BY: SUN STAFF
Nov 4, CANADA (SUN) —
Sri Bhakti-sandarbha
by Srila Jiva Goswami
Volume Four
Anuccheda 151
1 The Visnu-dharma Purana, Uttara-khanda explains:
"I prefer to live as a devotee of Lord Visnu, even if I live for only five days. That is better living for a thousand kalpas as a non devotee."
2 In Srimad Bhagavatam 3.31.12-21 the unborn child in the womb offers prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. There the living entity's life in the material world is described. Only in one birth does the fortunate living entity offer prayers in this way to the Lord, for soon he becomes liberated from the world of birth and death. Such a living entity is rare. Almost all other living entities are not aware of the nature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
3 The Nirukti-sastra (13.19) explains: "In the ninth month the body of the embryo is completely formed. Then the living entity there thinks, 'I died and now I am born again. I am born, but soon I will die again...
4 ...Unable to speak a word of complaint, the conditioned soul in the womb is tormented by the worms about him. First he studies the sankhya-yoga explanation of the 24 material elements, and then, in the tenth month, he is born.
5 In the phrase "purusam va" the word "va (or) indicates that this description applies only to certain rare living entities that have knowledge of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
6 This shows that devotional service can be practiced in any kind of situation. Although living entities of many different kinds experience life in the womb, this explanation describes one kind of living entity and generalises, calling him "the living entity in the womb". This kind of generalisation is also seen in other places in the scriptures.
7 An example of two different events described as if they were one is given in the commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam's description of the birth of the four Kumaras during the creation of the Padma-kalpa. There, in his commentary on Srimad Bhagavatam 3.11.35, Srila Sridhara Svami explains that in this circumstance two different events are described as if they were a single event. This is like the appearance of Lord Varaha. lord Varaha appeared in the first manvantara, when the earth was plunged in the water. At that time Lord Varaha, born from the demigod Brahma's nostril, rescued the earth and fought with Hiranyaksa. That is one description. Then also Lord Varaha appeared in the sixth manvantara. At that time He was born from Diti, the daughter of Pracetasa Daksa. Because in both appearances Lord Varaha rescued the earth plunged in the water, the two appearances were described in a single narration. The same is true for this description of the unborn living entity. The unborn living entity that offers prayers to the Supreme Lord is one kind of living entity. There are others, however, who are attached to the world of birth and death and do not offer such prayers.
8 That devotional service brings one's relatives to the Lord's supreme abode is seen in the following words of Sri Narada Purana, Dvajaropana-mahatmya:
"Even if they are sinners, the relatives of the renounced devotees of Lord Visnu go to the Lord's supreme abode."
9 This is also explained in the Visnu-dharma Purana in these words:
"They who worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead carry with them a hundred of their relatives to the Lord's transcendental abode.
10 "They who install a Deity of Lord Hari bring to the Lord's abode all their relatives yet to be born and all their relatives born in the past, going back to the beginning of the kalpa."
11 In Vaisnava literature Yamaraja orders his messengers:
"Do not punish the 90 000 relatives of one who devotedly worships Lord Vasudeva."
12 The Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself says (Srimad Bhagavatam 7.10.18):
"My dear Prahlada, O most pure, O great saintly person, your father has been purified, along with twenty-one forefathers in your family. Because you were born in this family, the entire dynasty has been purified."*
13 Here the word "tri-saptabhih" (twenty one) refers to twenty one forefathers in each birth going back to the beginning of the kalpa. In this birth some of the forefathers liberated in this way are Hiranyakasipu, Kasyapa Muni, Marici, and Brahma. This verse was spoken by Lord Nrsimhadeva to Prahlada Maharaja.
Anuccheda 152
1 Even the dim reflection of devotional service destroys all sins and brings one to the abode of Lord Visnu. The Narada Purana explains that two intoxicated drunkards proud as cuckoos once waved a stick tied to a rag as they danced in an old abandoned temple of the Lord. These drunkards attained the result of raising a flag in the Lord's temple and in this way they returned to the Lord's transcendental abode.
In the same way a bird that had been killed by a hunter and then taken up shelter in the mouth of a dog, when the dog ran around a temple the bird attained the result of circumambulating the Lord's temple and in this way it returned to the Lord's transcendental abode.
In the same way one becomes a great devotee of the Lord. In the Nrsimha Purana it is said that in his previous birth Prahlada Maharaja had an argument with a prostitute on the holy day of Nrsimha-caturdasi. Arguing with her all day and night, he neither ate nor slept, and because in this way he fasted and kept an all-night vigil on that holy day he became a great devotee of the Lord.
2 That devotional service brings one to the Lord's transcendental abode is again explained in these words (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.9.15):
"Let me take shelter of the lotus feet of Him whose incarnations, qualities and activities are mysterious imitations of worlds affairs. One who invokes His transcendental names, even unconsciously, at the time he quits this life, is certainly washed immediately of the sins of many, many births and attains Him without fail."*
3 In this verse the word "asu-vigame" means "even though at the time of death one may not be able to speak the Lord's holy name very clearly or distinctly", and the word "vivasah" means "even without desiring it". In this way, impelled by some cause other than one's own desire, one chants the Lord holy name. The word "vi" means "without" and the word "vasa" means "desire". The Amara-kosa dictionary explains, "The word 'vasa' means 'desire'."
4 The reason the Lord's holy name has such great power is explained in this verse. The Lord's name is one of His incarnations. That is the reason. The word "avatara-vidambanani" here refers to Lord Nrsimhadeva and the many other incarnations of the Lord, the word "guna-vidambanani" refers to the Lord's transcendental qualities, such as His love for the devotees, and the word karma-vidambanani" refers to His pastimes, such as His lifting of Govardhana Hill.
This verse was spoken by the demigod Brahma to Lord Garbhodakasayi Visnu.
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