The Answer Is One

His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad
Srila Bhakti Nirmal Acharya Maharaj
Vaishnav Seva Programme, Kolkata,
29 January 2021, part 5

There is a way to escape. "There is only one question, and there is only one answer." Who said this? Sukadev Goswami. I will tell about it very briefly.

When Parasara Muni, Vedavyas and many other great sages gathered at the assembly of Pariksit Maharaj, Sukadev Goswami came to that assembly stark naked. (We have printed this story in a small book. There are two small books, one is about the knowledge of the self (atma-jnana)—it is a lecture that Srila Gurudev gave in Mexico. There were some policemen present at that lecture, and after they heard it, they took initiation from Gurudev! Gurudev spoke in English, and I have written it in Bengali. The other book is about the history of Srimad Bhagavatam's appearance.) So, what did Sukadev Goswami say? He asked Pariksit Maharaj, "What is your question? What do you want?" Pariksit Maharaj answered, "How can I get real benefit?" Hearing it, Sukadev said, "What you have said is right, Pariksit! There is only one question (the question you have just asked), and there is only one answer." Then, as he spoke about the answer to that question, he spoke the whole of great Srimad Bhagavatam.

Sri Sukadev Goswami spoke for seven days, and Suta Goswami heard it too at that assembly and later told it to the sixty thousand sages who were doing a fire sacrifice in Naimisaranya. After that, Srimad Bhagavatam was written down as a book. It was not originally written by anyone. People often ask who wrote Bhagavatam, but nobody wrote it.

When Vyasadev felt disturbed in his mind, Narad Goswami, his guru, came to him in Badarikashram, and Vyasadev told him, "Gurudev, I do not feel peace at heart." Narad Goswami said then, "How will you get peace? You have produced so many scriptures. Gita, Puranas, Vedas, etc.—this is all kitchuri (hodgepodge)!" You know, they are cooking here so many things—rice, dal, subji (vegetables), shukta (bitter preparation), chutney, sweet rice—and if you mix it all together, will you get the taste? So, for example, you read Gita: yes, it is the primary scripture, but there is karma-yoga, sankhya-yoga, jnana-yoga, and then bhakti-yoga. There are many teachings inside it. So, Narad Goswami said, "Think of such a scripture where there would be only bhakti-yoga and by reading which people can get the Lord." You cannot get the Lord through any karma, jnana, etc.—you can get the Lord only through bhakti, devotion. And that scripture was Srimad Bhagavatam.

Sukadev Goswami spent twelve years in the womb of his mother—he did not come out. When requested, he said, "I will not come out because if I do, illusion will attack me." Then, some sages came and suggested Vyasadev, "You have the power to stop Maya (illusion), so why do you not stop illusion for five minutes to let him come out?" Vyasadev asked, "Will five minutes do it?" Then, they asked Sukadev, "Will you be able to come out within five minutes?" Sukadev agreed ("Yes, five minutes is enough") and came out—as soon as he came out, he ran to the forest. He did not see anyone. He was as if blind—he had eyes, but he did not see anything in this world, he only saw the Lord. So, he just went wherever his glance fell. Even the girls who bathed naked in the river in the Himalayas, but they felt nothing when Sukadev was passing by—yet when they saw Vyasadev, they quickly threw some clothes on to cover themselves.

Moreover, Sivji Maharaj said, "Aham vedmi, Suka vetti, Vyasa vetti na vetti va. I know it, Sukadev Goswami, the son of Vyasadev, knows it, but Vyasadev may or may not know it." So, Vyasadev gave such a great power to Sukadev that Sukadev could give everything to this world—that is Bhagavatam Katha. If we follow this Bhagavatam—if we have this kind of high thinking, if we think about that highest attainment, then we will realise that we are all children of nectar. We all have one father—the Lord.

ঈশ্বরঃ পরমঃ কৃষ্ণঃ সচ্চিদানন্দবিগ্রহঃ ।
অনাদিরাদির্গোবিন্দঃ সর্ব্বকারণকারণম্ ॥

isvarah paramah krsnah sach-chid-ananda-vigrahah
anadir adir govindah sarva-karana-karanam

"Krishna, who is known as Govinda, is the supreme controller. He has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. He is the origin of all. He has no other origin, for He is the prime cause of all causes."

(Sri Brahma-samhita, 5.1)

This is who we must think about, and if we can leave this world thinking about the Lord, then we will leave the bondage of illusion, and after that:

মায়ারে করিয়া জয় ছাড়ান না যায় ।
সাধুর-গুরুর কৃপা বিনা না দেখি উপায় ॥

mayare kariya jaya chhadana na yaya,
sadhur-gurur krpa vina na dekhi upaya

It is not possible to conquer maya by illusory environment (by engaging in maya); it is only possible to get relief by the mercy of Guru, Vaishnav.

We must become surrendered.

তদ্­বিদ্ধি প্রণিপাতেন পরিপ্রশ্নেন সেবয়া ।
উপদেক্ষ্যন্তি তে জ্ঞানং জ্ঞানিনস্তত্ত্বদর্শিনঃ ॥

tad viddhi pranipatena, pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanam, jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"You will be able to attain knowledge by satisfying the divine master with submission, relevant inquiry, and sincere service. The enlightened souls who are learned in scriptural knowledge and endowed with direct realisation of the Supreme Absolute Truth will impart divine knowledge to you."

(Srimad Bhagavad-gita, 4.34)

We must have a complete, full surrender. We sing every morning:

দৈন্য, আত্মনিবেদন, গোপ্তৃত্বে বরণ ।
'অবশ্য রক্ষিবে কৃষ্ণ'—বিশ্বাস পালন ॥
ভক্তি-অনুকূল মাত্র কার্য্যের স্বীকার ।
ভক্তি-প্রতিকূল ভব—বর্জ্জনাঙ্গীকার ॥
ষড়ঙ্গ শরণাগতি হইবে যাঁহার ।
তাঁহার প্রার্থনা শুনে শ্রীনন্দকুমার ॥

dainya, atma-nivedana, goptrtve varana
'avasya raksibe krsna'—visvasa palana
bhakti-anukula matra karyera svikara
bhakti-pratikula bhava—varjanangikara
sad-anga saranagati ha-ibe yanhara
tanhara prarthana sune sri-nanda-kumara

"Humility, self-submission, embracing the Lord's guardianship, maintaining the faith that 'Krishna will certainly protect me', engaging only in activities that are favourable to devotion, rejecting everything unfavourable to devotion. These are the six types of saranagati, and if you can surrender in all the six ways, Krishna will hear you."

(Saranagati, Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur)

You think that if you wear beads on your neck, you are a devotee, but some wear neck beads and do both what is favourable to devotion and what is not favourable to devotion. It is the same as thinking, "I will drink alcohol, and I will drink milk"—if you do this, then you will not get any benefit from drinking milk. We must accept that which is healthy and wholesome, and we must reject that which is unwholesome and harmful. Yet people will say, "Oh, I can give up everything, but I cannot give up fish. They cry, "There is such nice fish in the pond, how can I resist it?" Gambling, intoxication, illegal sex, and meat-eating are unfavourable to devotion; these must be given up. We were doing a fire sacrifice just now—if you put one spoon ghee into the fire and then one spoon of water, then you can tell me if you can do a fire sacrifice like this or not. So, you must only offer ghee—if you put only ghee, then you can do a fire sacrifice. And people think, "I will eat meat, fish, everything, and chant the Holy Name." That is why it is said,

অসাধুসঙ্গে ভাই কৃষ্ণনাম নাহি হয় ।

নামাক্ষর বাহিরায় বটে তবু নাম কভু নয় ॥

asadhu-sange bhai krsna-nama nahi haya
namaksara bahiraya bate tabu nama kabhu naya

"Brother, the Name of Krishna never appears in bad association: the letters of the Name may appear, but the Name never does."

(Sri Sri Prema-vivarta, 7.1)

It may sound like the Holy Name, just as karma and service look the same. When a cat is carrying a mouse in its mouth and when it is carrying its kitten in its mouth, it looks the same, but when the cat is carrying its kitten, it is taking it to some warm place, for example, but when it is carrying a mouse, is it carrying it out of affection? Of course not. So, it may look the same, but these two are completely different things. You should always remember this.

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