Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 1 Chapter 5 Text 1-5

1. SrimadBhagavatamCanto 1 Chapter 5 Text 1-5 The Mind and the Body

2. sūtauvāca athataṁsukhamāsīna upāsīnaṁbṛhac-chravāḥ devarṣiḥprāhaviprarṣiṁ vīṇā-pāṇiḥsmayanniva SūtaGosvāmī said: Thus the sage amongst the gods [Nārada], comfortably seated and apparently smiling, addressed the ṛṣi amongst the brāhmaṇas [Vedavyāsa]. Text 1

3. Nāradawas smiling because he well knew the great sage Vedavyāsa and the cause of his disappointment. As he will explain gradually, Vyāsadeva’s disappointment was due to insufficiency in presenting the science of devotional service. Nārada knew the defect, and it was confirmed by the position of Vyāsa.

4. nāradauvāca pārāśaryamahā-bhāga bhavataḥkaccidātmanā parituṣyatiśārīra ātmāmānasaevavā Addressing Vyāsadeva, the son of Parāśara, Nārada inquired: Are you satisfied by identifying with the body or the mind as objects of self-realization? Text 2 Text 30

5. This was a hint by Nārada to Vyāsadeva regarding the cause of his despondency. Vyāsadeva, as the descendant of Parāśara, a greatly powerful sage, had the privilege of having a great parentage which should not have given Vyāsadeva cause for despondency. Being a great son of a great father, he should not have identified the self with the body or the mind. Ordinary men with a poor fund of knowledge can identify the body as self or the mind as self, but Vyāsadeva should not have done so. One cannot be cheerful by nature unless one is factually seated in self-realization, which is transcendental to the material body and mind.

6. jijñāsitaṁsusampannam apitemahad-adbhutam kṛtavānbhārataṁyastvaṁ sarvārtha-paribṛṁhitam Your inquiries were full and your studies were also well fulfilled, and there is no doubt that you have prepared a great and wonderful work, the Mahābhārata, which is full of all kinds of Vedic sequences elaborately explained. Text 3 Text 31

7. The despondency of Vyāsadeva was certainly not due to his lack of sufficient knowledge because as a student he had fully inquired about the Vedic literatures, as a result of which the Mahābhārata is compiled with full explanation of the Vedas.

8. jijñāsitamadhītaṁca brahma yat tat sanātanamtathāpiśocasyātmānamakṛtārthaivaprabho You have fully delineated the subject of impersonal Brahman as well as the knowledge derived therefrom. Why should you be despondent in spite of all this, thinking that you are undone, my dear prabhu? Text 4 Text 32

9. The Vedānta-sūtra, or Brahma-sūtra, compiled by ŚrīVyāsadeva is the full deliberation of the impersonal absolute feature, and it is accepted as the most exalted philosophical exposition in the world. It covers the subject of eternity, and the methods are scholarly. So there cannot be any doubt about the transcendental scholarship of Vyāsadeva. So why should he lament?

10. vyāsauvāca astyeva me sarvamidaṁtvayoktaṁ tathāpinātmāparituṣyateme tan-mūlamavyaktamagādha-bodhaṁ pṛcchāmahetvātma-bhavātma-bhūtam ŚrīVyāsadeva said: All you have said about me is perfectly correct. Despite all this, I am not pacified. I therefore question you about the root cause of my dissatisfaction, for you are a man of unlimited knowledge due to your being the offspring of one [Brahmā] who is self-born [without mundane father and mother]. Text 5 Text 33

11. In the material world everyone is engrossed with the idea of identifying the body or the mind with the self. As such, all knowledge disseminated in the material world is related either with the body or with the mind, and that is the root cause of all despondencies. This is not always detected, even though one may be the greatest erudite scholar in materialistic knowledge. It is good, therefore, to approach a personality like Nārada to solve the root cause of all despondencies. Why Nārada should be approached is explained below.