A Summary of the Srimad Bhagavatham : Ch-4. Part-17.

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4: The Stories of Siva and Sati, and of Rishabhadeva and Bharata


Part-17.


He is the Satchidananda Svarupa behind the nama and rupa prapancha, and all this world. We pursue the shadows, which cannot be cast unless there is a screen behind them. We forget the screen, and we pursue the shadows. That is why we are going to attain nothing worthwhile in this world by the pursuit of external objects. All externality is a shadow cast by Universality. Universality is the True Being which is Satchidananda. When it is cast into the mould of the space-time process, it looks like objects of sense. They are only appearances. The objects do not really exist, just as the various figures that we see in a magic show do not really exist. It is a magical performance. Mahamaya is pervading everywhere, and the magician is Ishvara Himself, wielding His magic wand in His great art of creating worlds and worlds. We should not get caught. Like Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara, we should be cautious of the existence of the great Purushottama everywhere. He is the Master of all creation, and knowing Him is our true salvation.

Yad? carmavad ?k??am ve??ayi?yanti m?nav??, tad? devam avijñaya du?khasy?nto bhavi?yati (S.U. 6.20): If you can roll up the whole space like a sheet of leather, then you can have peace of mind without knowledge of God.
Tameva viditva’tim?tyumeti n?nya? panth? vidyate’ yan?ya: The Purusha Sukta concludes by saying there is no way of crossing over this sea of samsara except by knowing Him who is the Purushottama. One crosses the domain of death by knowing Him. Knowing Him is being Him. They are not two different things. The knowledge of God is also the being of God, and therefore, when we know God, we be God, as it were.

Such is the glorious story that we have here in the Rahugana-Bharata Samvada in the Fifth Skandham, and there are incidental stories of this type in the Sixth and the Seventh Skandhas also.

END

Swami Krishnananda

To be continued  ...

Next : 5. Narada Instructs Yudhisthira on Ashrama Dharma



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