Narada Muni’s outreach program

“And that is really a expert preacher: the person who can take the essence of Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagvatam, and present it in such a way that that medicine is, that nutrition is digested by the candidate.” – Radhanath Swami

Narada Muni came to the palace of Pracinabarhisat and he knew he was a big king. Now kings… cultured, respectful. Certainly, if Narada Muni would have just preached to him, “King you are in illusion, you are in maya, you are too much attached to this body, to your frutitive activities and to all the sense gratification connected to it,” what would the king have done? Probably he would have very patiently and respectfully listened, but his heart would have been shut close-tight. Because, as soon as the person is defensive, it’s very hard to… you may conquer with logic, intelligence, but you really (can’t) penetrate his heart. So Narada Muni was a very practical and expert preacher. He wanted to go to the core of this king’s heart and transform him.

So Narada Muni, he didn’t want to tell the king he was in maya, because he understood the king will not open his heart to receive the medicine; so he started taking about how someone else was in maya, another king, and king Pracinabarhisat was very, very eager to hear this. His heart, his ears , his heart was wide open. “Ah! Puranjana. You tell me more about this Puranjana.”

And he (Narada Muni) revealed how he (Puranjana) was attached to his body, how he was attached to fruitive activities, how he was attached to religiosity without real realization of God or the soul, and what the results are going to be: just so much of the torment of attraction, attachment, aversion, and then death comes. And what a horrible painful death is his… and he listened to every word so carefully… he was transformed. And towards the end of the story, he realizes, “You are talking about me!” But the medicine was already injected.

Good food, even if it is very nutritious, has minimal value if we have no power to digest it. And that is really a expert preacher: the person who can take the essence of Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagvatam, and present it in such a way that that medicine is, that nutrition is, digested by the candidate. – Radhanath Swami