Shravanam and Anushravanam

Date: 2020-05-02 Author: Sudarshana devi dasi

Hare Prabhujis and Matajis Please accept my humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudev!

In Third Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam we find the discussion between and Maitreya Muni. had insulted him with sharp words which made him leave Hastinapura before the . Taking the unpleasant turn of events as a blessing in disguise, Vidura made the best use of the bad bargain by traveling to all pilgrim places and taking the good association of saintly devotees like Uddhava and Maitreya Muni and discussed Krishna katha with them. Irrespective of where he was placed, Vidurji was always very devoted to Krishna. And Lord knew his heart. Thats why when Lord went as peace messenger, He volunteered on His own to go to Vidura's house and spend time with Him. And now when Vidur went all alone to pilgrim places, Lord arranged for nice darshan as well as the meeting of exalted devotees. In Srimad Bhagavatam verse Canto 3 Chapter 13 verses 3 and 4, Vidurji with great respect inquires from Maitreya Muni

caritaṁ tasya rājarṣer / ādi-rājasya sattama brūhi me śraddadhānāya / viṣvaksenāśrayo hy asau śrutasya puṁsāṁ sucira-śramasya nanv añjasā sūribhir īḍito ’rthaḥ tat-tad-guṇānuśravaṇaṁ mukunda- pādāravindaṁ hṛdayeṣu yeṣām

"O best of the virtuous, the original king of kings [Manu] was a great devotee of the Personality of Godhead Hari, and thus it is worth hearing of his sublime character and activities. Please describe them. I am very eager to hear. Persons who hear from a spiritual master with great labor and for a long time must hear from the mouths of pure devotees about the character and activities of pure devotees. Pure devotees always think within their hearts of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead, who awards His devotees liberation."

In these verses Vidurji is teaching us the following:

1) From whom should we hear?

We should hear about Lord and His devotees from the mouths of pure devotees - suribhih

2) What should be the quality of the hearers? a) śraddadhānāya - very eager to hear b) sucira-śramasya - hearing with great labour for a long time

Eagerness to hear about Lord and His devotees is the first step in devotional service. And such hearing should not be done in an adhoc manner. In Srimad Bhagavatam 2.8.4 also Parikshit Maharaj will say that how it is important for us to hear earnestly with faith and do svacestitam - (seriously - by one's own endeavour). So here Vidurji is also mentioning that we should take efforts to hear transcendental topics for a long time.

3) What should be the topic of hearing?

Krishna katha. Srila Prabhupada nicely explains in his purport to verse 1.7.12 - "The devotees and the Lord are interlinked, and they cannot be separated. Therefore talks about them are all kṛṣṇa-kathā, or topics of the Lord. " That is why Vidurji is asking Maitreya Muni about life of Svayambhuva Manu. The words rājarṣer, viṣvaksenāśrayo very well brings out the great qualities of ādi-rāja - the orginal king Svayambhuva Manu. He was not only a saintly king, but he had also taken full shelter of Vishvakshena - Krishna.

4) Why we should hear about Lord and His devotees from His pure devotees?

Pure devotees do "ānuśravaṇaṁ mukunda-pādāravindaṁ hṛdayeṣu" - Srila Prabhupada beautifully translates ānuśravaṇaṁ as thinking. śravaṇaṁ usually means hearing. In his purport to the above verse Srila Prabhupada says that pure devotees are doing ānuśravaṇaṁ - constantly thinking of the Lord's lotus feet in their hearts.

Our hearing shravanam becomes complete only when we later contemplate or constantly think about what we have heard. Our beloved spiritual master HH Mahavishnu Goswami Maharaj says that we should always do shṛṇvan su- paṭhan vicāraṇa-paro (SB 12.13.18) - hear, study and contemplate. So anushravanam - or contemplating on what we heard - constant thinking of the transcendental qualities, discussion of the glorious character and activities of such pure devotees and the Lord are non-different from Him. Therefore they have the same effect on the hearers. Such hearing will purify the hearts of hearers and would also invoke love for Supreme Lord Krishna and His devotees.

Maharaj says that even now, so many people - simply by reading Srila Prabhupada's lilamrta, his life and activities become so attracted to him and come running to temple to see if they can meet him in person, even many years after his physical disappearance. And not only that, so many people became devotees of Lord simply by studying the life and activities of Srila Prabhupada. Such is the potency of hearing the character of pure devotees.

Hare Krishna. Thank you very much, Yours in service of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Gurudeva, Sudarshana devi dasi