The original source of all energies is the living force, and He is logically accepted as the Supreme Person. He is therefore conscious of everything past, present and future, and also of each and every corner of His manifestations, both material and spiritual. An imperfect living being does not even know what is happening within his own personal body. He eats his food but does not know how this food is transformed into energy or how it sustains his body. When a living being is perfect, he is aware of everything that happens, and since the Supreme Person is all-perfect, it is quite natural that He knows everything in all detail. Consequently the perfect personality is addressed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as Vāsudeva, or one who lives everywhere in full consciousness and in full possession of His complete energy. All of this is clearly explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and the reader has ample opportunity to study this critically.
Consequently (SB cantos 1 - 4)
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Preface and Introduction
He organized a procession of one hundred thousand men with thousands of mṛdaṅgas and karatālas (hand cymbals), and this procession passed over the roads of Navadvīpa in defiance of the Kazi who had issued the order. Finally the procession reached the house of the Kazi, who went upstairs out of fear of the masses. The great crowds assembled at the Kazi's house displayed a violent temper, but the Lord asked them to be peaceful. At this time the Kazi came down and tried to pacify the Lord by addressing Him as his nephew. He pointed out that Nīlāmbara Cakravartī referred to him as an uncle, and consequently, Śrīmatī Śacīdevī, the mother of Nimāi Paṇḍita, was his sister. He asked the Lord whether his sister's son could be angry at His maternal uncle, and the Lord replied that since the Kazi was His maternal uncle he should receive his nephew well at his home. In this way the issue was mitigated, and the two learned scholars began a long discussion on the Koran and Hindu śāstras.
SB Canto 1
Its reality is experienced in the spiritual world. The material sex life is but a perverted reflection of the original fact. The original fact is in the Absolute Truth, and thus the Absolute Truth cannot be impersonal. It is not possible to be impersonal and contain pure sex life. Consequently, the impersonalist philosophers have given indirect impetus to the abominable mundane sex life because they have overstressed the impersonality of the ultimate truth. Consequently, man without information of the actual spiritual form of sex has accepted perverted material sex life as the all in all. There is a distinction between sex life in the diseased material condition and spiritual sex life.
This Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will gradually elevate the unbiased reader to the highest perfectional stage of transcendence. It will enable him to transcend the three modes of material activities: fruitive actions, speculative philosophy, and worship of functional deities as inculcated in Vedic verses.
He thus performs pious activities or religious functions in order to gain something material. But if such material gains are obtainable in other ways, then so-called religion is neglected. This is the situation in modern civilization. Man is thriving economically, so at present he is not very interested in religion. Churches, mosques or temples are now practically vacant. Men are more interested in factories, shops, and cinemas than in religious places which were erected by their forefathers. This practically proves that religion is performed for some economic gains. Economic gains are needed for sense gratification. Often when one is baffled in the pursuit of sense gratification, he takes to salvation and tries to become one with the Supreme Lord. Consequently, all these states are simply different types of sense gratification.
Over and above this, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a personal commentation on the Vedānta-sūtra by Śrī Vyāsadeva. It was written in the maturity of his spiritual life through the mercy of Nārada. Śrī Vyāsadeva is the authorized incarnation of Nārāyaṇa, the Personality of Godhead. Therefore, there is no question as to his authority. He is the author of all other Vedic literatures, yet he recommends the study of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam above all others. In other Purāṇas there are different methods set forth by which one can worship the demigods. But in the Bhāgavatam only the Supreme Lord is mentioned. The Supreme Lord is the total body, and the demigods are the different parts of that body. Consequently, by worshiping the Supreme Lord, one does not need to worship the demigods. The Supreme Lord becomes fixed in the heart of the devotee immediately. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu has recommended the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the spotless Purāṇa and distinguishes it from all other Purāṇas.
In this age, many unscrupulous men manufacture their own religious faiths which are not based on any revealed scriptures, and very often people who are addicted to sense gratification are attracted by such institutions. Consequently, in the name of religion so many sinful acts are being carried on that the people in general have neither peace of mind nor health of body. The student (brahmacārī) communities are no longer being maintained, and householders do not observe the rules and regulations of the gṛhastha-āśrama. Consequently, the so-called vānaprasthas and sannyāsīs who come out of such gṛhastha-āśramas are easily deviated from the rigid path. In the Kali-yuga the whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness. Men are no longer interested in spiritual values. Material sense gratification is now the standard of civilization. For the maintenance of such material civilizations, man has formed complex nations and communities, and there is a constant strain of hot and cold wars between these different groups. It has become very difficult, therefore, to raise the spiritual standard due to the present distorted values of human society. The sages of Naimiṣāraṇya are anxious to disentangle all fallen souls, and here they are seeking the remedy from Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī.
Ātmā, or self, is distinguished from matter and material elements. It is spiritual in constitution, and thus it is never satisfied by any amount of material planning. All scriptures and spiritual instructions are meant for the satisfaction of this self, or ātmā. There are many varieties of approaches which are recommended for different types of living beings in different times and at different places. Consequently, the numbers of revealed scriptures are innumerable. There are different methods and prescribed duties recommended in these various scriptures. Taking into consideration the fallen condition of the people in general in this age of Kali, the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya suggested that Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī relate the essence of all such scriptures because in this age it is not possible for the fallen souls to understand and undergo all the lessons of all these various scriptures in a varṇa and āśrama system.
In this prayer, Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī practically summarizes the complete introduction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural supplementary commentary on the Vedānta-sūtras. The Vedānta-sūtras, or the Brahma-sūtras, were compiled by Vyāsadeva with a view to presenting just the cream of Vedic knowledge. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary on this cream. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was a thoroughly realized master of the Vedānta-sūtra, and consequently he also personally realized the commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And just to show his boundless mercy upon bewildered materialistic men who want to cross completely over nescience, he recited for the first time this confidential knowledge.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit was the Emperor of the world and all the seas and oceans, and he did not have to take the trouble to acquire such a kingdom by his own effort. He inherited it from his grandfathers Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and brothers. Besides that, he was doing well in the administration and was worthy of the good names of his forefathers. Consequently there was nothing undesirable in his opulence and administration. Then why should he give up all these favorable circumstances and sit down on the bank of the Ganges, fasting till death? This is astonishing, and therefore all were eager to know the cause.
By service of the Absolute Truth, even for a few days, a devotee attains firm and fixed intelligence in Me. Consequently he goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world after giving up the present deplorable material worlds.
Being materially advanced means taking birth in an aristocratic family and possessing great wealth, an education and attractive personal beauty. All materialistic men are mad after possessing all these material opulences, and this is known as the advancement of material civilization. But the result is that by possessing all these material assets one becomes artificially puffed up, intoxicated by such temporary possessions. Consequently, such materially puffed up persons are incapable of uttering the holy name of the Lord by addressing Him feelingly, "O Govinda, O Kṛṣṇa." It is said in the śāstras that by once uttering the holy name of the Lord, the sinner gets rid of a quantity of sins that he is unable to commit. Such is the power of uttering the holy name of the Lord. There is not the least exaggeration in this statement. Actually the Lord's holy name has such powerful potency.
We find herein the mention of pious trees which produce seasonal flowers and fruits. The impious trees are useless jungles only, and they can only be used to supply fuels. In the modern civilization such impious trees are planted on the sides of roads. Human energy should be properly utilized in developing the finer senses for spiritual understanding, in which lies the solution of life. Fruits, flowers, beautiful gardens, parks and reservoirs of water with ducks and swans playing in the midst of lotus flowers, and cows giving sufficient milk and butter are essential for developing the finer tissues of the human body. As against this, the dungeons of mines, factories and workshops develop demoniac propensities in the working class. The vested interests flourish at the cost of the working class, and consequently there are severe clashes between them in so many ways. The description of Dvārakā-dhāma is the ideal of human civilization.
It is now ascertained that He (the Personality of Godhead) is unlimited and there is none equal to Him. Consequently no one can speak of Him adequately. Great demigods cannot obtain the favor of the goddess of fortune even by prayers, but this very goddess renders service unto the Lord, although He is unwilling to have such service.
Self-controlled persons who are attached to the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa can all of a sudden give up the world of material attachment, including the gross body and subtle mind, and go away to attain the highest perfection of the renounced order of life, by which nonviolence and renunciation are consequential.
Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī said: While returning home, the King (Mahārāja Parīkṣit) felt that the act he had committed against the faultless and powerful brāhmaṇa was heinous and uncivilized. Consequently he was distressed.
The river (Ganges, by which the King sat to fast) carries the most auspicious water, which is mixed with the dust of the lotus feet of the Lord and tulasī leaves. Therefore that water sanctifies the three worlds inside and outside and even sanctifies Lord Śiva and other demigods. Consequently everyone who is destined to die must take shelter of this river.
The King said: O great sages, you have all very kindly assembled here, having come from all parts of the universe. You are all as good as supreme knowledge personified, who resides in the planet above the three worlds (Satyaloka). Consequently you are naturally inclined to do good to others, and but for this you have no interest, either in this life or in the next.
SB Canto 2
Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu instructed a learned brāhmaṇa to study Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from a personal bhāgavata. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is based on the transcendental name, form, attributes, pastimes, entourage and variegatedness of the Supreme Person, and it is spoken by the incarnation of the Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Vyāsadeva. Pastimes of the Lord are executed in cooperation with His pure devotees, and consequently historical incidences are mentioned in this great literature because they are related to Kṛṣṇa. It is called brahma-sammitam because it is the sound representative of Lord Kṛṣṇa—like the Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā is the sound incarnation of the Lord because it is spoken by the Supreme Lord, and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the sound representative of the Lord because it was spoken by the incarnation of the Lord about the activities of the Lord.
The conception of the virāṭ-puruṣa, or the gigantic form of the Supreme Lord, is said to include all the dominating demigods as well as the dominated living beings. Even the minutest part of a living being is controlled by the empowered agency of the Lord. Since the demigods are included in the gigantic form of the Lord, worship of the Lord, whether in His gigantic material conception or in His eternal transcendental form as Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, also appeases the demigods and all the other parts and parcels, as much as watering the root of a tree distributes energy to all of the tree's other parts. Consequently, for a materialist also, worship of the universal gigantic form of the Lord leads one to the right path. One need not risk being misled by approaching many demigods for fulfillment of different desires. The real entity is the Lord Himself, and all others are imaginary, for everything is included in Him only.
For the common man these holy places are centers of learning about the science of God. When the temples are devoid of activities, the people in general become uninterested in such places, and consequently the mass of people gradually become godless, and a godless civilization is the result. Such a hellish civilization artificially increases the conditions of life, and existence becomes intolerable for everyone. The foolish leaders of a godless civilization try to devise various plans to bring about peace and prosperity in the godless world under a patent trademark of materialism, and because such attempts are illusory only, the people elect incompetent, blind leaders, one after another, who are incapable of offering solutions. If we want at all to end this anomaly of a godless civilization, we must follow the principles of revealed scriptures like the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and follow the instruction of a person like Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī who has no attraction for material gain.
The materialists want to prolong life as much as possible because they have no information of the next life. They want to get the maximum comforts in this present life because they think conclusively that there is no life after death. This ignorance about the eternity of the living being and the change of covering in the material world has played havoc in the structure of modern human society. Consequently there are many problems, multiplied by various plans of modernized man. The plans for solving the problems of society have only aggravated the troubles. Even if it is possible to prolong life more than one hundred years, advancement of human civilization does not necessarily follow.
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that a fortunate person, by the mercy of the spiritual master and Lord Kṛṣṇa, achieves the path of devotional service. This was perfectly applicable in the case of Mahārāja Parīkṣit. By way of being born in a family of devotees, he automatically came in touch with Kṛṣṇa, and after being so contacted he constantly remembered Him. Consequently Lord Kṛṣṇa gave the King a further chance for development in devotional service by introducing him to Śukadeva Gosvāmī, a stalwart devotee of the Lord with perfect knowledge in self-realization. And by hearing from a bona fide spiritual master, he was perfectly able to concentrate his chaste mind further upon Lord Kṛṣṇa, as a matter of course.
The manifested personalities are mundane controllers of the material affairs, whereas the nonmanifested Personality of Godhead is transcendental, beyond the range of the material atmosphere. In this age of Kali the manifested demigods are also not to be seen, for space travel has completely stopped. So both the powerful demigods and the Supreme Personality of Godhead are nonmanifested to the covered eyes of the modern man. Modern men want to see everything with their eyes, although they are not sufficiently qualified. Consequently, they disbelieve in the existence of the demigods or of the Supreme God. They should see through the pages of authentic scriptures and should not simply believe their unqualified eyes. Even in these days, God can also be seen by qualified eyes tinged with the ointment of love of God.
We have many times mentioned the names of twelve selected authorities (dvādaśa-mahājana), of which Brahmā, Nārada and Lord Śiva head the list as the first, second and third in order of merit of those who know something of the Supreme Lord. Other demigods, semi-demigods, Gandharvas, Cāraṇas, Vidyādharas, human beings or asuras cannot possibly know fully about the potencies of the Absolute Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The demigods, semi-demigods, Gandharvas, etc., are all highly intelligent persons in the upper planets, the human beings are inhabitants of the intermediate planets, and the asuras are inhabitants of the lower planets. All of them have their respective conceptions and estimations of the Absolute Truth, as does the scientist or the empiric philosopher in human society. All such living entities are creatures of the material nature, and consequently they are bewildered by the wonderful display of the three modes of material nature.
The demigods, being envious of the austere life of the rigid brahmacārīs, would try to cause them to break their vows by dispatching soldiers of Cupid. But in the case of the Lord, it became an unsuccessful attempt when the celestial beauties saw that the Lord can produce innumerable such beauties by His mystic internal potency and that there was consequently no need to be attracted by others externally. There is a common proverb that a confectioner is never attracted by sweetmeats. The confectioner, who is always manufacturing sweetmeats, has very little desire to eat them; similarly, the Lord, by His pleasure potential powers, can produce innumerable spiritual beauties and not be the least attracted by the false beauties of material creation. One who does not know alleges foolishly that Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed women in His rāsa-līlā in Vṛndāvana, or with His sixteen thousand married wives at Dvārakā.
All the nondevotee living entities are desirous of becoming equally as powerful as the Lord, although they are not fit to become so. The living entities are illusioned by the will of the Lord because they wanted to become like Him. Like a person who thinks of becoming a king without possessing the necessary qualification, when the living entity desires to become the Lord Himself, he is put in a condition of dreaming that he is a king. Therefore the first sinful will of the living entity is to become the Lord, and the consequent will of the Lord is that the living entity forget his factual life and thus dream of the land of utopia where he may become one like the Lord.
SB Canto 3
Consequently, although his duration of life gradually came to an end, his long life, consisting of a Manvantara era, was not spent in vain, since he ever engaged in hearing, contemplating, writing down and chanting the pastimes of the Lord.
Now be pleased, my Lord, to dispel my great delusion. Due to my feeling of false ego, I have been engaged by Your māyā and have identified myself with the body and consequent bodily relations.
It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that one may elevate himself to the higher planetary systems, even up to Brahmaloka, by dint of pious activities, but when the effects of such pious activities are finished, one again comes back to this earth to begin a new life of activities. Thus even though one is promoted to the higher planetary system for enjoyment and a long duration of life, still that is not a permanent settlement. But as far as the devotees are concerned, their assets—the achievement of devotional service and the consequent opulence of Vaikuṇṭha, even on this planet—are never destroyed. In this verse Kapiladeva addresses His mother as śānta-rūpā, indicating that the opulences of devotees are fixed because devotees are eternally fixed in the Vaikuṇṭha atmosphere, which is called śānta-rūpa because it is in the mode of pure goodness, undisturbed by the modes of passion and ignorance.
One who actually wants to be liberated from the entanglement of this material world and go back home, back to Godhead, is actually a mystic yogī. The words explicitly used here are yuktena bhakti-yogena. Those yogīs, or mystics, who engage in devotional service are the first-class yogīs. The first-class yogīs, as described in Bhagavad-gītā, are those who are constantly thinking of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. These yogīs are not without knowledge and renunciation. To become a bhakti-yogī means to automatically attain knowledge and renunciation. That is the consequent result of bhakti-yoga. In the Bhāgavatam, First Canto, Second Chapter, it is also confirmed that one who engages in the devotional service of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, has complete transcendental knowledge and renunciation, and there is no explanation for these attainments. Ahaitukī—without reason, they come.
Not only in the present age but from time immemorial, no one has liked an old man who is unable to earn in the family. Even in the modern age, in some communities or states, the old men are given poison so that they will die as soon as possible. In some cannibalistic communities, the old grandfather is sportingly killed, and a feast is held in which his body is eaten. The example is given that a farmer does not like an old bull who has ceased to work. Similarly, when an attached person in family life becomes old and is unable to earn, he is no longer liked by his wife, sons, daughters and other kinsmen, and he is consequently neglected, what to speak of not being given respect. It is judicious, therefore, to give up family attachment before one attains old age and take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One should employ himself in the Lord's service so that the Supreme Lord can take charge of him, and he will not be neglected by his so-called kinsmen.
SB Canto 4
The reason is that Satī's father, Dakṣa, used to rebuke Lord Śiva in spite of Śiva's faultlessness. Consequently, before attaining a mature age, Satī gave up her body by dint of yogic mystic power.
In this verse the significant word is kṣema-darśinaḥ, which refers to those who are always looking after the welfare of the people in general. All the great sages headed by Bhṛgu were always thinking of how to elevate all the people of the universe to the spiritual platform. Indeed, they advised the kings of every planet to rule the people with that ultimate goal of life in mind. The great sages used to advise the head of the state, or the king, and he used to rule the populace in accordance with their instruction. After the disappearance of King Aṅga, there was no one to follow the instructions of the great sages. Consequently all the citizens became unruly, so much so that they could be compared to animals. As described in Bhagavad-gītā (4.13), human society must be divided into four orders according to quality and work. In every society there must be an intelligent class, administrative class, productive class and worker class. In modern democracy these scientific divisions are turned topsy-turvy, and by vote śūdras, or workers, are chosen for administrative posts. Having no knowledge of the ultimate goal of life, such persons whimsically enact laws without knowledge of life's purpose. The result is that no one is happy.
When the King ascended to the throne, he became all-powerful with eight kinds of opulences. Consequently he became too proud. By virtue of his false prestige, he considered himself to be greater than anyone. Thus he began to insult great personalities.
Saintly persons are not interested in political matters, yet they are always thinking of the welfare of the people in general. Consequently they sometimes have to come down to the political field and take steps to correct the misguided government or royalty. However, in Kali-yuga, saintly persons are not as powerful as they previously were. They used to be able to burn any sinful man to ashes by virtue of their spiritual prowess. Now saintly persons have no such power due to the influence of the age of Kali. Indeed, the brāhmaṇas do not even have the power to perform sacrifices in which animals are put into a fire to attain a new life. Under these circumstances, instead of actively taking part in politics, saintly persons should engage in chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa. By the grace of Lord Caitanya, by simply chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, the general populace can derive all benefits without political implications.
The duty of a pious king is described very nicely in this verse. His first and foremost duty is to give protection to the citizens from thieves and rogues as well as from ministers who are no better than thieves and rogues. Formerly, ministers were appointed by the king and were not elected. Consequently, if the king was not very pious or strict, the ministers would become thieves and rogues and exploit the innocent citizens. It is the king's duty to see that there is no increase of thieves and rogues either in the government secretariat or in the departments of public affairs. If a king cannot give protection to citizens from thieves and rogues both in the government service and in public affairs, he has no right to exact taxes from them. In other words, the king or the government that taxes can levy taxes from the citizens only if the king or government is able to give protection to the citizens from thieves and rogues.
At the present moment neither the king nor the governing body is interested in seeing that the people are engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Rather, they are more interested in advancing the machinery of sense gratification. Consequently they are becoming more and more implicated in the complex machinery of the stringent laws of nature. People should be freed from the entanglement of the three modes of material nature, and the only process by which this is possible is surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is advised in Bhagavad-gītā. Unfortunately neither the government nor the people in general have any idea of this; they are simply interested in sense gratification and in being happy in this life. The word nija-śāsane ("in his own governmental duty") indicates that both the government and the citizens are responsible for the execution of varṇāśrama-dharma. Once the populace is situated in the varṇāśrama-dharma, there is every possibility of real life and prosperity both in this world and in the next.
Human society, however, has artificially created a type of civilization which makes one forgetful of his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Modern society even enables one to forget the Supreme Personality of Godhead's grace and mercy. Consequently modern civilized man is always unhappy and in need of things. People do not know that the ultimate goal of life is to approach Lord Viṣṇu and satisfy Him. They have taken this materialistic way of life as everything and have become captivated by materialistic activities. Indeed, their leaders are always encouraging them to follow this path, and the general populace, being ignorant of the laws of God, are following their blind leaders down the path of unhappiness. In order to rectify this world situation, all people should be trained in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and act in accordance with the varṇāśrama system. The state should also see that the people are engaged in satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Upon seeing the dust storm, the saintly persons could understand that there were a great deal of irregularities due to the death of King Vena. Without government, the state was devoid of law and order, and consequently there was a great uprising of murderous thieves and rogues, who were plundering the riches of the people in general. Although the great sages could subdue the disturbance by their powers—just as they could kill the King—they considered it improper on their part to do so. Thus they did not attempt to stop the disturbance.
That a person was born by the churning of the thighs of King Vena proves that the spirit soul is individual and separate from the body. The great sages and saintly persons could beget another person from the body of the dead King Vena, but it was not possible for them to bring King Vena back to life. King Vena was gone, and certainly he had taken another body. The saintly persons and sages were only concerned with the body of Vena because it was a result of the seminal succession in the family of Mahārāja Dhruva. Consequently, the ingredients by which another body could be produced were there in the body of King Vena. By a certain process, when the thighs of the dead body were churned, another body came out. Although dead, the body of King Vena was preserved by drugs, and mantras chanted by King Vena's mother. In this way the ingredients for the production of another body were there. When the body of the person named Bāhuka came out of the dead body of King Vena, it was really not very astonishing. It was simply a question of knowing how to do it. From the semen of one body, another body is produced, and the life symptoms are visible due to the soul's taking shelter of this body. One should not think that it was impossible for another body to come out of the dead body of Mahārāja Vena. This was performed by the skillful action of the sages.
After his (Niṣāda's) birth, he immediately took charge of all the resultant actions of King Vena's sinful activities. As such, this Naiṣāda class are always engaged in sinful activities like stealing, plundering and hunting. Consequently they are only allowed to live in the hills and forests.
Reciters like the sūta and the māgadha were confidentially aware that King Pṛthu was an incarnation of the Personality of Godhead. Although the King denied such praise because he was not at that time exhibiting his godly qualities, the reciters did not stop praising him. Rather, they were very pleased with the King, who, although actually an incarnation of God, was so humble and delightful in his dealings with devotees. In this connection we may note that previously (4.15.21) it was mentioned that King Pṛthu was smiling and was in a pleasant mood while speaking to the reciters. Thus we have to learn from the Lord or His incarnation how to become gentle and humble. The King's behavior was very pleasing to the reciters, and consequently the reciters continued their praise and even foretold the King's future activities, as they had been instructed by the sādhus and sages.
Sometimes He appears as a fish incarnation (matsya-avatāra) or a boar incarnation (varāha-avatāra). Thus the Lord is completely free and independent to appear anywhere and everywhere by His internal potency. It is stated that Ananta, an incarnation of the Lord who has unlimited mouths, cannot reach the end of His glorification of the Lord, although Ananta has been describing the Lord since time immemorial. So what to speak of demigods like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and others? It is said that the Lord is śiva-viriñci-nutam (SB 11.5.33)-always worshiped by demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā. If the demigods cannot find adequate language to express the glories of the Lord, then what to speak of others? Consequently reciters like the sūta and māgadha felt inadequate to speak about King Pṛthu.
The demigods in charge of the various departmental activities that maintain this world are but assistants to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When an incarnation of Godhead descends on this planet, demigods like the sun-god, the moon-god or the King of heaven, Indra, all join Him. Consequently the incarnation of Godhead is able to act for the departmental demigods to keep the planetary systems in order. The protection of the earthly planet is dependent on proper rainfall, and as stated in Bhagavad-gītā and other scriptures, sacrifices are performed to please those demigods who are in charge of rainfall.
King Pṛthu is herein compared to the earthly planet as far as his tolerance is concerned. Although the earth is always trampled upon by men and animals, it still gives food to them by producing grains, fruits and vegetables. As an ideal king, Mahārāja Pṛthu is compared to the earthly planet, for even though some citizens might violate the rules and regulations of the state, he would still be tolerant and maintain them with fruits and grains. In other words, it is the duty of the king to look after the comforts of the citizens, even at the cost of his own personal convenience. This is not the case, however, in Kali-yuga, for in Kali-yuga the kings and heads of state enjoy life at the cost of taxes exacted from the citizens. Such unfair taxation makes the people dishonest, and the people try to hide their income in so many ways. Eventually the state will not be able to collect taxes and consequently will not be able to meet its huge military and administrative expenses. Everything will collapse, and there will be chaos and disturbance all over the state.
Thus a learned man does not look upon the dresses that externally cover the living entity, but sees the pure soul within the varieties of dress and knows very well that the varieties of dress are the creation of nescience (avidyā-racitam). Being a śaktyāveśa-avatāra, empowered by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Pṛthu Mahārāja did not change his spiritual position, and consequently there was no possibility of his viewing the material world as reality.
Pṛthu Mahārāja was a powerful incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa's potencies; consequently any narration concerning his activities is surely very pleasing to hear, and it produces all good fortune. As far as I am concerned, I am always your devotee as well as a devotee of the Lord, who is known as Adhokṣaja. Please therefore narrate all the stories of King Pṛthu, who, in the form of the son of King Vena, milked the cow-shaped earth.
The cow-shaped earth addressed King Pṛthu as dharma jña, which refers to one who knows the principles of religion. The principles of religion dictate that a woman, a cow, a child, a brāhmaṇa and an old man must be given all protection by the king or anyone else. Consequently mother earth took the shape of a cow. She was also a woman. Thus she appealed to the King as one who knows the principles of religion. Religious principles also dictate that one is not to be killed if he surrenders. She reminded King Pṛthu that not only was he an incarnation of God, but he was situated as the King of the earth as well. Therefore his duty was to excuse her.
Otherwise not. As human society is presently structured, there is sufficient production of grains all over the world. Therefore the opening of slaughterhouses cannot be supported. In some nations there is so much surplus grain that sometimes extra grain is thrown into the sea, and sometimes the government forbids further production of grain. The conclusion is that the earth produces sufficient grain to feed the entire population, but the distribution of this grain is restricted due to trade regulations and a desire for profit. Consequently in some places there is scarcity of grain and in others profuse production. If there were one government on the surface of the earth to handle the distribution of grain, there would be no question of scarcity, no necessity to open slaughterhouses, and no need to present false theories about over-population.
King Pṛthu now replies to that point. Although the earth assumed the shape of a cow by her mystic powers in order to be saved from being killed by the King, the King was aware of this fact and would not hesitate to cut her to pieces, just like small bits of grain. As far as the destruction of the citizens is concerned, Mahārāja Pṛthu maintained that he could uphold everyone by his own mystic powers. He did not need the help of the earthly planet. Being the incarnation of Lord Viṣṇu, Pṛthu Mahārāja possessed the power of Saṅkarṣaṇa, which is explained by the scientists as the power of gravitation. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is holding millions of planets in space without any support; similarly, Pṛthu Mahārāja would not have had any difficulty supporting all his citizens and himself in space without the help of the planet earth. The Lord is known as Yogeśvara, master of all mystic powers. Consequently the planet earth was informed by the King that she need not worry about his standing without her help.
The planet earth spoke: My dear Lord, O Supreme Personality of Godhead, You are transcendental in Your position, and by Your material energy You have expanded Yourself in various forms and species of life through the interaction of the three modes of material nature. Unlike some other masters, You always remain in Your transcendental position and are not affected by the material creation, which is subject to different material interactions. Consequently You are not bewildered by material activities.
After King Pṛthu gave his royal command, the planet earth in the shape of a cow could understand that the King was a directly empowered incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the King knew everything—past, present and future. Thus there was no possibility of the earth's cheating him. The earth was accused of hiding the seeds of all herbs and grains, and therefore she is preparing to explain how the seeds of these herbs and grains can be again exposed. The earth knew that the King was very angry with her, and she realized that unless she pacified his anger, there was no possibility of placing a positive program before him. Therefore in the beginning of her speech she very humbly presents herself as a part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead's body.
My dear Lord, in this way You once protected me by rescuing me from the water, and consequently Your name has been famous as Dharādhara—He who holds the planet earth. Yet at the present moment, in the form of a great hero, You are about to kill me with sharpened arrows. I am, however, just like a boat on the water, keeping everything afloat.
My dear Lord, I am also the creation of one of Your energies, composed of the three modes of material nature. Consequently I am bewildered by Your activities. Even the activities of Your devotees cannot be understood, and what to speak of Your pastimes. Thus everything appears to us to be contradictory and wonderful.
Presently women are given full independence like men, but actually we can see that such independent women are no happier than those women who are placed under guardians. If people follow the injunctions given by the great sages, śrutis and smṛtis, they can actually be happy in both this life and the next. Unfortunately rascals are manufacturing so many ways and means to be happy. Everyone is inventing so many methods. Consequently human society has lost the standard ways of life, both materially and spiritually, and as a result people are bewildered, and there is no peace or happiness in the world. Although they are trying to solve the problems of human society in the United Nations, they are still baffled. Because they do not follow the liberated instructions of the Vedas, they are unhappy.
At the present moment it has become fashionable to disobey the unimpeachable directions given by the ācāryas and liberated souls of the past. Presently people are so fallen that they cannot distinguish between a liberated soul and a conditioned soul. A conditioned soul is hampered by four defects: he is sure to commit mistakes, he is sure to become illusioned, he has a tendency to cheat others, and his senses are imperfect. Consequently we have to take direction from liberated persons. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement directly receives instructions from the Supreme Personality of Godhead via persons who are strictly following His instructions. Although a follower may not be a liberated person, if he follows the supreme, liberated Personality of Godhead, his actions are naturally liberated from the contamination of the material nature. Lord Caitanya therefore says: "By My order you may become a spiritual master."
My dear King, not only are grains and herbs being used by nondevotees, but, as far as I am concerned, I am not being properly maintained. Indeed, I am being neglected by kings who are not punishing these rascals who have turned into thieves by using grains for sense gratification. Consequently I have hidden all these seeds, which were meant for the performance of sacrifice.
As far as the approved method is concerned, it is enjoined in the śāstras that intelligent men in this age will take to the saṅkīrtana movement, and by so doing they shall worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Caitanya, whose bodily complexion is golden and who is always accompanied by His confidential devotees to preach this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement all over the world. In its present condition, the world can only be saved by introducing this saṅkīrtana, this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. As we have learned from the previous verse, one who is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is considered a thief. Even though he may be materially very advanced, a thief cannot be placed in a comfortable position. A thief is a thief, and he is punishable. Because people are without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they have become thieves, and consequently they are being punished by the laws of material nature. No one can check this, not even by introducing so many relief funds and humanitarian institutions. Unless the people of the world take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there will be a scarcity of food and much suffering.
When God's part and parcel is especially empowered, he is called śaktyāveśa-avatāra. Lord Viṣṇu is herein described as harir īśvaraḥ. The Lord is so kind that He takes all miserable conditions away from His devotees. Consequently He is called Hari. He is described as īśvara because He can do whatever He likes. He is the supreme controller. The supreme īśvara puruṣottama is Lord Kṛṣṇa. He exhibits His powers as īśvara, or the supreme controller, when He assures His devotee in Bhagavad-gītā (18.66): "Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear." He can immediately make His devotee immune from all the reactions caused by sinful life if the devotee simply surrenders unto Him. He is described herein as sarvātmā, meaning that He is present in everyone's heart as the Supersoul, and as such He is the supreme teacher of everyone. If we are fortunate enough to take the lessons given by Lord Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā, our lives immediately become successful. No one can give better instructions to human society than Lord Kṛṣṇa.
The sinful activities forbidden by the śāstras are illicit sex, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling. These so-called sannyāsīs indulge in all these activities. They eat meat and flesh, fish, eggs and just about everything. They sometimes drink with the excuse that without alcohol, fish and meat, it is impossible to remain in the cold countries near the Arctic zone. These sannyāsīs introduce all these sinful activities in the name of serving the poor, and consequently poor animals are cut to pieces and go into the bellies of these sannyāsīs. As described in the following verses, such sannyāsīs are pākhaṇḍīs. Vedic literature states that a person who puts Lord Nārāyaṇa on the level with Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā immediately becomes a pākhaṇḍī.
By chanting the Vedic mantras properly in a sacrifice, one can perform many wonderful things. In Kali-yuga, however, there are no qualified brāhmaṇas who can chant the mantras properly. Consequently no attempt should be made to perform such big sacrifices. In this age the only sacrifice recommended is the saṅkīrtana movement.
There are many competitors in ordinary business affairs, and the karma-kāṇḍa chapters of the Vedas sometimes cause competition and envy amongst karmīs. A karmī must be envious because he wishes to enjoy material pleasures to their fullest extent. That is the material disease. Consequently there is always competition amongst karmīs, either in ordinary business affairs or in the performance of yajña. Lord Brahmā's purpose was to end the competition between Lord Indra and Mahārāja Pṛthu. Because Mahārāja Pṛthu was a great devotee and incarnation of God, he was requested to stop the sacrifices so that Indra might not further introduce irreligious systems, which are always followed by criminal-minded people.
For his own sense gratification, King Indra thought to defeat Mahārāja Pṛthu in the performance of one hundred horse sacrifices. Consequently he stole the horse and hid himself amid so many irreligious personalities, taking on the false guise of a sannyāsī. Such activities are attractive to the people in general; therefore they are dangerous. Lord Brahmā thought that instead of allowing Indra to further introduce such irreligious systems, it would be better to stop the sacrifice. A similar stance was taken by Lord Buddha when people were overly engrossed in the animal sacrifices recommended by Vedic instructions. Lord Buddha had to introduce the religion of nonviolence by contradicting the Vedic sacrificial instructions. Actually, in the sacrifices the slaughtered animals were given a new life, but people without such powers were taking advantage of such Vedic rituals and unnecessarily killing poor animals. Therefore Lord Buddha had to deny the authority of the Vedas for the time being. One should not perform sacrifices that will induce reversed orders. It is better to stop such sacrifices.
As we have repeatedly explained, due to a lack of qualified brahminical priests in Kali-yuga, it is not possible to perform the ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the Vedas. Consequently the śāstras instruct us to perform the saṅkīrtana-yajña. By the saṅkīrtana sacrifice, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His form of Lord Caitanya, will be satisfied and worshiped.
In this verse the word ātmānam is very significant. It is a custom among yogīs and jñānīs to address one another (or even an ordinary man) as one's self, for a transcendentalist never accepts a living being to be the body. Since the individual self is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the self and the Superself are qualitatively nondifferent. As the next verse will explain, the body is only a superficial covering, and consequently an advanced transcendentalist will not make a distinction between one self and another.
The ritualistic performances recommended in the Vedas mainly depend on the three modes of material nature. Consequently Arjuna was advised to transcend the Vedic activities. The activities Arjuna was advised to perform were the transcendental activities of devotional service.
The word mukta refers to the living entities who never come within this material world. The baddhas are those living entities who are almost eternally living within this material world. The baddhas are struggling very hard within this material world to become free from the threefold miseries of material nature and to enjoy life, whereas the muktas are already liberated. They never come into this material world. Lord Viṣṇu is the master of this material world, and there is no question of His being controlled by material nature. Consequently, Lord Viṣṇu is addressed here as pūruṣottama, the best of all living entities—namely viṣṇu-tattvas and jīva-tattvas. It is a great offense, therefore, to compare Lord Viṣṇu and the jīva-tattva or consider them on an equal level. The Māyāvādī philosophers equalize the jīvas and the Supreme Lord and consider them to be one, but that is the greatest offense to the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu.
Although her position is on the chest of the Lord, the goddess of fortune, in her position as a devotee, takes pleasure in serving the lotus feet of the Lord. Pṛthu Mahārāja was thinking only of the lotus feet of the Lord because he is on the platform of dāsya-rasa, or servitorship of the Lord. From the next verse we learn that Pṛthu Mahārāja was thinking of the goddess of fortune as the universal mother, jagan-mātā. Consequently there was no question of his competing with her on the platform of mādhurya-rasa. Nonetheless he feared that she might take offense at his engaging in the service of the Lord. This suggests that in the absolute world there is sometimes competition between servitors in the service of the Lord, but such competition is without malice. In the Vaikuṇṭha worlds if a devotee excels in the service of the Lord, others do not become envious of his excellent service but rather aspire to come to the platform of that service.
King Vena, the father of Pṛthu Mahārāja, was condemned by the brāhmaṇas and saintly persons because of his denying the existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and rejecting the method of satisfying Him by performance of Vedic sacrifice. In other words, he was an atheist, who did not believe in the existence of God, and who consequently stopped all Vedic ritualistic ceremonies in his kingdom. Pṛthu Mahārāja considered King Vena's character abominable because Vena was foolish regarding the execution of religious performances. Atheists are of the opinion that there is no need to accept the authority of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be successful in religion, economic development, sense gratification or liberation.
The Kumāras are described herein as the elder brothers of Lord Śiva. When the Kumāras were born out of the body of Lord Brahmā, they were requested to get married and increase the population. In the beginning of the creation there was a great need of population; therefore Lord Brahmā was creating one son after another and ordering them to increase. However, when the Kumāras were requested to do so, they declined. They wanted to remain brahmacārī throughout life and be engaged fully in the devotional service of the Lord. The Kumāras are called naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī, meaning they are never to marry. Because of their refusal to marry, Lord Brahmā became so angry that his eyes became reddish. From between his eyes, Lord Śiva, or Rudra, appeared. The mode of anger is consequently known as rudra. Lord Śiva also has a sampradāya party, known as the Rudra-sampradāya, and they are also known as Vaiṣṇavas.
By material association we lose our spiritual consciousness; consequently there is the question of the auspicious and inauspicious. But those who are ātmārāma, or self-realized, have transcended such questions. The ātmārāmas, or self-realized persons, gradually making further progress in spiritual bliss, come to the platform of association with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the perfection of life. In the beginning, the Kumāras were self-realized impersonalists, but gradually they became attracted to the personal pastimes of the Supreme Lord. The conclusion is that for those who are always engaged in the devotional service of the Personality of Godhead, the duality of the auspicious and inauspicious does not arise. Pṛthu Mahārāja is therefore asking about auspiciousness not for the sake of the Kumāras but for his own sake.
The materialist is benefited by association with devotees because his life then becomes regulated so that his chance of becoming a devotee or making the present life successful for understanding the real position of the living entity is increased. When one takes advantage of this opportunity, he is assured of a human form of life in the next birth, or he may be liberated completely and go back home, back to Godhead. The conclusion is that if one participates in a discussion of devotees, he is both materially and spiritually benefited. The speaker and the audience are both benefited, and the karmīs and jñānīs are benefited. The discussion of spiritual matters amongst devotees is beneficial for everyone, without exception. Consequently the Kumāras admitted that not only was the King benefited by such a meeting, but the Kumāras were as well.
A devotee is the friend not only of human society but of all living entities, for he sees all living entities as sons of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He does not claim himself to be the only son of God and allow all others to be killed, thinking that they have no soul. This kind of philosophy is never advocated by a pure devotee of the Lord. Suhṛdaḥ sarva-dehinām: a true devotee is the friend of all living entities. Kṛṣṇa claims in Bhagavad-gītā to be the father of all species of living entities; consequently the devotee of Kṛṣṇa is always a friend of all. This is called ahiṁsā. Such nonviolence can be practiced only when we follow in the footsteps of great ācāryas. Therefore, according to our Vaiṣṇava philosophy, we have to follow the great ācāryas of the four sampradāyas, or disciplic successions.
There were so many catastrophes occurring that the great saintly persons, headed by Bhṛgu, created the body of King Pṛthu out of the body of his dead father, King Vena. Since King Pṛthu was thus offered the kingdom by the virtue of the mercy of great saintly persons, he did not want to divide his kingdom among saints like the Kumāras. When a father is eating food, he may, out of compassion, offer the remnants of his food to his son. Although such food may be already chewed by the father, it cannot be offered to the father again. Pṛthu Mahārāja's position was something like this; whatever he possessed had already been chewed, and therefore he could not offer it to the Kumāras. Indirectly, however, he offered everything he possessed to the Kumāras, and consequently they utilized his possessions in whatever way they liked. The next verse clarifies this matter.
The Vedas maintain that a kingdom should be governed for the purpose of satisfying the Supreme Personality of Godhead and should therefore be ruled by a representative of the Lord. The head of a state should not be appointed if he is bereft of all Vedic knowledge. In this verse it is clearly stated (veda-śāstra-vid arhati) that all high government posts are especially meant for persons who are well conversant with the teachings of the Vedas. In the Vedas there are definite instructions defining how a king, commander-in-chief, soldier and citizen should behave. Unfortunately there are many so-called philosophers in the present age who give instruction without citing authority, and many leaders follow their unauthorized instruction. Consequently people are not happy.
The second line of this verse indicates that the kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras eat only by virtue of the brāhmaṇa's mercy; in other words, they should not eat anything which is forbidden by the brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas know what to eat, and by their personal example they do not eat anything which is not offered first to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. They eat only prasāda, or remnants of the food offered to the Lord. The kṣatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras should eat only kṛṣṇa-prasāda, which is afforded them by the mercy of the brāhmaṇas. They cannot open slaughterhouses and eat meat, fish or eggs or drink liquor, or earn money for this purpose without authorization. In the present age, because society is not guided by brahminical instruction, the whole population is only absorbed in sinful activities. Consequently, everyone is deservedly being punished by the laws of nature. This is the situation in this age of Kali.
Mahārāja Pṛthu was a responsible monarch, and he had to execute the duties of a kṣatriya, a king and a devotee at the same time. Being perfect in the Lord's devotional service, he could execute his prescribed duties with complete perfection as befitted the time and circumstance and his financial strength and personal ability. In this regard, the word karmāṇi in this verse is significant. Pṛthu Mahārāja's activities were not ordinary, for they were in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has advised that things which are favorable to devotional service should not be rejected, nor should activity favorable for devotional service be considered ordinary work or fruitive activity. For example, an ordinary worker conducts business in order to earn money for his sense gratification. A devotee may perform the same work in exactly the same way, but his aim is to satisfy the Supreme Lord. Consequently his activities are not ordinary.
Mahārāja Pṛthu completely dedicated himself to be an eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, transcendental to material nature. Consequently all the fruits of his activities were dedicated to the Lord, and he always thought of himself as the servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of everything.
The word gṛheṣu is significant in this verse. Out of the four āśramas—the brahmacarya, gṛhastha, vānaprastha and sannyāsa—only a gṛhastha, or householder, is allowed to associate with women; therefore the gṛhastha-āśrama is a kind of license for sense gratification given to the devotee. Pṛthu Mahārāja was special in that although he was given license to remain a householder, and although he possessed immense opulences in his kingdom, he never engaged in sense gratification. This was a special sign that indicated him to be a pure devotee of the Lord. A pure devotee is never attracted by sense gratification, and consequently he is liberated. In material life a person engages in sense gratification for his own personal satisfaction, but in the devotional or liberated life one aims to satisfy the senses of the Lord.
He was so strong and powerful that he was compared to the King of heaven, Indra. In this age modern scientists have been experimenting with nuclear weapons, and in a former age they used to release brahmāstras, but all these brahmāstras and nuclear weapons are insignificant compared to the thunderbolt of the King of heaven. When Indra releases a thunderbolt, even the biggest hills and mountains crack. On the other hand, Mahārāja Pṛthu was as tolerant as the earth itself, and he fulfilled all the desires of his citizens just like torrents of rain from the sky. Without rainfall, it is not possible to fulfill one's various desires on this planet. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.14), parjanyād anna-sambhavaḥ: food grains are produced only because rain falls from the sky, and without grains, no one on the earth can be satisfied. Consequently an unlimited distribution of mercy is compared to the water falling from the clouds. Mahārāja Pṛthu distributed his mercy incessantly, much like rainfall. In other words, Mahārāja Pṛthu was softer than a rose flower and harder than a thunderbolt. In this way he ruled over his kingdom.
Yamarāja, or Dharmarāja, as the superintendent of death, has to judge the criminal living entities who have committed sinful activities throughout their lives. Consequently Yamarāja is expected to be most expert in judicial matters. Pṛthu Mahārāja was also highly learned and exceedingly exact in delivering his judgment upon the citizens. No one could excel him in opulence any more than estimate the stock of minerals and jewels in the Himalaya Mountains; therefore he is compared to Kuvera, the treasurer of the heavenly planets. Nor could anyone discover the secrets of his life any more than learn the secrets of Varuṇa, the demigod presiding over the water, the night, and the western sky. Varuṇa is omniscient, and since he punishes sins, he is prayed to for forgiveness. He is also the sender of disease and is often associated with Mitra and Indra.
It is also notable that according to Vedic injunction, to live in the forest is to live in the mode of complete goodness, whereas to live in the city is to live in the mode of passion, and to live in a brothel or drinking house is to live in the mode of ignorance. However, to live in a temple is to live in Vaikuṇṭha, which is transcendental to all the modes of material nature. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement affords one the opportunity to live in the temple of the Lord, which is as good as Vaikuṇṭha. Consequently a Kṛṣṇa conscious person does not need to go to the forest and artificially try to imitate Mahārāja Pṛthu or the great sages and munis who used to live in the forest.
King Pṛthu's activities took place in Satya-yuga, and in this age this practice of yoga is misunderstood by fallen souls who are not capable of practicing anything. Consequently the śāstras enjoin: kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā. The conclusion is that unless the karmīs, jñānīs and yogīs come to the point of devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa, their so-called austerities and yoga have no value. Nārādhitaḥ: if Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is not worshiped, there is no point in practicing meditational yoga, performing karma-yoga or culturing empiric knowledge. As far as prāṇāyāma is concerned, chanting of the holy name of the Lord and dancing in ecstasy are also considered prāṇāyāma.
Therefore jñāna and yoga should not be accepted as the real processes for liberation. By discharging devotional service, Mahārāja Pṛthu automatically transcended all these positions. Since Mahārāja Pṛthu was a śaktyāveśa incarnation of the Supreme Lord, he did not have to act in any way to attain liberation. He came from the Vaikuṇṭha world, or spiritual sky, in order to execute the will of the Supreme Lord on earth. Consequently he was to return home, back to Godhead, without having to execute jñāna, yoga or karma. Although Pṛthu Mahārāja was eternally a pure devotee of the Lord, he nonetheless adopted the process of devotional service in order to teach the people in general the proper process for executing the duties of life and ultimately returning home, back to Godhead.
The bhakti-yogī, practicing bhakti-yoga, is always situated on the brahma-bhūta stage (brahma-bhūyāya kalpate). If a devotee is able to continue on the brahma-bhūta platform, he enters the spiritual sky automatically after death and returns to Godhead. Consequently a devotee need not feel sorry for not having practiced the kuṇḍalinī-cakra, or not penetrating the six cakras one after another. As far as Mahārāja Pṛthu was concerned, he had already practiced this process, and since he did not want to wait for the time when his death would occur naturally, he took advantage of the ṣaṭ-cakra penetration process and thus gave up the body according to his own free will and immediately entered the spiritual sky.
As stated in the Vedas, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of material energy. Consequently He is sometimes called māyā-maya, or the Supreme person, who can create His pastimes through His potency known as the material energy. The jīva, or the individual living entity, becomes entrapped by the material energy by the supreme will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In Bhagavad-gītā (18.61) we understand:
- īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
- hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati
- bhrāmayan sarva-bhūtāni
- yantrārūḍhāni māyayā
Īśvara, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is situated within the heart of all conditioned souls, and by His supreme will the living entity, or individual soul, gets the facility to lord it over material nature in various types of bodies, which are known as yantra, or the moving vehicle offered by the total material energy, māyā.
Whenever Antardhāna, the supreme royal power, had to exact taxes, punish his citizens or fine them severely, he was not willing to do so. Consequently he retired from the execution of such duties and engaged himself in the performance of different sacrifices.
In the beginning of the creation there were not many living entities, and consequently the very powerful living entities or demigods were appointed as Prajāpatis in order to beget children and increase the population. There are many Prajāpatis—Brahmā, Dakṣa and Manu are sometimes known as Prajāpatis—and Barhiṣat, the son of Havirdhāna, became one of them.
Lord Śiva is known as the greatest devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is known as the best of all types of Vaiṣṇavas (vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ). Consequently, Lord Śiva has a Vaiṣṇava sampradāya, the disciplic succession known as the Rudra-sampradāya. Just as there is a Brahma-sampradāya coming directly from Lord Brahmā, the Rudra-sampradāya comes directly from Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva is one of the twelve great personalities, as stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.3.20):
- svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ
- kumāraḥ kapilo manuḥ
- prahlādo janako bhīṣmo
- balir vaiyāsakir vayam
These are twelve great authorities in preaching God consciousness. The name Śambhu means Lord Śiva. His disciplic succession is also known as the Viṣṇu Svāmī-sampradāya, and the current Viṣṇu Svāmī-sampradāya is also known as the Vallabha-sampradāya.
Those who are fixed in the service of the Lord are not agitated by anything. It is also stated in Bhagavad-gītā (6.22): yasmin sthito na duḥkhena guruṇāpi vicālyate. Even if he suffers some reversals in life, a devotee is never agitated. Therefore whoever takes shelter of a great soul or a great devotee becomes pacified. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (CC Madhya 19.149) it is stated: kṛṣṇa-bhakta-niṣkāma, ataeva 'śānta.' A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa is always peaceful because he has no desire, whereas the yogīs, karmīs and jñānīs have so many desires to fulfill. One may argue that the devotees have desires, for they wish to go home, back to Godhead, but such a desire does not agitate the mind. Although he wishes to go back to Godhead, a devotee is satisfied in any condition of life. Consequently, the word mahan-manaḥ is used in this verse to indicate that the reservoir of water was as calm and quiet as the mind of a great devotee.
In that great lake there were different types of lotus flowers. Some of them were bluish, and some of them were red. Some of them grew at night, some in the day and some, like the indīvara lotus flower, in the evening. Combined together, the lotus flowers filled the lake so full that the lake appeared to be a great mine of such flowers. Consequently, on the shores there were swans and cranes, cakravāka, kāraṇḍava and other beautiful water birds standing about.
Sometimes Lord Śiva has to deal with persons who are in the modes of passion and ignorance. Such persons are not always very much religious and pious in their activities, but since they worship Lord Śiva for some material profit, they sometimes obey the religious principles. As soon as Lord Śiva sees that his devotees are following religious principles, he blesses them. The Pracetās, sons of Prācīnabarhi, were naturally very pious and gentle, and consequently Lord Śiva was immediately pleased with them. Lord Śiva could understand that the princes were sons of Vaiṣṇavas, and as such Lord Śiva offered prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead as follows.
Lord Śiva is rarely seen by common men, and similarly a person who is fully surrendered unto Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is also very rarely seen because a person who is fully surrendered unto the Supreme Lord is very rare (sa mahātmā sudurlabhaḥ). Consequently Lord Śiva came especially to see the Pracetās because they were fully surrendered unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. Vāsudeva is also mentioned in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in the mantra, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Since Vāsudeva is the ultimate truth, Lord Śiva openly proclaims that one who is a devotee of Lord Vāsudeva, who is surrendered to Lord Kṛṣṇa, is actually very dear to him. Lord Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is worshipable not only by ordinary living entities but by demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and others.
It is said, vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ: Lord Śiva is the best of all devotees. Therefore all devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa are also devotees of Lord Śiva. In Vṛndāvana there is Lord Śiva's temple called Gopīśvara. The gopīs used to worship not only Lord Śiva but Kātyāyanī, or Durgā, as well, but their aim was to attain the favor of Lord Kṛṣṇa. A devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa does not disrespect Lord Śiva, but worships Lord Śiva as the most exalted devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Consequently whenever a devotee worships Lord Śiva, he prays to Lord Śiva to achieve the favor of Kṛṣṇa, and he does not request material profit. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.20) it is said that generally people worship demigods for some material profit. Kāmais tais tair hṛta jñānāḥ. Driven by material lust, they worship demigods, but a devotee never does so, for he is never driven by material lust. That is the difference between a devotee's respect for Lord Śiva and an asura's respect for him. The asura worships Lord Śiva, takes some benediction from him, misuses the benediction and ultimately is killed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who awards him liberation.
Although conditioned souls become very easily illusioned by these conditions in the material world, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as the Supersoul, Vāsudeva, is never agitated by these transformations. Therefore it is said here (kūṭa-sthāya) that He is always peaceful and devoid of agitation because of His prowess, which is described herein as sva-rociṣe, indicating that He is illuminated by His own transcendental position. In other words, the individual soul, although within the illumination of the Supreme, sometimes falls down from that illumination because of his tiny position, and when he falls down he enters into material, conditional life. The Lord, however, is not subject to such conditioning; therefore He is described as self-illuminated. Consequently any conditioned soul within this material universe can remain completely perfect when he is under the protection of Vāsudeva, or when he is engaged in devotional service.
As the individual body of the living entity is composed of millions of cells, germs and microbes, the universal body of the Supreme Lord similarly contains all the individual bodies of the living entities. Lord Śiva is offering his obeisances to the universal body, which includes all other bodies, so that everyone's body may fully engage in devotional service. Since this individual body is composed of senses, all the senses should be engaged in devotional service. For instance, the smelling instrument, the nose, can engage in smelling the flowers offered to the lotus feet of the Lord, the hands can engage in cleansing the temple of the Lord, etc. Indeed, being the life air of every living entity, the Lord is the maintainer of the three worlds. Consequently He can induce every living entity to engage in his real life's duty with full bodily and mental strength. Thus every living entity should serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead by his prāṇa (life), artha (wealth), intelligence and words.
The curling hair on the shoulders of a lion always appears very, very beautiful. Similarly, the shoulders of the Lord were just like a lion's, and the necklace and garlands, along with the Kaustubha pearl necklace, combined to excel the beauty of a lion. The chest of the Lord is streaked with Śrīvatsa lines, the sign of the goddess of fortune. Consequently the Lord's chest excels the beauty of a testing stone for gold. The black siliceous stone on which gold is rubbed to test its value always looks very beautiful, being streaked with gold lines. Yet the chest of the Lord excels even such a stone in its beauty.
When the living entity forgets the Supreme Lord and wants to enjoy himself independently, imitating the Supreme Lord, he is captured by the false notion that he is the enjoyer and is separated from the Supreme Lord. This material energy is therefore very much troublesome to the spiritual energy, the living entity, but the material energy is never troublesome to the Supreme Lord. Indeed, for the Supreme Lord, both material and spiritual energy are the same. In this verse Lord Śiva explains that the material energy is never troublesome to the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is always independent, but because the living entities are not independent—due to their false idea of becoming independently happy—the material energy is troublesome. Consequently the material energy creates differentiation.
Without taking to God consciousness and accepting the authority of the Lord, the living entities become ultimately confused and frustrated in their planmaking attempts. Due to their unauthorized plans for economic development, the price of commodities is rising daily all over the world, so much so that is has become difficult for the poorer classes, and they are suffering the consequences. And due to lack of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, people are being fooled by so-called leaders and planmakers. Consequently, the sufferings of the people are increasing. According to the laws of nature, which are backed by the Lord, nothing can be permanent within this material world; therefore everyone should be allowed to take shelter of the Absolute in order to be saved.
An advanced devotee, or a perfect human being who is actually wise and learned, cannot give up his service at the lotus feet of the Lord. Although Lord Brahmā has a long life-span (4,320,000,000 years constitute twelve hours in a day of Brahmā), Brahmā is afraid of death and consequently engages in the devotional service of the Lord. Similarly, all the Manus who appear and disappear during the day of Brahmā are also engaged in the Lord's devotional service. In Brahmā's one day, fourteen Manus appear and disappear. The first Manu is Svāyambhuva Manu. Each Manu lives for seventy-one yugas, each consisting of some 4,320,000 years. Although the Manus have such a long life-span, they still prepare for the next life by engaging in the devotional service of the Lord. In this age human beings only live for sixty or eighty years, and even this small life-span is gradually decreasing. Therefore it is even more imperative for human beings to take to the worship of the lotus feet of the Lord by constantly chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as recommended by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
It is especially significant that Lord Śiva is a pure devotee of Lord Vāsudeva. Vaiṣṇavānāṁ yathā śambhuḥ: "Amongst all Vaiṣṇavas, Lord Śiva is the topmost." Consequently Lord Śiva has a sampradāya, a Vaiṣṇava disciplic succession, called the Rudra-sampradāya. At the present moment those who belong to the Viṣṇu Svāmī-sampradāya of Vaiṣṇavas come from Rudra, Lord Śiva. To become a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva, is very, very difficult. The word especially used in this connection is durārādhyam. The worship of the demigods is not very difficult, but becoming a devotee of Lord Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, is not so easy. However, if one adheres to the principles and follows in the footsteps of the higher authorities, as advised by Lord Śiva, one can easily become a devotee of Lord Vāsudeva.
Because animal sacrifice is recommended in the Vedas, there are animal sacrifices in almost all religious rituals. However, one should not be satisfied simply by killing animals according to the directions of the scriptures. One should transcend the ritualistic ceremonies and try to understand the actual truth, the purpose of life. Nārada Muni wanted to instruct the King about the real purpose of life and invoke a spirit of renunciation in his heart. Knowledge and the spirit of renunciation (jñāna-vairāgya) are the ultimate goal of life. Without knowledge, one cannot become detached from material enjoyment, and without being detached from material enjoyment, one cannot make spiritual advancement. Karmīs are generally engaged in sense gratification, and for this end they are prepared to commit so many sinful activities. Animal sacrifice is but one such sinful activity. Consequently, by his mystic power Nārada Muni showed King Prācīnabarhiṣat the dead animals which he had sacrificed.
Nārada Muni is not contradicting himself here. Nārada Muni wanted to convince the King that overindulgence in animal sacrifice is risky because as soon as there is a small discrepancy in the execution of such a sacrifice, the slaughtered animal may not be promoted to a human form of life. Consequently, the person performing sacrifice will be responsible for the death of the animal, just as much as a murderer is responsible for killing another man. When animals are killed in a slaughterhouse, six people connected with the killing are responsible for the murder. The person who gives permission for the killing, the person who kills, the person who helps, the person who purchases the meat, the person who cooks the flesh and the person who eats it, all become entangled in the killing. Nārada Muni wanted to draw the King's attention to this fact. Thus animal-killing is not encouraged even in a sacrifice.
Nārada Muni did not directly deprecate the value of performing sacrifices in which animals are sacrificed. Lord Buddha, however, directly rejected all animal sacrifice. Śrīla Jayadeva Gosvāmī has stated: nindasi yajña-vidher ahaha śruti-jātam. The word śruti jātam indicates that in the Vedas animal sacrifice is recommended, but Lord Buddha directly denied Vedic authority in order to stop animal sacrifice. Consequently Lord Buddha is not accepted by the followers of the Vedas. Because he does not accept the authority of the Vedas, Lord Buddha is depicted as an agnostic or atheist. The great sage Nārada cannot decry the authority of the Vedas, but he wanted to indicate to King Prācīnabarhiṣat that the path of karma-kāṇḍa is very difficult and risky.
Therefore a living entity may be called bṛhac-chravāḥ; he may have a great reputation for various types of activities. Nonetheless, he has a friend whom he does not know. Materialistic persons do not understand that God is present as the Supersoul, who is situated within the heart of every living entity. Although the Paramātmā sits beside the jīvātmā as a friend, the jīvātmā, or living entity, does not know it. Consequently he is described as avijñāta-sakhā, meaning "one who has an unknown friend." The word avijñāta-ceṣṭitaḥ is also significant because a living entity works hard under the direction of the Paramātmā and is carried away by the laws of nature. Nonetheless, he thinks himself independent of God and independent of the stringent laws of material nature.
King Purañjana had unlimited desires for sense enjoyment; consequently he traveled all over the world to find a place where all his desires could be fulfilled. Unfortunately he found a feeling of insufficiency everywhere.
When one sees the opposite sex, naturally the sex impulse increases. It is said that if a man in a solitary place does not become agitated upon seeing a woman, he is to be considered a brahmacārī. But this practice is almost impossible. The sex impulse is so strong that even by seeing, touching or talking, coming into contact with, or even thinking of the opposite sex—even in so many subtle ways—one becomes sexually impelled. Consequently, a brahmacārī or sannyāsī is prohibited to associate with women, especially in a secret place. The śāstras enjoin that one should not even talk to a woman in a secret place, even if she happens to be one's own daughter, sister or mother. The sex impulse is so strong that even if one is very learned, he becomes agitated in such circumstances.
In such an atmosphere even the animals of the forest became nonviolent and nonenvious like great sages. Consequently, the animals did not attack anyone. Over and above everything was the cooing of the cuckoos. Any passenger passing along that path was invited by that atmosphere to take rest in that nice garden.
It is said that one who is simply conscious of the body is no better than an animal, even though he be in the human form. In Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) Śrī Kṛṣṇa says, sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: "I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness." In the animal form the living entity is completely forgetful of his relationship with God. This is called apohanam, or forgetfulness. In the human form of life, however, consciousness is more greatly developed, and consequently the human being has a chance to understand his relationship with God. In the human form one should utilize his intelligence by asking all these questions, just as Purañjana, the living entity, is asking the unknown girl where she has come from, what her business is, why she is present, etc. These are inquiries about ātma-tattva—self-realization. The conclusion is that unless a living entity is inquisitive about self-realization he is nothing but an animal.
In this verse all these inquiries are made by King Purañjana, the living entity who is bewildered and does not know how to employ his intelligence. Intelligence should be employed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As soon as one uses his intelligence in this way, the goddess of fortune automatically becomes favorable to him. The goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, never remains without her husband, Lord Viṣṇu. Consequently, when one worships Lord Viṣṇu he automatically obtains the favor of the goddess of fortune. One should not, like Rāvaṇa, worship the goddess of fortune alone, for she cannot remain long without her husband. Thus her other name is Cañcalā, or restless. In this verse it is clear that Purañjana is representing our intelligence while he is talking with the girl. He not only appreciated the shyness of the girl but actually became more and more attracted by that shyness. He was actually thinking of becoming her husband and consequently was asking her whether she was thinking of her prospective husband or whether she was married.
The word bhuvi-spṛk mentioned in this verse is very significant. When the demigods sometimes come to this planet, they do not touch the ground. Purañjana could understand that this girl did not belong to the transcendental world or the higher planetary system because her feet were touching the ground. Since every woman in this world wants her husband to be very influential, rich and powerful, Purañjana, to seduce the girl, introduced himself as such a personality. In the material world, whether one be a man or a woman, one wants to enjoy. A man wants to enjoy a beautiful woman, and a woman wants to enjoy a powerful, opulent man. Every living entity who possesses such material desires is called puruṣa, an enjoyer. Superficially it appears that the woman is the enjoyed and the man is the enjoyer, but internally everyone is an enjoyer. Consequently everything in this material world is called māyā.
Purañjana inquired from the woman about those eleven men and their wives and the snake. The woman gave a brief description of them. She was obviously without full knowledge of her surrounding men and women and the snake. As stated before, the snake is the vital force of the living being. This vital force always remains awake even when the body and the senses become fatigued and do no work. Even in the state of unconsciousness, when we sleep, the snake, or the life-force, remains intact and awake. Consequently we dream when we sleep. When the living entity gives up this material body, the vital force still remains intact and is carried to another material body. That is called transmigration, or change of the body, and we have come to know this process as death. Actually, there is no death.
The right ear is used for karma-kāṇḍīya, or fruitive activities. As long as one is attached to the enjoyment of material resources, he hears from the right ear and uses the five senses to elevate himself to the higher planetary systems like Pitṛloka. Consequently, the right ear is here described as the Pitṛhū gate.
The gate on the western side of the city was known as Āsurī because it was especially meant for the asuras. The word asura refers to those who are interested in sense gratification, specifically in sex life, to which they are overly attracted. Thus Purañjana, the living entity, enjoys himself to his greatest satisfaction by means of the genitals. Consequently he used to go to the place known as Grāmaka. Material sense gratification is also called grāmya, and the place where sex life is indulged in to a great extent is called Grāmaka. When going to Grāmaka, Purañjana used to be accompanied by his friend Durmada. The word viṣaya refers to the four bodily necessities of life—eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The word durmadena may be analyzed in this way: dur means duṣṭa, or "sinful," and mada means "madness."
The words āsurī nāma paścād dvāḥ are significant in another sense. The sunrise is first visible from the eastern side—the Bay of Bengal—and gradually it progresses toward the west. It is practically experienced that people in the West are more addicted to sense gratification. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu Himself has certified: paścimera loka saba mūḍha anācāra (CC Adi 10.89). The more one goes to the western side, the more he will find people disinterested in spiritual life. He will find them behaving against the Vedic standards. Because of this, people living in the West are more addicted to sense gratification. In this Bhāgavatam it is confirmed: āsurī nāma paścād dvāḥ. In other words, the population on the western side is interested in an asuric civilization, that is, a materialistic way of life. Lord Caitanya consequently wanted this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement to be preached on the western side of the world so that people addicted to sense gratification might be benefited by His teachings.
Of the senses that are working, the hands and legs are very important, but they have no eyes to see. This means that in the hands and legs there are no holes. In the head there are many holes—two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and one mouth—but lower down, in the arms and legs, there are no holes. Consequently, the arms and legs have been described as andha, blind. Although the living entity has many holes in his body, he nonetheless has to work with his hands and arms. Although the living entity is the master of many other senses, when he has to go somewhere, do something or touch something, he has to use his blind legs and hands.
The forest in which King Purañjana engaged in hunting was named Pañca-prastha. The word pañca means "five," and this indicates the objects of the five senses. The body has five working senses, namely the hands, the legs, the tongue, the rectum and the genitals. By taking full advantage of these working senses, the body enjoys material life. The chariot is driven by five horses, which represent the five sense organs—namely the eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. These sense organs are very easily attracted by the sense objects. Consequently, the horses are described as moving swiftly. On the chariot King Purañjana kept two explosive weapons, which may be compared to ahaṅkāra, or false ego. This false ego is typified by two attitudes: "I am this body" (ahantā), and "Everything in my bodily relationships belongs to me" (mamatā).
When a man becomes too proud of his material position, he tries to enjoy his senses in an unrestricted way, being influenced by the modes of passion and ignorance. He is thus described as asuric, or demoniac. When people are demoniac in spirit, they are not merciful toward the poor animals. Consequently, they maintain various animal slaughterhouses. This is technically called sūnā, or hiṁsā, which means the killing of living beings. In Kali-yuga, due to the increase of the modes of passion and ignorance, almost all men are asuric, or demoniac; therefore they are very much fond of eating flesh, and for this end they maintain various kinds of animal slaughterhouses.
In this age of Kali the propensity for mercy is almost nil. Consequently there is always fighting and wars between men and nations. Men do not understand that because they unrestrictedly kill so many animals, they also must be slaughtered like animals in big wars. This is very much evident in the Western countries. In the West, slaughterhouses are maintained without restriction, and therefore every fifth or tenth year there is a big war in which countless people are slaughtered even more cruelly than the animals. Sometimes during war, soldiers keep their enemies in concentration camps and kill them in very cruel ways. These are reactions brought about by unrestricted animal-killing in the slaughterhouse and by hunters in the forest. Proud, demoniac persons do not know the laws of nature, or the laws of God. Consequently, they unrestrictedly kill poor animals, not caring for them at all. In the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, animal-killing is completely prohibited. One is not accepted as a bona fide student in this movement unless he promises to follow the four regulative principles: no animal-killing, no intoxication, no illicit sex and no gambling. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is the only means by which the sinful activities of men in this Kali-yuga can be counteracted.
Just as a government may issue trade licenses in order for its citizens to act in a certain way, the Vedas contain injunctions that restrain and regulate all of our fruitive activities. All living entities have come into this material world to enjoy themselves. Consequently, the Vedas are given to regulate sense enjoyment. One who enjoys his senses under the Vedic regulative principles does not become entangled in the actions and reactions of his activities. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (3.9), yajñārthāt karmaṇaḥ: one should act only for the performance of yajña, or to satisfy Lord Viṣṇu. Anyatra loko 'yaṁ karma-bandhanaḥ: otherwise any action will produce a reaction by which the living entity will be bound. A human being is especially meant to attain liberation from the bondage of birth, death, old age and disease. He is therefore directed by the Vedic regulative principles to work in such a way that he may fulfill his desires for sense gratification and at the same time gradually become freed from material bondage. Action according to such principles is called knowledge. Indeed, the word veda means "knowledge." The words jñānena na sa lipyate indicate that by following the Vedic principles, one does not become involved in the actions and reactions of his fruitive activities.
Man-made laws, however, are always defective because they are made by men who are prone to committing mistakes, being illusioned, cheating and having imperfect senses. The Vedic instructions are different because they do not have these four defects. Vedic instructions are not subject to mistakes. The knowledge of the Vedas is knowledge received directly from God, and there is consequently no question of illusion, cheating, mistakes or imperfect senses. All Vedic knowledge is perfect because it is received directly from God by the paramparā, disciplic succession. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1) it is said: tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. The original creature of this universe, known as the ādi-kavi, or Lord Brahmā, was instructed by Kṛṣṇa through the heart. After receiving these Vedic instructions from Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself, Brahmā distributed the knowledge by the paramparā system to Nārada, and Nārada in turn distributed the knowledge to Vyāsa. In this way Vedic knowledge is perfect. If we act according to Vedic knowledge, there is no question of being involved in sinful activities.
A person who is a nondevotee has no good qualifications because he acts on the mental platform. One who acts on the mental platform has to change his standard of knowledge periodically. We consequently see that one philosopher may disagree with another philosopher, and one scientist may put forward a theory contradicting the theory of another scientist. All of this is due to their working on the mental platform without a standard of knowledge. In the Vedic instructions, however, the standard of knowledge is accepted, even though it may sometimes appear that the statements are contradictory. Because the Vedas are the standard of knowledge, even though they may appear contradictory, they should be accepted. If one does not accept them, he will be bound by the material conditions.
Not only are saintly persons afflicted by this killing, but even God Himself is afflicted and therefore comes down in the incarnation of Lord Buddha. Jayadeva Gosvāmī therefore sings: sadaya-hṛdaya-darśita-paśu-ghātam. Simply to stop the killing of animals, Lord Buddha compassionately appeared. Some rascals put forward the theory that an animal has no soul or is something like dead stone. In this way they rationalize that there is no sin in animal-killing. Actually animals are not dead stone, but the killers of animals are stonehearted. Consequently no reason or philosophy appeals to them. They continue keeping slaughterhouses and killing animals in the forest. The conclusion is that one who does not care for the instructions of saintly persons like Nārada and his disciplic succession surely falls into the category of naṣṭa-prajña and thus goes to hell.
This verse states that the devotee accepts a reversal of his position in life as a benediction by the Lord and consequently offers the Lord more obeisances and prayers, thinking that the punishment is due to his past misdeeds and that the Lord is punishing him very mildly. The punishment awarded by the state or by God for one's own faults is actually for one's benefit. In the Manu-saṁhitā it is said that the King should be considered merciful when he condemns a murderer to death because a murderer punished in this life becomes freed from his sinful activity and in the next life takes birth cleared of all sins. If one accepts punishment as a reward dealt by the master, he becomes intelligent enough not to commit the same mistake again.
One's pure intelligence, or pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, becomes polluted by material activities. Pure consciousness can be revived by the process of sacrifice, charity, pious activities, etc., but when one pollutes his Kṛṣṇa consciousness by offending a brāhmaṇa or a Vaiṣṇava, it is very difficult to revive. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has described the vaiṣṇava-aparādha, or offense to a Vaiṣṇava, as "the mad elephant offense." One should be very careful not to offend a Vaiṣṇava or a brāhmaṇa. Even the great yogī Durvāsā was harassed by the Sudarśana cakra when he offended the Vaiṣṇava Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, who was neither a brāhmaṇa nor a sannyāsī but an ordinary householder. Mahārāja Ambarīṣa was a Vaiṣṇava, and consequently Durvāsā Muni was chastised.
King Purañjana was a great soul, highly intellectual and possessed of advanced consciousness, but due to his being too much addicted to women, his whole consciousness was covered. In the modern age the consciousness of people is too much covered by wine, women and flesh. Consequently, people are completely unable to make any progress in self-realization. The first step of self-realization is to know oneself as spirit soul apart from the body. In the second stage of self-realization, one comes to know that every soul, every individual living entity, is part and parcel of the Supreme Soul, Paramātmā, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Not only was Purañjana, the King of Pañcāla, satisfied in his own sex life, but he arranged for the sex life of his 1,100 sons and 110 daughters. In this way one can elevate an aristocratic family to the platform of a dynasty. It is significant in this verse that Purañjana got both sons and daughters married. It is the duty of a father and mother to arrange for the marriage of their sons and daughters. That is the obligation in Vedic society. Sons and daughters should not be allowed freedom to intermingle with the opposite sex unless they are married. This Vedic social organization is very good in that it stops the promulgation of illicit sex life, or varṇa-saṅkara, which appears under different names in this present day. Unfortunately in this age although the father and mother are anxious to get their children married, the children refuse to get married by the arrangement of the parents. Consequently, the number of varṇa-saṅkara has increased throughout the world under different names.
The daughter of Time (Jarā) was very unfortunate. Consequently she was known as Durbhagā ("ill-fated"). However, she was once pleased with a great king, and because the king accepted her, she granted him a great benediction.
As Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura sings, saba sukha bhāgala: all kinds of happiness disappear in old age. Consequently, no one likes old age, or jarā. Thus Jarā, as the daughter of Time, is known as a most unfortunate daughter. She was, however, at one time accepted by a great king, Yayāti. Yayāti was cursed by his father-in-law, Śukrācārya, to accept her. When Śukrācārya's daughter was married to King Yayāti, one of her friends named Śarmiṣṭhā went with her. Later King Yayāti became very much attached to Śarmiṣṭhā, and Śukrācārya's daughter complained to her father. Consequently, Śukrācārya cursed King Yayāti to become prematurely old. King Yayāti had five youthful sons, and he begged all his sons to exchange their youth for his old age.
The great sage Nārada Muni was a naiṣṭhika-brahmacārī—that is, he never had sex life. He was consequently an ever-green youth. Old age, jarā, could not attack him. The invalidity of old age can overcome an ordinary man, but Nārada Muni was different. Taking Nārada Muni to be an ordinary man, the daughter of Time confronted him with her lusty desire. It requires great strength to resist a woman's attraction. It is difficult for old men, and what to speak of young. Those who live as brahmacārīs must follow in the footsteps of the great sage Nārada Muni, who never accepted the proposals of Jarā. Those who are too much sexually addicted become victims of jarā, and very soon their life-span is shortened. Without utilizing the human form of life for Kṛṣṇa consciousness the victims of jarā die very soon in this world.
A devotee follows the principles of pāñcarātrika-vidhi as well as bhāgavata-vidhi. Bhāgavata-vidhi includes preaching work—śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23)—the hearing and chanting of the glories of Lord Viṣṇu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The pāñcarātrika-vidhi includes arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam. Because a devotee rigidly follows the instructions of Nārada Muni, he has no fear of old age, disease or death. Apparently a devotee may grow old, but he is not subjected to the symptoms of defeat experienced by a common man in old age. Consequently, old age does not make a devotee fearful of death, as a common man is fearful of death. When jarā, or old age, takes shelter of a devotee, Kālakanyā diminishes the devotee's fear. A devotee knows that after death he is going back home, back to Godhead; therefore he has no fear of death. Thus instead of depressing a devotee, advanced age helps him become fearless and thus happy.
Actually the supreme controller is the Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, and everyone is His servant. Yavana-rāja, the King of the Yavanas, was also a servant of Kṛṣṇa. Consequently, he wanted to execute the purpose of Kṛṣṇa through the agency of Kālakanyā. Although Kālakanyā means invalidity or old age, Yavana-rāja wanted to serve Kṛṣṇa by introducing Kālakanyā everywhere. Thus a sane person, by attaining old age, will become fearful of death. Foolish people engage in material activities as if they will live forever and enjoy material advancement, but actually there is no material advancement. Under illusion people think that material opulence will save them, but although there has been much advancement in material science, the problems of human society—birth, death, old age and disease—are still unsolved. Nonetheless foolish scientists are thinking that they have advanced materially. When Kālakanyā, the invalidity of old age, attacks them, they become fearful of death, if they are sane. Those who are insane simply do not care for death, nor do they know what is going to happen after death. They are under the wrong impression that after death there is no life, and consequently they act very irresponsibly in this life and enjoy unrestricted sense gratification. For an intelligent person, the appearance of old age is an impetus to spiritual life. People naturally fear impending death. The King of the Yavanas tried to utilize Kālakanyā for this purpose.
Everyone can experience that although we try to keep the body in a comfortable position, it is always giving pain and is subjected to the threefold miseries. Otherwise, why are there so many hospitals, welfare boards and insurance establishments? Actually, in this world there is no happiness. People are simply engaged trying to counteract unhappiness. Foolish people accept unhappiness as happiness; therefore the King of the Yavanas decided to attack such foolish people imperceptibly by old age, disease, and ultimately death. Of course, after death there must be birth; therefore Yavana-rāja thought it wise to kill all the karmīs through the agency of Kālakanyā and thus try to make them aware that materialistic advancement is not actually advancement. Every living entity is a spiritual being, and consequently without spiritual advancement the human form of life is ruined.
Kālakanyā was sent by Nārada Muni to Yavana-rāja so that she might become his wife, but instead of accepting her as his wife, Yavana-rāja accepted her as his sister. Those who do not follow the Vedic principles are unrestricted as far as sex life is concerned. Consequently they sometimes do not hesitate to have sex with their sisters. In this age of Kali there are many instances of such incest. Although Yavana-rāja accepted the request of Nārada Muni to show respect to him, he was nonetheless thinking of illicit sex. This was due to his being the King of the yavanas and mlecchas.
At the end of life, a person thinks of what he has done throughout his whole life; thus he gets another body (dehāntara) according to his thoughts and desires at the end of life. One overly addicted to life at home naturally thinks of his beloved wife at the end of life. Consequently, in the next life he gets the body of a woman, and he also acquires the results of his pious or impious activities. In this chapter the acceptance of a woman's body by King Purañjana will be thoroughly explained.
This is exactly the position of present civilization. Everyone is engaged in maintaining the body, home and family. Consequently everyone becomes confused at the end of life, not knowing what spiritual life and the goal of human life are. In a civilization of sense gratification there cannot be spiritual life, because a person thinks only of this life. Although the next life is a fact, no information is given about it.
This process is constantly going on. At the last stage, when the gross body becomes old and invalid, the living entity is reluctant to give it up, despite the fact that it is no longer usable. Although material existence and the material body are not comfortable, why does the living entity not want to leave? As soon as one gets a material body, he has to work very hard to maintain it. He may engage in different fields of activity, but whatever the case, everyone has to work very hard to maintain the material body. Unfortunately, society has no information of the soul's transmigration. Because the living entity does not hope to enter the spiritual kingdom of eternal life, bliss and knowledge, he wants to stick to his present body, even though it may be useless. Consequently, the greatest welfare activity in this material world is the furthering of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
All these thoughts of one's wife indicate that the King was overly engrossed with the thoughts of woman. Generally a chaste woman becomes a very obedient wife. This causes a husband to become attached to his wife, and consequently he thinks of his wife very much at the time of death. This is a very dangerous situation, as is evident from the life of King Purañjana. If one thinks of his wife instead of Kṛṣṇa at the time of death, he will certainly not return home, back to Godhead, but will be forced to accept the body of a woman and thus begin another chapter of material existence.
The word pramadā-saṅga-dūṣitaḥ indicates that apart from all other contamination, if one simply remains attached to a woman, that single contamination will be sufficient to prolong one's miserable material existence. Consequently, in Vedic civilization one is trained from the beginning to give up attachment for women. The first stage of life is brahmacārī, the second stage gṛhastha, the third stage vānaprastha, and the fourth stage sannyāsa. All these stages are devised to enable one to detach himself from the association of women.
King Purañjana gave up his body while remembering his wife, and consequently in his next life he became a very beautiful and well-situated woman. He took his next birth as the daughter of King Vidarbha in the very house of the King.
If he is absorbed in material thoughts and ignorant of spiritual life, and if he does not take shelter under the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Govinda, who solves all questions of birth and death, he will become a woman in the next life, especially if he thinks of his wife. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.31.1): karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa. A living entity acts piously and impiously, and sometimes in both ways. All actions are taken into account, and the living entity is offered a new body by his superiors. Although King Purañjana was overly attached to his wife, he nonetheless performed many pious fruitive activities. Consequently, although he took the form of a woman, he was given a chance to be the daughter of a powerful king.
Whenever the word brahman appears, the impersonalists take this to mean the impersonal effulgence, the brahma-jyotir. Actually, however, Para-brahman, the Supreme Brahman, is Kṛṣṇa, Vāsudeva. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.19), vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti: Vāsudeva extends everywhere as the impersonal Brahman. One cannot fix one's mind upon an impersonal "something." Bhagavad-gītā (12.5) therefore says, kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām: "For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome." Consequently, when it is said herein that King Malayadhvaja fixed his mind on Brahman, "Brahman" means the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva.
Since the wife is weaker than the husband, this weakness is expressed in this verse with the words upa patim. Upa means "near to," or "almost equal to." Being a man, the husband is generally more advanced than his wife. Nonetheless, the wife is expected to give up all luxurious habits. She should not even dress nicely or comb her hair. Hair combing is one of the main businesses of women. In the vānaprastha stage the wife should not take care of her hair. Thus her hair will become tangled in knots. Consequently the wife will no longer be attractive to the husband, and she herself will no longer be agitated by sex impulses. In this way both husband and wife can advance in spiritual consciousness. This advanced stage is called the paramahaṁsa stage, and once it is obtained, both husband and wife can be actually liberated from bodily consciousness. If the disciple remains steady in the service of the spiritual master, he need no longer fear falling down into the clutches of māyā.
By misusing his independence, the living entity falls down from the service of the Lord and takes a position in this material world as an enjoyer. That is to say, the living entity takes his position within a material body. Wanting to take a very exalted position, the living entity instead becomes entangled in a repetition of birth and death. He selects his position as a human being, a demigod, a cat, a dog, a tree, etc. In this way the living entity selects a body out of the 8,400,000 forms and tries to satisfy himself by a variety of material enjoyment. The Supersoul, however, does not like him to do this. Consequently, the Supersoul instructs him to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord then takes charge of the living entity. But unless the living entity is uncontaminated by material desires, he cannot surrender to the Supreme Lord.
Actually, it is Kṛṣṇa who personally advises all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Sometimes Kṛṣṇa sends His representative, who, delivering Kṛṣṇa's very message, canvasses all living entities to return home, back to Godhead. Unfortunately the living entity is so greatly attached to material enjoyment that he does not take the instructions of Kṛṣṇa or His representative very seriously. This material tendency is mentioned in this verse as grāmya-matiḥ (sense gratification). The word mahīm means "within this material world." All living entities within this material world are sensually inclined. Consequently they become entangled in different types of bodies and suffer the pangs of material existence.
Intelligence is described in the feminine gender, but owing to her prominence in all activities, she is described in this verse as adhīśaḥ, the controller. The living entity lives by means of fire, water and food grains. It is through the combination of these three that the body is maintained. Consequently the body is called prakṛti, material creation. All the elements gradually combine to form flesh, bone, blood and so on. All these appear as various apartments. It is said in the Vedas that the digested foods are ultimately divided into three. The solid portion becomes stool, and the semiliquid portion turns into flesh. The liquid portion turns yellow and is again divided into three. One of these liquid portions is called urine. Similarly, the fiery portion is divided into three, and one is called bone. Out of the five elements, fire, water and food grains are very important. These three are mentioned in the previous verse, whereas sky (ether) and air are not mentioned.
The desire of the living entity to come into the material world is not very difficult to understand. Although one may be born in a family of Āryans, where there are restrictions against meat-eating, intoxication, gambling and illicit sex, still one may want to enjoy these forbidden things. There is always someone who wants to go to a prostitute for illicit sex, to a hotel to eat meat and drink wine, or to a gambling club to enjoy so-called sports. All these propensities are already within the hearts of the living entities (loke vyavayamisa-madya-seva nitya hi jantor). Some living entities can check the desire to enjoy these abominable activities, but others cannot and consequently fall down to a degraded platform.
Because of his desire to enjoy the material world, the living entity is dressed with the material gross and subtle bodies. Thus he is given a chance to enjoy the senses. The senses are therefore the instruments for enjoying the material world; consequently the senses have been described as friends. Sometimes, because of too much sinful activity, the living entity does not get a material gross body, but hovers on the subtle platform. This is called ghostly life. Because of his not possessing a gross body, he creates a great deal of trouble in his subtle body. Thus the presence of a ghost is horrible for those who are living in the gross body.
At the present moment human society is overly influenced by the mode of passion, and consequently people are engaged in working in big factories. They forget how distressful it is to live in such places. In Bhagavad-gītā such activities are described as ugra-karma, that is, distressful activities. Those who utilize the energies of the worker are called capitalists, and those who actually perform the work are called laborers. In actuality they are both capitalists, and the workers are in the modes of passion and ignorance. The result is that there is always a distressful situation. In contrast to these men are those influenced by the mode of goodness—the karmīs and jñānīs. The karmīs, under the direction of Vedic instructions, try to elevate themselves to higher planetary systems. The jñānīs try to merge into the existence of Brahman, the impersonal feature of the Lord. In this way all classes of living entities in various species of life are existing within this material world. This explains superior and inferior life—forms within the material world.
The real goal of life is to attain devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The King therefore decided to reject the so-called priestly orders that simply engage their followers in the ritualistic ceremonies without giving effective instructions about the goal of life. At the present moment the churches, temples and mosques all over the world are not attracting people because foolish priests cannot elevate their followers to the platform of knowledge. Not being aware of the real goal of life, they simply keep their congregations in ignorance. Consequently, those who are well educated have become uninterested in the ritualistic ceremonies. At the same time, they are not benefited with real knowledge. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is therefore very important for the enlightenment of all classes.
Unless one is very, very fortunate, he does not take to devotional service. Even the so-called learned Vedic scholars are bewildered by devotional service. They are generally attracted to the rituals for sense gratification. In devotional service there is no sense gratification, but only transcendental loving service to the Lord. Consequently, the so-called priests engaged in sense gratification do not very much like devotional service. The brāhmaṇas, the priests, have been against this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement since it began with Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. When Caitanya Mahāprabhu started this movement, the priestly class lodged complaints to the Kazi, the magistrate of the Muhammadan government. Caitanya Mahāprabhu had to lead a civil disobedience movement against the propaganda of the so-called followers of Vedic principles. These people are described as karma jaḍa-smārtas, which indicates that they are priests engaged in ritualistic ceremonies. It is here stated that such people become bewildered (ṛṣayo 'pi hi muhyanti). To save oneself from the hands of these karma jaḍa-smārtas, one should strictly follow the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Since modern scientists and philosophers are too materialistic, and since their knowledge is taken away by the illusory energy, they cannot explain how the gross body is changing. The materialistic philosopher Darwin has tried to study the changes of the gross body, but because he had no knowledge of either the subtle body or the soul, he could not clearly explain how the evolutionary process is going on. One may change the gross body, but he works in the subtle body. People cannot understand the activities of the subtle body, and consequently they are bewildered as to how the actions of one gross body affect another gross body.
You should always know that this cosmic manifestation is created, maintained and annihilated by the will of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently, everything within this cosmic manifestation is under the control of the Lord. To be enlightened by this perfect knowledge, one should always engage himself in the devotional service of the Lord.
This narration spoken by the great sage Nārada is full of the transcendental fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently this narration, when described, certainly sanctifies this material world. It purifies the heart of the living entity and helps him attain his spiritual identity. One who relates this transcendental narration will be liberated from all material bondage and will no longer have to wander within this material world.
Lord Mahādeva instructed them to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he personally offered a prayer. As stated in the previous verse (rudra-gītena), simply by chanting the prayers offered by Lord Śiva to Viṣṇu, the Pracetās were transferred to the spiritual world. Sometimes devotees desire to enjoy material happiness also; therefore, by the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the devotee is given a chance to enjoy the material world before his final entrance into the spiritual world. Sometimes a devotee is transferred to a heavenly planet—to Janaloka, Maharloka, Tapoloka, Siddhaloka and so on. However, a pure devotee never aspires for any kind of material happiness. The pure devotee is consequently transferred directly to Vaikuṇṭhaloka, which is described here as param. In this verse Vidura asks Maitreya, the disciple of Bṛhaspati, about the different achievements of the Pracetās.
The Lord is just like the effulgent sun. Consequently, whenever the Supreme Personality of Godhead is present, there cannot be darkness or ignorance. Actually this dark universe is illuminated by the sun, but the sun and moon simply reflect the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Lord. In Bhagavad-gītā (7.8) the Lord says, prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ: "I am the illuminating energy of both the sun and the moon." The conclusion is that the origin of all life is the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also confirmed in Brahma-saṁhitā: yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṇḍa-koṭi (Bs. 5.40). Being illuminated by the bodily effulgence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is freed from all darkness.
A king is always accompanied by his ministers, secretaries and commanders, and Lord Viṣṇu is also accompanied by His followers—the demigods, great sages, saintly persons and so on. He is never alone. Consequently there is no question of the Lord's being impersonal. He is always Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His associates are also persons. From the description given in this verse, Garuḍa appears to belong to the Kinnara planet. The inhabitants of the Kinnara planet have the same features as Garuḍa. Their bodily features are like those of a human being, but they have wings. The word gīta-kīrtiḥ indicates that the inhabitants of Kinnaraloka are very expert in singing the glories of the Lord.
The unity of the individual souls attempting to satisfy the Supreme Lord or rendering service to the Lord is real unity. In the material world such unity is not possible. Even though people may officially unite, they all have different interests. In the United Nations, for instance, all the nations have their particular national ambitions, and consequently they cannot be united. Disunity between individual souls is so strong within this material world that even in a society of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, members sometimes appear disunited due to their having different opinions and leaning toward material things. Actually, in Kṛṣṇa consciousness there cannot be two opinions. There is only one goal: to serve Kṛṣṇa to one's best ability. If there is some disagreement over service, such disagreement is to be taken as spiritual. Those who are actually engaged in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead cannot be disunited in any circumstance. This makes the Supreme Personality of Godhead very happy and willing to award all kinds of benediction to His devotees, as indicated in this verse.
You will have a nice son, who will be in no way inferior to Lord Brahmā. Consequently, he will be very famous all over the universe, and the sons and grandsons generated by him will fill the three worlds.
As explained in the next verse, the Pracetās will marry the daughter of the great sage Kaṇḍu. It is suggested that the son's name will be Viśruta and that he will glorify both his father and mother because of his good character. In fact, he would be greater than Lord Brahmā. The great politician Cāṇakya said that if there is a good tree within a garden or forest, its flowers will fill the forest with their fragrance. Similarly, a good son within a family makes the whole family famous all over the world. Kṛṣṇa took birth in the family of the Yadus, and consequently the Yadu dynasty is famous all over the world.
Generally a person living in a family becomes overly attached to fruitive activity. In other words, he tries to enjoy the results of his activities. A devotee, however, knows that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme enjoyer and the supreme proprietor (bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram (BG 5.29)). Consequently, the devotee does not consider himself the proprietor of any occupation. The devotee always thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the proprietor; therefore the results of his business are offered to the Supreme Lord. One who thus lives in the material world with his family and children never becomes affected by the contaminations of the material world.
In this connection there is a story about a brāhmaṇa who was offering sweet rice to the Lord within his mind. The brāhmaṇa had no money nor any means of worshiping the Deity, but within his mind he arranged everything nicely. He had gold pots to bring water from the sacred rivers to wash the Deity, and he offered the Deity very sumptuous food, including sweet rice. Once, before he offered the sweet rice, he thought that it was too hot, and he thought, "Oh, let me test it. My, it is very hot." When he put his finger in the sweet rice to test it, his finger was burned and his meditation broken. Although he was offering food to the Lord within his mind, the Lord accepted it nonetheless. Consequently, the Lord in Vaikuṇṭha immediately sent a chariot to bring the brāhmaṇa back home, back to Godhead. Thus it is the duty of every sincere devotee to accept the arcā-vigraha at home or in the temple and worship the form of the Lord as advised in authorized scriptures and directed by the spiritual master.
Dear Lord, we shall therefore pray for Your benediction because You are the Supreme, beyond all transcendence, and because there is no end to Your opulences. Consequently, You are celebrated by the name Ananta.
Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva, Manu (the father of mankind), great saintly persons and also great sages who have elevated themselves to the transcendental platform through austerities and penance, as well as devotional service, are imperfect in knowledge compared to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is the case with anyone within this material world. No one can be equal to the Supreme Lord in anything, certainly not in knowledge. Consequently, anyone's prayer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead is never complete. It is not possible to measure the complete glories of the Supreme Lord, who is unlimited. Even the Lord Himself in His incarnation as Ananta, or Śeṣa, cannot describe His own glories. Although Ananta has many thousands of faces and has been glorifying the Lord for many, many years, He could not find the limit of the glories of the Lord. Thus it is not possible to estimate the complete potencies and glories of the Supreme Lord.
Dear Lord, You have no enemies or friends. Therefore You are equal to everyone. You cannot be contaminated by sinful activities, and Your transcendental form is always beyond the material creation. You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead because You remain everywhere within all existence. You are consequently known as Vāsudeva. We offer You our respectful obeisances.
Whenever there is some uncommon occurrence on any planet, Lord Brahmā, being in charge of the whole universe, immediately comes to control the situation. Lord Brahmā also came when Hiraṇyakaśipu underwent severe penances and austerities and made the whole universe tremble. A responsible man in any establishment is always alert to keep peace and harmony within the establishment. Similarly, Lord Brahmā is also allowed to keep peace and harmony within this universe. He consequently pacified the sons of King Barhiṣmān with good logic.
Following the order of Lord Brahmā, all the Pracetās accepted the girl as their wife. From the womb of this girl, the son of Lord Brahmā named Dakṣa took birth. Dakṣa had to take birth from the womb of Māriṣā due to his disobeying and disrespecting Lord Mahādeva (Śiva). Consequently he had to give up his body twice.
The brahmacārī, or student, is never allowed to mingle with women and learn from the beginning of life about sex enjoyment. The basic flaw in modern civilization is that boys and girls are given freedom during school and college to enjoy sex life. Most of the children are varṇa-saṅkara, meaning "born of undesirable fathers and mothers." Consequently, the whole world is in chaos. Actually, human civilization should be based on the Vedic principles. This means that in the beginning of life boys and girls should undergo penances and austerities. When they are grown, they should get married, live for some time at home and beget children. When the children are grown up, the man should leave home and search for Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In this way one can make one's life perfect by going home to the kingdom of God.
The word brahma-satra means "cultivation of spiritual knowledge." Actually, both the Vedas and severe austerity are known as brahma. Vedas tattvaṁ tapo brahma. Brahma also means "the Absolute Truth." One has to cultivate knowledge of the Absolute Truth by pursuing studies in the Vedas and undergoing severe austerities and penances. The Pracetās properly executed this function and consequently became equal to all other living entities. As Bhagavad-gītā (18.54) confirms:
- brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā
- na śocati na kāṅkṣati
- samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu
- mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām
"One who is thus transcendentally situated at once realizes the Supreme Brahman and becomes fully joyful. He never laments nor desires to have anything; he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he attains pure devotional service unto Me."
The great sage Nārada travels everywhere. He goes to the demons and the demigods and is equally respected. He is consequently described herein as surāsureḍya, worshiped both by demons and by demigods. For Nārada Muni, the door of every house is open. Although there is perpetual animosity between the demons and demigods, Nārada Muni is welcomed everywhere. Nārada is considered one of the demigods, of course, and the word devarṣi means "the saintly person among the demigods." But not even the demons envy Nārada Muni; therefore he is equally worshiped both by demons and by demigods. A perfect Vaiṣṇava's position should be just like Nārada Muni's, completely independent and unbiased.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead is understood through the process of devotional service. In the Ninth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā devotional service is explained as rāja-guhyam, the king of all confidential knowledge. There are many good reciters of Vedic literatures, and they recite works such as the Rāmāyaṇa, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and Bhagavad-gītā. Sometimes these professional readers manifest very good scholarship and exhibit word jugglery. Unfortunately they are never devotees of the Supreme Lord. Consequently, they cannot impress upon the audience the real essence of knowledge, Kṛṣṇa. There are also many thoughtful writers and creative philosophers, but despite all their learning, if they cannot approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they are simply useless mental speculators. There are many sharply intelligent people in this material world, and they discover so many things for sense gratification. They also analytically study all the material elements, but despite their expert knowledge and expert scientific analysis of the whole cosmic manifestation, their endeavors are useless because they cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
| Page Title: | Consequently (SB cantos 1 - 4) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 05 of Aug, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=169, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 169 |