Bhagavatam tenth canto study 59 – 10.10.36-43 The Lord grants not just physical mobility but also spiritual mobility

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 10, Deliverance of Yamalārjuna Trees, Text 36 Namaḥ param kalyāṇa namaḥ paramamangala vāsudeva śāntāya yadunāṁ pataye namah So, Alok and Manigri are continuing to offer prayers to Krishna after He has delivered them from the entanglement, imprisonment in tree bodies. So, here it is said that, namaḥ param kalyāṇa, we offer obeisances to You, O Lord, who are the supreme auspiciousness. So, Krishna Himself is the source of all auspiciousness, is the supreme auspiciousness.
pavitrāṇāṁ pavitraṁ yo maṅgalāṇāṁ ca maṅgalam So, here, that comes in the Viṣṇu Sahasrādhā invocation. So, like that here it is written, namaḥ param kalyāṇa namaḥ paramamangala So, You bring auspiciousness, You bring good for everyone. The same theme was talked a little bit earlier also, where, sāṃpratampatirāśiṣāṃ, the previous verse has said that, You are the Lord who fulfills desires, who grants benedictions.
We can scarcely imagine what it is like to be imprisoned in a tree body. If we consider an imprisonment to be, the essential point of imprisonment is deprivation of freedom. So, the physical mobility is one fundamental characteristic of freedom.
And when that is taken away from us, then we find ourselves unable to do, we find ourselves very choked. So, one of the things about a prison is that it restricts our physical mobility. When we are hospitalized and bedridden, we feel miserable because again our physical mobility is restricted.
But for a tree, the physical mobility is entirely removed. And especially for devatas like, for celestial beings like Nalakvar and Maigri, who had extraordinary powers to move about and fulfill their desires, for them to be put in a position of immobility is extremely painful. So now, when a person is in, say, in a prison, they may often look out of the window, looking at the free world outside and longing to go there.
So, similarly, Nalakvar and Maigri used to be craving for freedom, and now the Lord, after a long, long time of incarceration, has provided them freedom. So naturally, the Lord has brought auspiciousness for them. And he has given them not just physical freedom, but also spiritual freedom.
Not just freedom from immobility, but freedom from being restricted to mobility within the world itself, within material. So, mobility within material consciousness is still spiritual immobility. Spiritual mobility, people want to be upwardly mobile.
That means they want to grow financially. But if we are just simply materially upwardly mobile, then we are still spiritually immobile. Because we are not coming out of the cycle of birth and death.
Krishna says in 8.16 in the Bhagavad Gita, आब्रह्मभुवनालोका पुनरावर्थिनो अर्जुना मामुपेथितु कौन्तेय पुनरजन्मनविद्यते This is punarjanmanavidhyate. So we are still, if we are just rising materially, then we are still immobile spiritually, because we are not moving toward Krishna. So here the mobility that Krishna has offered Nalakur and Manigri, it is both material and spiritual mobility.
Freedom from the immobility of being in a tree body and freedom from the immobility of being in material consciousness. And with this combined mobilization, what does happen? वासुदेवा शान्ता वासुदेवाय शान्ताय यदुनां पतये नमः He says, you who are the all-pervading Lord, who are supremely peaceful, शान्ताय यदुनां पतये नमः So शान्ताय means that the Lord is not perturbed, even when things seem to be going wrong, because He is in control and He can set even wrong things right. If we just go along with Him and do our part in His plan.
यदुनां पतये नमः You are the Lord of the Yadus. It’s interesting, although Krishna is in Vrindavan, and Gopas and Nalakur and Manigri are also in Vrindavan, but still He is being referred to as यदुनां पतये because it is primarily for the Yadus, or regarding the Yadus in the discussion, that they are kings, Yadus are kings, and just as Krishna is the protector of the Yadus, similarly Krishna is their protector. So Krishna will eventually protect the Yadus from the tyrannical rule of Kamsa, and here He is protecting them from also the tree body.
So the Lord, He is small, childlike form, which is so peaceful, but even in that peaceful form, He is powerful. Though the Lord is peaceful, शान्ता आया, but still He is powerful, because He is the Supreme. Normally, when somebody is very powerful, say somebody is going to attack someone, just to get into the mood, they roar and they scream and they shriek, to invoke the passion and to intimidate, but here the Lord has brought down a huge tree, but He has remained peaceful, शान्ता आया.
So, text 37, अनुजानिही नवभूमंस् तवानुचरकिं करो धर्शनम् नवभगवत विषेरासीद अनुग्रहात् So now, Nalakur and Manigreel are coming to their specific situation, and they are speaking here, So, अनुजानिही नवभूमंस् May we have your permission, O Lord, please give us your blessings, so that as we depart now from here, you are the great, omnipotent Lord, so you are capable of giving any and every blessing as needed. So, the blessing that we want is, तवानुचरकिं करो So, तवानुचरकिं करो Your servants, may we be their servants, किं करो May we be the servants of your servants, धर्शनम् नवभगवत So, धर्शनम् नव We have been able to see you, by your darshan we have had, विषेरासीद नवग्रहात् Because of the mercy of Narada, the Lord is very appreciative, if we are appreciative of his devotees. And here, Nalakvar and Manigreev are expressing appreciation, gratitude toward Narada.
We see similar in Prahlad’s case also, that he expresses, My dear Lord, your servant has rescued me from the deep, dark ditch of material existence filled with snakes. Now, we could have said over, somebody could have argued there that, actually it is because of Narada Muni’s instructions that Prahlad was put in a deep, dark ditch filled with physical snakes. But he considers more dangerous than that ditch is the ditch of material existence.
And although, because of Narada Muni’s instructions for the practice of devotional service, he was physically in danger, he was more conscious that spiritually I have been freed from danger because of my absorption in the Lord. So now, महामृत मग्णचित्थ So here also, we see this gratitude of Nalakvar and Manigreev, they are not complaining that for some small, small offense, we were put in a tree body for so long. They are grateful that by Narada’s grace, Rishi Ranugrahat, we had your darshan.
And at that time, we were insubordinate towards him. We did not respect him appropriately. So please bless us, so that now we can respect him properly.
That is, they are moved in offering prayers to him here, in offering prayers to the Lord. So, if we appreciate those who appreciate the Lord, then we attract the Lord’s appreciation for us. And here they are saying, they are focusing on the blessings, not on the problems.
They had difficulties, they went through a tough time, where they had to live in tree body for a long time. But they are saying now, we are grateful that we have your darshan, so please let us stay as your servants. So that they are continuing in the next verse.
Chitthaks 38. वानी गुणानु कथने श्रवणु कथायां हस्तव चकर्म सुमनसस्तव पादयोर्ण सुत्यां शिरस्तव निवास जगत प्रणामे दृश्टि सतां धर्शने स्तुभवत्तनु नाम् So, वानी गुणानु कथने They are speaking that, O dear Lord, please let all our faculties be engaged in your glorification, in your service. So, what are those faculties which they aspire to engage in the Lord’s service? Let our speech be used to glorify you.
वानी गुणानु कथने We can speak about so many different topics. Often we gossip. But instead of such gossip, if we learn to focus on speaking about the Lord, शिरवणु कथायां Now, usually, what we speak is based on what we hear.
If we keep hearing something, naturally we will speak that also. So, शिरवणु कथायां O dear Lord, please bless us so that we can hear about you. If we hear your glories, then we will speak your glories.
And we don’t want this to be simply intellectual or passive, hearing and speaking. We want to also be actively engaged in your service. That means, हस्तवु चकर्मसु Our hands.
This can literally be taken that we want to do some service to you with our hands. And our hands represent also our active energy. The hands represent the energy with which we do activity.
So, हस्तवु चकर्मसु means that, O Lord, please help us engage all your energy in your service. मनसस्तवपादयोर्ना And bless us so that our mind can stay fixed in your remembrance. मनसस्तवपादयोर्ना Let my mind be fixed in remembering your lotus feet.
Let it be fixed in devotion to you. स्मृत्यां शिरस्तव निवास जगत् प्रणामे स्मृत्यां शिरस्तव निवास जगत् प्रणामे स्मृत्यां means, let me remember, शिरस् with our intelligence, let us remember that, let us remember you O Lord and let our head be bowing down to you who are all-pervading. तव निवास जगत् निवास जगत् प्रणामे तव निवास जगत् So, it means that, it can mean that the world resides in you or you reside everywhere in the world.
And both are true. तद अंतरस्य सर्वस्या तदु सर्वस्या सिभहायतः The Lord, the Ishopanishad says that the Lord resides in everything and He also resides outside of everything. तव निवास जगत् प्रणामे And then, धृष्टि सतां धर्शनेस्तु बवत् नुनाम् धृष्टि सतां धर्शनेस्तु O dear Lord, let our eyes behold the beautiful form, the form of those who are devoted to You and thus non-different from You.
बवत् नुनाम् So, it’s interesting, what is the significance of बवत् नुनाम् धृष्टि ही Their eyes were captivated earlier by the, in looking at the beautiful damsels. The Apsaras in Svarga. And thus they did not even notice or respect Narad Muni.
So now they are saying, let our eyes not be attracted to sense objects in the world, but let them be attracted toward You, O Lord, and toward Your devotees. It’s one thing to be attracted toward the Lord’s beautiful form, and that’s important. But along with that, we need persons whom we can see as persons at our level of consciousness.
And that happens when we see the Lord’s devotees devotionally. So that’s what is recommended over here, as aspiration by the Nalakuram Manigreem. Please, O Lord, in this way they are asking their whole being be devoted to You, to the Lord.
And by Narad Muni’s grace, we can see how deeply their consciousness has become spiritualized. And this is a great achievement. And this is a concluding verse also, offered by them to Krishna.
So here the point is that they have prayed to the Lord, and their prayers start from 29 and end with 38. So we have 10 verses of prayers, from 29 to 38. And if you do a quick overview of these prayers, first they say that, O Krishna, You are transcendental, and Your form, although manifests as a small child, first they focus on the form of the Lord, that actually it is transcendental form.
And they stress that, although You are a tiny form, You are great, You are beyond all material existence, You are the supreme person. So they focus on glorifying the form of the Lord, Tamagraha, therefore, how can we, if we are finite, that is because we are caught in a finite world, and so we can’t perceive Your finite form, that’s 32. And 33 is, they offer obeisances, that You, O Lord, are the source of everything.
You are beyond all illusion. Whatever illusion is there in this world, Your glories are covered to those who are in illusion, those who do not desire to relish Your glories. But You descend in various forms, and yet You remain not limited by Your form.
And You descend to give benedictions, that was 34 and 35, and then 36 was, the benediction we offer obeisances to You, or the protector, who are the grantor of auspiciousness, and the protector of the Yadus, and our protector also. So we seek the benediction that we always remain the servants of Your servants, even if we return to heaven. And how they want to serve, that is mentioned in 38th text.
That means that all our faculties, we engage in Your service. And then, we have, Shukadeva Swami speaking now. This is the conclusion of the past time, coming up, Shishukavacha, Ittham Sankirtita Stabhyam, Bhagavan Gokuleshwarah, Dhamnacholukhale Baddhah, Prahasanah Guhyakam.
Shukadeva Swami says, Ittham Sankirtita Stabhyam. In this way, after glorifying Krishna, when he was glorified as Bhagavan Gokuleshwarah, so Krishna is often called as Gopal, but he is also Lord of Gokula. So hence this name.
It’s not a very common name, but still it’s apt name. He, although he is a small child, lying over there in Gokula, tied in Gokula to a grinding mortar, but still he is Gokuleshwarah. Normally, when somebody is tied also, actually, it’s something, if somebody is tied with rope, even our soldiers, there are dignified and undignified ways of dying.
Somebody while standing is shot, and somebody while lying is kicked to death. That is more humiliating. So, when Ashwathama is killing the killer of his father, Drona, Dhrishtadyumna, Dhrishtadyumna asks him, don’t kill me with a weapon, don’t kick me like an animal to death.
He says, this is how you deserve to die. Ashwathama is furious. The point is Krishna is tied also in a very, you could say, not in a Kshatriya-like way, but still he is Gokuleshwarah.
He is the lord of Gokula. And, dām nā cho lukhale baddhah, though he is bound by the grinding mortar, but still he smiles, prahasann āha guhyakau, and he spoke to the guhyakas, the followers of Kuvera, they are called as guhyakas here. They belong to that category of being, and he was smiling, he spoke these words.
So, let us see what are Krishna’s words over this. śrī bhagavān vāca jñātam māṁ purai vaitad rūṣiṇā karunātmana yashrī madāndhriyor vāgbhir vibrahmṣo anugraha-kṛtahā jñātam māṁ purai vaitad So, I know from before, long ago, by the research, rūṣiṇā karunātmana This is a beautiful phrase that sage Narada is who? Karunātmana, rūṣiṇā. He also stresses, reiterates the grateful heart that Alok and Manikari have by saying that he is very merciful to you.
So, because you have become blinded by wealth, and he used his words to curse you, vibrahmṣo anugraha-kṛtahā So, although you fell from heavens, it was a great blessing for you. When we have a devotional understanding of reality, which seems to be quite hostile, at that time, if we have that understanding reiterated by someone, that is very faith-boosting for us. So, Krishna is doing that for the Guhyakas over here by saying that he has done this for your benefit only.
And then he glorifies Karunātmana, he glorifies sage Narada. sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ sutarāṁ mat-kṛtātmanāṁ darshanaṁ nobhaved-bandha puṁso akshṇa-savitūryathā So, sādhūnāṁ sama-cittānāṁ those saintly people who are equipoised always, sutarāṁ mat-kṛtātmanāṁ when they are completely devoted to me, darshana, in their presence, nobhaved-bandha, just by being in their presence, beholding them, we become free from bondage. And how is that? puṁso akshṇa-savitūryathā That just as when we behold the sun, then there is no darkness.
Just as darkness is dissipated by the sun, then similarly, the saintly presence of devotees dissipates material bondage as the sun dissipates darkness. This is a variant of kṛṣṇa-surya-sama-māyā-hayā-andhakār yahan kṛṣṇa-tahār-nāhi-māyā-radhikār So, just as Krishna is the sun, those devoted to Krishna are also like the sun. And they are being talked about here.
And Krishna is glorifying His devotees in this place. And thus He is stressing for us that whatever way we get the association of devotees, that’s auspicious. Text 42, tad gacchatam mad-paramau nalakūvarau sādhanam sanjāto mayi bhāvo vām ipsitaḥ paramo bhava-abhavā tad gacchatam mad-paramau So, now you can go back to your destination.
nalakūvarau sādhanam to your home. But mad-paramau, keep me as your goal, ultimate goal, the supreme goal. Every particular role in our lives, we will have corresponding goals.
But the goals that come from our roles should not override the whole as our supreme goal. And Krishna has given that cautionary note to them. Keep me mad-paramau as the supreme goal.
sanjāto mayi bhāvo vām And in this way, if you are permeated, saturated with devotion to Me, then ipsitaḥ paramo bhava-abhavā then you will aspire for and attain the supreme destination and you will never fall again. They are concerned that we fell once, we don’t want to fall again. The Lord is guaranteeing them that absorption is the ultimate protection.
So Krishna keeps it brief. Krishna in Vrindavan is not in the mood of giving long instructions. So Krishna’s responses generally to everyone are brief.
So just like here he finishes in two verses, his talk with Madhukarmanegari. Similarly, in Indra’s case also, Krishna finishes things briefly. So here now, Shukadeva Swami will give the conclusion.
Text 43. So on hearing these words being spoken, on being ordered like this, they performed a parikrama, they circumambulated the Lord. They offered repeated obeisances to Him.
It’s interesting, they did not try to even free Krishna because they knew that is not their role. Although He remained bound, they knew, they were grateful that He had liberated them. And then they went to their respective destinations.
In this way, Krishna liberated Madhukarmanegari. How things continue hereafter, we will discuss in the next chapter about the childhood pastimes of Krishna. Thank you.