The Lofty Śrīmad Bhāgavatam

Preface

After the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Saptāham held in the Annadāna Auditorium in Parlikkad, behind Shiva Temple, some of the earnest devotees in Vyasa Tapovanam, felt a strong urge to understand the great holy Text in detail, bringing forth the truths, values and messages Vyasadeva, the author, presents throughout the narration. They expressed their hearts to Purushothama Swamiji, and he discussed the subject with me.

Accordingly, we decided to hold the first Satram from 22nd Dec 2002 to 02 Jan 2003 for 12 days. People sat all day long, listening to one speaker after another, unfold the spirituo-devotional themes of the Text. Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is a great treat and feat by all means. As important the knowledge dissemination part is, so is giving people breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea with snacks and dinner, which called for elaborate arrangements. To make them hygienic was a still greater challenge.

Each day passed quite encouragingly. To have the right speakers, who cherish exposing the in-depth spiritual, philosophical and scriptural messages of the great text, was not easy. I was speaking every day, enthusing the audience and making them feel that the holy event was more theirs than the organizers’. I think it verily became so.

Last day was the Sārvajanika Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma Yajña, which added a great measure of divinity, spirituality and austerity to the whole Satram. The press was quite enthusiastic and cooperated well in reaching the news far and wide.

Somehow everything began to flow well, and the event took place as planned. Purushothama Swamiji then told me that he wished the Satram be conducted every year.

I was concerned about how to make the disseminational effort more effective and lasting. How could a mere oral presentation be sufficient to make the message of the Text part of one’s life? The truths, principles and values of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam must become the warp and woof of every home.

This is how I took up the mission of writing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Parivrajana series. Selecting important verses, giving their meaning and making an evaluation, linking the message to our life and our practices, I began to write about the Text. It was, I thought, like the flow of the holy Ganga from the heights of Gangotri, not knowing how it would trek down and when it would reach the final terminus!

My intention was to provide something, which the readers could read, re-read, reflect upon and discuss, enriching their lives with qualities, values and virtues. The audio effort of Naimisharanyam would not be effective and fulfilling unless this visual addition were also available.

The first book “Bhāgavatam in Daily Life” was written and released on the inaugural day itself.

16 years passed. Last year I completed the Parivrajana series with the 16th book titled “When Śrīmad Bhāgavatam Concludes”.

Our devotees, especially those who do not understand Malayalam, hearing about the uniqueness of the Naimisharanyam Satram, had expressed many times about their missing the event. They longed to read the Parivrajana series in English. It was in pursuit of their wish that I felt the series should be published in Vicharasethu.

Our Prabhakaran took up the mission of translating the Malayalam books into English, with his characteristic faithfulness and dedication. His mission of translation of the 15 books has been over. He is now on the 16th. Prabhakaran writes well. His endeavour, I feel, will be quite effective. How far I would be able to contribute my part for the series is to be seen. We are starting it, thinking that the gap our readers felt would be filled now.

On this occasion, I composed the verse below on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, describing what the event is, and how it works.

Original Sanskrit Verse:

The poetic treasure is delightful; the author is no other than the foremost Vyasadeva; the delineation is by the high ranking austere exponents; they are eager to disseminate the wisdom revealed in the Text, in the rational ways of science. What else is then needed for gaining spiritual ecstasy and fulfillment?

‘Svādu svādu pade pade, svādu svādu dine dine’, is a celebrated proverb on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam – delicious and delicious word after word, delicious and delicious day after day.

Dear souls, it is verily so. Read the text and let the fond intimacy adorn your heart. You will then find that nothing else is as cherishable as this great, holy, spirituo-devotional treasure, which blends devotion with the subtlest spiritual wisdom, illustrating the message with apt events and narrations, adding unique lustre. Relish it.

Bhāgavatam in Daily Life — Swamiji

[From ‘Bhāgavatam Nitya-jeevitattil’ – the first book in Malayalam]

Our life, with its varied interactions, invariably fetches the three-fold misery, tāpa-trayam, which is: “ādhyātmika, ādhibhautika and ādhidaivika”. Right from times immemorial, these have been in prevalence, compelling every one to seek redress. Sage Vyasadeva, through his poetic deliberations brought forth the soulful Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, proclaiming that the sole redress for the worldly distress is to know and experience the supreme Truth.

Knowledge of Truth – Redressing the three-fold misery

To facilitate the delivery and reception alike of the Text, the poet Sage has studded his narration with thoughtful and enchanting stories and episodes, persuading the reader and listener to remain absorbed in what they read or hear.

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, composed in Sanskrit poetry in an assortment of metres, consists of 12 skandhas, dealing with many aspects of devotion and dispassion. It discusses human personality, unfolding specially the Subject part of it, whose expressions are mind, intelligence and ego. Equally so, the author analyses the world, tracing it to its very source on the one hand and utter dissolution on the other.

Throughout the Text the spiritual and philosophical aspect of the study and analysis is given adequate place and importance. That the narration is made by no less a person than the distinguished ascetic Śuka Muni, who wore nothing in the way of an apparel on his body, adds further lustre to the whole instance. He was so ceaselessly inundated in the bliss of the Self that anything else was either a burden or totally redundant for him. India is a land where asceticism has its unique place and people adore the ascetics beyond anybody or anything else.

Śuka Muni arrived on the scene uninvited, surrounded by some women, who heartily adored him, and children, who were charmed and fascinated by his form and looks. He shone with the spiritual majesty and grandeur radiating from his inner divinity and realization of the supreme Truth.

Essential content of the Text

Śrīmad Bhāgavatam consistently discusses and delineates the single sublime Truth:

Original Sanskrit Verse:

Here should be known the absolute Reality, which bestows auspiciousness and dispels the three-fold misery.

He, who comprehends the supreme Truth, will be able to bind the Lord firmly to his heart. When Śrīmad Bhāgavatam provides ample avenues for this through the labyrinth of its narrations, of what use are other texts? The great Scripture begins the narration with this question, compelling one to think, reflect upon and discern.

The august assembly of scholars put forward a question to Sūta, the narrator: “Venerated Sire! Could you, who have studied the śāstras and itihāsas extensively, and absorbed them in all their intricacies, explain to us the essence of their import?”

To this most relevant enquiry, Sūta gave his brief but specific answer outlining the plan and contents of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam:

Original Sanskrit Verse:

Knowers of Truth speak about it as the essence of non-dual knowledge. That indeed is called Brahman, Paramātmā and also God.

This Truth is the splendour residing in every one’s heart. It is the Brahman that reigns everywhere in full resplendence, the Almighty, whom one and all look to with fondness and hope so earnestly!

Vyasadeva exhorts people to look into their own within, into their heart, to know the supreme One. In the process he also reveals how false and futile it is to blindly hold on to the concept of God with forms and other inferior attributes, imposing on Him masculine or feminine gender, employing various connotations, and looking up to invisible heights as His abode.

This is the intriguing comment echoed in the inaugural words of the Text, persuading listeners and readers to think, enquire and investigate into their customary notions and hearsays about God and godly matters. Sooner or later every human has to rely on his intelligence, gain and cherish knowledge and pursue the means leading to it, be it in any field, including religion.

The triple concepts – the inmost Self (Ātman), the supreme Brahman and the Almighty God – are described, discussed and explained variously in the Text, every time showing that all the three are but one and the same, emphasizing that of all the three, the Self is the one most proximate, intimate and unmistakable presence for everyone.

These hymns, though often begin with alluring descriptions of the physique of a Personal God – like charming face, beautiful eyes, graceful limbs and the like – very soon imbibe and incorporate depth and loftiness, embracing rare spirituo-philosophical dimensions, leading to very deep introspection and analysis. The content and message in the hymns are such as to make the thinkers and even Knowers of Truth wonder and probe further into the mystery of divinity as well its creational display.

Note: This article was originally published in the October 2018 issue of Vicharasetu. You can access the original publication in the Vicharasetu archive.