SB 10.87.9

SB 10.87.9

Devanagari

श्रीभगवानुवाच स्वायम्भुव ब्रह्मसत्रं जनलोकेऽभवत् पुरा । तत्रस्थानां मानसानां मुनीनामूर्ध्वरेतसाम् ॥ ९ ॥

Verse text

śrī-bhagavān uvāca svāyambhuva brahma-satraṁ jana-loke ’bhavat purā tatra-sthānāṁ mānasānāṁ munīnām ūrdhva-retasām

Synonyms

śrī bhagavān uvāca — the Supreme Lord said ; svāyambhuva O son of self-born Brahmā ; brahma performed by the utterance of transcendental sound ; satram a sacrifice ; jana loke — on the planet Janaloka ; abhavat occurred ; purā in the past ; tatra there ; sthānām among those who resided ; mānasānām born from the mind (of Brahmā) ; munīnām sages ; ūrdhva (flowing) upward ; retasām whose semen .

Translation

The Personality of Godhead said: O son of self-born Brahmā, once long ago on Janaloka, wise sages who resided there performed a great sacrifice to the Absolute Truth by vibrating transcendental sounds. These sages, mental sons of Brahmā, were all perfect celibates.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The Personality of Godhead said: O son of self-born Brahmā, once long ago on Janaloka, wise sages who resided there performed a great sacrifice to the Absolute Truth by vibrating transcendental sounds. These sages, mental sons of Brahmā, were all perfect celibates. KB 10.87.9 The great sage Nārāyaṇa began to speak. “My dear Nārada,” He said, “I shall tell you a story which took place long, long ago. There was a great meeting of the denizens of the heavenly planets, and almost all the important brahmacārīs, such as the four Kumāras—Sanandana, Sanaka, Sanātana and Sanat-kumāra—attended. Their discussion was on the subject matter of understanding the Absolute Truth, Brahman.

Purport

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the word satram here refers to a Vedic sacrifice in which all the participants are equally qualified to serve as priests. In this instance, each of the sages present in Janaloka could speak equally well on the topic of Brahman.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When the performers of sacrifice who are all equally qualified perform sacrifice it is called karma satra. Where the listeners and speaker of spiritual topics are equally qualified it is called brahma satra. "O son of brahma (svayambhuva), the qualified inhabitants of Janaloka, the mental sons of brahma, previously held this discussion on Brahman (brahma satra)."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

O Nārada, son of Brahmā! The sages were engaged in a sacrifice concerning knowledge of the Vedas. Since that discussion was similar to this, you are qualified to hear about it. These sages were the mental sons of Brahmā, and therefore very pure. They were dedicated to contemplation of the Lord (munīnām) and were brahmacārīs since birth. Thus they were also qualified for the discussion concerning the Vedas.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

O Nārada, son of Brahmā! The sages were engaged in a sacrifice concerning knowledge of the Vedas. Since that discussion was similar to this, you are qualified to hear about it. These sages were the mental sons of Brahmā, and therefore very pure. They were dedicated to jñāna munīnām) and were brahmacārīs since birth. Thus they were also qualified for the discussion concerning the Vedas.