Glorification of Chapter Seven Bhagavad Gita After narrating how Lord Vishnu had spoken to Lakshmi devi the glories of the first six chapters of the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Shiva said to Parvati, “Now I will tell you the glories of the Seventh Chapter.” Lord Shiva narrated the story of Shankukarna, a brahmana occupied as a businessman. Shankukarna amassed so much wealth that kings visited his house to dine. But the miserly Shankukarna kept some of his wealth buried, concealed from his relatives, and he never performed devotional acts or the rituals for his forefathers. Once, after his fourth marriage, Shankukarna took rest for the night. While asleep, he received a snakebite and died. He attained the body of a snake-ghost, and he came to reside at the place where he had buried his wealth. Eventually he became tired of being trapped in a ghostly body, so he appeared to his sons in a dream and asked their help. When his lazy sons woke up, they talked about their dream. Then one of them took a spade and went to the place his father had indicated. The son did not know exactly where to find the buried wealth, but he searched greedily until he found a snake hole. As he started to dig, suddenly a huge and appalling snake crawled out and asked, “Who are you? Who sent you to dig here?” Trembling for his life, the son replied: “It is me, your son, Shiva, to whom you appeared in a dream.” The snake laughed and asked why the boy, if indeed his son, had not performed the necessary rituals to free him from hellish life. The son inquired how to do this. His father replied, “Not by any kind of charity or austerity but only by recitation from the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita will I become free from birth and death.” The father instructed his son to invite a brahmana to recite the seventh chapter during a ceremony to offer oblations to the forefathers. As this ceremony took place, the brahmana chanted the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita, and Shankukarna gave up his frightful body and attained a divine four-armed form. Before he left for Vaikuntha he blessed his sons and told them the location of his wealth. After digging it up, the sons, whose minds had become fixed in devotion to Lord Krishna, used the wealth to build temples, dig wells and holy ponds, and distribute sanctified food. Moreover, the sons daily recited the seventh chapter of the Bhagavad-gita and quickly attained the lotus feet of Lord Krishna. Anyone who recites or hears this chapter will be freed from all sinful reactions.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:18:39 +0000
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