Sunday, April 20, 2008
What a Wonderful World
I see trees of green........ red roses too I see em bloom..... for me and for you And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world. I see skies of blue..... clouds of white Bright blessed days.... dark sacred nights And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world. The colors of a rainbow..... so pretty ..in the sky Are also on the faces..... of people ..going by I see friends shaking hands..... sayin.. how do you do Theyre really sayin......i love you. I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow Theyll learn much more..... than Ill never know And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world Yes I think to myself .......what a wonderful world.
Learning From Nature-Srimad Bhagavat Purana
Close to the end of Krishna Leela, this small Geeta comes after the Bhagavad Geeta, in stunning simplicity.... Expand
UDDHAVA GEETA
From Bala Bhagavatam - Central Chinmaya Mission Trust
THE AVADHUTA
------------
Krishna's mission on earth was nearing its end. He had, in answer to prayers of the gods and Mother Earth, killed any number of demons,daitya s, and wicked kings. He had played a major part in the Mahabharata war in which the Kaurava s and all their evil supporters had been killed. The Yadava race had grown proud and arrogant because they felt assured of Krishna's guiding hand in all their undertakings. The time was drawing near for the extinction of the Yadava s. Besides, Brahma, Shiva, and the other gods had requested the Lord to return to Vaikuntha . Knowing all this , Uddhava touched Krishna's feet with his head and said, "Lord! I am well aware that the end of he Yadu s is near, that very soon You will be leaving the earth. I cannot bear to be away from You. Please grant that I may always be with You, that I may never be separated from You.
Krishna then spoke lovingly to Uddhava and gave him teaching on how to live in the world, how to shake off attachment to all worldly things, and how to cultivate supreme devotion to the Lord, in order to attain the Blessedness of His Being. This portion of the Bhagavatam is known as the Uddhava Geeta . In the course of his teachings, Bhagavan told Uddhava the following meaningful story.
King Yadu once came across a young Avadhuta (naked ascetic lost in thoughts of the Lord.), who seemed to be roaming about aimlessly. Addressing him, he said, "Tell me o learned one, you look as thought you had renounced the ego completely. How do you manage to keep such perfect balance in the midst of men who lust after wealth and enjoyement? What is the secret of your inner peace? What enables you to roam the surfaces of the earth, like a child, so free from care?"
The Avadhuta answered, "O noble king, I have roamed freely on the earth and received wisdom from many teachers. They are twenty-four in number. Hear from me about them. They are the EARTH, AIR, ETHER , WATER, FIRE, MOON, SUN; PIGEON, PYTHON, SEA, MOTH, ELEPHANT; BEE HONEY-GATHERER, DEER, FISH; DANCING-GIRL PINGALA, AND THE OSPREY (The Fishing Eagle); CHILD , MAIDEN, ARROW-MAKER, SNAKE, SPIDER, and the insect known as BHRAMARA-KEETA. Listen then, to the lesson I learnt, from each of these teachers. (Parents must see that the children can repeat these 24 teachers in life, and what Sri Avadhuta learnt from each of them)
***
"From EARTH, I have learnt to be tolerant, and to good only for the sake of others. A wise man should never lose his balance even when he is ill-treated by others. He should be like a tree, which always serves others, no matter how it is treated by the animals and human beings. A man's life should be to this end.
"The AIR, although it carries good and bad odours, is never affected by them. Its essential nature is always pure. Similarly, even though moving in the world of good and bad, one should not be affected by them.
"The ATMAN is like the ETHER ( Aakasha , or space), present in living and non-living things. It is ever pure, ever free. Meditating on the atman should a man live even while in this body he realizes his unity with the Lord. As the ether remains untouched by the clouds driven by the wind, so too should one be, untouched by the constant changes in the world.
"WATER is always cool, comforting, sweet and pure. So too, is a sage. Contact with a sage always purifies a person who seeks his company.
"He is like the FIRE (Agni ), which is not contaminated by the good or bad thrown into it. Fire reduces to ashes even the filthiest thing thrown into it, yet it ever remains pure. So too is a man of Paramatma ("God"), who destroys the impurities of others, but himself ever remains pure. The Lord assumes many forms in the universe, just as fire assumes he shape of the burning objects. Just as the flames in the fire rise and fall, so too birth and death are but the movements of ( Agni /fire inside) the body.
"With the revolving of time, one sees changes in the MOON (Crescent, half, & full), but actually the moon itself remains the same always, under all conditions.
"The SUN, when reflected in many buckets of water, appears as many suns, but is actually one. So too, the Atman, when reflected in many individuals, appears as many, but is actually one.
"Once there lived a PIGEON in a tree with its mate, and its young ones. One day the two pigeons had gone out to look for food. A hunter came and trapped the baby pigeons. When the parents came back and saw what had happened, the mother was so grief stricken that she too jumped into the trap. The father was unable to bear the separation, so he too jumped into the trap. And thus the entire family was killed. Similarly, a man comes to grief when he is over attached to his family and possessions. He loses his reason and self-control. Born as a human being, one should strive to reach Brahman, for all our attachments to the world of sense objects drag us down.
"A PYTHON is content with what food comes its way. So too, a wise man is happy with the food he gets, whether it is tasty or badly cooked. He does not (just) struggle (unnecessarily) to (only) keep his body well fed, because his mind is constantly engaged in the contemplation of the Lord.
"When the OCEAN is quiet, it is calm and placid. So too is a wise man, even tranquil in his Knowledge. Just as the Ocean never overflows its boundaries, so too the man of enlightenment never transgresses his own tranquility.
"A MOTH is indifferent to its great danger when it is attracted by the flame. Ultimately it gets burned by it. He who doesn't have sufficient self-control, and is easily attracted by the sense objects of pleasure, so , like the moth, he ultimately gets destroyed by them, due to his over-indulgence.
"Like an ELEPHANT is caught in a trap by the touch of the she-elephant, so too a man with lust is caught. Look not at anyone with lustful eyes.
"The BEE gathers honey from all flowers. a wise man learns from all sages and scriptures, and sees only the good in them.
"The HONEY-GATHERER steals honey from the bee-hive. But the bees neither enjoy the honey themselves, nor do they let another do so. Be not greedy and miserly like the honeybee.
"A DEER is attracted by sweet sounds and so easily caught in a snare. A man should take warning from this and not be drawn by sounds, which just sound sweet.
"A FISH, because it is greedy, is caught by the bait on a hook. He who has no control over his sense of taste meets with a similar end. The organ of taste is the most difficult to control. Once it is controlled, it is easy to control all other organs.
"Once upon a time there lived a dancing girl, called PINGALA. One evening, as usual, she stood at her door, hoping she would catch a rich man who would reward her with untold wealth for her services. Soon it was nightfall, and yet no one came. Suddenly the realised her folly. She said to herself 'How foolish I have been! I have waited for the favours of mere men, when I could have the eternal favour of Paramatma, forgetting the immense wealth of His love, I have sought the wealth of others. The Lord is the friend of all. He has shown me his Grace by making me realise this. Truly I have been foolish, but no more."
Pingala soon gave up all her worldly pleasures and composed her mind in meditation upon the Lord. Hope for worldly enjoyments only brings misery. When this hope is renounced, one gains the highest bliss.
"Once an OSPREY was carrying a fish in its beak. It was pursued and attacked by a number of strong birds, who tormented him. The moment he dropped the fish, they stopped troubling him. Similarly, when a man is attached to an object, it brings him misery. But the moment he leaves it, he enjoys peace & calm.
"I am like a CHILD, carefree and happy, because I have no attachments. Praise and blame are alike to me. My only playmate is my Lord. The difference is, the child is happy through ignorance. The wise man is happy in Knowledge which has taken him beyond the *guna s*.
"I once learnt a lesson from a MAIDEN. It so happened that a young man and his party came to seek her hand in marriage. Before the food could be prepared, the rice had to be husked. But the girl did not want the party to know that she had to do this task herself. But as she husked the rice, her bracelets made plenty of noise. She felt sure that they would come to know what she was doing. So she removed all her bracelets, leaving two on each arm. But even these made a tinkling sound. So she removed two more bracelets leaving only one on each arm. From then on, her work was smooth and noiseless. From this maiden I have learnt that there is always a lot of noise and quarreling where many people live together. Even where there are two people, there is small talk and gossip.
Therefore it is best to be solitary and alone. One should then control the scattered thoughts of the mind and fix it in meditation upon the Lord.
"The attention should be fixed upon the Lord with as great a concentration as the ARROW-MAKER'S, who is not conscious of anything else when he is fashioning an arrow.
"A SNAKE enters and lives in a hole which has been made by others. It is not particular about where it sleeps. A sage seeks out caves. What home can he be attached to? He is silent and modest and only speaks words which are beneficial to others.
"Just as a SPIDER spins out the thread from its own mouth, weaves it into a web, plays with it and then withdraws it into itself, so too, the Lord, brings out the world from Himself, plays with it and then withdraws it into Himself. In essence his nature ever Blissful, Unchangeable and full of Knowledge.
"The larva (keeta )by constantly thinking of the BHRAMARA becomes the * Bhramara *.Similarly a man becomes which he constantly thinks about.
***
"All this I have learnt from my twenty-four teachers. And my own BODY has taught me that it is the most impermanent thing in the world. It is subject to birth and death. Therefore I have learnt that I am not the body and that, being only the "dweller" in the body, I am separate from it. Man pampers this body, acquires wealth and enjoyments for its sake, but it finally withers and dies away, leaving everything behind.
"Of all Bhagwan 's creatures, man alone has the equipment to realise his oneness with Bhagwan ( Paramatma ). He alone is a rare and privileged incarnation. Therefore, instead of wasting time in pursuit of worldly enjoyment he must employ his time in seeking Paramatma.
"Truth can be learnt from many teachers - for truth is one, but the sages call it by different names." [From Rg Veda - Ekam Sat Vipra Bahu Vadanti]
~x~
REFERENCES:
Cross Reference on Uddhava-
Bhakthi Vs Vibhakthi -I by Dr. P. E. Sarangadhara Kartha Close
a related blog (first part). http://kartha-pes.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/08/bhakthi-vs-vibhakthi-i.htm
UDDHAVA GEETA
From Bala Bhagavatam - Central Chinmaya Mission Trust
THE AVADHUTA
------------
Krishna's mission on earth was nearing its end. He had, in answer to prayers of the gods and Mother Earth, killed any number of demons,daitya s, and wicked kings. He had played a major part in the Mahabharata war in which the Kaurava s and all their evil supporters had been killed. The Yadava race had grown proud and arrogant because they felt assured of Krishna's guiding hand in all their undertakings. The time was drawing near for the extinction of the Yadava s. Besides, Brahma, Shiva, and the other gods had requested the Lord to return to Vaikuntha . Knowing all this , Uddhava touched Krishna's feet with his head and said, "Lord! I am well aware that the end of he Yadu s is near, that very soon You will be leaving the earth. I cannot bear to be away from You. Please grant that I may always be with You, that I may never be separated from You.
Krishna then spoke lovingly to Uddhava and gave him teaching on how to live in the world, how to shake off attachment to all worldly things, and how to cultivate supreme devotion to the Lord, in order to attain the Blessedness of His Being. This portion of the Bhagavatam is known as the Uddhava Geeta . In the course of his teachings, Bhagavan told Uddhava the following meaningful story.
King Yadu once came across a young Avadhuta (naked ascetic lost in thoughts of the Lord.), who seemed to be roaming about aimlessly. Addressing him, he said, "Tell me o learned one, you look as thought you had renounced the ego completely. How do you manage to keep such perfect balance in the midst of men who lust after wealth and enjoyement? What is the secret of your inner peace? What enables you to roam the surfaces of the earth, like a child, so free from care?"
The Avadhuta answered, "O noble king, I have roamed freely on the earth and received wisdom from many teachers. They are twenty-four in number. Hear from me about them. They are the EARTH, AIR, ETHER , WATER, FIRE, MOON, SUN; PIGEON, PYTHON, SEA, MOTH, ELEPHANT; BEE HONEY-GATHERER, DEER, FISH; DANCING-GIRL PINGALA, AND THE OSPREY (The Fishing Eagle); CHILD , MAIDEN, ARROW-MAKER, SNAKE, SPIDER, and the insect known as BHRAMARA-KEETA. Listen then, to the lesson I learnt, from each of these teachers. (Parents must see that the children can repeat these 24 teachers in life, and what Sri Avadhuta learnt from each of them)
***
"From EARTH, I have learnt to be tolerant, and to good only for the sake of others. A wise man should never lose his balance even when he is ill-treated by others. He should be like a tree, which always serves others, no matter how it is treated by the animals and human beings. A man's life should be to this end.
"The AIR, although it carries good and bad odours, is never affected by them. Its essential nature is always pure. Similarly, even though moving in the world of good and bad, one should not be affected by them.
"The ATMAN is like the ETHER ( Aakasha , or space), present in living and non-living things. It is ever pure, ever free. Meditating on the atman should a man live even while in this body he realizes his unity with the Lord. As the ether remains untouched by the clouds driven by the wind, so too should one be, untouched by the constant changes in the world.
"WATER is always cool, comforting, sweet and pure. So too, is a sage. Contact with a sage always purifies a person who seeks his company.
"He is like the FIRE (Agni ), which is not contaminated by the good or bad thrown into it. Fire reduces to ashes even the filthiest thing thrown into it, yet it ever remains pure. So too is a man of Paramatma ("God"), who destroys the impurities of others, but himself ever remains pure. The Lord assumes many forms in the universe, just as fire assumes he shape of the burning objects. Just as the flames in the fire rise and fall, so too birth and death are but the movements of ( Agni /fire inside) the body.
"With the revolving of time, one sees changes in the MOON (Crescent, half, & full), but actually the moon itself remains the same always, under all conditions.
"The SUN, when reflected in many buckets of water, appears as many suns, but is actually one. So too, the Atman, when reflected in many individuals, appears as many, but is actually one.
"Once there lived a PIGEON in a tree with its mate, and its young ones. One day the two pigeons had gone out to look for food. A hunter came and trapped the baby pigeons. When the parents came back and saw what had happened, the mother was so grief stricken that she too jumped into the trap. The father was unable to bear the separation, so he too jumped into the trap. And thus the entire family was killed. Similarly, a man comes to grief when he is over attached to his family and possessions. He loses his reason and self-control. Born as a human being, one should strive to reach Brahman, for all our attachments to the world of sense objects drag us down.
"A PYTHON is content with what food comes its way. So too, a wise man is happy with the food he gets, whether it is tasty or badly cooked. He does not (just) struggle (unnecessarily) to (only) keep his body well fed, because his mind is constantly engaged in the contemplation of the Lord.
"When the OCEAN is quiet, it is calm and placid. So too is a wise man, even tranquil in his Knowledge. Just as the Ocean never overflows its boundaries, so too the man of enlightenment never transgresses his own tranquility.
"A MOTH is indifferent to its great danger when it is attracted by the flame. Ultimately it gets burned by it. He who doesn't have sufficient self-control, and is easily attracted by the sense objects of pleasure, so , like the moth, he ultimately gets destroyed by them, due to his over-indulgence.
"Like an ELEPHANT is caught in a trap by the touch of the she-elephant, so too a man with lust is caught. Look not at anyone with lustful eyes.
"The BEE gathers honey from all flowers. a wise man learns from all sages and scriptures, and sees only the good in them.
"The HONEY-GATHERER steals honey from the bee-hive. But the bees neither enjoy the honey themselves, nor do they let another do so. Be not greedy and miserly like the honeybee.
"A DEER is attracted by sweet sounds and so easily caught in a snare. A man should take warning from this and not be drawn by sounds, which just sound sweet.
"A FISH, because it is greedy, is caught by the bait on a hook. He who has no control over his sense of taste meets with a similar end. The organ of taste is the most difficult to control. Once it is controlled, it is easy to control all other organs.
"Once upon a time there lived a dancing girl, called PINGALA. One evening, as usual, she stood at her door, hoping she would catch a rich man who would reward her with untold wealth for her services. Soon it was nightfall, and yet no one came. Suddenly the realised her folly. She said to herself 'How foolish I have been! I have waited for the favours of mere men, when I could have the eternal favour of Paramatma, forgetting the immense wealth of His love, I have sought the wealth of others. The Lord is the friend of all. He has shown me his Grace by making me realise this. Truly I have been foolish, but no more."
Pingala soon gave up all her worldly pleasures and composed her mind in meditation upon the Lord. Hope for worldly enjoyments only brings misery. When this hope is renounced, one gains the highest bliss.
"Once an OSPREY was carrying a fish in its beak. It was pursued and attacked by a number of strong birds, who tormented him. The moment he dropped the fish, they stopped troubling him. Similarly, when a man is attached to an object, it brings him misery. But the moment he leaves it, he enjoys peace & calm.
"I am like a CHILD, carefree and happy, because I have no attachments. Praise and blame are alike to me. My only playmate is my Lord. The difference is, the child is happy through ignorance. The wise man is happy in Knowledge which has taken him beyond the *guna s*.
"I once learnt a lesson from a MAIDEN. It so happened that a young man and his party came to seek her hand in marriage. Before the food could be prepared, the rice had to be husked. But the girl did not want the party to know that she had to do this task herself. But as she husked the rice, her bracelets made plenty of noise. She felt sure that they would come to know what she was doing. So she removed all her bracelets, leaving two on each arm. But even these made a tinkling sound. So she removed two more bracelets leaving only one on each arm. From then on, her work was smooth and noiseless. From this maiden I have learnt that there is always a lot of noise and quarreling where many people live together. Even where there are two people, there is small talk and gossip.
Therefore it is best to be solitary and alone. One should then control the scattered thoughts of the mind and fix it in meditation upon the Lord.
"The attention should be fixed upon the Lord with as great a concentration as the ARROW-MAKER'S, who is not conscious of anything else when he is fashioning an arrow.
"A SNAKE enters and lives in a hole which has been made by others. It is not particular about where it sleeps. A sage seeks out caves. What home can he be attached to? He is silent and modest and only speaks words which are beneficial to others.
"Just as a SPIDER spins out the thread from its own mouth, weaves it into a web, plays with it and then withdraws it into itself, so too, the Lord, brings out the world from Himself, plays with it and then withdraws it into Himself. In essence his nature ever Blissful, Unchangeable and full of Knowledge.
"The larva (keeta )by constantly thinking of the BHRAMARA becomes the * Bhramara *.Similarly a man becomes which he constantly thinks about.
***
"All this I have learnt from my twenty-four teachers. And my own BODY has taught me that it is the most impermanent thing in the world. It is subject to birth and death. Therefore I have learnt that I am not the body and that, being only the "dweller" in the body, I am separate from it. Man pampers this body, acquires wealth and enjoyments for its sake, but it finally withers and dies away, leaving everything behind.
"Of all Bhagwan 's creatures, man alone has the equipment to realise his oneness with Bhagwan ( Paramatma ). He alone is a rare and privileged incarnation. Therefore, instead of wasting time in pursuit of worldly enjoyment he must employ his time in seeking Paramatma.
"Truth can be learnt from many teachers - for truth is one, but the sages call it by different names." [From Rg Veda - Ekam Sat Vipra Bahu Vadanti]
~x~
REFERENCES:
Cross Reference on Uddhava-
Bhakthi Vs Vibhakthi -I by Dr. P. E. Sarangadhara Kartha Close
a related blog (first part). http://kartha-pes.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/08/bhakthi-vs-vibhakthi-i.htm
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