Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.9.4

Anantarām Śāstrījī: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [devotees repeat] [break] [chants verse, with Prabhupāda and devotees repeating]

tatheti śanakai rājan mahā-bhāgavato 'rbhakaḥ upetya bhuvi kāyena nanāma vidhṛtāñjaliḥ [SB 7.9.4]

Dayānanda: [chants synonyms, with devotees repeating]

[01:39]

Translation: "O King Yudhiṣṭhira, Prahlāda Mahārāja, the exalted devotee, although a little boy, accepted the words of Lord Brahmā and gradually proceeded towards Lord Nṛsiṁhadeva and immediately fell down to offer his respectful obeisances with folded hands."

Prabhupāda:

tatheti śanakai rājan mahā-bhāgavato 'rbhakaḥ upetya bhuvi kāyena nanāma vidhṛtāñjaliḥ [SB 7.9.4]

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, mahā-bhāgavata, uttama-adhikārī. There are three stages of devotional platform. First stage is called kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, second stage is called madhyama-adhikārī, and third stage, or topmost stage, is called uttama-adhikārī. So he was only five years old. How he became uttama-adhikārī, on the topmost stage? He had no training. Still, he is addressed here by Narada Muni—Narada Muni was his guru—and still, he is describing Prahlāda Mahārāja as mahā-bhāgavata. That means even one is mahā-bhāgavata, he has to accept a guru. Narada Muni, he is guru; he knows that "Prahlāda is my disciple, but he is mahā-bhāgavata." Not only that, before his birth, when he was within the womb of his mother... His mother was attacked by the demigods, headed by Indra, and they were dragging her to their palace. Narada Muni met, said, "What are you doing this? You are harassing one woman?" "No, sir, we are not harassing, only we are taking her in our place to wait for the deliverance of the child. Then we shall kill him. Because he is born of atheist father, so he is another demon." Narada Muni said, "No, no, no. You are mistaken. He is not demon, he is mahā-bhāgavata."

So in the beginning he was mahā-bhāgavata, since he was in within the womb of his mother. And later on he is mahā-bhāgavata. This is called nitya-siddha, eternally mahā-bhāgavata. Eternally mahā-bhāgavata never forgets Kṛṣṅa, in any circumstance. That is the sign of mahā-bhāgavata, nitya-siddha. Prahlāda Mahārāja was put into so many trials when he was only a child, still he never forgot Kṛṣṅa. That is the sign of mahā-bhāgavata. In any circumstances. It does not mean that because one is mahā-bhāgavata he should not be put into trials. He can be put into trials, because the material world is like that. The Western country, they, Lord Jesus Christ, he was put into trials but he never forgot Kṛṣṅa. This is sign of mahā-bhāgavata, nitya-siddha.

gaurāṅgera saṅgi-gaṅe nitya-siddha kori 'māne se jāy brajenda-nandana pāś

If one can understand nitya-siddha bhāgavata, then he immediately becomes eligible to go back to home, to back to Godhead. This is the privilege of associating with mahā-bhāgavata.

So our system is... [child crying] [aside:] Try and maintain[?]. Evaṁ paramparā, to associate with the mahā-bhāgavata by words or by physical exposition. So mahā-bhāgavata, arbhakaḥ. One may argue, arbhakaḥ means foolish child who has no knowledge, he is called arbhakaḥ. How we can say mahā-bhāgavata, arbhakaḥ, he has no knowledge? No. It is possible. Ahaituky apratihatā. Bhakti does not depend on age or on advanced knowledge, or richness, or so many other things—janmaiśvarya-śruta-śrī [SB 1.8.26],

[My Lord, Your Lordship can easily be approached, but only by those who are materially exhausted, because one who is on the path of [material] progress, trying to improve himself with respectable parentage, great opulence, high education and bodily beauty, cannot address You with sincere feeling.]

to take birth in high family, aristocracy, and to become rich, to become beautiful, to become very learned scholar. These things are material assets, but spiritual life does not depend on these things. One can become spiritually very advanced even though he is poor, he is born in a low..., low-grade family. Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He was born in Muhammadan family, but mahā-bhāgavata. There are so many examples. Not that because he was born in a Muhammadan family, therefore he cannot. This Marchoism[?] is like that, but actually it is not. Ahaituky apratihatā. Bhakti is so purifying that any condition, any circumstances, one can become devotee.

māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ striyo vaiśyās tathā śūdrās te 'pi yānti parāṁ gatim [Bg 9.32]

[O son of Pṛthā, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth—women, vaiśyas [merchants], as well as śūdras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.]

Kṛṣṅa says.

So everyone has got the potency to become mahā-bhāgavata, provided he tries. Sādhana-siddha and nitya-siddha. So Prahlāda Mahārāja is nitya-siddha, and there are sādhana-siddhas, just like we are. We are trying to approach the topmost goal of life by bhajana, by sādhana. So anyone has got the potency to come to the stage of mahā-bhāgavata, provided he follows the mahājana. You can become mahā-bhāgavata if you follow mahājana. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186].

[Dry arguments are inconclusive. A great personality whose opinion does not differ from others is not considered a great sage. Simply by studying the Vedas, which are variegated, one cannot come to the right path by which religious principles are understood. The solid truth of religious principles is hidden in the heart of an unadulterated self-realized person. Consequently, as the śāstras confirm, one should accept whatever progressive path the mahājanas advocate.]

If you follow the mahājana's path then everyone can become. Of course, it is not possible everyone to become mahā-bhāgavata, but there is possibility. Simply we have to become serious to follow the path of mahājana. Dharmasya tattvaṁ nihitaṁ guhāyāṁ mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ [Cc Madhya 17.186]. Tarko apratiṣṭhaḥ. Simply by argument, you cannot make advancement. Simply by neti neti, or there are many other processes, mystic yoga process to become very austere, remain silent, mauna-vrata śruta-tapa, tapasya, education, austerity... None of them are the cause but becoming bhakta, only devotional service, if one is fixed up, dṛḍha-vratāḥ. Mahātmānas tu māṁ pārtha daivīṁ prakṛtim āśritaḥ bhajanty, dṛḍha-vratāḥ [Bg 9.13].

[O son of Pṛthā, those who are not deluded, the great souls, are under the protection of the divine nature. They are fully engaged in devotional service because they know Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, original and inexhaustible.]

So we should be very much firmly fixed up, following the rules and regulation.

So Prahlāda Mahārāja, he is nitya-siddha. Nitya-siddha means there are living entities, every living entity is part and parcel of Kṛṣṅa. So one who does not fall down, he is called nitya-siddha. One who does not fall down. Just like in this material world there are millions and millions of living entities, but they have fallen down. But there are multi-millions and millions of living entities in the vaikuṅṭha-loka, they never fall down. They are called nitya-siddha. They never come here. So we have no information. This is only one-fourth manifestation of God's creation, and the three-fourths creation of God is there. Not creation; it is everlasting. Just like in the prison house, if you go to the prison house, it does not mean that the whole state is there. It is only insignificant part of the state, and only the criminals they are put together.

So this material world... Material world means so many planets you see—so many stars and planets: the sun planet, moon planet and loka, sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

This is one universe, and there are millions of universes. Altogether that is material world, and that is one part of creation. Ekāṁśena sthito jagat [Bg 10.42].

[But what need is there, Arjuna, for all this detailed knowledge? With a single fragment of Myself I pervade and support this entire universe.]

The jagat means this material world. So the whole material, ananta koṭi. Yasya prabhā prabhavato jagad-aṅḍa-koṭi-koṭiṣv aśeṣa vasudhādi vibhūti-bhinnam [Bs 5.40].

[I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, whose effulgence is the source of the nondifferentiated Brahman mentioned in the Upaniṣads, being differentiated from the infinity of glories of the mundane universe appears as the indivisible, infinite, limitless, truth.]

This ananta-koṭi-brahmāṅḍa is only one-fourth manifestation of God's creation, and just imagine what is the other three-fourth. That is spiritual world.

So the nitya-siddha mahā-bhāgavata, they come from the spiritual world on the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they, by example, they preach Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is mahā-bhāgavata. By suffering, by example, everything, they look like ordinary men, but mahā-bhāgavata. How it is tested? Never forgets Kṛṣṅa. This is mahā-bhāgavata nitya-siddha. And sādhana-siddha means those who are put into this material world, by the association of mahā-bhāgavata, if he tries, follows, then he can also become mahā-bhāgavata or nitya-siddha, because originally everyone is nitya-siddha.

nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti 'sādhya' kabhu naya śravaṅādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya [Cc Madhya 22.107]

[Pure love for Kṛṣṅa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.]

Every living entity originally nitya-siddha, but somehow or other, just like Jaya-Vijaya fell down in this material world, and he was delivered also, both of them were delivered. So although you have fallen in this material world and suffering the pangs of material existence, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi [Bg 13.9],

[Humility, pridelessness, nonviolence, tolerance, simplicity, approaching a bona fide spiritual master, cleanliness, steadiness and self-control; renunciation of the objects of sense gratification, absence of false ego, the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age and disease; nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people; accepting the importance of self-realization, and philosophical search for the Absolute Truth—all these I thus declare to be knowledge, and what is contrary to these is ignorance.]

on account of accepting this material body, still, Kṛṣṅa personally comes, yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati bhārata [Bg 4.7]. This is glāniḥ, discrepancies. We are living this material existence. This is not real life. Real life is to become mahā-bhāgavata.

So you cannot become a mahā-bhāgavata all of a sudden, but from kaniṣṭha-adhikārī,

arcāyām eva haraye yaḥ pūjāṁ śraddhayehate na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ [SB 11.2.47]

Prākṛtaḥ stage. So prakṛtaḥ stage means just like we are worshiping the Deity, but not only we shall worship Deity, but we make advancement. What is that advancement? To become gradually a preacher. That is madhyama-adhikārī, second stage: preacher. Preacher means that,

īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu dviṣatsu ca prema-maitrī-kṛpā upekṣāḥ yaḥ karoti sa madhyamaḥ [SB 11.2.46]

When you become fully Kṛṣṅa conscious by worshiping the Deity regularly, as we have got prescription to rise early in the morning, offer maṅgala-ārati, then kīrtana, then class, in this way practicing, practicing, when you become advanced Kṛṣṅa conscious, then your natural tendency will be how to preach. So long you do not develop this tendency for preaching, simply remain in kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, you do not know how to deliver others. Na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu. You do not know how to receive elevated..., one elevated devotee; you do not know how to do good to others.

So Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is not to keep one in the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, especially those who are born in India. He says,

bhārata-bhūmite manuṣya-janma haila yāra janma sārthaka kari' kara para-upakāra [Cc Ādi 9.41]

[One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India [Bhārata-varṣa] should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.]

This is principle, para-upakāra. Because everyone is suffering. So in the lower stage, everyone should take part very diligently in the worship of the Deity, śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-sṛṅgāra-tan-mandira-mārj anādau. One should be engaged..., everyone should be engaged, śrī-vigrahārādhanam, with Deity worship. What is that Deity worship? Śrī-vigrahārādhana-nitya-nānā-śṛṅgāra, to decorate the Deity very, very nicely, śṛṅgāra. Tan-mandira-mārjanādau, and to keep the temple, all through, very clean. This kaniṣṭha-adhikārī should be fully engaged in these things, then he becomes gradually, I mean to say, elevated in the madhyama-adhikārī.

In the madhyama-adhikārī he can see four things. What is that? Four things means first of all the Supreme Lord, īśvara, the controller, he can see. "He can see" means he understands, he appreciates, he can conceive, "Yes, the Supreme Lord is there". There is no more theoretical. So īśvara. And tad-adhīneṣu, and persons who have become devotee, he can understand, "Here is a devotee." Īśvare tad-adhīneṣu bāliśeṣu. Bāliśa means innocent person. They do not know what is God, what is to be done. They are called bāliśa. Just like children, arbhakaḥ, bāliśa. And then dviṣāt, envious. Just like you have experienced so many rascals, as soon as they hear of God, immediately they become agitated. They are called dviṣāt, envious, demons. So four things: God, His devotees, and the innocent person and the demonic atheist. He can see, madhyama-adhikārī. And then he behaves with these four classes of men differently. What is that? Prema for Kṛṣṅa, the Supreme Lord—how to increase love. That is first business, prema. And those who are devotees, to make friendship with them—maitrī. Those who are higher than him, he should offer very respectful obeisances; those who are equal, treat them with nicely; and those who are lower, then instruct them, bāliśeṣu; those who are innocent, how to raise him in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. This is preaching. And dviṣatsu, upekṣaḥ, those who are atheist, don't associate with them. Don't associate with them. That is the madhyama-adhikārī.

And uttama-adhikārī, that is very rarely attained, this stage. Uttama-adhikārī has only equal one vision, samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu mad-bhaktiṁ labhate [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.]

The uttama-adhikārī, he does not think that "He is envious," or "He is this" or "He is that." He sees that everyone is engaged in Kṛṣṅa consciousness. That is not to be imitated. That Prahlāda Mahārāja is like that. He did not know who is his enemy and who is friend. No, he did not know. He is uttama-adhikārī, mahā-bhāgavata.

So this mahā-bhāgavata, this word is very important in this verse, mahā-bhāgavato 'rbhakaḥ. Immediately, as soon as Brahmā requested, "My dear boy, please pacify," no hesitation, immediately, immediately he fell down. Upetya bhuvi kāyena. He is always at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṅa, and, as a child, immediately as Brahmā said, immediately he did. Kāyena upetya nanāma, as it is. He was not to be lesson, that "You meant like this, fall down this." No. He knows, everything. Life after life he is doing that. Gaurāṅgera saṅgi-gaṅe, nitya-siddha kori māne. Whenever there is Kṛṣṅa's incarnation... Just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu: as soon as He advented Himself, immediately there was Advaitācārya, Nityānanda and other, many, many devotees. They are guarāṅgera saṅgi. They are not sādhana-bhakti; they are eternally associate. So similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja is also eternally associate. Whenever there is need, by the order of Kṛṣṅa, he is present there to execute the order of Kṛṣṅa. This is our position: eternal servant.

We should not become servant to make some material profit. He is not; he is not śuddha-bhakta. Sa vai vaṅik, Prahlāda Mahārāja. So anyone who serves Kṛṣṅa for some material benefit, sa vai vaṅik. Material benefit means, that śāstra, Kṛṣṅa says that patraṁ puspaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati [Bg 9.26].

[If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit or water, I will accept it.]

So many person comes in the temple for some material benefit. They surrender to the saintly person for some material benefit: "Give me āśīrbād, benediction." "What benediction?" "I have got ten thousand rupees. Make it one lakh by your benediction." So these kind of devotees have been described by Prahlāda Mahārāja as vaṅik, vaṅīya, mercantile. Therefore merchant people, they want to invest two rupees and make..., want to make profit ten rupees. So offering Kṛṣṅa little flower and fruit, they want to get some horses and elephants, you see, or very big estate. This is not devotion. Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam [Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11].

[One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṅa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.]

Our position is eternal servant of Kṛṣṅa, and Kṛṣṅa's position is eternal master. Bhoktāraṁ yajña-tapasāṁ sarva-loka-maheśvaram [Bg 5.29].

[The sages, knowing Me as the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices and austerities, the Supreme Lord of all planets and demigods and the benefactor and well-wisher of all living entities, attain peace from the pangs of material miseries.]

He is the enjoyer. He is the proprietor. That is eternally: He is master, and we are eternally servant. If you keep this position, that is Kṛṣṅa consciousness.

So mahā-bhāgavata, they know always; they never forget this position. And those who are fallen souls, conditioned souls, they do not know it, so they have to be raised to that stage. That stage how? So he is also nitya-siddha. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṅa-bhakti. Kṛṣṅa-bhakti, as soon as one becomes Kṛṣṅa conscious fully, he becomes nitya-siddha again. So either you come by sādhana-bhakti or naturally, the..., when you come to the ultimate stage, everyone is nitya-siddha. So nitya-siddha, those who come from Vaikuṅṭha, they are never fallen, never forgets Kṛṣṅa, that is nitya-siddha, and by the teachings of nitya-siddha mahā-bhāgavata, if one follows and then becomes by sādhana-siddha, by regulative principle, they also become nitya-siddha later on. And when one becomes nitya-siddha again, there is no difference between this living entity and that living entity. Samaḥ sarveṣu bhūteṣu.

So,

tatheti śanakai rājan mahā-bhāgavato 'rbhakaḥ upetya bhuvi kāyena nanāma vidhṛtāñjaliḥ [SB 7.9.4]

If you simply learn from Prahlāda Mahārāja, simply offer your obeisances, as under the instruction of Brahmā, if you follow the guru... Brahmā is the guru, guru's guru. Prahlāda Mahārāja's guru was Narada, and his guru was Brahmā. So our sampradāya is Brahmā, Brahma- sampradāya. There are four sampradāyas. We belong to this Brahma-sampradāya. So sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te niṣphalā [Padma Purāṅa]. We have to accept one sampradāya, paramparā, and if we follow, just like Prahlāda Mahārāja, exactly under the order of Brahmā and Narada, immediately fell down, so everyone can do it. Here is Kṛṣṅa. So everyone, if he follows mahājana... Brahmā is the first mahājana. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ [SB 6.3.20].

[Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīṣma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is uncontaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance one fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead.]

Brahmā, his another name is Svayambhū. These are mahājanas. Svayambhūr nāradaḥ śambhuḥ, Kapila, Manu, Prahlāda. Prahlāda is also mahājana. Prahlāda, Janaka, Bhīṣma, bali vaiyāsakiḥ vayam. So Prahlāda Mahārāja is mahājana. He is mahā-bhāgavata. Don't think that he is a little boy. That is his pastime to show us how a little boy can become mahā-bhāgavata, how a little boy can be the eternal associate of Kṛṣṅa, and how he can preach. That is Prahlāda Mahārāja.

Thank you very very much. [end]