The Ten Subjects of Srimad Bhagavatam

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"The Ten Subjects of Srimad Bhagavatam"

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[From the newsletter "Tattva Prakasha - Illuminations

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The Bhagavata Purana, commonly referred to as the

Srimad Bhagavatam, is considered the ripened fruit of

all Vedic knowledge. Sri Vyasa Muni, the compiler of

the Vedic texts, advises us as follows:

 

nigama-kalpa-taror galitam phalam

shuka-mukhad amrita-drava-samyutam

nigama bhagavatam rasam alayam

muhur aho rasika bhuvi bhavukah

 

"O expert and thoughtful men, relish Srimad

Bhagavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of

Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Sri

Shuka Muni. Therefore this fruit has become even more

tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already

relishable for all, including liberated souls."

 

Srimad Bhagavatam is the galitam phalam, or ripened

fruit, of all Vedic knowledge. It is exactly like

amrita, for by hearing its recitation we can cross

beyond birth and death.

 

The Srimad Bhagavatam describes the various

incarnations of Lord Hari, and in the process of these

descriptions ten important subject matters are

explained, namely sarga (the elemental craetion),

visarga (the secondary creation), sthanam (the

planetary systems), poshanam (protection by the Lord),

utayah (the creative impetus), manvantara (the periods

of Manu), isha-anukatha (the science of God), nirodha

(dissolution), mukti (liberation), and ashraya (the

supreme shelter).

 

The reciters of Srimad Bhagavatam have utilized three

methods to explain these ten subjects, namely by vedic

reference (shrutena), by direct explanation (arthena),

and by summary explanations given by the great sages

(anjasa).

 

The following is a brief explanation of each of these

ten subjects.

 

1) Sarga - the elemental creation.

 

Sarga is defined as follows:

 

bhuta-matrendriya-dhiyam

janma sarga udahritah

 

"The elemental creation of sixteen principles of

matter - namely the five gross elements

(pancha-bhutas), the five objects of sense perception

(tan-matras), the five knowledge acquiring senses

(jnanendriyas) and the mind - is known as sarga."

 

The five gross elements (pancha-bhutas) are earth,

water, fire, air and ether; the five objects of

sensual perception (tan-matras) are sound, form,

taste, smell, and touch; and the five knowledge

acquiring senses (jnanendriyas) are the eyes, ears,

nose, tongue and skin. Together with the mind, these

sixteen principles are created by the first purusha

incarnation, Maha-Vishnu. Within these sixteen

principles eight other principles exist subtly, making

there a total of twenty-four principles of material

existence.

 

2) Visarga - the secondary creation.

 

Visarga is defined as follows:

 

brahmano guna-vaishamyad

visargah paurushah smritah

 

"The secondary creation by Brahma carried out through

the interaction of the three modes of nature is known

as visarga."

 

By manipulating the sixteen original principles of

material existence and by the interaction of the

three modes of material nature (sattva, rajas and

tamas), Lord Brahma carries out a subsequent creation,

more properly described as an assembling of universal

ingredients.

 

3) Sthanam - the planetary systems.

 

Sthanam is defined as follows:

 

sthitir vaikuntha-vijayah

 

"The true situation (sthanam) is the realm of

Vaikuntha."

 

The entire creation by the Lord is to enable the

conditioned souls to satisfy their material desire to

lord over the material energy. As such, according to

their desires, the Lord creates a suitable situation

(sthanam) for them to dwell in. Within the universe,

these situations can be divided into fourteen main

categories, known technically as bhuvanas, or

planetary systems, and 8,400,000 sub-categories,

commonly known as species of life. From the topmost

sthanam of Brahma-loka (the abode of Lord Brahma) down

to the lowest sthanam of Patala-loka, all situations

are destructible. In every situation the conditioned

living entity is conquered by birth and death. Only by

attaining to our eternal constitutional situation in

the spiritual realm of Vaikuntha can we conquer the

birth and death of this material world. Thus the true

sthanam of the living entity is the realm of

Vaikuntha. All other temporary situations within this

material world cause one to become a victim of

material suffering, simply shifting from one situation

to the next.

 

4) Poshanam - protection by the Lord.

 

Poshanam is defined as follows:

 

poshanam tad anugrahah

 

"Protection (poshanam) is the causless mercy of the

Lord."

 

Poshanam can be defined in two ways according to the

mentality of the living entity. For the conditioned

souls, poshanam refers to material maintenance. It is

the Lord who fulfills the desires of all living

entities:

 

nityo nityanam chetanash chetananam

eko bahunam yo vidadhati kaman

 

"The supreme eternal among all eternals, the supremely

conscious among all the conscious living entities - it

is that supreme one among the many who fufills the

desires of all."

 

For the devotees of the Lord, poshanam refers to the

Lord's causeless mercy and protection. Protection from

hunger is the lowest form of protection, which the

Lord offers to the conditioned living entities. For

the devotees, the Lord's protection is protection from

the illusion of maya. The Lord gives the devotee the

strength to always remember Him and engage in His

devotional service.

 

5) Utayah - the creative impetus.

 

Utayah is defined as follows:

 

utayah karma-vasanah

 

"The impetus for activity (utayah) is the desire for

fruitive work."

 

The conditioned soul forgets that the Lord is his

eternal protector and maintainer, and thus an impetus

for fruitive activity is manifested for one's self

maintenance. This desire for fruitive activity is the

driving force behind all work within this material

world. The karma-vasanas are the accumulated residue

of one's previous activities. Every material activity

we perform creates a residual impresion within our

consciousness, which is carried with us life after

life. The sum total of these impressions form our

creative impetus to work.

 

The true impetus of the living entity should be to go

back to Godhead, to the supreme abode of Vaikuntha,

and activities performed in that direction form the

right path of work.

 

6) Manvantara - the change of Manus.

 

Manvantara is defined as follows:

 

manvantarani sad-dharma

 

"The reign of the Manus (manvantaras) are for

establishing the eternal religious principles."

 

Manu is the father of mankind, the progenitor,

empowered to guide the human race towards

self-realization. Manu provides revealed scriptures to

mankind which regulate their activities in a manner

that will be for their eternal welfare. When the

living entities accept such a regulated path, the Lord

provides them with all protection by which they may

attain their constitutional situation in Vaikuntha.

Thus the desire to go back to Godhead and regulated

activities performed to achieve that goal form the

proper path of action.

 

7) Isha-anukatha - the science of God.

 

Isha-anukatha is defined as follows:

 

avataranucharitam

haresh chasyanuvartinam

pumsam isha-kathah prokta

nanakhyanopabrimhitah

 

"The science of God (isha-anukatha) describes the

incarnations of the Personality of Godhead and His

different activities together with the activities of

His great devotees."

 

The entire material creation is for the ultimate

purpose of the living entities' salvation. When the

conditioned living entities utilize the creation for

secondary purposes, such as material fruitive

activity, the Lord incarnates to reclaim these

forgetful souls. The Lord directly delivers living

entities by His divine appearance as well as by its

recorded history. The Supreme Lord is so potent that

simpy by hearing about His transcendental activities

in His various incarnations one becomes free from

material bondage. Thus the topics of the Lord and His

devotees, which constitute the science of God, should

be given respectful aural reception.

 

8) Nirodha - the disolution.

 

Nirodha is defined as follows:

 

nirodho 'syanushayanam

atmanah saha shaktibhih

 

"The merging of the living entity, along with his

conditioned living tendency, with the mystic lying

down of the Maha-Vishnu is called the winding up of

the cosmic manifestation, or nirodha."

 

As we have briefly mentioned before, the entire

material creation offers two facilities to the

conditioned living entities. The living entities may

either utilize it to fulfill their desire to lord it

over material nature, or they may utilize it to go

back to Godhead, the spiritual abode of Vaikuntha. For

the living entities who take advantage of the science

of God as propagated by the Manus, and who develop a

desire to act in such a regulated manner, the Lord

provides them full protection from the material energy

and resituates them in their proper situation in

Vaikuntha. For the other living entities, who choose

to disregard the science of God, the Lord gives them

an interim period of relief at the time of

dissolution. This temporary period of relief is

technically called nirodha, or the winding up of the

cosmic manifestation. All the living entities along

with their conditional tendencies (vasanas) merge into

the body of Maha-Vishnu to await another creation and

another opportunity to take up the science of God.

Though the physical bodies are given up at this time,

the subtle bodies (sukshma-sariras) remain with the

living entities along with their latent desires. This

is indicated by the words atmanah saha shaktibhih.

 

9) Mukti - liberation.

 

Mukti is defined as follows:

 

muktir hitvanyatha rupam

sva-rupena vyavasthitih

 

"Liberation (mukti) is the permanent situation of the

form of the living entity after he gives up the

changeable gross and subtle material bodies."

 

Those living entities who develop a desire to act for

their ultimate welfare regulate their life according

to the instructions of the Manus. Such living entities

receive the mercy and protection of the Lord in the

form of His divine activities and incarnations, either

personally or in its literary form as the science of

God. By hearing the narrations of the Lord's

activities these living entities are able to give up

all external identification with the principles of

material existence and its interaction. Such purified

living entities develop their original spiritual

bodies and are resituated in their constitutional

position in Vaikuntha, the spiritual abode of the

Lord. This is technically known as mukti or

liberation. The words hitvanyatha rupam indicate that

these living entities have become completely free from

all material coverings including the sukshma-sarira

and related vasanas. The word vyavasthitih indicates

the real and eternal sthanam of the living entity -

sthitir vaikuntha vijayah.

 

10) Ashraya - the supreme shelter.

 

Ashraya is defined in the following three verses:

 

abhasash ca nirodhash ca

yato 'sty adhyavasiyate

sa ashrayah param brahma

paramatmeti shabdyate

 

"The supreme one who is celebrated as the Supreme

Being or the Supreme Soul is the supreme source of the

cosmic manifestation as well as its reservoir and

winding up. Thus He is the supreme shelter, the

Absolute Truth."

 

yo 'dhyatmiko 'yam purushah

so 'sav evadhidaivikah

yas tatrobhaya-vicchedah

purusho hy adhibhautikah

ekam ekatarabhave

yada nopalabhamahe

tritayam tatra yo veda

sa atma svashrayashrayah

 

"The individual person possessing different

instruments of senses is called the adhyatmic person,

and the individual controlling deity of the senses is

called adhidaivic. The embodiment seen on the eyeballs

is called the adhibhautic person. All three of the

above mentioned stages of different living entities

are interdependent. In the absence of one, another is

not understood. But the Supreme Being who sees every

one of them as the shelter of the shelter is

independent of all, and therefore He is the supreme

shelter."

 

The Srimad Bhagavata Purana begins with the Vedanta

statement "janmady asya yathah" to bring to our

attention the supreme source and shelter of all

existence - the ashraya-tattva. In order to explain

the transcendence of the ashraya the other nine

subjects have been explained.

 

In all of existence there are factually only two

divisions, namely the dependent (para-tantra) and the

independent (sva-tantra). The independent (svarat)

refers only to that Supreme Lord invoked in the

beginning of Srimad Bhagavatam by the words "om namo

bhagavate vasudevaya". Sri Vyasa Muni begins by first

offering his obeisances to Bhagavan Sri Krishna

(Vasudeva), and then identifies Him as the absolute

and independent shelter of everything - janmadyasya

yathah svarat satyam param dhimahi. The transcendental

Sri Krishna is that tenth subject of Srimad

Bhagavatam, and in order to properly describe Him, Sri

Vyasa Muni has explained the other nine subject

matters.

 

Studied together, these ten subject matters fully

establish the Supreme personality of Godhead, Bhagavan

Sri Krishna, as the transcendental Absolute Truth. The

Vedanta Sutras begin by instructing us to inquire into

the nature of the Absolute Truth - atatho brahma

jijnasa. This Srimad Bhagavatam is the perfect

companion to that inquiry, as it is the natural

commentary to the Vedanta Sutras.

 

Both the Vedanta Sutras and the Srimad Bhagavatam

begin from the point of understanding the ultimate

source of everything. Sri Vyasa Muni, the author of

these two texts, begins both with the same verse:

janmady asya yathah, "From whom everything emanates."

But in the Srimad Bhagavatam he expands and elaborates

on this very important philosophical subject in great

detail:

 

janmady asya yatah anvayad itaratas carthesv abhijnah

svarat

tene brahma hrda ya adi-kavaye muhyanti yat surayah

tejo-vari-mrdam yatha vinimayo yatra tri-sargo ’mrsa

dhamna svena sada nirasta-kuhakam satyam param dhimahi

 

"I meditate upon Lord Sri Krishna because He is the

Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of

creation, sustenance and destruction on the manifested

universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of

all manifestations, and He is independent because

there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who

first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of

brahmaji, the original living being. By Him even the

great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as

one is bewildered by the illusory representations of

water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only

because of Him do the material universes, temporarily

manifested by the reactionsof the three modes of

nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I

therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri Krishna, who is

eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which

is forever free from the illusory representations of

the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the

Absolute Truth."

 

Thus Srimad Bhagavatam is the key to unlock the

secrets of the Vedanta Sutras. There is no literature

in the world as great as this Srimad Bhagavata Purana.

The transcendental narations within it give us light

in this dark age of Kali yuga:

 

krishne sva-dhamopagate

dharma-jnanadibhih saha

kalau nashta-drisham esha

puranarko 'dhunoditah

 

"This Bhagavata Purana is as brilliant as the sun, and

it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krishna

to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge,

etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the

dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall

get light from this Purana."

 

[Note: Those wishing to read Srimad Bhagavatam online

can visit http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org]

 

 

 

 

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