Bhagavatam study 67 01.13.30-38 When it is time to renounce embrace renunciation as a challenge and avoid discouragers

Internally or externally, we march onwards in our journey towards Krishna. Thank you. Here it is stated that, the previous verses describe how Dhritarashtra decided to renounce the world and go to the forest, and now it is said that, along with him, his faithful wife, when her husband went, Patim Prayantam, Subalasya Putri, King Subala, or he was the king of Gandharadesh, his daughter Putri, Pativrata Chanugama Sadhvi, she was Pativrata, she followed, she was faithful to her husband, she was Sadhvi, she was a saintly lady, Chanugama, and she faithfully went with her husband.
Marriage is a commitment to stick through thick and thin, and now when death is approaching, and death represents the ultimate thinning of life, when by death it becomes clear that we are going to lose everything, then at that time also, husband and wife go together to the forest to end their life together. Gandhari is called as a Sadhvi because she was actually very pure. She knew that in her core, she was spiritual and she knew in her core that, she was not a, actually she was a virtuous lady and she knew in her heart that what Dhritarashtra was doing was wrong and what Dhritarashtra was sanctioning was wrong, and she tried to stop them, especially she tried to dissuade Duryodhana, she was mortified when Draupadi was dishonoured by her sons.
Now when she saw that at last her husband was becoming spiritually awakened, she was happy and she also, she was relieved in a sense, and she also grabbed with him the opportunity to renounce the world and to focus entirely on the Lord. It was this opportunity that would enable her to progress towards liberation along with her husband. So, Himalayam, Nyastha, Danda, Praharsham.
So, they went towards the Himalayas and Nyastha, Danda, Praharsham. Those who have accepted that rod of renunciation, Praharsham, they become jubilant when they experience renunciation. When they detach themselves from the world and have to accept the inevitable austerities of the world, of the renounced order, then they feel delighted.
Manasvinamiva satsampraharaha. This is Manasvina. So, those who have conquered their mind, Manasvi, so satsampraharaha.
Just like warriors relish a good fight and they fight against lower desires, just as they resist lower desires by combating those desires, by persevering on their spiritual journey, by moving towards growth in Krishna by their renunciation. Just as warriors see a good fight as relishable, similarly the renunciates see a good fight against desire. The fight against the bodily demands for comfort and pleasure, they see it as pleasurable, they see it as relishable.
And thus they accept that fight wholeheartedly. And this was what Gandhari and Dhritarashtra did together. Praharsham.
They embraced renunciation in a fighting spirit. So now the camera is shifting in the narrative from the conversation between Vidura and Dhritarashtra and Dhritarashtra’s actions thereafter to Yudhishtira. So that change is highlighted by having the word yad-shatru right in the first word itself.
He performed the daily practises that are expected of a king, of an Arya, and that in this case was lighting the fire, Hutaagner, the sacred fire. And he offered obeisances as well as charity in the forms of grains, cows, earth and gold. Earth means land, property, to the Brahmanas.
Then he entered into his house, the house of his elders, especially Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, to offer obeisances, to offer respects to them. He could not see Dhritarashtra, he could not see Vidura, and he could not see Saubali, the daughter of Subala, that is Gandhari. So here we see that Yudhishtira, his virtuousness is seen in his actions.
So he did his duties. Krishna says that in the Bhagavad Gita, austerity of the mind is to offer respects to those who are respectable. So here Arjuna, Yudhishtira, is offering respects to those who are respectable.
He has offered respects to the Devatas and the Supreme Lord through lighting the fire and offered respects to Duryodhana. He has offered respects to the Devatas and then he has come to offer respects to his father figures, his uncles. And there he did not see his elders, but whom did he see? Let’s describe in the next text, 32.
He saw that Sanjay was sitting there. He asked him, and when he was enquiring also he was concerned, he was agitated, he felt responsible for those who were elder to him. He was disturbed, what has happened to them, where are they? Where is he? Tata, my elder, my respectable.
He is elder, he is aged now, and he is netrayog, he does not have his eyes. So generally people become weak when they become old, and if they cannot see, then it’s even more difficult for them to move on in their lives, to do anything constructive. So in this situation he is netrayog, he is naturally expressing concern, and he is enquiring what has happened to them.
apimai akrut pragye hat bandhu sabharyaya asham samanah shamalam gangayam dukhito patat So after asking about his eldest uncle Dhritarashtra, then he asks about Ambajat Putrartha, Where is my aunt? She is very distressed. Putrartha, because her sons have been killed, even now years have passed since the death of her sons, but still the affliction is there. pitravya kvagata surat And where is pitravya, my other uncle Vedura, who is always my well-wisher, surat? Where have they gone away? apimai akrut pragye My pragye, my intelligence, my conscience was not akrut, was not proper, I did not do my duty to them, I was ungrateful to them.
hat bandhu sabharyaya And because they have lost their sons, I actually killed my relatives. So is it that because of sah, he, Ambajayar, because of that he along with his wife, asham samanah shamalam He, has he gone, taking my offences too seriously, gangayam dukhito patat Has he gone to end his life by throwing himself into the Ganga? When some people are depressed, when some people are feeling low, the people around them become concerned, they become apprehensive, they become that, will this person do anything drastic, what if they commit suicide? So he is thinking similarly, he was disturbed, he was distressed, Dhritarashtra had been distressed by the death of his sons, and is it because of that distress that he has decided to end his life? So if that is the case, then has he gone to the river Ganga nearby to throw himself over there? So this anxiety, especially if people around are troubled, and there is a possibility that they may do terrible things because of their trouble, then others have to be alert to ensure that no such disaster happens. And whatever is required to prevent such a disaster from happening has to be done so easily.
Dhritarashtra is feeling that, did I do something wrong, did I neglect them, because of which they have done like this? Next, text 34, पितर्य उपरते पाण्ड़ो सर्वान्न सरुदशिषुन अरक्षतां यसिनतः पित्रव्यो क्वगतावितः पितर्य उपरते पाण्ड़ो When my father Pandu fell away, he said, सर्वान्न सुरुधशिषु, so they became the well-wishers of us children, अरक्षतां यसिनतः, they offered protection to me, as from all dangers, पित्रव्यो क्वगताविवाः इतः, now have they gone away? So Yudhishthira’s saintliness is seen in the fact that he is not remembering what atrocities they performed against us, he is remembering how they helped us, so in the sense the help that they offered was in the remote distant past, and the atrocities they performed were in the recent past, but still the nature of a good person is that they seek the good in the others, there is good and bad in everyone, and it depends on us what we focus on, do we see the good in them or do we see the bad in them? If we see the good, we move on, and that is what he is doing over here, he is seeing the good in his father, in his father figure, that is Yudhishthira. Thank you. Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.13.35 सूतवाच कृपयास्नेहवईक्लव्यात् सूतोविरहकर्षितः आत्मेश्वरमचक्षानो नपित्याहातिपीडितः So here, Sanjay is replying, or Sanjay’s reaction is being described by Suta Goswami, when Yudhishthira Maharaj asks him the question, where has Dhritarashtra gone, where has Kanthari gone, where has Vidura gone? He is concerned about Dhritarashtra, being fearful whether he has ended his life by throwing himself into the Ganga.
And in order to describe the reaction, the emotional state of Sanjay, before describing his verbal response, the camera shifts backward and Suta comes into the picture. So Suta replies, कृपयास्नेहवैक्लव्यात्, because of disturbance of the mind caused by Sneha, affection and because of a weakening and forceful impact of emotions. The more our emotions are strong, the more they make us weak.
Strong emotions can make us weak, especially if those strong emotions are unhealthy, such as anger or grief or lamentation or worry. आत्मेश्वरम् अचक्षानो, that understanding the Atma, आत्मेश्वरम् means that he understood that the lord of his Atma is Vishnu. That is true, but in the, it is eternally true, but in the contextual sense, we all have certain masters under whom we work.
So, especially if it’s not just a changing job where we have different bosses, but if it’s an enduring relationship, as was the case between Sanjay and Dhritarashtra, then आत्मेश्वरम्, it is almost like the master was the master of his very self. आत्मेश्वरम्, which in the past, whenever the relationship between master and servant would be there, it would not be a relationship filled with animosity. It’s often filled with affection, with love and reciprocal, with the understanding that actually we all can grow through purification, through contribution, and the master takes care of the servant through offer of veneration, and the servant takes care of the master through proper service, and they develop very affectionate relationship.
So, आत्मेश्वरम् अचक्षानो, on not seeing his master, he was disturbed. नप्रत्याः प्रत्याः हातिपीदितः, he did not reply because he was very aggrieved. So, in the past, the servants genuinely respected their masters, and it was a solid relationship between them.
So, Sanjay is distressed when his master has gone away from him. And then further, text 36, विम्रुज्जाश्रूणि पानिभ्याम्, विष्टभ्यात्मानम् आत्मना अजात शत्रुं प्रत्युचे प्रभोपादाव अनुस्मरन्, विम्रुज्जाश्रूणि पानिभ्याम्, So, his eyes which were filled with tears, पानिभ्याम्, he tried to wipe the tears away, विष्टभ्यात्मानम् आत्मना, आत्मानम् आत्मना, he tried to steady his mind with his intelligence, by using his mind with his intelligence he tried to focus himself, अजात शत्रुं प्रत्युचे, that अजात शत्रु, that is Yudhisthira, प्रत्युचे, he responded to him, प्रभोपादाव अनुस्मरन्, while remembering the feet of his master, and our relationships often compel us to come out of our emotions, when we see that we are at our core spiritual beings, and that we cannot deal with the material level of reality endlessly, without getting disturbed and distressed and ultimately defeated, then we redirect our consciousness from the material level to the spiritual level, and that does the relationship with Krishna, Krishna helps us to overcome the emotions that are triggered in the material world because of material ups and downs, at a similar though smaller level, the relationship with others that impels us to come out of ourselves, every relationship forces us to come out of ourselves, and here the grief in which Sanjay was wallowing, that is checked, he puts himself to check it by आत्मानम् आत्मना, these two words आत्मानम् आत्मना, these are commonly used in the Bhagavad Gita as well as in the Bhagavatam and other places, उद्धरेद आत्मनात्मानम् नात्मानम् अवसादये, एवं बुद्धे परंबद्धा संस्थब्ध्यात्मानमात्मणों, so the two senses of the self often point to the self beyond these two selves, that means that if you consider 3.43 as well as 6.5, two senses that are talked about, they actually compel us to move towards Krishna, they help us to move towards Krishna if the mind is restrained by the intelligence and that’s what विष्टभ्यात्मानमात्मण, he restrains his intelligence and thus he is able to move on in his life. So, moving further, he tries to respond to, so often when we are feeling too much sorry for ourselves, when we are feeling too much that so many things have gone wrong in my life, at that time if we could just, if we are forced to relate with someone and if we have a basic level of etiquette and culture, then that relationship can help us to come out of ourselves.
So, let us see how Sanjay replies now. संजयवाच नाहं वेद विवसितम् पित्रोर्व कुल नन्धन गान्धार्यावा महाबाहो मुषितोस्मि महात्मभी Sanjay watches, Sanjay says, नाहं वेद विवसितम् I do not know what his intention was, what the intention, पित्रोर्व कुल नन्धन पित्रोर्व Your figures who are like your father, पित्रोर्, they are of your father’s generation, they are your father’s brothers, they are uncles. विवसितम् is intention.
I do not know what वेद विवसितम् means. Information about their intention. I have no information about their intention.
गान्धार्यावा महाबाहो That or not the intention of Gandhari or Yudhishthira or Mahabahu. In the Bhagavad Gita, the adjective, the describer Mahabahu is used by Krishna for Arjuna and even by Arjuna for Krishna. So, every great attribute of a great human being also points to the greatest living being.
That’s how we have the same attributes being used for multiple great beings such as Mahabahu being used for Arjuna and Yudhishthira and also being used for Krishna himself. मूषितोस् मी महात्मभी They have fooled me, they have tricked me, they have cheated me, महात्मभी, they are great souls. It’s interesting that normally we would expect great souls to behave in great ways, in honourable ways.
So, he is saying that they cheated me at the same time he is saying they are great souls. So, in the same line how can he refer to their greatness at the same time talk about their cheating. So, he is cheating not in the moral sense but in the relational sense.
He feels that they are great souls in the sense that he respects them but at the same time in a relational sense he feels cheated or deprived. Because he feels that how could they have left him and gone away. At least if we love someone and if we had a long standing relationship with someone then we know that they are concerned for us and we are also concerned for them.
So, we don’t just suddenly depart without telling anyone where I am going, what I am doing. So, he is feeling that did they not consider me worthy of even being informed of their intentions. So, thus he is feeling rejected.
Of course, at the time of final renunciation often discussing with too many people may just deter us and take away our enthusiasm and because Dhritarashtra had been attached for a long time and finally he had got detachment because of the strong words of Vidura. So, at Vidura’s instruction Dhritarashtra did not decide not to let any factor come in the way of his becoming detached. And so he just left fast without waiting to inform his servant Sanjay.
Because if you would tell him then Sanjay might tell others and then everyone including Yudhishtira would try to stop him. And as it is his determination, his attachment had been so strong that attachment might come back and he might not go. So, as soon as he got the information he left.
So, in that sense he is acknowledging that he is implicitly saying that they are great souls. But then they have cheated me, they have disappointed me. So, they have not informed me about it.
So, as he is speaking in this way at that time अथा जगाम भगवान नारदः स तुम्बुरू प्रत्युत्था भिवाद याह सानुजो अभ्यर्चेन्मुनिम् अथा जगाम अथा, at that time आजगाम यारायु भगवान नारदः That great devotee Narada who always carries Bhagawan in his heart and he carries his Tumburu, his musical instrument Sahatumburu with him in his arms. So, प्रत्युत्था उठाय, they immediately got up from their seats. अभिवाद्य, they offered him their respectful obeisance आह सानुजह, so they spoke.
सानुजह means Yudhishtira alone did not do it, his brothers were there also. They had also come with him seeing his concern about where Dhritarashtra had gone. They had also come to enquire and saw he is here, then अभिवाद्य चन्मुनिम् and they received him in proper respects, with proper respect.
Now, we will see that Narad Muni has this uncanny ability of just managing to come at the right time wherever there is a need, wherever people need illumination, wherever great souls need direction, Narad Muni appears. He most famously appears in the fourth canto when Dhruva Maharaj has gone to the forest. He appears in the forest and helps Dhruva Maharaj worship Vishnu, directs him to find Vishnu through the process of bhakti yoga meditation.
And here also he will offer guidance, illumination. So, Narad Muni has appeared at the right time and Yudhishtira is distressed and Sanjay is also distressed. And when two distressed people meet, often the distress increases.
Unless one of them takes a sober position and tries to pull oneself as well as the other person out of the distress, they can just go deeper and deeper into distress. So, here Narad Muni is going to take the role and give both illumination and information. Illumination about how one should see the inevitable losses in temporary material existence and information about the specific destination of Narada.
So, this way Narad Muni has appeared. He has appeared several times in the Bhagavatam. He has earlier appeared in this very canto when he instructed Vyasa who was depressed even after compiling all the Vedic literature.
He has appeared when Yudhishtira was lamenting. He has appeared when Bhishma was about to depart. And he will appear again later when Parikshit Maharaj is about to depart.
So, here Narad Muni has appeared and he is going to illuminate and inform Yudhishtira. How he does that, we will discuss in our future talks. Thank you.