॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Thursday, 22 September 2022 - The tenth and concluding chapter of the second Skandha- Sage Shuka describes the ten subjects of Srimad Bhagavatam.
I found this chapter rather challenging and shall try my best to capture the plethora of concepts.
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अत्र सर्गो विसर्गश्च स्थानं पोषणमूतयः। मन्वन्तरेशानुकथा निरोधो मुक्तिराश्रयः॥
दशमस्य विशुद्धर्थं नवानामिह लक्षणम्। वर्णयन्ति महात्मानः श्रुतेनार्थेन चाञ्जसा॥
T: Ten important subjects make up the content of Srimad Bhagavatam. These are
- Sarga - By Divine Will, Prakriti is disturbed to give rise to the Viradrupa (cosmic form) made up of the five categories resulting in the elements, from the Mahattattva.
- Visarga - Brahma creates various beings.
- Sthana - The Lord’s activities in sustaining and maintaining the creation.
- Poshana - His granting protection to devotees and ameliorating their lot.
- Manvantara - The laws of righteous living exemplified by great beings.
- Uti - The seeds of Karma that drive behaviour.
- Ishanukatha - Stories of Sri Hari’s incarnations and the lives of His devotees.
- Nirodha - When Maha Vishnu dissolves all bodies and material aspects but the Jivas remain in seed form storing their tendencies and He goes into Yoga Nidra.
- Mukti - the Jiva merges and abides in his true state going beyond attachments and false elements.
- Ashraya - Also called Paramatma or Brahman, this is the Lord out of whom everything emerges and in whom everything dissolves.
The wise, holy sages state that the most important content of Srimad Bhagavatam is a description of the Supreme Being called Ashraya and all other components are only to clarify that concept of Ashraya. Ashraya is described directly in various prayers and hymns in this scripture and indirectly conveyed in the various narratives.
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Adhyatmika, Adhidaivika and Adhibhautika are the three aspects of every living creature. An example will make this easy to understand. If a living being has the faculty of sight through eyes, the Adhyatmika is the life spirit that enlivens that faculty. The Adhidaivika is the phenomenon of light, the process of optical perception — forces controlled by the deities. Adhibhautika is the material structure of the vision system from the eye to the brain, made up of the five elements.
These three function together only under the witnessing eye of the Paramatma Ashraya whose presence makes the phenomenon possible. He is the support of all, and He has no support for Himself.
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Virat Purusha broke open the Anda (cosmic egg) and created the seminal waters called Garbhodakam to reside in. As He lay in these waters, He came to be called Narayana (one who dwells in waters called नार Naara). Naara came from Nara i.e. the Virat Purusha who created those waters.
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The five elements, Karma (Cause-Effect chain), Kala (Time), manifest Prakriti (Nature) and Jiva -the experiencer of life, are all created by His will and cease to be when He decides so. It was He who wanted to create and therefore divided His seed (Viryam Hiranmayam) into the threesome Adhyatmika-Adhidaivika-Adhibhautika.
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Prana is the activating force of life, and it is derived from sense power (Ojas), mental power (Sahah) and physical power (Bala). This Prana is also the Sutratma or the collective self, running through all individuals. He is like the king and the living beings are like the subjects who can function only in his presence and on his orders.
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The Lord manifested the face when He felt hunger and thirst. From His mouth came the tongue and the phenomenon of six tastes- rasa. Varuna is its presiding deity, Indriya is the organ of taste. Similarly, other organs came into existence. For example, Agni or Vahni created speech. Vayu emerged with the sense of smell. Surya and sight came next. When the Lord wanted to hear the hymns of the sages, He developed ears with the deity Dik.
Oshadhi, touch, softness, skin etc. followed. The Lord wanted to act, so arms and their deity Indra then emerged. Legs and their deity Yajna came next. Prajapati and the reproductive system came next. Mitra came to take care of excretion. The navel and Apana came into being to set in motion the phenomenon of the death of a body and the migration of Jiva. The rivers and oceans are his stomach, Atmamaya emerged as the heart.
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Body parts like skin, flesh and bone come from Earth, Water and Fire. Prana comes from Akasha, Water and Wind. Indriyas come from Rajoguna. Manas is the abode of feelings and emotions. Buddhi is the abode of rational understanding.
The eight layers of the Lord are thus the five elements, Ahankara and Mahattattva and Prakriti.
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The gross manifestations described thus far have behind them the subtle manifestation of the Lord, which is eternal and which cannot be perceived by anyone physically or mentally ever.
अमुनी भगवद्रूपे मया ते अनुवर्णिते। उभे अपि न गृह्णन्ति मायासृष्टे विपश्चितः॥
स वाच्यवाचकतया भगवान् ब्रह्मरूपधृक्। नामरूपक्रिया धत्ते सकर्माकर्मकः परः॥
T: “Oh, Parikshit! These two forms described so far, as the gross and subtle manifestations, are rejected as both falling in the domain of Maya, by the true seer devoteers.”
“The wonder is that it is He alone, who is both the doer and the non-doer, who as Brahma creates the variegated thoughts, forms, and experiences.”
Sage Shuka lists a whole list of different beings and species of creation saying all of them have been created in this way alone. The interplay of the three Gunas, viz. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas keep the world going. The men of realization know that these phenomena are not what define the Lord, as He is truly Transcendental. It is only his Maya that accounts for all creation and experience.
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The sages in Naimisharanya, headed by Shaunaka, now ask the Suta to tell them the interesting story of Vidura, who did the extraordinary act of giving up all attachments to things and people of Hastinapura and went to Sage Maitreya. Where did he meet the rishi and what transpired?
This leads to the third Skandha.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
