Adhokshaja

By Krishna's Mercy

"Adhokshaja" is a collection of essays describing bhakti-yoga, the science of self-realization, and Krishna consciousness based off select verses from sacred Vedic texts like Bhagavad-gita, Ramayana, Chaitanya Charitamrita, and others.  Estimated length of 295 pages.

 

"Being beyond the range of limited sense perception [adhokshaja], You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized." (Queen Kunti speaking to Lord Krishna, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.8.19)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Krishna's Mercy
• Release date: Nov 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223748878

Book preview

Krishna's Mercy

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Adhokshaja

Daily articles from March 2011

Copyright Krishna’s Mercy 2023

www.krishnasmercy.com

Contents

Shri Hanuman

Adhokshaja

Blistered Earth

Scarcity

Positive Thinking

Brilliant in Defense

Respect the Game

Degree of Deviation

Mission Statement

What Makes an Object

Always Beautiful

A False Choice

A Little Help From Our Friends

Spiritual Cognition

Pop Quiz

A Sight for Sore Eyes

Resourceful

Gaura Purnima 2011

Holi 2011

Just Another Day At The Office

Ranchor

Never Fail

Always Favorable

CEO In a Box

Harvesting Delights

Always the Best Policy

Lengthen Freedom’s Ring

The Cloak of Darkness

In The End

Careful Deliberation

Necessity for Meditation

Shri Hanuman

Then, after seeing the newly risen sun in the great forest when you were a boy, taking it to be fruit and wanting to catch it, you jumped up and flew towards the sky. (Jambavan speaking to Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 66.21)

abhyutthitam tataḥ sūryam bālo dṛṣṭvā mahā vane ।

phalam ca iti jighṛkṣuḥ tvam utplutya abhiutpato divam

Shri Hanuman, the powerful Vanara warrior and faithful servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is one of the most celebrated divine figures in the world. The regular adulation and worship directed his way has gone on for thousands of years, dating back to the time of his initial advent on earth, when he aided the victorious side in one of the greatest battles this world has ever seen. Since the entire universe goes through many cycles of creation and destruction, the circumstances surrounding Hanuman’s birth are a little different each time around. The most often referenced account is provided in the sacred Ramayana of Maharishi Valmiki, which actually describes Hanuman’s early life in two different sections; such is the greatness of the fearless devotee. Hearing of his birth and his tremendous courage shown in battles against the enemies of the Lord is enough to secure transcendental bliss for a lifetime. Such figures are put on this earth at just the right time and place to allow current and future generations of conditioned souls a chance at understanding true greatness, courage, strength, perseverance, and most importantly, devotion to the Lord.

Pure love for God, or bhakti, is the constitutional position of the soul. Though we tend to identify with our outward features, it is the spirit soul inside which forms the basis of identity. I and Mine really refer to the soul and not the body. We may have the form of a human being in the present life, but in a future one we may be born as a demigod, a plant, or even an animal. The soul can never be discarded, burned up, dried, or cut into pieces. No matter the trials and tribulations it endures, the soul can never change in properties. Part and parcel of the soul’s makeup is a deep and unadulterated love for God. When the individual spiritual spark is placed in a temporary realm, wherein birth, old age, disease and death constantly repeat, knowledge of the loving propensity gets forgotten. Therefore the aim of human life is to rekindle the pure connection with God through activities in divine love. Unlike conditioned activities, acts of devotion lead to liberation. Just as in an elementary school classroom there are two paths, one which leads to knowledge and subsequent elevation to the next grade, and another which forces the student to retake the same class in the following year, in the material world the living entities have a choice as to which type of engagement they will adopt, as free-will and independence are also characteristics of the soul.

Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage. (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.9)

Material activities, those actions that aim to satisfy the senses of the temporary body, are deemed conditioned and thus leading to bondage. The binding aspect shouldn’t be difficult to understand, as the body is temporary and subject for destruction, so any activity which aims to satisfy it will also end in destruction. Since such engagements also do nothing to purify consciousness, the soul remains bound to the cycle of birth and death. The Supreme Lord, the one and only God for all of humanity, is very kind. Through His separated energies, He gives those who do not worship Him personally what they want, even if their desires won’t lead to eternal freedom. If the individual wants to remain tied to the repetitious activities of sense gratification based off false identification, they are free to do so.

There is another class of activity which has the opposite effect; it slowly but surely breaks the bonds of attachment to the phenomenal world, thus leading to liberation, or the cessation to the cycle of birth and death. These activities, which are collectively known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, spark a change in consciousness. While the body is temporary and ultimately discarded, consciousness travels alongside the soul from life to life. It is the consciousness that determines the type of body the individual receives in the next life. As is readily perceptible, young children are born with certain qualities. One child will naturally be very peaceful and quiet, while another will be antsy and very talkative. These natures are determined by the previous consciousness of the soul. When one’s mindset is completely purified by remaining transcendentally situated at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a spiritual body is given in the next life. A spiritual form is a permanent one that is of the same quality as the soul. While the temporary outer covering composed of material elements has a spiritually inhibiting effect, the transcendentally situated form lacks any propensity for illusion or activities leading to bondage. Thus the Krishna conscious soul is free to associate with the Supreme Lord in their specific mood of choice.

How does a change in consciousness come about? Though we are in a temporary body, the key is to take to acts of bhakti, one of the simplest and most effective of which is hearing. Though the Supreme Lord remains invisible to the soul deluded by the sense consciousness, He kindly makes appearances on earth to give the inquisitive and love-starved individuals a chance at liberation. One such appearance took place many thousands of years ago during the Treta Yuga. During that time, the original personality of Godhead, who is known as Krishna or Vishnu in the Vedic tradition, descended as a handsome and pious prince named Rama. Just as there is a natural interest in the workings of the notable royal families of today, there was a great interest in the day-to-day dealings of the famous Ikshvaku dynasty, which ruled the world. Their king at the time was Maharaja Dasharatha, who was so pious and kind that everyone loved him. Lord Rama was the king’s eldest son and the heir to the throne that was missing for such a long time.

From the time of His birth, everyone was enamored by Rama’s activities and also those of His three younger brothers: Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. When one rises above the animalistic stage and gains a basic understanding of spirituality but still hasn’t achieved pure God consciousness, there are four rewards in life that are deemed most precious and worthy of attaining: dharma [religiosity], artha [economic development], kama [sense gratification] and moksha [liberation from birth and death]. They say that during Dasharatha’s time, these four rewards manifested in the forms of his four young children. In fact, these beautiful boys, who were all non-different forms of Vishnu, were rewards far greater than anything anyone could ever ask for. Devotion to the feet of these sweet children would bring the greatest gift of all: bhakti, which is an eternal flame of love that illuminates any form the soul happens to assume.

Those who lived in Ayodhya at the time certainly were transcendentally benefitted by seeing Rama and His brothers all the time, but in order to give future generations a chance to hear about the wonders experienced by the citizens of Ayodhya, the Lord took to transcendental activities performed outside of the town as He grew up. These actions were so blissful and beautiful that they were chronicled by Maharishi Valmiki in a wonderful poem called the Ramayana.

As part of His pastimes, Rama roamed the forests of India alongside His beautiful and chaste wife Sita Devi and Lakshmana. On one unfortunate occasion, Sita was kidnapped from the forest while not in Rama or Lakshmana’s presence. In their subsequent search for her whereabouts, Rama and Lakshmana forged an alliance with a Vanara king named Sugriva, who was living in the forest of Kishkindha. Vanaras are usually taken to be monkeys, but the Sanskrit word itself means one of the forest. Based on the descriptions of their activities and their notably strong penchant for intoxication and sex life, we can understand that the Vanaras were very monkey-like, but they still retained many human tendencies. Species themselves don’t evolve, for matter is incapable of doing anything on its own. However, the body types in which the souls are injected certainly can change over time. The Vedas cap the list of distinct species at 8,400,000, with the Vanaras being one of them.

Sugriva sent out search parties to scour the earth for Sita’s location. Though the monkeys were divided into groups, Sugriva knew that the party which included Shri Hanuman, his most faithful and dear servant, was the only one with any legitimate chance at success. Sure enough, Hanuman’s group, after much stress and turmoil, finally stumbled upon Sita’s location. Through the help of a bird named Sampati, Hanuman and his monkey friends were informed that Sita was taken to an island kingdom of Lanka. There was just one problem: getting to the island. The monkey party was on one side of the water, and Lanka was all the way on the other side of the ocean. Realizing their dilemma, the monkeys each asserted how far they could jump. Similar to the old game show Name That Tune, each monkey stepped forward and said they could jump a certain distance. Realizing that none of these distances were long enough to make it across the ocean, Jambavan, one of the elderly monkeys in the group, approached Hanuman and asked him why he was silent. Up to this point Hanuman had not even ventured a guess as to how far he could jump.

Jambavan took the opportunity to inform Hanuman of his tremendous prowess inherited from his father. Not knowing the circumstances of his birth, Hanuman was told the beautiful story about the early years of his life. There once was a celebrated celestial nymph who was exquisitely beautiful. Due to a curse imprecated by a sage, she was subsequently born as a monkey. Given the name of Anjana, she was later married to a monkey named Keshari. Though she was in the form of a Vanara, Anjana still retained some of her celestial powers, one of which included the ability to assume any shape at will. One day she decided to assume a human form and roam the top of a mountain which had a beautiful cloud amassed around it. The wind-god, Vayu, then saw her and became enamored.

Though this seems like a poetic trick of personification or a mythological tradition, the Vedas inform us that each of the material elements has a presiding deity. We can think of it in this way: As human beings, we can most certainly enter the water, but it is not our natural habitat. We could never survive in water because our specific body type is made to reside on land. Fish, on the other hand, can only survive in water. They would immediately die in any other environment. Just because we can’t survive in the water doesn’t mean that other living entities aren’t meant to live there. In the same way, each of the various planets of the universe has living entities with specific bodies residing on them. Even the sun is considered a deity, for it is presided over by a powerful living entity who possesses a body of fire.

manasā asmi gato yat tvām pariṣvajya yaśasvini |

vīryavān buddhi saṃpannaḥ putraḥ tava bhaviṣyati

mahāsāttvo mahāteja mahābala parākramaḥ |

langhane plavane caiva bhaviṣyati mayā samaḥ

Since after embracing you I have entered you with my mind, O famous lady, a son who is powerful and endowed with intelligence will be born to you. He will be mighty, highly effulgent, very powerful, valorous, and my equal in flying and leaping abilities. (Vayu speaking to Anjana, Valmiki Ramayana, 66.18-19)

Wind, along with earth, water, fire and sky, is one of the central elements of the material world. It has a presiding deity named Vayu who is responsible for its workings. The importance of this responsibility would be highlighted shortly after Vayu’s meeting with Anjana. Seeing the beautiful woman on the mountaintop, Vayu brought her close to his body, a gesture not appreciated by Anjana. She made a vow to only accept one husband, and now this strange person was seemingly violating her. Vayu allayed her fears by informing her that he had not had any intercourse with her, so her vow of chastity had not been broken. But due to the embrace, Vayu had impregnated her using his mind. Being with child, Anjana went to a nearby cave and gave birth to a Vanara son endowed with the celestial powers of his father.

When he was still a child, the young boy one day saw the sun in the sky and mistook it for a fruit. Wanting to grab the fruit and eat it, the child leaped into the sky and made his way closer and closer to the sun. His jumping ability and swiftness weren’t remarkable considering Vayu was the boy’s father. Even though the child was eventually repulsed by the massive splendor of the sun, he did not get discouraged in any way. Indra, the king of the heavenly planets, saw the child approaching his realm, and possessed by anger, he hurled a thunderbolt at the young boy. Being struck by Indra’s vajra, the child in the sky was throttled back and subsequently collided with a mountain. Since his jaw was broken by the impact with the mountain, the child was thenceforth known as Hanuman.

Seeing his son attacked and injured, Vayu was not happy at all. As revenge, he decided to cease functioning; so subsequently there was no wind anywhere on the earth. Obviously, this led to chaos and disaster, so the sages and demigods pleaded with Vayu to give up his anger. To pacify Vayu, Hanuman was granted the benediction from Lord Brahma of being invincible in battle. Indra, who was the cause of the whole mess, granted Hanuman the boon that he would never die unless he wanted to. When Jambavan finished his story, he also reminded Hanuman of his great powers borne of the ancestral link to the wind-god. Jambavan encouraged Hanuman to assume a massive form to cross over the ocean. The comparison was made to Trivikrama, the incarnation of Vishnu also known as Vamanadeva, who once shifted from a dwarf body to a massive form and covered the earth in just three steps. Jambavan also stated that Hanuman’s strength and speed were equal to that of Garuda, the celestial bird-carrier of Lord Vishnu.

These references to Vishnu were no accident, for the monkeys were involved in devotional service to Rama, a celebrated incarnation of Vishnu. Reminded of his sterling ancestry and prowess, Hanuman gladly abided by Jambavan’s words and assumed a massive form. Hanuman then boldly asserted that no one would be able to defeat him and that he would easily cross over the ocean. He assured the monkeys that Sita’s whereabouts in Lanka would be found. The rest, as they say, was history, as Hanuman would bravely leap across the ocean, find Sita, set fire to Lanka, return to Rama and Sugriva, and then play a major role in the final battle against Ravana. All would end well, as Ravana would be defeated by Rama, and Sita would be reunited safely with her dear husband. For his efforts, Hanuman was granted eternal devotion to Sita, Rama and Lakshmana. To this day he remains always fixed in thoughts of love and devotion to them. Hanuman easily could have been granted liberation from the cycle of birth and death, but as a pure devotee and divine figure, he didn’t want any such reward, as bhakti is even greater than moksha. He only asked that he be able to remain on this earth for as long as Rama’s story continued to be told.

This means that anytime we say the name of Rama, or anytime we chant the glorious names of the Lord found in the sacred maha-mantra, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, Shri Hanuman hears us and is pleased at the heart. As the gate-keeper of the spiritual kingdom inhabited by the glory of the Raghu dynasty, Hanuman doesn’t require an entrance fee, a cover charge, or steep penances and austerities as prerequisites for entry. He simply asks that we try to love Sita and Rama as much as he does. Surely this is not possible, but if we remain fixed on the path of devotional service and never forget the glorious Hanuman, the son of Anjana and the darling of the devotees of Rama, our efforts in this life will be successful. The potency of the human form of life lies not in the ability to enjoy the senses, but rather in the potential to understand and associate with the Supreme Spirit and His dearmost associates like Shri Hanuman.

Adhokshaja

"Being beyond the range of limited sense perception [adhokshaja], You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized." (Queen Kunti speaking to Lord Krishna, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 1.8.19)

A good actor is not recognized for who he is – an ordinary human being just like the rest of us. Rather, due to his extraordinary dramatic talents and the promotion of his different shows, films and plays, he is able to create a completely different persona, one that is respected, adored, and even sometimes worshiped by a large portion of the population. What’s interesting is that those who offer their obeisances in the form of ticket purchases, time spent following the day-to-day gossip and personal dealings, and general dedication of thoughts know full well that the target individual is simply playing a role, acting out their rehearsed lines. Yet the performance itself is so powerful that the audience willingly puts themselves under the spell of illusion, so as to enhance the enjoyment of the experience. In a similar manner, the Supreme Lord, Shri Krishna, during His various personal appearances on earth puts on the greatest of performances, one that not only enchants the pure-hearted, but also keeps the miscreants far, far away. Bhagavan, the original Divine Being, when playing the role of an ordinary living entity can only be recognized for who He is by the trained eye, a purified vision that is actually able to perceive the Supreme Spirit’s adhokshaja feature for what it is. Blunt instruments, hypotheses, scientific experiments and direct perception are not enough to recognize the transcendental actor known as Krishna. But hearing from authority sources such as Kunti Devi, the mother of the famous Pandava brothers, can provide perfect information that can subsequently be used to make a flawless identification.

The idolatry directed towards famous actors and actresses can only be rooted in a flawed identification. After all, just because an individual plays a doctor on television doesn’t mean that they know how to practice medicine in real life. Yet this precise illusion envelops even members of the highest levels of government and politics, which is often humorously referred to as showbiz for the ugly. There have been instances in the past where actors who played a prominent role championing some social cause in a film were then later called to testify before Congress to lend their expertise to the matter. It is undoubtedly true that the most popular actors are treated like royalty, for they are offered great respect and attention in a wide variety of public circles. In many cases the worshipers visibly exhibit their pure ignorance by offering obeisances in a manner similar to the way worship is performed in a traditional house of spirituality, or temple.

This strange behavior is certainly indicative of the tremendous acting abilities of the celebrities in question. After all, concomitant with a successful theatrical performance is the fooling of the audience. The better the actor can convince the audience that they are the character they are portraying on stage, the more their performance will be respected. The audience members know they are witnessing a scripted and rehearsed scene, but through their willful neglect, they allow themselves to be enchanted. The senses, which are a product of the material nature, are so strong that they typically lead to misery, as the seemingly innocent soul is dragged into activities that it would otherwise avoid. Only through service, kind love offered to others, can the negative influence of the senses be mitigated. Moreover, when purified through acts of transcendental love, the senses become the greatest source of pleasure.

When the individual offers their loving service to a non-worthy recipient, the cause of the behavior is considered to be illusion, or maya. This isn’t to say that actors, actresses, family and friends aren’t worthy of being loved and adored, but rather, the ultimate object of worship should always remain a singular entity, one who is constitutionally fit to accept uninterrupted obeisances from every individual the universe over. An actor may be hailed for his ability to play the role of a noble, heroic character, but in real life he is no different than any of the rest of us, for as the saying goes, he puts his pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. The Supreme Lord, who is the greatest actor, is described as the ultimate reservoir of pleasure in the Vedic tradition. Yet when cast under the spell of illusion, it’s difficult for the conditioned entity to understand this feature of the Divine. Moreover, if one’s mind can be willfully captured by actors playing on a stage, surely they will also be subject to the influences of the greatest dramatic performer, Shri Krishna.

Why would someone who is intended to be our ultimate object of worship take to acting? The cause relates directly to desire. Just as the audience member purposefully puts himself under illusion to enhance the enjoyment derived from watching their favorite actors, the conditioned entity purposefully forgets the sublime and powerful nature of the Supreme Lord to take to a lower class of enjoyment. Indeed, this really isn’t any enjoyment at all, just a perceived level of happiness brought on by forgetfulness of Supreme Spirit and association with an inferior energy. Since the entity lacking true God consciousness is fooled into thinking it will be happy in the absence of Krishna’s association, the resulting behavior is one based completely off illusion.

As the best friend of every living entity, the Supreme Spirit has no desire to forcibly break the illusion. Rather, He is responsible for creating it. If an audience member wants to be lured into worshiping an actor, the person playing on stage will not stop the performance and say, Please stop paying attention. I’m just acting after all. Instead, he will take the audience member’s eagerness as an added impetus for putting on a good show. In a similar manner, one who is eager to forget God is allowed to do so in the greatest possible way by becoming subject to the influences of maya, the illusory energy who is a direct servant of Shri Krishna.

I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedanta, and I am the knower of the Vedas. (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 15.15)

There are two aspects to maya. The illusory force is justifiably viewed in a negative light by the elevated transcendentalists, but there is still some beauty in maya’s effects. She is so great that she can fool an individual into thinking that they are God. Taking oneself to be equal to Shri Krishna, who as the Supreme Person is known as Purushottama, represents the nadir of material existence, the lowest level the thought processes of the human being can descend to. Such an individual, being the greatest victim of illusion, works under the dictates of mahamaya. Krishna is so powerful that even His illusory forces are a sight to behold.

Yogamaya is the internal potency of the Supreme Lord; she also works under the Lord’s direction, but she works in the spiritual world. When the living entity puts himself under the direction of yogamaya instead of mahamaya, he gradually becomes a devotee of Krishna. (Shrila Prabhupada, Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Ch 30)

Then there is yogamaya, which works directly under the Lord’s supervision to cast a spell over those sincere souls who want to increase their love not for actors, family members, or politicians, but rather, for the Supreme Lord Himself. Indeed, yogamaya is the original maya energy,