Srimad Bhagavatam course. Session 5
Бхакти Вигьяна Госвами · Bhaktivedanta Institute · 2025
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Schedule update and upcoming question session
Hare Krishna, dear devotees, I'm very happy to be with all of you today. I'm sorry last time we missed the 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 canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And then next Saturday, we will just dedicate the whole session for question and answers. And it's better if they're live.
So we can interact because we finished with the introduction to this course, and now we're already uh working on
uh the uh trying to understand the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the whole uh structure of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So I think it's a good time uh to ask the questions.
The reason is that the next Saturday where the class is scheduled 7th of June is Pandavanir Jalai Kadashi, and I will be traveling the whole day. So I will not be able to give class on the 7th of June.
Therefore, 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, uh we are conceptual or contextual study or whatever of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And today we will have a few preliminary preliminary topics. I will explain the interdependence of the 10 topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
As you recall, that was the last point which we described in the previous class.
Then very briefly I will explain how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam according to these ten topics and to this 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
cantos of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam when we will start reviewing this. And also explain a little bit how bhakti is always a dialogue, how 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, overviewing it as a whole. And first I will speak about the main and secondary topics of the first canto and how they're 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, and I will again very generally describe the structure of the first canto.
And then in the next class we will take first prakarana, then second prakarana, then third prakarana, and go into more details. But for today we will try to keep the understanding of the whole first canto intact.
But before we will we will chant our mantras A Sadu Sadatadain Atinit Chochataraka, Hana Muncha Kadachin Mamprema Rit Katayospura,
O Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, giver of saintliness to the unsaintly, or 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, pure love of Krishna, together with Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So and then the obeisances to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam who is everything to Śrīla Sanātana Gaswami and hopefully at one point will become everything for us. Madekabandha Mad Sangin Mad Guro Man Mahadhana
Man Nistaraka Mat Bhakya Bhagya Matananda Namostu Te Mad 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.
Interdependence of the ten Bhagavatam topics
Source of bliss, not even happiness. So So the first topic in our lesson plan is interdependence of the 10 topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
This is uh this point is coming from uh Vapadeva's commentary, short commentary on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam kind of review, Harīlāmṛta, and he makes a very interesting point, observation.
He says related to the ten topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he says that the each successive part is included as a part uh of the uh 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 Visarga. We can only understand Visarga or secondary creation if we understood sarga and this sarga 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 this sarga. So sarga is included into the next topic.
And if it take sthanam, for understanding sthanam, we need to know sarga and visarga and so on and so forth until Ashraya, the tenth topic of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is revealed by describing the nine previous ones.
And the uh the next topic becomes whole and the previous topics becomes angas, different limbs of this whole. And to understand the whole you need to know the limbs. That's the idea here.
How how it works, and that's why it is so important to also read Srimad Bhagavatam in proper sequence. So yeah, it is basically explained what I already said. So that uh uh it 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam layer by layer builds up our understanding of reality. And ultimately, it facilitates all inclusive, comprehensive understanding of the absolute truths.
So you can't understand. And Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda is very emphatic about this point. We will quote it again today in connection
with the first canto, what Śrīla Prabhupāda says, one will be unable to capture the effect of the tenth canto without going through the first nine cantos.
The book is complete in twelve 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 Śrīla Prabhupāda was very much against jumping into the 10th canto.
And I was present in some Bhāgavata-kathā, and uh the usually the manner, the style of Bhāgavata-kathā is to uh very quickly go through something and then dwell little a bit on this story and then again very quickly go through some other details and then jump
into the tenth canto and then describe ten, tenth canto. But it doesn't work.
Bhagavatam as the culmination of all sciences
If we really want to understand tenth canto we have to have a very good grasp and very good understanding of the previous ones.
So the next point which I want to describe: how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a complete science of reality.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is actually a scientific and that's why we're explaining Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it will become very clear to us.
So we can easily rephrase the 10 topics which we explained last time, and understand that actually 10 topics discover or describe all different sciences which we know.
So first is sarga and it starts with Sāṅkhya. Sāṅkhya means number. It is mathematics. And of course, physics and chemistry is described in the
third canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with sarga, how different elements are there, how they're composed and how they interact with each other to create reality. So this three fundamental basic sciences
are there in description of the first topic of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 sthāna describes biology, medicine, cosmology. This is the fifth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad And then Pōṣaṇam, which is also called Ūrkṣa in the twelfth
And then Porshanam, which is also called Traksha in the 12th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Pōṣaṇam is in fact the theory of evolution: how the soul evolves going through different bodies.
So, this is a very important part of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 Ūti or Hetu, this is psychology. This is a clear case of psychology because Ūti 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, Ūti 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 could see that it's describing sociology.
Of course, in Ūti some sociology was there in the seventh canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the whole Varṇāśrama system was explained, and economics, ethics, law, and political science.
So, of course, it's the Bhāgavatam version of all these sciences. Bhāgavatam 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 Īśānukathā is religion.
Īśānukathā 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 Īśānukathā, 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 Nirodha, Nirodha means the complete liberation from karma, how to eradicate karma. It's the science of yoga.
Yoga is describing how to destroy all the saṁskāras, and this is exactly what Nirodha means: the complete destruction of the samskaras of the past lives. And then Mukti, Mukti is the science.
Okay. So let's see how it works. We are on the ninth topic which is uh describing the uh science. The eight is the eight isn't go through food. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Uh 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 as explained in the subject matter is explained in the discipline of yoga and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives its version of how to do it.
Uh so the next uh mukti is actually uh the uh soteriology the science of the salvation version of this science and ultimately Āśraya, the theology or version of this science and ultimately Ashraya, the theology or the science of God.
So in this way we have ten uh 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
E Damhi Pumsapashruta se chaos, vishtasia, sukta se chabudi da tayoh, abitcho tortah, ka vibirni rupy to yam yat utama sloka gunānu varna nam. There's little mistake here. There's no anyway.
So basically it is said that the Kadis, the poets, or the great scientist of the spiritual science they established that the purpose of everything which people are doing here, uh of all the sciences and everything else culminates in the description of Utamasloka Guna Anu Anuvarnanam the qualities of the Supreme Lord.
So and Śrīla Prabhupāda 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 Śrīla Prabhupāda 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 Śrīla Prabhupāda 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 Viṣṇu.
So basically all the sciences, this uh ten topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or nine topics of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, uh this is different scientific description which help us to understand and to appreciate the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pastimes. So that's the point.
And therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda 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 pramāṇa for Bhaktivedanta Institute.
Analytical tools for understanding Bhagavatam cantos
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 uh explained uh the tools for this. Uh, first of all we have to understand that
each and every canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ultimately describes āśraya, the tenth topic, through its own vantage point of view, from its own perspective.
So, Āśraya, 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 dissolution.
So all the nine topics reveal the tenth one, āśraya, and therefore one can very boldly say that the topic of all 12 cantos is this one, āśraya.
But there is a very specific progression, how it is being developed, but every topic, every canto has āśraya as an important element.
It describes āśraya or Kṛṣṇa, the 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.
And uh but there are three tools which we already described. One of them I uh the most important one is the ten topics as uh uh we said uh that each canto has the main and secondary topic.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains this: that each canto has the main topic which it describes, and then there are one or two secondary topics and uh āśraya 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 two. The second tool, we will speak about sambandha, abhidheya and prayojana. This is the standard scheme.
What this particular Kanto is describing primarily sambandha or abhidheya or prayojana, and what it wants us to say, what is this understanding which this Kanto 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 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 uh there are very many quotes from different Purāṇas and from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself and from Śrīla Prabhupāda's explanation that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the svarūpa of the Lord.
That the 12th Kanto is svarūpa of the Lord, that's the Lord Himself. So the first and second Kanto is his lotus feet and so on so forth and then his smiling face is uh is the tenth canto.
So uh every now and then uh we will employ this understanding uh 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 nineteen uh 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
Importance of dialogue and questions in bhakti
described or signified by these signs on the uh feet of Lord Krishna and we will uh do this and that will give us very interesting uh idea about the uh first canto. Then the fourth point which I wanted to say today that bhakti is always a dialogue.
Why Bhagavad-gītā is a dialogue, why is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam always a dialogue? And why our studying of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But anyway, I will say a little later.
So Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura in his commentary to one of the verses of the second Kanto, the last chapter of the 2nd Canto. After describing the 10 topics. He says that actually these 10 topics what do they establish?
They establish these 10 topics. The main point of this 10 topics is to firmly establish the difference between the jīva and the Lord.
So that's what these 10 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 or of our life on the Lord. And these 10 topics of Mahāpurāṇa describe the dependence of jīva 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 saṁskāras 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 jīva and the Lord, and dependence of the jīva 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 Lord. 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.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam helps us to enter the realm of bhakti, the dialogue or the exchange between jīva 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 uh you have to understand certain information, you have to remember this information, and then you have to answer certain questions and uh to demonstrate that you remember the information properly. But that's not the proper learning.
The proper learning is uh how to engage uh how to be engaged into this dialogue with the Supreme Consciousness. So, this is what I wanted to say.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda, of course, in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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, beasts, 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 Śrīla Prabhupāda is saying that we anywhere doing this, we are seeking the answers to our questions.
But older he writes further, all 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 the his direct Prabhupāda's direct uh explanation of uh the statement of Sūta Gosvāmī, who is thanking the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya, Śaunaka Ṛṣi, for asking this question because the questions themselves is 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 uh is correct. So that's uh that's the point.
So and um uh of course to ask the questions we have to find a qualified person uh whom we trust and who is worthy to surrender to.
So this 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 and it's very painful for our false ego, so we tend to think that we know everything. So
Krishna says that, that, Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnenay sevayā. Paripraśna. Not just questions, but paripraśna means the s the, uh, all round questions until we understand everything.
So this is uh what we should learn how to ask questions and therefore I'm, uh, very happy, uh, when some of the listeners of this course are very active in asking questions like Deva Sri Radhika or some other people.
Qualification and eligibility as the primary topic
Okay, so uh now we are finally starting
the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and, uh, as I already promised to you, uh, to understand the message of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we will see the kaleidoscope of different stories vaguely
or remotely connected with each other, the story of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, the story of Dhṛtarāṣṭra renouncing his home, the story of Arjuna going to Dvārakā and Kuntīdevī praying Bhīṣmadeva is leaving this world.
And what is the main message? What is the connecting thread of all these stories? What Śukadeva Gosvāmī or Vyāsadeva for that matter or Sūta Gosvāmī want to tell us by this first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and every other canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So the first and second topics, the first and second uh 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from the point of view of ten topics.
They say that the topic of the the main topic of the first canto is Adikar Adhikar or Eligibility Qualification of the listener first of all and speaker
of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and the way, it also describes the relationship between the listener and the speaker. And this relationship are relationship of surrender, Saranagati.
So in other words, if we reformulate this particular topic, the main topic of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is description of the methodology of how to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Without understanding the methodology, the proper methods of understanding Śrīmad Bhagavatam vi will not be able to derive the full benefit of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And therefore Śrīla Vyāsadeva starts with this topic.
He dedicates the whole book to explain the method of knowing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 uh uh uh this is the positive statement that uh the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes the qualification or eligibility to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And the negative statement, the first canto also says indirectly that It's not important, any external qualifications are not important. To understand Srimad 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 adhikāra or qualifications. Everything else, the cast or any external thing is not important.
Childhood traumas or whatever, they're not important to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam unless they hinder our desire to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So, and as I said, in every canto, the secondary topic is Krishna as the supreme personality of Godhead. And he is āśraya, the ultimate shelter.
Krishna as secondary topic and 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 into little detail while describing the prakaraṇas, the structure of the first canto, but in general, what Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam is saying from the very beginning, the personality of Godhead, Krishna as a personal God, not as an impersonal Brahman, not even as Paramātmā, but God who is directly involved into the lives of his devotees is being presented in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Then in the 10th Canto, he is basically one of the main heroes of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and then he became the main hero of the tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam provides its version of the story of Mahābhārata. It summarizes the main points.
Madhvācārya, while describing the essence of Mahābhārata, he says that the essential point because again, uh, Mahābhārata is a very complex and difficult to understand book, huge book where one can easily get lost.
So Madhvācārya says, what is the main point of Mahābhārata? Relationship between God and His devotees, Krishna and Pandavas. That's the point. That's the main subject matter of Mahābhārata.
So from the very beginning, without wasting time, the essence of Mahābhārata is being described in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam because the whole first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is mainly about how Krishna is interacting with his devotees
Pandavas and ultimately Mahārāja Parīkṣit. But also what is important to know regarding this
topic is that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives sometimes drastically different versions of the same events which are described in Mahābhārata?
Like there are some differences in the story of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, uh how he was saved, and Aśvatthāmā. But these differences are not so important.
But of course, the main difference is in the story of how Mahārāja Parīkṣit ended his life, how he was desperately trying to save his life and building special palace in the middle of the Ganges in Mahābhārata, and how it is completely different in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So basically, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, even though he is the author of both Mahābhārata and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, gives a completely different version of events. Especially of this point.
And once I asked I have a good friend who is an ācārya in Madhva Sampradāya, very respected scholar who knows Vedānta-sūtra by heart, and he also knows very well Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
I asked him why the same author Śrīla Vyāsadeva, describes especially this story about Maharaja Parīkṣit and his curse of a brāhmaṇa in a different way in Mahābhārata and in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And his reaction was very interesting. He was very surprised to hear this question. And he said, why you're so concerned with the version of Mahabharata?
For us, the ultimate truth is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So just disregard what is described in Mahābhārata. Just simply hear what is there in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and take it seriously. Everything else is not important.
So that was his uh explanation or his answer onto this.
Of course, we know that there are some different explanations, yoga-māyā and so on so forth, but uh the beautifully the first canto is describing the essence of Mahābhārata 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 Adikar or eligibility of listener and bhakta, uh Srota and Bakta, listener and speaker. And uh so that basically uh by
describing the qualification of the listener and the qualification of the speaker, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam describes the methodology of how we should understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Basically, the idea here, the message here is that we hear different stories of how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was recited with different extent of success.
Actually, we never hear in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself that recitation of Sūta Gosvāmī brought about desired success. It doesn't say in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam at all, Sūta Gosvāmī described all Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya. Most probably they continued doing the same sacrifice which they were doing before.
They probably said, thank you very much, uh dear Sūta. Uh it was very interesting. Uh but uh let us continue with our main business of doing sacrifices.
Basically means that this session of listening to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was not so successful.
So, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is describing in the first canto how we should understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam what conditions should be met for us by us so that we would be successful.
How we should surrender to the speakers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, what qualities of the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should possess, and so on and so forth.
Five conditions for properly understanding Bhagavatam
So that's the main topic, the methodology, as I already said. And by the way, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also describes five conditions uh which should be fulfilled
uh if we want to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Uh The first condition, let's go quick through this first condition.
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be studied in a pure environment in the association of devotees who have deep appreciation and reverence for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. We can see first it is stressed that basically
after Maṅgalācaraṇa of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the fourth verse speaks about Naimiṣāraṇya, and the commentators explain how important this place of Naimiṣāraṇya.
Then when we come to Vyāsadeva, Vyāsadeva uh received his instructions on Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Badarikāśrama and the river of the banks Sarasvatī in the very pure and elevated place.
And ultimately, Mahārāja Parīkṣit received his instructions on the bank of Ganga near Himalayas, at the foothills of Himalayas. So this is to underscore the importance of
of receiving Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in a very pure place. Without purity of the place, we will not be able to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Second condition, respect and devotion to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself. We have to cultivate these feelings of respect and devotion while we are reciting, therefore we are reciting special prayers to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
before reciting it, Naṣṭa-prāyeṣv abhadreṣu nityaṁ bhāgavata-sevayā, or Nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam.
We should definitely tune Tune up for the message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for us to receive this message uh properly. Very very important.
And therefore, while I'm reciting my uh long Mangalacharana, please recite it with me in your
{ "idx": 696, "text": "muted form and every time you open Śrīmad" } { "idx": 697, "text": "Bhāgavatam some prayer to Śrīmad Bhāgavatam should be there because Śrīmad Bhāgavatam" } is living.
{ "idx": 699, "text": "And we can see how the first canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam describes this." } { "idx": 700, "text": "First, how Śaunaka Ṛṣi is very respectfully approaches Sūta" } { "idx": 701, "text": "Gosvāmī." }
{ "idx": 702, "text": "And how Sūta Gosvāmī is happy to feel" } { "idx": 703, "text": "this reverence and devotion from Śaunaka Ṛṣi," } how he is elated, and how of course
{ "idx": 705, "text": "Vyasadeva is very respectful and it is specifically described that he" } { "idx": 706, "text": "did some ritual of pūjā to the speaker of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam" } { "idx": 707, "text": "Nārada Muni, and how attentively he heard." }
And of course, the highest example of hearing { "idx": 709, "text": "Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the recitation by Śukadeva Gosvāmī," } and that has been done in utmost reverence.
And therefore, again Mangalacharana is very important. The third condition is the systematic study. I already explained to this to you, there is no need.
So only if we follow the sequential process of worship the form of the Lord.
{ "idx": 716, "text": "It is explained that Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the svarūpa of the Lord, and there is" } { "idx": 717, "text": "a special procedure how to relate to svarūpa of the Lord starting from" } his lotus feet and gradually going up to his face.
So that's the proper etiquette. { "idx": 720, "text": "And this same proper etiquette should be maintained while we study Śrīmad" } { "idx": 721, "text": "Bhāgavatam." } This is a repetition.
{ "idx": 723, "text": "And Śrīla Prabhupāda 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
{ "idx": 728, "text": "of humility, they should not be given Śrīmad Bhāgavatam." } 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 I so it's 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 { "idx": 736, "text": "of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam." } 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 Śaunaka Ṛṣi is somewhat ceremonial. It's not so deep. Humility of Vyāsadeva, who is the second listener of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in
the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is much deeper because it's emotionally surcharged, and this emotional involvement of Vyāsadeva, his total dissatisfaction is the prerequisite of the success of hearing the teacher.
And the emotions of Mahārāja Parīkṣit are very difficult to be described, how sincere he was in his desire to to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda writes in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Bhāgavata-dharma or religion of glorifying the Supreme Lord and His devotees.
So we can see this is 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.
The just, if we see the desire for intellectual satisfaction. If it is just an intellectual satisfaction, this is not enough reason, uh, to listen to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
We should understand that listening of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is a 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, uh, like, uh, Mahārāja Parīkṣit or Vyāsadeva. So we can see that this intensity gradually gradually increases in the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Sages of Naimiṣāraṇya, Vyāsadeva manifests much stronger intensity of desire to hear.
Specific qualifications for listeners and speakers
And, of course, Mahārāja Parīkṣit is the culmination of this point. So this is a very specific qualification of the listener, Srota, his inquisitiveness.
And it is described what should be done for us to become such a listener. In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam indirectly, it is said that the person has to undergo preliminary purification.
Therefore, Śrīla Prabhupāda said that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is an advanced study.
That first you have to go through studying Bhagavad-gītā, and studying of Bhagavad-gītā will prepare your heart to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But in the traditional Vedic culture, the preliminary
purification is to go to different holy places, tīrthas to take bus, ceremonial bus, and to perform sacrificial rituals.
And therefore, it is explained that sages of Naimiṣāraṇya they were in this pure place and they were performing these sacrificial rituals and Śrīla Vyāsadeva. He wrote the whole Vedic literature, the whole body of
Vedic literature including Mahābhārata, and that was his yajña, that was his preliminary purification of the heart before he received Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Nārada Muni, or some summary of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Nārada Muni.
And of course, the whole life story of Maharaja Parīkṣit is being described for us to understand that to receive Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 sādh-saṅga, the presence of saintly people, and service to the saintly people.
That's exactly what Nārada Muni will tell Śrīla Vyāsadeva that because I was serving the saintly people, no, actually
Krishna himself, Vishnu, Paramātmā, who will come to Nārada Muni He will tell Nārada Muni, you know why you're so successful, why so quickly you achieved me?
Because you served sādhus. And because of this, you are so so successful. So that's uh that's an important point to understand that there should be preliminary purification and uh sādh-saṅga.
Uh And we can see also very interesting thing. Śunakā Ṛṣi uh asked questions in the beginning, six questions.
But and Śrīla Sūta Gosvāmī answers these questions basically in the second and third chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And the fourth chapter of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam starts with the new series of questions.
Because the recitation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam by Sūta Gosvāmī could be finished And then again he asked questions and then again he asked questions and every time he asked questions sorry and every time he asks questions, uh,u h, Sūta Gosvāmī goes deeper and deeper and deeper in the topic because uh he understands that uh the inquisitiveness I have to answer quickly.
No problem. Sorry. How to mute you? Yes. Arkadi, ja, 16 lectux, można przez poolcha? Sparo. Da, ja, ja. OK, uh I'm audible, right? You hear me? Yeah, okay.
Okay, so uh 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam should be stopped. That means that we know everything. So, okay, fine. Go on with your life.
So, but if the listener uh expresses strong desire to learn more, then the narration goes on, and that's how uh the uh narration uh goes on of the whole Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
So uh anyway, so it's a gradual process of explaining Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. More complete and more complete and more complete.
So uh few things uh that's the specific qualifications. The general qualification of uh the uh listener uh is uh 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 vaktā, the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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.
So he has to have he has to be well versed in other scriptures as well because, I already explained that you can only understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam if you know other branches of Vedic knowledge, like Alankar Shastra, Nyāya or Vaiśeṣika or Sānkhya and Yoga because it's such a complicated subject
matter, complicated book, and therefore, bhakta's idea has to know this, and therefore Śrīla Prabhupāda in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says unless you know six kinds of Vedic philosophies, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Sānkhya, Yoga, Pūrva-mīmāṁsā and Uttara-mīmāṁsā,
you should not sit on vyāsāsana. You should not occupy the seat of Vyāsadeva. So that's the first qualification. Very difficult. I don't know who uh who can fulfill this qualification.
Definitely not my humble self, uh, but still uh I'm trying to do this and trying to explain. Then very important to be in a proper disciplined succession.
This is also indirectly explained in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is explained that uh Sūta Gosvāmī was listening, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, Śukadeva Gosvāmī was listening, Vyāsadeva, Vyāsadeva Gosvāmī was listening, Nārada, Nārada heard Brahmā, Brahmā heard Lord Krishna Himself.
This transmission of knowledge through Guru to disciple is very important. And if you just you know think that by intellectually reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam you become qualified to explain it to others, it's a mistake.
So, not only this, you have to have authority to impart the teachings of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Like it is specifically explained that Nārada Muni comes to Vyāsadeva and says, you have the authority, I'm giving you the authority, but you know this subject matter, and therefore it's proper for you uh to do this.
And also Vyasadev himself, he empowered Śukadeva Gosvāmī to speak. He gives him this authorization, and of course Śrīla Prabhupāda gave this authorization to all of his disciples.
He said, You please repeat after me the knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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, Śrīla Prabhupāda received his authorization from his spiritual 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, we are representing a particular line of disciplic succession, particular tradition of interpretation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and particular person, Guru, who empowered me to do this.
And of course, last but not the least, one has to be a bhakta, one have to be a devotee uh of uh has to be a devotee of Bhagavan, uh not just uh impersonalist or uh somebody who belongs to some other school of knowledge.
So, and that's also very clearly explained in the stories of the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Uh so uh and uh external qualifications as I said are not at all qualification for understanding Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
And therefore, we can see that Śaunaka Ṛṣi is from Bhṛgu dynasty, he's a brāhmaṇa. And all sages are brāhmaṇas, or Sūta Gosvāmī, he's from mixed caste,
from very low cast, only good for driving the charioteers and reciting some story. So, but still, because he belongs to a particular tradition and because he's authorized, he is elected as the speaker.
And the same way, Nārada Muni, Vyāsadeva, and of course Parīkṣit. And we can see very particular ideas that sometimes the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is lower than the listener of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
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 particular sampradāya is important, everything else is external and not so important.
And Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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, but so uh no, we can go a little little few more minutes, right? Whatever you decide, my husband.
Okay, uh let's let's do some preliminary to uh study of the next section, which is the most important.
Criteria for judging successful hearing of Bhagavatam
Anyway, so uh to uh um uh finish this section of how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is describing the methodology. We also have to know by which criteria we can judge
that the recitation or hearing of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam was successful. It is also very clearly described in the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
This is the success of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. The success of hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 removed. I feel completely fearless. The fearlessness arises in the heart because the Lord is there and I know that He is 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, if we feel that some of our doubts which may be even hidden from ourselves are destroyed or removed, then also it means that uh the hearing process works.
Uh and if we feel uh more fearless uh if we uh uh gradually gradually feel that the fear of death uh slackens its grip of our consciousness. It means that we are hearing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam properly.
So that's uh the next uh section in our plan. Uh I 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is proper. And five conditions which should be fulfilled for this process to be successful.
So now I wan to give a very general overview av 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is divided into three unequal parts.
The first two consists of three chapters, chapters first to three, first prakarana, fourth to six, next three chapters, second prakarana, and thirteen chapters the third prakarana the third part.
Even from this composition we can see which part, which section of Srimad Bhagavatam of the first cant of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is most important. Obviously, it is the third part.
Starting from the seventh chapter to 19th chapter.
And what we see in these three divisions of the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we we clearly see that there are three pairs of listeners srotas and speakers vaktas of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
In the first it's Śaunaka Ṛṣi and the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya and Sūta Gosvāmī. And they are described in the first three chapters of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Then of course they continue listening to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Sūta Gosvāmī, 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 Śrīla Vyāsadeva and Nārada Muni. And to a certain extent, you can also say that Narada Muni, who is listening,
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam from Śukadeva Gosvāmī by Maharaja Parikshit. So this is the three big divisions which are describing the proper methodology of hearing or understanding Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And different commentators they uh they divided uh the decar 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 hinaadikar. In different commentators qualified it differently. It's basically minimum eligibility.
Can you imagine, you know, Sutta Gaswami, how elevated he is, and sages of Naemisharani, but still from the standard, from the point of view of Shimad Bhagavatam, this is the minimum qualification which we should try to follow.
The Madhyama Adikar Medium uh eligibility is of course Śrīla Vyāsadeva and Nārada Muni.
But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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, Uttamādhikāra of both Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī 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 we understand what Śrīla Vyāsadeva or Śukadeva Gosvāmī want to tell us by all these descriptions.
In the 13th chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the first canto. 13th last chapters.
Detachment as the indicator of spiritual eligibility
So, how the qualification is being described. What is the difference between Sūta Gosvāmī and Śaunaka Ṛṣi, and then Vyāsadeva and Nārada Muni and then Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
If 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 explained the meaning of the
first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam say that the difference which is very clearly described through the stories of the first canto is the level of their renunciation, vairāgya.
I already said that the main qualification is desire to hear. But to in this beautiful
picture, there is a little home in which sādhus live, sādhus who go daṇḍavat parikramā around Govardhana and those sādhus who have hundred and eight stones or sometimes 100 plus stones, different sādhus are there.
So they have to spend years by circumambulating Govardhana in this way, by daṇḍavat parikramā, and they are very renowned, so they are given such little huts with the wheels.
So this is the symbol of renunciation of sincerity of desire. What actually renunciation means? Renunciation means that you're 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and that's okay but that does not speak much about your adhikāra.
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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the main, um, sādhana of bhakti, uh, this is the, uh, eligibility, and this is what, uh, Vopadeva in Hari-līlāmṛta explains, and his explanation of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is fairly authoritative, and even Jīva Gosvāmī sometimes quotes. So he says in the beginning in the introduction to this commentary that vairāgyasya prakāśaḥ vaktum charhati samhitam. So the first canto establishes the excellence prakarsha of Vairagya detachment.
Vairagyasya prakarsha na. Only a person who has this quality is worthy of hearing and narrating Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. That's his understanding, and let's try to go a little deeper.
So, you know, the proper qualification, eligibility to understand Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and you cannot hear Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam unless understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam unless you have bhakti.
So therefore, it is said that jñāna and vairāgya are necessary especially for the speaker of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but vairāgya is detachment from the world, purity of the heart, and freedom from material attachment and desires.
That's what we should understand under vairāgya.
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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It will not be possible for us to even desire to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And as I said, the desire is the qualification to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 uh uh uh hindrance uh which deprive us the proper desire to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 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 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So we will see it a little later.
And another important feature of the first canto of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam is that in this three stories which are described, stories of recitation by Sūta Gosvāmī, stories of Vyāsadeva and Nārada Muni, and stories of Mahārāja Parīkṣit, stories of Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the guru comes himself.
By the internal desire, when the desire in the heart of listener becomes very strong, desire to hear Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 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 kinds of teachers to
teach Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And this is actually the point which Gourgovinda Maharaj was always oftentimes making he was he would be saying that you know you have a guru which you deserve.
Krishna sent to you a particular guru, please study from this guru sincerely whatever it requires, do whatever it requires. Okay, so that's the next point. So for uh the speaker,
for the listener, why vairāgya is so important for the listener, for śrotā of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam? Because without detachment he will misinterpret Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He will not understand the proper message.
He will just basically misuse the knowledge of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam and he will justify his own weaknesses by using the stories or some statements of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
And we know so many instances are there when people misuse the knowledge of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So what I'm thinking maybe I should finish now Because I'm just afraid that I'm speaking too much and uh heavy rain started.
I don't know if you hear the heavy rain 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 restart the next class from this point on.
We will continue how vairāgya is important and how it manifests in different listeners of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And and then we will explain why it is so important for speakers of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also to be detached.
Okay, that's it. Thank you very much. Thank you Maharaj. Have a I have a lot of questions now. I don't know that was the purpose. Everyone should have questions.
I will unmute people so they can say thank you to you and so we're meeting next Saturday. Please the participants don't leave because I probably have to create
a new link because there are scheduled links and they're like the same series, but that's okay, we'll do it, but I just need to connect with everybody, no problem, 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, Uh I will also try to answer. Please send me again all these questions.
Do you want do you want us to I mean, I can send you the questions, and I was thinking if the person is present, but yeah, it's better. It's better if they are, but but you still can can send to me the questions, yeah.
Okay. Preliminary. But then they will ask it later. I know everybody wants to say a lot of words, but cannot say much because we don't have, you know, everybody speaking at the same time.
But thank you and and behind you everybody and um hope I qualify to listen often additional order. I I hope I I am qualified to speak.