The Story Behind the Bhagavata Purana
After codifying the Vedas and writing the Upanishads and the Mahabharatha sage Vyasa was not happy! Something ailed him and he sat depressed on the banks of the Ganges. Sage Narada visited him and knew the reason for Vyasa’s dejection. He said Vyasa, in spite of his voluminous and astonishing work, has failed to sing the glory and greatness of Lord Narayana which alone can lead man to his emancipation! He counseled the sage Vyasa to write about the Divine sports of Lord Narayana that would release mortals from the shackles of samsara and lead them to God. He stressed that Vyasa would be peaceful and satisfied only after doing this noble work.
After the great Kurukshetra war and the demise of all the Kauravas and Pandavas and Lord Krishna, it was the rule of King Parikshit. He was the grandson of Arjuna and the son of Abhimanyu. He was saved from the terrible astra of Aswatthama by the grace of Lord Krishna! He ruled the country righteously and was full of devotion. On a particular day he went out for hunting and chased a deer which eluded him. After a long chase he was very much tired and reached the ashram of the sage Samika who was in deep penance. He asked for water not realizing that the sage was in his tapas. He repeatedly asked for water to quench his thirst but the sage, in his deep meditation did not answer. Infuriated at the sage’s indifference, arrogant Parikshit lifted a dead snake lying by and put it round the neck of the sage in deep penance and left!
This matter was reported to shrungi, the son of sage Samika! He grew wild with anger at the misdeed of King Parikshit. He never expected the king to conduct himself in such an ignoble manner.This deserved the maximum punishment,thought Shrungi, and he cursed the king to die on the seventh day from that day! Meanwhile he went to his father, sage Samika and related about the curse. The Sage felt extremely sorry for what had happened and admonished his son for being too emotional and cursing such a great and noble king. But the damage was done and information regarding the curse was conveyed to king Parikshit. In the meantime the king cursed himself for the rash and instinctive act that resulted in the fatal curse
Soon king Parikshit prepared himself for the coming death. He crowned his son Janamejaya, released himself from all his family and royal obligations, and prepared to welcome death.Great sages like Viswamitra, Parasurama and even Vyasa Maharshi visited him.The king felt it was his fortune to have so many renowned sages in his company on the eve of his demise. It was at this juncture that the most revered sage Suka happened to come. King Parikshit was immensely delighted to see the Sage for none was more competent than him to offer jnana and solace at the time of death. There was no second opinion on this and all others present approved.The king requested Sage Suka to narrate the Divine glory and the sports or Leelas of Lord Narayana within the deadline of his death on the seventh day according to the curse.
Thus began the great Bhagavata Purana as a spiritual and inspiring discourse for the benefit of not only king Parikshit but millions of mortals in future! Sage Suka narrated the glorious stories of the various avatars of Sri Hari and those of His dear bhaktas.Embedded In the Bhagavata are the stories of the child devotees Dhruva, Prahlada and that of Gajendra,the elephant king rescued from the crocodile by Lord Vishnu. The most important part of the Bhagavata is the tenth part or the Dasama Skanda where the Divine sports of Lord Krishna are described! Various other narrations are also included and it is a compendium of spiritual Vedantic discourse at once interesting and inspiring! King Parikshit listened with intense faith and devotion to the Bhagavata even as the curse had its effect on the seventh day! The story of King Parikshit is also an illustration of one of the nine types of devotion or bhakthi, namely ‘sravanam.’ It indicates that by listening to the glories and Leelas of the Lord one can attain salvation or mukti as king Parikshit did!
No comments:
Post a Comment