Once when Krishna was seated in Dwaraka surrounded by all the Yadava kings, sage Narada arrived there and said the following words to Krishna, “O Purushottama! Among all the gods, you alone are extraordinary. You are blessed and there is no one like you in the worlds.” Hearing this, the lord smiled and replied to the sage. “I am extraordinary and blessed because of the dakshina I receive.” Hearing this from Krishna, Narada said, “O Krishna! You have said enough. I am going wherever I came from.” All the Yadava kings were perplexed by this exchange of words between Krishna and Narada and they said to Krishna, we have not understood anything, please be kind and reveal the secret behind this strange conversation. Krishna asked sage Narada to tell the kings about what they desire to hear.
Narada said, this question is about the greatness of someone who has enabled me to cross over to the other side. On one occasion, I was on the banks of the Ganga, and I saw a huge tortoise whose body was made out of two shells. It was like a mountain peak and in every direction, the radius of its shell was one yojana. I touched its body and said in my view you possess a wonderful body, without any fear you roam around in the water. you are indeed blessed’. Hearing this the tortoise spoke to me, as if it was a man. ‘O sage! What is extraordinary about me? Why should I be blessed? The river Ganga is blessed. What can be more amazing than that? There are ten thousand creatures like me roaming around in the water.’ Curious, I presented myself before the river Ganga and said, ‘O best among rivers! You are blessed. Inside you, there are many predatory aquatic creatures with gigantic bodies. You are the one which provides protection to all the ascetics. On hearing this, Ganga assumed a bodily form and replied to him. “O best among sages! I am not blessed. nor is my form extraordinary in any way. In this world, the most extraordinary object is the ocean. Like me, hundreds of wide rivers go there.” It is indeed blessed.
‘Narada continued, I presented myself before the ocean and said, ‘O great ocean! You are indeed extraordinary in the worlds. You are blessed. O lord of the waters! You are the origin of all aquatic creatures. The rivers that nurture the worlds convey their water to you. Thus addressed, the ocean replied, ‘O supreme among brahmanas! The earth provides me a foundation and it is blessed. On hearing the ocean’s words, I was overcome with curiousity. I spoke to the earth, ‘O earth! O beautiful one! You are the origin of all creatures. You are blessed. With your immense forgiveness, you are extraordinary among creatures. You truly sustain the worlds and are the origin of humans. Forgiveness was born from you. At these words of praise spoken by me, earth replied to me. ‘O one who likes fights and dissension! I am not blessed. Nor am I wonderful. These mountains, which hold me up, are blessed. Since they act like bridges for the worlds, they are seen to be blessed.’ I then said to the mountains, ‘O those who hold up the earth! You are blessed and extremely wonderful. You are the storehouse of jewels, gold, the best among gems and minerals.’ Hearing this the mountains said, ‘O brahmana rishi! We are not blessed. Nor are we wonderful. Brahma Prajapati is blessed. He is wonderful, even among the gods.’ Therefore, I presented myself before the four-faced Brahma, the creator of the worlds. and said, ‘O illustrious one! You are extraordinary and blessed. I do not see any other creature who is your equal. Everything, mobile and immobile, has been generated from you. O lord of the gods! the gods, the danavas, the mortals in the worlds, every other kind of creature with senses and a body, and everything else has originated from you. The gods have indeed resulted from you. You are the eternal god of the gods. That is the reason you are the creator and the origin of the worlds.’ The illustrious Brahma, the grandfather of the worlds, replied, ‘O Narada! Why are you speaking to me in these words, addressing me as blessed and extraordinary? The Vedas are supremely wonderful. The Vedas are blessed. The truth and vision of the Vedas sustain the worlds. My view is that the truth exists in the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda. O brahmana! Know that I am pervaded by them and that I am sustained by them.’ Hearing Brahma's words I meditated on the Vedas and honored them with mantras and words. I said, ‘You are blessed. You are auspicious. You are always wonderful and famous. In learning or in austerities, there is nothing that is superior to you.’ The Vedas stood before me and replied in these words. ‘The sacrifices performed by those who are devoted to the Brahaman are extraordinary and blessed. O Narada! We have been created by the creator for sacrifices. Therefore, sacrifices are superior to us and we are not under our own control. At this, I spoke to the sacrifices, ‘O sacrifices! Your energy is indeed seen to be supreme. Those are the words of Brahma, repeated to me by the Vedas. In this world, I cannot think of anything more extraordinary than you. You are blessed, you are the ones who satisfy the fire and it is through you that all the gods obtain their shares and are satisified, just as the maharshis are with mantras.’ After I had spoken these words,the sacrifices said these excellent words to me. ‘O sage! the expressions extraordinary and blessed are not appropriate for us. The supreme wonder is Vishnu and he is our supreme destination. Everything that is offered as oblations into the sacred fire and is consumed by us is given to Pundarikaksha, who is an embodiment of the worlds.’
Narada further said, my destination is also Vishnu and I descended on earth to see him. I have seen Vishnu, surrounded by all of you. O kings! In the midst of all of you, I told him, ‘O Janardana! You are extraordinary. You are blessed.’ All the sacrifices, with dakshina, have Vishnu as a destination. With dakshina, he gave an appropriate response to my words.What was initially stated by the tortoise thus progressively came to this. With the dakshina, all the words terminated in that being. This is the decisive answer to what you asked me. Hearing this all the Yadava kings were filled with amazement and wonder.
