Chapter 5: Nârada's Instructions on
S'rîmad Bhâgavatam for Vyâsadeva
(1) Sûta said: "Then comfortably seated next
to him, the rishi of God of great renown who has a vînâ
in his hands outwardly with a smile addressed the learned wise. (2) He said: 'Oh greatly fortunate son of
Parâs'ara, can you in the self-realization of your soul find the
satisfaction of the body and the mind? (3) You
have done your full enquiries and being well versed, you have prepared
the great and wonderful Mahâbhârata to which you have added
your extensive explanations. (4) In spite of
the full of your deliberations about the Absolute and Eternal you are,
dear master, lamenting that you would n0t have done enough for the
purpose of the soul.'
(5) Vyâsa
said:
'All you have said is certainly true, but my
soul has found no peace with it. What is the root I have missed, I ask
you who originated from the soul as a man of unlimited knowledge. (6) You have the all-inclusive knowledge as a
confidential devotee of the Supreme Personality, who is the Original
Controller of the material and spiritual worlds and in whose mind only, from
the transcendence above the modes of material nature, the universe is
created and destroyed. (7) In your goodness
you travel the three worlds as the selfrealized witness penetrating the
heart of everyone like the all-pervading ether. Please point out what
my deficiency is in my being absorbed in the Absolute with discipline
and vow concerning matters of cause and effect.'
(8) S'rî Nârada said: 'You hardly praised the
glories
of the Fortunate One who is spotless and who, I gather, is not really
pleased by that lesser vision. (9) Although
you, great sage, repeatedly were writing for the sake of the four
principles of religion [dharma, artha, kâma, moksha or
righteousness, economy, sense gratification and liberation], you have
not been doing so for the sake of Vâsudeva. (10)
Only sparsely using the words describing the glories of the Lord who
sanctifies the universe, is something the saintly think of as
pilgrimaging to a place for crows; not as something where the perfect
ones of the transcendental take pleasure in. (11)
That creation of words revolutionizing the sins of the people in which,
although imperfectly composed, each verse depicts the names and glories
of the unlimited Lord, is heard, sung and accepted by the purified and
honest ones. (12)
In spite of self-realization free from material motives, the
transcendental knowledge of the infallible does not look good when one
gives up on personal names. What good will it bring to work time and
again troublesome for a result when one misses the Lord with it? That
leads nowhere! (13) Therefore you as a highly
fortunate, spotless and famous perfect seer dedicated to the truth and
fixed in the qualities, for the sake of liberation from universal
bondage from your trance should
think about and describe Him whose actions are supernatural.
(14) Whatever
you
want to describe that is of a vision separate
from Him, will only lead to names and forms that agitate the mind like
a boat that is taken by the wind from its place. (15)
For the matter of religion you have instructed the people according to
their natural inclinations [to kill animals for their food e.g.], which
is in truth something reprehensible and quite unreasonable. The people
fixed on such instructions for good conduct will not think of the
prohibitions. (16)
For understanding the unlimited Lord they qualify who are expert in
withdrawing from material enjoyment, and therefore you must from your
goodness show
the
ways and activities of the Lord to those who bound to the modes miss
the spiritual
knowledge.
(17) Inexperienced
in
devotional service at the lotus feet one may
fall down in that position when one forsakes one's own, true nature.
But what inauspiciousness wouldn't befall the non-devotee who, engaged
in his occupational duties, doesn't reach to that what is His interest?
(18) The philosophically inclined should for that
reason endeavor only for that which is
not so much found wandering from high to low. In the course of time,
the time that is so impetuous and subtle, one will automatically
everywhere find the enjoyment - as good as the miseries - as a result
of one's work. (19) Failing for some or
another reason the devotee has a different experience as others have:
once he in his material life has the taste he, remembering the feet of
the Lord of Liberation he embraced, will never want to give it up. (20) From the goodness of your self you know
that all of this cosmos is the Lord Himself, even though He differs
from it. He constitutes the beginning and the end of creation; I am
only summarizing it for you. (21)
Please give a true-to-life description of the pastimes of the Supreme
Lord. For you from the perfect vision of your own soul are able to
discover what the transcendence of the Personality of the Supersoul
would be, of which you are a full aspect because you took birth for the
sake of the well-being of the entire world. (22)
The acknowledged scholars all agree that the unmistakable purpose of
each and everyone's austerities, study, sacrifice, attending lectures,
fostering intelligence and charity consists of attaining to the
descriptions of the
transcendental qualities of the Lord glorified in the verses.
(23) Oh sage,
in
the previous millennium I took birth from a
maidservant of certain followers of this conclusion [the
Vedânta]. I, only a boy, was engaged in their service when I
lived together with them during the months of the rainy season. (24) These followers of wisdom were unto me, an
obedient, well-mannered, self-controlled and silent boy without much
interest in games and sport, specially merciful, despite of their
impartiality towards believers. (25) When the
twice-born, during that period, once allowed me to enjoy the remnants
of their food, I, by that action, was freed from all my sins and thus the
attraction to
that dharma manifested itself in me being engaged with purity. (26)
Thereafter I heard the descriptions of the life of Krishna every day.
Because of their respect for me, dear Vyâsa, I managed to pay
close
attention and thus develop my taste with every step I took. (27) Oh great sage, as I acquired the taste, I
found continuity with the Lord and thus I realized that one accepts all
the gross and subtle of life because of one's ignorance concerning the
Supreme of transcendence. (28)
Thus for the time of two seasons, autumn and the rainy season,
constantly hearing nothing but the glories that were chanted by the
sages, my devotional service because of those great souls began to flow
while the [influence of] the modes of passion and ignorance receded. (29)
As an obedient boy free from sins I, because of those believers being
attached to that what is His, thus in my strictly following managed to
subjugate [my senses]. (30)
When these devotees so full of care for the meek left, they were as
merciful to instruct me in this most confidential knowledge which is
directly propounded by the Lord Himself. (31)
Thus I could easily grasp what the influence is of the deluding
material energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vâsudeva,
the supreme creator, and how one can reach the refuge He is.
(32) Oh learned one, it is said that to dedicate one's actions to the Supreme Lord is the
remedy for the threefold misery of life. (33)
Oh good soul, is it not so that the cure for a disease is found in
[counteracting] that what caused it? (34)
The same way also all dealings of man directed at a material[istic]
existence will put an end to that self[hood] when one succeeds in
dedicating them to the Transcendence. (35)
Whatever one does in this world to please the Lord and what thereto is
done in one's dependence on knowledge is bhakti yoga [yoga of
devotion]. (36) When one mindful of the will
of the Fortunate One performs one's duties, the mind constantly takes
to the names and qualities of S'rî Krishna. (37)
So, let us meditate upon the name and glory of Vâsudeva and His
full expansions Pradyumna, Aniruddha and Sankarshana. (38)
That person who in this way worships the Lord who has no material form
with the help of the sound-form [of these names] representing Him, is,
in his worship of [Lord Vishnu] the Original Person of Sacrifice, of a
perfect vision. (39)
While I in this way was engaged, oh learned one, knowing well the
confidential part of the Vedic knowledge, the knowledge of His
transcendental opulences was bestowed upon me
and was also an intimate personal
love for Lord
Krishna [Kes'ava] installed. (40) You, dear good soul with
your vast Vedic knowledge, also dilate on the Almighty One of whom the
wise
always have found satisfaction in learning about the transcendental
cause.
Please describe His activities for the mitigation of the suffering of
the masses of common people for whom there is no other way of relief.' "