Bhagavatam (Skanda 1, Chapter 6, Slokas 30-38)

By Gopinath (Recap given by Chitra on 16 Jan ‘03)

After the exhaustion of the prarabhdha karma, Naradji gave up his body. To attain the goal of life, Naradji had the continuous perseverance with the body, mind and senses all the time associated with the Lord with total sharanagathi.

Slokas 30 to 38 detail the transformation of Naradji.

A person does exercises and goes for walk to maintain the health of his physical body knowing that it is only through the body he perceives spiritual things. Similarly, the spiritual body needs Sadhana, the exercise to bring one out of the diseases of pride, jealousy, anger etc. The mind should always be engaged in the thoughts of the Lord through Sadhanas viz. Japa, bhajans, listening to glories of the Lord, etc. That will bring transformation in our life, even though it may not happen today or tomorrow. A ‘split second’ darshan of the Lord made Naradji to strive for the goal of life. The elephant tied to a strong tree cannot run away. In the same way, we have to tie ourselves to the trunk of faith and spiritual strength and pursue our goal of our life to become one with the Lord. The total surrender a devotee under the direct care of the Lord.

Like the water flowing downwards unobstructed from a higher place, the Lord’s grace is always flowing towards every one of us. If one gets the conviction that the Lord is there in everything, the avarana or the block gets removed. Because of this conviction, Naradji could progress forward in the spiritual path and go all over the three worlds singing the glories of the Lord. When Lord’s glories are sung with the true bhava, the Lord’s response is immediate. All our body, mind and intellect should be devoted to the service of the Lord and this intense devotion will lead one to the salvation then and there. Any yama, niyama or yoga not dedicated to the Lord will become a materialistic attitude. Service to the Lord will make one attain his spiritual goals and take him across the ocean of samsara.

It is said that like Naradji, all the Masters have no self-centered goals and they travel all around to spread the message of the Lord. They are intoxicated with divine love and cheer up the people who are distressed by the worldly woes (e.g. our Guruji). We are fortunate to have our Guruji who has put us in this path and it is our duty to continue the sadhanas with faith and dedication to achieve our spiritual goal under his guidance.