“ Sachidanand rupaya vishvotpatyadi hetve, tapatraya vinashaya shri krsnaya vayam namah ”In Naimisharanya, where 88,000 sages had assembled for a sacrificial yagna for a thousand years, Suta expounded the glory of Shrimad Bhagwat and informed Saunaka and the other sages that Shrimad Bhagwat secures the attainment of moksha by any person just as Pariksit attained it when Suka expounded the Shrimad Bhagwat to him. Sutapuran then commenced the discourse by giving an insight of the importance of Shrimad Bhagwat. He told the listeners that Shrimad Bhagwat is a treatise that cleanses the mind and dispels the fear of death, which looms large over every being who has taken birth. Death is an event for rejoicing since at this point a human being is relieved from this old and worn out garb and God in his benevolence replaces it for a new outfit . The kalpa tree gives us a nectar like fruit, Kamadhenu gives us food of our choice and Chinta Mani converts everything into gold when rubbed with it . These things cannot give us Moksha or deliverance, which can only be achieved through the Shrimad Bhagwat which brings us to the feet of lord Krsna. Guru Shankaracharya tells us “Baja Govindam, Baja Govindam, Govindam Baja, Muda Mateya”. “Even by uttering the sacred name of the lord, a person attains freedom from the deep mire of ignorance, and becomes fearless. By surrendering themselves to the feet of the lord, Rishis and Munis become so perfect that even those who associate with them grow pure and holy. The Ganga sanctifies everyone because she springs from the lotus feet of the lord. It is purifying to simply listen to the accounts of divine work and play. O, revered sages, there is nothing greater or purifying than to converse about God and his divine play. The highest religion is the unselfish love of God. If one has this love, he attains truly divine wisdom. Fruitless is that knowledge, which is not love. Religion is not for the purpose of securing a place in the heavens. It is an inquiry into truth, and its ideal is the knowledge and realisation of truth. Those who know of truth, call truth the eternal and infinite knowledge. The followers of Vedas call it Brahman. And the devotees call it God.” He explained, “ it is only by virtue of one’s good deeds in the past lives, does a person get the rare chance of listening to Bhagwat Katha. This is an occasion which even the gods envy. When Suka was on the verge of commencing the exposition of this Shrimad Bhagwat, the gods descended from the heavens. They offered Amrut (the heavenly nectar) in lieu of the chance to listen to Shrimad Bhagwat and Suka denied them this privilege since they had contemplated a barter deal with Pariksit. It is even said that Brahma witnessing this attainment of Moksha by Pariksit, set up a scale in Brahma Lok and on weighing Shrimad Bhagwat compared to other scriptures, found that the Shrimad Bhagwat outweighed all other scriptures put to-gather. Formerly, this Shrimad Bhagwat was the subject of discourse by the Sanaka Kumars to Narad. Though Narad had heard the chatur shloki Bhagwat from his father Brahma and later expounded the same to Vedavyasa for further expansion, but the procedure of hearing it in a seven-day period was disclosed to him by the Sanaka Kumars. It was modesty on part of Narad to take the seat of a disciple after having been the preceptor to the author of this same compilation. Pride and arrogance creeps in the outlook of even great sages, but Narad was way above such thoughts and had no reservations about accepting someone else as a teacher. Now I shall narrate the episode about Bhakti (Devotion) which I have heard from Sri Sukadev himself. It so happened that the Sanaka Kumars arrived at the Badrika ashram for Satsang and finding Devrishi Narad in a despondent mood, asked him the reason for this sad state. Narad replied : “During one of my sojourns to the earth, I visited many holy places- Puskara, Prayaga, Kasi, Haridwar, Kurukshetra, Srirangapatnam, Nasik etc. and found that the condition of people had become extremely decadent. Brahmins were selling the Vedas, women their bodies; the morals of mortals had touched the lowermost levels and the thought of God had nearly left the hearts of people. I reached the banks of Yamuna , where I saw a young woman wailing in a distressed condition while two old men lay unconscious by her side. Several women were fanning her and consoling her. I went near her and asked her identity. She informed me that she was Bhakti and the two old men were her sons, Gyan (Spiritual enlightenment) and Vairagya (Dispassion or renouncement). She continued her story thus ‘ oh Muniraja, I was born in Dravida desh and attained maturity in Karnataka. Though I was respected in some regions of Maharashtra, I reached a ripe age in Gujrat. Due to the advent of Kaliyuga, my two sons and I became weak and sluggish. I travelled a lot and on reaching Brindaban, I have regained my youthfulness but my sons have remained old and are in deep agony due to exhaustion.’ I comforted her and made several efforts to revive her two sons but to no avail. With the recitation of the Gayatri Mantra, the Gita and other Holy Scriptures, though a slight revival was attained, it was for a few moments only. After assuring her of finding some way out, I continued on my travails and on arrival at Badrika ashram prayed at the Lotus feet of Sri Krsna. I was contemplating about the solution to the problem of Bhakti.” On hearing this, the Sanaka Kumars assured Narad that the exposition of Shrimad Bhagwat would definitely revive Gyan and Vairagya and requested him to make arrangements for the same at Haridwar. This led to the Gyan yagna at Haridwar on the banks of Ganges, where several sages congregated. Bhrgu, Vasista, Cyavana, Gautam, Markandeya, Viswamitra, Parasara were some of the large numbers of eminent sages who came here. Those who were hesitant, were herded and persuaded by the sage Bhrgu, to participate in this mammoth Sutra. Continuing further, Suta narrates:- “the Sanaka Kumars singing the glory of Shrimad Bhagwat said that reading even 1/16th of this scripture surpasses the glory of thousands of ashvamedha yagnas and vajapeya sacrifices. Even the reading of one shloka assures moksha. The glory of Shrimad Bhagwat is so immense that the hearing of a sentence from this scripture by a dying person, frees him from the bondage of birth and rebirth. The Sanaka Kumars continued, “the seven day exposition of Shrimad Bhagwat in Kaliyuga is a very superior virtue for both the preceptor and the listener. This mode has been adopted in Kaliyuga, taking cognizance of the lower mortality, lesser intelligence and the lack of time due to the preoccupation of people with their day to day work and if diligently observed is the surest gateway to Moksha.” When Sri Krsna was about to leave this Earth for his heavenly abode, Uddhava pleaded with him to grant some solace for all mankind and in response, Sri Hari infused all his glory and energy into Bhagwat and disappeared into the Ocean of Shrimad Bhagwat. Suta continues: “ while the Shrimad Bhagwat was being promulgated by the Sanaka Kumars, Bhakti along with her two sons and others appeared on the scene chanting ‘ Sri Krsna Gobinda Hare Murare, Hey Nath Narayana, Vasudeva’. Bhakti repeated the story that she had told Narad and further clarified that when this discourse commenced on the banks of Ganges, though she was far from this place in Brindaban, she regained her vigour and her sons had turned into youths once again. They had come to participate in this gyan yagna. Bhakti, as it befits a guest of honour requested Sanaka Kumars to allot her a seat. the Sanaka Kumars were very happy and allotted her a niche in the hearts of the vaishnvas assembled there. Thus godliness was rekindled in the hearts of the assembly, and so also her progeny, Gyan and Vairagya followed suit
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