Garga Samhita

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About the Book

"The original Vedic srutis and their derivative smrtis mostly reflect the general interests of human beings, who strive for material progress, rarely inquiring philosophically into the purpose of life. The confidential science of pure devotional service is taught explicitly only in a few Vedic scriptures little known to the public. Among these rare texts are the Gopala tapani Upanisad, the Narada Pancaratra, the Garga Samhita, the Visnu Purana, the Hari-vamsa Upapurana, the Uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana, and the Bhagavata Maha-purana."

Garga Muni appears in the pastimes of Lord Krsna, as we read in the book, KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead: After this incident, Vasudeva asked him family priest, Garga Muni, to visit the place of Nanda Maharaja in order to astrologically calculate the future life of Krsna. Garga Muni was a great saintly sage who had undergone many austerities and penances and been appointed priest of the Yadu dynasty.

There was a king named Pratibahu, the son of Vajra, who resided at Mathura, the abode of Lord Krsna. His wife was named Malini. He performed some difficult vows in the hopes of receiving a son. And yet, in spite of all his endeavors, the king did not receive a son and so he became quite morose. No one could console him because it was his belief that the life of a man without a son is completely useless.

One day, after the king had become old and grey, the sage, Sandilya, came to him. Seeing how the king appeared morose, the sage inquired about his welfare. In reply, King Pratibahu revealed to him is misfortune of having no son. The sage then spoke to the king for his welfare.

Sandilya Muni said, "O King, after trying so many means for fulfilling your desire, without success, you should now listen to the Garga Samhita, along with your wife. In this Kali-yuga, Lord Visnu bestows riches and sons upon those who relish this divine literature. And, at the end of life, such persons proceed to the abode of the Lord, Goloka. There are no hard and fast rules for listening to the Garga Samhitait can be heard at all times and at all places. However, those who are not devoted to their spiritual master, who have no faith in the existence of God, who are sinful, and who do not follow the life of a Vaisnava, will achieve no good result while listening to the Garga Samhita."

Back of the Book

Narada Muni said, "O sage, I have narrated the glories of Lord Krsna briefly and so it would be good if you compose them in a more elaborate form. Previously, I had inspired Srila Vyasadeva to compose the Srimad-Bhagavatam for this same purpose. The Samhita composed by you should be in the format of me narrating it to King Bahulasva."

Garga Muni cheerfully accepted this most difficult task put before him by Narada Muni. Thereafter, Narada Muni ascended into the sky, holding his vina in his hand, and went to Brahmaloka. And, Gargacarya composed the Garga Samhita, which bestows devotion to Lord Krsna upon the hearer.

Introduction

The Garga Samhita was never mentioned by Srila Prabhupada in his books, although there is one mention of it by his disciple, Gopiparanadhana Dasa: "The original Vedic srutis and their derivative smrtis mostly reflect the general interests of human beings, who strive for material progress, rarely inquiring philosophically into the purpose of life. The confidential science of pure devotional service is taught explicitly only in a few Vedic scriptures little known to the public. Among these rare texts are the Gopala-tapani Upanisad, the Narada Pancaratra, the Garga Samhita, the Visnu Purana, the Hari-vamsa Upapurana, the Uttara-khanda of the Padma Purana, and the Bhagavata Maha-purana."

Garga Muni appears in the pastimes of Lord Krsna, as we read in the book, KRSNA, The Supreme Personality of Godhead: After this incident, Vasudeva asked his family priest, Garga Muni, to visit the place of Nanda Maharaja in order to astrologically calculate the future of life of Krsna. Garga Muni was a great saintly sage who had undergone many austerities and penances and been appointed priest of the Yadu dynasty.

To give some more background to this transcendental literature, here is a summary of Sri Garga Samhita Mahatmya:

Saunaka Rsi said, "I have heard from you in detail glorification of the Puranas, which is very pleasing to the ears. Now, kindly tell me about the Garge Samhita, which is filled with narrations of the transcendental pastimes of the Lord. In this Samhita, there is wonderful glorification of Sri Radha and Madhava."

Suta Gosvami said, "O Saunaka, the glories of the Garga Samhita were revealed to me by Narada Muni. Thereafter, Lord Siva had spoken it to Parvati, along with the Sammohana-tantra. Lord Siva resides underneath an eternal banyan tree on Mount Kailash."

"One day, as she sat along with her husband, surrounded by numerous Siddhas, Parvati requested him to narrate the pastimes of Lord Krsna."

Lord Siva replied, "O goddess, listen now as I recite to you the life of Lord Krsna when He had incarnated on the earth, which is the remover of all kinds of sins. Long ago, Lord Krsna had Himself narrated His pastimes to Radha, and then later on, to Sesa, who thereafter recited them to Dharma. Dharma then recited the story of Lord Krsna's earthly pastimes to his sons, Nara and Narayana and Narayana narrated it to Narada Muni. Later on, Narada Muni narrated the pastimes of Lord Krsna to Garga Muni, whereby he attained the platform of realized transcendental knowledge. At that time, Narada Muni said to Garga Muni."

Narada Muni said, "O sage, I have narrated the glories of Lord Krsna briefly and so it would be good if you compose them in a more elaborate form. Previously, I had inspired Srila Vyasadeva to compose the Srimad-Bhagavatam for this same purpose. The Samhita composed by you should be in the format of me narrating it to king Bahulsva."

Garga Muni cheerfully accepted this most difficult task put before him by Narada Muni. Thereafter, Narada Muni ascended into the sky, holding his vina in his hand, and went to Brahmaloka. And, Gargacarya composed the Garga Samhita, which bestows devotion to Lord Krsna upon the hearer.

In this regard, the following history is cited: There was a king named Pratibahu, the son of Vajra, who resided at Mathura, the abode of Lord Krsna. His wife was named Malini. He performed some difficult vows in the hopes of receiving a son. And yet, in spite of all his endeavours, the king did not receive a son and so he became quite morose. No one could him because it was his belief that the life of a man without a son is completely useless.

One day, after the king had become old and grey, the sage, Sandilya, came to him. Seeing how the king appeared morose, the sage inquired about his welfare. In reply, King Pratibahu revealed to him is misfortune of having no son. The sage then spoke to the king for his welfare.

Sandilya Muni said, "O King, after trying so many means for fulfilling your desire, without success, you should now listen to the Garga Samhita, along with your wife. In his Kali-yuga, Lord Visnu bestows riches and sons upon those who relish this divine literature. And at the end of life, such persons proceed to the abode of the Lord, Goloka. There are no hard and fast rules for listening to the Garga Samhita- it can be heard at all times and at all places. However, those who are not devoted to their spiritual master, who have no faith in the existence of God, who are sinful, and who do not follow the life of a Vaisnava, will achieve no good result while listening to the Garga Samhita."

"The speaker of the Garga Samhita should be selected with great care. He should not be an envious person who continually criticizes others. He should be devoted to Lord Krsna and well-versed in the devotional literature. After the recitation of the Garga Samhita, there should be the performance of hari-name-sankirtana. The bona-fide speaker of the Garga Samhita should be treated with all due respect and he should be awarded gifts in charity in consideration of his highly meritorious service rendered."

King Pratibahu became very pleased while listening to the words of the sage, Sandilya. He said, "O sage, I take shelter of you. Please recite the Garga Samhita to me and in this way, bestow upon me a son."

Thereafter, a nice pandal was erected by the side of the Yamuna and all the people of Mathura came to listen. After the conclusion of the recitation, the sage, Sandilya, was given a great deal of wealth in charity by the king. Then, by the mercy of the great sage, Radha and Krsna appeared before the king. Everyone stood up and then bowed down to offer obeisances to the Supreme Lord and His consort. The king and his queen offered prayers, as did the sage, Sandilya, and the citizens appealed to the Lord to forgive their sins, benedict the king with a son, and award them all devotion at His lotus feet.

Lord Krsna then said, "Whatever ever has been spoken by all of you will certainly come to pass. The Samhita composed by sage Garga fulfills all aspiration of those who respectfully hear it."

After saying this, Radha and Krsna disappeared from the vision of the onlookers. Thereafter, whatever the sage, Sandilya, had received as remuneration for his recitation of the Garga Samhita, he distributed to the brahmanas of Mathura. He then departed, after giving the king all assurances. In due course of time, a son was born to the virtuous king and queen. The son was named Subahu.

After hearing this story, Parvati requested her husband to recite the entire Garga Samhita, and Lord Siva compiled.

I am confident that all devotees will find this book to be extremely interesting, especially because it adds many details to already known stories. Especially fascinating are the previous lives of many known personalities that are described in this book. It's something like filling in some pieces of a great puzzle.