Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 19
The First Step in God Realization: The Glory of Hearing and the Virāṭ-Rūpa Meditation
तत्रैकावयवं ध्यायेदव्युच्छिन्नेन चेतसा । मनो निर्विषयं युक्त्वा तत: किञ्चन न स्मरेत् । पदं तत्परमं विष्णोर्मनो यत्र प्रसीदति ॥ १९ ॥
tatraikāvayavaṁ dhyāyed avyucchinnena cetasā mano nirviṣayaṁ yuktvā tataḥ kiñcana na smaret padaṁ tat paramaṁ viṣṇor mano yatra prasīdati
তারপর অবিচ্ছিন্ন চিত্তে বিষ্ণুর অঙ্গসমূহ একে একে ধ্যান করো, কিন্তু সম্পূর্ণ দেহ-ভাবনা থেকে বিচ্যুত হয়ো না। এভাবে মন বিষয়মুক্ত হয়ে আর কিছু স্মরণ করবে না; কারণ বিষ্ণুর পরম পদেই মন সম্পূর্ণ প্রশান্তি লাভ করে।
Foolish persons, bewildered by the external energy of Viṣṇu, do not know that the ultimate goal of the progressive search after happiness is to get in touch directly with Lord Viṣṇu, the Personality of Godhead. Viṣṇu-tattva is an unlimited expansion of different transcendental forms of the Personality of Godhead, and the supreme or original form of viṣṇu-tattva is Govinda, or Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme cause of all causes. Therefore, thinking of Viṣṇu or meditating upon the transcendental form of Viṣṇu, specifically upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, is the last word on the subject of meditation. This meditation may be begun from the lotus feet of the Lord. One should not, however, forget or be misled from the complete form of the Lord; thus one should practice thinking of the different parts of His transcendental body, one after another. Here in this verse, it is definitely assured that the Supreme Lord is not impersonal. He is a person, but His body is different from those of conditioned persons like us. Otherwise, meditation beginning from the praṇava ( oṁkāra ) up to the limbs of the personal body of Viṣṇu would not have been recommended by Śukadeva Gosvāmī for the attainment of complete spiritual perfection. The Viṣṇu forms of worship in great temples of India are not, therefore, arrangements of idol worship, as they are wrongly interpreted to be by a class of men with a poor fund of knowledge; rather, they are different spiritual centers of meditation on the transcendental limbs of the body of Viṣṇu. The worshipable Deity in the temple of Viṣṇu is identical with Lord Viṣṇu by the inconceivable potency of the Lord. Therefore, a neophyte’s concentration or meditation upon the limbs of Viṣṇu in the temple, as contemplated in the revealed scriptures, is an easy opportunity for meditation for persons who are unable to sit down tightly at one place and then concentrate upon praṇava ( oṁkāra ) or the limbs of the body of Viṣṇu, as recommended herein by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the great authority. The common man can benefit more by meditating on the form of Viṣṇu in the temple than on the oṁkāra, the spiritual combination of a-u-m as explained before. There is no difference between oṁkāra and the forms of Viṣṇu, but persons unacquainted with the science of Absolute Truth try to create dissension by differentiating between the forms of Viṣṇu and that of oṁkāra. Here it is indicated that the Viṣṇu form is the ultimate goal of meditation, and as such it is better to concentrate upon the forms of Viṣṇu than on impersonal oṁkāra. The latter process is also more difficult than the former.
FAQs
This verse teaches uninterrupted meditation on a single divine focus, withdrawing the mind from sense-objects until it remembers nothing else and becomes pacified in Viṣṇu.
Parīkṣit had limited time and sought the highest good; Śukadeva therefore instructs a direct method of concentration and detachment leading the mind to Viṣṇu’s supreme refuge.
Reduce distractions, choose one sacred focus (name, form, or teaching of Viṣṇu), practice daily uninterrupted attention, and gently return the mind whenever it runs to sensory inputs.