Wave 218#

It is verily to be known necessarily by all satsangi persons – the characteristics of sampradaya etc. have been fully remembered in the eighteenth (wave/chapter) ॥१॥

शकेति ।
The first half related to the Shaka era has already been explained earlier. This text (or event) occurred on the pratipada tithi of the bright half of Magha month in Shaka Samvat 1882. The words of Hari manifested in the form of nectar ॥१॥

तत्रेति ।
On that tithi. In Vrittalayapura, in Lakshminarayanālaya, in the apavarakapura region of Shri Lakshminarayana, in the northern-facing chandrashala of the great mandapa, that is. On the sadāsana, in the western direction, on a thick cotton (wool) seat covered with a white upper cloth. At the conclusion of sandhya-nirajana, that is, the evening aratrika (arati) of Hari, that is. Shri Hari became manifest ॥२॥

सितेति ।
Sitavāsāh meaning fully clad in white garments. Surrounded on all sides by numerous devotees, renunciates, householders, and dependents who had come from various different countries, encircled by the assembly arrangement. That Shri Hari said to the great saints Muktānanda and others – O sādhvos! I ask a question, listen, receive it with attention ॥३॥

सत्सङ्गिनामिति ।
What is necessarily to be known in reality with ease by satsangis, by human beings – having asked in this manner, Shri Hari Himself gave the answer to that question to those sādhus ॥४॥

सम्प्रदाय इति ।
Sampradaya is the guru-parampara. Abhishta grantha means the texts approved by the sampradaya-pravartaka. And the dharma of householders and sādhus, and ishta-deva. In this way, these four principles beginning with sampradaya are to be known truly by satsangi persons ॥५॥

तत्रेति ।
Among those four beginning with sampradaya, the first sampradaya should be known as the sequence of one’s own gurus – ‘sampradāyo gurukramaḥ’ according to Amarakosha. Among those gurus, the primordial, that is, the first guru Uddhava is to be known for the purpose of adhva-pravartana, that is, the establishment of one’s own sampradaya ॥६॥

बोध्य इति ।
He who bears the burden of guru-hood bestowed by Krishna is that very Uddhava.
That same Uddhava is Ramananda – that is, Ramanand Swami himself is to be known.
The guru of that Ramanand Swami is directly and visibly Ramanuj Lakshmanacharya, who is to be known.
Even though in a previous birth he was a disciple of Shri Krishna (in the form of Uddhava), because in the Ramananda incarnation obtained due to the curse of Durvasa Rishi, Ramanuj became his guru, this statement has been made ॥७॥

To clarify this very point, it is said –
श्रीरङ्गेति ।
That Ramanand Swami received Vaishnavi diksha from the guru, that is, from Ramanuj, in samadhi in the great kshetra named Shriranga. I am the disciple of that Ramanand Swami ॥८॥

मयेति ।
The son born in Dharmavansh by me, the son of Dharmavansh-bhava, having been accepted as a son through the datta-vidhi, in Ayodhyaprasad Raghuvīr my guru-hood, that is, the burden of acharya, is placed, that is, established. In this way the guru-krama sampradaya is to be known. ॥९॥

ग्रन्था इति ।
In the Uddhava-marga (Uddhava tradition) a total of eight granthas are intended and accepted.
The names of those granthas are indicated by the following two shlokas.
They are – the four Vedas (Nigama), Vyasa’s sutras (Brahmasutra), and Shrimad Bhagavata Purana. ॥१०॥

विष्णिवति ।
Vishnu-sahasranama stotra, spoken by Bhagavan Shri Krishna to Arjuna, Gita, and Vidura-niti. These three beginning with Vishnu-sahasranama are to be known as situated in Bharat ॥११॥

श्रीवासुदेवेति ।
And Shri Vasudeva-mahatmya situated in Skanda Purana and Yajnavalkya-smriti. These eight granthas are declared ॥१२॥

त्यागिनामिति ।
The dharma of tyagis, that is, sādhus, and householders, are to be known fully separately from Shri Vasudeva-mahatmya ॥१३॥

इष्टदेव इति ।
The ishta-deva is the Lord Shri Krishna, the husband of Radhika, who is to be known. The direct and indirect form of this Shri Krishna is to be known. There should be understanding of the unity of the indirect-direct forms having divine and human synonyms, this is the purport ॥१४॥

परोक्षमिति ।
His indirect form is in Goloka, there (in Goloka) also situated in Brahmadham-stha (according to the sampradaya: the Brahmajyoti situated in the middle of Goloka is itself called Aksharadhama) Aksharadhama, always two-armed – endowed with two arms, served by Radha and other women, having effulgence equal to crores of suns ॥१५॥

श्रीदामेति ।
That indirect form of His is served by principal associates beginning with Shridama and Nanda. That indirect form Krishna is the creator, maintainer, and destroyer of infinite crores of universes ॥१६॥

चतुरिति ।
That Shri Krishna, assuming four-armed, eight-armed, thousand-armed own forms, is seated differently in other positions such as Vaikuntha etc. from Aksharadhama ॥१७॥

वासुदेवेति ।
Lord Shri Krishna becomes chaturvyuha in forms beginning with Vasudeva. This Shri Krishna becomes twenty-four kinds through the forms of Keshava etc. vyuhas in the self ॥१८॥

स इति ।
He alone, Shri Krishna, assumes incarnations such as Varaha etc. in Bhuloka. The purport of all scriptures, beginning with the Vedas, is only Shri Krishna. All scriptures propound Him either directly or indirectly, this is the meaning ॥१९॥

परोक्षमिति ।
In this way the indirect form of Krishna is to be known in reality. The direct form is the human-formed one existing in Bhuloka which is to be known ॥२०॥

नराकृतेरिति ।
The complete character of the human-formed Bhagavan Shri Krishna is described directly by the Bhagavad-avatara Vyasa Krishnadvaipayana. It is described in Shrimad Bhagavata, Bharata etc., this is the meaning. They are worthy of being heard by mumukshus with great devotion ॥२१॥

In the audibility of Vyasa-composed granthas, stating as the reason his Bhagavad-avatara-hood, Vedadi-acharya-hood, and the self-evident pramanatva of his statements like the Veda –
आचार्येभ्य इति ।
All acharyas consider Vyasa alone as the greatest because, just like the Vedas, his statements possess self-evident authority, and there is no cause for invalidity in them. Since the Vedas are the words of Bhagavan, and Vyasa is a direct incarnation of Bhagavan, just as the Vedas require no further validation, Vyasa’s explanations also require no external validation. Therefore those very statements are worthy of being heard by mumukshus – this is the purport ॥२२॥

The well-known Audulomi, Jaimini etc. acharyas in the parampara of Badarayana-Vyasa were contemporaries of Shri Krishna-avatara; therefore their opinions could not become specially famous at that time. Leaving them aside, after about three and a half thousand years of Kaliyuga had passed, the acharyas such as Shankaracharya etc. who appeared and are famous in the present time also accept Vyasa-acharya alone as authoritative – this is stated by this half-shloka.

आचार्या इति ।
That is, Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya, and similarly Nimbarkacharya, Vishnuswami etc. other acharyas. All these acharyas became promoters and causes of sad-dharma on earth. ॥२३॥

व्यासेति ।
All those Shankar etc. acharyas accept the statements of Vyasa as authoritative. Therefore those statements of Vyasa are primarily authoritative for us ॥२४॥

स इति ।
That Vyasa, for the welfare of human beings, first divided the Veda into four kinds – Rig etc. by name-distinctions, making it fourfold – ‘vyadadhād yajñasantatyai vedamekaṃ caturvidham’ according to Shrimad Bhagavata (1-4-19). After that he composed all other Puranas beginning from Brahmapurana and (Maha)Bharata ॥२५॥

तथेति ।
Nevertheless, even after so many efforts made by Vyasa, since the means for ultimate welfare was not clearly stated by me, thus Vyasa, afflicted with sorrow, composed Shrimad Bhagavata. Thereby his sorrow was pacified and previous satisfaction was obtained, this is the purport ॥२६॥

Now praise of the Shrimad Bhagavata grantha composed by him is stated –
वेदेति ।
Having taken the entire essence of Vedas, shastras, Puranas, Panchratra, and Arsha Ramayana etc., this rasa-filled Shrimad Bhagavata was composed by Vyasa ॥२७॥

तत्रेति ।
There in Shrimad Bhagavata it is said that Lord Shri Krishna Himself is the bearer of all avatars and therefore the source of all avatars. That Shri Krishna is always devoid of illusory material qualities ॥२८॥

स्वेति ।
The self-nirguna nature of Shri Krishna Himself is clearly stated to Uddhava in the gunadhyaya (25th chapter of gunavibhaga) of the eleventh skandha ॥२९॥

निर्गुणस्येति ।
Nirguna – only in relation to that Krishna do qualitative states – karma, jnana, desha etc. attain nirgunatva. Therefore Krishna alone is nirguna ॥३०॥

येनेति ।
Some – those persons who attain relation with nirguna Krishna through any sentiment such as lust, hatred, fear etc., they attain nirgunatva ॥३१॥

यदीति ।
If Krishna were not nirguna, if He were pure-sattvic, then how could the gopis etc. become nirguna by relation with Him – this is the remainder ॥३२॥

अत इति ।
Therefore Krishna is indeed nirguna. There is no doubt in this meaning. Shri Krishna Himself stated in the Gita to Arjuna the divine and non-material nature of His birth, actions etc. ॥३३॥

The same is stated –
जन्मेति ।
O Arjuna! According to the previous three shlokas, that person who knows My birth, actions, character in reality as divine, he does not take birth again after leaving the body, but attains Me alone ॥३४॥

कृष्णेनेति ।
By this nirguna Krishna, wonderful transformations are also shown to some devotees by His own will ॥३५॥

चतुरिति ।
That Krishna shows four-armed, eight-armed, thousand-armed forms also to devotees such as Devaki etc. as per necessity through His opulence ॥३६॥

तेषामिति ।
Since there is difference between those three forms and the actual two-armed real form of nirguna Krishna, the difference in scriptural worship is appropriate ॥३७॥

एकस्येति ।
Some worshipers describe various forms of worship based on differences of place – Gokul, Mathura, Dwarika etc., states – childhood, youth etc., attire – peacock-feather crown etc. of the same two-armed form. Taking other supports like place etc. and accepting differences in the same murti, they speak of difference in worship – this is the meaning ॥३८॥

नेति ।
Such worship is not our opinion. Being unscriptural it is not accepted by me. Therefore mumukshus should not accept that through my dependents. In the same way, Krishna’s conduct also should not be followed ॥३९॥

स्वेति ।
That which truly awakens svadharma, jnana, vairagya, bhakti – the mahatmya of Shri Krishna Himself and His ekantika bhaktas is the awakener ॥४०॥

उद्धवमिति ।
The words spoken by Jagadguru Shri Krishna to Uddhava, the words to Arjuna, or the words to other devotees ॥४१॥

तानिति ।
Those words alone are to be accepted respectfully and completely by devotees. One should not imitate Krishna’s conduct by seeing it – this is the one relation of all three ॥४२॥

गोपेति ।
Some – the use of gopa-ucchishta, the remnant food eaten by gopas, Yashoda’s lila etc. which is Krishna’s character, seeing that, that person in this world who imitates such conduct ॥४३॥

सदिति ।
That person, corrupted from sadachara, fallen from the conduct-path bound by sadhu-persons, will definitely fall into hell. Therefore my dependent persons should never behave according to such Krishna-conduct ॥४४॥

अशास्त्रीयमिति ।
Just as one should not adopt the unscriptural, worldly-condemned, universally-condemned conduct of Shri Krishna, similarly your guru, your instructor, my conduct also should never be adopted ॥४५॥

वाक्यानीति ।
In the Uddhava-path, that is, Uddhava-marga, the dharma etc. of tyagis-householders – svadharma, jnana, virakti, bhakti, bhagavan-mahatmya etc. – my words awakening these are to be followed by my dependents ॥४६॥

वर्तिष्यत इति ।
Whoever among my dependents behaves otherwise, differently from what I have stated, should never be considered mine. This conversation instructing the fourfold beginning with sampradaya is to be held in the heart by all my dependents and is to be spoken before everyone ॥४७॥

पीत्वेति ।
In this way, having drunk the nectar-like speech of Shri Hari, the son of dharma, all the tyagi-grihastha sanghas present in the assembly become satisfied and carefully hold that speech in the lotus of the heart ॥४८॥

तमिति । – To that very Shri Hari.
And further it is said that the community of those tyagis and grihasthas knew only that very Shri Hari – who is Himself Shri Krishna – in the heart fully and with conviction as their own Lord, their own ishta-deva, and their own guru. Because Bhagavan is fond of remaining indirect (He likes to remain dear in an indirect form), and considers it improper to proclaim His own glory from His own mouth (He is humble, does not praise Himself), even though He is Shri Krishna Himself, if someone speaks of another as Krishna for teaching self-knowledge (such as some other avatara or form), still the devotees know “ayam eva so’sti” — “this very one (Shri Hari) is He (Krishna)” — there is no other supreme reality different from Him. Therefore their conviction regarding the supreme godhood of Shri Hari is immovable and firm like a mountain; just as a mountain remains steady due to its natural stability, similarly in the hearts of devotees the conviction that Shri Hari alone is the Supreme Lord remains completely steady and unshakable. On the basis of this very immovable conviction they remain engaged in the service of only that Shri Hari through the supreme, exclusive, and ekantika bhakti-upasana. ॥४९॥

(Uddhava Jnana – Special Note) Here the repeated use of “श्रीहरिमेव । कृष्णम्”, “श्रीकृष्णः सन्नपि” and “अयमेव सोऽस्ति” proves that Shri Hari = Shri Krishna — both are one and the same. The conviction of the devotees is exactly this: there is no difference, He is the one and only Purushottama.

समापन श्लोक

Shri Hari, who is necessarily to be known by all His devotees, and His paroksha-priya nature (fondness for remaining indirect) is His main characteristic. Therefore He gave His teaching/knowledge even in the beginning of His sampradaya (devotee-tradition) in an indirect manner only.॥१॥
May that Bhagavan bestow upon me the knowledge which clearly and truly explains the pratyaksha form (direct incarnation), paroksha form (indwelling/indirect), and His own essential form also.॥२॥

Thus concludes the 218th wave (chapter/section) of the ‘श्रीहरिवाक्यसुधासिन्धु’ commentary on the ‘सेतुमाला’ text composed by रघुवीराचार्य, the son of श्रीहरिकृष्ण भगवान, promoter of ekantika-dharma, and exclusive devotee of Shri Hari. ॥२१८॥१८॥