 |
 |
|
|
|
|
TEXT 54 brahma-bhutah prasannatma
SYNONYMS  brahma-bhutah--being
one with the Absolute; prasanna-atma--fully joyful; na--never;
socati--laments; na--never; kanksati--desires; samah--equally
disposed; sarvesu--all; bhutesu--living entities; mat-bhaktim--My
devotional service; labhate--gains; param--transcendental.
TRANSLATION One who is
thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He
never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every
living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me.
PURPORT To the impersonalist,
achieving the brahma-bhuta stage, becoming one with the Absolute,
is the last word. But for the personalist, or pure devotee, one has to
go still further to become engaged in pure devotional service. This means
that one who is engaged in pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord
is already in a state of liberation, called brahma-bhuta, oneness
with the Absolute. Without being one with the Supreme, the Absolute, one
cannot render service unto Him. In the absolute conception, there is no
difference between the served and the servitor; yet the distinction is
there, in a higher spiritual sense.
In the material
concept of life, when one works for sense gratification, there is misery,
but in the absolute world, when one is engaged in pure devotional service,
there is no misery. The devotee in Krsna consciousness has nothing to lament
or desire. Since God is full, a living entity who is engaged in God's service,
in Krsna consciousness, becomes also full in himself. He is just like a
river cleansed of all dirty water. Because a pure devotee has no thought
other than Krsna, he is naturally always joyful. He does not lament for
any material loss or gain because he is full in the service of the Lord.
He has no desire for material enjoyment because he knows that every living
entity is a fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme Lord and therefore
eternally a servant. He does not see, in the material world, someone as
higher and someone as lower; higher and lower positions are ephemeral,
and a devotee has nothing to do with ephemeral appearances or disappearances.
For him stone and gold are of equal value. This is the brahma-bhuta
stage, and this stage is attained very easily by the pure devotee. In that
stage of existence, the idea of becoming one with the Supreme Brahman and
annihilating one's individuality becomes hellish, and the idea of attaining
the heavenly kingdom becomes phantasmagoria, and the senses are like broken
serpents' teeth. As there is no fear of a serpent with broken teeth, so
there is no fear from the senses when they are automatically controlled.
The world is miserable for the materially infected person, but for a devotee
the entire world is as good as Vaikuntha, or the spiritual sky. The highest
personality in this material universe is no more significant than an ant
for a devotee. Such a stage can be achieved by the mercy of Lord Caitanya,
who preached pure devotional service in this age.
|
