DIVINE INFORMATION PART 108 364 SriMadhBhagavatham. ... part41 RISHABHA
Rishabhawas born with divine emblems and super-human qualities. When once Indra withheld rains from his land called Ajanabha,Rishabha brought down rainsby his Yogic powers. Onknowing the love and confidence of the people and ministers in Rishabha, Nabhi enthronedhim and accompanied by his wife, he proceeded to Bhadariyasrama, adored the Lordand attained Mukhti. Nabhiwas praised in two verses: Who can emulate Nabhi, whose worship fetched the LordHimself as his son and where is another man so devoted to holy men as Nabhi, towhose sight, the holy men, pleased with his worship, brought the Supreme Being Himself. Rishabhadeva adopted the life of a religious student under a Vedic teacher and after pleasingthe teacher with gifts, returned with his blessings. Headopted the householders life to disseminate knowledge of householders duties, observedall the rituals and duties laid down in the scriptures, married a girl named Jayanti givento him by Indra and begot through her a hundred sons equal to himself in all respects. And thisAjanabha Varsha came to be known as Bharatavarsha, named after Bharata, the eldestand noblest of Rishabhadevas sons. MYnote- So according to bhagavatham India is called bharatham named after Bharatha, son of Rishabha and not Bharatha son of Sakunthala Nine of Rishabhas sons became great devotees and teachers of Bhakti path. Eighty-oneof Rishabhas sons, who were humble in nature, learned in Vedas, versed in sacrificialrites and extremely pure, became Brahmins according to their fathers instructions. 365 RISHABHAS IDEAL HOUSE-HOLDERS LIFE oughever transcending the unholy and unspiritual influence of the world, blissful andself-controlled, Rishabha otherwise behaved just like a man of the world. Inorder to impart the duties of the householders life which had decayed due to passageof time, Rishabha observed all the rites and ceremonials of the householder. Rishabhataught by practice, kindness and compassion and enjoined on his people domesticlife, conditioned by righteousness, wealth, renowned, children, pleasures and salvation. His several Yajnas conformed to substance, place,time, age and earnestness, priests and devas as per sastras. Thesubjects, who were peaceful and contented, never cast a wistful glance on othersproperty, but cultivated a growing and intense love for the Supreme Lord. Rishabha set an ideal examplefor the parents to initiate their own sons in righteous life. 366. SriMadh Bhagavatham.... part…42 RISHABHAS TEACHINGS Rishabhadeva,in an assembly of sages at Brahmavarta, expounded to his sons the precepts, moredirected towards his people, as follows: The human body is sacred. It should be utilized to observe austerity for attaining nobleand spiritual advancement. It should not be frittered away in sensuouspleasures, which are in the realms of birds and beasts too. Theassociation with holy men, who are even-minded, tranquil, virtuous and friendlyto all, leads to liberation. Degradation ensues otherwise. Theholy men treat their intensive devotion to me as the noblest attainment in lifeand lead a contented life with love for all, which serves as Love of God. Gratifying senses leads to misery. Repeatedindulgence in Karma, which results in the cycle of births and deaths, is bound tocause more sufferings. Ourpursuit should be directed to the Eternal Truth and not to selfish gratification. Non-attachmentsecures the highest goal. Ignoranceleads to enslavement to the evil tendencies of the past; devotion to God is theonly remedy. Man should make a distinction between body-mindand Atman, viz. sensory pursuitsand spiritual life, the ephemeral pleasure and eternal joy. The sure path to win Gods grace lies in a desireless devotion to the Lord, treating painand pleasure alike, enquiring spirit, Tapas, meditation, righteous duties, recountingGod’s glories and singing His excellence, freedom from animosity, keeping a calmheart and mind, choosing seclusion, subduing the breaths, senses and mind, absolutefaith in God, celibacy, control of speech and alert dutifulness. Mymind is dominated by Sattva quality and consequently devotion to God flourishesin it and Adharma finds no place in it. Youare all born of my Suddhasattva (unalloyed purity) heart. Setting aside jealousy,serve saintly Bharata, your brother, who is at par with me in looking after thesubjects. The supreme Lord Vasudeva is higher than Brahma,Rudra, Indra, Devas and all. And I (God) am a devotee of Brahmanas (Sa MathparohamDhvijadevadevah V-5-22). Brahmanas are dearto Me. Idon’t treat anyone at par with the Brahmanas. Thus, where can I look for a higher being? I relish what is offered to Brahmanas with earnestness more avidly than offeringsmade in Agni Hotra. There is nonewho is equal to the Brahmana, who is endowed with pure nature, who has conqueredhis mind and senses,who practices truthfulness, compassion, benevolence, restraint,enjoying divinity within oneself. To the Brahmans, who have nothing to seek of Me, the endower of Moksham, who have nothing tocall their own and who are ever devoted to me, what good for them are the worldlypossessions? Myreal worship consists of even mindedness towards the animate and inanimate as myabode. Mind.Speech, sight and other organs become purposeful if directed to my worship; elsethe man becomes deluded and subject to the domain of Yama. Thus propounded Rishabhadeva to his sons,the Dharmic truths, which were in fact intended for the benefit of the people atlarge. Thereafter,Rishabhadeva, desirous of setting an example in renunciation, installed his eldestand devout son Bharata on the throne, and himself taking only the remnants of hisbody (old age) and nothing else, left his abode and country. Then on, Rishabha was bereft of clothes, hair disheveled,completely withdrawing within himself and immune to the surroundings. He now and then appeared among menas if blind, deaf, dumb and mad, kept wandering all over the earth, totallyuntouched by or unaware of the ridicule, insults and barbs heaped on him by theperverted among the people. Rishabhadeva then confined himself to only one place (Python-life) , nevermoving out, took food andexcreted, all immobile. His yogic powerwas such that his excreta filled an area of about ten yojanas (80 miles) with fragrance.Rishabhadeva lost all body-consciousness and attained the state of oneness withthe Supreme Lord. Bythe practice of yogic discipline, the powers of coursing through the sky, speedof mind, prowess of disappearance, entering other body and the like accrued to Rishabhadeva,but he cared not for them, for he knew that the mind cannot be trusted too much,though under control. Just as a deer doesnot repose trust in a hunter, so also, the learned do not place faith in the fickle-naturedmind, which, like the unfaithful wife, yields place to lust and its allies. Themanifestation of Karma bondage like lust, anger, pride, greed, sorrow and fearhave their seat (root) in mind, which wise men would keep under control. Rishabha was travelling all over and reachedthe forest at the feet of Kutajadri (Coorg Dakshina Karnataka). His mouth was filled with stones, hair was disheveledand he was stark naked. There he was caught in a forest fireand laid down his human body. Ofthe sacred Dvipas, surrounded by the seven oceans, Bharatakhanda is the foremostsacred Karma Bhumi. There the people are devoted to the Lord and sing His gloriesand His auspicious Avatars. Blessed is the race of Priyavrata in which Lord incarnated as Rishabhaand practiced righteousness, leading to Moksha. All yogis strive to imbibe a fraction of thoseyogic powers, which Rishabha discarded as futile. Whoeverreads, listens to or expounds this accountof Rishabha, which reveals the greatness of and truth about the vedas, the shiningworlds, the Devas, the holy men and spiritual duties, become purified ofsins and become worthy devotees of the Supreme Lord. Thetruly wise men, by ever being immersed in the ocean of devotion, and thereby assuagingthe torments of Samsara and achieving all their inspirations, prefer devotion toGod to Moksha itself. Suka concluded: O King Parikshit! To you the Pandavas and Yadus, Lord Krishna is the savior,preceptor, invoking deity, beloved (benefactor) and Kulapathy. Nay! He served as your messenger emissary and charioteer. IndeedGod bestows Mukthi Moksha on those who worship Him, but seldom that intense lovingdevotion Bhktiyoga (which binds Him to the devotee). Salutationsto that Lord Rishabha repository of the eternalwisdom, untouched by desires and unrivalled in showering grace on mankind. Posted by: "DILIP KUMARRAVINDRAN" [email protected] prdili Thu Nov 4, 2010 8:17 am (PDT) Srimad Bhagavathampart 41 and 42 Posted on 29-9-21. R.Gopalakrishnan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/841132842.167925.1632903555843%40mail.yahoo.com.
