The procedure to read/listen to Srimadh bagawatham in seven days was started by

Parikhit Maharaja. Parikshit was the grandson of the Pandavas. He was protected
in his mother s womb from Ashwatama s weapon by Lord Krishna. Thus immediately afte
r taking birth, Parikshit looked around trying to find Lord Krishna. A person wh
o obtains the Supreme knowledge while still at mother s womb is known as Garbha Sr
iman. Parikshit was a Garbha Sriman.
In order to develop devotion toward the Lord, a person has to be blessed either
by the Lord at time of birth, or by a Bagawatha, or be a Avatara Purushan or be
a Yoga Brshtan i.e a person who retains of memory of Bakthi/Gnana yogam carried
out in previous birth.
Prahaladan was blessed by Sage Naradar who was a Bagawathan, Lord Lakshmana was
an incarnation, and Jata Bharathar was a Yoga Brshtar while Parikshit was blesse
d by the Lord. As soon as Parikshit was born, the Brahmins prophesized that he w
ill be a devotee like Prahladan, an able ruler like Ishwaku, a protector of ever
yone like Lord Rama, will become easily pleased like Lord Shiva, will know about
all dharmic practices like Bhishmacharyar, will be calm and composed like Yudhi
shtirar. They said that he will win over even Kali in the begioning but Kali wil
l trick him because of which he will be cursed to die. He will die only after ob
taining the Supreme Knowledge by listening to Srimadh Bagawatham from sukacharya
r and therefore attain mukthi.
King Yudhishtirar felt very happy as anyone who takes birth has to die; he wasn t
worried that Parikshit will die from the curse. He felt happy that Parikshit wil
l fulfill his life s purpose by attaining the grace of an Acharyan like Sukacharya
r and thereby will attain Moksham.
Parikshit was a great devotee and his kingdom could not be affected by the evil
s of Kali Yugam.
One day Parikshit Maharaja went to the forest for target practice. He went very
far into the forest and soon was tired from hunger and thirst. He came upon the
ashramam of a sage (Samika) who was meditating with his eyes open. Parikshit Ma
haraja asked the sage for some water but the sage did not hear him as he was dee
p in meditation. As the king was suffering from hunger, he felt annoyed that the
sage did not reply. Under the influence of hunger, the king took a dead snake l
ying nearby with the end of his arrow and draped it around the sage s neck. As the
king traveled back to Hastinapuram, he felt sorry that he had behaved badly.
The sage s young son (Sringin) found the dead snake around his father s neck. As his
friends made fun of his father, the child took some water in his hands and curs
ed that the man who had placed the dead snake on his father s shoulder would be bi
tten by the snake Takshakan at the end of seven days.
As soon as the curse was proclaimed, the sage came out of his meditation. He fel
t worried for Parikshit. He sent his disciple to inform Parikshit that he had on
ly a week to live.
Hearing about the curse, a Brahmana called as Kasyapa proceeded to Hastinapuram
as he had the ability to cure poisonous bites. Takshaka in the form of a Brahman
met Kashyapa along the way. Takshaka revealed himself to the Brahman and to tes
t his powers at producing an antidote, Takshaka bit a nearby Nyagrodha tree. The
tree caught on fire and became charred. Kashyapa revived the tree with his skil
l. Takshaka bribed Kashyapa with plenty of gold and asked him to not proceed to
Parikshit s place. The Brahman accepted the bribe and left without trying to save
Parikshit from Takshaka.
As soon as Parikshit heard about the curse proclaimed on him, he crowned his son
Janamejayan as the king and left to the banks of river Ganges. He sat down faci
ng the North direction and decided to end his life by performing Prayopravesham.
He gathered a group of sages and asked them to lecture him about the way to att
ain the Lord s divine feet. At that moment, sage Veda Vyasar s son SukaBrahmam himse
lf arrived at the spot and to the delight of everyone gathered there, narrated S
rimadh Bagawatham. At the end of seven days, Parikshit Maharaja was bitten by Ta
kshakan but attained the divine feet of Lord Narayana.
Esoteric Meaning:

The narration about Parikshit Maharaja contains hidden esoteric meaning. The nam
e Parikshit could have two meanings. If the name is pronounced as Pariikshit, it
means the seer or knower. The same name if split into two syllables as Pari + k
shata means the one who is cut or bitten.
Parikshit s pursuit of the deer shows his quest for worldly desires which only dis
tress him. In order to obtain freedom from samsara as he is tired of pursuing wo
rldly matters, Parikshit arrived at the ashram of the sage Samika. The name Sami
ka means peaceful. The sage is at peace because he is a realized soul who is alw
ays meditating upon the Supreme Brahmam thus staying close to him. As the sage i
s also a learned Brahman he is the perfect Acharyan. It is said that one must al
ways approach an Acharyan with a gift like fuel wood. The dead snake is the fuel
wood and it also represents that Parikshit s ego and selfish desires have been ki
lled. Once the dead snake is offered by Parikshit, the sage s spiritual son (the S
upreme Being in the sage s heart) blessed Parikshit which is shown as a curse in o
ur story. The name Shringin refers to Lord Agni as Agni Bagawan is described wit
h four horns in the Vedic Manthrams. The Agni residing in a person s heart is none
other than Paramatma Himself. Thus Paramatma cursed Parikshit to be bitten by T
akshaka. This in reality is not a curse but the Supreme Blessing. The name Taksh
aka means the one who cuts. Thus the curse is actually a blessing to cut off the
samsaric life. The Brakmin Kasyapa who comes to revive Parikshit is karma. Karm
a has the capacity to throw the soul back into samsara as shown by the Brahmin w
ho is able to revive the Nyagrodha (banyan) tree after it had been bitten by Tak
shaka. The Nyagrodha tree is a type of tree which even when it is cut can send o
f new shoots from its roots to show that even when we die, it is not a permanent
death as we end up with a new body.
Finally Takshaka bit Parikshit at the end of seven days and it is said that Pari
kshit was seated in a one pillared hall. The hall refers to the human body and t
he one pillar is the heart. A pillar is a supporting structure for a room simila
rly the heart supports the body and hence is compared to a pillar. Parikshit wa
s in deep meditation and he the soul was seated in the heart lotus with mind fix
ed on Paramatma. At this state, Takshaka as the permanent death bit Parikshit an
d freed him from samsara. Takshaka arrived only after Parikshit Maharaja had lis
tened attentively to Srimadh Bagawatham with devotion. Thus Takshakan as permane
nt death is Mukthi. Parikshit obtained the grace of Lord Krishna even when he wa
s in his mother s womb. Only those who are blessed at birth by the Lord s compassion
ate grace get the opportunity to obtain knowledge from a sadacharyan like Sukach
aryar and are eligible to obtain Moksham.
Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/05/srimadh-bagaw
atham-creation.html