20220910 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.3.40

The following is a Śrīmad Bhāgavatam class given by His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on September 10th, 2022 in Śrī Dhāma Māyāpur, India.

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

Hariḥ oṁ tat sat!

Jayapatākā Swami: So today is Bhādra Pūrṇimā, it is a special day to give Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In various Purāṇas it is mentioned that today is the day for Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And we have heard in this verse today how jñāna-vairāgya-bhakti are all established through the reading of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the Skanda Purāṇa there is a whole section about the glories of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. How by reading the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, you please Lord Kṛṣṇa. And Padma Purāṇa there are also glories of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in six chapters. It says, if you do a thousand aśvamedha-yajñas and various kinds of sacrifices, that is not equal to even 1/16th of what we gain from reading Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. And if one reads or hears the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam for one week, then he gets special mercy to go to Vaikuṇṭha. So, unfortunately our devotees don’t always read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.

In the Padma Purāṇa there is a history about Bhakti Devī. She was in Vṛndāvana, young and dancing and she had her two sons Jñāna and Vairāgya who were old, almost about to die. But Bhakti Devī was young and dancing in Vṛndāvana. She told to Nārada Muni who saw her, she vented to him that my two sons Jñāna and Vairāgya, have become very old and I cannot revive them. She told her history. She appeared in Draviḍadeśa, in South India and she went to Karnataka. She went to Maharashtra and Gujarat. But then she became old. Then when she went to Vṛndāvana she regained her youth but her sons were still old. So, some commentators they say, what does this mean? They think that Draviḍadeśa is where Rāmānujācārya appeared and all the Alvārs were present there. Karnataka means Madhvācārya. There are a lot of saints in Maharashtra and Gujarat. But gradually some impersonal ideas entered and destroyed bhakti. Bhakti went to Vṛndāvana and there she regained her youth but her sons Jñāna and Vairāgya were still old. So the commentators think that bhakti was rejuvenated in Vṛndāvana because of Lord Caitanya and the six Gosvāmīs. Nārada Muni said that I will try to revive these two by different Vedic mantras. He read Bhagavad-gītā and various Vedic texts. The two opened their eyes and looked at Nārada Muni and went back to sleep. So then he said, what should I do? What can I do? A voice came from the sky, it said, don’t worry there is a solution, you should read the divine text. He asked different sages what śāstra should I read? But they could not give the right answer. Then he went to the different forests in Vṛndāvana. I think it was Kāmyavana, he met the four Kumāras. He described what the voice from the sky had said and asked for their instructions and advice. Sanat-Kumāra he spoke on behalf of the four. If you read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, that will revive the two. You instructed Vyāsadeva who was an avatāra of Lord Kṛṣṇa to write the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and that immediately made him happy. Anyway, to make a long story short Nārada Muni began to recite the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and brought the two back to life. Haribol! The glories of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we can derive from this story. Also, in the Padma Purāṇa Bhakti Devī says, from Vṛndāvana I will go overseas. And Śrīla Prabhupāda, he went from Vṛndāvana, he carried the first canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. So some people are arguing what this videśa mean. Maybe it just means some distant place in India. Another paṇḍita India said it did not mention Draviḍa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, it said videśa, that means outside India. So our devotees and some paṇḍitas think that this is obviously the prediction about Śrīla Prabhupāda taking the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam around the world. And bhakti-yoga was also brought to the West. So these things are all mentioned in the Padma Purāṇa. Now we see how by reading even a verse, half verse, even a quarter verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we get special mercy. And those houses who keep the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and read it regularly every day, those houses are not different from places of pilgrimage. Haribol!

So, I don’t know how many of you have Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in your houses? Do you regularly read it? So many holy places we have!! So, Śrīla Prabhupāda he went to the West when he had finished the three volumes of the first canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I bought the three-volumes, they were the only books available then. I read the Easy Journey to Other Planets earlier. So, even though the first volumes were not perfect English, they were very enlightening. And I don’t know how far we reached this year – our goal is 43,000 Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam sets. So, the idea is that by the year 2030, to have distributed 100,000 sets. That means every year we have to increase 21%. Actually, if everyone can read the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam and have the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam then that is Kṛṣṇa avatāra as a book. We have a golden āsana, throne for the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Haribol!

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam can be worshiped, this is just like we worship the Deity, we can worship Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In Assam, they have a big brass holder and they put the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on that and do pūjā. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the literary incarnation of Lord Kṛṣṇa. And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are many līlās of the Lord and His expansions and pure devotees who are connected with Lord Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa! Are there any questions?

Question: You said that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam we can worship like Deity. We have Gaura-Nitāi and Rādhā-Mādhava, can we place Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as our main Deity on the altar along with guru-paramparā and worship?

Jayapatākā Swami: Why not?

Question: I have been distributing Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Bhagavad-gītā and also worship them, but now I have become invalid and disabled. What could be the reason for this?

Jayapatākā Swami: This is due to the time factor. And bhakti, vairāgya, jñāna, they are eternal tattvas. But jñāna, vairāgya they became old in Kali-yuga. But by Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, they became rejuvenated. If you think that because of distributing books you will remain in this material world forever? Anyway, we have a limited time to live. And by your distributing books, after this life we hope you will not have to take birth again! We should avoid offences.

Hare Kṛṣṇa!

Alright, I want to thank His Holiness Bhakti Vijaya Bhāgavata Swami and all the devotees who are helping in the distribution of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.