Verse: Srimad Bhagvatam 4.3.24
Transcription: Bhakta Druv Bajaj
Edited: Sundari Radha Mataji & Vraja Kumari Mataji
tat te nirīkṣyo na pitāpi deha-kṛd
dakṣo mama dviṭ tad-anuvratāś ca ye
yo viśvasṛg-yajña-gataṁ varoru mām
anāgasaṁ durvacasākarot tiraḥ
SYNONYMS
tat — therefore; te — your; nirīkṣyaḥ — to be seen; na — not; pitā — your father; api — although; deha-kṛt — the giver of your body; dakṣaḥ — Dakṣa; mama — my; dviṭ — envious; tat-anuvratāḥ — his (Dakṣa’s) followers; ca — also; ye — who; yaḥ — who (Dakṣa); viśva-sṛk — of the Viśvasṛks; yajña-gatam — being present at the sacrifice; vara-ūru — O Satī; mām — me; anāgasam — being innocent; durvacasā — with cruel words; akarot tiraḥ — has insulted.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, you should not see your father, although he is the giver of your body, because he and his followers are envious of me. Because of his envy, O most worshipful one, he has insulted me with cruel words although I am innocent.
PURPORT
For a woman, both the husband and the father are equally worshipable. The husband is the protector of a woman during her youthful life, whereas the father is her protector during her childhood. Thus, both are worshipable, but especially the father because he is the giver of the body. Lord Śiva reminded Satī, “Your father is undoubtedly worshipable, even more than I am, but take care, for although he is the giver of your body, he may also be the taker of your body, because when you see your father he may insult you because of your association with me. An insult from a relative is worse than death, especially when one is well situated.”
THE AMAZING BIRTH OF LORD BRAHMA
Sati’s father is Daksha, who is actually the son of Lord Brahma. Daksha is naturally, a very exalted personality. He is not only Brahma’s son but he was considered by Lord Brahma himself as one of the foremost of his sons. Brahma’s sons have two categories - One category is the four Kumaras- Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanatkumara. They are the first four sons of Brahma. Brahma actually wanted to have children to assist him in his responsibility to procreate progeny. Brahma was assigned by the Lord to fill up the universe. The universe in the beginning was empty. How were the universes created?
The universes were created simply due to the breathing of Maha Vishnu in the causal ocean. Lying down in causal ocean, Maha Vishnu or Karanodakasayi Vishnu breathed. From His breathing came different universes. The bubbles that were created due to His breathing- those bubbles were actually universes. And then He entered into each bubble as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu. Maha Vishnu expanded Himself as Garbhodakasayi Vishnu and He entered into each universe and filled half of the universe with water from His body. Just as we sweat - due to our sweating, water comes out of our body, in a similar way the water came out of the Lord’s body. But when we sweat, we sweat a few drops, but when the Lord sweats, he can fill up half of the universe. If he wanted, he could fill up the entire universe but His purpose was different. His purpose was to fill up half of the universe. He filled up half of the universe and then He lay down in that water of the universe, on the bed of Ananta Sesa. Then from His naval sprouted one lotus and Brahma, the first created being was situated on that lotus.
BRAHMA’S ENQUIRES: “WHO AM I?”
Brahma, at the beginning did not know what he was supposed to do. Brahma’s situation was - he woke up, he opened his eyes and he saw himself sitting there and he did not have any recollection of his past. Brahma’s situation is just like someone is just born. He is born with full consciousness. When we are born do we have any remembrances of our past, any recollection of our past? No. We are just born, but when we are just born, we are practically unconscious. No memory, nothing. Then we gradually acquire our memories.
Brahma’s situation was - he opened his eyes and he found he was fully conscious with his complete intelligence but no recollection of his past. So, at a time like that, what would be one’s natural condition? He would wonder what’s the matter? Who am I? Where did I come from? What am I supposed to do here? What is this place? Where am I? So that was Brahma’s situation. Brahma tried to figure this out. First, he thought that if he climbed down the stem of the lotus then he would be able to understand where he came from and then he will be able to understand who he was. Maybe there will be somebody who could tell him. In the universe, Brahma is the first created being. There was no one to tell Brahma. There was no one to answer Brahma’s questions.
So then finally Brahma was inspired by the Lord from within. “Prachodayat.” The word “Prachodayat” means inspired. So, Brahma was inspired by the Lord from within.
“tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye” [SB 1.1.1]
THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN
The Lord then imparted the knowledge to Lord Brahma in his heart. Then Brahma had the complete understanding. Brahma realized who he was. Brahma realized where he came from. Brahma realized where he was. And Brahma also realized what he was supposed to do. What was he supposed to do? Why did the Lord send him? To fill up the universe because the universe is meant to become active now. So, activity in the universe is relative to the presence of the living entities in the universe. So, then Brahma realized he needed to create living entities. Create means just to give them bodies. The living entities are never created.
Living entities are eternal. Living entities being spiritual beings, they are all eternal. Brahma then gave the bodies to four livig entities from his mind. They are known as “Manasaputra”- Children who are born from his mind and they are Four Kumaras. Brahma told them what he wanted to do, they said: “I am sorry. We are sorry. We don’t want to get involved into that messy affair of procreating offspring.” So, they denied Brahma’s order. So, Brahma became angry: “They are my children and they are not listening to me.” At the same time Brahma could also understand that his anger could destroy his children because Brahma is such a powerful personality. Just as from his mind he could create them - such a powerful personality. Similarly, his anger could have also destroyed them. And Brahma thought: “They are my children. I cannot destroy them. I should not destroy them.”
Therefore, Brahma controlled his anger. Although Brahma’s anger was controlled within, but it came out in the form of Rudra which is an incarnation of Lord Shiva in this universe. Then Brahma created ten children again from his mind. And those ten children were - Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angira, Marichi, Daksha etc, and the youngest one was Narada muni. So, these nine sons were obedient to Brahma. When Brahma said: “Look, help me in my duty with which I have been assigned here.” And they agreed. They are known as Prajapatis. Praja-pati. ‘Praja’ means children, procreation and ‘pati’- the Lord. So, they are actually the personalities responsible for procreation. Brahma made Daksha as the head of Prajapatis. You can see there are two lines- one line is the line of renunciation, detachment and devotion to the Lord. Four Kumaras and Narada are in that line. Another line is- taking care of the materialistic affairs.
PRAJAPATIS - MANAGING THE UNIVERSAL AFFAIRS
So, this is the line of the Prajapatis. So, when Daksha got that position, he decided to perform sacrifices to get the ability and power. The sacrifices are important because they give us the ability to execute the responsibilities that one has. So first he performed a Vajapeya Yajna. Then he decided to perform the Brihaspati Sava Yajna. So, everyone was invited to attend that sacrifice. In the higher planetary systems, this is how they celebrate an occasion - by performing sacrifice. Just as in the earthly affairs, people throw a party, so in the similar way in the higher regions they perform sacrifices. In that sacrifice everyone was invited except Lord Shiva and his wife Sati.
So, Sati saw all these demigods, all these Brahmarishis and Maharishis are flying through the space going to her father’s celebration of the sacrifice and she naturally became attracted to go there. She felt: “Oh there is such a big festival going to take place. So many demigods, all the exalted personalities of the universe are coming and she wondered why didn’t my father invite me?” And then she thought: “Even if he didn’t invite, so what? I will go. I don’t need any invitation to go to my father’s house.” So, she went and expressed the desire to Lord Shiva. Now something happened beforehand. Why did Daksha not invite Lord Shiva?
DAKSHA INSULTS LORD SHIVA
In one such assembly where all such personalities were present, when Daksha entered into the assembly everyone stood up showing respect to him whereas Lord Shiva was just sitting there without even looking at Daksha. He just kept sitting without standing up. Reason why Lord Shiva just kept on sitting without even standing up showing respect to Daksha was because Lord Shiva was so absorbed in his meditation on the Supreme Personality of Godhead that he didn’t have any external consciousness. He didn’t notice who was coming and who was going. He was simply absorbed in the thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Daksha became very upset. He kept on insulting Lord Shiva.
So, this way we can see that Daksha is a perfect representation of a materialistic person and Lord Shiva is the example of a perfect devotee of the Lord. A devotee of the Lord, he doesn’t have so much external social consideration because his mind is completely absorbed in thoughts of the Lord. But the materialistic people cannot understand that. They do not understand the glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the joy that one derives out of recollecting the pastimes and becoming absorbed in the thoughts of the Lord. Actually, when one becomes absorbed in the thoughts of the Lord and glorifying the Lord, he loses all external considerations.
LORD SHIVA – TOLERANT, COMPOSED AND FIXED UPON THE SUPREME LORD ETERNALLY
Lord Shiva was an ideal example of that of a pure devotee. But Daksha insulted Lord Shiva saying all kinds of things. Daksha gave his daughter Sati in marriage to Lord Shiva because Brahma suggested that as Daksha was not very much in favor because materialistic people want to have materially exalted personalities.
We can see, if somebody came with a proposal to a father, a wealthy father, a very exalted father, what is their first consideration? What does the boy do? Oh, the boy is a big officer or a successful businessman, then the fathers become very happy. But if they say that the boy doesn’t do anything. Where does he live? He doesn’t have any place to live. But where does he stay? He lives in the crematory. What does he do? He doesn’t do anything. How does he look? At least, does he dress well? No, he doesn’t wear any clothes. Does he wear any ornaments? He considers the snakes to be his ornaments. They’ll get a shock of their life when they hear such things. So, Daksha’s situation was like that. That’s what gave into his anger in this way. Naturally Sati was the youngest daughter and for a father the youngest daughters are very very dear normally. But Daksha had to give his youngest daughter to such a person, Lord Shiva.
DAKSHA’S INABILITY TO RECOGNISE LORD SHIVA AS A PURE DEVOTEE OF THE SUPREME LORD
Lord Shiva’s situation is that he is the most exalted personality in the universe. He actually started to insult Lord Shiva saying he is uncultured, uncounted, uncivilized, a pauper without any material standing, who lives in the crematorium and moves around naked and associates with the ghosts and hobgoblins. So, Lord Shiva didn’t care. He just left but Daksha remembered that incidence and he developed a deep animosity towards Lord Shiva because of that.
When he was performing his very very opulent yajna, Brihaspati Sava Yajna, he didn’t want to invite Lord Shiva. But Sati came and Sati’s point was: “I don’t need any invitation to my father’s house and I want to see my sisters and I want to see my mother, I want to see my father. I have so many friends who I did not meet for so many years and also it will be a nice occasion to wear all the ornaments that my father gave me during my marriage.” But then Lord Shiva kept on saying that her: “Look, this is a nature of a materialistic person. Your father is an extremely materialistic person. And he judges everything from a mundane point of view.
His calculation is always very very mundane. He has become so envious of me and because he is envious of me, his affection for you also has been destroyed, because you are associating with me. Since he considers that I am his enemy and since you are my wife, he’ll consider you also to be his enemy.”
THE MIND OF A PURE DEVOTEE IS ALWAYS ABSORBED IN KRISHNA
And it is unfortunate that he doesn’t understand the situation of a devotee. A situation of a devotee is that he is not at all concerned about the mundane affairs. He is beyond the modes of the material nature. Beyond the modes of the material nature means he is completely absorbed in the thoughts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is situated in Krishna Consciousness therefore he doesn’t have any material consideration. And then in these two verses he is pointing out. This verse twenty-four and twenty-five, I’ll read the translation once again then it will become clear to us why Lord Shiva is speaking like that.
“Therefore, you should not see your father, although he is the giver of your body, because he and his followers are envious of me. Because of his envy, O most worshipful one, he has insulted me with cruel words although I am innocent. If in spite of this instruction you decide to go, neglecting my words, the future will not be good for you. You are most respectable, and when you are insulted by your relative, this insult will immediately be equal to death.”
So, in this way Lord Shiva actually forecasted what might happen. That Sati if she goes there, her father will insult her and that insult actually will be insulting Lord Shiva and she won’t be able to tolerate that because for a chaste wife her husband’s reputation is the most important thing for her. For a chaste woman her husband is her everything. If that husband is insulted, she will be extremely hurt. As we will see in the next chapter which actually is entitled as ‘Sati quits her body’. Why does Sati quit her body? As Lord Shiva foretold that Daksha insulted Lord Shiva, Sati couldn’t tolerate that insult and she left her body. So that will be very wonderfully explained in the next chapter.
ADVANCEMENT THROUGH ASSOCIATION – CAUTIOUS DEALINGS
So, from this what we understand is that even if the relatives very very dear to us, if they are not Krishna conscious, it is better to avoid their association because that association will simply bring misery. Of course, I am not saying that everybody should leave his family if the family members are not Krishna conscious. The point is that as much as possible try not to have any dealings with them especially when they become so agitated and start to insult other devotees. That is one thing a devotee cannot tolerate. A devotee cannot tolerate the insult or ninda of other devotees. Why? The devotees are naturally very dear to the devotees. The exalted devotees are very dear to the other devotees. And if someone insults that devotee, then it becomes very very painful to them. And as a result of that they may react in a very unpredictable way. Like Sati quit her body.
LORD CHAITANYA’S SECRET WEAPON IN THE AGE OF KALI
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was about to kill Jagai and Madhai because Jagai actually hurt Nityananda Prabhu. And as soon as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu got the news He just immediately appeared there. And although He promised that in this incarnation, He will not use any weapon, but He was inviting His chakra to come and kill Jagai and Madhai. But Nityananda Prabhu stopped him: “Please don’t do that. You took a vow that you will not use any weapon in this incarnation.” When Shishupala was insulting Krishna in the Rajasuya assembly of Yudhistira Maharaja, then Sahadev became so angry that he wanted to kick him on his head. Bhima was out, ready to kill him. So, they couldn’t tolerate. Even Bhismadev stood up and told him that you do not know who you are insulting, who you are speaking like this. But ultimately what did Krishna do? Krishna called His Sudarshana Chakra and chopped his head off. So, this is how the devotees react when they see that the Lord and his devotees are being insulted.
Hare Krishna.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Gaura Premanande Hari Hari Bol.
Does anybody have any comment or question?
Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaja. What is the origin of the demigods and Ma Durga?
BCS: Ma Durga is Maha Maya herself. Lord’s external energy is Maha Maya. Prakriti as a person is Maha Maya. The different demigods are also expansions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So that’s the demigods.
Devotee: Hare Krishna Maharaj. Maharaj how can we understand about these four kumaras, the Prajapatis also. How about Narada Muni? Did he deny Brahma Ji’s instruction?
BCS: Good point. Narada Muni also disregarded Lord Brahma’s instruction to procreate. Since he was the youngest son and the other nine sons are engaged, he didn’t mind. Let him be. And Shankar, yes, your question about who are the demigods? In one way, they are actually also expansions of the Lord but they appeared in a different way. They appeared mainly as the sons of Kashyapa. Kashyapa was married to different daughters of Daksha also. One of them was Aditi. So, Aditi’s children are Adityas - Indra, Surya. Then in this way there are different categories, the Vasus, etc.
There are some questions from the internet.
Question: Hare Krishna. Dandvat Pranam. Please accept my humble obeisances. When Dhruva Maharaj was meditating, the point when he stopped breathing, why did the whole universe start suffocating? Please enlighten us on this.
BCS: Ok so the question is coming from another chapter of Srimad Bhagvatam.
Hare Krishna. Vasu Ghosh Prabhu ki jai.
Welcome Vasu Ghosh prabhu to Avanti dham. The question is that when Dhruva Maharaj was meditating, the point when he stopped breathing, why did the whole universe start to suffocate? So, this is from another part of Srimad Bhagavatam. Yoga has eight different stages. The fourth step is called Pranayama. This breathing process consists of three functions- inhale, exhale and retain- puraka, rechaka and kumbhaka.
So, in yoga this kumbhaka is the most important factor. In kumbhaka is when one actually retains the air within. And that point he stops breathing actually. That inhale and exhaling function stops. He just stops breathing.
So, when Dhruva Maharaj was practicing this meditation under the instruction of Narada Muni, then he stopped breathing due to kumbhaka. And this stopping of the breathing and his meditation to the Lord brought him so close to the Lord that what he did was affecting the whole universe because he was in such close communication with the Supersoul. So, when he stopped breathing others could not breathe anymore. So that is why the whole universe was actually suffocating especially the Demigods. So, the point is that through the proper meditation one comes very close to the Supersoul and then his activities affect the universal affairs. Another example is like Hiranyakashipu’s austerity generated so much heat that thy demigods in the higher planetary systems could not tolerate that heat.
Question: While dealing with the materialistic people we are insulted. So, what should be our reaction to that? Should we reciprocate or just be humble? Also, if we see a materialistic person insulting a devotee, what should be our reaction?
BCS: So, a devotee doesn’t mind or doesn’t care when others are insulting him because a devotee is very tolerant, very humble. When others insult him, he thinks maybe that’s true. Maybe I am like that. So that is the position of a devotee, like Lord Shiva. When Daksha was insulting him, Lord Shiva didn’t protest. He just walked away. But a devotee cannot tolerate the insult to the Lord and other devotees. So, that a devotee cannot tolerate. And at that time, he reacts. There are different ways one can react. One way is when one blasphemes the exalted devotees like that, he may cut off his tongue. But in Kaliyuga that hasn’t been advised because in Kaliyuga devotees have been advised not to take any violent course of action.
Mahaprabhu came and showed how to be tolerant. Mahaprabhu did not take any weapon. Although the Lord came, He did not bring any weapon in this incarnation. The only weapon that He brought with Him to kill the demons in this age is love. With love the Lord is winning over, conquering, defeating, destroying the demons. So, the next course of action is, he tries to prevent him by verbal reasoning and if he can’t do that he walks away from that place. But when he walks away from that place, still he feels so bad that he goes out and immediately takes a bath because even to hear that blasphemy of a devotee is so contaminating. So general course of action is to leave the place and if we can’t rectify the person, if we can’t stop that person from doing that then better to leave the place.
Question: Are Sati, Parvati and Durga same personality? I mean Maha Maya.
BCS: Yes. Sati, Parvati and Durga are the same personality, Maha Maya. Lord Shiva’s wife is Maha Maya. Maha Maya manifests herself in this way like Sati left her body and then she was born as the daughter of Himalayas, Parvati, and then again, she was married to Lord Shiva. As a result of that Skanda, Kartikeya was born - the general of the demigods.
Question: According to the Vedic scriptures, a chaste woman should not disobey her husband but here we see Sati did not follow. Please explain.
BCS: Well Sati did not quite disobey Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva did not tell her not to go. Lord Shiva told her if she goes, that will be the consequence. But she could not foresee or she could not even imagine that her father would become so vicious, so envious and so vindictive. When she realized she made such a mistake, she realized she should have followed the instructions of her husband on one hand and not have come here. And when she could not tolerate the insult, her father was inflicting upon Lord Shiva she decided to leave her body.
BCS: Thank you. Hare Krishna. Yes?
Question: [inaudible]
BCS: Because the living entities on the earth planet, they have the ability to see only immediately what is around them, not beyond that. Living entities don’t have the ability like the demigods who have a greater vision than just their immediate sense perception. That’s why people from the earth planet cannot see what’s happening on the lower planetary systems. Besides that, the lower planetary system is underground. So that’s another reason. Can you see what’s below the earth?
Hare Krishna.
Question: [inaudible]
BCS: Rudra is an expansion of Lord Shiva. He is born out of Lord Brahma.
Question: continues [inaudible]
BCS: Lord Shiva is not acting as superior in this relation. Lord Shiva is acting as brother of Narada. He calls Narada his brother and Brahma is like his father. They are exalted personalities from the devotional point of view. Just like Sukadeva Goswami’s position is seen as even greater than Vyasadev’s although he is a son of Vyasadev because he is a devotee. As a devotee, he’s situation was higher.
So, there are two ways of calculating, one is the material calculation- father, son, grandfather and so forth. The grandfather, father are naturally superior to the son. In the spiritual consideration that is not the deciding factor. The spiritual consideration is the extent or depth of the devotion of that personality. In that calculation a disciple will not be superior to his spiritual master. Like his position always remains subordinate. Disciple’s situation remains subordinate.
Yes?
Question: [inaudible]
BCS: Yes, Sanjaya also saw that otherwise how could he describe that. That’s one pint. The universal form is as Prabhupada described, is the material manifestation of the Lord’s universal form, is in relation to the material nature. That is not spiritual. So that is why universal form is not so much important for the devotees. Although the universal form of the Lord is the sum total of the entire creation. So that aspect of the Lord is universal form. And the devotees are not interested in that form. Therefore, we see that Arjuna is requesting Krishna to show His four-armed form. And even more important is His two-armed form because four-armed form has opulence connected to that. Whereas the two-armed form there is intimacy and love. So, the two-armed form of the Lord is the most attractive.
Question: The husband and father are equally worshippable for a woman. Is this true also for the woman who is a devotee? How is woman who is aspiring to be a devotee to understand her husband?
BCS: So, this question that you have asked Bhaktin Carol is not in relation to husband and father but it is ultimately coming to husband and Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, when it is a choice between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and husband then it is left upto the woman herself to decide. If we comment on that it may lead to some problem especially when the husband is not favorable to Krishna Consciousness. It happens often thar the married women come and ask what should we do. The husband is not favorable.
The general answer should be well if it’s a choice is between Krishna and her husband, then natural choice of course will be Krishna because in your previous life you had so many husbands. Do you remember any one of them? Similarly (your)this husband also will be forgotten in your next life, but your relationship with Krishna is eternal. So, for the social consideration one may maintain her relationship with her husband but ultimately, we have to give up everybody for the sake of Krishna if he is not Krishna Conscious.
Question: Guru Maharaj, Daksha was a Prajapati of whole Universe so where was this story going on.
BCS: Yes, this incident is going on in the higher planetary systems. The universe has seven higher planetary systems and this was going on in that plane. Not even in heavenly planet, even beyond heavenly planet.
Ok, so I will stop now. Thank you all very much. Al glories to Srila Prabhupada.
Gaura Premanande Hari Hari Bol.