Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 83

ity evam vadanti jana-jalpa-nirbhayā eka-matāh kumāra-vyāsa-śuka-śāndilya-garga-vishnu-kaundilya-śeshoddhavāruni-bali-hanūmad-vibhīshanādayo bhakty-ācāryāh

SYNONYMS

iti — thus; evam — in this way; vadanti — they speak; jana — of ordinary people; jalpa — of the gossip; nirbhayāh — unafraid; eka — of one; matāh — opinion; kumāra-vyāsa-śuka-śāndilya-garga-vishnu-kaundilya-śesha-uddhava-aruni-bali-hanūmat-vibhīshana-ādayah — the Kumāras, Vyāsa, Śuka, Śāndilya, Garga, Vishnu, Kaundilya, Śesha, Uddhava, Aruni, Bali, Hanumān, Vibhīshana, and others; bhakti — of devotional service; ācāryāh — the founding authorities.

TRANSLATION

Thus say the founding authorities of devotional service: the Kumāras, Vyāsa, Śuka, Śāndilya, Garga, Vishnu, Kaundilya, Śesha, Uddhava, Aruni, Bali, Hanumān, Vibhīshana, and others — speaking without fear of worldly gossip and sharing among themselves one and the same opinion.

PURPORT

Nārada previously gave definitions of bhakti according to sages like Vyāsa and Garga, and now he gives a longer list. He also adds that there are many other authorities who could also be cited. In this way, although Nārada's word is sufficient, he increases the authority of his conclusion that bhakti is the best of all paths.

While praising Lord Krishna as the Supreme Brahman and the God of gods, Arjuna also referred to great sages in order to support his statement:

param brahma param dhāma pavitram paramam bhavān

purusham śāśvatam divyam ādi-devam ajam vibhum

āhus tvām rishayah sarve devarshir nāradas tathā

asito devalo vyāsah svayam caiva bravīshi me

"You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate abode, the purest, the Absolute Truth. You are the eternal, transcendental, original person, the unborn, the greatest. All the great sages such as Nārada, Asita, Devala, and Vyāsa confirm this truth about You, and now You Yourself are declaring it to me" (Bg. 10.12-13).

Śrīla Prabhupāda writes, "It is not that because Krishna is Arjuna's intimate friend Arjuna is flattering Him by calling Him the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth. Whatever Arjuna says in these two verses is confirmed by Vedic truth" (Bg. 10.12-13, purport). When Yamarāja wanted to impress upon his messengers, the Yamadūtas, that Lord Vishnu is the supreme authority and that bhakti is the supreme path, he also quoted an impressive list of names. These teachers are known as the twelve mahā-janas, or authorities in Krishna consciousness:

svayambhūr nāradah śambhuh kaumārah kapilo manuh

prahlādo janako bhīshmo balir vaiyāsakir vayam

dvādaśaite vijānīmo dharmam bhāgavatam bhatāh

guhyam viśuddham durbodham yam jñātvāmritam aśnute

[SB 6.3.20]

"Lord Brahmā, Bhagavān Nārada, Lord Śiva, the four Kumāras, Lord Kapila [the son of Devahūti], Svāyambhuva Manu, Prahlāda Mahārāja, Janaka Mahārāja, Grandfather Bhīshma, Bali Mahārāja, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and I myself know the real religious principle. My dear servants, this transcendental religious principle, which is known as bhāgavata-dharma, or surrender unto the Supreme Lord and love for Him, is un-contaminated by the material modes of nature. It is very confidential and difficult for ordinary human beings to understand, but if by chance a person fortunately understands it, he is immediately liberated, and thus he returns home, back to Godhead" (Bhāg. 6.3.20-21).

In his purport, Śrīla Prabhupāda stresses not only the importance of the individual sages but the fact that they are representatives of Vaishnava sampradāyas:

There are four lines of disciplic succession: one from Lord Brahmā, one from Lord Śiva, one from Lakshmī, the goddess of fortune, and one from the Kumāras. The disciplic succession from Lord Brahmā is called the Brahmā-sampradāya, the succession from Lord Śiva (Śambhu) is called the Rudra-sampradāya, the one from the goddess of fortune, Lakshmījī, is called the Śrī-sampradāya, and the one from the Kumāras is called the Kumāra-sampradāya. One must take shelter of one of these four sampradāyas in order to understand the most confidential religious system. In the Padma Purāna it is said, sampradāya-vihīnā ye mantrās te nishphalā matāh: "If a person does not follow the four recognized disciplic successions, his mantra or initiation is useless." [Bhāg. 6.3.20-21, purport]

Nārada states that the ācāryas of the Absolute Truth were not afraid of criticism. In bygone ages fools criticized pure devotees and even the Supreme Lord Himself. Once the powerful progenitor Daksha cursed Nārada because he had convinced Daksha's sons to reject marriage and remain celibate. Daksha called Nārada a sinful rascal posing as a devotee. Nārada tolerated Daksha's curse without retaliation, but he continued his preaching.

In his purports, Śrīla Prabhupāda compares the criticism Nārada received to the criticism he himself received from his disciples' parents. Their accusation was the same as Daksha's — that the spiritual master has unreasonably caused young boys (and girls) to give up the normal life of sense gratification and take to extreme forms of renunciation and devotion to God. The criticism of the Krishna consciousness movement has taken organized shape as part of the "anticult movement," but Śrīla Prabhupāda assured his followers not to be afraid of attacks:

We have no business creating enemies, but the process is such that nondevotees will always be inimical toward us. Nevertheless, as stated in the śāstras, a devotee should be both tolerant and merciful. Devotees engaged in preaching should be prepared to be accused by ignorant persons, and yet they must be very merciful to the fallen, conditioned souls. If one can execute his duty in the disciplic succession of Nārada Muni, his service will surely be recognized.... Preaching can be a difficult, thankless task, but a preacher must follow the orders of the Supreme Lord and be unafraid of materialistic persons. [Bhāg. 6.5.39, purport]

Critics deride the Hare Krishna movement as a concocted new cult. But just as the Nārada-bhakti-sūtra is supported by venerable authorities and mahā-janas, so the Krishna consciousness movement, created by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, is also authoritative. In fact, the same authorities Nārada has cited also back up the Krishna consciousness movement. Śrīla Prabhupāda comes in the disciplic line of the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudīya-sampradāya, a line that includes Brahmā, Nārada, Vyāsadeva, Madhva, and Lord Caitanya. In the pranāma-mantra Śrīla Prabhupāda's followers chant, the phrase gaura-vānī-pracārine means that Śrīla Prabhupāda teaches the message of Lord Caitanya. The sańkīrtana movement, the congregational chanting of Hare Krishna, was begun by Lord Caitanya Himself, and so the Krishna consciousness movement now spreading around the world is not a new religion but a continuation of the original sampradāya. As Śrīla Prabhupāda says, "Actually the original father of this movement is Lord Krishna Himself, since it was started a very long time ago but is coming down to human society by disciplic succession" (Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, preface).

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari