five thousand years ago

[Guest guest]

N98:680620SB.MON classesGuest (2):

When was it written, the Bhagavad-gita?Prabhupada: Five thousand years before.

It was after the Battle of Kuruksetra. The Battle of Kuruksetra was fought

about five thousand years ago, and the Srimad-Bhagavatam was written after

writing Mahabharata. When Vyasadeva was not satisfied in his heart even by

writing Mahabharata and Vedanta-sutra, he was sitting morose, and he was

thinking that "I have written so many nice literatures. Why I am not happy?" At

that time his spiritual master Narada came, and he instructed him that "You have

written the history of Mahabharata. It is very nice. But there is some idea of

Krsna, or God, but not absolute. You write some book in which simply,

absolutely about Krsna is there." So under his instruction he wrote the

Srimad-Bhagavatam

 

 

Bg 4.1 P Transcendental Knowledge At the present moment we have

just passed through five thousand years of the Kali-yuga, which lasts 432,000

years. Before this there was the Dvapara-yuga (800,000 years), and before that

there was Treta-yuga (1,200,000 years). Thus, some 2,005,000 years ago, Manu

spoke the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple and son Maharaja Iksvaku, the king of

this planet earth. The age of the current Manu is calculated to last some

305,300,000 years, of which 120,400,000 have passed. Accepting that before the

birth of Manu, the Gita was spoken by the Lord to His disciple, the sun-god

Vivasvan, a rough estimate is that the Gita was spoken at least 120,400,000

years ago; and in human society it has been extant for two million years. It

was respoken by the Lord again to Arjuna about five thousand years ago. That is

the rough estimate of the history of the Gita, according to the Gita itself and

according to the version of the speaker, Lord Sri Krsna. It was spoken to the

sun-god Vivasvan because he is also a ksatriya and is the father of all

ksatriyas who are descendants of the sun-god, or the surya-vamsa ksatriyas.

Because Bhagavad-gita is as good as the Vedas, being spoken by the Supreme

Personality of Godhead, this knowledge is apauruseya, superhuman. Since the

Vedic instructions are accepted as they are, without human interpretation, the

Gita must therefore be accepted without mundane interpretation. The mundane

wranglers may speculate on the Gita in their own ways, but that is not

Bhagavad-gita as it is. Therefore, Bhagavad-gita has to be accepted as it is,

from the disciplic succession, and it is described herein that the Lord spoke

to the sun-god, the sun-god spoke to his son Manu, and Manu spoke to his son

Iksvaku.

 

SB 1.7.8 P The Son of Drona Punished Srimad-Bhagavatam is the

natural commentation on the Brahma-sutras compiled by the same author. This

Brahma-sutra, or Vedanta-sutra, is meant for those who are already engaged in

self-realization. Srimad-Bhagavatam is so made that one becomes at once engaged

in the path of self-realization simply by hearing the topics. Although it is

especially meant for the paramahamsas, or those who are totally engaged in

self-realization, it works into the depths of the hearts of those who may be

worldly men. Worldly men are all engaged in sense gratification. But even such

men will find in this Vedic literature a remedial measure for their material

diseases. Sukadeva Gosvami was a liberated soul from the very beginning of his

birth, and his father taught him Srimad-Bhagavatam. Amongst mundane scholars,

there is some diversity of opinion as to the date of compilation of

Srimad-Bhagavatam. It is, however, certain from the text of the Bhagavatam that

it was compiled before the disappearance of King Pariksit and after the

departure of Lord Krsna. When Maharaja Pariksit was ruling the world as the

King of Bharata-varsa, he chastised the personality of Kali. According to

revealed scriptures and astrological calculation, the age of Kali is in its

five thousandth year. Therefore, Srimad-Bhagavatam was compiled not less than

five thousand years ago. Mahabharata was compiled before Srimad-Bhagavatam, and

the Puranas were compiled before Mahabharata. That is an estimation of the date

of compilation of the different Vedic literatures.