Srimad Bhagavatam – day 570
Madhavaya namah
Tenth Canto Chapter Seven
In this chapter, the death of demon Shakataśura and the elevation of Tṛnavarta are covered.
Emperor Parikshit enquired from Maharishi Śuka,
“Yena yenāvatāreṇa bhagavān harir īśvaraḥ
Karoti karṇa-ramyāṇi mano-jñāni ca naḥ prabho
O Lord, all transcendental sports performed by the Supreme Lord, the regulator of the universes, in every incarnation of His are joyous and pleasing to the ear as well as to the mind. It is impossible to declare that one transcendental sport is better than the other”.
Can any transcendental sport be ignored? Can any sport be rated better than others? No. Each and every transcendental sport is unique and pleasing to the ears and mind. Irrespective of whether the incident is irrelevant or significant, it brings joy to the eyes. It is soothing to the ears. It fills the mind with happiness.
“Some incarnations were for an extended period while some were for a very short duration wherein He vanished soon after the execution of the purpose. Nonetheless, it is impossible to compare the transcendental sports of one incarnation with that of another as each is special in its own way.
Merely by listening to the stories of the Lord with rapt attention, deep mental weaknesses along with the different forms of trishna (insatiable desires) which are the cause for the weaknesses, vanish. Laziness and procrastination are washed away. Sins are destroyed”.
Procrastination and lethargy causes unimaginable suffering. Lethargy causes jobs to be left incomplete. Lethargic people find it hard to sit for long. Neither can they sleep. They prefer to eat all the time and find themselves incapable of completing any assigned task. Procrastination causes them to ruin the task completely.
To drive away this problem of lethargy it is imperative to attentively listen to the Lord’s stories. In the initial stages, lethargic people cannot listen to divine stories for long. Their lethargy will not allow them to sit and listen for long. More importantly, they fail to appreciate the beauty in divine stories. They fail to connect with the story.
These transcendental stories are not slow-motion stories; they move at rapid speeds. They are action-oriented stories in which procrastination and lethargy have no place. The person filled with lethargy cannot appreciate the speed at which the stories move. This is because he loves the concept of laziness, slowness, dullness and weariness. Stories that burn a hole in his pocket, stories which waste his mental resources, which are filled with gossip, which have a wide range of emotions and which leave him teary-eyed are appreciated by him. When their lethargy is uncontrolled, they find it hard to sit and eat food. They are lazy to chew and eat. If such persons make it a habit to listen to these divine stories, their mind will instantaneously be purified. Their laziness will evaporate into thin air.
Parikshit continued, “Unlimited desires that torment the mind will be destroyed leading to purity. More importantly, they will develop devotion towards Lord Srihari with a chance to associate with ardent devotees”.
Through listening to the Lord’s pastimes, human beings gradually climb step by step in this path of devotion. They begin to give importance to subjects that take them towards spiritual growth. They begin to associate more with other ardent devotees. They try to engage in conversation with such ardent devotees.
“If you truly believe that I possess the worthiness, then O great saint, please narrate in elaborate detail the transcendental glories of that Lord which are pleasing to the mind”.
In case you consider me to be a true devotee; in case you believe that I possess the worthiness to listen to His glories then please narrate His glories. If we truly believe that we possess the required worthiness, we should inculcate the practice of listening, reading and narrating the stories of the Lord. Lethargy will be completely eliminated in the person who listens attentively to the stories, who recapitulates them time and again and who studies their essence. He will be addressed as an elevated person (uttama jeevi).
If you truly consider yourself to be a useful member of the society, you must mandatorily develop devotion towards the invisible Lord. Although the all-pervading Lord is inherently invisible, at times he makes himself visible to benefit you, the bonded soul.
“Please narrate the childhood activities of the Lord who, having incarnated in a human body on earth and who while enacting like a normal human being, performed extra-ordinary deeds”.
In response to the request made by Emperor Parikshit, Maharishi Śuka said, ‘The infant tried to flip from back to front (roll over)’.”
Every stage of the infant’s growth is celebrated in the Indian tradition. When the infant rolls over to sleep on his tummy, a small celebration is organized at home. Likewise, occasions when he/she crawls, stands, walks etc. are celebrated. Naming ceremony, the day when they are fed the first morsel of rice (annaprasana) are major festive events. We believe that little Krishna has come to us as a boy. If it is a girl, we believe that Mother Goddess has arrived into our home in her form. Those kids who are raised in this manner have good upbringing. Their future will be bright.
Along with the festivities, elders should also aspire for the child’s spiritual growth. The present trend for parents is to aspire that their child will be IAS officers, doctor and the like and hence extensive focus is put on worldly education. If along with material progress, the child is exposed slightly towards spirituality, then wouldn’t it be wonderful? Nevertheless, isn’t it true that to expose the child towards spirituality, parents and other elders should have in them such spiritual nature?
In these present days, people ponder whether their child will be a successful businessman or a successful IAS officer. Whether he would attain a respectable position in the Indian Police Service or whether he be grow up to be a reputed politician? Will my child be a doctor? Will he travel to USA? Will he earn plenty of dollars? Will he acquire property in USA? Will he get married? Will he have kids? Parents plan and dream for their infant’s materialistic future.
While it is not wrong to dream of a good material future, it is imperative that side-by-side the children are taught those subjects which are auspicious, which cause their real well-being, which free them from all impurities and which make them as pure as crystal. It is imperative for parents to learn such subjects and teach their children.
Begin by teaching them small hymns (shlokas) from Bhagavad Gita. Teach them the importance of parents, significance of Guru in life. Pass on the teachings of Guru.
Madhavaya namah