Bhagavatam tenth canto study 42 – 10.8.1-6 The saintly come to the worldly to expand the consciousness of the wordly

So Srimad Bhagavatam 10th Chapter 8 Chapter 8 entitled Lord Krishna shows the universal form This is text 1 Bhagavatam describes various incidents and at least in the initial part the first 40 chapters the focus in the 10th canto stays on Vrindavan So of course things are happening at other places also but the effect of the things happening in the other places is described in terms of how that affects Vrindavan So Vasudev is in Mathura and he is contemplating the welfare of his son Krishna and thus he arranges for his own his own priest to come to Vrindavan So that’s what has happened over here So Shukadeva Goswami is explaining this narrating this to the Vrajivasis Parikshit Maharaj about the incidents in Vrindavan Garga Purohito Rajan So Garga who was the Purohita Hita is benefit Pura is others So the priests are those who do benefit for others by performing sacrifices for them by which auspiciousness can come in their lives and Yadunam Purohita So he was the there are many priests who are associated with particular families or particular dynasties just as say Vasishtha is the priest of the Raghuamsha So he was the priest for Dashrath Maharaj He was the priest for Ram also So like that Garga is the priest for the Yadu dynasty Sumaha Tapaha Now he was not an ordinary priest The word priest can refer to somebody who does some rituals but it’s not just doing rituals He had done great austerities. He was highly elevated in that way Vrajam Jagam Nandasya So he went to Nanda Why? Vasudeva Prachoditaha Vasudeva inspired him Vasudeva told him, please go there There is a veil of secrecy around the identity of Krishna in Vrindavan and of course in Mathura also Mathura Kamsa is not supposed to know that Krishna is God Krishna is the son of Vasudeva who is meant to kill me So Vasudeva has not told this to anyone But then Brahmanas are generally trustworthy Brahmanas usually are not competing with the Kshatriyas. Kshatriyas can have the privilege and the power and the Brahmanas are satisfied with the knowledge and the utilization of that knowledge They delight in that knowledge in the application of that knowledge in performing Yajnas That’s what they delight So therefore Vasudeva does not feel any threat in encouraging Vasudeva encouraging Gargacharya or inspiring him to go to go to Gokula Vasudeva Prachodita it is said that he is sent there by Vasudeva It’s inspired.
So it’s an interesting usage of words that Bhagavatam itself does not clearly indicate that what did he tell to inspire him Did he tell him that my son is there and you should go there or did he tell him that just go there my friend is there that ambiguity is kept over there but it’s interesting that Vishwanatha Jagadhakur gives a slight clarification over here he does something like a you could say a textual analysis of the Bhagavatam and thus he says that actually this particular pastime has happened earlier normally when Trunavarta came actually Krishna was approximately about a year old when Putana came he was just a very small baby but now the name giving ceremony should be is held before you don’t keep a child nameless for about a year or so so he says that this particular pastime of Gargacharya coming there and giving names to Krishna that has happened earlier but in the excitement of describing the killing of the demons Shukadeva Goswami puts all the demons together in one pastime or in one sequence rather. First he describes the killing of Putana then Shaktasura and then Trunavarta and so now there is a slight going backward narrative if you see this happening more and more as the 10th canto moves on especially when he goes to Dwarka when Krishna goes to Dwarka because as Shukadeva Goswami is describing Krishna’s pastimes he is going so much into ecstasy that he has a sequence according to which he wants to speak but we all say that there is a right brain and a left brain there is a logical part of us and there is an emotional part of us the logical part of us is concerned with structure, with order, with flow, the emotional part is just concerned with let’s move on what is it that is thrilling, what is it that is stimulating to the emotion let me tell that so whenever a particular theme is being spoken everything associated with that theme in the flow of emotions associated with that Shukadeva Goswami keeps speaking so we will see later on also when he describes one child of one marriage of Krishna marriage to Rukmini and then he describes the sons which he has to Rukmini also and the adventures with them and then he comes back and describes his other marriages marriages to the other queens now obviously the sons grew up and the sons had adventures that happened long after Krishna married the other queens but there in one emotional flow when the narratives are being told the chronological flow might sometimes get sidelined so at the inspiration of Vasudeva he came to Gargacharya came to to Gokul basically within Vrindavan so text 2 anarcha anarcha dhoksha jadhya pranipat purasaram so tam drishtva parampritah on seeing him Nanda Maharaj became extremely pleased pratyutthaya kutanjali Nanda Maharaj is a king before him the Vrajavasis stand in honour so he was seated but when he sees somebody who is an even more honourable person than him he gets a pratyutthaya he got up and kutanjali folded his hands generally in the tradition it is described that respect has to be offered so respect can be offered in various ways general way of offering respect is fold one’s hands sometimes it may also be that we bow down from the waist sometimes it may be that we bow down till our head touches the ground sometimes we may bow down fully like a stick dandavat as it is said it is a stick and it falls on the ground all the parts of the body fall on the ground all the parts of the stick touch the ground like that dandavat means all parts of the body touch the ground so here kutanjali he folds his hands and thus he offers respects to to gargacharya but that’s not all that he does something more anarcha dhokshadhyah anarcha anarcha dhokshadhyah so he offered him he considered him to be like the supreme lord himself pranipat purahasaram pranipat purahasaram he offered him he offered him respects, he got up, folded his hands then he fell down purahasaram, he offered him obeisances he considered him to be just like adhokshadhyah it is like that lord who is adhokshadhyah he is manifested to his eyes now, so with his intelligence, with his dhyah he saw him to be equivalent to the adhokshadhyah lord anarcha that means he offers archas to worship, anarcha means to systematically worship, so seeing him just like the lord, he worshipped him now, this adhokshadhyah can have different meanings so in the Vaishnav Toshani, Yuga Swami says that this refers to that he saw him just like the lord, with his intelligence he saw anarcha adhokshadhyah, he is non-different from the lord later on, in the Nallakuvar Manigreya pastime also, they pray that we want to see your devotees to be non-different from you darshanestu bhavata noonam we see your devotees to be your manifestations but so that is one way of understanding this Prabhupada in his translation explains it somewhat differently Prabhupada says that that he was not an ordinary person although he had that, although Gargacharya was visible in front of his eyes to Nanda Maharaj, just like any other person might be visible but with his dhiya, with his intelligence he understood that he is not an ordinary person that he is sumahatapa, he has performed great austerities, a very exalted soul so normally, even great people, just with our eyes, they might appear like ordinary people but when we use our intelligence to understand their greatness, then we’ll appreciate this is not an ordinary person so he appreciated, this is a very special person who has come, adhokshya dhiya and he offered respects to him then after that supavishtam krutatidhyam girasunrutaya munim, nandaitva bravid, brahman poornasya karavam kim so he now after offering the appropriate worship supavishtam so supavishtam when he was seated comfortably krutatidhyam and whatever is appropriate for receiving a guest krutatidhyam, atithi is a guest so what all is to be done then we offer respects in terms of say, maybe offer a garland, offer some water offer some if the person is very respectful, we offer some aarti there are different ways in which guests do this, supavishtam krutatidhyam girasunrutaya munim and then with sweet words he spoke to a muni, a sage normally the words that we speak convey our emotion as much as the tone with which we speak sometimes we may have a functional tone which may be a mix between sweetness and harshness that’s why we normally speak if we are angry with some time, our tone may become very harsh or cold sometimes our tone may become very soft and gentle when we are speaking to someone with whom we are affectionately connected or with someone about someone whom we are very concerned so here this respectfulness towards the muni came out in girasunrutaya that is, his speech was very sweet nandaitva abravit brahman so he, first of all with his words itself, he pleased him we all in general life we are all searching for pleasure and when we get various stimuli to our various senses sometimes the stimuli can be pleasant, sometimes they can be unpleasant so if we hear a grating, jerky sound we feel annoyed, we feel disturbed but if we hear a pleasing soothing sound, what is so nice similarly when we hear somebody speaking very sweetly we become pleased by that in the Ramayana also it is described how when Lord Ram and Lakshman were searching for Sita at that time when Hanuman came in the form of a brahmana to meet them to inquire who they were when Hanuman spoke in a very sweet and cultured way just that speech pleased Ram so much so one way we can serve people is by speaking in a pleasing way with them speaking in a tone speaking with a content that is pleasing so sometimes we think of service largely in terms of the actions that we do that okay, I am doing this this, this, this for you and because we feel so burdened about doing so many things for others even for our loved ones that we may while talking with them we might just talk in grunts or we might just speak curtly to them I am busy doing things now we will be expressing our love through the actions that we are doing for them but we need to express our love even by the words that we speak to them the tone, the content, how we speak so Nanda Maharaj so our speech is also a service to others Nandaitva Bravid Brahman in this way he got pleasure so Nanda gave Nanda so he was living up to his name over here Nanda Maharaj Ananda one who is filled with happiness, one who gives happiness so he gave Ananda gave joy to Gargamuni by his speech then further Brahman then he spoke to him Abravid, what did he speak? Poornasya Karavam Kim Poornasya so you are self satisfied, you are complete you are whole what can I do for you? Karavam Kim but still I should serve you in some way so how can I serve you? so he is acknowledging here that the sages the rishis, the munis are self satisfied, they don’t need anything it is rather we who need to do something for them by serving them we get benefited, not that they get benefited by our service so the same mood is there in Prahlad Maharaj’s prayers also to Lord Narasimhadev when he says that actually you don’t need any service from us O Lord Naivatmanah Prabhurayam Nijlava Poornoh Maanam Janatavidusha Karunoh Nijlava Poornoh Yad Yajjano Bhagvate Vidhit Kamaanam Tachchatvane Prathimukasya Thaamukashree so he says Nijlava Poornoh my dear lord you are completing yourself, you don’t need anything from us but rather when we serve you then we are benefited just as when a when a person is decorated, their reflection also automatically gets decorated Now comes a famous verse, which Prabhupada would often quote. It’s text 4, 1084.
mahad vichalanam nirunam gruhinam dina chetasam nishreyasaya bhagwan kalpate na anyathakvachet So, mahad vichalanam nirunam. Mahad is the great soul, vichalanam. When they travel around, nirunam, and they come to the houses of ordinary people, gruhinam dina chetasam, those householders whose consciousness has become caught in worldly things, dina chetasam, it is caught in worldly things, nishreyasaya bhagwan, and they come to expand their consciousness, to remind them of greater concerns.
And don’t just be caught in the immediate worldly things. There is the ultimate otherworldly concern, which we human beings are meant to pursue. So, to remind them of that, to do that benefit for them, nishreyasaya bhagwan, kalpate na anyathakvachet, it is for this purpose alone that the great sages come.
They have no other purpose, na anyathakvachet. So, there is the appropriate consciousness for everyone in interacting with everyone else. So, when those who are in the world, those who are householders, they interact with renunciates, the materialistic way of looking at them might be, these people are beggars, they don’t have any place to stay, they don’t have any money, they have come to me to ask money from me, they have come to me because they need something from me.
That is one way of looking at things, but that is actually a very ignorant way of looking at things. Because the great sages, actually poor, they are completing themselves, it is not that because they are lacking something that they are coming to us, but rather it is we who are lacking something because of which they come to us. To remind us of what we are missing and to provide us that.
Our consciousness is often caught in small, small things in the world. And because of that we may miss the big picture. We may get so caught up about what to do in life that we may neglect what to do with life.
So, what we do in life is important. At this moment, this moment, this moment, what do I do? But what do I do with life? What is my life ultimately meant for? So that the nature of materialistic life is we get caught about what to do in life. But when those who are renounced, those who are detached, those who are living more of a Brahmanical life, not so involved in the world, they remind us of the big picture, what to do with life.
So, this is acknowledged by Nanda Maharaj when he says, that you have come for this purpose alone, you don’t need anything from me, you have come actually to benefit me. Text 6, text 5 now. jyotisham ayanam sakshad yathad jnanam ati indriyam pranitam bhavatayena pumanveda paravaram jyotisham ayanam sakshad So, jyoti can refer to light, jyotish refers to that branch of knowledge that puts light on our future.
That means astrology, jyotish shastra it is called. jyotisham ayanam sakshad So, jyotish here is used as one branch of knowledge, which generally refers to various branches of knowledge that are present in cultural society. And people who are too caught in the world, they do not have the time to industriously and deeply study any branch of knowledge.
But those who are absorbed, those who make the cultivation of knowledge the purpose of their lives, they are actually much more elevated. jyotisham ayanam sakshad So, they understand how the movements of the celestial body, the stars in the planet, they affect human beings. There is actually a direct connection.
But how is that connection? That is not easy to understand. yatta jnanam ati indriyam That knowledge is beyond the senses. It cannot be perceived by those who rely only on sense perception.
It requires knowledge for that to perceive that. pranitam bhavatahena So, pranitam bhavatahena But you have that knowledge. You are saying that, in fact, not only have you got that knowledge, actually you have composed the book which describes this knowledge.
So, pranitam bhavatahena. So, Garga Samhita is considered to be a book which gives knowledge about the future. So, Gargacharya has composed that.
pranitam bhavatahena pumanavedaparavaram puman And by studying this knowledge, we can understand paravaram paravara That means the cause and the effect that comprise the chain of destiny, how they work, that can be understood by studying the book which you have written. It’s interesting that here he is not just offering generic glorification, but specific glorification. Generic glorification, oh, you are such a saintly person, you have come to deliver us fallen people, oh, you are so renounced, you are so wise.
This could apply to anyone. So, when we want to appreciate someone, it is said that appreciation should be specific so that it becomes more of a personal reciprocation between two people. So, he is specifically appreciating the contribution of Gargamuni in terms of his knowledge of astrology and his compilation of books which contain such knowledge.
So, now, here his implication is that, oh, this is a great sage, he is a great priest, so he wants to know about Krishna’s previous lives and Krishna’s future lives or Krishna’s future in this life. We will see in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam when Parikshit Maharaj is born, at that time Yudhishthir Maharaj employs astrologer or he asks astrologers to make the horoscope and they elaborately describe how glorious a person Parikshit is. So, similarly here Nanda Maharaj feels himself blessed that a great sage, a great astrologer expert like Gargacharya is here and thus he will ask Gargacharya about the future of Krishna and he is preparing that, preparing him for that question.
So, he says at this point that, So, those who know brahmanical knowledge, those who understand what is brahman, among them you are the greatest. Please perform the samskara for my child. Please perform the purificatory ceremony, the reformatory ceremony.
So, Bala is singular, Balayo is plural. That means Nanda Maharaj, although Krishna is his son and Balram is Vasudev’s son, he considers that Balram is present with me and thus taking care of Balram is also my responsibility. In extended family, when something happens to somebody who is a part of our broader family, then those who are the caretakers of that family, they take care of the bigger family member, the broader family also.
That’s what happens over here. Balayor, Anayor, Dronam. So, both of them, actually they may say that, But you know, I am not the guru of these children.
How can I perform the priest for them? But, Dronam janmana brahmana guru. That actually for all of humanity, a brahmana is a guru. Just by birth itself a brahmana becomes a guru.
Of course, this refers to a brahmana who is qualified, not just any brahmana. So, he says that you are by birth a brahmana and by qualification, you are brahma vidam suheeshtaha. You are the knower of the Vedic scriptures, you are knower of the goal of the Vedic scriptures, that is brahman.
And therefore, please perform the samskara for both of my children. You are the guru. Thus, Nanda Maharaj immediately considers that Vasudeva Gargacharya’s presence here is auspicious for Krishna and Balarama and he requests him to perform the appropriate rituals for him.
So, what will be Gargacharya’s response? That we will discuss in our next session.