Thread by @GitaGovindam

#gitarthavisesha #FirstShadanga #Adhyaya1 #Mahatmyam

In the olden days, there lived a brahmana by name susharma. Even though he was born in a dvija family, he did not follow any of his kula dharma.

Susharma committed many heinous sins & was bringing shame to the entire clan

Yama-raja decided enough was enough & then made him die a gruesome death..

Susharma was then forced to spend a huge time on naraka. Once his sins were compensated for, he re-incarnated as a bull in earth

The bull (Susharma) was taken in by an exhibitionist. It spent a few years dancing, entertaining & grazing.

One fine day, the bull got a grievous injury. It was so severe that it almost threatened it's life.

Many passersby saw it battling for life, then prayed silently to God, asking Him to bestow a small part of their good karma on the bull..

A prostitute happened to cross the path & she too did the same as others. Immediately, the bull died & went straight to yama loka

Yama told Susharma 'dAsi has given you an enormous amount of good karma. You will be born again as dvija & in addition you'll have karma-vAsana of previous birth'

This time Susharma reincarnated as a brahman & unlike his previous birth, he meticulously followed his sva-dharma

He continued his austere brahmana life. Many years passed

One fine day, Susharma remembered about the dAsi (prostitute) who changed his karmic cycle.

His mind was fully occupied with that thought & after a strenuous search, he found out she was still living & went to meet her!

Susharma fell at her feet (Brahmin or Prostitute doesn't matter. Only the benevolent actions matter!!)

He narrated the whole event & begged her for revealing her power. dAsi was perplexed & she thought about it hard.

She then pointed at a caged parrot & said this parrot is reciting some shlokas. Everyday morning, I just listen to it in all attention. That must be the only cause of the enormous good karma I must've accumulated.

Susharma then turned to the Parrot

The parrot then said, 'Oh Susharma, I was also born a brahmana like you. I learnt all vedas/vedangas & excelled in all of it. But somewhere down the line, I became very arrogant. I started disrepecting others, became greedy & demanded huge money for pravachans & rituals'

Due such arrogance, I took re-birth as a parrot. I happened to visit a rishi's ashram daily where the disciples chanted First Adhyaya of Bhagavad Geeta with great devotion.

Naturally, I imbibed all those shlokas. After few years, a hunter caught me & sold me to this lady.

The parrot then describes to Susharma, the greatness of first-adhyaya

तस्मादध्यायमाद्यं यः पठेद्यः संस्मरेत्तथा ।
अभ्यासादस्य न भवेद्भवाम्भोधिः सुदुस्तरः ।।

tasmAdadhyAyamAdyaM yaH paThedyaH saMsmarettathA |
abhyAsAdasya na bhavedbhavAmbhodhiH sudustaraH ||

Whoever reads First Adhyaya of Gita, keeps reciting the shlokas & hears it regularly will escape the inescapable samsara-sAgara of birth & death with great ease!!