srimadbhagavatham-skandha1-chapter5

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chapter-5-`The unrest of Vyasa and The advice of Narada

Narada is well known to appear whenever and whereever someone needed

enlightenment.When Narada asked Vyasa about his being unhappy Vyasa

disclosed the nature of his grief and entreated the celestial sage to

diagnose the cause of his mental unrest. Narada replied that Even

though Vyasa had composed the Mahabharatha which consists all dharma

and arTHa it did not describe the exploits of the Lord Hari and the

work which is rich in linguistic skills but does not speak about the

Lord is like ' vAyasam theerTham' , a ditch for crows in which 'hamsA

na niramanthi,' the swans will not relish. The swans refered to here

are the paramahamsas, those with the knowledge of Brahman.On the

other hand even a work is full of mistakes will be able to dispell

the sins of the reader if it is adorned with the glorious names of

the Lord, 'nAmnAni ananthasyayaSonkithAni.' That alone will the

sadhus hear, sing and accept, srNvanthi, gAyanthi grhNanthi sAdhavah.'

Therefore Narada instructed Vyasa to go into samAdhi meditating on

the leelas of Hari and proclaim them to the world.Vyasa was praised

by Narada as being qualified for the task as he is amOghadhrk, one

having infallible purpose,SuchiSravah,of pure fame, sathyarathi, has

love for truth and DHrthavratah, of firm resolve. He is fortunate

because the work will release all who resort to it from bondage.The

reason for the unrest of Vyasa was due to the fact that the

Mahabharatha dealt only with pravrtthi marga (pursuing dharma, artha

and kama only) and said nothing on Nivrtthimarga, means of

attainment of Mokha.It was a narration of kAmya karma, desire

motivated activities which lead people to disaster like a boat

agitated by strong winds.

Then Narada started telling Vyasa about himself. He was the son of

a maidservant, who was engaged in serving the yogis in his previous

birth. As a boy he was disciplined and was dedicated to their

setrvice.Pleased with him they gave him the instruction on the

knowledge which they acquired from the Lord Himself, out of mercy. He

became purified in mind by that and experienced the whole world as

the manifestation of the Maya of the Lord and felt that he did not

have a separate existence apart from the Lord. Devotion rose in his

mind after quelling rajas and thamas and when the sages left the

place they imparted the highest knowledge as they thought that he was

a fit disciple.

The glory of karma blended with bhakthi is described by Narada. Karma

combined with bhakthi is capable of removing the three kinds of

suffering, namely, through past karma, from doings of others and from

one's own actions. When a disease is caused by some disagreeing

object it will not stop giving trouble by mere treatment but only on

removing it.All actions result in bondage only and the worship and

service to the Lord alone has the power to remove the result of bad

karma. The jnana coupled with bhakthi does only that.

In the next chapter Narada continues his story.