Sri Brhad Bhagatamrtam
by
Srila Sanatan Goswami
Part One,
Sri Bhagavata-kripa-nirdhara
(The Search For the Lord's Mercy)
Part Two,
Sri Goloka-mahatmya
(The Glory of Sri Goloka)
Chapter Two: Divya (The Higher Material Planets)
1 Sri Pariksit said: After
glorifying the king, Narada Muni (went) to Svargaloka and in a
great assembly of demigods saw Lord Vishnu,...
2 ...who was decorated with garlands of kalpa-druma flowers,
anointed with fragrant scents, dressed in beautiful garments and
ornaments, served palatable nectar and a host of other very
splendid offerings, and was comfortably seated on Garuda's
back,...
3 whom Brhaspati and the great sages were glorifying with
prayers, whom Aditi was caressing and pleasing with sweet
words...
4 who was pleased by the prayers, exclamations of "jaya!",
instrumental music, singing, and dancing of the Siddhas,
Vidyadharas, Gandharvas, and Apsaras,...
5 who emphatically assured Indra that he need not fear the
demons, who gracefully accepted and chewed the betelnuts
Kirti-devi offers.
6-7 whom Indra glorified, raining tears from his thousand
eyes as again and again he happily described how his Lord had
come to his aid, and who splendidly sat on His throne, His
transcendental potencies at His side.
8 Following Lord Vishnu as He departed for His own residence,
Narada returned to the assembly and, praising Indra, said:
9 Sri Narada said: You are a great leader. Surya, Candra,
Yama, and all the demigods and rulers of planets, what to speak
of others, obey your commands.
10 Sages like myself are under your order. The Vedas praise
you as the master of the universe. You grant the results of
pious and impious deeds.
11 Ah! Lord Narayana is your younger brother, born from the
same womb. Honouring the path of religion, He always treats you
with great respect.
12 Sri Pariksit said: Repeatedly praising Indra's great good
fortune in this way, and playing his vina, Devarsi Narada began
to dance.
13 Then, with great embarrassment, Indra slowly said: Devarsi
Narada, O learned musician, why are you mocking me?
14 Do you not know the history of the king of Svargaloka? How
many times have we not left this place out of fear of the
demons?
15 Once Bali Maharaj occupied the post of Indra. He personally
enjoyed Indra's portion in the Vedic sacrifices. He posted
demons as the rulers of the sun, moon, and other planets.
16 Then, pleased by my parents' long and severe austerity, the
infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared by His
plenary portion as my brother.
17 Still, the Lord did not kill my enemies. He merely
pretended to beg the kingdom from them, and them embarrassed me
by giving the results of His begging to me.
18 Because we are envious, embroiled in unremitting
competition, and filled with many faults, and because we
sometimes murder brahmanas and commit many other sins, we live
in constant fear of falling down from our position. Where is
there any happiness for the residents of Svargaloka?
19 You should know that Vamana treats me with contempt. He
forcibly took both the Sudharma assembly house and the parijata
flower from Svargaloka and brought them to the earth.
20 He stopped the cowherds' traditional worship of me, and He
burned to the ground the Khandava forest, which is so dear to
me.
21 When I begged Him to kill the demon Vrtra, who had
terrified the three worlds, the Lord was not willing to do
anything. He told me to kill the demon myself.
22 Treating me with contempt, He left my city of Amaravati and
made a new home for Himself above all the worlds.
23 At the time of His departure He only accepted my worship to
show kindness to my priest Brhaspati and because my parents were
also worshipping Him. Very quickly He left for His own abode,
far beyond the range of my sight.
24 When I said to Him, "We will be honoured if You quickly
return to accept our offerings of arghya," He cheated me by
speaking this instruction:
25 When I am not here you may worship Brahma or Shiva, for
they are not different from Me.
26 Have you forgotten the words of scripture: "The one Supreme
Lord has expanded into the three forms of Vishnu, Brahma and
Shiva?"
27 Neither I nor the sages can go to His abode. He does not
stay for very long in any one place. Sometimes He stays in
Vaikuntha, sometimes in Dhruvaloka, and sometimes in the
Ksirodaka Ocean.
28 Now He is at Dvaraka. But He does not always stay there.
Sometimes He is in the palace of the Pandavas, sometimes in the
city of Mathura, and sometimes going from forest to forest in
Gokula. In this way it is very difficult for us to see Him.
Where is His mercy to us?
29 O best son of Brahma, know that your father is the actual
object of Lord Krishna's mercy. He is directly the son of Lord
Narayana, the husband of Laksmi.
30 Within his day, which lasts for one thousand catur-yugas,
live 14 Manus and many Indras like myself.
31 His night is as long as his day, 360 such days and nights
are his one year, and 100 such years is the span of his life.
This is the description of Smrti-sastra.
32 He creates both the ordinary living entities and the
demigods who rule over planets, and he gives them each a
specific sphere where they may act. He protects them, gives them
the fruits of their work, and, on the arrival of his night,
destroys them all.
33 The thousand-headed Maha-purusa incarnation of the Lord
always stays on Brahma's planet, eating a great multitude of
sacrificial offerings and giving transcendental bliss to
all.
34 In this way I have given thousands of reasons to consider
Brahma the object of Lord Krishna's mercy. What more need I say?
Brahma is himself an empowered incarnation of Lord
Krishna.
35 This fact is celebrated in the words of both Sruti and
Smrti sastras. My lord, you know this fact and many other
glories of both Brahma and those who reside on his planet.
36 Sri Pariksit said: When he heard Indra's words, Lord Narada
said, "Well done! Oh, well done! and then quickly travelled to
the planet of Brahma.
37 The Lord offered to the performers of sacrifices all the
benedictions they requested. He then retired to His bedroom,
and, as the goddess of fortune massaged His feet, He happily
fell asleep.
42 Brahma ordered the sages, who were his sons, to perform
sacrifices, and then, to tend to his duties in managing the
universe, Brahma left for his own abode.
43 As Brahma comfortably sat on his throne and intently heard
the recitation of the glories of his Lord, the Personality of
Godhead, tears came to his eight eyes.
44 Approaching His father, who was served by a host of
wonderful opulences, Narada fell down like a stick to offer
respects and said:
45 Sri Narada said: You are certainly the object of Lord
Hari's mercy. You are the master of the Prajapatis and the
grandfather of all living entities.
46 You alone create, maintain, and destroy the fourteen
worlds. You are eternally the master of the universe. It is said
that you are parentless and self-born.
47 Born from your four mouths, the Personified Vedas, Puranas,
and other scriptures that reveal the goal of life, stay in your
assembly-house.
48 The saintly sages, who are free from lust and all other
vices, attain your planet after faithfully and faultlessly
performing their prescribed duties for a hundred births.
49 In this universe no place is superior to your abode. Even
Lord Narayana's planet named Vaikuntha exists within your
realm.
50 Eating the offerings of sacrifice, and granting the fruits
of their sacrifices to His worshippers, the Supreme Personality
of Godhead, in His form of the Maha-purusa, eternally resides in
your abode.
51 At first you made a great endeavour to find the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, but you could not find Him. Then, by
performing austerities you were able to see Him for a moment in
your heart.
52 The truth is that you are very dear to Lord Krishna.
Indeed, you are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, who
assumes many different forms for His pastimes.
53 Sri Pariksit said: Again and again singing Brahma's
glories, which Indra had described, and which he now personally
saw, Narada bowed down before Brahma with great devotion.
54 As he heard Narada's words, Brahma became very agitated.
Covering his eight ears, through his four mouths he said, "I am
only a servant," again and again.
55 Restraining with great effort the anger these unbearable
words created within him, four-faced Brahma rebuked his son
Narada.
56 Sri Brahma said: I am not the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Krishna. From your earliest childhood have you not
repeatedly learned this from the Vedic scriptures, from the
common-sense logic, and from my own explanations?
57 His potency is Maha-maya. In His eyes Maha-maya is like a
maidservant who, employing the three modes of nature, creates,
maintains and destroys the material universe.
58 All of us are bewildered by this Maha-maya. We are firmly
under her control. For this reason you should know that I have
not received even a small portion of Lord Krishna's mercy.
59-60 I continually think: "I am the great spiritual leader,
the supreme controller, and the grandfather of this universe. I
was personally born from the lotus flower sprouted from the
navel of Lord Krishna. I am a performer of great austerities. I
am a great devotee of Lord Krishna." In this way Lord Krishna's
illusory potency maya destroys me with intense pride. In
addition to that I am always angry, overwhelmed by the endless
duties I must perform to maintain the universe.
61 I am anxious that someday my planet will be destroyed.
Afraid of all devouring time, I pray for ultimate
liberation.
62 Only for this purpose I worship the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and I cause others to worship Him. You may say that the
Supreme Personality of Godhead personally resides on my planet,
but I say: Where does the Supreme Personality of Godhead not
reside?
63 He personally accepts the sacrificial offerings here only
to firmly establish the Vedic revelation and also to bestow
mercy on the dear devotees who make offerings to Him. (He does
not do it to bestow mercy on me.)
64 O Narada Acarya, think for a moment. You should know that
the Lord is pleased only by devotion. He gives His mercy only to
the devotees, never to the non-devotees.
65 I am very far from having any devotion to the Lord. If I
somehow avoid offending Him I think I am doing very well indeed.
The Lord does not forgive my offenses as He forgives the sins of
Shiva.
66 One time I gave benedictions to a demon named
Hiranyakasipu, who became an enemy of the devotees and proceeded
to torment the entire world.
67-70 When the Lord, in His form of Sri Nrsimha, killed that
demon, I and my companions, staying far away out of fear, spoke
many eloquent prayers to the Lord. But He refused to recognise
us even with a momentary sidelong glance. Later, during the
coronation ceremony of Maharaj Prahlad, He kindly approached me
and angrily ordered: "Do not give any more benedictions like
this to the demons!" In spite of this order I have since given
many benedictions to Ravana and many other demons. Whose tongue
has the power to describe the sins of Ravana.
71 You may remember how I gave administrative posts to Indra
and many others whose good sense became completely destroyed by
their inflated pride.
72 Indra offended the Lord by showering incessant rains on the
Govardhana sacrifice, by fighting with the Lord over the
parijata flower, and in many other ways also. Varuna, the king
of the waters, kidnapped Nanda Maharaj, stole the cows from the
forest, and committed many other offenses.
73 Yama terribly killed the son of the Lord's teacher, and
Kuvera is partly responsible for the sins of his follower, the
demon Sankhacuda.
74 Also, in the lower worlds the demons and the angry serpents
who are relatives of Kaliya-naga have become enemies of the
Vaishnavas.
75 When Krishna stopped for lunch I used my illusory potency
to kidnap the boys and calves personally protected by Him in
Vrndavana.
76 Then I saw something very wonderful. Frightened, I bowed
down before Him and offered prayers. I arrogantly offended Him,
and He responded by cheating me with His pastimes of a cowherd
boy.
77 Because I was able to enter His dearmost land of Vraja, and
because I was able to obtain His merciful lotus glance, I
thought that at that moment my life was all-perfect and all
successful.
78 Fearing that I would commit many more offenses if I stayed,
I left Vraja. What is the use of saying anything more about my
misfortunes?
79 Shiva is famous as the personal friend of Lord Vishnu. In
this universe I do not see anyone who is the object of the
Lord's mercy as Shiva.
80 Always intoxicated by the sweet nectar of Sri Krishna's
lotus feet, Shiva has lost all interest in material goals, in
supreme power and opulence, and in varieties of
sense-pleasure.
81 Eating Dhustura seeds and arka leaves, decorated with a
garland of skulls, and his naked body smeared with ashes, Shiva
laughs at materialists like myself, who are addicted to
sense-pleasures.
82 Wearing matted locks of dishevelled hair, and eager to
conceal his actual nature, he staggers about like a madman. On
his head he happily carries the Ganges, which has washed the
lotus feet of Lord Krishna. When he dances he destroys the
universe.
83 Lord Krishna is so kind to him that not only does he have
the power to grant the most valuable liberation to demigods like
myself, but even his wife has that power.
84 Ah! All the residents of Shivaloka are liberated souls. By
Shiva's mercy how many of them are not only liberated, but are
now pure devotees of Lord Krishna?
85 To consider Shiva different from Lord Krishna is a great
offense. The Supreme Personality of Godhead may forgive offenses
committed to Him, but He does not forgive those committed
against Shiva.
86 When Tripuresvara, Vrkasura and other demons maddened by
benedictions he gave them, placed Shiva in a very dangerous
position, Lord Krishna at once rescued him with words as sweet
as nectar.
87 Conquered by the intimate love of His devotee, Lord Krishna
personally worships Shiva just to glorify him.
88-9 Lord Krishna personally asked Shiva to drink the terrible
poison produced from the churning of nectar. In this way Shiva
became worshipped by the Prajapatis, and showered with streams
of great glory.
90 The Puranas sing of the mercy of Lord Krishna to Shiva. You
know this already. O sage, please remember his glories.
91 Sri Pariksit said: O affectionate mother, Narada offered
obeisances to his spiritual master and was about to depart for
Kailasa Hill when Brahma glanced at his son and said:
92 Sri Brahma said: Submissive to the loving service of
Kuvera, Shiva resides in Kuvera's place on Mount Kailasa in the
material universe.
93 Assuming the role of the protector of the northern
direction, Shiva resides there, surrounded by his associates,
and keeping very little material wealth.
94 The Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna becomes
conquered by the loving service of devotees like myself, and for
this reason He resides on my planet, on Svargaloka, and in many
other places as well, and enjoys suitable pastimes there. (In
the same way Shiva resides in Kailasa because of the devotion of
Kuvera.)
95 I quote the opinion of Vayu Purana
"The planet of Shiva is beyond the seven-fold coverings of the
material world. It is eternal, transcendental, and full of
bliss. Only the greatest servants of Shiva may enter it."
96 In that place Shiva is decorated with splendid
transcendental garments and ornaments. There He is the master of
great powers and opulences, and there he is surrounded by many
associates as splendid and glorious as he.
97 In that place, even though the two of them are not
different, Shiva worships the supremely powerful and opulent
Lord Sankarsana as his chosen Deity. Is this not very
wonderful?
98 Because you are a pure devotee of Shiva you have the power
to go there. Go, take shelter of Shiva, and see how he is the
object of Lord Krishna's mercy.
99 Sri Pariksit said: O mother, instructed in this way, and
chanting the holy names of Shiva and Krishna, Narada eagerly
went to Shivaloka.