Vyāsadeva

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ

dharmaḥ projjhita-kaitavo’tra paramo nirmatsarāṇāṁ satāṁ
vedyaṁ vāstavam atra vastu śivadaṁ tāpa-trayonmūlanam |
śrīmad-bhāgavate mahāmuni-kṛte kiṁ vāparair īśvaraḥ
sadyo hṛdy avarudhyate’tra kṛtibhiḥ śuśrūṣubhis tat-kṣaṇāt ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.2; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 10.396; Tattva Sandarbha: 19, 26, 50; Bhagavat Sandarbha: 84; Paramātma Sandarbha: 106, Bhakti Sandarbha: 106, 115, 217; Prīti Sandarbha: 16, 18, 73; Durgama-saṅgamanī-ṭīkā and Bhakti-sāra-pradarśinī-ṭīkā on Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu: 1.2.244)

“Here [i.e., in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], for the sādhus who are free from envy, is the highest dharma wherein deceit is utterly rejected. Here is the Reality, the real object to be be known, which bestows the highest good and uproots the three miseries. What need is there of any other [śāstra] than this Śrīmad Bhāgavatam compiled by the best of the sages [i.e., Vedavyāsa]? [There is no such need because] Here Īśvara is bound within the heart by the fortunate who desire to serve immediately, from that [very] moment [they begin to listen].”

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Bhārata Sāvitrī

Bhārata Sāvitrī

Śrī Vedavyāsa’s final message to humanity in Mahābhārata.

Excerpted from the Svargārohana Parva, 5.47–51.

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aṣṭādaśa-purāṇeṣu vyāsasya vacana-dvayam

aṣṭādaśa-purāṇeṣu vyāsasya vacana-dvayam |
paropakāraḥ puṇyāya pāpāya para-pīḍanam ||
(Mahāsubhāṣita-saṅgraha: 3587)

“Throughout the eighteen Purāṇas, Vyāsa has [just] two [fundamental] statements: benefiting others leads to merit (puṇya) and troubling others leads to sin (pāpa).”

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yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ

yaṁ pravrajantam anupetam apeta-kṛtyaṁ
dvaipāyano viraha-kātara ājuhāva |
putreti tan-mayatayā taravo’bhinedus
taṁ sarva-bhūta-hṛdayaṁ munim ānato’smi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.2.2)

“[Sūta Gosvāmī:] I bow to him [i.e., Śukadeva Gosvāmī], the sage upon whom the hearts of all beings are fixed [alt., the sage who is present in the hearts of all beings], he whom Dvaipāyana [i.e., Vyāsadeva], despairing in separation, called out to, ‘O son!’ as he withdrew [i.e., as Śukadeva departed from household life into seclusion to live as a renunciant just after his birth] unattained [i.e., not attained by Vyāsa; alt., alone] without rites [i.e., without receiving the upanaya and other customary saṁskāras], and, because of being absorbed [in whom], the trees echoed [‘O son!’ in return].”

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idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam

idaṁ bhāgavataṁ nāma purāṇaṁ brahma-sammitam |
uttama-śloka-caritaṁ cakāra bhagavān ṛṣiḥ |
niḥśreyasāya lokasya dhanyaṁ svasty-ayanaṁ mahat ||
tad idaṁ grāhayām āsasutam ātmavatāṁ varam |
sarva-vedetihāsānāṁ sāraṁ sāraṁ samuddhṛtam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.3.40–41)

“For the ultimate welfare of the world, the fortunate ṛṣi [i.e., Vyāsa] composed this propitious, auspicious, and supreme Purāṇa known as Bhāgavatam, which is equal to Brahman, and which describes the activities of he of highest praise [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa]. Vyāsa then fed his son, the best of the self-realized, this extracted essence of the essence of all the Vedas and Itihāsas.”

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sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam

sa saṁhitāṁ bhāgavatīṁ kṛtvānukramya cātma-jam |
śukam adhyāpayāmāsa nivṛtti-nirataṁ muniḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.8)

“After composing and revising this Bhāgavata-saṁhitā [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam], he [i.e., Vyāsadeva] taught it to his son, the sage Śuka, who delighted in detachment.”

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yena rūpa matsya-kūrma-ādi avatāra

yena rūpa matsya-kūrma-ādi avatāra |
āvirbhāva-tirobhāva yena tā’-sabāra ||
ei mata bhāgavata kāro kṛta naya |
āvirbhāva tirobhāva āpanei haya ||
bhakti-yoge bhāgavata vyāsera jihvāya |
sphūrti se haila mātra kṛṣṇera kṛpāya ||
(Caitanya-bhāgavata: 3.3.510–512)

“As the forms of all the avatāras beginning with Matsya and Kūrma appear and disappear [i.e., are not created and destroyed], so too the Bhāgavata is not composed by anyone and rather appears and disappears of its own accord. By virtue of bhakti-yoga, the Bhāgavata appeared on Vyāsa’s tongue, and this happened only by Kṛṣṇa’s grace.”

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anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje

anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje |
lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.6)

“Bhakti-yoga [i.e., sādhana-bhakti] to Adhokṣaja [i.e., Bhagavān, the Transcendent] is itself the cessation of misfortune (anartha). The learned one [i.e., Vyāsadeva] then composed this Sātvata-saṁhitā [i.e., Śrīmad Bhāgavatam] for the unknowing people.”

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bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite’male

bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite’male |
apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāñ ca tad-apāśrayam ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.7.4)

“In his pure heart, which was perfectly fixed by virtue of the yoga of bhakti, Vyāsadeva saw the complete Puruṣa, as well as māyā sheltered behind him.”

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janmādy asya yato’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ

janmādy asya yato’nvayād itarataś cārtheṣv abhijñaḥ svarāṭ
tene brahma hṛdā ya ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ |
tejo-vāri-mṛdāṁ yathā vinimayo yatra tri-sargo’mṛṣā
dhāmnā svena sadā nirasta-kuhakaṁ satyaṁ paraṁ dhīmahi ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.1.1)

“Let us meditate on the eternal Supreme Being, because of whom the manifestation, maintenance, and dissolution of this [perceptible universe] occur; who is fully aware of all matters and autonomous; who revealed the Veda, about which even the sages are bewildered, to the first seer [i.e., Lord Brahmā] through the heart; in whom exists the real threefold creation like a combination of fire, water, and earth; and by whose own power deception [i.e., māyā] is forever dispelled.”

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