Devanagari
अहं पुराभवं कश्चिद्गन्धर्व उपबर्हण: ।
नाम्नातीते महाकल्पे गन्धर्वाणां सुसम्मत: ॥ ६९ ॥
Verse text
ahaṁ purābhavaṁ kaścid
gandharva upabarhaṇaḥ
nāmnātīte mahā-kalpe
gandharvāṇāṁ susammataḥ
Synonyms
aham
—
I myself
;
purā
—
formerly
;
abhavam
—
existed as
;
kaścit gandharvaḥ
—
one of the denizens of Gandharvaloka
;
upabarhaṇaḥ
—
Upabarhaṇa
;
nāmnā
—
by the name
;
atīte
—
long, long ago
;
mahā
—
kalpe — in a life of Brahmā, which is known as a mahā-kalpa
;
gandharvāṇām
—
among the Gandharvas
;
su
—
sammataḥ — a very respectable person .
Translation
Long, long ago, in another mahā-kalpa [millennium of Brahmā], I existed as the Gandharva known as Upabarhaṇa. I was very respected by the other Gandharvas.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Long ago, in another lifetime of Brahmā, I existed as the Gandharva known as Upabarhaṇa and was respected by the other Gandharvas.
The devotees will act as the Lord instructs, after attaining bhakti through fortunate association with other devotees. This instruction is the essence of the scriptures:
dharmān santyajya yaḥ sarvān māṁ bhajeta sa tu sattamaḥ
A person who, understanding good and bad aspects of dharma as taught by me, gives up all his duties and simply worships me is the best of all. . SB 11.11.32
The Lord says:
jṣāna-niṣṭho virakto vā mad-bhakto vānapekṣakaḥ
sa-liṅgān āśramāṁs tyaktvā cared avidhi-gocaraḥ
A person fixed in jṣāna and detached from external objects, or my devotee who is detached even from desire for liberation—both should reject the āśrama duties based on external rituals or paraphernalia and conduct themselves beyond the range of rules. SB 11.18.28
Thus the devotees, taking instructions of the Lord as proof, do not depend on the rules of varṇāśrama conduct. Nārada explains this in terms of his previous birth in five verses.
Purport
Śrīla Nārada Muni is giving a practical example from his past life. Formerly, during the previous lifetime of Lord Brahmā, Nārada Muni was one of the denizens of Gandharvaloka, but unfortunately, as will be explained, he fell from his exalted position in Gandharvaloka, where the inhabitants are extremely beautiful and expert in singing, to become a
śūdra.
Nonetheless, because of his association with devotees, he became more fortunate than he was in Gandharvaloka. Even though cursed by the
prajāpatis
to become a
śūdra,
in his next life he became the son of Lord Brahmā.
The word
mahā-kalpe
is described by Śrīla Madhvācārya as
atīta-brahma-kalpe.
Brahmā dies at the end of a life of many millions of years. The day of Brahmā is described in
Bhagavad-gītā
(8.17)
:
sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rātriṁ yuga-sahasrāntāṁ
te ’ho-rātra-vido janāḥ
“By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of Brahmā’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.” Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa can remember incidents from millions of years ago. Similarly, His pure devotee like Nārada Muni can also remember incidents from a past life millions and millions of years ago.