Chapter 30
The Science of Salvation - the Bhagavatha
Path
"Maharaja!
The great Tree that Bhagavatha is, truly inspires
reverential awe. It has, incorporated in it, every
conceivable source of auspiciousness and joy. The Lord,
Sri Narayana is the seed from which it has sprouted. The
sprout is Brahman. The trunk of the Tree is Narada. Vyasa
constitutes the branches. Its sweet fruit is the
nectarine story of Krishna. Those earnest souls that
yearn for that nectar, and pine plaintively, regardless
of bodily comfort or the passage of the years, until they
secure the fruit and imbibe its essence, such are real
saints and yogis. (See
also Srimad
Bhagavatam
Canto 1, Chapter 1: Questions by the Sages)
0, ye ascetics and
sages! This day, I am relating to you that Bhagavatha
Sastra, that enchanting story of Krishan; treasure it in
your memory and save yourself from delusion and grief,
You have listened to the recitals of all Sastras already.
You have also mastered all Sadhanas. But, you have not
known the greatest of them all. I shall now give you the
sacred Name of Krishna and the Sweetness that is flowing
from it. It is the sweetest name one can conceive; when
it falls on the ear, the heart is filled with joy; when
you recall the Name to memory, a stream of Love springs
from the heart. The Bhagavatha inspires and promotes deep
devotion to Lord Krishna.
The Universal Absolute,
the Birthless Formless, Unmanifest, Infinite, too on
limitations of Name and Form, and concretized Itself as
Avathars (Incarnations) on many occasions and manifested
countless instances of Divine Intercession and Grace.
Through these, as well as the characteristics assumed and
the ideas propagated, God saved mankind from downfall.
Those who sing the story of this Glory, those who listen
eagerly to the recital, those who imbibe and digest the
lessons conveyed, these are the real devotees. They are
the Bhagavathas, those who follow the path laid down in
the Bhagavatha. Bhagavatha binds Bhaktha with Bhagavan;
that is to say, the Story fills you with God, and
transmutes you into Divinity.
God incarnates, not
merely for the destruction of the wicked; that is just an
excuse, one of the obvious reasons. Really speaking God
incarnates for the sake of Bhakthas (faithful devotees).
The cow has milk primarily as sustenance for its calf.
But, it is used by man for maintaining his health and
efficiency. So too, God incarnates, primarily for the
sustenance of the faithful, the devoted, the virtuous and
the good. But, even the faithless, and the bad, use the
chance for their own purpose. Therefore, in the
Bhagavatha, stories of such wicked persons intervene
amidst the accounts of the Glory and Grace of God. This
does not make the Bhagavatha any the less holy. When the
sweet juice has been squeezed out of the sugarcane, the
bagasse is discarded. When the sweetness of Divine
Majesty has been tasted, the bagasse can well be thrown
out. The cane has both bagasse and sugar; it cannot be
sugar only. So too, devotees have to be amidst the
faithless; they cannot be without the others.
God has no bondage to
time and space. For Him, all beings are the same. He is
the master of the living and the non-living. At the
conclusion of every aeon the process of involution is
completed in the Deluge; then, evolution starts again and
as Brahma, He creates beings again. He enlightens every
one with a spark of His own Glory and fosters every one
of them on the path of fulfillment, as Vishnu. It is He
again, who as Siva, concludes the process by the
destruction of all. Thus, you can see that there is no
limit to His Might, no end to His Potence. There can be
no boundaries for His achievements. He incarnates in
countless ways; He comes as an Incarnation of a Kala
(fragment) of His, or an Amsa (part) of His; He comes as
an Inner inspirer for some definite Purpose; He comes to
close an epoch and inaugurate another (Yugavathar). The
narrative of these Incarnations is the Bhagavatha. (See
also Srimad
Bhagavatam
Canto 2, Chapter 6: The hymn of the original person
confirmed)
The One Divine
Principle works through three Forms, as Brahma, Vishnu
and Siva, in order to manipulate and complete the process
of becoming a being, called Srishti. The three are
fundamentally of the same essence; there is no higher or
lower; all three are equally Divine. Associated with
Creation, He is Brahma; with Protection, He is Vishnu;
with Dissolution, He is Siva. When He comes down assuming
special form on special occasions for a specific purpose,
He is known as Avathara. In fact, Manu and Prajapathi and
other Persons are Divine Persons entrusted by Brahma with
the mission of peopling the world. Everything happens in
consonance with the Divine Will. So, we can assert that
the saints, sages, ascetics and men both good and bad,
are all Avatharas of the Vishnu Entity. Avatharas are as
countless as living beings are, for, each is born as a
consequence of Divine Will. But, the story of the
Yugavathar alone is worth perusal for the Advent is to
restore Dharma and moral life. The story of all the rest
is but a story of distress and despair.
Brahma deputed Manu to
proceed to the earth and to create living beings thereon;
Devi, the Feminine Principle eluded him and took the
Earth into the nether regions. Brahma then had to seek
help from Vishnu (Hari) and He assumed the Form of a Boar
and brought the Earth, from the nether regions, and
placed it among the waters. (See also
Srimad Bhagavatam
Canto 3, Chapter 13: The Appearance of Lord
Varaha)
Later, the Earth was so
incensed at the atrocities of Emperor Venu, she kept all
the seeds sown, within herself and did not allow them to
sprout. So, all beings were afflicted with the agony of
hunger. The earth became a medley of hills and valleys
with nothing green on it. Then, the Lord assumed the Form
of Prithu, who leveled the surface and added fertility to
the soil and induced the growth of agriculture and
promoted the welfare of mankind. He fostered the Earth
like his own child and so, the Earth is called Prithivi.
He is said to have built the first cities upon the
earth.
That is to say, it was
the Lord's Will that it should be done so. It is that
will which is being worked out. The Lord originated the
Vedas, for the preservation of man, through the practice
of morals and spiritual exercises. The Vedas contain
Names that will liberate beings, and the rules and
regulations that will guide. When the Asuras or the
Evil-minded threatened to steel the Vedas, they hid
themselves in the waters and the Lord assumed the form of
a Fish to recover them. He saved the Seven Sages and Manu
from the same waters. This is the reason why it is said
that the Lord incarnated as a Fish.
0, ye ascetics! 0, King
Parikshith! Doubts may arise in your minds when you hear
the story of creation and the early history of man on
earth. The processes of the Divine Will are mysterious
wonders; they cannot be grasped by the faculties with
which you measure earthly events. Often, they may strike
you as devoid of any basis but, the Lord will never
involve Himself in any deed without proper cause.
That Will need not be explicable; it is its own prompter.
Everything everywhere is due to His Will.
To initiate Creation,
there must be some attraction that will act as the urge.
So, Brahma had to become two, in body and activity. The
One Body was transformed into two and therefore, where
there was one Will formerly, two appeared, one which
attracted and the other which was drawn towards creation,
the feminine and the masculine. Since the one attracted
in a hundred distinct ways it was called, Satharupa
(hundred-facetted) and Beloved of Brahma (Brahmapriya).
The other was named, Manu. These two gained renown in the
first stage of creation. Satharupa and Manu were the
first progenitors. (See also S'rîmad
Bhâgavatam
Canto 2, Chapter 4: The Process of Creation)
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