GREAT EXCERPT FROM #MAHABHARATA TATPARYA-NIRNAYA" BY OM VISHNUPAD SHREE MADHVACHARYA (ANANDATIRTHA)#. BHISMA EXPLAINS BHAGAVATA-DHARMA TO PANDAVAS:
Bhisma said “to follow Bhagavata dharma is highest Dharma". He stated the essential points of Bhagavata dharma:
i) Vishnu is The Supreme Deity, everyone else is under His control
ii) All other deities are His devotees
iii) one should perform one’s duties without aiming at any benefit
iv) one should not do anything that is opposed to the devotees of Vishnu.
Further, Bhisma stated the duties of the four classes of people:
i) A brahmana should perform his prescribed duties. He should not cause any pain to anyone,
ii) A brahmana should not earn his livelihood. He should maintain himself by teaching and priestly profession,
iii) A ksatriya should protect the people,
iv) He should use sama, dana etc. carefully
v) A vaisya should undertake agriculture, commerce, money lending etc.
vi) A sudra should serve the other 3 classes for his maintenance,
vii) Brahmana has to dissiminate knowledge. If a brahmana is not available a ksatriya or vaisya may do so.
viii) Men of first three classes can study all lores (Vidyas) including Vedas. Women can study Itihasa and Purana.***
***Note by Vishnudut1926: Women and shudras actually belong to tamasika persons, but they can obtain Mukti via Vaishnava Itihasa, Puranas and Bhakti. See all the classic Pramanas from "Shree Vedanta-Sutra" and, for example, Shree Vadiraja-Tirtha glosses to "Shree Rukminisha-Vijaya" regarding this theme:
Besides, for example, #"Shree Iswara-Samhita"# (Vaishnava-PanchaRatra), Verse 4.202 says - शुद्रैस्तु स्थापिते स्त्रीभिः तामसाख्यं समाचरेत् - shudraistu sthApite strIbhiH tAmasAkhyaM samAcharet - "Temples constructed by shudras and women belong to tamasika kind"...
Bhisma also explained the nature of three types of persons viz. sattvika, rajasa, and tamasa:
i) The tamasa persons do not consider Vishnu as Supreme:
a. They treat Him as equal to other deities.
b. They also do not consider Vishnu as possessing infinite number of qualities.
c. They distinguish between His MulaRupa and AvataraRupa.
d. They think that Visnu undergoes pleasure and pain, birth and death in AvataraRupas.
These people will fall into deep darkness.
These people will fall into deep darkness.
ii) Middle level (rajasa) people will be born again and again as men (humans, manushya).
iii) Those who have firm and right knowledge about Bhagavan Shree Vishnu (satvika persons, who DON'T follow to the above mentioned errors of tamasika people) are superior people. They attain Mukti".
Cited from
"Philosophic Vision of Sri MahaBharata TatParyaNirnaya and
BhagavataTatparyaNirnaya of Sri AnandaTeertha
BhagavatPadAcharya Sarvamoola Grantha"
#by prof. K.T. Pandurangi# ~2015~, pages 146-147
OCR by Vishnudut1926, Moscow, January 2018
