Bhagavatam tenth canto study 70 – 10.12.37-44 – If ecstasy pulls us out of our service, we need to pull ourselves out of that ecstasy

And how things unfold.
Here we will look at in a next class. Thank you. This work which Krishna performed in Kaumara, in which Krishna delivered his associates from death in the mouth of Aghasura and Krishna also delivered Aghasura from death in the sense that he liberated him.
So, both the Gopas and the threatener of the Gopas were delivered by Krishna. Then Hare Atma Hi Mokshanam. So, the devotees are the heart of Hari.
Ahi Mokshanam. But it is not that his love is restricted only to his devotees. He liberates even the demons.
Ahi Mokshanam. That from the cycle of birth and death, he, when he was just a pavganda, he freed them when that after one year later. So, when he was a Kaumara, when he was around the age of five, he did this and at the end of the sixth year, pavganda ke bala, the children, they spoke this, they disclosed this fact to the Vrajvasis and they revealed it as if it had happened just yesterday.
And they were astounded. So, on hearing this, the Vrajvasis were astounded. So, it’s interesting here what is going on.
This will sometimes some points are question begging points. That means on hearing that point, you cannot but ask a question. And if somebody is not asking a question, that means they’re not hearing the point.
So, if question begging points don’t invite a question, that the audience is not hearing, we can more or less take it for granted. So, here, it’s not a question begging point. It’s a question begging point that why did the Vrajvasis, why did the Vrajagopas not speak about Krishna’s killing of Aghasa for one year earlier? It happened in his Kaumara age, but they spoke it when he was pavganda.
So, immediately we see Parikshit Maharaj’s attentiveness that he will ask a question. So, text 38 now. We’ll see in due course, he will ask this.
But before that, Shukadeva Goswami is concluding, giving a contextualization and explanation of Krishna’s activities with some philosophical exposition. So, this is not amazing. Why is it not amazing? So, he is appeared as a son of Nandan Maharaj.
He’s appeared as a child, but that’s an appearance, that’s an illusion that he’s appeared as a small human child. But that’s an illusion. Of course, illusion here doesn’t mean a mistake.
It’s appearance created by the Lord for some purpose. There are causes and effects in the world. There are higher and lower realities.
But this Lord exists beyond all of these. He’s not a part of the causal connections of the world. He exists beyond them.
And that he appeared as a child is his leela. So, aghopiyat sparshan, just by his touch, slight association, slight contact, he was freed from the grievous sinful actions that he had done. And he obtained what? Atmasamyam.
He attained a body, assembling that of Narayana. Atmasamyam. That which is not possible to be attained by the asatas, by those who are non-devotees, those who are materialists, those who are attached to asata are called asatam.
So, sudurlabham, it’s extremely difficult for them to attain that. But he attained it because that was Krishna’s mercy. So, here, before, there are many question-begging incidents that have happened over here.
One is, of course, that how could a demon attain, enter into Krishna’s body? How could he attain liberation? Then, of course, the other question is, why did the Vrajagopas not speak about it for one full year? So, Shukadeva Swami will answer some of the question-begging points. And so, first point, he takes first things first. So, to explain how Aghasura attained liberation, Shukadeva Swami stresses that it was because Krishna is not an ordinary person.
Paravaranam paramasya vedasa. He is the transcendental. So, normally, a material cause will have a material effect.
So, if somebody is accused, say, if somebody does something bad, they get the bad result. They do something good that they get good result. This is the law of karma.
But Krishna exists beyond karma. Paravaranam paramasya vedasa. So, beyond the cause effect of this world, He exists.
So, if somebody connects with Him, that connection itself is auspicious, even if the intention underlying that connection is not devotional. So, of course, this is not the way bhakti should be consciously cultivated. We should cultivate it with a desire to please and serve Krishna.
However, if it is cultivated differently, if somehow a connection with Krishna is established, that is the potency. And that is described over here. So, the results of even an unfavorable connection with Krishna are so glorious that it should increase our inspiration to cultivate a favorable connection with Him.
And this results come because Krishna is not under material laws and effects. Say, if somebody does, if a killer does, if somebody tries to assassinate a king and the king gives a big reward to be assassin, you say, what is this? This is crazy. But when Krishna does something, it’s not just justice, it’s mercy because He’s beyond the cause effect connection of this world.
So, just a small contact with Him purified and aghopiyat sparshan dhautapataka, even grievous wrongs, He became free from them. And He achieved, it’s described here, narayanasama, that He actually attained parapraatmasamyam, similarity in form, similarity in nature to the Supreme Lord. So, Acharya described that what He attained was because Krishna personally entered into His body.
So, He personally entered into Krishna and Krishna is non-different from the spiritual world. So, He entered into the spiritual world and entered into Krishna’s pastimes. So, what He attained was a saarupya mukti, that such is not possible to attain, but what is impossible to attain for ordinary people can be attained by the Lord’s grace.
Text 39 now, sakrut yad angapatimantrahita manomai bhagvatim dadaugatim saiva nirayatmasukhanubhutyabhi yudhasthamayo antargato hikimpunah sakrut yad angapatimantrahita yad angapatimah. So, now He’s giving the general principle that how does this pastime apply to us? He says that it applies by that even once angapatimah, that the form of the Lord, if we, antarahita, manomai, if inside our consciousness, we place Him and even if this is done by force, bhagvatim dadaugatim, just that remembrance is competent enough to grant us devotional service and the best destination thereof. So, saiva nityatma, such a person can attain that Krishna is the well-wisher of all living beings and thinking of Him, experience sukha anubhutya, so that contact with Him, however it is established, even if it is by force, that can give the experience of sukha anubhutya, experience of joy.
Because all maya is destroyed by the invocation of His presence in the court. So, because maya is destroyed, so the Lord can be attained, so the Lord is already present in the heart and when He is recollected, then He manifests His potency and He purifies us, He cleanses us. So, for all of us, the inspiration is not to so much, not to collect, to try to attack the Lord like Aghasur did, we can’t do that, we are tiny beings, but the inspiration, the instruction for us is that if we try to connect with Him, then He will bless us and if He can offer such magnitude of blessings to those who approach Him unfavorably, how much more blessing will He offer to somebody who approaches Him favorably.
It is with that hope that we can move forward in our life. Text 40 So, here Ittham dvija yadava devadattaha Ittham dvija Bhagavatam is a narration by Shukadeva Goswami to Parikshit Maharaj and that incident along with some other background is narrated by Suta Goswami to the sages of Naivisharanya. So, sometimes the narrative of say Krishna’s past in the 10th canto is interrupted with Shukadeva Goswami said and sometimes it’s interrupted with Shri Suta Goswami said.
It depends on how the narrative is flowing and how the pastime is going on. So, here Suta Goswami said, Ittham dvija yadava devadattaha. In this way, over-learned brahmanas, yadava devadattaha, that that king who was protected by, whose life was protected by or who was given, benedicted by Yadava Dev, the head of the Yadus, Krishna, whose life was granted back by Yadava Devadatta.
It’s a beautiful name for Parikshit Maharaj that the name Yadava Devadatta indicates the specialness of Parikshit Maharaj. Yadava Devadattaha, one whose life was returned by the God of the Yadus. God here means the best, the greatest.
So, indicate that the subject which is being discussed has an intimate relationship with the people who are discussing with the person who is hearing. So, what is being heard and who is hearing are intimately related in a bond of love and that is stressed by Suta Goswami to the sages of Nayamichar India when he speaks this word. Ittham dvija yadava devadattaha.
Kshutva svaratush charitam vichitram. Kshutva svaratush. So, when he heard about Krishna, svaratu, one who had saved him in the womb of his mother, svaratu, when he was still not yet born at that time, his charitam vichitram, his extraordinary charita can be described as aprachyabhuya api tateva punyam.
So, he knew that all these narrations are always very pious, they are always very purifying, they are always very uplifting. So, when he heard these narrations, vayyasa kim yan nirgrihal kachetaha vayyasa kim. So, from Shakti Goswami he had heard at a time, what happened because of that? He became steady in mind.
So, for a few moments he became overwhelmed with ecstasy and it’s natural because if we love someone and we hear about how lovable they are, how glorious they are, then we can become overwhelmed with emotion. So, Parikshit Maharaj, after hearing Krishna’s ecstatic pastimes, became overwhelmed, but then he calmed himself down. We see, there is this tug of war between emotion and reason in the narrative of the 10th canto.
When we are hearing the sweet pastimes of the Lord, we may desire, let me just go on hearing these pastimes, I don’t need anything else. But then while hearing these pastimes, if something, if something, question begging comes up, then the voice of reason, which has become stunned into silence, also speaks out. So, we will see what Parikshit Maharaj will speak now.
Text 41. So, things that had happened at an earlier time, yad kalinam katham bhavet, why did they narrate those things as if they had happened just now? So, yad kaumare hari kutam, so he says, just like the specifics, that what Krishna did, what Hari did as a Kaumar, jagu pavganda ke arba kaha, why did they speak them when Krishna was in the pavganda age? Here the question is, that if we hear something exciting, say, imagine that somebody has heard some sensational news, then normally, they would want to tell that news immediately, if, say, there was a, suppose, a sports season, say, in cricket, there’s a spectacular match, and somebody watched that match firsthand, and they come to us, and then they would want to tell us about their experience of that match immediately. But why would, if suppose they tell us, after one year, say, what happened? Is this a late current? So, why are you not telling it? Why are you telling it now? Why didn’t you tell it at that time? So, there is this time-lapse that has happened, and that’s a question-begging time-lapse.
So, he asked this question, and whatever thrill might be there in an exciting sports match, a thrill in being with Krishna, and a thrill in being personally saved by Krishna. The Vrajagopas didn’t just observe it, they experienced it. It happened to them.
It was not just something which they watched happening as spectators. The Vrajagopas were not spectators in Krishna’s amazing pastimes, they were participants. So, Krishna saved them.
Then why would they not speak about it? So, Parikshit Maharaj asked this question. And text 42 now. तद्भुहिमे महान्योगिन् परंकव्तूहलं गुरो नूनं एतद्धरेरेव मायाभवतिनान्यता तद्भुहिमे महान्योगिन् Please speak that to me, O Mahayogi.
O great Shukadeva Swami, speak this to me. परंकव्तूहलं गुरो This is my great curiosity, O Guru, O Spiritual Master, my curiosity is awakened by this. And not ordinary curiosity, परंकव्तूहलं, it is very intense, a strong curiosity is awakened.
नूनं एतद्धरेरेव Otherwise, now he asks the question, but he also gives an answer to it. नूनं एतद्धरेरेव Otherwise, I think that this incident, मायाभवतिनान्यता, it must be an illusion created by Lord Hari. So if something is happening around Krishna, about Krishna, then it is likely to be caused by Krishna.
So Parikshit Maharaj asks and offers a possible answer to the question. And that can, offering a tentative answer helps the questioner to understand where we are coming from. And often the questioner needs to understand the answer giver.
The speaker needs to understand not just the question, but also understand the questioner. Understand the questioner’s level, the questioner’s background, the questioner’s context. And then answer can be given.
So sometimes giving a suggestive answer indicates that. Now why would Krishna create an illusion? You could say that the whole of Vrindavan is an illusion. It’s Yoga Maya.
It is created for facilitating his pastimes. So if one year has passed, then it must have been, this must be an illusion created by Krishna. Thus Parikshit Maharaj is giving a tentative answer to his own question.
So text 45 now. वयं धन्यतमालोके गुरोपीक्षत्रबन्धवः वयं पिबामो मुहस्त्वत्तः पुण्यं कृष्णकताम्रतं वयं धन्यतमालोके We are grateful. We are delighted.
We become fortunate. धन्यतमा means we become glorious. We become satisfied, enriched, elevated.
गुरोपीक्षत्रबन्धवः So, O spiritual master, although we, वयं, so he is referring to himself, he is saying चत्रबन्धवः Now, Parikshit Maharaj was the foremost of the Kshatriyas. He protected his kingdom from an agent, an upstart, a miscreant as big as Kali. So, what more can a Kshatriya do? And here, Parikshit Maharaj, out of his natural humility, addresses himself as चत्रबन्धवः He thinks that I am just a friend of a Kshatriya.
And further, he says that he is, he may also be conscious of his particular shortcoming, his particular blunder in disrespecting Shamakrishnaji, because of which also he thinks that I am not a true Kshatriya. A true Kshatriya would have protected the Brahmanas. I offended a Brahmana.
So, that could also be a reason why he is referring himself as चत्रबन्धवः So, but he is saying, although I am just a relative of Kshatriya, not a real Kshatriya, but still, I am also becoming benefited. वयं पिबामो मुष्ट्वत्तः By drinking from you, पिबामो मुष्ट्वत्तः By drinking from you, पुण्यं कृष्ण कथामृतम् the delightful nectar of Krishna’s pastimes, By drinking that, I am also becoming purified. I am becoming purified.
So, along with the question, he is offering an appreciation. Say, sometimes in a class, if a speaker gives a class, somebody asks a question. Now, if the questioner is also benefited from the class, and the questioner gives some appreciation, that this question is not in the mood of a challenge, it’s in a mood of deepening my understanding.
The whole reciprocation becomes sweeter. That’s what Parishad Maharaj is doing here, by asking a question. And also following that question with appreciation.
How fortunate I am to be hearing from you. And then, let’s see how Shukrasutra Goswami gives the contextual description, after which the answer by Shukradeva Goswami will start in the next chapter. So, text 44, Shri Suta Uvacham, Ittham Smaprishtah Sattupadrayanis Tatsmarit Ananta Pratakhilendriya Kricharat Punarlabdha Bahir Drishisanai Pratyahatam Bhagvato Tamottama So, Shukradeva Goswami says, Ittham, in this way, Smaprishtah Sattupadrayanis When he had asked in this way from Bhadrayani Prishtaha, the son of Vyasadeva, known as Bhadrayani, son of Shukradeva Goswami.
Bhadrayani is Vyasadeva. Bhadrayani is his son. Tatsmarit Ananta Tatsmarita In this way, Ananta, when Lord Ananta was remembered, Smarita, Pratakhilendriya, all his senses were lost in ecstasy.
This is what, Shukradeva Goswami became ecstatic. He lost external awareness. But that Kricharat, but he knew he had a service to perform.
And thus, Shukradeva Goswami was getting lost in ecstasy. But he, you could say, Kricharat, with difficulty, pulled himself out of ecstasy for doing the service of answering Parikshit Maharaj’s questions. So, punar labdabahir drisheshanair.
So, slowly, he came back to external awareness. And, coming back to external awareness, pratyahatam. And he answered his questions.
He spoke back to him. Bhagvatottamottama. So, this is a superlative being used over here.
So, Shukradeva Goswami is referring to Saunaka as bhagvatottamottama. So, uttama itself is a superlative. Its superlative is piled on superlative.
Bhagvat itself is a, to be a bhagvat itself is a glorious thing. But bhagvatottamottama is a superlative upon superlative on a superlative. So, such is the culture of sweet respect and affection in which this Krishna-centered discussion is going on.
So, how Shukradeva Goswami answered the question, we’ll discuss in our future session.