Read the divine guidance provided by Pujya Bhaishri in the compassionate Shrimad Bhagavat Katha in Pune

The Agarwal family organised a Shrimad Bhagavat Katha by Pujya Bhaishri from 9th November to 16th November 2013 in the sprawling lawns of their house at Koregaun Park in Pune. The lush green and tranquil atmosphere was perfect to listen to the divine Bhagavat katha. The serene atmosphere transported the listeners instantly into a sublime spiritual experience.

At the beginning of the katha, Pujya Bhaishri elaborated on the path of knowledge. He explained that Lord Shiv and Maa Parvati symbolise trust and faith respectively. The unity of trust and faith leads to the birth of Shri Ganesh, meaning, knowledge. Ganeshji sits on the lap of Maa Parvati which means that knowledge must always sit on the laps of faith. Also, success and wealth (symbolised by the two wives of Ganeshji, Siddhi and Buddhi) will result when knowledge rides on hard work (the mouse). Ganeshji’s; large ears symbolise that in order to gain knowledge, we must do a large amount of listening. This is why katha is described as a Gyan Yagya.

Love, action and knowledge are the three necessities in life. Love is the fodder of our mind, action the fodder of our hands and knowledge is the fodder of our intellect. By providing us with this human body, God tell us “I love you”. In return, we must live a righteous life and tell God, “I love you too!”This is devotion. Committing suicide and doing the wrong deeds is an insult to God. To live life correctly is God’s worship. Bhagavat is the scripture which teaches us how to live life rightly.

Pujya Bhaishri also explained the meaning of the letters in the word Bhagavat as follows:

‘Bha’ means brightness; ‘Ga’ means knowledge; ‘Va’ means renunciation and ‘Ta’ means to give up. Bhagavat is an ancient scripture yet the content in it is ever new because even to date it provides us with solutions to our current problems and questions.

On the second day of the katha, Pujya Bhaishri emphasised, “Beware, money is not the most important thing in life. Money is necessary but things are more important than money. In addition, thoughts are more important than things, being able to discriminate between right and wrong is more important than thoughts and God is more important than this ability to discriminate”.

In worldly matters, the intellects should lead and our emotions remain in the background whilst in religion, the mind should lead and the intellect remains in the background. The mind and intellect must work together and respect each other. One gets confused when there is no harmony between the mind and the intellect. Lord Krishna says in the Gita: “Engross your mind and intellect in me. This way you will live in me, meaning you will leave in supreme peace, happiness and bliss; and the combination of eternal peace, happiness and bliss is Ram!”

On the third day of the katha, Pujya Bhaishri explained that Katha is not a ritual. It is an internal journey in search of the Self. We have travelled very far from our self. We are doing everything yet we miss life amongst this. Bhagavat is a journey in the search for our self.

Pujya Bhaishri thereafter answered the question, “How do we explain what Dharma (righteousness) is?” Dharma is not to behave or act towards others what you find is inappropriate. Dharma is not just worshipping, reciting hymns or applying tilak.

God is beyond logic, intellect, mind and speech. God can only be experienced. We believe in God but we do not know Him. Of course the grace of Guru, scriptures and God is necessary to experience God, but the most important thing is the grace of oneself or our soul is. Liberation is impossible without one’s own desire.

While narrating the katha of Shri Krishna’s birth, Pujya Bhaishri dwelled upon the different meanings of words like Gokul, Mathura, Dwarka, Kansa, Nanda, Yashoda and Gopi as explained by various saints. The Lord does not take birth from the womb of mother. He incarnates. The Sanskrit word ‘Avatar’ means descent or coming down. Pujya Bhaishri said that Avatar implies generalisation or becoming common. God, who is not ordinary, indulges in generalising his consciousness to the level of his devotees: He plays with them, jokes, suffers hunger and thirst for the sake of his devotees. God does not die, He simply winds up his leela.

In the concluding part of the katha, Pujya Bhaishri said that Bhagavat is a complete scripture. It covers all aspects of life. It discusses economics, politics, family life, fulfilment of desires, religion, ethics, philosophy and much more. If we are righteous and make the correct use of wealth and desires, then liberation will follow automatically. Bhagavat is not just a scripture of celebrating death. It also teaches us to live rightly.

Furthermore, sparing time for someone is more important than giving money. Time will never return. Sparing time is the best charity. It is for this reason that we can never become free from the debt of our Guru. Shukdevji spared his time for King Pariksheet out of compassion. He narrated the Bhagavat continuously for seven days in response to the two questions asked by King Pariksheet. Bhagavat is not just a compilation of stories. It provides with thoughts that guide us in our life’s journey.