नाम्नातीते महाकल्पे गन्धर्वाणां सुसम्मतः ॥६९॥
ahaá¹ purÄbhavaá¹ kaÅ›cid
gandharva upabarhaṇaḥ
nÄmnÄtÄ«te mahÄ-kalpe
gandharvÄṇÄá¹ susammataḥ
aham - I myself; purÄ - formerly; abhavam - existed as; kaÅ›cit gandharvaḥ - one of the denizens of Gandharvaloka; upabarhaṇaḥ - Upabarhaṇa; nÄmnÄ - by the name; atÄ«te - long, long ago; mahÄ-kalpe - in a life of BrahmÄ, which is known as a mahÄ-kalpa; gandharvÄṇÄm - among the Gandharvas; su-sammataḥ - a very respectable person.
Long, long ago, in another mahÄ-kalpa [millennium of BrahmÄ], I existed as the Gandharva known as Upabarhaṇa. I was very respected by the other Gandharvas.
ÅšrÄ«la NÄrada Muni is giving a practical example from his past life. Formerly, during the previous lifetime of Lord BrahmÄ, NÄrada 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 prajÄpatis to become a śūdra, in his next life he became the son of Lord BrahmÄ.
The word mahÄ-kalpe is described by ÅšrÄ«la MadhvÄcÄrya as atÄ«ta-brahma-kalpe. BrahmÄ dies at the end of a life of many millions of years. The day of BrahmÄ is described in Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (8.17):
sahasra-yuga-paryantam
ahar yad brahmaṇo viduḥ
rÄtriá¹ yuga-sahasrÄntÄá¹
te ’ho-rÄtra-vido janÄḥ
“By human calculation, a thousand ages taken together is the duration of BrahmÄ’s one day. And such also is the duration of his night.†BhagavÄn ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa can remember incidents from millions of years ago. Similarly, His pure devotee like NÄrada Muni can also remember incidents from a past life millions and millions of years ago.
