Verse: Srimad Bhagvatam 1.6
Date: September 29th, 2012
Place: ISKCON Ujjain, India
Transcription: Dhananjay Prabhu & Kartikeya Prabhu
Edited: Divya Radhika devi dasi
Ok. So last time, the last class I gave was about two weeks back and was on the Fifth Chapter of the First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. So, do you all remember what we discussed on that chapter? We discussed Vyasdeva’s despondency; he was feeling discontent and at that time Narada Muni came and advised him about the importance of devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The general consideration is to follow the path of dharma in order to enjoy the material nature and, at the end, to get liberation from material bondage and go back to the spiritual world. Often, this liberation is considered to be an impersonal liberation - sayujya mukti. Even the other positive liberations in Vaikuntha is also not desired by a devotee. A devotee’s desire is to simply serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
After that, Narada Muni described his own life - how he, in his previous life, was the son of a maidservant and he had the good fortune of serving some Bhaktivedantas, some self-realized souls. In some other Puranas, it has been described that those personalities were the four Kumaras, the four sons of Lord Brahma. Narada Muni had the good opportunity of just being around them; he was just a little boy, son of a maidservant, so he did not really have much facility to serve them because he was too little.
Then once with their permission, he took their remnants. So, this is how one actually receives the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead - by first serving and then receiving the blessing of a saintly person or saintly persons. Just by taking their remnants, taking their Prasada, Narada Muni became attracted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He was only a five-year-old boy but he developed an attraction; this attraction was to listen to their discussions about the Supreme Lord - His name, form and qualities. So, with rapt attention, this little boy used to listen to them. His attraction to listen to the glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead developed due to his receiving the mercy of the saintly personalities in the form of their remnants.
The sixth chapter is today’s topic. In this topic, Narada Muni is describing that as a little boy, after the Bhaktivedantas left, he became quite attracted to spiritual practice. He lost his interest, as any other boy of his age, to play with his mates or toys or other things or spend time on frivolous games and sports. He did not have any attraction for all that; he was simply interested in meditating only about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
From the Bhaktivedantas, he actually developed this attachment; he developed this knowledge, this understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead - how attractive He is, His qualities. His activities are so sublime, so enlivening and so attractive. But at the same time, Narada Muni was just a five-year-old boy and his mother was just a maidservant. They were living in quite a lot of hardship and at a time like that Narada Muni was simply attracted to Krishna Consciousness. He didn’t have any affinity or any attraction for anything else. At that time, one day when his mother was going to milk the cows she was bitten by a serpent. Generally, a child of that age, if he lost his mother, would be completely bewildered, completely perplexed. But Narada Muni, because he was situated in the transcendental knowledge, thought that it was actually an opportunity created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead to cut off all his attachments.
His only attachment was his mother- not that he was attached, but his mother was attached. We can understand that for a widow to have an only son, she becomes completely attached to that son because she doesn’t have a husband. She doesn’t have anybody else and her son becomes the object of affection and love; so, his mother’s only shelter and only object of love was himself. When his mother died, Narada Muni felt that it was actually an opportunity created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Soon after that, he left that place and started to travel; he travelled north. The direction north is good for spiritual practice, meditation and other such activities so Narada Muni travelled towards the north. It has been described that just as a little boy, he travelled through many forests, many cities, many towns, many forests and mountains and then he came to a banyan tree. He sat under that banyan tree and started to meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead; he had heard from the Bhaktivedantas about the Supreme Personality of Godhead who was situated within his heart. And the Bhaktivedantas also before leaving, they instructed him; they gave him the mantra and they instructed him on how to meditate on the mantra.
Narada Muni began to meditate upon the Lord in the heart and eventually he saw the Lord in his heart and that sight of the Lord was so beautiful, so attractive that he felt that this is the greatest happiness that one could ever have. No other enjoyment, no other joy, no other happiness could compare to even a minute fraction of that delight and joy that he was experiencing, seeing the Lord face to face. Then, all of a sudden, the Lord disappeared from his heart or from his vision, from his sight and when that happened, he just jumped up in anxiety. He wanted to see the Lord again and again but he could not. Just for a moment, that one vision, one glimpse of the Lord made him so attracted that he was prepared to leave everything; he was prepared to do anything to see that, Lord. In this way he went through the process of Ashtanga yoga again; this way we can see that yoga siddhi or seeing the Lord in the heart is not a mechanical process, but it is due to the mercy of the Lord that one can get to see the Lord. So, after a long endeavor to see the Lord again, Narada failed and then he heard the voice of the Lord. The Lord told Narada: “I am sorry that in this life you won’t get to see Me again. In the next millennium you will become one of My associates.”
Then Narada Muni at that time receiving the instruction of the Lord and knowing that this form he saw of the Lord will not be visible to him again, began to travel. And while he was travelling, he was simply preaching the glories of the Lord. Wherever he would go he would sing the glories of the Lord. He would simply describe the importance of the chanting of His Holy Name. He would describe how wonderful the Lord’s activities are, he would describe to people how beautiful the Lord’s form is, and he would describe how wonderful different qualities of the Lord are, how wonderful His abode is and how wonderful His devotees are. In this way Narada Muni went on preaching all over the world. He was just travelling around and wherever he would go, he would simply sing the glories of the Lord.
And then the end of the millennium came - end of the millennium means the end of the day of Brahma. So, after 4,320,000 years now Brahma is going to fall. Then Brahma along with all the living entities went into the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Narada Muni also went into the body of the Lord. Brahma remained there for one whole night. The duration of that night also was 4,320,000 years. The great sages like Pulastya, Pulah, Marichi and Angira appeared from the body of the Lord and then he also appeared through Brahma, as Brahma’s son. Through Brahma’s mind, he appeared as Narada Muni.
In this way we can see that when Brahma goes to sleep, everything again dissolves and all the living entities along with Brahma go into the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And in the body of the Lord, they remain when Brahma falls asleep because every living entity is connected to Brahma; their existence in this material nature is in relation to Brahma. When Brahma goes to sleep, everyone else goes to sleep. And when do they go to sleep - at the time of annihilation; they all go back to the Lord’s body. And when Brahma wakes up after 4,320,000 years, then they wake up.
In this way we can see that the position changes, not that they come back in the same situation. Sometimes the rishis and demigods may come back but other living entities, when they come out after Brahma’s sleep, their position changes. Like for example in the previous life Narada Muni was the son of a maidservant, but now he became Brahma’s son as Narada, a self-realized soul from the very beginning. And this is also very interesting - that when Brahma begins the creation, this is the first person that he creates from his mind.
Initially Brahma creates from his mind - that creation actually takes place through the different living entities first coming into being. So, the first living entities that came from Brahma were the four Kumaras; they came from Brahma’s mind actually, therefore they are known as manas-putras. So, you can see how powerful Brahma is that from his mind a personality can be created. And what kind of personalities are the first four sons of Brahma - the four Kumaras. These four Kumaras were not at all interested in materialistic activities. So, when Brahma asked them to help him in procreation these four sons didn’t want to get involved. They said: “We are sorry but we don’t want to get involved”. That caused Brahma to become angry and Brahma is also such a powerful personality that his anger could destroy anything. So, when Brahma got angry his sons could have been destroyed so Brahma restrained his anger thinking that they are my children so how can I get angry with them; that may even destroy them. So, Brahma controlled his anger and his anger came out in the form of the rudras from between his eyebrows.
And then again Brahma created ten sons from his mind. Those ten sons were the prajapatis, the rishis, the great personalities like Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Marici, Angira, Vashishtha and the youngest one was Narada Muni. This time Brahma’s sons listened to him, when he told them to help him in the procreation, help him in creating the progeny again. So, they agreed but Narada was like his first four brothers, the four Kumaras. He was not interested in materialistic activities.
In this way we can see how Narada Muni actually became a self-realized soul. He was already a pure devotee of the Lord; he simply changed his body and by changing his body he got such an exalted position. Narada Muni is the original spiritual master of all living entities. Whoever wants to go back to Godhead, whoever wants Narayana, the giver of Narayana is Narada Muni. Therefore, whenever somebody wants to become a devotee of the Lord, to please the Lord or become an associate of the Lord they always receive the benediction of Narada Muni.
Like we can see how Prahlada Maharaja and Dhruva Maharaja received the benediction of Narada Muni. In this way Narada Muni also sees that whenever there is someone qualified to become engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narada Muni personally comes and gives them instruction. So, this is how all these great personalities received the mercy of Narada Muni - that is the unique position that Narada Muni had.
So, this is how Narada Muni became a Maha Bhagvata and the original preceptor of the Bhagavata parampara after Brahma. From Brahma, two paramparas came out. One parampara is enjoyment in material nature and liberation from material nature and the other parampara is glorification of the Supreme Personality of Godhead through pure devotional service. So, this parampara has been established by Narada Muni from Brahma; that is why here Narada Muni is imparting this knowledge to Vyasdeva. He is instructing Vyasdeva: “Become engaged in serving the Supreme Personality of Godhead, motivate people to become engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whatever you have given all this while is simply pertaining to karma-kanda and jnana-kanda. Vedanta sutra is also falling in the jnana-kanda but pure devotional service is beyond that and since you have not done that, you can see your own situation, your own condition; you are still discontent so now that you are discontent you have realized that following what you have given so far, people will also remain discontent. So, what will fully satisfy the heart of a living entity - yena atma suprasidati -what will simply satisfy the heart of the living entity? That is pure devotional service.
So, this is how Vyasdeva was instructed by Narada Muni to describe the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the form of Srimad Bhagavatam. That is what is being described in the beginning of the Srimad Bhagavatam step by step; the understanding is being revealed here; the knowledge is being manifested. In this way the importance of Srimad Bhagavatam is also being established - that this is the topmost thing. Vyasdeva, at his most mature state of understanding, gave this Srimad Bhagvatam after writing all the Vedas and summarizing it in the form of Vedanta Sutra. Beyond Vedanta Sutra is Srimad Bhagavatam because Bhagavatam is the natural commentary of the Vedanta Sutra. Bhagavatam is the commentary of the Vedanta Sutra. When you read Vedanta Sutra, you won’t be able to understand anything, but when you read Srimad Bhagavatam then you understand what the Vedanta Sutra is talking about. So, that is how wonderfully this transcendental knowledge has been given to us, the living entities of this material nature, in such a wonderful way.
Thank you all very much. All glories To Srila Prabhupada.
Does anybody have any question?
Atma Das: I will just activate the question and answer session so if anyone has any question please dial *6 and you will be placed into the queue.
BCS: Please give your name, whoever is asking a question.
Nanda Dulal Das: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja please accept my most humble obeisances All Glories to Srila Prabhupada. This is Nanda Dulal Das.
BCS: Haribol.
Nanda Dulal Das: Guru maharaja, my question is you actually answered in that sense like the verse in Bhagvatam,
sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokshaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati
But in the neophyte stage, it is very difficult to do without any desire to do service to Lord because we are material body and we live in the most you know dangerous condition that we have to earn money we have to go meet people so how to overcome that difficulty tormented by the material nature to do pure bhakti?
BCS: You see pure bhakti is not dependent upon your external situation; pure devotional service is a state of consciousness. Where was Arjuna when he was rendering devotional service?
Nanda Dulal Das: In the battlefield.
BCS: Then, so what can be more difficult situation than that? So, this is how Krishna is pointing out that devotional service is not dependent upon any external situation; it is a matter of your consciousness. Where was Prahlad Maharaja when he was rendering the service surrounded by all the demons? So don’t worry just carry on rendering devotional service maintaining your attachment to Krishna. Pure devotion means pure hundred per cent dependence upon Krishna; that is the meaning of pure devotion. Pure devotion is not any external situation; pure devotion does not mean that you have to go to the forest and render devotional service. Pure devotional service can be executed anywhere by anybody in any circumstances. Ok
Nanda Dulal Das: Thank you.
BCS: Hare Krishna.
Archana: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaj.
BCS: Hare Krishna Archana.
Archana: We can see how Narada Muni when he was a small boy and after his austerity, he could see the Lord on his heart but after the Lord disappeared, the fact that the Lord disappeared from his sight was the impetus to develop more desire to serve the Lord. So, my question is nowadays this technology is easy for us to just turn on our computer and see the Lord from home or we can see the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani; someone can just store it and you can see anytime so how to develop this attachment or increase our desire to serve in the mood of separation like… is my question clear Guru Maharaja?
BCS: Ok, the first consideration is the Lord very mercifully gave His darshan to Narada Muni simply to increase the attachment. The Lord said that to Narada also that I have just given you the darshan in order to increase your attachment to Me so that you become more and more attracted and then the second consideration is seeing the Lord is not through our eyes; seeing the Lord will develop through our love for Him.
premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena
santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti
yam syamasundaram acintya-guna-svarupam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
The Lord cannot be seen with our mundane eyes. When our eyes become spiritualized due to our love for Him, then only we will be able to see Him and the third consideration is that as I also mentioned in response to Nanda Dulal’s point that pure devotional service is a matter of consciousness which actually means a matter of love for Him. So that is what we have to try to develop and the process is there: shravanam, kirtnam, Vishnu smaranam, pada sevanam, archanam, vandanam, sakhya, dasya, atma nivedanam, so follow the process and in due course of time it will happen; material needs are there but eventually by Krishna’s mercy you will become free from the bondage of this body and all those material needs also will disappear. Does it answer your question, Archana?
Archana: Yes Guru Maharaja; thank you Guru Maharaja.
Sharnagati: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja, this is Sharnagati.
BCS: Hare Krishna Sharnagati.
Sharnagati: Hare Krishna, I wanted to thank you. I just wanted to say my question is also revelation because in the period of time that I have been following you, I have had the opportunity to relate to many people in the global relationships … just people who come and somewhere these people are connected to some who you know. I have watched the spiritual growth and maturity take place and I sometimes questioned my own opportunity to spend time you know to deepen my spiritual practice but at the same time I feel connected and have such great love in my heart that now when I relate to these people, I am feeling that there is an opportunity of going to another level. I know my question is not direct; it’s in the form of appreciation and gratitude to be a devotee and just to say thank you.
BCS: All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Sharnagati: All Glories to Srila Prabhupada
BCS: All Glories to Srila Prabhupada. We offer our gratitude that he created that good fortune. One thing Sharnagati is that I will be going to New York most probably on the twelfth or eleventh something like that and probably I will stay. I would like to meet…. anyway, I will tell you or whoever you feel that I should meet.
Sharnagati: Yes, you are right because just a couple of days before I met him and they have moved into a new office; it’s a whole different atmosphere and they are just so full of love for you. They want to work together so I see all the governments and the connection so I thank you so much again and I thank Srila Prabhupada. Thank you so much Guru Maharaja.
Atma Das: Hare Krishna Guru Maharaja.
BCS: Haribol.
Atma Das: I don’t think we have any other questions
BCS: Ok. Thank you. Hare Krishna.