Bhāgavata Māhātmya

Bhāgavata Māhātmya, simply known as Bhagavata Mahatmya, Sanskrit: भागवत माहात्म्य, Telugu: భాగవత మాహాత్మ్యం, Hindi: भागवत माहात्म्य.

The Bhāgavata Māhātmya, also called the Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, is a four-chapter section of the Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Purāṇa (the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa). It glorifies the Śrīmad Bhāgavata and shows how necessary it is in the world after the end of Dvārakā. Sūta narrates it to the ṛshis (seers) gathered at Naimishāraṇya.

Its central episodes are: Parīkshit’s visit to Vajranābha in the deserted land of Vraja; Śāṇḍilya’s mystic teaching on Vrajabhūmi; the appearance of Uddhava from the creepers of Govardhana; his dialogue with Parīkshit; the month-long Bhāgavata kathā (recitation and exposition) at Vṛndāvana; and the release of Kṛshṇa’s queens from the pain of separation. The fourth chapter gives a full teaching on the recitation of the Bhāgavata: what it is, the line through which it came down, the kinds of listeners, the modes of recitation, and the procedure that devotees should follow.

Overview

The Skanda Purāṇa is the largest of the eighteen Mahāpurāṇas. Its Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa also holds the Badarī Kshetra Māhātmya, the Purushottama Kshetra Māhātmya and the Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, which deal with tīrthas (holy places) and the vows of the seasons. The subject of the Bhāgavata Māhātmya is the glory of a scripture. It teaches that in the Kali age, when Bhagavān Kṛshṇa has withdrawn from visible presence, the Śrīmad Bhāgavata itself becomes the living presence of Kṛshṇa.

The narrative is set in the generation just after Kṛshṇa’s departure. Parīkshit, Kṛshṇa’s grand-nephew through Subhadrā, is the reigning emperor. Vajranābha, Kṛshṇa’s great-grandson, has just been crowned king of Mathurā. The setting is the deserted countryside of Vraja, emptied after Kṛshṇa’s departure of its divine inhabitants, who can no longer be seen. Uddhava, Kṛshṇa’s closest companion and minister, still lives unseen in the creepers of Vraja. He is a living link between Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, who has departed, and the devotees who remain.

Chapter by chapter

Chapter 1: The greatness of Vrajabhūmi

The ṛshis at Naimishāraṇya ask Sūta a question. Yudhishṭhira, before he left on his mahāprasthāna (last journey), crowned Vajranābha at Mathurā and Parīkshit at Hastināpura. What did those two kings do after that?

Sūta tells them. Parīkshit travelled to Mathurā to visit Vajranābha, who was overjoyed at his coming. After the formal welcome and rest, Vajranābha told him his chief worry. He had been crowned king at Mathurā, but he found himself ruling over a deserted forest. The countryside of Vraja was empty and its people were gone. He wanted a kingdom with people living in it.

Parīkshit sent for Śāṇḍilya, the revered priest of Nanda’s family, who knew the deep secret of Vrajabhūmi. Śāṇḍilya came from his āśrama, was received with honour, and gave this mystic teaching.

The word Vraja comes from the root vraj, “to spread”: the land spread far and wide, and so it is Vraja. In its inner meaning, Vraja is the Supreme Brahman beyond the guṇas. It is all-pervading, its nature is eternal bliss, and it is the unchanging region of the freed ones. Kṛshṇa, the son of Nanda, plays here with Rādhā, who is his very ātmā (self). His play is of two kinds. The pāramārthika is the real play, which only Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and his devotees can perceive. The vyāvahārika is the ordinary play, which is seen by the jīvas (living beings). The second depends wholly on the first.

After Kṛshṇa had fulfilled all desires and withdrawn, three kinds of residents remained:

• Nityas (the eternal companions): they became invisible to ordinary sight.
• Tallipsus (those who longed for union with Kṛshṇa): they were turned into Nityas and merged with them, and they too became invisible.
• Devādyas (the devas and others who had come down for the līlā, the divine play): they were first taken to Dvārakā, and then drawn back into Kṛshṇa through the Musala (the iron club) in the conflict in which the Yādavas killed one another.

Ordinary people who came to Vraja hoping to see these divine residents found only emptiness and went away. So Vraja became deserted. Śāṇḍilya told Vajra not to worry. He should settle people in the region, name the villages after Kṛshṇa’s play, and serve this sacred land. Then Uddhava would meet him, and through Uddhava he would learn the secret teaching.

With Parīkshit’s help, Vajranābha settled Vraja. He brought thousands of guild-leaders from Indraprastha. He found the places of Kṛshṇa’s play and named them. He founded villages, built ponds and lakes, installed mūrtis (sacred images) of Govinda and of Śiva, and spread single-minded devotion to Kṛshṇa through his kingdom.

Chapter 2: Parīkshit and others meet Uddhava

Kṛshṇa’s former wives had moved from Dvārakā to Vraja when Arjuna settled them there. Once they were in distress, suffering from separation from Kṛshṇa. They saw that Kālindī (the Yamunā) was untroubled while they suffered, and they asked her why.

Kālindī told them the great mystery. Rādhikā is Kṛshṇa’s own ātmā; when he plays with her, he plays within his own self. All of Kṛshṇa’s beloved queens are extensions of Rādhā’s own parts. Rukmiṇī and the other chief queens, wishing to serve both Rādhā and Kṛshṇa, took on a form and merged into Rādhā. Because the queens are parts of Rādhā, and Rādhā is always united with Kṛshṇa, there is in truth no separation. The queens simply do not know this truth, and that is why they suffer.

Then she told them about Uddhava. Kṛshṇa had sent him to Vraja before his final departure. Uddhava lives near Govardhana, unseen, in the form of shoots and creepers at the Sakhīsthala, longing for the dust of the gopīs’ feet. He also stays at Nārada Kuṇḍa. The way to meet him is to hold a festival of Kṛshṇa’s glory at Kusumasaras (the Flower Lake) near Govardhana.

Parīkshit, Vajranābha and the queens held the festival at Kusumasaras in Vṛndāvana. Through the singing of his glory, the power of Kṛshṇa’s Rāsa dance came alive again. From a cluster of grasses and creepers Uddhava came out. He was dark in colour, dressed in yellow robes and adorned with garlands of guñjā berries, and he sang Kṛshṇa’s glories again and again. His coming transformed the festival. Uddhava bore the form of Śrī Kṛshṇa himself. All who saw him gained perfect knowledge at once and worshipped him.

Chapter 3: The dialogue of Parīkshit and Uddhava

Uddhava embraced Parīkshit and praised his unbroken devotion to Kṛshṇa. He explained Kṛshṇa’s yogamāyā. It hid the self-knowledge of the jīvas, and Kṛshṇa’s own light was hidden by this māyā. In earlier times only Kṛshṇa’s personal presence removed that māyā. Now that light could shine out from the Śrīmad Bhāgavata: wherever the Bhāgavata is explained and devotees hear it, Kṛshṇa is truly present.

Uddhava told the line through which the Bhāgavata came down. His own teacher, Bṛhaspati, had received it from Sāṃkhyāyana. Bṛhaspati in turn had told how the Primordial Purusha gave it to Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva one after another, for seven days, thirty days and one year respectively. Uddhava himself had read it for one full month. By this he became Kṛshṇa’s beloved companion, was sent to Vraja with Kṛshṇa’s message, and received from Kṛshṇa the innermost secret at the root of the aśvattha tree.

Uddhava gave Parīkshit a task: to go out on a campaign to conquer the quarters and to hold back Kali, because after Kṛshṇa’s departure Kali would put obstacles in the way of every sacred undertaking. Meanwhile Uddhava would hold a month-long Bhāgavata kathā at Vṛndāvana near Govardhana, so that the devotees could reach the eternal abode of Kṛshṇa. Parīkshit agreed. He walked around Uddhava in reverence and left.

Vajranābha placed his kingdom in the care of Pratibāhu and stayed in Vraja for the kathā. The month-long exposition of the Bhāgavata began at Vṛndāvana. During the kathā, Kṛshṇa’s līlā, whose nature is existence, knowledge and bliss, appeared everywhere. Everyone saw themselves placed within Kṛshṇa. Vajranābha saw himself at Kṛshṇa’s right foot, where the vajra mark is on Kṛshṇa’s sole, and he was freed from the pain of separation. The queens saw themselves as the radiance of Kṛshṇa’s sixteen digits, like the moonlight on the night of the Rāsa dance. Free from the sickness of separation, they rose to their own region. Others entered the eternal līlā and became invisible to ordinary awareness. They remain for ever in the bowers of Govardhana and the groves of Vṛndāvana.

Chapter 4: The recitation of the Bhāgavata

The ṛshis ask Sūta about the form and extent of the Bhāgavata, the way to listen to it, and the qualities needed in the one who explains it and in the listener. Sūta replies.

What the Bhāgavata is. The Bhāgavata is that teaching which makes devotees taste the sweetness of devotion to Kṛshṇa. It treats of four subjects: jñāna (knowledge from the scriptures), anubhava (the realisation of that knowledge), bhakti (loving devotion) and the aids to bhakti (śravaṇa, hearing; kīrtana, singing; and the rest). It has the power to hold back māyā.

Its extent. Its true form is infinite and imperishable; even Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva cannot know it in full. For human beings, the dialogue of Śuka and Parīkshit as composed by Vyāsa, eighteen thousand verses, is the most accessible form and the supreme support in the Kali age.

The eight kinds of listeners.

The four superior (pravara) listeners are:

• Cātaka: listens only to the scripture of Kṛshṇa.
• Haṃsa (swan): takes the essence from all scriptures.
• Śuka (parrot): speaks well and delights all.
• Mīna (fish): silent, attentive and appreciative.

The four inferior (avara) listeners are:

• Vṛka (wolf): shouts and disturbs the rasikas (those who relish the kathā).
• Bhūruṇḍa: teaches but does not practise.
• Vṛsha (bull): has no discernment and takes in everything.
• Ushṭra (camel): leaves the sweet and prefers the bitter.

There are many sub-kinds as well, such as Bhṛṅga (bees), Khara (mules) and others.

The four kinds of recitation.

• Rājasa: lasts seven days. It is celebrated like a yajña (fire ritual), with lavish preparations, haste, gaiety and much honour.
• Sāttvika: lasts one month or one season (two months). It is pure, done without strain, and increases delight.
• Tāmasa: lasts one year. It is slack and slow, with little faith, yet even this kind gives happiness.
• Nirguṇa: continuous and for ever, with loving devotion. This is the highest. The seven-day recitation of Parīkshit and Śuka was nirguṇa, because its length was set by the days of life Parīkshit had left, not by choice.

The procedure. The Kṛshṇārthin (one who seeks only Kṛshṇa) and the Dhanārthin (one who seeks worldly gain) each have their own procedure. For those with desires, the rules are:

• a bath every day;
• sipping the pādodaka of Hari (water that has washed his feet);
• pūjā of the Bhāgavata book and of the teacher;
• eating havishya (simple sacred food) or milk food, in silence;
• celibacy;
• sleeping on the floor;
• avoiding anger and greed;
• kīrtana every day at the end of the reading.

At the end of the recitation come a jāgaraṇa (night vigil), the feeding of brāhmaṇas with gifts of money, and gifts of clothes, ornaments and a cow to the teacher.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, chapters 1–4