dharmah projjhita-kaitavo 'tra SB 1.1.2

SB 1.1.2

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo ’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
 vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahā-muni-kṛte kiṁ vā parair īśvaraḥ
 sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate ’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt

Translation: 

Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.

Important points:

After offering obeisances to the Absolute Truth Srila Vyasadeva now glorifies the Bhagavatam and defines actual religion

Cheating Religion

In light of the first verse everything else is a cheating religion

1. Cheating religion is that which keeps us on the material platform.
2. If an activity or religion we engage in does not give Krishna then it is cheating us. 
3. Religion has dharma artha kama moksha- but the goal should be prema pumartho mahan
4. Srila Sridhara Swami comments that the point of the 1.1.2 is to impress upon the readers that SB is the greatest scripture.1.1.2 defines true religion. He asserts that those religions teaching humanity to adore the Lord simply to fulfill one's desires, even up to the point of liberation, are cheating religions. The SB rejects such religions. Pra(the prefix of projjhita) emphasizes the meaning "completely rejected"; this sweeping rejection includes even the desire for salvation.
5. Why we take to cheating religion?
1. Because of our material desires
2. Hence we cheat ourselves, atma ha, self envy

Importance of Regulation

How to receive Transcendental knowledge?

1. susrusubhis- Desire to submissively hear is the only qualification
2. Connect to srnvatam sva katha krsna - Sri Krsna the benefactor of the truthful devotee to anxious to hear
3. What is this truthfulness?

janamady asya yatah - SB 1.1.1 - Meditate on Lord Krishna

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
 tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
 dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Translation: 

O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.

Some important points from this verse we discussed from Srila Prabhupada's purports, from HG Bhurijana Prabhu's book "Unveiling His Lotus Feet:" and from HG Radha Krishna Prabhu's lectures. If there are any inadequacies it is because of my tendency to commit mistakes. Please feel free to use the comments section to send me a message on the mistakes and I will correct them

The whole point is to accept Lord Krishna as the summum bonum- then we can surrender. Till we get there we can surrender by following the instructions of the Spiritual Master.

Lord Krishna is the Absolute Truth, the cause of all causes, fully independent and fully cognizant, who has imparted the Vedic knowledge in the heart of Brahmaji, by surrendering to Him alone we can overcome illusion and develop loving service unto Him.That is why we pray that we meditate upon Him.

• First few verses are directly related to the Vedanta Sutras
• They answer the question athato brahma jijnasa
• You get the answer to athato brahma jijnasa by meditating upon the Supreme Person- [who am I, who is God]
• First text as pointing to the Gaytari Mantra -satyam param dhimahi
• We meditate upon the Supreme Person because He is the actual and efficient cause behind the creation. He is the material cause(cause) and the efficient cause (the effect)
• He is the only person who maintains
• The Gayatri Mantra
• Jiva Goswami explains that the SB's opening text comments on the Gaytari
• Gayatri Mantra OM is explained the SB as janamady asya yatah - indicates the absolute truth Krishna who is the cause of the creation , maintenance and destruction of the manifested universes
• bhur bhuvah svah denoting lower, middle and upper planetary systems, are explained the Sb's first text as yatra tri saro mrsa words that also refer to the material universes
• savitur varenyam bhargah- indicates the sun's self sustaining effulgence, is contained in the word svarat- indicating the Lord is fully independent
• Jiva Goswami compares the Gayari's prayerful mood of enlightenment- "May the Lord mercifully engage our thoughts in meditation upon Him" to the words "tene brahma hrda"meaning the Lord enlightens Brahma because of Brahma's prayerful mood. 
• Sri Jiva Goswami also indicates that the Vyasadeva's words satyam param dhimahi at both the beginning and end of the Bhagavatam (1..1 and 12.13.19), indicate that the Bhagavatam's indicate that the Bhagavatam's ultimate objective is meditation on Krsna, because He is the Absolute Truth. 
• That the Brahma Gayatri mantra also uses the word dhimahi indicates that the goal of chanting the mantra is the same as the goal of the Bhagavatam:meditation on Krishna , the Absolute Truth.
• Srila Vyasadeva has made the benefits of understanding the Brahma Gayatri mantra widely available through the Srimad Bhagavatam, free from status limitations and time strictures applicable to chanters of the mantra. He has included only the essential word dhimahi in the first text to avoid making the mantra public
• abhijnah and svarat
• abhijñaḥ — fully cognizant; sva-rāṭ — fully independent
• In this śloka, the particular words abhijñaḥ and svarāṭ are significant. These two words distinguish the Supreme Lord from all the other living entities. No other living entity is eitherabhijñaḥ or svarāṭ. That is, no one is either fully cognizant or fully independent. Even Brahmā has to meditate upon the Supreme Lord in order to create. Then what to speak of great scientists like Einstein! The brains of such a scientist are certainly not the products of any human being. Scientists cannot manufacture such a brain, and what to speak of foolish atheists who defy the authority of the Lord? Even Māyāvādī impersonalists who flatter themselves that they can become one with the Lord are neither abhijñaḥ nor svarāṭ. 
• tene brahma hrda adi kavaye
• It is He who imparted the Vedic knowledge into the heart of Brahmaji
• muhyanti yat surayah
• if the demigods and sages are bewildered what to speak of us
• VCT points that the deluding potency can be overcome only by shelter of the Lord

Some things to ponder:

• If the Lord is everything- the absolute Truth then why am I wasting my time on false non essentials?
• If the Lord is everything- the supreme benefcator of all living entities then what can I do now to further my relationship with Him?

Study of Scriptures Tips, Dos and Don'ts

As received from Kalacakra Krishna Prabhu over email. He is a disciple of HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaja and is the moderator of the granthraj yahoogroup.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Hare Krishna,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
By the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord, Srila Prabhupada and my dear spiritual master, I had coined the below points that will help one to study Srila Prabhupada's books effectively.
In short there are 3 Do's which we need to follow while studying Srila Prabhupada's books, especially Bhagavad-Gita and Bhagavatam. And there are 4 don'ts which we should try to avoid while we study. Apart from this, there is a 10 point guideline mentioned below that will help us get the taste for studying Prabhupada's books.
Do’s: P H D
1) P - Patience/Peaceful/Prayerful (slow and steady)
2) H - Humble and Submissive (Don't think you can master the verse in no time)
3) D - Determination and Dedication (Be determined to read your quota for that day - no matter what)
Don'ts: F A I L
1. F – Forgiving yourself for not able to study regularly. Be merciful to everyone except yourself.
2. A – Avoidance (Skip over). Do not skip over any section or chapter.
3. I - Impudence (disrespectful, take for granted). Not giving the due respect for Srila Prabhupada's vani. The amount of realization is proportional to the amount of respect, awe and reverence we show to Srila Prabhupada's books.
4. L -Lazy/Lackluster
Ten Points to Study Srila Prabhupada's books Effectively:
1. Read systematically, not haphazardly - Read entire chapter or groups of related verses and understand the relationship between them.
2. Read everything in the verse - word-word, Translation, Purport, Sanskrit text. Do not leave anything. There is another way of study which is reading all the translations at one go, not getting into the purport (unless the translation is too difficult to understand). This kind of study will be helpful in getting a high level picture of the episode and the story flow.
3. Read every statement, slowly and patiently and do not go to the next statement until you understand what is said in this statement.
4. Ask questions – ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘when’ etc while you read. Don't read mechanically.
5. Introspect - Always try to see what message "I" can get from the verse/purport.
6. Do not read just to prove some point to someone or to get more information on certain things. Read to relish and associate with Srila Prabhupada's vani and all the pure devotees in Bhagavatam.
7. Don't be too soft or forgiving of yourself if you didn't study on a particular day. Be hard on yourself and complete your day's quota at any cost before the end of the day.
8. Depend completely on 'His' mercy for understanding and realization (refer to 1.6.19 purport). Do not think that we can master the books by our own efforts.
9. Have a note-book/pen - note down the important verses/points from the purport. Do not be lazy in this regard.
10. Try to visualize the situation in the narration mentally. This will help us get deeper understanding of the particular episode and Srila Prabhupada's explanations.
Purport of SB 1.6.19:
[There is no mechanical process to see the form of the Lord. It completely depends on the causeless mercy of the Lord. We cannot demand the Lord to be present before our vision, just as we cannot demand the sun to rise whenever we like. The sun rises out of his own accord; so also the Lord is pleased to be present out of His causeless mercy. One should simply await the opportune moment and go on discharging his prescribed duty in devotional service of the Lord. Narada Muni thought that the Lord could be seen again by the same mechanical process which was successful in the first attempt, but in spite of his utmost endeavor he could not make the second attempt successful. The Lord is completely independent of all obligations. He can simply be bound up by the tie of unalloyed devotion. Nor is He visible or perceivable by our material senses. When He pleases, being satisfied with the sincere attempt of devotional service depending completely on the mercy of the Lord, then He may be seen out of His own accord.]
If the above points help you in any way I will feel very happy. Please do let me know if you have any questions or clarifications in the above points and I will try to the best of my ability to help you understand them.
Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva,
Kalacakra Krsna das

He also mentioned:

Planned Reading of Scriptures

1.    Have a planned daily regulated reading of Srila Prabhupada's books especially Bhagavat-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam (in sequence first canto, second canto etc).

 

2.    Read in your free time more intensely and jot down the points in a notebook or diary. This will improve our understanding of the particular section of the shastra. Frequently refer to the diaries and think over the points you have noted down.

 

3.    Sometimes we may get a chance to preach or asked to give a class. For this, we have to prepare meticulously by spending more time on one verse and purport. We should write down notes from the verse/purport dedicating quality time to the study.

 

Maharaj then made a very powerful statement, “If we study in a planned manner as per the above suggestions, the references and realizations will be automatically sorted out in our minds by Krishna-Krpa. This is satatam kirtayanto maam yatantas ca drda vratah”. He emphasised the words “yatantas ca drda vratah”. In the word-word equivalents, Srila Prabhupada has given the meaning “fully endeavoring” for “yatantas”. And drda-vratah of course means “with determination.” The idea is to fully endeavor with determination. If there is no endeavor, there can be no mercy.

From Pradhana to Mahat Tattva - Characteristics, differences and Transformation

From Bhurijana Prabhu's book Unveiling His Lotus Feet Pages 609 to 620:

What is Pradhana?

• Pradhana is the subtlest form of matter
• Eternal
• Subtle undifferentiated sum total of all material elements
• Saguna Brahman- Brahman with qualities
• From SP purport to 3.26.15
• Brahman mixed with 3 qualities of goodness, passion and ignorance results in material expansion called as saguna Brahmana - consist of 25 material elements including time factor
• Nirguna Brahmana is not mixed with modes, found in spiritual world- unalloyed goodness prevails where nirguna brahmana is found

How does Pradhana become Mahat Tattva?

1. The form of the Lord that interacts indirectly with pradhana is known as Karanodaksayi Vishnu. His glance impregnates pradhana with countless souls all desiring an existence separate from the Lord
2. Pradhana impregnated with the Lord’s potent energy becomes known as mahat tattva
3. The Lord’s Potent energy can be understood as :
1. 3.26.19 – viryah(The Lord’s semen)- His internal Potency
2. Jiva Goswami describes it as conditioned souls
3. Mahavishnu's glance consists of time, the living entities and their karma(Page 352 Unveiling His Lotus Feet) 

Due to the agitation caused by His glance , false ego is produced and manifests in each of the three modes good ness passion and ignorance. Further discussion of how the false ego is manifest and how further transformation happens is discussed in this post:

False ego is the cause of the material creation

The four internal subtle senses and their relationship

From Text SB 3.26.14

mano buddhir ahaṅkāraś  cittam ity antar-ātmakam
caturdhā lakṣyate bhedo  vṛttyā lakṣaṇa-rūpayā

Word for word: 

manaḥ — the mind; buddhiḥ — intelligence; ahaṅkāraḥ — ego; cittam — consciousness; iti — thus; antaḥ-ātmakam — the internal, subtle senses; catuḥ-dhā — having four aspects; lakṣyate — is observed; bhedaḥ — the distinction; vṛttyā — by their functions; lakṣaṇa-rūpayā — representing different characteristics.

Translation: 

The internal, subtle senses are experienced as having four aspects, in the shape of mind, intelligence, ego and contaminated consciousness. Distinctions between them can be made only by different functions, since they represent different characteristics.

The four internal subtle senses as explained in Text 14 are:

1. citta - a sense of awareness or consciousness
2. ahankara- a false sense of self ,false ego
3. manah- the accepting and rejecting function known as the mind
4. buddhih- the discriminating function known as the intelligence

False ego is the cause of the material creation

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.25.25

"The five elements, namely sky, air, fire, water and earth, are all but different qualities of the darkness of false ego. This means that the false ego in the sum total form of mahat-tattva is generated from the marginal potency of the Lord, and due to this false ego of lording it over the material creation, ingredients are generated for the false enjoyment of the living being. The living being is practically the dominating factor over the material elements as the enjoyer, though the background is the Supreme Lord. Factually, save and except the Lord, no one can be called the enjoyer, but the living entity falsely desires to become the enjoyer. This is the origin of false ego. When the bewildered living being desires this, the shadow elements are generated by the will of the Lord, and the living entities are allowed to run after them as after a phantasmagoria."

Thus:

• With the glance of Mahavishnu which comprises of the living entities, time and karma the agitation in the mahat tattva starts as we read in this post From Pradhana to Mahat Tattva - Characteristics, differences and Transformation.

• Further transformation occurs because of the presence of the false ego- As Srila Prabhupada explains in this purport that "This means that the false ego in the sum total form of mahat-tattva is generated from the marginal potency of the Lord, and due to this false ego of lording it over the material creation, ingredients are generated for the false enjoyment of the living being."

• Thus the false ego in the mahat tattva is that of the marginal potency - the jiva who has desired to enjoy separately from the Lord.
• Thus due to the agitation of the glance of Maha Vishnu false ego is produced(from UHLF -Page 352 Navakishori dd - but it has already with the living entity??) and manifests in the three modes, goodness, passion and ignorance.
• Gradually those forms of false ego transform further.
• From False Ego in the mode of ignorance(tamas- full display of material creation under the spell of darkness of ignorance.Verses 2.5.26-29)
• Sky (ether) is generated along with sense object sound
• From Sky the Air element is generated along with sense object touch
• From Air the Fire element is generated along with the sense object shape
• From Fire the Water element is generated along with the sense object taste
• From Water the Earth elements is generated along with the sense object taste
• Each element contains within it all the sense objects previously generated
• From False ego in the mode of goodness(Vaikarika- the neutral stage of creation) Verse 2.5.30:
• The mind is generated along with the 10 demigods who control the bodily movements.e.g controller of directions, air, sun-God, father of Daksha prajapati,the Asvini Kumars, the fire God,the King of heaven, the worshipable deity in heaven, the chief of the Adityas and Brahmaji, the Prajapati.All come into existence.
• Same is mentioned in verse 3.5.30:"The false ego is transformed into mind by interaction with the mode of goodness. All the demigods who control the phenomenal world are also products of the same principle, namely the interaction of false ego and the mode of goodness."
• From False Ego in the mode of passion(tejas - the initiative of creation) From 2.5.31:
• intelligence, prana(the life force)
• five knowledge acquiring senses- eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin
• five working senses - voice, legs, hands, genitals, anus
• Also mentioned in 3.5.31: "The senses are certainly products of the mode of passion in false ego, and therefore philosophical speculative knowledge and fruitive activities are predominantly products of the mode of passion."

Its interesting to note that Srimad Bhagavatam says that the false ego is the cause of this false material creation  and it also explains in the 12th canto that the death of the false ego is the Ultimate Annihilation of the material creation. See the link below for the post on this topic.

Death of the false ego - the Ultimate Annihilation

Having understood this how should we move about in this material world:

can be read here as explained by Suta goswami

Accumulation,Artificial needs take us away from Krishna

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.5.24
Materialistic ego, or the sense of identification with matter, is grossly self-centered, devoid of clear knowledge of the existence of God. And this self-centered egoism of the materialistic living entities is the cause of their being conditioned by the other paraphernalia and continuing their bondage of material existence.

By the will of the Lord, therefore, the impersonalist, even after knowing the Brahman and Paramātmā features of the Lord, remains ignorant of His eternal personal feature as ever-existent Nārāyaṇa, transcendental to all material creation.

The cause of such gross ignorance is constant engagement by the materialistic man in the matter of artificially increasing material demands. To realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one has to purify the materialistic senses by devotional service. 

dravya sakti, kriya sakti and jnana sakti

The mode of goodness, or the brahminical culture recommended in the Vedic literatures, is helpful to such spiritual realization, and thus the jñāna-śakti stage of the conditioned soul is comparatively better than the other two stages, namely dravya-śakti and kriyā-śakti. 

 The whole material civilization is manifested by a huge accumulation of materials, or in other words, raw materials for industrial purposes, and the industrial enterprises (kriyā-śakti) are all due to gross ignorance of spiritual life.

 In order to rectify this great anomaly of materialistic civilization, based on the principles of dravya-śakti and kriyā-śakti, one has to adopt the process of devotional service of the Lord by adoption of the principles of karma-yoga, mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.27) as follows:

yat karoṣi yad aśnāsi
 yaj juhoṣi dadāsi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
 tat kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam

“O son of Kuntī, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.”

From Srila Prabhupada's purport to SB 2.5.30

tamas is the full display of material creation under the spell of the darkness of ignorance. Manufacture of the “necessities of life” in factories and workshops, excessively prominent in the Age of Kali, or in the age of the machine, is the summit stage of the quality of darkness.

 Such manufacturing enterprises by human society are in the mode of darkness because factually there is no necessity for the commodities manufactured. Human society primarily requires food for subsistence, shelter for sleeping, defense for protection, and commodities for satisfaction of the senses.

Human civilization is meant for purifying the senses, and objects of sense satisfaction should be supplied as much as absolutely required, but not for aggravating artificial sensory needs. Food, shelter, defense and sense gratification are all needs in material existence. Otherwise, in his pure, uncontaminated state of original life, the living entity has no such needs.

The needs are therefore artificial, and in the pure state of life there are no such needs. As such, increasing the artificial needs, as is the standard of material civilization, or advancing the economic development of human society, is a sort of engagement in darkness, without knowledge. By such engagement, human energy is spoiled, because human energy is primarily meant for purifying the senses in order to engage them in satisfying the senses of the Supreme Lord
The Vedas instruct us to get out of the existence of darkness and go forward on the path of light (tamasi mā jyotir gama). The path of light is therefore to satisfy the senses of the Lord.