Bhagwat Puran Second Skandh: Shukadeva's Teaching and the Four-Verse Bhagwat

In the second skandh Shukadeva begins to answer King Parikshit. It is a short skandh, but it holds the seed of the whole Bhagwat, the "four-verse Bhagwat".

Chapter 1: when death is near

Shukadeva says: "Your question is the best of all, O King. A person's life passes in household concerns, sleep and worry over money. One whose death is near should give up fear and hear, sing and remember Lord Hari. King Khatvanga had only one muhurta, forty-eight minutes, and in that time, giving up everything and fixing his mind on God, he was liberated. You have seven days."

Chapters 1 and 2: meditation on the cosmic form

One whose mind cannot yet rest on the subtle Lord should meditate on His cosmic form: the nether worlds are His soles, the earth His feet, the sky His navel, heaven His head, the sun His eyes, the directions His ears, the wind His breath, the rivers His veins, the mountains His bones, the clouds His hair. So the whole world comes to be seen as God's body. Then gradually meditate on His four-armed form in the heart.

Chapter 3: what each worship brings

One seeking knowledge worships Shiva, one seeking wealth Lakshmi, one seeking children the Prajapati, and so on for each desire. But whoever wants nothing, or everything, or liberation, should worship the Supreme Person with intense devotion.

Chapters 4 to 8: creation and the Lord's leelas

At Parikshit's request Shukadeva tells how Brahma explained the secret of creation to Narada: everything comes from Narayana; even Brahma creates by His grace. The leelas of the avatars are briefly told again.

Chapter 9: Brahma's vision and the four-verse Bhagwat

Before creation Brahma sat on the lotus wondering what to do. He heard two syllables: "tapa, tapa", "austerity, austerity". Brahma practised austerity for a thousand divine years, and the Lord showed him His abode, Vaikuntha. Then in four verses the Lord gave him the whole of knowledge, called the Chatuh-shloki Bhagwat:

Aham evasam evagre nanyad yat sad asat param
pashchad aham yad etach cha yo 'vashishyeta so 'smy aham (2.9.32)

Meaning: Before creation I alone existed, nothing else, neither gross nor subtle nor their cause. After creation, all that appears is I, and what remains after dissolution is also I.

Rite 'rtham yat pratiyeta na pratiyeta chatmani
tad vidyad atmano mayam yatha bhaso yatha tamah (2.9.33)

Meaning: Whatever seems to exist apart from Me, the reality, and is not seen in Me, know it as My maya, like a reflection or like darkness.

Yatha mahanti bhutani bhuteshuchchavachesv anu
pravishtany apravishtani tatha teshu na teshv aham (2.9.34)

Meaning: As the great elements are within all beings large and small and yet not within them, so I am within all and yet beyond all.

Etavad eva jijnasyam tattva jijnasunatmanah
anvaya vyatirekabhyam yat syat sarvatra sarvada (2.9.35)

Meaning: One who seeks the truth need know only this: that which exists everywhere and always, within all and yet distinct from all, is the supreme truth.

Brahma gave this knowledge to Narada, Narada to Vyasa, and Vyasa expanded it into the Bhagwat.

Chapter 10: the ten subjects of a Purana

The ten subjects of the Bhagwat are named: primary creation, secondary creation (by Brahma), maintenance of order by the Lord, His grace on devotees, the impulses of karma, the Manvantaras, the stories of the Lord and His devotees, dissolution, liberation, and the refuge, the Lord in whom all rests. The first nine exist to make known the tenth, the refuge, God.

What this skandh teaches

• However little time remains, it is never too late to turn to God; Khatvanga was freed in one muhurta.
• The whole world is God's body; seeing this is the first step of meditation.
• Truth is what exists before, during and after creation.
• Great work begins with focused effort; Brahma's first teaching was "tapa".