(3/6) Our Highest Treasure

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Evening class, Tarakeshwar, 7 November 2020, part 3
Translated from Bengali

Srimad Bhagavad-gita is our main scripture, you must have read it. You will see there sankhya-yoga, karma-yoga, jnana-yoga. It was written by Vyasadev who wrote so many scriptures – Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Agni Purana and many others. But even having written all these scriptures, Vyasadev still felt discontented ('I still do not feel happy inside'). One day, as he was thinking about it, he came to Badarikashram.

(If the Lord keeps us alive, we will go there by bus after next Gaura Purnima. We have started building an ashram in Haridwar, so we can arrange for accommodation there, and from there we can go for a chari-dham parikrama [circumambulation of four holy places]: Kedarnath, Bandrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. We will go by bus, but we will have to walk to Kedarnath, it is about a 22-kilometre walk. It is not a problem. When we were in South India, we also had to walk a long distance to reach Prahlad Maharaj's house and school.)

So, when Vyasadev came to Badarikashram, he met there with Narad Goswami, his gurudev:

কৃষ্ণ হৈতে চতুর্ম্মুখ, হন কৃষ্ণসেবোন্মুখ,
ব্রহ্মা হৈতে নারদের মতি ।
নারদ হৈতে ব্যাস, মধ্ব কহে ব্যাস-দাস,
পূর্ণপ্রজ্ঞ পদ্মনাভ গতি ॥

krsna haite chatur-mukha, hana krsna-sevonmukha,
brahma haite naradera mati
narada haite vyasa, madhva kahe vyasa-dasa,
purnaprajna padmanabha gati

"Through Krishna, Brahma became devoted to Krishna's service. Brahma inspired Narad. Narad inspired Vyasadev. Madhva Acharya is a servant of Vyasa. Thus, the line continued through Purnaprajna (Madhavacharya) and Padmanabha."

Seeing Vyasadev, Narad Goswami understood, 'I see that you are worried and do not find peace inside.' Vyasadev replied, 'Yes, I do not feel content.' After that, Narad Goswami pronounced four verses of Srimad Bhagavatam and told him to compose Srimad Bhagavatam based on those verses. When Vyasadev composed Srimad Bhagavatam, he thought, 'Who will distribute it to this world?' Then, by the will of the Lord, Vyasadev remembered Sukadev, his son. Where was Sukadev at this time? In his mother's womb. He was twelve years old at that time!

All the great sages (Atri Risi, Vasistha Risi and others) came to Sukadev and asked him, 'Please come out of your mother, Sukadev!' You are smiling or laughing to hear this, but this is a true story. Sukadev replied, 'No, I will not come out!'

'Why will you not come out?'

'If I come out,' explained Sukadev, 'Maya will attack me.'

Then, all the sages turned to Vyasadev,

'Vyasadev, you have the power to stop Maya's work, so why don't you stop Maya for five minutes for him to come out?'

'Will five minutes do? Will you come out if I do this?' Vyasadev asked Sukadev.

'Yes, I will,' Sukadev replied.

As soon as Vyasadev stopped the work of Maya (illusory power), Sukadev Goswami emerged from the womb of his mother and dashed into the forest. Can your children run when they come out of your wombs? But Sukadev could! He ran to the forest, and his father, Vyasadev, ran after him, 'Listen, Sukadev! Listen to me! Wait!' Sukadev was not conscious of anything. He ran as if blind – he had eyes, but he did not seeing anything or anyone around him in this illusory world. So, whether it was his mother or his father calling him, he could not hear or see anyone. Such was his position.

Eventually, Sukadev Goswami ran to the Himalayas. Because it often rains there and it is hard to dry clothes, some girls were bathing naked in the river. But when Sukadev Goswami was running by, they did not bother to cover themselves – Sukadev was a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boy at that time, but they did not feel shy in front of him. But when they saw Vyasadev running behind Sukadev, they felt shy and quickly covered themselves with some clothes. You can understand how much power Sukadev had.

In the meantime, one brahman cursed Pariksit Maharaj to die within seven days. Pariksit Maharaj was fortunate because he had got an advance notice of when he was to die. We do not have this kind of fortune (we cannot know when we will die). Having got this curse, Pariksit Maharaj gathered leaders from all great sampradayas. Many great sages came to that assembly (Atri, Vasistha and others) – some of those sages had ten-foot beards! The sages started to give much advice to Pariksit Maharaj. At this time, Sukadev Goswami appeared. When he came, he did not offer his obeisance to anyone. Sukadev's father (Vyasadev) and grandfather (Parasara Muni) were present there, and they were extremely wise personalities, but Sukadev did not offer his obeisance even to them. When the sages saw Sukadev enter the assembly, they told Pariksit Maharaj, 'Maharaj, you are very fortunate because Sukadev Goswami has come to your assembly! Whatever he decides, we will all accept it. Whatever he says is the final word.'

Pariksit Maharaj gave a seat to Sukadev Goswami, and Sukadev Goswami sat there. He did not see anybody around him – there were his guru-varga present, but he did not see them. He only saw Pariksit Maharaj. He asked him, 'Maharaj, what is your question?' Then, Pariksit Maharaj asked him, 'Prabhu, how can I get benefit? What is my goal?' Sukadev Goswami replied, 'Right! This is the right question! There is only one question, and there is only one answer. Those who live in this illusory world have all kinds of questions, but those who want to know the truth have only one question, and there can be only one answer to that question.' Then, Pariksit Maharaj heard the entire Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadev Goswami.

Suta Goswami heard this conversation and could remember it. Later, he repeated it to sixty thousand sages in Naimisaranya. That discourse that took place in Naimisaranya is now known as the twelve-canto Srimad Bhagavatam.

Narad Goswami told Vyasadev when they met in Badarikasram, 'If you cook five preparations, you must serve them separately, but you have mixed everything together! You write sometimes about karma-yoga, sometimes about jnana-yoga, sometimes about bhakti-yoga. Even when you write about bhakti-yoga, you mix it with jnana-yoga. What will people get by jnana-yoga? Write a scripture that would deal only with bhakti-yoga!' This scripture is Srimad Bhagavatam. We must always listen to discourses about Srimad Bhagavatam, and we must always remember them. This is the highest attainment for us, our highest treasure.

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READ OTHER PARTS:

1) Damodar's Pastimes
2) Cannot Have Foot in Both Camps
3) Our Highest Treasure
4) Two Books for Preaching
5) Clear Message
6) Srila Prabhupad's Appeal