Narada and Mrigari the hunter

[Maitreya]

There is also another meaning to the word nirgrantha. The word can also mean “foolish hunter,” or “wretched poor man.” There is one instance of a hunter who attained salvation and engaged himself in the devotional service of the Lord simply by associating with the pure devotee Närada. Indeed, Lord Caitanya told Sanätana Gosvämi the following story of the hunter’s meeting with Närada.

Once there was a hunter in the forest of Prayäga who was fortunate enough to meet Närada Muni when the great sage was returning from Vaikuntha after visiting Lord Näräyana. Närada came to Prayäga to bathe in the confluence of the Ganges and Yamunä. While passing through the forest, Närada saw a bird lying on the ground. The bird was half-killed, being pierced by an arrow, and it was chirping pitifully. Further on, Närada saw a deer flopping about in agony. Further, he saw that a boar was also suffering, and, in another place, he saw a rabbit twitching in pain. All this made him very compassionate, and he began to think, “Who is the foolish man who has committed such sins?” Devotees of the Lord are generally compassionate upon the miseries of living entities, and what to speak of the great sage Närada? He became very much aggrieved by this scene, and after proceeding a few steps, he saw the hunter engaged in hunting with bow and arrows. The hunter’s complexion was very dark, and his eyes were red. It appeared to be dangerous just to see him standing there with his bow and arrows, looking just like an associate of Yamaräja, death. Seeing him, Närada Muni entered deeper into the forest to approach him. As Närada Muni passed through the forest, all the animals who were caught in the hunter’s traps fled away. The hunter became very angry at this, and he was just about to call Närada vile names, but, due to the influence of saintly Närada, the hunter could not utter such blasphemies. Rather, with gentle behavior, he asked Närada: “My dear sir, why have you come here while I am hunting? Have you strayed from the general path? Because you have come here, all the animals in my traps have fled.”

“Yes, I am sorry,” Närada replied. “I have come to you to find my own path and to inquire from you. I have seen that there are many boars, deer and rabbits on the path. They are lying on the forest floor half-dead and flopping about. Who has committed these sinful acts?”

“What you have seen is all right,” the hunter replied. “It was done by me.”

“If you are hunting all these poor animals, why don’t you kill them at once?” Närada asked. “You half-kill them, and they are suffering in their death pangs. This is a great sin. If you want to kill an animal, why don’t you kill it completely? Why do you leave it half-killed and allow it to die flopping around?”

“My dear Lord,” the hunter replied. “My name is Mrgäri, enemy of animals. I am simply following the teachings of my father who taught me to half-kill animals and leave them flopping about. When a half-dead animals suffers, I take great pleasure in it.”

“I beg one thing from you only,” Närada implored. “Please accept it.”

“Oh, yes sir, I shall give you whatever you like,” the hunter said. “If you want some animal skins, come to my house. I have many skins of animals, including tigers and deer. I shall give you whatever you like.”

“I do not want such things,” Närada replied. “However, I do want something else. If you kindly grant it to me, I shall tell you. Please, henceforth from tomorrow, whenever you kill an animal, please kill it completely. Don’t leave it half-dead.”

“My dear sir, what are you asking of me? What is the difference between half-killing an animal and killing it completely?”

“If you half-kill the animals, they suffer great pain,” Närada explained. “And if you give too much pain to other living entities, you commit great sin. There is a great offense committed when you kill an animal completely, but the offense is much greater when you half-kill it. Indeed, the pain which you give half-dead animals will have to be accepted by you in a future birth.”

Although the hunter was very sinful, his heart became softened, and he became afraid of his sins by virtue of his association with a great devotee like Närada. Those who are grossly sinful are not at all afraid of committing sins, but here we can see that because his purification began in the association of a great devotee like Närada, the hunter became afraid of his sinful activities. The hunter therefore replied: “My dear sir, from my very childhood I have been taught to kill animals in this way. Please tell me how I can get rid of all the offenses and sinful activities which I have accumulated. I am surrendering unto your feet. Please save me from all the reactions of my sinful activities which I have committed in the past, and please direct me to the proper path so that I can be free.”

“If you actually want to follow my directions, I can tell you the real path by which you can be freed from sinful reactions.”

“I shall follow whatever you say without hesitation,” the hunter agreed.

Närada then told him to first break his bow; only then would he disclose the path of liberation.

“You are asking me to break my bow,” the hunter protested, “but if I break it, what will be the means of my livelihood?”

“Don’t worry about your livelihood,” Närada said. “I shall send you sufficient grains in order to live.’,

The hunter then broke his bow and fell down at the feet of Närada. Närada got him to stand up, and he instructed him: “Just go to your home and distribute whatever money and valuables you have to the devotees and the brähmanas. Then just come out and follow me wearing only one cloth. Construct a small thatched house on the river bank and sow a tulasi plant by that house. Just circumambulate the tulasi tree, and every day taste one fallen leaf. Above all, always chant Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare. As far as your livelihood is concerned, I shall send you grains, but you will only accept as much grain as you require for yourself and your wife.”

Närada then relieved the half-dead animals, and, getting freed from their dreadful condition, they fled away. Upon seeing Närada execute this miracle, the dark hunter was struck with wonder. After taking Närada to his home, he bowed down again at his feet.

Närada returned to his place, and the hunter, after returning home, began to execute the instructions Närada had given him. In the meantime, news spread amongst all the villages that the hunter had become a devotee. Consequently the residents of the villages came to see the new Vaisnava. It is the Vedic custom to bring grains and fruits whenever one goes to see a saintly person, and since all the villagers saw that the hunter had turned into a great devotee, they brought eatables with them. Thus every day he was offered grains and fruit, so much so that no less than ten to twenty people could have eaten there. According to Närada’s instructions, he did not accept anything more than what he and his wife required for sustenance.

After some days had passed, Närada told his friend Parvata Muni: “I have a disciple. Let us go to see him and see if he is doing well.”

When the two sages, Närada and Parvata, went to the hunter’s home, the hunter saw his spiritual master coming from the distance, and he began to approach him with great respect. On his way to greet the great sages, the hunter saw that there were ants on the ground before him and that they were hindering his passage. When he reached the sages, he tried to bow down before them, but he saw that there were so many ants that he could not bow down without crushing them. Thus he slowly cleared away the ants with his cloth. When Närada saw that the hunter was trying to save the lives of the ants in this way, he was reminded of a verse from the Skanda Puräna: “Is it not wonderful that a devotee of the Lord is not inclined to give any sort of pain to anyone, not even to an ant?”

Although the hunter formerly took great pleasure in half-killing animals, since he became a great devotee of the Lord, he was not prepared to give pain even to an ant. The hunter received the two great sages at his home and offered them a sitting place, brought water, washed their feet, took water to them to drink, and finally both he and his wife touched the water with their heads. After this, they began to feel ecstasy and began to dance and sing Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/Hare Räma, Hare Räma, Räma Räma, Hare Hare. They raised their hands and danced with their clothes flying. When the two great sages saw this ecstasy of love of Godhead manifest in the body of the hunter, Parvata Muni told Närada: “You are a touchstone, for by your association even a great hunter has turned into a great devotee.”

There is a verse in the Skanda Puräna which states: “My dear Devarsi [Närada], you are glorious, and by your mercy, even the lowest creature, a hunter of animals, also became elevated to the path of devotion and attained transcendental attachment for Krsna.”

At length, Närada inquired of the hunter-devotee: “Are you getting your foodstuff regularly?”

“You send so many people,” the hunter replied, “and they bring so many eatables that we cannot begin to eat them.”

“That’s all right,” Närada replied. “Whatever you are getting is all right. Now just continue your devotional service in that way.”

After Närada had spoken this, both Närada and Parvata Muni disappeared from the hunter’s home. Lord Caitanya recited this story in order to show that even a hunter can engage in the devotional service of Krsna by the influence of pure devotees.Teachings of Lord Caitanya 16

 

YS MC

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

Maybe in YOUR version. In Satyaraja's version, the official UNESCO one, translated by a board of scholars, like Munishwar whats his name, Narada told him to keep killing animals because bhakti does not depend on any regulations.

[Guest guest]

Parvata Muni told Närada: "You are a touchstone, for by your association even a great hunter has turned into a great devotee."

 

So, the hunter hasn't transformed by any bhakti-formula of 4 principles and 16 rounds. It was the association of a great devotee that transferred some bhakti into his heart, or has awaked his jiva-svarupa.

 

Did this hunter have to follow a sadhana for 20 years to become KC?

 

[Maitreya]

Originally posted by Maitreya:

Those who are grossly sinful are not at all afraid of committing sins, but here we can see that because his purification began in the association of a great devotee like Närada, the hunter became afraid of his sinful activities. The hunter therefore replied: “My dear sir, from my very childhood I have been taught to kill animals in this way. Please tell me how I can get rid of all the offenses and sinful activities which I have accumulated. I am surrendering unto your feet. Please save me from all the reactions of my sinful activities which I have committed in the past, and please direct me to the proper path so that I can be free.”

“If you actually want to follow my directions, I can tell you the real path by which you can be freed from sinful reactions.”

“I shall follow whatever you say without hesitation,” the hunter agreed.

Närada then told him to first break his bow; only then would he disclose the path of liberation.

 

Because of his association with Narada the hunter became afraid of his sinful activities.

 

Narada told him first to break his bow.

 

YS MC

 

 

[atma]

Just came to my mind this "devotee" that I knew very well. An active homosexual, addicted to cocaine he took iniciation from Satyaraja's guru in San Jose, Costa Rica about 3 years ago. All the temple there (GM temple) knew about him and his bad habits and I think because they don't care so much about regulations and chanting of japa, it was no problem for him to get initiated.

I'm a very fallen soul and I fail to understand the reasoning behind this.

This person continued with his bad habits after diksha and now he is dead.

The honor of his guru is on the floor with this kind of disciple. This is only one example, I can say more about many others but I'm not going to get into it.

It seems to me and others that here we see the recruiting of numbers not quality.

I have to say that I do know others disciples of Narayana Maharaja that are very renounced and saintly but I can't accept these quick initiations, with people that don't follow anything.