Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 05.05.2018, Rila)

(continues from the previous Monday) 

This purport, this aishvarya mood explanation about the names included in the mahamantra is very close to the human beings, it opens up a very high perspective. So shall we stop here and close our discussion, being satisfied with this very high explanation?

Answers: No.

Swami Tirtha: No. You are not satisfied with inner peace. You are not satisfied with removing of all your sinful activities. You are not satisfied with reaching spiritual bliss. What else is there? Shall we refer to Jiva Goswami? Alright, let’s see what he has got for us more.

So, his next mood to explain the holy names is an ‘explanation full of sweet spiritual mellows’, the sweet taste. “Why is He called Hari? Because He will reveal the divine truth, as well as the ananda, or the bliss identity of the Supreme Soul. And thereby He removes ignorance and all its consequences.” Therefore He is called Hari.

In the beginning we agreed that Hari will remove your burden. Here we understand that He will remove the ignorance and also reveal the divine truth. Ananda-vigraha is mentioned here and we know that vigraha means ‘body’ and ananda means ‘bliss, divine bliss’. So ananda-vigraha; Krishna is Ananda Maya, full of bliss. His ultimate composition is bliss. But here, ananda-vigraha is mentioned, so His body is bliss.

What is our body? It’s a composition of matter, right? Two thirds water. Then some few bones here and there. Some muscles for the boys, some other tissues for the girls. You mix a few materials and then you get a body. Many times the shastras are not very idealistic about the body. I don’t want to go into detail here. But actually, our body is full of the exact problems of the previous explanation – full of action-reaction, sinful activities, consequences, and full of suffering. The body-mind complex is made of material elements. Therefore we need to be intelligent and try not to search for our spiritual bliss in the body. Please remember this very simple advice: search for your ideals where you can find them. If you search in the wrong place, then you are stupid.

But how will our body turn into… well, I think it’s close to impossible, but maybe by the touchstone of the holy name, our body-mind complex, or at least the mind, will turn nectarean. The original question is how will our body turn into anandam? I don’t know about you, but if I examine myself, it’s close to impossible. Yet we have a hope that maybe our mind, by the touch of the holy name, from the enemy it will become a good friend. So the core of the problems is ignorance. The root. But the revelation of the divine truth will remove this ignorance and all the consequences. Therefore, He is called Hari.

(to be continued)