Today we are going to start from the first chapter of Brhad
Bhagavatamrta.  This first chapter of the first part is known as
Bhoma.  The word Bhoma is coming from the word Bhumi, earth,
therefor Bhoma means earthly. Each universe has 14 planetary
systems and the middle one is known as earth and the history of
this earth planet is known as Mahabharat, the great history of
India. It is called the great history of India because the rulers
of India used to rule over the entire earth planet.  Each
planetary system has one ruler, that is the general custom.  The
sun planet has one ruler called Vivasan and similarly there is a
ruler in the moon planet, in Sarvaloka.  There is one supreme
ruler in each planet and he has subordinate rulers just as each
temple has a temple president but the temple has departments and
those departments have departmental heads and then they can have
subdivisions and subdivisional heads.  That is the ideal system,
that there is one ruler.  

On the earth planet in the early days, the rulers in the India,
the land of Bharat, used to rule the whole world, the whole earth
planet.  The geography of Bharat has been given as the territory
of land between the salt water ocean in the south and Himalayan
mountain range in the north.  Bharat is the land where Vedic
culture is practiced but nowadays noone considers India to be
Bharat.  No one calls India Bharatvarsa because India has
deviated from the Vedic culture. Previously, when the rulers of
India followed the Vedic culture, they ruled over the earth
planet according to the Vedic injunctions.  

Histories are generally about the rulers.  History is not about
common people.  History is written about the rulers or great
personalities who create history and the history of the world is
called Mahabharat.  This Mahabharat was compiled by Vyasadev and
written by Ganesha.  Ganesha is a very expert writer as he could
write very fast. He had four arms so he would write with two
hands, hold the paper with his third hand and write with his
fourth hand?.  When the paper was exhausted he would take the
paper with the first hand and write with the second.  He wrote
continuously.  When Vyasadev approached Ganesha to write
Mahabharat while he dictated, Ganesha said he would write on one
condition and that is never to let him stop, Vyasadev had to
speak continuously so he could write continuously.  Vyasadev
replied to this by saying that he also had one condition which
was that Ganesha would not write anything without understanding
it.  That is why whenever Vyasadev needed a break he gave a very
complex sloka to Ganesha.  In this way Mahabharat has some very
complex slokas which bewildered Ganesha very much.  He did not
understand the meaning and started to scratch his head and think
about it.  In the meantime Vyasadev would go and take his bath,
perform his puja and take prasadam.  Then he would return adn
start again.  That is how Mahabharat was written and this
Mahabharat is describing the history of India.  

Generally the Mahabharat we get goes up to the date of Parikshit
Maharaj because after Parikshit Maharaj's disappearance, kaliyuga begins.  After Parikshit Maharaj's disappearance, adharma
and irreligiousity entered.  After hearing Mahabharat from Sagen     Jaimini, Jaimijaya, Parikshit Maharaja's son, requested him to
end the Mahabharat with the mellow of conjugal or madhurya, the
sweet mellow of Krsna consciousness.  The other Mahabharat spoken
by Vaisyapien deals mostly with the karma kanda section of the
Vedas.  That is why we often find conflicting statements in the
Mahabharat because that Mahabharat is dealing with the karma
kanda section of the Vedas.  However, the karma kanda section is
meant for stri vyasa stada susha, those who do not have the
refined intellect to understand the very lofty philosophy of
Krsna consciousness.  Mahabharat is meant for them and it is a
basic history.  Vyasadev included Bhagavadgita within Mahabharat
and by reading Bhagavadgita people would come to the platform of
Krsna consciousness.  But the way Jaimini described Mahabharat to
Jaimijaya, that is a Mahabharat based upon pure Krsna
consciousness and pure Krsna consciousness leads to madhurya rasa
or the most sweet mellow, the most sweet relationship with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead.  

When Jaimijaya requested Jaimini in that way, he then started to
tell him about what happened after Parikshit Maharaj heard Srimad
Bhagavatam from Sukadev Goswami. Before that he gave the history
of Srimad Bhagavatam.  Vyasadev was at a very matured stage of
philosopical understanding of the Vedic philo and he compiled
this Srimad Bhagavatam.  He prayed to Krsna and he saw Krsna, his
external energy and he also saw Bhakti Devi.  There are two
worlds, the spiritual and material.  The material world is
Krsna's external energy, Krsna's back.  The back of Krsna means
being adverse to Him.  This material nature is adverse to Krsna,
therefore the material nature is miserable. If Krsna is rasa
boshay, if Krsna is the source of all joy, then to be adverse to
Krsna means to be adverse to all joy, all ananda, all bliss.  And
adverse to bliss means misery. Therefore this material nature is
all misery.  But someone is bridging the gap between the material
and spiritual natures.  It is Bhakti Devi, the personification of
devotional service.  The only way that one can go back to the
spiritual sky is devotional service.  (It is also correct to say
that Lord Siva is bridging between the spiritual and material
natures, but that is from another perspective.  When the living
entities come to the material nature, they do not come directly
from the Lord.  All the living entities are parts and parcel of
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but when the living entities
reject Krsna and decide to enjoy for themselves, enjoy
themselves without Krsna, then by Krsna's arrangement they come
to this material nature. This material nature is Krsna's external
nature but Krsna does not get directly involved with his external
energy.  If Krsna has any direct contact with His external
energy, then His external energy can no longer remain the
external energy.  External energy is external because there is a
break between this energy of Krsna and Krsna Himself, His
spiritual nature.  Therefore the living entities are sent into
the material nature through the via medium of Lord Siva.  The
living entities are generating from Sankarsana, Mahavisnu, but
Mahavisnu does not put them into the material nature direclty,
instead He transforms himself into Sambu and through the via
medium of Sambu the living entities come to the material nature. 
In this way Lord Siva is considered to be the husband ofn     Mahamaya.  Just as the husband impregnates the wife, similarly
Lord Siva is impregnating the material nature by injecting the
conditioned souls into it and when the conditioned soul's come to
this material nature, the material nature becomes manifest. 
Actually the material nature becomes manifest when Mahavisnu
glances at maya.  When the living entities go back to the
spiritual sky, they have to go back through the via medium of
Lord Siva also.  Without the mercy of Lord Siva they cannot go
back to the spiritual sky because he is guarding the gate of
Vaikuntha to prevent anyone from illegal trespassing into the
spiritual sky.  Unqualified people cannot enter the spl sky. 
That is also described in the second part of Brhad Bhagavatamrta.
When Gopakumar goes back he encounters Lord Siva but even before
going up to Lord Siva one has to have the permission of mahamaya. 
Actually mahamaya is in charge of this prison house of material
nature.  She is taking care of the rebellious living entities and
she is punishing them for their misdeeds, for their wrong
activities.)  

Bhakti Devi is bridging the gap between the  material and
spiritual natures. This is how in the very beginning it has been
established that without the help of devotional service, no one
can go back to the spiritual sky.  If someone tries, even if he
goes up to Brahmajyoti, he has to fall down from that point
because without devotion one cannot enter into the spiritual sky
or Vaikuntha.  This region is only accessible only through pure
devotional service.  

Parikshit Maharaj, after hearing Srimad Bhagavatam from his
spiritual master Sukadev Goswami, he noticed that his mother was
very much afflicted due to the imininent death of her son. 
Pasrikshit Maharaj consoled his mother.  He asked her, "Why are
you lamenting?  Now that I have heard the most wonderful Srimad
Bhagavatam, the most beautiful Srimad Bhagavatam from my
spiritual master, I have become totally free from any fear due to
bodily designations.  I am completely free from any fear". 
Uttara then asked, "My son, then please tell me what you learnt
from your spiritual master."  Parikshit Maharaj replied,
"Actually, my time is very short and I have to leave soon because
the seven days is coming to a close.  At any moment Adaksa may
come and kill me.  Therefore I will explain to you in summary.  I
will give you the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam"  and that is
Brhad Bhagavatamrta.  'Brhad' means vast or great and
'bhagavatamtra'is Srimad Bhagavatam but it has become
bhagavatamtra, the nectar of Srimad Bhagavatam.  This is even the
essence of Srimad Bhagavatam, the very essence of Srimad
Bhagavatam.  In the first chapter there is a description of the
month of Marg (DecemberJanuary) at the confluence of the rivers
Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati, in Prayag on the occasion of
purnima.  The fullmoon of Marg is a very auspicious day to take
bath in the confluence of Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati. This
confluence is at a place called Allabhad, or previously it was
known as Prayag.  (Prabhupada actually lived there for many many
years.  He had his business in Prayag and Prabhupada even named
one of his sons Prayag.  Three sons of Prabhupada, the eldest son
is Prayag, then next one is Mathura and the third one isn     Vrndavana.)  Prayag is a very holy place.  Ganga and Jamuna are
two most auspicious rivers.  Just a drop of water from Ganges
can deliver one from all his sinful reactions.  There are many
such stories in the scriptures, mainly Puranas.  If Ganga, Jamuna
and Sarasvati can be so pure, then what to speak of their
confluence, how pure and wonderfully auspicious that place must
be.  And then at a very auspicious time like the month of Marg
and full moon is also a very auspicious time.  So in the month of
Marg during the full moon, to take bath in the confluence of the
Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati is considered to be very very
auspisicous.  It is so auspicious that the sages from the other
planets come down at that time.  Sages from different planets
come from all over and at one time they did.  All the great sages
assembled in the Prayag and they took their bath at the
auspicious moment on the full moon night of the month of Marg. 
After bathing they held an istaghosti.  

When the sadhus get together, they just talk about Krsna
consciousness.  The sadhus do not waste their time, they simply
discuss about Krsna and the benefit of Krsna consciousness.  
They were discussing about Krsna during the istaghosti and at one
point they all                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 that.  They were glorifying each
other and at that time Narada Muni wanted to know who is actually
the real devotee of the Lord.  Who is the greatest devotee of the
Lord.  At that time Narada Muni saw that one brahmana arrived
with his family.  He was a very wealthy brahmana and he arrived
in the confluence in Prayag with his salagram sila.  First he
cleaned up the place.  This is also an important consideration. 
How does one clean up a place? By sprinking the water of Ganga
and Jamuna and also one can use cow dung.  In this way he
purified the place and then he placed his salagram on a
singasana.  He worshipped the salagram very sincerely, with a
lot of devotion and in the meantime a huge amount of food was
cooked by his family members.  He offered to bhoga to his Lord
Narayan Sila.  Salagram Sila is non different from Narayan.  In
this way he worshipped Narayana and then he distributed that
prasadam.  He fed the Vaisnavas, the brahmanas and all the people
who were poor and suffering, the beggars.  He fed everyone and
then after feeding everyone he took the prasadam with his family. 

Narada Muni was so impressed with his devotion that he approached
that brahmana and told him, "My dear Brahmana, you are the
greatest devotee of the Lord.  You are the recipient of the
greatest mercy of the Lord".  Actually devotion and the Lord's
mercy are directly proportionate.  The greater one's devotion is,
greater is the degree of the mercy of the Lord that is showered
upon him.  Narada Muni was looking for the greatest recipient ofn     the Lord's mercy and he felt that this person was the greatest
recipient of Krsna's mercy.  Narada Muni asked him to accept his
humble obeisances and started to glorify him because by
glorifying a devotee one makes spiritual advancement.  Of course
there is a difference between flattery and glorification. 
Glorification is an appropriate presentation of one's great
deeds, whereas flattery is without any foundation, without any
basis.  When we flatter somebody when we attribute certain
qualities or certain deeds to someone when actually it is not
true.  In the Vaisnava world there is no flattery, it is very
mundane, because Vaisnavas are so full of so many good qualities
that it is not difficult to recognize those qualities and
attribute those qualities to them.  Narada Muni started to
glorify this brahmana but the brahmana became very ashamed.  He
said please do not speak like that.  He said, "I am not a
devotee, whatever I did is my dharma.  I am a brahamana and as a
brahmana I am supposed to worship the Lord.  Due to the Lord's
mercy I have some wealth so I use that wealth to feed
mahaprasadam to the brahmanas and vaisnavas and the poor.
Therefore, where can you see any greatness in me.  But if you
really want to see a great devotee then please go to South India
and meet such and such King.  This king is so great that in spite
of being a ksatriya king, in spite of being engaged in so many
different activities, he is always engaged in servicing the
Lord." 

tape turnover 

.....pointed out that he is a brahmana therefore his duty is to
worship the Lord and that is why he cannot be considered a great
devotee.  But the real dee is the king because he is a ksatriya.
By his occupation he is not supposed to worship the Lord as he
was doing, but because he is a great devotyee of the Lord he is
using all the facilities he has and all the wealth that he has in
serving the Lord and spreading the glory of the Lord to the
people around him.  Narada Muni became very impressed hearing
that.  He thanked the brahmana and  immediately went to see the
king.  Narada Muni can travel anywhere at the speed of the mind.
In a fraction of a second he can fly to another place.  Narada
Muni is simply flying from one place to another in both the
material and spiritual natures.  

Narada Muni immediately arrived in the king's palace and he saw
that the king was completely absorbed in Krsna consciousness  He
is ruling his kingdom as the representative of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead and that is the ideal king.  An ideal king
never considers that his kingdom is his property.  He considers
his kingdom to be Krsna's property and he is just the caretaker. 
There is a very nice example of this. There was a very famous
king ruling about 500 years ago. His name was Sivaji and he was a
very pious person.  The name of his spiritual master was Rama
Das and he was a devotee of Lord Ramachandra.  One day King
Sivaji was standing on top of his fort in Sartara, Maharasha.
Looking down he saw that his spiritual master was playing a
dotara and singing the glories of Lord Ramachandra. He was
singing the glory of the Lord and going door to door begging.  n     Sivaji started to wonder that 'I am the king and my spiritual
master is going door to door begging?  This is not right, he
shouldn't beg because I am ready to offer anything'.  Thinking in
this way Sivaji wrote on a piece of paper and gave it to his
attendant.  He told his attendant that when Ram Das came to his
door was to give him that chit.  On that chit Sivaji wrote that
all that I have is yours, so please accept my kingdom as an
offering to you, it is yours.  This is and example of how noble
and great the kings used to be in the recent past in India. The
next morning Guru Ram Das came to Sivaji and told him 'Sivaji,
you have given your kingdom to me so now you are not a king
anymore. I am beggar and you have offered everything to me so
you have also become a beggar.  As a beggar you should come with
me and carry my bag of alms. I will sing and you can go door to
door begging.  Sivaji did this, he went with his spiritual master
and everyone was surprised.  Everyone in the city saw that the
king is begging from door to door with his spiritual master. At
the end of the day Ram Das and Sivaji sat down together on the
edge of the river.  Ram Das then told the king he should take
back the kingdom but to always consider that it is not his
kingdom, it is the kingdom of the Lord, and that he is ruling
over it.  This is the idea of Vedic kings.  When they were
properly educated with Vedic wisdom, they considered that the
kingdom was Krsna's property, they were simply a servant of
Krsna and in their kingdom they simply wanted to established
Krsna consciousness.  

Narada Muni was very impressed to see the king so Krsna
consciousness.  He approached the king and told him, "My dear
king, you are the greatest devotee of the Lord", and he started
to tell him why he was the greatest devotee.  That even though he
was the king, although he is in the middle of such opulence,
although he has so much facility to enjoy, yet he is not
indulging into sense gratification but he is simply ruling his
kingdom as the humble servant of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead.  

But the king objected to that and said, 'Narada Muni, please do
not speak like that, do not embarras me like this because I am
not a devotee.  I am a human being, my life span is very short
and besides that I am constantly afflicted by the three fold
miseries of material nature. How can you consider me to be a
reciptient of Krsna's mercy?  Whether I register it or not, the
nature of my existence to constantly undergo the three fold
miseries of nature.  Today I am a king but within a very short
time my life will be over.  I am not such a great devotee of the
Lord, but the real devotees of the Lord are the residents of the
heavenly planets.  They drank nectar and by drinking nectar
their life has become free from all kinds of misery, and they
have attained immortality by drinking nectar.  They are the real
recipient of Krsna's mercy.  Of all the demigods, Indra is the
greatest. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken up the
position of his younger brother and as his younger brother He is
directly receiving worship from him.  If you really want to see
the greatest devotee of the Lord, then please go to the heavenly
planets and meet with Indra.  He is the real recipient of Krsna'sn     mercy.

Questions:

Sesha Prabhu:  ....was criticized the devotees and so are we to
take it that there is some fault in the brahmana and his feeding
everyone like that and also ....inaudible
ANS:  No, first of all a Vaisnava is adosha dashi he does not
find any fault in anyone, he simply sees the qualities.  For
example when the brahmana told Narada Muni that he was not a
great devotee, Narada Muni did not reject him.  He did not think
'Oh, I understand that you must not be a devotee'.  That is not
the attitude of a devotee.  In fact his respect for a devotee
who is taking a humble position increases seeing his the clarity
of his heart and consciousness.  When Narada Muni was leaving the
brahmana, he offered him obeisances.  He is grateful to the
brahmana because he is leading him to a higher platform and so he
is accepting him as a guru because he is guiding him further on
the spiritual path.  

Another thing is that Narada Muni is not criticing anyone as
such. That portion comes in the second part when Krsna is
chastising Satyabhama.  He felt embarressed that he is finding
faults in the queens in Dwarka but those defects in their
devotion were pointed out simply to magnify the glory of the
rsidents of Vrndavana.  That is the purpose, not to humiliate
them, but to enhance the glory of the devotees of Vrndavana.

Raghubhir Prabhu:  It seems that the arguments of the brahmana
and king have put forward as to why they cannot ......seems they
are not very strong arguments eg because I am suffering the
threefold miseries of nature therefore I do not receive the mercy
of the Lord.  But Narada is perceiving that he has got the mercy
of the Lord, because he has the devotion. It seems like N..
Ans:  The strength in the argument lies in the sincerity of the
presentation.  On the spirituall plane the strength of the
argument does not lie so much in the logic behind it but in the
sincerity of the presentation.  For instance, when the brahmana
said it he meant it, and that is what convinced Narada Muni.  
Also from scriptural point of view, we can see that varna
ashrama is the very beginning of spiritual life.  When Caitanya
Mahapranbhu asked Ramananda Roy about the ultimate goal of life,
the first thing Ramananda Roy presented was varnshrama. But
varnashrama is not pure devotional service.  It is a brahmana's
duty to worship the Lord, but when a Ksatriya, who is situated
below the brahmana, in spite of being engaged in his royal
responsibilities according varna, when he is dedicated to the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, then his devotion is considered
to be higher. 
He is pointing out the varnashrama consideration and on the
earth planet it is the varnashrama.  Also in varnashrama,
devotion becomes the higher consideration, not the varna or
ashrama.  Then again we will notice in course of our discussions
of other chapters, that on the earth planet or on this material
nature, devotional service is actually tinged with Karma and
jnana.  Pure devotional service is not actually available onn     this universe.  Here the question may arise what about the pure
devotees who are on this universe?  Sanatana Goswami put them
under a different category altogether.  For example, when he goes
out of this material nature and goes to Lord Siva, after
glorifying the residents of Vaikuntha, Lord Siva said that even
greater than those devotees is Prhalada Maharaj.  And where is
Prahlada Maharaj?  He is in a lower planetary system.  A pure
devotee he may be anywhere, but he shines forth with the
brilliance of his devotion no matter where he may be.

Question:  We understand that Bhagavatam is the essence of all
the scriptures and Brhad Bhagavatamrta is the essence of the
Srimad Bhagavatam.  The question on my mind is what is THE
essence of all the scriptures?

Answer:  It is acintya, it is inconceivable, and anandam bhudhi
bhardanam, it keeps on increasing.  You cannot put a limit on it. 
You cannot say this is the end.  If you put an end onto it then
it is no longer absolute.  Absolute is without a beginning or
end.  If you say this is the beginning of absolute, or the end of
absolute, then it is no longer absolute anymore but is relative. 
The spiritual nature is absolute.

Question:  So revealed scriputres can constantly be revealed as
time marches on?
AnswerNS:  Yes. That is why our position is to become dasya anu
das das das.  The lower we go the greater is the mercy.  An
example for this which makes a lot of sense is when you take a
telescope.  The more lenses you have the better is the power of
vision.  Similarly, on the spiritual platform, the more you have
between you and Krsna, the better it is for you, the better is
the vision.

Hamsadutta Prabhu:  The living entities come into the material
nature through Lord Siva and go back to the spiritual world
through him.  You said that without his mercy you cannot go back
because he guarding the gate.  And also you mentioned that Bhakti
Devi is the intermediary, so how are they related?

Answer:  They are related because Lord Siva himself is a devotee
and Lord Siva acts as a guru.  When you come to the gate then
Lord Siva says 'OK you go' and the associates of Lord Siva gives
us the instructions.  The Puranas are telling us that it is a
great offense to see Visnu and Siva as different.  A devotee
sees Lord Siva as nondifferent from Visnu, just another
transformation, another form.  Visnu and Krsna are non different
and Visnu and Siva are nondifferent.  But then again, in the
course of our discussion in Brhad Bhagavatamrta, we will see  
how Lord Siva's position is not the highest according to the
spiritual consideration and that this is admitted by Lord Siva
himself.  It is not that someone else is judging that this is
Lord Siva's position, but it becomes so much better when the
person himself admits that someone else is so much greater than
him.

Question:  Who is Bhakti Devi related to?n      ܌ 
Answer:  Bhakti Devi is related to Srimate Radharani. 

Question:  We were just mentioning that it is an offense to see
Lord Siva and Visnu as different, but there is a sloka (quoted)
that one who considers Lord Narayana to be on an equal level than
Lord Siva ...... so how is that?

Answer:  That means when we try to drag Narayana down to that
position, the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                tter that no devotee
should see or think another to be greater than another just as a
smaller or greater .........

