SB 02.05.16 narayana-paro yogo... cited

Expressions researched:
"narayana-para gatih" |"narayana-param jnanam" |"narayana-param tapah" |"narayana-paro yogo"

SB Canto 2

SB 2.5.16, Translation and Purport:

All different types of meditation or mysticism are means for realizing Nārāyaṇa. All austerities are aimed at achieving Nārāyaṇa. Culture of transcendental knowledge is for getting a glimpse of Nārāyaṇa, and ultimately salvation is entering the kingdom of Nārāyaṇa.

In meditation, there are two systems of yoga, namely aṣṭāṅga-yoga and sāṅkhya-yoga. Aṣṭāṅga-yoga is practice in concentrating the mind, releasing oneself from all engagements by the regulative processes of meditation, concentration, sitting postures, blocking the movements of the internal circulation of air, etc. Sāṅkhya-yoga is meant to distinguish the truth from ephemerals. But ultimately both the systems are meant for realizing the impersonal Brahman, which is but a partial representation of Nārāyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead. As we have explained before, the impersonal Brahman effulgence is only a part of the Personality of Godhead. Impersonal Brahman is situated on the person of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and as such, Brahman is the glorification of the personality of the Godhead. This is confirmed both in the Bhagavad-gītā and in the Matsya Purāṇa. Gati refers to the ultimate destination, or the last word in liberation. Oneness with the impersonal brahma-jyotir is not ultimate liberation; superior to that is the sublime association of the Personality of Godhead in one of the innumerable spiritual planets in the Vaikuṇṭha sky. Therefore the conclusion is that Nārāyaṇa, or the Personality of Godhead, is the ultimate destination for all kinds of yoga systems as well as all kinds of liberation.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 19.183-184, Purport:

Śānta-rati is described in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.5.16–18) as follows:

mānase nirvikalpatvaṁ

śama ity abhidhīyate

"When one is completely free from all doubts and material attachments, he attains the neutral position, called śānta."

vihāya viṣayonmukhyaṁ nijānanda-sthitir yataḥ

ātmanaḥ kathyate so ’tra svabhāvaḥ śama ity asau

prāyaḥ śama-pradhānānāṁ mamatā-gandha-varjitā

paramātmatayā kṛṣṇe jātā śāntī ratir matā

The śānta-rati realization of Kṛṣṇa is in the neutral stage between the conception of impersonalism and personalism. This means that one is not very strongly attached to the personal feature of the Lord. An appreciation of the greatness of the Lord is called śānta-rati. This is attachment not to the personal feature but to the impersonal feature. Generally, one in this stage is attached to the Paramātmā feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe ’rjuna tiṣṭhati

bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni yantrārūḍhāni māyayā

“The Supreme Lord is situated in everyone's heart, O Arjuna, and is directing the wanderings of all living entities, who are seated as on a machine made of the material energy.” (BG 18.61) On the strength of this statement from the Bhagavad-gītā, we can understand that in śānta-rasa a devotee sees the Lord's representation everywhere.

Dāsya-rati is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (2.5.27) thus:

svasmād bhavanti ye nyūnās te ’nugrāhyā harer matāḥ

ārādhyatvātmikā teṣāṁ ratiḥ prītir itīritā

tatrāsakti-kṛd anyatra prīti-saṁhāriṇī hy asau

When the Supreme Lord in His localized aspect is appreciated and a great devotee understands his subordinate position, not only does he surrender to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but, due to his subordinate position, he wishes to render some service and thus become favored by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A devotee in śānta-rati is not very much willing to render service to the Lord, but a devotee in dāsya-rati voluntarily wants to render service. Due to this attitude, the devotee in dāsya-rati realizes the Supreme Personality of Godhead more fully than a devotee in śānta-rati. He considers the Lord to be a worshipable object, and this means that his attachment for the Lord increases. Thus dāsya-rati is characterized as bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra ca. (SB 11.2.42) In other words, on the dāsya-rati platform a devotee is attached to rendering service to the Lord, and he is detached from material activities. Śānta-rati is neither material nor spiritual, but dāsya-rati is actually on the spiritual platform. There is no attachment for material things on the spiritual platform (viraktir anyatra ca). A devotee in dāsya-rati has no attachment for anything but Kṛṣṇa's service.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 23:

"When one actually becomes self-realized, knowing that he is Brahman, he becomes happy and joyful, and he no longer feels any lamentation or hankering. Such a person sees all living entities on an equal level, and he becomes a pure devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead." Next He quoted a statement from Śaṅkarācārya's commentary to the Nṛsiṁha-tāpanī Upaniṣad (SB 2.5.16), which says that when a person is actually liberated he can understand the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Lord and thus engage in His devotional service. Lord Caitanya also quoted a verse from the Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.1.9), in which Śukadeva Gosvāmīstates that although he was elevated to the liberated stage and free from the clutches of māyā, he was still attracted by the transcendental pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Consequently he studied Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from his great father, Vyāsadeva.