Let’s take a material person or a material thing. A material thing (is) like a murti (Deity image); it’s a carved rock. So that’s a material thing, or a person is also a material thing. So let’s say that you’re thinking about this murti as a piece of carved stone. So it’s a material thing, and you’re thinking about it with what we would call sansāri bhāvanā (worldly sentiment). Bhāvanā means your sentiment or your feeling, and sansāri means you’re just thinking of it as a material thing. So you can worship or attach your mind to a material thing with sansāri bhāvanā.
You can do the same with a person, right? You can love a person or attach your mind to a person, and you’re just thinking of them as a person, so (it’s) a material thing, with sansāri bhāvanā. Or you could think of a material thing with Bhagavad bhāvanā (Divine sentiment). Bhagavad bhāvanā means you’re now engaging your mind faithfully, remembering that Krishna is in everyone and everything. So He is ‘in’ the murti.
“So I’m not seeing a piece of stone. I’m seeing Krishna.”
So yes, it’s a material thing, but you’re seeing it with Bhagavad bhāvanā. You can do the same with a person, but it’s harder because an inanimate object is not going to irritate you or annoy you. So that’s why a murti or a picture can be useful in devotion. But a material person is generally not useful in devotion. It’s hard to maintain that Bhagavad bhāvanā for more than a few seconds. So that’s the second option. First, a material person or a thing, and you’re attaching your mind to them with sansāri bhāvanā. Second, a material thing with Bhagavad bhāvanā.
Now the other two situations: Let’s say Shree Krishna took avatār (Divine descension), and we got to meet Him face-to-face, and we knew He was Krishna because, let’s say, Durvāsā Ji came and said,
“This is Bhagwan Shree Krishna.”
And we had faith in Durvāsā Ji. So we said,
“Okay, I’m going to attach my mind to Him,” and we attached our mind to Shree Krishna.
So He’s a Divine entity, and we attached our mind to Him with Bhagavad bhāvanā. Knowing He is God, we attached our mind to Him. Or the other situation would be: it’s really Shree Krishna, nobody told us He’s God, but we loved Him anyway. Let’s say during His avatār kāl (descension time), there were some Gopīs (Divine cowherd maidens) who didn’t know Krishna was God, but they loved Him. They attached their mind to Him with sansāri bhāvanā.
Okay. Now let’s see the results of these four things:
The case of the gopī attaching her mind to Shree Krishna, not knowing He was God, what’s the result? She attained God. She attained Shree Krishna. Because when your mind is attached to something, you get the quality of that thing, whether you know about its intrinsic characteristics or not.
For instance, if you have an infection and you take antibiotics, let’s say you have no background in chemistry or biology, so you have no clue what’s in that pill you just swallowed. Will your lack of knowledge of chemistry and biology inhibit the action of that medicine once it enters your bloodstream? No. The thing is going to give its effect once it makes contact with you. Does the one who designed the pill, the chemist who designed that antibiotic, (and) who knows the exact formula for it, who mixed it in the lab, if that person takes the pill, do they get more benefit from the same pill? No.
So the thing is going to give its effect whether you know about its qualities, or not. So if somebody loves Shree Krishna with sansāri bhāvanā, they’ll get the same effect as someone who loves Him with Bhagavad bhāvanā. In other words, the correct effect (is that) your mind joins with Him; you attain Him.
