A Summary of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapuranam ( 04/04/2013. )

Skandham-5. Chapter-4 & 5 Slokam- 19 & 1. Once while touring the world, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva, the Supreme Lord, reached a place known as Brahmavarta. There was a great conference of learned brahmanas at that place, and all the King’s sons attentively heard the instructions of the brahmanas there. At that assembly, within the hearing of the citizens, Rshabhadeva instructed His sons, although they were already very well behaved, devoted and qualified. He instructed them so that in the future they could rule the world very perfectly. Thus he spoke as follows : The instructions of Lord Rshabhadeva to His sons are very valuable if one wants to live peacefully within this world, which is full of miseries. In the next chapter, Lord Rshabhadeva gives His sons these valuable instructions. Chapter-5. ( Lord Rshabhadeva’s Teachings to His Sons ) :- Introduction :- Lord Rshabhadeva’s Teachings to His Sons In this chapter there is a description of bhagavata

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-17. Lord Rshabhadeva performed all kinds of sacrifices one hundred times according to the instructions of the Vedic literatures. Thus He satisfied Lord Vishnu in every respect. All the rituals were enriched by first-class ingredients. They were executed in holy places according to the proper time by priests who were all young and faithful. In this way Lord Vishnu was worshiped, and the prasadam was offered to all the demigods. Thus the functions and festivals were all successful.  A ritual should be performed by young men, even boys, at a tender age in order for the ritual to be performed successfully. From childhood, people should be trained in Vedic culture, especially in devotional service. In this way, one can perfect one’s life. A Vaishṇava does not disrespect the demigods, but on the other hand he is not so foolish that he accepts each and every demigod as the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is master of all demigods; therefore the

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-14. Being an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Rshabhadeva was fully independent because His form was spiritual, eternal and full of transcendental bliss. He eternally had nothing to do with the four principles of material misery [birth, death, old age and disease]. Nor was He materially attached. He was always equipoised, and He saw everyone on the same level. He was unhappy to see others unhappy, and He was the well-wisher of all living entities. Although He was a perfect personality, the Supreme Lord and controller of all, He nonetheless acted as if He were an ordinary conditioned soul. Therefore He strictly followed the principles of varnasrama-dharma and acted accordingly. In due course of time, the principles of varnasrama-dharma had become neglected; therefore through His personal characteristics and behavior, He taught the ignorant public how to perform duties within the varnasrama-dharma. In this way He regula

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-10. Following Bharata, there were ninety-nine other sons. Among these were nine elderly sons, named Kusavarta, Ilavarta, Brahmavarta, Malaya, Ketu, Bhadrasena, Indraspṛk, Vidarbha and Kikata. Slokam-11 & 12. In addition to these sons were Kavi, Havi, Antariksha, Prabuddha, Pippalayana, Avirhotra, Drumila, Camasa and Karabhajana. These were all very exalted, advanced devotees and authorized preachers of Srimad-Bhagavatham. These devotees were glorified due to their strong devotion to Vasudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore they were very exalted. To satisfy the mind perfectly, I [ Suka maharishi ] shall hereafter describe the characteristics of these nine devotees when I discuss the conversation between Narada and Vasudeva. Slokam-13. In addition to these nineteen sons mentioned above, there were eighty-one younger ones, all born of Rshabhadeva and Jayanti. According to the order of their father, they became w

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-9. Of Rshabhadeva’s one hundred sons, the eldest, named Bharata, was a great, exalted devotee qualified with the best attributes. In his honor, this planet has become known as Bharata-varsha. This place known as Bharata-varsha is also called punya-bhumi, the pious land. At the present moment Bharata-bhumi, or Bharata-varsha, is a small piece of land extending from the Himalaya Mountains to Cape Comorin. Sometimes this peninsula is called punya-bhumi. Śrī Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given special importance to the people of this land. bharata-bhumite haila manushya-janma yara janma sarthaka kari’ kara para-upakara “One who has taken his birth as a human being in the land of India (Bharata-varsha) should make his life successful and work for the benefit of all other people.” The inhabitants of this piece of land are very fortunate. They can purify their existence by accepting this Krishna consciousness movement and go outside Bharata-bhumi (In

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-8. After Nabhi Maharāja departed for Badarikasramam, the Supreme Lord, Rshabhadeva, understood that His kingdom was His field of activities. He therefore showed Himself as an example and taught the duties of a householder by first accepting brahmacarya under the direction of spiritual masters. He also went to live at the spiritual masters’ place, gurukula. After His education was finished, He gave gifts (guru-dakshina) to His spiritual masters and then accepted the life of a householder. He took a wife named Jayantī and begot one hundred sons who were as powerful and qualified as He Himself. His wife Jayantī had been offered to Him by Indra, the King of heaven. Rshabhadeva and Jayanti performed householder life in an exemplary way, carrying out ritualistic activities ordained by the sruti and smrti sastra. Being an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Rshabhadeva had nothing to do with material affairs. As stated in Bha

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-7. [The second prayer is this.] “Who is a better worshiper of brahmanas than Maharaja Nabhi? Because he worshiped the qualified brahmanas to their full satisfaction, the brahmanas, by their brahminical prowess, showed Maharaja Nabhi the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Narayana, in person.”  The brahmanas engaged as priests in the sacrificial ceremony were not ordinary brahmanas. They were so powerful that they could bring forth the Supreme Personality of Godhead by their prayers. Thus Maharaja Nabhi was able to see the Lord face to face. Unless one is a Vaishnava, he cannot call forth the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord does not accept an invitation unless one is a Vaishnava. Therefore it is said in Padma Puranam : Continues..

Skandham-5. Chapter-4. Slokam-6. O Maharaja Parikshit, to glorify Maharaja Nabhi, the old sages composed two verses. One of them is this: “Who can attain the perfection of Maharaja Nabhi? Who can attain his activities? Because of his devotional service, the Supreme Personality of Godhead agreed to become his son.” The words suddhena karmana are significant in this slokam. If work is not carried out in devotional service, it is contaminated by the modes of material nature. That is explained in Bhagavad-gita: yajnarthat karmano nyatra loko yam karma-bandhanah [Bg. 3.9]). Activities performed only for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord are pure and are not contaminated by the modes of material nature. All other activities are contaminated by the modes of ignorance and passion, as well as goodness. All material activities meant for satisfying the senses are contaminated, and Maharaja Nabhi did not perform anything contaminated. He simply executed his transcendental