Gita Mahatmyam

[Guest guest]

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.

 

Hare Krishna

 

 

--

Please Chant:

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

And Be Happy