srimadbhagavatham-end of skandha2

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Chapter10- The ten requisites of Purana

 

Athra sargo visargascha sThaanam poshaNam oothayah

ManvanthraesaanukaThaa niroDho mukthih ASrayah

 

Any purana should have the ten requisites as its subject matter., namely, sarga, visarga, sthaana, poshana, oothi, manvanthara, eesaanukathaa, nirodha , mukthi and aasraya.

 

1.sarga-The initial creation from Brahman consisting of three gunas and their evolvents. The Lord Himself becomes the universe in its subtle form according to the declaration in the Upanishads, `thadhicchatha bahu syaam prajaayeya, it willed to become many.'

 

2.visarga- The creation of Brahma and the creation of gross universe, as stated in the Upanishat `thaththejo asrjatha, it created the fire,' the first gross form of creation like the threads that come out of the cotton, taking a manifest form.

 

3.sthaana- creation of the universe of name and form. Upanishad says that the Brahman after creating the gross form entered into everything to give it name and form, `anena aathmanaa anupraviSya naamaroope vyaakaravaaNi.' It is like the threads taking the form of a cloth.

 

4.poshakam- Protection of the world thus created.

 

5.manvantharaaNi –Description the Manus and activities in their respective times.

 

6. oothi- The results of karma of the jivas.

 

7. eeSaanukaTha-The stories of the Lord such as His incarnations.

 

8.nirodDha –The merging of the sentient and insentient beings into the Lord during His yoganidhra.

 

9.mukthi- The final release and the means to acquire it.

 

10. aaSraya-The real nature of the Lord as the one from whom everything manifest and by whom they are sustained and into whom they all merge in, `yatho vaa imaani bhoothaani jaayanthe, yena jaathaani jeevanthi yasmin abhisamvisanthi thath vijnaasasva thath brahma.' That is the parabrahman.

Narayana as the garbhodhakaSayee

 

At the outset of manifestation the Lord created the cosmic waters and lay in it for thousands of years. Hence he is called Narayana. Naara means water and naaraaah ayanam yasya ithi naaraayaNah, the one whose abode is the water. Then He decided to become many and divided His luminous seed into three by His will, namely, aadhidhaivikam, aadhyaathmikm and aadhibhouthikam. The supreme self who exists as the inner self is the aadhyaathmikam, the Lord Himself is aadhibouthikam in His full glory and he is aadhi bhouthikam in His manifestations as the world of five elements.

 

When the sense power, ojas, mental power, sahah and physical power, balam arose from the Viratpurusha the praana, the great suthraathman, collective Self, was produced from these. Then the gross form of the universe down to devamanushyathiryangsthaavara forms of life were produced.

 

Sarga described here is elaborated in skandha3 along with visarga. Now Parikshit asks about Vidhura and his kshethratana and his conversation with Maithreya which forms the subject matter of the opening chapters of the next skandha.

 

The end of Skandha2