Srila Vyasadeva’s Meditation and Samadhi

nārāyan ̣ am namaskr ̣ tya naram caiva narottamam devīm sarasvatīm vyāsam tato jayam udīrayet Before reciting this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the very means of conquest, one should offer respectful obeisances unto the Personality of Godhead, Nārāyan ̣ a, unto Nara-nārāyan ̣ a R ̣ s ̣ i, the supermost human being, unto mother Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, and unto Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the author.

nas ̣ t ̣ a-prāyes ̣ v abhadres ̣ u nityam bhāgavata-sevayā bhagavaty uttama-śloke bhaktir bhavati nais ̣ t ̣ hikī By regular attendance in classes on the Bhāgavatam and by rendering of service to the pure devotee, all that is troublesome to the heart is almost completely destroyed, and loving service unto the Personality of Godhead, who is praised with transcendental songs, is established as an irrevocable fact.

 : Vyasadeva’s meditation  : Vyasadeva’s realization  : Vyasadeva’s action

śaunaka uvāca nirgate nārade sūta bhagavān bādarāyan ̣ ah ̣ śrutavāms tad-abhipretam tatah ̣ kim akarod vibhuh ̣ R ̣ s ̣ i Śaunaka asked: O Sūta, the great and transcendentally powerful Vyāsadeva heard everything from Śrī Nārada Muni. So after Nārada's departure, what did Vyāsadeva do?

 Before commencing the great epic Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Śrī Vyāsadeva realized the whole truth by trance in devotion.

sūta uvāca brahma-nadyām sarasvatyām āśramah ̣ paścime tat ̣ e śamyāprāsa iti prokta r ̣ s ̣ īn ̣ ām satra-vardhanah ̣ Śrī Sūta said: On the western bank of the River Sarasvatī, which is intimately related with the Vedas, there is a cottage for meditation at Śamyāprāsa which enlivens the transcendental activities of the sages.

tasmin sva āśrame vyāso badarī-s ̣ an ̣ d ̣ a-man ̣ d ̣ ite āsīno 'pa upaspr ̣ śya pran ̣ idadhyau manah ̣ svayam In that place, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, in his own āśrama, which was surrounded by berry trees, sat down to meditate after touching water for purification.

 Householders and Āśrama  A place where spiritual culture is always foremost.  Differences in asramas are only a matter of formality on the strength of renunciation.  Meditated under Narada’s instruction  “Think of the pastimes of the Lord in trance for the liberation of people in general from material bondage” (S.B )

bhakti-yogena manasi samyak pran ̣ ihite 'male apaśyat purus ̣ am pūrn ̣ am māyām ca tad-apāśrayam Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control.

 Purus ̣ am pūrn ̣ am  Srila Jiva Goswami says this includes expansions, energies, avatars, whole spiritual world  Can only be known completely by bhakti-yoga  Māyām tad-apāśrayam  Refutes Mayavada philosophy  Internal energy vs. External energy  Moonlight vs. darkness  Bhakti => function of internal energy

yayā sammohito jīva ātmānam tri-gun ̣ ātmakam paro 'pi manute 'nartham tat-kr ̣ tam cābhipadyate Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.

 Root cause of suffering  Perverted and unnatural thinking, feeling, willing  Solution to illusion  Surrender  Two-phase implementation by Krsna  Maya’s punishment  Spiritual master’s help  Ultimate perfection  Revive our natural love and affection for the Lord.

anarthopaśamam sāks ̣ ād bhakti-yogam adhoks ̣ aje lokasyājānato vidvāmś cakre sātvata-samhitām The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth.

 Sufferings  Body  Mind  Universe  Artha -> Anartha  Possessions  Work  Ego  Anartha -> Artha  Yukta-vairagya

 Arising from past sins  Arising from previous pious work  Arising from offenses  Arising from bhakti

 Hearing and Chanting  Mitigates superfluous sufferings  Revives love of God only when Lord is pleased  Sadhana => Lord is satisfied => Mercy => Devotional Service  Preaching  To educate and save the world

yasyām vai śrūyamān ̣ āyām kr ̣ s ̣ n ̣ e parama-pūrus ̣ e bhaktir utpadyate pumsah ̣ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā Simply by giving aural reception to this Vedic literature, the feeling for loving devotional service to Lord Kr ̣ s ̣ n ̣ a, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, sprouts up at once to extinguish the fire of lamentation, illusion and fearfulness.

 Love  Only word to properly describe relationship of Krsna and jiva  Peace  Lack of peace is due to lamentation and illusion  Politicians' peace conferences cannot help  Srimad Bhagavatam can - by producing love of God

The conclusion is that simply by hearing the Vedic literature Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, one can have direct connection with the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kr ̣ s ̣ n ̣ a, and thereby one can attain the highest perfection of life by transcending worldly miseries, illusion and fearfulness. These are practical tests for one who has actually given a submissive hearing to the readings of the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam.

 Vyasadeva’s realized the complete Absolute Truth which is the Lord and His energies  Krsna provides the material illusion to rectify us  Krsna helps us as the spiritual master within and without  Our sufferings are superfluous  Vyasadeva compiled the Srimad Bhagavatam to mitigate our miseries by helping us develop love for Krsna

  Srila Prabhupada’s lecture transcriptions   Srila Romapada Maharaja’s lectures   Sri Bhurijana Prabhu’s lectures  Unveiling His Lotus Feet  Sri Bhurijana Prabhu’s Detailed Overview

 The present perverted way of thinking, feeling and willing, under material conditions  Not natural for the jiva.

 The Lord does not desire that a living being be illusioned by external energy.  The external energy is aware of this fact, but still she accepts a thankless task of keeping the forgotten soul under illusion by her bewildering influence.  The Lord does not interfere with her tasks because they are necessary for reformation of the conditioned soul.  E.g Father treating a disobedient child.

 But the all-affectionate Almighty Father at the same time desires relief for the conditioned soul, relief from the clutches of the illusory energy.  E.g. King and prisoners.  Relief is in the form of instructions of Bhagavad-gītā, (7.14)

 Surrender -> Association -> Service -> Taste for Hearing -> Respect for the Lord -> Devotion -> Attachment.  This means that the conditioned souls are being reclaimed by the Lord both ways, namely by the process of punishment by the external energy of the Lord, and by Himself as the spiritual master within and without.  Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramātmā) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master.

 Refutation of Mayavada philosophy  Lord cannot fall into illusion, because maya is under full control of Krsna.  Jiva is controlled, Krsna is the controller. If both are same, jiva should have no distress  The relationship between the Lord and the living being is eternal and transcendental  Otherwise the Lord would not have taken the trouble to reclaim the conditioned souls from the clutches of māyā.  Our ultimate perfection  Revive our natural love and affection for the Lord.

 The five topics of Gita are in this verse  Sammohitam  Misidentification is due to false ego  False ego is the first element that comes out of pradhan and the last element to disappear  False ego produces all other elements by mixing with the modes of nature

 Material disease: Everyone is full of lamentation at every moment, he is after the mirage of illusory things, and he is always afraid of his supposed enemy.  Srimad Bhagavatam removes this disease by producing love of God  Love is the only word that can be properly used to indicate the relation between Lord Kr ̣ s ̣ n ̣ a and the living entities.  The politicians' peace conferences cannot remove illusion and fearfulness and thus cannot bring about peace in society.