Avsnitt
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By stopping the performance of the last sacrifice and being content with the performance of 99 horse sacrifices, Pṛthu Maharaja attained the ultimate purpose of all sacrifices, that is to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Vishnu personally appeared at the arena of sacrifice, even though the sacrifice had been stopped and there were no oblations being offered.
This emphasizes that the ultimate purpose in all our activities should be to satisfy the Lord, and not to merely obtain a certain material objective. In fruitive performances, as well as in ordinary material activities, an incomplete performance does not yield results. Demigods reward the performers of fruitive sacrifice for correctly executing the rituals, and ordinary business transactions generate results only after concluded. One may bake a cake, but until it is delivered and paid for, one doesn't get any money for it. Service to the Lord, however, operates in a different dynamic. The Lord sees not just the effort, but the intention. One can thus advance even without completing an activity. In fact, one can advance even without starting it, as long as his intention is positive. Even though not completing his 100 sacrifices, Pṛthu Maharaja satisfied the Lord, and that's what counts.
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The knowledge of the Muṇḍaka Upanisad was spoken by Angirasa to Śaunaka Rsi long ago, but this knowledge remains up-to-date and relevant, just as other vedic texts. It teaches supreme knowledge, brahma-vidya, which can lead us to perfection. This knowledge should be taught only to qualified students who have abandoned the path of fruitive activities and are now aiming for spiritual realization in devotional service. After being reinstated in his original Krsna Consciousness, the soul shines in his original spiritual qualities.
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Material intelligence can help us to make plans and act in this world, but it can't help us to realize the Lord. The Lord is completely free and independent and can be understood only by one who He chooses. Therefore, the process of mental speculation is not useful for understanding the Lord; He can be understood only by devotional service. We should thus abandon material attempts and try to become pure devotees of the Lord. When we sincerely practice the path of bhakti, starting from the observance of regulative principles, spiritual knowledge is revealed to us. Only when our senses become purified by constant devotional practice, the truth of the Lord's pastimes, form, qualities, etc. is revealed.
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By the end of the reign of Vena, all sacrifices and religious performances had been stopped, the population had become irreligious, and all sorts of rogues multiplied. The regional kings who were supposed to maintain law and order in their respective places were also not performing their duties properly. As a result of all this impiety, Bhūmi withheld the production of grains, creating a famine.
The population was thus in a very dangerous situation, attacked by the rogues and thieves on the one side, and famine on the other, all of this came as a result of the demoniac government of Vena. The production of grains had been stopped for so long that even the seeds themselves had deteriorated, making it impossible to resume agriculture.
When Pṛthu came to power, the citizens immediately pleaded with him to somehow solve the situation. Compassionate to the citizens, Pṛthu started chasing Bhūmi, not exactly to punish her, but to make her compassionate to the needs of the citizens. With her surrender and readiness to cooperate with him, Pṛthu Maharaja performed his pastime of milking the Earth, extracting the grains that the citizens could use to restart their agricultural activities. By his example, Pṛthu Maharaja made the citizens again religious, and thus their prosperity was assured. By performing the Varṇāśrama system and the system of karma-yoga, performing their activities for the satisfaction of the Lord, they would gradually advance in spiritual understanding. In this way, Pṛthu performed the role of a perfect king.
Bhūmi had assumed the form of a cow, and thus she proposed that Pṛthu Maharaja obtain the grains he desired by milking her. To milk a cow, three things are needed: a calf, which is tied close to the cow, making her willing to give milk due to affection, a milkman, and a pot where the milk is stored. Pṛthu thus used Svāyambhuva Manu as a calf, since the Earth was very affectionate to him as the first Manu, and acting as the milkman, Pṛthu personally milked the Earth, extracting from her the grains that he withheld in his own hands to give to the suffering citizens.
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The Lord doesn't directly get in contact with the material energy, but at the same time, the whole material creation rests on Him. Everything depends on Him, but He doesn't depend on anything, therefore, He is the Supreme abode. He is situated in the spiritual sky and never comes in contact with matter, but at the same time, He becomes present through the reflection of His energy as Lord Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and Ksirodakasayi Vishnu, just as the sun reflected on a pot of water and then on the walls of a room.
The infinite Lord can simultaneously permeate all material universes, while the infinitesimal soul can permeate just a single material body. Just as the Lord is present in the material world as a reflection, the pure devotee can see himself also present as a reflection of his original consciousness, reflected in the three divisions of the false ego and permeating the body, senses, and mind.
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By killing Vena, the Brāhmaṇas stopped his policy of suppressing sacrifices and the worship of the Supreme Lord. However, this led to another problem, which was the rise of thieves and criminals who started plundering the citizens unopposed. It is described that the running of all these thieves formed dust storms around the kingdom, suggesting they had organized themselves in large hordes and were systematically plundering and killing. The save the citizens, the Lord appeared as Pṛthu Maharaja.
It was improper for the Brāhmaṇas to get involved in political affairs and start fighting these gangs, even if with curses, but at the same time, they couldn't just ignore the plea of the citizens.
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One who follows the path of truth attains the Supreme destination. What is this Supreme destination? That's the Lord Himself, who is non-different from His abode.
The Lord is a person, and His form is fully transcendental, beyond the reach of the material senses or intelligence. We can first conceive this unlimited, perfect form through the descriptions of the scriptures, and later by direct perception using our spiritual senses, as our spiritual consciousness awakens.
Just as the Lord has a transcendental form, He has also transcendental activities. When we become situated in the transcendental platform, saturated with pure love, we can join these transcendental pastimes. Attaining this level of purity may appear inconceivable in our current state, but when the Lord is pleased by our service, we become endowed with all spiritual qualities. The Lord can take the soul out of material contamination and grant pure devotional service to anyone at any stage, but He does so only when one sincerely desires it. As long as this desire is not there, He respects the free will of the soul.
The Lord is the ultimate giver of all benedictions, therefore everyone should engage in devotional service, whether full of material desires, or completely free from them, desirous to be elevated to higher planets, attaining the impersonal brahmajyoti, or attaining the supreme goal of love of Godhead.
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The Pracetās are descendants of Dhruva Maharaja, who lived later. The younger son of Dhruva, Vatsara, is the origin of a dynasty of great kings, which includes Aṅga, Pṛthu, and Prācīnabarhi, the father of the Pracetās. Nārada Muni witnessed the activities of his disciple and later described them to the Pracetās, glorifying their grand-grandfather. The words "ślokān satre ’gāyat pracetasām" in text 4.12.40 indicate the future, that Narada Muni spoke verses glorifying Dhruva to the Pracetās after he ascended to Dhruvaloka, but it does not mean it happened immediately. This is similar to the usage of the past perfect in English. Dhruva went to Dhruvaloka, and after an unspecified period, Narada visited the Pracetās. Both events happened long ago, in the first manvantara. "After observing the glories of Dhruva Mahārāja, the great sage Nārada, playing his vīṇā, went to the sacrificial arena of the Pracetās and very happily chanted the following three verses."
At the beginning of chapter 4.13, Vidura asks about the descendants of Dhruva Maharaja, leading to the description of his dynasty, up to the Pracetas, leading to the other pastimes described in the 5th canto. Daksa, in his second birth, appears as their son. However, because Daksa doesn't have any descendants until the sixth Manvantara, the dynasty is broken, leading Priyavrata (the other son of Svāyambhuva Manu to assume the throne and start a new dynasty, which is described in the 5th canto.
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We may be right in front of someone, but if we are looking the other way, we will not see him or her. Similarly, the Lord is not only present everywhere, but He personally follows every soul, present inside the heart. As long as our attention is turned to material enjoyment, however, we don't see Him. When we finally turn our attention to the Lord by our practice of Krsna Consciousness, this eternal relationship is reestablished. The soul thus becomes just like the Lord, free from material contamination, and attains the Supreme destination. By reconnecting with the Lord, we become blissful in His association, and by sharing this with others, we become dear to Him.
Sameness doesn't mean merging, but the similarity of qualities and interests, and living in the same location. This is explained in the Chandogya Upanisad, in the history of Śvetaketu and his father, Uddālaka. Mayavadis take the passage "tat tvam asi" as meaning that the soul and the Lord are one, but they are mistaken.
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After receiving these instructions, Dhruva Maharaja immediately stopped fighting. The whole battle happened on the outskirts of Alakāpurī, the city of Kuvera, and thus, as soon as Dhruva stopped fighting, Kuvera heard the news and went to the spot to meet him.
Although a demigod living in great opulence, Kuvera is a greatly enlightened person and a devotee of the Lord. He regularly hears about self-realization from Lord Shiva, and thus, he is highly advanced in knowledge. Although he is the ruler and father of the Yakṣas, he was well aware of the great achievements of Dhruva and his position as a pure devotee of the Lord, therefore, he didn't take his killing of the Yakṣas very seriously, understanding that they were also at fault.
After concluding his allotted time as the king, Dhruva Maharaja installed his son on the throne and retired to Badarīkāśrama to dedicate himself fully to the practice of devotional service. By the mercy of the Lord, he had the opportunity to enjoy the experience of being a king, including the execution of different types of duties and satisfaction of all material desires. However, just like other saintly kings, he was not attached to his position. As soon as a qualified son was ready to take the post, he left, considering his palaces, gardens, and other dominions to be creations of the illusory energy.
Dhruva desired to achieve a position superior to all his ancestors, and his achievement is unique: no one before in the history of the universe became the ruler of a Vaikuṇṭha planet as he did. This position is much superior to the position of Brahma, who rules an insignificant material universe and for just a short period.
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The Lord and the jiva living inside the heart are compared with two birds living on the same tree. Both share the same transcendental qualities, but one falls into illusion and becomes absorbed in eating the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree, while the other maintains His transcendental position. There is no meaning in the relationship between the soul and the body, but this connection is somehow established due to illusion, just as someone dreaming. Forgetting Krsna, the soul has been attracted by the external potency of the Lord from time immemorial. When the living entity forgets his constitutional position as an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, he is immediately entrapped by the illusory, external energy. The Lord is the master of this illusory energy and untouched by it. Because He remains transcendental, He can help the soul to return to His transcendental nature.
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The army of the Yakṣas was 130,000 strong, and jointly they shot so many arrows and other weapons at Dhruva that they covered Dhruva with an incessant shower of weapons, just like a mountain covered by rain. However, this just served to make him even sharper and determined to fight.
For a moment, the Yakṣas thought they had won, but quickly Dhruva's chariot emerged, just as the sun appearing from the fog. From this point, Dhruva regained the initiative and used his bow to cut through their army.
Dhruva killed many soldiers and made the rest flee. However, using their power of illusion, the Yakṣas created terrible illusions, with dead bodies falling from the sky, dangerous animals coming to devour him, etc. These illusions presented a great challenge, and even Dhruva became perplexed for a short time, just as we may become perplexed when facing difficulties.
Great sages, however, quickly approached Dhruva and instructed him to surpass all illusions by the power of chanting the holy name, which is non-different from the Lord Himself.
Hearing the advice of the sages, Dhruva became again resolute. He prepared to use the nārāyaṇāstra, a specific arrow made by Lord Nārāyaṇa Ṛṣi Himself. This weapon could be invoked by Dhruva Maharaja by chanting the holy name of the Lord. In this way, the chanting of the holy name by Dhruva became not just the source of purification and spiritual strength, but also a weapon that could defeat his enemies.
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The Lord is one, but He appears in many forms. He is present in His abode and inside everyone's heart. Possessing multiple, inconceivable potencies, He is the source and the maintainer of everything and He is the foundation of all sources of light. Because the Lord has potencies and qualities, it is undeniable that He is a person.
Conditioned life means ignorance, and this ignorance and darkness keep us away from the Lord. However, when illuminated by the light of transcendental knowledge, we can perceive the Lord's transcendental form. When this realization is obtained, all karma is destroyed, and we become free of all material contamination.
All material designations appear as the result of the false ego, and when this root cause is cut, we can again see ourselves as pure souls.
Both conditioning and liberation are the result of the proper or improper use of free will. Love for Krsna is the eternal dharma of the soul, and love is possible only due to the existence of free will. When we finally decide we want to take the way back home, Krsna helps us in every way.
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After reassuring the demigods that He would protect them, the Lord went to the Madhuvana Forest to see Dhruva, mounted on Garuḍa. Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu is described as Sahasraśīrṣā in this verse because He is non-different from Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu. All the incarnations of the Lord (except Krsna and Balarāma) manifest from Lord Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu, and since He is non-different from Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu, sometimes it is said that the incarnations originate from Garbhodakaśāyī Vishnu.
In his Laghu-Bhāgavatāmṛta, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that Kṣīrodakaśāyī Vishnu expanded into the Pṛśnigarbha incarnation to meet Dhruva. At this point, Dhruvaloka was manifested inside of the universe. Being a Vaikuṇṭha planet, Dhruvaloka is an eternal abode, but it described as being "created" in the same sense Lakṣmī Devī and the Kaustubha jewel appear from the churning of the milk ocean, or that Lord Shiva appear from Brahma. They are all eternal, but when they manifest inside of this particular universe sometimes it is said the are created. Pṛśnigarbha is also the same incarnation who appears as the son of Pṛśni and Sutapā.
At this moment, Dhruva was absorbed in his meditation, seeing the Lord inside his heart, when the form suddenly disappeared. This broke his meditation. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Lord personally present before him. Seeing the Lord, Dhruva developed all symptoms of ecstasy, looking at the Lord, embracing Him, kissing his feet, etc. He wanted to offer beautiful prayers to the Lord, but being just a boy he couldn't speak very eloquently. The Lord however touched Dhruva with his conch, and in this way he was blessed with all transcendental knowledge. He could thus glorify the Lord with beautiful prayers, as he wanted. This shows us how the potency to perform any king of service or to glorify the Lord in any capacity can be bestowed upon us by the Lord if we are eager to serve Him.
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Using the bow of the holy names, we should send our mind in the direction of the Lord, just as an arrow shot toward a target. This arrow of the mind should be sharpened by devotion to the Lord and not allowed to deviate to anything else. By this fixed meditation we can attain the Lord, entering the spiritual sky, just as an arrow enters its target. The process of chanting should be practiced with fixed attention, and the proper attitude of surrender.
What happens after entering the spiritual sky? We remain as individuals, and serve the Lord in one of the five types of transcendental relationships. The soul remains an individual even after entering the spiritual sky, just like a molecule of water entering the ocean or a bird entering a tree. There is no question of merging anywhere.
This process of chanting the holy names and serving the Lord with devotional attitude is the path of self realization for all ages, it is just practiced in different ways. We should thus give up other talks and forms of worship and fix our attention in this supreme process of worship of the Supreme Lord, the refuge of liberated souls.
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The pastime of Dhruva Mahārāja is well-known and is a great source of inspiration for all devotees. As Srila Prabhupāda explains in his purport to text eight:
"The incidents in the life of Dhruva Mahārāja are very attractive for devotees. From his pious actions, one can learn how one can detach himself from material possessions and how one can enhance one’s devotional service by severe austerities and penances. By hearing the activities of pious Dhruva, one can enhance one’s faith in God and can directly connect with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus one can very soon be elevated to the transcendental platform of devotional service. The example of Dhruva Mahārāja’s austerities can immediately generate a feeling of devotional service in the hearts of the hearers."
Mahārāja Uttānapāda had two queens, Sunīti (the older queen, mother of Dhruva) and Suruci (the mother of Uttama, the younger son). The rule when a man has more than one wife is that he must treat all equally since any special preference will lead to envy and dissatisfaction, which can create havoc. Unfortunately, although highly qualified, Uttānapāda developed a special preference for Sunīti, who used this to her advantage, planning to deprive Dhruva of his right to the throne in favor of her son. Once, when Dhruva was trying to get up into the lap of his father, she spoke very enviously towards him, although he was at the time a small child, only five years old.
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Both the Lord and the jiva reside inside the heart, but they are not the same. One is infinite and the other infinitesimal, one is the whole and the other the part. The individual soul is thus meant to serve the Lord. There are many eternals, but the Lord is the chief.
The soul is present inside the body as consciousness, but not as a physical particle. It can't be detected or measured by experimental means, it is transcendental and escapes material comprehension. This pure soul is however covered by the false ego, followed by all material coverings, and thus becomes lost in the inverted three of this material world.
During the day, when awake, we become immersed in all sorts of activities, but at night, when in deep sleep, our consciousness retracts to the cave of the heart, where we meet the Lord, just as in liberation.
In all scriptures, many qualities of the Lord are mentioned, which make it impossible to negate His personality. Thus, both the Lord and the jiva are separated individuals and they are so eternally. It is exactly the individuality of the Lord and the soul that makes the eternal relationship between them possible.
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Daksa was thus brought back to life and immediately regretted his mistakes. He also remembered the death of his daughter, which caused him great pain. Daksa thus chocked up and couldn't speak. With great endeavor, he was able to finally pacify his mind and offer heartfelt prayers to Lord Shiva.
Having been pardoned by him and blessed to again perform the sacrifice. First of all, the sacrificial arena had to be purified from all the blood and desecration from the followers of Lord Shiva. The brāhmaṇas cleaned the arena, but this in itself was not sufficient to remove the contamination. The true purification comes from invoking the name of Lord Vishnu. for this end, the sages arranged to offer into the fire the oblations known as puroḍāśa. Before, Lord Vishnu refused to be present in his sacrifice, due to his offenses to Lord Shiva, but now, as soon as Daksa offered oblations into the fire after chanting the mantras, Lord Vishnu appeared personally as Nārāyaṇa.
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Both the original purpose of the Vedas and the path of fruitive sacrifices come from the Lord, just as all living beings, fonts of sustenance, and spiritual qualities and practices. The material bodies of the living entities are very complicated machines, composed of the senses and mind, intelligence, vital air, etc., and all of these were created by the Lord, together with the sense objects. In other words, the Lord is the creator of both the world and the means we use to explore this world and He is present in all these creations as the Supersoul. He also created the different types of duties prescribed in the scriptures by which one can progress in spiritual realization.
One who comes to know this Supreme Lord, situated inside the heart, can cut the knots of ignorance that bind him to this world.
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Having already given all his arguments, Lord Shiva didn't say anything more when Sati decided to disregard his instructions and go alone, but his followers accompanied Sati, understanding that this was Lord Shiva's desire. They organized a procession for Sati, so she could travel comfortably.
However, when Sati reached the opulent arena of the sacrifice, no one received her apart from her mother and sisters. All the Brahmanas and demigods present wanted in their minds to receive Sati and honor her, but they knew Daksa would be displeased by that. Since Daksa was their superior, they were afraid of him. The mother and sisters of Sati were however more softhearted and received her with affection.
However, understanding Daksa's offensive mentality towards her husband, Sati didn't reply to them or accept their presents. She was focused on her father and the arrangements made by him to neglect her husband. She saw that the Brahmanas were skipping the mantras for offering oblations to Lord Shiva, and that Daksa was so envious of him to the point of refusing to receive his youngest daughter just because she was married to him.
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