Guest guest Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Yes You may Please let us have more of it, can record and savour it from time to time whenever time allows. I Can also give to the other list members if anyone is interested there. Thank You. Bhaskar. , "D Ramapriya" <ramapriya.d wrote: > > On 1/5/07, Venkat Machiraju <punditvenkat wrote: > > > > We live in Canada - no Gita Press nearby for sure! > > > > > Ok, here's a sample then... let me know if you want a little more of it > > GARUDA PURAAN > > INTRODUCTION > > LORD VISHNU'S INCARNATIONS > > Sutji once reached Naimisharanya in course of his pilgrimage. There he found > numerous sages engaged in austerities and penance. All of them were > delighted to find Sutji in their midst and considered it as a God sent > opportunity to get their doubts related with religious topics cleared. Sage > Shaunak was also present there and he asked Sutji, "O revered sage! Who is > the creator of this world? Who nurtures it and who annihilates it in the > end? How can one realize the supreme Almighty? How many incarnations the > Almighty has taken till now? Please enlighten us on all these things, which > are shrouded in mystery." > > Sutji replied, "I am going to reveal to you the contents of Garuda Puraan, > which contains the divine tales of Lord Vishnu. This particular Puraan is > named after Garuda because he was the one who first narrated these tales to > sage Kashyap. Kashyap subsequently narrated them to sage Vyas. I came to > know about these divine tales from sage Vyas. Lord Vishnu is the supreme > almighty and the source of all creations. He is the nurturer of this world > and the annihilator as well. Though he is beyond the bondage of birth and > death yet he takes incarnations to protect the world from the tyranny of > sinners. His first incarnation was in the form of the eternal adolescent > Sanat kumar and others who were all celibates and extremely virtuous." > > "Lord Vishnu took his second incarnation in the form of a boar (Varah) to > protect the Earth from the mighty demon named Hiranyaksha, who had abducted > her to Patal loka (Nether world). In his third incarnation as Narad, he > propagated the virtues of 'nishkaam karma' (performing one's duties without > bothering about the results). In his fourth incarnation as Nar- Narayan, he > performed arduous austerities for the protection and propagation of Dharma > or religiousness." > > "Lord Vishnu's fifth incarnation was as Kapil, which he took to protect the > Saankhya shashtra, which was on the verge of becoming extinct. He took his > sixth incarnation in the house of Atri and Anusuya as Dattatreya with the > specific objective of propagating the most secret Brahma vidya to worthy > people. His disciples included virtuous souls like Prahalad and others. Lord > Vishnu took his seventh incarnation as the son of Ruchi Prajapati and Aakuti > and was known as Yagya deva. His eighth incarnation was as Rishabh deva -- > the son of sage Naabhi and Merudevi." > > "In this incarnation he established the norms for Grihashtha ashram, which > later on became the guidelines for every householders. Lord Vishnu took his > ninth incarnation as Prithu and 'milked'(extracted) various nutrients > (cereals, pulses etc.) from the Earth who had disguised herself as a cow and > thus protected the populace from getting starved to death." > In his tenth incarnation as Matsya (fish), he protected the life of > Vaivaswat Manu, who would not have survived otherwise. Lord Vishnu took his > eleventh incarnation in the form of a tortoise (kurma) and held the > Mandarachal mountain on his back at the time when the ocean was being > churned. His twelfth incarnation was as Dhanvantari and thirteenth as the > most enchanting beauty- Mohini to retrieve the ambrosia pot from the > possession of the demons. He subsequently distributed it among the deities > as the result of which they became immortal." > > "In his fourteenth incarnation, Lord Vishnu manifested himself as > 'Narasimha' (partly human and partly lion) and to protect his devotee > Prahlad, killed the wicked demon Hiranyakashipu by tearing apart his abdomen > with his sharp claws. His fifteenth incarnation was as Vaman (dwarf) in > which he demanded all the three worlds from Bali-the most benevolent demon > king and then sent him to Patal loka. In his sixteenth incarnation as > Parshuram, he wiped out the whole caste of kshatriyas from the face of the > earth for twenty-one times, as they had all become immoral." > > "In his seventeenth incarnation, he was born as Vyas to Parasara and > Satyavati and accomplished his mission of propagating the knowledge of Vedas > by categorizing them into four parts. In his eighteenth incarnation he > manifested himself as Sri Ram. His nineteenth incarnation was as Krishna and > his twentieth incarnation as Balram. He will take his twenty-first > incarnation as Buddha to bring the mankind back to virtuous path by > preaching against the rituals and proving that it is not proper for a seeker > to get bound by them. Lord Vishnu would take incarnation as Kalki and will > be born to a Brahmin named Vishnuyasha to liberate the earth from the > sinners." > > HOW GARUDA PURAAN WAS PROPAGATED > > On being asked by the sages as to how did he come to know about the contents > of Garuda Puraan, Sutji told them "I had oncegone to Badrikashram, where I > met sage Vyas. I requested him to enlighten me on various spiritual matters > to which he agreed saying that he was going to narrate the tales of Garuda > Puraana which was first told by Lord Brahma to Narad, Daksha Prajapati and > myself. Sage Vyas then told Sutji how once he along with Narad, Daksha and > Bhrigu had gone to Brahmaloka to see Lord Brahma. After reaching there, all > three of them requested Lord Brahma to shed light on the essence of the real > knowledge." > > Lord Brahma revealed to them that Garuda Puraan contained the essence of all > the scriptures and Lord Vishnu himself had narrated its divine tales to him > (Brahma). Describing the incident when Lord Vishnu had told the divine tales > of Garuda Puraan to him as well as Shiva, Lord Brahma said, "I once went to > Kailash mountain accompanied by Indra and other deities. We found Shiva > engrossed in his meditation. We were amazed and asked him as to who was he > meditating upon." > > "Lord Shiva told us that he was meditating upon the omnipresent, omniscient > and the omnipotent Vishnu- in whom the entire universe exists. Lord Shiva > also revealed to us that this was all he knew of Vishnu's power and also > that if we wanted to know more about him then we will have to ask Lord > Vishnu himself. So, all of us including Shiva went to Vishnu loka and > requested Lord Vishnu to clear our doubts on various topics which confused > us. Lord Vishnu gave a long discourse covering all the major religious > topics." > > LORD VISHNU REVEALS HIS OMNIPOTENT NATURE > > Dwelling on length about his power, Lord Vishnu told Shiva, "O Rudra! I am > the lord of all the deities. I am the one who controls each and every event > that occurs in the Universe. I am the one whom mortals worship with the > desire of attaining salvation. The universe would have ceased to exist but > for me. I am the creator, the nurturer as well as the supreme annihilator. I > manifest myself in the sacred mantras as well as their meanings. People > meditate on me. Matter is nothing but a medium through which I manifest > myself." > > LORD VISHNU BLESSES GARUDA > > Describing how Garuda pleased him with his deep devotion, Lord Vishnu said, > "During ancient times, Garuda once did an austere penance to please me. I > appeared before him and expressed my willingness to fulfill anything that he > wished for. Garuda wanted to liberate his mother, Vinta from the slavery of > Kadru, the mother of serpents. He also wanted to avenge his mother's > humiliation at their hands. He also expressed his desire of becoming > immortal by having a Puraana credited to his name and finally he requested > me to give him the privilege of becoming my mount. I blessed Garuda, as a > result of which all his wishes were fulfilled. Once, on being requested by > sage Kashyap, Garuda narrated the divine tales of Garuda Puraan to him. Sage > Kashyap had once brought back a dead tree back to life with the help of > Garudi Vidya- a sacred mantra found in Garuda Puraan. Similarly, Garuda too > had brought numerous dead creatures back to life with the help of same > mantra." > > THE BEGINNING OF CREATION > > Lord Shiva requested Vishnu to shed light on different topics like Sarga > (world), Pratisarga, Vansh (dynasties), Manvantar (fourteenth part of > Brahma's day) and Vanshanucharit (genealogy). Lord Vishnu replied, "O Rudra! > Lord Vasudeva in his incarnation of Nara-Narayan performs his > responsibilities of the creator, protector as well as the annihilator. Each > particle that is found in this universe whether perceptible or imperceptible > is nothing but the medium through which the Almighty makes his presence > felt. In the beginning of the creation, on account of HIS will subtle matter > of nature (imperceptible) came into being. HE is the one to whom 'Atma' or > 'Purush' owe its existence. Subsequently, intelligence or 'Buddhi' > manifested itself from the subtle matter of nature, mind or 'Mun' from > intelligence, space or 'Aakash' from mind, air or 'Vayu' from Space, Fire or > 'Teja' from air, water from 'Teja' and finally the earth manifested itself > from water." > "O Rudra! Then came into existence an enormous sized egg. I dwell within > that egg and so do all the other deities. In fact, the whole universe is > situated within that egg. The almighty Vishnu creates in the form of Brahma, > nurtures in the form of Vishnu and annihilates in the form of Shiva at the > end of each kalpa. The creations of the almighty are known as 'Sargas'. > First of all, the almighty creates the Mahat tatva, which symbolizes his > gross quality." > > "Since it was his first creation therefore it was called the first Sarga. > The second Sarga consisted of the creation of the Panch-Tanmatras or the > five basic elements -- Earth (Prithvi), Water (Jala), Fire (Teja), Air > (Vayu) and Sound (Shabda). These five basic elements are the stuff from > which matter is made. The third Sarga namely Vaikarik sarga comprising the > creation of all the sense organs and the organs of the actions, is basically > intelligence oriented, because the sense organs can not function without > intelligence. All these above mentioned three sargas come under the category > of Prakrit sarga or natural creation. The fourth sarga is known as Mukhya > sarga or the main creation and consisted of immovable things like mountains, > trees, etc. The fifth Sarga is known as Tiryak sarga and consisted of > animals and birds. The sixth sarga comprised the creation of the deities and > other celestial beings and hence it is also known as Deva sarga. The seventh > sarga comprised the creation of human beings and hence it was called Maanush > sarga. The eighth sarga, which is also called Anugrah sarga, consisted of > creations that are both 'satvik' (pure) and 'tamasik' (dark) in nature. The > ninth sarga is called Kaumar sarga." > > "Lord Brahma commenced his creation of supreme entities by expressing his > will resulting into the manifestation of all the ten Manasputras. > Subsequently, Lord Brahma created different other entities like deities > (deva), demons (danav), ancestors (pitra) and human-beings (manushya). He > then created the Ashuras from his thighs and subsequently abandoned his > body. The dark qualities emanating from the body resulted into the creation > of night, a creation that immensely pleased the demons." > > "Lord Brahma then attained a new physical form, which was pure (satvik) in > nature. He created the deities from his mouth and once again abandoned his > body resulting into the creation of day this time. All the deities became > extremely pleased by this particular creation of Brahma. Once again Lord > Brahma attained another form and created the 'pitras' and when he abandoned > that body, 'sandhya' (evening) manifested from it." > > "Lord Brahma then attained a form that was 'Rajomaya' in nature and created > human beings. His abandoning that particular form resulted into the creation > of 'Pratahkaal'(dawn). Subsequently, Lord Brahma created the different > species like 'yaksha', 'sarpa', 'Gandharva' and 'Apsaras' and many more > creatures from the different parts of his body. All the four Vedas namely > Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda manifested themselves from each > of Brahma's four mouths. Similarly, all the four castes such as Brahmin, > Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra manifested from Brahma's mouth, arms, thighs > and feet respectively.'" > > THE BEGINNING OF COPULATIVE CREATION > > "Having created Daksha Prajapati and his wife Prasuti from his right and > left thumb respectively, Lord Brahma instructed both of them to make their > contribution in increasing the population with the help of copulative > creation. In course of time, Daksha Prajapati begot numerous daughters all > of whom were given in marriage to ten Manasputras." > > "Once, Daksha Prajapati had organized a grand Ashwamedha Yagya to which he > had invited all his daughters and son-in-laws except Sati and Rudra. Sati > eventually reached her father's place much against the advise of Shiva, who > was strictly against going to a place uninvited. Shiva's apprehensions were > not unfounded supposition, as Sati was indeed humiliated by Daksha in front > of all the esteemed guests. Sati was so deeply hurt by her father's rude > behaviour and the manner in which he made fun of her husband that she gave > up her life by jumping into the sacrificial fire. When Rudra learnt about > Sati's death he cursed Daksha by saying that he would loose his divine > status and would be born as a human being in the lineage of Dhruva. In her > next birth, Sati was born as the daughter of Himalaya and Mainak. She was > once again successful in getting Shiva as her husband by virtue of her deep > devotion towards Shiva.' > > Cheers, > > Ramapriya > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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