Meditation for Bhishma Panchak - The Passing Away of Bhī?madeva in the Presence of Lord K???a
Radhika Gopinatha dasa
Professor of Vedic Theology and Religious Studies: Present society needs a new paradigm of devotion to God.
The last 5 days of the month of Karttika masam are observed as the Bhisma Panchaka or the Vishnu Panchaka. Grandfather Bhisma fasted for these five days, preparing to give up his life. Hari Bhakti Vilasa?states that if one is capable, one should observe fasting from certain foodstuffs on the Bhishma-panchaka for the pleasure of the Lord. The fast should begin by remembering Bhismadeva on the Ekadasi day and should end on Purnima [the full moon]. Padma Purana?states that one pleases the Lord and makes spiritual advancement by such austerities. If possible, One should take bath in Ganges or the other holy rivers every day & offer tarpana 3 times for Bhismadeva. [1] The following recitation will purify our consciousness during the Panchak.
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sūta uvāca
iti bhīta? prajā-drohāt
sarva-dharma-vivitsayā
tato vina?ana? prāgād
yatra deva-vrato ’patat
Translation
Sūta Gosvāmī said: Being afraid for having killed so many subjects on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra, Mahārāja Yudhi??hira went to the scene of the massacre. There, Bhī?madeva was lying on a bed of arrows, about to pass away.
Purport
In this Ninth Chapter, as it is willed by Lord ?rī K???a, Bhī?madeva will impart instructions to King Yudhi??hira on the subject of occupational duties. Bhī?madeva will also offer his last prayer to the Lord on the verge of passing away from this mortal world and thus become liberated from the bondage of further material engagements. Bhī?madeva was endowed with the power of leaving his material body at will, and his lying down on the bed of arrows was his own choice. This passing away of the great warrior attracted the attention of all the contemporary elites, and all of them assembled there to show their feelings of love, respect and affection for the great soul.
??? ?? ??????: ????? ??????: ????????????: ?
?????????? ??????????? ?????????????????? ? ? ?
tadā te bhrātara? sarve
sada?vai? svar?a-bhū?itai?
anvagacchan rathair viprā
vyāsa-dhaumyādayas tathā
Translation
At that time all his brothers followed him on beautiful chariots drawn by first-class horses decorated with gold ornaments. With them were Vyāsa and ??is like Dhaumya [the learned priest of the Pā??avas] and others.
??????? ????????? ???? ???????: ?
? ??????????? ???: ????? ?? ???????: ? ? ?
bhagavān api viprar?e
rathena sa-dhana?jaya?
sa tair vyarocata n?pa?
kuvera iva guhyakai?
Translation
O sage amongst the brāhma?as, Lord ?rī K???a, the Personality of Godhead, also followed, seated on a chariot with Arjuna. Thus King Yudhi??hira appeared very aristocratic, like Kuvera surrounded by his companions [the Guhyakas].
Purport
Lord ?rī K???a wanted the Pā??avas to be present before Bhī?madeva in the most aristocratic order so that he might be pleased to see them happy at the time of his death. Kuvera is the richest of all the demigods, and herein King Yudhi??hira appeared like him (Kuvera), for the procession along with ?rī K???a was quite appropriate to the royalty of King Yudhi??hira.
???????? ??????? ???? ?????????????????? ?
???????: ??????? ?????? ??????: ?? ??????? ? ? ?
d???vā nipatita? bhūmau
diva? cyutam ivāmaram
pra?emu? pā??avā bhī?ma?
sānugā? saha cakri?ā
Translation
Seeing him [Bhī?ma] lying on the ground, like a demigod fallen from the sky, the Pā??ava King Yudhi??hira, along with his younger brothers and Lord K???a, bowed down before him.
Purport
Lord K???a was also a younger cousin of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira as well as the intimate friend of Arjuna. But all the family members of the Pā??avas knew Lord K???a as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord, although conscious of His supreme position, always behaved in a humanly custom, and so He also bowed down before the dying Bhī?madeva as if He were one of the younger brothers of King Yudhi??hira.
???? ??????????: ????? ?????????? ????? ?
?????????? ???????? ???????? ??????????? ? ? ?
tatra brahmar?aya? sarve
devar?aya? ca sattama
rājar?aya? ca tatrāsan
dra??u? bharata-pu?gavam
Translation
Just to see the chief of the descendants of King Bharata [Bhī?ma], all the great souls in the universe, namely the ??is amongst the demigods, brāhma?as and kings, all situated in the quality of goodness, were assembled there.
Purport
The???is?are those who have attained perfection by spiritual achievements. Such spiritual achievements can be earned by all, whether one is a king or a mendicant. Bhī?madeva himself was also one of the?brahmar?is?and the chief of the descendants of King Bharata. All???is?are situated in the quality of goodness. All of them assembled there on hearing the news of the great warrior’s impending death.
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?????? ??????????????????? ????????????: ?
????????? ????????????? ???????? ???????: ? ? ?
parvato nārado dhaumyo
bhagavān bādarāya?a?
b?hada?vo bharadvāja?
sa?i?yo re?ukā-suta?
vasi??ha indrapramadas
trito g?tsamado ’sita?
kak?īvān gautamo ’tri? ca
kau?iko ’tha sudar?ana?
Translation
All the sages like Parvata Muni, Nārada, Dhaumya, Vyāsa the incarnation of God, B?hada?va, Bharadvāja and Para?urāma and disciples, Vasi??ha, Indrapramada, Trita, G?tsamada, Asita, Kak?īvān, Gautama, Atri, Kau?ika and Sudar?ana were present.
Purport
Parvata Muni?is considered to be one of the oldest sages. He is almost always a constant companion of Nārada Muni. They are also spacemen competent to travel in the air without the help of any material vehicle. Parvata Muni is also a?devar?i,?or a great sage amongst the demigods, like Nārada. He was present along with Nārada at the sacrificial ceremony of Mahārāja Janamejaya, son of Mahārāja Parīk?it. In this sacrifice all the snakes of the world were to be killed. Parvata Muni and Nārada Muni are called Gandharvas also because they can travel in the air singing the glories of the Lord. Since they can travel in the air, they observed Draupadī’s?svaya?vara?ceremony (selecting of her own husband) from the air. Like Nārada Muni, Parvata Muni also used to visit the royal assembly in the heaven of King Indra. As a Gandharva, sometimes he visited the royal assembly of Kuvera, one of the important demigods. Both Nārada and Parvata were once in trouble with the daughter of Mahārāja S??jaya. Mahārāja S??jaya got the benediction of a son by Parvata Muni.
Nārada Muni?is inevitably associated with the narrations of the?Purā?as.?He is described in the?Bhāgavatam.?In his previous life he was the son of a maidservant, but by good association with pure devotees he became enlightened in devotional service, and in the next life he became a perfect man comparable with himself only. In the?Mahābhārata?his name is mentioned in many places. He is the principal?devar?i,?or the chief sage among the demigods. He is the son and disciple of Brahmājī, and from him the disciplic succession in the line of Brahmā has been spread. He initiated Prahlāda Mahārāja, Dhruva Mahārāja and many celebrated devotees of the Lord. He initiated even Vyāsadeva, the author of the Vedic literatures, and from Vyāsadeva, Madhvācārya was initiated, and thus the Madhvasampradāya,?in which the Gau?īyasampradāya?is also included, has spread all over the universe. ?rī Caitanya Mahāprabhu belonged to this Madhva?sampradāya;?therefore, Brahmājī, Nārada, Vyāsa, down to Madhva, Caitanya and the Gosvāmīs all belonged to the same line of disciplic succession. Nāradajī has instructed many kings from time immemorial. In the?Bhāgavatam?we can see that he instructed Prahlāda Mahārāja while he was in the womb of his mother, and he instructed Vasudeva, father of K???a, as well as Mahārāja Yudhi??hira.
Dhaumya:?A great sage who practiced severe penances at Utkocaka Tīrtha and was appointed royal priest of the Pā??ava kings. He acted as the priest in many religious functions of the Pā??avas (sa?skāra), and also each of the Pā??avas was attended by him at the betrothal of Draupadī. He was present even during the exile of the Pā??avas and used to advise them in circumstances when they were perplexed. He instructed them how to live incognito for one year, and his instructions were strictly followed by the Pā??avas during that time. His name is mentioned also when the general funeral ceremony was performed after the Battle of Kuruk?etra. In the?Anu?āsana-parva?of?Mahābhārata?(127.15-16), he gave very elaborate religious instructions to Mahārāja Yudhi??hira. He was actually the right type of priest of a householder, for he could guide the Pā??avas on the right path of religion. A priest is meant for guiding the householder progressively in the right path of?ā?rama-dharma,?or the occupational duty of a particular caste. There is practically no difference between the family priest and the spiritual master. The sages, saints and?brāhma?as?were especially meant for such functions.
Bādarāya?a?(Vyāsadeva): He is known as K???a, K???a-dvaipāyana, Dvaipāyana, Satyavatī-suta, Pārā?arya, Parā?arātmaja, Bādarāya?a, Vedavyāsa, etc. He was the son of Mahāmuni Parā?ara in the womb of Satyavatī prior to her betrothal with Mahārāja ?antanu, the father of the great general Grandfather Bhī?madeva. He is a powerful incarnation of Nārāya?a, and he broadcasts the Vedic wisdom to the world. As such, Vyāsadeva is offered respects before one chants the Vedic literature, especially the?Purā?as.??ukadeva Gosvāmī was his son, and???is?like Vai?ampāyana were his disciples for different branches of the?Vedas.?He is the author of the great epic?Mahābhārata?and the great transcendental literature?Bhāgavatam.?The?Brahma-sūtras —?the?Vedānta-sūtras,?or?Bādarāya?a-sūtras?— were compiled by him. Amongst sages he is the most respected author by dint of severe penances. When he wanted to record the great epic?Mahābhārata?for the welfare of all people in the Age of Kali, he was feeling the necessity of a powerful writer who could take up his dictation. By the order of Brahmājī, ?rī Ga?e?ajī took up the charge of noting down the dictation on the condition that Vyāsadeva would not stop dictation for a moment. The?Mahābhārata?was thus compiled by the joint endeavor of Vyāsa and Ga?e?a.
By the order of his mother, Satyavatī, who was later married to Mahārāja ?antanu, and by the request of Bhī?madeva, the eldest son of Mahārāja ?antanu by his first wife, the Ganges, he begot three brilliant sons, whose names are Dh?tarā??ra, Pā??u and Vidura. The?Mahābhārata?was compiled by Vyāsadeva after the Battle of Kuruk?etra and after the death of all the heroes of?Mahābhārata.?It was first spoken in the royal assembly of Mahārāja Janamejaya, the son of Mahārāja Parīk?it.
B?hada?va:?An ancient sage who used to meet Mahārāja Yudhi??hira now and then. First of all he met Mahārāja Yudhi??hira at Kāmyavana. This sage narrated the history of Mahārāja Nala. There is another B?hada?va, who is the son of the Ik?vāku dynasty (Mahābhārata, Vana-parva?209.4-5).
Bharadvāja:?He is one of the seven great???is?and was present at the time of the birth ceremony of Arjuna. The powerful???i?sometimes undertook severe penances on the shore of the Ganges, and his?ā?rama?is still celebrated at Prayāgadhāma. It is learned that this???i,?while taking bath in the Ganges, happened to meet Gh?tacī, one of the beautiful society girls of heaven, and thus he discharged semen, which was kept and preserved in an earthen pot and from which Dro?a was born. So Dro?ācārya is the son of Bharadvāja Muni. Others say that Bharadvāja the father of Dro?a is a different person from Mahar?i Bharadvāja. He was a great devotee of Brahmā. Once he approached Dro?ācārya and requested him to stop the Battle of Kuruk?etra.
Para?urāma,?or?Re?ukāsuta:?He is the son of Mahar?i Jamadagni and ?rīmatī Re?ukā. Thus he is also known as Re?ukāsuta. He is one of the powerful incarnations of God, and he killed the?k?atriya?community as a whole twenty-one times. With the blood of the?k?atriyas?he pleased the souls of his forefathers. Later on he underwent severe penances at the Mahendra Parvata. After taking the whole earth from the?k?atriyas,?he gave it in charity to Ka?yapa Muni. Para?urāma instructed the?Dhanur-veda,?or the science of fighting, to Dro?ācārya because he happened to be a?brāhma?a.?He was present during the coronation of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira, and he celebrated the function along with other great???is.
Para?urāma is so old that he met both Rāma and K???a at different times. He fought with Rāma, but he accepted K???a as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He also praised Arjuna when he saw him with K???a. When Bhī?ma refused to marry Ambā, who wanted him to become her husband, Ambā met Para?urāma, and by her request only, he asked Bhī?madeva to accept her as his wife. Bhī?ma refused to obey his order, although he was one of the spiritual masters of Bhī?madeva. Para?urāma fought with Bhī?madeva when Bhī?ma neglected his warning. Both of them fought very severely, and at last Para?urāma was pleased with Bhī?ma and gave him the benediction of becoming the greatest fighter in the world.
Vasi??ha:?The great celebrated sage among the?brāhma?as,?well known as the Brahmar?i Vasi??hadeva. He is a prominent figure in both the?Rāmāya?a?and?Mahābhārata?periods. He celebrated the coronation ceremony of the Personality of Godhead ?rī Rāma. He was present also on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra. He could approach all the higher and lower planets, and his name is also connected with the history of Hira?yaka?ipu. There was a great tension between him and Vi?vāmitra, who wanted his?kāmadhenu,?wish-fulfilling cow. Vasi??ha Muni refused to spare his?kāmadhenu,?and for this Vi?vāmitra killed his one hundred sons. As a perfect?brāhma?a?he tolerated all the taunts of Vi?vāmitra. Once he tried to commit suicide on account of Vi?vāmitra’s torture, but all his attempts were unsuccessful. He jumped from a hill, but the stones on which he fell became a stack of cotton, and thus he was saved. He jumped into the ocean, but the waves washed him ashore. He jumped into the river, but the river also washed him ashore. Thus all his suicide attempts were unsuccessful. He is also one of the seven???is?and husband of Arundhatī, the famous star.
Indrapramada:?Another celebrated???i.
Trita:?One of the three sons of Prajāpati Gautama. He was the third son, and his other two brothers were known as Ekat and Dvita. All the brothers were great sages and strict followers of the principles of religion. By dint of severe penances they were promoted to Brahmaloka (the planet where Brahmājī lives). Once Trita Muni fell into a well. He was an organizing worker of many sacrifices, and as one of the great sages he also came to show respect to Bhī?majī at his deathbed. He was one of the seven sages in the Varu?aloka. He hailed from the Western countries of the world. As such, most probably he belonged to the European countries. At that time the whole world was under one Vedic culture.
G?tsamada:?One of the sages of the heavenly kingdom. He was a close friend of Indra, the King of heaven, and was as great as B?haspati. He used to visit the royal assembly of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira, and he also visited the place where Bhī?madeva breathed his last. Sometimes he explained the glories of Lord ?iva before Mahārāja Yudhi??hira. He was the son of Vitahavya, and he resembled in features the body of Indra. Sometimes the enemies of Indra mistook him to be Indra and arrested him. He was a great scholar of the??g-veda,?and thus he was highly respected by the?brāhma?a?community. He lived a life of celibacy and was powerful in every respect.
Asita:?There was a king of the same name, but herein the Asita mentioned is the Asita Devala ??i, a great powerful sage of the time. He explained to his father 1,500,000 verses from the?Mahābhārata.?He was one of the members in the snake sacrifice of Mahārāja Janamejaya. He was also present during the coronation ceremony of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira along with other great???is.?He also gave Mahārāja Yudhi??hira instructions while he was on the A?jana Hill. He was also one of the devotees of Lord ?iva.
Kak?īvān:?One of the sons of Gautama Muni and the father of the great sage Candakausika. He was one of the members of Parliament of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira.
Atri:?Atri Muni was a great?brāhma?a?sage and was one of the mental sons of Brahmājī. Brahmājī is so powerful that simply by thinking of a son he can have it. These sons are known as?mānasa-putras.?Out of seven?mānasa-putras?of Brahmājī and out of the seven great?brāhma?a?sages, Atri was one. In his family the great Pracetās were also born. Atri Muni had two?k?atriya?sons who became kings. King Arthama is one of them. He is counted as one of the twenty-one?prajāpatis.?His wife’s name was Anasūyā, and he helped Mahārāja Parīk?it in his great sacrifices.
Kau?ika:?One of the permanent???i?members in the royal assembly of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira. He sometimes met Lord K???a. There are several other sages of the same name.
Sudar?ana:?This wheel which is accepted by the Personality of Godhead (Vi??u or K???a) as His personal weapon is the most powerful weapon, greater than the?brahmāstras?or similar other disastrous weapons. In some of the Vedic literatures it is said that Agnideva, the fire-god, presented this weapon to Lord ?rī K???a, but factually this weapon is eternally carried by the Lord. Agnideva presented this weapon to K???a in the same way that Rukmi?ī was given by Mahārāja Rukma to the Lord. The Lord accepts such presentations from His devotees, even though such presentations are eternally His property. There is an elaborate description of this weapon in the?ādi-parva?of the?Mahābhārata.?Lord ?rī K???a used this weapon to kill ?i?upāla, a rival of the Lord. He also killed ?ālva by this weapon, and sometimes He wanted His friend Arjuna to use it to kill his enemies (Mahābhārata, Virā?a-parva?56.3).
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anye ca munayo brahman
brahmarātādayo ’malā?
?i?yair upetā ājagmu?
ka?yapā?girasādaya?
Translation
And many others like ?ukadeva Gosvāmī and other purified souls, Ka?yapa and ā?girasa and others, all accompanied by their respective disciples, arrived there.
Purport
?ukadeva Gosvāmī?(Brahmarāta): The famous son and disciple of ?rī Vyāsadeva, who taught him first the?Mahābhārata?and then??rīmad-Bhāgavatam.??ukadeva Gosvāmī recited 1,400,000 verses of the?Mahābhārata?in the councils of the Gandharvas, Yak?as and Rāk?asas, and he recited??rīmad-Bhāgavatam?for the first time in the presence of Mahārāja Parīk?it. He thoroughly studied all the Vedic literatures from his great father. Thus he was a completely purified soul by dint of his extensive knowledge in the principles of religion. From?Mahābhārata, Sabhā-parva?(4.11), it is understood that he was also present in the royal assembly of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira and at the fasting of Mahārāja Parīk?it. As a bona fide disciple of ?rī Vyāsadeva, he inquired from his father very extensively about religious principles and spiritual values, and his great father also satisfied him by teaching him the?yoga?system by which one can attain the spiritual kingdom, the difference between fruitive work and empiric knowledge, the ways and means of attaining spiritual realization, the four?ā?ramas?(namely the student life, the householder’s life, the retired life and the renounced life), the sublime position of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the process of seeing Him face to face, the bona fide candidate for receiving knowledge, the consideration of the five elements, the unique position of intelligence, the consciousness of the material nature and the living entity, the symptoms of the self-realized soul, the working principles of the material body, the symptoms of the influential modes of nature, the tree of perpetual desire, and psychic activities. Sometimes he went to the sun planet with the permission of his father and Nāradajī. Descriptions of his travel in space are given in the??ānti-parva?of the?Mahābhārata?(332). At last he attained the transcendental realm. He is known by different names like Ara?eya, Aru?isuta, Vaiyāsaki and Vyāsātmaja.
Ka?yapa:?One of the?prajāpatis,?the son of Marīci and one of the sons-in-law of Prajāpati Dak?a. He is the father of the gigantic bird Garu?a, who was given elephants and tortoises as eatables. He married thirteen daughters of Prajāpati Dak?a, and their names are Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kā??hā, Ari??ā, Surasā, Ilā, Muni, Krodhava?ā, Tāmrā, Surabhi, Saramā and Timi. He begot many children, both demigods and demons, by those wives. From his first wife, Aditi, all the twelve ādityas were born; one of them is Vāmana, the incarnation of Godhead. This great sage, Ka?yapa, was also present at the time of Arjuna’s birth. He received a presentation of the whole world from Para?urāma, and later on he asked Para?urāma to go out of the world. His other name is Ari??anemi. He lives on the northern side of the universe.
ā?girasa:?He is the son of Mahar?i A?girā and is known as B?haspati, the priest of the demigods. It is said that Dro?ācārya was his partial incarnation. ?ukrācārya was the spiritual master of the demons, and B?haspati challenged him. His son is Kaca, and he delivered the fire weapon first to Bharadvāja Muni. He begot six sons (like the fire-god) by his wife Candramāsī, one of the reputed stars. He could travel in space, and therefore he could present himself even in the planets of Brahmaloka and Indraloka. He advised the King of heaven, Indra, about conquering the demons. Once he cursed Indra, who thus had to become a hog on the earth and was unwilling to return to heaven. Such is the power of the attraction of the illusory energy. Even a hog does not wish to part with its earthly possessions in exchange for a heavenly kingdom. He was the religious preceptor of the natives of different planets.
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tān sametān mahā-bhāgān
upalabhya vasūttama?
pūjayām āsa dharma-j?o
de?a-kāla-vibhāgavit
Translation
Bhī?madeva, who was the best amongst the eight Vasus, received and welcomed all the great and powerful ??is who were assembled there, for he knew perfectly all the religious principles according to time and place.
Purport
Expert religionists know perfectly well how to adjust religious principles in terms of time and place. All the great?ācāryas?or religious preachers or reformers of the world executed their mission by adjustment of religious principles in terms of time and place. There are different climates and situations in different parts of the world, and if one has to discharge his duties to preach the message of the Lord, he must be expert in adjusting things in terms of the time and place. Bhī?madeva was one of the twelve great authorities in preaching this cult of devotional service, and therefore he could receive and welcome all the powerful sages assembled there at his deathbed from all parts of the universe. He was certainly unable at that time to welcome and receive them physically because he was neither at his home nor in a normal healthy condition. But he was quite fit by the activities of his sound mind, and therefore he could utter sweet words with hearty expressions, and all of them were well received. One can perform one’s duty by physical work, by mind and by words. And he knew well how to utilize them in the proper place, and therefore there was no difficulty for him to receive them, although physically unfit.
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k???a? ca tat-prabhāva-j?a
āsīna? jagad-ī?varam
h?di-stha? pūjayām āsa
māyayopātta-vigraham
Translation
Lord ?rī K???a is situated in everyone’s heart, yet He manifests His transcendental form by His internal potency. This very Lord was sitting before Bhī?madeva, and since Bhī?madeva knew of His glories, he worshiped Him duly.
Purport
The Lord’s omnipotency is displayed by His simultaneous presence in every place. He is present always in His eternal abode Goloka V?ndāvana, and still He is present in everyone’s heart and even within every invisible atom. When He manifests His eternal transcendental form in the material world, He does so by His internal potency. The external potency, or the material energy, has nothing to do with His eternal form. All these truths were known to ?rī Bhī?madeva, who worshiped Him accordingly.
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pā??u-putrān upāsīnān
pra?raya-prema-sa?gatān
abhyāca??ānurāgā?rair
andhībhūtena cak?u?ā
Translation
The sons of Mahārāja Pā??u were sitting silently nearby, overtaken with affection for their dying grandfather. Seeing this, Bhī?madeva congratulated them with feeling. There were tears of ecstasy in his eyes, for he was overwhelmed by love and affection.
Purport
When Mahārāja Pā??u died, his sons were all small children, and naturally they were brought up under the affection of elderly members of the royal family, specifically by Bhī?madeva. Later on, when the Pā??avas were grown up, they were cheated by cunning Duryodhana and company, and Bhī?madeva, although he knew that the Pā??avas were innocent and were unnecessarily put into trouble, could not take the side of the Pā??avas for political reasons. At the last stage of his life, when Bhī?madeva saw his most exalted grandsons, headed by Mahārāja Yudhi??hira, sitting very gently at his side, the great warrior-grandfather could not check his loving tears, which were automatically flowing from his eyes. He remembered the great tribulations suffered by his most pious grandsons. Certainly he was the most satisfied man because of Yudhi??hira’s being enthroned in place of Duryodhana, and thus he began to congratulate them.
??? ???????????????? ??????? ??????????: ?
??????? ?????? ???????? ?????????????????????: ? ?? ?
aho ka??am aho ’nyāyya?
yad yūya? dharma-nandanā?
jīvitu? nārhatha kli??a?
vipra-dharmācyutā?rayā?
Translation
Bhī?madeva said: Oh, what terrible sufferings and what terrible injustices you good souls suffer for being the sons of religion personified. You did not deserve to remain alive under those tribulations, yet you were protected by the brāhma?as, God and religion.
Purport
Mahārāja Yudhi??hira was disturbed due to the great massacre in the Battle of Kuruk?etra. Bhī?madeva could understand this, and therefore he spoke first of the terrible sufferings of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira. He was put into difficulty by injustice only, and the Battle of Kuruk?etra was fought just to counteract this injustice. Therefore, he should not regret the great massacre. He wanted to point out particularly that they were always protected by the?brāhma?as,?the Lord and religious principles. As long as they were protected by these three important items, there was no cause of disappointment. Thus Bhī?madeva encouraged Mahārāja Yudhi??hira to dissipate his despondency. As long as a person is fully in cooperation with the wishes of the Lord, guided by the bona fide?brāhma?as?and Vai??avas and strictly following religious principles, one has no cause for despondency, however trying the circumstances of life. Bhī?madeva, as one of the authorities in the line, wanted to impress this point upon the Pā??avas.
?????????????? ?????? ???? ???????? ???: ?
??????????? ????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ????: ? ?? ?
sa?sthite ’tirathe pā??au
p?thā bāla-prajā vadhū?
yu?mat-k?te bahūn kle?ān
prāptā tokavatī muhu?
Translation
As far as my daughter-in-law Kuntī is concerned, upon the great General Pā??u’s death, she became a widow with many children, and therefore she suffered greatly. And when you were grown up she suffered a great deal also because of your actions.
Purport
The sufferings of Kuntīdevī are doubly lamented. She suffered greatly because of early widowhood and to get her minor children brought up in the royal family. And when her children were grown up, she continued to suffer because of her sons’ actions. So her sufferings continued. This means that she was destined to suffer by providence, and this one has to tolerate without being disturbed.
????? ??????? ????? ????? ? ????????? ?
????? ?????? ???? ??????? ??????: ? ?? ?
sarva? kāla-k?ta? manye
bhavatā? ca yad-apriyam
sapālo yad-va?e loko
vāyor iva ghanāvali?
Translation
In my opinion, this is all due to inevitable time, under whose control everyone in every planet is carried, just as the clouds are carried by the wind.
Purport
There is control by time all over the space within the universe, as there is control by time all over the planets. All the big gigantic planets, including the sun, are being controlled by the force of air, as the clouds are carried by the force of air. Similarly, the inevitable?kāla,?or time, controls even the action of the air and other elements. Everything, therefore, is controlled by the supreme?kāla,?a forceful representative of the Lord within the material world. Thus Yudhi??hira should not be sorry for the inconceivable action of time. Everyone has to bear the actions and reactions of time as long as one is within the conditions of the material world. Yudhi??hira should not think that he had committed sins in his previous birth and is suffering the consequence. Even the most pious has to suffer the condition of material nature. But a pious man is faithful to the Lord, for he is guided by the bona fide?brāhma?a?and Vai??ava following the religious principles. These three guiding principles should be the aim of life. One should not be disturbed by the tricks of eternal time. Even the great controller of the universe, Brahmājī, is also under the control of that time; therefore, one should not grudge being thus controlled by time despite being a true follower of religious principles.
???? ???????? ???? ???????????????: ?
????????????? ???????? ???? ???????????????? ????? ? ?? ?
yatra dharma-suto rājā
gadā-pā?ir v?kodara?
k???o ’strī gā??iva? cāpa?
suh?t k???as tato vipat
Translation
Oh, how wonderful is the influence of inevitable time! It is irreversible — otherwise, how can there be reverses in the presence of King Yudhi??hira, the son of the demigod controlling religion; Bhīma, the great fighter with a club; the great bowman Arjuna with his mighty weapon Gā??īva; and above all, the Lord, the direct well-wisher of the Pā??avas?
Purport
As far as the material or spiritual resources were required, there was no scarcity in the case of the Pā??avas. Materially they were well equipped because two great warriors, namely Bhīma and Arjuna, were there. Spiritually the King himself was the symbol of religion, and above all of them the Personality of Godhead, Lord ?rī K???a, was personally concerned with their affairs as the well-wisher. And yet there were so many reverses on the side of the Pā??avas. Despite the power of pious acts, the power of personalities, the power of expert management and the power of weapons under the direct supervision of Lord K???a, the Pā??avas suffered so many practical reverses, which can only be explained as due to the influence of?kāla,?inevitable time.?Kāla?is identical with the Lord Himself, and therefore the influence of?kāla?indicates the inexplicable wish of the Lord Himself. There is nothing to be lamented when a matter is beyond the control of any human being.
? ?????? ?????????????? ?????? ??? ??????????? ?
?????????????? ?????? ????????? ??????? ?? ? ?? ?
na hy asya karhicid rājan
pumān veda vidhitsitam
yad vijij?āsayā yuktā
muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi
Translation
O King, no one can know the plan of the Lord [?rī K???a]. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered.
Purport
The bewilderment of Mahārāja Yudhi??hira over his past sinful acts and the resultant sufferings, etc., is completely negated by the great authority Bhī?ma (one of the twelve authorized persons). Bhī?ma wanted to impress upon Mahārāja Yudhi??hira that since time immemorial no one, including such demigods as ?iva and Brahmā, could ascertain the real plan of the Lord. So what can we understand about it? It is useless also to inquire about it. Even the exhaustive philosophical inquiries of sages cannot ascertain the plan of the Lord. The best policy is simply to abide by the orders of the Lord without argument. The sufferings of the Pā??avas were never due to their past deeds. The Lord had to execute the plan of establishing the kingdom of virtue, and therefore His own devotees suffered temporarily in order to establish the conquest of virtue. Bhī?madeva was certainly satisfied by seeing the triumph of virtue, and he was glad to see King Yudhi??hira on the throne, although he himself fought against him. Even a great fighter like Bhī?ma could not win the Battle of Kuruk?etra because the Lord wanted to show that vice cannot conquer virtue, regardless of who tries to execute it. Bhī?madeva was a great devotee of the Lord, but he chose to fight against the Pā??avas by the will of the Lord because the Lord wanted to show that a fighter like Bhī?ma cannot win on the wrong side.
????????? ?????????? ??????? ??????? ?
?????????????????? ??? ???? ?????: ????? ? ?? ?
tasmād ida? daiva-tantra?
vyavasya bharatar?abha
tasyānuvihito ’nāthā
nātha pāhi prajā? prabho
Translation
O best among the descendants of Bharata [Yudhi??hira], I maintain, therefore, that all this is within the plan of the Lord. Accepting the inconceivable plan of the Lord, you must follow it. You are now the appointed administrative head, and, my lord, you should now take care of those subjects who are now rendered helpless.
Purport
The popular saying is that a housewife teaches the daughter-in-law by teaching the daughter. Similarly, the Lord teaches the world by teaching the devotee. The devotee does not have to learn anything new from the Lord because the Lord teaches the sincere devotee always from within. Whenever, therefore, a show is made to teach the devotee, as in the case of the teachings of?Bhagavad-gītā,?it is for teaching the less intelligent men. A devotee’s duty, therefore, is to ungrudgingly accept tribulations from the Lord as a benediction. The Pā??avas were advised by Bhī?madeva to accept the responsibility of administration without hesitation. The poor subjects were without protection due to the Battle of Kuruk?etra, and they were awaiting the assumption of power by Mahārāja Yudhi??hira. A pure devotee of the Lord accepts tribulations as favors from the Lord. Since the Lord is absolute, there is no mundane difference between the two.
?? ?? ?????????????????? ??????: ?????? ?
??????????? ???? ????????? ???????? ? ?? ?
e?a vai bhagavān sāk?ād
ādyo nārāya?a? pumān
mohayan māyayā loka?
gū?ha? carati v???i?u
Translation
This ?rī K???a is no other than the inconceivable, original Personality of Godhead. He is the first Nārāya?a, the supreme enjoyer. But He is moving amongst the descendants of King V???i just like one of us, and He is bewildering us with His self-created energy.
Purport
The Vedic system of acquiring knowledge is the deductive process. The Vedic knowledge is received perfectly by disciplic succession from authorities. Such knowledge is never dogmatic, as ill conceived by less intelligent persons. The mother is the authority to verify the identity of the father. She is the authority for such confidential knowledge. Therefore, authority is not dogmatic. In the?Bhagavad-gītā?this truth is confirmed in the second verse of the Fourth Chapter, and the perfect system of learning is to receive it from authority. The very same system is accepted universally as truth, but only the false arguer speaks against it. For example, modern spacecraft fly in the sky, and when scientists say that they travel to the other side of the moon, men believe these stories blindly because they have accepted the modern scientists as authorities. The authorities speak, and the people in general believe them. But in the case of Vedic truths, they have been taught not to believe. Even if they accept them they give a different interpretation. Each and every man wants a direct perception of Vedic knowledge, but foolishly they deny it. This means that the misguided man can believe one authority, the scientist, but will reject the authority of the?Vedas.?The result is that people have degenerated.
Here is an authority speaking about ?rī K???a as the original Personality of Godhead and the first Nārāya?a. Even such an impersonalist as ācārya ?a?kara has said in the beginning of his commentation on the?Bhagavad-gītā?that Nārāya?a, the Personality of Godhead, is beyond the material?creation.*?The universe is one of the material creations, but Nārāya?a is transcendental to such material paraphernalia.
Bhī?madeva is one of the twelve?mahājanas?who know the principles of transcendental knowledge. His confirmation of Lord ?rī K???a’s being the original Personality of Godhead is also corroborated by the impersonalist ?a?kara. All other?ācāryas?have also confirmed this statement, and thus there is no chance of not accepting Lord ?rī K???a as the original Personality of Godhead. Bhī?madeva says that He is the first Nārāya?a. This is also confirmed by Brahmājī in the?Bhāgavatam?(10.14.14). K???a is the first Nārāya?a. In the spiritual world (Vaiku??ha) there are unlimited numbers of Nārāya?as, who are all the same Personality of Godhead and are considered to be the plenary expansions of the original Personality of Godhead ?rī K???a. The first form of the Lord, ?rī K???a, first expands Himself as the form of Baladeva, and Baladeva expands in so many other forms, such as Sa?kar?a?a, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Vāsudeva, Nārāya?a, Puru?a, Rāma and N?si?ha. All these expansions are one and the same?vi??u-tattva,?and ?rī K???a is the original source of all the plenary expansions. He is therefore the direct Personality of Godhead. He is the creator of the material world, and He is the predominating Deity known as Nārāya?a in all the Vaiku??ha planets. Therefore, His movements amongst human beings are another sort of bewilderment. The Lord therefore says in the?Bhagavad-gītā?that foolish persons consider Him to be one of the human beings without knowing the intricacies of His movements.
The bewilderment regarding ?rī K???a is due to the action of His twofold internal and external energies upon the third one, called marginal energy. The living entities are expansions of His marginal energy, and thus they are sometimes bewildered by the internal energy and sometimes by the external energy. By internal energetic bewilderment, ?rī K???a expands Himself into unlimited numbers of Nārāya?as and exchanges or accepts transcendental loving service from the living entities in the transcendental world. And by His external energetic expansions, He incarnates Himself in the material world amongst the men, animals or demigods to reestablish His forgotten relation with the living entities in different species of life. Great authorities like Bhī?ma, however, escape His bewilderment by the mercy of the Lord.
??????????? ?????? ??? ???????? ???: ?
?????????????: ?????????????? ????? ??? ? ?? ?
asyānubhāva? bhagavān
veda guhyatama? ?iva?
devar?ir nārada? sāk?ād
bhagavān kapilo n?pa
Translation
O King, Lord ?iva, Nārada the sage amongst the demigods, and Kapila, the incarnation of Godhead, all know very confidentially about His glories through direct contact.
Purport
Pure devotees of the Lord are all?budhās,?or persons who know the glories of the Lord in different transcendental loving services. As the Lord has innumerable expansions of His plenary form, there are innumerable pure devotees of the Lord, who are engaged in the exchange of service of different humors. Ordinarily there are twelve great devotees of the Lord, namely Brahmā, Nārada, ?iva, Kumāra, Kapila, Manu, Prahlāda, Bhī?ma, Janaka, ?ukadeva Gosvāmī, Bali Mahārāja and Yamarāja. Bhī?madeva, although one of them, has mentioned only three important names of the twelve who know the glories of the Lord. ?rīla Vi?vanātha Cakravartī ?hākura, one of the great?ācāryas?in the modern age, explains that?anubhāva,?or the glory of the Lord, is first appreciated by the devotee in ecstasy manifesting the symptoms of perspiring, trembling, weeping, bodily eruptions, etc., which are further enhanced by steady understanding of the glories of the Lord. Such different understandings of?bhāvas?are exchanged between Ya?odā and the Lord (binding the Lord by ropes) and in the chariot-driving by the Lord in the exchange of love with Arjuna. These glories of the Lord are exhibited in His being subordinated before His devotees, and that is another feature of the glories of the Lord. ?ukadeva Gosvāmī and the Kumāras, although situated in the transcendental position, became converted by another feature of?bhāva?and turned into pure devotees of the Lord. Tribulations imposed upon the devotees by the Lord constitute another exchange of transcendental?bhāva?between the Lord and the devotees. The Lord says, “I put My devotee into difficulty, and thus the devotee becomes more purified in exchanging transcendental?bhāva?with Me.” Placing the devotee into material troubles means delivering him from the illusory material relations. The material relations are based on reciprocation of material enjoyment, which depends mainly on material resources. Therefore, when material resources are withdrawn by the Lord, the devotee is cent-percent attracted toward the transcendental loving service of the Lord. Thus the Lord snatches the fallen soul from the mire of material existence. Tribulations offered by the Lord to His devotee are different from the tribulations resulting from vicious action. All these glories of the Lord are especially known to the great?mahājanas?like Brahmā, ?iva, Nārada, Kapila, Kumāra and Bhī?ma, as mentioned above, and one is able to grasp it by their grace.
?? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ?
????: ????? ???? ???????? ??????? ? ?? ?
ya? manyase mātuleya?
priya? mitra? suh?ttamam
akaro? saciva? dūta?
sauh?dād atha sārathim
Translation
O King, that personality whom, out of ignorance only, you thought to be your maternal cousin, your very dear friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc., is that very Personality of Godhead ?rī K???a.
Purport
Lord ?rī K???a, although acting as the cousin, brother, friend, well-wisher, counselor, messenger, benefactor, etc., of the Pā??avas, was still the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Out of His causeless mercy and favor upon His unalloyed devotees, He performs all kinds of service, but that does not mean that He has changed His position as the Absolute Person. To think of Him as an ordinary man is the grossest type of ignorance.
?????????: ?????? ???????????????????: ?
??????? ?????????? ?????????? ? ??????? ? ?? ?
sarvātmana? sama-d??o
hy advayasyānaha?k?te?
tat-k?ta? mati-vai?amya?
niravadyasya na kvacit
Translation
Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is present in everyone’s heart. He is equally kind to everyone, and He is free from the false ego of differentiation. Therefore whatever He does is free from material inebriety. He is equibalanced.
Purport
Because He is absolute, there is nothing different from Him. He is?kaivalya;?there is nothing except Himself. Everything and everyone is the manifestation of His energy, and thus He is present everywhere by His energy, being nondifferent from it. The sun is identified with every inch of the sun rays and every molecular particle of the rays. Similarly, the Lord is distributed by His different energies. He is Paramātmā, or the Supersoul, present in everyone as the supreme guidance, and therefore He is already the chariot driver and counsel of all living beings. When He, therefore, exhibits Himself as chariot driver of Arjuna, there is no change in His exalted position. It is the power of devotional service only that demonstrates Him as the chariot driver or the messenger. Since He has nothing to do with the material conception of life because He is absolute spiritual identity, there is for Him no superior or inferior action. Being the Absolute Personality of Godhead, He has no false ego, and so He does not identify Himself with anything different from Him. The material conception of ego is equibalanced in Him. He does not feel, therefore, inferior by becoming the chariot driver of His pure devotee. It is the glory of the pure devotee that only he can bring about service from the affectionate Lord.
??????????????????? ???? ?????????????? ?
????????????????: ?????????????? ?????????: ? ?? ?
tathāpy ekānta-bhakte?u
pa?ya bhūpānukampitam
yan me ’sū?s tyajata? sāk?āt
领英推荐
k???o dar?anam āgata?
Translation
Yet, despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.
Purport
The Supreme Lord, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, ?rī K???a, although equal to everyone, is still more inclined to His unflinching devotee who is completely surrendered and knows no one else as his protector and master. Having unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord as one’s protector, friend and master is the natural condition of eternal life. A living entity is so made by the will of the Almighty that he is most happy when placing himself in a condition of absolute dependence.
The opposite tendency is the cause of falldown. The living entity has this tendency of falling down by dint of misidentifying himself as fully independent to lord it over the material world. The root cause of all troubles is there in false egotism. One must draw towards the Lord in all circumstances.
The appearance of Lord K???a at the deathbed of Bhī?majī is due to his being an unflinching devotee of the Lord. Arjuna had some bodily relation with K???a because the Lord happened to be his maternal cousin. But Bhī?ma had no such bodily relation. Therefore the cause of attraction was due to the intimate relation of the soul. Yet because the relation of the body is very pleasing and natural, the Lord is more pleased when He is addressed as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, the son of Ya?odā, the lover of Rādhārā?ī. This affinity by bodily relation with the Lord is another feature of reciprocating loving service with the Lord. Bhī?madeva is conscious of this sweetness of transcendental humor, and therefore he likes to address the Lord as Vijaya-sakhe, Pārtha-sakhe, etc., exactly like Nanda-nandana or Ya?odā-nandana. The best way to establish our relation in transcendental sweetness is to approach Him through His recognized devotees. One should not try to establish the relation directly; there must be a medium which is transparent and competent to lead us to the right path.
???????????? ??? ??????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?
?????? ?????? ???? ??????? ?????????: ? ?? ?
bhaktyāve?ya mano yasmin
vācā yan-nāma kīrtayan
tyajan kalevara? yogī
mucyate kāma-karmabhi?
Translation
The Personality of Godhead, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of his quitting the material body.
Purport
Yoga?means concentration of the mind detached from all other subject matter. And actually such concentration is?samādhi,?or cent-percent engagement in the service of the Lord. And one who concentrates his attention in that manner is called a?yogī.?Such a?yogī?devotee of the Lord engages himself twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord so that his whole attention is engrossed with the thoughts of the Lord in ninefold devotional service, namely hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, praying, becoming a voluntary servant, carrying out orders, establishing a friendly relationship, or offering all that one may possess in the service of the Lord. By such practice of?yoga,?or linking up in the service of the Lord, one is recognized by the Lord Himself, as it is explained in the?Bhagavad-gītā?concerning the highest perfectional stage of?samādhi.?The Lord calls such a rare devotee the best amongst all the?yogīs.?Such a perfect?yogī?is enabled by the divine grace of the Lord to concentrate his mind upon the Lord with a perfect sense of consciousness, and thus by chanting His holy name before quitting the body the?yogī?is at once transferred by the internal energy of the Lord to one of the eternal planets where there is no question of material life and its concomitant factors. In material existence a living being has to endure the material conditions of threefold miseries, life after life, according to his fruitive work. Such material life is produced by material desires only. Devotional service to the Lord does not kill the natural desires of the living being, but they are applied in the right cause of devotional service. This qualifies the desire to be transferred to the spiritual sky. General Bhī?madeva is referring to a particular type of?yoga?called?bhakti-yoga,?and he was fortunate enough to have the Lord directly in his presence before he quitted his material body. He therefore desired that the Lord stay before his view in the following verses.
? ??????? ?????? ???????????
?????? ??????? ?????????? ?
???????????????????????-
???????????? ?????????????????: ? ?? ?
sa deva-devo bhagavān pratīk?atā?
kalevara? yāvad ida? hinomy aham
prasanna-hāsāru?a-locanollasan-
mukhāmbujo dhyāna-patha? catur-bhuja?
Translation
May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face, with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment when I quit this material body.
Purport
Bhī?madeva knew well that Lord K???a is the original Nārāya?a. His worshipable Deity was four-handed Nārāya?a, but he knew that four-handed Nārāya?a is a plenary expansion of Lord K???a. Indirectly he desired Lord ?rī K???a to manifest Himself in His four-handed feature of Nārāya?a. A Vai??ava is always humble in his behavior. Although it was cent-percent certain that Bhī?madeva was approaching Vaiku??ha-dhāma?just after leaving his material body, still as a humble Vai??ava he desired to see the beautiful face of the Lord, for after quitting the present body he might not be in a position to see the Lord any more. A Vai??ava is not puffed up, although the Lord guarantees His pure devotee entrance into His abode. Here Bhī?madeva says “as long as I do not quit this body.” This means that the great general would quit the body by his own will; he was not being forced by the laws of nature. He was so powerful that he could stay in his body as long as he desired. He got this benediction from his father. He desired that the Lord stay before him in His four-handed Nārāya?a feature so that he might concentrate upon Him and thus be in trance in that meditation. Then his mind might be sanctified with thinking of the Lord. Thus he did not mind wherever he might go. A pure devotee is never very anxious to go back to the kingdom of God. He entirely depends on the good will of the Lord. He is equally satisfied even if the Lord desires him to go to hell. The only desire that a pure devotee entertains is that he may always be in rapt attention with thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord, regardless. Bhī?madeva wanted this much only: that his mind be absorbed in thinking of the Lord and that he pass away thus. That is the highest ambition of a pure devotee.
??? ????
???????????????????? ????? ???????? ?
???????????????????????????? ????????????? ? ?? ?
sūta uvāca
yudhi??hiras tad ākar?ya
?ayāna? ?ara-pa?jare
ap?cchad vividhān dharmān
??ī?ā? cānu???vatām
Translation
Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Yudhi??hira, after hearing Bhī?madeva speak in that appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great ??is, about the essential principles of various religious duties.
Purport
Bhī?madeva, speaking in that appealing tone, convinced Mahārāja Yudhi??hira that he was very soon passing away. And Mahārāja Yudhi??hira was inspired by Lord ?rī K???a to ask him of the principles of religion. Lord ?rī K???a inspired Mahārāja Yudhi??hira to ask Bhī?madeva in the presence of many great sages, indicating thereby that the Lord’s devotee like Bhī?madeva, although apparently living as a worldly man, is far superior to many great sages, even Vyāsadeva. Another point is that Bhī?madeva at that time was not only lying on a deathbed of arrows, but was greatly aggrieved because of that state. One should not have asked him any question at that time, but Lord ?rī K???a wanted to prove that His pure devotees are always sound in body and mind by dint of spiritual enlightenment, and thus in any circumstances a devotee of the Lord is in perfect order to speak of the right way of life. Yudhi??hira also preferred to solve his problematic questions by asking Bhī?madeva rather than ask anyone else present there who was seemingly more learned than Bhī?madeva. This is all due to the arrangement of the great wheel-carrier Lord ?rī K???a, who establishes the glories of His devotee. The father likes to see the son become more famous than himself. The Lord declares very emphatically that worship of His devotee is more valuable than the worship of the Lord Himself.
??????????????????? ???????? ????????? ?
????????????????????????????????????? ? ?? ?
puru?a-sva-bhāva-vihitān
yathā-var?a? yathā?ramam
vairāgya-rāgopādhibhyām
āmnātobhaya-lak?a?ān
Translation
At Mahārāja Yudhi??hira’s inquiry, Bhī?madeva first defined all the classifications of castes and orders of life in terms of the individual’s qualifications. Then he systematically, in twofold divisions, described counteraction by detachment and interaction by attachment.
Purport
The conception of four castes and four orders of life, as planned by the Lord Himself?(Bg. 4.13), is to accelerate transcendental qualities of the individual person so that he may gradually realize his spiritual identity and thus act accordingly to get free from material bondage, or conditional life. In almost all the?Purā?as?the subject matter is described in the same spirit, and so also in the?Mahābhārata?it is more elaborately described by Bhī?madeva in the??ānti-parva,?beginning from the Sixtieth Chapter.
The?var?ā?rama-dharma?is prescribed for the civilized human being just to train him to successfully terminate human life. Self-realization is distinguished from the life of the lower animals engaged in eating, sleeping, fearing and mating. Bhī?madeva advised for all human beings nine qualifications: (1) not to become angry, (2) not to lie, (3) to equally distribute wealth, (4) to forgive, (5) to beget children only by one’s legitimate wife, (6) to be pure in mind and hygienic in body, (7) not to be inimical toward anyone, (8) to be simple, and (9) to support servants or subordinates. One cannot be called a civilized person without acquiring the above-mentioned preliminary qualities. Besides these, the?brāhma?as?(the intelligent men), the administrative men, the mercantile community and the laborer class must acquire special qualities in terms of occupational duties mentioned in all the Vedic scriptures. For the intelligent men, controlling the senses is the most essential qualification. It is the basis of morality. Sex indulgence even with a legitimate wife must also be controlled, and thereby family control will automatically follow. An intelligent man abuses his great qualifications if he does not follow the Vedic way of life. This means he must seriously make a study of the Vedic literatures, especially of the??rīmad-Bhāgavatam?and the?Bhagavad-gītā.?For learning Vedic knowledge, one must approach a person who is cent-percent engaged in devotional service. He must not do things which are forbidden in the??āstras.?A person cannot be a teacher if he drinks or smokes. In the modern system of education the teacher’s academic qualification is taken into consideration without evaluation of his moral life. Therefore, the result of education is misuse of high intelligence in so many ways.
The?k?atriya,?the member of the administrative class, is especially advised to give charity?and not to accept charity in any circumstances.?Modern administrators raise subscriptions for some political functions, but never give charity to the citizens in any state function. It is just the reverse in the injunctions of the??āstras.?The administrative class must be well versed in the??āstras,?but must not take to the profession of teachers.?The administrators should never pretend to become nonviolent?and thereby go to hell. When Arjuna wanted to become a nonviolent coward on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra, he was severely chastised by Lord K???a. The Lord degraded Arjuna at that time to the status of an uncivilized man for his avowed acceptance of the cult of nonviolence. The administrative class must be personally trained in military education. Cowards should not be elevated to the presidential throne by dint of numerical votes only. The monarchs were all chivalrous personalities, and therefore monarchy should be maintained provided the monarch is regularly trained in the occupational duties of a king.?In fighting, the king or the president should never return home without being hurt by the enemy.?The so-called king of today never visits the warfield. He is very much expert in artificially encouraging the fighting strength in the hope of false national prestige. As soon as the administrative class is turned into a gang of mercantile and laborer men, the whole machinery of government becomes polluted.
The?vai?yas,?the members of the mercantile communities, are especially advised to protect the cows. Cow protection means increasing the milk productions, namely curd and butter. Agriculture and distribution of the foodstuff are the primary duties of the mercantile community backed by education in Vedic knowledge and trained to give in charity. As the?k?atriyas?were given charge of the protection of the citizens,?vai?yas?were given the charge of the protection of animals. Animals are never meant to be killed. Killing of animals is a symptom of barbarian society. For a human being, agricultural produce, fruits and milk are sufficient and compatible foodstuffs. The human society should give more attention to animal protection. The productive energy of the laborer is misused when he is occupied by industrial enterprises. Industry of various types cannot produce the essential needs of man, namely rice, wheat, grains, milk, fruits and vegetables. The production of machines and machine tools increases the artificial living fashion of a class of vested interests and keeps thousands of men in starvation and unrest. This should not be the standard of civilization.
The??ūdra?class is less intelligent and should have no independence. They are meant for rendering sincere service to the three higher sections of the society. The??ūdra?class can attain all comforts of life simply by rendering service to the higher classes. It is especially enjoined that a??ūdra?should never bank money. As soon as the??ūdras?accumulate wealth, it will be misused for sinful activities in wine, women and gambling.?Wine, women and gambling indicate that the population is degraded to less than??ūdra?quality.?The higher castes should always look after the maintenance of the??ūdras,?and they should provide them with old and used garments. A??ūdra?should not leave his master when the master is old and invalid, and the master should keep the servants satisfied in all respects. The??ūdras?must first of all be satisfied by sumptuous food and clothing before any sacrifice is performed. In this age so many functions are held by spending millions,?but the poor laborer is not sumptuously fed or given charity, clothing, etc.?The laborers are thus dissatisfied, and so they make agitation.
The?var?as?are, so to speak, classifications of different occupations, and?ā?rama-dharma?is gradual progress on the path of self-realization. Both are interrelated, and one is dependent on the other. The main purpose of?ā?rama-dharma?is to awaken knowledge and detachment. The?brahmacārī-ā?rama?is the training ground for the prospective candidates. In this?ā?rama?it is instructed that this material world is not actually the home of the living being. The conditioned souls under material bondage are prisoners of matter, and therefore self-realization is the ultimate aim of life. The whole system of?ā?rama-dharma?is a means to detachment. One who fails to assimilate this spirit of detachment is allowed to enter into family life with the same spirit of detachment. Therefore, one who attains detachment may at once adopt the fourth order, namely renounced, and thus live on charity only, not to accumulate wealth, but just to keep body and soul together for ultimate realization. Household life is for?one who is attached,?and the?vānaprastha?and?sannyāsa?orders of life are for?those who are detached?from material life. The?brahmacārī-ā?rama?is especially meant for training both the attached and detached.
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dāna-dharmān rāja-dharmān
mok?a-dharmān vibhāga?a?
strī-dharmān bhagavad-dharmān
samāsa-vyāsa-yogata?
Translation
He then explained, by divisions, acts of charity, the pragmatic activities of a king and activities for salvation. Then he described the duties of women and devotees, both briefly and extensively.
Purport
To give charity is one of the householder’s main functions, and he should be prepared to give in charity at least fifty percent of his hard-earned money. A?brahmacārī,?or student, should perform sacrifices, a householder should give charity, and a person in the retired life or in the renounced order should practice penances and austerities. Those are the general functions of all the?ā?ramas,?or orders of life on the path of self-realization. In the?brahmacārī?life the training is sufficiently imparted so that one may understand that the world as property belongs to the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead. No one, therefore, can claim to be the proprietor of anything in the world. Therefore, in the life of a householder, which is a sort of license for sex enjoyment, one must give in charity for the service of the Lord. Everyone’s energy is generated or borrowed from the reservoir of energy of the Lord; therefore, the resultant actions of such energy must be given to the Lord in the shape of transcendental loving service for Him. As the rivers draw water from the sea through the clouds and again go down to the sea, similarly our energy is borrowed from the supreme source, the Lord’s energy, and it must return to the Lord. That is the perfection of our energy. The Lord, therefore, in the?Bhagavad-gītā?(9.27)?says that whatever we do, whatever we undergo as penance, whatever we sacrifice, whatever we eat or whatever we give in charity must be offered to Him (the Lord). That is the way of utilizing our borrowed energy. When our energy is utilized in that way, our energy is purified from the contamination of material inebrieties, and thus we become fit for our original natural life of service to the Lord.
Rāja-dharma?is a great science, unlike modern diplomacy for political supremacy. The kings were trained systematically to become munificent and not merely be tax collectors. They were trained to perform different sacrifices only for the prosperity of the subjects. To lead the?prajās?to the attainment of salvation was a great duty of the king. The father, the spiritual master and the king are not to become irresponsible in the matter of leading their subjects to the path of ultimate liberation from birth, death, diseases and old age. When these primary duties are properly discharged, there is no need of government of the people, by the people. In modern days the people in general occupy the administration by the strength of manipulated votes, but they are never trained in the primary duties of the king, and that is also not possible for everyone. Under the circumstances the untrained administrators play havoc to make the subjects happy in all respects. On the other hand, these untrained administrators gradually become rogues and thieves and increase the taxation to finance a top-heavy administration that is useless for all purposes. Actually the qualified?brāhma?as?are meant to give direction to the kings for proper administration in terms of the scriptures like the?Manu-sa?hitā?and?Dharma-?āstras?of Parā?ara. A typical king is the ideal of the people in general, and if the king is pious, religious, chivalrous and munificent, the citizens generally follow him. Such a king is not a lazy sensuous person living at the cost of the subjects, but alert always to kill thieves and dacoits. The pious kings were not merciful to dacoits and thieves in the name of nonsensical?ahi?sā?(nonviolence). The thieves and dacoits were punished in an exemplary way so that in the future no one would dare commit such nuisances in an organized form. Such thieves and dacoits were never meant for administration as they are now.
The taxation law was simple. There was no force, no encroachment. The king had a right to take one fourth of the production made by the subject. The king had a right to claim a fourth of one’s allotted wealth. One would never grudge parting with it because due to the pious king and religious harmony there was enough natural wealth, namely grains, fruits, flowers, silk, cotton, milk, jewels, minerals, etc., and therefore no one was materially unhappy. The citizens were rich in agriculture and animal husbandry, and therefore they had enough grains, fruits and milk without any artificial needs of soaps and toilets, cinemas and bars.
The king had to see that the reserved energy of humanity was properly utilized. Human energy is meant not exactly for fulfilling animal propensities, but for self-realization. The whole government was specifically designed to fulfill this particular purpose. As such, the king had to select properly the cabinet ministers, but not on the strength of voting background. The ministers, the military commanders and even the ordinary soldiers were all selected by personal qualification, and the king had to supervise them properly before they were appointed to their respective posts. The king was especially vigilant to see that the?tapasvīs,?or persons who sacrificed everything for disseminating spiritual knowledge, were never disregarded.?The king knew well that the Supreme Personality of Godhead never tolerates any insult to His unalloyed devotees.?Such?tapasvīs?were trusted leaders even of the rogues and thieves, who would never disobey the orders of?tapasvīs.?The king would give special protection to illiterates, the helpless and widows of the state. Defense measures were arranged previous to any attack by the enemies. The taxing process was easy, and it was not meant for squandering, but was for strengthening the reserve fund. The soldiers were recruited from all parts of the world, and they were trained for special duties.
As far as salvation is concerned, one has to conquer the principles of lust, anger, unlawful desires, avarice and bewilderment. To get freedom from anger, one should learn how to forgive. To be free from unlawful desires one should not make plans. By spiritual culture one is able to conquer sleep. By tolerance only can one conquer desires and avarice. Disturbances from various diseases can be avoided by regulated diets. By self-control one can be free from false hopes, and money can be saved by avoiding undesirable association. By practice of?yoga?one can control hunger, and worldliness can be avoided by culturing the knowledge of impermanence. Dizziness can be conquered by rising up, and false arguments can be conquered by factual ascertainment. Talkativeness can be avoided by gravity and silence, and by prowess one can avoid fearfulness. Perfect knowledge can be obtained by self-cultivation. One must be free from lust, avarice, anger, dreaming, etc., to actually attain the path of salvation.
As far as the women class are concerned, they are accepted as a power of inspiration for men. As such, women are more powerful than men. Mighty Julius Caesar was controlled by a Cleopatra. Such powerful women are controlled by shyness. Therefore, shyness is important for women. Once this control valve is loosened, women can create havoc in society by adultery. Adultery means production of unwanted children known as?var?a-sa?kara,?who disturb the world.
The last item taught by Bhī?madeva was the process of pleasing the Lord. We are all eternal servants of the Lord, and when we forget this essential part of our nature we are put into material conditions of life. The simple process of pleasing the Lord (for the householders especially) is to install the Deity of the Lord at home. By concentrating on the Deity, one may progressively go on with the daily routine work. Worshiping the Deity at home, serving the devotee, hearing the??rīmad-Bhāgavatam,?residing in a holy place and chanting the holy name of the Lord are all inexpensive items by which one can please the Lord. Thus the subject matter was explained by the grandfather to his grandchildren.
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dharmārtha-kāma-mok?ā?? ca
sahopāyān yathā mune
nānākhyānetihāse?u
var?ayām āsa tattvavit
Translation
Then he described the occupational duties of different orders and statuses of life, citing instances from history, for he was himself well acquainted with the truth.
Purport
Incidents mentioned in the Vedic literatures such as the?Purā?as, Mahābhārata?and?Rāmāya?a?are factual historical narrations that took place sometime in the past, although not in any chronological order. Such historical facts, being instructive for ordinary men, were assorted without chronological reference. Besides that, they happen on different planets, nay, in different universes, and thus the description of the narrations is sometimes measured by three dimensions. We are simply concerned with the instructive lessons of such incidents, even though they are not in order by our limited range of understanding. Bhī?madeva described such narrations before Mahārāja Yudhi??hira in reply to his different questions.
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?? ?????????????????????????????????????: ? ?? ?
dharma? pravadatas tasya
sa kāla? pratyupasthita?
yo yogina? chanda-m?tyor
vā?chitas tūttarāya?a?
Translation
While Bhī?madeva was describing occupational duties, the sun’s course ran into the northern hemisphere. This period is desired by mystics who die at their will.
Purport
The perfect?yogīs?or mystics can leave the material body at their own sweet will at a suitable time and go to a suitable planet desired by them. In the?Bhagavad-gītā?(8.24)?it is said that self-realized souls who have exactly identified themselves with the interest of the Supreme Lord can generally leave the material body during the time of the fire-god’s effulgence and when the sun is in the northern horizon, and thus achieve the transcendental sky. In the?Vedas?these times are considered auspicious for quitting the body, and they are taken advantage of by the expert mystics who have perfected the system. Perfection of?yoga?means attainment of such supermental states as to be able to leave the material body as desired.?Yogīs?can also reach any planet within no time without a material vehicle. The?yogīs?can reach the highest planetary system within a very short time, and this is impossible for the materialist. Even attempting to reach the highest planet will take millions of years at a speed of millions of miles per hour. This is a different science, and Bhī?madeva knew well how to utilize it. He was just waiting for the suitable moment to quit his material body, and the golden opportunity arrived when he was instructing his noble grandsons, the Pā??avas. He thus prepared himself to quit his body before the exalted Lord ?rī K???a, the pious Pā??avas and the great sages headed by Bhagavān Vyāsa, etc., all great souls.
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tadopasa?h?tya gira? sahasra?īr
vimukta-sa?ga? mana ādi-pūru?e
k???e lasat-pīta-pa?e catur-bhuje
pura? sthite ’mīlita-d?g vyadhārayat
Translation
Thereupon that man who spoke on different subjects with thousands of meanings, and who fought on thousands of battlefields and protected thousands of men, stopped speaking and, being completely freed from all bondage, withdrew his mind from everything else and fixed his wide-open eyes upon the original Personality of Godhead, ?rī K???a, who stood before him, four-handed, dressed in yellow garments that glittered and shined.
Purport
In the momentous hour of leaving his material body, Bhī?madeva set the glorious example concerning the important function of the human form of life.?The subject matter which attracts the dying man becomes the beginning of his next life.?Therefore, if one is absorbed in thoughts of the Supreme Lord ?rī K???a, he is sure to go back to Godhead without any doubt. This is confirmed in the?Bhagavad-gītā?(8.5-15):
5: And whoever, at the time of death, quits his body remembering Me alone at once attains My nature. Of this there is no doubt.
6:?Whatever state of being one remembers when he quits his body, that state he will attain without fail.
7: Therefore, Arjuna, you should always think of Me in the form of K???a and at the same time carry out your prescribed duty of fighting. With your activities dedicated to Me and your mind and intelligence fixed on Me, you will attain Me without doubt.
8:?He who meditates on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his mind constantly engaged in remembering Me, undeviated from the path, he, O Pārtha [Arjuna], is sure to reach Me.
9: One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material nature.
10: One who, at the time of death, fixes his life air between the eyebrows and in full devotion engages himself in remembering the Supreme Lord will certainly attain to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
11: Persons learned in the?Vedas,?who utter?o?kāra?and who are great sages in the renounced order, enter into Brahman. Desiring such perfection, one practices celibacy. I shall now explain to you this process by which one may attain salvation.
12: The yogic situation is that of detachment from all sensual engagements. Closing all the doors of the senses and fixing the mind on the heart and the life air at the top of the head, one establishes himself in?yoga.
13: After being situated in this?yoga?practice and vibrating the sacred syllable?o?,?the supreme combination of letters, if one thinks of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and quits his body, he will certainly reach the spiritual planets.
14: For one who remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of P?thā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.
15: After attaining Me, the great souls, who are?yogīs?in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection.
?rī Bhī?madeva attained the perfection of quitting his body at will and was fortunate enough to have Lord K???a, the object of his attention, personally present at the time of death. He therefore fixed his open eyes upon Him. He wanted to see ?rī K???a for a long time out of his spontaneous love for Him. Because he was a pure devotee, he had very little to do with the detailed performance of yogic principles. Simple?bhakti-yoga?is enough to bring about perfection. Therefore, the ardent desire of Bhī?madeva was to see the?person?of Lord K???a, the most lovable object, and by the grace of the Lord, ?rī Bhī?madeva had this opportunity at the last stage of his breathing.
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vi?uddhayā dhāra?ayā hatā?ubhas
tad-īk?ayaivā?u gatā-yudha-?rama?
niv?tta-sarvendriya-v?tti-vibhramas
tu??āva janya? vis?ja? janārdanam
Translation
By pure meditation, looking at Lord ?rī K???a, he at once was freed from all material inauspiciousness and was relieved of all bodily pains caused by the arrow wounds. Thus all the external activities of his senses at once stopped, and he prayed transcendentally to the controller of all living beings while quitting his material body.
Purport
The material body is a gift of the material energy, technically called illusion. Identification with the material body is due to forgetfulness of our eternal relationship with the Lord. For a pure devotee of the Lord like Bhī?madeva, this illusion was at once removed as soon as the Lord arrived. Lord K???a is like the sun, and the illusory, external material energy is like darkness. In the presence of the sun there is no possibility that darkness can stand. Therefore, just on the arrival of Lord K???a, all material contamination was completely removed, and Bhī?madeva was thus able to be transcendentally situated by stopping the activities of the impure senses in collaboration with matter. The soul is originally pure and so also the senses. By material contamination the senses assume the role of imperfection and impurity. By revival of contact with the Supreme Pure, Lord K???a, the senses again become freed from material contaminations. Bhī?madeva attained all these transcendental conditions prior to his leaving the material body because of the Lord’s presence. The Lord is the controller and benefactor of all living beings. That is the verdict of all?Vedas.?He is the supreme eternity and living entity amongst all the eternal living?beings.*?And He alone provides all the necessities for all kinds of living beings. Thus He provided all facilities to fulfill the transcendental desires of His great devotee Bhī?madeva, who prayed as follows.
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?rī-bhī?ma uvāca
iti matir upakalpitā vit???ā
bhagavati sātvata-pu?gave vibhūmni
sva-sukham upagate kvacid vihartu?
prak?tim upeyu?i yad-bhava-pravāha?
Translation
Bhī?madeva said: Let me now invest my thinking, feeling and willing, which were so long engaged in different subjects and occupational duties, in the all-powerful Lord ?rī K???a. He is always self-satisfied, but sometimes, being the leader of the devotees, He enjoys transcendental pleasure by descending to the material world, although from Him only the material world is created.
Purport
Because Bhī?madeva was a statesman, the head of the Kuru dynasty, a great general and a leader of?k?atriyas,?his mind was strewn over so many subjects, and his thinking, feeling and willing were engaged in different matters. Now, in order to achieve pure devotional service, he wanted to invest all powers of thinking, feeling and willing entirely in the Supreme Being, Lord K???a. He is described herein as the leader of the devotees and all-powerful. Although Lord K???a is the original Personality of Godhead, He Himself descends to earth to bestow upon His pure devotees the boon of devotional service. He descends sometimes as Lord K???a as He is, and sometimes as Lord Caitanya. Both are leaders of the pure devotees. Pure devotees of the Lord have no desire other than the service of the Lord, and therefore they are called?sātvata.?The Lord is the chief amongst such?sātvatas.?Bhī?madeva, therefore, had no other desires. Unless one is purified from all sorts of material desires, the Lord does not become one’s leader. Desires cannot be wiped out, but they have only to be purified. It is confirmed in the?Bhagavad-gītā?(10.10)?by the Lord Himself that He gives His instruction from within the heart of a pure devotee who is constantly engaged in the service of the Lord. Such instruction is given not for any material purpose but only for going back home, back to Godhead. For the ordinary man who wants to lord it over material nature, the Lord only sanctions and becomes a witness of activities, but He never gives the nondevotee instructions for going back to Godhead. That is the difference in dealings by the Lord with different living beings, both the devotee and the nondevotee. He is leader of all the living beings, as the king of the state rules both the prisoners and the free citizens. But His dealings are different in terms of devotee and nondevotee. Nondevotees never care to take any instruction from the Lord, and therefore the Lord is silent in their case, although He witnesses all their activities and awards them the necessary results, good or bad. The devotees are above this material goodness and badness. They are progressive on the path of transcendence, and therefore they have no desire for anything material. The devotee also knows ?rī K???a as the original Nārāya?a because Lord ?rī K???a, by His plenary portion, appears as the Kāra?odaka?āyī Vi??u, the original source of all material creation. The Lord also desires the association of His pure devotees, and for them only the Lord descends to the earth and enlivens them. The Lord appears out of His own will. He is not forced by the conditions of material nature. He is therefore described here as the?vibhu,?or the almighty, for He is never conditioned by the laws of material nature.
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tri-bhuvana-kamana? tamāla-var?a?
ravi-kara-gaura-vara-ambara? dadhāne
vapur alaka-kulāv?tānanābja?
vijaya-sakhe ratir astu me ’navadyā
Translation
?rī K???a is the intimate friend of Arjuna. He has appeared on this earth in His transcendental body, which resembles the bluish color of the tamāla tree. His body attracts everyone in the three planetary systems [upper, middle and lower]. May His glittering yellow dress and His lotus face, covered with paintings of sandalwood pulp, be the object of my attraction, and may I not desire fruitive results.
Purport
When ?rī K???a by His own internal pleasure appears on earth, He does so by the agency of His internal potency. The attractive features of His transcendental body are desired in all the three worlds, namely the upper, middle and lower planetary systems. Nowhere in the universe are there such beautiful bodily features as those of Lord K???a. Therefore His transcendental body has nothing to do with anything materially created. Arjuna is described here as the conqueror, and K???a is described as his intimate friend. Bhī?madeva, on his bed of arrows after the Battle of Kuruk?etra, is remembering the particular dress of Lord K???a which He put on as the driver of Arjuna’s chariot. While fighting was going on between Arjuna and Bhī?ma, Bhī?ma’s attraction was drawn by the glittering dress of K???a, and indirectly he admired his so-called enemy Arjuna for possessing the Lord as his friend. Arjuna was always a conqueror because the Lord was his friend. Bhī?madeva takes this opportunity to address the Lord as?vijaya-sakhe?(friend of Arjuna) because the Lord is pleased when He is addressed conjointly with His devotees, who are related with Him in different transcendental humors. While K???a was the charioteer of Arjuna, sun rays glittered on the dress of the Lord, and the beautiful hue created by the reflection of such rays was never forgotten by Bhī?madeva. As a great fighter he was relishing the relation of K???a in the chivalrous humor. Transcendental relation with the Lord in any one of the different?rasas?(humors) is relishable by the respective devotees in the highest ecstasy. Less intelligent mundaners who want to make a show of being transcendentally related with the Lord artificially jump at once to the relation of conjugal love, imitating the damsels of Vrajadhāma. Such a cheap relation with the Lord exhibits only the base mentality of the mundaner because one who has relished conjugal humor with the Lord cannot be attached to worldly conjugal?rasa,?which is condemned even by mundane ethics. The eternal relation of a particular soul with the Lord is evolved. A genuine relation of the living being with the Supreme Lord can take any form out of the five principal?rasas,?and it does not make any difference in transcendental degree to the genuine devotee. Bhī?madeva is a concrete example of this, and it should be carefully observed how the great general is transcendentally related with the Lord.
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?? ????????????????????-
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yudhi turaga-rajo-vidhūmra-vi?vak-
kaca-lulita-?ramavāry-ala?k?tāsye
mama ni?ita-?arair vibhidyamāna-
tvaci vilasat-kavace ’stu k???a ātmā
Translation
On the battlefield [where ?rī K???a attended Arjuna out of friendship], the flowing hair of Lord K???a turned ashen due to the dust raised by the hoofs of the horses. And because of His labor, beads of sweat wetted His face. All these decorations, intensified by the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows, were enjoyed by Him. Let my mind thus go unto ?rī K???a.
Purport
The Lord is the absolute form of eternity, bliss and knowledge. As such, transcendental loving service to the Lord in one of the five principal relations, namely??ānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya?and?mādhurya,?i.e., neutrality, servitorship, fraternity, parental affection and conjugal love, is graciously accepted by the Lord when offered to the Lord in genuine love and affection. ?rī Bhī?madeva is a great devotee of the Lord in the relation of servitorship. Thus his throwing of sharp arrows at the transcendental body of the Lord is as good as the worship of another devotee who throws soft roses upon Him.
It appears that Bhī?madeva is repenting the actions he committed against the person of the Lord. But factually the Lord’s body was not at all pained, due to His transcendental existence. His body is not matter. Both He Himself and His body are complete spiritual identity. Spirit is never pierced, burnt, dried, moistened, etc. This is vividly explained in the?Bhagavad-gītā.?So also it is stated in the?Skanda Purā?a.?It is said there that spirit is always uncontaminated and indestructible. It cannot be distressed, nor can it be dried up. When Lord Vi??u in His incarnation appears before us, He seems to be like one of the conditioned souls, materially encaged, just to bewilder the?asuras,?or the nonbelievers, who are always alert to kill the Lord, even from the very beginning of His appearance. Ka?sa wanted to kill K???a, and Rāva?a wanted to kill Rāma, because foolishly they were unaware of the fact that the Lord is never killed, for the spirit is never annihilated.
Therefore Bhī?madeva’s piercing of the body of Lord K???a is a sort of bewildering problem for the nondevotee atheist, but those who are devotees, or liberated souls, are not bewildered.
Bhī?madeva appreciated the all-merciful attitude of the Lord because He did not leave Arjuna alone, although He was disturbed by the sharpened arrows of Bhī?madeva, nor was He reluctant to come before Bhī?ma’s deathbed, even though He was ill-treated by him on the battlefield. Bhī?ma’s repentance and the Lord’s merciful attitude are both unique in this picture.
?rī Vi?vanātha Cakravartī ?hākura, a great?ācārya?and devotee in the humor of conjugal love with the Lord, remarks very saliently in this regard. He says that the wounds created on the body of the Lord by the sharpened arrows of Bhī?madeva were as pleasing to the Lord as the biting of a fiancee who bites the Lord’s body directed by a strong sense of sex desire. Such biting by the opposite sex is never taken as a sign of enmity, even if there is a wound on the body. Therefore, the fighting as an exchange of transcendental pleasure between the Lord and His pure devotee, ?rī Bhī?madeva, was not at all mundane. Besides that, since the Lord’s body and the Lord are identical, there was no possibility of wounds in the absolute body. The apparent wounds caused by the sharpened arrows are misleading to the common man, but one who has a little absolute knowledge can understand the transcendental exchange in the chivalrous relation. The Lord was perfectly happy with the wounds caused by the sharpened arrows of Bhī?madeva. The word?vibhidyamāna?is significant because the Lord’s skin is not different from the Lord. Because our skin is different from our soul, in our case the word?vibhidyamāna,?or being bruised and cut, would have been quite suitable. Transcendental bliss is of different varieties, and the variety of activities in the mundane world is but a perverted reflection of transcendental bliss. Because everything in the mundane world is qualitatively mundane, it is full of inebrieties, whereas in the absolute realm, because everything is of the same absolute nature, there are varieties of enjoyment without inebriety. The Lord enjoyed the wounds created by His great devotee Bhī?madeva, and because Bhī?madeva is a devotee in the chivalrous relation, he fixes up his mind on K???a in that wounded condition.
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sapadi sakhi-vaco ni?amya madhye
nija-parayor balayo ratha? nive?ya
sthitavati para-sainikāyur ak??ā
h?tavati pārtha-sakhe ratir mamāstu
Translation
In obedience to the command of His friend, Lord ?rī K???a entered the arena of the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra between the soldiers of Arjuna and Duryodhana, and while there He shortened the life spans of the opposite party by His merciful glance. This was done simply by His looking at the enemy. Let my mind be fixed upon that K???a.
Purport
In the?Bhagavad-gītā?(1.21-25) Arjuna ordered the infallible Lord ?rī K???a to place his chariot between the phalanxes of the soldiers. He asked Him to stay there until he had finished observing the enemies he had to face in the battle. When the Lord was so asked, He at once did so, just like an order carrier. And the Lord pointed out all the important men on the opposite side, saying, “Here is Bhī?ma, here is Dro?a,” and so on. The Lord, being the supreme living being, is never the order supplier or order carrier of anyone, whoever he may be. But out of His causeless mercy and affection for His pure devotees, sometimes He carries out the order of the devotee like an awaiting servant. By executing the order of a devotee, the Lord becomes pleased, as a father is pleased to carry out the order of his small child. This is possible only out of pure transcendental love between the Lord and His devotees, and Bhī?madeva was quite aware of this fact. He therefore addressed the Lord as the friend of Arjuna.
The Lord diminished the duration of life of the opposite party by His merciful glance. It is said that all the fighters who assembled on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra attained salvation by personally seeing the Lord at the time of death. Therefore, His diminishing the duration of life of Arjuna’s enemy does not mean that He was partial to the cause of Arjuna. Factually He was merciful to the opposite party because they would not have attained salvation by dying at home in the ordinary course of life. Here was a chance to see the Lord at the time of death and thus attain salvation from material life. Therefore, the Lord is all good, and whatever He does is for everyone’s good. Apparently it was for the victory of Arjuna, His intimate friend, but factually it was for the good of Arjuna’s enemies. Such are the transcendental activities of the Lord, and whoever understands this also gets salvation after quitting this material body. The Lord does no wrong in any circumstance because He is absolute, all good at all times.
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vyavahita-p?tanā-mukha? nirīk?ya
sva-jana-vadhād vimukhasya do?a-buddhyā
kumatim aharad ātma-vidyayā ya?
cara?a-rati? paramasya tasya me ’stu
Translation
When Arjuna was seemingly polluted by ignorance upon observing the soldiers and commanders before him on the battlefield, the Lord eradicated his ignorance by delivering transcendental knowledge. May His lotus feet always remain the object of my attraction.
Purport
The kings and the commanders were to stand in the front of the fighting soldiers. That was the system of actual fighting. The kings and commanders were not so-called presidents or ministers of defense as they are today. They would not stay home while the poor soldiers or mercenaries were fighting face to face. This may be the regulation of modern democracy, but when actual monarchy was prevailing, the monarchs were not cowards elected without consideration of qualification. As it was evident from the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra, all the executive heads of both parties, like Dro?a, Bhī?ma, Arjuna and Duryodhana, were not sleeping; all of them were actual participants in the fighting, which was selected to be executed at a place away from the civil residential quarters. This means that the innocent citizens were immune from all effects of fighting between the rival royal parties. The citizens had no business in seeing what was going to happen during such fighting. They were to pay one fourth of their income to the ruler, whether he be Arjuna or Duryodhana. All the commanders of the parties on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra were standing face to face, and Arjuna saw them with great compassion and lamented that he was to kill his kinsmen on the battlefield for the sake of the empire. He was not at all afraid of the giant military phalanx presented by Duryodhana, but as a merciful devotee of the Lord, renunciation of worldly things was natural for him, and thus he decided not to fight for worldly possessions. But this was due to a poor fund of knowledge, and therefore it is said here that his intelligence became polluted. His intelligence could not be polluted at any time because he was a devotee and constant companion of the Lord, as is clear in the Fourth Chapter of the?Bhagavad-gītā.?Apparently Arjuna’s intelligence became polluted because otherwise there would not have been a chance to deliver the teachings of?Bhagavad-gītā?for the good of all polluted conditioned souls engaged in material bondage by the conception of the false material body. The?Bhagavad-gītā?was delivered to the conditioned souls of the world to deliver them from the wrong conception of identifying the body with the soul and to reestablish the soul’s eternal relation with the Supreme Lord.?ātma-vidyā,?or transcendental knowledge of Himself, was primarily spoken by the Lord for the benefit of all concerned in all parts of the universe.
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sva-nigamam apahāya mat-pratij?ām
?tam adhikartum avapluto rathastha?
dh?ta-ratha-cara?o ’bhyayāc caladgur
harir iva hantum ibha? gatottarīya?
Translation
Fulfilling my vow and sacrificing His own promise, He got down from the chariot, took up its wheel, and ran towards me hurriedly, just as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He even dropped His outer garment on the way.
Purport
The Battle of Kuruk?etra was fought on military principles but at the same time in a sporting spirit, like a friend’s fight with another friend. Duryodhana criticized Bhī?madeva, alleging that he was reluctant to kill Arjuna because of paternal affection. A?k?atriya?cannot tolerate insults on the principle of fighting. Bhī?madeva therefore promised that the next day he would kill all five Pā??avas with special weapons made for the purpose. Duryodhana was satisfied, and he kept the arrows with him to be delivered the next day during the fight. By tricks Arjuna took the arrows from Duryodhana, and Bhī?madeva could understand that this was the trick of Lord K???a. So he took a vow that the next day K???a would have to take up weapons Himself, otherwise His friend Arjuna would die. In the next day’s fighting Bhī?madeva fought so violently that both Arjuna and K???a were in trouble. Arjuna was almost defeated; the situation was so tense that he was about to be killed by Bhī?madeva the very next moment. At that time Lord K???a wanted to please His devotee, Bhī?ma, by keeping Bhī?ma’s promise, which was more important than His own. Seemingly He broke His own promise. He promised before the beginning of the Battle of Kuruk?etra that He would remain without weapons and would not use His strength for either of the parties. But to protect Arjuna He got down from the chariot, took up the wheel of the chariot and hurriedly rushed at Bhī?madeva in an angry mood, as a lion goes to kill an elephant. He dropped His covering cloth on the way, and out of great anger He did not know that He had dropped it. Bhī?madeva at once gave up his weapons and stood to be killed by K???a, his beloved Lord. The fighting of the day was thus ended at that very moment, and Arjuna was saved. Of course there was no possibility of Arjuna’s death because the Lord Himself was on the chariot, but because Bhī?madeva wanted to see Lord K???a take up some weapon to save His friend, the Lord created this situation, making Arjuna’s death appear imminent. He stood before Bhī?madeva to show him that his promise was fulfilled and that He had taken up the wheel.
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?ita-vi?ikha-hato vi?īr?a-da??a?
k?ataja-paripluta ātatāyino me
prasabham abhisasāra mad-vadhārtha?
sa bhavatu me bhagavān gatir mukunda?
Translation
May He, Lord ?rī K???a, the Personality of Godhead, who awards salvation, be my ultimate destination. On the battlefield He charged me, as if angry because of the wounds dealt by my sharp arrows. His shield was scattered, and His body was smeared with blood due to the wounds.
Purport
The dealings of Lord K???a and Bhī?madeva on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra are interesting because the activities of Lord ?rī K???a appeared to be partial to Arjuna and at enmity with Bhī?madeva; but factually all this was especially meant to show special favor to Bhī?madeva, a great devotee of the Lord.?The astounding feature of such dealings is that a devotee can please the Lord by playing the part of an enemy.?The Lord, being absolute, can accept service from His pure devotee even in the garb of an enemy. The Supreme Lord cannot have any enemy, nor can a so-called enemy harm Him because He is?ajita,?or unconquerable. But still He takes pleasure when His pure devotee beats Him like an enemy or rebukes Him from a superior position, although no one can be superior to the Lord. These are some of the transcendental reciprocatory dealings of the devotee with the Lord. And those who have no information of pure devotional service cannot penetrate into the mystery of such dealings. Bhī?madeva played the part of a valiant warrior, and he purposely pierced the body of the Lord so that to the common eyes it appeared that the Lord was wounded, but factually all this was to bewilder the nondevotees. The all-spiritual body cannot be wounded, and a devotee cannot become the enemy of the Lord. Had it been so, Bhī?madeva would not have desired to have the very same Lord as the ultimate destination of his life. Had Bhī?madeva been an enemy of the Lord, Lord K???a could have annihilated him without even moving. There was no need to come before Bhī?madeva with blood and wounds. But He did so because the warrior devotee wanted to see the transcendental beauty of the Lord decorated with wounds created by a pure devotee. This is the way of exchanging transcendental?rasa,?or relations between the Lord and the servitor. By such dealings both the Lord and the devotee become glorified in their respective positions. The Lord was so angry that Arjuna checked Him when He was moving towards Bhī?madeva, but in spite of Arjuna’s checking, He proceeded towards Bhī?madeva as a lover goes to a lover, without caring for hindrances. Apparently His determination was to kill Bhī?madeva, but factually it was to please him as a great devotee of the Lord. The Lord is undoubtedly the deliverer of all conditioned souls. The impersonalists desire salvation from Him, and He always awards them according to their aspiration, but here Bhī?madeva aspires to see the Lord in His personal feature. All pure devotees aspire for this.
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vijaya-ratha-ku?umbha ātta-totre
dh?ta-haya-ra?mini tac-chriyek?a?īye
bhagavati ratir astu me mumūr?or
yam iha nirīk?ya hatā gatā? sva-rūpam
Translation
At the moment of death, let my ultimate attraction be to ?rī K???a, the Personality of Godhead. I concentrate my mind upon the chariot driver of Arjuna who stood with a whip in His right hand and a bridle rope in His left, who was very careful to give protection to Arjuna’s chariot by all means. Those who saw Him on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra attained their original forms after death.
Purport
A pure devotee of the Lord constantly sees the presence of the Lord within himself because of being transcendentally related by loving service. Such a pure devotee cannot forget the Lord for a moment. This is called trance. The mystic (yogī) tries to concentrate upon the Supersoul by controlling the senses from all other engagements, and thus he ultimately attains?samādhi.?A devotee more easily attains?samādhi,?or trance, by constantly remembering the Lord’s personal feature along with His holy name, fame, pastimes, etc. Therefore, the concentration of the mystic?yogī?and that of the devotee are not on the same level. The concentration of the mystic is mechanical, whereas that of the pure devotee is natural in pure love and spontaneous affection. Bhī?madeva was a pure devotee, and as a military marshal he constantly remembered the battlefield feature of the Lord as Pārtha-sārathi, the chariot driver of Arjuna. Therefore, the Lord’s pastime as Pārtha-sārathi is also eternal. The pastimes of the Lord, beginning from His birth at the prison house of Ka?sa up to the?mau?ala-līlā?at the end, all move one after another in all the universes, just as the clock hand moves from one point to another. And in such pastimes His associates like the Pā??avas and Bhī?ma are constant eternal companions. So Bhī?madeva never forgot the beautiful feature of the Lord as Pārtha-sārathi, which even Arjuna could not see. Arjuna was behind the beautiful Pārtha-sārathi while Bhī?madeva was just in front of the Lord. As far as the military feature of the Lord is concerned, Bhī?madeva observed this with more relish than Arjuna.
All the soldiers and persons on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra attained their original spiritual form like the Lord after their death because by the causeless mercy of the Lord they were able to see Him face to face on that occasion. The conditioned souls rotating in the evolutionary cycle from the aquatics up to the form of Brahmā are all in the form of?māyā,?or the form obtained by one’s own actions and awarded by material nature. The material forms of the conditioned souls are all foreign dresses, and when the conditioned soul becomes liberated from the clutches of material energy, he attains his original form. The impersonalist wants to attain the impersonal Brahman effulgence of the Lord, but that is not at all congenial to the living sparks, parts and parcels of the Lord. Therefore, the impersonalists again fall down and get material forms, which are all false to the spirit soul. A spiritual form like the Lord’s, either two-handed or four-handed, is attained by the devotees of the Lord either in the Vaiku??has or in the Goloka planet, according to the original nature of the soul. This form, which is cent-percent spiritual, is the?svarūpa?of the living being, and all the living beings who participated on the Battlefield of Kuruk?etra, on both sides, attained their?svarūpa,?as confirmed by Bhī?madeva. So Lord ?rī K???a was not merciful only to the Pā??avas; He was also merciful to the other parties because all of them attained the same result. Bhī?madeva wanted the same facility also, and that was his prayer to the Lord, although his position as an associate of the Lord is assured in all circumstances. The conclusion is that whoever dies looking on the Personality of Godhead within or without attains his?svarūpa,?which is the highest perfection of life.
References:
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3 个月Hare Krishna! What are the fasting days for 2024 please?