VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 84
Vasudeva of Sacrifice to the Sages at Kurukshetra Explaining the Path of Success
This chapter describes the arrival of great sages at Kurukṣetra to observe the auspicious occasion of a solar eclipse, the sages' glorification of Lord Kṛṣṇa, and Vasudeva's enthusiastic performance of sacrifices.
On the occasion of a solar eclipse at Kurukṣetra, exalted ladies like Kuntī, Draupadī and Subhadrā got the chance to associate with Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens. Seeing how much the Lord's consorts loved their husband, the ladies were struck with wonder. As the women talked among themselves, and the men did likewise, great sages headed by Nārada and Vyāsadeva arrived there, desiring to see Lord Kṛṣṇa. The various kings and other leading personalities who were sitting at their leisure, including the Pāṇḍavas, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, stood up as soon as they saw the sages. The leaders all bowed down to the great souls, inquired about their well-being and worshiped them by offering them sitting places, water and so on. Lord Kṛṣṇa then said, "Now our lives are successful, for we have obtained the goal of life: the audience of great sages and yoga masters, which even demigods only rarely obtain. The water at a holy place of pilgrimage and the deity forms of the gods can purify one only after a long time, but saintly sages purify just by being seen. Those who identify themselves with their bodies and neglect to honor transcendental sages like you are no better than asses."
After hearing Lord Kṛṣṇa speak these words in the mood of a mere mortal, the sages remained silent for some time, bewildered. Then they said, "How amazing our Lord is! He covers His true identity with humanlike activities and pretends to be subject to superior control. Surely He has spoken in this way only to enlighten the general populace. Such behavior of His is indeed inconceivable." The sages continued to glorify the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supersoul, and the friend and worshiper of the brāhmaṇas.
After the sages had praised Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa offered them His obeisances, and they begged His permission to return to their hermitages. But just then Vasudeva came forward, bowed to the sages and asked, "What activities can one perform to be freed from the bondage of fruitive work?" The sages replied, "By worshiping the Supreme Lord, Hari, through the performance of Vedic sacrifices, you will become free from the bondage of fruitive work." Vasudeva then requested the sages to act as his priests, and he arranged for Vedic sacrifices to be performed with superexcellent paraphernalia. Afterward, Vasudeva presented the priests with valuable gifts of cows and jewelry, and also with marriageable brāhmaṇa girls. He then performed the ritual bath marking the end of the sacrifice and fed everyone sumptuously, even the village dogs. Next he gave ample gifts to his relatives, the various kings and others, who all took Śrī Kṛṣṇa's leave and returned to their own homes.
Unable to depart because of his intense affection for his relatives, Nanda Mahārāja remained at Kurukṣetra for three months, served with reverence by the Yādavas. On one occasion, Vasudeva began to describe the deep friendship Nanda had shown him, shedding tears openly. At the end of three months, Nanda left for Mathurā with the fond farewells of all the Yādavas. When the Yādavas finally saw that the rainy season was about to begin, they returned to Dvārakā, where they related all that had happened at Kurukṣetra to the residents of their capital.
10.84.1
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'When Prithâ, the daughter of the king of Subala [Gândhârî] and Draupadî, Subhadrâ and the wives of the kings as well as His gopîs, heard of the loving attachment [of the wives] to Krishna, Lord Hari, the Soul of All, were they all greatly amazed, with tears filling their eyes.
Draupadī is the chief hearer in this assembly of exalted women, since, as explained by Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, she had asked the question that Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens answered by relating their respective stories. Since Gāndhārī and the other ladies named here were not even mentioned in the previous chapter as having been present, Ācārya Śrīdhara concludes that they must have heard the queens' narrations only secondhand. Indeed, Draupadī would never have spoken so freely in the presence of Pṛthā and Gāndhārī, her elders, or before the gopīs, whose attitude toward the queens of Dvārakā was not particularly sympathetic. Even though the gopīs joined in shedding tears, it was more because of their being reminded of Śrī Kṛṣṇa's pastimes than because of any loving affinity between them and the queens.
We should remember, of course, that there is always perfect harmony on the spiritual platform. Apparent conflict between pure devotees is nothing like mundane envy and strife. The jealousy of the gopīs was more show than substance, being exhibited by them as an ecstatic symptom of their overflowing love for Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmipāda further analyzes the phrase sva-gopyaḥ as implying that these gopīs were the queens' sva-svarūpa, the original prototypes of whom the queens were specific expansions.
10.84.2-5
āyayur munayas tatra
dvaipāyano nāradaś ca
cyavano devalo 'sitaḥ
viśvāmitraḥ śatānando
bharadvājo 'tha gautamaḥ
vasiṣṭho gālavo bhṛguḥ
pulastyaḥ kaśyapo 'triś ca
mārkaṇḍeyo bṛhaspatiḥ
dvitas tritaś caikataś ca
brahma-putrās tathāńgirāḥ
agastyo yājñavalkyaś ca
vāmadevādayo 'pare
(2-5) As the women were thus conversing with the women and the men with the men, arrived, eager to see Krishna and Râma at that place, the sages Dvaipâyana, Nârada, Cyavana, Devala and Asita; Vis'vâmitra, S'atânanda, Bharadvâja and Gautama; Lord Paras'urâma and his disciples, Vasishthha, Gâlava, Bhrigu, Pulastya and Kas'yapa; Atri, Mârkandeya and Brihaspati; Dvita, Trita, Ekata and the sons of Brahmâ [the four Kumâras] as also Angirâ, Âgastya, Yâjñavalkya and others headed by Vâmadeva.
10.84.6
(6) Seeing them stood the Pândavas, Krishna, Râma, the kings and others who sat down, immediately up to bow down to those honored throughout the universe.
10.84.7
saha-rāmo 'cyuto 'rcayat
svāgatāsana-pādyārghya-
mālya-dhūpānulepanaiḥ
(7) They all, including Râma and Acyuta, properly worshiped them with words of welcome, sitting places, water to wash their feet and to drink, flower garlands, incense and sandalwood paste.
10.84.8
sadasas tasya mahato
yata-vāco 'nuśṛṇvataḥ
(8) The Supreme Lord who in His embodiment defends the dharma, addressed in the with rapt attention listening assembly the great souls who were comfortably seated there.
10.84.9
(9) The Supreme Lord said: 'We who gained this birth have now altogether obtained its fruit: the audience of the masters of yoga that is rarely won even by the demigods.
Despite the great privileges the demigods enjoy as administrators of the universe, they rarely see such sages as Nārada and Vyāsadeva. How much rarer, then, must it be for earthly kings and mere cowherds to see them. Here Lord Kṛṣṇa, identifying Himself with all the kings and others who had assembled at Samanta-pañcaka, speaks on their behalf.
10.84.10
prahva-pādārcanādikam
(10) How is it possible that human beings who not being very renounced see God in the form of the temple deity, now may enjoy your company and may touch you, ask you questions, bow down and be of worship at your feet and such?
10.84.11
(11) By just seeing you, the saints, is one instantly purified, while that is not so with the holy places consisting of water or the deities made of clay that only gradually make that happen [1.13: 10].
Because the Personality of Godhead is absolute — the Supreme Spirit — any representation of Him, whether manifested in stone, paint, sound or any other authorized medium, is nondifferent from His original form in the topmost spiritual planet, Goloka Vṛndāvana. But ordinary demigods are not absolute, being infinitesimal spirit souls, and thus representations of the demigods are not identical with them. Worship of demigods or ritual bathing in a sanctified place gives only limited benefit to those who lack transcendental faith in the Supreme Lord.
On the other hand, great Vaiṣṇava saints like Vyāsadeva, Nārada and the four Kumāras are always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and thus they are veritable moving tīrthas, places of pilgrimage. Even a moment's association with them, especially by hearing their glorification of the Lord, can deliver one from all material entanglement. As King Yudhiṣṭhira said to Vidura,
bhavad-vidhā bhāgavatās
svāntaḥ-sthena gadābhṛtā
"My Lord, devotees like your good self are verily holy places personified. Because you carry the Personality of Godhead within your heart, you turn all places into places of pilgrimage." (Bhāg. 1.13.10)10.84.12
(12) Not the fire, nor the sun, the moon nor the firmament, not the earth, the water, the ether, the breath, the speech nor the mind take, being worshiped, away the sins of the one caught in the material opposites; but they are wiped out by only a few moments of delivering service to the men of [brahminical] learning.
An immature devotee of the Supreme Lord may accept only the Deity of the Lord as divine and see everything else as material — even the Lord's confidential servants. Nonetheless, because he recognizes Lord Viṣṇu's supreme position, such a devotee is better situated than materialistic worshipers of the demigods, and he thus deserves a degree of respect.
Association with advanced sages, either directly or by hearing their instructions, is recommended in this verse for one who wishes to advance beyond the lowest stages of devotional life. A neophyte devotee may be free from the more obvious sins of violence against innocent creatures and against his own body and mind, but until he becomes very advanced on the devotional path, he must always contend with the subtler contaminations of false pride, disrespect toward respectable Vaiṣṇavas and lack of compassion for suffering creatures. The best remedy for these symptoms of immaturity is to hear from and honor pure Vaiṣṇavas and to assist them in working to deliver the fallen, conditioned souls.
10.84.13
janeṣv abhijñeṣu sa eva go-kharaḥ
(13) He with the idea of himself as being the body that can be so smelly with its three elements [of mucus, bile and air], with the notion of a wife and that all as being his property, with the view of clay as being something worshipable, with the thought of water as being a place of pilgrimage, is, [going for appearances but] never moved by the wisdom in men, indeed not much better than a cow or an ass.'
True intelligence is shown by one's freedom from false identification of the self. As stated in the Bṛhaspati-saḿhitā,
ajñāta-bhagavad-dharmā
"Men who do not know the principles of devotional service to the Supreme Lord should be known as cows and asses, even if they are expert in technically analyzing Vedic mantras and are adored by world leaders."
An imperfect Vaiṣṇava advancing toward the second-class platform identifies himself with the sages who have established the true spiritual path, even while he still may have some inferior material attachments to body, family and so on. Such a devotee of the Lord is not a foolish cow or stubborn ass like the majority of materialists. But most excellent is the Vaiṣṇava who has gained the special mercy of the Lord and broken free from the bondage of illusory attachments altogether.
the words bhauma ijya-dhīḥ, "who thinks an image made of earth is worshipable," refer not to the Deity form of the Supreme Lord in His temple but to deities of demigods, and the words yat-tīrtha-buddhiḥ salile, "who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there," refer not to sacred rivers like the Ganges or Yamunā but to lesser rivers.
10.84.14
niśamyetthaḿ bhagavataḥ
kṛṣṇasyākuṇtha-medhasaḥ
vaco duranvayaḿ viprās
(14) S'rî S'uka said: 'Hearing this being said by the Supreme Lord Krishna Unlimited in His Wisdom, were the learned silent, confounded by the words that were hard to digest.
10.84.15
īśvarasyeśitavyatām
(15) The sages for some time pondered over the Supreme Controller and the subordinate position [He had assumed]. They arrived at the conclusion that it was meant to enlighten the people and thus addressed they Him, the Spiritual Master of the Universe, with a smile on their faces.
the word īśitavyatā as referring to one's not being a controller, or in other words, to being under the law of karma, obliged to work and experience the results of one's work. While addressing the sages, Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the role of a subordinate living being to emphasize the importance of hearing and serving saintly Vaiṣṇavas. The Personality of Godhead is also the supreme teacher of spiritual surrender.
10.84.16
aho vicitram bhagavad-viceṣṭitam
(16) The honorable sages said: 'Ah, we the best knowers of the truth and chief creators of the universe, are bewildered by the power of the material illusion created by the activities of the Supreme Lord, who so amazingly covert in His operations pretends to be the one controlled.
10.84.17
aho vibhūmnaś caritaḿ viḍambanam
(17) Effortlessly He creates, all by Himself, the variety of this universe and maintains He and destroys He without getting entangled Himself. He is in His actions just like the earth element with the many names and forms of its transformations; ah, what an actor the Almighty is in His activities [see also 8.6: 10]!
The one Supreme expands Himself as many without diminishing His completeness. He does this effortlessly, without depending on anyone or anything else. This mystic process of the Lord's self-expansion is incomprehensible to all but Himself, but the example of the substance earth and its manifold products bears enough resemblance to provide some idea. The same example is also presented in an often-cited passage of the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (6.1), vācārambhaṇaḿ vikāro nāmadheyaḿ mṛttikety eva satyam: "Earth's transformations are merely verbal creations of the process of naming; the substance earth itself is alone real."
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī suggests that this verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam answers a possible objection on the part of Lord Kṛṣṇa: "How can I create, maintain and destroy the universe if I am Vasudeva's son?" The answer is given by the words aho vibhūmnaś caritaḿ viḍambanam: "You are the perfectly complete whole, and Your birth and pastimes are only an imitation of ordinary persons' activities in the material world. You simply pretend to be under higher control."
10.84.18
(18) Nonetheless does Your good Self, the Original Personality of the Soul, at times, in order to protect Your people and to chastise the wicked, assume the mode of goodness, the mode in which You by means of Your pastimes maintain the eternal vedic path of the varnâs'rama status oriëntations [see also sanâtana dharma].
This verse describes the Lord's enlightening people in general (jana-sańgraha) and His imitation of worldly behavior. Because the Personality of Godhead remains always perfect, the body He manifests when He comes to this world is not touched by material goodness; rather, it is a manifestation of the pure goodness known as viśuddha-sattva, the same spiritual substance that constitutes His original form.
10.84.19
(19) The spiritual [the 'brahma'] is Your pure heart in which by austerities, study and turning inward in concentrated meditation the eternal manifest and unmanifest is realized as also the transcendental to that [see also B.G. 7: 5].
Vyakta, "the manifest," consists of the visible things of this world, and avyakta consists of the subtle, underlying causes of cosmic creation. The Vedas point toward the transcendental realm of Brahman, which lies beyond all material cause and effect.
10.84.20
(20) For that reason do You, o Absolute Truth, prove Your respect for the community of the brahmins by the perfect of whom one may realize the truth of the revealed scriptures, and thus are You the leader of those who are of respect for the brahminical.
10.84.21
adya no janma-sāphalyaḿ
vidyāyās tapaso dṛśaḥ
(21) Today there is [indeed] the fruition of our birth, education, austerities and vision, for it is the goal of the saintly to have association with You, the Golden Mean, the Ultimate of all Welfare.
The sages here contrast their respect for the Lord with His reciprocal worship of them. Lord Kṛṣṇa honors brāhmaṇas as a means of instructing less intelligent men, whereas He is in fact absolutely independent. The brāhmaṇas who worship Him, on the other hand, benefit themselves more than they can imagine.
10.84.22
kṛṣṇāyākuṇṭha-medhase
sva-yogamāyayācchanna-
(22) Our obeisances to Him, the Supreme Lord whose wisdom is ever fresh, [You] Krishna, the Supersoul who by His yogamâyâ covered His own greatness.
Apart from any future profit to be obtained from worshiping the Supreme Lord, it is every person's most essential obligation to bow down to Him as an acknowledgement of one's dependence and servitude. Lord Kṛṣṇa recommends,
man-manā bhava mad-bhakto
mām evaiṣyasi yuktvaivam
"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." (Bg. 9.34)10.84.23
ekārāmāś ca vṛṣṇayaḥ
māyā-javanikācchannam
(23) None of these kings enjoying with You, nor the Vrishnis know You, cloaked by the curtain of mâyâ, as the Supreme Soul, the Time and the Controller [B.G. 6: 26].
that Lord Kṛṣṇa's family, the Vṛṣṇis, were too familiar with Him to realize that He is the Supersoul residing in the heart of every created being. And those kings at Kurukṣetra who were not devotees of Kṛṣṇa could not recognize Him as time, the annihilator of everything. Devotees and nondevotees are both covered by Māyā, but in different ways. For the materialists Māyā is illusion, but for the Vaiṣṇavas she acts as Yogamāyā, the internal potency who covers their awareness of the Supreme Lord's majesty and engages them in His eternal pleasure pastimes.
10.84.24-25
nāma-mātrendriyābhātaḿ
viṣayeṣv indriyehayā
māyayā vibhramac-citto
(24-25) The way a sleeping person, who envisions an alternate reality with names and forms, in what he manifests through his mind does not know of a separate reality beyond it, does one with You similarly having names and forms, have no clue because of the discontinuity of one's memory that is created by the activity of the senses which bewilder one's consciousness with Your mâyâ [compare B.G. 4: 5 and 4.29: 1b, 10.1: 41 and 7.7: 25].
Just as a person's dream is a secondary reality created from the stock of his memories and desires, so this universe exists as the inferior creation of the Supreme Lord, in no real way separate from Him. And just as the person who awakens from sleep experiences the higher reality of his waking life, so the Supreme Lord also has His distinct, higher reality beyond everything we know of this world. In His own words,
mayā tatam idaḿ sarvaḿ
na cāhaḿ teṣv avasthitaḥ
"By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them. And yet everything that is created does not rest in Me. Behold My mystic opulence! Although I am the maintainer of all living entities and although I am everything, I am not part of this cosmic manifestation, for My Self is the very source of creation." (Bg. 9.4-5)10.84.26
(26) Today You granted us the vision of Your feet, the source of the Ganges which washes away floods of sins; [with them] well installed in the heart is by those whose yoga practice matured and the devotional service fully developed, the material mentality, the covering of their individual souls, destroyed and the destination of You attained - so please, show Your devotees Your mercy.'
The holy river Ganges has the power to destroy all sorts of sinful reactions because she originates at the Lord's lotus feet and thus contains the dust of His feet. Explaining this verse, Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī says, "If the Lord might advise the sages that they need not concern themselves with devotional practices because they are already far advanced in spiritual knowledge and austerity, they hereby respectfully decline such a suggestion, pointing out that only those yogīs who have destroyed their material mind and ego by surrendering to Kṛṣṇa in pure devotional service can attain full perfection. They conclude by praying to the Lord that He favor them in the most merciful way by making them His devotees."
10.84.27
(27) S'uka said: 'Having said this took the sages leave of Das'ârha [Krishna], Dhritarâshthra and Yudhishthhira, o sage among kings, and prepared they to return to their hermitages.
10.84.28
praṇamya copasańgṛhya
babhāṣedaḿ su-yantritaḥ
(28) Seeing this approached the greatly renown Vasudeva them and took he bowing down hold of their feet expressing the following careful choice of words.
10.84.29
(29) S'rî Vasudeva said: 'My obeisances to you who represent all the gods [*]. O seers, please listen, tell us this: how can we be freed from our karma by doing work?'
Here Vasudeva addresses the sages as "the residence of all the demigods." His statement is confirmed in the authoritative śruti-mantras, which declare, yāvatīr vai devatās tāḥ sarvā veda-vidi brāhmaṇe vasanti: "Whatever demigods exist, all reside in a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda."
10.84.30
vasudevo bubhutsayā
(30) S'rî Nârada said: 'O learned ones, this question Vasudeva asked in his eagerness to learn about his ultimate benefit is not that surprising considering the fact that he thinks of Krishna as being a child [of his, his son].
Nārada's thoughts: Śrī Nārada understood how Vasudeva, in line with his mood of pretending to be an ordinary householder, asked the sages about karma-yoga, although he had already attained spiritual goals even great yogīs and ṛṣis cannot achieve. But Nārada was still concerned that Vasudeva might create an awkward mood by treating Lord Kṛṣṇa as a mere child in the presence of all the sages. Nārada and the other sages felt obliged to maintain their attitude of reverence toward Lord Kṛṣṇa, so how could they ignore Him and presume to answer Vasudeva themselves? To avoid this embarrassment, Nārada took this opportunity to remind everyone present of Śrī Kṛṣṇa' s absolute supremacy.
10.84.31
(31) When people are close in this world is that easily a cause of disregard, just as it is e.g. with someone living at the Ganges who leaves to seek purification elsewhere.
10.84.32-33
yasyānubhūtiḥ kālena
layotpatty-ādināsya vai
svato 'nyasmāc ca guṇato
prāṇādibhiḥ sva-vibhavair upagūḍham anyo
(32-33) [The Lord] His awareness is for no reason, nor on its own nor due to some other agency, in its qualities ever disrupted by the destructive and creative that is caused by the time of this [universe, see B.G. 4: 14 and 10: 30]. He, the One Controller without a Second, whose consciousness is unaffected by hindrances, material activities and their consequences and the modes and their flow of changes [kles'a, karma and guna], is by someone else [ignorantly] considered as being covered by His own expansions of prâna and other elements, just like the sun is being covered by clouds, snow or eclipses.'
Things of this world are inevitably destroyed by one means or another. Time itself causes the eventual decay of every created being — a fruit, for instance, which may grow ripe but then must either rot or be eaten. Some things, like lightning, destroy themselves as soon as they are manifested, while others are destroyed suddenly by external agents, as a clay pot is by a hammer. Even in living bodies and other things whose existence continues for some time, there is a constant flux of various qualities that are destroyed and replaced by others.
In contrast to all of this, the Supreme Personality of Godhead's awareness is never disrupted by anything. Only out of ignorance could one imagine Him to be an ordinary human being subject to material conditions. Mortal beings are covered by their entanglement in fruitive activities and their consequent happiness and distress, but the Supreme Lord cannot be covered by what are in fact His own expansions. Analogously, the immense sun is the source of the relatively insignificant phenomena of clouds, snow and eclipses, and so it cannot be covered by them, though the ordinary observer may think that it is.
10.84.34
athocur munayo rājann
ābhāṣyānalsadundabhim
tathaivācyuta-rāmayoḥ
(34) Then, o King, said the sages, addressing Vasudeva with all the kings as also Acyuta and Râma listening:
10.84.35
yac chraddhayā yajed viṣṇuḿ
(35) 'As correct has been ascertained that karma is counteracted by this work: that one with faith with sacrifices [sprightly, as in a kirtan] worships Vishnu, the Lord of all Sacrifices.
10.84.36
dharmaś cātma-mud-āvahaḥ
(36) This indeed is what the scholars through the eye of the S'âstras demonstrated as the easiest way to pacify the mind; it is the yoga-dharma which gives joy to the heart.
10.84.37
yac chraddhayāpta-vittena
śuklenejyeta pūruṣaḥ
(37) The one twice-born performing sacrifices at home should pure and selfless with the entrusted possessions be of worship for the Personality of Godhead; this is the path that brings success [**].
that the ritual karma of Vedic sacrifices is particularly meant for attached householders. Those who are already renounced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, like Vasudeva himself, need only cultivate their faith in the Lord's devotees, His Deity form, His name, the remnants of His food and His teachings, as given in Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
10.84.38
vittaiṣaṇāḿ yajña-dānair
gṛhair dāra-sutaiṣaṇām
yayur dhīrās tapo-vanam
(38) An intelligent person should renounce the desire for wealth by means of sacrifices and charity, the desire for a wife and kids by engaging in household affairs and the desire to build a world for himself [or another life], o Vasudeva, by means of the Time [that constitutes the temporality of any world, see also 9.5 and B.G. 3: 16]. All the ones who are sober renounced their desires for a household life and went for penance into the forest [see also B.G. 2: 13].
10.84.39
ṛṇais tribhir dvijo jāto
yajñādhyayana-putrais tāny
(39) Prabhu, someone twice-born is born with three debts: the debt to the gods, the sages and the forefathers; not liquidating them by [respectively] sacrifice [celibacy e.g.], studying the scriptures and with byproducts [children, pupils or books see ***] will he, leaving the body, fall down [again into the material world].
Concerning the special obligations of a brāhmaṇa, the śruti states, jāyamāno vai brāhmaṇas tribhir ṛṇavāñ jāyate brahmacaryeṇa ṛṣibhyo yajñena devebhyaḥ prajayā pitṛbhyaḥ: "Whenever a brāhmaṇa takes birth, three debts are born along with him. He can pay his debt to the sages by celibacy, his debt to the demigods by sacrifice, and his debt to his forefathers by begetting children."
10.84.40
yajñair devarṇam unmucya
nirṛṇo 'śaraṇo bhava
(40) But you are in fact free from two of the debts, the debt to the sages and the debt to the forefathers, o magnanimous one. Be now free from debt by sacrificing to the gods and renouncing your homestead.
10.84.41
(41) O Vasudeva since He took the role of your son must your good self [in a previous life] indeed with devotion thoroughly have been of worship for the Supreme Lord and Controller of All Worlds [see also 1o.3: 32-45 and 11.5: 41].'
the sages' mood as follows: "We have answered you, who questioned us in the manner of ordinary discourse, in the same ordinary way. In truth, however, since you are the eternally liberated father of the Supreme Lord, neither worldly customs nor the injunctions of scripture have any authority over you." the very name Vasudeva indicates that Vasudeva manifests brilliantly (dīvyati) the superexcellent wealth (vasu) of pure devotional service. In the Eleventh Canto Nārada will again meet with Vasudeva and at that time remind him,
devarṣi-bhūtāpta-nṛṇāḿ pitṝṇāḿ
sarvātmanā yaḥ śaraṇaḿ śaraṇyaḿ
gato mukundaḿ parihṛtya kartam
"O King, one who has given up all material duties and has taken full shelter of the lotus feet of Mukunda, who offers shelter to all, is not indebted to the demigods, great sages, ordinary living beings, relatives, friends, mankind or even his forefathers who have passed away. Since all such classes of living entities are part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, one who has surrendered to the Lord's service has no need to serve such persons separately." (Bhāg. 11.5.41)10.84.42
(42) S'rî S'uka said: 'Having heard the words they spoke, chose Vasudeva for the sages as his priests and propitiated he them by bowing his head.
10.84.43
makhair uttama-kalpakaiḥ
(43) The rishis he chose for o King, helped him consequently with strictly to the principles at the holy field [of Kurukshetra] performing fire sacrifices with excellent ritual arrangements.
10.84.44-45
rājānaḥ suṣṭhv-alańkṛtāḥ
(44-45) When he was about to be initiated, came joyfully the Vrishnis to the sacrificial pavilion, bathed and well-dressed, wearing garlands and being elaborately ornamented. They came together with their queens clad in the finest clothes and smeared with sandalwood paste o King, who carried the items of worship in their hands and wore lockets around their necks.
10.84.46
śańkha-bhery-ānakādayaḥ
nanṛtur naṭa-nartakyas
jaguḥ su-kaṇṭhyo gandharvyaḥ
(46) Clay tom-toms and tabors, kettle drums and drums, conch shells and other musical instruments sounded, male and female dancers danced and bards and panegyrists sang sweet voiced along with the female singers of heaven and their husbands.
10.84.47
(47) According the scriptures by the priests sprinkled with sacred water [for his initiation], looked he with his eyes decorated with collyrium and his body smeared with fresh butter, with his eighteen wives [see 9.24: 21-23 & 45] as if [he was the moon] surrounded by the stars.
Devakī was Vasudeva's principal wife, but she had several co-wives, including her six sisters. This fact is recorded in the Ninth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
devakaś cograsenaś ca
catvāro devakātmajāḥ
sudevo devavardhanaḥ
dhṛtadevādayo nṛpa
śāntidevopadevā ca
"Āhuka had two sons, named Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, named Devavān, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devavardhana, and he also had seven daughters, named Śāntidevā, Upadevā, Śrīdevā, Devarakṣitā, Sahadevā, Devakī and Dhṛtadevā. Dhṛtadevā was the eldest. Vasudeva, the father of Kṛṣṇa, married all these sisters." (Bhāg. 9.24.21-23)Some of Vasudeva's other wives are mentioned a few verses later:
pauravī rohiṇī bhadrā
devakī-pramukhāś cāsan
"Devakī, Pauravī, Rohiṇī, Bhadrā, Madirā, Rocanā, Ilā and others were all wives of Ānakadundubhi [Vasudeva]. Among them all, Devakī was the chief." (Bhāg. 9.24.45)10.84.48
tābhir dukūla-valayair
dīkṣito 'jina-saḿvṛtaḥ
(48) With them all finely decorated wearing silk sârîs and bangles, necklaces, ankle bells and earrings shone he, initiated and clad in deerskin, brilliantly.
10.84.49
(49) O great King, his supervisors and priests radiated with their jewels and garments of silk as if they were standing in the sacrificial arena of the killer of Vritra [Indra, see 6.11].
10.84.50
jīveśau sva-vibhūtibhiḥ
(50) At that time stepped also the two Lords Râma and Krishna forward, shining just as splendid, with each of Them accompanied by His own might of wives, sons and family members as expansions of Themselves.
10.84.51
agni-hotrādi-lakṣaṇaiḥ
prākṛtair vaikṛtair yajñair
(51) Vasudeva excercized respect according the rules with both kinds of sacrifices that are characterized as primary [to the s'ruti] and secondary [modified to other sources, see *4]. Thus he offered oblations in the fire and such in worship of the Lord of the Paraphernalia, the Mantras and the Rituals.
There are numerous kinds of Vedic fire sacrifice, each of which involves several elaborate rituals. The Brāhmaṇa portion of the Vedic śruti specifies the complete step-by-step procedure of only a few prototype sacrifices, such as the Jyotiṣṭoma and Darśa-pūrṇamāsa. These are called the prākṛta, or original, yajñas; the details of other yajñas must be extrapolated from the patterns of these prākṛta injunctions according to the strict rules of the Mīmāḿsā-śāstra. Since other yajñas are thus known by derivation from the prototype sacrifices, they are called vaikṛta, or "changed."
10.84.52
yathāmnātaḿ sa dakṣiṇāḥ
sv-alańkṛtebhyo 'lańkṛtya
(52) Next gave he, at the designated time, to the priests who were already richly decorated, gifts of gratitude that decorated them even more, as also marriageable girls, cows and land of great value.
10.84.53
patnī-saḿyājāvabhṛthyaiś
(53) Having executed the ritual performed by the sponsor [patni-samyâja] and the concluding ritual [avabhrithya] bathed the great sages, placing the learned and the sponsor of the yajña in front, in the lake of Lord Paras'urâma [9.16: 18-19].
10.84.54
snāto 'lańkāra-vāsāḿsi
ā-śvabhyo 'nnena pūjayat
(54) Having bathed gave he jewelry and clothing to the bards and the women and honored he next in his finest apparel all the classes of people and even the dogs with food.
10.84.55-56
(55-56) With the wealth of gifts did his relatives and their wives and children, the leaders of the Vidarbhas, Kos'alas, Kurus, Kâs'îs, Kekayas and Sriñjayas; the supervisors, the priests, the different types of enlightened souls, the ordinary humans, the paranormal ['the ghostly'], the forefathers and the venerable ones, all take leave from the Abode of S'rî to depart filled with praise for the sacrifice performed.
10.84.57-58
dhṛtarāṣṭro 'nujaḥ pārthā
sauhṛdāklinna-cetasaḥ
yayur viraha-kṛcchreṇa
(57-58) The immediate family members Dhritarâshthra and his younger brother [Vidura], Prithâ and her sons [Arjuna, Bhîma and Yudhishthhira], Bhîshma, Drona, the twins [Nakula and Sahadeva], Nârada, and Bhagavân Vyâsadeva and other relatives embracing their friends and relatives, the Yadus, then, with hearts melting of affection on the separation, with difficulty returned to their respective places as did also the rest of the guests.
10.84.59
bṛhatyā pūjayārcitaḥ
kṛṣṇa-rāmograsenādyair
(59) Nanda together with the cowherds stayed out of affection for his relatives and was by Krishna, Râma, Ugrasena and the rest in worship honored most generously.
10.84.60
vasudevo 'ñjasottīrya
manoratha-mahārṇavam
(60) Vasudeva with ease having crossed over the ocean of his great ambition [see also 10.3: 11-12], felt most pleased and addressed, surrounded by his well-wishers, Nanda, touching his hand as he spoke.
10.84.61
(61) S'rî Vasudeva said: 'The by God forged bond of men which is named affection is, I think, for warriors as difficult to relinquish as for yogis.
Heroic leaders of men try to transcend their petty attachments by force of will, while introspective yogīs pursue knowledge for the same purpose. But the Lord's illusory energy, Māyā, is much stronger than any conditioned soul. Only by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Māyā, can one become immune to her influence.
10.84.62
asmāsv apratikalpeyaḿ
yat kṛtājñeṣu sattamaiḥ
maitry arpitāphalā cāpi
(62) Even though the friendship offered by you so very saintly is not reciprocated by us who are so forgetful of what you did, does it never cease for it is beyond compare.
10.84.63
bhrātar vo nācarāma hi
(63) Formerly [sitting in Kamsa's prison] were we incapable to act on your behalf and now well-to-do, o brother, do we with you right in front of us fail to see you because our eyes are blind with our being intoxicated by the opulence.
While living under the tyranny of Kaḿsa, Vasudeva was unable to do anything to help Nanda and his subjects defend themselves against the many demons sent from Mathurā to kill Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.
10.84.64
(64) Let there for a person who is after the real benefit of life never be the rise of the fortune of kings, o respectful one, for with his vision thus clouded is he blind to even the needs of his own kinsmen or friends [compare 10.10: 8].'
It is, of course, out of his deep humility that Vasudeva is berating himself, but his condemnation of opulence is in general valid. Earlier in this canto Nārada Muni delivered a stinging criticism of Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva, two wealthy sons of Kuvera, the treasurer of heaven. Intoxicated by both pride and liquor, the two had failed to offer proper respects to Nārada when he happened upon them as they sported naked in the Mandākinī River with some young women. Seeing them in their shameful condition, Nārada said,
na hy anyo juṣato joṣyān
śrī-madād ābhijātyādir
"Among all the attractions of material enjoyment, the attraction of riches bewilders one's intelligence more than having beautiful bodily features, taking birth in an aristocratic family, and being learned. When one is uneducated but falsely puffed up by wealth, the result is that one engages his wealth in enjoying wine, women and gambling." (Bhāg. 10.10.8)10.84.65
smarann aśru-vilocanaḥ
(65) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus with tears filling his eyes remembering what he all had done in friendship, had Ânakadundubhi, with his heart softened by the intimacy, to weep.
10.84.66
yadubhir mānito 'vasat
(66) Nanda also loved his most affectionate friend a lot and said: 'I'll go later, I'll go tomorrow', but out of his love for Govinda and Râma stayed he, being honored by the Yadus, for three months.
After settling that he would leave first thing in the morning, Nanda would then decide, "I'll go later today," and then, when the afternoon came, he would say, "I'll just stay until tomorrow." Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī suggests one possible reason for his procrastination: Nanda secretly intended to bring Kṛṣṇa back with him to Vraja but did not want to break Vasudeva's heart. Thus his indecision continued for three months.
10.84.67-68
parārdhyābharaṇa-kṣauma-
nānānarghya-paricchadaiḥ
vasudevograsenābhyāḿ
kṛṣṇoddhava-balādibhiḥ
yāpito yadubhir yayau
(67-68) After having been offered a host of desirable like the most valuable ornaments, finest linen and various priceless pieces of furniture, he next, seen off by the Yadus, departed together with the people of Vraja and his family. The gifts that were given by Vasudeva, Ugrasena, Krishna, Uddhava and others they had accepted and taken along with them.
at the end of the three months Mahārāja Nanda approached Kṛṣṇa and told Him, "My dear son, for one drop of perspiration from Your divine face I am ready to give up countless lives. Let us leave now for Vraja; I cannot spend any more time here." Then he went to Vasudeva and told him, "My dear friend, please send Kṛṣṇa to Vraja," and of King Ugrasena he requested, "Please order my friend to do this. If you refuse, I will have to drown myself here in Lord Paraśurāma's lake. Just watch, if you do not believe me! We people of Vraja came to this holy place not to gain some piety on the occasion of the solar eclipse, but to get Kṛṣṇa back or die." Hearing these desperate words from Nanda, Vasudeva and the others tried to pacify him with valuable gifts.
Well-versed in the arts of diplomacy, Vasudeva consulted with his most trustworthy advisors and then satisfied Śrī Nanda by telling him, "My dearest friend, O King of Vraja, it is of course true that none of you can live without Kṛṣṇa. And how can we allow you to kill yourselves? Therefore, by all means I must send Kṛṣṇa back to Vraja. I will do so right after we accompany Him and His relatives and friends — among them many helpless women — back to Dvārakā. Then, the very next day, without trying to obstruct Him in any way, I will let Him leave for Vraja at an auspicious time of the day. This I swear to you a thousand times over. After all, how can we who came here with Kṛṣṇa go home without Him? What will people say about us? You are a great scholar in all matters, so please forgive me for making this request of you."
Next Ugrasena addressed Nanda Mahārāja: "My dear master of Vraja, I bear witness to Vasudeva's statement and take this solemn vow: I will send Kṛṣṇa back to Vraja even if I have to do it by force."
Then Lord Kṛṣṇa, joined by Uddhava and Balarāma, spoke to Nanda in private. He said, "Dear father, if I go directly to Vraja today, leaving aside all these Vṛṣṇis, they will die from the pain of separation from Me. Then many thousands of enemies more powerful than even Keśī and Ariṣṭa will come to annihilate all these kings.
"Since I am omniscient, I know what is inevitably going to happen to Me. Listen and I will describe it to you. After returning to Dvārakā, I will receive an invitation from Yudhiṣṭhira and will go to Indraprastha to participate in his Rājasūya sacrifice. There I will kill Śiśupāla, after which I will again return to Dvārakā and kill Śālva. Next I will travel to a place just south of Mathurā to save you by killing Dantavakra. I will then go back to Vraja, see all My old friends and again sit in your lap with great pleasure. Indeed, with great happiness I will spend the rest of My life with you. God has written this fate on My forehead, and it has been written on your foreheads that until the day I return you must tolerate separation from Me. Neither of our destinies can possibly be changed, so please find the courage to leave Me here for now and go home to Vraja.
"And if, in the meantime, you, My dear parents, and you, My beloved friends, are distressed by the unavoidable fate written on our foreheads, then whenever you wish to feed Me some delicacy or play some game with Me or simply see Me, just close your eyes and I will appear before you to turn your torment into sky-flowers and fulfill all your desires. I promise you this, and the young friends of Mine whose lives I saved in a forest fire can vouch for it."
Convinced by all these arguments that his son's happiness was of prime importance, Nanda accepted the gifts offered him and took his leave, accompanied by the Yadus' large army.
10.84.69
govinda-caraṇāmbuje
(69) Nanda, the gopas and the gopîs being unable to put Govinda's lotus feet out of their minds, accordingly [many a time] looking back, returned to Mathurâ.
10.84.70
vīkṣya prāvṛṣam āsannād
yayur dvāravatīḿ punaḥ
(70) With their relatives departed went the Vrishnis who had Krishna as their Godhead back to Dvârakâ, seeing that the rainy season was about to begin.
10.84.71
janebhyaḥ kathayāḿ cakrur
suhṛt-sandarśanādikam
(71) To the people [there] they gave an account of the great festivity and of what in relation to the lord of the Yadus [Vasudeva] and to all the well-wishers they had seen during the pilgrimage had taken place [see 10.82].'
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Eighty-fourth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Sages' Teachings at Kurukṣetra."
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