from Gita Mahatmya the glories of chapter one

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The Glories of Chapter One

Parvati said “My dear husband, You know all the transcendental truths, and by

your mercy I have heard the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,

Lord Krishna. Oh Lord, now I long to hear from You the glories of the Srimad

Bhagavad-gita, which was spoken by Lord Krishna, and by hearing which, one’s

devotion to Lord Krishna increases”

Lord Siva replied “That person, Whose body is the color of a dark rain cloud,

whose carrier is the king of birds, Garuda, and Who is lying on Ananta-Sesa,

the thousand headed serpent, that Lord Vishnu, Whose glories have no limit, I

am always worshipping.

My dear Parvati once after Lord Visnu had killed the demon Mura, He was

resting peacefully on Ananta-Sesa, when the bestower of all good fortune of the

 

universe, Sri Lakshmi, respectfully inquired from Him.

“Bhagavan, You are the controller and maintainer of the whole universe, but

yet You are sleeping unhappily on this ocean of milk. What is the reason?”

Lord Visnu said, “My dear Lakshmi, I am not sleeping, but I am watching how

wonderfully My energy is working. It is by this wonderful energy of Mine, by

which I am controlling all things, and yet remain separate. And it is by

remembering these divine activities of Mine, that the great devotees and yogis

manage

to free themselves from the wheel of birth and death, and attain that

transcendental nature of Mine, which is eternal and free from all qualities”

Lakshmi said, “O, controller of all things. You are the goal of the

meditation of great yogis. Nothing can go on without You. And yet You are

separate. You

are the cause of creation, maintenance and destruction of all the material

universes. Kindly inform me about the workings of Your wonderful energies,

which

are so attractive, that even You are lying here, meditating upon them”

Lord Vishnu said, “My dear Lakshmi, the workings of My multi-fold energies,

and how to become free from the bonds of birth and death, and attain My eternal

 

Nature, can only be understood by one of pure intelligence, who has an

inclination to render service unto Me. This transcendental knowledge is fully

explained in the Srimad Bhagavad-gita”

Lakshmi inquired, “My dear Lord, if you yourself are amazed, by the workings

of Your energies, and are ever trying to fathom their limit, then how is it

possible that the Bhagavad-gita can describe those unlimited energies of Yours,

 

and how to cross over them, and attain the transcendental nature?”

Lord Visnu said, “I Myself have manifested in the Form of Bhagavad-gita.

Please understand that the first five chapters are My five heads, the next ten

chapters are My ten Arms, and the Sixteenth Chapter is My stomach. The last two

 

chapters are My lotus-feet. In this way you should understand the

transcendental Deity of the Bhagavad-gita. This Bhagavad-gita is the destroyer

of all sins.

And that intelligent man who daily recites one chapter or even one sloka, one

half sloka, or at least one quarter sloka, will attain the same position as

Susharma had attained.”

Lakshmi inquired, “Who was Susharma? What class did he belong to? And what

destination did he attain?”

Lord Vishnu said, “My dear Lakshmi, Susharma was a very wicked and a most

sinful man. Although he was born in a brahmana family, his family had no Vedic

knowledge. And he only took pleasure from hurting others. He never engaged in

the chanting of, My names, in giving charity, or receiving guests. In fact, he

never performed any pious activities. For his livelihood he collected leaves,

and sold them in the bazaar. He especially enjoyed drinking wine, and eating

flesh. In this way he passed his life.

“One day that foolish Susharma had gone to the garden of one sage for

collecting leaves, when a snake came and bit him, and he died. After his death

he was

cast into many hells, where he suffered for a long time. After which he

attained the body of a bull. That bull was purchased by a crippled man, who

engaged

him in his service. For about seven or eight years he was carrying extremely

heavy loads. One day that crippled man had piled a very heavy load onto the

back of his bull. Very quickly he was forcing that bull along when suddenly the

 

bull fell over and became unconscious. Many persons gathered there, to see

what was happening, feeling sorry for that bull. One pious man bestowed upon

that

bull the results of some of his pious activities. Seeing that, other persons

standing there started remembering their pious activities, and offered the

results of some of those activities to that bull. In that crowd there was also

one prostitute who did not know if she had ever performed any pious activities,

 

but seeing everyone else offering their pious credits to that bull, she also

offered the results of any pious activities she might have performed After

that, the bull died, and was taken to the abode of Yamaraja, the God of Death.

There, Yamaraja informed him, “You are now free from the reactions of all

your previous sinful deeds, due to the pious credits given to you by that

prostitute.” Then he took birth in a very high brahmana family. In that birth,

he

was able to remember his past lives. After many days, he decided to search out

that prostitute, who had been the cause of freeing him from his hellish

situation.

After he had found and introduced himself to that lady he inquired from her “

What were the pious activities performed by you, the fruits of which freed me

from my hellish situation?” The prostitute replied to him, “My dear sir, in

that cage is one parrot, which recites something everyday. Hearing that

recitation, my heart has become completely pure. The results of hearing that

recitation I had given to you.” Thereafter they both inquired from that parrot

about

that recitation. That parrot. remembering his previous life, started to

narrate his history. “Previously, I had been a very learned brahmana. But due

to my

pride, I used to insult other learned persons. I was also extremely jealous.

After I died, I was cast into many hells, and after a long time of suffering, I

 

achieved this body of a parrot. Due to my past sinful activities, my mother

and father died while I was a baby. One day, while I was lying on the hot

sands, with no protection, some rishis saw me, and took me to their ashram, and

put

me in a cage. At that same place, the children of those rishis were learning

the recitation of the First Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Hearing them

repeat those slokas, I also. started repeating those slokas along with them.

“Shortly after, one thief stole me from that place and sold me to this pious

lady.” Lord Vishnu continued, “By reciting the First Chapter of the

Bhagavad-gita, that parrot had become completely pure. And by hearing that

recitation,

that prostitute also became completely pure. And by receiving some of the

pious results of hearing that recitation, Susharma also become completely pure.

After discussing for some time the glories of the first chapter of

Bhagavad-gita, Susharma returned to his home, and the three of them

individually engaged

in reciting the First Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita, and very quickly

attained the supreme destination, Vaikuntha.” Anyone who recites, who hears, or

 

studies the First Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, will very easily cross over the

ocean

of material miseries, and attain the service of the lotus-feet of Lord

Krishna.