Rituals of listening to, performing Purascharan of and giving a gift of Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran.
Rituals of listening to, performing Purascharan of and giving a gift of Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran.
The king said:-
‘O God, please explain to me the procedure of listening to Shrimad Bhagavata, the kinds of reiteration (i.e. Purascharya) and the procedure of donation-giving. 1
Only you know all this perfectly, hence tell me everything accurately. 2
Suvrat said:-
Thus asked by king Uttam, the Puranamuni Bhagavan Narayan explained to him the procedure of listening to Shrimad Bhagavata. 3
Big and small, Two types of Puranas.
Listen ‘O King, I will narrate to you the procedure of listening to Shrimad Bhagavata, which gives proper self-desired fruits. 4
Puranas are of two types. Some are small and some are big. The small are minor Puranas and the big are major Puranas. 5
Eighteen main Puranas were compiled by honourable Vyas himself and the minor Puranas were compiled by other sages. 6
Eighteen main Puranas and minor Puranas.
Brahmapuran, Padmapuran, Vishnupuran, Shivapuran, Bhagavatapuran, Markandeyapuran, Naradapuran, Agnipuran, Bhavishyapuran, Lingpuran, Brahmavaivartapuran, Varahapuran, Skandapuran, Vamanapuran, Kurmapuran, Matsyapuran, Garudapuran, Brahmandapuran are the names of eighteen main Puranas. ‘O sinless king, now I will tell you the names of minor Puranas. 7 - 9
Sanatkumara, Nanda, Narasimha, Kapila, Durvasa, Narada, Shaivadharma, Manu, Brahmanda, Ushanas, Varuna, Parashara, Samba, Soura, Kalika, Vasishtha, Vasishthalinga, Maheshvara are the eighteen minor Puranas. There are some others also like Maricha, Bhargava etc. 10 -12
Respected sages have told that Mahabharata is history and Ramayana is poetry. 13
Bhagavata Mahapuran is said to be the essence of all these main Puranas, the minor Puranas along with the Vedas. 14
Just as Ganga is the most excellent among all the rivers, Vishnu is the best among all Gods, Shambhu is the best among the devotees of Vishnu, so Bhagavata is the best among all the Puranas. 15
There is some reason why it is the best among all the Vedas and the Puranas. ‘O King, I will tell you that reason, if you are interested in it. 16
When Brahma, the grandfather of all, created this world, he produced the Vedas for the good of people at the same time. 17
There was only one Veda at the beginning of Satyayug and the intelligent people used to study the whole of it along with its meanings. 18
At the end of Dvaparyug people became less-intelligent due to the vicissitudes of time. Hence, they were unable to study the Veda and understand its meanings. 19
That time, Lord Narayan Himself manifested on this earth as Dvaipayana muni; he tried his best to explain the meanings of the Vedas. 20
Protection of tradition of Vedas.
He divided the Veda into four parts and for understanding its meaning, he compiled the Mahabharata along with the Puranas. 21
He described therein fully and clearly the four goals (Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha) for all the four castes and the four Ashramas. 22
In the course of explanation, sometimes he described the Dharmas of Ekantis as well for extreme good. 23
He appointed sage Pail as the holy teacher of Rigveda and sage Vaishampayan as the holy teacher of Yajurveda. 24
He made Jaimini the preceptor (holy teacher) of Samaveda and made sage Sumantu the holy teacher of Atharvaveda. 25
The sage Badarayana (i.e. Vyas) made Romaharshana the preceptor of Itihasa and Puranas. He did all these arrangements only for the good of the people. 26
Having done all this in the hermitage named Shamyaprasa, on the bank of river Sarasvati, he was not satisfied in his mind. 27
‘O King ! Listen (to me). I will tell you the reason for his dissatisfaction. His birth on this earth was meant for the good of people. 28
Knowledge of good religion, detachment from things worldly, devotion and knowledge of the earth (own land) – these four were his purposes. 29
Therefore, he explained in great detail even a very small topic. The combination of Dharma, Artha, and Kama is not easy to understand accurately. 30
Due to various explanations given by the supporters, people were attached to performing the religious rites (Karma) which were supposed to yield fruits like heaven etc. 31
At that time, activities explained by some sages which were meant for the good of the people, were almost not performed as they could not yield the assured fruits. 32
At such a time Vasudev Himself, who lives within, created an urge in his (Vyas’) mind that his work was not complete. It created much uneasiness in the mind of the sage Vyas. 33
The sorrow produced by that uneasiness made his knowledge restricted. He lost peace of mind and could not author any more works. 34
Lord invokes Naradji to remove the distress of Vyasji.
Then God Narayan, being very kind, sent Narada, an expert in giving advice to others, to meet him. 35
Narada, the remover of all sorrows, thought aloud but couldn’t guess the reason of Vyas’s trouble; so he approached him who was lamenting. 36
Vyas worshipped Narada and asked him the reason for his own unhappiness. Then the omniscient Narada who was dear to God said-37
Narad said:-
The purpose of your manifestation isn’t properly served by you. Hence, that incompleteness pricks your mind. 38
‘O innocent one, for the extreme good of people, you should compile a Puran which will contain the sweet essence of all your writings. 39
Describe in it accurately the reputation of God Vasudev and His devotees, so that your mind will regain peace. 40
Now compile a Puran by name Bhagavata, so that people will get salvation and you will get your peace of mind. 41
Thus is the order of Narayan, told Narada to sage Vyas and he went away. 42
By churning completely the Vedas, Smritis, Itihasas, Puranas, Sutras and poetry, he produced the essence of all these works. 43
Aided by his own experience, that great ascetic compiled the Puran desired by the liberated. 44
Just as Vishnu produced nectar by churning the ocean of milk with the Mandara mountain, comparable was the activity of the great sage Vyas. 45
Since when God Vasudev disappeared from the surface of this earth, the Bhagavatapuran is the only support of dharma. 46.
Thus ends the second chapter entitled ‘Explanation of Intentional origin of Bhagavat’ in the fourth Prakaran of Satsangijivan, the life story of Lord Narayan, also titled as ‘Dharmashastra’ (the rules of the code of conduct). 2
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