Bhagavatam first canto study 4 – 1.1.4-1.1.23 – The sages’ questions

Hare Krishna.
Welcome to our discussion on the first canto, systematic verse-by-verse study. We discussed the first three verses in three talks. The first verse talks about how the Bhagavatam focusses on absolute truth and it describes the absolute truth which we mediate on dhimahi.
The second text describes how this Bhagavatam offers us the topmost dharma, which frees us from all misery, which connects us to the highest truth, who manifests soon when we meditate on the absolute truth in our heart. And the third text states that this Bhagavatam is the ripened fruit, which we can relish. The rasa.
So the absolute truth is defined in the first verse. The Bhagavatam’s message, the Bhagavatam’s distinctive message, unique message is defined in the second verse and the Bhagavatam’s special flavour in terms of its relishability is stated in the third verse. Now from the fourth verse onwards, the narrative of the Srimad Bhagavatam starts.
So text four is So, At the place of Naimisharanya, So Lord Vishnu is called as one who never blinks his eyes. So, So Naimisharanya is the place of Lord Vishnu. So what happened over there? There were the sages headed by Shravanaka.
So Satram, for a hundred, Satra is sacrifice. So, for the, they performed a sacrifice for the Supreme Lord and for the godly devotees for thousand years they performed. So, the setting of the Srimad Bhagavatam’s outermost framing narrative is described over here.
In the Bhagavatam, we will see multiple nested narratives being told at different points. This is the outermost narrative being told and this narrative focusses on how the Srimad Bhagavatam is being, is a conversation between the sages at Naimisharanya headed by Shravanaka and other sages and Suta Goswami who will be addressing them. So first, the occasion is being described that the sages had assembled to perform a sacrifice for a thousand years.
So, sacrifice was an event which was very important, very important part of the sacred Vedic culture wherein the Devatas were propitiated and thereby Devatas and the Supreme Lord were propitiated and thereby the well-being of everyone was sought. So the sacrifice would go on from morning to evening and like that they had planned that they would go on the sacrifice, they would continue the sacrifice for a long, long time. Thousand years they would continue it on.
So now we go to 1.1.5 There, once, at one time, one day, the sages offered in the morning They lit the sacrificial fire. They offered proper respects to Suta Goswami who was seated on They offered him a respectful seat and they enquired from him, they questioned him. So this and as this thousand year sacrifice was going on at one particular time, the sages, they decided that to complement the sacrifice, they also wanted to have a sacrifice of hearing and chanting and so they asked the sage Suta Goswami They offered him a respectful seat and then they enquired from him.
Let us see what they enquired. 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 So the sages spoke. What did they speak? 1.1.6 By you, certainly, 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.6 1.1.7 1.1.11 So now, of course, these questions are being asked by one particular sage and later that sage will be revealed to be Shanak Rishi, but he is speaking on behalf of the sages and it will be shown that he is their official representative later on in the Bhagavatam.
So they start by enumerating, deleting, specifying the qualifications of Suta Goswami. Now, I say that they mention three categories of scriptures here. Puranas, the Puranas are extensive books which are anthologies, which describe various activities centred ultimately on the pastimes of the Lord and his devotees.
Itihas are more specific pastimes, they are not anthologies, but they are histories centred on one particular dynasty, so they are Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are 18 Puranas and Chanagha, Anagha, you are a sinless person, therefore, you know these Puranas very well. So these Puranas have been spoken and you have heard them being spoken, you have studied them, you have understood them and along with that, there are Dharmashastras.
Dharmashastras are more specific scriptures which give directions about how Dharma is to be followed and all these are known well to you, O Suta Goswami. So, the Rishis begin by telling about the qualifications of Suta Goswami. 1.1.7 यानिवेदविदाम् स्रेष्ठो भगवान्बादरायणः अन्येच्यमुणः सूतः परावरविदोऽविदुः So, यानिवेदविदाम् स्रेष्ठो, स्रेष्ठ, you sing your most, वेदविदाम्, those who are the knowers of the Vedas, भगवान्बादरायणः, बादरायणः, बादरायण is Vyasadeva himself, he is the literal incarnation of the Lord, so भगवान्, अन्येच्यमुणः सूतः, so, and there are other sages also, O Suta, परावरविदोऽविदुः, परावर, पर means transcendental and अवर means non-transcendental, so metaphysical and physical, विदो, you know both these knowledges, विदोऽविदुः, so here it is said that, so here further, it’s not just, education is not just in terms of the number of books that we have learnt, but it’s also in terms of the number of learned people from whom we have learnt, so first it is, first verse says that these are all the books that you have studied, and then somebody might just study the books in isolation and not really understand them, but if one studies them and also studied with or studied under people who are acknowledged as scholars, then the qualification becomes much greater, so here it is said that, actually you have studied under the great Vyasadeva, and you have also studied under great other sages, who are Vedavidam, so Vyasadeva is Vedavidam, he knows the Vedas, and परावरविदुः, and there are other sages who know about physical knowledge as well as परावरः, परा means higher or transcendental, अवर is lower, so the higher and lower knowledge, the transcendental and material knowledge, both are known to you, he speaks further, then 1.1.8, वेथ तों सोमे तत्सर्वम्, तत्वतस्तदनु ग्रहात्, ब्रुयूस्निक्दस्ते शिष्यस्य, गुरवो गुहियम प्योतम्, वेथ तों सोमे तत्सर्वम्, वेथ, वेथ means you know, तों सोमे, you are gentle, pure, simple, तत्सर्वम्, oh you, who are a simple hearted person, you know it all, तत्वतस्तदनु ग्रहात्, so you not only, so you know it by their mercy, ब्रुयूस्निक्दस्ते शिष्यस्य, because you were a, स्निक्दस्ते शिष्यस्य, you were respectful, submissive, affectionate to them, गुरवो गुहियम प्योतम्, spiritual masters, they have imparted the secret unto you, so here the relationship between, सुत्वस्वामि and his spiritual mentors has been continued, and it states that, actually they have all taught you, and taught you well, because you were affectionate, you were submissive and स्निक्दस्य, you were submissive, you were affectionate, you were respectful, you were reverential, and that’s why they were pleased with you, तत्वतस्तदनु ग्रहात्, by their mercy, they gave you the knowledge, which is the knowledge, that was गुहियम, गुहियम, confidential knowledge, so it’s said later in the Bhagavatam that, धर्मस्तत्त्वानिहितम् गुहायम् महाजणोयनिगतः सपंथ, तत्व of dharma is confidential, and it can be known by studying under the mahajanas, so you studied under the mahajanas, and that’s how you know this knowledge, so, he has studied, it’s not only that he has studied, sometimes there may be a classroom where there are 1000 students, and yes, the professor is famous, the student, not 1000 students, maybe 100 students or whatever number, large number of students, the professor may not even know each student, but if a student is outstanding, and the professor has shown special attention to the student, then that’s special, so that’s noteworthy, not only as having a famous teacher, but also famed as a special student of the famous teacher, so that’s the fame of Suta Goswami, so his illustrious qualification is being mentioned over here, and further it goes on, 1.1.9, तत्रतंत्रञ्जसायुष्मन् भवतायद्विनिष्चितं पुम्सामेकान्तःष्रेयस् तन्नशंसितुमर्हसी, तत्रतंत्र, so all that you have studied, तन्जसायुष्मान् आयुष्मन्, तन्जस, easily, we will see what that easily refers to, आयुष्मन्, so आयुष्मन्, आयुष is life, आयु is life, we have आयु, उर्वेद, so like that, आयुष्मन्, one who are blessed with a long life, भवतायद्विनिष्चितं, so that you, भवता is a respectful second person address, भवान, भवता, विनिष्चितं, so please certainly you tell us, पुम्सामेकान्तःष्रेयस्, for people in general, एकान्तःष्रेयस्, what is the greatest good, तन्नशंसितुमर्हसी, that explain and we deserve to know it, so what he is asking now is, so after describing the qualifications of Suta Goswami in three texts, the second, third and fourth, the fourth, fifth and sixth, he studied himself the important books, he studied under the great teachers and he has received special mercy from them, and now it is said, therefore, please tell what is the most important part of the scriptures and speak it in a way that it will benefit people, it behoves you, for one who is given a lot, a lot is expected, so you have this knowledge, so it behoves you to share this knowledge and share it in what way, अन्जसा, in a way that is easily understandable for people, आयुश्मन, आयुश्मन means that you have a long life, so sometimes to explain something in a way that is easily understandable for people may take a longer time, he says, yes, you have a long life span and to least do good to us by using your life span to speak about the confidential import of scriptures, एकान्तःष्रेयस्, that which is the ultimate benefit, please speak about that to us, so 1.10 now, प्रायेन अल्पायुश्यह सभ्य, कलावस्मिन्युगेजनः, मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो, मन्दभाग्याय उपद्रतः, so this is a famous verse often quoted by Shri Prabhupada and the previous Acharyas, now till now there has been no specific mention about Kaliyuga in the conversation between the sages and Suta Goswami, but here it is mentioned प्रायेन, most of the people, अल्पायुश्यह, so this अल्पायुश्यह is contrasted with आयुश्मान, so Suta Goswami, you have a long life, as is mentioned in the previous verse, people in general, अल्पायुश्यह, they have a very short life, प्रायेन अल्पायुश्यह सभ्यह, all learned person, all gentle person, कलावस्मिन्युगेजनः, so the reference to Kaliyuga comes along, युगेजनः, in this age, युगेजनः, and what happens in this age of Kaliyuga, मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो, the people are मन्दः, so now मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो is a poetic metaphor, we see that this sort of poetic repetitions of words have come several times, निमिशे and निमिशक्षेत्रे, it had come earlier, so similarly it’s here, मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो, the word मन्दः is coming twice and the sound म is coming thrice, मन्दः, सुमन्दः and मतयो, so म, म, म is coming thrice over here, so these are some small examples which we with our preliminary sense of poetry can also appreciate the poetic nature of the Bhagavad Gita, so मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो, so मन्दः means lazy, सुमन्नमतयो means that the consciousness is also lazy, the consciousness is not very sharp, it is dull, so physically lethargic and intellectually also lethargic, मन्दः सुमन्नमतयो, मन्दः भाग्याय उपद्रतः and मन्दः भाग्या, unfortunate, उपद्रतः, उपद्रतः means disturbed, misled, so what this verse is referring to essentially is the characteristics of people in Kali Yuga and it’s described over here that these people, people in Kali Yuga, most of them, अलपायुश्य, so it’s described in sages where शत्रं सतं, they were performing a sacrifice for a hundred years, for a thousand years, so now for a long long time they are performing sacrifice but they realise that people in Kali Yuga won’t have such long life spans, further not only would people not have such long life spans but also अलपायुश्य and even if you have less time, suppose somebody knows that I am going to have this car only for three days and then I have to go a thousand miles, then practically the person, or I have to go 10,000 miles say, that means I’ll have to drive 3,000 miles every day and person will drive at top speed, so to make sure that one reaches the destination, so like that the soul has a very short life span and in the human body in Kali Yuga, that human life has a very short life span but the soul instead of driving rapidly towards Krishna, soul is extremely lazy and soul doesn’t move only, so in Kalavasmin Yuga, what is it, मन्दह सुमन्दमतयो, people are physically lethargic, now they may be very active for sense gratification, going here, going there but when it comes to spiritual endeavour, people are very lazy, now temple may be just right next door but people think we’ll go in future to the temple and similarly practising spiritual life, मन्दह and then सुमन्दमतयो, the consciousness is also misdirected, सुमन्दमतयो and then further they decide, मन्दभाग्याय उपद्रितह, so they are physically lethargic, even they are not physically lethargic, they are intellectually lethargic, they don’t understand it, you know, I should consider what is there beyond death, how can I attain that destination and even if somebody enquires about whether there is anything beyond death, then also there are many people who get misled, मन्दभाग्या, because there are so many false teachers who give misleading teachings and even among those who are fortunate enough to get the right path, the mind doesn’t allow them to focus, उपद्रितह, so in this way, this is the age of disqualification and therefore there is some special provision that will be required and that provision will be mentioned later, it will be mentioned again and again in the Bhagavatam and it will be reiterated how the glorification of the Supreme Lord, is the way to overcome the problems of this age, so if we consider this disqualification that I mentioned, they are progressively making the chance of getting through lesser and lesser, so if we have this big opening, okay, the lifespan is short, but still everybody has 60, 70, 80 years, but within that lifespan, people are physically lethargic, they hardly ever want to go to the temple or go to a place where they will get some spiritual association, they will learn something over there, and even among them when they get it, in the spiritual association, they are intellectually not very sharp, they don’t understand what is being taught, so that means that the passage will become narrower and narrower, and even when they come to some spiritual association, often there are pseudo-spiritualists who mislead, मन्दभाग्या, and even if they come somehow to the right spiritualists, they are too disturbed, what about this, what about that, what about that, and in that way, they just don’t get the opportunity to focus and grow in spiritual life, so this is the plight, just like when we go to a doctor, at that time we tell the doctor what is the problem, and then the doctor will tell what is the diagnosis, we tell what are the symptoms, what are the problems we are facing, then the doctor will give a prescription, so here, the patient is not going, but just like a concerned patient’s relatives, that patient’s concerned relatives may tell that patient’s symptoms to a doctor and ask for a prescription, so like that they say they are concerned about all of us in Kali Yuga, and they are asking, these are the symptoms of the people, so what remedy would you suggest for them, what prescription would you give for them, that will come in the next verses, but that’s implied over here, so 111, Bhoorini Bhoorikarmani Shrotavyani Vibhagashaha, Atahasadhotra Yatsaram, Samudrutya Manishaya, Bhruvibhadraya Bhutana, Yenatma Suprasidati, so Bhoorini Bhoorikarmani, so there are Bhoorini, there are many scriptures, and there are many duties mentioned in those scriptures, Shrotavyani Vibhagashaha, there is so much to be learned with all their divisions among themselves, Atahasadhotra Yatsaram, therefore O sage, from all this Yatsaram, the essence of this all, Samudrutya Manishaya, Samudrutya, select, to the best of your knowledge, Manishaya, Manisha is one who has conquered the mind, that means one who is truly learned, Bhruvibhadraya Bhutana, speak that which will be Bhadraya Bhutana, auspicious for living beings, Yenatma Suprasidati, by which the soul will become satisfied, Yenatma Suprasidati, So here, the sages in the previous text, they had not asked any question, but now they are asking a specific question, they are stating that there are so many scriptures, so many duties, and so many levels, so Bhoorini Bhoorikarmani, Vibhagashaha, Shrotavyani Vibhagashaha, there are so many scriptures, so many duties, and so many divisions of thought, so many systems of thought, so much has been heard, the essence of that, the most important for that, please speak that, by which, for the people in general, Yenatma Suprasidati, the soul will become satisfied, and this will be answered in 1.2.6, where it will be stated that, actually, Yenatma Suprasidati, that path, that dharma by which one understands pure devotion to the Supreme Lord, that is the supreme dharma, So that’s how, the Bhagavatam will speak about, will answer the questions one by one, so here the question is, what is it, among all the varieties of scriptures, with their varieties of duties mentioned, what is it that will do the true good, to speak that, by which, people will become truly satisfied, Let’s go to 1.12. Bhagavan Satvatampati, Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord, the master of Satvatas, of the devotees, Devakyam Vasudevasya, in the family of Devakyam Vasudevasya, Jatoyasya, Chikirshaya, Jatoyasya, he was born there for, yes, Chikirshaya, for executing what purpose, So now this is, another question that the sages are asking, O Suta, on whom all blessings are there, you know, for what purpose the Supreme Lord, who is Satvatampati, who is the Lord of the devotees, was born in the family of his devotees, Vasudeva and Devaki, what purpose is he going to execute, So now if you see the Bhagavatam, it’s spoken in a mood of separation, imminent separation, the Lord is about to, the Lord has disappeared, and we’ll see the setting, how it is going to be described, so actually, this happens some significant time after, the Suta and, Shukadeva and Parishad’s conversation, and Shukadeva and Parishad’s conversation happens a substantial time after the Pandavas have disappeared, who disappear after Krishna has disappeared, so the Bhagavatam, the sages are still in a mood of separation, because from the point of view of cosmic time scales, the Lord has disappeared only recently, and just like if some momentous event has happened, say for 30-40 years after the independence of India, people are still remembering, oh, India just got independent recently, and the freedom struggle and all that people went through, people keep talking about that, and same with, say in America, it’s American independence, people talked about for decades, and sometimes centuries also, some momentous event that is there, so, not just the disappearance of the Lord, but the appearance of the Lord, and the Lord’s descent on the earth in the form of Krishna, is very much a prominent event in the historical memory of the sages, because it was a recent event, and they are asking, for what purpose did he appear? Please tell us that.
You know it, and please tell it to us. So, those among us who are striving to hear, endeavouring to, we are eager to hear, naa, naa means we, aaj naa is a plural self-reference, like I and we, arhasyang anuvarnitam, arhasy, deserves you, anga, anga is an auspicious name of reference, so here it refers to Suta Goswami, anuvarnitam, please describe, yasyavataro bhutanaam, by whose descent into this world, bhutanaam, kshemaya cha bhavaya cha, so, by whom all living beings, kshema, kshema means their, good, their protection, and bhavaya, for their upliftment, so both happens. So, they are continuing the question which they had asked in the previous life, and they ask over here, that we want to hear, we are all of us, we are eager to hear, and therefore it befits you to describe, the activities of that lord, whose descent is for kshemaya cha bhavaya cha, for the well-being of all living beings, so well-being is two-fold, while they are living in this world, also they need to be protected, and ultimately, the best protection is that they are liberated from this material world, and they return back to you, so both these, kshemaya cha bhavaya cha, both these are what, you are going to do, you know about, and you want to hear about that lord, who has come for doing such good, into this world, so please speak about it, you know it, and we are eager to hear, so it befits you to speak it to us.
So, 1.1.14 now, आपन्नः सम्स्मितिं घोराम् यन्नाम् विवशोग्रणन् ततः सद्यो विमुचेत यद्विभेति स्वयं भयं So, here it goes, it’s a famous verse, आपन्नः सम्स्मितिं घोराम् सम्स्मिति, सम्स्मिति is material existence, घोराम् is a terrible material existence, So, यन्नाम् विवशोग्रण, यन्नाम् whose name, we chant विवशो, even if in helplessness, means, it’s not that, that person is having great devotion and is chanting, but that person feels helpless, nothing else works, so let me try to chant the name. So, this verse can be explained in different ways by different Acharyas. We will look at one way that is easiest to understand.
So, that even if people chant not because of devotion, but because of helplessness, सद्यो विमुच्चेत, but soon, just by chanting once, people can get liberated from ततः सद्यो विमुच्चेत, यत भिभेति स्वयं भयं, so people get easily liberated from material existence by chanting the name of this Lord even once, यत भिभेति स्वयं भयं, that even fear personified is afraid of the Supreme Lord, that means, normally when we say, fear is afraid of Him, normally everyone is afraid of fear, or rather when fear comes, we all become afraid, so now, if a thief comes, a thief is coming, we will become fearful, but if a policeman, police person comes over there, then the thief will run away from there, fear of that, a police person, so like that, similarly, it is said that fear terrifies us, terrorises us, but fear is terrorised by the appearance of Supreme Lord, and not even just the appearance of Supreme Lord in person, just in appearance as His name, and even once, so the two glories of the holy name are described over here, one is that, this glorious name is of that person, who is so powerful that he sets, he creates fear in the heart of fear personified, and that holy name, even if chanted once, can free one from the material existence in which all of us are trapped, so the flow is that, if just hearing His name once, chanting His name once is so auspicious, then hearing His pastimes in detail, how much more auspicious will that be, that is the flow of thought going on over here, so 15th text now, they are further glorifying the Supreme Lord, and they are stating over here, His lotus feet, having taken shelter of, if He takes shelter of His foot, the sages who become absorbed in His service, absorbed in devotion to Him, quickly, even once or immediately, they become purified, simply by upaspishta, by touching them, by coming in contact with them once, Ganga’s water purifies after serving for a prolonged period, so here now, the potency of the Lord is being conveyed in another way, the previous verse conveyed the purificatory potency of the Lord through description of the glory of His holy name, that is one manifestation of His, now the purificatory potency of the Lord is described through another manifestation of His, that is, those who are devoted to Him, those who have offered their life to Him, those who have placed Him in their hearts, so those who have devoted themselves to Him, if people just associate with them, once, people just take their darshan, people just hear from them, people just take the dust off their feet, then they can become purified completely, in contrast, the Ganga, whose glory is so much stressed in the Puranic literature, it is stated there, Ganga also anusevaya, one has to serve Ganga consistently, repeatedly, in order for it to purify, but on the other hand, it is said over here that Krishna purifies, Krishna purifies immediately through the hearts of those who have given their heart to Him, so by contacting the pure devotees, you can become purified quickly, that’s what this verse is stating, now 16th text, so after describing, this is the rhetorical question over here, after describing the glory of the Supreme Lord, now the question is, who will not hear? ko va bhagvatas tasya so that Supreme Lord, punya shlokedya karmanaha so, whose activities are are punya, are auspicious, purifying, virtue, shlokedya, they are worshipped by choice poetry, karmanaha, whose activities, shuddhikamo, and they purify us from all desires, from all desires for self-identification, vishnu yad, who will not hear? yashat kalimalapaham those glories which are kalimalapaham, they destroy the contamination of kali, so, there is a cyclic flow going on over here, 1.16 is asking a rhetorical question, whose roots lie, begin from 1.13, so in 13, the sages said that, please speak about the glories of the Lord, we want to hear, now, why should we speak about the Lord, why not about some sports star, some movie star, some politician, why not some about king or emperor, I said no, it is that Lord, He is so glorious, that His name you enchanted once can, free us from mortal existence, and who’s, just who, through the hearts of those who have taken shelter of Him, can purify all of us also, can purify us just by contact once, so that great Lord, who will not want to hear about Him, that Lord, who will not want to, hear about Him, what does He do, kalimalapaham, that He destroys the contamination of kali, from our hearts, this Lord is so purifying, so, naturally, we want to hear, and through a rhetorical question means, the answer is implied in the question itself, so, naturally, everyone intelligent, will want to hear about this Lord, who is so purifying, hearing about Him is so purifying, shuddhikamo, the desires become purified, we become freed from our past karma, and here it is this, punyashlokidya karma, so, His, the Lord’s activities, are described in shlokidya, now different people may write poetry about different people, different other famous, different kinds of famous people, someone may write a, a love-lorn person, a person who is completely caught, in the grips of, a beloved, of a man caught in the grips of a woman, may write poetry glorifying her beauty, or, some big politician, some big sports star, somebody may write a tribute to that sports star, a fan may write a tribute, but none of these people, other than poetry written for them, none of them is punyashlokidya, none of that sort of poetry, is going to purify, it is not going to illuminate, it is not going to be auspicious, that poetry about the Lord, is only supremely auspicious, therefore who will not want to hear about it, so the point is that, we certainly want to hear about it, and they are also gently exhorting their readers, you should also want to hear about it, you want your well-being, isn’t it, if you want it, then please hear about it, so 17th text now, so his magnanimous activities, glorious activities, it is they are sung by the great souls, referred to the devatas, or in general to the great souls, please speak unto us, who are who are faithful, who are eager to hear, who want to hear with respect, so they ask, not only that we want to hear about his pastimes, when he descended, in his incarnations, so now here, it is stated that, so the Lord’s activities are so auspicious, in the previous text they asked, who will not want to hear, now they say actually, the parigitani suri bhi, so the suras, the wise people, the saintly people, the godly people, suras, the word suras generally used to refer to devatas, and in the devaloka, it is the devarushis, like Naradas, like Narada Muni, who speak these pastimes, so Prabhupada specifies Narada Muni’s translation over here, and he stated that, those who are very learned, like the devatas, they preside these pastimes, and therefore, we also want to hear about them, and not just the pastimes of this Lord, Leelaya Kalaha, so we want to hear about his pastimes, and the pastimes of his various incarnations also, so they specified about Krishna, but now they have expanded the scope of their question, to include other manifestations of the Lord also, 18th text now, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, 1.18, In this way, they are expanding the scope. The 19th verse, vayam tuna vithrupyam, uttama shloka vikrame, yashruna matam rasa jnanam, svadhu svadhu pade pade. Now here, the sages are bringing rasa over here.
vayam tuna vithrupyam, we are certainly not vithrupyam, we are not going to be satiated. Now here the question may come up, you want me to describe not just about Krishna, there are so many pastimes of Krishna and there are so many incarnations and so many pastimes. It will take a long long time.
The question may come up. So the sages say, no no, we are not worried. We will never get satiated by this.
So svadhu pade pade, at every moment we will release this rasa jnanam, this knowledge. It is not shushka jnanam, it is not dry knowledge. It is rasa jnanam.
It is the knowledge which will awaken taste within us, which will stimulate devotion within us. It is the knowledge which will bring ecstasy to our hearts. And that’s why we want you to speak this more and more.
And svadhu svade pade pade, it’s going to be relishable, relishable at every moment, pade pade. Vikrama, so that lord performs extraordinary pastimes and those extraordinary pastimes when we hear, we get a great taste for them. This point of the taste coming by hearing the lord’s pastimes will be reiterated many times in the Bhagavatam by different hearers.
And it is often used as an exhortation to speak in detail. Arjuna also says to Krishna that please speak in detail. I want to hear this more and more.
And vistarena atmanaya, speak in detail because I am never satiated. So the sevala sentiment is expressed here by the sages. And they say please keep speaking in detail because we will not get satiated.
We will hear it more and more and more and at every moment we will relish it. So pade pade is at every step. Now actually the sages are all sitting.
So they are not going to take any physical steps. But here they are referring to steps in terms of hearing. Each word that is heard, each pastime that is heard at like one step forward in our devotional journey towards the supreme lord.
And they are saying that each step is relishable. So please speak and we will hear. In 20th verse it says Krita is to do.
So krita van, one who has done. So what all activities were performed by the supreme lord. By the lord along with Keshava.
By Ramayana Keshava means by Keshava and Balram. Ram is Balram. By Balram and Krishna.
So superhuman pastimes were performed by this transcendental personality of God. Gudha means very difficult to understand. While appearing in a deceptive way as human being.
Sages by their questions are also revealing that they are not ignorant. They also know quite a bit about the supreme lord. And they understand that when the lord disappears, his pastimes seem beguilingly human-like.
And so therefore it said The pastimes were performed by Ram and Keshava. And those pastimes appeared to be just very human-like pastimes. But what are these pastimes that were performed? Although they seem human-like in the sense that the lord has human-like relationships.
But whenever required, whenever he desires, he performs pastimes in a very extraordinary way. Which shows his His transcendental position far beyond all other human beings. And his position as supreme lord.
So we want to hear about those pastimes. What are the pastimes that he performed? Please tell us about it. First text.
Knowing that Kali Yuga has come now. Gya means to know. Agnaya here refers to knowing that Kali Yuga has arrived now.
So Shetrayasmin, in this area, we are all Vaishnavas, we are all devotees of supreme lord. And we sit. We are sat here for doing a long sacrifice.
That means all our time we want to now spend in hearing about the lord. So the point now of this verse is Oh, but you have sat here for doing a sacrifice, fire sacrifice. How can I speak about the lord? Yes, the fire sacrifice is going on.
We are determined to sit here for doing fire sacrifice for a long time. But we want to use the time of the fire sacrifice by hearing about Hare. So all the time that we have, we want to invest it properly for speaking about you, oh lord.
Now, further. That we have understood that you, we have got as a Sandarshito. We have met you, Dhatra.
Dhatra refers to the divine will of providence. So by the will of providence, we have met you. That which is very difficult to cross over.
Those who desire to cross over. This Kali which destroys which deteriorates existence, which deteriorates Satvaguna of people, steals it away. Like the captain for a boat.
So in the previous verse, they stated that now we know that Kali Yuga has come and so we decide to perform some sacrifices. And now in this text, they continue on to state that actually knowing that Kali Yuga is like a dark ranger’s ocean which is very difficult to cross. But we desire to cross it over.
And therefore, we feel that it is by the will of providence that you have come over here. Sandarshito Dhatra. So by the Dhatra, by the will of providence, you have come here.
And we have the opportunity to hear from you. So actually, when the soul is very fortunate, when the spiritual master, the spiritual master’s representative enters into the life of such a soul. And that’s what Bhagat Singh is saying has happened in our life.
And thus, we are confident that you will be able to take us across. This is a competent captain who can take a ship across even through a stormy, through the stormy ocean. So like that, you can take us across through the stormy ocean of Kali Yuga.
That is the confidence that the sages are expressing in him. In Suta Goswami. 23rd text, the last text of this chapter.
Bruhi Yogeshwara Krishna. Now they’re asking another question. Please tell us that now that Yogeshwara Krishna, that that Lord Krishna who is Yogeshwara, Brahmanya Dharma Varmani.
So one who is the Brahma Devata, one who is the Dharma Varmani, is the protector of Dharma. So now that he has gone to his own abode, nowadays, where is Dharma? Where has Dharma taken shelter of? So in this last text of this chapter, what are they asking? Now that Krishna has departed. So earlier they said that what pastimes Krishna has performed, we want to hear.
But now that Krishna has departed, we want to know where has Dharma taken shelter? Normally, Dharma is sheltered by the Supreme Lord. But when the Lord disappears, then where will Dharma take shelter? That is our question. And that question is the last question which the sages ask over here.
And thus they sign off. Thus they complete their questions over here. And Suta Goswami will begin answering the questions from the next text onwards, which will begin the first chapter of which will become the first chapter of the speech of Suta Goswami.
And that will be the second chapter of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, which we will discuss in our next talk. Thank you. Hare Krishna.