Despite such a great natural opulence, Lord Śiva is not interested in material enjoyment. He spends his time absorbed in meditation and in philosophical talks with associates such as Kuvera and the four Kumāras. Despite this, his wife, Pārvatī, is very eager to serve him, accompanied by her billions of servants.

This abode of Lord Śiva is off-limits for the inhabitants of the other eight varṣas. If any human man inadvertently tries to enter this sacred abode, he is immediately transformed into a woman, as described in the first chapter of the Ninth Canto, in the saga of King Sudyumna.

“On the side of Supārśva Mountain stands a big tree called Mahākadamba, which is very celebrated. From the hollows of this tree flow five rivers of honey, each about five vyāmas wide. This flowing honey falls incessantly from the top of Supārśva Mountain and flows all around Ilāvṛta-varṣa, beginning from the western side. Thus the whole land is saturated with the pleasing fragrance. The air carrying the scent from the mouths of those who drink that honey perfumes the land for a hundred yojanas around.” (SB 5.16.22-23)

To the west, a complex of five rivers of celestial honey flows from the great kadamba tree situated on top of Supārśva Mountain. These five rivers flow around the whole Ilāvṛta-varṣa. The special characteristic of this honey is a very pleasing fragrance that perfumes not only the environment, but also the bodies of the inhabitants of these places. Instead of depending on artificial perfumes and cosmetics, they maintain their beauty in attractiveness by simply consuming the products of their celestial abode.

“Similarly, on Kumuda Mountain there is a great banyan tree, which is called Śatavalśa because it has a hundred main branches. From those branches come many roots, from which many rivers are flowing. These rivers flow down from the top of the mountain to the northern side of Ilāvṛta-varṣa for the benefit of those who live there. Because of these flowing rivers, all the people have ample supplies of milk, yogurt, honey, clarified butter [ghee], molasses, food grains, clothes, bedding, sitting places and ornaments. All the objects they desire are sufficiently supplied for their prosperity, and therefore they are very happy.” (SB 5.16.24)

The great banyan tree on top of Kumuda Mountain is the source of many rivers, which are described as “kāma-dughāḥ” (fulfilling all desires). The verse lists a long list of desirable items (milk, yogurt, honey, ghee, molasses, grains, clothing, bedding, seats, ornaments, etc.) that are directly connected with these rivers. This appears to indicate that these rivers are the direct source of all these objects, which are supplied for the happiness and prosperity of the inhabitants of Ilāvṛta-varṣa. In other words, these rivers are like kalpa-vṛkṣa trees that supply everything desirable. In this way, no one there has to work to obtain all the necessities of life…

Jambūdvīpa is described as being circular in form (round like the leaf of a lotus flower), with a length and breadth of 100,000 yojanas (800,000 miles), as confirmed in SB 5.20.2. It’s difficult to conceive something this size, but just for comparison, the equatorial circumference of our planet is about 24,901 miles, which is about 3,113 yojanas. If we do the math, Jambūdvīpa is 2,547 times larger than the entire surface area of earth!

Jambūdvīpa is divided into nine varṣas, or tracts of land, separated by gigantic mountains, whose size is almost inconceivable for us. For example, there are four great mountains surrounding Mount Sumeru (Mandara, Merumandara, Supārśva, and Kumuda), which are 10,000 yojanas, or 80,000 miles high! For comparison, Mount Everest, the highest mountain on our planet, is about 5.5 miles (0.69 yojanas) high. Again, we are speaking about a difference of orders of magnitude.

The first part of the Fifth Canto describes the descendants of Mahārāja Priyavrata (who ruled during the first Manvantara), including the description of the activities of Mahārāja Āgnīdhra, the pastimes of Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, the fall of King Bharata, and so on.

The second part enters into details about Vedic cosmology, including the structure of Bhū-mandala, the orbit of the sun, the heavenly and hellish planets, and so on. One could question why such a description of the universe is necessary, since the main purpose of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is to discuss spiritual topics, but the truth is that this description is far more important than it may look at first

The view we have of the universe around us is very influential in our concept of identity. If I believe the universe is an empty wasteland governed by mechanical physical laws, where things happen by chance, I will be much more inclined to believe that there is no God, life comes from matter, and life serves no purpose apart from immediate gratification.

Just as Rahūgaṇa, we are currently immersed in the material tree, thinking that we are men or women, that we are the maintainers of our subordinates, and so on. These instructions from Jaḍa Bharata aim to take us out of this material concept and bring us to a platform of knowledge, from which we can gradually free ourselves from material illusion, and from there attain pure devotional service to the Lord.

“Sometimes, being defeated or plundered by a superior, powerful agent, a living entity loses all his possessions. He then becomes very morose, and lamenting their loss, he sometimes becomes unconscious. Sometimes he imagines a great palatial city in which he desires to live happily with his family members and riches. He thinks himself fully satisfied if this is possible, but such so-called happiness continues only for a moment.” (SB 5.13.7)

In this world, everyone looks for happiness in relationships with friends, family, and society, but this happiness is insufficient to satisfy the needs of the soul, just as a drop of water in the desert. Worse still is that this happiness is temporary, and it depends to a large extent on one’s financial means. Sometimes a person may lose everything to a powerful enemy, government officials, or other unexpected situations. Often this also causes one to lose his or her family and circle of friends. In such situations, with all plans destroyed, one often falls into depression and loses all enthusiasm. This is yet another facet of material existence.

The analogy of the gandharva-pura, or the illusory castle, is also deepened by Prabhupāda in this verse:

In chapter 13, Jaḍa Bharata further instructs King Rahūgaṇa, describing the features of this material world figuratively in his analogy of the material world as the great forest of enjoyment. Originally, this passage is quite cryptic, but the meaning is explained in detail in chapter 14, where the conversation goes back to Śukadeva Goswami and Parīkṣit Maharaja. The King enquires about the direct meaning of this analogy, leading Śukadeva Goswami to explain it more elaborately. The meaning is then further expanded by Śrīla Prabhupāda in his purports. Here, I combine the two chapters, merging the description of the forest from chapter 13 and the explanations of their meaning from chapter 14.

One could question what is the necessity of Jaḍa Bharata coming back to a discussion about the material world after revealing that the ultimate goal is Kṛṣṇa, but the point is that fixing ourselves on the spiritual platform is not so easy. Even after attaining an advanced platform, like Bharata Maharaja, there is still the risk of falling into bad association. As long as we have a naive understanding of this material world, seeing it as a place of enjoyment, we will always remain attracted to it, and thus propense to fall back into bad association. Jaḍa Bharata thus describes different situations we experience at different points of our lives and their outcomes, helping us to develop a more realistic understanding of the struggles of materialistic life. This understanding can help us to disassociate ourselves from it.

“King Rahūgaṇa said: O most exalted personality, you are not different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. By the influence of your true self, all kinds of contradiction in the śāstras have been removed. In the dress of a friend of a brāhmaṇa, you are hiding your transcendental blissful position. I offer my respectful obeisances unto you.
O best of the brāhmaṇas, my body is filled with dirty things, and my vision has been bitten by the serpent of pride. Due to my material conceptions, I am diseased. Your nectarean instructions are the proper medicine for one suffering from such a fever, and they are cooling waters for one scorched by the heat.” (SB 5.12.1-2)

Rahūgaṇa addresses Jaḍa Bharata with the word avadhūta, accepting him in the highest stage of self-realization, even though he was behaving externally as an unqualified member of a brāhmana family who was neglecting the external rules and regulations. This is contrasted with Rahūgaṇa’s position, which identifies with a material body composed of revolting substances. In his purport, Prabhupāda notes the words kāraṇa-vigrahāya, which indicate that Jaḍa Bharata’s body emanates from the Supreme Person. Of course, everything emanates from the Supreme Person, but in the case of Jaḍa Bharata, this was literal, because in his previous life, as Bharata Maharaja, he was born from Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, who is the Lord Himself.

“Whatever doubts I have about a particular subject matter I shall ask you about later. For the time being, these mysterious yoga instructions you have given me for self-realization appear very difficult to understand. Please repeat them in a simple way so that I can understand them. My mind is very inquisitive, and I want to understand this clearly.” (5.12.3)

Rahūgaṇa couldn’t understand the instructions of Jaḍa Bharata, but he is following the right process, putting forward his questions, so the guru can instruct him.

“The brāhmaṇa Jaḍa Bharata said: My dear King, although you are not at all experienced, you are trying to speak like a very experienced man. Consequently you cannot be considered an experienced person. An experienced person does not speak the way you are speaking about the relationship between a master and a servant or about material pains and pleasures. These are simply external activities. Any advanced, experienced man, considering the Absolute Truth, does not talk in this way.” (SB 5.11.1)

Rahūgaṇa tried to establish three ideas:

a) The reality of material pain and pleasure (they are not false as claimed by Māyāvādis).

b) The importance of the performance of mundane roles, such as father, husband, and king.

c) The value of punishment as a way of compelling people to perform their duties.

These ideas are correct, but only on the practical level of mundane and social behavior. Rahūgaṇa is imitating the vocabulary of great sages, speaking about ātmā (soul), sva-dharma (prescribed duties), etc., but he has no realized knowledge, being still in the bodily platform. In other words, he is out of his depth, trying to speak on topics that are above his understanding. This is similar to when we learn a few complicated Sanskrit words and try to fake erudition by discussing topics we don’t fully understand. Jaḍa Bharata immediately catches that and calls the king akovidaḥ (inexperienced).

As Prabhupāda explains in his purport…