
Brhad Bhagavatamrta is actually the essence of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Bhagavatam has been narrated by Sukadeva Goswami to Parikshit
Maharaj.  After hearing Srimad Bhagavatam, Parikshit Maharaj
noticed that his mother, Uttara, was sitting there and she was
lamenting.  She was shedding tears of pain because her son was
about to leave his body and naturally as a mother she was very
much aggrieved. Seeing this Parikshit Maharaj consoled his
mother by telling her 'Why are you lamenting? Now that I have
received the knowledge from my spiritual master I have become
completely free from fear and lamentation due to this body'. 
Uttara Devi then asked Parikshit Maharaj, 'Please tell me what
you have learnt from your spiritual master'.  Parikshit Maharaj
started to tell her and this narration of what Parikshit Maharaj
told his mother is actually the Brhad Bhagavatamrta. Srimad
Bhagavatam was spoken to Parikshit Maharaj and after
assimilating it he gave his understanding and that is Brhad
Bhagavatamrta.  

This Brhad Bhagavatamtra was written by Sanatana Goswami and he
admitted later on that he did not actually write this Brhad
Bhagavatamrta.  He simply held the pen and somebody else made him
do the writing.  He also admitted that the person who was making
him write was Madan Mohan.  It was Krsna who was making him
write Brhad Bhagavatamrta and all he was doing was holding onto
the pen.  

Sanatana Goswami gave a commentary to Brhad Bhagavatam which is
unual because when someone writes something, he himself does not
write the commentary.  But Sanatana Goswami did write the
commentary because as he admitted, Brhad Bhagavatam is not his
writing, it was the writing of Madan Mohan.  Sanatana Goswami
felt the need of further explanation of what he wrote and also
he was lamenting his audacity to write what he did in Brhad
Bhagavatamrta.  He said, 'How could I dare to enter into Krsna's
inner chamber of His palace and judge who is a greater devotee
than another.  And in order to judge who was a greater devotee,
you need to find defects and faults in the devotional service of
Krsna's eternal associates like Rukmini, Satyabhama and even
Uddhava'.   

However, the purpose of Brhad Bhagavatamrta is to give the
essence of Srimad Bhagavatam.  This is another very important
consideration. As it is, Srimad Bhagavatam is the essence of the
entire Vedas.  The Vedas have been compared to a kalpavrksha, a
desire tree, and the ripened fruit of that desire tree is Srimad
Bhagavatam. Now that ripened fruit has been blended with the
nectar from the mouth of Sukadeva Goswami.  Srimad Bhagavatam is
the very cream of the Vedas, but that Srimad Bhagavatam has been
further digested and blended with the lotus lips of Srila
Sukadeva Goswami.  That Srimad Bhagavatam has been consumed by
Parikshit and he is now presenting it.  Undoubtedly this Brhad
Bhagavatamrta is the greatest of all scriptures.  

In this context it is important to note that there are two
bhagavatamrtams.  One is Brhad Bhagavatamrta and the other isn     lochu? bhagavatamrtam. Bhrad means large or great and lochu means
light and concise.  Brhad Bhagavatam was written by Srila
Sanatana Goswami and lochu was been written by Srila Rupa
Goswami. In lochu Bhagavatamrta Rupa Goswami collected the most
important verses of Srimad Bhagavatam in order to present the
essence.  However, in Brhad Bhagavatamrta Sanatana Goswami is
narrating a story of two paribrajas (a wondering saint).  Even
though it sounds like a story, we understand that the Puranas are
not stories because scriptural descriptions are not stories but
facts.

The Brhad Bhagavatamrta is divided into two parts.  The first
part is known as Purva bhvab, or preliminary section, and the
second part is called utarvi bharb, or final part and both parts
have been divided into seven chapters.  In the first part
Sanatana Goswami is pointing out the highest devotee and in
course of doing that he is giving a description of the geography
of the material and  spiritual natures.  

Brhad Bhagavamtra is actually describing the experiences of two
paribrajas. In the first part the wondering saint is Narada Muni
and he is searching for the greatest devotee.  Narada Muni begins
this search from the in Prayag on the earth planet at the
confluence of the rivers Ganga, Jamuna and Sarasvati.  After
searching the earth planet he goes to the heavenly planet looking
for the greatest devotee but each time he goes to that devotee
he points out to Narada Muni a devotee who is on a higher level. 
For instance Narada Muni first approached a brahmana thinking he
was the greatest devotee, but the brahmana told him 'No, I am not
that devotee you are looking for, actually I am not even a
devotee because I have never developed any devotion. If you want
to meet a real devotee, he is the king of south India.'   On this
information Narada Muni  went to the king but the king told him
that he was not that devotee. The greatest devotee is actually
Indra, the king of heaven'.  He gave reasons why Indra was a
great devotee.  Narada Muni went to Indra but Indra said 'No, no,
I am not a great devotee. I am not a devotee at all.  The real
devotee is Brahma'. However, when he went to Brahma, he told
Narada Muni that he was not a devotee but actually it is Lord
Siva who is a great devotee.  

Upon approaching Lord Siva Narada Muni was informed by him that
the residents of Vaikuntha are greater devotees than he is.
Parvati then told Narada Muni that of all the residents of
Vaikuntha, Laxmi Devi is the greatest devotee.  Hearing this
Narada was about to leave for Vaikuntha but Lord Siva stopped him
and said that even greater than the devotees of Vaikuntha is
Prahlad Maharaj.  Narada Muni went to Sutaloka to see Prahlad
Maharaj.  However, when he went to Prahlad Maharaj he also told
him that he was not a devotee but Hanuman was a much greater
devotee.  Hanuman then pointed to the Pandavas, the Pandava's
pointed to the residents of Dwarka, the residents of Dwarka
pointed out Uddhava and he pointed to the residents of Vrndavana
and of all the devotees of Vrndavana Srimate Radharani is the
greatest.  In this way Sanatana Goswami gave a description of the
different levels of service and pointed out who is the greatestn     devotee, Srimate Radharani. The residents of Vrndavana are the
greatest and of the residents of Vrndavana the gopis, the cowherd
damsels, are the greatest.  And of them Srimate Radharani is the
greatest.  

We can see that Narada Muni is the paribrajak in the first part.
He is a wondering saint so now we can consider why he is doing
this.  A paribraja is always in search of devotional association
and is concerned about his spiritual upliftment. By associating
with the devotees he can make advancement. That is the objective
of a paribraja and he travels from the holy place to holy place
to see the Deities of the Lord and to associate with the
devotees. Narada Muni is searching all over the universe and also
the spiritual sky in search of the greatest devotee.  

In the second part we have the description of a one devotee's
journey back to the spiritual sky. He is the paribraja in this
part and his name is Gopakumar.  He is a cowherd boy from
Vrndavana and he was born in the family of cowherd folk from
Govardhana. Gopakumar's journey back to the spiritual sky and
Goloka Vrndavana has been described.  This description is very
relishable because it is very authentic and very stimulating. It
describes all the spiritual mellows and gives us a very clear
understanding of the basic requirements for attaining the
spiritual platform and reaching the ultimate goal of the
spiritual sky.  

While describing, Sanatna Goswami made one thing very very clear.
Gopakumar was not at all concerned about material possessions; he
was not at all interested about his own position, even though he
attained the position of Indra, even though he attained the
position of Brahma, he was not at all affected by those
positions.  His only concern was how to spread Krsna
consciousness.  Whenever he got some power he simply utilized
that power to spread Krsna consciousness and from the very
beginning of his life he was not interest in women, even though
he went to heavenly planets and he got the position of Indra. 
The heavenly planets, as you know, is a place of sense enjoyment,
but Gopakumar was completely nonchalant about all prospects for
sense enjoyment. Hewas not all interested in drinking soma rasa;
he was not at all interested in watching the dancing girls and
associating with them.  These are the basic requirements for
spiritual advancement which has been established by Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu as nadaman ..sundarim. This is the  basic
requirements for spl advancement. We shld not be interested in
money, position and women.

In the second part another very important thing has been pointed
out and that is that until Gopakumar reached Goloka Vrndavana he
was not feeling full inner satisfaction.  Even when he went to
Vaikuntha.  What to speak of Vaikuntha, even when he went to
Dwarka and was associating with Krsna and Krsna knowing his
heart, that he was actually eager to see Him as a cowherd boy,
Krsna showed Himself as a cowherd boy and all of Krsna's
associates also transformed themselves into His associates in
Vrndavana, still Gopakumar was not satisfied.  In Dwarka he wasn     feeling great discontentment.  He was not satisfied until he
reached Goloka Vrndavana.

Until he reached that point of Goloka Vrndavana, his ultimate
destination, his spiritual master was constantly helping him. 
His spiritual master appeared to him five times within the course
of his journey back to Goloka Vrndavana and instructed him
further for further advancement.  This shows that the spiritual
master doesn't rest in peace until all his disciples go back to
the spiritual sky.  

We will also notice from this Brhad Bhagavatamrta that the life
of a devotee is eternal.  A devotee never dies, it is a
continuous spiritual progress.  The devotees do not die, he
attains eternal life and that life is ever progressive.  As we
accept devotional service into our life it becomes continuously
progressive or eternally progressive.  Every day we will make
advancement provided we are properly situated on the spiritual
path.  In this way the entire Vedic literatures have been
described by Sanatana Goswami through this Brhad Bhagavatamrta.  

Today I just gave the basic intro of Brhad Bhagavatamrta and from
tomorrow go through it chapter by chapter

questions

Hamsadutta Prabhu:  This book is the cream of the Vedas and
Caitanya Caritamtra is even more elevated. Is there also a
similar book to Caitanya Caritamrta?
Answer:  No, because Caitanya mahaprabhu Himself practiced which
makes  Mahaprabhu's teachings theoretical as well as practical.
As he Himself covered that aspect, and also Sanatana Goswami is
actually elaborating the tchgs of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's life. 
Caitanya Caritamrta is actually an elaboration of Srimad
Bhagavatam. His teaching and His own life is an elaboration and
they have been further elaborated on by the goswami's. Of course
there are explanations, for example Srila Prabhupada once
mentioned that Jaya Dharma by Bhaktivinode Thakura is the essence
of all scriptures.  The devotees always elaborate and that is why
it is more relishable as the further it comes down the more it
becomes more and more relishable.

Raghubir:  Are we to understand that Brhad Bhagavatamrta is
Mahaprabhu's realizations after having heard from Sukadev Goswami
or that this is something that Sukadev Goswami told Mahaprabhu,
but is not actually in Srimad Bhagavatam?
Answe:  Naturally whatever the disciple receives or whatever the
disciple gets is from the spritiual master.  In spiritual life we
do not get anything without the spiritual master.  Whatever comes
to us is actually a gift of the spiritual master, but devojana
riddhi prokasito, by the mercy of the spiritual master, 
transcendental knowledge is revealed in the heart.   What
Sukadev Goswami told parikshit Maharaj, that has been noted down
as Srimad Bhagavatam, which was further elaborated on by Suta
Goswami in the assembly of the sages in Narishahima.  But we have
to understand that by the mercy of Sanatana Goswami Brhadn     Bhagavatamrta dawned in the heart of Parikshit Maharaj.  

There is another important point here that Sanatana Goswami made.
Brhad Bhagavatamrta was actually a narration of the conversation
between Parikshit Maharaj and Uttara by Jaimini Risi to
Jaimijaya.  Jaimijaya is the son of Parikshit Maharaj and when
he learnt that his father is going to die out of the bite of
Adaksa, he wanted to destroy all the snakes.  He performed a
sacrifice called 'sarponeen jayna', a sacrifice to kill all the
snakes.  All the snakes were being destroyed in that jayna.  They
were flying from all over and falling into the huge fire. But
then Indra appealed to Brahma and they came and pacified
Jaimijaya and he stopped this jyana.  Then Jaimini told him all
the history of his family life.  Actually Mahabharat was spoken
twice. Once it was spoken by Vaisyabiun before, but Vaisyabiun
was not a devotee so that Mahabharat is not actually a devotional
Mahabharat. But Jaimini's Mahabharat is actually a devotional
Mahabharat.  And Parikshit Maharaj questions him what happened
after Mahabharat and then he started to tell of Parikshit
Maharaja's conversation with Uttara.  This is actually not the
registration of Parikshit Maharaj's instructions or narration to
his mother but is Jaimini Risi relating it to Jaimijayai.  We
have to understand that it is a purnana, history. This Brhad
Bhagavatamrta is a part of the Vedas and this part of the Vedas
dawned in the heart of Parikshit Maharaj by the mercy of Sukadev
Goswami.

Question:  Did this take place in between the time Sukadev
Goswami finished and Adaksa bit Parikshit Maharaj?
Answer:  Yes.  The basic understanding is that time is flexible,
time is elastic.  By Krsna's mercy time can expand or time can
contract. For example, in the battlefield of Kuruksetra the
conchshell was blown and the battle was about to start.  Then
Krsna told Arjuna Bhagavadgita. It is not that they were waiting
for 2 or 3 hours, whatever time it takes to relate Bhagavadgita,
Krsna actually expanded time so that a few seconds were expanded
so that Bhagavadgita could be spoken.  Here also if we take the
descriptions from Srimad Bhagavatam, or also from Mahabharat,
then we hear that the Bhagavatam was spoken by Sukadev Goswami.
Then Parikshit Maharaj was about to take something to eat and in
the fruit he saw a very strange looking insect and he realized
that this is Adaksa so his time has come.  He just mediated on
Krsna and that small little insect that came through the fruit
took the shape of a hundred headed snake and bit him.

we have to understand that time was expanded by Krsna's mercy so
Parikshit Maharaj could tell Uttara Bhrad Bhagavamtra.  To other
people it may have been just a few seconds but within that few
seconds Parikshit Maharaj narrated the whole story of Brhad
Bhagavatamrta to mother Uttara.

Question:  Are we to understand that this story is not found in
any other scripture?
Answer:  Yes. break in tape  they are there maybe on this earth
planet.  They were not manifest but through Sanatana Goswami
became manifest. The scriptres are eternal just as the spiritualn     sky is eternal, the scriptures are also eternal.  They were there
somewhere in the spiritual sky but through the heart of Santana
Goswami that scripture has been revealed.

