Today, we're spending the whole day indoors. I work on some pending jobs left over from Finland, I have a deadline for a project for tomorrow. Malati is mainly taking rest, as she isn't feeling all that well.

Sometime in the afternoon Karunamayi comes in for a visit, and we talk for several hours on a number of topics. Among other topics, we touch on the question that recently came up about the cosmology of the fifth skandha of the Bhagavata vis-a-vis modern science. Baba had noted how the descriptions there are a part of the srishti-lila, or the pastime of creation, and are therefore also relevant for bhakti-sadhakas. And the pastimes of the Lord are wondrous indeed. Pibata bhAgavatam rasamAlayam... The Bhagavata does not concern itself with matters of detailed study of the cosmos, the chapters concerning the universe are there to demonstrate the connection of the universe with Bhagavan. Otherwise, the narrations would be largely irrelevant, particularly considering the situation at hand — Parikshit has three or four days left to live! How, then, would anyone with a sense of spiritual discrimination begin to acquaint the audience with detailed topics concerning the mundane world, as the hearer is just about to embark on a journey to the beyond?

The motive behind narrating such topics in situations such as the one at hand is to build a bridge between the hearer's world of conceptions and varieties of topics concerning the transcendent Lord, the object of bhakti-bhajana. Even if Shuka Muni had known of another, novel and comprehensive theory of the cosmos, it is unlikely he would have bothered Maharaja Parikshit with its details. On the other hand, had Shuka Muni met a modern scientist, he would have quite possibly explained the function of nebulas and wormholes in the cosmic body of Bhagavan. Food for thought. A serious student must penetrate deep into the message of the Bhagavata and consider the motivations of the speakers in the text before assessing the impact of the content being presented.

Enough with the hermeneutics, that could go on without an end. Overall, this day doesn't seem make it into the top ten of the eventful entries in the journal.