Bhagavatam Booklet 1 – Chirag Patel
1-1-1
janmaadyasya yatoanvayaaditaratashchvaartheshhvabhijnah svaraaT |
tene brahma hryudaa ya aadikavaye muhyanti yatsoorayah ||
tejo vaarimrudaam yathaa vinimayo yatra trisargoamrushhaa |
dhaamnaa svena sadaa nirastakuhakam satyam param dheemahi ||
Meaning:
One who taught the vedas which confuses learned scholars to brahmaa; One who creates, retains and destroys this world; One who knows everything and who is knowledge; such is God whom we meditate. Like mirage is seen thru’ sun rays, still water is seen as glass, or glass is seen as water – are all illusions but truth; similarly this world created by One with three guNas – sattva, rajas, tamas – is illusion and seen as truth. Also, whose grace removes treachery of maayaa that is ignorance; One who is present as truth in all three states (creation, retention, destruction) and in all three times (past, present, future); we meditate upon such God.
[These very first shlokas mention three states of existence – creation, retention, destruction. It talks about some physical phenomena – mirage and glass. At that time, such observations and terms were in use. God is a concept which does not have physical or any other type of existence. If God exists, God is subject to creation and destruction. The entity which is subject to existence cannot be ever present or cannot be the source of all. The goal of bhagavatam is thus set to find this eternal truth.]
When vyaasa were thinking of future generations, he guessed that in kaliyuga, humans would be short lived, feeble, non-believers and lifeless. So, he divided veda into four divisions. Then, he created mahaabhaarata. He was still agitated internally. One day naarada visited him and asked him to write a book which would describe krushNa‘s glory in detail.
This whole world is naaraayaNa and every soul is also naaraayaNa.
1-5-37 vaasudeva gaayatree mantra given to naarada by sages:
namo bhagavate tubhyam vaasudevaaya dheemahi |
pradyumnaayaaniruddhaaya namah sankarshhaNaayacha ||
Meaning:
I bow to and meditate upon God as vaasudeva, pradyumna, aniruddha, sankarshhaNa.
[These 4 forms of God are grouped as shreevigraha. krushNa or vaasudeva was son of vasudeva. pradyumna and aniruddha were krushNa‘s sons. balaraama or sankarshhaNa was krushNa‘s brother. sankarshhaNa is considered a form of ahamkaara (self indulgence) to meditate upon, aniruddha is for mind, pradyumna is for intellect and vaasudeva is for consciousness.]
When karmas are offered to God, they do not bind to samsaara (worldly deeds and attachments).
Root cause of every sorrow is mind.
There are seven notes – shhaDaj, rushhabh, gaandhaar, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat, nishhaad.
bhakti (devotion) brings peace to mind and soul effortlessly.
bhaagavata avasthaa is the state when one forgets self (and soul) while remembering brahman such as saakara (sugar stone) melts into milk and becomes milk.
[People at that time had sugar stones made by lumping melted sugar of canes.]
keertana (singing songs in praise of God) detaches one from world and brings to God.
In kaliyuga, praying God’s form brings faster results.
[Praying God in any form is fine. God is above any form. So, any form that one can have the highest regards is the one to devote to.]
vyaasa sat in meditation in his aashrama (specially built huts) named shamyaapraasa at the bank of river sarasvati. He realized God and maayaa and found the truth behind naarada‘s words on bhaagavatam.
vyaasa selected following two shlokas and asked his disciples to keep chanting around son shuka to bring him back to learn bhagavatam. They are:
3-2-23
aho bakee yam stanakaalakooTam jighaansayaapaayayadapyasaadhvee |
lebhe gatim dhaatryuchitaantatoanyam kam vaa dayaalum sharaNam vrajema ||
Meaning:
Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than One who granted the position of mother to a pootanaa (she-demon) although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast?
10-21-5
barhaapeeDam naTavaravapuhu karNayo karNikaaram
bibhradvaasaha kanakakapisham vaijayanteem cha maalaam |
randhraanveNoradharasudhayaa poorayan gopavrundai –
rvrundaaraNyam svapadaramaNam praavishad – geetakeertihi ||
Meaning:
shreekrushNa had dress like the best actor, he had crown with peacock feather, he had two karNikaar flowers (kanak champaa or bayur tree or dinner plate tree or muchookund) in ears, he wore peetaambara (loin cloth) with golden yellow color, he had vaijayantee (grass seeds found in present day Uttar Pradesh state in India or panya grass seeds or white bead seeds) garland around neck. He was filling flute holes with nectar from his lower lip and gopas (cow herders) were chanting his praise. Such shreekrushNa entered beautiful vrundaavana (region in present day Uttar Pradesh) and started playing flute.