Gitamahatmya or Greatness of Srimad Bhagavad Gita
(Baraha Purana)The Earth said:
O Bhagavan, the Supreme Lord! How can unflinching devotion arise in him who is immersed in his Prarabdha Karmas (worldly life), O Lord ? (1)
Lord Vishnu said:
Though engaged in the performance of worldly duties, one who is regular in the study of the Gita becomes free. He is the happy man in this world. He is not bound by Karma. (2)
Just as the water stains not the lotus leaf, even so sins do not taint him who is regular in the recitation of the Gita. (3)
All the sacred centres of pilgrimage, like Prayag and other places, dwell in that place where the Gita is kept, and where the Gita is read. (4)
All the gods, sages, Yogins, divine serpents, Gopalas, Gopikas (friends and devotees of Lord Krishna), Narada, Uddhava and others (dwell here). (5)
Help comes quickly where the Gita is recited and, O Earth, I ever dwell where it is read, heard, taught and contemplated upon ! (6)
I take refuge in the Gita, and the Gita is My best abode. I protect the three worlds with the knowledge of the Gita. (7)
The Gita is My highest science, which is doubtless of the form of Brahman, the Eternal, the Ardhamatra (of the Pranava Om), the ineffable splendour of the Self. (8)
It was spoken by the blessed Lord Krishna, the all-knowing, through His own mouth, to Arjuna. It contains the essence of the Vedas — the knowledge of the Reality. It is full of supreme bliss. (9)
COMMENTARY: The Gita contains the cream of the Vedas and Upanishads. Hence it is a universal scripture suited for people of all temperaments and for all ages.
He who recites the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita daily, with a pure and unshaken mind, attains perfection in knowledge, and reaches the highest state or supreme goal. (10)
If a complete reading is not possible, even if only half is read, he attains the benefit of giving a cow as a gift. There is no doubt about this. (11)
He who recites one-third part of it achieves the merit of a bath in the sacred river Ganges; and who recites one-sixth of it attains the merit of performing a Soma sacrifice (a kind of ritual). (12)
That person who reads one discourse with supreme faith and devotion attains to the world of Rudra and, having become a Gana (an attendant of Lord Shiva), lives there for many years. (13)
If one reads a discourse or even a part of a verse daily he, O Earth, retains a human body till the end of a Manvantara (71 Mahayugas or 308,448,000 years). (14)
He who repeats ten, seven, five, four, three, two verses or even one or half of it, attains the region of the moon and lives there for 10,000 years. Accustomed to the daily study of the Gita, a dying man comes back to life again as a human being. (15-16)
By repeated study of the Gita, he attains liberation. Uttering the word Gita at the time of death, a person attains liberation. (17)
Though full of sins, one who is ever intent on hearing the meaning of the Gita, goes to the kingdom of God and rejoices with Lord Vishnu. (18)
He who meditates on the meaning of the Gita, having performed many virtuous actions, attains the supreme goal after death. Such an individual should be considered a true Jivanmukta. (19)
COMMENTARY: A Jivanmukta is one who has attained liberation while living.
In this world, taking refuge in the Gita, many kings like Janaka and others reached the highest state or goal, purified of all sins. (20)
He who fails to read this “Glory of the Gita” after having read the Gita, loses the benefit thereby, and the effort alone remains. (21)
COMMENTARY: This is to test and confirm the faith of the reader in the Bhagavad Gita, which is not a mere philosophical book but the word of God and should therefore be studied with great faith and devotion. The Gita Mahatmya generates this devotion in one’s heart.
One who studies the Gita, together with this “Glory of the Gita”, attains the fruits mentioned above, and reaches the state which is otherwise very difficult to be attained. (22)
Suta said:
This greatness or “Glory of the Gita”, which is eternal, as narrated by me, should be read at the end of the study of the Gita, and the fruits mentioned therein will be obtained. (23)
Thus ends the “Glory of the Gita” contained in the Varaha Purana. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti !
Note by Annie Besant & Bhagavan Das, 1905:
The statements made above, as to the value of reading portions, or the whole, of the Gita, may seem at first sight to be somewhat fantastic. They should not be construed as meaning the mere reading, the lip-repetition, of verses, but rather as the mastering and assimilation of the spirit of the Gita, and the life-repetition thereof. The man who has thus wrought the Gita into his life is a Jivanmukta, and the assimilation of one shloka, of several, of a quarter of the Gita, and so on, mark various stages in human evolution, each of which has its own appropriate fruit._____________________________________________
1. http://twiki.org/p/pub/Main/MadhusudhanKaloorayarLeftBar/BhagavadGita-mahatmya.pdf
2. "The Bhagavad Gita" by Annie Besant and Bhagavan Das, 1905
संस्कृत श्लोक - Sanskrit Gita-Glory वाराहपुराण
বাংলা অনুবাদ - Bengali Gitamahatmya বরাহপুরাণ
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