Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.3

Prabhupāda: [jaya rādhā-mādhava] [breaks] [prema dhvani] [devotees offer obeisances]

[02:50]

Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting of verse, etc.]

yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo 'ndham saṁsāriṅāṁ karuṅayāha purāṅa-guhyaṁ taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām [SB 1.2.3]

Prabhupāda:

yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo 'ndham saṁsāriṅāṁ karuṅayāha purāṅa-guhyaṁ taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām [SB 1.2.3]

So, yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam. Akhila means entire.

[aside:] Hmm. Read the word meaning.

Pradyumna: yaḥ—he who; sva-anubhāvam—self-assimilated (experienced); akhila—all around; śruti—Vedas; sāram—cream; ekam—the only one; adhyātma—transcendental; dīpam—torchlight; atititīrṣatām—desiring to overcome; tamaḥ andham—deeply dark material existence; saṁsāriṅām—of the materialistic men; karuṅayā—out of causeless mercy; āha—said; purāṅa—supplementary to the Vedas; guhyam—very confidential; tam—unto him; vyāsa-sūnum—the son of Vyāsadeva; upayāmi—let me offer my obeisances; gurum—spiritual master; munīnām—of the great sages.

Translation: "Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto him [Śuka], the spiritual master of all sages, the son of Vyāsadeva, who, out of his great compassion for those gross materialists who struggle to cross over the darkest regions of material existence, spoke this Purāṅa, supplement to the Vedas, the cream of Vedic knowledge, after having personally assimilated it by experience."

Prabhupāda: So these are the qualification of spiritual master. What is that? Svānubhāvam, "must assimilate personally." Svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram. Śruti. The Vedas are called śruti, absolute knowledge. It has to be learned by hearing, not by speculation. Śruti. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet śrotriyam [Muṅḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12].

[To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.]

From śruti, the śrotriya comes.

So he's offering respect to Śukadeva Gosvāmī because he has assimilated the whole Vedic knowledge. Śruti-sāra. What is that sāra? Sāra means essence. What is the ultimate goal of knowledge, essence of knowledge? This is also explained in Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ [Bg 15.15].

[I am seated in everyone's heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. By all the Vedas am I to be known; indeed I am the compiler of Vedānta, and I am the knower of the Vedas.]

The real purpose of Vedic knowledge is to search out where is Kṛṣṅa.

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī assimilated the Vedic knowledge, and he was after Kṛṣṅa. Although he was liberated soul, still, he was after Kṛṣṅa. To become liberated is not the final stage. To... Liberated means one who understands that he is not this material body. He is liberated. But that much knowledge is not sufficient. One must act according to that. Just like one is cured of the feverish condition.

One was suffering some fever; now there is no fever. That's nice. But that is called convalescent stage. In the convalescent stage, if we do not take care nicely, again the fever may be relapse. That is marginal stage. In this stage, and diseased condition stage, and between them there is marginal stage. So we cannot stay on the marginal stage. We must come this side or that side.

So even if we are liberated, if we are not engaged in the activities of liberation, then we are to be considered on the marginal stage. And marginal stage means we may again fall down in this material condition. Āruhya kṛcchreṅa paraṁ padaṁ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ [SB 10.2.32].

[[Someone may say that aside from devotees, who always seek shelter at the Lord's lotus feet, there are those who are not devotees but who have accepted different processes for attaining salvation. What happens to them? In answer to this question, Lord Brahmā and the other demigods said:] O lotus-eyed Lord, although nondevotees who accept severe austerities and penances to achieve the highest position may think themselves liberated, their intelligence is impure. They fall down from their position of imagined superiority because they have no regard for Your lotus feet.]

Āruhya kṛcchreṅa. Kṛcchreṅa means with great difficulty. The philosophers, they try to understand the Absolute Truth by mental speculation. But simply by mental speculation you cannot stay in that understanding. Or, in other words, by theoretical knowledge you cannot escape. It must be practiced. Practiced.

So in our Kṛṣṅa consciousness movement we are putting the candidates into practice. Without practice, simply knowledge is no good. That is... Simply foolishly to become puffed up that "I am now liberated. I have got this knowledge; I am now liberated," no. That is not liberation. That is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam elsewhere. Ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninaḥ [SB 10.2.32]. Vimukta-māninaḥ. They're thinking that they have become liberated.

Just like the Māyāvāda sannyāsīs, they address amongst themselves as "Nārāyaṅa," namo nārāyaṅa. That means everyone has become Nārāyaṅa. The modern increase of incarnation of God means this Māyāvāda philosophy. Because in the Māyāvāda philosophy everyone thinks that he is God, Nārāyaṅa. "I have become Nārāyaṅa." Brahma-bhūta [Bg 18.54].

"Now I have become Nārāyaṅa." No. You cannot become Nārāyaṅa. You can become Nārāyaṅa's dāsa, servant. That is your healthy state.

So if after liberation... Liberation means sufficient knowledge to understand that one is not this body. That is called liberation. So after liberation there is activity. That they do not know. They think after liberation there is no other activity. Some of them say that when the water pot is full, there is no more sound; it is solid. But our philosophy is that when one is liberated, his actual life begins. What is that actual life? The actual life is to be engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. That is actual life.

Therefore in the Bhagavad-gītā it is said,

brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate parām [Bg 18.54]

[And of all yogīs, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.]

After being brahma-bhūtaḥ, not simply by knowing ahaṁ brahmāsmi. No. One must realize, assimilate, how he is Brahman. Brahman means the same thing as the Absolute Truth. So we, all living entities, being part and parcel of the Supreme Brahman, Kṛṣṅa, certainly we are Brahman. There is no doubt about it. But if one stops activities of Brahman realization, then he falls down.

The Brahman activities are this devotional service. People may see that "These Kṛṣṅa conscious people, they are also working, they are also eating, they are also sleeping, they are earning money. We are earning money in this way; they are earning in another way." So they may see the similarity of action. Karma and bhakti to the fools appear to be the same. No. It is not the same.

Here is realization that everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa, whereas in the karma platform, the realization is that "Everything belongs to me. It is my house, my money, my children, my country, my society, my property." "My" and "I." "I am the monarch of all I survey, and I am the proprietor of everything." So this misconception is not there in the bhakti. In the bhakti school, everything belongs to Kṛṣṅa. We don't take anything as our own. That is called Vaiṣṅava philosophy. Assimilate. Anubhāva.

So it is stated here, yaḥ svānubhāvam. Svānubhāvam. Svānubhāvam means personally convinced. Anubhāvam. God can be realized at the present stage by anubhāva. We cannot see God now, but anubhāva, appreciating or understanding the nature of God and seeing God, there is no difference. Absolute.

So our business is at the present moment to feel the presence of the Lord in every action. To... Presence... The presence of the Lord—that is wanted. So in someday, if you continue in that Kṛṣṅa consciousness, presence of Lord in everything, then it will be possible some day to see Kṛṣṅa eye to eye, just like we are seeing.

We are seeing Kṛṣṅa: here is Kṛṣṅa. But still, because we are conditioned souls, sometimes we think that "This is not actual Kṛṣṅa; this is a statue of Kṛṣṅa." But that is not the fact. Fact is Kṛṣṅa is one. Kṛṣṅa is absolute, advaya-jñāna. He is identified to everything. What is everything? Everything means manifestation of His energy.

So energy is not different from the energetic. Śakti-śaktimatayor abhedam. There is no difference. Just like the sun and the sunshine, or heat of the sun. Heat of the sun and the sunshine, they appear to be different from the sun, but actually it is not, because they are simultaneous.

Wherever there is sun, there is heat and light. Or wherever there is heat and light, there is sun. In the morning, when you see that it is now clear, there is no more darkness, immediately you understand that there is sunrise. So this svānubhāva, when there is no darkness in your heart... Svānubhāva. What is Kṛṣṅa, when you understand fully within your heart, at that time your actual liberation is attained.

So what Śukadeva Gosvāmī did, that after assimilating the whole Vedic literature, he distributed it. That is another instinct. If you really have learned the essence of Vedic knowledge, automatically you'll be inclined to preach it. Śravaṅaṁ kīrtanam. Śravaṅam means to hear, to receive the knowledge. And next, kīrtanam, means to distribute or describe the knowledge. Yaḥ svānubhāvam akhila-śruti-sāram ekam adhyātma-dīpam [SB 1.2.3]. Dīpam means lamp. So this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is just like the lamp in the darkness to see Kṛṣṅa, or God. Adhyātma-dīpam.

And for whom is it meant? Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is not meant for the street boys, or who are accustomed to read so many nonsense literature. They want to waste their time. They have no engagement. They purchase some book, fictitious book, and read it. Not only they; even elderly men, they read it. But this book is different from those books. It is meant for person..., those who are desiring to get out of this world of ignorance. Tamo 'ndham. Gṛha andha-kūpam. Andha. Andha means blind or darkness.

So our materialistic way of life is described as gṛha andha-kūpam [SB 7.5.5].

[Prahlāda Mahārāja replied: O best of the asuras, King of the demons, as far as I have learned from my spiritual master, any person who has accepted a temporary body and temporary household life is certainly embarrassed by anxiety because of having fallen in a dark well where there is no water but only suffering. One should give up this position and go to the forest [vana]. More clearly, one should go to Vṛndāvana, where only Kṛṣṅa consciousness is prevalent, and should thus take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.]

This family life is just like dark well. We are already in the darkness, and another darkness is to fall in the dark well. If one falls down in the dark well, it is very difficult to get out, because he may cry very loudly and people may not hear. These dark well are sometimes there in the paddy field.

I have seen one dark well. In your country, when I was guest in John Lennon's house in 1969, we saw in the garden there was a dark well. Dark well means a very deep ditch, well, but it is covered with grass. You cannot know that there is a deep well, but while walking, you may fall down within it. And it is already covered with grass, and it is very deep. If you fall down and you try to get out of it, because it is lonely place, nobody is there, nobody may hear you, and you may simply die without any help.

So this materialistic way of life, without any knowledge of the outside world or without any knowledge... Outside world means just like we are within this universe. It is covered. The round thing which we see in the sky, that is the covering. Just like a coconut shell: a coconut shell, within and without. Within the coconut shell it is darkness, and without it is light. Similarly, this universe is just like the coconut. We are within.

As in within coconut there is water, half water, similarly, within this universe there is half water. On that water, Lord Viṣṅu, Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṅu, is lying. And from His navel, a lotus stem is sprouted. Just imagine within the coconut there is water, and somebody's lying, and there is some stem out of the navel. Exactly this universe is like that. But outside the universe there is light.

Here, within the universe, because it is covered, light is required—sunlight is required; moonlight is required; electricity is required. But in the spiritual world there is no necessity of light. They're self-effulgent. Therefore, tamo 'ndham saṁsāriṅām, atititīrṣatāṁ tamo 'ndham. Those who are actually serious about going out of this darkness and come to the light... Tamasi mā jyotir gama: "Don't remain in this darkness. Come to the light."

So anyone who is very serious... Titīrṣatāṁ tamo 'ndham. Saṁsāriṅām... Adhyātma-dīpam atititīrṣatāṁ tamo 'ndham. Those who are actually serious to go out of this darkness to light, for them this is the lamp. Just like in darkness, if you are helped with a lamp, "Please come this way. Come this way," so you can come out of the darkness. Similarly, atititīrṣatām, one who wants to get liberation from this darkness, for them this Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is given by Śukadeva Gosvāmī.

Saṁsāriṅām... Karuṅayā. This is the business of the saintly person. They are very much compassionate to these materialistic men, saṁsāriṅām. Saṁsārī means they are perpetually rotating, wandering, within this darkness in different forms of life. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says,

ei rūpe brahmāṅḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva guru-kṛṣṅa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc Madhya 19.151]

[According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Kṛṣṅa. By the mercy of both Kṛṣṅa and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service.]

We are wandering. The modern education system has no knowledge. They simply know that "This life is everything. Waste this life by sense gratification, because after death everything is void. Now I have got this body. Body means the senses. So enjoy my senses." This is the materialistic way of life. They have no knowledge that there is life after death. We should prepare ourself, what kind of body we shall have next life. Instead of, they are being washed off. Not washed off; carried away by the waves of material nature.

Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura therefore sings,

[miche] māyār bośe jāccho bhese' khāccho hābuḍubu bhāi jīv kṛṣṅa-dās e biśwās korle to' ār duḥkho nāi

Everyone is suffering, māyār bośe. Under the influence of māyā, the illusory energy, they are being carried away by the waves. Waves means the three modes of material nature. And suffering: sometimes being drowned, sometimes up, sometimes relief, sometimes distress. This is going on. So the only way to get out of this anxiety or to stop the perpetual being carried away is to take shelter of Kṛṣṅa. Kṛṣṅa also says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṅaṁ vraja [Bg 18.66]:

[Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear.]

"You are suffering; you simply surrender unto Me."

So what Kṛṣṅa says, the Bhāgavata also says the same thing. Bhāgavata begins, paraṁ satyaṁ dhīmahi: "The Supreme... I offer my respect to the Supreme." Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya: "I offer my respectful obeisances to Lord Vāsudeva." Vāsudeva means Kṛṣṅa.

So saṁsāriṅāṁ karuṅayāha purāṅa-guhyam. Purāṅa. Purāṅa means... Sometimes the Māyāvādīs, they say these Purāṅas are stories. No. They are not stories. It comes from the Purāṅa. Purāṅa means filling up, supplementary, to complete it. Purāṅas, they are not out of the Vedic literature. Rāmāyaṅa, Mahābhārata, Purāṅa, they are..., Mahā..., yes, they are all belonging to the Vedic literature. Especially Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is called Mahā-Purāṅa. Therefore Mahā-Purāṅa... Why Mahā-Purāṅa? Purāṅa-guhyam. Very confidential Purāṅa.

There are sāttvika-purāṅa, rājasika-purāṅa, tāmasika-purāṅa—three kinds of Purāṅas. So the aim is to take the leader on the liberation platform, but according to the quality. In the tāmasika-purāṅa there are recommendation for Goddess Kālī and other. And rājasika-purāṅa there is recommendation for yajña or worshiping the demigods in the heavenly planet—Indra, Candra.

But in the sāttvika-purāṅa only about Viṣṅu, Lord Viṣṅu, is recommended to be worshiped. So this is called purāṅa-guhyam, because in this Purāṅa you won't find any recommendation for worshiping any other demigod. Simply satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi [SB 1.1.1]. Only the Absolute. Satyaṁ param. The ultimate Absolute Truth, Kṛṣṅa, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya.

Saṁsāriṅāṁ karuṅayāha purāṅa-guhyam. He first of all spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to..., being compassionate to the people suffering from these material pangs. Taṁ vyāsa-sūnum upayāmi guruṁ munīnām. Guruṁ munīnām: "He's not only my guru, but he is guru, spiritual master, of great sages and saintly persons." Even Vyāsadeva also considered his son greater than himself.

When Śukadeva Gosvāmī appeared in the assembly where many saintly persons were present at the time of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, so at that time all the munis stood up to receive him. All the munis. Even there was Vyāsadeva, he also stood up. Therefore he is guruṁ munīnām: he is spiritual master of all saintly persons.

Read purport.

Pradyumna: "In this prayer, Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī practically summarizes the complete introduction of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural supplementary commentary on the Vedānta-sūtras. The Vedānta-sūtras or the Brahma-sūtras were compiled by Vyāsadeva with a view to presenting just the cream of Vedic knowledge."

Prabhupāda: Yes. First of all, there was only one Veda, Atharva-veda. Then he divided according to the subject matter into four Vedas: Sāma, Yajur, Atharva, Ṛg. Then he explained the Vedas by the Purāṅas, and he compiled Mahābhārata also for same purpose: how one can understand the Vedic literature. Strī-śūdra-dvija-bandhūnāṁ trayī na śruti-gocarā [SB 1.4.25].

[Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahābhārata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born.]

Those who are less intelligent—woman, śūdra and dvija-bandhu... Dvija-bandhu means those who are born in brāhmaṅa family but are not just to the quality. They are called dvija-bandhu. For them this Mahābhārata. And at the end he compiled..., he summarized the whole thing by writing Vedānta-sūtra. Still, he was not happy, and under the direction of his spiritual master, Nārada, he wrote himself the commentary of the Vedānta-sūtra, and that is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Go on.

Pradyumna: "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the natural commentary on this cream. Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī was a thoroughly realized master of the Vedānta-sūtra, and consequently he also personally realized the commentary, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And just to show his boundless mercy upon bewildered materialistic men who want to cross completely over nescience, he recited for the first time this confidential knowledge.

"There is no point in arguing that a materialistic man can be happy. No materialistic creature, be he the great Brahmā or an insignificant ant, can be happy. Everyone tries to make a permanent plan for happiness, but everyone is baffled by the laws of material nature. Therefore the materialistic world is called the darkest region of God's creation. Yet the unhappy materialists can get out of it simply by desiring to get out. Unfortunately they are so foolish that they do not want to escape."

Prabhupāda: They do not know that there is escape. They think this is all. This is their education. They have no knowledge. Although they are suffering in every step, they are making plan in their own way within this material world. Just like the UNESCO and so many other, all nation attempts are there. They are planning within this. That is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as carvita-carvaṅānām.

Carvita means chewing the chewed. They see that "Our previous leaders, they also did like this; it was not successful," still they are going on in different way. That is not the way. Actually if you are really anxious to become free from the conditional life, then you have to take to adhyātma-śāstra. You have to take knowledge from spiritual sources.

Go on.

Pradyumna: "Therefore they are compared to the camel, who relishes thorny twigs because he likes the taste of the twigs mixed with blood. He does not realize that it is his own blood and that his tongue is being cut by the thorns.

Similarly, to the materialist, his own blood is as sweet as honey, and although he is always harassed by his own material creations, he does not wish to escape. Such materialists are called karmīs. Out of hundreds of thousands of karmīs, only a few may feel tired of material engagement and desire to get out of the labyrinth. Such intelligent persons..."

Prabhupāda: Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante jñānavān māṁ prapadyate [Bg 7.19].

[After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.]

After many, many births they come to realize that "This is not the way of solution. I must take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead."

That's all right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṅa. [devotees offer obeisances] [end]