न रोधयति मां योगो न साङ्ख्यं धर्म एव च । न स्वाध्यायस्तपस्त्यागो नेष्टापूर्तं न दक्षिणा ॥
व्रतानि यज्ञश्छन्दांसि तीर्थानि नियमा यमा: । यथावरुन्धे सत्सङ्ग: सर्वसङ्गापहो हि माम् ॥
विद्याधरा मनुष्येषु वैश्या: शूद्रा: स्त्रियोऽन्त्यजा: । रजस्तम:प्रकृतयस्तस्मिंस्तस्मिन् युगे युगे ॥
बहवो मत्पदं प्राप्तास्त्वाष्ट्रकायाधवादय: । वृषपर्वा बलिर्बाणो मयश्चाथ विभीषण: ॥
सुग्रीवो हनुमानृक्षो गजो गृध्रो वणिक्पथ: । व्याध: कुब्जा व्रजे गोप्यो यज्ञपत्न्यस्तथापरे ॥
T: Bhagavan said: "Nothing touches me - not Yoga, nor Sankhya intellectualisation, not rituals, not scriptural studies, not austerities and gifts, not pilgrimages of a seeker as much as the loving company of a devotee. So the benefit of Satsang is two-way! So many personalities have attained me through devotion in every Yuga, including Rakshasas and Asuras ( Vrittra, Bali, Maya, Bana), animal kings like Sugriva, Hanuman, Jambavan and Jatayu. Even lowly people like Dharmavyadha and Kubja. Remember the love of Gopis and the Brahmanapatnis in our childhood?"
"These successful devotees did not study Vedas, nor work under great Masters, nor perform arduous Tapas. They simply came to me with love."
"In Vrindavan, not just Gopis, but even cows, trees, bushes, thickets, snakes like Kaliya were emancipated through their love!"
यं न योगेन साङ्ख्येन दानव्रततपोऽध्वरै: । व्याख्यास्वाध्यायसन्न्यासै: प्राप्नुयाद् यत्नवानपि ॥
T: "One may engage in great Yoga, Sankhya, charity, austerity, Vedic studies, and even Sannyasa, but one will not attain me despite such striving (unless they have Bhakti).
रामेण सार्धं मथुरां प्रणीते श्वाफल्किना मय्यनुरक्तचित्ता: । विगाढभावेन न मे वियोगतीव्राधयोऽन्यं ददृशु: सुखाय ॥
T: "The Gopis of Vraja were so forlorn when I had to go away to Mathura with Balarama when Akrura came to take us. They could find joy in nothing again. The time we were together flew for them like seconds in utter bliss. But the sorrow of separation made time insufferably long.""
ता नाविदन् मय्यनुषङ्गबद्धधिय: स्वमात्मानमदस्तथेदम् । यथा समाधौ मुनयोऽब्धितोये नद्य: प्रविष्टा इव नामरूपे ॥ मत्कामा रमणं जारमस्वरूपविदोऽबला: । ब्रह्म मां परमं प्रापु: सङ्गाच्छतसहस्रश: ॥
T: "My dear Uddhava, just as great sages in Samadhi merge into me like rivers merging into the ocean, and thus lose awareness of material names and forms, similarly, the Gopis of Vrindavan were so completely immersed in me within their minds that they could not think of their own bodies, or of this world, or of their future. Their entire consciousness was simply bound up in me."
"Those Gopis loved me with their entire being as Sri Krishna, hardly knowing me to be Parabrahman, and yet they attained me in that supreme state alone, with a thousandfold intensity!" This means knowledge is much less important than Bhakti.
मामेकमेव शरणमात्मानं सर्वदेहिनाम् । याहि सर्वात्मभावेन मया स्या ह्यकुतोभय: ॥
T: "Therefore, My dear Uddhava, abandon the Vedic mantras as well as the rituals and their prescriptions and proscriptions. Go beyond what is heard and what remains to be heard (i.e. Vedas). Simply take shelter in me alone, for I am the Paramatma in every being. You shall attain me and see me in all beings, and become free from fear." So to lose fear, see God in all.
संशय: शृण्वतो वाचं तव योगेश्वरेश्वर । न निवर्तत आत्मस्थो येन भ्राम्यति मे मन: ॥
T: Uddhava now said: "Oh Master of Yogic masters! Even after hearing you, I have still my mental confusion! Please help!
स एष जीवो विवरप्रसूति: प्राणेन घोषेण गुहां प्रविष्ट: ।
यथानल: खेऽनिलबन्धुरुष्मा बलेन दारुण्यधिमथ्यमान: ।
T: Bhagavan reassured Uddhava: "Let's begin from the beginning. Ishwara gives life to every creature and resides in each heart combining with Prana and Pranava, the cosmic vibration that exists forever everywhere. You can indeed intuit him within you! He alone controls your mind and even the minds of gods including Shiva. This is the same Ishwara who manifests as Vedas, words and syllables! These are products of that core just like fire is produced from Yajna wood rubbing. "
"The functions of the working senses — the organ of speech, the hands, the legs, the genitals and the anus — and the functions of the knowledge-acquiring senses — the nose, tongue, eyes, skin and ears — along with the functions of the mind, intellect, consciousness and ego, as well as the function of the subtle Pradhana or seed matter and the interaction of the three Gunas — all these should be understood as my materially manifest form!"
So Bhagavan is in me, everywhere, in two dimensions, as the Atma and Prakriti. Over time, he makes the multiplicity of the universe come out of these same basic ingredients and their interactions.
(This is exactly the content of the 13th Chapter of Srimad Bhagavadgita.)
"See the Lord as the thread that is everywhere in a cloth. He is the seed out of which arise all the trees., their leaves, branches and fruits." The Lord then gives an elaborate allegory of the tree which I am skipping here.
What should Uddhava do?
एवं गुरूपासनयैकभक्त्या विद्याकुठारेण शितेन धीर: । विवृश्च्य जीवाशयमप्रमत्त: सम्पद्य चात्मानमथ त्यजास्त्रम् ॥
T: "My dear Uddhava, do not overthink. Use your intelligence only to develop deep Bhakti, serve your Guru, and then you will have the insight which acts as an axe to fell this tree of material bondage! Once you get rid of material attachments of the Jiva, you attain your nature as Atma, and then throw away the axe too!"
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