Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 4: “The Creation of the Fourth Order”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Twelve
SB4.12.40
TEXT 40
mahimanam vilokyasya
narado bhagavan rsih
atodyam vitudan slokan
satre ’gayat pracetasam
SYNONYMS
mahimanam—glories; vilokya—observing; asya—of Dhruva Maharaja; naradah—the great sage Narada; bhagavan—equally as exalted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead; rsih—the saint; atodyam—the stringed instrument, vina; vitudan—playing on; slokan—verses; satre—in the sacrificial arena; agayat—chanted; pracetasam—of the Pracetas.
TRANSLATION
After observing the glories of Dhruva Maharaja, the great sage Narada, playing his vina, went to the sacrificial arena of the Pracetas and very happily chanted the following three verses.
PURPORT
The great sage Narada was the spiritual master of Dhruva Maharaja. Certainly he was very glad to see Dhruva’s glories. As a father is very happy to see the son’s advancement in every respect, so the spiritual master is very happy to observe the ascendancy of his disciple.
tapah-prabhavasya sutasya tam gatim
drstvabhyupayan api veda-vadino
naivadhigantum prabhavanti kim nrpah
In this verse the word veda-vadinah is very significant. Generally, a person who strictly follows the Vedic principles is called veda-vadi. There are also so-called Vedantists who advertise themselves as followers of Vedanta philosophy but who misinterpret Vedanta. The expression veda-vada-ratah is also found in the Bhagavad-gita, referring to persons who are attached to the Vedas without understanding the purport of the Vedas. Such persons may go on talking about the Vedas or may execute austerities in their own way, but it is not possible for them to attain to such an exalted position as Dhruva Maharaja. As far as ordinary kings are concerned, it is not at all possible. The specific mention of kings is significant because formerly kings were also rajarsis, for the kings were as good as great sages. Dhruva Maharaja was a king, and at the same time he was as learned as a great sage. But without devotional service, neither a great king, a ksatriya, nor a great brahmana strictly adhering to the Vedic principles can be elevated to the exalted position attained by Dhruva Maharaja.
yah panca-varso guru-dara-vak-sarair
vanam mad-adesa-karo ’jitam prabhum
jigaya tad-bhakta-gunaih parajitam
The sum total of devotional qualities is development of unalloyed love for Krsna. This unalloyed love for Krsna can be achieved simply by hearing about Krsna. Lord Caitanya accepted this principle—that if one in any position submissively hears the transcendental message spoken by Krsna or about Krsna, then gradually he develops the quality of unalloyed love, and by that love only he can conquer the unconquerable. The Mayavadi philosophers aspire to become one with the Supreme Lord, but a devotee surpasses that position. Not only does a devotee become one in quality with the Supreme Lord, but he sometimes becomes the father, mother or master of the Lord. Arjuna also, by his devotional service, made Lord Krsna his chariot driver; he ordered the Lord, “Put my chariot here,” and the Lord executed his order. These are some examples of how a devotee can acquire the exalted position of conquering the unconquerable.
yah ksatra-bandhur bhuvi tasyadhirudham
anv aruruksed api varsa-pugaih
sat-panca-varso yad ahobhir alpaih
prasadya vaikuntham avapa tat-padam
The great sage Narada Muni was very proud of having a devotee-disciple like Dhruva Maharaja. He had many other disciples, but he was very pleased with Dhruva Maharaja because in one lifetime, by dint of his severe penances and austerities, he had achieved Vaikuntha, which was never achieved by any other king’s son or rajarsi throughout the whole universe. There is the instance of the great King Bharata, who was also a great devotee, but he attained Vaikunthaloka in three lives. In the first life, although he executed austerities in the forest, he became a victim of too much affection for a small deer, and in his next life he had to take birth as a deer. Although he had a deer’s body, he remembered his spiritual position, but he still had to wait until the next life for perfection. In the next life he took birth as Jada Bharata. Of course, in that life he was completely freed from all material entanglement, and he attained perfection and was elevated to Vaikunthaloka. The lesson from the life of Dhruva Maharaja is that if one likes, one can attain Vaikunthaloka in one life, without waiting for many other lives. My Guru Maharaja, Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, used to say that every one of his disciples could attain Vaikunthaloka in this life, without waiting for another life to execute devotional service. One simply has to become as serious and sincere as Dhruva Maharaja; then it is quite possible to attain Vaikunthaloka and go back home, back to Godhead, in one life.
Srimad-Bhagavatam means everything in relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Whether we hear the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Lord or we hear about the character, reputation and activities of His devotees, they are all one and the same. Neophyte devotees simply try to understand the pastimes of the Lord and are not very interested in hearing about the activities of His devotees, but such discrimination should not be indulged in by any real devotee. Sometimes less intelligent men try to hear about the rasa dance of Krsna and do not take care to hear about other portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which they completely avoid. There are professional Bhagavata reciters who abruptly go to the rasa-lila chapters of Srimad-Bhagavatam, as if other portions of Srimad-Bhagavatam were useless. This kind of discrimination and abrupt adoption of the rasa-lila pastimes of the Lord is not approved by the acaryas. A sincere devotee should read every chapter and every word of Srimad-Bhagavatam, for the beginning verses describe that it is the ripened fruit of all Vedic literature. Devotees should not try to avoid even a word of Srimad-Bhagavatam. The great sage Maitreya therefore affirmed herein that the Bhagavatam is sammatam satam, approved by great devotees.
svargyam dhrauvyam saumanasyam
There are different types of men in this world, not all of them pure devotees. Some are karmis, desiring to acquire vast wealth. There are also persons who are only after reputation. Some desire to be elevated to the heavenly planets or to go to Dhruvaloka, and others want to please the demigods to get material profits. Herein it is recommended by Maitreya that every one of them can hear the narration about Dhruva Maharaja and thus get their desired goal. It is recommended that the devotees (akama), the karmis (sarva-kama) and the jnanis, who desire to be liberated (moksa-kama), should all worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead to acquire their desired goals of life. Similarly, if anyone hears about the activities of the Lord’s devotee, he can achieve the same result. There is no difference between the activities and character of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and those of His pure devotees.
Here the word acyuta-priya is very significant. Dhruva Maharaja’s character and reputation are great because he is very dear to Acyuta, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Lord are pleasing to hear, hearing about His devotees, who are very dear to the Supreme Person, is also pleasing and potent. If one simply reads over and over again about Dhruva Maharaja by hearing and reading this chapter, one can attain the highest perfection of life in any way he desires; most importantly, he gets the chance to become a great devotee. To become a great devotee means to finish all miserable conditions of materialistic life.
In the material world everyone is after profit, respectability and reputation, everyone wants the supreme exalted position, and everyone wants to hear about the great qualities of exalted persons. All ambitions which are desirable for great persons can be fulfilled simply by reading and understanding the narration of Dhruva Maharaja’s activities.
It is said that only in the association of devotees can one understand the importance of the character and pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His devotees. In this verse it is especially recommended that Dhruva Maharaja’s character be discussed in a society of the twice-born, which refers to the qualified brahmanas, ksatriyas and vaisyas. One should especially seek the society of brahmanas who are elevated to the position of Vaisnavas. Thus discussion of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which describes the character and pastimes of devotees and the Lord, is very quickly effective. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been organized for this purpose. In every center of this Society—not only in the morning, evening or noon, but practically twenty-four hours a day—there is continuous devotional service going on. Anyone who comes in contact with the Society automatically becomes a devotee. We have actual experience that many karmis and others come to the Society and find a very pleasing and peaceful atmosphere in the temples of ISKCON. In this verse the word dvi janmanam means “of the twice-born.” Anyone can join the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and be initiated to become twice-born. As recommended by Sanatana Gosvami, by the process of initiation and authorized training, any man can become twice-born. The first birth is made possible by the parents, and the second birth is made possible by the spiritual father and Vedic knowledge. Unless one is twice-born one cannot understand the transcendental characteristics of the Lord and His devotees. Study of the Vedas is therefore forbidden for sudras. Simply by academic qualifications a sudra cannot understand the transcendental science. At the present moment, throughout the entire world the educational system is geared to produce sudras. A big technologist is no more than a big sudra. Kalau sudra-sambhavah: in the age of Kali, everyone is a sudra. Because the whole population of the world consists only of sudras, there is a decline of spiritual knowledge, and people are unhappy. The Krsna consciousness movement has been started especially to create qualified brahmanas to broadcast spiritual knowledge all over the world, for thus people may become very happy.
Professional reciters may ask money to extinguish the blazing fire within their bellies, but they cannot make any spiritual improvement or become perfect. It is therefore strictly forbidden to recite Srimad-Bhagavatam as a profession to earn a livelihood. Only one who is completely surrendered at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, depending fully on Him for personal maintenance or even for maintenance of his family, can attain perfection by recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is full of narrations of the pastimes of the Lord and His devotees. The process can be summarized as follows: the audience must be faithfully receptive to the Bhagavata message, and the reciter should completely depend on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Bhagavata recitation must not be a business. If done in the right way, not only does the reciter achieve perfect satisfaction, but the Lord also is very satisfied with the reciter and the audience, and thus both are liberated from material bondage simply by the process of hearing.
Recitation of Srimad-Bhagavatam is specifically meant to enlighten people about the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although there is no fundamental difference between impersonal Brahman, localized Paramatma and the Supreme Person, factual immortality cannot be obtained unless and until one attains the stage of associating with the Supreme Person. Devotional service, which leads to the association of the Supreme Lord, is actual immortality. Pure devotees, out of compassion for the fallen souls, are krpalu, very kind to people in general; they distribute this Bhagavata knowledge all over the world. A kindhearted devotee is called dina-natha, protector of the poor, ignorant mass of people. Lord Krsna is also known as dina-natha or dina-bandhu, the master or actual friend of the poor living entities, and His pure devotee also takes the same position of dina-natha. The dina-nathas, or devotees of Lord Krsna, who preach the path of devotional service, become the favorites of the demigods. Generally people are interested in worshiping the demigods, especially Lord Siva, in order to obtain material benefits, but a pure devotee, who engages in preaching the principles of devotional service, as prescribed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, does not need to separately worship the demigods; the demigods are automatically pleased with him and offer all the blessings within their capacity. As by watering the root of a tree the leaves and branches are automatically watered, so, by executing pure devotional service to the Lord, the branches, twigs and leaves of the Lord, known as demigods, are automatically pleased with the devotee, and they offer all benedictions.
idam maya te ’bhihitam kurudvaha
dhruvasya vikhyata-visuddha-karmanah
hitvarbhakah kridanakani matur
grham ca visnum saranam yo jagama