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The essence of Srimad Bhagavatam is the essence of everything. It is the essence of all the Vedas, all philosophy, all knowledge, all theology, all religion, and all activity. This is not hyperbole it can be demonstrated.
Let us accept that the Vedas contain all the relevant knowledge for mankind. But it is not well-known how little of the Vedas remain today.
Rg Veda was divided into 21 sections.
Yajur Veda into 100 sections
Sama Veda into 1,000 sections A
Atharva Veda into 9 divisions.
Each division has 4 minor divisions.
Samhitas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanisads.
Thus altogether the 4 Vedas contain 1,130 Samhitas, 1,130 Brahmanas, 1,130 Aranyakas, and 1,130 Upanisads. This makes a total of 4,520 divisions.
At present 6% is known to exist, and few people, if any, know that 6% in full.
What about the other 94%?
"On the pretext of writing the Mahabharata, Vyasa explained the meaning of the Vedas. Certainly, all the topics of the Vedas have been established in the Puranas." (Visnu Purana)
In the Prabhasa-khanda of the Skanda Purana (5.3.121-124) it is said –
“O best of the brahmanas, the meaning of the Puranas is unchanging just like that of the Vedas. The Vedas are all sheltered within the Puranas without a doubt. The Veda has a fear that unqualified people will read her and then distort her meaning. Thus, the significance of the Veda was fixed in the Puranas and Itihasas. That which is not found in the Vedas is found in the Smrti. That which is not found in the Smrti is to be found in the Puranas. Those who know even the Vedas and Upanisads are not learned if they do not know the Puranas."
Just as the essence of all the Upanisads is found in Gitopanisad, the essence of all Puranas is found in Bhagavat Purana.
Madhavacharya in his Bhagavata-tatparya quotes from the Garuda Purana
purna so ‘yam atisaya
artho ‘yam brahma-sutranam/ bharatartha-vinirnaya
gayatri-bhasya-rupo ‘sau/ vedartha-paribrmhita
purananam sama-rupa/ saksad bhagavatodita
dvadasa-skandha-yukto ‘yam/ sata-viccheda-samyuta
grantho ‘stadasa-sahasram/ sri-bhagavatabhidha
This [Purana] is perfectly complete. It is the purport of the Vedanta-sutra, establishes the meaning of the Mahabharata, is a commentary on Gayatri and completes the message of the Vedas. It is the Sama Veda among the Puranas, spoken directly by an incarnation of God [Vyasa]. This work, consisting of twelve cantos, hundreds of chapters and eighteen thousand verses, is called Srimad-Bhagavatam.
This is also confirmed in the Matsya Purana (53.20-22) and Agni Purana (272.6.7)
"That purana is known as the Bhagavata which gives the highest religious principles, refers to the sacred gayatri mantra, and tells the story of the slaying of Vrtasura. This purana has 18,000 verses and whoever writes down the entire text and places it on a golden throne and gives it in charity to a qualified person on the day of the full-moon of the month of Bhadra will attain the Supreme abode."
There are many other verses that praise the Bhagavata above all the other Puranas. In the Visnu Khanda of the Skanda Purana (5.16.40-42, 44,33) –
"If the Bhagavata is not kept in one's house in the Kali Yuga, of what avail are collections of other scriptures by the hundreds and thousands? How can he be condidered a Vaisnava who, in the Kali Yuga, does not keep the Bhagavata in his house? Even if he is a brahmana, he is lower than an outcaste. O Narada, O Sage, wherever the Bhagavata is found in the Kali-yuga, there Hari goes together with all the demigods. O Muni, that pius soul who daily recites a verse from the Bhagavata reaps the fruits of the eighteen Puranas."
In the Padma Purana (Uttara-khanda 193.3)
"Of all the puranas, the Bhagavata is the greatest. In every line, the sages glorify Sri Krsna in various ways."
Padma Purana -
"The first and second cantos of the Bhagavatam are Sri Krsna’s feet. The third and fourth cantos are His thighs. The fifth canto is His navel. The sixth canto is His chest. The seventh and eighth cantos are His arms. The ninth canto is His throat. The tenth canto is His beautiful lotus-face. The eleventh canto is His forehead. The twelfth canto is His head. I bow down to that Lord, the ocean of mercy whose color is like that of a tamala tree and who appears in this world for the welfare of all. I worship Him as the bridge for crossing the unfathomable ocean of material existence. The Bhagavatam has appeared as His very Self."
So what then is the essence of this magnificent work? The Emperor of Puranas and Vyasadeva’s illumination of Vedanta Sutra, the culmination of all Vedic knowledge?
At the beginning of the creation of the material cosmos, Lord Brahma underwent penances for one thousand years by the calculations of the demigods. He was alone, in darkness, seated on a giant lotus flower that had grown from Garbhodakshayi Vishnu’s navel. There were no planets, no sun or moon, and no other living beings.
Being pleased by Lord Brahma’s penance, the Lord manifests Vaikuntha in front of Him. Lord Brahma is able to see the Lord and Laxmi devi as well as the different planets and residents and their various vehicles for traveling. Everything is effulgent and beautiful. The sight is mesmerizing for Lord Brahma.
After some words of appreciation, the Lord encourages Lord Brahma to take up the work of assembling the universe. The Lord shakes hands with him and wishes him good luck!
Brahmaji asks the Lord to explain how He manifests a material universe even though He is completely spiritual and never becomes material, and how the Lord manifests His energies to create, manipulate, permeate, maintain and destroy the universe. He also asks how he can perform his activities without being conditioned by them and without becoming proud.
The Lord replies that knowledge about Him is very confidential. It is present in the scriptures, but it cannot be realized without devotional service. Then He speaks four verses which are known as the chatusloki or four seed verses from which the Bhagavatam is expanded.
The essence of Bhagavatam is contained in these four verses.
Brahma, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead. SB 2.9.33
O Brahma, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness. SB 2.9.34
O Brahma, please know that the universal elements enter into the cosmos and at the same time do not enter into the cosmos; similarly, I Myself also exist within everything created, and at the same time I am outside of everything. SB 2.9.35
A person who is searching after the Supreme Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead, must certainly search for it up to this, in all circumstances, in all space and time, and both directly and indirectly. SB 2.9.36
Volumes can be written on these verses, in fact, they have, so I am not going to try to duplicate that, but just give a simple synopsis.
The Supreme Lord is visible to Lord Brahma and explains that the entire material creation from top to bottom, from start to finish, rests on Him alone.
Within the eternal existence of the Lord, the material universes are manifest and dissolved.
Anything that has no connection with the Lord has no reality and is illusory.
The Lord simultaneously pervades the entire universe yet retains His individual existence and form outside of the universe.
Any and every means, at all times, everywhere, should be employed to understand this ultimate truth.
From this, Bhagavatam expands to explain that ‘aham’ - ‘I’ - means the Lord and all His potencies, expansions and energies, which all exist eternally with Him, and how they work and are manifest; how the material universe is connected to Him, and how some activities are real and some are illusory; how one can realize these truths culminating in devotional service performed nine different ways.
There are vivid examples from history which illustrate the philosophical points all presented in a dialogue of questions and answers. Thus the creation of the world, its maintenance, and destruction along with the partial devastations are described. The reigns of the Manus and the Lord’s avatars, the histories of the Sun and Moon dynasties and some of the great rulers and devotees of the Lord are mentioned.
The Puranas, in general, expound on the spiritual philosophy found in the four original Vedas (namely the Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharva). They are written to cover all classes of men, so some are for those with a very materialistic mentality and some for those with lesser. Bhagavatam is for those who have given up, or wish to give up, material desires altogether.
Everything is explained in connection with the Lord and the summum bonum is the section on Lord Krishna, the root cause of all manifestations. So whenever a topic is under consideration whether it be organization of society, duties of different classes of men, geography, astronomy, military weapons, characteristics of leaders, predictions of the future, an analysis and breakdown of the material elements, the symptoms of consciousness, the potencies of the illusory energy, the practice of yoga, spiritual experiences, realizations, etc., everything is seen through its connection with the Lord and so contains the essence of everything useful because whatever has no connection with the Lord is illusion.
There is no way to enter into the secrets of Bhagavatam except by devotion. In the second verse, it is mentioned that all ‘cheating religions’ are rejected. A cheating religion is one where the practitioner is expecting some selfish reward. It may be material opulences or it may be the bliss of impersonal brahman, but either way, they are both rejected as the goal, and only those whose desire is to render pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord eternally, can truly understand the essence.
Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhagavata Purana propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhagavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyasadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God-realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart. SB 1.1.2
The essence is to follow religious principles, and the ultimate principle is to render pure devotional service to the Supreme Lord by chanting His holy names. (Hare Krishna).
Devotional service, beginning with the chanting of the holy name of the Lord, is the ultimate religious principle for the living entity in human society. SB 6.3.22
Author
Murari Das is supporter of ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. He is preaching about Krishna consciousness and message of Bhagavad Gita.
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