Bhagavata Vahini
Preface
Dear Reader!
The Bhagavatam is a dialogue between a person under the sentence of death and a great saint, who prepared him to meet it. We are all under a sentence of death; our hearts, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the grave. Some reach it late, some soon. We require the counsel of a great saint, to prepare us, too, for meeting Death and witness the horizon beyond.
The Bhagavatam is a Ganga, emerging from the Lord, and merging in Him, after a long journey through geographic descriptions, historic annals, philosophic disquisitions, hagiological narratives, epistemologic enquiries, and after fertilising the vast valleys of human minds with the pure pellucid waters of Krishna-episodes.
Bhagawan has come again as Sathya Sai for the revival of Dharma among men. One important aspect of that revival is the re-establishment of reverence for the ancient spiritual texts, like the Bible, the Quran, the Zend Avesta, the Tripitaka, the Vedas and the Bhagavata. Reverence can spring at the present time, only when the inner meaning of the statements and stories is explained in clear, simple, charming style, by the very Person who inspired the original Scripture. Here, in this Book, we have His version of that voluminous textbook of Bhakti (devotion), which Vyasa composed at the suggestion of the sage Narada, so that he may win peace and equanimity.
This is not just a book, dear Reader. It is a balm, a key, a Mantra—to soften, solve and save, to loosen the bonds, liberate from grief and pain, thirst and tutelage. Open it with humility, read it with diligence, revere it with devotion, observe its lessons with steadfastness and reach the Goal that Vyasa reached and Narada attained; that Shuka taught and Parikshit learnt. What greater recompense can man hope for?
N. Kasturi
Prasanthi Nilayam
Guru Pournami
18-7-1970
Index
Preface
The Bhagavata
The Birth of a Bhagavata
Child Parikshit and the Prophecy
The Penitential Yajna
Yajnas And Penance Of Elders
Vidura’s Renunciation
Vidura the Counsellor
Dhritarashtra Transformed
The Ascent of Krishna
The Krishna Mystery
Pandavas’ Grief
The Kali Age Dawns
The Coronation of Parikshit
The Exit of Pandavas
The Reign of Emperor Parikshit
Reverence for Krishna
Recalling The Bygone Days
The Escape of Takshaka
Pandavas — An Example For Kali Age
Krishna’s Grace on Draupadi
The Durvasa Episode
Arjuna’s Fight With Gods
Guardian On The Battlefield
Parikshit Is Cursed
The Sage’s Compassion
Curse or God send?
Enter Sage Shuka
The Enchanting Story
The Dialogue Begins
The Bhagavata Path
Doubts and Questions
Puranas and Incarnations
Rama Avatara
Krishna Avatara
Gopala, Gopas and Gopis
Comrade and King
The Fate of Demons
Serpent Kaliya
The Omniscient as Student
From Mrta To Amrta
The Message of Krishna’s Advent
Consummation in Nanda - Nandana
Preface
Dear Reader!
The Bhagavatam is a dialogue between a person under the sentence of death and a great saint, who prepared him to meet it. We are all under a sentence of death; our hearts, like muffled drums, are beating funeral marches to the grave. Some reach it late, some soon. We require the counsel of a great saint, to prepare us, too, for meeting Death and witness the horizon beyond.
The Bhagavatam is a Ganga, emerging from the Lord, and merging in Him, after a long journey through geographic descriptions, historic annals, philosophic disquisitions, hagiological narratives, epistemologic enquiries, and after fertilising the vast valleys of human minds with the pure pellucid waters of Krishna-episodes.
Bhagawan has come again as Sathya Sai for the revival of Dharma among men. One important aspect of that revival is the re-establishment of reverence for the ancient spiritual texts, like the Bible, the Quran, the Zend Avesta, the Tripitaka, the Vedas and the Bhagavata. Reverence can spring at the present time, only when the inner meaning of the statements and stories is explained in clear, simple, charming style, by the very Person who inspired the original Scripture. Here, in this Book, we have His version of that voluminous textbook of Bhakti (devotion), which Vyasa composed at the suggestion of the sage Narada, so that he may win peace and equanimity.
This is not just a book, dear Reader. It is a balm, a key, a Mantra—to soften, solve and save, to loosen the bonds, liberate from grief and pain, thirst and tutelage. Open it with humility, read it with diligence, revere it with devotion, observe its lessons with steadfastness and reach the Goal that Vyasa reached and Narada attained; that Shuka taught and Parikshit learnt. What greater recompense can man hope for?
N. Kasturi
Prasanthi Nilayam
Guru Pournami
18-7-1970