In the wide galaxy of Indian books/epics, the Bhagavatham takes the highest position as a source of information about the Lord which evokes Bhakti in every shloka. The Bhagavatham was written by the great sage Ved Vyasa and has 12 cantos giving in detail the various incarnations of the Lord as also stories of the various devotees of the Lord. The punya phala or benefit of listening to the Bhagavatham is supposed to be moksha or liberation from the cycle of birth and deaths. Within the Bhagavatham, there are 4 shlokas pithily called Chatushloki Bhagavatham which capture the essence of the brilliant spirituality of the great Indian sages. For more such articles, please buy the book on spirituality. Title: The Spirit Of Spirituality Author: Shashank Katti Available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Spirituality-Shashank-Katti-ebook/dp/B00IGMQHGA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1414894256&sr=8-1&keywords=spirituality+katti

1. The Chatushloki Bhagavatham
In the wide galaxy of Indian mythologies, the Bhagavatham takes the highest position.
The Bhagagavatham was written by the great sage Ved Vyasa and has 12 cantos.
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Within the Bhagavatham, there are 4 shlokas pithily called Chatushloki Bhagavatham which
capture the essence of the brilliant spirituality of the great Indian sages.

2. Context Of The Chatushloki
Bhagavatham
 The great Sage Narada asked his father, the Universal Creator Brahma, "Revered father, you
were responsible for creating this entire universe, but have never got attached to anything.
How was this possible?".
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 To this, the venerable Brahmaji replies, " Oh Son, I had asked the same question to the
Supreme Vishnu when HE asked me to create this universe and the Lord's reply in 4 shlokas
has helped me create the world without getting involved."
 These 4 shlokas which are referred to as the Chatushloki Bhagavatham are the ultimate words
of wisdom from Vishnu to Brahma.
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3. There Is Nothing But Me
 In the first shloka, the Lord, Vishnu informs that there was nothing existent before him and
there is nothing existent after him.
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 In effect HE declares that there is nothing existent, but HIM.
 This is very similar to the first Mahavakya in the Vedas, which declares Prajnanam Brahma,
which means that there is nothing but consciousness or the Supreme Spirit.
 If so, a logical question that arises is, if Vishnu is the only reality, what is this entire creation
then?

4. Inherent Power Of Illusion
 The Lord tells in the second shloka that whatever is seen as creation is nothing but illusion
caused by his Maya or power.
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 Just as the rope looks like a snake in the dark or there is an image of water in the desert, there
is an apparent feeling of diversity when in reality there is nothing but the Lord.
 An easier example to understand would be our dreams.
 We create several characters in our dream including ourselves and to that person who is me in
the dream, everything seems real, when in reality every living and non-living character in my
dream is nothing but me sleeping in the bed.
 Due to my power, I am creating vast characters in the dream and each character appears real
to one another in the dream.
 Similarly it is the power of Vishnu which is called Maya which creates this illusion of a vast
diverse world.

5. I Am In This World But I Am Not
 Lord Vishnu says, I am in all of this world, yet I am not there. It seems so contradictory as to
how someone can be in something and still not in it.
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 To understand this better, let us take the example of a rope which appears like a snake in the
dark.
 Now, the rope provides the basis or sub-stratum for the apparent snake. So in that sense, the
rope is in the snake.
 But in reality, since there is no snake at all, there is no question of the rope being in the snake.
Hence even though the rope is in the snake, it is not in the snake.
 This is the Lord's message. I am in the world, yet not in it.
 Taking the same dream example, I as the creator of the dream, am in all the characters of the
dream, because I provide the substratum without which none of the dream characters would be
there.
 At the same time, the dream itself is an illusion. So how can I be in it?

6. A 2 Step Process To Realize The
Truth
 The final shloka deals with how to realize the Truth. This is a 2 step process.
 In the first step, the need is to remove ignorance. That can be done only by negating what is an
illusion.
 In understanding the reality of a rope, the first step is to determine that it is not a snake.
 Since God by definition itself is something beyond comprehension, the only way to point to God
first is the negation way.
 There is no way that I as a dream character as a beggar would know that in reality, I am the
person sleeping in the bed.
 So from that perspective, it is impossible to know God.
 I first have to negate and say what is not. Hence I have to look to the world and say this is not
real or the Truth.
 We have to look at the mirage and say that it is not water first.
 The next stage after having negated what is not Truth is to say what is the truth.
 Once I know that I am not the dream character, I have woken up and I know who I am.
 Once I know that the mirage is not water, I can know it is the sand playing the illusion.
 Once I know, it is not a snake, I can say, it is a rope.
.

7. Please buy Mtheo broeo kIn ofno srpmiriatutailoityn which has
several such articles.
Title: The Spirit Of Spirituality
Author: Shashank Katti
Available on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Spirituality-
Shashank-Katti-ebook/
dp/B00IGMQHGA/ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1414894256&sr=8-
1&keywords=spirituality+katti