॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Monday, 24 October 2022 III.32 - Kapila describes the two divergent paths of self-seeking persons and devotees of the Lord.
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कपिल उवाच
अथ यो गृहमेधीयान्धर्मानेवावसन्गृहे । काममर्थं च धर्मान्स्वान्दोग्धि भूय: पिपर्ति तान् ॥
तच्छ्रद्धयाक्रान्तमति: पितृदेवव्रत: पुमान् । गत्वा चान्द्रमसं लोकं सोमपा: पुनरेष्यति ॥
निवृत्तिधर्मनिरता निर्ममा निरहङ्कृता: । स्वधर्माप्तेन सत्त्वेन परिशुद्धेन चेतसा ॥
T: Kapila said, “ A householder pursuing Artha (economic goals), Kama (sense pleasures) and Dharma (prescribed duties for earning merit) acts consistently out of a worldly interest. Such people lack true devotion and detachment and worship the gods/deities (who preside over worldly gains) and their forefathers. They go in their afterlife to the Moon sphere ( a place of pleasures earned through Punya) but return to this world again once the rewards are exhausted. Their condition is eventually one of dissolution and not liberation. This path of the householder is the dark path.”
“In contrast, there are devotees who discharge worldly responsibilities as Svadharma, without attachment, fully immersed in the Lord with purified minds. They reach liberation and do not come back. Their afterlife is spent in Satya Loka, with continued spiritual evolution until the great dissolution when they merge with the Lord. This path of the devotee is the illumined path.”
“Therefore, My dear mother, by devotional service take refuge in the Lord who is seated in everyone’s heart.”
“My dear mother, one may worship the Lord with a special self-interest. Such people are no different from Brahma, or the Kumaras, or sages like Marichi. They all have to come back to the material world again by the Lord’s will at the time of the next cycle of creation. The interplay of Gunas and the effect of Kala is such. That is how the creation cycle repeats.”
“Then there are those who are too worldly, discharging their prescribed duties well, but all with an eye on the fruitive result. They exhibit Rajas and pursue sense-gratification. They worship their forefathers and engage themselves day and night in improving the economic condition of “I” and “Mine” (कामात्मानोऽजितेन्द्रिया: गृहेष्वभिरताशया:). They lack true devotion and ignore the Lord (विमुखा हरिमेधस:). Such people easily descend to lowly acts and suffer the consequences.”
“My dear mother, the best path is one of Bhakti, because it purifies the mind and fosters a true detachment.”
ज्ञानमात्रं परं ब्रह्म परमात्मेश्वर: पुमान् । दृश्यादिभि: पृथग्भावैर्भगवानेक ईयते ॥
T: “The Lord alone is Supreme Knowledge. He is Paramatma, Ishwara. He incarnates in many forms. For one without a proper realisation of this truth, duality and relativity do not disappear.”
“Indeed all creation has emanated from the Supreme Being.”
यथेन्द्रियै: पृथग्द्वारैरर्थो बहुगुणाश्रय: । एको नानेयते तद्वद्भगवान्शास्त्रवर्त्मभि: ॥
T: “Just as an object is perceived and sensed differently by different senses, the same Lord Bhagavan is perceived and interpreted differently in different scriptures.”
“My dear mother, if anyone enters into ignorance or forgetfulness, he is unable to understand where his path will take him. Spiritual instruction like what I have been telling you is not meant for those who suffer from jealousy, who lack purity, or hypocrites or materialists.”
य इदं शृणुयादम्ब श्रद्धया पुरुष: सकृत् । यो वाभिधत्ते मच्चित्त: स ह्येति पदवीं च मे ॥
T: “Anyone who meditates upon Me with faith and affection even once, who hears this about Me, surely goes back home, back to My state.”
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
