Srìmad Bhagavatam, first canto

[Surya]

  O Lord Krsna, please protect me and maintain me. O Lord Rama, descendant of King Raghu, please protect me. O Krsna, O Kesava, killer of the Kesi demon, please maintain me.

 

 

Here I will, at the very least, study one verse each day, quote the text as well as purport by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, and possibly some reflections on it. I have already read the intro and first chapter. I’ll skip the intro here, but will start again from chapter one. 
 

I very much hope someone would like to participate in it. 
 

best wishes!

 

edit: apologies, the purport and Sanskrit is not available at vedabase, but as I have it in print as well, I might scan and include it by request!

Edited Saturday at 11:23 AM by Surya

[Surya]

CHAPTER ONE

Questions by the Sages

Text 1: O my Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, O all-pervading Personality of Godhead, I offer my respectful obeisances unto You. I meditate upon Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa because He is the Absolute Truth and the primeval cause of all causes of the creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifested universes. He is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations, and He is independent because there is no other cause beyond Him. It is He only who first imparted the Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmājī, the original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory representations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only because of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.

 

 

—————

 

Q: what does the term «Godhead» mean?

 

notes:

The last sentence stood out: «I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode, which is forever free from the illusory representations of the material world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.»

 

It made me think about something a good friend of me once said: either you worship God, or you worship the mundane (ego, money and the like). I believe there is great truth to that.

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 05:41 PM by Surya

[Nungali]

" ...  universes, temporarily manifested by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, although they are unreal. "  

 

I am taking the three forces as 'unreal' and  not the Universes .... no doubt a variation on the 'purport'    

 

    I have written a lot about this  ......  beyond the concept of the three Gunas  . 

 

They are 'unreal' as they  are not 'material '  ... solid  .... three- dimensional , but their existence is postulated as factual as their evidence is everywhere found .  The three modes of nature  interact  ( on which ever level we consider ; eg    the strong force, the weak force and the electromagnetic force  )  but  are 'beyond the veil' , 'above the abyss ' ,  'behind material existence ' .

 

But when these 'ideal' forces interact the produce  another thing that  is 'real'  and material  - or a 'multitude  of things '  ( everything )  which is the '4th' stage of the manifestation  ... connected to the other three but not in a way we can 'see'   ( to follow the above example  those three forces can fit into a 'unified field theory '  but the 4th  force, gravity ,  does not  - as it is a product of the first three , not part of their 'set' . ) 

 

Which is why, in the Tao . 'the three gave birth to all things '   ; people mostly consider the duality of yin and yang and acknowledge that 'signature' in creation , but  the 'principle of three' seems little discussed.  

 

And not only do these three lead inevitable to 4 , but these 4 operate in three modes ;  

 

have a look at the way your fingers are constructed .

 

"  Mysterious Energy, triform, mysterious Matter, in fourfold and sevenfold division, the interplay of which things weave the dance of the Veil of Life upon the Face of the Spirit ... " 

 

Here the sevenfold division relates to the planets and represents 7 forms of energy interacting within the 12 (3 x4 ) modes or 'fields' . 

 

  

,

Edited Wednesday at 10:31 PM by Nungali

[Surya]

Discussion on SB 1.1.1

 

Thanks for participating, Nungali. I follow you halfway, but there are parts I do not understand. I understand the "Illusiary yet simutalinously real" aspect (I think), but the numbers thing is still a little above my level of understanding. Id be happy to go further into it, if you are as well, but that would take some effort and time on my part, which I do not have the time to dwelve into at this very moment.  

 

And yeah, thank you for metioning the word purport. Never really thought about the meaning of it but...

verb

 

/pəˈpɔːt/

1. appear to be or do something, especially falsely.

   "she is not the person she purports to be"

    

    Why would they add that into the scripture? 

    

    

    

    

   Creating a new post for verse 2, for the sake of order.

 

 

[Surya]

SB 1.1.2

 

Completely rejecting all religious activities which are materially motivated, this Bhāgavata Purāṇa propounds the highest truth, which is understandable by those devotees who are fully pure in heart. The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all. Such truth uproots the threefold miseries. This beautiful Bhāgavatam, compiled by the great sage Vyāsadeva [in his maturity], is sufficient in itself for God realization. What is the need of any other scripture? As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhāgavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart.

 

__________________________________
Thoughts: I agree that your ability to understand the deeper meanings of sacred texts depends on purity of heart. The second line is poetry to my ears. Well, yeah, not to much to add really, good stuff. I have always been a rebel, as Ive felt that ive been lied to by authorthies my whole life (the matrix, sort of). Now I think it is time to listen "attentivley and submissively" to the sacred texts by learned and pure devotees, but ofc, not throw all reasoning out the window. Rather, delay judgement: if it is something I dont understand or disagree with, ive decided to delay judgement,

Edited Thursday at 09:12 PM by Surya

[Nungali]

10 hours ago, Surya said:

Discussion on SB 1.1.1

 

Thanks for participating, Nungali. I follow you halfway, but there are parts I do not understand. I understand the "Illusiary yet simutalinously real" aspect (I think), ....

 

 

"That all depends if you are going to release the lions or not ." 

 

 

 

Spoiler

The king got impatient with Mulla Nasruddin , constantly pointing out the illusory nature of reality . So he demanded he be captured  and contained in an arena . The King then address him ; "O Mullah , do you still claim reality is illusion ?" 

"Yes I do ."

"Very well, then , soldiers ! Release the lions !"

Mullah ; " Lions !   ? ? ?    Hold on a minute there ! " 

King ; " But I thought you maintained  reality was an illusion ?" 

" I did !" 
" Well... is it or isn't it ?" 

Mulla ;  " That depends on if you are going to release the lions or not ." 

 

[Surya]

On 11.7.2025 at 9:22 AM, Nungali said:

 

"That all depends if you are going to release the lions or not ." 

 

 

 

  Hide contents

The king got impatient with Mulla Nasruddin , constantly pointing out the illusory nature of reality . So he demanded he be captured  and contained in an arena . The King then address him ; "O Mullah , do you still claim reality is illusion ?" 

"Yes I do ."

"Very well, then , soldiers ! Release the lions !"

Mullah ; " Lions !   ? ? ?    Hold on a minute there ! " 

King ; " But I thought you maintained  reality was an illusion ?" 

" I did !" 
" Well... is it or isn't it ?" 

Mulla ;  " That depends on if you are going to release the lions or not ." 

 

Are they noble lions? 🦁 

[Surya]

1.1.3

 

O expert and thoughtful men, relish Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the mature fruit of the desire tree of Vedic literatures. It emanated from the lips of Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Therefore this fruit has become even more tasteful, although its nectarean juice was already relishable for all, including liberated souls.