Book Description

The Lord Almighty in the form of Sage Vedavyasa composed the epic Bhagavata Maha Purana to expand on the spiritual concepts contained in the Vedas using episodes and anecdotes from the Lord’s various incarnations and the experiences of His devotees. It is a guidebook to society to illustrate human and ethical values. The Bhagavata Maha Purana is structured as a conversation between King Pariksit and sage Shuka and is spread over 12 cantos with 18000 verses. The eleventh canto has 1373 verses spread among 31 chapters. While the tenth canto has the authentic account of the incarnation and activities of Lord Sri Krishna, the eleventh canto has core messages from the Lord to humankind. The Bhagavad Gita [BG], the song celestial, which has the sermon from Lord Krishna to prince Arjuna, which is the most revered text among Hindu scriptures, is part of the great epic Mahabharata. Uddhava Gita, the divine conversation between Uddhava, an aide, and an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna, and Lord Krishna Himself is spread over 23 chapters (chapters 7 to 29), in 1033 verses (about 75% of 11th Canto). This has many parallels with the Gita and reads like a commentary on the Gita. In Gita, the Lord responds to many philosophical questions from Arjuna and many of those critical questions are explained in more detail in Uddhava Gita with examples and anecdotes. Excellent interpretation of the critical aspects of this epic can be found in the works of the 12th century ascetic Sri Madhwacharya. Other savants in his lineage such as Sri Vadiraja Teertha, Sri Raghavendra Teertha, Sri Vijayadhwaja Teertha, Sri Satyabhinava Teertha, Sri Satyadharma Teertha have contributed tremendously to summarize and expand on the key concepts. This book attempts to provide a simple translation in English of the 111h canto along with summary and interpretations based on the lectures by His Holiness Sri Vidyasagara Madhava Teertha.