Prabhupāda: That's all right. Hear, now.
Pradyumna: "Thus the sage among the gods, Nārada, comfortably seated and apparently smiling, addressed the ṛṣi amongst the brāhmaṇas, Vedavyāsa." Purport. "Nārada was smiling because he well knew the great sage Vedavyāsa and the cause of his disappointment. As he will explain gradually, Vyāsadeva's disappointment was due to insufficiency in presenting the science of devotional service. Nārada knew the defect, and it was confirmed by the position of Vyāsa." Text number two.
- nārada uvāca
- pārāśarya mahā-bhāga
- bhavataḥ kaccid ātmanā
- parituṣyati śārīra
- ātmā mānasa eva vā
"Translation. Addressing Vyāsadeva, the son of Parāśara, Nārada inquired: Are you satisfied by identifying with the body or the mind as the objects of self-realization?" Purport. "This was a hint by Nārada to Vyāsadeva regarding the cause of his despondency. Vyāsadeva, as the descendant of Parāśara, a greatly powerful sage, had the privilege of having a great parentage, which should not have given Vyāsadeva cause for despondency. Being a great son of a great father, he should not have identified the self with the body or the mind. Ordinary men with a poor fund of knowledge can identify the body as self or the mind as self, but Vyāsadeva should not have done so. One cannot be cheerful by nature unless one is factually seated in self-realization, which is transcendental to the material body and mind."
- jijñāsitaṁ susampannam
- api te mahad-adbhutam
- kṛtavān bhārataṁ yas tvaṁ
- sarvārtha-paribṛṁhitam
"Your inquiries were full and your studies were also well fulfilled, and there is no doubt that you have prepared a great and wonderful work, the Mahābhārata, which is full of all kinds of Vedic sequences elaborately explained." Purport. "The despondency of Vyāsadeva was certainly not due to his lack of sufficient knowledge, because as a student he had fully inquired about the Vedic literatures, as a result of which the Mahābhārata is compiled with full explanation of the Vedas."
- jijñāsitam adhītaṁ ca
- brahma yat tat sanātanam
- tathāpi śocasy ātmānam
- akṛtārtha iva prabho
"You have fully delineated the subject of impersonal Brahman, as well as the knowledge derived therefrom. In spite of all this, why should you be despondent, thinking that you are undone, my dear prabhu?" Purport: "The Vedānta-sūtra or Brahma-sūtra compiled by Śrī Vyāsadeva is the full deliberation of the impersonal absolute feature, and it is accepted as the most exalted philosophical exposition in the world. It covers the subject of eternity, and the methods are scholarly. So there cannot be any doubt about the transcendental scholarship of Vyāsadeva. So why should he lament?"
- vyāsa uvāca
- asty eva me sarvam idaṁ tvayoktaṁ
- tathāpi nātmā parituṣyate me
- tan-mūlam avyaktam agādha-bodhaṁ
- pṛcchāmahe tvātma-bhavātma-bhūtam
"Śrī Vyāsadeva said: All you have said about me is perfectly correct. Despite all this, I am not pacified. I therefore question you about the root cause of my dissatisfaction, for you are a man of unlimited knowledge due to your being the offspring of one, Brahmā, who is self-born, without mundane mother and father." Purport. "In the material world everyone is engrossed with the idea of identifying the body or the mind with the self. As such, all knowledge disseminated in the material world is related either with the body or with the mind, and that is the root cause of all despondencies. This is not always detected, even though one may be the greatest erudite scholar in materialistic knowledge. It is good, therefore, to approach a personality like Nārada to solve the root cause of all despondencies. Why Nārada should be approached is explained below."
- sa vai bhavān veda samasta-guhyam
- upāsito yat puruṣaḥ purāṇaḥ
- parāvareśo manasaiva viśvaṁ
- sṛjaty avaty atti guṇair asaṅgaḥ
"My lord! Everything that is mysterious is known to you because you worship the creator and destroyer of the material world and the maintainer of the spiritual world, the original Personality of Godhead, who is transcendental to the three modes of material nature." Purport. "A person who is cent percent engaged in the service of the Lord is the emblem of all knowledge. Such a devotee of the Lord in full perfection of devotional service is also perfect by the qualification of the Personality of Godhead. As such, the eightfold perfections of mystic power, aṣṭa-siddhi, constitute very little of his godly opulence. A devotee like Nārada can act wonderfully by his spiritual perfection, which every individual is trying to attain. Śrīla Nārada is a cent percent perfect living being, although not equal to the Personality of Godhead."
- tvaṁ paryaṭann arka iva tri-lokīm
- antaś-caro vāyur ivātma-sākṣī
- parāvare brahmaṇi dharmato vrataiḥ
- snātasya me nyūnam alaṁ vicakṣva
"Like the sun, Your Goodness can travel everywhere in the three worlds, and like the air you can penetrate the internal region of everyone. As such, you are as good as the all-pervasive Supersoul. Please, therefore, find out the deficiency in me, despite my being absorbed in transcendence under disciplinary regulations and vows." Purport. "Transcendental realization, pious activities, worshiping the Deities, charity, mercifulness, nonviolence and studying the scriptures under strict disciplinary regulations are always helpful." Text 8.
- śrī nārada-uvāca
- bhavatānudita-prāyaṁ
- yaśo bhagavato 'malam
- yenaivāsau na tuṣyeta
- manye tad-darśanaṁ khilam
- (SB 1.5.8)
"Śrī Nārada said: You have not actually broadcast the sublime and spotless glories of the Personality of Godhead. That philosophy which does not satisfy the transcendental senses of the Lord is considered worthless." Purport. "The eternal relation of an individual soul with the Supreme Soul Personality of Godhead is constitutionally one of being the eternal servitor of the eternal master. The Lord has expanded Himself as living beings in order to accept loving service from them, and this alone can satisfy both the Lord and the living beings. A scholar like Vyāsadeva has completed many expansions of the Vedic literatures, ending with the Vedānta philosophy, but none of them have been written directly glorifying the Personality of Godhead. Dry philosophical speculations even on the transcendental subject of the Absolute have very little attraction without directly dealing with the glorification of the Lord. The Personality of Godhead is the last word in transcendental realization. The absolute realized as impersonal Brahman or localized Supersoul, Paramātmā, is less productive of transcendental bliss than the supreme personal realization of His glories. The compiler of the Vedānta-darśana is Vyāsadeva himself. Yet he is troubled, although he is the author. So what sort of transcendental bliss can be derived by the readers and listeners of Vedānta which is not explained directly by Vyāsadeva the author? Herein arises the necessity of explaining Vedānta-Sūtra in the form of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by the self-same author." He has not said it, so how can they know it?
- yathā dharmādayaś cārtha
- muni-varyānukīrtitāḥ
- na tathā vāsudevasya
- mahimā hy anuvarṇitaḥ
"Although, great sage, you have very broadly described the four principles beginning with religious performances, you have not described the glories of the Supreme Personality, Vāsudeva." Purport. "The prompt diagnosis of Śrī Nārada is at once declared. The root cause of the despondency of Vyāsadeva was his deliberate avoidance of glorifying the Lord in his various editions of the Purāṇas. He has certainly, as a matter of course, given descriptions of the glories of the Lord (Śrī Kṛṣṇa), but not as many as given to religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and salvation. These four items are by far inferior to engagement in the devotional service of the Lord. Śrī Vyāsadeva as the authorized scholar knew very well this difference. And still, instead of giving more importance to the better type of engagement, namely..."
Prabhupāda: Why not go there? You can go there.
