| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 87: The Prayers of the Personified Vedas |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.87.23
nibhrita-marun-mano-'ksha-dridha-yoga-yujo hridi yan
munaya upāsate tad arayo 'pi yayuh smaranāt
striya uragendra-bhoga-bhuja-danda-vishakta-dhiyo
vayam api te samāh sama-driśo 'ńghri-saroja-sudhāh
SYNONYMS
nibhrita — brought under control; marut — with breathing; manah — mind; aksha — and senses; dridha-yoga — in steadfast yoga; yujah — engaged; hridi — in the heart; yat — which; munayah — sages; upāsate — worship; tat — that; arayah — enemies; api — also; yayuh — attained; smaranāt — by remembering; striyah — women; uraga-indra — of lordly serpents; bhoga — (like) the bodies; bhuja — whose arms; danda — rodlike; vishakta — attracted; dhiyah — whose minds; vayam — we; api — also; te — to You; samāh — equal; sama — equal; driśah — whose vision; ańghri — of the feet; saroja — lotuslike; sudhāh — (relishing) the nectar.
TRANSLATION
Simply by constantly thinking of Him, the enemies of the Lord attained the same Supreme Truth whom sages fixed in yoga worship by controlling their breath, mind and senses. Similarly, we śrutis, who generally see You as all-pervading, will achieve the same nectar from Your lotus feet that Your consorts are able to relish because of their loving attraction to Your mighty, serpentine arms, for You look upon us and Your consorts in the same way.
PURPORT
According to Ācārya Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, the few śrutis — such as the Gopāla-tāpanī Upanishad — who identify the cowherd boy Krishna with absolute Brahman in its highest aspect had so far been patiently waiting for their turn to speak. But after hearing the other śrutis offer prayers openly glorifying the Lord's personality, these intimate śrutis could no longer contain themselves, and so they spoke out of turn in this verse.
Followers of the path of mystic yoga subdue their senses and minds by practicing breath control and severe austerities. If they succeed in thoroughly purifying themselves by this regimen, they may eventually begin to realize the Paramātmā, the personal form of Brahman within the heart. And if they continue this meditation without deviation for a long time, they may in the end come to the point of true God consciousness. But the same objective achieved in this difficult and uncertain way was also attained by the demons who were killed by Lord Krishna during His pastimes on the earth. Obsessed with enmity toward Him, demons like Kamsa and Śiśupāla quickly obtained the perfection of liberation simply by His killing them.
Speaking for themselves, however, the personified Vedas here state that they would prefer to develop love of Godhead by learning to emulate the favorable surrender of Lord Krishna's confidential devotees, especially the young gopīs of Vraja. Though they appeared to be simple women attracted conjugally to the Lord's physical beauty and strength, the goddesses of Vraja exhibited the highest perfection of meditation. The śrutis wish to become just like them.
In this regard, Lord Brahmā relates the following historical account in the supplement to the Brihad-vāmana Purāna:
brahmānanda-mayo loko
"The infinite world of spiritual bliss is called Vaikuntha. There the Supreme Truth lives, being glorified by the personified Vedas, who are also present there."
"Once, after the Vedas had elaborately praised Him, the Lord felt especially satisfied and spoke to them in a voice whose source remained invisible: 'My dear sages, I am very satisfied with you. Please ask of Me some benediction that you secretly desire.'"
śrutaya ūcuh
cikīrshājani nas tathā
"The śrutis replied, 'We have developed the desire to become like the cowherd women of the mortal world who, inspired by lust, worship You in the mood of a lover.' "
durlabho durghataś caiva
yushmākam sa manorathah
mayānumoditah samyak
"The Lord then said, 'This desire of Yours is difficult to fulfill. Indeed, it is almost impossible. But since I am sanctioning it, your wish must inevitably come true.' "
vraje gopyo bhavishyatha
" 'When the next Brahmā takes birth to faithfully execute his duties of creation, and when the day of his life called the Sārasvata-kalpa arrives, you will all appear in Vraja as gopīs.' "
vrindāvane bhavishyāmi
" 'On the earth, in the land of Bhārata, in My own district of Mathurā, in the forest of Vrindāvana, I will become your beloved in the circle of the rāsa dance.' "
" 'Thus obtaining Me as your paramour, you will all gain the most exalted and steadfast pure love for Me, and in this way you will fulfill all your ambitions.' "
brahmovāca
śrutvaitac cintayantyas tā
"Lord Brahmā said: After hearing these words, the śrutis meditated on the Personality of Godhead's beauty for a long time. When the designated time ultimately arrived, they became gopīs and obtained the association of Krishna."
A similar account can be found in the Srishti-khanda of the Padma Purāna, which describes how the Gāyatrī mantra also became a gopī.
Regarding the development of bhakti, Lord Krishna further states in the Gopāla-tāpanī Upanishad (Uttara 4), apūtah pūto bhavati yam mām smritvā, avratī vratī bhavati yam mām smritvā, nishkāmah sa-kāmo bhavati yam mām smritvā, aśrotrī śrotrī bhavati yam mām smritvā: "By remembering Me, one who is impure becomes pure. By remembering Me, one who follows no vows becomes a strict follower of vows. By remembering Me, one who is desireless develops desires [to serve Me]. By remembering Me, one who has studied no Vedic mantras becomes an expert knower of the Vedas."
The Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad (4.5.6) refers to the gradual steps in the process of becoming Krishna conscious: ātmā vā are drashtavyah śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyah. "It is the Self which must be observed, heard about, thought of and meditated upon with fixed concentration." The idea here is that one should realize the Supreme Self as directly visible in His full personality by the following means: First one should hear the instructions of a qualified representative of the Paramātmā and take the words of such a spiritual master into one's heart by offering him humble service and striving in all ways to please him. One should then ponder the divine message of the spiritual master continuously, with the aim of dispelling all one's doubts and misconceptions. Then one can proceed to meditate on the Supreme Lord's lotus feet with total conviction and determination.
So-called jñānīs may think that the Upanishads praise nirviśesha (impersonal) realization of the Supreme as more complete and final than sa-viśesha (personal) worship of the Supreme Godhead. All honest Vaishnavas, however, join in adhering to the devotional service of the Supreme Lord, always meditating with pleasure on His infinitely wonderful, variegated spiritual qualities. In the words of the śruti-mantras, yam evaisha vrinute tena labhyas/ tasyaisha ātmā vivrinute tanūm svām: "To that person whom the Supreme Soul chooses, He becomes attainable. To that person the Supreme Soul reveals His personal form." (Katha Upanishad 1.2.23 and Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.3)
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī concludes with the prayer,
"O Lord, loving remembrance of Your lotus feet is very rarely achieved. Please, O Nrihari, somehow arrange for me to have that remembrance day and night."
Copyright © r The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari