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Published on:

13th Feb 2018

Bhagwat Mahatmay 2

Shrimad Bhagavata Mahapurana

Synopsis of the Second Session

Bhagavat Mahatmay 

Shri Guru Charan saroj raja,

neej manu mukur sudari.

Baranau raghubar bimal jasu,

jo dayaku fal chari.

Hanumanji, with the dust of your feet, we cleanse our heart, our very being. To make us fit to recite and hear the glories of Shri Hari. His Glories give us the eternal fruits. The fruit of Satya, Tapas, Dana and Sochya. If one hold on to even one of the four, the other three will follow and the the doors of Vaikuth are bound to open.

Dear Lord, this finite perishable being, is going to attempt to sing glories of you, The Infinite. You ,whom some define as not this, not this and some as, this also, this also. Whose end nobody has been able to reach. 

May your grace flow. 

- May our attention be like Arjun who aimed for the eye of the birds.

- May our learning be like Yudhishthira, who refused to utter a simple shloka without internalising and implement it. 

- May we be like the Sun, discipled in our Sadhna 

- May we be like Shiva, ever awake and alert in midst of darkness of Vices.

- May we build our material world, on the spiritual base, which simply put says, “All Good = God”.

- May we dwell in ‘Pratiksa’. Have the patience to wait as long as it takes, till the truth is revealed. 

- May we have the urge to be with you all the time. Till we start seeing you in everything and every action becomes an act of devotion.

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“Bhagwata is my Bow, I am the Arrow and I aim to reach you My Lord”

We can sum up the Bhagwata or any other granth, in two lines;

“Parahit kar baan prabhu ka aabhari.

Parapida/paraninda saam paap nahin bhari”

To reach this state in thought word and deed, simply put is the Mahatmaye of Bhagwata.

—————————————————

Bhawatam was narrated for the first time to dispel Gloom, and re-narrated to establish the Listner in ‘Chid Ananad’ - “Never Ending Bliss”.

- The Infinite power narrated it to Brahma (4 Shloka)

- Narada Muni to Veda Vyasa (4 Shlokas)

- Shivji to Paravati and Sukhdevji

- Veda Vyasa to Sukhdev Muni (18000 shlokas)

From 4 Shloka, ‘The Chatusloki Bhagwata’, Veda Vyasa went on to expand it to 12 Books, 332 Chapter and 18000 Shlokas (verses). It takes at least 30 hours to read the Sanskrit Verses.

If it can dispel the vacuum of Brahma and Veda Vyasa, we can be freed of our impending vacuum as well. Are we not always in a state of flux, moving from momentary joys to sorrow.

“Saab kuch hai mere paas, 

najane kya hai khoya.

Khusiyo ki nikli barat,

aur mera dil roya.

Najane kesi jang Laad rahe hai hum, 

No koi gaam hai na udhasi,

Phir bhi tadap rahe hai hum.


Kesi hai yeh ulzan, 

kyo yeh saab sikh rahe hai hum.

Khud na samaj paaye,

auro ko samjane chale hai aapna gaam.”

This epidemic which has struck the old and the young alike in the form of ‘Depression’ can be eradicated by ‘Shrimad Bhagwata Mahapurana”. It can lead us;

- From the momentary ’Sukh’ to eternal ‘Bliss’

- From the external seek, to the internal find

- From the incomplete self, to the complete in self 

- From the finite and perishable, to the infinite and eternal

—————————————————

Lets get to know our Author, Narrator and Seeker (Detailed story narrated in the session)

Author -Veda Vyasa 

He is the son of Parasharji(a renowned astrologer) and Satyavati. Born under planetary conditions, fit for the birth of the 29th Veda Vyasa.

‘Ved Vyasa is a title which is given to new Vyasa in every Chaturyuga, in this Chaturyuga it is Given to the great Krishna Dwaipayana son of Bramharishi Parashara.’

Pls Note: It is so beautiful to know that our Veda also evolve to fit the need of the time. 

Krishna Dwaipayana Veda Vyasa compiled the Vedas in order to simplify their study, the meaning of the word Vyasa here is Arranger or compiler. So Veda Vyasa Translates to 'The Compiler of Vedas.’ He

- Compiled the Vedas 

- Wrote the Brahma Sutra

- Wrote the Mahabharata (which has the Gita in it)

- Wrote the 17 Purana

Finally, on being guided by Narad Muni, in an effort to go beyond Dharma, Artha, kama and Mokha, he wrote Bhagwatam - which is nothing but ‘Divine Love’. 

After writing the 18th Purana, that is ‘Bhagavata’. He did not write any further, as his vacuum was now filled with ‘Prabhu Prem’.

“Potha paad paad jagmua,

pandit bhaya na koi.

Dhai aakhar prem ke, 

paade so pandit hoye.’


Narrator - Sukhdevji Muni

He is the son of Vedavyasa and Vatika. Who heard the Bhagvata from none other than Lord Shiv and later his father. He is the student of Raja Janak and a chiranjivi. 

His name Sukh, means a parrot, hence many say he is a parrot faced Muni. On the other hand, his name also means Sukhdev, the God of Joy. For he is the donor of ‘Anand’, in the form of Bhagvata Katha.

While listening to his narration of Bhagavata, we have to remember;

- He is one who dwell in world untouched by Maya, one with all, above all duality.

- He is the one, who sees all as ’Soul’, hence he is beyond identifying others, based on Gender.

- He shows us the dedication, determination and discipline of a true seeker, student. 

- He shows us how divine a ‘Grihastha’ can be, when the Guru Shisya relationship is established between Guru Janak and Shisya Shukhdev. 

- He shows us the power of humility and constant learning from everyone.


Seeker/Requester - Udhavji 

He is the friend and counsellor of Krishna. Some text say he was the cousin of Krishan, being the son of Devabhaga who was the brother of Vasudev. 

It is because of him that Krishna, entered the bhagavata instead of going to Vaikunth or Sheersagar, after leaving his `Human Form’. In other words, Bhagavata is the very essence of Krishna himself.

He was a Gyani, a ‘nirgun, nirakar upasak’ who the Gopis thought the power of ‘sagun saarkar Prabhu Bhakti. Uddhava was so filled with the devotion of the gopis towards Lord Krishna that he stayed in Vrindavan for awhile and asked the Gopis to be his Guru. The Gopis said; 

"When Akura came to Vrindvan, he took our Krishna with him, and now are you here to take away his memories too, from us?", to which Uddhava is speechless.

Can there be Gyan without Bhakti?

Can there be Bhakti without Love?

Saachi preeti prabhu se ho tou, murat bole kaath ki..

Nirakar, Saakar hogaye bhakto ke aaangan mai.. 

That unbound, can be bound only with Love ..


Jai Shri Krishna🙏

Jai Hanuman🙏

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About the Podcast

Shruti Says
As I learn I share my humble learning.

- Ramcharitmanas (Ramayan)- 3 Episodes (Currently conducting session)
- Bhaj Govindam - 23 Episodes
- Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran - 65 Episodes
- Geeta - 29 Episodes
- Sunderkand - 7 Episodes
- Vibhishan Gita (Completed) - 15 Episodes
- Navratri - Inner Awakening (Completed) - 1 Episode

Why this Endeavour?

All machines come with manuals, we read the manuals before we operate them. However, this complex machine called ‘human’ is used without any guidance. The scriptures are the ‘Manuals for Humans’. The sooner we ‘Understand’ them, the better the type of life we will lead and better directed our pursuits will be.

We are sitting on a store house of rich scriptures. The wisdoms that abides in them is immense. However, most of the time this precious knowledge is kept covered in an orange cloth, in a sacred corner and removed occasionally for chants and obeisance.

The effort here is to make these a daily read for us. We should be able to pick up any scripture, Just like one effortlessly picks up a novel, magazine, newspaper, etc. any time, anywhere, read, interpret and experience it.

As one of the saints once said,

How long are you going to read other people’s experience?

When will you experience it yourself?

There can be multiple interpretations. Delve deeper into your very being and after that constant musing, what is it that you feel this reveals?

Details on the Books;

Bhaj Govindam

This is a hard hitting composition to awaken us by the great Guru Shankaracharya.
My learnings from Bhaj Govindam is a written expression, kindly refer to the notes below the audio.

Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran

This is a Mahapuran, written by Vedvyasaji and narrated by his son Sukhdevji to Raja Pariksit.
Note: Pls refer to the notes to see which Skanda and chapter the session talks about. Currently we are in the 9th Skandh or Book.

Geeta

This is widely known, and is a part of Mahabharat. It is a divine dialogue between Shri Krishna and Arjun.
The sessions are verse 24 onwards. Verse from 1 to 23 were not recorded, as at that time we had face to face sessions.

Sundarkand

This is a part of the Ramayan. Here, the great devotee Hanumanji, shows us essence of devotion. We are referring to the Tulsi Ramayan - RamcharitraManas

Vibhisan Gita (Complete)

This was done while understanding Shri Ram in Bhagwat, however the material was taken from Ramayan
- Vibhishan Gita (Part of Tulsi Ramayan - Lanka Kand - Completed)

May God's Grace Flow

About your host

Profile picture for Barkha Khandelwal / Barkha Sharda

Barkha Khandelwal / Barkha Sharda

I am Barkha by name, there are various ways one can introduce ones self, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend etc in simple words, a house-holder.

The other way would be to put forth my qualifications and career. Well, from that point of view, I am an MBA from IIM-Lucknow. Have had a short stint in 'Gillette', later worked in ‘Coca-Cola’ and post which I started my own venture by the name of ‘Good Life Endeavors’.

However, the corporate world is the thing of the past as of now. It has been years since the profession was left for a Vocation and a career for a calling. I have found immense solace in learning and narrating from the scriptures.

The journey of a Story-Teller and a Sadhika (an aspiring devotee), has been an experience, which is difficult to put in words. I will just let,

"What comes from the heart go to the heart"