FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.13.55

विज्ञानात्मनि संयोज्य क्षेत्रज्ञे प्रविलाप्य तम् । ब्रह्मण्यात्मानमाधारे घटाम्बरमिवाम्बरे ॥ ५५ ॥
vijñānātmani saṁyojya
[vijnaanaatmani samyojya]
kṣetrajñe pravilāpya tam
[kshetrajne pravilaapya tam]
brahmaṇy ātmānam ādhāre
[brahmany aatmaanam aadhaare]
ghaṭāmbaram ivāmbare
[ghataambaram ivaambare]
vijñāna — purified identity ātmani — in intelligence saṁyojya — perfectly fixing kṣetra-jñe — in the matter of the living being pravilāpya — merging tam — him brahmaṇi — in the Supreme ātmānam — pure living being ādhāre — in the reservoir ghaṭa-ambaram — sky within the block iva — like ambare — in the supreme sky.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vijñānātmani saṁyojya
vijñāna
purified identity
ātmani
in intelligence
saṁyojya
perfectly fixing
kṣetrajñe pravilāpya tam
kṣetra-jñe
in the matter of the living being
pravilāpya
merging
tam
him
brahmaṇy ātmānam ādhāre
brahmaṇi
in the Supreme
ātmānam
pure living being
ādhāre
in the reservoir
ghaṭāmbaram ivāmbare
ghaṭa-ambaram
sky within the block
iva
like
ambare
in the supreme sky.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra will have to amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence and then merge into the Supreme Being with knowledge of his qualitative oneness, as a living entity, with the Supreme Brahman. Being freed from the blocked sky, he will have to rise to the spiritual sky.

The living being, by his desiring to lord it over the material world and declining to cooperate with the Supreme Lord, contacts the sum total of the material world, namely the mahat-tattva, and from the mahat-tattva his false identity with the material world, intelligence, mind and senses is developed. This covers his pure spiritual identity. By the yogic process, when his pure identity is realized in self-realization, one has to revert to the original position by amalgamating the five gross elements and the subtle elements, mind and intelligence, into the mahat-tattva again. Thus getting freed from the clutches of the mahat-tattva, he has to merge in the existence of the Supersoul. In other words, he has to realize that qualitatively he is nondifferent from the Supersoul, and thus he transcends the material sky by his pure identical intelligence and thus becomes engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. This is the highest perfectional development of spiritual identity, which was attained by Dhṛtarāṣṭra by the grace of Vidura and the Lord. The Lord’s mercy was bestowed upon him by his personal contact with Vidura, and when he was actually practicing the instructions of Vidura, the Lord helped him to attain the highest perfectional stage.

A pure devotee of the Lord does not live on any planet of the material sky, nor does he feel any contact with material elements. His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the spiritual current of the Lord’s identical interest, and thus he is permanently freed from all contaminations of the sum total of the mahat-tattva. He is always in the spiritual sky, which he attains by being transcendental to the sevenfold material coverings by the effect of his devotional service. The conditioned souls are within the coverings, whereas the liberated soul is far beyond the cover.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Meditating on merging the false ego into the mahat-tattva, merging the mahat-tattva into the jīva, merging the jīva into the brahman, and merging the Paramātmā into Bhagavān, the supreme shelter, like merging the sky in the pot into the sky, he has destroyed the impressions arising from the guṇas of māyā, controlled the senses and mind. Stopping all enjoyment of the senses (or eating), he remains without movement like a pillar.
Commentary

Merging the elements of his body into the senses, merging the false ego (ātmānam) into the mahat-tattva (vijñānātmani), merging the mahat-tattva into the jīva (kṣetra-jñe), perceiving it as such, and merging the jīva into the brahman, merging the Paramātmā situated in the body (ātmānam) into Bhagavān, the Lord (ādhāre), the āśraya-tattva, the aṁśī. But it is well known that Paramātmā and Bhagavān are one. That is true, but though they are one, there is a functional difference. This is explained through an example. It is like air in a pot and the air, like the limited sky and the unlimited sky. The sky in the pot and the sky outside the pot are actually one since the sky is all-pervading. Lack of deviation is described. Deviation arises from internal disturbance of the guṇas or from external agitation of the senses. Dhṛtarāṣṭra has neither because he has destroyed the results of the guṇas of māyā, the impressions of desires. Therefore he has controlled the senses and mind.

Dhṛtarāṣṭra will amalgamate his pure identity with intelligence, then merge with Supreme Brahman. The final integration is internal, then transcendent. Practice now layers toward that.
Reflection Questions
  • Where am I rehearsing internal integration today?
  • What scattered parts of me need to find their center?
📝 My note

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