SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM CANTO 5 My humble efforts at (practicing to read) reading the entire Srimad Bhagavatam, which began on full moon day in September, have now finally got me to the start of Canto 5. Unlike other cantos, the story is told here mostly in the prose form (gadyam style). There are no verses (padyam styles), i.e., poetry format. Gadyam style is rarely used in Sanskrit literature or scriptures -- the gadyams that I read as a student were from the various natakams (dramas) composed by poets like Kalidasa, which were again interspersed with beautiful verses. We see the same style here in Srimad Bhagavatam. Over the years, at various times, I had read sections of this Canto and have a vague, general, familiarity of its contents. I used to think of this Canto as the boringest part of the Srimad Bhagavatam. But, now, as if by divine order, I have been forced to read it systematically from beginning to the end. And, I have also been blessed to have a couple devotees join me frequently during these readings. Amazingly, this boringest part of Srimad Bhagavatam is turning out to be quite interesting. In this Canto we see Shukaacarya telling King Parikshit the story of King Priyavrata, who was the elder of the two sons of Swayambhu Manu, the first Manu. Swayambhu Manu and his wife Shatarupa were produced directly from the body of Brahma. They were the first couple, like Adam and Eve of the Holy Bible. The first couple had three daughters - Akuti, Devahuti, Prasuti - and two sons - Priyavrata and Uttanapada. Up until this point, the Srimad Bhagavatam tells us the story of the creation of the first couple, describes the first marriage (of Devahuti to sage Kardama) and then the descendants of these daughters. Then the story turns to the descendants of the younger of the two sons Uttanapada. Dhruva, whose story most of us are familiar with was the son of Uttanapada. The father mistreated the son. Dhruva was the son of Suniti, one of the two wives of the king. His other son (named Uttama), born of his other wife, Surici, was seated on his lap and the young Dhruva wanted his father to seat him also on his lap but the king did not invite the boy which upset Dhruva and he left home - then attained the highest Abode. Then we are told the story of Dhruva in detail (what he did after coming face to face with the Supreme Being at the tender age of 5) and all the descendants from Uttanapada and Dhruva. Now, finally the story is told about the descendants of Priyavrata, who was actually the elder son of Swaymabhu Manu. The younger son Uttanapada became the king since the elder Priyavrata was NOT interested in worldly affairs and also engaged in austerities. However, when Swayambhu Many found that no suitable heirs were available (from Uttanapadas lineage) to take over the kingdom, he went his elder son to convince him that he must renounce the austerities and agree to take over rulership of the Universe. This is the setting for the story in chapter 1 of Canto 5. Priyavrata did not welcome this idea. He was debating if he should indeed accept his grandfathers command. When Swayambhu Manu arrived, Priyavrata was actually sage Narada and receiving instructions from this divine sage. Knowing Priyavratas hesitation, Lord Brahma (who was also father of Narada and had created Swaymabhu Manu from his body) decided to pay a visit as well. When Brahma arrived (on his swan, which is the vehicle for Brahma, like Garuda for Sriman NarayaNa), he was accompanied by Lord Shiva, and other celestials (Gandharvas, etc.) It was a divine scene. The sage Narada, Swayambhu Manu and Priyavrata all arose and welcomed Brahma. (In this section of Srimad Bhagavatam, Sri Bhagavan uvaca, actually mean Brahma spoke, for some reason Brahma uvaca is NOT used, I was confused on first reading.) What prompted his post was my reading of the very first verse (Canto 5, chapter 1, verse 11, all the prose passages are also numbered) which is reproduced below, along with the link to Srila Prabhupadas translation and purport - one of the most excellent purports which also highlights the workings of the Divine and the Supreme Will. śrī-bhagavān uvāca nibodha tātedam ṛtaḿ bravīmi māsūyituḿ devam arhasy aprameyam vayaḿ bhavas te tata eṣa maharṣir vahāma sarve vivaśā yasya diṣṭam Here we encounter the word deva which is commonly translated as god (with lower case g since we have millions of these small g gods). Then we also have the word asooyitam. Brahma says maa sooyitum. From the word asooya, we get the word anasooya which is also used in chapter 9 of the Bhagavad Gita, by Krishna Himself to refer to Arjuna. In the very first verse of chapter 9, Krishna calls Arjuna as Anasooya (anasooyave is the sambodhanam form of the noun, which is used to address someone). Asooya is translated often as envy or jealous and so anasooya means one without any envy or jealous. When we see someone having something we do not have, we get jealous of them. This could be anything. Some people have this jealous tendency to the extreme. They cannot even stand as much as someone wearing a nice dress. Even if they are loaded with millions, they will covet trivial things that someone else, like a nice car, a nice house, or a beautiful wife. In Tamil we say, irritating their eyes or burning up their stomach for people who exhibit such extreme sense of envy or jealous. The word anasooya also means someone who does NOT engage in fault finding. This meaning of the word was emphasized by the Kakinada Jeeyar during his discourses at the Sri Ranganatha Temple in Pomona, NY (back in 2011, during their Brahmotsavam celebrations). This is the sense in which Krishna addresses Arjuna. He did not spend his time being envious or jealous of others. He did not engage in fault finding. Rather, Arjuna was alsways interested in perfecting himself. This is why Krishna calls Arjuna as anasooyave. Only such a person can receive the Gita. Other fools would find some fault with Krishnas teachings and reject them. But, Krishna knew that Arjuna was above such petty tendencies or jealousy and fault finding. Hence, he received the Gita and this is stated clearly in the first verse of chapter 9, which is called the chapter of the Raja vidya (royal knowledge) and Raja guhyam (secretive knowledge like holding royal secrets). This is also the sense in which Brahma is using the word sooyitum here, which is the verb form of the same word. Brahma is impressing upon Priyavrata, at the very outset that one cannot find any fault, or nitpick, with the orders that are received from devam. Here the word devam means the Supreme Being, who created Brahma himself and also bestowed upon Brahma all the knowledge and the tools needed for Brahma to continue the task of creation. What is deva and why is this used now for the Supremee Being? The word deva it finally hit me is the compounding of the broken consonant sound da (with the line beneath) and eva which means only. The verb da means to gives, from which we get words like dadaati, daanam, etc. The devas, according to the teaching of Krishna in chapter 3 (verses 10 to 16) are entrusted with giving to humans when we perform various yajnas, as described in the Vedas (or as described by Brahma himself at the start of creation). In the above verse, Brahma is telling Priyavrata, that he should listen very carefully, not rush to judgment (find fault, maa sooyitum) since the words that he is about to speak are the wishes of Deva Himself, the Supreme Being Himslef, who is the giver for all of mankind. Brahma also used the adjective apremayam with devam to decribe the Supreme Being. We encounter this naama also in the Vishnu Sahasranamam, verse 6. In that verse, the Lord is also being described as Manu (one who created mankind) and SthavishTa (the oldest of all). Brahma is using this naama here and tries to impress upon Priyavrata that the words he is about to speak, or the Lords command that he is about to convery, cannot be transgressed and must be obeyed. Priyavrata, who had rejected the kingdom and preferred austerities, will be ordered to take over rulership of the Universe and also enter into family life and begt progeny. This is the beginning of the story in Canto 5 and already this boringest part has revealed at least two gems of insights with the very first verse s uttered by Brahma. Do read Srila Prabhupadas translation and purport for this verse. vedabase.net/sb/5/1/11/en
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 02:49:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015