Suta Goswami said, Now I will tell you about Vyasadeva’s inspiration to compose this great literature.
One day as the sun rose, Vyasadeva touched the sacred waters of the Sarasvati river and sat alone to concentrate. Vyasadeva was a great sage with knowledge of the past and future and he perceived the decline of all things due to the progression of time. He could see that the lifespan of people would be shortened and they would be sceptical and impatient. Thus he meditated on what would be beneficial for humanity.
Vyasadeva could understand that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas would purify the people. He simplified the process by separating the single Veda into four. Then Vyasadeva edited the Vedas so less intelligent people could understand them. The compassionate sage compiled the great historical narration, the Mahabharata, for those who were less intelligent and in this way gave them a way to achieve the highest good.
Yet although Vyasadeva had assembled all this literature and worked for the welfare of all humanity, his heart was still dissatisfied. Vyasadeva contemplated the reason for his dissatisfaction.
Vyasadeva said to himself, I have accepted all the traditional disciplines and vows. I have humbly chanted the Vedic hymns. I have worshipped the spiritual teachers and performed sacrifice without pretence. I have not deviated from the instructions of the great spiritual teachers in my explanations within the Mahabharata, and I have properly explained the path of religion so that all people can understand it.
Although I have done everything required and I myself have everything necessary, I still feel that something is missing. This may be because I did not include devotion to the Lord, which is loved by the perfect beings and the infallible Lord. While Vyasadeva was contemplating the cause of his deficiency the great sage Narada arrived at his residence. Vyasadeva quickly got up and respectfully welcomed him.
After the sage Narada was comfortably seated he said to Vyasadeva, You have fully comprehended all that you studied. You have compiled the wonderful Mahabharata, which explains all the principal goals of human life and described the knowledge of spirit as well as its attainment. You have achieved all this, then why are you still not satisfied?
Vyasadeva said, Everything you say is true. I ask you to tell me the cause of my dissatisfaction, for you are a man of unfathomable wisdom. Could you please explain the reason for my shortcomings?
Narada said, You have not praised the wonderful and immaculate virtues of the supreme person. Any literature which does not please the Supreme Lord is incomplete. Although you have elaborately described religious principles and activities, you have not described the glories of the supreme person.
Any literature which does not describe the purifying glory of the Lord, is like a dwelling place for crows. The saintly people, who are like swans and have their minds absorbed in the supreme spirit, can find no pleasure in such things.
Words that describe the spiritual virtues and activities of the unlimited supreme person can reform the attitude of even impious people. Even if such spiritual literature is imperfectly composed, the virtuous people will hear it and recite it.
Even action free of karma, or knowledge without error, is of little use if it lacks an understanding of the perfect and Supreme Lord. So what is the value of material actions if they are not dedicated to the Lord?
Vyasadeva, your insight is infallible and your reputation is exemplary. You are devoted to the truth and steady in your practices. So you can meditate on the pastimes of the Lord in order to free humanity from material suffering. There can be no peace of mind for those who fix their attention on anything separate from the Lord, just as a boat tossed around by the wind can never find a stable harbour.
Generally people are addicted to material enjoyment and you have been negligent by encouraging that tendency in the name of religion. Because they accept your instructions, they will perform such activities under the guise of performing spiritual activities and they will not consider restricting that way of life.
Only someone who has given up material activities is capable of understanding the Supreme Lord. Therefore people who are materially attached should be shown the path of self realisation through narrations of the spiritual activities of the Supreme Lord.
One who has abandoned the conventional religious duties to devote themselves to the Lord loses nothing if they fail while they are still immature. But one who performs their conventional duties without devotion achieves nothing.
Intelligent people should only seek those things that are not available anywhere within the material world. There is no need to seek happiness that comes from sensual enjoyment because it comes of its own accord, just as unhappiness comes without us seeking it out.
My dear Vyasa, those who are engaged in serving the Supreme Lord will not become entangled in the cycle of karma and transmigration of the soul. Anyone who has even once experienced the joy of serving the Supreme Lord can never forget it and they do not desire to ever let it go.
The universe is the supreme person himself, but he is also distinct from it. The creation, preservation and destruction of this universe are from him. You understand all this. I have only given you a small indication.
Your insight is without fault and you are without birth, because you appear for the welfare of the world. Therefore, please describe the spiritual qualities and activities of the supreme person in more detail. The sages declare that poetic glorification of the Lord is the completion of religious activities.
In a previous era, I was the son of a serving-maid of brahmin priests. During the rainy season, I personally served those priests. Although they viewed everyone with an equal outlook, those followers of the Veda showed favour to me. They would give me the remnants of their food and in this way I was purified and thus spiritual life attracted me. O Vyasadeva, I would listen to them describing the attractive activities of Lord Krishna and thus my inclination to hear about the Lord increased.
As my understanding developed, I could understand that it was due to illusion that I accepted the bodily coverings as my self, because my true nature is spiritual. Thus during the rainy season and the autumn I listened to these great sages constantly describing the faultless qualities of the Supreme Lord. As my devotion increased, my material ignorance vanished.
Although only a child I was faithful and devoted to them and by serving them all my karma was destroyed. They taught me the most secret knowledge and thus I could clearly understand the influence of the Supreme Lord’s illusory power. By learning that knowledge one can attain to his feet.
The wise have determined that the best corrective method for removing all suffering is to dedicate all one’s activities to the service of the Supreme Lord. If someone dedicates all their activities to worship of the Lord, instead of their activities binding them to the world, they destroy all karma and one is liberated from the world.
Any activities which are performed only for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, as well as knowledge that depends on him, is called devotion. When one constantly performs activities for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord Krishna, one also remembers him and his names and qualities.
Let us all bow down before him and mediate on him. Those who worship the supreme person – who has no material form and is represented in the form of spiritual sound – perceive things as they are. This is the knowledge I obtained. Because I was devoted to him, the Lord bestowed on me this wealth of knowledge.
Vyasadeva, you are vast in knowledge, so please describe the glories of the Supreme Lord for the sake of those who are experiencing perpetual suffering. There is no other means to remove such suffering.
After Vyasadeva heard all about Narada’s birth and activities, he asked, When those sages departed, where did you go? How did you pass your life and how did you receive your present body? Time eventually destroys everything, so how do you still remember these events when they happened in a previous lifetime?
Narada said, The sages who taught me spiritual knowledge left to travel to other places. Since I was the only son of my mother, she had no one else to look after her and she bound me to her with affection. One night, when my mother went out to milk a cow, she was bitten by a snake and died. I considered this as the grace of providence and so I started travelling to the north. I travelled through many cities and towns, farmlands and forests.
After some time I stopped in a forest, and in the shadow of a sacred fig tree I began to meditate on the Supreme Lord within my heart, as the sages had taught me. As I meditated, my mind was overwhelmed by devotion, tears rolled down my eyes, and the Supreme Lord manifested himself in my heart.
I was immersed in bliss and thus I could no longer see the Lord or myself. I was disturbed when I lost that form so I attempted to see that form again by concentrating upon the heart. However, I could not see him any more, and so I was distressed.
While I struggled alone, the Supreme Lord spoke to me to alleviate my distress and said, Narada, unfortunately during this lifetime you will not be eligible to see me anymore. It is difficult for those who are not free from contamination to see me. I revealed myself to you once, and this will fix your mind on me and slowly remove all the material desires in your heart.
By serving the sages, if only for a short time, you have achieved firm faith in me. Because of this, you will be with me in the spiritual world after achieving liberation from the material world. By my grace your devotion will not waver and your memory will not fade.
After saying this, the Supreme Lord stopped speaking. I bowed my head and offered him my respects. From that time onward, I began to sing the names and activities of the Supreme Lord and roamed around the earth. My mind was free of desire, envy and pride.
After some time, death appeared like a bolt of lightning. The material body made of the 5 elements fell off and all my karma stopped. At the dissolution of the world, when Brahma was withdrawn into the Lord along with the material elements, I also entered the Lord through his breathing.
When Brahma woke up and desired to create again, Marichi and the other sages and I were created from his breath. Since then, I travel everywhere in the three worlds and by the grace of the Lord my movements are never impeded.
And so I wander around and sing about the exploits of the Lord. The Supreme Lord appears within my heart, as if he has been summoned, when I begin to sing of his valour and his glories. The singing of the activities of the Lord is a boat that can cross the ocean of worldly existence and can save those whose hearts are afflicted with the desire for material enjoyment.
Vyasadeva, I have now told you everything you asked me about my birth and my activities. After saying this, Narada left to wander at his free will. All glory to the great sage Narada, who always sings the splendour of the activities of the supreme person. By doing this, he himself gains pleasure and inspires all the troubled souls within the material universe
After Narada’s departure, Vyasadeva sat down to meditate. With his mind purified by devotion, he saw the Supreme Lord as well as his power of illusion, which was fully under his control.
Although the living being is beyond the material nature, being deluded by the Lord’s illusory power, they think of themselves as material and so suffer the miseries associated with the body. Knowing that the unwanted material suffering of the living beings can be alleviated by devotion to the Supreme Lord, Vyasadeva composed this Bhagavatam for those who are ignorant of that truth.
By hearing this Bhagavatam, devotion to Krishna develops and thus removes all grief, illusion and fear. After Vyasadeva composed this Bhagavatam, he taught it to his son, Suka Goswami.
Suka Goswami was already devoid of attachment to the world and delighted by his higher self, but nonetheless he studied this great literature because he desired to serve the supreme person. The Supreme Lord has wonderful spiritual qualities that attract the hearts of everyone, even those who are liberated.
Suka Goswami, the son of Vyasadeva, was attracted by the excellent qualities of the Lord and so he studied this Bhagavatam. Suka Goswami spoke the Bhagavatam to King Pariksit, as Pariksit sat on the bank of the Ganges awaiting death.
