![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bull&Bhag_2.jpg\")
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By Madhavananda Das<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a humorous saying in Oriya, s\u0323andha \u015bun\u0323uchi bh\u0101gavata<\/i> \u2014 \u201cA bull hearing the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i>,\u201d that indicates something useless. If you recite \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i> before a bull, what will he understand or appreciate? However, in Bhubaneswar, Orissa recently, this phrase took on a new meaning. <\/p>\n In March 2004, many people had gathered at the ancient Shiva temple known as Kapileshwar Mahadeva in the Old Town area of Bhubaneswar to observe the 22-year-old tradition of hearing a nine-day recitation of \u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i>. Just as the recitation was about to begin, a large bull entered the compound and sat down next to the devotees. Some devotees tried to chase him away, but he was a bit, well … bullish, and patiently ignored their protests. Everyone was surprised to see that as soon as the talk was finished, the bull got up to leave. However, they were even more surprised when he showed up on time the next day, listened, and again left when it was over. This went on for the duration of the event. <\/p>\n By the following year, most everyone had forgotten about the episode. That is until the first day of the recitation, when the same bull showed up, right on time, and again took his seat to hear the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i>. Again this went on every day for the duration of the program. This year, in 2006, everyone was wondering if he would come again. Sure enough, on the first day, our stubborn bovine friend came sauntering through the gate and quietly took his place next to the devotees. Whatever it may mean, this bull hearing the Bh\u0101gavata<\/i> has become the biggest attraction of the festival. <\/p>\n Bh\u0101gavata-m\u0101h\u0101tmya<\/i> of Padma Pur\u0101n\u0323a<\/i> recounts the Bh\u0101gavata-sapt\u0101ha<\/i> conducted by the great devotee Gokarna. It is said there that due to his reciting the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i> his brother Dhundhukari was delivered from his form of a ghost and attained the spiritual world. The Padma Pur\u0101n\u0323a<\/i> says that although many others were listening to that recitation, no one else achieved liberation because, unlike Dhundhukari, they were not listening attentively. Gokarna later spoke the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/i> again. This time everyone in the village attended and listened attentively, including even the animals. Chapter 197 of the uttara-khan\u0323d\u0323a<\/i> of Padma Pur\u0101n\u0323a<\/i> describes the results:<\/p>\n tad-gr\u0101me ye sthit\u0101 j\u012bv\u0101 \u0101\u015bva-c\u0101n\u0323d\u0323\u0101la-j\u0101tayah\u0323 By the mercy of Gokarna, all the living entities in that village, including even the dogs and dog-eaters, ascended into a transcendental airship [and attained the abode of the Lord]. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n — By Madhavananda Das<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In March 2004, many people had gathered at the ancient Shiva temple known as Kapileshwar Mahadeva in the Old Town area of Bhubaneswar to observe the 22-year-old tradition of hearing a nine-day recitation of Srimad Bhagavatam. Just as the recitation was about to begin, a large bull entered the compound and sat down next to the devotees. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-madhavananda-das"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nvim\u0101ne sth\u0101pit\u0101ste \u2018pi gokarn\u0323a kr\u0323pay\u0101 tad\u0101<\/i><\/p>\n![\"Hare](\"http:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/swhag_2.jpg\")
By Madhava – nanda Das<\/strong><\/p>\n