Guest guest Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Srimad Bhagavatham is one of the most sacred and important of the Puranas present. It is considered as the Mahapurana amongst the 18 Puranaas. The authorship of Srimad Bhagavatham is ascribed to Veda Vyaasa who is the author of the Puranaas and the one who systemized the Vedas. The very word Bhagavatham means Song about the Lord who is filled with Bhaga or aishwaryaas or auspicious qualities (astha aishwaryaas). Bhagavatham is not a mere Purana which speaks just about the Lord and his leelas or plays, but it is a Purana in which one can find the ultimate reality embedded in the form of stories. Each of the chapter in Bhagavatham, each story in the Bhagavatham has some deep import to be told with respect to the ultimate reality of Brahman or Consciousness or Self – one without a second. This makes Bhagavatham a very important work for ardent seekers of the reality. Since the reality as propounded in the Upanishads is not easily apprehended by normal people, Vyaasa took up the task of writing Bhagavatham and other puranaas. Bhagavatham puts forth the reality in the form of beautiful stories & discussions between various disciples ranging from Saunaka sages, Brahma, Uddhava amidst others to Gurus or teachers ranging from Suta, Vishnu, Krishna among others. Srimad Bhagavatham has a total of 18000 slokas split across 12 Skandaas. Each skanda is further split into various chapters. These chapters have slokas which explain the ultimate reality through various stories and descriptions of the Lord among many other things. Srimad Bhagavatham is in the form of a dialogue between Suta and Saunaka Sages. Suta was the disciple of Vyaasa to whom Vyaasa taught the Puranaas and Vedas along with his own son Suka. Suta tells that Bhagavatham was taught by Suka to King Parikshit in 7 days learning which Parikshit attained the immortal state of Consciousness here in this world itself before being bit by the snake Takshaka. The study of Bhagavatham not as just mere stories about the Lord propounding or giving importance to devotion, but as propounding the ultimate reality through various stories . Normal people have been conveyed the wrong notions that Bhagavatham is a Bhakthi Grantha meant only for devotional people & the devotion propounded in Bhagavatham are meant only for people who worship Vishnu etc. Although Bhagavatham has devotional stories of Lord Vishnu and his various Avatars. But Bhagavatham is not a grantha which propounds Bhakthi mainly. Bhagavatham is a work which is filled with spiritual knowledge and knowledge about the Divine Brahman. Bhagavatham itself says about its purpose in the 12th Skanda : " Sarva Vedaantha saaram yad brahma aatmaikya lakshanamVasthu Adviteeyam tannishtam kaivalyam ekam prayojanam ". The unity of Brahman and Atman which is the aim of Vedanta or all Upanishads – that reality which is non-dual & one without a second – being established in that reality which is ONE alone and absolute is the aim of Bhagavatham. Om Sai Ram The INTERNET now has a personality. YOURS! See your Homepage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.