VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 89
Vishnu the Best of the Gods and the Krishnas Retrieve a Brâhmin's Sons
(Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna Retrieve a Brāhmaṇa's Sons)
This chapter describes how Bhṛgu Muni proved the supremacy of Lord Viṣṇu, and how Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna recovered the dead sons of an aggrieved brāhmaṇa in Dvārakā.
Once, long ago, on the shore of the river Sarasvatī, a discussion arose among a group of sages as to which of the three chief lords — Brahmā, Viṣṇu or Śiva — is the greatest. They deputed Bhṛgu Muni to investigate the matter.
Bhṛgu decided to test the lords' tolerance, for that quality is a sure sign of greatness. First he entered the court of Lord Brahmā, his father, without offering him any respect. This enraged Brahmā, who suppressed his anger because Bhṛgu was his son. Next Bhṛgu went to Lord Śiva, his older brother, who rose from his seat to embrace him. But Bhṛgu rejected the embrace, calling Śiva a deviant heretic. Just as Śiva was about to kill Bhṛgu with his trident, Goddess Pārvatī interceded and pacified her husband. Next Bhṛgu went to Vaikuṇṭha to test Lord Nārāyaṇa. Going up to the Lord, who was lying with His head on the lap of the goddess of fortune, Bhṛgu kicked His chest. But instead of becoming angry, both the Lord and His consort stood up and offered Bhṛgu respects. "Welcome," said the Lord. "Please sit down and rest awhile. Kindly forgive us, dear master, for not noticing your arrival." When Bhṛgu went back to the assembly of sages and told them all that had happened, they concluded that Lord Viṣṇu is certainly supreme.
Once in Dvārakā a brāhmaṇa's wife gave birth to a son who immediately died. The brāhmaṇa took his dead son to the court of King Ugrasena and berated the King: "This duplicitous, greedy enemy of brāhmaṇas has caused my son's death by failing to execute his duties properly!" The same misfortune continued to befall the brāhmaṇa, and each time he would bring his dead infant's body to the royal court and berate the King. When the ninth son died at birth, Arjuna happened to hear the brāhmaṇa's complaint, and he said, "My lord, I will protect your progeny. And if I fail, I will enter fire to atone for my sin."
Some time later, the brāhmaṇa's wife was about to give birth for the tenth time. When Arjuna learned of this, he went to the maternity house and enveloped it with a protective cage of arrows. Arjuna's efforts were to no avail, however, for as soon as the child was born and began to cry, it disappeared into the sky. As the brāhmaṇa profusely derided Arjuna, the warrior set off for the abode of Yamarāja, the king of death. But Arjuna did not find the brāhmaṇa's son there, and even after searching throughout the fourteen worlds he could find no trace of the infant.
Having failed to protect the brāhmaṇa's son, Arjuna was now intent on committing suicide by entering the sacred fire. But just as he was about to do so, Lord Kṛṣṇa stopped him and said, "I will show you the brāhmaṇa's sons, so please don't despise yourself like this." Lord Kṛṣṇa then took Arjuna onto His transcendental chariot, and the two of them crossed over the seven universal islands with their seven oceans, passed over the Lokāloka mountain range and entered the region of dense darkness. Since the horses could not find their way, Kṛṣṇa sent His blazing Sudarśana disc ahead to pierce the gloom. Gradually they came to the water of the Causal Ocean, within which they found the city of Lord Mahā-Viṣṇu. There they saw the thousand-hooded serpent Ananta and upon Him lay Mahā-Viṣṇu. The great Lord greeted Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, saying "I brought the brāhmaṇa's sons here simply because I wanted to see the two of you. Please continue to benefit the people in general by exemplifying religious behavior in your forms of Nara-Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi."
Lord Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna then took the brāhmaṇa's sons, went back to Dvārakā and returned the infants to their father. Having directly experienced the greatness of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna was amazed. He concluded that only by the Lord's mercy can a living being exhibit any power or opulence.
10.89.1
sarasvatyās taṭe rājann
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'Among the sages performing a sacrifice at the bank of the Sarasvatî, o King, arose a controversy as to which of the three [Lords] there from the beginning would be the greatest.
10.89.2
so 'bhjagād brahmaṇaḥ sabhām
(2) Desirous to know this send they Bhrigu, the son of Brahmâ to find this out, o King, and so he went to the court of Brahmâ.
he Supreme Personality of Godhead, "The plan decided upon by the sages was for Bhṛgu to test which of the predominating deities possessed the quality of goodness in full." One who is in the mode of goodness possesses such qualities as tolerance and equanimity, whereas those conducted by the modes of passion and ignorance are prone to easily lose their temper.
10.89.3
(3) To make it a test of goodness he didn't bow down to him nor uttered he a prayer. That then kindled the great Lord his passion and he grew angry.
10.89.4
ātmajāyātmanā prabhuḥ
(4) Even though in his heart anger was rising towards his son, managed the self-born one to control himself, just like with a fire that is put out by its own product, water [see also 3.12: 6-10].
Lord Brahmā is sometimes affected by his contact with the mode of passion. But because he is ādi-kavi, the firstborn and foremost learned scholar in the universe, when anger begins to disturb his mind he can control it by means of discriminating self-examination. In this instance he reminded himself that Bhṛgu was his son. Thus in this verse Śukadeva Gosvāmī draws the analogy that Brahmā's own expansion (his son) served to put out his anger just as water, which originally evolved from elemental fire in the primeval creation, puts out a fire.
10.89.5
sa taḿ devo maheśvaraḥ
parirabdhuḿ samārebha
(5) Next went he to Mount Kailâsa where S'iva happy to see him rose to his feet in order to embrace his brother.
In the Vedic civilization it is considered very important to properly greet one's family members, especially when one has not seen them for a long time. A worthy son should show respect to his father, a younger brother should honor his older brother, and the older brother should show affection to his younger brother in turn.
10.89.6-7
yatra devo janārdanaḥ
(6-7) But when Bhrigu denied this and said 'You are a transgressor of the path', became he angry and rose he with eyes shooting fire his trident against him ready to kill. The goddess fell at his feet and pacified him verbally. Bhrigu subsequently went to Vaikunthha were Lord Janârdana resides.
In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "It is said that an offense can be committed either with the body, with the mind or by speech. Bhṛgu Muni's first offense, committed toward Lord Brahmā, was an offense with the mind. His second offense, committed toward Lord Śiva by insulting him, criticizing him for unclean habits, was an offense by speech. Because the quality of ignorance is prominent in Lord Śiva, when he heard Bhṛgu's insult, his eyes immediately became red with anger. With uncontrollable rage, he took up his trident and prepared to kill Bhṛgu Muni. At that time Lord Śiva's wife, Pārvatī, was present. Her personality is a mixture of the three qualities, and therefore she is called Triguṇa-mayī. In this case, she saved the situation by evoking Lord Śiva's quality of goodness."
10.89.8-9
sva-talpād avaruhyātha
niṣīdātrāsane kṣaṇam
(8-9) After he there had kicked Him in the chest as He was lying with His head on the lap of the goddess of fortune, rose the Supreme Lord, the Destination of the Devotees, up together with Lakshmî. Coming down from the bed He next with His head bowed down to the sage and said: 'Be welcome, o brahmin, take this seat, please forgive Us o master, for a second we didn't notice you'd arrived!
at the time of this pastime Bhṛgu Muni had not yet become a pure Vaiṣṇava; otherwise he would not have acted so rashly toward the Supreme Lord. Not only was Lord Viṣṇu taking rest, but He was lying with His head in His wife's lap. For Bhṛgu to strike Him in this position — and not with his hand but with his foot — was worse than any other offense Bhṛgu could have imagined.
"Of course, Lord Viṣṇu is all-merciful. He did not become angry at the activities of Bhṛgu Muni because Bhṛgu Muni was a great brāhmaṇa. A brāhmaṇa is to be excused even if he sometimes commits an offense, and Lord Viṣṇu set the example. Yet it is said that from the time of this incident, the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, has not been very favorably disposed toward the brāhmaṇas, and therefore because the goddess of fortune withholds her benedictions from them, the brāhmaṇas are generally very poor."
10.89.10-11
pādodakena bhavatas
vatsyaty urasi me bhūtir
(10-11) Please purify Me, My world and the rulers of all worlds devoted to Me, with the water washing from the feet of your good self that creates the sacredness of the sites of pilgrimage. Today, o My lord, I've become the exclusive shelter, because with your foot having freed My chest from all sin the goddess of fortune will consent to reside there.'
"The so-called brāhmaṇas of the Kali-yuga are sometimes very proud that they can touch the chest of Lord Viṣṇu with their feet. But when Bhṛgu Muni touched the chest of Lord Viṣṇu with his feet, it was different because although it was the greatest offense, Lord Viṣṇu, being greatly magnanimous, did not take it very seriously."
Some editions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam contain the following verse between Texts 11 and 12, and Śrīla Prabhupāda also includes it in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his summary study of the Tenth Canto:
atīva-komalau tāta
"[The Lord said to the brāhmaṇa Bhṛgu:] 'My dear sir, O great sage, your feet are indeed very tender.' Saying this, Lord Viṣṇu began massaging the brāhmaṇa's feet with His own hands."
10.89.12
nirvṛtas tarpitas tūṣṇīḿ
bhakty-utkaṇṭho 'śru-locanaḥ
(12) S'rî S'uka said: 'Bhrigu delighted by the solemn words that the Lord of Vaikunthha thus spoke, gratified fell silent with tears in his eyes, overwhelmed as he was with devotion.
Bhṛgu could not offer the Lord any words of praise because his throat was choking with tears of ecstasy. In the opinion of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the sage should not be condemned for his offensive behavior, since his role in this transcendental pastime was arranged by the Personality of Godhead.
10.89.13
svānubhūtam aśeṣeṇa
rājan bhṛgur avarṇayat
(13) O King, having returned to the sacrifice of the sages defending the Veda, described Bhrigu in full what he personally had experienced.
10.89.14-17
tan niśamyātha munayo
bhūyāḿsaḿ śraddadhur viṣṇuḿ
aiśvaryaḿ cāṣṭadhā yasmād
yaśaś cātma-malāpaham
bhajanty anāśiṣaḥ śāntā
(14-17) Hearing this fell the sages in amazement, because they were freed from their troubles in putting their faith in Lord Vishnu as the greatest of whom there is peace and fearlessness, direct proof of dharma, spiritual knowledge, detachment, realization [of tat], the eight mystic powers [siddhis] and His fame that drives away the impurities of the mind. He's the Supreme Destination of the selfless and saintly sages who, giving up on the violence [of ruling by passion], have minds that are equipoised and peaceful. He's the embodiment of the mode of goodness of which the brahmins of spiritual peace, they who are so keenly and expertly of worship without ulterior motives, are the worshipable deities [see 1.2: 7; 3.25: 37 and 10.81].
By becoming devoted to the Personality of Godhead, one easily attains divine knowledge and detachment from sense gratification, without separate endeavor. As described in the Eleventh Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (11.2.42),
bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir
prapadyamānasya yathāśnataḥ syus
"Devotion, direct experience of the Supreme Lord, and detachment from other things — these three occur simultaneously for one who has taken shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in the same way that pleasure, nourishment and relief from hunger come simultaneously and increasingly, with each bite, for a person engaged in eating." Similarly, in the First Canto (1.2.7), Śrīla Suta Gosvāmī states,vāsudeve bhagavati
janayaty āśu vairāgyaḿ
"By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world."Lord Śrī Kapila, in His instructions to His mother, Devahūti, proposes that the eightfold powers of yoga are also coincidental fruits of devotional service:
atho vibhūtiḿ mama māyāvinas tām
aiśvaryam aṣṭāńgam anupravṛttam
śrīyaḿ bhāgavatīḿ vāspṛhayanti bhadrāḿ
"Because he is completely absorbed in thought of Me, My devotee does not desire even the highest benediction obtainable in the upper planetary systems, including Satyaloka. He does not desire the eight material perfections obtained from mystic yoga, nor does he desire to be elevated to the kingdom of God. Yet even without desiring them, My devotee enjoys, even in this life, all the offered benedictions." (Bhāg. 3.25.37)Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that in Text 16, three kinds of transcendentalists are named: the munis, the śāntas and the sādhus. These are, in order of increasing importance, persons striving for liberation, those who have attained liberation, and those who are engaged in pure devotional service to Lord Viṣṇu.
10.89.18
guṇinyā māyayā sṛṣṭāḥ
(18) In accord with the gunas are there the three types of conditioned beings brought about by His material energy: the wild [the Râkshasas], the unenlightened [the Asuras] and the godly [the Suras]; among these three is it the mode of goodness [of the Suras] that leads the way [see B.G. 14: 6 & 14: 14].'
"There are different kinds of people existing in the modes of material nature. Those who are in the mode of ignorance are called rākṣasas, those in the mode of passion are called asuras [demons], and those in the mode of goodness are called suras, or demigods. Under the direction of the Supreme Lord, these three classes of men are created by material nature, but those who are in the mode of goodness have a greater chance to be elevated to the spiritual world, back home, back to Godhead."
10.89.19
puruṣasya padāmbhoja-
(19) S'rî S'uka said: 'It is through their service of the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality [the Pure of Goodness] that the learned ones, who this way live at the Sarasvatî to dispel the doubts of the common people, attained His destination.' "
10.89.20
su-ślokaḿ śravaṇa-puṭaiḥ pibaty abhīkṣṇam
pāntho 'dhva-bhramaṇa-pariśramaḿ jahāti
(20) S'rî Sûta [at Naimishâranya] said: "Thus flowed this nectar with the fragrance of a lotus from the mouth of the son of the sage [Vyâsa]. Dealing with the Supreme Personality shatters that nectar the fear of a material existence and makes it the traveler, who constantly drinks in the fine verses through the holes of his ears, forget the fatigue of his wandering the [worldly] road.
This narration by Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī is precious in two ways: For those suffering from spiritual infirmity it is an effective tonic to cure the disease of illusion. And for surrendered Vaiṣṇavas it is a delicious and invigorating beverage, fragrant with the aroma of Śrī Śuka's realizations.
10.89.21
jāta-mātro bhuvaḿ spṛṣṭvā
(21) S'uka said: 'Once, in Dvârakâ, it happened that the infant son born from the wife of a brahmin died the moment it, so one says, touched the ground, o descendant of Bharata.
In this chapter Lord Viṣṇu has been glorified as the Supreme Godhead. Now Śukadeva Gosvāmī is going to identify Lord Kṛṣṇa with that same Personality of Godhead by describing another pastime of His, one which highlighted His unequaled, divine characteristics.
10.89.22
(22) The learned one, in misery lamenting with an agitated mind, took the corpse to the gate of the king [Ugrasena] and said, presenting it, the following:
10.89.23
lubdhasya viṣayātmanaḥ
pañcatvaḿ me gato 'rbhakaḥ
(23) 'Because this unqualified avaricious kshatriya addicted to sense-gratification, with a mind deceitful and hostile to the brahmins, failed in his duties, has my son met his death.
Presuming that he himself had done nothing to cause his son's death, the brāhmaṇa thought it reasonable to blame King Ugrasena. In the Vedic social system, the monarch is considered responsible for everything occurring in his kingdom, good or bad. Even in a democracy, a manager who takes charge of some group or project should accept personal responsibility for any failure rather than, as is so common today, trying to place the blame on his subordinates or superiors.
10.89.24
duḥśīlam ajitendriyam
(24) Citizens serving a wicked peoples-lord who, out of control with his senses, takes pleasure in violence [like meat-eating], have to suffer poverty and constant misery.'
10.89.25
(25) And the same way it happened a second and a third time alike that the wise brahmin left [a dead child] at the gate and sang the same song.
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