Narasimha Lila Quiz – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 7 Chapter 1 Section 3 and 4

Read Verse 7.1.13

atraivodāhṛtaḥ pūrvam

itihāsaḥ surarṣiṇā

prītyā mahā-kratau rājan

pṛcchate ’jāta-śatrave

Verse 7.1.14

Verse 7.1.14-15 Translation

O King, at the Rājasūya sacrifice, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Mahārāja Pāṇḍu, personally saw Śiśupāla merge into the body of the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, struck with wonder, he inquired about the reason for this from the great sage Nārada, who was seated there. While he inquired, all the sages present also heard him ask his question.

Srila Prabhupada describes in the purport to the verse 7.1.16

There are two classes of transcendentalists—the jñānīs and the bhaktas. The bhaktas do not aspire to merge into the existence of the Lord, but the jñānīs do. Śiśupāla, however, was neither a jñānī nor a bhakta, yet simply by envy of the Lord, he attained an exalted position by merging into the Lord’s body. Certainly, this was astonishing, and therefore Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired about the cause for the Lord’s mysterious mercy to Śiśupāla.

Verse 7.1.16 Translation

Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira inquired: It is very wonderful that the demon Śiśupāla merged into the body of the Supreme Personality of Godhead even though extremely envious. This sāyujya-mukti is impossible to attain even for great transcendentalists. How then did the enemy of the Lord attain it?

Read synonyms to verse 7.1.17

venaḥ—Vena, the father of Pṛthu Mahārāja;

Srila Prabhupada explains in the purport to verse 7.1.16

There are two classes of transcendentalists—the jñānīs and the bhaktas. The bhaktas do not aspire to merge into the existence of the Lord, but the jñānīs do.

Read Synonyms or Translation to verse 7.1.18

damaghoṣa-sutaḥ—Śiśupāla, the son of Damaghoṣa;

Read purport to verse 7.1.19

Kṛṣṇa is described by Arjuna in Bhagavad-gītā (10.12) as follows: paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān. “You are the Supreme Brahman, the supreme abode and purifier.” Herein this is confirmed. Viṣṇuṁ yad brahma param avyayam. The Supreme Viṣṇu is Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is the cause of Viṣṇu, not vice versa. Similarly, Brahman is not the cause of Kṛṣṇa; Kṛṣṇa is the cause of Brahman. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is the Parabrahman (yad brahma param avyayam).

Read purport to verse 7.1.20

Śiśupāla and Dantavakra were formerly Jaya and Vijaya, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. Merging into the body of Kṛṣṇa was not their final destination. For some time they remained merged, and later they received the liberations of sārūpya and sālokya, living on the same planet as the Lord in the same bodily form.

Read purport to verse 7.1.21

The śāstras enjoin,

tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet:

[MU tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham

“To understand these things properly, one must humbly approach, with firewood in hand, a spiritual master who is learned in the Vedas and firmly devoted to the Absolute Truth.” [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.2.12] 1.2.12] when one is perplexed by the difficult problems of life, to solve them one must approach a guru like Nārada or his representative in the disciplic succession. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira therefore requested Nārada to explain the cause for such a wonderful event.