Gita Mahatmya : The Glories of the Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana
by Mantra & shlokas on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 5:29pm
The Glories of Chapter Seven of the
Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, now I will tell you the glories of the Seventh Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita, hearing which, one feels his ears have been filled with divine nectar.
Pataliputra is the name of one large town, which has many large gates. In that town lived a brahmana of the name Shankukarna He had taken to the occupation of a businessman, and had amassed a very large wealth. But he had never performed any type of devotional activities, nor had he performed the necessary ritualistic performances for the sake of his forefathers. He became very rich, so much that even great kings would dine at his house. Shankukarna was also the most miserly of persons, and he kept his wealth buried under the ground.
Once, when that brahmana was going along with his children and other relatives for the purpose of his fourth marriage, they stopped at one place to rest for the night. While he was sleeping, a snake came and bit him. When his sons and relatives realized that a snake had bitten him, they called for the doctors and mantra-chanters. But no one was able to help Shankukarna, and shortly he died. After that he attained the body of a Preta-Sarp, a snake-ghost. The only thing he was able to think about was his wealth, which was buried close to the house where he had lived. He had not even informed his own family of the whereabouts of his wealth. Even in the form of a Preta-Sarp he resided at the place where his wealth was buried, so that no one else could take that wealth. After some time he became tired of being trapped in the form of a Preta-Sarp and he appeared in dreams to his sons and requested them to help him. In the morning, when his lazy sons woke up, they told each other about the dream they had seen. One of his sons took a large digging instrument in his hands and went to the place the father had indicated that he was living. When he reached that place he realized that he was not aware of the exact spot where the wealth was buried. That son was exceptionally greedy, and he searched for a long time, until he came across a snake-hole, which he promptly started to dig out.
Shortly a very large and fearful looking snake came out of that hole and spoke the following, “Oh, fool, who are you? Why have you come here? Who has sent you? And why are you digging at this place? Reply to my questions at once.”
The son replied, “I am your son. My name is Shiva. In a dream last night, I saw that there were hidden treasures buried at this place and I came to take them. When he heard Shiva speaking that way the Preta-Sarp started to laugh and said, “If you are my son, then why are you not performing the necessary rituals to free me from this hellish situation. Due to greed in my last life, I attained this body and now you are heading the same way.”
The son inquired, “My dear father, kindly tell me how you can be freed from this hellish situation?” The Preta-Sarp said, “Not by any kind of charity, tapasya or yajna, only by reciting of the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita will I be able to become free from the wheel of birth and death. My dear son kindly perform the shraddha ceremony and on that day, invite a Brahmana, who is in the habit of chanting the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita and feed him very sumptuously.”
Thereafter, Shiva, along with his other brother fulfilled the instructions of their father and while the Brahmana was chanting the Seventh Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sankukarna gave up that frightful body of a Preta-Sarp and attained a divine four-armed body. At that time he blessed his sons and informed them where his wealth was and then left for Vaikuntha.
Those sons, whose minds had become fixed in devotion to Lord Krishna, used that wealth for building temples, digging wells and kinds, and distributing foodstuffs. They all engaged daily in the recitation of the Seventh Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. And very quickly they attained the lotus feet of Lord Krishna.
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, I have told you the wonderful glories of the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Anyone, who hears this description, will be freed from all sinful reactions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“
The Glories of Chapter Eight of the
Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, now please listen to the glories of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. After listening to this, you will feel great joy.
In the South is an important town of the name Amardhkapur in which one brahmana of the name Bhavasharma lived, who had taken a prostitute as his wife. Bhavasharma enjoyed eating meat, drinking wine, stealing, going with other’s wives; and hunting. One day, that sinful Bhavasharma was invited to a party, where he drank so much alcohol that it started to come out of his mouth. After the party, he became very sick and suffered from chronic dysentery, and after many days of suffering he died and attained the body of a date-palm-tree.
One day, two brahma-rakshasas (ghosts) came and took shelter under that tree. Their previous life-story was as follows:
There was a brahmana by the name of Kushibal, who was very learned in the Vedas and had studied all branches of knowledge. His wife’s name was Kumati, who was very evil-minded. Although that brahmana was very learned, he was also very greedy. Along with his wife, he used to collect lots of charity everyday, but he would never give charity to any other Brahmana, When their time came to die, they both attained the forms of brahma-rakshasas. As brahma-rakshasas, they continuously wandered here and there over the earth suffering from hunger and thirst.
One day they rested under that date-palm-tree. At that time, the wife inquired from the husband “How can we get free from this curse of being brahma-rakshasas?” He replied, “By knowledge of Brahma, by knowledge of the Self, by knowledge of fruitive activities. Without such knowledge it is not possible to get free from our sinful reactions.”
Upon hearing this, the wife inquired, “Oh, my Lord, what is Brahma, what is the Self? What are fruitive activities? (him tad brahma kim adhyatmam kim karma purusottama)”‘Completely by accident, the wife happened to chant half of the first shloka of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. At that time, having heard that half shloka, Bhavasharma broke free from that form as a tree, and again attained a body of a brahmana, completely free from all sin. Suddenly from the sky came a flower-airplane, which took that husband and wife back home, back to Godhead, Vaikuntha.
Afterwards, that Brahmana, Bhavasharma, with great respect, wrote down that half Shloka (kim tad brahma kim adhyatmam-kim karma purusottama) and with the intention of worshipping Lord Krishna, he went to Kashipuri and started performing great austerities, while continuously chanting that half Shloka.
Meanwhile in Vaikuntha, Lakshmi seeing Lord Vishnu, had risen suddenly from taking rest, inquired with folded hands “Why have You risen so suddenly from Your sleep?” Lord Vishnu said, “My dear Lakshmi, in Kashipuri, on the bank of the river Ganges, my devotee is performing great austerities continuously chanting half a Shloka of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. For a long time I have been thinking how to award his devotion”. Parvati inquired from Lord Shiva, “when Lord Vishnu was so pleased with His devotee, what benediction did He bestow upon him?”
Lord Shiva said, “Bhavasharma went to Vaikuntha, to engage in the eternal service of the lotus-feet of Lord Vishnu. Not only that, but all of his ancestors also attained the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.
My dear Parvati, I have described to you just a little of the glories of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.
Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, now I will tell you the glories of the Seventh Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita, hearing which, one feels his ears have been filled with divine nectar.
Pataliputra is the name of one large town, which has many large gates. In that town lived a brahmana of the name Shankukarna He had taken to the occupation of a businessman, and had amassed a very large wealth. But he had never performed any type of devotional activities, nor had he performed the necessary ritualistic performances for the sake of his forefathers. He became very rich, so much that even great kings would dine at his house. Shankukarna was also the most miserly of persons, and he kept his wealth buried under the ground.
Once, when that brahmana was going along with his children and other relatives for the purpose of his fourth marriage, they stopped at one place to rest for the night. While he was sleeping, a snake came and bit him. When his sons and relatives realized that a snake had bitten him, they called for the doctors and mantra-chanters. But no one was able to help Shankukarna, and shortly he died. After that he attained the body of a Preta-Sarp, a snake-ghost. The only thing he was able to think about was his wealth, which was buried close to the house where he had lived. He had not even informed his own family of the whereabouts of his wealth. Even in the form of a Preta-Sarp he resided at the place where his wealth was buried, so that no one else could take that wealth. After some time he became tired of being trapped in the form of a Preta-Sarp and he appeared in dreams to his sons and requested them to help him. In the morning, when his lazy sons woke up, they told each other about the dream they had seen. One of his sons took a large digging instrument in his hands and went to the place the father had indicated that he was living. When he reached that place he realized that he was not aware of the exact spot where the wealth was buried. That son was exceptionally greedy, and he searched for a long time, until he came across a snake-hole, which he promptly started to dig out.
Shortly a very large and fearful looking snake came out of that hole and spoke the following, “Oh, fool, who are you? Why have you come here? Who has sent you? And why are you digging at this place? Reply to my questions at once.”
The son replied, “I am your son. My name is Shiva. In a dream last night, I saw that there were hidden treasures buried at this place and I came to take them. When he heard Shiva speaking that way the Preta-Sarp started to laugh and said, “If you are my son, then why are you not performing the necessary rituals to free me from this hellish situation. Due to greed in my last life, I attained this body and now you are heading the same way.”
The son inquired, “My dear father, kindly tell me how you can be freed from this hellish situation?” The Preta-Sarp said, “Not by any kind of charity, tapasya or yajna, only by reciting of the Seventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gita will I be able to become free from the wheel of birth and death. My dear son kindly perform the shraddha ceremony and on that day, invite a Brahmana, who is in the habit of chanting the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita and feed him very sumptuously.”
Thereafter, Shiva, along with his other brother fulfilled the instructions of their father and while the Brahmana was chanting the Seventh Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita, Sankukarna gave up that frightful body of a Preta-Sarp and attained a divine four-armed body. At that time he blessed his sons and informed them where his wealth was and then left for Vaikuntha.
Those sons, whose minds had become fixed in devotion to Lord Krishna, used that wealth for building temples, digging wells and kinds, and distributing foodstuffs. They all engaged daily in the recitation of the Seventh Chapter of the Srimad Bhagavad-gita. And very quickly they attained the lotus feet of Lord Krishna.
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, I have told you the wonderful glories of the Seventh Chapter of Bhagavad-gita. Anyone, who hears this description, will be freed from all sinful reactions.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~“
The Glories of Chapter Eight of the
Bhagavad Gita from the Padma Purana
Lord Shiva said, “My dear Parvati, now please listen to the glories of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. After listening to this, you will feel great joy.
In the South is an important town of the name Amardhkapur in which one brahmana of the name Bhavasharma lived, who had taken a prostitute as his wife. Bhavasharma enjoyed eating meat, drinking wine, stealing, going with other’s wives; and hunting. One day, that sinful Bhavasharma was invited to a party, where he drank so much alcohol that it started to come out of his mouth. After the party, he became very sick and suffered from chronic dysentery, and after many days of suffering he died and attained the body of a date-palm-tree.
One day, two brahma-rakshasas (ghosts) came and took shelter under that tree. Their previous life-story was as follows:
There was a brahmana by the name of Kushibal, who was very learned in the Vedas and had studied all branches of knowledge. His wife’s name was Kumati, who was very evil-minded. Although that brahmana was very learned, he was also very greedy. Along with his wife, he used to collect lots of charity everyday, but he would never give charity to any other Brahmana, When their time came to die, they both attained the forms of brahma-rakshasas. As brahma-rakshasas, they continuously wandered here and there over the earth suffering from hunger and thirst.
One day they rested under that date-palm-tree. At that time, the wife inquired from the husband “How can we get free from this curse of being brahma-rakshasas?” He replied, “By knowledge of Brahma, by knowledge of the Self, by knowledge of fruitive activities. Without such knowledge it is not possible to get free from our sinful reactions.”
Upon hearing this, the wife inquired, “Oh, my Lord, what is Brahma, what is the Self? What are fruitive activities? (him tad brahma kim adhyatmam kim karma purusottama)”‘Completely by accident, the wife happened to chant half of the first shloka of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. At that time, having heard that half shloka, Bhavasharma broke free from that form as a tree, and again attained a body of a brahmana, completely free from all sin. Suddenly from the sky came a flower-airplane, which took that husband and wife back home, back to Godhead, Vaikuntha.
Afterwards, that Brahmana, Bhavasharma, with great respect, wrote down that half Shloka (kim tad brahma kim adhyatmam-kim karma purusottama) and with the intention of worshipping Lord Krishna, he went to Kashipuri and started performing great austerities, while continuously chanting that half Shloka.
Meanwhile in Vaikuntha, Lakshmi seeing Lord Vishnu, had risen suddenly from taking rest, inquired with folded hands “Why have You risen so suddenly from Your sleep?” Lord Vishnu said, “My dear Lakshmi, in Kashipuri, on the bank of the river Ganges, my devotee is performing great austerities continuously chanting half a Shloka of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita. For a long time I have been thinking how to award his devotion”. Parvati inquired from Lord Shiva, “when Lord Vishnu was so pleased with His devotee, what benediction did He bestow upon him?”
Lord Shiva said, “Bhavasharma went to Vaikuntha, to engage in the eternal service of the lotus-feet of Lord Vishnu. Not only that, but all of his ancestors also attained the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.
My dear Parvati, I have described to you just a little of the glories of the Eighth Chapter of Srimad Bhagavad-gita.
No comments:
Post a Comment