaḥ
The person who spends even a quarter of a second associating with supreme devotees considers that time to be far more superior to heavenly comforts or even liberation. This being the case, should we specifically mention that trivial worldly desires fade in front of pure satsang? They can never be equal to satsang.
Your lotus feet have earned the reputation that they destroy all sins. Holy saints mentally recollect Your glory as they bathe in the holy Ganga, which was born from Your holy lotus feet. Through this they wash away their impurities, develop a pure mind, a noble character and compassion towards all forms of life. O Lord, bless us to be always associated with such noble saints! This is the blessing that we seek from You.
The spiritual aspirant should, while chanting divine names, develop bhakti and ensure that his inner mind is purified. His mind should not be enchanted by the external world. This means his mind should not be filled with traits of passion (rajo guna). Simultaneously he should vigilantly guard himself from falling into the deep pit called spiritual ignorance. This means, he should ensure that his mind is not filled with traits of ignorance and inertia (tamo guna).
The moment the aspirant develops such a pure mind he will clearly and easily experience Your divine essence! This is definite.
Yatredaṁ vyajyate viśvaṁ viśvasminn avabhāti yat
Tat tvaṁ brahma paraṁ jyotir ākāśam iva vistṛtam
This entire world is illumined by the Self’s consciousness (atma chaitanya). Within this, consciousness pervades everything like the sky and inherently illumines. O Lord, You are the Parabrahma who inherently pervade everything and illumine inherently.
O Lord, illusory energy (māya) cannot captivate You despite its many forms. You do not undergo any transformation. Nevertheless, through the help of this illusory power You create, sustain and annihilate the entire universe. Due to the influence of this illusory energy, the people consider all these seen differences as real. However You have an independent existence which is over and beyond the scope of illusion”.
Srikrishnāya namah