{"id":1392,"date":"2009-01-07T14:44:40","date_gmt":"2009-01-07T09:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2009-01-07T17:38:52","modified_gmt":"2009-01-07T12:08:52","slug":"bb-41-devotee-prahlad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kunjeshwari.com\/sweetblog\/sweet_books\/brihad-bhagvatamritam\/bb-41-devotee-prahlad\/","title":{"rendered":"BB 4.1 – Devotee Prahlad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fourth Chapter (Devotee)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Bhakta<\/a><\/strong>

Bhakta Prahlad<\/p><\/div>\n

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Parikshit Mah\u00e2r\u00e2j said \u2013 “Dear Mother! Shivji\u2019s statement surprised N\u00e2rad who traveled quickly on his \u2018mental\u2019 chariot and entered Sutal. He was so impatient to behold Prahl\u00e2d, who was the foremost devotee. <\/span>He saw Prahl\u00e2d in a secluded place, immersed in meditation. He was relishing the ras<\/em> of the lotus-feet of Sri Bhagav\u00e2n. In meditation itself, he could make out that N\u00e2rad has entered. So he got up to welcome the great sage. But no sooner than he did this, N\u00e2rad hastened to be by his side, and Prahl\u00e2d offered him obeisance. When Prahl\u00e2d started worshiping him with all the paraphernalia, the sage stopped him with reverence. With tear-filled eyes he started embracing Prahl\u00e2d again and again. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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N\u00e2rad said, “Dear child! You alone are the greatest recipient of Sri Krishna\u2019s bounty. Today my labor has borne fruits. I have been traveling all the way from Pray\u00e2g to Sutal searching for the greatest recepeint of Sri Krishna\u2013kripa<\/em> and at last my effort has borne fruit. Dear child! Your father had created tremendous obstacles on your path, yet you have overcome all of them by the power of your bhakti<\/em>. You have also transformed the asur<\/em>-children, who were of t\u00e2masic<\/em> nature, into supreme bh\u00e2gvats<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Lord Narasimha was so furious to see how his devotee ws being tortured. Therefore he was about to destroy the whole universe. Then the devat\u00e2s<\/em>, who were extremely afraid of His blazing anger begged you to assuage Him. As soon as you fell at His lotus feet, He picked you up and licked you all over. O supreme bh\u00e2gavat! When Sri Bhagav\u00e2n offered you the topmost positon, you rejected it. However, to please Him you accepted the kingdom. Sri Bhagav\u00e2n is like a honey bee, whose only means of survival is, to drink the honey like prem<\/em> from the devotee\u2019s lotus like heart. Sri Bhagav\u00e2n always wants that all living beings should attain love for His lotus feet. As a result, to salvage every living entity, you accepted the kingdom, so that you could preach divine prem<\/em>. This is why the royal throne could not harm your spiritual endeavor. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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O best of the devotees! What more can I say? Your mercy alone has enabled even Bali, your grandson, to subjugate Sri Bhagav\u00e2n and keep Him as a security guard.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Parikshit said, “Dear Mother! Sri Prahl\u00e2d was embarrassed by N\u00e2rad\u2019s statements. He offered him obeisance and said, \u2018O Gurudev! Even material knowledge does not develop in childhood, then how can a child gain supreme knowledge \u2013 that pertaining to Sri Krishna-bhakti<\/em>? You extolled me \u2013 yet all these qualities that you naturally find in steadfast devotees \u2013 I do not possess any one of them. When my heart is in peril, I remember only my Master, and consequently I am not overwhelmed by trouble. This does not indicate that I have gained His mercy. Real Sri Krishna-krip\u00e2<\/em> is expressed only in His servants. When the devotee has the good fortune to serve the lotus feet of the Lord, in various beautiful ways, we can say that he has indeed got His mercy. When he saves us from troubles, or destroys our anarthas<\/em>, it does not signify \u2018krip\u00e2<\/em>\u2019. You may say that \u2013 \u2018Lord Narasimha has petted and fondled you, does it not reveal His krip\u00e2<\/em>?\u2019 Then I beg to reply \u2013 the M\u00e2y\u00e2v\u00e2dis call such petting as the activities of M\u00e2y\u00e2, and they say that the Supreme Being does not perform such actions \u2013 it is impossible for Him. Some devotees feel it is just Sri Bhagav\u00e2n\u2019s leel\u00e2<\/em>. As soon as you come close to the fire, you will stop feeling cold, and stop feeling lethargic. Similarly, Sri Bhagav\u00e2n has a natural paternal tendency towards one and all, since He is naturally compassionate. Therefore, we cannot call His petting and fondling as \u2018real krip\u00e2<\/em>\u2019. The great souls who are truly devout say that devotees such as Sri Hanum\u00e2n, who have obtained the good fortune to serve the Lord in an exceptional manner, they have truly got His mercy. I cannot call His loving gestures as \u2018mercy\u2019, I am afraid.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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O Master! Whatever divine pastimes Lord Nrisimha performs, is simply to protect the devat\u00e2s<\/em> who are His devotees, salvage His associates Jay and Vijay from the bondage of curse, and to help keep the vow made by His son Brahm\u00e2ji. He does not perform any leel\u00e2<\/em> to show compassion towards me. O Gurudev! If He indeed had any mercy for me, do you think He would have deceived me, by giving me a kingdom? Do try to recollect His vow \u2013 \u2018When I am merciful to someone, I take away his wealth\u2019. As a result, it is very clear that He has been un-merciful towards me when He gave me the kingdom. Moreover, because of the kingdom, I have also gained servants, friends and relatives; this has obliterated my devotional practice as well. He has also declared with His holy lips that material pleasures never attract His exclusive devotee; yet I am addicted to kingdom and material happiness. Then, don\u2019t you think my addiction for material wealth such as the kingdom has been a blow to a staunch and exclusive bhakti<\/em>?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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(Commentary<\/span><\/strong> – Here, really speaking, a devotee is never addicted to material pleasure. We should realize that Sri Prahl\u00e2d is simply stating this out of humility that is natural for him. When we reach a mature stage in bhakti<\/em>, gradually such humbleness awakens in us. As devotees, we should always seek out our faults and consider even little good quality in others as great. Bhakti is naturally sweet and soft. Whe we gain excellent qualities such as humility and politeness. It highly nourishes our bhakti<\/em>. When we possess all excellent qualifications and brilliance, yet we consider ourselves extraordinarily worthless, such a bh\u00e2v<\/em> is \u2018humility\u2019. Actually, humility is \u2018complete self-surrender and sacrifie at the lotus feet of Sri Bhagav\u00e2n\u2019.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Some people think humility stands for weakness, cowardice and inferiority complex. Consequently they look down on humility. Yes, such qualities are tamasic<\/em>, hence fit to be treated with contempt. However, we should never possess these qualities. Materialistic people censure and protest when we say that devotees should be humble. They are mistaken. A devotee\u2019s humility is very exceptional, special and arises out of only prem-bhakti<\/em>. In fact this starting quality arises in us only when reach the mature stage of prem-bhakti<\/em>. The devotees who are very pure, untouched by sin, alone can consider themselves fallen. Our Vaishnav samprad\u00e2y<\/em> is full of such examples. If we are sinful and offensive, we do not want to acknowledge it. However, the great souls who are inoffensive and are the jewels adorning Mother Earth, consider themselves as burden for her. They think they are tarnishing her beauty \u2013 such lofty thoughts are possible because they have bhakti<\/em> which is the best of all God qualities. Bhakti Devi has such inconceivable impact on them. Thus we see that the inferiority complex arising out of tamo-guna<\/em> (mode of ignorance) and the humility awakened in the heart of a supreme bh\u00e2gavat<\/em> who is full of prem-bhakti<\/em> are as unlike each other as darkness and light. They are as dissimilar as lust and love. It is impossible for ordinary mortals to understand this fact. Mundane humility is like a piece of glass, while the meekness arising in the loving heart of a devotee is as priceless as diamond. We shall speak more on this topic in the second volume of Sri Brihad-Bh\u00e2gavat\u00e2mritam; therefore we are not going into the detail here.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sri Prahl\u00e2d was humble, because of his natural devotion. He considered himself unworthy and has declared himself to be addicted to material pleasure. His modesty is making him glorify Sri Hanum\u00e2n, since he has got the good fortune to serve Lord R\u00e2mchandra.)<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Prahl\u00e2d told N\u00e2rad \u2013 “O Gurudev! You mentioned the way I preached to the asur<\/em>-children \u2013 but in reality, I have proved my lack of education that is customary for an asur<\/em>. I have no spiritual knowledge whatsoever. Due to the association of the asuras<\/em>, I have still not got rid of dry knowledge. We can gain special divine mercy only by resorting to pure devotion, that is unadulterated by karma<\/em> and gy\u00e2n<\/em>. Yet, where do I have the characteristics of such pure devotion? And without pure devotion how can I get the mercy of the Lord? Also I want to tell you that the Lord has not taken the position of Bali\u2019s security guard due to my devotion, but rather he is guarding the gates of Sutal so that Bali cannot escape from there. That too, He is not visible to everyone at all the time; sometimes someone may see Him at Bali\u2019s gate. When we are very much eager to attain Sri Bhagav\u00e2n, He gives us darshan<\/em> wherever we are, at that moment. As a result, some devotees get His darshan<\/em> at the gate of Sutal. I don\u2019t see this as an effect of my bhakti<\/em>, or how you can consider me great?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a>O Gurudev! You will be sad to hear all my tales of woe; hence it is better if you go to Kimpurushvarsha, where Sri Hanum\u00e2n resides. There you will see how Sri Bhagav\u00e2n bestows His bounties on him. Hanum\u00e2nji is steadfast in brahmacharya<\/em>, knows all the scriptures and he is extremely courageous. Consequently, he is the chief servant of Lord R\u00e2mchandra. To serve His Lordship he had easily crossed the fathomless ocean. He had fulfilled the wish of Vibhishan, and had destroyed the vast army of the demons. In the battle between Lord R\u00e2m and R\u00e2van, Lakshman had been hit with the powerful weapn called \u2018shakti-shel<\/em>\u2019. Then Hanum\u00e2nji had brought the medicinal herb for Lakshman that relieved him from pain.<\/span>[1]<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> So think how mighty he is! He had brought great joy to Mother Sit\u00e2 by conveying the message of R\u00e2van\u2019s deliverance. On the pretext of obtaining her necklace, he only got the merciful gift of prem<\/em> and bhakti<\/em>. <\/span>O Master! The sh\u00e2stras extol his great glory in verses such as \u2018kapi-patir-d\u00e2sye<\/em>\u2019. You too know his glory, what more can I tell you? Do visit Kimpurushvarsha and be pleased to behold Sri Hanuman.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
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[1]<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> When Lakshman is severely wounded by Indrajit during the war against Ravan, Hanuman is sent to fetch the Sanjivani<\/span><\/span><\/a>, a powerful life-restoring herb from the Dronagiri mountain in the Himalayas<\/span><\/span><\/a> to revive him. Ravan realises that if Lakshman dies, a distraught R\u00e2m would probably give up, and so has his uncle Kalnemi tempt Hanuman away with luxury. However, Hanuman is tipped off by a crocodile (actually a celestial being under a curse) and kills the demons. When he is unable to find the specific herb before nightfall, Hanuman again displays his might by lifting the entire Dronagiri mountain and bringing it to the battlefield in Lanka, thus helping others find the herb to revive Lakshman. An emotional R\u00e2m hugs Hanuman, declaring him as dear to him as his own beloved brother Bharat.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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