Srimad Bhagavatam course. Session 5

Hare Krishna, dear devotees, I am very happy to be with all of you today. I am sorry last time we missed a class. And it seems like that the time for the next class will also be changed. I suggest the following. Today I will start and cover a good portion of the overview of the first class. First Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. And then next Saturday, we will just dedicate the whole session for questions and answers. And it's better if they are live, so we can interact, because we finished with the introduction to this course, and now we are already working on trying to understand the first Canto of of the whole structure of the whole Srimad Bhagavatam. So I think it's a good time to ask the questions. The reason is that the next Saturday where the class is scheduled 7th of June is Pandava Nirjala Ikadashi and I will be traveling the whole day. So I will not be able to give class on the 7th of June. Or instead, we will have a question and answer session exactly in one week. I hope it's okay with all of you. And I will start my material because we're already late. So again, we are conceptual or contextual study or whatever of Srimad Bhagavatam. And today we will have a few preliminary topics. I will explain the interdependence of the ten topics of Srimad Bhagavatam. As you recall, that was the last point which we described in the previous class. Then very briefly I will explain how Srimad Bhagavatam, according to these ten topics and to the scheme of ten topics is actually explaining different sciences and how it is the culmination of all sciences and some total of all sciences. That this is a very scientific book which describes the science of consciousness in a very beautiful and amazing way, the most amazing way. Then, again, very briefly, I will mention the three tools for understanding the cantos of Srimad Bhagavatam, when we will start reviewing this. And also, explain a little bit how bhakti is always a dialogue. Why it is so important to ask questions and to hear the answers. Why all the books on bhakti are written in the form of dialogue. that the very nature of bhakti is the dialogue or exchange between servant and the master, between disciple and guru, so on and so forth. And then we will, in detail, go into the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, overviewing it as a whole. And first I will speak about the main and secondary topics of the first canto. and how they are being conveyed in the first canto, how the narration or the stories are explaining different topics. And ultimately, the last point, I will give the general structure of the first canto, three divisions of the first canto, three prakaranas. I will, again, very generally describe the structure of the first kanto. And then in the next class, we will take the first prakaren, and then second prakaren, and then third prakaren, and then go into more details. But for today, we will try to keep the understanding of the whole first kanto intact. But before we will chant our mantras. Giver of saintliness to the unsaintly. O uplifter of the very fallen, please do not ever leave me. Please become manifested upon my heart and my throat, accompanied by pure love of Krishna. That's actually the desired result or expected result of reading Srimad Bhagavatam, a pure love of Krishna, together with Srimad Bhagavatam within our heart and throat. But certain important conditions have to be fulfilled for this to happen. And today we will be speaking about these conditions, how they are indirectly and sometimes directly described in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Then the obeisances to Sri Madhagavatam, who is everything to Srila Sanatana Goswami, and hopefully at one point will become everything for us. Madekabandam at Sangin Madguro, man Mahadhana, man Nistaraka, mat Bhakya, bhagya, mat Ananda Namostu Te. O Srimad Bhagavatam, you are my only friend, my constant companion, my spiritual master, my great wealth, my deliverer, my fortune, my source of happiness. I offer my obeisances unto you. Source of bliss, not even happiness. So, the first topic in our lesson plan is interdependence of the ten topics of Simad Bhagavad. This point is coming from Vapadeva's short commentary on Simad Bhagavatam, kind of review, Haridila Lamrita. and he makes a very interesting point, observation. He says, related to the ten topics of Shimad Bhagavatam, he says that each successive part is included as a part of the previous one. The previous one is included in the next one. This is not very clear. So what he wants to say is that Sarga is described independently, but Sarga becomes part of Vissarga. We can only understand Vissarga or secondary creation if we understood Sarga. And Vissarga becomes the whole. If we take the fourth canto, we have to know the primary creation to understand how the primary creation takes place to fully understand the topic of the sarga. So sarga is included into the next topic. And if we take stanum, for understanding stanum, we need to know sarga and visarga. and so on and so forth until Asraya, the tenth topic of Srimad Bhagavatam, which is revealed by describing the nine previous ones. And the next topic becomes whole, and the previous topics become Angas, different limbs of this whole. and to understand whole you need to know the limbs that's the idea here how it works and that's why it is so important to also read Srimad Bhagavatam in proper sequence so it is basically explained what I already said So that it's like the five material elements. We know that in ether there is only sound. But in the next element, which is air, sound is there and touch is there. In the next element, fire, the sound and touch is there. but the new element is added to this, which is fire itself. So, and the earth includes the qualities of all previous elements. In this similar way, ashraya includes all the other topics. And in fact, you cannot understand ashraya without understanding the previous topics. So it's very important to understand that the narration of Srimad Bhagavatam, layer by layer, builds up our understanding of reality. And ultimately, it facilitates all-inclusive, comprehensive understanding of the absolute truth. So, you can't understand this sarga without understanding sarga, so on and so forth. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada is very emphatic about this point. We will quote it again today in connection with the first canto, what Srila Prabhupada says. be unable to capture the effect of the 10th canto without going through the first nine cantos. The book is complete in 12 cantos, each independent, but it is good for all to read them in small installments one after another. So that's very, very important. And Srila Prabhupada was very much against jumping into the 10th Canto. And I was present in some Bhagavad Gatha. And usually the style of Bhagavad Gatha is to very quickly go through something, and then dwell a little bit on this story, and then again very quickly go through some other details, jump into the 10th canto and then describe the 10th canto. But it doesn't work. If we really want to understand the 10th canto, we have to have a very good grasp and a very good understanding of the previous ones. So the next point which I want to describe is how Srimad Bhagavatam is a complete science of reality. Simad Bhagavatam is actually a scientific treatise, and that's why we're explaining Simad Bhagavatam under the banner of Bhaktivedanta Institute for Higher Studies. It's the highest possible study of reality. It's the highest science. And if we look into the structure of Simad Bhagavatam, it will become very clear to us. So we can easily rephrase the ten topics which we explained last time and understand that actually ten topics discover or describe all different sciences which we know. So first is Sarga and it starts with Sankhya. Sankhya means number. it is mathematics and of course physics and chemistry is described in the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam in connection with Sarga how different elements are there how they are composed and how they interact with each other to create reality so these three fundamental basic sciences are there in description of the first topic of Srimad Bhagavatam. Then the next is Visarga, the secondary creation. And the secondary creation is actually the creation of the living bodies. How the living bodies are composed. How all these elements are bringing about living bodies. So it's molecular biology, biochemistry. And to a certain extent, it's already law of karma in working. And then Stanem describes biology, medicine, cosmology. And this is the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, astronomy and geography. So these are the sciences which are indirectly or sometimes very directly, like cosmology, astronomy and geography are described while touching the third topic of Srimad Bhagavatam. And then Poshanam, which is also called Traksha in the 12th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Poshanam is in fact the theory of evolution, how the soul evolves going through different bodies. So this is a very important part of Srimad Bhagavatam and very important science which is there. How and why there are different grades of living entities. How they live in different planetary systems and how they ultimately achieve the perfection of the evolution. and then Uti or Hetu this is psychology this is clear case of psychology because Uti explains why people act in a different way why people are so much different with each other why their motivation is so different and of course Uti also means astrology or the description of law of karma how karma works and how one can go beyond karma. This is the fifth topic of Srimad Bhagavatam and corresponding sciences known to us. And then Manvantara is very interesting because if we look from impartial vantage point into this description of Manvantara, we can see that it's describing sociology. Of course, in Uti, some sociology was there in the seventh cant of Simad Bhagavatam. The whole Varnashama system was explained. And economics, ethics, law, and political science. So, of course, it's Bhagavatam version of all these sciences. Bhagavatam does not need to go into nitty-gritty details of these particular branches of knowledge. But it gives us essential knowledge about these topics to build up the whole system. And then Isha Anukadha is religion. Isha Anukadha is the stories about God and great devotees. and that's exactly what all religious scriptures are describing. The Bible is full of stories of involvement of God into the history of humanity and how the great devotees of the Lord, great saints were living. So that's Isha Anukhatha, that's the seventh topic, description of religion as a branch of knowledge. Of course, many people will not agree that religion is a branch of knowledge, but in reality it is, because it explains how God works in this world and how people of the past interacted with him. And then Niroda, Niroda means the complete liberation from karma how to eradicate karma it's the science of yoga yoga is describing how to destroy all the samskaras and this is exactly what Niroda means the complete destruction of the samskaras of the past lives and then Mukti Mukti is the science of Okay, so let's see how it works. We are on the ninth topic, which is describing the signs. Eight. Eight. Eight. The eight is going through a pulley. Okay, okay. Very good. Yeah. Eight is describing the destruction of all the samskaras from previous life, and that's basically the science of yoga. This very elaborate methodology of how to purify our consciousness from the accumulated samskaras is explained in the discipline of yoga. And Simad Bhagavatam gives its version of how to do it. So the next mukti is actually the soteriology, the science of the salvation of the soul. that's again Srimad Bhagavatam version of this science and ultimately Asraya the theology or the science of God so in this way we have 10 subject matters which describe the science the all existing sciences and it's very important to remember the beautiful verse from the first canto of Sīmad-Bhāgavatam. There's little mistake here. Anyway, so basically it is said that the Kavis, the poets, or the great scientists of the spiritual science, they established that the purpose of everything which people are doing here, of all the sciences and everything else, culminates in the description of uttama-shloka guna anuvarnanam, the qualities of the Supreme Lord. So, and Srila Prabhupada gives a very special translation of this verse, learned circles have positively concluded that the infallible purpose of the advancement of knowledge, namely austerity, study of the Vedas, sacrifice, chanting of hymns and charity culminates in transcendental description. So, and Srila Prabhupada explains this in more details. Human intellect is developed for advancement of learning in art, science, philosophy, physics, chemistry, psychology, economics, politics, etc. So, all kinds of different branches of knowledge are there. and they're a very important feature of our life. But Srila Prabhupada says that by culture of such knowledge, the human society can attain perfection of life. This perfection of life culminates in the realization of the supreme being, Vishnu. So basically all the sciences, these ten topics of Srimad Bhagavatam or nine topics of Srimad Bhagavatam, this is different scientific description which help us to understand and appreciate the Supreme Personality of Godhead and his past times. So that's the point. the point. And therefore, Srila Prabhupada concludes, all the sages and devotees of the Lord have recommended that the subject matter of art, science, philosophy, physics, chemistry, psychology and all other branches of knowledge should be wholly and solely applied in the service of the Lord. Art, literature, poetry, painting may be used in glorifying the Lord. So again, this is a very important pramana for Bhaktivedanta Institute. We are studying science, but the ultimate purpose of science is to understand the science of God, which is the culmination of all other sciences. Having said this, now we are covering very quickly the third topic of today's class, how we will analyze each canto. We already explained the tools for this. First of all, we have to understand that each and every canto of Srimad Bhagavatam ultimately describes ashraya, the tenth topic, through its own means, from its own vantage point of view, from its own perspective. So, Ashraya, as we already learned in the introduction to this course, is the non-dual consciousness from which this world emanates, by which it is maintained, and into which this world merges at this illusion. So all the nine topics reveal the tenth one, Ashraya. And therefore, one can very boldly say that the topic of all 20 cantos is this one, Ashraya. But there is a very specific progression how it is being developed. But every topic, every canto has ashraya as an important element. It describes ashraya or Krishna, personality of Godhead, the personal nature of universal consciousness or primordial consciousness in a very specific way. And so we will, every time when we start describing particular canto, we will go to this point and see how this canto is describing Krishna, the personhood of God. but there are three tools which we already described one of them the most important one is the ten topics as we said that each canto has the main and secondary topic Shilajiva Goswami explains this, that each canto has the main topic which it describes and then there are one or two secondary topics and the ashray is always there. So we will say that this particular canto, this is the topic of this canto and this is the secondary topics and how they are interrelated and interconnected with each other. And we will also mention that how ashraya is described in this particular canto. So this is the first tool. The second tool, we will speak about Sambanda, Abidea and Prayodjana. This is the standard scheme. What this particular canto is describing primarily. Sambanda or Abidea or Prayodjana and what it wants us to say. what is this understanding which this canto gives to us in regard to these three categories or the scheme of understanding. So that will be the second tool which we will employ in analyzing a particular canto. and then the third tool which is less useful but sometimes it could be very useful like in case of the first canto and in case of sixth canto it's extremely useful and therefore I didn't mention this but there are very many quotes from different Puranas and from Srimad Bhagavatam itself and from Srila Prabhupada's explanation that Srimad Bhagavatam is the Svarupa of the Lord. Now the 12th canto is Svarupa of the Lord, that's the Lord himself. So the first and second canto is his lotus feet and so on and so forth. and then his smiling face is the 10th canto. So every now and then we will employ this understanding to go deeper into the message of a particular canto. And as I said, especially in case of the first canto, it will be very interesting because actually 19, going a little further, this is a little spoiler, there are 19 signs on the feet of Krishna. And there are 19 chapters in the first canto. And each chapter in the first canto is symbolically described or signified by these signs on the feet of Lord Krishna. And we will do this and that will give us a very interesting idea about the first canto. Then the fourth point which I wanted to say today, that bhakti is always a dialogue. why Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue why is Srimad Bhagavatam always a dialogue and why our studying of Srimad Bhagavatam also should be in the form of dialogue and therefore it's very important for you to ask questions therefore it's very important for me to listen to your questions that will help us to go deeper into Srimad Bhagavatam But anyway, I will say a little later. So Viswana Chakravarti Thakur in his commentary to one of the verses of the second canto, the last chapter of the second canto, after describing the ten topics, he says that actually these ten topics, what do they establish? They establish these ten topics. The main point of these ten topics is to firmly establish the difference between the Jiva and the Lord. So, that's what these ten topics are all about. How we are created, how our bodies are created, how we are maintained by the mercy of the Lord. how according to our position on the evolutionary ladder, we are situated in a particular plane of existence and how we can ultimately get rid of this and go to the Lord. So we are dependent on each and every stage of our development of our life on the Lord. And these 10 topics of Mahapurana describe the dependence of Jiva on the Lord. How we are dependent, how our, this whole material world is created, how our bodies are created, how according to our body, we get certain samskaras and certain desires and how the Lord helps us to fulfill the desires, how he maintains us by giving his mercy and so on so forth so the difference between the jiva and the lord and dependence of the jiva and the lord is being described and the conclusion which a rational intelligence person has to make after getting these descriptions is that i have to serve the I am already dependent on him. I cannot move. I cannot breathe. I cannot do anything without him. So let me try to do something for him. So in this way, we enter the realm of bhakti. Simad Bhagavatam helps us to enter the realm of bhakti, the dialogue or the exchange between Jiva and the Lord. Because what is bhakti? Bhakti is love, Bhakti is service, Bhakti is the exchange of emotions. So, and this means the dialogue, dialogue of individual consciousness with the Supreme Consciousness. When we ask questions being dependent and when we get answers from the Supreme Consciousness or from the higher consciousness of the spiritual master. And in this way, we engage in dialogue. So the whole bhakti is dialogue. And the proper learning is to learn how to ask questions. Actually, I sometimes give some negative remarks about the standard courses which are there, because the standard courses mostly teach people to say correct things, to give correct answers. But actually the proper learning, the proper methodology of learning, the proper process of learning is the process which helps us to understand how to ask questions. how to enter into dialogue, how to ask questions from the Lord and receive answers and hear and understand his answers. So that's not a standard kind of learning because standard kind of learning, you have to understand certain information, you have to remember this information and then you have to answer certain questions and to demonstrate that you remember the information properly. But that's not the proper learning. The proper learning is how to engage, how to be engaged into this dialogue with the Supreme Consciousness. So this is what I wanted to say and Srila Prabhupada of course in the first canto of Shri Mat Bhagavatam, we're already entering the realm of this beautiful book. He gives this unforgettable purport in the very beginning, in the second chapter of the first canto. The whole world is full of questions and answers. The birds, bees, and men are all busy in the matter of perpetual questions and answers. In the morning, birds in the nest become busy with questions and answers. And in the evening, also the same birds come back and again become busy with questions and answers. So, Srila Prabhupada is saying that we are anywhere doing this, we are seeking the answers to our questions. But all the, he writes further, all the they go on making such questions and answers for their whole lives, they are not at all satisfied. Satisfaction of the soul can only be obtained by questions and answers on the subject of Krishna. Of course, this is his direct, Prabhupada's direct explanation of the statement of Sutta Goswami, who is thanking the sages of Naimisharanya, Shauna Kharishi, for asking this question, because the questions themselves are the source of satisfaction. So the proper learning is not to know the answers. The proper learning is to learn how to ask the proper questions. And the answers will come if our attitude is correct. So that's the point. And of course, to ask the questions we have to find a qualified person whom we trust and who is worthy to surrender to. So, actually this process of questions and answers is the manifestation of our humility. To ask proper questions means to be humble, because if we ask questions especially in the presence of other people, we basically declare that we don't know something and it's very painful for our false ego. So we tend to think that we know everything. Therefore, Krishna says that Tadvidi Pranipatina Pariprašnena Seva Yada Not just questions, but Pariprašna means all-round questions until we understand everything. So this is what we should learn, how to ask questions. Therefore, I am very happy when some of the listeners of this course are very active in asking questions like Deva, Sri, Radhika or some other people. Okay, so now we are finally starting the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. And as I already promised to you, to understand the message of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we first of all have to understand the main subject matter of the first canto. You know, if we look superficially at the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we will see the kaleidoscope of different stories vaguely or remotely connected with each other. The story of Maharaja Parikhsha, the story of Dhritarashtra renouncing this world, the story of Arjuna going to Dvaraka, and Kuntidevi is praying, Bhishma Dev is leaving this world. And what is the main message? What is the connecting thread of all these stories? What Sukadev Goswami or Vyasadev for this matter or Sutta Goswami want to tell us by this first canter of Srimad Bhagavatam? Without understanding this topic, we will be lost. We will be completely lost in these different stories. and it's good in itself but we will lose the point. It's actually very important when we keep the point and when we hammer the point and that's exactly what is being done in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. When we are able to keep our attention on the main point only then we will have this aha moment. We will be very surprised at the end because the whole message will be revealed, but only if we meditate and if we understand what we should keep our attention on. And for that, we need to know the main and secondary topics of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam and every other canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. So the first and second topics, the first and second cantos are not included into the scheme of ten topics because there are twelve cantos and first and second canto serve as the introduction to the whole book and the acharyas who analyze the structure of Srimad Bhagavatam from the point of view of ten topics they say that the main topic of the first canto is adhikar. Adhikar or eligibility. Qualification of the listener, first of all, and speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam. And by the way, it also describes the relationship between the listener and the speaker. And this relationship, our relationship of surrender, So in other words, if we reformulate this particular topic, the main topic of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is description of the methodology of how to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. Without understanding the methodology, the proper methods of understanding Srimad Bhagavatam, we will not be able to derive the full benefit of Srimad Bhagavatam. And therefore, Shilavyasadev starts with this topic. He dedicates the whole book to explain the method of knowing Srimad Bhagavatam. How we should listen and how we should speak and whom we should listen and in which mood we should listen. So that's the main topic. So, and this is the positive statement that the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam describes the qualification or eligibility. to understand Simad Bhagavatam. And the negative statement, the first Kent also says indirectly, that it's not important. Any external qualifications are not important. To understand Simad Bhagavatam, what is necessary is the strong desire. and the stronger our desire to understand Srimad Bhagavatam, the higher our qualification, the higher our level of adhikara or qualifications. Everything else, the caste or any external thing is not important. Childhood traumas or whatever, they are not important to understand Srimad Bhagavatam unless they hinder our desire to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. So only the desire is counted. Everything else is only important as much as it is helping us or on the contrary depriving us from having very strong desire to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. So, and as I said, in every canto, the secondary topic is Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. And he is Asraya, the ultimate shelter. So, this topic is everywhere. And I'll very briefly describe how this secondary topic is described in the first canto. We will go in little details while describing the prakaranas, the structure of the first canto. But in general, what Srimad Bhagavatam is saying from the very beginning, the personality of Godhead. Krishna is a personal God, not as an impersonal Brahman, not even as Paramatma, but a God who who is directly involved into the lives of his devotees, is being presented in the beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam. Then in the 10th canto, he is basically one of the main heroes of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, and then he becomes the main hero of the 10th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. But this is like little preview how the Supreme Lord is a person and it means that he is not indifferent, he is not impersonal, he is personally involved. And therefore, Srimad Bhagavatam provides its version of the story of Mahabharata. It summarizes the main points. Madhavacharya, while describing the essence of Mahabharata, he says that the essential point, because again, Mahabharata is a very complex and difficult to understand book, huge book, where one can easily get lost. So Madhavacharya says, what is the main point of Mahabharata relationship between God and his devotees? Krishna and Pandavas. That's the point. That's the main subject matter of Mahabharata. So from the very beginning, without wasting time, it is the essence of Mahabharata is being described in the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam because the whole first canto of Simad Bhagavatam is mainly about how Krishna is interacting with his devotees Pandavas and ultimately Maharaja Pariksit. But also what is important to know regarding this topic is that Srimad Bhagavatam gives sometimes drastically different versions of the same events which are described in Mahabharata. Like there are some differences in the story of Maharaja Parikshit, how he was saved and Ashwatthama. But these differences are not so important. But of course, the main difference is in the story of how Maharaja Pariksit ended his life. How he was desperately trying to save his life and building a special palace in the middle of Ganga in Mahaparata. And how it is completely different in Simad Bhagavatam. So basically, Silavya Sadev, even though he is the author of Bos Mahabharata and Simad Bhagavatam, gives a completely different version of events, especially of this point. And once I asked, I have a good friend who is an Acharya in Madhava Sampradaya, very respected scholar who knows Vedanta Sutra by heart. And he also knows very well Srimad Bhagavatam. I asked him why the same author, Shilavyasadev, describes especially this story about Maharaja Pariksit and his curse of Brahmana in a different way in Mahabharata and in Shrima Bhagavatam. And his reaction was very interesting. He was very surprised to hear this question. And he said, why are you so concerned with the version of Mahabharata? For us, the ultimate truth is described in Simad Bhagavatam. So, just disregard what is described in Mahabharata. Just simply hear what is there in Srimad Bhagavatam and take it seriously. Everything else is not important. So that was his explanation or his answer on this. Of course, we know that there are some different explanations, Yuga, Bhada and so on and so forth. But beautifully, the first canto is describing the essence of Mahabharata by explaining how Krishna is a very attractive person and how he is very loving and protective. and at the same time very cunning and intelligent and sometimes not so straightforward in dealing with his devotees. So let's get back to the main topic which is adhikar or eligibility of listener and bakta, Srota and Vakta, listener and speaker. And so that basically by describing the qualification of the listener and the qualification of the speaker, Simad Bhagavatam describes the methodology of how we should understand Simad Bhagavatam. Basically, the idea here, the message here is that we hear different stories of how Simad Bhagavatam was recited with different extent of success. Actually, we never hear in Simad Bhagavatam itself that recitation of Sutta Goswami brought about desired success. It doesn't say in Srimad Bhagavatam at all. Sutta Goswami described all Srimad Bhagavatam to the sages of Naimisharani and most probably they continued doing the same sacrifice which they were doing before. They probably said, thank you very much dear Sutta, it was very interesting, but let us continue continue with our main business of doing sacrifices, basically means that this session of listening to Srimad Bhagavatam was not so successful. So, Simad Bhagavatam is describing in the first canto how we should understand Simad Bhagavatam, what conditions should be met for us, by us, so that we would be successful. How we should surrender to the speakers of Simad Bhagavatam, what qualities of the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam should possess and so on and so forth. So that's the main topic, the methodology as I already said. And by the way, Srimad Bhagavatam also describes five conditions which should be fulfilled if we want to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. The first condition, let's go quick through this first condition. Simad Bhagavatam should be studied in a pure environment in the association of devotees, who have deep appreciation and reverence for Simad Bhagavatam. We can see first it is stressed that basically after Mangala Chirana of Srimad Bhagavatam, the first verse speaks about Naimisharanya. And the commentators explain how important this place of Naimisharanya. Then when we come to Vyasadev, Vyasadev received his instructions on Srimad Bhagavatam in Badarikashrama in the river of the bank Saraswati, in the very pure and elevated place. And ultimately, Maharaja Pariksit received his instructions on the bank of Ganga near Himalayas, at the foothills of Himalayas. So, this is to underscore the importance of receiving Simad Bhagavatam in a very pure place. Without purity of the place, we will not be able to understand Srimad Bhagavatam properly. It's important to make sure that the environment is pure and it is mostly purified by the devotees being present. That's the first condition of understanding Srimad Bhagavatam. Second condition, respect and devotion to Srimad Bhagavatam itself. We have to cultivate these feelings of respect and devotion while we are reciting. Therefore, we are reciting special prayers to Srimad Bhagavatam before reciting it. We should definitely tune up for the message of Simad Bhagavatam, for us to receive this message properly. Very, very important. And therefore, while I'm reciting my long Mangalacharana, please recite it with me in your muted form. And every time you open Simad Bhagavatam, some prayer to Simad Bhagavatam should be there because Simad Bhagavatam is living. And we can see how the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam describes this. First, how Shauna Karishis very respectfully approaches Sutta Goswami, and how Sutta Goswami is happy to feel this reverence and devotion from Shauna Karishis, how he is elated, and how, of course, Vyasadev is very respectful, and it is specifically described that he did some ritual of puja to the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam, Narada Muni, and how attentively he heard. And of course, the highest example of hearing Srimad Bhagavatam is the recitation by Siva Sukadevga Swami, and that has been done in utmost reverence. And therefore, again, Mangala Charana is very important. The third condition is the systematic study. I already explained this to you. There is no need. So, only if we follow the sequential process of worship, the form of the Lord. It is explained that Srimad Bhagavatam is the Svarupa of the Lord. And there is a special procedure how to relate to Svarupa of the Lord. starting from his lotus feet and gradually, gradually going up to his face. So that's the proper etiquette. And the same proper etiquette should be maintained while we study Srimad Bhagavatam. This is a repetition. And Srila Prabhupada says this in the purport. It's a very famous quote. I will not read it. The fourth condition is that listeners or even speakers should not be arrogant about their knowledge and consider themselves to be great scholars or devoid of humility. they should not be given Srimad Bhagavatam actually the moment speaker of course it's a little difficult for me I'm sitting thousands of miles away from most of you and so it's not really proper but the proper etiquette is that the speaker should see how the audience reacts to his speech, and if he feels that there is some arrogance in the audience, he should stop recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam. He should not waste his time if he sees some arrogance. The humility is an extremely important point, and therefore all the listeners, they express their humility. But of course, the humility of Maharaja Pariksit is utmost. The humility of Shauna Karishi is somewhat ceremonial. It's not so deep. Humility of Yasadev, who is the second listener of Simad Bhagavatam, in the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam, is much deeper because it's emotionally surcharged. And this emotional involvement of Vyasadev, his total dissatisfaction, is the prerequisite of the success of hearing the teacher. And the emotions of Maharaja Pariksit are very difficult to be described. How sincere he was in his desire to understand Simad Bhagavatam. So, Srila Prabhupada writes in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, One must be very meek and submissive and try to live peacefully by lending the ear to the speeches of the transcendentally self-realized soul who speaks on the message of Bhagavata Dharma or religion of glorifying the Supreme Lord and his devotees. So, we can see the fourth condition. and the last condition, the fifth condition which is there the speaker should always see if the listener desires to hear and if he sees some indifference lack of desire in the audience he should immediately stop he should not go further only if he sees the reciprocation from the listeners, he should continue. Because it's a very sacred and very intimate subject matter. And the prerequisite is very important. Just if we see the desire for intellectual satisfaction, if it is just an intellectual satisfaction this is not enough reason to listen to Srimad Bhagavatam we should understand that listening of Srimad Bhagavatam is the matter of life and death if we are in this frame of mind that this is the most important thing which I have to do because it can save me from the imminent death and give me the desired highest possible results like Maharaja Pariksit or Vyasadeva. So we can see that this intensity gradually, gradually increases in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. Sages of Naimisharanya, Vyasadev, manifest much stronger intensity of desire to hear. And of course, Maharaja Pariksit is the culmination of this point. So this is a very specific qualification of the listener, Shrota. his inquisitiveness. And it is described what should be done for us to become such a listener. In Simad Bhagavatam indirectly it is said that the person has to undergo preliminary purification. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said that Simad Bhagavatam is an advanced study. That first you have to go through studying Bhagavad Gita and studying of Bhagavad Gita will prepare your heart to understand Srimad Bhagavatam. But in the traditional Vedic culture, the preliminary purification is to go to different holy places, to take baths, ceremonial baths, and to perform sacrificial rituals. And therefore, it is explained that sages of Naishmisharanya, they were in this pure place and they were performing the sacrificial rituals. Then, Silla Vyasadev, he wrote the whole Vedic literature, the whole body of Vedic literature, including Mahabharata. And that was his yajna. That was his preliminary purification of the heart before he received Simad Bhagavatam from Narada Muni or some summary of Simad Bhagavatam from Narada Muni. And of course the whole life story of Maharaja Pariksit is being described. For us to understand that to receive Simad Bhagavatam we have to dedicate our life to purify our heart. It's not a cheap thing and the purification of the heart has to be a very important point. And of course we know that the main condition which purifies our heart is Sadhu Sangha, the presence of saintly people and service to the saintly people. That's exactly what Narada Muni will tell Silla Vyasadeva. That because I was serving the saintly people, no actually Krishna himself, Vishnu, Paramatma, Paramatma who will come to Narada Muni. He will tell Narada Muni, you know why you are so successful? Why so quickly you achieved me? Because you served sadhus. And because of this, you are so successful. So that's an important point to understand that there should be preliminary purification and sadhusangha. And we can see also very interesting thing. Saunaka Rishi asked questions in the beginning six questions. But Silla Sutta Goswami answers these questions basically in the second and third chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam. and the fourth chapter of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam starts with the new series of questions. Because the recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam by Sutta Goswami could be finished if Sona Karishri didn't ask this new series of questions. And then again he asks questions, and then again he asks questions, and every time he asks questions. Sorry. And every time he asks questions, Sutta Goswami goes deeper and deeper and deeper in the topic because he understands that the inquisitiveness... I have to answer quickly. Sorry. how to I can unmute you? Yes. Аркадий, я сейчас лекцию даю. Можно я вам позвоню через полчаса? Конечно. Спасибо. Да, я перезвоню. Окей. I'm audible, right? You hear me? Yeah, okay. Okay, so again, as I said, bhakti is a dialogue, and dialogue means questions and questions and questions and subsequent answers. The moment we don't have any questions, the recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam should be stopped. That means that we know everything. So, okay, fine. Go on with your life. so but if the listener expresses strong desire to learn more then the narration goes on and that's how the narration goes on of the whole Srimad Bhagavatam so anyway so it's a gradual process of explaining Srimad Bhagavatam more complete and more complete and more complete So a few things, that's the specific qualifications. The general qualification of the listener is his desire to hear. and most specific qualification is ability to ask questions and inquisitiveness, desire to go deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper so the Bhakta, the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam also must have some special qualifications and there are four such special qualifications The first qualification is that he has to have complete knowledge. Ideally, the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam has to understand the whole book and has to understand the connection between the cantos and between the chapters and between the verses within the chapter and the inner meaning and to keep the threads. He has to be well versed in other scriptures as well, because I already explained that you can only understand Srimad Bhagavatam if you know other branches of Vedic knowledge, like Alankar Shastra, Anyaya, Vaiseshika, Sankhya, Yoga, because it's such a complicated subject matter, complicated book. And therefore, Bhaktar ideally has to know this and therefore, Srila Prabhupada in the first kanto of Srimad Bhagavatam says, unless you know six kinds of Vedic philosophies, Nyayava, Sheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Purvami Mamsa, Nutrami Mamsa, you should not sit on Vyasasana. You should not occupy the seat of Vyasadeva. So that's the first qualification. Very difficult. I don't know who can fulfill this qualification. Definitely not my humble self, but still I'm trying to do this and trying to explain. Then, very important to be in a proper disciplic succession. This is also indirectly explained in the first canter of Srimad Bhagavatam. It is explained that Sutta Goswami was listening to Shukadeva Goswami. Shukadeva Goswami was listening to Vyasa Dev. Vyasa Dev Goswami was listening to Narada. Narada heard Brahma. Brahma heard Lord Krishna himself. This transmission of knowledge through guru to disciple is very important. And if you just think that by intellectually reading Srimad Bhagavatam, you become qualified to explain it to others, it's a mistake. So, not only this, you have to have authority to impart the teaching of Srimad Bhagavatam. Like it is specifically explained that Narada Muni comes to Vyasadev and says, you have the authority. I am giving you the authority, but you know the subject matter and therefore it's proper for you to do this. And also Vyasadev himself, he empowered Sukadev Goswami to speak. He gives him this authorization. And of course, Srila Prabhupada gave this authorization to all of his disciples. He said, you please repeat after me the knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam and that will be good for you and for everyone else who will hear you. So, in a sense, it's there for us, luckily. And of course, Srila Prabhupada received his authorization from his spiritual master. master. This is how it goes. Because we have to represent somebody. We should not speak on behalf of ourselves or on behalf of our own mind. While speaking Srimad Bhagavatam, we are representing particular line of the cyclic succession, particular tradition of interpretation of Srimad Bhagavatam and particular person guru who empowered me to do this and of course last but not the least one has have to be a bhaktan one have to be a devotee of has to be a devotee of Bhagavan not just in person list or somebody who belongs to some other school of knowledge. And that's also very clearly explained in the stories of the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam. And external qualifications, as I said, are not at all qualifications for understanding Simad Bhagavatam. And therefore we can see that Sonakarisha is from the Brigu dynasty. He is a Brahmana and all sages are Brahmanas, are Sutagaswami. He is from mixed caste, from very low caste, who only good for driving the chariots and reciting some stories. But still, because he belongs to a particular tradition and because he is authorized, he is elected as the speaker. And the same way Narada Muni, Vyasadev and of course Pariksit. And we can see very particular ideas that sometimes the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam is lower than the listener of Srimad Bhagavatam. Because the qualification again from the material point of view or from some hierarchy point of view because it's not important. Your devotion is important, belonging to a particular sampradaya is important, everything else is external and not so important. And Simad Bhagavatam, now we are coming to an end of this lecture and I don't want to cover the next topic which is very important. So I will probably end this lecture here, even though we started late. So no, we can go a few more minutes, right? Whatever you decide, my friend. Okay, let's do some preliminary study of the next section, which is the most important. Anyway, so to finish this section of how the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is describing the methodology, we also have to know by which criteria we can judge that the recitation or hearing of Srimad Bhagavatam was successful. It is also very clearly described in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. This is the success of hearing Srimad Bhagavatam. The success of hearing Srimad Bhagavatam is that the Supreme Lord enters the heart of the listener. And you feel he is there. Somebody is there with you. And you feel that all my doubts caused by contamination of my karma are removed. I feel completely fearless. The fearlessness arises in the heart because the Lord is there and I know that he's taking care of me. And then ultimately deep and unconditional love of the Lord develops in the heart. So that's the complete success. If we have some partial success, that's also good. If we more acutely feel the presence of the Lord after listening to Srimad Bhagavatam, if we feel that some of our doubts, which may be even hidden from ourselves, are destroyed or removed, then also it means that the hearing process works. And if we feel more fearless, if we gradually, gradually feel that the fear of death slackens its grip of our consciousness, it means that we are hearing Srimad Bhagavatam properly. So that's the next section in our plan. I explained the main and the secondary topics of the first canto and the main topic is the methodology and how we can realize that our hearing of Srimad Bhagavatam is proper. And five conditions which should be fulfilled for this process to be successful. So now I want to give a very general overview of the structure of the first Canto by describing the three main divisions of the first Canto. So the three main divisions, three prakaranas, as it is called in Sanskrit, and we use this word. The Simad Bhagavatam is divided into three unequal parts. The first two consist of three chapters. Chapters first to three, first prakarana, fourth to six, next three chapters, second prakarana. And 13 chapters, the third prakarana, the third part. Even from this composition we can see which part, which section of Srimad Bhagavatam, of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is most important. Obviously it is the third part, starting from the seventh chapter to the ninth chapter. And what we see in these three divisions of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we clearly see that there are three pairs of listeners, Shrotas and speakers, Vaktas of Srimad Bhagavatam. In the first it's Shauna Akarishi and the sages of Naimisharanya and Sutta Goswami. And they are described in first three chapters of Srimad Bhagavatam. Then, of course, they continue listening to Srimad Bhagavatam from Sutta Goswami and some description is also there in the later chapters. But everything about them most important is being told in the first three chapters. And the next section is Sīla Vyāsadeva Narada Muni. And to a certain extent you can also say that Narada Muni who is listening to Srimad Bhagavatam or the topics of Krishna from the sages who stayed for four months of rainy season. And then the third section is describing the process of hearing Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami by Maharaja Pariksit. So this is the three big divisions which are describing the proper methodology of hearing or understanding Srimad Bhagavatam. And different commentators, they divided the adhikar or eligibility of the speakers and listeners of Srimad Bhagavatam in these three sections into three standard categories. the minimum eligibility which is called Nichadikar or Hinadikar in different commentators qualified it differently it's basically minimum eligibility can you imagine you know Sutta Goswami how elevated he is and sages of Naimisharani but still from this standard However, from the point of view of Simad Bhagavatam, this is the minimum qualification which we should try to follow. The Madhyama Adhikar medium eligibility is of course Silavyasadev and Narada Muni. But Simad Bhagavatam, the first canto of Simad Bhagavatam is mostly concerned with describing the highest possible qualification. Not that we should try to imitate this qualification, it's not possible, but we should really by contemplating and meditating on this qualification, highest possible qualification, Uttama Adhikar of both Maharaja Pariksit and Sukadevga Swami, try to approach this as much as possible. And meditation is a very powerful tool for us to come to this point of being properly qualified. Therefore, the third section is the most elaborate and therefore it has so many different different seemingly unrelated subject matters, which are actually very much related to each other, if you understand what Srila Vyasadeva, Sukadeva Goswami want to tell us by all these descriptions in certain chapters of Srimad Bhagavatam, the first canto, certain last chapters. So, how the qualification is being described? What is the difference between Sutta Goswami and Shauna Karishi, and then Vyasadeva and Narada Muni, and then Maharaja Pariksit and Sukadeva Goswami? If you are to give just one word, what is the difference? What would be the word? If I would give this lecture in a proper setting, offline, I would wait for your answer, but in this Zoom class I will not wait for your answer. I will give the answer myself. And the Acharyas who explain the meaning of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam say that the difference which is very clearly described through the stories of the first canto is the level of their renunciation, Vairagya. I already said that the main qualification is desire to hear. But in this beautiful picture there is a little home in which sadhus live. who go to Dandavat Parikram around Govardhan. Those sadhus who have 108 stones or sometimes thousand plus stones, different sadhus are there. So they have to spend years by circumambulating in this way by Dandavad Parikrama. And they are very renowned, so they are given such little hearts with their wills. So this is the symbol of renunciation, of sincerity of desire. What actually renunciation means? Renunciation means that you are not interested in anything else. That's the indicator of the sincerity of your desire. If you're not interested, if you're interested in so many other subject matters, and by the way, once every two weeks you attend the lectures on Srimad Bhagavatam, that's okay, but that does not speak much about your Adhikar. much about your Adhikar. So the renunciation is the external sign of the internal qualification which is difficult to see. The desire sometimes is difficult to see, but renunciation is very clearly seen. And ultimately renunciation is the external manifestation of bhakti. It's not that renunciation itself is the qualification to understand Srimad Bhagavatam, but the renunciation which is the result of bhakti, development of bhakti in the heart, which is the result of development of the desire to listen to Srimad Bhagavatam, which is the main sadhana of bhakti. This is the eligibility. And this is what Vopadev in Harili Lamrita explains. And his explanation of Srimad Bhagavatam is fairly authoritative. And even Jiva Goswami sometimes quotes Vopadev Harili Lamrita. So he says in the beginning, in the introduction to this commentary that Vairagyasya prakarsana prakarsho atra vivakshitaha tallakshanaparaksrotum vaktum charhati samhitam So, the first canto establishes the excellence, prakarsha, of vairagya detachment. Vairagyasya prakarsana. Only a person who has this quality is worthy of hearing and narrating Sattvata Samhita, Srimad Bhagavatam. That's his understanding and let's try to go a little deeper. So, you know, the proper qualification, eligibility to understand Srimad Bhagavatam is bhakti. There is no doubt about it, love of God. But it may create a vicious circle. You cannot get bhakti unless you hear Srimad Bhagavatam, and you cannot hear Srimad Bhagavatam unless you understand Srimad Bhagavatam, unless you have bhakti. So therefore it is said that dhyana and vairagya are necessary especially for the speaker of Srimad Bhagavatam. But vairagya is detachment from the world, purity of the heart and freedom from material attachment and desires. That's what we should understand under vairagya. because without this without purity of the heart without freedom from material attachment and desires it will not be possible for us to properly understand it will not be possible for us to even desire to understand and as I said the desire is the qualification to understand and Srimad Bhagavatam. So, as I said, sometimes people, devotees condemn psychology. Psychology has its place even in devotional service. Because psychology can help us to remove some preliminary obstacles which are hindrances which deprives us the proper desire to understand Srimad Bhagavatam because our mind is engaged in something else. So therefore it is described and we will see how it is described in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. So we will see it a little later. And another important feature of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam is that in these three stories which are described, stories of recitation by Sutta Goswami, stories of Vyasadeva and Narada Muni, and stories of Maharadjapa Riksit, story of Maharadjapa Riksit and Sukadeva Goswami, the guru comes himself by the internal desire, when the desire in the heart of listener becomes very strong, desire to hear Srimad Bhagavatam, desire to know the truth, when this desire becomes very strong, the guru will come. We should not be too much concerned. The guru will come and we will get the guru of a certain qualification, which is according to our own qualification. Krishna sends to us different kind of teachers to teach Simad Bhagavatam. And this is actually the point which Gorga Vinda Maharaj was always, oftentimes, making. He would be saying that, you know, you have a guru which you deserve Krishna send to you a particular guru please study from this guru sincerely whatever it requires, do whatever it requires ok so that's the next point so for the speaker for the listener why Vairaghi is so important for the listener, for Shrota of Śrīmad Bhagavatam, because without detachment he will misinterpret Śrīmad Bhagavatam. He will not understand the proper message. He will just basically misuse the knowledge of Śrīmad Bhagavatam and he will justify his own weaknesses by using the stories or some statements of Srimad Bhagavatam, and we know so many instances are there when people misuse the knowledge of Srimad Bhagavatam. So what I'm thinking, maybe I should finish now, because I'm just afraid that I'm speaking too much, and heavy rain started I don't know if you hear the heavy rain or not which is also somewhat a distraction so almost two hours we already spoke it's probably enough for now I told many important things so it's probably better if you digest it and we start the next class from this point on. We will continue how Vairagi is important and how it manifests in different listeners of Srimad Bhagavatam and then we will explain why it is so important for speakers of Srimad Bhagavatam also to be detached. Okay, that's it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mahesh. I have a lot of questions. I don't know if that was purpose. I will unmute people so they can say thank you to you. And so we are meeting next Saturday. Please, the participants don't leave, because I probably have to create a new link. They are scheduled links, and they are like the same series. series but it's okay I will do it but I just need to connect with the Lutari. So yeah next Saturday we meet at the same time and it will be just question and answer sessions. You may send to me preliminary questions which you have if you want or we can do it live as well. Whatever you like and all the questions which are there which were unanswered I will also try to answer please send me again all these questions. I can send you the questions and I was thinking if the person is present. Yeah it's better it's better if they are but but you still can can send to me the questions here. Okay. But then they will ask it live. I want to say thank you to you. I know everybody wants to say a lot of words but cannot say much because we don't have to you know who were speaking at the same time. Thank you and be hi to everybody and I hope I qualify to listen often. I hope I am qualified to speak.