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As we drive towards the end of Srimad Bhagavatam journey, it is important to remember how we started. Bhakti, with her two sons Jnana and Vairagya, was in doldrums. Sage Narada told the story of Srimad Bhagavatam to revive her. The central part of the narrative was the story of Bhagavan Sri Krishna, come to earth to save Dharma. This was narrated originally to King Parikshit, accursed to die very shortly, by Sage Shuka.
The third chapter of Skandha 12 lays out the degradations and surviving elements of Dharma in each epoch or Yuga. But the beginning is most interesting, called Bhumi Geeta!
The Bhumi Geeta - The Song of Mother Earth
दृष्ट्वात्मनि जये व्यग्रान् नृपान् हसति भूरियम् । अहो मा विजिगीषन्ति मृत्यो: क्रीडनका नृपा: ॥
काम एष नरेन्द्राणां मोघ: स्याद् विदुषामपि । येन फेनोपमे पिण्डे येऽतिविश्रम्भिता नृपा: ॥
पूर्वं निर्जित्य षड्वर्गं जेष्यामो राजमन्त्रिण: । तत: सचिवपौराप्तकरीन्द्रानस्य कण्टकान् ॥
एवं क्रमेण जेष्याम: पृथ्वीं सागरमेखलाम् । इत्याशाबद्धहृदया न पश्यन्त्यन्तिकेऽन्तकम् ॥
समुद्रावरणां जित्वा मां विशन्त्यब्धिमोजसा । कियदात्मजयस्यैतन्मुक्तिरात्मजये फलम् ॥
यां विसृज्यैव मनवस्तत्सुताश्च कुरूद्वह । गता यथागतं युद्धे तां मां जेष्यन्त्यबुद्धय: ॥
मत्कृते पितृपुत्राणां भ्रातृणां चापि विग्रह: । जायते ह्यसतां राज्ये ममताबद्धचेतसाम् ॥
ममैवेयं मही कृत्स्ना न ते मूढेति वादिन: । स्पर्धमाना मिथो घ्नन्ति म्रियन्ते मत्कृते नृपा: ॥
T: Sage Shuka said: Seeing the kings of this earth busy trying to conquer her, the earth herself laughed.
Oh, to see these crowned clowns reaching to conquer meWhen they are mere playthings of Time!Their tragicomic exertions born of lust and bravado,When they are bound to go in a moment, like bubbles of foam!"I shall tame my mind and senses, rein in my ministers,Reform my men, train my elephants and soon conquer the earth!I shall cross seas, lord over all!", they say, with Death lurking close by to strike!Don't they know the conquest of the senses and the mindIs an inward journey to self-realisation, not a ploy to defeat the earth!!!???Don't they see the greatest of kings gone, turned to dust? Alas, what idiocy!Sons fight fathers, brothers, brothers - all for what? Precious little nought!!!They quarrel and fight, "This land is mine, not yours!" and kill one another!
Sage Shuka speaks in a solemn voice and lists all the great kings, Prithu, Pururavas, Rama, Raghu, Bharata, Arjuna, ...Ravana! Hiranyaksha! Taraka! All mighty, all learned, all "unconquerable".
कथावशेषा: कालेन ह्यकृतार्था: कृता विभो :"All these glorious kings were erased by Time. They achieved nothing of lasting glory on earth - for that is the nature of this creation! Know this well, Parikshit!"
विभो वचोविभूतीर्न तु पारमार्थ्यम् ॥
T: "Oh mighty Parikshit, These stories of the rise of mighty kings and their eventual disappearance were my way of teaching you Jnana and Vairagya. Otherwise, these stories have no value!"
यस्तूत्तम:श्लोकगुणानुवाद: सङ्गीयतेऽभीक्ष्णममङ्गलघ्न: । तमेव नित्यं शृणुयादभीक्ष्णं
कृष्णेऽमलां भक्तिमभीप्समान: ॥
T: The person who yearns for Bhakti to Bhagavan Sri Krishna should hear the narrations of the Lord's glorious qualities, the constant chanting of which destroys everything inauspicious, all the time.
King Parikshit has still many questions about the different Yugas and their idiosyncrasies. Sage Shuka obliges with many answers. I am frankly bored to list them all again. A very brief summary...
Satya- Treta- Dwapara- Kali - is a slow degradation of values and practices, and erosion of Varna Ashrama Dharma. This is inexorable. That life still goes on at all is because there are a few good men who uphold Dharma. In Satya, Sattva Guna predominates, in Treta and Dwapara, Rajas and Tamas take over .. finally शोकमोहौ भयं दैन्यं स कलिस्तामस: स्मृत: delusion, sorrow, fear and misery are the lot of people in Kali, dominated by Tamas. Servants will abandon a master who has lost his wealth, even if that master is a saintly person of exemplary character. Masters will abandon an incapacitated servant, even if that servant has been in the family for generations. Cows will be abandoned or killed when they stop giving milk.
धर्मं वक्ष्यन्त्यधर्मज्ञा अधिरुह्योत्तमासनम् - Charlatans dressed as saints discourse on Dharma from high seats!
So, is there no hope for us!!!??? Yes, there is hope!
नृणां धुनोति भगवान् हृत्स्थो जन्मायुताशुभम् ॥
यथा हेम्नि स्थितो वह्निर्दुर्वर्णं हन्ति धातुजम् । एवमात्मगतो विष्णुर्योगिनामशुभाशयम् ॥
Hearing and singing his glories, Meditating on the Lord within you,
Worshipping him, let him cleanse you of accumulated torments and evils life after life!
It is just like putting a jewel of admixed gold in fire which burns away all impurities without fail!
True Bhakti far excels all Yoga, all meditation, all pilgrimage and all intellectual deliberations.
यथा हृदिस्थे भगवत्यनन्ते Just discover Bhagavan within your own heart! That's all!
कलेर्दोषनिधे राजन्नस्ति ह्येको महान् गुण: । कीर्तनादेव कृष्णस्य मुक्तसङ्ग: परं व्रजेत् ॥
कृते यद्ध्यायतो विष्णुं त्रेतायां यजतो मखै: । द्वापरे परिचर्यायां कलौ तद्धरिकीर्तनात् ॥
T: "My dear King, although Kali Yuga is an ocean of faults, there is still one good quality about this age: Simply by chanting the Bhagavan's holy name, one can become free from material bondage and be promoted to the transcendental kingdom. Whatever result was obtained in Satya Yuga by meditating on Bhagavan Maha Vishnu, in Treta Yuga by performing Yajnas, and in Dwapara Yuga by serving the Lord’s lotus feet, can be obtained in Kali Yuga simply by chanting the glorious name of the Lord! And you can do it if you feel Bhakti within. It is that easy."
