Prabhupāda: Hmm. So there was a great meeting. Just like we are holding here meeting for a few days, a similar meeting was held thousands of years ago, at least four thousand years ago, in a place which is called Naimiṣāraṇya. The Naimiṣāraṇya is in India. It is near Lucknow. Here is Professor Shivasrava. He knows. The station is called now Nimsar. I think it is in Hardoi District? So still the place is there, and if you sometimes go to India you can visit this place. It is a very nice place for spiritual atmosphere. So formerly all the great sages used to assemble in that Naimiṣāraṇya. It is said that all the demigods used to visit that place. So in that great meeting, Bhāgavata was discussed.
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was first discussed before Mahārāja Parīkṣit. King Parīkṣit, the emperor of this planet, he was cursed by a brāhmin to die within seven days. He was very wrongly cursed, but still, Parīkṣit Mahārāja tolerated. He could counteract such curse, but he did not do it. He took this opportunity of retiring from active life and prepare for death.
So he had only seven days to die. And because he was king, all the great sages and kings in all parts of the world, they came to see him, and the problem was what to do at the time of death. So many people suggested many things—not ordinary people; many great sages, brāhmins—"Mahārāja you do this. You do that." Later on it was suggested, on arrival of Śukadeva Gosvāmī in that meeting . . . so all the sages decided that, "Śukadeva Gosvāmī has recently learned from his father, Vyāsadeva, about Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam."
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the last contribution of Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva is the original compiler of all Vedic literature. So he wrote so many books—all the Vedas, four Vedas, 108 Upaniṣads, eighteen Purāṇas, Mahābhārata. Rāmāyaṇa was compiled before, by Vālmīki. And in Mahābhārata there are 100,000 verses. Similarly, all these books, hundreds and thousands of verses. And the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam contains eighteen thousand verses. So in this way, Vyāsadeva compiled all these books for benefit of the people in this age of Kali.
Unfortunately, people are not interested in these literatures. What to speak of other people, even our Indians are not interested. They are making research work, but what is already there by mature research work of Vyāsadeva they are not interested. That is the misfortune of India. So Vyāsadeva summarized all the Vedic literature in the Vedānta-sūtra.
Veda means knowledge; anta means end. There is . . . everything, there is some summit or the ultimate goal. So about education, knowledge, the ultimate goal is Vedānta. Veda means knowledge; anta means ultimate. If you know Vedānta, then you have known everything. Yasmin vijñāte sarvam idaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati (Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). So still, after compiling Vedānta-sūtra philosophy, Vyāsadeva was not satisfied. He was feeling some vacancy. He was sorry.
So his spiritual master, Nārada, appeared before his disciple Vyāsadeva. So Nārada could understand that Vyāsadeva was not happy even after compiling so many big, big volumes of literature, Vedic literature. So he questioned, "Pārāśara . . ." Vyāsadeva's father was Parāśara Muni. So he addressed him, "Pārāśara." So "Why you are unhappy? You have studied everything. You have undergone all kinds of penances. You have performed all Vedic rituals. You have written so many books.
Why you are unhappy?" He answered, "My dear lord, what you say, it is all right, that I am not happy. But you can find out the cause. Because you know everyone's heart, you can find out the cause." So Nārada Muni replied that—these things will be discussed in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam—that, "You have considered so many things, but if . . . you have not written anything absolutely for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Without discussing about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, you cannot be happy."
That is the fact. At the present moment also, there is advancement of education—many universities, many technological institutes, economic development. In your America there is everything sufficient, but still, people are unhappy. They are becoming hippies. Why? Because there is no knowledge about God. This is the only cause. This is the only cause.