nÄradaḥ prÄha munaye
sarasvatyÄs taá¹e ná¹›pa
dhyÄyate brahma paramaá¹
vyÄsÄyÄmita-tejase
nÄradaḥ - the great sage NÄrada; prÄha - instructed; munaye - unto the great sage; sarasvatyÄḥ - of the River SarasvatÄ«; taá¹e - on the bank; ná¹›pa - O King; dhyÄyate - unto the meditative; brahma - Absolute Truth; paramam - the Supreme; vyÄsÄya - unto ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva; amita - unlimited; tejase - unto the powerful.
In the First Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Fifth Chapter, verse 13, NÄrada instructed the great sage VyÄsadeva as follows:
atho mahÄ-bhÄga bhavÄn amogha-dá¹›k
Å›uci-Å›ravÄḥ satya-rato dhá¹›ta-vrataḥ
urukramasyÄkhila-bandha-muktaye
samÄdhinÄnusmara tad viceá¹£á¹itam
“O greatly fortunate, pious philosopher, your name and fame are universal, and you are fixed in the Absolute Truth with spotless character and infallible vision. I ask you to meditate upon the activities of the Personality of Godhead, whose activities are unparalleled.â€
So in the disciplic succession of the Brahma sampradÄya, the practice of yoga meditation is not neglected. But because the devotees are bhakti-yogÄ«s, they do not undertake the trouble to meditate upon the impersonal Brahman; as indicated here, they meditate on brahma paramam, or the Supreme Brahman. Brahman realization begins from the impersonal effulgence, but by further progress of such meditation, manifestation of the Supreme Soul, ParamÄtmÄ realization, takes place. And progressing further, realization of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is fixed. ÅšrÄ« NÄrada Muni, as the spiritual master of VyÄsadeva, knew very well the position of VyÄsadeva, and thus he certified the qualities of ÅšrÄ«la VyÄsadeva as fixed in the Absolute Truth with great vow, etc. NÄrada advised meditation upon the transcendental activities of the Lord. Impersonal Brahman has no activities, but the Personality of Godhead has many activities, and all such activities are transcendental, without any tinge of material quality. If the activities of the Supreme Brahman were material activities, then NÄrada would not have advised VyÄsadeva to meditate upon them. And the paraá¹ brahma is Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ. In the Tenth Chapter of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ, when Arjuna realized the factual position of Lord Kṛṣṇa, he addressed Lord Kṛṣṇa in the following words:
paraá¹ brahma paraá¹ dhÄma
pavitraá¹ paramaá¹ bhavÄn
puruá¹£aá¹ Å›ÄÅ›vataá¹ divyam
Ädi-devam ajaá¹ vibhum
Ähus tvÄm ṛṣayaḥ sarve
devará¹£ir nÄradas tathÄ
asito devalo vyÄsaḥ
svayaṠcaiva bravīṣi me
Arjuna summarized the purpose of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ by his realization of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa and thus said, “My dear Personality of Godhead, You are the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Original Person in the eternal form of bliss and knowledge, and this is confirmed by NÄrada, Asita, Devala and VyÄsadeva, and, above all, Your personal self has also confirmed it.†(Bg. 10.12-13)
When VyÄsadeva fixed his mind in meditation, he did it in bhakti-yoga trance and actually saw the Supreme Person with mÄyÄ, the illusory energy, in contraposition. As we have discussed before, the Lord’s mÄyÄ, or illusion, is also a representation because mÄyÄ has no existence without the Lord. Darkness is not independent of light. Without light, no one can experience the contraposition of darkness. However, this mÄyÄ, or illusion, cannot overcome the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but stands apart from Him (apÄÅ›rayam).
Therefore, perfection of meditation is realization of the Personality of Godhead along with His transcendental activities. Meditation on the impersonal Brahman is a troublesome business for the meditator, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (12.5): kleÅ›o ’dhikataras teá¹£Äm avyaktÄsakta-cetasÄm.