- A structural review of the main topics of Bhagavatam. Lect.1 - Bhakti Vijnana Goswami

SB . The glory of studying Bhagavatam. कस्मै येन विभासितोऽयमतुलो ज्ञानप्रदीप: पुरा तद्रूपेण च नारदाय मुनये कृष्णाय तद्रूपिणा । योगीन्द्राय तदात्मनाथ भगवद्राताय कारुण्यत- स्तच्छुद्धं विमलं विशोकममृतं सत्यं परं धीमहि ॥ १९ ॥ kasmai yena vibhāsito ’yam atulo jñāna-pradīpaḥ purā tad-rūpeṇa ca nāradāya munaye kṛṣṇāya tad-rūpiṇā yogīndrāya tad-ātmanātha bhagavad-rātāya kāruṇyatas tac chuddhaṁ vimalaṁ viśokam amṛtaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi Translation I meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth, who is free from suffering and death and who in the beginning personally revealed this incomparable torchlight of knowledge to Brahmā. Brahmā then spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit. Purport The first verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states, satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi — “I meditate upon the Supreme Truth” — and now at the conclusion of this magnificent transcendental literature, the same auspicious sounds are vibrated. The words tad-rūpeṇa, tad-rūpiṇā and tad-ātmanā in this verse clearly indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself originally spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to Brahmā and then continued to speak this literature through the agency of Nārada Muni, Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, Śukadeva Gosvāmī and other great sages. In other words, whenever saintly devotees vibrate Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it is to be understood that Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself is speaking the Absolute Truth through the agency of His pure representatives. Anyone who submissively hears this literature from the Lord’s bona fide devotees transcends his conditioned state and becomes qualified to meditate upon the Absolute Truth and serve Him. If we want to understand the Absolute Truth, we have to know four characteristics of the Absolute Truth: 1) sarva atita or transcendental, It is beyond everything, which is reachable by our senses; 2) sarva asraya, It is the foundation of everything; 3) sarva acintya - It contains so many contradictions at the same time, so we can not understand It by logic; 4) sarva ascarya: It’s completely amazing. The only way to understand the Absolute Truth for us is to depend on the Absolute Truth so that It reveals Himself through the meaning of the sound or “Srimad-Bhagavatam“. The importance of listening to “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ is the very important feature of gaudiya sampradaya. It is difficult to understand “Bhagavatam“ just by reading it. Vyasadeva saw “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ in his samadhi, and also Sukadeva Goswami was explaining different stories of “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ not because he heard it from Vyasadeva, but because he saw it in his samadhi, and while seeing it he was telling it to Maharaja Pariksit. So, to understand what he was speaking about, the listener should be on the same level. “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ is spoken in three languages: samadhi-bhasa, lokik-bhasa and anya-bhasa, Sukadeva Goswami is using lokik-bhasa and anya-bhasa to explain samadhi-bhasa, his main message is conveyed by samadhi-bhasa. There are also different meanings of the words: abhida-vritti or dictionary meaning, laksana-vritti or meaning which requires interpretation, yoga-rudhi-vritti or conventional meaning, vyanjana-vritti or the implied meaning. The very goal of “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ is to explain rasa, and the only way to explain rasa is to use vyanjana-vritti. To explain the highest nature of the Absolute Truth, “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ explains different partial conceptions of the Absolute Truth. The first conception of the Absolute Truth is doubt, we don’t know whether It exists or not. Second level of misconception – the Absolute Truth does not exist as a person. The third level – God can not be a person and God can not have qualities. The fourth level – God has a personal feature but He is not capable of doing anything. The fifth level – God is Purusa, He has a potency. The sixth level – God is in relationship with His sakti. The seventh level – God is in relationship with His sakti in a formal way. The highest level – illegal relationship between Purusa and His energy. “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ conveys completely unlimited Absolute Truth, and to understand this Absolute Truth we have to open our hearts and to listen about It from “Srimad-Bhagavatam“ through guru parampara.