G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord, God from Goloka, appeared in the Soma Dynasty ( gotra ). Although the Lord is unborn, He lovingly appears in the family of His devotees, who aspire to serve Him in a variety of relationships. Famous kings that preceded Him include Dhanvantari, Yayati and Yadu. There was also Puru, the powerful Bharata, Rantideva, Bhismadeva and the Pandavas.
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G – God From Goloka (17-24)
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Lord Krishna, the Supreme Lord, God from Goloka, appeared in the Soma Dynasty ( gotra ). Although the Lord is unborn, He lovingly appears in the family of His devotees, who aspire to serve Him in a variety of relationships. Famous kings that preceded Him include Dhanvantari, Yayati and Yadu. There was also Puru, the powerful Bharata, Rantideva, Bhismadeva and the Pandavas.
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Bharata and Rantideva
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Bharata and Rantideva
Chapter 20, 21
Sukadeva Goswami narrated the dynasty of Puru, in which Maharaja Pariksit was himself born. Dusmanta also appeared in this dynasty.
Once, while hunting, Dusmanta became attracted to Sakuntala, the daughter of Visvamitra and Menaka. They married and united, and subsequently gave birth to Bharata, who was later enthroned as king. Since he performed sacrifices, worshipped the Supreme Lord, gave generously in charity and destroyed the inimical, His reign was considered ideal. His son was Bharadvaja, whose descendant was the charitable and selfless Rantideva.
Rantideva had once gone without food for forty-eight days and was about to open his fast. When a brahmana suddenly appeared, Rantideva unhesitatingly offered him a portion of his meal. Having fulfilled his duty, Rantideva again prepared to eat, at which time a sudra unexpectedly arrived. Rantideva generously divided the remaining food between them and prepared to open his fast for the third time. Just then, another guest appeared. Rantideva offered everything remaining to him, and resolved to drink water. Finally, a thirsty man walked over, to whom Rantideva offered his water! Having generously donated everything, he himself was left with nothing, but joyfully prayed that his life would be dedicated to freeing others from suffering.
Just then, the demigods, who were posing as these different guests, appeared on the scene to congratulate him. Everything was a divine arrangement meant to demonstrate the extraordinary selflessness and tolerance of Krishna’s devotees. Sukadeva Goswami then described the remaining descendants of Bharadvaja.
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Bhismadeva and Pandavas
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Bhismadeva and Pandavas
Chapter 22
In the generations after Divodasa came the Pancalas – Drupada, and his children Draupadi and Dhrstadyumna.
Sukadeva Goswami then listed the lineage that is described in the Mahabharata. Santanu, who assumed the throne, married Ganga, and she gave birth to Devavrata (Bhismadeva). When Ganga left him, Santanu married Satyavati, the daughter of a fisherman, and had two sons named Chitrangada and Vicitravirya. Prior to her marriage with Santanu, Satyavati had united with Parasara Muni, and Vyasadeva was born. Vyasadeva taught the science of Srimad-Bhagavatam to his son, Sukadeva Goswami.
When Santanu’s two sons died without begetting children, Vyasadeva was called to impregnate their wives, Ambika and Ambalika. Thus, Dhritarastra and Pandu were born. Later, Vyasadeva also impregnated the maidservant and Vidura was born.
Dhritarastra had one hundred sons, headed by Duryodhana, and one daughter named Duhsala. They became known as the Kauravas. Pandu had five sons, each of them conceived by a demigod, and they all had one son from Draupadi. Those five sons of Pandu were known as the Pandavas. The son of Arjuna (from Subhadra) was Abhimanyu, and Abhimanyu’s son (from Uttara) was Maharaja Pariksit, and Maharaja Pariksit had four sons, Janamejaya, Srutasena, Bhimasena and Ugrasena. Sukadeva Goswami then described the future sons in the dynasty.
Sukadeva Goswami predicted the death of Maharaja Pariksit, the subsequent rule of Janamejaya, and many kings that would appear in the future.
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Genealogy
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Genealogy
“Maharaja Dusmanta, desiring to occupy the throne, returned to his original dynasty [the Puru dynasty], even though he had accepted Maruta as his father. O Maharaja Pariksit, let me now describe the dynasty of Yadu, the eldest son of Maharaja Yayati. This description is supremely pious, and it vanquishes the reactions of sinful activities in human society. Simply by hearing this description, one is freed from all sinful reactions.” ( SB 9.23.18-19 )
We may wonder why so much genealogical information is documented within the Srimad-Bhagavatam. There are long lists of kings, their descendants and generations of families, most of whom we are unfamiliar with and know nothing about. If Maharaja Pariksit had only seven days to live, why did Sukadeva Goswami spend so much time narrating such intricate details? How does genealogical information increase our devotion? If the emphasis of Srimad- Bhagavatam is to go back to godhead, why does it discuss so much transitory and ‘worldly’ history?
Trigger – names are a trigger of remembrance. We may not relate to these personalities, but once we discover more about them, simply hearing their name triggers a variety of devotional sentiments – the character, qualities, relationships, pastimes and example, all act as an inspiration to bolster and inspire our own devotion.
Authenticity – the Srimad-Bhagavatam is to be established as the most authentic and authoritative literature. Giving historical data and generational breakdown helps us to appreciate it as an entirely factual book of transcendental incidents that can nourish our devotional path. In fact, one of the statutory requirements of any Purana is to provide genealogical data.
Reference – scriptures should be understood in an integrative way. Thus, Srimad-Bhagavatam, though complete in itself, can be read in conjunction with other books to obtain a richer understanding. Genealogical history, though seemingly not particularly useful in one’s reading of Srimad-Bhagavatam, can help when we cross-reference books and try to understand Vedic history in more depth.
Rarity – when exhaustive lists are narrated, the speakers recite the names very quickly and then stop at a personality who was famed as a great devotee. At that point, the history of that great devotee is described. Focusing in on one devotee amongst such huge lineages helps one to appreciate how rare these pure and spotless devotees are. Indeed, Krishna confirms that out of many thousands of souls, a rare few may surrender to the Lord out of pure love.
Transitory – various passages of Srimad-Bhagavatam stress the ephemeral nature of life. Descriptions of genealogy further highlight this point, showing how great monarchs, despite their influence, power, riches and dominion over the people, had to surrender to the inevitable waves of time. Hearing narrations of the annals of history reminds us that everything must pass. As Srila Prabhupada once reflected, “All that is left of my family life is a long list of names.”
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Our Disciplic Line
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Genealogy
Our Disciplic Line
“The path of spiritual realisation is undoubtedly difficult. The Lord therefore advises us to approach a bona fide spiritual master in the line of disciplic succession from the Lord Himself. No one can be a bona fide spiritual master without following this principle of disciplic succession. The Lord is the original spiritual master, and a person in the disciplic succession can convey the message of the Lord as it is to his disciple. No one can be spiritually realised by manufacturing his own process, as is the fashion of the foolish pretenders.” ( BG 4.34 )
Through disciplic succession, knowledge of the Lord is perfectly transmitted, just as a ripe fruit is delicately passed down to those on the ground from the top of a tree. If it’s mishandled or dropped, the juicy fruit is spoiled. Thus, each link in the chain of disciplic succession has a grave responsibility to preserve the essence.
All the great saints and sages in our line of disciplic succession, the Brahma- Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya, beginning with Sri Krishna and including Brahma, Narada, Vyasa, Lord Chaitanya, Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, have personally realised and taught Krishna consciousness. If the result of a process is good, then the process itself must be good. These great saints and acaryas are unmatched in spiritual realisation so the process of God realisation first spoken by Krishna and passed on through the disciplic succession is also matchless.
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Soma and Surya
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Genealogy
Soma and Surya
Canto Nine documents the lineages of Surya and Soma, or the kings who descend from the sun-god and moon-god respectively. Chapters 1 - 13 describe the Surya Vamsa, within which Lord Rama appeared. Chapters 14 - 24 describe the Soma Vamsa, within which Lord Krishna appeared.
“The Yadu dynasty belonged to the family descending from Soma, the moon- god. Although the planetary systems are so arranged that the sun comes first, before the moon, Pariksit Maharaja gave more respect to the dynasty of the moon-god, the soma-vamsa, because in the Yadava dynasty, descending from the moon, Krishna had appeared. There are two different ksatriya families of the royal order, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other descending from the king of the sun. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a ksatriya family because He comes to establish religious principles and the life of righteousness. According to the Vedic system, the ksatriya family is the protector of the human race. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Ramacandra, He appeared in the surya-vamsa, the family descending from the sun-god, and when He appeared as Lord Krishna, He did so in the Yadu dynasty, or yadu-vamsa, whose descent was from the moon-god.” ( SB 10.1.1)
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Two Disciplic Successions
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Genealogy
Two Disciplic Successions
In Vedic culture, spiritual knowledge descends through two types of succession – seminal relationship ( sukra ) and spiritual relationship ( sautra ). In the seminal succession, knowledge was imparted to the son ( putra ), and in the spiritual succession knowledge was imparted to the disciple ( chatra ). Knowledge would thus be passed through the generations.
History documents that there have been deviations. In the seminal line we find that casteism can become prominent, where individuals draw spiritual authority based on their birthright, without possessing the corresponding character and realisation required for spiritual leadership. Such persons deviate the teachings away from their pure form and utilise their position for selfish material benefit instead of selfless spiritual service to others. They fail to communicate the essence of transcendental teachings to the next generation and thus cause a spiritual vacuum in the world. Indeed, Krishna himself declares that He appears when such successions become defunct:
“This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science.” ( BG 4.2 - 3 )
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God from Goloka: Sri Krishna
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
God from Goloka: Sri Krishna
Chapter 24
In the Yadu dynasty came Vasudeva, who had multiple wives, amongst whom Devaki and Rohini were the most prominent. From the womb of Rohini, Baladeva was born.
Vasudeva had many sons by his other wives, but the eighth son to appear from the womb of Devaki was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who delivered the world from the burden of demons and performed exquisite pastimes to attract the entire creation. Sukadeva Goswami highlighted some key events from His pastimes, and thus glorified the Lord, whose entire history is described in Canto Ten.
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Yayati and Devayani
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Yayati and Devayani
Chapter 17, 18, 19
Sukadeva Goswami listed the descendants of Pururava, beginning with the five sons of Ayu, the eldest son of Pururava. The dynasties of four of them, beginning with Ksatravrddha, are described first. In this dynasty comes Dhanvantari, the inaugurator of medical sciences. The final of Ayu’s sons is Nahusa, and it is in this lineage that Yayati appeared. After Nahusa was cursed to become a python, Yayati became the king. Sukadeva Goswami then explained his interesting story.
Once, when Devayani and Sarmistha were bathing, Lord Siva happened to pass by. They quickly dressed themselves, but Sarmistha accidently put Devayani’s clothes on. Devayani, who was from a brahmana family, heavily rebuked Sarmistha, her maidservant, for putting on her clothes. In retaliation, Sarmistha threw Devayani into a well. When King Yayati passed by and saw Devayani stranded, he saved her, and ended up marrying her, though it was unconventional according to tradition for a ksatriya king to marry a brahmana .
After informing her father, Sukracarya, about the events, Devayani insisted that Sarmistha become her maidservant due to her nefarious acts. Vrsaparva, the father of Sarmistha, readily agreed, not wanting to displease his spiritual master (Sukracarya) further. The marriage took place, and Sukracarya left Yayati with one final warning – that he should never unite with Sarmistha.
Unable to resist her, Yayati later impregnated Sarmistha, causing Devayani to become furious. Sukracarya angrily cursed Yayati to become old and invalid, but left him with a boon that would enable him to exchange his old age with a younger person. Yayati’s four older sons refused to do it, but his youngest son, Puru, readily agreed. After a thousand years of enjoyment, Yayati became disgusted and composed the story of a he-goat and she-goat, which accurately depicted his entangled predicament. He awarded Puru with his youth again, renounced his opulence, accepted sannyasa and attained perfection. Devayani followed suit and immersed herself in devotional service.
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Yayati’s Dynasty
G – God From Goloka (17-24)
Yayati’s Dynasty
Chapter 23
Sukadeva Goswami described the dynasties of Yayati’s sons, namely Anu, Druhyu, Turvasu and Yadu, as well as the story of Jyamagha.
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— S.B. Keshava Swami, Book Bhagavata