Nārada Maharishi continued, “My mind was completely filled with happiness. Without feelings of envy or pride, I constantly recollected the glories of the Lord and began roaming all over earth, eagerly waiting the time He had specified.
O Maharishi Vyasa, with a pure mind and with absolutely no worldly attachments, I had fully fixed my mind upon Lord Krishna. When I was in this state, God of death arrived like lightening and enveloped me. I realized that the time for leaving this body had arrived. Just as the Supreme Lord had predicted, when the time to offer service to Him arrived, this gross body of mine composed of the five basic elements, dropped dead.
At the end of the Kalpa (creation) Lord Narayana absorbed the entire creation into Himself and slept in the ocean of dissolution. At that time Lord Brahma merged into Him. I entered the womb of Lord Brahma.
The total of 4 yugas (eons) is one Maha-yuga. After a 1000 such Maha-yugas, Lord Brahma woke up and decided to begin creation afresh. Along with Marichi and other saints I was born from Him.
Due to the grace of the Supreme Lord I could, without any obstacles, continue my vow called ‘endlessly chanting divine names’, as I travelled throughout the three planes. I chanted these divine names within and outside of the three planes without any break.
Playing this Veena given to me by the Lord and singing His divine glories I constantly travel. This singing gives me immense happiness. To my mind which eternally sings his divine names, He at once appears and gives darshan.
Due to extreme attachment towards these materialistic comforts, the hearts of these humans is drowned in suffering. Such people do not enjoy happiness. Bhava-sindhu-plavo dṛṣṭo hari-caryānu-varṇanam – repeated chanting of divine names acts as a boat that takes people away from this repeated cycle of re-births.
Yamādibhir yoga-pathaiḥ kāma-lobha-hato muhuḥ
Mukunda-sevayā yadvat tathātmāddhā na śāmyati
The amount of peace that a mind tormented by desire and greed gets from chanting the names of Mukunda will not be attained from adherence to Yama, Niyama and other Yogic disciplines. This is my opinion.
O sinless Maharishi Vyasa! You had asked me to explain about my birth, my actions and my sadhana (spiritual pursuits). In order to ensure that your mind gets peace and happiness, I have narrated all these. I believe that your mind has attained happiness”.
Saying so, the revered saint Maharishi Nārada, who was devoid of selfishness, took leave of Maharishi Vyasa, the son of Satyavati. Playing his Veena he went away.
Oh, what a wonder! How fortunate is the divine saint Maharishi Narada, who, blissfully holding the Veena in his hand, sings the glories of sarangapaṇi Lord Srihari, with the intent of relieving people from their distresses and afflictions!”
With this the sixth chapter of the first canto comes to an end.
First Canto Seventh Chapter
In this chapter the following are covered: the commencement of Srimad Bhāgawatam by Maharishi Vyasa; the killing of Draupadi’s sons by Ashwatthama at the time when the birth-story of Parikshit was being told; the hostility that Ashwatthama incurred.
Śounaka and other Maharishis wanted to know the deeds of Maharishi Vyasa after the departure of Maharishi Nārada. To this Maharishi Suta replied,
“On the western banks of River Saraswati, there is an ashram called Sāmyāprasa. The saints here are endlessly engaged in the Vedic rituals. This is the ashram of Maharishi Vyasa.
Seated in his ashram which was surrounded by berry trees, Maharishi Vyasa performed acamana (sipping water, a purificatory ritual) and fixed his mind in total concentration. With a pure mind that was filled with devotion, He had the darshan of the Supreme Lord and of the illusory power (maya shakti) that takes refuge in Him.
Although the individual being is none other than the Supreme Parabrahma, due to illusion, he considers himself to be an embodiment of trigunas. He suffers in the repeated cycle of re-births (samsāra).
Maharishi Vyasa who was an embodiment of knowledge realized that only Srihari’s bhakti yoga possessed the capacity to pull a person out of this meaningless samsara. In order to dispel the ignorance that had enveloped people, He began to compose the holy text, Srimad Bhāgawatam.
Yasyāṁ vai śrūyamāṇāyāṁ kṛṣṇe parama-pūruṣe
Bhaktir utpadyate puṁsaḥ śoka-moha-bhayāpahā
Maharishi Veda Vyasa composed the Supreme Bhāgawata Samhita. Merely by listening to it, devotion towards the Supreme Lord intensifies in the person. Simultaneously it dispels grief concerning past events, removes infatuation towards the present events and destroys the fear pertaining to the future events.
Om Namo Narayana.
