Nārada's Version

Nārada's Version

Nārada Muni is known as the saint among the gods. His wisdom is deep. In fact there are four different versions of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the natural commentary on the Gayatrī mantra. The first version is called the catuḥ-śloki Bhāgavatam, because it is spoken by the Creator, Lord Brahmā to Nārada in four Sanskrit verses.

Nārada in turn, as we have seen was the guru of Vyāsa. He imparted the knowledge of the Bhāgavata to Vyāsa. We find this discussion in the 5th and 6th chapters of the first Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which I have summarized below.

Before he left Vyāsa to the task of composing the Bhāgavata, Vyāsa inquired of him about his past life and Nārada explained the system of devotional

Nārada explained: “My dear Vyāsa, in another time and place, in my former life I was the son of a maidservant. My mother served the Vedic Rishis, the great research scholars of scientific spiritual knowledge. These great souls had gathered at a holy place of pilgrimage by the ancient Saraswati to pass the rainy season when fields are inundated by the rising river. As I was only a boy, I was very impressed by these saintly men. In those days, I was very serious for a child.

“I was faithful and submissive to them and listened carefully when they spoke. They were kind to me and let me follow them. They let me eat with them and hear their talks as I was silent and obedient. By eating the remnants of their meals I felt purified.

“In this way, serving and listening, I become more and more attentive to them and was inclined toward their life of self-abnegation and spiritual focus. As they took me into their confidence they told me of Krishna. They recited the eternal pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and I began to make spiritual progress. My mind became fixed in concentration on Krishna and I began to develop faith. Through faith I found myself enchanted by divine love of God and I began to understand that both subtle and gross material bodies are only false reflections of spiritual reality.

“As I advanced in bhakti, gradually I became free from the darker influences of material nature, passion and ignorance. Finally, the rainy season passed. The time of warmth and sunshine came. The Rishis were ready to move on. They initiated me into the deepest and most esoteric science of bhakti.

Nārada continued, “And as I cultivated this yoga, at one point Bhagavān Himself appeared to me in a mysterious way. I could feel his presence, although I couldn’t see Him. I knew that this was by the mercy of those great mahātmās whom I had the privilege of serving.

“By serving those devotees faithfully and without ego, by trusting in them and by hearing the stories of Krishna from them, I had gradually developed a taste for service, a kind of yearning. As this yearning became firm and I was fixed up in faith, my perception of the reality of Bhagavān grew. With this I began to develop certain mystic powers.”

Vyāsa said, “My dear Nārada Prabhu, you have spoken of your former life. How is you have come to your present position? What kinds of austerities and penances did you undergo? What was the nature of your yoga practice? What did you do after meeting those great souls?”

And Nārada said, “As quickly as they had come into my life, the Rishis moved on, just as the rainy season moves on, taking with it the life-nourishing waters of the monsoon. I did my best to follow their teachings. I was still only a boy, living with my mother near the sacred river. One day my destiny changed. As my mother was milking a cow, a serpent appeared in the ashrama, surprising my mother with a terrible snake-bite. She died instantly.

With nowhere to go, I wandered through the forests toward the Himalayas. I visited deep, dark and dangerously fearful forests, which where snakes, owls and jackals played. In this way, I walked for a long time, through woods and streams, leafy forests and hills until I came to the mountains of the Himalayas themselves.

Nārada continued, “Roaming and rambling in this way I was exhausted in body and mind. Thirsty and hungry I bathed in the clear waters of the holy river. I drank of the crystal waters and in this way I got some relief.”

“Near there in that lonely forest by the river, I found a huge banyan tree. And in the shadow of that great tree, there I began to meditate profoundly on the lotus feet of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as I had learned to do from those liberated souls who had been my teachers.”

Nārada continued, “And as I sat in deep meditation I could feel the Lord’s presence. I had a glimpse, I think, of his divine form. I could feel His presence within my heart.”

“Moved to tears, my hair standing on end, I began to feel an intense ecstasy of divine love. I wanted to see the Lord more clearly. But while I concentrated with all my energy, I could not see the divine form of the Lord.”

“With this, I heard a voice. Śrī Hari, God Himself, transcendental to all mundane description spoke as follows:

Painting of Gopal Krishna with Cows by B.V. Mahayogi, (after B.G. Sharma)

“O Nārada, although you are yearning to see me personally, that will not happen during this lifetime. You will not be able to see Me personally as your service is incomplete. Those who are not free from all material desires cannot see Me.

“You shall have to die as you are to live again in a higher plane.

You must try to live in eternity; not any particular span of time or space. You must prepare yourself for your eternal benefit, not for any temporary remedy. The sun, the moon, and all the planets appear and vanish: they die, and then again, they are created. Within such an eternity we have to live. Religion covers that aspect of our existence.

“You cannot see me in this present lifetime, but since you are virtuous, I have given you a glimpse of My personal form, just to increase your desire for Me.

“The more you hanker for Me, the more you will be freed from all material desires. Through devotional service to the great souls one’s mind becomes fixed in Me.

“Fixed in Me, does not mean the general conception of merging into the oneness of Brahman, where one loses oneself in the ocean of consciousness as if in a sound sleep. 

Yogic practice

Fixed in me, means you enter into the Lord's family. This is a living merging, not a physical or dead merging into Brahman, spirit. But you are not yet qualified for this. That is the result of prema, divine love.

Nārada told Vyāsa, “I listened closely to the voice of God which spoke within my heart.” He said, ”Cross the area of misunderstanding and enter into proper understanding, then there is no creation or dissolution. The sun, the moon, and the stars will all come and go. But that plane is eternal, and you are a child of that soil.

“Your physical and mental body are born of this soil which comes and goes, which is created and then dies.

“But you must leave this world of death. The spiritual world is real; this material world is unreal.

“This material world is illusory, constantly coming and going, springing into existence and again vanishing. You must leave behind this illusory existence and come to reality. Here in this material world there death and war, wars after wars.

“You are misguided here, but there is a higher world, a zone of nectar, and you are a child of that nectar that does not die, a child of that soil which is eternal, where there is no birth or death. With a wide and broad heart, you have to approach there.”

“The transcendental world exists, prevailing over matter but remains inconceivable to your empirical mind and even the mind of great transcendentalists. That world is present as your guardian but your physical sense is unaware of its existence.

“Devotion,” my dear Nārada, “is the path to transcend the barrier of your limitations, to have a tryst with that Unknown, that Absolute who you are so determined to see. But you cannot see Me with the dull sense of your vegetable eye.

“Only the awakening of devotion causes the evolutionary growth of the soul of the living being. And in the highest phase of evolution the soul’s supermost divinity will appear through My mercy.

One who understands this becomes a devotee, and such a devotee soon goes on to become My associate in the transcendental world after leaving this material world. And so, one who fixes his mind in Me through devotion is never thwarted. His devotion and sincerity is invincible and is never destroyed, not even at the annihilation of the universe.”

Nārada continued, “So saying, that Divine voice fell silent. Feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude, I offered my obeisances unto Him, bowing my head.

“And so I began chanting the holy name and glories of the Lord again and again. I lived in this way for some time, ignoring all the formalities of the material world.

“I was convinced that such chanting and remembering of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord gives the highest benediction. And so, in this way, I traveled all over the earth, fully satisfied, humble and unenvious, without a care in the world.”

Nārada explains

“When the time came, I left behind that mortal body and was transformed. This was many centuries ago, before the present age. I was fully absorbed in thinking of Kṛṣṇa. By constantly taking the holy name, I had no attachments; I had reached the stage of being completely freed from all material desires.”

My dear Vyāsa, “Death and illumination came simultaneously, just as a lightning flash. And asI left behind the karmic mortal body, I found myself immortal, with this transcendental body, an eternal associate of the Personality of Godhead, charged with singing His glories.

“It was as He had said. The millenium came and went. The sun, the moon, and the stars all vanished. At the end of the Brahmā’s day, the long night came, when Lord Narayana lay within the waters of cosmic annihilation.

Nārada continued, “At that time, the universal creator, Lord Brahmā began to enter into Him along with all the creative elements. All the stars and galaxies became dust, and I also entered through His breathing.

Nārada said, “After millions of years, the universal creator Lord Brahmā awoke from his long night and began to create again. At that time, all the great Rishis were created from the transcendental body of the Lord, and I appeared with them in this transcendental form with my vina which I play upon to celebrate the glories of God.”

“My dear Vyāsa, since then, by the grace of God, I travel everywhere, both in the transcendental world and within the three planetary systems, both in the divine world and in the mental and physical worlds, fixed in unbroken devotional service of the Lord.

“And so I travel, constantly singing the glories of the Lord, vibrating this instrument called a vina, filled with divine sound which was given to me by Lord Krsna.

“And so it is that the Supreme Lord Sri Krsna, whose glories and activities are pleasing to hear, at once appears on the seat of my heart, as if called for, as soon as I begin to chant His holy name and activities.

“I can tell you from my own realization that all those who suffer in this world of strife and illusion, all who are lost in this world of misconception can cross the ocean of darkness on by the constant vibration of the holy name and deeds of God, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

“And while it may be true, my dear Vyāsa, that one may free one’s mind from lust, anger and greed and get some relief through sense control and yoga, this is not enough for true soul-satisfaction. Real sweetness, real eternal soul-nectar is only possible through surrender. The soul is eternal, but simply to merge in eternity is not perfection. Happiness is the food of the soul. And eternal happiness is only possible through surrender and divine love.

“O Vyāsadeva, you are freed from all sins. You are uniquely qualified to publish the glories of the name and personal deeds of Śrī Kṛṣṇa for the benefit of the fallen souls of the age of Kali. I recommend this as your service. By vibrating the name and glories of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the form of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam your soul will become free from all misgivings.

“My dear Vyāsa, I have no interest in discussing my own personal life, but,since you have asked me, I have explained my former life and my practices for self-realization. I hope that this will be helpful for your own struggle against birth and death.”

At the end of this discussion, we return to the narrator, Suta Goswāmi. After all, Suta Goswāmi is explaining the discussion of Vyāsa and Nārada before the gathered sages, rishis, and yogis in the forest o Naimisharanya.

Suta said, “Concluding his words to the composer of the Vedas, the sage amongst the gods Śrī Nārada, touched the strings of his divine vina and took his leave of Vedavyāsa.” 

Nārada took his leave of Vyāsa...