Some Gems from Srimadh Bhagavatham--2nd Posting
From the Bhakti List Archives
• December 5, 1996
Dear BhagavathAs interested inBhagavadh Vishayam: Since Srimadh Bhagavatham's dasama skandham deals with the life and Leelaas of Sri KrishNaa , I have assembled ten gems from the different Skandhams of Srimadh Bhagavatham for our daly reflections : 1.POWER OFTHE NAME OF THE LORD Skandham VI .2 .17-19 : This deals with Antima smrithi . "Those who utter the name of the Lord in a spirit of helpless supplication during the last moments of their lives on this earth ,quickly get cleared of the sins accumulated during many births and reach Him without fail . .. The name of the Lord , uttered with or without awareness of its power and sanctity , destroys completely the sins of human beings, just as Agni totally consumes the fuel . 2 . THREE TYPES OF DEVOTEES (Bh . XI . 2 .45-47) These verses deal with BhagavathOttamAs , BhagavadhAdhamAs and the in betweens . " The HIGHEST type (Uttamaas) of BhagavathA is the one , who perceives the glory of the Lord reflected in all of His creations--high and Low-- and also recognizes all living ones as dwelling in Him. ... The lower one mkaes the distinction between the Lord , His BhagavathAs , common folk and truly evil-minded ones. Correspondingly , he maintains toward the above four , attitudes of deep love, friendship , pity and distance respectively . The LOWEST type of devotee is one , who offers worship to the icons of the Lord with great affection ,but has no respect for His BhagavathAs and no interest in common folks or others. " 3. WAYS OF REACHING THE LORD (Bh . VII . 1 .30) The GOpis through physical attrction, Kamsaa through fear, SisupAlA through hate, the VrishNis through clanishness , the PaandavAs through their affection and the Rishis through devotion attained Him " . 4 . ONENESS OF MIND OF THE LORD ( Bh. X .87.23 ) The sages focus their minds on Him as the resdent in their hearts, the philosophers try to recognize Him as the indweller of all things, the AsurAs soend their time in mortal fear of confrontation with Him and the passionate gOpis ,who long for physical union with Him in violation of all social and ethical taboos ---they are ALL alike to Him . 5.THE ADORATION OF ACHYUTHAA AND ITS EFFECTS ( Bh .IV . 31. 14 ) Just as by supplying water at the root of a tree nourishes all the branches , the leaves and the shoots , just as food consumed to sustain vitality strengthens al the limbs , so also adoration of AchyuthA nourishes all Gods and the Universe. 6. INFINITE ATTRIBUTES OF THE LORD ( Bh .X . 14. 7) A special person may perhaps over a long period of time count the grains of sand present over the envelope of this universe, count the particles of dew in the environment or estimate the number of stars in the firmament , but no one, absolutely no one can count the attributes of thine , the infinite one ! 7 . THE PATHS OF WORSHIP( Bh . X .40 .10 ) O Lord ! Just as ALL rivers originating from various mountains fed by rain ultimately reach the Ocean , so do ALL paths of worship lead ultimately to YOU . 8 . MOODA BHAKTHI ( Bh . XI .12 . 8 and 13 ) The gOpis never recited the VedAs , they never spent their time in apprenticeship under a Guru , they practised no austerity , but by association with holiness , they attained Me . .... Hundreds of GOpis attained Me , the supreme Brahman , through loving Me as their paramour , but not through understanding My true nature as the sustainer of the Universe . 9 . VIDVESHA BHAKTHI ( Bh . VII . 28 ) Even by uninterrupted thinking of the Lord ( KrishNA ) as their dreaded enemy , they ( KamsA , SisupAlA ) became washed of all their sins and attained Him a tthe end . 10 . THE GLORY OF KRISHNAA ( Bh . X . 40 .50 ) ( The final slokam of the Dasama Skandham ) By the ceaseless practise of hearing (SravaNam ) , singing about ( Nama Sankeerthanam ) , and remembering (SmaraNam ) of the glorious deeds of Lord KrishNaa , man's attachment to Him grows day by day ; as a result , man attains the Lord and thereby conquers the irreversible and inevitable approach of death , which overpowers all beings. It is in search of THAT state , the emperors go to the forests leaving their kingdoms behind . Sri VaishNava Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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