Source
Texts:
The
Glories of S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam
Text
1
Sûta
said: "The Godhead whom Brahmâ, Indra, Rudra and the
children of heaven [Maruts]
praise with transcendental prayers; whom the Sâma-veda
chanters with arrangements of mantras with the Vedas, their
limbs [the angas],
and the upanishads
sing about; whom seeing in their mind the yogîs in the
meditative position fix upon; and whose end is not known to any
of the enlightened or unenlightened; unto Him I offer my
obeisances.
Sûta
Gosvâmî said: Unto that personality whom
Brahmâ, Varuna, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by
chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with
all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upanishads, to whom
the chanters of the Sâma Veda always sing, whom the
perfected yogîs see within their minds after fixing
themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within Him,
and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or
demon-unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my
humble obeisances.
Text
2
By the
scratching edges of the stones of Mandara
mountain, most
heavily rotating upon His back, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead in the form of a tortoise [Kûrma]
became sleepy; may all of you be protected by the winds and the
eb and flow-tides of the water that are the traces remaining to
the flow of His breathing.
When
the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord
Kûrma, a tortoise, His back was scratched by the
sharp-edged stones lying on massive, whirling Mount Mandara,
and this scratching made the Lord sleepy. May you all be
protected by the winds caused by the Lord's breathing in
this sleepy condition. Ever since that time, even up to the
present day, the ocean tides have imitated the Lord's
inhalation and exhalation by piously coming in and going
out.
Text
3
Please listen
to a summation of the counting [of the verses] of this
[purâna], the purpose of its subject matter, the
gifting and the glory of that gift-giving, and its reading and
reciting and so on.
Now
please hear a summation of the verse length of each of the
Purânas. Then hear of the prime subject and purpose of
this Bhâgavata Purâna, the proper method of
giving it as a gift, the glories of such gift-giving, and
finally the glories of hearing and chanting this
literature.
Text
4-9
The
Brahmâ Purâna has ten thousand verses, the Padma
Purâna fifty-five thousand, the S'rî Vishnu
Purâna twenty-three thousand and the S'iva Purâna
twenty-four thousand. The S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam
eighteen thousand, the Nârada Purâna twenty-five
thousand, the Mârkandeya Purâna nine thousand and
the Agni Purâna fifteen thousand four hundred. The
Bhavishya Purâna has fourteen thousand five hundred, the
Brahma-vaivarta Purâna eighteen thousand and the Linga
Purâna eleven thousand. The Varâha Purâna
twenty-four thousand, the Skanda Purâna eighty-one
thousand one hundred and the Vâmana Purâna is
described in ten thousand. The Kûrma Purâna is said
to have seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purâna fourteen
thousand of them, next the Garuda Purâna with nineteen
thousand and the Brahmânda Purâna so with twelve
thousand. In sum are in the Purânas this way described a
four hundred thousand of them [*].
Eighteen thousand, as said, are of the
Bhâgavatam
[see further under purâna].
The
Brahmâ Purâna consists of ten thousand verses,
the Padma Purâna of fifty-five thousand, S'rî
Vishnu Purâna of twenty-three thousand, the S'iva
Purâna of twenty-four thousand and
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam of eighteen thousand. The
Nârada Purâna has twenty-five thousand verses,
the Mârkandeya Purâna nine thousand, the Agni
Purâna fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhavishya
Purâna fourteen thousand five hundred, the
Brahma-vaivarta Purâna eighteen thousand and the Linga
Purâna eleven thousand. The Varâha Purâna
contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda
Purâna eighty-one thousand one hundred, the
Vâmana Purâna ten thousand, the Kûrma
Purâna seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purâna
fourteen thousand, the Garuda Purâna nineteen thousand
and the Brahmânda Purâna twelve thousand. Thus
the total number of verses in all the Purânas is four
hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again,
belong to the beautiful Bhâgavatam.
Text
10
This was by the
Supreme Personality of God [Narâyâna,
see 3.8-10]
out of mercy first in full revealed to Brahmâ who fearful
of a material existence sat upon the lotus growing from His
navel [see also 1.1:
1].
It
was to Lord Brahmâ that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead first revealed the S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam in
full. At the time, Brahmâ, frightened by material
existence, was sitting on the lotus flower that had grown
from the Lord's navel.
Text
11-12
From the
beginning to the end full with accounts on detachment is it,
with the nectar of its many narrations of the Lord's pastimes,
delighting the saintly and godly. To the essence of all
vedânta philosophy has it the One Reality Without a
Second, that is characterized as the Absolute Truth
[brahma, the impersonal] non-different from the One
Soul [âtma, the personal], as its prime subject
and the beatitude [of emancipation in devotional service or
kaivalya] as the one ultimate goal
[**].
From
beginning to end, the S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam is full
of narrations that encourage renunciation of material life,
as well as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari's transcendental
pastimes, which give ecstasy to the saintly devotees and
demigods. This Bhâgavatam is the essence of all
Vedânta philosophy because its subject matter is the
Absolute Truth, which, while nondifferent from the spirit
soul, is the ultimate reality, one without a second. The
goal of this literature is exclusive devotional service unto
that Supreme Truth.
Text
13
He who as a
gift gives the Bhâgavatam in full glory ['in the full
of the golden throne'] on the day of the full moon in the
month Bhâdra [August/September] reaches the
supreme destination.
If
on the full moon day of the month of Bhâdra one places
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam on a golden throne and gives
it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental
destination.
Text
14
Other classical
collections of stories [other bibles, other purânas
or holy scriptures] shine forth in the assembly of the
saintly only for as long as the great ocean of nectar of the
Bhâgavatam isn't heard.
All
other Puranic scriptures shine forth in the assembly of
saintly devotees only as long as that great ocean of nectar,
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam, is not heard.
Text
15
The
S'rîmad Bhâgavatam indeed is said to be the essence
of all vedântic philosophy; for the one satisfied by its
nectarean taste is there never an attraction
elsewhere.
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam
is declared to be the essence of all Vedânta
philosophy. One who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean
mellow will never be attracted to any other
literature.
Text
16
To all
purânas is this one just like the Ganges is to all rivers
flowing to the sea, Acyuta is to all deities and
S'ambhu
[S'iva] is to all devotees.
Just
as the Gangâ is the greatest of all rivers, Lord
Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord S'ambhu
[S'iva] the greatest of Vaishnavas, so
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam is the greatest of all
Purânas.
Text
17
The same way
that Kâs'î [Benares] indeed is unexcelled
among all holy places is the S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam so
among the many Purânas, o twice born ones.
O
brâhmanas, in the same way that the city of
Kâs'î is unexcelled among holy places,
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam is supreme among all the
Purânas.
Text
18
The
S'rîmad Bhâgavatam is the spotless purâna in
which, most dear to the vaishnavas, by the topmost devotees
only, the spiritual knowledge perfectly pure and supreme is
celebrated; in there is, together with the knowledge, the
detachment and the devotion, the freedom from all fruitive
labor revealed which will deliver a person who, with devotion
hearing and properly reading and reciting, is of serious
consideration.
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam
is the spotless Purâna. It is most dear to the
Vaishnavas because it describes the pure and supreme
knowledge of the paramahamsas. This Bhâgavatam reveals
the means for becoming free from all material work, together
with the processes of transcendental knowledge, renunciation
and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to understand
S'rîmad-Bhâgavatam, who properly hears and
chants it with devotion, becomes completely
liberated.
Text
19
I meditate upon
the incomparable torch light of the Immortal Truth Free from
Sorrow, long ago revealed to the deity ['Ka' or
Brahmâ], by which this transcendental knowledge pure
and uncontaminated was spoken to Nârada the great sage
who delivered it by his personal form to
Krishna-dvaipâyana Vyâsa who then clarified it to
the king of the yogîs [S'ukadeva] who out of
mercy then enlightened [Parîkchit] the grace of
the Fortunate One with it.
I
meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth,
who is free from suffering and death and who in the
beginning personally revealed this incomparable torch light
of knowledge to Brahmâ. Brahmâ then spoke it to
the sage Nârada, who narrated it to
Krishna-dvaipâyana Vyâsa. S'rîla
Vyâsa revealed this Bhâgavatam to the greatest
of sages, S'ukadeva Gosvâmî, and S'ukadeva
mercifully spoke it to Mahârâja
Parîkshit.
Text
20
Obeisances to
Him, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Vâsudeva,
the Supreme Witness who mercifully explained this to the deity
in want of liberation.
We
offer our obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
Lord Vâsudeva, the all-pervading witness, who
mercifully explained this science to Brahmâ when he
anxiously desired salvation.
Text
21
Obeisances to
him, the king of the yogîs, S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî, the personal manifestation of the Absolute
Truth who freed [Parîkchit] the grace of Vishnu
who was bitten by the snake of material
existence.
I
offer my humble obeisances to S'rî S'ukadeva
Gosvâmî, the best of mystic sages and a personal
manifestation of the Absolute Truth. He saved
Mahârâja Parîkshit, who was bitten by the
snake of material existence.
Text
22
O Lord, because
You are our Master, the Lord of the Divinity, please make it so
that life after life the bhakti at Your feet will
arise.
O
Lord of lords, O master, please grant us pure devotional
service at Your lotus feet, life after life.
Text
23
I offer my
obeisances to Him the Supreme Lord whose congregational
chanting of the holy name destroys all sins and to whom bowing
down the misery is extinguished.
I
offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Hari,
the congregational chanting of whose holy names destroys all
sinful reactions, and the offering of obeisances unto whom
relieves all material suffering.
*
Next, so
affirms the Matsya Purâna, are there to the purâna
also a hundred thousand verses found in the Itihâsa (the
single history) of Vyâsa's Mahâbhârata and a
25.000 in the Itihâsa of Vâlmîki's
Ramâyana. Thus the complete number of verses for the
complete collection of classical stories amounts to 525.000
[the smaller upa-purânas
not counted].
**
This reminds of the theme of Krishna as the Time, Kâla,
and Krishna as the person, the Supreme Soul, the Original
Person. The world seems to be divided in impersonalist science,
philosophy and governance at the one hand and personalist
religion of detachment and personal sentiment in civil
attachment at the other. But with respecting the Time as it
should finding the person and with respecting the person as it
should finding the Time is the problem solved knowing the
oneness of the personal and impersonal to be our equal friend
and guiding father in the beyond Lord Krishna who as the last
word to it states: (in B.G. 18:
6)
'But with all these activities must without doubt, performing
them out of duty, the association with their results be given
up; that, o son of Prithâ, is My last and best word on
it.' Thus are we, free from ulterior motives - the way this
book was written in gratitude for a social security check -, of
emancipation in devotional service.
