Brahmananda
“Śrila Vyasadeva experienced that this final goal [the bliss of pure love of God]
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is superior to even brahmananda, the happiness derived from realizing the impersonal aspect of the Supreme. This we know because Vyasadeva taught Sukadeva Gosvāmi Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam so he could taste the special bliss derived from love of Godhead, even though Sukadeva was already absorbed in brahmananda.
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Compiled
It’s interesting to note that the Srimad Bhagavatam was compiled two times, first as one of the 18 original Puranas, compiled by Vyasadeva before the Mahabharata and later as the Srimad Bhagavatam we have today, which was compiled much later, after the disappearance of Lord Krsna.
The story was that after compiling all the Vedas, including the original Bhagavata Purana (the Srimad Bhagavatam), the Mahabharata, and the Vedanta Sutra, Vyasadeva was still feeling dissatisfied, not having sufficiently described the glories of the Lord. At this point, Narada Muni appears and mildly chastizes him for having given too much importance to indirect topics in his previous works, and not having written a book that exclusively glorifies Krsna. After that, Vyasadeva proceeded to compile the second version of the Srimad Bhagavatam, an expanded version of the original Bhagavata Purana he had compiled earlier. This is explained by Srila Jiva Goswami in his Tattva-Sandarbha (verse 48):
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Sage
ŚB 1.19.9-10
नरिष्टनेमिर्भृगुरङ्गिराश्च ।
पराशरो गाधिसुतोऽथ राम
उतथ्य इन्द्रप्रमदेध्मवाहौ ॥ ९ ॥
मेधातिथिर्देवल आर्ष्टिषेणो
भारद्वाजो गौतम: पिप्पलाद: ।
मैत्रेय और्व: कवष: कुम्भयोनि-
र्द्वैपायनो भगवान्नारदश्च ॥ १० ॥
ariṣṭanemir bhṛgur aṅgirāś ca
parāśaro gādhi-suto ’tha rāma
utathya indrapramadedhmavāhau
bhāradvājo gautamaḥ pippalādaḥ
maitreya aurvaḥ kavaṣaḥ kumbhayonir
dvaipāyano bhagavān nāradaś ca
Synonyms
Translation
From different parts of the universe
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there arrived great sages like Atri, Cyavana, Śaradvān, Ariṣṭanemi, Bhṛgu, Vasiṣṭha, Parāśara, Viśvāmitra, Aṅgirā, Paraśurāma, Utathya, Indrapramada, Idhmavāhu, Medhātithi, Devala, Ārṣṭiṣeṇa, Bhāradvāja, Gautama, Pippalāda, Maitreya, Aurva, Kavaṣa, Kumbhayoni, Dvaipāyana and the great personality Nārada.
Purport
Cyavana: A great sage and one of the sons of Bhṛgu Muni. He was born prematurely when his pregnant mother was kidnapped. Cyavana is one of the six sons of his father.
Bhṛgu: When Brahmājī was performing a great sacrifice on behalf of Varuṇa, Maharṣi Bhṛgu was born from the sacrificial fire. He was a great sage, and his very dear wife was Pulomā. He could travel in space like Durvāsā, Nārada and others, and he used to visit all the planets of the universe. Before the Battle of Kurukṣetra, he tried to stop the battle. Sometimes he instructed Bhāradvāja Muni about astronomical evolution, and he is the author of the great Bhṛgu-saṁhitā, the great astrological calculation. He explained how air, fire, water and earth are generated from ether. He explained how the air in the stomach works and regulates the intestines. As a great philosopher, he logically established the eternity of the living entity (Mahābhārata). He was also a great anthropologist, and the theory of evolution was long ago explained by him. He was a scientific propounder of the four divisions and orders of human society known as the varṇāśrama institution. He converted the kṣatriya king Vītahavya into a brāhmaṇa.
Vasiṣṭha: See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.6.
Parāśara: He is the grandson of Vasiṣṭha Muni and father of Vyāsadeva. He is the son of Maharṣi Śakti, and his mother’s name was Adṛśyatī. He was in the womb of his mother when she was only twelve years old. And from within the womb of his mother he learned the Vedas. His father was killed by a demon, Kalmāṣapāda, and to avenge this he wanted to annihilate the whole world. He was restrained, however, by his grandfather Vasiṣṭha. He then performed a Rākṣasa-killing yajña, but Maharṣi Pulastya restrained him. He begot Vyāsadeva, being attracted by Satyavatī, who was to become the wife of Mahārāja Śāntanu. By the blessings of Parāśara, Satyavatī became fragrant for miles. He was present also during the time of Bhīṣma’s death. He was the spiritual master of Mahārāja Janaka and a great devotee of Lord Śiva. He is the author of many Vedic scriptures and sociological directions.
Gādhi-suta, or Viśvāmitra: A great sage of austerity and mystic power. He is famous as Gādhi-suta because his father was Gādhi, a powerful king of the province of Kanyākubja (part of Uttara Pradesh). Although he was a kṣatriya by birth, he became a brāhmaṇa in the very same body by the power of his spiritual achievements. He picked a quarrel with Vasiṣṭha Muni when he was a kṣatriya king and performed a great sacrifice in cooperation with Maṭaṅga Muni and thus was able to vanquish the sons of Vasiṣṭha. He became a great yogī, and yet he failed to check his senses and thus was obliged to become the father of Śakuntalā, the beauty queen of world history. Once, when he was a kṣatriya king, he visited the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha Muni, and he was given a royal reception. Viśvāmitra wanted from Vasiṣṭha a cow named Nandinī, and the Muni refused to deliver it. Viśvāmitra stole the cow, and thus there was a quarrel between the sage and the King. Viśvāmitra was defeated by the spiritual strength of Vasiṣṭha, and thus the King decided to become a brāhmaṇa. Before becoming a brāhmaṇa he underwent severe austerity on the bank of the Kauśika. He was also one who tried to stop the Kurukṣetra war.
Aṅgirā: He is one of the six mental sons of Brahmā and the father of Bṛhaspati, the great learned priest of the demigods in the heavenly planets. He was born of the semen of Brahmājī given to a cinder of fire. Utathya and Saṁvarta are his sons. It is said that he is still performing austerity and chanting the holy name of the Lord at a place known as Alokānanda on the banks of the Ganges.
Paraśurāma: See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.6.
Utathya: One of the three sons of Maharṣi Aṅgirā. He was the spiritual master of Mahārāja Mandhātā. He married Bhadrā, the daughter of Soma (moon). Varuṇa kidnapped his wife Bhadrā, and to retaliate the offense of the god of water, he drank all the water of the world.
Medhātithi: An old sage of yore. An assembly member of the heavenly King Indradeva. His son was Kaṇva Muni, who brought up Śakuntalā in the forest. He was promoted to the heavenly planet by strictly following the principles of retired life (vānaprastha).
Devala: A great authority like Nārada Muni and Vyāsadeva. His good name is on the list of authorities mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā when Arjuna acknowledged Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He met Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira after the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and he was the elder brother of Dhaumya, the priest of the Pāṇḍava family. Like the kṣatriyas, he also allowed his daughter to select her own husband in a svayaṁvara meeting, and at that ceremony all the bachelor sons of the ṛṣis were invited. According to some, he is not Asita Devala.
Bhāradvāja: See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.9.6.
Gautama: One of the seven great sages of the universe. Śaradvān Gautama was one of his sons. Persons in the Gautama-gotra (dynasty) today are either his family descendants or in his disciplic succession. The brāhmaṇas who profess Gautama-gotra are generally family descendants, and the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas who profess Gautama-gotra are all in the line of his disciplic succession. He was the husband of the famous Ahalyā who turned into stone when Indradeva, the King of the heaven, molested her. Ahalyā was delivered by Lord Rāmacandra. Gautama was the grandfather of Kṛpācārya, one of the heroes of the Battle of Kurukṣetra.
Maitreya: A great ṛṣi of yore. He was the spiritual master of Vidura and a great religious authority. He advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra to keep good relations with the Pāṇḍavas. Duryodhana disagreed and thus was cursed by him. He met Vyāsadeva and had religious discourses with him.
Pilgrimage
ŚB 1.19.8
महानुभावा मुनय: सशिष्या: ।
प्रायेण
तीर्थाभिगमापदेशै:
स्वयं हि तीर्थानि पुनन्ति सन्त: ॥ ८ ॥
mahānubhāvā munayaḥ sa-śiṣyāḥ
prāyeṇa tīrthābhigamāpadeśaiḥ
svayaṁ hi tīrthāni punanti santaḥ
Synonyms
tatra — there; upajagmuḥ — arrived; bhuvanam — the universe; punānāḥ — those who can sanctify; mahā-anubhāvāḥ — great minds; munayaḥ — thinkers; sa-śiṣyāḥ — along with their disciples; prāyeṇa — almost; tīrtha — place of pilgrimage; abhigama — journey; apadeśaiḥ — on the plea of; svayam — personally; hi — certainly; tīrthāni — all the places of pilgrimage; punanti — sanctify; santaḥ — sages.
Translation
At that time all the great minds and thinkers, accompanied by their disciples, and sages who could verily sanctify a place of pilgrimage just by their presence, arrived there on the plea of making a pilgrim’s journey.
Purport
When Mahārāja Parīkṣit sat down on the bank of the Ganges, the news spread in all directions of the universe, and the great-minded sages, who could follow the importance of the occasion, all arrived there on the plea of pilgrimage.
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Actually they came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit and not to take a bath of pilgrimage because all of them were competent enough to sanctify the places of pilgrimage. Common men go to pilgrimage sites to get themselves purified of all sins. Thus the places of pilgrimage become overburdened with the sins of others. But when such sages visit overburdened places of pilgrimage, they sanctify the places by their presence.
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Therefore the sages who came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit were not very much interested in getting themselves purified like common men, but on the plea of taking a bath in that place they came to meet Mahārāja Parīkṣit because they could foresee that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam would be spoken by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. All of them wanted to take advantage of the great occasion.
Alone
Comfort
Narada walks along the Yamuna with the hope that he will find something fruitful in Krishna’s earthly realm at least.
But a strange sight greets him. He finds a beautiful young woman sitting by the Yamuna. Two old lifeless looking men lay next to her. Their eyes were closed and their breathing was laborious.
The woman was sobbing her heart out, trying to revive them by sprinkling some water on their faces and shaking them awake. A host of other heavenly looking women were doing their best to reassure the inconsolable woman.
Narada clears his throat loudly to announce his presence. When the young woman sees Narada, she cries out with relief and says, “O holy one. Please help me. I am Bhakti and these are my sons Gyan and Vairagya. They were born several yugas back. So they have grown old and weary now. These heavenly women are Ganga and the other sacred rivers of the earth. They have come to comfort me.
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Six types of Liberation
- sayujya, merging with the body of the Lord (means merging into the Brahman effulgence of the Lord.) – SB-1.9.40
- salokya, -residing on the same spiritual planet as the Lord (means that after material liberation one is promoted to the planet where the Supreme Personality of Godhead resides) -SB -2.7.49
- sarupya, (means attaining a four-handed form exactly like that of the Lord.) SB-2.7.49
- sarsti and (means attaining opulences like those of the Supreme Lord,) SB-2.7.49
- samipya (means remaining an associate of the Supreme Personality of Godhead) -SB – 2.7.49
- vimukti (Special mukti) -When after liberation one is situated on the platform of prema-bhakti, one is said to have achieved vimukti, “special mukti.” – SB -4.8.61, SB -10.9.20