Vedic Wisdom
The Essence of Bhagavatam- The Pinnacle of Puranas
Srimad Bhagavatam, which was first instructed to Brahma by Lord
himself, which Brahma instructed to Sage Narada and Narada instructed it
to Veda Vyasa in the form of Chatur Shloki – four verses- which consists the
essence of the great Bhagavatam, at a time when Sage Vysya was very
unhappy even after composing the Four Vedas, seventeen Puranas and the
Mahabharata. Sage Narada advised Veda Vysya to write the Bhagavatam in
entirety which he will envision thanks to this chatur shloki.
Veda Vysya then composed the Bhagavatam consisting of about 40000
verses explaining the various stories of the Lord and the Devotees dealing
on Karma, duty, rebirth, redemption, papa, punya etc.,
The fisrt shloki is about ‘Brahma Tatwam’; the second about ‘Jagat
Tatwam’; third being about ‘Maya Tatwam’ and the last one is Atma
Tatwam’- all of which forming part of ‘OM’ – the pranava mantra which are
the essence of the cosmic order and vedic wisdom.
The Brahma Tatwam is - God is the only power who was before
creation and who will be after the delusion and he is the one residing in
every being.
The Jagat tatwam is- the Lord who resides in and animates every
being and is also outside all the beings – in other words it is the sea of
consciousness outside and the same inside.
The Maya tatwam- is the universe is not just as apprehended
physically – there is much more; you have to discriminate and realize the
underlying God in every matter; the false identification only with the form
and not recognizing the substance is ‘maya’.
The Atma tatwam is to inquire, know, understand and realize the
Brahman who is within us.
If a person can achieve this, his life will be only full of bliss. Bhagavatam
talks about several stories how this was made possible.
Mind that matters
The other important point to be noted is that all these puranas
repeatedly point out that the evils originate only in the mind and then
envelopes the intellect and conscience making them silent spectators like
what Dhritarashtra , Shakuni and Duryodhana did to Bhishma, Drona,
Kripa and Vidura in Mahabarat.
Also we can note Surapadma came in six disguises – the six dirts of
mind namely-anger, lust, greed, pride, envy and illusion.
Similarly in Devi
Mahatmyam the Madhu-Kaitabha represented the mental dust of the
vanity; Mahishashura-the stupidity and Sumba Nishumbha-the false ego
and again we can see all of them are mental illnesses.
Similarly Ravana paid for lust; Duryodhana for Jealosy; Kamsa for
anger; Sisupala for pride; Hiraanyakasibu for vanity; again each of these are mind related illnesses and that is why we repeatedly say that it is only the
mind that matters and hence it is mind that should be nourished to be in the
divine world of eternal bliss.
To sum up
The human body, which can avail all benefits in life, is obtained
automatically by the laws of nature, although it is a very rare achievement.
This human body can be compared to a perfectly constructed boat having
the God as the captain and the Vedas as the favorable winds impelling it on
its course. An intelligent man will use all these advantages – gifted by
God-and cross the ocean of material existence and reach the world of
eternal bliss.
If he fails he must be treated as an utterly foolish man having
wasted the precious gift of the God. Puranas have again and again tried to
drill deep this into our mind and it is most unfortunate we have not made
the best use of them in shaping our younger generation.
This article is a snippet from the Book Vedic Wisdom, Authored by Pandit Sri Rama Sharma. Vedic Wisdom is available online at www.giri.in and across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture and Tradition.
GIRI is Also the Humble Recipient of "The BEST TOURIST FRIENDLY SHOPPING CENTER in Tamil Nadu" Award For The Year 2019.
To Know More and For Deeper Insights on Sanatana Dharma, Hinduism and Indian Culture and Tradition, Follow Us on.
0 Comments