Bhāgavata Māhātmya
Māhātmya means “greatness” or “glory”. The Bhāgavata Māhātmya is the teaching about the supreme glory, nature and life-changing power of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, the great sacred text about Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa. It is found in the Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.
Here Uddhava teaches Parīkṣit, Vajranābha and the gathered devotees at Vraja. He passes on what he learned from Bṛhaspati, who learned it from Sāṃkhyāyana. The Bhāgavata is defined as the teaching that shows devotees the sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa. It covers jñāna (knowledge), anubhava (direct experience), bhakti (devotion) and the practices that support them, and it holds back Māyā (the power of illusion). Its true extent is endless, beyond even Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. For human beings it takes the form of the eighteen-thousand-verse dialogue between Śuka and Parīkṣit.
The first line of teaching runs from the Primordial Puruṣa (Nārāyaṇa) to Brahmā (a seven-day reading), Viṣṇu (a one-month reading) and Rudra (a one-year reading). A second line runs from Sāṃkhyāyana to Bṛhaspati to Uddhava (a one-month reading). Wherever the Bhāgavata is explained and heard, Kṛṣṇa is present. Whoever is born in Bhārata and never hears it has, the text says, destroyed their own self. Its blessings reach all four varṇas (social classes), it saves three family lines, and it is the highest remedy for the troubles of the Kali Yuga (the present age).
What the Bhāgavata Is
The Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa gives an exact definition of the Bhāgavata:
Know that to be the Bhāgavata which spreads out and grows, showing the devotees of Śrī Kṛṣṇa the sweetness of devotion to Kṛṣṇa, or the life of Kṛṣṇa.
In fuller form:
Know that teaching to be the Bhāgavata which deals with four things: scriptural knowledge (jñāna), the direct experience of it (anubhava), devotion marked by love for Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa (bhakti), and its supporting practices such as śravaṇa (hearing) and kīrtana (singing Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa’s glory); and which has the power to hold back Māyā.
The form of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata and the form of glorious Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa are one and the same. Its nature is existence, knowledge and bliss.
Its Extent and Form
The true extent of the Bhāgavata is endless and never perishes. No one can know it fully. Its seed, the catuḥślokī (the four essential verses that hold the whole Bhāgavata in seed form), was shown to Brahmā by Viṣṇu at the time of creation. Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva can each fulfil their wishes by diving deep into its endless nature, yet even they cannot reach its end.
For human beings with limited ability, the most useful and approachable form is the dialogue between Śuka and Parīkṣit composed by Vyāsa, which has eighteen thousand verses. This text alone is the greatest support for those caught in the jaws of the crocodile of Kali.
The First Line of Teaching: From Nārāyaṇa to the Three Devas
Bṛhaspati, Uddhava’s teacher, told how the Bhāgavata was first handed down.
When the Primordial Puruṣa (Kṛṣṇa in his universal form) brought forth the three devas to carry out their tasks, each of them asked for help with his work.
To Brahmā, who was given the task of creation and was weighed down by the rajas guṇa (the quality of restless activity), Nārāyaṇa gave the Śrīmad Bhāgavata and said: “Rely on this for your siddhi (success).” Brahmā read it for seven days. In this way he broke through the seven āvaraṇas (coverings: two made of karma and five made of avidyā, or ignorance). He reached Kṛṣṇa for ever and gained the lasting power to create. In every cycle he goes on creating by relying on this Saptāha (seven-day reading).
To Viṣṇu, who was given the task of protection and had to shelter those who sought neither liberation nor worldly goods, Nārāyaṇa gave the Bhāgavata and said: “Read this to achieve all your aims.” When Viṣṇu himself explains it and Lakṣmī listens, the reading takes one month. When Lakṣmī explains it, since her mind is free while Viṣṇu is busy with his duties, and Viṣṇu listens, it takes two months. In this way Viṣṇu gained the power to truly protect all beings.
To Rudra, who was given the task of dissolution but lacked the power for ātyantika (complete and final) dissolution, Nārāyaṇa also gave the Bhāgavata. By relying on it for one year, Sadāśiva overcame the tamas guṇa (the quality of darkness and inertia) and gained the power to carry out even the final dissolution.
The Human Line of Teaching
Uddhava tells of the line of teaching among beings on earth:
Sāṃkhyāyana, then Bṛhaspati, then Uddhava.
Bṛhaspati received the Bhāgavata through the grace of Sāṃkhyāyana and passed it on to Uddhava. When Uddhava received it and heard from Bṛhaspati the story of the divine line of teaching told above, he bowed to his teacher, took up the Vaiṣṇava method and read the Bhāgavata for one full month. By that alone he became Kṛṣṇa’s beloved companion. He was sent as Kṛṣṇa’s messenger to Vraja, and he received the most secret teaching from Kṛṣṇa himself at the foot of the aśvattha (sacred fig) tree.
The most famous reading is the one Śuka gave to Parīkṣit. It was a nirguṇa reading: eternal, beyond any fixed length of time. Its length of seven days was set only by the number of days Parīkṣit had left to live, not by any rule.
Kṛṣṇa Lives in the Bhāgavata
One of the most striking teachings of the Bhāgavata Māhātmya is that the Bhāgavata is not just a record of Kṛṣṇa’s deeds. It carries his living presence:
Śrī Kṛṣṇa is surely present at the place and the time where the Śrīmad Bhāgavata is explained and heard by devotees. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, together with the gopīs, also blesses the place where even one verse, or half a verse, of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata is found.
This teaching speaks to the hard situation of the world after Dvārakā. Kṛṣṇa is no longer visible, and his yoga-māyā still hides true self-knowledge. Uddhava explains that in the past only Kṛṣṇa’s own presence could remove his Māyā. Now, in the Kali age, “that light can come forth from the Śrīmad Bhāgavata.” The text does not stand in for Kṛṣṇa. It is Kṛṣṇa.
Blessings for Every Varṇa
The Bhāgavata Māhātmya names different blessings for each place in society, while saying that the Bhāgavata is needed by all:
- Brāhmaṇas gain the light of learning.
- Kings (kṣatriyas) win victory over their enemies.
- Vaiśyas gain great wealth.
- Śūdras gain good health.
- Women and others see their wishes fulfilled.
Those who turn to the Bhāgavata again and again save three family lines: the father’s line, the mother’s line and the wife’s line.
The text goes further. Only when the puṇya (merit) of many births has ripened can a person come to the Śrīmad Bhāgavata, and true knowledge and devotion to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa come from it. Most urgently it says: if people are born as human beings in Bhārata and have not heard the Bhāgavata, they have destroyed their own selves.
The Bhāgavata in the Kali Age
The Bhāgavata Māhātmya stresses that the Bhāgavata is the greatest help in the Kali age:
This is the cure for all the ills of worldly life for those who seek liberation and are weary of its sorrows. In Kali it should be taken up with every care and effort.
Some people want worldly happiness but find the path of ritual action hard in the Kali age, because they lack the ability, the wealth or the special knowledge it needs. For them, the holy story of the Bhāgavata gives wealth, sons, wives, vehicles, fame, homes and a kingdom free of enemies. After enjoying all the pleasures they wished for, they reach the realm of Hari through contact with the Bhāgavata.
In the same way the Bhāgavata is true wealth for those who eagerly delight in the pūjā and praise of Kṛṣṇa’s divine play (līlā), and who do not wish even for liberation.
The Account in the Mārgaśīrṣa Māhātmya
The Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya of the Skanda Purāṇa (Chapter 16) adds more about the Bhāgavata’s glory, in the setting of receiving the Dāmodara mantra in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa:
- Hearing a single syllable of the Śrīmad Bhāgavata gives the same merit as the gift of a tawny cow.
- Half a verse or a quarter of a verse gives the merit of a gift of one thousand cows.
- Keeping the Bhāgavata at home in a fitting container is supremely meritorious.
- Where the Bhāgavata is installed and honoured with pūjā, Viṣṇu himself lives.
- The right disciple to receive the Dāmodara mantra in Mārgaśīrṣa is one who has heard the Bhāgavata. Hearing it is itself a qualifying practice.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, Chapter 3
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Bhāgavata Purāṇa Māhātmya, Chapter 4
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 16