Srimad Bhagavatam

Chapter 7 Skandha 11

Uddhava Gita : Chapter 2

Uddhava Gita Chapter 2: ( Summary)

Lordi Krishna acknowledges that he has not interfered with the Brahmana's curse and as the curse runs its course the Yadav line will be decimated. He asks Uddhava to renounce every thing leave the place immediately . Uddhava tells Sri Krishna that the renunciation proposed by him is very difficult for most people. That being so Uddhava pleads with Krishna to teach him further. Krishna then explains that people by their own effort can know about self. In this context he tells Uddhava about the story of the ever happy Avadhuta !

Avadhuta questioned by King Yadu tells him the secret of happiness as the learning from twenty four Gurus. Avadhuta elaborates on the twenty four Gurus which include Earth , Vayu , Water , Fire, Sky, the moon, the sun and the Pigeon."

"Oh Blessed on what you said about my desire is true. Brahma, Siva and other Lords desire that I go back to my own abode"

Chapter 2, 11th Skandha

The chapter starts with Bhagavan talking to Uddhava.

Bhagavan said:

"O Uddhava- what you said about my desire of not interfering in the Brahamanas curse is true. Brahma, Siva and the Lords of beings desire that I go back my own abode".

"Indeed I have entirely finished the task of destroying the evil forces for which, at the request of Brahma I incarnated myself along with my partial manifestation namely Balarama. This Yadava line which is under the curse of the Brahmanas will come to the end through mutual fights and the sea will submerge this city on the seventh day".

"Dear Uddhava , as soon as I leave this world it will be shorn of its well being and will soon be overtaken by Kali , the spirit of dark ages. You too shall not stay here after I have left, for men will be addicted to evil in the spirit of Kali".

"Renouncing every thing you roam about the world observing everything with even vision, fixing your mind on me".

" Whatever is recognized by the mind, speech, eyes, ears and the rest know it all to be figment of the mind and is doomed to pass away".

" The man with uncontrolled mind falls into the thinking that there is a plurality of objects and this thinking leads to good and evil. The man who is lost in Maya and is concerned about good and bad and is lost in the differences of action, inaction and prohibited action !.

"Therefore controlling your senses and mind, look at the universe as manifested in the self and look at the self as resting in me, the Supreme Lord !".

"Possessed of knowledge of scriptures and the realization of oneness of self, you will not be thwarted by any obstacles".

" Beyond the reach of good and evil, such a man will, like a child, desist from prohibited actions but not through a sense of evil , and perform the enjoined action but not through the idea of acquiring good".

"One being friend of all beings with settled conviction due to knowledge and realization and looking at the universe as consisting of nothing but me , such a person will not come to grief anymore.”

Suka says ‘ O King thus commanded by the Lord , Uddhava the devotee,who is desirous of knowing truth, prostrated before Sri Krishna and asked him to teach him more.

Uddhava says:

"Bhagavan , you are the embodiment of Yoga , Yoga emnates from you . You have recommended me the path of renunciation known as sanyasa".

"O Lord I consider the renunciation of desires as difficult for people steeped in worldly affairs , and more so for people not devoted to you who are the self of all."

"I am but a fool being passionately attached to this body which is the creation of your Maya. Considering this, please instruct me so that I can faithfully carry out what you have taught me".

"Oh Lord , even among gods I do not find any other teacher of self than you . Brahma and others too are deluded by Maya and consider the objective world a reality".

" Therefore afflicted by sins and dispirited I take my refuge in you as the Supreme Being , the Narayana living in the Vaikuntha as the true friend of all beings”.

Hearing the pleadings of Uddhava , the Bhagavan then spoke:

Uddhava very often in the world men who have truly discerned the truth about the universe deliver themselves from the evil inclinations through their own exertions".

"The self alone is the best teacher of a person, specifically for human beings because of direct perception and inference by application of logic".

"Those who are of balanced mind and are skilled in the knowledge of Yoga behold me in the human body as fully manifest and endowed with all powers."

"There are many created bodies with one two three four and many legs and with none too. Among these the human form is my favorite body".

"In this men who have controlled their senses directly seek me through attributes such as intellect that are perceived and by inference through those indications".

"Sages tell a an old tale about the dialog between Yadu , the powerful son of Yayati and an Avadhuta".

"I will tell you the story of Avadhuta !!.

Bhagavan continues with the story of Avadhuta

Avadhuta explains that he is free from all concerns because of what he learnt from the twenty four Gurus. These twenty four Gurus are all part of the nature and there is a lesson to be drawn from each from of them .

Avadhuta explains the lessons he learnt from all of them These lessons are steadiness from Earth , being unaffected by surroundings like Air, not touched by anything like the Sky, be free from all contamination like Water. A man with self control willbe free from pollution like Fire. Like the Moon which waxes and wanes but never changes a person never changes from birth to death. Like the Sun a saintly person should accept and also return appropriately and then like Pigeon never get lost in the wordly affairs.

Bhagavan continue with the story of Avadhuta :

Om Tat Sat

"Having attained human birth which is like an open gateway to liberation , he who is attached like the bird to the familyconcerns only is considered to as one who has fallen from his status"

Ref: Srimad Bhagavata Vol 4, Published by Ramakrishna Math, .