बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान्मां प्रपद्यते |
वासुदेव: सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभ: || 19||
bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate
vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ
bahūnām—many; janmanām—births; ante—after; jñāna-vān—one who is endowed with knowledge; mām—unto me; prapadyate—surrenders; vāsudevaḥ—Shree Krishna, the son of Vasudev; sarvam—all; iti—that; saḥ—that; mahā-ātmā—great soul; su-durlabhaḥ—very rare
Translation:
At the end of many births the man of wisdom seeks refuge in Me, realizing that Vāsudeva is all. Rare indeed is such a high-souled person.
Commentary:
From time immemorial, man has passed through innumerable births. From worms and germs, reptiles, birds, and beasts, the man, at last, attain the human birth. Several births pass away in a state of ignorance. And then, the desire to know the truth is born in the heart of man. Even then, several births pass away in the ups and downs of spiritual Sadhana. Ultimately man realises the truth, that everything is God. So long as there is the slightest trace of differentiation knowledge is imperfect. Perfection of jnana is the discovery that there is only One and that is God, and there is nothing but He in the whole universe. Sages of such realisation are indeed very rare.
But it would be foolish to be lazy and dull in spiritual sadhana, because realisation can come only after many births. On the other hand, knowing full well that he has passed through millions of births, man should strive for liberation even in this very birth. The test of knowledge is the recognition of God everywhere. So long as the objective world ‘drisya’ dominates the mind causing contradictory feelings of attraction and repulsion, there is no knowledge. The aspirant should intensify his sadhana till he comes to know without any doubt that what has been appearing as the objective world is nothing but the Lord Himself.
The verse does not mean that only after many births man realises God. It means that man acquires knowledge after many births and he then realises God. That auspicious moment when such realisation takes place is the end of all births. If one makes himself fit for realisation, knowledge may dawn on him this moment. There is no time-limit. Ripeness of mind is all that is needed.
The Lord confers the title ‘mahatma‘ on such realised souls.
Sri Ramakrishna Says —
MASTER: “God alone is the Master, and again, He is the Servant. This attitude indicates Perfect Knowledge. At first one discriminates, ‘Not this, not this’, and feels that God alone is real and all else is illusory. Afterwards the same person finds that it is God Himself who has become all this — the universe, maya, and the living beings. First negation and then affirmation. This is the view held by the Puranas. A vilwa-fruit, for instance, includes flesh, seeds, and shell. You get the flesh by discarding the shell and seeds. But if you want to know the weight of the fruit, you cannot find it if you discard the shell and seeds. Just so, one should attain Satchidananda by negating the universe and its living beings. But after the attainment of Satchidananda one finds that Satchidananda. Itself has become the universe and the living beings. It is of one substance that the flesh and the shell and seeds are made, just like butter and buttermilk.
“It may be asked, ‘How has Satchidananda become so hard?’ This earth does indeed feel very hard to the touch. The answer is that blood and semen are thin liquids, and yet out of them comes such a big creature as man. Everything is possible for God. First of all reach the indivisible Satchidananda, and then, coming down, look at the universe. You will then find that everything is Its manifestation. It is God alone who has become everything. The world by no means exists apart from Him.
“All elements finally merge in akasa. Again, at the time of creation, akasa evolves into mahat and mahat into ahamkara. In this way the whole world-system is evolved. It is the process of involution and evolution. A devotee of God accepts everything. He accepts the universe and its created beings as well as the indivisible Satchidananda.
“But the yogi’s path is different. He does not come back after reaching the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. He becomes united with It.
“The ‘partial knower’ limits God to one object only. He thinks that God cannot exist in anything beyond that.
“There are three classes of devotees. The lowest one says, ‘God is up there.’ That is, he points to heaven. The mediocre devotee says that God dwells in the heart as the ‘Inner Controller’. But the highest devotee says: ‘God alone has become everything. All that we perceive is so many forms of God.’ Narendra used to make fun of me and say: ‘Yes, God has become all! Then a pot is God, a cup is God!’ (Laughter.)
“All doubts disappear when one sees God. It is one thing to hear of God, but quite a different thing to see Him. A man cannot have one hundred per cent conviction through mere hearing. But if he beholds God face to face, then he is wholly convinced. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
—–
A boy named Vishnu, living in Ariadaha, had recently committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. The talk turned to him.
MASTER: “I felt very badly when I heard of the boy’s passing away. He was a pupil in a school and he used to come here. He would often say to me that he couldn’t enjoy worldly life. He had lived with some relatives in the western provinces and at that time used to meditate in solitude, in the meadows, hills, and forests. He told me he had visions of many divine forms.
“Perhaps this was his last birth. He must have finished most of his duties in his previous birth. The little that had been left undone was perhaps finished in this one.
“One must admit the existence of tendencies inherited from previous births. There is a story about a man who practised the sava-sadhana. (A religious practice prescribed by the Tantra, in which the aspirant uses a sava, or corpse, as his seat for meditation.) He worshipped the Divine Mother in a deep forest. First he saw many terrible visions. Finally a tiger attacked and killed him. Another man, happening to pass and seeing the approach of the tiger, had climbed a tree. Afterwards he got down and found all the arrangements for worship at hand. He performed some purifying ceremonies and seated himself on the corpse. No sooner had he done a little japa than the Divine Mother appeared before him and said: ‘My child, I am very much pleased with you. Accept a boon from Me.’ He bowed low at the Lotus Feet of the Goddess and said: ‘May I ask You one question, Mother? I am speechless with amazement at Your action. The other man worked so hard to get the ingredients for Your worship and tried to propitiate You for such a long time, but You didn’t condescend to show him Your favour. And I, who don’t know anything of worship, who have done nothing, who have neither devotion nor knowledge nor love, and who haven’t practised any austerities, am receiving so much of Your grace.’ The Divine Mother said with a laugh; ‘My child, you don’t remember your previous births. (BG 4.5) For many births you tried to propitiate Me through austerities. As a result of those austerities all these things have come to hand, and you have been blessed with My vision. Now ask Me your boon.'”
A DEVOTEE: “I am frightened to hear of the suicide.”
MASTER: “Suicide is a heinous sin, undoubtedly. A man who kills himself must return again and again to this world and suffer its agony.
“But I don’t call it suicide if a person leaves his body after having the vision of God. There is no harm in giving up one’s body that way. After attaining Knowledge some people give up their bodies. After the gold image has been cast in the clay mould, you may either preserve the mould or break it. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
That state is the Supreme Brahman, extremely subtle, but positively existent. Though considered a nihil(void) by gross-minded people because of the impossibility of knowing Him through the senses, He is what the Bhāgavatas call Vāsudeva. — Srimad Bhagavatam 9.9.49
The Absolute Truth is pure consciousness and the ultimate object of attainment. It is one, devoid of any divisions of internal and external. It is eternal and is called Brahman by the jnanis. The same Absolute Truth is called Paramatma by the yogis and is situated without any disturbance in the heart of each living entity. It is called Bhagavan by devotees. The learned scholars call Him Vasudeva. — Srimad Bhagavatam 5.12.11
The Supreme Truth to be sought after, is described by enlightened ones as Non-dual Consciousness. It is variously called as Brahman (by the Vedantins) as Paramatman (by the votaries of Hiranyagarbha) and as the Bhagavan (by the Bhaktas). — Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.11
One day Sri Ramakrishna became a kalpataru (the wish-fulfilling tree) and fulfilled the wishes of his disciples. Some asked for devotion, some knowledge, and some liberation. Seeing Sharat silent, the Master asked him: “How would you like to realize God? What divine vision do you prefer to see in meditation?” Sharat replied: “I do not want to see any particular form of God in meditation. I want to see Him in all beings. I do not like visions.” The Master said with a smile: “That is the last word in spiritual attainment. You cannot have it all at once.” “But I won’t be satisfied with anything short of that,” replied Sharat. “I shall strive my best until I am able to attain it.” At last the Master blessed him, saying, “Yes, you will attain it.”
From Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna — [Source]
The conversation turned to the spiritual zeal of devotees, as illustrated in the earnestness of the gopis of Vrindavan. Ramlal sang:
Thou art my All in All, O Lord! — the Life of my life, the Essence of essence;
In the three worlds I have none else but Thee to call my own.
Thou art my peace, my joy, my hope; Thou my support, my • wealth, my glory;
Thou my wisdom and my strength.
Thou art my home, my place of rest; my dearest friend, my next of kin;
My present and my future, Thou; my heaven and my salvation.
Thou art my scriptures, my commandments; Thou art my ever gracious Guru;
Thou the Spring of my boundless bliss.
Thou art the Way, and Thou the Goal; Thou the Adorable One, O Lord!
Thou art the Mother tender-hearted; Thou the chastising Father;
Thou the Creator and Protector; Thou the Helmsman who dost steer
My craft across the sea of life.
MASTER (to the devotees): “Ah! What a beautiful song! — ‘Thou art my All in All.’”
Ramlal sang again, this time describing the pangs of the gopis on being separated from their beloved Krishna:1
Hold not, hold not the chariot’s wheels!
Is it the wheels that make it move?
The Mover of its wheels is Krishna,
By whose will the worlds are moved. . . .
The Master went into deep samadhi. His body was motionless; he sat with folded hands as in his photograph. Tears of joy flowed from the corners of his eyes. After a long time his mind came down to the ordinary plane of consciousness. He mumbled something, of which only a word now and then could be heard by the devotees in the room. He was saying: “Thou art I, and I am Thou — Thou eatest — Thou — I eat! . . . What is this confusion Thou hast created?”
Continuing, the Master said: “I see everything like a man with jaundiced eyes! I see Thee alone everywhere. O Krishna, Friend of the lowly! O Eternal Consort of my soul! O Govinda!”
As he uttered the words “Eternal Consort of my soul” and “Govinda”, the Master again went into samadhi. There was complete silence in the room. The eager and unsatiated eyes of the devotees were fixed on the Master, a God-man of infinite moods.
—–
“Formal worship drops away after the vision of God. It was thus that my worship in the temple came to an end. I used to worship the Deity in the Kali temple. It was suddenly revealed to me that everything is Pure Spirit. The utensils of worship, the altar, the door-frame—all Pure Spirit. Men, animals, and other living beings — all Pure Spirit. Then like a madman I began to shower flowers in all directions. Whatever I saw I worshipped.
“One day, while worshipping Siva, I was about to offer a bel-leaf on the head of the image, when it was revealed to me that this Virat, this Universe, itself is Siva. After that my worship of Siva through the image came to an end. Another day I had been plucking flowers, when it was revealed to me that the flowering plants were so many bouquets.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
For many years they lived in Dehu, and Bahinabai gave birth to her daughter Kashibai and later to her son Vithoba. After Sant Tukaram’s physical disappearance in 1650, the family shifted to Shirur where she died at the age of 72 in 1700. On her deathbed, she composed a very unique set of abhangs, where she describes her twelve previous births to her son Vithoba. She says that during all these births she was a spiritual seeker and asserts that the present birth would be her last. (Source: Bahinabai)
Every place is Durga, every being is Durga, every woman, man and animal is Durga. Whatever we see are all Durga. There is nothing other than Durga. (This Mantra is Chanted during Durga Worship in Belur Math)
ONCE, a bird sat on the mast of a ship. When the ship sailed through the mouth of the Ganges into the ‘black waters’ of the ocean, the bird failed to notice the fact. When it finally became aware of the ocean, it left the mast and flew north in search of land. But it found no limit to the water and so returned. After resting a while it flew south. There too it found no limit to the water. Panting for breath the bird returned to the mast. Again, after resting a while, it flew east and then west. Finding no limit to the water in any direction, at last it settled down on the mast of the ship. (Source: Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna)
There was an ascetic, who worshipped God Ganesā. He had an idol of Ganesā, and another one of a rat, both made of gold. Both of theseweighed equally. Once the ascetic decided to go on a pilgrimage, He went to a goldsmith to sell them. The goldsmith weighed them and told the ascetic, that the value of each of the two was the same. At this the ascetic grew angry with the goldsmith and asked him how a vehicle could be equal, in value to the Lord. The goldsmith replied. “Sir, I am not buying either God Ganesā, or his vehicle, the rat. I buy gold. So I shall pay you according to their weight” ‘Thus, as a goldsmith does not notice Lord Ganesā or his vehicle, he sees only gold. So does a great soul behold God, he does not, see the world. (Source: Gita Sadhak Sanjivini by Ramsukhdasji Maharaj)
Related Articles:
- Those who understand the divine nature of My birth and activities, O Arjun, upon leaving the body, do not have to take birth again, but come to My eternal abode. (BG 4.9)
- Among thousands of men, one strives for perfection and even among those who strive and succeed, one knows Me in essence. (BG 7.3)
- But he who rejoices, who is contented, who finds happiness in Atma only, has no work to perform. (BG 3.17)
- For him, there is in this world no interest whatsoever by work done or not done. He does not depend upon any being for any object. (BG 3.18)
- Who knows Me as the birthless, without a beginning, the Lord of all the worlds, he among mortals is undeluded and freed from all sins. (BG 10.3)
Question: When does man attain moksha?
Answer: When he acquires jnana.
Question: When does he acquire jnana?
Answer: After many births.
Question: What is the realisation of a jnani?
Answer: That God is everything.
Question: Are such men common?
Answer: No. Very rare.
Question: What is the test of the jnani?
Answer: The realisation that everything is God.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 7 🔻 (30 Verses)
