The Higher View - 2

Kalpatararu Co-operative Housing Society

Community Hall

CBD Belapur Navi Mumbai

Sector 8-B

September 18, 2010

The body is simply a vehicle of suffering.Devotees are not out of their mind to
perform Bhakti. They realize that the utility of the body is only justified when it is
applied to the service of the Supreme Lord. If at all man wishes to enjoy with his
body , the maximum age to which he can indulge in artificial bodily pleasures is till
the age of sixty.What after that ? There is a steep decline in the bodily
engagements and there is heavy discomfort of the body after this age. The senses
are weak and there is no more enjoyment. Too much suffereing like headache,
tooth ache , leg ache etc follow one like the cat follows the mouse. Man jumps
from one clinic to another clinic as time goes. However if one is totally drunk in
Krishna Katha , he does not realize the bodily suffering. Bodily discomforts may
exist however they never translate into bodily suffering for a devotee. There is no
pain for devotees. Doctors divert the attention of infants with a rubber lizard on the
wall and apply injections to them and the infant does not even realize the pain of
being administered a painful injection. Krishna Consciousness is a simple antidote
for the suffering of mankind.One should therefore learn and train in Krishna
Consciousness.

One who does concentrated sadhana during his youth , gets liberated and at times
of material pain , he rises above the suffering caused by such pain.He thus attains
the liberated platform.This is the highest intelligence.This is the process of being
an Atmarati.Sukadeva Goswami was an Atmarati.He was completely immersed in
the resorvoir of atmic bliss and nothing could perturb him. As soon as he appeared
into this world , he started moving around forests like a madman.He could not
even hear his father Srila Veda Vyas calling him. He was a totally self realized
Atmarati.When Parikshit Maharaja was cursed by the brahmin boy Shringi , he
decided to cast himself without food and water on the banks of the Ganga.He
wanted to know from the exalted saints and sages assembled on the banks of
Ganga as to what was the highest good that can be achieved in seven days time

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since that was all that he had before he departed from the world. He had finsihed
all his kingsley activity and had already coronated his beloved son Janamajeya on
the throne of Hastinapura. Now the great emperor was waiting on the banks of the
Ganga to learn about the ultimate good so that he can be delivered by the seventh
day.All the sages gathered on the banks of Ganga were aware that a great Katha
was about to take place at that venue and all of them waited patiently.Just at that
time by the transcendental arrangement of the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna ,
Sukadeva Goswami , the sixteen year old Atmarati arrived on the scene. Some of
the sages at the venue were thousands of years senior to Sukadeva Goswami.
Sukadeva Goswami was not wearing any clothes and thus completely
naked.Sukadeva Goswami though was very very brilliant in Vedic injuctions ,
pretended to be a completely mad man , oblivious of his bodily needs. The state of
the material world is completely opposite.There are stupid and ignorant people
posing to be very intelligent ones just for prestige and pride.

When Sukadeva Goswami entered the assembly of sages , as he was also being
followed by street kids who made fun of him , the assemblage of sixty thousand
saints and Parikshit Maharaja immediately stood up as a mark of deep respect for
the exalted Sukadeva Goswami. Immediately the street children and the women
who did not feel anything for Sukadeva Goswami were simply bewildered when
they saw that the most exalted saints who had walked the earth were offering their
most respectful obeisances to Srila Sukadeva Goswami. One needs to be clear
that age is not something that demands reverence but it is the degree of self
realization and atma gyaan that commands reverence.

There is an anecdote about Srila Sukadeva Goswami , when he was sent by Srila
Vyasa Deva to Sri Janaka Maharaja , known more as the father of Sita Devi , for
higher knowledge.Sukadeva Goswami was received well by the guards at the
palace of Mithila. He was given a seat in the astounding garden sorrounding the
palace amongst the most exquisite natural landscape. There was a lot of peace
and the natural beauty there was highly impinging.However Sukadeva Goswami
was not bothered about his surroundings and simply waited for Janaka Maharaja
to arrive. Days passed in waiting and Janaka Maharaja spent his time happily in
the palace without caring much about Sukadeva Goswami. Sukadeva Goswami
never complained even after being made to wait for days , he would simply
meditate on the self and remained self satisfied. After a long wait period , King
Janaka finally arrived with his attendents and beautiful maid servants to receive
Sukadeva Goswami. He was not affected though there was so much of attention
and respect that was showered on him by King Janaka.In this example we can
observe that neither utter neglect nor too much of praise could bind Sukadeva
Goswami. Sukadeva Goswami was completely at rest all the time and worldly
behaviour did not disturb him at all,

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Thus when Suskadeva Goswami was received so wonderfully well by the saints
and sages and the Emperor’s contingent , he remained aloof. Such an exalted
soul still had a terrible greed and that greed was to speak about Krishna
Katha.Sukadeva Goswami never wanted to miss a chance to expound about Lord
Sri Krishna.This activity was so indulging that it elated Sukadeva Goswami and
there was no bounds to which Sukadeva Goswami derived pleasure by narrating
the glories of the Supreme Lord.

The process of being Atmarati may not necessarily involve being immersed in the
light of Atma.One just needs to keep chanting and concentrating on the
mahamantra “Hare Krishna Hre Krisha Krishna Krishna Hara Hara…Hare Rama
,Hare Rama Rama rama Hare Hare”.This process can deliver one within no time.A
live example of this is the Hare Krishna Movement as conceived by Srila AC
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.There was a spiritual retreat held by one of the
leading spiritual organizations.All the Hare Krishnas were invited for the
event.When the leader of the organization ordered tea for the Hare Krishnas, the
devotees told the leader that they never smoked nor drank tea or coffee. To which
the host wanted to know the secret.Now this was an open seret and the devotees
said “Simply chant Hare Krishna Mahamantra and be delivered”

To be continued……