Sharanagati

(from a lecture of Swami Tirtha, 11.05.2017 am, Sofia)

We continue our readings from the Bhagavata Purana. Purana means ‘ancient’. But for us it means ‘eternal’. Ancient is not something old or outdated. Ancient means a touch of eternity – valid in the past and useful in the future. Therefore without the roots, there are no fruits. We need the deep roots of a tradition, of a spiritual lineage and then we can improve upon these truths. And there are many Puranas. Like Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Vishnu Purana, Agni Purana – unlimited. But one is selected from all these which is connected with Bhagavan, with God Supreme. Of course all other sources are very useful for specific purposes. But for those who want to understand the science of God, Bhagavata Purana is the most useful. Are you satisfied with the science of God?

Krishna Priya: No.

Swami Tirtha: You are not satisfied and still you are smiling and shining so much! Science ultimately culminates in emotion. If you know something or somebody, you start to appreciate that, right? Of course, that is also true – if you start to appreciate something, then you start to know it. But sometimes people seem to dislike knowledge, other times it looks like they don’t understand love. Therefore a little knowledge and a little feeling is the best combination.

The Bhagavata Purana gives not a small dosage of knowledge and not a small dosage of love. So those who want to drink the nectar of immortality, they should drink deep into the Bhagavatam. If something is connected with God, it is surcharged and pervaded by God. So, we can say that this is the eternal science of God. And the most essential part is about the exchange – how the devotees, how the faithful feel and follow God Krishna. This is the most important thing – what are the motivations of a devotee? What is the inspiration of the heart of a pure saint? This is very interesting to understand, to approach this topic: What is motivating the pure saint? If we understand that, we have almost understood everything.

(to be continued)