Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.4.5

viditānurāgam āpaura-prakriti jana-pado rājā nābhir ātmajam samaya-setu-rakshāyām abhishicya brāhmaneshūpanidhāya saha merudevyā viśālāyām prasanna-nipunena tapasā samādhi-yogena nara-nārāyanākhyam bhagavantam vāsudevam upāsīnah kālena tan-mahimānam avāpa

SYNONYMS

vidita — known very well; anurāgam — popularity; āpaura-prakriti — among all the citizens and government officers; jana-padah — desiring to serve the people in general; rājā — the King; nābhih — Nābhi; ātmajam — his son; samaya-setu-rakshāyām — to protect the people strictly according to the Vedic principles of religious life; abhishicya — enthroning; brāhmaneshu — to the learned brāhmanas; upanidhāya — entrusting; saha — with; merudevyā — his wife. Merudevī; viśālāyām — in Badarikāśrama; prasanna-nipunena — performed with great satisfaction and expertise; tapasā — by austerities and penances; samādhi-yogena — by full samādhi; nara-nārāyana-ākhyam — named Nara-Nārāyana; bhagavantam — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; vāsudevam — Krishna; upāsīnah — worshiping; kālena — in due course of time; tat-mahimānam — His glorious abode, the spiritual world, Vaikuntha; avāpa — achieved.

TRANSLATION

King Nābhi understood that his son, Rishabhadeva, was very popular among the citizens and among government officers and ministers. Understanding the popularity of his son, Mahārāja Nābhi enthroned Him as the emperor of the world to give protection to the general populace in terms of the Vedic religious system. To do this, he entrusted Him into the hands of learned brāhmanas, who would guide Him in administrating the government. Then Mahārāja Nābhi and his wife, Merudevī, went to Badarikāśrama in the Himalaya Mountains, where the King engaged Himself very expertly in austerities and penances with great jubilation. In full samādhi he worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nara-Nārāyana, who is Krishna in His plenary expansion. By doing so, in course of time Mahārāja Nābhi was elevated to the spiritual world known as Vaikuntha.

PURPORT

When Mahārāja Nābhi saw that his son Rishabhadeva was popular with the general populace and the governmental servants, he chose to install Him on the imperial throne. In addition, he wanted to entrust his son into the hands of the learned brāhmanas. This means that a monarch was supposed to govern strictly according to Vedic principles under the guidance of learned brāhmanas, who could advise Him according to the standard Vedic scriptures like Manu-smriti and similar śāstras. It is the duty of the king to rule the citizens according to Vedic principles. According to Vedic principles, society is divided into four categories — brāhmana, kshatriya, vaiśya and śūdra. Cātur-varnyam mayā srishtam guna-karma-vibhāgaśah [Bg. 4.13]. After dividing society in this way, it is the king's duty to see that everyone executes Vedic principles according to his caste. A brāhmana must perform the duty of a brāhmana without cheating the public. It is not that one attains the name of a brāhmana without the qualifications. It is the king's duty to see that everyone engages in his occupational duty according to Vedic principles. In addition, retirement at the end of life is compulsory. Mahārāja Nābhi, although still a king. retired from family life and went with his wife to a place called Badarikāśrama in the Himalayas, where the Deity Nara-Nārāyana is worshiped. The words prasanna-nipunena tapasā indicate that the King accepted all kinds of austerity very expertly and jubilantly. He did not at all mind leaving his comfortable life at home, although he was the emperor. Despite undergoing severe austerities and penances, he felt very pleased at Badarikāśrama, and he did everything there expertly. In this way, being fully absorbed in Krishna consciousness (samādhi-yoga). always thinking of Krishna, Vāsudeva, Mahārāja Nābhi attained success at the end of his life and was promoted to the spiritual world, Vaikunthaloka.

This is the way of Vedic life. One must stop the process of repeated birth and death and return home, back to Godhead. The words tan-mahimānam avāpa are significant in this regard. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī says that mahimā means liberation in this life. We should act in such a way in this life that after giving up this body, we will become liberated from the bondage of repeated birth and death. This is called jīvan-mukti. Śrīla Vīrarāghava Ācārya states that in the Chāndogya Upanishad there are eight symptoms of a jīvan-mukta, a person who is already liberated even when living in this body. The first symptom of one so liberated is that he is freed from all sinful activity (apahata-pāpa). As long as one is under the clutches of māyā in the material energy, one has to engage in sinful activity. Bhagavad-gītā describes such people as dushkritinah, which indicates that they are always engaged in sinful activity. One who is liberated in this life does not commit any sinful activities. Sinful activity involves illicit sex, meat-eating, intoxication and gambling. Another symptom of a liberated person is vijara, which indicates that he is not subjected to the miseries of old age. Another symptom is vimrityu. A liberated person prepares himself in such a way that he does not take on any more material bodies, which are destined to die. In other words. he does not fall down again to repeat birth and death. Another symptom is viśoka, which indicates that he is callous to material distress and happiness. Another is vijighatsa, which indicates that he no longer desires material enjoyment. Another symptom is apipātā, which means that he has no desire other than to engage in the devotional service of Krishna, his dearmost pursuable Lord. A further symptom is satya-kāma, which indicates that all his desires are directed to the Supreme Truth, Krishna. He does not want anything else. He is satya-sańkalpa. Whatever he desires is fulfilled by the grace of Krishna. First of all, he does not desire anything for his material benefit, and secondly if he desires anything at all, he simply desires to serve the Supreme Lord. That desire is fulfilled by the Lord's grace. That is called satya-sańkalpa. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the word mahimā means returning to the spiritual world, back home, back to Vaikuntha. Śrī Śukadeva says that the word mahimā means that the devotee attains the qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is called sadharma, or "the same quality." Just as Krishna is never born and never dies, His devotees who return to Godhead never die and never take birth within the material world.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness