Vyasadev's Gift (2)

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Kolkata—Worldwide, 1 November 2020, part 4

...You know what happened after that. One day, Pariksit Maharaj was cursed by a brahman boy to die. He received a seven-day's notice (the brahman said he would die within seven days), but remember that you will not get this notice—we are not as fortunate souls as Pariksit Maharaj to get such a notice. Now, Pariksit Maharaj was a very big king, you know that, and he was also a good devotee of the Lord—although he was the king, he always treated all his subjects and citizens who lived in his kingdom with respect. When Pariksit Maharaj was cursed, he arranged a large assembly and so many scholars, rishis, munis came there to give him advice. The heads of all sampradayas on earth assembled at that meeting of Pariksit Maharaj.

In the meantime, by the will of Lord Krishna, Sukadev Goswami came to that meeting of Pariksit Maharaj. Sukadev Goswami's character was astonishing and strange—he did not see anything, he came there but did not give respect to anyone. He did not come to Pariksit Maharaj's meeting by his will—he came there by the will of Lord Krishna. Moreover, Sukadev Goswami had no dress—he always walked naked and like a crazy boy. When he appeared at Pariksit Maharaj's assembly, some young boys were following him, teasing and bullying him, but Sukadev Goswami did not see, did not feel anything. He had no sense of what was going on externally. He only went wherever Krishna guided him to go.

So, when this Sukadev Goswami entered Pariksit Maharajs' meeting and all the scholars, all the maha-rishis, maha-munis saw him, they understood who this boy was. Some of them were present at the time when Sukadev Goswami came out of his mother's womb, so they could recognise him as the son of Vyasadev (also, seeing his face, they noticed it looked like Vyasadev's face). However, Sukadev Goswami did not give any obeisance, any dandavat pranam to anyone because he had no external consciousness or feelings to see anyone to give obeisance to. There were so many scholars assembled there—Artri, Vaisistha, Chyavan, Saradvan, Aristanemi, Bhrigu, Angira, Parasurama, Visvamitra, Parasuram, Indrapramad, Devala, Aristisena, Bharadvaj, Dvaipayana Vedavyas, even Bhagavan Narad Muni himself was there. Sukadev Goswami's father (Vyasadev), grandfather (Parasurama) were there. They were all great, principal scholars. Some of the rishis had five-foot beards, somebody six-foot, ten-foot, eight-foot beards, etc. And Sukadev was a sixteen-year-old naked boy who did not see anything in this mundane world.

The rishis told Pariksit Maharaj, "You are a very fortunate soul! The son of Vyasadev, Sukadev Goswami, has come here. He can give you the proper answer. Only he can do it. We will all respect and follow whatever he says." Then, Pariksit Maharaj gave an asan (seat) to Sukadev Goswami, and Sukadev Goswami, without giving any respect to anybody, sat there in front of Pariksit Maharaj. He did not see anyone else—there were so many rishis there besides him, but he saw and recognised them (his father, grandfather, Narad Goswami, et.al.) only later. After that, Pariksit Maharaj offered worship to Sukadev Goswami and then asked him, "Please bestow some mercy upon me. Please tell me how can I get happiness? How can I overcome this mundane existence? What is good for me? Everybody respects you, so please tell me what is the ultimate goal of life (sadhya-vastu)." Hearing this, Sukadev Goswami spoke, "You are a very good searcher. I am very pleased to hear your question. It is not necessary to ask so many questions and it is not necessary to give so many answers—there is only one question and there is only one answer." We see that there are so many questions in the mundane world: people ask all sorts of questions because they are attached with the material world, they always think about their bodies; and Sukadev Goswami said, "You asked me only one question, and that is a perfect question." Pariksit Maharaj asked Sukadev Goswami to instruct him about the ultimate goal of life, and Sukadev Goswami then spoke what later became Srimad Bhagavatam.

srotavyadini rajendra
nrnam santi sahasrasah
apasyatam atma-tattvam
grhesu grha-medhinam

"Those persons who are materially engrossed, being blind to the knowledge of ultimate truth, have many subject matters for hearing in human society, O Emperor."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 2.1.2)

Who we are? What must we do? What awaits us in the future? How can we get relief from our suffering? This is all related to the transcendental knowledge of atma-tattva. Those who do not see anything (who have no real, transcendental vision) ask so many questions, "How can I earn money? How can I maintain my family?" and so on. People do so many things, but we must understand what is the main purpose of this life. If you read Srimad Bhagavatam, you will understand it.

nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam
suka-mukhad amrta-drava-samyutam
pibata bhagavatam rasam alayam
muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri Sukadeva Goswami. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.1.3)

This is the main thing.

atmaramas cha munayo
nirgrantha apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukam bhaktim
ittham-bhuta-guno harih

"All different varieties of atmaramas [those who take pleasure in atma, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.7.10)

These things are very interesting. Our Param Guru Maharaj Srila Sridhar Maharaj explained the meaning of Gayatri mantra and he said, "Gayatri muralista-kirtana-dhanam Radha-padam dhimahi." Radha-padam dhimahi means the flute of Sri Krishna does not say anything else except for glorification of Srimati Radhika. Who should we worship? Power or the Powerful? Krishna is Powerful and Radharani is Power, or Energy. Our Param Guru Maharaj explains everything very nicely.

sa vai pumsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhoksaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati

"The supreme occupation [dharma] for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted to completely satisfy the self."

(Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.6)

These are the words of Srimad Bhagavatam. These are very beautiful things. I am telling this all very shortly now, you can find it in Gurudev's lecture. This lecture was translated from English into Bengali and I was proof-reading it today. It is very nice.

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