Online Articles:: Mahatmya: Srimad
Bhagavatam
Many great
personalities glorified Srimad Bhagavatam.
If one wants to find answers on how to overcome material
miseries, Goal of life (our destination) or his Relationship
with Supreme or find out the Mysteries of the universe or learn
about the Practical lifetime experiences of exalted
personalities which can be applied to our lives or Developing
love of God one should definitely read
Srimad Bhagavatam.
See the highlites about this great
scripture.
This transcendental is filled with inspiring spiritual stories mixed with powerful
spiritual knowledge -
an encylopedia of spiritual knowledge. It is also filled
with some beautiful prayers by exalted devotees of the Supreme Personality
of God, Sri Krsna.
aadi-madhyaavasanesu
vairaagyaakhyaana-samyutam
hari-lila-kathaa-vraata
matanandita-sat-suram [SB 12.13.11]
sarva-vedaanta-saaram yad
brahmaat maikatva-lakshanam
vastv advitiyam tan-nistham
kaivalyaika-prayojanam [SB 12.13.12]
From beginning to end, the
Srimad-Bhagavatam is full of
narrations that encourage renunciation of material life, as well
as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari's transcendental pastimes,
which give ecstasy to the saintly devotees and demigods. This
Bhägavatam is the essence of all
Vedaanta philosophy
because its subject matter is the Absolute Truth, which, while
nondifferent from the spirit soul, is the ultimate reality, one
without a second. The goal of this literature is exclusive
devotional service unto that Supreme Truth.
srimad-bhaagavatam puraanam amalam yad
vaishnavaanam priyam
yasmin paramahamsyaam ekam amalam jnaanam param
giyate
tatra jnaana-viraaga-bhakti-sahitam naishkarmyam aaviskritam
tac chrnvan su-pathan vicaarana-paro bhaktyaa
vimucyen narah [SB 12.13.18]
Srimad-Bhagavatam is the spotless
Puranam. It is
most dear to the
Vaishnavas because it describes the pure
and supreme knowledge of the paramahaàsas. This
Bhagavatam
reveals the means for becoming free from all material work,
together with the processes of transcendental knowledge,
renunciation and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to
understand
Srimad-Bhagavatam, who properly hears and
chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated.
History of Bhagavatam
idam bhagavataa purvam
brahmane naabhi-pankaje
sthitaaya bhava-bhitaaya
kaarunyaat samprakaasitam [SB 12.13.10]
It was to Lord
Brahma that the Supreme Personality of
Godhead first revealed the
Srimad-Bhagavatam in full. At
the time,
Brahma, frightened by material existence, was
sitting on the lotus flower that had grown from the Lord's
navel.
kasmai yena vibhaasito 'yam atulo
jaana-pradipah puraa
tad-rupena ca naradaaya munaye krsnaya tad-rupinaa
yogindraaya tad-atmanaatha bhagavad-raataaya kaarunyatas
tac chuddham vimalam visokam amrtam satyam param
dhimahi [SB12.13.19]
I meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth,
who is free from suffering and death and who in the beginning
personally revealed this incomparable torchlight of knowledge to
Brahma.
Brahma then spoke it to the
sage Narada,
who narrated it to
Krsna-dvaipaayana Vyasa.
Srila
Vyasa revealed this
Bhagavatam to the greatest of
sages,
Sukadeva Gosvami, and
Sukadeva mercifully
spoke it to
Maharaja Parikshit.
Bhagavatam is the King of all literature
sarva-vedaanta-saaram hi
sri-bhaagavatam isyate
tad-rasaamrta-trptasya
naanyatra syaad ratih kvacit [SB 12.13.15]
Srimad-Bhagavatam is declared to be the essence of all
Vedaanta
philosophy. One who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean
mellow will never be attracted to any other literature.
nimna-gaanaam yathaa gangaa
devaanaam acyuto yathaa
vaisanavaanaam yathaa sambhuh
puraanaanaam idam tathaa [SB 12.13.16]
Just as the
Ganga is the greatest of all rivers,
Lord
Acyuta the supreme among deities and
Lord Sambhu [Siva]
the greatest of
Vaishnavas, so
Srimad-Bhagavatam
is the greatest of all
Puranas.
ksetraanaam caiva sarvesaam
yathaa kaasih hy anuttamaa
tathaa puraana-vraataanaam
srimad-bhaagavatam dvijaah [SB 12.13.17]
O
brahmanas, in the same way that the city of Kasi is
unexcelled among holy places,
Srimad-Bhagavatam is
supreme among all the
Puranas.
Why Vyasa was dissatisfied even after compiling all the Vedic
literatures and His impetus in compiling the Bhagavatam?
sri-narada uvaaca
bhavataanudita-praayam
yasho bhagavato 'malam
yenaivaasau na tusyeta
manye tad darshanam khilam [SB 1.5.8]
Sri Narada said: You have not actually broadcast the sublime and
spotless glories of the Personality of Godhead. That philosophy
which does not satisfy the transcendental senses of the Lord is
considered worthless.
yathaa dharmaadayas caarthaa
muni-varyaanukirtitaah
na thatha vaasudevasya
mahimaa hy anuvarnitah [SB 1.5.9]
Although, great sage, you have very broadly described the four
principles beginning with religious performances, you have not
described the glories of the Supreme Personality,
Vasudeva.
Why did Vyasadeva compile the Vedic literatures
including Srimad Bhagavatam?
anarthopasamam saaksaad
bhakti-yogam adhoksaje
lokasyaajaanato vidvaams
cakre saatvata-samhitaam [SB 1.7.6]
The material miseries of the living entity, which are
superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking
process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not
know this, and therefore the learned
Vyasadeva compiled
this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme
Truth.