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Story of Narada Muni and the cobbler

Expressions researched:
"Narada" |"cobbler"

Notes from the compiler: The Brahmana And The Gobbler. VedaBase research query: narada cobbler

Lectures

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures


Lecture on BG 7.9-10 -- Bombay, February 24, 1974:

There is a story, I shall—it is not story or take it as story—that sometimes Nārada Muni was passing, and one very learned scholar, Brāhmin, he saw Nārada Muni, and he asked Nārada Muni, "Sir, where you are going?" He said: "I am going to Vṛndāvana . . . er, yes, Vaikuṇṭha, to see my Lord." "Oh, you are going there?" Nārada Muni has got free passage to everyone. So, "Will you ask Nārāyaṇa when my liberation will come?" "All right, I shall ask." Then he met another cobbler. He was sewing shoes. So he also asked: "Sir, where you are going?" "Now I am going to Vaikuṇṭha to see my Lord." So, "Will you ask when I shall get salvation?" So Nārada Muni noted, "All right, I shall ask." So when Nārada Muni met Nārāyaṇa, he, after finishing his business, he asked the two men's question that, "These two men, one very learned scholar, Brāhmin, he also asked me this question, and the cobbler also asked me." So Nārāyaṇa said: "This cobbler will get his salvation after finishing this life, and this Brāhmin will have to take . . . wait for many, many births."

So Nārada Muni became very much inquisitive, "How is that?" So when he came back, first of all he met the Brāhmin. He inquired, "Did you inquire, sir, about me?" "Yes, yes. He said that you have to wait many, many births . . ." No, He did not say many, many births. Kṛṣṇa said . . . Nārāyaṇa said that, "When you meet them again, you say that, if they inquire 'What my Lord was doing at that time?' you say that 'He was pulling one elephant from the hole of a nail,' " what is called?

Devotees: Needle.

Prabhupāda: Needle. So when he met the Brāhmin he said . . . and he inquired, "What Nārāyaṇa was doing when you met Him?" "I saw that He was pulling one elephant through the hole of a needle." So he immediately said, "All right, sir. Namaskāra. Your all these big, big stories we cannot believe, that an elephant is being drawn through the hole of a needle." And the same question was raised by the cobbler, and he . . . Nārada Muni replied in the same way. And he began to cry, "Oh, my Lord is so powerful. He can do anything." So Nārada Muni inquired that, "How do you believe that the elephant is being drawn through the hole of a needle?" "Now, why not? I am seeing daily, I am sitting under this banyan tree and there is fig, banyan fruit, and there are thousands of seeds, and I know that each seed's containing a big tree like this."

That's a fact. Everyone knows. Bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 7.10). Here Kṛṣṇa says, bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām. Is there any chemist, just get one small seed like the fig seed? It is very small, but it contains that big tree. Where is that chemistry? Where is that physics? So here is the answer. Kṛṣṇa says, bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ viddhi. Big, even this big, gigantic universe, that is also bījaṁ māṁ sarva-bhūtānām. It is stated in the Vedic literature, yasyaika-niśvasita-kālam athāvalambya jīvanti loma-vilajā jagad-aṇḍa-nāthāḥ (Bs. 5.48). There are so many things. Everyone is inquisitive, "Where is the beginning of this thing?" The beginning is the Supreme Lord. That is the Vedānta-sūtra, janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1).


Lecture on BG 9.2-5 -- New York, November 23, 1966:

Prabhupāda: So for a devotee these informations of Kṛṣṇa, oh, become so . . . "My Kṛṣṇa is so God. Oh, my God is so powerful." And, I think, sometimes I recited one story. This is for very instructive, that Nārada Muni, he used to visit Nārāyaṇa every day. So when he was passing on the road, so one very learned Brāhmin, and taking thrice bath and everything very nicely, he asked Nārada Muni, "Oh, you are going to Lord. Will you enquire when I shall get my salvation?" "All right. I shall ask." And then another, cobbler, he was under the tree, sewing the shoes, old shoes. He also saw Nārada Muni. He also inquired, "Will you kindly enquire from God when my salvation is?"

Then when he inquired Kṛṣṇa, Nārāyaṇa . . . Nārada Muni goes generally to Nārāyaṇa, in another planet. So, "Yes, two, one Brāhmin and one cobbler, they inquired like this. So may I know what is their destination?" So Nārāyaṇa said, "Well, yes, the cobbler, this after giving up this body, he's coming here at Vaikuṇṭha." "And what about that Brāhmin?" "Oh, he has to remain there still so many births, or I do not know when he's coming."

So Nārada Muni was astonished that, "I saw that he's very nice Brāhmin, and he's a cobbler. Why is that?" So he inquired that, "I could not . . . I cannot understand the mystery. Why You say that cobbler is coming this, after this body, and why not this Brāhmin?" "Oh, that will, you'll understand. If they enquire that 'What Kṛṣṇa, or Nārāyaṇa, was doing in the . . . in His abode,' so just explain that He was taking one elephant from the holes of a," I mean to say, what is called . . .?

Devotee (1): The eye of a needle. Eye . . .

Prabhupāda: Eh? No, no . . .

Devotee (1): The eye of a needle.

Devotee (2): Needle.

Prabhupāda: Needle. Yes. "Through the hole of a needle, He's pulling an elephant this side and this side." You see? "All right." So when he again approached the Brāhmin, the Brāhmin said, "Oh, you have seen Lord?" "Yes." "So what was Lord doing?" "He was doing this: through the point of a needle He was pushing one elephant this way and that way." Yes. "Oh, therefore I have no faith in your . . . I, I, I have got all respect for your garb, but we don't believe all this nonsense." Then Nārada could understand, "Oh, this man has no faith. He simply reads book. That's all."

And when he went to the cobbler, he also asked, "Oh, you have seen? What Nārāyaṇa was doing?" He also said that, "He was doing like this . . ." Oh, he began to cry: "Oh, my Lord is wonderful. He can do anything." So Nārada inquired, "So do you believe that Lord can push one elephant through the holes of a needle?" "Oh, why not? I must believe." "Then what is your reason?" "Oh, my reason? I am sitting under this banyan tree, and so many fruits are falling daily, and in each fruit there are thousands of seeds, and each seed there is a tree. If in a small seed there can be big tree like that, is it very impossible to accept that Kṛṣṇa is putting one elephant through the, I mean, the holes of a needle? He has kept such a nice tree in the seed." So this is called belief.

The unbeliever and believer means the believers, they are not blind believers. They have reason. If by Kṛṣṇa's process, by God's process, or nature's process, such a big tree can be put within the small seed, is it very impossible for Kṛṣṇa to keep all these planets floating in His energy? So we have to believe. We have no other explanation. But we have to understand in this way. Our reasoning, our argument, our logic should go in this way.

So those who are devotee . . . just like the cobbler. He may be a cobbler. They believe everything. And those who are not devotee, they will say: "Oh, these are all bluffs. These are all bluffs." But they are not bluff. It is simply meant for the devotees. They can understand. The nondevotees, they cannot understand. Yes.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures


The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 13, 1972:

There is a story, it is very instructive story, that Nārada Muni was passing to go to Vaikuṇṭha, and on the way one very learned scholar, brāhmin, met him, and he inquired from Narada Muni where he was going. Nārada Muni said that, "I am going to see Nārāyaṇa, my Lord." So the brāhmin asked him, "Oh, you are going to meet Nārāyaṇa. Will you kindly inquire for me when my . . . when I shall be liberated," Nārada Muni said: "Yes, I shall inquire."

Similarly, on the way, he met one cobbler. He also inquired Nārada Muni where he was going, and he said, will you kindly inquire from Lord Nārāyaṇa when he would be liberated? So when Nārada Muni met Nārāyaṇa, so he inquired—because he's saintly person, he promised—that "Such-and-such brāhmin inquired like this, and the . . . and a cobbler also inquired like this." So Nārāyaṇa said: "The . . . this cobbler will be liberated in this life, and that brāhmin will take some time, some many births."

So Nārada Muni became astonished that he, he was a learned scholar and brāhmin, and he would take so much time, and the cobbler would be liberated in this life? "Oh, what is the reason, Sir?" So Nārāyaṇa gave him one needle, and He requested him that, "When they inquire what Nārāyaṇa was doing, you can say that Nārāyaṇa was pulling one elephant through the hole of the needle, this side and that side," in this way.

So when he came back, the brāhmin said: "Sir, you are . . . I offer my respectful obeisances unto you and Nārāyaṇa. We cannot believe this, that through the needle, or through the hole of a needle, a elephant is being passed, this side and that side." And when it was informed to the cobbler, he began to cry. He said: "Oh, my Nārāyaṇa is so powerful that He can do everything." He believed immediately that, "Yes, for Nārāyaṇa it is possible to pull the elephant through the hole of the needle, this side and that."

So Nārada Muni inquired, "How do you believe this? The other person, the brāhmin, he's learned person. He did not believe. How do you believe it? What is your conviction?" He said: "Sir, I believe in this way, because I am sitting under this tree. This is a banyan tree. And so many," what is called, "figs are falling down. And each fig there are thousands of small seed, and in each seed there is a banyan tree. So if Nārāyaṇa can keep thousands of banyan trees within this fig fruit, how it is not possible for Him to pull an elephant through the hole of a needle?"

So this is called faith. The faith is not blind. There is proof. He . . . the cobbler was not blindly believing that Nārāyaṇa was pulling an elephant through the hole of a needle, but he sees practically the potency, the power of the Lord, bījo 'haṁ sarva-bhūtānām (BG 7.10), how He keeps all the potencies of the banyan tree within the seed. So otherwise there is no meaning "all-powerful." He can do whatever He likes. Inconceivable.

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī therefore explains that unless we believe inconceivable potency of the Lord, then we cannot understand the activities. Parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate, svābhāvikī-jñāna-bala-kriyā ca (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8, CC Madhya 13.65, purport). We cannot judge how things are happening, but we have to believe. Therefore Vedic knowledge is so important. We cannot make research. We cannot judge. Simply if we take the Vedic truth . . .

Conversations and Morning Walks

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Morning Walk Conversation -- June 20, 1976, Toronto:

Prabhupāda: Svarūpa Dāmodara challenged one scientist in California that "If I give you the chemicals, can you manufacture life?" He said, "That I cannot say." What you have spoken all this nonsense? Mattaḥ kore heṭ. And when there is challenge, mattaḥ kore heṭ. Otherwise, baro baro bagara, baro baro phet, big, big monkey, big, big belly. And when the real question is there, mattaḥ kore het. Ceylon jumping, melancholy. Hanumān jumped over the ocean, so other monkeys, they also become very proud: "I am..., Hanumān is our leader, we can...," "Can you jump over Ceylon?" Mattaḥ het. (break) ...speak all these things, Indian villagers, they will immediately believe. One cobbler.... I think I narrated this story. Nārada Muni was going to Vaikuṇṭha. Did I say that?

Hari-śauri: I think this story's in Rāja-vidyā, that small book. The one about the brāhmaṇa and the cobbler?

Prabhupāda: (laughs) Yes. Cobbler immediately believed when he was informed by Nārada Muni that "I saw God is pulling one elephant through the hole of a needle, this side and again this side." The brāhmaṇa did not believe it. And as soon as the cobbler, he was also devotee, oh, he began to pray, "Oh, my Lord can do anything." Nārada Muni, "You believed it?" "Yes, why not?" "How do you believe it?" "I am daily seeing. I am underneath the tree, and so many figs are dropping, and each fig has got thousands of seeds, and in each seed there is another tree. Why should I not believe it?" He did not believe it blindly. With reason, and he gave immediately reason: "When I see this fig tree, big fig tree, and there are millions of figs dropping, and in each fig there are millions of seeds, and each seed there is.... Why shall I not believe it?" God, nothing is impossible by God, everything.

Satsvarūpa: The brāhmaṇa was supposed to be learned in the Vedas.

Prabhupāda: Ah, yes. And he said, "These are all...," what is called? Mythology. Why mythology? Why do you think God like you? God is all-powerful; He can do anything. That is real faith. That means you have no faith. "If God can do which tallies with my activities, then I shall believe." What you are? Nonsense. This is their general argument. How we can believe this? And why not believe this? You are seeing so many wonderful things. I gave this example to another man, that there is a coconut tree. Now find out where is the pipe and pumping so that the water is pushed. Show me. You have no idea that such a high height, how water is going there. And full of water. How the water is transferred there? Show me the pipe and pump. You have got the idea, that with pipe and pump we can raise the water. Where is that pipe and pump? Show me. Every day, every moment, we are seeing so many wonderful things. How you are thinking....


Garden Conversation -- June 27, 1976, New Vrindaban:

So one learned brāhmaṇa, he said, "All right sir, namaskār your Kṛṣṇa. I cannot believe all these things." And the cobbler, he began to cry: "Ah, Kṛṣṇa is so great, He can do anything." So he, Nārada Muni asked, he saw the learned brāhmaṇa refused to accept, and this cobbler is so absorbed that he's crying, "Ah, Kṛṣṇa can do anything." So he asked him, "Do you believe this?" "Yes, why not?" "So how do you believe it?" "Now I'm sitting under this banyan tree, and so many banyan fruits are falling down, and I can see there are hundreds and thousands of seeds within the fig, and each seed contains a banyan tree. So why can I not believe? If within this seed a big banyan tree can be kept, what is the difficulty for Kṛṣṇa to pull the elephant through the hole of a needle?" He has got reason. He is not blindly believing. How the scientist, who does not believe in God, he can explain that within the small seed there is a big banyan tree? Let them do that. By chemical composition make little seed. As I told, make little egg. They cannot do anything. Still they are so proud.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks


Room Conversations -- February 20, 1977, Mayapura:

Prabhupāda: Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja (CC Madhya 19.151). It is Kṛṣṇa's wonderful mercy that one can get guru. Guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya. Don't forget for a moment, that Kṛṣṇa is insignificant. He's always the most wonderful. He can do anything, whatever He likes. They have no such belief. They have no such idea. They are different: "We believe in this." Not believe. This is a fact! You believe or not believe, who cares for you? Fact is fact. So arrange. We shall go. (break) ". . . Kṛṣṇa is wonderful," that makes one perfect. You know that story? The cobbler and Nārada Muni? Hmm?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: The cobbler believed, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is wonderful." And Nārada Muni immediately certified, "Yes, your salvation this life guaranteed." The cobbler has his conviction, "Yes, Kṛṣṇa is wonderful. Kṛṣṇa can do anything. Kṛṣṇa can draw an elephant through the hole of a needle. Why not? It's possible." That faith made him perfect. If Kṛṣṇa is not wonderful, is it possible for me to do all these things? What I am?


Discussion about Bhu-mandala -- July 5, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ prakāśante. The authority is revealed to him. Yasya deve parā bhaktir yathā deve (ŚU 6.23). Otherwise not. So do it as far as possible to your capacities. But things are inconceivable. You cannot adjust within the limitation of your understanding. That is not . . .

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yeah, that's the . . . We're trying to impose some preconceived idea onto this. As soon as that happens, this knowledge is blocked. Because the whole attitude shouldn't be like that. One should come out of service and devotion, not with some mental, materialistic speculations.

Prabhupāda: Did you know that story, the Nārada was going to Vaikuṇṭha? Nārada came back and replied to a cobbler . . . Cobbler asked him what Nārāyaṇa is doing. "He has taken one elephant and He's drawing through the hole of a needle like this and again taking." The learned brāhmaṇa, he began to laugh: "These are all stories." And the cobbler began to cry, "Oh, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, can do anything." Nārada inquired, "How do you believe that elephant is being drawn through the hole of needle?" "No, why not? I'm daily seeing by sitting under this tree, banyan tree, and within a fruit there are thousands of seeds. And each seed contains the big tree." Can the scientists make such small seed contain a big banyan tree? So it is acintya. That's a fact. (break) . . .thing is inconceivable. And these rascals want to bring them as conceivable. He's conditioned, and he's trying to bring inconceivable thing to his conception. Useless, futile attempt. How the scientist will answer? We take a fruit. There are hundreds of seeds, and each seed contains a big tree. How you can explain? Is it not inconceivable?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Yes.

Prabhupāda: So what is the use of arguing?

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: It's better to take the fruit and offer it to Kṛṣṇa.

Prabhupāda: That's right.

Bhakti-prema: (indistinct conversation with Tamāla Kṛṣṇa)

Prabhupāda: So we take it as accepted, mahā-muni kṛte. Dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo 'tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satām (SB 1.1.2).

Page Title:Story of Narada Muni and the cobbler
Compiler:Labangalatika, MadhuGopaldas
Created:26 of Jul, 2012
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=3, Con=4, Let=0
No. of Quotes:7