The Glory of God: A Summary of the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana: ( 04/04/2013. )

16/06/2018 1. Bhagavan Sri Krishna is called Mahayogeshvara. The great Lord of Yoga is supposed to be associated with the master of dextrous action, Arjuna. "Yatra yogesvarah krishno yatra partho dhanur-dharah tatra srir vijayo bhutir dhruva nitir matir mama" (Gita 18.78). “There shall be peace and happiness and prosperity of every kind where there is the Lord of Yoga, Bhagavan Sri Krishna, and the master of action, the wielder of the instrument of work, Arjuna. When these two powers unite, perfection ensues.” With these words, the Bhagavadgita concludes. We all aspire for perfection. We would like to have perfect health and a perfected form of education, a perfection in our fulfilment of needs and the acquirement of our appurtenances of life. We resent imperfection of any kind. We do not like a lacuna to be seen anywhere. Everything should be clean, tip-top, and elegant. The word that indicates all these ideas in our mind is ‘perfection’. It is the d...

    The Kali ( kali yugam) Era :      Maitreya wanted to know more about the kali era.      In the kali era, the norms of varna and ashrama will not be followed as is laid down in the Vedas. No one will pray to the gods . Relations between guru and shishya will cease. Might will be right. Women will all the time take care of their hair. Wealth will mean everything. Instead of spending money on dharma , people will spend money on building houses. Money will be spent for oneself and not for guests. Men will be selfish. Money will be earned through evil means. There will be drought.      Men will not bathe before their meals. Both men and women will become shorter. Women will not obey their husbands. The kings will not take care of the subjects, but will only impose taxes. People will become old when they reach the age of twelve and no one will live for more than twenty years. Evil will flourish. No one w...

    Balarama and The River Yamuna :      Now that there was peace, Balarama went on a trip to Gokula. There he met all his old friends and throughly enjoyed himself.      One day he found that there was wine issuing out of a kadamba tree. Balarama drank a lot of the wine and became drunk. Since he was drunk he had lost control of his senses. He, therefore, told the river Yamuna, "River Yamuna, I feel like having a bath. Change your course and come here so that I may fulfil my desire."      Yamuna ignored this instruction. At this, Balarama was enraged and took up his plough. With his plough he grasped the river and pulled her towards himself, "You won’t come , will you?", he said. "Let me see how you can flow where you wish."  The course of the river was changed.      Yamuna appeared before Balarama and begged for forgiveness.  This was granted.      W...

    Kalayavana :      There was a brahmana named Gargya who had been insulted and ridiculed by the Yadavas. This brahmana went to the shores of the southern ocean and began to perform tapasya. His desire was a son who would be the scourge of the Yadavas. As part of the tapasya, he ate only iron dust for food. The tapasya went on for twelve years and at the end of it, Mahadeva was pleased. The brahmana obtained the desired boon.      The son who was born was black of hue. The king of the Yavanas had no son and the brahmana’s son was adopted by the Yavana king. Eventually, this son became the king of the Yavanas and came to be known as Kalayavana.      Kalayavana wanted to know the names of all the powerful on the earth from Narada. He was told the names of the Yadava kings. So he decided to attack the Yadavas. He collected thousands and thousands of chariots, horses, elephants and infantry. Then he came to ...

    Jarasandha :      Kamsa had married two of Jarasandh’s daughters. These daughters were known as Asti and Prapti. On hearing that Krishna had killed his son-in-law, Jarasandha raised a huge army and attacked the Yadavas. The city of Mathura was under seize by the king of Magadha.      Krishna and Balarama had only a few soldiers, as compared to Jarasandha’s gigantic army. But still they came out to fight. From the sky a bow called Sharnga, two quivers that never ran out of arrows, and a mace named Koumodaki fell into Krishna’s hands. For Balarama the weapons were a plough and a club named Sounanda. Jarasandha was defeated by the two brothers and he fled.      After a few days Jarasandha attacked once more and was defeated yet again. This continued. There were eighteen occasions on which Jarasandha attacked and was defeated by the Yadavas.  

    Mathura and Kamsa :-      They reached Mathura in the evening. Akrura went ahead to the palace in the chariot, while Balarama and Krishna entered the city on foot. On the street they met a washerman. They asked the washerman for some nice clothes. But the washerman was Kamsa’s servant. Not only did he refuse them the clothes, he also abused that two brothers. So Krishna hit the evil washerman with his palm and split his head in two. Balarama and Krishna then took away whatever clothes they wanted. Balarama dressed in blue and Krishna dressed in yellow. They then went to the house of a garland-seller. The garland-seller thought that these two were gods. And when Balarama and Krishna asked for flowers, not only did he give them many flowers, he also worshipped them. Krishna blessed the garland-seller.      On the streets they also met a young woman. The woman was pretty, but had a hump on her back. Her name was Kubja. She car...

    Various Exploits :-      By then the cowherds had realized that Krishna was no ordinary man. They were slightly scared, but Krishna comforted them and told them that he was their friend.      One day, an asura known as Arishta arrived there. This asura had the form of a bull. The bull was dark as the clouds. The horns were sharp and pointed and his eyes were bright as the sun. He tore up the ground with his hooves. He was so tall that it was impossible to climb over him. This bull used to kill the calves and the sages.      Everyone was frightened at Arishta’s arrival. But Krishna clapped his hands. On hearing the sound of the clap, Arishta charged at Krishna with horns lowered. Krishna grasped the horns and stopped the bull. Then he hit Arishta with his thighs. Finally, he tore off one of the horns and attacked Arishta with it. The daitya vomited blood and died.      Narada related...