Thursday 24 June 2021

Bahulas'va and S'rutadeva



Continuing their tour, they came to the kingdom of Mithila, ruled by the descendant of King Janaka, Dhrti. Dhriti was the father of King Bahulashva and a great devotee of Lord Krishna. Uddhava informed Pradyumna that Krishna would come meet with Bahulashva in the future. Hearing this, Pradyumna disguised himself as a brahmana, and asked Uddhava to be his disciple and approached King Dhrti. They wanted experience the devotion of the king. Entering the city, Pradyumna was surprised to see that all the warriors are adorned with tilaka and, holding japa, they chant the holy names of Lord Krishna. The holy names of Krishna were written on all doors, and His appearance was painted on each location. All the walls in the city were decorated with pictures of Lord Vishnu, holding in his hands a club, a conch, a lotus and disk. And in front of every house there was a tulasi temple. As Pradyumna and Uddhava walked through the city, they saw that on both sides of the street people were hearing "Bhagavatam" and "Mahabharata". Then in other places they saw people narrating different Puranas, as well as Harivamsa. 


In many places Valmiki's "Ramayana" was recited. Everywhere the brahmanas performed yajnas. Kirtans were heard in the temples to the accompaniment of musical instruments. In every home, people were busy with one of the nine types of devotional service to the Lord. When Pradyumna and Uddhava entered the palace, they saw the great sages: Sukadeva, Vedavyasa, Narada, Gautama, Brihaspati and Vasishtha. 

Noticing the arrival of the brahmana and his disciple (Pradyumnu and Uddhava), king immediately rose from his seat to greet them. With folded hands, the descendant of Janaka said, “Today my life was successful, seeing you, I was purified. By your visit you have satisfied all the sages and demigods. Great personalities like you roam the Earth, just to bestow good on householders like me." In reply Pradyumna glorified devotion of subjects of the king to Lord Krishna. Janaka's descendant said: “This city, people and palace are not belong to me. My wife, kids and everything else belongs Lord Krishna. Whatever I do with my body mind and speech, I dedicate to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna." The brahmana (Pradyumna) said, “O king, you are undoubtedly will achieve liberation by becoming one with the Lord." The king replied, “I do not want this kind of liberation. I consider myself as an eternal servant of the Supreme Lord and His devotees." Brahmana (Pradyumna) said, “You manifest every symptom of a pure devotee to the Lord. I'm surprised that Pradyumna traveling the world still hasn't come to you". King Dhrti, in a trembling voice from tears, said: “Pradyumna is all-pervading because he is the embodiment of the Lord Himself. Of course he's here." Brahmana (Pradyumna) said, “If you are sure that Pradyumna is all-pervading then make him appear here, just like Prahlada called Lord Nrsimha." The king said, “If I am truly devoted to the Supreme Lord, if I truly served Him and Hisx devotees, then I pray that He will now appear before me". Narada Muni continued, “Taking off the clothes of a brahmana, Pradyumna appeared before the king in his true form. At the sight of this magical transformation, the king was seized signs of ecstasy of love for the Lord. After the king offered words of praise, Pradyumna informed him that he came to him to ascertain his devotion, and assured him that he would attain sarupya-mukti at the end of his life. Then Pradyumna returned to his camp. 


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