​Bhagavatam study 43 1.9.1-10 The experts adjust contextual practices to fulfill essential purpose

Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 1, Chapter 9, The Departure of Bhishma Pitamah in the Presence of Lord Krishna, Text 1. sūta-vāca iti bhītaḥ kaja-drohāt sarva-dharma-vivit-sayā tato vināśanaṁ prāgād yatra deva-vratopatāt sūta-vāca. Sūta Goswami is speaking.
This is Chapter 9. In the previous chapter, Kunti Maharani has offered her prayers and Krishna has accepted her prayers and is about to depart at the request of Yudhishthira Maharaj. He agrees to stay. So, iti bhītaḥ kaja-drohāt.
Iti bhītaḥ. Thus, he was fearful. In the previous chapter, Maharaj Yudhishthira had expressed his apprehension, his fear, his dejection because he had caused the death of so many warriors, so many people.
Kaja-drohāt. And not only had the warriors been killed, but along with that, there had been such devastation. And the widows were crying, being shelterless.
It was almost like a whole civilization had been uprooted. So, kaja-drohāt. Sarva-dharma-vivit-sayā.
Sarva-dharma-vivit-sayā. So, he wanted to understand dharma-vivit-sayā. What was exactly his dharma? How was he to act now? Would he, by letting himself be enthroned as the king, be enjoying the spires of war? Or would it be better for him to renounce the world and thus avoid getting entangled in the karmic implications? To vināśanaṁ prāgād.
Vināśanaṁ prāgād. Vināśanaṁ. The way the destruction had happened and the very arena where the destruction had happened.
Normally, if something terrible has happened somewhere, people are really apprehensive to go there. But here, Yudhishthira Maharaj went back to the same place because therein lay the person through whom they hoped he would get solace from the distress that he was undergoing. In this particular case, Devavrata refers to the prince Bhishma.
In his childhood, he was named as Devavrata. Here, he is referred to by that name Apatata. He had fallen.
The other warriors had been killed in the battlefield or in a massacre following the battlefield. Bhishma Pitamah had fallen on the 10th day, but because he had the conduction of icchā-mṛtyu, so still he was lying there, still awake, still there, still conscious and waiting for the final moment of death. So, at that time, the second text, now we go to So, the king Yudhishthira, he went with all his brothers, Bhīma, Arjuna, Kula Sahadeva, and they were decorated with golden ornaments.
Along with them, the great sages, such as their own priest, Dhaumya and their aunt, the sage Vyasa, who was in one sense their grandfather and who has been constantly present in the Mahabharata as their advisor, he also went with them. Now, normally, when someone is dying, at that time, people go in mourning clothes. So, sometimes, in different cultures, the mourning clothes may be different.
They may be white or they may be black. And normally, nobody goes to a place where a person is about to die dressed opulently. Death is a sober occasion and the dress also needs to be appropriately sober.
But why is it that here Maharaja Yudhishthira and his brothers go dressed in all their royal opulence? How is it that none of the assembled sages stop them? Because, when we go to meet a dead person, it’s almost a universal principle, simple moral principle, that if a person is dying, whatever might be the last wish of a dying person, we try to fulfill that last wish. So, the way to fulfill that last wish is usually by helping that person in whatever way we can. So, now, Bhishma Pitamah, he loved the Pandavas, they were virtuous, they were courteous, they were saintly and it was his fondest desire that they be the successors in the Kuru dynasty and that they ascend the throne.
And it caused him great grief when they were stripped of everything and were exiled. So, he had lived on through various austerities, not physical austerities, but there were emotional tortures for him to live with his own guilty conscience that he didn’t do anything to stop the Pandavas from being exiled and thinking that, oh, they must be living in such difficulty in the forest. So, he had lived through it all, he had not accepted his Chamrutti long before this because he had wanted them to, he was longing, waiting for the day when the Pandavas would be enthroned, when Dharma would be victorious and he was now going to see that.
Krishna had arranged so that he would be able to see the Pandavas in full regal opulence and thus his heart’s cherished desire to see Dharma prosperous, to see the Dharmic people prosperous, to see his beloved Pandavas ascend to the throne and understanding this subtle inner mood, the Pandavas flouted the outer etiquette and dressed very opulently while going to make Bheeshma. Text 3, Bhagavan api viprarshe rathena sadhana dhananjah satir virochit nrpah So, Krishna also came over there, Bhagavan api viprarshe, viprarshe. So, here Suta Goswami is referring to Shaunaka, the primary member in his audience as viprarshe, that he is the sage among the brahmanas, that, oh viprarshe, among them there was Krishna also, an Arjuna’s chariot and thus as Maharaja Yudhishthira went towards Bhishma Pitamaha, he was, he looked magnificent like Kubera surrounded by the Guhyakas.
The Guhyakas are powerful associates of Kubera and here Yudhishthira is compared to Kubera because Kubera is the treasurer of the Devatas. He used to have fabulous amount of wealth. Now, Maharaja Yudhishthira, who had lived in the poverty of exile, now when he was dressed and decorated with a royal opulence, comparing him with Kubera aptly demonstrates that, aptly conveys that now he was truly in splendorous opulence and thus his days of atrocious poverty were well and truly behind him.
They had ended and now he was on his way towards the kind of prosperity that behoved him as a worthy heir in the Kuru dynasty. Text 4 Dhrishtva nipatitam bhumo, Divash chutam ivamaram, Pranam Pandava Bhishmam, Sanugahasa Chakrena Dhrishtva nipatitam bhumo, so at that time they saw Nipatitam fallen, Bhumo on the earth was fallen Divash chutam ivamaram, Divash, so from the sky chutam fallen, ivamaram the amara refers to those who are the gods, they are considered immortal, it’s not immortal in an eternal sense but immortal in a very very long sense, so the devtas are very effulgent and their fall is from the earthly point of view, it takes so rare, it occurs so rarely that it is extremely unusual and they retain their effulgence even when they have fallen, so Divash ivamaram, Divash chutam, just as if those from the heaven had fallen to the earth and Pranam Pandava Bhishmam, Pranam, the Pandavas offer obeisances to Bhishma and Sanugahasa Chakrena, Sanugaha, Anugaha, Anugaha means also father of, here it refers to his brothers, they had all followed Yudhishthir, even when Yudhishthir had acted in a grievously wrong way in gambling them all and gambling Draupadi, they had followed him even when he had been exiled, they had followed him and they were his Anugaha and along with that Chakrena, Chakrena refers to the possessor of Chakri that is Lord Krishna who uses the Sudarshan chakra, so he is the supreme lord but he was also following Yudhishthir. In this chapter, the central focus will be on Yudhishthir and Bhishma and the glory of Yudhishthir Maharaj is being talked about, depicted here that even Lord Krishna was following him and this glory of Yudhishthir Maharaj which is being thus conveyed will be used to boost, to convey in an even more forceful way the glory of Bhishma Pitamaha that such an exalted person as Yudhishthir came to Bhishma Pitamaha for seeking advice, so how glorious will be Bhishma Pitamaha.
The scene is being set for the last Harre, for the Swain song, Swain song is if a cricketer is or a sports person is playing and this person playing his last match, so there is a lot of festive celebration at that time and it’s probably cricketer’s dream that maybe I’ll be able to score a century or do something memorable in my last match, so here this is going to be Bhishma Pitamaha’s last match, he is not just a warrior, for him the last battle is over on the 10th day of the Kurukshetra war and in one sense he fell and he failed but the last match of his life is not going to be martial, it is going to be intellectual, it is going to be where he is going to give profound and profound wisdom, he is going to illumine the whole world for a long long time to come and that the scene for that is being set here by depicting the glory of the person who is the student in this section. So Tatra, the next text Tatra Brahmarisha has said So just to see this great person who was Bharata Pongava, Bharata Pongava refers to he who was the best among Bharatas, Pongava often refers to, it means, it refers to a bull and it also refers to, bull is considered to be the strongest among the domestic animals so sometimes a powerful bull can compare to a lion only compared to a bull, so the bull is a little unknown but usually when the word Pongava is used it means best among, foremost among, so just to see him, this time where it happened, Brahma Rishis had come, the Brahma Rishis had come, the Bhaga Rishis had come, the Raja Rishis had come, so the galaxy of who’s who had come for witnessing the momentous event of the departure of Bhishma and some great person is about to depart and people cannot offer their respects, they come for the funeral but before that they cannot offer their last words of respect to the person, so this was how it was and here Brahma Rishis, Daya Rishis, Raja Rishis had all come and a whole galaxy illustrated and described in this verse and actually later on in this Bhagavatam, again a seminal has to be described and Parikshit Maharaj is about to depart and how many great sages come there So, Parvata Narada Dhamyo, this is a list of illustrious sages, we know many of these sages from other sections of the Bhagavatam and other narratives in the other Puranas, so here Parvat is of an associate of Narada Muni, participating in many of his important pastimes, Narada associates Parvata Narada together, Dhamyo, Dhamyo is the priest of the Pandavas, he’s referred to twice over here, he’s an important person to be present at that time and that’s the second reference, then Bhagavad Anuradha Rayan, although these two names have been mentioned earlier, but here, the rest of who’s who, in one verse we can have a glimpse of who all were present, so it will have an encapsulated mention of this who’s who of the Vyasa universe, all the names are mentioned once again, all the names are mentioned in one place and the names mentioned earlier, they are repeated here, these two are great sages again, Bharadwaj Muni often comes in the Ramayana and Lord Ram meets him, takes instruction for him, Lord Ram directly blesses him, so Renuka is the mother of Parashuram, Parashuram is a powerful sage and he usually disciples, Indra Brahmal is there, many of these sages are almost like ageless, so Vasishtha appears in the Ramayana as the Kulguru of Lord Ram and his family, Prabhupada describes briefly the profile of these sages, Ashita, Asito, Devala, Vyasa, they are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita as Arjuna states that these are the sages who have confirmed your supremacy, Krishna, Shiva and Gautama, Gautama and Atri are also sages, well celebrated, Atirushi and Anasuya, his wife, they are the parents of the Tatra, Kaushika was Sudarshan, similarly there is Kaushik Rishi, the great sage of Sudarshan, so like this, all these great sages are present over there, Brahma, Brahma Ratha, Brahmaratha, Brahmaratha is referred here as to Shikadeva Go Swami, He is also there to witness this momentous event. शिष्यरुपेता आजिगमुः अमलहा दिर्ह These are pure hearted sages.
कश्यप अंगिरसा दिर्ह शिष्यरुपेता आजिगमुः आजिगमुः means they arrived. शिष्यरुपेता along with the disciples. next text तान्समेताभागान् उपलभ्यवस्तुत् पसुत्महा पूजायामासधर्मव्या देशकालविद् पान्समहाभागान् तान्समेताँ when all of them had assembled महाभागा they were all greatly powerful individuals तमहा उपलभ्यव they had नव वसुत्तमहा this is referring to the previous life in which वसु, भीष्मा was the वसु named द्यवु he was the greatest among the वसु’s in that life and because of some misdeed he had been cursed to be born here as भीष्मा as a mortal in the human world.
So that reference is given over here. So it’s significant that when the Bhagavatam refers to some characters by their previous lives, it doesn’t refer to the misdeed that caused them to fall from a previous illustrious position to their present position, even if that misdeed has occurred and even if their previous position was greater than their present position. That sort of negative reference to one’s antecedents is done usually by blasphemers who do not appreciate the person for what he was in the past and who don’t want to appreciate the person for what he is in the present.
Here we see that Vasudhamaha, there is no value judgment over there that he was Vasudhamaha and he fell. No, it’s straightforward statement. He was Vasudhamaha.
Actually there is no past tense over there. So he is Vasudhamaha. Earlier the word Amara was used to indicate how he is the resident, how he is, he seemed like an immortal, seemed like a heavenly resident who was referred to as Amara.
And here that he was actually an Amara in his previous life, that is being pointed out by referring to him as Vasudhamaha. So that Vasudhamaha who in his previous life had acted disrespectfully to a sage because of which he had been cursed. Now in this life, normally when people do punya, they get elevated from earth to heaven and here he had fallen from the heaven to earth, but he was now well-versed in dharmic conduct.
And being thus well-versed, he knew how to act. पूजायां आस धर्मग्यों देश काल विभागवेत पूजायां आस धर्मग्यों धर्मग्यों Knowing the principles of dharma, such principles of dharma, देश काल विभागवेत, he knew that these vary according to time, place, circumstance. And therefore, one needs to be careful, to be cautious.
And one needs to apply principles appropriately according to time, place, circumstance. पूजायां आस धर्मग्यों धर्मग्यों देश काल विभागवेत Normally, when a saintly person comes, we should at least fold our hands. If not, we offer obeisances by bowing at the waist, or if not, bowing down fully.
But, the problem here is that he’s like an arrow bed. The arrows have pierced through his body and have latched his body to the ground. So he cannot move at all, practically speaking.
In such a situation, for him to offer obeisances is practically impossible. So, just by the movement of his eyebrows, he offered his respects to all the assembled sages. From the Varnic point of view, from the point of view of Varna, the sages are Brahman, Aziz, Kshatriya.
And a Kshatriya is meant to offer much greater respect. But he is not in the situation to do that. So, according to the division of देश काल विभाग, division of time, place, circumstance, he offers respect appropriately to the assembled sages.
And thus, he executes the principles of dharma. This is a very important principle in bhakti, that things need to be adjusted according to time, place, circumstance. Without adjustment about things, we will be inaccessible to many, many people who would not be able to appreciate or apply the principles of, when I am using the word principles, are universal.
There are practices by which the principles are implemented. Practices may sometimes have to be adjusted. Some other way to look at it is that details need to be adjusted.
Krishna Prabhupada was once asked, how do we differentiate between the principle? And Prabhupada said, that requires a little intelligence. So, as we become purified, as we come to sattva guna, as we become more and more connected with Krishna internally, as he gives us intelligence, अदामे बुद्धी ओगंतम, then we start understanding what it is that we, what is the principle, what is the detail, what has to be stuck to, what has to be adjusted. And in that way, we can move onwards in the practice of our bhakti.
Krishna never makes himself utterly inaccessible to us. Krishna always keeps himself accessible, unfathomable mercy. And that mercy is manifested through Guru Sadhu Shastra.
So, Shastra, when it gives rules, those rules are not primarily prohibitions. Those rules are primarily facilitations. They are opportunities to facilitate the movement of our heart towards Krishna.
To the extent we recognize this principle, that these are opportunities for us to move towards Krishna. To that extent, we will be able to move onwards in our journey towards Him. And to the extent we do not recognize these as opportunities, to that extent, we will stay caught in this world.
Prabhupada adjusted many of the details. For example, we had cultural context from which he came. Whether women could get initiation or not, the mainstream opinion might have been at that time, that women cannot get initiation.
But Prabhupada, he arranged to give initiation. And that way, he ensured that the whole bhakti movement would have a universal appeal. Even in an age where females were increasingly demanding and agitating for their rights.
This is just one example. And we don’t want to be deviated from the narrative that we are focusing on. That is a very important principle, that according to time, place, circumstance, the principles of the bhakti can be adjusted so that they remain accessible to people.
The adjustment is in the external form. The substance remains the same. For example, in the case of Bhishma, he was offering respects.
And the usual way to offer respects is by folding one’s hands. When that is not possible, then one need not fold the hands, but still one can offer respects. In whatever way is possible in one’s situation.
So, next text. kṛṣṇaṁ citat prabhāvajñā āsīnaṁ jagadīśvaraṁ hṛdīsthaṁ pūjayā māsa māyayopāta-vigrahaṁ kṛṣṇaṁ citat prabhāvajñā Knowing the prabhāva of Kṛṣṇa, kṛṣṇaṁ citat prabhāvajñā Knowing that the prabhāva, the influence, the potency, the power of Kṛṣṇa, āsīnaṁ jagadīśvaraṁ āsīnaṁ Knowing that he was situated, that he was the jagadīśvaraṁ. So, two of the prabhāvajñā, what is the prabhāva that he knew? So, two of the aspects of the prabhāva have been talked about.
He is jagadīśvaraṁ, he is the controller of all the worlds. And further, hṛdīsthaṁ. He is situated in the hearts of all living beings.
So, he is inside everything and he is also the controller of everything. Such is the great Lord. And he is present right in front of him.
māyayopāta-vigrahaṁ māyayopāta So, the word māyā, māyayopāta means obtained by or manifested through a path. vigrahaṁ, a form. So, māyayopāta means it was manifested through an arrangement of māyā.
So, here the word māyā is used in a generic sense of illusion or something which is not as it appears to be. It is not used in the specific sense of mahamāyā, which causes illusion. The word māyā, in an essential semantic sense, in the sense of its meaning, it simply means that māyā, that which is not.
When something is not as it appears to be, that can be called māyā. So, usually, this is in terms of that which is not real, appears to be real. It means that which offers only temporary pleasure appears to offer much greater pleasure.
But when we recognize that māyā simply means that which is not, then we understand that Krishna, to ordinary vision, might seem to be like just another person. He was coming on Arjuna’s chariot. He did not even have his own chariot.
He was coming on his own chariot. He was standing in an assembly with many other people. So, he might have been thought of just another person.
Yeah, he was a Yadu warrior. He was respectable at that level. But no, he is not just that level respectable.
He is supremely respectable because he is the Supreme Being. And understanding that is so important. So, here, the point being made is that Bhishma Pitāmahā was learned enough, prabhāvagya.
He knew that Krishna is not an ordinary person. He is Jagadeeshwaram. He is Rudastham.
So, he offered him. That Supreme Lord who had appeared in front of him, Bhishma Pitāmahā, appropriately, offered respects to that Supreme Lord. And thus, he expressed his, that Supreme Lord, devotional mood.
His respect for the Supreme Lord also. How the conversation moves forward, we will discuss in our future talks.