Power of Following Spiritual Master's Instructions

2016-12-15 Srimad Bhagavatam 10.87.47-50 - Power of Following Spiritual Master's Instructions (download mp3) by Vishwarup Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty www.iskcondesiretree.com SB 10.87.47ity adyam rsim anamya tac-chisyams ca mahatmanahtato ’gad asramam saksat pitur dvaipayanasya me Translation: [Sukadeva Gosvami continued:] After saying this, Narada bowed down to Sri Narayana Rsi, the foremost of sages, and also to His saintly disciples. He then returned to the hermitage of my father, Dvaipayana Vyasa. SB 10.87.48sabhajito bhagavata krtasana-parigrahahtasmai tad varnayam asa narayana-mukhac chrutam Translation:Vyasadeva, the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, respectfully greeted Narada Muni and offered him a seat, which he accepted. Narada then described to Vyasa what he had heard from the mouth of Sri Narayana Rsi. SB 10.87.49ity etad varnitam rajan yan nah prasnah krtas tvayayatha brahmany anirdesye nirgune ’pi manas caret Translation:  Thus I have replied to the question you asked me, O King, concerning how the mind can have access to the Absolute Truth, which is indescribable by material words and devoid of material qualities. SB 10.87.50yo ’syotpreksaka adi-madhya-nidhane yo ’vyakta-jivesvaro yah srstvedam anupravisya rsina cakre purah sasti tahyam sampadya jahaty ajam anusayi suptah kulayam yatha tam kaivalya-nirasta-yonim abhayam dhyayed ajasram harim Translation: He is the Lord who eternally watches over this universe, who exists before, during and after its manifestation. He is the master of both the unmanifest material energy and the spirit soul. After sending forth the creation He enters within it, accompanying each living entity. There He creates the material bodies and then remains as their regulator. By surrendering to Him one can escape the embrace of illusion, just as a dreaming person forgets his own body. One who wants liberation from fear should constantly meditate upon Him, Lord Hari, who is always on the platform of perfection and thus never subject to material birth. Purport: By glancing upon the dormant universe at the time of sending forth the jiva souls into creation, the Supreme Lord provides all their necessities: For those living entities who are fruitive workers, He provides the intelligence and senses needed to achieve success in material work. For those who seek transcendental knowledge, He provides the intelligence by which they can merge into the spiritual effulgence of God, thus attaining liberation. And for the devotees He provides the understanding that leads them to His pure devotional service. To arrange for these varied facilities, the Lord impels material nature to begin the process of universal evolution. Thus the Lord is the nimitta-karanam, or effective cause, of creation. He is also the upadana-karanam, the ingredient cause, inasmuch as everything emanates from Him and He alone is constantly present before, during and after the manifestation of the created cosmos. Lord Narayana Himself states this in the Catuh-sloki Bhagavatam: aham evasam evagre nanyad yat sad-asat-parampascad aham yad etac ca yo ’vasisyeta so ’smy aham “It is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead.” (Bhag. 2.9.33) Primeval Maya and the jiva soul may deserve the respective titles of upadana and nimitta causes of creation in a relative sense, but the Lord, after all, is the origin of both of them. Until he chooses to accept the mercy of the Personality of Godhead, the jiva soul is anusayi, helplessly bound up in the embrace of illusion. When he turns to the Lord’s worship, he becomes anusayi in a different sense: fallen like a rod to pay obeisances at the Lord’s feet. By that surrender the soul easily casts illusion aside. Even