At the beginning of the Kali yuga, a number of sages had gathered in the
Naimisharanya forest to perform a great religious ceremony. One morning,
after completing the fire sacrifice and the other rituals, Sanaka Rishi (the
sage presiding the assembly) offered a seat of honor to the old saint and
scholar Suta Gosvami, and invited him to give a speech.
"Please tell us about God", said the sages, "and his many appearances,
including the most recent as Krishna, the son of Devaki and Vasudeva.
Explain to us, in a simple way, what is the purpose of the Vedic scriptures,
and the highest benefit that can be obtained by human beings. In the age of
Kali people live short lives, full of problems and disasters, and there is no
time to study all the various sacred texts.
Therefore, please summarize for
us the essence of the scriptures and tell us about God and the teachings of
the great spiritual masters of history."<br>
Suta was the son of Romaharsana, the great scholar to whom Vyasa had
entrusted the teaching of the Puranas, a narrative form of texts that are most
suitable to convey positive messages to the mass of people who have scarce
intellectual and philosophical abilities. After paying his respects to his guru
Sukadeva, to the Supreme Lord who manifests in the form of Nara and
Narayana, to Mother Sarasvati who blesses the human beings with wisdom,
and to Vyasa the author of the Bhagavata, Suta began to speak of the
knowledge contained in this extremely valuable work.
"The most important occupation for a human being," he said, "is that
which leads him to know and serve God in its various aspects - impersonal,
localized and personal, respectively defined as Brahman, Paramatma and
Bhagavan. Every human being should sincerely engage in his or her
professional, social and family duties, with the purpose of pleasing God; in
this way one remains free from karma and becomes gradually purified from
all negativity."
