Bhakti, Jñāna and Vairāgya

Chapters 193 to 195 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tell of Bhakti (devotion), who appears before Nārada at Vṛndāvana as a young woman. With her are her two sons, Jñāna (knowledge) and Vairāgya (detachment). In the Kali age they have become old and lifeless because no one receives them.

Nārada learns from the Kumāras that the cure is the Bhāgavata Saptāha, the seven-day recitation of the Bhāgavata. He arranges it at Gaṅgādvāra, and when the recitation begins, the two sons are made young again.

The sight at Vṛndāvana

Nārada was wandering the earth in the Kali age, and he was troubled by the state of people. He came to Vṛndāvana on the bank of the Yamunā. There he saw a strange sight. A bright young woman, beautiful and full of life, sat near two very old men. The old men lay unconscious and without sense. The young woman was weeping. She fanned the old men and tried to wake them.

Bhakti tells who she is

The young woman told Nārada about herself.

  • She is Bhakti, devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu. She was born in the Drāviḍa country (Tamil Nadu) and raised in Karṇāṭa. She spent some time in Mahārāshṭra and grew old in Gurjara (Gujarat). In Gurjara she came into contact with heretics. Her limbs were cut, and she became weak and dull, together with her sons.
  • Her two old sons are Jñāna and Vairāgya, knowledge and detachment. They are her sons, born of the grace of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. At Vṛndāvana she has become young again, but her sons stay old and without movement, because in the Kali age no one receives them.
  • The sacred rivers, such as Gaṅgā, serve Bhakti every day. Still she finds no happiness.

The state of the Kali age

Nārada explained to Bhakti what the Kali age is like.

  • Sinful and dishonest people rule over every institution.
  • Holy places are surrounded by Yavanas.
  • Temples are destroyed.
  • Merchants sell food.
  • Brāhmaṇas treat sacred learning as something to sell.
  • Women sell their hair.

In this age even Bhakti, who is eternal by birth, is made weak because there are no sincere people to receive her. Vṛndāvana is the one exception. There Bhakti has become young again, through the power of the presence of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

Nārada tries to wake Jñāna and Vairāgya

Nārada felt pity. He touched Jñāna and Vairāgya and called their names loudly. He recited the Vedas, the Vedāntas and the Gītā before them. Nothing worked. The two old sons were grey and dry like dead wood, and they could not wake.

Nārada was confused, and he prayed to Govinda. A voice from above told him not to lose hope. It said that a certain good deed would wake them, but it spoke in a hidden way, and Nārada could not understand it. He asked many ṛshis, but none of them could tell him what the deed was. This is told in Chapter 194.

The Kumāras teach at Viśālā

The Kumāras are Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana and Sanatkumāra. They found Nārada sad at Viśālā and asked him why he grieved. He told them about Bhakti and her sons.

The Kumāras then told him the cure. It is the Bhāgavata Kathā, and in particular the Bhāgavata Saptāha, the seven-day recitation of the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa himself gave the Bhāgavata to the world through Uddhava before he left for his own realm. It is the presence of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa placed in words. The Vedas, the Purāṇas and the other śāstras cannot wake Jñāna and Vairāgya in the Kali age. Only the Bhāgavata can. This is told in Chapters 194 and 195.

The Saptāha at Gaṅgādvāra

Nārada followed the guidance of the Kumāras and arranged a Bhāgavata Saptāha at Gaṅgādvāra, near the city of Kāmada on the bank of the Gaṅgā. All the ṛshis came, and so did the Vedas, the Upanishads, the rivers, the mountains, the holy places, the devas and the beings of all the worlds. The Kumāras themselves led the jñāna-yajña (the knowledge-yajña).

When the recitation of the Bhāgavatam began, Bhakti appeared in the assembly. She was young, beautiful and bright. She held her two sons, now revived, by the hand, and she called out: “Śrī Kṛshṇa! Govinda! Hari! Murāri!” Jñāna and Vairāgya were woken and made young again by the nectar of the glory of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as told in the Bhāgavata. This is told in Chapter 195.

Sources

  • Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 193 to 195