VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Canto 11
Chapter 23
Forbearance: the Song of the Avantî Brâhmana.
This chapter tells the story of a mendicant sannyāsī from the Avantī country as an example of how one should tolerate the disturbances and offenses created by evil persons.
The harsh words of uncouth persons pierce the heart even more severely than arrows. Yet a mendicant brāhmaṇa from the city of Avantī, even while being attacked by wicked men, considered this trouble to be simply the consequence of his own past deeds and tolerated it with utmost sobriety. Previously the brāhmaṇa had been an agriculturalist and merchant. He had been extremely greedy, miserly and prone to anger. As a result, his wife, sons, daughters, relatives and servants were all deprived of every kind of enjoyment and gradually came to behave unaffectionately toward him. In due course of time, thieves, family members and providence took away the sum total of his wealth. Finding himself without any property and abandoned by everyone, the brāhmaṇa developed a deep sense of renunciation.
He considered how the earning and preservation of wealth involve great effort, fear, anxiety and confusion. Because of wealth, there arise fifteen unwanted items — thievery, violence, lying, deception, lust, anger, pride, feverishness, disagreement, hatred, distrust, conflict, attachment to women, gambling and intoxication. When this meditation arose in his heart, the brāhmaṇa could understand that the Supreme Lord Śrī Hari had somehow become satisfied with him. He felt that only because the Lord was pleased with him had the apparently unfavorable turn of events in his life occurred. He was grateful that a sense of detachment had arisen in his heart and considered it the factual means for delivering his soul. In this condition he determined to engage the duration of his life in the worship of Lord Hari and thus accepted the mendicant order of tridaṇḍi-sannyāsa. Subsequently, he would enter different villages to beg charity, but the people would harass and disturb him. But he simply tolerated all this, remaining firm as a mountain. He remained fixed in his chosen spiritual practice and sang a song renowned as the Bhikṣu-gīta.
Neither mortal persons, the demigods, the soul, the ruling planets, the reactions of work nor time are the causes of one's happiness and distress. Rather, the mind alone is their cause, because it is the mind that makes the spirit soul wander in the cycle of material life. The real purpose of all charity, religiosity and so forth is to bring the mind under control. A person who has already composed his mind in meditation has no need for these other processes, and for a person who is incapable of fixing his mind they are of no practical use. The false conception of material ego binds the transcendental soul to material sense objects. The Avantī brāhmaṇa therefore became determined to bring himself over the insurmountable ocean of material existence by rendering service to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, Mukunda, with the same perfect faith in the Lord exhibited by the great devotees of the past.
Only when one can focus his intelligence on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can the mind be completely subdued; this is the essence of all practical prescriptions for spiritual advancement.
11.23.1
sabhājayan bhṛtya-vaco mukundas
(1) The son of Vyâsa said: 'Thus respectfully being requested by Uddhava, the greatest of the devotees, began the chief of the Dâs'ârhas whose heroism is so worthy to be discussed, to speak, praising the words of His servant.
11.23.2
sādhur vai durjaneritaiḥ
(2) The Supreme Lord said: 'O disciple of Brihaspati, there is virtually no pious soul in this world capable of keeping his mind in check when it is disturbed by the insulting words of a bad person.
In the modern age there is widespread propaganda ridiculing the path of spiritual realization, and thus even saintly devotees are disturbed to see the progress of human society being obstructed. Still, a devotee of the Lord must tolerate any personal insult, though he cannot tolerate offense against the Lord Himself or the Lord's pure devotee.
11.23.3
hy asatāḿ paruṣeṣavaḥ
(3) A person is not as much pained when pierced by arrows that go through the heart as he is hurt by a load of arrows in the form of the harsh words of untruthful people.
11.23.4
itihāsam ihoddhava
(4) In this regard Uddhava, is a most pious story told. Please listen carefuly, I shall now describe it to you.
The Lord will now relate to Uddhava a historical account which teaches how to tolerate the insults of others.
11.23.5
kenacid bhikṣuṇā gītaḿ
(5) It was related by a mendicant who, upon being insulted by bad people, kept his composure reminding himself that it happened as a consequence of his past deeds.
11.23.6
āsīd āḍhyatamaḥ śriyā
(6) In Avantî [in the district of Malwa] there once lived a certain brahmin very rich with opulences who earned his livelihood doing business; but he was a miser, full of lust, greed and prone to anger [see also B.G. 2: 49].
the Avantī country is the district of Malwa. This brāhmaṇa was extremely wealthy, doing business in agriculture, banking and so on. Being a miser, he suffered agony when his hard-earned wealth was lost, as will be described by the Lord Himself.
11.23.7
jñātayo 'tithayas tasya
vāń-mātreṇāpi nārcitāḥ
śūnyāvasatha ātmāpi
kāle kāmair anarcitaḥ
(7) He had no respect for his relatives and guests, not even in words. Nor catered he, devoid of religiosity, at the right time to his own needs.
11.23.8
viṣaṇṇā nācaran priyam
(8) With him so ill-behaved his sons, in-laws, his wife, daughters and servants turned against the miser. Full of enmity they withheld their affection.
11.23.9
cyutasyobhaya-lokataḥ
(9) This way lacking in dharma as well as in pleasure, the five claimants of sacrifice [the deities, see pañca-bhâga] became angry with that obsessive treasurer who failed for both the worlds [this and the next].
11.23.10
artho 'py agacchan nidhanaḿ
bahv-āyāsa-pariśramaḥ
(10) With his neglecting them depleted his stock of piety, o magnanimous one, and thus he lost all the wealth he so painstakingly had troubled himself for.
The brāhmaṇa's stock of piety became like a withered branch that no longer gives fruits or flowers. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī comments that the brāhmaṇa had a trace of piety directed at the Supreme Lord with hopes of liberation. That pure portion of the branch of his piety remained unwithered, eventually giving the fruit of knowledge.
11.23.11
kiñcid dasyava uddhava
(11) Because he was only in name a brahmin Uddhava, some of his wealth was seized by his relatives, some by thieves, some by providence, some by time, some by common people and some by higher authorities [see also 10.49: 22].
It appears that even though the so-called brāhmaṇa was determined not to spend his money, his wife and other relatives managed to squeeze out a portion. According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, providence here refers to fires in the home and other types of occasional misfortune. Effects of time here refers to the destruction of agricultural crops through seasonal irregularities and other such occurrences. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura points out that one should not merely proclaim oneself to be a brāhmaṇa but should actually understand one's original identity as a servant of the Lord. One declaring himself to be a brāhmaṇa but maintaining a materialistic mentality is not a real brāhmaṇa, but rather a brahma-bandhu, or so-called brāhmaṇa. The humble devotees of Lord Viṣṇu, following the indications of the Vedic scriptures, refer to themselves as unfortunate and unable to understand the kingdom of God; they do not proudly proclaim themselves to be brāhmaṇas. Those who are wise, however, know that such humble devotees are actually brāhmaṇas whose hearts are cleansed by the pure mode of goodness.
11.23.12
(12) When he thus bereft of religiosity and love had lost his wealth, arose in him being neglected by his family members, a hard to endure anxiety.
11.23.13
tasyaivaḿ dhyāyato dīrghaḿ
naṣṭa-rāyas tapasvinaḥ
khidyato bāṣpa-kaṇṭhasya
(13) For a long time he, choked with tears, lamented in pain over his lost riches, whereupon a great feeling of disgust for worldly affairs came over him.
The brāhmaṇa had previously been trained in pious life, but his past goodness was covered by his offensive behavior. Finally, his previous purity was reawakened within him.
11.23.14
vṛthātmā me 'nutāpitaḥ
yasyārthāyāsa īdṛśaḥ
(14) He then said to himself: 'Alas, how painful to trouble myself that much with all this toiling that brings me no pleasure, nor the love of God.
11.23.15
prāyeṇāthāḥ kadaryāṇāḿ
iha cātmopatāpāya
(15) Generally the wealth of misers never ever results in any happiness: in this life it becomes a torment and when one dies one ends up in hell with it.
A miser is afraid to spend his money even for obligatory religious and social duties. Offending God and people in general, he goes to hell.
11.23.16
yaśo yaśasvināḿ śuddhaḿ
śvitro rūpam ivepsitam
(16) Whatever the good call of the famous might be or however praiseworthy the qualities of the virtuous are, a little bit of greed is enough to see it all destroyed, the same as what white leprosy does with an enchanting physical beauty.
11.23.17
nāśopabhoga āyāsas
(17) In the building, protecting, spending, losing and rejoicing about capital, man must toil, fear, worry and live with uncertainty.
11.23.18-19
bhedo vairam aviśvāsaḥ
ete pañcadaśānarthā
tasmād anartham arthākhyaḿ
śreyo-'rthī dūratas tyajet
(18-19) Theft, violence, lies, duplicity, lust, anger, perplexity, pride, discord, enmity, lack of faith, competition and [the three] dangers [of intoxication, promiscuity and gambling, see also 1.17: 24] are the fifteen unwanted things man knows as the consequence of fostering riches. For that reason he who wishes the ultimate benefit in life should keep at a great distance the undesirable which poses itself as wealth.
The words anartham arthākhyam, or "undesirable wealth," indicate wealth that cannot be efficiently engaged in the loving service of the Lord. Such superfluous money or property will undoubtedly pollute a man with all of the above-mentioned qualities and therefore should be given up.
11.23.20
ekāsnigdhāḥ kākiṇinā
(20) The brothers, wife, parents and friends who are unified in love, all from one moment to the other turn into enemies over a single penny.
11.23.21
arthenālpīyasā hy ete
sahasotsṛjya sauhṛdam
(21) For the smallest amount of money they give, agitated and inflamed, in to anger and forget as an adversary out for destruction just like that, in the wink of an eye, their goodwill.
11.23.22
labdhvā janmāmara-prārthyaḿ
mānuṣyaḿ tad dvijāgryatām
(22) Having attained the human birth the immortals pray for and in that life having achieved the status of the best of the twice-born, they, destructive to their own best interest, have no appreciation for it. And thus they gradually slide down [see also B.G. 16: 19-20].
11.23.23
svargāpavargayor dvāraḿ
martyo 'narthasya dhāmani
(23) What person achieving this human life, which is the gateway to heaven and liberation, would become attached to property and would choose to remain in the realm of meaninglessness where he is subject to death?
11.23.24
asaḿvibhajya cātmānaḿ
(24) Like a moneyminded Yaksha not sharing with the shareholders, viz. the greater family of the gods, the seers, the forefathers, one's relatives, the living entities and oneself, one falls down.
One who does not share his wealth with the above-mentioned authorized persons and does not even enjoy the wealth himself will certainly suffer unlimited problems in life.
11.23.25
vyarthayārthehayā vittaḿ
pramattasya vayo balam
(25) Maddened by my youth, strength and wealth, the means by which a smart man settles for his perfection, I wasted my life endeavoring for money. What can I, as an old man, achieve that way [see B.G. 3: 35]?
11.23.26
vyarthayārthehayāsakṛt
(26) Why would a man of intelligence constantly have to suffer in the vain pursuit of wealth? For certain someone in this world gets most bewildered because of her illusory power.
11.23.27
(27) What is the use of the goods or the ones providing them, or what would be the use of the objects of desire or the people who give satisfaction? Or, differently stated, of what use would it be for someone in the grip of death to be of the fruitive action which only leads to yet another birth?
(My humble salutations to the lotus feet of Swamyjis, Philosophers, Scholars and Knowledge Seekers for the collection)
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