Chapter One from the book Secret Truths of the Bhāgavatam, 2nd edition by Śrīla Bhaktivedānta Nārāyaṇa Mahārāja

 

Now, I want to begin my classes. I will start by explaining the first śloka of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and gradually, I will come to the sweet pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states that once, at the very beginning of Kali-yuga, many hundreds of thousands of maharṣis and devotees assembled at a very pious place called Naimiṣāraṇya. They were thinking about how to save the world from the effects of Kali-yuga. Kali-yuga is such an era that people quarrel among themselves for no reason – husband and wife, father and son, mother and daughter, brother and sister, and neighbours. Although there is no cause, everyone still quarrels. Kali-yuga creates such misunderstanding that a quarrel is bound to happen, even with the mind and soul. Therefore, these maharṣis and devotees were thinking about what to do.

At that time, Ugraśravā Sūta, the son of Romaharṣaṇa and a direct disciple of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī, was inspired by Baladeva Prabhu Himself to come to Naimiṣāraṇya. All the realized devotees present, like Śaunaka and others, showed him respect and inquired from him as follows:

Respected Sūta Gosvāmī, you are completely free from all vice. You are well versed in all the scriptures famous for religious life, and in the Purāṇas and the histories as well, for you have gone through them under proper guidance and have also explained them. Being the eldest learned Vedāntist, O Sūta Gosvāmī, you are acquainted with the knowledge of Vyāsadeva, who is the incarnation of Godhead, and you also know other sages who are fully versed in all kinds of physical and metaphysical knowledge. And because you are submissive, your spiritual masters have endowed you with all the favours bestowed upon a gentle disciple. Therefore you can tell us all that you have scientifically learned from them. Please, therefore, being blessed with many years, explain to us, in an easily understandable way, what you have ascertained to be the absolute and ultimate good for the people in general. O learned one, in this iron Age of Kali men almost always have but short lives. They are quarrelsome, lazy, misguided, unlucky and, above all, always disturbed. There are many varieties of scriptures, and in all of them there are many prescribed duties, which can be learned only after many years of study in their various divisions. Therefore, O sage, please select the essence of all these scriptures and explain it for the good of all living beings, that by such instruction their hearts may be fully satisfied.

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.6–11)

The sages told Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī, “You are so learned and a disciple of Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī himself. You know the essence of all śāstra, and you are perfect. We therefore have some questions for you. Now that Kali is coming, what should we do? Yenātmā suprasīdati. How can our souls be happy? By what process can less intelligent persons – with little time, a short duration of life, and so many problems, difficulties, and sorrows – make their souls pleased? You are very learned and qualified. We believe in you, and we believe that by reciting the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, you will certainly save us from the effects of Kali-yuga. We know that nothing else but the sweet and powerful pastimes of Kṛṣṇa can save all people from Kali-yuga.”

Sūta Gosvāmī became happy with the questions of the sages, thanked them for their words, and then began to answer them by speaking Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

Sūta Gosvāmī had heard Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who had heard it from Śrī Vyāsadeva. Vyāsadeva began this literature with the following śloka:

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1)

O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primaeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth. 

First, I should pray to my spiritual master, and then I will explain the Bhāgavatam.

om ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ

I was blinded by the darkness of ignorance, but śrī guru has mercifully opened my eyes, anointing them with the salve of divine knowledge. I offer praṇāma to that śrī gurudeva.

vāñchā-kalpa-tarubhyaś ca
kṛpā-sindhubhya eva ca
patitānāṁ pāvanebhyo
vaiṣṇavebhyo namo namaḥ

I offer praṇāma again and again to the Vaiṣṇavas, who are the saviours of the fallen, who are just like wish-fulfilling desire trees, and who are oceans of mercy.

namo mahā-vadānyāya
kṛṣṇa-prema-pradāya te
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-caitanya-
nāmne gaura-tviṣe namaḥ

I offer praṇāma to that greatly munificent Lord who bestows kṛṣṇa-prema. He is Kṛṣṇa Himself who has assumed a golden complexion and accepted the name Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya.

gurave gauracandrāya
rādhikāyai tad-ālaye
kṛṣṇāya kṛṣṇa-bhaktāya
tad-bhaktāya namo namaḥ

I offer praṇāma to Śrī Gurudeva, Śrī Gauracandra, Śrīmatī Rādhikā and Her associates, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His associates, and all Vaiṣṇavas.

yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ
dvaipāyano viraha-kātara ājuhāva
putreti tan-mayatayā taravo ’bhinedus
taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato ’smi

I offer praṇāma to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who can enter the heart of all living entities. When he left home without undergoing the purification processes such as accepting the sacred thread, his father Vyāsa cried out, “O my son!” As if they were absorbed in that same feeling of separation, only the trees echoed in response to his call.

tavaivāsmi tavaivāsmi
na jīvāmi tvayā vinā
iti vijñāya devi tvaṁ
naya māṁ caraṇāntikam

I am Yours! I am Yours! I cannot live without You! O Devī (Rādhā), please understand this and bring me to Your lotus feet.

bhaktyā vihinā aparādha-lakṣyaiḥ
kṣiptāś ca kāmādi taraṅga madhye
kṛpā-mayi tvaṁ śaraṇaṁ prapannā
vṛnde numas te caraṇāravindam

Devoid of devotion and guilty of unlimited offences, we are flung into the waves of lust [anger, greed, and so on]. O merciful one, we take shelter of you. O Vṛndā, we offer praṇāma to your lotus feet.

Try to hear patiently, with deep honour, and try to understand. Do not do any work during this class. Allow your mind to be controlled by my words. Give up all other activities, like sleeping or anything else, and give me your ears, hands, and senses for a few minutes. Afterwards, you are free to do as you like. Do not sleep, and do not yawn. Sleepiness may come but try to control it. Sit straight so that sleep will not come. You should hear very patiently and with all your energy.

Janmādy asya yataḥ [the primaeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the manifested universes]. Śrī Vyāsadeva is offering praṇāma, obeisances. To whom? He does not say the name of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, but all the symptoms of the worshipable object of his praṇāma apply only to Kṛṣṇa. To which Kṛṣṇa? Not to the Kṛṣṇa of Mathurā or Dvārakā but to that Kṛṣṇa who is the source of all others – Nanda-nandana Kṛṣṇa, Yaśodā-nandana Kṛṣṇa, Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara. All others [manifestations of Kṛṣṇa] are included within Him.

Why did Kṛṣṇa descend to this world? The first reason is that Pṛthvī-devī (Mother Earth in the form of a cow), along with the demigods, went to Brahmā, the creator. Brahmā is only the external creator of this world. He is like a manager. Pṛthvī told him, “Recently, my four legs were broken, and I cannot walk. My husband, Dharma (religion personified), who has taken the shape of a bull, also cannot walk.”

Nowadays, there is so much sin in this world. Both men and women are like animals. So-called saintly persons and sannyāsīs do not observe the rules of saintly life; they are, therefore, more wretched than animals. They make an artificial show of saintliness with big neck beads, five-kilo japa-mālā, and very big tilaka. At the same time, they are always duplicitous, absorbed in making money, and full of lust. Because of this, we have so many problems.

Pṛthvī said, “Please save me and my husband, Dharma.”

Brahmā became very worried and went with Pṛthvī and the demigods to Kṣīra-samudra (the ocean of milk). There, he began to do ārādhana (prayerful worship) of Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. In his trance, he heard the reply to his prayers: “I already know of this situation. My Prabhu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is also aware and will quickly descend. In the form of earthly ladies, all the demigoddesses should descend to earth – Gokula, Vṛndāvana, and Mathurā. All you demigods should descend in the form of gopas and Yadus. Kṛṣṇa will appear very soon.”

This is one reason for Kṛṣṇa’s descent.

Second, the time had come to establish the yuga-dharma. What was the yuga-dharma at that time? Deity worship. Yavanas and others were destroying temples, people had no faith in the Deities, and the standard of worship was the worst it had ever been. To save the situation, Kṛṣṇa appeared in this world, bringing within Him the yuga-avatāra, the manvantara, and all other incarnations like Nārāyaṇa, Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Kalki, and Vāmana.

There were also other reasons for Kṛṣṇa’s descent. Jaya and Vijaya had been cursed to come to this world for three births as demons. Now, in their third birth, they would become Śiśupāla and Dantavakra. Kṛṣṇa had to come to liberate them.

Moreover, Kṛṣṇa came to fulfil the promises He had made in His form of Rāmacandra. Rāma went to Daṇḍakāraṇya forest with Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa to carry out the orders of His father. There He dressed as a sādhu. Although His hair was jaṭā, matted, He was so beautiful, a teenager of about sixteen years. At that time, sixty thousand sages were performing ārādhana, service in meditation, to Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa conjugal, to Rāma, or others, by mantra. They had been chanting gopāla-mantra, that is, gopī-jana vallabhāya svāhā, for thousands of years. During that long period, although the practices of these sages were somewhat weak, they did not become like fish, which died as soon as they were taken out of the water. Their practices were much superior to yours, but still [in comparison to the highest level], they were somewhat weak.

Your practices are very weak. Sometimes, you chant your gāyatrī-mantra, and sometimes, you do not. Sometimes you sit awake [to chant], and sometimes you fall asleep. If you think about all your problems instead of concentrating on the mantras, your chanting of mantras will be like zero, and you will fall asleep. At that time, big problems will come quickly.

So, these sages were performing their somewhat weak practices, but when they saw Rāma and He glanced upon them, they became inspired and began to pray to Him, “Please fulfil our desires.”

Rāma knew that they wanted to serve Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa conjugal and that they wanted to participate in rāsa and other līlās. He, therefore, kindly and mercifully told them, “In My next birth I will be Kṛṣṇa, and there in Vraja, by the help of Yogamāyā, you will take birth from the womb of a gopī. You can meet me then, and I will fulfil your desires.”

The sages continued with their practices for a very long time, from the appearance of Rāma to the appearance of Kṛṣṇa – hundreds of thousands of yugas. Do not think that in a moment you can get pure bhakti as quickly as you can get laḍḍūs and rasagullās. “O Guru Mahārāja, you gave me the mantras, but still, I have not realized that I am in Goloka Vṛndāvana. I want to be in Vṛndāvana now.”

Vālmīki Ṛṣi took initiation from Nārada, engaged in very severe austerities for sixty thousand years, and then became self-realized. But you do not want to follow all these things, like chanting your mantras. Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja gave some of you initiation into the gāyatrī-mantra. You practised for one day, two days, one month, or some years, but after that, you became weak. Especially after his departure, you left your chanting. You have no faith in these mantras. You will have to practice them. It may be that it will take two, three, four, five, or so many births, but our good fortune is that in this Kali-yuga, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu came to sprinkle His mercy. Therefore, we can chant with some hope that we can soon become realized souls. So do not worry. Go on practising like the Daṇḍakāraṇya ṛṣis.

When Kṛṣṇa descended, these ṛṣis took birth from the womb of the gopīs, and they also became gopīs. Later, they worshipped the demigoddess Kātyāyanī for a long time to get Kṛṣṇa as their husband. Kṛṣṇa then came, and their desires were fulfilled. It was for this reason also that He descended. In the same way, this process will bear fruit for you, but you must do one-pointed kṛṣṇa-bhajana (engage in all bhakti practices).

There is yet another reason for Kṛṣṇa’s descent. When Rāma went to Janaka Purī, the rājā-kumārīs, princesses, were charmed to see Him. They developed a strong desire when they saw that Sītā was married to Him: “Oh, if Rāma would also marry us, it would be so good. We want Rāma to become our husband; we will not marry anyone else.” With this determination, they never married.

Rāma was pleased and told them, “You will take birth in Dvāpara-yuga from the womb of a gopī.”

Many years later, Rāmacandra ordered Sītā to leave His palace. She went and lived alone in Vālmīki’s āśrama, where she gave birth to Rāma’s twin sons. Rāma stayed in His palace, and Sītā remained in the forest. For certain reasons, the king had left His queen, but Rāma never left His dear Sītā.* Although He remained in His palace, He always remembered her. His days passed with great difficulty. Rāma felt so much separation that sometimes He would speak with His guru and priest, Vasiṣṭha.

Once Rāma requested Vasiṣṭha, “I want to perform a fire sacrifice, an aśvamedha-yajṅa or any other yajña. Please allow Me to do this.”

Vasiṣṭha replied, “Because You have left Your wife, You cannot perform any sacrifice. You should bring her back and sit beside her. Only then can You do it.”

“That cannot be,” Rāma told him. “Please make another arrangement so that I can perform the sacrifice.”

 “Your father married three hundred and sixty wives, so You can also marry again. I think many beautiful ladies worldwide would want to marry You. They would readily marry You.”

“No,” said Rāma, “I cannot marry anyone else.”

“Then You cannot perform the sacrifice.”

“Please, somehow arrange it,” Rāma insisted.

Vasiṣṭha then said, “You can make a golden statue of Sītā. With that Sītā, You can sit and perform the sacrifice.”

Each following year, Rāma had one mūrti of Sītā made. These Deities were installed by mantra, by both Vasiṣṭha and Rāma Himself. By their invocation, these Deities became alive. In Rāma’s last days, just before His pastimes in this world came to a close and He was about to go to aprakaṭa Ayodhyā (His spiritual abode), all those Deity forms of Sītā came and told Him, “We want to go with You and be with You forever.”

Rāma replied, “In this incarnation, I can only accept one Sītā; only one Sītā will remain with Me. You are now so many. You should go to Vṛndāvana and take birth from the wombs of gopīs.

There, I will manage everything and will fulfil all your desires.”

Kṛṣṇa also came for that reason.

Another cause of Kṛṣṇa’s coming was Śūrpaṇakhā, the sister of Rāvaṇa. She wanted to marry Rāma, and because Rāma is like a desire tree, He had to fulfil her desire. [He did so by directly associating with her in her next birth, in her form as Kubjā.] By mystic power, Śūrpaṇakhā was able to assume many beautiful forms and could allure many men. Rāma considered, “Because I have accepted her, in this life, no one else may marry her.” He, therefore, ordered Lakṣmaṇa to cut off her nose. Then, she became Kubjā, and eight body parts were bent in her next life. Therefore, no one married her in that life. Her face was very beautiful, but her entire body was crooked and bent, like a hunchback. But when Kṛṣṇa touched her, she became very straight. At that time, her wishes were fulfilled. For this reason, also, Kṛṣṇa descended.

Nārada Muni was another cause of Kṛṣṇa’s descent. Once, during Nārada’s travels, he saw the two sons of Kuvera – Nalakūvera and Maṇigrīva – playing with many heavenly Apsarā girls. They were as naked as trees and stones, drinking wine without shame. Upon seeing Nārada coming along the path, the girls became ashamed. They folded their hands, covered themselves with garments, and prayed to Nārada from afar. The two men, on the other hand, completely mad and intoxicated with wine, began abusing both the girls and Nārada. They asked, “Why has this old man disturbed everything?”

Being very merciful, Nārada thought, “They are sons of my friend Kuvera.” Nārada was on his way to meet Kuvera, but when he saw Kuvera’s sons so degraded, he thought, “I should punish them.” He, therefore, cursed them: “You should become trees. You are behaving like trees, and so you should become trees.”

As soon as they understood, “Oh, we are going to be trees!” they fell flat at Nārada’s lotus feet.

“What I have foretold will certainly come true,” he told them. “But you will become trees in Gokula, where Kṛṣṇa will take birth and perform many sweet pastimes. He will touch you, and you will be liberated. Not only that, but you will also attain bhakti and become Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental associates forever.” So Kṛṣṇa also descended to fulfill Nārada’s foretelling.

Kṛṣṇa also came to perform rāsa-līlā. The personified Upaniṣad mantras had been performing austerities and chanting the gopāla-mantra and kāma-gāyatrī-mantra to become gopīs. By their chanting, they became gopīs in their next birth. They became known as upaniṣad-cārī gopīs, and Kṛṣṇa accepted them as His beloveds.

There are two types of devotees who, by chanting mantras and performing austerities, were accepted by Kṛṣṇa. They are called yauthikī and ayauthikī, those who are in groups and those who are not.** History shows that these mantras are powerful and high-class. Never neglect them.

Once, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna were out travelling. Kṛṣṇa said, “O Arjuna, I am so thirsty. Bring water from somewhere.” While looking for water, Arjuna saw some birds going toward the Yamunā. Upon reaching the Yamunā, he saw she was flowing very sweetly, and her water was pure and clear. He also saw an old lady with white hair who was in a trance. He circumambulated the lady and offered praṇāma to her. After some time, she returned to external consciousness. Arjuna then asked her, “Mother, who are you, and why are you meditating in this place? No one is here. What are you doing here on the bank of the Yamunā?”

The lady replied respectfully, “I have been doing ārādhana (worship) here for hundreds and thousands of years. I want to be a gopī in Vṛndāvana and serve Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa conjugal. Nārada kindly gave me gopāla-mantra and kāma-gāyatrī, so I have been worshipping here with these mantras.”

Arjuna returned to Kṛṣṇa and told Him what had happened. Kṛṣṇa then went to the elderly lady and mercifully blessed her.

These are some of the reasons for Kṛṣṇa’s descent into this world. There are so many stories and reasons that it would take about ten days to explain them all.

oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.1.1)

O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primaeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance, and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.

Śrī Vyāsadeva writes, janmādy asya yato ’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ tene brahma hṛdā. Although Kṛṣṇa’s name is not directly stated here, all qualities described in this verse apply to Him, Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara. Vyāsadeva is offering praṇāma: “satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi – I am meditating on paraṁ satya.” Paraṁ satya is the Supreme Transcendental Truth, the advaya-jñāna-para-tattva, Kṛṣṇa Himself. There is no one other than Him. Janmādy asya yato – it is He who created all these worlds, who supports and nourishes them, and into whom the entire creation enters after dissolution. Janma, sthiti, pralaya – creation, sustenance, and destruction; everything comes from Him.

Yato ’nvayād itarataś. Anvayat means ‘direct’ and itarataḥ means vyatireka, ‘indirect.’ I will explain anvayat (direct) in a simple way. Kṛṣṇa has three śaktis, or powers: cit-śakti, jīva-śakti, and māyā-śakti. With His cit-śakti He creates all transcendental worlds, like Goloka Vṛndāvana and Vaikuṇṭha. All transcendental forms, like those of Kṛṣṇa, Baladeva, Nanda, Yaśodā, the gopīs, and so on, are also manifested by the cit-śakti.

With the jīva-śakti, He manifests all liberated and conditioned souls.

As far as the māyā-śakti is concerned, she is not a zero. She also is the power of Kṛṣṇa. She creates hundreds and thousands of brahmāṇḍas or universes. This is what is meant by ‘direct.’

What is meant by ‘indirect’? All souls are cetana, conscious, or cit, aware, and this māyā is jaḍa, inert. Although inert, māyā covers the conscious beings or cetana padārtha. This is a very strange thing. The jīva is conscious, and māyā is inert. Still, it is wonderful that the jīva is covered by and involved with this inert māyā. Thus covered, the jīva thinks he is this perishable material body. Such thinking should not take place, but it does. This strange phenomenon becomes possible by the power of Kṛṣṇa. This power is kartum akartum anyathā kartum. By this power, everything that is impossible becomes possible. This is the meaning of ‘indirect.’

The complete, transcendental power, or śakti, of Kṛṣṇa is called para-śakti. It is only one śakti, but it manifests as three: hlādinī-śakti, saṁvit-śakti, and sandhinī-śakti. In this way, by anvaya and itarataś, directly and indirectly, these worlds are created by Kṛṣṇa. Avijñaḥ means that Kṛṣṇa knows everything; He is an expert in creating and destroying and also in supporting and nourishing. No one is as expert as He is. Even Rāma, Nṛsiṁha, Kalki, and Vāmana come from Him. He is, therefore, ādi-puruṣa (the original person) and sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (the cause of all causes).

īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ
anādir ādir govindaḥ
sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam

Brahmā-saṁhitā (5.1)

Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Govinda, is the embodiment of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the controller of all lesser controllers, and the source of all incarnations. He has no beginning or origin, though He is the source of everything and the cause of all causes.

The second line of the śloka (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.1.1) begins with tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye. Kṛṣṇa Himself inspired the heart of Brahmā, who is ādi–kavi, the first poet. He inspired Brahmā by transcendental sound vibration, śabda-brahma, thus giving him all knowledge of Himself (Kṛṣṇa), of the jīvas, of māyā, etc. Tene brahma means ‘in the heart of Brahmā.’ The other demigods cannot understand all these truths. He inspired the heart of Brahmā only.

Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ. There are three elements in this world, or three kinds of creations, that we can see. Teja means ‘fire,’ vāri means ‘water,’ and mṛdā means ‘earth.’ Here, teja refers to Kṛṣṇa. Sometimes, we can see fire when two sticks are rubbed together or by striking a match, but fire is everywhere. Without fire, no one can live. If fire leaves your body, you will die at once. A match manifests fire and makes it visible. After some time, when the fuel is finished, fire is no longer seen. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa can be seen by one who practices certain processes, and the soul can also be seen in this way. Mortal eyes will never see the soul, and mortal senses can never realize it.

The jīvas are compared with vāri, water. When water is solidified, it becomes like ice or snow. It becomes so hard that if it is thrown at someone, it may injure that person. Water, however, is not like that. Similarly, in the jīva’s natural position, which is liberation, he is serving Kṛṣṇa. By chance, he has now forgotten Kṛṣṇa and is in an unnatural, ‘solidified’ stage. He thinks, “I am this body,” and all kinds of problems arise, such as quarrels with others.

Next is mṛdā (earth). In this world, there are many kinds of pots made from earth. Some are called glasses, and some are called pots and vessels, but all are made with mud and earth. Ultimately, they have no difference; only the names are different. This is also true of gold. A cup made of gold, a garment of gold, a necklace of gold, and a ring of gold; all are gold. The names are different, but all are gold.

“Yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mṛṣā [the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual]. It seems that all these worlds are real, but they are not. When we see fire, we think it is real. However, when we realize Kṛṣṇa, we will know that He is real. Souls are real, but the idea that ‘I am this body’ is not. This illusion is called vinimayo, exchange, which refers to the interactions and reactions of the three modes of material nature.

“Dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ [Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world]. Unlike this world, in the abode where Kṛṣṇa resides, there is no māyā at all. Only Yogamāyā is there. Only para-śakti is there. The māyā that creates this world and by whose effect we think, “I am this body,” does not exist there.

Consequently, those who live in that spiritual realm can never fall into this world. It is not that the jīvas from that abode have come here to this world and forgotten about the spiritual realm. Rather, they have forgotten that they originally manifest from the borderline region between the material and spiritual worlds called taṭasthā.

jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya — kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’
kṛṣṇera ‘taṭasthā-śakti’ ‘bhedābheda-prakāśa’

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 20.108)

The inherent form of the jīva is that of an eternal servant of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The jīva is the marginal potency of Kṛṣṇa, and is therefore simultaneously one with and different from Him.

Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja has explained this, but we are not thinking about it deeply. Bhagavad-gītā (15.6) states: “yad gatvā na nivartante tad dhāma paramaṁ mama – those who reach that supreme abode of Mine never return to this material world.” Practising great austerities for hundreds and thousands of births, one may go to Goloka Vṛndāvana. Since there is no māyā in Vṛndāvana and no chance of forgetting Kṛṣṇa, how can a jīva fall from there? It is never possible. Everyone is always serving Kṛṣṇa there, and Yogamāyā helps them to serve Him.

Dhāmnā svena sadā means that in Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental abode, there is no māyā. Only hlādinī-śakti, sandhinī-śakti, and cit-śakti are there. The phrase nirasta-kuhakaṁ (absence of illusion) also means there is no māyā there.

Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. Kṛṣṇa, Vrajendra-nandana Śyāmasundara, is paraṁ-satya, the Supreme Truth. Dhīmahi: “I meditate on Him. May He kindly be merciful and manifest in my heart.”

The meaning of this first śloka is the same as that of brahma-gāyatrī: oṁ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṁ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt. This first śloka of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the translation of brahma-gāyatrī, and it, also, is like a mantra.

There is a second meaning of janmādy asya. Ādi means ‘ādi-rasa,’ ‘the original rasa.’ That original rasa is śṛṅgāra-rasa, mādhurya-rasa, and it comes from Kṛṣṇa, not from anyone else. There is more than one meaning for every word of each Bhāgavatam śloka, and all the meanings are very good. In this śloka, for example, each word has an alternate meaning.

Here anvayād itarataś, direct and indirect, also means separation and meeting. Kṛṣṇa is very perfect. Tene brahma hṛdā ya. In this verse, ādi kavaye refers to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Kṛṣṇa means ‘Kṛṣṇa who is the ocean of rasa, from whom mādhurya-rasa comes.’ Therefore, the word is ādi (original). All rasas are included in Kṛṣṇa. He is rasa-brahma, and He inspired the heart of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, who is the first kavi. Muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. Brahmā, Śaṅkara, and all other demigods are in illusion. They cannot understand this deeper meaning.

Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ (fire, water, and earth) also has an alternate meaning. Here teja means, as has been stated in brahma-gāyatrī, bhargo devasya. Devasya means ‘Kṛṣṇa Himself,’ and bhargah means ‘His power.’ ‘I meditate on the power of Kṛṣṇa who is Śrīmatī Rādhikā.’ Tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ. Here, Vyāsadeva prays to Rādhikā, the power of Kṛṣṇa. Without understanding this, we cannot enter Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Sometimes there is separation between Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, sometimes meeting, and sometimes neutrality.*** Even when Kṛṣṇa and Rādhikā are (apparently) separated, Kṛṣṇa is always with Rādhikā. “Rādhasā sva-dhāmani brahmaṇi raṁsyate namaḥ – He is always with Rādhikā and all the gopīs in His abode” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.4.14). In the Brahma-saṃhitā, it is stated:

ānanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhāvitābhis
tābhir ya eva nija-rūpatayā kalābhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilātma-bhūto
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Brahma-saṃhitā (5.37)

Śrī Govinda, who is all-pervading and who exists within the heart of all, resides in His Goloka-dhāma along with Śrī Rādhā, who is the embodiment of His pleasure potency and the counterpart of His own spiritual form. She is the epitome of transcendental rasa, and is expert in sixty-four arts. They are also accompanied by the sakhīs, who are expansions of Śrī Rādhā’s own transcendental body and who are infused with blissful, spiritual rasa. I worship that original personality, Śrī Govinda.

All the gopīs are as transcendental as Kṛṣṇa. They are the kāya-vyūha, bodily manifestations, of Śrīmatī Rādhikā. Rādhikā is one with Kṛṣṇa, and therefore, all the gopīs are transcendental like Him. They are not less than Him. Kṛṣṇa plays with them and meets with them in Vṛndāvana-dhāma. In this way, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi means, ‘We meditate on Kṛṣṇa with Śrīmatī Rādhikā.’

There is still a more superior meaning, a fourth meaning: no rasa can exist without Rādhikā. Therefore Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are conjugal. Janmādy asya. From this conjugal Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, mādhurya-rasa, conjugal love, comes. Without Rādhikā’s presence, Kṛṣṇa is like nirviśeṣa-brahma; there is no rasa in Him at all. When He is with Sītā, when He is with Lakṣmī, or even when He is with Satyabhāmā or Rukmiṇī, only a percentage of rasa is present. It is not complete. Even if all the gopīs are there but Rādhikā is not, rasa cannot be complete. Rasa will be complete if He is with the gopīs, especially with Rādhikā. Here, Vyāsadeva is, therefore, praying to whom? In this context, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi means ‘Rādhikā.’ “May She kindly come and manifest.” As stated in brahma-gāyatrī: “dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt – may Śrīmatī Rādhikā mercifully come.”

The first meaning of this Bhāgavatam verse (1.1.1) refers to Kṛṣṇa and this creation. The second refers to madhura-rasa in relation to Vrajendra-nandana Kṛṣṇa. The third is in relation to conjugal Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. The fourth is only in relation to Rādhikā. This is because, without power, Kṛṣṇa cannot do anything. Finally, the fifth meaning is in relation to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. All the meanings of all the words will then refer to Him. Satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu is parama-satya, the Supreme Truth, because He is both Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa. He has come to distribute all these truths, to sprinkle His mercy by preaching rāga-mārga, and also to taste the beauty of the moods of Rādhikā. Therefore satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi means ‘This Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu should kindly manifest in our heart.’

Here ādi-kavi means ‘Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.’ Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu inspired all truths in Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī at Prayāga, and thus Rūpa Gosvāmī wrote Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, Vidagdha-mādhava, and so many other books.

He then manifested these truths throughout the whole world. Now, we are in this line. You should know how fortunate you are to have come in the line of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Always think in this way. Always be hopeful and practice like this. Satyaṁ paraṁ is Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu .

* Rāma, in His capacity as a king, left His queen, but really, Rāma never actually left Sītā.

** The sādhana-siddha gopīs are of two types: yauthikī and ayauthikī. Practising devotees who are completely enchanted by the loving moods of the gopīs perform sādhana-bhajana, following the path of spontaneous devotion (rāgānugā). Those who practice in groups and eventually take birth in Vraja, where they again come together, are called yauthikī, and those who take birth in Vraja, having practised solitary rāgānugā-bhajana or with one or two others, are called ayauthikī.

The yauthikī gopīs are also of two types: śruti-carī (the personified Vedas) and (2) muni-carī, or ṛṣi-carī (the Daṇḍakāraṇya sages). Seeing the fortune of the gopīs performing rāsa-līlā and other pastimes with Kṛṣṇa, the śruti-carīs were struck with wonder. By engaging in severe austerities with great faith, they achieved birth in the homes of gopīs in Vraja. Then, by the influence of the association of nitya-siddha and kāya-vyūha gopīs, they easily entered the rāsa dance and other pastimes. (Veṇu-gīta, Verse Four, Ānanda-varddhinī Vyākhyā)

*** An example of ‘neutrality’ is māna, transcendental loving anger. Externally, Śrīmatī Rādhāraṇī may say, “I have no connection with Kṛṣṇa,” but internally, She wants to meet with Him.

Source: Purebhakti.com

Image(s) made possible by Pixabay.com, Krishnapath.org and/or Bhaktiart.net
Unless indicated differently, all verse translations and quotes are from the books by Śrīla Prabhupāda (Vedabase.com)