Bharma Purana contains two parts- Purva Bhaag and Uttar Bhaag. Purva Bhaag contains tales of creation, description of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.

Uttar Bhaag contains a detailed description of Purshottam Tirtha prominent among all the holy places.
Even before the creation of universe took place, Brahma had appeared on a lotus that emerged from the novel of Lord Vishnu who himself was resting on Sheshnaag. Brahma began to wonder about the origin of the lotus flower because as far as he could see, there was nothing else but water.

Curious to know about the origin of that lotus flower, he entered into the hollow stem and endeavoured for thousands of years, but the stem seemed endless. Unsuccessful in his attempts, he came back among the petals of the lotus flower dejected. At that moment, he heard a voice calling 'Tapa Tapa'.

Understanding the meaning of that voice, Brahma began a long penance. As a result of his hard penance, his heart became pure and he had a divine glimpse of Lord Vishnu resting on Sheshnaag. Brahma greeted Him respectfully. Accepting his greetings, Lord Vishnu gave Brahma, sermons on the essence of the Bhagwat: "Revered Brahma, I am unfolding the mysteries of that divine knowledge. Imbibe the knowledge about my appearance, my qualities, my activities, my emotions as it really is by my grace".

"I was present even before the creation had taken place. Nothing was exclusive of me, the virtues, the non-virtues and even matters beyond these two basic qualities. I even exist during the period of dissolution. I am this creation and also all those things which survive after the period of dissolution".

"And those things which seem exclusive of me or exclusive of the soul understand it only as an illusion, just like an image of any object or darkness".

"Just as the five basic elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether) manifest in every object big or small but remain unseen themselves, in the same way I manifest myself in the whole universe but remain detached".

"Those, who are desirous of having the element of self-knowledge, need only to realize the fact that it is an eternal knowledge which is present during the creation phase and the dissolution phase".

After preaching, Brahma with the help of four Shlokas, Lord Vishnu emphasized its importance saying- "Revered Brahma, contemplate on these thoughts in the state of supreme meditation and you will never be under the effects of any illusion while creating or making resolutions".

Like this, Brahma received the elementary knowledge of the self from Lord Vishnu before creation and by the grace of Lord Vishnu, he realized about the 'Supremeness', His divine appearance, His divine qualities and His divine activities. Brahma gave this knowledge to sage Narad by describing about all the 24 incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Narad, in turn imparted this knowledge to sage Vyasa. Ultimately, Vyasa after compiling that divine knowledge in 18,000 Shlokas made Shukadev to read it. Like this 'Srimad Bhagwat' was popularized in the whole world.

When the mother earth feels unable to bear the burden of the non-virtuous and sinful activities of the demons, she goes to Brahma along with other deities and prays to relieve her of her burden. Under the guidance of Lord Vishnu, Brahma gives the instructions to the deities to act accordingly. Hence, most of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu have happened due to the Brahma's requests.

When Lord Vishnu as an incarnation of Vamana (dwarf) made the demon king Bali to promise to give as much land as could be measured in three steps. While measuring, Lord Vishnu showed his gigantic appearance with an enormous expansion of his physique. When Lord Vishnu lifted his leg it reached the Brahma Loka (the abode of Brahma). Lord Brahma, realizing it was the sacred leg of Vishnu, washed and worshipped it.

Lord Vishnu's nail tore some parts of the portion above Brahma Loka. As a result of this, water poured down form that portion which also fell on Lord Vishnu's feet. Brahma collected the water in his spout (Kamandalu).

The water released from his spout after the penance of sage Bhagiratha further subdivided into three parts. The part which is flowing in the heaven is Mandakini, the part flowing in the nether world is called Bhagwati and the part which is flowing on the earth is the Ganges.

Brahma, while describing about himself, has said that- "My speech does not incline towards non-virtuousness, my mind never follows the path of non-virtuousness, my senses are not influenced by the non-virtuous desires because I always possess Lord Vishnu in my heart with great dedication".

This is the essence of the 'Bhagwat' religion. As long as the man does not take refuge at the feet of the Lord Vishnu, he suffers from fears, sorrows and greed, attachments etc. which are the root cause of man's miseries.

Therefore, surrendering oneself before Lord Vishnu is the only means to achieve liberation from the bondage of the world.



                                                                                        BACK