Nārada Pūrva Janma

Nārada, the devarshi (seer among the devas) who wanders the three worlds praising Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, had an earlier birth. In that birth he was the young son of a maidservant (dāsī) in a brāhmaṇa household. He served a group of great ṛshis for one cāturmāsya (the four months of the rains retreat). By hearing their kathā (talks about Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa) and eating the leftovers of their food, his mind became pure and his bhakti (loving devotion) began to grow. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in its first skanda, Chapters 5 and 6. Nārada himself told it to Vyāsa.

The previous birth

In an earlier kalpa (a day of Brahmā), Nārada was born as the son of a maidservant who worked in the household of certain brāhmaṇas. He was a young boy, simple and curious, with no great spiritual training.

During the four months of cāturmāsya, a large company of great bhāgavata-sādhus (holy men devoted to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa), munis and ṛshis stayed in that household for their rains retreat. The maidservant and her son served them.

The boy was naturally drawn to serve the ṛshis. He did small tasks, such as bringing water, cleaning and looking after their needs, with no plan behind it. The ṛshis were pleased with his simple service and his good nature. They allowed him to eat the leftovers (ucchishṭa) of their food. For a bhāgavata-sādhu, such leftovers are not plain food. They are prasāda (food given in grace), filled with the ṛshi’s own inner purity and bhakti.

Hearing the kathā

All through their stay, the ṛshis spoke continuously of the glories and the pastimes of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, in kathā and satsaṅga (company of the holy). The boy listened with his whole being.

The Bhāgavatam records that he ate their leftovers with a clean and eager mind and heard their kathā with rapt attention and śraddhā (faith). By this, all his stored pāpa (sin) was destroyed, and his heart became clean and clear.

The kathā went on day after day through the months of cāturmāsya, and his bhakti for Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa rose and grew deeper. The ṛshis gave him the essence of their teaching. They told him: “This world is saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death). It is unending suffering for those who do not seek Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Fix your mind on his lotus feet. Serve the sādhus. Hear the kathā. This is the path.”

Separation and death

When the cāturmāsya ended, the ṛshis left. The boy stayed behind. His heart now longed for Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa so strongly that nothing in the world around him could satisfy it.

Not long after, his mother died. She was walking in the dark one night and was bitten by a snake. She was his only tie to the life of the household. Now alone and bound to nothing of this world, the boy took her death as the grace of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, who had removed the last obstacle.

He walked north into the forest. He went through forests, over mountains and across rivers. At last he sat at the foot of a large pīpal tree near a lake in a lonely place. He closed his eyes and, as the ṛshis had taught him, fixed his mind on the form of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa in his heart. For a time he meditated with deep longing. Then, as a reward for his sincerity, he saw Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa within his heart. The form was bright, gentle and full of compassion. The boy’s heart overflowed with joy at the sight.

Then the voice of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa came. He said: “You will not see this form again in this birth. I have shown it to you to deepen your longing. In this birth you will wander as a wanderer. You will know me, but you will not yet be merged in me. At death you will enter me fully. In the next birth you will be Nārada, my dear devarshi.”

Birth as Nārada

At the end of that life the pralaya (the dissolution of the worlds) came, and everything was absorbed into Nārāyaṇa. This jīva (living being) also entered Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.

At the next creation, Brahmā, the creator, came forth from the lotus in the navel of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. At that time this same jīva was born as Nārada, from the mind of Brahmā. He had a divine vīṇā (a stringed instrument) called Mahatī. He carried the bhakti that had been lit in his humble birth as a servant’s child. Now he remembered Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa fully and could come freely into his presence.

Nārada wanders the three worlds, always singing the glories of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Wherever he goes, the names and glories of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa follow.

What the narrative teaches

The boy was born humble. His learning was informal and his sādhana (spiritual practice) was short. Yet one cāturmāsya of true service and faithful hearing lit a bhakti that carried him in the end to the state of Nārada Devarshi. The Bhāgavatam presents this as a truth for everyone and not as a special case. Sādhu-saṅga (the company of the holy) is the best path, because the sādhu carries the śakti (power) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. The kathā of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa cleans the mind in a way that no other practice can.

Nārada told this to Vyāsa to explain why Vyāsa should compose a work wholly given to the glories of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. That work is the Bhāgavatam.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapter 5
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 1st Skanda, Chapter 6