Canto 5

When Lord Rishabhadeva appears, He instructs His sons on how to reap the true benefit of human life. The story of Bharata Maharaja’s birth as a deer reminds us that we’ll eventually reap the results of whatever actions and desires we cultivate in this life. The entire universe, which is systematically discussed and detailed, is an opportunity for the conditioned soul to learn life lessons by which he can reap the greatest benefit – entrance into the eternal loving pastimes of Radha and Krishna. “All individual selves are more or less subject to the affliction of ignorance... They have to do various kinds of work, good, bad, and indifferent, and reap the consequences thereof. That means they are subjected to the acts of your, I mean to say, reaction of their acts. If you do some good thing, then you reap the good result. If you do some bad thing, then you reap the bad result. And because we are defective, therefore we do something good, sometimes bad. The best thing is, therefore, that God is all-good. If we follow God, then we become good. If we follow God or God’s representative, then we also become good. Because God is always good. A good cannot give you bad direction. Therefore devotional service... It is incumbent that everyone should be followers. Everyone should be followers of the instruction of God.” ~ Srila Prabhupada, Lecture, 7th March 1966, New York

R - Rishabhadeva (1-6) E - Emperor to Deer (7-15) A - Astronomical Avataras (16-19) P - Planetary Systems (20-26)

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— S.B. Keshava Swami, Book Bhagavata