SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 1 CHAPTER 9 TEXT Worship of Lord’s devotees is more valuable

TEXT 22 tathāpy ekānta-bhakte ṣ u paśya bhūpānukampitam yan me ’sū ṁ s tyajata ḥ sāk ṣ āt k ṛṣṇ o darśanam āgata ḥ Yet, despite His being equally kind to everyone, He has graciously come before me while I am ending my life, for I am His unflinching servitor.

Depending on Krsna is living entity’s nature The Supreme Lord, the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī K ṛṣṇ a, although equal to everyone, is still more inclined to His unflinching devotee who is completely surrendered and knows no one else as his protector and master. Having unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord as one’s protector, friend and master is the natural condition of eternal life. A living entity is so made by the will of the Almighty that he is most happy when placing himself in a condition of absolute dependence. The opposite tendency is the cause of falldown. The living entity has this tendency of falling down by dint of misidentifying himself as fully independent to lord it over the material world. The root cause of all troubles is false egotism.

Depending on Krsna is living entity’s nature The appearance of Lord K ṛṣṇ a at the deathbed of Bhī ṣ majī is due to his being an unflinching devotee of the Lord. Arjuna had some bodily relation with K ṛṣṇ a because the Lord happened to be his maternal cousin. But Bhī ṣ ma had no such bodily relation. Therefore the cause of attraction was due to the intimate relation of the soul. The Lord is more pleased when He is addressed as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, the son of Yaśodā, the lover of Rādhārā ṇ ī. Bhī ṣ madeva is conscious of this sweetness of transcendental humor, and therefore he likes to address the Lord as Vijaya- sakhe, Pārtha-sakhe, etc., exactly like Nanda-nandana or Yaśodā-nandana. One should not try to establish the relation directly; there must be a medium which is transparent and competent to lead us to the right path.

TEXT 23 bhaktyāveśya mano yasmin vācā yan-nāma kīrtayan tyajan kalevara ṁ yogī mucyate kāma-karmabhi ḥ The Personality of Godhead, who appears in the mind of the devotee by attentive devotion and meditation and by chanting of the holy name, releases the devotee from the bondage of fruitive activities at the time of his quitting the material body.

Yoga means concentration of the mind detached from all other subject matter. And actually such concentration issamādhi, or cent- percent engagement in the service of the Lord. Such a yogī devotee of the Lord engages himself twenty-four hours daily in the service of the Lord so that his whole attention is engrossed with the thoughts of the Lord in ninefold devotional service, namely hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, praying, becoming a voluntary servant, carrying out orders, establishing a friendly relationship, or offering all that one may possess in the service of the Lord. Such a perfect yogī is enabled by the divine grace of the Lord to concentrate his mind upon the Lord with a perfect sense of consciousness, and thus by chanting His holy name before quitting the body. Devotional service to the Lord does not kill the natural desires of the living being, but they are applied in the right cause of devotional service. General Bhī ṣ madeva is referring to a particular type of yoga called bhakti-yoga, and he was fortunate enough to have the Lord directly in his presence before he quitted his material body.

TEXT 24 sa deva-devo bhagavān pratīk ṣ atā ṁ kalevara ṁ yāvad ida ṁ hinomy aham prasanna-hāsāru ṇ a-locanollasan- mukhāmbujo dhyāna-pathaś catur-bhuja ḥ May my Lord, who is four-handed and whose beautifully decorated lotus face, with eyes as red as the rising sun, is smiling, kindly await me at that moment when I quit this material body.

Bhī ṣ madeva knew well that Lord K ṛṣṇ a is the original Nārāya ṇ a. His worshipable Deity was four-handed Nārāya ṇ a, but he knew that four-handed Nārāya ṇ a is a plenary expansion of Lord K ṛṣṇ a. Indirectly he desired Lord Śrī K ṛṣṇ a to manifest Himself in His four- handed feature of Nārāya ṇ a. A Vai ṣṇ ava is always humble in his behavior. Although it was cent- percent certain that Bhī ṣ madeva was approaching Vaiku ṇṭ ha- dhāma just after leaving his material body, still as a humble Vai ṣṇ ava he desired to see the beautiful face of the Lord. A pure devotee is never very anxious to go back to the kingdom of God. He entirely depends on the good will of the Lord. He is equally satisfied even if the Lord desires him to go to hell. The only desire that a pure devotee entertains is that he may always be in rapt attention with thinking of the lotus feet of the Lord. Bhī ṣ madeva wanted this much only: that his mind be absorbed in thinking of the Lord and that he pass away thus. That is the highest ambition of a pure devotee.

TEXT 25 sūta uvāca yudhi ṣṭ hiras tad ākar ṇ ya śayāna ṁ śara-pañjare ap ṛ cchad vividhān dharmān ṛṣ ī ṇ ā ṁ cānuś ṛṇ vatām Sūta Gosvāmī said: Mahārāja Yudhi ṣṭ hira, after hearing Bhī ṣ madeva speak in that appealing tone, asked him, in the presence of all the great ṛṣ is, about the essential principles of various religious duties.

Lord Śrī K ṛṣṇ a inspired Mahārāja Yudhi ṣṭ hira to ask Bhī ṣ madeva in the presence of many great sages, indicating thereby that the Lord’s devotee like Bhī ṣ madeva, although apparently living as a worldly man, is far superior to many great sages, even Vyāsadeva. Another point is that Bhī ṣ madeva at that time was not only lying on a deathbed of arrows, but was greatly aggrieved because of that state. His pure devotees are always sound in body and mind by dint of spiritual enlightenment, and thus in any circumstances a devotee of the Lord is in perfect order to speak of the right way of life. The father likes to see the son become more famous than himself. The Lord declares very emphatically that worship of His devotee is more valuable than the worship of the Lord Himself.