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The Bhagavata Podcast
The Bhagavata Podcast invites listeners on an engaging journey through the Bhagavata Purana, more commonly known as the Srimad Bhagavatam. Each episode features conversations between scholars, many of whom are also practitioners, as they reflect on and analyze a chapter of this text together. The podcast offers a unique blend of academic rigor and personal insight, providing fresh perspectives that illuminate the beauty and uniqueness of the Bhagavatam.
In each episode, host Dr. Måns Broo, an esteemed scholar and Gaudiya Vaishnava practitioner, invites expert guests to reflect on a chapter of the Bhagavata Purana. Following a linear progression through the text, the discussions explore the philosophical, theological, and literary dimensions of the Bhagavatam, offering both traditional insights and modern academic interpretations. This thoughtful approach enables listeners to journey through the Bhagavata Purana chapter by chapter, uncovering the intricate teachings of this work.
The Bhagavata Podcast is an initiative supported by the Gaudiya Studies Research Programme of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, furthering the mission of connecting living traditions with academic exploration.
The Bhagavata Podcast
1.13 Dhritarashtra Quits Home with Sundar Gopal Das
In this episode of the Bhagavata Podcast, Bhrigupada Dasa (Dr. Mans Broo) welcomes Sundar Gopal Das to explore Canto 1, Chapter 13: Dhritarashtra Quits Home. The conversation traces Vidura’s return from pilgrimage, his tough love that awakens Dhritarashtra to seek his ultimate good, and the secret night departure to the forest with Gandhari. Narada arrives with forward-looking counsel, asking Yudhishthira not to interfere and foretelling Dhritarashtra’s yogic end in five days. Along the way, the dialogue reflects on mortality, forgiveness, grief, and how the Bhagavata’s layered storytelling (stories within stories) keeps past, present, and future in view.
Themes include the discipline of speech (truthful, kind, beneficial), the danger of power without conscience, saints as living tirthas, and viraha, the ache of separation that runs through Canto One. Sanjaya’s devotion, Yudhishthira’s nonresentment, and Bhima’s sharp edge offer contrasting models of response. The episode also pauses on time and urgency: why insight often ripens only when the horizon comes into view.
Chapters
00:05 Invocation and welcome
01:08 Guest intro and why this chapter matters
02:42 Summary: Vidura returns, tough love, and the night departure
04:43 Why the Bhagavata jumps in time
05:49 Story within a story: emboxment explained
07:51 Vidura as a manifestation of Yama
09:31 Narada’s teaching on the world’s harsh cycles
12:01 Sanjaya’s grief and loyalty
13:56 Power, reckoning, and the Gita backdrop
16:22 A caution when you are strong
19:40 Saints make places holy: the tirtha verse
22:10 Tough love in practice: Vidura to Dhritarashtra
29:11 Krishna’s wake-up call to Arjuna as a parallel
37:25 Why Dhritarashtra finally changes
40:29 Time, turning 50, and urgency
43:00 Krishna as time and the limits of control
46:14 Hidden news and compassionate silence
48:36 Yudhishthira’s nonresentment (Ajatashatru)
52:31 Bhima’s contrast
55:13 Letting go: a simple practice from everyday life
59:20 Narada’s guidance to Yudhishthira
64:25 What becomes of Sanjaya
66:41 Closing