11:2 What is the Greatest Treasure?

Now towards the end of the year, here at One Year Bhagavatam we are studying the end of Srimad Bhagavatam.  It is quite possible to read this great literature in a year.  The thing is, Bhagavatam is so large, powerful and mysterious that it always seems new and surprising,  like this chapter - 11:2.

To begin with, 11:2 carries some very famous slokas, bhayam dvitiyabhinivesatah syad SB 11.2.37, and bhaktih paresanubhavo viraktir SB 11.2.42 and yan asthaya naro rajan SB 11.2.35. Also the three definition verses for kanistha, madhyama and uttama bhaktas reside in this chapter.

Plus, there's a great story:

Narada is residing in Dwaraka (Daksa's curse preventing Narada from staying in one place didn't work on him there!) and he visits the home of Vasudeva (Krsna's Mathura father).  Vasudeva is so humble and is eager to hear Narada speak about Krsna that he asks to hear about pure devotional service. That service that frees one from all kinds of fear.  He explains that he never prayed for bhakti he only prayed for a good son so he would like to know how to engage in activities that please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Narada is delighted with his question and to answer it  he tells Vasudeva the story of Maharaja Nimi and the Nine Yogendras.

Now the Yogendras are nine of Rshabdeva's famous 100 sons and they are great mystic yogis that have the ability to travel anywhere in the universe.  They travel freely to the planets of the demigods, the mystics, the Sadhyas the Gandharvas, the human beings, the Kinnaras and the serpents.  They can visit the realms of the sages, angels, ghosts, Vidyadharas, brahmanas and cows.  The Yogendras are perfectly realized yogis and they see Paramatma everywhere.

Once upon a time they visited the earth planet and arrived at the sacrificial arena of a great soul named Maharaja Nimi.  The Yogendras were as effulgent as the sun and all who were present there stood to offer respects.  The king stopped everything and made a place for the sages to sit and worshipped them in a suitable way.  The king humbled himself before these great souls and and began to inquire about spiritual life.  (here's another famous verse 11:28):

"King Videha said:  I think that you must be direct associates of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is famous as the enemy of the demon Madhu.  Indeed, the pure devotees of Lord Visnu wander throughout the universe not for their personal, selfish interest, but to purify all the conditioned souls."

Maharaja Nimi's first question is, what is the the most beneficial thing, what is the highest good, what is the greatest treasure?  Kavi Yogendra answers, "O King!  I consider the highest goal to be bhakti by performing which one becomes free of fear of time, karma or other obstacles."

In a nut shell, he says:

"Fear arises when a living entity misidentifies himself as the material body because of absorption in the external, illusory energy of the Lord.  When the living entity thus turns away from the Supreme Lord, he also forgets his own constitutional position as a servant of the Lord.  This bewildering, fearful condition is effected by the potency for illusion called maya.  Therefore, an intelligent person should engage unflinchingly in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord, under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master, whom he should accept as his worshipable deity and as his very life and soul."

( There's more beautiful descriptions of bhakti at this point in the chapter, but you can't fit much in a nutshell!)

The next question Maharaja Nimi asks is, what are devotees like?  Please describe them to me.

Havir yogendra answers by describing the characteristics of the maha-bhagavata devotee, the intermediate devotee and the neophyte devotee.

Here's the last verse of this incredible chapter:

11:2:55

"The Supreme Personality of Godhead

is so kind to the conditioned souls

that if they call upon Him by speaking His holy name,

even unintentionally or unwillingly,

the Lord is inclined to destroy

innumerable sinful reactions in their hearts.

Therefore,

when a devotee who has taken shelter of the Lord's

lotus feet chants the holy name of Krsna with genuine love,

the Supreme Personality of Godhead can never give up the heart of such

a devotee.

One who has thus captured the Supreme Lord

within his heart is to be known as bhagavata-pradhana,

the most exalted devotee of the Lord"

Bhakti is the greatest treasure.

11th Canto Ch. 1: The Prelude to Destruction of the Yadus or The story of the Iron Club

For my own practice and purification, I am attempting to summarize chapters of Srimad Bhagavatam.  I am praying that Bhagavatam will kindly brand His merciful impression on my heart so that life after life I may serve this Supreme Literature.

Nov. 27 - 11th Canto, Ch. 1:

S.B. 11:1

I was so lucky to be present in Badger (New Braj), Ca. on June 15, 2005.  His Divine Grace nitya lila pravista om visnupada astottara sata Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja spoke the glories of 11th Canto Bhagavatam. 

    http://www.bvml.org/SBNM/waydmbms.html  

"...What is here in this world is a shadow of that consciousness. In your misconception of your self, you began to love the beautiful forms made of maya. Then, after a long time, a person carrying a Srimad-Bhagavatam under his arm, with tilaka, a shaved head and kanti-mala (beads) around his neck, came to you and asked, What are you doing, my brothers, my sisters? You are misguided. You have derailed from the path. Come with me and I will show you the path to be happy."

Srila Visvanatha Cakravati Thakura explains 11th Canto:

1 chapter begins to describe Krsna's disappearance (that's the first ch.).

4 chapters deal with the Navayogendras.

1 chapter describes the curse of the sages and the prayers of the devatas.

23 chapters are dedicated to Krsna's teachings to Uddhava.

1 chapter describes the destruction of the Yadu dynasty.

and 1 chapter describes Krsna's disappearance.

Basically, Krsna creates a situation for His Yadu dynasty to end their pastimes.  As the greatest of magicians, He makes an elaborate arrangement for powerful brahmanas to curse the dynasty. The Yadu boys dress up Samba as a pregnant lady and... http://vedabase.net/sb/11/1/en and well, you probably know what happens. If not, be sure to read the chapter!

On Krsna's dispearance pastime, Srila Gurudeva says:

"Listen to this story, and then tattva (philosophical truths) will come to you. Once, there was a king and queen. One day a family of magicians came to the palace to perform a magic show. The father, his wife, and their two young sons, who were nine and ten years old, made a marvelous magic show. The king and queen and the whole audience were very pleased. The queen gave the wife of the magician a wonderful golden necklace, as a token of her appreciation, but both her sons wanted it. They each said, "I'll take it, Mother. No, I'll take it, Mother." The boys began fight over the necklace, pulling it back and forth. They were of equal strength and neither could win. They finally became so furious that they simultaneously pulled their swords from their sheaths and cut off each other's heads. Their mother was so grief-stricken that she took her sword and cut off her own head. Then, in total despair, not able to live under the circumstances, the father took his own sword and cut off his own head.

You can imagine the horror of the king and queen and other spectators. The queen especially was feeling responsible, as she had given the necklace which caused the tragedy. The bodies and heads were taken away and no one could stop thinking about the very sad affair. The next day, however, the queen received a letter from the father of the magicians. The letter stated, "Thank you very much for the gift that you gave us for our first magic show. Your necklace is with us and we are very happy, but we are waiting for our second gift. Where is the gift for our second show? Don't worry. We didn't die. Please come and see us." The astonished king and queen immediately went to the home of the magician family, where they were warmly welcomed, and they were very happy to see them all alive and well.

There was another, even greater, magician named Visashekar. He preformed magic shows during the time of the British occupation of India. He was so famous that even the governor, the viceroy, and other chief government ministers would all come to see him. Once, in Calcutta, he called all the important government heads to come see his show at four pm. Being very punctual, they all came at exactly four o'clock and sat in the assembly. They waited for Visashekar, expecting him at any moment, for they were all very busy and important people who did not expect to be kept waiting. Five minutes passed, then fifteen, then half an hour. The men became very angry and said to each other, "Just wait until we get a hold of Visashekar. When he comes here we will punish that rascal for making us late for our important appointments." Finally, at five o'clock, a smiling Visashekar casually walked on stage. The men angrily began chastising him, "Why are you late? Why have you kept us waiting? Don't you know that we are very busy and important?" Visashekar nonchalantly said, "What is the matter?" They replied, "You told us to come at four o'clock, and we have been waiting for an hour!" Visashekar said, "I am afraid you are mistaken. Look at your watches. It is just now four o'clock." When they looked, all their watches said four o'clock. They were amazed to realize the magic show they had just witnessed.

If an ordinary magician can do such things, why not Krishna? He created Brahma and Siva. Surely He cannot die. He only made it appear that He died when the hunter shot Him. It was like a drama. Even Krishna's devotees cannot die. Bhisma is an example. He could only leave his body when he desired."