Srimad Bhagavatam - 4

[Guest guest]

Jai Srimannarayana!

 

The adhikarithva, the qualification for the seeker to approach this

grantha is denoted by the words nirmathsara, those who do not cavil,

sathah, good, krthee , one who has done meritorious deeds as otherwise

he will not have the propensity to listen or read such works and

susrooshuh,(srothum icchuh) one who wishes to hear the Bhagavatha.

 

The phala of hearing this is given as 'eesvarah hrdhi sadhyah avarudhyathe:,'

the Lord being established in the heart immediately.

 

 

The third sloka refers to the narrator of Bhagavatha, that is Shukhabrahmam, and

it is very beautiful.

 

nigamakalpatharo:h galitham phalam

shukamukha:thadbhuthadhravasamyutham

pibatha bha:gavatham rasama:layam

muhuraho: rasika: bhuvi bha:vuka:h

 

Oh connoisseurs of the world! you who understand the nuances of tastes, drink

again and again, the nectar-like juice of this fruit from the wish-fulfilling

tree called veda nigamakalpatharu, which fell, galitham from the mouth of the

parrot ,shukamukha:th (shuka denotes a parrot as well as shukabrahma maharshi,

who was supposed to have the face of a parrot)

 

To acquire the desire of listening to Bhagavatha requires poorvajanmapunya and

it removes all the other desires because it consists only of dharma in the form

of Isvara aradhana, which, when done with the desire of other things is called

kaithava, deceitful, while doing that only for pleasing the Lord is

pro:jjithakaithavadharma, a dharma devoid of deceit as made out in the previous

sloka.

 

Bhagavatha is compared to the fruit that fell out of the mouth of shuka, the

parrot,and came from the nigamakalpatharu, the tree that fulfills all desires

,that is veda. This fruit is full of rasa, juice,and the rasikas, connoisseurs

who are bhavukas, discerning,are invited to drink the juice again and again,

muhurmuhuh till they merge with the Lord. The fruit which was at the tree veda,

hard to get, became easy to reach because it fell from the shukamukha. The juice

is

adbhuthadhravasamyutham, being parama:nandha eva rasah, the supreme bliss of

Brahman. This has reference to the upanishadic statement 'raso: vaisah,' and

rasam hye:va:yam labdhva a:nandhee bhavathi.'

 

Brahman is the essence of all beings attaining whom one becomes blissful, the

bliss being Him Himself.

 

The fourth sloka describes the circumstances under which the Bhagavthapurana is

related by the soothapouranika to the sages assembled in Namisaranya.

 

naimishe: animishakshe:thre: rshayah sounakaa:dhayah

sathram svarga:ya lo:ka:ya sahasra samam a:satha

 

Tha sage sounaka and others did sathra yaga for thousand years to attain the

world desired even by the denizens of heaven in The land of naimisaranya where

the Lord is abiding with unblinking eyes.

 

In naimisaranya is where the Lord is present in the form of forest or

aranya and He is animisha , not blinking His eyes, directing His glance

unceasingly there. The word naimisa means nemih seeryathe yathra, the wheel of

mind released by the creator is blunted here. The edge of mind is compared to a

wheel. This means that the karma which makes the mind revolve in samsara will be

blunted or stopped. The reason as to why this happens is that here the Lord is

directing His glances permanently not even blinking His eyes. The word svarga:ya

lo:ka:ya means the world which is extolled in svarga, svrge: geeyathe ithi,

meaning the paramapadha or Mo:ksha.

 

 

After this the story begins. The sages assembled in Naimisaranya asked

the soothapouranika six questions and he related the Bhagavathapurana as the

answer.

 

The questions were,

 

1. What is the essence of all sasthras?

'sarvasa:sthrasa:ram e:ka:nthikam broohi.'

 

2. Why did Lord Hari take birth as the son of Va:sude:va and Devaki?

 

3. Tell us the story of His incarnations.

 

4. What are His noble deeds in His manifestations as the trinity, brahma, vishnu

and siva.

 

5. Describe His superhuman deeds in Krishnavathara.

 

6. To whom dharma resorted as its refuge when Krishna left this world?

 

 

Jai Srimannarayana!