Nimi and the Nava Yogīśvaras

King Nimi of Videha was holding a great yajña (fire ritual) in his royal assembly. The devas had come down to watch. At that moment nine royal ṛshis, the Nava Yogīśvaras, came to the assembly. They were all sons of the great Ṛshabha. Nimi received them with deep respect and put nine questions to them, one for each. Each Yogīśvara answered one question. The answers together make one of the main teachings on bhakti (loving devotion) in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. The text is in its 11th Skanda, Chapters 2 to 6.

The meeting at Videha

Nimi was the king of Videha, a man of great learning and honest questions. He was performing a great yajña when the Nava Yogīśvaras arrived. They were Kavi, Hari, Antarīksha, Prabuddha, Pippalāyana, Āvirhotra, Drumila, Camasa and Karabhājana. All were sons of Ṛshabha. They were wandering through the three worlds, free of all desire, with their minds absorbed in Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. They shone with tapas (austerity) as they came to the assembly.

Nimi greeted them with deep respect. He washed their feet and offered pādya (water for the feet), arghya (water of welcome) and every other courtesy. Then he put nine questions to them, showing his great hunger for truth. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2)

The first question: the signs of a true devotee

Nimi asked: “Who is a true devotee of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa? By what marks can such a person be known?”

Kavi answered. The marks of a devotee are easy to see. He wants no worldly pleasure: not the pleasures of this world, not those of svarga (heaven), not supernatural powers, and not even moksha. He loves the kathā (talks) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa as his own life. He is a friend to all beings. Through the kathā he cleans the hearts of all around him. Just by living in this world, such a devotee makes the very earth he walks on pure. For a person drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death), the highest shelter is the feet of the great devotees, the mahā-bhāgavatas. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2)

The second question: the means of devotion

Nimi asked: “By what path does a person reach devotion to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, the Supreme, who is beyond even the Vedas?”

Hari answered. The path is satsaṅga, the company of devotees. Even one moment of true company with mahā-bhāgavatas cuts the knots of attachment and plants the saṃskāras (impressions) of devotion. One should hear the names, forms, qualities and deeds of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa with śraddhā (faith) and sing them always. One should offer pūjā to his image, bow before it and become his servant. Above all, one should see the presence of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa in all beings. This is the sādhana (spiritual practice) that ends in pure bhakti. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2)

The third question: liberation and the way to it

Nimi asked: “What is liberation? What is bondage? And what is the direct path to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa?”

Antarīksha answered. Bondage is attachment to the body, the sense of “I” and “mine” fixed on things that pass away. Liberation is when this sense of “I” melts into the vast, self-shining consciousness of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. The direct path is to fix the mind with one-pointed devotion on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, to do all one’s actions as an offering to him, and to place all their results in his hands. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself removes the ignorance of such a devotee from within, as the sun drives away darkness. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2)

The fourth question: the māyā of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa

Nimi asked: “What is the māyā (power of illusion) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa? How does it deceive? And how does one cross it?”

Prabuddha answered. This māyā is the power that makes the one absolute truth seem many, the unborn seem born, and the undying seem to die. It works through the three guṇas (qualities), sattva, rajas and tamas. Through them it binds all beings to their tendencies and their karma. Though mighty, this māyā is the own śakti (power) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. The only way across is his anugraha, his grace. A person who takes shelter in him, who is devoted with love and has no hypocrisy, is carried across by that same grace, as a raft carries the one who climbs on it. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 3)

The fifth question: the avatāras

Nimi asked: “What are the avatāras of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa? By what paths do they come? For what purposes?”

Pippalāyana answered. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa has no birth, yet he takes birth by his own will through his Yogamāyā. His avatāras are too many to count, like the waves of the ocean. The chief ones include:

• the Purusha himself, who holds up all things
• Brahmā, who creates from him
• the Saptarshis, who keep the Vedas
• Nara-Nārāyaṇa, the twin ṛshis of tapas
• Kapila, who made Sāṅkhya clear
• Dattātreya, who taught the highest jñāna (knowledge)
• the twin Aśvinīs
• Ṛshabha, who taught avadhūta-dharma
• Pṛthu, who ruled the earth with justice
• Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Narasiṃha, Vāmana, Paraśurāma, Rāma, Vyāsa, Balarāma, Buddha and the coming Kalki

But these are only the ones that can be counted. The devas, the great ṛshis and the Manus are all partial forms of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 4)

The sixth question: the dharmas of the four yugas

Nimi asked: “What duties are laid down for each yuga (age)? And which yuga is best?”

Āvirhotra answered. In the Kṛta Yuga the dharma stands on all four feet, and tapas is the highest. In the Tretā Yuga, the yajña is the first. In the Dvāpara Yuga, temple pūjā and ritual come first. In the Kali Yuga only one foot of dharma is left, but that one foot is very strong: the chanting of the names of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Of all the yugas, the wise praise Kali as the best for bhakti. In this age even a small effort in devotion gives a great fruit, and the names of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa work at once. Beings of the other yugas come to the earth in Kali for this very reason. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 5)

The seventh question: the signs of the coming pralaya

Nimi asked: “What is the state of the world at the end of a yuga, and what are the signs that it is coming?”

Drumila answered. As the Kali Yuga deepens, dharma draws back its feet one by one until none is left. Kings become oppressors and feed on their people like tigers. Brāhmaṇas give up the study of the Vedas and perform rites only for payment. Householders lose their virtue. The earth grows poor and gives thin harvests. Rains become rare. People eat meat without limit. All varṇas become equal in decline. The sacred rivers flood or dry up. Trees lose their fruit and fields lose their grain. Fewer children are born and lives grow shorter. In this darkness, those who even whisper the name of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa pass through safely, for his name alone is the way across. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 5)

The eighth question: the nature of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa

Nimi asked: “What is the true nature of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa? How should the wise meditate on him?”

Camasa answered. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is pure consciousness itself. He is the witness of all, never born and never dying, the base of all names and forms. The rituals of the Vedas, the austerities of yogīs and the learning of the learned do not reveal him. He is known only through bhakti. This comes by the cleaning of the heart that follows from hearing his names and qualities, serving his devotees, and giving up the sense of being the doer to him. The Vedas describe him as what remains when all that is not the self has been set aside. His form, qualities and deeds, as told in the Purāṇas, are the highest thing to meditate on. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 5)

The ninth question: the signs of the highest devotee

Nimi asked: “Who is an uttama-bhāgavata, a supreme devotee? Who is a madhyama? Who is a kanishṭha?”

Karabhājana answered. The kanishṭha devotee offers pūjā to the image with faith but does not yet see Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa in all beings. The madhyama sees Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa in the images, sees devotees as dear friends, looks on the indifferent with compassion, and keeps away from the hostile. The uttama-bhāgavata sees Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa everywhere: in all beings, in all events, in his own self. He makes no difference between friend and foe, or between high and low, because he sees only Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. His very sight is holy, and being near him makes one pure.

Such a devotee needs no other sādhana. His whole life is one continuous act of ārādhanā (devotion in action). He is already free while living, a jīvanmukta, because nothing in the world can bring attachment or dislike to one who sees all as Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2)

The stotra of the devas at Dvārakā

After the talks of the Nava Yogīśvaras, the scene moves to Dvārakā. There the devas, with Brahmā at their head, gathered on the shore of the ocean to sing the praises of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. They called him the one who took birth in the Yādava line to take away the burden of the earth and to show the path of dharma. They praised his deeds from his birth to his victory over Jarāsandha and beyond. They begged him to bring his avatāra work to a quick end and return to his own dhāma (supreme abode). Bhagavān Kṛshṇa sat in Dvārakā and heard their prayers with a gentle smile. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 6)

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 2
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 3
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 4
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 5
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 11th Skanda, Chapter 6