॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
***
King Parikshit is very eager to know how his grandfather Arjuna married his grandmother Subhadra. Sage Shuka tells him this interesting story.
श्रीशुक उवाच
अर्जुनस्तीर्थयात्रायां पर्यटन्नवनीं प्रभु: ।
गत: प्रभासमशृणोन्मातुलेयीं स आत्मन: ॥
दुर्योधनाय रामस्तां दास्यतीति न चापरे ।
तल्लिप्सु: स यतिर्भूत्वा त्रिदण्डी द्वारकामगात् ॥
T: Sage Shuka narrated: During their exile, while travelling far and wide visiting various holy places of pilgrimage, Arjuna came to Prabhasa. There he heard that Lord Balarama intended to give Arjuna's maternal cousin Subhadra to Duryodhana in marriage and that no one else among Yadus approved of this plan. Arjuna wanted to marry her himself, so he disguised himself as a renunciate ascetic, complete with triple staff (carried even today by Vaishnava Sannyasis) and arrived in Dwaraka. He stayed there during the four months of Monsoon as Sannyasis do (Chaturmasya).
Soon, Arjuna gained the confidence of Balarama who invited him as a guest on a special occasion to the palace. Seeing Subhadra the princess, Arjuna's desire to wed her grew a hundredfold. She also indicated with her bashful sidelong glances that she was attracted to him (probably not knowing that he was Arjuna the hero). Shuka remarked that Arjuna held as much fatal attraction for women as Sri Krishna did, by his manly beauty.
महत्यां देवयात्रायां रथस्थां दुर्गनिर्गताम् ।
जहारानुमत: पित्रो: कृष्णस्य च महारथ: ॥
T: Once, on the occasion of a great temple festival in honour of the Supreme Lord, Subhadra rode out of the fortress-like palace on a chariot, and at that time, the mighty warrior Arjuna took the opportunity to kidnap her. Subhadra’s parents and Sri Krishna, who were privy to his intentions,had sanctioned this.
All hell broke loose. Balarama sent warriors to fight Arjuna and bring Subhadra back. Arjuna drove them away easily and went ahead with Subhadra. Balarama was not easily pacified but Sri Krishna caught hold of his feet and cajoled him to forget his earlier plan to give Subhadra in marriage to his pet student Duryodhana since both Arjuna and Subhadra were in this. After all, Arjuna was the foremost hero in the Kuru dynasty. Finally, Balarama was mollified and all was well.
***
In Mithila, the city capital of Videha Kingdom, there were two ardent devotees of Bhagavan Sri Krishna. One was a poor Brahmin, Shrutadeva, who eked out a very meagre existence, unmindful of material pursuits, fully devoted to the Lord. Simultaneously, the King of Mithila, Bahulashwa, was an equally ardent devotee, living like a Rajarshi, constantly engaged in prayer.
Pleased with both of them, Bhagavan Sri Krishna travelled to Videha with a group of sages like Narada, Vamadeva, Atri, Vyasa, Parashurama, Shuka himself, Chyavana and so on. Sri Krishna was received with devotion and worshipped by the people all along the way to Videha. Shuka compares it to the way people worship the sun at dawn. Sri Krishna, by his mere glance, removed their worldly bonds.
When Sri Krishna reached Videha, the residents of the cities and villages of Videha joyfully came forth to receive him with offerings in their hands.
स्वानुग्रहाय सम्प्राप्तं मन्वानौ तं जगद्गुरुम् । मैथिल: श्रुतदेवश्च पादयो: पेततु: प्रभो: ॥
T: Both the King of Mithila and Shrutadeva fell at the Lord’s feet, each thinking that the spiritual master of the universe had come there just to show him mercy. At exactly the same time, King Bahulashwa and Shrutadeva each went forward with joined palms and invited the Lord to be his guest, along with the Brahmin sages. Wanting to please them both, the Lord accepted both their invitations. Thus, he simultaneously went to both homes, and neither could see him entering the other’s house!
The king spared no effort to honour Sri Krishna and the sages and gave them a big feast. Then, catching Sri Krishna's feet, he said, “Beloved Lord, you have said before that neither Ananta/Adishesha, nor Goddess Lakshmi, nor the birthless Brahma is dearer to you than your unalloyed devotee.To prove your words true, you have now revealed yourself to our eyes!"
King Bahulashwa recounted Sri Krishna's glories and his missions as the scion of the Yadus to cleanse the earth. He secured the Lord's gracious concurrence that Sri Krishna and the sages would be his guests for many days.
Meanhile, Shrutadeva received Lord Achyuta ( an epithet here to mean one who never broke his word) into his home with as much enthusiasm as that shown by King Bahulashwa. After bowing down to the Lord and the sages,Shrutadeva began to dance with great joy, waving his upper garment like a flag. After bringing mats of grass and darbha straw and seating his guests upon them, he greeted them with words of welcome. Then he and his wife washed their feet with great pleasure. With the sanctified water, the virtuous Shrutadeva copiously sprinkled himself, his house and his family.
Overjoyed, the pious Brahmin felt that all his desires had now been fulfilled. He worshipped the guests with offerings of auspicious items easily available to him, such as fruits, roots, pure, nectarean water, fragrant clay, Tulasi leaves, kusha grass and lotus flowers. Then he offered them Sattvic food.
Within himself, Shrutadeva was full of wonder at the Lord's grace to him, a mere householder, by coming with all these sages कृष्णेन चास्यात्मनिकेतभूसुरै:
Shrutadeva remarked aloud how Bhagavan was always close and indeed within everyone as the Creator and Immanent self, missed by the non-devotees.
नमोऽस्तु तेऽध्यात्मविदां परात्मने अनात्मने स्वात्मविभक्तमृत्यवे ।
सकारणाकारणलिङ्गमीयुषे स्वमाययासंवृतरुद्धदृष्टये ॥
T: "Lord, obeisances! You are realized as the Supreme Soul by those who know the Absolute Truth, whereas in Your form of time or Kaala, you impose death upon the forgetful souls. You appear both in your causeless spiritual form (Paramatma) and in the created form of this universe (Prakriti), thus simultaneously uncovering the eyes of your devotees and obstructing the vision of the non-devotees! Kindly instruct us how we should pray to you!"
Bhagavan smiled and took Shrutadeva’s hand in his own and spoke to him as follows.
श्रीभगवानुवाच
ब्रह्मंस्तेऽनुग्रहार्थाय सम्प्राप्तान् विद्ध्यमून् मुनीन् । सञ्चरन्ति मया लोकान् पुनन्त: पादरेणुभि: ॥
T: The Supreme Lord said: "My dear Brahmin, you should know that these great sages have come here just to bless you. They travel throughout the worlds with me, purifying the worlds with the dust of their feet. One can gradually become purified by seeing, touching and worshipping temple deities, places of pilgrimage and holy rivers. But one can attain the same result immediately simply by receiving the glance of exalted sages."
Bhagavan's takeaway message was that the holy sages and true Brahmins were the most worshippable among all creation.
Thus, after blessing both King Bahulashwa and Brahmin Shrutadeva, the Lord returned to Dwaraka.
***
