Bhagavatam tenth canto study 54 – 10.10.1-9 The curse that takes us away from the things that take us away from Krishna is mercy

Thank you. Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 10. Deliverance of the Yama-Larjuna Trees.
Next one. śrī rājo vāca kathayatāṁ bhagavān etad tayo śāpasya kāraṇaṁ yat tad vigaritaṁ karma yena vā devarśe sthamah śrī rājo vāca kathayatāṁ bhagavān etad Please describe, O sage. He is being referred to as Bhagavān over here.
tayo śāpasya kāraṇaṁ Why were these two individuals cursed? yat tad vigaritaṁ karma What was the terrible work that they did? yena vā devarśe sthamah That made the great sage, Devarishi Narada, angry towards them. So the last chapter ended in what could be called a cliffhanger. It was said that Krishna, as he was bound by his mother to the granny motor, he looked at the Yama-Larjuna trees and he remembered that these were the sons of Dhanatmaja, the son of the treasurer of the gods.
And they had been cursed by Narada. So now there are some statements which absolutely raise a question. Why would such a thing happen? So why would Narada get so angry as to curse someone? There are some sages in the Vedic tradition who are especially known to be irascible.
Siddharvasa is one of them. But Narada Muni is not known in particular to give curses. Narada Muni is a person who is just there to give guidance, the right kind of guidance to different people at different times.
And he also gives guidance and he gives news. But it’s very rare that Narada Muni gives curses to anyone. So they must have definitely done something quite bad because of which Narada Muni decided to curse him.
Garhitam karma it is said over here. What kind of work did they do because of which Narada Muni decided to curse them? So please describe this, okay, Shukadeva Swami. That’s his request.
Madaghoranitalochano srijaneeranugayadbhesh Cheratopushputevane rudrasyanucharobhutva Rudrasyanucharobhutva So they were elevated to the level of being the associates of Shiva. Rudrasyanucharobhutva Rudrasyanucharobhutva sudruptau dhanadatmajau So sudruptau. They also had the position and they also had attractive bodily features.
And on top of that they were dhanadatmajau. That was the word used in the previous chapter also. The sons of Kubera.
Kailasopavane Ramye In the forest, in the garden, small garden near Kailas, Ramye. In that delightful, in that beautiful place, Mandakinya madhuthkattau On the river Mandakini, it was there. Madhuthkattau They were proud, they were intoxicated, they were maddened.
Varunimadhirampitva After drinking a kind of liquor named Varuni, as Prabhupada says, Pitwa madhaghurunitallo chinnam And their eyes were rolling because of intoxication. And Sthrijanair anugayadbhish Sthrijanair with women As the women were singing after them to please them Cheratu pushpitevane They were wandering in that flower garden. So basically, we could say this is the typical portrait of sensual enjoyment that most people may dream about.
We could say this is like a resort where in today’s term there is a swimming pool and there are beauties over there and the person who has gone to that swimming, that resort or the swimming pool has a lot of money and these women are singing to him and as they are drunk, so drinking, womanizing and women, wealth and wine, these three are considered sources of enjoyment. Now of course, the word women is used in a gender neutral sense here to refer to the opposite sex. So for man, woman is woman but the word woman refers to any object of enjoyment.
So for woman, man may be a woman. Now these three things, wealth, women, once one has that and to enjoy them if one takes wine, one feels high. Each of these things, wealth makes one intoxicated.
The association of women makes one intoxicated and wine makes one intoxicated. If all three of them are together, the intoxication becomes huge. So what do we do in such a situation? We think that we are the enjoyers and on top of that there is a beautiful garden, there is flowers.
So everything is adding, triggering, fueling the mentality to enjoy. It was in such a situation that Nellakur and Manikaru were sporting and as they were having enjoyment like that, what happened? Text 4, They entered into the Ganga and Amboj, Vanarajini Amboj, there were lotus flowers over there. Vanarajini and there was a forest which was lined with trees and flowers.
Chikridathur, Yuvathibhir and Chikridathur, Kridathur means play. So they were playing, they were enjoying Yuvathibhir with those young women and Gajav Yuvakarenubhi just like two elephants enjoying with female elephants. In the Bhagavatam, whenever the enjoying mentality is to be depicted, a common example that is used is of elephants.
Normally, we from today’s cultural perspective may think of elephants as giant creatures, maybe they are carriers of kings. But what is the point of associating or comparing enjoyment with elephants? The idea is that elephants are huge, they are powerful and they can, as the enjoying mentality gets triggered within them, they can also go on a rampage. So an elephant in a rut is often considered to be a very dangerous creature because that enjoying mentality can make it do mad things.
So the different animals are used for depicting different things. So a donkey is often used to depict pointless labor, pointless hard work. So like that, an elephant is used to depict an intoxicated enjoying mentality.
And in fact, that’s what we hear in the 8th canto of the Bhagavatam also where the whole Gajendra pastime is there. And in that Gajendra pastime, it is described that Gajendra was also with his queens and he was enjoying over there. And just as there, from one moment of enjoyment, suddenly everything crumbled for him when that crocodile caught him and he just couldn’t escape.
So similarly here for Nalakuram and Manegreev, they were enjoying and suddenly their paradise just turned into a hellish situation for them. And of course, in both cases, there is a happy ending because the context is devotional and there is the connection with the Lord which can make even the inauspicious auspicious. And in Gajendra’s case, it was a crocodile, another force of nature which caught in and forced and threatened him and threatened to kill him.
So Gajendra’s pastime demonstrates at one level how there can be danger at every moment in life. Whereas Nalakuram and Manegreev’s pastime specifically demonstrates how intoxication can make us disrespectful, make us so dead-end to conceptions of, understandings of right and wrong that we invite trouble upon ourselves by that. Text 5, यद्रुच्छयाच देवरशेर् भगवाम् सत्रका उरव अपश्यनारदो देवो चीबानो समुद्यता यद्रुच्छयाच देवरशेर् So at that time, while they were just intoxicated like this, the time of Devarishi, by divine will, often whenever sages come in the Bhagavatam, the word is used for their coming as Yathruchchaya.
Yathruchchaya, by higher arrangement or just by their own will. Prabhupada here uses the word by chance, while wandering across the universe. Sometimes when we travel or some guests come, they come by plan.
They send a message, I am going to come at this time, and then they come. But especially the saintly people in the broad ancient tradition of India, they were wandering mendicants and they would not make a schedule of when they would be where, but they would just, wherever the Supersoul inspired them from within, they would go there. So Yathruchchaya cha Devarashir.
So at that time, he came there. And Bhagwam Satra, he is also there. The word Bhagwan, as we discussed earlier, is a common term used in the Bhagavatam for anybody who is respectable.
So earlier the word Bhagwan was used by Parikshit Maharaj to refer to Shukadeva Goswami and now it is being used to refer to Narada. So, Bhagwam Satra Kaurava. So Kaurava, it’s interesting.
Normally we use the word Kaurava to associate with the Duryodhana and his brothers, but actually even the Pandavas were Kauravas because they were descendants in the Kuru dynasty. And here the word Kaurava is referring to Parikshit Maharaj who is a descendant in the Kuru dynasty. Apashyanarado Devao So when Narada came there, he saw these Devas, these Gods.
Kshibanau Samabhudyata Kshibanau, he saw their eyes were rolling because of intoxication. Samabhudyata, he understood their position. Suppose somebody is driving under intoxication, under influence and a cop pulls them over.
Those cops were experienced just by looking at some people. Looking at the driver, they can make out whether this person is intoxicated or not. Or if they come closer, they may even smell the intoxication.
And of course there are breathalyzers by which you can check how much is the level of intoxication. But in general, those who are experienced in the ways of life, when they observe, just by an observation they can size up a lot. They can get a sense of things.
So just by looking at them, Narada Muni understood that these people are intoxicated. And then what happened? Let us see in the next verse. tam drishtva vridita devyo vivastraha kshapashankitaha vāsāṁsi paryadhu shigram vivastraunaiva guhyakau tam drishtva vridita devyo So now on seeing Narada Muni at that time, devya, the young women, the young girls, these were young demigods and the young boys of the demigods and the young girls of the demigods.
So devya. So devi becomes devya over here. vivastraha kshapashankitaha Because they were not wearing any clothes, they became fearful that this great sage may curse us.
vāsāṁsi paryadhu shigram Immediately they put on their clothes, they covered their body swiftly. vivastraunaiva guhyakau But the guhyakas, the sons of Kubera did not do that. They still remained unclothed.
Actually, all of us, especially in a cultured society, there are different ways in which people behave in different situations. So traditionally when smoking was not so glamorized and if somebody wanted to smoke, they would go to some private place and they would smoke. Even now if there is a, if there is in every plane there is an announcement, don’t smoke, smoking is not allowed.
So if there is no smoking area and there is a cop and in front of that cop if somebody smokes, then that is brazen. Now if somebody were smoking and as soon as they notice the cop, they stop smoking. That is itself wrong to have smoked, but at least as soon as you see the smoking, then they stop smoking.
But if somebody sees the cop and still keeps smoking, then that indicates that not only they are wrong, but they are brazen about being wrong. It is said that hypocrisy is the last tribute that vice pays to virtue. Hypocrisy means pretending to be what we are not.
So somebody is a smoker, but they actually act as if I don’t smoke. So that is hypocrisy, but at very least then that person is acknowledging, okay, smoking is not that good, I should not be doing it here. But if somebody is brazen about it, that means one is not even trying to cover one’s wrongdoings and that means that they are really on a very, on the express path to degradation, we could say.
Within all of us, there are lower desires which drag us down and along with that, there is some inner check, some inner, some force within us, which stops us from going on the wrong track. And that is our conscience. So our conscience tells us this is not right, don’t do it.
And that’s why especially we will not do such things publicly. There is always people who will do right and always people who will do wrong. But when wrongdoers feel no compunction in doing wrong, when wrongdoers become brazen about doing wrong, at that time, things take a much more serious turn.
Things become much more alarming. So, although both the men and the women were in an enjoying mood, the women were not that intoxicated, that they had that, they came to the sense, hey, we should not be doing this kind of thing publicly in the presence of a sage like Narada. They had that good sense at least to recognize that.
In contrast, unfortunately, the sons of Nalakuvet did not even have that good sense. And thus they ended up doing what they wanted to do without considering anything further. The text I am reading now, So on seeing them so intoxicated in this way, On seeing them, Very intoxicated because of drinking liquor.
Being blind with false prestige and opulence. The two sons of the demigods. For the purpose of giving special mercy.
He decided to give them a curse. So now it’s interesting, normally we don’t consider a curse itself to be a blessing or a curse itself to be a mercy. Sometimes you may say that, okay, this curse is a hidden blessing.
And what is the blessing, we don’t know. So normally, if we ask somebody, if we ask a saintly person, please give mercy to me. And if that person says, okay, I’ll give you my mercy and the mercy will be that you’ll lose all your wealth, you’ll lose all your position.
What? Is that mercy or is that a curse? So normally, we don’t think a curse, a curse to be a blessing. Normally we consider these two to be opposite. However, a curse can also be a mercy if that curse takes us away from the things that take us away from reality.
A curse that takes us away from the things that take us away from dharma, that is a blessing, that is mercy. Ultimately, mercy is not just to live comfortably in this world. Mercy is ultimately to attain the Lord who exists beyond this world.
And to attain Him, what do we need? We need to connect with Him. We need to feel the need for Him. We need to feel the need to function in a responsible way by which we can move closer to Him.
So, if we find that there are certain things which are taking us away from Krishna, and as long as we have those things, we will keep going away from Krishna. So if those things are taken away, then that forces us to come towards Krishna. And that is the mercy.
So here, Narada Muni is going to bestow this mercy on them. शापं दास्यनिदम् जगऊ। दास्यनिदम् जगऊ। योर अनुग्रहार्थायो। To have mercy on them, He bestowed this mercy by giving them this curse. Let’s see what Narada speaks while cursing them.
जोशितो जोश्यान् One who is enjoying the enjoyable things of this world. Another person like this. बुद्धी भ्रंशो रजो गुणः So बुद्धी भ्रंशो, this attracts and deludes the intelligence.
It’s a manifestation of the रजो गुणः. श्रीमदाद अभिजात्यादिर् So, actually, अभिजात्यादिर् There are अभिजात्यादिर् That means, there are various features. श्रीमदाद is the intoxication, the wealth, the intoxication that comes from wealth.
And अभिजात्यादिर् that means other features among the four principles which Kunti Maharani has talked about. जन्मईश्वर्षुतप्ष्रिभीर् So, यत्रस्त्रिद्यूतामासवह Because from wealth comes women, gambling and wine. So here, Narad Muni is not just looking at their particular behavior and getting angry at their particular behavior.
He is actually looking at what is the cause of their behavior. Normally, when an expert doctor treats a patient, the doctor doesn’t just look at the symptoms of the disease. The doctor looks at the cause of the disease.
So here, he saw their inappropriate behavior, their brazen behavior. And now, in today’s ethos, we consider what is so brazen about it. A man-woman unite.
Yes, a man-woman unite, that is perfectly, that is true. But that is a dharmic activity to be done in privacy for the purpose of procreation. When one does it publicly, then that deludes one.
And especially, a saintly person is considered to be like a temple. तीर्थिकुर्थानी तीर्थभूतस्वयम्वेबो They are holy places. So just as if somebody wants to do sensual things, they may do it, but they won’t do it in a sacred place.
There might be a place like a bar or something like that, where one might do certain things. But one won’t do such a thing in a temple. And if a saintly person has come to a particular place, that means that place has become like a temple.
And one is not meant to behave like that over there. So when somebody behaves like that, so then he is thinking, another one is observing, what is causing one to behave like this? This wealth is what intoxicates one. Once one has money, then one thinks, okay, with this money I can get whatever I want to enjoy.
I can gamble, I can womanize, I can drink. And in that way, the wealth which is the resource for one’s enjoyment, for one’s degradation, that is the root cause and that is what needs to be addressed. So that’s what Narada Muni is observing and is analyzing over here.
It’s like a doctor fingering the root cause of the disease. He is identifying the root cause, that is, their brazen behavior is because of their wealth. And then he talks about ninth text.
hanyante pashavo yatra nirdayair avijat ajitatmabhi manyamanair ibhamdeham ajaram rtyu nashvaram So hanyante pashavo yatra, one actually kills animals. So the previous three self-destructive activities we talked about, intoxication, gambling and sensuality. And now a fourth one is talked about over here, that is animal killing.
And the whole idea of describing this is hanyante pashavo yatra nirdayair ajitatmabhi These people, nirdayair, they become heartless because their senses are uncontrolled. So whatever the senses demand, they have to get those. And in seeking and getting whatever the senses demand, they become heartless.
manyamanair ibhamdeham manyamanair They are thinking in this way that this body, ajaram rtyu nashvaram They do not think that this body is going to get old, it’s going to die, that it’s perishable. They think, okay, this body is my, I’m going to enjoy and I’m going to enjoy with this body and whatever it takes to enjoy, I’m going to do that. They don’t think that this body is perishable, that it’s going to end soon and what they are doing is going to create great trouble for themselves.
So therefore, manyamanair ibhamdeham So now he identifies the cause, that is wealth and then he is analyzing how it is wealth. So thus Naradbhuni, his curse is not just impulsive. It’s not that he suddenly gets angry and he curses.
There are that kind of curses that some sages give, but Naradbhuni’s curse is very thoughtfully given. And what is the thoughtfulness that goes into his cursing?