Srimad Bhagavatam Skanda 1 - Remembering the Splendour of supremacy firmly with complete faith and devotion
 |
| Hare Srinivasa |
My salutations to you.
We saw that immediately after the disappearance of
Lord Sri Krishna, Kali had placed his feet on this earth. Bheemasena, Arjuna,
Nakula and Sahadeva saw the advent of immorality, wickedness, jealousy, greed,
and so on in the common people by the domination of Kali. Realizing that the
common man had very little space for them in their mind and consciousness,
directed their mind towards the Lotus Feet of the Lord to follow King
Yudhishthira and ascended to Heaven.
Subsequently, King Parikshit after taking control
of the reins of the kingdom took up Dijvijaya Yatra to establish his victory in
all directions. One day he encountered Kali.
Though appearing like a person of the working class serving the society
as a farmer or a smith, Kali had dressed in the royal robes fit only for the
Kings. King Parikshit saw the Kali kicking the legs of an innocent couple, a
cow, and a bullock. Hence, he hurried towards Kali and ordered him with
punishment. This is the last fame to control the Kali held by king Parikshit.
Sri Shaunaka rishi asked, Sri Suta Puranika! Why
did King Parikshit leave Kali unkilled? Even for a King, kicking the innocent
and a holy cow is a heinous crime exhibiting disgrace! Should there be the
Glory of Lord, or narration of his sports charm, or even have the story of his
beloved devotees who relish the nectar from the Lotus feet of Lord, please
continue with this story. Else, what is the point of chit-chatting on worldly
issues, or hearing the story of Kali, or his associates? All of these can only
take away our lifespan?
Answering Shaunaka rishi, Sri Suthacaharya started
narrating the conversation between God Dharma in the form of Bullock and
Goddess Earth as Bhoo Devi. Bhoo Devi sang,
ज्ञानं विरक्तिरैश्वर्यं शौर्यं तेजो धृति स्मृतिः ।
स्वातन्त्र्यं कौशलं कान्तिर्धैर्यं मार्दवमेव च ॥ २७॥
We have seen the attributes of Jnana or Knowledge,
Vairagya or Dispassion towards worldly matter; ऐश्वर्य or Aishwarya or Lordship; शौर्यं or Shaurya
or Bravery of Heroism! The next attribute of Lord sung by Bhoodevi is, the Lord
has तेज or Tejas or
Splendor in his supremacy. This comes from him being अप्रधृष्य or
invincible. He is Ajaya. No evil nor vice can win over him.
Worshiping Lord, and doing Yoga with his
attributes of ऐश्वर्य or Aishwarya, having absolute Lordship who
exercises दम or dama to oppress the evil, and has शौर्यं or Shaurya or Bravery of Heroism, who doesn’t run away from a fight, or
a battle, or war, Lord would bless us a spark of similar splendor to our
capacity. No external enemy, nor the internal enemies like Kama, Krodha, Lobha,
Moha, Madha, or Matsarya will be able to influence us let alone win.
The next attribute of Lord sung by Bhoo Devi is धृति or Driti to bear firmly. Bearing an Idea or premise firmly is also Driti.
Mother
Earth also holds us firmly without falling. So too the God Sesha holds mother
earth firmly on his hood. God Sesha has been held by God Vayu firmly. Lord and
Goddess bears all of these in their Kurma Roopa or the form of Tortoise firmly.
God Vayu is exemplary as being firm and complete.
In his form of Hanuman, has unwavering faith in the greatness of Lord Sri Rama,
in this world, he has created, and self-confidence in himself. As Bheema and as
Madhva too, the attribute of Driti is firm and complete.
यस्याम्भसि शयानस्य योगनिद्रां वितन्वतः ।
नाभिह्रदाम्बुजादासीद्ब्रह्मा विश्वसृजां पतिः ॥
After the creation of Brahmanda or the Universe
including the cosmic ocean, The Lord Purusha entered the universe. Taking a
sleeping posture on the primordial water and with Yoga Nidra gulped the
darkness appearing as Purusha. From his naval sprang a lotus giving birth to
God Brahma the father of Daksha.
यस्यावयवसंस्थानैः कल्पितो लोकविस्तरः ।
तद्वै भगवतो रूपं विशुद्धं सत्त्वमूर्जितम् ॥
From the body and the limbs of Lord Purusha who
has the Virat Roopa of omniform, all the 14 lokas or regions were formed. This
way the entire universe is a shape and form of Lord Bhagavan who is Virtuous,
full of good attributes, Knowledge, Strength, and a foundation for all beings.
This pure and satvika form of Lord is very auspicious, supreme, and excellent.
By Worshipping this way, doing yoga with this
attribute of the Lord who not only carries physically the entire universe on
himself firmly but also the wellbeing of the universe and all the beings or Jivas
on it, one will be blessed to support all the dependent. Or in other words, the
behavior to support their dependents will manifest.
After धृति or Driti,
Bhoo Devi calls Lord as स्मृति or Smriti or being
remembered. If we
believe that the Lord has to remember something, then naturally it implies that
he forgets. Hence, a question arises if to remember is an attribute or an
apathy? However, our Lord is omniscient
with all knowledge conscious always. Hence, Smriti in Lord means his seeing
towards a Jiva with the intent of blessings.
We came across Shaunaka Rishi saying Sri
Sutacharya,
क्षुद्रायुषां नृणामङ्ग मर्त्यानामृतमिच्छताम् ।
इहोपहूतो भगवान् मृत्युः शामित्रकर्मणि ॥ ७॥
Revered Puranika! Though there are those desirous
and focussed to break the cycle of death and birth through Prasada or the
divine gift of the Lord, they come with short lifespans. They succumb to death
before even starting any serious practice of Yoga.
Therefore, the priests carrying out the sacrifice
regularly have invited the God of death – Yama; Mrityunjaya – God Shiva, who
has won the death over Yama and causes death even to the King of Yama i.e. God
Indra during pralaya; Mukhya Prana – who causes death to even to Mrityunjaya;
and मृत्योऱ मृत्युं – Lord Narasimha, who is the cause of death to
the one who causes death to Mrityunjaya, i.e. Mukhya Prana. They have them here
in शामित्रकर्म of friendly acts for thousands of years till The
Spiritual Gathering of Naimisharanya is completed.
न कश्चिन्म्रियते तावद्यावदास्त इहान्तकः ।
एतदर्थं हि भगवानाहूतः परमर्षिभिः ।
अहो नृलोके पीयेत हरिलीलामृतं वचः ॥ ८॥
As long as we are engaged in this spiritual
gathering of hearing, recollecting, analyzing to understand Srimad Bhagavata
and implement its proponents, death would not occur. Even those of us who have
a short lifespan can relish the taste of the nectar called Srimad Bhagavata.
Therefore, priests have invited Gods, Yama, Shiva, and Mukya Prana here. And
also their Lord Narsimha.
मन्दस्य मन्दप्रज्ञस्य वयो मन्दायुषश्च वै ।
निद्रया ह्रियते नक्तं दिवा च व्यर्थकर्मभिः ॥ ९॥
The lifespan of the people of Kali Yuga is very
short. It is just 120 years. And those people cannot even complete their span
as they carry the sin of अल्पायुस् or short life. Together with being short-lived,
they are dull too. Hence, the people of Kali Yuga waste most of their time in
sleep, day to day activities of life including worldly affairs, and time to
earn materialistic happiness said Sri Shaunaka filled with concern towards us,
the people of Kaili Yuga.
The short lifespans of Jiva result in lakhs of
deaths and births. In each such lifespan, the Jiva would have accomplished some
merits and many sins. Keeping an account of all this and blessing the Jiva at
the appropriate time is Smriti or being remembered by Lord! By worshipping this
way or doing yoga this attribute of being remembered by the Lord would be
blessed with unfailing memory.
Consistent with Sri Shaunika rishi’s request, we
come across this conversation between Goddess Bhoo Devi and God Dharma Raja in
the form of Cow and bullock respectively. For remembering the Lord and singing
his glory, Bhoo Devi has culled the names of the Lord like picking the white
flowers of Parijata having an orange stalk to offer to Lord Sri Krishna.
The compassionate Lord Veda Vyasa has sung the
Vishu Sahasranama in the rhyme and rhythm of Anustup Chandas. Let’s take a look
at the below excerpt from the same:
धनुर्धरो धनुर्वेदो दंडो दमयिता दमः।
अपराजितः सर्वसहो नियंता नियमो यमः॥
Lord! You are the indweller of God Yama providing
justice. You are the Supreme Justice, taking responsibility for all of us, you
instill self-discipline in us. You are stainless without an iota of
intolerance. Lord! You are the supreme archer, the source for science of
archery, and have never been defeated. You control & punish the wicked.
ओजस्तेजोद्युतिधर: प्रकाशात्मा प्रतापन:।
ऋद्ध: स्पष्टाक्षरो मन्त्रश्चन्द्रांशुर्भास्करद्युति:॥३०॥
Oh, Lord! Your splendid supremacy in vigor,
skills, and abilities is radiant like a high noon sun shining brilliantly
providing heat. Like the radiant of the sun shatters the early morning dew and
haze, your brilliance shatters the ignorance bestowing clear and clean
knowledge including bhakti and Vairagya. You are Shabda Brahaman, residing in
each of the mantras breaking the entanglement with Prakriti.
However, in the Lotus of Heart of Yogis, Oh Lord!
Your brilliance surpasses that of thousands of Suns raised together with the pleasantness of thousand’s of the full moon.
In the फलश्रुति or
fruit or benefit of reading of Vishnu Sahasranama, Lord Veda Vyasa says,
इमं स्तवमधीयानः श्रद्धाभक्तिसमन्वितः ।
युज्येतात्मसुखक्षान्तिश्रीधृतिस्मृतिकीर्तिभिः ॥
Reciting Lord’s stainless names manifesting
innumerable attributes with faith and devotion will bear firmly with comfort,
divine serenity, abundant wealth, elephant memory, and fame.
This way, the Sanathana or the oldest dharma explains the behavioral science, instills self-discipline to work on Prarabdha Karma, and improves personality on the way to accomplish Purushartha or objectives of Life.
|| Hari Om ||
|| Sri
Krishnarpanamastu ||
Comments
Post a Comment