The Ten Subjects of Srimad Bhagavatam

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[From Tattva Prakasha 1.6]

 

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."

 

 

 

 

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