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

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi -9. I can tell you with all assurance that I am the happiest man not only now when there is a kitchen to cater to all individual whims and tastes, but I was also the happiest man when I had to receive Bhiksha from Nepali-Kshetra, as also Sri Swamiji had to. It is because I had no individuality, no idea or plan of my own; I allowed myself to be moulded by Sri Swamiji. There was one Swami Jagadeeswarananda with us whom Sri Swamiji trained as a good lecturer. Sri Swami Jagadeeswaranandaji's lectures on Concentration and Meditation were simply grand and eloquent. Again there is Swami Narayanji. In those days he was sweeping the Ashram and keeping it clean. Today also he does the same work. He finds immense pleasure in it. He derives supreme happiness from that work. How is it? He had no idea of his own.  He allowed Sri Swamiji to shape his career. Sri Swamiji, too, has made him a good Sankirtanist. Swami Naraya

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi -8. These descriptions in the beginning of the eighth chapter of the Bhagavadgita point out that we belong to all levels of existence. It is, therefore, not to be considered as something unwarranted that a time comes when we have to shed this body, because every day we are shedding the earlier components of our body in the process of rising into a more healthy condition. Cells of the body decompose every moment of time, and it is believed that every seven years all the cells are changed; we become new persons altogether. But we do not know that this is happening because of the identification of consciousness with every process that is taking place. Otherwise, if this linkage of development is not filled in by consciousness, we would feel jerks every time we jump or move from one level to another level. Such jerks are not experienced on account of a rapid action of consciousness, just as the rapid flashing of many still pictures on a scr

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi -7. Action is cosmic action, and the characteristic of all visible physical things is its perishable nature – bhuta-bhava-udbhava-karh   visargah   karma-samjnitah (Gita 8.3); adhibhutam   ksharo   bhavah   purushah-ca-adhidaivatam (Gita 8.4). The Purusha, who is the principle of cosmic sacrifice as we have it described in the Purusha Sukta, is also the indwelling presence in all our hearts. He is the source of individual sacrifices and right action, virtuous action, etc. He is the impeller from the recesses of our own heart. This is the source of individual impulses. Adhiyajnoham evatra (Gita 8.4) – the field of activity is also God Himself. God is the director of the drama of creation, as also the actor. He does not employ people to act in the theatre. He himself appears as all the actors in all forms of manifestation, and he also directs it from another point of view. He is the performer as well as the witness of all performances. Sw

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi -6. So, the origin of action – everybody’s action, up to the action of the atom – is impelled by this great Action of the Purusha. Really speaking, there are not many actions taking place in the world in terms of various individualities. One Action is taking place, as the rumbling of thousands of waves in the ocean is actually the one action of the ocean itself. Many actions are not taking place in the ocean; it is one impulse of the root and the heart of the bowels of the ocean that rises up as the waves. One action is taking place in the ocean; One Action is taking place in this cosmos also. The perishable nature of all things is called adhibhuta prapancha, the externalised projected form of physical nature. The very fact of being external is a tendency to evolution and destruction. Everything in this world evolves from the lower level to the higher level. What is called evolution is nothing but the destruction

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi -5. The supreme good, therefore, is the Supreme Brahman, the Ultimate Reality which is intimately, vitally, inextricably connected with svabhavah, which is called the Atman. The internal, essential nature of the human individual, known as the Atman or the Self, is the true nature of a person. That is why it is called svabhava, the true disposition of an individual. Our selfhood is what we are; and how we behave, how we act, and how we think and feel depend upon the true nature which is our own self displayed through the various categories constituting this psychophysical individuality. This is svabhava.  Action, in the real sense of the term, is the force that ejects this cosmos right from the topmost level of creation – the atomic bindu of creation, prior to the bursting of this total potentiality into the two halves of positive and negative forces. Everything, all action – any impulse whatsoever, down to the movemen

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi - 4. At the very beginning of the second chapter of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana this question is answered briefly, and reference to this is also made in the beginning of the eighth chapter of the Srimad Bhagavadgita when Bhagavan Sri Krishna says :- (Gita 8.3); aksharam   brahma   paramam   svabhavodhyatmamucyate, bhutabhavodbhavakaro   visargahn   karmasamjnitah. (Gita 8.4). adhibhutam   ksharo   bhavah   purushascadhidaivatam, adhiyajnohamevatra   dehe   dehabhrtamvara. Our involvements in this life are explained in this beautiful contextual answer of Bhagavan Sri Krishna to Arjuna when He says, “That which is the ultimate good is the Supreme Brahman.” A similar question was raised by Yudhishthira at the end of the Mahabharata war when he went to Bhishma, who was lying on a bed of arrows, and Bhishma’s answer was that it is better to remember Vishnu and recite his name one thousand names, not only at the e

1: King Parikshit’s Question to Suka Maharishi - 3. How are we to answer this question? What is good for any person?  In the freezing heights of the Himalayas, it is good to have a blanket over oneself. But a blanket is not good in the hot deserts of Africa; we would like to have cold water there. When we are hungry, it is good to have delicious food; when we are vomiting due to illness, it is good not to eat at all. Anyone who desires his or her own good cannot answer this question of what is actually good for oneself, because whatever answer we give, we will find it is connected to some cause thereof, and it is not the final good. Riches will end, the body will wither, and life is uncertain. None of these things connected with life in this world can be regarded as really good in their ultimate sense. Then, what is really good for the human individual? The difficulty in answering this question arises because we think that we are living only in this world of