Sri Brhad-Bhagavatamrta: Srila Sanatana Gosvami (Part 2 Volume I)

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Glory to He who is a great ocean of many sweetness, who is scented with the fragrance of youth, and who, in the form of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, descended (to this world) to give pure love for His own lotus feet and to personally taste the perfected eternal love felt by the gopis.

Introduction

The importance of Brhad-bhagavatamrta is described in the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 4.218-19): Srila Rupa Gosvami and Sanatana Gosvami collected many revealed scriptures, and from the evidence in those scriptures, and from the evidence in those scriptures they excavated all the lost sites of pilgrimage. Thus they established temples for the worship of Lord Krsna. Srila Sanatana Gosvami compiled the Brhad-bhagavatamrta. from this book one can understand who is a devotee, what is the process of devotional service, and who is Krsna, the Absolute Truth.

In a purport, Srila Prabhupada wrote: Sri Sanatana Gosvami Prabhu, the teacher of the science of devotional service, wrote several books, of which the Brhad-bhagavatamrta is very famous; anyone who wants to know about the subject matter of devotees, devotional service and Krsna must read this book.

In the first part of Brhad-bhagavatamrta, Narada Muni sets out on a quest to find the person or persons who have received the mercy of Lord Krsna to the greatest degree. This quest leads Narada to the heavenly planets, the abodes of Brahma and Siva, the palace of the Pandavas, and finally to Dvaraka, where Lord Krsna was residing. It was there that Narada Muni came to the conclusion that the residents of Vrndavana were the foremost recipients of the mercy of the Lord.

In this second part of Brhad-bhagavatamrta, a cowherd boy from Govardhana Hill, Gopa-kumara, narrates to a brahmana the story of his extensive travels. After being initiated into the chanting of a ten-syllable mantra of Lord Madana-Gopala, Gopa-kumara began his travels throughout the universe and beyond the universe, in search for the ultimate goal of his life. This quest took him to Svargaloka, Tapoloka, the coverings of the universe, Sivaloka, and Vaikuntha.

This second part of Brhad-bhagavatamrta is published in two parts and so this first volume ends with Gopa-kumara going to Dvaraka to see Lord Krsna. In the course of this story, Sanatana Gosvami very vividly delineates the details of the science of God so that the various forms of the Supreme Lord and the methods of devotional service unto Them is understood very nicely.

As to be expected, this English rendering by Kusakratha Prabhu is very poetic and relishable, making the story come to life, so that there is vivid clarity of meaning. In this second part of Brhad-bhagavatamrta, Kusakratha Prabhu has extracted only brief parts of the author's Dig-darsini commentary, so that the text can be more clearly understood. It was a great pleasure for me to go through this book and I am confident that you will have a similar experience.