Tenth Theme: Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supreme of all the Puranas

 

After proving that the Puranas and Itihasas in Kali-yuga are superior to the Vedas, eleven sections are intended to establish the Bhagavatam as the supreme of all the Puranas. Sri Jiva begins by saying:

 

“Even after manifesting the Puranas and composing the Brahma Sutra, Bhagavan Vyasa was still not satisfied and so he shaped what was the natural commentary of his Brahma Sutra. The Bhagavatam was revealed to him in samadhi and can, by itself, illustrate the common conclusion of all the scriptures. This is noted by the fact that it begins by referring to the Gayatri and is further characterized by a concise statement of the meaning of all the Vedas.”

 

The story of Vyasa’s dissatisfaction is well known: the composer and organizer of all the Vedas, having completed much of his work, examined it and was not satisfied with it. The arrival of his guru, Narada Muni, enabled him to understand the reasons: in his work he had not sufficiently expounded the essence of all the teachings, devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna. 

This was the reason for his unhappiness, and for this very reason Narada encouraged him to compose the Bhagavata Purana, also called Srimad-Bhagavatam. The story of the encounter between Narada and Vyasa and the dialogue that arose from this encounter is narrated in the fifth chapter of the First Canto of the Bhagavatam itself.

 

However, its supremacy is not only attested by the Bhagavata Purana itself: the Matsya Purana (53.20 to 22) defines it as hemasimhasamanvitam, the Scripture worthy of being placed on a golden throne. Sridhara Swami translates that compound word as “riding on a golden throne”, as he is the king of all the Puranas.

 

The reference to Gayatri is obviously directed to the sacred word dhimahi, which appears both in the Gayatri mantra and in the first verse of the Bhagavatam. To omit this word would have been inappropriate. But not only dhimahi testifies that the Bhagavatam refers to the eternal mantra, but also to other sections of the first verse, such as “janmady-asya yatah”, “from which comes the origin, maintenance and destruction of the universe” and “tene brahma hrda”, “who revealed the Vedas to Brahma through the heart”, phrases that form a precise and indisputable reference to the Gayatri.

 

The direct relationship between the Bhagavata and the Gayatri is disputed and finally accepted not only by Jiva Gosvami, but also by Madhva and his descendants, from Sridhara Swami to Mahaprabhu himself. In fact, in his dialogue with Prakasananda Sarasvati, Sri Caitanya says:

 

“At the beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam there is an explanation of the Brahma Gayatri mantra. The Absolute Truth (satyam param) indicates relationship, and the phrase ‘we meditate on Him’ (dhimahi) indicates the performance of devotional service, the ultimate goal of life.” (Caitanya Caritamrta, Madhyalila, 25.147)

 

Thus, Jiva Gosvami demonstrates that his statements are perfectly in accordance with the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and that the Bhagavatam is certainly aligned with the most classical of the Vedic mantras, the Gayatri.

This is a section of the book “Tattva Sandarbha”, in English.

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