Observe and learn

Renunciation is the path to salvation. But when caught

in samsara this path remains distant and unattractive.
The purpose and essence of human birth is thus submerged. In His instruction to Uddhava, Krishna makes it clear that He can be realised by human beings alone among all other beings in His creation, pointed out Sri B. Sundarkumar in a discourse. Sastras are a means to understand the purpose of life. God continues to remain beyond human grasp though He is sought by all since time immemorial through the
sacred scriptures, and through the paths of perception
and inference. An individual is endowed with the ability to learn from what is perceivable to his senses and also from the method of inference. Those well versed in the sastras and yoga are able to realise God even when trapped in human form. To them God is the Supreme Being who gives name and form to all aspects and beings in creation and who is also manifest in the entire creation. God is seen as Saguna, Nirguna and also as the Virat Purusha. Krishna relates to Uddhava the instruction of the Yogi Avadhuta to King Yadu.

Yadu is amazed at the appearance of the Avadhuta. Most people are in search of fame, wealth, long life and prosperity. They seek this through the paths of dharma, artha, kama and moksha. But though the Avadhuta is young and capable of worldly involvement and action, is well versed in sastras and proficient in speech, is full of knowledge and good sense, he remains aloof from all these. How is it possible to attain this state wherein one is fully immersed in one’s self and is able to derive total bliss in this experience, is the question posed by Yadu to the Avadhuta. To this the Avadhuta says that he learnt from many preceptors. They are all available to all in the form of

the entire universe. The five elements, the sun, the moon, animals such as the elephant, the snake or the bird have valuable lessons to teach man if only he is willing to observe and learn.