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SB 02.03.01 evam etan nigaditam... cited

Expressions researched:
"evam etan nigaditam" |"manusyesu manisinam" |"nrnam yan mriyamananam" |"prstavan yad bhavan mama"

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 2

SB 2.3.1, Translation and Purport:

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as you have inquired from me as to the duty of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I have answered you.

In human society all over the world there are millions and billions of men and women, and almost all of them are less intelligent because they have very little knowledge of spirit soul. Almost all of them have a wrong conception of life, for they identify themselves with the gross and subtle material bodies, which they are not, in fact. They may be situated in different high and low positions in the estimation of human society, but one should know definitely that unless one inquires about his own self beyond the body and the mind, all his activities in human life are total failures. Therefore out of thousands and thousands of men, one may inquire about his spirit self and thus consult the revealed scriptures like Vedānta-sūtras, Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But in spite of reading and hearing such scriptures, unless one is in touch with a realized spiritual master, he cannot actually realize the real nature of self, etc. And out of thousands and hundreds of thousands of men, someone may know what Lord Kṛṣṇa is in fact. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 20.122-123) it is said that Lord Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy, prepared the Vedic literatures in the incarnation of Vyāsadeva for reading by the intelligent class of men in a human society which is almost totally forgetful of the genuine relation with Kṛṣṇa. Even such an intelligent class of men may be forgetful in their relation with the Lord. The whole bhakti-yoga process is therefore a revival of the lost relation. This revival is possible in the human form of life, which is obtained only out of the evolutionary cycle of 8,400,000 species of life. The intelligent class of human being must take a serious note of this opportunity. Not all human beings are intelligent, so the importance of human life is not always understood. Therefore manīṣiṇām, meaning "thoughtful," is particularly used here. A manīṣiṇām person, like Mahārāja Parīkṣit, must therefore take to the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa and fully engage himself in devotional service, hearing, chanting, etc., of the holy name and pastimes of the Lord, which are all hari-kathāmṛta. This action is especially recommended when one is preparing for death.

Lectures

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 2.3.1 -- Los Angeles, May 19, 1972:

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa. Where is Pradyumna? Where is Pradyumna? Eh?

Devotee: There he is.

Prabhupāda: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: All right, take it. Begin.

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, (etc. leads chanting of verse and synonyms:)

śrī-śuka uvāca
evam etan nigaditaṁ
pṛṣṭavān yad bhavān mama
nṛṇāṁ yan mriyamāṇānāṁ
manuṣyeṣu manīṣiṇām
(SB 2.3.1)

Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: "Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as you have inquired from me as to the duty of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I have answered you."

Prabhupāda: (interrupts the chanting of the śloka) Repeat once, twice more. (chanting resumes) Next? Kīrtanānanda Mahārāja, you can.

Kīrtanānanda: Translation?

Prabhupāda: No. First of all read.

Kīrtanānanda: Chant?

Prabhupāda: Yes. (Kīrtanānanda Swami chants, Śrīla Prabhupāda corrects him) Mriyamāṇānām. Karandhara. (he chants) You... Anyone? More? (chanting resumes) Very good. Anyone else? Hṛdayānanda? (he chants verse) So, translation? Read translation? Translation? Oh, no, word meaning, yes.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1 -- Los Angeles, May 19, 1972:

Pradyumna: (reads synonyms, then:) Translation: "Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Parīkṣit, as you have inquired from me as to the duty of the intelligent man who is on the threshold of death, so I answered you."

Prabhupāda: Now, this is the important part of the verse, that "man who is on the threshold of death." Who can say that "I am not on the threshold of death?" Is there any man in this universe who can say that "I am not on the threshold of death." Can anyone say? Everyone is on the threshold of death. That's a fact. But such questions are made amongst them... Everyone is subject to death, and threshold, on the threshold of death. Nobody can say that "I shall live for so many years." No guarantee. Everyone is on the threshold of death. Any moment, we can die. Therefore it is said,"As sure as death." All other things may be not sure, but death is sure. Therefore, before death, one... Manīṣiṇām, manuṣyeṣu manīṣiṇām. Not ordinary man. Manīṣī. Manīṣī means thoughtful. They question, "What is to be done now, before death comes? Shall I die like cats and dogs, or shall I die like human being?" This is the question. Cats and dogs dying, nobody cares. But a human being dying, there are so many ceremonies, mourning.

Because human life is important. So Parīkṣit Mahārāja, although he was on the threshold of death, he was allowed seven days time. He was cursed to death, but he was given seven days time. "You, king, you shall die within seven days—after seven days—being bitten by serpent." This is was the curse given to him. He accepted. He could counteract it. Parīkṣit Mahārāja was Vaiṣṇava. He was very powerful. But he thought that "Yes, I am offender. The brāhmaṇa boy has cursed me, I shall accept it." So, he prepared himself for death. For seven days he placed himself on the bank of the Ganges without drinking a drop of water, and for seven days continually, he heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvāmī. That was decided. Harer nāmānukīrtanaḥ. In any circumstances of life, hearing and chanting is prescribed. So Parīkṣit... Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, "My dear King, I have explained to you what is to be done now, at the time of death." So we should take example or instruction from the behavior of Parīkṣit Mahārāja that on the threshold of death...Everyone is on the threshold of death, but the foolish persons, they do not know. Foolish person thinks that "I shall live forever." That is foolishness.

Lecture on SB 2.3.1-3 -- Los Angeles, May 22, 1972:

Karandhara: Rāmeśvara?

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. (leads chanting)

śrī-śuka uvāca
evam etan nigaditaṁ
pṛṣṭavān yad bhavān mama
nṛṇāṁ yan mriyamāṇānāṁ
manuṣyeṣu manīṣiṇām
(SB 2.3.1)
brahma-varcasa-kāmas tu
yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim
indram indriya-kāmas tu
prajā-kāmaḥ prajāpatīn
(SB 2.3.2)
devīṁ māyāṁ tu śrī-kāmas
tejas-kāmo vibhāvasum
vasu-kāmo vasūn rudrān
vīrya-kāmo 'tha vīryavān
(SB 2.3.3)

Prabhupāda: So, anyone else? That's all right. So in this way, if you chant ten times, you'll get it by heart. It is not difficult. So we are giving this diacritic mark, English transliteration, only for this purpose—so that you can chant, you can vibrate these mantras. So practice. Here you hear, and in your leisure time, you practice. If you chant these mantras anywhere, you'll be honored. Sanskrit language is so nice. And direction, everything is there: purport, word meaning, and translation. So we are taking so much trouble in writing books not for simply making market. It is for you to read. Not that simply we go and sell books, and that ... If the customer says, "You read it first of all," then what you will say? You'll say, "No, I cannot read. I can sell only." (laughter) (Prabhupāda laughs.) Then what will be your position, if you say like that? "I can sell; I cannot read." Anyway, then? Word meanings? (Pradyumna reads synonyms.) So these are kāma, these material desires.

Lecture on SB 2.3.2-3 -- Los Angeles, May 20, 1972:

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya... (3 times) (leads chanting of verse and synonyms)

brahma-varcasa-kāmas tu
yajeta brahmaṇaḥ patim
indram indriya-kāmas tu
prajā-kāmaḥ prajāpatīn
(SB 2.3.2-7)

Prabhupāda: So, I think last verse we did not read the purport. You read the purport of the last verse.

evam etan nigaditaṁ
pṛṣṭavān yad bhavān mama
nṛṇāṁ yan mriyamāṇānāṁ
manuṣyeṣu manīṣiṇām
Read the purport.

Pradyumna: "Purport: In the human society, all over the world, there are millions and billions of men and women, and almost all of them are less intelligent because they have very little knowledge of the spirit soul."

Page Title:SB 02.03.01 evam etan nigaditam... cited
Compiler:SunitaS
Created:12 of Sep, 2011
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=1, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=4, Con=0, Let=0
No. of Quotes:5