The Liberated Set Aside Meditation to Drink Hari's Story
Uttara Kanda, Doha 42
Doha 42 · Movement 2 of 2
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Those liberated while living, wholly given to Brahman, release their meditation when Hari's story is heard. Nothing is lacking in their realization, yet the katha still draws them.
The turn toward story is not regression from truth into distraction. Rama's deeds offer the rasa of the same reality in movement, relation, name, beauty, and love.
Therefore the Doha speaks severely of the heart that feels no affection for Hari-katha. Such a heart is stone, unmoved even by the nectar for which liberated sages leave inward absorption. Knowledge and devotion are not placed on competing paths. The jivanmukta reveals their secret harmony by opening the ears without losing Brahman.
When the liberated leave meditation to listen, Hari's story is revealed not as distraction from Brahman but as its nectar.
Read the passage from the Manas
जीवनमुक्त ब्रह्मपर चरित सुनहिं तजि ध्यान। जे हरि कथाँ न करहिं रति तिन्ह के हिय पाषान।।42।।
Even the jeevanmuktas, those who have gone beyond Brahman, set aside their dhyana to hear Rama's story. Those whose hearts feel no love for Hari-katha, their hearts are made of stone. If the liberated ones hunger for this nectar, what excuse remains for ordinary seekers?