॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Wednesday, 24 August 2022 - Concluding portion, i.e. Chapter 6 of Bhagavata Mahatmyam. Also concluding portion of the introduction by Swami Tapasyananda.
Bhagavata Mahatmyam - the how-to manual for the Saptaha
अथ ते संप्रवक्ष्यामः सप्ताहश्रवणे विधम् -T: "Oh Sage Narada, we shall now lay out for you the detailed procedure for Saptaha recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam!"
The Kumaras give a step-by-step manual for the recitation festival. No detail is left out and you can be sure that the event is as elaborate and grand and methodical as a gala Hindu wedding with all rituals and paraphernalia. Unlike the social need to show off and enjoy the pleasures during a wedding here the need is to celebrate perhaps the "grandest" festival of recitation-based devotional worship.
They begin by saying that money is gathered, a suitable, large, auspicious place is cleaned up and readied, the materials are assembled, the invitations are sent out, and then regulatory austerities observing frugal diet, cleanliness, meditation, prayer to forefathers, and several preparations needed for the big event are all performed with the utmost sincerity. The invitations should be sent far and wide especially to devotees and scholars. If done well, it will invite the best of the best audiences.
Who are all eligible to attend the Srimad Bhagavatam recitation? Young and old, healthy and sick, men, women, children, rich and poor, everyone, bar none. These are mentioned in much detail. Yet, is no one excluded? No, wait. The Bhagavatam recitation is not for the over-smart, confused and rabidly argumentative naysayer non-devotees.
One may read the several details here, as they show how methodical our ancestors were in prescribing the Do's and Don'ts for such an important programme as the recitation of Hinduism's most evocative devotional scripture viz. the Srimad Bhagavatam.
I am skipping a lot of detail, but everything is given in the link shared above.
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Now when the Kumaras concluded their detailed instruction to Sage Narada, he felt most gratified.
धन्योऽस्मि अनुगृहीतोऽस्मि ... वैकुण्ठस्थो यतः कृष्णः श्रवणादस्य लभ्यते! T: "I am blessed by you, Oh, Kumaras, having been taught this process! Indeed how wonderful that Bhagavan Maha Vishnu Krishna who is in Vaikuntha (i.e. the highest heaven in creation) can be attained through merely listening to this Bhagavatam recitation!"
The moment is ripe. Therefore, just then, Sage Shuka, the original narrator of the Srimad Bhagavatam, himself arrives! He wants to conduct the proceedings himself. He is merely sixteen years old, but he is the acknowledged Teacher of Bhagavatam.
पिबत भागवतं रसमालयं मुहुरहो रसिका भुवि भावुकाः T: "Oh, devotees, you're blessed! Keep on drinking this nectar called Bhagavatam as long and as often as you can!"
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Just as Shuka was explaining how the unique opportunity to enjoy the Bhagavatam was given only to devotees on this earth, and not in any heaven, Bhagavan Sri Hari Mahavishnu himself arrived to be present and to enjoy the company of His devotees! Along also came his greatest devotees- Prahlada, Dhruva, Bali, Arjuna, and others. Lord Shiva with Parvati, Lord Brahma also came! Then a grand singing of Hari Kirtan started in full swing.
प्रह्लादस्तालधारी तरलगतितया चोद्धवः कांस्यधारी वीणाधारी सुरर्षिः स्वरकुशलतया रागकर्तार्जुनोऽभूत् ।
इन्द्रोवादीन्मृदङ्गं जयजयसुकराः कीर्तने ते कुमारा यत्राग्रे भाववक्ता सरसरचनया व्यासपुत्रो बभूव ॥
T: Visualize this..."Prahlada was playing cymbals in a tender rhythm, Dhruva was playing a bronze bell, Narada himself played the veena, Arjuna sang in wonderful ragas, Indra played the mridangam, and the Kumaras danced singing "Jaya! Jaya!" as Shuka Maharishi, the narrator, soaked up the ultimate bliss of this moment!"
ननर्त मध्ये त्रिकमेव तत्र भक्त्यादिकानां नटवत्सुतेजसाम्।अलौकिकं कीर्तनमेतदीक्ष्य हरिः प्रसन्नोऽपि वचोऽब्रवीत्तत् ॥
मत्तो वरं भाववृताद् वृणुध्वं प्रीतः कथाकीर्तनतोऽस्मि सांप्रतम्। श्रुत्वेति तद्वाक्यमतिप्रसन्नाः प्रमार्द्रचित्ता हरिमूचिरे ते ॥
T: There in the middle danced in full vigour the blissful Bhakti with her sons Jnana and Vairagya. This out-of-this-world song and dance pleased Sri Hari immensely. He spoke:
"I am so pleased by your celebration thus! Ask for any boon!" The devotees answered in one voice, "Oh, Lord, we have only one request! Wherever Bhagavatam is sung and celebrated thus, kindly deign to come and grace us!" Sri Hari was most pleased to say, तथास्तु T: Be it so! and then He disappeared.
जगति शुककथातो निर्मलं नास्ति किञ्चित् । पिब परसुखहेतोर्द्वादशस्कन्धसारम्॥
Conclusion: T: "There is nothing as pure and sacred as the Shuka-narrated Srimad Bhagavatam. Oh man, come and drink of this, it confers the ultimate bliss and it is narrated across twelve glorious sections!"
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Swami Tapasyananda's Introduction- Conclusion
Go beyond the matter-energy-sensory world. Expand your perception to dimensions beyond the physical. Open up to the verities of Cosmos that become deities for your worship. Vishnu, Shiva and Devi are the manifestations of the Supreme Being as spiritual verities before which we shall find material objects to be mere shadows.
The moulds of thought set by faith, into which the Infinite Being has poured Himself, have validity for those who share that faith. Faith transcends anything we call history. The Purana is a spiritualized worldview giving life a definite meaning.
In his conclusion, Sage Shuka tells King Parikshit (the first person to hear the Srimad Bhagavatam from Shuka), "One who aspires to have pure devotion to Krishna should constantly hear His sin-destroying glories, sung again and again with great love and fervour by exalted saints."
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
