Priti Sandarbha Anuccheda 1

[Paramananda das]

In 1992 in ISKCON Toronto ,I had a discussion with HH Gaura Govinda Swami about the Sat Sandarbhas ,I was reading the translationes done by Kusakratha Prabhu .Maharaja stated if I could explain to devotees about Priti Sandarbha and the other Sandharbhas I could benefit many devotees.He also offered me to come to Bhuvanesvara and study the Priti Sandarbha under him , I however did not see it so important to leave my book distribution service to give all my attention to reading and teachings the Sat Sandarbhas ,but as most devotees in ISKCON and Gaudiya math has never read the Sat Sandarbhas , I am reminded by this instruction of HH Gaura Govinda Maharaja to spread the teachings of the Sat Sandarbhas , when you read the Srimad Bhagavatam daily for many years in my case 40 years, not reading and studying the Sat Sandarbhas is nonsensical because it is really helping us understand Srimad Bhagavatam and the Puranas in essence the Priti Sandarbha is about loving Sri Krsna, Priti means love and real love is for the Supreme personality of Godhead .In the prayers of queen Kunti she prayed that may my attachment for the Vrisnis and Pandavas be cut and may my love for Sri Krsna flow forever like the Ganges to the ocean ,thus I am sharing this Priti Sandarbha from today.It is the last of the six Sandarbhas but it is the essence because all the teachings of Bhagavad Gita and Srimad bhagavatam culminated in loving Lord Sri Krsna.Srila Jiva Goswami wrote the Sat Sandarbhas to help the sincere students of Srimad Bhagavatam he material world)  

   Srila Jiva Gosvami's

 

Sri Priti-sandarbha

 

 

Introduction

 

 

tau santosayata santau

srila-rupa-sanatanau daksinatyena bhattena

punar etad vivicyate

 

tasyadyam granthana-lekham

kranta-vyutkranta-khanditam paryalocyatha paryayam

krtva likhati jivakah

 

 

     srila Gopala Bhatta Gosvami, the great philosopher from  the southern provinces who greatly pleased srila Rupa Gosvami  and srila Sanatana Gosvami, left many valuable notes that  defeat various philosophical misconceptions. Systematically  arranging these notes, and considering their content, Jiva  Gosvami writes this book.

 

 

Anuccheda 1

 

 

     Now the Priti-sandarbha will be written. The Supreme Truth,  as He is revealed in the scriptures, was described in the first  four sandarbhas. The worship of the Supreme Truth was described  in the next, the fifth sandarbha. Those topics already explained,  the true need of mankind will be now described. The need of  mankind is to end suffering and attain happiness. When the  Supreme Personality of Godhead is pleased, then one attains  happiness and ends all sufferings. In the previous sandarbhas  many passages from scripture were quoted to describe the nature  of the Supreme Truth. There it was proved that the Supreme Truth  is perfect with eternal, limitless, transcendental bliss. In  Taittiriya Upanisad (2.8.1) it is said that the Prajapatis  enjoy happiness thousands of times greater than the happiness of human  beings, and the great souls who know the Supreme enjoy happiness  hundreds of times greater still. In Taittiriya Upanisad  (2.4.1) it is said that happiness is limitless and very  extraordinary. In Taittiriya Upanisad (2.7.1) it is said that  the Supreme is the source of all bliss experienced by the living  entities. In the same way the Supreme is also the source of the  sun's light and all other light also.  When he is ignorant of the  Supreme Lord, the individual soul finds himself defeated by maya  (material illusion). In that condition, his awareness of his  original form is taken away from him and he is covered by an  external form created by maya. In this way he is imprisoned in  the world of birth and death and shackled by a host of material  sufferings. This was already explained in the Paranmatma- sandarbha. Therefore when one has direct knowledge of the Supreme  Truth, one attains the greatest bliss. Attaining that bliss is  the true goal of life. When ignorance is dispelled, one  understands his true spiritual nature. Then sufferings end. The  first (understanding one's true spiritual nature) of these is  attained when the Supreme Truth is directly manifest before  one. The second (the end of sufferings) of these is attained when  one attains his spiritual form, which never dies. Then one is  situated in eternity. The first of these is the highest goal of  life. It is described in these words of srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.9- 12):

 

 

dharmasya hy apavargasya. . .

 

tac chraddadhana munayo

jnana-vairagya-yuktaya pasyanty atmani catmanam

bhaktya sruta-grhitaya

 

 

     "All occupational engagements are certainly meant  for ultimate liberation. They should never be performed for  material gain. Furthermore, according to sages, one who is  engaged in the ultimate occupational service should never use  material gain to cultivate sense gratification.

"Life's desires should never be directed toward  sense gratification. One should desire only a healthy life, or  self-preservation, since a human being is meant for inquiry about  the Absolute Truth. Nothing else should be the goal of one's  works.

"Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute  Truth call the non0dual substance Brahman, Paramatma, or  Bhagavan.

"The seriously inquisitive student or sage, well  equipped with knowledge and detachment, realizes that Absolute  Truth by rendering devotional service in terms of what he has  heard from the Vedanta-sruti."

 

     The stage where all sufferings end is described in these  words of srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.21):

 

 

bhidyate hrdaya-granthih. . .

 

 

     "Thus the knot in the heart is pierced, and all  misgivings are cut to pieces. The chain of fruitive actions is  terminated when one sees the self as the master."

 

     This is also described in these words of sri Visnu  Purana (6.5.59):

 

 

nirastatisayahlada-

sukha-bhavaika-laksana bhesajam bhagavat-praptir

ekantatyantiki mata

 

 

     "Attaining the Supreme Lord is the medicine to cure  the suffering soul. That medicine fills the taker with  transcendental bliss."

 

     In the Taittiriya Upnaisad (2.4.1) it is said:

 

 

anandam brahmano vidvan

na bibheti kutascana

 

 

     "A soul who knows the bliss that comes from the  Supreme Brahman never fears."

 

     The word "mukti" (liberation) is defined as:  The state that comes after the shakcles of birth and death  are cut". srila Suta Gosvami describes liberation in these  words of srimad-Bhagavatam (12.4.34):

 

 

yadaivam etena viveka-hetina

maya-mayahankaranatma-bandhanam chittvacyutatmanubhavo 'vatisthate

tam ahur atyantikam anga samplavam

 

 

     "Cutting the bonds of false ego with the sword of  knowledge, the soul sees the infallible Supreme Personality of  Godhead. My dear friend, then the soul's bondage in matter is  completely destroyed."

 

     This verse means, "When the soul sees the infallible  Supreme Personality of Godhead, that state is called liberation."

 

     The same explanation is given in these words of srimad- Bhagavatam (2.10.6):

 

 

muktir hitvanyatha-rupam

svarupena vyavasthitih

 

 

     "Liberation is the permanent situation of the form  of the living entity after he gives up the changeable gross and  subtle material bodies."

 

     These words mean that even though the soul may still reside  in the world of birth and death, he may still directly see his  original spiritual form. These words also mean that the soul's  misidentification with the external material body (anyatha- rupam) is then destroyed. In this verse the primary meaning of  the word "svarupa" is "the form of the Supreme  Personality of Godhead". However, because the individual spirit  souls are fragmental parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead  in the same way rays of sunlight are fragmental parts of the sun  planet, the word "svarupa" may also refer to the  individual soul.

 

     In srimad-Bhagavatam (3.9.33) Lord Garbhodakasayi  Visnu tells the demigod Brahma:

 

 

yada rahitam atmanam

bhutendriya-gunasayaih svarupena mayopetam

pasyan svarajyam rcchati

 

 

     "When you are free from the conception of gross and  subtle bodies, and when your senses are free from all influences  of the modes of material nature, you will realize your pure form  in My association. At that time you will be situated in pure  consciousness."

 

     In this verse the word "upetam": means "it  is attained without any trouble". The happiness of the Supreme  Personality of Godhead is most important. The happiness of the  individual souls is secondary. The individual souls' relationship  with the Supreme is described in these words of srimad-Bhagavatam  (10.14.55):

 

 

tasmat priyatamah svatma. . . .

 

krsnam enam avehi tvam

atmanam akhilatmanam jagad-dhitaya so 'py atra

dehiva. . . .

 

 

     "Therefore it is his own self that is most dear to  every embodied living being, and it is simply for the satisfaction  of this self that the whole material creation of moving and  nonmoving entities exists.

"You should knowe Krsna as the original soul of all  atmas (living entities). For the benefit of the whole universe He  has, out of His causeless mercy, appeared as an ordinary human  being."

 

     The idea that the individual souls are not in any way  different from the Supreme has already been refuted in the  Paramatma-sandarbha. The Taittiriya Upanisad (2.7.1) gives  this conclusive opinion:

 

 

raso vai sah. rasam hy evayam labdhvanandi bhavati.

 

 

     "When one understands the Personality of God, the  reservoir of pleasure, Krsna, he actually becomes  transcendentally blissful."

 

     The individual souls are the fragmental parts and the  Supreme is whole, within which the parts are contained. That is  their relationship. This relationship is manifested in two ways.  In the first manifestation one becomes free from the illusions  presented by maya and attains the impersonal Brahman. In this  way one attains knowledge of the power of impersonal Brahman  manifested in the material world. Then one gradually passes  beyond the coverings of the material world. Then one very  intently worships the impersonal Brahman. In the second  manifestation of liberation one attains the Supreme Personality  of Godhead. One attains Him because, even though He is not openly  present everywhere in the material world, by His inconceivable  potency the Supreme Personality of Godhead is openly present  everywhere in the spiritual world of Vaikuntha, and then one  also attains Him because one is able to stay near His lotus feet.  One may attain liberation at the moment of death, and one may  also be liberated even during the time one lives in the material  world. At the time of death one may become free from having to  take another material body and one may directly see the Supreme  Personality of Godhead. Also, even as one lives in the material  world, one may know that he is not the external material body  created by maya and one may also see the Supreme Personality of  Godhead directly. That liberation is the highest goal of life is  explained in these words of srimad-Bhagavatam (4.22.35), where  Sanatkumara tells KIng Prthu:

 

 

tatrapi moksa evartha

atyatikatayesyate traivargyo 'rtho yato nityam

krtanta-bhaya-samyutah

 

 

     "Out of the four principles - namely religion, economic  development, sense gratification, and liberation - liberation has  to be taken very seriously. The other three are subject to  destruction by the stringent law of nature - death."

 

     In the Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad (2.4.3) it is also said:

 

 

yenaham namrtah syam kim aham tena kuryam

 

 

     "What shall I do to become free of death?"

 

     Attaining the liberation where one directly sees the Supreme  Truth is the highest goal of life. This is explained again and  again. The Supreme Truth has two features. In one feature He is  seen indistinctly, and in the other feature He is seen  distinctly. In His feature as the impersonal Brahman He is seen  indistinctly, and in His feature as Paramatma (the Supersoul)  and Bhagavan (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) He is seen  distinctly. Thus His feature as Bhagavan and Paramatma is  superior to His feature of impersonal Brahman. This I have  already explained in Bhagavat-sandarbha (anuccheda 80) in my  explanation of this verse of srimad-Bhagavatam (1.5.4):

 

 

jijnasitam adhitam ca

brahma yat tat sanatanam tathapi socasy atmanam

akrtartha iva prabho

 

 

     "You have fully delineated the subject of impersonal  Brahman as well as the knowledge derived therefrom. Why should  you be despondent in spite of all this, thinking that you are  undone, my dear prabbu?"

 

     With further explanations I will now again show how that is  true. Direct perception of Bhagavan, who appears as Paramatma  and in many other forms also, is the highest kind of liberation.  In that highest liberation the most exalted spiritual activities  are known by names like "bhakti" (devotional service) and  "priti" (spiritual love). Spiritual love is considered  the highest of all spiritual sentiments. Priti completely  ends all sufferings. Without priti the highest stage of  spiritual life is not attained. Priti is not dependent on  anything else. To the extent one has priti, one is  fortunate. Priti is present as one is making progress toward  liberation and it is also present when one has attained  liberation. That is the correct understanding.

The form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of  transcendental bliss. transcendental bliss is the abode of  priti. Therefore priti is most important in experiencing  transcendental bliss. Therefore, the spirit souls should always  try to attain priti. Priti is the greatest need, the highest  goal of the spirit souls.

Some examples of the exalted nature of priti will now be  given. In srimad-Bhagavatam (11.20.33) the Supreme Personality of  Godhead explains:

 

 

sarvam mad-bhakti-yogena

mad-bhakto labhate 'njasa svargapavargam mad-dhama

kathancid yadi vanchati

 

 

     "If he desires them, by serving Me with devotion My  devotee easily attains Svargaloka, liberation, or My own abode."

 

     In srimad-Bhagavatam (5.5.6) Lord Rsabhadeva explains:

 

 

pritir na yavan mayi vasudeve

na mucyate deha-yogena tavat

 

 

     "Therefore, until one has love for Lord Vasudeva,  who is none other than Myself, he is certainly not delivered from  having to accept a material body again and again."

 

     In srimad-Bhagavatam (11.14.21) the Supreme Personality of  Godhead explains:

 

 

bhaktyaham ekaya grahyah

sraddhayatma priyah satam

 

 

     "Being very dear to the devotees and sadhus, I am  attained through unflinching faith and devotional service."

 

     In the Mathara-sruti it is said:

 

 

bhaktir evainam nayati. bhaktir evainam darsayati. bhakti- vasah puruso bhaktir eva bhuyasi.

 

 

     "Devotional service brings one to the Supreme  Personality of Godhead. Devotional service reveals to one the  Supreme Personality of Godhead. Devotional service brings the  Supreme Personality of Godhead under its control. Devotional  service is stronger than the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

 

     In srimad-Bhagavatam (11.2.42) Kavi-yogesvara explains:

 

 

bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir

anyatra caisa trika eka-kalah

 

 

     "Devotion, direct perception of the Supreme  Personality of Godhead, and detachment from the material world,  these three appear simultaneously."

 

     Priti manifest as one makes progress toward liberation is  described in these words of Vasudeva Upanisad:

 

 

mad-rupam advayam brahma

madhyady-anta-vivarjitam sva-prabham sac-cid-anandam

bhaktya janati cavyayam

 

 

     "Only by devotional service can one understand my  glorious, eternal, blissful, all-knowing spiritual form."

 

     Chandogya Upanisad's declaration "tat tvam asi"  (You are that) actually describes the individual soul's natural  love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Love is seen even in  the ordinary dealings of the material world love. Love is natural  for all living beings. It is seen even among the least spiritual  of materialists, among they who have destroyed their spiritual  life. How can the soul give up its nature? Therefopre every soul  seeks someone to love. That search for love finds its final  culmination when one falls in love with the Supreme Personality  of Godhead. Therefore rfalling in love with the Supreme  Personality of Godhead is the highest goal of life. This the  saintly devotees say. That love will be written about in this  Priti-sandarbha.

In this sandarbha will be shown, one after another, many  proofs that love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the  highest goal of life. The scriptures declare that liberation is  the true goal of life. for example, in srimad-Bhagavatam  (12.13.12) it is said:

 

 

sarva-vedanta. . .kaivalyaika-prayojanam

 

 

     "srimad-Bhagavatam is accepted as the essence of all  Vedic literature and Vedanta philosophy. srimad-Bhagavatam  explains that liberation is the true goal of life."

 

     This verse means: "srimad-Bhagavatam explains that  liberation is the true goal of life." Ignorance of the Supreme  Truth, the Supreme Lord, is the root of all problems that beset  the individual soul. This is explained in these words of srimad- Bhagavatam (11.2.37):

 

 

bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad

 isad apetasya. . .

 

 

     "When the living entity is attracted by the material  energy, which is separate from Krsna, he is overpowered by  fear."

 

     The word "kaivalya" used in the previously quoted  verse of srimad-Bhagavatam (12.13.12) thus means "the  purity that comes from knowing the Supreme Personality of  Godhead". Or, the world "kaivalya" may also mean,  the highest state of liberation, which is manifested in the  Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself". This second meaning is  seen in these words of Skanda Purana:

 

 

brahmesanadibhir devair

yat praptum naiva sakyate sa yat-svabhavam kaivalyam

sa bhavan kevalo hare

 

 

     "O Lord Hari, Your exalted position is far above  the material world. Even Brahma, siva, and all the demigods  cannot attain Your exalted position of the highest liberation."

 

     Sometimes the world "kaivalya" means, "the  Supreme Personality of Godhead, whi is situated in the highest  state of liberation. In srimad-Bhagavatam (11.9.1), in the  teachings of Dattatreya, the word is used in that way:

 

 

paravaranam parama

aste kaivalya-samjnitah kevalanubhavananda-

sandoho nirupadhikah

 

 

     "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is greater than  all other beings, both high and low. His form is not material. He  is filled with spiritual bliss. He is situated in the highest  stage of liberation."

 

     Thus the word "kaivalya" may mean either  directly seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead" or  the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is situated in the  highest state of liberation". Both meanings are employed in the  scriptures. The verse quoted in the beginning of this anuccheda  was spoken by srila Suta Gosvami.

[Paramananda das]

Anuccheda 2
In Çrémad-Bhägavatam (6.16.63) it is said:

etävän eva manujair
yoga-naipuëya-buddhibhiù
svärthaù sarvätmanä jïeyo
yat parätmaika-darçanam
"Persons who try to reach the ultimate goal of life must expertly observe the Supreme Absolute
Person and the living entity, who are one in quality in their relationship as part and whole. This is
the ultimate understanding of life. There is no better truth than this."*
In his commentary on this verse Çréla Çrédhara Svämé explains:
"The gist of this verse is: `There is no higher goal of life than this.' This verse says: `They whose
intelligence is expert at yoga see that they are one in quality with the Supreme."
These words may also mean: "They fix their gaze on the supremely liberated Personality of
Godhead." This verse was spoken by Lord Saìkarñaëa to King Citraketu.

[Paramananda das]

Anuccheda 2

In srimad-Bhagavatam (6.16.63) it is said:

etavan eva manujair
yoga-naipunya-buddhibhih svarthah sarvatmana jneyo
yat paratmaika-darsanam

"Persons who try to reach the ultimate goal of life must expertly observe the Supreme Absolute Person and the living entity, who are one in quality in their relationship as part and whole. This is the ultimate understanding of life. There is no better truth than this."

In his commentary on this verse srila sridhara Svami explains:

"The gist of this verse is: `There is no higher goal of life than this.' This verse says: `They whose intelligence is expert at yoga see that they are one in quality with the Supreme."

These words may also mean: "They fix their gaze on the supremely liberated Personality of Godhead." This verse was spoken by Lord Sankarsana to King Citraketu.