Srimad Bhagavatam - The search for Adi Badri. - Part 1

I think it was the Ganesh Chaturthi of 2008 when the understanding of spiritual vibrations began to come together slowly, and yet, in a flood. I had thought of reading, or beginning to read the first volume of Srimad Bhagavatam, written by Srila Prabhupada. I had wanted to give it a try, and I am glad that I was humble, because I am never able to read without going beyond the first 2-3 pages of the Preface.

The moment I pick up the book, there are very gentle sensations within me. I am sure there will be many who will be amused by what I write, and similarly there will be those who will heckle me for an unscientific temperament. I am aware of only one aspect, a very primary aspect of science, and that is, to repeat a phenomenon again and again and again and again. I have done so, and I am not able to read beyond 2-3 pages without getting gentle sensations within me.

I cannot focus, and I cannot read properly. Mind you, I am not a biblio-phobic. On the contrary. I am totally, mindlessly, hopelessly addicted to books and reading. There is nothing that I would love to do more.

Anyways, on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi of 2008, after not being able to read the preface of the first volume of the Srimad Bhagavatam, I sat at my computer, and began to type the manuscript of "Srimad Bhagavatam - an attempt to understand". The words came by themselves. I typed the document in a non-stop mode. All alone. No. Certainly, not alone. Those who will understand, will know, and will certainly know who sat beside me, with the faint twirl of the peacock feather touching me, and who stood beside him, with the faint click of his prayer beads.

I will go into the details of the manuscript sometime later. I want to focus on one simple point for the purpose of beginning to try to understand what we can never begin to understand. There was one mention, that the great Maharishi Veda Vyasa, the author of the Srimad Bhagavatam, had written the several volumes at one location, at one non-stop attempt, at Adi Badri.

This mention got me very interested. At least, here was one actual fact. A location that could be verified in current times. Could such a place exist? A location that would need to be totally unlike the cave at Mana, north of Badrinath in Uttarakhand, where Maharishi Veda Vyasa took the help of Vigneshwara to write the Mahabharata.

The Srimad Bhagavatam is totally unlike that of the Mahabharata. The greatest message ever given within humanity, the Bhagavad Gita, is just one happening on one day of the great Kurukshetra war, and yet, the Mahabharata has a spread of more than ten generations. The Srimad Bhagavatam was at least twenty times larger than the Mahabharata and was written after the Mahabharata. It was written on palm leaves, at a remote location, in stanzas that were poetic in variety, and was entirely in ancient Sanskrit.

There was no internet, stenographers, libraries, maps, CDs /DVDs /pen-drives or whatever. Nobody to guide him and nobody to edit the stanzas. How did he do it? How did he remember? How did he not forget and how did he not repeat himself? How was it stored? How did he refer to his text, if he wanted? He would have almost worked solely in the daylight hours only. How did he stay disciplined, determined and focussed on his work?

Where was this place, Adi Badri, that would have allowed the greatest writer of all that is known and all that is not known in humanity, the great Maharishi Veda Vyasa to write and complete the Srimad Bhagavatam?

Sri Ram Raksha Stotra - journeys in the mind

Well-meaning people, friends, family and colleagues always have advice for us. I tend to accept everything without question, assuming that there is a greater design in the scope of events in life. People close to me, at least some of them, feel that it is extremely wrong of me to accept such advice. After a while, I realise that there was indeed a greater design in what was happening, and I was glad that I had accepted the advice when it came. These, such circumstances or events, I feel, are the bricks that can be put together in the journey within each person's life.

One such advice was from a respected elder, sometime in 2009, I think, in February, if I remember correctly. It was to start chanting the Shiva Panchakshara Mantra, and to attempt one 'mala' (= one round of 108 prayers beads in one string) at least. I asked simpled questions, out of ignorance. Was there any specific time to recite the mantra? Could one eat non-vegetarian food on the same day? Should one recite the mantra at dawn or at dusk?

The elder had only one answer. He said that I should recite the mantra at the time when I feel I needed to do so. The call would come on its own. So, I became greedy. I asked the elder, if I could recite the mantra for more than 108 times? Could I do it twice on the same day? Would I get more support if I chanted more? He smiled, for he knew that I was just joking with him. It was the first time that we had met, and yet, it seemed like he could read me well.

He raised the benchmark, based on my responses. He advised me to additionally memorise the 38+ stanzas of the 'Sri Ram Raksha Stotra'. I agreed with him. He commanded that sort of obedience and faith. I knew that the Sri Ram Raksha Stotra would be in Sanskrit and that it would be extremely difficult to memorise the 38+ stanzas when I could not even read or speak Sanskrit. But, I accept advice, and I believed that I could do so.