Śrīla Bhakti Rakṣak Śrīdhar Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj explains the inheritance of the eternal soul.
The Bhāgavat has been described as the ripe fruit of the tree of the Veda. The Veda has produced out of its own accord this fruit. What is that? Rasa, Kṛṣṇa, Svayam Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, Vrajendra Nandan—this is the ripe product of the tree of the Veda. Veda means the embodiment of revealed truth. The inner current of the Veda is producing fruit, and that fruit when ripe is Bhāgavatam. So, the natural gift of the Veda is Kṛṣṇa, Svayam Bhagavān. But we, out of our own prejudice, try to get something from the tree of the Veda. The animals try to chew the leaves of the tree. Others cut wood from the tree, but the real natural product of the Veda is the fruit, the Akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrti.
ānandaṁ brahmaṇo vidvān
na bibheti kadāchana
(Taittirīya-upaniṣad: 2.3.1)
[“One who knows the joy of Brahma has no fear at any time.”]
The natural gift of the Veda, the highest, living revealed truth is Kṛṣṇa. Raso vai Saḥ [“He is rasa.”]
śraddhāmayo ’yaṁ lokaḥ
[“That plane is made of faith.”]
Through your faith, you can get the rasa of the highest order. That is the gift of all the Vedas and Veda-mātā Gāyatrī also aims at that, that very object. I have tried my best to show that sort of meaning coming from gāyatrī. Gāyatrī means ganāt trāyate: by chanting which we can get liberation. And what is the definition of liberation? Svarūpeṇa vyavasthitiḥ (SB: 2.9.10): to engage ourselves in our innermost duty. That is what gāyatrī is directed towards, and the Kṛṣṇa-vaṁśī [Kṛṣṇa’s flute] is also doing the same thing. In the highest place, we find proper adjustment. “Be ready for My service.” That is the sound. The sound gives that impression, inspiration, to anyone and everyone: “Come to My sweet service. Engage yourself to My sweet service.” That is the call of the flute of Kṛṣṇa and Veda-mātā Gāyatrī, who has produced the Veda. What is present in the flute is present in gāyatrī as a seed. Then, in the middle it is the Veda, the śruti, then Vedānta, and then Bhāgavatam at the top.
nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)
Vyāsadev says in the introduction of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: “What is this? What is the necessity this new book you are giving to the society? This is the Nigama-kalpa-taror galitaṁ phalaṁ. Nigama means the Veda, and that is compared to a tree. This Bhāgavatam is natural ripe fruit come of its own accord from that tree. It is not anything pressed or any forcibly attached to that. Of its own accord, the tree is giving fruit, and when the fruit is ripe, it is Bhāgavatam. So, drink the juice.
pibata bhāgavataṁ rasam ālayaṁ
muhur aho rasikā bhuvi bhāvukāḥ
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.3)
Oh! If you have real thinking capacity, any normal hankering, you must come to drink this rasam. This is the natural product of the Veda-kalpa-taru [wish-fulfilling tree of the Vedas] whose seed is gāyatrī. Ganāt trāyate. If you chant the gāyatrī-mantram, trāyate, you will be liberated, emancipated, and the positive conception of liberation is svarūp-siddhi, self-determination. In self-determination, you must come in connection with Kṛṣṇa in different rasas to get your assured and attached service, and thereby, you can imbibe the real juice to make your life fulfilled. Your fulfilment of life is there. Everyone’s fulfilment is connected there. All your attempts, otherwise, are all fruitless labour. Utilise your energy only in the proper way to make your life successful.
This is for all; this advice from the revealed scriptures is to all of us.
śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrā
(Śvetāśvatara-upaniṣad: 2.5)
“O you sons of nectar, sons of nectarean ocean sea, please listen to me. You are born in amṛta, you were born to taste amṛta, and you must no allow yourself to be satisfied by anything but amṛta. So, anyhow, misguided for the time being, but awake, arise, and search for amṛtam, that nectar, that satisfaction.”
Om is a big “Yes! Yes, what you are searching, that is! Don’t be disappointed. What is the inner search in you all, that exists.” The Veda, the revealed scriptures, they say, they assert, declare, announce: “That is! That is existing. What is the common search of all your hearts, that is existing, purely that is existing, and your thirst will be quenched. You are really meant for that. By construction, you deserve it. So, don’t be afraid. Don’t be cowed down. You are amṛtasya putrā: in your being that thing is given. Already it is there. So, you can never be satisfied anywhere with anything else but this thing. So, prepare yourself to receive after your long search this long missing amṛtam in the full form and full quality.”
We should have no other business, no other engagement, than Kṛṣṇānusandhan. Our Guru Mahārāj declared total war against this mind. He used to say one thing, “What is strength of māyic reason? It is like the leg of a cock. Apparently, it is very strong, but how much strength is really there? The cock only moves, gestures, postures that his leg is very strong.” So, māyā also moves with that sort of vanity: “I have got much power”, but in comparison with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, what power can she possess? So, don’t be afraid of māyā. You are an amṛtasya putrā.
śṛṇvantu viśve amṛtasya putrā
This grand tone, divine tone, this call, comes from that quarter, the divine quarter: “Awake. Arise. Search for your fortune, and you cannot but have that. It is your birth right (svarūp-gata-sampad). It is the wealth of your own soul. So, it is there, the relativity of the highest divinity. It cannot but be within you. You are His creature. You exist in His connection and relativity. So, you must have some connection or other within you. So, don’t be afraid of your present position. Don’t be disappointed!”
In this way, you are to preach to the world at large: “Come one and all, you all want rasam, ānandam.” Ānandaṁ Brahmaṇo vidvān. The whole ānandam is differentiated and personified in Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvan, and that is very magnanimously being distributed in Nabadwīp. So come. It would be better to come and flock together in Nabadwīp. There, we get the ticket, and then we may go to Vrṇdāvan. In Nabadwīp also, we will find that there is the Vṛndāvan-rasa with some medicine: the diet with some medicine is applied; it is given here and easily digested.
Source
31 August 1981