Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana

Synopsis of the Forty-First Session

Bhagavata Shastha Skanda (Book Six)

Chapter 4 to 6 

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Pariksit Requested:

The genesis of Gods and demons, human being and Nagas, beast and birds in the very first manvantar, covering 71 revolutions of the 4 yugas, presiding over by Swambhu Manu was described by you. I desire to know the details of it and with what power the supreme Lord evolved the supreme creation. (Book 3 dealt with creation)

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Story

When the 10 Pracetas sons of Pracinabarhi emerged from the Lake, they saw that the entire earth had been invaded by trees and they got very agitated and started destroying them. At that time Soma consoled them saying you are the ruler of all created being and it is not becoming of you to cause harm. Instead they were requested to marry the foster daughter of the tree. To them was born Dakhsa (He is different from the one who was created by Brahma himself in the first Manvantar)

Now, Daksha tried to create the world, through his mind, however this world was not sustainable and he was unable to make any tangible creation. Finally, he turned towards the Lord for guidance - he called out and praised the Lord. ‘Hamsauhya’ is the name of the hymn sung by him. Due to intense prayer and total surrender to the Lord, the divine appeared and guided him to give up the effort of mental creation and begin physical procreation. He married Askini (Panchajani, the daughter of Panchajana) and procreated with the union.

Daksha and Askini had 10 000 son, and these son were directed towards Narayanasara to do Tapa, to unable them to become cleansed from all impurities. They practiced severe austerities and developed renunciation and self knowledge, however were intent on going back as their father had put the intent to populate the world on them. At that moment Narad Muni saw them and talked to them and told them they were yet not suitable for creation and influenced them to give up worldly desires. This made them drop the resolve of procreation and seek the deeper truth. 

Daksha got this new and was very disheartened and had 1000 more sons and again instructed them to go to Narayanasara to do Tapa and come back to populate the world. However, this time again Nara Muni, talked to them and told them that to follow the path chalked by their brothers and hence, they also denunciated the world and went to the quest of the self.

Daksha, reprimanded Narad muni telling him that he had misguided his sons, they were unable to fulfil their duties and were not ready for the march towards self realisation. Daksha this time cursed Narad Muni and told him that he will not be able to stay in one place for more than a few seconds. Infact he said he will have not Halt as he wonders through the universe. Narad muni could have uttered counter curse, however he accepted the curse saying, ‘Very Well’.

Daksha later after being Pacified by Brahamji, had 60 daughters. The Descendants of these daughters filled on all sides the 3 worlds - Heaven, earth and the intermediate regions.

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Points to Ponder:

This session sees the divine dialogue between Dakha and the Lord Narayan. It also has the riddle of truth thrown by Narad Muni to the 10000 sons of Daksha. Will try to capture the some important points from each. 

Hamsauhya - Daskha Prayed

1. The one who takes the object of senses to be real, is unable to see the truth and the Lord is beyond his cognition.

2. This divine Lord lives as a friend within us.

3. The one who sees the world as only the visible universe and nothing beyond. Is unable to perceive the divine within.

4. God is infinite and unknowable.

5. Only a pure mind is able to feel the divine - A pure mind is one where the world of name and form does not exist.

6. Pure intellect is one where the Divine self remains and the self which is nothing but he ego disappears.

7. The divine is found in the joy of liberations, w hen maya has been totally negated.

8. He is also all names and forms

9. Words, intellect, senses and mind, can not be his true form

10. All that happens is nothing but Brahman

11. He is the ultimate cause of all causes

12. He is one without a second

13. Yoga where they talk of union and Sankya were there is no name an form, are both talking about the same God

14. He manifests in the form of pure sattva

‘May the Lord grant my wish, who thought dwelling in the body of all men as their formless inner controller, appears diversified in the form of different deities to people, according to their individual tendencies formed in their previous and according to the system of worship followed by them.’

‘Just as the air emits the fragrance of various kind when it comes in contact with different odours or appears dusty when the dust is transferred to it.’

Lord Talks 

The Lord describes himself as follows;

- Asceticism (contemplation and practice of Yama and Niyama) is my Heart

- Worship (muttering of prayer, Nyasa etc)is my Body as it gives a concrete shape to meditation and serves as a protective covering to it.

- Mental activity (that of making a mental image of the object to be meditated upon) is my exterior

- Sacrifice well performed are the various Parts of my body

- The merits resulting from such sacrifice is my Mind

- The Gods enjoying the share int he scarifies are my Vital Air

‘Brahma the creator, Lord Shiva - The source of the universe, Daksha, Manu, Indra and others are my manifestation.’

Narad Muni’s Riddle

‘Without knowing the country inhibited by the single person, the hole with no invisible outlet, the woman assuming different forms at will and even so the man who is the husband of a harlot, the river running both ways (both forward and backward), the wonderful house build of 25 materials, the swan at one place, which has a strange story to tell, and something exceptionally sharp and strong, indecent and revolving, and without having understood the command of your omniscient father, suitable for you, how will you proceed with he work of creation?’ 

Answer Attached - read and solve the riddle 

We have to ask ourselves;

- Are we fit to procreate?

- What Tapa have we done to purify ourself before taking the divine task of populating the world forward?

- Are we pure enough to have divine off springs?

- As we sow so shall we reap

- Is not, the mayhem that we see all around us our own creation?

Daksha - The duties 

Renunciation is not right and one is not qualified for it until;

- Till the 3 debts have been fulfilled;

  - The obligation to the Rishis by studying the Veda has been done.

  - The obligation to the Gods by the means of performing sacrifices has been achieved.

  - The obligation to the manes by the means of procreating and furthering the creation.

- Pondered on the uselessness of the worldly activities 

- Knowing the bitterness(painful consequences) of the pleasure of senses after tasting them 

- Disgust to the world should come from their own accord and experience

In other words, we should see here that our shastras show us the importance of every ashram. If every stage of the life and every ashram (Bhramacharya, Grihasta, Vanaprasta, Sanyasa) is lived by the decorum and rules laid by the shastras, each ashram will lead us towards the Lord.

However, it is also worth nothing here, that some people might not need to go though every stage/Ashrama. It all depends on the journey of that individual.

This is the beauty of our scripture, there is no room for rigidity, there are always various ways to achieve the same Lord. There is no right or wrong. In Daksha’s prayers, he ones says the Lord is formless and nameless and later also says he is all the forms and all the names. Daksha also says, that although the lord is one, he is worshipped in various ways, in various forms based on the tendencies and birth environment. 

Daksha’s anger - Beyond the selfish 

Daksha’s anger is truly justified. We all know how dearly fathers love their children, if ones child is directed towards sanyasa hell breaks loose. 

However, there is one very big difference in Daksha as a father and us. He well accepted the futility of the world, knew the ultimate goal is self realisation and that one has greater responsibilities beyond the family that needs to be addressed before one takes to monk hood.

On the contrary, the angry father of today, revels in worldly pleasure and does not himself understand the futility of the material world, the ultimate goal of life is never understood and the reason to hold the child back is selfish attachments and expectation, there is no greater good involved in their agenda to deter the child from monk hood.

Many a times we end up comparing our situation and reaction to it, with the elevate souls in the scriptures. Beware not to fool one self. 

Kaha Raja Bhoj, aur kha Gangu teli

Narad Muni - Accepted the Curse with Joy

Narad Muni, thanked Daksha that he was liberated by this curse. It was in fact a boon. He said Dakhsa had made him a virakta. He was free from all attachments - Had he not ben blessed, he would have made a hut or an ashram, gathered disciples and amassed material possessions. 

After all, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss’.

He also shows us, that the more powerful and elevated one is, the more restrained and forgiving one becomes. He could have nullified the curse and retaliated, however he chose to accept and forgive the misbehaviour and move on.

60 daughters (Family Tree enclosed)

When we look how Daksha chose time and again how many and what gender of children to have. It is evident that our ancestors had the knowledge to chose the gender of the child. 

The more we read the scripture the more we realise that, the things we consider beyond our control, be it death or birth, is very much in control. As we remove the layers and move closer towards the divine self, the impossible becomes possible and controlled becomes the controller.

The Descendants of these daughters filled on all sides the 3 worlds - Heaven, earth and the intermediate regions.

The entire population was called Dakshayinee. Daksha means a skilful person who knows the principles of Dharma and controls his own mind and the world. All the people in this world are his daughter’s descendant and his as well.

To the one who is established in the ‘Sat Cit Anand Swaroop’ the entire world is his Kutumbh.

Vasudaiva Kutumbakam

Somebody asked Ramana Maharishi; ‘How should I be with others?’

Ramana Maharishi answered, ’There are no others.’

Knowing this as the the deepest truth - move around in the world.

Jai Shri Krishna 🙏

Jai Hanuman 🙏