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Re: Sri Vishnupuranam etc

From the Bhakti List Archives

S. HariKrishna • April 17, 2000 


From: Bharat Asur 

> No.Adiyen is talking about Sk VIII Ch 8 of Sri BH
> where the subject matter of Sri VP I.9, i.e.,
> Sri Lakshmi Swayamvaram is treated.

OK, as long as we are clear on the point that Lakshmi or any other
Lakshmi-tattva (such as Rukmini) is NOT equated to a lowly woman of the
three gunas in the Bhaagavatam. There is no evidence that the Bhaagavatam
gives Lakshmi anything less than the highest respect.

> In Sri VP IMMEDIATELY after her appearance Piratti
> heads for her rightful place-"yayau vakhshasthalam
> harEh".Then she smiles on Indra who gets his property
> back and who immediately chants the famous Sri Stuti.
> Sri ParASarar then sums up with a glowing account
> of the Divine Couple,their eternal togetherness,
> and their Mithuna SEshitvam towards all beings.
>
> In the Sri BH account,immediately Sri is born all
> those present covet her-"tasyAm chakruh spruhAm
> sarve sa-surAsura-mAnvAh".then there is a sort of
> Swayamvara,and in 4 stanzas she considers the merits
> of all beings past and present and finally settles
> on Hari,but He is absorbed in Himself.In stanza 23
> the decision is given in favour of Mukunda who is
> described as "NirapEksham Ipsitam".The great

> Compare this cold,matter of fact description of the
> union of the Divine couple with the encomiums poured
> on PirATTi by Sri ParASara in the identical context.
> Is aDiyEn still being accused of misleading in saying
> that there ia fundamentally different approach in
> both these great books?

Yes, I believe so. Different Puraanas sometimes contain different accounts
of the same historical events, not because they are necessarily
contradictory but because different aspects of the story are emphasized at
different times. In Bhaagavatam 8th skandha, chapter 8, in the Lakshmi
svayamvara where She ponders over the unsuitability of any devata other than
Vishnu to be Her husband is just to glorify Vishnu's supremacy over the
other devatas. There is no fault at all in Vyaasa's treatment of the subject
matter. And it certainly is not for us to compare different Puraanas based
on their relative ability or inability to meet up with our expectations.

As far as I know, everyone accepts Bhaagavatam to be in the sattvik class of
Puraanas, as is confirmed in the Padma Puraana itself. While I have seen
much hinting among some list members as to the presumed authorship
controversy, I have yet to see any Sri Vaishnava acharyas openly reject it
as anything other than the authentic work of Vyaasa. And since this is what
the Bhaagavatam itself acknowledges, I personally would not presume to find
fault with anything written therein.

regards,

HKS








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