Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 737

Episode 737: BG Chap 10
purodhasāṁca mukhyaṁmāṁ viddhipārtha bṛhaspatimsenānīnāmahaṁskandaḥ sarasāmasmisāgaraḥ‖24
I am Brihaspati, the eminent among the purohits. Among the army-commanders I am Skanda. Among the lakes, I am the ocean.
Paramatma should be meditated as Brihaspati, the Guru of all Gurus. Skanda Purana says that Shiva blessed Brhaspati- - Due to your supreme (brhad) tapas & becoming their lord (pati), you are Brhaspati. You will be worshipful among the planets.
Among army commanders, we must believe that Paramatma is Skanda/Kumaraswamy. When the Devatas prayed for protection, Skanda said, “Indra! To destroy demons, to fulfill the desire of the Devatas, to protect the cows & Brahmins, and for the wellbeing of all worlds, appoint me as your army commander’. Muchukunda, Shiva & Indra had held this post for a while. Among those army commanders, I am Skanda, He says.
There are 2 types of ponds- those dug by Devatas & those dug by humans. Among the lakes (saras) dug by humans, He is the ocean. As it was dug by Sagara’s 60000 sons, it is Sāgara.
maharṣīṇāṁ bhṛgurahaṁ girāmasmyekamakṣaramyajñānāṁ japayajñosmi sthāvarāṇāṁ himālayaḥ‖25
Among the Maharshis, I am Bhrgu. Among the words, I am the single-sylabled Om. Among the Yagnas, I am Japayagna. Among immobile objects, I am Himalaya.
Venkatachala-māhatya begins with Maharshi Bhrgu. He kicked Mahavishnu on His chest. In turn, Vishnu removed his pride. Here, Bhagavan gives a strange twist & says that He and the kicker are the same! This clarifies that He does not classify beings as ‘my own’ and ‘others.
Only Maharshi Bhrgu knows all the branches of the Vedas fully & so he is Vedarshi. In Bhrguvalli Upanishad, a branch of Taittareeya is a story. In it, Varuna’s son Bhrgu prays to his father, ‘O Bhagavan! Give me Jnana’.
Varuna said, ‘Begin tapas’. Bhrgu completed long penance & returned. Varuna asked, ‘My son, did you obtain Jnana?’
Bhrgu said, ‘I understood that Food is Brahma’. Varuna said, ‘Continue tapas’. After many years Bhrgu said, ‘Life-force is Brahma’. Varuna sent him again. After 3rd round, he said, ‘Mind is Brahma’. After 4th round he said, ‘Vignana is Brahma’. After the 5th round he said, ‘Bliss is Brahma’. Thus, with tapas, he realized that bliss is Parabrahma.
AUM is Ekākshara bījam. It is the primordial cause of all Vedas. AUM indicate the gross, subtle & causal bodies, the 3 worlds, the 3 fires, the waking, dream & deep sleep states, the 3 gunas, the vishva, taijasa and prājna bodies, & the past, present and future.
He said- among the words- I am Om. How can a single syllable be a word? But there is no answer to the question- Is OM an alphabet, word, statement, many statements, verse, poem or Veda?
Because everything is OM. Just as the tree exists in a seed, all words exist in OM. So Bhagavan says- Among the words I am OM.
Should we meditate on OM or should we meditate with its help? Just like the Swastik symbol, Om is denoted by
This symbol can be meditated upon as His Vibhuti or while chanting OM one can meditate on it. Just as a word is meant to be spoken, OM sound (nada) is meant to be chanted. With this belief, it must be meditated upon with focus on Him.
The Veda mantras- Om iti Brahma, Om ittyēkāksharam brahma clarify that OM is Parabrahma.
Yagna means action. Among the Yagnas, I am Japa-yagna, He says. The word Japa was born from the root, Japa vyaktāyam vāci (constantly chanting the Vedas/ mantra is Japa).
In Bhagavad Gita, He clarified that among the good deeds, those done with Paramatma bhavana are Yagnas. Pashu-yagna has some violence. In Japa yagna, there is no violence. Some commentators opine that for this reason, He is Japa yagna.
Earlier He had said ‘among mountains I am Meru’. Here He says, ‘among immobile objects I am Himalaya’. Notice the difference.
aśvattha ssarvavṛkṣāṇāṁ devarṣīṇāṁca nāradaḥgandharvāṇāṁ chitrarathaḥ siddhānāṁ kapilo muniḥ‖26
Among the trees I am Ashwattha. Among the Devarshis I am Narada. Among the Gandharvas I am Chitraratha. Among the Siddhas, I am Kapila.
Ashwattha means peepul or sacred fig. This king among trees is called Bodhidruma, Pippala, Kunjarasha and Chaladala. Studying under this tree ensures the lessons are grasped well. Meditating under this tree quickly grants siddhi.
After the Mahabharata war, in Virurāśwata, Vidura meditated under this tree & gained siddhi. Even now there is an Ashwattha tree more than 5000 years of age.
Childless couples should install a serpent-idol under this tree, do specified pradakshina in the specified order & embrace the tree, says the Shastras, Bhagavata & Ramayana. The energy (Vidyut shakti) in the peepul is unsurpassed. By circumambulating this tree, that energy enters the man and woman, ensuring quick conception.
The serpent-idol symbolizes the nara-nadi-mandala in the body and enlivens them. Circumambulating holy trees is scientific.