BHAGAVAD GITA 3:15

karma brahmodbhavam viddhi
brahmaksara-samudbhavam
tasmat sarva-gatam brahma
nityam yajne pratisthitam

SYNONYMS

karma--work; brahma--Vedas; udbhavam--produced from; viddhi--one should know; brahma--the Vedas; aksara--the Supreme Brahman (Personality of Godhead); samudbhavam--directly manifested; tasmat--therefore; sarva-gatam--all-pervading; brahma--transcendence; nityam--eternally; yajne--in sacrifice; pratisthitam--situated.

TRANSLATION:

Regulated activities are prescribed in the Vedas, and the Vedas are directly manifested from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Consequently the all-pervading Transcendence is eternally situated in acts of sacrifice.

BHAGAVAD GITA 3:14

annad bhavanti bhutani
parjanyad anna-sambhavah
yajnad bhavati parjanyo
yajnah karma-samudbhavah

SYNONYMS

annat--from grains; bhavanti--grow; bhutani--the material bodies; parjanyat--from rains; anna--of food grains; sambhavah--are made possible; yajnat--from the performance of sacrifice; bhavati--becomes possible; parjanyah--rains; yajnah--performance of yajna; karma--prescribed duties; samudbhavah--born of.

TRANSLATION:

All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajna [sacrifice], and yajna is born of prescribed duties.

BHAGAVAD GITA 3:13

yajna-sistasinah santo
mucyante sarva-kilbisaih
bhunjate te tv agham papa
ye pacanty atma-karanat

SYNONYMS

yajna-sista--food taken after performance of yajna; asinah--eaters; santah--the devotees; mucyante--get relief from; sarva--all kinds of; kilbisaih--from sins; bhunjate--enjoy; te--they; tu--but; agham--grievous sins; papah--sinners; ye--those; pacanti--prepare food; atma-karanat--for sense enjoyment.

TRANSLATION:

The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.

BHAGAVAD GITA 3:12

istan bhogan hi vo deva
dasyante yajna-bhavitah
tair dattan apradayaibhyo
yo bhunkte stena eva sah

SYNONYMS

istan--desired; bhogan--necessities of life; hi--certainly; vah--unto you; devah--the demigods; dasyante--award; yajna-bhavitah--being satisfied by the performance of sacrifices; taih--by them; dattan--things given; apradaya--without offering; ebhyah--to the demigods; yah--he who; bhunkte--enjoys; stenah--thief; eva--certainly; sah--is he.

TRANSLATION:

In charge of the various necessities of life, the demigods, being satisfied by the performance of yajna [sacrifice], supply all necessities to man. But he who enjoys these gifts, without offering them to the demigods in return, is certainly a thief.

BHAGAVAD GITA 3:11

devan bhavayatanena
te deva bhavayantu vah
parasparam bhavayantah
sreyah param avapsyatha

SYNONYMS

devan--demigods; bhavayata--having pleased; anena--by this sacrifice; te--those; devah--the demigods; bhavayantu--will please; vah--you; parasparam--mutual; bhavayantah--pleasing one another; sreyah--benediction; param--the supreme; avapsyatha--do you achieve.

TRANSLATION:

The demigods, being pleased by sacrifices, will also please you; thus nourishing one another, there will reign general prosperity for all.

MAHATMYAM OF CHAPTER 13 - REDEMPTION OF A WOMAN OF ILL VIRTUE

There was a village called Hariharapura on the banks of river Tungabhadra. A pious brahmin named Hari Deekshita lived there. He was a beacon light for the villagers, well versed in Vedic lore and renowned for his simple living and high thinking.

But unfortunately his wife was just the opposite. She was haughty and cruel and was surrounded by her paramours. Her youthfulness combined with a licentious mind made her a woman of easy virtues. She used to meet her lovers secretly in the woods and enjoy herself in their company. One day smitten by love, she entered the woods hoping to meet at least one of her paramours. She roamed in the woods for a long time but did not find any one. When she was thus wandering with a dejected mind, she saw someone approaching her stealthily. She thought it would be one of her paramours playing trick on her, and so jumped at the form and caught hold of it.

Good Lord! Leopard! Leopard!!" she screamed.

The leopard had an easy prey. As it started tearing her body with its powerful claws, she screamed in agony. But she mustered enough strength and courage to address it "O Leopard it is indeed very wrong on your part to kill me in my secret hideouts".

"Who! I have come here only for the purpose of killing you!" said the leopard.

"Who are you then?" asked the woman.

"I shall tell you. Listen," said the leopard.

"On the banks of river Malaa-paha (literally means that which destroys dirt, i.e. evil tendencies), there is a town called Muniparna (dried up grass used by ascetics for thatching their huts etc.). I was in my previous birth a brahmin born in that town. Though born in a very pious family I led a life of extreme greed. For the sake of money I used to perform worship for those who were not fit for it. I received shamelessly charities from everybody. I used to drive away those who approached me with genuine requests for money. I borrowed money from almost everybody and never returned it. Thus I grew up and spent all my youthful days to aggrandise wealth by right and wrong means."

"When I became old and eyesight failed and all my teeth fell away, I still continued my earlier life, spreading a grass mat in pilgrimage centres and begging for alms. Once while I was thus begging on the banks of a sacred pond where people used to come for a holy dip, a rabid dog bit me and I died. In this birth, I have now become a leopard. I don't attack Sanyasin (ascetics), pious brahmins or women of chastity. But you are a whore and so you are the right food for me."

"O leopard, I am now certain that you will kill and eat me up. But before doing so, I have to ask you some more questions" said the woman, although she was writhing in pain.

"You who were born in a brahmin family and became a leopard now on account of your bad actions, how did you inherit the remembrance of your previous births?"

"O, that was just a streak of luck. After the dog-bite. when I fell sick on the banks of the sacred pond and was fighting for life, I happened to hear a melodious chant. It was a brahmin reciting the thirteenth chapter of Bhagàwad Geeta. On account of the fact that I died on the banks of a sacred pond listening to the thirteenth chapter of the Geeta, I have been able to retain my memory of the previous births. I am now anxious to avoid any further devolution. Not only that, I am just roaming about with the fond expectation that I would be able to hear again the thirteenth chapter of the Geeta somewhere, sometime."

"So then, what remedy is there, in your opinion, for me to get liberated?" asked the woman.

"If you happen to listen to the thirteenth chapter of the Geeta, you will certainly get liberated."

The leopard was in no mood to prolong the discussions with the woman. It tore her apart and ate her up.

After innumerable births, with great difficulty, she was again born as a human being, but in a family of tribals who used to eat dog's meat.

When she grew up, according to her old instincts, she again became a prostitute. She passed her youth leading an immoral life. In her old age, when she had shed all her teeth, when her eyesight dimmed and her body was rendered weak and frail, she wandered about with a begging bowl in her hands.

At that time, without her realising it, fortune smiled on her. In the course of her wandering, she reached the old town of Hariharapura, and started her life of begging in the precincts of the temple of Goddess Jhrimbhika. (the word 'jhrimbhana' or 'Ujjhrimbhana', meaning: to encourage, to develop. Goddess Jhrimbhika only means that the Universal Mother has been installed the temple as a benevolent deity, who quickens or encourages or develops the evolutionary process of those who come within the sweep of Her grace. And on of this particular Sankalpa with which the Deity is installed, She has been as 'Jhrimbhika'. This is just one of the numberless aspects in which the grace of the mother is invoked and installed, yet another example of the mystic style of stories) There, she chanced to listen to the chanting of a hymn which she instinctively liked very much. She did not understand what it was, but she listened to it with all attention. After sometime, she fell down unconscious and died.

She gave up the human body which she had inherited in the family of dog-eaters and rose to the higher worlds.

The chant she heard was the thirteenth chapter of the Geeta. A pious man named Vasudevan was reciting the chapter in the temple hall of Goddess Jhrimbika.

MAHATMYAM OF CHAPTER 12- BHAKTHI AND MUKTHI

Kolhapur, a famous place of the land was rendered prosperous and glorious by the presence of the Universal Mother, Mahalakshmi, in a beautiful temple there. One day a handsome young prince reached the portals of the temple. He stood facing the idol of the Mother and prayed silently, tears flowing down his cheeks. The compassionate Mother revealed Herself in his mind and said:

"My child! Don't grieve. Tell me what you want."

"O Mother!" said the young man, his voice choked with the joy of having been able to talk to the Mother directly. "I am the son of King Brihadratha. My father had decided to perform an Aswamedha Yaga (horse sacrifice). He had tied the sacrificial horse to a post in the Yagnasala (the Yoopa). The horse has accomplished the feat of going round the various countries and returning victoriously. The preliminary rites of the Yaga had been concluded auspiciously. It was at that time that my father suddenly passed away. In the commotion that followed, someone stole the horse that was tied to the post. Our soldiers searched for it in every nook and corner of the land, but in vain. I have kept the body of my father immersed in medicated oil in a long wooden tub. The priests presiding over the sacrificial rites were disappointed with me and they went away. I am now stamped as an inefficient person, good for nothing. I am really dejected and don't know what to do. Mother, please be gracious enough to bless me!"

"My child!" said the Mother sympathetically. "There is a Sanyasin named Siddha Samadhi at present sitting at the Gopura (entrance) of this temple. He is competent to remove all your distress. Go and meet him. You will be successful."

The young prince prostrated again and again to the Mother, tears and walked towards the Gopura. He met Siddha Samadhi and prostrated to him.

"So you are the prince whom the Mother sent here, eh? Come. Don't be afraid", said Siddha Samadhi, welcoming the young man.

He then sat in meditation for a while, and through his divine vision, he saw that it was lndra, the king of Gods, who had stolen the sacrificial horse.

He took some water in his palm, chanted some mantras and threw it upwards into the sky. Hundreds of Devas came tumbling down from the heavens by the power of his mantras, and they stood in front of him respectfully.

"Indra has stolen the sacrificial horse of King Brihadratha, Please bring it back immediately", commanded Siddha Samadhi.

The Devas vanished and after a few minutes brought the horse and handed it over to the prince. The prince was aghast with, wonderment.

"Young man", said Siddha Samadhi, "restart the Yaga as quickly as possible".

The prince prostrated to the Sanyasin and said with choked with emotion: "Revered Sir, though the sacrificial horse has been regained, it is not possible to restart the Yaga, because as per tradition, no1 auspicious work can be done for one year from the death of my father. Kindly advise how this problem can be overcome", said the prince.

Tell me what you wish me to do," said the Sanyasin.

"May I venture to tell you?" asked the prince and said after pause: "You must bring my father back to life."

The Sanyasin did not speak for some time. He relapsed into serious silence.

Observing the mood of the Sanyasin, the prince said "Revered sir, your silence frightens me!"

The Sanyasin said in a calm and deep tone: "I had already given you refuge. Why are you then afraid?"

"Listen, my boy! Just as we discard old clothes, that Jeeva (the soul of the dead king) must have given up its worn-out body and gone in search of a new one. To call back that Jeeva into the body discarded by it is indeed a torturous job"

"Sir. I have safely kept his body immersed in medicated oil, in a wooden tub. That body has certainly not worn out. Kindly help ne, bless me!"

Siddha Samadhi again relapsed into deep meditative silence. When he woke up from his meditation, he said: "Young man! As per Mothers instructions, I will try my best to bring back your father alive. Come, let us go."

The prince started for the palace along with Siddha Samadhi and the sacrificial horse.

The Sanyasin gently stroked the dead body of the king from head to toe, took a little water in his palm and after chanting some mantras, sprinkled ft on the head of the king.

The king got up rubbing his eyes, as if he had woken up from a long sleep. He stretched his hands and legs and yawned.

At that time the prince was singing a hymn in praise of the Mother.

"Did I sleep for long?" the king asked the prince.

The prince narrated all that had happened. King Brihadratha prostrated at the feet of Siddha Samadhi and asked: "Revered Sir! How did you get the power to bring down the devas, and to bring dead people back to life? What mantra have you mastered?"

The Sanyasin said: "O King ! I chant regularly the twelfth chapter of the Bhagawad Geeta, dealing with Bhakti Yoga. I could accomplish all this by the power and glory of the twelfth chapter of Geeta. Therefore, you too should practise the twelfth chapter of Geeta hereafter. By doing so, you can get liberated even while alive."

So saying, the great Sanyasin, Siddha Samadhi, walked away.

From that day onwards King Brihadratha started practising the
twelfth chapter of the Geeta. The Yaga was restarted and concluded gloriously.

He coronated his son as the king, taught him the twelfth chapter of Geeta, and retired to a lonely place. In due course, he attained liberation.

Those who listen to this story can also attain liberation likewise.