Srimad Bhagavatam, Volume 3

Srimad Bhagawatam, First Canto, Volume Three
Dharma Uvacha:
Etad vah pandayewanam yuktam arta abhayam vachah
Yesam gunaganaih krishna doutyadou bhagwan kritah
Dharma Uvacha—the personality of religiosity said, Etad—all these, Vah—
for you, Pandaveyanam—of those who are in the Pandava dynasty,
Yutktam—just befitting, Arta—the sufferer, Abhayam—freedom from all
fears, Vachah—speeches, Yesam—those, Gunaganaih—by the qualfication,
Krishna—even Lord Krishna, Doutyadou—the duty of messengers etc.
Bhagwam—the Personality of Godhead, Kritah—performed.
The personality of religiosity said, all "these words as spoken by you are
just befitting a person in the Pandava dynasty because captivated by the
devotional qualities of them, even Lord Krishna the Personality of
Godhead performed the duty of their messengers."
The assurances and challenges made by Maharaj Parikshit are never
exaggeration of his real power. The Maharaj said that even the denizens of
heaven could not escape his stringent government if they were breaker of
religious principles. He was not proud falsely because a devotee of the Lord is
equally or sometimes more powerful than the Lord by His Grace and any
promise made by a devotee, may be ordinarily very difficult to be fulfilled, is
properly executed by the Grace of the Lord. The Pandavas by their unalloyed
devotional service and full surrender unto the Lord made it possible that the
Lord sometime became the chariot driver or sometimes their messenger their
carrying their letters Such duties by the Lord for His devotee are always very
much pleasing to the Lord because the Lord wants to render service to His
unalloyed devotee whose life has no other engagement than to serve the Lord
with full love and devotion. Maharaj Parikshit grandson of Arjuna the
celebrated friendly servitor of the Lord, was exactly a pure devotee of the
Lord like his grandfathers and therefore the Lord was always with him even
from the time when he was helplessly lying in the womb of his mother and
was attacked by the blazing Brahmastra weapon of Aswatthama. A devotee is
always under the protection of the Lord and therefore, assurance of protection
by Maharaj Parikshit could never be without meaning. The Personality of
religiosity accepted this fact and thus thanked the King for his becoming true
to his exhalted position.
Na vayam kleshavijani yatah syu purusarsabha
Purusham tam vijanimo vakyabheda vimohitah.
Na—not, Vayam—we, Kleshavijani—the root cause of sufferings, Yatah—
wherefrom, Syu—it so happens, Purusarsabha—oh the greatest of all human
being, Purusham—the person, Tam—that, Vijanimo—know, Vakyabheda—
difference of opinion, Vimohitah—bewildered by.
Oh the greatest among the human being, it is very difficult to ascertain
the exact wrong doer who has caused our sufferings because we are
bewildered by different opinions of theoritical philosophers.
There are many theoritical philosophers in the world who put forward their
own theory of cause and effect specially in the matter of the cause of
sufferings and the effect of it on different living beings. Generally there are
six great philosophers like Kanada the author of Vaisesik Philosophy, Goutam
the author of logic, Patanjali the author of mystic yoga, Kapila the author of
Samkhya Philosophy, Jaimini the author Karma Mimana and Vyasadeva the
author of Vedanta Darshan.
Although the bull or the Personality of religiosity and the cow the
personality of earth knew it perfectly well that the Personality of Kali was the
direct cause of their sufferings still as devotees of the Lord they knew it well
also that without the sanction of the Lord no body could inflict any trouble
upon them. According to Padmapurana our present trouble is due to
fructifying process of seedling sins but even that seedling sins also gradually
do fade away by execution of pure devotional service. As such the devotees
even they see the direct mischiefmonger still they do not accuse him for the
sufferings inflicted by the miscreant. They take it for granted that the
immediate mischiefmonger is made to do so by some indirect cause and
therefore they tolerate the sufferings thinking it to be godgifted in small dose
only otherwise the sufferings would have been greater by measure than
actually felt.
Maharaj Parikshit wanted to get their statement of accusation on the direct
mischiefmonger but they denied to do it on the above ground. Speculative
philosophers however do not recognise the sanction of the Lord but they try to
find out in their own way as will be described in the following verses, the
cause of sufferings. According to Srila Jiva Goswami such speculators are
themselves bewildered and thus they cannot know that the ultimate cause of
all causes is the Supreme Lord The Personality of Godhead.
Kechid vikalpavasana ahuratmanam atmanah
Daivam anye pare karma swabham apare prabhum.
Kechid—some of them, Vikalpavasana—those who cover all kinds of duality,
Ahur—declare, Atmanam—ownself, Atmanah—of the self, Daivam—
superhuman, Anye—others, Apare—somebody else, Karma—activity,
Swabhavam—material nature, Apare—many other, Prabhum—authority.
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Some of the philosophers who decline all sorts of duality, declare that one
is ownself responsible for one's personal happiness and distress. Others
say superhuman power is responsible while somebody else say activity is
responsible and the gross materialist says nature is the cause ultimately.
As referred to above philosophers like Jaimini and his followers establish that
fruitive activity is the root cause of all distress and happiness and even there is
any superior authority as some superhurnan powerful God or gods, He or they
are also under the influence of fruitive activity because they reward result
according to one's action: and action is not independant because action is
performed by some performer: therefore the performer himself is the cause of
his own happiness or distress. In the Bhagwat Geeta also this is confirmed
(Bg. 6.5) that by one's mind freed from material affection one can deliver
himself from the sufferings of material pangs and one may not entangle
oneself in the matter by material affection of the mind. As such one's own
mind is the friend or enemy in the matter of one's material happiness and
distress.
Atheist like materialist-Samkhya concludes material nature as the cause of
all causes. According to them combination of material elements is the cause
of material happiness and distress and disintegration of matter is the cause of
freedom from all material pangs. Goutam and Kanad find out the atomic
combination as the cause of everything and impersonalist like Astavarkra
finds out the spiritual effulgence of Brahman is the cause of all causes. But in
the Bhagwat Geeta the Lord Himself declares that He is the back ground
source of impersonal Brahman also, and therefore He, the Personality of
Godhead, is the ultimate cause of all causes. This is confirmed in the Brahma
Samhita also that Lord Krishna is the ultimate cause of all causes.
Apratarkat anirdesyat iti kesu api nischayah
Atra anurupam rajarse vimrisa swa manisaya
Apratarkat—beyond the power of reasoning, Anirdesyat—beyond the power
of thinking, Iti—thus, Kesu—in somebody, Api—also, Nischayam—
definitely concluded, Atra—herein, Anurupam—which of them is right,
Rajarse—Oh the sage amongst the kings, Vimrisa—judge yourself, Swa—by
your own, Manisaya—power of intelligence.
There are some thinkers also according to whom no body can ascertain
the cause of distress by arguments neither one can know it by
imagination nor any one can express it by words. Oh the sage among the
kings just make your own judgement by thinking over them by your won
intelligence.
The Vaisnavites or the devotees of the Lord do believe it, as above explained,
that nothing can take place without the sanction of the Supreme Lord, He is
the supreme director as He confirms it in the Bhagwat Geeta (Bg. 15.15) that
He as all pervading Paramatma stays in each and every one's heart and keeps
vigilance of all actions ofthe living being as witness of all activities by the
same living being. The argument of the atheist that one cannot be punished for
one's misdeeds unless it is proved before a qualified justice is refuted herewith
as we accept the perpetual witness constant companion of the living being. A
living being may forget all that he might have done in his past or present life
but one must know that in the same tree as the material body the individual
soul and the Supreme Soul as Paramatma are sitting like two birds. One of
them or the living being is enjoying the fruits of the tree while the Supreme
Being is there to witness the activities. Therefore the Paramatma feature or the
Supreme Soul is actually the witness of all activities of the living being and by
His direction only the living being can remember or forget what he might
have done in the past. He is, therefore, both the all pervading impersonal
Brahman as well as the localised Paramatma in every one's heart. He is
knower of all past present and future and nothing can be concealed from Him
in respect of all activities of the living being. The devotees know this truth
and therefore they discharge their duty sincerely without being too much
anxious for being rewarded or so. Besides that no body can estimate the
Lord's reactions either by speculation or by scholarship why does He put one
into difficulty and why He does not do it for others. He is the Supreme
Knower of the Vedic Knowledge and as such He is factual Vedantist and at
the same time He is the compiler of the Vedanta. No body is independant of
Him and every one is engaged in His service in different manner. In the
conditioned state such services are rendered by the living being under force by
the material nature while in the liberated state the living being is helped by the
spiritual nature in the matter of voluntary loving service of the Lord. There is
nothing incongruity or inebriety in His actions all on the path of Absolute
Truth. Bhismadeva correctly estimated the inconceivable actions of the Lord
(see Page 509 Vol. II). The conclusion is therefore that the sufferings of the
representative of religiosity and that of the representative of the earth, as were
present before the King Maharaj Parikshit, is a planned one inorder to prove it
that Maharaj Parikshit was the ideal of executive heads as he knew it well
how to give protection to the cows the (earth) and the Brahmins (religious
principles) the two pillars of spiritual advancement of the human society.
Every one being under the full control of the Lord, He is quite correct in His
action when He desires something to be done by some one irrespective of