Bhakti List Archives

Re: brahman and "ugly" things

From the Bhakti List Archives

pradeepjanakiraman • Tue Aug 20 2002 - 00:02:30 PDT 


Dear Ramkumar

One can say that something is "ugly" and something is "not-ugly" only 
when there is a mind that differentiates the two. It is in one's mind 
that these differences occur. 

For the utthama-bhakta, or the jnani or the jivan-muktha, there is 
complete "sama-dhrusti", or seeing everything with equanimity. There 
is no "raaga-dwesham", "paksha-paadham" at all. 

For a true bhakta, jivan-muktha, the lips of a beautiful woman are 
the same as the pieces of a broken pot. 

They are in this state, because they see God in everything. 
And God = Brahmam = Paramatma. So that I guess explains how Brahmam 
is pervasive. 

There's a slokam from the Bhagavatam where Sri Suka says "brahmeti, 
paramatmeti, bhagavan iti shabdyate"...where he means that people 
refer to the same thing, by different terms
a) Vedantis & Advaitis -> Brahmam
b) Yogis following Patanjali's Sutras, Kriya Yoga etc. -> Paramatma
c) Bhaktas - Alwars, Mira, Panduranga Bhaktas -> Bhagavan.

In the same bhagavatam the story of Rishaba Deva figures. He was the 
father of 'Jada Bharata'. Till date, all the Jains hail this Rishaba 
Deva as their premier "tirthankara". 

This Rishaba Deva was a great king, but then renounced it and when in 
the forest led a life of a beggar and practised devotion to Hari and 
ate faeces with the same equanimity as fruits. This is no 
exaggeration and the Bhagavatam records this. 

We dont have that Bhaavam or the Dhrusti, so we shun the faeces while 
we apply sandal-paste on ourselves. For the realized one, there's no 
difference. 

Radhe Krishna

-- Pradeep 





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