Being exhausted from traveling, Nārada took a bath in a river and also drank water. Thus he got relief from exhaustion. A traveling mendicant can meet the needs of body, namely thirst and hunger, by the gifts of nature. Thus his purpose in visiting the house of a householder is not to beg but to enlighten him spiritually. After that, under the shadow of a banyan tree (aśvattha or pippala) in an uninhabited forest, Nārada began to meditate upon the Supersoul, as he had learned from liberated souls. The Paramātmā was situated permanently in his mind because Nārada had developed prema.
Being exhausted from traveling, Nārada took a bath in a river and also drank water. Thus he got relief from exhaustion. A traveling mendicant can meet the needs of body, namely thirst and hunger, by the gifts of nature. Thus his purpose in visiting the house of a householder is not to beg but to enlighten him spiritually. After that, under the shadow of a banyan tree (aśvattha or pippala) in an uninhabited forest, Nārada began to meditate upon the Supersoul, as he had learned from liberated souls. The Paramātmā was situated permanently in his mind because Nārada had developed prema. One should not meditate whimsically, but know everything perfectly well from authorized scriptures thru the guru, and then by proper use of one’s trained intelligence, one should meditate on the Supersoul.
As soon as Nārada began to meditate upon the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord with his mind transformed in transcendental love (bhāva-nirjita), tears rolled down his eyes, and without delay Kṛṣṇa appeared on the lotus of his heart. Nārada attained the stage of bhāva, which is just prior to the stage of prema. In this stage there are eight different kinds of ecstasies, of which tears from one’s eyes is one of them. The Lord first appeared in Nārada’s heart and then appeared in the three functions of the mind – nose, ear and eye, so that Nārada could experience the fragrance of the Lord’s body, the sound of His ankle bells and the beauty of His face.