Bhagavatam tenth canto study 56 – 10.10.15-22 Narada curses to cure the cause of the misbehavior, not just to punish the misbehavior

Thank you here Narada Muni is contemplating what to do to correct the arrogant and brazen sons of Kubera and he is describing his rationale for doing what he is going to do he says daridro niraham stambho that when a person is poverty stricken at that time niraham stambho there is no sense, there is no room left for false prestige, for arrogance mukta sarvam adairiha one becomes freed from all intoxication, all pride and then kruchram yadruchyam noti and if that person gets something he has to struggle for it and he gets it by the mercy of providence, yadruchyam just, it’s not so easy to get even the basic message of life tadhyasya parantapa and because this compulsory austerity purifies him it’s good for such a person so the idea is that those who do not try to do austerity voluntarily have to be subjected to it in some other way by force and poverty austerity is one way in which austerity is forced upon people so that’s what he is saying over here the person has to do austerity because even basic necessities are not there one of the basic ways in which we become proud is that we think we are so great but when we are not able to meet even our needs, what to speak of where is the question of parading our glory to the world it’s just not possible what is there to parade to anyone in the world and thus we are forced to give up our pride thus humility develops within us and arrogance goes away the important thing for each one of us is to recognize that we can’t just do that we have to become free from pride if we don’t do it voluntarily, sooner or later it will be done forcibly for us of course when it is done forcibly it’s much more painful it’s much more difficult to do it it’s much more agonizing so that’s what he is being done he is forcibly subjected to austerity that is the plan of Narada Muni over here that’s what he is contemplating generally pride or arrogance means we think of oneself as independent I don’t need anyone else to get anything but in poverty we understand that even with our endeavor we might not get something even if we work, if nobody gives us work we won’t have any money and we won’t get anything so if somebody is going to beg then a beggar is not entitled automatically to get anything, something sometimes I might get nothing and thus the point that one is dependent for one’s needs on somebody else becomes very undeniably self evident during poverty and thus it helps one to become free from arrogance text 12 text 12 text 12 text 12 when one is constantly hungry and the body has become weak because of that doesn’t have excessive strength because of poverty one is constantly longing for, seeking food, Indriyani Anushushanti, so with the weakness of the body, the senses also become weak, Indriyani, as the senses become weak then what happens, Himsapivini Vartate, and one queues up, one stops committing violence. There is an interesting train of thought going on, that violence requires strength, so if there is not much strength, a patient in a bed, who is so weak that they can barely lift up their hands, such a patient can hardly commit any violence, similarly, those who are very weak, they don’t have the energy whatsoever to commit any violence, and thus the destructive actions go down, if some energy has gone down, and if one has not eaten enough food, then actually the energy goes out, the sensory energy also goes down, generally for violence, the working senses are required to be active, we move our fists at someone, we move our feet at someone, but we can’t do all that if we don’t have enough energy, so the violence towards other animals, other living beings can also decrease, of course we might say that because of hunger and despair coming from hunger, that might make a person violent, it’s possible, but that’s if they have energy, if they are already so weak that even that much energy they don’t have, then they can’t commit any violence, so even for expressing one’s anger, some amount of energy is needed.
Now, text 17, Now, as a poor person can easily gain the association of the saintly who are having equal vision, and the saintly don’t discriminate against the poor thinking that, oh this person has no money, why should I spend time with them, the saintly are ready to give their association to everyone, but the wealthy are often not ready to take that association, the wealthy may cordon themselves off in their own fenced houses, fenced bungalows, and not let any saintly people approach them thinking that, oh these people are after my money, and as they start getting more and more distant from those who are saintly, their pride increases, their arrogance keeps increasing, because there is no one to give them any wisdom by which their arrogance can be decreased, on the other hand, the saintly who are equipoised, they just want to share spiritual wisdom with everyone, thus they have no, if the poor are more open to their association, more receptive, they give their time to the poor, sometimes it may appear as if, that even the saintly spend more time with the wealthy, it’s not that simple correspondence, it’s more that the saintly want to benefit society, and sometimes if a wealthy person becomes devoted, then they can do a lot of good for society, and thus, if they provide facility, if they take up the responsibility, they can help the message of God reach to a large number of people, and that’s why the saintly might put some more efforts to cultivate the wealthy, but that doesn’t mean that the wealth is the primary attraction, the saintly not want wealth for themselves, the saintly want to share the wealth of spiritual wisdom with everyone, and whoever is eager to receive, they are eager to share, but if somebody has the capacity to share it with a large number of people, then surely they would like to have that kind of contact, so that they can reach out, so that they can enrich more people, and the point is not pandering to the wealthy, the point is reaching the maximum number of people, but poverty generally makes people more receptive, they may not even have capacity to build locks on their houses, so to speak, or build fences, and that applies not just physically, but also symbolically, they are not so defensive because they have very little things to defend, and thus, sadbhi-shinoditam darsham, and by that association of the saintly, their worldly desires decrease, and as the worldly desires decrease, then they are getting purified, so the purification, which is the context, which is what is desired, that can happen in various ways, and one way it can happen is by association with the saintly, which becomes easier when there is poverty. Text 18 Text 18 Sadhus are equal to everyone. Mukunda Charan Aishinam, whose only business was to serve Mukunda, he had no other Aishinam, and Upek, Shaikhyam, Dhanastambhair, those who are proud of, why should anybody neglect their association, and seek the association of those who are taking shelter, of those who are sat, who are proud of their wealth.
So the Bhagavatam is moving here from narration to exposition, and it states that why should not one get spiritual enrichment by associating with the saintly, and why should one therefore not seek their association, instead if one seeks the association of the wealthy, then what are they going to get, they are only going to get mocked, derided, and eventually they are going to get nothing, they might get some wealth which will last for some time. The saintly can offer us everlasting enrichment, the wealthy can offer us at best some fleeting enrichment, and therefore it’s prudent to seek the association of the saintly. Now how do the saintly offer spiritual enrichment? Spiritual enrichment essentially is attraction to Krishna.
Krishna is all attractive and Krishna is always present in our heart, to the extent we have the desire to connect with him, to be absorbed in him, to the extent we can relish our absorption and feel that enrichment thereof by the focusing of our consciousness on him. So what the saintly provide us is the desire for absorption in him, that if we strive, we will get that desire, and that desire will help us grow, grow in our connection with Krishna, deepen our absorption. So the essence of association is the transfer of desires, and the saintly, by their words, by their actions, by their whole being itself, they trigger a desire for Krishna.
So by their words they speak about how attractive Krishna is, and that inspires us to devote ourselves to him, by their actions they demonstrate how a life devoted to Krishna looks like, and that also inspires us to devote ourselves to him. In this way, through words and actions both, the saintly inspire us to devote ourselves to him. Text 19, तद अहम्मत्तयोर् माद्व्या वारुण्यश्रीमदान्धयो तमूमदं हरिष्यामि स्त्रेणयो रजितात्मनहूम् तद अहम्मत्तयोर् माद्व्या So, therefore, I will, for these two people who have become intoxicated by drinking the liquor named Varuni, and their Shri Malanbhaiyo, so they have become intoxicated by liquor and they are already intoxicated by wealth.
So, तमूमदं हरिष्यामि, that ignorance born of, that arrogance born of ignorance, I will destroy. तमूमदं हरिष्यामि स्त्रेणयो रजितात्मनहूम् स्त्रेणयोर्, because they have become attached to women and they have lost control of their senses. Narad Muni is now summarizing his decision.
So, there are actions, the actions of being intoxicated by wealth, being intoxicated by liquor, being intoxicated by association of the opposite sex, and all this intoxication you are going to take away in one moment, and that is by giving a curse. That’s here in this verse, this verse conveys his resolution. So, the intoxication caused by wealth is far more long lasting than the intoxication caused by liquor.
Intoxication caused by liquor may come and go, but the intoxication caused by wealth will stay forever, simply because that intoxication is the intoxication which everyone has to go through. Because, you know, that is, more like if you put a substance into your body, that is going to intoxicate us. That can grow worse and worse, but if one manages to avoid the intoxication of wealth, then that is much better.
So, to put another way, this comparison between the two, put it this way that intoxication in a wealth is a functional necessity. Liquor is not a functional necessity. So, liquor if we drink, the main purpose of drinking liquor is to feel good, and one who drinks liquor is culpable.
But people lose their sense and get back their sense after some time. Of course, alcoholism can be a serious problem, but alcoholism often has some other cause underlying it. So, here Narada Muha doesn’t think that they have to go to, these two have to be sent to Alcoholics Anonymous to cure them of their alcoholism.
Alcoholism is simply the surface misbehavior. Even their loose conduct with women, that is also a surface, a symptom, the underlying intoxication, which has come from the abuse of something which is necessary. Wealth is necessary, but they let themselves get intoxicated, that has to be addressed.
The symptom being attacked is of not much use. The underlying cause has to be cured. And that is what Narada Muni is going to do now.
So, text 20 to 22. Although these two are the sons of Lokpal. Lokpal is one of the Cosmic Controllers, Cosmic Protector, that is the Devata Kuvera.
And they should not have become as intoxicated, so as affected by the mode of ignorance as they have become. It’s a very unfitting behavior for someone with such lustrous antecedents. Navivasam Atmanam and Vivasasam.
Sorry, that they have no dress, but they have no sense also. So, it’s not that they don’t have any dress sense. They have no dress and no sense.
People who don’t have dress sense, dress inappropriately. But they have no dress at all. And that is Atmanam, their own bodies are not covered.
And they are so fallen, they are so intoxicated, so degraded that they are not even aware that they are undressed. Sometimes we do wrong and then we are aware that we have done wrong. And then we feel embarrassed by that.
But here, when there is no sense of shame, that means the wrongdoing is done so brazenly that one has not only erred morally, but one has also lost one’s moral sense. It’s one thing to make a moral mistake, means to act immoral. It’s another thing to lose one’s morality itself.
So, the second is far more dangerous. And they are exhibiting the second level of disorientation. To do wrong is bad.
To do wrong and to not even realize that one has done wrong or to feel bad that one is doing wrong, that is even worse. And they have come to that level. अहो अर्हतः स्थावरताम् स्याताम् नेवं यतापुन स्मृति स्यान्मत् प्रसादेन तत्रापिमदनुग्रहात् अहो अर्हतः स्थावरताम् Therefore, let them become reduced to immobility, like a tree.
अहो अर्हतः स्थावरताम् स्याताम् नेवं यतापुन स्मृति स्यान्मत् प्रसादेन तत्रापिमदनुग्रहात् Because they are undressed, let them become like trees who live without any dress. Because they are exhibiting a mode of ignorance, let them go into an ignorant body like that of trees. Because they were engaging in brazen sensuality, let them get a body where brazen sensuality is impossible for them.
But then how will they recover? It’s one thing to punish, but more important than punish is to reform. So Naraguni also makes an arrangement for the reformation and he said, वासुदेवस्यसानिध्यम् लभ्ध्वादिव्यस्यरच्छते वृत्ते स्वर्वलो कतां भुवयो लभ्धाभक्ति बविष्यतः वासुदेवस्यसानिध्यम् In future they will get the proximity, the association of Vasudeva of Krishna. लभ्ध्वादिव्यस्यरच्छते वृत्ते After a long time, after the passage of a hundred years of the devatas.
स्वर्वलो कतां भुवयो Then again they will come to the heavens. लभ्ध्वादिव्यस्यसानिध्यम् But they will have achieved devotion. बविष्यतः It will become.
So, it’s not an endless punishment. It’s not a one-way route to punishment with no option for redemption. He also says that they will get the association of Krishna by which they will be redeemed.
So thus, here is the reasoning by which Narada Muni decides to and executes the curse on Malakuvar and Manikari. What happens thereafter, we will discuss in our future sessions.