Anxiety And Its Cause

Srila Vyasadeva produced these works on the eve of the present Kali-yuga millennium, after foreseeing during a spiritual trance the unfortunate fate of man in this age. After having written all these books, the greatly magnanimous sage felt dissatisfied. "I have, under strict disciplinary vows, unpretentiously worshiped the Vedas, the spiritual master and the altar of sacrifice," he thought. "I have also abided by the rulings and have shown the import of disciplic succession through the explanation of the Mahabharata, by which even women, sūdras and others can see the path of religion. I am feeling incomplete, though I myself am fully equipped with everything required by the Vedas." (Bhag. 1.4.28-30)

Deeper meditation intimated to Vyasa the cause of his despondency:

"This may be because I did not specifically point out the devotional service of the Lord, which is dear to both the perfect beings and the infallible Lord." (Bhag. 1.4.31)

At that moment Vyasadeva's spiritual master, Narada Muni, approached the sage. It is the responsibility of a bona fide spiritual master to ascertain at once the cause of anxiety in his disciple and remove it by forthrightly speaking the truth, just as Krsna spoke to Arjuna in the Gita.

Narada told Vyasa, "Whatever you desire to describe that is separate in vision from the Lord simply reacts with different forms, names and results, to agitate the mind as the wind agitates a boat that has no resting place." (Bhag. 1.5.14) Vyasa had neglected to write directly about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and instead he had presented many other religious observances in the Vedas. Not only had this left Vyasa agitated, but, because he was an authority, it had harmed all the people of this age.

It was to no avail that Vyasa had given transcendental instructions side by side with material topics. In Mahabharata, a historical narrative, he had indeed included Bhagavad-gita, which emphasizes the gist of bhagavata-dharma-that one should relinquish all other engagements and surrender wholly and solely to the lotus feet of Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But materialistic men are prone to glance over this and dwell on the political, economic and philanthropic topics of the remainder of Mahabharata as suits their taste. Therefore, since he had given people a program of materialistic religion that was nothing more than the regulated performance of fruitive activities, they would not heed the essence of bhagavata-dharma-that one should realize his relationship with the Lord and surrender to Him without delay. Because Vyasa had compromised, his entire presentation of the Vedas had been ruined, just as a large pot of sweet rice would be ruined if someone were to drop a pinch of sand in it. Narada chided Vyasa "The people in general are naturally inclined to enjoy, and you have encouraged them in that way in the name of religion. This is verily condemned and is quite unreasonable." (Bhag. 1.5.15)

For a sincere disciple, deprecation from the bona fide spiritual master is a welcome opportunity. There is no question of exchanging flatteries in the master-disciple relationship as many modern svamis and their disciples now do. Vyasa openly admitted his great fault, but with the urging of his spiritual master he rectified it and made it quite clear in the beginning of the Bhagavatam that this work would be quite different. "Completely rejecting all religious activities that are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana [Srimad-Bhagavatam] propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are pure in heart." (Bhag. 1.1.2)