Unveiling His Lotus Feet (A Detailed Overview of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Cantos One-Four)

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Gaze at the cover of this book. In San Francisco in 1967, Srila Prabhu-pada looked at this picture of Krsna and quoted a text from Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.2.2.39): "My dear friend, if you are indeed attached to your worldly friends, do not look at the smiling face of Lord Govinda as He stands on the bank of the Yamuna at Kesighata. Casting sidelong glances, he places His flute to His lips, which seem like newly blossomed twigs. His transcendental body, bending in three places, appears very bright in the moonlight."

Lord Brahma had also gazed at this same all-powerful and unbounded Supreme Personality of Godhead in the cowherd pastures of Vrndavana. He then described what he saw: "My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, your, garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of your face is enhanced by your gunja earrings and the peacock feather on your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, you stand beautifully with a morsel of food in your hand."

Yet despite Krsna's omnipresence and all-attractive beauty, He remains forever veiled before the eyes of conditioned souls. Srimati Kunti said: "O krsna, I offer my obeisances unto you because you are the original personality and are unaffected by the qualities of the material world. You are existing both within and without everything, yet You are invisible to all. Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, are invisible to all. Being beyond the range of limited sense perception, You are the eternally irreproachable factor covered by the curtain of deluding energy. You are invisible to the foolish observer, exactly as an actor dressed as a player is not recognized." (Bhag. 1.8.18.19).

Krsna Himself describes the concealing curtain that veils Him as His impenetrable deluding energy, His own unconquerable potency: "This divine energy of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome…" (Bg. 7.14) And, "I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My internal potency, and therefore they do not know that I am unborn and infallible." (Bg. 7.25).

Yet Krsna can be known; maya's veil can be lifted. Srila Prabhu-pada brought the method for doing so to the West. Indeed, he felt prepared to journey westward only when carrying with him his three-volume translation of the Bhagavatam's First Canto. On his arrival in Boston Harbor in 1965, he wrote, "All living entities have become under the control of the illusory energy by your will, and therefore, if You like, by your will they can also be released from the clutches of illusion…The words of Srimad-Bhagavatam are your incarnation. And if a sober person repeatedly receives them with submissive aural reception, them he will be able to understand Your message."

Because of the Srimad-Bhagavatam's power to reveal Krsna, Srila Prabhupada spent his most cherished time, his early morning hours, alone, translating Srimad-Bhagavatam. He also stressed that his disciples hear, read, speak on, and distribute Srimad-Bhagavatam. His words often glorified the Bhagavatam's potency:

Krsna is present within the universe, within our hearts, and even within the atom, so it is not difficult to find Him. But one must know the process by which to do so. This process is very simple, and by the order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu we are distributing this process to everyone, without charge. The process is to chant Hare Krsna. As soon as one chants Hare Krsna, one will immediately understand Krsna. Similarly, simply by hearing or chanting the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam, one can be purified. Whatever knowledge exists in the world is present in Srimad-Bhagavatam. It includes literature, poetry, astronomy, philosophy, religion, and love of Godhead. Srimad-Bhagavatam, pramanam amalam. If one simply reads Srimad-Bhagavatam, he will be well versed in every subject matter. Even if one does not understand a single word of the mantras of Srimad-Bhagavatam, the vibrations themselves have such power that simply by chanting one will be purified. Srnvatam sva-kathah krsnah punya-sravana-kirtanah. The word punya means "pious," sravana means "hearing," and kirtana means "chanting." One who chants or hears the verses the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam becomes pious automatically. To become pious one generally has to endeavor a great deal, but if one simply hears the verses of Srimad-Bhagavatam or Bhagavad-gita one becomes pious automatically. Therefore it is a rigid principle in every temple of our Krsna consciousness movement that there must be a daily class for hearing and chanting. Our movement is meant for training spiritual leaders, but without hearing and chanting it is impossible to become a leader. Of course, in the material world it is possible, but not in the spiritual world. Mali hana sei bija kare aropana sravana-kirtana jale karaye secana. Hearing and chanting waters the seed of devotional service, which develops one's original consciousness. (TQK, pp. 23-24).

Clearly, Srila Prabhupada intensely desired the world to become absorbed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam and its message. Unveiling His Lotus Feet, A Detailed Overview of Cantos One-Four is a humble attempt by one insignificant soul to assist devotees in doing so.

The seed of this book was planted in the rich soil of Sri Vrndavana in late 1983. I had just arrived to live in this holy place, and circumstantially, I was asked to gives classes on several of the early chapters of Canto One. As I began to pore over "The Son of Drona Punished," "Prayers by Queen Kunti and Pariksit Saved," and "The Passing Away of Bhismadeva in the Presence of Lord Krsna," I was stunned. I had read these chapters many times, but now as I studied them to discover the main points of each of Srila Prabhupada's purports, I noted that these points could be connected. I discovered, as the Bhagavatam's story flowed from one pastime to the next, that the Bhagavatam's philosophical continuum had its own flow.

This excited me, and as I sectioned each chapter into its natural cluster of texts, I studied each text to string together that section's philosophical essence. I felt that I had tapped into a hidden stream of philosophical ideas, and that that flow was progressive from chapter to chapter, canto to canto. I began to see that if I entered into the stream and became purified by it, I would be carried from Krsna's lotus feet to His smiling face, the Tenth Canto. As I studied these early First Canto chapters, I became increasingly eager to discover what the Srimad-Bhagavatam would present next. Enraptured by having tapped into the flow of this mysterious book, I felt I had glimpsed the genius of both Srila Vyasadeva and Srila Prabhupada's presentation. This book is my attempt to present that flow, traced from Canto One to Canto Four.

A part of me wonders whether some devotees will feel that this book might distract readers from Srila Prabhupada's own rendition of Srimad-Bhagavatam, especially since it so closely follows Srila Prabhupada's presentation. After considering the point, however, I have concluded that Srila Prabhupada's purity, potency, and unparalleled devotional stature makes this highly unlikely. Indeed, Srila Prabhupada himself said in 1976, while driving in a car with disciples: "My books will be the lawbooks for human society for the next ten thousand years." May Unveiling His Lotus Feet encourage devotees to study Srila Prabhupada's Srimad-Bhagavatam in its entirety.

My primary motive in writing Unveiling His Lotus Feet was to myself become absorbed in Srimad-Bhagavatam. I need the purification such absorption offers. Adding another personal note, in 1996 I sadly observed that although I had been attending Bhagavatam in its entirety a number of times, I still had little grasp of the continuum I mentioned. The contents of many Srimad-Bhagavatam cantos, especially Two, Three, and Four, eluded me. A burning enthusiasm to fit the pieces together as well as to improve my own preaching fueled my writing. I also desired to associate directly with Srila Prabhupada through his written word.

My first objective in presenting Unveiling His Lotus Feet as a book was to offer readers an overview that would weave together the story and the philosophy. I hope this book will assist devotees to clarify the pieces of the first four cantos and how they fit together. Unveiling His Lotus Feet also attempts to answer questions that typically arise when reading those cantos. For these reasons I assume this book will be helpful to devotees studying the first six cantos in preparation for their Bhakti-vaibhava degree.

About the Book

Weaving together Srimad-Bhagavatam's first four cantos into a flowing narrative of story and philosophy, and incorporating relevant commentary from Vaisnava acaryas, this summary study assists readers in assimilating the Bhagavatam's profound message. As Suta Gosvami declares: "Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless Purana. It is most dear to the Vaisnavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahamsas…Anyone who seriously tries to understand Srimad-Bhagavatam, who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated."