yas tu sarvāṇi bhūtāny ātmany evānupaśyati sarva-bhūteṣu cātmānaṁ
tato na vijugupsate
He who sees systematically everything in relation to the Supreme Lord, who sees all living entities as His parts and parcels, and who sees the Supreme Lord within everything never hates anything or any being.
One Word Summary: anupasyati
Connection: Mantra 6 describes the vision of one who can see Kṛṣṇa everywhere, the mahā-
bhāgavata. In Mantras Six and Seven we find descriptions of the advanced devotees who understand the philosophy explained so far in Śrī Īśopaniṣad.
BP: Mahāraja Parīkṣit fits in description given in mantra 6 and 7. Very Short Summary of the Purport
A. 3 Factors mentioned in the verse lead to na vijugupsate, no hatred. a. Seeing everything in ref. to the Supreme Lord
b. Sees all entities as His parts and parcels c. Sees the Supreme Lord within everything
B. Phony imitations described: such persons do not know soul and Supersoul science, thus act on the platform of the body.
C. ―Seeing‖ comes from ―hearing‖, from the realized Mahā-Bhāgavata.
Summary of purport
Mantra Six explains that the maha-bhāgavata, or uttama-adhikari is equipoised due to being fully Kṛṣṇa conscious, and seeing everything in terms of its relationship with the Lord.
The uttama-adhikari is above the kanistha-adhikari, the lowest grade of devotee, who is only able to appreciate the Lord in His Deity form, and who is prone to sectarianism and various types of material consciousness. The uttama-adhikari is also higher than the madhyama- adhikari, or second class devotee.
Because of his exalted level of Kṛṣṇa consciousness the uttama-adhikari sees everything in relation to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and so does not concern himself with distinctions on the material platform. He is aware that all living beings are spirit souls, and that their bodily designation are irrelevant, ultimately. Of course, he is well aware of the relative positions of different beings in relation to Kṛṣṇa, and how to benefit them all in those terms, and there is no question of an unqualified person imitating his advanced level of consciousness though some material attempt to exhibit a sense of oneness.
This great transcendental science can only be learned through the chain of disciplic succession, in keeping with the Vedic scriptures (anupasyati). There is no other way of learning it, and certainly any attempt to imitate advanced Kṛṣṇa consciousness is a most foolish waste of time.
Overview
Kaniṣṭha adhikari – para 1 Madhyama adhikari – para 2 Uttama adhikari – para 3
Oneness – False vs Real (Para 4-7)
(Para 4 – Do no imitate or artificially see with this Utrama-adhikari‘s vision) (Para 5 – See according to Sastra)
(Para 6 – Another level on oneness - Sastra has one message) (Para 7 – A liberated person‘s vision is beneficial)
CCP: So Śrīla Prabhupāda outlines the various stages in coming to the stage of oneness and
what misconceptions one might have while moving towards that stage of oneness. Vijugupsate means he is equipoised.
(Para 1)
This is a description of the mahā-bhāgavata, the great personality who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The Supreme Lord's presence is realized in three stages. o Kaniṣṭha-adhikārī (lowest stage of realization).
Goes to a place of worship and worships there according to scriptural injunctions.
Consider the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else.
Cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can they tell who has realized the Supreme Lord.
Follow the routine formulas
Sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another.
Materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual plane.
Person Matter Krishna
Materialist Attached Detached
Māyāvādī Detached Detached
Sahajiya Attached Attached
Devotee Detached Attached
In beginning we‘re all sahajiya devotee. But since Śrīla Prabhupāda repeatedly criticizes attachment to matter, he brings us up to madhyama level.
(Para 2)
o Madhyama-adhikārī (second stage of realization).
Observe the distinctions between four categories of being:
The Supreme Lord – adores, considering Him the object of love The devotees of the Lord - makes friends
The innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord - tries to awaken the dormant love of God in their hearts
The atheists, who have no faith in the Lord and hate those in devotional service – avoids as they deride the very name of the Lord.
o CCP: If they hear about Kṛṣṇa, they blaspheme more. Hence to save them and himself from bad effect of blasphemy, a madhyama avoids them.
o CCP: Madhyama understands that his relationship with Kṛṣṇa is not dependant on Kṛṣṇa alone, but on everything, because everything is related to Kṛṣṇa. o CCP: How does this relate to Īśopaniṣad? We‘re
building up to seeing everything in relation to Kṛṣṇa. First stage-at least see the spiritual reality in temple and deity. Second stage: see that relationship with everyone.
Highest stage: one doesn‘t see anyone as material; he sees everything as devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
(Para 3)
o uttama-adhikārī (top most stage of realization)
Sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord.
Does not discriminate between an atheist and a theist but sees everyone as part and parcel of God.
Knows that there is no essential difference between a vastly learned brāhmaṇa and a dog in the street,
Sees both of them are part and parcel of the Lord.
Sees that the brāhmaṇa particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused his little independence given him by the Lord and that the dog particle has misused his independence and is therefore being punished by the laws of nature by being encaged in the form of a dog.
Not considering the respective actions of the brāhmaṇa and the dog, the uttama-adhikārī tries to do good to both.
Not misled by material bodies but is attracted by the spiritual spark within them.
BP: Uttama and madhyama both do the right thing, but madhyama does so because he has been taught so, while uttama does so because is spontaneous, it is his nature. SB Canto 11 chapter 2 describe these 3 levels elaborately. 11.2.45 is the fundamentally similar to mantra 6. Jiva Goswami in purport to canto 11 mentions uttama adhikari who preaches. Generally Śrīla Prabhupāda speaks that uttama adhikari doesn‘t preach, because he feels that since everyone is advanced there is no need to preach to them. And even if they need to be preached, I can‘t preach because I am too fallen. Jiva Goswami says that when uttama adhikari preaches it doesn‘t mean he has lost his high consciousness and comes to consciousness of madhyama adhikari. Some to Lord Caitanya: You are so elevated. Lord Caitanya: Elevated, who me? Love of God, I don‘t have it? Else I would not have wanted to stay in this world. Uttama adhikari sees suffering of other and gets inspired to preach so people can be relieved of their suffering. Same spirit – paritranaya sadhunam, vinasaya duskrtam, dharam sansthapanarthaye… Sometimes in this sense there might be difficult to distinguish between a madhyama adhikari and a preaching uttama adhikari. How to tell difference? Bhaktivinoda Thākura states that when uttama adhikari preaches, it has tremendous effect because it is directly coming from spiritual world. When a good madhyama preaches he can also change hearts. When a struggling madhyama preaches people might fall asleep. Inconceivably many people also felt asleep when Śrīla Prabhupāda preached. Śrīla Prabhupāda would sometimes compare himself with his contemporaries (not in terms of envy or one man upmanship) but to make us appreciate that he was
different from them. Such potency has not been exhibited by anyone else till now – just devotee poaching or cheap initiation, etc.
(Para 4 – Do no imitate or artificially see with this Utrama-adhikari‘s vision)
False philanthropists: Those who imitate an uttama-adhikārī by flaunting a sense of oneness or fellowship but who behave on the bodily platform.
o BP: Prabhupāda joked such people embrace a brahmana and then a tiger. Not like that. Uttama knows how to relate with each category of people.
o BP: One night Prabhupāda called Srutakirti Prabhu. Prabhupāda rang bell and he ran – what can I do Prabhupāda? Nothing, I was just checking how fast are you? In evening he again rang bell – that bug seems hungry, get a maha flower to give to him.
o BP: Hari Sauri Prabhu – Prabhupāda preaching to a mouse – ―you are not this body. How you got this body?‖ BSST: People who imitate like this, don‘t even try to correct them, just ignore them, which is mercy. After sometime they may become frustrated – ―why no one is recognizing me?‖ and they may come to right point. Gopis praising Kurari birds in SB 10.35. They saw Kurari also as Kṛṣṇa conscious.
o CCP: Not everyone equal on material level. Each one has different qualities and capacities. Varṇāśrama dharma is based on this.
The conception of universal brotherhood must be learned from an uttama-adhikārī and not from who does not properly understand the individual soul or the Supreme Lord's Supersoul expansion, who dwells everywhere.
HPS: Idea continued in para 7 (Para 5 – See according to Sastra)
HPS: Para 5 & 6 are like summary of the introduction.
Observe - systematically see – Anupaśyati: Means that one must follow the previous ācāryas, the perfected teachers.
o CCP: In even material world, just seeing doesn‘t help, seeing with knowledge helps. E.g. how to read graph, Newton saw fruit falling. Seeing is believing is a permanent progress stopper. E.g. mirage. More so in spiritual life.
Hear from Vedas, the highest source spoken by Lord Himself and coming down in disciplic succession.
o Earlier, people could understand only by hearing, so there was no need of recording the message.
(Para 6 – how to know which instructions bona fide – disciplic succession and in harmony with SB and BG. Another level on oneness - Sastra has one message)
Many commentaries now, but most not in line of disciplic succession.
The final, most perfect and sublime work by Śrīla Vyāsadeva is Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, which is the natural commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. There is also the Bhagavad-gītā, which was spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by Vyāsadeva. These are the most important revealed scriptures, and any commentary that contradicts the principles of the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is unauthorized.
There is complete agreement among the Upaniṣads, Vedānta-sūtra, Vedas, Bhagavad- gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without receiving instructions from members of Vyāsadeva's disciplic succession.
CCP: Śrīpad Mādhvācārya: In his Viṣṇu Tattva Nirnaya he says: Veda eka vakyata. And what is that one vakya – Viṣṇu is supreme. Scripture is omni-form. Multi-level message seems contradictory to uninformed, but is seen as complementary by the well-informed.
o CCP: E.g. Meat eating allowed in vedas is a concession, but not an instruction as some people cannot live without it. Dr to diabetes patient: take sugar only once a week as he cannot give up sugar. To other who can give up, don‘t eat sugar.
(Para 7 – A liberated person‘s vision is beneficial) HPS: Continues para 4.
According to the BG (18.54), only one who is already on the liberated platform (brahma-bhūta [SB4.30.20]) can become an uttama-adhikārī devotee and see every living being as his own brother.
This vision cannot be had by politicians, who are always after some material gain. One who imitates the symptoms of an uttama-adhikārī may serve another's outward
body for the purpose of fame or material reward, but he does not serve the spirit soul. Such an imitator can have no information of the spiritual world.
The uttama-adhikārī sees the spirit soul within the material body and serves him as spirit. Thus the material aspect is automatically served.
HPS: We have cross referenced Īśopaniṣad after we finished Part One of the NOI, "Control Your
Senses", and we see so many parallels. They both tell us how to live peacefully in this world by accepting the authority of the Supreme Controller. Then ISO Six has led us to understanding the 1st class devotee. Now let's return to NOI Texts 4-6, Part Two, Associate with Devotees. This is just appropriate because we just finished talking about the three categories of devotees.
Exercise
Read: Read mantra six and purport, along with its study guide summary.
Focus: All living beings are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. Essentially we are all spirit
souls with the same spiritual nature as Him. We are simply covered by these different material bodies. Focus on the spiritual energy, which is giving life to all living things, as opposed to the inert material energy. We can pray to relate to all living beings as His spiritual parts and parcels.
Consider: It is only the presence of the spirit soul which gives life to these material bodies.
Observe how all living beings - the plants, the insects, the animals, and the people - are only manifesting the symptoms of life because of the presence of the spirit soul. Once the soul leaves, the body is revealed as inert matter. Remember that, as spirit souls, we are all equal as parts and parcels of the Supreme Spirit, God, or Krishna.
Describe: Describe how we can recognize the presence of the soul in all living beings. What
is our relationship to each other in relation to the Supreme Lord?
The devotee sees everything and everyone in relation to the Supreme Lord. As we engage in practicing devotional service and receiving knowledge of the Supreme Lord, under the guidance of bona-fide spiritual master, we begin to recognize other living entities also as spirit souls of the same spiritual nature as ourselves and the Lord. Gradually our envy and desire to enjoy others decreases as we realize that we are all eternal, infinitesimal spiritual sparks simply meant to give pleasure to the Lord. A devotee who has reached this highest stage of realization always tries to engage everyone in the Lord‘s service.
3 Factors mentioned in this Mantra lead to na vijugupsate, no hatred: 1. Seeing everything in ref. to Supreme Lord
2. See all living entities as His parts and parcels 3. Sees the Supreme Within everything
Phony imitations described: do not know science of soul and Supersoul; on bodily platform Seeing comes from hearing, from the realized maha-bhāgavata.
1. Description of devotees of the Lord – para 1,2,3,7
2. Qualities of an uttama adhikari (maha-bhāgavata) – para 3
3. 1st class devotee is never misled by material qualities but attracted by spiritual qualities – para 3
4. Devotional service at different stages – para 1, 2, 3 5. Process of attaining Vedic wisdom – para 5
6. Actual seeing (anupasyati) – para 5
7. Philanthropic and political plan of universal brotherhood is hoax – para 7 8. Real universal brotherhood – understanding soul and Supersoul – para 4 9. Process of attaining spiritual knowledge - para 6
Question and Answers
Q.1. Analyze the three stages of realization of the Supreme Lord‘s presence.
Ans. The Supreme Lord‘s presence is realized in three stages. These are (i) kanistha stage (ii) madhyama stage and (iii) uttama stage.
Kanistha stage is the lowest stage of realization. The devotee at the kanistha stage goes to a place of worship, such as a temple, church or mosque, according to his religious faith and worships there according to scriptural injunctions. Devotees in this stage consider the Lord to be present at the place of worship and nowhere else. They cannot ascertain who is in what position in devotional service, nor can they tell who has realized the Supreme Lord. Such devotees follow the routine formulas and sometimes quarrel among themselves, considering one type of devotion better than another. These kanistha-adhikaris are actually materialistic devotees who are simply trying to transcend the material boundary to reach the spiritual plane.
Those who have attained the second stage of realization are called madhyama-adhikaris. These devotees observe the distinctions between four categories of being (i) the Supreme Lord (ii) the devotees of the Lord (iii) the innocent, who have no knowledge of the Lord and (iv) the atheists, who have no faith in the Lord and hate those in devotional service. The madhyama adhikari behaves differently toward these four classes of persons. He adores the Lord, considering Him the object of love; he makes friends with those who are in devotional service; he tries to awaken the dormant love of God in the hearts of the innocent and he avoids the atheists, who deride the very name of the Lord.
Above the madhyama-adhikari is the uttama-adhikari, who sees everything in relation to the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee does not discriminate between an atheist and a theist but sees everyone as part and parcel of God. He knows that there is no essential difference between a vastly learned brahmana and a dog in the street, because both of them are part and parcel of the Lord, although they are encaged in different bodies on account of the different qualities of their activities in their previous lives. He sees that the brahmana particle of the Supreme Lord has not misused his little independence given him by the Lord and that the dog particles has misused his independence and is therefore being punished by the laws of nature by being encaged in the form of a dog. Not considering the respective actions of the brahmana and the dog, the uttama adhikari tries to do well to both. Such a learned devotee is not misled by material bodies but is attracted by the spiritual spark within them.
Q.2. Explain the process of attaining Vedic wisdom and establish the real conclusion of the Vedas by discussing the complete agreement among the Vedas, Upaniṣadas, Vedanta, Bhagavad-Gītā and Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
Ans. The process of attaining the Vedic wisdom is through disciplic succession which starts from the Supreme Personality of Godhead – Śrī Krishna. The Lord imparts the Vedic truth or knowledge to the first created being and the secondary creator Brahma, who gives this knowledge to his son and disciple Śrīla Nārada, from Nārada to Vyasa and from Vyasa to many of his disciples (tad vidhi pranipatena pariprashnena sevaya).
At present there are many commentaries on the revealed scriptures, but most of them are not in the line of disciplic succession coming from Śrīla Vyasadeva, who originally compiled the Vedic wisdom. The final, most perfect and sublime work by Śrīla Vyasadeva is Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, which is the natural commentary on the Vedanta sutra. There is also the Bhagavad-Gītā, which was spoken by the Lord Himself and recorded by Vyasadeva. These are the most important revealed scriptures, and any commentary that contradicts the principles of the Bhagavad-Gītā or Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is unauthorized. There is complete agreement among the Upaniṣads, Vedanta-sutra, Vedas, Bhagavad-Gītā and Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam and no one should try to reach any conclusion about the Vedas without receiving instructions from members of Vyasadeva‘s disciplic succession, who believe in the Personality of Godhead and His diverse energies as they are explained in Śrī Īśopaniṣad. Q.3. Analyze the defects of materialistic plans of politicians and philanthropists for bringing