Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Sūta Gosvāmī - Canto 12, chapter 13

This article presents a thematic survey of the historical narratives spoken by Sūta Gosvāmī in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Canto 12, chapter 13, regarding the final prayers and the supremacy of the Bhāgavatam. It organizes the quotes found in the Vaniquotes category Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Verses Spoken by Sūta Gosvāmī.

Sūta Gosvāmī uses this profound history to demonstrate that while a pure devotee can easily conquer the greatest material temptations by the strength of his spiritual practice, even the most advanced transcendentalist remains completely subordinate to the bewildering, mystic potency of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Sūta Gosvāmī is the 5th top speaker of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with 739 verses at Vanisource. He does not speak in the 5th, 7th, and 11th cantos. He speaks in the 1st (398 verses), 2nd (9 verses), 3rd (15 verses), 4th (3 verses), 6th (3 verses), 8th (3 verses), 9th (1 verse), 10th (6 verses), and 12th canto (301 verses).

Final Prayers to the Supreme Lord

Sūta Gosvāmī begins his concluding address by offering beautiful invocatory prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His various incarnations.

Invocation and Obeisances

Sūta Gosvāmī describes the immeasurable glories of the Lord, who is worshiped by the highest authorities of the universe.

"Sūta Gosvāmī said: Unto that personality whom Brahmā, Varuṇa, Indra, Rudra and the Maruts praise by chanting transcendental hymns and reciting the Vedas with all their corollaries, pada-kramas and Upaniṣads, to whom the chanters of the Sāma Veda always sing, whom the perfected yogīs see within their minds after fixing themselves in trance and absorbing themselves within Him, and whose limit can never be found by any demigod or demon—unto that Supreme Personality of Godhead I offer my humble obeisances."
"When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Kūrma, a tortoise, His back was scratched by the sharp-edged stones lying on massive, whirling Mount Mandara, and this scratching made the Lord sleepy. May you all be protected by the winds caused by the Lord's breathing in this sleepy condition. Ever since that time, even up to the present day, the ocean tides have imitated the Lord's inhalation and exhalation by piously coming in and going out."

The Divisions of the Purāṇas

Sūta Gosvāmī systematically details the massive scope of Vedic literature by enumerating the verse counts of all the major histories.

The Verse Counts

Sūta Gosvāmī provides the exact numerical breakdown of the four hundred thousand verses that comprise the eighteen major Purāṇas.

"Now please hear a summation of the verse length of each of the Purāṇas. Then hear of the prime subject and purpose of this Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the proper method of giving it as a gift, the glories of such gift-giving, and finally the glories of hearing and chanting this literature."
"The Brahmā Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purāṇa of fifty-five thousand, Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand, the Śiva Purāṇa of twenty-four thousand and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of eighteen thousand. The Nārada Purāṇa has twenty-five thousand verses, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa nine thousand, the Agni Purāṇa fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa eighteen thousand and the Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purāṇa eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vāmana Purāṇa ten thousand, the Kūrma Purāṇa seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purāṇa fourteen thousand, the Garuḍa Purāṇa nineteen thousand and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Purāṇas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhāgavatam."

The Glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Having listed all the texts, Sūta Gosvāmī unequivocally establishes the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the crowning jewel of all Vedic knowledge.

The Essence of Vedānta

Sūta Gosvāmī explains that the Bhāgavatam is the ultimate, ripened fruit of philosophical inquiry, completely eclipsing all other literatures.

"It was to Lord Brahmā that the Supreme Personality of Godhead first revealed the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in full. At the time, Brahmā, frightened by material existence, was sitting on the lotus flower that had grown from the Lord's navel."
"From beginning to end, the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is full of narrations that encourage renunciation of material life, as well as nectarean accounts of Lord Hari's transcendental pastimes, which give ecstasy to the saintly devotees and demigods. This Bhāgavatam is the essence of all Vedānta philosophy because its subject matter is the Absolute Truth, which, while nondifferent from the spirit soul, is the ultimate reality, one without a second. The goal of this literature is exclusive devotional service unto that Supreme Truth."
"If on the full moon day of the month of Bhādra one places Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam on a golden throne and gives it as a gift, he will attain the supreme transcendental destination."
"All other Puranic scriptures shine forth in the assembly of saintly devotees only as long as that great ocean of nectar, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, is not heard."
"Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is declared to be the essence of all Vedānta philosophy. One who has felt satisfaction from its nectarean mellow will never be attracted to any other literature."

The Greatest of All Literatures

Sūta Gosvāmī uses powerful comparisons to illustrate the absolute supremacy and spotless nature of this specific Purāṇa.

"Just as the Gaṅgā is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord Śambhu (Śiva) the greatest of Vaiṣṇavas, so Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the greatest of all Purāṇas."
"O brāhmaṇas, in the same way that the city of Kāśī is unexcelled among holy places, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is supreme among all the Purāṇas."
"Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the spotless Purāṇa. It is most dear to the Vaiṣṇavas because it describes the pure and supreme knowledge of the paramahaṁsas. This Bhāgavatam reveals the means for becoming free from all material work, together with the processes of transcendental knowledge, renunciation and devotion. Anyone who seriously tries to understand Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, who properly hears and chants it with devotion, becomes completely liberated."

Concluding Obeisances and Blessings

Sūta Gosvāmī ends his monumental recitation by honoring the disciplic succession and begging for eternal devotional service.

The Disciplic Succession

Sūta Gosvāmī traces the descent of the Bhāgavatam and offers his deep respects to the spiritual masters who preserved it.

"I meditate upon that pure and spotless Supreme Absolute Truth, who is free from suffering and death and who in the beginning personally revealed this incomparable torchlight of knowledge to Brahmā. Brahmā then spoke it to the sage Nārada, who narrated it to Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. Śrīla Vyāsa revealed this Bhāgavatam to the greatest of sages, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, and Śukadeva mercifully spoke it to Mahārāja Parīkṣit."
"We offer our obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Vāsudeva, the all-pervading witness, who mercifully explained this science to Brahmā when he anxiously desired salvation."
"I offer my humble obeisances to Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the best of mystic sages and a personal manifestation of the Absolute Truth. He saved Mahārāja Parīkṣit, who was bitten by the snake of material existence."

The Ultimate Benediction

Sūta Gosvāmī's final words are a heartfelt plea for pure devotional service and the congregational chanting of the Lord's holy names.

"O Lord of lords, O master, please grant us pure devotional service at Your lotus feet, life after life."
"I offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Hari, the congregational chanting of whose holy names destroys all sinful reactions, and the offering of obeisances unto whom relieves all material suffering."

Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani

This article is a thematic compilation of the teachings presented in the Vaniquotes category Bhagavatam Verses Spoken by Suta Gosvami. We invite you to visit the link to read the complete collection of verses presented in alphabetical order.