ADVENT OF BHAGWAD GITA

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The Glories of Chapter One of the

Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana

 

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 Shiva 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-Sesha, the thousand headed serpent, that Lord Vishnu, Whose

glories have no limit, I am always worshipping. My dear Parvati once

after Lord Vishnu had killed the demon Mura, He was resting peacefully

on Ananta-Sesha, 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 Vishnu 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 Vishnu 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 shloka,

one half shloka, or at least one quarter shloka, 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

Shlokas, I also, started repeating those shloka 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.

-- At the present moment our minds are polluted with the dirt accumulated over millions and millions of lifetimes of sense gratification. Even though our original pure nature is eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss, due to our mental contamination we are presently suffering in the realm of temporality, ignorance, and misery. By the purificatory process of chanting the holy names of God we can revive our original, pure nature and thus relish the sweetest happiness at every minute.

Chant:Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare HareHare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare